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 New pricing guideline for brain-computer interface services to boost application Global Times) 09:02, March 13, 2025 A woman uses BCI technology to type on a computer. (Photo/Courtesy of Tianjin University) China's healthcare authority on Wednesday issued a pricing guideline for neural system care services, which specifically listed brain-computer interface (BCI) as an independent category, paving the way for the rapid clinical application of BCI technology in clinical use. In the new guideline, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) added new categories, such as implantation and removal fees for invasive BCI, along with adaptation fees for non-invasive BCI, according to a statement published on the agency's website on Wednesday. The move will pave the way for the swift application of cutting-edge BCI technology into clinical use, and offer clear guidance for localities nationwide to manage relevant medical services, the NHSA said. BCI technology establishes a direct connection between the brain and external devices. When the brain engages in thinking activities, it generates electrical waves, and BCI reads the brain's intentions directly by recognizing the characteristics of these waves, converting them into computer commands to achieve interaction and connectivity between humans and machines or the external environment. This creates "miracles" such as enabling paralyzed individuals to walk, aphasic individuals to "speak" and blind individuals to "see," the NHSA statement explained. "Have you ever imagined controlling objects with your thoughts, or conversing with machines through your mind?" the NHSA asked, in an apparent attempt to promote the technology. "As science fiction becomes reality, are you ready to embrace a cyber life?" There are already examples of successful applications of BCI technology in China. During the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, Olympic champion Jia Hongguang wore a smart bionic hand produced by Zhejiang-based BrainCo on his right hand during the torch relay. The "hand" incorporated non-invasive BCI technology, allowing his "steel hand" to stretch and grasp based on the intentions of his brain, thus successfully completing the torch relay. Domestic companies, such as tech start-up BrainUp, have developed devices such as electroencephalography (EEG) caps, which enable functions like typing with a person's thoughts and controlling smart home devices. The advent of portable EEG acquisition devices has also promoted the application of non-invasive BCI technology in more household and medical scenarios, said the NHSA, noting that in recent years, with the advancement of technologies such as artificial intelligence, neurobiology, and sensors, BCI technology has rapidly developed in China. China has long focused on BCI technology. The country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) listed "brain science and brain-like intelligence technology" as a national key frontier technology project. In February 2025, the National Medical Products Administration initiated the establishment of industry standards for BCI technology in medical devices. Beijing and Shanghai have also announced five-year plans to support the development of BCI technology. Meanwhile, BCI has become a highlight at major high-tech events. The 2025 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum), set to take place from March 27 to 31 in Beijing, will include a forum for the innovative development and application of BCI. China's non-invasive BCI technology has reached an advanced global level, achieving major breakthroughs in fields such as motor neurorehabilitation and manned spaceflight. In parallel, invasive BCI technology has entered clinical trials for applications, Ming Dong, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and vice-president of Tianjin University, told the Global Times on the sidelines of this year's two sessions. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Its no secret that the Trump administration has moved quickly over the past few months to dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs in both the federal government and the private sector. In a case thats flown under the radar, the Supreme Court may be about to hand the Trump administration its biggest weapon yet in the fight against DEIAthe possibility of criminal liability. The Trump administration has used various levers of governmental power to attack recent efforts to diversify institutions. The federal government has culled documents and policies to erase any mention of DEIA (sometimes leading to perverse results, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration dumping worker safety policies). The Department of Education circulated a Dear Colleague letter that (illegally) threatened schools that receive federal funding with the loss of federal funds if they maintain DEIA programs. The president issued (another legally dubious) executive order that threatened the federal funds of institutions that provide gender-affirming care for transgender individuals. The Department of Education (again, illegally) canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts with Columbia University based on the administrations claim that Columbia has failed to combat campus antisemitism. The Department of Defense canceled policies that prohibited contractors from running segregated facilities and ended programs on cultural awareness. Thats only a partial list. But as these examples suggest, the administration has often relied on federal funding as its weapon of choice in the fight against diversity and inclusion. That is a powerful tool: Every major educational institution receives large amounts of federal funds, and threatening those funds exerts considerable coercive pressure over schools. The same is true for health care facilities, many of which receive federal funds. Related From Slate Whats the Deal With Amy Coney Barrett Lately? Read More Yet many companies and corporations may not depend on federal funds in the same way that schools and health care facilities do. To get those entities in line, the administration will need something else, such as the threat of criminal liability. Strikingly, the new attorney general issued a memo on her first day ordering line prosecutors to look into potential criminal investigation of companies and institutions with DEIA policies, while the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia threatened Georgetown University over its supposed use and teaching of DEIA. Of course, these efforts do not currently pass constitutional muster. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats where the U.S. Supreme Court comes in. The court has before it a low-profile case, Kousisis v. United States, that could, if it goes the federal governments way, offer the federal government a plausible path to criminally threaten some number of individuals and entities that maintain DEIA policies and practices. Kousisis involves a question about the meaning of the federal criminal laws against wire fraud and mail fraud. Those laws, as their names suggest, generally prohibit using means of wire or mail to engage in fraud. But what does it mean to engage in fraud? In Kousisis, the allegation is that a contractor who partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation engaged in fraud by misrepresenting that the contractor would subcontract with minority-owned businesses. The federal government says thats fraud, whereas the defendant says its not because that term in the contract (requiring subcontracts with minority-owned businesses) did not have any economic valueit didnt affect the price of the contract. Advertisement Imagine that the federal government prevails in Kousisis, and can prosecute individuals and entities for allegedly making misrepresentations about contractual terms that do not affect the economic value of the contract. Also imagine that instead of a contract term that required a company to subcontract with minority-owned businesses, there is a contract term that requires the company not to have any DEIA programs or engage in any DEIA practices. The administration could then threaten criminal liability against any entity that has represented in any agreement that they do not have certain DEIA policies or practices based on whatever the Department of Justice deems to constitute such a program. The Trump administration has already taken a first step toward enabling the criminal prosecution of entities that continue to maintain DEIA practices, at least those that receive federal funds or federal contracts. In an early executive order, the administration required every agency to include in every contract or grant award a term requiring the contracting party or grant recipient to agree that it is in compliance, in all respects, with federal antidiscrimination lawsas the Trump administration understands them. And the Trump administration has repeatedly said it believes that federal antidiscrimination law, counterintuitively, prohibits DEIA practices and policies rather than requires them. Advertisement Advertisement No one observing the past few months could question that the Trump administration is intent on dismantling DEIA programs and civil rights in the process. And no one should doubt the administrations willingness to mine the depths of federal law to find any path to doing so. This past week, after all, the administration invoked a virtually unheard of, and almost never used, provision of federal immigration law to try to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident. If Kousisis allows the federal government to launch fraud prosecutions over contract terms with no economic value, we should expect the Trump administration to try to threaten, if not institute, criminal prosecutions as part of its fixation on DEIA. Kousisis has, thus far, flown under the radar. But the case represents a ticking time bomb in the Trump administrations aggressive fight against diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250313/smart-strategy-why-russia-needs-security-zone-in-kursk-region--1121635488.html Smart Strategy: Why Russia Needs Security Zone in Kursk Region Smart Strategy: Why Russia Needs Security Zone in Kursk Region Sputnik International Russian forces continue to advance on the retreating Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, where the city of Sudzha was recently liberated. 2025-03-13T14:09+0000 2025-03-13T14:09+0000 2025-03-13T14:09+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine zone security border https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e9/03/0d/1121634971_0:166:3050:1882_1920x0_80_0_0_e093afb1cd0ae23b076592a946d64711.jpg With the liberation of the Kursk region coming to a close, President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to create a security zone in the area. What is it all about?The goal is to protect Kursk from long-range Ukrainian artillery strikes, David Pyne, an EMP Task Force scholar and former US Department of Defense officer, tells Sputnik.The city of Sudzha in the Kursk region that has been liberated from the enemy is located about 10 km (6 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border.Apart from Kiev-controlled Sumy, Ukrainian areas across the border include cities such as Konotop, Belopolye, and Akhtyrka, which are also under Kievs control.Which weapons do Ukrainian forces use to attack Russian border areas?Which Weapons Do Ukrainian Forces Use to Attack Russian Border Areas?These include Western-supplied self-propelled guns:Also being used are:What Does It Mean?From a tactical and operational point of view, the Kursk front line should be moved at up to 100 km (62 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Kursk area. Creating a 100-km security zone stipulates the Russian army taking control of Sumy, Konotop, Belopolye, and Akhtyrka. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250127/ukraine-loses-over-190-soldiers-2-tanks-in-kursk-area-in-past-day-1121504846.html russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg security zone, kursk region, russian offensive, liberation of sudzha Majorca N and Corey Callahan wired the field in the $35,714 Mares Open Handicap Pace at Ballys Dover on Wednesday, March 12. Majorca N flashed her quick gait speed to secure an easy lead approaching the quarter, with Factory Girl (Victor Kirby), who upset her last week from the pocket, once again settling into the perfect trip. Setting sharp early fractions, Majorca N reached the opening quarter in :26 before backing down the half to :55.1 with a measured :29.1 second quarter. Disturbed Hanover (Barton Dalious), an earlier winner at this level, launched a first-over bid down the backstretch, while even-money favourite Incaseyoudidntknow (Jim Morand) followed with live second over cover. Meanwhile, Factory Girl waited patiently in the pocket, poised for a stretch drive. Despite the looming threats, Majorca N remained in control, confidently hitting three-quarters in 1:24.1. Down the lane, Factory Girl and Cindy Jo (Pat Berry) saved ground along the pylons but couldnt reel in the leader. Majorca N coasted home to victory, with Factory Girl settling for second and Cindy Jo grabbing the show spot. Majorca N, a 10-year-old Art Major-Cloudy Beach mare, won by two measured lengths in 1:52.2 and paid $4.40 for her efforts. She is trained by Dylan Davis who co-owns with Michael Casalino Jr. of Freehold, New Jersey. The featured event on Thursdays 12-race card is the $16,000 USD Winners Over condition pace in Race 10. Adam Twelve steps down in class to face Dreaming Of Lou and the speedy Sprocket. In addition, there will be a $1,129 Pick 5 carryover beginning in Race 6. Ballys Dover races Monday through Thursday with a post time of 4:30 pm. (With files from Ballys Dover) Barry Lefkowitz, 66, a longtime publicist and executive in harness racing and a driving force in the resurgence of the United States Harness Writers Association as the current Chair of the Board and immediate past president, and through his efforts involving the Dan Patch Awards Banquet, passed away overnight after battling cancer for the last year. Lefkowitz had recently attended the Dan Patch Banquet and the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) annual meetings held in Orlando, Florida, where he had actively taken part in the groups activities. He also had just been named to the U.S. Hall Of Fame Screening Committee. Lefkowitz received an early education in harness racing publicity from a Whos Who of the industrys publicists and marketers centering around Monticello Raceway in the Catskills of New York, then worked at Jackson Raceway (Michigan), Roosevelt Raceway in his native New York City (where he handled the many complex tasks of having everything ready for the world-famous Roosevelt International Trot as a showcase event), Scioto Downs (Ohio), Batavia Downs (New York) and Windsor Raceway (Ontario). He then went into the insurance industry as his primary occupation and did very well in that field. As first the Treasurer and then President of USHWA, Lefkowitz was a spearhead in the associations financial rejuvenation, reaching out to horsepeople throughout North America to assist in keeping the annual Dan Patch Awards Banquet as a major event on the harness calendar. Few could resist the pitch of a person who made every deal a win-win proposition with his combination of personal rapport and demonstration of the solid investment in the sport that a sponsorship of a Dan Patch Weekend event could be. In the recent past, Lefkowitz continued growing the sports history by leading a two-year pursuit which culminated in gathering all of the available information about the horses and humans picked as top of their age-sex-gait divisions, including Trotter, Pacer and Horse of the Year, for every year of racing since awards were inaugurated in 1948. Lefkowitz also was a prime mover in the digitization and restructuring of the Communicators Hall of Fame when that area of the Harness Racing Museum was running out of allotted room. "Barry was a vital part of harness racing and the United States Harness Writers Association for many years. His dedication to the organization is one of the major reasons it is in the position it is today," said Michael Carter, USHWA President. "Barry's infectious smile, wit and personality will be sorely missed by everyone." He is survived by his sister, Helaine Beeber, and predeceased by his parents, Rudolph and Marilyn. A service for Lefkowitz will take place on Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. at the New Montefiore Cemetery, which is located at 1180 Wellwood Avenue in West Babylon NY 11704. In lieu of flowers, those interested can make a donation in Barrys name to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Barry Lefkowitz. (United States Harness Writers Association) 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 According to Statistics Finland already for 160 years According to Statistics Finland is a phrase known to every Finn. It is the identifier and signature for reliable information. Statistics Finland has imparted information about Finnish society since 1865. For 160 years, we have been drawing the image of the nation. Our statistics have covered the full spectrum and cycle of life: births, deaths, education, work, leisure and trade. Statistics have always reflected time as well: In the 19th century, we produced statistics on gold panning and caring for the poor, now on artificial intelligence and the platform economy. Throughout the journey reliable information has helped make the right decisions to build prosperity, stability and wellbeing. We invite every Finn to join us for the anniversary celebrations and cherish our national treasure accurate information, which is the cornerstone of democracy and a trust-based society. We also ask everyone to enjoy, discover and be surprised by our statistics! Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe UiPath announced the acquisition of Peak, an AI-native company based in Manchester, United Kingdom. The Peak AI platform optimizes product inventory and pricing for businesses of all sizes and across a wide range of industries, providing customers with tangible outcomes quickly and without the need for large, in-house tech teams. With the acquisition of Peak, we are accelerating our mission to strengthen our vertical AI solutions strategy, said Daniel Dines, Founder and CEO of UiPath. When combined with the UiPath platform, Peaks exceptional purpose-built AI applications will enhance our ability to provide solutions that optimize industry-specific use cases and deliver incredible value to customers. Peak enables customers to develop AI workflows, process data, and provide predictions that are used to optimize critical business processes through APIs or integrated web applications. It also provides a new breed of AI-based decisioning applications that enable business users to make highly complex decisions such as planning inventory and optimizing product pricing decisions. Top Breaking News Of The Day Now as part of UiPath, Peaks solutions can scale globally and reach new industries, allowing customers and stakeholders the opportunity for continued growth and innovation. In turn, Peaks focus on accelerating AI adoption in sectors like retail and manufacturing will enable UiPath to accelerate market growth and deliver vertical-oriented, next-generation AI-driven agentic applications with intelligence powered by LLMs. Joining forces with UiPath is the perfect next step for Peak at this stage of our journey, and I couldnt be more excited. As automation and agentic AI converge, were entering a new era of possibilities for the enterprise, said Richard Potter, CEO & Co-Founder of Peak. UiPaths global reach, deep enterprise expertise, and unwavering commitment to AI innovation will enable us to accelerate our visionempowering businesses with specialized decision-making AIs at scale. We are incredibly proud of what weve built, and as part of UiPath, we look forward to delivering even greater value to our customers while pushing the boundaries of whats possible with AI in the enterprise. Peak will further enhance the UiPath agentic automation platform. For example, organizations must meet stringent requirements for complex calculations in a variety of business processes. Businesses require accurate analysis and predictions they can trust, and Peaks solutions will form the backbone of new Pricing and Inventory Agents for UiPath customers. Peaks broader Decision Intelligence capabilities will also factor into the orchestration capabilities in the UiPath agentic automation platform, allowing for autonomous processes based on contextual customer data. Customers of both UiPath and Peak will now have the opportunity to realize increased revenue and margin improvement with the combined technologies. UiPath and Peak have already been able to provide such opportunities for success through their existing partnership. For example, UiPath and Peak transformed the quoting pricing process for Heidelberg Materials, based in the United Kingdom and one of the worlds largest building materials manufacturers. The solution uses automation to collate data from hundreds of data points, leverages AI to determine an optimal quote for a given customer, and informs sales professionals. With this automated end-to-end process, Heidelberg Materials is experiencing much greater sales team efficiency through faster quotation times and increased conversion rates. Nokia announced that it has been selected by Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), to enhance and expand its IP backhaul network. Under the three-year agreement, Nokia will be deploying its cutting-edge IP/MPLS solutions across multiple telecom circles in India. With emerging data-hungry services like AI and immersive gaming, as well as the continued need for business video conferencing and access to digital services, connectivity demands are always increasing. To ensure people and enterprises can live and work without interruption, this vital upgrade will strengthen and future-proof the networks capacity and reliability. As part of this partnership, Nokia will supply its latest portfolio of IP/MPLS products, including the 7750 SR and 7250 IXR series, to modernize VILs transport network. The deployment will help improve VILs core, aggregation and access layers, creating a robust, scalable and future ready network to handle the increasing data traffic and deliver superior connectivity for both mobility and enterprise services. By incorporating the advanced solutions from Nokia, VIL aims to densify its network with a significant deployment of IP routers and replace its legacy networks. This upgrade will enable lower operational costs, faster deployment and seamless scalability for future technologies, ensuring a more efficient and cost-effective network infrastructure. The deployment also integrates advanced planning, design, installation, and migration services, supported by automation-based documentation. The upgraded network will address Vodafone Ideas growing demand for high-capacity and resilient connectivity while ensuring sustainability through reduced Opex and energy-efficient solutions. Top Breaking News Of The Day Partnering with Nokia truly aligns with our vision to enhance customer experience and support the growth of data traffic in the country. The state-of-the-art solutions from Nokia and their proven deployment capabilities will enable us to build a future ready transport network. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to delivering superior connectivity and services to our customers, said Jagbir Singh, CTO at Vodafone Idea Limited. We are delighted to partner with Vodafone Idea to enable the next phase of its network transformation. Our innovative IP/MPLS portfolio, in-depth understanding of 4G and 5G requirements and trusted performance across all network domains will ensure a high-performance network that delivers exceptional customer experiences for Vodafone Idea. This partnership underscores Nokias commitment to driving digitalization and supporting Indias telecom growth, added Prashant Malkani, Head of Network Infrastructure at Nokia India. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Meta's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the new system in January as he made a series of approaches to the incoming Trump administration. Social media giant Meta on Thursday announced it would begin testing its new "Community Notes" feature across its platforms in the United States next week, as it shifts away from third-party fact-checking toward a crowd-sourced approach to content moderation. Meta's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the new systempopularized by the Elon Musk-owned platform Xin January as he appeared to align himself with the incoming Trump administration, including naming a Republican as the company's head of public policy. The change of system, which Meta will start testing on Tuesday, came after years of criticism from supporters of President Donald Trump, among others, that conservative voices were being censored or stifled under the guise of fighting misinformation, a claim professional fact-checkers vehemently reject. Meta has also scaled back its diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram, particularly regarding certain forms of hostile speech. AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook's fact-checking scheme. The initiative will allow users of Facebook, Instagram and Threads to write and rate contextual notes on various content. Meta said approximately 200,000 potential contributors in the United States have already signed up across the three platforms. The new approach requires contributors to be over 18 with accounts more than six months old that are in good standing. During the testing period, notes will not immediately appear on content and the company will gradually admit people from the waitlist and thoroughly test the system before public implementation. 'Arbiter of truth' Studies have shown Community Notes can help dispel some falsehoods such as vaccine misinformation, but researchers caution that it works best for topics where there is broad consensus. Research also shows that Community Notes on X often rely on the findings of professional fact-checking programs, which Meta has scrapped in the United States. "Meta has long said it doesn't want to be an 'arbiter of truth,' but it has funded those arbiters for the past several years, and it's not clear whether anyone will step up to replace it," tech writer Casey Newton wrote in an online commentary. "If no one does, Community Notes will suffer both on X and on Meta's platforms." Meta's new approach ignores research that shows Community Notes users are often spurred by "partisan motives" and tend to over-target their political opponents, according to Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech. Meta, however, emphasized that the notes will only be published when contributors with differing viewpoints agree on their helpfulness. "This isn't majority rules," the company said. Moreover, unlike fact-checked posts that often had reduced distribution, flagged content with Community Notes will not face distribution penalties. Notes will be limited to 500 characters, must include supporting links and will initially support six languages commonly used in the United States: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Portuguese. "Our intention is ultimately to roll out this new approach to our users all over the world, but we won't be doing that immediately," the company said. "Until Community Notes are launched in other countries, the third party fact checking program will remain in place for them," it added. Meta said that it would not be "reinventing the wheel" and will use X's open-source algorithm as the basis of its system. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month warned that the rollbacks to fact-checking and moderation safeguards were "reopening the floodgates" of hate and violence online. 2025 AFP Surinames Minister of Foreign Affairs Albert Ramdin has been elected as the new secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) for a five-year term, urging multilateralism and calling on member states to be united in the fight against a changing global environment. Ramdin was elected by acclamation following the withdrawal of Ruben Ramirez, the Foreign Minister of Paraguay. He succeeds Luis Almagro, who was first elected as OAS Secretary General in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. Ramdin is the first Caribbean national to be elected to the top position at the OAS. "In a world that is quickly evolving, the foundation of a strong democracy continues to be the cornerstone of freedom, justice and human dignity, Ramdin told the 56th special session of the OAS General Assembly, at which he was elected. "We realise we exist in challenging times, constantly and rapidly changing roads and as we face these challenges of the present and look towards the future, I believe it is imperative that we listen to each other, understand our different perspectiveswhile looking for common grounds. He said that common ground could be found in multilateralism, security, governance based on the rule of law and democratic principles, respect for human rights, adding "these exist in unison, they are not separate from each other, without one, the other cannot be fully attained. Ramdin said he was counting on a "strong active relationship with member states "as we identify and execute the way forward. "As I stand here today, my commitment is absolutely to serve all member states of this organisation and I would like to reiterate our collective strength lies in our ability to work togetheras I said one cannot do it aloneunity requires collaboration, more specifically dialogue, consultation and collective resolve around the tableeven when we have different view points, Ramdin said. Ramdin, 67, who has served as Surinames top diplomat since 2020, and was previously the OAS assistant secretary general for two terms from 2005 through 2015, is pushing for greater efficiency in the organisation and highlighted the need for it to better support Haiti, which is facing a conflict against armed gangs with limited international aid. "I believe every crisis must bring an opportunity which we must capitalise on. I am absolutely invigorated by the support receive from many all over the world and look forward to a very effective and productive time together, he said. T&Ts Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, Dr Amery Browne, said he is pleased to have contributed to Ramdins election. "Minister Ramdin has been my close colleague as the Foreign Minister of Suriname and we have worked very well together on Caricom issues as fellow members of COFCOR (Council of Foreign and Community Relations). He has also worked very well with Energy Minister Stuart Young on energy-related collaboration. He is a great friend of Trinidad and Tobago and we are confident that he will provide the principled leadership that is needed at this time from the office of OAS Secretary General, said Browne. The new ECGC Flour Mill (Building) that was constructed by local contractors Sea Operations Ltd. with design work by Turkish firm Alapala. Exactly two (2) years after breaking ground, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines headquartered East Caribbean Group of Companies, ECGC, the leading exporter of flour, rice and animal feeds in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, OECS, has announced the completion of its new state-of-the-art flour mill, which will revolutionize regional flour production, from its headquarters in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Modern Design & Automation ECGC says that this significant investment strengthens its position as a market leader in the region and instantly makes the OECS region a more competitive and efficient flour producer. The company broke ground March 1st, 2023, and after February 19th, commissioning, ECGC successfully transitioned to full independently staffed operations, in the new Mill March 3rd, 2025. The impressive four-storey mill, designed by renowned Turkish firm Alapala, and equipped with cutting-edge automation technology from Brazilian manufacturer Sangati, surpasses the capacity of existing plants in St. Lucia, Grenada and Barbados. This expansion significantly boosts ECGCs production capabilities, ensuring greater efficiency and competitive pricing for customers across the OECS and Barbados. CEO at ECGC, J. Robert Cato stated, "This Easter 2025, households, bakeries, hotels and restaurants throughout the region will be enjoying delightful baked goods made with flour from our new mill. This investment underscores our commitment to delivering high-quality flour at the best possible value to our customers. Efficiency and scale Cato added, "We have built the biggest, most efficient, largest capacity flour mill in the Eastern Caribbean and no one will beat us on value to customer. He added, "This 5.5 million USD investment boosts our capacity by 35%, reduces electricity usage by 15% and we get more flour extracted from the wheat milling process in less time. With the completion of the new flour mill in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, ECGC is not resting and is pursuing strategic expansion and partnerships to further expand its footprint across the region. The company is exploring storage opportunities in St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda and St. Lucia, to establish new state-of-the-art warehousing to support feed and flour distribution centers. With the continued warming temperatures in the region occasioned by climate change, ECGC is moving towards climate-controlled warehouse investments with its distributors across the OECS. "We are engaged in promising discussions with governments, private sector stakeholders and investors across the OECS, explained Cato. "There is significant capital which is attracted to these markets, and we have gauged that there is enthusiasm for investment in these key locations, which will allow us to better serve our customers and enhance our operational scale. Dr. Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, headquarters of the ECCB, has not been drawn into making a public comment about the million-dollar ECCB Governors residence. ( Editors Note: The following is taken from the St. Kitts-Times of March 7, 2025.) St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Terrance Drew, has opted to withhold any direct comment on the spiraling controversy surrounding the astronomical cost of the official residence being constructed for the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). The unfolding scandal has ignited public outrage and political tension across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The issue erupted into the spotlight this week after a leaked letter from St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, addressed to the Chairman of the ECCU Monetary Council, surfaced in the media. The explosive correspondence raised pointed questions about the exorbitant price tag attached to the lavish residence project, which has reportedly ballooned to millions of dollars. However, when pressed for a response on the matter, Prime Minister Drew remained guarded, stating only that the ECCB Monetary Council and the ECCB would issue an official statement in due course. His silence has fueled widespread speculation and mounting calls for transparency from both the public and opposition figures, who view the unfolding saga as a glaring example of fiscal mismanagement at the highest levels. The lack of accountability surrounding the project has sparked a regional firestorm, with many questioning whether the ECCB leadership and its governing council are acting in the best interest of the people they serve. As the scandal continues to unfold, the region awaits the much-anticipated statement from the ECCB Monetary Council and whether it will provide the answers the public demands or simply add fuel to the flames of discontent. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, in addressing a PNP Forum in Jamaica, declared that he was prepared to give up his US Visa to allow Cubans to continue working in SVG. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, has declared his willingness to surrender his U.S. visa to facilitate the continued presence of Cuban doctors in his country. This follows the US governments announcement about visa restrictions for public officials from countries benefiting from the Cuban labour export programme. Dr. Gonsalves was speaking at an opposition Peoples National Party (PNP) forum at the Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica, on Sunday. In a bold stand for healthcare in the Caribbean, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines expressed his willingness to sacrifice his U.S. visa to maintain the presence of Cuban doctors in his country - medical professionals who play a vital role in the local healthcare system, particularly like delivering essential services like hemodialysis at the Medical and Diagnostic Centre. Dr. Gonsalves declaration comes in response to recent announcements by the U.S. government. The U.S. now aims to restrict visas for foreign government officials, particularly targeting those who support or benefit from Cubas extensive medical program. This includes current and former Cuban government officials and individuals involved in the Cuban labor export initiative featuring medical missions. The policy expansion signals potential repercussions not just for officials but also for their immediate family members. The presence of Cuban doctors in St. Vincent has been critical to providing necessary medical care, especially considering the limited local resources. The Prime Minister underscored this during his speech, emphasizing that the loss of these professional services could have dire consequences for the population. The hemodialysis treatment currently provided for 60 patients at the Medical and Diagnostic Centre could be jeopardized without the support from the Cuban health brigade. "If it is determined that you have to take away my visa and Eloises (his wife) visa, I want to say this publicly. Im not looking for a fight with anybody, but we have to be honest and open about the hemodialysis, which we do in Saint Vincent at the modern Medical and Diagnostic Centre with these 60 persons. We told the Cubans there: I will not be able to offer that service. So, does anybody expect that because I want to keep a visa, I will let 60 persons from the poor and working people die? It will never happen. He indicated a readiness to challenge perceived injustices from foreign powers while defending what he sees as a humanitarian initiative beneficial to the SVG people. In this regard he referenced: "The Secretary of State of the United States of America has issued a statement that countries, which are complicit in his words, with trafficking persons involving Cuban professional, will lose their passport, their visas, and their families, and stated that his country was not in any way involved in the exploitation of any Cubans, comprising doctors and engineers, and that the Cubans themselves are not involved in any such practices. Photos courtesy Embassy of Taiwan, Kingstown On February 27th, 2025, the Taiwan-based charitable organization "TX Foundation held a series of ceremonies under the leadership of its president, Mrs. Liza Lin. Together with CEO Ms. Freda Miriklis and secretary Ms. Anna Hsieh, they attended three ceremonies: the completion of a culinary vocational classroom and equipment at West St. George Secondary School; donation of assistive devices for visually-impaired at Fair Hall Governmental School; a science laboratory and equipment inauguration ceremony at Troumaca Ontario Secondary School. The total value of the donations amounted to nearly USD 110,000. Hon. Curtis King, Minister of Education, along with H.E. Fiona Fan, Ambassador of R.O.C. (Taiwan) to SVG co-hosted these three ceremonies, which were attended by senior educational officers as well as the principals and hundreds of teachers and students from three schools. Hon. Keisal Peters, Minister of Social Development and Hon. Carlos James, Minister of Tourism, respectively attended the ceremony at West St. George Secondary School and Troumaca Ontario Secondary School, witnessing the donations. Ambassador Fan expressed appreciation for the charitable efforts of the TX Foundation in retrofitting classrooms and donating educational equipment. She emphasized that this Taiwanese foundation helps to foster mutual understanding and interaction between the people of Taiwan and SVG. The bilateral friendship will endure, and she encouraged the students and faculty of the schools to actively apply for Taiwanese government scholarships to pursue degrees in Taiwan in the future. Minister King appreciated that TX Foundation practically improved the education in SVG in representation of SVG government. He underscored the importance of technical and vocation educational training (TVET), hoping students to acquire proficiency in a particular field through education. He believed students from these three schools would keep TX Foundation in mind when using classrooms and equipment. Chester King is believed to be in police custody in his native St. Lucia, where he is a person of interest in several heinous murders. Up to press time Wednesday, pertinent questions remained unanswered, even after the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Forces (RSVGPF) recent response to the removal of St. Lucian national Chester King from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in defiance of a Court order on February 12. King, who was facing four immigration charges, had pleaded not guilty to the charges when he appeared at the Kingstown Magistrates Court on February 12, and Prosecutor Shamrock Pierre objected to bail. Senior Magistrate Tammika McKenzie upheld his objection and ordered that King be remanded until February 24 for bail review. However, when the matter was recalled on February 24, King could not be produced, and the Court heard that he was removed from the state. This development prompted Magistrate McKenzie to conduct an inquiry to determine who gave instructions for King to be removed and how it was done. The inquiry was held on February 24 and was expected to continue the following day but was discontinued on that day, after McKenzie granted an application by Pierre to have the charges withdrawn under section 68 of the Criminal Procedure Code based on instruction from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). However, to date, pertinent questions surrounding Kings removal are still unknown, notwithstanding the release by the RSVGPF, dated March 7, 2025. The release stated, "During the time of his (Kings) detention, the RSVGPF received credible information from the Royal St. Lucia Police Force that Mr. King was wanted in that country (St. Lucia) in connection to several heinous murders. A warrant for the arrest of Mr. King, issued by the High court of St. Lucia was dispatched to the authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The release added that, "In an effort to facilitate the suspects appearance before the High Court in St. Lucia, Mr. King was repatriated back to his home country. The release continued, "Although some missteps were made during the process, none of them were done out of disrespect for the Court. This was done purely out of the exigency of the situation, and the national security concerns associated with the presence of the wanted suspect in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. During the March 24 inquiry held in relation to Kings removal, Supt. of Prisons Dwayne Bailey told the Court that the prison acted on a production order for King to be handed over to the police, so that he could be sent back to St. Lucia. Bailey said that he had had information that King was wanted in St. Lucia for "attempted murder. Deputy Commissioner of Police Frankie Joseph told the inquiry that he authorized the preparation of the production order after he was contacted by the Prison boss. There being no Magistrate available at the time, he asked Justice of the Peace Kenneth John to sign the document, which John did. Deputy CoP Joseph said he had no knowledge of the identity of the police officers who went to the prison to collect King or who sent them. When THE VINCENTIAN asked Prosecutor Pierre on February 25 why the Prosecution withdrew the immigration charges, he said it made no sense continuing the matter because King was already removed from the state. Senior Immigration Officer Veronica Harry told the inquiry on Monday that the Chief Immigration Officer Beverly Walker told her that she (Walker) acted on instructions from the Attorney General (AG) to withdraw the charges. But when THE VINCENTIAN contacted Attorney General Grenville Williams, he denied the allegation and made it clear that "the withdrawal of charges lies squarely within the Jurisdiction of the Direction of Public Prosecutions (DPP). UP to press time Wednesday, efforts by THE VINCENTIAN to reach the Royal St. Lucia Police Force by phone were unsuccessful. You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). Legal protections for mothers and renewed efforts from civil society are persuading more and more parents not to sent their disabled babies to orphanages. From Medialab.am. Lets take her to an orphanage, then wait and see: if she becomes human in a year, we will bring her back [home]. This is how the grandmother of little Alina, recently born in a maternity hospital in Yerevan, reacted when she learned that the child had Down syndrome. Alina is the third child for the Torosyans, a family from a village in Syunik, the southernmost province in Armenia. Their first child also has health problems, and so the grandmother persuaded the parents to take Alina to an orphanage and abandon the baby. The childs 38-year-old mother was in despair. She knew nothing about Down syndrome and was afraid of what was in store if she kept the child. I wasnt expecting this. It was very difficult for us; we did not know how the villagers would react, the mother says abruptly. Alinas story ended happily. After talks with specialists from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Bari Mama charity, the parents changed their minds about sending her to an orphanage. The experts explained to them that Down syndrome is not a death sentence and that the child needs plenty of parental attention. Mothers usually drop the idea of placing their children in an orphanage when they receive clear information from specialists about the childs condition, according to Anahit Kalantaryan, head of the childrens department at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. When parents realize that their child is a little bit special, they are reluctant to abandon him or her. In fact, we all have something special within ourselves, says Kalantaryan. The Power of Persuasion Bari Mama tries to persuade parents to take their children home from institutions, says Marine Adulyan, the charitys director. Because the child needs parental love very much. It was an indescribable feeling when, more than our team, the ministry was fighting with all its might for these children to live in their families, she says, referring to the new state policy that aims to keep children in their biological families. Illustrations by Vahe Nersesyan, used with permission The number of children abandoned by their parents has been falling. Labor Ministry data show that in 2018, parents in Armenia abandoned 33 children, and 34 in 2019, but only one up until early March 2020. Bari Mama, which has been assisting families and children since 2014, keeps its own statistics. According to Adulyan, the number of abandoned children has fallen from 70-80 a year in the first years after the group began, to 35-40 per year now. Key to this positive change which has so far seen about 150 children returned to their biological parents are the successful cooperation between the state and NGOs, and the state policy of keeping the child in the biological family, Adulyan says. When a child returns to his or her family, it is not as though we forget and sever ties with them. We keep track, we call, we inquire about the problems they have. I hope the social services will develop in our country, and those families will no longer need us, she says about the work of her organization. The organization also runs Bari Tnak, a center in Yerevan for people with disabilities and those in need of social and psychological support. Under Stress Who or what incites mothers to abandon their disabled children? Every familys situation, and every childs story, is different. According to the Labor Ministry, no studies have been done on why parents abandon children, but the experience of Bari Mama suggests that parents tend to take action if they receive no psychological support and feel unable to care for the child unaided. As several high-profile cases in Armenia in recent years suggest, it is not uncommon for relatives or health-care providers to urge mothers to give up their children. Ingrained public opinion also can play a big role in the mothers refusal to keep a newborn with problems. Imagine a parent having a child who, let us say, does not look the way they dreamed of. A painful phase begins: the parent wonders why he or she should go through so many problems? And it is at that moment that one must choose ones words very carefully. More caution is required from medical personnel, as it often happens that doctors start advising the parent to abandon the child, saying, leave it, and you will lead a better life, Adulyan notes. Born without hands and a foot, Gagik (the name has been changed) was abandoned by his parents in 2014, at the urging of medical personnel. His parents were depressed and suffering from severe psychological distress. Doctors had failed to detect the childs physical problems during pregnancy. After the birth, the mother gave in to the urge to abandon him. The parents left for Russia to recover from the stressful situation. Gagik stayed in the orphanage. That was when Bari Mama was created through the efforts of Marina Adulyan and a group of like-minded women. And a year after leaving the child, in 2015, with the help of Marina and the others, the parents by then returned to Armenia were able to take Gagik home from the orphanage. Finally, everything fell into place, and the baby returned to the family, says Adulyan. When the baby was born and when it was so important for the parents to feel that they were not alone and would be able to overcome this ordeal instead of helping, the doctors urged them to abandon the child, as the parents would not have been able to take care of the baby. The mother was in deep shock, the father was lost in despair, and the people who had taken the Hippocratic Oath urged them to take the worst step. Unfortunately, this is what Armenian reality looks like. And the health-care workers are also to blame for the bitter fate of the children in orphanages. Today, Gagik, now 5 years old, is growing up with his parents, who share their childs success, giving him love and tenderness. Marina mentions that Gagiks father often sends videos capturing the boy jumping, playing, and delighting his parents with a loud laugh. Should Child Abandonment be a Crime? Early this year, the Labor Ministry proposed tighter penalties for inciting or forcing an individual to give up their parental rights, including the possibility of prison time. The government approved the bill in February and sent it to parliament for debate. During a cabinet meeting where she outlined the proposed changes, Labor Minister Zaruhi Batoyan said violations of parental rights pose a serious challenge for Armenia. She also noted many statements from the public about parents, especially mothers of newborns with Down syndrome and other health problems, being taken advantage of or deceived into giving up parental rights. Such actions threaten the childs right to live in the biological family; they contradict the state policy of strengthening the family and the principles of mutual assistance, responsibility of all the members of the family, and the inadmissibility of any arbitrary interference with family affairs, Batoyan said. As part of the states strategy to reduce the numbers left in orphanages, in April 2019 the Labor Ministry, Health Ministry, and Bari Mama signed a trilateral memorandum on preventing child abandonment. Their goal is to stop the practice of institutionalizing children with health problems and ensure the childs right to live in a family. The memorandum also foresees training medical personnel who, as noted above, often encourage women to give up their disabled children and recommends placing psychologists in maternity hospitals to counsel mothers and other relatives to prevent child abandonment. The governments campaign against child abandonment has also seenthe Labor Ministry open day-care centers in 26 localities, with four more centers planned to open soon. Children with certain problems can receive professional help in these centers, the ministrys Kalantaryan says. If need be, staff will travel to visit children in need of assistance, she adds, which can also take the form of financial help or food and clothing. Families who take their children back from institutions are eligible for some state aid in the form of food baskets suitable for the childs age and a refund of electricity bills for one year. However, Adulyan of Bari Mama points out that these children may still face a lack of understanding, particularly in remote areas. Society is guided by the stereotype that a child with a disability is sick, and people are often ashamed to keep such a child, she says. No matter how much we raise awareness about disability issues and the need for inclusion, still they say that they do not want a sick child at home because it makes them ashamed in front of relatives and friends, she says. Karine, 45, and her newborn son have been living at Bari Tnak for a long time. Her third son has Down syndrome. The father is in prison, and the other members of the family do not want to accept Karine with her beloved baby. My relatives will not let me in the house; they say, either the child or us. My husband is unable to help us from a distance, Karine says. I am in a difficult situation. We are rejected, but I will not give up my child, no matter what they say. I will raise my little miracle. Update: On 19 June, the Armenian Parliament adopted a bill making it a criminal offense to incite or force a woman to renounce her parental rights. Violators are liable to fines of up to 500,000 drams ($1,000) and prison terms of from several months to four years if the accused is a member of the womans family, or up to five years and deprivation of some working rights in the case of a health worker. This article originally appeared on the Armenian news outlet Medialab, as part of the Strengthening Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia project, funded by Internews. Transitions has done some editing for length and style. Medialab was founded in 2015 with the initial goal of promoting political cartooning in Armenia as a means of flagging important social issues, such as domestic violence, gender equality, and equal opportunities, among others. Translated by Amalya Soghomonyan. Bilateral trade between Trinidad and Tobago and India reached a record TT$1.2 billion (US$368.96 million) in the last fiscal year, according to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She disclosed this as she announced that her Government aims to expand exports to tap into Indias market of 1.4 billion consumers, and will pursue a Partial Scope Trade Agreementthe first from a Caricom countrywhile laying the foundation for a new Bilateral Investment Treaty. This years Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) results have revealed a concerning learning gap among primary school students, Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath has said. Speaking at a recognition ceremony for the top five performers in the 2025 SEA yesterday at the ministrys head office in Port of Spain, Dowlath said the data will be analysed for better performance moving forward. Last Tuesday, Gwynne Dyer headlined his Express column Stupid old men. You could substitute all sorts of adjectives before the words, old men, to describe the characteristics of the cohort that has had the most influence on the world we inhabit. Greedy, self-righteous, racist, arrogant, selfish, a multitude of negative words readily suit the clique. At first, angrily thinking about the subject of todays column, I was focusing on Caribbean men in leadership positions who have been sleazy lechers, foisting themselves on hapless females and males with impunity. Frigates conduct astern replenishment maneuver China Military Online) 09:10, March 13, 2025 Frigate Yongzhou (Hull 628), attached to a naval frigate flotilla under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, engages in an astern replenishment training during a multi-subject training exercise on February 12, 2025. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Zhang Bin) Frigate Tongling (Hull 629), attached to a naval frigate flotilla under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, engages in an astern replenishment training during a multi-subject training exercise on February 12, 2025. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Zhang Bin) A frigate attached to a naval frigate flotilla under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command engages in an astern replenishment training during a multi-subject training exercise on February 12, 2025. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Zhang Bin) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) PHOENIX The surviving spouse of woman killed in a mass shooting in Tucson after an eviction effort went bad, has no legal right to sue the estate of the constable involved, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The lawsuit against Deborah Martinez-Garibay, who also was shot and killed, alleged that she was grossly negligent in carrying out a 2022 eviction at an apartment complex near East Fort Lowell Road and North Dodge Boulevard, the court said in a unanimous decision. The eviction went sideways when the occupant, Gavin Lee Stansell, opened fire killing Martinez-Garibay, apartment manager Angela Fox, and bystander Elijah Miranda, before Stansell killed himself. Arizona law recognizes that those performing judicial functions have immunity, even in cases of gross negligence, said Justice John Lopez, writing for the court. That immunity can disappear if there is evidence of misconduct. And that, the court defined, as intentionally or otherwise failing with the courts command to execute the warrant of eviction. The problem here, said Lopez, is that William Fox, the apartment managers husband never actually alleged what the court considers misconduct, even though an autopsy of the constable showed evidence of alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine and other drugs in her system. And all that, the justices said, leaves Fox with no legal cause of action. Less clear is whether the decision also ends efforts to sue Pima County over whether it negligently supervised the constable. Strictly speaking, Thursdays ruling appears to leave in place a lower court ruling which concluded that if Martinez-Garibay is shielded by judicial immunity, then the county cannot be held liable for her acts. But David Abney, an attorney representing William Fox, said there is precedent for suing an employer which is what Pima County was even if there is no legal claim against the employee. And he said there may be a basis to charge that the county was negligent in things like hiring, training, retention and supervision of the constable. The ruling is significant because it would appear to give broad latitude for constables to act with gross negligence and counties to shield themselves from liability for those acts without fear of being sued. Under Arizona law, constables are elected officials who, along with their deputies, have some of the same legal authority as a county sheriff. But the state Constable Ethics, Standards and Training Board which also was sued in this case but, like the county, apparently will escape liability said they generally work only within their own precincts. And their prime duties involve executing writs of eviction, serving orders of protection, serving civil and criminal summonses and subpoenas, and providing security to justice courts. They are required to undergo basic training. Whats notable is that Arizona law says that both constables and sheriffs deputies can be sued but only if there is any misconduct in the service of writs or paperwork. Lopez acknowledged that statute does not define misconduct. So the justices, on their own, searched through various sources, including dictionaries, to come up with their own as it applies to constables, declaring that it means an intentional violation of an applicable rule, standard or norm. Consequently, under the statute, misconduct involves a constables willful or intentional failure to carry out a court directive, law, or rule, rather than negligence in the manner of discharging such duties, Lopez wrote. The justices acknowledged that Fox, in filing suit, alleges that the constable should have never attempted this dangerous eviction alone or with a hapless civilian tagging along. But Lopez said that falls under the definition of gross negligence A party is grossly negligent if they know, or have reason to know, facts that would lead a reasonable perform to recognize their conduct created an unreasonable risk of bodily harm and involved a high probability of substantial harm, he wrote. And he said that does not fit the definition of misconduct, the only exception to the immunity otherwise provided to constables for their actions. Not everyone is lucky enough to work at a great workplace. If you do, its worthy of recognition. Be rewarded as a Top Workplace in metro Tucson. For the third year, Tucson Media Partners and the Arizona Daily Star will honor outstanding workplace culture in the region. Any organization with 35 or more employees in the region is eligible to compete for a Top Workplaces award. Standout companies will be honored in fall 2025. It all starts with a nomination. The deadline for nominations is April 25. Anyone can nominate any organization, whether it is public, private, nonprofit, a school, or even a government agency. To nominate an employer or for more information on the awards, just go to https://tucson.com/nominate or call (520) 542-2109. There is no cost to participate. To qualify as a Tucson Top Workplace, employees evaluate their workplace using a short 25-question survey that takes just a few minutes to complete. Companies will be surveyed through May. Energage, the Pennsylvania-based research partner for the project, conducts Top Workplaces surveys for media in 65 markets nationwide and surveyed more than 2 million employees at more than 8,000 organizations in the past year. Earning a Top Workplaces award is a distinctive mark of excellence, setting companies apart in a recognizable way, said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. Top Workplaces embody the highest standards, and this award, rooted in authentic employee feedback, should be a point of immense pride. For the 2024 awards, more than 500 organizations in metro Tucson were invited to survey their employees. Based on employee survey feedback, 19 earned recognition as Top Workplaces. Two Fresh Blood pilots, Urvi Went to an All Girls School and Westerners, will premiere Wednesday 9 April on ABC iview. Both pilots are part of the ABC and Screen Australia joint initiative which supports emerging Australian talent and innovative storytelling. Both will also screen on ABC TV. Urvi Went to an All Girls School screens Wednesday 9 April at 9pm on ABC. Urvi Went To An All Girls School is a coming-of-age comedy about one teen girls survival, with disastrous and hilarious consequences. Urvi (Urvi Majumdar) is an awkward, unpopular 16-year-old girl entering Year 11, at the painfully academic, selective public school Grogan Girls High. She desperately wants to become a famous actress, and dreams of being noticed by Hot Ryan, the hottest Year 12 at Grogan Boys. Urvis school year looks doomed. Her little sister Maya has skipped a grade and joined forces with Urvis school bullies, her parents want her to become a doctor and the only boy she knows is her dad. That is until a Grogan Girls alumni turned soap actress named Sophie turns up out of the blue to direct the Grogan Girls and Boys combined school musical. Urvi finally sees a path to stardom and sacrifices her other subjects (and her sanity) to pursue her dream. Westerners screens Wednesday 16 April at 9pm on ABC. Westerners follows three young diaspora adults navigating the chaos of life in Western Sydney, where even the simplest tasks spiral into the surreal. Jackie (Natasha Cheng), a struggling artist, makes a deal with the Devil to cure her creative block. Taz (Sanaa Shaik) must choose between living with share house mould or even worse: moving back in with her parents. Dulla (Ubai Dahoud) cant walk down the street without being chased by a horde of women who all want to play matchmaker. Between existential crises and absurd misadventures, theyre just trying to live their version of an ordinary life. Production credit: Commissioned by the ABC, Urvi Went to an All Girls School is a Buxstock Entertainment production. Principal production funding from Screen Australia. Created by Urvi Majumdar. Directed by Nina Oyama. Produced by Lauren Nichols. Written by Urvi Majumdar & Nina Oyama. ABC Executive Producer Rowdie Walden. ABC Head of Entertainment: Rachel Millar Production Credit: Commissioned by the ABC, Westerners is a Havent You Done Well Productions. Principal production funding from Screen Australia. Created by Munasib Hamid and Kevin Duo Han. Directed by Munasib Hamid. Written by Kevin Duo Han and Mark Mariano. Produced by Monique Mulcahy. Executive Producers Rowdie Walden for ABC and Georgia Mappin, Sam Lingham, Max Miller, Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly, Thomas Zahariou and Zachary Ruane for Havent You Done Well Productions. ABC Head of Entertainment: Rachel Millar TCN News Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who also the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar, on March 11 praised Indias Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb (inclusive culture), emphasising the role of iftar gatherings and Ramadan fasting in fostering communal harmony. Support TwoCircles Addressing an iftar event organised by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Bihar, at a hotel in the state capital of Patna, Yadav stated, India is a model of the Ganga-Jamuni culture, where people of different religions live together in harmony. Ramadan fasting and iftar are crucial in strengthening social bonds. He stressed the importance of maintaining peace and harmony for Bihars and the nations progress. Only in a peaceful environment can Bihar and the country progress. He also referred to the message of Islam, saying that it ensures equal opportunities for the weak and poor, and urged the attendees to uphold these principles. He highlighted the approaching festival of Holi and called for unity and brotherhood during the celebrations. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Kumhrar, Arun Kumar Sinha, said that his inspiration for organising iftar gatherings came from the late former BJP MP and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi. I accepted the invitation from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and rushed to attend the iftar here, Sinha said. He expressed his joy at seeing leaders from various political parties and religious backgrounds unite for the event. Jamaats Ameer-e-Halqa Maulana Rizwan Ahmad Islahi talked about the countrys diversity, stressing the need for love, empathy and mutual support. In a country of 1.4 billion people, where 1,700 languages are spoken and over 6,000 castes and communities exist, all religions coexist. Only by fostering brotherhood can India prosper. Hatred and discrimination will weaken the country, he said. He further noted that occasions like Eid, Ramadan, Holi, Diwali and iftar gatherings help bring people together. On the significance of iftar, Ahmad stated, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said fasting brings two moments of happiness one at iftar. He described Ramadan as a time for joy and emphasised that the holy Quran, revealed in this month, belongs to all humanity. No single community should claim exclusivity over it, he said. He also addressed the root causes of conflict, attributing them to hunger and unrestrained desires. He noted that fasting curbs these issues and, if observed sincerely, could bring peace to the world. Ramadan is a month of compassion, where empathy for the suffering of others is cultivated, he added. For four years while President Joe Biden was in office, Texas lawmakers passed a variety of state laws aimed at curbing illegal immigration into the state and approved spending billions of Texans taxpayer dollars in an effort to secure the border. The Legislature created a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for people convicted of human smuggling. Lawmakers passed a law that gave state and local police the authority to arrest people suspected of being undocumented it has not gone into effect while its constitutionality is litigated. And legislators have plowed $11 billion into Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbotts ongoing border crackdown that deployed state police and Texas National Guard along the states nearly 1,300 miles of border with Mexico. Now with President Donald Trump back in office, lawmakers are not relenting. They have filed dozens of bills that could further cement the states role in immigration enforcement long the sole responsibility of the federal government should they become law. The proposals range from trying to force cooperation with federal immigration authorities to giving property tax breaks to border landowners who allow the state to build border barriers on their property. Forcing 287(g) partnerships Lawmakers have filed at least nine similar bills that would require local law enforcement agencies enter into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under a 1996 federal immigration law, ICE can delegate local authorities to carry out certain types of immigration enforcement in local jails where officers can be deputized to question inmates about their immigration status and to serve administrative warrants and in the field, where officers can be permitted to question people about their immigration status through a model the Trump administration has revived after it fell into disuse following allegations it led to racial profiling. Such programs serve as force multipliers for ICE, an agency of about 6,000 officers with limited resources, according to the federal agency, immigration lawyers and policing experts. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have called for Texas authorities to be required to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. While specifics vary, most of the proposed state laws share the same idea: Require local law enforcement to request entering into partnership agreements with ICE known as 287(g) agreements a reference to the legal statute from which they originate. Senate Bill 8, filed by Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston and Georgetown Republican Sen. Charles Schwertner, would require sheriffs in counties with more than 100,000 residents to request a 287(g) agreement with ICE. Among the criticisms of 287(g) agreements is the potential extra costs for counties that devote resources to processing and jailing immigrants and face potential legal liabilities if an officer is accused of wrongdoing, such as violating a persons civil rights. The bill would establish grants for sheriffs in counties with fewer than 1 million residents, but not for sheriffs of large Texas counties. Patrick designated the bill a top priority of his for the legislative session even before it was filed. As of early March, 43 Texas law enforcement agencies already had 287(g) agreements in place, the majority of which are for the jail programs. Only the attorney generals office, Nixon Police Department and sheriffs in Goliad and Smith counties had signed 287(g) agreements for the task force model that grants police limited immigration enforcement authority while conducting their routine duties. Offsetting the costs of immigration Lawmakers are also looking at ways to study the costs of illegal immigration. State Sen. Mayes Middletons Senate Bill 825 would task the Texas Department of Public Safety with conducting a study on the economic, environmental and financial impact of illegal immigration. The state last performed such a study in 2006, when then-state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn found that undocumented immigrants contributed more to Texas than they cost the state. Meanwhile, House Bill 2587 by state Rep. Mike Olcott, R-Fort Worth, seeks to study the cost of providing hospital services to undocumented immigrants. Last summer, Abbott ordered hospitals to start asking patients for their citizenship status. Hospitals cant refuse to provide medical treatment based on a patients answer. Rep. Ryan Guillen, a Republican from Rio Grande City, has proposed expanding a fund the state established in 2023 to reimburse homeowners in border counties whose property has been damaged by border crime which can include everything from migrants cutting fences while passing through their land to damage from high-speed police pursuits of suspected migrants and smugglers that end in a crash. House Bill 246 would expand the potential sources of revenue for the fund so the attorney generals office, which administers it, could accept donations, gifts and other revenue designated by the Legislature, which appropriated $18 million in state money for the fund over the 2023-24 biennium. Identifying undocumented immigrants Lawmakers also have introduced bills that would require companies to use E-Verify a federal government website that helps businesses determine whether an immigrant is legally allowed to work in the U.S. if they want to bid for state contracts. House Bill 1308 would require state agencies to only award contracts to businesses that participate in E-Verify. The proposal would also apply to subcontractors hired by a company with a state contract. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, would also suspend the business license of any business that contracts with the state if they stopped using E-Verify during their state contract. As part of Teppers bill, people who suspect a state agency has hired an undocumented person can send information to the Texas Attorney Generals office for possible investigation. Like Teppers proposal, House Bill 2744, sponsored by state Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, would require all state contractors to use E-Verify, and would also impose a $10,000 fine for each undocumented worker a state contractor is caught employing. Border wall: tax breaks and eminent domain For the past four years, the state has approached border landowners seeking permission to build barriers along the 1,200-mile-long Texas-Mexico border. But the state has faced a challenge in finding enough willing landowners to lease part of their land to the state. House Bill 247, introduced by state Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City, would give a property tax break to landowners who have allowed state or federal border barriers to be built on their property. The proposal says the state tax break would be available to any landowners who allow the state or the federal government to install a wall, barrier, fence, wire, road trench, technology or any type of infrastructure to surveil or impede the movement of persons or objects crossing the Texas-Mexico border. Another proposal, Senate Bill 316 by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would allow the state to use eminent domain to take private property for border wall construction. The proposal does not say how much money a private landowner would get if the government seizes their property. But under Texas law, the owner would receive adequate compensation. This story originally appeared on https://www.texastribune.org/. The Russian president said he supported the US 30-day ceasefire proposal, but warned: 'There are issues that we need to discuss' Russian president Vladimir Putin visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Vladimir Putin has said that Russia agrees with US proposals for a ceasefire in Ukraine but warned that many details needed to be sorted out, including dealing with the root causes of the conflict. The Russian president said he might call his US counterpart Donald Trump to discuss the issue. "We support the idea of ending this conflict by peaceful means," he said. Trump said on Wednesday that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which was thrashed out in Saudi Arabia earlier this week with Ukraine. Trump's Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow to meet Putin and begin talks. ADVERTISEMENT "We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities," Putin said. "But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis." "The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it. But there are issues that we need to discuss. And I think we need to talk to our American colleagues as well." Read the key developments from Yahoo's media partners below. Click the headlines to skip ahead > Putin says Russia may back US ceasefire > Putins Russia 'menacing Britains skies, waters and streets' > Russia to build 100,000 drones a year on NATO's doorstep > Putin wears military gear in surprise visit > Poland urges US to move nuclear weapons to its territory ADVERTISEMENT > What Putin wants in exchange for ceasefire and will Trump accept? Putin says Russia may back US ceasefire - but questions remain Vladimir Putin has said Russia agrees to an end to fighting in Ukraine, but "lots of questions" remain over proposals for a 30-day ceasefire. The Russian president thanked Donald Trump for "paying so much attention to regulating the conflict in Ukraine" and said he needs to speak with his American counterpart. Mr Putin said: "We agree with the proposals for the ceasefire, but our position is based on the assumption that the ceasefire would lead to long-term peace, something that would remove the initial reasons for the crisis." Read the full story from Sky News Putins Russia 'menacing Britains skies, waters and streets' Keir Starmer speaking in Kingston upon Hull on Thursday. (PA) Vladimir Putins Russia is already menacing Britains skies, waters, streets and national security, Sir Keir Starmer has warned. ADVERTISEMENT The Prime Minister stressed that failure to force the Russian president to end his war in Ukraine would be a choke hold on Europes future. We know some basics: Putins appetite for conflict and for chaos is already there, and it will only grow, he said on a visit to Hull, East Yorkshire. And Russia is already menacing our skies, our waters, our streets and our national security. Read the full story from the Standard Russia set to build 100,000 drones a year on NATO's doorstep Belarus said on Thursday that it's open to hosting a Russian factory that can build up to 100,000 drones yearly, expanding Moscow's production to NATO's backyard. Russian representatives, including Maxim Oreshkin the Kremlin's deputy chief of staff proposed the idea at a drone exhibition in Minsk on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT "This is a huge prospect for us," Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko, who attended the event with Oreshkin, said in a statement from his office. Read the full story from Insider Watch: Putin wears military gear in surprise visit President Vladimir Putin visited the western Russian region of Kursk on March 12, as Russian forces claim they had recaptured territory from the Ukrainian military. Footage released by the Kremlin shows the Russian leader dressed in a pixilated military uniform, visiting a command post in Kursk used by Russian troops. Ukraine launched its cross-border offensive into Russias Kursk Oblast in August 2024. (Video via Storyful) Poland urges US to move nuclear weapons to its territory Polish President Andrzej Duda. (Reuters) Poland's President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow. Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022. Duda's adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Duda's appeal with an interview on Poland's RMF FM radio Thursday morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliance's eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Read the full story from Associated Press What Putin wants in exchange for ceasefire and will Trump accept? In all peace negotiations, there are thrusts, parries and counter-moves long before the opposing parties take to the table. Even as a plane carrying US negotiator Steve Witkoff to Moscow was in the air, it was reported that a list of demands had been issued by the Kremlin. Ukraine must not be allowed to join Nato. The international community must recognise Russias capture of Crimea and the Ukrainian provinces of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. BA RIA-VUNG TAU Seafood processing businesses in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province are grappling with a shortage of raw materials amid growing opportunities in export markets. To cope, they are stockpiling supplies and importing raw materials to sustain production. The shortage has disrupted operations at the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Seafood Processing, Import and Export JSC. Nguyen Cong Huyen, its deputy general director, said: Even after sourcing materials from within the province and nationwide, we cannot meet the demand from customers. Domestic supply only meets 4050 per cent of demand, he said. To tackle this shortage, we are importing raw materials from various Southeast Asian and European countries. The company is also investing in cold storage to stockpile raw materials and aiming to achieve its export target of US$60 million this year. Thuan Hue Production Service and Trading Corp has had to pare its export targets due to the raw material shortages and lay off workers for two months a year because of insufficient production. To mitigate this challenge, it is focusing on freezing raw materials and expanding processing lines to diversify its product range, ensuring both revenue growth and job stability. Its director, ong Thi Hue, highlighted the ongoing challenges: Our company must always stockpile raw materials, maintaining reserves of up to 500 tonnes to ensure regular work for employees. She said that to sustain employment and maintain export volumes, the company is diversifying into processed squid products. If we continue relying on our traditional product lines, we will struggle with increasingly scarce raw materials. Negative impacts of raw material shortages Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is home to 175 seafood processing and trading businesses that produce a range of processed seafood, including surimi, fish, squid, octopus, and crab. The start of the year is usually a favourable period for local processors due to high international demand, but the raw material shortage is hampering their ability to fulfil orders. According to the province Department of Industry and Trade, seafood exports in the first two months of 2025 totalled over US$31 million, a 4.61 per cent decline year-on-year. The province has an annual seafood catch of 350,000 tonnes, which fall short of local processors demand. Businesses are increasing imports, but this is a band-aid measure that fails to address the root causes of the problem. VNS The Japanese government recently gave an official development aid (ODA) grant of 300 million yen (US$2 million) to support Viet Nam's National Innovation Center through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The grant will be used to improve the centre's infrastructure, facilities, expand the workforce and establish a social impact fund. Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Ito Naoki spoke to Viet Nam News reporter Bao Hoa about the project. Why is it necessary to implement this project right now? Viet Nam is a vibrant economy and growing very fast, and DX (digital transformation) and innovation have become the driving force for that economic development. The leadership for Viet Nam is very much focussed on how to establish an ecosystem of DX and innovation. We know that the National Innovation Center (NIC) has been the key to create an ecosystem for development through DX and innovation in Viet Nam, and that is the very reason why we wanted to provide our grant to the centre, through which the Hoa Lac campus will be better equipped. I think it is really timely, as Viet Nam embarks upon this path of growth through innovation and DX. The scale of this project is 300 million Japanese yen, which is equivalent to roughly 50 billion Vietnamese ong, and the project period covers 18 months. I do hope that this is going to be a very successful and meaningful project that contributes to Viet Nam's growth. What specific impacts or improvements do you expect the project will have on the National Innovation Center? One of the key elements of this project is the establishment of a social impact fund, or an impact investment fund. The NIC already has the Viet Nam innovation funds, so the important thing is we will help create an ecosystem of social impact bonds or investment funds, so that the investment can be used for finding solutions to issues of social concern. I'm sure that, with the expertise of UNDP, as well as the participation of Japanese companies both of which have already had experience in this particular area the NIC will be able to create a new ecosystem for innovation and DX, through the use of this impact investment fund for all start-ups. Thats one of the tangible results which we expect out of this grant aid project. What are your thoughts on the Vietnamese Government's recent focus on innovation and creativity? We welcome this policy direction taken by the Government, focusing on innovation and DX as one of the pillars. Without a doubt, DX and innovation are the driving force for the economic development of any country, but particularly in countries like Viet Nam, which is capable of recording very high growth. Now Viet Nam is looking at 8 per cent growth down the line or double-digit growth, so you need a key driver for economic development. In this day and age, DX and innovation should clearly play a very important role. In that sense, we really welcome Vietnamese policy direction to focus on DX and innovation, and I'm sure that Japan can play a role for Viet Nam to develop further in this particular sector. This new direction of policy will provide further opportunities for Japan to expand bilateral partnership, comprehensive strategic partnership with Viet Nam. What do you think Viet Nam can learn from Japan in terms of creativity and technology breakthroughs? Japan has gone through a period of high, double-digit growth in the past and has become an advanced nation in terms of innovation and technology. Japanese economic development was sustained by technological development and innovation, so Japan's experience of high growth will be informative for the Vietnamese growth. For example, Kaizen was a business management philosophy that helped Toyota grow from 30 or 40 years ago. It was adopted by other Japanese companies and I think will also be beneficial for Viet Nam. In terms of infrastructure, the HCM City Metro Line 1 recently started its commercial operation. If you look at the citys metro system, that is a compilation of Japanese technology, which was the basis for Japanese development. Viet Nam is now working on the North-South high-speed railway. The Shinkansen is a real example of how technology and innovation can drive the country forward, and also of how the Japanese infrastructure system is sustained by technological developments. I hope that Viet Nam will have a chance to learn from Japan, looking at those successful examples, and understand why Japan grew rapidly in the 1960-70s, and how Japan became a technologically advanced country. VNS HA NOI Investor Prodezi Long An Corporation (Prodezi) and developer Huong Viet Investment Consultant Corporation (Huong Viet Holdings) have officially broken ground on the infrastructure phase of the Prodezi Eco-Industrial Park project (Prodezi EIP). The park is located in Luong Hoa Commune in Long An Province's Ben Luc District. This project is the first ecological industrial park in Long An, designed and developed in compliance with Government regulations and global trends. Prodezi Industrial Park will span 400 hectares, with a total investment exceeding VN4.6 trillion (approximately US$181 million). Phase 1 is expected to be completed and handed over to investors by the third quarter of 2025. Once completed, it will attract investments in high-tech and environmentally friendly industries, focusing on high value-added products and labour optimisation. Strategically located at the gateway to the HCM City - Trung Luong Expressway, near the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway and Ring Roads 3 and 4, the industrial park offers easy access to airports and seaports, significantly reducing logistics costs for businesses. Huynh Van Son, Vice Chairman of the Long An Provincial Peoples Committee, said that the province has prioritised modern, efficient and sustainable investment attraction. The industrial park design meets high infrastructure standards and pioneers the ecological industrial park model under the Government's Decree 35, aligning with global green and sustainable development trends. "We believe that with its strategic location, modern infrastructure and international-standard development approach, Prodezi Ecological Industrial Park will be an ideal destination for domestic and foreign investors," he said. Prodezi and Huong Viet Holdings have also signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with Toho Gas, one of Japans three largest gas companies and a provider of natural gas solutions. This partnership aims to deliver utilities and services to the LA Home residential area and Prodezi EIP. BIZHUB/VNS HA NOI Viet Nam is rapidly emerging as a dynamic player in the global AI and semiconductor industries, fuelled by talent, ambition and a growing innovation ecosystem. By harnessing AI to streamline chip design and boost productivity along with fostering open-source collaboration and building a new generation of AI engineers, Viet Nam is strategically positioning itself for global impact. With supportive Government policies, increasing foreign investment and a vibrant community of start-ups and researchers, the country is not only catching up, but also positioned to lead. Viet Nam News reporter Ly Ly Cao spoke to experts and insiders on the sidelines of the AI-Semiconductor Conference (AISC 2025) to show a compelling picture of a nation on the edge of a technological breakthrough. Christopher Nguyen, CEO and Co-Founder of Aitomatic: Viet Nam is a rising force in the AI and semiconductor industries, driven by a young, talented population and increasing foreign and local investments. The countrys demographic advantage, with 100 million people, many of them eager to engage in tech, is a powerful catalyst for growth. Additionally, companies like VinAI, which have demonstrated that world-class AI research can happen in Viet Nam with focused effort and strategic direction, show examples of successful stories. On the semiconductor side, the growing investments in both IC design and packaging systems signal the start of a promising tech ecosystem. However, Viet Nam should find its niche rather than competing in highly saturated markets like advanced semiconductor fabrication dominated by giants like TSMC. Instead, we should focus on emerging, high-potential areas like edge AI, where no clear global leader has yet emerged. I believe Viet Nam can build a comparative advantage by channelling resources and talent into these less crowded, fast-growing markets, creating the chance to become a global leader. I'm very excited about the potential of the edge becoming the centre and for edge AI in terms of IC design. I also see opportunities in algorithmic efficiency, where Viet Nams engineering talent could develop more resource-efficient models rather than competing at the boundary of model size and complexity. Talking about investment flows, in places that are resource constrained, including China, Viet Nams smaller economy could experience rapid growth with even minor shifts in global supply chains. For example, if just 2 per cent of Chinas exports shifted to Viet Nam, it could double the country's economy. And despite the current and future uncertainties of the world, Viet Nam is forecast to continue growing in the next ten years, drawing global investments from countries and regions like Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan (China). Dr Azalia Mirhoseini from Google DeepMind: The transformative impact of AI on semiconductor design shows its potential to revolutionise the entire chip development process. AIs unique advantage lies in its ability to learn from experience. As AI systems encounter and solve more design challenges across different stages of chip development, they continuously improve, accelerating in both speed and efficiency. This creates a 'flywheel effect', where AI increasingly enhances productivity, shortens design cycles and enables faster, higher-performance chip production through automated processes and advanced co-design techniques. This evolution is just beginning, predicting a future where AI handles most computer-based tasks, drastically reshaping industries. Since AI itself relies on chips to function, semiconductor manufacturing will become even more crucial, elevating it to a matter of national security. However, there are significant challenges, particularly the reliance on proprietary, expensive and slow tools such as electronic design automation that limit design exploration and innovation. So I think with greater adoption of open-source tools, we can democratise chip design and speed up innovation. This presents a major opportunity for countries like Viet Nam, which has a growing pool of talented young engineers and computer scientists eager to contribute to global advancements. By championing open-source tools and fostering local innovation, Viet Nam could play a key role in the future of semiconductor technology, contributing to a more accessible, efficient and globally connected chip design ecosystem. Meanwhile, given the geopolitical tensions surrounding semiconductor manufacturing, I think there is a need for thoughtful policy-making in this space, and governments should collaborate with unbiased academics to create policies that promote scientific progress while balancing national and global interests. Dr Vu Xuan Son, Co-Founder of DeepTensor AB: Viet Nam has experienced a rapid growth in AI adoption, with businesses already deploying solutions for applications like electronic banking customer databases and AI monitoring systems. However, there are two major challenges: a shortage of high-level AI engineers and a lack of large, reliable datasets. While Viet Nam has many early adopters, it needs to cultivate a new generation of deep AI experts through better education, research opportunities and international collaboration. Thats why my company is working to build foundational datasets to support AI development, empowering engineers to create more advanced, domain-specific solutions. I see a future where AI systems, not just models, collaborate seamlessly to solve real-world problems, like virtual assistants interacting with language models and financial tools to deliver integrated, human-centric solutions. I believe Viet Nam can thrive in AI if it invests in both talent and infrastructure, fostering an ecosystem where AI systems truly add value to society. Anthony J. Annunziata, Director of AI Open Innovation at IBM: I think Viet Nam is a rising leader in open-source AI development, with the AI Alliance playing a key role in fostering innovation. The countrys approach, balancing global advancements in AI, like large language models and infrastructure technologies, with a strong focus on local language, culture and economic priorities, positions Viet Nam to build a robust AI ecosystem. This thoughtful balance will create a powerful platform for growth, allowing Viet Nam to adapt global technologies to fit its unique needs while contributing to global innovation. Moreover, the countrys proactive regulatory environment is a major advantage. Viet Nams policies seem focused on lowering barriers to innovation, investing in infrastructure and encouraging businesses to experiment freely, all with Government support. This approach aligns well with leading global strategies for AI governance, enabling rapid technological adoption while establishing safeguards to mitigate risks. It will help Viet Nam stay competitive in the global AI landscape. I also see vast potential for Viet Nam to lead at the intersection of AI and the semiconductor industry. AI is increasingly essential in addressing complex challenges at both the chip design and manufacturing process levels, areas where Viet Nam can bring research and commercial efforts together. With companies like FPT Software already serving as founding members of the AI Alliance and contributing significantly to its programmes, Viet Nam is building an environment where collaboration and innovation thrive. Viet Nams energy, focus and willingness to embrace global collaboration, combined with local adaptation and supportive policies, make it a strong contender for leadership in AI and semiconductor innovation, with the potential to shape both research and commercial opportunities for years to come. BIZHUB/VNS HA NOI Techcombank announced on Thursday that it is leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) to transform its development workflows, accelerate innovation and enhance customer experience. By integrating Amazon Q Developer into their banking development systems, Techcombank has already streamlined operations for around 600 of its IT developers, enabling them to work with improved efficiency and deliver innovative solutions to Techcombanks customers more quickly. Amazon Q Developer, powered by Amazon Bedrock, is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) system powered conversational assistant for developers, which helps them understand, build, extend and operate AWS applications. When used in an integrated development environment (IDE), it provides software development assistance, including providing inline code completions, generating net new code, scanning for security vulnerabilities and including code upgrades and improvements. Techcombank's first trial of Amazon Q Developer with 50 developers saw impressive results with internal team satisfaction scores reaching 80 per cent - reflecting the positive impact it had on productivity and code quality. Encouraged by this, Techcombank began scaling it up to around 600 developers. Since then, the team has generated more than 135 thousand lines of code, achieved a significantly improved feature acceptance rate of 33.5 per cent and a documentation acceptance rate of 90.5 per cent. The tool has also been instrumental in performing security scans on over 102 thousand lines of Java/C code, identifying over 15 thousand reports and issues to enhance code quality and strengthen security standards. Techcombank has used Amazon Q Developer to accelerate the development cycle of its Techcombank Mobile banking application. Using Amazon Q Developer (with features such as Code Suggestions, Fix and Explain Code and AI Commit Message), Techcombank cut feature development time and saved an estimated 572 days worth of manual development effort in just three months, translating to a 30 per cent increase in overall productivity. These improvements have empowered Techcombank to respond quickly to customer needs, delivering personalised and seamless digital banking experiences to its 15.4 million clients. Techcombank is committed to pioneering digital transformation in Viet Nams banking industry, and AI is at the core of our strategy. As the first and only bank in Viet Nam to enhance developer efficiency with Amazon Q Developer, we are not only improving productivity but also setting new standards for innovation and security in financial services. This is a key step in our long-term vision of leveraging cloud and AI to provide the best possible digital banking experience, said Chief Technology Officer at Techcombank, Nguyen Anh Tuan. Driven by these results, Techcombank plans to expand the use of Amazon Q Developer to all its developer workforce in 2025, targeting new use cases such as automating codebase refactoring and debugging application logic issues. This aligns with Techcombanks broader 'Cloud-First' strategy, which has positioned the bank as a leader in digital transformation. Since 2022, Techcombank has been working closely with AWS to modernise its infrastructure, enhance data-driven decision making and create cutting-edge digital banking solutions. This strategic investment in AI-powered development tools reflects Techcombanks commitment to driving innovation and setting new standards for digital banking excellence in Viet Nam and beyond. "AI adoption is accelerating rapidly across Viet Nam, driven by the countrys vibrant digital economy and strong commitment to digital transformation. Techcombanks impressive results with Amazon Q Developer highlights the transformative power of generative AI in modern software development. By streamlining workflows and enhancing security, were proud to support Techcombank in accelerating innovation and delivering exceptional digital experiences to millions of customers," said Country General Manager of AWS Vietnam, Eric Yeo. Techcombank continues to lead the way in redefining digital banking in Viet Nam by embracing AI and cloud technologies. With a strong focus on innovation, security and a customer-centric approach, the bank is setting new industry benchmark, offering seamless, data-driven and AI-powered financial services to millions of customers. On its 'Be Greater' journey, Techcombank aspires to become a leading bank in Asia, and support the Governments new era of national growth. Techcombank is currently one of the largest joint stock banks in Viet Nam and a leading bank in Asia with a vision to 'Change Banking, Change Lives'. Techcombank pursues a customer-centric strategy by providing retail and business banking solutions and services to financially empower its customers. The bank now serves more than 15 million individual and business customers through its digital banking platform and mobile banking application, as well as a nationwide network of branches and transaction offices. Techcombank's ecosystem approach, implemented across many key economic sectors with its partners, continues to differentiate Techcombank in one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Techcombank has been rated AA- and Ba3 by FiinRatings and Moody's respectively and BB- by S&P, the highest among commercial joint stock banks in Viet Nam. VNS TRANG AN Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex in the northern province of Ninh Binh holds exceptional natural and cultural significance, carrying an economic value of US$213 billion, experts told a recent international workshop. The valuation emerged from a joint study by Italys Santagata Foundation for the Economics of Culture, Germanys Leibniz Institute for Ecological Urban and Regional Development, and the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Arts at Vietnam National University Ha Noi. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Thuc from the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Arts explained that the economic value is rooted in four key pillars: natural ecosystem, cultural and historical significance, heritage-based settlements and livelihoods, and brand spillover value. The workshop, themed "Converting the Economic Values of the Trang An Landscape Complex and Branding of Broader World Heritage Destination", showcased Trang An's unique blend of cultural and natural wonders. From the serene Trang An Ecotourism Complex to the majestic Bai inh pagoda and the picturesque Tam Coc - Bich ong, the site is a tapestry of historical and archaeological treasures that reflect both ancient and contemporary Vietnamese civilisation. Spanning over 12,100 ha, including a core heritage area and a buffer zone, Trang An has been a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site since June 2014. Hoa Lu City, which encompasses 70 per cent of the site, is poised to become a heritage urban area with a distinct cultural landscape identity. Beyond its historical, cultural and natural assets, Ninh Binh boasts strong economic and infrastructural potential, solidifying its role as a key hub within the Red River Delta. Today, Hoa Lu - Trang An is known worldwide as a heritage city that stands alongside renowned destinations like Ha Noi, HCM City, Hue, Hoi An, and Ha Long. In terms of urban classification, Hoa Lu currently holds the distinction of being the only first-tier city within a province in the southern Red River Delta region, further cementing its place on the global tourism map. Pham Quang Ngoc, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, affirmed that Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay has hailed the complex as a global model for blending economic growth with sustainable tourism while maintaining respect for nature. This harmonious balance benefits local communities, the State and businesses, embodying Viet Nam's responsible commitment to UNESCOs Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Notably, the establishment of Hoa Lu City, formed by merging Ninh Binh City and Hoa Lu District with Trang An at its core, marks a significant step. It reflects a broader trend of expanding heritage tourism links across provinces, regions, and internationally, enhancing the sites unique value and global brand. VNA/VNS by Ray Riches * Viet Nams rise to the top of the global coffee market has been, in world history terms, rather quick. From humble beginnings in the 1800s, Viet Nam is now seen as one of the best coffee markets in the world, with many global manufacturers relying on locally grown coffee. Back in the 9th century in Ethiopia, a farmer was watching his goats and noticed that after eating berries from a particular tree, the goats would have more energy and change their behaviour. This tree, a native coffee tree, went on to become the most consumed product in the world 1,000 years later. Ethiopia is still growing coffee, but Brazil holds the title of number one in the coffee world. Vietnam has continued to rise over the past few decades and now firmly holds the number two spot in coffee production as of 2024. The French introduced Viet Nams first coffee plants in the 1800s. France had a love of coffee but was unable to produce its own. In the high country in the central and southern parts of Viet Nam, the growing conditions were perfect, and this set a pathway for a coffee industry to be born in Viet Nam. Unfortunately, most of the coffee was shipped back to Europe at that time, and it would be some time before Viet Nam adopted the culture of consuming the worlds number one beverage. Fast forward to the early 1900s, and Vietnam experienced some 60 years of massive challenges. Both globally and locally, conflict and economic hardship saw the coffee industry in this country grind to a halt. By the late 1970s, the coffee grown in Viet Nam was little more than enough to share locally, with export markets no longer interested due to the low volumes being cultivated, among other factors. But that all changed in the early 1980s. Europe had, for centuries, had a passion for coffee. All throughout the continent, coffee has become a key part of culture and daily life. The only problem was that, especially in the north of Europe, the climate was not suited to growing coffee trees. Back then, Germany was divided into East and West and the East was a very cold country with sub-zero temperatures during the winter months, but those living there loved drinking coffee. Over the years preceding 1980, East Germany tried desperately to find alternatives to coffee to support the community, but attempts to create substitutes failed. With Viet Nam now looking forward to recovery and economic development, East Germany saw an opportunity to partner with the growing economy and gain access to some of the best coffee in the world. East Germany negotiated with Vietnam and came to an arrangement to support the rebuilding of the coffee industry in return for a supply of coffee. It was a wonderful arrangement. As Viet Nam took massive leaps forward in rebuilding farming that had suffered as a result of conflict for most of the 20th century, East Germany had been developing for over 30 years and was in a position to support this re-development. From the deal, coffee farming regions of south-central Vietnam were developed. Machinery was supplied to help farmers plant new coffee plants. Infrastructure was built to support the farmers and their families, and the future was looking good. This was the start of what we have today. But there is a small twist in this story. East Germany agreed that for the first ten years of the harvest, they would receive half the total crop in return for the investments they made. But this was never paid. The coffee tree can take from six to eight years to produce its first fruit. Due to the massive planting of new trees, no harvest was planned until 1990. Across in Europe, the political landscape was changing, and after separating into two separate nations after World War II, East and West Germany came to an agreement to, again, become one nation. On November 9 1989, among much celebration, East and West Germany joined together to become united and this occurred one year before the planned first harvest of coffee in the coffee farms in Viet Nam. So, in 1990, Viet Nam experienced its first harvest, and the rebirth of the coffee industry had been a success. However, that coffee that was to be sent to East Germany was never delivered because there was no country to send it to. And as they say, the rest is history. Viet Nam grew the local coffee industry to a point where the popularity of coffee exceeded that of European countries. It became the daily go-to for workers, tourists and just about everyone in the country. Varieties of coffee emerged, with iced coffee varieties being the go-to in the sub-tropical heat of Viet Nam. And we cant forget those truly amazing local twists of egg coffee and coconut coffee, both with their unique histories. Now, there is not a corner or a house in Viet Nam that doesnt have coffee available. As a bicycle rider, I know that no matter where I go in Viet Nam, I have only to ride a few kilometres down any road, and I will find someone selling coffee. Viet Nam deserves to hold the title of the second-largest coffee producer in the world. Their commitment and progress over more than 40 years now see them not only as a big coffee producer but also as producing some of the most amazing coffee flavours found anywhere in the world. I would say that since I first arrived in Viet Nam over 12 years ago, not a day has passed without having at least one Vietnamese coffee. I love the flavour, and I believe it is good for my health. If you are visiting Viet Nam, put coffee at the top of the list of things to experience. Once you taste it, you will never drink any other coffee. (* Ray lives in HCM City and works as a teacher and freelancer. Apart from teaching, he is a keen runner and bicycle adventure rider. He has visited many parts of the country by bicycle and loves the smaller parts of this beautiful country. After ten years in Viet Nam, Ray has a love and passion for the smaller things and enjoys sharing his experiences with people all over the world.) QUANG NINH About 1,700 tourists, 85 per cent of whom are Japanese, aboard a chartered cruise ship are scheduled to visit Ha Long city in the northern province of Quang Ninh on April 30. This will mark the first-ever such journey organised by Peace Boat, a renowned Japanese cruise tour operator. Representatives from the firm arrived in Ha Long on March 12 to oversee preparations for the arrival of the delegation. Toda Yoshiaki, Director of Peace Boats Cruise Tourism Division, explained that Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, was chosen as the sole stop on the cruise due to its unmatched beauty and global recognition. He added that Japanese tourists have long expressed a desire to visit the bay. Yoshiaki also revealed that the company worked to schedule the ships arrival on an important date for Viet Nam, which celebrates its reunification on April 30. The ship will depart from Kobe, Japan, on April 20, stopping at several ports before arriving in Ha Long on the morning of April 30, allowing tourists to enjoy the special events taking place in Viet Nam for this holiday. During their one-day stay, tourists will be divided into groups for excursions to Ha Long Bay, the city itself, and possibly nearby Hai Phong or rural villages. A representative from the Quang Ninh Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism stated that the province will provide full support to ensure a smooth and safe visit for the tourists. At a reception for Peace Boat representatives, along with travel agencies and maritime agents in Viet Nam, Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial Peoples Committee, emphasised that this inaugural Japanese cruise ship visit on April 30 is the result of extensive negotiations and promotional efforts by provincial authorities and relevant organisations. She highlighted that this milestone presents a great opportunity to further develop cruise tourism between Japan and Quang Ninh, in line with the province's goal of attracting high-end international tourists. Quang Ninh is committed to ensuring the best conditions for this event, developing more attractive tourism products, and maintaining a safe and secure environment, she said, expressing her hope that this milestone will help promote Quang Ninh as a top destination for international cruise lines, including those from Japan. In 2025, Quang Ninh aims to welcome 20 million tourists, including 4.5 million foreigners, with total tourism revenue expected to reach VN55 trillion (US$2.16 billion). VNA/VNS HCM CITY A photo exhibition featuring Vietnamese revolutionary cinema will be organised in HCM City as part of the citys cultural activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of South Viet Nam's Liberation and Reunification Day (April 30). The event is called Am Vang ai Thang Mua Xuan 1975 Trong ien Anh (The Great Victory of Spring April 30, 1975 Featured in Cinema). It highlights the history and development of Viet Nams cinema industry. It will display 300 photos capturing images from famous historical films about Vietnamese heroic mothers, soldiers, and people who devoted themselves to the countrys independence and reunification. Highlighted pictures portray southern film directors and artists of the Southern Cinematography and Photography Branch (SCPB) during the anti-French and American wars. The Vietnamese motion picture industry was established officially in March 1953, but activities actually began in the SCPB, which opened in the ong Thap Muoi region (now located in ong Thap, Tien Giang and Long An provinces) in 1947. SCPB artists, such as Peoples Artist Khuong Me and Mai Loc, worked hard to make lively documentaries and films on southern soldiers and people. Some of them died during the period. Movie star Tra Giang and her colleagues pushed Vietnamese revolutionary film to higher heights in the 1960s-70s, and are also included. Giang performed the lead roles in films such as Chi Tu Hau (MrsTu Hau) by late director Pham Ky Nam in 1962 and Vi Tuyen 17 Ngay Va em (17th Parallel, Days and Nights) by late director Hai Ninh in 1972. Both productions highlight southern women and their character. Giang won the best actress prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1963 and 1973. The exhibition is organised by the Viet Nam Film Institute and its partners, the Department of Cinematography and HCM City Cinematography Association. It will open on April 5 and runs through May 1 at the September 23 Park in District 1. VNS LONDON The upcoming visit to the UK by Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh from March 16-20, the first high-level diplomatic activity between Viet Nam and the UK in 2025, is of great significance, aiming to further strengthen the bilateral relations, especially as the two countries are celebrating the 15th founding anniversary of Strategic Partnership (2010-2025), said Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK o Minh Hung. Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)s correspondent in London, the ambassador said that that during the visit, Binh will meet with British government and parliamentary leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle. He will also work with leaders of agencies, including the HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Bank of England, to discuss measures to further tighten the two countries multifaceted cooperation, enhance collaboration in trade and investment, and create new momentum for economic cooperation, particularly in finance and banking, as well as building an international financial centre in Viet Nam. Additionally, Binh will engage in various discussions and meetings with the British business community, including the City of London, TheCityUK, the London Stock Exchange, representatives of major UK economic and financial groups, and visit several notable educational institutions in the country. Regarding the Viet Nam-UK Strategic Partnership, Hung affirmed that the relationship between the two countries has kept growing strongly and positively in traditional cooperation areas such as politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, and education, while also expanding into new fields such as energy transition, finance and banking, and high technology. In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two sides have regularly maintained exchanges at all levels and effectively implemented bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the strategic dialogue at the deputy foreign minister level, the Viet Nam-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), the defence policy dialogue, and the migration dialogue. They have approved a strategic action plan for the 2024-26 period which includes priorities for cooperation in political-diplomatic relations, trade, investment, sustainable growth, development cooperation, science-technology, and education. Trade and investment, a crucial pillar of the Strategic Partnership, are witnessing strong development. The UK is currently Viet Nam's third-largest trading partner in Europe, and Viet Nam is the UK's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. In 2024, bilateral trade turnover increased by 18 per cent year on year, reaching US$8.4 billion, the highest level to date. Both sides aim to raise this figure to $10 billion in the coming years. In terms of investment, by the end of 2024, the UK had 587 projects in Viet Nam with total registered capital of $4.46 billion, ranking 15th out of 147 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam. The continued effective implementation of the UK-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) and the UK's official accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on December 15, 2024, will provide a strong impetus for bilateral economic cooperation and promoting regional economic connectivity. In education and people-to-people exchanges, over 10,000 Vietnamese students are studying in the UK, and many British universities have opened branches in Viet Nam. The two sides will continue to expand educational cooperation programmes, including strengthening links between educational institutions, providing scholarships, training teachers, and enhancing educational policy planning capacity. In science and technology, Viet Nam and the UK will continue to cooperate in human resource training, jointly implement research programmes in health, agriculture, environment, emerging technologies, and develop innovation programmes, startup ecosystems, and digital transformation. Hung is confident that the Deputy PM's visit to the UK will be a success, creating new momentum for cooperation in economy, finance, education, and training, contributing practically to the dynamic and effective development of the Viet Nam-UK Strategic Partnership. VNS HA NOI The state visit to Indonesia, the official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, and the official visit to Singapore from March 9-13 by Party General Secretary To Lam, his spouse and a Vietnamese high-ranking delegation was a great success, achieving all the set objectives, marking milestones in Viet Nam's relations with these countries and the group, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son has said. In his interview granted to the press, Son highlighted the significance of the Party chief's trips, saying that both Indonesia and Singapore, and the ASEAN Secretariat, placed great importance on the visits, offering the General Secretary, his spouse and the Vietnamese delegation the highly dignified reception, accompanied by practical working programmes. Son said this was the first visit by a Vietnamese Party General Secretary to Indonesia in nearly eight years, to Singapore in almost 13 years, and the first official trip to the ASEAN Secretariat. He noted that the Party leader's visits marked historic milestones as Viet Nam simultaneously upgraded its relations with two ASEAN member countries, thereby deepening its cooperation with them, and further contributing to the ASEAN community. To date, Viet Nam is the only ASEAN nation with which both Indonesia and Singapore have established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The historical significance of the visit also lies in the fact that it marked the first time a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) has visited the ASEAN Secretariat, underscoring the bloc's strategic importance for Viet Nam, and reaffirming Viet Nam's consistent policy of making more proactive and responsible contributions to the common cause of ASEAN, Son stressed. During the visits, Lam joined more than 40 activities, including meetings, talks, dialogues, and engagements, delivering policy speeches, meetings with the Vietnamese community, and visiting several economic and cultural institutions in the two nations. On this occasion, ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses of Viet Nam and their counterparts from the two countries signed numerous cooperation agreements in many fields such as education - training, combating transnational crime, fisheries, digital economy, digital transformation, green transition, and finance. For Indonesia, building on the traditional friendship founded by President Ho Chi Minh and President Sukarno, and sharing many historical and cultural similarities, and common values, and a common vision of becoming a developed and high-income nation by 2045, the two sides agreed to elevate their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking a milestone in the 70-year diplomatic relations and 10 years of their Strategic Partnership. The two side agreed to further deepen political trust and swiftly develop an action plan to effectively implement and elevate cooperation in all fields; further intensify economic collaboration with the aim of soon realising the goal of US$18 billion in trade turnover; to further enhance defence - security cooperation; and to expand cooperation into new areas such as green economy, digital economy, innovation, energy transition, developing electric vehicle ecosystems, e-commerce, smart delivery, digital payments, science - technology, digital transformation, AI, and halal products. The two countries' leaders also concurred on strengthening people-to-people exchanges, especially among young people. For the ASEAN Secretariat, Son stated that Lam's visit clearly demonstrated the crucial role of ASEAN in Viet Nam's foreign policy, reaffirming Viet Nam's commitment to continue responsibly contributing to building the ASEAN Community, especially as the group is preparing to enter a new phase of development with a proactive stance and readiness to adapt to all opportunities and challenges. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Viet Nam's accession to ASEAN, the Party chief's visit carries profound significance as it reflected Viet Nam's consistent motto of proactivity, positivity, and responsibility in joining ASEAN, and always making every effort for a united, self-reliant, and thriving ASEAN Community; and reaffirmed that ASEAN remains the top priority in Viet Nam's foreign policy in the new era, Vietnamese top diplomat noted. Meanwhile, high-ranking leaders of Viet Nam and Singapore affirmed their strong commitment and high priority to further deepening the countries' friendship and mutual trust, while expanding cooperation across existing sectors. Party General Secretary To Lam and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, injecting fresh momentum into the countries' all-round collaboration. Both sides agreed to enhance political trust; further expand and deepen economic, trade, and investment ties; advance cooperation in digital transformation, innovation, green economy, and clean energy; and strengthen collaboration in defence - security, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. The countries will also expand the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) network under the VSIP 2.0 model, with a focus on innovation, low-carbon development, and digital transformation. Besides, cultural, sports, and youth exchanges will be promoted to bolster mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. During their talks and meetings, the Vietnamese Party chief and leaders of Indonesia, Singapore, and the ASEAN Secretariat agreed to strengthen coordination at regional and global forums, and work closely with the bloc's member states to step up cooperation towards the successful building of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. Deputy PM Son said the trips have helped reinforce ASEANs solidarity and centrality in the regional architecture. As founding members of the bloc and two of its most developed economies, Indonesia and Singapore are key partners in ensuring ASEANs cohesion amid external challenges. Indonesia, with its large domestic market-driven economy, and Singapore, with its export-oriented, high-tech, and innovation-driven economic model and its position as a regional innovation hub, are well-positioned to support Viet Nam's growth aspirations in its new era of national rise. Additionally, the visits have strengthened ties between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the ruling parties and political parties in Indonesia and Singapore, providing a solid political foundation for Viet Nam's bilateral relations with both nations, he noted. The official said that with such tangible outcomes, the immediate priority is to concretise the new partnership frameworks by swiftly developing master plans of action to implement Viet Nam's comprehensive strategic partnerships with Indonesia and Singapore. He added that basing on these action plans, relevant ministries and sectors must promptly establish detailed cooperation programmes to engage with their counterparts. While continuing to promote traditional areas of collaboration, attention must also be given to emerging fields such as the green economy, innovation, science - technology, digital transformation, and green energy. The Deputy PM said it is also essential to regularly review, monitor, and assess the implementation of these plans and programmes to ensure that agreements are effectively translated into action, delivering practical benefits and supporting the realisation of the development goals in the new period. For ASEAN, Son recommended Viet Nam continue playing a proactive and responsible role, working with other member states to strengthen the blocs solidarity, resilience, and centrality, and to deepen regional integration through various cooperation frameworks, particularly the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and its strategic plans set to commence in 2026. He said Viet Nam should also strongly promote its key initiatives, including the ASEAN Future Forum, further prioritise efforts to bring the ASEAN Community closer to its people, businesses, and localities, and capitalise on the benefits brought about by the bloc, especially in terms of invest and trade cooperation, to mobilise more resources for national socio-economic development. VNA/VNS SINGAPORE Party General Secretary To Lam on Wednesday visited the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy under the National University of Singapore where he delivered a policy speech on Viet Nams science, technology, innovation and digital transformation policy in a new era, and opportunities for bilateral cooperation. Lam, who is on an official visit to Singapore, emphasised that the two countries are experiencing unprecedented rapid changes in the digital era and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, marked by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things, that all are reshaping the way people live, work, and connect. He told participants that Viet Nam identifies science, technology, and innovation as key drivers of national development. For decades, the country has regarded science and technology as a top national policy and a strategic pillar for industrialisation and modernisation. Viet Nam aims to become a modern industrialised country by 2030 and a high-income developed nation by 2045. To achieve these goals, there is no alternative but to accelerate the development of science, technology, and innovation, alongside implementing the national digital transformation strategy, he said. This is the "golden key" for the nation to overcome the middle-income trap, avoid the risk of falling behind, and keep pace with the times, the top leader stressed, adding that advancing science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation is not an option but a necessity to realise its aspirations. Lam highlighted the importance of strengthening the Partys comprehensive leadership, mobilising the collective strength of the entire political system, and ensuring the active participation of entrepreneurs, businesses, and the public in this field. Safeguarding national sovereignty in cyberspace, and ensuring cybersecurity, data security, and information safety for organisations and individuals are fundamental, inseparable requirements throughout the process of scientific and technological development and digital transformation, he said. Emphasising that Viet Nam and Singapore share many similarities and well complement each other, the General Secretary stated Singapore excels in advanced technology, management expertise, and investment capital, while Viet Nam has the advantages of a large workforce, an expansive market, and significant growth potential. These factors provide a solid foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two nations, he confirmed. In this context, Lam proposed several key areas for enhanced cooperation the coming period, covering scientific research, along with comprehensive partnerships between internationally accredited research institutes and universities. The Party chief also stressed the importance of innovation cooperation to optimise and complement each country's strengths, thereby creating breakthrough values. Both sides should jointly research, test, and implement digitalisation solutions to improve quality of life and enhance public administration efficiency, while collaborating in developing scientific and technological human resources, promoting technology transfer, and commercialising scientific research, he added. Viet Nam places great importance on its partnership with Singapore and other friendly nations and remains committed to actively contributing to a cohesive, creative, and prosperous ASEAN, General Secretary Lam affirmed. He said he believed that with strategic vision, strong political will, and deep cooperation, Viet Nam, Singapore, and others in the region will achieve even greater accomplishments in the future. Together, they will continue to write the success story of Southeast Asia in the 21st centuryan ever-evolving Southeast Asia, economically and technologically self-reliant, and committed to sustainable development for the happiness of its people. During the event, the Party chief also addressed key issues raised by participants, including policies for attracting talent and fostering sci-tech innovation to drive national development. In his welcoming address, Professor Tan Eng Chye, President of the National University of Singapore (NUS), underscored the significance of the Vietnamese leaders official visit, calling it a milestone in bilateral relations. With the fresh upgrading of their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, he said it is necessary for the countries to secure stronger and more substantive cooperation in areas of mutual strength and potential. NUS boasts extensive collaborations with universities worldwide, including in Viet Nam, particularly in some realms such as leadership improvement and startup development, Tan noted. He expressed a hope for further partnerships between Vietnamese and Singaporean institutions serving the growth of their respective nations. Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean spoke with pride about Vietnamese students at NUS, describing them as industrious learners. He noted that General Secretary Lams visit would serve as an inspiration for these students to continue striving for academic excellence. Minister Teo also commended Viet Nams remarkable socio-economic and international integration achievements in recent years. He noted that its poverty rate has declined significantly, while economic growth has been increasingly driven by science, technology, and innovation. These accomplishments provide a strong foundation for Vietnam to realise its strategic vision, ushering in a new era of national development and prosperity, he assessed. Looking ahead, the Singaporean official expressed his wish for continued and effective cooperation between the two countries. In the witness of Party General Secretary To Lam, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy under the NUS exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on training and fostering leadership and management officials. Earlier, the two sides signed a commitment to continue to effectively implement the training programme for potential leadership officials, in alignment with the development goals, tasks, and requirements of Vietnam. This will contribute to concretising and deepening the Vietnam-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the new era. VNS HA NOI Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang on Wednesday affirmed that Viet Nam always attaches great importance to the friendship, traditional relations, as well as the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia. Hosting Deputy Governor of Russia's Kaluga region V.V. Potemkin in Ha Noi, Hang said Viet Nam hopes to maintain and strengthen cooperation with Russia in various fields, viewing Russia as a loyal and trustworthy friend. She hailed the results of cooperation between localities of the two countries, emphasising that the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the enhancement of collaboration between Vietnamese localities and agencies and Kaluga, as well as that between Vietnamese enterprises and Russian businesses in general and those from Kaluga in particular, in the areas where the region has strengths such as high-tech agriculture, science, nuclear energy, aerospace, and education. Hang thanked Kaluga authorities for facilitating the operation of Vietnamese enterprises in the region. She also affirmed Viet Nam's readiness to create conditions for Kaluga businesses to invest and operate in the country. For his part, Potemkin praised the long-standing friendship between Viet Nam and Russia, expressing the desire that the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue supporting potential projects and initiatives to promote the relations between the two countries, as well as between Viet Nam and Kaluga. He said many Vietnamese students are among the most outstanding graduates in the nuclear science field in Kaluga, which is a pride in the educational cooperation between Viet Nam and Russia. Highlighting 2025 as a very important year for both countries with major anniversaries, host and guest agreed to closely coordinate to organise celebrations. VNS HA NOI Party General Secretary To Lam on Thursday visited the Pasir Panjang port in Singapore to study seaport infrastructure development, as part of his official visit. Southeast Asia chief executive officer of PSA International Nelson Quek the operator of Pasir Panjang greeted the Vietnamese top leader and delegation, and showed them the ports development processes, achievements and future development strategies. Pasir Panjang is one of the world-leading ports in terms of automation technology, which is equipped with remote control systems, transport robots and smart management systems that optimise operations, improve efficiency and minimise environmental impact. The port is connected to nearly 180 other ports, both large and small, in 45 countries around the world. General Secretary To Lam congratulated the port's operators, adding that the maritime transport system and seaport play a crucial role in ensuring Viet Nams trade goals. He expressed his hope that PSA will cooperate to develop Viet Nams seaport system, as Singapore's experience in modernising its seaport system and developing the logistics industry is highly valuable to the nation. The top leader proposed sending Vietnamese trainees to Pansir Panjang to learn port operations and management technology. Responding PSA representatives said they are always willing to share their experiences and enhance cooperation with Viet Nam, and highly appreciate the development potential of the seaport and logistics industry. VNS SINGAPORE Accompanying Party General Secretary To Lam on his official visit to Singapore from March 11 to 13, his spouse, Ngo Phuong Ly, participated in a series of diplomatic and cultural engagements. During her visit, she met with Loo Tze Lui, spouse of Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, attended a working session between the Viet Nam National Academy of Music and the National University of Singapores Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and toured the National Gallery Singapore alongside Singaporean Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. At her meeting with Loo, Ly highlighted the countries growing friendship and cooperation and expressed Viet Nam's wish to further step up cultural exchanges and learn from Singapores experience in preserving and developing a diverse and modern culture. She said she hopes to soon welcome her host in Viet Nam. Loo told Ly that the cultural similarities between Viet Nam and Singapore serve as a strong foundation for fostering bilateral exchanges and collaboration across all fields. Attending the working session and witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two music academies, the Party leaders spouse noted that music is not only an art form but also a bridge that connects cultures and souls. She expressed confidence that the two sides collaboration will help enhance music education quality and further strengthen Viet Nam - Singapore friendship and cultural ties. She also urged the academies to quickly develop an action plan to effectively implement the MoU. During her visit to the National Gallery Singapore one of the country's oldest museums, established in 1887, and home to over 8,000 Southeast Asian artworks, Ly praised the artistic value and significance of the exhibits. She also took the opportunity to introduce unique aspects of the Vietnamese fine arts as well as several renowned Vietnamese artists with works on display at the gallery. VNA/VNS HA NOI Viet Nam always considers the United States a partner of strategic importance, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said while receiving US Ambassador to Viet Nam Marc Evans Knapper in Ha Noi on Thursday. PM Chinh and Knapper acknowledged the results achieved in the relationship between the two countries recently, especially after Viet Nam and the US upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. They discussed priority areas for promoting bilateral cooperation on the occasion of the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and the US. The PM highly appreciated Knapper's efforts in promoting the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, maintaining stable development momentum with many positive results, including maintaining and promoting high-level contacts, notably the very successful phone talks between Party General Secretary To Lam and US President Donald Trump before and after being elected. He affirmed the message of Party General Secretary To Lam and senior Vietnamese leaders that they attach great importance to and want to cooperate closely with President Trumps administration to promote the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, maintain a stable and increasingly substantive development momentum, and effectively implement the contents of the Joint Declaration and Action Plan to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the common interests of the two countries. In the context that the two countries are organising activities to celebrate the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations, PM Chinh requested the US Ambassador and Embassy to coordinate with relevant Vietnamese agencies to implement measures to deepen cooperative relations, including promoting visits and meetings at all levels, especially high-level ones. Emphasising the need to continue making economic - trade - investment cooperation a bright spot and driving force of the bilateral relations, the PM said that Vietnamese ministries and sectors are actively addressing the US side's current concerns in economic - trade - investment ties, including sending the Minister of Industry and Trade as a Special Envoy to work in the US to co-chair the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Councils meeting. According to the government leader, Viet Nam's relevant ministries, sectors and agencies are actively reviewing the tariffs on goods imported from the US, encouraging increased imports of products that the US has strengths and Vietnam has demand, especially agricultural products, liquefied petroleum gas and high-tech products. He emphasised that the Vietnamese Government always pays due attention to creating conditions for US businesses and investors operating in Viet Nam, affirming that Viet Nam wants to build balanced, stable, harmonious and sustainable economic - trade - investment cooperation relations with the US for the common interests of the two countries. The PM also proposed the US continue to take steps towards recognising Viet Nam as having a market economy and creating conditions for Viet Nam to import high-tech equipment from the US. On this occasion, PM Chinh requested the Ambassador and the Embassy to continue to prompt the US Government and Congress to increase support projects to overcome the consequences of war in Viet Nam, especially the dioxin detoxification project at Bien Hoa airbase, assist people with disabilities and war victims, and support the search for fallen Vietnamese soldiers; transfer technology and improve the capacity to examine the DNA of Vietnamese martyrs. Thanking the PM for his recognition and appreciation, Knapper pledged to continue to coordinate closely with Vietnamese ministries and sectors to promote and further deepen the Viet Nam - US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Ambassador expressed his joy with the two sides actively implementing the Joint Declaration and Viet Nam - US Action Plan for 2023, affirming that Viet Nam - US relations have achieved many positive results, in accordance with the desires and interests of both sides. He affirmed that the US prioritises developing relations with Viet Nam based on the principle of respecting Viet Nam's political institutions, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, supporting a strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous Viet Nam. The US wants to expand cooperation in all fields, including cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war, defence - security, and education - training; support Viet Nam in training high-quality human resources and human resources in the semiconductor industry, and cooperate with Viet Nam in essential mineral exploitation and nuclear energy research and development, the diplomat said. Knapper emphasised that 2025 is of important significance in the bilateral relationship, with the two sides celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The US Embassy in Ha Noi will work together with Vietnamese agencies to build an effective agenda, thereby deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he added. VNA/VNS PHU YEN National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man on Thursday chaired a working session that looked into a draft inspection report on the Standing Board of the Party Committee of the south-central province of Phu Yen. At the meeting, an official of the Party Central Committee's Inspection Commission presented a draft report on the examination results of Phu Yen's implementation of the Party Central Committee's and the Politburo's directives, resolutions, and conclusions on the organisation of Party congresses, apparatus re-arrangement, socio-economic development in 2025, and breakthroughs in developing science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation. In his concluding remarks, the top legislator, who is also head of the Politburos inspection delegation No. 1910, acknowledged that despite significant challenges in 2024, Phu Yen has made notable progress, achieving and surpassing 14 out of its 17 key targets. The provinces domestic revenue exceeded VN5.36 trillion (US$210.11 million), a year-on-year increase of 29.9 per cent, while its household poverty rate under new criteria reduced by 0.78 per cent. However, Man urged Phu Yen to analyse causes of the failure to meet some targets, particularly its GRDP growth of 6.17 per cent, falling short of the 7.5 per cent target, and low public investment disbursement. He went on to highlight the provinces potential and strengths, noting it serves as a key gateway connecting Viet Nam's Central Highlands and the Cambodia-Laos-Viet Nam development triangle area, boasts close proximity to international shipping routes, and has a deep-water port. Phu Yen also holds advantages for becoming a major tourism hub of the country and the region. The NA leader underscored the need for the locality to carry out in-depth assessments and solutions to address challenges facing its infrastructure, workforce, and training of officials and civil servants. He applauded the province's efforts in organising all-level Party congresses towards the 14th National Party Congress, reforming and re-arranging the political system's apparatus, developing science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation, and promoting socio-economic development to achieve faster growth under the relevant directives, resolutions, and conclusions of the Party Central Committee and the Politburo. Man asked the provincial Party Committees Standing Board to strengthen political and ideological education for officials and Party members regarding the Partys and States policies. He said it is important to properly implement Party General Secretary To Lam's directions on preparations for Party congresses at all levels. A long-term approach in personnel planning is necessary to prepare leadership personnel for not just one term but multiple future terms to support the development of Party organisations, sectors, agencies, and the province, the Chairman stated. VNA/VNS HAI DUONG A group of young people in Hai Duong Province has restored thousands of photos of martyrs, bringing joy and emotion to the martyrs families. The group, called Skyline, is headed by photography enthusiast Phung Quang Trung. Since 2021, Trung and his team have restored more than 6,000 portraits of martyrs of Hai Duong and other provinces and cities nationwide. The groups activities are completely non-profit, stemming from gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, said Trung. Born in 1996, Trung is very fond of photography and photo editing. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he came across a story about a martyr's family in Nghe An Province who had long hoped to have a photo to commemorate their son. Trung decided to learn photo restoration techniques to give a photo to the family -- and this first photo started a meaningful journey for him. When Trung shared his idea of restoring photos of martyrs with the photo editing community on social networks, the story quickly went viral, attracting the attention of many people. Trung received thousands of messages from families of fallen soldiers, while several young people with the same passion for photography also wanted to join the effort. So he founded the Skyline group, bringing together like-minded people and guiding them in both techniques and how to convey the 'soul' in every photo. As the group's leader, Trung is meticulous in selecting members. "For me, every member must share the same noble idea of expressing gratitude and pursue this ideal to the fullest, Trung said. This ensures that each finished photo carries a soul, giving the families of the fallen soldiers a sense of closeness and warmth." Some new members initially lacked knowledge in this field. But with determination, they overcame difficulties and gained experience and knowledge," he added. After receiving information about a fallen soldier, Skyline enters it into a data management system and assigns tasks to the team. Trung personally handles the more challenging photos. In over three years, the group has restored approximately 6,000 photos of fallen soldiers, far exceeding their initial expectations. "Every case is a unique and deeply moving story," Trung said. The farthest place the group has travelled to carry out their project is Con ao island, where they brought a portrait of the female hero Vo Thi Sau to the Hang Duong Cemetery. When the team brought her portrait to her grave, many local residents attended the ceremony, deeply moved. Currently, the portrait is displayed in the memorial house for the heroic martyr, a special honour for the group. Among his most memorable experiences, Trung recalled one unforgettable story. In late October 2024, while driving the group back from a project supporting flood victims in Nu Village of Lao Cai Province, Trung received a special message. It was from a family in Bac Giang Province, asking for help with a Viet Nam Heroic Mother who was critically ill. The mother constantly called out for her son, who died in the war. The family earnestly hoped for a reunion photo of the mother and her son to comfort her. Despite being exhausted from the long journey, Trung could not refuse the family's request. He stayed up all night, working on the photo and sending it to them immediately. Not long after, Trung received the news that the photo was like a miracle, helping the mother recover, eat, talk and walk again. Hearing this, Trung's fatigue disappeared, and he realised that what he had done was not just create a photo, but offer a renewed life to the martyrs mother. Earlier this year, the family even held a celebration for her long life. Seeing the joy of the relatives of fallen soldiers when they receive the photos, Trung has become more deeply aware of the meaning of his work. "Many people emotionally say that, for their family, the photo is a priceless gift. And for me, giving this gift is a great happiness," Trung said. More projects Aside from cases that Skyline selects through 'fate', Trung and his colleagues also collaborate with agencies and organisations on large-scale projects in many provinces and cities like Hai Duong, Ha Noi, Phu Yen, Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Last year, the Hai Duong Provincial Youth Union collaborated with Skyline to organise programmes called 'Hai Duong - The Return' and 'Thanh Mien - The Return', restoring 220 photos of fallen soldiers and personally delivering them to the families. Recalling these projects, Trung could not hide his emotions. He said: "The biggest challenge for us was cases where there was no photo reference. We had to rely on the martyr's age at enlistment and descriptions from family members to sketch and adjust the image to closely match their recollection." This collaboration not only helped the group implement projects more efficiently but also allowed many meaningful gifts to be delivered to the families of fallen soldiers. "This is a great source of encouragement for us. We are not walking this journey alone," Trung said. Looking back over the past few years, Trung feels fortunate to have the support of his family, the love of the community and the companionship of professionals. However, the biggest concern for Trung and the group remains resources. Currently, in addition to their non-profit restoration project, the group also accepts photo restoration orders to generate income and cover expenses. Collaborating with organisations is also a way for the group to contribute to larger-scale projects. Trung said: "We always adhere to our principle: focusing on quality, not quantity. We put our utmost dedication into every photo." Over the past three years, Trung and his team have received thousands of messages from families of fallen soldiers nationwide. The journey of Trung and Skyline continues, and it is encouraging to see this work increasingly supported by the community and society. While expanding their skilled workforce, the group is also actively exploring and applying artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance photo restoration quality. "AI helps us improve accuracy and optimise processes, but dedication and heart remain the most important factors," said Trung. Trung is one of ten individuals honoured with the National Volunteer Award in 2024, and is among 19 nominees for the Outstanding Young Vietnamese Award 2024 by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. VNS HOA BINH The Peoples Court of the northern province Hoa Binh has recently opened a first-instance criminal trial against defendant Hong Seok Joo (born 1980), a South Korean national, for the crime of "Violating regulations on road traffic participation." According to the prosecution, on December 7, 2024, Hong Seok Joo and Lee Won Hyuk (born 1987), both South Korean nationals, travelled from Ha Noi to Hoa Binh and rented a room in Tan Thinh Ward, Hoa Binh City. At around 11:00pm the same day, Hong Seok Joo drove a motorbike carrying Lee Won Hyuk toward Hoa Binh Bridge, heading from Tan Thinh Ward to Phuong Lam Ward. Due to lack of attention and failure to control speed, Hong Seok Joo crashed the motorbike into the fixed median strip on the bridge, resulting in an accident. Both Hong Seok Joo and Lee Won Hyuk were taken by local residents to Hoa Binh Provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment. However, due to severe injuries, Lee Won Hyuk died on the way to the hospital. After recovering from his injuries, Hong Seok Joo voluntarily surrendered to the police for his traffic offence. For this act, Hong Seok Joo was prosecuted and brought to trial in accordance with the law. During the trial, after a comprehensive review of the case, the judges ordered Hong Seok Joo to pay a fine of VN40 million (US$1,600) for the crime of "Violating regulations on road traffic participation", pursuant to Point a, Clause 1, Article 260 of the Penal Code. VNS HCM CITY The UNESCO UNITWIN 2025 project was launched in HCM City on 12 March with the theme Navigating the Future of Distance Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI): Challenges, Opportunities, and Global Collaboration. It is organised by the HCM City Open University (HCMCOU) in collaboration with the National Open University of Korea. Part of UNESCOs global UNITWIN network, it seeks to connect universities worldwide to advance training, research and the development of UNESCO programmes in gender, media and information technology. HCMCOU rector Nguyen Minh Ha said at the inauguration that joining the UNESCO-UNITWIN network and its initiatives provides valuable insights into the impact of digital transformation, technology and AI on distance education. It helps us recognise the challenges and opportunities that technology and AI present, allows us to learn from other members' experiences and opens the door to new global collaborations. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration between educational institutions, businesses and other stakeholders to ensure AIs effective and ethical application in education. UNITWIN 2025 builds on past initiatives, including the 2024 meeting in Malaysia, which focused on literacy and capacity-building in global digital education. This years event brings together educational leaders, researchers and experts to explore AI integration in distance learning. Key topics include digital transformation in higher education, digital skills development for learners and cross-border education cooperation models. International speakers from UNESCO UNITWIN member universities shared insights on leveraging AI to enhance open and distance education. Ha said the HCMCOU has been at the forefront of online learning since 2004, pioneering research and technological adoption in education. It established the E-Learning Centre in 2016 to develop standalone online programmes, serving as an incubator for new educational technologies. The results of these efforts have been incorporated into both distance learning and full-time programmes, making the university more adaptable to digital transformation. This proactive approach proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling the university to transition seamlessly to online learning within two weeks. Its innovations have earned international recognition. In 2020 it was one of eight universities nominated for the Times Higher Education Awards Asia in the Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year category. In 2023 it became the first Vietnamese institution to receive Quality Matters (QM)s Making a Difference for Students Award for its efforts to enhance education through digital tools. UNESCO UNITWIN 2025 marks a crucial step in advancing AI-driven education. By fostering global collaboration, the HCMCOU and its partners aim to refine digital learning strategies, equipping educators and students with the skills required for the future. VNS BINH INH Software giant FPT Group has started building an inter-level high school system the FPT Quy Nhon School - in Binh inh Province, marking the second such project in the province, the fifth nationwide. The company said the school will be built across 23,000sq.m in the AI Centre Project in Quy Nhon City, providing high-quality human resources for the future growth of the science and technology framework. The school, which will enrol its first cohort this year, will help educate 2,400 students from primary school age up to high school years, annually. The school system will be developed under the foundation of STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics); AI and Robotics. Chairman of FPT Investment company, a member of FPT Group, Le Quang Tien, said the school, along with the already under construction FPT hi-tech centre, will be a magnet of technological talents and human resources in promoting the provincial sustainable Knowledge Economy and a driving force for growth in central Viet Nam. FPT Schools, an educational ecology system of FPT Group, which was introduced in 2013, and the inter-level high-school brand, have been built to date in Thanh Hoa, Hue and a Nang. The group has also been developing education systems from primary schools to university level in Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, a Nang, Can Tho, Binh inh, Ha Noi, and other cooperative projects with UK and Australian partners in Viet Nam. Last year, FPT started the construction of the education complex at the new planned An Van Duong urban area in Huong Tra Township of Hue City, with an investment of VN432 billion (US$17.2 million). The Group is developing its centre for technological R&D and an AI centre across 17 hectares, for an investment of VN2.75 trillion (US$110 million). VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long had a meeting with WHO Viet Nam Representative Angela Pratt and UNICEF Viet Nam Representative Silvia Danilov in Ha Noi on Thursday to discuss collaboration in preventing diseases, particularly measles. The international health officials said gaps in Viet Nam's measles immunisation coverage in certain regions has promoted the need to accelerate vaccination efforts, expand eligible age groups, and ensure no one is left unvaccinated. They also underscored the importance of stockpiling medical supplies, securing adequate drug reserves, and preventing cross-infection in healthcare facilities. Danilov called for greater engagement from all levels of authorities, sectors, and civil society in the fight against measles. She also urged Viet Nam to reform and enhance its procurement system to guarantee sufficient medical supplies and vaccines. UNICEF remains committed to supporting Viet Nam in these efforts, she affirmed. Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong said that the ministry is ensuring an adequate supply of measles vaccines for the national expanded immunisation programme, while planning to hold an online conference with local authorities to reinforce the countrys disease prevention. Appreciating international organisations' cooperation, Deputy PM Long expressed Viet Nam's wish for continued international support, particularly in vaccine provision, and announced the countrys readiness to handle potential outbreaks and plans to roll out further immunisation campaigns. He urged the Ministry of Health to work more closely with WHO and UNICEF to help refine Viet Nam's policies on healthcare, particularly disease prevention. According to the ministry, measles vaccine coverage has fallen below the recommended level in recent years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2019 and 2024, an estimated 1.4 million children in the targeted age group of the expanded immunisation programme have either missed or only partially completed their routine measles vaccinations. To date, catch-up vaccination efforts have reached approximately 70 per cent, about 900,000, of the children. VNS NEW DELHI ASEAN is a crucial pillar of India's Act East Policy and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific, affirmed Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on March 12. The official co-chaired the 27th ASEAN-India Senior Officials' Meeting (AISOM) in Manila, the Philippines, with his Philippine counterpart Theresa P. Lazaro, the MEA said in an official statement. The Philippines is the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations. The MEA said that the 27th AISOM reviewed the status of implementation of decisions made at the ASEAN-India Summit/ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting (PMC+1) across the three pillars of engagement, namely political-security, economy and socio-culture. The Senior Officials appreciated progress in the implementation of the 10 Point Proposal of the Indian Prime Minister announced at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Laos in 2024 to further strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the designation of 2025 as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism. According to the ministry, key issues of discussion included tourism cooperation, early completion of review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), and digital, maritime, connectivity, health, innovation and development partnerships. Views on regional and global issues of mutual interest were also exchanged. Notably, the preparations for the ASEAN-India Summit and ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held later this year in Malaysia were also discussed. The ASEAN side appreciated India's continued support to the bloc and to the ASEAN-led architecture in the region. VNS Representatives from Peace Boat arrive in Ha Long on March 12 to oversee preparations for the arrival of the delegation. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi About 1,700 tourists, 85 per cent of whom are Japanese, aboard a chartered cruise ship are scheduled to visit Ha Long city in the northern province of Quang Ninh on April 30. This will mark the first-ever such journey organised by Peace Boat, a renowned Japanese cruise tour operator. Representatives from the firm arrived in Ha Long on March 12 to oversee preparations for the arrival of the delegation. Toda Yoshiaki, Director of Peace Boats Cruise Tourism Division, explained that Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, was chosen as the sole stop on the cruise due to its unmatched beauty and global recognition. He added that Japanese tourists have long expressed a desire to visit the bay. Yoshiaki also revealed that the company worked to schedule the ships arrival on an important date for Vietnam, which celebrates its reunification on April 30. The ship will depart from Kobe, Japan, on April 20, stopping at several ports before arriving in Ha Long on the morning of April 30, allowing tourists to enjoy the special events taking place in Vietnam for this holiday. During their one-day stay, tourists will be divided into groups for excursions to Ha Long Bay, the city itself, and possibly nearby Hai Phong or rural villages. A representative from the Quang Ninh Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism stated that the province will provide full support to ensure a smooth and safe visit for the tourists. At a reception for Peace Boat representatives, along with travel agencies and maritime agents in Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial Peoples Committee, emphasised that this inaugural Japanese cruise ship visit on April 30 is the result of extensive negotiations and promotional efforts by provincial authorities and relevant organisations. She highlighted that this milestone presents a great opportunity to further develop cruise tourism between Japan and Quang Ninh, in line with the province's goal of attracting high-end international tourists. Quang Ninh is committed to ensuring the best conditions for this event, developing more attractive tourism products, and maintaining a safe and secure environment, she said, expressing her hope that this milestone will help promote Quang Ninh as a top destination for international cruise lines, including those from Japan. In 2025, Quang Ninh aims to welcome 20 million tourists, including 4.5 million foreigners, with total tourism revenue expected to reach 55 trillion VND (2.16 billion USD). Ha Long Bay named among 24 most ideal world destinations in 2024 Forbes magazine has recently published a list of the 24 Best Places To Travel In 2024, which included Ha Long Bay. The list was compiled by Luxury Travel Advisor OvationNetwork. Ha Long Bay among worlds 51 most beautiful places: Conde Nast Traveler Conde Nast Traveler, a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine, has named the UNESCO-recognised heritage Ha Long Bay in the northeastern coastal province of Quang Ninh on its list of the 51 most beautiful places in the world. Vu Quoc Huy, director of NIC AISC is a key international event that explores the integration of AI and semiconductors, offering opportunities to access the latest insights, forge cross-border business connections, and affirm Vietnams role in the global value chain of the semiconductor and AI industries. In his opening remarks, Vu Quoc Huy, director of the NIC, said, "The AISC is an academic exchange forum and an opportunity for Vietnam to assert its position in the regional technology race. This event will help domestic businesses strategise, enhance their innovative capacities, and drive sustainable development in the high-tech sector." AI and semiconductors are driving global digital transformation, reshaping industries and economies. The Vietnamese government is embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution as it recognises AI and semiconductors as strategic pillars for development. These fields offer a unique opportunity for Vietnamese companies to integrate into global value chains and contribute to technological progress. Christopher Nguyen, founder of Aitomatic, said, "The Vietnamese governments efforts to encourage the development of AI and semiconductors are proving to be in line with the global trends. A blend of national vision with international investment has created significant momentum, opening many vital opportunities for the development of AI and semiconductors here." Christopher Nguyen, founder, Aitomatic Ihe open-source AI model SemiKong was also introduced to the Vietnamese technology community at the event. This pioneering model, developed through the collaboration of Aitomatic, Japan'sTokyo Electron, and FPT Software, optimises chip production. Emerging at a time when the demand for open-source AI platforms is on the rise, SemiKong plays a crucial role in enhancing speed, accuracy, and productivity across high-tech production fields. Its launch in Vietnam marks an important milestone in enabling domestic firms to master advanced technology, opening doors for deeper integration into the global semiconductor production value chain. AISC 2025 is focusing on new technology trends in AI and semiconductors, including revolutionising chip design and production, the potential of advanced semiconductor architectures, and strategic policies to boost global cooperation. Key contents include innovation in chip design through AI. The opening session of AISC 2025 provided insights into the convergence of AI and semiconductor technology, bringing together leading experts in the industry. Anna Goldie from Google DeepMind spoke about AlphaChip a revolutionary advancement in AI-driven microchip design by Google. Pioneering researchers from Stanford University and the University of Warwick presented cutting-edge studies on AI-applied IC design, scaling semiconductor production, and the potential of Large Language Models in specialised fields. Bui Hai Quan, vice president of VPBank, presented on AI applications in banking. This opening session underscored the role of open-source AI in driving innovation and optimising chip production, offering domestic enterprises a pathway to access advanced technologies and strengthen their position in the global supply chain. At the end of the session, for the first time in Vietnam, participating companies took part in the Startup Pavilion an international 'Shark Tank' scheme, where leading investment funds can directly evaluate innovative ideas. The platform enables domestic technology firms to quickly connect with senior leaders, pitch their projects within a limited timeframe, and secure key agreements during the conference, paving their entry into the global technology market. Other activities over the three days include specialised workshops on semiconductors and their impact on AI at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi March 12-13, and a policy forum on Vietnam's preparedness to develop domestic semiconductor and AI industries, with participation and keynote addresses from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, at the NIC campus in Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park on March 14. International AI & Semiconductor Conference set for mid-March The International Conference on AI-Semiconductor Conference (AISC) 2025, organised by the National Innovation Centre (NIC) and Aitomatic from the US, will be held on March 1216 in Hanoi and Danang. Education a major cog for semiconductor advances In a bid to provide more talent for Vietnam in high-tech industries, the government will establish a training system that will be the first of its type in the country. Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and others all boast stronger policies for chip-related manufacturing, photo Le Toan During the ASEAN Future Forum 2025 held in Hanoi late last month, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar bin Ibrahim stated that member states need to cement cooperation in manufacturing semiconductors to turn Southeast Asia into a major hub for such products. Malaysia is leading the region in semiconductor manufacturing and the countrys leaders fully support the development of this industry, PM Ibrahim told Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh. Malaysia began to develop semiconductor products about 20 years ago, with the participation of high-tech investors from the US, China, South Korea, and Japan. This success needs to be shared among other ASEAN nations, according to PM Ibrahim. Malaysia is the worlds sixth-largest exporter of semiconductors, accounting for 13 per cent of the global assembly, testing and packaging market. It aims to lure in $115 billion worth of investments by 2030. Last week, British chip company Arm Holdings inked a deal with Malaysia to bolster its efforts to produce high-end semiconductors. The deal will see Softbank-owned Arm provide chip designs and other technology, helping Malaysia to move into more value-added production such as wafer fabrication and integrated circuit design. Malaysia reported to be paying $250 million over a decade to receive support from Arm Holdings. Malaysias national semiconductor strategy aims to invest over $100 billion in advanced technologies. In May 2024, the Malaysian government committed to invest at least $5.6 billion in the semiconductor industry, with the goal of being self-sufficient in chip manufacturing within the next 510 years. Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand also want to develop semiconductors, so all of us need to stay united and boost cooperation in this industry. Malaysia stands ready to support Vietnam in this endeavour, PM Ibrahim said. The global semiconductor industry is undergoing a significant transformation, with ASEAN emerging as a prominent player. Geopolitical tensions have opened opportunities for the region, with key contributors like Singapore and Malaysia leading the way. ASEAN, in its effort to diversify the global supply chain, has recorded impressive growth. Total semiconductor exports from the region reached $268.8 billion in 2023, accounting for almost one-quarter of the global market. A 41.6 per cent increase in exports from 2018 to 2023 underscores the industrys growth in this area. Vietnams semiconductor industry is led by strategic government policies, raising foreign investment, and a growing demand for chips in various industries. With a projected market value of $31.28 billion by 2027 and a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 per cent from 2023 to 2027, Vietnam is steadily positioning itself as a key player in the global semiconductor supply chain, according to Dezan Shira & Associates. After Vietnam and the US forged a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023, the formers semiconductor industry has been beefed up, with larger participation from global semiconductor giants such as Intel, OnSemi, Hana Micron, and Amkor. They are particularly found in outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facilities in the northern region, and research and development centres in the south. Under Vietnams semiconductor strategy towards 2030, with a vision extending to 2050, the country will centre on talent development, manufacturing capacity, and global integration. According to the strategy, the country will establish at least 100 design companies, one small-scale manufacturing facility, and 10 packaging and testing plants, with annual revenue in the semiconductor industry of $25 billion, all by the end of this decade. Those revenues will aimed to be doubled by 2024 and, from there to mid-century doubled again to $100 billion, with Vietnam seeking to boast 300 design companies, three fabrication plants, and 20 OSAT plants. However, experts said a lack of high-quality personnel, underdeveloped infrastructure, and administrative hurdles need to be addressed. Other ASEAN countries, such as Indonesia and Singapore, are also ramping up efforts. Singapore is expanding its wafer fabrication zones and enhancing business support services. According to Singapores Economic Development Board, over the past decades, Singapore has become a semiconductor powerhouse, holding 10 per cent of the global chip production and about a fifth of the worlds chip-making gear. Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his budget speech late last month said that Singapore has attracted global AI and quantum computing firms. He pledged to spend around SGD1 billion ($747 million) on a new chip research facility. Singapore already houses plants for blue-chip US manufacturers including memory chip specialist Micron, outsource manufacturer GlobalFoundries and fabrication-equipment supplier Applied Materials. Meanwhile, Indonesia, with its abundant raw materials, is developing a supply chain from raw material extraction to production. This regional competition not only elevates ASEANs position in the global semiconductor market but also fosters collaboration to create an integrated value chain. To strongly develop the semiconductor industry successfully, we need to pay special attention to training high-quality personnel, Malaysian PM Ibrahim said. Vietnam is aiming to train 50,000 skilled engineers for the industry by 2030 and about 100,000 by 2040. Japan-Vietnam tie-ups evident in semiconductors Strengthening Vietnam-Japan cooperation in training personnel and developing the semiconductor supply chain is expected to significantly accelerate the growth of the industry. Education a major cog for semiconductor advances In a bid to provide more talent for Vietnam in high-tech industries, the government will establish a training system that will be the first of its type in the country. High-tech transition plans reach new stage Chip and semiconductor manufacturers as well as 5G network infrastructure developers in Vietnam will be entitled to various incentives from the government. Mounting pressure driven by investors, international partners, and increasingly conscious consumers is compelling businesses to demonstrate greater transparency in their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. ESG principles gain added focus for Vietnamese groups, Source: freepik.com Recognising these challenges, an event on pioneering ESG excellence, held on March 6 in Hanoi, brought together key stakeholders to discuss strategies for integrating the criteria into corporate operations. Organised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and KPMG Vietnam, the event underscored the urgency for Vietnamese businesses to align with global sustainability standards to enhance their competitiveness and drive long-term growth. Attended by hundreds of industry leaders and specialists, the event reflected the increasing demand for robust ESG implementation within Vietnams business community. A panel discussion on sustainable development collaboration featured leading experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, ACCA Vietnam, KPMG Vietnam, and Agribank. The discussion provided valuable insights into the practical challenges of ESG adoption, highlighting the evolving regulatory landscape and its implications for businesses. As heard at the event, one of the primary motivations for businesses to adopt ESG practices lies in the shifting legal frameworks both domestically and internationally. New regulations introduce stricter compliance requirements and directly impact a companys market access and competitiveness. For example, in 2024, Europe introduced a series of mandatory sustainability standards, most notably the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Following this trend, the UK plans to implement sustainability disclosure requirements by next year, aiming to enhance transparency and corporate environmental accountability. As a key trading partner of Vietnam, Europe now requires businesses to report greenhouse gas emissions across their entire value chain. This adds pressure on foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam and businesses trading with Europe and the United Kingdom. Speaking at the event, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho, vice president at the Institute of Strategy and Policy under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, warned that businesses failing to integrate sustainability into their core strategies risk severe competitive disadvantages. Tho pointed to Vietnams garment and textile industry as a cautionary example, recalling how the country lost many textile orders to Bangladesh in previous years due to its inability to meet sustainability reporting requirements. Similarly, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, deputy head of ESG at Agribank, emphasised that adoption is not merely a compliance obligation but a strategic advantage. Businesses that prioritise sustainability benefit from enhanced risk management, improved credit ratings, and optimised capital costs, Ha noted. Major credit rating agencies such as Moodys and Fitch Ratings have incorporated ESG criteria into their corporate evaluations, directly influencing a companys access to both financing and its broader market reputation. However, she acknowledged that despite Agribanks strong commitment to ESG, practical implementation remains challenging. One of the most pressing obstacles is the absence of a well-defined legal framework for green financing, making it difficult to categorise sustainable projects with clear investment criteria. Acknowledging the difficulties businesses face in integrating ESG, Pham Hoang Ngoc Linh, partner at KPMG Vietnam, stressed the importance of professional consultancy and auditing support. According to Linh, aligning with ESG standards is no longer solely a matter of investor or regulatory compliance but a means for businesses to optimise operational efficiency, mitigate risks, and secure access to green financing. However, successful ESG integration requires a fundamental transformation across all levels of corporate strategy, from governance to internal reporting systems. KPMG has committed $4 billion towards developing sustainability tools, services, and talent to help companies navigate increasingly complex ESG standards. To bridge this skills gap, various professional organisations have introduced specialised training initiatives. Among the most notable is the Professional Diploma in Sustainability, launched by ACCA in 2024 to equip global professionals with in-depth knowledge of international sustainability regulations and best practices. The qualification covers key aspects of ESG governance, sustainable strategy implementation, and sustainability reporting, as well as assurance and audit processes. By providing structured education and practical training, To Quoc Hung, country manager of ACCA Vietnam noted that initiatives like the diploma aim to empower businesses with the expertise needed to meet evolving ESG demands, ensuring that Vietnam remains competitive in the global sustainability landscape. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho vice president, Institute of Strategy and Policy, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment In the context of international integration and growing pressure from global environmental standards, Vietnamese businesses can no longer afford to remain outside the trend of sustainable development. Compliance with environmental regulations is not just a responsibility but a prerequisite for maintaining competitiveness. The government has introduced several policies to support businesses in adapting. From this month, approximately 2,100 enterprises will be required to conduct emissions inventories and reporting. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to $4.000. However, many businesses remain unprepared due to a lack of information or insufficient guidance from regulatory authorities. Beyond domestic pressures, international standards such as the EUs Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism for the steel and chemical industries present further challenges for exporters. If businesses fail to adapt in time, compliance costs will increase, undermining their competitiveness. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, deputy head, Steering Committee for Environmental, Social, and Governance, Agribank Rather than viewing ESG as a mandatory obligation, businesses should integrate it into their core strategy. Setting clear goals, measuring effectiveness, and managing risks in line with international standards allow companies to adapt proactively to tightening regulations. Green investment funds prioritise ESG-focused businesses, creating market expansion. Technology and digital transformation can optimise operations, reduce waste, and enhance transparency. Companies adopting renewable energy, developing eco-friendly products, or offering green financial services can stay ahead of the sustainability trend. Building an ESG-savvy workforce is also crucial, helping businesses manage risks and foster a culture of sustainability. Transparent reporting strengthens credibility and investor confidence while ensuring strategic oversight. Collaborating with international financial institutions and seeking domestic regulatory support can provide access to preferential funding and government incentives. To Quoc Hung, country manager ACCA Vietnam Awareness and governance mindset are crucial for business transformation and sustainable development. To support this, ACCA has partnered with the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and universities to conduct in-depth research, analysing data from high-growth enterprises. These studies help identify key factors for successfully adopting governance standards and ESG strategies. Beyond strategic challenges, personnel remain a major barrier to ESG adoption. To address this, ACCA launched an advanced sustainability certification programme in 180 countries in 2024. Covering governance principles, legal regulations, and sustainable reporting, it equips businesses and professionals to meet stringent standards. With strong collaboration between regulators, professional bodies, and universities, Vietnamese businesses now have greater access to sustainable development models. These efforts enhance competitiveness and contribute to a greener economy, ensuring long-term growth. Pham Hoang Ngoc Linh, partner KPMG Vietnam Businesses today face multiple pressures - not only from macroeconomic conditions and policies but also from the community, employees, and consumers. Employees now seek purpose in their work, choosing companies that align with their values and contribute positively to society. Likewise, consumers are increasingly selective, favouring brands committed to sustainability. This presents a valuable opportunity: the chance to create a greener, more sustainable planet. When businesses, employees, and consumers unite in this mission, everyone benefits. This is not just a trend but a necessity for long-term success. Beyond opportunities, brand reputation is key, and companies that embrace sustainable practices and contribute to society strengthen their credibility and gain a competitive edge. Finally, resilience is crucial. The recent pandemic exposed differences in how businesses adapted. Those with strong preparation, strategic flexibility, and a commitment to sustainability proved more capable of withstanding disruptions. Vietnamese firms must strengthen ESG policies to attract investment The Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD) held its seventh Annual Forum in Ho Chi Minh City on December 5, focusing on corporate governance as a strategy to attract investment. Logistics Industrial Cluster 'a pioneer' in ESG Western Pacific's Logistics Industrial Cluster (LIC) ecosystem stands as a pioneer in effectively implementing Environmental, Social, and Governance standards. ACCA and KPMG forge path for business leaders to pioneer ESG excellence The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and KPMG Vietnam signed an MoU in Hanoi on March 6, reaffirming their shared commitment to promoting sustainable development and driving prosperity for the Vietnamese business community. How do you assess the current state of Vietnams import-export sector and the feasibility of reaching the government's target? In the first two months of this year, Vietnams total import-export value surpassed $127 billion, already showing a 12 per cent jump on-year. This is quite an impressive result. Since 2010, except for 2023, the countrys import-export value has increased steadily, with only five years seeing growth below 10 per cent, while the rest saw double-digit growth, even exceeding 20 per cent in some years. The scale of Vietnams import-export value is huge, exceeding $786 billion last year. Under the current conditions, Im confident that the country can achieve the 12 per cent import-export growth target for the whole of the year. What impact do you expect increased US tariffs on various products to have on Vietnam's export strategy? It is likely that the list of products subject to increased tariffs in the US will grow, including electronics, textiles, footwear, automobiles, and agricultural products. This policy affects exports from several countries but also opens up opportunities for others. Vietnam and the US have become comprehensive strategic partners. The US is Vietnam's largest export market. The tariff applied to garments, textiles, and footwear from Vietnam to the US ranges from 8-12 per cent, while the tariff on wooden products is low if the origin rules are observed. Agricultural products like coffee and cashews also benefit from low tariffs or are tariff-exempt. This gives Vietnamese products a competitive advantage in the US market. If the Trump administrations policies do not differ too much from his previous term, it presents a good opportunity to boost exports of Vietnamese-made products thanks to competitive pricing, as products from other countries incur high tariffs. The sectors with a rosy outlook for exports to the US include textiles, footwear, wooden products, agricultural products, and seafood, which have all secured a remarkable market share in the US. How should Vietnamese exporters respond to the challenges of meeting US trade requirements? One of the most enduring challenges is the strict requirements for product origin, such as on wood for furniture, or standards for agricultural exports to the US. Additionally, Vietnam faces competition from countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India, which are also striving to increase exports to the US. To capitalise on the opportunities provided by the new trade policies, Vietnamese firms need to embrace strategic solutions. Firms must ensure strict adherence to origin rules, invest in domestic production to reduce dependence on imported raw materials, and enhance product quality through the application of modern technologies and meeting international standards. The US administration's protectionism trade policies present opportunities and challenges for Vietnam. With major competitors facing high tariffs, Vietnamese exporters can expand their market share in the US thanks to its cost and quality advantages. However, to seize this opportunity, businesses need to improve their competitiveness, comply with international regulations, and develop long-term strategies. This will propel exports and solidify the position of Vietnamese products in the global market. What role should the government and businesses play in enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnam's textiles industry? The government needs to complete policies and legal frameworks, monitor and supervise the enforcement of regulations related to the garments and textiles industry, ensuring transparency, feasibility, and convenience for investment, production, and business activities. Meanwhile, businesses need to collaborate more effectively, especially within the textiles industry. For instance, some large projects require the participation of multiple companies, so that if businesses lack cooperation and cant take advantage of industry associations, they will not be able to implement these projects effectively. Additionally, making efforts for market diversification is essential, along with slashing unnecessary costs to boost the competitiveness of products compared to their direct competitors in the industry. Vietnam prospects 2025: robust growth likely to continue despite trade dispute risks Citi's recent Vietnam's economic outlook forecast the country's GDP growth in the 6-7 per cent range for 2025, supported by continued manufacturing expansion and real estate recovery. Manufacturing firms remain optimistic about 2025 prospects Despite manufacturing momentum slowing in early 2025, manufacturers are upbeat about their prospects this year. Photo: baodautu.vn Hanoi brought in more than $2.16 billion in FDI in 2024, up 30 per cent on-year, placing fifth nationwide.This, combined with the expansion of industrial zones (IZs) around Hanoi, has resulted in a large number of foreign experts, engineers, and technicians coming to work and live in the region, leading to a sharp increase in demand for serviced apartments. In 2024, Hanoi was home to 10 operating IZs covering 1,348 hectares with high occupancy rates, attracting both foreign and domestic investments, and the city is aiming to add eight more by 2030. Neighbouring Bac Ninh province has approved up to 6,000 businesses to employ foreign workers, with nearly 15,000 individuals granted or renewing work permits. Matthew Powell, director of Savills Hanoi, emphasised that the expansion and development of IZs, along with strong FDI inflows, has led to a sharp rise in demand for serviced apartments. The demand, however, is primarily found in Hanois market due to limited supply and the lower quality of serviced apartments in surrounding areas, while foreign professionals usually have specific accommodation requirements related to quality and services. As a result, demand for expatriate housing remains concentrated in Hanoi, where residents have easy access to diverse amenities and high-quality housing options. The market has also recorded an increase in rental demand, particularly as housing demand remains high while property prices continue to be elevated, he said. By the end of 2024, the total supply of serviced apartments in Hanoi had reached approximately 6,346 units across 64 projects, maintaining stability on-quarter and increasing by 3 per cent on-year after Swiss-Belresidences Hanoi, a serviced apartment venture in the capital city, became operational last June. The occupancy rate increased by 2 per cent on-quarter and 84 per cent on-year. A and B-Grade apartments experienced higher occupancy rates, while C-Grade apartments saw a slight decline of 2 per cent. The average rent increased by 1 per cent on-quarter and 2 per cent on-year, reaching nearly $24 per square metre per month. Powell also stated that in the forthcoming years, about 20 projects are expected to come onto the market, providing nearly 4,100 new serviced apartments. In 2025 alone, seven new projects will contribute 2,889 units, with the Tay Ho View Complex projected to offer the largest supply of Grade A apartments. Of the future supply, 83 per cent will be located in the inner city, while the remaining 17 per cent will be to the west. International operators are optimistic about the market's growth potential, with their dominance in the serviced apartment segment projected to account for 87 per cent of future supply. Notable international brands actively participating in this market include The Ascott, Lotte Group, Parkroyal Serviced Suites Hanoi, Shilla Hotels & Resorts, Hilton, and Hyatt. According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance, by the end of February, total FDI in Vietnam had surpassed $6.9 billion, up 35.5 per cent on-year. During the period, Hanoi alone had attracted more than $1.1 billion, up 2 per cent on-year. This included 51 newly registered projects with a total capital of $20.1 million, 24 projects with supplemental capital totalling $1.038 billion, and 52 cases where foreign investors either contributed capital or acquired shares, amounting to $42.7 million. Hanoi to expand IPs to welcome FDI Hanoi will continue to expand industrial park and cluster infrastructure to welcome foreign direct investment inflows. Foreign satellite groups expand tech inflows The expansion of investors in the technology and semiconductor sectors will pave the way for investment inflow from their satellites into manufacturing and processing in Vietnam. Being based in Haiphong, I have witnessed first-hand how this once-quaint river port town has transformed into a key logistics and manufacturing hub for the north just one example of Vietnams broader economic transformation. Bruno Jaspaert, chairman, European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam European businesses are honoured to contribute to this success, but there is potential to do even more. To fully realise it, we must work together to address the bottlenecks investors face. If my years in Vietnam have taught me one thing, it is that challenges exist but for every challenge, there is also a solution. Todays dialogue is an opportunity to exchange perspectives, strengthen collaboration, and reinforce our shared commitment to a thriving, resilient, and forward-looking economic partnership with a focus on sustainability. To attract more European investors, we believe it is necessary to highlight some must win battles for the future ahead. Firstly, strengthening the legal framework is the foundation for sustainable growth. Right after Typhoon Yagi in September, I took my motorbike around Haiphong city, and it was impressive to find all the houses still standing strong. The reason why they kept standing is that they were built on solid foundations. The same applies to the country. The foundations of any state and economy are its legal framework. All investors crave stability and transparency, especially regarding the laws governing and impacting their business. For that reason alone, it is crucial that Vietnam establish a transparent and stable legal framework to become a top investment destination. If we get the foundations right, building a house becomes much easier. Second is reducing trade barriers. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has already implemented tariff reductions for bilateral trade. However, domestic taxes and technical trade barriers should not be used to offset the benefits of these agreements. Third is enhancing foreign investment appeal. Since 2011, we have published the quarterly Business Confidence Index (BCI) to assess business sentiment on Vietnams economic outlook. In our latest BCI report, three in every four European businesses recommended Vietnam as an investment destination. Despite geopolitical situations, more than 70 per cent of European businesses are expressing their confidence in Vietnam and plan to expand their footprint, investment, and/or production here. However, to further enhance Vietnams attractiveness, we must streamline administrative procedures to remove persistent bottlenecks. Three key areas for improvement, consistently highlighted by businesses via our BCI surveys are reducing regulatory burdens on businesses investing and operating in Vietnam; standardising company establishment and investment registration procedures nationwide to minimise provincial inconsistencies; and simplifying the requirements for work permits to bring in more international experts. Fourth is elevating national branding. Greater investment is needed to promote Vietnam not only as a premier tourist destination but also as a thriving hub for international business. Over past years, Vietnam has demonstrated remarkable economic growth, surpassing expert projections, with GDP growth exceeding 7 per cent last year. The Year of the Snake will bring further opportunities, and we must enhance visibility to engage more European companies. Europe has a strong tradition of dynamic, family-owned small and medium-size enterprises, and we hope to establish a Vietnam Connect programme to encourage these businesses to choose Vietnam as their next home. We are not just here to present challenges but to work collaboratively on solutions. Our goal is to contribute to reducing administrative barriers by at least 30 per cent, aligning with Party General Secretary To Lams call for Vietnams broader economic reform objectives. Through our Whitebook, which is set to launch next month, we will provide concrete recommendations to address these issues and foster an even more attractive investment climate. FDI inflows rise 35 per cent in first two months Vietnam reported more than $6.9 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first two months of the year, an on-year increase of 35.5, according to data from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Finance. Some producers are seeking policy clarity when it comes to VAT refunds and customs issues, photo Le Toan At a dialogue between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the EU business community on March 3, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said the ministry was working with local authorities to expedite investment certification issuance and adjust tax policies to better align with the needs of businesses. Ngoc made the statement in response to customs and tax policy proposals raised by investors, including Hung Yen Textile & Dyeing Co., Ltd. and HEINEKEN Vietnam. The latter called for regulations to support wastewater reuse and circularity, including enabling cans to be recycled for the same application. As Vietnam continues to assert its position as a global investment hub, enhancing trade facilitation has become critical. Claudia Anselmi, CEO of Hung Yen Textile & Dyeing, emphasised the need to clarify policies to support on-the-spot import-export. She also pointed out the issues in the current VAT refund system, which increases costs and impacts business competitiveness. Addressing these issues will help ensure that Vietnam remains an attractive destination for high-value manufacturing investments, she said. Review and reform Together with tax policy, energy, healthcare and technology were among the big issues which foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) are looking for further advancements. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui Hoang Phuong said, Vietnam will prioritise development of AI, semiconductor tech, and cloud computing. The government will offer personal income tax exemptions and a five-year visa extension to engage high-tech professionals. He elaborated that the development direction for the aforementioned priority areas is stipulated in the draft Digital Technology Industry Law and the Science and Technology and Innovation Law, which are expected to be presented by the Ministry of Science and Technology to the National Assembly in May this year. The draft Science and Technology and Innovation Law is scheduled for review and feedback at a National Assembly session in mid-2025, and is expected to be passed at the next session at the years end. The Digital Technology Industry Law is expected to be passed in May. In the healthcare sector, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan confirmed that the new Pharma Law, effective from July 1, will shorten the drug and vaccine approval process from five years to just eight months. The government is also actively working on drafting relevant decrees and circulars, and the minister encourages businesses to actively collaborate closely with the Ministry of Health, she said, emphasising the need to harmonise standards with European regulations to accelerate the approval process for medical products. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long responded positively to the business recommendations regarding stable access to green power. The government plans to issue new decrees aimed at developing between 80,000 and 100,000MW of renewable energy, while also promoting the self-produced, self-consumed electricity model to optimise clean energy capacity, he said. These commitments are expected to be driving forces for the EU business community and FIEs amid new challenges that are going to come from US trade tariffs. This has raised fresh concerns about a global trade war, which could increase difficulties for struggling economies. As shown in a survey conducted in February by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam, close to four-fifths of US companies operating in Vietnam are concerned about the possibility of the US imposing tariffs on imports from the Southeast Asian nation. And more than 85 per cent fear the proposed US tariffs will reduce trade volume, disrupt business relationships and affect the Vietnamese economy. If the US imposes tariffs on products originating from Vietnam, the consequences will not only be limited to domestic enterprises but will also have strong impacts on FIEs. For example, a multinational corporation may have a component manufacturing factory in Vietnam, assemble it in Europe or Japan, and then export it to the US. When the US adjusts tariffs on a link in this chain, businesses will have to re-evaluate their production strategies, posing a problem for Vietnam in retaining investment, said Le Net, lawyer at LNT & Partners. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister Vietnam is committed to creating a transparent, stable, and favourable investment environment for foreign businesses. We appreciate the contributions of the European business community and will continue to listen, improve, and innovate for the sustainable development and mutual benefits of both sides The government is committed to boldly addressing bottlenecks in administrative procedures, customs, and compliance costs. All difficulties will be resolved according to a specific roadmap: ministries will address issues in March, the government by April, and the National Assembly in May if necessary. The rapidly changing global context requires both Vietnam and the EU to take a flexible and proactive approach. We might live 100 years, but we need a vision that spans 1,000 years, not only in investment but also in long-term cooperation, with individuals and businesses at the centre. Let us set a goal to increase economic growth from the European business community and from Vietnam, each by at least 8 per cent this year, aiming for double digits in the future. Legal refinements Some experts said that facing external tariff pressure, legal reform will continue to be an important tool for a country to retain its attractiveness and competitiveness. The Vietnamese government has made significant strides in improving the business climate. However, further refinements are being sought to create a more favourable business climate for the business community. The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president Nguyen Quang Vinh told VIR, Policy stability is key, as large investors need a low-risk and predictable business environment. Countries in the region such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are actively improving the investment environment to engage foreign investment inflows. With increasingly fierce competition from these countries, Vietnam faces the risk of foreign investment capital shifting if it does not have appropriate policies. Vinh suggested that enhancing the legal environment was required, via ensuring consistency and transparency in policy issuance and implementation, and creating trust for businesses to make long-term investment. Vietnam needs to continuously improve its investment environment and have a flexible foreign investment attraction strategy to maintain its position in the region, Vinh further addded. European Union Ambassador to Vietnam Julien Guerrier highlighted the need for clear and predictable regulations, uniform application of the law across all levels of administration and provinces and alignment with international standards. This will help Vietnam to unlock the full potential of EU-Vietnam trade and investment cooperation. He reaffirmed Europes readiness to bring more investment, tech, and opportunities to Vietnam. EU-Vietnam trade has already reached 68 billion in 2024, with the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Further progress means securing an inviting environment for investors in Vietnam with clear and predictable rules, consistent application including across provinces, and faster decision-making, Guerrier said. According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam enjoys big growth in foreign direct investment in the first two months of this year. Specifically, 516 new investment projects were registered, totaling more than $2.19 billion. This represented a 10 per cent increase in the number of projects, but a 48.4 per cent decrease in registered capital. On the other hand, 256 ongoing projects received additional investment capital of $4.18 billion, marking a 42.2 per cent rise in project numbers and nearly a 7.4-fold increase in capital. Danang promotes investment opportunities in Singapore The Danang Investment Forum 2025 was held on March 3 in Singapore, underscoring Vietnams strategic ambition to position itself as a key financial hub in Southeast Asia and commitment to regulatory innovation and international collaboration. Koreans investing across crucial sectors Giant South Korean groups are opening up new cooperation opportunities in rare mining, power, and more across Vietnam. MoF Deputy Minister Do Thanh Trung receives a Special Advisor of Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance award At the meeting, both Trung and Tsutomu said they were delighted at the increasingly substantive and effective development of the Vietnam-Japan relationship. After more than a year of upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the ties between the two countries have continued to grow in both quantity and quality across all fields. Political trust has been strengthened, cooperation in investment, trade, labour, and tourism has been enhanced, and exchanges at high levels and all levels have become closer. Deputy Minister Trung thanked Tsutomu for his contributions to the good relationship between the two countries over the past, especially in encouraging bilateral cooperation in cultural exchange, people-to-people exchange, local cooperation, education and human resource training. Special Advisor Tsutomu thanked all leaders of the units of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for recent support and praised Vietnam's remarkable development. He discussed and proposed several specific measures to utilise friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and Japan, including the development of Vietnam-Japan University. He said he hoped that the MoF would continue to pay attention to the development of the university venture. Specifically, Tsutomu asked the MoF to support the approval of the pre-feasibility study for the Vietnam-Japan University construction initiative, as well as procedures related to using loans from the Japanese government. Deputy Minister Trung said that the MoF had been implementing procedures and processes for timely capital allocation. The dossier will be submitted to the prime minister to approve the scheme's investment policy as soon as possible. Recently, the Vietnamese government agreed to announce the mid-term public investment capital plan for 2026-2030 for several important and urgent programmes and projects, including the Vietnam-Japan University initiative. Japan is Vietnam's number one partner in official development aid and labour, third in investment, and fourth in trade and tourism. The bilateral trade turnover in 2024 reached $46.2 billion. Notably, the success of the recent 10th Vietnam-Japan Cultural Festival is a testament to the good relationship between the two countries. Vietnam to pilot digital asset and cryptocurrency exchange Vietnam is fast-tracking efforts to build a compelling exchange for digital asset and cryptocurrency transactions. FDI inflows rise 35 per cent in first two months Vietnam reported more than $6.9 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first two months of the year, an on-year increase of 35.5, according to data from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Finance. National Assembly Standing Committee approves 30 per cent land rent cut At the 43rd session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, delegates unanimously approved a decree detailing the implementation of the backdated 2024 land rental reduction bill. The meeting was attended by Mai Xuan Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Department of Taxation, Kang Min Su, commissioner of the NTS and senior representatives from both sides. In his welcoming speech, Thanh emphasised that this latest engagement marks a significant milestone in bilateral tax cooperation and highlights the strong diplomatic and economic ties between Vietnam and South Korea. "This agreement reflects our shared commitment to improving tax administration, enhancing policy frameworks, and strengthening measures against tax fraud. Over the years, our collaboration has provided valuable opportunities for both sides to exchange knowledge and develop more effective tax management strategies," said Thanh. The bilateral cooperation framework between the two tax authorities has now seen 20 official engagements, facilitating extensive knowledge-sharing and capacity-building. Through these efforts, both Vietnam and South Korea have been able to refine their tax administration models and align with international best practices. Mai Xuan Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Department of Taxation (right) warmly welcomed Kang Min Su, commissioner of the NTS. Photo: Phuong Thao As economies worldwide undergo rapid digital transformation, tax authorities face increasing demands for modernisation and efficiency. In this context, Vietnams tax sector has been actively transitioning towards a more technology-driven approach to improve tax collection, compliance, and service delivery. "Digital transformation is reshaping global tax administration, and Vietnam is committed to leveraging technology to optimise tax management. South Koreas advanced experience in tax digitalisation provides valuable insights that will help Vietnam implement more effective policies and management systems," said Thanh. Echoing this sentiment, commissioner Kang Min Su reaffirmed South Koreas commitment to further strengthening cooperation with Vietnams tax authorities. He acknowledged the positive outcomes achieved through previous collaborations and expressed confidence in the continued success of this partnership. "We greatly appreciate the close and effective cooperation with Vietnams tax authorities over the years. With a shared commitment to collaboration, we will continue to achieve significant milestones, fostering a more transparent and efficient tax environment," he said. During the meeting, both sides exchanged insights on successful case studies in tax digitalisation, focusing on best practices that enhance compliance and revenue collection. They also discussed strategies for optimising tax administration through technology, particularly in the context of the evolving digital economy. A key highlight of the discussions was Vietnams ongoing cooperation with the NTS and the Korea International Cooperation Agency in modernising tax management. As part of this initiative, the two sides reviewed a consultancy venture on redesigning tax management processes and developing a comprehensive IT system architecture. These initiatives align with Vietnams broader tax reform agenda, which aims to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and enhance transparency. Both parties agreed that continued collaboration in this area would contribute to stronger tax governance and economic development in both countries. The signing of the fourth Bilateral Cooperation Agreement reaffirms the commitment of Vietnam and South Korea to deepening their tax partnership. Moving forward, both tax authorities will expand cooperation in areas such as digital tax administration, policy development, and cross-border tax compliance. South Korea and Vietnam complete $5.5 million Smart City Cooperation Centre in Hanoi The Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) held a ceremony on August 13 at the Korea-Vietnam Smart City Construction Technology Cooperation Centre in Hanoi, marking the start of full-scale cooperation. Tax authorities to put retailers selling through livestreaming under scrutiny The General Department of Taxation has asked local tax authorities to review and make lists of retailers selling through livestreaming on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Tiktok to carry out risk-based inspections. Phuoc Hoa Rubber JSC (PHR) is aiming to extract 12,800 tonnes of rubber in 2025, for total revenues of over $59 million, including around $51.5 million from rubber sales. Photo: baodautu.vn The company projects an average selling price of $1,750 per tonne, post-tax profit of $9.7 million, and a minimum cash dividend payout ratio of 10 per cent. While revenue is expected to decline by 3.8 per cent on-year, post-tax profit is projected to increase by nearly 31 per cent. The company plans to optimise land use in Binh Duong province to enhance operational efficiency and exceed its revenue and profit targets by at least 10 per cent. For the first quarter of the year, PHR has set a target of extracting of 1,920 tonnes of dry latex, processed rubber output of 3,420 tonnes, and sales of 4,900 tonnes, with an average price of $2,120 per tonne, generating $10.3 million in revenue and close to $1.2 million in pre-tax profit. MB Securities anticipates that Phuoc Hoa Rubbers 2025 revenue may dwindle by 3 per cent compared to 2024, but post-tax profit could grow by 10 per cent, driven by sustained high selling prices. By 2026, the companys revenue and net profit are expected to increase by 2 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. Dong Phu Rubber JSC's high-yield rubber plantations produce over two tonnes per hectare and are expected to support growth in both rubber extraction and industrial real estate. The companys undertaking in Bac Dong Phu Industrial Park expansion, encompassing 317 hectares (ha), was approved for investment on January 16, and is anticipated to generate cash flow over the next two years. Meanwhile, Vietnam Rubber Group's (GVR) plantations generate an average yield of 1.5 tonnes per ha, yet the companys 2025 outlook remains promising due to projected high rubber prices in the first half of the year. The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries expects the demand for rubber to remain stable, particularly in China, Vietnams primary market for rubber exports. An Binh Securities projects GVRs revenue to grow by 6.6 per cent on-year to $1.12 billion this year, while post-tax profit is expected to rise by 4.7 per cent to $176.3 million. As for Tay Ninh Rubber (TRC), the company is managing over 7,000ha of rubber plantations which continue to achieve high yields of over 2 tonnes per ha. In Cambodia, its plantations, established in 2014, are entering peak production, yielding around 1.3-1.4 tonnes per hectare. In Laos, the company oversees more than 10,000ha, with the majority entering peak harvest season between 2024 and 2029, expected to yield over 2 tonnes per hectare. Over the past month, PHR shares rose by 25 per cent, TRC shares by 9.2 per cent, GVR shares by 6.2 per cent, Song Be Rubber shares by 6.1 per cent, and DakLak Rubber Investment JSC shares by 8.2 per cent. Several stocks recorded substantial gains on-year, with Tan Bien Rubber JSC shares rose 123 per cent, Tay Ninh Rubber JSC grew by 151 per cent, and Dak Lak Rubber JSC went up 109 per cent. Market analysts predict rubber prices will continue their upward trend in 2025, benefiting the natural rubber sector. MB Securities forecasts that prices will remain elevated through the second quarter of 2025, with an estimated annual increase of 5-10 per cent compared to 2024. In the US, a declining reliance on rubber imports from China, Canada, and Mexico has created new opportunities for Vietnamese rubber exporters, who increased their exports to 29,200 tonnes in 2024, valued at $50.6 million, raising the market share from 1.5 per cent in 2023 to 1.7 per cent. As global trade dynamics continue to evolve, Vietnams rubber industry remains well-positioned to leverage rising prices, supply constraints in competing markets, and increasing demand from key trade partners. Businesses set ambitious double-digit growth targets Ongoing economic recovery continues to serve as a driving force, enabling businesses from various sectors to accelerate growth, with many firms are setting business plans with double-digit growth targets. Global economy set for moderate growth in 2025 amid rising geopolitical risks The global economy is expected to maintain moderate growth in 2025, but significant uncertainty looms, particularly regarding political and geopolitical developments. On March 12, construction started on VSIP II Quang Ngai Industrial Park in the central province of Quang Ngai. The park is located in Dung Quat Economic Zone, covering a total area of 498 hectares. It has a total investment approximating $152 million and an operational period of 50 years. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh requested the projects developers Sembcorp and Becamex to continue promoting the effectiveness of the industrial park, urban, and service model, while orienting the development of VSIP II Quang Ngai towards a smart, modern, and sustainable facility. This should form a compelling industrial-innovation-urban-services-high-tech ecosystem, while ensuring that the industrialisation process is in line with the harmonious development of the community, forming an infrastructure and knowledge-based economy for the locality. In addition, Sembcorp and Becamex have been awarded two new VSIP projects, bringing the total to 20.The new projects, VSIP Nam Dinh and VSIP Nghe An III, were awarded during the state visit of Party General Secretary To Lam to Singapore from March 11 to 13. At a ceremony held at Parliament House on March 12, Party General Secretary To Lam was joined by Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore, as well as ministers and provincial leaders from Singapore and Vietnam. VSIP Nam Dinh is a new 180-ha development in the fast-growing northern part of the country that is home to several large electronics, machinery, and automotive companies, as well as their supply chains. VSIP Nghe An III will also cover 180ha. The two previous VSIP Nghe An projects have attracted top global manufacturers in electronics, precision engineering, and garments and textiles, helping Nghe An secure its place in the countrys top 10 destinations for foreign investment a third time. Both VSIPs will be developed according to the principles of low-carbon industrial parks. In addition, Sembcorp and Becamex will explore the development of a first VSIP in Ha Nam province. VSIP Nam Dinh and VSIP Nghe An III will complement the current 18 VSIPs, which have assisted more than 1,000 manufacturers in establishing their operations in strategic locations across the country. In the past year, demand for land in VSIPs has risen, driven by high value-added electronics components manufacturers and precision engineering companies. VSIP to build $88.2 million industrial park in Nam Dinh Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park's subsidiary got the nod to develop a 180-hectare industrial park in Nam Dinh, with an investment capital of more than VND2.25 trillion ($88.2 million). Construction of new Vietnam-Singapore IP begins in Lang Son The Lang Son provincial Peoples Committee and the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park and Township Development Joint Stock Company (VSIP JSC) on June 14 commenced the construction of VSIP Lang Son project the 16th of its kind in Vietnam. The three-day conference, which began on March 12, is organised by US-based Aitomatic and the National Innovation Centre. It highlighted that AI and semiconductors are now pillars of the digital economy's future. Notably, the two elements, "AI" and "Semiconductors" are advancing in tandem, with AI automating semiconductor manufacturing, predicting and detecting product defects, and improving production quality and efficiency. Experts exchanging ideas on the matter Christopher Nguyen, CEO of Aitomatic, stated that by 2030, some manufacturing plants, especially advanced production facilities, will require stricter standards, necessitating high-precision tools. In plasma processing, parameters such as fuel diameter, pressure, temperature, and dozens of other factors demand near-perfect accuracy. AI will help ensure these requirements are met, he said. AI cannot develop without semiconductors, and conversely, the semiconductor industry is evolving rapidly thanks to AI advancements. This is a symbiotic relationship where both drive each other forward. Anna Goldie, a senior staff research scientist at Google, sought to draw attention to the gap between software and hardware, pointing out that chip manufacturing has yet to reach its highest potential. While AI's computing demands are growing exponentially, hardware capabilities are not keeping pace, creating an ever-widening gap, she said. To unlock AI's full potential, we must shorten the chip design cycle, refine algorithms, and fully leverage data. In the future, AI will not only enhance hardware but also drive breakthroughs in various fields, from healthcare and finance to industrial production. Goldie introduced AlphaChip, an AI-driven method that optimises chip component layouts to reduce latency, save energy, and maximise production area. AlphaChip has already been integrated into recent generations of Google TPUs, delivering significant efficiency gains over traditional design methods. As the world continues striving to enhance AI and semiconductor technologies, Prof. Tran Thanh Long of Warwick University in England discussed the use of memory storage and Bayesian theory, a statistical inference method where new evidence updates probability estimates, to improve AI performance and scalability. Bayesian theory supports AI in adjusting predictive probabilities based on new data, allowing systems to learn faster and more efficiently. This combination reduces computing resource requirements while maintaining high accuracy, Long said. Meanwhile, Ngan Vu of Google DeepMind introduced a research direction that proposes using circuit neural networks to create efficient logic circuit designs. By applying simulated annealing and other optimisation techniques, she and her team aim to shorten the circuit design cycle from concept to final product. One of the biggest challenges is balancing circuit accuracy and performance, ensuring that designs are not only precise but also resource-efficient. However, bridging the gap between AI software and hardware will unlock many new opportunities in the semiconductor industry, Ngan said. Applying AI to circuit design promises to revolutionise the semiconductor industry, accelerating development cycles and enabling more optimal designs. Singapore places high-stake bet on semiconductor industry Singapore is doubling down on the industry that sparked the global trade war, according to Bloomberg. International AI & Semiconductor Conference set for mid-March The International Conference on AI-Semiconductor Conference (AISC) 2025, organised by the National Innovation Centre (NIC) and Aitomatic from the US, will be held on March 1216 in Hanoi and Danang. Thai PM Paetongtarn delivers a keynote speech on investment opportunities at an event hosted by the Board of Investment. (Photo: Bangkokpost) Bangkok Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has reaffirmed the country's commitment to creating an investor-friendly environment amid global economic uncertainties. Speaking at the "Ignite Thailand: Invest in Endless Opportunities" event hosted by the Board of Investment (BOI) on March 12, Paetongtarn highlighted the governments efforts to foster investor confidence, ensure resource and human capital readiness, and showcase Thailand as a secure and rewarding investment destination. The government has identified key development priorities, including infrastructure, advanced technologies, and human resources. Major infrastructure projects like high-speed rail, dual-track railway systems, and the Land Bridge project are expected to enhance the countrys logistics network. Additionally, investments in digital industries, electric vehicle manufacturing, and semiconductor production are set to position Thailand as an emerging tech hub. Workforce development initiatives will equip Thai workers with the skills needed for future industries. According to the BOI, Thailand saw a surge in investment applications in 2024, reaching a 10-year high of 1.13 trillion THB (33.4 billion USD), a 35 per cent increase from the previous year. Thailand tightens security following violent attacks in deep south Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered heightened security measures and increased night in the countrys deep south following a series of violent attacks in Sungai Kolok, a border city in Narathiwat province, which left two security officers dead and 11 others injured. Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission (SSC) Vu Thi Chan Phuong and deputy general director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Tuang Lee Lim signed the Letter of Intent. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Party General Secretary To Lam and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, while Vietnamese Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang and other leaders of the two countries also attended the ceremony. Vietnam's SSC chairwoman Vu Thi Chan Phuong and Singapore's MAS deputy general director Tuang Lee Lim Recognising the importance of developing and regulating the digital asset market, the two countries have partnered to combat money laundering and terrorist financing through digital asset transactions, protecting the integrity and stability of the two financial markets. Specifically, the MAS will help the SSC to build a legal framework for the development and management of the digital asset market in Vietnam. It will also exchange information and experience in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing in the financial markets of the two countries, thereby enhancing Vietnam's capacity to monitor the development and trading of digital assets. Lim said, Singapore and Vietnam have a long-standing, multidimensional partnership in the capital markets, reinforced through bilateral commitments and cooperation at regional and international forums. The exchange of this Letter of Intent reflects our commitment to help each other protect the integrity and stability of our capital markets, as well as promote cross-border connectivity. The MAS and SSC will learn from each other and build a deeper relationship. In response, Phuong said that the Vietnam - Singapore relationship has been upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and that economic, financial, and investment cooperation have become deep and effective. The signing of the letter is a new step forward, an important foundation for the two capital market management agencies to strengthen cooperation and contribute to the integrity of the financial markets of the two countries and the region. "We believe and expect that this agreement will contribute to the stable, fair, transparent, and sustainable development of the capital and digital asset markets in both countries," Phuong added. Big risks for investors in digital assets At the Vietnam Tech Impact Summit 2024 on November 3, experts said that Vietnam was Asia's most attractive technology destination and a promising land for digital assets. However, there are also risks for investors. Clear legal frameworks crucial to manage digital assets: Experts Building legal frameworks for digital assets is an urgent need to effectively manage this expanding market, according to experts. For the first time, an international conference on AI and semiconductors was held in Vietnam with global names like Google, Nvidia, IBM, Meta, Intel, TSMC, Samsung, MediaTek, Tokyo Electron, and Panasonic, among others The conference was attended by large enterprises such as VPBank, FPT Corporation, IBM, and VNPT, gathering more than 1,000 influential leaders and experts. AISC 2025 focused on discussions about new technology trends in AI and semiconductors, best practices from large organisations, and cross-border business opportunities. At the conference, VPBanks leader delivered a keynote speech sharing the experience of a Vietnamese bank in developing AI applications. Bui Hai Quan, vice chairman of the Board of Directors at VPBank, shared the trends of adopting technologies in the finance and banking sector According to Quan, banks in the future will be intelligent, proactive, and highly personalised to enhance efficiency, security, and customer engagement. AI-based financial ecosystems not only predict customer needs but also encourage financial inclusion, improve risk management, and build deeper customer relationships. Recognising the role of technology and AI early, VPBank has opted for mastering technology, not merely following the market, Quan said. VPBanks strategy focuses on creating a seamless digital ecosystem that connects various member companies across banking, consumer finance, securities, digital insurance, and some other multiservice platforms. All member companies are technology-centric. Cake by VPBank is a typical example of a digital bank without brick-and-mortar branches. Launched in 2021, Cake by VPBank serves five million customers with only 250 employees, processing 700,000 credit applications monthly. The companys success lies in the adoption of technologies, especially AI, since its inception. Cake uses over 20 score models to evaluate customer behaviour. They are also the first digital bank in Vietnam to have developed its own large language model (chatbot). In February 2025, Cake was ranked among the 'Worlds Top 100 Digital Banks' for 2025 and honoured as 'Best Digital Bank in Vietnam' by The Asian Banker Global. With a clear and consistent strategy, VPBank also made great strides in other digital initiatives, making a positive contribution to the ecosystem. VPBank NEO boasts over 10 million users and handles 600 million transactions annually. OPES, a digital insurer in the non-life sector, posted a revenue of $102 million in 2024 with only 110 employees. Be has transformed a ride-hailing app into a leading superapp fully operated by Vietnamese, serving 12 million users with tens of millions of transactions monthly. According to VPBanks representative, the bank clearly defines its strategic vision of becoming a bridge to Vietnams deep integration into the world through powerful digital platforms. The bank will bring the most advanced technologies to Vietnam while introducing Vietnam's technology capacity and innovation to the world. Sharing the opportunities in a new era, Christopher Nguyen, founder of Aitomatic and co-organiser of AISC 2025, stressed that Vietnam was facing a once-in-4,000-years opportunity to develop AI and semiconductors. Christopher Nguyen, founder of Aitomatic Christopher Nguyen said, The Vietnamese government's efforts to encourage AI and semiconductor development demonstrate the right direction, aligned with a global technology value chain shift. The combination of national vision and international investment needs from developed economies such as the US, Japan, and South Korea has opened up important opportunities for the development of the AI and semiconductor industries in Vietnam, he added. Vu Quoc Huy, director of the National Innovation Centre (NIC), said, With the aspiration to transform Vietnam into a base for global technology development, the government is making efforts to encourage innovation and develop the high-tech industry, especially AI and semiconductors. In the semiconductor industry, the government has set a goal to develop a high-quality workforce by 2030 in collaboration with global partners, institutes, and schools to nurture talent. As for AI, NIC is working with partners to develop open-source software, expected to be announced on March 14. We hope international partners continue to explore opportunities in Vietnam while creating the most favourable conditions for development. AISC 2025 lays an important foundation for exchanges and shapes the future of the semiconductor industry. The opening session of AISC 2025 also offered academic perspectives on the intersection of AI and semiconductor technology from scientists. Anna Goldie from Google DeepMind spoke about AlphaChip a revolutionary advancement in AI-driven microchip design by Google. Pioneering researchers from Stanford University and the University of Warwick presented cutting-edge studies on AI-applied IC design, scaling semiconductor production, and the potential of Large Language Models in specialised fields. At the end of the session, for the first time in Vietnam, participating companies took part in the Startup Pavilion an international 'Shark Tank' scheme, where leading investment funds can directly evaluate innovative ideas. The platform enables domestic technology firms to quickly connect with senior leaders, pitch their projects within a limited timeframe, and secure key agreements during the conference, paving their entry into the global technology market. VPBank and JBIC sign $150-million credit line to finance green projects VPBank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed a general agreement for a credit line totalling $150 million on October 9. VPBank takes ownership of GPBank The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced the transfer of the stated-owned Global Petro Sole Member Limited Commercial Bank (GPBank) to the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) on January 17. In 2025, Vietnams wood industry is targeting $18-18.5 billion in total export value, up 10-15 per cent on-year. Photo: baodautu.vn In a talk with VIR, Ngo Sy Hoai, vice chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Viforest), revealed that under normal conditions, the goal would be achievable. However, in the current context of global trade turbulence, it is hard to determine whether the target will be realised. US President Donald Trump recently instructed the Department of Commerce to investigate under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act regarding wood and wood products. This could result in tariffs of up to 25 per cent on sawn wood and forestry products, effective as of April 2. The US is accounts for over half of Vietnams wood exports, primarily furniture, interior and exterior wood products, carpentry, and refined products, with some plywood, laminated boards, and several other products also being exported. Hoai noted, In light of these changes in tax policies, Vietnamese wood businesses are on tenterhooks about the impact on Vietnams wood export performance. Huynh Quang Thanh, chairman of Hiep Long Fine Furniture Company, noted that the US has recently announced the imposition of countervailing tariffs on all goods imported from India, which will take effect from April 2. This raises concerns that President Trump may impose similar tariffs on Vietnams wood industry. If the US imposes a 25 per cent countervailing tariff on Vietnams wood industry, it could badly affect domestic companies, including Hiep Long. We have just received orders through April, Thanh said. As of now, many businesses are reporting confirmed orders until April-May, with lower production volumes compared to the same period last year. The reason is that US buyers are hesitant, fearing that tariffs would lead to inventory build-up, they therefore have not finalised orders. In response, Viforest and businesses in the sector have been preparing to participate in hearings if the US requests proof that the trade relationship between Vietnam and the US in the wood sector is mutually beneficial. In this respect, Hoai argued, We do not compete or disrupt US production. Vietnam not only exports to the US but is also the second-largest market in the world, after China, for the consumption of US logs and sawn timber. The imported wood volume is used to meet domestic demand, and it is also processed and exported to various markets. Many products using US wood are also exported back to this country. This is a mutually beneficial trade relationship that adds value for both sides. Amid reduced buyer confidence due to market tensions, Hiep Long is striving to expand into new markets, including the Middle East- a promising market with an increasing number of resort projects. Hiep Long has secured a few orders in this market, and the company is focusing on participating in international trade fairs to promote and directly reach Middle Eastern customers. We hope the government will reduce import taxes on US furniture to zero per cent to mitigate risks in the forthcoming period, Thanh proposed. Sharing the difficulties of the wood industry, Do Ngoc Hung, trade counsellor and head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, noted, The biggest challenge right now is that Vietnam is not yet considered a fully market-oriented economy, which leads to disadvantages in US anti-dumping and countervailing investigations. Meanwhile, the US is also concerned about the trend of shifting production and investment from some countries to Vietnam to take advantage of labour cost benefits and a competitive environment. Hung therefore suggested relevant ministries, industries, and business associations to consider importing raw wood materials from the US to reduce the trade deficit and avoid origin-related lawsuits. On the side of firms, caution needs to be exercised regarding raw material imports from countries that are subject to US tariffs. At the same time, it is important to develop flexible production and business plans, as countries subject to US tariffs may strengthen trade protection measures, placing greater pressure on Vietnam. In 2024, Vietnams wood and wood product export value surpassed $16.2 billion, up 20.9 per cent on-year, equivalent to $2.81 billion, further establishing Vietnam as one of the worlds leading exporters of wood and furniture products. Vietnam wood exports break barriers to exceed targets Vietnam's wood industry has swum against the current and achieved its export target through efforts to expand markets, change business strategies, and leverage opportunities from trade promotion exhibitions. US tariff move forces trading reevaluation A rise in US tariffs on imports from other countries could kickstart a global trade conflict, prompting Vietnamese exporters to improve their product quality and diversify export markets to ensure competitiveness. . , . , . , . . Wrexham-based digital bank appoints new Director of Savings This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 13th, 2025 A Wrexham-based digital bank has appointed Ben Mitchell as its new Director of Savings. He will bring more than 24 years experience in retail banking and financial services to the role at Chetwood Bank, which has its offices on Ellice Way. This position will see Mitchell driving Chetwood Banks commitment to delivering customer-centric savings products that support both the financial wellbeing of its customers and the long-term growth plans for the Bank. With additional board-level experience within the higher education and charity sectors, Mitchell brings a broad perspective on both product development and strategic management. Chetwood Bank currently offers savings products alongside its two specialist buy to let mortgage propositions ModaMortgages and CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries all tailored to meet specific financial needs. Having grown the balance sheet to more than 4bn, there is ambition to bring no nonsense banking to a greater number of UK consumers. Ben Mitchell, Director of Savings of Chetwood Bank: Im excited to join Chetwood Bank at this point in its growth journey. This is a digital challenger bank that has established itself as a competitive force in the savings market, and I look forward to working with the team to build on this success. Our goal is to offer customers great savings products with the best possible experience, ensuring their financial needs are met with no nonsense and no jargon. Paul Noble, CEO of Chetwood Bank, added: Were delighted to welcome Ben to the team. His vast savings experience will be hugely valuable as we continue to grow and enhance our savings proposition. His leadership will help us build on our strong foundation, ensuring we remain a top choice for savers looking for competitive rates and a frictionless digital experience. Wrexham care home hosts heartwarming 65th anniversary party for loving couple This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 13th, 2025 A loving couple celebrating 65 years of marriage were given a heartwarming surprise when a Wrexham care home hosted a special anniversary party in their honour. Cyril and Shirley Williams were overwhelmed by the touching celebration, which was organised in secret by staff at Pendine Parks Bodlondeb care home in cahoots with the couples delighted family. Cyril, 85, has been a resident at Bodlondeb for five years, while Shirley, 87, visits regularly. As part of the surprise, two of Cyrils sisters, who were bridesmaids at their wedding, attended the event alongside other close friends and family. Bodlondeb deputy manager Arlene Elano said: Cyril and Shirley have become a much-loved part of our Bodlondeb family. Reaching a 65th anniversary is such an amazing achievement that we wanted to do everything possible to make it an unforgettable day. The couples son, Craig Williams and daughter Tracey, Challinor, said staff and fellow residents made it a magical occasion for their parents. Everyone here at Bodlondeb deserves a big thank you for all the hard work they have put in, said Craig. Its been a tremendous party atmosphere creating some wonderful new memories. Marking the sapphire anniversary, the residents lounge was adorned with blue balloons, decorative streamers, and vintage photographs of the couple, including their wedding day. Shirley was event presented with a tiara and a blue sash to wear, making her feel like a queen for the day. A special video featuring black-and-white wedding photographs set to music was also created by staff. Shirley said she was thrilled that 65 years later the weather turned up good for the anniversary. She still lives in the family home in Sychdyn, which she shared with Cyril for many years following the birth of their children. Cyril was originally from Chester, explained Shirley. We met when I started working in Chester. I was a window-dresser at Woolworths. In his younger years Cyril was part of a crew tasked with putting up pylons in the north of Scotland. When they first met they discovered they both shared a love of pigeon racing, which has lasted throughout their married years. Cyril moved to Bodlondeb as his health began to seriously decline in 2020. Daughter, Tracey. said: We are grateful to everyone at Bodlondeb for their kind welcome and making him so comfortable. It is a relief to know dad is in good hands here and the way the team work so hard to create a real family atmosphere is commendable. Days like today become extra special for us and all the staff at Bodlondeb appreciate that. They really have gone the extra mile to help us celebrate such a momentous anniversary. Pendine Park is also celebrating a major milestone this year, its 40th anniversary, and a different commemorative activity is being held each month, the most recent being having been a poetry competition on the theme of love. Bodlondeb manager Ann Chapman added: We are always amazed to see the love between two people who have stood so loyally by each other for so many years. We feel privileged to have become part of Cyril and Shirleys extended family and to have played a role in their 65th anniversary celebrations. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Proteomics International launches predictive test for diabetic kidney disease in Australia on World Kidney Day PromarkerD Predictive Test for DKD Launched in Australia Perth, Mar 13, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Proteomics International Laboratories Ltd ( ASX:PIQ ) ( PIQLF:OTCMKTS ), a pioneer in precision diagnostics, is pleased to announce the official launch of its first-in-class predictive test for diabetic kidney disease, Promarker(R)D, in Australia. The launch coincides with World Kidney Day, a global event dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of kidney health and the urgent need for improved prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases. - Promarker(R)D predictive test for chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes (DKD) to be available to Australian healthcare professionals from today - Commercial launch coincides with World Kidney Day, a global event focused on the improved prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases - Strategic rollout sees the test debut in Western Australia and the Northern Territory before expanding nationwide, with a direct-to-consumer model paving the way for broader adoption - PromarkerD has been shown in multiple peer-reviewed studies to predict the onset of chronic kidney disease up to four years in advance in type 2 and type 1 diabetes - Significant health impact: with over 1.3 million Australians living with diabetes and more than half at risk of kidney disease, PromarkerD aims to reduce the incidence of kidney failure and dialysis by enabling earlier medical intervention - Global market expansion - Australia serves as a launchpad for broader commercialisation, with the USA to follow, supported by a newly opened Reference Laboratory in California PromarkerD is a clinically validated blood test that can predict the risk of developing chronic kidney disease (DKD) in type 2 diabetes patients up to four years before clinical symptoms appear. This early warning provides healthcare professionals with a critical window to intervene, enabling better patient management and reducing the risk of severe kidney complications, including kidney failure and the need for dialysis or transplant. Diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease globally, and the burden is particularly acute in Australia, where more than 1.3 million people are living with diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Foundation, more than one in two adults with type 2 diabetes will develop kidney disease, posing a significant threat to both quality of life and healthcare resources. The launch of PromarkerD in Australia addresses this critical need by empowering doctors to identify at-risk patients early, enabling timely intervention to slow or prevent disease progression. The commercial launch of PromarkerD into its home market is a key milestone in Proteomics International's global commercialisation strategy. Having built a fully integrated digital solution for direct-to-consumer engagement the Company is now well-positioned to support the early detection of diabetic kidney disease for Australian patients. PromarkerD will initially be available through referral by a healthcare professional in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, before the test is made available nationwide. Proteomics International Managing Director Dr Richard Lipscombe said, "We are excited to officially launch PromarkerD in Australia, particularly on World Kidney Day, which underscores the importance of early diagnosis and prevention. Diabetic kidney disease is a major public health challenge, and PromarkerD offers a highly innovative, accurate, and accessible way to identify those most at risk. By enabling proactive management, we aim to reduce the personal and financial costs associated with this life-threatening condition." Commercial Pathway in Australia Proteomics International is engaging with key stakeholders across primary care networks, diabetes clinics, and professional bodies to support widespread adoption of PromarkerD across Australia. The Company will now collaborate with health insurers, patient advocacy groups, and government bodies to explore potential reimbursement pathways, aiming to make the test (priced at AUS $245) accessible to all Australians living with diabetes. The test will initially be available through a direct-to-consumer (DTC) go-to-market route as a prelude to out-licensing to major industry players in the diagnostics sector. With an estimated 500 million people worldwide living with diabetes, the potential global market for PromarkerD is significant. The Australian rollout will serve as a model for further expansion into the USA and European markets. To support this the Company recently opened its Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) certified Reference Laboratory in California, USA [ASX 28 February] and is in discussion with potential European partners. Proteomics International remains committed to leveraging its innovative Promarker(R) platform to bring its suite of precision diagnostic tests to the clinic, including PromarkerEso for esophageal cancer and PromarkerEndo for endometriosis. The DTC digital solution implemented for PromarkerD can be readily replicated for each new test. About PromarkerD (www.PromarkerD.com) Diabetes-related chronic kidney disease (DKD) is a serious complication arising from diabetes which if unchecked can lead to dialysis or kidney transplant. PromarkerD is a prognostic test that can predict future kidney function decline in patients with type 2 diabetes and no existing DKD. The patented PromarkerD test system uses a blood test to detect a unique 'fingerprint' of the early onset of the disease. The multivariate test measures a select panel of protein and clinical biomarkers, before a cloud-based algorithm integrates the results into a patient risk report. In clinical studies published in leading journals PromarkerD correctly predicted up to 86% of otherwise healthy diabetics who went on to develop DKD within four years. Country specific use of this product is subject to the relevant regulatory approvals. PromarkerD is for healthcare professional use only. Proteomics International recommends that patients concerned about DKD seek advice from their doctors. About Proteomics International Laboratories Ltd Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) is a wholly owned subsidiary and trading name of PILL, a medical technology company at the forefront of predictive diagnostics and bioanalytical services. The Company specialises in the area of proteomics - the industrial scale study of the structure and function of proteins. Proteomics International's mission is to improve the quality of lives by the creation and application of innovative tools that enable the improved treatment of disease. Related Companies $1.5 million proposed placement to advance Monument Gold Project Placement to Accelerate Resource Growth at Monument Gold Project Sydney, Mar 13, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Verity Resources Limited ( ASX:VRL ) is pleased to announce it has received firm commitments of $307,500 (before costs) from sophisticated and professional investors (Placement). Funds raised will be applied towards advancing the Monument Gold Project located in the Laverton-Leonora Goldfields, Western Australia, hosting an Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 3.2Mt @ 1.4g/t Au for 154koz Au. HIGHLIGHTS - ~$308k raised using the Company's available placement capacity under ASX Listing Rules 7.1 and 7.1A - Up to ~$1.2 million additional proposed capital raising subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting - Proposed funds raised to be applied towards o advancing the Korong-Waihi MRE from Inferred to Indicated classification by infill and twin drilling o additional step out drilling at Korong-Waihi MRE o testing additional previously untested targets across 20km of strike at Monument o general working capital Pit Study Complete - Preliminary open pit study completed at the Korong-Waihi Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 3.2Mt @ 1.4g/t Au designed by independent consultants Cube Consulting Pty Ltd at the Monument Gold Project in the Laverton-Leonora Goldfields, Western Australia Programs to advance Korong-Waihi Mineral Resource Estimate - Comprehensive program planned to accelerate MRE including: o Review and validation of historical drilling within the Korong and Waihi MRE areas to determine level of infill and twin drilling required to upgrade JORC (2012) confidence level to Indicated o Additional step out drilling for potential Resource expansion - Korong-Waihi MRE remains open in all directions and at depth The Monument Gold Project, positioned in Western Australia's well-established Eastern Goldfields mining district, benefits from excellent infrastructure, including the sealed Leonorato-Laverton road, a gas pipeline, and a sealed airstrip at Laverton. The Project can also leverage existing nearby processing infrastructure, potentially reducing future capital expenditure and operational costs. PLACEMENT The Company has received firm commitments for a placement to sophisticated and professional investors to raise $307,500 (before costs) (Placement) at an issue price of $0.012 per share for the proposed issue of 25,625,000 ordinary fully paid shares (Shares) utilising the Company's available placement capacity under ASX Listing Rules 7.1 (15%) and 7.1A (10%). Each Placement Share participant will also be entitled to receive one free attaching unlisted option for every two Shares subscribed under the Placement, exercisable at $0.022 per share expiring 19 March 2028 (Options) for 12,912,500 Options that will be issued subject to Shareholder approval at a general meeting. The Company also proposes to place an additional $1,192,500 via a placement of 99,375,000 Shares and 49,687,500 Options on the same terms as the Placement, and will seek Shareholder approval at a general meeting to undertake this raising. Funds raised from the capital raising will be utilised to advance the Monument Gold Project including infill and step out drill programs at the Korong and Waihi MRE, as well as for working capital requirements. Further details on the planned exploration are set out in this announcement below. PIT STUDY Cube Consulting Pty Ltd ("Cube") of Perth, Western Australia undertook preliminary pit studies of the Korong and Waihi mineral deposits to assist with future planning works, which identified: - Current MREs remain open in all directions. Potential exists to drill test strike extensions peripheral to optimised pit shell boundaries at Korong and Waihi - The Cube study did not include investigative work on underground mining below 100m, however, high-grade mineralisation at Korong remains open down-plunge to the south and remains to be tested - Drill testing of high-quality Monument district targets along the Korong-Waihi corridor and surrounds that demonstrate shallow mineralised intercepts comparable to Korong and Waihi is warranted ADVANCING MONUMENT TO NEXT STAGE Following completion of the pit study, the Company has commenced a comprehensive review and validation process on historic drilling data previously completed by several companies including Carpentaria Exploration, Dominion, WMC Exploration and various other smaller operators since the 1970's prior to its acquisition and further exploration completed by Syndicated Metals/DiscovEx in 2016. Once the historic data review is complete, an analysis of the data will be completed to determine the level of validation and infill and/or twin drilling required. Utilising the outcomes of these studies, the Company plans to imminently commence a drill program aiming to: (a) Upgrade the 154koz MRE confidence level from Inferred to Indicated; and (b) Step out drill at Korong to potentially expand the size of the MRE Additional work programs are planned to commence over priority targets along 20km of untested potential targets along strike of the Korong and Waihi MREs during 2025. About the Monument Gold Project The Monument Gold Project is in WA's world-class Laverton Gold District and comprises ~232km2 of tenure located approximately 40km west of Laverton, adjacent and along strike of Genesis Minerals' ( ASX:GMD ) 3.3Moz Au Mt Morgan Project. A Mineral Resource Estimate of 154koz of gold (see ASX announcement on 2 August 2021) was undertaken on the Korong and Waihi deposits, which occur along ~20km of relatively untested banded iron formation, interpreted to be the same unit that hosts the 1.4Moz Westralia gold deposit, located immediately southeast of Monument. To date, only ~10% of the potential 20km strike has been drilled with detailed air core and reverse circulation drilling. There is currently additional priority targets identified along the banded iron formations horizon, that forms part of a 20km potential structural strike length identified that could also potentially host multiple other syenite-intrusion style targets (in total approximately 60 targets remaining to be tested). *To view the announcement, please visit: https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/VV71AYN8 About Verity Resources Ltd Verity Resources Ltd (ASX:VRL) owns 100% of the Monument Gold project located near Laverton in Western Australia. This project currently has a JORC-compliant (2012) Inferred resource of 3.257 Mt @ 1.4 g/t for 154,000 ounces Au. Verity Resources also holds a supply critical metals portfolio via a joint venture that includes rare earth elements, lithium, gold, base and precious metals in Brazil, including licences in the "Lithium Valley" and Pocos de Caldas in the state of Minas Gerais, globally known as prolific lithium and rare earth elements districts respectively. The Company also owns 70% of the Pimenta Project, a potential large-scale REE project in eastern Minas Gerais. Verity Resources also holds a base and precious metals project in the Limpopo Mobile Belt in Botswana, a district known for hosting major nickel and copper producing operations. The Company's Botswana portfolio contains three flagship projects where high-grade Cu-Ag (Airstrip and Dibete) and a Maiden JORC Inferred Resource (Maibele North) have been discovered. Maibele North currently hosts a JORC (2012) inferred resource of 2.4Mt @ 0.72% Ni and 0.21% Cu + PGE's + Co + Au and is located within 50km of the Selebi-Phikwe mine recently acquired by TSX-listed Premium Nickel Resources Ltd (TSX-V:PNRL). Related Companies In a landmark achievement, Aludecor, a leading ACP sheet manufacturer, has been honored with the Excellence in Manufacturing - Construction Material - Large Scale award at the recently ET Entrepreneur Awards 2025 in Bangalore. This recognition cements Aludecors reputation as an industry innovator committed to high-quality, sustainable, and technologically advanced Metal Composite Panels. Redefining the Metal Composite Panels Industry With over two decades of excellence, Aludecor has consistently redefined the Metal Composite Panels sector. Its robust research and development initiatives have led to cutting-edge products that seamlessly combine durability, fire resistance, and superior aesthetics. Aludecors ACP manufacturing process ensures that every panel meets international quality benchmarks, making them the preferred choice for architects, builders, and facade specialists. Each ACP Sheet manufactured by Aludecor undergoes strict testing procedure comprising of 205 mandatory tests and quality checks. A staunch supporter of the Make in India initiative, Aludecor boasts a fully integrated manufacturing facility that maintains strict quality control, sustainability practices, and unparalleled product innovation. This commitment has propelled the company beyond national boundaries, making it a formidable player in the global market. Sustainable Innovation in Metal Composite Panels Sustainability is at the core of Aludecor. The company has revolutionized its ACP manufacturing processes by integrating eco-friendly technology, ensuring that its Metal Composite Panels are energy-efficient, recyclable, and fire-retardant. Its futuristic Honeycomb Panel NEXCOMB powered by Nexcore (next generation honeycore made by Aludecor) is setting new benchmarks for strength, lightweight construction, and enhanced durability. With AI-driven precision and next-gen coating technology, Aludecor is taking the industry to new heights, offering architects and builders more flexibility in design while prioritizing environmental responsibility. Expanding Global Footprint & Future Vision On winning the ET Excellence Award Ashok Kumar Bhaiya, CMD said "Our next big step is to expand our market reach globally while strengthening our presence in India. We are enhancing our production capacity, launching new product categories, and exploring exports aggressively. On the technology front, we are investing in automation, digital transformation, and smart manufacturing to drive efficiency and maintain our leadership in the industry." With a bold vision of becoming leading global brand by 2030, Aludecor continues to set new industry standards. Its pioneering efforts in Metal Composite Panels manufacturing are shaping the future of modern architecture, pushing boundaries in design, functionality, and sustainability. Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" hits Philippine cinemas Xinhua) 09:35, March 13, 2025 MANILA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese animated movie "Ne Zha 2," the highest-grossing animated film of all time, hit Philippine movie screens on Wednesday. Filipino movie-goers will have a chance to experience the breathtaking animation, spectacular action sequences, and rich mythology that have captivated audiences worldwide. Filipino Claude Play was one of the lucky few who watched "Ne Zha 2" during a recent pre-screening in Manila. "I am very familiar with the Chinese mythology behind it. Watching 'Ne Zha 2' showed me a bigger lore about Chinese mythology," he told a TV interview. The film, the sequel to 2019's "Ne Zha," was first released in China on Jan. 29. It continues the tale of the iconic boy god from Chinese mythology, as Ne Zha and his ally Ao Bing struggle to rebuild their physical forms and secure their fate with the help of the immortal Taiyi Zhenren. "Ne Zha 2" has become the first non-Hollywood film to exceed 2 billion U.S. dollars in global earnings, including presales, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Holi is a festival of celebration & joyful abandon but chemical-laced colours can play havoc with your hair and skin. Well-known hair designer Darshan Yewalekar who has styled stars like Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Ranveer Singh recommends natural Holi colours and also offers hair care tips everyone can benefit from. Protect your hair with oil: Being seen in public with oily hair is not really common when it comes to celebrities but when someone like Deepika Padukone wears oil in her tresses, there is usually a very good reason. During Holi, a sleekly oiled style prevents colours from seeping into the roots of your hair by creating a protective sheath that prevents damage. This also makes it easy to wash your hair later on. Additionally, your tresses feel adequately hydrated. Massage a generous amount of oil on your scalp and your hair strands a few hours before playing Holi. Braid your hair or wear buns: It is obvious that leaving your hair open during Holi can harm it so braids as well as buns work well if you want to avoid colour damage. Such styles also prevent tangles and protect hair from coming in direct contact with colours. Alia Bhatt has often sported this fuss-free look and anyone can experiment with French braids, Dutch braids, or even milkmaid braids for convenience and style. If you're feeling adventurous, you can weave braids into a bun and accessorise the look with pretty flowers in quintessential Indian colours. Wear a scarf: Kareena Kapoor Khan has aced the scarf game and this is also a good way to keep Holi colours out of your hair. Scarves and bandanas also protect hair from UV rays and keep oiled tresses out of sight while looking stylish to boot. The best part is that scarves and bandanas are versatile and can go well with unobtrusive buns, braids or ponytails. They also add a bohemian touch to your look while shielding your hair from harm. Take post holi hair-care seriously: After washing colours out from your hair thoroughly, ensure that you take care of the post revelry frizz, brittle locks and scalp dryness. Choose a suitable deep conditioner to restore your hair's natural softness and shine. I also recommend different hydrating masks made with eggs, aloe vera, honey, avocado, bananas, yogurt, argan oil etc. These masks lock in moisture and also soothe your scalp. Kiara Advani's healthy tresses glow with all the care she gives them by applying varied nourishing masks. Avoid thermal hair styling: Flat irons, hair straighteners, hair dryers and curling irons use heat to style hair. They can weaken roots and cause hair fall. Post Holi, colour-drenched hair is already in a fragile state and heat can make the tresses even more brittle. Let your freshly washed hair dry naturally and use nourishing serums as well. Ananya Pandey's glossy mane is the result of a very disciplined hair care regimen and she also avoids harsh heat settings in styling tools. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has filed a disclosure with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) announcing the resignation of Leo Puri from his position as an Independent Director The resignation, detailed in the HUL filing, is scheduled to take effect at the close of business hours on June 30, 2025. According to the disclosure, Puri's decision is driven by an increase in his board commitments, including a planned appointment to the board of a global entity, and the necessity to adhere to overboarding criteria for Independent Directors as mandated by European Corporate Governance requirements. Consequent to his resignation from the Board, Puri will also step down from the following positions within that company, effective June 30, 2025: Chairperson of the Risk Management Committee Chairperson of the ESG Committee Chairperson of the Independent Committee Member of the Audit Committee The Golden Award of Montreux welcomes submissions from agencies, advertisers, media, digital,production,design and event companies worldwide, offering a platform for both national and international campaigns. Montreux Festival has been a precursor to Cannes for 30 years now and is one of Europes premier Advertising, Media, Digital,Film & Design Festival. Eligible entries include all advertising, media, digital, design, production film and events work done and released since January 1, 2024. Closing date is March 31, 2025. Last year India secured four Gold Medals and nine finalists.Tata Motors won 2 Golds while Tree Design and White Rivers Media won a Gold each. The nine finalists were from Tata Motors (3), Tree Design(3), White Rivers Media (2) and Musemakers (1) The Montreux Festival 2025 jury consists of Symonne Torpy, BETC Paris Rafal Rys, Havas Warsaw Marcelo Lourenco, Coming Soon Portugal Luis Silva Dias, FCB International Olivier Teepe, Signature Switzerland James Welch, Group M UK Joern Welle, la Red Germany Daniel de Hora, Creative Boutique Brazil Mitesh Kothari,White Rivers Media India Oisin James Deady, 12 am UK Joseph Dubruque, McCann Paris Ajay Chandwani, Mumbai Rafael Ribeiro, Dentsu New York Alongside The Golden Award of Montreux, The Montreux Talent Award is a distinguished global competition entered by hundreds of students and young professionals working in the fields of advertising, e-content and design. Winners at Montreux Festival are featured in the showcase section of adforum, the gateway to the global advertising world and other international ad creativity sites. The Golden Award is an independent Forum committed to improving the standard of creative excellence in cooperation with the Institut for Future Science and has been developed in conjunction with adforum.com. The advertising world is mourning the loss of Quality Experience, a promising agency that will cease operations at the end of March. This decision follows the recent passing of its founder, Ari Weiss, who succumbed to cancer last month. Following the profound loss of our partner, Ari Weiss, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to move on from Quality Experience at the end of March, said Dan Gonda, CEO, Colleen Leddy, chief strategy officer, and Cristina Reina, chief creative officer, in a statement. Weiss, a respected figure in the industry, launched Quality Experience in early 2024 after a successful tenure at DDB. He quickly assembled a strong leadership team, and the agency swiftly gained recognition for its innovative campaigns for clients like Shutterfly and Tonal. Aris vision was the foundation of this agencya relentless pursuit of bold, culture-shaping creativity that challenged the industry to think bigger. His influence lives on, and his legacy will continue to inspire us, they said. We are incredibly proud of the work we created, the partnerships we forged, and the impact we made in the short year we had together, Gonda, Leddy and Reina said. To our clients, collaborators, and everyone who believed in what we were buildingthank you. While this chapter for us is coming to a close, the spirit of what we built togetherand the work that came from itwill endure. Samsung Electronics announced that the company is working with NVIDIA to advance AI-RAN technologies. The collaboration underscores Samsungs commitment to fostering a robust ecosystem and diversifying the computing platforms available. This endeavor aims to support a smooth and easy adoption of AI in mobile networks by expanding the ecosystem of Central Processing Unit (CPU) and bolstering partnerships with Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) companies. To maximize and bring the power of AI into Radio Access Networks (RAN), Samsung has made significant technological progress leveraging its in-house AI and radio expertise since the beginning of 2024. One of the pivotal milestones achieved was the interoperability between Samsungs O-RAN compliant virtualized RAN (vRAN) and NVIDIAs accelerated computing, which took place in Samsung Researchs lab in late last year. Samsung has successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept to verify how NVIDIAs accelerated computing can be seamlessly integrated into software-based networks to help enhance AI capabilities. This achievement further solidifies Samsungs strides in moving ahead with its unique innovation of combining AI and RAN. With the baseline, Samsung can seamlessly deliver AI-RAN by integrating its vRAN (virtualized Distributed Unit, vDU) with NVIDIAs accelerated computing into a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) server where Samsungs vRAN software is installed. In addition, the companies will continue to explore the best-of-breed combinations of AI-RAN options leveraging Samsung vRAN with NVIDIAs Grace CPU and/or GPU based AI platform using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) technologies. All of these are optimal for each network deployment environment from rural, sub-urban to dense urban. At MWC 2025, Samsung presented its leadership in AI-For-RAN innovations, as exemplified through two AI-RAN demonstrations, endorsed by the AI-RAN Alliance and developed in collaboration with various members including NVIDIA. The demonstrations included AI-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) estimation and non-uniform modulation, showing a glimpse in innovative ways to infuse AI into mobile networks. While AI is reshaping the telecommunications landscape, Samsung is helping operators to build the right network architecture and environment where AI can thrive, all powered by our proven and AI-powered vRAN, said June Moon, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. This collaboration with NVIDIA signifies our continued efforts to expand GPU and CPU ecosystem, and we look forward to exploring more possibilities in the future. AI-RAN is a critical technology that delivers transformative gains in network utilization, efficiency and performance, while enabling new AI services, said Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President for Telecom at NVIDIA. Samsung is a frontrunner in AI-RAN development. Their vRAN expertise and software integrated with the NVIDIAs AI accelerated computing will accelerate the path to AI-native wireless networks. As one of the founding members of the AI-RAN Alliance forged in 2024, Samsung is actively participating in advancing AI-RAN technologies with academic institutions and industry leaders like NVIDIA. As an elected Vice Chair of Board of Directors as well as the Working Group #3 (AI-on-RAN), Samsung is leading industry towards AI-powered next-generation networks. Samsungs end-to-end software-based network architecture is the optimal foundation to easily deploy and adopt AI across every layer of the network. As such, Samsung can empower operators with its flexible networks and sharpen their competitive edge to stay at the front of the AI era. This advancement opens doors for utilizing network infrastructure not only for mobile communications but also for processing general workloads, providing a data center-like network architecture that will present new business opportunities. Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools and applications. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators and enterprises that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide. Sanjeev Kulkarni has announced his departure from VRL Media Pvt Ltd (Vijayavani), Karnatakas largest circulated newspaper, after 12 years of service as Vice President. In a personal communication, Kulkarni expressed a mix of gratitude and excitement as he embarks on a new chapter in his career. He highlighted the transformative journey he experienced under the leadership of Managing Director Dr. Anand Sankeshwar, whose vision propelled Vijayavani to its current position of prominence. "When I joined Vijayavani, the vision was clear: to establish it as Karnatakas leading Kannada daily. Under the dynamic leadership of our Managing Director, Dr. Anand Sankeshwar, this vision turned into reality," Kulkarni stated. He emphasized Dr. Sankeshwar's "relentless passion, strategic foresight, and unwavering commitment to excellence" as key factors in the newspaper's success. Kulkarni also acknowledged the collaborative spirit of his colleagues, management, and business partners, crediting their support for building "one of Karnatakas most trusted and widely read newspapers." "Over the years, I have been fortunate to work alongside some of the most talented professionals in the industry," he said. "Together, we have built something truly remarkable." Before his tenure at Vijayavani, Kulkarni spent approximately eight years with the Times of India Group, where he handled Vijay Karnataka, The Times of India Kannada, and v.next. His career in the media industry began in 1999 as an Advertising Manager at Vijayanand Printers Ltd. "As I step into the next phase of my career, I look forward to new beginnings and exciting opportunities ahead!" Kulkarni concluded. Kulkarnis departure marks the end of a significant chapter in Vijayavani's history, and his contributions to the newspapers growth and success are widely acknowledged. Simply Fresh, the flagship brand of BN Group, one of Indias leading edible oil manufacturers, has launched a touching brand film that captures the spirit of Holika Dahan. Titled BuraNaKaro, the campaign takes a fresh perspective on the age-old Holi tagline, Bura Na Mano Holi Hai, urging people to actively refrain from actions that may trouble others. The film tells the story of two teenage boys who initially try to scare a younger child, Jugnoo, by warning him about being drenched in colours during Holi Festivities. However, during the Holika Dahan ceremony, they experience a change of heart, realizing that true celebration lies in spreading joy rather than discomfort. The campaign reinforces the significance of letting go of negative actions and embracing kindness an ideology that aligns with Simply Freshs commitment to Fresh Iraade (Fresh Intentions). Speaking about the campaign, Kiran Giradkar, Chief Marketing Officer, BN Group said, The essence of Holika Dahan is the victory of good over evil, and through Bura Na Karo, we are reinforcing our brand philosophy of Rakho Iraade Fresh. Just as we strive to keep our products fresh and pure, we believe in fostering fresh perspectives that promote kindness and consideration. This campaign is a gentle reminder that festivals are meant to bring people together, not make anyone uncomfortable. The campaign has been rolled out across multiple platforms such as Instagram , Facebook, YouTube and X. Simply Fresh invites everyone to share their own FreshIraade a pledge to make conscious choices that spread positivity and be a part of this movement towards a kinder, more inclusive celebration. Through this initiative, Simply Fresh continues to integrate cultural values with its brand messaging, reinforcing the importance of mindful actions in everyday life. Representative Image A British woman was allegedly gang-raped by two men at a hotel in Delhis Mahipalpur area, leading to their swift arrest, officials confirmed on Thursday. The victim had reportedly traveled from the UK to Delhi to meet one of the accused, whom she had befriended on a social media platform. Authorities are investigating further details of the case, with police confirming that both suspects are in custody. The incident has raised serious concerns over the safety of foreign nationals in India and the growing threat of social media-driven crimes. SRCC Staff Demand FIR Against DUSU President Ronak Khatri Over 'Misconduct' 2 The SRCC Staff Association has accused Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Ronak Khatri of misconduct and spreading a malicious social media campaign against the college. In a meeting held on Wednesday, faculty members unanimously condemned Khatris behaviour and demanded legal action, including an FIR, a campus entry ban, and intervention from the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor and Proctor. Khatri, who belongs to Congress-affiliated NSUI, claimed he visited the college on March 11 to discuss the safety of stray dogs but was denied a fair hearing. He alleged that the Vice Principal refused to engage with him, misled students about her schedule, and later called the police to remove them. In social media posts, Khatri accused certain faculty members of intimidating students based on political affiliations, questioning whether such groups run the university. He criticised professors who, according to him, suppress student voices. Students have reportedly raised concerns about stray dogs since August 2024, using personal resources to vaccinate and sterilise them under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program. Khatri further claimed that a dog was killed by a speeding vehicle and another was injured by a sanitation worker, highlighting what he called the administrations neglect. The SRCC Staff Association has also urged the administration to preserve CCTV footage from the day of the incident and escalate the matter to the cyber cell, intensifying tensions between student leaders and faculty at the prestigious Delhi University institution. Image: PTI Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called for permanent noise control measures on loudspeakers at religious places and ordered a strict ban on high-volume DJs during Holi celebrations. Reviewing development projects and law and order at the Circuit House on Wednesday, Adityanath instructed officials to enforce noise restrictions strictly and prevent any disturbances. The CM also directed authorities to install CCTV cameras at key locations, including banks, shops, and commercial areas, to bolster security. A strong warning was issued against illegal cattle smuggling, with orders for strict action against smugglers, vehicle owners, and any complicit police personnel. ADG Zone Piyush Mordia has been tasked with conducting district-wise reviews to ensure the statewide ban on cattle smuggling is enforced effectively. To accelerate development projects, Adityanath instructed officials to appoint nodal officers for each under-construction project, conduct weekly inspections, and submit progress reports. Delays in infrastructure projects were criticized, with orders to expedite work while maintaining quality standards. With summer approaching, the CM stressed the importance of an uninterrupted water supply and proposed the beautification of flyover pillars with artistic paintings and high-quality advertisements. He also directed the creation of dedicated vending zones for street hawkers to regulate urban spaces. Adityanath further ensured provisions for affordable meals, free drinking water, and proper seating arrangements for farmers at all wheat procurement centers, with the District Magistrate confirming that procurement at 2,425 per quintal will begin on March 17 across 36 district centers. The CM also ordered the establishment of hostels and affordable canteens for working women and called for strict security measures during Holika Dahan and Holi celebrations. Additionally, officials were instructed to identify the top ten criminals from each police station for targeted action, signaling a tougher stance on law enforcement across Uttar Pradesh. DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a moderate hearing loss on one side and pretty severe hearing loss on the other side. A lot of folks dont know I have a problem, because the hearing aids they make now are great -- hard to see, and my hair covers them. However, my hearing is sometimes affected by things like seasonal allergies, and Im often the last to realize. I was talking with some friends, partly in Spanish (my second language) and partly in English, with some fellow teachers. I asked my friend a question in English, not realizing someone on my deafer side had started talking. He had made a joke in Spanish and I didnt quite catch what was going on. After he left, my friend really doubled down on how rude I had been. Obviously I felt sorry as soon as I understood, which probably took a little extra time due to the language barrier. I told her I really didnt hear him speak and I would never have interrupted him if I had. She continued to tell me she felt bad for him and that I was rude. Of course, I told the other friend later that I hadnt heard him and I was sorry for making an awkward moment. He was really sweet about it because he knows I am not rude by nature. I know hearing loss can be hard to see and sometimes difficult to predict, depending on the nature of it. But I wonder if this other friend, who insisted on calling me rude even after I explained that I couldnt hear, knows how bad that sounds for folks with a disability. I thought about telling her how it comes across, but that would feel like I was just trying to get sympathy. I just wouldnt want her to show the same lack of understanding to someone else with a disability -- for her sake, too. Am I wrong? GENTLE READER: Demonizing someone with a disability is, of course, unspeakably rude. (So is demonizing someone without a disability.) But this can be settled without resorting to such heavy artillery. Even if your hearing were perfect and you merely failed to hear the joke because of a momentary lapse of attention, what you did was not The Rudest Thing That Ever Happened. It was a minor, unintentional infraction, erased by your subsequent apology. It was far ruder of your friend to dwell on it. Forget about it and, if this person raises it again, thank her and tell her you dealt with it. Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to dearmissmanners@gmail.com, or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. A 22-year-old man has been convicted in the 2022 fatal shooting of a Birmingham teen. A Jefferson County jury on Wednesday found Martez Willearl Jefferson guilty of two counts of capital murder in the slaying of 18-year-old Rayshod Shod Goldthwaite. He was also convicted of first-degree assault for a minor passenger and discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle. Authorities said the Birmingham man in the weeks before Goldthwaites murder had threatened him if he testified against one of Jeffersons close friends. The deadly shooting happened on June 5, 2022. The trial for Jefferson, who previously pleaded guilty in an unrelated shooting that critically injured a Birmingham 15-year-old, began March 3 before Circuit Judge Shanta Owens. Jurors heard from over a dozen witnesses and combed through over 500 pieces of evidence over about two days of deliberation. The jury began deliberations Monday and delivered its verdict Wednesday afternoon. Jefferson County deputy district attorneys Tiffany Ould, Brianna Anderson and John West prosecuted the case. Jefferson was represented by Paul Rand and Hunter Carmichael of the Jefferson County Public Defenders Office. Sentencing is set for April. Since the case was not death penalty eligible, Jefferson will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. North Precinct officers were dispatched just after 1 a.m. that Sunday to 608 Second Ave. North. Once on the scene, they found Goldthwaite had wrecked into the building there. He was unresponsive from a gunshot wound and pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. Prior to the shooting, Jeffersons vehicle was seen on camera at the Shell gas station located at 800 Third Avenue West, stalking and later following behind Goldthwaite and his friends as they left the Shell, Ould said. Minutes later, Goldthwaite was gunned down as he rode down Third Avenue causing his passenger to jump out of their moving vehicles before Goldthwaite crashed into a nearby building. Nine shots rang out, several of which struck Goldthwaites driver side door. Goldthwaite suffered one fatal blow to the heart. Earlier - on May 21 - Jefferson approached Goldthwaite at a pool party and threatened to shoot him and his family if they appeared in court in an attempted murder and first-degree robbery case against Jeffersons close friend, Jaboree Christian Watson. Watson was charged with shooting Goldthwaite in December of 2019 when Goldthwaite tried to buy shoes from him over Facebook Marketplace. As Goldthwaite and his friends left the pool party, Goldthwaites friend and another female bystander were shot. Later that evening, Jefferson was recorded admitting to that shooting at the pool party, Ould said. Shell casings from the pool party shooting matched the casings found at the murder scene and two other shootings that happened on May 23, 2022, and May 26, 2022. GPS location data placed Jeffersons cell phones at the Shell as well as at the May 23, 2022 shooting. Watson later pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with three to serve. He remains in prison. It was determined that Watson was at home on electronic monitoring when the murder occurred, Ould said. Goldthwaite graduated in 2021 from Birminghams George W. Carver High School. Rayshod Goldthwaite (Special to AL.com) Jefferson in September pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of first-degree assault and discharging a firearm into an occupied building in the 2022 shooting that left a Birmingham teen with blindness in one eye and a brain injury. In that case, Jefferson apologized to Christian Savage, now 17, and said he didnt mean to hurt him. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Christians wounding. Teddy Edward Lee Jr. and his wife, Brittney "Taylor" Brewer, were shot to death in Birmingham on Feb. 13, 2025. (Contributed) The Alabama man who starred in multiple episodes of TLCs My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding and his girlfriend were killed in Birmingham when they went to an apartment on the citys east side to sell drugs, according to new information released Thursday. Teddy Edward T.J. Lee Jr., 34, and 33-year-old Brittany Taylor Brewer died Feb. 13 from multiple gunshot wounds to their heads and necks. The deadly shooting happened about 7:30 p.m. that Thursday in the 4900 block of 41st Street North. Both were pronounced dead on the scene at 8:12 p.m. Demetrius Walton, 43, is charged with capital murder in the double killing. Testimony indicated Lee and Walton had gotten into an argument over a dog a week or two prior earlier. Walton appeared before Jefferson County District Judge William Bell Thursday for a preliminary hearing. Waltons attorney, Emory Anthony, argued there wasnt enough evidence against his client but Bell forwarded the case to a grand jury for indictment consideration. Bell ordered Walton to remain held without bond. Jefferson County Deputy District Charissa Henrich is prosecuting the case and took Birmingham homicide Det. Ronald Davenport through the night of the deadly shooting. Davenport said Lee was in the drivers seat and Brewer in the passengers seat. There were multiple shell casings around the vehicle, primarily on the passengers side of the victims black Jeep Renegade. There were multiple bullet holes in the SUV. Davenport said officers recovered a handgun from inside the victims vehicle. On the ground outside of the drivers side door were a cell phone, $20, a clear plastic bag of crystal meth, and a Crown Royal bag containing loose ammunition. The shooting happened outside an apartment where Lee was planning to sell the drugs, Davenport said. The resident buying the drugs told detectives he had just gotten home. Walton and his girlfriend were already there, and the resident had a female there as well. He had already spoken to the victims, primarily Teddy Lee, Davenport said. Mr. Lee was supposed to come over and sell him some drugs. A few minutes after getting home, the resident received a text from Lee asking why Walton was there. The resident told Lee he didnt know. A short time later, Walton and his girlfriend left in a silver Land Rover. A Tarrant officer working an extra job at a nearby church reported seeing a silver Land Rover flee the scene after the hail of gunfire. The resident told detectives he heard multiple gunshots about 20 to 30 seconds after Walton left. He said he did not see the shooting. When he went outside, everybody was gone and the victims were dead in the SUV. Henrich asked the detective if there had been any beef between the victims and Walton. He had mentioned there was a previous argument about a week or two prior between TJ and the defendant regarding a dog, Davenport said. Davenport said he learned of a witness, a woman who lived near where the shooting happened. She told police she saw both vehicles the Jeep and the Land Rover -- parked in the makeshift driveway outside of the residents apartment. She said she heard arguing and then gunfire. The witness told police there had been a third person who had been in the Jeep with the victims and said that person fled the scene. Demetrius Walton (Jefferson County Jail) She said the shooters were in the silver vehicle and she said someone outside had returned fire at the Land Rover. The witness told police there had been multiple people outside the apartment when the shooting happened. She said she saw the resident standing in the doorway, which contradicted what the resident told investigators. The resident told police where Walton lived, which was nearby, and the police departments Crime Reduction Team set up surveillance at Waltons home. Walton, Davenport said, approached the detectives who were conducting surveillance on his home. Davenport then interviewed Walton, who said he and his girlfriend had gone to residents apartment to use his Wi-Fi to pay a phone bill. Walton said as they were leaving, they heard gunfire, and a bullet came through the rear window of the Land Rover and exited through the drivers window as they were driving away. Though his vehicle was struck, Walton did not call 911. Walton also told detectives he had had a prior disagreement with Lee over a dog. Davenport testified there were no shell casings found in the roadway, which did not match Waltons statement that his vehicle was struck by gunfire as he was driving away. The detective said no murder weapon has been recovered, and said the investigation is ongoing, including trying to identify the other people who were at the scene that night. Under questioning by Anthony, Davenport said when the first officers arrived on the scene, they found the resident at the victims Jeep. As a matter of fact, he was opening the door and they stopped him and put him in handcuffs, Anthony said. Had (the resident) called 911? Davenport said he had not. Henrich argued there was enough probable cause to send the case to a grand jury, citing the previous disagreement between the suspect and the victim, and witness testimony that Waltons vehicle was seen fleeing the crime scene and later found with bullet damage. Anthony disagreed. We think they havent shown probable cause, Anthony said. We know (the resident) is a liar because he told them he didnt see anything and if you believe (the female witness) he was standing at the door at the time of the incident. My client was running from a shooting and when he got to his house, he walked up to the detectives, Anthony said. They cant show you my client was involved in this shooting. An Alabama man convicted in the 1982 murder of a Sammys Go-Go dancer has pleaded guilty a Massachusetts murder of a sex worker. Steven Fike, 65, entered his guilty plea Wednesday to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the 1980 killing of 19-year-old Wendy Dansereau at a Boston motel. After 45 years, and thanks to advances in DNA science, the collection of evidence by Alabama authorities, and the perseverance of investigators here, said Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden, Wendy Dansereaus family at last has an answer about who was responsible for her tragic death. Fike received a 13 to 15-year sentence to run concurrently with his Alabama sentence. He will be returned to Alabama to serve out his life sentence. Fike was first linked by DNA in 2019 to Dansereaus murder and then arrested for the crime in 2022. A Birmingham native described as a drifter, Fike was convicted when he was 23 years in the Jan. 30, 1982, rape and murder of Patricia Ann Culp, a dancer at Sammys on Third Avenue West in Birmingham. He was sentenced to life in prison and is an inmate at Elmore Correctional Facility. The 20-year-old Culp was last seen entering the Hiway Host Motel on Bessemer Super Highway. Her body was later found in a ditch, in about six inches of water, alongside Interstate 59 in Tuscaloosa County. An autopsy later showed Culp died from a severe blow to the back of her head. The manager of the Birmingham motel testified that Fike and Culp arrived in the early morning hours of Jan. 30, 1982, at the motel in a red car. They registered and went to Room 330. The next morning the housekeeper discovered that one of the beds in Room 330 had been stripped and all the linens, bedspread, and blanket were missing from the room. Traces of blood were found in various areas of the motel room, including on the mattress. Several witnesses testified they saw Fike at the Omelette Shop near the Birmingham Airport about 10 a.m. Jan. 30. He was seen driving a red Mustang. Later that morning, Fike bought some new shoes. He then went to the Ramada Inn near the airport around 1 p.m. where he was seen changing clothes in the mens room at this time. Fike gave a bag containing shoes and keys to the Ramada Inn desk clerk. He then had the driver of the Ramada Inn van take him to get cigarettes and drop him at the airport. Later that day, one of the security officers for the Ramada Inn noticed a red Mustang with a broken window. When he looked inside the car, he found a tote bag which contained a sheer nightgown, panties, make-up and a pill bottle with the name Patricia Culp on it. Photographs of Culp were found in the glove compartment. Blood was found in the trunk of the car, and a tire tool with hair fibers on it was also recovered in the trunk. Fike was identified as the suspect after investigators composed a sketch of the suspect through witness descriptions and then police files. A murder warrant was issued, and a nationwide alert sent to law enforcement agencies across the country. Fike was eventually arrested in Atlanta. In Dansereaus killing, Massachusetts authorities said an employee of the Hotel Diplomat in Bostons South End discovered Dansereaus body inside a hotel room on March 18, 1980. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Assistant District Attorney John Verner the room showed signs of a struggle Dansereau had a red scarf tied around her neck with ligature marks under the scarf. Her clothes were found scattered around the room and her bra was damaged. The investigation determined that Dansereau had entered the hotel earlier with a customer. The medical examiner collected oral, anal and vaginal samples during the autopsy. Despite the best efforts of investigators, the case went unsolved, Verner said. In 2011 investigators entered the sample evidence into the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and obtained a match between a vaginal sperm sample and DNA obtained from Fike after his conviction in Alabama. Partially-smoked cigarettes from the hotel room also matched Fikes DNA, Verner said. When interviewed by Boston homicide detectives in April 2018 in Alabama, Fike denied ever having been in Boston. He continued his denials when confronted with the evidence of his DNA in Dansereaus body, Verner said. Fike placed himself in Keene, NH around the time of Dansereaus murder. Police reports from Keene show that Fike committed a petty larceny about 12 hours before Dansereau entered the Diplomat Hotel with a customer, Verner said. The Alabama State Board of Education authorized a takeover of Dallas County Schools, citing numerous financial problems that have riddled the small, rural school system. A recent investigation found the district lacked significant operational oversight, costing it more than $12 million in federal grant repayments. State officials intervened after the board agreed that it needed help to get its finances back on track. The state board of education voted unanimously to approve intervention at its board meeting on March 13. A takeover would mean the local board of education no longer has control over personnel, finance or operations. Its going to be a very heavy lift, State Superintendent Eric Mackey said after the vote. Theres going to be a very heavy lift with us in there, and an almost impossible lift for a school board to do on its own. A June 2024 audit found the district did not properly account for professional development services paid with $4.9 million in COVID relief funding. State officials followed up in July and discovered additional issues, ultimately ordering the district to return at least $12.2 million in federal grant funds, according to a show-cause letter Mackey sent to board president Melvin Flanagan Brown on Feb. 21. ALSDE received a response from Superintendent Anthony Sampson on Jan. 3 acknowledging the findings, but according to Mackeys letter, the district did not propose a plan to address the deficiencies. Further investigation found that in recent months, the district has failed to fully close financial records, has inflated fund balances and owes at least $1.4 million for past invoices. This is a very serious matter and one I do not take lightly, Mackey wrote in the letter. Inaction and mismanagement put our students, teachers and school administrators at risk of continuously falling behind the ALSDEs expectations and as the State Superintendent, I find that utterly unacceptable. Sampson did not return a request for comment from AL.com. He previously stated that the board would work in concert with the state as they figure out next steps. The local board voted Feb. 27 to agree to an intervention. Dallas County is now one of three school systems currently under state intervention. The system, which is one of the states poorest, had long been struggling with declining enrollment and revenues. In the past decade, the student population declined by more than 30%, from 3,264 students in 2014 to 2,203 students in 2024. Mackey said the state has been working with the district since October on a repayment plan and is in talks with the federal government about reducing the amount owed. Obviously they cant write a check like that in one day, he said, noting that county debt ultimately falls on the state. So weve got to try to do what we can to resolve this. Chief Academic Officer Daniel Boyd, who is currently overseeing Bessemers intervention, was appointed Thursday to guide the takeover in Dallas County. The state also will be in charge of deciding the districts next superintendent after Sampson steps down at the end of the school year. Mackey said he expects the intervention to take at least two years. Its quite a knot were going to have to untangle, he said. ALBOE Vice President Tonya Chestnut, who represents the Dallas County area and used to work in the district, said the decision was bittersweet. You always hate to have to intervene, she said. But its always good to be able to go in and provide that support, because at the end of the day its about making sure that the children are receiving the quality education that they deserve. To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most-read books in the world, was written by Monroeville, Ala., native Harper Lee. The fictional setting of the 1960 book was a small town called Maycomb, which Lee confirmed numerous times in her lifetime was based on Monroeville, now a quaint town with plenty of Mockingbird-themed sites for tourists. But the 1962 movie To Kill a Mockingbird was not filmed in Monroeville. Not any part of it was filmed anywhere in Alabama, despite what you may have read online. Scroll through the gallery above to see photos of the Alabama premiere of the film and of Depression-era Monroeville. The error is most often repeated in lists of movies filmed in Alabama (like this one) and writers of those lists are likely getting their information from Internet Movie Database, IMDb, which is an oft-used database of film information that is edited by a volunteer staff of movie buffs. It is a great site to visit when you want to find the name of that actor thats just out of your minds reach, the plot summary of a particular movie or what year a movie was released. If you visit the IMDb page for To Kill a Mockingbird and scroll down to the Filming locations heading, youll find Monroeville, Alabama, at the top of the list. Yet the entire movie was filmed in a fake town created on a Universal Studios backlot in California, a fact backed up by Harper Lee and Gregory Peck, who portrayed Atticus Finch in the film. Peck went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. The movie was filmed in California from February to May 1962. In the March 26, 1962, edition of The Birmingham News, Peck was interviewed on set about why the movie could not be shot in Alabama. Its impossible to find a town that would look like the [19]30s; theyve all got chain stores and TV aerials now, Peck said. The logical place to shoot it would be Monroeville Ala., Miss Lees hometown. But the streets are paved now and we needed dirt streets, the way it used to be. So we built our own town here at the studio. Harper Lee, known by her first name Nelle to friends, visited the California set in January, just before filming began. She later told The Birmingham News that the house based on her own childhood home looked so real that I wanted to sit down in a rocking chair and fan myself. The town is so good, she said, that Im afraid people will think it was filmed on location. Gregory Peck embraces Mary Badham, 9, a Birmingham Alabama acting discovery who plays his daughter in To Kill a Mockingbird March 1963. (AP Photo) AP Peck, his wife Veronique Peck and director Robert Mulligan visited Monroeville in early January 1962 to get to know Lee and get a feel for the town, according to The Monroe Journal. The Monroe Journal reported in April 1962 how set designers were able to reproduce a small Southern town on 11 acres in California. The make an Alabama town in Hollywood, an expedition of photographers and sketch artists made a thorough study of Monroeville to get a perfect background for Miss Lees story, the article said. The setting of Maycomb, Ala., was made more realistic when some wooden homes built at the turn of the century, which had to be removed for California freeway extensions, were taken to the studio. The film premiered Dec. 25, 1962, at Fox Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills, now Saban Theatre, and went into wide release in March 1963. A special premiere was held at the Melba Theatre in Birmingham on Wednesday, April 4, 1963, with the child stars of the film Mary Badham and Philip Alford in attendance. An article about the special premiere of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Birmingham in 1963. Child stars Mary Badham and Phillip Alford attended, as well as local dignitaries. Alabama Department of Archives and History Lee remained friends with Gregory Peck until his death June 12, 2003, at the age of 87. She wrote to Alabama Supreme Court justice Gorman Houston on June 20, 2003, that shed heard the news that Peck had died. She wrote: Greg was a prince of a man. He was a rarity: a thoroughly good person. If he ever had an unkind thought, he didnt express it. I shall always feel his loss. We were friends for more than 40 years! Lee died in 2016. A three-vehicle crash in eastern Jefferson County left one woman dead and four other people hospitalized, including two children. (Carol Robinson) Authorities have released the name of a young woman killed in a crash that also injured four other people, including two children. The Jefferson County Coroners Office on Thursday identified the victim as Diedra Evon Preston. She was 23. Center Point Fire and Rescue and Jefferson County sheriffs deputies were dispatched at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday to a report of multiple vehicles involved in a wreck. Battalion Chief Chris Horn said the crash happened in the northbound lane in the 2900 block of Pinson Valley Parkway. Preston was pronounced dead on the scene at 7:12 p.m. Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said she was a passenger in one of the vehicles. Two children were taken to Childrens of Alabama. Two adults were also transported. The severity of the survivors injuries was not immediately known. A woman killed when fire swept through her Pinson townhome earlier this week has now been identified. Kelli Whisonant Roper, 51, died Tuesday, a short time after Center Point Fire and Rescue crews pulled her from the blaze on Heritage Place, according to the Jefferson County Coroners Office. Battalion Chief Chris Horn said firefighters arrived on the scene just before 3 p.m. to find heavy fire and smoke coming from the residence. Firefighters began to knock back the flames and then did a primary search of the home. They pulled the victim from the residence and began to treat her, but she was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:36 p.m. Horn said Roper was home alone when the blaze erupted. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The Alabama State Fire Marshals Office is leading the investigation. Jay-Z smiles ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) AP The anonymous woman who sued Jay-Z late last year claims attorney Tony Buzbee pushed her to falsely accuse the music mogul of raping her, along with Sean Diddy Combs, in a since-dismissed lawsuit. The Jane Doe told private investigators that Buzbee whos representing over 100 Diddy accusers encouraged her to sue Jay-Z for allegedly assaulting her at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, when she was 13 years old. The Jane Doe reportedly now lives in Alabama. In a recording obtained by ABC News, the woman can be heard telling investigators that Jay-Z was there at the after-party in question, but did not actually touch her. When asked by investigators if Jay-Z, now 55, was just there but didnt have anything to do with any sexual acts towards Jane Doe, the woman simply responds, Yeah. She says Buzbee kind of pushed her into going forward with the lawsuit against the rapper, but doesnt know why. In response to the recording, Buzbee issued a statement to ABC News, calling Does claims a blatant lie. He also provided his own recording of a call with the accuser, in which she says she never said she made up the rape allegation and denies she accused Buzbee of pushing her to sue the rapper to get more money. Jay-Z has vehemently denied the heinous claims against him since they were first made in December. His attorney, Alex Spiro, told the outlet his client never even met the woman. Doe initially sued Combs in October, in the weeks after the Bad Boy founder was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. She refiled her lawsuit in early December to include Jay-Z, but ultimately dropped the lawsuit last month. In a sworn declaration, the accuser said she felt intimidated and while she ultimately chose not to pursue her allegations of rape, she still stand[s] by them, per ABC News. Earlier this month, Jay-Z filed a defamation lawsuit against the Jane Doe, Buzbee, and lawyer David Fortney, alleging the womans claims cost him $20 million. 2025 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Alabama Legislature is worried about your soul. So it is considering a bill that would hold education for ransom, slashing funding for school districts that dont start their classroom days with a prayer. Good bread, good meat, times wastin lets eat. HB231, sponsored by Pike Road GOP Rep. Reed Ingram and a host of disciples, is clear. Your students, no matter their faith, creed or lack thereof, must hear a prayer consistent with Judeo-Christian values. Or risk losing 25% or their state funding. More than $63 million in Jeffco, for instance. Almost $100 million in Mobile. Thats $37 million in Madison County, and $34 million in Huntsville. Can I get an amen? So lets just take a quiz. What prayers might meet that standard? It is, of course, not as simple as all that. The bill, a constitutional amendment that would require a vote of the people, would withhold the money from school districts that show a pattern of refusing to comply. But the point is very real. Freedom of religion in Alabama means our way, or to hell with you. Literally. If this bill, this public piety for political purpose is passed, teachers should print that final prayer out and read it every single day in class. Bow your heads and say it with me. Oh Lord, help those men and women in the Alabama Legislature. They have taken food from the mouths of children, medicine from the sick and hope from the hopeless. They cast your people into prisons without mercy, rail against the poor and the immigrant. They have seen the sick and the hungry in their own land, and passed by on the other side of the street. They have done it in your name. Have mercy on their souls. Amen. Oh. P.S. Help us pass that damn test. John Archibald is a two-time Pulitzer winner from a long line of preachers who wouldnt want their kids to learn their theology from any old rando or pandering lawmaker. The Trump administrations pursuit of cuts to medical research grants would imperil a funding stream that generated over $915 million in economic activity in Alabama last year, a new study shows. The report by United for Medical Research found National Institutes of Health grants to researchers in Alabama totaled $380.3 million, supporting 4,411 jobs and having a total economic impact of $915.9 million in the state in fiscal year 2024. Thats just a share of the $36.94 billion in NIH grants awarded to researchers in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. That led to 407,782 jobs and $94.58 billion in new economic activity nationwide, according to the report. We urge Congress and the Trump Administration to work together to ensure that Americas long-standing and highly successful biomedical innovation ecosystem, which has a strong and well-funded NIH at its center, remains the envy of the world, UMR President Caitlin Leach said in a news release. By far the largest recipient in the state was the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where researchers collected 615 NIH awards, totaling $334.4 million in fiscal year 2024. Among the NIH-funded programs at UAB is one of just nine cystic fibrosis research centers in the United States. Along with the Cystic Fibrosis Care Center at the Childrens Hospital of Alabama and UAB Hospital, the interdisciplinary center, fosters an innovative and direct link between basic scientists and clinicians focused on treating and curing CF, according to the report. The five Alabama institutions that received the most NIH funding last year were: University of Alabama System Auburn University University of South Alabama Tuskegee University CFD Research Corp. The report comes at a time when the National Institutes of Health, the primary funding source for medical research in the United States, has come under fire from the Donald Trump administration. The administration moved in February to cap grant payments for indirect costs of research things like facility and administrative fees. Those are distinct from grant-funded direct costs like researchers salaries and laboratory supplies, and some institutions receive far more financial support from the former than from the latter. Nearly two dozen states and organizations supporting research institutions have sued to block the cap, and earlier this month, a federal judge issued an injunction to put the cuts on hold while the suits proceed. Alabama is not among the states suing over the cuts, AL.com has reported. The report presents a case that beyond improving health, NIH-funded research supports local economies by creating direct and indirect jobs, funding procurement of research materials, spinning off businesses and encouraging private investment. There is no better investment than one that saves lives, supports local economies and drives Americas global leadership in biomedical innovation, Leach said. When Congress invests strongly and consistently in the NIH, all three of those things happen. United for Medical Research describes itself as a coalition of research institutions, patient and health advocates, and private industry that seeks, strong and sustainable increases in funding for the National Institutes of Health. Workers near the top of the 526 ft. Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center spruce up the NASA logo standing on scaffolds in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (AP Photo/John Raoux) AP WASHINGTON, D. C. - When the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations lease on its current Washington, D.C. headquarters expires in 2028, Ohio members of Congress want NASA to move its headquarters to Ohio. In a Tuesday letter to Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trumps nominee to be NASA Administrator, Jared Isaacman, Ohio Congress members argue that bringing the headquarters of the nearly 18,000 employee agency to their state would align with broader government efforts to decentralize federal agencies and reinvigorate parts of the country outside Washington. Ohio is the birthplace of aviation, the heart of Americas aerospace industry, and a critical hub for advanced technology, research, and manufacturing, says the letter led by Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller of Bay Village and U.S. Sen. Jon Husted of the Columbus area. Placing NASA HQ in the Heart of it All would reinforce our national leadership in space exploration and aeronautics innovation. Others who signed the letter include: U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno along with U.S. Reps. Troy Balderson, Mike Carey, Warren Davidson, Jim Jordan, Dave Joyce, Marcy Kaptur, Bob Latta, Michael Rulli, Dave Taylor, and Mike Turner. Ohio isnt the only state pitching itself to host the next NASA headquarters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is encouraging relocation to Kennedy Space Center, near Orlando, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would like to see it in his state. The Ohioans say their states rich aerospace heritage, lower operational costs, and central role in the nations technology and defense sectors would make it a better place for the headquarters than other states. They recommend Clevelands NASA Glenn Research Center as a potential headquarters site, saying that relocating there would result in substantial savings for taxpayers while maintaining access to world-class aerospace research and development resources. Given that few NASA headquarters employees currently work in-office, the letter said consolidating operations near an existing NASA field center would streamline agency functions while ensuring continued access to necessary infrastructure. It said that NASA Glenn and its Lewis Field site at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport offer extensive office space and redevelopment opportunities, making them ideal locations to accommodate NASA HQ operations. Ohio is the historical home of aviation and ideally suited to lead NASA into the next frontier of both Aeronautics functions and Space Exploration as you lead this agency through its remarkable transformation, the letter continues. Miller expounded on the case for NASA Glenn in an opinion piece he posted last month. He said it offers everything NASA needs, from world-class research facilities to a deep talent pool and a dramatically lower cost of operation. NASAs headquarters isnt even in a federal facility; its in a privately leased building. With the lease expiring in 2028, the agency has a rare and critical opportunity to break free from D.C.s high costs and bureaucratic stagnation, said Miller. He said none of the other states eying the NASA headquarters have the advantages Ohio offers, including the perfect balance of deep aerospace roots, cutting-edge research facilities, a skilled workforce, and a cost-effective business climate. Ohio isnt just a practical choice; its a strategic imperative, said Miller. The NASA Glenn Research Center and its Armstrong Test Facility are already leading the charge in next-generation aeronautics and spaceflight technology. Moving NASA HQ here would create an unrivaled research and development powerhouse, driving breakthroughs that will define the future of space exploration. Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. We have a couple of crime stories for you today. First, another angle on retaliatory tariffs (these from the EU). Hitting the red states Many economists will tell you that import tariffs work kind of like a consumption tax on your own citizens. It may keep some foreign goods out of the market or in the market at a higher cost, driving up prices that are paid by the consumer. But on a more micro level, theyre used to protect specific industries and businesses. For example, in 1983, the U.S. put into place temporary tariffs that targeted Japanese motorcycles in order to give Harley Davidson time to get into a better financial place. The current trade wars between the U.S. and various parts of the world is showing us the reverse of protecting domestic businesses: Targeting specific sectors or businesses in the other country. AL.coms William Thornton reports that the European Unions latest retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. are targeting red states, including Alabama, with the obvious intent to put some squeeze on businesses in states that are friendly to President Trump. The Associated Press has reported that Alabama wood products are in the EUs crosshairs, and Fortune reported that Alabama produce is on the hit list. That, of course, probably adversely affects wood and produce consumers in the EU but also takes a market away from Alabama businesses. So everybody loses a little. President Trump has vowed to retaliate. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville was on Fox Business Wednesday to actually credit tariffs for the economys performance during Trumps first term: Theres going to be some pain with tariffs. But tariffs got us back as the strongest economy in the world when President Trump was in the first time. He knows what hes doing. 45-year-old murder case Its hard to fully appreciate the lives that are saved by some murder arrests and convictions because we dont know whether the suspect would have killed again. When a crime is solved we might see justice being served. But how many crimes does it mean wont ever happen? That thought came to me with the latest update on a killer whos been in prison since 1982. Steven Fike was convicted in the rape and strangulation murder of Patricia Ann Culp. Culp was a dancer at Sammys in Birmingham and was last seen alive at the Hiway Host Motel on Bessemer Super Highway. She was later found dead in a ditch along I-59. Fike was a Birmingham native who had been described as a drifter. He was identified as the suspect and eventually arrested in Atlanta, found guilty and sent to prison, where he is today. Fast-forward to this week. AL.coms Carol Robinson reports that Fike was indicted by a Massachusetts grand jury in a 1980 rape-and-murder case involving a woman named Wendy Dansereau who was killed in a Boston hotel room. If he were guilty of the new murder charge, you can see there could be a frightening pattern developing. Authorities in Massachusetts say DNA that was collected during the 1980 investigation has been entered into the FBIs Combined DNA Index System and matched Fikes genetic profile. They also say that police reports have placed Fike in New England the day before the Boston womans killing. For the 82 killing of Patricia Culp, Fike is serving life in prison with the possibility of parole. Explosive break-up Heres a word of caution: Even if your love life has kind of ruined your past several months or years, try not to react to that in a way that messes up your next 11 years and three months. AL.coms Carol Robinson reports that a Birmingham woman was sentenced this week to 135 months in federal prison for placing an explosive device outside the apartment of someone whos dating her ex-boyfriend. The resulting explosion was estimated to have caused $470,000 in damage. Fortunately, nobody was in the apartment, which was in the Lakeview Green apartments in Birmingham. Investigators say she placed the device against the exs new love interests door and ran down a nearby stairwell. The device included a plastic bag, some other object and gasoline. The woman then returned to the site a few hours later. She told the apartment manager she was visiting her cousin and gave him a unit number that didnt exist. That raised suspicions and led to her arrest. Miss the Bubba interview? On Wednesdays Down in Alabama podcast, we caught up with Rick & Bubba alum Bill Bubba Bussey for an entertaining chat about what hes doing now and more. Click here to listen to that episode. Quoting Nick Saban said the word (expletive) twice, (expletive) once and something else I cant remember. From an FCC complaint filed against the former Alabama coach for his language during ESPN College GameDay broadcasts this past season. More Alabama News Born on This Date In 1940, singer-songwriter Candi Staton of Hanceville. She had a big disco hit with Young Hearts Run Free. The podcast Over one-third of Alabamas population growth took place in just two northern counties, new Census data shows. Limestone Countys population increased 3.6% in 2024, making it the fastest-growing county in the state last year. Meanwhile, Madison County added the most people in raw numbers, an estimated 9,464. And Baldwin County, home to Alabamas beaches, was the states second fastest growing county. It recorded a 2.9% growth rate, bringing its estimated population to 261,608 the fourth largest county in the state. The U.S. Census Bureau released new estimates of population growth between 2023 and 2024 on Thursday. With an estimated 118,942 residents up 4,139 since 2023 Limestone County also entered the states Top 10 in population for the first time. It pushed Calhoun County (116,427) to No. 11. The trend has been building for several years. Limestone was No. 12 in 2020, with 104,209 residents. It reached No. 11 in 2022. Limestone has paced Alabama counties in population growth every year since the 2020 Census. You have a lot going on, a lot of positive things going on, good jobs coming into the area, plenty of good education opportunities, theres a lot of good things, County Commission Chairman Collin Daly told AL.com last year. [Cant see the map? Click here.] Industrial development, particularly in the countys southeast, has taken off, with Mazda Toyota, Amazon, Polaris and other big-name companies establishing or expanding operations. Bethany Shockney, president and CEO of the Limestone County Economic Development Association, told AL.com in January the countys skilled workforce, access to transportation and property availability are selling points to major employers. We are targeting aerospace/aviation, battery, defense, R&D and other related high skilled, high paying jobs, she said. The future is bright. Neighboring Madison County, home to Huntsville the largest city in the state was Alabamas third fastest-growing, up 2.3%. At 423,355 residents, it remained the states second most-populous, having overtaken Mobile County in 2023. [Cant see the list? Click here.] Together, Madison and Limestones 13,875 new residents accounted for just over 34% of the 40,026 Alabama added last year. Both counties are included in the Huntsville metropolitan area, which was the nations 15th fastest-growing, up an estimated 13,603 (2.6%), to 542,297. Since 2020, the population of Huntsvilles metro area has increased 9.6%, good for No. 26 nationwide. Jefferson County, home to Birmingham, remained the states most populous, with an estimated 664,744 residents last year. It added 660 people, reversing at least three years of population declines. The Birmingham metro area the states largest added 6,382 residents last year, or slightly more than 0.5%, bringing its population to an estimated 1,192,583. Southeastern Alabamas Wiregrass counties were a mixed bag. Houston County, anchored by Dothan, saw an additional 810 residents, just a 0.7% increase. Henry and Coffee counties added 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively, while Covington, Crenshaw, Pike and Barbour all experienced small declines. Even larger population declines came in the western Black Belt counties. Dallas County shrank 2.1%, or an estimated 749 residents, the most in the state. The largest percentage decline came in Greene County, down 172 residents last year, or 2.4%. President Donald Trump walks down the stairs after a luncheon with the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) AP The number of voters who said they disapprove of the job President Trump is doing has ticked up in recent weeks as more people question how the White House is handling the economy. A new Emerson College poll shows 47% of voters approved of the job Trump was doing while 45% disapproved. The numbers reflect an increase in disapproval rating of 2 points from last weeks numbers, while his approval rating has dropped 1 point. READ MORE: DOGE stimulus check: Who qualifies for possible $5,000 payment? As President Trump reaches his first 50 days in office, his approval rating has declined from 49%-41% to 47%-45%, reflecting a nation deeply divided, Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. Despite not yet delivering on the economy in voters minds, Trumps support remains strong. However, the true challenge will be how voters perceive their financial future. While little has shifted since the election, the initial honeymoon phase seems to be coming to an end. Voters are most supportive of Trumps immigration policy, but they disapprove of his handling of the economy, believe tariffs will hurt economic growth, and are skeptical of his cryptocurrency policy, Kimball added. Trumps approval ratings are strongest for handling of immigration policy 48% approval vs. 40% disapproval- while his lowest numbers come from dealing with the economy 48% disapprove vs. 37% approve. When it comes to balancing the federal budget a key element of the Elon Musk-led DOGE cuts 43% said they approve of Trumps work compared to 39% who disapproved. A plurality of voters 46% - said Trumps economic policies are making the economy worse while 28% think they are making it better and 26% said they have no effect or its too soon to tell. Compared to a year ago, 39% said their familys finances are worse off, 37% said they are about the same and 24% said they are better off than a year ago. The Emerson College Polling national survey was conducted March 8-10 among a sample of 1,000 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus/minus 3 percentage points. The United Methodist Church was denied in an effort to get an injunction against the breakaway congregation at Perdido Methodist Church. Perdido Methodist Church The United Methodist Churchs request to oust a renegade congregation from its coastal church campus was rejected this week by a Florida judge. The Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church filed a lawsuit against Perdido Bay Methodist Church, challenging the amendment to its incorporation documents that declare it is no longer affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The congregation voted to drop UMC affiliation from its charter but kept two appointed clergy on staff and banned denominational officials from setting foot on the campus popular with Gulf Coast residents and tourists. The Alabama-West Florida Conference asked a judge for an emergency injunction ejecting the breakaway group from the campus. On March 10, Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Stephen A. Pitre denied the request for an injunction. On Oct. 31, an attorney for the church had sent a letter to the conference giving official notice that Perdido Bay Methodist is no longer a member of the denomination. As you are aware, our client previously submitted clear documentation outlining its doctrinal and theological concerns when considering separation last year, wrote attorney Jonathan Bailie of the National Center for Life and Liberty. Any attempt by the conference to access church property will result in a request for immediate departure, followed by removal by law enforcement for trespassing if necessary, Bailie wrote in his letter to the conference. That drew a heated response from Panhandle District Superintendent Jean Tippit of the Alabama-West Florida Conference. That unholy threat causes me great concern for a multitude of reasons, Tippit wrote to church members, urging them to join her as she led a United Methodist alternative Sunday meeting location at Big Lagoon State Park. The Alabama-West Florida Conference filed a lawsuit Nov. 21 against the Perdido Bay Methodist board of trustees and two pastors who had been appointed by the conference, Levi Gardner and Scott Hohn, who stayed with the church as it voted to leave the denomination. The conference had asked the Escambia County judge for declaratory relief, quiet title, ejectment, in an effort to gain control of the church property at 13660 Innerarity Point Road in Pensacola, east of Alabamas Ono Island. Perdido Bay Methodist was one of more than 40 churches in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle whose requests to leave the denomination were stalled before the Dec. 31, 2023 disaffiliation deadline. Paragraph 2553, a special provision allowing disaffiliation due to disagreement over issues such as gay marriage, expired at that point. The United Methodist General Conference voted in May 2024 to reverse its longstanding bans on gay marriage and ordination of LGBTQ clergy. The oral and written misrepresentations made by the conference to convince and effectively trick our client to not hold a vote to leave the denomination under rule 2553 while such right existed severely prejudiced and permanently injured our client, Bailie wrote. Since the time of the conferences misrepresentations, the General Conference amended the Book of Discipline, changing its views on marriage and gender that have been held by our client since its establishment, the denomination for over two centuries, and by the church for millennia. These changes are in direct conflict with our clients sincerely held religious beliefs, necessitating their immediate separation from the denomination. Churches that were not allowed to leave have adopted a new tactic: either suing the conference, saying the church property belongs to the congregation, not the denomination, or simply voting to change the churchs legal documents that have any mention of the United Methodist Church. United Methodist Bishop Jonathan Holston, who took over as head of the Alabama-West Florida Conference in September, issued a public letter on the Perdido Bay legal standoff. Regrettably, in the wake of a season of disaffiliation and division for our denomination, the Alabama-West Florida Conference finds itself dealing with a serious legal matter involving Perdido Bay United Methodist Church, Holston wrote. A group of clergy and laity of Perdido Bay UMC has taken unauthorized and illegal actions to change the deed to the church property and prevent conference leadership from entering the property. These improper actions violate the principles that govern our denomination, including the historic Trust Clause. Holston said the conference was left with no choice but to sue. We are deeply saddened to report to you that the Board of Trustees of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, left with no other choice, has filed a lawsuit against individual trustees of Perdido Bay UMC who participated in these actions, as well as against two former Alabama-West Florida clergy, he wrote. The lawsuit stems from their attempt to sever ties between Perdido Bay UMC and the conference. While we are confident in the strength of our legal position, it is our prayer that reconciliation and understanding will ultimately prevail, and that we can move forward in faithfulness to our shared mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The days of free water service for thousands of phantom Birmingham Water Works Board customers are nearly over, following a recent crackdown from the utility. At its peak there were 5,000 customers using water without paying for it, amounting to about $2 million in lost revenue. The number of phantom customers has now fallen to 200 to 300 customers, General Manager Mac Underwood told AL.com. For the most part the biggest percentage of them agreed to the payment plan, understood they had been using the water over the past months, and agreed to pay the past due balance, Underwood said. In the end, we convinced them that they had been using the water and they were due to pay for the water. Officials in August began tracking free water users and telling them to either pay up or get shut off. Underwood said most customers we placed on 12-month plans to pay for their previous free water service. The water works identified the free customers by cross-referencing system-wide usage reports to actual bills sent out. Usage had exceeded the number of active accounts within the system. There were two types of phantom customers. Some were users who were previously disconnected for non-payment and had resumed service, but were never reentered into the water works billing system. Other free customers were households that were officially shut off from the system but had illegally reconnected themselves. Free water service mostly went back to 2024, but some dated as far as 2021. Youve got consumption at the meter but theres no bill going to that account, Underwood explained. The Birmingham Water Works serves about 770,000 customers in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties. Internal problems at the utility, including a lack of regular meter reading and coordinating with the billing system allowed the problem to persist, officials have said. Underwood said the utility has since assigned an employee to monitor water use and confirm that customers are on the roll and are paying. They are working that report and those codes every day, he said. In 2025, AL.coms Beyond the Violence project, in partnership with The Birmingham Times, examines how Birmingham can become safer, healthier and happier. RESTORE, a Birmingham juvenile re-entry program, is saving and transforming young peoples lives every day. Carrie Buntain, executive director of RESTORE, said the program needs additional funding to expand and continue changing those young lives. After a year of record breaking homicides, local leaders are working to make Birmingham residents safer and happier. The juvenile re-entry program has proven to be an example of a successful violence prevention tactic that helps put young people on better paths. The question is: Will city officials help to expand RESTORE as Birmingham grapples with an ongoing homicide crisis? Those are lives that could have gone completely differentlyIt gives me goosebumps. Its taken a while to see that impact, because were starting with some kids who dont even know how to correctly sign their name, who are justice impacted, and dont have a state ID to now really focusing on getting them involved in the workforce and making them a productive community member and showing them their potential for incredible self-sufficiency, Buntain said. In 2023, RESTORE launched with the goal of helping young people and their families impacted by the juvenile justice system. By offering tailored support, advocates say, they can intervene in cycles of crime and help more young people make positive life choices. In two years, the program has blossomed, expanding to support even more young people and their families. We really try to focus heavily on what the whole familys needs are and make sure those are met. A strengthened family unit serves to strengthen our kids too, Buntain said. In this years first quarter, RESTORE has already served 98 active clients and 344 young people have attended workshops. Buntain says the program is on track to serve more than 400 young people this year. Buntain said 19 participants have graduated with their high school diploma, GED or a certification. One client came into the RESTORE program as a teen mom struggling with her foster care placement. She left the program with her high school diploma and is now working to become a certified nursing assistant. Your feedback matters What would make Birmingham safer in 2025? Since RESTOREs inception, the number of Jefferson County youth ages 13-22 years old who were charged with murder decreased by 80%, and homicide victims in the same age group dropped by 61%. While it is difficult to determine how much impact RESTORE has had on those numbers, anecdotal evidence suggests there is a connection. I thank the mayor and the city council for their support, because without their support, we would have zero funding. But we started this program in 2023 with the expectation of serving 120 clients. We ended up serving 249 but the original funding of $225,000 has not changed, Buntain told AL.com. We have such a proven and effective program, our struggle really just comes down to the fact that our funding doesnt match the need thats obvious. And so this year, we look forward to more support from the city and more support from the community. The RESTORE Impact: Were saving lives Young men file into the RESTORE workshop, sitting around a large wooden table. Some are silly and loud, while others sit quietly, head down, hands in their pockets. Some are middle school age, most are teens. Some of the young men who attend the workshops are no longer involved in family court or juvenile detention. Some have lost loved ones to gun violence and wear their loved ones faces on their chains. They come from different sides of town. One thing that unites them, is that they come to RESTORE because they want to. Twice a week, RESTORE participants diligently attend the workshops to talk man business with the program coordinators. During a January workshop, RESTORE Program Manager Antski Williams and Program Coordinator Carmone Owens took turns talking to the young men about the importance of making good decisions. Williams leads the workshops for the young men. Before the session starts, he invites them to stand up and recite a pledge: I stand on man business. I stand on self-discipline. I stand on self-respect. I stand on self-accountability. I stand on self-control. I stand on self-observation. I stand on man business. In the beginning, many of the participants quietly mumble the pledge. As the workshop progresses, the young men flip through the RESTORE curriculum workbook, reading along with their mentors about goal setting, accountability, healthy relationships, conflict resolution and how to express their emotions. Williams and Owens speak with conviction, using their own experiences to set the young men on better paths. They make a point to know all of their participants' names and remind them that the workshops are a safe space to express themselves. By the time the workshop is over and the young men recite the pledge to leave, they all say the words loudly and with pride, their entire demeanor having changed in the span of one hour. The young men leave with their shoulders squared and smiles on their faces. Some of the RESTORE participants said Williams and Owens are like uncles and even father figures. When the workshop ends, Owens can be found standing at the door sending some of the young men off with a hug and an I love you. When asked what they think would happen if the RESTORE program no longer existed, one participant responded, My honest opinion, if this program didnt exist anymore, there would be a lot of bad stuff happening, people relapsing for real. Theyd go back to doing the same stuff theyd been doing. If they dont have nobody putting good news in their ear, theyd probably be out here killing, catching murders. One of the participants said the program coordinators treat him fairly, treatment he said he is not accustomed to receiving from other authority figures. Another participant said the program has helped him become a man. Multiple participants said that before the program, they were walking down a bad path, but RESTORE set them on the right one. Were saving lives, Williams told AL.com in November. That helps us work on prevention because for two hours, twice a week, every week, they are able to put down their street beef until they change the politics in the street. That means that theyre not out there dying or killing. We touch their lives every day. Were restoring lives, restoring communities. Thats a life saved. If they dont have nobody putting good news in their ear, theyd probably be out here killing, catching murders. RESTORE participant Expanding youth violence intervention programs Mayor Randall Woodfin formed an independent Crime Commission in October 2024, made up of residents and leaders from business, community, criminal justice, healthcare and non-profit sectors to identify strategies to address the citys high homicide rate. In December, the Birmingham city council approved $2 million to support the Mayors Office of Community Safety Initiatives strategy. The Commissions report, published in January, is one of the most recent steps in the effort to combat crime in Birmingham. The report called for a multi-faceted crime-fighting strategy including recommendations to expand mentorship, after-school programs, and recreational opportunities to divert youth from criminal behavior and foster positive development [and] increase funding and expansion of the RESTORE juvenile re-entry program. In February, the city of Birmingham released a statement with an update on the progress of implementing the reports recommendations. Woodfin committed to providing monthly status updates throughout the process of implementation. Of 82 recommendations made by the commission, 42 recommendations are in the planning or pre-launch stage. Overall, I am pleased with the cadence we have established to take steps to put these recommendations into practice. Woodfin said in the statement. The updated report indicated that additional funding for expanding RESTORE was completed and supported by a Department of Justice grant. The problem is that the federal grant is reimbursement-style for $443,407.20. RESTORE does not currently have the funding to get reimbursed because the city funding, $225,000, does not match the federal allocations. RESTORE would still need additional financial support from the city. We did get the RESTORE federal expansion grant, which has allowed us to add more coordinators. But the amount of funding that we have hasnt grown enough to meet the capacity that we have, Buntain said. The report also states that additional funding for RESTORE, and youth violence prevention programs like it, is in the in progress stage. In an interview with AL.com, Woodfin said the city plans to expand funding for RESTORE when the new budget starts on July 1. We believe in that program, Woodfin said. Buntain said she believes RESTORE could help more youth than ever before with additional funding. Our numbers just continue to grow. The program just continues to grow. The funding just doesnt continue to grow with it. The support of the mayor, the support of the community is really what is going to launch us to the next level, Buntain said. We are so resourceful. I cant imagine what we could do with $1 million. The possibilities are limitless. We could hire more coordinators. We could get more kids off the streets. We could reach out and serve more of our youth. (From left to right) Emily Herring, Alhaj Butler and Jocelyn Thomas, are helping to share the importance of mental health and wellness resources with community members through events like Resources at Railroad. Alaina Bookman This is another installment in AL.coms series Beyond the Violence," which explores solutions that could make Birmingham safer, healthier and happier. Sign up for the newsletter here. Alhaj Butler, a Fairfield High Preparatory School senior and member of the Youth Advisory Council, helps other young people understand the importance of taking care of their mental health through events like Resources at Railroad. Mental health coordinators across local school districts are partnering to host the third Resources at Railroad event, to showcase mental health and wellness resources available to children and families in the Birmingham area. The resource fair will be held on Tuesday, March 18 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Railroad Park. The event is free of charge and will feature vendor tables, music, food trucks, student performances and door prizes. Personally, I didnt know all those resources were available because people dont talk about it nowadays. But there were just so many resources coming through and people to connect with, Butler said about his experience at the 2023 Resources at Railroad event . I just want people to know that they always have somebody to talk to. Mental health is so important these days. Practitioners and advocates say they want to bring resources into the community and destigmatize conversations about mental health. The resources will include mentoring, student and family counseling, and medical wellness. This event comes on the heels of one of Birminghams most devastating years . With 152 families mourning the loss of their loved ones to violence, some families and teens may need mental health resources to help them heal . Our community has had so many challenges, and a lot of hurt and a lot of loss, Emily Herring, a Fairfield City Schools mental health coordinator, said. Were really excited to bring the community together for healing. Herring said this years Resources at Railroad will be larger than ever with 50 local health and wellness vendors and more than 15 school districts banding together to help Birmingham families. Only seven school districts participated in the first Resources at Railroad in 2021. This year, participating school districts include Bessemer, Birmingham, Fairfield, Homewood, Hoover, Jefferson County, Leeds, Midfield, Mountain Brook, Pelham, Tarrant, Trussville, Vestavia Hills, Alabama Aerospace and Aviation, Alabama School of Fine Arts and Magic City Acceptance Academy. A lot of districts, a lot of people, a lot of vendors, have really caught the vision and seen the importance of having this wellness fair, and the importance of making people aware of the resources that do exist, Herring said. To see their commitment to the community, to see them willing to come out and be a part of the event, we owe it to our families to help connect them to the resources. In 2020, Alabama schools started a new venture to help students find mental health resources . Mental health coordinators are now in place in nearly all of Alabamas 138 school districts; they help smooth the path so more students can find resources. My role as a mental health coordinator is really to connect mental health resources to mental health needs for students, families and staff, Herring said. Here in Fairfield, over the last five years, we have been building a mental health system to really address the needs of our students. Resources at Railroad is a part of that system. Herring introduced Jocelyn Thomas, a Fairfield High Preparatory School junior, to the Youth Advisory Council and Resources at Railroad in 2023. Thomas spoke with multiple vendors at the event, collecting cards and pamphlets of local wellness resources. Since then, Thomas said, her mental health has improved because she spends more time taking care of herself. It was a really amazing experience for me. I learned about mental health and self careThey taught me that bottling up your emotions and your feelings can cause depression, anxiety or make you more stressed. So they gave me numbers and places I could go to just talk to people, Thomas said. I just feel like it was really helpful for a lot of people out there who just need someone to talk to. Thomas said she is looking forward to this years Resources at Railroad event and hopes other students and their families will participate. What matters the most, is building those connections, helping people know about the amazing resources that do exist in our community. In Birmingham, were so lucky to have such great resources, but sometimes people cant access them because they just dont know about them, Herring said. If we can help increase access and increase knowledge of what does exist, I think that is our goal, and that is the impact that we get to see. This is a guest opinion column If Birminghams storied civil rights history has taught us anything, it is this: sometimes true justice eludes us on our first try. When that happens, the best chance we have at righting our mistakes is a prosecutor motivated by an abiding sense of justice, one who is willing to take the courageous step of revisiting a case that others consider settled. That is what Jefferson County, Alabama District Attorney Danny Carr has tried to do in the case of Toforest Johnson, a man who has spent the past 26 years on Alabamas death row. Along with Jeff Wallace, the former Assistant District Attorney who originally prosecuted Johnson in 1998, Carr and his office have concluded that the case against Johnson has disintegrated and are seeking to overturn his conviction. Both of us have had long careers in the Alabama justice system. We have learned, firsthand, the importance of allowing prosecutors the discretion to fix past mistakes. In different capacities and at different times, we prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the tragic 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four precious young girls in Birmingham in 1963. State and local authorities never seriously investigated the case, and in 1968 J. Edgar Hoover closed the FBI investigation without bringing any charges. The community to which those killed and injured belonged was left with no answers and no closure. As prosecutors in Alabama years later, each of us knew that we could not let the men responsible for such a horrific, racially motivated crime remain unaccountable. Over the course of the next three decades our teams managed to bring three men to justice. In 1970, one of us (Baxley) was elected Attorney General of Alabama and reopened the investigation into the bombing. The mastermind of the KKK attackers, Robert Chambliss, was indicted and brought to trial in 1977. Fourteen years after the bombing, Chambliss, also known as Dynamite Bob, was convicted of the first-degree murder of 11-year-old Denise McNair and sentenced to life in prison. Decades later, the federal government re-opened the case against the remaining attackers. As the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, the other of us (Jones) successfully obtained convictions for murder of the Klansmen who were still alive, Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry. Like Chambliss before them, Blanton and Cherry were each sentenced to life in prison. Had we not been able to revisit the mistakes of the past, the Birmingham community would never have seen justice for the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Prosecutors must be able to correct past mistakes. In the case of the church bombing, the mistake was not to prosecute. Sometimes, as in the case of Toforest Johnson, the mistake is in the opposite direction, leading to the conviction of an innocent person. Perhaps no case is as riddled with mistakes as Johnsons. He was sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputy William Hardy. In 2020, current District Attorney Carr spent nearly nine months reviewing the facts of Johnsons case. His investigation revealed serious issues underlying Johnsons conviction, including that the States star witness was secretly paid $5,000 for her testimony and that credible alibi witnesses placed Johnson across town at the time of the murder. With the full support of Jeff Wallace, the original trial prosecutor, Carr concluded that the case against Johnson was so flawed that the interest of justice demanded a new trial. Prosecutors who are willing to correct past wrongs should be celebrated. Yet the State has taken a position in complete disregard of Carrs investigation, going so far as to suggest that he should not be allowed to share the results of his reinvestigation of a case that his own office prosecuted. The State has argued that Carr acted outside the scope of duties by even conducting his review. That suggestion is not only illogical, it is outright dangerous. The integrity of our criminal justice system depends on prosecutors being able to speak out when they believe a miscarriage of justice has occurred. If anything, public policy ought to demand that prosecutors in Carrs position be required to speak out when they see a case where an injustice has occurred, especially a case that was originally prosecuted by their own office. We believe that the evidence in this case raises serious doubts about Johnsons guilt and we are deeply troubled by the States efforts to proceed with his execution. In our criminal justice system, prosecutors wield immense power. With that power comes the responsibility to ensure that when mistakes are made, they are remedied. The opinions and recommendations of the Jefferson County District Attorney and the original trial prosecutor in this case should matterto both the courts and the public. Doug Jones is a former U.S. Senator from Alabama and served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 1997 to 2001. Bill Baxley served as Alabamas Attorney General from 1971 to 1979 and as the Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 1983 to 1987. Both are still active trial lawyers, and both recently joined an amicus brief on behalf of former Alabama prosecutors in support of a new trial for Toforest Johnson. An electric vehicle is assembled at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama in this 2022 photo. (Mercedes-Benz) The U.S. auto industry is facing the possibility of major interruptions in production as a result of the ongoing and escalating tariffs between the U.S. and some of its closest trading partners. Thats according to a new report from S&P Global Mobility, a consulting and analytics firm. S&P Global put the probability of the auto industry experiencing an extended disruption period at 50%. That includes a host of unsavory possibilities, including production interruptions for vehicle models, rising prices, and delays in new product development, with impact for several years to come. Since Feb. 1, the Trump Administration has issued, rescinded, then reissued tariffs against Canada, Mexico, China and European products. Tariffs are now set for full implementation on April 1, when Trump has said he will impose the first of many reciprocal tariffs. Tariffs are taxes on imports paid by companies to sell products in the U.S. Economists say companies are likely to pass the costs onto consumers. Automotive industry analysts say the tariffs will impact American automakers, who rely on steel, as well as parts sourced from plants in Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. Although some contend that tariffs on the auto industry may boost U.S. manufacturing, only GM, Ford and Stellantis have excess capacity to increase U.S. production, and automakers are not likely to be able to make such a change quickly or cost-effectively. A production shift would also require suppliers to relocate, S&P Global said in a report. Of Alabamas automakers, according to S&P, Toyota has localized engine and transmission production. Honda, however, imports some transmissions, as does Mazda. Mercedes-Benz relies on European-sourced transmissions and engines. It should be noted that S&Ps analysis is speaking of the companys entire U.S. operations, and not specifically about their Alabama factories. The firm sees only a 30% probability for a quick resolution, which could take up to four weeks. Still, it expects some production lost due to supply issues and border gridlock, though any sales and production can be regained. An extended disruption period lasting 16 to 20 weeks is estimated at a 50% probability. During this time, several high exposure vehicles will slow or cease production, S&P Global stated. And under a tariff winter scenario, which is a 20% probability, tariffs on Mexico and Canada at 25% would be integrated into prices, with costs increasing further as production is moved to the U.S. That would worsen a general labor shortage and leave automakers and suppliers with underutilized plants in Mexico or Canada, the report states. Although some re-sourcing would occur, higher manufacturing costs could reduce North American light-vehicle sales by 10% for several years, with declines projected at 10% in the U.S., 8% in Mexico and 15% in Canada. A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson would not comment on the specific logistical issues caused by tariffs for its Alabama factory, but said that barriers which restrict free trade should not be newly created but removed instead. Free trade and fair competition ensure prosperity, growth and innovation, the spokesperson said. If a general trend towards protectionism gains a foothold, this has negative economic consequences for all stakeholders involved. Mercedes-Benz therefore supports a trading order based on (World Trade Organization) rules that promotes a level playing field. This includes the principle that all participants find the same conditions. Hyundai also released a general statement, saying the company constantly assesses how new policy developments affect our business and are in the process of understanding the specifics of tariffs and their impact on our supply chain. For nearly four decades, Hyundai has been a driver of American growth and innovation, contributing jobs, economic activity, and investments that have helped Americans prosper. We are proud to directly or indirectly employ more than 190,950 Americans today. We have increased localized production in the U.S. and invested over $15.7 billion in the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) site in Bryan County, Georgia, the largest economic development project in Georgias history. On Wednesday, Alabama was named as one of the states being targeted in the European Unions current round of retaliatory tariffs, the latest move in a quickly escalating trade war with the United States. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala, said President Donald Trump is a peacemaker after Russias President Vladimir Putin signaled support for a U.S. ceasefire plan in the Ukraine-Russia war. Tubervilles remarks came during an interview on Newsmax Thursday, after news broke that Putin stated a ceasefire was a good idea but further discussions were needed for clarity and to ensure a long-lasting peace. Ukraine agreed to the 30-day temporary ceasefire agreement earlier this week, according to NBC News. President Trumps not just a dealmaker, hes a peacemaker, Tuberville told Newsmax host Bianca de la Garza. Steve Witkoffs in Moscow as we speak. Marco Rubio, our Secretary of State, has done a great job. Theyre communicating. What a new idea, the Biden administration wanted no talks. On Feb. 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine kickstarting a war that has lasted over three years. Those either wound or killed on both sides, including civilians and soldiers, is in the hundreds of thousands though reporting varies due to lack of transparent information. Former President Joe Bidens Administration and Congress began offering support to Ukraine after the war started. However, as the war continued conservatives continued to sour on America financially supporting Ukraine. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. has committed about $128 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war started. Prior to Ukraine agreeing to the ceasefire agreement, Trumps administration paused military aid to Ukraine after the president publicly reprimanded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a few weeks ago. Tuberville said the goal is to get the war over with and get Ukraine building again. Weve got to get this over with, and get Ukraine building again and get Russia as far back off their borders as we possibly can, Tuberville said. Marty Makary is well-known for writing informal autobiographical books critiquing medical practice in America. Given that he is poised to lead the FDA, it should concern people that his book, Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health, has some serious biased presentations of data inaccuracies. How can Dr. Makary claim he is qualified to run the FDA when he presents controversial data in such a biased style? Blood pressure In Blind Spots, Makary rhetorically asks: Can we lower high blood pressure by improving sleep quality and reducing stress instead of throwing antihypertensive medications at people? While that sounds like a good idea to someone who doesnt know any better, it leaves something out. According to the NIH, essential hypertension makes up 95% of hypertension cases and has no modifiable cause (i.e., its not sleep or stress-related, its genetic). In other words, it exists in people who already get plenty of sleep and are at a good weight, et cetera. That is fundamental knowledge known by medical students and non-degreed ancillary healthcare workers. To the extent Makary implies otherwise, hes just wrong. YouTube screen grab. Cosmetic Breast Implants Blind Spots promotes using silicone and other breast implants for cosmetic surgery. Makary states in his book chapter titled Silicone Valley that evidence was never presented that silicone breast implants caused any woman to suffer lupus, cancer, or another condition (emphasis added). That is a statement so outrageously wrong that suggests that he never actually reviewed the data, and/or raises the possibility that Makarys book or chapter was ghostwritten by a nonscientist. Here are the actual facts: The largest ever study performed (nearly 100,000 patients) at the University of Texas showed that silicone breast implants are associated with a higher risk of certain autoimmune disorders, as well as stillbirth, scleroderma and melanoma. Other adverse effects reported include connective tissue disease, which includes lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, severe muscle and joint pain, weakness, cognitive difficulties and fatigue as part of a constellation of symptoms referred to as breast implant illness. Makary never addresses these substantial risks for his readers, nor the fact that the FDA, which Trump has selected him to lead, has multiple dedicated webpages warning Americans about the legitimate and significant risks of silicone and other breast implants. Thats the real sin, as it appears that Makary is wholeheartedly endorsing an obviously dangerous product to his uneducated readers. Estrogen and Hormone Replacement Therapy After dismissing long-standing and clearly established cosmetic breast implant risks, Dr. Makary takes a hard, heavily biased stance supporting Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), while fully ignoring arguments opposing that practice. Despite the well-published dangers, Makary promotes HRT not just to reduce symptoms of menopause, but to also to delay the onset of Alzheimers disease; prevent cardiovascular disease and heart attacks; and reduce colon cancer risk. Thus, Markary writes that women taking estrogen have a 35% lower incidence of Alzheimers. Makary then references a 40-year-old survey review of 8,877 women in a southern California retirement community who died between 1981 and 1992. In that study, researchers examined death records and found a mere 248 mentioning Alzheimers or other forms of dementia, with about 35% more mentions in women who had not taken HRT compared to the group that had. Obviously, neither the methodology nor the small patient sampling could every be considered conclusive or compelling enough to make a recommendation to patients. Additionally, observational findings are never a substitute for a double-blind controlled study, which is the scientific and medical standard for obtaining conclusive findings. Makarys cited observational questionnaire study also relies way too much on elderly patients with supposed memory/cognitive problems to accurately self-report and comprehend questionnaires. On top of that, this sort of observational study would have dozens (at least) of unmeasured and unidentified confounding health variables even if they were reported accurately. Still, Makary casually cites it in his book to his readers as if it were fully proven fact, despite his cited findings being nowhere near conclusive. In fact, even the above linked studys authors state in their paper that their findings are not conclusive. To further support his one-sided argument for HRT, Makary cites another observation study, the Nurses Health Study from 1991, updated in 2000, to claim that HRT reduces the risk of heart disease. The Nurses Health Study documented the self-reported health habits, treatments, and outcomes of over 70,000 nurses over two decades. While its possible that nurses are more accurate self-reporters, the study is still observational. Nevertheless, Makary declares heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women. HRT reduces that risk by about 50%, despite that studys findings contradicting many other HRT studies. In contrast, a randomized controlled clinical trial (superior to observational study data), found that there were no cardiovascular benefits to women taking HRT. In fact, it showed the exact oppositethat HRT significantly increased the risk of stroke and blood clots along with the overall incidence of heart disease. Although that finding was just below the 95% confidence interval for significance, it was still very clinically significant. Makarys Book Contradicts Established Cochrane Findings on HRT The Cochrane Collaboration is an international, not-for-profit organization that aims to help people make well-informed decisions about health care by preparing, maintaining and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of health-care interventions. Cochrane systematic reviews are prepared according to predefined, explicit methodology, and published in The Cochrane Library. Cochrane is considered one of the most highly credible sources of healthcare information. The Cochrane reviews are well-regarded as exhaustive clinical and scientific reviews of all data, and Makarys book makes clear that hes familiar with and respects the Cochrane reviewsyet he ignores them. A decade ago, the Cochranes review wrote [Our] results showed no evidence that [HRT] therapy provides any protective effects against death from any cause, and specifically death from cardiovascular disease, non-fatal heart attacks or angina, either in healthy women or women with pre-existing heart disease. Instead, the findings showed a small increased risk of stroke for post-menopausal women. (Emphases added) Makarys Blind Spots has a blind spot for Cochranes exhaustive analyses. Makary ignores all risks and changes the argument, stating that HRT presents no risk of cancereven though several of the latest analyses of available data examining over 27,000 women showed the opposite is true. In the Womens Health Initiative estrogen plus progestin trialmean follow-up of eight (8) years, breast cancer incidence was increased. These studies also found that the breast cancer risk declined following discontinuing HRT. Cholesterol and Heart Disease Makarys claims regarding heart disease are also questionable. He dismisses generally accepted and scientifically proven causes of heart disease, as well as preventative measures such as regulating cholesterol and fat intake, despite data dating back over half a century showing that people who have high cholesterol and have had a prior heart attack greatly benefit from drugs that modulate cholesterol and vascular function. According to Dr. Makary, patients should dismiss the five-decade-standing recommendations to avoid cholesterol-laden and high-fat foods. In other words, he dismisses cholesterol intake as a factor in heart disease. Its an unscientific stance for any physician to take, let alone one who will be leading food regulation and have a prominent role preventing the obesity epidemic in America. I also question Markarys evaluations of home childbirth, a subject on which he has zero clinical trial experience, zero government experience, zero and large-scale leadership experience. His stances on everything else the FDA regulates, including food, devices, biologics, tobacco, cosmetics, veterinary products, radiation-emitting devices, concern me, too. There are also valid questions about Makarys entire history regarding mRNA shots for COVID. When it comes to blind spots in the practice of medicine, Makary seems to have no shortage of his own. Given the position to which hes about to be elevated, his history should concern all Americans, yet he will likely be approved by senators who dont know any better. While America is winning with Trump and MAGA appointees, we will lose with Martin Makary as FDA commissioner. Benjamin Rushe is a pseudonym. President Trump has made balancing selective tariffs with our trading partners a target. This will not only help reduce our immense national debt, but it should also strengthen manufacturing jobs by supporting Made in America goods. Part of his initiative involves equalizing tariffs with our economic partners tariffs that were allowed to soar out-of-balance in the late '40s and through the '50s and '60s. So, we find India levying a 100 percent tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles made in the American Midwest, while goods made in India and imported to America have a tariff that's below 10 percent. Is this fair? It depends on what America wants out of its tariffs added revenues, or back door foreign aid? Trump sees tariffs as a potent negotiating tool, allowing us to leverage trade with our trading partners instead of giving them a strong economic advantage over the United States. How did we allow that tariff imbalance to happen? Actually, its a long-established policy, intended to supplement the Marshall Plan of 1948. Heres how it evolved: Tariffs have a long history as an economically important source of revenue needed to run the government of the United States. When our Constitution was ratified in 1789, income taxes were not legal. It took the 16th Amendment to the Constitution ratified on 1913 to allow the federal government to levy an income tax. That was nearly 150 years after the Boston Tea Party. Congress swiftly created and authorized personal income tax one of the worst ideas in Americas economic history. Americas tradition of opposition to tariffs dates back to the Stamp Act of 1765 the first taxation of American colonists. Almost a decade later, the Boston Tea Party in 1773 erupted over an excise tax on tea imported from India and China, several years before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Taxation especially Taxation without Representation became one of the sparks that lit the fuse of revolution. However, prior to the 16th Amendment, government revenue came almost exclusively from tariffs and excise taxes. In the 1790s, excise taxes were first levied by the American government on distilled whiskey. Because of bad roads across the Appalachians this was decades prior to the Erie Canal and early commercial railroads it was hard for grain farmers to send bulk crops to the Eastern markets. Instead, they distilled corn and wheat into alcohol, which traveled more easily because of its relative lack of bulk. However, Americas first excise tax led to a revolt began in 1791 in Western Pennsylvania. It came to a head in 1794, when President George Washington led the American Army to put down the rebellion, in person, in 1794. Even in the 1790s, Americans didnt like to pay taxes. Unlike excise taxes, tariffs had economic justifications beyond generating revenue. Early tariffs were raised to fund the American Revolution they were created to encourage domestic manufacturing of products previously shipped across the Atlantic to meet American market demands. This was the policy of the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 strengthening American industry while hurting British industry. This was seen as a win-win during those two long, bloody wars. Many times since then, specific tariffs were raised to support specific kinds of domestic manufacturing. Into the 20th century, tariffs were an established means of generating revenue. In 1929, when the stock market crashed, plunging America into the Great Depression, Republican President Herbert Hoover increased tariffs for the same reason the Continental Congress did to keep factories open to provide for American jobs. However, the Great Depression quickly became worldwide, and many of FDRs New Deal economists blamed Hoover for how deep and how long that Depression impacted the United States. Despite claims by FDRs New Dealers, Hoover and his tariffs had little to do with how long that Depression lasted in the United States. For that, blame FDR. Britain and Germany each recovered from the Depression by 1935, but America was hip-deep in the Depression until 1942. It took a massive international war requiring huge commitments to weapons manufacturing, plus an Army that soaked up more than 12 million American men, keeping them out of the workforce to recover from the Depression. They dont teach that in school anymore. Its hard to find advocates for Hoover, but it is far from proven that Hoovers tariff hikes had any material impact on the Depression in America. Some tariffs do cause economic hardship and more. When, beginning in 1931, but really taking off in 1937 when Japan invaded China, it became American policy to fight Japan with economic sanctions, rather than with planes and tanks, ships and troops. At that time, Japanese militarists ran the country, and saw potential targets China, French Indochina, Manchuria, the Dutch East Indies, Burma and Malaya that produced raw goods that could be converted to weapons of war. However, their biggest trading partner was the United States. So, when Japan conquered Shanghai and French Indochina to gain access to resources needed to create and power weapons of war, they turned to America for essential scrap steel and lots of high-octane aviation gasoline and other petroleum distillates. When FDR opposed this militaristic push by Japan in Southeast Asia, he did so by embargoing these essential resources. A more rational nation than Japan might have backed away from their ambitious conquests, but Japan would not allow itself to be backed into a corner. So, on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched the Pacific war, striking Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Malaya and Burma in a devastating military coup de main. You could say that FDRs tariff-like embargoes on militarily vital resources forced Japan into a war it ultimately couldnt win. But the cost in blood and treasure to Japan and to the United States was horrific. To understand the potential impact of unbalanced tariffs and what might happen when America unilaterally balances the tariffs, I strongly recommend Tom Clancys novel, Debt of Honor. Unlike later books written in his name, this is a real Tom Clancy story. A highly publicized fatal auto accident killed two American girls because of a manufacturing defect in Japan. That leads America to balance the tariffs on Japanese cars sold in America. Between the bad publicity and this huge increase in tariffs, Japan finds it can no longer sell cars in America, devastating their economy and leading to a brief shooting war with the United States. If you want to understand unbalanced tariffs, read this book. Fast forward to 1945 and the early days of the Cold War. This is when America used tariffs to build not the American economy but the economies of countries devastated by World War II. It became an unofficial back-door way of helping these countries economies to recover. This was especially true of those countries facing off against the Soviet Union and communist Chinese. It began with the NATO countries including former enemies Italy, Austria and West Germany but it soon spread to our other enemy Japan but also benefitted the Philippines, South Korea and other Asia-Pacific countries ravaged by war. Using these kinds of unbalanced tariffs was Harry Trumans back-door way of helping these war-shattered countries to restore their economies and rebuild their shattered cities and production factories. Eisenhower continued this policy, and by the time JFK came along, it was a fact, not an issue. This policy, perhaps necessary in the late '40s and the '50s, is now a legacy with no real benefit to America. It adds to our cost of goods while all but barring our manufactured goods from being traded in the EU and in Southeast Asia. Trump clearly has his eyes set on balancing tariffs with our major trading partners. However, while the need for unbalanced tariffs has long since passed, we still allow them to give these trading partners a huge economic advantage. It is this advantage that President Trump is striving to overcome by using variable tariffs to incentivize those countries to open their markets to American-manufactured goods, by establishing reciprocal tariffs. If India wants to keep charging a 100 percent tariff for Harley-Davidson motorcycles imported in Mumbai, then we will jack up the tariff to 100 percent on Indias own manufactured goods sold in America. If this cripples our trading partners economy, the door will be opened for reciprocal tariffs that hurt neither party. This will apply to Japan and Korea, the Philippines and other nations in Southeast Asia, as well as to NATO states in Europe, as well as our other trading partners around the world. By doing this, Trump is leveling the playing field. The nations devastated by the Second World War have long-since recovered, economically. Other nations will also find that if tariffs are to be reciprocal, it makes sense to have those reciprocal tariffs set at a low level under ten percent. This will increase reciprocal trade, opening markets to Made in America goods, while building trading partnerships based on equity. Image: Grok, AI-generated picture, via X Ned Barnett is, among other things, a military historian, having been an on-camera historian in nine History Channel programs. He has also written a book relevant to this article, Finances for Non-Financial Marketers, published in the late 1980s. His series of novels about the first year in the war in the Pacific in World War II first e-published in 2013 on Kindle are being professionally edited for re-publication in print format beginning later this year. At the same time, he is rewriting his science fiction novel, first published in 2004 by Gateway Press as The Kelly Incident. Hes doing this to bring current research into UFOs into this book about a well-verified UFO encounter in Kelly, Kentucky in late August, 1955. Later this year, he will be publishing a book, How to Win Elections, based on his decades of experience working on political campaigns, including three Presidential campaigns at the state level in South Carolina and Nevada. Excerpts of this book have been published on American Thinker. Use this search function to find them: Articles: Ned Barnett Archives - American Thinker. When hes not writing his own books, Ned ghostwrites books for clients. Currently, hes working on three such books. First, a political biography for a candidate in an upcoming 2026 election. Next, a book of biblical insights into what it means when God says (Genesis 1:27), Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. The third book is a graphic novel. Ned can be reached at nedbarnett51@gmail.com or at 702-561-1167. The Supreme Courts recent refusal to vacate the lower courts order in the USAID case has sharply divided legal observersespecially conservatives. Some initially dismissed it as a mere procedural hiccup, a fleeting technical matter that would quietly resolve itself. They were wrong then. They are even more wrong now. Judge Amir Alis latest ruling makes that painfully clear. As someone who has served as a judicial officer on appellate review, I know how these battles unfold behind closed doors. Ive seen colleagues wobbly in their convictions. Ive written blistering dissents. Ive withheld dissents when persuading a majority to reconsider. That is precisely why Justice Alitos fiery dissentjoined by Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaughmust not be rationalized away. Some legal analysts still insist this case is minor. Why did Alito and the conservative wing sound the alarm with such force if that were true? They werent quibbling over technicalities. This wasnt just a procedural disagreement. It was a judicial broadsidea full-throated rebuke of Judge Alis overreach and the Supreme Court majoritys failure to stop it. Yet the dissent's harshest terms werent aimed at Judge Ali. They were squarely directed at the Supreme Court majorityparticularly Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrettwho had the power to stop this and failed. The dissenters understood precisely what was at stake. They had spoken with their colleagues, listened in and out of conference, and still found themselves stunned by the outcome. If this round of lawfare ends in a Trump administration victory, it wont be due to some brilliant long game from Roberts and Barrett. It will be because one or both break ranks and side with Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh. Immediate Dismissal Means ImmediateNo Exceptions At its core, the USAID case is about jurisdiction. This dispute is rooted in contract lawwhether USAID breached its agreements with the plaintiffs and, if so, whether it can be compelled to pay. The plaintiffs disguised this as an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) case, maneuvering it into a federal district court that lacks jurisdiction. Federal district courts have no authority over government contract disputesperiod. Moreover, APA claims cannot result in monetary damages against the government, making this lawsuit a manufactured attempt to engineer a constitutional controversy. Under the Tucker Act (28 U.S.C. 1491), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has exclusive jurisdiction over monetary claims against the federal government in cases where sovereign immunity is waived. Yet, instead of filing in the proper court, the plaintiffs strategically chose the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. I'll let you decide if that was an innocent mistake or a deliberate ploy. Regardless, one thing is clear: Judge Alis every order in this case exceeds his authority. Every. Single. One. When a court clearly lacks jurisdiction, as here, dismissal is the only remedy. Yet, rather than throwing this case out, Ali seized authority he didnt have and issued a series of orders that should have never been possible. The Supreme Court could have stopped this cold. Instead, they kicked the can down the road. Judge Alis $2 Billion Power Grab Redux Ali escalated instead of recognizing his lack of jurisdiction and shutting the case down. Predictably, he doubled downordering the Trump administration to expedite nearly $2 billion in payments at a staggering pace of at least 300 back payments daily. Let that sink in. This is an outright hijacking of executive power. A district court judgelacking jurisdictionhas unilaterally seized control of the governments purse, injected himself into a separation of powers dispute without the legislative branch even before him, and is forcing the Trump administration to spend billions in taxpayer dollars at breakneck speedagainst its will. Short of outright dismissal, the Supreme Court had one job: freeze the money. The only way to stop this judicial overreach was to issue a stay. The only way to prevent it from spiraling further was to force Judge Ali to establish jurisdiction before issuing another order. Instead, the majority puntedsending the case back with vague instructions to clarify his ruling. Clarify what? His lack of jurisdiction? That would have been a step in the right direction. And now? The money is flowing. So much for the claim that the Supreme Courts decision was some strategic move to check lower courts. If that was the goal, the message got garbled, the wires got crossed, and taxpayers are footing the bill for the Supreme Courts failure. The Long Game Fantasy Collapses Some observers still cling to the notion that Roberts and Barrett are playing a long gamebiding their time before reining in activist judges. Thats not a strategy. Thats wishful thinking. If they were truly aligned with Alito, the Supreme Court would have done two things: Ordered Judge Ali to confirm jurisdiction before issuing further rulings. Maintained the stayfreezing further payments until jurisdiction was resolved. That never happened. Instead, ambiguity prevailed. Activist judges thrive on ambiguity. Justice Alito saw this coming. He called it. And he was entirely right. 119 Cases and CountingLawfare in Real Time For those who think this will all work out eventually, answer me this: How do you claw back taxpayer money thats already been spent? This isnt abstract or theoretical. The left is winningright now. The Trump administration is up against a coordinated lawfare campaign. Since Inauguration Day, 119 cases and counting have been filed to sabotage its policies. The goal isnt necessarily to win on the meritsits to run out the clock until at least the midterms or until the end of Trumps second term. This USAID case was a layup for the Supreme Court. It should have been an easy wina simple ruling that lower courts cant invent jurisdiction. Instead, Roberts and Barrett spectacularly missed their chance. The Supreme Court Cannot Miss Again This case will return to the Supreme Court. It has to. And when it does, the justices cannot afford to miss again. Judicial overreach is no longer theoreticalits happening in real time. And the Supreme Court just sent a message: lower courts can get away with it. This cannot stand. When this case comes back, the Court must act decisively. No more waiting. No more procedural hedging. No more long games. And to my colleagues in the legal punditry class, especially fellow conservatives: When in doubt, trust Justice Alito. Every day of the week. And twice on Sunday. Charlton Allen is an attorney, former chief executive officer, and chief judicial officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast. X: @CharltonAllenNC Image: Free image, Pixabay license. Delaware elected to the United States House of Representatives the one-time Timothy McBride, a man who insists that he is a woman and who has christened himself Sarah Elizabeth. Clearly, reality is not McBrides strong point. McBrides current posture in the House is that hes a non-threatening trans woman who does not take umbrage when Republicans refuse to respect his pronouns or bathroom preferences. However, McBride, who has been an LGBT+ activist since high school, hasnt always been so reasonable. At the end of last year, McBride ostentatiously aimed for the moral high ground by boasting of his maturity when he yielded to Rep. Nancy Maces insistence that he be barred from the womens restroom in Congress: Their immaturity is not worthy of being dignified with a response. My focus is going to be doing the work, McBride said last month. Are there going to be some members of Congress who are going to be weird and immature about me being there? Sure, but those are members of Congress that won't work with any Democrat and they can barely work with their own Republican colleagues. However, this was a complete pose. As Malcolm Clark documented recently, McBride has a long history of invading womens spaces. Theres nothing mature about him. He is a misogynist man (admittedly, sans junk, but still a man), who glories in making women uncomfortable. 2./ In 2016 McBride revealed his obsession with women's bathrooms by photographing himself in one. As Press Secretary of the corrupt, ex-gay group @HRC he argued the struggle over bathrooms had been a feature of every civil rights struggle (uhh?) and was "a political priority". pic.twitter.com/ns1nVEQJi9 Malcolm Clark (@TwisterFilm) February 14, 2025 4./ Invading women's restrooms was such a complusion for McBride in a 2018 Google seminar he admitted HRC killed a non-discrimination bill in Philadelphia that protected gay and trans people from employment discrimination just because it had an exemption for women's restrooms. pic.twitter.com/efSAN9bm27 Malcolm Clark (@TwisterFilm) February 14, 2025 6./ McBride and his family's intimate links with the deeply corrupt Biden circle in Delaware ensured he grabbed a top job at @HRC. He started there in June 2016. A month later he became the first trans person to speak at a mainstream party Convention. Da nah!! pic.twitter.com/QdTUYOH6SF Malcolm Clark (@TwisterFilm) February 14, 2025 8./ It proved so controversial it was withdrawn. But when McBride became a Senator in the Delaware Assembly his status as a close friend of the Bidens meant he was given a key role in shaping new laws for Delaware. One of them aimed to police social media "misinformation". pic.twitter.com/kv8JAHOAWy Malcolm Clark (@TwisterFilm) February 14, 2025 9./ If you want to know more about the impact of "Sarah" McBride on women's rights and free speech click on the link in my bio. I guarantee when you've finished reading it you'll agree America's Bathroom Bully isn't courageous Nancy Mace but this deluded man in a dress. END pic.twitter.com/DRrfZ7KEyu Malcolm Clark (@TwisterFilm) February 14, 2025 So, we have a reality-denying biological man, obsessed with womens toilets and into self-mutilation, but still trying to present himself as a voice of reason. Oh, and hes deeply tied into the Democrat party. Just the kind of person you want in Congress. Speaking of Congress, yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Europe held a hearing titled Arms Control, International Security, & U.S. Assistance to Europe: Review and Reforms for the State Department. The Chairman, Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), saw that McBride wished to speak so, being a reality-dealing kind of guy, he said, I now recognize the representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride. McBride, temporarily forgetting that hes supposed to be reasonable and mature, shot back, Thank you, Madam Chair. It was a mild response from a lifetime activist, but McBride had an ace up his sleeve: Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA). Keating is a 72-year-old attorney who, like Biden himself, has spent almost his entire adult life doing nothing but politics, starting in 1977, when he became a member of the Massachusetts House. He then moved to the Massachusetts Senate, did a stint as a Massachusetts District Attorney, and finally, in 2011, joined the U.S. House of Representatives. Keating is old enough to remember when Democrats were sane, men were men, and reality meant something. Nevertheless, as he approaches his dotage, Keating, again like Biden, is prepared to believe six impossible things before breakfast, including the fantasy that a man can cut off his junk, take dangerous hormones, andvoila!hes a woman. So it was that Keating sprang to McBrides defense. More than that, he cast himself as Joseph Welch in 1954, on that memorable day when he told Sen. Joe McCarthy, Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. *** Have you no sense of decency? Heres the chivalrous Keating, flying to the defense of that flower of femininity, Timothy McBride: Dem Rep Bill Keating loses his mind at hearing after Chairman Keith Self referred to Rep. Sarah McBride as "Mister." You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way," Keating shouted. Self essentially said, 'Fine, adjourned.' pic.twitter.com/ieSdrFRxfF Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) March 12, 2025 Mister? Chairman, you are out of order. Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? Ah, those immortal words, which sounded a lot better out of Welchs mouth 70 years ago. At this point, I wish Self had said, Facts are stubborn things. No matter his desires, Mr. McBride is a man. To the extent that this House deals with serious matters of tremendous consequence, such as arms control and international security, its of existential importance that we stay grounded in realityand reality means calling things and people by their true names. No matter Mr. McBrides desires, he is a man, and I will treat him as such. But of course, Self didnt do that. Instead, he shut down the meeting. Think about that: A meeting about a consequential national security matter ended because a 72-year-old man had a temper tantrum when a second representative refused to acknowledge a third representatives delusionsand then the second representative just took his marbles and went home. Our Founding Fathers, men deeply grounded in a world of stubborn facts, would weep over this national insanity. Image: X screen grab. Gavin Newsom wants a bailout. Oh, not from Donald Trump. At this point, he probably knows better than that. But from the state's rainy day "general fund," intended to pay for emergencies only. Well, he's got one, and it's self-created. According to KCRA 3: SACRAMENTO, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom's Department of Finance on Wednesday notified state lawmakers that California will need a $3.44 billion loan to cover costs associated with the state's Medicaid program known as Medi-Cal. The letter did not specify why exactly the program fell short on funds. While experts note there are many factors that go into Medicaid costs, some are pointing to the money the state spends providing health insurance to undocumented people. The letter comes weeks after Newsom's administration officials told lawmakers they had underestimated the cost. The reporter's tweet of the letter sent is here: New: Gov. Newsoms Dept. of Finance notified CALeg it needs a $3.44 billion loan for Medi-Cal. Letter doesnt say it, but state leaders expanded Medi-Cal last year to provide health insurance to undocumented people. The administration underestimated how much that would cost. pic.twitter.com/EoKEGsh5VC Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) March 13, 2025 Who didn't see this coming from ten miles away? The free ride given to illegals of course cost more than original estimates -- the estimators neglected to consider that free health care, compared to the fairly reasonable rates people pay in Latin America and elsewhere, would serve as a magnet for illegals to come over, particularly those with costly cases of care. With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris waving through millions of unvetted "newcomers," no state provided a bigger benefit package than Newsom's California. Republicans tried to warn them. But all the warnings were ignored, and being totalitarians at heart, Democrats punished those who asked questions, as KCRA 3 noted: During a line of questioning in an Assembly budget hearing last month, Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-Riverside, asked about the expense. Newsom's Department of Finance said the state is estimated to spend $9.5 billion to provide Medi-Cal to undocumented people, with $8.4 billion coming from the state's general fund. The number had grown from the $6 billion that was initially projected. DeMaio criticized the expense, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas eventually removed him from the committee weeks later. Which was as cynical and unethical and sleazy a move they've ever made in their nonstop quest to succor illegals, bringing more and more in. It made sense to Democrats at the time given that they were facing the prospect of losing congressional seats as residents fled the state over high taxes, high costs of living, and unenforced crime. Not a problem to Democrats, though, who wanted as many seats as possible, so illegals replacing the earlier residents would do nicely, some even "helping out" the Democrat side with illegally cast votes from the state's outrageously maintained voter rolls and zero-I.D. voting requirements. What better than to offer them free health care? Well, now the piper is coming to get paid, and Newsom has his hand out for a loan from his state's general fund -- the one that's meant for disasters, such as the ones in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, the fire burnouts that forced state residents to purchase insurance from the state's bare-bones insurance company because insurers had pulled out, and which already doesn't have enough to cover all the claims even at a minimal level. Odds are, that's who will suffer as the illegals get their medical bills paid and the legislature silences anyone talking of making them pay for their own, same as other Californians must do. It's a rotten way to run a state and will likely lead to even higher taxes and more residents fleeing the state. But Democrats will have their illegals, safely ensconced as illegal voters or congressional seat padders, all in the name of keeping their power forever. It's outrageous, and a very good case for DOGE to investigate if it ever branches out into auditing California. At some point, they're going to run out of state funds once they start draining it for this, and then come begging Trump for a bailout. But Trump is too wise for it, and money is fungible. What they'll be looking at is what Lady Thatcher said was the inevitable result of all socialism -- "running out of other people's money." It's sad stuff that it's coming to this fast in one-party blue Califlornia. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License Thought the leftist gender madness had reached a fever pitch? I mean, weve got classrooms of furries, teachers and government officials aiding children to access irreversible gender drugs and surgeries without parental consent, and dozens of genders already, so itd be understandable if one considered this the end of the crazy line. But, think againthese weirdos are just getting started. From an item at the New York Post, heres the latest example of the insanity, courtesy of the Oregon progressive variety: A member of a state panel advising the director of Oregons Health Authority (OHA) on best practices and policies in mental health identifies as a turtle. The very large woman in the upper left of the screen is JD Terrapin Holt, for reference: Meet JD Terrapin Holt, an actual member of the Oregon Consumer Advisory Council. JD uses "Turtle/They/Them" pronouns and helps develop policies surrounding mental health and addiction. This is realpic.twitter.com/fASoZkJN6V Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 10, 2025 According to the article, a turtle-gendered person like Holt will feel like their gender is best described with the use of turtles, but did anyone think to inform Holt that turtles are binary creatures, sexed as either male or female? Apparently not. And, I can guarantee even the turtles can tell the difference or there would be no more turtles. And theres more, because a shooting star gendered person also sits on this mental health advisory board and no; Im not joking as he/she introduced himself/herself as Luke A Shooting Star in a December meeting. First of all, arent these people against cultural appropriation? Luke A Shooting Star sounds like an Indian name, like Chief Walks with Wind or Chief Sitting Bull. Secondly, consider the implicationsthe sensibilities of our society are so eroded that introducing yourself to other human beings as an object you clearly arent fails to induce the crippling shame and humiliation that should strike you dead. Again, these very unwell peopleone thinks theyre a turtle, another considers themself a shooting starare advising the state on whats best practice for optimal mental health. Now, I do see a silver lining, because nowhere in the law do turtles and shooting stars have the privilege of votingipso facto, theyve undoubtedly just surrended their right to vote. In a mentally healthy society, the mentally ill are treated humanely, but theyre still recognzied as categorically and unequivocally... out of their minds. Image from Grok. Tina Peters was once the Clerk and Recorder of Mesa County, Colorado, and was in charge of county elections. Now she is serving a nine-year term in a Colorado prison. Her crime? She identified the unauthorized destruction of voter information that took place in two consecutive county elections: the November 2020 election and a local election held in early 2021. In each case, there is irrefutable evidence showing that the election database had been removed and subsequently reinstalled, minus information needed to identify the voter intent of thousands of ballots. Peters, who is a matronly gold star mother, was concerned after three conservatives lost in a local election, despite the county having far more Republicans than Democrats. Due to a pending software update, the election database would soon be altered. For that reason, Peters asked her IT department to make a backup copy of the database. When they refused, Peters decided to take independent action. That action involved legal infractions that gave Colorado and local officials the excuse they needed to wage despicable lawfare. Here is the background. Tina Peters asked an outside computer technician to make a database copy, and that copy ended up in the hands of two established IT experts. (It is not clear who gave it to them.) After the experts examined the database in minute detail, they issued an 87-page technical report with shocking revelations that have never been refuted. Here is an excerpt from the report, which was prepared by Walter Daugherity and Jeffrey ODonnell: There was an unauthorized creation of new election databases during early voting in the 2020 General Election on October 21, 2020, followed by the digital reloading of 20,346 ballot records into the new election databases, making the original voter intent recorded from the ballots unknown. In addition, 5,567 ballots in 58 batches did not have their digital records copied to the new database, although the votes from the ballots in those batches were recorded in the Main election database. For granting unauthorized access to the database, Tina Peters was indicted on March 9, 2022 on a slew of overlapping charges. The felony charges include attempting to influence a public servant, identity theft, criminal impersonation, and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. The misdemeanors include first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty, and failure to comply with the requirements of the secretary of state. The county district attorney, Dan Rubinstein, did not dispute a single point in the 87-page technical report, and he even acknowledged that [f]urther investigation would be required to determine if...election records as required by statute are gone forever. (Yes Dan, they are gone forever a fact we now know because of the courageous actions taken by Tina Peters.) Nevertheless, in a state that has become rabidly to the left of California, the DA probably did what he had to (politically speaking). A jury found Peters guilty and, in October 2024, she was sentenced to nine years in state prison, where she now sits. Keep in mind that Tina Peters did not profit from this matter in any way, and did not act with malice. Further, her concerns proved to be well founded. Indeed, the database had been altered, and voter information for two elections has been lost forever. The judge, Democrat Matthew Barrett, decided that tough action was required because Tina Peters actions were just as bad, if not worse, than the physical violence that this court sees on an all too regular basis. I guess that gang members from Colorados chapter of Tren de Aragua have yet to appear in Judge Barretts court room. Enter Attorney General Pam Bondi 28 U.S.C. 2254 provides potential relief to victims of overzealous state and local courts, and the attorneys for Tina Peters filed an application for relief under that federal statute. The response from the Bondi Justice Department has been very positive. In a STATEMENT OF INTEREST OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Acting Assistant AG Yaakov M. Roth informed a United States district court that, [The] concerns raised in the Application warrantat the very leastprompt and careful consideration by this Court (and, at the appropriate time, the Colorado appellate courts). The DOJ statement also references a broader review of legal abuses, nationwide, triggered by President Trumps Executive Order 14147, Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government. In a memo issued by Attorney General Bondi, there is a list of other cases subject to review. Those cases include the lawfare waged by Jack Smith and Alvin Bragg, and cases involving the criminal prosecution of legitimate whistleblowers. Tina Peters would fit nicely in that category. She is a legitimate whistleblower who sits in prisona victim of aggressive lawfare waged by overzealous partisans. Joe Fried is an Ohio-based CPA who has performed and reviewed hundreds of certified financial audits. He is the author of Debunked? An auditor reviews the 2020 election and the lessons learned (Republic Book Publishers, 2022). It explains why the certifications of six swing state elections were made prematurely. He also authored Who Really Drove the Economy into the Ditch, which describes the true causes of the 2008 financial crisis. Image generated by AI. Meet the most dangerous terror group of all time, who has produced more terrorists than any other Islamist group in history: the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood (M.B.) is not just another extremist group; it is the mastermind behind modern Islamic terrorism. Whereas ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Boko Haram are responsible for the most brutal terror attacks, the M.B. is the ideological and administrative force behind them all. And yet, whereas these groups are blacklisted as terrorist organizations, M.B. leaders freely walk the halls of Western power, deceiving the world into thinking they are moderate. It is time to end this charade and expose the truth: The M.B. is a terrorist organization and must be designated as such by the United States. The M.B. has been spreading its radical agenda for over 80 years. Established in Egypt, it has grown into the largest, most organized, and best financed radical Islamist movement on the planet. Its main headquarters sits in Jordan, where it enjoys full protection and support from the monarchy. This is not some underground network hiding in the shadows. The M.B. operates in plain sight, pulling the strings behind the worst acts of terror in modern history. The evidence is undeniable. The M.B. created the monsters of our time. Osama bin Laden was personally trained by Jordanian M.B. leader Dr. Abdullah Azzam. Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Ladens right-hand man and successor, was an M.B. recruit from the start. ISISs caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an M.B. member before his reign of terror. Even Hamas responsible for thousands of attacks on Israeli civilians and killing Israeli babies was founded as the Palestinian branch of the M.B. The M.B. does not just encourage terrorism it manufactures terrorists. Despite this, Jordans King Abdullah II has openly embraced and empowered the Brotherhood. In fact, Jordan and Turkey are now considered the main M.B. hubs of the universe. While most Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia have rightly banned the M.B. as a terrorist group, the Jordanian monarchy allows the M.B. to operate freely. At the same time, Abdullahs intelligence services have been caught red-handed supplying ISIS with American weapons weapons that were meant for moderate Syrian opposition forces. Also, British ammunition was stolen in Jordan and delivered to the ISIS terror group in Syria. Whereas the king silences secular opposition, he allows the M.B. to spread anti-American and anti-Israel hatred. He gives them free rein to operate their own newspaper, Al-Sabeel confirmed to be owned by the Muslim Brotherhood in a cable produced by the U.S. Embassy in Jordan and later leaked by WikiLeaks. Further, the king allows the M.B. to amass billions in financial assets in the name of the Islamic Center terror organization. The Brotherhood preaches violence, glorifies terrorism, and fosters instability in a country with among of the lowest support for free expression in the world. Therefore, the anti-American rhetoric spread by the M.B. in Jordan could not persist without the Jordanian governments consent or at least its tacit approval. If that werent the case, why wouldnt they put a stop to it? In addition, despite the horrifying radical ideology the Jordanian M.B. spreads, the king of Jordan does not seem to disagree with it! In a 2013 interview, he even admitted that he disagreed with the M.B. at only 10 percent ... and they disagreed with him at only 10 percent. The average American must understand that Jordans government is one of the M.B.s key supporters, and one of the most brazen about it. Additionally, the terrorist group Hamas is controlled by the Jordanian M.B., which remains openly loyal to the Jordanian government. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and his aid have been frequent visit the Jordanian royal palace, with official media even publishing photos of these visits. Even worse, it is not Jordans king alone sponsoring the M.B. There are other terrorist-sponsoring regimes, like Qatar, which bankrolls the M.B. and uses platforms like Al Jazeera to amplify the Brotherhoods radical message. The United States cannot sit back and allow this to continue by its so-called allies. The M.B. is not just a Middle Eastern problem; it is a direct threat to America. The Brotherhood has infiltrated U.S. institutions under the guise of civil rights organizations, spreading radical ideology, funding terror networks, and working against American interests. It must be stopped. For the safety of the American people and the security of the world, this is an opportunity for a strong leader in the White House to declare the M.B. a terrorist organization. Its assets in the U.S. must be frozen. Its leaders must be banned from entering America, and U.S. citizenship granted to M.B. operatives must be revoked. Any government that supports or funds the M.B., including Jordan and Qatar, must be held accountable. As the American people look to President Trumps leadership and the world needs Americas strength more than ever, it is time to send a clear message: Terrorism has no place in America. Foreign leaders who support terror will face consequences. Mudar Zahran is a Jordanian Palestinian politician living in exile. He heads the Jordanian Opposition Coalition. He previously served as an economic specialist and assistant policy coordinator for the U.S. embassy in Amman. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. During his first administration, federal district court judgesthat is, people whom the American people did not electused preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders, to grind the Trump administrations domestic policies to a halt. Theyre doing the same thing in his second administration, but Trump has a new plan, and its a darn good one. Hes relying on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to insist that courts must comply with the requirement that a court may issue a preliminary or temporary injunction only if the plaintiff provides security first. On Tuesday, Trump issued a memorandum entitled Ensuring the Enforcement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), and directed it to the heads of executive departments and agencies. The order opens by describing the way activists, using donated and government-granted funds, have been obtaining sweeping injunctions from carefully selected district court judges (that is, those seated in forums friendly to Democrats). With the judges help, the activists have been functionally inserting themselves into the executive policy making process and therefore undermining the democratic process. Image by Grok. Not only are these practices interfering in the executive branchs work, but theyre also expensive, because taxpayers ultimately foot the bill, while the DOJ is forced to expend substantial resources to fighting frivolous suits instead of defending public safety. Trump explains that one of the things a well-functioning court does is deter frivolous litigation, and one of the ways it does this is through Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c): One key mechanism is Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c) (Rule 65(c)), which mandates that a party seeking a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order (injunction) provide security in an amount that the court considers proper to cover potential costs and damages to the enjoined or restrained party if the injunction is wrongly issued. Whats important to note (this is me, not Trump), is the language of subsection (c) does not make this security optional. Instead, its mandatory, although the government never seems to have bothered pushing for security before: The court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order only if the movant gives security in an amount that the court considers proper to pay the costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. The United States, its officers, and its agencies are not required to give security. (Emphasis mine.) In other words, while the court has discretion about whether a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order is appropriate, once it makes that determination, it must require that the plaintiff provide security. Trump states that, moving forward, the governments new policy is that it will demand that parties seeking injunctions against the Federal Government must cover the costs and damages incurred if the Government is ultimately found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. He instructs the heads of executive departments and agencies to ensure that they make this request to the courts every time. Moreover, in addition to explaining to the court that Rule 65(c) is mandatory and explaining why the amount of security it seeks is reasonable and appropriate, department and agency heads must give the court one other piece of useful information: [F]ailure of the party that moved for preliminary relief to comply with Rule 65(c) results in denial or dissolution of the requested injunctive relief. We can anticipate that the judges who have been substituting their values, facts, and decision-making for that of the duly-elected president will circumvent this requirement by demanding only symbolic amounts of security (a few hundred dollars) or by finding that the matter at issue cannot be reduced to dollars and cents. However, given the mandate in Rule 65(c), theyre going to have an awfully hard time explaining their position to the Supreme Court. Trump is taking the first step to reining in a completely out-of-control judiciary. Charlton Allen has provided a detailed analysis of just one judges rogue behavior. There are more examples here of judges arrogating to themselves the powers of both the legislative and the executive. This is the real constitutional crisis in America. Everything Trump is doing is within the scope of his defined authority as the manager of the federal government. Those judges who dislike his policies and are removing that authority from his hands have set up a conflict that can have only three outcomes: (1) They back down voluntarily; (2) the Supreme Court forces them to back down; or (3) the Supreme Court allows them this authority, rendering the constitutional executive irrelevant, as the courts will have taken over. UPDATE: And as if on cue, a Clinton judge in California (which has long been the most overturned federal jurisdiction in America), orders Trump to rehire every fired probationary employee. It's highly questionable, though, whether the legislature has -- as the court suggests it does -- the constitutional authority at all to dictate how the president manages federal employees. If you like American Thinkers content, please consider subscribing here for access to an exclusive, weekly newsletter offering insight from the editorial staff. On Sunday night, Infowars journalist Jamie White was brutally murdered outside his home in Austin, Texas. We dont yet have all the details, but its starting to smell like another Seth Rich case. Image from X. According to a press release from the citys office, Detectives believe the suspects were possibly burglarizing Whites vehicle, when he interrupted them. Now Whites sister, Kelly Kneale, was quick to assert that her brothers death wasnt an act of targeted violence, and that theres nothing more to the story than what the cops are saying. As Kneale said in an interview, White had already dealt with a car break-in just a few months ago; a tragic accident she said. Two car break-ins in a span of less than three months though? Of course conceivable but back-to-back instances of someone trying to get into the car of an Infowars investigator? I mean, is there a single outlet with more globalist enemies? And, if hes already been the victim of a crime, Id think hed be armed himself, especially considering his line of work. Seems like there might be more here. And, if White were murdered because of his political opinions, or perhaps something he might know from his work as an investigative journalist, would his family members be quick to point the finger at people capable of targeted hits? I dont think so. Again, it reminds me of Seth RichRichs parents have maintained the official FBI position, which is that Rich was randomly murdered during a botched robbery despite nothing being stolen, and with credible allegations about Rich perhaps having something to do with the Democratic National Committee computer hack which saw the release of tens of thousands of damning emails on the Wikileaks website. If you were wondering, we still cant get the FBI to release any legitimate files it has on the investigation, with Pam Bondis position being indistinguishable from Merrick Garlands on the matter. Heres an update, from Joe Lauria yesterday: The attorney in the freedom of information case against the Federal Bureau of Investigation seeking the contents from the computers of a murdered staffer of the Democratic National Committee has criticized the number of redactions in the index that the bureau turned over to the court late Monday night. Lauria also drew attention to the testimonies of two believable individuals, both of whom alleged that Rich was in fact responsible for getting the emails to Wikileaks. However, the official unofficial culprit is Russia, Russia, Russia: And Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity ran a test led by William Binney, a former technical director of the National Security Agency, which showed that the DNC emails had to be copied locally and not sent over the internet. The NSA, Binney argues, would have a record of a Russian hack of the emails, which it has never produced, despite the mainstream belief, based in part on an unproven U.S. indictment, that Russian military intelligence, and not a DNC insider, had stolen the emails and given them to WikiLeaks. Assange maintains Russia was not his source. Russia, Russia, Russia, the eternal scapegoat. The Russians ate my homework! It was the Russians who ran that redlight in my car! I didnt take a long lunch break, it was the Russians! Did the Russians kill Rich too? Did the Russians murder White on Sunday and leave his car? Since Russia certainly didnt have anything to do with any of these crimes, and what probably happened seems unavoidably apparent, I dont think were going to get any honest answers on Jamie Whites death either. Rest in peace, patriot. In the grounds of the Castletown Estate, near the Irish town of Maynooth, is a large stone structure comprising of interlocking arches, adorned by stone pineapples and eagles, and topped by a massive obelisk pillar. The structure was supposed to mark the rear entrance to Castletown house, but in reality, it served no real purposeits a folly. Its construction, however, did have a purpose. The Conolly's Folly was commissioned by Katherine Conolly, the philanthropic widow of William Conolly, who was a prominent member of the Irish House of Commons and was the wealthiest man in Ireland at the time of his death. The 42-meter-tall folly was constructed in 1740 when the Irish famine of 1740-1741 was at its worst. Katherine wanted to feed the starving farmers, but rather than giving away food for free, she engaged them in the useless task of building the gateway so that the villagers could earn and eat with dignity. Conolly's Folly constructed during the Irish famine of 1740-1741. Photo credit: Bart Busschots/Flickr A century later, when Ireland was under the grip of yet another potato famine, hundreds of thousands of Irish were employed by the government in similar purposeless projects. They built roads that went from nowhere to nowhere, erected estate walls, built piers in the middle of bogs, and constructed fantastical buildings in the grounds of the elite. These structures are collectively referred to as famine follies. Its hard for us, today, to understand why the government made people already weakened by starvation to toil for food when they could have just fed them. But back in those day, societyespecially the well-off had very egoistic views about poverty and debated on who should bear the cost of helping the poor. The general idea was that charity in the form of hand-outs was a bad idea and reward without labour was bad for character. Instead, the government established institutions known as workhouses where the poor and the unemployed had to work to receive support. While originally not a bad idea, the so-called poor relief quickly degenerated into a systematic means of punishment and a complicated system of government-funded support and protection. Before the Great Famine hit Ireland in 1845, the countrys population was over eight million. Two-thirds of those depended on agriculture for their survival, but they rarely received a working wage. They worked on small patches of land for their landlords, and then sold the crop to pay the high rent, after which barely enough was left to feed their own families. Caddell's Folly, erected by Richard Caddell, in the village of Naul. Potatoes became the main food for the farmers since only the potato can be grown in sufficient quantity. It did not require rich soil and a small patch could produce an annual supply. It was, however, subject to disease. In 1845, a disease called Phytophthora infestans, or blight, struck and the stalks turned black as the potatoes rotted in the ground. A million people died of starvation. Hundreds of thousands more tried to escape from Ireland by boarding vessels bound for the U.S. As many as one-third died en route from hunger and disease. The then prime minister, Lord John Russell, placed Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, the Assistant Secretary to the Treasury, in charge of the government relief to the victims of the famine. Trevelyan was a strident believer in the principles of laissez-faire government and the free hand of the market. In a letter to an Irish peer, Trevelyan described the famine as an act of Providence, and an effective mechanism for reducing surplus population. The famine, he wrote, was the judgement of God sent to teach the Irish a lesson, and that the calamity must not be too much mitigated. Trevelyan believed that Ireland needed to heal itself from within, without the substantial aid from the British Government. He was of the opinion that it was not the government's responsibility to provide supplies of food or increase land productivity, but the landlords, and that the government cannot be expected to fix everything. Hussey's Folly in Black Point, County Kerry, built in 1845. Photo credit: Andrew_dub_2/Flickr Trevelyan kept deliberately dragging his feet in disbursing direct government food and monetary aid to the Irish, believing that doing so would have the poor become permanently dependent on the state taking care of them. Instead, he initiated a new relief programme of public works. In the following years, more than half a million starving men, women and children were employed in the construction of follies and stone roads to nowhere. They smashed up rocks and carried the rubble to construction sites where they were fitted into place. Many of the workers, malnourished and weakened by illness, perished. In early 1847, at the height of the programme, some 700,000 Irish were devoted full-time to the construction of useless infrastructure while never quite earning enough to be able to afford to eat. The Great Famine in Ireland was a natural catastrophe of extraordinary magnitude, but its effects were greatly exacerbated by the actions and inactions of the British government. John Mitchel, a young Irish nationalist activist and contemporary to Charles Trevelyan, called the famine artificial. Potatoes failed in like manner all over Europe, yet there was no famine save in Ireland, he wrote. The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the famine. To this day, many consider Trevelyan as well as the British government to be guilty of genocide, and the Irish Potato Famine is sometimes referred to as Irelands Holocaust. Hussey's Folly in Black Point, County Kerry. Photo credit: mellow cat/Flickr Conolly's Folly constructed during the Irish famine of 1740-1741. Photo credit: Ilja Klutman/Flickr The Wonderful Barn, located on the same estate as Conolly's Folly, is another folly built during the Irish famine of 1740-1741. Photo credit: Bart Busschots/Flickr Architectural details of the Wonderful Barn. Photo credit: Bart Busschots/Flickr Scolpaig Tower, located near the village of Scolpaig in the Outer Hebrides, built to provide employment for the purpose of famine relief. Photo credit: Tom Bastin/Flickr Scolpaig Tower. Photo credit: What's the rush/Flickr Brackenridge's Folly in Ballyscally townland, south of Clogher, County Tyrone. Sources: Wikipedia / www.irisheyesofva.com / Wikipedia / Wikipedia / Frieze Back in 2022, Amazon and iRobot announced plans for the e-commerce giant to buy the company. Amazon likely wanted iRobot for two reasons. One is to expand its smart home portfolio with robot vacuums. Two, to build robots to use in their warehouses. However, that deal was abandoned in January 2024, citing regulatory scrutiny. Leaving iRobot struggling to generate cash and pay off its debt. The company has been working on restructuring since the deal fell through and has laid off 51% of its workforce since the end of 2023. iRobot has also overhauled its product lineup in hopes of generating revenue growth and growing its customer-base. In fact, it launched eight new Roombas this past week. However, iRobot doesnt sound very confident about these new products, saying in an earnings statement that there can be no assurance that the new product launches will be successful. iRobot also mentioned in the earnings report that Given these uncertainties and the implications they may have on the companys financials, there is substantial doubt about the companys ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months. The company took out a $200 million loan from the Carlyle Group in July 2023, to fund the company as a stopgap until the Amazon merger went through. However, now that the merger is dead, the loan was amended for a temporary waiver on certain financial obligations, including forcing iRobot to pay a fee of $3.6 million. If ever a company put up a For Sale sign in their window, this is the time. iRobot, whose name is synonymous with robot vacuums, is facing major competition from China When you hear about a robot vacuum, its likely being referred to as a Roomba. Thats iRobots brand for its robot vacuums, and it has been synonymous with the market for many years. Similar to Google for search, or Galaxy for Android phones. However, despite iRobots brand recognition, it is facing some very stiff competition from China. At CES in January, you could walk through the Venetian Expo and see tons of robot vacuum makers back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I spent half a day just visiting robot vacuum makers at the show. And there are some pretty incredible advancements in robot vacuum technology, including adding a robot arm and allowing the robot vacuum to go over higher thresholds (not quite stairs, yet). But iRobot was a no-show. Now, they typically arent at these shows anyway, but that does give us a hint as to how bad its been for the company. There has been long speculation that Google will launch smart glasses after a long absence from the market. There were even rumors that the company could launch them alongside Samsung, but it seems the South Korean giants current focus is on its XR headset. While we wait for more news about new Google smart glasses, a report claims the company will acquire an eye-tracking startup. AdHawk, an eye-tracking startup, could soon become part of Google As reported by Bloomberg, Google is close to completing the purchase of AdHawk Microsystems Inc. in a $115 million deal. This figure includes $15 million to be paid if AdHawk meets certain performance targets. AdHawk is a Canadian startup focused on developing eye-tracking technology. It has attracted the attention of other big tech companies, receiving funding from Samsung, Intel, HP, and Sony, among others. The deal has not yet been signed, the report clarifies. However, it also states that the transaction is expected to close this week. Google is reportedly implementing the startups eye-tracking technology in future smart glasses. More than a decade has passed since the announcement of the Google Glass project. Google introduced the wearable with great enthusiasm. The firm really wanted the product to successfully reach the consumer market. However, regulatory authorities kept a watchful eye on the devices capabilities. The main concern was potential privacy violations through the smart glasses camera. As a product ahead of its time with no direct rival, the Google Glass project faced a full regulatory fury over the fear of the unknown. The bans and restrictions on the devices use made its initial goal unfeasible. To avoid losing all the work done, Google promoted the wearable as a business product. However, the firm discontinued Google Glasses in 2023. Changes in the smart glass market could facilitate Googles comeback That said, the tech industry and user perceptions of these types of products have changed a lot. The smart glasses segment is experiencing a boom thanks to Metas Ray-Ban glasses. Current technology allows these products to include features like an artificial intelligence assistant, something that seems perfect for Gemini. So, everything could be coming together for Googles return to the growing niche. Two of the top TV brands in North America are in the midst of separate class action lawsuits over their QLED technology claims. Thats Hisense and TCL who are both facing complaints over their claims of using highly advanced quantum-dot technology in their QLED screens when they dont. A New York resident, Robert Macioce filed a class-action complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York last week, accusing Hisense of falsely advertising its QLED-labeled TVs, as having quantum-dot technology, when it was either not included at all, or had an insufficient amount of QD materials to improve performance. We reached out to Hisense to get a statement on the matter, and heres what the company had to say: Hisense stands by the high quality of its products and is confident that the complaint is without merit. Our products have been verified by tests conducted by an independent third-party lab that are consistent with our product claims. Per company policy, we will refrain from commenting further on this legal matter. TCL has a similar complaint levied against them TCL also had a similar class action lawsuit filed in California earlier this month. A California resident, Stephan Herrick filed the complaint over his 55-inch TCL Q651G QLED TV. He believed that the TV he was buying had QD technology and would provide enhanced colors and image quality; however, after he dug into the specs, he claims that the TV had either no quantum dots or very few. The same issue that Macioce faced with his Hisense TV. We did reach out to TCL for a comment regarding this class action lawsuit, and heres what the company had to say: TCL stands behind our high-performance lineup, which provides uncompromised color accuracy. Contrary to the allegations in the Herrick litigation, TCL has definitive substantiation for the claims made regarding its QLED televisions and will respond to the litigation in due course. We remain committed to our customers and believe in the premium quality and superior value of our products. In the context of the ongoing litigation, TCL will validate that our industry-leading technologies meet or exceed the high bar that TV viewers have come to expect from us. Industry experts believe these Chinese TV makers are doing this to keep up with their Korean rivals Industry experts are warning that these deceptive attempts by Chinese TV makers like TCL and Hisense are an attempt to outpace their Korean rivals, who currently lead the QLED space. Samsung and LG are currently the two biggest QLED TV makers, with Samsung having nearly half of the market as of Q4 2024. Omdia reported that about 2.75 million QLED TVs were shipped in 2024, which only accounted for 10.9% of the entire TV market. Samsung led the way with around 46.8% of the QLED market share. Samsung is also the worlds largest TV maker, currently. Samsung isnt among the worlds leading headphone brands. However, its Galaxy Buds tend to be quite popular among both Galaxy device users and the general public. Its latest releases in the segment are the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. That said, Samsung could surprise this year by announcing open-ear bone conduction earphones. Currently, Samsungs headphone catalog only includes TWS earbuds. The company hasnt explored other form factors and technologies in several years. However, that could change soon. According to Ice Universe, a reliable tipster, Samsung is working on open-ear earbuds. It seems the company has noticed an increase in popularity of this type of product and wants to jump on the bandwagon. Samsung could launch open-ear bone conduction earphones this year Open-ear earphones are quite different from classic in-ear earphones. The open-ear form factor is designed so that they dont penetrate your ear canal. This offers advantages such as greater comfort and the ability to be aware of your surroundings while listening to music. The Nothing Ear (open) is a good example. Among open-ear earphones, there are also those that use bone conduction technology to transmit audio. This means the earphones dont even have to be in front of your ear canal to receive the sound. The report on Weibo claims that Samsungs open-ear earphones will use bone conduction technology. This will give them an additional differentiating factor in the market since not many major brands have similar products. The company is reportedly developing them under the internal codename Able. The South Korean giant is expected to launch its open-ear bone conduction headphones in July alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. For now, thats all the information available on this potential new product from the brand. Hopefully, more news will emerge in the coming days. Samsung launching open-ear headphones could boost the popularity of the niche, as happened with the Galaxy Ring. Although more than a month has passed since Trumps inauguration, some positions in his administration remain unconfirmed. These are key positions that require a voting process involving the entire Senate. A few weeks ago, Kash Patel was confirmed as the new FBI director. Now, Trumps pick to head the DOJ antitrust office has also been confirmed, and she is now in charge of ongoing and upcoming cases in the US against big tech companies. Gail Slater, the new DOJ antitrust head, will take over antitrust cases against big tech companies Gail Slater, a lawyer with extensive experience in antitrust matters, was Trumps pick for the new DOJ antitrust chief. She received bipartisan support as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. Slater had already worked with Trumps cabinet during his first term. She had held the position at the National Economic Council. Additionally, she served as an economic policy advisor and Senate staff member for JD VanceUS vice presidentbefore the last election. Slater will bear a heavy burden of responsibility following the DOJs active role in recent years. In 2024, the agency won an antitrust case against Google, obtaining a ruling that labeled the Mountain View giants search engine business a monopoly. Although the ruling is already available, potential remedies are now under discussion. Recently, the DOJ presented its revised proposed remedies to resolve Googles antitrust situation. However, a hearing in April will allow both sides to debate the matter. Google also confirmed that it plans to appeal the antitrust ruling. The new DOJ antitrust head had joined the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in 2024 to work on merger cases. She also pushed for the passage of antitrust legislation during her tenure at Roku. Slater did not offer more specific details about the DOJs strategy under her leadership. However, she is expected to maintain a similar approach to that of Jonathan Kanter, the former DOJ antitrust chief. That is, to keep a watchful eye on moves by big tech companies that could compromise free competition. In fact, it was Trump himself who started this trend during his first term. The Biden administration subsequently continued along the same lines. That said, Slater said that resources are, of course, a very important consideration for initiating new cases. However, she affirmed that she would advocate for the division to receive adequate resources to work. Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller and Stephen Graham as his father Eddie Miller in Adolescence - Netflix If youre a parent to a school-age boy, I dont know whether I should advise you to watch Adolescence (Netflix) immediately, or avoid it at all costs because it will chill your blood. It is a drama so quietly devastating that I wont forget it for a very long time. A 13-year-old boy in Yorkshire is arrested on suspicion of murder. The victim is a girl at his school, stabbed to death the night before. Police batter down his door in a dawn raid, and his shell shocked parents dad Eddie (Stephen Graham) and mum Manda (Christine Tremarco) follow him to the police station. Do you believe me that Ive not done anything? the boy, Jamie, desperately asks his dad. Of course I believe you, says Eddie. Youre my son, arent you? This does not play out as a crime thriller. Nor is it a police procedural, although the first episode very much goes into details of what happens when a minor is arrested for a serious crime (the mug shots, the medical examination, the strip search). Its not really about knife crime. Rather, its an exploration of the pressures on boys today, including the malign influence of social media and some of the nonsense about what it means to be a man. Bullying isnt new, but being mocked online is a modern horror. And parents, in many cases, are oblivious. The writer is Jack Thorne, doing double duty on Netflix after the launch of his other drama, Toxic Town. The format is unusual. Each of the four episodes is self-contained and filmed in one continuous shot. Episode one is Jamies arrest and initial police interview, featuring Ashley Walters as the detective. Episode two is set in the childrens school, where the pupils behaviour is horrendous and the teachers are flailing hopelessly. Episode three is a meeting between Jamie and his appointed psychologist, played by Erin Doherty (the actress is the one person here who doesnt fit the realistic tone, delivering her lines as if shes in a play). The final episode takes place at home, where the family attempt to maintain normality while Jamie remains in custody. At times, the one-shot direction can feel like a gimmick highly effective for one or two moments, but Im not sure this drama would really suffer from being filmed in the standard way? The acting, though, is phenomenal. Newcomer Owen Cooper excels - Netflix Adolescence is a masterclass from Stephen Graham. Of course it is. Graham is the best actor working today. There are stretches of time when he walks wordlessly through a DIY centre, or we only see the back of his head while hes driving a van, and hes conveying more emotion than 99 per cent of other actors can manage when theyre talking. Walters is great, his feelings about arresting a boy so young demonstrated in one tiny gesture, when he briefly puts a hand on Jamies shoulder as hes taking him to be booked in. But the truly remarkable performance is from newcomer Owen Cooper as Jamie. Cooper was 14 when he filmed this (hes 15 now). He moves between vulnerability, anger, bravado and fear. What he does here is astonishing. I still see that little boy a bit gormless, swinging on the monkey bars, drawing pictures of monsters, Eddie says to his wife. Thanks to Coopers performance and Thornes writing, we can still see that boy despite the terrible crime of which he is accused, and wonder where it all went wrong. Adolescence is available on Netflix now A county council showed an entrenched mismanagement of safety for its public transport system which was involved in the deaths of three people, a court has heard. Jennifer Taylor, 81, Steven Moir, 50, and Kathleen Pitts, 52, all died in separate incidents with Cambridgeshire Guided Busway between 2015 and 2021, and a boy sustained life-changing injuries. The busway, which involves a modified bus being guided along a track, is a 16-mile route which uses old rail routes to link Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives. Cambridgeshire County Council, which runs the busway, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last year in connection with the incidents. The Cambridge Guided Busway opened in 2011 (Chris Radburn/PA) It admitted two charges under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 last September, relating to the public trying to cross the busway at designated crossings and being struck while moving alongside the busway. Prosecutor Pascal Bates told Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday the busway was involved in a number of very serious injuries, including to two children, between the summer of 2011 and spring 2023, but the council kept going despite numerous warning signs. [There was] an unpreparedness properly to ask itself relevant safety questions, Mr Bates said. The council did not tell the HSE of the risks it identified with the system until 2022, six years after it conducted an initial assessment, the court heard. Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opened in August 2011 and busways are still relatively new and rare concepts in the UK, the prosecutor said. The council proposed the creation of the busway and currently runs it, including organising maintenance and control of its infrastructure. Mr Bates said the council never operated the busway fully in compliance with safety law up to 2023, and that it felt any criticisms of its safety procedures were illegitimate. Until 2021, the buses travelled at a lane speed of 56mph, meaning it would cover 25 metres a second. Drivers cannot steer the buses but only accelerate of break as the bus effectively drives itself. Their routes pass through a variety of rural and urban areas and can often become extremely cramped and in very high demand, the court heard. The buses are also silent, far more quiet than a bus on tarmac, Mr Bates said. The court heard a female passenger fractured her skull aboard one of the buses in October 2011, after the driver performed an emergency stop to avoid a cyclist. Mr Bates said the incident was not reported to the HSE at the time, and HSE was not told about it until 2023. We say this should have been a wake-up call, the prosecutor added. The council then appeared to write off three other incidents, in which cyclists were admitted to hospital, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, by suggesting the cyclists were to blame, Mr Bates said. On the evening of November 17 2015, Ms Taylor got off a bus on the busway to return to an earlier stop she had missed, the court heard. She was then struck by another bus while still crossing the lane and was killed instantly. The court heard some pathways next to the busway had very short kerbs (Chris Radburn/PA Archive) Windscreen footage from the bus involved in the incident was played in court. In a victim impact statement from October 2016, Ms Taylors husband said: This accident should never have been allowed to happen. I am haunted by it every day. A poorly laid out crossing then contributed to a 16-year-old cyclist suffering devastating injuries which may be described as life-changing on November 16 2021, Mr Bates said. The prosecutor said the crossing was confusing for pedestrians and cyclists using it and that foliage around it had not been cut back. The boy was left in an induced coma for several days and spent his 17th birthday in hospital as he tore his liver, broke his collar bone and was left unable to hear from his left ear, the court heard. Focusing on the second charge, Mr Bates said the busway routes were not the same as an ordinary road and, in some areas reviewed by the HSE, had a kerb that measured just one foot wide. The lack of a physical, vertical segregator like a fence meant there needed to be really meaningful safety management by the council, but no solutions or alternatives were proposed, the prosecutor said. A number of road safety audits were conducted by the council but the quality of these was very bad, Mr Bates told the court. In a statement last September, after the council pleaded guilty to the charges, Cambridgeshire County Councils chief executive Dr Stephen Moir said it was truly sorry for having fallen far short of the appropriate health and safety standards on the busway. Family members of the three people who died attended the hearing, sitting in the public gallery. The sentencing hearing will continue on Friday. Train managers at Avanti West Coast have voted for a pay deal that gives them time and a half on Sundays. Photograph: Mark Waugh/Alamy Train managers on Britains biggest intercity service, Avanti West Coast, have settled a dispute over rest-day working, ending a series of weekend strikes. The RMT union said 87% of its members had voted to accept a deal including additional pay for working weekends and an agreement on the allocation of staffing for extra shifts. The union had started five months of Sunday strikes in January, disrupting a long-distance route linking London to cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. Walkouts were suspended for the duration of the talks. Eddie Dempsey, who was confirmed last week as the successor to Mick Lynch as RMT general secretary, said: Our members have stood firm, taking significant industrial action, and have won a deal that delivers real improvements to pay and working conditions. This result shows through a strong industrial campaign and robust negotiation we can and do win improvements at work for our members. Train managers will earn time and a half for Sundays and a minimum seven-hour shift. Avanti services have been significantly disrupted for several years by staffing issues and a breakdown in industrial relations that came on top of a national pay dispute. The operator, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia, ran a limited Sunday service during the strikes but warned passengers to expect disruption and to travel on other dates if possible. An Avanti spokesperson said: Weve worked together to find a resolution that is right for our train managers as well as the company and are now looking forward to continuing to grow our business. This is a significant step in the right direction providing certainty for both colleagues and customers, as we head into what is traditionally one of our busier periods as leisure travel increases during the spring and summer. Shih Tzus may be tiny, but they can fit a whole lotta personality in those tiny little bodies. They're playful little pups with big hearts and big attitudes, and while they're generally pretty content to live as lap dogs, they're pretty determined when they want to be. As you can probably infer from her IG handle, "Bratty Gigi" is a Shih Tzu that always gets things her way, and nothing can stop hernot even her small size. When her favorite toy is placed just out of her reach, Gigi turns into a mountain climber and stretches her little legs to the limit! Toys on the windowsill? Not a problem for Gigi. Gigi had a dream and a mission, and she wasn't about to let her teeny-tiny stature get in her way. She stretched herself out into a Superman pose as far as she could manage, and though she almost lost her footing, she successfully knocked her toy down and fearlessly followed after it by performing an epic cliff dive... five inches down. Into another fabric toy bin. Gosh, she's so precious. Related: Blind Shih Tzu and Mom Have Funniest 'Secret Code' for Safety at Dog Park Though this Shih Tzu may have had to push herself (or rather, stretch herself) to the limit on this toy-getting venture, her day-to-day life usually isn't so perilous! Gigi and her Shih Tzu siblings Oscar, Chanel, and Presley are spoiled absolutely rotten by their mama, and Gigi spends most of her days getting dressed in fabulous outfits, playing, going on adventures with the family, and just vibin' out. Gigi is a puppy princess who wants for absolutely nothing... just don't underestimate her abilities to fend for herself when it comes to finding her favorite toys! Shih Tzus: A Breed Full of Surprises Honestly, it shouldn't come as a shock that Gigior any Shih Tzu, for that matterhas this kind of tenacity. According to Pedigree, the breed's name means "lion dog" in traditional Chinese because... well, they look like little lion dogs. Shih Tzus have been around for thousands of years with a long and storied history as the beloved royal dogs of the Chinese imperial court. Shih Tzus have always been canine royalty, and they know it! But here's another fact about Shih Tzus that might also explain their spirited, tenacious personalities, and it may very well surprise youit certainly surprised me when I found this out recently. According to Trupanion, Shih Tzus share more DNA with wolves than almost any other domestic dog breed, only being beaten out by the "Nordic spitz group," which includes Huskies, Samoyeds, and Malamutes. You read that right: these tiny little lap dogs have genetically more in common with their wolf ancestors than German Shepherds and Tamaskans! Shih Tzus are tiny, but they're full of surprises, as anyone can find out from taking even a cursory look at the breed's history. No wonder Gigi has such an adventurous, determined spark! Donald Trump claims the USs trading partners have taken advantage of the US. Photograph: Jeremy Suker/Bloomberg Getty Images Donald Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on wine and champagne from European Union countries, in the latest threat of escalation in the global trade war started by the US president against the countrys biggest trading partners. Trump said in a post on Thursday on his Truth Social platform that the tariffs on all alcoholic products from the bloc would be retaliation for a nasty 50% levy on American bourbon whiskey announced by the EU. The EUs action against bourbon whiskey due to come into force on 1 April was itself part of a 26bn ($28bn) response to Trumps 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, which came into effect on Wednesday. Trump claims the USs trading partners have taken advantage of the US and that tariffs will help him to bring back jobs a theory that is roundly rejected by most mainstream economists. The tariffs on the EU, Canada, Mexico and China and those imposed in retaliation threaten to tip the US economy into recession, and Trump has admitted there may be a period of transition while businesses start producing more in the US. The White House has so far shrugged off the concerns of investors, after his tariff announcements were greeted with heavy stock market sell-offs that have wiped out all of the share price gains since his election in November. Despite starting the trade war, Trump appeared to be infuriated by the EUs retaliatory measures. He wrote: If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S., he added. The US already circumvents the protected geographical origin rules on European products American supermarkets are full of US-made imitations of champagne and other delicacies such as parmesan and gorgonzola. Senior figures in Europe vowed to hold firm. We will not give in to threats, the French foreign trade minister, Laurent Saint-Martin, wrote on X. Donald Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash. France was determined to retaliate and would always protect our sectors, he added. Trump wrote on Thursday: The U.S. doesnt have Free Trade. We have Stupid Trade. The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!! Channeling the former US president Franklin D Roosevelt, he added: The only thing you have to fear, is fear itself! In France, independent winemakers represent 60% of the countrys wine production. They are watching closely to see how the dispute plays out. Were very prudent at this stage, said Jean-Marie Fabre, who makes wine in Fitou in the south of France. French winemakers were concerned they could be swept into the broader tariff row, and had feared tit-for-tat measures when the EU announced retaliatory tariffs on some American products, including US whiskey. The entire wine sector has been through a succession of crises of different kinds which have already really tested us, including the Covid crisis, inflation, the war in Ukraine and the climate issues, said Fabre, who is also head of the Independent Winemakers of France. Winemakers, whatever their size, but particularly small winemakers, have found themselves in a fragile position. European shares fell on Thursday, amid concerns over the impact of a trade war. Frances Cac 40 index gave up morning gains to fall by 0.3%, while Germanys Dax index fell by 0.6%. Leading European drinks giants came under pressure. Shares in Pernod Ricard fell almost 4% and Remy Cointreau declined 3.5%. LVMH, owner of Moet & Chandon, slipped 1.4%. In New York, the benchmark S&P 500 dipped 0.7% after Wall Street opened for trading. Trumps officials have attempted to brush off days of stock market declines, claiming they are not worried about it. Were focused on the real economy, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said during his latest interview on CNBC news network, a fixture on Wall Street. Im not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks. When asked if he could rule out a recession, vice-president JD Vance said in a Fox News interview yesterday that you can never predict the future, but noted that he believes the economy is strong. Trump also repeated a longstanding criticism of the EU, that the trading bloc was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, calling it one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the EUs executive, said on Wednesday that trade between Europe and the US brought prosperity and security to millions of people, and trade has created millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. This years Edinburgh International Festival offers a wide range of performances across multiples genres. Featuring more than 1,700 artists from 42 countries, including 600 from Scotland, the festival line-up has something for fans of all sectors of the arts. Highlights include a world premiere of theatre production Make it Happen, based on Scotlands role in the 2008 financial crisis. It stars Brian Cox and Sandy Grierson, and was written by renowned playwright James Graham. A ballet telling the story of Mary, Queen of Scots will also feature, with choreography by Sophie Laplane which blends classicism with modernity. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, a renowned assortment of singers from around the country, which will perform the festivals opening concert as well as Vaughan Williamss Sea Symphony, Bernsteins Chichester Psalms, and Mendelssohns Elijah. The Big Singalong will take place from the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, and will be free to attend. It will be led by Stephen Deazley, Edinburghs Love Music Community Choir director. Free event the Big Singalong will take place at Ross Bandstand (Alamy/PA) Norwegian folk group Barokksolistene will return to the festival to lead The Ceilidh Sessions, an afternoon of music and storytelling inspired by Gaelic ceilidhs. There are more Polish artists at this years festival than ever before, including a concert by the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and a showcase of artists from the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble. Key operatic works include a staged Australian reimagining of Glucks Orpheus And Eurydice, and the UK premiere of Book Of Mountains And Seas by Chinese composer Huang Ruo. For the first time, a dementia-friendly concert will feature at the festival. The performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in association with Alzheimer Scotland aims to allow those who have dementia to enjoy a performance in a relaxed and flexible environment. Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: The Edinburgh International Festival has stood as a global celebration of the performing arts and their power to bridge cultural and national differences since 1947. That role is as relevant as ever, so I very much welcome the festivals commitment to affordability and accessibility in this years programme. The stage is set. The wait is over. Are you ready? This is The Truth We Seek. Expect a bold lineup of 133 performances, bringing you 7 world premieres, 8 UK and Scottish premieres, and 2 European premieres. Edinburgh International Festival, 1 24 August. Link in bio. pic.twitter.com/HnXapsgKO2 Edinburgh International Festival (@edintfest) March 13, 2025 The international festival is where it all began for Edinburghs festivals, so whether you are coming from near or far, I encourage everyone to enjoy the best of what Scotland and the world has to offer, across the genres of classical and contemporary music, dance, theatre and visual art. The Scottish Governments Expo fund is designed to help showcase Scottish artists and our festivals to the world, and Im very proud to continue that support with 80,000 for this years international festival. Dana MacLeod, Creative Scotlands executive director of arts, communities and inclusion, said: Congratulations to the international festival team for this imaginative programme, which brings important conversations by world-leading artists and extraordinary creative experiences for audiences to the capital city. Borne out of a belief in the power of the arts to connect and provide hope in a divided world, the international festivals original ethos remains true today, with international and homegrown talent presenting stimulating work, reflecting and celebrating the world we inhabit. A long-time supporter, Creative Scotland is happy to have been able to confirm a funding commitment to the international festival for the next three years. A father who murdered his infant son has been told he must serve at least 20 years in prison before he can be considered for release. Craig Rowland, 29, of Millington Park in Portadown, Co Armagh, was convicted last year at Belfast Crown Court of murdering Lewis Oliver Rowland, who died aged three in October 2018. The child sustained life-changing brain injuries resulting in permanent and severe disability in November 2015, after being violently shaken by his father when he was 13 weeks old. He died three years later from complications arising from surgery. At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, Judge Justice OHara said Lewis death was a direct result of the injuries he had suffered three years earlier. Lewis mother, Laura Graham, 32, of Edward Street in Lurgan, was placed on probation for three years for wilful neglect of a child. An expanded group of far-right and far-left MPs may block the spending plans in the new Bundestag. Photograph: Liesa Johannssen/Reuters Germanys chancellor-in-waiting has tried to win over the Greens to his ambitious but controversial plans to raise the countrys defence spending, promising to expand the scope of the plans and demanding of them: What more do you actually want from us? The outgoing parliament met on Thursday to debate the creation of a 500bn (420bn) fund for infrastructure investment and radical changes in Germanys borrowing limits in order to boost defence spending. Friedrich Merz, whose conservatives won last months election and who is on the verge of becoming the new leader, wants to seal the funding deal before the new parliament convenes in less than two weeks. An expanded group of far-right and far-left MPs could oppose it in the new Bundestag, a blocking minority Merz is keen to avoid. Related: Can Europe defend itself alone? podcast Amid expectations that Germany will relax a key element of its strict fiscal rules known as the debt brake, its allies have responded favourably and markets have rallied. Economic forecasters have said a public spending boost is likely to help the country emerge from two years of economic doldrums. But an unusually tense and fractious debate proved on Thursday that the deal is far from being realised, as Merzs CDU/CSU alliance and his probable future coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), are far from securing the required support of the Greens. In an attempt to win them over Merz offered to expand the scope of defence spending to include civil defence and intelligence spending, as well as allowing up to 50bn for climate protection. He asked the Greens: What more do you want from us in so short a time? Merz stressed his belief in the urgency of investing in security. We have to do something to improve our defensive capabilities, and quickly, he said, describing a truly worrying security situation in Europe. Germany must do something now Anything else would be irresponsible, he added. The Greens parliamentary co-leader Britta Haelmann accused Merz of bad manners, saying he had not sought a proper, respectful conversation with her party but had instead simply left a message on her voicemail. Before the nearly four-hour debate, the Greens had indicated that negotiations were at a stalemate, with senior figures citing grave flaws in the legislation, including the lack of prominence it gave to climate policies. Throughout the debate, Merz was accused of wanting to use the new money to finance projects that would please the new governments conservative and SPD voter base, and was repeatedly called on to provide guarantees, including commitments to much-needed reforms, as well as extra cash to renovate hospitals, schools and kindergartens. In a blistering attack, Heidi Reichinnek of Die Linke accused Merzs conservatives and the SPD of being undemocratic, convening the old Bundestag because youre dissatisfied with the election results. Both the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland and Die Linke lodged complaints with the constitutional court before the debate, which could deliver its ruling this week. Merz has argued that raising defence spending has become a matter of urgency because of Russias invasion of Ukraine, not just for Germany but for the whole of Europe. With Donald Trump in the White House, he has argued, the continent must become more independent. Economists have described Merzs multibillion-euro package as everything from a bazooka to an extremely risky bet, while he has called it vital in light of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent. The second and third readings of the governments plans will take place next Tuesday, before heading to the upper house. Over the coming days Merz will continue to negotiate with the Greens, according to his party officials. Persistently high teacher leaving rates and sluggish recruitment in England have led to larger class sizes and a greater reliance on unqualified staff, a report has suggested. The forthcoming spending review is a crucial opportunity for the Government to provide the resources needed to deliver its target to recruit 6,500 more teachers by the end of the parliament, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). There are growing signs of teacher shortages in schools having a negative impact on the quality of education for pupils in England, the report warned. The number of unfilled teaching vacancies in state schools reached six vacancies per thousand teachers in service in 2023/24 which is double the pre-pandemic rate, the NFER said. Meanwhile, 15% of secondary pupils were in classes of more than 30 in 2023/24, up from 10% in 2015/16. The report comes after Government figures in December showed that the number of entrants to primary school teacher training in England had fallen. The Department for Education (DfE) data showed that 88% of the Governments initial teacher training (ITT) target for primary schools was reached in 2024/25, down from 94% in 2023/24. The Government achieved just 62% of its postgraduate secondary ITT recruitment target in 2024/25 and it did not meet its recruitment targets for 12 out of 17 secondary school subjects. The NFER has predicted that the pattern of under-recruitment in primary and most secondary school subjects is likely to continue in 2025/26. The report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, said: Sluggish recruitment and persistently high leaving rates have led to real impacts on schools and pupils. It added: Schools have also become more reliant on unqualified teachers to fill gaps in their workforce, while non-specialist teachers teaching secondary subjects like maths and physics have become more common. This year is a now or never moment for the Government to demonstrate that it will deliver its manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, it said. The report said: The Governments focus on recruiting 6,500 additional teachers is a welcome acknowledgement of the threat to educational quality posed by the worsening teacher supply challenge in England. However, delivering on this ambition by the end of the current parliament will require significant, focused policy action. Policy measures also take time to lead to impact in schools, so the time for action is now. Last year, school teachers in England were offered a fully funded 5.5% pay rise for 2024/25. The DfE said in December in written evidence to the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) that a 2.8% pay rise for teachers in 2025/26 would maintain the competitiveness of teachers pay. But the NFER report has suggested that a 2.8% pay rise from September would be a missed opportunity to make further gains on teacher pay. It has called for a 2025/26 pay award for teachers which exceeds 3%, as well as increases in spending on financial incentives targeting shortage subjects. The Governments spending review should deliver rises in the schools budget necessary to increase teacher pay by at least 6.1% from 2026/27 to 2028/29, the NFER added. The report also warned that pupil behaviour has become one of the fastest-growing contributors to teacher workload since the pandemic, and a lack of access to flexible working arrangements may be contributing to teachers leaving the profession. Report co-author Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the NFER, said: Teacher recruitment and retention in England remain in a perilous state, posing a substantial risk to the quality of education. The time for half measures is over. Fully funded pay increases that make teacher pay more competitive are essential to keeping teachers in the classroom and attracting new recruits. The upcoming spending review provides the Government with the ideal opportunity to show its long-term commitment to increase the attractiveness of teaching. Both schools and the Government are facing budgetary challenges, so making this happen is going to need careful planning. The NFER report recommended that the Government should develop a new approach for supporting schools to improve pupil behaviour, and it said school leaders should consider adopting a wider range of flexible working practices in their schools to improve teacher retention. It added that both the Governments curriculum and assessment review and proposed reforms to Ofsted inspections could increase teacher workload and worsen retention if not carefully implemented. Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders union NAHT, said: These stark findings reflect the severe staffing crisis school leaders are grappling with day in day out. When schools do not have the teachers or leaders they need, with the best will in the world, childrens education inevitably suffers. This report sends a clear message to the Government that it needs to go further and faster in not only doing more to attract new teachers, but also in retaining existing talent and, critically, experience. Pepe DiIasio, general secretary of Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: The Government must heed this warning before it is too late. We are far beyond the point where small steps and half measures can address the scale of the recruitment and retention crisis in education. The Governments target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers is a step in the right direction, but there is no clear plan for achieving it. Success will require action on a scale far greater than anything seen so far. Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: The Government can be in no doubt that a failure to deliver on pay and working conditions will only lead to a further decline in teacher numbers and a deterioration in the quality of education provided to children and young people. A DfE spokesperson said: Recruiting and keeping great teachers in our classrooms is vital to improving life chances for all children. We are committed to resetting the relationship with the education workforce and working alongside them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession. Work has already begun, as part of our Plan for Change, to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers, including making 233 million available next year to encourage more talented people into the classroom to teach subjects including maths, physics, chemistry and computing. On top of the 5.5% pay award announced last year, we are also taking steps to support teachers well-being and ease workload pressures including encouraging schools to allow their staff to work more flexibly so more teachers stay in the profession. The victims and families of those affected by the infected-blood scandal have been left feeling distressed and powerless at the Governments approach to compensation, according to the chairman of the inquiry that scrutinised the treatment disaster. It comes as Sir Brian Langstaff said he intends to publish a further report looking at the timeliness and adequacy of the Governments response. The probe published a raft of new witness statements on Thursday, some expressing distress and feelings of powerlessness which Sir Brian said can neither be denied nor ignored. Charities and representatives of victims and their families welcomed news of the new report, claiming those in the community are fed up with the patronising approach being adopted. The Infected Blood Inquiry will publish an additional Report, which will consider the timeliness and adequacy of the Governments response on compensation. Follow this link to find out more: https://t.co/gQ7GCmqhaR Infected Blood Inquiry (@bloodinquiry) March 13, 2025 More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s. Some 3,000 people died as a result and survivors are living with lifelong health implications. The Infected Blood Inquiry published its final report on the scandal in May last year, and a compensation scheme was announced a day later. In her October Budget Chancellor Rachel Reeves allocated 11.8 billion to compensate victims, administered by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). However, campaigners and victims have since contacted the inquiry with concerns about the way compensation is being implemented and how long it is taking. Witnesses described not being listened to by the IBCA, and one statement expressed concerns about allegations that the Government is trying to silence the community to avoid embarrassment over the delays in the release of compensation. I fear that the same institutional defensiveness and groupthink that caused the original scandals cover-up are now hindering the scheme, they added. Another anonymous witness said anxiety levels are rocketing to levels people have not experienced before, people are crying, unable to function, unable to eat, feel sick, feelings of loss, trauma and being retraumatised. They added: Physical wellbeing is low, people are at a low ebb, feeling that all the hard work they have done campaigning has been for nothing. There were also claims that the Cabinet Office seem to have obstructed progress for funding reasons, seem to believe and have consistently argued that those infected and affected do not really need independent legal representation. Charities told the inquiry of a significant influx of calls and emails after the publication of the report and news of the compensation scheme. The Haemophilia Society said there was no time to digest the findings before the compensation announcement was made, and there has since been a lack of centralised support for applicants. Sir Brian added: The distress and feelings of powerlessness expressed in many of these statements can neither be denied nor ignored. Our goal at the inquiry is to identify whether there are practical measures that could be taken or changes made to address the concerns that have been brought to us. Our intention is for this to be a constructive process, and we are anxious not to contribute to further delay in individuals receiving compensation. The inquiry will publish further statements next month, when it will also decide if additional hearings will be held, the timeframe for providing written submissions, and the publication of its further report. Last month, a lawyer representing families and victims of the scandal claimed only about 0.2% of potential claimants have been invited to seek payouts. At the time, Des Collins, whose firm Collins Solicitors advised thousands of people affected, said the scheme is not yet able to cope with anywhere near the volume of applications it should be processing. He welcomed the news that the inquiry would be publishing a further report. We agree that there is an urgent need to bring some transparency to the implementation of the compensation scheme which has, to date, been a very opaque process, Mr Collins said. As far as our clients are concerned there has been no meaningful participation in the development of the scheme. He added: Many of our clients and others in the community are once more fed up with the patronising approach being adopted and have reached out to Sir Brian accordingly. It is heartening that he has responded today in line with his commitment last May to keep an eye on progress for the community and to hold the Government to account for its response to his recommendations for compensation. The process so far has caused significant distress and anxiety to many of the victims and their families. Kate Burt, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said: It is vital that the Infected Blood Inquiry continues to use its influence and insights to keep pressure on government to deliver its recommendations in the way that was intended. As a charity on the front line of support for this community, we see the damaging impact of the anger, confusion and despair caused by uncertainty over the Governments compensation scheme. The infected blood community feels let down and left out. Some are starting to lose hope that they will ever receive a fair compensation payment. We hope the inquirys intervention will result in a swift and fair outcome for everyone who has suffered as a result of this scandal. A Government spokesperson said: The victims of this scandal have suffered unspeakably. We remain fully committed to co-operating with the inquiry and acting on its recommendations, and are grateful for its comprehensive work to date. So far we have set aside 11.8 billion to compensate victims of infected blood, made compensation offers of over 48 million and paid 1 billion in interim payments. Donald Trump and Micheal Martin The thinking Irish must be thanking their deity they now have a grown-up Taoiseach. I cannot imagine what President Trump might have done to Micheal Martins predecessors the juvenile Simon Harris and the narcissistic Leo Varadkar. Martin entered the White House knowing his cards were very weak. What had seemed strengths until recently, and had made much of the world envious, were now part of the well-researched charge sheet prepared by the America First prosecution. The last few weeks of live coverage of various Trump encounters with the great and good had taught the world that the American president is neither a dolt nor an ignoramus. Indeed he seems to put a great deal of work into mastering his briefs. And it is rare that his rudeness is not calculated; it gets strategic results. So the mixture of blarney and victimhood that has historically characterised Irish-American relations no longer cuts the mustard. To Trump, Irish offences are legion. This tiny country of only 5.4 million had the fourth largest trade surplus for goods with the US after China, Mexico and Vietnam 72.6 billion in 2024. 9 of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have a base in Ireland. Being in a good mood, Trump was showing a grudging admiration for this highway robbery. All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, he told the world from the Oval Office. This beautiful island of 5 million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp. Then theres military dependency. All of Europe is in a panic to persuade Trump that they will no longer sponge off on Americas defence. For Ireland, there was the recent revelation that it was the lowest spender out of 38 European states on defence as a proportion of its wealth 0.22 per cent of GDP. Ireland spends less on defence than Austria and Switzerland, and neither of those European countries have huge maritime areas they are meant to monitor and safeguard. Irish neglect has left Europes western flank and its international communications cables utterly vulnerable. In one of the more unexpected exchanges in their White House discussion, Trump noted that Martins father had been a great fighter. Yet look at you. Youre so smooth. We are schooled enough by now to know that personal relationships are not the driving force in Trumps negotiations. But they are not insignificant. Martin stood up for his country without cringing. It secured him respect from all but the idiots back home who wanted him to demand special treatment and hector Trump about Israel. But like the rest of the world, Martin is now acknowledging the jurisdiction and strength of the new sheriff in town; Trumps reasonable demands must be met. Ireland will no longer be able to rely on its global popularity, the notorious charm of its people and a next-door neighbour who out of a mixture of historic guilt and decency can always be relied on to come to its rescue. It needs to face reality and acquire a big stick of its own. Luckily, this Taoiseach is a realist. Girls and women accounted for three quarters of all incidents and were more likely to be physically attacked than boys and men, the Islamophobia in Australia report states. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Islamophobic incidents including physical attacks, verbal harassment, people being spat on and rape threats have more than doubled in the past two years, with girls and women bearing the brunt of hatred towards Muslims in Australia, new research shows. The fifth Islamophobia in Australia report details 309 in-person incidents between January 2023 and December 2024 a more than 2.5-fold increase from the previous reporting period. Verified online incidents more than tripled to 366. Girls and women accounted for three quarters of all incidents and were a third more likely to be physically attacked than boys and men. Its really become a gendered Islamophobia, said Dr Nora Amath, the executive director of the Islamophobia Register. The majority of victims are Muslim women and the majority of perpetrators are male. Its very obvious and really concerning. Related: Acts of hate are on the rise in Australia but naming them is proving fraught The research by the Islamophobia Register and Deakin and Monash universities, released on Thursday, represented the largest rise in Islamophobic incidents since the report began as a Facebook post in 2014. Its released every two years. Children were present in a number of cases and were witness to their mothers being choked, bashed, punched or called some awful names, Amath said. One mother was allegedly set upon while sitting at a food court in a shopping centre with her five children, the report states. An unknown lady yelled out fuck Muslims and punched me in the head, knocking me out in front of my kids. I was admitted to hospital where a CT scan showed my nose was broken, she told researchers. Me and my kids are seeing a psychologist for the trauma. We dont leave the house unless its necessary as we have a fear that it will happen again. Another woman recounted: When walking to get into train station, a man said to me, Ill rip that scarf off your head and smash your head and rape you. In one incident, a man entered a mosque and desecrated it with faeces, the report states. Almost half of the in-person incidents were in New South Wales, home to Australias largest Muslim population. More than a quarter took place on streets or while parking or driving, while the second most common setting was workplaces, alongside schools, shopping centres, universities and public transport. Women reported more than three times the number of Islamophobic incidents at workplaces than men a finding the authors said was even more significant given Muslim women were under-employed compared to Muslim men in Australia. School was the only location where more cases were reported against Muslim boys than girls, with boys making up 63% of incidents in schools, according to the report. There was a spike in incidents in the three weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and during the subsequent war in Gaza. There was a 1,300% increase in reports to the register during that period compared to the same time the previous year, the report states. The register defines Islamophobia as targeting Muslims and perceived Muslims. A number of the victims were not Muslim, Amath said. She said much of the abuse was dehumanising and more research was needed on the long-term impact of Islamophobia, but data suggested victims suffered from trauma, anxiety, self-exclusion and fear of being in public. People are scared. For Muslim women, the most dangerous space to her is the public space, Amath said. The impact is that women are then afraid to leave their homes, some quit their jobs and are in debt because they cant work. For those in workplaces, it means they cant bring their whole self to work, they cant be seen to be in solidarity with Palestine. Related: Islamophobia is an everyday reality for too many Australians | Aftab Malik The reports authors believe the figures were an underestimation of the true extent of Islamophobia in Australia because of under-reporting. There has also been a steep rise in the number of antisemitic incidents in Australia during the ongoing wars in the Middle East. In its 2024 report, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry detailed 2,062 incidents of antisemitism, including physical attacks, such as rock throwing, vandalism of synagogues, Hitler salutes, and abusive graffiti and chants. Airi Satos cries were heard by people in nearby office blocks as her livestream feed went black A 22-year-old influencer has been stabbed to death over an unpaid debt while livestreaming to more than 6,000 followers. Airi Sato, who filmed her day-to-day life on an app called WhoWatch, was attacked on Tuesday on a Tokyo street by a man to whom she had failed to repay 13,000, police said. When her feed went dark and emergency sirens could be heard, concerned followers urgently called for help in the live chat. But it was too late Ms Sato had been stabbed in the head, neck and stomach, and was dead on arrival at hospital. Police said that they had arrested Kenji Takano, 42, on suspicion of murder. They added that he had been apprehended at the scene, and although he admitted to the stabbing, he said that he had not intended to kill Ms Sato. According to the news outlet Asahi, onlookers who heard Ms Satos screams from nearby office blocks initially thought Mr Takano was a good samaritan helping the victim. A police photographer collects evidence from the scene in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, while, below, other officers inspect the ground - Kyodo News via AP Police officers search the ground for evidence at the scene in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo Police said the pair had known each other for some years, and Mr Takano had lent Ms Sato roughly 13,100. She was yet to repay the debt, despite court cases ruling in Mr Takanos favour, according to TokyoHive. Asahi said the police quoted Mr Takano as saying: I got to know the woman through her video streaming, and I started meeting her three years ago by visiting the restaurant where she worked. I had money troubles with her. He added that he had seen Ms Satos livestreaming schedule that morning she had been filming herself making a loop of the citys major train stations. Once he travelled to Tokyo, he tracked her down by identifying the buildings in her videos. Cases of violent crime are extremely rare in Tokyo, a megacity well known for its clean and orderly streets. But this is not the first time a female social media personality has been killed there. Two years ago, a court in the suburbs sentenced a 26-year-old man to 17 years in prison after he killed a 33-year-old influencer in a knife attack. She had recently ended a relationship with him, according to The New York Times. Fitness influencer Joe Wicks has said he would love to know the Kings fitness routine because he looks in great shape. The fitness expert and YouTuber met Charles at Buckingham Palace on Thursday evening at a WaterAid reception held to bring together young leaders and decision-makers to drive action on climate change. Wicks said: Obviously, I was very nervous, but he was very lovely, very friendly, and put you at ease. One more time for the people in the back: clean water is a basic human right Despite this universal truth, almost 1 in 10 people still don't have clean water close to home.#HumanRightsDay #CleanWater pic.twitter.com/VZmfuh901S WaterAid (@wateraid) December 10, 2024 He added: I would love to know what he does though, because he looks like he is in great shape. Other high-profile guests at the WaterAid event included diplomats, activists, economists and Environment Secretary Steve Reed. WaterAid, which the King has supported as president since 1991, works to provide clean water across the globe and says extreme floods and droughts caused by climate change are worsening conditions for the 703 million people who live without water security. Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds told the King: Water is my life, being a bit of a swimmer, but also drinking water as well! Ellie Simmonds meets the King (Aaron Chown/PA) She is an ambassador for WaterAid and has supported the charity since 2014 after seeing its work in Uganda. The King was shown an immersive installation made up of 9.5ft tall screens showing the effects of the climate crisis in Kenya, before meeting a large congregation of guests in the palace ballroom. Mr Reed said: It is fantastic that the King is showing his support. Access to water is a fundamental of life and climate change means less access for many parts of the world. The event was held in the run-up to the Cop30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil. Environment Secretary Steve Reed at the palace (Aaron Chown/PA) Discussing the decision of the Trump administration to pull out of the Paris Agreement, Mr Reed told the PA news agency: Those countries that want to get together to make a difference will do. Archie Panjabi, the Emmy-award-winning British actress who plays Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife, discussed her work on a polio eradication initiative with the King. He was very caring and friendly and has this great ability to connect with people, she said. Tim Wainwright, chief executive of WaterAid, told PA: We are incredibly grateful for the Kings support. He has been the patron of WaterAid since the mid-1990s, unwavering in his support for our work on adapting, building resilience to climate change. My impression was that the King enjoyed meeting the huge range of people that came together today from all walks of life. Scotlands First Minister has held talks with one of US President Donald Trumps sons with discussions focused on business rather than politics. Eric Trump, the executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation, said John Swinney thanked him for the firms colossal investment and commitment to Scotland. The talks took place in Bute House, the First Ministers official residence in Edinburgh, and marked the first meeting between the two. In the run-up to last years US presidential election, won by Republican billionaire Donald Trump, Mr Swinney had endorsed his rival candidate, Democrat Kamala Harris. Eric Trump said it had been a very warm and friendly meeting with Mr Swinney, noting it was the first time the Trump Organisation, which owns two golf resorts in Scotland, had been invited to Bute House. He added: The First Minister thanked me for the Trump Organisations ongoing colossal investment and commitment to Scotland. This is the first time that Ive heard those words from the First Minister and they were hugely appreciated. Our discussions focused solely on the Trump Organisations commitment to creating in Trump Turnberry and Trump International in Aberdeenshire two of the most iconic golf destinations in the world. We did not discuss Scottish or US politics but concentrated on golf. It was a very positive and constructive meeting about business and investment. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: The First Minister welcomed Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation, to Bute House to discuss the contribution Trump International provides to Scotlands economy. John Swinney met with Eric Trump at Bute House, the First Ministers official residence in Edinburgh (PA) The First Minister regularly meets with business people regarding investment in Scotland. The meeting with Mr Trump provided an opportunity to discuss Scotlands investment potential and the First Minister was pleased to hear about the companys continued commitment to Scotland, in particular Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire. However the Scottish Greens criticised the First Minister for the totally inappropriate talks. Party co-leader Lorna Slater said the meeting was a bad call that sends a terrible message, adding: When it comes to the Trumps, the line between business and politics has always been blurred. She went on to claim Eric Trump is not a normal businessman, branding him a right-wing extremist that has peddled misinformation and conspiracy theories. Tanya Chutkan told Environmental Protection Agency lawyers: I can cite cases all day long, but you have to have some kind of evidence or proffer to back it up. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP A federal judge considering the Trump administrations abrupt cancellation of climate research grants worth billions of dollars told government lawyers they had to produce some kind of evidence of wrongdoing to back up such drastic actions. Related: Trump officials decimate climate protections and consider axeing key greenhouse gas finding Climate United, which coordinates investment in clean energy projects, sued to seek access to $7bn that was frozen before it was cancelled on Tuesday night by Lee Zeldin, the New York Republican congressman turned administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. In US district court in Washington on Wednesday, Judge Tanya Chutkan asked lawyers for the EPA: Can you proffer any evidence that [the grant] was illegal, or evidence of abuse or fraud or bribery that any of that was improperly or unlawfully done, other than the fact that Mr Zeldin doesnt like it? Marc Sacks, a government lawyer, said: The determination is based on the information contained in the termination letter. Chutkan said: Thats pretty circular, then asked if Climate United had violated federal regulations. Sacks said: I think the agency cited both of those regulations within their termination letter. Chutkan said: I can cite cases all day long, but you have to have some kind of evidence or proffer to back it up. She also said: You cant even tell me what the evidence of malfeasance is. There is plentiful evidence that Zeldin is implementing an assault on attempts to tackle the climate crisis. The EPA issued a slew of rollbacks of rules to combat pollution on Wednesday. Zeldin said he was driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in Americas Golden Age. Climate groups reacted with horror. Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute, told the Guardian: Come hell or high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of peoples lives. This move wont stand up in court. Were going to fight it every step of the way. Climate United is not the only group to have sued over access to grants. In New York, the Coalition for Green Capital has sued over the cancellation of a $5bn grant, an act it called patently and plainly unlawful on its face and arbitrary and pretextual. In Washington, lawyers for Climate United argued that the EPA had not followed the law, meaning Chutkan could rule on the matter. Lawyers for the government said it was a contract dispute, so she could not. Related: Trumps drill, baby, drill agenda could keep the world hooked on oil and gas Chutkan said: The government didnt decide who it wanted to contract with. A new administration came in, didnt like the contract any more. Thats what new administrations do. But there are procedures that have to be followed. And it doesnt appear, at least on the record before me, that those procedures have been followed. The hearing ended without Chutkan issuing a ruling or temporary restraining order, but asking both sides to make new filings by Monday evening: Climate United to amend its lawsuit and the government to provide information about alleged wrongdoing. I dont have the credible evidence thats required, Chutkan said. People protest in support of federal workers in Washington on 4 March. Photograph: Gent Shkullaku/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock A federal judge in California granted a preliminary injunction to reinstate thousands of fired probationary workers at federal agencies as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees. The ruling by the judge William H Alsup in the US district court for the northern district of California applies to fired probationary employees at the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior and the Department of the Treasury. Hours later, the US district judge James Bredar in Maryland agreed with 20 Democratic-led states that 18 agencies that had fired probationary employees en masse in recent weeks had violated regulations governing the laying off of federal workers. At least 30,000 probationary employees working for the federal government have been fired as part of the efforts of Donald Trump and Elon Musks so-called department of government efficiency to slash the federal workforce and government expenditures. Many of the employees were fired with the cited reason being poor performance, though workers have disputed this based on positive performance evaluations. Alsup said it was a lie that the probationary workers who were fired had performance issues. It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie, Alsup said in court on Thursday. The judge also forbade the office of personnel management from providing any guidance to federal agencies on which employees should be terminated. Alsup authorized depositions and ordered further briefing on whether the administrative channel for fired workers to appeal their terminations is available or has been destroyed due to firings at the appeals board and office of special counsel personnel. [The] AFGE is pleased with Judge Alsups order to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were illegally fired from their jobs by an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public, Everett Kelley, national president of the union said in a statement. We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Thursday that the judge overstepped his bounds. A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the executive branch, she said, adding: The Trump administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order. Before the judges order, the US Department of Justice had declined to make the acting head of the office of personnel management, Charles Ezell, available to testify on the firings in court. In an earlier ruling, Alsup said on 27 February that the firing of probationary employees was illegal because the office of personnel management had no authority to order it. The OPM updated the 20 January memo on probationary employees, which the American Federation of Government Employees argued reveals an admission it unlawfully directed the firings. OPMs revision of its Jan 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees which aligns with Judge Alsups recent decision in our lawsuit challenging these illegal firings, the union said in a statement earlier this month. Every agency should immediately rescind these unlawful terminations and reinstate everyone who was illegally fired. Keir Starmer has brought the health service back under the control of ministers by abolishing NHS England. The prime minister said the NHS should be overseen by politicians rather than an arms-length body, as it would bring greater accountability. Starmers move reverses the unpopular shake-up of the NHS carried out by the former health secretary Andrew Lansley in the first years of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said it was the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction, and most expensive NHS in history. In a speech about reshaping the state, Starmer said NHS England would be abolished to cut bureaucracy and bring management of the health service back into democratic control. He said the move would free up cash for doctors, nurses and frontline services, and speed up improvements in the NHS, with the government aiming to slash waiting lists by the next election. Streeting has already presided over plans to reduce the size of NHS England by half, and its chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, is leaving at the end of the month. Streeting said on Thursday that the government was abolishing the biggest quango in the world by getting rid of NHS England. Its functions, he said, would be taken into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the merger would take about two years. He had said before the election he did not want to be distracted by a massive top-down reorganisation of the NHS. However, he had also criticised the duplication of work between the DHSC and NHS England. Whitehall sources said No 10 and Streeting, advised by the former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, had quickly become frustrated with the inefficiency of the structure and concluded the best way of saving time and money was a straightforward abolition. However, unions are concerned that Starmers drive to save money in the civil service through reorganisations and technology may undermine morale further. Pressed on whether the move to cut jobs in NHS England and other public bodies was a return to austerity, Starmer said this was not the case. Part of the problem weve got with our public services is what was done to them a decade or so ago, so were not going down that route. None of our plans are going down that route, he said. The Conservatives did not oppose the abolition of NHS England when Streeting addressed the House of Commons on Thursday. The Lib Dems said there was no doubt we need big changes like this to fix the NHS after the Conservatives left it on its knees but called for a greater focus on overhauling social care. A party spokesperson said: Well never fix the NHS unless we fix social care and Im afraid the government still isnt treating that seriously or urgently enough. However, some senior former DHSC figures said they were sceptical that Starmer and Streetings changes would bring the savings and efficiencies promised. One former health minister said the government already had the powers to direct NHS England and the changes were little more than a headline. All that matters is substance, [and] whether they use technology to radically improve how the NHS is coordinated and uses data, as without that, nothing will change, he said. Hugh Alderwick, the director of policy at the Health Foundation charity, said it was a watershed moment but added: History tells us that rejigging NHS organisations is hugely distracting and rarely delivers the benefits politicians expect. Scrapping NHS England completely will cause disruption and divert time and energy of senior leaders at a time when attention should be focused on improving care for patients. It will also eat up the time of ministers, with new legislation likely needed. Expected cuts to local NHS management budgets will add to the disruption, and may undermine the NHSs ability to implement the governments plans for improving the NHS. Reforming NHS bureaucracy is not the same as reforming patient care and government must be careful that these changes dont get in the way. James Mackey, who is the transitional chief executive of NHS England, said the news would be unsettling for staff but bring a welcome clarity and would mean the department could deliver the biggest bang for our buck for patients, as we look to implement the three big shifts: analogue to digital, sickness to prevention, and hospital to community. Join Wes Streeting in conversation with Pippa Crerar discussing Englands health and social care system and how Labour plans to turn it around. On Tuesday 25 March 2025, 7pm-8.15pm (GMT). Book tickets here or at guardianlive.com Lammy warns it would be wrong for Putin to put conditions on Ukraine ceasefire The Foreign Secretary has said it would be wrong for Vladimir Putin to place conditions on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. David Lammy said a pause in fighting would be a first step towards allowing talks to start on a full settlement to end the war, as US President Donald Trump warned it would be very disappointing for Moscow to reject the proposal. Talks between the US and Ukraine produced the idea of a 30-day truce, with the US president sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to discuss the plans with the Kremlin. The Russian leader said the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, but at a press conference in Moscow he added that there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. The Foreign Secretary, who is meeting G7 counterparts in Canada, said there is an opportunity for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. The US and Ukraine have called for a full, immediate and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, he told The Mirror. This would be a first step so that talks can start on a full settlement that protects Ukraines security and sovereignty. President Zelensky has shown that Ukraine is the party of peace. It would be wrong for Putin to lay conditions. Our support for Ukraine, and that of other partners, remains ironclad. Mr Putin and his allies have suggested Ukraine wants the ceasefire to allow its forces to regroup and rearm at a time when they are on the back foot and being forced out of the Kursk region after their incursion into Russian territory. (PA Graphics) We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, he said. Mr Putin was due to meet Mr Witkoff on Thursday, a Kremlin adviser said. In his nightly address in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian leader was too afraid to tell Donald Trump he wants to continue the war. Thats why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible, he said. Meanwhile, speaking alongside the Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world. Speaking on Fox News, US national security adviser Mike Waltz suggested Russia could get the Donbas industrial region as part of a peace deal. In 2022, Moscow illegally annexed the Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk cities, which make up the Donbas, but Russian forces do not fully control the area. Steve Witkoff was sent to Moscow to discuss the plans (Evan Vucci/AP) A series of suggestions about what an agreement might look like were put to Mr Waltz, including that maybe the Donbas region in particular that would go to Putin, to which he replied: Youre not wrong in any of that.Whats important is we are discussing those things with both sides. It is unclear whether Mr Waltz was suggesting the territory could be formally ceded to the Kremlin. He said the US has cautious optimism an agreement can be reached soon after Mr Witkoffs meeting. Downing Street has made clear the UK supports Mr Trumps warnings of very bad financial consequences for Moscow if Mr Putin fails to co-operate with peace talks. Asked whether the UK would ramp up sanctions if the Kremlin rejected the ceasefire proposal, Downing Street said ongoing US, UK and European pressure would cripple Mr Putins income streams. President Trumps leadership to suffocate Russias economy is welcome, a Number 10 spokesman said. After Mr Lammys G7 talks on Friday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will convene a summit of the coalition of the willing on Saturday. Sir Keir said on Thursday that a peace deal in Ukraine is needed to ensure the Russian presidents war does not maintain a choke hold on Europe, and he stressed the need to deter him from attempting to conquer his neighbour again. He said: I profoundly believe that if we dont secure a just peace and a lasting peace, then that insecurity, which weve already felt, will continue. Sir Keir Starmer warned Russia is menacing our skies, our waters, our streets and our national security (Oli Scarff/PA) That means, here, higher prices, higher bills, the cost-of-living crisis going on for even longer if you like, a choke hold on our future, which will be much, much harder for us to tackle. We know some basics: Putins appetite for conflict and for chaos is already there, and it will only grow. Russia is already menacing our skies, our waters, our streets and our national security. He said any peace deal would have to allow Ukraine to be sovereign and secure. Sir Keir defended his decision to offer British troops to a peacekeeping force to secure an agreement. He said: There have been settlements in Ukraine before which had not been backed up. Nobodys defended the deal, and Putin has just crossed the line again when he wants to. That is not good for Ukraine. Its not good for Europe and its not good for us. Downing Street said it would not set a timescale for when the Prime Minister hopes to put forward a concrete plan for the so-called coalition of the willing, because of how quickly events can move. Asked when there would be more clarity about what the plans might involve, he said: The Prime Ministers intent is crystal clear. I think the nebulous responses are coming from Russia, the ball is in their court. There is a proposal there and in the mean time we are concentrating with our international partners on the best way to drive progress to secure that just and lasting peace. The Duchess of Sussex is launching a new podcast called Confessions of a Female Founder. Meghan described the venture as candid conversations with amazing women about the success and struggles of their businesses. She wrote on her Instagram account that she was so excited to share the news, describing recording the series as absolutely eye-opening, inspiringand fun! The former Suits actress added: Because whats the point if we cant have some fun on this wild adventure? She said the women had shared their tips, tricks (and tumbles) as well as letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As ever. The announcement comes just a week after the duchess lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, which has already filmed a second season, faced savage criticism in reviews after premiering on Netflix. The duchess Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes in 2022 ran for just one series, and was part of the Sussexes previous multimillion pound deal with Spotify, which ended the year after. The podcast has been created as part of a deal Meghan signed last year with Lemonada Media, which said listeners would hear unfiltered stories behind the successes of notable female founders. It also said the series would also be sneaking a peek behind the curtain of Meghans own entrepreneurial journey launching As ever. The duchess launched her lifestyle brand As Ever in tandem with her With Love, Meghan show. Her first products, which are not yet on sale, are a small selection of jams, herbal tea, ready-mix baking mixes and flower sprinkles. Lemonada added: As Meghan herself navigates the world of entrepreneurship with the upcoming launch of her brand As ever, be inspired by the real, unfiltered stories and lessons learned from notable female foundersfrom knowing your worth, to trusting your gut, securing investors, and investing in yourself. Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Lemonadas chief creative officer and co-founder, said: Listeners can expect conversations that are way more break room than boardroom. The US podcast firms chief executive and and co-founder, Jessica Cordova Kramer, described the series as the exact podcast we needed when we started Lemonada. She added: Meghan is such a warm and welcoming person, and you feel that in her interviews. She creates a comfortable space for her guests to bring fascinating personal stories to the table and open up in a way they likely havent before publicly. In the 1970s, the Confessions Of series was a run of four British sex comedy films, starring Robin Askwith, beginning with Confessions Of A Window Cleaner. There is also a Confessions Of A CEO podcast on Spotify and Apple focusing on female founders. The output by entrepreneur Kelci Borges is described as a dive into both the glamorous and the gritty sides of being a female founder and offering a candid look at her business and other massively successful founders to learn, be inspired, laugh, and feel less alone in your entrepreneurial journey. A trailer for Meghans new podcast will be released on March 25 and the first of eight weekly episodes will be launched on April 8. A screenshot taken from the Instagram account samstrays_somewhere shows American woman Sam Jones holding the wombat joey. Australias home affairs department is now investigating the video to see if Jones has breached her visa conditions. Photograph: Reddit/Instagram A US hunting influencer who shared video of herself snatching a baby wombat away from its mother is being investigated for a potential breach of her Australian visa. The footage, with scenes described as callous by the RSPCA and pretty dreadful by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, showed the Montana-based influencer Sam Jones grabbing the wombat joey at night as it was walking with its mother. I cant wait to see the back of this individual, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said in a statement on Thursday, in response to the recording. Related: Reality TV contestant apologises for killing and eating protected New Zealand bird Burke said the home affairs department was working through the conditions on Jones visa to determine whether immigration law has been breached. Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, he said. In the film, Jones is shown running down the road towards a parked vehicle, from which she is being filmed, while clutching the joey. I caught a baby wombat, Jones says to the camera as the joey hisses and screeches. OK, mommas right there and she is pissed, Jones then says, as the joeys mother moves towards her. Jones then puts the joey back by the side of the road. The footage has been widely shared and condemned on social media. The footage, which did not indicate any location information or when it was filmed, was shared on the Instagram account samstrays_somewhere belonging to Jones, an outdoor enthusiast & hunter. Jones had been sharing pictures and videos of her trip around Australia, including a video of her picking up an echidna at an unknown location and showing it to the camera. But after the wombat video went viral, attracting strong criticism, the account has been turned to private. The Guardian attempted to contact Jones through Instagram but received no comment. A TikTok account with the same handle was also deleted. Australia has three wombat species, two of which are threatened. The species caught by Jones was identified by one expert as a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat, which are not threatened. Jones has defended her actions, saying she did not harm the joey and only held it very briefly, according to news.com.au. For everyone thats worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum, she wrote. The Guardian has not independently seen the apology as Jones Instagram account has now been set to private. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said it was an outrage Jones had separated the joey from its mother. Maybe she might try some other Australian animals, he said at a press conference, when asked about the incident. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother. See how you go there. Dr Di Evans, a senior scientific officer at RSPCA Australia, said the video showed a blatant disregard for native wildlife. The distress caused by the callous act is obvious with the joey screeching for their mother and the mother being extremely anxious, she said. Removing a joey from their mother is extremely distressing and any separation is harmful. The video shows this strong maternal bond. Evans said there were many appropriate ways that tourists could observe the countrys beautiful wildlife through reputable and licensed zoos and sanctuaries. When Wong was asked about the footage on Sevens morning television show Sunrise, she described it as looking pretty dreadful. I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look leave the baby wombat alone, leave it with its mum, Wong said. A spokesperson for the federal environment department said it had been notified about the footage but would not comment while inquiries were ongoing. Tracey ONeill is suffering the lasting effects of cobalt toxicity after hip replacement surgery about a decade ago - Heathcliff O'Malley for the Telegraph A type of hip replacement is under investigation by the regulator after The Telegraph revealed it was putting thousands of patients at risk of poisoning. Dozens of people have come forward to describe the physical and mental pain caused by part-cobalt hip implants. Cobalt poisoning when nanoparticles of the metal are released into the body from the wear and tear of the implants joints can be deadly. It can lead to problems including heart failure, memory loss, depression, nerve damage, sight loss and deafness. About 5,000 patients in Britain are thought to have been given modular neck hips made with a cobalt part. The hips are proven to have higher failure rates, putting anyone with them at risk of cobalt poisoning. The implants are still available on the NHS, despite not having been recommended since 2017 amid fears about noxious effects, with surgeons able to pick implants for individual patients. Concerns about cobalt first emerged in 2004. One patient said she had endured four years of misery after getting a part-cobalt false hip, and had suffered memory loss and chronic pain. Blood tests on Christina Daniels, 49, revealed that she had elevated cobalt levels, and doctors withdrew vials of orange fluid from her joint where metal ions were leaking. She is awaiting an operation to change the replacement. Of the approximately 100,000 hip replacements carried out in the UK each year, as many as 40 per cent have a cobalt-chromium element. However, various models have been phased out over the past 15 years because of fears over the toxic metal. Guidelines over the use of cobalt hips could be overhauled after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched an investigation in the wake of The Telegraphs findings. MPs have also raised concerns with the Department of Health about cobalt in hip implants. In a letter seen by The Telegraph, Karin Smyth, the health minister, said that the MHRA was aware of concerns regarding dual taper modular neck hip prostheses and the risk of cobalt poisoning and that it was being investigated. She said: Appropriate action will be taken if any risks are identified and, where necessary, safety information will be communicated to the public. The work, which has involved experts from the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) among others, is expected to be concluded in the next two months. Mrs Daniels, a mother of two from Peterborough, had her left hip replaced about four years ago because of osteoarthritis. She had surgery at the Fitzwilliam Hospital, a private hospital carrying out NHS work, in Peterborough. She said she had been left in agony ever since and was in as much pain now as before the hip replacement. After seeing a pain clinic manager and having steroid injections and scans, she was eventually referred back to her original surgeon, who told her nothing was wrong. But a second medic found fluid in the joint and raised cobalt levels in the blood at more than three times the maximum acceptable limit, increasing with every test. Mrs Daniels, who faces a 12-month wait to have it changed because of the NHS backlog, said: They should be making people aware of what they are putting in their bodies. You trust the surgeon, and if I had known I was having cobalt put in my body and there could be such devastating side effects, I wouldnt have had it. Ive had four years of misery, people thinking that Im going mad and its all in the head, back and forth to the hospital, and the amount of painkillers that that Im on. Ive had to go to physiotherapy for my shoulder because Ive slept on the same side now for four years and its caused trapped nerves. Blood tests on Christina Daniels revealed that she had elevated cobalt levels, and doctors withdrew vials of orange fluid from her joint - David Rose for the Telegraph The extent of the damage done has yet to be determined. Doctors will take a biopsy and assess damage to the tissue and surrounding area, including her bones. Working in customer service, Mrs Daniels spends the majority of the day on her feet and is having to take regular time off because of pain, steroid injections and hospital appointments. Id be that person walking around the house at night because its pouring down outside, trying to get the steps in, she said. Now Im putting on weight because Im not getting the exercise. The Telegraph also revealed the story of a 56-year-old woman who had two hip implants, made partly from cobalt, given to her about 10 years ago. She has suffered memory loss and heart problems. Tracey ONeill had not been told about the implants she was being given, nor what they were made from. She was also not monitored for elevated cobalt levels in her blood as she should have been. Her hip surgeries and the products used were not recorded on the National Joint Registry, despite this being mandatory to track the performance of implants, surgeons and hospitals. Speaking six months after first sharing her story, she said the implants had taken the prime years of my life from me and that she was unable to bear weight without severe pain and suffering. She added: My life has been changed forever, with every day a struggle. Since telling her story, she and John Knights, her partner, have founded a support group for people affected by cobalt toxicity as a result of a hip implant, which has more than 150 members. We signpost people to get the right information if theyve got concerns. We dont want to scare anybody. This is about guiding them to request the right information, such as how to get hold of their implant information, Mrs ONeill said. The pair are calling on the MHRA to update its woefully out of date guidelines for metal-on-metal hips, which were last updated in 2017, and to introduce mandatory monitoring guidance across all NHS hospital trusts. Mr Knights said: Everything is being referred back to that document, and its not appropriate for other types of cobalt-containing hip. They really need to now revise that and come up with something thats tailored for other types of [metal] hips. Current guidance from the regulator is focused on monitoring patients with metal-on-metal hips rather than the more modern multi-part implants used today. The innovative designs of the last 15 years, designed to be more flexible while maintaining durability, have often been made with cobalt-chromium parts. They have been a popular choice for younger and more active patients, and it is thought thousands of previously active, working-age people could be at risk of cobalt poisoning. The investigation has raised concerns about whether patients with such false hips are being monitored appropriately to check for elevated levels of cobalt in their blood. Cobalt hips divide opinion among orthopaedic surgeons, with some refusing to use the metal and claiming it should be banned because of the risk, while others have said it remains the best option because of its strength and durability. An MHRA spokesman said: In association with the professional bodies, we continuously review emerging data and, where necessary, provide updated guidance to healthcare professionals and patients. Any changes in recommendations regarding medical implants will be communicated accordingly. The BOA was contacted for comment. Sir Keir Starmer has announced the abolition of an organisation that has come to epitomise some of the worst failings of the public sector - Jaimi Joy/Reuters More than a decade ago, ministers embarked on reforms that were dubbed so big you could see them from space. The idea was to give the health service more freedom from political control. In reality, they created the largest and most stifling bureaucracy the health service has ever experienced, now in charge of a budget of nearly 200 billion. On Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, announced its abolition. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said that front-line NHS staff are drowning in the micromanagement they are subjected to by the various and vast layers of bureaucracy. While staff are battling a mountain of paperwork and central diktats, NHS productivity has tanked and patients have faced the consequences with longer waiting times across the board. Soon after Labour won the election, Mr Streeting announced that the health service was broken. He ordered an independent investigation by Lord Darzi that found the service to be in a critical position, warning that productivity had crashed despite a 17 per cent boom in staff numbers in three years. In January, the influential public accounts committee weighed in, accusing health officials of some of the worst complacency they had ever seen. The writing was clearly on the wall for Amanda Pritchard, the head of NHS England, who resigned last month, quickly followed by others from her senior team. On Thursday, Sir Keir went further announcing the abolition of an organisation that has come to epitomise some of the worst failings of the public sector. But how did it come to this? The Health and Social Care Act 2012, which led to the creation of NHS England, had been hugely controversial, aiming to create a market in health care. The reforms quickly became discredited and the central intention was largely diluted, with health officials creating a system of workarounds to encourage health bodies to collaborate, rather than compete. At the top was NHS England (at first called the NHS Commissioning Board) overseeing the policy and operational delivery of services by local providers across the country. When NHS England was first created, Sir David Nicholson was at the helm, having previously held the role within the Department of Health. But it was when Simon Stevens now Lord Stevens of Birmingham replaced him in 2014 that the organisation began to revel in its freedom from Government. Lord Stevens a contemporary of Boris Johnson at Oxford used his position to lobby effectively and publicly, winning extra funding from George Osborne after a series of deft arguments. His army swelled. The organisation, which had vowed to streamline bureaucracy, became ever bigger and more cumbersome, with more than 20,000 staff on its books. Even before then, questions had been asked about the scale of spending at the organisation, with tens of thousands of pounds spent on hotel bills and travel. A culture of command and control grew ever more entrenched; hospital leaders privately expressed fury that the simplest matters were seen as beyond their authority and required sign off from the central authority. Media access to local services often suffered the same fate, with a growing fear of sending any message that had not been decreed from on high. Meanwhile, the state of the NHS got worse and worse. In 2013, the waiting list stood at 2.3 million a figure that topped 4.3 million in 2019, even before the pandemic. Most key targets on A&E waits, cancer treatment, as well as overall waiting times have not been met since 2015, while the public has grown increasingly dissatisfied about poor access to GPs. The trends were set well before Covid but the pandemic was to provide the ultimate test. Three days before the country entered lockdown, the public was ordered: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives. In Government circles, the mantra was seen as one of the most successful in modern political history, driving compliance with the most draconian of instructions. But it also sparked widespread concern that the precarious state of the NHS dictated Britains approach to Covid, with ruinous lasting consequences. Swaths of routine care were stopped, with far more surgery axed in the UK than in other countries battling Covid. On the orders of NHS England, a system of total triage was instituted so that patients could only see GPs remotely, in the first instance, to make their case. It was deeply divisive, with health officials only changing stance after a public backlash. During the pandemic, tensions between ministers and health officials became increasingly apparent. The Telegraphs Lockdown Files later revealed the scale of the animosity shown towards Lord Stevens, with Matt Hancock, the health secretary at the time, attempting to remove the head of the NHS five days after the first Covid case was detected in the UK. Lord Stevens, who was knighted in 2020, finally retired from the post in July 2021 and was made a life peer in recognition of his services to the NHS. But the messages revealed that Mr Hancock and Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnsons chief adviser, had been conspiring to remove him for at least 18 months. Lord Stevens was replaced by Ms Pritchard, a former hospital trust chief executive who was far more low-profile perhaps selected because politicians were tired of being outshone in public disputes. The health chief was appointed to the top job in August 2021, on a salary almost a third higher than that of her predecessor between 255,000 and 260,000 That was compared with the 195,000 to 200,000 pay that Lord Stevens received during his last year in post, having voluntarily taken a pay cut for all of his seven years in charge. While public confidence in the NHS was falling rapidly, rewards were rising at the top. In 2022, official data released on the orders of Steve Barclay, the health secretary at the time revealed that NHS England was employing more than 400 bureaucrats on salaries of at least 100,000. As waiting backlogs grew, reaching a record high of 7.8 million in September 2023, public faith in the health service was reaching a low. Last year, the British Social Attitudes survey found that less than a quarter of people were satisfied with the way the NHS is running. It was the lowest figure in the 41-year history of the survey. On the day that Labour won the general election, Wes Streeting made a statement that foreshadowed major change. From today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken, he declared. It seemed clear to many observers that NHS England steward to the downfall of the health service could not survive. But Mr Streeting appeared reluctant to wield the axe. Ahead of the election he said he had absolutely no intention of wasting time with a big costly reorganisation. After it, the question was more often ducked, with ministers instead announcing repeated cuts, to reduce the scale of the officialdom. Even as Ms Pritchard resigned last month, followed by much of her senior team, the final death knell for NHS England had yet to toll. As recently as Monday, ministers were announcing cuts that would see staff numbers halved, while the organisation staggered on. On Thursday, Sir Keir finally put the beleaguered institution out of its misery, saying that its end would bring the NHS and the 200 billion of taxpayer money spent on it back under democratic control. NHS England has proved a costly experiment for the public purse. With legislation required to dismantle it, and thousands of redundancies ahead, it remains to be seen just how expensive its abolition will prove. A police officer's hat with blue and pink stripes (of the shade belonging to the transgender flag) superimposed over it Two years ago, on a drizzly day in March, almost 100 Metropolitan Police officers and staff from across the capital gathered at New Scotland Yard. The event for which so many personnel were taking time out of their normal duties was not, however, linked to Londons knife crime epidemic or the anti-social behaviour blighting the city. Instead, officers and fellow staff members, came together to listen to a programme of presentations as part of Scotland Yards marking of the annual Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV). Billed as a celebration of the transgender community, the Met had arranged a roster of trans activist speakers to discuss the transgender experience and how to be an ally. Now, the event is at the centre of allegations that the Met Police has been championing trans rights at the expense of biological women and that its approach to the issue suggests that it has been captured by trans activists. One of the Mets own female officers, Detective Constable Melanie Newman, is taking the force to court over claims that in hosting the event on March 31 2023, it discriminated against staff like her who are critical of transgender ideology. At the start of a five-day hearing, which began on Monday, Newman told an employment tribunal that the Met Police created a hostile environment for those who hold gender critical views the belief that there are only two biological sexes and they are immutable. Detective Constable Melanie Newman alleges that the Met Police created a hostile environment for people with gender-critical views She claimed the decision to host trans activists, who were extremely hostile to people with these views, was a symptom of this problem. Newman alleged that one of the speakers, Eva Echo, told the seminar that trans people needed to be saved from gender-critical people, whom she depicted as having warped, twisted views. The impression I had was of someone who deeply loathed [gender-critical] women, she added. The hearing also heard from Newman how at one point the audience at the Transgender Day of Visibility hissed when the name of a prominent gender-critical campaigner, Posie Parker, was mentioned. Another trans-woman speaker, Shea Coffey, had previously reposted a video of Parker being assaulted at an event in New Zealand the day before, with a caption saying it was hilarious, Newman claimed during the hearing. Newman said she did not challenge the transgender event at the time because senior officers had effectively endorsed it. Explaining her decision to bring a legal claim against the Met, she added: I feel only a public ruling that TDOV was discriminatory and an act of harassment in the context of all these facts will persuade the [Met Police Service] that its reaction to my complaint to this date has been inadequate and that more decisive management action in support of [gender-critical] staff is needed. Newman later acknowledged that only a small proportion of Met officers had attended the event and that those who gave presentations were not speaking on behalf of the force. The Met has previously marked the Trans Day of Visibility with posts on its intranet and an online seminar hosted by trans officers, according to minutes published by Scotland Yard. Far from being alone with her concerns, The Telegraph has discovered that Newman was among a series of figures who made similar claims about the event. An account of what happened on the day, based on information from individuals who attended, has been shared with The Telegraph by the feminist group Womens Rights Network (WRN). According to a dossier compiled by WRN, one activist said that only Pink News an LGBT publication and the youth trans charity Mermaids could be trusted for news about transgender issues. The promotion of Mermaids as a reliable source to a room full of police officers and staff concerned some of those present, given the charity has a history of controversy over its dealings with children. In 2022, a Telegraph investigation found that the charity was agreeing to send potentially dangerous chest-binding devices to 14-year-olds against their parents wishes. In October 2023, the Charity Commission told Mermaids to change their guidance on puberty blockers to reflect the Cass reports findings - PA Then, in October last year, the Charity Commission concluded that Mermaids guidance on the safety of puberty blockers was inaccurate and should be rewritten to reflect the findings of the Cass review of NHS child gender services. The Commission also told the charity that it should not resume a service providing chest binders to teenagers without parental involvement. The trans charity has insisted that binders can help alleviate distress in people with gender dysphoria. It is also alleged that attendees at the Mets trans visibility event were encouraged to get out on the streets, protest, lobby and donate. This is clearly entirely beyond the scope of the operations of an impartial police force, says the WRN. In addition, according to the WRN report, a number of misogynistic comments were made by audience members that went largely unchallenged. In one case, attendees voiced angry objections at a suggestion by one of those present that female officers should be asked before being forced to share workplace changing rooms with trans colleagues. Meanwhile, a transgender officer is reported to have complained about the Mets current policy which may be set to change under proposed new national guidance that biological males who identify as female cannot strip search women. Many of the speakers named on the agenda for the event in March 2023 had previously expressed controversial views. One of the activists singled out by Newman was Eva Echo, who was born male but identifies as female and sits on the Crown Prosecution Services hate crime panel. Echo has accused JK Rowling of inciting hate over her views about womens rights. Saba Ali, another of the activists invited to speak, used a 2023 post on LinkedIn to criticise the backlash over the appointment of a trans woman to lead a Scottish rape crisis centre. She said: Every day the hate against transgender women is ignited further by bigoted feminists thinking they are speaking up for women they are NOT speaking up for me, I am a woman a straight woman When will these banshees stop?! Coffey, the second speaker mentioned by Newman, has argued that schools should refrain from alerting parents if their children identify as the opposite sex and said there is much fear mongering over admitting trans women into female safe spaces. Heather Binning, founder of the WRN, warns: The police really do need to wake up to the fact that they are inviting people who hold ideological views in to radicalise and misinform their staff. The Metropolitan police service leadership seem to care more now about upsetting trans activists in their midst than they do about being sued by women, she adds. They have been captured by gender ideology. Extreme trans activism has infiltrated the organisation under the guise of inclusion. In a letter to the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, as a result of the testimony gathered by the WRN, Binning said that the Transgender Day of Visibility event had failed to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and appeared to be politically biased against women. This event does not appear to have been in line with Policings Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Behaviour, she added. Accounts some of which could be viewed as whistleblowing give rise to serious concerns about impartiality and legal compliance. Some of the speakers claims were inaccurate and are highly damaging to the Met Police Services ambitious vision for More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards. But the Met defended the event. Responding to Binning in December 2023, Colin Wingrove, a Scotland Yard commander, said it had been a means for our LGBT+ staff network to discuss trans and non-binary issues, thereby exercising their right to freedom of expression. Gender-critics claim the Met polices involvement in LGBT activism is making the organisation harder to trust - Future Publishing/Wiktor Szymanowicz At the same time, he insisted, The MPS recognises that people with gender-critical views are entitled to hold and express those views. Wingrove rejected the claim that there had been a breach of the police Code of Ethics, saying that a review by the force had already concluded that independent members of the public who spoke at the trans event were not subject to this code. The Mets clash over trans activism at Scotland Yard comes after its reputation with the female population was severely compromised by the 2021 murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens and reports of institutional misogyny. A YouGov poll in February 2023 found that 44 per cent of women said they distrusted individual officers. The force has also been accused of acting on spurious complaints about women who have spoken out on trans issues. Leading feminist writer Julie Bindel has told of how she was visited at her home by two officers following a complaint from a transgender man in Holland about a Tweet she had posted. She received a call the next day to say the inquiry had been dropped. More recently, Maya Forstater, chief executive of the charity Sex Matters, said she was investigated for more than a year by the Met over a social media post she wrote criticising a transgender doctor, Kamilla Kamaruddin, in June 2023. After transitioning, Kamaruddin had written of being allowed by patients to perform more intimate examinations that they did not let me do when I was a male GP. Forstater said she was finally informed by the CPS just before Christmas that there was no case to answer. Now she says the latest disclosures will heighten concerns that women with gender critical views like me cant trust the Met police to treat us fairly. I was told that the police had questioned me because I had targeted a member of the trans community, she says. Its comments like this which leave you to think the Met believes some communities deserve more protection than others and that they are not treating people without fear or favour. The Met has also drawn criticism for its past involvement with schemes run by Stonewall, which campaigners say have led to employers censoring staff and removing words such as mother from workplace policies. It was revealed in 2020 that the Met had spent 12,500 since 2017 to fund subscriptions to Stonewall inclusion schemes. A further 3,500 in fees was paid to the LGBT charity in 2021/22 to be part of its Workplace Equality Index. The significant number of Met officers who attend Londons annual Pride March and instances of police wearing rainbow badges both of which have come to be viewed as symbols of trans activism has also undermined the forces credibility in the eyes of some campaigners. Harry Miller, a former police officer who works with the free speech campaign group Fair Cop, said: The Met cannot serve the public fairly when they are constantly associated with political campaigning groups, such as Pride and Stonewall. There is no place for any type of politics or campaigning within the police as it destroys the principle of impartiality and undermines public confidence. A Met Police spokesman says: As an organisation we must balance a range of different views, including those from all sides of this debate which are protected in law. This case demonstrates how deeply polarising these issues are and highlights the difficulty organisations face in balancing all sides of this societal debate. We await the conclusion of proceedings and are therefore not able to comment more fully at this time. Lydia Mugambe was found guilty in a case in which prosecutors said involved a very dishonest trade-off with the Ugandan deputy high commissioner - HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd A United Nations judge studying for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe, 49, took advantage of her status by preventing the woman from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid. Following her conviction on Thursday, Thames Valley Police released bodycam footage showing Mugambes arrest at her home in Oxfordshire. In the footage, Mugambe appeared shocked when an officer said he was arresting her under the Modern Slavery Act. She told the arresting officer: I am a judge in my country, I even have immunity. I am not a criminal. Asked to reaffirm that she had immunity, Mugambe said: Yes, I have a diplomatic passport. Credit: Thames Valley Police The conversation ended with the defendant saying: I came here as a student, I dont need anyone to work for me. I didnt come with her, she asked me because she has worked at my home before, she asked me. Mugambe was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness. Oxford Crown Court had heard Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, worked with John Leonard Mugerwa, the Ugandan deputy high commissioner, to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK. Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial: On her arrival, she was made to work for Ms Mugambe from the very start, unremunerated and acting as maid and for child care to give Ms Mugambe back her life. Deprived of her freedom to choose her own work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Ms Mugambe. Lonely and stuck Prosecutors said Mugambe and Mr Mugerwa participated in a very dishonest trade-off, in which the Ugandan High Commission sponsored the womans entrance into the UK in exchange for Mugambe attempting to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in. Mugambes trial heard she had the intention of obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself. Mugambe denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she always treated her with love, care and patience. The young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt lonely and stuck after her working hours were limited. According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the bodys judicial roster in May 2023 three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire. The UK finds itself desperately short of doctors to staff the NHS - Leon Neal/Getty As a result of a lack of forward planning and preparation by successive governments, the UK finds itself desperately short of doctors to staff the NHS. In panic mode, the Department of Health and Social Care is recruiting an ever-increasing number of doctors from abroad, while scrambling to justify the use of physician associates and even training apprentice doctors. What these belated attempted remedies have in common is that they all fail to make a quality of patient care a priority. The DHSC is prepared to compromise patient safety in order to plug seemingly insatiable gaps in the NHS workforce. I hope they accept the blame and the shame. The NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan was published in June 2023 with much fanfare. It promised to increase the number of medical school places to 15,000 by 2031/32. That will require about 20 new medical schools and would never happen, especially now as we must raise defense spending to 2.5 per cent or more of GDP. This, another example of failure of priorities, planning, and preparation by successive governments. In 2024, the General Medical Council registered 9,285 new UK doctors and 19,279 foreign graduates. To provide a longer-term perspective, over the past five years, 66 per cent of all doctors registering with the GMC trained abroad. They consisted of 40,254 UK graduates and 73,745 foreign graduates. Despite the protestations of the GMC, there is evidence that the skill and knowledge of a proportion of these foreign graduates is not of equivalent standard to UK graduates. This tallies with the GMCs own evidence that International Medical Graduates are three times as likely as UK graduates to be referred to the GMC on fitness-to-practice grounds. The GMCs solution to this problem is to raise the threshold for referral, thereby disguising the problem. The plan to expand the number of physician associates from the present 3,000 to 10,000 is another threat to patient care. To become a PA, candidates need an undergraduate degree in a biomedical science followed by only two years of postgraduate training. The Royal College of Physicians was once supportive of PAs and delivered its final examination. Successful candidates became Members of the Faculty of PAs which allowed them practicing privileges. Over recent months there has been a revolt by Fellows of the RCP which has resulted in the resignation of the President. The close relationship between the College and the Faculty of PAs may not continue. Why? Again because of patient safety issues. The notorious example is of a thirty-year old lady who was twice seen by a PA working unsupervised in general practice. She complained of a swollen calf and shortness of breath which would make the most junior doctor think of a pulmonary embolism. The diagnosis was not suspected and the patient tragically died. The coroner concluded that her life would have been saved had she been referred to A&E after the first consultation for anticoagulation. The patient thought that she was seeing a regular GP. Yesterday, this newspaper reported that the NHS had falsely claimed that there was evidence to support the use and expansion of PAs. In reality, the British Medical Association had called for recruitment to be paused. This followed a review by Oxford academics which concluded that there was limited evidence to support the use of PAs. This degradation of the workforce would have gone further with the plan to have 13 per cent of the expanded number of medical students actually be apprentices with no medical school training. That plan has gone quiet and has hopefully been abandoned. The UK needs to train more medical students, and that will cost money. That should come from a cull of bureaucrats in the civil service and especially among NHS managers. There are at least some positive signs that this will happen. This week Mr. Wes Streeting has suggested that NHS England may be scrapped with the loss of up to 7,000 jobs. No-one will notice. The Public Accounts Committee recently concluded that complacency among managers was one of the reasons for the NHSs failings. Pat McFadden agrees that 513,000 civil servants is too many, and plans that up to 10,000 jobs will be lost from his department alone. Even Sir Keir Starmer has described some civil servants as being comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline. We should all encourage Labour to do a Milei and get out the chainsaw. That will pay for our defense, train more doctors and much else. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. An Oasis movie produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will be made in conjunction with the bands reunion tour. The Britpop band, who split in 2009 prompted by a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival, confirmed their long-awaited reunion in August 2024. Knight, 65, who wrote the script for Oscar-nominated film Maria, and Disney+ series A Thousand Blows, will create and produce the movie, the band announced. No release date has been set and there are no further details regarding the content of the film. Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher announced a worldwide tour in 2024 (Simon Emmett/Fear PR) The band, who split more than 15 years ago and released their chart-topping album Definitely Maybe about three decades ago, will first take to the stage for two performances at Cardiffs Principality Stadium. The UK and Ireland tour will also visit Manchesters Heaton Park, Londons Wembley Stadium, Edinburghs Murrayfield Stadium and Dublins Croke Park throughout July, August and September. When tickets went on sale for the UK and Ireland shows, some standard tickets more than doubled from 148 to 355, which was blamed on unprecedented demand. There was outrage from fans and the controversy prompted the Government and the UKs competition watchdog to pledge they would look at the use of dynamic pricing. The band is also travelling to Japan, South Korea, South America, Australia, America, Mexico and Canada as part of their tour. Oasis, who signed to independent record label Creation Records in 1993, soared to fame after they released their debut chart-topping album Definitely Maybe on August 29 1994. They had hits with songs including Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall, Supersonic and Live Forever. Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher had been known to get into arguments over the years, but things reached breaking point at a French festival when Liam began swinging around a guitar. Noel quit the rock group on August 28 2009, saying he simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. In 2021, the documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996 was released to celebrate the band playing two concerts at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire a year after the release of their 1995 album Whats The Story (Morning Glory). The new film will be directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace and will be distributed by Sony Music Vision. Police given more time to question captain of North Sea crash ship Police have been granted more time to question the captain of a container ship which crashed into a US oil tanker in the North Sea. The 59-year-old Russian captain of Solong, which struck US tanker Stena Immaculate off the east coast of Yorkshire on Monday, will be detained for a further 36 hours, Humberside Police said. He was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter and taken into police custody. Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Nicholson said: An extension has been granted by the magistrates court to detain the man in custody for a further 36 hours. Detectives are continuing to question him following his arrest on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision. Extensive lines of inquiry by police into any potential criminal offences which arise from the collision between the two vessels are ongoing, whilst partner agencies continue their own assessments of the incident. Mr Nicholson said the force is supporting the family of a Solong crew member who went missing after the crash and is presumed dead. Chief coastguard Paddy OCallaghan said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) continues to support the joint response to the collision between the Solong and the Stena Immaculate. He said: The Stena Immaculate remains at anchor. The Solong continues to be held in a safe location by tug. Small pockets of fire are still reported to be on the top deck of Solong and specialist vessels are supporting the firefighting efforts. Salvors have boarded the vessels to assess the damage while surveillance flights continue to monitor the two ships, the coastguard said on Thursday afternoon. He said the counter pollution and salvage team has a response in place should it be required. (PA Graphics) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday the situation was reasonably contained. Were obviously monitoring it all of the time. In terms of the cause of it, thats yet to be determined, he said. Theres a process now in place with an arrest. But we have to get to the bottom of it. But the immediate thing is to deal with the problem in front of us, which is the aftermath of the collision. He added: Id just like to acknowledge the good work of those that are actually out there doing really hard work in very difficult circumstances, which they did not expect to be in. I pay tribute to them. Pressed on calls for a Cobra meeting to assess the potential environmental damage, he said: We are absolutely monitoring this 24/7 and Ive got teams doing that and assuring me of whats going on. At the moment, the situation is reasonably contained. And, obviously, we will do whatever is necessary. (PA Graphics) US-based maritime news website gCaptain said it was told by a US official at the White House that foul play had not been ruled out. Transport minister Mike Kane told MPs something went terribly wrong for the crash to happen, but there was no evidence of foul play. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), which will lead the safety probe into the incident, said the Solong altered course at about 1.30am on Monday, as it passed to the east of Longstone lighthouse, on to a heading of approximately 150 degrees, which is a south-east direction. The crash happened eight hours and 17 minutes later. The ship was travelling at about 16.4 knots, the MAIB added, the equivalent land speed for which is 18.9mph. Container ships typically travel at 16-24 knots. A team of inspectors was immediately deployed, and inquiries have focused on gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data, the MAIB said. Solong frequently travelled between Grangemouth in Scotland and Rotterdam and regularly used the route it took on the day of the collision, a statement added. Thirty-six crew from both vessels were recovered but tragically one member of crew from Solong remains unaccounted for, the MAIB said. As well as continuing to gather witness accounts, further investigation work will look to establish the navigational practices on board both vessels, the manning and fatigue management, the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved, and the environmental conditions at the time. The founder of an LGBTQ+ group has been found guilty of raping a 12-year-old boy he met on Grindr. Stephen Ireland, 41, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, was convicted at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday of raping the child at the flat he shared with David Sutton, 27, in Addlestone on April 19 2024. Ireland along with Sutton, who was a volunteer for Surrey Pride, stood trial for a total of 38 offences between them, including conspiring to sexually assault children, arranging the commission of child sex offences and conspiring to kidnap. The court heard the boy, 12, had met Ireland at his flat after messaging on dating app Grindr. The child told police they had sex in the flat, smoked a bong and that pornography was played on a laptop, jurors heard. Ireland was also convicted of three counts of causing a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, one count of sexual assault of a child under 13, one count of arranging the commission of a child sex offence and six counts of making indecent images of children. Both were acquitted of one count of conspiracy to kidnap a child. Sutton was cleared of six counts of conspiracy to sexually assault a child. Ireland was convicted of one count of the same offence while cleared of five counts. He was also found guilty of four counts of distributing indecent images of children, two counts of publishing an obscene article, namely electronic messaging relating to the sexual abuse of children, and one count each of possession of prohibited images of children and possession of an extreme pornographic image. Sutton was also found guilty of three counts of making indecent photographs of children and one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image. The pair were found guilty of voyeurism after jurors heard Ireland watched live camera footage of Sutton having sex with another 17-year-old boy at their flat in March 2024. Both men were found guilty of perverting the course of justice by intentionally deleting material and history from their phones once they were aware of a police investigation. Ireland was found not guilty of sexual communication with a child. Both were cleared of conspiracy to administer a substance with intent and three counts each of arranging the commission of a child sex offence. Neither Ireland, wearing a navy suit and white shirt, nor Sutton, wearing a grey suit and blue shirt, visibly reacted after the jury returned their verdicts after deliberating for more than 23 hours. Before the trial, Ireland and Sutton pleaded guilty to five counts that were not presented to the jury. Ireland admitted possessing prohibited images of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image. Meanwhile, Sutton pleaded guilty to possessing prohibited images of children and two counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child. Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent Debbie White, head of Surrey Polices public protection team, said: Stephen Ireland was a sexual predator who targeted a young boy and took advantage of his age and vulnerability for his own gratification. I would like to pay tribute to the victim in this case for their courage in coming forward and for giving evidence. I hope the guilty verdicts help them start to re-build their life. Both men have demonstrated an extreme sexual interest in children and the fact that the jury has found them both guilty of multiple sexual offences today means that they will no longer pose that risk. Both men then tried to cover up their offending by intentionally deleting material from their phones once they became aware of the police investigation and following their arrests. Claire Gallagher, senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: It is clear that both Stephen Ireland and David Sutton had a perverted and dangerous interest in children. The pair will be sentenced at the same court on June 30. A view of the destruction caused by Israeli attacks in Jabalia, Gaza. Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. Photograph: APAImages/Rex/Shutterstock In the aftermath of the Iraq war, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of British military operations. Published in 2016, the Chilcot inquiry found serious failings in the British government, which ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war. History is repeating itself. Today, the death toll in Gaza has reportedly exceeded 61,000. Two Israeli officials are wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Britain has played a highly influential role in Israels military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus. Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. Therefore we are demanding an independent, public inquiry into the UKs involvement in Israels military assault in Gaza. This inquiry should establish exactly what decisions have been taken, how they have been made and what consequences they have had. Any meaningful inquiry would require the full cooperation of ministers involved in decision-making processes since October 2023. Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. These charges will not go away until there is an inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth. Jeremy Corbyn Independent Alliance, Brendan OHara Middle East spokesperson, Scottish National party, Carla Denyer Co-leader, Green party, Brian Leishman Scottish Labour, Diane Abbott Labour, Zarah Sultana Independent, Richard Burgon Labour Vladimir Putin has chosen to drag things out so he can continue fighting for as long as possible - Getty Images Europe Vladimir Putin had three options: accept Ukraines ceasefire offer, but surrender momentum on the battlefield; reject it and risk antagonising Donald Trump; or try to drag things out so he can continue fighting as long as possible. He has chosen option three. By praising the US president and the idea of stopping the war, he hopes to stay in Mr Trumps good books. But his immediate raising of nuances to discuss should be a red flag. This is a classic Russian negotiating tactic as any diplomat who has been in a room with Sergei Lavrov will tell you. By breaking every proposal down into an infinite number of constituent parts, he will attempt to appear co-operative while playing for time, bogging down the talks, and trying to use facts on the ground to squeeze out the maximum possible concessions. So Mr Trump and his cabinet now face a test of nerve and credibility. They could ignore Mr Putins excuses about nuances and demand he order a ceasefire immediately it is, after all, entirely in his power to do so. That would mean showing the kind of impatience and coercion they applied to Volodymyr Zelenksy. Ukrainian serviceman of the Khartia brigade fire towards Russian positions in Kharkiv - Alex Babenko This could include unleashing the bone-breaking sanctions package Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened if Russia does not comply in other words, smacking the Kremlins donkey face with a two-by-four, as Gen Keith Kellogg, Donald Trumps special envoy, boasted to have done to Ukraine. Mr Putin is far from invincible. He has been losing upwards of 1,000 soldiers a day, his economy is overheating, and hell face serious domestic headaches by 2026 on the current trajectory. If the Americans get tough, he will probably fold. However, they could get drawn into Putins painstaking discussion of the details. That would be to repeat mistakes made by successive US presidents going back to Barack Obama. Putin already gave a sense of the cards he will seek to play on in those talks. He claimed to have Ukrainian troops surrounded in Kursk and said they had no way out but death or surrender and urged the Ukrainian government to consider their fate. The strong implication was that they should be forced to surrender rather than be allowed to leave Russian territory. He clearly has no intention of ceasing fire as long as the Ukrainians have the bargaining chip of a foothold there. He claimed Russia had the upper hand all along the line elsewhere effectively asking why on earth Russia should stop fighting now. Translation: if you want me to stop the violence, youd better have a damned big carrot to offer me in exchange. Then he raised the question of who will police the ceasefire, who will monitor violations, and who will be blamed? That debate could drag on for days or weeks. A peacekeeping force? Unarmed patrols? Under which international organisation? From which contributing countries? And with what mandate? He also demanded that Ukraine be prevented from mobilising troops during the proposed 30-day truce or redeploying weapons to the front. That would effectively deny Ukraine the opportunity to defend itself from renewed Russian attack. This will give Ukrainians deja vu. In 2014 and 2015, Mr Putin twice used encirclement of Ukrainian troops to force punishing ceasefire deals on his own terms. Last time, it was the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe that provided unarmed observers to diligently count explosions and measure the size of fresh craters. They were unable to stop the war, because they were constantly deceived. In 2014, for example, Russia made a great show of agreeing to host OSCE observer missions at its border checkpoints to make sure no troops or weapons were crossing into Ukraine. In fact, Russia confined the observers to the official customs post in accordance with their mandate, while driving tanks and troops including the missile launcher that shot down MH17 into Ukraine across a field just a few miles away. I know, because I saw them do it. Maybe, in defiance of all expectations, the fighting will cease this weekend. Otherwise, Putin will try to lure the Americans into open-ended diplomacy while using force to wring maximalist concessions and lay the groundwork to blame Ukraine if when the talks (or the ceasefire, if things get that far) collapses. The ball is now in Mr Trumps court. Nearly a quarter of the UK population have witnessed shoplifting in the last 12 months, a survey suggests. The figure is the equivalent of more than 16 million people seeing such an event, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Opinium poll. It also found 23% of customers have witnessed the physical or verbal abuse of shop staff, including racial or sexual abuse, physical assault or threats with weapons. Customers in Nottingham saw the most shoplifting, with 32% of people witnessing an incident, followed by London at 29%, Southampton (28%) and Leeds (26%). A British Retail Consortium list of shoplifting hotspots (BRC/PA) Plymouth and Belfast experienced the lowest rate of incidents at 12% and 13% respectively. The survey follows a record level of retail crime across the UK last year, including 20 million incidents of theft and violence and abuse climbing to more than 2,000 reports per day. Separately, shopworkers union Usdaw produced their own survey suggesting 77% of retail staff had experienced abuse, 53% had been threatened and 10% assaulted. Crime cost retailers 4.2 billion last year, including 2.2 billion from shoplifting and another 1.8 billion spent on crime prevention measures such as CCTV, security personnel, anti-theft devices and body-worn cameras, the BRC said. The Crime and Policing Bill proposes a separate offence of assaulting a retail worker with a maximum sentence of six months and also proposes removing the 200 low value limit for shoplifting, meaning the maximum sentence for shop theft will be seven years regardless of value. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: Seeing incidents of theft or abuse has become an all-too-common part of the shopping experience for many people. While an incident can be over in a matter of seconds, it can have life-long consequences on those who experience it, making them think twice about visiting their local high streets. Criminals are becoming bolder and more aggressive, and decisive action is needed to put an end to it. The Crime and Policing Bill is a crucial step in providing additional protections to retail workers. However, in its current proposed form, it does not afford all retail workers the same protections as those working in Scotland, where delivery drivers are also protected. The Bill must protect everyone in customer-facing roles in the industry. The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) 2025 Crime Report, released earlier this week, revealed the UKs local shops recorded an estimated record 6.2 million incidents of shop theft, up from 5.6 million in the previous year. There were more than 59,000 estimated incidents of violence in the convenience sector over the last year, and 1.2 million incidents of verbal abuse, the report said. The survey found 59% of retailers believed that incidents involving organised crime had increased over the last year. Peter Kyle asked ChatGPT for advice on what podcasts to appear on. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy When Tony Blair looked back on his time in power, he had a simple assessment of his decision to introduce the Freedom of Information Act: You idiot. While the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, is a fan of the former prime minister, he may be inclined to agree with that verdict after the act was used to reveal that he had been asking ChatGPT which podcasts he should appear on. The disclosure has already caused frustration among ministers, given its possible repercussions. Blairs gripe was that the act risked stopping the frank discussions needed among ministers and officials. Ever since, it has become notoriously difficult to have a freedom of information (FoI) request granted, as officials exploit various legal exemptions to refuse them. The successful use of the legislation to probe into Kyles AI chatbot use has led some to conclude that a new precedent has been set, one that will have officials across Whitehall sweating over their recent chatbot interactions. Related: Dubious use of the Freedom of Information Act stopping access to files on Prince Andrew, researchers say Its the first time Ive come across that information being released, but its completely in line with the basic principles of the act, said Martin Rosenbaum, a former BBC journalist and FoI consultant. If ministers or officials are doing stuff on their phone or computers which is done for work purposes on behalf of a public authority, that is subject to FoI whatever device theyre using. The same logic would apply to whatever prompts you type into ChatGPT, or any other AI. WhatsApp messages and texts even on personal phones can already be subject to FoI requests, thanks to a series of fiercely fought cases. In practice, however, officials have become adept at finding ways to knock back or heavily redact responses. Given that attitude, the granting of access to Kyles ChatGPT queries has shocked experts. Im surprised the department didnt fight it harder, said Rosenbaum. Some departments would have tried to resist it all the way. Obviously, its going to prompt a lot of other requests. Chris Stokel-Walker, the journalist behind the request for Kyles ChatGPT use, already has plans to ask for further disclosures. My jaw dropped I thought there was no way theyre going to give over this data, he said. In the time since I got the response, I have put in other requests for other generative AI interactions. Given this success, could the act now be used to reveal ministerial Google search requests? Rosenbaum said there was no reason in law stopping such a move. As journalists, that is a theory we should now test, said Stokel-Walker. There is still plenty of scope to limit what is revealed, however. Access to Kyles ChatGPT queries was initially denied on the basis that some of his prompts were made in a personal capacity. It was later granted when the request was limited to prompts he made in an official capacity. But the difference between personal and official use is a grey area. Heather Brooke, whose use of an FoI request helped break the MPs expenses scandal, said the distinction could be used to keep information secret. It does give power of interpretation to people who have an interest in keeping things hidden, she said. With MPs expenses, some of the most egregious abuses were the exact things that they tried to claim were private. After this rare victory, Rosenbaum envisages a future in which AI could play an even bigger role in the legislation becoming both the creator of requests, as well the target of them: Im sure FoI requesters themselves will be typing into ChatGPT what should I request next? Aleksej Besciokov. Police say he tried to bargain his way out of being arrested - US Secret Service A Russian-linked crypto kingpin on the US wanted list has been arrested in India while on a family holiday, authorities said. Aleksej Besciokov, 46, was apprehended on Tuesday evening in the coastal town of Varkala in the south Indian state of Kerala. Police initially said he looked panicked and tried to bargain his way out of the situation. Besciokov, a cryptocurrency exchange administrator, is accused of processing $96 billion since April 2019, including funds linked to ransomware groups such as Black Basta, Play, and Conti, according to US Secret Service documents and Indias Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI). The US Department of Justice said the proceeds from these transactions were used to facilitate hacking, ransomware attacks, and fund terrorism and drug trafficking. S Ajeetha Begum, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range, told The Telegraph: We received an input about his presence in Varkala and our team searched for him in different resorts within the vicinity. We eventually tracked him down to a homestay. He made attempts to resist, but there was no way out we had him surrounded. Plans for long stay in India Mr Besciokov had been staying in Varkala since Feb 11 with five others, including his wife and two daughters in their 20s, Ms Begum said. He had plans for a long stay in India and had booked the homestay for three months, she said. Kerala police zeroed in on the alleged high-profile scammer acting upon a provisional arrest warrant issued against him by a Delhi court at the request of US authorities. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said in a statement the fugitive criminal Mr Besciokov was wanted for facing trial before the United States District Court for the Eastern District Court of Virginia,. He had previously made trips to Delhi, but this was his first visit to Varkala, Begum said. Begum said Mr Besciokov was not expecting local police to track him down. He offered our officers money to let go, but officers vehemently declined. After we showed him the arrest warrant, he realised he had nowhere to escape, Ms Begum said. Travel arrangements being finalised Mr Besciokov was produced before a local court and later lodged in Central Jail Thiruvananthapuram. Preparations are under way for his transfer to Delhi, with travel arrangements currently being finalised, she said. He will be handed over to the CBI, which will later give him in, and the US law enforcers will take him into custody, she said. Begum said the police rarely get to act on extradition cases from other countries, especially the US, and the diligent action of her team led to the big catch. This is the first time our police worked on extradition of a Russian-linked person to the US, she said. Garantex, which was sanctioned by the US in April 2022, has reportedly processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019. The US, Germany and Finland recently dismantled Garantexs online infrastructure, with the DOJ charging Besciokov and another administrator, Aleksandr Mira Serda, a Russian national, with money laundering and sanctions violations. Besciokov faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Power Act, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. G7 foreign ministers are to meet in Canada as Russia considers a proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Peace in Ukraine is likely to top the agenda for Thursdays meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy stressing the need to ensure Kyiv is in the strongest possible position. Mr Lammy said: If we do not achieve lasting peace in Ukraine, the instability and insecurity that has hit the living standards of working people in Britain will only get worse and Putins appetite for conflict and chaos will only grow. David Lammy will meet his G7 counterparts in Canada on Thursday (Aaron Chown/PA) The meeting, which will also be attended by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, comes as the Kremlin considers a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire put forward after talks between the US and Ukraine. American officials were expected to put the proposals directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin overnight on Wednesday, with Mr Rubio saying the ball is truly in their court. On Wednesday evening, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was still awaiting detailed information on the proposal. The G7 meeting is the latest in a round of diplomacy as the world scrambles to respond to Donald Trumps push for an end to the war in Ukraine. Earlier in the week, military chiefs from Europe and beyond met in Paris to discuss plans for a peacekeeping force that could be deployed to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. Marco Rubio has suggested the US will not accept a G7 communique that is too critical of Russia (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP) UK Defence Secretary John Healey said this work was accelerating after a meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Poland on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to host a summit of the coalition of the willing on Saturday. But while Mr Lammy is set to push for continued support for Ukraine when he meets the G7 foreign ministers on Thursday, the meeting could also see tensions as the US seeks to avoid criticism of Moscow. The Trump administration has already opposed UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine, and earlier in the week Mr Rubio said the US would not sign on to any communique thats not consistent with our position to bring both sides to the table. Mr Trumps repeated claims that the US should absorb Canada as its 51st state could also prove to be a sticking point, although Mr Rubio told reporters on Wednesday it was not what were going to discuss at the G7. Vladimir Putin has said he has many questions about the proposed US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine and appeared to set out a series of sweeping conditions that would need to be met before Russia would agree to such a truce. Speaking at a press conference at the Kremlin alongside the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said he agreed in principle with US proposals to halt the fighting but said he wanted to address the root causes of the conflict. The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin said. But he suggested that Ukraine should neither rearm nor mobilise and that western military aid to Kyiv be halted during the 30-day ceasefire. Donald Trump responded briefly before a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, saying Putin had made a very promising statement, but it was not complete. The US president said he was ready to talk to Putin. We will see if Russia agrees, and if not, it will be a very disappointing moment, he said. I would like to see a ceasefire from Russia. We hope that Russia will do the right thing. Putin claimed Ukraine was seeking a ceasefire because of the battlefield situation, asserting that Russian forces were advancing almost everywhere and nearing full control of the Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a surprise incursion last year. How will these 30 days of [ceasefire] be used? To continue forced mobilisation in Ukraine? To supply weapons to Ukraine? These are legitimate questions, he said. Ukraine has previously indicated it would continue its mobilisation efforts during any ceasefire. We need to discuss this with our American partners perhaps a call with Donald Trump, Putin added, thanking the US president for his involvement in the peace negotiations. Related: Ukraine ceasefire: whats in the proposed deal and whats not By avoiding an outright rejection of Trumps proposal, Putin appears to be balancing between not openly rebuffing Trumps push for peace while also imposing his own stringent demands potentially prolonging negotiations. Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, dismissed Putins ambivalent response to the proposal as manipulative. We now have all heard from Putins very predictable, very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. As we have always said, the only one who will drag things out, the only one who will be unconstructive, is Russia. Zelenskyy said Putin was afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, accusing the Russian leader of framing the idea of a ceasefire with such preconditions that nothing will work out at all, or for as long as possible. Speaking from the White House, Trump went into further detail on the US negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, saying that a lot of individual subjects have been discussed. Trump indicated that the US and Ukraine had discussed pieces of land that would be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement, including a power plant. Trump said Ukraine had also brought up Nato membership. Weve been discussing concepts of land because you dont want to waste time with the ceasefire if its not going to mean anything, Trump said. So were saying: look, this is what you can get, this is what you cant get. Now were going to see if Russias there and if not its going to be a very disappointing moment for the world. Asked whether he had any leverage to compel Russia to agree to a ceasefire, Trump said he did but did not want to go into detail. Trump said he could do things financially that would be very bad for Russia if a ceasefire was not agreed, but did not elaborate on whether he meant new sanctions or tariffs. David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, said: It would be wrong for Putin to lay conditions. Our support for Ukraine, and that of other partners, remains ironclad. The Russian president had travelled to the Kursk region on Wednesday in a rare battlefield visit, where he spoke with Russian troops who were on the verge of expelling Ukrainian forces from the land it captured last year. What will happen in the Kursk region? Will an order be given for the troops stationed there to surrender? Putin asked. How the situation along the frontline will be resolved remains unclear. Ukraine has not officially confirmed an organised retreat from the Kursk region but Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that the military command is doing what it should do saving the maximum number of lives of our soldiers. On Thursday, a source in Ukraines military who recently left the Kursk region said: Its over. The only question now is managing the withdrawal with as few losses as possible. But although Ukraine appears to be withdrawing from Kursk, Kyiv has largely stabilised the front in eastern Ukraine, where a Russian offensive has stalled in recent weeks. Putins remarks came hours after Trumps envoy and close ally, Steve Witkoff, landed in Moscow, where he is expected to meet Putin to push for a ceasefire after Washingtons talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. After those talks, Ukraine said it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire and the US said it was putting the proposal to Moscow. Recent rhetoric from Russian officials has shown little urgency to reach an agreement or make concessions, as Moscow remains on the offensive on the battlefield. A Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, said he had informed the US national security adviser, Mike Waltz, that Moscow views the proposed 30-day ceasefire as nothing more than a short reprieve for Ukrainian forces. Russias foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday that Moscow was ready to discuss a US-backed peace initiative as early as today. But she indicated that Russia saw little urgency in a halt to fighting, reiterating it would not accept western peacekeepers in Ukraine as a security guarantee and that they would be targeted if deployed. Ukraine has said it would need some kind of security guarantee in order to sign a lasting ceasefire deal. Moscows continued resistance to European peacekeeping forces seen by Ukraine as the only viable alternative to Nato membership for guaranteeing its security presents a big obstacle to a peace acceptable to Kyiv. Observers believe Putin is determined to put forward a string of maximalist demands before agreeing to any ceasefire, which is likely to prolong negotiations. Reuters and Bloomberg have reported that Russia, in discussions with the US, has presented a list of such demands to end the war in Ukraine and reset relations with Washington. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on the reports. These demands could include the demilitarisation of Ukraine, an end to western military aid and a commitment to keeping Kyiv out of Nato. Moscow may also push for a ban on foreign troop deployments in Ukraine and international recognition of Putins claims to Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions Russia annexed in 2022. Putin could also revisit some of his broader demands from 2021, which go beyond Ukraine, including a call for Nato to halt the deployment of weapons in member states that joined after 1997, when the alliance began expanding into former communist countries. Many in Europe fear these conditions for peace could weaken the wests ability to increase its military presence and could allow Putin to expand his influence across the continent. The father of Sara Sharif should have been given a whole life order for his daughters murder, the Court of Appeal has been told. Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were jailed for life with minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years respectively in December last year after being found guilty of the 10-year-olds murder. Saras uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death and jailed for 16 years. In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey in December, Mr Justice Cavanagh said Saras death was the culmination of years of neglect, frequent assaults and what can only be described as torture, mainly at the hands of Sharif. All three are bringing bids to challenge their sentences at the Court of Appeal, while the Solicitor General is asking judges to increase Sharifs sentence under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme. At a hearing on Thursday, Tom Little KC, for the Solicitor General, said Saras murder was a rare case of such exceptionally high seriousness that it warranted a whole life order for Sharif. This was a truly awful case of a murder of a child, he told the court, adding that a whole life order was the only appropriate sentence. He said in written submissions: It is submitted that it is difficult to conceive of a murder being perpetrated on a young girl by her own father that could be any more serious than this. Sara Sharifs stepmother Beinash Batool, uncle Faisal Malik and father Urfan Sharif during sentencing over the 10-year-olds death at the Old Bailey (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Whilst that is not the test it is illustrative of the need to consider the individual facts of the case. Sara was found dead in a bunkbed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023. She had suffered 71 recent injuries at the time of her death, including 25 broken bones, iron burns on her bottom, scalding marks to her feet, and human bites, appeal judges were told. Mr Little continued: The violence meted out to Sara was premeditated and repeated again and again even if the murder itself was not. The barrister told the court in London that Sara was caused stress, pain and trauma and began to vomit food or soil herself as a response to the abuse. Mr Little added: It is submitted that the level of violence inflicted upon Sara, namely serious violence which was repeated over years, was in itself certainly substantially premeditated, and is not in culpability terms any less serious than a premeditated and planned murder of a child. Naeem Mian KC, for Sharif, said that a whole life order would not be the appropriate sentence in this case. He said: We say, without hesitation, this is not one of those exceptional cases. The barrister said: We can all agree that this was a tragic case. Regrettably, it is the case that cases of this nature are not unique. Caroline Carberry KC, for Saras stepmother Batool, said her sentence was too long and did not properly reflect her secondary role. The barrister also said Batool had significant mitigation. Nothing we say today on behalf of Beinash Batool detracts from the horror of Saras treatment, she told the court. The hearing before the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Soole and Mr Justice Goose is due to conclude on Thursday afternoon. The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif will have bids to appeal against their sentences for the 10-year-olds murder heard on Thursday. Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were jailed for life with minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years respectively in December last year after being found guilty of Saras murder. Saras uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death, and was jailed for 16 years. All three are seeking to challenge their sentences at the Court of Appeal, with their appeal bids due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday morning. Sara Sharifs stepmother Beinash Batool, uncle Faisal Malik and father Urfan Sharif appearing for sentencing for the 10-year-olds death, at the Old Bailey (Elizabeth Cook/PA) The Solicitor General has also referred Sharifs sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient, which will be heard at the same time. Sara was found dead in a bunkbed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023. She had suffered 71 fresh injuries, including 25 broken bones, iron burns on her bottom, scalding marks to her feet, and human bites. Within hours of Saras death, Sharif and Batool had booked flights to Pakistan for the whole family, including her siblings. The defendants returned to the UK on September 13 2023, leaving the children behind, and were detained within minutes of a flight touching down at Gatwick airport. In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey in December, Mr Justice Cavanagh said Saras death was the culmination of years of neglect, frequent assaults and what can only be described as torture, mainly at the hands of Sharif. The Court of Appeal hearing before the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Soole and Mr Justice Goose is due to begin at 10.30am. Endangered seabird guardians boosting wildlife conservation in E China Xinhua) 09:36, March 13, 2025 HANGZHOU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Living on a picturesque island, with a view of the vast sea and accompanied by the sound of waves and birdsong, He Jibai, aged 29, has for the past three years done what is considered China's "most poetic job." Having previously worked in biodiversity research, He has been passionate about nature observation since childhood. After leaving his job in 2022, He discovered a seabird monitoring program on one of the islands of Nanji Islands National Marine Nature Reserve in Wenzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, and joined it during his career break. Seabird monitors working on the island track the entire reproductive cycle of terns -- from their arrival and courtship to egg-laying, incubation, chick-rearing and departure. Their duties include habitat management, rodent control, monitoring migratory birds and preventing avian influenza. Rodent control is aimed at reducing predatory risks. Last year, recruitment for this position garnered widespread public attention, with over 6,000 applicants considered, of whom only 12 were selected. This year, in less than four days after the recruitment announcement on Feb. 24, nearly 500 applications were received. The primary focus of these seabird monitoring officers is the Chinese crested tern, listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and categorized as a national first-class protected wildlife species in China. In addition to Chinese crested terns, the monitors also closely observe other protected species, such as the great crested tern, which is a second-class protected species in China, rare mammals like the Eurasian otter and the East Asian finless porpoise, as well as several other rare seabirds. "The work revolves mostly around tern breeding. While it may seem monotonous to outsiders, it aligns perfectly with my expectations, and I thoroughly enjoy it," He said. According to Fan Zhongyong, a professor at the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History and director of the Hangzhou Birds and Ecology Research Society, seabird monitors need relevant knowledge or professional experience to be qualified for the job. "Since 2017, we have recruited students in ornithology and skilled professionals to strengthen our workforce. Public recruitment also raises awareness about seabird conservation," Fan said. April marks the peak of bird migration on the island, and the team records passing migratory birds to better understand migration patterns. First-hand data collected via their monitoring efforts serve as foundation for the development of more scientific, effective and targeted conservation strategies. Fan emphasized that these seabird conservation endeavors also depend on the support of the three nature reserves. Currently, the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History's Chinese crested tern research team is working closely with Jiushan Islands National Nature Reserve in Xiangshan County of Ningbo City, the Provincial Bird Nature Reserve of Wuzhi Mountain Archipelago in Dinghai District of Zhoushan City and Nanji Islands National Marine Nature Reserve, all of which have made significant contributions to the protection of the Chinese crested tern. Seabird monitoring seeks to explore new methods for restoring seabird populations in China, protecting and managing seabird habitats, and raising public awareness of seabird and marine conservation. Discussing the effectiveness of conservation efforts, Fan noted: "Over the past decade, artificial attraction methods have successfully facilitated the recovery of Chinese crested tern populations." The global Chinese crested tern population had grown from fewer than 50 individuals in 2010 to more than 200 by 2022. In recent years, over 85 percent of the world's breeding Chinese crested terns have been found in Xiangshan and Dinghai, making these two locations in Zhejiang the most crucial global sites for conservation and breeding of this species. Last year, China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration reported steady growth in rare and endangered wildlife populations, along with improving habitats. Over 100 species -- including giant pandas, Siberian tigers, Asian elephants and Tibetan antelopes showed stable population increases, while flocking bird species saw significant growth in both diversity and numbers. "This success story provides a model for the global protection of endangered species, especially seabirds," said Chen Shuihua, former director of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History and a former leader of the Chinese crested tern research team. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Chuck Schumer speaks on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said on Wednesday that Democrats would not provide the necessary votes to pass a stopgap funding bill, dramatically raising the risk of a partial government shutdown at the end of the week. Announcing the decision in a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer urged Republicans to consider a shorter funding extension that would give congressional negotiators more time to consider a bipartisan path forward. Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution (CR) without any input, any input, from congressional Democrats, Schumer said of the Republican-drafted bill, which passed the House on Tuesday. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass, he continued, referring to a short-term bill that would temporarily extend federal funding. We should vote on that. To avert a shutdown, Congress must act to extend federal funding by midnight on Friday. Changes or a new bill entirely would also need to pass the House before the deadline. The House speaker adjourned the chamber after the bill passed on Tuesday, deliberately sending members home and in effect daring the Senate to reject their bill. Related: Trump officials to reconsider whether greenhouse gases cause harm amid climate rollbacks Senate Democrats could still reverse course as the reality of a government shutdown at a moment when Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk are working to permanently shut down parts of the government comes into clearer focus. Several Senate Democrats have expressed an openness to voting for the measure, citing their distaste for government shutdowns. I disagree with many points in the CR, but I will never vote to shut our government down, John Fetterman, the Democratic senator of Pennsylvania tweeted on Tuesday. But Democrats are also under mounting pressure from their base to take a stronger stand against Trump and Republicans. Senate Republicans hold a narrow 53-seat majority, well shy of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the legislation. Senator Rand Paul, a staunch fiscal hawk, has indicated his opposition to the House bill, meaning eight Democrats would likely need to support the bill for it to overcome procedural hurdles to reach a final vote in the chamber. Democrats have raised concerns about the discretion the measure gives to the Trump administration on spending decisions as it pursues massive cuts to the federal workforce. From the annual House Democratic caucus retreat in Leesburg, Virginia, on Wednesday, caucus leaders implored their Senate counterparts to follow their lead and unite against the government funding bill. I dont know why anyone would support that bill, California congressman Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic caucus chair, told reporters during a press conference earlier on Wednesday. The 99-page House-passed measure provides a $6bn boost to military budgets while carving out $13bn from non-defense spending which Democrats say amounts to an assault on critical programs for vulnerable Americans. Republicans defunding bill is going to wreak havoc on working families, Katherine Clark, the House Democratic whip, told reporters on Wednesday, assailing cuts that she said could result in domestic violence survivors being evicted and less funding for Alzheimers prevention research. Whether its born out of cruelty, cowardice or corruption are all three, the GOP is hell bent on making families at home unsafe, she added. The House voted 217-213 to approve a bill that would keep federal agencies funded through 30 September. All Democrats with the exception of Jared Golden, a conservative from Maine, voted against it. Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a committed deficit hawk who often bucks his party on fiscal matters, voted no, defying Trumps demand that all House Republicans support the bill. After the vote, Trump derided Massie as a GRANDSTANDER and threatened to oust the seven-term lawmaker from office. In a joint statement, the House Democratic leaders backed Schumers call for a short-term funding extension and urged Republicans to return to Washington to consider it. This article was amended on 13 March 2025 to correct an error in the House roll call for the continuing resolution. Jared Golden was the sole House Democrat to vote for, not against, the bill. Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, asked ChatGPT which were the best podcasts to appear on, it is claimed - Geoff Pugh The Science Secretary has used ChatGPT to come up with policy advice, records have shown. Peter Kyle, the Cabinet minister with responsibility for artificial intelligence, asked the chatbot why small businesses in the UK had been slow to adopt the technology. He also requested suggestions for the best podcasts he could appear on to reach a wide audience, as well as definitions for terms such as digital inclusion. The Government has been pushing for the private sector to make the most of the technology, saying it wants to help British businesses embrace AI to boost productivity and grow the economy. Sir Keir Starmer has said he is determined to make the UK the best place to start and scale an AI business. He has actively encouraged the use of AI in Whitehall, saying he is determined to seize the golden opportunity offered by the technology. Civil servants have been told to abide by the mantra that no persons substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard. But records obtained by the New Scientist magazine under the Freedom of Information Act reveal how the technology is being used at ministerial level. Mr Kyle has previously said he uses the chatbot to learn on the job, telling Politics Home it can be a very good tutor when there are things that you really struggle to understand in depth. The records show that Mr Kyle asked ChatGPT to explain why small and medium British businesses had been slow to adopt AI. In response, it sent him a list of 10 possible hindrances, including limited awareness and understanding, regulatory and ethical concerns and lack of government or institutional support. While the UK Government has launched initiatives to encourage AI adoption, many [small and medium businesses] are unaware of these programs or find them difficult to navigate, it said. Limited access to funding or incentives to de-risk AI investment can also deter adoption. It also warned that compliance with data protection laws such as GDPR can be a significant hurdle. On another occasion, Mr Kyle asked ChatGPT to brainstorm media opportunities, writing: Im Secretary of State for science, innovation and technology in the United Kingdom. What would be the best podcasts for me to appear on to reach a wide audience thats appropriate for my ministerial responsibilities? The chatbot suggested The Infinite Monkey Cage, a science comedy series on BBC Radio 4, and The Naked Scientists, another popular show. The Science Secretary also asked ChatGPT to define a series of terms relevant to his role, including antimatter, quantum and digital inclusion. A spokesman for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology told The New Scientist: As the Cabinet minister responsible for AI, the secretary of state does make use of this technology. This does not substitute comprehensive advice he routinely receives from officials. The Government is using AI as a labour-saving tool supported by clear guidance on how to quickly and safely make use of the technology. Lambs are the cutest little things with their soft, sweet muzzles and their fluffy woolit's like they were made for cuddling. So what could be more adorable than a sweet, sleepy little lamb who's completely addicted to cuddling? Alex is a very cute, very sleepy little lamb born on a family farm in New Zealand. Alex's mom, who is experienced in raising sheep, figured that Alex would be pretty snuggly for a little while shortly after his birth, but she never expected just how long his "snuggling" phase would last! My heart just can't take this... if I were in this person's shoes, I would pass away on the spot. Alex really is the sleepiest little lamb to ever exist, and though he's gotten pretty big over the course of the past three months, he still expectsno, demandsto be cuddled just as closely as he was when he was three days old and small enough to fit in his mom's arms. His soft, contented smile, those sleepy, snore-y lip twitches...there's not a sheep in the world more blissed-out than little Alex. It's so precious! Related: Abandoned Lamb Makes Stunning Comeback and Quickly Unleashes Her Spicy Spirit "He looks like a living stuffy in the best way possible, I cant," cried TikTok commenter @armyforlife17. "Cuteness overload." "You know how people have soul cats and soul dogs" asked @cayladee. "l think its safe to say thats your soul lamb." Snuggling With Sheep Like growing babies from most species, little lambs need plenty of rest for healthy development. According to Sheep 201, lambs spend about 8-12 hours per day sleeping, as opposed to adult sheep, which only spend about 15% of the day (or a little over three and a half hours) snoozing. Lambs generally try to seek out their moms and sleep as close to them as possible, but they're certainly not opposed to snuggles from a warm, cuddly, and friendly human! Lambs like cuddles because it makes them feel warm and safe while they sleep, but their cuddlers get something out of it too. Cuddling animals can lead to the release of the hormone oxytocin, which can help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. A German farm even made the news during the pandemic for offering sheep cuddling sessions as a safe, socially distanced way to help people feeling lonely and isolated from lack of human contact during the lockdowns. Sheep snuggling is mutually beneficial for humans and sheep alike! And on that note, you don't have to fly all the way out to Germany to snuggle a sheep. One thing I discovered is that a lot of farms offer lamb cuddling as a paid activity during lambing seasonwhich, according to WLRN, takes place from late February to early April in North America. So yeahthree guesses what I'll be doing this spring! It's so unfair that so many wonderful dogs with all the potential in the world to be someone's perfect companion don't get that chance and stay stuck in shelters for months, if not years, at a time. They don't know why no one wants them (neither do I, for that matter), and after months of rejection and loneliness, you can really start to see it weighing on these poor pups. That's the kind of sadness the workers at the Broward County Humane Society in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, feel when they look at poor Shaq. Shaq, a sweet-hearted three-year-old Labrador Retriever mix, has been "passed from shelter to shelter" for far too long, and after two months of Shaq residing at the BCHS, his caretakers have no idea why he still hasn't had any takers. Poor Shaq has been through the wringer. When he first arrived at the Broward County Humane Society from a different shelter, he was underweight and tested positive for heartworm. Despite that, the spunky little Lab was still as affectionate and fun-loving as ever, and the shelter says that he loves to play endlessly. With that goofy, tongue-out smile and relentless wagging tail, how could anyone not fall in love with Shaq instantly? Related: Shih-Tzu Mix Deemed 'Britain's Loneliest Dog' Has Been Waiting for a Home for 10 Years and It's Devastating Yet despite his undeniable charm, Shaq still hasn't had anyone interested in taking him home and giving him a forever family. Nevertheless, the BCHS is determined to end Shaq's run of bouncing from shelter to shelter once and for all by finding the perfect pet parents for him. Since they haven't had any luck at the shelter so far, they're turning to the internet to boost Shaq's story. Finding Shaq's Forever Family Despite hundreds of TikTokers liking, sharing, and boosting engagement on Shaq's post, Shaq's adoption profile is still up on the Broward County Humane Society's website. Shaq is an active, energetic dog who loves to play (as most Labrador Retrievers do), so he'll need an active family who can match his energy. The Broward County Humane Society has promised to continue providing Shaq's heartworm treatment for free at the shelter, even after adoption, so that's just one less thing for potential pet parents to have to worry about too! Shaq is a "sweet and friendly" guy who just needs a family to give him a chance, and despite everything he's been through, he still has so much love to give. If you think you might be the right person to give him that chance, fill out an adoption application on the Humane Broward website (linked above) and come in for a visit. If not, share Shaq's story so that it can get in front of more new eyes. Shaq's forever family has to be out there somewhereit's just a matter of finding them! Scotlands First Minister is meeting one of US President Donald Trumps sons. John Swinney is having talks on Thursday with Eric Trump, the executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation which has two golf resorts in Scotland. A spokesman for Mr Swinney refused to give the timing or location for the meeting. But he said it is a routine meeting between the First Minister and a business leader. John Swinney is meeting Eric Trump on Thursday (Jane Barlow/PA) Speaking about Eric Trump, the spokesman said: He is a business leader and an employer in Scotland. The First Minister, Deputy First Minister and other ministers regularly meet business figures who employ in Scotland and invest in Scotland. This is not a political meeting, it is a business meeting. It comes after Donald Trumps private jet was reported to have landed at Edinburgh Airport earlier on Thursday. The billionaire tycoon is now in his second term in the Oval Office after winning the 2024 presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris who was endorsed by Mr Swinney. Uber wants VAT to apply to all private hire firms outside as well as inside London. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Two British taxi companies have launched a crowdfunding drive for the last leg of a lengthy legal battle with Uber that could result in higher cab fares. Uber will seek, at a supreme court hearing in July, a ruling on contractual models that affect whether VAT applies to private-hire companies outside London, which it has argued would level the playing field across the UK. However, the minicab industry has fought the move, which it said could raise the cost of taxi journeys outside London by at least 20%. The private hire firms Delta Taxis from Liverpool and Veezu from Cardiff are attempting to raise 500,000 to sustain their legal battle. Costs already exceed 1m after high court cases in 2022 and 2023, and a court of appeal case in 2024. Uber was forced to add VAT to rides booked through its app after a ruling in 2021 regarding its fares in London. It then took legal action involving Sefton council in Merseyside where Delta is based over its terms for operators. Private hire vehicle (PHV) companies have usually classed drivers as independent, self-employed contractors and so do not pay VAT. The industry argues that regulatory change would disproportionately affect passengers who rely on cabs, such as elderly people and those with restricted mobility in areas with poor public transport. According to Veezu, its data shows that 43% of minicab trips are for medical, work, or educational reasons, rather than leisure. The cab firms have said that many small operators could be forced out of business, affecting an estimated 25,000 self-employed drivers, leaving passengers with fewer or no services. Paul McLaughlin of Delta Taxis said the appeal was a David v Goliath moment, adding: This court case could have massive repercussions for PHV firms like us using the traditional agency model, which has been part of British culture for generations. If Uber win, it will add at least 20% to the cost of a private hire taxi fare outside of London The impact will be felt far and wide. Nia Cooper, the chief legal officer at Veezu, said: This case is about protecting the future of the private hire industry and the millions of passengers who rely on it every day. The private hire industry is integral to the transport network in UK and provides essential journeys to passengers, particularly those that are vulnerable. An Uber spokesperson said: Uber believes that there should be consistency throughout the UK to ensure all operators are required to have the same model. Peter Kyle at Downing Street. Critics say using AI tools in this way within government may pose policy risks. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images Peter Kyle, the science and technology secretary, has asked ChatGPT for advice on a range of work-related issues, including why British businesses are not adopting artificial intelligence and what podcasts he should appear on. Information provided to the New Scientist magazine in response to a freedom of information request showed that Kyle, an advocate for AI within the government, makes frequent use of OpenAIs chat tool in his professional life. The responses show Kyle asked for media and policy advice, and to define scientific terms relevant to his department, including antimatter, quantum and digital inclusion. Experts say the fact the information was provided could open the door to similar information having to be disclosed across Whitehall. A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: As the cabinet minister responsible for AI, the secretary of state does make use of this technology. This does not substitute comprehensive advice he routinely receives from officials. The government is using AI as a labour-saving tool supported by clear guidance on how to quickly and safely make use of the technology. Keir Starmer gave a speech on Thursday promising widespread changes to the civil service, including greater use of AI. If we push forward with digital reform of government and we are going to do that we can make massive savings, 45bn savings in efficiency, the prime minister said. AI is a golden opportunity. Kyle has championed initiatives within government, which include spearheading controversial plans to exempt AI companies from copyright rules so they can access creative content for free. Some critics have accused him of being too close to the industry, pointing out that while Kyle was in opposition, a staff member from the AI company Faculty AI was seconded to his office. In January, the technology secretary told PoliticsHome he would often use ChatGPT to try and understand the broader context where an innovation came from, the people who developed it, the organisations behind them. He added: ChatGPT is fantastically good, and where there are things that you really struggle to understand in depth, ChatGPT can be a very good tutor for it. He previously told the Times: AI can tutor you. So for example, I can go into a chatbot and say What is quantum mechanics and what are its applications?, and it can come up with a description, it will tutor you. When New Scientist asked for his ChatGPT prompts and answers the department initially refused, saying the information would include conversations made in a personal and official capacity. When the magazine explained it wanted to see those made in an official capacity, the department supplied the information. According to the exchanges, Kyle asked why small- and medium-sized businesses had been so slow to take up AI. The chatbot replied: While the UK government has launched initiatives to encourage AI adoption, many SMBs are unaware of these programs or find them difficult to navigate. Limited access to funding or incentives to de-risk AI investment can also deter adoption. On another occasion, Kyle asked: Im secretary of state for science, innovation and technology in the United Kingdom. What would be the best podcasts for me to appear on to reach a wide audience thats appropriate for my ministerial responsibilities? ChatGPT suggested The Infinite Monkey Cage and The Naked Scientists. Some have said using ChatGPT in this way poses policy risks. Beeban Kidron, the film director and member of the House of Lords who is leading the opposition to the governments AI copyright plans, said: I am a bit worried that the science and innovation department is bedazzled with technical developments and not doing enough to protect UK democratic and economic interests. Sentamu had a history of attacking girls and had been cautioned about taking a knife to school, the trial heard. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA A teenager has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a 15-year-old girl after a row over a teddy bear in south London. Hassan Sentamu was 17 when he killed Elianne Andam by stabbing her in the neck outside the Whitgift Centre in Croydon, south London, in September 2023. At his Old Bailey trial, Sentamu admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming his autism spectrum disorder had caused him to lose control during a meeting with Elianne. But in January a jury found Sentamu, of New Addington, near Croydon, guilty of murder by a majority verdict. On Thursday the judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, sentenced Sentamu to life in prison with a minimum term of 23 years as he had taken a knife to the scene. Addressing Sentamu, she said: Elianne was 15 when you murdered her. She will always remain just 15, she will never realise the potential of her life. The pain of her loss to her parents and younger brother is indescribable. Cheema-Grubb noted that a mural had been painted for Elianne near where she was killed. She said: Its presence marks the determination of the community as forcefully as they can put the knives down. Sentamu had a history of attacking girls and had been cautioned about taking a knife to school, the trial heard. He had been the boyfriend of Eliannes friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons. After the relationship ended, Elianne accompanied her friend to meet Sentamu to swap personal possessions, including a teddy bear. When he failed to hand over the possessions that he held in a bag, a row broke out that ended in Sentamu fatally attacking Elianne as she tried to run away. Sentamus ex-girlfriend told the court that during the row Elianne had grabbed the bag as a joke. Sentamu then chased her and stabbed her on the ground despite her pleas for him to stop, the court was told. As he awaited trial, Sentamu had threatened to do it again, the court heard. At this sentencing hearing it was also revealed that he attacked a child at Oakhill secure training centre while on remand. The prosecutor Ben Lloyd said Sentamu punched the victim in the face, knocking him to the floor. In mitigation, the defence barrister Pavlos Panayi KC said: A crime as horrific as this leaves no real room for advocacy. There are no words that can possibly minimise, justify or excuse anything Hassan Sentamu did. Referring to Sentamus background, he said: Hassans violent streak, his anger, his outbursts, did not come out of nowhere. He was not born with them. They come from his lived experiences from when he was a little boy. Panayi added: He has enough good in himself to recognise and hate himself for it. He cited suicide notes at the time of the murder. Earlier at the hearing, Eliannes parents, Dorcas and Michael Andam, urged the judge to impose the strongest possible sentence. In a victim impact statement read to the court by Lloyd, Eliannes mother said Sentamu was motivated by greed and selfishness and showed disregard for her daughters life. Addressing Sentamu, she added: Your actions were senseless, monstrous and evil. You left the scene without any remorse. Instead you tried to make excuses and cover your act with evil lies. You did not only kill Elianne, you killed me mentally and emotionally. We are left with nothing but pictures, videos. Your actions were senseless and evil. A statement from her father, which was also read to court, said his daughter taught him how to love and how to be a dad. His statement added: No parent should ever have to bury their child, let alone [one who has died] in such a violent manner. He added: I could not protect her; that guilt will weigh on my heart for the rest of my life. Dominic Nicholls, Francis Dearnley, and Adelie Pojzman-Pontay War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday, the Telegraphs top journalists analyse the conflict from all angles just as they have since Russias full-scale invasion in 2022, when tanks, jets and troops crossed Ukraines borders. Downloaded over 100 million times and trusted by listeners worldwide, the team considers military strategy, history, weaponry, economics, refugee crises, culture, and daily life in Putins autocratic Russia and Zelenskys democratic Ukraine. Our correspondents on the ground talk to experts and civilians to cover every aspect of Russias brutal invasion. We are also available in both Ukrainian and Russian, so that people on both sides of the battle lines and across the region including Central Asia and the Caucasus have access to our reporting. We use cutting-edge AI technology to make this possible. Ukraine: The Latests hosts are: Dominic Nicholls Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at The Telegraph, having joined in 2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland. Francis Dearnley Francis is Executive Editor (Audio) at The Telegraph. Prior to working as a journalist, he was chief of staff to the Chair of the Prime Ministers Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and strategic developments. Adelie Pojzman-Pontay Adelie is Narrative Podcast Producer at The Telegraph. She oversees and produces documentary series in the audio team and joined the Ukraine: The Latest team in the winter 2023-2024. She previously worked as a journalist and producer in Paris, and was one of the pioneers of narrative podcasting in France. She has also worked in the US, Chile, and in the Middle East. The podcast has earned major accolades, winning Best News Podcast at the 2024 Publisher Podcast Awards and Podcast of the Year at the Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards. Its creator, David Knowles who died unexpectedly in September 2024 was posthumously honoured with the Public Service Journalism award at the British Journalism Awards. It is in his memory that the team continues to build and develop the podcast. To mark two years since the full-scale invasion, we recorded a video special in Kyiv with Oleksandra Matviichuk, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. You can watch that here: Also marking two years of war, we recorded a special in front of a live audience at the American Embassy in London: You can watch another recent special episode recorded in Washington DC, here: Our special episode reflecting on the one-year anniversary of the invasion can be found here: Listen to Ukraine: the Latest, The Telegraphs daily podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app. A United Nations judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe, 49, took advantage of her status over her victim in the most egregious way by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare for free. Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness following a trial at Oxford Crown Court. As the verdicts were given there were gasps from the public gallery and the defendant appeared unwell and the court was cleared. Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial: Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused (her alleged victim), taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK. Jurors accepted the prosecutions case that Mugambe who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford had engaged in illegal folly with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK. Prosecutors said the pair participated in a very dishonest trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the womans entrance into the UK in exchange for Mugambe attempting to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in. Jurors also accepted that the defendant conspired to intimidate the woman to have her withdraw her support for the prosecution or the charges against her to be dropped. The charge said Mugambe contacted a pastor to assist in making contact with the young Ugandan woman, arranged for members of the womans family to be contacted so they could persuade her to drop the case, and arranged for an email to be sent directly to her. Mugambes trial heard she had the intention of obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself. Mugambe denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she always treated her with love, care and patience. The young woman Mugambe tricked into coming to the UK, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt lonely and stuck after her working hours were limited. According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the bodys judicial roster in May 2023 three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire. Mugambe will be sentenced at the same court on May 2. Emergency services were called to a Karangi home near Coffs Harbour when the baby was unresponsive following the home birth in 2022. Photograph: Diego Fedele/Getty Images Two women who police allege practised as unregistered midwives have been charged with manslaughter after a baby died after a home birth on the New South Wales mid north coast. The women, aged 41 and 51, appeared in Coffs Harbour local court on Wednesday in relation to the newborn boys death in 2022. Emergency services were called to a home in Karangi, north-west of Coffs Harbour, when the baby was unresponsive after the home birth on 11 September 2022, NSW police said in a statement. Paramedics treated the baby before he was airlifted to Coffs Harbour base hospital where he died. Police allege the younger woman was an unregistered midwife at the time of the birth while the older woman held no medical qualifications and had been practising unregistered home-birth midwifery. Detectives on 11 February this year arrested the 41-year-old at Crescent Head and the 51-year-old at Dorrigo. They were taken to local police stations and charged with manslaughter. They were granted bail before appearing in court on Wednesday, where the matter was adjourned to the same court on 13 May. Just after 3pm on a Wednesday covered in spring sunshine and the hare is running at Wales last greyhound track. Nestled between the Rhymney River and the A469 at Ystrad Mynach, four miles from the historic town of Caerphilly, a small but loyal band of followers have made their way to the Valley Greyhound Stadium for racing woven into Wales sporting fabric. Greyhound racing made its debut in Wales on April 7, 1928 two years after the first recorded UK race at Belle Vue in Manchester and 25,000 were soon watching dogs run at the Welsh White City Stadium in Cardiff. Greyhounds race on Wales last track at Valley Greyhound Stadium in Ystrad Mynach (David Davies/PA) Mick The Miller, arguably the most famous greyhound in the history of the sport, set a world record of 29.55 seconds for the standard distance of 525 yards when winning the 1930 Welsh Greyhound Derby. Racing was held at Cardiff Arms Park from 1945, but ended in 1977 because the Welsh Rugby Union needed the track to extend terracing at the national stadium. Tracks elsewhere have come and gone and the Rhymney Valley circuit is the last one standing. But is the final bend now approaching after Welsh Government proposals to ban greyhound racing, which has been criticised for harming dogs, as soon as practically possible? Greyhounds are rounded up after racing at Valley Greyhound Stadium in Ystrad Mynach (David Davies/PA) Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said it is not impossible it could become law before the next Welsh Parliament election in May 2026. UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy responded by saying there are absolutely no plans to extend a greyhound racing ban to the rest of the United Kingdom. Disgraceful, said octogenarian fan David Langford, briefly breaking from studying a programme detailing 11 midweek races at Ystrad Mynach, of the proposed ban. Ive been watching and had dogs for 65 years. Its just a brilliant sport. What else would I do? Im 82 and the next stop for me is up in heaven. Valley Greyhound Stadium racetrack manager Malcolm Tams says a fortune has been spent on upgrading facilities before the Welsh Government proposed a ban on greyhound racing (David Davies/PA) The Wales ban follows cross-party calls to outlaw greyhound racing, government consultation and a petition attracting 35,000 signatures. Racing enthusiasts say many of those names are from outside Wales, but animal welfare charities have welcomed the news of a potential ban. Racetrack manager Malcolm Tams said: We received a licence from the Greyhound Board of Great Britain in 2023 and had to meet certain conditions. Air-conditioned kennels, a vet on site who checks the dogs before they race, extra security with cameras everywhere. Weve spent a fortune here. Former England and British Lions rugby player Mike Burton is now a successful greyhound trainer associated with Wales last dog track (David Davies/PA) Essex businessman Dave Barclay, owner of the Valley Greyhound Stadium since November 2021, is understood to be taking legal advice since the ban was proposed. Ending racing in Wales would leave 18 greyhounds tracks in the UK, following the closure of Crayford in January, and a hole in the local economy with 30 jobs lost. Mike Burton played international rugby for England and the British and Irish Lions and is now a successful greyhound trainer. Burton, 79, said: I come to Wales because they are good people, they are all grafters and love the sport. Other tracks wanted me associated with them but when Ive got a dog running it says Michael Burton, The Valley. Im very proud of that. Gofundme Kyle Murray. A 12-year-old boy in New Hampshire was severely injured after he was struck by a tree while walking home from school. A tree fell on Kyle Murray while he was walking home from school during a wind storm on North Main Street in Boscawen, N.H., on March 7, according to the Boscawen Police Department. "Kyle suffered major injuries and is currently in a medically induced coma," police said. Chief Jason Killary of the Boscawen Police Department told PEOPLE, "We don't have any additional information about the incident," but he has heard the boy is "doing better." Related: Toddler, 3, Saves Great-Grandma After She Suffers Scary Fall, She 'Calls Him Her Hero' (Exclusive) Kyle's mom Danielle told ABC affiliate WMUR that she was home when a girl on Kyle's bus came to her door to share what happened after he exited the bus and headed home. "He was just pinned under the tree face down, and breathing with an abnormal breath," she added. "He wasn't talking or anything." Authorities used a hydraulic rescue spreader to remove the tree due to its large size, according to WMUR and Fox affiliate WFXT. Following the incident, Kyle was initially taken to Concord Hospital and was later transferred to Boston Children's Hospital in critical condition, WMUR reported. In addition to the coma, the boy had "two small brain bleeds, swelling of the brain, a spleen laceration, multiple fractured ribs, a broken pelvis, severed arteries in his pelvis, bleeding in his bladder, a broken ankle, and fluid in his abdomen," said a GoFundMe fundraiser launched to support the family. Related: South Carolina Veteran Dies on His Birthday Trying to Save 13-Year-Old Boy from Drowning: 'Definition of Hero' But after Kyle's breathing tube was removed, Danielle wrote in an update on a fundraiser on Wednesday, March 12, that her son "can have his arms unrestrained and advocate for himself for what he wants and needs" as his condition is slowly improving. (However, according to the reports, the boy will still need several surgeries and physical therapy.) Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In her latest post, Danielle added that Kyle was "able to sleep a bit last night" and woke up asking where he was. "The nurse came in and told him he is in the hospital because a tree fell on him and that he is safe," she continued. "He opened up his arms and reached out for me to give him a hug and a kiss just a minute ago." "I can't describe how good that feels! Like all the light and happiness that's ever been felt by everyone combines just shining on my feet," the mom said. "I can kiss my sweet boys face. I'm on cloud 9 at the moment! So thankful for every milestone and improvement!!! Thank you God!" Read the original article on People Getty Images / InStyle It's the end of an era at Versace. After 27 years at the helm of the Italian house, Donatella Versace has stepped down as creative director. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy," Donatella Versace said via press release. "He was the true genius, but I hope I have some of his spirit and tenacity." The last two-plus decades proved that Donatella had the talent and vision to grow Versace into a global powerhouse after she stepped into the role following Gianni Versace's passing in 1997. With its signature sex appeal, Medusa logo, and quintessentially Italian prints, Versace grew into one of fashion's most coveted luxury brands under Donatella, delivering iconic celebrity moments that shifted pop culture. It's hard to mention Versace without thinking of Jennifer Lopez's infamous green tropical print Grammys dress (which Donatella herself wore first!), which singlehandedly propelled the launch of Google Images. And where would fashion be without Lady Gaga in a Versace crystal-encrusted bodysuit at the 2017 Super Bowl? On the runway, the designer put on equally unforgettable shows, making the fierce girl group walk a signature of her tenure. No one but Donatella could've brought together all the '90s supersNaomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, and Carla Brunifor a runway finale walk together decades later. Simultaneously, the designer cemented her presence as a pop icon with red carpet looks so legendary that they rival even the stars she dresses. Most importantly, she's continued her brother's legacy with a strong commitment to supporting queer communities worldwide. Now, Italian designer Dario Vitale, who previously worked for Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta, and DSquared, is set to take over the creative reigns of Versace. But Donatella will continue working with the brand her brothers Gianni and Santo founded in 1978she will now be the house's chief brand ambassador. Still, it's a bittersweet moment for Versace: for the first time in nearly 50 years, the brand will not be led by a member of the family. For Donatella, it's about passing the baton: "Championing the next generation of designers has always been important to me. I am thrilled that Dario Vitale will be joining us, and excited to see Versace through new eyes," she said in a press release. There's no denying that Donatella Versace's legacy at the brand will power its future under Vitale. She's left a myriad of iconic celebrity and runway looks, industry-shifting designs, and an unabashed persona imprinted on the brand. Ahead are 25 of Donatella's most unforgettable moments at Versace. Donatella Versace At Vogue's 100th Anniversary Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Donatella Versace and Madonna at a UCLA Women Cancer Center Benefit in 1998 Ke.Mazur/WireImage Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss Wearing Versace in 1999 Dave Benett/Getty Images At the Met Gala in 1999 Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images Jennifer Lopez's at the 2000 Grammys Scott Gries/ImageDirect Britney Spears at the Versace Spring/Summer 2003 Show Getty Images Beyonce Wearing Versace at the 2003 BET Awards Steve Grayson/WireImage for BET Entertainment Beyonce Wearing Versace at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards Robert Mora/Getty Images Donatella Versace, Mariah Carey, and Beyonce at the Versace Spring/Summer 2004 Show Bardo Fabiani/WireImage Jennifer Garner Wearing Versace in "13 Going on 30" Alamy Stock Photo Angelina Jolie Wearing Versace at the 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' Premiere in 2005 Cohen/WireImage Penelope Cruz Wearing Versace at the Oscars in 2007 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Versace x H&M Collection in 2011 Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images Versace Fall/Winter 2012 Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images Taylor Swift Wearing Versace at the Grammys in 2016 Jason Merritt / Getty Images Lady Gaga in Versace at the Super Bowl in 2017 Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Versace Spring/Summer 2018 Catwalking/Getty Images Supermodels at Versace's Spring/Summer 2018 Show Venturelli/WireImage Jennifer Lopez at the Versace Spring/Summer 2020 Show Getty Images Donatella Versace with Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa at the 2022 Grammys Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa at the Versace Spring/Summer 2022 Show Matteo Rossetti/Archivio Matteo Rossetti/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images Paris Hilton at the Versace Spring/Summer 2023 Show Matteo Rossetti/Archivio Matteo Rossetti/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images Anne Hathway at the Met Gala in 2023 Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images Versace Fall/Winter 2025 Estrop/Getty Images Donatella Versace at Her Final Versace Show in February 2025 Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Read the original article on InStyle North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly in the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Governor Josh Stein | Facebook (The Center Square) Transparency with taxpayer dollars and the lack of mention for eastern North Carolinians still in recovery from hurricanes in 2016 and 2018 were key elements missing in the State of the State address from the governor, says the state auditor. Democratic Gov. Josh Steins message drew rebukes from the 101 Republicans in overwhelming majorities of the state Senate and House of Representatives, and periodic standing ovations from the 69 Democrats. The first-term state leader, coming off eight years as attorney general, asked the lawmakers to invest in economic opportunity, workforce development, families and children, public schools and public safety. "Hurricane Helene and its horrific aftermath tested our state and our people in unprecedented ways," Stein said. "The storm flooded much of western North Carolina, stealing too many lives from us and devastating too many communities. But in the days, weeks, and months that followed, I have seen we all have seen that the state of our state is strong North Carolina strong!" Republican Council of State colleagues are both hopeful and skeptical. Hurricane Helene relief was front and center in the governors State of the State Address, as it should have been, Republican state Auditor Dave Boliek said. The missing element tonight was a pledge of transparency to how tax dollars are being spent. Also missing was any mention of the continued need to clean up the failed promises to eastern North Carolina as a result of Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. The fact that North Carolinians are still waiting on home repairs nearly a decade later is unacceptable. "My office is committed to holding the governors administration accountable in order to prevent a repeat of past mistakes. Former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic leader the past eight years, created the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency to help in the wake of hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018 that devastated southeastern North Carolina. Stein did not opt to continue it, its leader resigned late last year in disgrace of incomplete projects, money owed on ones completed, and a mismanaged budget that's in a hole. Cooper kept it quiet until a request of $3.9 billion for recovery from Hurricane Helene. Public records requests by The Center Square remain unreturned. Stein said the damage from Helene is $60 billion overall. He also took a shot at President Donald Trumps administration on Medicaid. We do not need to be pulled into those political games, said Stein, Trumps pick as co-chairman of the national Council of Governors. We can create something better, something forward-looking right here in North Carolina. Just as we stood arm-in-arm as North Carolinians to make Medicaid expansion a reality, lets stand arm-in-arm to defend our health care. When we all Republicans and Democrats come together, thats when we make a real difference for our people. Stein is 2-for-2 in just over two months at major speaking engagements requesting unity from the very body hes sued multiple times as the states top prosecutor. The first was at his swearing-in ceremony. Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, speaker of the House of Representatives, said the General Assemblys focus will be on fostering a strong economy through low taxes and deregulation; improving public safety by ensuring law enforcement collaborates with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens from our country; expending educational opportunities for students; and supporting western North Carolina as they rebuild from Helene. A bomb threat was made against Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's sister in Charleston, South Carolina over the weekend, according to local police. The Charleston Police Department responded to a politically charged email regarding the justice's sister Amanda Coney Williams on Monday. The unnamed writer of the email claimed to have created and placed a pipe bomb inside Williams' mailbox that would detonate if opened, according to a police report obtained by USA TODAY. The email was sent to an employee at the Charleston County Sheriffs Office shortly before 11 p.m. on Saturday. Charleston Police said Williams never received the message herself. Officials later deemed the threat to be a false alarm, the police report stated. No arrests have been made, though an investigation is underway. More: Trump Republicans lash out at Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett as a DEI hire USA TODAY has reached out to the Charleston County Sheriffs Office and is working to reach out to the U.S. Supreme Court for comment. Letter claims bomb was made with kitchen timer The letter sent to the sheriffs office employee said the bomb was crafted using "a 18-inch threaded galvanized pipe, end caps, a kitchen timer, some wires, metal clips and homemade black powder." "Ive constructed a pipe bomb which I recently placed in Amy Coney Barretts sisters mailbox at her home at (redacted) Charleston, SC. The device`s detonation will be triggered as soon as the mailbox is next opened. Free Palestine!" Williams' husband David told police he had no clue who could have sent the email, according to the report. However he said someone who delivered pizza to them Saturday evening may possibly be connected to the sender. U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett before the luncheon in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol on the inauguration day of President Donald Trump in Washington on Jan. 20, 2025. Authorities have warned that federal judges recently have been sent pizza to their homes, presumably as a form of intimidation, Reuters reported last week. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bomb threat made to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's sister Mike Marsland - Getty Images Right on the heels of fashion month, the designer shakeups have already begun. After this mornings news that Donatella Versace would be replaced by Dario Vitale as chief creative officer of Versace, another major Italian brand has found a successor. Demna, the mononymic talent who has been the creative director of Balenciaga since 2015, will be taking the reins as artistic director at fellow Kering brand Gucci. (The previous designer, Sabato De Sarno, departed in February, and Guccis fall 2025 show was created by an in-house design team.) However, Demna will reportedly continue at Balenciaga for the time being, showing an haute couture collection in July. The Georgian designer studied at Antwerps Royal Academy of Fine Arts and worked at Maison Margiela and Louis Vuitton before starting his own line, Vetements, in 2014. His cheeky, meme-worthy designs, like a DHL-branded T-shirtas well as his canny high-low collaborations with everyone from Hanes to Juicy Couturequickly took over fashions consciousness, and likely helped him capture the Balenciaga post. In his time there, hes continued to find surprising, headline-making confluences between different spheres of fashion: his runway Crocs, for instance, or the time he wrapped Kim Kardashian in a catsuit made from caution tape. Jacopo Raule - Getty Images As reported by Business of Fashion, Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino told the press, Elevation means exceptional execution but also exceptional creativity. Demna is able to interpret contemporary culture and define what is luxury today for a young generation and the future. His vision for Gucci is not going to be anything that has been done for Balenciaga. His intention is to do something that is right for Gucci. You Might Also Like Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss made a huge decision after her breakout role. The Die Alone actress, 57, spoke with The Independent about her career trajectory, opening up about her decision to step away from acting after her role as Trinity in The Matrix. The mother of three told the outlet that she recalled "being torn" in her decision until she held her baby in her arms. After The Matrix was such a big deal, I took a big, big break to have children and be with them, she told the outlet. I remember being torn, having a little twinge like Gosh, Im getting offered such great things. That would be such a huge deal. And I was holding my baby in my arms, and I remember thinking, At the end of my life, will it matter to me that I have another movie on my resume? Or will it matter to me that I held my baby?" "I instantly thought, no. It was just a no-brainer," she continued. "And Im so glad I did that. Im so glad I dont have that regret. 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. Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Carrie-Anne Moss and her sons Related: The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss Explains Why She Left Los Angeles After 30 Years: Craving a Quieter Life (Exclusive) Moss married her "best friend" Steven Roy, who's also an actor, in November 1999. Together, they share three children, whose names haven't been shared publicly. After living in Los Angeles for nearly three decades, Moss decided to leave the city and move with her family to New Hampshire. During an interview with PEOPLE, The Acolyte star discussed how she, her husband and their three children relocated in 2020. JB Lacroix/WireImage Carrie-Anne Moss and her son We were just really craving a quieter life, less traffic, more nature and I have to say, I like change, she said, adding, My husband and I really wanted more connection to nature, really. I wanted to see the stars at night. I wanted to be surrounded by trees. I wanted to have winter, fall, spring and summer. Making the move to New Hampshire was more conducive for Moss passion for meditation and Kundalini yoga, which she described as medicine for my soul and spirit. Practicing both became increasingly helpful once the actress became a parent. You have a huge responsibility when you have children. You want them to have a great life, and you want the world to be a wonderful place for them, she said of her kids. You start to worry, or I started to worry, just about everything. I remember really leaning on my yoga and meditation almost as medicine for my soul and spirit to just relax, to trust and have faith because if we listen to the mind just chatting at us all the time, we can get really neurotic and exhausted, really. Read the original article on People Employees tour a room in the mobile unit that projects a video on what the next 100 years for Caterpillar might bring. Errol Wint, the man in charge of the Caterpillar plant in Athens, Georgia, took a seat at a conference room table last week to chat with the press about the companys success in its first 100 years. Caterpillar, formed in 1925 in California, is now a global business operating plants throughout the world. The manufacturing plant in Athens opened in 2013. These big, powerful machines moving dirt for highways and construction projects are a product of the Caterpillar employees, according to Wint. Caterpillar cares about their employees and the products reflect it, he said. The logo on a piece of Caterpillar heavy equipment is pictured at a storage yard in Denver, Colorado, U.S. To be around 100 years I think thats what 100 years teaches you, Wink said about the emphasis the company places on its employees. The plant in Athens, where Wink is facilities manager, employees about 1,100 people. This week Caterpillar sent its Centennial World Tour bus to the Athens plant for employees to visit. The interactive mobile unit provided information on plants worldwide and included a futures room projecting Caterpillars role in the future, even what its products might look like when Mars is settled by humankind. More from USA TODAY: Canadian backlash erupts over Trumps tariffs. Trade war hits wine, spirits. Whats next? The company in Athens makes the smaller bulldozers, often used on highway ramp construction, and the smaller version excavators. As part of the local celebration, the Caterpillar Foundation donated a $23,000 check to the Athens Area Community Foundation, according to Lisa Miller, a media relations specialist with Caterpillar. Donations will also be made at other Caterpillar cities to charitable organizations, she said. Caterpillar facilities manager Errol Wint stands next to a Limited Edition Centennial gray bulldozer, the color of the original bulldozers until it was changed to yellow about 1931. During a tour of the mobile unit, several employees commented on Caterpillars impact on their careers, reflective of what Wint had expressed. Apollonia Favors of Athens has worked at the plant for 11 years. I came here because I was looking for a career and not a job, she said. During my time here, I have worked in three different departments, so I have gotten a lot of experience. I was so excited about the 100th anniversary. It shows the longevity of the company and why I came here for a career." Nathan Welch of Athens explained he was in high school when he heard about the plant opening. Later he was working as a machinist for another company when he was hired by Caterpillar about three years ago. Pictures of cities and art from locations around the world, such as this one from Avigon, France, are showcased in a mobile unit that will carry the Caterpillar story to cities across the nation with company plants. Caterpillar is helpful in getting to my career goals. Theyve been working with me in going back to school and finishing my college degree. Theyve been willing to work with me, he said. Luke James, who has worked there almost eight years, explained he has been welding since he was 10 years old and decided to make it a career about 15 years ago. I heard they had a good program here, he said, adding he has liked bulldozers since he was a kid. Working here has been fantastic. Ive gotten to build the blades on bulldozers, he said. Its a way better job than some of the others Ive had. After Athens, the mobile unit will visit other Caterpillar plants across the country as part of the anniversary. Wink, an 11-year employee, said he has told employees that what you make is a reflection of who you are. And he predicted, Well do it for 100 years more. This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Caterpillar brings its 100-year history to employees at Georgia plant Eli Heacock was like many 16-year-olds. The Glasgow, Kentucky, teenager enjoyed playing tennis, telling "dad jokes" and spending time with his father, who his mom said was "his best friend." "He was our tornado. He kept us on our toes all the time," said his mother, Shannon Heacock. But everything changed in an instant after Eli Heacock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Feb. 28, his mom told ABC News. PHOTO: Eli Heacock, 16, took his own life on Feb. 28, and now officials are investigating whether his death was connected to a financial sextortion scheme. (Shannon Heacock) Since his death, his mom said local and federal investigators have said they believe Eli Heacock may have been targeted in an alleged sextortion scheme. "Eli was on a good track. We had no reason to believe there was an issue at all. We knew nothing about sextortion or how it works," Eli Heacock's father, John Burnett, told ABC News. Sextortion is a term "used to describe a crime in which an offender coerces a minor to create and send sexually explicit images or video," according to the FBI. Once the offender receives the explicit content from the child, they then threaten to release the compromising content "unless the victim produces additional explicit material," the FBI said on its website. MORE: Michigan teen's suicide highlights growing dangers of online sextortion plots One type of sextortion is "financially motivated sextortion," which follows a similar pattern, but is motivated by the goal of financial gain, not sexual gratification, the FBI said. After receiving explicit material, the offender will threaten to release the content unless a payment is made, the FBI said. Financial sextortion has resulted "in an alarming number of deaths by suicide," the FBI said on its website. But, the explicit pictures do not need to be taken by the child to qualify as sextortion, Burnett said. In his son's case, he said the offender made AI-generated images of Eli Heacock, sent them to the teenager and demanded $3,000 or else the pictures would be released or his family would be harmed. PHOTO: Eli Heacock, 16, took his own life on Feb. 28, and now officials are investigating whether his death was connected to a financial sextortion scheme (Shannon Heacock) "Their intention was to convince Eli their sincerity that they could, in fact, harm him or someone he loved with pictures that they generated," Burnett told ABC News. His mother said she regularly checked her son's phone, but the interaction occurred during the night and the situation must have "put him in panic mode." In the text messages she saw, her son sent a portion of money to the offender, to which the anonymous user replied, "This is not enough." Eli Heacock's twin sister discovered her brother's body, ran to her parents and said "Eli was hurt," Shannon Heacock said. The 16-year-old was rushed to the hospital, but succumbed to his injuries on Feb. 28, his mother said. MORE: I was a victim of online sextortion in high school. Here's what I want parents and kids to know "How can your lives change that fast over merely $3,000 someone wanted off the internet from a kid? I play a lot of 'What if I did this? What if I did that?' We don't need anybody to add to our guilt because we carry it very heavily right now," Shannon Heacock told ABC News. Upon arriving at the hospital, a local FBI detective reviewed Eli Heacock's phone, recognized it as a potential sextortion case and put the teenager's phone on airplane mode, his mother said. The investigation into Eli Heacock's death is still in its beginning stages, his father said, with both local detectives and federal investigators reviewing the contents of the 16-year-old's phone. PHOTO: Eli Heacock, 16, took his own life on Feb. 28, and now officials are investigating whether his death was connected to a financial sextortion scheme. (Shannon Heacock) The family has also been in contact with Rep. Steve Riley, a lawmaker in the Kentucky House of Representatives, who has championed a bill in the Kentucky legislature making sextortion a felony and establishing penalties for those convicted of the crime. The bill is now on its way to Gov. Andy Beshear to be signed into law, Shannon Heacock said. The Heacocks are not the only family mourning the loss of a loved one after a sextortion scheme. In 2023 alone, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 26,718 reports of financial sextortion -- up from 10,731 reports in 2022. MORE: Homeland Security Investigations sees 300% increase in foreign victims of sextortion Shannon Heacock urges parents to check their children's phones at all times because, in her experience, "even the happiest child is hiding something." "It's no longer to be scared of the white van that drives around, you have to be scared of the internet," Shannon Heacock said. If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text 988. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org. Death of Kentucky teen sparks investigation into possible sextortion scheme originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Bill Murray gave the SNL50: The Anniversary Special writers a pep talk to raise morale. Bill Murray gave the SNL50: The Anniversary Specia writers a morale-boosting pep talk ahead of the show The 74-year-old actor - who appeared on Saturday Night Live from 1977 for three seasons until 1980 - returned to the programme for its 50th anniversary episode both on and off screen when it aired last month, and has now revealed he tried to raise the spirits of the writers to give them a little boost. Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show, Bill said: Well, they were having a meeting and I just sort of walked into the meeting, you know. "It's [producer] Lorne [Michaels] meeting, and he's sitting there; his feet on his desk, and there were all the writers sitting in the room and it was grim. It was very grim. It just felt very heavy. The Ghostbusters star was "really excited" for the special, having seen some of the preparations, and he wanted everyone to realise "how beautiful" the programme would be. He said: I just tried to share with them how beautiful it was going to be, you know? What a wonderful responsibility it was going to be how many people were going to watch it and love it and that I thought it was destined to be extraordinary success. Bill said Saturday Night Live star Tina Fey really enjoyed his pep talk, which the 54-year-old actress previously described as lovely. He continued: But Tina really enjoyed that and I guess other writers, too. It seemed like they just needed a little kick, a little boost. The Groundhog Day actor emphasised he wasnt acting during his pep talk, and added the writers certainly delivered on the show. While host Drew Barrymore hailed Bill as a legend at SNL, the Charlies Angels star stayed humble and insisted the series has harboured plenty of talented performers during its five-decade tenure. He said: There were great people that keep coming through. It's been a never-failing spring of talent that has come through that show. Any week there could be a spectacular sketch written on that show. They have real talent and they have really good writers. There are stuff that amazes me that they write nowadays. Cairo Sarah al-Awady says she was sitting with her family early on the morning of Oct. 22, 2024, in their tent in Al-Zawaida, the town in the central Gaza Strip where the displaced Palestinians had taken shelter, when she was struck in the head by a bullet fired by an Israeli quadcopter drone. "Suddenly I felt pain in my head, like I had been hit with an iron bar or something," the 18-year-old Gazan told CBS News this week. "My family started screaming, 'a bullet, a bullet!' Everyone was panicking and they carried me and rushed me to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital." CBS News has asked the Israel Defense Forces about its reported use of small-arms-equipped drones in Gaza, and about al-Awady's claim, specifically, that she was hit by one of the weapons in a camp for displaced civilians. In a statement sent Wednesday, the IDF said it "follows international law, targeting only military objectives and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm." The military said it could not give details about the various aircraft it uses, "as they are classified for security reasons, and to avoid compromising the operational capabilities of the IDF," and added that it could not provide information about al-Awady's claim without more precise information on the time and location of the shooting. Sarah al-Awady is seen not long after she says she was struck in the head by a bullet fired by an Israeli quadcopter drone as she sat in a tent with her family on Oct. 22, 2024, in Al-Zawaida, central Gaza. The bullet lodged in her skull behind her right eye. / Credit: Courtesy of Sarah al-Awady The doctors did what they could with what little they had amid the devastation in Gaza, just over a year after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack sparked the war in the Palestinian territory. They could see that the bullet was lodged in al-Awady's skull, behind her right eye, but they didn't have the capacity to remove it. Al-Awady was eventually told there was nothing more the doctors in Gaza could do, but she refused to give up hope and insisted on staying in the hospital. At the very least, she thought, inside the hospital her badly wounded eye would be protected from the dusty conditions in her family's makeshift home. So she remained, relying on painkillers to cope with the excruciating pain in her head, but without any plan for relief in sight. In early November, al-Awady was seen by a team of volunteer medics visiting the European Hospital near Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Dr. Mohamed Tawfik, an Egyptian, was among the volunteers, and when he saw al-Awady, he thought of someone he believed could help. Tawfik called his father, a veteran ophthalmologist, to get his medical opinion. Dr. Ahmed Tawfik, the elder doctor, told CBS News he wanted to go to Gaza to try to help the young woman, but the southern Rafah border crossing between the enclave and Egypt was closed. "I followed this case almost daily. I felt this was my case," Tawfik said. But he could not find a way to travel to Gaza and, at the time, with the war still raging, Israel was permitting very few people to leave the enclave, even for medical treatment. The doctor's son returned to Egypt, and al-Awady told CBS News she started giving up hope. For months she said she lived in fear that she would permanently lose sight in her right eye. "I applied for treatment abroad, like many others. When people asked me, 'How long have you been waiting?' I'd say a month. They'd tell me, 'Forget it, we've been waiting for so much longer.'" A glimmer of hope would finally come, about three months after the bullet lodged in al-Awady's head, with the news that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire deal. It came into effect on Jan. 19, 2024, and al-Awady was able to return to her home in the decimated north of Gaza. She said she was relieved to find her family's home among the few buildings spared from the destruction. She stayed there for a week, until, on the evening of February 8, she received a call from the World Health Organization, telling her she would be leaving the following day for Egypt. "There is no electricity, so I literally packed my luggage by candlelight," she recalled. Only her mother was permitted to travel with her, but the pair reached Egypt the next day, as planned. She was sent first to the city of Port Said, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. A week later, Dr. Tawfik managed to get her moved to the hospital where he works in Al-Sharqia Governorate, in the Nile Delta. Three teams ophthalmology, neurosurgery and radiology worked together, debating the best approach to remove the bullet that had been lodged for months right next to al-Awady's optic nerve. "We ran several simulations to find the best route to avoid the optic nerve," Dr. Mohamed Khaled Shawky, of the Al Nour Radiology Center, told CBS News. He helped guide the surgery remotely via a video link from his workstation at the separate facility. A scan image shows a bullet lodged behind the right eye of Sarah al-Awady, with its entry point visible as the gunshot wound at the top of her skull. / Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Mohamed Khaled Shawky/Al-Nour Radiology Center "The bullet landed in the best possible place for the patient, but the worst place for a medical team," Shawky told CBS News. "Had it moved a millimeter in any direction, it would have caused great damage." The doctors agreed the best option was to try to reach the bullet by entering through al-Awady's eye socket, to avoid damaging her brain. Tawfik was direct, telling al-Awady there was a 50% chance of success, a risk of internal bleeding, and she could lose her eye entirely or have her vision severely impaired. "I cried. I was very scared, but I prayed and accepted the risk," she told CBS News. "His amazing medical team tried their best to improve my spirit, to make me psychologically ready, and they did. I entered the operating room laughing and full of joy," al-Awady said The surgery was carried out last week, and it was a success. Tawfik told CBS News he was surprised by the amount of infection and abscess caused by the bullet, which had rusted over time inside al-Awady's head. Dr. Ahmed Tawfik, CEO of the Al-Ferdaws eye hospital in Egypt, stands with his patient, Sarah al-Awady, after he helped to remove a bullet that had been lodged in her skull for four months. / Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Ahmed Tawfik/Al-Ferdaws hospital Even with the bullet out, al-Awady is not fully out of the woods. "Three hours later, I opened my eyes and they told me that, thanks to God, all went well," she recalled. "I started crying again." "She is very stable now, and she is taking her meds and getting better," Tawfik told CBS News. "My goal was first to end the pain caused by the infection and, second, to preserve her current eyesight level. I am hoping that after we deal with the retinal detachment her sight will improve." The young woman's eye will never look or see the same way it did before she was shot. Like many Palestinians who have made it out of Gaza to receive desperately needed medical help, al-Awady told CBS News that her joy is incomplete. She misses the rest of her family, who she had to leave behind. Palestinian Sarah al-Awady holds the bullet that doctors removed from her head in Egypt. / Credit: Courtesy of Sarah al-Awady Asked about the rusty bullet that lived in her head for four months, she said she planned to hold onto it. "I am thinking of framing it," she told CBS News. Judge blocks deportation of pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests House's short-term spending bill heads to Senate, passage needed by Friday to avoid shutdown What led up to Ukraine's willingness to accept 30-day ceasefire In 2024, Donald Trump promised to end federal taxes on tips received by service workers, but has he fulfilled his promise? How realistic was this promise? Is there any hope that it will become a reality during his presidency? Key Points Donald Trump promised that eliminating taxes on tips, along with taxes on Social Security, would be the first thing he does in office. Trump has not kept his promise, but the elimination of taxes on tips would not have been a huge benefit to the poor, anyway, since most tipped workers dont make enough money to pay any taxes. Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAssets free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Dont waste another minute; get started by clicking here here.(Sponsor) With the flood of political activity, conflicting narratives, and confusion regarding what exactly is happening in our government, its understandable to have no idea what is going on, or what legislation is real. We looked into the details and found some solid answers (at least for now). This post was updated on May 21, 2025 to include the "No Tax on Tips Act" that passed the same day. Background on the Promise Elon Musk President Trump. Because Trumps first term as president overwhelmingly benefitted the wealthy and resulted in one of the largest wealth transfers from the poor and middle class to the rich, he needed to do something different during the 2024 presidential campaign in order to secure the vote of the working class. As a result, he made a number of promises including eliminating taxes on tips received by restaurant workers, gig workers, and delivery drivers, eliminating taxes on overtime pay, and eliminating taxes on Social Security. He promised that we are going to do that right away, first thing in office. However, many experts doubted the efficacy of eliminating taxes on tips for a number of reasons. First, many people under-report the amount of tips they receive, so the savings will be minimal at best. Second, the tax break favors some service workers more than others, and providing an overall tax break for the working class would be more effective than just targeting tips. Third, restaurants and other service-industry companies will have more incentive to manipulate the tips they receive to take advantage of their workers. Fourth, it is a meaningless promise that likely wouldnt achieve any noticeable savings for workers while giving Trump more room to provide tax cuts for the rich. Fifth, a huge proportion of the people in the United States who are tipped as part of their work dont make enough money to pay federal income taxes, so it would have no benefit for them. Did He Keep His Promise? President Trump. A unanimous decision has been reached by the U.S. Senate, a seemingly rare occurrence in todays political landscape. On May 21, the No Tax on Tips Act was successfully passed, after being introduced by Senator Ted Cruz. This comes as good news to tip earners across the country, as the legislation allows workers to deduct up to $25,000 in tips on an annual basis, assuming their total income falls under $160,000 (which is almost certainly the case for the majority of employees relying on tips). Though the bill definitely includes food servers, the Treasury Department must identify other eligible occupations in the next three months. Those in opposition to the bill point out that it may cause employers to lower base wages, which would negatively impact tipped workers. The bill will now be considered by the House of Representatives. The post Donald Trumps No Taxes on Tips Unanimously Passed appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Fresh magma has intruded into the Earths crust underneath Alaskas Mount Spurr, 75 miles west of Anchorage, increasing the likelihood of an eruption within the near future, government officials said Wednesday afternoon. The Alaska Volcano Observatory within the past week measured significantly elevated volcanic activity, with newly reactivated gas fissures, or fumaroles, seen at Mount Spurrs Crater Peak. Increased earthquake activity and ground deformation continue as well, according to the United States Geological Survey. We cannot assign an exact timeframe for when an eruption will occur, if it does, but the increased gas emissions recorded on March 7 suggest that an eruption may occur in the next few weeks to months, the USGS said in a news release. The agency said magma has likely been accumulating beneath the 11,070-foot summit for some months. The peak is clearly visible from Anchorage, the states most populous city, and a significant eruption could severely disrupt air traffic. Previous eruptions in 1953 and 1992 endured for several hours, producing ash clouds that carried downwind, prompting airport closures, impacting water supplies and raining up to a quarter-inch of ashfall throughout southcentral Alaska. Those events ejected plumes of volcanic ash as high as 45,000 feet into the atmosphere, disrupting air travel between the U.S. and Asia via the great circle routes that link places like New York and Tokyo along the Earth's curve. The USGS agency said a similar event is likely this time but anticipates increases in seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating will provide days to weeks of additional warning prior to any possible eruption. "While we expect additional changes to monitoring data prior to an eruption, it is also possible that an eruption could occur with little or no additional warning," the agency said, noting that such an occurrence would prove "extremely hazardous" for people or nearby aircraft. Additionally, the agency warned that elevated levels of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide may pose a hazard to those in low-lying areas around or downwind of the gas vents. The former is particularly dangerous as it is colorless and odorless, making it difficult to detect. Last month, observatory officials categorized the volcano with a "yellow" advisory level after the mountain had displayed "unrest" for about 11 months. Indonesia's Mount Semeru volcano spews smoke southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java, on March 18, 2007. Indonesia is a vast archipelago of some 17,000 islands that lie along the geologically active "Pacific Ring of Fire" with more than 100 active volcanoes. REUTERS/Sigit Pamungkas (INDONESIA) Mount Spurr is one of a string of volcanos in the Aleutian Islands that comprise part of what's known as the Ring of Fire, created by the Pacific plate sinking below the North American plate. Volcanologists have also identified multiple significant eruptions throughout the geological record, around 1650, 3200 BC, 5500 BC and 6000 BC. "It seems like it has big eruptions every 1,000 or so years," Michael Manga, a volcanologist at the University of California, Berkeley, previously told USA TODAY. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alaska volcano could erupt in weeks or months, disrupt flights A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) WASHINGTON (AP) An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency. Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a group of people who handle colleges' financial aid awards, also received reports of users experiencing technical issues and having trouble completing the FAFSA. Weve been trying to get more clarity on why its down," said Allie Bidwell Arcese, a spokeswoman for NASFAA. The Education Department hadn't shared any information on the outage, she said. The maintenance and troubleshooting may be impacted by yesterdays layoffs. The developers and IT support staff who worked on the FAFSA form were hard hit in the Education Department's layoffs Tuesday, along with staff buyouts and the termination of probationary employees. In all, the Education Department has reduced its staff by half, to roughly 2,000, since Trump took office. A list of laid-off staff obtained and verified by AP shows more than 300 people cut from Federal Student Aid two dozen of them from Federal Student Aid's technology division. That included the entire team responsible for systems supporting the FAFSA form, a person with knowledge of the outage told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation. While laid-off staffers are still technically employed until March 21, they had limited access to their email, phones and computers, making a response to the outage difficult, the person said. At one point Wednesday, about 70 people had joined a Teams call to try to pinpoint the cause of the outage. The call continued for hours. By Wednesday evening, the website carried a banner claiming Planned Maintenance was underway, and login access was cut off. Reports of outages died down by late Wednesday night. Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann said the layoffs didnt affect employees working on the FAFSA form or student loan servicing. They were implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws, Biedermann said in a statement. They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families, she said. Problems with the FAFSA had vexed the administration of former President Joe Biden, drawing rebuke from Republicans. The form was overhauled last year in an attempt to simplify it, but technical problems blocked students from submitting forms or bungled financial aid calculations. Advocates had feared frustration would lead thousands of students to give up on going to college at all. But overall freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges increased over the previous year. ___ Editor's note: A previous version of this story said freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges had dropped in fall 2024. That data was corrected in January by the National Student Clearinghouse, which cited an error in its methodology. Freshman enrollment increased over the previous year. ___ The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Kimbal Musk, the brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has been offloading shares of Tesla in recent months just as the stock has made a massive retreat from all-time highs. The electric vehicle maker, however briefly, had been among the select group of trillion-dollar companies following the stocks post-U.S. presidential election surge. Should this sale from an insider Kimbal is also a member of Teslas board concern you? Maybe, maybe not but Tesla investors should be worrying about much bigger things. Kimbal Musk sells Tesla stock Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of Tesla stock in early February, fetching nearly $27.6 million, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That sale was good for a price per share of about $367.87 a well-timed sale, since Tesla stock now sits around $249 per share. But Kimbals sale was still well below the stocks all-time high of $488.54, which was hit in just December, as the shares more than doubled since late October. Kimbal poorly timed another sale of Tesla stock, however. In November, he unloaded 60,500 shares for about $15.1 million, netting around $250 per share. While Kimbal may get the attention because of his last name, hes only one of several Tesla insiders who have been selling stock in recent months. Should you be worried by Kimbals sales of Tesla stock? Probably not too much. As of April 2024, Elons brother owned about 1.95 million shares of Tesla, so the two most recent sales represent around 7 percent of his holdings at that time. As the old investor adage goes, insiders sell for many reasons, but they buy for only one. Kimbals sales could be a little bit of market timing or perhaps just prudent diversification for someone who has a heavily concentrated position in the stock and whose wealth relies heavily on it. Its the approach that any good financial advisor would suggest for a client. Sure, Kimbal may be selling to take advantage of the run higher, but he still has significant wealth tied up in Tesla stock, as does Elon Musk himself. While longtime bulls would probably like to see insiders buying stock, their sales intense as theyve been may be nothing too worrisome in and of themselves. However, investors should be much more concerned about other factors concerning the electric vehicle maker. Tesla stock looks overvalued and consumers are boycotting Tesla Instead of worrying about insider sales, investors should be paying much closer attention to the stocks overvaluation. This situation has persisted for years, as Elon Musk has cheerleaded his stock seemingly ever higher on over-the-top promises, like robo-taxis, that had little chance of coming to fruition. But a quick comparison of Teslas market capitalization and unit sales and those of other major car manufacturers can help put some context around Teslas valuation. Company Market capitalization Unit sales Market cap/unit (approx.) Tesla (TSLA) $799 billion 1.789 million $446,500 GM (GM) $48 billion 6.001 million $8,000 Ford (F) $38 billion 4.470 million $8,550 Stellantis (STLA) $37 billion 5.526 million $6,675 Market capitalization is the total value of all the companys outstanding stock, and Teslas total valuation still looks way too high, even though its already been cut by a stunning 50 percent in just the last three months. Now, this valuation does not factor in the effects of debt financing, which are substantial in the car industry. As this back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests, Tesla still looks way overvalued, whereas the per-unit valuation of key peers are all in the same neighborhood. And again, Teslas valuation comes after an approximate 50 percent haircut already. Need an advisor? Need expert guidance when it comes to managing your investments or planning for retirement? Bankrates AdvisorMatch can connect you to a CFP professional to help you achieve your financial goals. In fact, Tesla is worth more than the next nine largest car companies combined, a stunning feat given that Tesla sells just a fraction of worldwide production. And its forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio a measure of the price investors are willing to pay for future earnings is sky-high. Teslas forward P/E ratio is more than nine times the average of the next 25 most-valuable automakers, says one Reuters report on the company. And the shares still fetch 89 times its estimated earnings for the year ahead. This P/E multiple is pricey for any stock, but especially so for one with shrinking sales. While the analyst consensus expects Tesla to grow sales, investment bank UBS actually estimates that sales will fall 4 percent this year and it could be much worse than that, as Tesla starts off the year with disappointing sales. To put it another way, Teslas stock would still need to shed about 90 percent of its value just to be in line with the average automobile stock. Tesla facing consumer backlash At the same time, the company may be facing serious sales headwinds due to its CEO. Tesla is suffering significant reputational damage both in the U.S. and elsewhere as Elon Musk allies with President Donald Trump to slash government employment . The companys European sales plunged 45 percent in January, including a 60 percent drop in Germany, Europes largest EV market. Teslas February sales in Germany were down an even more stunning 76 percent as the backlash continued. In the U.S., registrations of Tesla vehicles dropped 11 percent in January. The backlash against the company has been fierce, according to media reports. Some people are boycotting Tesla, vandalizing dealerships and even outright destroying vehicles. The potential problems facing Tesla and its utterly massive valuation may keep many financial advisors from recommending the stock to their clients. Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past investment product performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation. In 2004, both Jeanne DeWitt Grosser and Guillermo Rauch were obsessed with Gmail. Grosser was in her first job at Google, working on Gmail just two months after its launchwhen Gmail broke, she worked with engineers to fix it. More than 6,000 miles away, Rauch was a teenager, studying Gmails innovations from the outside. "When I was a kid in Argentina, I became obsessed with JavaScript," said Rauch. "Id started building open source frameworks in JavaScript, and Gmail played a huge role in that. I reverse-engineered a lot of Gmail because they discovered new techniques on how to build this really sophisticated desktop appbut inside a web browser. I got it as early as I possibly could Gmail was like the Second Coming, basically, but for the internet!" Decades later, the two were introduced. Rauch was now the CEO and founder of AI web development startup Vercel (last valued at $3.25 billion), while Grosser was the chief business officer at Stripe, one of the largest, most-scrutinized private companies in the world. After nine years at Stripe, Grosser is now joining Vercel as the companys COO, Fortune has exclusively learned. She believes that Vercela leader in "vibecoding"today is at the same inflection point Stripe was at when she first joined the payments juggernaut almost a decade ago. "You have immense developer love, but that can be ephemeral, so you have to earn and keep that every single dayat the same time as you figure out how to move up market," Grosser said. "When I came into Stripe, I realized how quickly it wanted to go, and how it had to get going on the next set of larger companies fast. Arguably, Vercel is ahead of Stripe at this point on its scale, on enterprise penetration and relevance." Grossers arrival comes at a pivotal time for Vercel. The startup launched v0 in 2023, an AI-driven product thats been widely viewed as a significant step in web developmenteven people with limited to no coding experience can create and adjust web applications by using natural language prompts. Grosser wants to see Vercel scale from here, turning the app into a fully enterprise-ready tool and transforming the company into a predictably efficient growth machine. "My job is to get this organization to a point where I always know, definitively, that if you give me $1, I can predictably produce 'x' dollars, as a result," said Grosser. SoIPO? "We have been working towards public company readiness," Rauch added, noting that theres no "definitive timeline." "For me, the big win would be streamlining go-to-market, improved efficiency, stronger company culture, and setting us up to scale for the next 10 years of growing the company itself, in headcount and our internal operations," Rauch told Fortune. For Grosser, leaping to Vercel harkens back to the beginning of her career. As Rauch showed her v0, she saw throughlines from her time at Gmail. "I kept saying, 'So, thats like Gmail, right?' Or, 'When Gmail did this, this is what wed use if we built on Vercel today,'" said Grosser. "So, part of me feels like theres this destiny. Vercel basically combines having worked on one of the largest, most sophisticated JavaScript applications in its early days and Stripe, this developer-led company. You stick them together, and its like my career has been building towards landing at Vercel." Rauch sees the parallel, too. "[The open web] is the marketplace of ideas, and it doesn't matter if you're starting a company in Argentina, Bangladesh, Europe, or the United States," said Rauch. "Its a level playing field. Back in Argentina, I wanted to make a career out of doing what I lovebecause you can just ship things on the web. You dont need permission from anybody." See you tomorrow, Allie Garfinkle X: @agarfinks Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of todays newsletter. Subscribe here. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com President Donald Trump (R) shakes ands with TSMC CEO C.C. Wei in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 3, 2025 in Washington D.C. Trump had announced that TSMC planned to invest $100 in new manufacturing facilities in the U.S. (Andrew HarnikGetty Images) In his 90-minute address to Congress, President Donald Trump celebrated TSMCs pledge to invest $100 billion in the U.S. as proof that his America First investment plan was working. The chipmakers investment pledge came after Trump threatened to place tariffs on chips from Taiwan, which the president regularly accuses of stealing the U.S.s chip business. And in his congressional address, Trump credited his tariff threatand not subsidies put into place by previous President Joe Bidenfor TSMCs decision to invest more in the U.S. But in recent days, Taiwan's government and TSMC have come out to say that the chipmaker's decision was not due to Washington pressureand many claim it was nothing more than a move to expand manufacturing of the day-to-day chips used by its biggest customer. Taiwans economics minister Kuo Jyh-Huei argued last week that TSMCs U.S. investment plans have nothing to do with tariffs. TSMCs global expansion is a crucial development, he said. TSMCs latest U.S. investment would add two advanced packaging facilities, three more semiconductor foundries, and a research center to the chipmakers Arizona facility. The new commitment brings TSMCs total investment in the U.S. state to $165 billion. Customer demand drove TSMCs decision to invest in the U.S., said TSMC CEO C.C. Wei last week. The amount of investment in the U.S. may seem large, but it is still not enough to meet demand, Wei added. Silicon shield Taiwans chip industry has been credited as a silicon shield, helping to protect the self-governing island from Beijing pressure. Until now, the self-governing island has been the only source of the advanced semiconductors used by firms like Apple and Nvidia. But in recent years, TSMC, the worlds leading contract chipmaker, has diversified its supply chain with new plants in the U.S., Japan, and Germany. Washington in particular has publicly dangled billions in subsidies to encourage chip manufacturers to base operations in the country. Now, with TSMCs $100 billion investment pledge, Taiwans opposition party, the Kuomintang, has questioned the government's plans, raising worries that more operations opening in the U.S. would negatively affect Taiwans silicon shield The islands third political party, the Taiwan Peoples Party, also questioned whether TSMC would move its most advanced technologies to the U.S. in the near term, something that the islands economics minister said would not happen. Even Beijing has gotten in on the act, with Chinese officials commenting in February that people in Taiwan were worried TSMC might become the United States Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. (Beijings spokesperson didnt provide evidence at the time.) Yet analysts think TSMCs massive U.S. investment wont threaten Taiwans place in the chip supply chain. Ninety percent of TSMCs 5-nanometer chip production remains in Taiwan, and the first 3-nanometer chips, the latest generation, are only made in the island according to Hui He, research director at Omdia. Most of TSMCs capacity is still in Taiwan, Hui says. I dont think that Taiwan will be less important if U.S. capacity increases. Nor will TSMCs U.S. operations manufacture the cutting-edge chips that, for now, are only made in Taiwan. Instead, the Arizona planteven after TSMCs promised $100 billion investmentwill likely remain just slightly behind the cutting-edge, as the chipmaker ports over tried-and-true processes from Taiwan for now. Taiwans government will still need to approve the TSMC investment. Both Taipei and TSMC say U.S. pressure did not play a role in the chipmakers decision to invest in the U.S. Chip companies investing in the U.S. We see the new fabs as a strong signal that TSMCs investments are not commercially driven, wrote Morningstars equity analyst Phelix Lee in a note last week. TSMC has previously said construction and manufacturing are both more expensive in the U.S. as well as its preference to keeping R&D and manufacturing close in Taiwan. David Chuang, a senior research analyst at Isaiah Research, is skeptical that TSMCs $100 billion pledge will fully materialize. The market is there, he says. But it boils down to the value proposition. How much can TSMC charge for U.S. manufacturing? TSMCs current manufacturing in Arizona emulates what the chipmaker is already doing in Taiwan, such as a lower cost version of its 4-nanometer chips. The process is simplified, Chuang says, with the result going into less powerful devices like smartwatches, rather than high-end smartphones. With its established chipmaking ecosystem and steady supply of talent, the latest chips will come from Taiwan first. And with the AI boom continuing to drive demand for more and more advanced chips, Chuang says Taiwan is going to be key for fulfilling that demand. Timelines for reaching the next generations of chips are not quite aligned with U.S. capacity right now, he says. The U.S. capacity will always be lagging behind. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Joe Murphy, whose position as a management and data analyst was eliminated when the Department of Education laid off nearly 50% of its workforce Tuesday evening, said on Wednesday that he and his colleagues are filled with a sense of "sadness" and "disbelief." "We got the sense that we were disposable in a certain sense, especially those of us in the data space," he told ABC News. MORE: 'Upsetting': Civil servants across the US part of Department of Education's mass layoffs According to Murphy, everyone he worked with directly had their positions terminated. The 56-year-old from Dumfries, Virginia, said he has spent almost 20 years in education data, previously working for the National Center for Education Statistics, in addition to serving as a contractor for a formula grant data collection space in the Education Department. PHOTO: Civil servants and supporters of the Department of Education rally outside the department in Washington, Mar. 11, 2025. (Jim Lo Scalzo/epa-efe/shuttersto/JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shuttersto) In the Department of Government Efficiency's latest efforts to cut federal costs, some 1,315 Education Department employees were affected by the "reduction in force" notices, leaving 2,183, according to senior officials at the agency. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the job cuts on Wednesday, referring to them as "a promise made and a promise kept." "There is no reason that we should be spending more than most developed countries in the world. And our education system is failing," she added. "The president wants to return education back to the states, empower those closest to the people to make these very important decisions for our children's lives. And this is a first step in that process." PHOTO: The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, is seen Mar. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) Though Murphy said the terminations were expected, he said the experience has still been disconcerting. "Nothing surprises me anymore, but it's still kind of shocking and impactful," he said. "I do not know where I go forward from here ... I am suddenly belched out into a job market that has been at the very same time, severely constricted and also completely flooded with people who have a similar skill set to mine. I'm 56 years old," Murphy continued, adding that he has spend "more than a third of [his] entire life" in this line of work. "Felt really weird to wake up this morning and be like, wow, what am I gonna do?" he said. MORE: When will the Department of Education be dissolved? Secretary Linda McMahon says she doesn't know Murphy emphasized how the most important and rewarding aspect of his job, which falls under the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, was serving the nation's children. "It's really for the kids, and what we do is for the kids. And so many of us feel that way," he said, adding that he "wish[es] things went differently." "That's the thing I have the greatest sense of pride in. I would think, you know, doing a good job and getting the data to the programs in the right timely fashion -- good, accurate data, so that they can make decisions on behalf of, you know, 100,000 schools in this country and 18,000 districts and 50-something state education agencies," he explained. When asked if he believes children will continue to receive needed educational benefits and services, Murphy projected a bleak outlook and expressed his belief that "we're politicizing the department of education and the education of our students." PHOTO: Chloe Kienzle of Arlington, Va., stands outside the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Mar. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) He also expressed concern over whether his work will even be able to continue. "So, all that work that we did for the programs, I don't know who's going to do it now or be able to do it. The folks in the programs were already overwhelmed. They were so grateful to us for the work that we did for them in distilling down this massive amount of data to a few answers with groundwork that they laid together with us," he said. "So, I don't know where that's going to get done." MORE: WWE co-founder Linda McMahon confirmed as secretary of education Murphy is a member of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which he says he joined only recently due to the change in administrations from Biden to Trump. "When it seemed to be going south and everybody was taking over after the inauguration, I said, okay, well, I'm gonna go ahead and sign up," he said, explaining how he was affected by the "last two months of being led by threats and intimidation." "I don't necessarily disagree with the idea that the federal government needed some improvements and some restructuring to some degree," Murphy acknowledged. "But how you do it really matters, and you can't just ... the federal government is not a private business, and you can't run it that way." Fired Education Department worker: 'We got the sense that we were disposable.' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE A 72-year-old Rhode Island man is facing criminal charges after being accused of touching children in a lazy river at a Florida hotel near the Walt Disney World resort. William Francis Chatel was arrested Tuesday, March 11, and charged with lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years of age, according to online court records. Two days prior, on Sunday, March 9, a young girl was swimming in the lazy river at the Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando when she said she felt something touch her and when she looked down, she saw an elderly man who had touched her lower back and right side, according to an Orange County Sheriffs Office arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE. The girl, whose identity and age were redacted in the affidavit, said she tried to avoid him for the rest of the time she was in the lazy river. The next day, on Monday, March 10, the girl said she saw the same man in the lazy river and tried to avoid him, but he would slow down and float towards her, according to the affidavit. Shortly after, she ran over to her mother in tears and hysterical, saying the man allegedly grabbed her buttocks and squeezed it and tickled it while underwater, according to the affidavit. The girls mother called the sheriffs office and asked someone to watch the man until law enforcement arrived. While waiting for police to arrive, someone recorded video allegedly showing the man approach young female children in the lazy river, mostly while alone, and appear to swim up to them and reach/paddle underwater toward the children, according to the affidavit. Someone else allegedly saw the man touch another young female, according to the affidavit. 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. When deputies arrived at the resort, they saw Chatel sitting in the hot tub. A deputy spoke to him as he left the hot tub and was returning to his room. He was taken into custody without incident. He is being held without bond in the Orange County jail as he awaits his next court date on March 18. His public defender did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. Read the original article on People Food & Wine / Getty Images About one-third of the world starts their day with a cup of coffee. According to Drive Research, three out of four Americans enjoy a cup daily, while approximately 36% of people drink between three to five cups of coffee each day. This makes it particularly troubling to learn that the global coffee trade is reaching a crisis point due to the significant surge in prices, with retailers outright refusing to purchase coffee at its current rates. In early March, Reuters reported from the U.S. National Coffee Association convention, where retailers expressed their shock at current pricing, and growers shared their astonishment at not being able to sell their coffee products. Related: Coffee Prices Just Hit a Record High and Theyre Still Climbing "We would usually be sold out by now, but so far, we sold less than 30% of production," Renan Chueiri, the director general at ELCAFE C.A. in Ecuador, shared about his company's instant coffee. "The big price increase eats clients' cash flow. They don't have all the money to buy what they need." One roaster in the U.S., who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters that conditions have become so dire that his clients are uncertain about remaining in business. "They don't know if they will be able to sell their product at the new prices," he said. "Some people are going under." The source also pointed out that this situation extends to grocery stores in the U.S., which have begun to resist the rising costs. Moreover, those grocery stores that do push back are in good global company. In early March, European supermarkets Jumbo and Picnic faced a dispute with JDE Peets, the owner of Douwe Egberts coffee and Pickwick tea, two popular brands in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands, over its new pricing recommendations, which included price increases of up to 30%. "We find this unacceptable for Dutch consumers, Michiel Muller, the CEO of Picnic, told NL Times. However, it appears the retailers have lost the negotiations, with NL Times reporting that both supermarket chains will now pay "significantly" more for the brands. Related: Coffee Prices Just Hit a Record High and Theyre Still Climbing JDE is increasing its profitability at the expense of consumers and retailers, Muller said. He noted that the new wholesale pricing would be impossible for consumers to absorb." But while Muller believes retailers will have to take a hit on some of the cost to keep prices down for consumers, customers will still "have to pay more for their coffee." However, these high prices might not remain for long. As Reuters reported, if Brazil successfully achieves a large harvest, Arabica coffee futures could drop by as much as 30% by the end of 2025, bringing it down to $2.95 per pound, which would return it to November 2024 pricing. The same applies to Vietnam, the largest producer of Robusta coffee. As one participant in Reuters' poll observed, "If weather conditions remain favorable (in Vietnam), we expect production to recover given the investments made by farmers in recent years." Read the original article on Food & Wine Jack Quaid has admitted filming the final season of 'The Boys' is "bittersweet. Jack Quaid is ready for the final season of The Boys The 32-year-old actor - who plays vigilante Hughie Campbell in the superhero series - is having fun shooting the show out in Toronto but he isn't looking forward to having to say goodbye to the rest of the cast and crew when filming wraps for good on the fifth series. He told 'Extra': I'm working on Season 5 of The Boys right now. I'm in Toronto. It's our last season. It's going to be very bittersweet, but we're about halfway done shooting and it's going to be awesome. I'm just going to miss everybody. Jack thinks fans will be happy with the way the series comes to an end. He added: It's gonna be an incredible last season. I think it's a really great payoff. The 'Novocaine' actor is the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan and previously admitted he feels "immensely privileged" because he knows being a nepo baby has given him an advantage in his career. Discussing being called a nepo baby, he told The Daily Beast: "I'm inclined to agree. I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that's more than half the battle. "I knew the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it's just not for a lot of actors. "And I've just tried to work as hard as I possibly can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door. So if that's in the rom-com space, it's got to be different enough, and I need to work my a** off." Meg previously defended her son over being branded a nepo baby, but while Jack can understand why she spoke out, he doesn't share her concern that it undermines his talent. He said: "My first thought was like, she's being a mom. She's being a loving mom. "But I don't think she's trying to say that I'm not a nepo baby. I think she's just trying to say that, in her opinion, it undermines my talent. I don't think it undermines my talent. "I know that I work hard, and I know I've heard 'no' way more than I've heard 'yes.' "But I also know that this industry is insanely hard to break into, and I had an easier time doing that than most. Both things can be true. "So no, I don't think she was trying to say that I'm not a privileged person. She knows. She must know. I think she was being a mom." For the second time in less than four months, a government shutdown is looming as negotiations in Congress continue between Republicans and Democrats. On Tuesday, the House passed a spending bill that would temporarily fund the government until Sept. 30. With that bill's passage in the House, the Senate is now tasked with approving the same bill to get it to President Donald Trumps desk before Friday night's deadline. The Senate was expected to vote on the final passage of the bill on Friday morning. Here is what you need to know about a potential government shutdown, including when it would kick in and what would happen. Government shutdown blame game: Why Schumer, Senate Democrats are in a pickle When is the government shutdown deadline? Current funding expires on Friday night. A shutdown would be triggered if a funding bill is not passed and signed by Trump by 11:59 p.m. ET Friday night. A shutdown would mean the furlough of thousands of federal workers and a reduction of federal services. A shutdown would pile on top of DOGE cuts A potential freeze in the federal government comes as billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continue to lay off and cut thousands of workers from various federal government agencies. This week, federal agencies faced a deadline to provide Trump administration officials with plans for a reduction in force, a dramatic downsizing of the nation's more than 2 million federal workers that will occur over the next few months. What happens to federal workers during a government shutdown? Although the word shutdown sounds like a complete stop, that is not the full picture. Federal agencies classify their workers either as essential or nonessential. Workers identified as essential continue to work, but might not be paid right away. On the other hand, nonessential workers are furloughed and are not allowed to work or to be paid until the government reopens. About 800,000 federal employees went without pay for 35 days during the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown in 2018 and 2019, as USA TODAY previously reported. A fence surrounds the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington October 5, 2013. What happens to Social Security and Medicare? Both retirement and disability benefits proceed without interruptions. Medicare and Medicare benefits also continue, but some delays could be seen due to a government shutdown. What happens to veterans benefits and food assistance during a shutdown? Similarly to Social Security, veterans continue to receive their benefits and medical care. Programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will also continue, though there could be minor disruptions. Does the military shut down during a government shutdown? All active-duty U.S. military personnel stay on the job, but about half of the Pentagons 800,000 civilian employees could face furloughs. Another part of the military that would stay on the job would be the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear weapons. What about law enforcement? Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA and prison staff will remain operational. The Secret Service and Coast Guard will continue their duties. What happens to national parks? National parks, monuments and other sites will close to the public, with rangers furloughed and facilities shut down. Some states may temporarily fund park operations, as seen during the 2018-2019 shutdown. The Salt Pond Visitor Center remains closed as a result of the government shutdown. How a government shutdown impacts borders and Homeland Security Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents will continue working. However, local governments will not receive new aid for migrant shelters. Transportation during a government shutdown Airport security screeners and air traffic controllers will remain on duty, but new hires and some major infrastructure projects could face delays. Absenteeism, as seen in previous shutdowns, might impact airport operations. What happens to Congressional pay? Lawmakers will continue to receive paychecks during a shutdown, while staffers will be furloughed, though essential personnel will still work. A government shutdown's impact on the White House During past shutdowns, the White House furloughed a significant portion of its staff. Essential offices, like the National Security Council, will continue operating, while others will be scaled back. The presidents salary remains unaffected by a shutdown. Contributing: Reuters; Jeremy Yurow and Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When is the government shutdown deadline? Here's what would happen NamUs Barbara Lealyn Lenz Barbara Lenz, a 31-year-old mother, mysteriously vanished and was last seen on May 6, 1989 Her disappearance remained a cold case for nearly 36 years before the Iowa Cold Case unit reexamined the case and named a suspect On March 10, her former boyfriend, Robert Davis, now 61, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder An Iowa man was charged with the murder of his late girlfriend, nearly 36 years after her mysterious disappearance. Barbara Lenz, 31, was last seen on May 6, 1989. On March 10, Robert Davis, 61, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in her disappearance, the Iowa Department of Justice said in a Tuesday, March 11 news release. Investigators believe Davis murdered Lenz "with malice aforethought, wilfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE. Investigations at Lenzs home suggested she had been taken against her will. Over the years, investigations pursued numerous leads and searches, but Lenz was never found, per the March 11 news release. The Iowa Cold Case unit approached the case and arrested Davis. This arrest is a milestone in securing justice for Barbara Lenz, Attorney General Bird said. We are hoping to soon bring peace and answers to Barbaras loved ones, who have waited 35 long years in the dark. After her disappearance, Davis claimed he dropped Lenz off at her apartment in Woodbine, Iowa. After Lenz didnt arrive in Omaha, Neb., to visit her 3-year-old daughter Lindsay and Lindsay's father on May 17, 1989, her family contacted the Woodbine Police Department. Related: Man Arrested in 1977 Cold Case Rape and Killing of 16-Year-Old Utah Girl, Allegedly Linked by DNA NamUs Barbara Lealyn Lenz Upon the authorities' arrival, Lenz was not home, nor was her purse or wallet, and her pets had not been cared for "in some time, according to the criminal complaint. It was determined that Davis was the last person to see Lenz alive, and he told investigators that Lenz called him from Omaha to say she arrived. Later, authorities learned that she told several people she feared Davis. He allegedly assaulted Lenz "on several known occasions," including an incident when she was allegedly strangled until she became unconscious. He also allegedly hit her daughter in front of Lenz and other witnesses. He confessed these incidents to the police, per the complaint. Additionally, before she disappeared, Lenz told two different people he threatened to kill her if she left him. Related: Ore. Man Convicted of 1980 Cold Case Murder After DNA Found on Chewing Gum Linked Him to Crime Davis told the police that he did not like it when she went to Nebraska to visit Lindsay and Lindsay's father. He also said that he and Lenz argued before her May 6 visit. One witness alleged that Davis injured Lenz after slashing her cheek with a sharp object, while another claimed they saw the two leaving the apartment. The witness who saw Davis injured Lenz saw Davis at a local bar in Woodbine the same evening. During this encounter, Davis claimed to be looking for Lenz and he could not find her, per the complaint. The witness said his behavior "seemed misplaced" because Davis "had just left [the bar] with Lenz a short time earlier. A different witness later informed investigators that shortly after Lenz's disappearance, they saw Davis and his brother buried something in a rural area near Davis's home, per the complaint. Davis's brother visited the property with the witness and showed the witness where he had dug a hole for his brother and helped him bury something wrapped in plastic. The complaint did not say if the area was excavated or what was wrapped in the plastic. Other witnesses told investigators that Davis told them they would "end up like Barbara" after arguments. Lenz's body has never been found. The investigation is still active. Davis is being held without bond in the Harrison County Jail, and he will be prosecuted in Harrison County. NamUs Barbara Lealyn Lenz Related: 19-Year-Old Nancy Anderson Was Murdered in Her Honolulu Apartment in 1972. A DNA Sleuth Recently Cracked the Case Lenz's daughter, Lindsay (nee Crew) Baumgart, said the news of Davis arrest is "very surreal, per KCCI. "It's honestly something that I have waited for my whole life." "I never thought this day would come," she told the outlet, adding that she hopes investigators locate her mothers remains. "Justice for me would be bringing my mama home. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article on People New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) NEW YORK (AP) Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia University. The demonstrators from Jewish Voice for Peace wore red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and held up banners as they chanted Bring Mahmoud home now!" on the lower level of the Fifth Avenue building's public atrium. After warning the protesters to leave, police said they arrested 98 people who stayed on various charges, including trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest. Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who has not been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment Saturday and faces deportation. He is being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana. President Donald Trump has said Khalils arrest was the first of many to come and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the Trump Tower demonstration. Among those who took part in Thursday's protest was actor Debra Winger, who was not arrested. She accused the Trump administration of having no interest in Jewish safety and co-opting antisemitism. Im just standing up for my rights, and Im standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location," Winger told The Associated Press, referring to how Khalil's attorney didn't know his whereabouts immediately following his arrest. "Does that sound like America to you? Founded in 1996, Jewish Voice for Peace describes itself as a grassroots movement of American Jews seeking to end U.S. support for Israels oppression of Palestinians. It is one of a number of Jewish groups around the world advocating for the rights of Palestinians. Protester Sophie Edelhart, a Barnard graduate who studies Yiddish as part of a PhD program in Canada, said the building with its golden escalator that Trump rode before announcing his 2016 presidential run was a symbolic target. Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The multi-story atrium is accessible to the public and connects visitors to eateries including the Trump Grill. Khalils supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country, including outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case Wednesday. Columbia University was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests. On Thursday the school announced that it expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring. The Trump administration has said it is revoking at least $400 million in funding from programs affiliated with Columbia, including medical research grants, as punishment for not doing enough to curtail protest activity that the president considers antisemitic. Also Thursday, lawyers for Khalil and other students identified by pseudonyms filed a lawsuit seeking to block a congressional committee from obtaining the disciplinary records of students at Columbia and Barnard College, a women's institution affiliated with Columbia. Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia masters degree in December. ___ Associated Press reporters Michael Hill in Albany and Michelle L. Price, Michael R. Sisak and Joseph B. Frederick contributed. Six Americans who were imprisoned in Kuwait have been released in an agreement with the United States, a representative for their families confirmed to ABC News. The Americans, many of whom are veterans and former military contractors, were convicted on drug charges, Jonathan Franks, a crisis management consultant, said. For years, however, the prisoners have "vigorously" maintained their innocence, Franks said. PHOTO: Six Americans who were imprisoned in Kuwait have been released in an agreement with the United States. (Jonathan Franks) MORE: 2 Americans freed from Afghanistan in prisoner swap, family and Taliban say Several more prisoners are expected to be freed in the coming weeks as part of the agreement, Franks added. "This morning, the Kuwaiti government released six of my clients as part of an agreement that will ultimately free fifteen of my clients in short order. Each was convicted on drug charges, and each vigorously maintains their innocence," Franks said. Convictions for possession of drugs in Kuwait may include long jail sentences or the death penalty, according to an advisory by the U.S. State Department. MORE: Journalist, American among 3 prisoners freed from Belarus ABC News has reached out to the State Department for comment. According to the U.S. Embassy of Kuwait website, American citizens are subject to Kuwait's laws and regulations. Those laws can "differ significantly from those in the United States," and the U.S. government may only be able to offer limited assistance to those charged, the website says. Kuwait is a small Middle Eastern country borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The prisoners' release comes amid President Donald Trump's emphasis on freeing Americans held abroad. In February, three prisoners, including an unnamed American and a journalist dubbed a political prisoner, were released from Belarus. 6 American prisoners in Kuwait released, land back in US, representative says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com During a meeting on Wednesday with Ireland's leader Michel Martin, President Trump made an offhand remark that was quickly picked up in the Middle East as a major change in his stance on the war-torn Gaza Strip and its roughly 2 million Palestinian inhabitants. "Nobody is expelling any Palestinians," Mr. Trump told reporters. That came after he repeatedly said that under his own proposal to rebuild Gaza, all of its residents would be moved out, while the U.S. moved in to "take over" the coastal territory to turn it into a luxury real estate development. Just a month ago, Mr. Trump was clear that, in his mind, not only would Palestinians need to leave Gaza, they would not be permitted to return. That plan was roundly and clearly rejected by Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan, which Mr. Trump had said would take in the displaced masses. Egypt, which has led efforts to present an alternative plan for Gaza that does not involve displacing Palestinians, welcomed the change in tone by Mr. Trump. "Egypt expresses its appreciation for the statements made by U.S. President, Donald Trump regarding the non-displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. "Egypt affirms that this position reflects an understanding of the importance of avoiding further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Strip and the necessity of working towards finding just and sustainable solutions to the Palestinian cause." A boy looks over a newly established tent camp for displaced Palestinians whose homes were damaged by Israeli army strikes in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday, March 7, 2025. / Credit: Jehad Alshrafi / AP Hamas, the U.S. and Israeli designated terrorist organization that sparked the war in Gaza with its brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, also cautiously welcomed the shift in Mr. Trump's rhetoric. "If Trump's statements represent a retreat from the idea of Palestinian displacement, then they are welcomed," a statement from the group's spokesperson said. Mr. Trump's remarks came Wednesday after his senior envoy Steve Witkoff met with the foreign ministers of five Arab nations in Qatar to discuss Gaza's post-war future. That future, regardless of what reconstruction plan is eventually implemented, can only start taking shape once there is an official end to the war, however. A fragile truce between Israel and Hamas has largely kept the peace since January 19, but the two sides have not yet agreed on whether to extend the first phase of the agreement, or to move onto a second phase as originally envisioned. The dialogue in Doha, Qatar, involving delegations from the host-nation as well as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and the U.S. is aimed at pushing the process forward and keeping the guns silent in Gaza. The five Arab nations involved have pushed the Egyptian-crafted alternative to Mr. Trump's "Riviera of the Mideast" proposal in their talks with American officials. The Arab plan, the rough outline of which officials shared with CBS News earlier this month, carries a price tag of $53 billion and envisions all of the enclave's residents remaining in Gaza throughout the years-long reconstruction. The Trump administration initially rejected the plan, with U.S. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes issuing a statement saying it failed to " address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance." "President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas," Hughes said at the time, adding: "We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region." It appeared on Wednesday, with Mr. Trump's remarks at the White House, that those further talks with America's regional partners may have convinced the White House that displacing the entire population of Gaza was not a tenable proposition. "The Arab foreign ministers presented the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was approved at the Arab Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025," the five Arab nations that met in Doha said in a joint statement shared Wednesday. "They also agreed with the U.S. envoy to continue consultations and coordination on this plan as a basis for the reconstruction efforts in the sector." That Egyptian plan has been adopted by the broad Muslim solidarity group of 57 countries known as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It envisions the Gaza Strip eventually being run by the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, not by Hamas. That will likely prove an ongoing point of contention as the PA holds little support among Palestinians and has been dismissed as a potential future Gaza administrator by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, showing there's still much negotiation ahead if Mr. Trump is to make good on his vows to end the crisis in the heart of the Middle East. Trump reacts to European Union slapping tariffs on U.S. goods Kentucky bourbon maker says Trump tariffs immediately impacted his business Woman charged after allegedly holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain warned on Wednesday that it would trigger a return of U.N. sanctions on Iran, if needed, to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon as the Security Council met to discuss Tehran's expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade. Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is "dramatically" accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency - has warned. Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. "We are clear that we will take any diplomatic measures to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, that includes the use of snapback (of sanctions), if needed," Britain's deputy U.N. Ambassador James Kariuki told reporters ahead of the meeting. The closed-door meeting was called by six of the council's 15 members - the U.S., France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and Britain. Iran's U.N. mission accused the United States of seeking to weaponize the U.N. Security Council "to escalate economic warfare against Iran," adding in a post on X: "This dangerous abuse must be rejected to protect the council's credibility." The U.S. mission to the U.N. said in a statement after the council meeting that Iran was "the only country in the world without nuclear weapons producing highly enriched uranium, for which it has no credible peaceful purpose." It accused Iran of defying the Security Council and violating IAEA obligations, calling on the council to "be clear and united in addressing and condemning this brazen behavior." 'SEIZE THE LIMITED TIME' U.S. President Donald Trump last month restored a "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran in a bid to stop Tehran from building a nuclear weapon. But he also said he was open to a deal and was willing to talk to Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian. Trump wrote a letter to Iran calling for nuclear talks, which was delivered on Wednesday, but Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected holding negotiations. China will hold a meeting on Friday in Beijing with Russia and Iran on the Iranian "nuclear issue", its foreign ministry said, with both nations sending their deputy foreign ministers. "We still hope that we can seize the limited time we have before the termination date in October this year, in order to have a deal, a new deal so that the JCPOA can be maintained," China's U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong told reporters ahead of the Security Council meeting. "Putting maximum pressure on a certain country is not going to achieve the goal," he said. Iran reached a deal in 2015 with Britain, Germany, France, the U.S., Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program. Washington quit the agreement in 2018 during Trump's first term as U.S. president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments. Britain, France and Germany will lose the ability to trigger the so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran on October 18 when the 2015 U.N. resolution on the deal expires. Trump has directed his U.N. diplomats to work with allies to snap back international sanctions and restrictions on Iran. Under the complex two-month JCPOA dispute resolution process, the European parties to the deal effectively have until early August to trigger a snapback of U.N. sanctions on Iran. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Diane Craft) By Sarah Morland (Reuters) - Caribbean leaders this week rejected U.S. accusations of Cuban labor exploitation after the United States announced it will restrict the visas of officials tied to a Cuban government program that sends medics abroad. The U.S. announced the measure late last month, arguing that the labor export programs run by Cuba's government, which include many medics, "enrich the Cuban regime." It further argued that those involved are complicit in the "exploitation and forced labor of Cuban workers." Cuba's leaders, however, reject the U.S. stance as Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "personal agenda... based on falsehoods" and said the measure could affect millions of healthcare beneficiaries. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who fled the island to Florida, where President Donald Trump's top diplomat would later win a Senate seat. Since Cuba's 1959 revolution, its medics have been dispatched to countries around the world, treating diseases that wreak havoc on poor countries, from cholera in Haiti to Ebola in West Africa. The program is also a key source of hard cash as the island nation endures its latest deep economic crisis. Cuba says a decades-long U.S. embargo, opposed by the vast majority of the United Nations, is the key driver of the crisis. "Out of the blue now, we have been called human traffickers because we hire technical people who we pay top dollar," said Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley at a hospital event. Rowley added that he was prepared to lose his U.S. visa. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves noted at least 60 people in the small island nation are on a Cuban-run haemodialysis program used to treat kidney failure. "If the Cubans are not there, we may not be able to run the service," he said, adding Cuban personnel are paid the same as locals. "I will prefer to lose my visa than to have 60 poor and working people die." Last week, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told reporters that her government views Cuban medics as important. "Their presence here is of importance to our healthcare system," she said, pointing to 400 doctors, nurses and medical technicians currently working in the country. In a social media post, Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell also vouched for the program, saying his government "follows all international best practices in the recruitment of labor." (Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Aurora Ellis) By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Two days before U.S. agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. Noor Abdalla, Khalil's wife of more than two years, said she was confused. As a legal permanent resident of the U.S., surely Khalil did not have to worry about that, she recalls telling him. "I didn't take him seriously. Clearly I was naive," Abdalla, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview. U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents handcuffed her husband on Saturday in the lobby of their university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil's arrest is one of the first efforts by President Donald Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January, to fulfill his promise to seek deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement. Earlier on Wednesday, Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist in New York, sat in the front row of a Manhattan courtroom as Khalil's lawyers argued to a federal judge that he had been arrested in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel's military assault on Gaza following the militant group Hamas' October 2023 attack. They told the judge that was a violation of Khalil's constitutional free speech rights. The judge extended his order blocking Khalil's deportation while he considers whether the arrest was constitutional. Trump has said, without evidence, that Khalil, 30, has promoted Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that governs Gaza. His administration has said Khalil is not accused of or charged with a crime, but Trump says his presence in the U.S. is "contrary to national and foreign policy interests." 'KIND, GENUINE SOUL' On Sunday, the Trump administration transferred Khalil from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Manhattan, to a jail in rural Jena, Louisiana, about 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away. Abdalla and Khalil met in Lebanon in 2016 when she joined a volunteer program Khalil was overseeing at a non-profit group that provides educational scholarships to Syrian youth. They started as friends before a seven-year long-distance relationship led to their New York wedding in 2023. "He is the most incredible person who cares so much for other people," she said. "He is the most kind, genuine soul." The couple are expecting their first child in late April. She said she hoped Khalil would be free by then. She showed Reuters a picture of a recent sonogram: a boy whose name they have yet to choose. "I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen," Abdalla said, adding that Khalil had insisted on doing all the cooking, laundry and cleaning through her pregnancy. "I've always been so excited to have my first baby with the person I love." The government has said it has begun proceedings to deport Khalil and is defending his detention in the court proceedings until then. Trump has called the anti-Israel student protest movement antisemitic and said Khalil's "is the first arrest of many to come." ADVOCACY FROM CAMPUS TO JAIL Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2022, getting his U.S. permanent residency green card last year. He completed his studies at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs in December but is yet to receive his master's degree diploma. He became a high-profile member of the Ivy League university's student protest movement, often speaking to the media as one of the lead negotiators with Columbia administration over the protesters' years-long demands that the school end investments of its $14.8 billion endowment in weapons makers and other companies that support Israel's government. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel in the Hamas incursion, in which 251 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's attacks have killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The Trump administration says pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. Jewish faculty at Columbia held a rally and press conference in support of Khalil outside a university building on Monday, holding signs saying "Jews say no to deportations." But Abdalla said no one from Columbia's administration had contacted her to offer help, which she found frustrating. She said her husband's focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways. She has had a few brief phone calls with Khalil from jail, where he told her he had been helping other detained migrants with poor English fill out forms written in legalese and donating food to his jail-mates, bought from his commissary account. "Mahmoud is Palestinian and he's always been interested in Palestinian politics," she said. "He's standing up for his people, he's fighting for his people." Abdalla ended Wednesday's interview abruptly when she saw Khalil was calling her from jail. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Additional reporting by Caitlin Ochs in New York; Editing by Donna Bryson, Paul Thomasch, Bill Berkrot) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is launching a new podcast. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is launching a new podcast The 'With Love, Meghan' star will host 'Confessions of a Female Founder', which will follow the 43-year-old royal's own journey as an entrepreneur with her lifestyle brand As Ever, and conversations with other female business owners on the ups and downs of establishing a business. Meghan revealed on Instagram: "Im so excited to share with you something else Ive been working on: Confessions of a Female Founder, my new podcast with @lemonadamedia! "Ive been having candid conversations with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities, and scaled small ideas into massively successful businesses. "Theyre opening up, sharing their tips, tricks (and tumbles), and letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As ever. It has been absolutely eye-opening, inspiringand fun! (Because whats the point if we cant have some fun on this wild adventure?)" The podcast will launch on 8 April. The former 'Suits' actress - who has two children, Prince Archie, five, and three-year-old Princess Lilibet - with husband Prince Harry - announced last month she was renaming her lifestyle brand As Ever, having previously announced the venture in March 2024 as American Riviera Orchard. She explained in a video shared to Instagram: "Last year, I had thought, 'American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name.' Its my neighbourhood; its a nickname for Santa Barbara, but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area. "Then Netflix came on, not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my business, which was huge. So I thought about it, and Ive been waiting for a moment to share a name that I had secured in 2022, and this is the moment, and its called As Ever." And Meghan later explained working on her new brand had helped her to find herself again. She added to People magazine: I see myself as an entrepreneur and a female founder and if the brand ends up influential, then thats great. By Elizaveta Gladun and Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta joined the race for May's presidential election re-run on Wednesday as the hard right worked to ensure they had a candidate in the contest after the ban on pro-Russian Calin Georgescu threw the vote wide open. Romania is set to repeat its two-round presidential election on May 4 and 18 after the Constitutional Court voided the initial ballot in December following accusations of Russian meddling in Georgescu's favour, denied by Moscow and Georgescu. Cancelling the ballot placed the European Union and NATO state at the centre of a dispute between Europe and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over free speech and suppressing political opponents. With the hard right scrambling before Saturday's deadline to replace Georgescu, who had been leading the opinion polls, Ponta, a former Social Democrat Party leader who has moved to the right in the past year, could pick up votes from across the political spectrum. "Victor Ponta will steal some votes from the left and the ultranationalists," said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University. "He aims to prove to U.S. conservative lobbyists that they have an alternative to Georgescu, one more experienced and reasonable." Romania's president has a semi-executive role which includes chairing the council that decides on military aid and defence spending. They can also veto EU votes that require unanimity, making the role particularly important at a time when the bloc is trying to increase defence spending and develop its Ukraine strategy as the U.S. works towards brokering a peace deal. The hard right meanwhile tried to ensure that at least one of their number would be put to the voters. Georgescu himself has stopped short of endorsing a replacement. George Simion, leader of Romania's second largest party, the Alliance of Uniting Romanians, and Anamaria Gavrila, the leader of the Young People Party, said in a joint statement they would both submit candidacies to the central election bureau to ensure at least one of them gets accepted. "Once our candidacies are definitively accepted, one of us will withdraw," Gavrila said in the statement with Simion after meeting Georgescu. "We must give all chances to this (ultranationalist) movement." All candidacies need to be validated by the election bureau. SECOND ROUND Simion is under investigation for inciting violence after Georgescu was barred. He says the investigation is an attempt to associate him with a violent protest he did not attend. Neither Simion nor Gavrila have made overtly pro-Russian statements such as those of Georgescu. But all three hard right parties in parliament voted against a law that enables Romania to shoot down drones breaching its airspace - something which has happened repeatedly as Russia attacks Ukraine across the river Danube from Romania. Analysts say that if Simion's bid is accepted, he has a good chance of reaching the second round. There he could face Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of capital Bucharest, who had been showing as Georgescu's main contender in some of the polls. Ponta, who resigned as prime minister in November 2015, said he backed what he called the "radical change" taking place in the U.S. and courted voters with an ultranationalist leaning - while also backing the country's role in the EU and NATO. "Power must be returned to the people, taken back from systems, organisations, and parties that have seized it over the years," he said as he launched his bid. "I believe that only through this change can we have a future both in Romania and in Europe." Crin Antonescu, a centrist backed by the three parties in the ruling coalition, is also running for the presidency. (Reporting by Elizaveta Gladun and Luiza Ilie, and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw; Editing by Alison Williams) By Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese voters are becoming increasingly frustrated with the country's political elites as another snap election looms - without any signs that it will bring stability. Portugal's centre-right minority government collapsed on Tuesday after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro lost a confidence motion, just 11 months after he was sworn in. All parties agree that President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has no alternative but to call a new parliamentary election, the third in as many years. The president has signalled the ballot could be held in the middle of May. Fernando Ferrao, a 69-year-old pensioner, hopes the country can find "a new vision different from the one we have seen for 40 or 50 years" from political elites. "Let's hope the people wake up ... because if we continue like this, the fall will be vertiginous and we'll all pay the bill later," he added. Andre Azevedo Alves, a professor of political science at the Catholic University of Portugal, said the election was expected to produce "an inconclusive result, probably very similar to the one now in parliament ... and it's very likely we'll continue to have political instability". "It's in no way certain that the resulting government will be able to govern for four years, so I wouldn't rule out another election in the not-so-distant future," he said. Opinion polls show the centre-left Socialists with a very slim lead, but mostly neck-and-neck with Montenegro's Democratic Alliance (AD) at around 30%, showing little change from last year's election. Although the political right has an overall majority in parliament, the AD has ruled out any deals with the far-right, populist Chega party. FRUSTRATION Azevedo Alves said voters were "tired of electoral repeats, of the political class' inability to deliver stable governments". "There's a lot of frustration among voters ... the vast majority doesn't want another election", which could result in higher abstention, he added. Lisbon resident Paulo Goncalves, 53, said the government's collapse and resulting snap election were "bad, because a lot of things will stand still ... and the country can't stop". Montenegro called the motion of confidence after the opposition questioned his integrity over the dealings of a consultancy firm he founded that is now run by his sons. He has denied wrongdoing or any ethical shortcomings by the firm, which has contracts with private companies. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira; Editing by David Latona and Paul Simao) (Reuters) - When the CEO of Russian state gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, opened a lavish Italian palazzo-styled building in central St Petersburg to house the company's export arm 11 years ago, he augured a future funded by European sales. "This is symbolic," he said, referring to the modern new offices in Russia's most European city. "Europe will increasingly need Russian gas." Instead, the opulent offices have come to symbolize Gazprom's rapid decline, dragged down by the almost total loss of European markets after the war in Ukraine ruptured Russia's ties with the West. Reeling under multi-billion-dollar losses and scrambling for savings, the company is now considering putting the palazzo up for sale along with other luxury properties it owns, according to a Gazprom executive and another source with knowledge of internal discussions at Gazprom. Gazprom is arguably the Russian business hardest hit by the international sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Although Russia's economy has been resilient, growing signs of strain have appeared in several industries. Reuters has previously reported that President Vladimir Putin is concerned as heavy military spending distorts the wider economy. The number of staff at Gazprom Export, once the most prosperous unit of the company, overseeing Soviet and Russia's gas sales to Europe for over half a century, has shrunk to just a few dozen employees, the same two sources told Reuters. That's down from 600 employees five years ago, at the peak of Russian exports to Europe. The possible sale of the building and cuts at the unit have not been previously reported. Gazprom's media department and the Russian energy ministry did not respond to detailed requests for comment on the story's findings. With no European sales, the remaining workers are focused mainly on litigation with former EU buyers, the sources told Reuters. Gazprom Export is "just a shell," one of the sources said. Alexei Grivach, from pro-Kremlin think tank the National Energy Security Fund, said Gazprom's less glamorous focus in the near future will be to bring gas to more Russian homes. "Gazprom has been handed the social task of gasification and secure gas supply to the economy and the population at low regulated prices," he said. Reuters spoke to three executives and half a dozen former and current employees for this story on the depth of change at what used to be Russia's most valuable company. All requested anonymity, citing fear of professional repercussions. WIDER CUTS Gazprom's problems extend well beyond the export unit, the conversations with the employees reveal. Two of the sources told Reuters that Miller has now approved plans to cut 1,500 jobs at the parent company's headquarters in Russia and Europe's tallest skyscraper, the British-designed Lakhta Centre, also in St Petersburg. The dismissals at Gazprom headquarters have yet to be announced but staff have been asked to prepare individual presentations about why they should keep their jobs, according to one of the sources, who said employees were told to write up a description of their job functions in case of overlaps. The source said the process was expected to be completed within a few weeks. The cuts add up to about 40% of the staff at Gazprom's headquarters, but a small fraction of its half million strong work force, spread across Russia. Management misjudged how resolute European capitals would be, according to one of the executives, who said the thinking inside the company was that Europe would quickly be back "begging" for Russian gas supplies to resume. Despite the economic pain of higher energy costs, the EU has not rolled back sanctions. "We proved to be wrong," the executive said. U.S. gas exporters quickly moved to replace Russian gas in Europe. The U.S. has become the biggest exporter of LNG to the continent, with supplies tripling since 2021. Europe still buys Russia's sea-borne liquefied natural gas (LNG), but mainly from Gazprom's rivals, Novatek's Yamal LNG plant. The European Union aims to end its use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027 and its overall gas consumption has decreased in part due to a shift to renewable energy sources. Last year, Gazprom posted a net loss of $7 billion for 2023, its first since 1999, the year Putin came to power. It posted another loss in the first 9 months of 2024, the latest period for which figures are available. Gazprom's share price fell in mid-December to its lowest since January 2009, touching 106.1 roubles, a decline of more than a third since the start of 2024. A few months after announcing the annual loss, Gazprom said last year it was selling a portfolio of high-end properties that include well-known luxury hotels in Moscow and in Armenia's Valley of Flowers. Gazprom has a long history of investing in luxury property, which it uses to reward employees with holidays, and to host conferences and events such as the 2014 Olympic Games. TRUMP TRADE The return of Donald Trump to the White House has helped Gazprom's share price recover to around 180 roubles on hopes a swift Ukrainian peace deal would lead to the restoration of exports to Europe, Alpha Bank said in a note last month. However, there are few signs the continent will rush to again tie itself to Russian gas, despite a Financial Times report that a long-time ally of Putin is lobbying the United States to allow investors to restart the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that carried gas from Russia via Germany. Germany says it will stick with its policy of independence from Russian energy. Even if there were appetite, Nord Stream is out of service and partly damaged. Cederic Cremers, executive vice president of integrated gas at Shell, said in late February at the International Energy week conference in London in response to whether Russian pipeline gas could return to Europe: "That depends on a lot of things." He cited multiple arbitration cases with Gazprom and asked "will customers and Europe still want the same dependence on Russian gas?" Gazprom's share in EU markets has shrunk to 7% from over 35% before EU sanctions, European Commission data shows. Its market capitalisation as of Wednesday stands at around $46 billion, down from the all-time high of $330.9 billion in 2007, according to the Moscow stock exchange, Gazprom and Reuters calculations. MILLER'S TIME As the company adjusts to its new role as a domestic gas supplier, the lofty ambitions of CEO Miller have been dashed. In 2007, Miller said the company would eventually have a market capitalisation of $1 trillion. At the time this seemed possible. Russia holds a fifth of the planet's gas resources, rendering Gazprom the world's largest natural gas company by reserves. At its height, Gazprom - formed in the Soviet Union from the Ministry of the Gas Industry - generated revenues that accounted for over 5 percent of Russia's $2 trillion annual gross domestic product. The company has been run by Miller, a close friend of Putin since the Russian president was mayor of St Petersburg in 1990s, for the past 24 years. Miller has been on the U.S. sanctions list since 2018, barring U.S. citizens and entities from any dealings with him. Gazprom controls entire towns in Siberia and the Arctic such as Nadym where tens of thousands of employees and their families depend on it as the sole employer. Yury Shafranik, Russian fuel and energy minister from 1993 to 1996, told Reuters in 2023 that Gazprom had been a "state within a state." The sources Reuters spoke to did not describe plans for job cuts or the closure of production assets in such company towns. A STEPPE TOO FAR? Putin's long-term promise to replace Europe's markets with exports to China look optimistic at best. Even the most ambitious projects currently being considered to pipe gas eastward would not amount to half of the previous annual peak exports of 180 billion cubic meters (bcm) Much of Russia's gas went through pipelines to Europe. When Germany and other European countries stopped buying it, there was nowhere else for the surplus to go. In contrast, Russia's oil exporters have been able to redirect tankers to refineries in Asian countries that have not imposed sanctions. Although gas production recovered slightly last year from a record low in 2023 on increased domestic demand and exports to China, there is little pipeline capacity to expand that trade. For now there is only one route for Russia to supply pipeline gas to China the Power of Siberia pipeline, which transports 38 bcm per year. A second smaller pipeline with a capacity of 10 bcm per year is under construction, set to connect the Pacific island of Sakhalin to China by 2027. Russia and China have been in talks for over a decade about building a third pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2, to carry 50 bcm and meet over a tenth of Chinese gas consumption. This plan would take years to fully develop and discussions have stalled due to price differences, according to media reports. In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia and China expected to a sign a contract "in the near future" on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline. Putin and China's President Xi Jinping discussed Power of Siberia-2 in January, news agency Interfax reported, but no agreement has been reached. China National Petroleum Corporation, which is dealing with Gazprom, declined to comment on the talks. The government of Russia did not respond to a request for comment. Even if the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline were completed quickly, volumes and pricing terms are likely to be much lower than past exports to Europe, analysts from the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. "By 2030, Russian gas export revenues might fall by 5580 percent compared to 2022, a year of record-high revenues for the Russian gas industry, at $165 billion," they said in a research note last year. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) Truly mans best friend. Gene Hackmans dogs remained loyal to him through death, shepherding first responders to the legendary actors dead body in his New Mexico home in February. Bear and Nikita, the two surviving dogs Hackman shared with wife Betsy Arakawa, were left wandering around the couples Santa Fe property for days before help arrived. Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa with two of their dogs. Facebook / Animal Rescue, Inc. First responders had been at the couples home for nearly half an hour by the time they noticed strange behavior from the canines, according to USA Today. One of the dogs had continuously barked at the emergency workers before running away toward the other end of the house. They first believed the eager dog wanted to play. They realized (the dog) was trying to say, Hey, come over here! Come over here! Santa Fe Fire Chief Bryan Moya told the outlet. The dog its unclear if it was Bear or Nikita led the charge to a mudroom where Hackman was discovered lying on the floor, near his cane and sunglasses. Arakawa and her dog Zinna were both found dead inside the Santa Fe home on Feb. 26, 2025. Sherry Gaber via USA Today Officials outside Hackmans New Mexico home on Feb. 27, 2025. AP A back door had been left open, which allowed the dogs to enter and exit the home. Besides Hackman and Arakawas bodies, the home was noted as being clean and organized with zero signs of gaseous hazards that would have contributed to their deaths. Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead in their home The couples third dog, Zinna a 12-year-old Australian Kelpie mix was found dead inside a locked crate. Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 64, were found on February 26 by maintenance workers who called 911. Hackmans body, like Arakawas, displayed signs of decomposition. Arakawa and Hackman at the Celebrity Sports Invitational in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Nov. 29, 1991. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Officials revealed that Hackman died around February 18, the last day his pacemaker recorded any data. He died from heart disease with advanced Alzheimers disease being a contributing factor. Arakawa is believed to have died on Feb. 11, the day she was last seen in public and a week before her husband. Arakawa and Hackman attend the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 19, 2003. AP She died from hantavirus, a flu-like illness spread mainly by rodent feces that attacks the lungs Citing Hackmans Alzheimers, Santa Fe County Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell noted, It is quite possible he was not aware that she was deceased. The actor had not eaten recently before passing away as there was no food in his stomach, Jarrell added, though she noted that his body showed no evidence of dehydration. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump met with General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday to talk about the automaker's investment plans amid an ongoing tariff war, a White House official told Reuters. Last week, Trump agreed to exempt automakers from his punishing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month as long as they comply with existing free trade rules after a call with Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Stellantis chair John Elkann. Trump told reporters on Thursday that GM had visited on Wednesday "and they want to invest $60 billion." GM did not immediately comment Thursday on the meeting and it is not clear over what period any new spending may occur. Automakers have told the White House they need certainty about tariff and vehicle emissions policies before they can make significant changes in North American investment plans. Trump this week imposed bulked-up tariffs on steel and aluminum impacting nearly $150 billion worth of derivative products made from the metals, ranging from cars to bulldozer blades. The metals tariffs were hiked to an effective increase of 25% as prior exemptions, exclusions and quotas expired. The American Automotive Policy Council, a group representing the Detroit Three automakers, noted domestic automakers purchase the vast majority of their steel and aluminum in the United States or North America but raised concerns that "specifically revoking exemptions for Canada and Mexico will add significant costs for our suppliers." Stellantis told its dealers last week it is prepared to work with Trump "to support further investment in our U.S. manufacturing footprint but we need time to make these changes without negatively impacting the business and our customers." Trump has also threatened new reciprocal tariffs on April 2 that could drastically hike the costs of vehicles imported from Japan, South Korea and Europe. Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have told automakers in meetings they want the industry to move more assembly and parts production to the United States. (Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Diane Craft) By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem welcomed on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trumps apparent retreat from his proposal for a permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, urging him to refrain from aligning with the vision of the "extreme Zionist right." The statement by the Hamas official came after Trump said on Wednesday that "nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza" in response to a question during a meeting in the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin. "If US President Trump's statements represent a retreat from any idea of displacing the people of the Gaza Strip, they are welcomed," Qassem said in the statement. "We (Hamas) call for this position to be reinforced by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the terms of the ceasefire agreements." Last month, Trump proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza where Israel's military assault in the last 17 months has killed tens of thousands, after he earlier suggested that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced. On Sunday, Taher Al-Nono, political adviser to the leader of Hamas, confirmed unprecedented, direct talks with Washington in the Qatari capital over the past week, focusing on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the militant group in Gaza. He added that the meetings between Hamas leaders and U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler had also discussed how to see through the implementation of the phased agreement aimed at ending the Israel-Gaza war. Israel and Hamas signaled on Saturday they were preparing for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations, as mediators pushed ahead with talks to extend a 42-day truce that began in January. A Hamas delegation met in the past two days with Egyptian mediators and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire. Israel sent negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks. The discussions between Boehler and Hamas have broken with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the U.S. brands as terrorist organisations. The Islamist militant group carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a devastating war in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. (Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi in Cairo; writing by Muhammad Al GebalyEditing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis) A row of "havelis," the narrow pastel-colored houses built in Sidhpur, India, during the 19th and early 20th centuries. - Ashit Desai/Moment Unreleased RF/Getty Images The dusty highway leading to Sidhpur, in western Indias Gujarat state, winds through arid landscapes past roadside eateries and herds of lumbering camel, offering little hint of what the historic town holds. In the heart of Sidhpur lies a street lined with stately three- and four-story mansions, known as havelis, in a fading palette of rainbow pastel shades, from teal and baby pink to pistachio green. Known locally as Paris Galli, or Paris Street, it transports visitors to a European city with grand Neoclassical architecture and a harmonious melange of Art Deco, Baroque and hybrid Indian styles. Sidhpur is less than three hours drive from Gujarats capital Ahmedabad, but it remains under the radar of travelers and architecture enthusiasts. On the day of my visit, the neighborhood around Paris Galli appeared largely deserted, except for occasional passersby in the distinctive colored hijabs and gold and white caps worn by the Dawoodi Bohras, a Shia Muslim sect that first settled in this part of western India in the 11th century. The Bohras are a close-knit trading community that originated in Egypt and later traveled around North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to trade in spices, gems and perfumes. The sects seat was later moved from Yemen to Sidhpur, where its followers showcased their prosperity and wealth by building hundreds of opulent residences in the first half of the 20th century. These housing clusters were called Bohrawads or Vohrawads, and the mansions owners tried to outdo one another with chandeliers, Belgian glass and antique furniture, or by hosting grand dinners. The communitys close trading connections with Europe may have influenced its architectural sensibilities. The regions maharaja at the time, Sayajirao Gaekwad III, was also known to be fond of European architecture. He laid out strict planning rules, inspired by Scottish urban planner Patrick Geddes (who lived in India between 1914 and 1924), that resulted in strikingly uniform streetscapes, according to Sidhpur-born architect Zoyab A. Kadi. The narrow houses were built in rows and sometimes reach three or four stories high. - Anil Dave/Alamy Stock Photo The Bohras extended their help to other communities during a famine in the early 1900s, and (in return) the Maharaja of Baroda gifted them a tract of land, as they were facing a housing shortage, he said. It was on this land that they started building these magnificent edifices, which had to adhere to strict town planning rules. Found mostly in Najampura district, where Paris Galli is located, the long, narrow mansions are made mainly of wood (the materials flexibility is an advantage in earthquake-prone regions) in addition to plaster and brick. The designs feature gabled roofs, pilasters and columns, carved doors and ornate overhanging jharokha windows that protrude from the front of each mansion. The main living floor is located above street level over a basement; stepped plinths, or otlas, act like porches and were traditionally used as social spaces; whimsical monograms, featuring family initials or surnames in English, are often displayed on the buildings facades. The courtyard houses, built in rows or sequence, exhibit rhythm with diversity, said Ahmedabad-based conservation architect, Ashish Trambadia, over the phone. While each house has a unique color scheme, unique stucco art and grill work; the precise alignment of plinths, roof lines and floor lines gave the streets a unique character. The buildings contain various elements of European architecture, including gabled roofs, pilasters and columns. - Maniyarasan R. Unique design India-based photographer Sebastian Cortes documented the town and its people in his series Sidhpur: Time Present Time Past. The images present a certain melancholy, from the faded glory of the mansions interiors to the women pictured gazing out of windows as they carry out household chores. I was inspired by the mercantile communities of India who displayed their wealth most aesthetically, said New York-born Cortes in a phone interview. This was inverse colonialism: The Bohras traveled around the world to countries like Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Yemen and Ethiopia, and brought back various influences and then blended it with their own customs and traditions, using local artisans to create magic. Kadi has also helped bring international attention to the houses by authoring three books about the town: Sidhpur and Its Dawoodi Bohra Houses, The Vohrawaads of Sidhpur and The Birth and Death of a Style. The colorful homes feature elaborate window, door and facade details. - Ashit Desai/Moment Unreleased RF/Getty Images At casual glance, the streetscape looks European, but if you look closely theres the Gujarati tradition of using wood as a building material, and the capitals (crowns of columns or pilasters) are neither Corinthian or Doric but hybrid a product of various influences, said Kadi, who now runs an architectural firm in Chennai. Many of the houses were designed to give women privacy, as most of the men were abroad working hard and making money. (The homes are) also suited to the local weather, in terms of design and materials used. The houses names, like Zainab Mansion and Kagalwala Manor, often reference the people who once lived there. There are showstoppers, like the Zaveri house (also known as the House with 365 Windows) which is now stained black with grit, its grand pilasters and geometric facade carvings in dire need of restoration, and the Teen Khuniya (or Three-Cornered House), with its distinctive triangular layout. According to local resident and tour guide Insiya Bangalorewalla, the homes were typically divided into five linear sections: the dehli (a service area), the chowk (a central courtyard kitchen and bathroom, open to the sky for light and, today, ventilation fitted with grilles), the outer pursaal (a multipurpose room for living and dining), the inner pursaal (the coolest room, used as a bedroom) and the orda (the best room in the house, well-furnished and used by the head of the family). The homes' interiors were often lavishly decorated - Maniyarasan R. From the street you cant see into the house thanks to a veil called the furtaal, which protected the privacy of the women, added Bangalorewalla on a tour through Najampura. The homes interiors were often a visual feast decorated with geometric tiles, friezes, Persian carpets, dark mahogany and rosewood furniture, painted Belgian mirrors, antique corner pieces, family memorabilia and a special marble recess meant for storing water (water has an important status in Islam, and is used to cleanse or purify the home). Sidhpurs architecture is very unique, said Kadi, as the buildings inspired by Western ideas and elements have been crafted by Hindu architects (but) are suited to an Islamic way of life. Disappearing heritage Official town figures suggest that, in the 1970s, there were at least 1,400 of the mansions across Sidhpur. But after India gained independence from Britain in 1947, many of Sidhpurs residents migrated overseas, or to larger Indian cities like Mumbai and Ahmedabad, leaving the houses upkeep to caretakers or relatives. Many of the houses now lie abandoned, locked up or awaiting restoration (or demolition). - Maniyarasan R. Today, many are boarded up, lying forlorn and derelict or caught in legal tangles between former owners descendants; others have been demolished to make way for modern developments, with the antiques and timber sold off by owners. The official data suggests that fewer than 400 of Sidhpurs havelis are currently inhabited. To help conserve the disappearing mansions, Kadi, along with others from Sidhpur, co-founded the Sidhpur Heritage Collective in 2024. The group is working to document the towns architecture, as well as holding workshops and guided tours. Unfortunately, there are no heritage laws in India that prevent demolition of (privately owned) houses, said Kadi. We also have no funds or body helping us in this project. Even converting these houses into homestays and Airbnbs has not yet taken off. (Sidhpur) has a lot to offer besides just these mansions, from a rich food culture to temples and mosques. I can only hope that we manage to save the towns architecture before its destroyed forever. This needs public will and funding. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Lizbeth Diaz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The families of many Mexicans who have been missing for years are looking for answers in the discovery of piles of clothes, shoes and skeletal remains at a ranch in western Mexico that may have been a base to burn bodies and bury the remains. Civilian activists searching for missing loved ones discovered the mass grave last week in Teuchitlan, Jalisco state, along with ovens possibly used to cremate bodies. "This has given hope to many people looking for their relatives so they can find their loved ones," said Raul Servin, a member of a group of people searching for lost family members, who has been trying to find his son for seven years. Servin said many people from all over Mexico had contacted his group to say they had identified clothes, shoes, backpacks or other objects their relatives were wearing on the days they disappeared. Mexico's Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the case, a day after top prosecutor Alejandro Gertz pledged a full investigation and said it would have been impossible for Jalisco's state authorities to not have been aware of what was happening. Jalisco's state prosecutor's office told Reuters it would have results in two weeks on tests being carried out on hundreds of items of clothing, bullet casings of various calibers and skeleton fragments found in Teuchitlan. The state prosecutor's office said it had set up a public platform with nearly 600 items recovered at the scene, such as suitcases, backpacks and pieces of clothing, so people could identify belongings online. Located by the Pacific coast, Jalisco is home to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a criminal organization that authorities accuse of forcibly recruiting young people and being behind the state's high number of missing persons reports. Virginia Garay, whose son has been missing since 2018, said her group in neighboring Nayarit was preparing for the arrival of representatives of other groups from across Mexico, hoping to identify lost family members. "We are looking for the resources so we can go and personally review the clothing and all the evidence at the site," Garay said. Amnesty International's Mexico chief Edith Olivares urged the Mexican government to clarify the facts and provide the necessary resources to do so, as well as give dignified treatment to people who recognized relatives' clothing. "The Mexican state has been the great absentee in the problem of forced disappearance," Olivares said. She added that community groups, made up mostly of women, had helped locate hundreds of bodies and people were turning to them rather than the government. Mexico counts over 124,000 missing people, according to government data. (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Rod Nickel) By Nate Raymond BOSTON (Reuters) -Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for leaking classified U.S. national security documents online, was sentenced by a military judge to a dishonorable discharge on Thursday after pleading guilty to obstructing justice. Teixeira, 23, was sentenced by a judge at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts after he entered a plea pursuant to a deal that called for him to serve no additional time in custody, bringing an end to court-martial proceedings that began this week. The military charges were filed last year following what U.S. authorities say was one of the largest leaks of classified documents in years, including some related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The sentence imposed by Military Judge Colonel Vicki Marcus was confirmed by an Air Force spokesperson. A representative for Teixeira's family confirmed the plea deal. He can still appeal. His attorney, Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Poronsky, on Monday argued the obstruction charges violated Teixeira's right to not be prosecuted twice for the same offense, after the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted him following his April 2023 arrest. Teixeira said in a statement delivered during the proceedings that he understood what he did was illegal but believed it was his moral obligation to expose what he said were "lies" Democratic President Joe Biden's administration perpetuated about the war in Ukraine. He argued the Justice Department under Biden had been "weaponized" against both him and now-President Donald Trump, and he urged the Republican to reverse his convictions and punishments. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors say that Teixeira, while serving as an airman first class at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, in January 2022 began accessing classified information that he shared with individuals on messaging app Discord. Air Force prosecutors say Teixeira obstructed justice by then disposing of an iPad, computer hard drive and iPhone after the leaks were uncovered in April 2023, and instructed someone to delete online messages he had sent on Discord. The Air Force pursued charges only after Teixeira had already pleaded guilty in March 2024 to separate charges brought by the Justice Department that he willfully retained and transmitted classified information relating to national defense. Teixeira was subsequently sentenced in November by a federal judge in Boston to 15 years in prison. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Nia Williams) By Patricia Zengerle and Emily Green WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Mexico on Thursday did not rule out unilateral U.S. military action in Mexico if U.S. citizens were in danger, bringing to the fore simmering tensions between the two countries over how to fight drug cartels. Our first desire would be that it be done in partnership with our Mexican partners, Ronald Johnson told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his confirmation hearing, but that "should there be a case where the lives of U.S. citizens are at risk, I think all cards are on the table." Johnsons comments underscore a growing consensus within the Trump administration that U.S. military strikes in Mexico are a possible course of action, a significant departure from previous U.S. foreign policy towards its southern neighbor. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said any unilateral U.S. military operations in Mexico would violate the countrys sovereignty. "The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation... (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air," she said in February. While the U.S. and Mexico have long carried out joint operations against Mexican cartels, Trump has called for U.S. military strikes to dismantle the criminal organizations, saying he wants to wage war on powerful Mexican cartels. Johnson, who served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trumps first term, had a career at the Central Intelligence Agency spanning more than 20 years. On Thursday, he praised Sheinbaum and said he sought to work closely with Mexican authorities to defeat cartels. In February, Trump's administration designated some Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, which experts said could pave the political way for U.S. military strikes in Mexico. Mexico has long opposed the terrorist designation, arguing the cartels are not motivated by political ends like others on the terrorism list, but by profit. We have seen a tightening of security against the cartels that has been done by the Mexican authorities, Johnson said. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Emily Green in Mexico City; Writing by Emily Green; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Howard Goller) Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff's eldest daughter would "do anything in the world" to hug her again. Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff's daughter has paid tribute to her The actress - who had Taylor, 34, and Hayley, 32, with ex-husband David Hasselhoff - was found dead at her Los Angeles home last week after taking her own life at the age of 62 and she's been remembered as a "forever angel" be her eldest child. Taylor shared a series of photos of Pamela and their family over the years on her Instagram Story and wrote: Id do anything in the world to hug you again, my forever angel. You are my best friend, my whole heart, my everything.(sic)" The 'Sharknado 4' actress - who has seven-month-old daughter London with husband Madison Fiore - vowed to "protect" her younger sister and to make her late mom proud. She continued: "I promise to make you proud + celebrate you every day. "London will know how incredible you are + I promise I will protect Hayley forever. Mama, I love you so much the pain is unbearable but I will be strong for you + hold onto your memory until we meet again, my beautiful.(sic)" Hayley has yet to speak out about the tragedy but reposted a photo of her parents from 1996 to her Instagram Story with a simple white heart emoji in lieu of a caption. And their father, 'Baywatch' star David, shared a statement on behalf of the family. He said: "Our family is deeply saddened by the recent passing of Pamela Hasselhoff. "We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult time but we kindly request privacy as we grieve and navigate through this challenging time." Actress Morgan Fairchild said she "felt terrible" about the news of her former neighbour's passing. She wrote on X: "I feel terrible. Pamela used to be my neighbour. Im not sure what happened. I last spoke to her in December, and she gave no evidence of this. Pamela was found dead at her $2 million Hollywood Hills home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities were alerted after family members grew concerned when they had not heard from her for several days. Paramedics responded to a call reporting an unconscious woman shortly after 10pm Wednesday night. No suicide note was found at the scene. Pamelas career included roles in The Young and the Restless, The Fall Guy and Sirens, but she had stepped away from acting in recent years. By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) - A California federal judge on Thursday ordered six U.S. agencies to reinstate thousands of recently hired employees who lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump's purge of the federal workforce. The ruling by U.S. District Judge William Alsup during a hearing in San Francisco was the most significant blow yet to the effort by Trump and top adviser Elon Musk to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. Government agencies face a Thursday deadline to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and to slash their budgets. Alsup's ruling applies to probationary employees at the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and the Treasury Department. The judge said the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human resources department for federal agencies, had improperly ordered those agencies to fire workers en masse even though it lacked the power to do so. It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie, said Alsup, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement said Alsup lacked the power to issue the ruling and that the administration would "immediately fight back." The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the Presidents agenda," Leavitt said. Alsup during the hearing said agencies can engage in mass layoffs but are required to comply with a number of legal requirements. Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, though some are longtime federal employees. They have fewer job protections than other government workers but in general can only be fired for performance issues. Alsup ordered the agencies to reinstate workers who were fired over the last few weeks, pending the outcome of a lawsuit by unions, nonprofit groups, and the state of Washington. He did not order the 16 other agencies named in the lawsuit to reinstate workers, but said he would promptly issue a written decision that could expand on Thursday's ruling. A Veterans Affairs spokesperson declined to comment. A Department of Interior spokeswoman said the agency does not comment on litigation over personnel matters. The other agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The plaintiffs include the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers. The union's president, Everett Kelley, in a statement said the decision was an important victory against "an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public." 25,000 WORKERS Alsup last month had temporarily blocked OPM from ordering agencies to fire probationary employees, but declined at the time to require that fired workers get their jobs back. The plaintiffs subsequently amended their lawsuit to include the agencies that fired probationary workers. About 25,000 workers across the U.S. government had been fired as of March 5, according to a Reuters tally, and another 75,000 have taken a buyout. The Trump administration has not released statistics on the firings, and it was not immediately clear how many employees could be affected by Thursday's decision. In the lawsuit before Alsup, the plaintiffs claim the mass firings were unlawful because they were ordered by OPM rather than left to the discretion of individual agencies. OPM has maintained that it merely asked agencies in a January 20 memo to identify probationary workers and decide which ones were not "mission critical" and could be fired, and did not order them to terminate anyone. The agency on March 4 revised that memo, adding that it was not directing agencies to take any specific actions with respect to probationary employees. OPM has pointed to the updated memo and to press releases by agencies as proof that it had no control over agencies' decisions. Alsup on Thursday told the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer representing OPM, Kelsey Helland, that he did not believe that was true, and scolded the government for not presenting OPM's acting director, Charles Ezell, to testify at the hearing. Ive been practicing or serving in this court for over 50 years and I know how we get at the truth, and youre not helping me get at the truth. Youre giving me press releases, sham documents, Alsup said. Helland said it was common for presidential administrations to prevent high-ranking agency officials from testifying in court, and that the information provided by OPM in court filings was enough to prove that it never ordered agencies to terminate workers. Along with the lawsuit in California, several other challenges to the mass firings have been filed, including cases by 20 Democrat-led states and a proposed class action by a group of fired workers. The Merit Systems Protection Board, which reviews federal employees' appeals when they are fired, earlier this month ordered the Agriculture Department to reinstate nearly 6,000 probationary workers at least temporarily. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York and Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alistair Bell, David Bario and David Gregorio) Venezuelan and Nicaraguan migrants seeking political asylum line up behind a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle after crossing into El Paso from Mexico. (Herika Martinez / AFP / Getty Images) A couple from Venezuela were arrested by federal immigration agents this week and charged with misdemeanor illegal entry, more than two years after their arrival at the southern U.S. border. The timing of the arrests and charges is unusual and reflects the Trump administration's increasingly aggressive immigration tactics. The couple had been granted temporary protection from deportation while their claims for asylum were being adjudicated. Advocates for the couple say it is the first time they've seen such a case, in which immigrants have been charged with illegal entry long after the fact. They say the case could set legal precedent and may affect thousands of other immigrants who similarly entered the U.S. illegally but were granted legal protections. Those people are registered with the federal government, so their whereabouts are known to authorities. Read more:Trump administration is also going after immigrants who live here legally. It has them terrified The couple Cesar, 27, and Norelia, 34 asked to be identified by their middle names out of fear of repercussions from the Venezuelan government and concern for their pending claims. "This is worse than a dictatorship," said Cesar's father, Gregorio, 51, who also asked to be identified by his middle name because of his own pending asylum claim. "If [Cesar] had committed an error, then he should pay for it. But this case is unjust." Cesar and Norelia are being held by the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C. Cesar and Norelia fled Venezuela with Gregorio and other extended family members. Gregorio said they were persecuted because of their support for the opposition party in Venezuela. Gregorio worked as a security guard for members of the opposition. Cesar was in the military and wanted to quit but feared being jailed. Planning to apply for asylum, the family made their way up through Central America and Mexico before wading across the Rio Grande and arriving at the U.S. border in 2022. They entered illegally near El Paso and approached Border Patrol agents, who processed and released them. Everyone in the family now has Temporary Protected Status and a pending asylum application, Gregorio said. Temporary Protected Status allows people to legally reside and work in the U.S. if they face conditions such as war or environmental disasters that would prevent a safe return to their homelands. Seeking asylum is a legal right under federal and international law, regardless of how someone arrives on U.S. soil. But the Trump administration has embarked on a campaign of mass deportations, stripping certain immigrants of their legal protections along the way. The couple and their three children, ages 12, 9 and 4, settled in southeast Washington, where they found jobs making food deliveries and doing housekeeping. On Monday, they were returning home from work around 1:30 p.m. when federal agents in an unmarked gray SUV arrested them. In a video of the scene taken by the eldest son, a barking dog and crying children can be heard in the background as agents detain Cesar and place him in the SUV. "We didn't do anything!" the boy yells out in English. "Illegal entry," one of the agents tells the family in Spanish, adding that they have an arrest order. The children were not taken into custody and allowed to stay with Norelia's sister, who was home at the time. Thank God [the extended family] is here, said Gregorio. Imagine if those kids had been left alone? They separate you from your family for no reason. Criminal complaints for the couple were filed Feb. 27 in U.S. district court for the Western District of Texas, according to the documents. The complaints state that Cesar and Norelia knowingly entered the U.S. "approximately 1.22 miles west of the Paso del Norte Port of Entry" on Oct. 13, 2022. A Times search of court records found no other criminal charges associated with Cesar and Norelia. Living in the U.S. without lawful status is a civil offense, not a crime. But improper entry is a criminal statute under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Those convicted can be fined or jailed for six months. A subsequent offense is a felony and can result in two years of jail time. Read more:Homeland Security overhauls asylum phone app now it's for 'self-deportation' The first Trump administration relied on the statute to execute its "zero tolerance" policy that resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the southern border. Parents were charged with illegal entry and detained after being caught entering the U.S., while children were separately placed in federal custody and foster care. Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International who is assisting with the couple's case, said she and other advocates have heard of a few cases since Trump returned to office of people with pending asylum claims or temporary legal protections being detained by immigration agents. Fischer said she expects to see more people targeted for deportation who have active protections in the coming weeks and months. But the cases of Cesar and Norelia, Fischer said, are unprecedented. "Everybody is very concerned about this," she said. "We're really seeing it as the first of this type of case." During a federal district court hearing Wednesday afternoon, the couple appeared by video in orange jumpsuits. Megan McFadden, an attorney for the federal government, argued that Cesar and Norelia could be a flight risk and should be kept in detention. She said that when they were released at the border, agents had instructed them to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within 60 days but they did not. She also noted that their asylum claims were filed earlier this month, "well past" the typical one-year deadline. McFadden said ICE had prepared an administrative warrant and was ready to take them into civil custody as soon as they are released from criminal custody. Public defender Tezira Abe told Judge G. Michael Harvey that Cesar and Norelia filed the asylum claims a week after federal officials announced that TPS protections would end. They had no knowledge of the government's criminal complaint until they were arrested. The government acted as if the pair had made a backhanded attempt to seek asylum, Abe said, but "it is not that simple." At one point, McFadden said she wasn't aware that the couple had paperwork confirming their TPS. "That is new information to me," she told Harvey. Unconvinced that Cesar and Norelia were a flight risk, Harvey ordered they be released from custody, though they still face criminal charges. "I was underwhelmed by the government's knowledge of what was going on here," Harvey said. But he issued a warning: "I have no control over what ICE does." Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. By Arriana McLymore and Helen Reid NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's Made in America push is prompting some U.S. clothing retailers to expand domestic production of everything from T-shirts to coats and suits, several executives told Reuters this week. But limited capacity makes a large-scale shift to U.S. production unlikely, and American-made clothing comes at higher cost because of elevated labor expense and tariffs on materials, the executives said. In a meeting with American CEOs on Tuesday, including the head of Walmart, Trump repeated his vow to cut the 21% corporate tax rate to 15% for U.S. companies making products in the U.S., according to a person familiar with his remarks. He also defended his use of tariffs on imports and said they could multiply. "We are getting a ton of inquiries from (U.S. retail) brands looking to reshore" by bringing production back to the U.S., said Mitch Gambert, owner and chief executive of Gambert Shirtmakers, a manufacturer of men's dress shirts in Newark, New Jersey. His firm supplies woven cotton button-up shirts to three Nordstrom stores, and the department store chain has asked him to boost that to 50 stores by the end of June, he said. Nordstrom did not reply to a request for comment. At California-based privately-held retailer Reformation, vice president of operations Kathleen Talbot said she is placing more orders with its Los Angeles suppliers as the women's clothing specialty chain adapts to Trump's tariffs, and may consider other states like New York and Nevada. "I believe in the spirit of trying to re-energize or invest in domestic manufacturing, but that's going to take time," she said. Talbot said Trump's planned tariffs on imports from Mexico, due to take effect in April, left the retailer scrambling to shift its supply chain. Reformation, which sells online and in more than 50 stores in the U.S., UK and Canada, sources clothing from six Mexican factories, all close enough to truck raw materials and finished goods over the border to LA and back. Joe Ferrara, CEO of New York-based Ferrara Manufacturing, which makes clothing for Ralph Lauren and the U.S. military, said more retailers have approached him to test small-batch, quick-turnaround manufacturing of products such as wool coats and blazers. Ralph Lauren did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Steve Lamar, president of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, said the industry group expects to see a modest increase in U.S. manufacturing. "We don't have the labor, skill set, materials, and infrastructure" to manufacture clothing and shoes on a large scale, Lamar said. CHEAP IMPORTS Americans are accustomed to buying low-priced China- and Asia-made clothing. About 97% of the clothes and shoes sold in the U.S. are imported, according to Lamar's association. China is the biggest source of U.S. apparel imports, though its share has fallen over the past 15 years as clothing production in Vietnam and Bangladesh grew. The U.S. clothing manufacturing sector has shrunk since 1990 as brands and retailers shifted to sourcing from factories in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and other low-wage countries, enabling them to keep costs and prices down, said Yao Jin, associate professor of supply chain management at Miami University of Ohio. "For the apparel industry, very few jobs will come back to the U.S. because our labor is not competitive," he said. For Gambert, the potential additional orders for shirts that sell for $300 to $500 represent a major increase for his 100-person factory. They "would be a definite positive shot in the arm for my business," he said. He said about 90% of the 100 workers in his factory earn more than New Jersey's $15.49 hourly minimum wage. But Gambert Shirts' limited production capacity has forced him to take a cautious approach to new retail clients. "We certainly don't want to overload it and kick out the existing customer base," he said. Gambert's main competitors are shirt factories in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and India. Another problem is that materials such as buttons, cloth and zippers are imported and subject to Trump's tariffs. China is the biggest source of U.S. fabric imports. Gambert's button costs have increased 18% because of U.S. tariffs against China. Alexander Zar, CEO of footwear and leather goods manufacturer La La Land Production and Design in Los Angeles, said he has received inquiries from sportswear brands interested in producing sneakers and running shoes in the U.S. Zar aims to raise $10 million from outside investors to buy new machinery for his 60,000-square-foot (5,600-sq-m) factory and meet increased demand. In an investor presentation, La La Land markets U.S. manufacturing as a way for brands to "avoid arbitrary tariffs and unexpected supply-chain congestion affected by international geopolitics." "While traditional shoe manufacturing in the U.S. may not be able to compete with global prices, localization offers substantial advantages when approached with the right technologies," Zar said in an interview. Given that Los Angeles' $17.28 hourly minimum wage is among the highest in the country, Zar plans to invest in 3D printing and technology that could eliminate the need for stitching on running shoes, reducing labor costs. Still, Zar said most of the shoes his factory produces will likely be higher-priced or limited edition. Sportswear brand Adidas, which lists La La Land as a supplier, has no plans to change its supply chain, a spokesperson said when asked whether the company would buy more U.S.-made products. La La Land will produce "a special edition of shoes in very limited quantities" for Adidas, the spokesperson said. Kim Glas, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations, favors Trump's additional tariffs on apparel imports from China. But she said tariffs on Mexico and Canada hurt the industry that relies on sending U.S. cotton and wool, yarn, and fabric across borders for different stages of manufacturing. Confusion over tariffs is also unhelpful, she said. "For U.S. domestic manufacturers to grow and invest, they need long-term certainty." (Reporting by Helen Reid in London and Arriana McLymore in New York with additional reporting by Nupur Anand in Bangalore; Editing by Rod Nickel) Andy Hazelton learned he'd been fired the same way everyone else did. Like hundreds of his colleagues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, he received a mass email from the head of the agency at around 3:45 p.m. on Feb. 27 confirming his termination, effective immediately. "They gave us 'til 5," said Hazelton, a scientist who specialized in hurricane research and modeling at the National Weather Service, the meteorological branch of NOAA responsible for weather forecasts. "That was our cutoff. And then our email access was lost later that night, too." More than 800 employees were dismissed in February's initial sweep across NOAA, a congressional source told CBS News after the firings. And more job cuts could be coming all as part of a federal cost-cutting initiative by the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. As the nation's primary hub for weather and climate information and a leading source of environmental data overseas, NOAA is considered the authority on forecasting, storm tracking and climate monitoring. Many are warning that slashing its workforce could compromise the quality and accuracy of extreme weather forecasts that guide government responses to hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, floods and more, often providing life-saving predictions and warnings that don't exist anywhere else. The job cuts "jeopardize our ability to forecast and respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and floodsputting communities in harm's way," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state who chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees NOAA, in a statement. One of the agency's partners, the American Meteorological Society, warned separately that "the consequences to the American people will be large and wide-ranging, including increased vulnerability to hazardous weather." Peak tornado season is now in full swing in the United States, where wildfire and hurricane seasons typically pick up in May and June but have started sooner and stretched on longer in recent years. Natural disasters, across the board, are occurring with increasing frequency and strength because of climate change. Hazelton's termination came about four months into his tenure as a full-time federal employee at the weather service's National Hurricane Center in Miami. On his first day, back in October, Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida's west coast, and during his time at the agency Hazelton worked on the main prediction program that provides data to inform track forecasts, hazard warnings and evacuation orders for storms like it. "It's hard to say for sure, but with fewer people working on upgrades to the models, and fewer people working on collecting the data that goes into these models, I think it's quite possible that the model accuracy will not have continued the improvement that we've seen over the last five, 10, 15 years for hurricanes," Hazelton said. "We may start to lose those improvements or even potentially reverse some of the skill and go backwards if we're not careful. You know, especially if these cuts continue." The agency's modeling center, where specialists like Hazelton worked, was one of the areas hit hardest by job losses, said JoAnn Becker, the president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, which is the union representing workers in the weather service and NOAA more broadly. "The models are the backbone of our operations," Becker told CBS News. "They're foundational to weather forecasting." There were already employment gaps at NOAA before the latest firings, with the union estimating that around 500 vacant positions needed to be filled at the beginning of the year. The modeling center was particularly strapped then, too. Now the department, which was previously supposed to have 57 positions staffed, will try to move forward with 32 people, Becker said. "The brain drain from our modeling center will take years to replace, because these folks are very highly specialized," said Becker. "Over time, because of these vacancy rates in our modeling center, critical updates, say to our hurricane modeling, won't happen. No weather forecasting improvements are possible without our models." Outside of the modeling center, Becker believes weather service offices with fewer staff will likely be stretched too thin during big storms. "As good as we are in trying to inform the public and warn them about impending emergencies, it takes an entire office working that event to handle the workload," she said. "Because there's so much going on and the weather is evolving so quickly." A Trump administration official told CBS News the first round of job cuts at NOAA shrunk its staff by 5% and largely spared employees with critical roles, such as weather service meteorologists. But a source at the National Weather Service had disputed that, saying some meteorologists including radar specialists were impacted, as were staff of the Hurricane Hunters crew, which fly airplanes into storms during hurricanes to help forecasters make accurate predications. At least a significant portion of the cuts impacted workers in the "probation" period of their employment, which usually lasts 1 to 3 years after starting a full-time role, according to a NOAA source. Probationary employees aren't necessarily novices, though. A weather service source said staff with 15 years of experience at NOAA, or more, could technically be categorized that way if they were recently promoted to a higher position. NOAA is now preparing to lose more than 1,000 additional workers in a second round of firings, sources told CBS News this week. The agency could ultimately lose about 20% of its staff along with some of the programs they work on, although it's not known which will be impacted. DOGE has also announced it might terminate the leases of 19 NOAA offices nationwide, including key buildings that generate vital weather forecasts and maintain radar operations. Individual offices have already paused some operations because of a lack of workers. Weather service offices in Albany, New York, Gray, Maine, and Kotzebue, Alaska, said shortly after the first wave of firings that they would stop launching weather balloons, which collect weather observations from the atmosphere and often inform the core of local forecasts, because of staff reductions. NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory was also forced to shut down its communications services. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, called the firings "shortsighted." Without a means to replace lost employees or their work, Swain told CBS News he believes the situation could quickly devolve into a public safety threat. "These literally are the people who are responsible for issuing a tornado warning during a tornado outbreak, or a flash flood warning during a flash flood, and we've seen plenty of deadly iterations of those kinds of things in recent years," he said of NOAA staffers. "Same thing, by the way, when it comes to extreme wildfire conditions. The weather service office in L.A. was very active in the days leading up to and following the catastrophic fires just a couple of months ago." Swain said the reduction in NOAA's workforce will make nearly every aspect of his job as a weather and climate scientist more challenging, and the firings stand to influence a broader network of industries, too. "It will affect every single colleague that I have, working in any type of weather or climate institution, whether it's public, private or academic," he said. "It will really affect every single American, and, frankly, many people around the world, because NOAA is the backbone for providing virtually all of the basic weather information that is needed to produce global weather forecasts, to observe and understand climate change, essentially, to predict the future, to lessen the impacts of disasters, you name it." Swain and more than 2,500 other scientific experts signed an open letter to Congress and the Trump administration before NOAA's layoffs last month, calling for a stop to what they deemed an "increasing assault" on science conducted at U.S. agencies and institutions as earlier federal cuts hit the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. "Without a strong NOAA, a cornerstone of the U.S. scientific research enterprise, the world will be flying blind into the growing perils of global climate change," read the letter, organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which urged Congress and the Trump administration to keep NOAA fully staffed. Later, in a video shared to his YouTube channel the day of the NOAA firings, Swain said, "There will be people who die in extreme weather events and related disasters who would not have otherwise." NOAA declined to comment on the layoffs. In a statement emailed to CBS News, a spokesperson for the agency said "we are not discussing internal personnel and management matters." "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience. We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission," the spokesperson said. Rick Spinrad, who was NOAA's administrator during the Biden administration, is worried about the impact on the National Weather Service, saying job cuts will "most assuredly" affect the availability, frequency and accuracy of weather warnings. "I think at some point people are going to recognize we need these capabilities for the public good, which, after all, is the role of government," he said. "The question is: how much damage will we sustain before we're able to turn around the damage that's already been done?" Woman charged after allegedly holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years Man allegedly held captive in Connecticut room for decades, set a fire to escape What to know about the looming government shutdown as funding deadline nears Dogs are constantly making their humans smile, but an animal shelter in North Carolina figured out just how happy pet owners get when they're getting a poorly drawn photo of their dog. The Cumberland County Animal Services in North Carolina raised over $2,000 by selling poorly drawn photos of people's pets, according to its Facebook post. Every year, before kitten season starts in spring, the shelter holds a "Poorly Drawn Pets Fundraiser," Anna Hill, the rescue's foster coordinator, told USA TODAY. People can pay $10, and volunteers and employees from the shelter will send them a sketch of their pets. But results may vary. Those willing to gamble $10 can get works of art inspired by their pups or a very cute scribble. Volunteers and staff are "a hidden Picasso (an actual artist), orrrrrr you might get something that looks like the work of a chicken (but well give it our best shot)," the shelter said in their post on Facebook. Adopting or own a senior dog? Here's how to help them live a long life What is the fundraiser for? The fundraiser helps the shelter collect money for its medical fund, according to its Facebook page. The fund helps treat animals' injuries, covers life-saving procedures or critical care, "We get several dogs who come in injured, whether it's a broken leg or we see a lot of animals that are hit by cars," Hill said. These custom pet portraits will have you cracking up! It's more obvious that animals with severe injuries will have their care covered by the medical fund, but that money also goes to looking up microchips in dogs that could help the shelter reunite them with their owners. "That care can be extremely expensive," said Hill. "Especially recently, it has skyrocketed." In the past, their medical fund has helped dogs, like Geneva, who is currently in foster care, according to Hill. The dog was hit by a car, and her hip was dislocated. The shelter's medical fund covered the surgery she needed to fix her leg, and she is now available for adoption. The shelter's favorite drawings One of Hill's favorite drawings was one made for a woman who said she purchased a portrait of her 16-year-old pug that recently passed away. The shelter made sure to assign the portrait to a staff member who was a "fairly good artist," she said. Another favorite, which was funnier that it was good, was one of a "little scruffy dog." "It kind of looks like a gremlin," said Hill. How to get a portrait of my animal The shelter creates portraits of any animal, not just cats and dogs. Hill, who runs a small hobby farm with around 25 animals on it, got a portrait of her alpaca during a previous fundraiser. Unfortunately, the shelter's fundraiser has ended for this year. But there's hope for 2026 if you want to get a portrait. At the beginning of each year, people can send in photos of their pets and get the best (or maybe worse) portrait of their best friends to cherish forever. Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Poorly Drawn Pets' raises money for North Carolina animal shelter An Oklahoma grand jury has indicted a former pastor at a Texas mega church on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child for alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s. Prosecutors said they have filed charges against Robert Preston Morris, who resigned as a pastor at Southlake, Texas' Gateway Church in 2024. The church is considered to have one of the largest congregations in the U.S. The indictment indicates that Morris engaged in sexual acts with a then 12-year-old, starting in 1982. The indictment gave descriptions of how Morris allegedly fondled the girl. RELATED STORY | Utah middle school teacher charged with rape of teenager, sending nude video The alleged incidents continued for four years, the indictment claimed. Prosecutors say the statute of limitations does not apply in this case as Morris was not a resident of Oklahoma at the time of the incidents. There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done. Morris had met with President Donald Trump during his first term, joining the president for a roundtable in Dallas in 2020 on "restoring, rebuilding, and renewing" amid the COVID-19 pandemic. RELATED STORY | High school athlete charged with assault after viral track race baton incident At the event, President Trump remarked that Morris, and fellow Gateway Church founder Steve Dulin, were "great people." "Great people with a great reputation. I have to say that. Great reputation. And Gateway Church the team has been incredible in hosting us," President Trump said. Louisiana's state capitol building in Baton Rouge. Louisiana Economic Development | Facebook Politics is an increasingly wild and quite unpredictable sport. By now, youve likely seen claims that Amendment 2 (on your March 29 ballot) will somehow place property taxes on our churches. This just could not be further from the truth. Amendment 2 does not place any taxes on properties that are currently enjoying exemptions and certainly not churches. As a third term state representative and current chairman of the House Committee on Ways & Means (that governs the states tax code), I authored four bills in the 2024 tax session two to make our corporate tax structure more competitive, one that gave us the largest personal income tax reduction Louisiana has seen, and the final to rewrite Article VII of the Constitution, which is Amendment 2 on your March 29 ballot. In drafting House Bill 7 (Amendment 2), the aim was to declutter and strengthen Louisianas State Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is short, concise, to the point. It serves as a framework and a guiding document that has made our country great for almost 250 years. There are no tax exemption protections for churches or nonprofits in the U.S. Constitution, yet they have always enjoyed those exemptions because lawmakers certainly understand and value their roles. The Louisiana Constitution, on the other hand, is the second longest state constitution in the country, and its loaded with items that should instead be in our tax code. As it was making its way through the process, we were contacted by a few leaders of church organizations about concerns of placing those property tax exemptions in the tax code instead of the Constitution. I agreed that religious freedoms enjoyed special status and added specific language to the Constitution that I believe protects our churches and moved the language for all other nonprofits to the tax code, requiring a supermajority vote in both chambers of the legislature to change the statute (HB11, now Act 12) plus governor's signature and everyone, included church leaders who contacted us, seemed pleased. Suddenly, a lawsuit was filed by a lawyer from New Orleans. Ive never met him. It seems hes probably a very intelligent attorney graduating from Harvard, then the University of California at Berkeley Law School. I think it is important to point out that many of his associations seem to be what most would consider more on the liberal side. I sincerely hope this lawsuit wasnt just an attempt to stymie a Republican governor and legislature trying to enact positive reforms. But genuine questions from some of our pastors and ministry leaders popped up as well. So, allow me to share how some of our fellow conservative states handle church exemptions: Alabama: constitutional protection for properties exclusively used for worshipArkansas: constitutional protection for churches used as such (so as a church)Florida: no constitutional exemption, a constitutional allowance for the legislature to enact in the tax codeGeorgia: no constitutional exemption, the constitution requires a 2/3 vote of the legislature to repeal a religious property exemption in the tax codeKentucky: constitutional protection for property owned by institutions of religionMississippi: no constitutional exemption, provided for in tax codeTennessee: no constitutional exemption, a constitutional allowance for the legislature to enact in the tax codeTexas: no constitutional exemption, a constitutional allowance for the legislature to enact in the tax code Importantly, churches have not faced an onslaught of tax assessments in these states, and there is absolutely no desire to see that happen in Louisiana either. Furthermore, the vast majority of all state constitutions that actually mention exemptions for nonprofits and charitable organizations (not "churches" per se) say the legislature may provide for exemptions. It means its allowable but still must be enacted by the legislature in their respective tax codes. Bottom line: with the passage of Amendment 2, our churches will still be protected in the Constitution, and other charities and nonprofits will be exempted in the states tax code (with the exact language that is in the Constitution now) and protected from change by a required 2/3 vote of both House and Senate, plus the need for the signature of the governor. And the final truth here is that not a single property that enjoys exemptions today will suddenly owe property taxes with the passage of Amendment 2. In November, the governor set out to tackle an area that badly needed addressing in Louisiana tax reform, which included moving anything related to the tax code out of the cluttered Constitution. The ultimate goal is to get Louisiana to zero income tax to be more competitive with states like Texas and Florida and to simplify the complexity of the business climate to grow our economy. In just a short time, the reforms that have been undertaken have proven to be successful Louisiana has made giant leaps in rankings in overall tax policy and business competitiveness, and the governor has announced several mega projects coming to our state because of the changes in our tax climate. On a personal level, let me state unequivocally that I would never do anything to hurt our churches, because my faith life is important to me. I am a long time member of First Baptist Church in Lafayette, a board member of a Baptist seminary, and have a mother who has been in Christian education my entire life. Finally, let me close by pointing out that Amendment 2 is filled with positives like teacher pay raises, debt payments, increased standard deductions for our seniors to enjoy more tax-free income, and the phasing out of harmful uncompetitive taxes for our small businesses and that its a positive to shift tax matters out of the Constitution and into the tax code. Columbine High School survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter at a vigil in Denver on April 24 to remember the 25th anniversary of the mass shooting. The Columbine killers have claimed another victim. Nearly 26 years after two troubled Colorado teenagers barged into Columbine High School and opened fire, killing a dozen classmates and a teacher, one of the students left wounded by their barrage of bullets has died from the injuries she sustained on that April 20, 1999, the Jefferson County Coroner's Office reported. Anne Marie Hochhalter, 43, died of sepsis on Feb. 16 and the two gunshot wounds that left her paralyzed were a "significant contributing factor" in her death, Dr. Dawn B. Holmes, a forensic pathologist, wrote in a 13-page report released March 1. The manner of death is best classified as homicide, Holmes wrote. Anne Marie Hochhalter, bottom, at a prayer vigil to remember the lost and injured in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012. With Hochhalter's passing, the death toll now stands at 14. That total does not include the shooters, Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, who killed themselves before police could arrest them. Hochhalter, then a 17-year-old junior, was eating lunch with friends when she was shot in the chest and back, suffering wounds that left her paralyzed from the waist down and in chronic pain for the rest of her life. Six months later, Hochhalter suffered another loss from which she never completely recovered when her mother, Carla June Hochhalter, who had been struggling with depression, walked into a pawnshop and killed herself with a loaded gun that she had been inspecting. Leaning on her faith and on friendships forged in the wake of Columbine, Hochhalter devoted her life to supporting other victims of mass shootings. She was fiercely independent, Sue Townsend, stepmother of Columbine shooting victim Lauren Townsend told The Denver Post last month. She was a fighter. Shed get knocked down she struggled a lot with health issues that stemmed from the shooting but Id watch her pull herself back up. She was her best advocate and an advocate for others who werent as strong in the disability community. In 2016, Hochhalter found it in her heart to reach out with forgiveness to Klebold's mother, Sue Klebold, after she published a memoir about raising a mass killer called "A Mother's Reckoning." Just as I wouldnt want to be judged by the sins of my family members, I hold you in that same regard, Hochhalter wrote. Its been a rough road for me, with many medical issues because of my spinal cord injury and intense nerve pain, but I choose not to be bitter towards you." The mass killing at Columbine put a previously obscure Denver suburb called Littleton on the nation's radar, and images of heavily armed SWAT teams descending on the school and the sight of students filing out with their hands up were burned into the national consciousness. Columbine played out on TV, Bruce Beck, who was Lauren Townsend's stepfather, told NBC News in 2019 on the 20th anniversary of the massacre. No previous school shooting had done that. There was the unknown of where the shooters were during the entire time that it was being filmed, so I think people connected with Columbine more. The others killed at Columbine that day were teacher William "Dave" Sanders, 47, and students Cassie Bernall, 17, Steve Curnow, 14, Corey DePooter, 17, Kelly Fleming, 16, Matt Kechter, 16, Daniel Mauser, 15, Daniel Rohrbough, 15, Rachel Scott, 17, Isaiah Shoels, 18, John Tomlin, 16, and Kyle Velasquez, 16. Sadly, the Columbine massacre also set a tragic template for the school shootings that followed. The Washington Post, using law enforcement reports, news articles and various databases, has calculated that as of Thursday, more than 394,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine. Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman convicted of federal offenses for leaking sensitive information online, pleaded guilty Thursday to a military charge of obstructing justice, a spokesperson for his family confirmed to ABC News. A military court-martial convened this week at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts on charges alleging Teixeira violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge at the court-martial on Thursday, his family spokesperson confirmed. A second charge of disobeying orders was dropped as part of a plea agreement, which calls for dishonorable discharge and no confinement, according to the spokesperson. PHOTO: An undated picture shows Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard, who was arrested by the FBI, over his alleged involvement in leaks online of classified documents, posing for a selfie at an unidentified location. (Social Media Website via Reuters) Teixeira said he shared classified information with the public in a "brief moment of regret," though he largely defended his actions and called himself a "proud American and a patriot" in remarks to the court ahead of his sentencing. "It was my intent to expose and correct the lies manufactured and perpetuated by the Biden administration and force-fed to the American people by the mainstream media," he said, according to a statement obtained by ABC News. He said a "fraud was being perpetuated upon the American people" regarding the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and he "obstructed justice only to protect the people who now know the truth about a fraudulent Biden presidency." "If I saved even one American, Russian or Ukrainian life against a senseless money-grab war, it was worth the punishment," he said. Teixeira further claimed the Department of Justice "was politicized and used as a weapon" against him and President Donald Trump, and he asked the administration to review his convictions. "I knowingly made choices to inform the American public and open their eyes," he said. "I did so fully willing to accept the repercussions. I am comfortable with how history will remember me and my actions." MORE: Air Force preps new military charges against convicted Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira Teixeira, who was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison on the federal charges, faced potentially another 10 years in custody for the obstruction charge. He was sentenced Thursday under the terms of the plea agreement, avoiding any further confinement time and getting a dishonorable discharge, according to Lt. Col. Peter Havern, the prosecutor in the military case. Havern said they are pleased with the sentence. "The important thing for us was the dishonorable discharge," he told reporters following the proceedings. "We wanted to reflect to our airmen and guardians, as well as to the public, that when you commit the crimes that he committed, that we need to accurately depict your service as a dishonorable service." "I think it's an accurate, appropriate sentence," he added, calling a dishonorable discharge "the most serious punitive discharge that the military can command." Teixeria currently remains an airman pending the outcome of an automatic appeals process in the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, Havern said. Under the obstruction charge, the airman was accused of "disposing of an iPad, computer hard drive, and cell phone, with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself" sometime between March 1, 2023, and April 13, 2023, as well as directing another person to delete Discord messages he sent "with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself" on or about April 7, 2023. Teixeira, who worked as an information technology specialist, was convicted last year on federal charges, pleading guilty to six counts of willfully retaining and transmitting national defense information. He was sentenced in November 2024 to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The U.S. military reserves the right to separately prosecute a service member who has already been convicted in a federal court. An Air Force evidentiary hearing was held in May 2024 to determine whether his case should move forward to an Air Force court-martial. MORE: Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years on federal charges Federal prosecutors said Teixeira "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history." According to the signed plea agreement filed with the federal court, Teixeira agreed to plead guilty to all six counts charging him with willful retention and transmission of national defense information. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with additional counts under the Espionage Act. Teixeira "accessed and printed hundreds of classified documents" and posted images of them on Discord prior to his arrest in April 2023, a prosecutor said during the federal plea hearing last year. He has admitted in court to knowing the documents were marked classified. Teixeira enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, according to his service record. He had top-secret security clearance beginning in 2021 and began posting classified documents online in January 2022, according to the Department of Justice. Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to obstructing justice at court-martial originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has revealed one of the most memorable Christmas gifts she ever got from her mother during an episode of her new lifestyle series With Love, Meghan. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has revealed one of the most memorable Christmas gifts she ever got from her mother during an episode of her new lifestyle series With Love, Meghan The 43-year-old mother of two, whose new show for Netflix has been widely panned by critics and fans, was seen during the show dehydrating citrus for margaritas when she shared her mum Doria Ragland, 67, had once given her a food dehydrator as a Christmas present. She said: My home also has a lot of fruit trees. We share it with friends and donate to a local food bank. Doria features in the series finale of the show joining Meghan, her husband Prince Harry, 40, and some of the duchess friends for a celebratory brunch. Describing the occasion, Meghan said: Having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life. She also spoke about her love of spicy food in episode seven of the series, recalling: I have a very, very high tolerance for spicy, and I love it. I crave it. Even at a young age, we didnt have a lot, but we travelled. My mom was a travel agent. We would just try so many different flavours in so many different places. Meghan also credited her mother for her taste in food, adding: My mom would make gumbo, and soul food has a lot of flavour and a lot of kick to it. I crave that, and I always gravitate to that level of heat. So I am ushering my family into my palate, but I love it. Meghan spoke about her passion for feeding people, saying: I think its probably my love language. Maybe thats a mom thing, but even before I had kids, I just loved the idea of being able to see someone go, Gasp thats so good, and knowing that you were a part of that. A close bond between Meghan and Doria has been well documented. A family friend told People: She has a softness but also a steely core to her. She and Meghan are so close. Harry really gets on well with her too. Daniel Martin, Meghans longtime friend and make-up artist, also spoke about the influence Ragland has had on Meghan. He told People: Meghan draws a lot of strength from her mother. Doria is classy, chic and confident, but not unapproachable. I definitely feel Meghan gets a lot of that from her mother. Meghan previously paid tribute to her mother in a Mothers Day post on her former lifestyle blog, The Tig, in 2014. The former actress said: She was keeping me safe. She was teaching me to take care of my body. She was introducing me to history, and fostering a love of being outdoors. She was planting the seed for me to become a foodie. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint news conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko following their talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasized that the terms are yet to be worked out and added that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace. The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it," Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk about it with our American colleagues and partners and, perhaps, have a call with President Trump and discuss it with him." President Donald Trump said there have been good signals coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putins statement. He reiterated that he's ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war. Putin "put out a very promising statement, but it wasnt complete, Trump said Thursday at a start of a meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Now were going to see whether or not Russias there. And if theyre not, itll be a very disappointing moment for the world. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin is essentially preparing to reject the ceasefire. Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation. That is why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the idea of a ceasefire with such preconditions that nothing will come of it or at least, it will be delayed as long as possible. The Russian president, he added, often acts this way. He doesnt say no outright but ensures that everything drags on and that normal solutions become impossible. Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, noted the need to control possible breaches of the truce and signaled that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use the break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilization. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin said. The Russian leader made the remarks just hours after the arrival of Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for talks on the ceasefire, which Ukraine has accepted. A Kremlin adviser said Putin planned to meet with Witkoff later Thursday. The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. Russia questions details of truce offer Putin said it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he questioned what will happen to them if the ceasefire takes hold: Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender?" Putin thanked Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their noble mission to end the fighting, a statement that suggested those countries could be involved in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce. Putin's seemingly friendly tone toward the White House reflected the astonishing shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January. Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the United States was Ukraine's staunchest and most powerful ally and a force for isolating the Kremlin. But Trump's election threw that policy into reverse. Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks to end the war, and Zelenskyy had a testy meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war. The Trump administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russias army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country. The Russian Defense Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operations hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in the Kursk region. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Administration repeats threat of new sanctions As Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, he has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that Trump is willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides, including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signaling its openness to a ceasefire at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from the renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine's daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly grim news from the front line, as well as to draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and to gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that previously was home to about 5,000 people. Ukraines top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian aircraft conducted so many strikes on Kursk that Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said his country was maneuvering (troops) to more advantageous lines. ___ Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Frame grab from video shoot Wednesday, March 12, 2025, showing the aftermath of a car bomb exploded Tuesday at a hotel in the central Somali city of Beledweyne, kicking off an hourslong militant attack that killed an unknown number of people. (AP Photo from video) MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) Somali security forces on Wednesday ended a 24-hour siege at a hotel in the central city of Beledwyne, leaving an unknown number of people dead, including all the al-Shabab militants who launched the attack, officials said. The attack began when a car bomb exploded Tuesday at the Cairo Hotel, which houses traditional elders and military officers involved in coordinating the governments offensive against al-Shabab. The mayor of Beledweyne, Omar Alasow, on Wednesday said security forces had successfully ended the siege and that six al-Shabab militants died. It is still unclear how many civilians were killed in the attack. The al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. Beledweyne, about 335 kilometers (208 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu, is the capital of the Hiran region and a strategic location in the ongoing campaign against al-Shabab. Estimates of the death toll from the attack varied. One local resident, Muhsin Abdullahi, said six people, including two well-known traditional elders, were killed. But witness Hussein Jeelle Raage said three of his family members were among at least 11 people he knew were dead. Footage shared on social media showed thick smoke rising from the hotel, with significant destruction to the building. Al-Shabab, which opposes Somalias federal government, frequently carries out bombings and assaults targeting government officials and military personnel in the Horn of Africa nation. The group controls parts of rural Somalia and poses a significant threat despite sustained military operations by government troops and African Union peacekeepers. The U.S. is home to some towering monuments. Each architecture has its own story and record-breaking height. But which one stands the tallest? This ranking will take us on a vertical journey through the country's most impressive monuments, stacking them up against each otherliterally. Gateway Arch St. Louis, Missouri: 630 Feet Credit: Wikimedia Commons Towering over the Mississippi River, the Gateway Arch is the tallest monument in the country and the world's tallest arch. It was completed in 1965 and symbolizes the westward expansion of the United States. The stainless steel structure shines brighter in the sunlight and turns into an architectural wonder. San Jacinto Monument La Porte, Texas: 567 Feet Credit: flickr San Jacinto Monument commemorates the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive fight that secured Texas' independence from Mexico in 1836. The view from the observation deck treats visitors with the Houston Ship Channel and beyond. There's even a museum that details Texas' fight for freedom. Washington Monument Washington, D.C.: 555 Feet Credit: pexels The Washington Monument is one of the most recognizable structures in the U.S. This marble obelisk honors the nation's first president, George Washington. The monument has seen its share of history, including earthquake damage in 2011 that led to a significant restoration. Now, visitors take an elevator ride to the top and enjoy panoramic views of the National Mall. Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial Put-in-Bay, Ohio: 352 Feet Credit: Wikimedia Commons This monument stands as a tribute to peace and the pivotal role of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the War of 1812. It commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie. The massive Doric column is one of the tallest in the world, and the observation deck provides a stunning view of the lake and Canada on clear days. Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Indianapolis, Indiana: 284 Feet Credit: Getty Images Downtown Indianapolis wouldn't be the same without this limestone behemoth. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument honors Indiana's war veterans. The structure is detailed with sculptures, fountains, and an interior museum. Climbing its 330 steps is a workout, but the view from the top is worth it. Every year, it transforms into "The World's Largest Christmas Tree." Pilgrim Monument Provincetown, Massachusetts: 252 Feet Credit: Getty Images Many associate the Pilgrims with Plymouth Rock, but their first landing was in Provincetown. The Pilgrim Monument marks this historic moment, standing tall over Cape Cod. Its design was inspired by a famous tower in Siena, Italy. Visitors who climb the 116 steps and 60 ramps inside are rewarded with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. Bunker Hill Monument Boston, Massachusetts: 221 Feet Credit: Getty Images Boston's Freedom Trail is packed with historical sites, and the Bunker Hill Monument is one of its biggest highlights. It commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. This granite obelisk was one of the first significant monuments built in the U.S. and a tribute to the early Revolutionary War soldiers. Statue of Liberty (Pedestal + Statue) New York, New York: 151 Feet Credit: Getty Images Lady Liberty needs no introduction. Gifted by France in 1886, she stands as a symbol of freedom and democracy. While the statue is 151 feet tall, adding the pedestal brings her full height to 305 feet. She has endured everything from hurricanes to years of oxidation, yet she remains as powerful and meaningful as ever. Pegasus and Dragon Hallandale Beach, Florida: 110 Feet Credit: flickr Pegasus and Dragon features a winged horse battling a fierce dragon. It was built in 2014 and towers over Gulfstream Park, a racetrack and casino. The bronze sculpture is striking and captures the moment of battle in stunning detail. It may not have the historical weight of others on this list, but it certainly wins for sheer drama. Our Lady of the Rockies Butte, Montana: 90 Feet Credit: Wikimedia Commons Our Lady of the Rockies was built as a tribute to mothers everywhere and has been watching over the town since 1985. Constructing a statue this size on rugged mountain terrain wasn't easyvolunteers relied on helicopters and the National Guard to transport the massive pieces. The statue is only accessible via guided tours. Sam Houston Statue Huntsville, Texas: 67 Feet Credit: Instagram Artist David Adickes completed this statue of the Texas hero in 1994. Houston is known for leading Texas to independence from Mexico. The statue looks every bit as formidable in sculpted form. It is one of the tallest statues of an American statesman, and travelers often pull over for photos with the Lone Star icon. Christ of the Ozarks Eureka Springs, Arkansas: 65.5 Feet Credit: flickr Christ of the Ozarks has been spreading its arms wide since 1966. Evangelist Gerald L.K. Smith built this stark white statue as part of an enormous religious park. The design is simplelong robes, a solemn face, and an outstretched embracebut its sheer scale makes it impossible to overlook. Giraffe Statue Dallas Zoo, Texas: 67.5 Feet Credit: Twitter This giraffe statue is the tallest in the world and even taller than a real giraffe. This enormous sculpture is impossible to miss and is a playful tribute to the zoo's beloved residents. The statue's long neck and spotted design make it look right at home, even among the Texas skyline. Golden Driller Tulsa, Oklahoma: 75 Feet Credit: Wikimedia Commons The Golden Driller is a tribute to the roughneck spirit that helped shape Oklahoma. At 75 feet tall, he's impossible to ignore, his boots planted firmly next to the Tulsa Expo Center. His belt buckle alone could fit a grown man and the mustache is classic. He's a local legend who has been part of Tulsa's skyline for decades. Vulcan Statue Birmingham, Alabama: 56 Feet Credit: Wikimedia Commons Vulcan is not just the world's largest cast-iron statuehe's also the Roman god of fire and forge. This 56-foot-tall statue symbolizes Birmingham's iron and steel industry roots. After decades of wear, Vulcan underwent a major restoration and now stands proudly on Red Mountain. His outstretched arm holds a torch, which glows red when there's a traffic fatality in the city. The founder of a Texas megachurch who resigned as senior pastor last year after he admitted "inappropriate sexual behavior" in the 1980s has been indicted on five criminal counts involving a child, the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office said Wednesday. Robert Morris, 63, who founded Gateway Church in Southlake, is charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the attorney generals office said in a statement. The abuse began in December 1982 when Morris was visiting the Hominy, Oklahoma, home of the victim, the attorney generals office alleged. He was 21 and she was 12 at the time. It continued for four years, the office said. Pastor Robert Morris at the Gateway Church Dallas Campus on June 11, 2020. It was not clear whether Morris had an attorney in the criminal case announced Wednesday. Gateway Church in Southlake, which is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is the one of the largest megachurches in the United States. In June, after Cindy Clemishire came forward to accuse Morris of sexually abusing her as a child, Morris said he engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying in a statement to the evangelical news site The Christian Post. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong, he said. Three days later, he resigned as senior pastor, and the churchs Board of Elders said it had not been aware of the girls age or the length of the alleged abuse. Gateway sex abuse scandal The elders prior understanding was that Morriss extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with a young lady and not abuse of a 12-year-old child, the board said at the time. A voicemail left with the churchs administrative offices was not immediately returned after business hours Wednesday evening. Robert Morris and his wife and child in 1984. A multicounty grand jury returned the indictment against Morris, the attorney general's office said."There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in the statement. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position," Drummond said. "The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done." Cindy Clemishire on Christmas Day 1982. The indictment, which refers to the girl only as C.C., alleges that Morris inappropriately touched the girl, beginning around Dec. 25, 1982, when she was 12, and again on other occasions when she was 13 to 14 years old, including once when he rubbed himself on her. He also on one occasion took off the girl's clothes when she was 12, the indictment says. Clemishire said Morris told her to keep the abuse a secret. Clemishire told NBC News last year that the abuse started when Morris, an evangelist, was staying at the family's home on Christmas Day. Clemishire said Morris told her: Never tell anyone about this. It will ruin everything. In a written statement Wednesday, she said she was grateful to authorities for their work on the criminal case. After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable," she said. In 2007, Clemishire hired Drummond to represent her in seeking restitution from Morris to cover the cost of her counseling. The negotiations fell apart when Clemishire was not willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement, she has told NBC News. Morris was a member of President Donald Trump's spiritual advisory committee during his first term. After the allegations were made public last year, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump had not been aware of the allegations. Morris was not in custody Wednesday, a spokesperson for the attorney generals office said. Charges will be entered Thursday in Osage County, and a judge will set an initial appearance and bond. "The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office will work with Morris attorneys for him to surrender himself," the attorney general's office said. The charge of lewd or indecent acts on a child is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, the office said. Americans Wafae El-Arar, 26, Imane Mallah, 24, Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, were found dead in their resort room while on a trip to Belize in late February (GoFundMe) Authorities are investigating the possibility that three American women who were found dead in their Belize resort room last month may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to reports. Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, Imane Maliah, 24, and Wafae El-Arar, 26 who are all from Revere, Massachusetts were found dead in their room at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro, Belize on February 22. They were last seen on CCTV footage entering their room a day before their bodies were found by resort staff, and early pathology findings suggested they could have been dead for 20 hours before they were discovered. Families of the three women spoke out this week, saying the circumstances around their deaths remain unclear and suspicious. Tributes have been paid to Kaoutar Naqqad and the other two victims (GoFundMe) First responders at the scene reportedly said the women were found with froth around their mouths, according to the New York Post, and local police said in a statement that alcohol and gummies were found in their hotel room, according to Channel 5 Belize. Were not saying at this time that the gummies caused death, but were looking at every possibility, Local Police Commissioner Chester Williams said at the time. The womens bodies have since been taken back to the US, where the Daily Mail reports a second autopsy is being conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts. The Daily Mail reports a source close to one of the womens families saying preliminary investigations indicate a fatal build-up of fluid in their lungs was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, though this has not been confirmed. Imane Mallah was remembered for being a beacon of kindness (GoFundMe) That source said investigators had uncovered other non-fatal incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning at the Royal Kahal resort, including at least one other American. Speaking out for the first time following the tragedy, the families of Naqqad, Mallah and El-Arar issued a joint statement to People on Tuesday urging authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the deaths. "We ask for continued prayers, patience, and privacy as we navigate this profound sorrow," they said. The families also shared memories of each of the women. They said Naqqad, a college student who was a support worker in a group home for troubled youth, wanted to be a police officer and was compassionate, caring, and deeply devoted to those she loved. Wafae El-Arar, pictured with her family, was remembered for being full of life (GoFundMe) Mallah was remembered for being a beacon of kindness with an infectious smile, sparkling wit, and an unwaveringly optimistic heart. The families said: Imane's excitement for life was matched only by her compassion for others, making her a cherished friend and an irreplaceable part of the community. El-Arar, a research technician at Massachusetts General Hospital, had dedicated herself to reproductive rights, and was remembered for being "full of life, dreams and unwavering faith. After their deaths, supporters and loved ones set up GoFundMe pages to help their families cover the cost of transporting their bodies back to the US and their funerals. Eighty migrants from Guatemala are deported on a U.S. military plane at the Fort Bliss facility in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 30. Four days after President Donald Trump returned to office, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made an announcement: Deportation flights have begun. President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: If you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences." Trump began using U.S. military planes to reinforce his deportation operation, although Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been deporting immigrants on private airlines since 2010. But a month and a half after the White House announcement, the pace of deportation flights is a bit slower than those of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Also, the number of immigrants expelled through flights has decreased and the government has stopped using military aircraft, which according to immigration experts was more expensive and inefficient. The findings are based on a Noticias Telemundo analysis of data on deportation flights and interviews with Central American government officials and experts who have analyzed these immigration operations in recent years.Para leer en espanol haga click aqui In Latin American countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador which receive the most deportation flights authorities say they have not seen major changes in operations compared to previous U.S. administrations. They even predict that, if the current trend of the Trump administration continues, 2025 would end with fewer flights and fewer deportees. A U.S. Air force flight carrying deported migrants arrives on Jan. 31 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The decline in flights and deportees is partly due to a drop in border crossings since Trump took office, which has left immigration authorities with fewer people eligible for expedited removal, which is used to expel those caught at the border or in an area within 100 miles of the border, and within 14 days of arrival to the country.For the analysis, Noticias Telemundo developed a database of Trump administration deportation flights based on news reports, official government information, websites that record aeronautical information and data collected by Thomas Cartwright of the group Witness at the Border, which has tracked U.S. deportation flights since 2020. Data shows that in February, 128 flights with deportees took off, including 19 military flights. That figure is lower than Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 137 deportation flights in February 2024. The main destinations of February's deportation flights were Honduras and Guatemala, countries that for years have received weekly flights with deportees. Consulted by Noticias Telemundo, the directors of both nations' migration institutes said that so far the only difference in the operation compared to previous administrations was the use of military aircraft. Otherwise, the pace of deportation flights remains about the same, they said. There is no radical change other than the issue of deportations made by military flights, said Wilson Paz, director of Honduras National Institute of Migration. He agreed with Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reyna, who in mid-February told local media they weren't seeing mass deportations from the U.S. Guatemala had a similar assessment. Compared to the previous year, it's a lower number of returnees (...) on the issue of deportation we cannot talk about radical changes, Danilo Rivera, director general of the Guatemalan Institute of Migration, said. On average, Guatemala received 5,140 monthly deportees by air during 2024. In February of last year, the United States expelled 6,972 Guatemalans on 58 flights. This year, during the same month, the Trump administration deported a little over 2,000 Guatemalans on 24 flights, according to Guatemalan government data. Ecuador received 13 deportation flights from Jan. 20 to Feb. 28. Government officials estimate that, at that rate, they could end the year with fewer than 100 flights, a notable difference compared to the 150 flights the South American country received last year, Ecuadorian Deputy Foreign Minister Alejandro Davalos said in a public discussion on social network X on Feb. 25. Davalos said about 30,000 undocumented Ecuadorians in the U.S. have deportation orders, but he was skeptical that the Trump administration could expel them soon. Those deportation orders have not been executed and will not be executed in the immediate future, they were not in the past and they will certainly not be in the coming months. We are not going to have a massive flow of deported Ecuadorians, the deputy foreign minister said. On March 9, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said that the country won't receive immigrants deported from the U.S. who are not Ecuadorian, as Panama and Costa Rica have done in recent weeks. Authorities in Honduras and Guatemala say that the vast majority of the people they're receiving don't have serious criminal records in the U.S. beyond having entered the country without permission or committing traffic violations. NBC News reported this week that of the people deported by the Trump administration in February, about half had no criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. We cannot continue to criminalize or treat them as criminals when we are observing that almost all of them are working people, they are people who have dignity, Rivera said. Maybe less than 1% have any criminal history, Wilson Paz said. Despite that, all deported Honduran adults fly handcuffed on planes hired by ICE, the official explained. The Honduran government has asked the U.S. to release the restrained deportees once the planes enter Honduran airspace, Paz said. (We request) in a non-negotiable way, respect for human rights, the dignity of Honduran migrants to return to their territory without handcuffs, without shackles, because here they are free, he said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the decrease in deportation flights from February 2024 to February 2025 and whether it plans to increase the number of flights. The decrease in deportation flights took place as Trump pressured countries such as Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica to accept planes with deportees of other nationalities and the administration used military aircraft to carry out the deportations. In early March, the Defense Department suspended the use of C-17 jets to transport undocumented people to the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay and other countries. In total, the Trump administration conducted 29 military flights to seven countries, mostly Guatemala. But those flights ended up being more expensive and less efficient than the commercial flights usually contracted by ICE to expel migrants. An hourlong flight of a Boeing C-17 jet, designed to carry cargo and soldiers, costs about $28,500, according to the military's Air Mobility Command. By contrast, the average one-hour flight cost of a regular charter plane hired by ICE is $8,577 and the cost of special high-risk charter flights is $6,929 to $26,795 per hour, according to ICE. Military flights to Latin America have also been more expensive because aircraft have taken longer routes, avoiding Mexicos airspace, which has not allowed military planes carrying deportees to land. Mexico continues to receive ICE charter flights; between January and Feb. 11, they transported almost 2,000 Mexicans from Texas and Arizona, according to data provided by the Mexican government. The military flights carried out by the Trump administration since Jan. 24 carried an average of 68 passengers per trip, while regular ICE flights on private airline planes carried an average of 105 passengers, according to data analyzed by Noticias Telemundo. On Jan. 31, the military flight that transported 17 migrants to Honduras and 34 to Peru lasted about 19 hours round trip, according to FlightRadar data. Deporting those 51 people likely cost U.S. taxpayers more than half a million dollars, about $10,000 for each deportee. The decrease in deportation flights took place despite the fact that Colombia has been sending planes from its Air Force to pick up deported Colombians following a diplomatic crisis between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who refused to allow military flights to land in the country. Petro decided to use the Colombian planes after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Colombian products imported into the U.S. as well as implement a travel ban and immediately revoke the visas of Colombian government officials. In total, the Colombian Air Force conducted 10 repatriation flights from late January to February. In addition, Venezuela sent two flights to Texas to repatriate nearly 200 Venezuelans on Feb. 10. despite the fact that President Nicolas Maduro had refused to receive flights with deportees from the U.S. the year before. Venezuela also sent another Conviasa Airline plane to Honduras to pick up 177 Venezuelans expelled from the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Feb. 20. The Trump administration has released images of immigrants boarding military planes in chains and the administration's border czar, Tom Homan, said in January that Army aircraft with deportees would take off every day. Experts said they thought the use of military aircraft was publicity strategy to increase the visibility of Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration and persuade immigrants to desist from crossing into the U.S. illegally. It is neither efficient nor productive (...) but Im not surprised by the use of military aircraft, Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, told Noticias Telemundo. Its a tactic by President Trump to reduce the incentives to arrive at the border irregularly and also increase a certain sense of fear in the undocumented immigrant community that they could be subject to deportation, even though most of them would not, Ruiz explained. Fewer deportations and fewer crossings The data seems to indicate that the focus on the military flights, along with the deployment of troops to the southern border and the increase in arrests of undocumented immigrants and images of immigrants in chains are working in stopping the flow of people trying to cross into the U.S. without permission. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the government recorded 8,347 arrests of immigrants crossing illegally from Mexico in February, the lowest number in 15 years. That abrupt drop is reflected in the decrease in deportation flights. Now, with fewer crossings, there are also fewer people to deport immediately, Ruiz said. During the Biden administration, especially in early 2024, most of the people they deported were those who had just crossed the border with Mexico and the United States, he explained. To maintain those kinds of high deportations, President Trump has to rely on arrests in the interior of the country, Ruiz said. But detaining and expelling undocumented immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for years and who are entitled to a process in overcrowded immigration courts, can take years. In Central America, the kinds of deportees returning via flights points to a decrease in migration to the U.S. Last year, 8 out of 10 deportees Guatemala received were detained at the U.S. border. Currently, a third of Guatemalans coming back had been living in the U.S. for years, Danilo Rivera said. Were starting to get a little bit more people who had the experience of living, working and going on with their lives in the United States, he said. In 2023, an average of 1,500 migrants a day moved through Honduras on their way to the U.S. Today, we are not even reaching 100 or 150 people who transit through our country, said Wilson Paz, the countrys director of migration. Rather, the migratory dynamic has taken a turn, no longer from south to north, but from north to south, because many of these people are returning to their countries and transiting through Honduras, but in reverse, the official explained. President Trump has said he sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressing his desire to negotiate over the country's advancing nuclear program. He made the announcement in an interview with Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures," which was recorded this week. In the interview, Mr. Trump said he sent the letter "yesterday," but the exact timing remained unclear. "I would rather negotiate a deal. I'm not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily," Mr. Trump said in a clip from the interview, which was shared by the network ahead of its full airing this weekend, Fox said. "But the time is happening now. The time is coming up," Mr. Trump said. "Something's going to happen one way or the other. I hope that Iran and I've written him a letter, saying, 'I hope you're going to negotiate.' Because if we have to go in militarily, it's going to be a terrible thing for them." In the interview, Mr. Trump said he believed Iran wanted "to get that letter," adding that "the other alternative is, we have to do something. Because you can't let them have a nuclear weapon." Iranian media reported that on Wednesday a letter from Mr. Trump was delivered to Tehran by a senior United Arab Emirates diplomat, the French news agency AFP said. Late last week Iran's state-run media said that no letter had been received from Mr. Trump, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the French news agency AFP on Friday that Iran would not negotiate with the U.S. while heavy U.S. sanctions against the country remain in place. A report last month by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran had "significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium," marking a progression in the country's nuclear program since Mr. Trump was reelected. In 2018, during Mr. Trump's first term, he unilaterally withdrew the United States from a negotiated deal with Iran and other world powers that was aimed at curbing the country's nuclear program. Mr. Trump imposed a wide range of new sanctions on Iran at the time, calling it a policy of "maximum pressure" to force Tehran to broker a new deal. That policy has decimated Iran's economy, but there have been no new negotiations between the two sides acknowledged publicly since. Under the original nuclear deal, Iran was permitted to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and maintain a stockpile of no more than 661 pounds at that level. At that purity, uranium can be used for medical, research and other civilian purposes, but not to build a nuclear weapon. The most recent IAEA report found Iran was enriching more uranium to 60% purity much closer to the level required for weapons, which is about 90%, and a level at which it was only confirmed to have started enriching after Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear agreement. Its stockpile of that highly enriched uranium had risen as of February to about 606 pounds, according to the IAEA report. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for entirely peaceful purposes, as tension has continued to rise with the U.S. over its sanctions, and with Israel over its war against the Iranian-backed, U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas. Last August, Khamenei said there was "no harm" in engagement with the U.S., but more recently he said negotiations would not be "intelligent, wise or honorable." Freed Israeli hostages call for end to war, to bring remaining Gaza hostages home What is the future of the Kennedy Center? Elton John, Brandi Carlile on their dream collaboration WASHINGTON The White House has directed the U.S. military to draw up options for increasing the American troop presence in Panama to achieve President Trumps goal of reclaiming the Panama Canal, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the planning. During a joint address to Congress last week, Trump said, "to further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal. Since then, administration officials have not said what "reclaiming" means. U.S. Southern Command is developing potential plans that vary from partnering more closely with Panamanian security forces to the less likely option of U.S. troops seizing the Panama Canal by force, the officials said. Whether military force is used, the officials added, depends on how much Panamanian security forces agree to partner with the U.S. The Trump administrations goal is to increase the U.S. military presence in Panama to diminish Chinas influence there, particularly access to the canal, the officials said. Both Panama and China deny there is any foreign interference in the 50-mile canal, whose neutrality is enshrined in Panamas Constitution. Chinese officials have accused the U.S. of using "coercion" to pressure Panamanian officials to block Chinese aid projects. The Chinese container ship Cosco Shipping Rose transits the Panama Canal in 2018. The U.S. officials told NBC News that the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Adm. Alvin Holsey, presented draft strategies to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week. Hegseth is expected to visit Panama next month. The officials cautioned that a U.S. invasion of Panama is unlikely and would only come under serious consideration if a larger American military presence in Panama does not achieve President Donald Trumps goal of reclaiming the waterway, the officials said. Neither the Pentagon nor the Panamanian Embassy in Washington immediately responded to a request for comment. Too large a Chinese presence? Trump has said he intends to return ownership of the canal to the U.S. after Panama gained control of the area more than a quarter century ago under a treaty signed by the Carter administration. Privately, Trump has told his advisers that he sees a U.S. military presence in Panama and on the canal itself as critical to that effort, the U.S. officials said. Trump has also made it clear that he wants U.S. service members to be visible in the canal zone as a show of force. Trump administration officials have argued that China has too large a presence near the canal. In the event of a conflict, they say, Beijing could shut down the canal to American shipping, including military ships. During a visit to Panama last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that the status quo is unacceptable regarding Chinas presence in Panama. Mulino said the Panamanian government alone administers the canal and denied ceding operation of the canal to China in any way. After Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the projects were part of Beijing's Belt and Road development initiative and that China firmly opposes the U.S. smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion. Last year, now retired Gen. Laura Richardson, then the commander of United States Southern Command, said in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee that China is "playing the long game." Richardson warned that Chinese government-backed economic development projects are "dual-use sites and facilities" that can be quickly flipped and used for military purposes. "The PRC messages its investments as peaceful, but in fact, many serve as points of future multi-domain access for the PLA and strategic naval chokepoints," she said, referring to the People's Republic of China and the People's Liberation Army. "In Panama, PRC-controlled State-Owned Enterprises, SOEs, continue to bid on projects related to the Panama Canal a global strategic chokepoint. Possible U.S. strategies The U.S. military currently has more than 200 troops in Panama but the number fluctuates as troops rotate in and out, according to a defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Some of those troops include Special Forces units working with Panamanian forces to protect the country from internal threats, insurgencies or unrest. Potential administration strategies include simply ensuring that U.S. ships have safe passage through the canal, to restoring total U.S. ownership and operation of the passageway, officials said. Other options under consideration include using the U.S. military to secure existing ports in Panama, to build new ports in Panama or using the Army Corps of Engineers to operate the canals locks, officials said. There are also discussions about opening Army Jungle Schools, or training camps, in Panama, like the ones U.S. troops trained in jungle warfare until the canal was formally handed over to Panama in 1999. One other focus of the ongoing planning is potentially positioning U.S. military forces near Panama in the event of a regional war or a threat to the U.S. In that scenario, the U.S. military would aim to secure the Panama Canal and eliminate Chinas access to the critical waterway. American officials cautioned that the U.S. would only block Chinese transit through the canal in the event of war. U.S. soldiers search suspects in front of the home of a business associate of Manuel Noriega in Panama City on Dec. 26, 1989. The Panama Canal is one of the worlds busiest waterways, with the majority of the cargo that passes through it originating in the U.S. or heading to the U.S. If the Panama Canal were blocked, ships would have to transit around South America, sharply increasing the cost and time of each voyage. The U.S. constructed the canal from 1904 to 1914 after a failed French effort. In 1977, after long-running protests by Panamanians, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty that turned control of the canal over to Panama. In 1989, during the George H.W. Bush administration, U.S. forces invaded Panama and ousted the countrys leader, Manuel Noriega, who was later convicted of drug trafficking. In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump said that the U.S. was already moving to limit Chinese presence in the canal. Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals. The U.S. investment company BlackRock is part of a group buying a 90% stake in the Panama Ports Company, which operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal. The stake is being purchased from a Hong Kong-based firm, CK Hutchinson, for $22.8 billion. You may need to say goodbye to your favorite champagne and cognac. Imported wine, champagne, and other alcoholic products from the European Union are the latest targets of President Trump's tariff threats. On Thursday morning, President Trump posted on Truth Social that if the EU didn't remove a 50% tariff on whiskey, the US would place a 200% tariff on wine, champagne, and other alcoholic products. The whiskey tariff, set for April 1, is part of retaliation for the US putting a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. If it goes into effect, the whopping 200% tariff could "essentially eliminate" imports of these types of products in the United States, Needham & Company analyst Gerald Pascarelli told Yahoo Finance. "A company is not going to ship it on a 200% tariff," Pascarelli said. The duty also "increases the likelihood that you're going to get a global trade war with collateral damage, and that's not going to be good for the sector," he added. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Year to date, shares of American whiskey maker Brown-Forman (BF-B), the world's second-largest wine and spirits seller Pernod Ricard (RI.PA), and scotch and spirits maker Diageo (DEO) have dropped 8%, 11%, and 15%, respectively. A spokesperson from Brown-Forman told Yahoo Finance, "We are pleased that [European Union] President von der Leyen and Trade Commissioner Sefcovic expressed a desire to negotiate with the U.S. and are hopeful the two sides will reach a constructive resolution before the tariffs take effect on April 1." "The tariff conversation is bigger than Brown-Forman and our industry, and its evolving rapidly," the spokesperson added. Brown-Forman said it's "working closely" with spiritsEurope and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. LVMH, which owns champagne brands Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, did not immediately respond to request for comment. Pernod Ricard referred to a statement from spiritsEurope. The trade group said it's "deeply alarmed by the renewed threat of tariffs on EU and US spirits once again, as part of an entirely unrelated dispute. This cycle of tit-for-tat retaliation must end now!" "Spirits trade exemplifies how open markets create mutual benefits. Reimposing tariffs would be a step backward hurting businesses, workers, and consumers on both sides," the group added. In 2018, the EU imposed a 25% tariff on American whiskey as part of retaliatory tariffs during the first Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs. Given this gives a sense of deja vu, Pascarelli said the valuation of Brown-Forman shares may have already priced in the risk of tariffs. In January, Tak Niinami, the CEO of Suntory Holdings, which owns bourbon brands Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, and Basil Hayden, told Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum, "We are preparing for that tariff from the European continent and vice versa. We've been preparing for it because that dispute has been studied well before." Bottles of the American whiskey Jack Daniels are offered for sale in a liquor store on Nov. 27, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Scott Olson via Getty Images) In the meantime, champagne and wine lovers may start stocking up. "French wines and champagnes are already the most expensive in the market," Pascarelli said. The tariffs "would make it prohibitively expensive for almost every consumer. ... You might see some pre-buying right now ... on fear that [the price of] some of their favorite champagne is going to go up." Meanwhile, beer maker Molson Coors' (TAP) shares are up 3% year to date, as its US-based production shields it from the risk of tariffs, per Pascarelli. It's a far different story for Constellation Brands (STZ), whose shares are down 17% this year. "Tariffs are certainly a headwind to Constellation Brands," he added, as roughly 86% of Constellation Brands' sales are Mexican beer. "Constellation Brands imports every single drop of beer that it sells in the United States from Mexico ... that's going to impact their entire beer business." Brooke DiPalma is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com. Click here for all of the latest retail stock news and events to better inform your investing strategy WASHINGTON, March 12 - The Department of Justice dropped a civil rights lawsuit filed last year against the national nonprofit Southwest Key Programs alleging its employees had sexually abused unaccompanied minors who were housed in its shelters after entering the country illegally, according to a court filing on Wednesday. The department decided to drop the lawsuit after the Department of Health and Human Services stopped the placement of unaccompanied migrant children in shelters operated by Southwest Key and initiated a review of its grants with the organization, HHS said in a press release on Wednesday. The health department said it has moved all children in Southwest Key shelters to other shelters. "For too long, pernicious actors have exploited such children both before and after they enter the United States," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said in the release. "Todays action is a significant step toward ending this appalling abuse of innocents. Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Key contracts with the federal government to care for young migrants arriving in the U.S. without parents or legal guardians, and has operated 27 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California. It is the largest provider of shelter to unaccompanied minor children. More: DOJ says Texas company employees sexually abused migrant children in their care The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in July 2024 in the Western District of Texas alleging a "pattern" of "severe or pervasive sexual harassment" going back to at least 2015 in the network of Southwest Key shelters. The complaint included alleged cases of "severe sexual abuse and rape, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures." Lawyers representing the Justice Department and Southwest Key submitted a joint motion for dismissal on Wednesday, the court record shows. Southwest Key denied the allegations. "Southwest Key strongly denied the claims relating to child sexual abuse in our shelters, and there is no settlement or payment required. We are glad this matter is now concluded. We always believed the facts would prove the allegations to be without merit," its spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that South West Key was furloughing about 5,000 program employees, citing a federal funding freeze. The plans to dismiss the case were first reported by Bloomberg. The news outlet reported that an attorney for Southwest Key had reached out to the Justice Department and asked it to dismiss the matter, saying the case could hinder the crackdown on illegal immigration by President Donald Trump's administration. The abrupt reversal by the Justice Department comes at a time when Attorney General Pam Bondi has made combating illegal immigration take priority over other initiatives that were pursued during President Joe Biden's administration. More: Trump repurposes the CBP One app to allow migrants to self-deport from US In response to the Justice Department's decision, the National Center for Youth Law sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright seeking to intervene in the case, in a bid to keep the case alive. The center asked Albright to delay a ruling on the Justice Department's motion to dismiss by 30 days and allow it to file an intervening motion "on behalf of intervenors whose interests are no longer protected by the United States," according to the letter written by the center's co-director of litigation, David Hinojosa. "Until today, the United States has faithfully sought to uphold the rule of law by prosecuting claims and seeking relief that would help both protect unaccompanied children and compensate them for their damages," Hinojosa wrote. "Countless children now risk being denied any recourse for the terrible harms suffered while in the care of Southwest Key." The court record shows Albright accepted the joint motion to dismiss and ordered the case closed. The National Center for Youth Law also wrote a letter to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley urging him to call on the Justice Department to explain its reasons for dropping the lawsuit and identify who made the decision. "Given your history of advocating for the safety of unaccompanied children, we respectfully request your offices continued leadership to protect these children and hold accountable all entities - public or private - that jeopardize their welfare," wrote Johnathan Smith, the center's chief of staff and general counsel. Grassley's spokesperson Clare Slattery said the senator has contacted the Justice Department seeking clarity about the lawsuit's dismissal, and "looks forward to a follow-up conversation soon." (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Matthew Lewis) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US drops lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs alleging sexual abuse A high school student in Louisiana was shot and killed after getting off a school bus in what authorities believe was a targeted attack, according to a report. Anthony Robinson, a student at Scotlandville High School, got off the school bus when the suspect "ran him down and shot him," Lt. L'Jean McKneely, a police spokesperson, told The Advocate. Baton Rouge police have arrested 16-year-old and charged him with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and illegal use of weapons. "It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic loss of one of our own, 17-year-old Anthony Robinson, who was taken from us due to senseless and unnecessary violence Monday afternoon," Scotlandville High School said in a statement posted by WAFB-9. "This heartbreaking event has deeply impacted our school community. As we mourn this devastating loss, we want to assure you that the Baton Rouge Police Department is actively investigating and working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy," the statement reads. According to The Advocate, the shooting happened at around 2:50 p.m. Police believe that Robinson and the 16-year-old suspect had had a prior altercation. Originally published on Lawyer Herald Credit - Gary WatersWestend61/Getty Images The American people are living through a moment of seismic uncertainty and social shocks. One day, our president and vice president scream at a world leader in front of television cameras. Another, the administration docks Columbia University of $400 million in federal funding. And all along, Canada has to take seriously the threat of becoming Americas 51st state. Many of us are also experiencing our own shocks that echo that news of the day: If we are federal workers, we may have lost our jobs; if we work for universities, we may be facing hiring freezes and limits on our speech. This constant barrage of discordant, unexpected, and often troubling news tends to distract us and erode our concentration. My attention has broken into strange shapes. While I usually "chain-read" novels and nonfictioninhaling book after the book in a stream of information, storyline, and metaphor these days, I can barely focus on a page without putting it down in favor of doomscrolling. I have, though, found a reprieve from my anxious inattention: poetry. More specifically, the poetry of survivalverse written in the shadow of political extremity. I have noticed this is true for others I know. Friends tell me they are seeking out poetry in uncertainty, just as many of us have long done to celebrate marriages and to mourn our loved ones. Now we are doing so to parse and bear a startling moment in history. Ill admit that Im not a neutral observer. I am the author of two books of poetry which include documentary poems about subjects that are not traditionally the stuff of verse, like economic insecurity and abortion. As the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, I also commission poems from people who have experienced being unhoused, writing about their precarious lives. I have long turned to other poets to help me negotiate the trickiest momentsa few years ago I wrote about how it wasnt coincidental that a staffer on Sen. Elizabeth Warrens presidential campaign, Camonghne Felix, was a poet also. These days, I find myself reading and rereading across the gamut of poetry written in states of extremis, from the poetry of the early Soviet era, like that of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, to the poems of Romanian-French poet and Holocaust survivor Paul Celan, to the best verse of the AIDS crisis, like that of American poet and critic Tory Dent. All are poets who lived through times of chaos and cruelty, yet they continued to speak to (and for) us. As Mandelstam wrote, Poetry is the plough that turns up time, so that the deepest layer, its black earth, is on top. Read More: How Insecurity Became the New Inequality Its not just a matter of seeking solace. These poems display a range of stances when encountering social extremes. They can ultimately offer us some moral direction. Sure, prescribing poetry in the face of societal turbulence can seem a meager or even an escapist response. But this sort of poetry is not just a cerebral pastime. It can give the reader a sense of recognition of their own experience and ballast in tough times. Thats why I return, for instance, to Stalins Epigram, a 1933 poem by Mandelstam that was part of what landed him in the gulag (he died there in 1938). As journalist M. Gessen wrote of the poem in the New Yorker in 2020, the poems themes seemed to run in parallel to the first Trump era. One of the poems lines, the Kremlin hillbilly is our preoccupation, Gessen read as the brute in charge is inescapable: he is our common obsession and our shared reality. Even as he continues to tear us apart, he brings us together in what conversation there is. Or lines like this one from Emil Cioran, which the poet Ilya Kaminsky recently posted on social media, as if underlining my thinking of the role poetry can now play: When we are a thousand miles away from poetry, we still participate in it by that sudden need to screamthe last stage of lyricism." Siva Vaidhyanathan, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia, recently told me hes also mostly reading poetry lately. I have found solace in poetrys ability to change the pace of my mind, he says, as he has started to view poems as little drugs. Among the poets he has relied on recently are W.H. Auden and Walt Whitman, poets associated with World War II and the Civil War periods respectively, whose poetry nevertheless retained a notable hopefulness Whitmans Chants Democratic, written as the country is falling apart right before the Southern states seceded, exhorted Americans to believe in democracy: America always!/Always me joined with you, whoever you are!/Always our own feuillage!/Always Florida's green peninsula!/ Always the price Whitman was patriotic in a profound sense of that word, loving and believing in his country even when it was clearly damaged. (To be sure, his work could also be read as in support of expansionism and Manifest Destiny). When I read these lines, I, too, get swept up in the promise of our democracy across centuries. Rodrigo Toscano, the Program Director of the Labor Institute and a poet, tells me he has found meaning in todays political vacuum by writing politicized sonnets. He is planning to complete 100 sonnets in the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Ive been writing through this period of paradigm shifts, while a new order has not been established yet, Toscano says. He understands why many are receiving nourishment, from the poets of the Soviet era or the Shoah, but he prefers, he says, the poetic attack, or poetry that attempts to fight back more directly. To me, perhaps the most effecting poetry of extremes is that of Tory Dent. These poems are accounts of near-misses and also recovery in New York City in the 1980s, where she was a person with HIV and then AIDS. As she writes in one poem, What I/know is that I'm both people,/one sick and one wellMy impulse is to be alone with the x-ray/ like a loved one and the incarcerated. Her poems capture the ambiguity that exists within survival, and the feeling you develop for your oppressor, in her case, the disease that eventually killed her in 2005. While this might seem deeply depressing, Dent's feverishly alive response to a personal and public health emergency is still galvanizing and instructive in its honesty, bravery, and anger. She names her bodily suffering in long lyrical lines that catalog her agonies, and in their beauty and elevated, allusive presentation seemingly interrupts her pain, ultimately helping the poems speaker compose herself anew. I find unexpected parallels between Dents remarkable writing on the edge of her endurance, against a tide of bias and governmental apathy toward people with AIDS, and this moment, where immigrant kids are hiding in basement apartments and the word gender is being wiped from databases. This is part of how poetry can meet us where were atby providing a language of political feeling and opposition, rather than relying on the hackneyed or overly familiar phrases of newscasters, or, even worse, the abased insults now expressed by politicians. I know I will return to these poems as I need them. That, to me, is the greatest solace of all. Contact us at letters@time.com. Along with widespread severe weather, the nation's midsection faced a bout of high wind that started a wildfire outbreak in the Plains and pushed a visibility-crushing dust storm into Texas and Oklahoma. On the backside of the same storm that's expected to produce a severe weather outbreak through the weekend, blizzard conditions were reported in parts of Minnesota on Saturday, where several inches of snow fell. The wintry side of this system was been named Winter Storm Marisol by The Weather Channel. (MORE: Severe Outbreak Forecast) Widespread High Winds Winds have gusted as high as 95 mph in San Agustin Pass, New Mexico, and 83 mph with blowing dust and less than a mile visibility in Amarillo, Texas, Friday afternoon. More than 200,000 customers have lost power in the Plains and Midwest. Numerous tractor trailers were pushed over in Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. In some cases, roof damage has occurred and power poles have been snapped off near the base. Blowing Dust, Extreme Fire Danger A wildfire outbreak ignited Friday afternoon and evening from New Mexico to Missouri as extreme winds swept into the Plains. Evacuations are ongoing in some spots, including in Norman, Oklahoma, and more are possible until moisture returns and winds drop off. These winds kicked up blowing dust across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, leading to sharp, sudden reductions in visibility. At least one pileup has occurred near Amarillo, Texas, due to strong winds and lowered visibilities. Here's a look at conditions in the eastern Texas panhandle: A pair of jurists vying to be Wisconsins next Supreme Court justice sparred Wednesday night ahead of the first major statewide race in a battleground since the 2024 election. The tense one-hour debate in Milwaukee between liberal judge Susan Crawford and conservative judge Brad Schimel focused in large part on reproductive rights and the millions of dollars being spent on the race by high-profile billionaires and outside groups in what's technically a nonpartisan election scheduled for April 1. The contest will determine the courts ideological balance for the second time in two years and possibly the future of several issues related to abortion rights, unions and congressional maps. Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Susan Crawford and Brand Schimel. Crawford is a state judge in Madison who worked earlier in her career in the Democratic administration of then-Gov. Jim Doyle. Schimel, also a state judge, in Waukesha County, previously was the states Republican attorney general. Liberals have a 4-3 majority on the seven-person court after they won a 2023 election that flipped control to the left for the first time in 15 years. But liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley's retirement has again put that control up for grabs. Follow live politics coverage here In their only debate before the election, the candidates took most of their shots at the other's backing from uber-wealthy mega-donors. Liberal billionaire George Soros and outside groups with ties to Elon Musk have already spent millions in a race that's on pace to become the most expensive state Supreme Court campaign in U.S. history. Crawford repeatedly criticized Schimel over the involvement of groups associated with Musk, the architect of the President Donald Trumps Department of Government Efficiency. In the most climactic line of the night, Crawford intentionally misnamed Schimel and claimed that her campaign had received numerous out-of-state donations because of people disliking Musk. I have support from all over the country and it is because Elon Schimel is trying to buy this race, and people are very upset about that, she said. Earlier, Schimel had been asked whether he embraced Musks support of him on X. He replied that he was looking for the endorsement of the Wisconsin voters and that outside help that comes is not something I control. He also repeatedly slammed Crawford over the donations Soros had made to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, calling him a dangerous person to accept donations from. Soros gave $1 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party in January. Other liberal billionaires have donated, too, including Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Wisconsin campaign finance laws allow the state parties to transfer cash to a candidates committees, which both sides have done during this campaign. Crawford acknowledged that shed received generous contributions through the Democratic Party of Wisconsin while arguing that Musk was more dangerous, citing some of the cuts DOGE has made or recommended to various federal agencies. He has basically taken over Brad Schimels campaign, she said. A huge chunk of the GOP spending in the race has come from two Musk-aligned groups Building Americas Future and America PAC that together have spent more than $8 million to boost Schimel. Building Americas Future isnt required to disclose its donations, but Reuters and The Wall Street Journal have reported that Musk helped fund the group in the past. It has spent more than $2.4 million on ads in the race so far, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. America PAC, a Musk-funded super PAC, has pumped more than $4 million into the race, mostly on canvassing and political mailers. Musk has used his X platform to boost Schimel, writing in January that its Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud! The post came shortly after Musks electric car company, Tesla, filed a suit in Wisconsin challenging a state law banning carmakers from owning dealerships. The case could end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Crawford drew attention to that possibility Wednesday night. It is no coincidence that Elon Musk started spending that money within days of Tesla filing a lawsuit in Wisconsin, she said. Hes trying to buy access and influence by buying himself a justice. Both sides have spent heavily, painting the other's billionaire backers as monsters. The candidates were asked repeatedly during the debate whether theyd recuse themselves from issues and cases related to any big donors. Crawford said shed recuse herself from cases involving the Wisconsin Democratic Party if she felt she cannot be fair and impartial. Asked whether hed recuse himself in the Tesla case if it made it to the Supreme Court, Schimel replied, I dont know the answer to that. Meanwhile, reproductive rights and the fate of the states 1849 abortion ban is the other hot topic of the race. Each candidate tried to paint the other as already having made up their mind on all cases related to abortion rights. The state Supreme Court heard a challenge to the ban in November and is widely expected to overturn the law but there is still some pending litigation. While abortion providers in the state resumed the procedure in 2023 after a judge ruled that the 175-year-old law didnt apply to consensual medical abortions, the state Supreme Court is reviewing whether to entirely invalidate the law. There is also a separate case in which Planned Parenthood has directly asked the court to establish whether the state constitution established a right to an abortion. Both candidates represented groups and causes earlier in their careers that would seem to outline their positions on the issue. Crawford attacked Schimel on Wednesday over his comments in July that the 1849 law was valid and that there is not a constitutional right to abortion in our state constitution. Schimel reiterated that the ban is a validly passed law but said he did not believe that it reflects the will of the people of Wisconsin today. Crawford, who as an attorney earlier in her career represented Planned Parenthood, refused to take a position on the cases Wednesday, saying they remain an open question that will be decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Still, she slammed the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The two at various other points jostled over other issues that are likely to appear before the court including the fate of the landmark legislation signed by former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, that eliminated collective bargaining for most public workers, as well as cases challenging the states congressional maps, which favor Republicans. Today's news: Faisalabad, Lahore and Colombo among cities most vulnerable to flooding: +300%; A new 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on the negotiating table; Construction of a road bridge between North Korea and Russia has begun; Armenia and India have signed two memoranda on diplomatic and health cooperation. PAKISTAN The tragic death toll of the kidnapping of the train with 440 passengers on board is 58 - 21 passengers, 33 assailants and four soldiers. The operation was carried out on Tuesday by the Liberation Army of Beluchistan and ended yesterday with an assault by the Pakistani armed forces. In an official statement, they pointed the finger at Afghanistan, claiming that during the attack groups of militants in Afghanistan maintained contact with the assailants via satellite phones. The train arrived today at the station in Qetta, the original destination of the journey. ASIA - PAKISTAN - SRI LANKA A report by the NGO WaterAid with contributions from the universities of Bristol and Cardiff has shown that 15% of the 112 most populous cities in the world are facing both floods and droughts, a phenomenon known as climatic whiplash. The Pakistani cities of Faisalabad and Lahore, together with Colombo in Sri Lanka, are among the most vulnerable, with a 300% increase in flooding events compared to previous decades. Since 1985, rainfall has increased by 42% and sewage systems meet only 35% of urban needs. ISRAEL - GAZA The negotiations mediated between Israel and Hamas continue in Doha, with the United States proposing to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and the release of 10 Israeli prisoners still alive on the table. Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem welcomed the apparent withdrawal of US President Donald Trump from his proposal to move more than two million Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. The statement came after Trump said: Nobody is expelling Palestinians from Gaza. NORTH KOREA - RUSSIA Construction has begun on a road bridge that will connect North Korea and Russia over the Tumen River, which separates the two countries. This is proven by South Korean satellite images. It would be the first road bridge between these two allies, allowing the transit of lorries and buses for the transport of goods and people. Currently, there is already a railway bridge. According to experts, once completed, the bridge could encourage trade and tourism in North Korea and possibly increase Moscow's influence in the region. TAIWAN A Taiwanese actor, arrested in February for trying to avoid compulsory military service, has now started his military service. Darren Wang, famous for his role in the 2015 comedy Our Times, had used falsified medical documents. All men in Taiwan must perform one year of compulsory military service. In 2022, the government increased the duration from four months to one year, citing growing threats from China. In the last few hours, the president of Taiwan has again warned of Beijing's attempt at infiltration and promises countermeasures. ARMENIA - INDIA The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and India, Ararat Mirzoyan and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, signed two collaboration memoranda in Yerevan, one for the joint training of diplomatic personnel and the second for the approval of medicines and healthcare technologies, involving the standards control centres of the two countries. CHINA Haidilao, China's largest hotpot chain, has offered compensation to over 4,000 customers who visited one of its branches in Shanghai, where two teenagers urinated in the boiling broth. A video showing the boys doing so during a dinner in a private room went viral last month. The police stated that the two 17-year-olds, who were drunk at the time of the incident, were arrested shortly afterwards. Haidilao apologised to its customers, stating that the staff on duty had not been able to stop the boys. TURKMENISTAN In the cities of Turkmenistan, the cash shortage is back, as has already happened several times in recent years, and the cash machines remain closed in the velayats of Mari and Lebap. In Ashgabat they only issue 800 manat a day, creating kilometre-long queues for those trying to withdraw their salary, but only 20% succeed before the block. US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that negotiators were headed to Russia "right now" for talks on a possible ceasefire with Ukraine, after Kyiv agreed to a 30-day truce. Trump did not give further details on the negotiating team. "People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland's prime minister. "And if we do, I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished." Vice President JD Vance, who was also in the meeting, added that there were "conversations that are happening on the phone and in person with some of our representatives over the next couple of days." Trump would not say when he would next speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but added that "I hope he's going to have a ceasefire" and that there had been "positive messages" from Moscow. "It's up to Russia now," said Trump. Trump was coy about pressuring Moscow to agree to a truce, saying he could slap it with "devastating" sanctions but adding that "I hope that's not going to be necessary." "I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don't want to do that because I want to get peace," Trump added. His comments come less than two weeks after an explosive row between Trump, Vance and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in front of television cameras. Trump halted military aid after the argument to pressure Kyiv, which agreed to a US-proposed plan for a 30-day ceasefire at talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The Central Committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences met in Bangkok to prepare the event scheduled next November in Malaysia. The symbolic image is the result of a competition in which 54 artists from all over Asia took part. Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) The Central Committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) is currently meeting in Bangkok. During one session, the bishops picked the official logo of the Asian Mission Congress 2025 (AMC 2025), scheduled in Penang, Malaysia, from 27 to 30 November centred on the theme The Great Pilgrimage of hope". The logo is inspired by the image of a star formed by stylised people holding hands, echoing the biblical verse about the Magi going home by another way, which is at core of the Bangkok Document issued after the 2022 Assembly of Asian Churches. For the logo, the FABC had announced a competition that saw the participation of 54 artists from across Asia, reflecting the spirit of mission and unity of the continent's Catholics. The second Asian Mission Congress will be held in Penang (Malaysia), almost 20 years after Chang Mai (Thailand) hosted the first edition in October 2006 with the participation of a thousand delegates. The congress seeks to bring together bishops, priests, religious leaders and lay people from all over the continent to promote in synodal style a shared journey of the Churches as "pilgrims of hope" for Asia. by Shafique Khokhar Last week in Sialkot, 22 members of the community were imprisoned even though they were innocent, following pressure from Islamic extremists. In Sargodha another 23 were put in jail because they were caught praying in a house during the holy month for Muslims. Minarets vandalised by the police in Bahawalnagar. Ahmadi leaders appeal to the State to demand protection and respect for their rights. Sialkot (AsiaNews) - Ahmadis are once again in the sights of extremists in Pakistan: last week, in fact, the police of Sialkot (Punjab province) arrested at least 22 members of the community following pressure from some Islamic fundamentalists, whose only crime was to have gathered to pray within the walls of a private building. During Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting and prayer, the faithful usually gather in a house to pray; however, these meetings soon attracted the attention of radical factions who gathered outside, surrounded the building and chanted slogans and songs against the community. Fearing attacks, the Ahmadis called the police at least 15 times to seek help and prevent a violent outcome. Nevertheless, once the police intervened they arrested 22 members of the community under pressure from - and following complaints by - the fundamentalists, who continued to chant songs of hate and persecution against the Ahmadis. Local sources also add that among those arrested there are also children and young boys between 11 and 14 years of age, also detained for the sole crime of gathering to pray. A few hours later, the group was transferred to the Sialkot Central Prison and, as far as we know, they are still waiting to find out their fate. This is not an isolated incident, because on 7th March 2010 another 23 Ahmadi faithful from Sargodha were arrested for gathering to pray in a house. The following day, after strong pressure from extremist elements, the police vandalised the minarets of a place of worship belonging to the religious minority in Bahawalnagar. The incident occurred following a fight between two groups, during which a person named Amjad was injured and died during transport to the hospital. No Ahmadis were present during the altercation, but some members of Tehreek-e-Labbaik began to protest, blaming them for the death, and then incited the agents who damaged the place of worship and opened a file (First information report, FIR). The members of the Ahmadi community and seven other people were placed under investigation, while during the night some fundamentalists broke into their houses and ransacked their belongings. The Ahmadis (about 2% of the Pakistani population) are a religious movement inspired by Islam that arose at the end of the 19th century. Its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, considered himself a prophet who appeared after Mohammed, which is why the Sunnis consider them heretics. They are the most persecuted community in the country. According to a 2018 report, between 1984 and 2017, 260 members of the community were killed, 27 religious sites were demolished, 33 others were closed, 22 were set on fire or damaged, and 17 were occupied by force. Interviewed by AsiaNews, Aamir Mahmood, spokesman for the Ahmadi community, said: We have been persecuted and discriminated against for a long time, and now we are not even allowed to offer our prayers and perform religious rituals inside our homes. He added that in six separate incidents this year alone, 91 graves have been desecrated and 15 minarets and places of worship have been vandalised by fundamentalists and representatives of the institutions. The persecution, he adds, is a clear violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan. However, the State has failed to protect its citizens, and has made arrests of Ahmadis only to the delight of certain people who want to create chaos in the country in the name of religion. We ask the current government to protect its citizens. This is the holy month of Ramadan and every believer is fasting and praying for peace. We too want peace for our people. There are so many Ahmadis who are behind bars for no reason and the state and the judiciary have not guaranteed them justice. All the innocent Ahmadis who have ended up behind bars must be released - he concludes - and the state should take serious measures to protect our places of worship and our homes. Abbas Soori, Mehran Shamloui and Narges Nasri, about halfway through her pregnancy, have been sentenced without extenuating circumstances. Among the charges: activities contrary to Islamic law, belonging to opposition groups and propaganda against the state. In addition, additional penalties including fines, deprivation of civil rights and a ban on travelling abroad. Somayeh Rajabi released on bail of 40 thousand dollars. Tehran (AsiaNews) - New episodes of confessional persecution against Iran's Christian minority have emerged from the Islamic Republic: according to Article18, a website specialised in documenting abuses and limitations on religious freedom in Iran, three converts from Islam, including a woman pregnant with her first child, have been sentenced to over 40 years in prison on charges related to their religious beliefs and religious gatherings. Furthermore, the court judges handed down the sentence on the expectant mother on 8 March, International Women's Day. Abbas Soori, Mehran Shamloui and Narges Nasri (in the photo), who is about halfway through her pregnancy, ended up behind bars, sentenced without any extenuating circumstances by Judge Iman Afshari of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, also known as the Revolutionary Court. The magistrate is famous for the harshness of his sentences and the many verdicts handed down against minorities and activists. Narges, 37, received the most severe sentence of 10 years in prison for propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law, plus another five for belonging to an opposition group (as House Churches are considered) and an additional year for propaganda against the state. In this case, the basis of the sentence - and as evidence of the crime - would be posts and messages published on social media in favour of the Women, Life, Freedom movement founded in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini for not wearing the hijab, the Islamic veil, correctly. Abbas, 48, received a total of 15 years in prison, 10 of which for propaganda activities and five for belonging to an opposition group. Finally, Mehran, 37, received a sentence of eight years for the first charge and two years and eight months for the second. All three were also deprived of their social rights such as healthcare, work or education for years: in particular, the judge imposed 15 years each for Narges and Abbas, and a total of 11 years for Mehran. In addition, Narges and Abbas were fined 330 million tomans (,500) each, and Mehran 250 million (,750). The first two defendants were also banned from joining any group, residing in their home province of Tehran or leaving the Islamic Republic for a further two years after their release. The three Christians were arrested in the autumn of 2024 during simultaneous raids by intelligence agents on their homes in Tehran, during which personal effects including Bibles, crosses and musical instruments were confiscated. Mehran is a musician and the equipment that the intelligence men confiscated from him was worth about 5,500 dollars. The Christians were then transferred to Section 209 of Evin prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. A month later, following a series of long and intense interrogations, they were released on bail for a value of over 20 thousand dollars each. On 15 February, the hearing took place at Section 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran; the defendants were charged with belonging to opposition groups, propaganda against the system and propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law through foreign relations, respectively under Articles 499, 500 and 500 bis of the Penal Code. At least 10 other Christians were arrested on the same day during coordinated raids on private homes and residences across the country, including in the cities of Karaj (near Tehran), Mashhad in the northeast, and Shiraz and Bandar Abbas in the south. Abbas had already been arrested in 2020 and subsequently convicted along with another Christian convert, Maryam Mohammadi, and their pastor, an Iranian-Armenian, Anooshavan Avedian. Abbas and Maryam received non-custodial sentences, including a travel ban, exile from Tehran province and a ban on joining any political or social group, while 60-year-old Anooshavan was given a 10-year prison sentence. Last September he was acquitted, after serving just over a year of his sentence. The persecution of Christians is further confirmation of the fact that there has been a clear regression in religious freedom in Iran, in line with the growing repression by the authorities linked to the protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police. This fact also emerged in the reports of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which called for the reclassification of the Islamic Republic as a country of particular concern (Cpc) due to its systematic and egregious violations. Finally, also from Iran comes the news of the release of Somayeh Rajabi, who left Mati Kola prison on 8th March, the day the other three Christians were sentenced. Arrested on 6 February during a raid by plain-clothes Pasdaran at a prayer meeting in the province of Mazandaran, the woman was released after paying bail of over 40 thousand dollars. A substantial sum for a population - and a country - affected by a serious economic crisis. The director of Article18, Mansour Borji, emphasises that setting exorbitant bail amounts for Christians detained solely for exercising their legitimate right to religious freedom is a cruel and oppressive tactic. While millions of Iranians struggle with severe austerity, the government is exploiting their financial hardship to further punish and silence religious minorities. by Nirmala Carvalho The measure touches 10 places of worship along the path of a Hindu procession during which participants throw coloured powder at each other. This year's celebration coincides with Islamic Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. The authorities remain on maximum alert. Catholic priest laments that the Muslim community is living in fear of attacks by Hindus. Delhi (AsiaNews) In a surprise decision, Uttar Pradesh (northern India) has decided to cover 10 mosques with tarpaulin during the Holi festival, scheduled for tomorrow, to avoid communal violence. Millions of Hindus take part in the traditional celebration in India, but also Nepal, throwing coloured powder at each other to mark the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil. However, this year the holy day falls on a Friday during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, a concurrence that has not occurred for many years. Recent statements by government leaders and officials from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling on Muslims to stay home if they are bothered by the colours, have inflamed passions. At the same time, some officials have proposed to cover Islamic places of worship with special tarpaulins. To avoid confrontations, prominent Islamic leaders in the northern state plan to move Friday prayers to 2 pm. In a meeting with the press focused on the preparations for the holiday, Sambhal Police Superintendent Shrish Chandra said that the decision was made to maintain confessional harmony and make it easier for the two communities to celebrate their respective holidays with joy and cheerfulness. The police officer confirmed that an agreement was reached to change Friday prayers and Chaupai processions, so that the two sensitive events do not overlap. A total of ten mosques have been identified which fall in the proposed route of the Chaupai procession. All of them will be covered to prevent any disturbance or tension between the two communities," he said. At the same time, this Friday, the ritual prayer, Namaaz (Salah), will take place before or after the Holi procession and only Muslim worshippers will be able to access the mosque premises. The mosques involved are the Shahi Jama Masjid, Ladania Wali Masjid, Thaane Wali Masjid, Ek Raat Masjid, Gurdwara Road Masjid, Gol Masjid, Khajoor Wali Masjid, Anaar Wali Masjid, and Gol Dukaan Wali Masjid. A meeting was also held recently at the Sambhal police station to promote peace and dialogue, during which religious leaders discussed ways to prevent incidents. Speaking to AsiaNews about the issue, Fr Anand Mathew, a member of the Indian Missionary Society (IMS) in Varanasi, explained that the local Muslim community lives literally in fear. In Varanasi there were a few physical attacks on the Muslim community. Some 14 Muslim youth have been arrested and are in the jail; some among them are minors and are in the juvenile home, he said. All this is based on false allegations. Hindu organisations and the police seem to be in nexus, playing the communal card. In view of the situation, Yesterday I took a delegation of the Citizens Forum to see the assistant police commissioner, asking him to ensure the impartiality of the police force. There were four serious cases of attack and arrests in the Muslim community in the past one month. 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. 13 March 2025 11:51 (UTC+04:00) On the Armenia-Azerbaijan process, we cannot and we will not forget the years of occupation. Azernews reports that President Ilham Aliyev said this in his address at the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum. We cannot forget the suffering of the Azerbaijani people, which was caused by Armenian occupation and aggression. Those who visit the liberated territories can see the level of barbarism. All our cities are in ruins. Now we are rebuilding them. But everything was levelled to the ground, and that was a deliberate urbicide against our villages, cities, against our religious and historical heritage. 65 mosques were demolished, the President added. To recall, the XII Global Baku Forum on the theme "Rethinking the World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities" kicked off in Baku. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the forum. 13 March 2025 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more One of the key instruments in advancing green projects is green finance, which plays a pivotal role in supporting environmentally sustainable activities. Green finance encompasses a range of financial products and transactions that aim to channel resources toward projects that benefit the environment and support sustainable development. In Azerbaijan, the government has placed significant emphasis on increasing green finance as part of the broader economic and environmental policy agenda outlined in the Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development document. This national strategy focuses on key pillars such as ... Access to paid information is limited Find the plan that suits you best. 13 March 2025 16:17 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more The 12th Global Baku Forum is currently underway in Azerbaijans capital, bringing together world leaders, policymakers, and experts to discuss one of the most pressing issues of our timethe transformation of global order in the face of multipolarity. Over the past 12 years, this forum has served as a key platform for fostering dialogue on major geopolitical and economic challenges, with Baku at the forefront of multilateral diplomacy. The Russia-Ukraine war, which has been ongoing for over three years, has significantly impacted the system of international relations and fundamentally obstructs the development of a new political architecture. Global peace is under severe threat, as are issues concerning the security of people living in the Middle East, particularly the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and the Red Sea, the competition for economic supremacy between China and the United States, and hot spots of unresolved conflicts worldwide. As conflicts persist and new threats emerge, the established post-World War II order is showing visible cracks, struggling to address modern geopolitical realities. One of the most striking examples of this shift is Europes changing security landscape. Once defined by decades of stability and economic prosperity, the continent is now facing renewed militarization amid uncertainty over continued U.S. support. The European Union, which long prioritized diplomacy over defense, is now redirecting resources to bolster its military capabilitiesan approach Azerbaijan adopted nearly two decades ago in preparation for restoring its sovereignty. President Ilham Aliyev, in his address at the forums opening ceremony, emphasized that Azerbaijans military strength was not an act of aggression but a necessity to uphold international law and national dignity. Our fight was a fight for justice, for international law, for our dignity. We implemented the UN Security Council resolutions, which remained on paper for 27 years and would have remained for 27 years more, if we did not liberate our land by force. No citizen of any country desires war or conflict. In this context, many believed that the existing international order would ensure peace. Unfortunately, neither Europe nor the member states of this order recognized the realities of the situation. They failed to demonstrate the unity needed to improve the order or were unable to do so. Azerbaijans experience serves as a critical case study in how force, when used in the pursuit of justice, can lead to long-term peace and stability. The global system, however, remains selective in its recognition of such actions, often responding based on political alliances rather than principles of international law. Now and perhaps unfortunately the 'Old Continent' is the one facing this reality. The South Caucasus conflict is a clear example of this inconsistency. For nearly three decades, Azerbaijan faced occupation, ethnic cleansing, and the destruction of its cultural heritage, yet the same countries that now advocate for territorial integrity and sovereignty in other conflicts remained largely silent. The post-war reality in Azerbaijans liberated territories stands as a testament to the destruction inflicted during the occupation. Cities and villages were reduced to rubble, religious sites were desecrated, and historical landmarks were deliberately erased. While Azerbaijan has since focused on reconstruction and reconciliation, its leadership remains firm that the suffering endured during the occupation must not be forgotten. We cannot forget the suffering of the Azerbaijani people, which was caused by Armenian occupation and aggression. Those who visit the liberated territories can see the level of barbarism. All our cities are in ruins. Now we are rebuilding them. Yet, while Azerbaijan moves forward, external powers continue to interfere in regional matters, often under the guise of peacekeeping and monitoring missions. The European Unions increased military involvement in Armenia, disguised as a border monitoring mission, raises concerns over its true intentions. Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned that these initiatives serve more as intelligence-gathering operations rather than genuine efforts to promote stability. President addressed the increasing militarization of Armenia and the EUs so-called monitoring mission, which he described as nothing more than a reconnaissance operation: Deadly weapons, which they supplied to Armenia, are aimed at us. The so-called European monitoring mission, which is actually a reconnaissance mission of the European Union, is spying day and night on our border, looking just for places where they can penetrate. This leads us to another important point: the exposure of the institutions involved in this financing. The political landscape in Brussels and Washington has long been shaped by Armenian lobbying efforts, with corrupt politicians serving as willing beneficiaries. Which is once again seen with yesterday's resolution. Ilham Aliyev did not shy away from naming those who have profited from these dealings: We have raised this issue with Armenian representatives and with their new bosses in Brussels. Because now they have changed, the big brother today is Brussels. Until President Trump won, it was the State Department, it was USAID. It was corrupt American politicians like Menendez, who are now facing serious problems. But Menendez should not be the last one. There are many more who put Armenian money in their pockets. I can name them. Their names are known: Mr. Adam Schiff, Mr. Frank Pallone, Madam Nancy Pelosi, and many others, who for decades were receiving money from Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States to attack Azerbaijan and discredit it." Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned that these initiatives serve more as intelligence-gathering operations rather than genuine efforts to promote stability. This latest Baku Forum has once again highlighted the contradictions and fractures within the current world order. Perhaps it is indeed, unfortunate to say these though from military buildups to political corruption, from geopolitical interference to shifting alliances, are the new reality. The world is moving further into an era of multipolarity, and Bakus message is clear: peace and stability can only be achieved when international actors abandon double standards and uphold genuine principles of justice. The Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department, which is tasked with overseeing prosecutions of public officials accused of corruption, is set to be slashed in size, with only around a half-dozen employees remaining. The decision was reported by NBC News, which quoted three officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They said that only a small fraction of its employees will remain employed, and the unit will no longer directly handle investigations or prosecutions. According to the Justice Department, leaders are "taking a broad look" at its structure, cautioning no final decisions had been made. Prosecutors have been reportedly told they will be asked to take new assignments in the department and that as few as five lawyers may remain in the unit. U.S. attorney's offices around the country are expected to take on the cases that the section was prosecuting. The group was created in 1976 following the Watergate scandal and is tasked with overseeing criminal prosecutions of federal public corruption cases across the country. At the end of the Biden administration there were about 30 prosecutors in the unit. The section also oversees the department's handling of election crimes like voter fraud and campaign finance offenses. Under the Biden administration it was also home to the election threats task force, launched to combat a growing number of threats of violence against election workers. David Laufman, a former head of DOJ's counterintelligence section who served in both Republican nd Democratic administrations, questioned the move. "The only reasonable interpretation of this extraordinary action is that the administration wants to transfer responsibility for public corruption cases from career attorneys at Main Justice to political appointees heading U.S. attorney's offices," Laufman said. The decision, he added, raises "serious questions about whether future investigations and prosecutions will be motivated by improper partisan considerations." The Justice Department has already paused enforcement of a decades-old law that prohibits companies from bribing foreign governments to win business. Most notably, the Department also moved to drop the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. After federal prosecutors in New York refused to drop the charges, Trump appointees at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington asked members of the Public Integrity Section to do so. John Keller, the acting head of the section, refused to drop the Adams charges and resigned, two sources said. Three other members of the section also resigned. The next day, Emil Bove, then the acting deputy attorney general, held a video meeting with other members of the Public Integrity Section, and urged one of them to sign a filing asking a judge to dismiss the charges against Adams. Prosecutors noted that DOJ officials were not permanently dropping the charges against Adams. Instead, they were moving to dismiss the indictment "without prejudice," a legal maneuver that would allow federal prosecutors to restore the charges at any time for instance, if Adams were to stop cooperating with Trump's immigration policies. Originally published on Latin Times 13 March 2025 20:33 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more The failure of the EU, which seemed very robust and powerful prior to the Ukrainian War, in coping with the biggest challenge in its history may surprise many around the world, but not Azerbaijanis. For years, we have observed and expected this ineffectiveness from the EU, whose actions often fail to match its rhetoric. The speeches and behaviours of EU politicians reveal that they are hard to square with reality, floating among the clouds and living in a utopian world artificially fabricated by themselves. Instead of adopting practical foreign norms and policies to address all aggressors or violators of international orders, they engaged in favouritism by adopting arbitrary resolutions. Obsessed with the belief of being the smartest and most venerable on the Earth, they thought that nobody would dare to challenge them but would plead to be their lackeys. However, Russia turned everything on its head by attacking Ukraine in 2022. In the wake of Donald Trump's coming to power in America, it popped up that without the USA, the EU is nothing but a scarecrow. More precisely, the willy-nilly behaviours of EU politicians and their haphazard policies had long hollowed out Europe, which once was the powerhouse of the world, and turned it into a paper tiger or a bureaucratic entity whose members cannot find common ground. No words can sketch out the current situation of Europe better than the words of Polish President Donald Tusk: 'Right now, 500 million Europeans are begging 300 million Americans for protection from 140 million Russians who have been unable to overcome 50 million Ukrainians for three years. For a month or two, several times a week, the leaders of the EU have come together to demonstrate that they are holding all the cards and can cope with the Ukrainian crisis without the USA, but they cannot put forward any palpable solutions. But will they be able to put forward any palpable and demonstrative action that will solve the crisis and prevent further Russian aggression? You bet, no! On the contrary, their indecisive and willy-nilly behaviour will induce Russia to push further. To put things into perspective, when Armenia attacked Azerbaijan and grabbed 20 per cent of Azerbaijani lands, the EU sat on its hands, offering only lip service and calling on both sides to resolve the conflict through negotiations. When Russia attacked Georgia in 2008, the EU once again sat on its hands. However, when Russia attacked Ukraine and seized over 20 per cent, the same EU slapped sanctions on Russia, calling it the aggressor. This raises questions: Is invading the territories of a neighbouring country considered aggression or not? If yes, why do you not address it against Armenia, which held 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territories under occupation over 30 years? If not, why do you address it against Russia? When Russia launched an attack on Ukraine in 2022, the EU countries froze all assets of Russian oligarchs. The EU is passing these actions off as justice. Moreover, discussions have arisen about confiscating the assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs (some believe that the oligarchs are straw owners of Putins assets) to give them to Ukraine as compensation. Meanwhile, Miriam Lexmann, a Slovak MP in the EU parliament, French Internal Minister Francois Bayrou, and other politicians are going to extreme lengths to put pressure on Azerbaijan and get Russian oligarch Ruben Vardanyan, straw-owner of Putins assets and of Armenian origin, freed by exploiting the adage a leopard never changes its spots. Here, once again, questions arise: Are Russian oligarchs guilty of Russian aggression against Ukraine? If yes, why do you stand with Ruben instead of freezing his assets? If not, why do you freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs worldwide? All these speak about the chaos within the Union and confirm that the EU politicians have long ago lost the plot. Concurrently, the EU politicians are trying to punish one aggressor strictly to prevent further aggression, and standing with another aggressor, more precisely Armenia. How do you think, can it work? 13 March 2025 10:41 (UTC+04:00) Full digital access to all news for 1 year Full digital access to all news for 6 months Full digital access to all news for 3 months Full digital access to all news for 1 month Find the plan that suits you best. Irans non-oil exports to Azerbaijan have seen significant growth over the past 11 months, with an increase of 13.4% in value and 12.8% in weight compared to the same period last year, Azernews reports, citing the Iranian Customs Administration. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 13 March 2025 12:46 (UTC+04:00) Full digital access to all news for 1 year Full digital access to all news for 6 months Full digital access to all news for 3 months Full digital access to all news for 1 month Find the plan that suits you best. In January of this year, 9.25 million kWh of electricity was exported from Azerbaijan to Russia, Azernews reports, citing the State Statistical Committee. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 13 March 2025 12:05 (UTC+04:00) Full digital access to all news for 1 year Full digital access to all news for 6 months Full digital access to all news for 3 months Full digital access to all news for 1 month Find the plan that suits you best. In January of this year, 128.7 million kWh of electricity was exported from Azerbaijan to Georgia, Azernews reports, citing the State Statistical Committee. According to information, the income from the export of this electricity amounted to... Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 13 March 2025 13:27 (UTC+04:00) Full digital access to all news for 1 year Full digital access to all news for 6 months Full digital access to all news for 3 months Full digital access to all news for 1 month Find the plan that suits you best. According to the State Statistics Committee, in the first two months of this year, industrial products worth 10.7 billion manats were produced in Azerbaijan. This represents a 1.9% decrease compared to the same period last year. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 13 March 2025 13:05 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Chairman of the Board of Directors of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) CJSC, Rauf Valiyev, met with a delegation led by Bekzod Kholmatov, Director of the Center for the Study of Transport and Logistics Development under the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, who is visiting Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the company. The delegation, which included employees from the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan Railways, was given detailed information about important events in Azerbaijan related to transport and logistics, as well as the activities of ASCO. The meeting focused on the importance and relevance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (Middle Corridor). Discussions also addressed the expansion of Uzbek-Azerbaijani transport relations in the Caspian Sea, including new challenges in the ferry transportation segment. 13 March 2025 13:36 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Unless renewable energy spending reaches 80%, the climate crisis will continue. Azernews reports that this was stated by Rebecca Grynspan, former Second Vice President of Costa Rica, during her speech at the XII Global Baku Forum. "We are witnessing rapid changes in transportation. The rapid development of information technologies is incredible. Artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and innovations are advancing daily. We must keep up with these changes in a fast-paced world. In doing so, we can ensure development both within countries and globally," she said. According to Grynspan, today there is a $55 trillion gap in purchasing power parity. "This gap must be filled within the next five years. Forty trillion of it, or 70%, comes from the Global South. Multipolarity is not an option, but a fact. It must be ensured in other parts of the world as well. Geopolitics and national security are intertwined in many countries, influencing trade and determining its purpose. If spending on renewable energy does not increase to at least 80%, we will not be able to address the climate crisis, and problems will persist," she stated. It should be noted that the XII Global Baku Forum is taking place from March 13-15. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the theme "Rethinking the World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities." Global geopolitical changes, a multilateral approach, the global health crisis, recovery, regional stability, COP29, and other important global issues will be discussed at the event. The forum will bring together more than 300 world leaders from over 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, more than 15 former prime ministers, about 10 heads of UN and international agencies, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. 13 March 2025 17:13 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more A meeting was held between Baba Rzayev, head of AzerEnergy OJSC, and a delegation led by Abdulaziz Alobaidli, Chief Operating Officer of Masdar, Azernews reports. During the meeting, the two parties discussed the current status of their collaboration and explored future opportunities. The conversation focused on the operational Garadagh Solar Power Plant and the strategic implementation of the Mega Project. It should be noted that the Garadagh Solar Power Plant is the first facility of its kind in our country, built with foreign investment. The official opening of the 230 MW solar plant took place on October 26, 2023. As a result, the Garadagh Solar Power Plant has become the largest solar energy facility in the Caspian region and the CIS. The plant was developed with a foreign investment of 262 million USD. The meeting underscored the strong partnership between Masdar and AzerEnergy, with a shared focus on expanding renewable energy projects in Azerbaijan. The discussions reflected a commitment to advancing the countrys solar energy capacity, ensuring sustainable growth and paving the way for future energy initiatives. 13 March 2025 12:27 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more Azerbaijan Culture Ministry is pleased to announce an international scientific and practical conference on the theme "Protection of Ancient Human Settlements: Threats and Modern Approaches" on March 14-16, Azernews reports. The main purpose of the conference is to discuss new ideas and solutions for the protection, popularization and study of ancient examples of cultural heritage. At the same time, the event is aimed at taking important measures to strengthen international and regional cooperation, developing new strategies for the protection of cultural heritage and creating mechanisms for their application. The event will be attended by scientists, researchers, experts, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and media from a number of countries. The conference will feature panel discussions on the themes of "Ancient Human Settlements: Cultural Heritage as the Cradle of Humanity", "Ancient Human Settlements in the Context of Changing Climate and Armed Conflicts" and "Ancient Human Settlements of Azerbaijan as Part of World Heritage". The event will review existing international mechanisms and national efforts, identify best practices and areas for improvement. An exhibition of exhibits discovered during excavations of ancient settlements in the territory of Azerbaijan will be organized within the framework of the conference. The partners of the conference are the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Special representative Offices of the President in Shusha, Aghdam, Fuzuli and Khojavend districts, as well as the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. 13 March 2025 17:47 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more Following the directives of President Ilham Aliyev, monthly receptions are organized across various cities and regions by heads of central executive authorities and administrative bodies, Azernews reports. Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli held a reception at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Neftchala district, addressing the concerns of local citizens. The event commenced with Minister Adil Karimli and Mirhasan Seyidov, the Head of the Neftchala District Executive Power, paying their respects by laying flowers at the monument of Heydar Aliyev, the founder of modern Azerbaijan. During the reception, which included officials from the various divisions of the ministry, residents from Neftchala, Salyan, Bilasuvar, Hajigabul districts, and Shirvan city presented their concerns and suggestions. The citizens primarily discussed matters related to culture, employment opportunities, job transitions, enhancements to material and technical resources, labor assessments, and other important issues. The Culture Minister assured the attendees that measures would be taken to promptly address and resolve the concerns raised, adhering to legal protocols. Special instructions were given to ministry officials to prioritize and carefully evaluate the issues presented by the families of martyrs and veterans. Interview: Chinese modernization gives valuable insights for Africa's development, says Senegalese media leader Xinhua) 09:51, March 13, 2025 DAKAR, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Africa can draw valuable development inspirations from Chinese modernization and needs to learn from China's strategic resolve, said a Senegalese media leader. China's "two sessions" have shown the world how a country with 1.4 billion people can achieve sustainable development through scientific planning, said Momar Diongue, director general of Senegalese News Agency, in a recent interview with Xinhua. He noted that China's leadership has a far-sighted vision and the Chinese people have worked tirelessly to overcome numerous challenges, achieving remarkable development. Deeming China's progress as "a strong example for African nations," Diongue said that African countries seek to establish equal and mutually beneficial partnerships, "and China is exactly that kind of partner." Given the enormous infrastructure needs of Africa, "China not only is an important market for African products but also invests significantly across the continent, driving economic diversification and making key contributions in sectors such as health care and education," he said. "Africa views China-Africa cooperation as not only a win-win economic relationship but also an exchange of development philosophies. Africa looks forward to working with China to address global challenges and promote sustainable development," he added. With regard to China's "two sessions," Diongue said he closely followed discussions on rural revitalization, technological innovation, new quality productive forces and climate change. He perceived China's targeted poverty alleviation strategies as highly relevant to countries like Senegal. "Over 40 percent of Africa's population lives below the poverty line. The key to addressing poverty lies in transforming resource advantages into development momentum. China's approach -- through infrastructure development, industrial support and technological empowerment -- offers valuable lessons for Africa," he said. Senegal is actively advancing its digital transformation and its national strategy, he said, expressing hope that Chinese companies will increase investment in Africa's digital infrastructure, telemedicine and education to help Africa bridge the digital divide. As one of the regions most affected by climate change, Africa is particularly interested in China's green development initiatives, Diongue said. "China's experience in the green economy is immensely valuable for Africa, and China-Africa cooperation can play a greater role in areas such as environmental protection and sustainable development," he said. He noted that while Africa has abundant solar energy resources, their development remains limited. China's expertise in photovoltaics, energy storage and smart grids could help Africa turn its natural advantages into economic growth while contributing to global climate governance, he said. Diongue also observed that multilateralism and the Global South have become key topics in China's "two sessions" in recent years. While Western countries impose their development models on Africa, "China respects our development path. This kind of equal partnership is exactly what Africa needs most," he said. Regarding some Western media's claims about a so-called "debt trap" in Africa, Diongue said, "African countries know clearly who is truly helping them develop." Citing major Chinese-built projects in Senegal, such as the Foundiougne Bridge and the Thies-Touba highway, he said they have created tens of thousands of jobs and boosted regional economic growth. Additionally, China-funded rural roads, medical centers and agricultural demonstration projects are helping remote areas of Senegal overcome development bottlenecks, he said. "China has always regarded Africa as an important partner. We look forward to more Chinese technology, talent and industrial chains complementing Africa's resources and markets, deepening cooperation in areas such as agricultural modernization, vocational education and public health," Diongue said. He said Senegalese News Agency will continue to promote objective reporting on China to help African audiences gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of China and foster greater consensus on building an all-weathered China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Ukraine's Western allies increased pressure on Russia on Wednesday to respond to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan after Ukraine supported the initiative aimed at ending the three-year war. In its first comments on the proposal, the Kremlin said it was waiting for details from Washington. President Donald Trump's administration lifted a freeze on military aid to Ukraine after Kyiv accepted the ceasefire proposal, marking the latest shift in the ongoing conflict. "The idea of a 30-day ceasefire is an important and correct step towards a just peace for Ukraine... Now it's up to (President Vladimir) Putin," Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on social media platform X. Scholz echoed similar calls for a Russian response, following statements made by Washington and Kyiv. "We'll take this offer now to the Russians and we hope they'll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday after talks in Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine backed the truce proposal. Andriy Yermak, a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, made Ukraine's position clear: "Russia needs to say, very clearly, they want peace or not, they want to end this war, which they started, or no," he told reporters in Jeddah. Amidst this diplomatic pressure, Ukrainian officials came to Saudi Arabia eager to resolve the conflict, proposing a partial truce on air and sea attacks. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Moscow was open to a "high-level" phone call with the U.S. "We assume that Secretary of State Rubio and Advisor (Michael) Walz, through various channels, will inform us on the negotiations that took place," Peskov said. Russian news agencies also reported that the heads of the CIA and Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency spoke by phone on Tuesday for the first time in years. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and SVR head Sergei Naryshkin agreed to maintain "regular contact" to promote international stability and decrease tensions between Moscow and Washington, according to Russia's TASS news agency. Meanwhile, Rubio confirmed that the U.S. would resume military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, after a brief cut-off following a February 28 meeting between Trump and Zelensky. In Washington, Trump expressed his willingness to meet with Zelensky again at the White House and said he might also speak to Putin this week. Asked about the prospects for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump responded, "Well, I hope it will be over the next few days, I'd like to see." 13 March 2025 18:40 (UTC+04:00) The statement underlines Bakus commitment to the peace process while stressing the necessity of constitutional amendments in Armenia and the formal dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has issued a statement regarding the completion of negotiations on the draft Agreement on Peace and Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azernews reports. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 12 March 2025 22:48 (UTC+04:00) According to Azernews , at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, the Albanian President was welcomed by Elnur Mammadov, Azerbaijans Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, along with other officials. Bajram Begaj, President of the Republic of Albania, has arrived in Azerbaijan for a working visit to attend the 12th Global Baku Forum. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 12 March 2025 23:01 (UTC+04:00) Azernews reports that at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, the Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was welcomed by Elnur Mammadov, Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister, along with other officials. Zeljka Cvijanovic, Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, arrived on Wednesday in Azerbaijan for a working visit to participate in the 12th Global Baku Forum. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 13 March 2025 11:08 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more The XII Global Baku Forum will address pressing global issues, and Turkiye takes great pride in participating, as it has always stood by brotherly Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. Mevlut Cavusoglu, head of the Grand National Assembly of Turkiyes delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, made this statement to journalists. He emphasized the forums significance as a platform for international participants to share their perspectives: At the same time, the issues discussed here also serve as a model for the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, which is planned to be held in April 2025. 13 March 2025 11:18 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more A delegation led by Riina Solman, Chair of the Estonia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), visited the Alley of Honors to pay tribute to National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the architect and founder of modern, independent Azerbaijan, and laid flowers at his grave, Azernews reports. As part of their visit, the delegation also honored the memory of outstanding Azerbaijani scientist and ophthalmologist Zarifa Aliyeva by placing flowers at her grave. The Estonian parliamentary delegation later proceeded to the Alley of Martyrs, where they paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijans independence and territorial integrity. They laid wreaths and flowers at the Eternal Flame memorial, expressing respect for the martyrs. 13 March 2025 11:32 (UTC+04:00) We chaired the Non-Aligned Movement, the institution of 120 countries, and actively supported member states in different situations, including during the COVID time, providing humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 80 countries. Azernews reports that President Ilham Aliyev said this in his address at the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum. The President also highlighted Azerbaijan's role in connecting the Global South and the Global North. At the same time, through active communication with European actors, we have seen our role as a kind of bridge builder between the Global South and the Global North. To recall, the XII Global Baku Forum on the theme "Rethinking the World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities" kicked off in Baku. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the opening ceremony of the forum. 13 March 2025 13:00 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more "It is extremely important to unite more multinational continents. We can observe how these changes shape the world, how they can affect inequalities," former President of the European Council Charles Michel told journalists, Azernews reports. "At the same time, it is possible to look at common principles and commitments that are under pressure. This is an important opportunity to listen to each other, to talk and to make the best decisions together. We can take steps to identify and solve problems. Together we can all learn to restore history and realities. International relations deserve more political outcomes and choices," Michel added. 13 March 2025 12:57 (UTC+04:00) "Antony Blinkens policy towards Azerbaijan ruined US-Azerbaijani relations, said President Ilham Aliyev." President Ilham Aliyev said this in his address at the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum. The policy of Mr. Antony Blinken towards Azerbaijan actually ruined US-Azerbaijani relations, which we had been building for 30 years. We have always been a very reliable partner and friend to the United States. When they needed us, we were with them. When they needed us in Iraq, we were in Iraq with our troops. When they needed us in Afghanistan, we were one of the first non-NATO countries to join operations in Afghanistan in 2001. And we were among the last to leave. But after we left, they imposed sanctions on us. I remember it was a big frustration in Azerbaijan, the President said. President Aliyev highlights Armenian diasporas influence on US Congress The Azerbaijani head of state also touched on some corrupt politicians in the US Congress. During his speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, President Aliyev spoke about corrupt politicians who have been supporting the Armenian diaspora for decades. The head of state pointed out, We have raised this issue with Armenian representatives and with their new bosses in Brussels. Because now they have changed, the big brother today is Brussels. Until President Trump won, it was the State Department, it was USAID. It was corrupt American politicians like Menendez, who are now facing serious problems. But Menendez should not be the last one. As they say, one swallow does not make a summer. There are many more who put Armenian money in their pockets. I can name them. Their names are known: Mr. Adam Schiff, Mr. Frank Pallone, Madam Nancy Pelosi, and many others, who for decades were receiving money from Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States to attack Azerbaijan and discredit it, the President added. To recall, the XII Global Baku Forum on the theme "Rethinking the World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities" kicked off in Baku. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the forum. 13 March 2025 14:45 (UTC+04:00) The Global Baku Forum is an excellent opportunity to discuss important issues, Azernews reports, citing the President of the Republic of Albania, Bajram Begaj, as he said in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum. "I believe that, given the current global concerns and the many negative events taking place, we can use this Forum to discuss real opportunities to turn these challenges into possibilities. One of the most important aspects here is that each representative can talk about the problems they are facing in their own country. I wanted to share my thoughts on these issues first with President Ilham Aliyev, as well as with a number of Forum participants. This Forum provides a great opportunity to share both our experiences and our concerns," emphasized the President of Albania. 13 March 2025 14:27 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the patronage of President Ilham Aliyev, the 12th Global Baku Forum, themed Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities, continues with its panel sessions, Azernews reports. Charles Michel, President Emeritus of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Belgium, will address the panel session on Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry, moderated by Eka Tkeshelashvili, former Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia. Speeches will also be delivered by: Donatella Versace, the iconic Italian fashion designer, announced Thursday that she will step down as chief creative officer of Versace, ending her nearly 30-year tenure at the luxury fashion house. At 69, Versace has led the brand since the tragic death of her brother, Gianni Versace, who was fatally shot outside his Miami Beach mansion in 1997. In an Instagram post, Donatella expressed her deep connection to the brand and her brother's legacy. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy," she wrote. "He was the true genius, but I hope I have some of his spirit and tenacity." Known for her bold style and leadership, Donatella quickly became synonymous with the Versace brand, assembling top models like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford for the fashion house's spectacular runway shows. Her influence on the brand has been profound, and she remains a beloved figure in the fashion industry. Emmanuel Gintzburger, CEO of Versace's parent company Capri Holdings, praised Donatella's dedication. "The brand is what it is today because of Donatella Versace and the passion she has brought to her role every day for nearly thirty years," he said. "Working alongside her has been an incredible privilege and pleasure." Dario Vitale, former design and image director at Miu Miu, will succeed Donatella as chief creative officer. "It is a privilege to contribute to the future growth of Versace and its global impact through my vision, expertise, and dedication," Vitale said. Though stepping down from her creative role, Donatella will continue as Versace's chief brand ambassador. "I will remain Versace's most passionate supporter," she said. "Versace is in my DNA and always in my heart." Donatella Versace's Net Worth Donatella Versace has an estimated net worth of $400 million. She inherited control of Versace after Gianni's death and has played a pivotal role in its success. She was instrumental in the 2018 sale of the company to Michael Kors for $2.12 billion. In addition to her leadership at Versace, Donatella contributed to the design of the Palazzo Versace resorts in Australia and Dubai. She also designed a MINI Cooper Cabrio for the Life Ball charity event in 2005. After Gianni's death, Donatella's daughter Allegra inherited a 50% stake in Versace, while Donatella received 20% and her brother Santo took 30%. Donatella and Santo managed the company, with Donatella stepping into the role of creative head. 13 March 2025 13:20 (UTC+04:00) President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Pope Francis, Trend reports, Azernews reports. The letter reads: "Your Holiness, On my behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I convey to you and, through you, to all your co-religionists, my most sincere congratulations on the occasion of your Election Anniversary. The current level of relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See is a source of satisfaction. Our cooperation, aimed at promoting harmonious relations between cultures and religions and the triumph of humanistic ideals, is gaining new meaning day by day, and becoming even stronger. I highly value your personal contribution to the development of our cooperation with the Holy See and the expansion of our sincere dialogue. I am grateful for your consistently high regard for the role of Azerbaijan, where exemplary tolerance and multiculturalism prevail, in promoting mutual understanding among the peoples of the world. I am confident that the relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See will continue to serve the expansion of intercivilizational and interreligious dialogue, the preservation and strengthening of multicultural values, and the establishment of peace and tranquility throughout the world. On this momentous day, I wish you good health, long life, and success in your noble and sacred mission." 13 March 2025 17:01 (UTC+04:00) On March 13, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Georg Georgiev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Azernews reports. Minister Georgiev highlighted the importance of the 12th Global Baku Forum, emphasizing that crucial issues were discussed at the event. Stating that Azerbaijan and Bulgaria enjoy friendly relations, the minister underscored the comprehensive development of cooperation based on these principles. In this regard, he highlighted the significant potential for collaboration between the two countries in economic and trade sectors, energy - including renewable energy - transport, culture, tourism, people-to-people contacts, and other areas. The Bulgarian Foreign Minister also stressed the importance of establishing direct flights between Baku and Sofia. President Ilham Aliyev fondly recalled his official visit to Bulgaria and the meetings held during the trip. The head of state praised the development of bilateral relations and touched upon cooperation in the energy sector. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the significance of supplying Azerbaijani gas to the Bulgarian market today and its role in Bulgaria's energy security. The cooperation between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria in the field of renewable energy was highlighted. The head of state congratulated Bulgaria on joining the renewable energy project involving Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary as a partner. The collaboration between the two nations in this sector was commended. 13 March 2025 11:42 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more The Presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, have signed an Agreement on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik Border in Bishkek, Azernews reports. The agreement was signed following a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Administration "Yntymak Ordo", marking a significant step in resolving border issues between the two countries. As part of the agreement, Japarov and Rahmon launched the resumption of the Kyzyl-Bel and Kairagach border checkpoints, facilitating trade and movement across the border. "We held an online opening ceremony of two checkpoints. In the coming period, the necessary measures will be taken for the qualitative development of trade and economic cooperation through the effective use of the economic potential of the two countries in this area," Japarov stated. Additionally, two agreements were signed between the Foreign Ministries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, covering water and energy infrastructure, as well as road and transport infrastructure, further strengthening bilateral cooperation. Between 1991 and 2022, at least 150 clashes over disputed territory occurred between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Kaktus Media, September 20, 2022). Up until 2021, the majority of these conflicts were between regular citizens and took place over access to pastureland and shared use of water resources on the local level (Cabar.asia, March 18, 2021; see EDM, December 12, 2022). The border guards and local authorities from both sides usually played a mediator role in such conflicts, ensuring they did not spin out of control and spread to other regions (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 4, 2021). The situation went awry in April 2021, when a local conflict grew into an interstate military conflict, which left 55 dead and 300 wounded from both sides (Asia-Plus, December 2, 2021). In September 2022, a more deadly clash occurred as a local conflict grew into a military standoff. Attack drones, military helicopters, multiple rocket launch systems, tanks, and armored vehicles were used by the two states to batter each other, resulting in the death of military personnel and civilians alike (Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, September 17, 2022; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, September 18, 2022). Kyrgyzstans losses amounted to 59 dead and 198 wounded, the displacement of 136,770 people, and material damages worth $18.5 million (24.kg, September 19, 2022). Tajikistan reported 41 dead and 20 wounded (Radio Ozodi, September 19, 2022). The conflict ended with the borders closing and grim prospects of diplomatic engagement. 13 March 2025 23:20 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva Environmental activists recently doused a robot with orange paint at a Tesla store in London, Azernews reports. Two activists from the Just Stop Oil organization poured the paint on Optimus, a humanoid robot displayed at the Tesla store in west London. The protest was aimed at raising awareness about environmental issues and challenging the role of major corporations in supporting fossil fuels. Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla, is known for his support of right-wing political figures and parties. He is considered a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump and has reportedly supported right-wing parties and leaders in the UK, Germany, Italy, and Romania through his platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Musk's political activities, including his efforts to reduce government involvement in the economy, have sparked significant debate. In recent weeks, several Tesla stores in the U.S. and Europe have become sites of both peaceful and disruptive protests, with demonstrators voicing concerns over Musk's political influence, environmental policies, and business practices. These protests reflect growing tensions between activists advocating for climate action and large corporations involved in tech and energy sectors. The Just Stop Oil protest in London is part of a broader movement calling for urgent action to address climate change and halt new fossil fuel projects. By targeting high-profile symbols of technological progress like Tesla, activists aim to draw attention to the environmental impact of the industries Musk's companies represent. The act of defacing the Optimus robot symbolizes a critique of the tech industry's role in perpetuating unsustainable practices, despite its potential for innovation in green technologies. 13 March 2025 23:45 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The Heads of Government of Belgium and the Netherlands recently visited Luxembourg to strengthen cooperation within the Benelux countries, particularly in the area of defense policy, in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The leaders of the three countries gathered at the Senningen Castle in Luxembourg for a significant meeting, Azernews reports. "We want to work more together, buy together, and produce together," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel after the discussions. He emphasized that simply spending money on defense isn't enough; it is also crucial to invest effectively to maximize resources. This sentiment was echoed by the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands and Belgium, Mark Rutte and Alexander De Croo, respectively. "The Benelux Union was established in 1944, during the context of the Second World War. Today, we face a new war in Europe, and this calls for even closer cooperation between the Benelux countries," stated Prime Minister De Croo. Following the meeting, the defense ministers of the three countries are expected to identify specific areas of cooperation and collaboration. "We need to do more. We need to meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP allocated to defense," said De Wever. He emphasized that this target should not remain static, and expressed hope that the upcoming NATO summit this summer would set even higher targets. De Wever, who made his first trip abroad to Luxembourg after taking office, highlighted the importance of moving beyond the current goal to better prepare for future security challenges. In addition to defense cooperation, the leaders also discussed expanding economic ties and enhancing joint efforts in the fight against transnational crime. This includes strengthening border security, tackling organized crime, and enhancing intelligence sharing. The meeting in Senningen underscored the importance of continued collaboration among the Benelux countries, as they navigate shifting geopolitical landscapes. It also serves as a reminder of the critical role small, yet strategically important, nations can play in shaping European and global security frameworks. The Benelux countries are looking to build on their long-standing history of cooperation and reinforce their commitment to shared security and prosperity. Winter, Travel Alerts for Oregon / Washington Cascades, Coast Range Snow, Sneaker Waves, Flooding Published 03/13/25 at 12:45 a.m. By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Langlois, Oregon) A wide array of weather alerts for Oregon and south Washington are up right now, just as Oregonians were starting to believe spring had sprung. Travel issues and beaches hazards are on the menu over the next few days. Heavy snow is in the Cascades through Saturday night, the Washington and Oregon coastlines are getting hit with sneaker waves, some amount of snow is headed for the Coast Range and Willapa Hills, while the southern Oregon region and its coastline may get flooding. Ironically, there could be some clearing in the skies for inland areas like Portland on Thursday, which could provide glimpses of the eclipse and Blood Moon. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued numerous bulletins or warnings for the Pacific Northwest. East Slopes of Cascades and Central / South Cascades. Winter storm warnings are issued for areas around Bend, Sunriver, Sisters and La Pine, with heavy snow expected from today into Saturday. Similar warnings are also issued for the central Cascades and Cascades of Lane County and Cascades of Marion and Linn Counties. Elevations above 4,000 feet will get hit at two different times over those days, with 6 to 12 inches accumulation at first and then the second round bringing 8 to 12 inches. Meanwhile, below 4,000 feet will see 2 to 4 inches. These warnings warnings and watches are also for the Washington Cascades. Persons should consider delaying travel if possible, the NWS said. If travel is absolutely necessary, drive with extreme caution and be prepared for sudden changes in visibility. Leave plenty of room between you and the motorist ahead of you, and allow extra time to reach your destination. - Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather - Inland Oregon Weather Oregon Coast Range. For the north Oregon coast range, no alerts are issued but the area will see the snow level drop from 1700 feet to 1100 feet Thursday, and down to 1000 feet on Friday morning. Rain in those areas will turn to snow, but it's not expected to be much more than slushy stuff. About half an inch of snow may accumulate, but you should exercise some caution on those roads to and from the beach. Beach Hazards on N. Oregon Coast / S. Washington Coast Through Thursday. An increased chance of sneaker waves is hitting the region from Florence to Astoria - and up to Westport - right now into late Thursday night. Waves can run up significantly farther on a beach than normal, including over rocks and jetties. Sneaker waves can suddenly knock people off of their feet and quickly pull them into the frigid ocean which may lead to serious injury or drowning. Razor clammers should beware, the NWS said. Flood Potential Outlook. In Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Coos, and Curry counties in Oregon and in Siskiyou County in California. A variety of weather systems on their way to southern Oregon and the south coast are expected to dump a lot of rain, including the towns of Port Orford, Gold Beach, Brookings and Coos Bay. River levels are expected to rise, especially for rivers and streams west of the Cascades, Sunday into Monday as heavy rain moves into western portions of the area, the NWS said. While forecasts could change as the situation becomes more clear, the most recent river forecast predicts flood stage to be reached by Saturday night on Deer Creek near Roseburg and by Sunday night on the Rogue River near Agness. Other rivers and streams will see large rises that could be dangerous for anyone near the water. Oregon Coast Hotels in this area - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted The 200-bed safety-net hospital plans to launch an AI solution in March that recognizes when patients are at risk of falling, notifying nurses. Thats going to alert you as it detects any mobility or attempts to get up, Humboldt Park Health COO Daisy Rodriguez, MSN, RN, told Beckers at the HIMSS conference in Las Vegas. The cost savings on that alone is $300,000. A human staffer previously had to sit in each room for patients who were a danger to themselves. Now these tools automatically will ping the nurse and say a patients trying to get up, and you can zoom right in and talk to me and say, Hey, do you need to get up? Ill be right there,' she said. Because usually they get up because they need to go to the bathroom. The hospital is also piloting Microsofts DAX Copilot for ambient AI-automated clinical documentation with six providers and plans to implement AI in areas such as revenue cycle. Now youre talking $3 million, $4 million, which for a safety-net hospital thats another half a percent, Ms. Rodriguez said. With ambient AI, our chief medical officer was training on it this past week, and it identified 10 problems where he was like, I probably would have only caught four,' Ms. Rodriguez explained. Were using ambient listening to help catch things within visits that providers may not catch because theyre multitasking. The software can reduce administrative burden for providers, increase early interventions for patients and boost coding and reimbursement, she said. Another big opportunity for Humboldt Park Health is AI for the revenue cycle. Ive been exploring that here [at HIMSS] pretty much all day, looking at ensuring that youre integrating your financial systems and your denials management systems and your coding and billing systems, she said. When you look at margins for safety net hospitals youre less than half a percent. So if youre not really tight on the revenue cycle, thats just disastrous, in addition to Medicaid cuts that are being proposed. She said AI has become affordable even for safety-net hospitals, especially after factoring in return on investment and the increasing number of vendors in the space. There are some niche companies that have a great product out there, she said. Sometimes going with the largest company isnt advantageous for a safety-net hospital. Researchers from academic institutions across the U.S. and Pakistan used CDC data between 1999 and 2023 to analyze age-adjusted cardiac arrest mortality rates in heart failure patients 25 and older. Here are five things to know from the study: During the study period, there were 1,139,693 deaths in the U.S. from cardiac arrest among adults 25 and older. After adjusting for age, the overall mortality rate per 100,000 people fell from 25.3 in 1999 to 20.6 in 2023. Among men, the rate fell from 29.5 in 1999 to 26.2 in 2023. Among women, the rate fell from 22.6 to 16.2. The overall decline in age-adjusted cardiac arrest mortality rate did not occur at a steady rate. Between 1999 and 2011, there was a 2.95 decrease, followed by a 1.13 increase between 2011 and 2018. A significant 5.10 increase occurred between 2018 and 2021, followed by a 4.05 decrease between 2021 and 2023. Researchers found racial and ethnic disparities in the data. The overall age-adjusted cardiac arrest mortality rate for the non-Hispanic Black population in the U.S. was 28.8, compared to 22.8 for the Hispanic or Latino population, 19.5 for the non-Hispanic white population and 18.1 for non-Hispanic individuals from other racial or ethnic populations. Mortality from cardiac arrest varied significantly among geographic regions. The Western U.S. experienced the highest mortality rate at 28.9, followed by 25.6 in the Northeast, 17.9 in the South and 12.5 in the Midwest. The state with the highest cardiac arrest mortality rate was Mississippi at 52.8. Maryland had the lowest cardiac arrest mortality rate at 4.3. Read the full study here. On March 12, nurses and physicians at the Portland hospital met with media outlets about what they described as a capacity crisis a problem that is slamming hospitals across the country. Since 2023, U.S. hospital bed capacity has remained above 70%, according to HHS data. In Oregon, hospitals are at 85% capacity, and OHSU Hospital is above 100%, according to the Journal. Employees at the hospital outlined multiple factors for the capacity issue, including procedures postponed during the pandemic, a rise in acuity, workforce shortages and the growing aging population. Matthias Merkel, MD, PhD, OHSUs senior associate chief medical officer of capacity management and patient flow, said Oregon requires about 2,500 more beds to meet the states healthcare needs. Among all 50 states, Oregon has the fewest hospital beds per capita, with 1.6 beds per 1,000 people. The national average is 2.35, according to the report. OHSU is a Portland, Ore.-based health system that operates an academic health center, a childrens hospital, two medical centers and several clinics across Oregon. In fiscal 2023, the system logged 340,047 hospital admissions and medical clinic patient visits, according to its website. Many patients end up in our hallways, and they dont get the privacy and dignity they deserve, said Claudia Aime, DNP, RN, OHSUs vice president and chief nursing officer, according to the Journal. Its not just an inconvenience, Dr. Aime said. Its a serious issue for patients. The 48-bed community hospital includes primary and specialty care physician offices in Waterville, Oakland, Unity and Madison, Maine, as well as a 105-bed continuing care center on the Inland campus, according to its website. The closure will not affect the continuing care center. The decision to close the hospital was made due to immense pressure of higher operational costs, unsustainably low reimbursement rates and a tight labor market, the health system said in a news release shared with Beckers. While many of the challenges facing Inland are similar to those at hospitals throughout Maine and the rest of the country, solutions working well in other facilities and the communities we serve have not proven successful in Waterville, Northern Light Health President and CEO Tim Dentry said. With many other healthcare options nearby, Northern Light Health said this decision allows it to redirect resources to areas with more limited access to care. Every community is different, with different needs and varying resources available to them, Mr. Dentry said. For Northern Light Inland Hospital, the number of service providers in the Waterville service area outweigh the operations critical resources available and patient volumes are not adequate to balance the costs of maintaining operations. The hospital and clinics will continue providing clinical services through May 27 and help patients transition their care to other facilities in the Waterville area. Northern Light Health said it will work to place affected employees in roles at other facilities within the health system. The facilities will formally close on June 11. Northern Light Health plans to maintain the facility and grounds while seeking a buyer for the property. The health system said it has no plans to close any other hospitals. He will continue to lead the health system until a successor is named, according to a March 13 LifeBridge news release. Mr. Meltzer joined Sinai Hospital of Baltimore in 1988 and became president and COO a decade later. He assumed his current role in 2013. Under his leadership, LifeBridge Health has doubled in size, adding Carroll Hospital in Westminster, Md., and Grace Medical Center in Baltimore. Alongside this growth, Mr. Meltzer has focused on addressing social factors that affect health, such as access to food and transportation, and violence prevention, the release said. LifeBridge Health operates five hospitals and employs 14,000 people. Mr. Williams brings more than 15 years of healthcare experience to the role, most recently serving as COO of Fairfield, Calif.-based NorthBay Healths ambulatory division and physician enterprise, according to a March 12 health system news release. In what the release described as a full-circle moment, it notes that nearly two decades ago, Mr. Williams served as a management intern at AdventHealth DeLand. Mr. Williams succeeds Nick Bejarano, who was appointed president and CEO of AdventHealth Manchester (Ky.). The 170-bed hospital also recently welcomed a new president and CEO, Khelsea Bauer. Dr. Goncz will retain his existing chief medical officer title at the hospital, according to a March 12 news release shared with Beckers. Insight Hospital and Warren, Ohio-based Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital were taken over in early November by Flint, Mich.-based Insight Health System from Dallas-based Steward Health Care, which sought Chapter 11 protection May 6. On March 12, Steward received bankruptcy court approval to sell certain management functions and assets of many of its former hospitals, including Insight Hospital, to Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health affiliate Golden Sun TSA Services. The move resulted in Insight Hospital ending nonemergent patient admissions immediately, with the exception of behavioral health admissions. The hospitals emergency room remains open 24/7 including all outpatient services. Rehabilitation Hospital Hillside will continue to offer both inpatient and outpatient services, the release said. Dr. Weldon was set to testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions the morning of March 13, but it was canceled, according to the committees website. An administration official told CBS News that Dr. Weldons nomination was withdrawn because it was clear he did not have the votes in the Senate. Dr. Weldon practiced medicine in Florida after becoming a physician and served seven terms in Congress representing Floridas 15th District. He has shared skepticism of vaccines in the past and introduced the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act in 2007, which aimed to move most vaccine safety research from the CDC to an HHS independent agency. It did not pass Congress. President Donald Trump said in a Nov. 22 Truth Social post that Dr. Weldon would restore the CDC to its true purpose and will work to end the chronic disease epidemic. Here are eight more federal health updates: 1. FDA, NIH nominees clear first hurdle. The HELP Committee voted March 13 to advance both Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, as NIH director in a 12-11 vote and Marty Makary, MD, as FDA commissioner in a 14-9 vote, NBC News reported. Dr. Bhattacharya faced sharp questioning during his March 5 first confirmation hearing related to his vaccine views and proposed NIH funding cuts for indirect research costs from the Trump administration. Dr. Bhattacharya stressed his commitment to fostering a culture of scientific dissent in the agency where leaders will actively encourage different perspectives and create an environment where scientists can express disagreement respectfully. During a March 6 hearing, Dr. Makary told the committee that he would stick to science and wants to help restore American trust in the FDA and its regulated products if confirmed. He also said he plans to have the FDA look into inflammation-causing chemicals in food to tackle childhood illness and obesity and wants to tackle high prescription drug costs. 2. HHS to consolidate Office of the General Counsel. HHS has shared plans to reorganize its Office of the General Counsel, consolidating its number of regional offices from 10 to five, according to a March 27 news release. Regional officers will remain in Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City and Philadelphia to provide the same geographic support for regional HHS offices at lower operating costs, according to a March 11 news release. The OGC has also named Robert Foster to the newly created role of chief counsel for food, research and drugs as part of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s new priorities as HHS secretary. The position will supervise the FDA chief counsel, including the National Institutes of Health Branch of the OGC and the Food and Drug Division of the OGC. Mr. Foster currently serves as the FDA chief counsel and deputy general counsel in the OGC. 3. Buyout offers at HHS. HHS has included around two months in paid administrative leave to some employees if they accept the organizations $25,000 buyout, Bloomberg reported March 11. Agencies were directed to submit further layoff plans no later than March 13. Around 80,000 employees received the unsigned voluntary buyout offer with a March 14 deadline to respond. While a broad population of HHS employees received the offer, the FDA told employees March 11 that those who review drugs, medical devices and tobacco products are not eligible for the offer, Bloomberg reported. 4. NIH to pull grants on vaccine hesitancy research. The National Institutes of Health is rolling back dozens of grants for research projects focused on understanding the factors driving vaccine hesitancy and how to increase uptake among reluctant populations, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post and NPR. The email, sent by Michelle Bulls, director of the Office of Policy for Extramural Research, directs agency officials to send grant termination letters to researchers for more than 40 studies focused on addressing vaccine hesitancy. The internal email said termination notices to researchers should include the following language: It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focus on gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment. The move comes amid a measles outbreak in West Texas, with more than 250 cases reported as of March 11, mostly affecting unvaccinated individuals. 5. Tariffs. Twenty-five percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports took effect March 12, with the White House confirming there will be no exceptions or exemptions, according to a statement sent to ABC News. The levies are expected to affect the medical device industry, as the two are essential materials in devices ranging from surgical instruments to implants and wheelchairs. China is the only country facing tariffs above 25% on these materials, as the new duties are being imposed on top of an existing 20% tariff on all Chinese imports. Meanwhile, on March 6, President Trump granted temporary tariff exemptions for imports from Mexico and Canada under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The exemptions apply to about half of all Mexican imports and 38% of goods from Canada and are set to last until April 2. 6. Federal spending bill awaits Senate vote. The federal government is facing a potential shutdown as Senate Democrats refuse to back a Republican stopgap funding bill, The New York Times reported March 13. On March 11, House Republicans passed a continuing resolution to keep the government running through Sept. 30, though Democrats say they had no input on the bill and are instead calling for a one-month extension to allow further negotiations to reach a bipartisan agreement on long-term funding. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure before government funding expires at midnight on March 14. The March 11 bill includes key healthcare provisions that were set to expire March 31. The bill would extend telehealth waivers, maintain funding for hospital at home and delay Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts through Sept. 30. However, physician groups criticized lawmakers for failing to address Medicare reimbursement cuts. 7. Dr. Ozs first CMS confirmation hearing. Mehmet Oz, MD, will have his first confirmation hearing with the HELP Committee the morning of March 14 as President Trumps nominee for CMS administrator. If confirmed, Dr. Oz will oversee the federal agency that provides more than 160 million Americans coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the Childrens Health Insurance Program and the Health Insurance Marketplace. 8. CMS payment models to end early. The CMS Innovation Center will terminate four Medicare payment models early by the end of 2025 in a bid to save nearly $750 million and shift focus to more viable approaches to value-based care. In addition, CMS will no longer pursue implementation of the Medicare $2 Drug List and Accelerating Clinical Evidence models. Arkansas became the latest state to ban noncompete agreements for physicians in early March. The bill was signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on March 4 and is expected to take effect in mid-July of this year. It is not clear whether the change will apply retroactively to agreements signed before the effective date. The bill amends the states noncompete statute that restricts the right of a physician to practice within a certain area making noncompetes void for anyone who is licensed to practice medicine in the state under the Arkansas Medical Practice Act or under Arkansas law. Arkansass ban is similar to recent legislation in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The three-year agreement covers roughly 900 nurses. It includes improvements to safe staffing standards and stronger safe staffing enforcement, the addition of nurse staffing on certain units, and improvements to guarantee break periods, according to a March 12 union news release. The NYSNA said the agreement also includes the ability for nurses to review and make recommendations prior to and during the implementation of any artificial intelligence that could potentially impact nurses. Additionally, the deal includes wage increases that total between $18,000 to $20,000 over three years, and include annual pay increases, experience pay improvements for pension and improvements to retiree healthcare. We advocated for safer staffing levels, improved working conditions and fair wages to ensure that we can continue to deliver the high standard of care our patients deserve, JoAnne DeAntonio, BSN, RN, a local union president, said in the release. And after months of fighting, we achieved what we set out to win. Were glad that our voices were heard because we are not just fighting for ourselves; we are fighting for our patients, for our families, and for the future of healthcare in our region. South Shore University Hospital also praised the deal. From the start of negotiations, our goal has been to reach a fair contract that supports our valued nurses and upholds the high standard of care our patients and community trust, the hospital said in a statement shared with Beckers. This agreement reaffirms our commitment enabling a supportive work environment and provides our nurses with competitive compensation and benefits. We are pleased to move forward together and continue to provide exceptional care for those we serve. The union and hospital began negotiating a new contract in November. Union members voted to authorize a strike in February. Nurses are slated to begin voting on whether to ratify the agreement on March 13. Rothwell Jacob Simmons, 27, was sentenced for two counts of assault by strangulation and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting serious injury. He received a minimum of 58 months and a maximum of 82 months in prison for the two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, court records show. For the assault by strangulation charges, Mr. Simmons received a suspended sentence of five to 15 months, with two years of supervised probation, to follow his sentence for the other two counts, according to the Wilmington StarNews. The sentencing comes three years after Mr. Simmons was arrested Jan. 18, 2022, in connection with the attack and injury of two New Hanover Regional employees inside the hospitals emergency department. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, which acquired New Hanover Regional in February 2021, confirmed in a statement shared with Beckers at the time that the two employees were injured. The health system did not identify the individuals involved, citing privacy laws, and deferred to New Hanover County for further information. Our hospital experienced something that tragically is happening in hospitals across the country at unprecedented rates acts of violence directed toward healthcare workers, the statement said. Two of our team members were attacked and injured inside the emergency department. Our hearts and prayers go out to them and their families. Beckers reached out to Novant for comment about the sentencing and will update this story if one is received. In addition to the sentencing, the court recommended any available mental health treatment or educational services through (Department of Adult Corrections), according to the StarNews, which cited the judgment. Mr. Simmons was credited 1,147 days for time served pretrial. The district attorney dismissed an additional attempted murder charge without leave as part of a plea agreement, according to the StarNews. The health system has made it a priority to ensure patients have access to medications right after they leave the clinic. Beckers spoke with Ryan Mezinger, RPh, senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer at MetroHealth, about the health systems efforts on that front. Bringing services to patients One way MetroHealth is working to increase access to medication is by expanding its in-clinic pharmacies. One pharmacy chain completely left the market a few months ago and several individual pharmacies are closing soon, Mr. Mezinger said. We started with just four to five pharmacies, but now we have 12 patient-facing pharmacies and a centralized fulfillment center, with our latest pharmacy opening just last month. Embedding the pharmacies inside the clinics eliminates the extra step of patients having to go somewhere else for medication. Why not have a pharmacy there for the patient right when they leave the clinic? he said. Were making sure theres access and affordability for that medication before leaving the clinic, and know patients are going to start treatment right when they leave. Expanding pickup and delivery options MetroHealth also offers free home delivery options, though Mr. Mezinger said some patients have privacy concerns or others may lack a stable home address. To address these issues, he said MetroHealth is working to place pharmacies within communities where patients already receive care. Some people prefer picking up medication in person and others dont have a secure place for deliveries, Mr. Mezinger said. By integrating pharmacies into our clinics, we make sure they have multiple options. MetroHealth is also considering pharmacy lockers to further expand access. The lockers would be placed in locations such as homeless shelters or other places where medication access is difficult. Immunization offerings and prioritizing care MetroHealths pharmacies also offer immunizations, medication therapy management and close coordination with healthcare providers. Mr. Mezinger shared that the health system offers 13 immunizations for patients either by appointment or walk-in. Instead of waiting three to four weeks to see a provider, patients can walk into a pharmacy today and get a vaccination, he said. That way, we ease the burden off of the clinic to hopefully spend more clinic time with patients. At the core of MetroHealths efforts to expand access in a pharmacy desert is a commitment to patients well-being. Thats the biggest goal of all my pharmacists is to know that no matter what we do, take care of the patient, and patients come first. If theres something we have to change later, we will get it figured out, he said. We want the patient to feel safe, happy and have medication in hand when they leave the hospital and have that peace of mind knowing they can afford it. The outbreak in West Texas continues to expand, with the Texas Health Department reporting 223 confirmed cases and New Mexico confirming 33 cases as of March 11. There has been one reported death in Texas and one suspected death in New Mexico undergoing investigation. Here are five more updates: Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald with Artemis Technologies co-founder David Tyler at the companys New York base at Brooklyn Navy Yard Belfast green ferry company Artemis Technologies has announced a multi-million dollar deal with a yacht maker in Seattle. Artemis, a pioneer in zero-emission maritime technology, has signed a memorandum of understanding to seal the deal with Delta Marine, helping its advances in clean maritime transport. Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald welcomed the latest international success for the company during her St Patricks-themed visit to the US. Delta Marine, which builds luxury yachts, is based in Seattle in Washington State, home to the US's largest fleet of passenger ferries. Artemiss deal with the firm follows an earlier announcement to supply 20 of its hydrofoil vessels to transport company Urbanlink in Miami. The minister watched Artemis electric vessel in action during a visit to its New York base at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Ms Archibald said: It is fantastic to see Artemis Technologies expanding in the US and securing high-profile partnerships that will accelerate the transition to sustainable maritime transport. "The north is home to world-leading innovation in clean tech, and Artemis Technologies revolutionary hydrofoil technology represents a significant opportunity to decarbonise maritime transport. David Tyler, the co-founder of Artemis Technologies, said economic development agency Invest NI had helped the companys expansion across the Atlantic. The US is a crucial market for our business, and this partnership with Delta Marine is a significant milestone in our global growth strategy," he added. "Invest NI has been a key partner in helping to facilitate our expansion by providing support to grow our exports and through their expert representation in the Belfast Maritime Consortium. "We are proud to represent Northern Ireland on an international stage and look forward to further strengthening our presence in the US. Artemis Technologies opened its office in Brooklyn last year. Kieran Donoghue, CEO of Invest NI, said: Artemis Technologies is an innovation-driven enterprise and a shining example of the world-class innovation emerging from Northern Ireland. "Its expansion into the US market will drive economic growth and strengthen our reputation as a leader in green maritime technology. Through initiatives like the Northern Ireland Maritime and Offshore Network and support from our teams in the US, Invest NI is helping companies like Artemis Technologies secure major contracts, scale internationally and attract investment that creates high-value jobs at home. Ms Archibald said her visit to the US has been focused on deepening economic ties, promoting trade, investment and tourism opportunities, and supporting the norths businesses as they scale internationally. "The partnerships and connections forged this week will help drive long-term economic development, create high-value jobs and position the north as a leader in the industries of the future, she added. Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald with Artemis Technologies co-founder David Tyler at the companys New York base at Brooklyn Navy Yard WATCH: Krispy Kreme arrives in Belfast If the box office was dropping, hed do something outrageous so that people would go and buy tickets: Actor Jared Harris on his father Richards legacy Dubliner Cyril Griffith was only 19 when his life took a turn It was a bright July morning when 19-year-old Cyril Griffith and a friend set off for Howth. As the fifth of seven children living with his parents, younger brother and sister in the family home on Eccles Street in Dublin, going away for a nights camping at the weekend had become something of a trend for Griffith and other teenagers living in the inner city in the 1920s. Charlie Love (inset) has been charged with an attack on police in the Mount Carmel Heights area of Strabane A PSNI officer today (Thursday) told a murder bid trial there was a "massive bang'' when his armour-plated patrol car was hit in a bomb attack. The constable, known only as 'Officer A', gave his sworn evidence from the witness stand at Belfast Crown Court from behind a blue curtain to conceal his identity. A decision to deny Northern Irelands biggest post primary school the chance to switch to integrated status has made things very, very difficult for others contemplating the move, Stormonts Education Committee has been told. Education Minister Paul Givans decision in January to reject a bid from Bangor Academy and Sixth Form College to transform is now subject to a legal challenge, as is the decision to reject a proposal from neighbouring Rathmore Primary School. The DUP ministers decision came despite almost 80% of parents who responded to a school ballot voting in favour of the move. The Department of Education has received pre-action letters signalling the legal challenges to the ministers decisions in both cases. Education Minister Paul Givan (Credit: Martin McKeown) While the Department said it would be inappropriate to comment given the legal action, MLAs were told that as the case is not yet live, they were free to discuss. Chief executive of the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) Paul Caskey said he found the ministers decision on Bangor Academy difficult to comprehend, particularly given the Department of Educations call to meet unmet demand for integrated schools in areas, including Ards and North Down. On the one hand there was a call for schools to come forward to meet that demand, then when a school does come forward it is ignored by the minister, he said. The decision has left schools in a very, very difficult position. Schools which wish to transform have a three or four year period of investment in the transition. I can fully understand why a principal at any school would think about pulling back from the process. We will not be deterred in trying to assist any school which does wish to seek integrated status, he added. But it is certainly a more difficult environment. According to documents published by the Department, officials had recommended that both North Down schools be allowed to transform. However, in rejecting the bids, the minister said there was not adequate evidence that there would be enough Catholic pupils at each school for it to provide integrated education, citing Stormont legislation which says that there should be reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Roman Catholic children in integrated schools. We are three years on from the Integrated Education Bill and still we are no clearer on a definition of what demand is, said Mr Caskey. What we have seen is that the majority of integrated schools do increase their minority, thats the general experience post transformation. Sean Pettis from the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education said his reading of the legislation was that reasonable numbers could be achieved in the future once transformation to integrated was approved. This is not about the percentage at the starting point, this is a journey, he said. It is about where you can get to, not where you are. The minister seems to have a different view. Also giving evidence was Barry Corr, principal at Seaview Primary in Glenarm which transformed to integrated status in September 2021 the first Catholic Maintained primary school to make the switch. Explaining the benefits he said: Before integration we were 70% Catholic, 20% Protestant and 10% other, he said. Now we are 45% Catholic, 35% Protestant and 20% other. In 2019 we had 42 pupils. CCMS wanted to close the school. Now our numbers have risen to 108. The legal action, which has come from two parents, one connected to each school, is supported by the schools who issued a joint statement: In the absence of an appeals process, the Board of Governors of both schools feel that in reaching his decisions the minister has left parents no other recourse and therefore understand and support those initiating such action. Also giving evidence, Department of Education official James Hutchinson was unable to provide answers when questioned on the Bangor Academy decision due to the legal action. Co Antrim woman says Executive is not giving help A disabled NI woman left without power for almost a week during Storm Eowyn has said the Executive Offices silence on a failed compensation agreement makes it look like they dont care. Power cuts caused by the storm affected 285,000 households and businesses, after gusts exceeding 95mph battered Northern Ireland in January. As clear-up efforts began, First and Deputy First Ministers Michelle ONeill and Emma Little-Pengelly raised hopes of compensatory payments to those left without power, calling on companies to provide goodwill payments. They can do a goodwill payment, is our understanding, Mrs Little-Pengelly said. Then-Economy Minister Conor Murphy went as far as to tell the public that a deal with NIE on compensation payments had been agreed in principle. On Monday, the Department for the Economy announced that NIE had informed them compensation payments were not possible as the company had activated a severe weather exemption. No compensation system for damage during severe weather exists in NI, despite a similar scheme operating in Great Britain since 2005. Proposals to introduce a scheme here were included in consultation documents by the NI Utility Regulator on two occasions, with the most recent being mothballed for more than a year. Neither Ms ONeill or Mrs Little-Pengelly have yet commented on the announcement. The Belfast Telegraph also reached out to the Executive Office for comment on Monday. No response has yet been received. Michelle O'Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly raised the possibility of 'goodwill payments' in the immediate aftermath of the storm Co Antrim resident Karen (57), who did not wish us to publish her surname, lives with a physical disability. She was left without power for six days following the storm and had to contact a local radio station to raise awareness of her and her neighbours plight before help was provided. She said the current situation has left the public feeling like their leaders do not care. I am absolutely angry. One minute we are being told there could be compensation for when we are out of electric and the next we are told we are getting nothing, she told the Belfast Telegraph. Its ridiculous; they are making it look as if they really dont care about anybody. Thats not right. They are doing nothing to help us. It comes after Chair of the Economy Committee, DUP MLA Phillip Brett, revealed customers who had already applied for compensation could now be subject to charges. Phillip Brett MLA Department head of energy Richard Rodgers revealed to the committee that 18,000 customers had already applied. Mr Brett said the Utility Regulator had told him those who made the claims could now themselves be subject to charges. This whole episode has been deeply damaging for the department, he said. What we have seen is a false claim made by the minister that it had been agreed in principle that compensation payments would be paid. Mr Rodgers said there were no easy answers to the situation. I think it was unfortunate that right in the middle, in the eye of the storm so to speak, that the clamour was for compensation, he said. With hindsight, messaging should be sharper and quicker. Storm Eowyn caused widespread damage to the electricity infrastructure in January (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) News Catch Up - Wednesday 12 March A Belfast man who stole 1,000 worth of honey from a city centre health store has been jailed for six months. Gavin Wilson raided Holland & Barrett twice for nectar-based products to fund his horrific drug addiction, a judge was told. The 32-year-old pleaded guilty at Belfast Magistrates Court to carrying out the thefts from the retailers Ann Street shop on December 11 and 16 last year. The court heard how Wilson, of Marchioness Street, was initially detained in connection with unrelated offences. However, while in custody he made unsolicited comments about the price of honey. Police then checked the stores CCTV footage and identified the defendant taking quantities of Manuka honey valued at 600 and 400. It was disclosed that Wilson has amassed nearly 150 previous convictions on a criminal record which runs to 19 pages. What was he going to do with 1,000 worth of honey? District Judge Anne Marshall asked. Read more TV presenter and DJ who crashed while more than twice the drink-drive limit is fined and banned Defence solicitor Eoghan McKenna confirmed Wilson intended to sell the products to buy drugs. He has horrific addiction difficulties, had a relapse and just seemed to be oblivious to anything except how he fed that habit, the lawyer submitted. Mrs Marshall accepted Wilson had been extremely helpful to police. The best I can do in light of your 149 previous convictions is six months immediate custody, the judge told him. Declining to make an order for Wilson to repay the value of the stolen honey, she explained: I dont want him going and lifting 1,000 from somewhere else. A north Belfast man whose home was searched as part of a police investigation into UDA drug-dealing activities has been jailed for eight months. Jordan Doherty-Graham, of Silver Birch Courts, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine on dates between April 14, 2023, and August 16, 2023. A prosecution lawyer told Belfast Crown Court that police had cause to search a property at Ambleside Close, in the north of the city, which was connected to the 31-year-old. During the planned search, a mobile phone was seized as part of the drugs probe. The court heard that Doherty-Graham provided the PIN code for the phone, the examination of which revealed incriminating messages which showed that the defendant received texts concerning drug supply. The examination revealed 15 conversations with 12 people. He [Doherty-Graham] was offering to supply them with drugs and received payment from customers, said the prosecutor. The messages showed he was making a profit of between 250 and 350 per week. He was a drug user himself and was selling drugs at the direction of others. During police interviews conducted in November 2024, the father-of-two admitted dealing cocaine to friends but denied making any profit from his activities. He said he was selling cocaine to fund his own drug use. This was a low-level drug supply enterprise, said the prosecution. Defence barrister John OConnor handed in a reference from Doherty-Grahams current employer which he said spoke to his clients work ethic, skills, dependability and value to the business. Mr OConnor told the court his client made the case that he started abusing cocaine after being bereaved in tragic circumstances. In a pre-sentence report, the Probation Board assessed that Doherty-Graham has a low likelihood of reoffending and that he showed insight into the consequences of his behaviour. The report added that Doherty-Graham had expressed remorse for his conduct, saying he wished to better himself, avail of counselling and remain abstinent from taking drugs. Following legal submissions, Judge Mark McGarrity said an immediate custodial sentence was unavoidable, adding that there were no exceptional circumstances that would allow him to suspend the sentence. Imposing a 16-month sentence, Judge McGarrity said Doherty-Graham would spend a further eight months on supervised licence after his release from prison. Following sentencing today, PSNI Detective Sergeant Gourley said officers from the forces Paramilitary Crime Task Force conducted a search of a property in north Belfast on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. The search was in relation to criminality linked to the West Belfast UDA, added DS Gourley. A mobile phone was seized, which contained evidence of drug supply. Those who deal in drugs remain a priority for the Paramilitary Crime Task Force and we will continue to robustly and proactively pursue those who are intent on damaging our communities by supplying illegal drugs. I would encourage anyone with information that could assist in our efforts to contact us on the non-emergency number 101, or submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online. Laganside Courts (Pic: Liam McBurney/PA) Watch: Belfast Zoo name baby Meerkats Daffo and Dil for Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal John Rafferty (21) from the Omagh area died on the A5 in October 2022 Caolan Devlin died after collision between car and lorry in March 2024 GAA President Jarlath Burns has called on all counties throughout the island of Ireland to help promote an upcoming demonstration in Belfast calling for work to begin on the upgrade of the A5 road. The major road runs through Co Tyrone, linking Derry with Aughnacloy, and is one of Northern Irelands busiest and most dangerous routes known for heavy traffic and frequent accidents. In an open letter, Jarlath Burns called on the GAA community, particularly those across Ulster, to become a voice for change and help ensure that no more families suffer the devastation of losing a loved one on this road. Jarlath Burns This campaign is not simply about upgrading a road it is about protecting lives, he wrote. Since 2006, 57 people have tragically lost their lives on the A5, leaving behind families and communities forever changed by grief. "Among them was Caolan Devlin, who died in March 2024. His brother, Niall, who captained Tyrone to All-Ireland Under-20 success, is just one of many who have endured unimaginable loss." There have been long-delayed plans to turn the A5 into a dual carriageway in a bid to ease congestion and make it safer with an upgrade first announced back in 2007 however the scheme has been delayed by legal challenges and funding issues. Community groups, such as the A5 Enough Is Enough Group, continue to advocate for the road's upgrade, with activists set to hold a peaceful protest next Tuesday, March 18, outside Belfasts High Court. It follows the most recent legal challenge to the upgrade after a judicial review was lodged by the Alternative A5 Alliance a group consisting of farmers, landowners, and environmentalists who argue that the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has violated its own climate change laws with the proposed plans. A delayed three-day hearing is due to take place including a sitting on Tuesday the same day of the protest and will be heard after the DfI failed to submit evidence of a set deadline. Mr Burns, who is backing campaigners, also referred to Michael Rafferty, captain of last years victorious All-Ireland Tyrone team who lost his brother John in a devastating crash back in October 2022. "These young men, both leaders on the field, carry private heartache that should never have been theirs to bear, he said. These sad stories are chapters in a tragic narrative which has weaved its way through the geography and history of this part of Ulster. John Rafferty (21) from the Omagh area died on the A5 in October 2022 Tyrone GAA has continually campaigned for the A5 update, and Mr Burns added that Tuesday, 18th March, is an opportunity for the GAA community to stand together, to honour those we have lost, and to demand action before more lives are needlessly taken. I encourage as many people as possible to attend and to send a clear, united message: enough is enough. This project must proceed without further delay, the Armagh man stated. The demonstrators will assemble at 9am outside the High Court on Chichester Street next Tuesday. Minister for Infrastructure Liz Kimmins visited the A5 today where she reaffirmed her commitment to the A5 Western Transport Corridor Scheme. Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has said she is keen to see the A5 scheme progress without further delays. The Minister was speaking on a site visit to one of the locations where some advance works have been ongoing in preparation for the main works on the scheme beginning. It comes after GAA President Jarlath Burns has called on all counties throughout the island of Ireland to help promote an upcoming demonstration in Belfast calling for work to begin on the upgrade of the A5 road. The major road runs through Co Tyrone, linking Derry with Aughnacloy, and is one of Northern Irelands busiest and most dangerous routes known for heavy traffic and frequent accidents. In an open letter, Jarlath Burns called on the GAA community, particularly those across Ulster, to become a voice for change and help ensure that no more families suffer the devastation of losing a loved one on this road. Since 2006, 57 people have lost their lives on the A5, leaving behind families and communities forever changed by grief. The Minister said: I am keen to see progress on this long-awaited scheme because ultimately it will save lives. There have been too many road tragedies in this area causing widespread heartbreak. We owe it to all those people who sadly and tragically lost their lives on the A5 to see this scheme progress. As well as improving road safety, this flagship project which has the backing of the Executive and the Irish Government will provide important infrastructure improvements to enhance the experience for anyone travelling on this strategic route. "Jobs will be created during the construction phase and beyond, there will be significant wider benefits to the economy and it will address regional imbalance. It is important that we all get behind this project so that it can proceed without any further delay. Minister for Infrastructure Liz Kimmins visited the A5 today where she reaffirmed her commitment to the A5 Western Transport Corridor Scheme. There have been long-delayed plans to turn the A5 into a dual carriageway in a bid to ease congestion and make it safer with an upgrade first announced back in 2007 however the scheme has been delayed by legal challenges and funding issues. Community groups, such as the A5 Enough Is Enough Group, continue to advocate for the road's upgrade, with activists set to hold a peaceful protest next Tuesday, March 18, outside Belfasts High Court. It follows the most recent legal challenge to the upgrade after a judicial review was lodged by the Alternative A5 Alliance a group consisting of farmers, landowners, and environmentalists who argue that the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has violated its own climate change laws with the proposed plans. A delayed three-day hearing is due to take place including a sitting on Tuesday the same day of the protest and will be heard after the DfI failed to submit evidence of a set deadline. Trump unaware of boycott by some NI parties as he played host to Taoiseach True to Alliance leaders prediction, US President didnt notice absence of anyone from her party, Sinn Fein and SDLP Donald Trump and Micheal Martin in the White House Suzanne Breen Thu 13 Mar 2025 at 07:35 President Trump said he was unaware some Northern Ireland parties had boycotted his St Patricks Day celebrations in Washington as he met the Taoiseach yesterday. Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty claimed the result of the election could have been different (Brian Lawless/PA) Minister Jack Chambers deliberately deceived the public during the election campaign by ignoring housing data, a Sinn Fein TD has said. The partys finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said that if information on new-home builds had been made public, it would have changed the result of the election. A spokesperson for Mr Chambers, who is now the public expenditure minister, said he rejects Mr Dohertys claims. Jack Chambers deliberately deceived the Irish public, a Sinn Fein TD has claimed (Brian Lawless/PA) Senior government figures have been criticised for claiming during the election campaign that close to 40,000 new homes would be built in 2024. The Housing for All plan set a target of 33,450 new-builds for 2024, with a total of 30,330 built, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) a drop of 6.7% on 2023. Speaking on the Leinster House plinth on Thursday, Mr Doherty claimed that a document from the Department of Finances Budget & Economics Division showed the government had decided consciously to mislead the Irish public. He said that before the Dail was dissolved on November 8, Mr Chambers the then finance minister received a report analysing data on housing progress. The seven-page report states that there were 21,634 new homes completed in the first nine months of the year, 3.1% lower than the same period in 2023. The outturn for completions appears to be broadly consistent with recent downward revisions to forecasts from the Central Bank, which project housing output to be similar to 2023, it said. Mr Doherty said the report from the Budget & Economics Division of his Department made it very clear that it was not achievable to reach 40,000 new-builds by the end of the year. Despite this, we had the Minister of Finance go on the national broadcaster, on Virgin Media, on other radio stations, claiming that they were on a pathway to 40,000, that they were going to deliver far more houses than they delivered the previous year, which was simply untrue, the Donegal TD said. Why did he deliberately mislead the Irish public? Why did he bury a report that he had from his department, which said that the prediction was that they would deliver the same, if not less, houses than the previous year? Why did he allow Micheal Martin, his party leader, to continue to trump the same untruth? Why did he allow the Taoiseach and others to do the same? Asked whether he believed the publishing of the housing figures would have changed the outcome of the election, Mr Doherty said: If you have a report that comes out on the eve of the election, and the minister has to stand up and say The officials in my department are of the same view as the Central Bank, and were likely to deliver less houses this year than we did last year, then of course thats going to change the outcome of the election. A spokesman for Mr Chambers said: The Minister for Finance receives a monthly housing update which summarises reports, projections and publications in the public domain. The November 2024 submission referenced CSO data published on October 24th, 2024 and previous Central Bank projections. This information was not new. The CSO data had been published two weeks earlier and was debated in the Dail on the day of publication. The Minister was already aware of these inputs from the CSO and the Central Bank. Minister Chambers rejects the assertions by Deputy Doherty. There were many different bodies and agencies giving varied projections on housing numbers at the time which were in the public domain. Micheal Martin in Washington DC (Niall Carson/PA) Speaking in Washington DC, Taoiseach Mr Martin said his understanding of the issue was that the CSO statistics were already public knowledge. He added that there were three other indications that the number of new-build houses in 2024 would be much higher than they were. But the bottom line is, were not building as much houses as fast as we possibly can, he said. There are fundamental issues with the apartment side of it. I repeat what I said since this Government was formed: that theres a very real need to enhance and increase the level of private sector investment in housing, and particularly in the apartment side of it, and Government will work to try and devise the best policies that can do that. The state is, by and large, the big player in the housing market at the moment, not just in terms of approved housing bodies or local authorities or the land development agency, but also around the financing mechanisms. I think the cost of finance for building is too high, and so we have to look at that issue as well and thats when I said earlier, we have to work with the commercial banks that need to get more involved in making more money available at reasonable price to builders to build more effectively, because its a big problem. A meeting between Irish officials and Jewish leaders in Washington DC has not been called off, the Irish premier has insisted. There had been media reports that a planned meeting between Mr Martin and Jewish leaders on Friday was no longer going ahead. However, the Taoiseach told reporters on Thursday: It is my understanding the meeting is going ahead. No, there are some indications about some organisations may or may not attend. Mr Martin said the meeting was scheduled following contact from representatives of the Jewish community in the US. He said: Were very open to meeting with as broad a range of representative organisations of the Jewish community in America to engage with them in a respectful way, in respect of our perspective on the Middle East and the conflict and the war in Gaza. Weve been very, very consistent in terms of condemning the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7, we call for the unconditional release of hostage from the very, very beginning, an end to the war and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. He added: Were open, and hopefully the meetings will go ahead, but well get clarification on that later. Asked about groups pulling out of the meeting, Mr Martin said: Thats not a matter for me. Were open and that still is the case. We were approached, and we responded in the right way. And you know, Ive had good communications with the Jewish community in Ireland, and Ive had meetings and engagement with representatives there. AI intend to continue that to make sure that theres not a misrepresentation of Irelands position on this or any deliberate distortions of Irelands position, particularly in relation to allegations of antisemitism and so forth. Mr Martin said he signed the IHRA guidelines on antisemitism and had visited Kibbutz Beeri after the October 7 attack. Senior figures in Israels government have accused leaders in the Irish coalition of encouraging antisemitism, with the Israeli embassy in Dublin also announcing last year that it would close. Israeli politicians have also criticised Irelands decision to intervene in South Africas case against Israel, with Dublin asking the International Court of Justice to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes genocide. In addition, Israel foreign minister Gideon Saar called Mr Martins predecessor, Simon Harris, antisemitic. Mr Harris, who now serves as deputy premier as part of coalition arrangements with Mr Martin, has rejected the characterisation. Tug boats shadow the Solong container ship as it drifts in the Humber Estuary (Danny Lawson/PA) Police have been granted more time to question the captain of a container ship which crashed into a US oil tanker in the North Sea. The 59-year-old Russian captain of Solong, which struck US tanker Stena Immaculate off the east coast of Yorkshire on Monday, will be detained for a further 36 hours, Humberside Police said. He was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter and taken into police custody. Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Nicholson said: An extension has been granted by the magistrates court to detain the man in custody for a further 36 hours. Detectives are continuing to question him following his arrest on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision. Extensive lines of inquiry by police into any potential criminal offences which arise from the collision between the two vessels are ongoing, whilst partner agencies continue their own assessments of the incident. Mr Nicholson said the force is supporting the family of a Solong crew member who went missing after the crash and is presumed dead. Chief coastguard Paddy OCallaghan said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) continues to support the joint response to the collision between the Solong and the Stena Immaculate. He said: The Stena Immaculate remains at anchor. The Solong continues to be held in a safe location by tug. Small pockets of fire are still reported to be on the top deck of Solong and specialist vessels are supporting the firefighting efforts. Salvors have boarded the vessels to assess the damage while surveillance flights continue to monitor the two ships, the coastguard said on Thursday afternoon. He said the counter pollution and salvage team has a response in place should it be required. (PA Graphics) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday the situation was reasonably contained. Were obviously monitoring it all of the time. In terms of the cause of it, thats yet to be determined, he said. Theres a process now in place with an arrest. But we have to get to the bottom of it. But the immediate thing is to deal with the problem in front of us, which is the aftermath of the collision. He added: Id just like to acknowledge the good work of those that are actually out there doing really hard work in very difficult circumstances, which they did not expect to be in. I pay tribute to them. Pressed on calls for a Cobra meeting to assess the potential environmental damage, he said: We are absolutely monitoring this 24/7 and Ive got teams doing that and assuring me of whats going on. At the moment, the situation is reasonably contained. And, obviously, we will do whatever is necessary. (PA Graphics) US-based maritime news website gCaptain said it was told by a US official at the White House that foul play had not been ruled out. Transport minister Mike Kane told MPs something went terribly wrong for the crash to happen, but there was no evidence of foul play. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), which will lead the safety probe into the incident, said the Solong altered course at about 1.30am on Monday, as it passed to the east of Longstone lighthouse, on to a heading of approximately 150 degrees, which is a south-east direction. The crash happened eight hours and 17 minutes later. The ship was travelling at about 16.4 knots, the MAIB added, the equivalent land speed for which is 18.9mph. Container ships typically travel at 16-24 knots. A team of inspectors was immediately deployed, and inquiries have focused on gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data, the MAIB said. Solong frequently travelled between Grangemouth in Scotland and Rotterdam and regularly used the route it took on the day of the collision, a statement added. Thirty-six crew from both vessels were recovered but tragically one member of crew from Solong remains unaccounted for, the MAIB said. As well as continuing to gather witness accounts, further investigation work will look to establish the navigational practices on board both vessels, the manning and fatigue management, the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved, and the environmental conditions at the time. Fredi Rivero was allegedly killed by three teenage girls (Metropolitan Police/PA) Three teenage girls accused of killing a 75-year-old man in a violent street attack face a provisional trial in December. Fredi Rivero was attacked on Seven Sisters Road in Islington, north London, at about 11.35pm on February 27, and died in hospital the next day. Mr Rivero, thought to be a Bolivian national, was near a bus stop when the teenagers got off a bus and surrounded him, it is alleged. The youths, aged 14, 16 and 17, allegedly pushed, shoved, kicked and punched him, with one of them filming the incident on her phone. Fredi Rivero (Metropolitan Police/PA) Three teenage girls were subsequently charged with his manslaughter. On Thursday, their case was brought before Judge Mark Lucraft KC at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing, although the defendants were not required to attend. The judge set a plea hearing for May 23 with a provisional trial from December 1. The girls cannot be named because of their age and remain in custody. The judge said any application for bail would be considered at a later date, after viewing CCTV footage of the incident. Previously, police have said Mr Rivero was a much-loved father whose family were devastated by his death. The winter fuel payment change was announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last July (Alamy/PA) The UK Government was blinded by financial imperatives when it cut the winter fuel payment without due consideration of the impact on vulnerable people, a court has heard. The Court of Session in Edinburgh is hearing a legal challenge brought by Florence and Peter Fanning, from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, against last years decision to remove the universal element of the payment. The change was announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on July 29. Representing Mr and Mrs Fanning, Joanne Cherry KC told the court on Thursday her clients are elderly pensioners who both have disabilities. Like most pensioners they live on a fixed income and they struggle to afford to heat their home in the winter, she said. They are exactly the sort of people who the winter fuel payment was designed to help. Peter and Florence Fanning, of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, brought the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh (PA) She put it to the court the decision to cut the payment had been unlawful on the grounds the UK and Scottish governments had failed in their duties to properly assess the impact on vulnerable people. She said there had been an abject failure to carry out an equality impact assessment (EIA), as well as a failure to consult people of pension age who would be affected by the change. She also said the decision may be unlawful for reasons of irrationality and unreasonableness, because, she said, ministers knew it would cause significant excess winter deaths and jeopardise the health of vulnerable pensioners. She added the decision was also taken in the knowledge it would result in 100,000 pensioners falling into relative poverty, and 50,000 into absolute poverty. The respondents did not approach the matter with due diligence, and did not give consideration to all competing interests, she said. They were blinded, perhaps one might say understandably, by financial imperatives. But that does not absolve them from their legal obligations, including their obligations under the Human Rights Act. The case is being heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA She said the UK Government referred to as the first respondent was bound by its obligations under the 2010 Equalities Act, and the Scottish Government (the second respondent) had similar requirements under regulations dating from 2012. Theres overwhelming evidence in this case that the first respondent failed to properly carry out an EIA in relation to the policy decision, and failed to discharge its duty under section 149 of the 2010 Act, she said. If thats correct then the policy decision and the regulations are tainted by that failure. She said the Scottish Government also had an additional duty under Scottish regulations to advance equality of opportunity between those with protected characteristics and those without, which she said had not happened here. Ms Cherry further said there was a legitimate expectation that both governments would carry out a consultation before making the change, due to both the importance of the issue and the fact it was usual practice to do so when taking decisions of this nature. When asked by judge Lady Hood who should have been consulted, Ms Cherry replied a consultation would have involved people of pensionable age throughout the UK. There were a very significant number of people impacted by this decision, and thats why it saves so much money, she added. Both the UK and Scottish governments are being represented in court, and Ms Cherry also stressed the different roles each government played in removing the universal element of the benefit in Scotland. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the winter fuel payment change soon after Labour swept to power last summer (PA) She told the court the Scottish Government had been placed in a dilemma by the UK Governments decision to cut the payment, as it resulted in an 80% cut to the funding it received for a universal winter fuel payment. She said the UK Governments decision had therefore had a direct effect on the Scottish Government, and that but for that decision, the Scottish Government would have continued to pay a universal benefit this year. However, she went on, this did not absolve the Scottish Government of its obligations, explaining: Financial constraints are no excuse for failing to properly comply with the public sector equality duty. Responding, the UK Governments representative Andrew Webster KC said he did not shy away from the fact there had been a fiscal driver for the change, noting the Chancellor had been seeking to fill a 22 billion black hole. However he pointed out that as residents in Scotland, Mr and Mrs Fanning had no entitlement to the winter fuel payment, as this is only available to people in England and Wales. Scotland, he explained, has its own winter fuel benefit, called the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP). He therefore questioned whether the pensioners can be said to have been directly affected by the UK Governments decision at all. Their entitlement, if any, to PAWHP is determined by the second respondent, choosing how they wish to spend the resources that they have available to them, he said. He said the only direct effect of the change was on the Scottish Government, and that the Fannings therefore had no direct interest in relation to a decision taken in Westminster. The hearing, which is expected to last two days, continues. The former president was once feared for his brutal anti-crime crackdowns and reviled for his irreverence while in office (Bullit Marquez/AP) Ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte threatened a police general with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague in a tense confrontation after his arrest in Manila, a Philippine police general has said. The arrest of the 79-year-old former leader had been ordered by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Police Major General Nicolas Torre provided details for the first time of Tuesdays 12-hour standoff at a Philippine air base before he and other police officers managed to get Mr Duterte onto a government-chartered jet that transported him to The Hague, Netherlands, where he was detained by the global court on charges of crimes against humanity. Armed police secured an area of the airport in Manila following the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte (Aaron Favila/AP) Mr Duterte was once feared for his brutal anti-crime crackdowns and reviled for his irreverence while in office he called Pope Francis a son of a bitch at one time and said that former US president Barack Obama could go to hell. Mr Dutertes stunning reversal of fortune was celebrated by human rights groups as a historic triumph against state impunity everywhere. Mr Duterte was arrested on Tuesday after he arrived at Manilas Ninoy Aquino International Airport with his common-law wife, daughter and friends from Hong Kong. He was later taken under heavy police guard to a nearby presidential lounge at the Villamor Air Base to undergo booking for arrested criminal suspects, including fingerprinting, before being taken to a plane for the long flight to The Hague to be turned over to the ICC, Maj Gen Torre said. A plane carrying Mr Duterte took-off from Manila on Tuesday (Aaron Favila/AP) But Mr Duterte, his family, lawyers and friends resisted and prevented the former leader from being brought to a Gulfstream G550 executive jet, according to Maj Gen Torre. The standoff lasted for about 12 hours, he said. It was very tense, he told The Associated Press. One of my officers sustained a head injury after being hit hard with a cellphone by Mr Dutertes common-law wife and his daughter was cursing me with expletives, but I kept my cool. The ex-president, who used to be a government prosecutor and congressman, refused to undergo the police booking procedure after his arrest, Maj Gen Torre said. Mr Duterte was arrested on Tuesday after he arrived at Manilas Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Aaron Favila/AP) We wanted to have him fingerprinted, but he resisted, Maj Gen Torre said. In a separate interview, he said that he arrested and handcuffed the former presidents executive secretary for blocking Mr Dutertes transfer to the plane. Maj Gen Torre confirmed to the AP the authenticity of a video that has gone viral on social media showing Mr Duterte surrounded by his family, lawyers and friends and asking Maj Gen Torre, who led the arresting officers: Are you going to bring me straight to the airplane? You have to kill me to bring me to The Hague, Maj Gen Torre quoted Mr Duterte as saying. Thats not our intention sir, Maj Gen Torre said as his men dragged away one of several men surrounding Mr Duterte. Mr Dutertes lawyers said that Philippine authorities did not show any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights. A plane believed to be carrying Mr Duterte was pictured at Rotterdam The Hague Airport in the Netherlands on Wednesday (Mark Carlson/AP) President Ferdinand Marcos Jrs administration allowed the global court to take custody of Mr Duterte, although the Philippines was no longer a party to the ICC, the legal team said. Our own government has surrendered a Filipino citizen even a former president at that to foreign powers, vice president Sara Duterte, the ex-presidents daughter, said on Tuesday before her father was flown out of Manila. This is a blatant affront to our sovereignty and an insult to every Filipino who believes in our nations independence, she said. This is not justice this is oppression and persecution. Mr Marcos appeared on nationwide television around midnight shortly after Mr Duterte was flown out and denied the allegations of the vice president, who has had a bitter falling out with him after their whirlwind political alliance as running mates in the 2022 elections crumbled. Mr Duterte carved a political name decades ago with his violent approach to criminality and his profanities, which became a trademark of his political persona especially when threatening to kill drug dealers as part of his war on illegal drugs that left thousands dead in his long years in power. Russian President Vladimir Putin was positive towards the peace deal brokered by the US (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he agrees in principle with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasised that the terms are yet to be worked out and noted that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace. The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Mr Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk about it with our American colleagues and partners and, perhaps, have a call with President Trump and discuss it with him. President Donald Trump said there have been good signals coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Mr Putins statement. Vladimir Putin, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pose for photos following talks at the Kremlin in Moscow (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) He reiterated that he stood ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war. Mr Putin put out a very promising statement, but it wasnt complete, Mr Trump said on Thursday at a start of a meeting at the White House with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte. Now were going to see whether or not Russias there. And if theyre not, itll be a very disappointing moment for the world. Mr Putin noted the need to develop mechanisms to control possible breaches of the truce and signalled that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use the break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilisation. US special envoy Steve Witkoff, centre, was scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin (Ben Curtis/AP) We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Mr Putin said. The Russian leader made the remarks just hours after the arrival of Mr Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for talks on the ceasefire, which Ukraine has accepted. A Kremlin adviser said that Mr Putin planned to meet with Mr Witkoff later on Thursday. The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. Russian forces claim to have retaken the town of Sudzha which was captured by Ukrainian forces last year (AP Photo, File) Mr Putin said it appeared that the US persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he questioned what will happen to them if the ceasefire takes hold, saying: Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender? Mr Putin thanked Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their noble mission to end the fighting, a statement that signalled those countries potential involvement in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any Nato members to monitor a prospective truce. The Russian defence ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operations hub in Kursk, came hours after Mr Putin visited his commanders in the Kursk region. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. The renewed Russian military push and Mr Putins high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Mr Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, which began more than three years ago with Russias full-scale invasion. The US on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior US and Ukrainian officials reported making progress on how to stop the fighting during talks in Saudi Arabia. Mr Trump said on Wednesday that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that Mr Trump is willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides, including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chided Russia on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal. He said that Ukraine is determined to move quickly toward peace and hoped US pressure would compel Russia to stop fighting. Pope Francis has marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate in hospital as he received positive medical news on his recovery, a cake and hundreds of messages wishing him well. He spent the morning in physiotherapy, followed Lenten spiritual exercises of the Roman curia and stopped to pray at the chapel in the Gemelli Hospital, where he has been under treatment for a complex lung infection since February 14, Vatican sources said. In the afternoon, he received a cake from hospital staff. A chest X-ray has confirmed improvements in his condition, the Vatican said on Wednesday, two days after doctors said he was no longer in imminent danger of death. People pray for Pope Francis in front of the Gemelli Hospital (Andrew Medichini/AP) The latest medical bulletin said the 88-year-olds condition remained stable but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility, which includes his age, limited mobility often requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man. No medical updates were issued on Thursday. Francis was elected on March 13 2013 as the 266th pontiff and the Catholic Churchs first Latin American pope. The anniversary is a public holiday at the Vatican but no special commemorations were held. A Mass was held in his honour later at the Argentine church in Rome. Francis received hundreds of drawings and messages from children and young people around the globe wishing him a full recovery, the Vatican said. Gemelli Hospital, about a 15-minute train ride from the Vatican, has become a stop for pilgrims visiting Rome as part of Jubilee Year celebrations. John Paul II, who spent 55 days in Gemelli in the longest hospital stretch by a pope to date used to quip that it was Vatican III after the Vatican itself and Castel Gandolfo, long used as a papal retreat by popes until Francis. Pope John Paul II on a visit to Dublin (PA) Its a sort of a seat of fragility, from where he continues his ministry, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro was quoted as saying in LAvvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops conference, on Thursday. The newspaper underlined that Francis is the first pope, at least in modern history, to spend the anniversary of his pontificate in hospital. Francis has this week been following a Lenten spiritual retreat that has been a mainstay of his papacy, with updates on his condition omitting reference to work. He continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day and a non-invasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night. He also is undergoing physical therapy, key to avoiding further repercussions from his hospital stay. The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave, which was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. While Francis has praised Benedicts humility in stepping down and said he might follow in his footsteps, more recently he has said the papacy is a job for life. Another milestone comes on Friday when Francis marks four weeks in hospital. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited military headquarters in the region on Wednesday (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Russia has claimed its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russias Kursk border region, as a senior Kremlin official said that a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the war would help Kyiv by giving its weary and short-handed military a break. The Russian Defence Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim. The renewed Russian military push and Mr Putins high-profile visit to his troops came as US President Donald Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, met Russian chief of general staff General Valery Gerasimov during his visit to military headquarters in the Kursk region on Wednesday (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) The US lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv on Tuesday after senior US and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia. Mr Trump said on Wednesday that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it will not engage with peace efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that US negotiators were on their way to Russia, but he would not comment on Moscows view of the ceasefire proposal. US President Donald Trump is pressing for a diplomatic end to the war (Pool via AP) Before the talks start, and they havent started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public, he told reporters. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz had spoken on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart. She also confirmed that Mr Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff would head to Moscow for talks with Russian officials, possibly including Mr Putin. Russian news agencies reported on Thursday that Mr Witkoffs plane had landed in Moscow. It was not immediately possible to verify the reports. Senior US officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days. But Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putins foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks on Thursday that a ceasefire would grant a temporary break for the Ukrainian military. Mr Ushakov said that Moscow wanted a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscows interests and concerns. His comments came a day after his phone call with Mr Waltz. Mr Ushakovs comments echoed statements from Mr Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its western allies. The US still has about 3.85 billion US dollars in congressionally authorised funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signalling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Mr Putin, right, with General Valery Gerasimov, second left, during his visit (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since the Second World War and embarrassed the Kremlin. Speaking to commanders on Wednesday, Mr Putin said he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. Mr Putin added that in the future its necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border, in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraines neighbouring Sumy region. This idea could complicate a ceasefire deal. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late on Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that was previously home to about 5,000 people. Ukraines top military head, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said late on Wednesday that Russian aviation had carried out an unprecedented number of strikes on Kursk and that as a result Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. 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 He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said it was manoeuvring (troops) to more advantageous lines. Meanwhile, Major General Dmytro Krasylnykov, commander of Ukraines Northern Operational Command, which includes the Kursk region, was dismissed from his post, he told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne on Wednesday. He told the outlet he was not given a reason for his dismissal, saying Im guessing, but I dont want to talk about it yet. Donald Trump is not yet fit to tie the laces of the Irish saint whom he wants to honour next week As politicians head Stateside, St Patricks courage and integrity stand in stark contrast with current White House administrations approach to global affairs Donald Trump Alf McCreary Thu 13 Mar 2025 at 07:00 Our leading politicians from the North and South have travelled to Washington DC to mark St Patricks Day by kissing the ring of the odious and self-styled King Donald Trump the first convicted felon to become a president of the US. Opinion Here are some questions the candidates for the interim Deschutes County Sheriff should answer: Is there anything in 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. Student movement was limited at Taconic and Pittsfield high schools Wednesday while police investigated a social media post that included an image of a gun. The farmers at Full Well Farm in Adams already have begun to plant seeds for enough lettuce to satisfy a growing need at a food pantry and meal kitchen. But now Meg Bantle and Laura Tupper-Palches find themselves scrambling to figure out how they will sell all the produce that they were asked to grow. Thats because the states source of money from the United States Department of Agriculture is about to dry up. The agency notified the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture on March 7 that the pandemic-era Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement program will end when the 18-month contract runs out in May. That means that, in the future, a loss of millions of dollars that won't got to farmers for food that would be sent to food banks and other organizations that feed the hungry. Another related source of funding the USDA told the state it was ending is the Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement program that helps organizations buy farm food for schools. It appears that Berkshire County is not affected by the school program, but state agricultural officials did not respond to requests to clarify. All told, that's a halt to $1 billion in federal spending. And it's the end of USDA grants for both programs that between 2022 and 2025 provided Massachusetts more than $11 million to put "straight toward the purchase of local foods from just under 500 unique farms and producers across the state and regions, according to the notice from the state. A USDA spokesperson told The Eagle that the program is seen as "short-term" assistance, and that the COVID era is over. Ending the programs signals a return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives," the spokesperson wrote in an email. The USDA, however, did make good on its obligations to pay out the remaining grant monies and "released over half a billion funds to do so, the spokesperson said. With 16 robust nutrition programs in place, they wrote, USDA remains focused on its core mission: strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious food. 'HUGE LOSS' Some in the Berkshires always knew the program wouldnt last forever. But it doesnt mean the loss doesnt hurt. It was a game changer for local farms, said Berkshire Grown Executive Director Margaret Moulton, and obviously a game changer for food pantries." The Great Barrington-based farm advocacy nonprofit was one of the organizations receiving that federal money and in turn paying local farmers for meat, eggs and produce that went to food pantries and meal kitchens as part of the nonprofits Farm to Food Access Program. Only a tiny fraction of the more than $1 million Berkshire Grown received went toward administrative expenses early on in 2022, Moulton said. The program fed more than 11,000 people per week in 2023, according to the nonprofit's annual report, and spent $299,479 on local food. Berkshire Grown that year received 69 percent of its funding from the federal government. Moulton said that she knew the program wasnt meant to be forever, and so Berkshire Grown is continuing to work on ways to help the farmers by opening up other wholesale markets. Those who buy and distribute food to pantries around the county say this will not stop the deliveries it will force them to go back to the old ways of sourcing food and possibly from large agribusiness because its cheaper. We dont want anybody to panic, said Berkshire Bounty Executive Director Morgan Ovitsky. Ovitsky said she wants food pantries to know that we will maintain our commitment." The organization, which runs mostly on volunteers, also will try to keep supporting local farmers, but has to make sure it can meet demand. And that demand has grown significantly since 2020. Weve been asked to increase what were bringing every year, said Full Well Farms Bantle. Most popular were tomatoes, salad greens, carrots and herbs, she said. Last year was our biggest year to date. Bantle said the farm received between $14,000 and $16,000 from Berkshire Grown last year to make a weekly delivery, for 30 weeks, to the Berkshire Food Project in Williamstown, and the Friendship Center Food Pantry in North Adams. The farm worked with the organizations to meet their needs, and now were trying to scramble to make secondary plans for how to sell that produce. Its a huge loss, Bantle said. For Michael Gallagher of Square Roots Farm in Lanesborough, financial loss wont be as hard a hit, but it will remove an extra layer of support. Its helped us in a lot of ways, Gallagher said, particularly to sell products that weren't moving quickly. Berkshire Grown had invited the farm to participate in the program. Last year, for instance, he sold 70 Thanksgiving turkeys for food pantries. Gallagher, who mainly raises pigs, cows and chickens for meat and eggs, said that it has always been part of the farms goal to feed as broad a cross-section of the community as possible, and he does that in a number of ways. But the food access program, he said, was an awesome way." Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. If Im walking down the halls at our church and someone shouts out, Pastor, I turn around. Thats not the name my mother and father gave me, but I still turn around because my position is such that people will refer to me by a title instead of my personal name. But the other day I was walking around with a pastor friend and someone said, Hey pastor! We both turned around. Pastor isnt a personal name. In the same way, in the beginning pages of Scripture, words were used to describe God that were more impersonal. Words like Elohim are a more general title. Its like saying pastor and multiple people turn around. But in Exodus 3:14, God shares his personal name with Moses: YHWH or Yahweh. What does that name mean? The Origin of YHWH Thats kind of an ironic header I just wrote. The name YHWH is what God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15. It points to the reality that God is self-existent. In other words, He doesnt have an origin. YHWH is derived from the Hebrew verb to be (hayah). Its a name that means I am. This name is Gods answer to Moses question, Who should I say sent me? When God replies that He is YHWH, its significant. No other gods and certainly no human can claim self-existence. He simply IS. That means He doesnt need Moses. He doesnt need the Israelites. He doesnt need the Egyptians. He is standing outside of history. He doesnt get His identity or existence from the things taking place on earth. What a tremendous comfort this would be to Moses and the Israelites. The Meaning and Theological Significance of YHWH Its rather amazing how God reveals Himself to Moses and then the Israelites. If He were merely a functional God, then remaining as El Shaddai or Elohim could suffice. He could be the God whofill in the blank. But God lets Moses know the core of His identity: I Am. He is relating to Moses as a living being, not one who is static or distant. God is not a flat character in a story but One who is vivid and alive. This also sets God apart from all others. He is wholly other. The idols of Egypt require others to prop them up. They are not self-existent. They need to be crafted in a furnace. But God isnt crafted He does the crafting. Furthermore, it shows Gods unchanging nature. Its not that He was or that He will be. No, God is. Always. He is eternally present. Thats pretty difficult to grasp, but I do know that it means that He is fully present in every moment of our existence. He is fully existing in every moment. And all of this leads to the surety that Moses and the Israelites can have in such a God. He is a covenant keeping God. He will never fail them. The name YHWH appears often when making promises and covenants with the people. Hes signing His name. Not a title but rather His own existence is sealing the deal with covenants. Why Was YHWH Not Spoken Aloud? The name YHWH took on such significance that the Jewish people would not say His name. This is why we arent entirely certain how YHWH ought to be pronounced. Another name for the name of God is the tetragrammaton. Thats a big word that simply means the four letters. When Hebrew started supplying vowels, they took the vowels from Adonai and stuck them between the consonants. That gave us YeHoWaH. That wasnt meant to make it easier to pronounce but to signal readers to say Adonai instead of attempting to pronounce YHWH. It was taboo to speak Gods name, so they would either say HaShem (the Name) or theyd use names like Adonai or Elohim. There is no Scripture where God says Dont say YHWH. But the practice likely derived from God telling them not to use His name in vain. I guess they supposed you cant say His name in vain if you always revere it so much that you never say it. Youve also maybe heard the name Jehovah. Thats not a different name for God; its just YHWH in a Latinized form. There isnt a Y or a W in Latin. So Latin writers replaced Y with a J (or an I) and the W became a V. Thus rendering the name of God as JeHoVaH. Up until the medieval period that I or J would have still been pronounced like a Y sound. But over time we started pronouncing the J like we do today, thus giving rise to Jehovah. All that to say, "Jehovah" is a later development, originating from medieval misunderstandings of the Masoretic notations. But its still YHWH and we cannot be entirely certain how to pronounce it though most are agreed that Yahweh is likely closest. YHWH in the New Testament Have you ever heard someone make the argument that Jesus never claimed to be God? That argument falls apart if you understand the meaning of the name YHWH. Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus makes several I am statements. But the big one and the one which caused the religious leaders to pick up stones to throw at Him for blasphemy was John 8:58. There Jesus said, Before Abraham was, I AM. He was not only uttering the name of God, but also applying it to Himself. It was a bold claim. But His other I am statements are just as bold. Each of these statements parallels something YHWH did in the Old Testament: "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35) and YHWH provided manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4) "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12) and YHWH is called the light of Israel (Isaiah 60:19). "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11) and YHWH is Israels shepherd (Psalm 23:1, Ezekiel 34:11-12). "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25) and YHWH alone gives life and resurrection (Deuteronomy 32:39). "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) and YHWH is the truth and life (Psalm 86:11, Deuteronomy 30:20). "I am the true vine" (John 15:1) and Israel was called YHWHs vineyard (Isaiah 5:7). In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul picks up on this by saying that Jesus has the name above all names and then quotes Isaiah 45:23 where YHWH says that every knee will bow before Him. It doesnt get much more explicit than this. Jesus the Son of God is the great I Am. Why YHWH Matters Today The name YHWH isnt just some argument about semantics but rather a revelation of who God is. Or rather that God is. He is the self-existent, covenant keeping God who does not change. Thats rather needed in a world that is constantly shifting. To know that we serve a God who is not shaped by history or dependent upon anything outside of Himself, means that we can breathe easier. He is in control, just as He always has been. It also helps us to rejoice that God is always present. And He consistently shows Himself to be a God who delivers. Jesus, the great I AM, stepped into history in order to redeem us. YHWH took upon human flesh and died a criminals death to rescue us from ourselves. Thats the beautiful story of the gospel. We are not left to wonder who God is. YHWH means that God is. The I AM has made Himself known. The question is, will we trust Him? Or try to find meaning on our own? Photo credit: Getty Images/Andry Djumantara BillOReilly.com is not available in this country. We apologize for any inconvenience. Help Our Community Please help local businesses by taking an online survey to help us navigate through these unprecedented times. None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com $1,000 is being awarded. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Thank You! Take The Survey The Director of Public Prosecutions has decided not to run a third trial against a financial services manager accused of being part of an alleged conspiracy to defraud investors in Custom House Capital over a decade ago. Two juries failed to reach a verdict in the case of Ciara Kelleher (53), the firm's then-senior portfolio relationship manager. Advertisement She was accused of one count of conspiring with others to defraud investors, clients, and customers of Custom House Capital Ltd (CHC) by intentionally misleading them as to where or how their assets had been placed in the investment firm. The offence was alleged to have happened within the State on dates between October 2008 and July 2011. Ms Kelleher, of Blackhorse Ave, Dublin 7, had denied the charge. The first trial took place two years ago, and the second trial finished a month ago. The case was adjourned until Thursday to allow the DPP time to decide whether to go ahead with a third trial. Advertisement When called in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, the prosecutor told Judge Martin Nolan that a nolle prosequi could be entered, meaning the charge against Ms Kelleher is being dismissed. It was the State's case that CHC entered agreements to buy properties in mainland Europe at the time of financial crash. In 2008, CHC began to use client funds to meet these obligations, often without the knowledge or authorisation of clients. It was the prosecution's case that transactions on CHC's systems were backed out of property before valuations were issued to clients. These valuations were misleading and did not show clients the true location of their funds. It was the prosecution's case that Ms Kelleher was aware and involved in a scheme to defraud investors in CHC. Ms Kelleher denies any wrongdoing. Advertisement CHC's former chief executive Harry Cassidy (69), John Whyte (55), former head of private clients, and Paul Lavery (49), former head of finance, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to defraud investors in and clients and customers of Custom House Capital Ltd by intentionally misleading them as to where and/or how their assets had been placed contrary to common law. John Mulholland (75), of The Foxes Colvert, Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny a non-executive director of CHC pleaded guilty to one count of neglectful discharge of the duty of a director in relation to the commission by the company of acts of dishonesty by inducing clients to entrust funds, refrain from removing funds with the intention of making a gain for itself and causing loss to another. Ireland Four Custom House Capital executives jailed for ro... Read More All of the offences occurred within the State between October 1st, 2008, and July 15th, 2011. Cassidy (69), of Clon Brugh, Aitkens Village, Stepaside, Dublin; Whyte (55), of Beechpark, Lucan, Dublin; Lavery (49), of Rafeenan, Ballynod, Co Monaghan, and Mulholland were all sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court almost two years ago. Advertisement Cassidy was handed a sentence of six years and 10 months, Whyte former head of private clients received a sentence of four years and Lavery was handed a sentence of three years. Mulholland received a 12-month sentence. An Oasis movie produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will be made in conjunction with the bands reunion tour. The Britpop band, who split in 2009 prompted by a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival, confirmed their long-awaited reunion in August 2024. Advertisement Knight, 65, who wrote the script for Oscar-nominated film Maria, and Disney+ series A Thousand Blows, will create and produce the movie, the band announced. No release date has been set and there are no further details regarding the content of the film. Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher announced a worldwide tour in 2024 (Simon Emmett/Fear PR) The band, who split more than 15 years ago and released their chart-topping album Definitely Maybe about three decades ago, will first take to the stage for two performances at Cardiffs Principality Stadium. The UK and Ireland tour will also visit Manchesters Heaton Park, Londons Wembley Stadium, Edinburghs Murrayfield Stadium and Dublins Croke Park throughout July, August and September. Advertisement When tickets went on sale for the UK and Ireland shows, some standard tickets more than doubled from 148 (176) to 355 (423), which was blamed on unprecedented demand. There was outrage from fans and the controversy prompted the Government and the UKs competition watchdog to pledge they would look at the use of dynamic pricing. The band is also travelling to Japan, South Korea, South America, Australia, America, Mexico and Canada as part of their tour. Oasis, who signed to independent record label Creation Records in 1993, soared to fame after they released their debut chart-topping album Definitely Maybe on August 29 1994. Advertisement They had hits with songs including Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall, Supersonic and Live Forever. Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher had been known to get into arguments over the years, but things reached breaking point at a French festival when Liam began swinging around a guitar. Noel quit the rock group on August 28th, 2009, saying he simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. In 2021, the documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996 was released to celebrate the band playing two concerts at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire a year after the release of their 1995 album Whats The Story (Morning Glory). Advertisement The new film will be directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace and will be distributed by Sony Music Vision. The Supreme Court has ruled that protections prohibiting the naming of a young man convicted of murdering the Co Cork student Cameron Blair should continue to apply throughout and beyond the conclusion of the proceedings relating to the case, including appeals. The courts judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley on Thursday, overrules a landmark Court of Appeal judgment permitting the naming of the young man, who was 17 years old when he pleaded guilty to Mr Blairs murder on the Bandon Road in Cork on January 16th, 2020. Advertisement The young man had reached adulthood when the Court of Appeal last year dismissed his appeal against being sentenced to life detention with a review to be conducted after serving 13 years. The court also held that the media could identify an accused who turns 18 during their criminal court proceedings or appeals. This dislodged a long-standing interpretation of section 93 of the Children Act, 2001 that identity protections for child offenders continue to apply when an accused appears before appellant courts. An order was made pausing the effects of the Court of Appeals decision pending his appeal of the courts decision lifting anonymity. The Supreme Court determined that the sole issue in the young mans appeal was whether a defendant who is charged and brought before the courts while a child remains entitled the Childrens Act 2001 protections if they reach the age of 18 before the criminal proceedings, including any appeals, have concluded. Advertisement The court ruled that the protections should apply when criminal proceedings are commenced against a child, and continue to apply throughout and beyond the conclusion of the proceedings. Ms Justice Jackson said that this interpretation of the relevant Childrens Act 2001 section seems to her to reduce the possibility of unequal and unfair treatment as between young offenders, and attempts to ensure that they are not subjected to additional, unjustified and unnecessary pressure and harm while involved in the criminal justice process. The DPP and the Attorney General had said that the protections should apply when criminal proceedings are commenced against a child, and are capable of having indefinite effect. However, the State parties argued the protections should expire if the person reached 18 before the conclusion of the proceedings. The five-judge court agreed unanimously with Ms Justice Jacksons judgment. Advertisement She proposed making an order allowing the young mans appeal, and granting a declaration stating the anonymity protections apply to him in proceedings before the Central Criminal Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, notwithstanding the fact that he reached the age of majority during the currency of those proceedings. The case was adjourned to March 26th for the making of final orders, allowing for submissions from the parties. Ms Justice Jackson noted that a separate Supreme Court appeal which was also delivered by the court on Thursday impacts the young man, as a review of his sentence to be conducted after his serving 13 years, stipulated in the life sentence handed down to him by the Central Criminal Court, cannot now be held. The separate appeal was taken by the young man convicted of murdering Mongolian woman Urantsetseg Tserendorj in January 2021 and sentenced to life with a review after 13 years. Advertisement Ireland Report finds five foster care services operated by... Read More In the judgment delivered by Ms Justice Jackson, the Supreme Court ruled that, following the repeal of the Children's Act 1908 in 2007, a sentencing court does not have the power to review the detention of a child convicted of murder. The court ruled that a sentencing court may not reserve to itself the power to modify a sentence through a review procedure, as it infringes on the Constitution. In the circumstances, the court ruled that it would allow the young man convicted of stabbing Ms Tserendorj to death to appeal his sentence. Ms Justice Jackson said her provisional view is that the case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal so that the court can impose a new sentence. The judgment, in effect, means that a small number of people who were sentenced as children to life sentences are now serving straightforward life sentences. The ruling may now lead to appeals brought by those people against their sentences. A detective has rejected a defence claim that he had already judged a 37-year-old man who is accused of murdering his partner and decided he had committed the crime before his garda interview began. He spoke about how he had stabbed her in the heart area and the noise she made, said Detective Sergeant Robert Madden, during cross-examination in the trial of Daniel Blanaru (37). Advertisement Mr Blanaru, from Rathmore, Athboy, Co Meath, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Larisa Serban (26) on or about August 12th, 2022. It is the State's case that she was stabbed to death by Mr Blanaru, whom they argue was a jealous and "controlling" partner. The jury previously heard that in garda interview, Mr Blanaru said that he might have stabbed Larisa with a very sharp knife, but he could not say how deep into her body it went. He also told gardai: I am guilty, I killed her. Please lock me up. At the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, Det Sgt Madden, who interviewed the accused at Ashbourne Garda Station on August 12th, 2022, was cross-examined by defence counsel, Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC. Mr O Lideadha put it to the witness that he had already judged Mr Blanaru before beginning the interview, having already decided that the accused had committed murder. Advertisement I was there to get an account from the suspect. With every murder investigation, we approach it with an open mind. This was his opportunity to give his account, replied Det Sgt Madden. Hed admitted stabbing her in the previous interview, so you had made up your mind, said Mr O Lideadha. The detective replied that if a suspect admits something, this must be corroborated with evidence. He said that Mr Blanaru was a suspect who had to comment on the evidence put to him. Mr O Lideadha put it to the witness that the gardai had photos of the crime scene, but the main feature of these was the face and body of Larisa lying dead on the floor. Advertisement He asked what the purpose was of showing Mr Blanaru these photos, to which Det Sgt Madden replied that it was to establish the location of the murder weapon. Mr O Lideadha next asked the witness whether he had been aware that Mr Blanaru had been awake for the whole night before being interviewed. Det Sgt Madden said that he was not aware of exactly when the accused had slept, but he knew that Mr Blanaru had been assessed by a doctor and deemed fit to be interviewed. Do you accept as a matter of common sense that a person who hasnt slept for 24 hours or more, that can have an adverse effect on their cognitive abilities and their ability to interact with the demands of an interview process? asked Mr O Lideadha. Advertisement The common sense approach is to let a doctor make that assessment, replied Det Sgt Madden. Mr O Lideadha asked the witness if he had been aware that any reference to the accuseds children was liable to make him upset and start crying. Det Sgt Madden replied that he did not know if he had mentioned anything about the accuseds children, but he said that Mr Blanaru was upset from the start of the interview. The detective went on to say: We were there to do a job. Its difficult, he was upset, but someone being upset doesnt preclude us from putting the evidence to him. Advertisement Mr O Lideadha suggested to the witness that he had said things to cause Mr Blanaru pain in order to get information, but Det Sgt Madden denied this. Defence counsel said that in the interview, Mr Blanaru said that he had been up for two days with no food, and yet the gardai did not say that they had any concerns about his fitness to be interviewed. He said he had been drinking alcohol and taking drugs, but he didnt appear under the influence, replied Det Sgt Madden. The witness went on to say: He spoke about how he had stabbed her in the heart area and the noise she made. He said that the accused was asked how many times he stabbed her, to which Mr Blanaru had replied that he did not know. He said that there was no point in lying anymore, which suggested that he had lied before, said Det Sgt Madden. Ireland Families of Creeslough victims lodge objection to... Read More Mr O Lideadha pointed out that what the accused had said was that he had possibly stabbed her while they were struggling. On various occasions, he says possibly, and you turn that into stabbing her in the heart, said Mr O Lideadha. We know she was stabbed in the heart, and we know he had a knife in his hand, replied Det Sgt Madden. The trial continues on Friday before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and an enlarged jury of 11 men and four women. Fota Wildlife Park in Cork has announced the birth of a Francois' langur monkey, a species classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The baby Francois' langur was born on February 1stSt Brigids Dayto mother Mei, and father Shinobi, who are both nine years old. Advertisement They reside in the Asian Sanctuary in the park, which is home to a variety of endangered species from across Asia. Mei and her younger sister, Kaili, travelled from Twycross Zoo in the UK to Fota Wildlife Park in September 2022 as part of a European Endangered Breeding Programme. They were joined a few months later by the male, Shinobi, who arrived from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in December 2022. This latest addition to the family follows the birth of Tang, who arrived in November 2023. The birth brings the group of Francois' langurs to five. Advertisement Like all Francois' langur babies, the youngster is currently sporting a striking bright orange coat, which contrasts vividly against the sleek black fur of the adults. ]Second Endangered Francois' Langur Born at Fota Wildlife Park. Over the next few months, the babys coat will gradually darken, eventually developing the species signature white sideburns that extend from the ears to the corners of the cheeks. Lead Ranger, Teresa Power said this birth marks another milestone for the parks successful breeding programme for this rare primate species. She hopes the birth of this baby will help raise awareness about the critical need for conservation efforts for the endangered monkey. Advertisement There is a wild population of 1,400 -1,650 in China and fewer than 500 left in Vietnam. Ms Power said that Mei is doing exceptionally well with her second baby. She is supported by her younger sister, Kaili, who has taken on the role of an enthusiastic and caring aunt. This behaviour, known as allomothering, is common among Francois' langurs, where females within the group help to nurture and raise the young. Tang, now a big sister, initially showed signs of jealousy but is slowly adapting to the new arrival. "Interestingly, she has been seen spending more time with her father, Shinobi, since the birth of her sibling. Meanwhile, the six-week-old monkey is already displaying curiosity, beginning to venture away from Mei for brief moments while still staying close to her for reassurance. A father-of-one assaulted a hotel security guard in a drunken rage after missing a concert in Dublin, punching him and repeatedly spitting in his face while pulling out his hair. Mark McAnulty, 42, Rossmara Park, Newry, Co Down, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court on Thursday to assault causing harm, resisting arrest and criminal damage on November 7th. Advertisement Judge John King heard that McAnulty got agitated at 10:50pm in the Premier Inn, Brabazon Place, Dublin 8. A 26-year-old security officer approached McAnulty and asked him to leave. In response, the accused threw two pint glasses, which smashed and stained the carpet. The security man tried to remove McAnulty, who "spat into his face a number of times punched and pulled his hair, causing some of his hair to come out from his head". Gardai found him outside, very intoxicated and agitated. "He put up a struggle and had to be restrained" before being taken to Kevin Street station," the court was told. Advertisement McAnulty remained aggressive in custody and urinated on the cell door, which needed to be cleaned. He had no previous convictions. Pleading for leniency, the defence asked the judge to note that the victim did not need medical attention and continued working. The court heard he came to Dublin by train with friends but started drinking on the trip to the city. He had been going to a concert at the Vicar Street venue but had separated from his companions. Advertisement In a plea for leniency, his barrister said McAnulty did not know the city well and instead ended up indulging in several licensed premises and "consumed a considerable amount of alcohol". It happened after a period of "quite a while" where he had abstained from alcohol. He also spent two nights in custody in the immediate aftermath until 650 bail was lodged. Counsel asked the judge to give McAnulty credit for his guilty plea and remorse and to consider that the victim did not suffer any injuries and carried on his shift. Advertisement Ireland Chambers held housing data that would have changed... Read More The court heard unemployed McAnulty gets a disability allowance called the Personal Independence Payment due to depression and physical health issues. He brought 500 to court. Court Garda Sergeant Niall Murphy, who presented the case facts on behalf of the arresting officer, accepted the victim did not seek medical attention and continued working. But he submitted that it did not make it any less serious. McAnulty has been ordered to pay compensation of 1,500 to the security guard and 120 to cover the cleanup costs at both the Garda station and the hotel. The judge indicated that if these amounts are paid, he would avoid a sentence and be released on a conditional discharge. The case is set to resume in April. Chinese culture enthralls students at Maltese school's multicultural event Xinhua) 10:07, March 13, 2025 People watch a drum performance during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) VALLETTA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. The festivities included lion dances, Tai Chi performances, folk dances, and traditional Chinese food tastings. Enthusiastic students joined in the performances, while teachers and parents recorded the lively moments on their mobile phones. The Chinese cultural booth, organized collaboratively by the Chinese Embassy in Malta, the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta, and the 20th Chinese medical team from the Mediterranean Regional Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine (MRCTCM), showcased porcelain tea sets, Peking Opera masks, Chinese brushes, and an assortment of traditional Chinese foods. Nine-year-old students Adelyn Fenech and Miryanna Cassar expressed their excitement after the performances, sharing their aspirations to learn Chinese and visit China in the future. Alexandra Vella, head of Paola Primary School, emphasized the importance of cultural education, saying, "It is very important that our students, as part of their education, learn about different cultures. Chinese culture is very rich." She hopes for more opportunities for students to experience Chinese culture on campus in the future. Teacher Isabelle Marmara Gafa noted that such cultural activities help students gain a basic understanding of China and Chinese traditions, broadening their horizons. On the same day, Junior College-University of Malta hosted an event dedicated to making tangyuan, or glutinous rice dumplings. Wang Weili, a teacher from the Confucius Institute, introduced the Chinese Lantern Festival and the traditional food tangyuan. Subsequently, Wan Daguo, a member of the 20th Chinese medical team for Malta, guided students in making the dumplings. Martina Salerno, a student at Junior College, appreciated the hands-on experience, saying, "It's a very good opportunity because we don't just get to eat food, we also learn how it's made and the culture behind it." Salerno, who began studying Chinese in October last year, plans to pursue Chinese as her major at the University of Malta. Students visit the Chinese cultural booth during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) People watch a lion dance during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) Students visit the Chinese cultural booth during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) It is important that Northern Ireland does not become collateral damage in any trade war between the US and EU, its deputy First Minister said. Emma Little-Pengelly said the region was in a tricky situation over trade, that she intended to highlight with ambassadors. Advertisement Post-Brexit rules, set out in the Windsor Framework, aligns Northern Ireland trade processes with EU customs arrangements, while remaining part of the UKs customs union. US President Donald Trump has been threatening to impose tariffs on the EU to balance what he has called a massive trade deficit with the bloc. After criticising the EU on Wednesday for not buying more cars from the US, on Thursday he signalled he would impose a 200% tariff on EU alcoholic drinks. Emma Little-Pengelly speaks to the media outside the US Capitol in Washington DC on Wednesday (Niall Carson/PA) Asked about the threat of tariffs and how it could affect Northern Ireland, Ms Little-Pengelly said: The key issue for me is that we dont become that collateral damage, and we need do everything that we can to influence that. Advertisement If we are caught up in this, in truth that it is going to be, in my view, the collateral. It is not going to be the aim of this. So, of course, my role here is to make sure Im speaking up for Northern Ireland and trying to ensure as many people as possible are aware of the dangers of this. Ms Little-Pengelly, speaking at the NI Bureau in Washington DC in the US on Thursday, also said Northern Ireland cannot be left behind in any trade deal with the US. A trade deal with the US would be and would have, as an aspect of that, some form of tariff reduction. So, of course its important as well that Northern Ireland can benefit from that. Advertisement She said it had been repeatedly raised with UK governments and prime ministers that Northern Ireland needed to benefit from future trade deals. There are ways to do this. This is not just a binary black-and-white situation, where there is either tariffs in this area, or theres not. Theres always these sort of conditions and carve-outs around all of those. But we need the people in the room to be aware of the issue to make sure that that happens for Northern Ireland. The DUP MLA said the trip to Washington DC for St Patricks Day has been an incredibly fruitful one. Advertisement Emma Little-Pengelly presents Donald Trump with a personalised flag from Royal Portrush Golf Club, at the US Capitol in Washington DC on Wednesday (DUP/PA) Weve had a number of very significant conversations, not just, of course, directly with the president, but of course engagement with the new UK ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, Ive now spoken to him a number of times, she said at the NI Bureau breakfast in Washington DC. She said she has also had a number of conversations with the two US nominees to become ambassadors to the UK and Ireland. These are really key conversations because, of course, these are the people, the policymakers, the influencers, that are key to speak up for Northern Ireland, particularly when dealing with tricky issues. Asked whether the US engagements had been limited because of the absence of First Minister Michelle ONeill as part of Sinn Feins White House boycott, Ms Little-Pengelly said: I think it shows a confidence in our Executive. Advertisement I think it demonstrates that the Executive is actually working well together. I believe Im a very strong voice for Northern Ireland. Im not shy about putting forward our case and making sure that we do get into those rooms, and we are saying everything that is fantastic about our wonderful place we call home. Three female students who are alleged to have engaged in violent altercations with one another, including an arranged fight, have taken a joint High Court challenge against their expulsions from Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). The three are seeking to overturn their expulsion from Dundalk Institute of Technology after four alleged fights - three on campus and one off campus - that occurred between January 30th and 31st last year. Advertisement The three actions were brought by Margaret Eyong Taku, Wendy Briggs and Christina Igweze, who allege their punishment was disproportionate, that alternative sanctions were not described to them as having been considered and that no reason was given by the college for their expulsion. The allegations are that the three were involved in aggressive physical altercations with each other over the two days, which allegedly involved Ms Briggs having her head stepped on, the use of a wet floor warning sign and the pulling out of weaved hair. In February 2024, a committee recommended that all three be expelled from the college and banned from its campus and grounds. The following April, an Appeals Committee of the college considered and rejected all three of their appeals. The three were granted a judicial review by the High Court in July 2024. Advertisement Prior to their expulsion Ms Taku, from Tinnamona, Callan, Co Kilkenny and Ms Igweze of Knightsgate Avenue, Rush, Co Dublin were undergraduate students on the college's Bachelor of Science in Mental Health Nursing course. Ms Briggs, from North Road, Drogheda, Co Louth, was an undergraduate student on the college's Bachelor of Science in Bioscience programme. At the High Court on Thursday, Joe Jeffers SC, for the three women, said the sanctions against the three students were delivered without reasons and were disproportionate. He also argued that the appeals committee erred in not adequately explaining why it discounted other, lesser sanctions. Mr Jeffers told Mr Justice Anthony Barr that the appeals committee had an obligation to be a de novo hearing - starting afresh - but in their deliberations considered the decision of the previous discipline committee. Advertisement Mr Justice Barr said it had been submitted to the court that Ms Igweze and Ms Taku had been "bullied" by Briggs and that a canteen altercation took place where a chair had been kicked. The alleged incident then spilled into the corridor remonstration where Mr Briggs, it is claimed, attacked Ms Taku. Mr Justice Barr said that it had been submitted to the court that there was a reference to a male connected to Ms Briggs who was described in papers as "a bodyguard" and told the other two women that he knew where they lived. The two women took this to be a threat and decided to go back to the college to "sort it out". When the two returned to the college after 5pm on January 30th, 2024, an alleged second incident occurred in a corridor resulting in Ms Briggs fleeing the area. Advertisement The next day there is an alleged third incident of a "serious fight", said the judge, that was recorded by onlookers in a hospitality corridor during which it is claimed Ms Briggs grabbed a female student and hit her head against the wall. Mr Jeffers said each applicant had apologised, accepted their behaviors were unacceptable and expressed their wishes to return to their studies after what was a first infringement for each student. Counsel said the committees were required but had failed to consider proportionality, tell the students which sanctions it considered were inappropriate and show they had done so. Michael J Howard SC, for the college, said there was no disproportionality to the decision to expel and that the question in the case was whether or not "no appeals committee could have come to the same decision to expel all three". Advertisement Ireland Girl injured in Dublin stabbing communicating on... Read More Mr Howard said that on January 31, the day after the first two incidents, two more fights broke out, one of which was recorded on campus. Counsel said an arranged fight then took place behind a shop, where Ms Briggs allegedly had her head stamped on. Mr Howard said that in the alleged incident in the college, Ms Taku had her hair ripped off, which resulted in Ms Briggs being allegedly attacked with a floor sign until the college chef separated them. Mr Howard said the girls knew what they did was foolish, admitted it, that one person had their head stamped on and that all three knew why they were expelled. Mr Justice Barr said he would reserve judgment in the matter. The criminal courts practice of stipulating future reviews of sentences handed down to children is in breach of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has held, in a judgment that may have significant ramifications for a cohort of the States young offenders. The courts judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Iseult OMalley on Thursday, also ruled that life sentences should be imposed on a child only in cases of murder where the intentions and actions of the child resembled those of an adult. Advertisement The court also ruled that a court may suspend part of a sentence in cases of a minor convicted of murder and other serious crimes. The judgment arises from an appeal taken by the young man convicted of murdering Mongolian woman Urantsetseg Tserendorj in Dublin in January 2021. The young man was sentenced to life in detention, with a review of the sentence to be conducted after 13 years. He was 14 years old when he stabbed Ms Tserendorj on a walkway between Georges Dock and Custom House Quay at the IFSC, Dublin, on January 20th, 2021. Advertisement The Supreme Court held that without legislative authority, a sentencing court may not reserve to itself, through a review mechanism, the power to modify a sentence. To do so amounts to a breach of Article 13.6 of Bunreacht na hEireann, which gives the President of Ireland acting on the advice of the Government the right to pardon and the power to commute or remit punishment. The practice of setting review dates for sentences handed down to children convicted of murder arises from an interpretation of section 103 of the Children Act 1908. The law was repealed in 2007, and there is no equivalent provision in the Children Act 2001, the court noted. As such, the judge sentencing the young man who murdered Ms Tserendorj did not have the power to order a review date of the life sentence handed down, Ms Justice OMalley said in her judgment. Advertisement The court ruled that it would allow the young man to appeal his sentence. Ms Justice OMalley said her provisional view is that the case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal so that the court can impose a new sentence. The young man had previously, unsuccessfully, appealed his sentence to the Court of Appeal. Ireland Romanian squatters disappeared when gardai called... Read More As a result of Thursdays ruling, a small number of persons, sentenced as children to a life sentence with a review date, are now serving straightforward life sentences. The ruling may present grounds for those people to bring appeals against their sentences. The case was adjourned to late March for the making of final orders, allowing for submissions from the parties. Advertisement A separate Supreme Court judgment also delivered on Thursday means prohibitions on naming the young man continue to apply in the proceedings before the courts. In an appeal brought by the young man convicted of murdering Co Cork student Cameron Blair, the court ruled that the protections under section 93 of the Children Act 2001 restricting the identification of children in criminal proceedings should apply when criminal proceedings are commenced against a child and continue to apply throughout and beyond the conclusion of the proceedings. Romanians, who had squatted for months in a dangerous and fire risk flats complex, had disappeared last night when gardai called to arrest 27 of them who had been found in contempt of court orders to get out and directed by a judge to be imprisoned. Barrister Johnnie Mc Coy, who appeared with Greg Ryan Solicitors in the Circuit Civil Court Thursday for retired solicitor and landlord, Mel Kilrane, told Judge Roderick Maguire that all of them had abandoned the property overnight. Advertisement It appears now it will not be necessary for anything further to happen and we feel the matter should be put back for a week for mention, Mr McCoy said. Judge Maguire said that after attaching and committing the offending defendants to prison he had ordered all of them to be brought before the court on Thursday but none had turned up. Garda Sergeant Patrick Martin, Mountjoy Garda Station, told the court that when gardai turned up at the property at 9 Belvedere Place, Dublin, on Thursday night they found that all of the defendants had gone and the property was in the hands of a private security company. Judge Maguire said that in the circumstances the orders against all of the 27 defendants were now spent and adjourned the proceedings for mention next week. Advertisement Mr McCoy said he had received instructions from the landlord to specifically thank Garda George Magdelena, a Romanian speaker who had acted as interpreter on several occasions for the court and Garda Michael McGrath for their assistance in dealing with the case. Judge Maguire also added his thanks to members of the gardai who had assisted the court on Wednesday when he had made his committal orders. Ireland Cameron Blair's murderer entitled to anonymity, co... Read More Earlier the court had been told by barrister Joe Jackson, also acting for the landlord, that the Romanian nationals, including many children, had been squatting in a dangerous building which was a serious fire risk. Mr Kilrane had been fined in the District Court for breaching fire regulations. He said workmen for Mr Kilrane had attempted to enter the property to carry out repairs and renovations but had been faced by angry squatters, some producing knives. Advertisement Mr Jackson had told other Circuit Civil Court judges that there were many children among the squatters who claimed they could not afford legal representation. He said there was an ongoing health hazard as the squatters were living in atrocious squalor and in the middle of their own faeces. At earlier hearings judges had expressed concern for the rehousing of the squatters, many of whom had children at local schools. South Dublin residents are contesting Orchid Homes' plans to construct a 212-bed student space on the Vector Motors site at Goatstown in Dublin 14. This follows three separate third party appeals lodged with An Bord Pleanala against Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's decision to give the scheme the go-ahead. Advertisement The originally planned 220-bed student space scheme was to be accommodated in a six storey building and Orchid Homes has told the appeals board that the scheme would provide high quality, much needed student accommodation proximate to UCD. In its grant of permission, the Council ordered the omission of eight bed-spaces from the 5th floor. Appellants and local residents, John and Oksana Cronin have told the board that addressing housing issues should not come at the cost of the quality of life for existing residents. They state that this project is not even about solving a housing crisis - it is purely driven by profit. Advertisement They further state: If this new six storey building is allowed to be constructed in front of our windows - no more sky, no more sunlight, no more birds flying by as that would block the skyline. Other third party appeals have been lodged by Gary McIlroy and Trimbleston Owners Management CLG, while Orchid Residential Ltd - which is co-owned by Max O'Reilly Hyland - has lodged a first party appeal against a financial contribution. In the Trimbleston Owners Management CLG appeal drawn up by BPS Planning and Development Consultants, it claims that the proposal would comprise a dominant and visually incongruous scheme due to its height, scale, design and massing. The appeal states that the impacts on Trimbleston would be visual overbearing and loss of privacy. Advertisement According to MD of BPS Planning and Development Consultants, Brendan Buck, the proposed would seriously injure the amenities or depreciate the value of property in the area. Ireland Major development of almost 2,000 affordable homes... Read More Mr Buck claims that the quantum of development shoe-horned into the applicant site is excessive. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Councils grant of permission followed An Bord Pleanala only in January of this year refusing planning permission to Orchid Residential Ltd for a Strategic Housing Development (SHD) for 221 student bed spaces at the same site. The SHD plans were first lodged in April 2022 and appeals board refused planning permission for that proposal as it would not be satisfied that the proposal would not adversely impact on daylight levels within existing properties immediately adjoining the application site. In the first party appeal, Orchid Residential Ltd is contesting a planning condition by the Council requiring the applicants to pay 389,587 in respect of a shortfall in public open space. Tributes are being paid to a young student who died in hospital after falling from an upper storey of an apartment complex in Cork city. Darragh McCarthy (21), from Carrigagour, Midleton, Cork, fell from an upper storey of the Eden Hall student accommodation on Model Farm Road at around 4am last Thursday. Advertisement His friends called the emergency services and paramedics treated the young man at the scene. He was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where his condition was described as critical. He died on Tuesday. It is understood Mr McCarthy fell from the fourth floor. Several units of the Cork City Fire Brigade, HSE paramedics and gardai attended the scene. Locals described him as a talented hurler who helped his club Midleton win their first Cork County Under 21A County hurling title in 11 years last year defeating St Finbarrs in the final. He was a student at the Munster Technological University in Cork city. Greenlands likely new prime minister rejected US President Donald Trumps efforts to take control of the island, saying Greenlanders must be allowed to decide their own future as it moves towards independence from Denmark. Jens-Frederik Nielsens Demokraatit, a pro-business party that favours a slow path to independence, won a surprise victory in Tuesdays parliamentary election, outpacing the two left-leaning parties that formed the last government. Advertisement Chairman of Demokraatit, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, left, celebrates during an election party as he is poised to become Greenlands next prime minister (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP) With most Greenlanders opposing Mr Trumps overtures, the campaign focused more on issues like healthcare and education than on geopolitics. But on Wednesday, Mr Nielsen was quick to push back against Mr Trump, who last week told a joint session of Congress that the US needed Greenland to protect its own national security interests and he expected to get it one way or the other. We dont want to be Americans. No, we dont want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future, Mr Nielsen, 33, told Sky News. And we want to build our own country by ourselves. Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark, has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, when the government in Copenhagen recognised its right to self-determination under international law. Advertisement Four of the five main parties in the election supported independence, though they disagreed on when and how to achieve it. Members of the Naleraq party applaud during a party after parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) The island of 56,000 people, most from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds, has attracted international attention since Mr Trump announced his designs on it soon after returning to the White House in January. Mr Trump is focused on Greenland because it straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic and is home to the USs Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile warning and space surveillance operations. Greenland also has large deposits of the rare-earth minerals needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology. Advertisement But Mr Trumps overtures werent on the ballot. Some voters appeared to support Mr Trumps overtures (Scanpix via AP) The 31 men and women elected to parliament on Tuesday will have to set priorities for issues such as diversifying Greenlands economy, building infrastructure and improving health care, as well as shaping the countrys strategy for countering the presidents America First agenda. Demokraatit won 29.9% of the vote by campaigning to improve housing and educational standards while delaying independence until Greenland is self-sufficient. Four years ago, the party finished in fourth place with 9.1%. Advertisement Carina Ren, head of the Arctic program at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, said the results show that Greenlanders tried to ignore Mr Trump and focus on issues that were important to them. The voters have been able to drag down all the drama, all the alarmist talk from the outside to say, Well, this is about our everyday lives, our everyday concerns as citizens. Where are we going, how are we going to develop our society from the inside. The vote had been closely watched internationally (Scanpix via AP) Now, Demokraatit will have to turn its attention to forming a governing coalition. Naleraq, the most aggressively pro-independence party, finished in second place, with 24.5% of the vote. It was followed by Inuit Ataqatigiit, which led the last government, at 21.4%. Advertisement Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative, said: What approach to independence will win the day will ultimately depend on if Demokraatit decides to form a coalition government, and if so, with which party. Mr Nielsen appeared to be surprised by Demokraatits gains as the results came it, with photos showing him sporting a huge grin and applauding at a post-election party. He later said Demokraatit would reach out to all the other parties to negotiate Greenlands future political course. People line up outside a polling station to cast their vote in parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen congratulated Demokraatit and warned that Greenlands new government would likely have to deal with massive pressure from Mr Trump. Its not the case that you can just take part of the Danish Realm, Danish broadcaster DR quoted him as saying. The future of Greenland is based on what the Greenlandic people and government want. Greenland prime minister Mute Bourup Egede last month called early elections, saying the country needed to be united during a serious time unlike anything Greenland has ever experienced. On Wednesday, after the results were known, Mr Egede used a Facebook post to thank voters for turning out and said the parties were ready to turn to negotiations to form a government. Polands president Andrzej Duda has again called on the US to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia. Mr Dudas appeal made in an interview with the Financial Times is the latest indication that the frontline Nato nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears about Russia grow. Advertisement The Polish president is repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022. Mr Dudas adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Mr Dudas plea with an interview on Polands RMF FM radio on Thursday in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a Nato member along the alliances eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Polands president Andrzej Duda (Czarek Sokolowski/AP) Prime minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Mr Dudas, said last week that Poland was in talks with France concerning President Emmanuel Macrons proposal to use Frances nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats. Moscow called that idea extremely confrontational. Mr Tusk made his comment to parliament after Mr Macron said he had decided to open a strategic debate on using Frances nuclear deterrent to protect European allies amid concerns over potential US disengagement. Advertisement The French president described Moscow as a threat to France and Europe in a televised address to the nation. France is the only nuclear power in the European Union. Pope Francis has marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate in hospital as he received positive medical news on his recovery, a cake and hundreds of messages wishing him well. He spent the morning in physiotherapy, followed Lenten spiritual exercises of the Roman curia and stopped to pray at the chapel in the Gemelli Hospital, where he has been under treatment for a complex lung infection since February 14th, Vatican sources said. Advertisement In the afternoon, he received a cake from hospital staff. A chest X-ray has confirmed improvements in his condition, the Vatican said on Wednesday, two days after doctors said he was no longer in imminent danger of death. People pray for Pope Francis in front of the Gemelli Hospital (Andrew Medichini/AP) The latest medical bulletin said the 88-year-olds condition remained stable but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility, which includes his age, limited mobility often requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man. No medical updates were issued on Thursday. Francis was elected on March 13th 2013 as the 266th pontiff and the Catholic Churchs first Latin American pope. Advertisement The anniversary is a public holiday at the Vatican but no special commemorations were held. A Mass was held in his honour later at the Argentine church in Rome. Francis received hundreds of drawings and messages from children and young people around the globe wishing him a full recovery, the Vatican said. Gemelli Hospital, about a 15-minute train ride from the Vatican, has become a stop for pilgrims visiting Rome as part of Jubilee Year celebrations. John Paul II, who spent 55 days in Gemelli in the longest hospital stretch by a pope to date used to quip that it was Vatican III after the Vatican itself and Castel Gandolfo, long used as a papal retreat by popes until Francis. Advertisement Pope John Paul II on a visit to Dublin (PA) Its a sort of a seat of fragility, from where he continues his ministry, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro was quoted as saying in LAvvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops conference, on Thursday. The newspaper underlined that Francis is the first pope, at least in modern history, to spend the anniversary of his pontificate in hospital. Francis has this week been following a Lenten spiritual retreat that has been a mainstay of his papacy, with updates on his condition omitting reference to work. He continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day and a non-invasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night. He also is undergoing physical therapy, key to avoiding further repercussions from his hospital stay. Advertisement The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave, which was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. While Francis has praised Benedicts humility in stepping down and said he might follow in his footsteps, more recently he has said the papacy is a job for life. Another milestone comes on Friday when Francis marks four weeks in hospital. Russia has claimed its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russias Kursk border region, as a senior Kremlin official said that a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the war would help Kyiv by giving its weary and short-handed military a break. The Russian Defence Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim. Advertisement The renewed Russian military push and Mr Putins high-profile visit to his troops came as US President Donald Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, met Russian chief of general staff General Valery Gerasimov during his visit to military headquarters in the Kursk region on Wednesday (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) The US lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv on Tuesday after senior US and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia. Mr Trump said on Wednesday that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it will not engage with peace efforts. Advertisement Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that US negotiators were on their way to Russia, but he would not comment on Moscows view of the ceasefire proposal. US President Donald Trump is pressing for a diplomatic end to the war (Pool via AP) Before the talks start, and they havent started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public, he told reporters. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz had spoken on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart. She also confirmed that Mr Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff would head to Moscow for talks with Russian officials, possibly including Mr Putin. Advertisement Russian news agencies reported on Thursday that Mr Witkoffs plane had landed in Moscow. It was not immediately possible to verify the reports. Senior US officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days. But Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putins foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks on Thursday that a ceasefire would grant a temporary break for the Ukrainian military. Mr Ushakov said that Moscow wanted a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscows interests and concerns. His comments came a day after his phone call with Mr Waltz. Advertisement Mr Ushakovs comments echoed statements from Mr Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its western allies. The US still has about 3.85 billion US dollars in congressionally authorised funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signalling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Advertisement Mr Putin, right, with General Valery Gerasimov, second left, during his visit (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since the Second World War and embarrassed the Kremlin. Speaking to commanders on Wednesday, Mr Putin said he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. Mr Putin added that in the future its necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border, in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraines neighbouring Sumy region. This idea could complicate a ceasefire deal. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late on Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that was previously home to about 5,000 people. Ukraines top military head, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said late on Wednesday that Russian aviation had carried out an unprecedented number of strikes on Kursk and that as a result Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. NEW: Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov offered a vague response on March 12 to the US-Ukrainian 30-day ceasefire proposal. Putin may hold hostage the ceasefire proposal to which Ukraine has agreed in order to extract preemptive concessions before formal negotiations to end the pic.twitter.com/B1mq6KPIaP Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) March 13, 2025 He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said it was manoeuvring (troops) to more advantageous lines. Meanwhile, Major General Dmytro Krasylnykov, commander of Ukraines Northern Operational Command, which includes the Kursk region, was dismissed from his post, he told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne on Wednesday. He told the outlet he was not given a reason for his dismissal, saying Im guessing, but I dont want to talk about it yet. African leaders announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi who were sent to quell insurgencies in mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where M23 rebels have killed some of the peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year. Troops from the three countries were sent in 2023 under the banner of the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, but public opposition to the deployment has surged since 14 South African and three Malawian peacekeepers were killed by the rebels in January. Advertisement The decision was announced after a virtual meeting of the 16-member bloc, which also includes Congo, and came a day after Angola announced it would host peace talks next week between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels. No timetable was announced for the pullout of troops, who have numbered up to 3,000, but the SADC said in a statement that it would be a phased withdrawal. South African foreign minister Ronald Lamola told his countrys national broadcaster, SABC, that other belligerents should also now withdraw. All the forces that are not invited, non-invited parties, in that conflict must also withdraw and be engaged in a process of ceasefire, Mr Lamola said. Advertisement The SADC mission was part of a myriad of forces operating in the mineral-rich region plagued by decades of armed violence. They include Congolese government soldiers, foreign mercenaries, a United Nations peacekeeping force and more than 100 groups that are fighting for power, land and valuable mineral resources. Others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings and ethnic cleansing. The M23 rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congos capital, Kinshasa, more than 1,000 miles away. Rwanda has rejected charges, including by the Congolese government and UN experts, that it backs M23 in eastern Congo, a region that is now one of the worlds largest humanitarian crises with more than seven million people displaced. I chaired the SADC Extraordinary Summit on the DRC crisis, reaffirming our commitment to peace and stability. Urgent action is needed to implement solutions, strengthen security, and protect communities. Together, we will secure our region. #SADC #DRC #PeaceAndSecurity pic.twitter.com/SKDp0WIPoB President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) March 13, 2025 The withdrawal of SADC troops comes after the M23 took control of eastern Congos main city of Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu, in offensives over the past two months. Advertisement Fourteen South African soldiers, and at least three from Malawi were killed in January in the fighting. The United Nations later evacuated a group of critically injured South African peacekeepers, although the South African government did not provide figures. SADC deployed troops to eastern Congo in December 2023 and extended the mandate by another year during a meeting in Zimbabwes capital, Harare, last November. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the SADC chairman, appealed for continued support for the safe withdrawal of the troops and evacuation of equipment, adding that dialogue is a key cog to usher lasting peace in Congo. The UN Human Rights Council last month launched a commission that will investigate atrocities, including allegations of rape and killing akin to summary executions by both sides. Staff at the hospital where killer nurse Lucy Letby worked could face gross negligence manslaughter charges, police have said. Cheshire Constabulary said suspects had been identified and notified in connection with the probe into baby deaths between 2012 and 2016. Advertisement Letby, 35, from Hereford in the UK, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. The force previously said it was carrying out an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital and on Thursday, it said the probe had widened to gross negligence manslaughter. In a statement, police said: In October 2023 following the lengthy trial and subsequent conviction of Lucy Letby, Cheshire Constabulary launched an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital. This focuses on senior leadership and their decision-making to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities. Advertisement As our enquiries have continued, the scope of the investigation has now widened to also include gross negligence manslaughter. The statement continued: This is a separate offence to corporate manslaughter and focuses on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals. It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder. Those identified as suspects have been notified. We will not be confirming the number of people involved or their identity as no arrests or charges have yet been made. Advertisement Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these. Our investigation into the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Womens Hospital between the period of 2012 to 2016 is also ongoing. Our priority is to maintain the integrity of our ongoing investigations and to support the many families who are at the heart of these. Last month an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that bad medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths. Advertisement Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letbys legal team hope her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal. United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israels mission to the UN in Geneva rejected the accusations and accused the commission, which was created by the UN-backed Human Rights Council, of relying on second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources. Advertisement The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory is led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay. Its findings can be used as evidence for the International Criminal Court or other bodies that seek to prosecute war crimes. Israel has refused to co-operate with the commission, accusing it and the council of being biased against it. In its report released on Thursday, the commission examined the widespread destruction of Gaza, the use of heavy explosives in civilian areas and Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities. It said all three had led to disproportionate violence against women and children. Report by @UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, & Israel, says Israel has used sexual, reproductive & other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians since Oct. 2023 https://t.co/eW2hiUUdEw pic.twitter.com/VSeZzuEWeG UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) March 13, 2025 Israel says it took extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians in the 15-month war, which has been paused by a fragile ceasefire. It blames civilian deaths and destruction on Hamas because the militants operate in residential areas. Advertisement The commission also accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. Israel denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when there are violations. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. A UN envoy last year said there were reasonable grounds to believe Hamas committed rape and sexual violence in the attack. Israels retaliatory offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Advertisement Meanwhile, Syrias state news agency says an Israeli airstrike has struck a residential building on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. The agency did not give further details about Thursdays airstrike. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the building targeted was located in the suburb of Dummar, northwest of the capital and was inhabited by Palestinians. It said one person was killed. Israels defence minister Israel Katz confirmed that it had carried out an airstrike on a residential building in Damascus but did not provide further details. Advertisement Mr Katz warned in a statement that whenever terrorist activity is organised against Israel, Syrias new president Ahmad al-Sharaa will find air force planes circling above him and attacking terrorist targets. Arab media outlets reported that the airstrike targeted members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. An official with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group could not confirm if members of the group were targeted in the attack. Elsewhere, Israel said it had sent 10,000 packages of food aid to Syrias Druze, as it seeks to forge ties with the minority to shape the countrys troubled transition from civil war. Advertisement The Israeli foreign ministry said on Thursday that the operation was conducted in recent weeks in co-ordination with local Druze leaders, with most of the aid delivered to the overwhelmingly Druze southern region of Sweida. Israel says it is supporting an embattled minority in a country now ruled by Islamists. But many Druze have rejected its overtures, and critics accuse Israel trying to weaken and divide Syria following the overthrow of former president Bashar Assad. Israel seized a buffer zone in southern Syria shortly after Mr Assads overthrow and has carried out waves of airstrikes to destroy Syrias military. It has ordered the new security forces not to operate south of the capital, Damascus. Israel says it is acting in Syria to protect its citizens from Iran-backed groups that were allied with Mr Assad as well as the new government, led by a former senior al-Qaida leader who cut ties with the group several years ago. US arms deliveries to Ukraine have resumed, officials said. The move comes a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyiv in its fight against Russias invasion, and Ukrainian officials signalled that they were open to a 30-day ceasefire backed by Washington. Advertisement Ukraine has signalled it is open for talks towards a ceasefire (AP) Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it is important not to get ahead of the question of responding to the ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting detailed information about it from the US and suggested that Russia must receive that first before it can take a position. The Kremlin has previously opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict and has not accepted any concessions. US President Donald Trump wants to end the three-year war and pressured Mr Zelensky to enter talks. The suspension of US assistance came days after Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. Advertisement The administrations decision to resume military aid after talks on Tuesday with senior Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia marked a sharp shift in its stance. Mr Trump said that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia, Mr Trump said Wednesday in an extended exchange with reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Micheal Martin, the Taoiseach of Ireland. And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath ended. Advertisement The US president again made veiled threats of hitting Russia with new sanctions. Strikes took place in Kryvyi Rih (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP) We can, but I hope its not going to be necessary, Mr Trump said. US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation to Tuesdays talks in Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine consented to the US ceasefire proposal, said Washington will pursue multiple points of contacts with Russia to see if President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war. He declined to give details or say what steps might be taken if Mr Putin refuses to engage. Advertisement The US hopes to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days as a first step, Mr Rubio said at a refuelling stop Wednesday in Shannon, Ireland, on his way to talks in Canada with other Group of Seven leading industrialised nations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz spoke with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday. She also confirmed that Mr Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will head to Moscow for talks with Russian officials. She did not say with whom Mr Witkoff planned to meet, but a person familiar with the matter said Mr Witkoff is expected to meet with Mr Putin later his week. Advertisement Mr Zelensky said a 30-day ceasefire would allow the sides to fully prepare a step-by-step plan for ending the war, including security guarantees for Ukraine. Technical questions over how to effectively monitor a truce along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line, where small but deadly drones are common, are very important, Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv. Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics centre, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced on Wednesday. The deliveries go through a Nato and US hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow that has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighbouring Ukraine about 70 kilometres (45 miles) away. The American military help is vital for Ukraines shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russias bigger military force at bay. For Russia, the American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving war aims, and it could make Washingtons peace efforts a tougher sell in Moscow. The US government has also restored Ukraines access to unclassified commercial satellite pictures provided by Maxar Technologies through a program Washington runs, Maxar spokesperson Tomi Maxted told The Associated Press. The images help Ukraine plan attacks, assess their success and monitor Russian movements. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Mr Putin on Wednesday visited military headquarters in Russias Kursk region, where Kremlin troops are close to driving out Ukrainian forces. Speaking to commanders, Mr Putin said he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. However, Russian officials signalled wariness about the prospect of a ceasefire. Senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said in a post on the messaging app Telegram: Any agreements (with the understanding of the need for compromise) should be on our terms, not American. Mikhail Sheremet told the state news agency Tass that Russia is not interested in continuing the war, but at the same time Moscow will not tolerate being strung along. John Hardie, a defence analyst and deputy director of the Russia programme at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute, said the outcome of the Saudi Arabia talks places the onus on Washington to persuade Moscow to accept and implement the ceasefire. Russias foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, reported that the services chief, Sergei Naryshkin, spoke by phone Tuesday with CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The two discussed co-operation in areas of common interest and the resolution of crisis situations, according to a statement by the SVR. An envoy of US President Donald Trump has arrived in Moscow for talks on an American-proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has accepted but which a senior Russian official said would help Kyiv by giving its weary and shorthanded military a break. The diplomatic development coincided with a Russian claim that its troops had driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. Advertisement Mr Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia for talks with officials on the US ceasefire proposal, according to an American official. US President Donald Trump is pressing for a diplomatic end to the war (Pool via AP) The Russian defence ministrys claim that it had recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim. The renewed Russian military push and Mr Putins high-profile visit to his troops came as Mr Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. The US lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv on Tuesday after senior American and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia. Advertisement Mr Trump said Wednesday that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire, which is being proposed three years after Russias full-scale invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, met commanders at military headquarters in the Kursk region on Wednesday (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it will not engage with peace efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not comment on Moscows view of the ceasefire proposal. Before the talks start, and they havent started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public, he told reporters. Advertisement Senior US officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days. But Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putins foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks that a ceasefire would grant a temporary break for the Ukrainian military. Speaking later to reporters in the Kremlin, Mr Ushakov reaffirmed that the US-proposed ceasefire would give us nothing, adding that it would only give the Ukrainians a chance to regroup, consolidate their forces and keep doing the same in the future. The Ukrainian delegation provided me with a detailed report on its meeting with US representatives in Saudi Arabia, including the progress of negotiations and key aspects. It is good that the conversation was entirely constructive. Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward pic.twitter.com/5chfbyUvjB Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) March 13, 2025 Mr Ushakov would not comment on Mr Witkoffs talks in Moscow on Thursday, saying that the parties had agreed to keep them confidential. Advertisement Mr Ushakov said that Moscow wanted a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscows interests and concerns. His comments came a day after his phone call with US national security adviser Mike Waltz. Mr Ushakovs comments echoed statements from Mr Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its western allies. Ukraine has levelled similar accusations to Mr Ushakovs, claiming Russia would use a truce to regroup and rearm. Advertisement Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chided Russia on his Telegram messaging app on Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal. He said that Ukraine was determined to move quickly toward peace and hoped US pressure would compel Russia to stop fighting. The US still has about 3.85 billion Us dollars in congressionally authorised funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signalling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since the Second World War and embarrassed the Kremlin. NEW: Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov offered a vague response on March 12 to the US-Ukrainian 30-day ceasefire proposal. Putin may hold hostage the ceasefire proposal to which Ukraine has agreed in order to extract preemptive concessions before formal negotiations to end the pic.twitter.com/B1mq6KPIaP Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) March 13, 2025 Speaking to commanders on Wednesday, Mr Putin said that he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. Mr Putin added that its necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border, in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraines neighbouring Sumy region. This idea could complicate a ceasefire deal. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. The death of a woman who was partially paralysed in the Columbine High School shooting has been ruled a homicide, raising the death toll of the 1999 attack to 14. Anne Marie Hochhalter died on February 16 of sepsis a reaction to infection and complications from her paralysis were a significant contributing factor in her death, the Jefferson County coroners office said in an autopsy report obtained on Thursday. She was 43. Advertisement At the time, her family and friends suspected her death was due to natural causes related to her injuries in the shooting, which immediately led to the deaths of 12 students and a teacher. The two student gunmen killed themselves after the gun rampage at the Colorado school on April 20 1999. Anne Marie Hochhalter, centre, attends a vigil for the victims of the Aurora cinema shooting in 2012 (Barry Gutierrez/AP) Due to the role her paralysis was suspected of playing in her death, the investigation was transferred to the office that also reviewed the deaths in the school shooting. Ms Hochhalters brother, Nathan Hochhalter, said a pressure sore, a common problem for people living with paralysis, led to sepsis. Advertisement He said he knew that his sisters life would likely be shorter because of her paralysis but her death this early was unexpected. We didnt think it would be this bad this soon, he said. Ms Hochhalter struggled with intense pain from her gunshot wounds in the years following the shooting, but fought hard to to overcome the complications of her injuries and remain positive, family and friends said. She was tireless in her drive to help others, including people with disabilities and members of her family, and she loved dogs, they said. Advertisement Ms Hochhalter chose to forgive the mother of one of the gunmen, writing in a 2016 letter to Sue Klebold: A good friend once told me, Bitterness is like swallowing a poison pill and expecting the other person to die. It only harms yourself. I have forgiven you and only wish you the best. Ms Hochhalters own tragedy was compounded six months after the shooting, when her mother, Carla Hochhalter, died by suicide. Ms Hochhalter said her mother suffered from depression and did not believe the shootings were directly to blame for her mothers death. After her mothers death, she became the acquired daughter of another family that lost a child in the Columbine shooting, Lauren Townsend. Advertisement Townsends stepmother, Sue Townsend, reached out to help Ms Hochhalter as a way to cope with her own grief, but eventually Ms Hochhalter was coming over for family dinners and joining them on vacations. She brought a light to our lives that will shine for a long time, Ms Townsend said. Ms Hochhalter attended a vigil marking the 25th anniversary of the shooting last year, after skipping a similar event five years earlier because of post-traumatic stress disorder, she said in a social media post. This time, she said she was flooded with happy memories from her childhood and said she wanted those killed remembered for how they lived, not how they died. Advertisement Ive truly been able to heal my soul since that awful day in 1999, she wrote. Metallurgical test work by Strickland Metals at its Horse Well gold camp in Western Australias northeastern goldfields has notched up whopping gold recovery rates of up to 88.6 per cent. Perth-based ALS Metallurgy used six composite rock samples from the companys Palomino deposit for the metallurgical study. The results were verified by MineScope Services. Metallurgical test work has proved up impressive gold recovery rates at Strickland Metals Horse Well camp in Western Australias Eastern Goldfields. The findings showed the mineralised dirt is highly amenable to a bog-standard process of three-stage crushing, followed by gravity and then cyanide leach processing. To provide a comprehensive set of results, the tests were conducted over a range of gold grades varying from 1.16 grams per tonne (g/t) to 6.19g/t. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Now, youre not going to like this, Corinne Cantrill would sometimes warn viewers before screening the films she and her husband, Arthur, made together. The experimental filmmaker, who died last month at the age of 96, took defiant pride in the fact their work wasnt for everyone. The Cantrills body of work, which includes more than 150 films, is as original as any in Australian cinema; they jointly received the Order of Australia (AM) in 2011. The first of their seven features was 1969s Harry Hooton, but they worked primarily in experimental film, the branch of cinema that defies not just the conventions of commercial filmmaking, but viewer expectations of any kind. Not to be confused with arthouse cinema or video art, it tests the boundaries of what a film can be; one of the Cantrills expanded cinema events involved setting fire to the screen. For the Cantrills, as for other experimental filmmakers of their generation, film was analogue, not digital. While digitised versions of some of their films have screened in cinemas with their approval, none are officially available for home viewing one obvious reason their work is not more widely known. Film, for Corinne and Arthur Cantrill, was strictly analogue. Credit: Eddie Jim Yet their films have travelled widely. As well as festival screenings, they have shown at the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery of Australia. Within the next couple of months, screenings are scheduled in the UK, Europe and South Korea (all planned while Corinne, who is survived by Arthur, was alive), reflecting the fact that experimental film remains the most truly global form of cinema, communicating far more through image and sound than through words. And the films are not the forbidding intellectual exercises Corinnes warnings might have suggested. Some are literal home movies (especially those made while the couple lived at Prestonia, a 19th-century brick house with tower in Brunswick). Others concern the Australian landscape, their travels abroad, and the works of other artists, often friends. The Cantrills filmmaking career started in Brisbane in the early 1960s, where they made childrens programs for the ABC, including the educational nature series Kip and David, shot on Stradbroke Island, and a shadow-puppet version of The Odyssey. Advertisement In the mid-1960s, they headed for London, where they made short art documentaries for TV while crossing paths with such avant-garde figures as Yoko Ono and the British structural filmmaker Malcolm Le Grice. By the end of this crucial four-year period, they were determined to put conventional filmmaking behind them. Their later lives were spent primarily in Melbourne, where Arthur taught for many years at Melbourne State College while Corinne worked tirelessly to ensure their films were screened as widely as possible. From 1971 to 2000 they jointly edited and published the journal Cantrills Filmnotes, which published writing by experimental filmmakers from around the world along with fiery editorials denouncing funding bodies and the mainstream generally. Film canisters piled high at the Cantrills Brunswick home in 2000. Credit: Penny Stephens Corinne became a familiar presence at experimental film screenings in Melbourne, selling copies of the Filmnotes in the foyer, which is how I first encountered her as a student in the 1990s. Not long after, I was galvanised by their three-colour separation films, made by filming the same location through red, green and blue filters and overlaying the resulting images, so that colour becomes a means of perceiving several moments at once. These were like nothing Id seen before or since. While other experimental filmmakers have used versions of the technique, I know of none who have realised its artistic potential as the Cantrills did. The films inspired me to write what became one of my first published pieces of film criticism, which was the start of coming to know the couple as friends. After they moved to Castlemaine in the mid-2010s, I would travel regularly from Melbourne for Sunday afternoon screenings held in the basement of their hillside home; the last was held in 2023. Even if the Cantrills films eschewed conventional human interest, Corinne once wrote that a film screening should have a sense of human and social occasion. Advertisement For her, film and life were totally intertwined it was hard to see any distinction between her personal life with Arthur and their artistic collaboration. Nor was it easy to distinguish their respective contributions to the films. Sound was said to be Arthurs department, but when I helped them plan a retrospective of their work at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in 2010, it was Corinne who insisted the starting point should be the theme of the voice, including the voices of birds and other natural sounds. Corinne was proud of her own voice, and of her clear, emphatic way of speaking. She once she told me triumphantly how she and actor and critic John Flaus had travelled from Castlemaine on the train together and how their conversation had held the whole carriage spellbound. Inside the Cantrills home studio. Credit: Penny Stephens In public she tended to hold the floor, with the quieter Arthur providing the occasional addition or correction. But even when they disagreed, as long-married couples will, they spoke of their films in the same spirit, with the same emphasis on the specifics of technique. While they mostly worked together, Corinnes 2-hour 1984 feature In This Lifes Body one of the great autobiographical films made anywhere belongs to her. Most of the images are photos of her at different ages, as she tells her life story in voiceover. It starts with the meeting of her oddly matched parents, her father a Jewish communist and her mother active in the Theosophy movement. We hear about her childhood in Sydney in the Depression, her precocious botanical studies, her travels in Europe soon after the Second World War, her love affairs, her first marriage, her meeting with Arthur and their joint discovery of a vocation. The film also covers the birth of her sons Aaron and Ivor, the latter profoundly autistic (now an artist and filmmaker in his own right). All this is set forth with Corinnes typical candour. Through the distance provided by film, she was able to study herself in the same close yet detached spirit that she might examine a natural phenomenon like a waterfall or a rock formation. Advertisement Out in the majestic wilderness of the West Coast Ranges of Tasmania (Lutruwita), by an icy lake, with nothing but the wailing wind through the trees and wildlife for company, another 10 survivalists try to outlast one another on their separate patches of land, for a $250,000 prize. This third season of Alone Australia comprises, for the first time, equal numbers of men and women. Among that group is another first: two participants with a disability. NSW ecologist Tom Covell, 33, from NSW, has limb difference, and 34-year-old Queensland disability services officer Ceilidh Marigold is deaf. Ceilidh Marigold will be the first deaf person to compete in Alone Australia. Credit: It was my childhood dream to be isolated in the wilderness, Marigold says. To build a shelter and to see how I can fend for myself. Thats one of my passions to be self-sufficient and to be strong. By turning off her cochlear implant at night, Marigold was spared the screams of Tasmanian devils, among other unnerving sounds of the bush after dark: Because I am deaf, I was able to sleep through. Marigold hopes others will be inspired to follow their wild dreams. Even though you dont have hearing of course, it might affect you in different ways in survival you can still do it. You can still survive. Almost 200 Greater Western Water customers are in danger of having their identities stolen, after the company mistakenly sent bills to old addresses or email addresses. Greater Western Waters botched $100 million-plus upgrade of its billing system has also led to delays in issuing customer bills, incorrect and inflated bills, and a flood of customer complaints to the company and the states ombudsman. Ann Cunningham received a water bill for her entire apartment block. Credit: Wayne Taylor The bungle has delayed the settlement of property and prompted individuals to complain they have been billed for their apartment blocks total water usage. The Allan government has ordered an independent review of Greater Western Waters billing and payment issues, after customers lodged about a thousand complaints to the states Energy and Water Ombudsman about the government-owned business. Clive Palmer has admitted fumbling the declaration there are only two genders male and female in his controversial new ads, saying he should have instead said there were only two sexes in a blitz of pre-paid advertisements running across television and newspapers before the federal election. Palmer targeted transgender issues in a National Press Club address on Thursday referencing culture war topics such as trans womens participation in sport and childrens safety at school while at the same time claiming Australias public debate was being derailed by the topic. Clive Palmer, Trumpet of Patriots chairman and party spokesperson, poses for cameras ahead of an address to the National Press Club. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Anna Brown, head of advocacy group Equality Australia, said Palmer had admitted he didnt know what he was talking about when it came to sex and gender issues. He is either ill-informed, malicious or dangerously foolish. His embarrassing performance at the Press Club would be almost comedic if he wasnt hurting real people, she said. She also said she did not receive any payment for her part in the transactions, which she said had been approved by Revenue NSW. The property, at 270 Gilmour Street, Kelso, was among dozens that Racing NSW bought around racetracks and elsewhere at a cost of more than $125 million over the past decade. A year earlier, in September 2020, records show Racing NSW outlaid $1.35 million for an 11-hectare strip of land with a three-bedroom house just two doors down, at 252 Gilmour Street. It was purchased directly from the vendor, unlike the 2021 sale, when the owner and real estate agent had no idea who Cooke was really buying the property for. I only discovered her position with Racing NSW after the sale went through, said Bathurst selling agent Mitchell Bestwick. She didnt disclose a lot of information, but some buyers dont. Not everyone wants to tell an agent everything. I didnt go digging around in her history and background I took it on face value. Diane Butcher, who sold the property adjoining Bathursts Tyers Park Racecourse to Cooke, said she felt there was something cagey about the whole thing. Her uneasiness was such that she told her neighbours Cookes name and particulars after the sale just in case they were approached to sell their places. The house at 270 Gilmour Street, Kelso, which Cooke bought in her name after an auction in June 2021. Credit: Pip Farquharson I just cant understand that she took the tactic that she did instead of just being upfront, she said. There is nothing illegal about Cookes failure to disclose her connection to RNSW, and there is no obligation on buyers to offer this information. Latham, however, asked Harris in parliament if it was ethical for a board member to purchase a property and then transfer it to the organisation for which she is on the board for $1 in what he called an extraordinary property arrangement. Harris told the hearing he was not sure we can investigate ethics, but well look at the whole issue. Racing officials had also been interested in the nine-hectare property between 252 and 270 Gilmour Street, but its owner did not want to sell. Cooke said Racing NSW had acted appropriately at all times and the non-disclosure of it as the real buyer of 270 Gilmour Street was executed via a bare trust structure used to keep the identity of the real purchaser confidential. According to Racing NSW, the strategy was devised to try and avoid it being run up on the price at auction. I received legal advice both from Racing NSW solicitors and my personal solicitor. Nothing unethical was done, as the method used is a common practice in real estate transactions, said Cooke, who became deputy chair of Racing NSW in December 2021 before the $1 land transfer. Revenue NSW is the only party to whom a bare trustee owes a legal obligation to disclose details of a bare trust arrangement in such a circumstance. The relevant disclosures were made to Revenue NSW in this instance. She said Racing NSW paid the stamp duty on the initial $985,000 purchase when she bought it, and gained an exemption from Revenue NSW from paying a second time when the turf body took over the title. Racing NSW acquired two properties next to Bathursts Tyers Park Racecourse, in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Credit: Pip Farquharson Derwent Coshott, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney and an expert in sale of land contracts, said the justification for using the trust appeared deceptive. The trust is a legitimate legal device used to obscure who the real beneficial owner is, but the idea it was done for confidentiality reasons is completely spurious because ultimately the property was transferred to Racing NSW, he said. Confidentiality is you want to keep something private because you dont want someone to know about your confidential affairs. For a business, it might be that youre protecting a trade secret. But this is not about confidentiality its about trying to hide something from the vendor. Helen Bird, a corporate governance expert at Swinburne University, said it was an unusual approach for such an entity, but there was no requirement for the real buyer to have been disclosed by Cooke as a director. I cant see any particular reason to be concerned this creates a governance problem, presuming that they did make the proper disclosures and approvals of their actions at board level [and] providing the government approved the action, she said. Racing NSW says it has bought properties around tracks to safeguard the future of the industry. Credit: Pip Farquharson Neil Matthews, a conveyancing lawyer in Sydneys eastern suburbs, said bare trust structures were sometimes used by publicity-conscious clients looking to maintain their privacy. I am not sure why a statutory body would use this structure, but it may have been because Racing NSW was making a number of acquisitions in the area and did not want the land-owners to gain additional bargaining power, he said. According to Racing NSW, it was the first and only time it had deployed such a manoeuvre to add to its property empire, and it had mostly steered clear of auctions, concerned that it would end up paying a premium. Loading Racing NSW has maintained it was the beneficial owner from the outset and had collected all income from tenants in the property, even though it was put on the rental market while still in Cookes name. Asked whether it was appropriate for a director of a statutory body such as Racing NSW not to have been transparent with the seller, a spokesperson for Harris said the Minns government was committed to ensuring the racing industry operated with the highest probity standards. Racing NSW is an independent body not subject to direction of the NSW government, the spokesperson said. The Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996 and Racing NSW board code of conduct include obligations for Racing NSW members regarding conflicts of interest and disclosure of pecuniary interests. The minister has sought advice from the department. On the outskirts of the Kyzylkum Desert that envelopes Karakalpakstan, ancient crumbling cities and forts from this time abound. They rise out of an otherwise flat, lifeless and scorched earth, and were built with supplies from ships coasting along the legendary Amu Darya River, a magical body of water whose banks have borne witness to war and bloodshed, the birth of religions, and historys greatest civilisations. Chilpik Dakhma, the most impressive ruin of the Kyzylkum Desert. Credit: Adobe Chilpik Dakhma is the most impressive of them all. An Avestan (Zoroastrian language) word, dakhma translates to tower of silence in Persian the name for a structure to which Zoroastrian communities traditionally brought their deceased to ward off contamination by demons. Birds of prey, much like the ones that circled above me on climbing its flanks, were thought to help cleanse the perished and ensure their safe passage to the afterlife. It was a sobering thought: there I was, standing at its zenith, where thousands of bodies had once rotted beneath the sun. The only corpses that remained today were cigarette ends and empty cans of coke. The fortresses are a gateway to Nukus, Karakalpakstans capital. I had one mission in the city: to see the Savitsky Art Museum. In 1966, Ukrainian artist Igor Savitsky found in Nukus a place far enough away from Moscow to hide works of art that had been banned under Joseph Stalin: constructivism, Cubism, futurism and neo-primitivism. They would continue to dwell in darkness for the grasp of the Soviet censors was still strong. It wasnt until 1985, a year after Savitskys death, that Perestroika opened up Soviet society and these stunning, daring and beautiful works could finally be seen. Mizdahkan Necropolis, near Nukus, was founded in the 4th century BC and inhabited for approximately 1700 years, after which it was used as a sacred burial site. Credit: Alamy Nukus is small, and theres only so much walking (and drinking of $6 bottles of vodka) that a person can do. I wanted to visit Moynaq, the so-called ghost-town of Karakalpakstan, but getting there is not easy. Public transport is almost non-existent. A local told me that, in Karakalpakstan, every car is a taxi. The next day I found myself at the side of the road, hand outstretched, thumb to the sky. It took just five minutes before a man with a mouth full of gold teeth pulled over and implored me to get in. Fishing once held Moynaq together. Tens of thousands of people lived there in the mid-20th century, making a living from the bountiful waters of the Aral Sea. It was an ancient way of life, now helped by modern machinery. None will have thought that it could have ended just as quickly as it began. But in the 1920s the Soviets began developing cotton farms across the Central Asian steppes. In the late 1950s, they diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya to bolster the industry. In doing so they starved the Aral Sea of its inflows. Within a decade, as much as 25 per cent of it had dried up. By 2010, over 90 per cent of it had disappeared. It has been described as historys worst human-induced ecological disaster. Moynaq, the so-called ghost-town of Karakalpakstan, is not easy to reach. Credit: Alamy Arriving in Moynaq, the scars of this loss were immediately clear. Boarded up houses lined the road. The streets were devoid of life. Few cars were entering: most were leaving in the direction of Nukus. As many as 100,000 people have left Moynaq and its wider district most for economic reasons, but many because of health complications caused by water contaminated by cotton-industry herbicides and pesticides, and toxic chemicals carried off the seabed into the air. Today, just 13,500 people are left. It is a mark of our times that Moynaqs tragic decline is the very reason why people visit it. Dark tourists snap photos of what is left of the Aral and the slew of rotting Soviet-era ships trapped in the former harbour. In the summer, the ship graveyard hosts Stihia Festival, an electronic music event which draws 10,000 revellers. I struggled to imagine that many people in this empty city as I walked towards the graveyard. Near the end of the town a small boy wearing a torn hoodie came over and shook my hand. When I replied no after he asked if I had money, he left, only to return five minutes later clutching a 2000 som (24 cents) note, thrusting it into my pocket before running off. Loading Sands cast into the air by the desert winds twirled and danced around the rusted ships. A pack of starved cows walked by, and on the horizon a herd of camels wandered aimlessly. Sitting on the floor of the seabed, I felt a deep sadness. I dont know what Id expected in coming to the place where life disappeared, but it wasnt this. Moynaq serves as a reminder that life is fragile. What is certain today can come undone tomorrow. Its people are reminded every day of what they have lost. The disappearance of the water has destroyed not only the land, but the way of life it once sustained. But they continue to exist. Some long for a better future; others believe a divine miracle will one day bring the water back. It sounds hopeless a futile fantasy. But then again I thought, as I watched the desert dance and melt under the afternoon sun if such a thing can happen anywhere, why not here, in this country; a country that doesnt exist, a country you cant find on a map; where anything is possible. Singapore: Billionaire Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai has lauded Chinese President Xi Jinping for bringing the countrys most famous entrepreneur, Jack Ma, in from the cold, four years after he largely vanished from public view amid a Communist Party crackdown that rattled the entire tech sector. Xi was photographed shaking hands with Ma at a business summit last month, an event that Tsai said had given e-commerce giant Alibaba the confidence to invest more than $US50 billion ($79 billion) into its AI operations and cloud computing, as Beijing looks to technology to grow Chinas sluggish economy. Xi Jinping (right) shaking hands with once-sidelined entrepreneur Jack Ma in Beijing ahead of a business summit chaired by the Chinese president last month. Credit: People underestimate the importance of that meeting, Tsai told a CNBC tech conference in Singapore on Wednesday. What that meeting did to the entire entrepreneur sector ... is it gave private business people confidence to make investments in their business. Madrid: One of Spains top courts has backed a plan by Barcelona to ban holiday apartment rentals by 2028, rejecting an appeal that argued the measure infringed on the rights of private property owners. Barcelona was the first Spanish city to adopt a radical decision to shut down all short-term rentals as a way of addressing rising rents. Autumnal foliage lines La Rambla in Barcelona. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto After the court ruling, local authorities said they would not renew tourism licences for short-term rentals after 2028. The ruling by the Constitutional Court reinforces, validates and gives legal security to this measure, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said. We are on the right path. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code CAMEROUN :: My Grandfathers Will : An Interview with Daniel Nadjiber :: CAMEROON Historians taught us that some books have generated, or at least helped to inspire revolutions. Uncle Tom's Cabin, the famous Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, just to name one, is said to have paved the way to 1861-1865 Civil War that resulted to the abolition of slavery in the territory of United States of America, under President Abraham Lincoln. Le testament de mon grand-pere (My grandfather's will), a work just signed by Daniel Nadjiber, although modest, is also devoted to the liberation of a crying people. It evokes a longing and a call for justice for the Mbum people. Thank God, author Daniel Nadjiber made himself available to tell us more about this emergency situation. Latifa Bieloe, a member of the Collectif Readind is so Bookul is discussing with Daniel Nadjiber. The Mbum people are a people thirsty for justice, it's written in an article dedicated to your work. The text in question is available online under the title S'opposer pour exister : Le Testament du grand-pere de Nadjiber Daniel. The abuses of power and authority you describe in your book seem straight out of a history book; yet you persist in this accusation, according to which the Mbum remain victims of torture and barbaric abuse perpetrated against them by the executioners of the Fulani royal family. You even find it entirely justified to use harsh words like slavery and genocide. How can one explain that the rest of the World, starting with the rest of the Country, namely the Deep South of Cameroon, is so poorly informed about this unfortunate reality? And yet local NGOs and other human rights organizations make such a fuss about less serious incidents? Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak out about the multifaceted abuses and injustices suffered by the Mbum in Cameroon. All the facts described in my work ("Le testament de mon grand-pere") are real and softened so as not to frighten the reader. If some Cameroonians in the Deep South of Cameroon pretend to ignore this problem, I would say it is out of fear of reprisals, by simple hypocrisy, or complicit silence, since L'il du Sahel, a smart newspaper renowned for its investigations and research based on the northern regions, has covered this issue on many occasions, as have other audiovisual and print media. Many NGOs, often in collusion with administrative authorities, prefer to remain silent rather than face the wrath of the all-powerful "Lamido," closely linked to Etoudi's power, who made him the second-largest figure in the Cameroonian Senate and president of the Senate Human Rights Commission. The Touboro Youth Collective for Development wrote to the National Human Rights Commission you refer to several times, but has received no response. It's a total blackout. As if Mayo-Rey weren't an integral part of Cameroon; it rather looks like the private property of some individual. Having noted the proximity of the Garoua regional human rights office with the Lamidat of Rey-Bouba, we had previously contacted officials at the National Human Rights Commission headquarters in Yaounde to seek more objectivity, but were given promises without follow-up. Even worse, we don't belong to the wealthy class that has the financial means to commission media advertorials about the situation of slavery and blatant injustice we experience in Mayo-Rey, on plain view of everyone. In your book, you say that "the Indigenous peoples of Mayo-Rey deserve material and moral compensations for having been victims of stigmatization and modern slavery." What do you mean by "material compensations"? The indigenous peoples of Mayo-Rey, and the Mbum in particular, have suffered enormous stigmatization, discrimination, injustices of all kinds, and even cultural genocide. Because young Mbum have been systematically excluded from the education system through a cleverly orchestrated strategy to delay their access to major vocational schools. Well-oiled strategies have also been implemented to prevent these people from speaking their language, practicing their customs and traditions, including traditional initiation rites, agrarian rites, cultural festivals, and so on. Evidence of this is that in the entire Touboro district, which covers an area of 16,610 km2, there is no traditional chief recognized by the administration. However, in administrative practice, when Ministers make official visits to the Regions and the Interior, they only grant audiences to high-ranking traditional chiefs. Consequently, the Mbum are excluded from consultations and decision-making regarding the functioning and management of the country. Decades of unpaid forced labor on the Lamido plantations and illegal taxes have impoverished the Mbum people, making them uncompetitive compared to others today. The Lamibes have taken over strategic locations throughout Mbum territory and leased them to telecommunications operators. The State, through the Southeast Benoue (SEB) project, funded by donors and implemented by SODECOTON, has also appropriated our lands to settle more than 10,000 families (climate refugees) from the far north of Cameroon without any compensation. Robbed of their livelihoods and educationally backward, the Mbum feel wronged, abandoned, and frustrated at every level. They want their tormentors to acknowledge the harm they made them suffer. The World is changing at a dizzying speed, and the tormentors of this people must apologize and offer material compensations, similar to the Marshall Plan in Europe after World War II. This will be an important step toward social peace coexistence and living together. Under the right to self-determination, would it be conceivable that the Mbum peoples could decide not to submit to the Fulani kingship any longer, through a referendum, for instance? This will be a very good opportunity for the Mbum, Dii, Gbaya, Laka, Lame, Dama, Mono, and other peoples living in the Mayo-Rey department, whose rights are unfortunately violated with the complicity of public authorities. In southern Cameroon, the Traditional Chief is the spiritual leader of a homogeneous group, but in northern Cameroon, the Fulani Traditional Chiefs were imposed as Traditional Chiefs of other ethnic groups, undoubtedly due to Cameroon's first President, who was Fulani by origin and culture. In our view, the Mbum people are dying in the era of globalization, where all peoples are immersed in cultural and civilizational competition. The Mbum therefore cannot have the necessary elements and weapons to confront the globalization of culture. If Decree No. 77/245 of July 15, 1977, on the organization of traditional chiefdoms is implemented, a referendum will not be necessary. On page 56 of your book, you deplore the inhumane conditions of detention in the Lamidat prisons. Is it legally permissible for traditional authorities to build and control their own jails? This is a clear violation of the law. No individual or private organization, not even a powerful chiefdom, has the right to have a prison outside the State. Mayo-Rey is a lawless department. This is a sad fact that was experienced by the young people of Touboro in 2011 and that other residents of Mayo-Rey continue to experience to this day. The current Lamido of Ngaoundere is the only one, to the best of my knowledge, that has transformed the traditional chiefdom prison into a care and vocational training center. The other traditional chiefdoms in the Far North unfortunately retain these tools of torture and slavery. Why did you wait so long to publish your first book, which, moreover, deals with a problem whose "urgency is acute" (in your words). Given the fact that you've been in publishing for several years now? You're right. I've been in publishing since 2004 as an employee in another structure with no real decision-making power over manuscripts selection, and I didn't have time to gather the data necessary for this work. But don't they say, "Better late than never?" The book is now available to the public, so you can experience firsthand the harsh and unforgiving realities that the Mbum and the indigenous peoples of Mayo Rey have been trough from almost the first half of the 19th century. And the situation has worsened with Cameroon's return to political pluralism and democratic openness. The second part of the work contains "21 keys," in this case, 21 proverbs that open the doors to the knowledge and wisdom of the Mbum people. What would be the "key to success," precisely, according to your grandfather's teachings, in an age where everything is for sale (including diplomas); where everything can be bought, in cash or in kind; where meritocracy is no longer the main criterion for social success? Success among the Mbum is a set of actions and decisions that must be taken to achieve a goal at a given time. Mastering the 21 keys will allow you to make good decisions in a given situation and take appropriate action to face challenges and achieve results. I invite all those interested in Africa in general and the Mbum people in particular to read this book to be better prepared to face current realities. Could you tell us a few words about the culture of the Mbum people, whose merits some authors (including yourself) have praised? It's not that simple, to present Mbum culture in just two words. What we should consider is the diversity of their art and culture, their pharmacopoeia, and their formative pedagogy through mentoring and induction of young people and youth to prepare them for future socio-professional integration. You've been an editor in Cameroon since 2012. How is publishing and book industry in general? Do you feel things are moving forward in your country? In 2004, the book industry in Cameroon had just ten publishing houses specializing in general literature, theological works, and academic works. The textbook market was 95.4% controlled by Western multinationals. I had presented the analysis of the official list in a local newspaper to denounce the low market share held by national publishers. One of my employer's partners had requested my dismissal for communicating against his interests. Fortunately, my boss at that time protected me and encouraged me to continue my analysis. Twenty years after this episode, there are more than 418 publishing houses, and Cameroonian publishers control more than 86% of the textbook market. However, we deplore a slight change in the printing sector, dominated by Asians, who currently control almost 90% of the printing market. Overall, we can say that things are moving forward, albeit slowly, but there is a glimmer of hope. Now that you've written your first literary work, do you plan to continue writing? If so, what topic are you planning for your next book? Of course! Otherwise, I would be betraying my people. I intend to remain in writing to contribute to the preservation and promotion of Mbum arts and culture. In my next book, Mbum culture will confront modern culture in a dialogue between a Mbum patriarch and a literate young Mbum. We look forward to this interesting perspective. In the meantime, we remain in solidarity with your cause, hoping that the public authorities will listen carefully to the complaints of the Mbum people. Thank you again, Mr. Nadjiber, for sharing these interesting reflections with our readers. I'm grateful for your support. Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 10:48PM Photo: Apple Apple is launching an immersive concert experience featuring Metallica, exclusively for the Apple Vision Pro, on Friday, March 14. This format, captured in Apple Immersive Video, places viewers directly within the band's sold-out Mexico City performance from their M72 World Tour. The experience features iconic Metallica tracks like Whiplash, One, and Enter Sandman, presented in ultra-high-resolution 180-degree video and Spatial Audio. The concert experience allows viewers to experience the show from various vantage points, including close-ups from the Snake Pit and wide-angle views of the band's dynamic stage presence. Apple utilized a custom stage setup with 14 Apple Immersive Video cameras, including stabilized, cable-suspended, and remote-controlled systems, to capture the band's performance and the energy of the 65,000-strong crowd. Apple is offering customers the opportunity to preview the Metallica experience at Apple Store locations through Apple Vision Pro demos. Additionally, a companion EP, M72 World Tour: Mexico City, will be available in Spatial Audio on Apple Music. Lars Ulrich also discussed the experience with Zane Lowe of Apple Music at SXSW 2025, with their full conversation available on the SXSW YouTube channel. SOURCE A SPECIAL fundraising concert, Voices for Palestine, will take place on Friday 14 March in St Marys Church, Carlow, beginning at 8pm. The event aims to support the family of Maram Salah, a Palestinian from Gaza now living in Carlow. The concert features an impressive line-up of performers, including acclaimed Ukrainian opera baritone Maksym Iozovyi, who was invited by musical director Ollie Hennessy, known for his long-standing role as RTE's musical director for the Rose of Tralee. Also performing are Indie Celtic, an international folk duo on harp and guitar, and members of local vocal group enCORe. Voices for Palestine is a concert directly to help my family back in Gaza. I came here one month before the whole genocide started, said 25-year-old Maram, who will give a talk about her family before the concert begins. Ill also tell our story from even before the war. Gaza was a wonderful place and I want to highlight that, because its very important. We havent always been living in tents we had a wonderful life. I want to highlight that before coming to the painful side. Maram recently asked her family to record a video when they returned to what was once their home in northern Gaza. Its very heartbreaking. Despite that, I asked them to record so people can see who they are actually supporting. With the help of people in Carlow and across Ireland, Maram was able to bring her younger brother Ammar to Ireland. Both siblings now live in Carlow, where Maram recently graduated with a masters degree in Digital Marketing and Data Analysis from the South East Technological University (SETU). Ammar, whose university was destroyed by the bombing before he could graduate, has started anew with a software engineering degree at SETU, supported by a scholarship. The concert idea emerged from conversations with Reverend Paul Fitzpatrick, who suggested it as a way to help Marams remaining family in Gaza. Once I got my brother here, I was also thinking of how I can help the rest of my family, said Maram. Given the current situation in Gaza, where circumstances are very unclear at the moment because no borders are operating, the immediate goal is to provide financial aid to her family for basic necessities, including access to water, after their home was destroyed. That's the main goal for now, said Maram. But when things get clearer, whether to get them out if thats the best option or rebuild our home, because we lost our home as well, unfortunately, that would be another thing to consider. Maram, who works part-time in digital marketing in Carlow, emphasised that each single euro would matter to my family because I cant provide for them myself, because life here is so expensive. Tickets for the concert cost 25 and theres an option to buy a ticket as a donation, even for those unable to attend. Tickets are available here. A TRANSITION year (TY) student from Bagenalstown is a Solicitor of the Future after successfully completing the Law Society of Irelands innovative TY programme. Nadine Dermody, Presentation de la Salle College, Bagenalstown was one of 40 TY students that attended the Solicitors of the Future programme at the Law Society in Dublin from 18-21 February. The programme aims to teach students about the law and to consider a future legal career. Facilitated by Law Society staff, trainee solicitors and expert practitioners, the activity-based programme featured expert-led workshops, guest speakers, courtroom activities, a careers seminar and a mini-mock trial. Eamon Harrington, president of the Law Society, said: Solicitors of the Future encourages TY students to consider a career in law while offering an insight into the role of a solicitor in practice. The programme is carefully planned to give students a holistic understanding of a legal career and the many different forms this can take. From human rights lawyers and newly-qualified solicitor guest speakers to visits to corporate law firms and the criminal courts, students are given an overview of the wide range of avenues a career as a solicitor can take. The programme also highlighted to students that there are many practical supports available to help you qualify as a solicitor, including financial grants such as the Law Societys Access Scholarship Programme. It doesnt matter where you come from or what your background, a career in law is open to everyone, he said. STUDENTS at Presentation de la Salle, Bagenalstown welcomed a timely insight into the EU, as they look forward to their own challenge of recreating the Council of the European Union. Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu with Hilary Minchin, junior chairperson of the Student Council at Presentation de la Salle, Bagenalstown MEP for Ireland South Cynthia Ni Mhurchu visited the school recently, where she met the schools Junior EU ambassadors, who will shortly compete in the annual Model Council of the European Union debate for secondary schools. The Model Council is a simulation of a meeting of the Council of the European Union in Brussels. Presentation de la Salle will be representing Belgium and will debate the topic: EU Digital Policy and Young People. Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu with Presentation de la Salle College, Bagenasltown Principal John Keane and deputy Principal Kathleen Burke Cynthia was able to give the teenagers some insight into the EU and share her experiences, which proved invaluable to the students. Also during Cynthia's visit, the school arranged for second-year CSPE students to attend a full-year assembly in the hall to hear about Cynthias job and role as an MEP. This was followed by a Q&A session led by student council members, where students got an opportunity to find out more about Cynthias leadership role. It was excellent to get Cynthias insights and very helpful to the students, said teacher Neasa Egan. We are part of an EU programme here at the school and very much promote the work of the EU, so to be able to have an MEP here to talk to the students and answer their questions was great. The Belgian history of animation is filled with delightful shorts, memorable features, and forgotten treasures. Jean-Paul Walravens, better known as Picha, may well be one of these most important Belgian animation directors, yet little of his work is still known to younger generations, locally or internationally. Picha, 82, started working as a cartoonist in the 1960s and acquired international fame for his works in French satirical magazine Hara-Kiri and American publications such as National Lampoon and The New York Times. In the 1970s, he turned filmmaker, bringing satire and adult animation to the big screen with the infamous feature Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle (1975). His second feature, The Missing Link (1980) brought him to the Cannes Film Festival, while his third film The Big Bang (1987) was released throughout Europe. Picha continued working on animation projects in the Nineties, including works for younger audiences, like Zoo Olympics. In 2007, he finally managed to finish one of his long-gestating features, Snow White: The Sequel, but in the post-Shrek era, his satirical take on fairy tales felt behind the times and it bombed. Afterwards, he left animation for good and turned to painting, and his work was slowly forgotten, remembered only by animation historians and satire buffs. Now, a new documentary, Picha Against All Odds, produced by the French-Speaking Cinematheque de la Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles and directed by Belgian filmmaker Luc Jabon, unearths Pichas legacy and recontextualizes the work of this European pioneer of adult animation. Ahead of the documentarys world premiere at the Anima festival in Brussels, Cartoon Brew sat down with the films director to learn more about the documentary. Cartoon Brew: Why a documentary on Picha today? Luc Jabon: Initially, this project came from a request from the Cinematheque de la Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles which for several years has released a certain number of portraits of filmmakers seen by filmmakers. At one point the question arose of making a film around animation and its past. It is within this context that the figure of Picha emerged. So to me, it wasnt a deliberate choice, but upon meeting Picha, I was struck by his journey as an artist, and what he experienced during his decades-spanning career. And thats where my desire to tell something about this somewhat unusual artistic journey was born. It was only as the film progressed that I fully felt the relevance of the questions that satire and pastiche posed yesterday and still pose today. In 2006, Picha was the subject of another documentary, My Uncle from America is Belgian. How does your film fit alongside that one? My Uncle from America is Belgian, a film by Eric Figon and Francoise Walravens [Pichas niece], is a rather intimate portrait of Picha. Its a very beautiful film, quite impressionistic, which had already done this work of portraying the man behind the artist. What interested me instead was to create a narrative based on Pichas works and the movements of his career, and so that is how I modeled my filmmaking approach. Were you already familiar with Pichas work when you started working on the project? I knew it from having discovered his films at the time they were released. Because even if he is a little older than me, we are practically from the same generation. I therefore experienced these works at the time when his films thunderously entered the galaxy of animated features, which was quite normative at the time, and which he completely transgressed with the means at his hand. After this period, I admit to having lost sight of Picha, and it was only in this documentary process that I discovered all the aspects of his work, and in particular his recent painting career, which is fascinating to me and mirrors a lot of the themes depicted in his previous works. How did Pichas films impact you at the time? As I said, and as several people in the film remind us, we must not forget that we lived in a very normative world. And its this generation of late 1960s artists that really decided to ruffle societys feathers. In a very static decade, publications such as French satirical magazine Hara-Kiri, where Picha started his drawing career with many other big names, were a Gods gift. The perfect way to shake up the lines of a very frozen post-war society. How did you choose the people you interviewed for your documentary? Its kind of a constellation, that is to say I found one which led me to the other, and so on. But what was particularly important to me was making the link between past and present. I didnt want to make a nostalgic portrait of Picha, and something that struck me from the start of the project was that Picha is completely forgotten today. The new generation of animation filmmakers does not know of him and his films, and that raised questions for me. This is why in the film, we talk a lot about the state of animation at the time, to understand how Picha is so disruptive compared to the general state of animation in Belgium, in an era where animated features came mostly from Disney, and in Belgium from Belvision with comic book characters such as Tintin, Lucky Luke, or even The Smurfs. But at the same time, I wanted to have people capable of talking about animation today, and not only animation but also the question of irreverence and transgression. Thats why Belgian cartoonists and artists are also present in the film, both colleagues who knew and worked Picha, and also people who were inspired by him. In the film, you also draw a parallel between Picha and American filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, who boasted similar irreverence with films such as Fritz the Cat and Coonskin. How does Picha fit into this international landscape of 1970s emerging adult animation? Before being a filmmaker Pichas first career was that of an extremely well-known cartoonist. Its a part of his life that has been completely forgotten today, but he was one of the greatest Belgian satirical cartoonists of his time. He worked for Hara-Kiri, but also for other Belgian newspapers including Special and Pourquoi Pas. He also worked internationally for National Lampoon and even The New York Times. So when Picha turned his pen to animated cinema, he didnt start from scratch. And thats also what interested me about him, this ability to move from one artistic path to another, which is quite rare. Artists are very quickly labeled, they enter a category and stay there all our lives. Picha always refused this, he went from satirical drawing to animated cinema, then moved on to television, before turning to painting a decade later. Would you say its only a result of his own will, or an evolution of society that pushed him into these new pursuits? Both, of course. Picha also had to adapt to the different situations in which he found himself throughout the times. You should know that between his last two animated films, twenty years passed, so everything became more complicated for him. Especially since his animated cinema, the one he employed on Shame Of The Jungle in 1975, and his other 1980s features, was no longer the same at all. Diving into this history is also a look back on a bygone era of animation Its something that I definitely wanted to show in this film. Today, as we look at cg animated features, or even drawn animation, the audience doesnt necessarily know how these films were made back in that time. All these aspects of 2d animation, such as celluloid workers, and all the little hands that had to create in-betweens to create movement, its something wonderful to see. Im very grateful to the Cinematheque for having unearthed the archives that you see in the documentary, and for Claire Gobert, one of Pichas colleagues, for sharing her experience and her memories of that time. When Picha started working on his independent features, Belvision was employing sixty to eighty people on their features, so its also interesting to shed light on the difficulties that Picha encountered during his own films, without the backup of such a studio. I was very happy to be able to share these glances in the past, retelling a story of Belgian animated cinema that shaped what Belgian animation is today. Directors such as Patar & Aubier (A Town Called Panic) or producer Vincent Tavier [who recently co-produced Claude Barras new feature Savages] were all very influenced by Pichas films. What do you think connects these very different yet intricate artistic paths? The love for the image, to begin with. But beyond the image, there is something deeper, a way of drawing a sharp look at the world and what surrounds us. Even when, in the 1990s, he made television dramas aimed at young audiences, there is always a little something in Pichas series that stands out, that deviates from the norm. As a documentarist who also tries to go beyond simply sharing someones life on screen, this particularly appealed to me. How can one show Pichas films today? Is it even possible, interesting, and in what context according to you? This is also one of the main questions the documentary asks. As far as I am concerned, I agree with the point of view of several speakers in the film, we must continue to show everything as long as it is of quality of course but it is absolutely necessary to contextualize these works. It is essential to understand why, how, and in what conditions they were made. Because the perception of satire, transgression, and humor have completely changed. Frederic Jannin and Pierre Kroll, both Belgian cartoonists still operating today, tell it very well.And thats why I also wanted to create a meeting within this film, between todays animation film students and Picha. And I had this opportunity, and I want to thank Picha for taking part because it was a difficult and powerful encounter for him, with a very virulent look at the way in which these students see his cinema today. And the fact that they were able to express this opinion, to question these films as well as the filmmaker, and that he was able to respond, I find it super interesting. It weaves this link between past and present that I hold dear, and that is key in this film. We live in what I sometimes call the tyranny of the present, but documentaries are a form that allows us to go back and confront this vision. While at the same time benefiting from the luck of reality, because this meeting was absolutely not scripted! And the discussion that arose there was very interesting. These directors are the animation filmmakers of our future. And while talking about animated cinema today, they are also questioning the animation of yesterday while creating the world of tomorrow. Picha Against All Odds premiered at the Anima Festival on Monday, March 3rd. In March, as part of the Offscreen festival in Brussels, seven films by Picha and his contemporary and co-author Boris Szulzinger recently restored by Cinematek will be presented this month in Belgian theaters. Michel Gondry has had a long relationship with animation, but he has never quite made a film like this one. Released last October in France, before premiering internationally at the Berlinale last month and winning an award, Maya, Give Me A Title is a 61-minute compilation of shorts plus wraparound material that Gondry made for his young daughter over a period of six years. Based on prompts from his daughter, and made as a way to remain connected to her even while he lived in another country, the film radiates Gondrys love for his daughter and her imagination. The animation technique, a lo-fi mix of stop-motion and paper cut-out animation brought to life by Gondry himself, is a wonderful journey into the path of a creative artist learning to communicate through a medium he discovers along the way. As such, Maya, Give Me A Title is a witty, funny and whimsical feature, where children and parents alike will travel within Gondrys mixed-media universe, constantly wandering back and forth between volcanoes, apartments, lush seas and impressive paper settings. Cartoon Brew spoke with Michel Gondry to learn more about the making of this singular animated film. Maya recently had its North American debut at the New York International Childrens Film Festival, and it will screen this June at the Annecy animation festival, where Gondry will receive a lifetime achievement award. Cartoon Brew: What is animation to you, as a filmmaker and an artist? Michel Gondry: Its quite simple. To me, animation is a discovery of cinema 24 times per second. You start over each time, and thats why animation has this glow, this vibration. Every second, every frame is a new film, a new discovery. When did the idea of animated films for Maya begin? I started with a small animated film for her third birthday. Then, Id ask her for a title, and shed see the result sometime later. I integrated characters from her daily life: her grandparents, her cat, her mom. By the time I was done with the process, I had made roughly sixty shorts. I created films that allowed her everyday life to drift into fantasy, not unlike a bedtime story: her mom would read her the titles and dialogue, then give me feedback on Mayas reactions. What she liked, what was a bit scary It was only a year after I was finished with the process that I thought about turning it into a film and sharing it with others, as a way to express the relationship between a dad and his daughter through animation. Can you tell us more about your influences, or the animation artists that have shaped your relationship with animation? I would not say influenced, its more like they stimulated me. Theyve shown me that you can have complex ideas and a complex story with very simple graphics. I remember one particularly, I think it was a Russian cartoon, very didactic, about somebody who killed a person because they made too much noise. And its very simple, theres a lot of fixed frames, and thats all there is to it. When I do animation, I just try to tell the story and I try to make the characters do fun stuff, and then I find ways to make them work in a very simple way. There are enough contingencies in animation to avoid creating extra complexity, so there is no specific aesthetic research except that I like to put paper that looks nice together. There is simplification for the background. Theyre technical, but they also give a specific look to the film. Talking about technique, how did you make these films? Because the evolution of the process is palpable throughout the movie. Yes. As Maya grew up, I had to bring more sophistication to the story and the look of the animation. I always started with a storyboard, and with the backgrounds I created, which I often reused throughout the films. For the backgrounds, I use a big piece of paper, and I try to make them quite simple. But sometimes, they take a long time because there are lots of elements moving in the scene. If I shoot inside a factory, I want to see cogs in the background, lots of pipes, and those details give life but also impact the shot. Sometimes, it can be part of a table, a plug, or a shoe. When I cut each element, I decide which parts will be moving. Then I put my camera above it with a rudimentary wooden system and I record a frame per motion, moving elements by half-centimeter or a centimeter. Those movements have to be very small so it doesnt jump around too much. After that, its just a regular editing process. Whats an overlooked aspect of the film that youre keen to talk about? I rarely get to talk about the letters, but they play a very important role in each segment. Not only did they have to be there, but they were also part of the text written for Mayas mother to read. So as soon as they appear on screen, I looked for ways to make them physically present and entertaining. I put myself under great pressure to cut out those letters and bring them to life, and its one of the aspects of the film where you can see the imperfections, but also the playfulness of the medium. With this approach, your work indeed celebrates both craftsmanship and imperfection. Its not really that I celebrate it; its more about accepting these imperfections as part of the process. Because I couldnt possibly tell a full story in three weeks if I had to reach perfection, like most animated films. So, I accept it, and I hope that the audience will do too. As long as we get the story, and a little motion. And sometimes, I elaborate more, I add motion and details. But most of the time, its all made to tell the story, and I think its maybe also why people are more forgiving of the imperfections. Because they still see something that a father did for his daughter. How did you choose the films that would be included in this feature? From the beginning, there was always one that I showed to my friends to talk about this idea. So I wanted to include it in the film. There are some that I prefer, and then I alternated with some simple and complicated ones. Its not much more than that. But I already know which films will be included in the second iteration. The first version of the film was too long, and thats why we decided to split the film in two. The films that make the second feature are more varied, more experimental. So Im very excited to put them out there later this year. Can you share some of the challenges that you encountered during this project? Well, for instance, the giant robot was a big deal because there was a lot of movement involved between the arms, legs, and body. This film was overall a great challenge, to manage all the troopies jumping, the fake cops arresting the other fake cops, after being themselves arrested by the first fake cops; sometimes I felt like I would never be able to do that, but in the end I always found a solution. Animation is often a team effort, how did you feel animating these films on your own? It felt great. I had set a rule before the start of this endeavor: I would not redo a shot, except if it was terrible. Because its so much work already. I also had help from time to time, for the cutting process, but mostly that was it. In a way, I think I wanted a certain level of authenticity. I was the only one working on this project, and this was my effort. How did you integrate sound in the films, and were you already thinking about a soundtrack while animating? When I was done with a film, I would go to the internet and dig out any type of sound I could find. Then my assistant would edit them. But when we moved to a feature film that would be commercially released, we of course had to replace sounds in order to make the film legal. But the sounds were already there, so it was all about replicating and finding the right match. How do you feel about sharing this film with international audiences? I really enjoyed creating those films. Especially because I sleep very poorly and so I could get up in the middle of the night and animate for three or four hours straight while listening to audiobooks, especially Russian novels. It was a great experience, and its really exciting when you have a storyboard and you figure out how youre going to execute it and bring it to screen. What Im grateful for is that I rarely get feedback criticizing the unpolished finishing of the film, because people read it as I meant it, the communication between a father and daughter. How do you feel about animation today, in the midst of its recent struggles? One thing is that it definitely isnt like other big productions released internationally nowadays. To me, the film looks handmade, obviously. But I think its inviting in that way, as it shows that you can be entertaining with simple skills and simple animation. Ive been asked a lot about my stance on AI, and to be fair I dont have much of an opinion about it. There are some elements and techniques in animation that are very expensive, such as rotoscoping, and finding ways to work around it might be interesting. But to me, the main problem is about what lies behind technology for our society as a whole. Advertisement The government of Tamil Nadu, India, has proposed a levy of an additional INR160/t (US$1.84) on limestone with effect from 20 February 2025. It follows the introduction of an INR25/t tax on limestone mined in Karnataka. The tax, which is in addition to the royalty payable on limestone mining, will be payable in advance on dispatch of minerals from mineral-bearing land. It is expected that the tax will have a significant impact on the production costs of local cement producers. "We expect additional impact of INR200/t on RM [raw material] costs if the purposed taxes are implemented. Players with higher exposure in the state are The Ramco Cements, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), The India Cements," said InCred Equities. The India Cements operates 90 per cent of its total installed capacity in Tamil Nadu while The Ramco Cement and Dalmia Cement (Bharat) run 51 and 31 per cent, respectively of their total installed capacity. "To pass on this cost increase, Tamil Nadu-based players require to hike cement prices by INR8-10/bag. Besides, we see increasing possibility of other mineral-bearing states imposing additional levies in future," said brokerage JM Financial. "Accordingly, industry players will undertake gradual price hikes to pass on the same, in our view. Pricing behaviour over the coming months is a key monitorable," added JM Financial. Over the past few years, cement prices have been declining in the state. Furthermore, based on JM Financial's estimates, this is likely to have an EBITDA impact of approximately nine per cent for The Ramco Cement and around three per cent for Dalmia Cement (Bharat) on FY26-27 estimates. Share prices have been affected by the announcement with Dalmia Cement (Bharat) seeing its share price fall five per cent, Ramco Cement's six per cent and The India Cements' four per cent, reports Moneycontrol. 532 Fern Trail 11000 Bridgestone Drive 306 Noll Street Previous Next 532 Fern Trail 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, 5,635 square feet, on a 2.76 acre lot The sale was to Eric Germann, Lauren Germann from Samuel Dawson Adkisson, Bailey Vaughn Adkisson $1,350,000 11000 Bridgestone Drive 5 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, 7,179 square feet, on a 0.89 acre lot The sale was to Brenda M Finnewald Tr, Sharon Roddy Tr, Brenda M Fennewald Revocable Trust from Charlie Jr Spearman, Kristin Spearman $1,795,000 306 Noll Street 5 bedrooms, 5.5+ bathrooms, 6,465 square feet, on a 0.37 acre lot The sale was to Aviyan Pfeiffer Revocable Living Trust from Dexter W White Construction Llc $3,000,000 City of Chattanooga Chief of Police John Chambers told the Pachyderm Club on Monday he is tackling the 22 percent vacancy rate he inherited in August with changes in the hiring process and workplace culture. The Chattanooga Police Departments vacancy rate is down to 18 percent today, he said. He pledged to fill out those patrol positions this year, and he promised to advocate for public safety as infrastructure that must keep abreast of the citys fast-growing population in future months. Chief Chambers said he meets with Mayor Tim Kelly weekly, and the mayor has supported all his ideas. The only time that he is involved is when I ask him to be, he said. This month Chief Chambers created a human resources director position and a recruiting coordinator position. The recruiting coordinator will take over backlogged testing and background checks required to enter the police academy. He said the department has only processed 20 of the 200 applicants for the April academy. Chief Chambers said hes aggressively recruiting and has managed to regain four officers who recently quit. A leadership council he created to nominate and vet positions traditionally appointed by the chief has been extremely successful, he said. Chief Chambers said hes become a data nerd, too. The first five months of 2024 saw a 44 percent increase in crime and a 25 percent increase in shootings, he said. He looked back to successes in 2021 to bring back what works. He started with supporting CPD patrol officers. Ive got your back, he tells them. He communicates face-to-face, not by word of mouth, video or email, he said. But officers who tarnish the badge intentionally will be left out in the cold, he said, to much applause from his audience. Thats the response that I got from every single employee in every single meeting, he said. The end of 2024 ushered in 21 percent fewer arrests and a 23 percent reduction in complaints filed against officers, he said. Gang Changes Chief Chambers has designated four police units, or 40 officers, to track gang members who commit violence. Officers have a clear mission and a clear job. We are absolutely going after the right people, he said. The chief said Chattanooga gangs generally are not as organized as they once were. Members are much younger, gangs dont have territories anymore, and they dont bankroll the gang with an organized crime ring, he said. There are no more boundaries, he said. All 10 members of a former gang task force were suspended for misconduct in a three-year span. He said their job was not clear and they were doing whatever they wanted. If you tarnish this badge, youre gone, he said. Cooperating with ICE A member of the audience asked if Chief Chambers will or wont cooperate with federal immigration and customs enforcement agents, but Chief Chambers said thats not his decision. We dont have the authority to enforce immigration laws, he said. State and federal laws are separate so they dont contradict one another. We dont have the authority to enforce those, nor do we have a mechanism, he said. Thats by design. Homelessness Chief Chambers clarified that CPD may clear homeless encampments from city- or county-owned property, but not from private property without permission from the property owner. A man was walking westbound through the parking lot adjacent to Prigmore and Ringgold Road when he was struck by a Kia Soul. Upon police arrival the man was alert and walking around, complaining that his leg and hip hurt. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation. While in the area responding to an auto burglary, police spoke with a resident on Fruitland Drive who said three of her vehicles were burgled during the night. She said the vehicles were unlocked and nothing of value appeared to have been stolen. Police spoke with the other family members who also said nothing of value appeared to have been taken. Two residents on Haisten Court reported someone entered their driveway earlier in the morning and burglarized two vehicles: a Ford F-150 and Volkswagen Passat. Camera footage showed the suspect, a male, entering the neighborhood in a sedan. Pending identification of the suspect, two warrants for burglary of an auto will be sought. A man on Fruitland Drive told police someone entered his work truck, a ford F-250, but did not take any valuables. Pending identification of the suspect, a warrant for burglary of an auto will be sought. A man on S. Lovell Avenue told police someone entered his Toyota Tundra during the night but did not take any valuables. Pending identification of the suspect, a warrant for burglary of an auto will be sought. Police spoke with a man on Maryland Drive who said he and his wife had their cars broken into on the night of March 12 at approximately 3-4 a.m. The unknown subject ransacked both their vehicles and stole the key fob and $7 from a wallet, which was left in his white work van. No suspect has been identified at this time. Police responded to Matthews Drive on reports of a theft. Officers spoke with the victim who said his truck had been broken into. He showed a security footage of a man jumping his fence and entering his unlocked vehicle. The only thing taken was his truck keys. He described the man as 57- 58, 18-20 years old, wearing a gray hoodie, black jacket, black pants, and white shoes. Police responded to this Fruitland Drive on reports of a theft. The man said his vehicle had been broken into, but didn't notice anything was gone from his vehicle. However, he did say his center console and glove box were open. Police viewed the footage but were unable to make out anything outside of a flashlight across the street. Police responded to Ringgold Road to assist EMS for a woman who could not breathe and advised she had been exposed to tear gas. The woman said she is the neighbor to an individual who was involved with a Catoosa County SWAT callout. Catoosa County had deployed tear gas and OC gas into the barricaded subjects home. The female received some of the gas due to her proximity to the residence. The woman was transported for further evaluation. 25-002583 5700 BLK Ringgold Road Pursuit of Vehicle Officers were advised that Chattanooga Police Department was in pursuit of a stolen EPB utility van southbound on Spring Creek Road and had aggravated assault on law enforcement charges. Officers located the pursuit in the 5700 block of Ringgold Road westbound and engaged in the pursuit to assist CPD because the suspect was wanted for a violent felony. ERPD officers continued with the pursuit but stopped at S Moore Road and S Terrace because the pursuit left the city limits. The pursuit continued west onto North Terrace and a single ERPD unit re-engaged in the pursuit in anticipation of spike strips being placed at South Germantown Road and North Terrace. The spike strips were unsuccessful and ERPD terminated any further involvement at 182MM I-24 westbound. Warrants are pending identification of the driver, who was taken into custody by CPD and Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. Disorder Management on Camp Jordan Parkway requested a patron to be criminally trespassed from the property after he made several inappropriate comments to employees. Police spoke with him and he agreed to leave the business. Police responded to a theft complaint at a store on Ringgold Road. A man said his blue and white Kent bicycle was stolen from the front sidewalk of the store. A surveillance video revealed a man stole the bike and traveled eastbound on Ringgold Road. Police checked the area but did not locate the bicycle or the suspect. The identity of the suspect was unknown. While in custody at the Hamilton County Jail, a man was served with two alias capias warrants through the city of East Ridge. The original charges for capias warrants were following too close and due care. Police saw a sedan traveling toward the Bachman tunnels with illegal window tint. A traffic stop was conducted at a safe location on Westside Drive. During the traffic stop, a woman was found to have an alias capias warrant through the city of East Ridge. The original charge was driving on a suspended license. She was taken into custody and transported to Hamilton County Jail. Police responded to an unknown 911 call on Connell Street and found two robbery victims. Both reported they were robbed at gunpoint by an unknown man. One said they were providing the unknown man with a ride to Speedway when he took a total of $385 from them. Police were unable to find the suspect and the investigation is ongoing. Police and EMS responded to a gas station on Ringgold Road after a man was found lying on the sidewalk and complaining of leg pain. He denied EMS support and agreed to leave the area after officers addressed the issue. Police saw a woman walking in the middle of the roadway on S. Moore Road and conducted a well-being check with her. She was checked for warrants and was then provided with a courtesy ride to her residence. The transcript of the record of the historic monkey trial in Dayton, Tn., in the July, 1925, voluminous record includes lawyers arguing over each others comments at hearings on motions outside the presence of the 12-member trial jury and the brief testimony of four prosecution witnesses. The superintendent of the Rhea County school system and two high school students testified that Scopes had taught the banned topic as a substitute teacher using a textbook, Hunters Civic Biology, that discussed the subject of Evolution. The last brief witness Frank E. Robinson was a local druggist who expressed his opinion that using the above biology book would be in violation of the state anti-evolution (Butler) act passed by the state legislature in January, 1925, who also admitted that he sold the textbook at his pharmacy. Defense attorney Clarence Darrow used the unexpected trial tactic of calling William Jennings Bryan as a hostile (and only defense) witness which has been memorialized in writings, Broadway plays, and film (Inherit the Wind- 1960). Mr. Darrow was also able to prevent Mr. Bryan from making a final closing argument to the jury which he had already prepared, exceeding 15,000 words. Mr. Darrow asked the jury to find Scopes guilty and the prosecution agreed to the suggestion and no further arguments would be made by either side. Whether the defense attorneys spontaneous comments would have constituted a closing argument to open the door and allow Mr. Bryan to give his fiery, historical and Biblical arguments was never addressed. However on Friday, July 24, The Great Commoner, had met with Chattanooga News editor, George Fort Milton, and arranged to publish the intended address in anticipation of delivering its contents to audiences across the country after the trials conclusion. Ultimately, it was printed and distributed as a photographic reproduction of the original booklet printed by the Bryan Memorial Association after its meeting on Bryans birthday anniversary in 1929. The One Hundred Year Anniversary of the 1925 trial is scheduled to be celebrated with a variety of events beginning in March through July in Dayton and Chattanooga areas at Bryan College and the historic Rhea County Courthouse. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will also present an address on March 20, 2025 by Pulitzer Prize in History winner, Edward J. Larson, author of Summer of the Gods at the McKenzie Arena beginning at 6 p.m. ---- If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact him at jsummers@summersfirm.com) The city of Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors, in coordination with Red Bank Parks and Recreation, has temporarily closed portions of two trails at Stringers Ridge out of an abundance of caution following a brush fire early Thursday morning. The following trails are closed until further notice: North section Double J The northern section of Strut At approximately 12:30 a.m. Red Bank Fire Department was Dispatched to 1010 Hiram Ave. on a reported brush fire. First arriving crews found a working brush fire. RBFD crews relocated to 20 Mason Drive to gain better access to the fire. Chattanooga Fire Department along with the Tennessee Department of Forestry was contacted for assistance. Tennessee Department of Forestry fire crews cut a fire break around the fire and will monitor it throughout the day. The Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management Drone Team was requested to fly around the perimeter to make sure all fire was contained inside the fire break. All fire is contained within the fire break at this time. Smoke may be visible for a few days due to smoldering debris. For public safety, the above-mentioned trails at Stringers Ridge will remain closed while officials from the City of Chattanooga and Red Bank conduct a thorough assessment of the area. A decision regarding the reopening of trailsor the continuation of closureswill be made once this evaluation is complete. Please note that poor air quality issues are possible in and around the preserve due to lingering smoke. All agencies will monitor conditions over the next few days as our area continues to deal with drought. Southern Adventist University staff, alumni, students and community members participated in a unique twist on a traditional topping-out ceremony on March 5signing one of the final beams for the new Ruth McKee School of Business building.Topping Out the steel in a building signifies that other construction activities can commence, said Marty Hamilton, recently retired senior vice president for Financial Administration. Its a big deal in the process that builds excitement for creating a strong presence.The ceremony honored the time, money and prayers that the community and friends of the university have poured into the building project to bring the new academic structure on campus to fruition.Individuals used permanent markers to cover the beam in signatures, each one a proud testament to the impact the building has already had on people both near and far.We have reached an important milestone, said President Ken Shaw, 80, EdD, who is also a Southern alum. I vividly remember the vision shared with me nearly four years ago by School of Business Dean Stephanie Sheehan and Trustee Franklin Farrow. That vision resonated with me then, and it is truly gratifying to witness the progress we are making today.The following day, the beam was placed via crane on the building and now sits prominently at the top of the structure on the southeast side, clearly visible due to its white coating but also completely covered with names written in black, gold and silver. The estimated date for the buildings completion is June 2026.The School of Business is the second largest academic department at Southern, with 465 students currently enrolled. The new building will increase space from the current 9,000 square feet to approximately 53,000 square feet, providing much-needed room for students to learn. With state-of-the-art facilitiesincluding a business innovation center, entrepreneurship room, finance lab and auditoriumstudents will gain access to a learning environment focused on excellence.Southerns $24 million School of Business Leadership and Innovation Campaign will support the new building and program endowment. For additional details and to watch continued construction progress, visit southern.edu/gobusiness. We love Luann de Lesseps for her fashion risks and risky behavior (within reason). But this travel look isn't our favorite from our favorite countess. Longtime viewers of The Real Housewives of New York City might call many moments with Luann de Lesseps unhinged. The original RHONY cast member is known for her offensive Diana Ross costume as much as her loving support of friends like Sonja Morgan. With unhinged moments come unhinged outfits, like the one she donned for her travels to the Midwest yesterday. Countess Luann de Lesseps performs at Ladyland on June 28, 2024 in New York City | Santiago Felipe/Getty Images Luann de Lesseps style is a mix of classic elegance, bold glamour, and cabaret-inspired drama. As a former countess, she leans into a chic, European-inspired aesthetic. However, fans also know the former model for taking risks with her fashion choices sometimes to great success and other times not so much. Enter de Lesseps outfit as she flew from NYC to Omaha, Nebraska, for her cabaret show at the Astro Theater. Luann de Lesseps on her way to the airport for a cabaret appearance in Nebraska | Michael Simon/GC Images De Lesseps began the Midwest leg of her cabaret tour with a stop in the Cornhusker State. But her look was anything but rural. The 59-year-old donned a black fedora with a black tank top and light-wash flared denim. She layered a chainmail-inspired see-through button-up over the top. Then, she added a huge Chanel brooch to the chest pocket in label-forward Real Housewives fashion. Not to be out-accessorized, de Lesseps wore a large beaded rosary-style necklace and futuristic sunglasses. Luann de Lesseps on March 13, 2025 in New York City | Michael Simon/GC Images We cant overlook these sunglasses. Although sold out online, these black ultra-slim visor sunnies were available on Pretty Little Thing for $10. ASOS retailed the bedazzled eyewear for $45 before marking them down to $24.75. While we applaud de Lesseps daring fashion choices, we arent so sure about Y2K style on the cabaret star. Thankfully, she usually opts for more sophisticated looks like the one she wore to the Planet Hollywood Times Square grand opening earlier this week. Luann de Lesseps and Dorinda Medley at the grand opening of the new Planet Hollywood NYC on March 11, 2025 | The Hapa Blonde/GC Images; Bruce Glikas/Getty Images The Bravolebrity donned a gorgeous sequined silver jumpsuit with a plunging neckline to celebrate the restaurants grand opening. We have a feeling that de Lesseps was thrilled to rub shoulders with Bravo and Hollywood stars at the VIP event. Guests included her personal friend Boy George as well as Whoopie Goldberg, Pete Davidson, 50 Cent, Joey Fatone, and Alec and Hilaria Baldwin. Arnold Schwarzenegger attended with his son, The White Lotus star Patrick Schwarzenegger. Joe Gorga, Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, and Meredith Marks at the grand opening of Planet Hollywood NYC | 1st and 3rd images: The Hapa Blonde/GC Images; 2nd image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Planet Hollywood De Lesseps wasnt alone on the Bravo guest list. Real Housewives stars Margaret Josephs, Dorinda Medley, Meredith Marks, Joe and Melissa Gorga, and Gia and Milania Giudice attended the celebration. Now, de Lesseps is embarking on a new leg of her cabaret show, Countess and Friends. The Class with the Countess author will perform in the U.S. and Canada through June 29, 2025. You can get tickets at CountessLuann.com. With the presentation of its annual report, Wacker Chemie AG reported that its 2024 sales and earnings fell versus the previous year due to persistently weak market conditions. WACKERs sales totaled 5.72 billion, 11 percent less than in 2023 (6.40 billion). This development was driven primarily by lower prices and much lower volumes at the Polysilicon division. By contrast, sales in the chemical divisions matched the previous years performance despite headwinds. The biotechnology division reported a year-over-year increase in sales. The Groups EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) amounted to 763 million in the reporting period (2023: 824 million), down 7 percent. This is due to lower prices, particularly for solar-grade polysilicon, but also to persistently high energy costs in Germany, coupled with lower plant-utilization rates in some cases as a result of the decline in volumes. Savings from ongoing efficiency measures buoyed earnings. Due to the factors described above, EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) decreased 28 percent to 290 million (2023: 405 million). Depreciation and amortization came to 473 million, higher than in 2023 (419 million) due to the commissioning of new production facilities in Germany and China. Net income for 2024 came in at 261 million (2023: 327 million). WACKERs long-standing dividend policy is to distribute about 50 percent of net income for the year to shareholders. The Executive and Supervisory Boards will therefore propose a dividend of 2.50 per share at the Annual Shareholders Meeting. Based on the number of dividend-bearing shares as per December 31, 2024, the cash dividend corresponds to a payout of 124 million. 2024: Good performance in a weak market environment 2024 was a challenging year for the chemicals industry as a whole. We were faced with weak demand in many of our customer sectors, with many of our customers in the construction and automotive industries, in particular, curbing their production. WACKER performed well in this weak market environment, said President & CEO Christian Hartel on Wednesday in Munich. Despite headwinds, our chemical divisions achieved sales at the previous years level and earnings in total in these divisions even exceeded the prior-year figure. Sales and earnings in our biotech division were up year over year, he continued. It was only the Polysilicon division that painted a mixed picture. Our solar-grade polysilicon business has declined primarily due to excess capacity in China. What is more, the debate in this area surrounding US anti-dumping tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia unsettled the markets considerably. By contrast, our hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon business performed very well. This is an area in which we are the global market leader, and we are continuing to expand both our capabilities and our capacities. 2025: Business environment remains challenging, but WACKER remains on track Regarding WACKERs expectations for the year ahead, Hartel explained: The market environment will remain challenging. The weak economy is still impacting many customers order trends, with ongoing reluctance to spend in the construction industry, for example. By contrast, demand for our silicones, especially for specialty products, and semiconductor-grade polysilicon continues to show a very positive development. We expect to see higher volumes in these areas this year. Sales in the first two months of this year were roughly on a par with the previous year. In addition, WACKER expects to report Group sales at the prior-year level in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2024: 1.5 billion), while our polysilicon business will be lower than last year. The company expects to report EBITDA of around 135 million for the first quarter (Q1 2024: 172 million). Looking at the year as a whole, WACKER expects its business to grow in all regions despite an ongoing challenging environment. Sales are forecast at between 6.1 billion and 6.4 billion, while EBITDA should amount to between 700 million and 900 million. The company expects to see slightly lower selling prices and considerably higher volumes. Hartel stressed that WACKER would continue to focus on cost discipline and on increasing efficiency given the sustained weak market environment. We are driving forward a number of targeted projects to streamline structures and optimize processes. Digitalization and automation initiatives will help us to achieve this, explained the CEO. Hartel remains optimistic as regards the companys medium and long-term development. "We have confirmed our strategy. We are in a strong financial position and are benefiting from global megatrends. Whether it is renewable energy, electromobility or digitalization, these trends will continue to drive our business." He added that going forward, WACKER would be focused more on improving margins than on volume growth. Specifically, this means concentrating more on our efficiency and driving the expansion of our specialty business. By specialty business, we mean products and solutions that offer our customers clear added value thanks to their outstanding properties. They are generally developed on a customer-specific basis, have a greater depth of added value and achieve higher margins, he explained. Business trends in 2024 Regions In 2024, WACKER generated 84 percent of its sales outside Germany and 16 percent in Germany. Sales declined in Asia and Europe, while they increased in the USA. Sales in Asia amounted to 2.11 billion (2023: 2.75 billion), down 23 percent. In Europe, WACKER posted sales of 2.21 billion (2023: 2.30 billion), a decline of 4 percent. In the Americas, sales rose by 2 percent to 1.07 billion (2023: 1.04 billion). Capital expenditures (CapEx) Capital expenditures totaled 666 million in 2024, a year-over-year decline of 6 percent (2023: 710 million). WACKERs investment focus was on expanding capacity in its four business divisions across the globe. In Silicones, it increased its capacities in Zhangjiagang, China. The company is also creating a new site in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, to increase production capacities for specialty silicones. The new site is scheduled to come on stream at the end of 2025. At the Polymers division, one of the capacity-expansion projects is for VAE dispersions in Calvert City, USA. In the Polysilicon division, WACKER is increasing its production capacities for semiconductor-grade polysilicon at Burghausen, Germany. The new facility will open in 2025. The Biosolutions division opened a new mRNA Competence Center in Halle in 2024, making WACKER part of Germanys pandemic-preparedness plan. Employees The number of employees increased by 259 in 2024. As of December 31, 2024, WACKER had 16,637 employees worldwide (December 31, 2023: 16,378). As of the reporting date, this included 10,657 employees at its sites in Germany (2023: 10,621) and 5,980 at its sites elsewhere (2023: 5,757). Net cash flow, net financial debt and equity ratio At -326 million, net cash flow was negative in 2024 (2023: 166 million). The marked drop reflected lower earnings and an increase in working capital. As of December 31, 2024, WACKER reported net financial debt of around 691 million (December 31, 2023: 84 million). The Groups total assets amounted to 9.41 billion as of December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: 8.85 billion), up 6 percent, due primarily to the increase in inventories and fixed assets. As of December 31, 2024, WACKER posted liquid assets of 1.26 billion (December 31, 2023: 1.42 billion). Equity, too, was up by 6 percent. As of the reporting date, equity amounted to 4.84 billion (December 31, 2023: 4.58 billion). The equity ratio of 51.4 percent was on par with the previous year (2023: 51.7 percent). Business divisions The Silicones division increased its sales and EBITDA in 2024. Sales came to 2.81 billion, up 2 percent year over year (2023: 2.74 billion). EBITDA was 347 million (2023: 236 million), 47 percent more than a year earlier. This positive development was driven by an improved product mix, with a significantly higher proportion of specialty products, and better plant utilization rates. Sales and EBITDA at Polymers were down year over year. Sales decreased 7 percent to 1.46 billion (2023: 1.58 billion). EBITDA came in at 194 million, down 23 percent year over year (2023: 253 million), mainly due to a year-over-year decline in selling prices. The division slightly increased its volumes in a weak market environment thanks to strong demand for products used to formulate adhesives and coatings. Biosolutions outperformed the prior-year figures for both sales and EBITDA in 2024. Sales increased by 11 percent and reached 375 million (2023: 337 million). At 35 million, EBITDA was significantly higher year over year (2023: 7 million). The positive trend was bolstered primarily by growth in its biopharmaceutical business. Sales and EBITDA in Polysilicon , in contrast, declined. Sales dropped 41 percent to 949 million (2023: 1.60 billion). EBITDA contracted 40 percent to 193 million (2023: 321 million) due to lower prices and volumes for solar-grade polysilicon. Ongoing high energy prices in Germany had a negative impact, too. The total share of hyperpure polysilicon volumes for the semiconductor industry grew further in 2024. Outlook for 2025 WACKER expects to see slightly lower selling prices on average in 2025. Volumes look set to increase considerably particularly for specialty products in the chemical divisions and at Polysilicon. Changes in exchange rates are likely to have a positive effect on sales. Overall, WACKER expects Group sales to range between 6.1 billion and 6.4 billion, increasing in all regions and business divisions. EBITDA is predicted to come to between 700 million and 900 million, with an EBITDA margin at the prior-year level. Capital expenditures will likely be considerably below the prior-year level, and will slightly exceed depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization is expected to total just over 500 million. Net financial debt is expected to be at the prior-year level. Net cash flow will be positive and significantly higher than last years figure. Sales at Silicones are expected to rise by around 10 percent. Growth will be driven primarily by higher volumes, especially for specialty products. The EBITDA margin should be slightly above last year. The Polymers division expects sales to rise by a low-single-digit percentage. WACKER is forecasting slight growth in volumes for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders, with slightly lower selling prices. The EBITDA margin is expected to be on a par with the previous year. Sales at Biosolutions are expected to come to around 400 million. The company is not expecting to see any major recovery in the market environment, and the project business will remain challenging. The EBITDA margin is likely to be slightly higher than the prior-year figure. In just over six months from now, Powtech TechnoPharm will relaunch following its scheduled break. From 23 to 25 September 2025, the Nuremberg exhibition grounds will again become the hub where everything revolves around technologies for processing powders, solids and liquids. Visitors can already look forward to their old favourites as well as some new ideas and concepts. Participants will also benefit from the co-location with FachPack, the European Trade Fair for Packaging, Technology and Processes. PARTEC, the prestigious international scientific congress, will be held alongside POWTECH TECHNOPHARM again in 2025. The POWTECH TECHNOPHARM team is busy with the preparations. The trade fair looks set to be a successful event, with around 600 exhibitors expected in Nuremberg in September. Around 80 percent of the exhibition space has already been booked. The current floor plans are available online. Companies that would still like to exhibit are welcome to get in touch with us so that we can organise the best possible space for them, recommends Marianny Eisenhofer, Director of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM. A new feature this year is that POWTECH TECHNOPHARM will now occupy Halls 9 to 12 in the northwest grounds of the exhibition centre. This area is readily accessible directly from the underground station or coming from the eastern section of the grounds through the exhibition park, where live demonstrations of explosions will be held again this year. Many visitors are sure to also benefit from a tour of the other exhibition halls, where FACHPACK will simultaneously be showcasing current and future packaging solutions. The POWTECH TECHNOPHARM ticket also gives visitors access to FACHPACK. The feedback we are getting from all parties is that the entire processing community is already looking forward to the exhibition again. People have gradually got their heads around the new cycle two consecutive years of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM every September, followed by a break in the third year which makes it easier for people to plan, says Eisenhofer of the status quo around six months ahead of the event. In terms of international presence, we are also already making good progress. And with the new PROCESSING ALLIANCE, we will be focusing even more strongly in future on building business relationships in international markets. The PROCESSING ALLIANCE of NurnbergMesse GmbH is an international network of leading events for the global processing community that aims to address trends in the respective markets worldwide and focus even more specifically on customer benefits. Spotlight on pharma Extending the brand to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM lives up to the new claim Your Destination for Processing Technology and puts the spotlight on the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, especially GxP-compliant manufacturing of liquid, semi-solid and solid pharmaceuticals. The supporting organisation APV (International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology) is honorary sponsor. The TECHNOPHARM Forum has been set up specifically to showcase in STAGE TALKS the various segments of the pharmaceutical industry. At the new Pharma-in-Focus pavilion, companies will present specific products and solutions to the high-calibre professional audience with relatively little effort but significant impact. Supporting programme offers balanced blend of old and new At the September 2025 event, the supporting programme for POWTECH TECHNOPHARM will include familiar features and new concepts. Alongside the TECHNOPHARM Forum, the popular POWTECH Forum gives companies another opportunity to present themselves and their innovative solutions to an interested audience. The Call for Papers has already been launched and is available on the website. A proven and familiar feature is the special show by the VDMA a long-standing partner to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM which will also be part of the supporting programme this year. Organised by the VDMAs Air Handling Technology and Processing Technology and Equipment associations, it will feature presentations by companies under the banner Experience the process chain of the bulk solids industry first-hand. The Networking Pavilion will once again offer established market players and newcomers the opportunity to take part in the trade fair without overstretching their resources. A new addition to the programme is the inaugural meeting of the Women4Processing network for women working in the processing industry. The aim is to give women a platform where they can share knowledge and ideas, learn from one another, and provide mutual support. Women working in processing technology will also benefit from dialogue with the participants of Women4Packaging, a similar network organised by FACHPACK. R&D, professional development, and support for young talent One of the main themes at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM is support for the next generation of industry professionals and R&D activities. With its Campus Pavilion and Students Day, the trade fair is therefore giving universities, tertiary institutions and students ideal opportunities to network with the industry. In addition, for the first time, the trade fair is providing the VDI Association of Process and Chemical Engineering one of its institutional sponsors with a platform for two of its competitions: chemPLANT, which calls for theoretical knowledge and practical applications in processing engineering, and ChemCar, a race between model cars powered by a (bio)chemical reaction. At this years event, the DSIV (German Powder and Bulk Association) will once again offer trade fair tours specifically for students. Home News Trump admin. launches app allowing illegal immigrants to 'self-deport': 'Effective enforcement' Illegal immigrants will have the opportunity to self-deport through an application launched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as part of the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on unlawful entries into the United States. The CBP Home App allows illegal migrants or aliens whose parole has been revoked to inform the U.S. government about their intent to depart the country. In a Monday statement, CBP said it launched the application to comply with President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14159, "Protecting the American People Against Invasion." "CBP Home App strengthens our mission to secure the U.S. border by ensuring lawful entry for travelers and supporting effective enforcement," Acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores said in the statement. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe According to Flores, the application provides migrants a "straightforward way to declare their intent to depart voluntarily, offering them the chance to leave before facing harsher consequences." "This reinforces our commitment to enforcing U.S. laws and safeguarding national security," the acting CBP commissioner continued. In addition to the self-deportation feature, the application includes a function that allows individuals to apply and pay for an I-94 up to seven days before arriving in the United States. The CBP Home App also enables users to check wait times at the border or submit a manifest for bus operators. The application's self-deportation function is part of a $200 million nationwide and international ad campaign urging illegal immigrants to leave the U.S. or face deportation, according to a Monday announcement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "The Biden Administration exploited the CBP One app to allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated in the news release. "With the launching of the CBP Home app, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system." "The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream," she added. "If they don't, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return." In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, CBP pointed to its Monday statement and the news release from the DHS. The DHS did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment. Under President Joe Biden's administration, the CBP Home app was referred to as CBP One. Upon entering office for the second time, Trump ended the use of the CBP One app via an executive order. Lora Ries, the director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, told CP it's in "the long-term interest of illegal aliens to self-deport so they have the option to return lawfully to the U.S. to resume their life and opportunity in America." "The CBP Home mobile app is an efficient way for CBP and aliens to communicate with each other," the policy expert stated. "CBP should add a GPS capability to verify that an alien has in fact departed the U.S. That would also help the agency implement the decades-old statutory requirement of Biometric Exit, which the 9/11 Commission recommended." Immigration attorneys like Gustavo Mora have expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the new CBP Home app, as local news outlet KNBC reported this week. The new application has removed a previous feature from the original CBP One app that allowed migrants to book an appointment with an immigration judge, the outlet stated. "Personally, I don't think there's much of a benefit to the app," Mora said. "If you have never had any immigration history, then you have due process rights, and their rights include the ability to present your case in front of an immigration judge." Ries argues that immigration attorneys typically have a financial incentive to push for immigrants to go to court. The president's January executive order directs federal departments and agencies to "employ all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens." During the first full month of Trump's second presidency, monthly border crossings reached the lowest point in three years, according to data from CBP. In February 2025, 11,709 encounters occurred between illegal immigrants seeking entry into the country and immigration law enforcement officials. There were 61,465 encounters in January and 96,035 encounters recorded in December 2024, the last full month of the Biden administration. Home News DOJ ends investigation of SBC; no sex abuse-related charges filed The U.S. Department of Justice has concluded its investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention, having not filed any sexual abuse-related charges against the nation's largest Protestant denomination. The Baptist Press, the official news organ of the SBC, announced Wednesday that the DOJ informed attorneys with the SBC that the investigation had concluded. The DOJ launched its investigation of multiple entities within the SBC in August 2022 after a report that the convention failed to respond to sexual abuse accusations in member congregations properly. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "Earlier today, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York informed us that the investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention and Executive Committee has officially concluded," said SBC attorneys Gene Besen and Scarlett Nokes in a statement given to BP. "We are pleased that the matter has been resolved without any charges or further expense against the Executive Committee or other SBC entities. It has been an honor to represent and support the Convention and the EC throughout this process." As of last December, the SBC Executive Committee had spent a little over $2 million on legal costs tied to the Justice Department's investigation, according to BP. Timothy Pigg, lead pastor of Fellowship Church of Immokalee, Florida, took to his X account on Wednesday to denounce what he called the "'sexual abuse coverup' narrative." "The 'sexual abuse coverup' narrative caused harm to the people who stood against the power-hungry platform-builders in the SBC," Pigg tweeted. "For instance, SBC members slandered Fellowship Church and me." "My wife received messages on social media encouraging her to leave our marriage due to her being married to someone who covers up abuse. Other pastors' wives on my staff were urged to persuade their husbands to leave the church." Pigg claimed that the "evidence and justification of these rabble-rousers" was his congregation's ties to the Conservative Baptist Network, a theologically conservative organization. The Justice Department's investigation followed the release of a report by outside firm Guidepost Solutions commissioned by the SBC's Executive Committee detailing how some leaders allegedly mistreated victims of abuse and had mishandled allegations of abuse. "For almost two decades, survivors of abuse and other concerned Southern Baptists have been contacting the [SBC Executive Committee] to report child molesters and other abusers who were in the pulpit or employed as church staff," stated the report's executive summary. "They made phone calls, mailed letters, sent emails, appeared at SBC and EC meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC." In late February 2024, the DOJ completed its investigation of the SBC Executive Committee specifically, filing no charges. However, the overall denomination and its entities remained under investigation. While there were no sexual abuse-related charges filed against the executive committee or the SBC overall, the DOJ did charge former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor Matthew Queen with lying to federal authorities. Queen pleaded guilty and, earlier this month, was sentenced to six months of home confinement. He is prohibited from leaving except to get medical care or with permission from his probation officer. Home News Franklin Graham points to Bible verse as warning in advice to Trump about using profanity The Rev. Franklin Graham says his advice to President Donald Trump not to use profanity during his speeches is having an effect as he continues to warn about the spiritual and cultural impact of foul language. In an X post on Wednesday, Graham directed his followers to his interview with Deseret News on the topic and shared the Bible verse Matthew 12:36, which declares: I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. Noting that President Donald J. Trump has mentioned several times publicly a letter I wrote to him about his use of salty language, Graham told Deseret News that In the letter in question, he explained to Trump that Your storytelling is great, but it could be so much better if you didnt use foul language. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Trump insisted at a campaign rally last year, where he brought up the letter, that Graham was wrong in his analysis. Graham disagreed, however, noting, It seems like when he slips momentarily, my letter comes to his mind, and he tells the audience about it, so it must have struck a chord with him. Graham said his suggestion to Trump that he swear less stems from a desire to have him set an example that could have an effect on a culture coarsened by profanity: The president, his pulpit his microphone is huge, and it carries a lot of weight. So Im going to continue to try to encourage him. Hes not just the president of this country. He is a world figure that other nations, other presidents, other people, look up to and want to emulate. That microphone goes a long way. Even as Trump assured a crowd of supporters that he disagreed with Grahams opinion about his use of profanity in speeches, other remarks made by the then-presidential candidate at the rally in question detailed how he had been working so hard to avoid swearing at rallies. At the same time, he contended that the length of his speeches should give him the right to use one or two swear words. He maintained that If you dont, you dont get the emphasis. Graham, CEO of the charitable organization Samaritans Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has emerged as one of Trumps strongest supporters in spite of his criticism of his language. Although Graham told The Wall Street Journal last year that he doesn't officially endorse candidates, he has made several statements over the years implying that he supports Trump. In 2021, Graham likened the 10 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who joined all Democrats in voting to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus Christ. Praising all that he has done for this country, Graham proclaimed: We have never had a president like this in my lifetime. He gave us lower taxes, a strong economy, and low unemployment. He made NATO take notice and pay their own way. He had the guts to take on North Korea and meet with their leader personally. He didnt let China walk all over us. Just his Mideast peace in the last couple of months deserve a Nobel Peace Prize, Graham added. Graham also weighed in on the criminal charges against Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election, describing them as politically motivated and the result of the media and the political Left being scared to death of Donald Trumps possible return to the White House. Most recently, Graham delivered an invocation at Trumps second inauguration earlier this year. Home News Pastor of Lakewood Church's Hispanic community returns to his church in Costa Rica 'Casa Oasis broke the mold in the Evangelical Church of Costa Rica' SAN JOSE, Costa Rica Renowned psalmist and Pastor Danilo Montero, leader of the Hispanic community of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, returned to his homeland to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oasis Church, the church that marked his life and ministry since his adolescence. In an exclusive interview with Christian Post Espanol, Montero shared memories, anecdotes and reflections on the influence of the congregation in his life and in the Costa Rican Evangelical church. A home and a spiritual family Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Montero recalled with emotion his first years at Casa Oasis, where he arrived with his family in the midst of a crisis. "For my family and I, the change was substantial, it was palpable as well, because it was learning as a family to be a family again," he said, emphasizing that the church became a true home, where he not only received biblical teaching, but also support and guidance. One of the pillars of his life was Pastor Raul Vargas, whom he considered a father figure. "He was a point of reference, of advice, of guidance, of faith, of come on boy, who pushes you to new dreams," said Montero, highlighting the impact he had on his personal and ministerial development. The beginning of a musical ministry From a young age, Danilo Montero was drawn to music and worship. Inspired by Maranatha Music, he began to cultivate a deep relationship with God through worship. "That marked my life, it made God very real to me, my faith very alive," he said. Over time, he formed a band and began to minister through music. His early recordings, such as Mi Adoracion Suprema, Tu Eres Digno and Cara a Cara, reflected his desire to lead others into the presence of God. In 1997, with the release of Admirable, his ministry expanded internationally. That opened the door to the world for me, practically, that reached everywhere, Montero shared. The impact of Casa Oasis in Costa Rica Reflecting on the legacy of Casa Oasis in the Costa Rican Evangelical church, Montero said it "broke the mold in terms of what an Evangelical church could do or achieve." He noted that in the 1970s, when congregations were small and faced opposition, Casa Oasis was a "spearhead" church, driving the growth of the Gospel in the country and in other nations. "Pastor Raul's vision was always to look beyond what others are seeing and say: 'Lord, what do you want? OK, here I go,'" Montero emphasized, highlighting the congregation's influence in the formation of leaders and ministries. A new era in music: 'Aviva' with Lakewood Music During the interview, Montero also spoke about his most recent musical production, Habita, recorded with Lakewood Music Espanol. "It's the second album in a new chapter of music in Lakewood," he explained, highlighting the initiative of Alexandra Osteen, daughter of Pastor Joel Osteen, in the creation of the church's music label. The project seeks to bring a fresh message of worship and revival to the Hispanic community. "God has brought together people with a heart for praise and worship, and it is a privilege to be a part of this," Montero concluded. The 50th anniversary of Casa Oasis is an occasion to celebrate the impact of a church that has marked the lives of many, including Danilo Montero himself, who continues to carry on his legacy through music and ministry. This article was originally published at CP Espanol Home News Pastor who said he cant stop abusing kids pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of a child Editors note: This article contains graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse. A Long Island pastor who told investigators that he couldnt stop himself from abusing children and has a penchant for preying on youth aged 11 and 15, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child in federal court in Central Islip Tuesday. He is expected to spend at least 15 years in prison. Pastor Jose Saez Jr., 29, of Iglesia Cristiana Alumbrando El Camino (Lighting The Way Christian Church) was arrested and charged with producing child pornography in 2023 after the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided his Brentwood home and recovered more than 20 videos of a 16-year-old boy that the pastor had shared with others. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The defendants sexual exploitation of minors, both in person and online, is horrific, and he now faces at least 15 years in prison for his unspeakable crimes, United States Attorney John J. Durham said in a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. That he held a position of trust and responsibility as a pastor of a local church makes his conduct even more reprehensible. Protecting vulnerable children from predators like this defendant will always be a priority of this Office. According to court documents reviewed by The Christian Post, Saez allegedly told investigators that he was aware that the teenage boy, who he met on the messaging app called Telegram, was a high school student. Yet the married father of three children, who were aged 1, 3 and 5 at the time of his arrest, intentionally persuaded the minor to produce sexually explicit photographs and videos of himself and share them with him. In an October 2023 letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark E. Misorek argued that Saez was a danger to the community as he shared evidence of Saez admitting to preying on the children of his friends and family, and finding victims at church. He also shared how Saez groomed the 16-year-old boy, identified as John Doe. In August of 2023, the defendant engaged John Doe in a direct conversation on Telegram. The defendant groomed John Doe with flattery and gradually progressed to asking him for nude images of himself. John Doe repeatedly made references that he was 16 years old a minor. Nonetheless, the defendant ultimately convinced John Doe to send a video of himself [performing sexually explicit acts], Misorek noted. The defendant encouraged John Doe, saying in sum and substance, Send me a picture of your face, tease me, let me see you in the mirror, need more pics, the front too, I want to see your body, take it out . . . your d---. That same month, Saez admitted to an undercover agent that he had sexually abused an infant and revealed how he targeted his younger victims at his church. In August of 2023, the defendant had online conversations with the UC. During those conversations, the defendant stated, among other things, that he had performed oral sex on an infant and ejaculated on the infant, that his sweet spot for molesting children was children between the ages of 11 and 15 and that he was able to find his younger victims at church, Misorek wrote. Investigators reviewed some 12,000 videos, 400,000 images and 6,800 chats recovered from devices owned by Saez. In one conversation, when asked if he was nervous about getting turned down by a minor, he replied, Getting turned down implies Im giving them a choice[.] Though investigators did not recover any images of the pastor with infants, he stated in one chat, I f------ a few littles. During questioning with officers, Saez, who could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison for his crime, admitted that children are never safe with him Finally, during the course of the interview, while discussing creation, distribution and possession of child pornography, the defendant stated, I am sorry that I cant stop, Misorek wrote. Notably, the defendant also stated, I told [a third-party who I reside with] never to leave me alone with the kids. Home News PCA increases grant giving to enhance diversity of leadership The Presbyterian Church in America is increasing the number of education grants it awards to help minorities become congregational leaders and will soon be voting on whether to double the amount for assistance annually. If our church is only [reflective of the] majority culture, its going to be hard for us to grow, the Rev. Chris Sicks, senior pastor of Alexandria Presbyterian Church of Virginia, told The Christian Post about the PCA. Thats the pragmatic reason. The deeper reason is its a Gospel imperative. For the Body of Christ to be fully realized, it needs to represent the fullness of humanity. Sicks church donates to the Unity Fund, which was started in 2016 to provide money for theological coursework assisting people of color in becoming teaching and ruling elders in the denomination. The fund also provides money for the bodys small group of minorities who are already in the eldership to go to the General Assembly, the Reformed bodys annual meeting. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The fund came about after the PCA passed a resolution to apologize for member churches past racism dating from the civil rights era and earlier, when many were part of the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Scott Bridges, a longtime PCA pastor on both the East and West Coasts, heads the Unity Fund and helped to launch the program. He was motivated when friend Irwyn Ince the only African American presiding officer ever elected by the General Assembly told him how many black teaching elders were in the PCA: 47 of nearly 4,800 overall. Bridges then looked at the denominations Blue Book, the annual report of statistics, and he found even fewer Latinos in the category and only a pair of Native Americans. I compared where those statistics told us we were versus Revelation 7:9, which talks of the great multitude from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues worshiping the Lord in Heaven, he told CP. Looking again at Revelation, he noticed something else as well. The only way John describes the church in its glorified state is by its differences, he said. He was sold on making the fund a reality. Bridges initially was a missionary for the project, raising his own support while asking churches and individuals to give to the fund, which has had a $200,000 target each year but is expected to increase to $400,000 under a plan approved by its board that will go to the General Assembly for a final vote. He said that in the 12 months ending Aug. 31, the fund received approximately $300,000 in donations. Bridges now works full time in development with a salary paid for by the PCA. Meanwhile, the number of scholarships awarded annually has grown each year, from 41 in 2018 to 66 in 2019 and 68 this year. The amount of each award has increased as well, recently doubling to $2,200 annually for those on an ordination track and going from $750 up to $1,100 for others. The fund has an endowment, but at under $200,000, its still well short of its $5 million goal. People usually are more excited about wanting to give to needs now, Bridges explained of the endowments funding gap. They say, I want my dollars to make a difference now. There is, however, good news on that front, as he said theres a group of ruling elders laymen who came together last year to help focus the denomination on funding for the endowment. Ince, a PCA teaching elder and the director of the Institute for Cross-Cultural Mission in Washington, D.C., told The Christian Post that funding to foster future pastors and other leaders of color is important. There should not be more effort and desire for diversity in society than there is in the church, he said. No matter how much the world wants to talk about diversity, it ultimately will truncate it because it doesnt have the Gospel. While the Unity Funds goal is to diversify the eldership over the long term, PCAs leadership ranks are already moving slightly in that direction. African Americans now account for slightly over 1% of teaching elders, Latinos 0.8% (up from 0.7% before the fund) and Asians 10%. The comparatively large Asian group is due mainly to the success of Presbyterian missions in Korea in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ince said that though that minority is well-represented in the denominations church leadership, its members still receive scholarships and other aid. The Unity Fund is focused on helping ethnic minorities no matter what ethnicity and is for any and every ethnic minority, he said, noting that Korean American pastors have begun an initiative within the denomination to become more involved in PCAs work globally and nationally. Home News Presbyterian Church in America affirms ethnic 'affinity groups' amid racial tensions A permanent committee of the conservative Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) issued a statement earlier this week in the wake of multiple politically and racially charged controversies that have emerged from its North American missions arm. Mission to North America (MNA), a subsidiary of the PCA that helps congregations with church planting and charity work, has drawn media scrutiny in recent weeks, first for publicly repenting on Feb. 12 for guidance on one of its websites that advised illegal immigrants on how to avoid detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The guidance, which has since been removed, linked to left-leaning resources for illegal immigrants, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, prompting worries from some within the PCA that a leftist political agenda has been infiltrating the second-largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Days after MNA apologized for its immigration website, author and Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham drew attention to a "Black Fellowship Dinner" open to only "Black worshippers" at Resurrection Oakland Church, a PCA congregation in Oakland, California. The dinner to commemorate Black History Month stirred further debate and concern from those who worried it was an example of racial segregation and DEI-like initiatives seeping into the denomination under the guise of "affinity groups." Though the controversy over the illegal immigration guidance prompted backtracking and repentance from the MNA, the recent statement from the MNA Permanent Committee condemned racism while still affirming "fellowship gatherings or events that center on the shared cultural experiences of ethnic minority brothers and sisters." The statement also maintained that the organizers of ResOak's Black Fellowship Dinner, which requested attendees to register, "did not prohibit or turn away anyone from attending." "Affinity ministries equip and encourage minority members who worship in so many of our churches. These ministries support shared cultural experiences for the edification of the whole body," the committee said, going on to list some of the minority ethnic groups that make up "the dynamic diversity of the PCA." "We affirm affinity gatherings as a part of rejoicing in our unity and diversity," the committee said, citing 1 Corinthians 12 and Revelation 7. In a separate statement, PCA Stated Clerk Bryan Chapell suggested that media covering the dissension within the denomination over such issues have shown an "'inability or unwillingness to understand PCA leaders' explanations' of the difference between groups segregated by prejudice on the one hand, and affinity groups gathered to advance gospel witness on the other hand." MNA offers specific ministries for several ethnic minorities, including one for Hispanics that claims the recent demographic change in the U.S. amid "loosened" immigration policies was "orchestrated by God Himself" to provide "an unprecedented opportunity" to fulfill the Great Commission. 'Dizzying diversity' The third point of MNA's recent statement focused on Irwyn Ince, whom the MNA Permanent Committee elected to serve as coordinator in 2021, a position with a salary and benefits of nearly $300,000. He also previously served as the denomination's first African American moderator for the 46th PCA General Assembly in 2018. As head of the MNA, Ince played a role in both recent controversies. He penned the public apology regarding the immigration guidance, and was the featured speaker at the controversial ResOak dinner. The Permanent Committee's statement praised him for "important changes within the MNA," and for "consistently [demonstrating] a heart for gathering people from different cultures together in Christ." "He has served the PCA faithfully, welcoming and pursuing peace in the PCA and the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His love for God, the Reformed Faith, the Great Commission, and the PCA is evident for all to see," the statement said. In September 2022, the popular Christian X account "Woke Preacher Clips" unearthed a talk Ince gave in 2019, during which he claimed black people can become "black and tired" and experience "minority fatigue" around white people. "So you've got to experience some spaces and times where you just don't have to work so hard," he said. "There is a grounding and a positive sense of belonging that can come from an ethnic affinity in a world of dizzying diversity." Claiming black people are potentially subject to "trauma" being in a majority-white situation, Ince argued for the necessity of "some places of affinity space." "The likelihood is if you're an all-white staff, you ain't gonna be enough. Your church ain't gonna be enough. They gonna wear out." Then we see-saw down into an extrabiblical command for majority-white churches to ensure "affinity spaces" for POC hires: "The likelihood is if you're an all-white staff, you ain't gonna be enough. Your church ain't gonna be enough. They gonna wear out." pic.twitter.com/Dq5Yfa5NJM Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) September 8, 2022 In an apparent reference to the MNA's recent statement, Basham questioned Monday whether affinity groups for minorities would be well-received in the PCA if the minority happened to be white. "If it had been the Gentiles in Galatians 2 separating from the Jews because as minorities in a majority culture derived from Jewishness they needed an 'affinity group' to reflect their unique background and interests, do you think the Apostle Paul would have been okay with that? Or would he rebuke that too?" "Related question should PCA churches in the city of Detroit begin offering affinity groups for white members because they are minorities in Detroit? If not, why not?" she added. 'Unequivocally toxic and irredeemable' After Basham drew attention to the ResOak dinner last month, Irwyn Ince's son, Jelani Ince, fired off a multi-post X thread on Feb. 24 that tagged her and railed against "white evangelical culture" as "unequivocally toxic and irredeemable." An assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington with pronouns in his bio, Jelani also dismissed the upheaval within the PCA in recent weeks as "absolutely [sic] buffoonery." He also defended his father, saying he is "standing on the work he's done." "White evangelical culture is unequivocally toxic and irredeemable," Jelani wrote. "The worst of its defenders work from the same playbook as segregationists and xenophobes. You think your culture is under attack, but to be honest: it lacks the imagination that would warrant copying." "For more years than I would like to admit, I have sat in your pews, read your books, listened to your sermons, [and] forced myself to enjoy those mid post-service potlucks and small group meetings," he continued. For more years than I would like to admit, I have sat in your pews, read your books, listened to your sermons, & forced myself to enjoy those mid post-service potlucks and small group meetings. Jelani Ince (@jelaniwrites) February 24, 2025 "If there is one thing evangelicals love, it is a culture war that frames them as the victims, which requires leveraging any and all resources (online and offline) to purge anything that departs from their hegemonic gaze," he added in an apparent reference to the Cultural Marxist worldview of power. Jelani went on to accuse "the worst of white evangelicals" of believing "the country and its institutions belong to them," and claimed the recent controversy within the PCA was an example of "juvenile hubris disguised as authority." "Nobody and especially any of the apostles you adore and worship gave you authority or asked you to defend the 'truth,'" he added before telling Basham he's "not afraid of you or your troupe." In a separate tweet, Jelani said, "Affinity spaces are a necessary response to the continued legacy of [the PCA's] reverence for whiteness." "A structural response is needed. The work does not stop with a confession, a report, a prayer, and certainly not singing hymns," he wrote. Steve Dowling, moderator of the PCA General Assembly, told CP in response to Jelani's tweets that he "doubts any elder in the PCA would be OK with generalizing like this on the basis of skin color." "I think it'd be considered an abnegation of the Gospel," he said. "He doesn't seem to be operating from a Christian perspective, but from a social perspective. And to characterize a whole group as 'irredeemable' based on their skin color is sin. Period." Dowling, who penned a statement supporting Irwyn, was unwilling to claim that the views of Irwyn's son reflect on his father. "I don't think that Irwyn can necessarily be held accountable for what his grown son has to say," he said. "[Jelani's] comments don't particularly seem to be rooted in the Gospel, but instead seem to stem from something else, and I would refrain from holding Irwyn responsible for that. I think that Irwyn should be held accountable for what Irwyn says and does." Neither Irwyn nor Jelani Ince responded to The Christian Post's request for comment. Ryan Biese, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, expressed greater concern regarding how aligned the worldviews of Jelani and Irwyn might be. "To describe an entire culture as 'unequivocally toxic and irredeemable' sounds racist to me," Biese told CP prior to the release of MNA's statement. "How ironic that he says this in the context of defending his father keynoting a segregated supper for 'Black worshippers.'" "Even the assistant pastor of the congregation hosting the event seemed to recognize how bad it sounded, since he awkwardly tried to explain it in the announcements portion of their worship service," he continued, referencing ResOak's assistant pastor Dave Lee acknowledging to his congregation that it "may be jarring for some of you to hear that we're creating an event for black Christians." "Professor Ince asserts, 'I stand behind my father Irwyn,' but I wonder if his father stands behind his son's assertions on social media," Biese added. Home News Steven Lawson breaks silence about removal from ministry: 'I've sinned grievously' Former pastor Steven Lawson has acknowledged that he has sinned grievously, speaking out for the first time about the scandal that removed him from ministry. In an X post on Wednesday, Lawson wrote: I have sinned grievously against the Lord, against my wife, my family, and against countless numbers of you by having a sinful relationship with a woman not my wife. I am deeply broken that I have betrayed and deceived my wife, devastated my children, brought shame to the name of Christ, reproach upon His church, and harm to many ministries. You may wonder why I have been silent and largely invisible since the news of my sin became known. I have needed the time to search my own soul to determine that my repentance is real, he insisted. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Lawson took responsibility for his actions and maintained that he had turned a corner: I alone am responsible for my sin. I have confessed my sin to the Lord, to my wife, and my family, and have repented of it. I have spent the past months searching my heart to discover the roots of my sin and mortifying them by the grace of God. I hate my sin, weep over my sin, and have turned from it. The former lead preacher at Trinity Bible Church and president of OnePassion Ministries also apologized to those who looked up to him: My sin carries enormous consequences, and I will be living with those for the rest of my life. Over the years, many have looked to me for spiritual guidance, and I have failed you. I beg for your forgiveness. I have been undergoing extensive counseling for the last five months to face the hard questions I need to address. I have dealt with sin issues that have been painfully exposed in my heart. I have submitted myself in weekly accountability to two pastors and to the elders of a local congregation, who have shepherded my soul. I am also under the oversight of an accountability team who monitor my progress and give me wise counsel in the decisions I have to make. Lawson highlighted additional activities he has participated in during his recovery season, which include growing in grace, reading and absorbing the Word of God, putting it into practice, praying, and meeting with other believers as well as attending and participating in prayer meetings, Sunday school, the worship service, and taking communion weekly. After expressing gratitude for the unmerited grace of God in the gospel to extend His full forgiveness and reiterating his call for his supporters to forgive him, Lawson added: While I continue to do the hard work of soul-searching repentance, I do not intend to make further public comments for the foreseeable future. Lawson concluded by urging his followers to pray for the Lords mercy and grace as I seek to make right the deeply wrong sins I have committed against my wife and family, and that in His time and way He will bring about redemption and restoration in our marriage, for His glory. News of Lawsons removal from ministry first broke last September, and the pastor has kept a low profile over the past six months until he released a statement on Wednesday. A longtime friend of Lawsons, Pastor Clint Archer of Christ Fellowship Church in Alabama, revealed in January that Lawson had moved to Tennessee to temporarily stay with his brother. Phil Johnson, executive director of John MacArthurs Grace to You ministry, elaborated on the details of Lawsons affair in a now-deleted thread on X. This was a 5-year relationship with strong romantic overtones, he wrote. Both parties insist no literal fornication was involved, but their tie to one another was adulterous in spirit, if not in fact. According to Johnson, [Lawson] is 73. She is in her late 20s. She is not a member of his church. In fact, she lives in a different state nowhere close to any of the ministries Steve served. Home Opinion 3 untrue Leftist claims on trans surgeries for minors Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher recently was a guest on the liberal political podcast "Pod Save America," where he engaged with host John Lovett, a former Obama White House staffer, on a wide-ranging conversation. Things shifted dramatically when Lovett steered the discussion toward the controversial topics of transgenderism and gender-affirming surgeries for minors, leading to an increasingly awkward exchange. As Maher struggled to articulate his position, the tension culminated in his abrupt departure from the show. In this piece, I plan to outline three critical points from their discussion: 1. The claim that there are more than two sexes 2. The conflicting data surrounding gender-affirming surgeries 3. Lovetts provocative comparison of these procedures to life-saving open-heart surgery My hope is that you will gain a deeper understanding of how the Left presents its evidence to promote more gender-affirming treatments for minors, enabling you to confidently engage in conversations with those who want to harm our children with these life-threatening procedures. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Leftist claim #1: There are more than two sexes Many on the Left love to claim that human biology allows for more than two sexes. Bill Maher, when presenting his position, said to Lovett that sex is more complicated than just two sexes. He further argues his point by mentioning individuals who feel they are in the wrong body as evidence. However, this perspective of there being more than two sexes, male and female, reflects a profound misunderstanding of biological realities. Functionally, we are sexually dimorphic as human beings, and there are only two reproductive roles male and female clearly defined by biological markers such as chromosomes, reproductive organs, and hormonal profiles. Intersex conditions, often cited to challenge this binary, are disorders of sexual development. They do not in any way serve as evidence of a new sex. Intersex is a biological anomaly (less than 0.02% of the population), but not separate, distinct biological sexes. Leftist claim #2: Gender-affirming treatments help kids As the two got deeper into their discussion on transgenderism, Lovett asserted that gender-affirming treatments are genuinely beneficial for kids experiencing gender dysphoria. In response, Maher referenced a study by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy on this topic but chose not to disclose her findings because they did not support her claims that gender-affirming treatments were actually beneficial for children. On the website Growing Up Transgender, the counterargument is that science is continually evolving. Therefore, any research that is several years old is considered outdated and should not be taken seriously. The blog argues that new data consistently emerges suggesting that "gender-affirming treatments are beginning to demonstrate the benefits of puberty blockers, and that mental health improvement should not be a metric used to determine whether treatments to alter a young persons body are necessary. The reality is that there are no solid studies conducted on transgender youth that overwhelmingly show they are better off mentally, physically, and psychosocially after undergoing puberty blockers or cross-sex treatments, or after undergoing medical transitions. Several years ago, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden revised its initial findings, stating that after reanalyzing the data, "gender-affirming surgeries (or sex change operations) actually did not demonstrate any mental health improvements among patients years later. In fact, many post-operative patients experience increased suicidal ideation, an increase in mental health issues, and require more psychiatric care. The American College of Pediatricians strongly refutes the notion that transitional treatment is a healthy or beneficial approach for children by stating, Puberty blockers may actually cause depression and other emotional disturbances related to suicide. In fact, the package insert for Lupron, the number one prescribed puberty blocker in America, lists emotional instability as a side effect and warns prescribers to Monitor for development or worsening of psychiatric symptoms during treatment. In addition, the Cass Review in the United Kingdom pointed out some serious issues and a noticeable shortage of solid evidence backing the safety and effectiveness of gender transitions for young people. Because of this, several European countries, such as Sweden, Finland, and the U.K. itself, have opted to tighten their guidelines or even pause some gender-related medical treatments for minors. Neglecting the long-term impacts of so-called gender-affirming treatments, including cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, is, frankly, a form of child abuse. Manipulating a young and developing body, paired with the spread of misleading ideology, doesn't actually help mental health; instead, it inflicts long-lasting damage. Children are at a critical and formative stage of their lives, not only regarding cognitive development but also in learning to navigate the significant changes occurring in their bodies and understanding the complexity of sexuality and their identity fully. Children are vulnerable, and it is our responsibility to protect them from the culture wars that aim to strip away their true identity in God. As young people mature into responsible adults, our ethical duty is to ensure they develop into their true potential, as God intended. Leftist claim #3: Gender-affirming surgeries are necessary to save lives After listening closely to the conversation about transgender issues between Lovett and Maher, I was surprised when Lovett, defending gender-affirming surgery, compared it to open-heart surgery. He stated, There are also really important surgeries that people get for their heart, and they go wrong, and somebody dies, and nobody says we must stop the cardiologists. There are several problems with Lovetts analogy. The claim that gender-affirming surgery is similar to open-heart surgery ignores the critical differences between them. Open-heart surgery is usually performed to treat severe, life-threatening conditions, with the goal of either saving a life or significantly improving health. In contrast, gender-affirming surgery is elective and aims to align a persons physical appearance with their gender identity. Gender-affirming surgery alters the bodys original anatomy in ways that may not align with its functionality. The actual surgery elective surgery is often performed based solely on feelings related to gender identity and can lead to irreversible surgical changes that some may later regret. Someone who undergoes open-heart surgery doesnt look back and regret the procedure if it saved their life. However, there is no medical or scientific data that proves unequivocally that undergoing a sex-change operation was necessary to save the transgendered person from dying. Therefore, equating these two types of surgeries is a false analogy and misleading. In closing, we must acknowledge the seriousness of protecting our children's innocence and vulnerability regarding the troubling issue of transgenderism. This isn't just a matter of differing opinions; it's about genuinely safeguarding our kids from making decisions about their bodies that they aren't ready or mature enough to make. My hope is that you won't stay silent about this moral concern but that you will courageously and compassionately speak out against those promoting harmful treatments for minors, standing strong in defense of those who cannot defend themselves. Home News Judge orders Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil to remain in detention, can't be deported yet An anti-Israel activist and Columbia University graduate facing deportation under President Donald Trump's administration will remain in detention for his role in organizing campus protests. Mahmoud Khalil, who finished the requirements for a master's degree at Columbia in December, will remain in detention in Louisiana until at least next week. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman determined during a Wednesday hearing that the U.S. government must allow the 30-year-old activist's lawyers to speak with him privately on the phone, The Associated Press reported. The judge also gave Khalil's attorneys and prosecutors until Friday to submit a joint letter outlining when they plan to submit written arguments about the legal issues in the case. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The hearing mainly focused on jurisdictional issues, according to The AP. The lawyers for Khalil, a green card holder from Syria, want the activist to return to New York and be released under supervision. Wednesday's hearing took place after the judge temporarily blocked authorities from deporting the protest organizer. Khalil was not present at the hearing on Wednesday, as he remains at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has been held after a brief stint in New Jersey. At the time of reporting, Furman determined that Khalil can remain in Louisiana, according to The AP. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this month that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Khalil in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. The DHS noted that the arrest took place "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism." "Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization," the department stated. "ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump's executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security." In response to the news of Khalil's arrest, several Columbia University professors canceled in-person classes in solidarity. According to emails shared by The Washington Free Beacon on Monday, three faculty members English professor Joseph Albernaz, philosophy lecturer Ruairidh MacLeod, and an unnamed third emailed students to cancel class, with Albernaz stating that he would give every student an "A" on an upcoming midterm. The professor wrote in his email that he is "sickened" by the news of Khalil's detainment, writing that he does not believe "this is acceptable at a university or in a society." "I cannot see how I can hold a typical class right now under these current conditions, nor how you can be expected to prepare for an exam, so I am cancelling in person class tomorrow and cancelling the mid-term scheduled for Thursday (everyone will receive an 'A' on the midterm)," Albernaz wrote. Columbia University did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment about the faculty member's actions. Last year, activists at academic institutions throughout the country set up protest encampments and organized demonstrations in opposition to Israel's war against the terror group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Columbia University was the site of one of these encampments, which resulted in activists taking over a building on campus. Jewish students also reported that they experienced antisemitic harassment from the protesters, and that they did not feel safe on campus. Khalil told reporters that activists planned to continue protesting despite the arrest of more than 2,000 activists among the encampments set up on college campuses, as The Hill reported in August. "What we will see [is] the students will continue their activism, will continue doing what they've done in conventional and unconventional ways," Khalil said, acting as a student negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest. "So not only protests, not only encampments, kind of any any available means necessary to push Columbia to divest from Israel." "And we've been working all this summer on our plans, on what's next to pressure Columbia to listen to the students and to decide to be on the right side of history," he added. Canary Mission, a group that works to expose antisemitism, shared a video to its social media page on March 6 that showed Khalil among the activists who took over a library at Barnard College, a Columbia affiliate. Activists at the protest handed out pamphlets from the "Hamas Media Office" that reportedly justified the terror group's invasion on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the massacres of over 1,200 people in southern Israel and sparked Israel's military operation in Gaza. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has claimed Khalil has personally handed out Hamas materials. Earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled about $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, citing the anti-Israel encampments and harassment of Jewish students that have gone unaddressed. Trump had previously threatened to stop federal funding for schools that permit "illegal protests" and deport foreign nationals who help lead such demonstrations. "All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests," the president wrote on his TruthSocial page earlier this month. "Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS!" Home News Class action lawsuit over tithes dismissed against Gateway Churchs Kevin Grove Plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit accusing Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, of misallocating their tithes and failing to honor a money-back guarantee have removed former Executive Global Pastor Kevin Grove as a defendant. The lawsuit, filed in October 2024 by Gateway Church members Katherine Leach, Garry K. Leach, Mark Browder and Terri Browder, originally named embattled Gateway Church founder Robert Morris; former Executive Pastor Tom Lane, founding elder Steve Dulin; and Grove as defendants. Grove also served as a trustee of The King's University. On Feb. 26, the plaintiffs filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to dismiss the case against Grove without prejudice. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant granted the motion to dismiss without prejudice all pending claims against Grove, according to court documents reviewed by The Christian Post. The lawsuit stems primarily from allegations that Gateway Church was not transparent about the ministry's finances as it generated over $100 million in annual revenue in past years. On Dec. 16, 2024, attorneys for Grove filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him, arguing, among other things, that the court lacked jurisdiction over the case. "The Court lacks jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' claims as the Complaint does not assert any federal claims, and Plaintiffs' attempt to invoke jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act does not meet the necessary prerequisites set forth by the Act," Grove's attorneys Michael D. Williams and Charles M. Kibler, Jr., of the law firm Brown Sims, P.C argued. "Plaintiffs' claims are vague allegations that rely on alleged promises that Grove himself did not make. Further, the Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the Plaintiffs' claims under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. Thus, Plaintiffs' claims against Kevin Grove must be dismissed." The other defendants in the case have raised similar arguments. In response to motions to dismiss the case in January, attorneys for the church members argued that the First Amendment's ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not bar their claims for relief as argued by the defendants. "The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not bar Plaintiffs' claims against Defendant or the Church because the claims raise no issue as to theological doctrine, religious or moral teaching, or internal church governance," they note. "Rather, Plaintiffs take issue with misrepresentations by the Church and its elders in their solicitation of tithing funds, an issue for civil and secular analysis that happened to be committed by church officials. ... The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not shield church pastors and leaders from committing fraud and other torts. Plaintiffs' claims allow for the Court to distinguish between the religious teachings behind tithing and the Church's fraudulent misrepresentations to induce donations from congregants." The church members conceded, however, that they did not enter into a contract with Lane or Grove but would "continue to pursue this claim, in addition to the others, against Defendants Gateway Church and Robert Morris and will continue to pursue their fraud and conspiracy claims against Defendants Lane and Grove." Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000 and resigned in June 2024 amid an allegation he sexually abused a child for years in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12 years old. On Wednesday, he was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child by a multi-county grand jury in Oklahoma in connection to that case. The megachurch founder previously announced his money-back guarantee on tithes during a 2022 sermon at Willow Creek Community Church in the suburban Chicago area about "The Principle of First" to help boost falling revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "I don't want to exaggerate, but I'm sure thousands and thousands of people, and I'm sure it's multiplied, that have told me some way over the years through email, letters, whatever, 'this changed my life,'" Morris said, as seen in a YouTube clip from his message on tithing the first 10% of one's income. "When I started giving the first 10% to God, it changed everything. And here's what I'd like to do. I'd like to just challenge you. I've done this with our church. I've told our church on multiple occasions, I've said to them, if you'll try it for one year, if you are not fully satisfied, at the end of that year, I'll give you your money back," Morris said. "With 22 years in the church, no one's ever asked for their money back." Home News Paul Washer says the Church must be more 'militant' on missions: 'Men were made to fight' HeartCry Missionary Society founder and preacher Paul Washer says churches need to be more militant with their missions. During a Q&A session at the Shepherds Conference last week, Washer was among those asked about the state of missions in the church, including past missionary movements at seminaries. I think that when we go back to some of these missionary movements that gave us people like Amy Carmichael, I think the church was more in a proper way, not political, not militant politically but the church was militant to take the Gospel, Washer explained. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe It was reflected also in its worship. Ive noticed that a lot of worship today is more about me, where a lot in the great missionary movements, the hymns reflected lets go, lets go. Washer believes pastors need to really work at putting this battle before young men. To put it before them and tell them, we can live and die for something. We can serve a King incorruptible; we can build a Kingdom that is eternal and will never fall. Theres a reason to be alive, he continued. We need to constantly have this mindset of warfare. Theres great deeds to be done, and men were made to fight. I think it's very appropriate to say a soldier wants to die by the last bullet of the last battle, because thats what soldiers do. Washer went on to say that it was the preaching in the pulpit about this higher calling thats going to inspire men to get off their phones and to get to the field. Abner Chou, associate professor of biblical studies at the Master's College and Seminary who was also part of the Q&A, talked about energizing seminary students to do missions. Chou mentioned the importance of putting into action the activity of evangelism, believing that the love for that can only be gained as you do it. He then recounted how, as a college freshman, an older student took him out in the city to do open air evangelism for the first time in his life, with the student promising him a meal afterward. Thats what allowed me to understand what [evangelism] was and to love it, Chou said. And so, it is older taking younger; it is providing those opportunities to get peoples feet wet so that they love what they never knew they could love. To not be scared, to not be intimidated by it. To think that the Lord can use me this way. And you know what? Getting shamed in public is not bad, for the Lord Jesus. I am no longer scared. Chou also believed that seminaries needed to help give our students perspective, since he believed that, for many young people, their whole world is a 2 inch by 5 inch screen. They think thats the world, thats all that exists, he added. And you have to remind them, 'youre not in college or seminary just for you.'" Theres a greater plan that goes beyond you. And I think we need to energize our young people who are sorely tempted by this world to just focus on themselves. That there is a bigger commission, a global, noble endeavor. In addition to Washer and Chou, other members of the Q&A panel included Conrad Mbewe, author and pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, and Joel Beeke, chancellor and professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Mark Tatlock served as the moderator. Last Friday, as part of the conference, Washer preached a sermon in which he stressed the importance of pastors engaging in personal prayer, saying it is something that even triumphs over sleep and definitely triumphs over ministry. This Great Commission is not going to go anywhere with all your expounding and all your preaching and all your diagramming its going nowhere without prayer, he stated. China's new chapter in global innovation 10:23, March 13, 2025 By Gu Yekai, Liu Yiqing ( People's Daily At a smart construction project site managed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation, a quiet technological revolution is underway. Amid cranes and concrete, engineers are deploying advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems that could reshape the construction industry. At a government service center in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province, a woman interacts with an AI-driven service terminal designed to streamline administrative processes. (People's Daily Online/Zhao Jingdong) Li Fengjian, an AI specialist with Xianyuan Technology, detailed how the company's intelligent system - built on a large model - adapts to complex construction environments. "Engineering machinery equipped with intelligent agents can adjust its operations automatically in response to weather conditions," Li explained, adding that a spatiotemporal sensing network further enhances the system, providing real-time tracking of both personnel and materials throughout the construction site. In February this year, Xianyuan Technology rapidly integrated its self-developed model with DeepSeek-R1, effectively blending a general-purpose framework with industry-specific models. This integration, Li noted, has produced a solution capable of delivering expert-level performance in the industry. The firm is based in the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, a burgeoning AI incubator that now hosts over 200 innovative enterprises. China's technological transformation extends well beyond the construction sector. Over the past three decades, the country has evolved from its initial forays into internet connectivity to becoming a key player in global digital innovation. In Yichang, central China's Hubei province, a robot inspects the gas-insulated switchgear within a power plant on the left bank of the Three Gorges project, the world's largest hydropower project. (People's Daily Online/Zheng Jiayu) Here, a steady stream of technological innovations are emerging, from the early days of emails and web browsing to the cutting-edge technologies represented by DeepSeek and the dynamic evolution of social media. Wu Jianping, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the Zhongguancun Laboratory, pointed out that while China had introduced only one internet standard before 2005, it now contributes to over 200 worldwide. Such strides illustrate the country's concerted push toward high-level technological self-reliance - a journey marked by both persistence and determination. Beyond the digital realm, China is making significant inroads in aerospace, new energy, and other high-tech sectors. It has transitioned from being a follower to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with global leaders, and in some areas, even taking the lead. Wu attributed these achievements to a dynamic ecosystem of policy reforms and talent cultivation that encourages creativity and technical expertise at every level. At Fuyang Technician Institute in east China's Anhui province, students engage directly with AI technology during hands-on training sessions. (People's Daily Online/Pang Cheng) Amid intensifying international competition, collaborative research and the integration of new technologies with traditional industries are essential to China's high-quality economic development. Mei Linhai, a researcher at China's State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Intelligence, remarked that the age of AI calls for continuous exploration. "In this era, everyone is an innovator. Only by persistently pushing the boundaries can we remain at the forefront of both technological and industrial development," Mei observed. In the field of general-purpose AI, Mei emphasized that independent innovation is paramount. He advocates for a self-driven industrial ecosystem that leverages innovative technologies to boost productivity and unlock new possibilities. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) Home News Prominent Memphis Pastor Ricky Floyd shot dead during altercation with woman outside bar Ricky Floyd, a prominent pastor in Memphis, Tennessee, well-known for his community-building and people empowerment skills, was shot dead during an altercation with a woman outside a bar Wednesday morning, according to police. He was 58. Officers found Floyd, senior lead pastor of Pursuit of God Church in Frayser, dead outside Momma's Bar and Kitchen located at 855 Kentucky Road, the Memphis Police Department announced in a statement. Police say they were called to the scene at 1:17 a.m., Wednesday. They later identified the caller as 42-year-old Samantha Marion, who has since been charged with voluntary manslaughter. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Before the shooting, Floyd and Marion had an argument inside of the bar, according to Police records cited by Fox13. Witnesses allege the argument led the two outside the business where the pastor became "irate and aggressive." Video surveillance footage reportedly shows Floyd throwing Marion's phone and a beer can before hopping into his vehicle and driving away. Marion allegedly walked into the roadway and appeared to record the pastors vehicle with her phone. Floyd exits his car and confronts Marion before a witness separates them. As Floyd backed away, police said Marion walked toward the pastor, who was seen falling to the ground and never getting up again. Marion later called police and told them she shot the pastor. It is with great sadness that I address the tragic loss of Pastor Ricky Floyd from the Pursuit of God Church in Frayser. Pastor Floyd was a respected leader in our community, both in Memphis and beyond," Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn CJ Davis said in a statement Wednesday. "We understand the deep shock and grief this has caused, and our hearts go out to Pastor Floyds family, his congregation, and all who knew him." Davis said the circumstances surrounding the pastor's death are "still under investigation" but they have enough to charge the suspect for voluntary manslaughter. "We are fully committed to ensuring that justice is served as the legal process continues," the chief said. "We encourage anyone with additional information to come forward as we continue our efforts. Floyd leaves behind his wife, Sheila, three adult children, one daughter-in-law and two granddaughters, according to the church's website. The pastor is listed as the driver behind several community initiatives. He also served as president of Eden Estates Apartments, a 52-unit complex in the Frayser community; and president of The Husband Institute, Inc., a boys-to-men mentoring program and the founder of the School of Marriage Enhancement. "We would love for people to remember him as a true servant. He was a transformative leader. He transformed the Fraser community," Floyd's media liaison Telisa Franklin said in an interview with The Christian Post Thursday. She noted his family and church are still in shock about his passing. "You know, this (Fraser) is a very poverty-stricken community. He created what we call Black Street Wall Street, with the strip mall," Franklin told CP. "He made sure he owns the apartment complex where we are able to house people with affordable housing. He was truly a leader that cared about God, his family, and the people. ... He would always go out of his way to see and to serve someone else." Memphis Mayor Paul Young lamented the "senseless violence" that led to the pastor's death in a statement on X. "My heart is more than heavy today as we mourn the tragic loss of Pastor Ricky Floyd to senseless gun violence. Pastor Floyd was a beloved leader, friend, mentor, and servant to our city. He dedicated his life to lifting up others and guiding countless souls with his wisdom," Young said. "His death is more than a loss for his family and his congregation it is a loss for Memphis. Gun violence in our city has taken too many lives, shattered too many families, and left too many communities in grief. This must stop. We cannot allow senseless violence to define us. We must stand together neighbors, leaders, law enforcement, and faith communities to bring meaningful, lasting change," he added. "I ask every Memphian to pray for Pastor Floyd's family, his congregation, and all who are hurting. Let's move into action. Let's work together to build a Memphis where tragedies like this are no longer a daily reality. We owe it to Pastor Floyd, and we owe it to each other. Rest in power, Pastor Floyd. Your light will not be forgotten." Home News Rick Warren's X account hacked by 'unscrupulous criminals' pushing meme coin Rick Warren's X account promoted a meme coin when it was briefly hacked Wednesday night, and the hacker appeared to mock him for changing his views on women in church leadership. "This is exactly why I decided to launch the $LORD coin," Warren's account tweeted shortly after 8 p.m. EDT. "I didn't want to watch traditions and cultural interpretations override the truth any longer. The $LORD coin on Solana, just like this journey, is a symbol of seeking truth, questioning assumptions, and embracing transformation." The fake tweet, which was deleted in less than an hour, went on to quote Warren's June 2023 statement explaining why he changed his mind on women in leadership, which ultimately led to Saddleback Church's ouster from the Southern Baptist Convention that year. Warren founded the California-based megachurch in 1980. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "My biggest regret in 53 years of ministry is that I didn't do my own personal exegesis sooner on the four passages used to restrict women. Shame on me," Warren had said at the opening of his statement that was quoted in the hacked thread. Before he regained control of his X account, Warren explained on his other social media platforms that his account had been hacked, warning his 2 million followers against investing in a meme coin. "Dear Friends, my X account has been hacked by a cryptocurrency SCAM claiming that I am supporting some get-rich-quick scam. I am concerned since I have over 2 million followers on Twitter and I dont want any of them to get ripped off," he wrote on Instagram. "I have never promoted a business and never asked for money on any of my social media accounts. Please help me get the word out that my Twitter has been hacked by unscrupulous criminals." "Thank you. I love you and may God bless you!" he added. Warren did not explain who hacked his X account, how they did so or why. In February 2023, the SBC Executive Committee deemed Saddleback was not in "friendly cooperation" with the convention. At issue was Pastor Andy Wood, who succeeded Saddleback founder Rick Warren as lead pastor of the megachurch last year, listing his wife, Stacie, as the church's teaching pastor. Warren most recently made headlines when he deleted a tweet suggesting that Jesus would have been a political moderate today because He was crucified in the middle between two thieves. Following intense backlash on X, Warren deleted his tweet and later apologized. "I apologize. I wrote poorly. I don't believe Jesus was a centrist. He stands far above it all. 'My kingdom is not of this world...' Jn.18:36 Jesus demands our total allegiance as the center of our lives," wrote Warren two days after he had deleted his previous tweet. Abonati-va sa primiti pe email saptamanal lista articolelor adaugate pe parcursul saptamanii. Adresele .ru nu sunt acceptate. Email NEWSLETTER National Consultant to support the Implementation of the National Study on Violence Against Women in Politics during 2025 Parliamentary Elections in Republic of Moldova Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Job Info Job Identification: 24855 Posting Date: 03/13/2025, 11:05 AM Apply Before: 03/27/2025, 10:59 PM Job Schedule: Part time Locations Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Job Function: Ending violence against women Initial Contract Duration: up to 110 working days within the period April 2025 January 2026 Education & Work Experience: Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 4 year(s) experience Required Languages: Romanian and English (both written and oral) Desired Languages: Russian Vacancy Category: Local Opportunities Vacancy Timeline: 2 Weeks Job Description Background: UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing womens rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova (2023-2027), UN Women Global Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Womens Leadership and Governance; 3) Womens Economic empowerment and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on GE. Womens leadership and political participation is one of UN Womens primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. To promote the leadership and participation of women in all levels of decision-making processes, UN Women works with a range of stakeholders including women leaders and aspiring candidates, women holding a particular elected office bound at local and national levels, national parliaments and parliamentarians, political parties, media, civil society organizations, and electoral management bodies, in coordination with UN partner Entities, through a wide range of interventions which include: i) support gender responsive legal reforms, and institutional processes to advance womens participation and representation (including initiatives to address violence against women in politics); ii) build capacities of women leaders, office holders and aspiring candidates; iii) promote change of gender norms through advocacy and outreach initiatives targeting communities, political leaders and the media; iv) and support women leaders in gender responsive political institutions. Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP) remains a threat to the integrity of the electoral process and the quality of democracy, coercively excluding women from participating in the political life and governance. VAWP is a violation of political and human rights that harms voters, candidates, office holders, election officials, activists and security and political professionals worldwide, occurring both online and offline. This phenomena seeks to silence womens voices in decision-making bodies by preventing them from exercising their political mandates, preventing them from seeking leadership positions in the legislature, forcing them to resign before the end of a full term of office, discouraging attendance in parliamentary sessions, enforcing exclusion and marginalization within parliament and committee and compelling them to not seek re-election. Thus, VAWP not only affects women in politics but also negatively impacts on the work of political institutions (e.g. political parties, parliaments, local government) and impedes gender-responsive inclusive governance. The data on the prevalence of VAWP, a prerequisite for both the creation of evidence-based solutions and for bringing attention to the phenomenon of VAWP with both decision makers and the public, are currently missing. In previous years, UN Women Moldova, in collaboration with its partners, implemented various targeted interventions to address violence against women in politics and in elections. These efforts included monitoring presidential, parliamentary and local elections, organizing awareness-raising events, informational materials, and engaging relevant stakeholders to promote zero tolerance for VAWP. During July 2021 Moldovan parliamentary elections, 23 electoral competitors were registered by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), including 20 political parties, two electoral blocs, and one independent candidate. Collectively, these competitors nominated a total of 1,791 candidates for Parliament. 837 of these candidates were women, representing 46.73% of the total candidate pool. With the support of UN Women, the Gender Equality Platform monitored the 2021 parliamentary elections debates from a gender equality perspective, focusing on the incidence of sexist speech as a form of violence against women in elections. The monitoring identified a total of 106 cases of sexist and discriminatory remarks and seven instances of physical and emotional assault targeting women candidates. Men were the perpetrators in 82% of the 113 reported cases of sexism and electoral violence. In January 2025, UN Women started a new initiative to identify Evidence-Based Solutions to Prevent Violence Against Women in Politics during 2025 Parliamentary Electoral Campaigns in the Republic of Moldova using a UN Women corporate survey tool. UN Women Moldova is committed to support national authorities in elimination of VAWP, including by addressing data gaps on VAWP and working with partners in creating evidence-based policy solutions that can sustain a healthy environment for women candidates, aspiring women and women holding political office. The next parliamentary elections are expected to take place in the fall 2025, in accordance with the Electoral Code and the Constitution. In this context, under Women in Leadership and Governance Area, UN Women Moldova is already in a process of selection of a Research to conduct the quantitative part of the national study on Violence against Women in Politics (women candidate survey), based on existing UN Women corporative tool and methodology. The study is aiming to document experiences of women in politics, with a particular focus on assessing obstacles to women participation in electoral processes to be held in Moldova in 2025. The candidate survey will target a representative sample of women who registered to run in 2025 Parliamentary election, encompassing winners, those who did not win, and those who withdrew. The survey will focus exclusively on their experiences during the electoral process, capturing insights specifically about their practices throughout the electoral cycle, without extending to events or circumstances that occurred after the election. Post-election developments, such as their time in office, would not be included in the scope of this survey. The Study aims to address the following objectives: Strengthen the evidence base on womens political participation experiences and obstacles, notably VAWP, in the Republic of Moldova, with a specific focus on women candidates in the 2025 parliamentary elections. Contribute to the development of a global model for measuring and monitoring VAWP. Generate knowledge on national and sub-national legislative and policy frameworks on political participation and VAWP in Moldova, including through the desk review of existing relevant research and reviews. Identify entry points and provide recommendations for strengthening the monitoring, prevention and response to VAWP in Republic of Moldova. Under this TOR, based on the context above, UN Women Moldova Country Office is looking to contract a National Consultant knowledgeable of VAWP issues in the Moldovan context, gender, including research background, to come in support to the research company and UN Women in the implementation of this study. Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work The National Consultant is expected to be a practitioner knowledgeable of GEWE and specifically VAWP issues in the Moldovan context, including with a research background, that will be responsible for providing overall project coordination and implementation and undertake some components of the project (for example, the legal/policy review), supporting with background research and data collection and ensure the quality of the analysis and Study report . The National Consultant will be in touch with the Research company which will undertake the qualitative data collection, conduct focus groups/individual interviews with national stakeholders and women holding a particular elected office bound in national and local elections. (please see the Annex 1 of the TOR on VAWP study: project components and their sequence). Also, the national consultant is expected be part of the UN Women Study Technical Team that will be engaged from the beginning of the project to provide strategic oversight and quality assurance of the Study and undertake some components of the study. The Technical Team will consist, of the following members: i) designated staff from the UN Women Moldova Country Office, the UN Women ECARO Regional Political Participation and Governance Specialist, and UN Women Headquarters, a national consultant, a member of the research company. The Consultant will be working under the overall supervision of the Programme Specialist, Women in Leadership, and Gender Sensitive Governance and Budgets, Programme Officer on Women in Leadership and Governance Area and in close collaboration with UN Women Study Technical Team, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks, including but not limited to: Task 1: Provide coordination support to the Technical Team Participate in and provide technical inputs and administrative support in the coordination of the Technical Team meetings, including notetaking and scheduling, as requested. Deliverables under Task 1: Draft minutes of Technical Team meetings Methodological notes and any other relevant guidance. The Consultant will support the implementation of the qualitative components of the National Study on Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP) in Republic of Moldova, mainly: Task 2. Background desk review of all the existing evidence and data on VAWP in Republic of Moldova 2.1. Mapping of existing quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting data on VAWP in the context of Republic of Moldova, including: Gathering information on the tools previously used in collecting information on VAWP (and VAW as needed) in the context of Republic of Moldova (e.g., questionnaires, interview guides, focus group guides, manuals for data collection etc.); (and VAW as needed) in the context of Republic of Moldova (e.g., questionnaires, interview guides, focus group guides, manuals for data collection etc.); Identifying lessons learned that could be used in the qualitative and quantitative components of the current study, including on issues covered (magnitude measurement, risk and protective factors, perpetrators, location, consequences etc.), specific modalities of obtaining information (phrasing questions, sequencing of issues covered in interviews), and reported challenges in data collection or presentation of the results. 2.2. Review of existing assessments of Republic of Moldovas current legislative and policy framework as it relates to womens participation in elections and VAWP, and by comparison with standards set by international normative frameworks and global best practices. Voluntary strategies and initiatives (such as codes of conduct adopted by political parties) and key actors/stakeholders in monitoring, preventing and responding to VAWP in Republic of Moldova will also be identified. Generate knowledge or potential interventions on national legislative and policy frameworks on political participation and VAWP in Moldova, including through the desk review of existing relevant research and reviews. Identify entry points and provide recommendations for strengthening the monitoring, prevention, and response to VAWP in Republic of Moldova. Task 3: Preliminary research and verification of the scope of Study With support of the Research Company, this component will provide contextual knowledge on VAWP and inform the development of data collection tools and the scope of the study. The component includes: 3.1. Conduct series of consultations with stakeholders relevant to preventing, mitigating or responding to violence against women in politics in the Republic of Moldova with support of the Research Company. Support the identification of stakeholders relevant to preventing, mitigating or responding to violence against women in politics in Republic of Moldova. Stakeholders may include, for example, electoral management bodies (EMBs), police/security sector, political parties or the judiciary, UN agencies, development partners, and civil society actors engaged in addressing VAWP. relevant to preventing, mitigating or responding to violence against women in politics in Republic of Moldova. Stakeholders may include, for example, electoral management bodies (EMBs), police/security sector, political parties or the judiciary, UN agencies, development partners, and civil society actors engaged in addressing VAWP. Jointly with Research Company, the consultant will support the organization and facilitation of at least 2 Focus Groups consultations (up with participation of women candidates participating in parliamentary elections in 2025). The focus groups consultations aim at providing safe spaces for women candidates to reflect on their individual experiences of running for parliamentary elections, followed by the joint development of the pathways of women candidates in the form of narratives of experiences during elections. The variety of different narratives will then inform on the methodology of the quantitative and qualitative components of the study, including: a) risks and protective factors, including defining on who are the perpetrators, when and where VAWP is taking place, what are consequences of violence; b) specific acts of violence experienced by women candidates; b) suggest specific phrasing that could be used when designing the questionnaires; and c) recommend which violent acts are perceived as most sensitive and therefore be placed at the end of the questionnaire/interview guide. (up with participation of women candidates participating in parliamentary elections in 2025). The focus groups consultations aim at providing safe spaces for women candidates to reflect on their individual experiences of running for parliamentary elections, followed by the joint development of the pathways of women candidates in the form of narratives of experiences during elections. The variety of different narratives will then inform on the methodology of the quantitative and qualitative components of the study, including: a) risks and protective factors, including defining on who are the perpetrators, when and where VAWP is taking place, what are consequences of violence; b) specific acts of violence experienced by women candidates; b) suggest specific phrasing that could be used when designing the questionnaires; and c) recommend which violent acts are perceived as most sensitive and therefore be placed at the end of the questionnaire/interview guide. Provide inputs to the design and support the organization and facilitation of individual in-depth interviews with at least 4 women candidates (2+2 ) to facilitate disclosure of information in complete privacy. to the design and ) to facilitate disclosure of information in complete privacy. Provide inputs to the design, and support the organization and facilitation of at least up to 10 Individual interviews with stakeholders specifically involved in electoral processes, such as: Central Election Commission (CEC), local and district electoral commissions, Center for Continuous Electoral Training; political parties, relevant Ministries, NGOs and international organizations specialized on elections, justice sector engaged in addressing violence against women and girls and violence against women candidates. The series of interviews are aimed at providing information on existing types of VAWP, mechanisms to report, prevent and respond to VAWP, reported cases, and services available to women who experienced violence. They may also be engaged in discussions regarding information and knowledge gaps that could be addressed by the study. Task 4: Provide inputs to the development of quantitative data collection tools, including customizing an existing questionnaire and developing an interviewer's manual as needed Provide inputs to the qualitative data collection plan and methodology. This includes inputs to the timeline of activities, number of interviews and selection of persons for in-depth interviews with women candidates, etc. Provide inputs to the customized and developed questionnaire and interviewers manual developed by Research Company by building on relevant existing methods of data collection on VAWP, including the existing UN Women questionnaire on VAWP prevalence, and preliminary qualitative research undertaken as part of this Study. Both the questionnaire and the manual (as well as the field data collection) will be consistent with research ethics and confidentiality requirements in line with the principle of Do No Harm and the WHO Ethical and safety recommendations for intervention research on violence against women, as well as considerations for integrating and operationalizing LNOB. This project component includes: customized UN Women questionnaire for candidate surveys, developed interviewers manual, developed testing strategy, Testing of data collection tools and training materials, Preparing testing report, Sample design for quantitative data collection etc. Deliverables of the National Gender Consultant under Task 2-4: Mapping report on quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting data on VAWP. The report shall contain: Previously conducted in the context of Republic of Moldova including gathering tools previously used in collecting information on VAWP and Identifying lessons learned; Review of Republic of Moldovas current legislative and policy framework related to womens political participation and VAWP, by comparison with international normative frameworks and global standard: Voluntary strategies and initiatives, desk review of existing relevant research and reviews and entry points Stakeholder mapping, including a list of stakeholders proposed. Inputs to the interview guide for the main qualitative data collection in the field. Inputs to the qualitative data collection plan including timeline of activities, number of interviews and selection of persons for in-depth interviews with women candidates to 2025 parliamentarian elections. Inputs to the development of quantitative data collection tools, including customizing an existing questionnaire and developing an interviewer's manual as needed. Legislative entry points and recommendations Inputs to the Preliminary qualitative research and verification of the scope of the study conducted by the Research Company. The Consultant will support the implementation of the quantitative components of the National Study on Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP) in Republic of Moldova, mainly: Task 5: Support the facilitation of training(s) to the enumerators and supervisors responsible for the administration of the quantitative survey Support to training needs ahead of the quantitative data collection Provide inputs to the design and support the facilitation of select sessions (i.e. GEWE concepts and concerns, and research ethics and confidentiality) of 1 day (one) training for enumerators and supervisors responsible for the administration of the quantitative survey. The trainings will be organized by research company and will be built on WHO and UNSD guidelines on research ethics. Deliverables of the National Consultant under Task 5: Inputs to the Facilitators notes for the one-day training for enumerators and field supervisors. Inputs and quality verification of the Research Company reports provided on Quantitative data collections activities, reports, interviews and transcripts. Task 6: Support to the preparation of a comprehensive study and advocacy materials Jointly with Research Company conduct preliminary qualitative data analysis. Support the development of a comprehensive final analytical study that integrates evidence from qualitative and quantitative data collection and the review of legislative and policy framework, and highlights short- and long-term entry points, opportunities, and priority actions for key state and non-state actors (parliament, electoral management bodies, political parties, legislative bodies, local administrations, traditional and religious leaders, elected women representatives, civil society and the womens movement, and UN Women and other UN agencies), to better monitor, prevent and respond to VAWP. Support Research Company with the drafting of advocacy materials including one main advocacy brief (4-6 pages) and seven short thematic, geographic and/or demographic briefs (2 pages each), based on the comprehensive report and data collected. Coordinate UN Women support for the translation of the comprehensive report or its executive summary and/or advocacy materials into English from Romanian Coordinate UN Women support the development of communications materials, including human interest stories and/or articles on good practices, to support knowledge management of the project, as per identified needs. Deliverables of the National Consultant under Task 6: Inputs to the detailed outline for the final analytical study, which captures key findings, key messages, and recommendations. Inputs to the comprehensive final study that integrates evidence from qualitative and quantitative data collection and the review of legislative and policy framework. Inputs to the advocacy materials including one main advocacy brief and seven short thematic, geographic, and/or demographic briefs. Inputs to versions of the final study or its executive summary and/or advocacy materials. Inputs to communications materials including at least two human interest stories and/or articles on good practices. Inputs to lessons learned documentation. Task 7 Launching of the study and follow-up actions Conduct 2 Reference Group Meeting to engage key strategic partners indicated in the stakeholders mapping for strengthening the monitoring, prevention, and response to VAWP in Moldova based on the identified entry points and recommendations of the study. UN Women will facilitate the logistical arrangement for the event; Contribute to the organization 1 National Event to launch the report including follow-up actions lessons learned/ knowledge sharing and share its findings and recommendations. UN Women will facilitate the logistical arrangement for the event; Launch social media campaign with advocacy infographics including issue press statement and engagement with key national and regional media partners. Additional support will come also from UN Women Moldova Communication team, if needed. Deliverables: Draft meeting summaries of the Reference Group meetings. Draft meeting summary of national event Inputs to the dissemination plan for the dissemination of final study and advocacy materials. Duration of the Assignment The assignment shall commence in April 2025 and shall expire in January 2026 for up to 110 working days. Performance Evaluation Consultants performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. All reports must be provided in English, electronically. Financial Arrangements Payment will be disbursed quarterly upon submission and approval of deliverables and timesheets with actual days worked. The payment shall be made upon certification by UN Women that the services have been satisfactorily performed. The number of days worked is to be determined solely by UN Women. The Consultant agrees and acknowledge that acceptance of the Contract does not guarantee any minimum fee to be paid to the Consultant. Consultants Workplace and Official Travel The Consultant will not be located in the premises of UN Women and will have to work remotely (unless UNW will request differently) or in the beneficiary premises. The payment of travel costs should be agreed upon in advance by UN Women, the National Consultant, and the Research Company. These costs will be covered or arranged by the Research Company. Competencies : Core Values: Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity. Core Competencies: Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; Accountability; Creative Problem Solving; Effective Communication; Inclusive Collaboration; Stakeholder Engagement; Leading by Example. Please visit this link for more information on UN Womens Values and Competencies Framework: Functional Competencies: Ability to achieve results and to work in teams; Ability to use Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource; Ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames; Ability to consistently approach work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; Ability to work in an independent manner and organize the workflow efficiently; In-depth knowledge of gender equality and womens rights issues will be an asset; Required Qualifications: Education and Certification: Masters degree or equivalent in Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, Law or relevant field, and/or other social science-related areas relevant to the assignment is required; A first-level university degree, in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Additional certifications in gender equality, human rights, and violence against women in elections would be an advantage. Experience: A minimum of 2 years of experience in qualitative research in the areas of womens political participation, EVAW, or integration of gender equality in elections, including legal and policy review is required; Experience in the field of monitoring of gender equality/eliminating violence against women and girls, violence against women in politics/elections, hate and sexist speech, human rights and development is required; Experience in working with/in government and non-governmental sectors in interventions in the field of monitoring of election from gender perspective is an advantage; Experience in reviewing laws/policies/regulations/documents is an advantage; Experience engaging with multiple stakeholders including governments, electoral management bodies, women elected for public office, CSOs particularly womens organizations, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions in Republic of Moldova is an advantage; Experience in working with international organizations is an advantage; Languages: Fluency in Romanian and English (both written and oral) is required; Fluency in the Russian language would be an advantage. APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their online applications by March 27, 2025 through the following link: National Consultant to support the Implementation of the National Study on Violence Against Women in Politics during 2025 Parliamentary Elections in Republic of Moldova - UN Women Careers . Applications should include the following documents: Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) Samples of previous works - examples of strategies, notes, regulations developed by the candidate or under his/her coordination on gender issues, womens rights, gender-based violence and Violence against women in politics Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Statements : In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. Diversity and inclusion: At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Womens policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.) Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process. National consultant on Public Finance Management and Gender Responsive Budgeting (Local post for Residents of the Republic of Moldova) Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Job Info Job Identification: 24493 Posting Date: 03/13/2025, 09:32 AM Apply Before: 03/20/2025, 10:59 PM Job Schedule: Part time Locations Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Job Function: Ending violence against women Initial Contract Duration: March 2025- December 2025 Education & Work Experience: Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 4 year(s) experience Required Languages: Fluency in Romanian and English Desired Languages: Knowledge of the Russian language Vacancy Category: Consultancies Job Description Background: UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. The work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova (2023-2027), UN Women Global Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Womens Leadership and Governance; 3) Womens Economic empowerment and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on Gender equality. Based on the European Commission Implementing Decision on the Annual Action Plan in favour of the Republic of Moldova for 2022 NDICI-GEO-NEAR/2022/ACT-61535 EU4 Resilience and Governance, UN Women Moldova CO is implementing a four-year project (November 2023 October 2027) under the name "Ending Violence, Expanding Livelihood Opportunities for Women and Accelerating Gender Governance in Moldova" (hereinafter EVOLVE4GE). The project is implemented in line with and in contribution to the Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) of European Commission " Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in External Action 20212025", adopted in November 2020, Country gender profile and its Country Level Implementation Plan CLIP for the Republic of Moldova which aim to accelerate progress on empowering women and girls, and safeguard gains made on gender equality during the 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action . It will also support the Government to advance implementation of the gender equality commitments aligned with the EU candidacy status granted to the Republic of Moldova in June 2022. The project builds on UN Womens advocacy and past work in strengthening capacities for gender responsive governance, on the Country office best practices around womens economic empowerment through business development and increased participation of women in sectors with high economic potential and high gender gap, as well as on lessons learned collected through the support provided to the Government in the development of integrated survivor oriented provision of assistance and establishment of specialist services for survivors of violence against women and girls. The interventions will contribute directly to the implementation of the national priorities set the Government Programme on Gender Equality (2023-2027), The RoadMap for Economic Empowerment of Women, the National Programme on Ending Violence against Women (2023-2027), as well as to the gender responsive provisions of the Public Finance Management Strategy (2023-2030) and Public Administration (2023-2030). The project, initiated in November 2023, and is funded from the European Union. Its overarching goal revolves around the following outcome: By 2027, women and girls actively contribute to and reap the rewards of enhanced gender-responsive policies, customized economic empowerment initiatives, and easily accessible quality essential services. One of the anticipated results of the EVOLVE4GE project is the enhancement of the capacity of both Central and Local Government authorities to design and implement gender-responsive policies. To achieve this, the project aims to strengthen the capacity of central and local Gender Equality Mechanisms (GEMs); offer customized assistance to the Ministry of Finance and other central budget users to integrate gender considerations into public finance management; build the capacity of public oversight institutions to incorporate gender perspectives into oversight and audit practices; and by providing comprehensive support to Local Public Administration for piloting gender-responsive budgets. In this framework, UN Women within EVOLVE4GE project seeks to contract a consultant (here and after The Consultant) to extend expert support to state institutions including but not limited to Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP), Ministry of Regional development and infrastructure , Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalisation (MEDD) and other sectoral ministries to enable institutionalized introduction of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in Moldova, in line with the recommendations from the Public Expenditure and Finance Accountability Assessment (PEFA) supplementary assessment on gender, and the Public Finance Management Strategy (PFM) for 2023-2030 Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work More specifically, the consultant will work in close coordination with a team of 1 International and 1 National expert and will be responsible for the following tasks, including but not limited to: Contribute to development and delivery of capacity building activities Support the line ministries in conducting gender analyses for selected budget programs Based on gender analyses provide recommendations for a tailored set of modifications for each programme, encompassing indicators, objectives, outputs, and outcomes to instill gender responsiveness; Ensure that the modifications align with the unique needs and contexts of the target populations or beneficiaries of the budget programmes; Provide hands-on mentorship to ministry representatives, elucidating the principles and methodologies of gender-responsive budgeting; Formulate a comprehensive set of recommendations for enhancing an existing budget circular to incorporate gender-responsive elements; Ensure that the recommendations are practical, actionable, and aligned with best practices in gender mainstreaming; Facilitate the piloting of the specific GRB provisions in the budget circular within a designated ministry or department; Monitor the implementation process closely, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments to optimize effectiveness; Document lessons learned and best practices for dissemination and future replication; Develop a final report summarizing results (changes in capacities, key results achieved, lessons learned, and recommendations). The consultant will report to the Project Officer on Gender Responsive Governance (EVOLVE4GE project), who will serve as the primary contact for all matters related to the contract and payments. The consultants work will be carried out under the overall coordination of the EVOLVE4GE Project Manager and the UN Women Programme Specialist on Women in Leadership, Gender-Sensitive Governance, and Budgets. The consultant is expected to maintain regular communication and coordination with the Project Officer on GRG regarding the progress of deliverables. Additionally, the consultant must promptly inform UN Women in writing of any unforeseen challenges or risks that may arise during the assignment and propose a backup plan to ensure the timely and successful completion of deliverables. Deliverables Deliverable Expected completion time (due day) Detailed outline work plan for the assignment. March 30, 2025 Developed training materials (presentations, agendas, handouts etc.) and evaluation reports (pre and post training evaluation reports, list of participants etc.) June 16, 2025 Budget Programme recommendations, encompassing tailored modification plans for each program, outlining specific adjustments in indicators, objectives, outputs, and outcomes to promote gender responsiveness, including gender budget statements/justification notes September 15, 2025 Monitoring report on the implementation process November 20, 2025 Documentation of mentorship sessions conducted, including feedback from target institutions December 01, 2025 Final report with specific information on the results achieved, challenges, and opportunities December 15, 2025 Consultants Workplace and Official Travel This is a home-based consultancy. In case travel is required, it will be covered by UN Women separately. Payment As full payment for the services performed by the Consultants, UN Women will pay the Consultants in accordance with the deliverables provided. Payments shall be made following certification by UN Women that the services related to each deliverable have been satisfactorily performed and the deliverables have been achieved by or before the due dates, if any. Competencies : Core Values: Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity. Core Competencies: Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; Accountability; Creative Problem Solving; Effective Communication; Inclusive Collaboration; Stakeholder Engagement; Leading by Example. Please visit this link for more information on UN Womens Values and Competencies Framework: Functional Competencies: Knowledge Management and Learning Shares knowledge and experience Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource Leadership and Self-Management Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Womens mandate Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners Required Qualifications Education and Certification: Masters degree in public administration, social studies, finance, gender studies, and/or any other degree relevant to the requirements of the TOR is required; A first-level university degree (bachelor's), combined with two additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Experience: At least 2 years of relevant professional experience in gender-responsive budgeting application at either the central or local level or similar experience in public finance management is required; Proven experience undertaking gender analyses and developing reports is required; Experience designing and delivering training and/or mentoring programmes on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in policy making and budgeting is required; Experience working on central government finance policies and processes including medium-term budgeting program (MTBP), budgeting methodologies, and approaches are required; Previous experience working with international organizations is considered an asset; Languages: Fluency in Romanian and English is required; Knowledge of the Russian language is an asset. APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their online applications by March 20, 2025 through the following link: National consultant on Public Finance Management and Gender Responsive Budgeting (Local post for Residents of the Republic of Moldova) - UN Women Careers . Applications should include the following documents: Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page); Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials. Candidates should be able to quickly produce degree certificates and medical certification (of good health). Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Statements : In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. Diversity and inclusion: At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Womens policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.) Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process. Anna Josse, CEO and co-founder of Prism the Gift Fund Prism the Gift Fund Why did you establish Prism the Gift Fund (Prism)? In 1994, a US charity called the New Israel Fund, which strengthens democracy in Israel, was looking for its first full-time director in the UK. I took that job and thats where I learned a huge amount from the Americans about fundraising and donor-advised funds (DAFs). I set up and ran the British arm of the New Israel Fund for six years and realised that I had the ability to create, initiate and set up systems and communicate. I also worked in the high-tech world. After that, I set up a financially regulated company called Regent Capital, which creates bespoke UK-based investment opportunities in commercial property and local energy, tailored to a range of investors. Humanists UK Humanists UK has announced it will publish a 140-year-old magazine after taking over the services of a fellow non-religious charity. It will now run the quarterly New Humanist magazine, which has been published by a company owned by the dissolving Rationalist Association since its founding in 1885. New Humanists three-person editorial team are the only staff transferring between the charities. However, the Rationalist Associations president Laurie Taylor has become a vice president of Humanists UK. Seven of the Rationalist Associations patrons have also become patrons of Humanists UK. Humanists UK will acquire the Rationalist Press Association (RPA), which has published various humanist and rationalist literature since 1885. It will be renamed the Rationalist Press later this year. No money was exchanged as part of the merger. Expanding readership New Humanist currently publishes 6,500 physical copies of each issue, while its digital readership is around 25,000. The magazines print circulation will increase to more than 26,000 as part of the merger and be read by Humanist UKs more than 130,000 members and supporters, the charity said. Clive Coen, outgoing chair of the Rationalist Association, said: Finding a place for New Humanist magazine within Humanists UK secures its future, while strengthening the voice of humanism and the aligned voice of rationalism. Humanists UKs chief executive Andrew Copson said: We live in times as troubled as any in the long histories of our organisations. More than ever, we need a strong humanist movement for the 21st century and this merger is a great strengthening. Humanism has a bright future in the UK. Niki Seth-Smith, editor of New Humanist, said: With Humanists UK as our publisher, we can do more than ever to reach the majority of people in our country and globally who are open-minded, curious, and care deeply about the state of the world. We have big plans to use the boosted readership for the magazine to make it even more impactful and influential, and I look forward to working with the editorial team to achieve this. Previous merger attempt New Humanist was originally named Wattss Literary Guide after its founder, Charles Albert Watts, who also set up the RPA. Meanwhile, Humanists UK was originally founded in 1896 as the Union of Ethical Societies. In 1920 it became the Ethical Union and in 1963 it and the RPA came together to form the British Humanist Association as an umbrella group. This was the first attempt at a merger between the two groups but the Ethical Union lost its charitable status in 1967, meaning the RPA had to pull out of the merger. The Ethical Union then became the British Humanist Association, renaming itself in 2017 to Humanists UK. The Rationalist Association, meanwhile, took over the RPAs work in 2002. sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, bramgino / Adobe Three social investment funds previously managed by Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations (GMCVO), which entered administration in late 2024, have been taken on by a specialist community investor. The news, announced on 12 March, will see the Sheffield-based organisation handling the GMCVOs Growth Fund, Enterprising Communities Fund and Proper Good Investment Fund. Key Fund, which was founded in 1999 to help neighbourhoods hit by the decline of South Yorkshires coal and steel industries, said it had taken over the management of the funds after sustained work between GMCVOs funders and administrators. It has been operating in Greater Manchester for 15 years, and said the move would ensure that support continues to be delivered locally by an impact-focused organisation. Significant losses at GMCVO GMCVO appointed administrators Emma Mifsud and Charles Turner, from legal firm Opus Restructuring, in late November after concluding its business model was no longer viable. It was one of the UKs largest local infrastructure organisations, existing for around 50 years, with five wholly owned subsidiary companies three of which were responsible for the social investment funds. Its accounts for the financial year ending March 2023 list a total income of 3.32m against an expenditure of 3.65m. In the previous year, GMCVOs income was 3.79m while its expenditure was 3.55m. The organisation commented at the time that it was predicting significant losses moving forward, and that it would be smaller in the future. Its subsequent collapse reportedly led to about 15 GMCVO staff losing their jobs. GMCVOs main financial backers, Access The Foundation for Social Investment, Better Society Capital, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the National Lottery Community Fund, said they were grateful to all parties that a solution had been found for the investment funds. We look forward to engaging with partners and funders Key Fund said the outcome will ensure continued support for local social enterprises, and that existing loans are managed by an investor with an understanding of the sector and a commitment to impact. The organisation is committed to working with funders and local partners to continue helping enterprises in the region generate impact. Matt Smith, chief executive of Key Fund, said he had been saddened to hear of the challenges at GMCVO and the impact on the social enterprises in the area. We have worked with funders to find a solution and look forward to engaging with partners and funders over the coming months as we explore new opportunities to further support Greater Manchester. We note with regret this has been a difficult time for former staff and stakeholders. He added: But we hope the outlook is now more positive for the sector in the region. sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. Wesley J. Lowery, a Pulitzer-winning investigative reporter and one of the most influential journalists of his generation, has left his positions as the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop and as an associate professor of journalism at American University in Washington, DC, after less than two years there. His departure follows a number of complaints against him, according to former colleagues, including at least three Title IX allegations, in which he was accused of improper behavior with colleagues and female students. Lowery, in an interview with CJR, acknowledged that three complaints had been filed but said that the university never reached out to him as part of an investigation. He insisted that he did nothing wrong and said that he left his job voluntarily to return to reporting and writing. The departure was announced to IRWs staff on Tuesday by Marnel Niles Goins, the dean of American Universitys School of Communication, who named Lynne Perri, who had been the managing editor at IRW from 2009 to 2024, as the interim executive editor. The dean did not elaborate on Lowerys departure, except to say, We appreciate his contributions in helping shape where IRW is today, and we wish him well. At any time, IRW employs between eight and fifteen students from the DC area in the fall and spring, and from other regions in the summer, partnering them with professional investigative reporters to pursue projects for publication. The workshop was cofounded in 2008 by Chuck Lewis, who created the Center for Public Integrity, which Lowery now chairs. Sophia Lehrbaum, a senior at the University of Michigan, arrived at IRW in June 2024. She planned to work on a story about abortion denial in the wake of the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision, and sought out Lowery for advice about how to approach sources. She entered his office. The door was closed, she recalled, and he told her, When you date somebody, you dont just ask, Do you wanna fuck? You build up to it. He laughed. She, too, laughed, in shock. I really revered him, she told CJR. He completely overstepped the limits of what is in bounds and what isnt. Its not even innuendo at that point, its just sexual harassment. Still, she tried to dismiss what happened. Theres no way in hell, she told herself, that a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner just sexually harassed me. But a few weeks later, after speaking with mentors, she filed a Title IX complaint. I am a journalist myself, so I thought like a journalist, she said. I left a paper trail. At the start of July, she spoke with the schools Office of Equity and Title IX. I was very clear that if action was not taken, he would continue to hurt students. She became aware of others lodging complaints. Because Im a reporter who covers sexual harassment, I know that what Title IX looks for is a pattern. So Lehrbaum was dismayed when, in August, she received an email from Human Resources. The Office of Equity and Title IX reviewed the reported conduct and determined that it did not fall within the scope of their office, the message went. The matter was referred to the Office of Human Resources for review to determine if the reported conduct violated other University policies. After that, she heard nothing further about the complaint. As her fellowship progressed, Lehrbaum felt uncomfortable in the office. At one point, she was offered an alternate workspace. Which I found deeply offensive, she said, because it would not only isolate me from my peers, but it would rob me of my experience that I had worked so hard to get. This was not a solution, it was a consequence for me. Eventually, she decided to leave town. I was in constant fight-or-flight, she said. I went back to Ann Arbor and couch surfed. She heard from Lowery in mid-August, about a story shed been reporting. She didnt hear from him again until October, when he wrote to her about getting it published. She decided not to respond. I didnt want to work with him anymore, she said. I ghosted him. Sign up for CJRs daily email In the interview, Lowery, who is thirty-four, said that, to students, he typically likened the trust-building that occurs in a reporter-source encounter to the rapport that someone on a date might attempt to establish: you start with easy questions, then work to build trust to elicit answers to harder questions. When Lehrbaum entered his office, he said, she shut the door, and he had that in mind. I dont recall using the language she attributes to me, he said. I was making a direct reference to something I had already said to a class. He continued: My intention was not to offend her, much less to sexually harass her, and I wish this had been raised to me directly so that I could have apologized and been more thoughtful about my interactions. This was something I was unaware of that upset her until after she had departed. I run my mouthanyone who has worked with me knows that. That is who I am. This was not gratuitous. It was not physical. Another student, Maya Cederlund, a senior at American University, said that in January, she was in the office and had gotten off the phone with an expert in gun violence prevention, who had also experienced gun violence. She said that she told Lowery of her concern about retraumatizing victims of violence. According to Cederlund, Lowery replied, Not to use sex as a reference, but when youre having sex with someone youre asking, Can I do this, can I do that, is this okay? Lowery said the quote was taken out of context, and was part of a longer conversation in which he tried to explain that reporters should respect the right of sourceseven those who have experienced traumato decide what they want to share. Its paternalistic, he said, to make that choice for someone by not even asking. I literally said, Youve probably only heard the term affirmative consent in the sexual context, he said. Cederlund at first left the encounter thinking it was simply weird. I genuinely didnt think anything of itI brushed it off and went about my day, she said. I thought it was an isolated incident. It was only after talking with Lehrbaum, Cederlund said, that she decided to raise her concerns with Perri, who then filed a complaint on February 18 as a mandated reporter of suspected misconduct under Title IX. He of all people knows how powerful words are, and how careful and intentional you have to be with your words, Cederlund told CJR. In no way, shape, or form should you ever be talking about sex in a professional environment. Lowery said he did not regret the advice he gave to Cederlund. Im not everyones cup of tea, he said. But I am pretty good at journalism. That was advice given in good faith. Cara Kellya journalist who has worked at the Washington Post and USA Today, and who teaches journalism at American Universityworked as an editor at large at IRW from the summer of 2023 until August of last year. She began on a part-time basis around the time of Lowerys hiring; he made her a full-time employee. She said that she experienced hostile and abusive behavior from him, and that she became aware of Title IX allegations, which she was obliged to report to the school. I filed multiple complaints with the university over a course of monthsuntil I decided that I could not, for my health, stay there any longer, Kelly told CJR. I was unable to do my job because I could not in good faith work with or recruit partners or sources, because I did not think it was a healthy environment for anyone. Kelly filed her first complaint in February 2024 and resigned about six months later. There was some work done on a hostile-work-environment complaint, she said, but she never got details or heard anything about the investigations conclusion. The response from the university left a lot to be desired, she said. I warned the universityin writing, in meetings, in formal complaintsthat they had a major problem on their hands, that there was an abuse of power happening and that it would get worse if they did not take action about it. And they did not take action until this week. Perri, who left IRW about a year ago and has now come back, said that she was aware of at least three Title IX complaints against Lowery but was not told how they were adjudicated. I was really hopeful when we hired Wesley, and I am so sad it didnt work out, she said. My goal now is to create a positive experience for the students, and to look for a new leader, an equally accomplished and important figure, who will be someone whom they can look up to. When asked about the Title IX complaints, Matthew D. Bennett, the vice president and chief communications officer at American University, confirmed that Lowery was no longer working there. That is all the information I have, he said, later adding that Lowery had resigned voluntarily. As of Wednesday, the university had not only removed Lowery from its website but also removed the announcement of his appointment, from June 2023. In recent weeks, problems at the IRW have mounted. On February 24, Lowery told journalists who had been selected for IRWs spring fellowship that the workshop had failed to secure professional partners to publish their work, so, for now, unfortunately, he wrote to them in an email shared with CJR, I think you all should plan on not working with the IRW this semester. (Lowery said that email was sent to a handful of members of a proposed expanded cohort, while a larger group of fellows continues to work this spring.) Lowery told CJR, I dont have full insight into this, but my understanding is there were three different complaints filed at various points, and when a complaint is filed, the Title IX office reviews it and decides if they are worthy of an investigation. He added: Zero out of these three complaints met that threshold. But I certainly regret if any comment I ever made during editing, or anything else, made anyone feel uncomfortable. After two years, Im excited to get back to working on my craft, he said. I was never positive this was the correct fit, and Im happy to move on. I will always enjoy working with young journalists, and as a young journalist myself, I know there is always a balance, an ever-moving negotiation, about how to engage folks. By design, the ways I speak, the ways I edit, much more mirror a professional newsroom than an academic classroom, and I understand that can be jarring at times. Lowery, an Ohio University graduate who had stints at the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe, came to national prominence as a reporter for the Washington Post, for which he covered the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, that followed the killing of an unarmed Black teenager by a police officer. He was a lead reporter on a data project and series that examined deadly shootings of civilians by police officers. The project won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. The same year, Lowery wrote his first book, They Cant Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in Americas Racial Justice Movement. As Lowerys profile rose, he began to clash with Martin Baron, the Posts editor from 2012 to 2021. Baron wrote about their dispute in his memoir Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post (2023). Lowery left the Post in 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A few months later, following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Lowery published an influential op-ed in the New York Times, arguing that the traditional journalistic ideal of objectivity was inadequate for the moment and should be replaced by moral clarity, which will require both editors and reporters to stop doing things like reflexively hiding behind euphemisms that obfuscate the truth, simply because weve always done it that way. The column stirred debate in journalism circles. He later expanded on his views for CJR. Lowery is deeply involved in the world of nonprofit journalism. He is a cochair of the Center for Public Integrity, based in Washington, and the chair of the Prison Journalism Project, in Chicago. Editors note: This story has been updated. Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has taken unprecedented steps to slash the federal bureaucracy, all but dismantling entire agencies and firing thousands of workers while claiming to have saved the federal government over a hundred billion dollars even if, critics say, that calculation doesnt remotely hold up. Muskthe head of DOGE, at least according to Donald Trump, at least sometimessays that DOGE operates in complete transparency. There should be no need for FOIA requests, he tweeted in November, referring to the Freedom of Information Act, a law that gives the public the right to request information from the federal government. But despite its avowed transparency, DOGE has refused to answer FOIA requests from journalists and watchdog groups. As reported by the New York Times and others, Musk and his advisers intentionally positioned DOGE within the Executive Office of the President, in what looked like an obvious attempt to shield it from laws like FOIA. This week, however, that apparent strategy failed to hold up in court. On Monday, a federal judge ruled that DOGE is likely subject to FOIA; in a thirty-seven-page statement, the judge cited the initiatives unprecedented influence and unusual secrecy, arguing that the rapid pace of its actions requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities. The ruling came in response to a case brought by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, which sued DOGE last month over its refusal to process a FOIA request. (Yesterday, a different judge ordered Musk and DOGE to turn over records and answer questions in response to a legal complaint filed by Democratic state attorneys general, as part of a discovery process.) The Monday ruling could very well be appealed, but it was a win for journalists, watchdogs, and researchers who have demanded greater transparency. As the past months have shown, extracting even basic facts about DOGEs operation and structure is a burdensome task: government lawyers had to be dragged to court after refusing to disclose who the DOGE administrator is (eventually, the White House pointed to Amy Gleason, a former healthcare executive, as the acting administrator), and Musk has flip-flopped on whether DOGEs staff members are paid. Despite the lack of easy access to DOGEs internal operations, countless news outlets have extensively covered its staffing cuts, budget claims, and transparency disputes. The judge in the FOIA case cited such reporting as supporting evidence that DOGE is leading the charge on the mass firings and termination of federal programs, rather than merely advising others to carry them out. For instance, he cited an ABC article that pointed out that emails sent to federal employees with deferred resignation offers used the subject line Fork in the Roadthe same wording that Musk used when he slashed jobs at X, then known as Twitter, after taking the company over, in 2022. The judge also highlighted reports that some federal workers communicate primarily on the encrypted app Signal. In light of this, he ordered DOGE to preserve all documents, citing the possibility that representatives of the Defendant entities may not fully appreciate their obligations to preserve federal records. News outlets have also gathered the names and backgrounds of DOGEs employees. Wired arguably led the way with its early reporting in this area. Last month, the Times identified more than fifty people tasked with carrying out Musks plans at DOGE, and found that many of them are young men with backgrounds in the artificial intelligence industry. Musks team has taken aim at more than 20 agencies while gaining access to sensitive government data systems, the Times wrote. But the full extent of its reach or ambitions is unclear. Ryan Mac, one of the reporters of the piece, added on Bluesky that the public has a right to know who is dismantling the government. Similar efforts could be seen last week at The Intercept, which, citing a source, published Musks government email address, announcing that the outlet plans to use it to sharpen FOIA requests aimed at revealing his correspondence. Without the email address, the outlet argued, requests for Musks communications with federal agencies risk being rejected by the government, which sometimes plays games with journalists, researchers, and other watchdogs by claiming that requests arent specific enough. (For those wondering, the email address is reportedly erm71@who.eop.gov.) Following publication, users on social media put together spreadsheets containing what they believe to be the email addresses of other members of the DOGE team, encouraging a FOIA party. Although DOGE is now facing legal pressure to be more transparent, any actual disclosure of records may proceed at a sluggish pace. A lawyer for the government said that it could take officials three years to produce all the documents requested by CREW, even on an expedited basis. This, in itself, speaks volumes to how much DOGE has done in the first two months of this administration. FOIA offices were already understaffed and under-budgeted, and the mass firing of federal employees is clearly putting pressure on an already strained system. As CNN reported last month, the Trump administration has quietly fired multiple members of the privacy team and other officials, including staff who handle FOIA requests from the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the employment of federal workers. Upon filing a FOIA request asking for the security clearances of Musk and DOGE staffers who had been granted access to secure information, CNN received the following response from an OPM email address: Good luck with that they just got rid of the entire privacy team. This all raises the question of whether other FOIA officers may be at risk of termination, and what that could mean for the governments transparency requirements in the next four years. Yet DOGEs secretive actions and apparent willingness to jump through hoops to avoid transparency laws demonstrates just how crucial it is for journalists to continue reporting on the initiatives activitieswith or without FOIA on their side. As shown by Mondays ruling, such reporting can help drive change. With DOGEs FOIA door slightly ajar, now is an opportune time to push. Other notable stories: Sign up for CJRs daily email CJRs Sewell Chan and Betsy Morais report that Wesley Lowerya prominent former Washington Post journalist and influential critic of the traditional understanding of journalistic objectivityhas left his posts as the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop, which pairs students with investigative journalists to work on projects for publication, and as an associate professor of journalism at American University following a number of complaints against him, according to former colleagues, including at least three Title IX allegations, in which he was accused of improper behavior with colleagues and female students. In an interview with CJR, Lowery acknowledged the complaints but insisted that he did nothing wrong and said that he left his job voluntarily to return to reporting and writing. Ruth Marcusan editor and columnist who quit the Washington Post, where she had worked for forty years, earlier this week after the papers publisher spiked a column in which she took issue with an edict from Jeff Bezos, the owner, reorienting the opinion section around personal liberties and free marketsexplained her decision to resign in an essay for The New Yorker, which also published the spiked column. The column was, if anything, meek to the point of embarrassing, Marcus writes, but she wanted not only to be true to myself but to show that the newspaper could brook criticism and that columnists still enjoyed freedom of expression. In the end, it turned out, the Washington Post I joined, the one I came to love, is not the Washington Post I left. Yesterday, an arbitrator ordered Sarah Wynn-Williamsa former staffer at Meta who recently published an explosive memoir detailing her time at the company, including allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of senior executivesto stop promoting and distributing the book after Meta complained that it breached a nondisparagement clause in a contract she had signed. (Meta has vigorously denied Wynn-Williamss claims.) So far, however, the ruling appears not to have stopped the books publisherFlatiron, which is owned by Macmillanfrom distributing it, and, as the Times notes, Meta has previously pledged not to punish staffers for speaking up about sexual wrongdoing. In the UK, the BBC is preparing to urge the government to take on the full costs of funding the World Servicewhich broadcasts in countries around the world, but has been hamstrung of late by budget shortfallson the grounds that it is currently being hugely outmatched by the global operations of Russian and Chinese state broadcasters. The Guardians Michael Savage notes that the request represents an early skirmish in negotiations with the government over the BBCs statusand that the government might be reluctant to find the money due to its strict, if self-imposed, fiscal rules. And CJRs Feven Merid checked in on Wikipedia editors in New York amid a growing right-wing campaign against the site (which we also covered recently in this newsletter). If you meet three Wikipedia editors, youd feel better about the long-standing stamina of Wikipedia, one said. Like, if you see all these editors, youre just like, Oh, these are the people who are trying to make sure that Wikipedia is going to remain not just intact, but that were going to keep telling this evolving story of the internet. Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. Since Donald Trumps reelection, Wikipedia has been catching right-wing attacks. There have been taunts from Elon Musk, prompted by a page that described his Nazi-style salute during the inauguration. Defund Wikipedia, he posted on Xwhich, under his ownership, has positioned itself as a competing source of authoritative information. (Elon Musk salute controversy now has its own Wikipedia entry.) Other tech executives followed suit, including Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of an artificial intelligence company called Perplexity, who put out a call for an unbiased encyclopedia reliant on his product. Around the same time, The Forward reported that the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank, plans to identify and target Wikipedia editors, and the New York Post published an editorial citing a bombshell new report from a group called the Media Research Center: For Wikipedia, true is now synonymous with left wing. Amid the attention, a group of Wikipedia editors in New York convened for a Wiki Wednesday meeting, a regular gathering to chat about articles in progress, troubleshoot, and mingle. In a co-op workspace a few blocks north of Times Square, the crowd munched on toasted empanadas, beef patties, and chocolate chip cookies. The hosta longtime Wikipedia editor, also known as a Wikimedianlet everyone know that they could head upstairs and check out a temporary shelter for rescued turtles. He announced an upcoming Wiki-fashion show; the editors reported updates on articles theyd been working on (number of babies born on the New York subway: nine, as of February 12). Then they conferred about threats from the MAGAsphere. Molly Stark Dean, an editor, bemoaned the ire, and expressed concern over implications for the sites security. The whole rest of the internet has been through enshittificationand everything else is under paywalls, or its under advertising of some sort, and Wikipedia is the last bastion of the old internet, she said. I think mostly its just personal vendettas, right? Like people have an issue with their Wikipedia page or the way that they were portrayed, and then, you know, that kind of turns into Wikipedia is bad, Pacita Rudder, who serves as the director of Wikimedia NYC, the official chapter for editors in the city, said. (Musks anti-Wiki vitriol goes back years, to the time he complained about having been identified as an early investor in Tesla, instead of a founder. He offered up a billion dollars if the site changed its name to Dickipedia.) What people like Donald Trump and Elon Musk complain about are usually more contentious articles, like wars or US politics. I try to avoid these types of things. Others didnt seem worried. Weve been fighting off attacks of one kind or another for twenty years, almost, Jim Henderson, an editor since 2006, said. Hendersonwho is seventy-six, and a former telephone operatorhas been a prolific Wikipedia photographer, both shooting and, increasingly, tagging photos in Wikimedia Commons for several hours a day. Fellow editors speedily recalled Wikipedias brushes with foreign governments. Last year, in Russia, the Kremlin cloned the site, edited out anything deemed unfit, then banned the original. In late 2023, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the internet service provider from which Wikipedia receives most of its traffic in Gaza was subject to disruptions that cut off readership dramatically. Back in 2013, the French secret service threatened to arrest an editor for an article that officials said contained classified information. (The page had been online since 2009, and was later restored.) For Ryan Ngwho is twenty-six, and has been editing Wikipedia since middle schoolthat all means the United States is, at least, unexceptional. Wikipedia is a global project, he said. It cant just be centered on one country. But if the common feeling in the room was that Wikipedia wasnt under existential threat, the editors still felt vulnerable. The creation of pages and revisions of entries are entirely transparentjust click view historybut editors tend to work under pseudonyms. The Heritage Foundation, according to The Forward, intends to use facial recognition software and a database of hacked usernames and passwords in order to identify contributors to the online encyclopedia. That is ostensibly in the interest of combating anti-Semitismin June, a panel of Wikipedia editors categorized the Anti-Defamation League as a generally unreliable source of information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, limiting how it can be cited. In reality, the ADL is handled differently depending on the subjecta system fully explained, including the methodology behind the categorization, on Wikipedias Reliable sources/Perennial sources page. When you choose to become an editor, its because youre passionate about an issue or youre passionate about making sure that knowledge exists and its free for people to use, Rudder said. You dont get paid to do this, and you didnt sign up to be attacked. Sign up for CJRs daily email No one was sure exactly what could be done to dox people or hack articles. Some suggested possibilities, which others shot down. It seemed a pain to think about, as one editor put it: I dont want Wikipedia to become, like, this center for resistance. For a few, the back-and-forth was reassuring. If you meet three Wikipedia editors, youd feel better about the long-standing stamina of Wikipedia, Dean said. Like, if you see all these editors, youre just like, Oh, these are the people who are trying to make sure that Wikipedia is going to remain not just intact, but that were going to keep telling this evolving story of the internet. Editors Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Molly Stark Deans name. Fire took everything, please help. The headline was one of hundreds like it on GoFundMe campaigns that launched even as the embers of the fires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena were still smoldering. They were a grim reminder that even in more affluent areas of the US, there are always people who are uninsured or, despite having insurance, still need help with immediate needs like clothing and shelter after a disaster. Three-hundred and fifty miles to the north of Los Angeles, another California city is pioneering a form of disaster insurance that could provide more reliable relief than the kindness of strangers. Related: Cascading Extreme Weather Events Unleash Billions in Damages Globally Fremont, a Bay Area city of 226,000, in September became the first municipality in the nation to buy its own citywide flood insurance policy. Its whats known as parametric insurance: If the agreed-upon threshold, or parameter, for flooding is met, that will trigger an immediate payout. Fremont could use the money for anything it needed, whether cleaning up debris or helping uninsured citizens to get back on their feet, or even just replenishing the general budget. While there are plenty of smaller experiments in community-wide parametric insurance there are homeowner associations in California, for example, that carry wildfire insurance Fremonts marks a major step forward since it involves public monies and coverage for an entire city. It comes as pressure for communities to do more to protect themselves is growing intense. Private insurers are leaving more households exposed by dropping policies and exiting some markets altogether. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has fired hundreds of employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which responds to natural disasters, and has targeted more at an office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that is key to funding disaster relief. President Donald Trump has said hed like to close down FEMA altogether and have states handle their own disaster response and recovery. Its clear that more innovative solutions need to be brought to the table to protect Americans, said Daniel Kaniewski, a former FEMA official who now leads the public sector practice at Marsh McLennan, a risk management firm. We feel that community-based catastrophe insurance is one such approach. The US is vastly underinsured for catastrophes. Home insurance doesnt cover flood damage, and only about 4% of Americans purchase it separately through the federal governments National Flood Insurance Program. Roughly 12% of US homeowners have no home insurance at all, says the Insurance Information Institute. (Lenders require mortgage holders to have insurance, but homeowners without mortgages are under no such obligation.) Local governments may insure key public buildings, like city halls. But when disaster strikes, they mostly rely on aid from FEMA and HUD to recover. The president must declare a major disaster for FEMA funds to kick in. Even then, it can take a very long time for residents claims to be processed, a delay that has financial repercussions for cities and towns as the tax base shrinks. Fremont has flooded before, although that wasnt entirely what inspired the recent purchase. The city was required to take out flood insurance for its police headquarters building because it serves as collateral for municipal bonds. But that building is on a hill and never floods, even when other parts of the city are inundated. Steven Schwarz, the citys risk manager, reasoned that at a slightly higher cost, Fremont could get more extensive protection. The parametric basically allows me to provide specific coverage and then broaden it, he said. Im actually covering the event and not the building itself. The additional cost is just 20% more than the city was paying for a traditional policy on the police HQ, which had a deductible, Schwarz said. Related: Los Angeles County Sues Utility Edison Over Deadly Wildfire The policy starts paying out when flooding is observed in a contiguous area of at least 0.58 square miles, anywhere within the citys 78 square miles of land. That would trigger a $200,000 payout that could increase with worse flooding. Although mainstream insurers only began to offer parametric insurance in the 1990s, its becoming a favored way to insure against catastrophes like earthquakes, droughts and hurricanes, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. It is more affordable than traditional insurance because it only triggers if and when the parameter is met for example, with 1 inch of water on the ground following heavy rains or when storm winds reach 145 miles per hour. Then the money is paid automatically, without need of claims or adjusters. The downside is that if a catastrophe misses the prescribed metric by a tiny amount, the policyholder gets nothing. Parametric insurance for earthquake damage has been available in California for several years. Crafting an option for flooding has become possible only more recently, with new mapping technology that can accurately measure flooding and flood severity, said Bessie Schwarz, the chief executive officer of New York City startup Floodbase (and no relation to Fremonts Schwarz). This coverage requires a dataset that can monitor flooding inside the entire extent of the city all the time, she said. Floodbase is providing just that to underpin Fremonts policy: constant, real-time flood monitoring. Fremont couldnt have gotten parametric flood insurance in 2017, when it experienced major flooding. But if it had its current policy then, the city would have received more than $710,000, Floodbase estimates. (The citys conventional policy on the police building did not pay out.) With the new policy, there hasnt been a rain event yet that threatened to trigger a payout, Steven Schwarz said, but its still early. While Fremont put its own money toward the policy, which insurance brokers say is a first, there is at least one similar pilot out there. In New York City, non-profit groups including the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, working with the mayors office, banded together to buy parametric flood insurance to cover some low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The policy was active in both 2023 and 2024, and so far it has not paid out. Alliant Insurance Services Inc. and Amwins Group Inc., the retailer and wholesaler respectively behind Fremonts plan, believe there is widespread appetite for this type of insurance. I am seeing a lot of interest in this right now, said Rob Lowe, Fremonts broker with Alliant. Lowe, who has been selling insurance to public entities in California for 15 years, says recent extreme events like downpours caused by atmospheric rivers have awakened cities to their vulnerabilities, and they see parametric insurance as a way to close that gap. Floodbases Schwarz said the company hopes to scale citywide parametric flood insurance across California, and eventually to flood-prone regions around the country. She said shes received inquiries from cities in the Southeast affected by Hurricane Helene. Jesse Keenan, a professor at Tulane University who studies cities and climate risk, says local governments, in particular, could use these policies to reduce the disruptions to their tax base brought by disasters. This would likely be very positively viewed in the muni bond credit rating agencies, he said. But, he added, cities would basically be kicking the can down the road unless they take bigger, more expensive steps like reining in new construction to lower risk and adapt to the climate that is coming. Ultimately, local governments will need to reduce risk through appropriate land use, zoning and building controls, he said. Without this, parametric insurance might not even be available in the future. Top photo: The Warm Springs area of Fremont, California. Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. Orange Councilwoman Kim Ullner tells Village Council that she has overwhelmingly heard from village residents who do not want marijuana dispensaries to be allowed in the village. Council voted 5-2 Wednesday (March 12) to prohibit such dispensaries in the village. (Ed Wittenberg, special to cleveland.com) ORANGE, Ohio -- Marijuana dispensaries will not be permitted in the village. Village Council passed an ordinance Wednesday (March 12) that prohibits commercial activities related to the cultivation and sale of medical and recreational marijuana within the villages corporate limits. The legislation also prohibits adult-use cannabis operators within the village. The vote was 5-2, with council members Philip Madden and Lisa Perry voting against the prohibition. After much research, many discussions with residents and knowing that the availability of dispensaries exists within three miles to our immediate north and south, I truly believe it is in the best interest of Orange Village to pass the prohibition, said Councilwoman Staci Adelman Vincent. Council members felt compelled to take action in response to the passage of Issue 2, which legalized recreational marijuana statewide, in November 2023. The initiated statute took effect Dec. 7, 2023. The statute permits local authorities to ban or restrict marijuana sales in their communities. Last year, council passed two moratoriums of six months each on accepting for filing, reviewing and approving applications for marijuana sales and related activities in the village. Council members said then that they wished to study and observe what regulations the state and local governments plan to enact and what effects such regulations would have on local communities before making a decision. The second of these moratoriums expired Dec. 31. When this ordinance was introduced to council Feb. 12, council members encouraged residents to express their opinions about whether marijuana dispensaries should be permitted in the village. Two residents who are opposed to such facilities spoke to council that evening. Council opted to wait until third reading of the ordinance -- which took place Wednesday -- to allow more time for public comment. No other residents spoke to council at meetings to express their views. But several council members said Wednesday that they had heard from a number of residents on the issue. Council President Brent Silver said he received emails and calls on both sides. I do appreciate everyone reaching out on this, Silver said. If we do pass this ordinance, it does not prevent people from going to other dispensaries in Woodmere, Solon or wherever else and bringing marijuana back to their house within the legal limits and doing what they want with it there, and growing it as well. Silver was referring to the AYR Dispensary on Chagrin Boulevard in Woodmere and a dispensary that does business as The Botanist, which is expected to open on Aurora Road in Solon this year after receiving approval from Solon City Council in November. Silver also pointed out before council voted that if the ordinance did not pass and dispensaries were allowed in the village, theres a pretty slim chance that one would open in Orange. He said that was based on the fact that there currently is one in nearby Woodmere and limited available retail space in Orange. Not in conflict with Issue 2 Council members Kim Ullner and Ryan Bilsky joined Vincent in indicating that they would be voting in favor of the prohibition. My decision to vote for the dispensary prohibition is not in conflict with Issue 2, which passed overwhelmingly in the village and the state, Vincent said. I accept that vote, and I do understand and sympathize with those who have a medical need for it. However, the State of Ohio controls how many dispensaries are permitted within (Cuyahoga) County and when. According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, Issue 2 passed with 66.7 percent of the vote overall in the county and by a 69.9 percent margin in Orange. On Feb. 12, Vincent told council that she learned from Andrew Makoski, chief legal counsel for the Ohio Department of Commerces Division of Cannabis Control, that no new dispensaries will be granted in Cuyahoga County in the next year plus. That will give us to time to see what, if any, benefits come to our surrounding cities that do have dispensaries, she said. Vincent noted that the Ohio Legislature recently has challenged THC levels, numbers of marijuana plants and other issues related to dispensaries. I do not believe now is the time to abandon the safe practices we currently have in place for the community and, most importantly, for our children, she said. I therefore feel comfortable with the strategy of having the ban in place at this time. Ullner, who has expressed strong support of the prohibition since early February, said she has heard from numerous residents who oppose allowing the dispensaries in the village. Overwhelmingly, I was hearing from people who do not want them, she said. They just believe its not within the family-friendly nature of Orange Village. We dont have any Walmarts; we dont have any gun shops. There are lots of things we dont have in Orange that are legal in the state of Ohio, and they dont want them in Orange. Bilsky said he has no problem with people who use marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes. Everybody should feel free to do what works for them, he said. But if we have the option to pick and choose what is going to be placed here in the village, I feel in my gut (to vote in favor of the prohibition). Orange Councilman Philip Madden tells Village Council that by voting no on an ordinance to prohibit marijuana dispensaries in the village, he was respecting the 70 percent of village electors who voted to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2023. (Ed Wittenberg, special to cleveland.com) Respecting village voters Madden said he would be voting no on the ordinance because he wanted to respect the 70 percent of village electors who voted to legalize recreational marijuana. I also want to point out that there are products made from hemp that are federally permitted that have THC levels that do get people high, and those are for sale in Orange Village now, he said. So Im not sure what this prohibition (accomplishes). Perry did not speak on the issue Wednesday. But on Feb. 12, she said, I think that we have to respect that the people came out and voted very strongly to allow cannabis sales, and it seems heavy handed and Big Brother-ish to me for us to put this limitation on. I think its our responsibility to listen to what our residents want, to not put our personal feelings ahead of what is already law, she said then. Mayor Judson Kline, who also did not speak on the issue Wednesday, said Feb. 12 that he supported the prohibition. Violators of any provision of the legislation will be guilty of a third-degree misdemeanor, the ordinance states. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. CLEVELAND, Ohio Pi Day, March 14, gives foodies a fun excuse to indulge in pie while enjoying math-inspired puns. Pi is a mathematical constant used to calculate circumference that starts with 3.14, leading March 14 to being celebrated as Pi Day. While baking a fresh pie is always a classic way to celebrate, a few ice cream brands have pie-inspired ice cream flavors perfect for indulging in this Friday. In honor of Pi Day, check out 7 local ice cream brands with pie-inspired flavors worth trying. While March 14 is the themed day to seek out these flavors, theyre available year-round from these ice cream makers. Mitchells Ice Cream Locations in Clevelands Ohio City, Rocky River, Beachwood, Strongsville, Solon, Shaker Heights, Avon, Westlake and Uptown Cleveland Mitchells is a Northeast Ohio favorite with a few pie-inspired flavors on its menu. Banana Cream Pie features bananas, marshmallow ribbon and homemade shortbread crust in every scoop. Key Lime Pie takes key lime ice cream and mixes in homemade graham cracker crust pieces. If you really want to go all-out, Mitchells sells different flavors of ice cream pies on chocolate graham cracker crust that rival a typical frozen cake. Available at Mitchells ice cream parlors and select grocery stores. Pavs Creamery Locations in Green, Portage Lakes, North Canton, Cuyahoga Falls and Bath Pavs is an Akron-area ice cream chain that always has special flavors on its menu, but its year-round staples are classics for a reason. Banana Cream Pie is one option thats always available, featuring banana puree, marshmallow swirl and crushed vanilla wafers. Available at Pavs locations. Perrys Ice Cream Perrys Ice Cream, which is distributed in Ohio, released two new pie-inspired flavors for Pi Day. Cherry Pie features a cherry ice cream base with swirls of graham crackers and cherries. The Lemon Meringue Pie flavor starts with lemon ice cream and meringue ice cream studded with chunks of pie crust. Available to purchase at Giant Eagle and other local grocery stores. Handels Homemade Ice Cream Locations in Akron, Avon, Broadview Heights, Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Massillon, Mayfield Heights, Medina, North Canton, Northfield, Rocky River, Stow and Twinsburg Handels, born in Youngstown, is another buzzing spot in the summer and beyond for its extensive flavor menu, with a few inspired by pie flavors. Handels offers creamy fruit pie flavors like Banana Cream Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Key Lime Pie and Lemon Meringue Pie. Chocolate lovers can enjoy French Silk Pie and Mud Pie scoops while typically seasonal flavors like Deep Dish Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie are always available on the regular menu. Available at Handels parlors. Jenis Splendid Ice Cream 67 N. Main St., Chagrin Falls Columbus-based Jenis Ice Cream offers a Boston Cream Pie pint on its regular roster perfect for celebrating Pi Day. Boston Cream Pie features salted vanilla custard layered with yellow cake pieces and dark chocolate fudge. Available at Jenis Scoop Shops or in select grocery stores. Graeters 261 Main St., Westlake; 10 Park Ave., Beachwood Graeters Ice Cream started in Cincinnati and has expanded across Ohio and the rest of the country. The brand makes a delicious Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream that features marshmallow and lemon ice cream mixed with crumbled pie crust and tart lemon candy crunch. Available at scoop shops and grocery stores. Pierres Ice Cream Company Cleveland-based Pierres is another popular grocery store brand in Northeast Ohio with a few pie-inspired flavors on its roster. Banana cream pie and pumpkin pie are two classic options available in its signature quarts. Available at local grocery stores. Alex Darus writes about food, dining and drinking for Cleveland.com, check out her latest posts here. You can reach her with story ideas at adarus@cleveland.com. Follow her on Instagram @alex_darus. Be one of the cool kids and follow all Cleveland.coms food, dining and drinking coverage in the weekly DineDrinkCLE newsletter. It curates the latest on openings, closings, tastings and other events, plus recommendations, features and guides from our team of writers and critics. SUBSCRIBE Follow us on Instagram @dinedrinkcle MEMPHIS, Tennessee This dog is really testing the limits of the phrase Mans best friend. A man was asleep with his girlfriend when his dog, named Oreo, jumped onto the bed at about 4 a.m., causing a gun that also was in the bed to go off, wounding the man in the leg, reports say. Police tell Fox 13 the man said Oreos paw likely caught the trigger when it jumped on the bed, firing the shot. The man was not seriously injured. The dog is a playful dog and he likes to jump around and stuff like that, and it just went off, the girlfriend tells Fox 13. Reports say police are treating the incident as an accidental shooting and no charges were filed. Its unclear why a loaded firearm was in the bed with the couple. The Guardian reports the non-profit Brady: United Against Gun Violence has found that unintentional firearm injury is the most common type of gun injury requiring hospitalization in the U.S. since 2019. The girlfriend tells Fox 13 that she and her boyfriend plan to make sure the guns safety is on or to use a gunlock in the future. Taiwanese actor Darren Wang is in deeper hot water, with allegations of criminal activity piling on one after another. As per KBiZoom, local media have reported that Wang solicited a notorious local gang leader to recover the money Wang's girlfriend and former broadcaster MuXuan was owed. On March 9, Mu Xuan reportedly lost 4 million TWD (~$126,000) to an investment scam. Although she won a lawsuit against the perpetrator, the individual is currently imprisoned without returning the lost funds. Wang then allegedly sought repayment through Xiao Yazhun, Taiwan's leader of the nefarious Sihai Gang, to force the scammer's family to 'get money back by force.' Xiao Yazhun allegedly paid off a prison officer to send threats to the killer's family. For a while, the family denied responsibility for the debt. Despite numerous warnings, though, they eventually shared personal information but refused to pay more money, claiming they had effectively paid off most of the perpetrator's debts. This is the second time Wang has been associated with Xiao Yazhun. According to reports, their relationship allegedly started over an attempted murder case linked to a fight last year. In April, Wang reportedly engaged in a dispute with an Uber driver over dissatisfaction with the driver's service. Enraged, he is said to have paid a wealthy friend 30,000 TWD (approximately 945 USD) to obtain the driver's personal information. After securing the details, Wang allegedly contacted Xiao Yazhun, who then sent three men to physically assault both the Uber driver and employees of the ride-hailing company. The attack might have gone unnoticed if not for a separate investigation into Wang's alleged evasion of mandatory military service. Taiwan enforces compulsory military conscription, and Wang is accused of trying to evade enlistment by acquiring a fake medical certificate falsely diagnosing him with a severe heart condition. Authorities arrested him during their investigation into fraudulent exemptions and confiscated his phone. Prosecutors later discovered videos of the Uber driver assault, leaked prison documents, and messages indicating collusion between gang members and corrupt prison officials. Wu is also rumored to have dated Wang, who starred in Our Times and Fall in Love at First Kiss. He is also being linked to former BIGBANG member Seungri, who in 2019 was charged over his role in South Korea's notorious Burning Sun scandal, which included allegations relating to prostitution mediation and drug distribution. Public fury has been growing as more details emerge about Wang's alleged actions and people are comparing him to Seungri, claiming that he was also involved in violent crimes and corruption. As this story unfolds further, it is unclear what legal ramifications await Wang as authorities ramp up their investigations. SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio A teacher for a school district in Southwest Ohio is under scrutiny after she was accused of attending a school board meeting while under the influence of alcohol, making a racist remark and of exposing her buttocks in a common area. Danielle Scrase, a science teacher at Sycamore High School and the president of the Sycamore Education Association, was suspended without pay for 45 days by Sycamore Community Schools after after an investigation into the incidents, which reportedly occurred at a board meeting in September, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The suspension was later reduced to 15 days after Scrase appealed the decision. But some parents and residents in the district remain upset after Scrase returned to work, WLWT Channel 5 reports. Scrase also has retained her position as the teachers union president. WLWT reports that during a school board meeting Tuesday, several parents said they were only aware of the accusations against Scrase because of media reports and didnt believe she should have been allowed to return to work. We specifically chose this district because it was a very diverse population, Emmanuel Black told the board. I would hope that the board would reconsider and look at the content of the character of this teacher. According to multiple reports, the incidents occurred during a board meeting on Sept. 18. WCPO Channel 9 reports several witnesses said it appeared Scrase was under the influence of alcohol. The Enquirer reports Scrase told an investigator she was being treated with muscle relaxants and had a mixed drink, which might have caused her to be more intoxicated. Witnesses also said they overheard Scrase quietly make a remark about Sycamore High School Principal Taylor Porter while he was making a presentation in which she mentioned his race. Oh look, an incompetent Black man taking a photo, Scrase reportedly said under her breath and not toward anyone. She also was heard saying Incompetent Black man shouldnt be in the picture, WCPO reports. The Enquirer reports that Scrase told investigators the remarks were not racist, saying she did not believe Porter was incompetent because of his race and said they were just a description. WCPO reports Scrase also sent hostile texts to a co-worker during the meeting. Scrase also was accused of pulling her pants down twice in a common area while walking toward a restroom, reports say, exposing her buttocks, which was recorded on surveillance video. The Enquirer reports Scrase told investigators it didnt happen in a common area and no one else was nearby. The Enquirer reports several union members have emailed Scrase in support. But several parents at Tuesdays meeting believe she should be fired, WLWT reports. One parent plans to contact the NAACP. How many of you would still have your job if you walked into your place of work drunk, exposed yourself, bullied a female co-worker via text message, and made a racially charged comment? parent Brad Comerford said, according to WLWT. The school district released a statement saying it was aware of concerns about Scrase. While the district conducted a thorough investigation and took disciplinary action, we acknowledge that the impact of words can be significant, especially in a diverse learning community, the statement says, according to WLWT. We want to reaffirm our commitment to fostering a school environment where every student and staff member is treated with dignity and feels respected, valued, and supported. In this April 10, 2018, file photo, Bill O'Neill, a former Ohio Supreme Court justice, speaks during the Ohio Democratic Party's fifth debate in the primary race for governor at Miami University's Middletown campus in Middletown, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) AP COLUMBUS, OhioAfter seven years in political retirement, Democratic ex-Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill ONeill says he will soon file to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce next year. ONeill, a 77-year-old Chagrin Falls resident, will face an uphill battle to unseat Joyce, who has never faced serious opposition during his seven terms representing Ohios 14th Congressional District. A Southwest Airlines passenger needing assistance is pushed through the terminal in a wheelchair supplied by the airline company at Albuquerque International Sunport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images) Getty Images CLEVELAND, Ohio One local traveler wants recommendations on disability-friendly Alaska cruises. Another seeks information on accessible train trips. A third wants tips on traveling through the airport with ease. Above all, travelers who have a disability or travel with someone who does want more information that is easier to find about where to go and how to make the process as stress-free as possible. We all have different situations, stories, reasons why we need to travel differently, wrote one traveler, Roseann Conley, of Middleburg Heights. And if we dont now, we might in the future. I heard from dozens of readers earlier this year after the publication of Confronting the challenges of accessible travel, which recounted some of the myriad issues facing Greater Clevelanders who are in wheelchairs or are otherwise unable to vacation as easily as their fellow travelers. Some offered tips for travelers who were just starting out on their accessible-travel journeys. Others were seeking advice themselves. Heres a selection of responses: Where to go One reader, Tina, is looking for travel destinations for her and her husband, diagnosed with Parkinsons disease nine years ago. We want to take an Alaskan cruise or a train tour, but I am without any information on accessible traveling on these types of trips, she wrote in an email. I have searched websites but am unable to actually hold a conversation with anyone that has already done this and what their outcome was. She added, I am apprehensive about booking anything for this year until I am comfortable that my husbands needs will be met with dignity and not seen as a burden. Kristy Lacroix was in a similar situation 30 years ago, after her late husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Trying to find information about transportation options and suitable travel destinations left them both frustrated. I thought, Boy, somebody has to do something about this, said Lacroix, who lives in New Hampshire. And so she did. Twenty-four years ago, Lacroix founded her own travel agency, Wheelchair Escapes, which specializes in trips for people with accessibility needs. She organizes group trips as well as individual vacations. Almost any destination is possible, she said. People would be very surprised to find out how accessible Europe is, she said. She added, You can do an African safari in your wheelchair. Cruising is an increasingly popular option, said Lacroix, who recommends Royal Caribbean as the most disability-friendly cruise line, followed by Celebrity and Princess. She has recently had clients scuba dive, zipline and kneel-surf, on a cruise ships surfing machine. Baby Boomers have money and theyre not going to let a wheelchair or scooter get in their way of travel, she said. Other travel agencies that specialize in accessible travel: Easy Access Travel and Incredible Memories Travel. Traveling through the airport Several readers wanted more information about traveling through the airport. In general, airlines are responsible for helping their passengers with mobility issues get through the airport and onto the plane, from check-in to gate to baggage claim. Assistance can be requested when making your reservation or by calling for help upon your arrival. Travelers who have TSA PreCheck have access to expedited lines, even if they need assistance. The airlines at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport contract with several different companies to provide wheelchair assistance. For a list of companies and contact information: clevelandairport.com/traveler-info/accessibility Reader Roseann Conley from Middleburg Heights asked for a bit of grace from her fellow passengers as she and others are moving through the airport in their wheelchairs. I never cease to be astounded at the people who are rushing to the plane, said Conley, who has rheumatoid arthritis and cant move as quickly as she used to. They walk in front of the wheelchair, look at me with distain as if I am in their way and why are you in that chair anyway look. She also had some advice for the workers who help travelers. Cleveland does a good job, but I have experienced difficulty in other airports, she wrote. My suggestion to the future training of these people, be friendly to your passenger, dont forget to offer a bathroom stop or an opportunity to get a snack or drink. I dont feel so dependent when my escort, man or woman, makes me feel at ease. I have witnessed older travelers that appeared lost and a bit confused. One newsworthy note: Several airlines last month sued the U.S. Department of Transportation in an effort to reverse a new rule, announced in 2024, that protects wheelchair users on airplanes. The rule sets fines for damaged and lost wheelchairs and mandates employee training for workers assigned to assist wheelchair users. Barb and Jeff Darkow of Avon Lake used to write notes to airline staff about the handling of their sons power wheelchair. Their son, Dan Darkow, was born with a form of muscular dystrophy called spinal muscular atrophy type 2 and currently works as director of the Miller Center for Student Disability Services at Miami University. Now he uses lots of bubble wrap, Barb Darkow said. Most of the time there is damage to his chair, but the airlines response to repairs has been easy. Definitely inconvenient, because remember Dans wheels are like his legs. Finding a place to stay Finding a disability-friendly hotel room or rental property isnt as easy as it should be, said Lacroix. Retired nurse Amy Govoni, who uses a walker, said she wishes the Americans with Disabilities Act provided more consistency. It would be great if ADA meant the same everywhere at least in the States but it doesnt, she said. Most places dont even know if they have bars by the toilet. Lacroix, the travel agent, said the best way to get information is to call the hotel. But do not call the 800 number, she said. Call the hotel and ask to speak to someone in housekeeping. Most of the time even the people at the front desk cant answer your question. Among the questions that may need answers: How wide is the door, how high is the bed, are there grab bars around the toilet? There are so many little things to look at, she said. Darkow said hotels are almost always more disability-friendly than rental units. Sometimes we can make rentals work, but we often need measurements and better images, she said. It is very frustrating when looking at a bathroom photo [online] and the shower curtain is closed. Written details or images that are not often included are entrances, steps (in and outside of the rental), hallways, shower details, handheld shower fixtures, step in or roll in showers. I would love to see 3-D or video components added like on Zillow. She added, The amount of time to do all this research can take days and weeks. One company is trying to fill the void. Becoming rentABLE, headquartered in North Carolina, was founded in 2021 and features a database of 1,200 short-term vacation rentals that are accessible. Jennifer Springer, chief operating officer for Becoming rentABLE, said all travelers stand to benefit from more disability-friendly overnight options. It is so important and the time is now -- not only for the large population of people with disabilities, but also for the very quickly growing aging population, she said. We all benefit from accessibility at some point in our life. When you get there After you pick out an accommodation and travel to your destination, there are myriad other challenges, as well. For travel within a destination, Barb Darkow recommends Wheelchair Getaways, a Michigan-based company that provides access to wheelchair-friendly van rentals at hundreds of locations in the United States. Wheelchair Getaways is basically the place to rent vans with lift systems, she writes. We highly recommend this agency. We have never had any problems. Beach vacations pose another set of challenges, said Darkow. When looking for beach access, an important feature is beach wheelchairs. We have rented them, but sometimes public beaches have free ones, she said. But what if someone else is using it? Over the years, she has sought out beaches with Mobi-Mats those polyester lanes that turn sand into wheelchair-friendly surfaces. She said they are becoming more common on public beaches. Our dream would be for every beach/resort to have one, Darkow said. Additional resources Readers recommend these websites and organizations for more information on accessible travel: Felix, a member of the K-pop group Stray Kids, made a striking appearance on the runway for Louis Vuitton's Fall Winter 2025 show during Paris Fashion Week. This marked his second time walking for the luxury brand, following his debut in the Fall Winter 2024-2025 womenswear show. For this year's appearance, the K-pop idol wore a stylish ensemble featuring a black and white textured sweater paired with brown and gold plaid trousers. His look was accessorized with a navy and blue bag, a braided belt, and trendy sneakers. Felix's second time participating in Louis Vuitton's Fall Winter womenswear show comes nearly two years after he was appointed brand ambassador in August 2023. "I discovered Felix when I presented my pre-fall collection in Seoul," artistic director Nicolas Ghesquiere said of the idol. "It instantly clicked between us. He is really talented. I love his energy, his unique personality, and his audacious sense of style." Felix's participation in the show was met with enthusiasm from fans, who celebrated him as the first and only fourth-generation K-pop idol to model twice for Louis Vuitton. His friend, BLACKPINK's Lisa, was also seen clapping and smiling as Felix walked the runway. Felix is not the only Stray Kids member to have had experience in the fashion industry. The group previously made waves after attending the prestigious Met Gala in May 2024, thanks in part to their partnership with Tommy Hilfigerwhich they have been global ambassadors for since August 2023. They were the first K-pop group to attend the event. Individually, Bang Chan has been selected as a brand ambassador for Fendi, first appearing at the brand's Spring/Summer 2025 show in Milan. Hyunjin serves as a global ambassador for Versace and Cartier, while I.N. has collaborated with Bottega Veneta. Kinshasa, DRC (PANA) - The UN is concerned about the fate of thousands of citizens of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) receiving HIV treatment amid the threat of a cut in US aid funding Meta is seeking to stop the promotion of a new memoir by a former staffer that paints the social media company in an unflattering light, including allegations of sexual harassment by the company's policy chief. An emergency arbitrator ruled Wednesday that Sarah Wynn-Williams is prohibited from promoting "Careless People," her book that was released Tuesday by Flatiron Books, an imprint of publisher Macmillan Books. Flatiron Books said in a statement on Thursday that the arbitration order has no impact on Macmillan, and it will continue to support and promote the book. "We are appalled by Meta's tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement," said Flatiron Books, adding that the arbitrator's order makes no reference to the claims within "Careless People." "The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this." The memoir chronicles Wynn-Williams' tenure at Facebook from 2011 through 2017. During that time, she became a high-level employee who interacted with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, then-COO Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan, the company's current policy chief. In the book, Wynn-Williams alleges that Kaplan made a number of inappropriate comments to her, which she then reported to the company as sexual harassment. "This is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives," a Meta spokesperson previously said about both her book and complaint. Wynn-Williams also details in her book the company's various attempts to enter the Chinese market, including building tools that would censor content to appease the Chinese Communist Party. Wynn-Williams addressed some of these China-specific claims in a whistleblower complaint that she filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission, NBC News reported. The emergency arbitrator ruled in favor of Meta after watching a podcast appearance of Wynn-Williams in which she discussed her memoir and her allegations that Meta was attempting to "shut this book down." "The Emergency Arbitrator finds that, after reviewing the briefs and hearing oral argument, (Meta) has established a likelihood of success on the merits of its contractual non-disparagement claim against Respondent Wynn-Williams, and that immediate and irreparable loss will result in the absence of emergency relief," the filing said. Additionally, the arbitrator ruled that so much as Wynn-Williams can control, she is prohibited from further publishing or distributing the book and from further disparaging Meta and its officers or repeating previous disparaging remarks. The arbitrator also ruled that Wynn-Williams is to retract her previous disparaging remarks. The company has previously dismissed Wynn-Williams' claims as "out-of-date" and said that she was fired for "poor performance and toxic behavior." Meta spokesperson Andy Stone shared the emergency arbitrator's ruling in a post on Threads, saying that it "affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams' false and defamatory book should never have been published." "This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry's standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years," Stone said. Meta alleged that Wynn-Williams violated the non-disparagement terms of her September 2017 severance agreement, resulting in the company filing an emergency motion on Friday. The emergency arbitrator then conducted a telephone hearing involving legal representatives of Meta and Macmillan Books, but not Wynn-Williams who did not appear though she was given notice, the filing said. WATCH: What's driving Meta's stock run A cormorant perches on a piling in the Turn Basin near Launch Complex 39A where a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to carry a crew of four to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 11, 2025. With a Friday Crew-10 launch, the Crew-9 mission with astronauts Wilmore and Williams would depart the space station on Wednesday, March 19, it said. NASA said it is now targeting a launch no earlier than 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 GMT) Friday after mission managers put off a launch attempt on Thursday because of high winds and rain forecast in the flight path of Dragon. Launch teams are working to address the issue, it said in another statement. The launch was called off due to a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket, NASA said in a statement. NASA had been set to launch a SpaceX rocket from Florida carrying a replacement crew for the International Space Station in a mission that would set up the return to Earth of Wilmore and Williams - stuck in space for nine months after a trip on Boeing's faulty Starliner. NASA and SpaceX on Wednesday delayed the launch of a replacement crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station that would have set in motion the long-awaited homecoming of U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. SpaceX Crew-10 commander Anne McClain waves alongside crewmates upon their arrival at the Launch and Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 7, 2025. The crew, NASA pilot Nichole Ayers, Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onish and NASA commander Anne McClain are scheduled to launch March 15 to the International Space Station (ISS) on the tenth operational flight of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The U.S. space agency had moved up the mission by two weeks after President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, called for Wilmore and Williams to be brought back earlier than NASA had planned. A planned eight-day stay on the orbiting station has dragged on for Wilmore and Williams, both veteran astronauts and U.S. Navy test pilots. Starliner returned to Earth without them last year. SpaceX's rocket had been scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 7:48 p.m. ET (2348 GMT) with a crew of two U.S. astronauts and one astronaut each from Japan and Russia. Wilmore and Williams have been working on research and maintenance with the space station's other astronauts and have remained safe, according to NASA. Williams told reporters in a March 4 call that she is looking forward to seeing her family and dogs upon returning home. "It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us," Williams said of her family. "We're here, we have a mission - we're just doing what we do every day, and every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun." The flight, known as Crew-10, normally would be considered a routine astronaut rotation. Instead, it has become entangled in politics as Trump and Musk have sought - without offering evidence - to blame former President Joe Biden for the delayed return of Wilmore and Williams. The demands by Trump and Musk for an earlier return were an unusual intervention in NASA's human spaceflight operations. The mission previously had a target date of March 26, but NASA swapped a delayed SpaceX capsule with a different one that would be ready sooner. When the new crew arrives aboard the station, Wilmore, Williams and two others - NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov - can return to Earth in a capsule that has been attached to the station since September, as part of the prior Crew-9 mission. Wilmore and Williams cannot leave until the new Crew-10 craft arrives so that the ISS staffed with enough U.S. astronauts for maintenance, according to NASA. Wilmore and Williams flew to the station in June as the first test crew of Boeing's Starliner, which suffered propulsion system issues in space. NASA deemed it too risky for the astronauts to fly home on the Boeing craft. This led to the current plan to bring them home in a SpaceX capsule. Boeing built Starliner under a $4.5 billion contract with NASA to compete with SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which since 2020 has been the U.S. space agency's only vehicle for sending ISS crew members to orbit from American soil. Last year's mission had marked Starliner's first test flight with astronauts aboard, a requirement before NASA could certify the capsule for routine astronaut missions. Starliner's development has been plagued with engineering issues and cost overruns since 2019, putting it far behind SpaceX's Crew Dragon, which was developed under a similar NASA contract worth at least $4 billion. Stocks @ Night is a daily newsletter delivered after hours, giving you a first look at tomorrow and last look at today. Sign up for free to receive it directly in your inbox. Here's what CNBC TV's producers were watching as the S & P 500 posted a winning day in what's been a rocky week, and what's on the radar for the next session. Target The stock fell 4.86% on Wednesday. Target is now 41% from the April 1 high. On Wednesday night, "Fast Money" contributor Courtney Garcia asked the rhetorical question of whether the consumer is deteriorating. Also from "Fast Money," Steve Grasso said he won't buy Target until he sees proof of a turnaround. TGT 1Y mountain Target shares over the past year Consumer staples This S & P Sector was the worst performer of the day, down 2%. Consumer staples are down nearly 5.3% so far in March. Tech and consumer discretionary are faring worse in the period, however. Dollar Tree is down 15% in March. Target is down about 13.7% in March. Walmart is down 13.6% in March. Costco is down 11.6% in March. Walgreens and Constellation Brands are the big winners in March in consumer staples. Both stocks are up about 4.8% this month. Dollar General reports in the morning The stock is down 4.5% in three months. Dollar General is off 53% over the past 12 months. DG 1Y mountain Dollar General over the past 12 months Ulta Beauty reports after the bel l The stock is down 22% over the past three months. Ulta is down 40% in the past year. Tariffs and a different part of the Great American Car Market "Mad Money" man Jim Cramer made the point that used car dealers may be about to get a pickup because the cost of new vehicles may rise due to tariffs. Carvana was up 4.1% on Wednesday. It is 39% from the Feb. 19 high. CarMax is 20.5% from the December 52-week high. Group 1 Automotiv e is 12.3% from the Feb.14 high. CVNA 5D mountain Carvana over the past five trading days The airlines When Phil LeBeau interviewed Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on " Closing Bell: Overtime " Monday, he said consumer confidence was weakening and that would hurt the stock and the industry. Delta is down 15% week to date following Wednesday's nearly 3% decline. United Airlines is down 12.6% so far this week. The stock fell 4.7% Wednesday. American Airlines is down 16% so far this week. It lost 4.6% on Wednesday. JetBlue is down roughly 9% this week. It fell about 3.7% Wednesday. Southwest is up 3% this week. Coal in the U.S.A. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who was interviewed by CNBC's Brian Sullivan at the big CERAWeek conference in Houston this week, said the U.S. should look at bringing back coal-fired power plants. He told Sullivan clean U.S. coal is needed to help power the country as the nation's energy needs grow. All the big coal players are still far off their 52-week highs. Ramaco is off about 53% from the high hit a year ago. Peabody is 58% from the November high. Core Natural Resources is 47% from the November high. Warrior Met Coal is 37% from the July high. Alliance Resource is 19% from the January high. One of Jay Swanson's earliest money lessons was to "go ahead and go into debt," he tells CNBC Make It. When the 39-year-old content creator and entrepreneur behind two YouTube channels and Paris in My Pocket, a digital guide to the French capital, was a teenager in Pullman, Washington, his parents helped him take out a line of credit to work on his car. Though he had jobs from a young age and built a strong work ethic early on, "my early education in money was basically work really hard and then throw it all away," he says. That $16,000 line of credit was just the beginning. Swanson went on to take out student loans for college and after, racked up a mountain of credit card debt through endeavors like publishing several fantasy novels and investing in a friend's tech startup. By 2017, he had around $86,500 in debt and was struggling to keep up with the payments. Swanson moved to Paris that year and was fortunate to have a place to live rent-free. Still, his monthly debt payments totaled around $2,100 a month while he earned just $2,300 a month as a tour guide. "When I was here for the first summer, I was only really eating whatever I got tipped," he says. "It was a very hungry summer." Swanson declared bankruptcy shortly after arriving in Paris. He qualified for a Chapter 7 "liquidation" bankruptcy, which allowed him to simply cease making payments on the debts, rather than get on a payment plan as would be the case with a Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 filing. He doesn't recommend everyone take that route, but "I'm really grateful that I declared bankruptcy when I did, because it completely changed my life." San Francisco could prevent parents from using PTA funds to hire and pay for the wages of teachers in school districts across the state. The situation comes as the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is facing a budget shortfall and strict oversight by state officials. Parents have been told that they will no longer be able to raise donations to afford more teachers. PTA Funds for San Francisco Teachers The new restrictions on the use of private funds to pay for the wages of teachers across the district could not result in the termination of hundreds of staffers. In a statement, Thao Bui, who has two children enrolled at Argonne Elementary School, said that families donated the funds while having an understanding of how they would be used. Bui added that the SFUSD should not be dictating whether or not these particular funds can be used to pay for more teachers. In creating the restriction, the school district cited the potential instability of the funding as well as concerns about deepening inequities within the district, according to The San Francisco Standard. Read more: ICE Agents Arrest Immigrant Palestinian Student for Leading University Protests However, the decision itself resulted in backlash from parents who argued that it would only lead to increased class sizes and the disruption of education. A parent at Starr King Elementary, Cathay Bi, said that parents have been using PTA donations for the last decade to fund an additional two teachers. The parent added that if officials are worried about whether they will be able to support the teachers' positions in future years, they should look to their history of good use of the private funds. A New Policy The new policy will be implemented and will affect staffing next school year, causing parents to file a petition and plan a protest at the school board meeting on Tuesday. Officials' decision was made to close a $113 million deficit through spending cuts, the San Francisco Chroniclereported. They added that their top priority is to make sure that every classroom across the district is full and is led by a qualified teacher. This will be a process that would include a shuffling of staff that would follow seniority-based layoffs and incentivized early retirements. The preliminary notices were sent to 559 employees, but the SFUSD hopes to find not-yet-guaranteed restricted funding to rescind notices for roughly 280 included support staff. The notices were also sent to classroom educators, with 115 credentialed teaching positions not being part of the budget for next year, as per KQED. The first day of sale of the iPhone 15 smartphone in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 22, 2023. This report is from this week's CNBC's "Inside India" newsletter which brings you timely, insightful news and market commentary on the emerging powerhouse and the big businesses behind its meteoric rise. Like what you see? You can subscribe here. The general consensus was that U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a successful meeting in Washington last month. What went wrong and why is Apple caught in the middle? To get everyone up to speed trade talks seem to be breaking down between the two countries ahead of the April 2 deadline when Trump's reciprocal tariffs on India are set to go into effect. Trump has long criticized India for its high tariffs, among the highest in Asia. Analysis from Barclays shows that the weighted average of India's tariffs on all imports is 11.5%. Another key concern for Washington is the widening U.S.-India trade deficit. Last week, India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal went to Washington to present further concessions, including slashing tariffs on key U.S. imports in the hopes that, in exchange, India would be granted an exemption from Washington's reciprocal tariffs. However, Trump's trade team doesn't seem to be budging, per sources close to New Delhi. That's raising alarm bells. The technology industry stands to lose particularly Apple which manufactures roughly 15% of its iPhones in India, according to Bank of America analyst estimates. Finished smartphones entering India currently face a 16%-20% tariff, whereas tariffs on Indian phones sold into the U.S. are at 0%, according to Barclays. "If the Indian exports of smartphones, which have picked up recently were to face similar tariffs in the U.S., it could deal an early life-cycle blow to the [Indian] electronics industry, reversing the entire China+1 narrative," according to Venugopal Garre, Bernstein's head of India research. Garre believes that the additional cost of tariffs will make Indian electronics, including the iPhones manufactured in the country, less competitive compared to devices manufactured in other countries. Rejuvenating India's manufacturing sector Bank of America analysts also believe that proposed tariffs on India will likely drive iPhones prices up. This matters. Apple has been the poster child of India's manufacturing revitalization, seen by many as a case study for how a foreign company can win in the country. Goyal referenced Apple's success when pitching U.S. semiconductor companies to expand into India. Nvidia is currently working with India's Reliance Industries on AI research, while AMD and Micron have pledged to expand in India. Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has cultivated a strong relationship with Modi, went to the country for the opening of four retail stores in 2023. India has played an important role in helping Apple diversify its supply chain and become less dependent on China. In addition to iPhones, it has begun manufacturing other products in the emerging market, including iPads and AirPods. "45% of Apple's total revenue is built in China, but they want to get that down to the 30% level," said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, to CNBC over the phone. However, experts said higher tariffs could challenge Apple's expansion and reduce the company's overall return on investment in India. "My guess is that Apple would want to send a message to New Delhi to motivate them to negotiate and push for an equal tariff structure," said Patrick Moorhead, a senior technology executive and co-founder of TheSixFiveMedia. CNBC reached out to Apple for comment and has not heard back. Moorhead has been studying Apple's supply chain and believes it does have the ability to shift some manufacturing between its Asian manufacturing locations across India, China and Vietnam, should it need to do so. At this point, the only country that is more insulated from tariffs would be Vietnam, which is likely due to the low trade imbalance between the U.S. and Vietnam, Moorhead told CNBC over the phone. Minimizing impact of tariffs There are other options. When looking at potential strategies technology companies can use to limit the impact of China tariffs, analysts at Morgan Stanley write that one alternative is to ship "U.S.-bound near finished goods from China to a 3rd party country before declaring the goods finalized." The same could apply to India. If the trade war picks up speed, technology companies may also be incentivized to not just explore diversifying their supply chain into one to two additional countries, but three or four, to ensure they can pivot as needed. It's certainly a big undertaking. Setting up shop in a new country can take three to five years. As supply chain experts shared with CNBC, it takes time to set up a new plant, build relationships with local suppliers and hire the right talent, all while getting the required clearances from the local government. However, with tariffs increasingly becoming an economic weapon of choice, multinationals like Apple may have to use their pile of cash to spread out their manufacturing footprint even more than they have already. China+1 may need to be changed to China+3. That could mean that Apple produces fewer phones in India than previously estimated. Supply chain flexibility, while expensive, could be the key to weathering the tariff storm for Apple. What that does to India's ambitions of being the go-to destination for companies looking to move away from China is another matter altogether. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink speaks during the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York City, Nov. 30, 2022. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images President Donald Trump's efforts to slash federal government spending have ignited a new debate about the future of Social Security. One idea that has been brought up before privatizing the now public program is getting new attention. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Wednesday he supports more individual ownership in Social Security, though he said he would not necessarily use the term privatizing because it has toxic connotations. "The problem we have now, we have a plan called Social Security that doesn't grow with the economy," said Fink, speaking at the BlackRock retirement summit in Washington, D.C. More from Personal Finance: Trump says Education Dept. shouldn't handle student loans Potential cuts to Medicaid could include work requirements Rules for repaying Social Security benefits are getting stricter Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system today's payroll tax contributions generally fund benefits for current retirees and other beneficiaries. Any leftover money that is not used to either pay benefits or fund the program's administrative costs is put into the program's trust funds, according to the Social Security Administration. That money is invested in special Treasury bonds that earn a market rate of interest and are guaranteed by the U.S. government, according to the agency. Privatizing the program could provide a way to invest money on behalf of individual workers that potentially earns a higher return, according to supporters of the idea. "If we create a plan that every American can grow with our economy, they're going to feel more attached to our economy," Fink said. 'Real battle' brewing over Social Security's future Opponents say privatization could interfere with the safety and predictability of Social Security's benefit payments. "There's a lot of people out there in the private sector that say, 'You give me $2.7 trillion and let me invest that, and I can turn you a lot better, greater dividend around than the Treasury bills can,'" Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. While investing more aggressively provides the possibility for better returns, it also opens up the risk of poor performance and losses. Larson pointed out that in 2008 the stock market dropped, along with many people's 401(k) plans. Yet Social Security never missed a payment, he said. Americans now face a decision as to whether they want capitalism or the government to guarantee their retirement, Larson said. Larson said he believes the Trump administration's goal is to privatize Social Security. When asked for comment, the White House referred CNBC to a release dated Tuesday that says, "President Trump will always protect Social Security, Medicare." That document does not mention privatizing the program. Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday voted to block a full House vote on a resolution of inquiry that Larson proposed to require disclosure of activity by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency at the Social Security Administration. At the hearing, Larson said he is concerned the Trump administration could try to privatize the program. "We, I think, are in a real battle here, and it's really, in many respects, not unlike the battle that Roosevelt faced initially," Larson told CNBC on Tuesday. Privatizing Social Security has been considered before The Social Security Act that created the program was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. In 2005 President George W. Bush proposed privatizing the program. Fink said that had that effort been successful, Americans would have seen their retirement money increase fourfold, based on the returns of the S&P 500 index over that time. "I think more Americans would be a little more hopeful today with their retirement savings than just getting that bond payment," Fink said. Had Bush's proposals gone through, Americans "probably would have been" better off today, said Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who served as associate director of Bush's White House National Economic Council in 2005. But the question now as to whether to invest Americans' retirement money in government bonds or equities is misguided, Biggs said. If someone has not saved money for retirement, the dilemma of where to invest is not relevant since they do not have the funds, he said. The same is true of the federal government, which currently does not have a significant surplus for the pay-as-you-go program. watch now Welcome to CNBC's live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Thursday. Futures data from IG suggests European markets will open higher, with London's FTSE 100 looking set to open 0.3% higher at 8,799, Germany's DAX 0.2% higher at 23,836, France's CAC 40 also up 0.2% at 7,757 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 0.15% at 39,926. The positive start in Europe comes after a more mixed day on Wednesday, particularly for the U.K. where bond prices, as well as the FTSE, tumbled sharply. Those moves came after U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves appeared visibly upset in Parliament on Wednesday as pressure mounted on the government over welfare reforms. The government said Reeves was dealing with a "personal matter" and Prime Minister Keir Starmer later said she has his full support. U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday night as traders braced for June's nonfarm payrolls data. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that the economy added 110,000 jobs last month. That compares with May's gain of 139,000. Economists also see the unemployment rate inching higher. In the Asia-Pacific region overnight, Vietnamese stocks climbed to their highest in over three years as investors awaited further details on the U.S.-Vietnam trade agreement that President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. The U.S. is imposing a 20% tariff on goods imported from the Southeast Asian nation, while the latter will impose "ZERO Tariff," Trump said on Truth Social. Holly Ellyatt Workers on the production line at the new Ferrari NV E-building factory in Maranello, Italy, on Friday, June 21, 2024. The chief executive of Ferrari on Thursday said the company was prepared for potential U.S. tariffs on European automakers. "We are ready with some countermeasures," Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna told CNBC's Robert Frank at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Thursday. "We are in a scenario planning phase to manage as best whatever will happen," Vigna said, without providing details of what these steps could be. "You wait for the official number to be published," he said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs "in the neighborhood of 25%" on global carmakers. "We are watching what's going to happen in the next month, next weeks ... we are on the same boat in terms of tariffs," Vigna said. European automakers have been grappling with trade policy uncertainty in recent months, with the threat of U.S. import tariffs raising alarm bells among many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Tariffs are expected to have a profound impact on the auto industry, given highly globalized supply chains and a heavy reliance on manufacturing operations across North America, particularly Mexico. Tariffs for auto companies that currently comply with standards under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, were paused earlier this month until April 2. Analysts said late last year that they expect Ferrari to be something of an exception among Europe's automotive sector. The company, which is thought to be well placed to pass on any increase in prices, exclusively produces its cars in Italy. Vigna's comments come shortly after the luxury Italian carmaker reported a significant upswing in 2024 net profit, citing a strong product mix and growing demand for personal touches to its vehicles. The company also remains on track for the landmark unveiling of its first fully electric car later in the year, Vigna said. The launch is scheduled to take place on Oct. 9 at the firm's Maranello base in Italy. The upcoming EV model, which will be manufactured in Italy, is one of six new models the company plans to unveil this year. Shares of the Milan-listed stock are up around 0.5% year-to-date. Clarification: The article has been updated to clarify that Ferrari is doing scenario planning to counter the impact of potential U.S. tariffs. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron speaks during a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister after a meeting in Tirana, on May 22, 2024. Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said he is fearful that U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to securing peace in Ukraine could set an alarming precedent. "My hope is that what Donald Trump is doing is using quite startling language and quite startling approaches to try and unlock situations, to try and create a situation where Ukraine wants to negotiate peace, Russia wants to negotiate peace, and to get there," Cameron told CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Thursday. "My fear is always that it goes beyond that [and] Trump's view of the world is more that the big power in the neighborhood is sovereign, and you shouldn't interfere with what they want to do," Cameron said. He said that could be "very worrying" for the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania which, like Ukraine, all share a border with Russia. "I think it'd be very worrying for Ukraine. These are independent, sovereign countries and we should support the idea that independent sovereign countries should not be invaded," he added. Cameron served as U.K. prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and as foreign minister in former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government from 2023 to 2024. His comments come shortly after Ukraine said it was ready to support the White House's proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire if Russia accepts the plan. The U.S. on Tuesday agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine as part of the plan. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Trump has alarmed European allies by appearing to turn toward Moscow, breaking with decades of U.S. foreign policy. CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday highlighted two stocks in the retail space that he thinks investors have an opportunity to buy on the dip Gap and Ralph Lauren even as Wall Street worries broadly about tariffs and the strength of the consumer. "As long as you don't think the entire economy's about to fall off a cliff, and there's still some of us who feel that way, then some of these high-quality retailers are looking darned cheap at these levels," he said. "Ralph Lauren and the Gap are my faves right now." Cramer acknowledged that the retail sector has been in the "blast radius" of the swiftly escalating trade war, which began when President Donald Trump issued steep tariff hikes on some of the U.S.'s allies and major trading partners. Consumers are worried tariffs will drive up costs, he said, and are less willing to shop. But Cramer suggested the "tariff reign of terror is temporary," and that eventually the U.S. will get used to the policies or there will be some sort of resolution, and some retail stocks will bounce back. Beyond the strength of Ralph Lauren's recent quarter, Cramer said he thinks the stock is more likely to make a comeback than some of the others in the industry. The brand has managed to maintain cultural relevance, he said, and its target customer is wealthier than average, so there's a decent chance it might be one of the first to rebound, Cramer added. Cramer was also impressed by Gap's recent quarter, and the success relatively-new CEO Richard Dickson has had growing its four brands Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta and its namesake. He also pointed out that Dickson claimed the apparel company's supply chain is diverse, with 10% of products coming from China and less than 1% coming from Canada and Mexico combined, so it may be somewhat protected from tariff-induced business woes. Dickson said he's confident about the future because Gap has managed to gain market share against the backdrop of industry-wide decline, and Cramer largely agreed, even though the company may still face some near-term issues. "If you buy them and the president basically assures you that the forecast is pain, there's not much you can do short term," he said. "But longer term, you will do fine I just can't predict when longer term starts." Ralph Lauren and Gap did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jim Cramer ran through all 32 companies in the Investing Club portfolio during the March Monthly Meeting on Thursday, but he gave special focus to six of his favorite stocks to buy right now: TJX Companies, Capital One Financial, Texas Roadhouse, DuPont, BlackRock and Home Depot. There's other stocks he likes, too. Here are his updates on the those six favorites and the rest of the portfolio. The Select Six TJX Companies : The No. 1 favorite stock to buy right now. The more inventory sloshing around the retail industry, the more money TJX makes. The troubles of Macy's and Kohls are adding to that now. It's the winner in retail, perhaps for years to come. Capital One Financial : We've been making small buys since taking a stake in the credit card issuer a week ago. CEO Richard Fairbank is smart, and its planned acquisition of Discover should be a boon. We bought more Thursday morning. Texas Roadhouse : Another stock to buy here. While some consumers are pulling back on their spending, the bargain prices at Texas Roadhouse make it a great option so you can still go out without breaking the bank. DuPont : The stock is dirt cheap versus the sum of its parts, and the looming spin-off of its electronics business this fall should help unlock some of that value. More rate cuts this year should help cyclical, industrial-focused stocks like DuPont. That's why it's on Jim's buy-now list. BlackRock : Another favorite. We're not giving up on CEO Larry Fink and his plan to reinvent the asset manager with a bigger focus on private markets, where the fee structure is more favorable. Home Depot : When rates go down, Home Depot is the place to be. Doubters ought to look at the long-term record of this company if you bought it during grim moments. A great one to own now. We bought more after Thursday's meeting concluded. The rest of the portfolio Apple : The iPhone maker is experiencing a triple whammy of bad news. The new Siri is late. Tariffs are worrisome. And uncertainty over President Donald Trump and China is high. That means the stock can go lower, but we're confident Apple will get back on track so we're holding on. Abbott Labs : Health-care stocks are too defensive to deploy new money into them. Instead, we've been trimming our outperforming positions like Abbott Labs and using those funds to buy beaten-up stocks. The time to buy more Abbott will come. Amazon : Its retail, advertising and cloud businesses are all playing at levels that no one else can equal. Jim loves investing in companies with subscription revenue streams, and the value of a Prime membership is the best of them. Broadcom : The chipmaker is just one of two tech stocks Jim would buy here. It recently reported an exceptionally strong quarter with a growing roster of clients for its custom AI chip business. Bristol Myers Squibb : Similar to Abbott, we trimmed the drugmaker into strength and eventually will look to repurchase those shares. We haven't changed our long-term optimism on schizophrenia drug Cobenfy. Costco Wholesale : The retailer's quarter last week is somehow being regarded as less than excellent. Shares are trading erratically, but its subscription strategy makes Costco the perfect stock for an environment where people are worried about the consumer being stretched. Our cost basis is too low for us to buy more, but investors who don't own any could start building a position here. Salesforce : As strong as Agentforce's growth prospects are, one potential concern would be that it comes at the expense of its legacy offerings. Too early to know for sure, making it a bit of a push. CrowdStrike : The cybersecurity provider is the other tech stock Jim would buy here. We've added to our position twice this month. Despite our confidence in its outlook, the stock is down sharply from its highs and is inexpensive relative to its history. Coterra Energy : The stock has been a winner over time and we want to keep our natural gas and oil exposure hedge. Coterra is a rare good one in a not-so-hot sector. Danaher : We're keeping the stock around for two potential catalysts. The first is a recovery is in its life-sciences business, which could be sparked by more IPOs for biotech companies. The second is the ouster of CEO Rainer Blair. Disney : It's a tough environment to own a stock like Disney, but we are willing to tough it out because the value is self-evident to anyone who has looked under the hood. We bought more on Monday. Dover : We snapped up more of the diversified industrial on Wednesday. Investors are focusing only on the bad and not the good, which is why the stock is trading this low even as its CEO has been offering encouraging updates on order growth. Eaton : The high-quality industrial stock has come down so hard on AI spending fears, but like Dover, it's an opportunity. We bought more shares of Eaton on Thursday morning. GE Healthcare : We booked profits in the MRI machine maker into the health-care rally, but unlike with Bristol Myers and Abbott, we're not in a hurry to rebuild this position. It's been a disappointment. Alphabet : We're torn on Alphabet. There's a real threat to Google Search from AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, but Waymo and YouTube are attractive assets. The latter is doing incredibly well. Still, Jim believes Meta is the better way to play the digital ad market, making our Alphabet position tenuous. Goldman Sachs : We bought more on Monday and it's still a buy here. Mergers-and-acquisitions activity is primed to take off, and same goes for the pipeline of initial public offerings. Both are great news for the premier investment bank. Honeywell International : The industrial has been missing quarter after quarter but management de-risked its 2025 outlook. That gave us the confidence to step in and buy back some, though not all, of the stock we sold at higher prices earlier this year. Linde : We sold some Linde to lock in a gain earlier this week, giving us room to buy more of this secular grower if it pulls back. The industrial gas giant is a major outperformer this year. Eli Lilly : The stock gets hit from time to time on fears of new GLP-1 competition, but we're not concerned about its position in the race. CEO David Ricks is spending billions to build a manufacturing moat around their GLP-1s and new formulations could be on the way. Own Lilly for a long time. Meta Platforms : It's truly inexpensive and the best of the old "Magnificent Seven," which is no more. Too many holes in the stories of those companies. The biggest possible hole for Meta is a recession that reduces ad spending, but its platform is so attractive to marketers, it should be able to hold up. Microsoft : Nothing good is baked into this stock now. While it's too late to sell, we cannot recommend it because of its poor execution. Microsoft needs to get its house in order, especially on Copilot. Nvidia : While AI chip king's growth is slowing, the business is still in great shape. The bigger problem for the stock is short-term options activity and other market dynamics that amplify moves to the downside. The risk-reward on the stock is fairly decent at current levels, but Jim is waiting until next week's GTC conference before making any decisions. Nextracker : The solar stock has been volatile this year, but is still holding onto strong gains north of 20%. It's a small position for us after trimming it into strength in January. The company is well run and has made-in-America products to skirt tariffs, but the outlook for solar is still muddy under the Trump administration. It could be a source of funds on the next rally. Palo Alto Networks : Despite Jim's emphasis on CrowdStrike, he also likes our other cybersecurity provider here, too. Palo Alto continues to win business in both the cloud and on premises. Starbucks : Patience is the word with the coffee chain giant, even though the stock has fallen hard from where we took profits in late February. Eventually, though, we'll be ready to step back in and buy back those shares. Wells Fargo : The stock has been rolling over lately thanks to recession fears and a belief that the Fed-imposed asset cap would be removed by now. We believe we're on the verge of that removal, which carries hidden benefits that can save the bank billions and boost shares. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. Alibaba's Chairman Joe Tsai speaking at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore on Wednesday. CNBC The future of artificial intelligence is a major topic of conversation among global tech and business leaders at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore. Numerous executives talked up the potential of AI and discussed how it's expected to impact the future of work and productivity. Here's a compilation of quotes from some of the top corporate leaders attending CONVERGE LIVE this week: Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba Group watch now Joe Tsai, chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba , spoke about how AI can enhance productivity and boost global GDP, with a total addressable market of "at least $10 trillion, if not bigger." "If you look at AI, what does it do? It actually improves human productivity," he said, noting that Alibaba itself can benefit a lot from the deployment of AI within its own business. Tsai also discussed how the release of Chinese AI Start-up DeepSeek's open-sourced R1 model in January has impacted the global AI space and has led to a "proliferation of applications." "I think the so-called DeepSeek moment is really not about whether China has better AI than the U.S., or vice versa. It's really about the power of open source," he said. "Once you open-source the model, people can take the model and deploy it on their own infrastructure, whether it's in the data center or in your laptop computer, all of a sudden you have the power of AI at your fingertips." "Now you have small companies and big companies and corporations and individuals and entrepreneurs developing on top of these open source [models], so the AI game is not just left to the five richest companies in the world that can afford to invest like $50 billion a year," he added. Dean Carignan, AI innovations lead at Microsoft watch now Dean Carignan, AI innovations lead at Microsoft , discussed the concept of "human-centered AI" and how it can help improve the future of the workplace. "Human-centered AI means starting with the user and asking first: what should AI do? As opposed to: what can it do? ... So much of the [AI] discussion is around models and technology and capabilities. We should be starting with the user and the needs." Carignan also noted that AI can help improve human productivity rather than replicating it. "We like to talk about human-AI complementarity and thinking of workflows where an AI can take away the drudgery of the work and allow the human to provide the things that only a person can do: creativity, innovation, coalition building, inspiration, motivating others." Guy Diedrich, global innovation officer at Cisco Guy Diedrich, SVP and global innovation officer at Cisco , discussed the importance of AI companies providing trust in the space. "Trust is foundational for us moving forward ... You don't get access to data [for AI] unless you're trusted, and the way that you're trusted in our industry is to provide security and be transparent." Diedrich also discussed how a company's up-skilling must be agile to keep up with the rapid innovation of AI. "Right now, we are in the AI micro age, or the AI moment. In the next couple of years, AI is going to be embedded in everything that we do. We're going to take it for granted," he said. "Be prepared to skill at the speed of innovation. Otherwise, your people will never be as productive as they could be." Ganesha Rasiah, chief strategy officer at HP Ganesha Rasiah, chief strategy officer at HP. Ganesha Rasiah, chief strategy officer at HP, told CONVERGE LIVE about the impact that AI could have on the job market. "Certain jobs are going to be eliminated. I think that's to be expected, but we don't foresee a world in which there's a significantly elevated level of unemployment," he said. Instead, as AI capabilities become more accessible, there will be an explosion in demand and shifts in the nature of work," he added. "There's an element of democratization that AI is bringing, which I think is huge. I do see it as being able to the tide that raises all boats." Kamal Bhatia, president and CEO, Principal Asset Management Kamal Bhatia, president and CEO of Principal Asset Management, described the rise of DeepSeek as "quite amazing." "I would describe it as innovation under adversity," he said. Investors can miss out if they think innovation only occurs if capital exists, he added. "What the China experiment proves ... is you can actually extend innovation without capital," he said. With "adversity, you can actually leapfrog." Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce watch now U.S. negotiators are in Moscow for Ukraine war ceasefire talks on Thursday, but Russia's willingness to buy into the terms of a temporary truce devised without its input is still in question. Russia is under pressure to sign up to the White House-brokered 30-day ceasefire agreement, which the U.S. says will show whether the Kremlin is serious about ending the war against Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ball was in Russia's court after he and Ukrainian officials came up with a ceasefire deal earlier in the week. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that it would be financially "devastating" for Russia if it did not agree to a truce, hinting that more sanctions could be imposed on the country if it did not acquiesce. But the mood music coming out of Moscow on Thursday ahead of the talks was not positive. Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential aide, refrained from telling state media whether Russia will reject Trump's ceasefire deal, but noted that a truce would give Ukraine a chance to boost its forces. Ushakov said he had conveyed this position to U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz during a call Wednesday. "This is nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more. We believe that our goal is still a long-term peaceful settlement, we are striving for this. A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country - our concerns," he said, according to an NBC News translation. The comments come after a U.S. delegation led by Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow for talks on Thursday, the Kremlin confirmed, while tempering expectations as to the possible outcome of the meeting. "The negotiators are flying in, indeed, contacts are scheduled," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday, according to NBC News reporting, adding: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we'll tell you later. There have already been contacts." NY Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference at the offices of the Attorney General on January 08, 2025 in New York City. New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced a bill to protect the state's consumers and small businesses from scams and deceptive practices from lenders, debt collectors and health care firms. James said in a release that the legislation would bolster the state's existing consumer protection law which dates from 1970 and is more limited in scope at a time when the Trump administration has hobbled the federal agency charged with that task. The new bill, called the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Act, is supported by state lawmakers Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblymember Micah Lasher, according to James. "In New York right now, companies can make canceling a subscription so hard it seems impossible; nursing homeowners can sue relatives of deceased former residents; and debt collectors can steal social security benefits," James said. "The FAIR Business Practices Act will close loopholes that make it too easy for New Yorkers to be scammed and will allow my office to go after anyone who violates the law." The New York bill is one of the first examples of state officials attempting to fill the vacuum left by the hobbling of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since taking over as Acting Director of the CFPB last month, Russell Vought has fired about 200 employees and told the rest to stop nearly all work. Vought and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency planned to fire nearly all the agency's workers, according to testimony from current employees, but was stopped by a federal judge. It's unclear what will ultimately happen to the agency. But so long as the CFPB is frozen, consumers will have to rely on their state AGs and regulators when they have complaints. James said the law will stop auto lenders as well as mortgage and student loan servicers from steering consumers into high-cost loans, will reduce so-called junk fees, tamp down on shady practices at car dealerships, and prevent firms from taking advantage of those who don't speak English. The effort drew support from two key regulators from former President Joe Biden's administration, ex-CFPB director Rohit Chopra and former FTC Chair Lina Khan. "We need stronger state laws to combat abuses that harm families and honest businesses," Chopra said in a statement. "By passing a strong consumer protection bill, New York lawmakers can empower Attorney General James to fully defend New Yorkers' pocketbooks, privacy, and economic freedoms," Khan said. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, displays the new Blackwell GPU chip during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California, on March 18, 2024. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to reveal details about Rubin, the chipmaker's next AI graphics processor, on Tuesday at the company's annual GTC conference. While other tech companies usually name their products using combinations of inscrutable letters and numbers, most of Nvidia's most recent GPU architectures have been named after famous women scientists. Nvidia is naming its next critical AI chip platform after Vera Rubin, an American astronomer. The company has never explained its naming convention, and hasn't emphasized the diversity aspect of its choices, but Nvidia's chip names that highlight women and minority scientists are one of the most visible efforts to honor diversity in the tech industry during a period where diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives are being slashed by the Trump administration. Rubin discovered a lot of what is known about "dark matter," a form of matter that could make up a quarter of the matter of the universe and which doesn't emit light or radiation, and she advocated for women in science throughout her career. Nvidia has been naming its architectures after scientists since 1998, when its first chips were based on the company's "Fahrenheit" microarchitecture. It's part of the company's culture Nvidia used to sell an employee-only t-shirt with cartoons of several famous scientists on it. It's one of Nvidia's quirks that has received more attention as it's risen to become one of the three most-valuable tech companies and one of the most important suppliers to Google , Microsoft , Amazon , OpenAI, Tesla and Meta . Investors want to hear on Tuesday how fast the Rubin chips will be, what configurations it will come in and when it might start shipping. Before revealing a new architecture, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang usually gives a one-sentence biography of the scientist it's named after. "I'd like to introduce you to a very, very big GPU named after David Blackwell, mathematician, game theorist, probability," Huang said at last year's GTC conference. "We thought it was a perfect name." Rubin is a fitting name for Nvidia's next chip, which comes as the company tries to solidify the gains it has made in recent years as the leader in AI hardware. "Vera" will refer to Nvidia's next-generation central processor, and "Rubin" will refer to Nvidia's new GPU. John Hope Bryant, CEO of Operation Hope, warned on Wednesday that the risk of jobs being eliminated by artificial intelligence will disproportionately impact those "at the bottom of the pyramid." He urged governments to invest more resources into upskilling the working and middle classes, as well as younger generations, on the technology, which in the long run could help boost productivity and economies globally, he said. "We are not spending nearly enough time focusing on the bottom of the pyramid," Bryant told CNBC's Julia Boorstin at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Wednesday. "Convenience store [jobs are] gone, grocery store jobs are gone ... This is not the future. This is right now." "So if you have a high school education and limited relationship capital, and you don't have a government and a private sector that's prioritizing [upskilling it's people on AI] ... in five years between 2025 to 2030, the world's going to pass you by," Bryant said. The advancement and proliferation of AI will create massive waves of change, said Bryant, who's also the founder of Operation Hope, a financial literacy and economic empowerment nonprofit. "What people don't realize is that literally everything we see is going to be touched by artificial intelligence. It's a complete do-over of society," he said. "It's like the horse and buggy of 1850 in America ... when the automobile was introduced ... within 10 years, the horse was made irrelevant." Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia agrees in principle with the U.S.-led ceasefire plan backed by Ukraine earlier this week, but stopped short of signing up to any deal, arguing that it needed further negotiation and must lead to "enduring peace." "The idea [of a ceasefire] itself is correct and we are certainly supporting it, but there are issues that need to be discussed. I think that we need to talk to our American colleagues and partners. Maybe call President Trump and discuss it together. But we support the very idea of ending this conflict through peaceful means," he said, according to an NBC translation. Putin also said a deal must "proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis." "We are in favor of it but there are nuances," he said when asked about the 30-day ceasefire deal brokered by the White House. Kyiv backed the plan on Tuesday, contingent on Moscow's agreement. Putin was speaking at a news conference in Moscow after talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin also questioned whether the 30 days would be used to "supply weapons" or "train newly mobilized units," and how potential violations of a ceasefire would be monitored. Speaking during a press briefing with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday, "We're getting word that things are going OK in Russia, that doesn't mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is." "Hopefully they all want to end this nightmare," he said. Spirit Airlines is out of bankruptcy, hitting its target to emerge in the first quarter, after a crippling few years. CEO Ted Christie says the carrier is leaner and ready to take on competitors, including rival Southwest Airlines . Earlier this week, Southwest shocked customers by announcing it will start charging for checked bags for the first time in its half-century of flying, a huge strategy move for the largest domestic U.S. carrier. (There are some exceptions to Southwest's new bag rules, which take effect in late May.) "I think it's going to be painful for a little bit as they find their footing, and we're going to take advantage of that," Spirit's Christie said in an interview Thursday. Southwest had been a standout in the U.S. by offering all customers two free checked bags, a perk that has endured recessions, spikes in fuel prices and other crises while most rivals introduced bag fees and raised them every few years. Spirit Airlines, on the other hand, made a la carte pricing common in the U.S., with fees for seat assignments, checked bags and other add-ons. It's a strategy most large airlines, except for Southwest, have copied in one form or another. As Southwest starts charging for bags and introduces its first basic economy class, which doesn't include a seat assignment or allow free changes, Spirit could possibly win over customers, Christie said. Southwest said it would get rid of its single-class open seating model last year. "There at least was an audience of people who were intentionally selecting and flying Southwest because they felt that it was easy. They knew they were going to get two bags," Christie said. "Now that that's no longer the case, it's easy to say that they're going to widen their aperture and they're now going to look around." Spirit is far smaller than Southwest and even smaller than it was last year, but it competes with the airline in cities like Kansas City, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; Columbus, Ohio; and Milwaukee. If customers look on travel sites like Expedia , where Southwest is a new entrant, Spirit's tickets could be cheaper and appear higher in results, Christie said. Other airline executives have also said they expect to win over some Southwest customers. Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein said at a JPMorgan industry conference Tuesday that there are consumers who choose Southwest based on its free bag perk "and now those customers are up for grabs." Spirit, for its part, has recently been offering more ticket bundles that include things like seat assignments and luggage. The carrier is now focused on returning to profitability. It posted a net loss of over $1.2 billion last year, more than double its loss in 2023 as it grappled with grounded jets because of a Pratt & Whitney engine recall, higher costs, more domestic competition and a failed acquisition by JetBlue Airways . Spirit has rejected multiple recent merger attempts by fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines . Christie said Thursday that nothing is "off the table" and that a fifth-largest airline in the U.S. as a low-cost carrier makes sense, but that the airline is focused on stabilizing itself after bankruptcy. Through its restructuring process, which started in November, Spirit said it reduced its debt by about $795 million. The transaction converted debt into equity for major creditors. The carrier also received a $350 million equity infusion. Spirit plans to relist its shares on a stock exchange but hasn't set a date yet. watch now The CEO of crypto exchange Binance said he expects U.S. President Trump's "pro-crypto" legislation in the U.S. to spur regulators in other parts of the world to follow suit. "We have moved from a period where there's big regulatory uncertainty and in many sense, some regulatory hostility towards the industry, to one where the largest economy of the world said 'we want to embrace crypto,'" Binance CEO Richard Teng told CNBC's Arjun Kharpal at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Thursday. Under the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden, regulators cracked down on the industry in an effort to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering. "[If] you ask anybody in the crypto industry, people prefer the current administration compared to the last one," Teng said. watch now Chao Deng, CEO of crypto fund manager HashKey Capital, who spoke alongside Teng at the CONVERGE event, shared that view, saying that under Trump, "the momentum is building, institutional [and] retail adoption [of crypto assets] is immense." Crypto reserve The comments came after Trump pressed ahead with an executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies for the U.S. using digital assets seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that in addition to Bitcoin, the strategic reserve would include ether, XRP, Solana's SOL token, and Cardano's ADA coin. The Binance CEO described the U.S. crypto reserve as a "landmark" issue. "The messaging is the largest government the biggest capital market in the world is now holding Bitcoin as part of the reserve, [that'll] cause many other governments to think through the issue, to sit up to say, should we start doing allocation into crypto and bitcoin?" Bitcoin prices have fallen since Trump's announcement of a strategic crypto reserve as details of the plan fell short of expectations. Investor enthusiasm toward assets perceived to be risky has also softened more broadly due to concerns over the impact of Trump's tariff plans. Teng downplayed the recent pullback in crypto markets as a "tactical retreat," as like any other asset class it is not "immune" to macroeconomic situations. Nonetheless, Washington's embrace of the digital assets and Trump's nomination of several crypto-friendly legislators will provide "strong" long-term drivers, he said. Since his victory in November, Trump has focused on appointing government leaders who support the cryptocurrency sector. Venture capitalist David Sacks was tapped by Trump to be the White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar. End of 'Operation Choke Point 2.0' Kishore Mahbubani, former Singapore ambassador to the United Nations and David Adelman, former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE on Thursday, March 13, Singapore. While U.S. President Donald Trump is in theory "very negative on China," in practice, he may be willing to do "a big trade deal" with the country, according to veteran Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani. In fact, it is more likely that the Trump administration negotiates a deal with China, compared with the Biden administration, Singapore's former ambassador to the United Nations said. While Mahbubani noted that Trump "should be more anti-China," if the Trump administration can assure Beijing that it will not push for independence on Taiwan, it might smoothen negotiations on a trade deal between the two countries. "If Trump can get China to open up its market, accept more American exports and possibly even invest more in United States, then it's possible to have a win-win trade deal," he said. "The Chinese clearly want to have a deal also with the United States. They don't want this contest to carry on," Mahbubani added. Speaking at the same panel, David Adelman, the former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, said "China has an important stake in American economic success." Adelman noted that the U.S is the biggest market for Chinese goods and the country's consumer is still the most powerful in the world. But Chinese consumers are growing increasingly affluent, which presents an opportunity for American producers. Lars Joergen Kleist, wearing a Make America Great Again hat, queues to vote at the polling station in Nuuk on March 11, 2025, as Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory, holds legislative elections. The outgoing prime minister of Greenland blasted talk Thursday by President Donald Trump that the potential annexation of the massive Arctic island by the United States would happen. "The U.S. president has once again aired the thought of annexing us," Prime Minister Mute Egede wrote in a Facebook post. "Don't keep treating us with disrespect. Enough is enough," Egede wrote. The prime minister wrote that he plans to convene a meeting of the chairmen of all Greenland's political parties "as soon as possible" to address Trump's comments. "Because this time we need to tighten our rejection of Trump," Egede wrote. A security guard walks past the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C., March 12, 2025. A group of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Thursday over its moves to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and its termination of nearly half the agency's staff. Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed the legal challenge in response to the administration's dismissal of more than 1,300 workers at the department. "The lay-offs are an effective dismantling of the Department," the state AGs wrote. "[The] Department's authority to administer [Reductions in Force] does not override Congress's exclusive authority to abolish executive agencies or to discontinue their functions," they added. As an agency authorized by Congress, the Education Department cannot be eliminated without congressional approval. But in the meantime, the Trump administration can slowly starve it by cutting resources. The defendants named in the lawsuit are President Donald Trump, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the U.S. Department of Education. "President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states," said Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for Communications at the U.S. Department of Education. More from Personal Finance: Here's the inflation breakdown for February 2025 in one chart 'Volatility is part of the game': What financial advisors are telling clients Women will get most of the $124 trillion 'great wealth transfer' On Tuesday, McMahon said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that efforts to dismantle the agency are "proceeding as expeditiously as possible." The Education Department manages the country's more than $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio, provides funding for schools and ensures civil rights. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said Wall Street should shrug off President Donald Trump's latest threat to impose steep tariffs on foreign trading partners. Asked on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" about Trump's threat to ratchet up tariffs on European alcohol, Bessent suggested the move should have little impact on stocks. "One or two items with one trading bloc, I'm not sure why that's a big deal for the markets," said Bessent. Earlier in the day, Trump had warned the European Union that he would slap 200% tariffs on European alcohol exports including all wines and French Champagnes unless the bloc dropped its own proposed duties on American whiskeys. Trump called the EU "one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States" in a Truth Social post threatening the 200% tariff. WASHINGTON The White House has directed the U.S. military to draw up options for increasing the American troop presence in Panama to achieve President Trump's goal of "reclaiming" the Panama Canal, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the planning. During a joint address to Congress last week, Trump said, "to further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal." Since then, administration officials have not said what "reclaiming" means. U.S. Southern Command is developing potential plans that vary from partnering more closely with the Panamanian military to the less likely option of U.S. troops seizing the Panama Canal by force, the officials said. Whether military force is used, the officials added, depends on how much the Panamanian military agrees to partner with the U.S. The Trump administration's goal is to increase the U.S. military presence in Panama to diminish China's influence there, particularly access to the canal, the officials said. Both Panama and China deny there is any foreign interference in the 50-mile canal, whose neutrality is enshrined in Panama's Constitution. Chinese officials have accused the U.S. of using "coercion" to pressure Panamanian officials to block Chinese aid projects. The U.S. officials told NBC News that the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Adm. Alvin Holsey, presented draft strategies to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week. Hegseth is expected to visit Panama next month. The officials cautioned that a U.S. invasion of Panama is unlikely and would only come under serious consideration if a larger American military presence in Panama does not achieve President Donald Trump's goal of reclaiming the waterway, the officials said. Neither the Pentagon nor the Panamanian Embassy in Washington immediately responded to a request for comment. Trump has said he intends to return ownership of the canal to the U.S. after Panama gained control of the area more than a quarter century ago under a treaty signed by the Carter administration. Privately, Trump has told his advisers that he sees a U.S. military presence in Panama and on the canal itself as critical to that effort, the U.S. officials said. Trump has also made it clear that he wants U.S. service members to be visible in the canal zone as a show of force. Trump administration officials have argued that China has too large a presence near the canal. In the event of a conflict, they say, Beijing could shut down the canal to American shipping, including military ships. During a visit to Panama last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that "the status quo is unacceptable" regarding China's presence in Panama. Mulino has said the Panamanian government alone administers the canal and denied ceding operation of the canal to China in any way. Blog Archive: Jul 2025 (25) Jun 2025 (150) May 2025 (155) Apr 2025 (9) Mar 2025 (149) Feb 2025 (139) Jan 2025 (155) Dec 2024 (144) Nov 2024 (143) Oct 2024 (155) Sep 2024 (149) Aug 2024 (155) Jul 2024 (155) Jun 2024 (150) May 2024 (153) Apr 2024 (149) Mar 2024 (155) Feb 2024 (145) Jan 2024 (155) Dec 2023 (155) Nov 2023 (150) Oct 2023 (155) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55) Thursday marked yet another day of the broad market sell-off, and that could provide a buying opportunity for Novo Nordisk and Energy Transfer , according to Tim Seymour of Seymour Asset Management. The firm's founder and chief investment officer appeared on CNBC's " Power Lunch " on Thursday to share his bullish take on those stocks, as well as one investors should avoid. Here's what Seymour had to say. Novo Nordisk Shares of global healthcare company Novo Nordisk have pulled back as of late, falling almost 14% in the past week, but Seymour believes it's "very misunderstood." "This is a really attractive name that people forget is part of the secular growth story, and they may be the bigger player with supply constraints [having] eased up quite a bit," he said. When it comes to the company's compound annual growth rate, the investor anticipates that it's going to grow more than 20%. Additionally, the investor pointed to its valuation, as Novo Nordisk has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of almost 19, according to FactSet. "I think it's very attractive, very misunderstood here," Seymour continued. Energy Transfer During times of market volatility especially, the investor believes Energy Transfer provides an attractive entry point for investors. "This is the best way to get exposure to gas demand and NGO and some oil," the investor said. "Make no mistake, this is a conservative play in a difficult market. I love this one." While the energy stock has risen nearly 3% in the past week, shares have fallen more than 8% in the past month. Affirm Affirm a buy now, pay later loans provider has underperformed the broader market lately, falling more than 10% in the past week and more than 40% in the past month. Seymour thinks this is one that investors should stay away from moving forward. "They say they're going to be EPS positive in 2025. I just think in the world we're in, with consumer confidence pulling in, with all the uncertainty, you do not want to be in this space," he said. While Seymour said Affirm is "known for being credit nimble," he believes that the credit nimble story has yet to be put to the test. "I don't know why you would be in a consumer credit story here that hasn't really been through one of these cycles before," the investor continued. "This is not one you're owning in this environment." Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Truist initiates FedEx and UPS as buy The firm initiated the shipping giants with a buy and said both are extremely well positioned. "At the same time, we believe that FDX's and UPS' growing retail footprint across the country provide them with an edge around handling returns as well as third party logistics services for SMBs [small mid size business]." Citi reiterates Boeing as buy Citi said shares of the company are undervalued at current levels. "We reiterate our Buy rating on Boeing. We believe the market is undervaluing Boeing's long-term growth potential, pricing in less than 1% FCF growth in perpetuity." Citi initiates BioNTech as buy Citi said in its initiation of BioNTech that it sees a slew of positive catalysts ahead. "A packed oncology pipeline across three modalities provides multiple entry points." Canaccord initiates Planet Fitness as buy Canaccord initiated the fitness company with a buy and said it is a "a growth story 33 years in the making." "One investor gripe is whether PLNT can return to its pre-pandemic unit growth of 200+ new clubs per year. We think it can and should happen sooner than later." D.A. Davidson upgrades Microsoft to buy from neutral D.A. Davidson said the stock is "best equipped" for what's ahead. "We are upgrading shares of Microsoft to a BUY rating and raising our price target to $450 from $425, as we believe Microsoft has moved to a more rational capex strategy and is the best positioned Mag6 for a slowing consumer." Bank of America reiterates Marvell as buy Bank of America said the stock looks "attractive" ahead of a slew of positive catalysts. "We maintain Buy and continue to view MRVL as a top-3 vendor of AI silicon along with NVDA and AVGO. MRVL stock looks attractive at 25x NTM [next twelve months] PE vs 32x historical median, with catalyst in coming tradeshows (OFC) and June analyst day." Bank of America upgrades Intel to neutral from underperform The firm upgraded Intel after the announcement of a new CEO. "Upgrade to Neutral and raise PO to $25 on new CEO solid track record, improved opportunity for turnaround." Barclays downgrades American Eagle to underweight from equal weight Barclays downgraded the stock over concerns about weaker teen spending. "We are downgrading shares of AEO based on: 1) weakening consumer, 2) growing uncertainty of tariff impact, 3) weak mall traffic necessitating promotions to drive conversion" KeyBanc reiterates Apple as underweight KeyBanc said the firm's survey checks show spending "data overall appears negative as Apple is tracking below historical seasonality, and the y/y growth went from nicely positive to a sharp decline." "We remain UW AAPL and reiterate our $200 PT." JPMorgan upgrades Iren to overweight from neutral JPMorgan upgraded the bitcoin miner and says shares are attractive. "We are moving to OW IREN , which has been overly punished YTD (down ~30%), in our view, and see ~70% upside at current levels, which could prove conservative if the company announces an HPC [high performance computing] deal with a name-brand tenant." Bank of America reiterates Seagate as buy The firm lowered its price target on the stock to $112 per share from $130 but says it is standing by the stock and sees a "strong industry backdrop." "Our top-down analysis suggests some upside vs Street numbers to revenues and more upside to STX margins." Wells Fargo reiterates Micron as overweight Wells Fargo lowered its price target on the stock to $130 per share from $140 but said shares are "compelling" ahead of earnings. "Our Overweight rating on Micron reflects 1) a more disciplined DRAM supply vs. demand environment; positive bit demand drivers (server CPU cycle, continued PC strength, 5G smartphones, consoles, etc.), 2) stronger-than-appreciated demand-side considerations driven by next-gen technologies..." Wells Fargo reiterates Amazon as overweight Wells Fargo said investors should buy the dip in shares of the e-commerce giant. "While eCommerce is squarely in the crosshair of the recent macro uncertainty driven, in part, by concerns around tariff impact on consumer spending, we believe the pullback in AMZN shares presents an attractive opportunity." Raymond James initiates Mister Car Wash as outperform The firm said it is bullish on shares of the car wash company. "We are initiating coverage of Mister Car Wash (MCW) with an Outperform rating and a $10 price target (~27% upside)." Goldman Sachs initiates Corteva and Mosaic as buy Goldman Sachs initiated several agriculture stocks on Thursday and says they are "defensive." "We believe the ag macro is still in the process of settling lower from the peak caused by the Russia/Ukraine War. However, we believe the drift towards normalized levels will continue later this year. 3) Thus, we are more positive on defensive stocks (Buys on CTVA and FMC) and value stocks (Buy on MOS )." Bernstein reiterates Netflix as outperform Bernstein called the stock "quality for sale." "Netflix stock is down > 10% from its peak in February after reporting their blowout Q4'24 quarter. Though the stock bounced back a bit this week, near-term macro uncertainties could lead to continued volatility, creating an opportunity for an attractive entry point." UBS upgrades Southern Copper to buy from neutral UBS said shares of the copper company have an attractive risk/reward. "We upgrade Southern Copper (SCC) to Buy (from Neutral), keeping our target unchanged at $120/s." Morgan Stanley downgrades Moelis & Company to underweight from overweight The firm downgraded the investment bank and says the stock has "de-rated." "Downgrading Moelis (MC) to Underweight from Overweight: We view MC as a way to play the bull case, which is now lower in probability. MC is the highest earnings beta stock in our coverage, as it has the highest comp ratio among peers." Morgan Stanley upgrades Houlihan Lokey to overweight from underweight The firm said the investment bank is defensive. "We are adding HLI as an Overweight as a more defensive play. HLI has less earnings volatility in a bear case scenario given 1) its strong adjusted compensation ratio management, which has held flat at 61.5% every quarter for the last 3 years and 2) its more resilient revenue mix." RBC upgrades Wells Fargo to outperform from sector perform RBC said it sees a compelling entry point for the stock. "The recent stock price decline gives investors an opportunity to buy WFC's stock. WFC, under the leadership of CEO Charlie Scharf, has executed on its plan to satisfy all its regulatory issues while increasing profitability." Jefferies reiterates Nvidia as buy The firm said it is bullish ahead of the company's artificial intelligence conference next week and that the chip giant is well positioned for CPO [co-packaged optics], which is a data transmission technology used in AI. "NVDA - Remains Kingmaker; Quickly Becoming a Leader in CPO: Nvidia's position as a full system provider serves as considerable strategic advantage during periods of technological transitions." The headquarters of the Department of Education on March 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Department of Education is cutting around 1,300 staffers from its workforce, the agency announced Tuesday. The layoffs will effectively cut the agency in half in an effort to meet President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon's goal of making the department more efficient and reducing the federal government's involvement in education matters like curriculum and school choice. "Today's reduction in force reflects the Department of Education's commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers," McMahon said in a statement. The department says it "will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency's purview," which includes student loans and Pell Grants. But some student debt activists worry that these cuts will bring further delays and confusion for those who need federal student aid to attend school or are paying back federal loans. 'This will only make things worse' Student loan experts and debt relief activists have raised concerns over ED's downsizing. "A reduction in force at the Department of Education, which is the smallest Cabinet-level federal agency, is nonsensical," Sabrina Calazans, executive director at the Student Debt Crisis Center, said in a statement on Wednesday. Borrowers are already dealing with uncertainty over programs ED oversees, such as student loan repayment and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and the cuts will make processes like applying for financial aid and repaying student loans more complicated, Calazans said. Fewer staff members at call centers could mean longer wait times for borrowers who need assistance, for example. Plus, last year's Free Application for Federal Student Aid catastrophe showed how difficult it can be for the department to make major administrative changes without disruption. In fact, hundreds of users reported issues accessing the federal student aid website, and specifically the FAFSA, on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. "Americans with student debt have already been impacted by the recent removal of income-driven repayment plans from the studentaid.gov website; this will only make things worse," Calazans said. Indeed, the online application for all income-driven repayment plans has become unavailable in response to a federal judge continuing the block on President Joe Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education IDR plan in February. Borrowers who enrolled in the SAVE plan are currently in an administrative forbearance and without another income-driven repayment option, they may not be able to afford monthly payments on the standard repayment plan. Further, the loan simulator page on the Federal Student Aid website, where borrowers could previously compare repayment options, says the following as of March 12: "Information related to income-driven repayment plans, including the SAVE Plan, may not be accurate at this time." ED could use a reform, but the best path is unclear, experts say Not all student loan experts are sounding warning bells yet, though. "With any significant policy change, employment or otherwise, there is a risk that things won't go as smoothly as hoped," Beth Akers, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning policy think tank American Enterprise Institute, told CNBC Make It in an email. Akers has criticized some policy moves, like an employee buyout option that lead to nearly 600 ED personnel leaving the agency, but also opposes the idea that closing the department entirely would be detrimental. "It's not apparent how the staffing reduction at the department will cause any immediate disruption for borrowers who are currently in repayment and in good standing on their student loans," Akers said. "All divisions" within ED will be affected by the mass layoffs, according to the federal agency's statement, but it hasn't provided further details as to how the cuts were distributed. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a nonprofit that advocates for equal access to postsecondary education, is similarly interested in seeing which specific departments or programs may be affected by the cuts, though the organization is more skeptical of the Trump administration's assurances. "Claiming that eliminating half the Department won't affect its services without any clear plan to redistribute the workload is, at best, naive and, at worst, deliberately misleading," Beth Maglione, NASFAA interim president and CEO said in a statement. "It also raises serious concerns about how billions of dollars in federal student aid will continue to be disbursed to students without interruption." What student loan borrowers can do India and Mauritius on Wednesday elevated their ties to 'enhanced strategic partnership and inked eight pacts to boost ties in several sectors, including maritime security, and promote trade in local currencies, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled an ambitious vision for growth and security of the Global South.On the second and final day of his two-day trip to Mauritius, Modi graced the national day celebrations of the island nation as the chief guest and announced a raft of development projects for the strategically-located country.Following talks with his Mauritian counterpart Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Modi announced Indias new vision for Global South and named it "MAHASAGAR or "Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions, a policy approach that came against the backdrop of Chinas relentless attempts to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean."We are committed to extend full cooperation in the security of Mauritius Exclusive Economic Zone, the prime minister said.In the meeting, Modi reiterated Indias continued support and assistance to Mauritius in augmenting its defence and security needs given the shared objectives of the two nations in the region.The PM said a free, open, secure, and safe Indian Ocean is the common priority of India and Mauritius and that he and Ramgoolam agreed that defence cooperation and maritime security are an important part of the strategic partnership between the two countries.The two sides also unveiled a 'Joint Vision for an Enhanced Strategic Partnership that outlined the futuristic approach in expanding bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including in defence and maritime security, trade, health and education, and space and climate change.The document noted that the two sides will enhance maritime cooperation through increasing deployment of ships and aircraft for joint maritime surveillance and hydrographic surveys.It said the two leaders also resolved to deepen cooperation towards securing EEZ of Mauritius, including through enhanced utilisation of newly built runway and jetty at Agalega.The unveiling of the 'MAHASAGAR vision came 10 years after the prime minister announced during his visit to Mauritius in 2015 New Delhis SAGAR or Security and Growth for All in the Region policy that formed the bedrock for Indias engagement with the Indian Ocean Region."We have taken the SAGAR vision forward for the stability and prosperity of this entire region. Today, taking it forward, I would like to say that our vision for the Global South will be, beyond SAGAR (it will be) MAHASAGAR that is 'Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions', Modi said in his media statement.The new approach will focus on the spirit of trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, and mutual security for a shared future, he said."Under this, cooperation will be ensured through technology sharing, concessional loans and grants, Modi said.The agreements inked after Modi- Ramgoolam talks will provide for promoting use of national currencies for cross-border transactions, sharing of maritime data, joint work in combating money laundering and enhancing cooperation in the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector.In his remarks, Ramgoolam said Mauritius continues to benefit from Indian assistance for its socio-economic development, adding the two sides will continue to reinforce trade relations through the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA).At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said an agreement was inked on an Indian rupee-denominated line of credit amounting to487 crore for undertaking the replacement of water pipelines in Mauritius.This line of credit has been extended by the State Bank of India and it is the first ever Indian rupee-based Line of Credit thats being extended by New Delhi to any country, he said.In their talks, the two leaders noted that defence and maritime security cooperation remains an important pillar of bilateral relations and close cooperation in this domain has achieved a strategic dimension and benefited both countries immensely, the document on joint vision for an enhanced strategic partnership noted.They further agreed that Mauritius and India, having a shared commitment to ensure a free, open, safe and secure Indian Ocean Region, are natural partners in the region and reiterated their resolve to work closely in countering maritime challenges and safeguarding the larger strategic interests in the region, it said.The document stated Ramgoolam conveyed his appreciation to India for its "unwavering support to Mauritius in protecting its vast Exclusive Economic Zone through provisioning of defence and maritime assets and regular deployment of ships and aircraft.The Mauritian PM further thanked India for its continued assistance towards refit of Coast Guard Ships Victory, Valiant and Barracuda, on grant basis.The document said Modi noted that Mauritius is a special maritime partner for India and is an important partner under Indias Vision SAGAR. The Indian prime minister also said New Delhi will cooperate in building the new Parliament building in Mauritius and it will be a gift to the island nation from the 'Mother of Democracy.Delving into strategic cooperation between the two nations, Modi said every possible help will be provided to Mauritius to help it meet the needs of its Coast Guard and that New Delhi will assist in the establishment of a police academy and national maritime information sharing centre in the country."Cooperation on white shipping, blue economy and hydrography will be strengthened. We fully respect Mauritius sovereignty in the context of Chagos, he said.India has been supporting the island nation in its efforts to reach a mutually beneficial deal with the UK over Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. In October last year, the UK had announced its decision to hand over the sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius after more than half a century under a historic agreement.Under the deal, sealed during the tenure of previous Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth, the UK would give up sovereignty over Chagos Islands but would maintain a 99-year lease over the UK-US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia.However, the new Mauritius government led by Ramgoolam demanded reopening of talks with the UK over Chagos Islands as it sought a relook at the deal.The two leaders also virtually inaugurated the area health centre in Cap Malheureux, and as many as 20 high impact community development projects. In his remarks, Modi said he and Ramgoolam decided to give the status of "Enhanced Strategic Partnership to the India Mauritius ties."We are each others partners on the path of economic and social progress. Be it a natural disaster or the COVID disaster, we have always supported each other."Be it defence or education, health or space, we are walking shoulder to shoulder in every field, he said."In the last ten years, we have added many new dimensions to our relations. We have set new records in development cooperation and capacity building, Modi said.The prime minister also announced several development projects to be implemented in Mauritius under Indias assistance.Work will be done to modernise the 100-km long water pipeline, he said.In the second phase of community development projects, new projects worth 500 million Mauritian rupees will be started, he added."We have also agreed to settle mutual trade in local currencies, Modi said.The prime minister also mentioned various India-assisted projects in the island nation that included "metro express for speed in Mauritius, supreme court building for justice, social housing for comfortable stay, ENT hospital for good health, UPI and Rupay Card to promote business and tourism.Modi and Ramgoolam also dedicated to Mauritius the "Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation.The prime minister also touched upon the people-to-people connection between the two nations."We will work together for the use of AI (artificial intelligence) and DPI, which is digital public infrastructure in human development, Modi said."For the people of Mauritius, facilities will be provided for Char Dham Yatra and Ramayana trail in India, he said.A contingent of Indian armed forces also participated in the national day celebrations along with a warship of the Indian Navy and the Akash Ganga skydiving team of the Indian Air Force. The recent train hijacking in Balochistan by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) marks one of the most audacious attacks in the regions history. Strategic affairs expert Anju Gupta describes the attack as a demonstration of the groups ability to target critical infrastructure, particularly the transportation network linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)."The larger message is that the groups are fully capable of targeting the ground lines of communication, which are part of the CPEC," Gupta said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.The BLA's attack also sends a direct signal to China and Pakistan, highlighting that CPEC cannot succeed without resolving the underlying Baloch grievances. As Gupta explained, CPEC is a flagship project for China in Pakistan, which is under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). These groups are trying to exert pressure on China and Pakistan to somehow resolve the Balochistan issue. With Baloch insurgents frequently targeting infrastructure tied to CPEC, the security of the project remains in question.The motivations behind the attack stem from long-standing grievances of the Baloch people, who accuse the Pakistani state of oppression, forced disappearances, and suppression of their political and economic rights. Gupta noted that the ill-treatment of Baloch women leaders has also fuelled anger. "The Baloch groups see Pakistani forces as oppressors and blame them for thousands of forced disappearances of young men over the last three to four decades," she added.The frequency and intensity of attacks by Baloch insurgents have increased over the past two years, posing a growing challenge to Pakistani authorities. They've been frequently targeting Pakistani patrols, bases, and facilities. The number of attacks has gone up, and so has the lethality, Gupta pointed out, indicating that this trend is likely to continue.In response to the attack, Pakistan has already started pointing fingers at Afghanistan, alleging that the Baloch insurgents operate from Afghan territory. They have blamed Afghanistan and claimed to have tracked a phone call from Afghan soil to someone on the train, Gupta said, noting that the Taliban has rejected these allegations. She also suggested that Pakistan might soon accuse India, as it has done in the past.The Pakistani governments response is expected to include crackdowns on Baloch civilians, as has been the pattern in previous incidents. Pakistani forces are likely to go after innocent Baloch civilians, especially their leaders, to instill fear and take revenge, Gupta warned.Regionally, the attack could have significant consequences. Gupta suggests that Pakistan may resort to proxy attacks or cross-border military operations. We could definitely see vendetta attacks through proxies and also through cross-border military operationsagainst Afghanistan and India. I wouldnt be surprised, she said. She also raised concerns that groups like ISIS or AQIS could be used as unclaimed proxies to carry out attacks that cannot be directly linked to the Pakistani security establishment. Tibetan keeps close watch on 'sacred' black-necked cranes 14:54, March 13, 2025 By Yan Dongjie ( China Daily Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world. Tourists walk a raised path by the Siling Co (Lake) in the Xizang autonomous region in June. The lake and its surrounding natural reserve serve as an important habitat for black-necked cranes. (Tenzin Nyida/Xinhua) In the grasslands of the Xizang autonomous region, Kyizom's work can be solitary. With a motorcycle, binoculars, a bag of dry rations, and a notebook in hand, she ventures alone into the grasslands, embarking on a new day's patrol. "The black-necked crane is considered a sacred bird in Tibetan culture. People believe they are loyal in relationships, and I admire their dedication to guarding their loved ones," said Kyizom, a wildlife ranger at the Siling Lake National Nature Reserve. The reserve in Shanza county, Nagchu city, Xizang, is an important breeding ground for black-necked cranes. As the only species among the 15 crane species globally that breeds and winters in highland areas, the black-necked crane is revered locally as the "highland fairy" and the symbol of happiness, auspiciousness and love. Kyizom, a 29-year-old Tibetan, has been protecting black-necked cranes here for 10 years. Black-necked cranes winter at a reservoir in Lhundrub county, Lhasa, Xizang autonomous region, on Saturday. When it gets warmer, they will fly to areas including the Siling Lake National Nature Reserve to breed. (Tenzin Nyida/Xinhua) Late every March, black-necked cranes that winter in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Valley fly to Shanza to nest, lay eggs and hatch their young. Around November, as the grasslands enter winter on the plateau, the cranes fly to warmer southern regions. From March to November is Kyizom's busiest time. She is responsible for recording the number of the wild animals, especially the migration patterns of black-necked cranes, and preventing human activities that may harm their habitats. "During the breeding season, they are more vulnerable and in need of my protection," she said. "Seeing the hatching of black-necked crane chicks makes me both happy and fearful because I worry wild dogs and foxes may eat them. Therefore, I increased the frequency of my patrols." "The survival status and migration patterns of black-necked cranes reflect changes in the highland wetland ecology, serving as a pointer for the health of highland wetlands," she said. In recent years, Xizang has increased efforts to protect their habitats, and the scattered wetlands in Shanza have attracted a large number of black-necked cranes for breeding and raising their young. According to the second terrestrial wildlife survey in Xizang and the joint survey on wintering crane resources organized by the China Wildlife Conservation Association Crane Conservation Committee in 2020, the population of black-necked cranes in Xizang exceeded 10,000. In the 1970s, it was estimated that there were fewer than 1,000 in the area. In November, Kyizom visited Beijing to share her experiences in nature conservation at the 10th China International Oral History Week organized by the Cui Yongyuan Center for Oral History of the Communication University of China. She shared her story with participants from 11 countries and regions, receiving much appreciation. In recent years, a growing number of young people born in the 1990s and 2000s have joined wildlife protection teams on the plateau. In the internet age, they continue to fulfill their duties in sparsely populated areas with no network signal and harsh environments, contributing a unique strength to protecting the highland ecology, said Kyizom. "I have loved wildlife since I was a child. My father taught me how to interact with animals, and my passion for them is the main reason I love this job," she said. However, her path has not been completely smooth. In the early days, she struggled with riding her bike in rough terrain and suffered many scrapes and bruises. The remote and sparsely populated areas also fostered a fear of attack from nature's predators, such as bears. Over the years, Kyizom has mastered her skills and overcome her fears, and started to pass on her experience to her own children. A mother of three, she guides her children just as her father taught her. When they are on vacation, she takes them to observe wildlife, teaching them how to identify animal species. The children learn to look up, carefully counting the cranes flying across the sky, just like their mother. Through her years of interaction with black-necked cranes, Kyizom has gained an in-depth knowledge of their behaviors. "In wetland environments with good weather, safety, and abundant food, black-necked cranes will gently flap their wings and make giggling calls to express their joy. Now, this sound also brings me happiness," she said. "I hope to participate in more training on scientific wildlife rescue. Through my efforts, I want to ensure that wildlife can live safer and happier lives," she said. With people's increasing enthusiasm for exploring nature, bird-watching activities are becoming more popular, making Kyizom's grassland more lively than before. "When tourists visit, we remind them not to disturb the lives of black-necked cranes," Kyizom said. "They are our auspicious birds, and I hope more people will love and help them, making Xizang a beautiful home for black-necked cranes." Shi Yudie, Zhang Lina, and Yang Meiduo contributed to this story. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Charlie Day has finally joined the cast of Mythic Quest, thus fulfilling the wishes of just about every loyal Mythic Quest viewer in the world, a group that definitely doesnt include Charlie Day Last night, Day made his long-awaited debut appearance on the AppleTV+ comedy Mythic Quest, a project that series star Rob McElhenney began in 2020 alongside some fellow Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia collaborators such as David Hornsby and Megan Ganz. Additionally, Day has served as an executive producer on Mythic Quest ever since its inaugural season, and for as long as the Always Sunny star has had is name in the credits of Mythic Quest under the ever-nebulous job title, fans of both shows have been clamoring to see him on screen. Don't Miss In yesterdays Mythic Quest episode Rebrand, Day delivered a hilarious yet surprisingly stirring performance as he nailed a gut-punch of a dramatic monologue in the third act that convinced many viewers that he should be on the short list for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at this years Emmys. Conversely, Days performance in a Mister Quest promo that McElhenney posted earlier today failed to convince anyone including McElhenney, clearly that Day has actually seen all 38-and-counting episodes of the show he supposedly produces: Seriously, the fact that McElhenney is even asking his so-called co-creator how many episodes of Mythic Quest hes seen means that the answer definitely isnt all of them, as Day incredulously and unconfidently insisted. Despite the urging of many of the internet's top TV critics that every member of the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fandom should give the distinct but similarly hilarious workplace comedy about the makers of a fictional MMORPG a shot, apparently, one of the many members of the Always Sunny family who joined McElhenney and company at Mythic Quest is still unwilling to splurge on an AppleTV+ subscription. Advertisement Nevertheless, everyone who is willing to shell out the money for an extra streaming service (or at least score a free trial for it) should mosey on over to AppleTV+ and watch Days moving performance in Rebrand, even if its the only episode of Mythic Quest that you ever watch. After all, youll be in good company on that one. Photo: Kristina Bumphrey/Getty Images A recession may be on the horizon, and the stock market is tanking, but reality star Lisa Vanderpumps hospitality empire is apparently booming. Vanderpump, the Bravo matriarch, announced on Wednesday that next year shell be opening the Vanderpump Hotel in Las Vegas, renovating and rebranding a boutique hotel off the strip called the Cromwell in her pink-bedazzled-fedora-wearing image. Similar to her mantra at her famed West Hollywood restaurant SUR, which stands for Sexy, Unique Restaurant, a press release reads that the hotels focus would be sexy elegance and comfort. There are Real Housewives cruises and a Summer House Airbnb in Nashville. A Bravo hotel seems like a natural evolution for the channels extremely devoted fan base. Vanderpumps collection of restaurants and bars in L.A. was already a kind of mini-Bravo Disneyland, where fans could run into the wait staff of Vanderpump Rules in person. The first BravoCon fan convention in 2019 at the Manhattan Center in New York offered a similar experience at an even grander scale, a fever dream in which fans consumed branded products like rose-flavored Pepsi along with panels and photo ops with their favorite stars, like Madame Tussauds figures come to life. In 2022, it expanded to the Javits Center, then all the way to Vegas for 2023, where Vanderpump had already been building an outpost of her empire. She has three other steampunk-meets-Barbie-styled restaurants in the Caesars Palace casino and resort, with which she is also partnering on her new hotel. The promotional video doesnt show any specifics, just general Vegas razzle-dazzle, but just imagine running into Tom Schwartz by the ice machine. I, for one, take some solace in the fact that Lisa Vanderpump is bullish on the hospitality business, and bullish on elegance, comfort, and sexiness. I just hope she doesnt need steel or aluminum anytime soon. Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. 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. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday embarked on a visit to Brazil to participate in the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum where he is scheduled to prese ... Its our pleasure to announce that The Daily Californian was awarded first place in Best Newspaper Website at the 2025 California College Media Association awards. Our front page layout for news coverage of a campus shooting last February also won first place in the Best Newspaper Front Page Design category. In total, the Daily Cal won eight awards across both editorial and visual departments. These awards recognize the passion and hard work exhibited by our independent, student-run newsroom everyday. The full list of awards and winners can be found below: First in Best Newspaper Website Kyle Garcia Takata, Ananya Rupanagunta, Harol Guerra, Sandhya Ganesan, Riya Chopra, Anita Liu, The Daily Californian Website First in Best Newspaper Front Page Design Aarthi Muthukumar, Anita Liu, Riley Cooke, Ella Carter-Klauschie, Ria Raniwala, Students recall harrowing moments after shots fired Second in Best Social Justice Coverage The Daily Californian News Department, On campus Free Palestine encampment coverage Second in Best Special Issue/Section Emma Solomon, Veerle De Jong, Emily Hamill, Christina Chang, Nicolas DePalma, Christian Yates, CAL-ifornia Dreamin' Second in Best Newspaper Column Vivian Xie, On God Second in Best Editorial Cartoon Sophia Ashley Saguinsin, Summer Internships Second in Best Infographic Dorothy Wang, Places to vote and drop off your ballot in Berkeley Third in Best Photo Illustration Karissa Ho, Dealing with senior year scaries Third in Best Feature Photograph Kyle Garcia Takata, Chappell Roan at Outside Lands Currently, the EAVP office is working on making headway within the UC system on a bill that involves educating students on their rights as tenants, and legislation regarding disaggregating UC census data and UC health data. (Photo by Jimmy Emerson, DVM under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Has someone been slipping a magic potion into Sir Keir Starmers tea? Or has his mind been turned by too much fraternising with Donald Trump? On Monday evening he delivered a remarkable speech to Labour MPs about welfare that would have been considered provocative if it had fallen from the lips of a Tory prime minister. He told them that the benefits system is unsustainable, indefensible and unfair. There was no actual mention of scroungers but the clear message was that some people are taking the taxpayer for a ride. The Government is reportedly proposing to abolish the highest level of incapacity benefit that offers claimants an extra 5,000 a year with no requirement to seek work. The plan is to save 5billion or 6billion annually. All right, thats not an enormous amount, given that working-age benefits (i.e. excluding pensions) amount to some 134billion a year. But its a start. If you had told me last July that after little more than six months in office Labour would be cutting the welfare bill, I wouldnt have believed you. And its not only when talking about welfare that Sir Keir increasingly sounds like a rather Right-wing Tory. On Tuesday he unleashed a war against quangos as part of the creation of a more agile and active State a theme hell develop in a speech today. The PM announced only two weeks ago that defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, which means an extra 6billion a year. Its not a huge increase but its a move in the right direction, and there will be more to come. Meanwhile, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has just announced that underperforming senior civil servants will be put out to grass. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ordered NHS England to sack up to 7,000 NHS managers as part of his plan to shrink bureaucracy and divert resources to front-line care. Sir Keir Starmer delivered a remarkable speech to Labour MPs about welfare on Monday, Stephen Glover writes The Prime Minister will not venture into certain issues, allowing the likes of Cabinet members Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner free rein over their briefs He has been strutting about the international stage with some conviction - including on the issue of Ukraine by showing support for president Volodymyr Zelensky Is it possible that this Government is less hidebound than we had thought, as well as more decisive and more competent? Might Sir Keir who has recently been strutting about the international stage with some conviction not be the narrow-minded, politically inept North London Lefty we had assumed him to be? While it is clear that something has changed, I think we should approach these questions with caution. After all, most of these announcements are just that. Announcements. Nothing much has happened yet. No senior civil servants or NHS managers have been fired, and the proposed welfare reforms face vigorous opposition from trade unions and some backbench Labour MPs. The Tories plausibly argue that the Government has so far scrapped one quango and invented 27. Nevertheless, we should give credit where credit is due, and acknowledge that at least Sir Keirs language and some of his thinking are changing as he becomes more pragmatic and politically astute. But the transformation is only partial. Sir Keir has a split personality. On the one hand, he is chummy with Trump, albeit in a way I find cringeworthy. He has come to see that the welfare budget is spiralling out of control and must be reduced, and he realises that the machinery of the State is bureaucratic, slow and inefficient. That said, there are still many areas where he wont venture, as he allows ideologues and zealots in the Cabinet to pursue policies that are bound to damage the economy and frustrate the growth on which he and the Chancellor have set their hearts and staked their futures. Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband is permitted to spearhead the lunatic stampede towards net zero which will probably finish off what remains of the British car industry, besides laying waste great swathes of the countryside with solar farms and wind turbines. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is given free rein to wreak havoc with her reforms to workers rights. Before she recently added a few bells and whistles to her Bill to curry favour with the unions, the Government estimated the likely cost to businesses at 5billion. I daresay itll be much more. You could say that there are two governments. One includes Starmer, Streeting, McFadden, Morgan McSweeney (the PMs powerful chief of staff) and, for much of the time when she does not stray off piste, Rachel Reeves. The other government comprises Rayner, Miliband, and Education Secretary and class-war warrior Bridget Phillipson. Plus, of course, activist lawyer and Attorney General Lord Hermer, whose overriding loyalty is to the strictures of human rights law rather than to Labour. Starmer himself still has a foot in this alternative government witness his continuing acquiescence in the madcap plan to give Mauritius the vast sum of 9billion for a lease over the Chagos islands (1,300 miles away) even though a previous Labour administration legally paid for them nearly 60 years ago. Whether the Prime Minister will reveal himself as a pragmatist on this issue or on net zero or on workers rights may be doubted. The conversion of Sir Keir Starmer to a semblance of good sense is a work in progress, and no one can say how far it will go, still less whether it will ever be completed. Nor do I think that Sir Keir has any solutions to a series of grave problems. He and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper havent the faintest prospect of stopping the boats crossing the Channel. There doesnt seem much hope of the economy reviving. Failure on either front would be perilous, on both fatal. But I do think that the PM is emerging as a more formidable figure than appeared likely only a couple of months ago, when he seemed unable to take a step forward without tripping over himself. He also has this unlooked-for boon that Reform, which has been drawing more support from Labour than from the Tories, appears to be committing political suicide. I doubt it will go the whole way, but Nigel Farages party may present less of an obstacle to Labours electoral chances than many pundits thought. If Im right, Labour wont crash and disintegrate, as seemed only too likely a few months ago. It will at least plough on. This provokes two reflections. One is that it is preferable for all of us to have a half competent government than a completely incompetent one. We should welcome even a partly reformed Sir Keir with relief. Of course it would be better to be ruled entirely by highly capable politicians, but that doesnt seem to be a possibility. My other thought is that it will be more challenging for the Tories and Reform to get rid of Starmer than they once thought. The prospect of Labour winning the next election no longer seems utterly incredible. Kemi Badenoch, or whoever succeeds her, has a fight on her hands. So does Nigel Farage. Sir Keir Starmer used to be an almost solitary Left-wing leader. In an increasingly Right-wing world, he is partly moving to the Right, where hes not going to be so easy to dislodge. Nothing is certain in this life, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, except taxes and Labour MPs whining about welfare cuts. Yesterday the Governments own backbenchers fulfilled one of those inevitabilities, decrying their leader for contemplating reform of Britains bloated disability benefits system. At the same time, HM Revenue & Customs confirmed the number of higher-rate taxpayers has for the first time topped five million, after a freeze on thresholds by successive governments dragged 680,000 more into the 40 per cent bracket. It is these strivers, and millions like them, who are footing the rocketing welfare bill. Labour consistently opposed any attempt by the previous government to address soaring handouts. Its addiction to the welfare state is rooted in the simple fact that, for Labour, benefits mean votes at the ballot box. Millions are starved of ambition in a bid to keep them believing in Left-wing dogma. In Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer criticised the Torys welfare measures. Even now, others in his party suggest any reduction in spending would somehow be immoral. And yet we have reached a stage where the welfare bill for working-age adults is forecast to be 60billion next year, slightly above the 59.8billion due to be spent on defence. It is these strivers, and millions like them, who are footing the rocketing welfare bill Facing a global landscape in which the US will no longer subsidise Europes military requirements despite escalating threats, Sir Keir must find many billions for defence at a time of economic stagnation. The Prime Minister has no choice, then, but to grasp the nettle. His Government must make meaningful inroads into this vast welfare mountain. By doing so, they will achieve a triple win: the dependent will become self-sufficient, our economy will grow and the Government will have more to spend on things that really matter. Trouble with tariffs The Government would do well to heed the stern advice delivered by the Conservatives on trade tariffs. Thanks to 2016s historic Brexit vote this country is no longer attached to Europes coat-tails, and remains free to secure its own deal with the US President. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith is entirely correct to point out that Labours proclivity for cosying up to Brussels is not going to win Britain any favours. Donald Trump has hit all steel and aluminum imports with 25 per cent tariffs, including those from the UK and Europe, putting industries and livelihoods here at grave risk. Brussels immediately retaliated with countermeasures. It was a move likely to prove unwise thank goodness we are emancipated from them. Donald Trump has hit all steel and aluminum imports with 25 per cent tariffs The PM has referred to the new tariffs in only the most general terms, speaking of pragmatism and of keeping all options on the table. His caution is probably a sound tactic when dealing with a capricious Mr Trump, who dislikes reprisals and expects smaller nations to back down first. Merely a fortnight ago the President said, in a joint press conference with Sir Keir in Washington DC, that an Anglo-American trade deal could happen very quickly. True, two weeks is a long time in Trumpian politics. But Labour must do the utmost to make the best of that goodwill in a bid to have those tariffs on British steel rescinded. We hope that behind the scenes British ministers and officials are pulling out all the stops to capitalise on our post- Brexit freedoms. When President Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminium imports, Doug Ford, the feisty premier of Ontario, Canada's largest industrial province, came out swinging. He not only promised a retaliatory 25 per cent tariff on Ontario's electricity exports to its southern neighbour but threatened to cut off supplies to New York, Michigan and Minnesota altogether. This bellicose response earned Ford an urgent meeting at the White House and he came away with an agreement that Trump would withdraw his threat to double the US tariff on Canadian metal to 50 per cent. Even Brussels, the sclerotic capital of the EU, came out all guns blazing when the global tariff kicked in yesterday. European Commission President Ursula van der Leyden accused the US of disrupting supply chains, risking jobs and pushing up prices and announced that the bloc would impose retaliatory tariffs on US exports worth up to 22billion. In contrast, our prime minister would only admit to being 'disappointed' and said that he would take a 'pragmatic approach' to the White House's action. Keir Starmer's feeble response in the face of such an aggressive threat to Britain's struggling steel industry was greeted with derision by our steelmakers, trade unions and opposition parties. His reaction is all the more shameful because it comes at a particularly bad time for the industry. Last year Britain sold some 180,000 tons of steel worth 370million to the US, our second biggest market after the EU. Donald Trump has pushed ahead with the 25 per cent levy on steel and aluminium imports despite desperate pleas for an exemption Keir Starmer is resisting pressure to retaliate after failing in his bid to persuade Mr Trump to spare Britain (pictured together at the White House last month) Trump is using tariffs as a political weapon that is designed to return manufacturing and jobs to America's declining 'rust belt', a core constituency for the President. Starmer, on the other hand, appears to be sitting on his hands in the face of a lethal threat to an industry that supports thousands of jobs across Britain, mainly in Wales, Humberside, and Yorkshire. There is some method in No 10's madness. Having left the EU, Starmer clearly feels he has a good chance of forging a wide-ranging free trade deal with the US that could encompass everything from technology to, yes, steel. He is counting on the idea that a conciliatory approach now will pay off later. But the tariffs could not come at a worse time for Britain's once booming steel industry as production in South Wales and other areas is already under threat from Whitehall's onerous climate change agenda. Plans are afoot, with the government's financial support, to replace the production of virgin steel, made in coal-fired blast furnaces from iron ore, with steel made from scrap metal in 'electric arc' furnaces. A major reduction in exports to the US could put the viability of such plans at risk. Our steel industry's domestic revenues could also be hit, as highly subsidised producers in China, who find themselves priced out of the US market by tariffs, flood our market with cheap steel. Trump is using tariffs as a political weapon that is designed to return manufacturing and jobs to America's declining 'rust belt', a core constituency for the President, writes Alex Brummer (stock image) Engineers at the manufacturers' organisation, Make UK, have warned that, with the industry already faced with global overcapacity and high energy costs, this latest blow to its export prospects 'is all the more detrimental' and the government should take early steps to safeguard its future. Meanwhile, the GMB, which represents many of the 33,700 workers directly employed in steel production, has described the tariffs are 'potentially disastrous for all sides' Britain appears to be counting on the good faith of Trump's tariffs tsar, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to bring an end to the crisis. But doing nothing at a moment in history when self-sufficiency in steel for rebuilding our defences and developing nuclear power has never been more vital, looks like an act of self-harm. It is no exaggeration to say that our national security depends on a vibrant, competitive domestic steel industry. Good riddance to Nicola Sturgeon, who has ended up one of the most divisive and disliked politicians to have ever led a political party to victory in the UK. Some of us those who have devoted our time and energy to ending male violence can summon up fury towards her, for selling out women and girls as she paved the way for dangerous men to gain access to female-only spaces with her Gender Recognition Reform Bill (GRR). Blocked Had it not been blocked by the UK Government, this Bill would have removed the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria when applying for a gender recognition certificate, dropped the minimum age for applications to 16 and reduced the time required to live as the opposite sex, pre-transition, to just three months for over-18s. In other words, all a man had to do to be accepted as a woman is self-identify as one. How dare she call herself a feminist, when she has done more to put women in danger than any other politician in Scotland I can think of in recent times. I have been in the feminist trenches, campaigning against all forms of male violence towards women and girls, for over 40 years, and I have to say Ive never bumped into her there. Good riddance to Nicola Sturgeon , who has ended up one of the most divisive and disliked politicians to have ever led a political party to victory in the UK Members of the Scottish Feminist Network outside the Court of Session, Edinburgh What exactly has she ever done for women? In 2022, as her constituency was named one of the most impoverished in the country, she was scarcely seen because she was busy putting the poorest, most disenfranchised women at further risk by pushing gender madness which around two-thirds of voters were opposed to. In January 2023, Sturgeon launched a vile and defamatory attack on anyone who opposed her plans to reform the GRR, even going as far as to say, there are people whove have opposed this Bill that cloak themselves in womens rights to make it acceptable. But just as theyre transphobic youll also find they are deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well. For good measure, she followed this with a claim that those against the Bill supported the tightening of abortion law under regressive policies that harm women, then bragged about how the party had legislation planned to reform the criminal justice system and deal with the issues of low conviction rates for rape. Women's rights protesters stand outside of Bute House, Edinburgh And all the while, there she was giving carte blanche to rapists claiming to be women by locking female prisoners in confined spaces with them even though most of those women are likely to already have been victims of several acts of male violence. This feminist-to-my-fingertips hypocrite referred to the likes of me, JK Rowling, Joanna Cherry, Rosie Duffield and members of For Women Scotland as bigots. Damage This was just weeks before her resignation as First Minister, which came as no surprise to anyone who had, like us, been watching her self-inflicted car crash. But the damage to the country and to womens rights, was done. I can add my personal views as to how she has changed things for women: from her first embracing gender identity reform ahead of the 2016 election, Sturgeon helped create a toxic environment in Scotland for any woman or man that spoke out against it. Nicola Sturgeon often attacked those in the public eye such as JK Rowling about their views Those of us in the public eye became unjustly labelled transphobic bigots. In 2019, after speaking at an event at Edinburgh University on how to combat male violence, I was attacked by a trans-identified male, who, alongside a baying mob of LGBTQ activists affiliated to the university, had been emboldened by Sturgeon and her push for self-identification. The lack of concern from university management was staggering: the perpetrator was arrested and charged but it was me who was deemed to be at fault, for the alleged crime of transphobia. That same year, Katie Dolatowski, a 6ft 5in biologically male, transgender paedophile, was convicted of sexual offences against two girls aged ten and 12 in a womens toilets in Fife. The sex offender was placed in a women-only hostel, putting vulnerable women at risk. Yet Sturgeon forged ahead with self-ID legislation. Dolatowski, meanwhile, praised her for being a great First Minister. Eminent human rights activists, such as Reem Alsalem, UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, gave evidence in the Scottish parliament about the potentially disastrous consequences for women and girls of amending the GRR to include self-identification. Ms Reem Alsalem was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, and was highly critical of Nicola Sturgeons policies Warnings also came from those at the coal face of violence against women services such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centres. As legal experts informed her, to take away female-only spaces including in prisons, psychiatric wards and refugees was to put women at risk. When double rapist Adam Graham, aka Isla Bryson, was placed in a womens prison, the entire nation was shocked (other than those of us that had warned her this would happen). Interviewed, she refused to call Graham a man, saying she regarded the individual as a rapist. The one-time lawyer obviously didnt realise that in law, a woman cannot be a rapist. Nevertheless, she still refused to back down. The most recent example of women being punished for protesting self-identification is that of nurse Sandie Peggie against Dr Beth Upton, a case which came about as a direct result of the toxic gender ideology driven, in part, by Sturgeon. The party she is leaving will in time dismiss her so-called legacy almost in its entirety. I note that current First Minister, John Swinney, has made no attempt to lift the block imposed by on the disastrous gender Bill by the UK Government. Destroyer Meanwhile, Sturgeon has clearly been on the lookout for pastures new for some time and has been spotted around the literary festival scene. No doubt she is looking forward to the publication of her memoirs later this year. Feminists will remember her, in JK Rowlings words, as a destroyer of womens rights and the woman responsible for starting the biggest culture war in recent history. As a result of her growing unpopularity over this issue, she all but destroyed the party she purported to love, with support for it tanking. The SNPs core goals were ignored as she latched onto controversial and highly divisive social reforms, throwing women and girls under the bus without so much as a backward glance. Sturgeon has become a figure of ridicule. A photograph last week showed protesters facing her with placards and banners and Sturgeons back is in view. It says it all. She turned her back on women; we have returned the favour by turning our backs on her. This was the Scotland Nicola Sturgeon helped create. She enabled and emboldened violent and abusive men and abandoned women and girls. I am one of a legion of women and men who will never forgive her. Call it 225,000,000 for cash. Thats how much I reckon Border Force owes us in fines for ferrying illegal immigrants across the Channel. Where do I get that figure from? Well, consider the case of the Essex couple fined 1,500 after discovering a migrant stowed away under the cover of a bike rack attached to the back of their motorhome. Adrian and Joanne Fenton arrived home in Heybridge after driving home from France. When Adrian went to unpack their bikes, he saw a pair of trainers sticking out from under the cover. Joanne explained: He thinks to himself I havent left any trainers on here and then he sees there are two legs attached to it. Adrian, a retired fireman, unzipped the cover and the stowaway clambered out. He claimed to be from Sudan and said he's only 16, obviously, since unaccompanied minors are automatically treated sympathetically. (If hes 16, Im 21 again. And we only have his word that hes from Sudan. He could be from anywhere.) Joanne rang the police, who took the man into custody. Presumably, hes shacked up in a four-star hotel somewhere. Maybe hes living with foster parents. He might even have started school and is getting ready to take his GCSEs. And that, the Fentons assumed, was the end of the matter. This was, after all, back in October last year. Two months later they received a letter from the Home Office issuing them with a 1,500 fine for failing to check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in their motorhome. Adrian and Joanne Fenton (pictured) were astonished to find a Sudanese man inside a bike bag on their motorhome They noticed the man when they spotted a pair of trainers sticking out from under the cover He wasnt in the motorhome, he was clinging to the outside, hiding under a bike cover. The Fentons vehicle had passed through immigration and customs controls in both France and back in Britain, but border officials hadnt spotted him either. They had no idea when hed stowed away. As Joanne said: In France, these clandestines are everywhere. Its unreasonable to expect holidaymakers to search their vehicles inside and out every time they stop for a coffee or to use the loo. Its not as if the Fentons are running a smuggling operation, on a par with the Albanian mob. And they notified the police immediately. Theyre the innocent victims here, but that cuts no ice with the Home Office, which said the fine was designed to target negligence rather than criminality. Meanwhile, the migrant who entered the country illegally faces no such sanction. Instead, he immediately gets access to free accommodation, legal advice, medical treatment and the full panoply of benefits Britain has to offer illegal entrants, as we must apparently now call them. The Fentons are appealing against the fine, but this case serves to illustrate the farcical state of the Governments approach to illegal immigration. Far easier to fine an unsuspecting couple from Essex than to actually do anything about the flood of cross-Channel migrants from goodness knows where. Labour scrapped the Rwanda scheme the only, admittedly imperfect, deterrent to date on Day One, claiming it breached European yuman rites laws. Yet this week we learned that Starmers beloved EU has drawn up plans to deport migrants to third countries while their asylum claims are processed. Daily, the small boats keep on coming. More than 150,000 have crossed the Channel, with another 4,000 already this year. He wasnt in the motorhome, he was clinging to the outside, hiding under a bike cover Most of them are rescued by Border Force vessels after being escorted halfway across by the cynical French. Once they land, they are here for good, not so much no questions asked as any answer accepted. Last Friday, I wrote that we are even rolling out the red carpet for the worst of the worst. While I was writing that column, Border Force was escorting another few boatloads to Britain, including a pro-Hamas gunman who wants to Kill All Jews. We only know about him because of the brilliant Mail on Sunday expose. Once he set foot in Kent, he was free to go and made his way to Manchester before being arrested. Who is going to be held responsible for that? If anyone is guilty of negligence, it is the very people charged with keeping our borders safe. That includes the politicians, lawyers, judges, migrant charities and Border Force who, to be fair, are only obeying orders from their political masters. The Fentons were fined for transporting someone who stowed away on the back on their motorhome. Yet every day, Border Force is ferrying hundreds of illegal entrants to Britain in plain sight. The Home Office says the Fentons fine of 1,500 is at the lower end of the scale. More serious offences rise to 10,000. In which case, my initial 225 million is an underestimate. Given that 150,000 have landed here in the full knowledge of, and with the collusion of, the authorities, the total fines should be much, much higher, at ten grand a pop. Call it 1.5 billion for cash. Some of us remember when the cartoon Yogi Bear boasted that he was smarter than the average bear. Now its predicted that this time next year Artificial Intelligence will be smarter than the average human. At the same time AI is taking on human characteristics. A new study claims that chatbots experience anxiety and stress when fed disturbing information. I still dont know what a chatbot looks like. I have visions of Cadburys Smash-style martians knocking out novels and pop songs day and night. But, given that they can also suffer from stress, how long before they start demanding to work from home three days a week and switch off at 5pm and at weekends under Ginge Rayners employment reforms? Then they smash it all to bits. What are the odds that nobody will lose their job as a result of the closure of NHS England? This isnt a Musk-style clear-out. Theyll all find billets elsewhere in NHS trusts, other health quangos and the useless UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). When the equally useless Public Health England (PHE) was shut, it morphed into the UKHSA. PHE failed miserably to anticipate the Covid pandemic while at the same time waging fatuous campaigns telling us to wear hats and put tinfoil on our windows in summer and wrap up in winter. Past initiatives included banning the sale of daffodils in supermarkets after a migrant family in Bristol became ill when they mistook them for Chinese spring onions; and distributing free rubber johnnies at food banks to so-called Silver Singles to encourage the over-60s to have safe sex. Public Health England staff simply transferred to UKHSA, which costs us 5.15 billion a year and with a 5,753 headcount actually employs 250 more than PHE. So when NHS England staff are redeployed, the total number of superfluous bureaucrats working in the NHS will probably go up, not down. Remember, you read it here first. If Starmer and Streeting are serious, theyd close down UKHSA too. A new railway station in Cambridge will have 1,000 spaces for pushbikes, but no car park. Given that Cambridge is the cycle theft capital of Britain, commuters will probably return home to find their bike has been stolen. Councils everywhere have gone cycle-lane crazy. A case in point is Colchesters Essex Pedal Power scheme, encouraging people to abandon their cars and take up walking and cycling. But it seems this only applies to the little people. Sir Bob Russell, former Colchester MP and council leader, tells me that at the last meeting of the 51-member city council the car park behind the town hall was full, but the custom cycle rack was completely empty. On yer bike. A 'mum on the run' who fled the UK four years ago for a dream life in Thailand - and spends her days sharing tips on how to claim benefits while living abroad - claims she's been detained in a Thailand jail after overstaying her visa. The extraordinary story of Ellis Matthews, 32, who once appeared on reality show Judge Rinder after apparently squandering a 6million fortune, has seen her amass 16,400 followers on TikTok, thanks to her bikini-clad posts on how her lifestyle in the tourism hotspot is funded by British taxpayers' hard-earned money. And in recent weeks, there's been another darker twist in her story, after the ex charity worker, originally who grew up in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, says she's now been jailed by Thai authorities after a police raid on her home in Pattaya. The mother, who says she doesn't miss the older children she left behind in the UK and views them as 'surrogacies', lives in a one-bedroom bungalow with her youngest son, Cairo, three. Until she was arrested and jailed by Thai police, many of her posts on @mumontheruninasia offered insight into how she supposedly claims 2,300 a month in benefits because of her 'six mental disorders'. Ms Matthews, who has previously gone by the name of Ellise May Matthews, says she's now being forced to endure bleak conditions inside the Thai detention centre where the mother is apparently being held. In one of the photos on TikTok, an image shows a fellow inmate behind bars in a less than well-kept prison, with rubbish on the floor and dirty walls and the images do appear to match with the interior of a Thai detention centre previously shared online by a British tourist. Apparently referencing her young son Cairo, Matthews has written the caption: 'I don't care about me but please pray for my son'. British woman Ellie Matthews, who calls herself a 'mum on the run', says she's been incarcerated in a Thai jail. The mother, originally from Lancashire, shares tips on how to claim UK benefits while abroad with her 16,400 followers on Tiktok Ms Matthews, also known as Ellise May Matthews, says she's currently been held in a Thai detention centre in bleak conditions. She has lived in a one-bedroomed bungalow, funded, she says, by the British tax payer since moving to Thailand four years ago Ms Matthews also shared this photo of a child's foot at the detention centre where she says she's being claimed A GoFund Me account has also been set up in Matthews' name, with donations currently at 150. The charity platform's donation page plea reads: 'Keeping it short but will update. Funds needed to support Mum On the run and Cairo'. The message says the account was set up 'without her permission and at the request of others on TikTok'. Previous videos have seen Ms Matthews, who says she 'ran away' from the UK while pregnant with her son, helping others to negotiate the UK benefits system while living in the sunshine. In one video, Matthews, holding a fistful of notes and wearing a string bikini, tells her audience: 'I picked up my Disability Living Allowance today and I've been doing so for the past four years of not living in the UK.' She explains: 'I am diagnosed with around six mental disorders that without in-house treatment, without me being put into a hospital for a minimum of one year, my prognosis is quite poor therefore I need ongoing treatment costs to be met by the NHS by the taxpayer, thank you very much.' The former charity worker adds: 'So, I receive around 2,300 per month undisputable [SIC] money and that pays for my lifestyle out here in Thailand.' Ms Matthews then goes on to share tips that could help others in similar situations claim for such benefits and how to avoid attending UK-based meetings. Prior to her apparent incarceration, she says she lived in a one-bedroom bungalow with 'rent and bills paid for by the British benefit system'. In another video though, she claims she lives in a two-bed 'villa on private land with a communal pool and 24h security'. Appearing on an episode of Judge Rinder, Ms Matthews told TV barrister Robert Rinder that she'd been awarded a sum of 6million after failings by the local authority that cared for her in childhood. Judge Rinder said Ms Matthews childhood experiences were amongst the worst he'd come across in litigation A Go Fund Me account which appears to have been set up to help Ms Matthews and her son Cairo However, TikTok posts have questioned the authenticity of Ms Matthews' story Ms Matthews says she has been diagnosed with 'around six mental disorders' which means she's entitled to claim for Disability Living Allowance while living overseas According to the UK Government's website, Gov.co.uk, British citizens living overseas 'may still be able to claim some benefits', saying 'what youre entitled to depends on where youre going and how long for'. Thailand isn't listed on the countries that currently have a UK benefits arrangement. According to the Thai embassy, British nationals can stay in the country for three-months on a tourism visa, which may be extended by another month upon request. Those overstaying a tourism visa will be fined 500 Baht (11.40) for each day they overstay in Thailand. However, others have suggested in response to Ms Matthews videos that all may not be as it seems. On one TikTok account, @lifeWithEllis2025, a post asks people not to donate to the Go Fund Me page, saying: 'Ellis is fed, watered and sheltered whilst detained in the detention centre. 'Cairo is being cared for and doesn't need any money donating.' Matthews, who has listed her former employment as being a charity worker, appeared on an episode of Judge Rinder, the reality show that launched the career of TV barrister Robert Rinder, before she fled the UK. In the episode, she told the reality TV programme that she'd been awarded 6million after she was let down by Lancashire local authorities in childhood. There's no record of her ever being awarded compensation from the local authority. She said: 'I was raised by the local authority and the case was brought to them for negligence and damages and failure to provide a safe environment. Numerous placements, numerous schools...' Ms Matthews says her mother was the subject of 'constant drug raids and was in and out of prison' and that she lived in 130 homes when she was a child. She told the programme that she endured one particularly traumatic incident where she was locked in a cupboard under the stairs with a drug user who 'had overdosed in our house'. Another recent post saw her say that she doesn't love the children she's left behind in the UK, because 'they're not a part of my life', before she adds: 'I consider them surrogacies'. In 2020, Ms Matthews was caught drug driving after police found her behind the wheel after taking cocaine and cannabis. According to an article in the Lancashire Telegraph in 2018, the then 28-year-old had failed a roadside swipe test. She was also later found not to have insurance and was driving other than in accordance with a licence. Matthews was fined 200 with 85 costs. A psychic, renowned for his ability to predict major global events, made a chilling forecast just days before a cargo ship collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea. Craig Hamilton-Parker, also known as the 'new Nostradamus' and 'Prophet of Doom,' predicted the disaster on 4 March, during a YouTube video where he shared his insights for the month. The spiritual medium, who works alongside his wife, Jane, has built a reputation for accurately forecasting significant events. His past predictions include the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the 2024 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. In the video, posted to his Youtube channel, Hamilton-Parker revealed a disturbing vision: 'I saw a ship or something in trouble and I feel as if there will be an oil tanker problem coming up soon. 'It was a ship of some sort in trouble. It could be an oil tanker, maybe it is passenger, but I feel as if there will be some sort of pollution thing.' Seven days later, on March 11, the MV Solong collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea, sparking a major fire. Dozens of people were rescued after the MV Stena Immaculate exploded into a 'massive fireball' off the Yorkshire coast, leaking some 18,000 tonnes of fuel into the ocean. Craig Hamilton-Parker, also known as the 'new Nostradamus,' made a chilling forecast just days before a cargo ship collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea On March 11, the MV Solong collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea, sparking a major fire and environmental concerns The captain of the cargo ship has since been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. Ernst Ross, the company that owns the Solong, said the 59-year-old man, who has not been named, 'has been detained by Humberside Police' and is 'actively assisting with the investigations.' A crew member from the Solong is missing and presumed dead as efforts continue to prevent an environmental disaster in the aftermath of the accident. Due the potential for an oil spill, the disaster has further echoed Hamilton-Parker's initial prediction of 'some sort of pollution thing.' This isn't the first time Hamilton-Parker's forecasts have come true: in 2024, he correctly predicted both the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and his subsequent victory in the U.S. presidential election. Speaking about the event at the time, the psychic shared: 'In America, Im seeing Trump will win the 2024 presidential election. I feel like there will be some kind of health scare for Trump but that wont stop him.' Two days before the attempt on Trump's life, Hamilton-Parker warned his YouTube followers of an imminent threat, as reported by Metro. He explained: 'It has always been in the back of my mind that there would be an attempt on Trump's life because I read his Nadi chart in 2019.' Due the potential for an oil spill, the disaster has further echoed Hamilton-Parker's initial prediction of 'some sort of pollution thing' Nadi astrology, a form of prediction with roots in ancient India, lays out a persons life path, and Hamilton-Parker claimed he saw this event in Trump's chart years before it occurred. The spiritual medium began his journey into the psychic arts in his early 20s, after visiting India and being inspired by Nadi astrologers. It comes as a terrifying prediction made in the 16th century warning of a terrible plague may show signs of coming true. Astrologer Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, is said to have predicted the disturbing world event in his book Les Propheties, which was published in 1555. While his forecasts are often vague, the French philosopher has been credited with accurately foreseeing a variety of world happenings, including the rise of Adolf Hitler. Like a lot of women, Alexandra Francis simply knew she was pregnant when she conceived her daughter, Xaria. Having given birth to five babies already, she was acutely tuned in to the subtle changes tender breasts, a metallic taste, nausea. When her period didnt arrive, it only confirmed what she had suspected. However, this experienced mum who had also suffered two miscarriages didnt rush out to buy a pregnancy test. Checking her menstrual cycle on the calendar, she worked out the date she must have conceived and that was it. No call to the doctor, no registering with a midwife, nothing. In fact, Alexandra, who is now 44 and lives in East Grinstead, West Sussex, didnt tell anyone other than Daniel, her partner of 16 years. She had felt bitterly disappointed by her previous experiences of birth, four in hospital and one midwife-supervised home birth. This time, she was determined to have a wild pregnancy, a term coined by mothers who do not wish for any medical interference or intervention at all. That will sound terrifying and risky to the vast majority of mums. But Alexandra was adamant. She would not undergo any tests or scans, never attend a midwife or doctors appointment and when it came to the actual birth she would ensure she was far from any medical setting by travelling abroad. It marked a radical change in her approach to childbirth. Alexandra Francis with her son Kelyle, two, who was born via a 'wild birth' Alexandra with her newborn. She runs a birthing guidance service called ourhummingbird.com Id had hospital births with my first four children my eldest is now in his 20s and Id put my trust in the system, because thats just what you do, says Alexandra, a former youth development worker who is now a birthing guide, offering support to more than 100 women on wild pregnancy. You believe that the medical profession has your best interests at heart. Of her own previous births, she says: I suppose I was fortunate. Although I nearly bled to death with my first son with a postpartum haemorrhage, I had four natural births in the hospital with no more than gas and air. But, in terms of being treated with respect and care, I felt I was on a conveyor belt. With my fifth child a girl I opted for a home birth, hoping it would be less invasive. But even then, I wasnt listened to at all. After four babies, I knew without doubt that I was in labour but the midwife wouldnt believe me. Id previously said no to internal examinations, which was perfectly within my rights, but she insisted on it anyway. Only then would she accept that I was about to give birth. I felt so undermined and disrespected. When the baby was born, I had another massive haemorrhage. The midwife managed to stop the bleeding with drugs, so I didnt need hospital care. But it really affected me emotionally. I felt confident that if Id been left alone to have my baby as I wanted to, I wouldnt have bled and it wouldnt have been as stressful. I knew from that moment that if I got pregnant again, I would never have any medical interference ever again. Many mothers who have had distressing births may empathise with her frustration in the moment. Yet most would also accept that antenatal care can pick up potentially fatal complications such as pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes or problems with the baby. When she discussed her unconventional birth plan with her partner Daniel, he didn't try to discourage her Alexandra felt differently: Id previously worked in a maternity unit, doing clinical support, so I have seen birth from both sides. I understand that midwives and doctors have their place and some mothers want them involved but some dont. And thats not respected a lot of the time. And so, when she became pregnant with Xaria in 2015, three years after her home birth, she says she felt completely confident about pregnancy and birth without medical intervention. She bought equipment used by midwives urine test kits, a doppler (an ultrasound device used to hear a babys heartbeat), a blood pressure monitor, oximeter and stethoscope. (The NHS advises against using home dopplers because they are not reliable and, even if you hear a heartbeat, it doesnt mean your baby is well.) She says: Of course, if something was seriously wrong Id head to the hospital. But Id been pregnant so many times, I was confident I could do this on my own. Alexandra, who uses the name Queen professionally, is not alone in feeling frustrated with NHS birth care. A patient safety report last year painted a devastating picture of maternity care, with rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and maternal deaths all worsening over the previous two years. Maternal deaths per 100,000 increased from 9.71 in 2022 to 13.41 in 2024. More women are eschewing medical settings, with one to two per cent of births now taking place at home. This is usually under NHS supervision, however, and almost always with a midwife present. But private Facebook groups and online forums for free birth and wild pregnancies are gaining some traction one such group discussing unassisted childbirth has more than 6,000 members. Mothers-to-be are legally allowed to decline any and all medical support. But some healthcare professionals may believe that you are placing your unborn child at risk, and may be more likely to refer you and your baby to social services as a result. None of this deterred Alexandra. Both Xaria and her seventh child (her son Kelyle, born nearly three years ago) were brought into the world the wild way, despite the risks. I was determined to do this all on my own terms, she says. From the moment I knew I was pregnant with Xaria, I felt a spiritual connection to this baby that I couldnt explain and had never felt with any of my other children. I had a doppler machine from my previous pregnancies, which I used to listen to her heartbeat. It was just the two of us; it was beautiful. Then I heard what I can only describe as a spiritual voice saying she would guide me through this pregnancy, showing me the way. Its so important to listen to your heart, your instincts and your body to have beautiful births. This inner voice told Alexandra to give birth far from any medical setting. She recalls: It was guiding me to Ecuador a country Id never been to and knew nothing about and, although it sounds crazy, I knew Id have to do this. I didnt want to be on the NHSs radar in case someone tried to insist that I have medical help. Amazingly, when Alexandra discussed her unconventional birthplan with Daniel, he didnt try to discourage her. He said that he trusted me. Yes, it was an experiment where I was the scientist, the lab and the observer but I trusted my own body to know what was best. Together, we coined a phrase, Are you going to let the midwife into the room? and we knew we werent. I listened intently to my body. I had been vegan for years, but anything like salad or vegetables made me violently sick, which had never happened in my other pregnancies. One of the first things my voice told me to eat was a pepperoni pizza! I stopped watching television, as I needed calmness around me, and cut out all external noise. As the months went by, she revealed her plans to her mother herself a mum of five. My mum really didnt want me to go to Ecuador. She thought I was doolally. But because Id already had five kids, she came round. I didnt do this lightly. Three months before she was due, the couple and their children (who were homeschooled) flew out to Ecuador, renting a three-bedroom house in the mountains. People ask how I afforded it but actually, it was cheaper to live there for three months than it was in the UK, she says. She calmly prepared to give birth. But at 16 days overdue two days longer than the NHS would leave a baby in the womb, as the chance of stillbirth doubles after this point Alexandra did have a wobble and wondered if she should seek medical help. It was Daniel who reminded me, Are you going to let the midwife into the room? I knew he was right. I had to see this through. Within 48 hours I was in labour. It was the most beautiful water birth in a birthing pool I had bought, just as Id always wanted. I remember falling back as my baby came out, surrendering my body to the water. As I breathed the baby out into Daniels hands, feeling every stretch, we watched her, still in the water, still not breathing. (Babies born in water dont take their first breath until they are brought to the surface. Instead, they continue to get oxygen through the umbilical cord.) We realised at that point that the cord was round her neck and Daniel turned her gently to release it. There was no panic or stress. (This is only a medical emergency if the cord is too tight or tangled.) Then I said softly, Shall we bring the baby up? My baby girl was brought gently to the surface and took her first breath. She was breathing, her colour was good. We kept the cord intact and the baby attached to the placenta. Its called a lotus birth, and is thought to benefit the baby by helping more nutrients move into its system. A day later, when the cord had dried up, we burned it to separate the baby from the placenta. Alexandra says if things had gone medically wrong, she would have called an ambulance, as there were two hospitals not too far away. Having had haemorrhaging with two previous births, of course I was concerned but we were prepared, and I had learned techniques to help stop the bleeding. She felt it was finally the perfect birth after years of being ignored and belittled. And when she conceived her seventh child in 2021, she knew she wanted another wild pregnancy and birth. Again, I informed no doctors, no midwives, she says. In March 2022, a month before I felt I was due to give birth, I flew out to Bali, a country Id been to before where Id felt really at home. This time I was alone, while Daniel looked after the older children back at home. I hired a glass-fronted house where I could see the sea from my window. Every day I could walk on the beach and swim with dolphins, which was out of this world. Theyre such incredible creatures and can detect when a woman is pregnant. Some women even give birth with them known as dolphin-assisted births. Just before my due date, I began to feel waves of pain. One of the local Balinese women who worked at the house helped me fill the birthing pool. As I got in, I remember crying so much. I was all by myself and felt lonely. Hours later, however, her birth wasnt progressing and her waters still hadnt broken. Alexandra realised she would have to burst the amniotic sac still inside her body in order to move things along. But she had nothing sharp to hand. Outside, she could hear the female staff member who had fortunately stayed nearby, astonished to realise this woman from the UK was giving birth on her own. When Alexandra called to her, she brought her some scissors. Alexandra used these to burst the sac and, soon afterwards, Kelyle was born safe and healthy. She admits: I dont know what would have happened if she hadnt been able to pass me the scissors. I was lucky. Another lotus birth, this time Alexandra left the cord intact for two days. We stayed together in Bali for 42 days, with all my other children flying out to meet him there Id given them the option, but they had chosen not to be there for the birth, she says. We got the paperwork together with the British embassy for Kelyles passport and birth certificate, and flew home. Legally, a childs birth must be registered within 42 days in the UK. Today, Alexandra says that her two wild pregnancies have not only changed her view of birth theyve made her a better parent. I feel completely connected to my two youngest in a way that I didnt with my others, she says. They cry less, they are calmer. Theyre seldom unwell and they seem more resilient. The other day Kelyle, who is nearly three, got out a sharp knife to help me chop some mushrooms and part of me thought, Oh no, he cant have a sharp knife but he just got on with it and I felt confident letting him do so. She now runs a birthing guidance service called ourhummingbird.com. Its still a very niche way to give birth, she admits. But I believe that many women, like me, simply want to have their babies in their own way. One expert's warning about wild pregnancy and birth Kim Thomas, CEO of the Birth Trauma Association charity, offers this advice: Some women who have had difficult experiences with medical professionals in the past particularly if that has included traumatic birth may find the idea of wild pregnancy and birth attractive. This is understandable but we would strongly advise against it. We hear terrible stories every day of women whose pregnancy and birth havent gone to plan even in a hospital and even the strongest, healthiest women can find themselves in an unexpected emergency. Having regular checks with a midwife during pregnancy can help identify and act on potential problems. Many womens lives have been saved by the urine checks that identify signs of pre-eclampsia, for example. Similarly, a growth scan late in pregnancy can show whether the baby is developing at the expected rate and, if not, action can be taken to save the babys life. During labour, having a midwife or doctor on hand can mean the difference between life and death. Sometimes, for example, when the babys head has been delivered, the babys shoulders get stuck (a condition known as shoulder dystocia), and expertise is needed to deliver the baby safely. Or a straightforward birth might be followed by a postpartum haemorrhage that needs urgent treatment to save the mothers life. Worldwide, 70,000 women a year die from postpartum haemorrhage, but in the UK deaths are extremely rare precisely because doctors are on hand to stop the blood flow. We would urge all women to make sure that they receive appropriate medical care during labour and birth. If you have been traumatised by previous experiences, then its worth asking the community perinatal mental health team for help, and talking to your midwife about your specific concerns and wishes for the birth. A 7ft 2in university student has become a local celebrity at regional events across the country - after towering over glamorous revellers at everything from Ascot to Henley and the Highland Show. James McAlpine, from Scotland, has become beloved on social media - as attendees at the revered society gatherings have begged the internet to 'make him famous'. Just yesterday, the equestrian enthusiast, who attends Oxford Brookes University, danced up a storm in the streets at Day One of Cheltenham. At the outing - which was attended by VIPs including the King's niece, Zara Tindall, fashion designer Jade Holland Cooper and TV personality Georgia Toffolo - James was seen enjoying a boogie on the streets. Delighted onlookers clapped as they surrounded him, and even joined in. But it's far from James's first time in the spotlight. Despite not appearing very active on social media himself, the online sensation features in several TikTok videos. There, viewers have become obsessed with his omnipresent attendance at all of the UK's largest society gatherings - and his penchant for ladies who like to wear a Schoffel. A 7ft 2in university student has become a local celebrity at regional events across the country - as he has towered over glamorous revellers at everything from Ascot to Henley and the Highland Show Speaking to Invades in 2023, while attending the Henley Royal Regatta, James was asked what his 'biggest green flag' is in a girl. 'As long as they wear a Schoffel,' he said. The following year at Ascot, James once again became the subject of TikTok fame as he attended the QIPCO British Champions Day. Speaking to Raceday.Rtv, he revealed that both his parents are taller than 6ft 5in, and that he enjoys 'shooting', and takes part in the activity for his university. In another clip for the outlet just a few weeks later, at Cheltenham in October, he was asking how the 'racing stardom' felt, after a clip featuring his interview racked up more than four million views. 'It's mental,' he admitted. 'I'm absolutely loving it. It's crazy, I feel like royalty or like an A-list celebrity. It's good fun.' James told Raceday.Rtv that he's 'very into' horse racing, polo and rowing, the latter of which he said he had a great 'physical advantage' for. However, he found it too demanding and claimed he 'drank too much' to stick with the sport. James McAlpine, from Scotland, has become beloved on social media - as attendees at the revered society gatherings have begged the internet to 'make him famous' Despite not appearing very active on social media himself, the online sensation features in several TikTok videos Commenters have compared the social media star to racing commentator John Michael McCririck, while others have been wowed by his towering height. Many have claimed to have bumped into James in real life, following his online virality. 'Saw him at royal highland show! Turned round to him stood behind me nearly fell over,' one penned. Another confessed: 'Met this guy in a bar in Winchester - Im 68 and he towered over me.' A third wrote: 'I saw this guy yesterday somewhere, he is really tall, the tallest human being I have ever seen in real life.' Yesterday, James was among the many racegoers at Cheltenham who got into a festive mood as they partied up a storm on Day One of the celebrated event. Drinks were flowing and cheerful revellers got into the spirit, with many dancing in the streets. Photos from the event also showed guests singing along with one another, as they posed for photos while toasting pints. Fashionistas descended on the course in Gloucestershire with many putting a vibrant and colourful twist on the rural staples of tweed and fur. Anxious to prove they can hold their own against the fashionable displays seen at Ascot and Aintree each year, racegoers dressed up in statement suits, knee-high boots and fur-trimmed hats and capes. Perfectly coiffed women donned eye-catching prints, thigh-skimming dresses and eye-catching wide leg trousers as they arrived in their thousands to take in the first day of the action. James told Raceday.Rtv that he's 'very into' horse racing, polo and rowing, the latter of which he said he had a great 'physical advantage' for Speaking to Invades in 2023, while attending the Henley Royal Regatta, James was asked what his 'biggest green flag' is in a girl Commenters have compared the social media star to racing commentator John Michael McCririck, while others have been wowed by his towering height. Many have claimed to have bumped into James in real life, following his online virality Just yesterday, the equestrian enthusiast, who attends Oxford Brookes University, danced up a storm in the streets at Day One of Cheltenham At the outing - which was attended by VIPs including the King's niece, Zara Tindall , fashion designer Jade Holland Cooper and TV personality Georgia Toffolo - James was seen enjoying a boogie on the street But not to be outdone by their female counterparts, some men added a touch of flair and opted for brightly coloured suits. When it came to headwear, there was a sea of stylish trilby hats coming through the Festival's doors, with others opting for striking feathered fascinators. Check ensembles seemed to be the order of the day, with many guests opting for patterned jacket and trouser combos or mini skirts and blazer dresses. Revellers were joined by VIPs including the King's niece, Zara Tindall, fashion designer Jade Holland Cooper and TV personality Georgia Toffolo. Newly-married Georgia looked sensational in bridal white as she revealed her outfit for day one of Cheltenham Festival on Monday. The Made In Chelsea star, 30, who married her husband James Watt, 42, over the weekend, said she was 'carrying on her honeymoon' at the event. Sharing a video to Instagram, ahead of the day, she explained how the colour was a 'controversial' choice. Toff opted for a white dress with a matching cropped jacket that buttoned down the front by Delia Wade. She teamed it with a pair of opaque tights, patent knee-high heeled boots by YSL and a small handbag. To accessorise, Toff shielded her with with a chic, oval shades and popped a chunky black headband in her hair. She captioned the video: 'Day 1 Cheltenham outfit reveal! Quite a mad one even by my standards. Wearing white with patent leather boots to Cheltenham sounds so wrong but I personally think its sooooo right? 'Eager to hear your thoughts! You know how much I adore the festival. Its such a special treat. Ive been up since dawn desperate to get to the coursewhat a week we have ahead.' Princess Anne's daughter Zara, 42, meanwhile, made a stylish statement in a double-breasted navy wool Victoria Coat from Fairfax & Favor, priced at 495 and featuring statement gold buttons. She matched her outerwear to a ruffled shirt and a pair of wide-leg trousers, while sticking to a monochromatic palette for most of her other accessories - including a pair of navy 295 Chiswick Heeled Quilted Ankle Boots from Fairfax & Favor. However, she added a pop of colour with a mustard fascinator that complemented her coat's buttons as well as the gold chain on her 495 black Aspinal of Londons 'Lottie' bag. She also added a pair of tortoise shell sunglasses and elegant gold earrings to tie her look for the first day of Cheltenham together, as the King's niece appeared fresh-faced and excited for the day's event. An influencer has revealed she spent almost 1 million on plastic surgery - but admitted her 'unrecognisable' passport photo has landed her in hot water during her travels. Janaina Prazeres, from Brazil, has been dubbed the 'world's most beautiful woman' after going under the knife 20 times - spending a staggering 758,000 to enhance her appearance. But the model warned that perfection 'has its price' after claiming to have been stopped and interrogated by 'confused' immigration control staff at the airport. The influencer, who claims to be 35, alleged officers detained her for 40 minutes while questioning her identity at Sao Paolo International Airport, where she had planned to board a flight to the U.S. Among the many procedures she's undergone over the years, Prazares has had a full facial 'harmonisation' and fillers, multiple rhinoplasties, a Brazilian Butt Lift, and a body lift costing around 66,000. However, her old, faded passport photo exhibits the model in a more natural state, with a distinctly darker hair colour, a slightly wider nose, a less 'chiselled' face shape and lighter make-up. Prazeres said: 'I always knew this could happen at some point because my appearance has changed a lot over the years. 'But at that moment, it was a shock - you never expect to be stopped at an airport without doing anything wrong. Janaina Prazeres, from Brazil, has been dubbed the 'world's most beautiful woman' after going under the knife 20 times The model warned that perfection 'has its price' after claiming to have been stopped and interrogated by 'confused' immigration control staff at the airport 'Officers asked several questions and even compared my photo with other images before granting me entry into the country.' The influencer, who has over 725,000 Instagram followers, was left so unsettled by the experience that she has vowed to update her passport photo to reflect her current appearance. Prazeres said: 'I didn't want to go through that kind of embarrassment again. 'As soon as I arrived at my destination, I started looking into what I needed to get a new document with a more recent photo.' The model warned: 'Perfection has its price.' Prazeres was voted the 'Perfect Woman' by Playboy in Norway in 2023, after spending $300,000 at the time on plastic surgery. After receiving the accolade from the famous adult magazine, she spoke out about how she's gone under the knife several times. The Brazilian native believes being beautiful is 'the secret to a better life,' adding: 'I love feeling more beautiful - I always try to make my self-esteem high.' Prazares has had a full facial 'harmonisation' and fillers , multiple rhinoplasties, a Brazilian Butt Lift, and a body lift costing around 66,000 'This is the secret to a better life. So if I can invest in [my beauty] I don't save.' Elsewhere, a traveller was 'humbled' after she almost wasn't let on her flight because she didn't look anything like her passport photo. Alisha Marie's very casual no-makeup look bore little resemblance to her glamorous passport picture - so much so the agent didn't believe it was the same person. The 30-year-old laughed as she warned others to think twice before putting on too much makeup when getting their passport photo taken. However, in the beauty blogger's passport photo she had a fringe, styled hair and a face full of makeup. A brown bear who underwent a pioneering, life-saving brain surgery in October has emerged from semi-hibernation 'looking brilliant, happy and healthy'. Three-year-old Boki, who lives at Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury, Kent, had been suffering from seizures believed to be caused by hydrocephalus, which is fluid on the brain. Boki had been medicated to deal with the swelling and build-up of fluid, but zoo staff would have been unable to treat him once he went into semi-hibernation. Staff decided that brain surgery was the best option for Boki, and he went under the knife for five hours on Wednesday October 9, making him the first brown bear on record to have brain surgery. World-leading veterinary surgeon Romain Pizzi, who waived his fee for the job, fitted a stent between Boki's brain and abdomen to help pass the excess fluid. A spokeswoman for Wildwood said the bear has made a 'remarkable recovery' and staff have weaned him off his medication with no adverse effects. Head of bears at Wildwood, Jon Forde, said Boki's emergence from semi-hibernation is a key stage in his recovery. He said: 'He's looking brilliant, happy, and healthy and we haven't seen any negative signs from him. All his personality traits are still there - he's still the same old Boki that we love. Boki (pictured), the first brown bear to undergo brain surgery in the UK, has made a 'remarkable recovery' after undergoing brain surgery 'Boki did well for his first ever winter sleep. He lost around 30kg - we think a lot of this is because he's actually grown while he was asleep, so a lot of energy has been used for that. 'Our first job will be to put some weight back on him. At this time of year there's not a lot of food around - mostly vegetation - so we'll get some weight back on him but start him slow and take our time and make sure he's 100 per cent healthy.' Boki had been adopted from Port Lympne Wild Animal Reserve in December 2022 after he was rejected by his mother and had to be hand-reared by keepers there. The spokeswoman said: 'The team at Wildwood, renowned for their work with brown bears, had to help him learn bear behaviours. 'As part of this work, they had begun to integrate him with their two adult bears - Fluff and Scruff. 'This had to stop with the onset of his seizures, but the hope is that they'll be reunited in the not-too-distant future.' The bear has made a 'remarkable recovery' and has been weaned off his medication with no adverse effects Pictured: Specialist wildlife veterinary surgeon, Romain Pizzi (pictured centre) with his team performing surgery to drain fluid from the brain of the then-two-year-old brown bear Boki at Wildwood Trust in Kent Wildwood's head of zoo operations Mark Habben said: 'What a remarkable transformation we've seen in this young bear - he's back to being the Boki we first met. It's like he's forgotten that he even had an operation. 'While the signs are very positive, we still need to proceed with caution and to take care with the reintroduction to Fluff and Scruff. 'This will involve boisterous play, which we want to minimise in these early stages post-torpor. 'We will monitor him very closely and, at some point over the coming months, we will conduct that introduction if everything continues to go well.' Romain Pizzi, the first surgeon to perform a similar operation on a black bear in Asia, agreed to operate on Boki. The Wildwood Trust said the surgery and immediate aftercare for Boki cost 20,000, but explained that without the operation the bear 'would not survive the winter'. The trust added that it was 'incredibly thankful' Mr Pizzi had 'volunteered his time and team' to the case. Before the opeation, Mark Habben, Wildwood's Director of Zoo Operations, told ITV News: 'Boki is loved by absolutely everyone, not just people who have met him but those who have seen his antics online. 'He's really charismatic and friendly and has captured the hearts of not just the staff but every one of our supporters as well. 'It has been our absolute priority to work out why he's having seizures and to give him the help he needs.' To get Boki to his operation, the team had to undergo an 'immense challenge' to transfer him 100 miles. Fainting at the theatre isn't a new phenomenon, but the rate at which attendees are dropping at The Years might be. Theatregoers watching the Eline Arbo's award-winning directorial work at London's Harold Pinter Theatre are blacking out or requesting to leave just before, during, and after a graphic abortion scene. The Years: West End, based on French writer Annie Ernaux's feminist memoir, Less Annees, tells the intimate tale of a woman through five various life stages, from childhood during the Second World War to motherhood, with each life chapter played by a different actress. The play is set against the political backdrop of post war Europe, with its citizens grappling with changing reproductive rights among other issues. Though critics have praised Deborah Findlay, Gina McKee, Tuppence Middleton, Anjli Mohindra, and Harmony Rose-Bremner for their extraordinary performances, it's the audience members who have made headlines. Since the play originally reached the Almeida last year, at least one theatregoer at most performances have reportedly lost consciousness halfway through the two-hour play, the time point when the third actress depicting Annie undergoes a back-street abortion. The scene, set in 1963, a time when France considered medical abortions illegal, shows Romola Garai as Annie attempting to abort the foetus herself using a knitting needle before visiting a back-street nurse and miscarrying at home. Daily Mail's Patrick Marmion can attest, with the critic writing: 'There was drama on stage and off this week at Islington's boutique Almeida Theatre when their latest show, The Years, was briefly stopped after a number of men began feeling unwell.' The Years has reached London's Harold Pinter Theatre - but one scene is causing drama among viewers (pictured: The Years cast) Having heard reports of the vivid abortion scene, or as the critic puts it, 'a harrowing episode in Ernaux's life story', Marmion arrived at The Almeida, where the show was prior to the West End, gripping a bottle of Bach's Rescue Remedy. He explained: 'Recounting it, Garai also reduces the normally unshockable Almeida to mute silence thanks in part to liberally deployed ketchup, but also because of unsparing descriptions recalling a 'baby doll on an umbilical cord'. 'If, however, you have a strong enough stomach for such things as well as the ability to suspend moral judgements it is just one (admittedly grim) part of a fascinating, funny and moving history of the late 20th century, seen through the eyes of a very candid French woman growing up, and growing old.' While there's no doubt about the play's emotional power, there is a question mark on whether theatregoers have the stomach to oversee such a graphic scene. The Guardian's Nadia Khomami witnessed a man gesture the ushers for help during the abortion scene, before others joined him in reporting similar woozy feelings to theatre staff. Then, during the intermission, Khomami heard reports of an observer shouting from the circle that the controversial scene 'was a disgrace', particularly because 'there was no warning'. The London theatre prepares audiences for the 1963 back street abortion scene with a trigger warning The controversial West End play is based on French writer Annie Ernaux's feminist memoir, Less Annees MailOnline has contacted the Almeida and The Harold Pinter Theatre for comment. The theatre told The Guardian: 'The performance on Monday of The Years was stopped for 10 minutes so that our front of house team could provide care for an audience member who required assistance. 'During the stoppage, care was also provided for three other audience members. All audience members were quick to recover after brief assistance.' While the anonymous attendee is well within their rights to dub the scene a 'disgrace', they're wrong about the lack of pre-warning. Online, the show comes with a trigger warning: 'Please note that this production contains graphic depictions of abortion, blood, a coerced sexual encounter, and sexual content, which may at times be distressing. The production includes the use of e-cigarettes, haze, and flashing lights. The trigger warning is an advantage that audiences in the Netherlands, where the play originated, never received. 'My experience is that there's more reactions than if you don't have these,' Arbo told the Financial Times. 'It's the theatre's way of giving an excuse for itself, but then you [the audience] are so aware of it that it enhances the feeling of uncomfortableness.' Arbo reinforced that she is in support of trigger warnings and would never want the audience to attend 'unprepared'. The Telegraph reported a 2023 study by the British Psychological Society, which found that trigger warnings have a 'negligible impact on emotional reactions', but at the same time, encourage 'an anticipatory response'. When the Telegraph's Claire Allfree, who found the scene 'undeniably distressing, although... not especially graphic', chatted with audience members, others had a completely different view of all the fuss. One woman said to Allfree: 'Are people going now because of the sensationalism of it and if so, is that detracting from what, for many women in the US, in light of the overturning of abortion rights, is now their lived experience?' Others asked the reporter whether the fainters were planted there by the theatre to increase hype around the play - a claim that the Harold Pinter Theatre denied. There's never going to be one type of reaction to watching the sensitive scene on stage, but Daily Mail's Marmion wants to remind those that can stomach the gore to do so. He wrote: 'From a man's point of view, it's a fascinating insight into the uncensored inner life of women as they or Ernaux at any rate see themselves. And the women at the show I saw this week were also very clearly loving it. 'They were delighted by the occasionally shocking, but mostly playful portrait of a life and by Ernaux's secrets. 'Her story follows a well-trodden historical path, but that only makes it more accessible as do the five actors representing Ernaux's different ages. Each refers to themselves as 'we', indicating that this is about us all. 'Adapted by Norwegian-Dutch director Eline Arbo, Ernaux's story is skilfully staged, starting each episode by re-creating an old photograph in front of a white sheet which is then used as a tablecloth, becoming stained with wine, blood and other matter, before being hung at the back of the circular stage as a kind of memento mori.' Balenciaga's former creative director Demna Gvasalia has been tapped as the head of Gucci - and he's already receiving massive backlash on social media for the shock choice. Demna previously claimed he 'suffered' since the brand's BDSM advertising campaign in 2022, which sparked widespread outrage for featuring inappropriate imagery of children in a photoshoot with bondage-styled teddy bear bags. Soon after the offensive campaign, documents related to a Supreme Court child pornography case were identified in the background of a separate photoshoot, conducted months before the controversial shoot. The scandal led Balenciaga super fan Kim Kardashian to briefly part ways with the label following plunging sales, despite the design house saying any BDSM association was unintentional and repeatedly apologizing. 'Couture to me is like Moderna,' Demna said of the scandal in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. 'It cannot save it, but it can at least highlight the importance of keeping its immunity.' Now, Demna, 43, has moved on and been hired by Gucci as the creative director, but fans are not welcoming him with open arms. French luxury group Kering owns Balenciaga and also owns Gucci, as well as Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. Gucci announced the news on Instagram Thursday afternoon to its 52 million followers. Balenciaga's former creative director Demna Gvasalia has been tapped as the head of Gucci - and he's already receiving massive backlash Commenters were not as excited - and thought it could mean the end for the Italian fashion house, which was founded in 1921 The label shared a message from the divisive designer that read: 'I am truly excited to join the Gucci family.' 'It is an honor to contribute to a House that I deeply respect and have long admired. 'I look forward to writing together with Stefano and the whole team a new chapter of Gucci's amazing story.' However, the commenters were not as excited - and claimed it could mean the end for the Italian fashion house, which was founded in 1921. 'What total mess this will be,' the first comment read. 'After the Balenciaga scandal, there was a call for a mass boycott of products.' A commenter called Demna's takeover 'the end of Gucci.' One person wrote disparagingly, 'Gucci's slow walk to the grave just picked up speed.' 'Gucci going down,' another fashion fan agreed. Balenciaga withdrew the above campaign featuring BDSM bears, wine and champagne glasses, after widespread backlash Alessandro Michele, shown above with Demna, famously made Gucci more accessible and courted celebrity fans including Harry Styles, Jared Leto, and Dakota Johnson Not everyone disapproved of the former Vetements designer taking over. 'That is actually insane in the best way possible,' one compliment read. 'There are very few designers who have a grasp of the zeitgeist and have the ability to provoke and push fashion forward. Demna is one of them,' another person approved. Gucci has been searching for a new creative director ever since Sabato De Sarno left the brand in July. Sabato worked behind the scenes at Valentino before taking over from Alessandro Michele, who was at the helm for seven years and was known for his maximalist style. Alessandro famously made the brand more accessible and courted celebrity fans including Harry Styles, Jared Leto, Dakota Johnson, and more. In 2022, Alessandro stepped down and became the creative director of Valentino. READ MORE: Plane carrying Queen Mathilde of Belgium forced to make emergency landing after dangerous malfunction The royal, 52, enjoyed a musical performance at the Royal Palace in Brussels Queen Mathilde of Belgium was the picture of elegance as she stepped out for the annual spring concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels this evening. The wife of King Philippe, 52, looked effortlessly chic in a sophisticated pastel suit as she walked arm in arm with her husband, 64, as they took their seats for Thursday's performance. The mother-of-four donned a sparkling sequined top that featured a rouched design draped across the front. She teamed her ensemble which matching tailored trousers - and finished the look off with pearly heels. The queen added a dainty pale handbag to her ensemble and accessorised with earrings and a large purple ring. Mathilde swept her blonde locks back in to a styled updo and smiled as she took her husband's arm. Elsewhere, Philippe looked dashing in in a black double breasted suit which he wore over a white shirt with a blue and burgundy flower-patterned tie. The couple were pictured enjoying the musical performance by Susato Trio, a piano and string team, in their golden high backed seats along with other guests. Queen Mathilde of Belgium was the picture of elegance as she stepped out for the annual spring concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels on Thursday After the performance, the king and queen met with Sarah Bayens, who played violin, cellist Mikko Pablo and Markiyan Popil who took to the piano. After chatting and shaking hands, the group posed for a picture with the queen beaming at the camera as she stood proudly alongside the king. The royal pair dedicated this year's concert to the book sector, showing their appreciation of the literary process from author to bookseller. They said: 'There is a fascinating chain of professionals who stimulate the imagination and enrich the critical thinking skills of the reader.' Her serene evening in the royal palace comes a month after she experienced a terrifying start to a royal tour of Costa Rica. The Belgian royal was on her way to the South American country when her plane was forced to carry out a priority landing after it suffered a crack to the windshield during the flight in February. The royal, 52, looked effortlessly chic in a sophisticated pastel suit as she walked arm in arm with King Philippe, 64, who looked dashing as they took their seats for the performance The mother-of-four donned a sparkling sequined top that featured a rouched design draped across the front and matching trousers with lilac accessories The couple were pictured enjoying the musical performance by Susato Trio, a piano and string trio Following the performance, the group chatted and shook hands before posing for a picture with the queen beaming at the camera as she stood proudly alongside the king Mathilde was headed to the country for a three-day solo trip organised by UNICEF Belgium and UNICEF Costa Rica when the aircraft suffered the frightening crack. The safety measure allows plane to skip the queue and land before waiting aircrafts in incidences of emergency. But staff onboard were luckily able to steer the royal to safety, with the aircraft landing safely at San Jose Juan Santamaria International airport just 15 minutes ahead of schedule. While the incident likely sparked concern for the crew onboard, it appeared the incident was unbeknownst to their royal passengers who arrived unscathed and none-the-wiser of the stressful ordeal. Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, royal commentator, Wim Dehandschutter, wrote: 'The airplane with Belgian Queen Mathilde landed in Costa Rica with a cracked windshield, according to this account and local media.' 'I was on that flight. As passengers, we didn't notice anything, and we didn't receive any notification during the flight or upon landing.' Having arrived safely, Mathilde enjoyed a fruitful visit to Costa Rica, undergoing several royal engagements. Women who watch 'too much' porn are more likely to suffer with low self-esteem, concerning research has suggested. Doctors have long insisted that porn consumption can be part of a functional sex life. However problematic pornography use (PPU) is on the rise, experts fear, and has been linked to a raft of conditions including anxiety, depression and withdrawal symptoms. Now Chinese researchers, who tracked the porn habits of more than 500 young women, found those with PPU defined as someone persistently having an uncontrollable or intense urge to use porn even when it impairs functioning or relationships had lower 'self-acceptance' and found it difficult to set goals. Experts, who labelled the findings important, suggested women experiencing the problem could benefit from talking therapy to tackle the addiction. The porn addiction phenomenon has arisen alongside the proliferation of internet streaming pornography, which is easy to access on personal computers or smartphones. The UK has the second highest incidence of internet porn searches in the world, with an average of 16,600,000 searches for porn taking place each month. Nine in ten adults now admit to viewing adult material. Chinese researchers, who tracked the porn habits of more than 500 young women, found those with PPU had lower 'self-acceptance' and found it difficult to set goals Some research suggests one in ten adults may now suffer a degree of PPU, with higher numbers in young people. They may watch porn for up to 12 hours a week. But the actual truth of how many are suffering from the addiction is unknow. Many suffers avoid seeking professional help out of shame and embarrassment for their affliction or fear of exposure. In the fresh study, researchers tracked the porn habits of 559 female University students from Sichuan, southern China, who were aged 20 on average. This was because most research on pornography use has been conducted on men, making it difficult to generalise those findings to women, the scientists noted. The volunteers completed an online survey that assessed how frequently they accessed porn, how they accessed it, whether they had experienced any issues in setting goal-directed behaviours and their level of esteem. The researchers from the Southwest University of Science and Technology, asked participants to complete a similar survey a year later to compare results. They found that women who had higher levels of PPU at the start of the study were more likely to show elevated problematic use one year later. Some research suggests one in ten adults may now suffer a degree of PPU, with higher numbers in young people. They may watch porn for up to 12 hours a week. But the actual truth of how many are suffering from the addiction is unknow Problematic porn use was linked to those who had average or lower than average self-acceptance, they said. Writing in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, the researchers added: 'Among women with above-average self-acceptance, pornography use frequency was not associated with problematic pornography use.' The findings demonstrate that higher pornography use can create 'difficulties with engaging in goal-directed behavior and self-acceptance', they added. Experts have long, however, raised the alarm over the risks of trying to quit porn quickly, suggesting many experience withdrawal symptoms and unpleasant feelings. Last year, researchers in Brazil warned that regular porn-users who try to stop suddenly can suffer physical withdrawal-like symptoms such as headaches, chills and even nausea. After reviewing 14 separate studies they discovered that, as with drugs and other compulsive behaviours such as gambling addiction, being hooked on porn could trigger physical withdrawal symptoms in up to 72 per cent of users. One study found 57 per cent of participants experienced 'cravings', while 52 per cent also experienced heightened emotions, difficulties in focus and nervousness. A smaller number roughly one in 20 reported sleeping difficulties, headaches, sweating, chills, sickness when they tried to quit porn. Problematic porn use is a form of compulsive sexual behaviour that can lead to sufferers neglecting relationships, personal health, other interests and responsibilities The researchers discovered that in most cases people had 'intense cravings' to masturbate to porn that caused them to relapse. They noted that several of these withdrawal-like symptoms were seen in regular users of porn who weren't classifies as severe enough to have an addiction. Following the review authors called for further research to investigate onset, characteristics, duration and proportion of withdrawal-like symptoms. Sex, and intimacy more generally, has been linked to a string of health benefits, including improving the condition of your heart, reducing stress and even boosting mental health. But recent trends show prudish Brits aren't having as much sex as they used to. According to a Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) poll of 2,000 adults last year, men and women typically romp just 46 times a year once every eight days. A 10-year-old girl in Texas was deported back to Mexico while undergoing life-saving brain cancer treatment, despite being an American citizen. The girl and four of her siblings, along with their undocumented parents, were removed from Houston last month. The family had traveled from their home in the Rio Grande valley to Houston for an emergency appointment with the girl's cancer specialists. The family's attorney said they had passed through the immigration checkpoint at least five times prior since their daughter's brain cancer diagnosis without issues, showing letters from their doctors and lawyers to officers at the border. But on February 4, the parents were arrested after failing to show legal immigration documentation, despite the mother trying to explain their unique circumstances. She said border officials 'weren't interested in hearing that.' Since being deported, the family has been unable to get adequate medical care in Mexico not only for their daughter but their 15-year-old son, who has Long QT syndrome, a potentially fatal heart condition that causes irregular heartbeats. A 10-year-old girl in Texas, pictured here with her face blurred to protect her privacy, was deported to Mexico while undergoing life-saving brain cancer treatment. She is a US citizen The girl is pictured with several of her siblings, most of whom are US citizens. She and her brother, who has Long QT syndrome, have been unable to access proper medical care since being deported The mother told NBC News: 'The authorities have my children's lives in their hands.' It's unclear what form of brain tumor the girl has, but brain cancer kills one in four children in the US every year, according to the American Cancer Society. The girl was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Her mother said that at the time doctors 'practically gave me no hope of life for her, but thank God she's a miracle.' Your browser does not support iframes. Despite a successful surgery, the child is still suffering complications like swelling, which has caused speech and mobility difficulties on the right side of her body and put her at risk for seizures. The girl's mother said: 'It's a very difficult thing. I don't wish anyone to go through this situation.' Before their arrest, the family regularly traveled to Houston for follow-up appointments and rehabilitation services. According to the mother, the family was taken to a detention center, where the sick 10-year-old was forced to lie on a cold floor. A few hours later, the family was dropped off on the Mexico side of a Texas bridge. They stayed in a nearby shelter for a week before moving into a house. However, safety concerns have kept the family up at night and prevented them from sending the children to school, as they were sent to an area known for kidnapping US citizens. Their teenage son has also been unable to get treatment for his Long QT syndrome, which affects 1 in 2,000 Americans, though many don't know they have it since it doesn't always cause symptoms. Left untreated, Long QT syndrome can lead to dangerously long and fast heartbeats called torsades de pointes, which cause heart damage and it to pump out less blood to the brain, causing sudden cardiac death. The family also had to leave their 17-year-old son behind in Texas. President Donald Trump has previously said criminals would be targeted first in the administration's mass deportation efforts, but the girl's parents have no criminal record. Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, an advocacy firm representing the family, said: 'What is happening to this family is an absolute tragedy and it is something that is not isolated to just them. 'This is part of a pattern in practice that weve seen in the Trump administration. 'We are calling on the government to parole the family in, to correct the harm that they've made and to not do this to anyone else.' Three of the girl's siblings were born in America and are also US citizens. Europe was today rocked by fresh measles fears after cases soared to the highest level in over 25 years. Global health leaders said rates on the continent had doubled in the last year alone, with low uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine threatening to further the spread. More than 127,350 cases were reported by member states in 2024. By comparison the figure stood at just 4,400 in 2016. The World Health Organisation said cases had 'risen significantly' since the pandemic and urged parents to make sure children were fully vaccinated. In a plea to Government's across the continent, the UN health agency warned the figures were a 'wake-up call' and called on 'every country to step up efforts to reach under-vaccinated communities'. Two doses offer up to 99 per cent protection against measles, mumps and rubella, which can lead to meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy. It comes as the US recorded two deaths from measles in the last month alone both were unvaccinated. They are the first fatalities from the disease in the nation since 2015. Earlier this year, British health chiefs also sounded the alarm over a spike in cases and encouraged parents to take millions of children for their MMR vaccine. Cold-like symptoms, such as a fever, cough and a runny or blocked nose, are usually the first signal of measles. A few days later, some people develop small white spots on the inside of their cheeks and the back of their lips Your browser does not support iframes. Dr Hans Henri Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, today said: 'Measles is back, and it's a wake-up call. 'Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security. 'As we shape our new regional health strategy for Europe and Central Asia, we cannot afford to lose ground. 'Every country must step up efforts to reach under-vaccinated communities. The measles virus never rests and neither can we.' Meanwhile, Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF regional director for Europe and Central Asia, added: 'Measles cases across Europe and Central Asia have soared over the past two years pointing to gaps in immunization coverage. 'To protect children from this deadly and debilitating disease, we need urgent government action including sustained investment in health care workers.' According to the WHO, children under five accounted for more than 40 per cent of the 127,350 cases reported last year in the region. More than half of all cases also required hospitalisation, with 38 deaths recorded. In England, 89.3 per cent of two-year-olds received their first dose of the MMR vaccine in the year to March 2023 (blue line), up from 89.2 per cent the previous year. Meanwhile, 88.7 per cent of two-year-olds had both doses, down from 89 per cent a year earlier Romania reported the highest number of cases in 2024, at 30,692. This was followed by Kazakhstan with 28,147. But less than 80 per cent of eligible children in Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia had their first dose of the measles vaccine in 2023 the latest data available the WHO warned. At least 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks, under public health guidance. By comparison, the figure stood at just under 90 per cent among children in the UK. Last month, however, British health officials also sounded the alarm over a spike in cases. Nationwide, latest figures suggested there had been almost 100 confirmed cases in January, bringing the total annual figure to almost 3,000. Almost half of these cases were in London, with 19 per cent in the West Midlands and 9 per cent in the East of England. The figures were initially driven by an outbreak in Birmingham in early 2024 but was soon overtaken by a large outbreak in London, with small clusters in other regions. At least 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks, under public health guidance British experts today begged parents to check their child's immunisation status, warning the rise of anti-vaxx beliefs in the wake of Covid may have fueled the crisis. Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, an assistant professor in global health and development at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: 'Vaccination programmes in the UK and globally have been so successful that it can be easy to forget why we still need them and many people may not have a memory of the consequences of infections like measles. 'Measles is extremely infectious. Before routine vaccination began, England and Wales saw large outbreaks with peaks of 600,000 cases in some years. 'It's never too late to get vaccinated. If you have questions, don't know whether you've already had a vaccine or want to find out where to get a vaccine, the best advice is to talk to your GP.' He added: 'We also learnt from the Covid vaccination programme that misinformation can travel rapidly and can influence people's decisions. 'It's important to be mindful that the vaccine information on social media may not be based on scientific evidence and could put you or your child at risk of a serious illness, so my advice would be to always check with credible sources like the NHS website. 'There has been a trend of declining routine childhood immunisation coverage, across all vaccines offered to parents, over the past decade. 'The causes are complex and involve a mix of issues, and importantly, has been taking place amidst an unforgiving cost of living crisis and generational decline in living standards that affects families.' Latest NHS Digital shows that up to three in ten children in parts of England haven't had both MMR jabs by the time they turn five. Measles, which mostly produces flu like symptoms and a rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain. One in five children who catch measles will need to go to hospital, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis. Uptake of the MMR jab collapsed in the wake of study by the now discredited medic Andrew Wakefield which falsely linked the jabs to autism. MMR uptake in England was about 91 per cent prior to Wakefield's study being published but plummeted to 80 per cent in the aftermath. Nearly 100million Americans are being exposed to tap water laced with chemicals linked to cancer and autism. Researchers at the USGS a federal agency that studies natural hazards said a quarter of the country relies on groundwater wells that are contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also called forever chemicals. People living in major cities like New York, Miami and Chicago were estimated to have the highest levels of PFAS in their drinking water, while those in rural areas had lower levels of the contaminant. The researchers tested 1,200 public and domestic wells nationwide to generate a first-of-its-kind interactive map showing the worst-affected areas. Overall, they estimated that 71 to 95million American homes. A total of 72 percent of people relying on public wells nationwide, which supply nine in ten Americans, are thought to be drinking water contaminated with PFAS. The study in which the results were first published warned that PFAS exposure had been linked to 'adverse human health effects', including thyroid problems, developmental issues and cancer. The above map shows the public water supply and estimates of areas with higher levels of PFAS in their drinking water The above map shows the domestic water supply from private wells and estimates of areas with higher amounts of PFAS in their drinking water PFAS are microscopic chemicals used in dozens of manufacturing processes, from cookware to clothes, carpets, food packaging and make-up. It is also used in firefighting foam. The chemicals can seep into the environment, however, where they take thousands of years to break down and can enter water and the food supply. Researchers have already warned that they can cause health problems like cancer because they can disrupt the natural processes of cells. New HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior has vowed to get the chemicals out of the public food and water supply. Re-sharing a DailyMail.com story while on the presidential campaign trail in December 2023, he wrote on X: 'One of my top priorities as an environmental president will be to get cancer-causing PFAS and other "forever chemicals" out of our food, water, and environment.' He is currently fighting to have fluoride removed from the nation's drinking water, amid studies showing that it could lead to a lower IQ. Among those using the public water supply, data showed Massachusetts had the highest levels of contamination with 98 percent of public wells estimated to have water laced with the chemicals. New York and Connecticut had the second highest levels, with estimates suggesting up to 94 percent of residents using public water had water laced with PFAS. Pressure groups in the tri-state area say these states have such high levels because firefighting foam with high levels of PFAS was used in training exercises in the area for many years. In these exercises, the foam was sprayed over the ground, where it sunk into the soil and contaminated groundwater, and then drinking water. At the other end of the scale, Arkansas was shown to have the lowest levels of contamination in its public water supply at 31 percent. Among those using private wells, Connecticut was estimated to have the highest proportion with contaminated wells at 87 percent. New Jersey was estimated to have the second highest at 84 percent and Rhode Island the third highest at 81 percent. The chemical has got into water after seeping from industrial areas into the ground supply Mississippi had the lowest levels, on the other hand, at 15 percent of private wells estimated to be contaminated. Researchers collected their samples before water had been treated, which they said could affect the results. But scientists say that conventional methods for treating water do not tend to remove PFAS, which requires more specialized techniques. Your browser does not support iframes. Andrea Tokranov, a USGS scientist who led the study, said: 'This study's findings indicate widespread PFAS contamination in groundwater that is used for public and private drinking water supplies in the US. 'This new predictive model can help prioritize areas for future sampling to help ensure people aren't unknowingly drinking contaminated water. 'This is especially important for private well users, who may not have information on water quality in their region and may not have the same access to testing and treatment that public water supplies do.' Testing for the model showed it correctly predicted PFAS exposure in about two thirds of cases when compared to independent datasets. It only analyzed data on water contamination with 24 existing PFAS chemicals out of more than 12,000 known to exist. The data was first published in the journal Science in October last year. The White House is planning to withdraw the nomination of Trump's pick for CDC director reportedly because of his anti-vaccine views. Dr Dave Weldon, a former congressman from Florida, was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and scheduled to have his confirmation hearing Thursday morning in front of the Senate Health Committee. However, people familiar with the situation told Axios the Trump administration had concerns over Dr Weldon's longtime criticism of vaccines and another said the White House pulled the nomination because they knew he wouldn't get the votes. As director of the CDC, Dr Weldon would have been in charge of vaccine policy, safety and messaging. He would have run the agency that oversees research on vaccines and public health, as well as responds to national and international disease outbreaks, like the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the sources also told the outlet Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr - who has himself voiced anti-vax sentiments - said Dr Weldon wasn't ready. Dr Weldon is an internal medicine doctor who served in Congress from 1995 to 2009, where he continually pushed a link between vaccines and autism and sponsored anti-vax bills. A link between vaccines and autism is a false claim RFK Jr also promotes, despite decades of medical studies debunking the link and concluding vaccines are safe. Former Congressman Dr David Weldon speaks in The Villages, Florida, in 2012 (file photo) Your browser does not support iframes. In 2007, Dr Weldon said 'legitimate questions persist regarding the possible association between the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, and the childhood epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), including autism.' He also sponsored a bill that would've banned mercury from vaccines. Mercury itself is not used in vaccines, but a compound that contains it, thimerosal, had been used as a preservative in some shots to prevent contamination. The compound was removed from all childhood vaccines in the US in 2001, according to the CDC. Even still, studies have shown thimerosal is quickly eliminated from the body and therefore does not pose any health risk to the receiver. Multiple studies have found no link between the compound and autism or other health problems. Additionally, in July 2004, Dr Weldon asked the House Appropriations Committee to fund an autism research center led by Andrew Wakefield, one of the authors of a 1998 study that linked vaccines to autism. Ten of the 13 researchers later retracted the study, the medical community has rejected its findings and Dr Wakefield later lost his medical license. A national medical board of scientists also rejected the autism-vaccine link in 2004. However, letters, memos and research analyzed by Stat News found Dr Weldon continually promoted the theory that vaccines cause autism Additionally, Dr Weldon has repeatedly questioned the CDC's objectivity when assessing vaccine safety. Dr Weldon as pick to run the CDC came as a surprise as the former lawmaker has kept a relatively low profile since a failed Senate run in 2012. He returned to practicing medicine in Florida and joined the faculty of the Florida Institute of Technology's biomedical engineering program as a professor. He also currently serves as the chief medical officer at Luke & Associates, a healthcare staffing agency, and is an attending physician at Health First, a healthcare system throughout the state of Florida. In announcing Dr Weldon as his pick for CDC director, Trump wrote on Truth Social: 'Americans have lost trust in the CDC and in our Federal Health Authorities, who have engaged in censorship, data manipulation, and misinformation. 'Given the current Chronic Health Crisis in our Country, the CDC must step up and correct past errors to focus on the Prevention of Disease.' But leaders in the health community have spoken out against Dr Weldon. Richard Besser, a former CDC acting director, said: 'He held on to this false belief that vaccines were harming our children. When you see that by people in positions of authority He had a responsibility that he shirked.' Prime Minister Keir Starmer today startled the nation after announcing he will scrap NHS England which ministers have labelled the 'world's largest quango'. The body's functions will be taken over by the Government's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over the next two years. The move is expected to see headcount cut by 9,000, resulting in 'hundreds of millions of pounds in savings'. But what exactly is NHS England, and what will its dissolution mean for you? Here, MailOnline reveals all the vital details about the upcoming shift. Prime Minister Keir Starmer today startled the nation after announcing he planned to scrap NHS England which ministers have labelled the 'world's largest quango' Your browser does not support iframes. Q: What is NHS England? A: NHS England is a quango Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation a body which has a role in the processes of national government, but is not a government department or part of one. It oversees NHS hospitals, as well as primary care services like GPs, and controls more than 190billion a year of funding for health. The body also makes crucial decisions on what services, drugs and other treatments are available to patients across the country. NHS England was established in 2013 by the then-Conservative government, in an effort to allow the health service to operate independently from politics, with objective leaders in charge of deciding how money is spent. Its launch followed a series of health scandals that were blamed on improper oversight of the NHS by the government department. It was thought that creating a separate, overarching body to govern the health service would put services under greater scrutiny, improving patient services. Both Sir Keir and health secretary Wes Streeting argued the move would benefit NHS staff and patients. Pictured, Mr Streeting with outgoing NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard Your browser does not support iframes. Q: Why does the Prime Minister want to get rid of it? A: The Prime Minister said abolishing NHS England would bring management of the health service 'back into democratic control'. He also argued the move would free up cash that's tied up in the salaries of workers performing similar roles, which would be re-invested directly into Britain's health services. It is thought that cutting the red tape will also speed up processes within the health service, giving greater responsibility to frontline NHS workers. But No10 has been forced to deny that the initiative has been nicknamed 'Project Chainsaw' internally. Speaking at the Hull HQ of Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK today, the Prime Minister said: 'We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I'm devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline. 'NHS staff are working flat out but the current system sets them up to fail. 'These changes will support the huge number of capable, innovative and committed people across the NHS to deliver for patients and taxpayers.' Answering a question from a cancer patient on how the decision would improve the situation, the Sir Keir said: 'Amongst the reasons we are abolishing it is because of the duplication. 'So, if you can believe it, we've got a communications team in NHS England, we've got a communications team in the health department of government, we've got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. 'We are duplicating things that could be done once. 'If we strip that out, which is what we are doing today, that then allows us to free up that money to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line.' As health is a devolved matter, the equivalent bodies for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland cannot be abolished by the Prime Minister. Your browser does not support iframes. Q: Is it a sensible plan and are patients at risk? A: NHS bosses today voiced caution over the plan, saying there will be 'disruption' and patient care must be 'prioritised'. However, both Sir Keir and health secretary Wes Streeting argued the move would benefit NHS staff and patients. In the House of Commons Mr Streeting told MPs: 'Just because reform is difficult doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. 'This government will never duck the hard work of reform. We will take on vested interests and change the status quo, so the NHS can once again be there for you when you need it.' Both the Prime Minister and health secretary have previously spoken about their plans to enact bold reform of the NHS in England. Sir Keir had promised that his government would execute the most radical reform of the service since its creation in 1948. But neither had given any clue that the abolition of NHS England, and its merger with the DHSC, was on the cards. The announcement will see significant job cuts. Your browser does not support iframes. In the House of Commons Mr Streeting told MPs: 'Just because reform is difficult doesn't mean it shouldn't be done' Asked about the redundancies today, Mr Streeting said across both NHS England and the DHSC 'we're looking to reduce the overall headcount by 50 per cent'. However, speaking to LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, he also conceded that doctors and nurses may see their roles changed. 'Inevitably, there'll be some service changes where a doctor or a nurse might be employed in one place, and that may change, but they should find jobs elsewhere.' The move has already drawn some criticism from unions who urged the government not to 'create chaos and confusion'. Professor Phil Banfield, chair of the BMA council, added: 'The reality is that the future of the NHS has always been in the hands of ministers and governments. 'Doctors and patients now expect them to deliver on their promises.' Q: Now what? A: Mr Streeting told the Commons he wanted the transition to be completed in two years. A new leadership team has also been brought in to help oversee the transition. Sir James Mackey, chief executive of Newcastle Hospitals, will take over as transition chief executive of NHS England. Dr Penny Dash, chair of the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board, will become NHS chair. It comes days after NHS England said leading board members would be stepping down at the end of the month. These include current NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard, chief financial officer Julian Kelly, chief operating officer Emily Lawson and national medical director Sir Stephen Powis. Spring is here (shhh, dont mention todays weather), and in our book that calls for al fresco evenings with a gorgeous glass of wine. But with more of us ever feeling the pinch, how do you balance finding a delicious tipple with dodging a hefty price tag? According to prize-winning wine master Sam Caporn (@themistressofwine on Instagram), the answer is head to Aldi. Its new spring wine range has loads of budget gems, from a great champers alternative, to a tasty pale blush (Whispering Angel, who?). Here is Caporns pick of the best. Unearthed Thracian Valley Pinot Noir Rose, 8.99, Aldi Aldi's 9 wine is a great alternative for popular Provencal roses Similar to: Provence roses like Whispering Angel, 22.25, Sainsburys Caporns first pick is a pale rose, Unearthed Thracian Valley Pinot Noir, from Bulgarias sun-drenched Thracian Valley, one of the worlds oldest winemaking regions. It evokes the effortless elegance of a trendy French Provencal rose, Caporn says, and is basically summer in a glass. Theres notes of ripe strawberries, peach, melon and conference pair much like youd find in the considerably pricier Whispering Angel. Its a pretty, pale blush thats light and zesty, Caporn adds. Its an all-round elegant tipple. Contevedo Cava Brut, 5.79, Aldi Looking for a cheaper alternative to champers for your next bash? This cava is just the thing Similar to: Champagnes like Veuve Clicquot, 45, Asda Cava is often overlooked as a lowbrow alternative to champers. But this bargain fizz is made using the same traditional fermentation method as champagne, resulting in a delicious dry and sparkly sip. According to Caporn, its a total bargain with notes of honeycomb, toffee apple, quince and plum tarte tatin. It would make a great choice instead of champagne at a wedding or party, she suggests. Specially Selected Costieres de Nimes Blanc, 8.99, Aldi Crisp, refreshing and perfect for summer Similar to: Gavi wines like La Chiara 'Gropella' Gavi, 19.99, Waitrose Gavi is a type of dry white wine, known for its crisp and refreshing taste that pairs well with seafood and summer salads. But this budget Aldi tipple has the same crisp, clean flavours of a classic Gavi, but with its own unique twist. Light and refreshingly crisp, this tasty tipple offers a vibrant bouquet of ripe conference pear, juicy galia melon, delicate apricot blossom and zesty lemon. The palate is beautifully balanced, with a lively acidity softened by a smooth, inviting texture. Unearthed Macedonian Kratosija, 6.99, Aldi At just 7, this kratosija is a fab alternative for pricier primitivos Similar to: Medium-bodied primitivos like Tempo al Vino Lianto, 22, Mouse & Grape Fans of bold red wines will be well acquainted with primitivos, made with black-skinned grapes from Puglias warm climes. But if youre looking for a budget version, Caporn suggests Aldis Unearthed Macedonian Kratosija packs a similar punch. A burst of youthful energy in the glass, this wine unfolds with aromas of sun-ripened red cherries, juicy plums and delicate raspberries, she says. The palate is smooth and medium-bodied, offering a delightful dance of white pepper spice and a hint of decadent chocolate. Yum. Specially Selected Austrian Zweigelt Rose, 8.99, Aldi An Austrian wine that's perfect for fans of a fruity rose Similar to: Navarra roses like Tandem Casual Rose, 15.50, Corking Wines Navarra roses are perfect for spring: fruity, dry and bright. A gorgeous, vibrant pink hue leads to enticing aromas of red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate, Capron summarises. The palate is dry and fresh with a tasty twist of tangerine on the finish. If you're a fan of the bright, fruity flavours of a Spanish rose from Navarra, you'll adore this. It's a booze-fueled rite of passage that teens and college kids across the country are determined not to miss out on. But after a series of terrifying Spring Break incidents involving youngsters, it's no wonder many American families are filled with dread about their kids' vacation plans. And the advice from experts shows they are right to worry - with warnings about disappearances, sudden deaths, illnesses and kidnappings making this year's options for a safe Spring Break more limited than ever. Once-popular tourist spots are now considered no-go zones, according to Patrick McCall, president of McCall Risk Group Inc. These include parts of Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic, where the search for a missing University of Pittsburgh student is ongoing. Many of the areas are known for violence, including robberies, sexual assaults, and murders, according to McCall, whose New York-based firm provides security details for families, executives and celebrities including the Kardashians and Alicia Keys. To help families navigate the Spring Break season, McCall has compiled a list of locations travelers should urgently reconsider - and explained all the potential dangers lurking in the sun and surf. Top experts have revealed where Spring Breakers should avoid vacationing due to crime, disappearances and tourist deaths (Pictured: File photo of Spring breakers in Cancun, Mexico) Mexico - including Cancun and trendy Tulum For Americans, Mexico is one of the most-visited countries by both Spring Breakers and vacationers throughout the year. But foreigners should be on high alert. McCall, who often has his team stake out resorts in Mexico or even travel with families and teens, said major hotspots like Cancun and Tulum should be avoided. Patrick McCall (pictured) runs a New York-based firm that provides security detail for families and celebrities, including the Kardashians and Alicia Keys Instead, he recommended visitors stay in less-populated areas near Cancun, such as Playa Mujeres and Isla Mujeres. McCall added that Americans should also avoid traveling to Mexico City, Tijuana and Acapulco. In August, two Oklahoma college feared they had been drugged at a swim-up bar in Cancun - with one of the young vacationers believing she ingested fentanyl. In September, the US Department of State issued a travel advisory for Mexico due to homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery concerns that are 'widespread and common' in the county. Multiple Mexican states were named in the advisory, including Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas. In March of 2023, four US citizens were kidnapped and two killed while traveling to Matamoros, a city in Tamaulipas. The private investigator said major hotspots in Mexico, including Cancun and Tulum (pictured) should be avoided Jamaica While Jamaica is another big tourist attraction, McCall advised travelers to stick to their resorts when on the island. 'In regards to Jamaica, I would never recommend venturing out of the resort unless on a resort-sponsored excursion, and even then I would suggest caution,' he told the Daily Mail. In January 2024, the US raised its travel alert to the second-highest level and warned Americans to reconsider visits after the country saw 65 murders in a single month. In June 2023, American tourist Quintaria Roker was found dead inside her hotel room in Montego Bay. The 24-year-old, from West Palm Beach, Florida is said to have arrived just days earlier to meet up with a man she met online. While Jamaica is another big tourist attraction, McCall advises travelers to stick to their resorts (Pictured: Montego Bay) Belize Visitors to Belize should be cautious in the Central American paradise. Although McCall considered the country to be mostly safe, he suggested that travelers refrain from going to the capital - Belmopan - and other urban areas. Instead, he said tourists should book trips in eastern Belize. His advice comes just weeks after a group of three young Massachusetts women were found dead at a beach resort in the country. Their deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning and not a drug overdose as local police initially suggested, a source told the Daily Mail. Around the same time, a wealthy Colorado real estate developer was found dead with a single gunshot wound to the back of his neck at his luxury villa complex in Belize. In December 2022, a nursing student from Louisiana who was vacationing with her family was shot dead after gunfire erupted outside of a nightclub in San Pedro. In June 2019, a Virginia-based cardiologist vacationing with his family was killed while fly fishing with a local tour guide when someone opened fire on their boat in Sand Pedro. And in January 2016, renowned ABC journalist Anne Swaney was strangled to death in western Belize while on a yoga-filled vacation. Her body was found floating face-down in the Mopan River. Although McCall considers the country to be largely safe, he suggested that travelers refrain from going to the capital - Belmopan - and other urban areas Wafea El Arar, 26, Iman Mallah, 24, and Kaoutar Naggadm 23, were found dead in their hotel room at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro, Belize on February 22 Dominican Republic McCall said he considers the Dominican Republic to be safe, but popular tourist areas there have been plagued with crime. As an alternative to visiting Santo Domingo or Punta Cana - two major hotspots in the Caribbean country - he recommended taking a trip to Cap Cana instead. The area offers high-end resorts, stunning beaches, shops and more. The Dominican Republic is currently investigating the disappearance University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, 20, who vanished while staying at the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana with five friends. Konanki, from Virginia, was last seen walking towards the ocean with an unknown man and a group of friends in the early hours of March 6 in newly released surveillance footage from the resort. Her body has not yet been found and local police believe she drowned. Her family is less certain, and they are calling for an investigation into human trafficking. McCall said he considers the Dominican Republic to be a safe place, but tourist destinations like like Santo Domingo (pictured) and Punta Cana can be dangerous The Dominican Republic is currently investigating the disappearance University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, 20, who vanished while staying at a resort in Punta Cana with five friends Aruba Neighboring Aruba was the scene of one of the most shocking tourist disappearances in American history. Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old Alabama high school graduate, vanished on May 30, 2005 - the same day she was expected to fly back home to the US. Her body was never found and she was declared dead in 2012. In 2023, Dutch tourist Jordan van der Sloot admitted he had killed Holloway for rejecting his advances. McCall told the Daily Mail that Holloway's case was 'unique' because the crime was not committed by a local. He said that the country has changed over the years to 'accommodate tourists and give a safe and clean feel and environment'. But it's 'typically not a hotspot for people looking for all-inclusives as that is limited on the island,' McCall added. 'Most of the resorts are open and can be accessed from other hotels and from the street, although most have a decent security presence.' The Bahamas The popular Caribbean country was placed under a travel advisory last January after 18 murders occurred in the capital alone. The US Department of State issued an 'increase caution' warning over fears Americans could be victimized by gang violence. 'Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas,' the advisory stated. In June of 2024, Chicago woman Taylor Casey mysteriously vanished while on a yoga retreat. Casey was last seen at Paradise Island, a resort near the capital of Nassau, local police said at the time. To this day, Casey has not been found. The Bahamas was placed under a travel advisory last January after 18 murders occurred in the capital alone (Pictured: Stock image of Nassau) In June last year, Chicago woman Taylor Casey mysteriously went missing while on a yoga retreat in The Bahamas Trinidad Although Trinidad is not a popular tourist destination among Spring Breakers, there are still many dangers to be aware of on the Caribbean island. As recently as January of this year, Trinidad and Tobago declared a state of emergency due to escalating violence that has plagued the region for over a year. In 2024 alone, 614 homicides occurred in Trinidad and Tobago. The state of emergency was first put in place on December 30 and was later extended on January 13 by three months, according to the US Embassy Trinidad & Tobago. Although Trinidad is not a popular tourist destination, especially among Spring Breakers, there are still many dangers for visitors to the Caribbean island (Pictured: Stock image of Castara Bay) Haiti In September 2024, a 'do not travel' advisory was issued for Haiti, which has long been plagued by violence and poverty. In November, a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida was hit by gunfire while trying to land at Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti. The U.S. Embassy located in Port-au-Prince said the 'security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous.' In September 2024, a 'do not travel' advisory was issued for Haiti - a Caribbean country that has long been plagued by violence and poverty (Pictured: Housing in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti) 'You should consider your personal security situation before traveling anywhere in Haiti,' it warned. 'Only attempt to depart Haiti or travel within Haiti if you believe it is safe for you to do so.' McCall said that his firm recently saw an 'uptick of people traveling to Haiti for vacations,' but the trend 'has since died down.' He also noted that natives have decided not to travel back, even to visit family. Travel tips to avoid danger For those who still choose to travel to these places, McCall and other leading experts have shared helpful tips that could keep tourists out of trouble. Kevin Coffey, a travel risk trainer and retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, said it is essential for parents to have 'what if' and 'raw' conversations with their children before they leave for vacation. He noted that parents need to talk to their kids about having a 'backup plan' in case they lose their phone or it runs out of battery while traveling. 'Life is so connected to that phone, but now it's missing, it's gone,' Coffey told Daily Mail. Kevin Coffey, a travel risk trainer and retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, said it is essential for parents to have 'what if' and 'raw' conversations with their children before they leave for vacation The former detective, who investigated crimes against travelers for decades, said that staying with a group is key. 'Always, always, always use the buddy system and never violate that, especially when someone is female,' he said, noting that women in previous cases he worked on had often been left alone when crimes were committed. Travel agent Mandy Litterini said tourists need to keep their guard up at all times, especially when 'vacation brain' involving alcohol or other substances comes into play Travel agent Mandy Litterini told the Daily Mail that using reputable tour companies is also important. She added that tourists need to keep their guard up at all times, especially when 'vacation brain' involving alcohol or other substances comes into play. McCall warned that many people love to let loose and have drinks on vacation, but that they need to watch what they are consuming. 'Tourists should not purchase or consume any homemade alcohol,' he said, citing pulque in Mexico and mamajuana in the Dominican Republic. 'From sanitary reasons to the possibility of these homemade local favorites being tampered with,' McCall explained. 'Same goes for illicit drugs, even marijuana could be mixed with a deadly combination.' McCall warned that many people love to let loose and have drinks on vacation, but they need to watch what they are consuming. 'Same goes for illicit drugs, even marijuana could be mixed with a deadly combination,' he said McCall suggested planning everything in advance, especially transit for when tourists arrive at their destination. He said doing research on the location is also crucial, whether through travel sites like Tripadvisor or local Facebook groups. He stressed that popular all-inclusive resorts in any location should be properly vetted before booking. 'Look for a resort that is enclosed - private beach, gated entrance. We are seeing a lot of issues with resorts that have connecting beaches, free access for anyone to enter or exit,' McCall explained. 'The better resorts record license plates and driver's information when you leave or enter the resort, as well as your name and room number.' McCall also warned that his firm has also noticed an increase in crime domestically. 'We are seeing an increase in tourism-related crimes in the state of Florida as well as New York, just as we are seeing an uptick in Mexico, Jamaica and Dominican Republic,' he said. National Public Radio mistakenly sent an all staff email telling a host he could not attend an LGBTQ pride event as the network buckles under the Trump administration's anti-DEI policies. NPR's managing editor for standards and practices Tony Cavin told 'All Things Considered' host Ari Shapiro he was not allowed to attended the event Wednesday, in an email exchange obtained by Semafor. 'The guidance in our ethics handbook is to "avoid appearances at private industry or corporate functions,"' Cavin told Shapiro in the email that accidentally got sent to the news desk and international editors. 'Because this is a closed corporate event I think it would be best to politely decline.' Shapiro quickly replied asking why his previous appearances at pride events had been approved. 'Every year I've spoken at corporate pride events and you've personally signed off on them. It has never been an issue before,' he said. 'I'm curious what's changed.' After Semafor reported on Cavin's emails with Shapiro, NPR reversed course and granted the host permission to attend the event. 'This decision was made shortly after the original email thread,' a spokesperson told outlet. National Public Radio mistakenly sent an all staff email telling All Things Considered' host Ari Shapiro (pictured) he could not attended at LGBTQ Pride event NPR's managing editor for standards and practices Tony Cavin (pictured) said it is against policy to attend private corporate events After Semafor reported on Cavin's emails with Shapiro, NPR reversed course and granted the host permission to attend the event NPR have been criticized for its 'obsession with DEI' and has come under growing scrutiny from Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The DOGE congressional subcommittee has called on NPR boss Katherine Maher to testify on Capitol Hill to defend the government funding they use to share 'systematically biased content.' NPR responded to the summons, stating the company 'welcomes the opportunity' to testify and prides themselves 'to the highest standards of journalism.' 'Our President and CEO Katherine Maher received a request to testify before the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in March,' the outlet said. 'We welcome the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.' DOGE subcommittee chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that the department plans to address its concerns about the station's 'blatantly ideological and partisan coverage' at the hearing, scheduled for the week of March 24. The letter sent to Maher cited NPR's decision not to report on a laptop belonging to the former president's son, which contained data critics claim implicates members of the Biden family in a corruption scandal. The subcommittee then cited a statement made by NPR in October 2020 in regarding the laptop, stating: 'We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions.' NPR have been criticized for its 'obsession with DEI' and DOGE called on NPR boss Katherine Maher (pictured) to testify before congress DOGE also mentioned a scathing essay penned by Uri Berliner, former senior business editor for NPR. Berliner, who worked for the outlet from 1999 until April 2024, blasted NPR for its far-left political bias while referring to the outlet as 'an assembly line.' NPR Chief Diversity Officer Keith Woods announced his retirement in February. His decision came as Trump cracked down on DEI policies. Trump has signed a series of executive orders over the past several weeks that have caused federal agencies to dial down DEI programs, laying off thousands in the process. In an interview at Semafor's summit in Washington last month, Maher acknowledged that the organization would not be hiring anyone to replace Woods. Rachel Maddow's rant at MSNBC bosses appears to have backfired spectacularly as five million viewers fled the news program in a massive 22 per cent ratings slump. The Rachel Maddow Show dropped from 2.3 million viewers to 1.8 million viewers since the election of President Donald Trump won the election. The star did even worse with younger viewers aged 25-54, losing 29 percent - or almost one third - of the group advertisers care about most, as reported by Fox News. She lost a quarter of her audience, or 24 percent, in the first two months of 2025 compared to the same time last year - showing viewers are tuning out now that Joe Biden is no longer president. Despite the overall decline, Maddow's show still managed to win its time slot last Friday and most nights last week, only losing out on Tuesday when President Trump delivered his address to the joint session of Congress. This ratings disaster comes after Maddow had an angry meltdown with network bosses over the ousting of Joy Reid and other 'non-white' hosts. The $25 million a year host erupted at MSNBC's new boss Rebecca Kutler live on air, saying it was 'disturbing' that 'non-white hosts in primetime were losing their shows.' Katie Phang, who is Asian American and Jonathan Capehart, who is black, lost their primetime shows too. Both will remain at the network, but in less high-profile roles. Rachel Maddow's rant at MSNBC bosses has appeared to backfire spectacularly as her ratings slump This ratings disaster comes after Maddow had an angry meltdown with network bosses recently regarding the ousting of Joy Reid other 'non-white' hosts MSNBC names Rebecca Kutler as president after Rashida Jones exit Maddow also said it was a 'bad mistake' to let Reid walk out the door, claiming the firing or demotion of her hosts would hurt the network. Influential media newsletter Puck highlighted how Maddow's own enormous salary could help expand MSNBC's ranks considerably. The network is laying off 125 producers- many of whom work on Maddow's show - but will rehire 110 of them. Her program, The Rachel Maddow Show, typically reaches around 2.1 million viewers a night. Maddow struck a $25 million a year deal which only saw her required to host one show a week, on Monday night. She agreed to take a $5 million pay cut last year, lowering her massive salary from $30 million to $25 million - which would still equal to the combined earnings of at least 250 production staff who make each of her evening shows possible. She agreed to cover the first 100 days of the Trump presidency after he won his second term in office and will return to her one shift a week role in April. And while her ratings are good, media insiders have suggested Maddow may be starting to try her bosses' patience. Puck highlighted how Reid's replacement will be a trio made up of Symone Sanders, who is black and Alicia Menendez, who is Hispanic. Maddow made no mention of this ethnic diversity while implying her bosses are racist. The newsletter added that Maddow's viewers, most of whom are elderly, either had no idea what she was talking about or found it boring if they did. She agreed to take a $5 million pay cut last year, lowering her massive salary from $30 million to $25 million - which would still equal the combined earnings of at least 250 production staff who make each of her evening shows possible. Even her fellow liberals called on her to resign after. Bluesky users were quick to call on Maddow to put her money where her mouth is and resign, or risk looking like a hypocrite spouting hot air. 'Rachel Maddow will have to resign from MSMBC (and leave $ on the table),' one user wrote this week, months after Maddow secured her five-year re-up. 'She won't be able to maintain credibility on that platform,' the liberal onlooker went on. 'I hope she creates a true progressive network. America needs new media channels and she is the star.' 'So, resign if you're so outraged,' another more impatient user remarked, paving the way for an even more full-throated request from another angered progressive. 'The only appropriate response to this development from WHITE LIBERAL/LEFTISTS who CLAIM to oppose the Re-Segregation of the Country is to PROVE IT by abandoning ALL the mainstream media networks,' they wrote. '[N]ot to keep watching them for your beloved white faves. A CNN speaker shocked the liberal panel by slamming Rosie O'Donnell as 'ridiculous' for moving out of America after the country 'made her rich'. Former Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton criticized the comedian for moving from the US to Ireland to avoid a second Donald Trump presidency. 'If you have a disagreement with the president, if you have a disagreement with the Republican party, and you feel strongly enough about these issues, fight for what you believe in,' Singleton told CNN's NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Wednesday. 'I'm a bit dismayed if I'm honest with you, about a lot of these celebrities who have made money in America, because of Americans, criticizing how terrible this country is, yet you became rich in this country. 'I'm not certain she would've become rich in Ireland, yet they go to these other places and then they advocate for how bad and destructive our policies are, our politics are. 'Yet she lived this amazing life in America that allowed her to get probably a private plane and move to Ireland. That's ridiculous.' Singleton's fellow panelists appeared shocked for his comments, as some nodded and others seemed lost for words. O'Donnell, 62, Trump's arch nemesis from his days as a TV entertainer, shared a nine-minute video Tuesday revealing that she moved to Ireland on January 15, just five days before the 47th president was inaugurated. Former Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton criticized comedian Rosie O'Donnell for moving from the US to Ireland to avoid a second Donald Trump presidency Rosie O'Donnell moved from the US to Ireland to escape Donald Trump's presidency While many liberal celebrities made threats of leaving the country if Trump got into power, O'Donnell actually followed through. A journalist asked Trump what he made of O'Donnell's move during a conference he held beside Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who was in Washington D.C. for St. Patrick's Day festivities this week. He responded by asking Martin: 'Did you know you have Rosie O'Donnell? Do you know who she is?' When Martin demurred, chuckling and shaking his head, Trump told him: 'You're better off not knowing.' O'Donnell's departure from the US also prompted a flood of celebratory posts from MAGA supporters X, the social media platform owned by DOGE tsar Elon Musk. Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist and filmmaker proudly declared that Trump got the liberal comedian to 'self deport.' He celebrated: 'Promises made, promises kept!' One person posted on X and pointed out that left-wing celebrities are 'actually making good on their threats' to leave the country this time around, whereas in Trump's first term they largely didn't follow through. Another MAGA supporter said: 'Haha so awesome! Im sorry Ireland but shes your problem now!' While a fourth added: 'I call this an American win.' A CNN speaker has shocked the liberal panel by slamming Rosie O'Donnell as 'ridiculous' for moving out of America after the country 'made her rich' One social media user quipped: 'It's always nice when trash takes itself out.' And another gave O'Donnell credit where credit is due: 'Well, at least she followed through. Most lib celebrities dont have the strength or their convictions. Bye.' 'Yes, this is what we voted for,' another Trump supporter said. O'Donnell, 62, now joins fellow comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who fled to rural England with her wife shortly after Trump's win in November. Even former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, an Irish-American, joined in to bash O'Donnell. He went on Jesse Watters' show on Fox News to joke that she just gave the Irish one more reason to drink on this upcoming St. Patrick's Day. O'Donnell hinted that she was open to returning to the US, but only 'when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights.' She only brought her 12-year-old daughter Dakota, saying in her TikTok video that she misses her four other grown children. 'I just felt like we needed to take care of ourselves and make some hard decisions and follow through and now, as were getting settled, I was ready to post this and tell everybody whats going on,' she said. O'Donnell's feud with Trump dates back to 2006, when she criticized him on 'The View' for allowing that year's Miss USA pageant winner, Tara Conner, to keep her crown after she was caught drinking underage. Trump owned the Miss USA competition at the time and decided to not to strip the 20-year-old model's title, stating he believed in 'second chances' and that Conner would be going into rehab. When Trump heard that O'Donnell had mocked Conner's conduct, he called her 'a real loser.' Over the years, Trump has said 'The Flintstones' actress is 'dumb,' 'desperate,' 'fat,' and 'disgusting both inside and out.' He also said that if he were in charge of The View, which O'Donnell was on for a brief time in the 2006-2007 season, he would have fired her. Chinese cars are here... and they're seemingly here to stay. The latest brand to break into Britain's competitive market is Jaecoo and its debut model, the 7 SHS. Jaecoo which is a mix between the German word Jager (hunter) and the English word cool, therefore translating to hunter cool is the sister brand of Omoda, both of which are owned by Chinese powerhouse Chery. It has arrived with its sights set pretty high. The Jaecoo 7 SHS is aiming for luxury offerings from Range Rover and Audi, as well as claiming turf from more affordable options from MG and Hyundai. But can premium for a budget price tag pull in buyers? Or is it too good to be true? This is Money's Freda Lewis-Stempel drove the Jaecoo 7 SHS plug-in hybrid from Scotland down to the Lake District to discover if there's enough to tempt buyers into save tens of thousands of pounds on a cut-price alternative to luxury German and British marques... Freda Lewis-Stempel drove the new Jaecoo 7 SHS Plug-in hybrid from Scotland to the Lake District to put the cheap Chinese premium SUV & its 745-mile range to the test Jaecoo brand how is it positioned for the UK market? Jaecoo, as with Omoda, is sold exclusively outside of China. In fact, Chery set up Jaecoo and Omoda simply to expand internationally its the brands ticket into Western markets. For context of just how big Chery is, the Chinese car giant sold more cars last year than BMW Group and is the Asian country's biggest exporter. Chery shifted a whopping 2.6million units in 2024 - a 38.4 per cent increase on 2023. And with 72 shared dealerships already and more to come before the end of 2025, the Chinese car giant isnt holding back on expansion plans. Jaecoo is being positioned as a luxury premium option and wants to challenge the likes of Audi, BMW and even JLR. It's pitching to the same fashion-focused, urban elite buyers, but is undercutting all three when it comes to price. It even looks quite like Range Rover's Velar - at least from a distance. The massive 'waterfall' grille at the front is a dead give away it isn't a JLR product but does give it a unique look and dominant road presence. The 7 SUV then is a big moment for the brand. But is this 'off-roading-capable urban SUV' any good to drive? Jaecoo is a combination of the German word for hunter (Jager) and the English word cool. Jaecoo is the sister brand of Omoda and a subsidiary (only sold outside China) of Chery Chery, Chinese car giant sold more cars last year than the BMW Group and is Chinas biggest exporter. Chery shifted a whopping 2.6 million units in 2024 - 38.4 per cent increase on 2023 A compelling reason to consider the Jaecoo 7 SHS While the Jaecoo 7 is also sold with a conventional petrol option, I drove the 7 SHS plug-in hybrid variant, which marries a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 18.7kWh battery. The big headline figure is the claim that you can eek out 745 miles of combined driving range, which is why its called the SHS - Super Hybrid System. The electric-only range is 56 miles, which is more than double UK average daily mileage (20.3 miles) and a cut above rivals: Hyundai's Tucson manages only 43 miles and the MG HS PHEV can only cover 32 miles using the battery and e-motors alone. In a way its more like a self-charging hybrid because the system is designed so the battery never fully depletes and will keep enough power to tap into electric mode when required. You get a notification when it goes into Intelligent Saving Mode. The PHEV can also DC fast charge up to 40kW which gives you 20 to 80 per cent charge in under 20 minutes. This is a lot better than most PHEVs that only AC charge. AC charging will give a full battery in six to seven hours. There's also vehicle-to-load charging with the 7 SHS, so you can charge your home devices from the car's main battery pack. Jaecoo claims you can get 745 miles of combined driving range thanks to its Super Hybrid System. The EV range is 56 miles alone - a cut above the rival Hyundai Tucson's 43 miles The 7 starts from 29,435 for the Front-Wheel drive petrol. The Luxury All-wheel drive petrol comes in at 32,850 and the Luxury PHEV Front-wheel drive costs 35,065 - the one we drove The PHEV SHS can DC fast charge which is unusual for a plug-in hybrid but very handy. You can get 30-80% charge in under 20 mins Pricing and trims how cheap is cheap and what do you get as standard? Before going into the driving experience, its a good idea to have a monetary figure to keep in mind. The 7 starts from 29,435 for the Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) petrol car. The Luxury All-Wheel Drive (AWD) petrol comes in at 32,850 and the Luxury PHEV FWD costs 35,065. As well as the range, this car delivers a lot of kit for that money. And we mean a lot. The interior has some cheaper plastics but you can so much for your money - from huge screens to plush heated and ventilated seats, and loads of tech and safety features The panoramic roof, which also opens up, is an especially nice standard feature and makes the cabin very light and airy For base price your 7 will come with a panoramic sunroof, heated front seats which are electronically adjustable and finished in faux-leather, wireless phone charging, a 13.3-inch central infotainment screen and 10.25-inch digital driver cluster, as well as lane departure warning, emergency braking and intelligent active speed limit, adaptive cruise control and three driving modes (four on AWD versions). Not to mention a 540-degree panoramic camera with transparent view, keyless start and a power tailgate. Even top Luxury level you're only paying just over 35k and for that you also get a bigger 14.8-inch touchscreen, head-up display, a (very good) Sony eight-speaker sound system heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, heated seats front and rear and lumbar support. And we havent even got onto practicality. Driving experience isn't the 7 SHS' strong point and it doesn't match up to German luxury rivals. But does that matter for a bargain price when you get so much else for the money? While there's a lot of room for improvement in the way the car handles, the driving position is great and it's extremely comfortable. But the driving assists were constantly interfering Its sprightly enough, managing 0 to 62mph in 8.5 seconds and 201bhp. The double-glazing gives it one of the quietest cabins Ive tested in a long while - it's a lovely cabin to spend time in Whats it like to drive? Despite being incredibly frugal and providing a typically hushed EV ride, the 7 SHS is let down by the rest of the driving experience. It will get you from A to B, but it definitely isnt going to knock your socks off. I would describe it as underwhelming at best and sub-par at worst. It picks up road surface jarringly (it was developed on German roads which are much smoother than our pothole-riddled ones) and jolts over bumps and rough patches of tarmac. And the tyres lack traction too. It didnt help that the brakes are bracingly strong. The 7 body leans in corners and the steering is very loose and doesnt give you much more feedback when you select the 'Sport' driving mode you never really feel in-tune with it. On the flip side though, the driving position is good, as is visibility and the seats are really very comfortable. So, as a passenger, its very relaxing place to spend time and as the driver you can spend hours behind the wheel and not feel body fatigue from the seats. Its sprightly enough, managing 0 to 62mph in 8.5 seconds and 201bhp. And on motorways the double-glazing is especially welcomed, with a noticeably silent cabin that makes cruising much more enjoyable. In fact, its one of the quietest cabins Ive tested in a while. The petrol has a 500-litre boot but the PHEV SHS only has 412 litres, so it's decent, if not as big as some rivals, but all options have an automatic tailgate Practicality and the interior As Ive already listed, many of the interior features you get for not much money. All you really need to know is it's very well designed for family life and is a real selling point of the 7. Its extremely comfortable, the design is crisp and stylish and theres plenty of storage throughout. The petrol has a 500-litre boot but the PHEV SHS loses space, down to 412 litres, so it's decent, if not as big as some rivals, but all options have an automatic tailgate. Its very easy to adjust your seat electronically, and the upper trim has welcome seats that remember your personalised settings. Some of the materials are a bit plastic-y and its definitely not Audi, BMM, Mercedes or JLR level interior. However, it doesnt feel 'cheap', mostly thanks to the premium features installed inside. The cabin has an air purification system which filters PM2.5 particles from the air and can remove pet hair - a thoughtful feature for anyone with allergies and something new to us Storage is good throughout and the front seats are heated (as well as ventilated on Luxury trims). The rear seats are also heated on Luxury trims The sound system pulled its weight and the ambient lighting pulsates to the beat of your music which is sure to be a hit with teenagers and kids. The panoramic sunroof is a luxury you dont expect on such an inexpensive car, and being able to open up and let fresh air in makes it feel more rugged and like an actual off-road capable car even if you're unlikely to ever go off-piste with it. The Luxury trim also has an air purification system something Ive never experienced before which will filter PM2.5 particles from the air and can remove pet hair - a thoughtful feature for anyone with allergies. The tech: A touchscreen-only system and driving assists with a mind of their own While you are given a lot of inches of touchscreen for such a cheap car, there is room for improvement with the system. Its unfortunately very fiddly and isnt intuitive to use. There are shortcuts which are appreciated, but even swiping to get to those can be a faff. Apple CarPlay makes life a lot easier, so Id recommend just using that, especially as it is very quick to connect your smartphone to the car and it comes with both wireless and cable connectivity. Head-up display was clear and the drivers display nice and simple which helps make life a bit easier for the driver and there are steering controls too. The touchscreen is huge and connects very easily to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto both wirelessly and via cable, but the system itself is very confusing to use However, the driver drowsiness detection system was alarmingly distracting. It would get it into its head that you werent looking at the road even though both eyes were glued on it, hands were at nine and three oclock and youd only just started driving, at which point it would start beeping like a reversing bin lorry and scare the daylights out of you. And it didnt stop beeping for minutes at a time. That aside, the only other real bugbear with any tech was the windscreen wipers; instead of being able to flick the stalk up or down to increase and decrease speed, the 7 has a dial on the stalk with the option of Auto, Low or High. Auto didnt adapt very well to the changing rain conditions, and Low was too low and High a bit manic. The Jaecoo 7 SHS isn't a refined drive, and it can't compete with premium German brands but it can offer buyers a lot more for the money elsewhere than those brands can Jaecoo 7 SHS: The Cars and Motoring Verdict I cant say the Jaecoo 7 SHS is the greatest driver's car I've ever had the pleasure to get behind the wheel of, but I can say it does have a place in the market. For the price, you'll struggle to find something of this size offering such comfort, style and suite of features and luxuries as standard, a well as serious range. People might have their opinions on cheap Chinese car companies, but were also at a point where driving and buying a car has never been so expensive. What makes an affordable family SUV these days is in excess of 40k, and that is simply not affordable for most people. So, when a new brand with cool aesthetics comes in and offers people a premium family SUV for 35,000, it would be shortsighted to turn a nose up. And when it costs so little, will buyers really care if it doesnt drive like a dream or that it's made by a new Chinese brand rather than a German badge of old? I think that's unlikely. There are retailers we really want to succeed. Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Boots are in this category, as legacy firms with a strong heritage which fell on hard times. Under the guidance of chairman Archie Norman and, latterly, chief executive Stuart Machin, M&S is turning itself around. Fashion has been restored, the food offering is terrific and its portfolio of stores constantly is being reshaped and upgraded. John Lewis Partnership has been a step behind. There is a tendency to blame former chairman Sharon White, who lacked retail experience, for its failures. But a complex mutual structure, an inheritance of over-expansion and loss of momentum at Waitrose, which lost gloss after the departure of the Chubby Grocer Mark Price a decade ago, didnt help. It now looks as if a corner has been turned. Tesco emigre Jason Tarry doubtless will claim some credit for a recuperation which saw pre-tax profit climb 73 per cent to 97million in the year to January 2025. The decision to withhold bonuses for partners for the third year in a row is recognition that full recovery is some way off. The uplift in sales largely came from Waitrose, driven by increased volume and a new trendy partnership with Ottolenghi. Cautious recovery: Sales at John Lewis remain flat despite the introduction of Waterstone book counters and a focus on revamped beauty Sales at John Lewis remain flat despite the introduction of Waterstones book counters and a focus on revamped beauty. The Partnership suffers the difficulties of much of the High Street. Reintroducing the never knowingly undersold mantra is possible because of AI, but complicated in an age of Amazon and dynamic pricing. HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account Reductions in the payroll from 80,800 five years ago to 69,000 at present will drop through to the bottom line but maintaining exemplary service is undermined. John Lewis used to be the go-to location for advice on electronic devices and laptops. Much of that trade has been ceded to competitors such as Currys. John Lewis may be a lesser tanker than M&S, but there is still a way to go. That brings us to Boots. It is in an ownership trap following the purchase of its owner Walgreens by private equity company Sycamore. The sooner a firm of such importance to the health and beauty of the nation is released from purgatory, the better. Hopefully, executives from the London Stock Exchange are knocking on Sycamores doors now, offering a fast-track relisting. Small world Wonderful to see the sub-octane Department for Business reaching out to 5.5m small enterprises, the bedrock of the UK economy. It is seeking to empower them with a new Board of Trade including Apprentice regular Mike Soutar and BT chief Allison Kirkby. She has a role to play in making sure smaller firms have access to the fastest carbon fibre broadband. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, helpfully, is promising to assist our small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to gain access to overseas markets by taking advantage of free trade agreements. There is also a review aimed at improving access to finance and banking. Every little helps, but the reality is that Labours focus on what it likes to call working people is devastating for many SMEs. The National Insurance rise is a hammer blow to employment costs. Ed Milibands green agenda is driving prices higher. Most troubling is the Angela Rayner-inspired Employment Rights Bill. It may be appreciated in the trades union-dominated public sector. However, it is seen as a destroyer of jobs for SMEs, particularly those using flexible, part-timers. On top of that, small retailers and hospitality firms face an existential threat from unreformed, surging business rates. One other thing: Reynolds, by approving the sale of the Royal Mail to Czech sphinx Daniel Kretinsky, is trusting small business deliveries, a lifeline for many firms, to risky, financially driven ownership. Return to sender! Vintage row The nonsense tit-for-tat tariff war continues. Donald Trumps latest threat is a 200pc tariff on EU wines, in response to a Brussels levy on the USs finest bourbon whiskey. What a sacrifice for Americans. They will be required to drink the finest West Coast pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel instead of claret, rioja and chianti. Cheers! BP is seeking to sell a 50 per cent stake in its solar business as the oil giant attempts to win over activist investor Elliott. Pressure is building on chief executive Murray Auchincloss following reports that Elliott, which has built a near 5 per cent stake, was disappointed with his new strategy. Analysts warn the New York hedge fund could push to oust chairman Helge Lund appointed in 2019 who also leads the board of Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk. The Norwegian, who oversaw BPs failed pivot to green energy, is up for re-election at the annual general meeting next month. A fortnight ago, Auchincloss unveiled a plan to spend less on renewable power and invest more in gas and oil. He is under pressure to boost BPs share price and profits as it underperforms rivals Shell and Exxon Mobil. The strategy included plans to raise nearly 16billion by 2027 by offloading parts of the business, including a stake in its Lightsource solar arm. Turnaround: Pressure is building on BP chief exec Murray Auchincloss (pictured) following reports that activist investor Elliott was disappointed with his new strategy And Saudi Aramco is reportedly weighing up a bid for its lubricants business Castrol which BP has also put up for sale. But The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that Elliott wants BP to sell its petrol stations to raise a potential 31bililon. Bids for Lightsource are due in June, the company said in a document seen by Reuters. BP intends to bring in a partner and launch a sales process in the near future but declined to comment further. In a document dated March 2025, it said it was seeking a strategic partner for half of the solar company this year in a cash transaction. Called Project Scala, BP is seeking a strategic partnership with established leaders with extensive experience in the renewables industry. Governance would reflect joint control of the assets, BP wrote in the document. Initial, non-binding offers are due in June and the company will shortlist bidders in July. BP said the platform had 5.7 gigawatts of operational assets and was active in 19 markets. It said Lightsource was expanding into battery storage and onshore wind. Driving around the neighborhood where he grew up in Maui, Gordon Cordeiro barely recognizes his hometown. It has been more than 30 years since he last stepped foot in Makawao, and he is surprised at how many more roads and houses have sprung up, replacing the beautiful countryside he remembers from his youth. He is also bemused to see everyone out in public glued to their smartphones, which he is still struggling to master. But this is hardly surprising after spending his entire adulthood in jail for a murder he has always insisted he did not commit. Cordeiro was thrown behind bars aged just 20 for the 1994 killing of Timothy Blaisdell, who was shot in the head during a drug deal robbery on a remote dirt road known as Maui's skid row. He was then accused of plotting to have jailhouse snitches murder the only witness to the crime. But now, aged 51, he is finally free and back with his family after his conviction was overturned thanks to bombshell new DNA evidence found on the victim's clothing. Yet, mere weeks into his newfound freedom, Cordeiro has a new fight on his hands as prosecutors vow to put him back behind bars as soon as possible. Gordon Cordeiro walks out of prison after new DNA evidence found the profile of an unidentified man in the jeans pocket of the victim Gordon Cordeiro wipes away tears in court as he learns on February 21, 2025, that he is going to walk out of prison a free man after 30 years On February 28 - exactly one week after a judge vacated his conviction - Cordeiro was back inside a courtroom in Maui where prosecutors asked for him to be held on bail. The judge ultimately denied the state's request, but the prosecutor's office said it would be appealing the vacation of his sentence, telling the Daily Mail 'we still believe that Cordeiro is responsible for Timothys murder.' However, Cordeiro and his legal team at the Hawaii Innocence Project have other ideas. They are now planning to use the same technique that infamously unmasked the notorious Golden State Killer to catch the real murderers and bring justice to the victim and his family once and for all. The Hawaii Innocence Project has already contacted Steve Kramer, an expert in Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG), for help. Cordeiro was freed after a DNA profile belonging to an unidentified male was found inside the victim's jeans pocket. Now the experts hope they can use genetic genealogy to trace where that DNA came from and identify the killer or killers. This involves entering the DNA into databases to search family trees for a partial match. Even though Gordon is out of prison, we want to know who did this, Kenneth Lawson, co-director of Hawaii Innocence Project, tells Daily Mail. And we are not going to stop until we do everything we can to catch them. We want to find out who did this to Timothy Blaisdell and who was still out there able to commit more crimes while Gordon was stuck in prison doing their time. He adds: Its not over. For Cordeiro, it would mean not only mean being exonerated but also definitively proving to the world another individual or individuals committed this chilling crime. It would be amazing to find out who did this. It could help Timothys mom as Im sure shes having a hard time, he tells Daily Mail. And also my family. Timothy Blaisdell was the victim in this case but my family and myself are victims in this case too. Gordon Cordeiro is concerned history could repeat itself and he may once again find himself behind bars for a murder he did not commit The scene of Timothy Blaisdell's murder. Blaisdell had gone to Maui's Skid Row with a man named Michael Freitas to buy a pound of marijuana with $800 in cash Blaisdell's body was found at the bottom of a ravine on the night of August 11, 1994. He had been shot in the head The nightmare began back on August 11, 1994, in the rural town of Makawao in Maui. Blaisdell had gone to the Skid Row area with an acquaintance named Michael Freitas, where he planned to buy a pound of marijuana with $800 in cash, according to court documents. Hours later, his body was found at the bottom of a ravine. He had been shot once in the right side of the head and his body had been partially hidden under trash including an E-Z Glider exercise machine. The $800 cash was missing. Blaisdell had told several family and friends about the drug deal, showing his uncle the roll of notes in his pocket and telling him he was going with Freitas to buy the marijuana. But Freitas kept changing his story about what happened that day. At first, he denied that he had seen Blaisdell at all on the day of his murder. Then months later, he claimed he had witnessed Cordeiro kill Blaisdell during a drug deal robbery - and that Cordeiro was now also trying to kill him to silence him about what he saw. Cordeiro was classmates with Blaisdell in high school and they used to fix cars together. But he says he didnt know Freitas. We went to the same school and I knew of him but I didnt know him at all, he explains. Cordeiro also had an alibi for the time of the murder, having spent the day at home with his family and building shelves in the garage. Despite this, the then-20-year-old was arrested and charged with Blaisdells murder in October 1994. Kenneth Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project, agreed to take on Cordeiro's case Cordeiro is pictured marking his 50th birthday in prison. He says his family's unwavering support kept him going over the years Cordeiro says the first moment he even knew he was on law enforcements radar was when police officers swooped in on his home and handcuffed him. I was shocked, he says. It was unbelievable, I can tell you that. Even when the case went to trial, Cordeiro was sure a jury would clear him. I never believed I would be convicted, he recalls. If you're innocent, you don't think the system is going to fail you. I always believed I would be found not guilty. His first trial ended in a hung jury, with 11 out of the 12 jurors finding him not guilty. But when he faced trial a second time, jurors heard from several jailhouse informants who claimed Cordeiro had tried to recruit them behind bars to kill Freitas. This time, Cordeiro was convicted of murder, robbery and attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Looking back, he recalls all too clearly the shock and fear when the verdict was read. In the beginning, it was tough for sure. The first five or six years, especially the first year with the shock of being arrested for something I didnt do and all the trials and expecting to be found not guilty but being found guilty. It was shocking,' he says. But as the years went on, I started to keep myself busy in prison. I did carpentry work. I stayed out of trouble. Keeping busy in prison is probably the biggest thing you can do to pass the time. Its idle time that drives you nuts,' he adds. His imprisonment also took its toll on his family. Within the six-month period around his arrest, his mom, who had Lou Gehrigs disease, and his grandfather both died. Then, following his conviction, Cordeiro was shipped off to prison on the mainland US, serving time in penitentiaries in Mississippi and Arizona. For his loved ones, family time meant taking an expensive, seven-hour flight from Hawaii to spend a few hours visiting him inside a prison for the weekend. Cordeiro pictured with his sisters. He says his conviction took a big toll on his entire family One of the first things Gordon Cordeiro did following his release was visit his mother's grave It was a burden on them,' Cordeiro says. 'They uprooted their lives, they didn't take vacations because their vacations were trips to come visit me in prison. They made huge sacrifices for me. So it wasn't only me that suffered these 30 years. I was doing the prison time but they were doing the time with me. It was the whole family being punished. I'm lucky I've got a wonderful family. They stuck with me the whole time,' he adds. For Cordeiro, it was this support and belief in him that kept him going as his appeals and legal options dwindled. In 2010 - after 16 years behind bars - his fight for freedom took a major turn when the Hawaii Innocence Project agreed to take on his case. Lawson says he knew Gordon was innocent the moment he read about his case. Ive practiced law for 20 years and you always get clients coming to you and saying I'm innocent, he says. And 99% of my clients when I was a criminal defense lawyer were guilty. Everyone wants to say they're innocent. But when reading Gordons case I knew he was actually innocent. The Hawaii Innocence Project says Freitas lied about Blaisdells murder and set up Cordeiro because he wrongly believed he had snitched on him about an unrelated drug case. They believe Freitas - who has since died - and at least one unnamed co-conspirator had planned to rob Blaisdell that day but, somewhere along the way, the plan went wrong and they ended up killing him. Lawson also points to new evidence he says proves Cordeiro was not only innocent of Blaisdells murder - but was never even at the scene of the crime. On that fateful day, Blaisdell had been seen putting $800 inside his jeans pocket on his way to the drug deal. But the cash was missing when his body was found and has never been found. Gordon Cordeiro and his friends are pictured work on fixing cars. His life was put on pause when he was jailed and he has now spent more of his life in prison than not Cordeiro pictured with his family in 2013. Gordon Cordeiro had an alibi for the day of the murder and has always insisted he is innocent Someone involved in Blaisdells murder must have put their hand down inside his pocket to steal the money, Lawson explains. The Hawaii Innocence Project spent $100,000 on new DNA testing, including on the inside of the victims pant pocket. The DNA tests came back with a partial profile that did not match Cordeiro or the victim. In other words somebody else put their hand in the victims pant pocket where the money was, Lawson says. In court documents, the lawyers also pointed to confessions from the jailhouse informants admitting they had lied back in the 1990s, new gunshot residue evidence and claims of prosecutorial misconduct. It took 15 years but this February, in a highly emotional court hearing, Circuit Court Judge Kirstin Hamman looked at all the new evidence and ruled that it would have changed the outcome of Cordeiros trial had jurors seen it. The judge vacated his conviction and life sentence, and a sobbing Cordeiro walked out of court surrounded by his supporters, declaring the day Freedom Friday. Cordeiro says he never lost hope that one day he would be freed. Some days you wake up and think its never going to happen but I always believed the truth would come out. But I didnt think it would take this long,' he adds. Following his release, one of the first things Cordeiro did was visit his mother's grave. He also went for dinner with his attorneys. Then its just been non-stop visits with family and friends. Its been nice, he says. However, after spending more of his life in prison than out of it, Cordeiro is having to adjust to life back home. While his life stood still, the world moved on, particularly when it comes to technology. Its very different. I feel funny calling people and texting on the phone, he laughs. But Ive got a good family teaching me the ropes. I think Ill be good. He adds: It feels really good. Its wonderful. I get to smell the fresh air again. His family has launched a GoFundMe to help him get back on his feet, cover dental and medical care and find employment. When asked how he feels about Freitas, the man who he believes framed him for murder, Cordeiro says he doesn't want to waste time holding a grudge. Ive forgiven all the people who did this. I cant live with grudges. Im just going to try to enjoy the rest of my life and spend time with my family,' he says. Anger and hatred isn't going to get me nowhere so I have to forgive them all. Gordon Cordeiro, pictured with his father Dennis, is seen in a Facebook page set up to petition for his freedom in 2015 In court on February 21, the judge looked at the new DNA evidence and ordered Cordeiro be released and his sentence vacated Gordon Cordeiro seen leaving prison on February 21. Now he wants to help catch the real killer Gordon Cordeiro is seen hugging one of his sisters following his release But that doesnt mean his fight for justice is over. Maui County's prosecuting attorney Andrew Martin has already vowed to appeal the judges decision. Just three days after he walked free, Martins office filed a motion seeking to send Cordeiro back to prison on bail, claiming he is a flight risk. 'The fact that [Cordeiros] conviction has been vacated does not, standing alone, indicate he is not a flight risk,' prosecutors said in the court filing. 'Essentially, [Cordeiro] is back to where he was before his conviction: charged with both murder in the second degree and attempted murder in the first degree.' In a court hearing in late February, the judge ruled that bail is not needed, saying she does not deem Cordeiro a flight risk. But Martin told the Daily Mail the state still intends to appeal the overturning of his conviction. 'We still believe that Cordeiro is responsible for Timothys murder. As Timothy was shot, the question is who pulled the trigger? Almost thirty years ago, a jury found that Cordeiro pulled the trigger,' he said in an email. Martin pointed to Freitas's testimony that he witnessed Cordeiro kill Blaisdell, saying the jury 'believed him, and convicted Cordeiro'. 'The unknown DNA profile presented by the defense last week does not change that evidence. The defenses own expert testified that they have no way of knowing if that DNA profile was even there when the murder was committed. Two other profiles were also identified, and both of those DNA profiles belonged to employees of the company the defense hired to test the items,' he said. Martin added: 'In this case, we strongly believe that the facts and the law are on our side and will therefore appeal the courts ruling.' Lawson slammed the prosecutor's office for continuing to pursue the case against Cordeiro, saying they just dont want to admit they're wrong. While he is confident prosecutors would lose an appeal based on the evidence, he is frustrated they are revictimizing Gordon and his family and the victims family by going after someone who there is no evidence they committed the crime'. What does that tell you? It tells you they havent learned anything in the last 30 years its just horrendous, he says. Cordeiro and the Hawaii Innocence Project are hoping to use the same method of Investigative Genetic Genealogy used to catch Golden State Killer Joseph DeAngelo (pictured) to identify the real killer Gordon Cordeiro pictured with his family at home in Maui celebrating his release from prison after 30 years Cordeiro says he does worry history could repeat itself and that he may once again find himself behind bars for a murder he did not commit. It happened the first time, right? he says. Youre always going to be concerned but, I mean, well see what happens. Lawson adds that it is frustrating that it is now down to them to catch the real killer or killers. In Gordons trial, prosecutors argued in closing arguments that Gordon put his hand in Blaisdells pocket and stole the money and his wallet, he says. So when they can now see this new DNA evidence and they are still refusing to find the real culprit it makes you wonder: are they seeking justice or just a conviction? We just want to know what actually happened,' he adds. Got an example of a closed church conversion? Email: tips@dailymail.com They were once at the heart of almost every community across Britain, with their stunning architecture a great reminder of this country's rich tapestry of history. But more than 3,500 churches have shut across the UK over the past decade, with many now crumbling wrecks which can no longer be saved and face demolition. With church attendance having plummeted in recent decades and the repair bills simply too high, some of these beautiful buildings are simply locked up and unused. However, while their alarming decline paints a bleak picture for those who still view Britain as a Christian country, many churches are instead getting a new lease of life. They are being transformed for another use, such as becoming homes, community centres, libraries, museums, arts centres, theatres, offices, pubs or even nightclubs. And in a reflection of the country's shifting religious make-up with Christianity on the decline and Islam on the rise, some churches are even being turned into mosques. Other developers are also stepping in to save the buildings, while vicars desperate to keep churches open are attempting to turn them into multi-use community facilities. The Church of England owns more than 16,000 church buildings, but 12,500 of these are listed and account for nearly half of the Grade I-listed buildings in the country. Slide me The chapel at Repton Park in Woodford Green, North East London is now a swimming pool Slide me The Chapel Nightclub in Salisbury, Wiltshire, was originally a 19th Century Pentecostal church Chapel Nightclub in Salisbury has undergone a stunning transformation into a nightclub Places of worship on the Heritage At Risk Register in England are shown split by constituency Search your local authority district above in this ONS map to see the area's religious make-up An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 parish churches across the country are either closed or used intermittently without a resident vicar while the repair backlog for the CofE's churches alone is at least 1billion, according to the National Churches Trust. The situation has not been helped by former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who quit last November over an abuse scandal, overseeing a historic decline in the size of the CofE while in office as the number of congregants fell by 25,000 a year. Sunday church attendance has dropped from 788,000 to 557,000 since 2013, with vicars struggling to rebuild CofE attendance on Sundays after the Covid pandemic when many churches were forced to switch to online-only services. Government census data from 2021 showed Christians were in a minority in England and Wales for first time. Some 46 per cent of the population or 27.5million people described themselves as 'Christian', which was down from 59 per cent or 33.3million in 2021. Halo Nightclub in Bournemouth closed last March but is set to reopen in May as Sanctum. The building used to house St Andrew's Church, a Grade-II listed United Reformed Church Halo in Bournemouth opeened in 2013, and underwent a 500,000 refurbishment in 2020 The same data showed that the number of Muslims rose to 3.9million or 6.5 per cent of the population in 2021, up from 2.7million or 4.9 per cent in 2011. Figures from the Office for National Statistics also found 'no religion' was the second most common response in the census, increasing to 22.2million or 37.2 per cent in 2021, up from 14.1million or 25.2 per cent in 2011. But while churches are closing, many are being repurposed to remain a community meeting point - whether that is as a restaurant, pub or other use. One of the most interesting changes of use seen at churches in England is the food market chain Mercato Metropolitano's site inside St Mark's in Mayfair, a former Grade I-listed church. The building with a stunning Romanesque exterior underwent a 5million renovation after being deconsecrated, and retains many of its original features such as tombs and artwork among the food stalls. Food market chain Mercato Metropolitano's latest site is inside St Mark's in London's Mayfair Mercato Metropolitano in Mayfair followed a 5million renovation of the Grade I-listed church Others have been turned into pubs and nightclubs - such as The Duke and Rye in Chichester, which is opposite the West Sussex city's cathedral. Punters now get to drink in the mid-Victorian gothic-style building which is the former 19th century Church of St Peter the Great, deconsecrated in 1982. Another unusual conversion is the Halo Nightclub in Bournemouth, which was established at the site of the former St Andrew's Church in 2013. The Grade-II listed former United Reformed Church had a 500,000 refurbishment in 2020 and features a motorised lighting rig that descends from the ceiling. While the business ran into financial difficulties and closed in March last year, it is now set to reopen in May under new ownership with a new name - Sanctum. In North East London, a chapel that was once part of the Clayburn Asylum psychiatric hospital when it opened in 1892 has since been converted into a 24m swimming pool. The Grade II-listed Holy Trinity Church in Reading was turned into a luxurious home in 2017. The property inside Holy Trinity Church features stone walls and stained-glass windows Swimmers at the Virgin Active facility Repton Park can look at the stunning gothic arches and stained-glass windows at the facility which also includes a sauna and gym. Elsewhere in the capital, Asylum Chapel in Peckham is a former chapel at what was home for retired pub landlords which opened in 1827 but was bombed during the Second World War. By 2010 it was being used as a space for art projects, exhibitions, theatre productions and shoots and it is now a creative project space with a wedding licence. In Salisbury, the Chapel Nightclub is a former 19th Century Pentecostal church which opened in 1897 before being renovated in 1997 when the church closed. The award-winning venue has four separate rooms - The Vestry, the Soul Room, the Chapel and the Courtyard and features a light-up dance floor. Meanwhile the Unitarian Chapel on High Pavement in Nottingham opened in 1876 but has in more recent years been a Pitcher & Piano bar after its conversion in 1998. Unitarian Chapel on High Pavement in Nottingham was turned into a Pitcher & Piano bar in 1998 The Grade II-listed Pitcher & Piano bar in Nottingham retains the stained glass windows The Grade II-listed venue, which previously housed the Nottingham Lace Museum in the 1980s, retains stained glass windows and exposed brick archways. In South Yorkshire, the former St George's Church was taken on by the University of Sheffield after being closed in 1981. The Grade II-list building, which was consecrated in 1825, is now home to lecture space and student accommodation. Another impressive property conversion is Holy Trinity Church in Reading, a Grade II-listed building constructed in 1850 which was turned into a luxurious home in 2017. The Grade II-listed St Laurence's Church in Darlington, built in 1871, was also converted into a seven-bedroom home and features the original stone spire. Elsewhere, Missionworks in Hammersmith, West London, is a shared workspace that was originally built in 1884 as a church hall for the nearby St John the Evangelist Church. St George's Church in Sheffield is now a university building featuring student accomodation St George's Church functions as a lecture hall and University of Sheffield accommodation The Grade II-listed building has also previously operated as a school, kitchen, workers' club and studio to the scenic designer John Campbell who painted sets for shows. Other churches are even being turned into mosques with the latest example covered by MailOnline being one in Watford which was recently bought by a Muslim organisation for 3.5million. St Thomas' United Reformed Church closed in 2015 with the initial plan to demolish and rebuild it because of serious structural issues. Planning permission was granted twice but the scheme was never taken forward and it was put up for sale then purchased by the local Ar-Rahmah Trust last December. Now, the charity is trying to raise a further 1.5million to renovate the 20,000 sq ft building to reopen it as Masjid Al-Ummah next year 'with facilities like never before'. It comes after the Church of England intervened to block a disused Grade II-listed church in Staffordshire from being transformed into a mosque in August last year. St Laurence's Church in County Durham dates back to 1871 and is now a seven-bedroom home St Laurence's Church is made of rock-faced sandstone with ashlar dressings under a slate roof The St John the Evangelist church in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, had not been used as a place of worship since the tower was declared unsafe in the 1980s. The building, which dates back to 1788, was being last used as an antiques centre and cafe before being sold onto the Zamir Foundation which won permission from Stoke-on-Trent City Council to turn it into a mosque. But the Church of England blocked the plan using a legal clause under a covenant that prohibits it becoming a place of worship for another religion. Other transformations have however been passed, such as a disused Victorian Methodist church in Bradford which is set to be converted into a mosque. Clayton Heights Methodist Church dates back to 1870 but has been vacant since 2020 with plans to turn it into homes never carried out, and the church instead bought by the local Muslim community. Missionworks in Hammersmith, West London, is a shared workspace that was originally built in 1884 as a church hall for the nearby St John the Evangelist Church The Grade II-listed building housing Missionworks has also operated as a school, kitchen, workers' club and studio to the scenic designer John Campbell who painted sets for shows. Elsewhere, the dilapidated former St Chad's Church in Blackburn, Lancashire, was transformed into the new Masjid-e-Taqwa mosque following a major renovation in 2023. The National Churches Trust has stated that 3,500 churches have closed in the UK in the last ten years, while the Church of Scotland is actively planning the closure of 30 to 40 per cent of its churches. The charity adds that about a quarter of historic churches and chapels in Wales have closed in recent years, while in England over 900 churches are on the Historic England Heritage At Risk Register. The areas considered by the National Churches Trust as the 'danger zones' which contain the largest numbers of historic churches on the At Risk Register are Lincolnshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Devon, Cornwall, inner and central London, parts of Manchester and the East Midlands. A survey by the charity in July last year found in-person church attendance can fall by almost a third if a local church closes. The poll, which interviewed 2,667 UK adult Christians online, asked 'What would you do if your local church building closed?'. Asylum Chapel in Peckham, South East London, has been brought back to life as an arts venue Just under a quarter (22 per cent) of church-going Christians say they would no longer attend church services at all, while a further 7 per cent say they would attend services only online. The same proportion (7 per cent) said they would attend services less often than at present. Older people are most likely to stop going to church at all, with only 19 per cent of those over 65 saying they would find a new church to attend as often as they do currently, if their local church were to close. Churchgoers in the North East (30 per cent) and North West (31 per cent) of England were the most likely to stop going to church at all whilst those in London were least likely to stop going to church at all (14 per cent). The CofE states that about 20 churches are closed for worship each year, and has a regularly-updated list on its website of those which are available for sale or lease for a suitable list. Current examples include the Church of St James in Burrington, a Grade II-listed building on the market for 160,000 on the Herefordshire-Shropshire border which dates back to the 13th century and was built in its current form 1864. The remote church, which is three miles away from the nearest village, is in the early English style with lancet windows and plate tracery with the building also featuring 17th century ledger slabs and a Norman-style round arched head on the doorway. St Thomas' United Reformed Church in Watford closed in 2015 and is now becoming a mosque A view inside St Thomas' Church in Watford seen in a promotional video from Ar-Rahmah Trust The site layout for the planned Masjid Al-Ummah which is set to open in Watford in 2026 Also on the list is the former Church of St Leonard in St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, which was built in 1953 to replace a previous 1834 church destroyed during the Second World War, which is on the market for 500,000. Others include the Grade II*-listed St Paul's in Boughton, Chester, for 100,000; Carlisle Holy Trinity in Cumbria for 250,000; and Church Kirk St James in Blackburn, Lancashire, for 75,000. Sir Philip Rutnam, chairman of the National Churches Trust, told MailOnline: 'The future of church buildings is the biggest heritage challenge facing the UK and the changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme by the Government have only exacerbated this. 'Many of our church buildings are in a perilous state and are struggling to keep their doors open. It is local people who have to find the money, and now they're having to find even more to pay for VAT on top of the urgent repair costs to fix crumbling towers and leaking roofs. 'These wonderful buildings are not just loved for their heritage, but they are often the only public building in the area and to lose them would be deeply felt in communities in every corner of the UK.' 'The Government needs to bring together Christian denominations and the tourism and heritage sectors and come up with a national plan for how we can protect these buildings, so we can keep them open for future generations to use and enjoy, or else we risk losing them for good.' A Victorian mum who lost her baby at just five days old has urged all expecting mothers to take some simple tests early in pregnancy to avoid the same tragic outcome. Kirsten Radford's first child, Alexander, died after less than a week in 2023 following a battle with severe preeclampsia. The serious medical condition is a relatively common complication associated with pregnancy that can result in high blood pressure. After she fell pregnant again, Ms Radford and husband Daniel were determined not to let it happen again. 'It was really well monitored this time,' the 35-year-old told Daily Mail Australia. 'Last time it wasn't monitored at all and we had a lot of issues and it was missed completely. That's why my first son died. '[With this pregnancy], from 12 weeks, I was on blood pressure medication and was heavily monitored. It's definitely the reason he's (got through to this point).' Despite all the precautions, Ms Radford was still hospitalised at 24 weeks with her second baby, Harrison, due to placenta abnormalities and another bout of severe preeclampsia. Kristen and Daniel Radford with their son Harrison after he was born at 28 weeks Harrison is slowly getting stronger but will need specialist care for years He was eventually born a month later via emergency C-section and has been receiving care in a Melbourne neonatal unit since December 30. Harrison also developed a lung condition and will need surgery for a hernia but is slowly getting stronger. 'He's had quite a few bumps in the road and is still on oxygen but he's starting to do really well and is gaining weight,' Ms Radford said. 'He'll have issues with his lungs for the first two years of his life and will be susceptible to chest infections and even the common cold which could hospitalise him. 'His lungs could collapse and he'll probably have childhood asthma so we need to be careful.' Dr Prayatna Shetty is an obstetrician and maternal and fetal medicine specialist and she said many soon-to-be mothers were not aware of the dangers of preeclampsia. The condition, which in unique to pregnancy, is an unprecedented and dangerous increase in blood pressure in the mother along with changes in their liver, kidney and placenta function. The placental changes and high blood pressure can then affect growth and development of baby which can cause premature birth or even still birth. 'Some of the stories have been quite brutal,' Dr Shetty said. Harrison Radford is battling a number of conditions but is making progress in his fight 'We know what starts it and how to predict it with biomarkers. The issue we are facing is lack of awareness.' Dr. Shetty said the main factors that increase the likelihood of preeclampsia include family history, advanced age, smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease and multiple births. She said aspirin in low doses when started at 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy can prevent preeclampsia by about 70 to 80 per cent, but many women leave it too late to find out their risk. 'The aspirin medication needs to be started at 12 weeks and by that point most women are still with their GPs and haven't seen a specialist. They may miss the window of opportunity to start this medication at the right time,' Dr Shetty said. 'By the time they reach a hospital or a private practice it's too late and preeclampsia has set in.' There is a preeclampsia risk scoring scan which can be done at 11 to 13 weeks along with thorough history, clinical evaluation and biomarkers to predict preeclampsia-related risk. Dr Shetty said any prospective mothers can get the scan along with a blood test to determine their risk. Harrison still has a long road ahead of him and his parents have been travelling hours from their tiny town of Natimuk - 320km northeast of Melbourne - to get treatment for him. That's why they've set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to go towards Harrison's medical expenses. Ms Radford said she won't be able to go back to her job as a theatre nurse until next year as she cares for her at-risk son. 'The costs are adding up. We knew after Alexander passed that we would be having a neonatal unit stay so we were saving up for that before we tried to get pregnant again,' she said. 'We put money away but we've chewed into those funds and our savings are gone and we've still got a lot to do in the future.' The couple said they were hoping to raise $10,000 to see them through the difficult days ahead. 'We have tried not to ask for financial assistance as long as possible, but we are at a crossroads, where we will completely deplete our savings just trying to get Harrison home,' Ms Radford said. Britain is on course to becoming a 'second tier' European nation like Spain or Italy due to economic decline and a weak military that undermines its usefulness to allies, an expert has warned. Research professor Dr Azeem Ibrahim OBE concluded in a damning new report that the U.K. has been paralysed by low investment, high tax and misguided policies that could see it lose its standing as a top-tier middle power at current growth rates. The stark assessment weighed that successive government failures in regulation and attracting investment had caused Britain to miss out on the 'industries of the future' courted by developed economies. 'Britain no longer has the industrial base to logistically sustain a war with a near-peer like Russia for more than two months,' he wrote in The Henry Jackson Societys latest report, Strategic Prosperity: The Case for Economic Growth as a National Security Priority. The report assesses that Britain is now on track to fall behind Poland in terms of per capita income by 2030, and that the central European country's military will soon surpass the U.K.'s along lines of both manpower and equipment on the current trajectory. 'The issue is that once we are downgraded to a second tier middle power, it's going to be practically impossible to get back. Nations don't come back from this,' Dr Ibrahim told MailOnline today. 'This is going to be accelerated decline unless we nip this in the bud and have bold leaders who are able to make the difficult decisions right now.' People pass boarded up shops on March 20, 2024 in Hastings, England A British soldier reloads his rifle on February 17, 2025 in Smardan, Romania Staff Sergeant Rai uses a radio to speak to Archer crews from 19th Regiment Royal Artillery during a live fire range on Rovajarvi Training Area, during Exercise Dynamic Front, Finland Dr Ibrahim welcomed the government's decision to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027, but warned much deeper, systemic issues threaten to irreversibly knock the U.K. from its position as a globally influential power. With a weakening industrial base, Britain's usefulness to its allies is now 'falling behind even second-tier European powers', he warned. 'Not only is the U.K. predicted to have a lower GDP per capita than Poland by 2030, but also a smaller army and one that is unable to sustain deployment at scale.' This is of particular concern at a time of heightened geopolitical tension, with Britain pegged to be among the leading forces in Europe's rapid rearmament project. 'There are 230 brigades in Ukraine right now, Russian and Ukrainian. Not a single European country to mount a single heavy armoured brigade.' 'This is a massive oversight on the part of subsequent governments, not just Starmer's problem, of failing to invest in our military and essentially outsourcing security to the United States and NATO,' he told MailOnline. 'With the U.S. getting fatigue of providing the security umbrella to Europe, Europe now has to stand on its own and the U.K. would have been in a premium position to actually lead European defence. But none of the European nations are.' Slowed defence spending and patterns of low productivity are nothing new. But Britain is now also 'failing to adjust' to the Trump administration's jolt to the rules-based international order, said Dr Ibrahim. The former advisor to the 2021 Integrated Defence and Security Review noted in the report that in spite of the 'weakening' of the institutions once 'secured' by the U.S., Britain is responding by harming the last vestiges of its military might and economic power. The U.K., he said, 'seems to be making increasingly expensive gestures' like the 9bn handover of the strategic Chagos Islands and opening talks on reparations for Caribbean Slavery. The surrender of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean has been the source of much scrutiny. Negotiations between the U.K. and Mauritius were started by the Tories in 2022, but an agreement was announced by the Labour government last October. Dr Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute defence and security think thank warned at the time that 'the move demonstrates worrying strategic ineptitude in a world that the U.K. government describes as being characterised by great power competition'. Calls for the U.K. to provide reparations for its historical role in the slave trade were rekindled also in October last year, though Sir Keir Starmer said ahead of a meeting of Commonwealth countries that reparations would not be on the agenda. A Challenger 2 main battle tank of the British forces during the NATO's Spring Storm exercise in Kilingi-Nomme, Estonia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speak during a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, January 17, 2025 Dr Ibhramin assessed that the U.K. seems to be acting against its own security interests in part due to a narrow understanding of risk. 'We understand soldiers and missiles but fail to fully conceive of the risk that having no alternative to China's supply chains might have on our ability to respond to military aggression.' He suggested a new security model to 'enhance the U.K.'s strategic dynamism' based on a rethink of migratory policy and threat assessment, access to rare earth minerals in a market dominated by China, and the prioritisation of energy security and independence via investment in North Sea gas and a long-overdue rethink on nuclear energy. 'Without immediate policy changes to reignite growth, Britain will become a diminished power, reliant on stronger allies and vulnerable to foreign coercion,' the Foreign Policy columnist said. 'As global economic competition intensifies, the U.K. must decide whether to embrace a bold growth agenda or resign itself to irreversible decline.' Britain's commitment to the idea of Net Zero may be laudable, but the pursuit will inhibit growth and obscure strategic goals, he warned. 'I am not saying that the environment is not important. But we simply cannot afford to do this. 'We are a country that has failed to invest in our economic, in our energy infrastructure. And we have significant resources at our disposal.' Nuclear power, including the use of small modular reactors, could be a boon for the British economy and energy independence. 'But we've failed to commercialise them and obviously that's going to take a considerable amount of time.' Britain did introduce a new financing model for nuclear power stations in 2022, which lobbyists including Labour politicians had insisted was key to finding the money for expensive plant-building projects. While Innovate UK, Britain's innovation agency, has been heralded for its grants for small energy-producing companies at home, entrepreneurs have warned a wider culture of 'risk aversion' in the U.K. stifles investment. In 2022, incomes for the poorest 14 million people fell by 7.5%, per the ONS. Pictured: Waterlooville High Street, Waterlooville, Hants Undated file photo of The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands Britain has consistently failed to acknowledge the looming 'authoritarian threat', allowing the trend of managed decline. But the resurgence of autocracies on the world stage risks further undermining the rules-based international order from which Britain 'benefits enormously' as a globalised economy. 'The threat to this order...has developed partly because of the lack of a robust will to defend it, owing in part to deliberate foreign attempts to subvert the recognition of the true lurking threat they pose.' The Trump administration's warning to NATO allies in Europe that they will have to do their own bidding has gone some way towards waking Britain up to the urgency of investing in defence. But Dr Ibrahim warned that this is not enough. He urged a top-down reform of 'essentially our entire state' to bring the ossified state back to life and sustain it. 'Reforming the welfare state, reforming the NHS, reforming pensions - these are essentially bodies that take up immense amounts of funds and they'll just keep growing significantly,' he told MailOnline. 'You could double the NHS budget and it will really not make much of a dent. So all of this will require fundamental reform and will take a lot of courage from whomever is in power because it will make them unpopular.' The report outlines recommendations in radical tax reform, pro-growth immigration policies, and a renewed focus on securing Britains role as a leader in high-tech industries, energy security, and global trade. Vladimir Putin speaks with the governor of Arkhangelsk region Alexander Tsybulsky during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 11, 2025 File photo. Britain's economic stagnation could see it soon become a 'second tier' partner Boarded-up shops in Blackpool as more than 13,000 stores closed their doors for good in 2024 Britain is not alone in falling behind. The Trump administration's insistence that Europe pay for its own defence has cast fresh light on the Old Continent's dire situation after decades of slow growth and reduced spending. The Centre for Economic Policy Research assessed at the end of last year that Euro area economic performance has been 'subdued' since around 2018, illustrating 'multifaceted challenges of energy dependency, manufacturing vulnerabilities, and shifting global trade dynamics'. There remain profound discrepancies between European economies; German deindustrialisation has hit businesses hard and forced redundancies, while Spain has grown in line with its tourism-focused economy. This remains fragile, however, with residents increasingly agitated by the perceived pandering to foreign visitors as they are priced out of affordable accommodation and trapped in low paying seasonal jobs. The Henry Jackson Society is a foreign policy and national security think thank based in the United Kingdom. A former New York City banker has been charged with rape and sexual assault after he allegedly attacked a woman in her apartment. Mark Harris, 35, is accused of raping the 25-year-old victim on February 25 after he allegedly told her that she deserved the attack, prosecutors have claimed. The banker, who recently worked at international banking company Investec, was arrested and charged last Thursday with rape and sexual abuse, NYPD told MailOnline. He appeared before Manhattan Criminal Court the same day. The victim has claimed that Harris pulled down her pants, held her on a mattress and raped her, despite her repeatedly trying to kick him off, according to a criminal complaint obtained by The New York Post. Prosecutors say the victim pleaded with Harris to stop to no avail and allege that as Harris left her home, he called the victim a 'f****** bitch' and told her 'you had this coming'. His attorney has branded the allegations against Harris as 'outlandish and demonstrably false' and says he expects the charges to be dropped. Harris has been freed on a $150,000 cash bail, which the Post reports was requested by the prosecution. Mark Harris walks out of Manhattan Criminal Court after he was arrested for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman inside her Midtown apartment on February 25 Prosecutors told the court that Harris (pictured in court) pulled the victim's pants down before he held her down on a mattress and raped her. His attorney has branded the allegations against Harris as 'outlandish and demonstrably false' and says he expects the charges to be dropped Harris was arrested on March 6 and charged with rape in the 1st degree, rape in the 3rd degree, and sexual abuse in the 3rd degree, according to the NYPD. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed that Harris appeared in court last week, but told MailOnline that 'nothing significant occurred' during the hearing. The banker is due back in court on May 1. His attorney Jason Goldman has denounced the allegations, claiming his client is innocent. '[The court] appearance confirmed what we already knew that Mr. Harris has not been indicted on these outlandish and demonstrably false allegations,' he told MailOnline. 'It's unfortunate that someone of Mr. Harris' character can even be arrested and subjected to recklessly sanctionable articles based on a fictious rape claim.' He added: 'We expect this matter to soon be dismissed.' Goldman told the Post that their investigation has already discovered evidence that he says 'exonerates' Harris and that he hopes his client's 'reputation will not be ruined by this sanctionably false report'. Harris has been freed on a $150,000 cash bail, which was reportedly requested by the prosecution. The banker is due back in court on May 1 Harris was employed by SMBC Bank for 11 years, serving as the director of structured and project finance, the newspaper reports. He worked at SMBC Nikko Securities in 2022, before joining Investec, where he worked in energy and infrastructure finance. He is understood to have last worked for the firm in November 2024. The Dominican Republic hotel where missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki vanished last week issued a shocking statement, distancing itself from the disaster and insisting it is fully operational. Riu Hotels & Resorts released a statement Wednesday in which it stressed that incidents at the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana hotel were 'completely unrelated' to the student's disappearance. It came after widespread complaints of power outages and no running water at the resort. While police continue to search for Sudiksha, the hotel is open and busy. There were even people sunbathing on its beach while police combed the sand and waves for any sign of her. When asked to comment about her disappearance, the hotel told Daily Mail: 'The electrical outage occurred during the early hours of Tuesday, March 4 to Wednesday, March 5, specifically at 01:27 AM. 'Two hours later, service was restored to 70%, while the remaining power supply was fully reinstated on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, specifically at 02:13 AM, which is before the time of the disappearance.' The Spain-based hotel operator, which has 98 locations across the globe, explained that the lobby and common areas at the hotel had electricity 'throughout the entire day of March 5 and the early hours of March 6.' It also said that the cameras that are part of its surveillance system were functioning during the day and night since there was enough lighting in the area. Sudiksha Konanki traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for spring break on March 3 and vanished from the beach at Riu Republica Hotel three days later Joshua Riibe was the person who last saw Sudiksha Konanki on the beach at the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana 'Throughout the night and early morning of Wednesday to Thursday, Sudiksha Chowdary Konanki was seen in various areas of the hotel, enjoying the facilities in the company of other young guests,' Riu Hotels & Resorts said. 'The last recorded image of her was at 04:17 AM, when she was seen leaving a hotel bar in a group heading towards the beach.' When pushed, a spokesman offered a follow-up statement expressing sympathy for the girl's family. Sudiksha was last seen with Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old college senior from Iowa. The pair were part of a large group who went to the beach together at around 4am on the morning of her disappearance. It was initially reported by local press that Riibe told police he and Sudiksha went for a swim and were caught by a large wave. He said he emerged from the water and fell asleep, according to local reports. Police are yet to confirm his story. Surveillance video footage obtained by Dominican Republic news outlet Noticias SIN showed Joshua Riibe (left) and Sudiksha Konanki (second from left) following the young woman's friends and another man to the beach at the Riu Republica Hotel before Konanki disappeared March 6 Sudiksha Konanki vanished from the Riu Republica resort in Punta Cana last Thursday, three days after arriving to celebrate spring break with five friends from the University of Pittsburgh Riibe has assisted police in the Dominican Republic so far. The authorities there remain convinced that Sudiksha drowned. Her family and American police are still pushing for a full investigation. Riibe, of Rock Rapids, Iowa, could be seen holding a cup with a beverage and placing his left arm behind Konanki's back as they trailed the group. At about 4:55 am, the hotel security camera system showed two of her friends returning to the hotel. The camera picked up another female friend accompanied by a man, identified by Noticias SIN as Carter Johnson, walking into the building at 5:05 am. The same camera would show Riibe, barefoot and shirtless, as he slowly walked back to his room at 8:54 am with Konanki nowhere in sight. A road scheme campaigner has accused police of allowing public debate to be 'weaponised' after an officer was sent to his home to grill him about an online spat with a rival activist. Rory Comyn, 55, is opposed to a 'bus gate' that will stop cars from using a railway bridge on a busy route through Cambridge and has often locked horns verbally with a supporter, Matt WinterHolt. But he was stunned and embarrassed when a constable turned up on his doorstep about alleged malicious communications including a homophobic slur. Mr Comyn insisted he had never sworn at or insulted his rival and the alleged homophobia involved a comment posted by someone else who had accidentally used the surname Winterbottom. As well as stifling freedom of speech, he complained that police should be using their scarce resources to fight real crime. 'He [Mr WinterHolt] has weaponised words. It's a vexatious claim,' Mr Comyn said. 'How ridiculous that public resources were used. While the police officer was talking to me about this he was listening in his ear and saying something major was happening up the road and I thought "Why are you here pushing a ridiculous political agenda?'" Rory Comyn (pictured with his wife), 55, is opposed to a 'bus gate' that will stop cars from using a railway bridge on a busy route through Cambridge and has often locked horns verbally with a supporter, Matt WinterHolt Mr WinterHolt, the social secretary for campaign group Mill Road 4 People, often argued with Mr Comyn The furious debate over the Mill Road bus gate (pictured) which will only allow buses, bikes, emergency services vehicles, taxis and blue badge holders through - has divided locals for several years Mr WinterHolt, the social secretary for campaign group Mill Road 4 People, was approached for a comment. The furious debate over the Mill Road bus gate which will only allow buses, bikes, emergency services vehicles, taxis and blue badge holders through - has divided locals for several years. Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras will be used to issue 70 fines to any unregistered cars that drive through. Some living nearby say it will transform the bustling area, which is packed with shops, pubs and restaurants and make it more pleasant to visit, as well as cutting pollution from engines. Opponents argue it will increase pollution by creating more congestion in nearby streets, while business owners have warned of catastrophic consequences from collapsing footfall. Protesters also claim a public consultation in which 52.9 per cent of people supported the Traffic Regulation Order was not carried out properly. Mr Comyn said most of the toing and froing by the rival groups took place on neighbourhood app Nextdoor. His partner, carer Emma Rose, 45, is the claimant in the latest judicial review against the scheme which, he added, had made her the target of 'constant attacks'. Mr Comyn said he had had 'a lot of back and forth with [Mr WinterHolt] over the years', so he decided to block him on the app on February 25. Mr Comyn said most of the toing and froing by the rival groups took place on neighbourhood app Nextdoor (pictured with his wife) 'Three days later, there's a knock at the door and it's a policeman standing there and he said 'Do you know Matt WinterHolt?' he said. 'I explained the situation and said I had never been disrespectful. One the platform, if there's a problem you're encouraged to resolve it with them or block them. This guy chose not to do that and instead built a dossier of hurtful words and went to the police with it.' Handyman Mr Comyn added: 'He asked to come in, which was tricky because I had family there and it was embarrassing. But neighbours could see this so eventually I said come in. 'He explained there had been a complaint about harassment and that he [the complainant] had felt alarm and distress from some of these posts, at which point I burst out laughing and said 'Can you show me where I've harassed or upset anybody or said anything unkind?' He said he couldn't do that. 'He mentioned a homophobic comment where someone had misspelt his name and I said that wasn't even me. 'I think the penny was starting to drop at this point. He looked rather exasperated and then I said Emma is the complainant in the court case and he said 'Ah, I see' and the tone of the conversation changed.' Mr Comyn admitted 'hundreds' of messages had been exchanged with Mr WinterHolt but he insisted: 'I don't even think I've called him an idiot and I 100 per cent have never used a swear word. I play the ball, not the man.' Cambridgeshire County Council spent around 300,000 on a first attempt to impose the bus gate, including 72,000 on a legal challenge that it lost in court. It then immediately relaunched the plan, which was passed by councillors in October last year prompting the judicial review from Ms Rose on ground including a failure to take into account a petition conducted by Mill Road Traders' Association. A hearing is expected in June. He was stunned and embarrassed when a constable turned up on his doorstep about alleged malicious communications including a homophobic slur (pictured with wife) But the council went ahead and installed the infrastructure for the bus gate without waiting for the outcome, with building costs coming to another 200,000. Around 60 protesters spent several nights there in November, trying to disrupt work from taking place. And last week, vandals damaged the ANPR cameras with paint. Penalty notices were due to start being issued from yesterday but cameras were disabled after workers were brought in to fix a burst water main. Cambridgeshire Police has identified 5.5 million of cost savings for 2025-26 and is already looking for more. A force spokesman said: 'We have been contacted with reports of malicious communications online relating to a man in Cambridge. 'Officers have spoken to the victim and another man about the allegations. An investigation is ongoing.' Mr WinterHolt, an event co-ordinator at Cambridge University's women-only Murray Edwards College, was given several opportunities to respond. The bus gate is the latest in a number of road schemes that have attracted fury in Cambridge, including the introduction of extra bus lanes, pop-up bike lanes that reduce space for vehicles and complicated roundabouts that residents say caused congestion. This is the robber who was pleasured by a besotted prison guard before she herself ended up behind bars over the intimate relationship. Katie Evans, 26, was jailed for 21 months at Sheffield Crown Court over an illicit romance with convicted robber Daniel Brownley while working at HMP Doncaster. She boasted to another prison officer of performing oral sex on the criminal and collecting drugs cash on his behalf over a six-month period in 2020 - saying she was his 'Queen'. Today MailOnline can reveal that the released convict has become a born again Christian and renounced his criminal lifestyle - including his illicit liaison with Evans. The one time burglar and drug dealer has reinvented himself as Daniel Wild, become a Christian influencer and now adamantly denies his past including - in a strange twist - that he ever had sex with Evans. Wild, 37, did confirm that he had met prison officer Evans while serving his time but, despite court evidence which was strong enough to send her to prison, now remarkably insists: 'There was never anything sexual with Katie or any sexual misconduct. 'She never touched me, I never touched her but we were flirting and there were feelings between each other. 'She left her job on her own accord, she quit, when I was transferred to another prison. Convicted robber Daniel Brownley, who has now changed his name to Daniel Wild, was pleasured by besotted prison guard Katie Evans, landing her with a prison sentence The one-time burglar and drug dealer has reinvented himself as a born-again Christian named Daniel Wild. Pictured: With his wife, Kessia Evans, 26, (right) was jailed for 21 months at Sheffield Crown Court over the illicit romance at HMP Doncaster. Pictured: With her new lover, Beth Hulley 'We were going to try to have a full-blown relationship when I was out, but at this time I was getting closer to God and was telling Katie this. 'Our relationship was all based upon lust, but nothing happened.' Since being freed in 2021 and meeting his future wife, 37-year-old Wild has had a spiritual rebirth and boasts to his thousands of followers on TikTok that he has a 'new life, purpose, peace and joy.' In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the once-troubled teen and notorious criminal told how he found God while behind bars, which has stopped him re-offending, saying: 'I discovered a life of crime doesn't pay.' Evans - who MailOnline revealed is now engaged to a woman, mother-of-one Beth Hulley, 27 - is no longer in touch with Wild. Distinct-looking Wild - with heavy tattooed arms - was named in court as the inmate linked to mum-of-one Evans, 26, from Hatfield, South Yorkshire, who admitted having an intimate relationship with him in 2020. She was rumbled after becoming romantically involved with the inmate - then called Daniel or Danny Brownley - following an investigation by the force's Prison Anti-Corruption Unit. Evans was caught out after boasting about an oral sex act to an ex-prison officer, and it later came to light that she had moved money around accounts for him. Since being freed in 2021 and meeting his wife, 37-year-old Wild has had a spiritual rebirth The once troubled teen and criminal has revealed how he found God while behind bars The couple have a young son and are expecting their second child in September The ex-con told how a prison chaplain at HMP Doncaster in South Yorkshire had 'introduced me to basic Christianity.' He said: 'While I was locked up I started studying the Bible and found the evidence overwhelming. 'Religion has changed me and made me a better person.' Wild, who lives near Birmingham, West Midlands, with his wife Kessia Wild (nee Hunt) and their 15-month-old son Israel, said she was fully aware of his violent past. He said: 'Kessia is pregnant with our second child, due in September, and she knows every detail about my past. 'Jesus turned my life around. It may sound stupid and foolish to some people with different morals and values. 'I was Daniel Brownley, but I am now known only as Daniel Wild. I am a born-again Christian.' In a series of videos, watched and liked by masses of fans, he raps about his time locked up and his positive new journey. Wild says his wife, Kessia, pictured with their young son, 'knows every detail about my past' In a series of videos, watched and liked by masses of fans, Wild raps about his time locked up and his positive new journey Wild portrays himself today as a family man who has found religion Wild refers to his 'life in prison' and being a former drug dealer affiliated to a gang. He pays tribute to his partner, who he describes as the 'woman of my dreams.' The religious enthusiast - whom a judge branded 'manipulative' as he sentenced Evans on Tuesday to 21 months in jail - sings: 'God is good!' Phone records revealed she had communicated with Wild 140 times on a SIM card that had been smuggled into the category B jail, with some calls lasting nearly an hour. During their mobile conversations, Evans called herself 'your queen' while talking to the lag, who was serving five-a-half-years for burglary, attempted robbery and handling stolen goods. A weeping Evans was sentenced this week at Sheffield Crown Court where Judge Jeremy Richardson, KC, told her she had 'betrayed the trust' placed in her as a prison officer. She had previously pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public place. After finally being granted his freedom, despite being recalled to jail for breaching his licence conditions, Wild told MailOnline: 'I was first locked up when I was 16 for doing 14 robberies. Born and bred in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Wild admitted 'getting into the wrong crowd' which led to his prolific crime spree. Pictured: With his wife, Kessia Wild tells his more than 8,000 followers on TikTok: 'From darkness into light, the truth sets you free and is justified by your faith' 'I was released but re-jailed at Doncaster.' Wild first became a subject of police involvement when going missing as a child aged 11 with his frantic mother Sonia Sturch alerting authorities. He was found shortly afterwards. As a teenager, born and bred in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, he admitted 'getting into the wrong crowd' which led to his prolific crime spree. He told how he had originally been 'given a life sentence' which had been revoked under radical Government policy by former Home Secretary and labour peer David Blunkett. Wild had been served an Indefinite Sentences for Public Protection (IPPs), reserved for serious sexual and violent offenders, which had no end date. He said: 'The Government Blunkett, revoked my sentence stating that is was inhumane.' Wild was freed from jail after serving two thirds of his term but was recalled to prison in 2020 for breaching conditions, before walking free again. Phone records revealed Evans communicated with Wild 140 times on a SIM card that had been smuggled into the category B jail, with some calls lasting nearly an hour During their mobile conversations, Evans called herself 'your queen' while talking to the lag, who was serving five-a-half-years for burglary, attempted robbery and handling stolen goods. Pictured: With new lover Beth Hulley In catchy raps and passages from the Bible and against the backdrop of places such as Lichfield Cathedral and Tamworth Cathedral in Staffordshire and outside Birmingham Town Hall, the ex lag posts to his 8,249 followers which have 81,700 likes. Wild states: 'From darkness into light, the truth sets you free and is justified by your faith.' In one clip he reveals: 'Released from prison and ready for my new life as a Born Again Christian and I get to do it with the woman of my dreams.' He adds: 'Drug dealer, gang affiliation, life in prison - Jesus came for me. Jesus set me free. 'It is in stark contrast to the life of disgraced ex prisoner officer Evans, whom he once preyed upon. She was unmasked during a probe into another corrupt guard and admitted she has lavished attention on Brownley, boasting about a sex act and collecting drugs on his behalf. Evans, who has a young daughter, formed an 'intimate relationship' with Brownley, using a false name to disguise her real identity. Judge Richardson told Evans, who sobbed in the dock: 'There must be a prison sentence. Corrupt prison officers must be punished. There is no question about that. The judge said there was no excuse for Evans' offending despite being 'satisfied that you were manipulated by an experienced criminal'. Pictured: With new lover Beth Hulley (left) 'The public expects punishment for those who betray trust in the way that you did. 'It is truly a terrible situation for a judge to be passing sentence on a former prison officer, who has been branded a corrupt prison officer, but it must be done.' The judge said there was no excuse for her offending despite being 'satisfied that you were manipulated by an experienced criminal.' Evans committed the offences between March and November 2020 while working at HMP Doncaster, aged 21. The push for Puerto Rico's freedom from the United States is making waves. The issue of statehood versus independence was thrust into the spotlight last week after DailyMail.com's exclusive reporting that several Congressional offices are weighing the matter. And there's growing pressure on President Donald Trump to free the island via executive order that claims it would save Americans $617 billion over a few decades. However, Puerto Rico's total independence is not a widely popular initiative within the island territory community or in the U.S. In recent elections, Puerto Rican voters have overwhelmingly shown preference for statehood over secession and 59 percent of Americans say they support it becoming the 51st state. But the total independence movement is gaining some momentum and advocates see Trump as their ticket to freedom. The Puerto Rican Alliance (PRA) and its partners are looking to drum up a renewed interest for the secession movement in the U.S. Over the last month, the alliance has sent letters to White House officials and congressional offices, a leading voice in the push for independence told DailyMail.com. 'The statehooders they're totally trying to discredit [us],' author and Puerto Rican independence activist Javier Hernandez told DailyMail.com. 'With all this information coming out now,' he added, 'they're in panic mode right now.' The issue of Puerto Rican statehood versus independence was thrust into the spotlight last week after DailyMail.com exclusively obtained and released a drafted document proposing an executive order transitioning the Caribbean island to sovereignty Javier Hernandez was one of the people who helped draft the proposed executive order and who sent a memo on Puerto Rican independence to 30 White House and Cabinet offices as well as several Republican and Democrat lawmakers Starting in February this year, a small group of pro-secessionist Puerto Ricans sent a five-page memo to 30 Trump officials including the president's own office with three different proposals for a pathway towards granting Puerto Rico sovereignty. One idea presented an executive order, the second a task force on transitioning to sovereignty and the third declaring a state of emergency in Puerto Rico so Trump could use his executive power to 'dispose' of the territory. The biggest issue recognized by statehood advocates is the proposed executive order first reported by DailyMail.com. Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council George Laws Garcia told DailyMail.com: 'This handful of independence supporters have no real momentum in Washington, D.C., with zero federal lawmakers publicly supporting their proposals and no viable legislation, they have resorted to cheap public relations stunts like a fake, unconstitutional 'executive order'.' The U.S. president cannot through executive action give sovereignty to a held territory. Instead, it requires an act of Congress to vote on it. But Hernandez argues that President Donald Trump has taken a more 'unilateral' approach to his leadership style and claims that if he signed an order then the Republican-led Congress would fall in line and vote for it. 'We see that there's a chance and opportunity with Trump since he's doing all these executive orders, he's doing a more unilateral presidency, kind of taking charge like that,' continued the author of PREXIT: Forging Puerto Rico's Path to Sovereignty. 'And as a president he has some powers over international politics, over international relations. So there are some legal precedents to support this, that he can do something.' 'I mean, to be honest, if the president says, 'this is what we're doing, I'm going to support this,' the Republicans in Congress most likely are going to back it up. So that's how the Congress would come in,' he noted. Herenandez added of the influence campaign: 'If he does it first and supports this, and it becomes a GOP issue we could push it through Congress. He signs it, then it becomes law, then we could finally get our freedom and move on with our life. So that's the goal for this.' No one in the White House has indicated that they are taking the proposal seriously. It's also relevant to note that Trump has taken an expansionism approach to U.S. international policy when proposing things like purchasing Greenland from Denmark and acquiring the Panama Canal. He has even proposed that Canada become a U.S. state. Admittedly, PRA and its partners did not expect to hear back from the White House and after some time began sending the same proposal to offices on Capitol Hill. They also included a draft of what they proposed an executive order from Trump might look like. 'When we sent it to the White House, we weren't expecting them to quickly contact us; we just wanted them to have it and review it, just as congressional offices were also receiving it,' Hernandez said. He revealed to DailyMail.com that the paper letters were sent through certified mail, so he could confirm that all of the top Cabinet and White House offices at least obtained the physical copy of the memo. Hernandez also provided a list of the offices who were sent and received the document. The list includes top Trump aides and allies like Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Communications Director Steven Cheung and 'first buddy' Elon Musk. But it also went to border czar Tom Homan as well as Cabinet Secretaries like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth. Statehood activists are also continuing their efforts in the U.S. Puerto Rican Gov. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon met with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in San Juan on March 6, 2025 Whether these top Trump officials laid eyes on the document, reviewed it or have taken it into account, however, remains unknown. Multiple offices did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment on the matter. Hernandez said that the PRA held a meeting earlier this year with staffers with the Senate Energy Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), because the congressional group has jurisdiction over all Puerto Rico-related matters. He also said that the group was able to secure a future meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office. Thune's office did not respond to a request for comment and Lee's office declined to weigh-in on their meeting. Garcia noted how the Puerto Rican statehood ballot measure won the last four island-wide plebiscites as well as elected pro-statehood Republican Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon. 'Now, we are actively working with the administration and the current Congress to introduce and advance legislation for a binding offer of statehood for Puerto Rico,' he added. Gonzalez-Colon and 200 statehood supporters met in-person with 80 offices on Capitol Hill this month. Some of these meetings were directly with members of the House and Senate. The governor also met in San Juan with Homeland Security Secretary Krisit Noem during her first visit to the island in her Cabinet capacity. Asked why he thinks the movement might be gaining some traction now, Hernandez said 'it's almost like the stars are aligning' for the independence movement. 'I think we can actually do something here with independence, finally,' he said. 'So we got together, we organized and we got the best and brightest people to come together in Puerto Rico and diaspora to really make a really good case for independence, but through executive action.' The core members that drafted the memo and executive order along with Hernandez are Edil Sepulveda, who founded PRA, Puerto Rican attorney Rolando Emmanuelli Jimenez, professor Carlos Rivera Lugo and American-born land use and housing policy analyst Christina Mojica. PRA is a national advocacy organization looking to connect Puerto Rico and its people who have dispersed around the world with decision-makers and communities advocating for decolonization or independence of the island territory. An Australian mum on holiday in Bali fears she may have been a victim of methanol poisoning after she woke up with a black eye and no memory of the night before. Amber Hills, 34, has now shared an urgent warning about the risks of drinking alcohol in the tourist hotspot after her birthday trip turned into a life-threatening ordeal. The Brisbane mum and a friend decided to enjoy a kid-free holiday to Indonesia to celebrate her birthday during the school holidays last year. The ten-day trip started with long walks on the beach and hours of reading in the sunshine, but things took a sinister turn on the third night. The pair had made a reservation at a popular venue in Bali known for its sunset views and were required to spend $60 each to secure a table. The deposit prompted her to deviate from her usual bottled beer or wine and order a margarita instead, after she spotted parents on another table drinking cocktails with their kids and decided the beverage was 'safe' to drink. Ms Hills was sipping her second cocktail when she noticed the taste of the drink was different to the first. 'The last thing I remember was our two entrees arriving at the table,' she wrote in an Instagram post about the nightmare ordeal. The pair ate some of the food but it wasn't long before Ms Hills' friend grew worried and called a driver to take them back to their resort. Brisbane mum Amber Hills, 34, suffered a black eye and memory loss after her cocktail was spiked in Bali - with methanol poisoning not being ruled out after the ordeal Ms Hills (pictured) has reserved a table at a popular spot known for its sunset views when she decided to order a cocktail Ms Hill collapsed in the bathroom and hit her head on the sink, causing a black eye. 'Between my girlfriend and a group of strangers, I was carried out of the venue, taken to a nearby villa, and treated by a local doctor - all while I was unconscious,' she revealed. 'I woke up in a villa I didn't recognise, with a black eye... I was told that my drink had been spiked, causing me to collapse and vomit violently.' Ms Hills was rushed to another friend's house where they were met by an on-call doctor who pumped Ms Hills' body with fluids. 'It's terrifying to think I could have ended up unconscious and alone in the street, hit or killed by falling off a scooter, or taken advantage of,' she said. 'I am beyond grateful that I had my girlfriend by my side the whole time. 'She arranged safe transportation to somewhere safe and got me medical help. And for that, I am forever thankful.' Traumatised by the ordeal, the women travelled home to Australia the very next day despite having one more week left on their reservation. Ms Hills is now urging Aussies be vigilant when drinking alcohol in Bali and has not ruled out that she was a victim of methanol poisoning. Ms Hills (pictured) is now urging Aussies be vigilant when drinking alcohol in Bali and has not ruled out that she was a victim of methanol poisoning Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, died from methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist town in Laos, in November 'This is a good reminder that if you're ever travelling to a foreign country, stay with people that can and will look out for you in case the unthinkable happens,' she said. After sharing her story online, Ms Hills said hundreds of people have contacted her sharing their own experiences with spiked drinks and methanol poisoning. 'It really shows how big of an issue this actually is. It's very, very scary,' she said. 'Especially for young travellers who would be out drinking and consuming a large amount of alcohol. 'I was lucky as I was only having a few drinks over dinner. I can't imagine what would have happened if I was drinking like many do when they go to Bali.' Methanol is a colour-less liquid that tastes similar to alcohol and is a byproduct of bootlegged liquor. It can cause blindness, organ failure and death if consumed. Travellers are often urged to stick to bottled beverages including beer, wine and pre-mixed drinks while on holiday. Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, died from methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist town in Laos. Ms Jones and Ms Bowles were evacuated to Thailand and died in separate Bangkok hospitals. Four other foreign nationals also died in the suspected mass-poisoning. The victims included a 57-year-old US man James Louis Hutson, two young women from Denmark Ms Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Ms Frela Vennervald Sorensen, 21, and 38-year-old British lawyer Simone White. Over the past two years they have appeared like magic across Londons best-known shopping streets. A string of Harry Potter-themed stores now enjoy a flourishing trade on sites including the Strand, Whitehall, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street. Although unaffiliated with Warner Bros or J.K. Rowling the garish shops often sell a range of genuine merchandise from the bestselling books and Hollywood film franchise they inspired. Elaborately decorated with props from the books and movies one even including a replica of the flying Ford Anglia famously crashed by Harry and his best friend Ron Weasley they attract streams of tourists and fans who flock to the capital each year eager to spend their cash on Hogwarts-themed paraphernalia. But, while its clearly a wizard idea to use one of Britains best-loved fictional characters to attract business in the nations most famous shopping areas, worrying questions have emerged about who is behind some of these stores. The Mail has discovered that many of the new Harry Potter-themed shops are the latest incarnation of a murky retail network that also includes American candy stores and tacky tourist souvenir shops. Proliferating on central Londons busiest streets, these stores are accused of peddling at times illegal or unsafe goods and using shell companies and patsy directors to avoid tax. From a painstaking trawl of public records, we pieced together a network of at least nine Indian nationals who on paper at least control an ever-changing series of 30 companies through which this retail empire is run. Despite being unaffiliated with Warner Bros or J.K. Rowling, the shops - such as this store in London - often sell a range of genuine merchandise The shops attract streams of tourists, but many of these outlets are the latest incarnation of a murky retail network that also includes American candy stores These firms, all set up in the past few years, regularly exchange directors and have changed location between 21 addresses in London and Oxford. A third of the companies have been struck off, wound up or dissolved, often owing debts including four related companies which owe 400,000 to Westminster City Council. Of those firms which are still running, many have either not filed accounts or have large debts wiping out nearly all profits. Most of the directors are registered at but dont appear to reside in a string of overlapping dilapidated homes in Oxford. Even the spelling used in some of these companies appears slapdash with names entered on the official Government register including Whitehal (sic) and Souvneirs (sic). The shadowy network currently centres on a semi-detached house in Botley on the outskirts of Oxford, which according to Companies House is the listed address of mother-of-two Safoora Shafeeq and her husband Shafeeq Pallivalappil. Between them, the couple are directors of 11 retail companies, five of which have previous addresses linked to current Harry Potter shops. Little is known about the pair, who are believed to have moved to Oxford in 2020 from the Indian state of Kerala. Mr Pallivalappil is reported to have described on his Facebook account which now appears to have vanished how, after first arriving in the UK, they worked several jobs and put in extra hours on public holidays and weekends, without any extra payment to get by. When they were approached by the London Centric news website at the rented property late last year, Ms Shafeeq initially denied owning the Harry Potter stores and said she was just running them, yet in a later email to the publication denied having said this. After speaking to the reporter, the couples firms were abruptly re-registered to a service address in Liverpool but, in the following weeks, many were re-registered again to the Oxford address. Two of the companies controlled by the couple are among four registered firms that together owe business rates on a Harry Potter store near Piccadilly Circus totalling 400,000 to Westminster City Council. Mother-of-two Safoora Shafeeq and her husband Shafeeq Pallivalappil are the directors of 11 retail companies, five of which are linked to current Harry Potter shops Another garish store located on the Strand in London The couple told London Centric that previous legal operators are responsible for these unpaid rates and that they were awaiting the updated bill to make payments accordingly, and were strictly adhering to all legal requirements. But, despite on paper being a major nerve centre of the British retail sector, the Oxford property the couple were living at now appears to be empty. When the Mail visited last week, flyers and freesheets littered the porch, the blinds were drawn upstairs and downstairs, and neighbours said they hadnt seen anyone at the address for weeks. Nobody knew where they had gone. Similar uncertainty surrounds how the couple came to take control of these companies, many of which had previously been listed at other addresses and run by different directors linked to a string of separate stores in high-profile London locations. The exact connection between these people is unknown, but the Mail found they were all originally Indian nationals and many have been listed at the same residential Oxford addresses. Mr Pallivalappil was previously listed at an address, along with two other directors in the network, a 20-minute drive away at a rental flat in the Oxford suburb of Marston. Despite the names having appeared on the electoral roll or the Companies House register at different times over the past five years, the letting agent said none of them had rented the property in the past decade. It was a similar story at a new-build apartment around the corner where Mr Pallivalappil was previously on the electoral roll and five other directors in the network are listed. When the Mail paid a visit, three students there said they had been renting the flat since October and had never heard of the directors registered at the property. Another question surrounds how much this complex network of directors are actively involved in running and profiting from the shops. Only one of the Harry Potter shops, Wizards & Wonders at Piccadilly Circus, has a website, but it does not offer any names for those behind it. Indeed, in an apparent moment of self-awareness, it describes itself as shrouded in mystery. Products for sale online (although the link breaks when you try to make a purchase) include a gold-plated Hermione Time Turner necklace for 59.99, a Hufflepuff hanging banner for 15.99 and a chocolate wand for 13.99. A plush toy of Dumbledores bird Fawkes can be yours for 23.99. Elsewhere, it says it is run as a franchise. The contact email is a Wizards & Wonders Gmail account and its Instagram page has been removed. It is believed that Harry Potter merchandise can be sold at outlets other than official Harry Potter stores as long as it is properly sourced. Those with knowledge of the operations suggest that most of the official directors listed as controlling the shops are in fact just patsies, who are put in charge of shell companies for a small fee but see none of the real money being made by these enterprises. Some, they explain, are believed to be foreign students happy to sign the legal paperwork and have their names on the publicly-available Companies House register for a bit of pocket money while the real owners profiting from the enterprise stay in shadows behind a legal cloak of invisibility. They say that the Harry Potter stores are the latest manifestation of a long-running problem plaguing central Londons famous shopping districts. For years there was an issue with souvenir shops selling over-priced goods around Oxford Street that used shadowy networks to try to avoid taxes. This problem exploded during the pandemic when many legitimate shops went out of business and their spaces were quickly filled with a series of American candy stores which became notorious for expensive tat, not paying taxes and, in some cases, selling dodgy products including counterfeit chocolate, watches and vapes. During a raid on one of the American candy stores on Oxford Street in September 2024, Westminster City Council seized 600 items including fizzy drinks, sweets and cereals not properly labelled or suspected of containing harmful ingredients. Many commercial landlords were nevertheless happy to lease to them because leaving the plots empty would make them liable for paying the stores business rates. Although there is no evidence of unsafe products being sold in the Harry Potter stores, they appear to be run on a similar business model and at least one Harry Potter store is a direct descendent of one of the candy stores. Meanwhile, some of the shops in the extended network of directors connected to the wizard stores remain American sweet stores, souvenir stores or an Aladdins-cave style mishmash offering vapes, luggage and money exchange as well as corners selling Harry Potter merchandise. A large proportion of these though not those specifically themed as Harry Potter stores were not charging VAT. This may explain one reason for the constantly revolving companies the shops use, as they can avoid paying the tax if their revenue is under 90,000 per year. The other reason is to make it far harder to track down those behind the stores when companies are wound up still owing business rates, as has happened in several cases. Exasperated council officers trying to recoup the cash keep having to start again every time the official names change. As well as the dodgy goods and unpaid taxes, the optics are also bad. Oxford Street may once have been steeped in history and culture but now, for many tourists to London, its tawdry souvenir and luggage shops will form their impression of the capital and the country hardly the images the UK wants to project to the world. No wonder, then, that Westminster City Council has been waging a battle against these shops blighting our once venerated shopping district. Council leader Adam Hug says: For the past two years, the council has exposed the fact that unscrupulous traders have used a byzantine structure of shell companies, patsy directors and lax Company House rules to set up shop in high-profile locations and then disappear. While the number of US candy stores has fallen in the West End, it remains a fact that this kind of tawdry tat whether over-priced candy, lookalike wizard regalia and illegally strong vapes is not the kind of look we want to see on our streets. The council will continue to pursue owners for unpaid business rates and seize suspected illegal or unsafe goods from these stores. He congratulated the Mail for its investigation. His officers deserve praise, too, for taking the fight to the rogue stores. But, with those behind them going to such lengths to avoid detection, it seems it would need one of Harrys magic wands to make the problems facing Britains iconic shopping streets vanish. An Australian Border Force supervisor could face life behind bars if she's found guilty of allegedly helping to smuggle $1.3million worth of cocaine into the country. Rita Gargiulo, 50, and Mount Pritchard man Cosmo Commisso, 67, are accused of conspiring to import 6.9kg of cocaine into Australia. Gargiulo was allegedly bribed by Commisso with luxury items, including Burberry and Louis Vuitton handbags and high-heels, in return for 'the safe passage of the parcel', the ABF will allege in court. In her role as supervisor at the ABF's base adjacent to Sydney Airport at Mascot, Gargiulo could search cargo and trawl through internal systems to see if packages had been flagged. Gargiulo and Commisso were arrested on Tuesday and charged with bribery and smuggling offences including aiding and abetting the importation of border-controlled drugs which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The ABF will allege Commisso paid Gargiulo to provide information about a 'dummy' shipment of cosmetics which arrived in Australia from Malaysia on February 21. Gargiulo then allegedly provided advice on how the airfreighted 6.9kg cocaine package with an estimated street value of $1.3million - could get through customs. Commisso and Gargiulo allegedly exchanged flirtatious messages in the months leading up to the alleged drug smuggling, in texts seen by the Daily Telegraph. Rita Gargiulo, 50, is understood to be a supervisor at the ABF's Mascot base Police alleged 67-year-old Cosmo Commisso has links to Sydney's underworld Two other men, aged 25 and 48, have also been arrested and charged with attempting to possess border-controlled drugs. The charges come after the AFP announced a new task force to specifically target public officials who work as 'double agents'. 'We used to call these alleged offenders trusted insiders,' AFP Deputy Commissioner Crime Ian McCartney said. 'However, they are really acting like double dealers by working both sides.' Help is on the way for those who avoid answering their phone or miss important calls due to a fear of being scammed. A new feature from Telstra will ease these worries by giving customers greater control of which calls they answer by showing warning messages. After receiving one of three different warning messages, customers can then choose to answer the call or let it go to voicemail. Telstra Scam Protect has already flagged more than 10million calls since the feature was added to the service last December. There is no charge to customers and they don't even need to activate the feature - alerts will appear automatically at no extra cost. Phone scams are estimated to have cost Australians $141million in 2024, with impersonation scams or threats and extortion being the most common types. Telstra research carried out last September found that 42 per cent of respondents said they are less likely to answer calls due to their fear of losing money to a scam. It also found that 47 per cent of Australian women are less likely to answer unknown calls on their mobiles compared to 36 per cent of men. More than 40 per cent of Australians who are less likely to answer a call due to their fear of scams that cost the country $141m last year (stock image) Telstra will customers greater control of which calls they answer by showing warning messages (pictured, a Telstra store in Sydney) Generation X are the most cautious when it comes to answering unknown calls with a 45 per cent hesitancy rate, followed by baby boomers (42 per cent), millennials (41 per cent) and Gen Z (39 per cent). Across Australia, Queenslanders are the most cautious, with a 47 per cent hesitancy to answer calls from unknown numbers, followed by Victorians and South Australians (42 per cent), Western Australians (38 per cent) and those from NSW (37 per cent). ScamWatch said one in three Australians reported scam attempts by phone. The criminals usually claim they're from well-known organisations such as the government, police, law firms, utility companies, banks or telecom services. People are advised to be wary if a caller asks for personal or financial information or to allow software to be installed. Other warning signs include the caller making threats, or if they suggest you or your accounts have been hacked, or if they mention ways to make quick and easy money. There are three messages Telstra Scam Protect will give: 1. Warning: Potential Fraud: for calls that may be fraudulent, either calling from a spoofed number or a has a suspicious calling pattern Examples of the warnings about scams the new Telstra system provides are pictured Telstra Scam Protect has already flagged more than 10m calls with a warning message since it started being added to the service last December (stock image) 2. Unverified: Overseas Call: for calls appearing to be from a local mobile number, but are detected as coming from overseas and potentially suspicious. 3. Warning: Suspicious Calling Pattern: indicates a high volume of incoming traffic from a single number, which can be associated with spam. Telstra has also offered advice on what to do if you answer a scam call. People should hang up the phone if they are unsure of where a call is coming from. If a caller says who they work for, people should call them back through the organisation's official contact details on their website, and not a number they're given. Telstra also advised to not call back unrecognised numbers as this could cost more than $20, and be cautious of numbers beginning with 190 and international numbers. If an SMS that looks dodgy comes in, delete it and do not reply. If you think you have given over personal information and are concerned it may be misused, you should immediately contact your bank or card provider and ask them to stop any transactions. Then change your passwords to your phone, computers and online accounts. A highly paid porn star has lashed out at a bank for rejecting her home loan application because of how she makes her money. Layla Kelly said she has been raking in more than $250,000 a year by posting X-rated content on her OnlyFans account. The enterprise has been so successful that it has gone from a part-time hobby to a full-blown career - and allowed Ms Kelly and her husband of 19 years, who films and edits her content, to save up a six-figure deposit for a home. The 34-year-old said it was something she never thought possible in her former life as a banker on a salary of $65,000. But the couple's plans to by a home hit an unexpected hurdle last November. Ms Kelly her mortgage broker sent the application to several banks to see who could offer the best loan terms, and one New Zealand bank refused it outright. 'One bank came back and said they wouldn't even consider the application because of the industry I work in,' she told Daily Mail Australia. In her initial application she listed her job as 'content creator' but the bank wanted more detail on the content. Layla Kelly makes more than $250,000 a year from her X-rated content on OnlyFans The 34-year-old says she formerly worked as a banker on a salary of $65,000 When she responded that she ran an OnlyFans account, she was told to list her occupation as 'sex work'. But once she did, the bank refused to assess her application. 'I was shocked and I was angry to begin with - I just thought it was ridiculous,' she said. 'It feels like financial discrimination, but apparently in New Zealand they can discriminate on the basis of your job. 'There are a lot of New Zealanders that fall under that category and we pay tax - I pay heaps of tax.' Eventually, she was able to secure a loan from another bank and buy a house in the national capital Wellington. But Ms Kelly said the rejection from the first bank, which she had decided not to name, had left a sour taste. 'It's crazy to me, because if it's a moral issue - and moral issues shouldn't enter into banking - then do they support businesses that sell cigarettes or gambling products?' she said. 'If my money's not good enough for you, then I don't want to bank with you anyway.' A Canberra tradesman has been charged with 13 road rage offences over nine months after wild footage emerged of him attacking a ute driver. Dashcam video caught shirtless Michigan Addison Bullock climbing onto the back of a moving ute before allegedly attacking its driver through an open window. The cause of the dispute is unclear, but the clip showed Bullock allegedly ramming the Toyota Hilux twice with his car before leaping onto the ute. The 25-year-old allegedly smashed the vehicle's back window to hit the driver with a plastic pipe as the driver continued along a busy highway in the nation's capital. The dramatic vision, filmed in November, showed the ute driver slowing to standstill as blows allegedly continued to rain in on him, before Bullock allegedly jumped onto of the roof of the Hilux ute and dented it. The alleged attacker then walked away from the scene as the driver leapt out of his ute to assess the damage in apparent disbelief. Australia Federal Police arrested Bullock on Monday after raiding his home in suburban Gungahlin, on Canberra's northern outskirts. He faced 13 charges at ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, including three counts of dangerous driving, two counts of interfering with a vehicle, three counts of not giving his particulars to the other driver at the scene of a crash and one count of assault. Police alleged the incident was among a string of serial road rage incidents Bullock had been involved in over the past nine months. Michigan Addison Bullock was allegedly seen attacking the driver through the read window of his Toyota Hilux ute The dramatic vision, filmed in November, showed the ute driver slowing to standstill as blows allegedly continued to rain in on him before Bullock allegedly jumped onto of the roof of the Hilux ute and dented it 'Between June 2024 and February 2025, the man caused collisions and was involved in other driving incidents where he acted aggressively and failed to exchange details with other drivers,' ACT Police said. In another incident captured on dashcam, Bullock allegedly rammed into another car until it spun into traffic. The accused serial road rager did not apply for bail on Tuesday and he was remanded in custody until his next appearance in court on April 7. Bullock winked at a group of supporters in the courtroom's gallery as officers led him back to the watchhouse. Police said they believed there had been a number of other road rage incidents involving Bullock's ute and appealed for witnesses to come forward. 'Police believe there are other road rage incidents involving the white 1993 Mazda Bravo B2600 utility with NSW registration DH61VQ that have yet to be reported to police,' ACT Police said. Investigators have urged anyone with dashcam footage of the vehicle, or anyone who has witnessed other road rage incidents involving the car, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. . A Dominican senator desperate to retain tourism said that missing American student Sudiksha Konanki had it coming when she vanished in a shocking on-air rant. Sudiksha Konanki vanished in the early hours of March 6, sparking a frantic search and investigation in and around the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana where she had been staying in with five girlfriends. The 20-year-old is believed to have entered the ocean with a man she met on the trip. He came ashore because of the dangerous conditions and passed out on the beach, but Sudiksha has not been seen since. While police initially said she likely drowned, they have now admitted that her death may not have been an accident. After a week, her remains have still not washed up, sparking desperate pleas from her family to consider all other options. They are now considering the possibility that foul play have been involved. But Ginnette Bournigal, a senator of Puerto Plata and the president of the Senate Tourism Commission, was convinced it was a drowning when she spoke. 'There was obviously a red flag on the beach. What were those young people looking for with a red flag at four in the morning on the beach? A red flag means everywhere, the world knows this: don't go to the beach.' Bournigal, speaking on Wednesday in an interview with Su Mundo TV, shockingly added: 'Here we are magnifying something that happened.' Sudiksha Konanki vanished in the early hours of March 6, sparking a frantic search and investigation in and around the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana where she had been staying in with five girlfriends Ginnette Bournigal, a senator of Puerto Plata and the president of the Senate Tourism Commission, said Konanki and her friends should have known better DailyMail.com accompanied officers from the National Police as they trawled a four kilometer (2.5 miles) stretch of coast by motorboat Tuesday afternoon to search for any signs of her She went on to criticize media outlets reporting Konanki's disappearance, insisting they are instead 'trying to discredit the destination. 'We have many enemies, and any little thing that happens here - how many people, how many things haven't happened to tourists in different parts of the world?' In a direct plea to social media networks in the Dominican Republic, Bournigal warned them to 'be careful' about what they are posting. 'Be careful with that. Be careful. Let's all be careful. The Dominican Republic, today, it's a safe island. 'It's a part, a shining point in the entire Caribbean, in Latin America, that we cannot neglect, that we have to provide love and care for.' A 300-strong search team utilizing drones, sniffer dogs and Navy divers scoured the tropical playground for a fifth day without finding any trace of the University of Pittsburgh student. 'We won't stop working. We are doing everything in our power to find her,' vowed Colonel Diego Pesqueira, spokesman for the National Police. Konanki's disappearance had reportedly coincided with a power outage that knocked out AC units and prompted multiple guests to head out to the beach to escape the stifling heat, according to Dominican media. Surveillance video footage obtained by Dominican Republic news outlet Noticias SIN showed Joshua Riibe (left) and Sudiksha Konanki (second from left) following their friends to the beach at the Riu Republica Hotel before Konanki disappeared March 6 Military personnel search for Sudiksha Konanki through dense vegetation The mystery hunk seen with his arm draped around missing spring breaker Sudiksha Konanki on the morning she vanished has been named by police sources as American Joshua Steven Riibe Sudiksha Konanki, who was a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, vanished from the Riu Republica resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on March 6 But Bournigal denied that too, saying security footage appeared to show there was no such outage at the resort. 'It's four days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore,' her father Subbarayudu Konanki said in a complaint urging authorities to consider other lines of inquiry until and unless her body washes ashore. 'She's not found, so we're asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction.' The complaint states: 'While it is possible that Sudiksha drowned, there is a growing suspicion that there may be a crime, specifically the possibility of kidnapping.' The pre-med student was expected to graduate from the university in 2026, according to her LinkedIn profile. 'My daughter is a very nice girl. She's ambitious,' her father said. 'She wanted to pursue a career in medicine.' Konanki was last seen with Joshua Riibe, a 24-year-old Iowa man who was a fellow guest at the resort. He is cooperating with authorities. Accused UnitedHealth care CEO shooter Luigi Mangione received his largest defense fund donation yet from a mystery donor with a cryptic message. Mangione, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson, 50, on December 4 outside of the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan while the CEO made his way to an investor conference. He has been fiercely backed by a slew of fans who have praised Mangione for his alleged actions that day and started a GiveSendGo pages to raise money for his legal defense. Allegations of Mangione's involvement in sex tapes have seemingly fueled a surge in donations to his defense fund from devoted fans, and the fundraiser has reached over $720,000. The fundraiser received its largest donation yet of $36,500 from an anonymous donor who left an enigmatic message on Saturday. 'What intrigues me about this case is how unified folks' responses are regardless of strata,' the mystery donor said. 'In Corporate America, for instance, there has been widespread doubt of potential prosecutorial mishandling and overcharging. 'I've also been surprised at the almost ubiquitous nature of support towards the suspect that I would expect to be quite bifurcated in this type of litigation. Quite exceptional.' Accused UnitedHealth care CEO shooter Luigi Mangione received his largest defense fund donation yet from a mystery donor Other have left comments under their donations, sending him well-wishes and expressing their shock over the sex tape allegations. Mangione allegedly recorded over 20 highly stylized sex tapes before his arrest for the fatal shooting. The accused killer has denied he is the young man seen on a bathroom sex tape reportedly being offered for half a million dollars on the dark web. 'Hopefully everyone realizes these are fake and not Luigi,' Mangione's lawyer Karen Agnifilo told DailyMail.com on Monday. It comes after sex tape broker Kevin Blatt told The US Sun he had seen a sex video featuring Mangione in his parents' bathroom. Blatt claimed the alleged killer made the video for a Grindr user who was now trying to sell it for $500,000. Blatt even shared blurry screenshots he claims show a shirtless Mangione, 26, performing for the Grindr user. 'The video I have seen is not high production stuff - it's pretty seedy, solo stuff that looks like he recorded it in a bathroom at his parents' house and in a bedroom and then sent to a man he met on Grindr in 2020,' Blatt told The US Sun. Blatt said Mangione was using an alias on the hooking up app and met at least one man on it. Allegations of Mangione's involvement in sex tapes have seemingly fueled a surge in donations to his defense fund from devoted fans He has been fiercely backed by a slew of fans who have praised Mangione for his alleged actions Mangione, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson (pictured), 50, on December 4 outside of the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan 'But the phone number the videos were sent from has a Maryland area code, which is where he is from, and you can actually match up his parents' bathroom from real estate listings of their house,' Blatt added. 'And it's undoubtedly him, when this man saw that Luigi had been arrested he couldn't believe that was the same guy he met on Grindr.' Mangione has attracted a cult following as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills. The 'viral fundraiser' is run by a team of 15 volunteers from across the country, and 'is just one example of an outpouring of support and prayers for Luigi, whose alleged actions have spurred a national conversation on the morality and efficacy of the American for-profit health care system,' the statement continued. Mangione, who is currently locked up at Brooklyn's infamous Metropolitan Center, pleaded not guilty to the 11 charges in his indictment, including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism. The Maryland native has also been charged in the Big Apple with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third-degree, one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth-degree, and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second-degree. The 26-year-old faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the state charges. One of his federal charges, murder through use of a firearm, is eligible for the death penalty. Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong has admitted she only found out the US had slapped tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium through the media. Donald Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the news to reporters in her White House office before Senator Wong and, reportedly, Australia's ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd had even been told. 'That was when I first heard confirmation of the reports,' Ms Wong confirmed while speaking to Nine's Today program on Thursday. Host Sarah Abo said the fact the White House did not inform Australia through official channels before publicly announcing the news was 'humiliating' for the foreign minister. But Ms Wong said she had never expected Australia would be exempted from the 25 per cent tariffs given the Trump administration said the exclusion during his first presidential term had been a mistake in retrospect. 'We had a much harder hill to climb. We obviously knew we had a very difficult set of negotiations, we threw everything at it. But we did understand that fundamentally,' she said. It is unclear when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found out about the tariffs, but news.com.au reported that Ambassador Rudd had also been blindsided by the news and had believed his discussions with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick were ongoing. Ms Leavitt confirmed on Wednesday that Australia would not be exempted to Nine Newspapers' Michael Koziol and the ABC's Carrington Clarke, who quizzed her on the tariffs in her office. Penny Wong has insisted the Labor government worked hard to avoid the tariff blow Donald Trump announced this week Australia was hit with 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attempting to secure an exemption Ms Wong told Seven's Sunrise program the government and Prime Minister had done everything they could to secure exemptions for Australia. 'It's pretty clear that the government from the Prime Minister down has been working overtime to try and land this deal,' she said. 'The White House has said the exemption that they gave last time to Australia and other countries was a mistake and so this time they were very clear that they didn't want any exemptions.' Ms Wong said the Australian government was not considering retaliatory tariffs against the US. 'Tariffs are a tax and they make things more expensive for the people buying,' she said. While US consumers may have to pay more for steel and aluminium goods in the short term, the decision was made to encourage the growth of domestic manufacturing and create jobs for blue-collar workers; an important part of Mr Trump's voting base. He is also using the tariffs as a tool to apply pressure over other issues, such as pushing Mexico and Canada to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the US in return for an easing of tariffs. When asked if the government was concerned other Australian industries, such as beef exports, could also be subjected to tariffs, Sen. Wong thought it unlikely. Trump has slapped every US trading partner with the tariffs with 'no exception' 'Australian beef enters the United States market under a free trade agreement that's been in place for a very long time as a friend and ally,' Sen. Wong said. 'We want to continue to see that free trade agreement on it. That's what we want.' Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan said the Prime Minister's failure to have ever met the US president put Australia in a bad negotiating position. Mr Hogan said Mr Albanese was the only Quad leader who had never met Mr Trump in person - Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba and Indian PM Narendra Modi both met him last month - and that a meet-and-greet was the 'bare minimum' he should have done. Mr Albanese did congratulate Mr Trump on the phone after his November election victory and spoke to him in February - again via phone - to argue Australia's case to be exempt from trade tariffs. At the time, Mr Trump said he would give 'great consideration' to the request. However, on Wednesday, it was revealed Mr Albanese repeatedly tried to phone Mr Trump directly ahead of the tariff announcement but he did not answer his calls. The tariff blow came after former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week attacked Mr Trump in interviews with Daily Mail Australia, Bloomberg, the ABC and Nine Newspapers. Mr Turnbull, who was in office during Mr Trump's last presidency when Australia did get an exemption on trade tariffs, said accused the president of being 'unpredictable', a 'bully' and having a 'huge ego'. Mr Trump fired a shot back at Mr Turnbull on his Truth Social network, labelling him a 'weak and ineffective leader' who 'never understood what was going on in China'. Mr Hogan argued Australia might have avoided the tariff hit if we had established a better friendship with Mr Trump since he took office for his second term. 'Albanese has not shown a great interest in the relationship,' he said. Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan has accused the Prime Minister of not making an effort to establish a strong relationship with Donald Trump 'The US is an important economic partner, but also an important national security partner and Albanese has not lifted this relationship. 'The importance of going over and developing a rapport with him... I would have thought that was the the minimal thing he should have done to help with negotiations with this.' Mr Hogan pointed out Australia has just made an $800million payment to the US towards the AUKUS security pact. 'Richard Marles was over there a few weeks ago. There's national security issues that weren't live then. We have some critical minerals that are important to them,' he said. 'Show that you value the relationship by the prime minister travelling over there and spending personal time. 'He seems to have really only had one serious phone conversation with our most important ally... that's really disappointing.' The levies on steel and aluminium apply to all trading partners of the US 'with no exceptions or exemptions' and took effect from Wednesday. Farmers have warned that Labour's decision to close a green funding scheme is a 'shattering blow' to the sector. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said that farmers may turn their backs on environmentally friendly production in favour of more intense methods. Ministers announced that they would discontinue the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which pays farmers to manage soil and manage ponds and hedgerows. It comes after Labour announced changes that mean farmers will be subject to inheritance tax for the first time. Farmers have reacted with fury, with NFU president Tom Bradshaw describing the decision as 'another shattering blow to English farms'. He said the sudden closure would force farmers to decide 'whether to turn their backs on environmental work and just farm as hard as they can to survive'. 'This is another shattering blow to English farms, delivered yet again with no warning, no understanding of the industry and a complete lack of compassion or care,' he said. Country Land and Business Association president Victoria Vyvyan described it as the 'most cruel' of the 'betrayals' so far. Farmers have reacted with fury, with NFU president Tom Bradshaw describing the decision as 'another shattering blow to English farms' Food security minister Daniel Zeichner said that the Government planned to 'redesign' the programme and said a new scheme could be 'properly managed' Tractors and farm machinery vehicles join people taking part in a farmer's protest over the changes to inheritance tax (IHT) rules on farms on March 4 in London 'It actively harms nature. It actively harms the environment,' she said. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the Government of treating farmers 'with contempt' adding: 'First the Family Farm Tax, now withdrawing an important scheme without warning. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves do not care about rural communities.' Defra announced late on Tuesday that it would close the scheme that pays farmers for 'public goods' such as insecticide-free farming, wildflower strips and managing ponds and hedgerows. Food security minister Daniel Zeichner said that the Government planned to 'redesign' the programme and said a new scheme could be 'properly managed'. He told MPs that the 'budget has been spent' for the SFI and a responsible government had to respond to that. The scheme was part of a programme which has replaced EU-era farming subsidies. Vladimir Putin plans to fight on in Ukraine and weaken Donald Trump's negotiating position in any peace deal by stoking tensions between the US and the rest of the world, a Russian document obtained by a Western intelligence agency has revealed. The US is currently acting as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, with President Trump revealing last night that American envoys were on their way to Moscow to present a potential ceasefire plan to the Kremlin. The proposal for a 30-day ceasefire has still not been accepted by Moscow, which has shown no sign of letting up in its three-year war in Ukraine, with heavy aerial bombardments in the days since the plan was announced. Putin last night visited the Russian region of Kursk for the first time since Ukrainian forces seized parts of it in August. The Kremlin announced this morning that the operation to eject Kyiv's forces was now in its final stage. The Russian dictator's rare appearance in military fatigues was seen as a signal he aims to go on with the war, and today Poland - worried about the Kremlin's continued threat - revealed it has asked the US to base nuclear weapons on its territory. As Washington continues to push for a truce, documents from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank, obtained by the Washington Post, suggest that Russia has been working to undermine a possible peace deal since at least February. It appears that some measures in the document, reportedly written by an influential Moscow-based thinktank the week before the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia in late February, have already informed the thinking of the Russian state. The document, written for the FSB's Fifth Service, the security service division that oversees operations in Ukraine, lays out the ways in which Russia could boost its standing by inflaming tensions between the US and both China and the EU. A classified document from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank has advised Vladimir Putin (pictured) to weaken the US' negotiating position with the Ukraine peace deal (Russian leader pictured on Wednesday) Donald Trump (pictured) said American envoys are flying to Moscow this week to present a potential ceasefire plan to the Kremlin Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 March 2025 This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 12, 2025, shows a destroyed building at the site of a strike in Kryvyi Rig Russia escalates overnight attacks on Ukraine, killing and wounding crew and port workers in Odesa grain ship strike, destroying homes in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy and hitting Krivyi Rih The US has twice sided with Russia at UN votes, in a stark reversal of Washington's foreign policy which has worried allies. The first instance was at the General assembly where it opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's actions and reaffirming Ukraine's territorial integrity. The second was at the Security Council where the US drafted and voted for a resolution that called for the end of Russia's invasion without criticising Russia. The pro-Kremlin thinktank's document argues that against this backdrop, Russia should be working towards 'the complete dismantling' of the current Ukrainian government. Putin has skirted the issue of a ceasefire ahead of talks with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff - whose plane was mapped heading to Moscow today - and has instead set his troops the task of grabbing back territory in Kursk. Last night, the Russian army said it had captured hundreds of Ukrainian troops fighting in the region, where Ukraine mounted its surprise counteroffensive last summer. Speaking as he met with troops in Kursk, Putin vowed to treat hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk as 'terrorists', potentially jailing them for decades, and not as prisoners of war who can be exchanged. Footage shows such troops humiliated by being ordered to parrot 'Hail to Russia' - illegal under the rules of war. He also made clear he wanted a demilitarised zone on Ukraine's border. Putin's ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, insisted that the Kremlin will approach a ceasefire - which it has previously ruled out - 'with a lot of caution'. Putin will insist on conditions as 'broad and similar to the demands it had previously made to Ukraine, the US and NATO', but such demands have until now been seen as crippling Ukraine and being unacceptable. Last night, Russia's foreign minister said British plans to lead a stabilisation force in post-conflict Ukraine will be protecting the country's 'Nazi regime'. In a bizarre outburst from Moscow hours after Ukraine's largest drone attack of the war struck the capital, Sergei Lavrov said: 'What will the peacekeepers protect? The remnants of the Kyiv Nazi regime?' The Post reported that the document also said the Kremlin ought to reject plans for peacekeepers in Ukraine, as many in Europe have proposed, as they would be under 'serious Western influence'. Meanwhile, US plans to continue arming Ukraine were 'absolutely unacceptable', as is maintaining Ukraine's million-strong army at its current level, according to the document. It also suggests that Russia ought to push for Ukraine to be carved up even further, with the creation of a buffer zone in the country's northeast, which touches Russian territory, as well as a demilitarised zone near Crimea, which Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in 2014. The document dismissed Trump's preliminary plans for a Ukraine peace deal to be reached within 100 days as 'impossible to realise', and suggested that peace 'cannot happen before 2026.' Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' aims the M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Iryna Petrochenko , 50, looks out from damaged apartment after a Russian missile attack happened killing a 47 year old woman and wounding nine others on March 12, 2025 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine The thinktank wrote that Russia could boost its negotiating position by proposing American companies being allowed to develop rare earth minerals in Russia and in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. The document was written in the week before Russia and the US sat down in Saudi Arabia for key talks that Ukraine was not party to. Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as the February talks went on, Donald Trump mocked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for complaining that Ukraine was being frozen out. Trump said: 'Today I heard, 'Oh, we weren't invited'. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years [ago] you should have never started it. You could have made a deal.' But according to Kremlin sources, the Russian President is the one wants to drag out the peace process so he can seize more Ukrainian territory. Russia holds the upper hand militarily with its troops outnumbering their Western-backed adversaries and making deepening inroads into eastern Ukraine. The Russian president believes the 30-day pause is 'unacceptable', and is expected to hinder peace talks with his own unreasonable demands. Given that Putin holds a majority of the cards, Russian officials believe he will be able to succeed in this endeavour. A senior Russian source told Reuters: 'It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form. Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' check M101 Howitzer after firing towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Ukrainian sappers help dress a comrade in a heavy armored suit during demining operations in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025 A Ukrainian sapper in special shoes walks during demining operations in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025 'Putin has a strong position because Russian is advancing', they added. Last night, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was important not to 'get [too far] ahead' regarding Russia's response to ceasefire proposals. He claimed Moscow was awaiting 'detailed information' about the ceasefire from the US, which had to be studied before a decision could be taken. One of Putin's demands is likely to be a halt for future military support for Kyiv, Bloomberg reported. When asked what the U.S. could do to pressure Russia into peace, he said: 'There are things that wouldn't be pleasant in a financial sense. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don't want to do that because I want to get peace.' Trump added: 'In a financial sense, yes, we could do things that would be very bad for Russia, that would be devastating for Russia. But I don't want to do that.' Europe is also exerting pressure on the Kremlin to accept the deal. Speaking in Paris last night, following a meeting with European counterparts, the UK's Defence Secretary sent a powerful message to Vladimir Putin saying it was 'Over to you now'. John Healey MP called on the Kremlin chief to 'accept the ceasefire, start negotiations and end the war. Make no mistake, the pressure is now on Putin..' He added: 'This year the UK will spend 4.5 billion the highest ever. While the United Kingdom and France are driving the push for peace and the arrangements for security guarantees for Ukraine. 'We are cooperating closely with partner nations from Europe and beyond and from today we are accelerating that work. Yesterday, military chiefs from 34 nations met here in Paris in meetings which were attended for more than an hour by President Macron. 'While the UK's Prime Minister will host another meeting on Saturday while military chiefs will resume their discussions next week.' Gavin Newsom and Steve Bannon found common ground over the idea that California is responsible for Elon Musk's rise to power. The pair traded blows in a 56-minute chat for Newsom's new podcast, one that has drawn outrage from the governor's party for platforming the controversial Donald Trump ally. However, at times, the polar opposites were largely collegial and even laughed at one another's jokes. Newsom at one point tried to hit home Bannon's apparent distaste for 'First Buddy' Musk, who has donated hundreds of millions to Trump and since become head of the budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency. When he tried to nail Bannon on any friction between the two and wondering what Musk's 'endgame' was, the former White House advisor turned it back at Newsom. Bannon responded: 'Well, you know him, you guys created him!' Instead of firing back, Newsom agreed with Bannon's point, citing everything California had done for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. 'In many respects, California did. Our regulatory process and our subsidies to create this market, you're 100% right,' Newsom said. Gavin Newsom and Steve Bannon found at least one place where they agreed in the controversial podcast chat: the liberal California governor is responsible for Elon Musk 's rise to power Newsom at one point tried to hit home Bannon's apparent distaste for 'First Buddy' Musk, who has donated hundreds of millions to Trump and since become head of the budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency Bannon added on, point out that Musk 'left Canada to go to California.' Newsom didn't disagree again, pointing out that after everything California did, the federal government wrote Musk a check. 'He's been the beneficiary of billions and billions and billions of dollars of subsidies.' The governor that asked him what he wanted Musk to do next as part of DOGE, if Bannon wants the 'First Buddy' to run programs like the FAA. 'I want the deconstruction of the administrative state. The better angels of Elon, that engineer's brain, I think they kicked in when he saw our strategy,' Bannon said. 'He sees that we have an apparatus and the administrative state is kind of anti-democratic.' Bannon said that the 'Deep State' would ignore the desires of any Democrat, including Newsom, if they became president and remain the true rulers of America. Again, Newsom agreed, when Bannon had a spontaneous thought for what Musk could do next. When he tried to nail Bannon on any friction between the two and wondering what Musk's 'endgame' was, the former White House advisor turned it back at Newsom Bannon said of Newsom: 'Well, you know him, you guys created him!' The pair traded blows in a 56-minute chat for Newsom's new podcast , one that has drawn outrage from the governor's party for platforming the controversial Donald Trump ally 'We should invite Elon, since you're personal friends with these guys, Elon ought to take a California DOGE!' Newsom argued that California already had such a plan that had saved the state hundreds of billions of dollars. 'Let Elon come out and verify that. I think for the nation it'd be good and it would be good for you,' Bannon said. Eventually, Newsom did get to ask Bannon about whether Musk was 'scared' of Bannon after comments that included the War Room host calling Musk a 'parasite.' 'Im just a mick that yells into a microphone,' he joked. This time, Newsom hit back: 'Hes marginally attacked you back. Im curious your private thoughts on that. Hes a little scared of you, isnt he?' Again, Bannon demured. The chat was the latest episode of Newsom's new 'This is Gavin Newsom' podcast, which has sought to bridge a gap and invite conservatives to chat with the famously progressive governor. The chat was the latest episode of Newsom's new 'This is Gavin Newsom' podcast, which has sought to bridge a gap and invite conservatives to chat with the famously progressive governor and has progressives outraged Much like the first episode with Charlie Kirk, the talk with Bannon drew utter outrage from liberals that he would even talk to the Trump ally. Anti-Trump ex-Republican Congressman posted a furious video in response to the interview. 'I am in shock at the stupidity of @GavinNewsom inviting Steve Bannon on his podcast. Many of us on the right sacrificed careers to fight Bannon, and Newsom is trying to make a career and a presidential run by building him up. Unforgivable and insane.' 'STOP GIVING NAZIS A PLATFORM,' wrote another Dem-aligned X account. 'On behalf of Democrats who dont want Gavin Newsom to be our nominee in 2028 (or ever), I want to thank whoever has been advising him to have Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon on his new podcast. Youre doing the lords work,' said Adam Carlson. Phillip Germain added: 'Steve Bannon told Gavin Newsom that Trump won the 2020 election and there was absolutely no pushback. What are we doing here?' In the interview with TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, he distance himself from Democrats' belief that transgender women should be playing women's sports. Kirk asked him: 'Would you say no men in female sports?' 'Well, I think it's an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that,' Newsom responded. 'It is an issue of fairness. It's deeply unfair.' Kirk challenged him to call out the case of AB Hernandez, a high school trans athlete dominating women's long jump and triple jump in California. Newsom avoided that case but said he agreed with Kirk's overall stance that it was unfair for women to compete with an athlete born a man. But he went on to say that it was important to ensure that vulnerable communities were protected. Newsom is widely expected to run for president in 2028. And he has shown a willingness to engage with conservatives and appear on Fox News as he dissects the wreckage of Democrats' 2024 election campaign. But supporters and even his own staff will be shocked at how much they agreed on an issue that was weaponized Donald Trump and his supporters to show how liberal Democrats had lost the plot. It's 6pm and I've just finished work for the day. My office is in Soho - a bustling, touristy part of Central London known for its shopping, nightlife and West End shows. I take a moment to check the time. I've got no plans tonight - just a quiet evening at home after the rush-hour slog back to Zone 2. I think about what to watch on Netflix as I squeeze onto the Tube, and resist the temptation of a takeaway on the way. But with every step on these busy streets, I look both ways not just to cross safely, but to check my phone and make sure it isn't swiped. After seven years in Australia's biggest city, Sydney, I never thought twice about slipping my phone in my back pocket or using it in the CBD (that's our term for the city centre). But over here? It's a whole different story. Met Police figures released this week show 70,137 mobile phones were stolen in the UK last year an average of 192 a day. In London alone, one is stolen every seven and a half minutes. Phone theft is reportedly a 50million (AU$103million) underworld industry in the UK, with most stolen devices sold to businesses in China, where they are either disassembled for parts or unlocked for resale. I'm one of the few Aussie expats I know to have not fallen victim to phone theft (so far). Whether it's luck or my hypervigilance, I don't know. Lucy McIntosh, a young Australian living in London, was shocked by the prevalence of phone theft in the British capital. The problem is far worse than back home, where it's common to see people walking around with their phones in their back pockets But what I do know is that these thieves are getting more brazen by the minute, often using mopeds or e-bikes to make their quick escape. Not to be hyperbolic, but it feels like every second person I know has either had their phone stolen or knows someone who has. I've heard countless stories - from people having them snatched right on their doorstep to others having them taken out of their bags at gigs, on buses or even while grabbing a drink at the pub. Some have had theirs stolen while waiting for a train and others simply while trying to capture an Instagram-worthy photo of a famous London street. So what happens when your phone gets nicked? Well, that's the thing - not much. With phone-snatching rates nearly tripling in three years, police budgets shrinking and the Met having bigger fish to fry, phones being plucked from hands aren't high on their priority list unfortunately. I'm aware that living in fear of my phone being stolen is inherently a first-world problem - and that it's a privilege to live and work in one of the world's most expensive cities in the first place. But when you pair that niggling feeling with a long list of other harsh realities of living in London, it's easy to feel disappointed that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Met Police figures released this week show 70,137 mobile phones were stolen in the UK last year an average of 192 a day. In London alone, one is stolen every seven and a half minutes It's now been eight months since I quit my job in Sydney, sold my car, and packed my life into a 30kg suitcase. I knew the first few months of living here would be hard, especially when I had no close friends or family nearby, but I thought by now I'd be able to say I was loving it. The truth is, I'm not - and I feel pretty complicated about it. I left the Harbour City because the shine of living there had worn off. Trading Australia's warm, sunny shores for the UK's colder, greyer ones might not seem like the obvious way to find that shine again, but I was craving a change of scenery. Besides, it was one of the only countries I could realistically move to. I'm not bilingual, I don't hold dual citizenship anywhere else, and the Youth Mobility Scheme Visa looked to be one of the easiest to be approved for as a young Aussie. When you move to London from Australia as a young person, you expect it to be even better than the version you've dreamt up in your head. Someone said to me it feels like being in the 'centre of the universe' because you have everything at your disposal: You'll zip off to different countries on weekends, say 'yes' to everything because YOLO (you're only in London once), collect new friends like Pokemon, and do all the things you don't get to do in Australia - like experience good nightlife, buy same-day tickets to a West End show and maybe spot Harry Styles in the street. I admit the last one is a bit of a stretch. Still, I genuinely thought this version of London would happen for me because that's how I'd seen it play out for others - naive, I know, especially when what I've experienced has been far less glamorous. Aside from gripping my phone with both hands at all times, there are plenty of other grim aspects of living here that, in my opinion, feel even more challenging when coming from a country like Australia. I don't want to sound like a whiny twenty-something with a laundry list of gripes, so I'll stick to a few that, in my experience, don't get as much attention. Everyone knows the weather on this side of the world is mediocre at the best of times, but I wasn't prepared for how brutal winter would be. No one warned me that from November to January, it's basically dark by 3pm. Lucy swapped sunny Sydney seeking adventure in London, which is known for its dreary weather. But what she found most confronting wasn't the rain but how dark it gets by 3pm This is a typical sight that would greet Lucy after clocking off her office job in the city. By contrast, commuters in Sydney often have several hours of daylight after rush hour I understand it's even worse in more northern regions, but coming from a place with at least eleven hours of daylight, it was a shock to say the least. The lack of vitamin D didn't just take a toll on my mental health - it hit my immune system, too. Over the winter, I tested positive for both Covid-19 and Influenza A. Luckily, I'm young and relatively healthy, but the flu left me the sickest I've ever been. Another insult to injury is the cost of living. Sure, it's getting more expensive to live anywhere, but here it's particularly brutal. Every young expat I know is more or less living paycheck to paycheck. It's considered 'cheap' to pay AU$2,000 (970) per month for a room. Add to that London's transport prices now being the highest in the world, you can go broke simply by existing. Australians always say the best part about living in England is being on the doorstep of Europe, which means cheap weekends away in Paris and Berlin. The reality is different. Once you add luggage, travelling around Europe with 'budget' airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair can quadruple in cost. As for food and drink, you're also paying double for simple luxuries like a barista-made coffee or a glass of wine at a pub. The only thing on a par to Australian prices is probably groceries. I've been thinking a lot about whether articulating my experience this way says something about my character or, more broadly, my privilege. If I'm being honest, it probably says something about both - but it also says something about being human. And being human sometimes means feeling disappointed that your reality doesn't match your expectations. I'm still coming to terms with the fact I can live somewhere and not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. As someone who often lives and feels in extremes, London is teaching me how to exist in the in-between. Neither loving it nor hating it means that I can put myself in neutral, take the backseat and care less about what happens. And it's boosting my reserves of the one thing you can't get through life without - resilience. I'm still figuring out when to close my London chapter. Maybe living here will grow on me; maybe it won't. I'm open to whatever happens but equally, for the first time in my life, I feel divorced from any dreamt-up version of my future. And that's liberating in a way. But part of me still yearns for a time when I could keep my phone in my back pocket without worrying about it being swiped. Donald Trump could force Australia to review its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to escape being hit with more US tariffs, threatening the future of cheap medicines. Trump is set to impose additional tariffs of up to 25 per cent on agriculture and pharmaceutical imports into the United States on April 1 - sparking a new round of negotiations with Australia desperate to secure an exemption. New 25 per cent tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium exported to the US came into effect on Wednesday. But unlike those metals, pharmaceuticals are a much more lucrative export, making up 8.6 per cent of goods sent from Australia to the US last year, compared with just 1.8 per cent for steel and 1.6 per cent for aluminium. Former trade minister Simon Birmingham, who held the portfolio during the first Trump administration, said successive US governments regarded the PBS as an obstacle to American drug company profits. 'American pharmaceutical companies have long argued they see the PBS as having unfair rules that are overly generous when it comes to things such as generic drugs,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'And in doing so limit the ability of those companies to be able to fulfill the full economic potential of their investment in new drugs. 'I would be surprised if US companies weren't using the PBS as a point of leverage in their dialogue with the Trump Administration.' Donald Trump could force Australia to review its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to escape being hit with more American tariffs - threatening the ability of the sick to buy cheap prescription medicines Dr Patricia Ranald, a public policy expert with the University of Sydney's School of Social and Political Sciences, said the Trump Administration could force Australia to review its PBS as part of negotiations to get an exemption on American import tariffs on medicines. 'They don't like the price control element, that's the main thing, controlling the wholesale price,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'They say that it's an infringement of intellectual property rights.' Dr Naoise McDonagh, a senior lecturer geopolitics and international trade at Perth's Edith Cowan University, said the Trump administration was likely to argue that the PBS was a trade restriction. 'They're going to say the PBS, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, this is also another barrier to American exports,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Australia's PBS was a sore point in 2004 when the US, under then president George W. Bush, negotiated and signed the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement during John Howard's time as prime minister. 'Because it was raised a non-tariff barrier, in the negotiation of this FTA, it's possible they could be raised again,' Dr Ranald said. The PBS reduces the wholesale prices Australian retail chemists have to pay for subsidised drugs so the sick and the elderly can buy prescription medicines cheaply. Former trade minister Simon Birmingham, who held the portfolio during the first Trump administration, said successive American governments regarded the PBS as an obstacle to drug company profits The Americans could argue that while it's not a tariff on US pharmaceutical imports into Australia, it's a barrier to making a bigger profit. 'They don't like that system because they don't have it in the US and because it means they get lower wholesale prices for new medicines - they identified that as a non-tariff barrier,' Dr Ranald said. 'The PBS is the most popular scheme ever - we don't regard the PBS as a non-tariff barrier, it's a public health measure and most countries in the world have something similar to make medicines affordable but the US is unique in an industrialised country that doesn't have a similar system.' Mr Birmingham said no Australian government would roll over on the PBS to satisfy an American government during trade negotiations. 'The PBS is a central part of Australia's health system - it is important in terms of providing equitable access to medicines,' he said. Dr McDonagh, said pharmaceutical and agriculture exports were now the subject of an American plan for reciprocal, tit-for-tat tariffs due to come into effect on April 1. 'It's not based on any rational methodology, it's not transparent and involves the Trump Administration in a unilateral manner deciding what their tariff rates are going to be,' he said. US goods into Australia already incur zero tariffs, with the 2005 Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement eliminating import taxes on 97 per cent of Australia's non-agricultural exports and two-thirds of agricultural exports. Australia's PBS was a sore point in 2004 when the US, under then president George W. Bush, negotiated the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement when John Howard was prime minister (stock image pictured) Dr Naoise McDonagh, a senior lecturer geopolitics and international trade at Perth's Edith Cowan University said the Trump Administration was likely to argue the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme was a trade barrier to American drug companies But McDonagh said the Trump administration could use ridiculous arguments to imply Australia's 10 per cent Goods and Services Tax and biosecurity quarantine measures on agricultural imports amounted to trade barriers. 'They're going to start saying things like, "GST is actually a barrier to our company" even though GST applies to everyone,' he said. 'They're going to say that biosecurity rules, which are very strict in Australia, are a barrier to American companies.' But Mr Birmingham said the US also had strict quarantine rules, making them less likely to make biosecurity an issue in negotiating agriculture tariffs. 'Australia's biosecurity rules are raised by many of our trading partners, probably many others more so than the US because the US does have high standards themselves and advanced processing and quarantine facilities,' he said. Meat was Australia's biggest export to the US in 2024, with the $6.1billion worth sent there making up 25.8 per cent of Australia's goods exports to the US, an AMP analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed. Pharmaceutical products were the third biggest export after gold, with the $2.1billion worth of medicines sold to the US market making up 8.6 per cent of Australian exports sent there. Tariffs on those Australian exports to the US would be more damaging, given they are much more lucrative than metal exports. Aluminium made up 1.6 per cent of Australian exports to the US, with $400million sent there last year. Steel made up 1.8 per cent of exports, and were also worth about $400million. An enraged father drove to a beach to confront a teenage girl he thought was bullying his daughter and punched her from behind, court has heard. A 'red-faced and angry' Dean Devonald, 46, ran towards the 15-year-old girl at Aberavon beach, in Port Talbot, Wales, and floored her with the blow before bellowing: 'Touch my daughter again and I'll kill you you c***.' The father-of-two then quickly got into his car and drove away having 'sought out' the youngster after believing she had been bullying his daughter. The brutal attack on May 20 last year was captured by the schoolgirl's pals and posted on social media platform Snapchat, reported Wales Online. The girl was left with a bloody nose in the wake of the father's attack - but she is said to have been battling long-term emotional effects. Devonald, of Western Avenue, Port Talbot, appeared at Swansea Crown Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Judge Catherine Richards said the father was 'overwhelmed with rage' during the 'astonishing' incident which has left the girl to feel anxious when she goes outside. The sentencing hearing was told Devonald had first tried to contact the teen girl's mother before making the journey to the seafront. Jon Tarrant, defending, told the court his client was unlikely to repeat his behaviour again with the attack coming as a result of a specific set of circumstances. Father-of-two Dean Devonald drove to Aberavon beach, in Port Talbot, Wales (pictured) to confront his daughter's bully where he punched her and left her with a bloody nose Devonald appeared at Swansea Crown Court (pictured) where he was given a nine month jail term, suspended for 12 months, ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work, and to pay 900 in compensation to the girl 'It doesn't justify it,' he said. 'He feels great remorse and shame about what has occurred. It was a momentary action which he bitterly regrets.' Judge Richards handed Devonald a nine month jail term, suspended for 12 months, and said she accepted that his remorse was genuine. She said: 'It was not a prolonged incident but it was astonishing. She was 15 years of age and you were 45. 'It appears the person you were in those moments does not reflect your character as a whole.' Devonald was also ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work, and to pay 900 in compensation to the girl. He was also given a one year restraining order that stops him from approaching the victim. EXCLUSIVE Confronting footage has emerged of a man accused of conspiring to import 6.9kg of cocaine and meth into Australia removing a man's tooth with a set of pliers. Cosmo Commisso, 67, from Mount Pritchard in Sydney's south-west was arrested on Tuesday accused of grooming corrupt Australian Border Force official Rita Gargiulo, 50, to smuggle drugs into Australia. Commisso allegedly bribed Gargiulo with luxury items including handbags, high heels and gourmet groceries in return for 'the safe passage of the parcel'. The pair, who who met in late 2024, allegedly exchanged flirtatious messages in the months leading up to the alleged drug smuggling, in texts seen by the Daily Telegraph. In her role as supervisor at the ABF base adjacent to Sydney Airport at Mascot, it's alleged that Gargiulo would search cargo and trawl through internal systems to see if packages had been flagged. The pair were arrested on Tuesday and charged with bribery and smuggling offences including aiding and abetting the importation of border-controlled drugs which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Videos unearthed from Commisso's various social media accounts show him wearing latex gloves and removing another man's back molar with a set of pliers. Cosmo Commisso (pictured with his wife Tracy) is accused of conspiring to import 6.9kg of cocaine and methamphetamine into Australia Cosmo Commisso pictured with his wife Tracy and sons Ricky (centre) and Emilio (right) ABF officer Rita Gargiulo is pictured after being arrested on Tuesday The video is titled 'one more happy customer'. In another video he can be seen removing the same man's front tooth. 'That's very ugly too mate, that's gotta go,' Commisso can be heard telling the man before extracting the tooth. Friends in the background can be heard calling him 'Dentist Cosmo'. The man whose tooth is removed can be heard saying he would recommend his dental services to 'anyone in Mount Pritchard'. On Thursday, Ricky Commisso, Cosmo's youngest son, broke his silence with Daily Mail Australia, confirming his father had not applied for bail. 'He's doing fine (in custody),' he said before hooning away in his gunmetal grey Ford Raptor. The ABF will allege Commisso paid Gargiulo to provide information about a 'dummy' shipment of cosmetics which arrived in Australia from Malaysia on February 21. Disturbing footage shows Cosmo Commisso removing a man's back molar with a set of pliers Gargiulo then allegedly provided advice on how the airfreighted 6.9kg cocaine package with an estimated street value of $1.6million - could get through customs. It's alleged that detectives from a newly established task force targeting 'double agents' had been listening to the pair talk via intercepted calls. Their recorded conversations, which are detailed by police in court documents, also revealed Commisso gave Gargiulo several gifts, including a 'highly decorated' diamond ring and a pair of earrings both of which were allegedly seized during raids on her Oran Park home. Friends in the background can be heard calling him 'Dentist Cosmo' as Cosmo Commisso removes a man's tooth with pliers Commisso and Gargiulo are both being represented by high-profile Sydney solicitor Ahmed Dib. They were both charged with bribery and drug importation and yet to enter pleas. In 2018 Commisso was at home with his wife Tracy and son when their Mount Pritchard home was sprayed with bullets. When asked by Nine News at the time of who could be responsible, the couple's other son Emilio offered a one-word reply: 'Cowards.' A mother-of-three who crashed her car into a ditch survived six days by sucking water from her wet jumper. Brieonna Cassell, 41, was traveling through Newton County, Indiana, when she fell asleep at the wheel and careened off the road last Thursday. The ditch was so deep it couldn't be seen from the road. She spent almost a week trapped in the car with serious injuries to her legs and ribs until a passerby noticed the wrecked car. The passerby Johnny Martinez contacted his work supervisor, local fire chief Jeremy Vanderwall, and the pair checked out the wreck, where they found Cassell conscious and responsive. Her father Delmar Caldwell told ABC she survived six days without food because 'she was able to reach the water from the car. 'She was stuck in the car and could not get out... the only way she was able to survive was using her hoodie and dipping it into the water in a ditch and sucking the water.' He said she would toss one end of the hoodie as best she could, 'like she was fishing', and then reel it back in once it was drenched to suck the water off. By Tuesday, five days after the accident, she had 'given up hope of being found.' Brieonna Cassell, 41, was traveling through Newton County, Indiana , when she fell asleep at the wheel and careened off the road last Thursday While she couldn't move and her phone was dead, Cassell could hear cars as they traveled past and tried to scream, but nobody could hear her. Cassell's disappearance was widespread knowledge in the town and there was widespread searches in an effort to track her down. Vanderwall said he had traveled that road three or four times since the crash searching for her and had not seen the wreckage because of how deep the ditch was. She would toss one end of the hoodie as best she could, 'like she was fishing', and then reel it back in once it was drenched to suck the water off 'To have the wherewithal to use her shirt to get water, knowing that she had to have water to survive ... just survival skills, man,' Vanderwall added. Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said Cassell's survival was 'an incredible testament to her will to live.' She was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition, but is now in high spirits and 'eating a lot', her family said. A manhunt is underway for dozens of inmates who staged a prison break - seeing 50 of them crack through security doors and take off on foot. The mass outbreak unfolded on Monday at the Kutacane Penitentiary in Southeast Aceh Regency, Aceh, in Indonesia. Dramatic footage from outside the prison showed scores of inmates leaping over fences to run out to a main road connected to the prison. Another shot showed several prisoners clumsily running across the roof, with tiles moving under their feet as they awkwardly tried to scamper across the prison. Outside the prison, civilians were seen trying to prevent them from escaping, with some tackling and grabbing the fleeing inmates. Some were seen being caught by prison guards and taken back inside. As of Wednesday, 32 remain at large, while 21 have surrendered or been captured. 'We are still actively searching for the remaining fugitives and urge them to surrender. It's better to turn yourselves in than to face harsher sentences', Aceh Tenggara Police Chief Doni Sumarsono told local media. The escape reportedly happened on Monday when all inmates were in the canteen's queue for food. Several prisoners were seen clumsily running across the roof of a jail in Indonesia after they managed to escape Scores of inmates were seen leaping over fences to run out to a main road connected to the prison Outside the prison, civilians were seen trying to prevent the prisoners from escaping According to Kutacane Penitentiary warden Andi Hasyim, dozens of inmates escaped by breaking through two security doors at the facility. The incident is being linked to issues of overcrowding. Officials say the prison can accommodate 100 people, however, it is currently holds around 368, according to local media. Prison overcrowding is a major problem across the world. Last year, an audit found a series of security failings at HMP Wandsworth in south-west London. The jail's Independent Monitoring Board said a security review identified '81 points of failure' and resulted in 'long overdue' upgrades being made to CCTV cameras which had not been working for more than a year. The IMB's annual report for 2023-24 has concluded the category B Victorian jail was 'not safe', with almost 1,000 assaults recorded either between prisoners or on staff - while living conditions have been scathingly criticised. The board found it was 'alarmingly easy' for prisoners to get hold of contraband with cell searches finding phones, drugs, makeshift weapons and alcohol - while the smell of cannabis was said to be ubiquitous. The shortage of experienced staff - with almost half having been in their job for less than a year - 'undermined attempts to make the prison run effectively' and staff absence often reached 50 per cent, it said. Donald Trump Jr. followed in his father's footsteps, endorsing Congressman Byron Donalds for governor of Florida in a stunning move against Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey. The 46-year-old Donalds, who has served in Congress since 2021, has quickly become a favorite of the MAGA movement. However, current Governor DeSantis has talked up First Lady Casey for governor amid chatter about her planning to launch her own bid after having served as Florida's first lady. Trump's oldest son continued the family's move away from DeSantis with a full-throated endorsement of his wife's chief potential rival. 'My friend Byron Donalds is a great patriot and has my full endorsement to serve as Florida's next governor,' Trump Jr. said in a statement. 'Byron is a fighter and a true champion for our America First movement. He will be a great leader for Florida and he will fight alongside my father to make America greater than ever before!' Don Jr., much like the rest of the Trump family, split with DeSantis when the governor challenged his father for the Republican nomination in 2024. He mocked a video of DeSantis having his make-up re-applied at a GOP presidential debate. Donald Trump Jr. followed in his father's footsteps , endorsing Congressman Byron Donalds for governor of Florida in a move against Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey Current governor DeSantis has talked up his wife Casey for governor amid chatter about her planning to launch her own bid after having served as Florida's first lady The former president's son posted the clip of the Florida Governor getting a touch up, with the caption: 'Rhonda Santis,' followed by laughing emojis. Ahead of the Iowa caucuses, he took particular issues with DeSantis' 2024 bid, slamming his father's competitor for his footwear choice and his loss of 'billionaire donors.' 'Who thinks it's acceptable for men to be wearing high heels while running for the Republican nomination? Anyone?' the eldest Trump son questioned, to which the audience replied: 'NO!' 'And here's the thing no one cares if he's short. No one cares. No one cares if you're short,' he continued. 'You know what they care about that you're so insecure about it that you have to overcompensate.' 'That's the kind of stuff that gets us into wars, right? It's that kind of insecurity that you do get pushed into doing stuff that's probably not right for the will of the people,' Don Jr. said. 'And that's what we see from so many of the RINOS in Washington, D.C. right now.' Now, he appears set to go back to war with DeSantis over Donalds' candidacy for governor. President Donald Trump endorsed the congressman in a social media post in late February. 'I am hearing that Highly Respected Congressman Byron Donalds is considering running for Governor of Florida, a State that I love, and WON BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024,' Trump wrote on February 20. The 46-year-old Donalds, who has served in Congress since 2021, has quickly become a favorite of the MAGA movement Ahead of the Iowa caucuses, he took particular issues with DeSantis' 2024 bid , slamming his father's competitor for his footwear choice - accusing the governor of 'wearing heels' - and his loss of 'billionaire donors' 'Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!' the president added. Shortly after, the congressman announced his intention to run in an interview with Sean Hannity. Though he was careful to praise Governor DeSantis for doing a 'tremendous job for our state,' he did not directly address the possibility of DeSantis' wife running. Before Donalds even announced his run, the GOP governor who was once Trump's 2024 rival turned backer was asked about the governor's race as he is term-limited in 2026, but he declined to endorse the congressman. 'My view is, is Donald Trump just got into office. I want these congressmen focused on enacting his agenda. They haven't done very much yet,' DeSantis said. DeSantis played up his achievements with Republicans in his state while criticizing Donalds. 'He just hasn't been a part of any of the victories that we've had here over the left over these last years. He's just not been a part of it,' the governor said. The governor won his reelection in 2022 by nearly 20 points, but despite bulldozing his Democratic opponent during the midterms, he was no match for Trump at the national level when he launched his 2024 presidential bid. Trump endorsed the congressman in a social media post in late February Trump and Florida congressman Donalds seen receiving their order from Downtown House of Pizza in Downtown Fort Myers in 2023 However, it remains to be seen who will have more sway with Republicans in the state in a midterm year. DeSantis continues to talk up his wife Casey, 44, who has been a vocal supporter of his work in Florida and avid campaigner. 'People ask me all the time about our wonderful first lady who has done a fantastic job as first lady of Florida,' DeSantis said. He also repeated his recent comments that she would do even better in Florida than he did during the last gubernatorial election. 'I won by the biggest margin that any Republican's ever won a governor's race here in Florida, she would do better than me, like there's no question about that, that would happen,' he said. The governor claimed that while Republicans have had a strong showing in his state in recent election, it could change quickly. 'I would not take anything for granted,' DeSantis said. The governor said said he would be raising money even though he is not running next year and would look to 'build off the success' his party has had in Florida. DeSantis continues to talk up his wife Casey, 44, who has been a vocal supporter of his work in Florida and avid campaigner Trump often brags of having 'made' DeSantis, having endorsed him in his 2018 bid for governor Donalds who represents Florida's 19th Congressional District, which includes Fort Myers, campaigned aggressively for Trump in 2024. He was even floated as a potential running mate. After Trump chose JD Vance as his vice presidential pick, there were reports Donalds was instead setting his sights on the Florida governor's race and has made that official.. 'For a long time, I've been in the trenches, in a lot of these battles, dealing with conservatism,' he said upon announce he would run. Donalds suggested he would prioritize lowering insurance costs, promoting the cryptocurrency industry and preserving the waterways of the Everglades, the largest subtropical wilderness in the U.S. He was working as a financial adviser when then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed him to the board of trustees at a state college, cementing his rise in the state GOP. He entered the Florida House in 2016, won a seat in the U.S. House in 2020 and has been on the short list for multiple opportunities ever since, including being nominated in January 2023 by the far-right wing of as a candidate for House speaker. In addition to Casey DeSantis, other potential GOP candidates include former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who said in January that he was considering a run, and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, though he recently fought with DeSantis over immigration policies. But Trump's endorsement may clear the way for Donalds given his dominance in Republican politics, particularly in his adopted home state. Trump established residency in Palm Beach during his first term. One of the states most high-profile Black Republicans, Donalds would become the first African American to serve as governor if he wins. Donalds and his wife, Erika Donalds, built a reputation for working to transform public education and direct more taxpayer dollars into private and charter schools. A former county school board member, she runs a company that oversees charter schools and a virtual academy. Leonardo DiCaprio has hit out at the Albanese government for giving the green light to a mine expansion that will clear a swathe of forest in Western Australia. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek last month approved South32 to expand its Worsley Alumina bauxite mine near Boddington, 120km south-east of Perth. Almost 4,000 hectares of native bush in the Northern Jarrah Forests will be cut down in the development. The Oscar-winning actor and environmentalist took to Instagram on Wednesday night to condemn the move in a post to his 80million followers. 'The Australian government has approved deforestation within the Jarrah Forest of Western Australia, clearing the way for the mining of bauxite, the main ingredient in aluminum [sic],' he said. 'The mining company @south_32 is set to clear 9,600 acres of this old growth forest, which is home to threatened species like the Critically Endangered Woylie. 'This operation will destroy critical habitat for over 8,000 species, 80 per cent of which are found nowhere else on Earth. 'While native forest logging was banned in Western Australia in 2024, clearance of native forests for mining is still allowed due to separate government policies that prioritize mining development over environmental protection.' The Oscar-winning actor took to Instagram on Wednesday night to condemn the move Black cockatoos (pictured left), numbats (centre) and woylies (right) are all species impacted by the deforestation, according to enviromental activists He added: 'This new approval is in addition to South32s previous deforestation, bringing the total area of Jarrah Forests cleared to over 38,000 acres. '@rewild and @wild.ark stand to protect these towering ecosystems that are already at risk of climate change.' But South32 has hit back at DiCaprio's post, telling Daily Mail Australia it contains 'factual errors'. 'For example, our proposal does not include clearing of old growth forest, and the WA Environment Ministers Ministerial Statement explicitly states that old growth forest is not to be disturbed by our proposal,' a spokesperson said. 'The Worsley Mine Development Project will be undertaken in accordance with strict approval conditions that seek to avoid or minimise impacts to habitats of species, including the Black Cockatoo, to support their ongoing viability.' Since its original proposal the company had significantly reduced the amount of native vegetation that would be cleared as part of the project. 'Protected areas' and 'buffer zones' would be implemented around known habitats of protected species, and the company was required to undertake flora and fauna surveys as part of the approval. 'In accordance with our approval conditions, we will progressively rehabilitate land we clear through our operations, helping to re-establish flora and fauna habitat. In addition, nearly 8,000 hectares of land will be set aside and restored to create additional habitat for species including the Black Cockatoo, as part of our total 12,300 hectare offsets package.' Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek last month approved South32 to expand its Worsley Alumina bauxite mine near Boddington The supply of alumina from Worsley Alumina was a 'vital component in the production of aluminium, a metal critical for the global energy transition,' the spokesperson added. South32 had already cleared almost 9,000 hectares of the North Jarrah Forests in 2023, sparking concern from wildlife activists and the United Nations. Black cockatoos, woylies and numbats are all species impacted by the deforestation, according to the environmental activists The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said South32 would need to comply with strict conditions, including progressively rehabilitating mined areas and protecting black cockatoo nests. The decision was slammed last month by activists. Mereana Lewis, of Locals for Environmental Action and Protection, said she felt betrayed by the federal government's decision. 'We are devastated, absolutely devastated,' she told the ABC. 'We did put our trust in Minister Plibersek. We had so much information which we gave to the ministry, and we feel that no-one has taken any notice of our concern.' A spokesman for Ms Plibersek's Department of Environment and Water said South32 faced strict conditions at the site. The company must progressively rehabilitate the mined areas, protect the black cockatoo nests and provide 12,345ha of land to compensate for the approved land clearance, while also ensuring the viability of local woylie and numbat populations. An inmate used a broken chair and the shattered remains of a ceramic toilet lid to brutally murder a fellow prisoner before using a locker to try and hide the body, a court has heard. Sasan Rabat, 27, who inflicted 30 injuries on Stefan Adi - including to his head, face and neck - during the catastrophic attack in Rabat's cell, has now been jailed for life. A spokesman for Kent Police said: 'A prisoner who murdered a fellow inmate in a brutal attack at HMP Maidstone has been sentenced to life imprisonment. 'Sasan Rabat was responsible for an assault in his own cell, which left the victim suffering catastrophic injuries. 'Staff entered the cell on December 9 2021, where Rabat was found sitting on a bed. Stefan Adi was lying fatally wounded in a corner of the room. 'Rabat had used furniture including a locker and a table in attempts to conceal Mr Adi's body and covered him in blankets and towels. 'The 24-year-old had suffered multiple puncture wounds and lacerations to this throat, as well as significant injuries to his head. 'Prison officers recovered a chair from the cell, which had been broken, as well as the shattered remains of a ceramic toilet lid. Sasan Rabat used a broken chair and the shattered remains of a ceramic toilet lid to brutally murder a fellow prisoner before trying to hide the body at HMP Maidstone in 2021 Rabat was jailed for life at Maidstone Crown Court after he inflicted 30 injuries on Stefan Adi - including to his head, face and neck - during the catastrophic attack 'Both had been used to inflict injuries on Mr Adi, who was confirmed deceased at the scene. Sasan Rabat (pictured) is said to have left his victim with 'catastrophic injuries' 'Rabat was arrested and stated in police interviews he had acted in self-defence, claiming Mr Adi had entered his cell and threatened him with a razor blade. 'He was charged with murder and remanded in custody, pending a trial. 'At Maidstone Crown Court, Rabat, now aged 27 years, admitted killing Mr Adi but argued a defence of diminished responsibility. 'A jury found him guilty of murder by unanimous verdict. 'Yesterday Judge Philip Statman told the court Rabat had improvised two weapons in a case which involved an 'extreme level of violence' and which had deprived two young children of their father.' Sentencing him to life, he ordered Rabat serve a minimum of 19 years before he can be considered for parole. Detective Inspector Ross Gurden said: 'The actions of Rabat were truly barbaric as he subjected his helpless victim to a prolonged and brutal ordeal. 'Mr Adi suffered up to 30 horrific injuries, including to his head, face and neck, which he simply had no chance of surviving. 'Rabat has never shown any remorse his senseless attack, which has not only caused immense distress and suffering to his victim's family but continues to have a profound and lasting impact on staff at the prison faced with an unimaginable scene of savagery and cruelty.' A controversial quango is under fresh pressure to abandon its two-tier justice plan after Britains equality watchdog warned it may be discriminatory. The Sentencing Council has so far refused to back down over its proposal to give special treatment to ethnic minorities and transgender people who are convicted of crimes. It has rejected requests by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to re-think the guidelines, meaning that from next month courts will have to order pre-sentence reports for minority groups and so make it more likely they are spared jail. But yesterday the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission revealed she has also intervened in the row - warning the advisory body for judges that it may be breaking the legal requirement for all public bodies to avoid discrimination. Baroness Falkner told Times Radio she felt a lot of sympathy for the Sentencing Council but went on: I do wonder whether it might benefit from another look. I wrote yesterday to the Sentencing Council because we do have some concerns from an Equality Act perspective in terms of the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Sentencing Council has rejected requests by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to re-think its guidelines Lady Falkner explained: If having a pre-sentencing report is an advantage, then you run the risk of positive discrimination for those groups that are in the list and not for other groups Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has threatened to take the council to judicial review on the basis that it is discriminating against white male offenders Weve offered to assist them in ascertaining whether there might be some discrimination by leaving out some groups and elevating others. So were waiting to see whether they would like to avail of our assistance, but we stand ready to assist. Lady Falkner explained: If having a pre-sentencing report is an advantage, then you run the risk of positive discrimination for those groups that are in the list and not for other groups. She said it would be better if judges sought pre-sentencing reports - which are written by probation officers and provide details on offenders personal backgrounds, criminal records and risk factors - on a case-by-case basis, rather than categorising certain groups. Meanwhile, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has threatened to take the council to judicial review on the basis that it is discriminating against white male offenders. Mr Jenrick has also introduced a Bill in Parliament proposing to change the law to give ministers powers to block or rewrite sentencing guidelines. Anthony Albanese has been branded as 'out of his depth' for failing to secure an Australian exemption to Donald Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs, sparking fears for the future of the $300billion AUKUS partnership. Opposition leader Peter Dutton lashed the Prime Minister's lack of skill in lobbying the US President during a fiery rant on the Today show on Thursday. 'He's out of his depth - and I completely and utterly disagree with the decision President Trump's made,' the Opposition leader said. 'The prime minister can't even get a call, let alone arrange a meeting with the president. It just shows that the prime minister doesn't have the gravitas or the ability to deal with the big issues that our country faces.' The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Australia would not be be spared from the 25 per cent tariffs despite intense lobbying by the Albanese government. Mr Albanese slammed the move as 'entirely unjustified' and 'disappointing' given he had what he termed a 'highly constructive' call with Trump last month. The prime minister insisted he had 'mobilised everything at our disposal' to secure a follow-up call with the US leader to plead Australia's case but to no avail. But both party leaders remain united on one front: the tariff snub should not threaten the procedure of the AUKUS submarine deal. Australia will not be exempt from Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium The trilateral security agreement will see Australia receive eight nuclear-powered submarines by the early 2030s (pictured is two Australian Collins class submarines) Mr Dutton was quizzed by Karl Stefanovic if it was time to rethink the enormously expensive deal with a nation that was not prepared to make any concessions to Australia on a key trade deal. 'The Prime Minister rightly points out, we live in the most precarious period since the end of the Second World War,' Mr Dutton answered. 'I believe strongly that it's in our mutual best interest, the United States and Australia, for AUKUS to work, and it's not just the submarines. 'And if it falls over on this government's watch, that would be a catastrophe... And it's unimaginable that the prime minister could stuff this up as well.' Mr Albanese was unmoved when a listener on ABC radio suggested cancelling the agreement to save Australia $300billion was a 'no brainer'. 'We're not doing it as a favour. We're doing it as a way of best defending our island continent,' he said. Mr Albanese said AUKUS remains 'a good deal for Australia', highlighting its geographic importance. 'When you have an island continent located where we are, then it makes sense to invest in your navy,' he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says AUKUS is a way of 'best defending our island continent' 'And the best form of of naval assets is submarines, and that is why we have gone down that route.' The trilateral security agreement will see Australia receive eight nuclear-powered submarines by the early 2030s but all the money paid will largely flow to US and UK military contractors. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier warned Australia can't rely on Donald Trump to take military action against China if that nation were to attack our shores. 'Mr Trump has made it very clear, it's part of his brand, part of his style, to be less predictable and he has certainly been prepared to take on allies,' Mr Turnbull said. Australia spends just two per cent of gross domestic product on defence, well below the American level of 3.5 per cent of GDP. But the budget is expected to rise to 2.3 per cent of GDP by 2034, in line with current spending by the UK and ahead of France and China. The wife of 'pro-Hamas' rioter Mahmoud Khalil revealed her biggest fear as the Columbia University student battles deportation. Khalil, 29, was a graduate student and legal US resident involved in the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last year who was detained on Saturday night by ICE. His wife, Noor Abdalla, is eight months pregnant and told Reuters she is hoping he will be freed before her due date. 'I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen,' Abdalla said. Khalil, a Palestinian who was born and raised in Syria, helped to lead protests against Israel at Columbia University last year. He also acted as a negotiator between students and university officials. The protests were allowed to run rampant for two weeks. They were marked by violent assaults and instances of Jewish students being afraid to go to class. Abdalla defended her husband's actions claiming his focus was supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways. His arrest is one of the first efforts by the Trump Administration to fulfill his promise to seek deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which he has called anti-Semitic. Abdalla said just two days before ICE agents showed up at their university-owned apartment, Khalil had asked if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. Mahmoud Khalil's wife, Noor Abdalla (pictured) is eight months pregnant and said she is hoping he will be freed before her due date Khalil, 29, was a graduate student and legal U.S. resident involved in the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last year who was detained on Saturday night by ICE Hundreds of people have come out in protest of his arrest this week, and Democrats have raised alarms after he was arrested but not charged with a crime 'I didn't take him seriously. Clearly I was naive,' said Abdalla, who is a U.S. citizen from the Midwest. His arrest has ignited a fierce debate over whether the Trump administration violated his First Amendment rights by detaining him and trying to deport him. The president accused Khalil of being 'pro-Hamas' and Rubio declared the U.S. would revoke visas and green cards of 'Hamas supporters in America.' After his arrest on Saturday, Khalil was first held in New Jersey and then moved to an immigration detention center in Louisiana. A judge on Monday blocked his immediate deportation, so his legal challenge could be considered. Khalil has not been charged with a crime. He is also married to a U.S. citizen. His wife is eight months pregnant. A brief hearing on Wednesday largely focused on jurisdiction, but one of Khalil's lawyers told the judge that they have not been able to have a single attorney-client protected phone call with him. Hundreds of people have come out in protest of his arrest this week, and Democrats have raised alarms after he was arrested but not charged with a crime. Secretary of State Marco Rubio fired back at critics of Khalil's arrest, saying that it is 'not about free speech.' Abdalla defended her husband's actions claiming his focus was supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways His arrest is one of the first efforts by the Trump Administration to fulfill his promise to seek deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement Protesters demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil at a rally in lower Manhattan on March 12 'When you come to the United States as a visitor, which is what a visa is, which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor's visa, you are here as a visitor. We can deny you that visa,' the U.S. top diplomat argued. If someone said they intended to come to the U.S. as a student 'and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, anti-Semitic activities' and shut down universities, they would be denied the visa, Rubio said. He added: 'If you actually end up doing that once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it.' Rubio also said if they end up on a green card with such activities, the U.S. will kick someone out. 'This is not about free speech. This is about people who don't have the right to be in the United States to begin with,' the secretary of state said. 'No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card,' Rubio added. He said the U.S. can deny one for 'virtually any reason.' That included 'being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down, and being complicit in what are clearly crimes of vandalization, complicit in shutting down learning institutions.' Deepfake detectors are failing to cut out many instances of highly-convincing digitally altered images, and experts are warning that rapid improvements are needed before some of them could change an election outcome. Hyper-realistic digitally altered images, video or audio are becoming much easier to create with artifical intelligence. That has sparked concerns that fake pictures, online videos and memes could rapidly spread misinformation during an election campaign. CSIRO cybersecurity expert Sharif Abuadbba said the danger is growing as increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence could not outsmart deepfake detectors. He said a politican's face and voice can very convincingly be overlaid on pictures and video. 'As deepfakes grow more convincing, detection must focus on meaning and context rather than appearance alone,' Dr Abuadbba said. Australia signed onto a global statement of ethical use of AI following an action summit in Paris in February. Hyper-realistic digitally altered images, video or audio are becoming easier to create and have sparked concerns about the spread of misinformation (a deepfake is pictured) Australia's top science body has issued a warning over major flaws in deepfake detectors, with researchers calling for urgent improvements as the federal election nears (stock image) 'We believe AI can be an opportunity to bring extra tools to fight against disinformation and information manipulation rather than used maliciously as part of information manipulation campaigns,' France's ambassador to Australia Pierre-Andre Imbert said. Mr Imbert also called for more collaboration between Australia and France over the issue. Home Affairs Department deputy secretary Nathan Smyth warned democracies at risk of being undermined through technogy that allows deceptive images to thrive online. The Australian Electoral Commission has started a campaign on TikTok - which Mr Smyth said is increasingly influential in elections - to make young voters aware that not everything they see can be trusted. Labour councils are ending investments in defence firms for more ethical alternatives in a desperate bid to win back pro-Palestinian voters. Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors in Dudley, in the West Midlands, were the latest to vote to divest their pension funds from British defence companies. They argued it could contribute towards peace and avoid the authority being involved directly or indirectly in arms production. They followed Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, all of whom reportedly faced pressure from activists who object to the supply of weapons to Israel. Manchester City Council voted last year to pressure its pension provider to abandon weapons manufacturers. The policy is thought to be a subtle tactic from local party officials seeking to win back Muslim and pro-Palestinian votes ahead of the local elections. But it appears to be at odds with national policy, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to overhaul ethical investment rules to unlock billions of funding for the defence industry. Defence Secretary John Healey said in January that those boycotts were well-meaning but fundamentally flawed, and that we stop wars by backing our defence industry. Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Shadow Local Government Secretary, said: Labour councils across the country bowing to boycotts are inflaming community tensions and empowering those looking to hold our country to ransom. Labour councils are ending investments in defence firms for more ethical alternatives in a desperate bid to win back pro-Palestinian voters. Pictured: Pro-Palestinian protesters rally after Cambridge University's failed attempt to secure an injunction to severely restrict students rights to protest in support of Palestine at the High Court Last July, Labour lost significant numbers of votes in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters due to the partys refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza until February. Pictured: Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks outside the US Embassy during a national demonstration in support of Palestine in London on February 15 Its bad for the UK economy and bad for our defence industrial base just when it needs to be fired up. Former Navy Admiral Lord West accused the councils of not thinking and making our nation less safe. One councillor who backed a divestment vote told The Telegraph that they faced pressure from local pro-Palestine groups, especially the members with large groups of Muslims in their wards'. Last July, Labour lost significant numbers of votes in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters due to the partys refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza until February - five months after the Israeli invasion. It lost five seats to pro-Palestinian Independent candidates, including the shock victory of Shockat Adam against frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South. Last night party insiders warned the leadership that such boycotts would continue if the party refused to change its line on the Israel-Gaza conflict and foreign aid. One source told the Mail: Once again, the Labour leadership totally out of touch with their own councils and voters across the country. It beggars belief that weve been watching Palestinians massacred using British weapons for the last year and a half, and the Labour Partys answer is to pump more money into weapons while cutting the foreign aid budget. The Queen has praised Gisele Pelicot for 'her extraordinary dignity and courage' as it's revealed she penned a letter to the courageous rape survivor. Last December Ms Pelicot's husband Dominique was sentenced to 20 years behind bars following a brutal four-month rape trial in Avingon, southern France, which not only rocked the country but sent shockwaves across the globe. At court, it was heard how Mr Pelicot subjected the 72-year-old to over a decade of horrifying abuse, where he would drug his wife and invite dozens of men from the internet to rape her. The French grandmother waived her right to anonymity and bravely faced off her husband of around five decades, as well as 50 other defendants - who were all found guilty of varying crimes of sexual abuse - as the horrifying crimes were revealed. Ms Pelicot believed she was raped 'more than 200 times' during her husband's campaign of sexual abuse, adding that towards the end it could have been happening 'two or three times a week'. The 72-year-old's bravery has become a beacon for survivors of sexual abuse, as she has quickly become a feminist figure - and was last year shortlisted for TIME's annual Person of the Year. In court, Ms Pelicot explained how it was not bravery that kept her going but a 'will and determination to change society,' adding that the profile of a rapist isn't someone 'in a car park late at night', but can also be 'in the family' and 'among our friends'. 'I wanted all woman victims of rape not just when they have been drugged, rape exists at all levels I want those women to say: Mrs Pelicot did it, we can do it too. When you're raped there is shame, and it's not for us to have shame, it's for them.' Her Majesty Camilla, who has long campaigned against domestic and sexual abuse, was 'tremendously affected' by the rape trial, a royal aide has now revealed. Queen Camilla (pictured) has praised Gisele Pelicot for 'her extraordinary dignity and courage' as its revealed she penned a letter to the courageous rape survivor Gisele Pelicot waived her anonymity and stoically attended the trial for three months and looked defiantly at each of the defendants as they were convicted of her rape and other crimes Dominique Pelicot (pictured) drugged, raped and organised the repeated rape and sexual abuse of his now-ex-wife Gisele by dozens of other men The aide told Newsweek: '(The Queen) was tremendously affected by the Madame Pelicot case in France and that lady's extraordinary dignity and courage as she put herself in the public eye because, as she rightly put it, why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame? 'And, of course, she helped highlight a very significant societal problem despite all the personal suffering she'd been through. 'So, as a long-term supporter of survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, the Queen wrote to Madame Pelicot privately. 'It was very much her instigation and determination to write to express support from the highest level.' The Queen has dedicated her royal charity work to supporting victims of sexual assault. Last month, Camilla praised the 'brilliant' efforts of health workers and other staff supporting sexual assault victims at a specialist centre she officially opened in Exeter. She is also a patron for the SafeLives charity and has made several visits both covert and official to women's refuge centres, as well as supporting campaigns for pop-up shops in schools to eradicate such violence. In an ITV documentary last year, she vowed she will 'keep trying' to end domestic violence, until she is 'able to no more', and was followed over the course of a year for the programme looking at her work in the field. Gisele looked at each of the defendants as their verdicts were read out. This court sketch depicts Gisele looking at her husband This court-sketch depicts Gisele Pelicot during the hearing of the verdicts A UK-based petition calling for Ms Pelicot to receive the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has received more than 170,000 signatures. It comes as Gisele Pelicot's daughter has filed a complaint against her father accusing him of sexual abuse. Caroline Darian filed the complaint at the beginning of March, accusing Dominique Pelicot of drugging her and committing 'sexual abuse' against her, she told the AFP news agency. She said she took legal action as a 'message to all victims' of sexual abuse who were drugged not to give up. Darian has said she suspects Dominique Pelicot abused her too after pictures of her naked and unconscious body were found among the detailed records he kept of his crimes. Dominique Pelicot, 72, has always denied he abused his daughter. 'Yes, he denied it, but he also lied several times and gave different versions of the story during the two and a half years of the investigation,' Darian said. 'We clearly saw in court that at no time was Dominique capable of telling the whole truth about what happened,' Darian told AFP. Darian who was frequently seen at her mother's side during her father's trial last autumn, said in her new book that she was also upset by her mother's silence, judging that her mother did not want to 'believe of hear' her allegations. She wrote in So That We May Remember, which was published on Wednesday: 'Her silence says a lot. I thought we were a united and tight-knit clan and I am hit by this implacable reality in the face: my mother does not want to believe me or to hear me. The pain runs right through me.' Caroline Darian (pictured, left) was frequently seen at her mother's side during her father's trial last autumn She wrote in So That We May Remember, which was published on Wednesday: 'Her silence says a lot. I thought we were a united and tight-knit clan' She added: 'It is an abandonment too many... It's as though the ground opened up under my feet... I have spent four years trying to be there for my mother, cherishing the bond that counted so much for me. I feel alone facing a wall of desolation and no one seems to understand.' Darian has campaigned for awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, and in 2022 wrote a book about the family's ordeal, 'Et j'ai cesse de t'appeler papa' ('And I stopped calling you dad'). Her new book about victims of sexual abuse, titled 'For us to remember' ('Pour que l'on se souvienne'), hit bookstands on Wednesday. 'Rebuilding requires recognition of my status as a victim,' she told AFP, adding: 'I know that the road is still long'. Beyond 'my personal case', the complaint filed this week represents 'a message sent to all victims', she said. 'It is important for me to convey this message so that other victims' of chemical sedation can 'tell themselves that there are things to do, there are remedies, and we must never give up'. Australia's summer may have technically ended two weeks ago, but temperatures are tipped to reach a scorching 40C in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on Saturday. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued heatwave alerts for NSW, Victoria and SA with the hot weather to hit Adelaide first - where the northern suburb of Elizabeth will break the 40C mark - and then move east. The heat is being caused by warm and dry northwesterly winds combined with a high pressure system off the south coast, with conditions hot but, thankfully, not humid. 'There is a string of hot days ahead with Saturday to be the hottest,' bureau senior meteorologist Angus Hines said. The autumn blast of heat will see the highest temperatures inland with Griffith and Broken Hill in NSW, Horsham and Mildura in Victoria and Roxby Downs in SA nearing 40C, though the capitals, particularly Adelaide and Sydney's west will also swelter. Melbourne will be in the high 30s on Saturday which will make for a searing afternoon for spectators at the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix qualifying, though it should cool down on Sunday for the race itself. While the Geelong and Fremantle AFL clash in Geelong on Saturday could see temperatures exceed 36C, which triggers the AFL's heat policy that allows games to be postponed. Across the rest of the country, there will be cooler temperatures and light rain in Queensland, WA and in the Northern Territory, where wet season is still in full swing. An autumn blast of heat will be focused on Australia's southern interior on Saturday (pictured) with Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney all in for sweltering temperatures Melburnians will get ideal beach weather on the weekend (pictured is St Kilda) Sydney Thursday Max 29 Sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Mostly sunny day. Patchy morning fog in the outer west. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late evening. Friday Min 20 Max 31 Sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent Mostly sunny. The chance of fog in the west in the early morning. Light winds becoming east to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Saturday Min 21 Max 32 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Sunday Min 23 Max 35 Chance of any rain: 10 per cent Mostly sunny. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a heatwave warning for large swathes of NSW and SA Brisbane Thursday Max 29 Possible shower. Chance of any rain: 40 per cent Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the morning and afternoon. Light winds. Friday Min 20 Max 29 Possible shower. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1mm. Chance of any rain: 40 per cent Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Light winds becoming east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the late evening. Saturday Min 20 Max 29 Partly cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the morning. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then tending easterly during the day. Sunday Min 20 Max 29 Partly cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds. Melbourne Thursday Max 25 Cloudy. Chance of any rain: 20 per cent Cloudy. Light winds becoming southerly 15 to 20 km/h in the late afternoon then becoming light in the evening. The F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne will bake for the qualifying on Saturday but temperatures will cool slightly for the race in Sunday Melbourne will see the mercury peak in the high 30s on Saturday over much of the city Friday Min 15 Max 27 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming southeast to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Saturday Min 16 Max 35 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 10 per cent Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming north to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then tending north to northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h during the afternoon. Sunday Min 23 Max 27 Showers. Possible rainfall 5 to 20mm. Chance of any rain: 95 per cent Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the late morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h shifting southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the afternoon. Canberra Thursday Max 31 Morning fog then mostly sunny. Chance of any rain: 20 per cent Mostly sunny. Patchy morning fog. Slight chance of a shower in the afternoon and early evening. Light winds. Friday Min 13 Max 33 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent The chance of fog in the early morning. Mostly sunny day. Light winds becoming westerly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Saturday Min 14 Max 35 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent Mostly sunny. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Sunday Min 17 Max 33 Possible shower developing. Possible rainfall 0 to 1mm. Chance of any rain: 40 per cent Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening. Adelaide Thursday Max 33 Sunny. Chance of any rain: 0 per cent Sunny. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h tending northwest to southwesterly in the early afternoon then tending east to southeasterly in the evening. Friday Min 18 Max 35 Sunny. Chance of any rain: 0 per cent Sunny. Light winds becoming southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then shifting east to southeasterly in the evening. Saturday Min 23 Max 38 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 10 per cent Mostly sunny morning. Slight chance of a shower in the evening. Winds east to northeasterly 20 to 30 km/h tending west to northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the day then tending south to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Sunday Min 21 Max 26 Showers easing. Possible rainfall: 0 to 5mm. Chance of any rain 80 per cent. Cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h turning southerly 25 to 40 km/h during the afternoon then decreasing to 20 to 25 km/h during the evening. Perth Thursday Max 26 Showers. Possible storm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent Cloudy. Very high chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe, with damaging winds and possible heavy falls in the east. Light winds becoming west to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Over in WA Perth (pictured) will avoid the most intense heat and will see showers on Thursday and Friday clearing for the weekend Friday Min 16 Max 25 Possible shower. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm Chance of any rain: 40 per cent The chance of morning fog about the northern suburbs. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Light winds becoming north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h early in the morning then tending northwest to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the morning. Saturday Min 16 Max 28 Mostly sunny. Chance of any rain: 10 per cent The chance of morning fog. Sunny afternoon. Light winds becoming southerly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then tending southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon. Sunday Min 16 Max 29 Sunny. Chance of any rain: 0 per cent Mostly sunny. Winds southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h turning easterly 30 to 45 km/h during the morning. Hobart Thursday Max 25 Partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 10 per cent. Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then tending northeast to southeasterly in the evening. Friday Min 14 Max 25 Shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm Chance of any rain: 50 per cent Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and early afternoon. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning. Saturday Min 15 Max 28 Shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 4 mm Chance of any rain: 70 per cent Cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the day. Sunday Min 18 Max 23 Showers. Possible rainfall 1 to 8mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h tending westerly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning. Darwin Thursday Max 33 Shower or two. Possible storm. Possible rainfall: 1 to 15 mm Chance of any rain: 70 per cent Partly cloudy. High chance of showers or a thunderstorm, most likely during this afternoon and evening. Light winds. Friday Min 25 Max 32 Showers. Possible storm. Possible rainfall: 1 to 20 mm Chance of any rain: 80 per cent Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Saturday Min 25 Max 34 Shower or two. Possible storm. Possible rainfall: 0 to 10 mm Chance of any rain: 70 per cent Partly cloudy. High chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Sunday Min 24 Max 33 Shower or two. Possible rainfall 0 to 10mm. Chance of any rain 70 per cent. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. It is an 80s summertime classic written by a band who openly admitted they were 'insecure and pessimistic' at the time. But Walking On Sunshine by British rock band Katrina and The Waves has been hailed the happiest song of all time, according to British music lovers. With sunnier weather just around the corner, a definitive list of the 50 happiest songs of all time has been compiled. And securing the top spot is the 80s hit, with 25 per cent voting it their favourite. It was closely followed by 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles (24 per cent) and Pharrell Williams 'Happy' (23 per cent). Jamaican-born Bob Marley and The Wailers appear three times in the 50 strong list with 'Sun is Shining' (nine per cent), 'Stir It up' (five per cent) and 'Concrete Jungle' (four per cent). Other hits include 'California Girls' by The Beach Boys (19 per cent), 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen (19 per cent), 'Summer of 69' by Bryan Adams (18 per cent) and 'Beautiful Day' by Irish rockers, U2. It's no surprise that four in ten (40 per cent) say that certain songs have the power to transport them into summer mode, with a further two thirds (63 per cent) agreeing that music lifts their mood and cheers them up. It was closely followed by 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles (24 per cent) and Pharrell Williams 'Happy' (23 per cent) Jamaican-born Bob Marley and The Wailers appear three times in the 50 strong list with 'Sun is Shining' (nine per cent), 'Stir It up' (five per cent) and 'Concrete Jungle' (four per cent) The survey was commissioned by MSC Cruises, who have created a brand new album, reimagining Brits' favourite feel-good hits. From Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to Pharrell Williams, The Beatles, and Madonna, each track on 'Bean Beats' has been given a fresh reggae-infused makeover (pictured: Madonna) 75 per cent think music is the perfect way to get ready for summer, with three quarters (76 per cent) saying it has influenced them booking a sunshine holiday. Over half (53 per cent) groove to tunes from the country they are visiting when getting ready for a holiday, with the Caribbean (40 per cent) emerging as the place the nation has been most inspired to visit as a result of music. 68 per cent say having a playlist full of holiday songs makes them more excited for a trip, so much so that they start blaring it out a few weeks before they travel (53 per cent) to help them get through the packing (43 per cent). A third (29 per cent) go so far as to create a new playlist every time they go away as it gets them excited for the trip (68 per cent). Over half (53 per cent) start listening to their playlist a few weeks before they fly, while 43 per cent use music to help them get through the packing. Music is also an essential travel companion during trip planning, with 26 per cent listening while trying on holiday outfits, 25 per cent while mapping out their itinerary, and 15 per cent while booking excursions, according to the survey. The survey was commissioned by MSC Cruises, who have created a brand new album, reimagining Brits' favourite feel-good hits. From Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to Pharrell Williams, The Beatles, and Madonna, each track on 'Bean Beats' has been given a fresh reggae-infused makeover. Antonio Paradiso, VP of International Sales, MSC Cruises, which commissioned the research of 2,000 Brits, said: 'Music is pure magic-it has the power to transport you to your dream destination. It lifts your spirits, sets the tone for adventure and gets you into that summer mindset. 'Our new reggae-inspired playlist is the perfect way to kickstart the holiday excitement.' He is the Inspector-General of Emergency Management Queensland's disaster response and recovery boss took a holiday as millions of devastated residents braced for the impact of ex-Cyclone Alfred. Inspector-General of Emergency Management Alistair Dawson, who's on $356,000 a year, took leave from Sunday as winds, heavy rain and flash flooding wreaked havoc across the state. It's understood Emergency Services Minister Daniel Purdie approved Mr Dawson's leave before the cyclone formed and didn't request him to cancel. In the lead-up to Alfred's arrival, Mr Dawson attended the Queensland Disaster Management Committee meetings, the Courier Mail reported. However, he was notably absent when millions of residents woke to chaos. The cyclone was downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday morning, but residents along the northern NSW coast and southeast Queensland faced torrential rain, flash flooding and loss of power. Mr Dawson was re-appointed to his role in March, after he was appointed to the position in 2020 by former Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. The Emergency Management body is responsible for monitoring government agencies' response to and recovery from disasters, and issues a review with recommendations for improvements. Inspector-General of Emergency Management Alistair Dawson (pictured) took leave as residents across Queensland woke to destruction caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred Hayden Edwards walks near his flooded house in Oxley, Brisbane, on Monday A police officer is seen walking past rescue boats as floodwaters approach levee walls Mr Dawson will not author the review in regard to ex-Cyclone Alfred, with an acting inspector-general to prepare the report instead. Sources told the Courier Mail that Mr Dawson took his annual leave and left Australia, but his office refused to share where he went. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management for comment. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred made landfall on Saturday at 9pm (Queensland time). Queensland's state-owned energy giant Energex said 410,000 of the 450,000 homes that lost power during Alfred have been reconnected. Damage reports are still coming in, as evacuated residents gradually return home after a long week rescues and record rainfall. Locals have taken a swipe at newly named roads given bizarre medical-themed names - branding it a 'ridiculous' move by the council. The SNP-led Glasgow council has received backlash after residents of Ashlar Village hit out at their decision to give streets on a new housing estate strange names. Among the titles are Vaccine Drive and Laboratory Place, however the hospital theme doesn't begin and end just there. Eagle-eyed residents were quick to spot the medical theme was carried throughout the Scottish estate, with other streets named Virology Grove and Radiography Road. Locals have blasted the decision and the strange names as 'ridiculous', but the unique reason behind the titles has since been revealed. The area was previously home to Ruchill Hospital, one of the first purpose-built infectious disease hospitals in Scotland. The hospital, which first opened its doors in 1990, treated people suffering from a myriad of infectious diseases including scarlet fever, small pox and tuberculosis. In 1998, the facility closed its doors for the final time and was sold only a year later, with the are not used for over two decades before construction work began. Locals have since taken to social media to share their thoughts on the street names paying ode to the former medical facility. Locals have taken a swipe at newly named roads given bizarre medical-themed names, branding it a 'ridiculous' move by Glasgow City Council Among the names on the new housing estate in Ashlar Village include Vaccine Drive and Laboratory Place, however the medical theme doesn't begin and end just there 'I know it's the former site of a hospital but these names are ridiculous,' one wrote. 'I'm all for acknowledging the history of a site,' a second said: 'But they could have been a bit more creative with the names.' A third local joked: 'Is there a Colonoscopy Avenue?' 'There are many benefits to living on Vaccine Drive,' one quipped, whilst adding: 'Not least jab-seekers allowance.' A local responded: 'I hope some mad conspiracy theorist lives at Vaccine Drive. Would be great taxi driver chat as well.' Ann McGinley, chairman of Ruchill Community Council, has bemoaned the new medically-inspired names, branding them 'absolutely ridiculous' and 'stupid'. She told the Telegraph: 'I don't know where the idea came from. Everyone in Ruchill knows the site used to be a hospital.' Ryan McDonagh, who has been living in the estate since October, has described the street names in two words: 'rank' and 'rotten'. The area was previously home to Ruchill Hospital, one of the first purpose-built infectious disease hospitals in Scotland Ryan McDonagh, who has been living in the estate since October, has branded the street names in two words: 'rank' and 'rotten' 'We're not short of medical scholars. Fleming? Lister? The chosen names are devoid of thought, imagination, or any reverence for our medical pioneers.' Paul Sweeney MSP, who played a role in making a decision when it came to the street names, revealed it was an 'acknowledgement' of the areas 'important social history'. He also added that he attempted to honour 'pioneering clinicians' when deciding on street monikers but was later informed it was against council policy to name streets after people - whether they were living or dead. As such, he set his sights on honouring Ruchill Hospital's public health achievements, according to The Telegraph. A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: 'A convention in place since the late 1980s is used in the street naming process in Glasgow, where we propose the street names based on the history of the site in question. 'We issue the proposed street names to all local elected members and any active community councils and give them a 28-day objection period. 'After a series of discussions on an initial list of proposed names, and in keeping with the street naming convention - whereby street names are given using the history of the site in question - the local elected members felt that these names fitted given the former Hospital on site was famous for its remarkable work with infectious diseases 'These names were approved.' A major British supermarket is set to give away food for free as the retailer pledges to hit targets for slashing food waste and net zero goals. Tesco has announced that any food items about to go out of date will be available for absolutely no cost - preferring them to go home with a customer than end up in the bin. The initiative, featuring yellow stickers, will be tested in a small number of Express stores for customers visiting after 9.30pm. At present Tesco gives unsold food to charities - and this will continue, while staff will also get priority on items that have been reduced earlier in the day. Typically food items bearing a yellow sticker have a 90% reduction. But any such items in the run-up to closing time will be available for customers to take home for free. Tesco said the move would allow it to 'continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations', according to an internal memo, The Telegraph reports. On its website, Tesco said that its aims to be 'carbon neutral' by 2035 and net zero by 2050. Tesco has announced that any food items about to go out of date will be available for absolutely no cost - preferring them to go home with a customer than end up in the bin Tesco said the move would allow it to 'continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations' Typically food items bearing a yellow sticker have a 90% reduction. But any such items in the run-up to closing time will be available for customers to take home for free In 2023/24, the supermarket achieved a 61% reduction of absolute emissions from its operations compared to 2015, which exceeded its 2025 target of 60%. A statement said: 'Weve done this by using energy and refrigeration more efficiently, and by adopting 100% renewable electricity across the Group.' A spokesman for the supermarket said: 'We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste. 'This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.' A Japanese woman who was brutally stabbed to death while livestreaming to over 6,000 people has been identified as an influencer who was targeted by one of her followers. Japanese streamer Airi Sato, 22, was confirmed dead on Tuesday after a crazed man attacked her with a knife, stabbing her in the neck, head and chest while thousands watched. Little is known about Sato's private life, however sources claim the influencer has been creating content since she was in high school. Her content centered around her day to day 'real life'. She had filmed herself in a video titled '3.11 Walking Around the Yamanote Line' as she circled the well-known railway service loop. The young streamer was allegedly killed by 42-year-old Kenichi Takano, who was arrested at the ghastly crime scene in Tokyo's Shinjuku district. Police sources told local media that Takano tracked Sato down after he recognized the buildings in the back of her video. He later told police that he had lent Sato a 'substantial sum of money' - approximately $17,000 USD - and was never repaid, TokyoHive reported. The 42-year-old reportedly became acquainted with Sato in 2021 through her livestreams. Japanese IRL streamer, Airi Sato, 22, was confirmed dead on Tuesday after a crazed man attacked her with a knife, stabbing her in the neck, head and chest while thousands watched The young 'in real life' streamer was allegedly killed by 42-year-old Kenichi Takano, who was arrested at the ghastly crime scene which took place in Tokyo's Shinjuku district Over time, their relationship took on a financial dimension, with Sato frequently asking for loans under various circumstances, claiming she had forgotten her wallet, lost access to her funds, or needed urgent financial help. Messages exchanged between the two suggest that these requests escalated, with Sato borrowing small amounts at first before requesting larger sums, according to the outlet. Despite Takano providing financial support, repayment never materialized. He eventually took legal action, winning a court case for the outstanding debt. Even with the ruling in his favor, no payments were made. The unresolved financial dispute appears to have deepened Takano's frustration, leading to the alleged violent escalation. It was later revealed that Takano had borrowed from loan agencies to fund his financial support of the IRL influencer. Takano said he felt manipulated, listing a series of justifications Sato had used to request money, in messages between the him and his aquaintances, as seen by TokyoHive. The 22-year-old creator was reportedly online on Japanese live-streaming platform, WhoWatch, when the fatal attack occurred. Little is known about Sato's private life, however, sources claim the influencer has been creating content since she was in high school Police recovered a knife with a blade about five inches long at the scene, which they believe to be the murder weapon A video of the assault's aftermath shows a crowd of emergency services at the scene as they tend to the victim as police sirens blare in the background Approximately 6,500 viewers witnessed the gruesome murder as fans frantically called for help in the live chat. Several viewers even claimed they heard Sato calling for help before her stream went silent, SoapCentral.com reported. Sato's livestream reportedly recorded the horrific aftermath of the knife-attack, showing the famous videographer lying in a pool of blood. Police recovered a knife with a blade about five inches long at the scene, which they believe to be the murder weapon. A video of the assault's aftermath shows a crowd of emergency services at the scene as they tend to the victim as police sirens blare in the background. Before Japanese police disclosed Sato's identity, several people on social media falsely identified the victim as live broadcaster Mogami Ai. The voice actor company that represents Mogami later was forced to issue a statement that she had nothing to do with the tragic incident. 'In the incident that occurred in Takadanobaba today... erroneous information was spread, and our company's 'Mogami Ai' was mistakenly identified. We have confirmed that this misunderstanding exists', the company said in a statement. Sato has reportedly produced loads of content including her video '3.11 Walking Around the Yamanote Line' (pictured) - which showed the digital creator walking along the well-known railway service loop Sato was mudered while walking the streets of Tokyo's Shinjuku district (pictured) 'Here, we express our condolences to the parties involved in the incident, and at the same time, we confirm the safety of our company's 'Mogami Ai' and hereby declare that our company's 'Mogami Ai' has nothing to do with the incident. 'We would like to express our sincere apologies for the concerns and troubles caused to the relevant parties due to this misunderstanding. 'In addition, we found that the social media account of 'Mogami Ai' has received comments and private messages related to the incident, and her photos have been reprinted without authorization. 'Since 'Mogami Aii' has nothing to do with the incident, we kindly ask everyone to avoid posting excessive comments or private messages on his social media, and do not reprint his photos without permission', the company said. The tragic incident is not the first slaying of a female streamer in Japan. Two years ago, a 26-year-old man was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the stabbing death of an influencer who had just broken off a relationship with him. Detectives are hunting for an unscrupulous scammer who allegedly duped an elderly grandmother into footing the bill for his outrageous, six-figure spending spree. Police said the 91-year-old gran, from Foster in Victoria's South Gippsland region, was tricked into giving her bank card to the heartless conman before he used it to make $130,000 worth of purchases in outlets across Melbourne. They said the con started on September 19 when the scammer cold-called the unwitting woman on her phone. 'The scam caller advised the woman that fraudulent charges had been made on her account,' Victoria Police said on Thursday. Shortly after the call ended, the woman got a knock on her door and handed over her card to a man who claimed he had been sent to collect it by her bank. The card was then used some 130 times over the following five days before it was eventually cancelled. Police said the scammer allegedly used it to buy gift cards at numerous stores across Melbourne, a two-and-a-half hour drive from the woman's home, between September 19 and 23. The widespread locations included shops in Airport West, Altona, Bacchus Marsh, Balaclava, Caulfield, Chadstone, Corio, Deer Park, Elsternwick, Essendon, Footscray, Geelong, Maribyrnong, Hoppers Crossing, Malvern, Moonee Ponds, Point Cook, Port Melbourne Spotswood, Sunshine, Werribee, Williamstown and Yarraville. Police have now released images of a man who they believe can help with their investigation. Officers urged anyone who recognised the man to contact Crime Stoppers on 1300 333 000. This is the man police want to talk to in relation to an alleged scam A woman allegedly had $130,000 stolen out of her account and police want to find this man Passengers flying with two more international airlines will soon no longer be allowed to charge power banks using onboard USB-ports. Singapore Airlines and its budget subsidiary Scoot announced the ban will come into effect on April 1. Passengers will also banned from using power banks to charge their personal devices while in the aircraft. 'The SIA Group complies with the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations regarding the carriage of power banks, which are classified as lithium batteries,' an airline statement read. 'We seek customers' understanding that safety will always be our top priority.' The IATA's guidelines state power banks must be carried in cabin baggage and are not permitted in checked baggage. The airlines will continue to allow customers to bring onboard power banks with a capacity of up to 100Wh without special approval, while those between 100Wh and 160Wh require approval. Power banks with larger power capacities are not permitted on flights. Singapore Airlines announced passengers won't be allowed to charge power banks from April 1 Customers will no longer be allowed to charge their devices from a power bank either Passengers will also still be able to recharge their individual devices, including phones with the onboard USB ports. The airline indicated it would be enforcing the rules. 'Our crews are trained to remain vigilant and ensure that customers comply with in-flight safety procedures,' a spokeswoman said. The announcement comes after Thai Airways banned passenger use of power banks when onboard their planes, which comes into effect this Saturday. 'This measure is implemented to ensure the highest level of safety for all passengers and crew members. We kindly ask for your cooperation and apologise for any inconvenience caused,' the airline said last week. Airlines in Taiwan and South Korea have also banned in-flight usage of power banks. Passengers flying with Singapore Airlines (flight attendant pictured) will also be banned from charging electronic devices while onboard Australian airlines Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar currently have no restrictions on the charging of power banks from in-seat power sources. That is provided the devices are not in use during taxi, take-off, or landing. 'While we dont recommend passengers use power banks onboard, theyre not prohibited from doing so, except during take-off and landing, in line with aviation regulations,' a Jetstar spokeswoman said. An arrest warrant request has been filed in the case of two Michigan children who died in a van during below-freezing temperatures. Darnell Currie Jr., 9, and Amillah Currie, 2, died from carbon monoxide poisoning after spending the night inside their family vehicle at a Detroit casino parking garage on February 10. They were among five children and two adults inside the van, including their 29-year-old mother, Tateona Williams. After hearing Williams story, Chad Audi, president and CEO of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, coordinated with the city to provide her with a fully furnished home for one year, reported Fox 19. Now, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office told DailyMail.com it has received a request for a criminal warrant related to the case from the Detroit Police Department. 'The warrant is being reviewed and further information will be released when a decision has been made,' the prosecutors office said. While sources told FOX 2 that Williams could face charges, Detroit police denied that she is a suspect. 'The Detroit Police Department has completed its investigation into their deaths and submitted the findings to the Wayne County Prosecutors Office for review. DPD has not requested charges to be filed against any family member of the children,' Chief Todd A. Bettison said. Darnell Currie Jr., 9, and Amillah Currie, 2, died from carbon monoxide poisoning after spending the night inside their family vehicle The children's mother Tateona Williams (pictured) was gifted a fully furnished home for one year 'As we do with every case, we have simply turned over our investigative file to the Prosecutors Office for its review and determination.' The family had been living out of the vehicle for two to three months and sometimes chose to park at casinos for safety and access to restrooms. The van stopped running overnight and couldn't produce heat while the outside temperature was under 20 degrees Fahrenheit. When Williams noticed her nine-year-old was not breathing in the morning, she called a friend who came to the scene and let her use her car to drive to the hospital. While they were en route to the hospital, the mother also realized that her two-year-old was also not breathing, and when her friend came back, the 'entire family' got into the vehicle and rushed to the hospital. At the hospital, both child were pronounced dead. Their cause of death was carbon monoxide toxicity while the manner of death was accident, said Dr. LokMan Sung, the Wayne County medical examiner. Williams had called the city on November 25 to say their temporary housing was about to end, but no one followed up and she didn't call back The family had been living in a van for a couple of months, and had parked it on the ninth floor of a casino parking lot when it ran out of gas They were among five children and two adults inside the van, including their 29-year-old mother, Tateona Williams Freezing temperatures at the time of their deaths caused Detroit officials to try to learn if the family had fallen through cracks in social services. Williams had called the city on November 25 to say their temporary housing was about to end, but no one followed up and she didn't call back, according to Mayor Mike Duggan. Mayor Duggan announced policy changes in the wake of their deaths, including in-person visits with families reporting an imminent loss of housing, a 24-hour hotline and police checks of parked cars. 'This is something that's going to be hard to accept for a long time, that we had the beds in place,' Duggan said of 1,400 available shelter beds. 'This cannot ever happen again,' he said. 'The shortest way for somebody in an emergency is go to a police precinct. They will navigate the process and get you to a shelter,' Duggan explained. One of the changes being made will see city outreach staff now visit families who call to report an imminent loss of housing. 'When there are emergency calls, even if someone is still housed with minor children, there will be an onsite visit from an outreach worker,' Duggan told reporters. Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com EXCLUSIVE The American tourist who manhandled a baby wombat and enraged the world is no stranger to controversy as new details emerge about her chequered past. Samantha Strable, 24, shared a now-deleted video of her laughing as she grabbed a wombat joey from its distressed mother and ran off with it dangling in her arms. The act infuriated Aussies, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who urged the influencer to try her luck with some other Australian animals. 'Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there,' Mr Albanese said. 'Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother.' The federal government is now investigating if she can be deported after wildlife service WIRES said Ms Strable had violated Australia's biosecurity and animal welfare laws. But despite being an avid wildlife hunter - who has posted multiple selfies with wild creatures she had killed - Ms Strable tried to get a job with animal rights group PETA. Samantha Strable, 24, shared a since-deleted video to her Instagram account on Tuesday of her grabbing a wild wombat joey Ms Strable's adventures included killing a wild pig with a knife in New Zealand They rejected her application after a background check discovered she was an 'avid hunter and carnivore'. A second controversial video of Ms Strable also resurfaced on Thursday, sparking further outrage. The clip shows her handling an echidna, which appeared to be in the wild, and showing it off to her almost 100,000 followers last month. Now her former boss in the US state of Wyoming has broken his silence to Daily Mail Australia and revealed he had to sack her from his hunting tour company after just 30 days when he claimed he found out she misled him about her experience. Bruce Lindsey, of Best of the West Outfitters, employed her in October 2021 as a 'packer' who helped clients on rocky mountain elk hunting trips in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Mr Lindsey said the wombat furore surrounding his former employee 'certainly doesn't surprise me'. He claimed he was forced to fire Ms Strable after just her first month on the job. Mr Lindsey said it was clear his fresh-faced worker wasn't cut out for the tough work of leading a string of mules through the Yellowstone snows. American hunting influencer Sam Strable (pictured) was previously seen picking up a wild echidna Ms Strable fell in love with chasing game after doing a hunting mentor program 'She just didn't have the knowledge, didn't have the experience, and we had to assist her greatly with her duties,' he said, citing a catalogue of issues with her work. Ms Strable has refuted Mr Lindsey's claims, saying that he is 'nothing but a disgruntled former employer trying to get ten minutes of fame who has a track record of pulling stunts like these'. 'I quit my work with Best of the West Outfitters voluntarily after Bruce refused to pay me my agreed wage,' she said. Despite admitting in a 2023 newspaper interview that as a child, she thought hunting was 'pretty gross', Ms Strable went on to fall in love with it. She changed her mind after doing a hunting mentorship program which saw her shoot a deer and then tasted some of the cooked tenderloin from her kill. Raised in Great Falls, Montana, Ms Strable was born into a Christian family with four siblings, all of them home-schooled but high achievers. Samantha's younger sister, Kimberly, stepped away from California Intercontinental University with a doctorate in Business Administration at just 17 years old. 'We Strables are high performers by nature,' Samantha's mother Adria Strable said at the time. Raised in Great Falls, Montana, she didn't grow up around hunting - telling a Wyoming paper in 2023 that she initially thought the sport was 'pretty gross' 'And Kimberly embodies that work ethic, 'Whatever your hand finds to do, work at it with all your might as working for the Lord.'' By 2020 Ms Strable was basing herself in Pinedale, Wyoming, for seasonal work during the northern summers, and then flying to the southern hemisphere to hunt during the northern winters. Her adventures included killing a wild pig with a knife in New Zealand and stalking red deer with a bow in Chile. Two years later, Ms Strable applied for a job at the animal rights group PETA, according to the Hustead Law Firm based in Denver, Colorado. She didn't get the job and lodged a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau alleging age discrimination. Samantha's younger sister, Dr Kimberly Strable, has received about $350,000 USD in settlements from 300 discrimination claims, according to US court documents. Hustead Law Firm was retained to represent PETA, and after doing a background search on Ms Strable, discovered that she was an 'avid hunter and carnivore, characteristics expressly prohibited by PETA's policies'. Her complaint to the Human Rights Bureau about the failed job application was dismissed. Ms Strable lists her current job as an environmental scientist at Bowman Consulting in Virginia, but the firm said on Friday she was also fired from that position before the wombat incident. Despite being an avid wildlife hunter - who has posted multiple selfies with wild creatures she had killed - Ms Strable tried to get a job with animal rights group PETA 'She was employed by Bowman for a very short period of time and apparently has not updated her LinkedIn profile to reflect her termination from Bowman,' a spokesperson said. 'As wildlife conservationists ourselves, we are dedicated to preserving wildlife and their habitats. The behavior depicted in the (wombat) video is inconsistent with our values, and we do not condone or support such behavior in any way, shape or form.' In the footage released on Tuesday, Ms Strable was seen running towards her car with a wombat joey swinging in her arms. It's unclear where the encounter happened, and Australia's animal welfare laws vary by state. The joey's mother was seen desperately chasing her while an Australian man laughed as he filmed the scene. 'I caught a baby wombat,' Ms Strable said as the joey shrieked and wiggled trying to free itself from her grasp. She initially defended her actions, claiming she did not harm the joey and only held it for one minute. 'For everyone that's worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum,' she wrote. 'They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed. I didn't think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close. 'I don't ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Strable for comment. A senior member of Donald Trump's cabinet has accused Australia of dumping cheap aluminium on the United States as justification for its 25 per cent import tariffs. While the US has a trade surplus with Australia, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has accused Australia of flooding the United States with cheap aluminium in a bid to undercut American manufacturers. 'Look, you've got dumpers in the rest of the world,' he told Fox Business. 'Japan dumps steel. China dumps steel. What that means is, they make it, they overproduce and they sell it dirt cheap, to drive our guys out of business. 'The President is here to protect American workers. He's here to protect American industry. We're going to stop that nonsense and bring steel here. 'So, this concept that, oh, prices are going to rise you've got to remember, President Trump is playing for the strength of America. 'We're not going to stand for China, dumping, Japan dumping, or Australia does a lot of aluminum below cost. 'This has got to end and the President is on it.' A senior member of Donald Trump 's cabinet has accused Australia of dumping cheap aluminium in the United States as justification for 25 per cent import tariffs Former trade minister Simon Birmingham, who held the portfolio during the first Trump administration, said the Australian government didn't subsidise its only major aluminium exporter, Tomago Aluminium in Newcastle. 'Australia doesn't subsidise its manufacturers, Australia in global terms is very free of the type of subsidies we see in many other countries,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'When Australian companies are pricing, they're making commercial pricing decisions whether it's exporting into China, into the US or any other market. 'In a country with Australia's energy price challenges, high labour rates and a lack of government subsidy, it's hard to see how anybody could defend the argument of dumping.' World Trade Organisation rules only allow tariffs under limited circumstances, including to stop dumping, where one country floods another with cheap imports, sold at below cost price. Dr Naoise McDonagh, a senior lecturer in geopolitics and international trade at Edith Cowan University in Perth, said Mr Lutnick's assertions about Australian aluminium exports had no basis in fact. 'Lutnick's comment that there's been dumping has been unsubstantiated by any evidence,' he told Daily Mail Australia. A dumping complaint with the WTO requires an American company unfairly affected to make a complaint to the US government first, which has not even occurred. Former trade minister Simon Birmingham, who held the portfolio during the first Trump administration, said the Australian government didn't subsidise its only aluminium exporter, Tomago Aluminium in Newcastle Dr Naoise McDonagh, a geopolitics and international trade expert at Edith Cowan University, said Mr Lutnick's assertions about Australian aluminium exports had no basis in fact 'Typically, if you wanted to make an anti-dumping action, which is allowed under WTO law, you would have to do an investigation and provide evidence that would say an Australian producer of aluminium is selling that product into the US market at a lower price than it sells in its home Australian market,' Dr McDonagh said. 'There hasn't been any reports of evidence of that - there hasn't even been discussion of an investigation. 'This sounds like statement rather than fact - they've just made a broad-based dumping claim, which is so far unsubstantiated.' Dr McDonagh said the claim about aluminium dumping sounded like it was made up. 'This sounds like, to me, this is what we're getting from the Trump Administration, daily, is off-the-cuff remarks that have no basis in reality,' he said. 'That's how the boss is doing it, the President, and that's how now his acolytes and his cabinet seem to be doing it, they're just making off-the-cuff claims and accusations and they're not backing it up with any basis or evidence.' President Trump last month claimed American aluminium imports from Australia were much higher compared with his first term in the White House. 'The volume of US imports of primary aluminum from Australia has also surged,' he said in a proclamation attached to the executive tariff order. Dr Patricia Ranald, a public policy expert with the University of Sydney 's School of Social and Political Sciences, said Australia could go to the World Trade Organisation to appeal the 25 per cent tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium 'In 2024 [it] was approximately 103 percent higher than the average volume for 2015 through 2017. 'Australia has disregarded its verbal commitment to voluntarily restrain its aluminum exports to a reasonable level.' Aluminium made up just 1.6 per cent of Australia's exports to the United States in 2024, in a trade worth $400million. The 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium came into force on Wednesday, with Australia getting no exemption unlike 2018. The tariff was imposed despite the US trade surplus with Australia dating back to 1952, where Australia buys more goods from the US than they buy from us. Australian steelmaker BlueScope will escape the tariff as it already manufactures steel in Ohio, but South Australia's troubled Whyalla steelworks is affected. Dr Patricia Ranald, a public policy expert with the University of Sydney's School of Social and Political Sciences, said Australia could go to the World Trade Organisation to appeal the 25 per cent tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium. But she said the dispute resolution would only allow Australia to reciprocate with equivalent tariffs if the WTO found the US was in the wrong. 'They breach the rules because the US has made an agreement not to raise tariffs in the context of its WTO agreements,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'If you take a dispute and it's a valid dispute, then the country that imposed the tariffs, if they lose the dispute, then the other country has the right to put tariffs of equivalent value on to them.' The tariffs also breach the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 2005. 'Both the WTO agreements and the US-Australia FTA are legally binding,' Dr Ranald said. Dr McDonagh said the Trump Administration was engaging in economic coercion, similar to what China did in 2020 and 2021 to Australia as punishment for demanding an inquiry into the origins of Covid. Like the US in 2025, China flouted WTO rules and a bilateral, free trade deal with Australia. 'There is absolutely clear parallels - it's best described as a type of economic coercion,' he said. 'The President of America, what he's doing is a might makes right approach to trade which is pretty much what China was doing. 'Its using its massive economy saying, "We're the biggest economy in the world, we can therefore pressure everyone else because they need access to our economy".' The Australian Institute of International Affairs said World Trade Organisation rules only allowed tariffs to stop dumping, and for national security and infant industry purposes. Vice Presidential flop Tim Walz blames himself and Kamala Harris for the Democrats' 'mess' after their losses at the top of the ticket in November. The governor of Minnesota has been on a media blitz of late, having signaled he would 'certainly consider' running for president in 2028, despite his crushing defeat this past November. Speaking to MSNBC Wednesday, Walz gave Chris Hayes some boilerplate insults toward Donald Trump, calling him 'the worst possible business executive that I have ever witnessed.' However, he turned inward after spending a minute blasting the Trump administration. 'And look, I own this. We wouldn't be in this mess if we had won the election, and we didn't,' he admitted. Walz and Harris lost every single swing state to Trump, leading to an electoral college blowout, becoming the first Democrat ticket to lose the popular vote since 2004 and just the second since 1988. Hayes then went on his own lengthy critique of the party based on his answer, pointing out that Harris ran an 'excessively risk averse' and 'careful' campaign. The host asked: 'Do you think it's a fair characterization? Am I on to something here?' Vice Presidential flop Tim Walz blames himself and Kamala Harris for the Democrats' 'mess' after their losses at the top of the ticket in November The governor of Minnesota has been on a media blitz of late , having signaled he would 'certainly consider' running for president in 2028, despite his crushing defeat this past November which might pit him against Harris 'I think you are,' Walz responded. The former candidate added that they have to offer a positive message to the country rather than just bashing the president. 'We have to make sure that Americans know it's not just that Donald Trump is bad, but we're offering them something better, and I think that's what we need to work on.' Walz will need to come up with an a message quickly, as he's set to go on tour at various Republican Congressional districts in response to the GOP advising members to stop holding town halls. He will begin the jaunt on Friday in Iowa, where Republican Zach Nunn represents the district. Next up will be a stop in Nebraska, the state of Walz's birth, to take on Representative Don Bacon. His team is already set to go to further districts in Wisconsin, Ohio and his home state of Minnesota, according to CNN. Walz took a philosophical view to whether or not he would run for president in 2028 when asked last week. The former candidate added that they have to offer a positive message to the country rather than just bashing the president Walz will need to come up with an a message quickly, as he's set to go on tour at various Republican Congressional districts in response to the GOP advising members to stop holding town halls 'Look, I never had an ambition to be president or vice president. I was honored to be asked,' he told The New Yorker Radio Hour on Sunday. 'If I feel I can serve, I will. And if nationally, people are like, "Dude we tried you, and look how that worked out," I'm good with that.' 'If I think I could offer something I would certainly consider that,' he added. He then explained that if the circumstances are right in 2028 and he has the right 'skill set' for the moment, 'I'll do it.' 'I'll do whatever it takes. I certainly wouldn't be arrogant enough to think that it needs to be me. 'I've always said this: I didn't prepare my life to be in these jobs, but my life prepared me well. 'And if this experience I've had and what we're going through right now repares me for that, then I would. 'But I worry about people who have ambition for elected office. I don't think you should have ambition. I think you should have a desire to do it if you're asked to serve. And that's kind of where I'm at.' Walz told the New Yorker he feels like he 'let people down' when he and Harris lost handedly to Trump in November. He is pictured back at home following Trump's inauguration In recent weeks, the Minnesota governor has hit out at Trump in a series of X posts. 'If you're siding with Vladimir Putin, you're wrong,' he wrote on February 25, sharing the message again after the president and Vice President JD Vance had a fiery exchange with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. In another post that same day, Walz wrote, 'Donald Trump is embarrassing the United States on the world stage. We are a country that stands up to dictators and fights for democracy. Walz's run for vice president was marred by allegations that he had a relationship with the daughter of a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official, which critics claimed showed he was compromised by the authoritarian regime. He is now also facing backlash from former Minnesota Vikings safety Jack Brewer for his support of transgender athletes competing in women's sports. 'First buddy' Elon Musk has also threatened to sue Walz after he claimed that the Tesla CEO did a 'Nazi salute' at Trump's inauguration. Speaking in an interview with MSNBC'S Rachel Maddow, Walz ranted about how Americans had spent three days debating whether Musk had made the fascist hand gesture last week. 'Of course he did', the Democratic governor declared. Even Walz appeared to insinuate he might not be ready to be commander-in-chief, telling the New Yorker he feels like he 'let people down' when he and former Vice President Kamala Harris lost handedly to Trump in November. 'I still struggle with it,' he said. 'It was my job to get this done.' Still, Harris has also suggested she might run for the Democratic ticket in four years. Other names being floated for the position include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Clive Palmer has claimed a discussion between top mining executives and Aboriginal elders about native title descended into a food fight that left him with 'potato salad dripping down' his nose. The billionaire mining magnate said that he and 'four other executives of major Australian companies much bigger' than his Mineralogy iron ore outfit went to talk to Indigenous communities about mining rights under native title legislation. Native title, which came into effect in 1994, recognised in law for the first time the right of Aboriginal peoples to own their traditional lands and waters. Speaking to Sam Newman's You Cannot Be Serious podcast, Mr Palmer said he and the mining bosses chipped in $10,000 each for a 'massive buffet' in the meeting held with the Aboriginal land service in the Pilbara in WA. The 71-year-old acknowledged that many of the people he was speaking to 'had a lot of injustice done to them'. 'They started abusing us and blaming us for everything that had happened in their life, because I suppose we were the first white people that had interacted with them so we copped it,' Mr Palmer said. 'They all went to the buffet and started picking the buffet out and throwing cabbages and coleslaw and that on the four of us 'I remember having potato salad dripping off the end of my nose.' Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer (pictured) said that he and 'four other executives of major Australian companies much bigger' than his Mineralogy iron ore outfit went to talk to Indigenous communities after native title was introduced in the mid-1990s Native title, which came into effect in 1994, recognised in law for the first time the right of Aboriginal peoples to own their traditional lands and waters The political maverick said that his mining colleagues assumed they 'couldn't talk to those people'. But Mr Palmer held a different attitude. 'I sat down and said, "Look, if you'd been arrested because the colour of your skin, or if you had injustice done to you, you'd be mad",' he said. '"You'd be angry too. Let's talk to these people, one on one, and see whether we can build up a relationship with them". 'And that's what we did. We invited them to the pub, two or three blokes at a time, had a beer with them, discussed the whole situation, and we got some cooperation. 'We went back the next day. We didn't have the buffet, but we had a very good conversation.' He added: 'It's not whether you're black or white, it's whether you're Australian, whether you want to be respected and treated fairly.' Negotiating with First Peoples' groups and signing native title agreements has been a feature of many of Mr Palmer's business activities over the years. In 2010, as part of his Waratah Coal $8 billion China First coal mine and rail line venture in Central Queensland, he signed a cultural heritage management plan with the Jangga People. Clive Palmer said he and mining bosses chipped in $10,000 each for a 'massive buffet' meeting held with the Aboriginal land service in the Pilbara in WA (Pictured, a mine in the Pilbara) Negotiating with First Peoples groups and signing native title agreements has been a feature of many of Mr Palmer's business activities over the years (pictured: Mr Palmer and Jangga People spokesman Colin McLennan shake hands at the signing of a cultural heritage management plan in 2010) The Janga people had a claim to about 150km of the rail project that was set to link the mine with a new terminal at Abbot Point, near Bowen. 'It creates the opportunity of jobs, and with the cultural heritage sites, it's maintaining that we look after all those main sacred sites,' Colin McLennan from the Jangga people said of the agreement at the time. In 2014, the Australian Financial Review alleged his business Mineralogy secured at least three mining leases under a controversial government policy that bypassed negotiations with native title holders. The policy was later repealed amid concerns voiced by lawyers, indigenous groups and mining lobbying groups. A woman has been arrested and charged with holding her stepson captive for 20 years in a situation so dire he set fire to his room in a last-ditch effort to escape. Connecticut woman Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arraigned on Wednesday on a host of disturbing charges, including assault and kidnapping. Her 32-year-old stepson, who has not been named, set fire to a tiny upstairs bedroom of his Waterbury home on February 17. When first responders arrived to put out the blaze, they found the emaciated man, weighing just 68 pounds. Prosecutors said he was 'akin to a survivor of Auschwitz's death camp' at the time he was rescued. As he was being treated for smoke inhalation, he confided in rescue crews that he set the blaze intentionally as a means to escape. 'I wanted my freedom,' the man allegedly told police. He said he had been held captive since he was about 11 years old in an 8-foot-by-9-foot room with no heat or air conditioning. A thorough investigation has now led authorities to believe the man 'had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment.' Connecticut woman Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arraigned on Wednesday on a host of disturbing charges, including assault and kidnapping A woman has been arrested and charged with holding her stepson captive for 20 years in a situation so dire he set fire to his room in a last-ditch effort to escape During that time, he had received no medical treatment or dental care. Chief Fernando Spagnolo said: 'The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable. 'This case required relentless investigative effort, and I commend the dedication of our officers and the Waterbury State's Attorney's Office. 'Their unwavering commitment ensured that justice is served, and the perpetrator is held fully accountable for these horrific crimes.' Sullivan is being held with a $300,000 bond after she was arraigned on Wednesday. Her attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, indicated Sullivan intends to vigorously defend the charges. 'She's adamant she did not do the things that she's accused of,' Kaloidis said. Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Don Therkildsen described the 'facts of the case' as, 'quite frankly, something out of a horror movie'. 'That's without exaggeration,' he added. Her 32-year-old stepson, who has not been named, set fire to the upstairs bedroom of his Waterbury home on February 17. When first responders arrived to put out the blaze, they found the emaciated man, weighing just 68 pounds A thorough investigation has now led authorities to believe the man 'had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment'. Pictured is the interior of the house According to WFSB, the victim 'lit a fire with some hand sanitizer [and] some paper from a printer.' Prosecutors told the court during Sullivan's arraignment that the man 'lit that fire very well knowing he could die. 'But he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years he'd been trying to get out of that room. 'He was... akin to a survivor of Auschwitz's death camp.' According to a warrant for Sullivan's arrest, the victim's living conditions deteriorated when his father died last year. He told authorities he was given two cups of water a day, but was sometimes forced to drink out of the toilet. The man's elementary school principal Tom Pannone told NBC 'the tragedy of the whole thing' is that school authorities alerted police when the boy stopped attending classes. 'We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done,' he said. According to a warrant for Sullivan's arrest, the victim's living conditions deteriorated when his father died last year Pannone said he and his staff at the since-closed school noticed the boy appeared thin, and when probed he told teachers he wasn't allowed food at home. 'Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was five years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong,' he said. Teachers would even bring lunches for the boy after seeing him steal food or eat out of trash cans, Pannone said, revealing he and his team called the Department of Children and Families (DCF) at least 20 times. Pannone said he hadn't seen the alleged victim since the early 2000s, when he was in the forth grade. After the boy stopped attending classes, Pannone was initially told he transferred to Wolcott Public Schools, but later heard he was being homeschooled. Qantas Frequent Flyers members will soon need to spend more points to enjoy the same benefits when travelling. Members of the airline's rewards program will suffer a point value drop of 20 per cent from August as part of the first pricing revision since 2019. The change ensures the popular scheme can continue. Frequent flyers can currently book a flight from Sydney to Singapore in business class for 68,400 points but will soon pay 82,100 for the same seat. The loyalty program change also affects members flying with Qantas' budget carrier Jetstar. Passengers looking to use their points before they decrease in value can book flights through to June 2026 if they book before August 5. After that, economy seats on popular routes will drastically increase with an extra 1,800 points needed to fly from Brisbane to Melbourne, 3000 points from Sydney to Bali, and 6300 from Melbourne to Los Angeles. Business class points prices will also go up. Qantas points will decrease in value by about 20 per cent in August Qantas points will decrease in value by about 20 per cent later this year However, frequent flyers will have the opportunity to earn 25 per cent more points on flights. Jetstar customers will also be able to book reward seats from 5,700 - down from 6,400 - on nearly half of its network. The change affects also Jetstar short haul routes such as Sydney to Gold Coast and Melbourne to Adelaide. Qantas flyers looking to earn more points on upcoming trips can earn double their QFF or status points this week. The airline announced the return of the popular Double Status Credits or Qantas Points offer which runs out 11.59pm next Tuesday. Members who book any Qantas operated flight across the airline's entire regional, domestic, or international network can choose to earn either double Status Credits or Qantas Points. Customers can also earn double points on Qantas hotel and holiday bookings made during the same period. The offer is available through the Qantas App and travellers can make unlimited bookings for travel between March 19 2025 and February 24 2026. The airline has offered members the chance to double their points on upcoming trips ahead of the program change 'Hundreds of thousands of members benefited from this offer last year, helping members to attain or retain their frequent flyer status or boost their points balance,' Qantas loyalty chief executive Andrew Glance said. 'Across the program more broadly, we're seeing record numbers of members using points for flights, especially to destinations like Tokyo, Singapore, Queenstown, and Bali. '13,000 Classic Reward seats are booked on average every single day and this offer is a key part of ensuring that momentum continues.' A breakthrough in DNA technology has helped police identify a suspect in the murder of a young mum whose death has remained a mystery for nearly five decades. Western Australian Police also believe the suspect may have been linked to two other long unsolved murder cases. Kerryn Tate, 22, was last seen alive by friends on the morning of December 29, 1979 in the Perth suburb of Mount Lawley. The mother-of-two's body was discovered in dense bushland in Karragullen the next morning by forestry workers who were called to the Canning Dam catchment following reports of a fire. A post-mortem found Ms Tate had suffered severe head injuries from a large piece of wood before being set alight. A DNA sample belonging to a man long believed to have been Ms Tate's killer was collected from the scene. That DNA profile was recently analysed by WA Police's investigative genetic geneaology team and linked the sample to Terence John Fisher. But he'll never be brought to justice as the former soldier and carpenter, then 50, died from cancer in 2000. Mother-of-two Kerryn Tate (pictured) was found dead in the Canning Dam catchment area near Perth in 1979 Terence Fisher (pictured) was named as a suspect in Ms Tate's murder following DNA testing Police believe Terence John Fisher may also be linked to the unsolved deaths of two other WA women If he was still alive today, Fisher would also be a person of interest in the deaths of two other WA women. Barbara Western, 38, was last seen on June 27, 1986 after a night out with friends in East Victoria Park. Her body was discovered by wood collectors almost five years later within several hundred metres of where Ms Tate's remains were found. Kerry Turner, 18, was last seen getting into a car in East Victoria Park in 1991. Her body was discovered behind a log in the Canning Dam area a month later. While Fisher will not face justice for the alleged murders, police will continue to investigate his past activities. 'We are trying to build a picture of Mr Fisher's regular movements, of his routine,' Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Dion Selby said. 'For example, we know he regularly attended a sailing club in Fremantle,' 'We know he lived in Rivervale and Manning areas at the time of Ms Tate's murder. Police believe Fisher may also be connected to the mysterious 1986 death of Barbara Western (pictured) Kerry Turner (pictured), 18 when her body was discovered in the Canning Dam area a month after she disappeared in 1991 Police executed a search warrant at Terence John Fisher's former home in Manning on Thursday - 25 years after he died from cancer 'There is much we know about him, but we want to know more.' Police executed a search warrant on Fisher's former home in Manning on Thursday. Footage released by police showed forensic officers taking photos around the home and driving an excavator down the side of the property. MsTate was the mother of twin girls. Tragically one daughter Amber died at 20 weeks due to SIDS in 1977. The other was just two-years-old when her mother died. Ms Tate's family were relieved to learn who was responsible for her killing. 'It gives you peace of mind to know [Fisher] is not going to hurt anybody else,' her younger sister Annemarie said. 'I wouldn't use the word 'closure'... but, yeah, it feels quite good.' Annemarie, who was 15 at the time of her sister's death looked up to Kerryn. 'She was a nice person and social and a bit of a hippie,' she said. Police released images of an excavator being operated at Fisher's former residence on Thursday Kerryn Tate's siblings, Annemarie (left) and Matt (right) have urged the public to come forward with any relevant information Ms Tate's brother Matt was taking a holiday in Victoria when he learned of his sister's death through a newspaper article. 'You didn't have mobile phones in those days... It was quite horrific to go through that.,' he recalled. Mr Tate described the latest development as uplifting. 'I know Annemarie doesn't like using 'closure', but I do,' he said. 'I was three years younger than Kerryn, so we were quite close.' Mr Tate urged Fisher's former associates to 'speak up'. 'You must have some sort of clue [as to] what was going on in his life,' he said. 'There was something strange about the whole thing... Somebody doesn't just kill anybody for any odd reason. Terence Fisher lived in Rivervale and Manning around the time of Ms Tate's murder Police believe the genetic tests that named Terence John Fisher as a suspect will assist in countless other cases 'People don't realise what they know, even if it's just a little, insignificant little thing, just bring that forward'. He said his sister was 'a very nice person... I wish she were still alive.' Police said Fisher worked as a carpenter on government buildings across Perth and surrounding rural areas. 'I strongly urge anyone who knew him while he was alive to reach out to police via Crime Stoppers and share that information big or small, it could be paramount to the investigation,' Detective Selby said. Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul Coombes said the state's genetic investigations team is nation-leading and will hopefully assist in solving a number of similar cold cases. 'These crimes are so horrific for the victims and the families and to solve them after an extended period is a fantastic outcome. 'The 60 cases that we currently have, we're confident we'll make some significant process on most of those... but we're also identifiying many more.' An American tourist faces further backlash over another re-emerged video after she posted herself taking a distressed wombat away from its mother. The new footage showed Samantha Jo Strable handling an echidna, which appeared to be in the wild, and showing it off to her almost 100,000 followers last month. She was captured stroking the echidna and feeling one of its paws before releasing the native species, which then scurries into the ground. 'What kind of crazy creature is this?' she says in the video. The newly aired clip emerged one day after Ms Strable shared a since-deleted video of her interaction with a baby wombat to her Instagram page on Tuesday. That footage prompted the Immigration Minister to announced an official investigation into whether the hunting influencer has breached her visa and can be deported. Tony Burke told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday he 'couldn't wait' for Australia to be rid of Samantha Jo Strable and expressed doubt she would ever return Down Under. 'The department is now working through the conditions on her current visa and determining whether immigration law has been breached,' Mr Burke said. American hunting influencer Sam Strable (pictured) was previously seen picking up a seemingly wild echidna 'Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I'll be surprised if she even bothers. 'I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don't expect she will return.' Mr Burke's comments were echoed by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who both similarly blasted the American's actions. 'I suggest to this so-called influencer maybe she might try some other Australian animals,' Mr Albanese said. 'Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. 'Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother. See how you go there.' Senator Wong added: 'It looked pretty dreadful, didn't it? I will leave those sorts of questions [about whether the influencer should be deported] to Tony Burke and to the authorities, but, really, leave the wombat alone.' 'I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, leave the baby wombat alone. Leave it with its mum.' An Instagram highlight reel posted last year showed various videos of Ms Strable interacting with native animals during her Australian travels. One video shows her fishing on a beach. Ms Strable grabbed a wild baby wombat from its mother on an unidentified road in Australia (pictured) 'Hooked into a massiveee (sic) shark tonight. Ran 200+ yards and eventually managed to get off after a long fight Crap!' the footage was captioned. Another video appears to show Ms Strable pulling a small shark by the tail from a rock pool. 'Little shark was ready to fight,' the caption read. Another photo shows her posing with a dead deer. 'Got my first chital (Axis deer) [sic],'the post read. 'Australia is full of epic, wild deer and harvesting this beautiful stag marks my third deer species.' Ms Strable, a self-described 'wildlife biologist and environmental scientist', captured the juvenile wombat from the side of an unidentified road. The footage showed Ms Strable running towards a car with the joey swinging in her arms as an Australian man laughed while filming the scene. 'I caught a baby wombat,' Ms Strable said as the joey shrieked and wiggled trying to free itself from her grasp as its frantic mother ran over toward them. 'Okay, mum is right there and she is p***ed. 'Let's let him go.' 'I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don't expect she will return,' Mr Burke said of Ms Strable on Thursday The man replied: 'Nah, he's all right.' Seconds later, Ms Strable released the joey onto the side of the road where its mother was waiting. The video quickly received a barrage of backlash, with many viewers reporting the video under 'animal abuse'. Ms Strable initially defended her actions, claiming she did not harm the joey and only held it for one minute. 'For everyone that's worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum,' she wrote. 'They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed. I didn't think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close. 'I don't ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.' The influencer has switched her accounts to private but the public outcry continued after the video was uploaded to TikTok and Reddit. Sam Hunter is an American hunting influencer with almost 100,000 followers on Instagram WIRES wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop said the wombat may have suffered 'permanent injury' to its upper limbs and shoulders after it was roughly handled. 'According to the Environment Protection and Biosecurity Act, you're not allowed to unreasonably handle Australian wildlife unless you have a real belief that they are injured or requiring expert, trained care assistance or visionary assistance,' she said. 'The fact that they're both laughing about it shows that there is absolutely no concern for the welfare of either the mother or the joey. 'We don't want to provoke a witch-hunt of course but is there a wider lesson here about public education on how to interact with our native animals. To be honest, I'm relieved that most people agree that that is inappropriate.' Others called on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to deport Ms Strable to her home state of Montana. 'This is heinous and they should both be charged,' one person wrote. 'Please report her to Australian Department of Home Affairs so they can ban her from ever stepping foot in Australia again,' a second person commented. A third added: 'Hope she gets the maximum punishment for f***ing with wildlife', while a fourth chimed in: 'Arrest. Fine. Deport. Ban.' Ms Strable's online presence is largely populated with images of her posing with the carcasses of animals she claims to have hunted and shot. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Strable for comment. A mother's campaign following the death of her son at the hospital she worked at will lead to nationwide changes to the way sepsis is treated. Dr Deborah Burns' 22-year-old son William Hewes died from the condition in January 2023, at the Homerton Hospital in east London after she pleaded with staff to administer antibiotics to her son immediately but there was an hour delay. Yesterday, Dr Burns was told by Coroner Mary Hassell that her efforts to expose shortcomings in his treatment will result in new guidance for the treatment of sepsis being rolled out 'up and down the country'. Hospital staff initially ruled there was no need for a review into the death of the history and politics student studying at Leeds University, arguing their treatment of him was adequate. But an inquest at Bow Coroner's Court heard Dr Burns was never consulted by the hospital about her fears over staff taking too long to give her son antibiotics despite being a paediatrician at the hospital. Coroner Hassell, who is considering making a prevention of future deaths report, said: 'It seems to me that the lessons learnt must be shared at a national level. 'This is not the first time I have heard an inquest where a great deal of the investigation is driven by the family. William Hewes (pictured), a history and politics university student at Leeds, died 12 hours after being admitted to Homerton Hospital in January 2023 Mr Hewes (right, with his three siblings) was studying history and politics at university and was said to have been fit and healthy before the infection Coroner Hassell added the death of Mr Hewes, was 'similar' to death of Martha Mills (pictured) who died from sepsis aged 13 in 2021 'Nothing can bring William back, but it seems to me that others may be saved as a result of the work done following William's death.' SEPSIS: THE WARNING SIGNS If a child or adult who has had any infection even a mild cold develops one or more of the following symptoms, call 999 immediately and say you think they have sepsis: 1. ABNORMALLY cold to touch. 2. BREATHING rapidly or struggling for breath. 3. VERY lethargic or difficult to rouse. 4. NO URINE (or wet nappy) for more than 12 hours. 5. SKIN mottled, blueish or extremely pale. If sepsis is suspected by doctors, treatment with antibiotics must begin as soon as possible ideally within one hour of diagnosis even before blood tests have been carried out. Advertisement Coroner Hassell added the death of Mr Hewes, was 'similar' to death of Martha Mills who died from sepsis aged 13 in 2021, having been treated at King's College Hospital, London. Her death led to a nationwide initiative allowing families to seek a second medical opinion immediately if they feel their concerns about a relative's deteriorating condition are not being responded to. Dr Burns also told the inquest for the first time of her son's final hours as she rushed him to hospital. Mr Hewes complained of feeling cold and stressed about an essay he was due to hand in to his mother over the telephone, while she was out in central London. Returning home she picked up a few pizzas and they spent the evening watching a film together, before he went to bed between 10 and 11pm. Mr Hewes then told her he was suffering from pains to his side and bruising, and Dr Burns drove him to hospital. Upon arriving at hospital shortly after midnight Dr Burns recalled saying: 'My son needs antibiotics. But I was told to sit down by the triage nurse.' It was not until more than an hour later he received antibiotics by which stage his condition had deteriorated considerably. By the early hours Mr Hewes was in extreme discomfort and had lost sight in both his eyes, while suffering from a painful rash caused by a meningococcal infection, which developed into fatal sepsis. Martha Mills' death led to a nationwide initiative allowing families to seek a second medical opinion immediately if they feel their concerns about a relative's deteriorating condition are not being responded to. Pictured: Martha and her mother Merope in Yosemite in 2016 The inquest heard additionally to the delay in the administering antibiotics, there was a breakdown in communication between the hospital and Dr Burns. Accident and Emergency Consultant Claire Charley who also works for the hospital accepted she was unaware of Dr Burns' fears over her son's care when she ruled there was no need for an investigation into his death, known as a Serious Incident Review. Dr Burns did not even receive a phone call from her colleague asking for her opinion on the treatment her son received. Coroner Hassell added: 'It is not that you treated Dr Burns better than anyone else, you treated her worse. 'It just seems so surprising to me that you had one of your own consultants and you are making this really significant decision not to conduct a Serious Incident Review investigation, and you don't think she is one of my own colleagues I will just call her. 'Then at that point you would have established that communication and secondly you would have got her concerns.' Ms Charley explained since Mr Hewes' death the hospital had introduced new policies for treating sepsis, which will be revealed on 27 March, when Coroner Hassell delivers her conclusions. Holding back her tears Ms Charley, personally addressed Ms Burns, telling her: 'I want personally to tell you how profoundly sorry I am that we could not save William that day but I hope that I have been able to demonstrate to you some of the thing we have done as a trust and a department to demonstrate that we have stopped to listen and we will learn.' Britain woke up to a sub-zero morning today with temperatures falling to -4C, an ice warning in place and more snow on the way. The Met Office issued the yellow warning until 9am this morning in ten areas of England including Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland and Derbyshire. Forecasters said showers would fall as sleet or hail and even snow over hills at times, with clear spells in between allowing temperatures to fall close to zero. Motorists were also warned that icy roads would increase the chance of accidents during the morning rush-hour, especially over the Pennines and the Peak District. Temperatures fell this morning to -4C (25F) in Glasgow and -1C (30F) in Belfast and Cardiff as well as in Staffordshire and Cumbria. London fell to 4C (39F) and hail was seen falling in the capital shortly after midday. The Met Office said cold Arctic air would remain in force over the coming days before the return of milder but wetter and windier weather from the West next week. It comes after snow showers fell in several places yesterday including the Southern Uplands, Shropshire Hills and the Cotswolds - as well as the Cheltenham Festival. And that followed the UK enjoying its warmest days of 2025 so far last weekend, as parts of England got up to 19.1C (66.4F) on Saturday and 19.7C (67.5F) on Sunday. A couple shelter under an umbrella as a hail storm falls in London this afternoon Pedestrians use umbrellas for shelter as a hail storm falls in London today Cheltenham enjoyed highs of 18C (64F) on Sunday, but snow coated the racecourse yesterday for what is often called a 'fool's spring' when a period of warm weather is quickly followed by a cold snap, which sometimes happens in March and April. Today, frost will clear to leave another chilly but sunny day, with any showers most likely across central, eastern and far northern parts where they may turn wintry over high ground. Further showers and a band of showery rain will then sink southwards tonight, with a risk of sleet and snow over high ground but clear spells and patchy fog further south and west. Friday will see showery rain clear southwards to leave another sunny day albeit with showers, which could again be wintry on the hills in the north. Conditions will generally be drier over the weekend with plenty of sunshine on Saturday, before Sunday turns a little cloudier and then Monday brings some showers. Horses on the snow-covered gallops at the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire yesterday Rowers set off along the River Thames from a club in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, yesterday Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: 'We have an Arctic air mass in place across the UK at the moment, compared to a much milder continental air mass last weekend. 'Last weekend, we had very mild southerly winds coming up from North Africa and Spain bringing those temperatures into the teens. 'On Monday, we saw cold fronts sink southwards across the UK, and that introduced colder, Arctic air.' He also pointed out that snow and frost in March is 'not unusual', adding: 'If anything, it was last weekend that was fairly unusual to see temperatures as high as 18C or 19C. 'With climate change, we can expect higher temperatures earlier in the year becoming a bit more likely and shorter winters with less extreme, less cold conditions.' Meanwhile a study by Checkout.com revealed online shopping transactions relating to the outdoors increased amid the warm weather - with home and garden supplies up on Friday, March 7 by 165 per cent compared to an average day sales volume. A young rideshare driver will be unable to work for months after he was attacked by a group of passengers armed with machetes and knives. Rajneesh pulled over in an Albion street in Melbourne's west early Sunday morning during a shift for rideshare company DiDi. The international student, 25, was sitting in the car when a group of up to five armed men allegedly forced their way into the vehicle. The men demanded his keys and threatened Rajneesh with the machete, before dragging him out of the car and assaulting him repeatedly. He suffered deep cuts to his hand and stab wounds to his legs before fleeing the scene. The men gave chase before leaving in a separate vehicle. Rajneesh flagged down a nearby passerby for help before he was rushed to hospital, where he has since undergone three operations. Police investigations into the attempted armed robbery and assault continue. No arrests or charges have been laid. Rajneesh, 25, has undergone several surgeries in the days since the brutal attack Rajneesh (injuries pictured) will need 6-10 months to recover from his life-changing injuries Rajneesh remains deeply traumatised by the attack, according to his friends. 'These attacks scare you, he is just a kid who came here, wanted to study, wanted to do something good and he got stabbed,' Rahul Jamwal told Nine News. 'There is some sort of hate here, someone who is stabbing somebody, what kind of anger does someone have in them to do that? 'One more minute, he could have died.' Friends have created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for his recovery, living costs, trauma counselling and rehab. 'Rajneesh has already had two major surgeries, and while his medical treatment is covered, doctors say he will need 6 to 10 months to recover,' Mr Jamwal said. 'He can't work or drive in that time, and as an international student without family here, he's left with nothing.' Mr Jamwal described Rajneesh as a 'kind, hardworking person who was just doing his job.' Rahul Jamwal (pictured) said his friend remains deeply traumatised by the terrifying attack Mr Jamwal said Rajneesh will be unable to work while he recovers from his injuries 'I will be helping Rajneesh cover his major bills and rent, but he will still need help for daily living, food, transport, and therapy while he recovers,' he said. 'Any help, big or small, will make a difference and help him survive this tough time.' DiDi will also provide support to Rajneesh 'All drivers should feel safe and respected during their time on the platform, and we will continue our mission to maximise the safety and wellbeing of all our drivers and passengers,' external affairs head Daniel Jordan said. 'DiDi is conducting an investigation into this matter, while we are also working with law enforcement in its own investigation.' The incident comes as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan proposed a statewide ban on machetes, which would come into effect from September 1. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured) announced Australia's first ever machete ban at Victorian Police headquarters on Thursday The proposed ban is designed to counter a recent wave of knife-related violence in Victoria. Following an amnesty period during which machete owners will be invited to dispose of their knives in designated public bins, offenders will face two years in prison or fines of up to $47,000. Exemptions will be available for those with legitimate reasons for owning a machete, though the grounds on which an exemption will be satisfied have yet to be stated. 'Machetes are destroying lives so we will destroy machetes,' Ms Allan said on Thursday. 'The places we meet can't become the places we fear. 'Under my government, community safety comes first and there are consequences for breaking the rules.' Keir Starmer will launch a striking assault on the 'flabby, unfocused and over-cautious' state today as he vows an AI revolution in the civil service to save 45billion. The PM is using a speech to deliver a damning verdict on the performance of the public sector, saying it has become 'bigger but weaker'. While being careful to praise civil servants, Sir Keir will complain that Whitehall in general has not managed to improve frontline services. However, the intervention has already drawn a furious response from unions who branded it 'unrealistic' and insulting. Ministers have been playing down suggestions of wide scale jobs cuts, arguing that efficiency is the real goal. No10 has been forced to deny that the initiate has been nicknamed 'Project Chainsaw' internally. Downing Street said the reference to Trump adviser Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw to represent his cuts to government spending was 'juvenile'. Keir Starmer will launch a striking assault on the 'flabby, unfocused and over-cautious' state today as he vows an AI revolution in the civil service to save 45billion While being careful to praise civil servants, Sir Keir will complain that Whitehall in general has not managed to improve frontline services Sir Keir is expected to lay into the 'cottage industry of checkers and blockers slowing down delivery for working people'. In an article for the Telegraph ahead of his speech in Yorkshire, the premier said: 'The Civil Service has grown by 130,000 since the referendum, and yet frontline services have not improved. It's overstretched, unfocussed and unable to deliver the security people need today. 'So we will make sure our civil servants are equipped for the challenges of the modern era. 'We'll bring them closer to communities, free them from bureaucracy and provide the right incentives for success. 'We'll harness the power of AI to make every department more innovative and efficient. 'We'll redirect resources towards the frontlines. More teachers in schools, nurses in hospitals and police on our streets to make the state work for working people. 'Because the problem isn't our fantastic civil servants it's the system they're stuck in.' Highlighting problems with the planning system, Sir Keir said that he knew business were 'unable to grow because of red tape'. 'Families unable to buy because an overcautious flabby state got in the way,' he added. He is setting a new target across government to cut administrative costs of regulation by 25 per cent. Sir Keir will say that no official's 'substantive time' should be spent on a task where technology can 'do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard'. He will set out details of how he plans to digitise public services and the state, underpinned by the mantra that 'no person's substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard'. Sir Keir will set out proposals to recruit 2,000 tech apprentices to boost the take-up of AI on Whitehall. He is also set to argue that global uncertainty means the Government must 'go further and faster in reshaping the state to make it work for working people'. On Tuesday, Sir Keir instructed ministers to stop a 'trend' of 'outsourcing' decisions to 'other bodies' begun under the previous government and assess whether regulations contributed to Labour's agenda. Later the same day, the Government also announced that the Payment Systems Regulator will be abolished and merged with the Financial Conduct Authority in what Sir Keir said was 'the latest step in our efforts to kickstart economic growth'. However, critics have mocked the move, pointing out Labour has created other quangos and the watchdog does not cost the taxpayer anything. Ministers appear to have grown increasingly frustrated with the role of regulators as they attempt to boost the UK's economy, with the Chancellor urging them to focus more on encouraging growth. Sir Keir is expected to say: 'The great forces buffeting the lives of working people, and an era of instability driving in their lives... 'The need for greater urgency now could not be any clearer. We must move further and faster on security and renewal. 'Every pound spent, every regulation, every decision must deliver for working people... If we push forward with the digitisation of government services. There are up to 45bn worth of savings and productivity benefits, ready to be realised. 'And that's before we even consider the golden opportunity of artificial intelligence. An opportunity I am determined to seize.' Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: 'There is a 45billion jackpot to secure if we use technology properly across our public sector - but we can't hope to come close to securing that if we don't have the right technical talent with us in government. 'Not only will these changes help fix our public services, but it will save taxpayer cash by slashing the need for thousands of expensive contractors and create opportunities across the country as part of our Plan for change.' However, No10 yesterday refused to say whether the civil service headcount will be reduced under the proposals for reform. Asked whether the state would be smaller, the PM's press secretary said: 'No, it's about reshaping the state and taking advantage of technology.' The Guardian reported yesterday that No10 and the Treasury were interested in proposals drawn up by think tank Labour Together to reshape the state under plans dubbed 'project chainsaw'. The Prospect trade union said the Government must reform civil service pay to compete for the skills it needs. General secretary Mike Clancy said: 'Technology has the potential to transform government delivery and improve outcome for the public, and it is right that the government are pressing ahead with plans to make better use of new tech in the public sector. No10 has been forced to deny that the initiate has been nicknamed 'Project Chainsaw' internally, after Elon Musk's dramatic stunt to highlight US cost-cutting 'However the government will find it challenging to compete for the skills needed to deliver on this agenda under the current pay regime, which is why Prospect is campaigning for more pay flexibility to recruit and retain specialists in the civil service in areas like science and data. 'Government should also be doing more to utilise the talented specialists it already has at its disposal, many of whom are working in regulators and other agencies that have been starved of funding in recent years. 'Civil servants are not hostile to reforms, but these must be undertaken in partnership with staff and unions. I urge everyone in government to avoid the incendiary rhetoric and tactics we are seeing in the United States, and to be clear that reforms are about enhancing not undermining the civil service.' Greenland's new prime minister on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's effort to take control of the island, telling the U.S. President that 'we don't want to be Americans'. Jens-Frederik Nielsen's Demokraatit, a pro-business party that favours a slow path to independence, won a surprise victory in Tuesday's parliamentary election, outpacing the two left-leaning parties that formed the last government. With most Greenlanders opposing Trump's overtures, the campaign focused more on issues like healthcare and education than on geopolitics. But on Wednesday Nielsen was quick to push back against Trump, who last week told a joint session of Congress that the U.S. needed Greenland to protect its own national security interests and he expected to get it 'one way or the other.' 'We don't want to be Americans. No, we don't want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future,' Nielsen, 33, told Britain's Sky News. 'And we want to build our own country by ourselves.' Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark, has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, when the government in Copenhagen recognized its right to self-determination under international law. Four of the five main parties in the election supported independence, though they disagreed on when and how to achieve it. The island of 56,000 people, most from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds, has attracted international attention since Trump announced his designs on it soon after returning to the White House in January. Jens-Frederik Nielsen's Demokraatit, Greenland's new PM, rejected Donald Trump 's effort to take control of the island Trump is focused on Greenland because it straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic. Trump said of Greenland: 'I think we're going to get it one way or the other.' Trump is focused on Greenland because it straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic and is home to the U.S.'s Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile warning and space surveillance operations. Greenland also has large deposits of the rare-earth minerals needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology. Th US President weighed in on Greenland's elections on Monday, the day before voters went to the ballot box. 'As I made clear during my Joint Address to Congress, the United States strongly supports the people of Greenland's right to determine their own future. We will continue to KEEP YOU SAFE, as we have since World War II,' he wrote on his Truth Social account. 'We are ready to INVEST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to create new jobs and MAKE YOU RICH And, if you so choose, we welcome you to be a part of the Greatest Nation anywhere in the World, the United States of America!' In his Joint Address to Congress last week, Trump said of Greenland: 'I think we're going to get it one way or the other.' But Trump's overtures weren't on the ballot. The 31 men and women elected to parliament on Tuesday will have to set priorities for issues such as diversifying Greenland's economy, building infrastructure and improving health care, as well as shaping the country's strategy for countering the president's America First agenda. Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark, has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009 Chairman of Demokraatit, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, left, celebrates during the election party at Demokraatit at cafe Killut in Nuuk, early Wednesday, March 12, 2025 An election campaign poster of the Demokraatit Party and its leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen (C) in front of the Godthaabshallen stadium and voting station during the parliamentary election, in Nuuk, Greenland Demokraatit won 29.9% of the vote by campaigning to improve housing and educational standards while delaying independence until Greenland is self-sufficient. Four years ago, the party finished in fourth place with 9.1%. Nuuk resident Anthon Nielsen said the party's victory would be good for the country. 'Most politicians want Greenland to be independent,' he said. 'But this party who won, they don't want to hurry things so everything must be done right.' Carina Ren, head of the Arctic program at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, said the results show that Greenlanders tried to ignore Trump and focus on issues that were important to them. 'The voters have been able to drag down all the drama, all the alarmist talk from the outside to say, `Well, this is about our everyday lives, our everyday concerns as citizens. Where are we going, how are we going to develop our society from the inside.'' Now Demokraatit will have to turn its attention to forming a governing coalition. Naleraq, the most aggressively pro-independence party, finished in second place, with 24.5% of the vote. It was followed by Inuit Ataqatigiit, which led the last government, at 21.4%. 'What approach to independence will win the day will ultimately depend on if Demokraatit decides to form a coalition government, and if so, with which party,' said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative. Nielsen appeared to be surprised by Demokraatit's gains as the results came it, with photos showing him sporting a huge grin and applauding at a post-election party. He later said Demokraatit would reach out to all the other parties to negotiate Greenland's future political course. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen congratulated Demokraatit and warned that Greenland's new government would likely have to 'deal with massive pressure' from Trump. 'It's not the case that you can just take part of the Danish Realm,' Danish broadcaster DR quoted him as saying. 'The future of Greenland is based on what the Greenlandic people and government want.' Greenland Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede last month called early elections, saying the country needed to be united during a 'serious time' unlike anything Greenland has ever experienced. On Wednesday, after the results were known, Egede used a Facebook post to thank voters for turning out and said the parties were ready to turn to negotiations to form a government. The threat of a Russian missile attack on Britain is the highest since the end of the Cold War, a report has warned. Vladimir Putin's fleet of rocket-laden submarines and warships off the coast of Norway are posing an acute threat to the UK, a study by a think tank called the Council on Geostrategy has found. Russia's Northern fleet, which carries 800 cruise missiles including ones like the Kalibr capable of hitting a target more than 1,500 miles away, could be used to launch an attack on Britain, which does not have enough air defences to protect itself, according to the report. 'The missile threat is the most stark it has been since the end of the Cold War,' the report states. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asked for a review to determine where Britain's armed forces are vulnerable, with the findings handed to ministers who are now deciding how much of the review should be made public. It is expected that - if published in full - the report will outline the armed forces' lack of air defences against missiles, as Britain's Type 45 naval destroyers would struggle to fend off attacks like the ones Russia is currently raining down on Ukraine. The Council of Geostrategy said in its report that 'it may be wise' to boost Britain's air defences on Royal Navy carriers due to the cost of ground-based systems, even though the latter should also be bought 'in an ideal world'. Other European countries have already bolstered their air defences, with Germany signing a 3billion deal to buy Israel's Arrow 3 antiballistic missile systems - considered one of the best in the world. Vladimir Putin's fleet of rocket-laden submarines and warships off the coast of Norway are posing an acute threat to the UK, a study by a think tank called the Council on Geostrategy has found (file image of a Russian warship) Your browser does not support iframes. Russia's Northern fleet, which carries 800 cruise missiles including ones like the Kalibr capable of hitting a target more than 1,500 miles away, could be used to launch an attack on Britain, which does not have enough air defences to protect itself (file image of a Russian nuclear submarine sending off a missile during a drill) According to the Council of Geostrategy, Russia has a 'limited' amount of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the UK. But the report warns that Russia, China and Iran are putting money towards the development of hypersonic and ballistic missiles. 'As ranges increase, the British Isles will increasingly come under potential threat,' the authors reportedly warned. The authors added that the UK should buy 'several more' batteries of the Sky Sabre and other existing ground-launched systems to defend British military bases. Additionally, anti-aircraft guns like the German Gepard system used in Ukraine should be bought as a defence against drones. Off Norway, where a fleet of Russian warships are located, the report argues that the Royal Navy should focus on defending the 'Svalbard-Tromso gap' and keep an eye on Russian submarines positioning themselves in range for cruise-missiles to hit Britain. Meanwhile, ministers should increase the order of E-7 Wedgetail aircrafts that can detect incoming missiles early on from three to five, which were initially ordered. 'Britain's geography gives it distinct advantages, but the missile threat is growing,' William Freer, a research fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, said. Image of HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, currently on operations in the Mediterranean sea, seen here with her Wildcat helicopter test firing it's defensive aid suite In this photo provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, The Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine of the Russian navy arrives at its base of the Northern Fleet in Russia He added that Russia's fleet off Norway posed the 'most pressing concern', but the development of new missiles by China or Iran should also be considered. Military bases in the UK - including overseas like on the British Indian Ocean Territory - that are 'essential to Britain sustaining its military force' are 'currently too vulnerable', according to Freer, who said that their protection should be the 'first priority'. This comes after Putin ramped up production of a new hypersonic missile he first fired against Ukraine in November, boasting 'no one in the world has such weapons'. The Russian despot fired the new Oreshnik missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, after Ukraine fired American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles deep into Russia. The Oreshnik, which means hazel tree, travels at speeds of around 8,370 miles per hour, and is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads. But Putin told the Russian nation in a televised address that the missile fired at a military-industrial site in Dnipro used conventional warheads. After firing the Oreshnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Britain and America of their 'reckless' action in supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine. Peskov said: 'The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine, and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side.' Freer said that Russia's fleet off Norway posed the 'most pressing concern' (file image of Russia's Northern fleet firing missiles during a drill) The weapon is not as powerful or fast as Russia's most fearsome ICBMs like the RS-24 Yars, which is capable of unleashing several separate nuclear warheads anywhere in the US after flying through space at 19,000mph. But the 'Oreshnik' is still a hypersonic projectile that can fly at 10 times the speed of sound - or around 7,600mph - up to a range of roughly 5,000km, or 3,100 miles, according to Russian military sources. If the missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar range in Russia's southern Astrakhan region, as it was in yesterday's strike on Ukraine, Putin could still comfortably hit any target in Europe or the UK without having to turn to his most powerful weapons. Targets in London would go up in flames in under 20 minutes while Berlin further east would have less than 15 minutes before impact. Russian military analysts also warned that the Oreshnik was certainly nuclear-capable, despite being armed with conventional warheads in the strike on Ukraine. A London terrace that is just seven feet wide and is squeezed onto what was once a footpath has raised eyebrows among house hunters, with some branding it a 'Tardis' or perhaps less kindly as a 'clown car'. And now, this quirky three-floor property just minutes away from Kensington Palace has hit the market for 1.25million. The astonishingly skinny home on Peel Street in Notting Hill was built around 1930 and is smaller in width than most London Underground carriages. Sandwiched between period terraced housing, the entrance to the striking narrow green building can be easily missed if not looking carefully. Upon entering the property which was listed for sale on March 10, you are unusually met with a small kitchen and a compact dining area lodged under the stairs which lead to the first floor. At the end of the ground floor entrance hall lies the first of two bedrooms which is largely filled with one double bed. Just outside the bedroom is another unique feature - a bathroom with a sink in the shower. In here, the flushing system on the toilet cistern almost reaches the ceilings, making for quite the stretch when you are finished in the loo. Sandwiched between period terraced housing, the entrance to the striking narrow green building can be easily missed if not looking carefully Upon entering the property you are unusually met with a small kitchen and a compact dining area lodged under the stairs At the end of the ground floor entrance hall lies the first of two bedrooms which is largely filled with one double bed As you head up white wooden staircase to the first floor, you immediately find yourself wedged in the middle of the property's living room. Here lies the faux fireplace which is unvented, and will remain in place for the sale. A huge wardrobe currently dominates the space which is otherwise filled by a two-seater couch at the room's Peel Street side. At the opposite end you are met with French doors leading to a terrace at the back of the house which estate agent, Unique Property Company, describes as the ideal 'private alfresco entertaining spot during warmer months'. Though small, the balconied area is large enough to fit a table and chairs - but can be peered into by neighbours with the area not enclosed. As you head up white wooden staircase to the first floor, you immediately find yourself wedged in the middle of the property's living room The two-seater couch at the room's Peel Street side fills the hall's width Here lies the faux fireplace which is unvented, and will remain in place for the sale; also seen is the huge wardrobe which currently dominates the space At the opposite end you are met with French doors leading to a terrace at the back of the house which is described as the ideal 'private alfresco entertaining spot during warmer months' Though small, the balconied area is large enough to fit a table and chairs - but can be peered into by neighbours with the area not enclosed The second floor contains the final two rooms of the house: the second bedroom and ensuite. Similarly to the ground floor bedroom, the property's lack of width means the bed almost touches wall-to-wall and backs onto a sash window. However, the ensuite features the property's second shower, with 'ingenious' curving pipeworks ensuring it runs along the room's tiled walls. The estate agents, who exclusively sell quirky and unique properties, say the bathroom is 'significantly sized' and completes the interior line-up which is on sale for more than 1million. In the listing, the estate agent said this property was an 'early adopter' of the culture of tiny homes. Initially an unused strip of land connecting the road to a long-demolished building behind, the house was refurbished during the 1950s and purchased by its current owner around a decade ago. The wooden staircase continues, leading you to the property's second floor Similarly to the ground floor bedroom, the property's lack of width means the bed almost touches wall-to-wall and backs onto a sash window The ensuite features the property's second shower, with 'ingenious' curving pipeworks ensuring it runs along the room's tiled walls Across its three-floors, the property takes up just 538 sq ft and last hit the market in 2016 for the same price as it is listed today. Speaking on the house previously, the owner said: 'We were smitten by this life-size doll's house when we first saw it. Although it seems compact, the living dynamics work out better than in the two-bedroom flats we looked at.' There were also plans in 2016 to create a lower-ground floor from the basement, but this did not materialise. With the property in between High Street Kensington and Notting Hill Gate tube stations, it is an ideal five minute walk from each. In a highly-desired location, it would also leave prospective buyers rubbing shoulders with nearby celebrities like Sir Elton John and Harry Styles. As London's second narrowest property, it is behind a home in Sheperds Bush which stands at just 5ft 5in wide in parts which was listed for sale for just under 1million in 2020. The title of London's narrowest property belongs to this slender home in Shepherd's Bush which is nestled between a private clinic and a hair salon Standing at just 5ft 5in wide in parts, the property was listed for sale for just under 1million in 2020 The former hat shop, which was the home of fashion photographer Juergen Teller in the 1990s, is arranged over five floors and still features a shop front, with a bowler-hat-shaped lamp in the window. Simon Woods, the Pride and Prejudice actor married to Christopher Bailey, Burberry's former chief executive, paid 488,500 for it in 2006. The facade, situated between a nail salon and a pizza restaurant, is painted a dark shade of blue and offers 1,034 sq ft, including two bedrooms and a third bedroom/study. A Ukrainian refugee living and working in the UK took his own life in his car due to 'loneliness', an inquest has heard. Oleksandr Cherednichenko, 25, moved from Odessa in war-torn Ukraine to the UK in 2022 after Russia's invasion made it unsafe for him to stay there. He spent time working as a postman in Newcastle before moving to Bowburn, in Durham, ChronicleLive reported. Mr Cherednichenko was found dead on the B6295 on December 10, 2024, with a notebook inside the vehicle having the word 'loneliness' written inside it, Crook Coroners' Court heard. His Honda SUV was spotted by motorist Karen Turnbull, who noticed it had not moved in the 24 hours since she last passed, the court heard. The young man's mother, Olha Sedokova, attended court via video-link to hear the devastating words read out. Oleksandr Cherednichenko, 25, (pictured) moved to the UK in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine made it unsafe for him to stay there In a heartbreaking statement, Ms Sedokova said: 'My son led a healthy lifestyle, and he had planned to live a long life. He was learning English, and wanted a British citizenship, and he also liked his job and was happy with his new car. 'The last communication I had with him was on November 7 at 17.45pm. After that, my subsequent messages were left unread.' The North East Ambulance Service and the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene where Mr Cherednichenko was discovered, a statement from Police Constable John Morris said. A GoFundMe, set up by friend of the young man Sam Rees, raised more than 600 to help transport his body back to Ukraine to be with his family. Jeremy Chipperfield, Senior Assistant Coroner for County Durham and Darlington, concluded that Oleksandr passed away as a result of suicide. Mr Cherednichenko was found dead on the B6295 on December 10, 2024 (Google image) Coroner Chipperfield said: 'Between November 8 at 4.56pm and 3.50pm on November 10, 2024 in the rear of his vehicle parked in a layby [] it's my conclusion that he had planned to, and then he did, take his own life. 'The question 'why?' is not one that coroners are required or committed to go into. Sometimes it is relevant to whether somebody actually intended to die as a result of their actions, but in the light of what he said in his notes which were found in his car that is not necessary in Oleksandr's case.' For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or www.thecalmzone.net/get-support A snowboarder has tragically died after falling from a chairlift that was having a mechanical problem at a Montana ski resort. Jeffrey Zinne, 37, was riding alone in a three-person chairlift at Red Lodge Mountain resort Monday morning when he fell from an unspecified height. Zinne, who had been snowboarding Monday prior to his accident, was taken to a Billings hospital where he was pronounced dead early Wednesday from injuries suffered in the fall, according to the county coroner. The lift had experienced a mechanical problem at the time Zinne fell, said resort spokesperson Troy Hawks, who declined to comment further, stating the circumstances were being investigated. Weather conditions and the victim's actions also were being looked at, he added. More than 100 people who were on the lift at the time were evacuated by ski patrollers who used ropes to lower them to the ground. Zinne has been hailed a 'devoted husband' to his wife Meghan and 'caring father' to his 2-year-old son by loved ones who say he had a 'passion for life, infectious laughter, and kind-hearted nature'. Meghan has urged Zinne's loved ones to honor him by taking 'your most beloved' and 'go for a drive to the mountains', adding: 'Nye was always our favorite spot' Jeffrey Zinne, 37, was riding alone in a three-person chairlift at Red Lodge Mountain resort Monday morning when he fell from an unspecified height. The 'devoted husband' and 'caring father' was taken to a Billings hospital where he was pronounced dead early Wednesday. Zinne is pictured with his wife Meghan and their two-year-old son The lift, known as the Triple Chair, experienced a mechanical problem at the time Zinne fell, a resort spokesperson said. The circumstances are being investigated. Weather conditions and the victim's actions also were being looked at, the resort added The accident happened Monday just before noon at the ski area southeast of Billings in the Beartooth Mountains. The lift, known as the Triple Chair, was stopped after the accident, Hawks said. Wind gusts of about 50mph were recorded in the area shortly before and after the accident, according to the National Weather Service. Hawks said the Triple Chairlift, which is almost a mile long and was built in 1983, was operating within safety parameters. It will remain shut down until an engineer fully assesses it, he said. Staff at the ski area inspect its chairlifts daily, Hawks said. A professional inspection is conducted annually as required by Red Lodge Mountain's insurance carrier and the US Forest Service, which leases land to the ski area, he said. Zinne's loved ones say he was 'a man who always put others first, whether it was supporting his family, being there for his friends, or bringing joy to those lucky enough to spend time with him'. 'This unexpected loss has left his family, friends, and all who knew him heartbroken and in disbelief,' a GoFundMe fundraising site set up on his family's behalf states. Meghan, whose heartbreaking tribute to her husband was shared on the crowdfunding page, said: 'The outpouring love and support that we've received is astonishing. Jeff was so loved. 'Please know I am seeing your comments and texts. I cannot respond to everyone but it is so appreciated. Thank you to all who have joined our meal train, donated to the GoFundMe and have sent flowers.' 'In lieu of more flowers I ask that you just take your most beloved and go for a drive to the mountains. Nye was always our favorite spot,' she added. Staff at the ski area inspect its chairlifts daily, the resort said. A professional inspection is conducted annually as required by Red Lodge Mountain's insurance carrier and the US Forest Service, which leases land to the ski area (file photo of a chairlift at Red Lodge Mountain) Zinne also owned the Montana Air Cartage freight hauling company, according to a post on the GoFundMe page, which as on Thursday had already amassed more than $22,000 in donations. He and Meghan, residents of Billings, were said to be 'devoted local business owners'. 'He was more than just a boss for many people here. He was a friend, a mentor,' said Jessice Sande, a manager at Montana Air Cartage. Fatal lift accidents at ski areas are relatively rare, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Between 1956 and 2024, 35 people died in accidents involving chairlifts and aerial ropeways. Sixteen of the deaths were linked to mechanical malfunctions, according to data collected by the group. The latest death during that time period was in 2020, when a man died at Colorado's Vail resort after his clothing got entangled in part of the chairlift, making him unable to breathe. Keir Starmer is racing to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump imposes more brutal tariffs. The PM has held off retaliating after the president ignored his pleas to slap a 25 per cent levy on steel imports yesterday. But ministers appear to be focused on an agreement to head off the bigger threat from so-called 'reciprocal' tariffs. Mr Trump has said that 25 per cent duty will come into force on April 1 to offset VAT - even though that is a sales tax applied to all goods. He reiterated his determination to go ahead in a meeting with Irish premier Micheal Martin at the White House overnight. 'We've been abused for a long time, and we will be abused no longer. I am not happy with the European Union,' he said. 'We're going to win that financial battle.' Keir Starmer is racing to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump imposes more brutal tariffs Donald Trump reiterated his determination to go ahead with 'reciprocal' tariffs in a meeting with Irish premier Micheal Martin at the White House overnight (pictured) At PMQs yesterday, Sir Keir said he was 'disappointed' by the steel and aluminium tariffs but would 'take a pragmatic approach'. He said the government was 'negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed'. That was something floated by Mr Trump when he met Sir Keir at the White House recently. It is unclear what the scope of such a deal would be, as the government has dismissed the prospect of compromising on food standards to allow US imports such as chlorinated chicken. The UK currently imposes 20 per cent VAT on most goods and services. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) previously estimated that tariffs of that scale could knock 0.4 percentage points off UK economic growth for the next two years - equivalent to around 24billion. Concerns have been raised that with the economy slowing and debt costs rising, a trade shock could force Chancellor Rachel Reeves to increase taxes again to balance the books. A Whitehall source told The Times that the UK was in a 'much better place' than the EU, which Mr Trump has claimed was created to 'screw' the US. 'They don't have any cards to play,' the source said. 'We do.' A violent mob war between two of Scotland's most savage crime syndicates has exploded once again onto the streets of Edinburgh, as caged drug kingpins seek to gain control of the Scottish capital from behind bars. A firebombed beauty salon reportedly run by feared mob boss Mark Richardson's partner has seemingly become the latest battleground in the decades-long feud, which has turned Scotland's streets into a bloody 'war zone'. Druglord Richardson is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for his role in a crime network said to be 'the most sophisticated encountered' by Scottish cops. He is a key figure in the notorious Daniel family crime gang, that has been locked in a vicious turf war with rivals the Lyons family for more than 20 years, which has seen mobsters on both sides gunned down, executed in broad daylight and even tortured. And it appears that even jail cannot prevent the two rivals' violent bloodshed, with prison insiders warning of running battles taking place behind bars - clashes which now appear to have spilled outside the jail. In the latest escalation, a hooded thug was caught on camera launching a Molotov cocktail through the window of the Belle Cheveux parlour in Leith, an up-and-coming part of Edinburgh - which is reportedly run by Richardson's lover. The figure, dressed all in black, is seen hurling a flaming missile through the glass shopfront of the beauty outlet before flames erupt inside the building - leaving locals nearby fleeing for their lives. Footage, obtained by The Sun, then shows the henchman pointing mockingly at the burning salon, as the fire engulfs the ground floor building in Albert Street. A beauty salon reportedly run by feared mob boss Mark Richardson's partner has seemingly become the latest battleground after it was firebombed by a hooded thug last week. Druglord Richardson is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for his role in a crime network said to be 'the most sophisticated encountered' by Scottish cops The attack, which took place shortly after 2.30am last Thursday, prompted the evacuation of residents living nearby - with police now probing the firebombing. It came days after Richardson, 37, was reportedly transferred from Glenochil jail - where he had built a fearsome reputation as a man 'not to be messed with' - to HMP Low Moss in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, amid claims of a surge in gang violence. Sources told the Sun the move was part of a desperate attempt to keep the Daniel gang mobster away from rivals in the Lyons syndicate - a gangland feud that has been raging since at least 2001. 'There is an ongoing battle within prisons between factions linked to Richardson and others with Lyons connections,' and insider told the paper. 'Richardson is a feared guy, so whoever is behind the attack on the parlour will have to be looking over their shoulder.' Cocaine baron Richardson was most recently jailed in 2018 for more than 10 years for his role in the Daniel gang. The Edinburgh-based mobster was part of a nine-member group caged for a slew of crimes, which included the shooting of gangland figure, Ross Monaghan. Police Scotland reportedly made it their top priority to arrest Richardson, after a number of tit-for-tat shootings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Police are investigating the attack on the beauty parlour, which took place last Thursday Residents living near it were reportedly evacuated following the 2.30am firebombing Richardson was reportedly transferred from Glenochil prison days before the attack on the beauty parlour Monaghan was shot from close range as he dropped a child off at St George's Roman Catholic Primary School in Penilee, Glasgow, in January 2017. Monaghan - who survived the shooting - is believed to be part of the Lyons gang, and was found not guilty in the murder of Daniels gang member Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll. The gangs are among Glasgow's most notorious, with several deaths attributed to a drug turf war between the two. Richardson was sentenced in 2018 over the incident, alongside ex-army veteran turned gun-runner Martyn Fitzsimmons. Prosecutors had originally listed 28 charges which including the shooting of mobster Monaghan. Among the allegations included the attempted murder of crime boss Robert Kelbie and the hiding of 1.5million of 'criminal' cash. However, following a series of pre-trial hearings amid a ring of steel and heightened security around the gang, the group entered guilty pleas to reduced charges. Pictured is Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll, the Daniel's chief enforcer. He was shot dead in January 2010 Carroll was gunned down in front of horrified lunchtime shoppers in the car park of Asda, Robroyston, in January 2010 The car used in the murder of Kevin Carroll was later abandoned and torched on a country road What sparked the savage gang war between two of Scotland's most feared organised crime groups? It was a shooting that was likened to 'a scene from the Godfather' that triggered a deadly tit-for-tat turf war between two of Scotland's most blood thirsty gangs - one that has been raging for almost 20 years. Mobsters Raymond Anderson and James McDonald, pulled up outside a garage in Lambhill, north Glassgow, on December 6, 2006. Dressed in trench coats and facemasks, the pair stepped out of their blue Mazda, walked into the Applerow Motors and opened fired with pistols. The garage's owner David Lyons - brother of Scottish crime boss Eddie Senior - took cover as a hail of bullets ripped through his business. The mayhem was over in minutes but when the smoke cleared Lyons' 21-year-old nephew Michael was dead, and his cousin Steven was badly wounded - as was Robert Pickett, who had just been freed from jail for the attempted murder of fellow drug dealers, the Rennie brothers, during the Paisley drug wars. Mobsters Raymond Anderson (left) and James McDonald (right), pulled up outside a garage in Lambhill, north Glassgow, on December 6, 2006. The pair of henchmen responsible for the bloodshed were part of the notorious Daniel gang, which had been locked in a bitter fight with the Lyons. In May 2008 Anderson, 49, and McDonald, 27, were convicted and each sentenced to 35 years in jail, which was later reduced on appeal. The judge, Lord Hardie, described the murder as a 'cold-blooded, premeditated assassination'. The shooting was the most notorious in the bloody feud between the two gangs. The Daniels, originally from Glasgow's Milton estate, have been at war with the Lyons, from nearby Possilpark, over control of the drug trade. It is all thought to have been sparked in 2001 when a 20,000 stash of cocaine was stolen from a safe house belonging to the Daniels before being sold to the Lyons. The Lyons have a decades-long rivalry with the rival Daniel gang. Pictured is the Daniel family's late boss, Jamie Steven Lyons - a senior member of the Lyons crime family - pictured outside the High Court in Glasgow The fall-out from the missing coccaine rapidly spiralled from car chases to shootings. Among the early victims were Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll - the Daniel's chief enforcer and close pal of Edinburgh drug baron Mark Richardson - and Johnny Lyons, brother of David and Eddie Snr. The pair were shot and injured in separate attacks just 11 days apart in January 2003. Then, in November 2006, Carroll allegedly used a 4x4 and a tow rope to topple the headstone of Eddie Snr's son Garry, who was just eight when he died of leukaemia in 1991. The desecration of his grave sparked uproar and led to an escalation in tit-for-tat violence. Days later Carroll ambushed and shot Eddie Lyons Jnr and a friend in Bellshill, Lanarkshire. But a week later he was wounded in a retaliatory shooting in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire. Advertisement Richardson, then aged 30, had been accused to trying to murder Monaghan and Kelbie. But he instead admitted having a Glock handgun in the city's Baillieston area. Fitzsimmons, then 37, was allegedly involved in the Monaghan shooting but instead admitted having a Glock and ammunition. He also admitted hiding 36,000 of crime cash. Fellow gangster David Sell pleaded guilty to being involved in the abduction and torture of a man who was later shot in the legs. Anthony Woods, then aged 44, Francis Mulligan, 41, and Michael Bowman, 30, each accepted roles in 'serious organised crime'. Gerard Docherty, 42, pled guilty to recklessly discharging a firearm at a house and Steven McArdle, 33, admitted having a Glock firearm. Barry O'Neill, 37, was the final member of the gang to enter a guilty plea, admitting being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Pictured is Daniel gang members, ex-army veteran turned gun-runner Martyn Fitzsimmons (left) and Barry O-Neill (right) Gerard Docherty (left), 42, pled guilty to recklessly discharging a firearm at a house. Right is fellow gang member Francis Mulligan Steven McArdle, left, admitted to having a Glock handgun following the shooting of Ross Monaghan. Pictured right is gangster David Sell, who pleaded guilty to being involved in the abduction and torture of a man who was later shot in the legs Richardson was caged in HMP Glenochil, near Alloa, for his role in the crime. But he soon gained a fearsome reputation as someone not to be messed with in the jail. In November, it was reported Richardson had joined forces with notorious killer Colin Coats to take on a 'peacekeeping' role in the jail following a series of riots. The mob boss was a lead negotiator in a jail council that met with the lock-up's governor, reported the Daily Record. He was assisted by Coats, one of Scotland's most notorious killers who is serving a 33-year sentence for the torture and murder of Lynda Spence, in 2013. The pair of cons were meeting with prison chiefs after two riots ravaged the jail. It followed the frequent last-minute cancellations of events for inmates due to chronic staff shortages. Richardson issued a string of demands to governor Sharanne Findlay and deputy John Docherty, in an effort to stop lags from kicking off further. 'Mark Richardson is the one that calls the shots at Glenochil and prison management know he has to be respected,' a prison insider told the Daily Record. 'Although he is the one man in the jail who is not to be crossed, he also carries clout as a negotiator. He has become pals with Colin Coats, who is an ultra-violent brute but also well educated and articulate. 'The same swagger that made Richardson a crime boss lends itself well to leadership roles inside the jail, which means he was nominated to be part of the prisoner council that liaises with jail governors.' Robert Daniel nephew of Jamie Daniel, was gunned down outside his home in Honeywell Court, Stepps, in 2017, as part of the rivalry between the Daniel and Lyon gangs Richardson was transferred from jail following the negotiations. Days later the firebombing attack took place at his partner's beauty salon. A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'We were called at around 2.30am on March 6 to a fire at a premises on Albert Street, Edinburgh. 'It was put out by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. 'No one was injured but adjacent properties were evacuated as a precaution. 'The fire is being treated as wilful.' The Scottish Prison Service said: 'We don't comment on individuals.' In 2010, Richardson was jailed for 10 years after police broke down his 5million drug trafficking regime. He was previously convicted for cocaine trafficking with his father, Mark, in 2007. A British woman who travelled to India to see a man she had met online was raped by him at a hotel in Delhi before being molested by another man in the building's lift, according to police. The tourist, 36, was staying in the Mahipalpur area of the Indian capital this week after befriending a man, identified only as Kailash, on Instagram. The London-based woman had been on holiday to Maharashtra and Goa when she asked the man to join her, Indian media reports. The suspect said he could not travel, so she went to where he lived in Delhi to meet him, checking into a hotel on Tuesday. He went to see visit her there, but a heated argument then allegedly ensued when the woman realised that the man was trying to act inappropriately towards her. The victim alleged that she was brutally attacked and raped by the accused. She escaped the room to go to the hotel reception to get help, at which point another man, under the pretext of helping her, allegedly molested her in the hotel lift. Both men have been arrested on rape and molestation charges, according to Indian police, who have launched an investigation into the horrific events. File image shows hotels in the Mahipalpur area of New Delhi, where the British woman was staying when she was allegedly attacked 'A man was arrested on charges of rape with a British woman in a Mahipalpur hotel in Delhi. His accomplice was arrested on charges of molestation,' Delhi Police said in a statement. 'The woman who was friends with the [first] man through social media had come to Delhi from the UK to meet him.' In a statement to the Independent, a South West Delhi police officer clarified: 'This is not a gang-rape. These are two separate incidents of sexual abuse. The suspects are not related to each other.' Local authorities have informed the British High Commission and have been assisting the British national, according to reports. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: 'We are supporting a British woman in India and are in touch with the local authorities.' It comes less than a week after a 27-year-old Israeli tourist and her Indian homestay operator were gang-raped during a stargazing trip in Karnataka. The two women had been visiting Sanapur Lake, close to the Unesco World Heritage Site, with three male tourists when they were attacked by three assailants last Thursday. The female tourists were raped while an Indian man in their group was killed in the horrific attack, with two other tourists, including an American man, escaping with their lives. A police officer speaks on his mobile phone at the scene as they search for the male travelers who were pushed into the canal by three men accused of gang-raping two women Reports of sexual attacks on women have become increasingly common in India, where police recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. It is thought the true figure may be higher still due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence. Instances of rape and sexual violence have been under scrutiny since the gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus in 2012. The attack sparked mass protests and prompted legislators to create fast-track courts for rape cases, and harsher penalties. The rape law was amended in 2013 to criminalise stalking and voyeurism, and to lower the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16. In 2018, the government approved the use of the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under the age of 12. High-profile cases involving foreign visitors have drawn international attention to the issue. Last year, in a video that was later deleted, a Spanish tourist said his wife was raped in northern India, while an Indian-American woman said she was raped at a hotel in New Delhi. In 2022, a British tourist was raped in front of her partner in Goa. The final known moments of a woman who is presumed murdered after going missing in January have been released in an appeal for fresh information as police continue to hunt for her body. Julie Buckley, 54, from the village of Christchurch in Cambridgeshire, can be seen buying a small bag of shopping including what appears to be kitchen roll at her local Budgens. She is asked whether she wants a bag while the cashier packages them up for her as she glances to her left, wearing a light-coloured top and beanie hat. Cambridgeshire Constabulary are treating her disappearance as a 'no-body' murder investigation and dive teams are searching a nearby river after a fisherman discovered what is believed to be human hair in the water. Last month, the force charged 47-year-old Karl Hutchings, of Christchurch, with her murder, while a 49-year-old man and 42-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They have since been released on bail. Detective Inspector Richard Stott confirmed Ms Buckley had not been seen since January 28 at the shop in the market town of March. He said: 'We strongly believe Julie may have come to harm and we're carrying out thorough searches of the area. Julie Buckley, 54, from the village of Christchurch in Cambridgeshire, was last seen on January 28, when she was captured on the supermarket CCTV She can be seen buying a small bag of shopping including what appears to be kitchen roll at her local Budgens She is asked whether she wants a bag while the cashier packages them up for her as she glances to her left, wearing a light-coloured top and beanie hat 'Our dive teams have been searching the water around the Bedlam Bridge and Boots Bridge areas and a fisherman discovered what we believe to be human hair in the water. We're awaiting results from that hair to ascertain if it belongs to Julie. 'In the meantime, we're issuing a widespread appeal today to ask for anyone with information to please come forward, as well as anyone with dashcam footage from the March and Christchurch areas, particularly around Bedlam Bridge and Boots Bridge, on 29 and 30 January. 'We're also appealing to dog walkers, fishermen, farmers and land owners in the area. If you notice disturbed land or anything unusual or out of place, please report it to us.' The case was declared a no-body murder investigation last month by detectives from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit. Ms Buckley was last seen on January 28, when she was captured on the supermarket CCTV. Police previously revealed they were investigating a report of suspicious activity at Bedlam Bridge and appealed drivers who may have driven along the Bedlam Bridge, Sixteen Foot Bank, March, on the evening of 30 January, between 8pm and 9pm. They went on to seal off two bungalows eight miles apart - Ms Buckley's home in Christchurch and another in nearby March - for searching, with police presence remaining outside both. Cambridgeshire Constabulary are treating her disappearance as a 'no-body' murder investigation and dive teams are searching a nearby river after a fisherman discovered what is believed to be human hair in the water Last month, the force charged 47-year-old Karl Hutchings, of Christchurch, with her murder, while a 49-year-old man and 42-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They have since been released on bail The case was declared a no-body murder investigation last month by detectives from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit Police first focussed on her home after 'concern was raised' on Thursday night that Ms Buckley had not been seen there in more than two weeks. They also searched the property on Grounds Avenue in March. Officers are appealing for information, especially anyone in nearby March, the village of Manea or market town Chatteris, where Ms Buckley has links. In Fabruary, Detective Inspector Verity McCann, from the Major Crime Unit, said: We are really keen to hear from anyone, particularly drivers with dashcams, who may have driven along that stretch of road or in that general area during those times. Were keen to speak with them and get hold of any footage they have, which might assist us with our search. This is a fast-paced investigation, and we are doing all we can to find out what has happened to Julie. Britain's status as a 'rich' country is on the brink as figures showed some areas are worse off than the poorest parts of Slovenia and Malta. A shocking report has laid bare the impact of decades of stagnation in living standards. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said although the UK remains the world's sixth-biggest economy, inequality had increased since the credit crunch. Meanwhile, improvements had been far quicker in Europe's less developed economies. If UK wage growth had kept pace with the US over the past quarter-century then they would be around 4,000 higher than they are now. The conclusions will raise alarm at the sluggish pace of per head GDP rises in recent years - with population expansion due to high immigration seemingly driving what growth there has been. Around half of the stagnation since 2008 was due to slow productivity growth, something Rachel Reeves has pledged to fix with more public investment and less red tape. Britain's status as a 'rich' country is on the brink as figures showed some areas are worse off than the poorest parts of Slovenia and Malta The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said although the UK remains the world's sixth-biggest economy, inequality had increased since the credit crunch There have been warnings that public services such as the NHS are still far less productive than before Covid, despite sharp rises in funding and staffing. NIESR found that Britain's poorest 10 per cent were better off in cash terms than counterparts in Slovenia and Malta, they fell behind when higher UK cost of living was taken into account. Tight rules on welfare in Britain also had an impact with benefits spending among the least generous across a range of similar economies when compared with average wages, the NIESR said. Ms Reeves is facing a furious backlash from Labour MPs as she looks to slash 5billion off benefits as she struggles to balance the books. The Chancellor will deliver her Spring Statement on March 26. Max Mosley, a senior economist at NIESR and the report's author, said the question of whether Britain was a rich country had been 'easy to answer for centuries' but is 'now less straightforward'. 'Economic stagnation over the past decade is now threatening the UK's position as a place for a high standard of living,' he said. 'That the poorest in our country now fare worse than those in nations once considered less affluent is a stark indictment of the UK's economic social model.' If UK wage growth had kept pace with the US over the past quarter-century then they would be around 4,000 higher than they are now Around half of the stagnation since 2008 was due to slow productivity growth, something Rachel Reeves has pledged to fix with more public investment and less red tape The NIESR said the value of welfare payments in Britain had been below the cost of household essentials in 12 of the last 14 years - with the only exceptions being in 2020 and 2021 with temporary welfare boosts during the pandemic. The think-tank said removing Britain's two-child limit for additional welfare benefits represented the most effective way to reduce poverty. Cuts to VAT rates would also give a disproportionate boost to low-income households as they spend a bigger share of their income on essentials, it said. A Glasgow business has sparked outrage after it put up a giant inflatable of a knifeman holding a blood-stained blade with the words: 'We murder all competitor's prices'. Big Duck Bathrooms was branded 'sick' and 'insensitive' after erecting the giant advert based on the Mike Myers character in the horror film Halloween, just days after a fatal stabbing in the city. Two teenagers have been charged over the killing of Amen Teklay, 15, who died in a knife attack in Glasgow's St George's Cross area on March 5 The 30ft inflatable was spotted tied to a yellow trailer on a traffic island in Dennistoun yesterday morning. It was pulled down just hours later after company owner, Cornelius Kelly, received a complaint. Mr Kelly said he never thought the advert would 'offend someone' and claimed he was not aware of the recent death. He told MailOnline: 'After being made aware, around lunchtime, that a young boy had died recently due to knife crime, I immediately took it down.' He added: 'My displays are designed to bring a smile and generate business. The moment I heard of that tragedy, I removed it.' A Glasgow business has sparked outrage after it put up a giant inflatable of Michael Myers holding a blood-stained knife with the words: 'We murder all competitor's prices' Big Duck Bathrooms were using a blow up version of the fictional serial killer to advertise the company but, following a recent fatal stabbing in the city, the move has been branded 'insensitive' and 'sick'. Pictured: Company owner, Cornelius Kelly Mr Kelly told MailOnline: 'After being made aware, around lunchtime, that a young boy had died recently due to knife crime, I immediately took it down' City councillor Bailie Anthony Carroll blasted the ad after receiving a string of angry emails from local residents. Mr Carroll, who represents Dennistoun in the east end, said: 'To put up a massive serial killer inflatable for no good reason feels so insensitive. 'It is in such bad taste. It should not be up after an alleged murder took place in the city. It is at the cost of local integrity.' Facebook users were also left reeling by the stunt and took to the comments section to unleash their wrath. One person said: 'Those who think this is a great joke, a laugh and acceptable are just plain sick.' Another added: 'Awful! Nothing funny about it'. 'Disgusting. Far from funny', a third agreed. Although others sprung to defend the firm and said the stunt was not meant to be taken to heart. Amen Teklay, 15, was fatally stabbed in Glasgow's Maryhill on March 5, 2025 'If I just went passed this I would be laughing nothing wrong with it,' someone commented. A fifth person said: 'There is more serious stuff that is happening in this world, this inflatable is not one of them. 'If I was at that neck of the woods, I would take a photo, little chuckle and be on my way. Lighten up people, it's not to be taken seriously'. It comes after just last month the firm made headlines once again when a giant rubber duck which had been used to promote the business burst leaving polystyrene balls strewn across streets during Storm Eowyn. An employment judge has ruled that calling someone a 'numpty' is not discrimination, in a case where a Metropolitan Police sergeant said the word had offended him. The ruling came in a case where a Metropolitan Police sergeant brought more than 250 claims against his former employer - including a chief inspector using the word - and lost them all. Sonny Kalar, who was with the Met Police for 30 years, said he was offended when Chief Inspector Marlise Davies twice called him a 'numpty' and sued for discrimination. Employment Judge Richard Nicolle said CI Davies used it in a 'light-hearted manner' and that it does not amount to discrimination. Mr Kalar joined the Met in June 1993 and retired in June 2023. At the employment tribunal, he brought a series of claims including race discrimination and harassment, disability discrimination and harassment, victimisation, and whistle-blowing detriment. He made wide-ranging allegations against senior officers within the Met, claiming there was a 'collective witch hunt' against him. In total, he made a staggering 271 individual allegations. All of them were dismissed. Sonny Kalar said he was offended when Chief Inspector Marlise Davies twice called him a 'numpty' 'Numpty': What's in a name? The term numpty date back to 1733 and the word is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a stupid or foolish person; an idiot. It is particularly popular in Scotland and was once found to be the nations favourite word. It is often used in an endearing way to poke fun at someone. According to recent research conducted by Kings College London, the origins of the word numpty can be traced back to the 18th century. Evidence found it was first used in a play in 1733, as a term of mocking endearment for a cuckolded husband. The word is said to be derived from numps, a 16th-century term for someone who is as silly or stupid. Advertisement One of his allegations was that CI Davies, Chief Inspector in the SO15 Borders Counter Terrorism Command, discriminated against him by calling him numpty. The tribunal heard CI Davies had called Mr Kalar, a Sergeant, while he was on sick leave recovering from a knee operation, and during the conversation used the phrase "living the dream". '[Mr Kalar] referred to a telephone conversation of approximately one hour on 15 July 2022,' the tribunal heard. 'He recorded that he took exception to her "living the dream" comment which he says was aimed at him and that it was not a dream but a nightmare due to suffering with his disabilities and health issues. 'CI Davies says that the comment was not made in relation to [Mr Kalar] but due to the condition of the building at [St Pancras International], with water running down the walls. '[Mr Kalar] then referred to her twice having called him "numpty". 'CI Davies accepts using the term, once not twice, but said that it was used as an affectionate term as in don't be so silly rather than in a disparaging manner. 'Nevertheless, she apologised to [Mr Kalar].' Judge Nicolle said: 'We accept CI Davies' evidence that the comment was made during her call with [Mr Kalar] on 15 July 2022 in a lighthearted manner. 'We reject his assertion that it had anything to do with his [whistle-blowing]. 'We do not consider that the term "numpty" has any racial or disability connotations and in the context that it was used, in what we considered to be a lighthearted manner, not one which was capable of constituting harassment when looked at objectively. 'We acknowledge [Mr Kalar] may subjectively have perceived the comment to be directed at him and to be disparaging but consider it relates to his heightened sensitivity rather than how the comments would be objectively viewed. 'We take account of the fact that CI Davies in her use of language... uses informal, arguably self-deprecating and humorous language. The former police sergeant made allegations against senior officers, claiming there was a 'collective witch hunt' against him 'We do not consider given the context in which these comments were made, that they were intended, or could reasonably be construed, as constituting harassment.' Mr Kalar also alleged he was discriminated over different postings, including one transfer to Heathrow Terminal 2 which he said was a 'punishment post'. He alleged he was being 'spied on' and also claimed one colleague was a 'deeply racist officer'. The tribunal report said: 'He says that he has been continuously discriminated against from the time he was removed from [Ports Duty Supervisor] in 2017. 'He contends that there have been a series of directly connected and continuing acts as part of a lengthy campaign... He refers to a collective witch hunt. '[Mr Kalar]... referred to an overarching culture of institutional racism, misogyny and disablism.' Judge Nicolle said Mr Kalar's case was a 'scatter gun approach' because he 'labelled virtually every allegation as constituting harassment on account of both race and disability'. Judge Nicolle said 'many of his allegations are inherently inconsistent' and said from 2020 there was 'increasing evidence that he was focussing on creating potential evidence for a likely legal claim' A convicted Ghanaian pastor who was deported from Britain for using fake documents should be free to return to the country, a tribunal has ruled. Samuel Frimpong was jailed for four months for using false documents to try and 'circumvent' the leave to remain rules, an immigration judge was told. The father-of-two was handed a deportation order shortly after his conviction in 2008 and left the country in 2013. He has since been living a 'depressive life' in Ghana away from his family, the hearing was told. His 11 and 15-year-old children were born after his initial conviction and their mother now finds it 'difficult to explain' where their father is and feel 'socially isolated' as a result of his absence. Mr Frimpong was granted permission to appeal his deportation at the time but he then 'went to ground' and was listed as an 'absconder'. In November 2022 he was told by an immigration officer that his deportation order would not be revoked. The pastor appealed that decision but a First-Tier Immigration Tribunal rejected his case in February last year. But after appealing to the Upper Tier of the Immigration Tribunal, Judge Abid Mahmood has decided to revoke the deportation order ruling it was an 'unjustifiable interference' in his human rights. Judge Abid Mahmood (pictured) ruled that convicted Ghanaian pastor Samuel Frimpong should be free to return to the UK under human rights laws Samuel Frimpong was jailed for four months for using false documents to try and 'circumvent' the leave to remain rules, the tribunal heard. Pictured: The Upper Tier of the Immigration Tribunal at Field House Mr Frimpong appealed under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that his right to family life and that of his wife and children had been 'interfered with'. At the hearing Mr Frimpong's wife, who was not named by the tribunal, said the family had been evicted following his deportation. She said: 'The immediate after-effects of the deportation includ[ed] being evicted from their original home and having to move schools. 'The children are somewhat socially isolated without their father and find it difficult to understand why their father is not with them and they find it difficult to explain to others at school and the like where their father is. 'They "keep begging their father to come to England and always pray for his safe return to have his attention, support and affection".' Mrs Frimpong also said she is unable to work full-time whilst caring for the children and so the family cannot afford to travel back to Ghana. '[She] said that [he] was very sorry and remorseful every day for what he had done. The 11 years apart had had a huge impact on the family,' the tribunal heard. 'She had not been able to visit Ghana and nor had her children because despite living in difficult accommodation in the UK, there is little in the way of funds available to undertake any international travel.' Arguing against, the government representative said that Mr Frimpong's use of false documents 'fundamentally undermines immigration control'. Revoking the deportation order, Upper Tribunal Judge Mahmood admitted that his dishonesty had been 'serious' but said the family were living 'depressive lives' and it would be 'insurmountable' for the children to move to Ghana. He said: 'It is clear to me that these children having to leave their lives in the UK, their schools, and their friends to live in a one-room home in poor conditions in Ghana are insurmountable obstacles. 'Their church means much to them and they are an important part of it. 'Modern means of communication have been tried in this case and have failed, as shown by the depressive lives being lived by the children and their mother here in the UK. Additionally in light of the depressive life being lived by [Mr Frimpong] in Ghana. 'Ultimately, in this case the probation report made clear that there is no risk of harm to others. 'The offence was in 2008. That is over 16 years ago. There has been no recorded offending against [Mr Frimpong] since then. [He] works as a pastor. 'He has apologised profusely for his offending and behaviour. He has sought to make amends by practising and assisting others in his religion. 'I conclude that despite the very heavy weight to be afforded to the public interest and the presumption of deportation, in the particular circumstances of this case, [the] refusal to revoke the deportation order made against [Mr Frimpong] amounts to an unjustifiable interference with the Article 8 rights of [him], his partner and his two children.' Mr Frimpong can now apply for entry clearance to come back to the UK. A contagious virus outbreak has left dozens of passengers and crew ill and in isolation during their nearly three-week-long voyage. After the Coral Princess cruise ship set sail from California on February 21, 69 of the over 1,000 passengers and 13 of the 895 crew members were struck down by the vomiting and diarrhea bug norovirus. The ship was travelling from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale,calling at ports along the west coast of Mexico before travelling through the Panama canal into the caribbean. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is the second outbreak of the virus on the cruise liner this year after the Coral Princess reported cases back in January. Passengers and workers who were struck down were isolated to try and contain the outbreak, public areas were thoroughly disinfected, The New York Post reported. Stool samples from ill passengers were also collected for further testing. The ship arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday after completing stops in Mexico, Costa Rica and Aruba. 'At the earliest signs of illness, we promptly enacted enhanced sanitization protocols, including comprehensive disinfection, isolating affected guests, and offering health guidance to everyone on board,' the cruise line said in a statement. The Coral Princess cruise liner in Miami in April 2020. After the cruise ship set sail from California on February 21, 69 of the over 1,000 passengers and 13 of the 895 crew members were struck down by the vomiting and diarrhea bug norovirus Ill vacationers and staff on the cruise liner were isolated and communal areas were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected 'Upon arrival in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, March 9, our crew conducted additional disinfection measures prior to the next sailing,' Princess Cruises said in their statement. What is Norovirus? Norovirus, also known as stomach flu, is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. It can be very unpleasant, but usually gets better in one to three days. The virus can spread very easily through close contact with someone with norovirus or by touching contaminated surfaces, food or drinking unclean water. It can normally be treated at home with paracetamol and by drinking plenty of fluids. Source: CDC Advertisement Outbreaks of norovirus on cruises is becoming increasingly common. Last year, was the worst year ever for stomach flu outbreaks on cruise ships in the US. According to the CDC, there were 16 outbreaks in 2024. A staggering five of those incidents took place in December 2024 alone - causing 890 cases. The last time there were that many outbreaks in one year was in 2012. A cruise ship departing from the UK for the Spanish Canary islands saw a shocking 500 cases of norovirus in May last year. More than 50 passengers on the P&O cruise are now pursuing compensation according to the BBC. In 2022, the Coral Princess suffered from an outbreak of Covid-19 which forced 100 passengers and crew into isolation for five days of their vacation. The ship was the first luxury liner to enter Western Australian (WA) waters in more than two years when it docked in Broome in October 2022. But around 100-infected passengers and crew are unable to leave and must stay in isolation for the next five days after the virus was discovered circulating on the ship. The Coral Princess had departed Sydney for WA on October 11 2022 after the state government announced that it would allow large cruise liners to dock off the state's coastline again. An Indian politician has sparked fierce controversy after suggesting that women in the country should be granted immunity for murder amid the rape epidemic. Rohini Khadse, head of the women's wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) made the shocking proposal in a letter to Indian President Droupadi Murmu on International Women's Day. Khadse argued that the widespread rape and brutalisation of girls and women in India had reached such a crisis point that drastic measures were needed. In her letter on March 8, Khadse demanded that women be allowed to kill men who display 'rapist tendencies' without facing prosecution. She wrote that women 'want to kill the oppressive mentality, the rapist tendency, the inefficiency of law and order,' and for that to happen, women would have to kill men. 'We hope our demand will be granted after giving it a serious thought,' she added. With a population of 1.4billion - made up of around 672million women and 728million men - if Khadse's suggestion was to be implemented, there may only be some 56million males remaining in the country after each woman had murdered a man. This would hypothetically drive the population down to 728million. Rohini Khadse, head of the women's wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) made the shocking proposal in a letter to Indian President Droupadi Murmu on International Women's Day Medical students shout slogans and hold posters as they protest the rape and murder of a young medic from Kolkata, at the Gandhi Hospital in Varanasi on August 14, 2024 Members of different organisations take part in a protest against the alleged rape of two minor girls, in Bangalore, India, 25 February 2025 Indian protesters hold banners and shout slogans during a protest in New Delhi, 23 July 2006 The demand came in response to a horrifying gang rape of a 12-year-old girl in Mumbai just days earlier. The girl was allegedly lured into a neighbour's house, where five men attacked her. Khadse pointed to this case as evidence that India remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for women. 'The incident happened two days ago in Mumbai - think what the situation might be across the country,' Khadse wrote, citing a World Population Review Survey that ranked India the most unsafe country for women in Asia. The NCP-SP is part of the INDIA opposition coalition, which includes the Indian National Congress party, and is fiercely opposed to the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Under BJP rule, reports of gang rapes and brutal killings of women have surged. Khadse's radical proposal was backed by her party but dismissed by Hindu nationalist figures. NCP-SP spokesperson Clyde Crasto defended her comments, arguing that the BJP government should reflect on why such drastic measures are being proposed. 'Women are being pushed against the wall with nobody coming to their help,' Crasto said. 'Khadse is vocalising the anguish in the minds of women.' Khadse also referenced India's history of warrior queens defending their kingdoms, suggesting that modern Indian women are now facing a different kind of battle. 'Heroic women like Maharani Tararani and Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar pulled out swords to defend their people. Why should women today lag?' While Indian law allows for self-defence in life-threatening situations, Khadse's call for immunity would bypass the legal process altogether. A medical student holds a placard while taking part during a protest against what they say is rape and murder of a trainee doctor, outside the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, India, on August 12, 2024 Indians walk with placards during a protest demanding justice in the case of a veterinarian who was gang-raped and killed in 2019 However, some Indian women who have fought back against attackers have been praised by the authorities. Last September, a nurse in Bihar allegedly used a surgical blade to sever a doctor's genitals after he and others reportedly planned to assault her. Police hailed her courage, with Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar Pandey calling her actions 'praiseworthy.' Khadse joined fellow NCP-SP members in a protest for women's safety in Mumbai over the weekend. Demonstrators called for self-defence training to be made part of school curriculum, with some women reportedly detained by police. Reports of sexual attacks on women have become increasingly common in India, where police recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. It is thought the true figure may be higher still due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence. Instances of rape and sexual violence have been under scrutiny since the gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus in 2012. The attack sparked mass protests and prompted legislators to create fast-track courts for rape cases, and harsher penalties. The rape law was amended in 2013 to criminalise stalking and voyeurism, and to lower the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16. In 2018, the government approved the use of the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under the age of 12. High-profile cases involving foreign visitors have drawn international attention to the issue. Last year, in a video that was later deleted, a Spanish tourist said his wife was raped in northern India, while an Indian-American woman said she was raped at a hotel in New Delhi. In 2022, a British tourist was raped in front of her partner in Goa. Canadians have said they want to join the European Union in the wake of Donald Trump's bid to make the country the '51st US state'. An EU spokesperson said the bloc was flattered by the interest, but pointed out being a European country was a starting point for eligibility. The idea that Ottawa should throw in its lot with Brussels has been half-seriously floated by some commentators as US President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats push the two sides closer. When Pollster Abacus Data put the question to Canadians at the end of February, 44 percent said yes, Canada should join the 27-nation club. More then 46 per cent of those surveyed voiced general support for joining the bloc, Politico reports. Only 34 percent of the 1,500 people polled opposed the idea, with the remainder unsure, according to the survey published this week. 'It's not a surprise, because the EU and Canada are like-minded partners which share many, many, many values and also strong historical connections,' European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho said of the poll at a news conference Wednesday. Brussels was 'honoured with the results', which pointed to the bloc's 'attractiveness', she added. Canadians have said they want to join the European Union in the wake of Donald Trump's (pictured) bid to make the country the '51st US state' Justin Trudeau's replacement as Canada's new Prime Minister, Mark Carney (pictured), declared that the country will 'never be part of America' Asked whether Canada was eligible to join, while stopping short of expressly saying 'no', she referred to the admission criteria set out in EU treaties, which seem to rule out Ottawa. 'For a country to become a member of the EU, there are criteria foreseen in the treaties,' she said. Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union says that 'any European state' that respects values including freedom, democracy and equality can apply for membership. What constitutes a 'European' country is not defined but arguing Canada is one could prove to be a bit of a stretch. Canadians speak both of the EU's main working languages - English and French. They are neighbours to Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory that Trump has, like Canada, threatened to annex. But an ocean still separates them from the old continent. In 1987, Morocco was denied a membership bid on the grounds it was not a European state. Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine have had their applications accepted for consideration, on the other hand. Donald Trump has suggested that the United States could annex Canada as a 51st state. Trump is pictured above with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Canada already has a free-trade agreement with the EU, which is its second-largest export destination after the United States. Trump has repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st US state, while triggering a trade war by slapping tariffs on some goods coming across the northern border. Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio was forced to say on Wednesday that a takeover would not be on the table of a G7 meeting in Quebec this week. But the poll showing that many Canadians are in favour of joining the European Union underscores the increasingly positive views many in Canada hold about the EU. About 68 per cent of those surveyed said they had a positive view of the bloc, which is double the amount of people - 34 per cent - who said they had a positive view of the US. Speaking during his acceptance speech, the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney chose to lean strongly into resisting US President Donald Trump's policies. The 59-year-old defiantly stated: 'Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer. 'Pierre Poilievre will leave us divided and ready to be conquered because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him'. This comes after Canadians were left outraged by a telling clue that the United States is edging closer toward making its northern neighbour the 51st state. Canadians noticed some provincial parks have recently been mislabeled as 'state' parks on Google maps Amid repeated warnings from President Trump that he's interested in acquiring Canada as a state of America, Canadians noticed some provincial parks have recently been mislabeled as 'state' parks on Google maps. Speaking to CTV news, resident Rachel Deren said: 'I would like to draw attention to this disgusting display of American oppression of Canadian culture and autonomy. 'This alarming revelation has stirred many who have noticed, as it is an attack on our Canadian identity.' Mount Robson Park, Whaleboat Island Marine Provincial Park and Pinecone Burke Provincial Park are among a handful of parks in Canada that go by 'state park' on Google maps. This is despite being almost exclusively referred to as 'provincial' parks within Canada, while 'state' parks are considered an Americanized term. 'We are proud to be Canadian and will remain so despite attempts like this from our ever increasingly hostile neighbours to the south,' Deren said. A man has admitted having sex with a Shetland pony after trespassing into a stables in Wiltshire. Damion Ogeare, 43, pleaded guilty to penetrating a living animal and trespassing with intent to commit a sexual offence. The incident happened on land in Hilperton, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire on January 24 last year, Salisbury Crown Court heard. Police attended the scene after the owner of a Shetland pony reported seeing a man enter a stable on her CCTV system. Officers searched the area but couldnt find the suspect. The 43-year-old defendant, from Trowbridge, was later identified through DNA. Ogeare will be sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court in May. He was released on bail for a pre-sentence report to be compiled. Damion Ogeare, 43, has admitted having sex with a pony after trespassing into a stable. He is seen outside Salisbury Magistrates Court in November last year Ogeare will be sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court in May. He was released on bail for a pre-sentence report to be compiled An alleged drug smuggler who's been hiding in Asia and the Middle East is suspected of being the mastermind behind a hoax 'terror' caravan plot. Sayet Erhan Akca, 35, left his life in Australia as a former gym and childcare facility owner in mid-2023, after he was charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of drugs through the AN0M messaging app. The married father-of-one allegedly left his wife, Georgia, and toddler son behind to flee Australian shores on a boat while on bail for an alleged 600kg drug importation, the Daily Telegraph reported. A warrant for former businessman's arrest was issued in September 2023 but he remains in hiding 18 months later. However, Australian Federal Police alleged Akca reached out to authorities to provide information about a caravan full of explosives and anti-Semitic material found in Dural in Sydney's north-west on January 19. Officers suspect Akca divulged details about the plot in an attempt to cut a deal with prosecutors so he could lower any potential jail sentence and return to his family, who are not accused of any wrongdoing. Akca is also alleged to be behind more than a dozen anti-Semitic arson and graffiti attacks in Sydney since October. Police alleged that Sayet Erhan Akca (pictured with his wife Georgia) was involved in a hoax terror plot Police were informed of a caravan filled with explosives and anti-Semitic material in Dural (pictured) on January 19 NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigators quickly determined the caravan was likely never intended to cause a terror attack. AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett alleged the hoax was coordinated by one person. 'We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme, and hired local criminals to carry out parts of their plan. However, the plan was foiled,' she said earlier this week. 'The caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event, but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit. 'Put simply, the plan was the following: Organise someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of anti-Semitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then once that happens, inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians.' Commissioner Barrett issued a warning to criminals offered a part in the alleged scheme. 'This is a rare time I will provide advice to criminals serve your time quietly in prison and stop diverting the resources of terrorism investigators otherwise your charges could be significantly upgraded,' she said. 'Too many criminals are accused of paying others to carry out anti-Semitic or terrorism incidents to get our attention or divert our resources. 'And too many offenders working in the criminal gig economy are accepting these tasks for money.' The Sydney businessman left his family (pictured) behind when he allegedly fled Australia for Asia and the Middle East Sayet Erhan Akca (right) was allegedly hoping to seek a lenient court outcome by providing information about the fabricated plan NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson added that 14 anti-Semitic attacks across Sydney since December were allegedly orchestrated by the same person. 'All of the (Strike Force) Pearl matters, I'm suggesting, the 14 incidents and the caravan job, are all being orchestrated by the same individuals,' Commissioner Hudson said. The attacks included the firebombing of a childcare in Maroubra and graffiti attacks on multiple homes and cars across the city's eastern suburbs. Police arrested and charged 14 people on Tuesday in connection with the anti-Semitic displays. AFP is still working to arrest the alleged overseas organiser. Ministers are considering changing the law to force politicians convicted of sex crimes from office after a former aide to Wes Streeting admitted flashing a terrified teenage schoolgirl. Sam Gould, 33, was fired as a constituency caseworker by the Health Secretary and expelled by Labour after he pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent exposure on Monday. But he is refusing to step down as a councillor on Redbridge Council in east London, despite the court hearing he followed a girl aged 13 down the street after she saw him committing a sex act in a car. Mr Streeting has called on Gould, who stood unsuccessfully to be a Labour MP in Romford in 2015, to quit his role as a councillor for Hainault. But there is currently no legal way to force him out of a role in which he receives an allowance of 10,138 a year from the taxpayer. Now Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner is considering changing the law after a meeting with the Health Secretary, the Sun reported. A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, which she runs, said: 'Councillors committing serious misconduct must be held to account. 'This government is taking robust action with new plans being drawn up to introduce powers of suspension for serious code of conduct breaches.' Sam Gould, 33, was fired as a constituency caseworker by the Health Secretary and expelled by Labour after he pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent exposure in court last week. Mr Streeting has called on Gould, who will be sentenced next month, to quit his role as a councillor for Hainault. But there is currently no legal way to force him out of a role in which he receives an allowance of 10,138 a year from the taxpayer. Now Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner is considering changing the law after a meeting with the Health Secretary, the Sun reported. Mr Streeting said in a statement: 'There are no words to express my horror that a mother and her daughter have been put through this ordeal, and will have to deal with the trauma of it for some time to come. 'As soon as I was made aware of his arrest he was suspended, and as soon as the guilty plea was entered I took immediate steps to sack him through official HR processes. 'There are no excuses for his appalling behaviour. I am calling for him again to resign as a Redbridge councillor immediately.' The girl had been on her way to meet a group of friends on Saturday when she saw the 33-year-old performing a sex act, The Sun reported. She immediately ran away upon seeing the Labour councillor, who then followed her into a cul-de-sac in Romford, East London. She then began banging on doors desperately seeking help before a passing motorist came to her aid. The driver also noted down the offender's registration number, which meant police were able to track Gould down and arrest him later that day. He was charged with two separate counts of indecent exposure - the second relating to another incident involving a 25-year-old woman in Hornchurch last month. Gould appeared at Barkingside Magistrates' on Monday where he pleaded guilty to both counts. He has been released on bail and is due to be sentenced at the same court on April 7. Redbridge Council leader, Cllr Kam Rai, added 'Unfortunately there is no process for his suspension from the council ... following the inexcusable betrayal of his residents, the council, and our wider community, it is only right that Gould immediately resign as a councillor and face justice.' Police have launched an investigation into the 'unexplained' deaths of a man and woman who were found dead inside a home in Thamesmead. Police were called shortly before 3pm on Tuesday after concerns were raised for the welfare of people inside an address in the London area. Emergency services attended and gained entry to the property, where they discovered a man and woman with serious injuries. Residents said a woman aged in her 40s or 50s had moved into the property last year. The pair, who are understood to have been known to each other, were tragically declared dead at the scene. Residents said a woman aged in her 40s or 50s had moved into the property last year. They added that, in a bizarre twist, there had been another gruesome discovery in the same flat previously. They said before the woman moved in, a previous resident a man had been found dead in the same flat and his remains not discovered for 18 months. Lucy Frances, 41, who lives in the block, said: 'I didn't really know the woman, I only saw her a few times. Police at the scene of the tragedy in Thamesmead where a man and woman were found dead 'Once was when she moved in last year. 'Then I saw her in the garden, she wanted to lay flowers for her mum who had just died. 'But there's something wrong with that flat - a body was in there for 18 months before her and no one found it. 'People were complaining about flies and no one did anything for over a year. 'Then she moved in right after. 'I never saw anyone other than her brother going in there.' Another resident said: 'The gentleman who lived there before died and his body was there for 18 months. 'Eventually they found him, the neighbours said there were flies and a smell. 'Now this poor woman has died. Emergency services attended and gained entry to the property, where they discovered a man and woman with serious injuries 'I was surprised to hear it was two people in there, I never saw anyone going in or out.' Russell Webb, 64, said he believed the women in the flat lived there alone. He said: 'I thought she did but then there was two of them in there.' He added: 'I consider myself quite reclusive but some people are really isolated. 'The man and his dog who lived there before died. 'She moved in just after that, so she hadn't been here long.' Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, who leads policing in Bexley, said: 'I know many residents in the local area will be questioning why police are carrying out enquiries within Holstein Way. 'We are currently investigating the death of two people, which was unexpected and unexplained. Concerns had been raised for the welfare of people inside an address in the London area 'At this early stage, we are working with officers and local authorities to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths. 'We believe that the two were known to each other, and at this time we are not seeking to speak with anyone else in connection with this. 'A crime scene will remain in place until we have conducted our enquiries. Thank you to those in the local area for their patience.' Their next of kin has been informed and are being supported by specialist officers. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing. Four British tourists have been arrested in Thailand for allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis stuffed in seven giant suitcases to the UK. The Brits were pulled aside by suspicious security guards just before they boarded their flight at the airport on the island of Koh Samui yesterday. Shocked officials opened the 32-inch long cases to find hundreds of vacuum-sealed bags packed with fresh cannabis buds that had been grown at a farm on the popular island. The total haul - legal in the country but a crime to export - is said to have weighed 144kg. Authorities identified the suspects as British passengers Mark Siemaszkiewicz, 46, Richard McMahon, 46, Oluwatosin Peace Adefila, 27, and Bose Esther Fakuade, 26. They are accused to trying to take the marijuana out of the country via a connecting flight to London Heathrow. A police spokesman said: 'Mr Mark and Mr Richard were in possession of two suitcases each containing vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis flowers totalling 85 kilogrammes. They were planning to transport the cannabis to London as part of a debt-clearing arrangement. 'Miss Peace and Miss Esther, also British citizens, each carried one suitcase containing cannabis flowers (totalling 36 kilograms) for the same destination, London'. Four British tourists were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis stuffed in seven giant suitcases from Thailand to the UK. Pictured: Oluwatosin Peace Adefila, 27 - one of the Brits arrested Pictured: Bose Esther Fakuade, 26. She was one of the four Brits pulled aside at Koh Samui airport and was allegedly found to be smuggling cannabis Pictured: Richard McMahon, 46. He is one of the Brits accused of allegedly trying to take marijuana out of Thailand The contraband was seized and the suspects were charged with violating the Customs Act, officials said. If convicted, the British tourists could face up to 10 years in prison. Police have been tightening security at Thai airports amid a spate of cannabis smuggling attempts in recent weeks. British tourist, Daniel James Hallett, 38, was also arrested in Thailand last week for allegedly trying to smuggle 38kg of cannabis through an airport. Hallett, from Hull, was attempting to board the flight from Krabi International Airport in the south of the country on March 9 when officials flagged his luggage as suspicious during routine security checks. Upon further inspection, they allegedly discovered 35 vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis flowers wrapped in double-layered bags to keep the drug's telltale smell from escaping. Hallett, who ran a haulage company, was photographed looking glum at the airport with two giant suitcases with him that allegedly contained the drugs. The cannabis was seized and Hallett was taken into custody at the Nua Khlong District Police Station for further legal action. His case is currently under investigation and authorities continue to review evidence regarding the smuggling attempt. Pictured: Mark Siemaszkiewicz, 46 If convicted, the British tourists could face up to 10 years in prison Police have been tightening security at Thai airports amid a spate of cannabis smuggling attempts in recent weeks The Brit was charged with violating the Thai Customs Act, as well as breaking laws on controlled herbs. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison. Cannabis with under 0.2 per cent of THC was decriminalised in Thailand in June 2022, as a potential cash crop for impoverished farmers and ministers connected to the pharmaceutical industry. Cannabis smoking is allowed for personal use in private areas but remains prohibited in public spaces. However, bungling officials are now seeking to outlaw recreational cannabis, blaming poorly regulated use for allegedly fuelling drug abuse and a rise in the the number of cases of tourists over-indulging in the drug. Tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya have seen the negative consequences of legalising the drug, with tourists regularly arrested for misbehaving while under the influence of cannabis. Dismayed motorists are facing a 40-mile diversion through 18 countryside towns in order to navigate past a mere 60-metre-long road closure. The incredulous diversion will see drivers travel an hour out of their way to evade broadband works which could last for almost a week. Locals in the Shropshire village of Cockshutt claim that the alternative route will hike their weekly fuel costs and cause chaos to their daily work commutes. The works are currently scheduled to begin on this Sunday, March 16, as workers lay cables along a 60m stretch of road to improve the village's access to super-fast broadband. Road signs placed along the route state the works will only take one day, but the company laying down the cables, Freedom Fibre, has applied for a six-day road closure. Another road closure is also due to be enforced for a further seven days from March 24. The works form part of wider project in the Shropshire area which aims to boost internet connectivity for local communities. Despite these purported benefits though, locals have been quick to slam the road closures and are demanding to know why the works can't be undertaken during the night or on weekends when the roads are less busy. Locals in the Shropshire village of Cockshutt have been left dismayed by plans to enforce a 40-mile diversion to avoid 60 metres of road works S Your browser does not support iframes. Handyman Dean Bywater, 63, was similarly dismayed and said he relies on quick transport links to get to his customers. The dad-of-two, who lives in the village with his wife Julie, said: 'I work all over and I don't know if I can get to my jobs in the nearby towns and villages. 'I'm annoyed they put all these signs up and saying they shut all these roads. 'They don't say if we can get to our houses. I can't afford to do a 40-mile trip, it wouldn't be worth it for the money I make. 'The Wi-Fi is fine as it is. I'm with BT and it's pretty fast. If they put the new one in I can't use it anyway, some say it's good or just as rubbish. 'If I can't get out or get into the village, I can't earn money. 'The way things go in terms of prices I can't afford to lose a day's pay. If it's a sunny week, I can work in the village and walk it.' The nearby village of Ellesmere is usually just a ten minute drive from Cockshutt, but locals say it will now take in excess of one hour. An aerial image of the A528 which runs directly through the heart of Cockshutt Handyman Dean Bywater, 63, says he relies on quick transport links to get to his customers Woodcock Inn landlady Michaela Batho worries that the road closure will impact her business Woodcock Inn landlady Michaela Batho said: 'It's our business that's the problem, it's smack in the middle of it, no one has been in touch to say the road is closed. 'Sunday is our busiest day because of the Sunday lunches, and that's when they're closing it, but we haven't heard a single word from them (Freedom Fibre). 'I rang them the other day and I couldn't get hold of anyone. I had to go through the wrong department, he said he would take my details and get back to me. 'My wife does goes in and out, but it's like that everywhere, our till system runs on the internet and it's hardly bad. 'I'm lucky as I live in the village so I can walk to work. My friend who runs the pub with me lives in Shrewsbury, she has to drive in but doesn't know how she'll make it if it's blocked off. 'We also get deliveries, but they aren't going to do a 40-mile diversion, so we could be left without. 'It isn't fair on us, we're a struggling little country pub and they're shutting our pub on the busiest day. 'There are not many jobs around here, we have a village shop run by one man and then us, so most people commute.' This 60 metre stretch of the A528 is what will cause motorists to drive an hour out of their way Both Ellesmere and Shrewsbury are ordinarily just a mere ten minute drive away from Cockshutt Similarly, retired engineer Loft Longhurst, 76, worries that the village will be cut in half thanks to the planned broadband works. The grandfather-of-two, who lives in the village with his wife Barbara, said: 'We have no idea what's going on, we've had no input apart from what's on Facebook and what's online. 'We've had no communication at all from Freedom Fibre, as per usual. 'It'll cause me problems if I go to Ellesmere or Shrewsbury, the whole village will be cut off until the village hall. 'They can't say to us sorry you've got to drive a diverted 40 miles to get to your house, it's ridiculous. 'A few of us locals know some roads which we could try, but they are tiny and aren't a guarantee. 'There's a quite a few people who need to get the Shrewsbury for the hospital in the week and Ellesmere is where our main shopping supermarket is. We need food. 'My BT Wi-Fi hub is good as it is, I get enough broadband speed already. Where I am in the village it's adequate, so I don't see the point.' Reacting to the planned closures, a Freedom Fibre spokesperson said: 'Freedom Fibre is currently upgrading the internet connection in North Shropshire by rolling out full-fibre broadband. 'To support this essential infrastructure work, we will be carrying out necessary diversions along Shrewsbury Road from Sunday 16th March to Friday 21st March. 'During this period, the road will remain open with traffic light management, except on Sunday 16th March, when a temporary road closure will be in effect from 8am to 5pm. 'Access for residents and businesses will be maintained throughout the works, with every effort made to minimise disruption.' Police have ended their investigation into a group of pro-Palestine protesters who destroyed the University of Cambridge's historic painting of Lord Balfour. A demonstrator was filmed slashing the portrait and covering it with red paint inside the University's Trinity College on March 8, 2024. The woman is seen on the footage slashing the painting with a sharp object before spraying paint from a can over Balfour's face. Protest group Palestine Action later took credit for the stunt, claiming that Balfour 'gave away the Palestinians homeland - a land that wasn't his to give away'. More than a year on, Cambridgeshire Constabulary have confirmed it has 'filed' the investigation 'pending any new information coming to light'. The force has not made any arrests over the incident and says it has carried out a 'thorough investigation'. Lord Balfour was a Conservative politician who also served as Prime Minister between 1902 and 1905. He gave his name to the Balfour Declaration - a public statement issued by the British government to create a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, paving the way for the founding of Israel in 1948. A pro-Palestine protester was filmed slashing and spraying a painting of Lord Balfour at the University of Cambridge in March last year Protest group Palestine Action shared footage of the protestor spraying red paint on the portrait of the British statesman at Trinity College British statesman Lord Balfour (pictured) paved the way for a Jewish state in the Middle East The declaration, made in 1917, was contained within a letter from Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a British Jewish leader. Among the declaration's lasting consequences was increased support for Zionism within the Jewish community, and it formed part of the founding of Mandatory Palestine. Balfour succeeded his uncle Lord Salisbury as Prime Minister in 1902 and served until his resignation in 1905. He later became foreign secretary under David Lloyd George, but was excluded from the small war cabinet and the inner workings of government. The oil on canvas painting, housed at the University of Cambridge, was painted by artist Philip Alexius de Laszlo and was completed in 1914. Palestine Action said at the time that 'vowed to continue their direct campaign' which it said was in response to the presence of Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms supplier, in Britain. It wrote: 'Arthur Balfour, then UK Foreign secretary, issued a declaration which promised to build 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, where the majority of the indigenous population were not Jewish. He gave away the Palestinians homeland a land that wasn't his to give away. 'After the Declaration, until 1948, the British burnt down indigenous villages to prepare the way; with this came arbitrary killings, arrests, torture, sexual violence including rape against women and men, the use of human shields and the introduction of home demolitions as collective punishment to repress Palestinian resistance. Trinity College at Cambridge University where the oil on canvas painting had been housed 'The British were initiating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, fulfilling the Zionist aim to build their 'home' over the top of what were Palestinian communities, towns, villages, farms and ancestral land, rich in heritage, culture and ancient archeological history. 'The Palestinians refer to this time as the Nakba which translates into the great catastrophe. 'Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms supplier, who use captive Palestinians in Gaza as a human laboratory to develop their weapons, use Britain as a manufacturing outpost. 'The Israeli weapons maker build weaponry in factories across the country and work closely with the British government. 'Palestine Action vows to continue their direct campaign until Elbit is shut down and British complicity with the colonisation of Palestine ends.' Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: 'A thorough investigation was carried out but the investigation has now been filed pending any new information coming to light.' A top London dim sum restaurant which featured in Netflix spy drama Black Doves hired four illegal workers from China and Nepal, an immigration raid has uncovered. The owners of Fei Er Cottage could now be fined 240,000 after a Home Office team found four staff working without the correct visas or having illicitly entered the UK. Officers discovered that the venue on Strutton Ground had two men and a woman from China and a further man from Nepal working illegally in the kitchen or as waiters. A Home Office report claimed that their illegal employment was 'not just an honest mistake by the management but instead was a disregard for the immigration rules'. The quartet made up half of the eight-strong team at the restaurant which was used as a location in hit show Black Doves, starring Keira Knightly and Ben Whishaw. Fei Er Cottage's red basement dining area was used in a scene when Whishaw's character, hitman Sam Young, carries out his first kill, reported The Standard. At least one worker was doing more than 65 hours a week, according to payslips found by officers meaning five shifts over 12 hours if working a normal five days. They were being paid 12.50 an hour, which was above the UK minimum wage of 12.21 but their pay was being 'taxed' by the restaurant by more than a third. Fei Er Cottage restaurant in London featured in the Netflix spy drama Black Doves (pictured) Fei Er Cottage is a dim sum restaurant on Strutton Ground near St James's Park in London A conversation with a worker regarding breakdown of wages, published by the Home Office An employee who worked 241 hours in November was charged 1,296 for 'NI' payments, despite total tax for a legal worker on the same salary being about 550. The raid took place on December 18 last year but was only revealed this week when a Home Office report was published by Westminster City Council ahead of a licensing hearing. It revealed a worker found in the kitchen had 'clandestinely entered the UK in 2012' and was arrested while working at another Chinese restaurant in 2018 before absconding six months later. A second worker entered the UK illegally in 2016, while a woman from China came into the UK on a visitors' visa but overstayed this and never had the right to work in the UK. Meanwhile an employee could only work 20 hours a week in term time because he was on a student visa - but was in fact working more than three times that. The Home Office will argue at the hearing next month that the council should revoke Fei Er Cottage's licence, which would ban alcohol from being sold and could cut its opening hours. Fei Er Cottage describes itself as having 'the best handmade dumplings in London' The popular Netflix crime thriller Black Doves stars Ben Whishaw and Keira Knightley They also want a fine of 60,000 to be imposed per illegal worker. Fei Er Cottage describes itself as having 'the best handmade dumplings in London' and offers all-you-can-eat dim sum for 38 for adults with a two-hour time limit. It comes after Conservative MP Nick Timothy urged food delivery firms to tell the Government who their riders and drivers are, amid fears of 'rampant' visa abuse. He accused food delivery companies of a 'dereliction of duty', when they let self-employed riders use 'substitute' couriers. The Government said last month that some 18,987 migrants, including foreign criminals and those not eligible for asylum, have been returned to countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America since Labour took power in July. According to the Home Office, 5,074 were forced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK, up 24 per cent between July 5 last year and January 31, compared with 4,089 forced returns in the previous 12-month period. MailOnline has contacted Fei Er Cottage for comment. Vladimir Putin is showing no sign of bowing to pressure to accept Washington's ceasefire proposal, with leading voices in the Kremlin warning the Russian dictator that it will only serve to benefit Ukraine. Putin aide Yuri Ushakov expressed his opposition to the proposed US deal, saying that it was 'hasty' and would give breathing space to Ukrainian forces at a time when Moscow is close to fully retaking territory in its Kursk region from Kyiv's forces. Discussing the ceasefire proposal, Ushakov said in a TV interview: 'I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more.' The foreign policy advisor said Moscow sees its goal as being a long-term settlement 'that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our known concerns,' rather than a temporary truce. 'It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation,' he said dismissively. Asked by TV host Olga Skabeeva - also known as Putin's 'Iron Doll' - if this meant an outright rejection of the Trump ceasefire by Moscow, he replied ominously: 'The President will probably [soon] make more specific and substantive assessments.' Ushakov, who previously served as Moscow's ambassador to the US, added that he had outlined Russia's position on the ceasefire to US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. His comments came as Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow where he will attempt to convince Russia to accept a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week in crunch talks with the US. Volodymyr Zelensky said this afternoon that the fact there was no 'meaningful' response from Moscow to Washington and Kyiv's proposal meant the Kremlin wants to keep fighting in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is so far showing no sign of bowing to pressure to accept Washington's ceasefire proposal Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, who previously served as Moscow's ambassador to the US, expressed his opposition to the proposed deal Your browser does not support iframes. Donald Trump (pictured) said American envoys are flying to Moscow this week to present a potential ceasefire plan to the Kremlin Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 March 2025 The Ukrainian President said in a statement on social media: 'Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made.' 'This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war,' he concluded. In another sign that an agreement remains a distant prospect, the Kremlin warned that the deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine would amount to a 'direct armed conflict' with Moscow, and that it would respond to such a move by 'all available means'. Ukraine has asked its European allies to deploy military 'contingents' on its territory once the three-year conflict ends, to protect against future attacks from Russia, something Moscow has repeatedly said it deems 'unacceptable'. France and the UK have suggested they could deploy peacekeeping forces, but Moscow has balked at this idea - either as part of a ceasefire or as a long-term security guarantee for Ukraine. 'It is absolutely unacceptable to us that army units of other states are stationed in Ukraine under any flag,' foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing. 'Be it a foreign contingent and a military base... all this would mean the involvement of these countries in a direct armed conflict with our country,' she added. This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 12, 2025, shows a destroyed building at the site of a strike in Kryvyi Rig Russia escalates overnight attacks on Ukraine, killing and wounding crew and port workers in Odesa grain ship strike, destroying homes in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy and hitting Krivyi Rih Her comments came as US negotiators travelled to Russia to present their plan for a 30-day truce in Ukraine, after receiving Kyiv's backing earlier this week. The US is currently acting as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, with President Trump revealing last night that American envoys were on their way to Moscow to present a potential ceasefire plan to the Kremlin. The proposal for a 30-day ceasefire has still not been accepted by Moscow, which has shown no sign of letting up in its three-year war in Ukraine, with heavy aerial bombardments in the days since the plan was announced. Putin last night visited the Russian region of Kursk for the first time since Ukrainian forces seized parts of it in August. The Kremlin announced this morning that the operation to eject Kyiv's forces was now in its final stage. The Russian dictator's rare appearance in military fatigues was seen as a signal he aims to go on with the war, and today Poland - worried about the Kremlin's continued threat - revealed it has asked the US to base nuclear weapons on its territory. As Washington continues to push for a truce, documents from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank, obtained by the Washington Post, suggest that Russia has been working to undermine a possible peace deal since at least February. It appears that some measures in the document, reportedly written by an influential Moscow-based thinktank the week before the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia in late February, have already informed the thinking of the Russian state. The document, written for the FSB's Fifth Service, the security service division that oversees operations in Ukraine, lays out the ways in which Russia could boost its standing by inflaming tensions between the US and both China and the EU. The pro-Kremlin thinktank's document additionally argues that Russia should be working towards 'the complete dismantling' of the current Ukrainian government. Putin has skirted the issue of a ceasefire ahead of talks with the US delegation today, and has instead set his troops the task of grabbing back territory in Kursk. Last night, the Russian army said it had captured hundreds of Ukrainian troops fighting in the region, where Ukraine mounted its surprise counteroffensive last summer. Speaking as he met with troops in Kursk, Putin vowed to treat hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk as 'terrorists', potentially jailing them for decades, and not as prisoners of war who can be exchanged. Footage shows such troops humiliated by being ordered to parrot 'Hail to Russia' - illegal under the rules of war. He also made clear he wanted a demilitarised zone on Ukraine's border. Putin's ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, insisted that the Kremlin will approach a ceasefire - which it has previously ruled out - 'with a lot of caution'. Putin will insist on conditions as 'broad and similar to the demands it had previously made to Ukraine, the US and NATO', but such demands have until now been seen as crippling Ukraine and being unacceptable. Last night, Russia's foreign minister said British plans to lead a stabilisation force in post-conflict Ukraine will be protecting the country's 'Nazi regime'. In a bizarre outburst from Moscow hours after Ukraine's largest drone attack of the war struck the capital, Sergei Lavrov said: 'What will the peacekeepers protect? The remnants of the Kyiv Nazi regime?' The Post reported that the document also said the Kremlin ought to reject plans for peacekeepers in Ukraine, as many in Europe have proposed, as they would be under 'serious Western influence'. Meanwhile, US plans to continue arming Ukraine were 'absolutely unacceptable', as is maintaining Ukraine's million-strong army at its current level, according to the document. It also suggests that Russia ought to push for Ukraine to be carved up even further, with the creation of a buffer zone in the country's northeast, which touches Russian territory, as well as a demilitarised zone near Crimea, which Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in 2014. The document dismissed Trump's preliminary plans for a Ukraine peace deal to be reached within 100 days as 'impossible to realise', and suggested that peace 'cannot happen before 2026.' Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' aims the M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Iryna Petrochenko , 50, looks out from damaged apartment after a Russian missile attack happened killing a 47 year old woman and wounding nine others on March 12, 2025 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine The thinktank wrote that Russia could boost its negotiating position by proposing American companies being allowed to develop rare earth minerals in Russia and in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. The document was written in the week before Russia and the US sat down in Saudi Arabia for key talks that Ukraine was not party to. Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as the February talks went on, Donald Trump mocked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for complaining that Ukraine was being frozen out. Trump said: 'Today I heard, 'Oh, we weren't invited'. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years [ago] you should have never started it. You could have made a deal.' But according to Kremlin sources, the Russian President is the one wants to drag out the peace process so he can seize more Ukrainian territory. Russia holds the upper hand militarily with its troops outnumbering their Western-backed adversaries and making deepening inroads into eastern Ukraine. The Russian president believes the 30-day pause is 'unacceptable', and is expected to hinder peace talks with his own unreasonable demands. Given that Putin holds a majority of the cards, Russian officials believe he will be able to succeed in this endeavour. A senior Russian source told Reuters: 'It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form. Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' check M101 Howitzer after firing towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Ukrainian sappers help dress a comrade in a heavy armored suit during demining operations in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025 A Ukrainian sapper in special shoes walks during demining operations in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025 'Putin has a strong position because Russian is advancing', they added. Last night, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was important not to 'get [too far] ahead' regarding Russia's response to ceasefire proposals. He claimed Moscow was awaiting 'detailed information' about the ceasefire from the US, which had to be studied before a decision could be taken. One of Putin's demands is likely to be a halt for future military support for Kyiv, Bloomberg reported. When asked what the US could do to pressure Russia into peace, he said: 'There are things that wouldn't be pleasant in a financial sense. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don't want to do that because I want to get peace.' Trump added: 'In a financial sense, yes, we could do things that would be very bad for Russia, that would be devastating for Russia. But I don't want to do that.' Europe is also exerting pressure on the Kremlin to accept the deal. Speaking in Paris following a meeting with European counterparts, the UK's Defence Secretary sent a powerful message to Vladimir Putin saying it was 'Over to you now'. John Healey MP called on the Kremlin chief to 'accept the ceasefire, start negotiations and end the war. Make no mistake, the pressure is now on Putin..' He added: 'This year the UK will spend 4.5 billion the highest ever. While the United Kingdom and France are driving the push for peace and the arrangements for security guarantees for Ukraine. 'We are cooperating closely with partner nations from Europe and beyond and from today we are accelerating that work. Yesterday, military chiefs from 34 nations met here in Paris in meetings which were attended for more than an hour by President Macron. 'While the UK's Prime Minister will host another meeting on Saturday while military chiefs will resume their discussions next week.' Western nations, particularly the UK, must stop their completely baffling interventions into the affairs of foreign countries, acclaimed broadcaster Peter Hitchens argues in the latest episode of the Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast. Reflecting on the recent toppling of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad, the best-selling author told his co-host, columnist and writer Sarah Vine, that the UKs meddling has only wrought a murderous chaos upon the Middle East. Hitchens questioned how Britain can continue to finance the overthrow of despotic yet stable regimes whilst at home, public services crumble and illegal migration spirals out of control. He asked: Why do we keep messing around in other peoples countries when we cant fix our own? We cant fix the potholes; we cant teach our children to read; there arent enough dentists. Yet, we constantly rain missiles and bombs over countries we think we can fix. What gives us this idea? Syria, thanks to Western intervention, has turned from a pretty hideous but stable tyranny into a screaming bowl of fire and pain. The UN reports that since the outbreak of war in Syria, 7.2 million of the countrys inhabitants have been displaced, whilst more than 90 percent of those Syrians who stayed live below the poverty line. Each week, acclaimed columnists Sarah Vine and Peter Hitchens pull apart and debate one 'big idea' on the Mail's new politics show, Alas Vine & Hitchens. Listen wherever you get your podcasts Sarah Vine and Peter Hitchens discuss foreign intervention on their new Mail podcast Alas Vine & Hitchens. Listen here Between 2011 and 2021, over 350,000 people died fighting in the conflict, which ultimately saw a US-backed Islamist group, the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), seize power. Hitchens railed against his co-hosts view that the pursuit of natural resources underpins the Wests desire to interfere in foreign regimes, instead believing a flawed utopian vision of geopolitics forces the blocs arm. Since the Second World War, theres been this sort of Messianic desire in the West to make the world a better place. Everything is that war all over again: the person theyre trying to overthrow is always Hitler. Its a form of utopianism. Theres nothing wrong with it as a desire but the difficulty is in actually making it happen. The world is much more complicated than that. Listen to Alas Vine & Hitchens, with Sarah Vine and Peter Hitchens wherever you get your podcasts now. New episodes released every Wednesday. A man who was left with catastrophic injuries after he came into contact with 4,160 volts of electricity has revealed how he recovered from the devastating incident. John Pendleton, 36, was working a piece of heavy machinery in 2019 when the electricity surged through his body leaving the former rock miner seriously injured and in a coma for nine days. The over 4,000 volts entered through the top of Mr Pendleton's head and left out of his neck. After he woke up from his coma, Mr Pendleton said he had no idea what had happened to him. 'When I woke up, I had no idea what had happened,' John recalls. 'All I knew was that I was in excruciating pain, and everything about me had changed.' He had suffered third and fourth-degree burns which covered 30 per cent of his upper body, his skull was fractured, and his brain had bled from the trauma. Mr Pendleton had also lost his right ear and 40 per cent of the left one, permanently altering his appearance. But the physical pain was just the beginning of his recovery. John Pendleton, 36, was working a piece of heavy machinery in 2019 when the electricity surged through his body leaving the former rock miner seriously injured and in a coma for nine days Mr Pendleton with his wife Tiffany. The mental toll on Mr Pendleton has also been immense as he came to terms with his injuries Five years on, Mr Pendleton - who lives in South Florida - has become an online sensation, documenting his recovery and advocacy work on TikTok, where his honesty and resilience have gained him thousands of followers. But his journey to this point has been anything but easy. After the accident, doctors faced a harrowing decision. Much of his scalp had been destroyed by the electricity, leaving parts of his skull exposed. In an attempt to regenerate tissue, surgeons drilled burr holes into his skull. 'They told me they were hoping my skull would start to regrow tissue on its own. 'And it did but way too slowly. They told me I'd have to stay in the hospital for up to a year,' Mr Pendleton said. That was when an alternative, far more drastic, option was proposed: taking his lats muscle from his back and grafting it onto his head which he agreed to. 'At that point, I just wanted to get out of the hospital.' The 12-hour surgery was meant to be life-changing, but nothing could have prepared him for the aftermath. 'My first question before surgery was, "Is my head gonna hurt?" And my doctor said, "No, no, your back is gonna hurt because we're taking the muscle out of it". Mr Pendleton suffered third and fourth-degree burns which covered 30 per cent of his upper body, his skull was fractured, and his brain had bled from the trauma An artist's image of Mr Pendleton looking in the mirror at a picture of his old self 'When I woke up, I couldn't even feel my back but my head? It felt like it was stuck in a vice and someone was beating it with a sledgehammer over and over again.' He then spent over two months in the hospital, enduring unbearable pain. Despite the best medical interventions, his recovery was riddled with complications. His face had swollen beyond recognition, and even simple movements were impossible. The mental toll on Mr Pendleton has also been immense as he came to terms with his injuries. He said: 'I get asked all the time, "What did you look like before the accident?". 'And I get it's human curiosity. I actually had an artist create a picture of me looking at my old self. At first, it was really upsetting. But now, it's one of my favourite pictures.' He is now at peace with his scars won't ever get them tattooed over. 'I wear them with pride. They tell my story,' he said. Now Mr Pendleton is completely off all medications and has been sober for nearly ten years. Five years on, Mr Pendleton - who lives in South Florida - has become an online sensation, documenting his recovery and advocacy work on TikTok, where his honesty and resilience have gained him thousands of followers The 36-year-old and and his wife also run the Forgotten Working Class podcast, where they highlight blue-collar workers' struggles and triumphs Determined to rebuild his strength, Mr Pendleton has also returned to the gym. 'I lost so much muscle after the accident. And honestly, when I was on all those meds, I was getting really fat,' he laughs. 'So I got back in the gym, and it's helped me feel normal again.' But despite the progress, the pain hasn't disappeared. 'I still have severe nerve pain.. 'My back, where they took the muscle, burns constantly. The skin grafts on my leg still give me issues. And at night, I get these shooting pains that literally jolt me awake,' he said. Mr Pendleton also struggles with PTSD, which can be triggered by bright hospital lights or unexpected loud noises. He has transformed his unimaginable suffering into something positive which sees him travelling the country as a public safety speaker, sharing his story in the hopes of preventing others from experiencing the same fate. He and his wife, Tiffany, also run the Forgotten Working Class podcast, where they highlight blue-collar workers' struggles and triumphs. 'I know now that this is what I am meant to do. to share my story to help prevent workplace accidents,' He said. 'If I can save even one life, it's worth it.' The Canadian foreign minster has issued a stark warning that 'nobody is safe' from Donald Trump's tariffs as she prepares to welcomed her G7 counterparts today. Foreign ministers of leading Western democracies will meet in Canada today after seven weeks of rising tensions between US allies and Trump over his upending of foreign policy on Ukraine and imposing of tariffs. Trump on Wednesday imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports immediately drew reciprocal measures from Canada and the European Union, prompting a fiery response from America's northern neighbor. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly hit out at Trump for leveling 'unjustifiable' tariffs against Canada and trying to 'annex our country through economic coercion'. 'If the US can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe,' Joly warned as she delivered a searing speech in Ottawa, Politico reports. Joly criticized Trump for his regularly changing and 'exaggerated' justifications for the tariffs, noting that threats of 'further and broader' measures on April 2 still loom. 'We have done nothing to justify Trump's attacks on our country, on our economy and our identity,' she said. 'Canada is your best friend, best neighbor and best ally.' Relations between the US and Canada are at an all-time low, thanks to Trump's tariffs threats and constant musing about annexing the country to make it the 51st US state. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has tried to downplay Trump's comments, alleging the president believes Canada should join the US 'from an economic standpoint.' Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has warned that 'nobody is safe' from Donald Trump 's tariffs as she prepares to welcomed her G7 counterparts today Trump on Wednesday imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports immediately drew reciprocal measures from Canada and the European Union, prompting a fiery response from America's northern neighbor Joly, who along with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc is leading the charge on Canada's tariff response, criticized Trump for his always shifting tariff justifications. 'The excuse for the first round was exaggerated claims about our border. We addressed all the concerns raised by the US,' Joly said. 'The latest excuse is national security despite the fact that Canada's steel and aluminum adds to America's security.' Joly said the 'only constant' in what she branded an 'unjustifiable trade war' is Trump's talk of annexing Canada 'through economic coercion'. 'Yesterday, he called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric,' she said. 'Well, Canadians have made it very clear that we will not back down, and we will not give in to this coercion.' Trump on Tuesday claimed the US-Canadian border is an 'artificial line' that appears as if it was drawn 'with a ruler.' 'When you take away that, and you look at that beautiful formation of Canada and the United States, there's no place anywhere in the world that looks like that,' he said. Rubio, however, has tried to minimize Trump's remarks, telling reporters that what Trump really means is that if Canada became a US state 'we wouldn't have to worry about the border and fentanyl coming across because now we would be able to manage that'. Secretary of State Marco Rubio however, has tried to downplay Trump's remarks, telling reporters that the G7 'is not a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada' Seven ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, along with the EU, will gether in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, Quebec today for the G-7 meeting. They will spend two days in meetings that in the past have broadly been consensual on the issues they face. Top of the agenda for Washington's partners will be getting a debriefing on Rubio's talks on Tuesday with Kyiv in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire deal. But in the run-up to the first G7 meeting of Canada's presidency, the crafting of an agreed all-encompassing final statement has been tough. Washington has sought to impose red lines on language around Ukraine and opposed a separate declaration on curbing Russia's so-called shadow fleet, a murky shipping network that eludes sanctions, while demanding more robust language on China. On Monday, Rubio cautioned that Washington did not want language that could harm efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the table. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday he said a good G7 statement would recognise that the United States has moved the process to end the war forward. G7 diplomats said the positive outcome from Jeddah may at least ease talks on Ukraine. The US, since Trump's return to office on January 20, has taken a less-friendly stance on Ukraine, pushing for a quick deal to end the war, demanded European partners take on more of the burden without openly endorsing their role in future talks, and warmed Washington's ties with Moscow. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and shake hands with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the G7 meeting of foreign ministers in Charlevoix, Quebec, on March 13, 2025 'We're going to be focused in the G7 on all of those things. That's what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada,' Rubio told reporters, highlighting how offbeat their ties have become. That may not appease Ottawa, with Joly saying on Wednesday she would be on the offensive at the G7. 'In every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans,' she said. Even Japan, so reliant on American security guarantees, has found itself in Trump's firing line. 'It's very difficult. Maybe we should wait for the G8,' said one European diplomat ironically. Trump has suggested the G8 might be revived with the return of Moscow 11 years after its membership in the group was suspended over its annexation of Crimea. Nowhere have the difficulties for US allies been more apparent than in Canada. European diplomats have also said they hoped to use the G7 to assess directly how much influence Rubio has on US foreign policy. Trump has used a wide array of officials not linked to the State Department in talks ranging from Ukraine to the situation in the Middle East, where allies have been alarmed by some of the erratic statements coming from Washington. As anyone who has had the misfortune of dealing with civil service bureaucracy will know, it can be a complicated endeavour. There is the jargon, the minutes that bleed into hours spent on hold on the phone and, of course, the endless form-filling. But mastering this red tape - particularly in relation to Britain's bloated benefits system - can apparently also present extraordinarily lucrative business opportunities. Just ask Charlie Anderson, a YouTube blogger who says her chronic arthritis and fatigue has rendered her unable to work. Thanks to her lengthy experience with the welfare system, she is extremely proficient at filling out forms used to claim the Personal Independence Payment [PIP] allowance disability benefit. So adept has she become in applying for this taxpayer-funded help that she has taken to explaining the 'tricks of the trade' to any prospective benefits claimant - for a hefty fee, of course. Three North Koreans were tied to stakes and blasted with ninety bullets each during a gruesome public execution before their bodies were torched in front of onlookers. The trio were brutally murdered before an audience of terrified locals, including children, in the village of Songjong-ri, for daring to flee to the 'democratic' South. The condemned men - two brothers with the surname Kim and their friend Ri, all in their 30s- had spent months planning their escape. On January 6, they pooled their meagre savings to buy a small boat, setting sail in a dense fog, desperate to reach the safety of South Korea. Mistakenly believing a passing vessel to be a South Korean fishing boat, they cried out for help - only to be intercepted by a North Korean patrol boat that promptly arrested them. Eyewitnesses described the chilling process: the men were dragged out, blindfolded and gagged, and then bound so tightly they required six restraints just to keep their weakened bodies in place. 'Usually those who are to be executed are tied to the stake in three places: the neck, the torso, and the legs,' a resident from the northwestern province of North Pyongan, who witnessed the execution while on a trip to South Hwanghae, told Radio Free Asia. 'But this time, they were so weakened by severe torture that they had to be bound in six sections because they could not support their own bodies'. In a blood-curdling cry, officials bellowed: 'Traitors to the nation must be punished!' as a team of 10 executioners fired nine shots at each man - three to the head, three to the chest, and three to the legs- totaling an appalling 90 rounds per victim. Three men were killed in Kim Jong-uns North Korea after they attempted to flee to the south A North Korean defector, left, wears a mask playing the role of North leader Kim Jong Il is 'executed' by his fellows playing firing squad during a rally held against pro-North Korean groups in Seoul, in 2010 Teenagers have previously been sentenced to death in public where they were immediately gunned down by authorities at an airfield in Hyesan, while residents were made to watch forcibly Adding insult to injury, the authorities then burned their remains in front of horrified residents. 'They said: 'There is no place to bury the bodies of defectors in in this land!'' the witness recalled, describing how even the youngest onlookers were left in shock, with some collapsing in sheer terror. A second source told the news site that the public executions are an attempt to instill fear in the residents of what will happen if they try to escape, with some locals collapsing and fainting at the horrific sight. This brutal episode is a stark reminder of the increasingly severe penalties for would-be escapees in North Korea. Once relegated to reeducation camps for up to 15 years, defection now carries the death penalty - executed in public with the intent to instill fear among any who might consider following in their footsteps. Since the end of the Korean War, more than 34,000 North Koreans have risked everything to seek refuge in South Korea, often fleeing via treacherous routes through China and Southeast Asia. But as the Kim brothers and their friend tragically discovered, the price of defiance against the regime's iron-fisted rule can be unimaginably high. Other notorious execution methods used by the regime range from death by anti-aircraft guns to poisoning. Local residents are sometimes forced to watch the gruesome public executions which are used as a warning against trying to escape A ZPU-4 AA anti-aircraft gun, like those reportedly used in North Korea to kill criminals Satellite image showing a firing range in North Korea set up with a viewing area, targets, and a line of what appear to be anti-aircraft guns which Kim used to blast some of his rivals to pieces Back in 2017, defector Hee Yeon Lim reportedly claimed she saw 11 musicians accused of making a pornographic film 'blown to bits' by anti-aircraft guns. 'What I saw that day made me sick in my stomach,' she said. Hee Yeon said she and her classmates were taken to a stadium at the city's Military Academy where the hooded victims were tied to the end of anti-aircraft guns in front of 10,000 spectators. 'A gun was fired, the noise was deafening, absolutely terrifying. And the guns were fired one after the other,' she recalled. 'The musicians just disappeared each time the guns were fired into them. Their bodies were blown to bits, totally destroyed, blood and bits flying everywhere and then, after that, military tanks moved in and they ran over the bits on the ground where the remains lay.' Also in 2015, reports surfaced from South Korean intelligence that its neighbour had publicly executed its Defence Minister Hyong Yong Chol with an anti-aircraft gun for falling asleep during an event and not carrying out instructions. Kim Jong-un's estranged half-brother, Kim Jong-nam was killed in 2017 after the tyrant leader engineered the assassination of the 45-year-old. In a report by South Korean intelligence analysts at the time, it was claimed Kim wanted the death to be so 'gruesome' it would 'horrify the rest of the world'. Over 300 sites in North Korea have been identified as locations of public executions carried out by the hermit kingdom, sometimes drawing hundreds of forced spectators as the part of a campaign to intimidate citizens A North Korean defector reacts next to a picture depicting a public execution of a North Korean soldier in a rally demanding the improvement of North Koreans' human rights at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 14, 2011 Kim Jong-nam was killed by two women who smeared him with what turned out to be poisonous VX nerve agent in Kuala Lampur International Airport in Malaysia. Other reports that have emerged from North Korea have told how prison inmates would be given just 20 ounces of corn each while toiling at mines, farms and factories form 13 to 15 hours a day. Many died of hunger and diseases brought on by malnutrition, a witness said last year, while others managed to catch vermin and insects to eat. 'People eat rats and snakes. They were the best food to recover our health,' said one 46-year-old man, adding he still suffers from ulcers, headaches and back pain. North Korea has been ruled by one of the world's longest running dynastic dictatorships since 1948 - and in October 1993 the North Korean Government told Amnesty International that the death penalty is imposed rarely in 'extremely serious cases'. But these grisly punishments, meant to serve as a stark warning to the population, have cast a dark shadow over life in North Korea, where fear and brutality remain the norm for anyone daring to dream of freedom. Police with drones used the cover of darkness to allow council workmen to finish off a controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme. Council staff and ETM contractors were supported by a huge police presence in Barton Hill, Bristol at 3am this morning to install planters, bus gate signs and paint the roads. Previous efforts to install the traffic blockers have been met with mass protests and a small group of residents were alerted to this morning's work and tried to stop it at 4.30am. But the force's coordinated operation meant work was being carried out at multiple locations at the same time, as dozens of officers and the police drone operator team swarmed the area, allowing contractors to work unhindered for the first time. A handful of local residents tried to stop the installation in the five remaining locations, but only succeeded at one - where a group of women lay down in the road to prevent the completion of one of the bus gates. One police liaison officer was filmed telling the protesters they would be blocking the highway if they continued with their protest - even though the highway had already been blocked by ETM's lorries. In chaotic scenes between 4am and 5am, a small group of women physically stopped the completion of the bus gate at the Marsh Lane junction, and cheered when the council and the police retreated. But the dawn revealed the council workmen had been successful in installing the controversial planters, road blockages and bus gates in other locations - including two locations on Victoria Avenue, on Cobden Street and Dulcie Road. Council staff and ETM contractors were supported by a huge police presence in Barton Hill, Bristol at 3am this morning to install planters, bus gate signs and paint the roads The dawn revealed the council workmen had been successful in installing the controversial planters, road blockages and bus gates Previous efforts to install the traffic blockers have been met with mass protests and a small group of residents were alerted to this morning's work (pictured: Residents of Barton Hill staged a protest in November 2024) Your browser does not support iframes. The bus gates on Avonvale Road do not yet appear to be operational - temporary electronic signs indicate it's not yet active - but the work to complete the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood has been completed in other locations in the area. One of the residents who came out in the middle of the night was Fadumo Farah, who lives in nearby Barton House. 'We got out after 4.30am but they had been there since around 3am,' she said. 'I have never seen more police in one place, there must have been 60 of them, and they had the drone up. We had to split up to try to get to all the locations, but we couldn't manage it. 'We laid down in the road at Avonvale Road, about four of us, and they stopped their work and left,' she added. Implementation of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood has so far involved the city council attempting to prevent through traffic on a number of roads, mainly in St George and Redfield, but this morning a key route through Barton Hill is the subject of action. Avonvale Road runs east-west along the north side of Netham Park and into the heart of Barton Hill. At its junction with Marsh Lane - a spot famous for the Banksy on the corner there - the city council want to prevent cars and vans from continuing to travel west into Barton Hill, while still allowing bikes and pedestrians. Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has been caught in a scuffle with an anti Brexit campaigner outside Parliament. The Ashfield MP was filmed trading insults with 'Stop Brexit' campaigner Steve Bray in Westminster in a heated exchange which eventually saw police intervene. Footage of the incident shows Bray taunting the former Conservative politician as he walked down the street, branding him an 'MP who lies through his teeth'. Mr Bray continues: 'Who votes for idiots like you? How many parties have you been in Lee? You just jump ship whenever it suits you.' The pair continue to trade insults, before Mr Anderson reaches for Mr Bray's hat and knocks it upwards. Mr Bray then responds by pushing the politician in the chest, and claiming to two police officers nearby 'that's assault'. But Mr Anderson replies in turn, saying Mr Bray is 'a thug' and 'needs arresting.' The two officers then intervene to break up the pair as Mr Anderson walks off. Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has been caught in a scuffle with 'Stop Brexit' campaigner Steve Bray outside Parliament The pair continue to trade insults, before Mr Anderson reaches for Mr Brays hat and attempts to tip it off his head Mr Bray then responds by pushing the politician in the chest, and claiming to two police officers nearby 'that's assault' Mr Bray is understood to have shouted at the MP through a megaphone before the confrontation. Mr Anderson told GB News following the incident: 'This professional nuisance is a menace to upstanding political figures like myself. The sooner this individual is carted off to the job centre, the better.' Former Tory Minister Andrea Jenkyns offered her support towards Mr Anderson, claiming Mr Bray is a 'a horrible man'. She added: 'He hounded me every week in parliament for over five years. He even hounded and shouted through his megaphone at me many times when I had my young child with me, making him cry on so many occasions.' Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who is at the centre of a police investigation for his alleged bullying party chairman Zia Yusuf, also waded in on social media. He wrote on X: 'Following swearing at a Parliamentary security guard, this is a pattern of bullying and aggressive behaviour from Anderson. 'I look forward to seeing how Reform deals with this concerning development.' The Great Yarmouth MP, who was suspended last Friday, denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a 'witch hunt' after he dared to criticise Mr Farage's leadership of the party. Mr Bray (pictured) has been an almost constant presence outside Downing Street since Britain voted to leave the European Union Mr Bray has been an almost constant presence outside Downing Street since Britain voted to leave the European Union. He is widely known for his blue top hat and yellow ribbon announcing 'Stop Brexit'. He famously blasted Rishi Sunak with New Labour's 1997 anthem 'Things Can Only Get Better' as the then PM announced the election amid a torrential downpour last year. When Boris Johnson departed Downing Street for the last time, Mr Bray played the theme from the Benny Hill show as Mr Johnson delivered his speech. Mr Bray has regularly faced difficulties with police in Whitehall over his loud protests - often using an amplifier and large speakers to disrupt press briefings outside Number 10. He and Mr Anderson have a long history of verbal clashes in Whitehall and this is not the first time their heated exchanges have turned ugly. In 2023, Mr Anderson again went after the controversial campaigner's hat after taking it off his head outside Parliament. Video shared online shows the controversial campaigner approaching Mr Anderson, 56, and asking: 'How are the subsidised meals going Lee? Looks like you're benefiting from them.' Mr Anderson had been dubbed '30p Lee' for insisting Brits should be able to cook meals from scratch for 'about 30p a day'. Video shared online in 2023 shows the campaigner approaching Mr Anderson, asking: 'How are the subsidised meals going Lee? Looks like you're benefiting from them' The MP then grabs Mr Bray's hat off his head before turning back towards the entrance of a building Replying to Mr Bray's comment, the MP says: 'It's a new year, but you've not got a new job yet. Same old job. You're still a parasite. You're still a scrounger and you're still a malingerer.' The MP then grabd Mr Bray's hat off his head before turning back towards the entrance of a building. A short scuffle takes place, with the campaigner wrestling his hat off a grinning Mr Anderson as an armed policeman comes out through a door to break the pair up. 'There we go,' the Tory says as he walks into the building, while an incandescent Mr Bray calls him a 'piece of s**t'. Mr Bray also confronted Mr Anderson in May 2022, asking about the future of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The MP said: 'At least I've got a job to lose. You haven't got one.' Mr Bray replied: 'My job's annoying and holding people like you to account.' The Brexiteer added: 'You're nothing but a parasite. We've established that.' This is the moment a suspect made an audacious bid for freedom on one of the UK's busiest roads by attempting to scale a large wall 'like Spider-Man'. A man was spotted fleeing from police on foot close to Chingford on the A406, also known as the North Circular - a ring road that encircles central London. The individual dressed in all black was filmed by a passing motorist as he sprinted down the left-hand lane of the dual-carriageway at around 4.05pm on Wednesday. As police officers neared, the man decided to take his chances by starting to climb a giant wall that appears to be at least 40-foot-high. He managed to scale to around 20-feet above the ground as police cars descended and officers closed in. The footage, posted on social media site X, appears to show police officers encourage the man to make his way back to the ground. The 50-second clip, set to the song Life Is a Highway by Rascal Flatts, cuts off before we see what happens to the suspect. However, another video which has emerged online shows the immediate aftermath of the wannabe Spider-Man's fall. A man was fleeing from police on foot close to Chingford on the A406, also known as the North Circular - the 25.7-mile-long ring road that encircles central London on Wednesday As he police drew closer in, the suspect attempted to scale a towering wall reaching a height of around 20 feet In the short clip, the man is seen plummeting after losing his grasp on the wall, landing on a police officer below. Four policemen rush to the man who fell, before noticing their colleague writing in pain on the floor. A policeman asks 'Is he alright?' as the officer holds his leg after breaking the suspect's fall. As the scene unfolded, the section of the road was cordoned off by police officers. The individual has since been arrested on suspicion of driving offences, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. Social media users have since poked fun at the man's attempt to climb the towering wall, comparing him to Marvel superhero Spider-Man. 'Telling my kids this was Spider-Man,' one wrote, whilst a second chimed :'I just saw real life Spider-Man'. Another quipped: 'Must've missed this scene on Spider-Man'. A viewer exclaimed: 'YOU MET PETER PARKER?', whilst the original poster laughingly responded: 'What a great day it turned out to be.' He later fell plummeting on to a police officer. He has since been arrested on suspicion of driving offences TikTokers were impressed by the man's climbing skills, with the original poster saying he 'couldn't believe my eyes' when he saw the suspect making his way up the wall Social media users had fun with the man's attempt to scale the giant wall, jokingly likening him to Marvel superhero Spider-Man Meanwhile several onlookers were impressed by the man's climbing skills, with one affirming: 'He's literally Spider-Man.' A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'At around 16:05hrs on Wednesday, 12 March, police attempted to stop a vehicle on the A406 in Chingford. 'The man in the car was believed to be wanted by police. The car failed to stop and a pursuit was authorised. 'The vehicle stopped close to Crooked Billet and the driver attempted to flee on foot before falling from a wall. 'The man was arrested on suspicion of driving offences. He remains in police custody. The road was partially closed to traffic.' A Chinese restaurant has offered to compensate 4,000 diners after a video showing two teenagers urinating into a hotpot broth was shared on social media. The boys, both aged 17, were filmed standing on a dining table and peeing into the broth pot in a private room at a Shanghai branch of Haidilao, China's biggest hotpot chain, in late February. Police said the two teens were drunk during the stunt and they were arrested soon after. Footage of the incident was shared online last month, but it is unclear who took the video. There is no indication anyone consumed the broth. While the broth cooked in the personal hotpot equipment used by Haidilao customers is not re-served, it is unclear whether the hotpot the boys urinated into was cleaned and disinfected properly before it was used by a new customers. Haidilao apologised to customers and said it replaced all hotpots and dining utensils, the BBC reports. The company only found out about the teenagers peeing into their equipment days after the incident when several videos circulated on social media. But it then took another week to identify which of the dozen Haidilao restaurants in Shanghai was seen in the video. The boys were filmed standing on a dining table and peeing into their broth pot in a private room at a Shanghai branch of Haidilao, China's biggest hotpot chain, in late February Police said the two teens were drunk during the stunt and that they were arrested soon after Staff working in the restaurant failed to stop the boys, the company said. 'We fully understand that the distress caused to our customers by this incident cannot be fully compensated for by any means, but we will do our utmost to take responsibility,' Haidilao said in a statement. The company has now announced customers who dined at the Shanghai restaurant between February 24 and March 8 will be given a full refund as well as a cash compensation ten times the amount they were billed for their meals. This follows a similar incident in China in 2018, which saw a noodle shop owner at Haikou in Hainan Province, southern China, catching a man urinating and defecating in the broth in his restaurant. Believing the malicious act was done by the people from the restaurant next door, the man identified by local media as Mr Jiang installed security cameras in his noodle shop after noticing an awful smell from the beef broth. China Food and Drug Administration collected samples from the broth and confirmed the soup contained human faeces and urine. Mr Jiang told Haikou Police the father of his restaurant rival Mr Li father had urinated and defecated at two big pots. It's claimed the pots were used to keep beef broth. Mr Li's father was detained by the police but released later. A packed passenger plane was just seconds away from disaster when it nearly crashed into a helicopter above Stansted Airport. The Ryanair flight had 178 people on board when a co-pilot forgot to tell the captain he'd switched off the autopilot - resulting in the near miss. The aircraft was approaching the Essex airport after a two-hour flight from Szczecin in Poland and was at 3,000ft when the miscommunication in the cockpit occurred. The co-pilot handed control to the commander so he could set up the computer for the descent. However, the 43-year-old captain was unaware the autopilot and autothrust were no longer engaged. The loss of control led to the Boeing 737 to drop around 550ft before the error was realised. It was only cleared to descend 200ft and therefore fell into an altitude that was not cleared by Air Traffic Control. At that moment a helicopter was flying at around 2,000ft in the airspace above Stansted. A packed passenger plane came within seconds of crashing into a helicopter above Stansted Airport as the captain didn't realise the autopilot had been turned off, a report today reveals (stock image) The Ryanair flight was approaching the Essex airport after a two hour flight from Szczecin in Poland and was at 3,000ft when the miscommunication in the cockpit occurred (stock image) Air accident investigators found the plane was 300ft above the helicopter and 1.7 nautical miles across from it. Once the captain back control, the aircraft rose back to 3,000ft before completing an uneventful landing. The incident has chilling similarities to the January 29 disaster over Washington D.C when an airliner crashed with a US Army helicopter, killing 67 people. The Stansted near-miss happened on March 8, 2024. The weather was clear and there was a moderate breeze. There were 172 passengers and six crew on board the Ryanair flight. An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report has now been released into the Stansted incident. 'The co-pilot said that this was his first time he had handed over control during manual flight and that he did not know the precise call outs that were stated in the Flight Crew Operating Manual,' it reported. 'Whilst he did not highlight the fact that he was manually flying he assumed the commander realised this. 'There was no formal reply stated in manual for the pilot monitoring however it is common practice in all areas of aviation to reply 'I have control', once control has been taken. 'Shortly thereafter, while the aircraft was still in the left turn, the commander noticed that the aircraft was descending and had descended about 550ft. 'He promptly took control and climbed the aircraft back to 3,000ft; the aircraft had descended 600ft in total during the descent.' The manual has now been expanded to ensure a positive confirmation of 'I have control' during the transfer of aircraft control. The report states: 'On this occasion the defined parameters for a short-term conflict alert between the respective aircraft were not met and so the alert did not activate between [the [lane] and the helicopter. 'The National Air Traffic Services measured the closest point of approach between the two aircraft as 1.7 nautical miles (across) and 300 feet (up). 'The monitoring pilot is also responsible for monitoring the conduct of the flight, and whilst it is accepted that he may be heads down while completing some cockpit tasks, they should always allow themselves time to review the flight instruments from time to time. 'If his actions needed to be checked or carried out on his behalf, control of the aircraft should have been handed back over. 'This incident also shows that distractions and quick decisions can lead to a loss of control of an aircraft, even for a small period of time.' The man who founded one of the biggest megachurches in the United States has been indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges, the state's attorney general's office announced. Robert Morris, 63, who resigned last year as the senior pastor of Texas-based Gateway Church, was charged Wednesday with five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child. Morris, 63, allegedly first abused the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., when she was 12 years old in 1982. He was a traveling evangelist and was staying with the victim's family in Hominy, Oklahoma, according to the attorney general's office. The alleged abuse started when he was staying with them on Christmas Day and continued for another three years, with the last alleged incident possibly occurring in 1985, per the indictment. Cindy Clemishire, Morris' accuser, came forward to the Associated Press and said she was grateful to the authorities who worked to bring the indictment. 'After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,' said Clemishire, now 55. 'Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable.' Clemishire first came forward to The Wartburg Watch in June of last year. Following a public outcry, Morris resigned from his post at the 100,000-member church. Robert Preston Morris, 63, has been indicted in the state of Oklahoma for allegedly sexually abusing a girl from ages 12 to 14 in the early 1980s when he was a traveling evangelist Cindy Clemishire, now 55, identified herself as the girl who was being referenced in the indictment. She has said Morris tried to have sex with her when she was 16 as well, but the charging document doesn't allege that 'There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,' Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. 'This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.' The grand jury concluded that Morris used his hands and body to touch Clemishire's private parts when she was 12 until she was 14. Morris had been married to his current wife, Debbie, for about two years when the alleged abuse began in 1982, per the indictment. Clemishire has claimed Morris tried to have sex with her when she was 16, but this was not alleged in the indictment. Clemishire told The Dallas Morning News last year that she didn't even believe she was sexually abused until age 35, though she had been in therapy for the preceding 10 years. Morris, who founded Gateway Church in 2000, addressed the allegations against him in a statement he provided to The Christian Post last year. 'When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years,' Morris said. Morris also claimed the allegations were brought to light in March 1987. At that point, he said he confessed to the family and the elders at the Shady Grove Church, the church he was a part of at the time. Morris has been politically active in the past, having served as an advisor to President Donald Trump on religious issues during his first term. He also hosted Trump at Gateway Church in 2020 Morris got forgiveness from Clemishire's family, something Clemishire confirmed to the Christian Post, but she claims her father never gave Morris his blessing to return to being a pastor. 'My father never ever gave his blessing on Robert returning to ministry! My father told him hes lucky he didnt kill him,' Clemishire said. 'Of course, we forgive because we are called to biblically forgive those who sin against us. But that does not mean he is supposed to go on without repercussions.' DailyMail.com approached Morris for comment on the charges against him. Gateway Church released a statement Wednesday saying it was aware of the indictment against Morris, while thanking law enforcement for 'holding abusers accountable for their actions.' 'We continue to pray for Cindy Clemishire and her family, for the members and staff of Gateway Church, and for all of those impacted by this terrible situation,' the church said. Morris has been politically active in the past, having served as an advisor to President Donald Trump on religious issues during his first term. He also hosted Trump at Gateway Church in 2020. A spokesperson for Trump told The New York Times last year that Morris did not play a role in his 2024 presidential campaign. Morris, who wasn't in custody as of Wednesday, faces 20 years in prison for each of the charges against him, according to the attorney general's office. An iconic Oregon beach has a dirty secret, environmentalists say: It's filled with human waste. A recent lawsuit revealed that stunning Cannon Beach, best known for being featured in the classic '80s film The Goonies, has harbored feces in its water for years. The Northwest Environmental Defense Center filed the lawsuit against the City of Cannon Beach in the US District Court of Portland on Monday, saying that high levels of bacteria have made it potentially unsafe for visitors. The lawsuit cites 'dangerously high' levels of E. coli and Enterococcus bacteria, which are the primary indicators of fecal material. Tests conducted by the Department of Environmental Quality revealed that although some of the waste was traced back to animals, a majority is from humans. The NEDC alleged that waste has polluted the beach for decades, causing frequent beach closures and putting visitors at risk. 'City administrators have ignored the problem for too long, and Cannon Beachs reputation as a pristine family friendly place to visit is at risk,' NEDC member and Cannon Beach resident Michael Manzulli stated in the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that the city's outdated sewer system has resulted in leakage and waste seeping into public beaches. A recent lawsuit revealed that stunning Cannon Beach, best known for being featured in the classic '80s film The Goonies, has harbored feces in its water for years For decades, fans of the 1985 movie have flocked to the filming location The cast carried their bikes in a storm in front of Cannon Beach in the film Manzulli said that since the Pacific Ocean can be cold and dangerous for kids to swim in, they'll often turn to coastal streams along the beach, not knowing that they are contaminated by human waste. Cannon Beach features prominently in The Goonies, an 1985 adventure film that opens with shots of Haystack Rock and an exciting car race scene on the Oregon shore. For decades, fans of the movie have flocked to the filming location. The Department of Environmental Quality has previously warned city officials of the waste problem, releasing a study in September 2024 detailing the 'higher than anticipated' presence of human feces. The department collected 100 samples, with 21 of them having excessive levels of bacteria such as E. coli and Enterococcus. The study took water samples from numerous beaches across Oregon, with Cannon Beach posing the highest risk for exposure to bacteria. There is an increased chance of becoming ill from human feces compared to animal waste. NEDC Executive Director Jonah Sandford said that the lawsuit is the first step in putting pressure on the city to finally solve the problem. The NEDC said it would be willing to litigate the case in court, but preferred to work with the city to fix the issue. The Goonies opens with shots of Haystack Rock and an exciting car race scene on the Oregon shore Ke Huy Quan and Corey Feldman ride bikes alongside Cannon Beach in a scene from The Goonies A nonprofit environmental organization filed a lawsuit against the City of Cannon Beach saying that high levels of bacteria have made it potentially unsafe for visitors If action isn't taken, Cannon Beach could violate the Clean Water Act, which prohibits overflows of sewage or stormwater from polluting waterways. The lawsuit comes just as the Clean Water Act has come under scrutiny for its broad protections of US waters. On March 4, the Supreme Court limited the act's protections when five justices ruled in favor of weakening federal limitations on raw sewage discharge. The case was brought on by the city of San Francisco against the Environmental Protection Agency for requiring the city to meet water quality standards in the Pacific Ocean. The Supreme Court ruled that it wasn't lawful for the EPA to 'punish' San Francisco city officials for 'the end-result water quality of a shared body of water.' If action isn't taken, Cannon Beach could violate the Clean Water Act, which prohibits overflows of sewage or stormwater from polluting waterways Cannon Beach is known for its picturesque views The EPA also announced on Wednesday that it would be reconsidering which waterways are protected under the act. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said the current definition of the Clean Water Act placed 'unfair burdens on the American people and drove up the cost of doing business.' The current discrepancies over the jurisdiction of the EPA and where the Clean Water Act applies could present an obstacle to the NEDC's lawsuit against Cannon Beach. DailyMail.com reached out to Cannon Beach's city manager officials for comment. Transport for London (TfL) have removed 'free book libraries' which were previously present at a number of London underground stations over vandalism fears and fire safety concerns. These book exchange facilities have been in existence for a number of years, but London's fire chiefs, along with TfL, have decided that their risk outweighs their reward. Following a review of fire precautions at TfL stations, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) found the popular book swap shelves to be in breach of regulations. Categorising the books as a 'combustible material', there was concern that the mini libraries could be targeted by lawless Londoners. Moreover, local library representatives have noted the decision was made based on the recent vandalism endured by a number of book swaps. Kamal Shah, chair of North Harrow Community Library, told the BBC that the driving force behind the decision was actually the 'inconsiderate' nature of Tube users. 'The biggest problem is people being inconsiderate; if people hadn't been vandalising them or dumping stuff around the shelving, TfL would have been happy to carry on the scheme', he said. Mr Shah added that the book swaps would be better placed in areas other than stations were they weren't as prone to vandalism. Transport for London (TfL) have removed 'free book libraries' which were previously present at a number of London underground stations The book swap facilities at Oval tube station, which have proved popular with commuters for a number of years Signs like those above have been left at book swap facilities at a number of TfL tube stations There is not full alignment though on the decision to label the book swaps in breach of fire safety rules either. Former London Fire Brigade (LFB) borough commander Steve Dudeney was heavily critical of the move and labelled the ban 'overkill'. He added that the current rules around combustible materials have been in place for nearly two decades and that there is yet to have been a fire caused by the books. 'I think it's a ridiculous application (of the rules)... If you've got a small bookshelf on a platform and in the upstairs area, the risk is there but it's negligible. 'Someone has taken the legislation to the nth degree without using experience and skill to use a proper assessment of the risk', Mr Dudeney remarked. Speaking to the decision, a TfL spokesperson told the MailOnline: 'We work very closely with London Fire Brigade and other emergency services to ensure our services run safely and following guidance from the Fire Service, we have advised our staff to remove book swaps from stations. 'We'd like to apologise to any of our customers that this impacts and we are reviewing our processes for these internally and will work with the Fire Service to see if book swaps can be re-introduced at some stations across the network in the future. 'We will also work with local communities to redistribute books to alternative local locations in the meantime'. A London Fire Brigade spokesperson added: 'It is Transport for London's (TfL) responsibility to ensure its premises are compliant under the statutory fire safety regulations that apply. We will continue to work closely with TfL on this issue'. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. The issue of vandalism at TfL stations is not a new one, with the MailOnline last month exclusively revealing the capital's most dangerous tube stations. King's Cross St Pancras station topped the pile with over 4,000 crimes reported in 2024, equating to roughly 11 incidents per day. Crime has not just been limited to the vandalising of book swaps either, with far more serious incidents of assault and even attempted murder occurring at underground stations last year. With full figures not yet available for the entirety of 2024, 2023 stands as the worst year on record for crime at TfL stations. Over 22,000 crimes were reported to police between January and February of 2023, with data compiled by MailOnline showing the gradual increase of crimes per million passenger journeys over a 15 year period from 2009 to 2024. However, the curve of the graph shows that the crime rate was actually declining from 2009 to 2016, hitting it's lowest crime rate of 7.3 just before Sadiq Khan took over as Mayor of London. March 2023 was the worst month on record with a crime rate of 24.9. This is excluding data complied around Covid which is skewed as ridership plummeted during this time due to government restrictions being in place. The heartbreaking final act of loyalty from Gene Hackman's dogs has been revealed. Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa's dogs, German Shepherd Bear and Akita-shepherd mix Nikita, were found by first responders roaming freely on the couple's sprawling Santa Fe estate. Police, paramedics and the Fire Department rushed to the home on February 26 after a caretaker made the grisly discovery of Arakawa's dead body. However, they were then unable to immediately locate Hackman and after over 30 minutes they had still not found the Oscar winning actor. During their search one of the dogs constantly ran up to them barking and running off in different locations. The first responders thought they wanted to play however this was not the case. 'They realized (the dog) was trying to say, "Hey, come over here! Come over here!".' Chief Brian Moya told USA Today. Once they followed the dog it led them to Hackman's body in the mudroom which the dog then sat next to. Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa with two of their dogs. During the first responders' search for Hackman it was one of his dogs which guided them to his body Hackman and Arakawa's sprawling home in Santa Fe. their pet dogs - German Shepherd Bear and Akita-shepherd mix Nikita - were found by first responders roaming freely on the mansion's grounds Hackman and Arakawa at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards. Arakawa died on February 11 from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome a week before Hackman One of their dogs Nikita was 'skittish because of all the commotion' and refused to leave the sides of both of her owners, the authorities said. Both dogs who are now in a boarding facility until the couple's wills are read and they can be rehomed. The autopsy of the couple revealed that Arakawa, 65, died about a week before Hackman on February 11. Her cause of death was Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - a rare rat-borne disease that produces flu-like symptoms but can be deadly with a 38 per cent death rate according to the CDC. Hackman, 95, on February 18 before the couple's mummified remains were found in separate rooms of their $3.8 million home on February 26. Dr. Heather Jarrell, Chief Medical Investigator for the state of New Mexico, said their deaths had both been ruled as natural, and that no signs of internal or external trauma were found. Their dog Zinna, who was found dead near Arakawa, who was picked up from a veterinary hospital on February 9 after undergoing a procedure, which may explain why it was found in a kennel, according to authorities. Jarrell said there was no reliable method to get an exact time for death, but concluded that Hackman probably died around February 18. The couple were also known for their love of dogs. Just days before she died Arakawa had collected their dog Zinna from the vet Hackman and Arakawa at the Academy Awards in 1993. He met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s In a full timeline of events, officials said that Arakawa had picked up their dog Zinna from a vet hospital after the dog underwent treatment on February 9. On February 11, they said she had an email conversation with her massage therapist before later in the afternoon going to a farmers market. She was caught on CVS surveillance footage shortly after the market, before then going to a local pet food store. Her car was then seen on surveillance entering the gated community at 5:15pm on February 11. Officials said that numerous emails went unopened on February 11, and that there was no further communication from her account after that day. Detectives are still waiting on retrieving her full cell phone data, but said her last known activity was February 11. Hackman was discovered lying on the ground of a mud room just off the kitchen with his sunglasses and cane nearby, indicating he may have fallen according to officials. Jarrell said that there was no food inside Hackman, and that there was no signs of dehydration. Hackman with his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Unforgiven. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation 'Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimers disease,' Jarrell said. 'He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death.' Hackman shared three children with his first wife Faye Maltese. He and Arakawa, a classical pianist, had been married for the last three decades. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s. He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for The French Connection in 1972 and Unforgiven two decades later. Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had decamped to Santa Fe. A naturally private man, Hackman was labelled a recluse as he remained out of the public eye for years on end following his retirement from the movie industry. He retired from acting in 2004. Sir Keir Starmer today shied away from a 'tariff war' with Donald Trump as he pinned his hopes on striking a trade deal with the US President. The Prime Minister admitted he was 'disappointed' that Mr Trump had imposed 25 per cent taxes on imports of steel and aluminium to America. But he said he would be 'pragmatic' in his response and continue talks with the White House on an 'economic deal' between the UK and US. Sir Keir said this would be the 'better way' to deal with Mr Trump's tariffs, although he left open the prospect of retaliatory action by insisting 'all options are on the table'. The PM has so far chosen not to copy the EU in taking countermeasures against the US President's steel and aluminium levies. The Brussels-based bloc this week targeted a slew of American products, ranging from boats to bourbon to Harley-Davidson motorbikes. It has been revealed how Sir Keir is instead intensifying efforts to strike a US trade deal before 1 April, which is when Mr Trump has threatened to impose broader tariffs. Mr Trump has signalled that 25 per cent 'reciprocal tariffs' will come into force next month to offset VAT on US imports - even though it is a sales tax applied to all goods. Sir Keir Starmer today shied away from a 'tariff war' with Donald Trump as he pinned his hopes on striking a trade deal with the US President The Prime Minister, who visited the White House last month, admitted he was 'disappointed' that Mr Trump had imposed 25 per cent taxes on imports of steel and aluminium to America The US President reiterated his determination to go ahead with the action in a meeting with Irish PM Micheal Martin at the White House last night. 'We've been abused for a long time, and we will be abused no longer. I am not happy with the EU,' he said. 'We're going to win that financial battle.' During his own meeting with Mr Trump at the White House last month, the US President had suggested to Sir Keir that Britain could avoid his tariffs. Asked this morning if he was still hopeful the UK might be granted a reprieve, the PM replied: 'Obviously I'm disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to steel and aluminium. 'But I'm going to take a pragmatic response to this because we are negotiating and talking about an economic deal and agreement as we speak. 'My strong view is that is the better way to deal with the trade we want between our country and the US. 'It's massive already, it could be even bigger and even better. That is the pragmatic way to respond. 'In course, in the end, all options are on the table. But my response is to keep my feet on the ground, to be pragmatic, to keep ensuring we keep our eyes on the prize. 'The prize is not a tariff war, which I don't think is going to be in our interests. 'The prize is an economic agreement or deal - if we can reach that - that actually covers tariffs and much more besides. 'That's what we're in the middle of at the moment and that's the way I see it.' The US President reiterated his determination to go ahead with 'reciprocal tariffs' in a meeting with Irish PM Micheal Martin at the White House last night It is unclear what the scope of a US-UK deal would be, as the Government has dismissed the prospect of compromising on food standards to allow American imports such as chlorinated chicken. The UK currently imposes 20 per cent VAT on most goods and services. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) previously estimated that tariffs of that scale could knock 0.4 percentage points off UK economic growth for the next two years - equivalent to around 24billion. Concerns have been raised that, with the economy slowing and debt costs rising, a trade shock could force Chancellor Rachel Reeves to increase taxes again to balance the books. A Whitehall source told The Times that the UK was in a 'much better place' than the EU, which Mr Trump has claimed was created to 'screw' the US. 'They don't have any cards to play,' the source said. 'We do.' Cheltenham Festival versus Benidorm TOTALS CHELTENHAM: 2,906 BENIDORM: 152 TRAVEL - Up to 42 saving Cheltenham (86): From 71 for a super-off-peak train return from London Paddington on Great Western Railway, although cheaper advance tickets can be found, then 15 taxi to racecourse Benidorm (44): From 44 return for a flight from London Stansted with Ryanair, plus airport transfers at either end TICKETS - Up to 240 saving Cheltenham (From 240): From 48 a day for the Guinness Grandstand, meaning 240 for five days - or 100 to 118 for its Club enclosure Benidorm (From free): Most venues are free but some charge up to 15 (13) for an all-day seat ACCOMMODATION - Up to 2,402 saving Cheltenham (2,502 average for five nights): 2,502 average for a five-night stay, combined from Booking.com and Airbnb data Benidorm (From 100 for five nights): 20 to 140 a night DRINKS - Up to 69.50 saving for ten pints Cheltenham (78 for ten pints): Pint of lager for 7.80, glass of wine 9.70 Benidorm (8.50 for ten pints): Pint costs about 2, but can be as little as 1 (85p) in some bars Advertisement It's one of the world's best-known horse racing festivals with elite jockeys and enthusiastic punters enjoying four days of action-packed sport. But fans are saving thousands of pounds by choosing to watch the Cheltenham Festival in the Benidorm sunshine while enjoying pints for just 1 each. Calculations by MailOnline suggest revellers can save more than 2,500 by going to Benidorm instead of Cheltenham - with the biggest saving on accommodation which can be as little as 100 for five nights on the Spanish coast, compared to an average of 2,502 for Cheltenham. Ten pints could be as much as 70 cheaper and a return flight out to the Spanish resort can be about 25 less than the train from London to Cheltenham. There is also a big saving on the festival ticket price, which starts at 48 a day - so 240 for four days. Cheap and cheerful Benidorm is already one of the most popular holiday spots for Brits with an average year-round temperature of 19C and 300 days of sunshine. And it is now becoming increasingly popular to visit during Cheltenham as tourists watch the racing on big screens at outdoor bars while wearing fancy dress. They can also save a fortune on travel, tickets, drinks and accommodation - with hotels in Benidorm costing from just 20 a night, up to 140 for the best resorts. An average five-night stay at Cheltenham for the festival is 2,503, which is 200 per cent more than the week before and 211 percent more than the week after. The figures, combined from Booking.com and Airbnb data, also found the cheapest option was a private double room in a house 15 miles from the racecourse at 234. The analysis by Better Collective for MyBettingSites.co.uk also found the cheapest option on Airbnb was a private double room in a house 15 miles from the site for 234, while the most expensive option was a private room 1.5 miles away for 6,385. The lowest price on Booking.com was an apartment 15 miles away for 667 while the most expensive was a six-bedroom house two miles from the racecourse for 17,870. The cheapest tickets for the Cheltenham Festival cost from 48 a day for the Guinness Grandstand, or 100 to 118 for its Club enclosure. Slide me British tourists enjoy the sunshine in Benidorm (left) while racegoers attend Cheltenham (right) Slide me Holidaymakers in fancy dress in Benidorm (left) while Cheltenham Festival continues (right) Cheltenham is charging nearly 8 for a pint of Guinness, with a glass of win costing almost 10 In Benidorm one bar is offering six bottles of beer for just 10 (8.40) - that's 1.40 a bottle While most venues in Benidorm are free to enter, some bars now charge punters up to 15 (13) for an all-day seat. Another big saving in Benidorm can be made on drinks, with a pint of Guinness at Cheltenham costing 7.80 or 7.40 for the non-alcoholic version. A glass of wine at Cheltenham is 9.70, while a 330ml premium lager can is 7.40, soft drinks are priced at 3.10 and sparkling or still water costs 2.50. In Benidorm, one of the main attractions for Brits is the famously cheap beer with a pint costing about 2, although it can be as little as 1 (85p) in some bars. Others sell six bottles of beer for 10 (8.40), which equates to 1.40 a bottle. The cost of travel is likely to be around the same, with flights from London to Benidorm starting from as little as 44 return when flying from Stansted to Alicante with Ryanair although this does not include the price of transfers either end. Those getting the train to Cheltenham will pay 71 for a super-off-peak return from London Paddington on Great Western Railway - although their tickets could be cheaper if booked in advance plus a 15 taxi to the racecourse. But those choosing to drive must pay 40 for parking for the full festival or 12.50 per day. Friends Stephen Peters, 46, and Keith Harris, 52, from Edinburgh, in the Planet Benidorm bar Friends from Middlesbrough watch a horse race at 'Tiki City' in Benidorm, dressed as jockeys This eatery in Benidorm is offering burgers for 4, kebabs for 6 and chicken nuggets for 6 In Benidorm this week, Graham White, 39, a service technician from Glasgow, told The Times that he went to Cheltenham two years ago but has now decided to swap it for the Spanish coast. He said: 'I'm never going back. I was suited and booted but it's too posh, too snobby. I'd rather be here, soaking up the sun with a few drinks and having craic with the lads.' And Nathan Jones, 34, from Leeds, told the newspaper: 'At Cheltenham, you've got your travel, your accommodation, your entry, and then your spending while you're there. 'Two nights accommodation for two of us was about 700. The travel alone was 120 and your entry was 50 at the cheapest rate. Choosing four nights in Benidorm has saved us over 500.' And British tourist Steve Cramgle, 59, added: 'If you go to Cheltenham, you pay 8 for a pint. That's certainly not the case here, is it?' The Telegraph also spoke to holidaymakers visiting Benidorm from the UK such as Paul Berry, who said: 'It's an amazing place to go. Cheap drinks. The sun. It's just amazing, mate.' Another called Kevin, who lives in Exeter, was wearing a jockey outfit for fancy dress and said: 'I'm roasting. If my next horse wins I'm going in the pool.' He added: 'It's 110 to get in and 150 on the train. We're staying in a lovely hotel here which we paid 150 for and the flight was 67.' Racing fans enjoy the thrills of Cheltenham Festival while watching on holiday in Benidorm Pubs and bars in Benidorm are putting Cheltenham Festival on the big screen for tourists Racing fans watch racing at Cheltenham Festival while enjoying a beer on holiday in Benidorm Meanwhile Sara Puigcerver, head of marketing for the Marina Bar, told the newspaper: 'The summer of Benidorm starts now, with the races.' Back in Gloucestershire, festival attendances are falling with punters citing the ever-increasing cost of accommodation, tickets, travel and food and drink for not going this year. The smallest Cheltenham Festival crowd since 1993 was recorded yesterday, with just 41,949 spectators at the track. This was down by almost 5,000 from last year and came after Tuesday's crowd had dropped from 60,181 from 55,498, reported BBC Sport. Attendance for the Wednesday in 2022 was nearly 65,000 with this year's total the lowest since 40,662 on the second day of the festival 32 years ago. The meeting was extended from three days to four in 2005. A view of the course during the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival today Two men celebrate after Stumptown wins The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham Racegoers in Irish fancy dress throw their hats into the air on day three of Cheltenham today Racegoers react during the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham yesterday Racecourse chief executive Guy Lavender has acknowledged attendances will be down this year, saying: 'The decline is not catastrophic but nor are we seeing growing attendances.' And ITV Racing presenter Ed Chamberlin wrote in the Mail today: 'More people came through the doors 12 months ago for the Tuesday and Wednesday but I came away from them as deflated as I had been about the Festival in a long time. 'It led me to compare Cheltenham to Manchester United on these pages and warn about the danger of complacency. 'There is no doubt that Cheltenham's hierarchy had started taking things for granted and it came back to haunt them when we ended up broadcasting pictures on ITV of issues such as spectators' vehicles being towed out of swamp-like car parks. 'Perhaps the experiences of 2024 have led some people to stay away but I'm confident they will be returning soon from what I have seen in the last 48 hours.' A Mexican drug trafficker has revealed why he does not feel guilty for smuggling hundreds of thousands of killer opioids into the United States each week. A cartel operative, referred to by the pseudonym Jay, showed BBC's Quentin Sommerville how he and his associates transport fentanyl across the southern border. Smugglers pack thousands of carefully bagged and wrapped pills into the fuel tanks of their vehicles and drive them through a legal border crossing each week. Jay, who says he tries to get '100,000 pills a week, every week', revealed that he spreads the load into 'different cars' so he can 'minimize my risk of losing all my pills'. The trafficker claims the US has the 'biggest demand' for fentanyl and says he does not feel remorse for the role he plays in the fatal opioid crisis. 'It's not that I want to do it. People ask for that. I know it's bad. That's what they're asking. That's what they want,' he told Sommerville, adding that even if he stopped smuggling drugs 'it's going to continue'. 'I don't feel guilty for all the people. That's the truth. I feel guilty because we have family too, like you, like everybody,' Jay said. 'It's not my problem.' US President Donald Trump has vowed to crackdown on the illegal drugs market and imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all products imported from Mexico in a drive to eradicate fentanyl trafficking. The duties have been delayed until April 2. A Mexican drug trafficker, pictured packaging fentanyl pills, says 'I don't feel guilty for all the people' dying from the opioid crisis, but instead says 'I feel guilty because we have family too, like you, like everybody' Smugglers pack thousands of carefully bagged and wrapped pills into the fuel tanks of their vehicles and drive them through a legal border crossing each week Jay suggests that Trump's efforts will prove unsuccessful, noting how he made a similar promise when took office in 2016 but it 'never happened'. He alleges the fentanyl demand in the US is so high that prices in Los Angeles, where he sells the drug, have dropped to $1.50 a pill. He claims pills were selling for $5 to $6 each just last year. He further denounced being to blame for America's deadly opioid crisis, despite the US recording 87,000 overdose deaths from October 2023 to September last year. 'They always try to blame us, that we are the ones that are poisoning American citizens. But they're the biggest users,' Jay told the broadcaster. Jay, noting that he 'only deals with others suppliers', alleged that he does not know anyone who died using his drugs. Mexico has stepped up efforts to contain fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration to the US, seeking to address two issues that Trump used to justify the 25-percent tariffs that he imposed on Mexican goods. After a call last Thursday with his Mexican counterpart President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump agreed to suspend most of the duties until April 2. The two countries were 'working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl,' he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Jay and his associate Charlie, both pseudonyms, (pictured together) revealed the cartel predominantly uses American citizens to transport their drugs across the border because they are less likely to be stopped by border patrol Jay alleges the fentanyl demand in the US is so high that prices in Los Angeles, where he sells the drug, have dropped to $1.50 a pill. He claims pills were selling for $5 to $6 each just last year. Pictured are some of the fentanyl pills they smuggled into the US Sheinbaum, citing US figures, revealed on Sunday that thanks to seizures made in Mexico, the amount of fentanyl into the US across the countries' 1,900-mile border decreased by half between October 2024 and January 2025. She said Mexico will continue to cooperate to tackle smuggling for 'humanitarian reasons' and she hopes the US remembers its promise to control the trafficking of arms to Mexican criminal organizations. The cartel, however, predominantly uses American citizens to transport their drugs across the border because they are less likely to be stopped by border patrol, Jay and his associate Charlie - also a pseudonym - told the BBC. Charlie, a drugs runner and US passport holder, says he has made 'too many' transports to count, adding that he does the dangerous job because 'I need the money'. The ingredients in fentanyl are largely produced by companies in China and used by pharmaceutical companies to make legal painkillers. But a portion of those chemicals is purchased by cartels in Mexico. Cartels make the synthetic opioid in labs and then smuggle it into the US, largely at official land crossings in California and Arizona. The small amounts of fentanyl in any shipment - the drug is 50 times more potent than heroin - and its lack of odor, make detection and seizures extremely challenging. Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the US, but to a much lesser extent. US customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Pictured are fentanyl pills and chemical precursors seized by the Attorney General's Office in the Jalisco State, Mexico on December 25, 2024 Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, citing US figures, revealed on Sunday that thanks to seizures made in Mexico, the amount of fentanyl into the US across the countries' 1,900-mile border decreased by half between October 2024 and January 2025 Seizures of fentanyl jumped by as much as tenfold under President Joe Biden, an increase that may reflect improved detection. Mexico announced in December the seizure of more than a ton of fentanyl pills in what it described as the largest bust of synthetic opioids in the country's history. The haul was striking because fentanyl seizures in Mexico had fallen dramatically in the first half of 2024. Under the leadership of Sheinbaum, who took office in October, Mexico's security forces appear to be far more aggressive than they were under her predecessor. Former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denied that fentanyl was even produced in Mexico, contradicting officials in his own administration. Senator John Fetterman shocked listeners when he started talking about 'explosive diarrhea' while discussing a looming government shutdown. The Pennsylvania Democrat has been vocal that he would vote for a GOP bill to fund the federal government as the clock ticks down on the deadline and Democratic leadership coming out against it. Fetterman was asked about whether Senate Republicans have the votes to pass the so-called continuing resolution (CR). He responded that he was not at the Senate lunch earlier this week where it was discussed. Then his response took an unexpected turn. 'I wasn't present. I didn't go to the lunch,' Fetterman said, noting he didn't go to the lunch because he wanted Chipotle instead. 'But then I was worried about explosive diarrhea with Chipotle then too,' the senator said. Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said he would vote for the continuing resolution ahead of the looming government shutdown despite Democratic Senate leaders calling for a 30-day funding extension During the exchange, Fetterman did confirm that he would vote for the bill to fund the government through September ahead of the deadline just after midnight Friday. Republicans were able to pass the CR through the House on Tuesday along nearly party lines 217 to 213. The bill slightly increases defense spending by $6 billion while cutting domestic spending by $13 billion. It also includes provisions that would give President Trump more leeway on how to spend money without congressional approval. Only one House Democrat, Congressman Jared Golden of Maine voted for it. One Republican, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted against it. But Republicans in the Senate need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. They only have a 53 seat majority and one GOP Senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, has already come out against it. It means Senate Republicans need more than a handful of Democrats to cross the aisle and vote for the Trump-backed GOP bill to keep the government open. It remains to be seen whether any other Senate Democrats will join Fetterman in backing the six-month stop-gap measure. Some Democratic lawmakers have slammed the GOP bill because it was rammed through by Republicans who did not make any effort to obtain bipartisan input. As the bill went before the House for a vote, Senate Democrats remained tight-lipped on how they would handle the CR should it pass, telling reporters they would wait and see. But on Wednesday as the House GOP legislation made its way to the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans in the Senate do not have the votes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaking on Senate floor on Wednesday called for a 30-day CR rather than the House bill which funds the government through September Fetterman slammed the Senate Democrats' approach to the Republican stop-gap funding measure passed in the House He blasted the GOP for not working with Democrats and called for a clean 30-day measure that would fund the government through April 11 and give lawmakers more time to negotiate a deal. But that suggests Republicans are willing to come to the table which they never indicated they would. Some House Democrats who voted against the bill have urged their supporters to make calls to their Democratic senators to push them to reject the bill. They argue it gives Trump and Republicans a blank check to move forward with their plans to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy. Some Senate Democrats have made it clear they believe it's time to stand their ground. Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren said she would vote no. On Thursday, Senator Mark Warner also said he was no on a procedural vote to overcome the filibuster and no on the legislation. But Fetterman has pushed back on his own caucus' approach and accused Senate Democrats of 'theater' to save face. 'Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession,' Fetterman posted on X. 'or Exchange cloture for a 30 day CR that 100% fails.' 'The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes. Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument,' the senator added. Police launched a manhunt for a pair of suspects who left two bombs at a busy bus terminal, including one that exploded near dozens of people. Surveillance video showed one of the alleged bombers sitting on a bench between two people and placing a bag containing the explosive on the ground at the Pinheiros Terminal in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday morning. The suspect, who was hooded and had his face partially covered by a mask, is shown standing up and walking away when a woman sitting to his left appeared to notice the suspicious package. The woman took off running seconds before the bomb exploded, as a man sitting on the opposite end of the bench jumped up and ran away, the video showed. No one was injured in the attack, and parts of the terminal were closed after the explosion. The explosion sent a stack of pamphlets that appeared to be packed with the bomb flying into the air while stunned witnesses looked on. The pamphlets, signed by the Communist Party of Brazil, contained a number of politically-charged statements. Brazilian authorities have launched a manhunt for a man who placed a bomb at the Pinheiro Terminal in Sao Paulo on Wednesday The suspect, who was hooded and had his face partially covered by a mask, is shown walking away from the site of the explosion The explosion sent a stack of pamphlets that appeared to be packed with the bomb flying into the air. The pamphlets, signed by the Communist Party of Brazil, contained a number of politically-charged statements. The party denied having any involvement. 'Death to the fascists! Long live Maoism! Long live the people's war! Long live the democratic revolution!' they read. A second bomb was found in another part of the terminal an hour after the first explosion. A Sao Paulo Military Police bomb squad unit deployed X-ray equipment to inspect its contents before detonating it. The second explosive did not contain any pamphlets. The Sao Paulo chapter of the Communist Party of Brazil said in a statement that it was not involved and blamed its opponents for the attack. The chapter 'categorically clarifies that it has no involvement whatsoever with the explosive devices that were placed at the Pinheiros station, nor with the letter supposedly signed by our organization,' it said. The Communist Party of Brazil added that 'far-right groups' in the past have carried out similar acts. 'We repudiate any attempt to involve the [party] in episodes of this nature,' it said. Authorities said both of the bombs were similar and they would be inspected by experts to determine how they were made. A special police unit deployed X-ray equipment to inspect the second bomb before detonating it Special Tactical Actions Group First Lieutenant Vitor Haddad told Brazilian news outlet G1 that authorities were not aware of the bombers' motives. He said both of the bombs were similar and they would be inspected by experts to determine how they were made. A wealthy businessman ruthlessly conned by his girlfriend - who tried to fleece him of his cash by falsely claiming to have cancer - has told how he was stuck in a 'controlling and abusive' relationship. Company director Jon Leonard was taken in by the lies of Laura McPherson, 35, who went to extraordinary lengths to make him believe she was dying so he would lavish expensive gifts on her. The 'wicked and devious' mother of two claimed she had cervical, ovarian, colon, bowel and breast cancer and even allowed her young daughter to believe she was terminally ill. Despite the cruelty of her con, McPherson avoided a prison sentence when she appeared before Derby Crown Court on Wednesday and was instead given a community order for one count of fraud by misrepresentation. Today Mr Leonard has broken his silence about her manipulation of him and her children and the shattering ordeal he has been through over 'eight painful years.' Taking to Instagram, he said: 'I don't post any really personal things on socials, but this needs to be read. 'Today marks the end of eight painful years. It's been a really tough few years and I'm proud of myself for holding it together and want to thank all my friends and work colleagues that have supported me. 'It's impossible to put into words the impact this has had on my mental wellbeing. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted today. John Leonard arriving at Derby Crown Court for the sentencing of his ex-girlfriend Laura McPherson avoided a prison sentence when she appeared before Derby Crown Court on Wednesday and was instead given a community order 'In January 2022 I became 99% certain that my ex partner, Laura Macpherson, had been lying to everyone about having cancer since 2017. I immediately moved out and via my solicitor asked her to provide proof of having cancer and gave her five months to move out of my house. 'She declined to provide proof, and instead said it was disgusting for me to suggest she had been lying. She then proceeded to start telling people she had dumped me because I was abusive towards her. 'She was sent a solicitor's letter asking her to stop spreading lies. She replied, saying she would stop and she didn't. 'I tried talking to her family to ask them to speak to her, but they refused. I felt I was left with no option, but to have her arrested for fraud, so the truth would come out. 'The charge was receiving money (fraud) by misrepresentation, falsifying having cancer. This was for all the money I had given her supposedly for cancer treatment, tens of thousands of pounds. 'The police arrested her in November 2022. She answered no comment in interview and refused to provide any proof of having cancer. The police then obtained her medical records via court order, and confirmed she had never had cancer, and has in fact been in perfect health. 'She finally pleaded guilty in October 2024, when faced with a mountain of evidence.' Laura McPherson claimed she had cervical, ovarian, colon, bowel and breast cancer The 35-year-old told company director Laura McPherson arrives at Derby Crown Court Mr Leonard, 44, then quoted the remarks of Judge Jonathan Straw as he sentenced McPherson. He told her: 'You are a wicked and devious liar, who embarked on five years of deceit. It is difficult to imagine how an individual could be so calculated and cruel to those who loved and cared for her. 'This was a sophisticated offence involving significant planning, which was carried out over a sustained period of time. This is a high impact offense that has had a serious and detrimental effect on Mr. Leonard, both financially and emotionally. ' McPherson was sentenced to a two-year community sentence, avoiding two and half years in jail due to recently having had a child. Mr Leonard said: 'The fact she had a child was a shock as she told everyone she'd had a hysterectomy at a private clinic in Austria, which I'd given her money for. 'It turns out she was actually at a five-star spa instead of having the operation. 'She made it all up for attention and money. I was stuck in a controlling and abusive relationship that I felt I couldn't leave for five years because she supposedly had cancer. 'I am honestly glad it's finally over. It's left an eight year long dent in my life and I am happy the truth is finally out. Time to start my life with an exciting year ahead surrounded by outstanding people. Let's go 2025.' Mr Leonard said his ex-girlfriend was a 'wicked and devious liar who embarked on five years of deceit' At the time of her lies, McPherson was working as a marketing director for her boyfriends company, Ultra Events, which has helped raise over 39 million for charitable causes Mr Leonard's sister, Lauren, posted a tribute to him. She said: 'I am so so proud of Jon Leonard. There is nowhere else I would have rather been today than watching this chapter of your life close. 'You are without doubt such an inspiration. Me and the kids are so proud of Uncle Jon. Of everything he has achieved and the good he has done in the world. 'It is your time now my friend and we cannot wait to watch you rocket.' At the hearing, Judge Straw told McPherson: 'It is difficult to imagine how an individual could be so calculating and cruel to those that loved and cared for her. 'It was a deliberate, narcissistic route to attention and money.' The court heard she tricked Mr Leonard, who runs Ultra Events, a platform for charities, into giving her 24,248.52 for treatments he thought might save her life. This included a trip to the Mayr Resort on Lake Worthersee in Austria where she enjoyed a holistic, weight loss programme, as well as breast augmentation treatment in Manchester. McPherson was handed a community order and will be subject to a 7pm to 6am curfew for five nights of the week after pleading guilty to fraud at an earlier hearing Mr Leonard runs Ultra Events, a platform for charities, and gave her 24,248.52 for treatments he thought might save her life In an emotional victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Leonard said she had stolen eight years of his life and left him with 'feelings of total despair, wracked by self-doubt and emotionally scarred' She was, he said, a compulsive liar who had told friends and even her young daughter that she had cancer. This involved him taking calls from McPherson's daughter's school, because she had broken down worrying her mother was going to die. 'Even after pleading guilty, she has spent the last three years spreading disgusting lies about me,' he said, 'And she has never shown any remorse.' He said he had been 'gaslighted' and described being woken up by her screaming at him for sleeping through when she had been up all night being sick. At one point he bought her a 30,000 Rolex that she wanted, reasoning that it was wrong to deny it to someone whose life would soon end. At one point he got in touch with one of Britain's leading private cancer specialists and arranged an appointment for her but she insisted she would rather stick with her NHS treatment. He said it even caused him to fall out with his oldest friend who had become deputy head of nursing at a hospital in Swansea. Judge Jonathan Straw said of McPherson's (pictured) behaviour: It was a deliberate, narcissistic route to attention and money He told Mr Leonard aspects of McPherson's treatment did not add up and that you, 'wouldn't be going straight to the gym after having chemotherapy'. 'I was prepared to fall out with my friend,' he said, 'I was left completely isolated.' At the time of her lies, McPherson was working as a marketing director for her boyfriend's company, Ultra Events, which has helped raise over 39 million for charitable causes. Prosecutor Siward James-Moore said the couple had met in 2011 and that she was very well provided for by her partner whose business was doing well. In March 2017 she first announced she had cervical cancer and was receiving treatment at the Royal Derby Hospital. Despite his offers to accompany her to her various appointments, she always insisted on going alone. 'Between 2018 and 2022 she variously said she had ovarian, colon, bowel and breast cancer,' said Mr James-Moore. 'She claimed to have travelled for treatment to the Mayr Clinic in Austria (at Mr Leonard's expense).' The couple had met in 2011 and was very well provided for by her partner whose business was doing well In 2020 she claimed to have had a hysterectomy. 'Strangely she was pictured up a mountain two days later,' said the prosecutor. The same year she said that she would need a mastectomy but used the opportunity to have breast augmentation surgery in Manchester at Mr Leonard's expense. On New Year's Eve 2021, Mr Leonard dropped her off for treatment to her cervix. When he asked for a selfie, she told him that she was on a drip and her phone had broken. In fact, she had taken a taxi to Coventry to celebrate the New Year. When arrested and questioned over the allegation of fraud in 2022, she denied it and accused her boyfriend of being controlling. In mitigation, her barrister Laura Pitman, said that she suffered from, 'depression, anxiety and symptoms of trauma'. She said she was now supported by her parents and a new partner Alex and had a baby last March. McPherson pictured climbing Mt Kilimanjaro - The tallest mountain in Africa - while saying she had cancer She called on the judge to spare her jail and instead give her intensive intervention from the probation service to find out why she'd acted as she had. Ms Pitman said her client has no previous convictions of any kind and 'accepts her behaviour spans a number of years' and that she has suffered from anxiety and depression. She said: 'One perhaps wonders why a young woman behaved in the way that she has. 'She feels awful for the way she behaved. She has sought outside support to look at her behaviour. There has been no further offending by her. There's a more constructive way Laura McPherson can be dealt with rather than custody.' She was handed a community order and will be subject to a 7pm to 6am curfew for five nights of the week after pleading guilty to fraud at an earlier hearing. The judge also ordered her to spend 30 days with the probation service and warned her that if she broke either then he would send her immediately to prison. A further hearing date of June 6 was set for a proceeds of crime hearing. A hit-and-run driver who crashed his Transit van into a horse being ridden by an eight-year-old girl before fleeting the scene has been jailed today. Christopher Rogers, 61, was driving while disqualified and without insurance when he struck the horse in Higher Treween, Cornwall on January 12. After the collision he briefly stopped for half a minute at the scene of the accident before driving off. Ellie, 13, was leading the chestnut horse called Ora while her neighbour Grace, 8, rode in the saddle, Bodmin Magistrates Court heard. Polly Smith, 39, said she faced 'every mother's worst nightmare' when she heard a scream from her daughter Ellie moments after setting off with her pony Ora. Eight-year-old Grace was rushed to hospital by air ambulance but later discharged with cuts and bruises. Ora - a 17-year-old British Riding Pony - took the full impact of the crash and had to be humanely put down by vets at the scene The children had grown up with Ora and known the horse all their lives, the court heard. Ellie, 13, was leading the chestnut horse called Ora while her eight-year-old neighbour Grace rode in the saddle, Bodmin Magistrates Court heard. Mum-of-four Polly (pictured) said: 'It was just an ordinary day. Ellie had just set off leading the horse with Grace riding and I heard her scream "mum"' Mother-of-four Polly Smith told MailOnline: 'It was just an ordinary day. Ellie had just set off leading the horse with Grace riding and I heard her scream "mum". 'I raced around the corner and I just saw Ora's leg hanging off and a van driving off down the road. 'I didn't know what to do, I'd never seen anything like it, there was blood everywhere and I just went numb. I didn't know where to be or who to help. 'Suddenly there were police everywhere but we had to wait for an hour and a quarter before the vet could finally get here. 'Ora was just standing there so quietly, Ellie was just crying and cuddling her but as soon as I saw the leg I knew there was nothing we could do. 'I feel guilty saying it but she saved their lives by giving hers. When he hit her she fell down and that's what sent Grace flying off.' Police launched a manhunt after locals at the Rising Sun Inn allegedly reported suspicious damage to Rogers' van which was later found by police hidden in a barn. Rogers pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, driving while disqualified and driving with no insurance. Polly said: 'Ellie [pictured here on the horse] was only two when we got Ora, she has ridden all her life and she spent hours out here with her, she was her best friend and she just misses her so much' Previous charges of failing to stop after a road accident and causing 4,000 criminal damage to the horse were withdrawn at an earlier hearing. Prosecutor Samantha Rogers said Rogers collided with the horse and drove off. Defence lawyer Chris Nicholls said: 'This is a tragic case and the defendant has pleaded guilty to poor driving.' He told the court that his client is a 'horse lover' who 'understands the tragedy and the loss of this lovely animal'. He added: 'He's rather a sad individual who lives on universal credit. He's a horse lover himself and can feel the loss this family has suffered.' He was jailed for 18 weeks and banned from driving for 22 months and one week for driving while disqualified. The JPs said Rogers 'paused for 20-30 seconds' after the collision but failed to stop or report it or investigate how serious the accident had been. He also concealed his van afterwards and the magistrates said the incident had a traumatic effect on the two children and 'the violence against the animal that the accident caused'. The bench also said Rogers made comments to the probation service about horse owners which questioned whether his remorse was genuine. Rogers, of Bolventor, was jailed for driving while disqualified but the court did not impose any separate penalty for driving without care and attention or insurance. He will serve nine weeks in jail before he is released on licence. Tesco has secretly been trialling a scheme to give away free food that would otherwise be binned for more than four months, MailOnline can reveal. The supermarket giant confirmed the trial is already taking place 'in a small number of our Tesco Express stores' as part of efforts to cut food waste, but declined to say when it was first introduced. However, eagle-eyed bargain hunters first spotted the scheme as early as November 9 in a London store. One customer shared photos of a sign next to piles of sandwiches, fruit and sushi which reads: 'From 9.30pm until this Express store closes tonight all yellow reduced-to-clear items marked "CS" are yours for free'. The food must still be scanned at the till and will only become free to customers if it's not taken by charities, local groups, or store staff who can get CS labelled products free from 9pm. Previously food items bearing a yellow sticker had a maximum of 90 percent price reduction. Tesco said the move would allow it to 'continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations', according to an internal memo, The Telegraph reports. It comes amid a boom in demand for discounted food with sales of yellow stickered items soaring at all supermarkets amid the cost of living crisis. Eagle-eyed bargain hunters first spotted the scheme on November 9 in a London store The supermarket giant confirmed the trial is already taking place 'in a small number of our Tesco Express stores' (stock image) Figures from Barclays in 2023 suggest almost two thirds of homes were buying discounted products. But some customers reacted with concern to the news, with one warning: 'I can imagine the scuffles and fighting over products at my local.' Another posted: 'I am expecting a riot to break out, both for grabbing everything or the anger if it is a wasted trip, making Tesco regret this.' On its website, Tesco said that its aims to be 'carbon neutral' by 2035 and net zero by 2050. In 2023/24, the supermarket achieved a 61 percent reduction of absolute emissions from its operations compared to 2015, which exceeded its 2025 target of 60 percent. A statement said: 'We've done this by using energy and refrigeration more efficiently, and by adopting 100 percent renewable electricity across the Group.' A Tesco spokesman said: 'We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste. In all our stores we offer unsold surplus food to charities and community groups, donating millions of meals each month. 'This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.' President Donald Trump will deliver a major speech at the Justice Department on Friday, fueling rumors that pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's files could finally be released. The speech is being billed as remarks about 'restoring law and order' according to Axios. It is highly unusual for a president to deliver a speech at DOJ as the agency strives to remain independent from the White House. Trump is hosting NATO secretary general Mark Rutte at the White House today. It comes as some of Trump's comments about Russia have left European allies uneasy. Meanwhile, Trump has threatened 200 percent tariffs on European wine and champagne. This is the moment a courageous cop put his life on the line to tackle a raging knifeman during a terrifying daylight arrest. Sergeant Jack Taylor was slashed across the wrist as he bravely battled with the armed attacker in the middle of the street, in Tower Hamlets, east London. He was part of a team responding to reports of a burglary and assault on a member of the public when he was confronted by the knifeman. Dramatic body-worn camera footage shows the moment the Metropolitan Police officer leapt from his patrol car and charged the bearded attacker. The man, wearing a red and white jacket, can be seen furiously swiping at Sgt Taylor with the blade, during the heart-pounding encounter. At one point, the assailant lunges at the officer, slicing through Sgt Taylor's arm and leaving a two-inch cut across his wrist - narrowly missing his artery. Despite the injury, Sgt Taylor continues to try and apprehend the man, chasing him down the street as sirens from approaching police cars blare out. The knifeman - 35-year-old Ghasem Arabzadeh - was eventually captured after being surrounded by Met Police officers. He has since been sectioned. Pictured is the moment Met Police Sergeant Jack Taylor was slashed on the wrist while tackling a knifeman in the middle of the street Sgt Taylor had seconds to react as the man repeatedly lunged and swiped at him with the blade The Met Police officer has since been awarded for his bravery following the incident in London Reflecting on the incident - which took place on May 23, 2023, Sgt Taylor said: 'I couldn't let him go on and harm anyone else.' Describing the frantic encounter, the sergeant continued: 'As he slashed the knife up and down, he caught me on my left wrist and then ran off down the road. 'I could see I had been cut but I knew if I stopped at that moment, it might give the suspect a chance to get away. 'We chased him down the road and could see he was heading towards a residential area. I knew my colleague, Ayan, was going round the other way so I put up over the radio, 'the man is armed with a knife and he is coming towards you'. 'I was lucky as the knife just missed my artery - I came back to work the next day.' Arabzadeh was caught after tossing his blade into a bush, having earlier shrugged off a taser shot from a female officer. Sgt Taylor was treated at the scene by officers for his knife wound. He has since received a Commissioner's Commendation for his courageous response. Arabzadeh, of no fixed addressed, was sentenced to a Section 37 Hospital Order at Snaresbrook Crown Court on January 7 after pleading guilty to actual bodily harm, the Met said. Pictured is the moment Sgt Taylor arrived at the scene where the knifeman was Seconds later, the officer is out of the car and chasing the man down through Tower Hamlets Sgt Taylor added: 'I've been a police officer for six years, but this incident made me realise the seriousness of the incidents police face every day. 'I don't consider myself brave, but my colleagues are - they put themselves out there and deal with serious situations on a daily basis.' The Metropolitan Police released footage of the incident on social media - although no details were given of when it happened and whether the man has been charged. However, Sgt Taylor's heroism in the video has since been praised online. 'The bravery of our officers!!! Incredible work Sgt Taylor,' one person wrote on X, while another retired police officer added: 'Sergeant Jack Taylor is a hero.' 'This is very brave! Well done to Jack Taylor for showing true courage and protecting London,' said a third. Reflecting on the incident, Sgt Taylor said: 'I couldn't let him go on and harm anyone else.' While a fourth, claiming to be a Chief Inspector in the Met, added: 'This is a reminder that there are 1,000s of cops out there every day putting themselves in harms way to keep people safe. For every bad story, you hear there are many more like this.' In a statement to MailOnline, Detective Superintendent Vicky Tunstall, neighbourhood policing lead in Tower Hamlets said: 'Acting Police Sergeant Jack Taylor showed incredible courage to take on a knife-wielding offender without any consideration for himself, in order to save those around him. 'Without hesitation and with quick thinking, Jack jumped out of the car and put himself in harm's way, and if he hadn't, a member of the pubic could have been seriously harmed. 'This is the kind of bravery that is routinely undertaken each day by our police officers and demonstrates selflessness in order to protect our communities. 'Myself and the team are immensely proud of Jack and he has been duly awarded with a Commissioner's Commendation to reflect this act of bravery.' A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: 'The Mayor commends the exceptional bravery of Sergeant Jack Taylor, who selflessly put his own safety on the line to protect others. 'Every day our brave police officers and emergency services run towards danger to keep us all safe and we are in their debt.' A powerful storm that has been lashing the West Coast with heavy downpours and high winds is right over Los Angeles, which weathered horrific wildfires less than two months ago. Because the wildfires left many acres of land in southern California with burn scars - which increase the likelihood of flash flooding and mudslides - officials are warning residents who live in fire-affected areas to 'play it safe.' 'Fire-impacted communities need to be on alert,' Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said during a news conference Wednesday morning. 'The risk of mudflow and landslides is real. Play it safe and be prepared.' The storm is expected to dump one to two inches of rain along the coast and up to four inches in valleys. Evacuation warnings and orders are in effect for areas around the Eaton and Palisades Fire burn scars, including dozens of ritzy neighborhoods in Malibu. Warnings are also in effect for areas that were torched by the Hurst and Sunset fires, which includes Beverly Hills and the Santa Clarita Valley. Parts of Orange and Riverside Counties near the Airport Fire burn scar area are also under a flood advisory until 9:29am PT, according to the National Weather Service. The latest update from the NWS states that the core of the storm is east of Los Angeles now but that 'off and on again showers and possible thunderstorms' will flood freeways and slow morning commutes. The city of Sierra Madre is uniquely vulnerable to mudslides. A city employee (right) is pictured helping a resident (left) load his car with sandbags to protect his house from flooding on Tuesday ahead of Thursday's storm Last month, a severe rain storm caused mudslides all over Sierra Madre (Pictured: An emergency vehicle fell off a cliff into the ocean) Pictured: A Sierra Madre resident walks by a vehicle submerged in mud on February 14 In all, more than 20 million people across Southern California will be under flood watches until Thursday afternoon. In Sierra Madre, just east of Pasadena, residents on Wednesday were seen placing sandbags and wooden walls around their houses to protect from possible mudslides before evacuating, KCAL News reported. The city of 11,000 people was hit with devastating mudslides last month thanks to a severe rainstorm. Residents reported having to shell out thousands for damages, something they weren't prepared to do again. Derek Sample was one of the people building walls around his property to shelter his home. 'We're covering it up so we don't get anymore mud in the garage,' Sample said. 'It's been tough but it's like we have such a great neighborhood, and it's great group of people...I would not live anywhere else.' This latest storm has also brought something to California it rarely ever sees: a possible tornado. Reports of tornado in Pico Rivera, 11 miles southeast of downtown LA, began surfacing at about 3:15am. An NBC 4 helicopter captured images of multiple downed trees in the suburban neighborhood. One large tree came down near Church and Underwood streets. Its fall woke up resident Juan Valencia. 'I woke up to a big boom,' said Valencia, who said the tree fell on his family's car, crumpling the hood and damaging the windshield. Pictured: A street in Pico Rivera has multiple downed trees from a suspected tornado that touched down early Thursday morning Snowfall was seen in mountainous areas of southern California such as the town of Lebec (pictured) Pictured: The weather radar over Los Angeles at about 7am PDT shows the storm moving eastward The National Weather Service conducted a storm damage survey in the suburban neighborhood at 7:30am ET. No injuries have been reported from the suspected tornado. Higher elevation areas of southern California, including the town of Lebec, experienced snowfall overnight, which has contributed to slick roads. The storm is expected to continue its march eastward, where it will then unleash snow in the Rocky Mountains. Winter weather alerts are already in place for the highest parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah, where snowfall could pile up to two feet. Winds of up to 50 miles per hour could also make travel difficult in those areas, forecasters have warned. By Friday, level 4 or 5 storms, the most severe classification, are expected to hit parts of the Mississippi Valley, as well as the Lower Ohio and Tennessee valleys, CNN reported. Risks of tornadoes, strong winds and hail are stretch from western Alabama to central Iowa, including the major cities of Jackson, Memphis, Nashville and Des Moines. An immigrant family, accused of masquerading as Afghan nationals to illegally claim asylum in the UK, were in court again today as one denied the charges. Husband Gurbakhsh Singh, 72, wife Ardet Kaur, 68, son Guljeet Singh, 44, and his wife Kawaljeet Kaur, 37, are alleged said to have made the claim when they arrived at Heathrow Airport in December, 2023. The four have already twice failed to obtain visas as declared Indian citizens and appeared at Croydon Crown Court with the assistance of three court-appointed interpreters. The family have vowed to fight the case and a trial, with a seven-day estimate, has been scheduled for February 2, next year. On Thursday, Kawaljeet Kaur pleaded not guilty to a charge of arriving in the UK without entry clearance on December 23, 2023, plus a second charge of entering the UK without a passport on the same date. The other three family members did not enter any pleas as they are yet to have legal consultations with their new representatives. They were all bailed to return on April 10. Those other three family members were originally charged with seeking leave to enter the UK by deceptive means, contrary to the Immigration Act, namely by claiming asylum as Afghan nationals on December 23, 2023. Father and son Gurbakhsh Singh (L) & Guljeet Singh (R) leaving Croydon Magistrates' Court last year where they denied making a false statement or representation at Heathrow , namely requesting asylum as Afghan citizens when Home Office records confirm they are Indian nationals. They will face trial in 2026 Kawaljeet Kaur (L) and Ardet Kaur (r) outside court. Kawaljeet and her mother in law face the same charges It is alleged they had all previously declared themselves to be Indian nationals and provided documentary evidence in two failed visa applications three months earlier. The three were also originally charged with making a false statement or representation at Heathrow Airport, namely requesting asylum as Afghan citizens when Home Office records confirm they are Indian nationals, contrary to the Immigration and Asylum Act. The three were also charged with knowingly entering the UK without leave on December 23, last year, contrary to the Immigration Act. The entire family, plus two children who arrived with them, were initially housed at Wembleys Holiday Inn, but now all reside together in a Hemel Hempstead house on unconditional bail. They have complained that press reporting of the case has resulted in them being recognised and stopped in the street and led to a TikTok video. The lawyers also claim any jury could potentially be prejudiced due to the nature of the reporting. Their legal team today announced they would be applying, at the next hearing, for all reporting of the trial to be postponed until all verdicts are reached. A person died after a plane crashed into a wooded area shortly after taking off from Mesquite Metro Airport in Texas Thursday morning. A Cessna CitationJet took off from the airport around 7.40am with only a pilot on board, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The unidentified pilot died in the crash. No homes or structures were damaged from the crash, the Mesquite Police Department said. The police department and Mesquite Fire Department responded to the scene. Home surveillance footage captured the chilling moment after the aircraft crashed, as thick plumes of smoke were seen in the air. Another clip showed the aftermath after the plane crashed into a wooded area near East Cartwright Road and Lawson Road, officials said. Remnants of the plane and smoke were seen on the ground, while officials investigated the area. The FAA told DailyMail.com that the agency will work alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the incident. One person died after a Cessna Citation jet crashed just after leaving Mesquite Metro Airport in Texas Thursday morning. (Pictured: Plumes of smoke from the crash) Another clip showed the aftermath after the plane crashed into a wooded area near East Cartwright Road and Lawson Road 'An NTSB investigator is en route to the scene and is expected to arrive by tomorrow morning,' a spokesperson with the NTSB told DailyMail.com. 'Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation.' DailyMail.com contacted the Mesquite Police Department. This is the latest plane crash horror to take place in the US, as the aviation industry has faced a particularly tumultuous start to the year. On Sunday, multiple people were rushed to a hospital after a plane crash-landed in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home. Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and nearby vehicles. The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened. Horrifying air traffic control audio revealed the pilot telling ground agents that they needed to turn around - but at one point he said that he couldn't hear the radio because of all the wind noise, caused by the unlocked hatch. On Sunday, multiple people were rushed to a hospital after a plane crash-landed in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home in Manheim Township The aircraft's tail can be seen in the wreckage, squashed up next to parked cars and surrounded by thick black smoke The air traffic controller can be heard saying: 'Pull up... the aircraft is down just behind the terminal in the parking lot tree area.' In a statement to DailyMail.com, an FAA spokesperson said five people were on board the plane. They have all been transferred to local hospitals with various injuries. Residents of the retirement home were instructed to 'shelter in place' as a precaution as initial investigations took place, but authorities have confirmed the pilot avoided nearby buildings and that nobody on the ground was injured. This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow. A Russian politician has been ripped to pieces and eaten by a Siberian tiger in a Siberian forest. Andrey Kovera, 55, was killed after he was brutally mauled by the big cat, which ripped off his arm, wounded his head and ate his internal organs. His son Konstantin said: 'My father worked as a forester for many years and knew how to behave when meeting a predator. But the tiger attacked him from behind.' A major search is underway for the Siberian - or Amur - tiger that attacked the grandfather. The species is the largest big cat in the world and is endemic to eastern Russia. The numbers of the tigers in the wild have increased in the past two decades, amid earlier fears of extinction, but they pose an increasing risk to humans. Still, there are likely no more than 540 of the Siberian tigers living in the wild. Kovera and an assistant had gone into the forest in remote Primorsky region when he was ambushed in the snowy forest. His colleague came out of the forest, and reported the attack. Andrey Kovera, 55, was killed after he was brutally mauled by the big cat, which ripped off his arm, wounded his head and ate his internal organs A major search is underway for the Siberian - or Amur - tiger that attacked the grandfather (file image of an Amur tiger) His son Konstantin said: 'My father worked as a forester for many years and knew how to behave when meeting a predator. But the tiger attacked him from behind.' Pictured above are authorities at the scene A search was launched which found Kovera's remains. Experts believe the attacking tiger was already wounded and an attempt is underway to snare the predator, found laying low in rocks some 900 yards from the dead man. Leading Russian tiger expert Sergey Aramilev said: 'It is unpredictable when the tiger will be caught. 'There are signs of injury to the tiger, but we will know for sure after its capture.' Kovera was described as a well-respected former local politician in the far east of Russia. Shocking video footage has captured the moment a neon green explosion erupts on the Texas Tech University campus, sparking a mass evacuation. Officials were forced to evacuate parts of the campus and announced an early start to Spring Break for students after the massive explosion on Texas Tech University's campus in Lubbock. Lubbock Fire Rescue (LFR) rushed to the scene around 7pm on Wednesday evening, after reports of a gas leak in the Engineering Key, KCBD-TV reported. Firefighters found multiple manholes spewing fire and thick smoke when they arrived. Multiple videos circulating social media reveal the aftermath of the explosion which sent plumes of green smoke into the sky. A heavy police presence and emergency officials were also seen on campus in the aftermath of the explosion. The cause of the blast is still unclear as the investigation is underway. Texas Tech has reassured students that it is safe to return to the residence halls, although the Engineering Key area remains evacuated. Shocking video footage has captured the moment a neon green explosion erupts on the Texas Tech University campus, sparking a mass evacuation Officials were forced to evacuate parts of the campus and announced an early start to Spring Break for students after the massive explosion on Texas Tech University's campus in Lubbock The university's police department Public Information Officer Caitlynn Jeffries confirmed that the power was being shut down to the entire campus while repairs were underway The university's police department Public Information Officer Caitlynn Jeffries confirmed that the power was being shut down to the entire campus while repairs were underway. The university also canceled all classes for Thursday and Friday, effectively kicking off Spring Break early. 'There was an explosion that occurred inside a manhole at the engineering key inside Texas Tech campus,' she said at a news media briefing. 'This explosion did cause a power outage across Texas Tech university. We did evacuate the engineering key and we are asking that all public and unofficial personnel please avoid campus at this time.' 'Students - you can go ahead and go home for spring break. We are closing school down for the next couple days.' Employees have been told not to retrieve their belongings just yet as emergency crews continue their work. The university also canceled all classes for Thursday and Friday, effectively kicking off Spring Break early The school shared a statement on X: 'TechAlert! Texas Tech University will be closed on Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14. Spring Break for students, originally scheduled to start Monday, will begin immediately. Check email for more information.' Authorities are still evaluating the extent of the damage, and more updates are expected soon. A witness and doctoral degree student Robert Gauthreaux described the scene of the accident. 'I heard an explosion and then saw a smoke ring, almost like a cartoon or something. It traveled about 200 feet in the air,' he told KCBD-TV. A United Nations judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe, 49, took 'advantage of her status' over her victim in the 'most egregious way' by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare for free. Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law. She was also found guilty of facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness following a trial at Oxford Crown Court. Prosecutor Caroline Haughey KC told jurors: 'Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused (her alleged victim), taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK.' Jurors accepted the prosecution's case that Mugambe had engaged in 'illegal folly' with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa, in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK. Prosecutors said the pair participated in a 'very dishonest' trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the woman's entrance into the UK. In exchange, Mugambe attempted to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe (picturrd) took 'advantage of her status' over her victim in the 'most egregious way' by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare for free Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law Mugambe's trial heard she had the intention of 'obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself'. Mugambe - who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford - denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she 'always' treated her with love, care and patience. The young woman Mugambe tricked into coming to the UK, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt 'lonely' and 'stuck' after her working hours were limited. According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the body's judicial roster in May 2023 - three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire. Ms Haughey said: 'Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused the victim - taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK. 'On her arrival she was made to work for Ms Mugambe from the very start, un-remunerated and acting as 'maid' and child carer to give Ms Mugambe back her 'life'. 'Deprived of her freedom to choose her work, to control of her ID documents, she was beholden to Lydia Mugambe. 'If there was any doubt about this, it can be removed by considering that the minute the victim challenged the defendant's authority and tried to have control of her own ID documents, she was threatened with being returned to Uganda. Mugambe was also found guilty of facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness following a trial at Oxford Crown Court 'A young woman brought in for the convenience of Mugambe's life but mistreated, mistreated by Lydia Mugambe, a woman of power and intelligence who had no qualms in lying not only to the victim but to the police when they sought to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the victim.' The victim entered the UK on July 9, 2022, the jury was told. Mugambe asked her in March 2022 if she was interested in coming to the UK to be her child minder. The jury heard that on February 10 2023, Thames Valley Police received a call to an address in Oxfordshire having received a report from a woman claiming the victim was being held as a slave. Later that day the victim was found in a TK Maxx store in Oxford - with the reporting party believing her to be a victim of modern slavery, the prosecutor said. On March 20, 2022, Lydia Mugambe attended an event in the Ugandan High Commission in London. There she met the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa. The victim's visa sponsorship form showed that she was going to work for the ambassador as a private domestic servant in a diplomatic household under the employ of John Leonard Mugerwa in - the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner - in North London - the court heard. Oxford Crown Court (pictured) heard when officers arrived at the address, the woman told police that Mugambe would not let her leave the house until she paid her money for her travel to the UK The jury was told that there were false particulars of employment in her visa sponsorship and the alleged victim was never intended to work at the embassy. Mugambe treated the alleged victim as an 'unpaid skivvy,' the prosecutor said. Ms Haughey said: 'That meeting at the High Commission with the Deputy High Commissioner was the turning point when Lydia Mugambe started an illegal folly with the Deputy High Commissioner to bring the alleged victim into the UK.' The jury returned three unanimous guilty verdicts regarding conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national, requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and conspiring to intimidate a witness. A majority guilty verdict was returned regarding a fourth charge of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation. A Missouri mother walked into her home to find her nine-month-old daughter and baby father shot to death in a horrific murder-suicide. The infant, Ophelia Lawery-Daniels, and her father Zacchaeus Daniels, 21, were found dead inside a home on the 5000 block of Cates Avenue in St. Louis on February 28 around 8pm. The girl's mother, Micah Lawery, 23, found their deceased bodies after coming back home from a beauty supply store that evening. When St. Louis Metropolitan Police arrived at the scene, they discovered Zacchaeus and Ophelia both suffering from gunshot wounds. The young father was pronounced dead at the scene, while the baby was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died, police said. Authorities said they are investigating the devastating incident as a murder-suicide, and a suspect 'is not being sought.' Micah, who found the father and daughter on the couch, said Zacchaeus took their baby's life before shooting himself that dreadful night. 'I don't know. It's like something came over me to turn on my cell phone flashlight, and that's when I saw the scene,' she told KSDK. Nine-month-old Ophelia Lawery-Daniels (pictured), and her father Zacchaeus Daniels, 21, were found dead inside a home on the 5000 block of Cates Avenue in St. Louis on February 28 around 8pm The baby's mother, Micah Lawery, 23, found their deceased bodies after coming back home from a beauty supply store that evening. (Pictured: Ophelia and Micah) 'Something that is burned into my brain. I don't need to close my eyes to see it. It's not something I can unsee,' Micah added. The grieving mother said she can't understand why Zacchaeus did this - adding that he was never a violent person, but at times he would struggle with his mental health. 'I don't know why. I'm pretty sure I'll never know why, and with that, I'll have to find closure in that,' Micah told the outlet. 'I try not to paint him in a bad light. Knowing that as a friend, he was a great friend. As a partner, a very loving and gentle partner to me. As a father, him trying his best and doing everything he can to be a good father.' She has remembered her beloved daughter as a 'feisty' and 'very sassy baby' who had 'such a big personality.' Ophelia's grandmother, Rhonda Hunter, shared similar memories of her late granddaughter. 'Anytime she would get in my arms, that was the first thing she did. She grabbed my cheeks, and she'd come in for a kiss,' Rhonda recalled. 'She is going to be remembered forever.' Micah said she has not only struggled to understand the tragedy, but has found it hard to go back into the home where her baby and Zacchaeus were found. Micah, who found the father and daughter on the couch, said Zacchaeus took their baby's life before shooting himself that dreadful night 'I describe it as like an eerie feeling, knowing that her life began here and it ended here as well. Clothes that she didn't get to wear and toys that she didn't get to play with and just the silence that now takes over the house. It's so quiet, you could hear a pin drop,' she said. Since then, Micah has decided to advocate for Ophelia and Zacchaeus by spreading awareness about mental health struggles, specifically among men. 'Your life is worth living. Don't ever think that this is the only option,' she said. 'If you cannot advocate for yourself, there's always somebody near, somebody that you trust and love, that will advocate for you.' A GoFundMe page has since been created to raise money for Micah and her family during this hard time. Caitlin Munguia, a family friend who started the donation page, said Ophelia was 'the vibrant, happy, deeply loved daughter of Micah Lawery.' She has remembered her beloved daughter as a 'feisty' and 'very sassy baby' who had 'such a big personality. (Pictured: Ophelia and Micah) 'In her short 9 months she quickly stole the hearts of her uncles, aunties, grandma, and everyone who met her. May her love for Mrs. Rachel and Reeses peanut butter cups always live on,' she added. As of Thursday afternoon, more than $19,200 was raised - surpassing the family's $18,000 goal. Valerie Gaskin, another family member, took to Facebook to remember Ophelia and pay her respects to Micah. 'Words can not adequately express the grief my family feels over the loss of Baby O, a precious angel whose light shone brightly in our lives,' Valerie said. 'To Micah, my "moot," I struggle to find the right words to convey my support for you. 'I have seen you embrace motherhood with incredible love and care, and I am grateful that you introduced Baby O to God from the very beginning.' A father who left his baby son with brain damage after violently shaking him in a 'fit of rage' and refusing to bring him to hospital has been jailed for his murder. Craig Rowland, 29, of Co. Armagh in Northern Ireland, was convicted last year of murdering three-year-old Lewis Roland who died in October 2018 from surgery complications. The helpless infant had sustained life-changing injuries following the incident in November 2013. It occurred when he was just 13 weeks old. At Rowland's sentencing hearing today, his actions were described by a senior detective as 'cowardly and brutal'. The hearing also saw Judge Justice O'Hara tell Belfast Crown Court that Lewis' death was a direct result of the injuries given to him by his father. Rowland was previously sentenced to life for the murder but today saw the implementation of a tariff which means he must serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars. He was given an additional 12 month sentence for a child cruelty charge. Laura Graham, 32, who was Lewis' mother, received a three year probationary sentence for the wilful neglect of her son. Mr Justice O'Hara said Rowland and Graham had brought baby Lewis to Craigavon Hospital in November 2015 where he was diagnosed with multiple serious injuries including head trauma and spinal injuries. The judge added that those injuries were 'non-accidental'. Craig Rowland, 29, of Co. Armagh in Northern Ireland , was convicted last year of murdering his three-year-old son Lewis Roland Laura Graham, 32, who was Lewis' mother, received a three year probationary sentence for the wilful neglect of her son Laura Graham shields herself from the media as she left Belfast Crown Court today The child was then transferred to hospital in Belfast where his life was saved, but he was left with permanent and severe disabilities. In 2018, he underwent surgery to insert a device to enable feeding and medication. However, complications arose and he died on October 20 2018 in the arms of his foster mother. Mr Justice O'Hara said: 'The death in 2018 was the direct result of the injuries inflicted on him in November 2015.' He said there was no dispute the injuries were non-accidental and no dispute that Lewis' only carers were his parents. The judge said the injuries were inflicted when Rowland was caring for Lewis on his own while Graham slept. Both had admitted a child cruelty charge as they accepted they failed to provide medical aid for Lewis within a reasonable time. Mr Justice O'Hara said: 'On the morning of Friday November 20, even when the defendants realised Lewis needed medical treatment and needed it urgently they walked him to the hospital rather than ask for help'. Rowland and Graham were today sentenced at Belfast Crown Court (pictured) Baby Lewis died from surgery complications in 2018 in the arms of his foster mother (centre) He went on to add: They claimed not to have had a phone available to them to ring an ambulance themselves. 'It took approximately two hours for them to reach the hospital.' The judge said there were 'various worrying indicators' of the indifference of Rowland and Graham to their son's plight. After Lewis was transferred to hospital in Belfast in November 2015, the parents declined an offer to stay with him, despite being made aware how gravely ill he was. The judge added: 'Almost three years later, when the police arrived at their home and offered to rush them to Belfast to see Lewis, who was at that point very close to death, they declined to accept that offer.' He said the actions of foster parents who looked after Lewis for the three years after he was injured 'were truly heroic and utterly selfless'. He added: 'All Lewis had was his hearing and a little mobility, but very little indeed. 'He could not see, nor could he talk, but he could smile and make happy noises almost imperceptibly, but enough for them to spot.' The judge said Rowland continued to deny any responsibility for the murder and had attempted to put the blame onto medical professionals for his son's death. He added: 'The overwhelming likelihood is that at some point during the middle of the night Rowland lost his temper with Lewis, shook him violently, and caused the terrible injuries which ultimately led to his death. 'This was probably a one-off incident.' The judge said Graham had not inflicted any injury on Lewis but she should 'have known and done better' in relation to seeking medical help for her son. PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Kerrie Foreman said it was a 'totally tragic and distressing case'. She added: 'The most cowardly and brutal of actions have taken a young, defenceless and innocent life. 'After Lewis sustained his initial injuries he was taken into the care of a foster family. 'The care, attention and kindness, which this family gave to Lewis, are in stark contrast to the cruelty demonstrated by his own father. 'My thoughts are with the foster family and those loved ones who continue to grieve, and indeed with all who have been touched by the sadness of the murder of young Lewis Rowland.' A mother who dedicated herself to worker safety after the freak accident death of her son has died in a horrific backyard fire pit flare up. Cynthia Hess, 58, of Deerfield Township, Ohio, lost her life in the tragic backyard fire pit accident on the evening of March 10. A neighbor reported hearing a loud noise, resembling an 'explosion,' and saw thick black smoke rising from Hess's yard. 'It's really black smoke, and it looks like it's spreading,' the neighbor told dispatchers. When Deerfield Township firefighters arrived, they found Hess with severe burns covering over 90 percent of her body. Reports described her as being 'consumed by fire.' She was rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to her injuries the following day. A neighbor who heroically tried to extinguish the flames with his bare hands suffered vocal strain from repeatedly calling for help. Authorities are awaiting lab results to determine the cause of the fire. Cynthia Hess, 58, of Deerfield Township, Ohio, lost her life in a devastating backyard fire pit accident on the evening of March 10 A neighbor reported hearing a loud noise, resembling an 'explosion,' and saw thick black smoke rising from Hess's yard Hess was a well known work safety advocate after her son Zachary, 25, was killed in a trench collapse Fire Chief Patrick Strausbaugh clarified that, despite the neighbor's report, the incident was likely not a true explosion but rather a sudden flare-up of the fire. 'It wasn't like there was a debris field or anything like that,' he told WXIX. Hess's death comes years after another devastating loss in her family. In December 2017, her 25-year-old son, Zachary Hess, was killed in a trench collapse at a construction site. The last video Zach took showed him and a co-worker from JK Excavating digging a trench while searching for a sewer tap at the Woodlands at Morrow subdivision. She remembers receiving a call from a Warren County Sheriff's Deputy and rushing to the site. 'When we got there, it was taped off, and I just wanted to look in there,' she told WLWT. 'Your heart's racing, and in that sense of urgency, you're like, 'Hurry up,' and then an hour goes by, another hour goes by.' It took 150 first responders a total of 11 hours to recover Zach's body. The last video Zach took showed him and a co-worker from JK Excavating digging a trench while searching for a sewer tap at the Woodlands at Morrow subdivision 'There should be a state law that states if you don't comply, you will be convicted of manslaughter or some type of felony. This was preventable,' Hess said about her Zachary's death. 'My son didn't need to die.' One of Zach's co-workers later described the horrifying moment when the trench collapsed. '(He was) in immediate pain. He said that Zach cried out, 'Get me out of here, I feel like my head is going to explode,' Hess recounted. 'He was buried alive.' Following Zachary's death, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited JK Excavating with nine violations, five of which were deemed 'serious.' The company was also cited for a willful violation, the most severe type, after investigators found that workers were exposed to cave-in hazards while working in a 16-foot-deep trench without proper protective systems. 'It was confirmed that Zach was never in the trench box,' Hess said. 'A trench box was on-site, but for whatever reason, they lowered it down into the hole, but it was suspended. They never placed it flush to the ground, so it was over Zach's head when he was down underneath the house trying to work.' OSHA also determined that Zach had no safe exit from the trench, a violation for which the company had previously been cited in 2014. 'And it happened again, and my son died,' Hess said. JK Excavating was fined $202,201 for the violations. The incident is still being investigated Determined to prevent similar tragedies, Hess became a passionate advocate for stronger workplace safety laws. She has pushed for stricter state regulations and called for criminal charges against those responsible. 'There should be a state law that states if you don't comply, you will be convicted of manslaughter or some type of felony. This was preventable,' Hess said. 'My son didn't need to die.' She also called for a broader investigation into the general contractor and developer of the construction site. 'There needs to be a bigger investigation to look at all these different components, because they all play into what happened to Zach,' she said. In addition to seeking justice, Hess dedicated herself to spreading awareness about trench safety, determined to ensure her son's death was not in vain. 'I feel like I owe him that,' she said. 'I don't want him to be a statistic. I don't want his death to be in vain.' Bryan Kohberger plans to claim he was framed for the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students by the real killer who planted his DNA at the bloody crime scene, according to prosecutors. The 30-year-old criminology PhD student is facing the death penalty for the savage stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13 2022. Investigators zeroed in on Kohberger as the suspected killer after his DNA was found on a brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath found next to Mogens body at the grisly scene. Since then, Kohbergers defense team has tried to cast doubts on this key evidence and tried - unsuccessfully - to have it tossed from the trial, arguing against the state's use of Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG). Now, in a new court filing from Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompsons Office, the state has revealed Kohbergers apparent next line of attack against this bombshell evidence. According to prosecutors, the accused quadruple killer will not deny that his DNA was found at the scene of the murders. But, he will claim the knife sheath was actually planted at the scene by the real killer, framing him for the shocking crime. The defense has not disclosed any experts to challenge the confirmatory STR comparison showing the DNA on the knife sheath matched Defendants DNA. On the contrary, the defense has disclosed that its Forensic Biology and DNA expert will testify that [t]here is good support that Mr. Kohbergers DNA was found on Item 1.1, a swab from the knife sheath, prosecutors wrote in the states Response to defendants motion in limine Re: exclude IGG evidence. Bryan Kohberger, seen in an updated September 2024 mugshot, plans to claim he was framed for the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students Touch DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath (seen in a stock image) left behind at the scene. Prosecutors say Kohberger's team will allege the real killer planted his DNA at the scene Instead of challenging the conclusion that the DNA on the knife sheath belonged to Defendant, the defenses expert disclosures reveal that the defense plans to argue the DNA on the knife sheath does not prove Defendant was ever at the crime scene and the knife sheath itself could have been planted by the real perpetrator. It is not clear if the defense plans to actually name an alternative murder suspect at his trial. It is also unclear what motive they might allege the real perpetrator has for pinning the crime specifically on Kohberger, what potential connection they may have and how they will argue the killer had access to his DNA. However, it has previously come to light that DNA from three unknown individuals was found under Mogens fingernails - and that blood from two unidentified men was also found at the home on King Road. In a bombshell court document, unsealed last week, the accused killers defense team said that testing of Mogens left fingernail clippings had unearthed DNA evidence from a three-person mixture. While parts of the document were redacted, the defense indicated that the comparison to Kohbergers DNA was inconclusive - that he could neither be confirmed or eliminated as the source. Statistically, it was assumed that Mogen was one of the three individuals. Two hypotheses were then tested, that the three people included: Mogen, her best friend Goncalves and one unknown unrelated person or Mogen and two unrelated persons. Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were found stabbed to death in the same bed Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle pictured together. The young couple were staying at Xana's student home on 1122 King Road on the night of the murders Kohbergers defense argued that at least four other, unnamed individuals were also tested and that they, like Kohberger, also all came back inconclusive - putting them in the same shoes as the man on trial. The defense also argued that additional testing carried out by their own expert later excluded Kohberger as the source of the DNA. Kohberger's team is asking the judge to limit testimony about the DNA analysis of Mogens fingernail scrapings, claiming it would violate Kohbergers right to a fair trial. For months, the defense has been fighting against the DNA evidence, arguing in a closed-door hearing that the use of IGG violated his constitutional rights and claiming the state neglected to document its use of the method correctly in search warrants. In the hearing, it emerged that a distant relative of Kohberger had refused to help investigators by sharing DNA as law enforcement rushed to track down the source of the DNA and, ultimately, identify the suspected killer. In February, Judge Steven Hippler turned down the defenses request to strike the evidence from the trial, allowing the state to present this key evidence to the jury and marking a major blow to Kohbergers team. Days later, the defense underwent a major shake-up, bringing on board attorney Bicka Barlow - a well-known expert in forensic DNA evidence. As well as the DNA evidence, prosecutors allege Kohberger has also been tied to the murders through his white Elantra - matching the car seen leaving the crime scene at the time of the murders - cellphone records placing him in the vicinity of the home and the account of a surviving roommate. Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee's shoulders) Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke The four victims were brutally stabbed to death inside the off-campus student home that the three young women shared with two other roommates in the early hours of November 13 2022. At the time of the murders, roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were also inside the home. In the early hours of the morning, Mortensen came face-to-face with a masked intruder with 'bushy eyebrows' in the property who walked past her doorway on the second floor and headed towards the back sliding door moments after the murders, according to court documents. The terrified roommate then sent a series of panicked texts to her Funke and her slain roommates moments later. Only Funke answered as their other friends were already dead. No one is answering, Mortensen texted Funke at around 4.22am, before sending two unanswered texts to Goncalves. 'I'm not kidding o [sic] am so freaked out,' Mortensen said in another text. In one of her replies, Funke told Mortensen to run downstairs to her bedroom on the first floor. The student home on 1122 King Road where the brutal murders unfolded on November 13 2022 In a separate court filing, it was revealed that Mortensen did go down to Funkes room and the two young women ultimately fell asleep. The next morning, they tried calling and texting their roommates again but still got no answer, court documents show. At 11.58am, a chaotic 911 call was placed from Funkes cellphone after Kernodle's body was found. The distressing transcript of the call, released for the first time last week, reveals Funke, Mortensen and two others told the dispatcher Kernodle was 'passed out' and 'not waking up.' 'Oh and they saw some man in their house last night,' one of the callers said. Officers arrived to find the bloodbath with young couple Kernodle and Chapin dead on the second floor and best friends Mogen and Goncalves dead on the third floor. Kohberger, who was a PhD student just over the border at Washington State University at the time, was arrested around six weeks later at his parents home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. The accused killer is due to go on trial in Ada County in August after it was moved out of Latah County where the killings took place. Bryan Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted - and Idaho has recently legalized the firing squad as an execution method If convicted, Kohberger faces the death penalty - an outcome that has been welcomed by Goncalves' grieving family who are calling for him to face the firing squad. Last year, firing squad became an alternative method of execution in Idaho, amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs. But it is not the primary execution method and so no inmate has been put to death since it was introduced. Republican state lawmaker Bruce Skaug has since put forward a bill to change that and Goncalves' father Steve Goncalves is throwing his support behind it. Kohberger's team has already lost one attempt to get the death penalty off the table. Last month, the defense filed a new motion claiming Kohberger has autism - and that this means he should not face capital punishment. According to Kohbergers lead defense attorney Anne Taylor, his autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. Due to his autism, Kohberger has 'little insight into his own behaviors and emotions,' often rocks his body back and forth when listening, has 'limited' facial expressions and 'his expressions are sometimes incongruent with what is happening around him,' the defense motion argues. The home at 1122 King Road, Moscow. Two other roommates were inside the home and survived the attack A juror seeing the defendant engage in any one of these behaviors, while sitting at counsel table during a murder trial, would perceive the defendant as strange, out-of-control, and even disrespectful of such a solemn proceeding,' the defense writes. Top defense attorney Duncan Levin called this move a 'long shot' in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com. Often in death penalty cases, attorneys will argue that their client has a mental condition that impairs their culpability, he says. But autism has not been widely accepted or commonly used in this context. The defense is also asking the judge to block the words 'murder,' 'psychopath' and 'sociopath' from being used at his trial. According to the defense, using the terms murder, murderer, murdered, murder weapon, and similar words would be unfairly prejudicial to the accused killer. His team is also asking for the term 'bushy eyebrows' to be excluded. According to Kohberger's defense, this description of the masked intruder given by the surviving roommate is 'unreliable.' The judge is yet to rule on these motions. Kohberger is next due in court in April. Poland has requested Trump to give them nukes just days after issuing households with survival guides and warning that all men will undergo military training. Polish President Andrzej Duda called on the United States to transfer its nuclear weapons to Poland, urging an eastward 'shift of the NATO infrastructure' in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday. Poland, a staunch ally of Ukraine, has been ramping up its defence as it aims to deter a potential threat from neighbouring Russia. 'The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east. For me this is obvious,' Polish President Andrzej Duda was quoted as saying by the Financial Times. 'I think it's not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here,' he added. In April, Duda - a conservative ally of the right-wing Polish opposition - said his country was ready to host NATO's nuclear arms. Moscow in response warned it would take steps to 'ensure its security'. Duda said in Thursday's interview: 'Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus.' Polish President Andrzej Duda called on the United States to transfer its nuclear weapons to Poland Polish Army soldiers take part in a Lithuanian-Polish Brave Griffin 24/II military exercise near the Suwalki Gap near the Polish border at the Dirmiskes village, in Lithuania on Friday, April 26, 2024 Poland has asked Trump for all of America's nuclear weapons 'They didn't ask anyone's permission,' he told FT. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier that Poland in arming itself must reach for the most modern options, 'also related to nuclear weapons'. On Thursday he told reporters he appreciated 'president Duda's efforts' to strengthen the security of his country. He added, however, that it was 'preferable to deal with this type of issue discreetly and not through interviews with the press'. Poland's foreign ministry's spokesman told AFP Duda's comments had not been made in consultation with the government. Tusk last week hailed France's offer to discuss extending its nuclear umbrella to other European nations as 'very promising'. Poland is already far ahead of its allies in terms of military expenditure, aiming to allocate 4.7 percent of its output to defence spending. It comes after reports emerged that Poland will soon send out a guide for its citizens on how to survive future crises, amid rising tensions with Russia. The country, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, will be sending the pamphlets to households this year. The booklets will inform them on 'how to deal with various hazardous situations,' a deputy director for the interior ministry's civil protection unit, Robert Klonowski, told the PAP news agency. Civilians will be given wartime tips on how to cope with 'a power outage lasting several days or several hours,' he said, adding that the information would also serve for reacting to natural disasters. Poland will soon send out a guide for its citizens on how to survive future crises , amid rising tensions with Russia Members of the National Police Special Purpose Battalion of Zaporizhzhia region fire a D-30 howitzer towards Russian troops on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine March 7, 202 The brochure will be issued in Polish, and in Ukrainian for the some 900,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country. 'We are also planning a special version, or at least part of this guide, addressed to children,' Klonowski added. Sweden has already issued a similar information brochure, while Finland has a website gathering information on how ready civilians are for different emergencies Tusk also revealed he was having serious discussions with France about falling under the protections of their nuclear umbrella to his parliament. During his announcement, Tusk emphasised the Eastern European county could not rely on conventional weaponry alone, noting that Ukraine had surrendered its nuclear ammunition to continue to be attacked by Russia. 'We must be aware that Poland must reach for the most modern capabilities also related to nuclear weapons and modern unconventional weapons ... this is a race for security, not for war,' he said. Last week, reports also highlighted that Poland could soon require every adult male to undergo large-scale military training as it aims to boost its reserve force amid mounting tensions with Russia. The Polish government is currently working to put a system in place for training all men for the event of a war, Tusk revealed Friday. Tusk told the country's Sejm - the lower house of parliament - that the military training would create a reserve force that is 'adequate to possible threats.' Officials aim to have a plan for the scheme, which would also be open to women volunteers, finalised by the end of the year. A private schoolgirl plowed into three cyclists and killed one while checking a phone alert on the infotainment screen of her Mercedes, a court heard. Anngelina Morton, 18, was arrested last week over the August 2024 collision in Connecticut which killed Justin Gittings, 31, and injured his friends, WSFB reported. Morton, an honors student and talented equestrian who lives in a $940,000 home in a ritzy area of Farmington, said the crash was an accident and has pleaded not guilty. However, Gittings' devastated family said Morton showed 'intent' because police say she was looking at the infotainment center in her car when she struck him. She'd received an alert on her phone which had flashed up on the luxury SUV's screen just before the smash, it is alleged. Further details on that alert have not been shared. Footage from Morton's court appearance on Wednesday showed her breaking down in tears beside her attorney as he spoke on her behalf. The senior, who attends the $53,000-per-year all-girls Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, was also joined in court by her mother, Tammi Morton. Tammi, 63, is a high-flying Chief Corporate Security Officer at UnitedHealth Group, according to her LinkedIn profile. Teenage private school girl Anngelina Morton (pictured in court) has been charged with manslaughter after crossing double-yellow lines in her Mercedes and hitting three bikers Morton has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, assault, and reckless driving. She was freed on a $275,000 bond, legal records show. (Pictured: Morton's mugshot) Her mother, Tammi Morton (pictured), 63, is a high-flying Chief Corporate Security Officer at UnitedHealth Group, according to her LinkedIn profile That is part of the UnitedHealthcare corporation, whose CEO Brian Thompson was murdered in New York last year, allegedly by Luigi Mangione. Morton's daughter had a bright future ahead of her as an honors student who had just been accepted into Auburn University's division I equestrian team. But this changed in August 2024, when police say Morton's Mercedes was four feet into the wrong lane on Route 4 in Farmington for at least five seconds. Morton struck Gittings and his friends, Tyler Silvas and Emily Scarfo, who were on a second motorcycle, leaving Silvas with a permanent brain injury and epilepsy. Gittings, a truck driver who also rode horses, died in hospital weeks later. His heartbroken mother, Elizabeth Politis, said the tragedy was not an accident. 'An accident is when someone slips on black ice or has sun glare and doesn't have control,' Politis told CBS affiliate WFSB outside court on Wednesday. 'But to have control of the situation and choose to do what you do, that's intent. 'The decision was intentional and it cost my son his life.' Justin Gittings (pictured) was 31 when Morton fatally struck him down with her Mercedes Gittings' devastated family said Morton showed 'intent' because police say she was looking at the infotainment center in her car when she struck him. (Pictured: Gittings with his family) 'There's nothing that will bring my son back,' Gittings' father Gary added. 'The max time she can serve isn't enough, but it's what the law says.' Second-degree manslaughter is a class C felony in Connecticut punishable by a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of $10,000. However, maximum sentences are rarely given because the defendants who face them usually receive more lenient treatment under the terms of plea agreements, according to the Maddox Law Firm. Silvas lamented the heinous impact the crash has had on his life. 'I have epilepsy now for the rest of my life,' he told WFSB. 'I suffer from seizures from the accident. I have a permanent brain injury.' Morton has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, assault, and reckless driving. She was freed on a $275,000 bond, legal records show. The senior attends the $53,000-per-year all-girls Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT Anngelina Morton had a bright future ahead of her as an honors student who had just been accepted into Auburn University's division I equestrian team Gittings, who was from Seymour and lived in Meriden, was remembered for his infectious sense of humor by his family and friends. 'He always had a smile on his face. 'He was the guy you went to for a laugh. 'He was just a stand up human being,' Silvas told WFSB. 'He did a lot of things in his life and he was always good at it,' Gittings' father added. President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia backed the US proposal for a Ukraine ceasefire, but had 'serious questions' that he needed to discuss with the United States, possibly directly with President Donald Trump. Putin said he was in 'favour' of the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire 'but that there are nuances' and that he had 'serious questions' about how it would work. 'I think we need to talk to our American colleagues... Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,' he told reporters. He noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament. 'We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,' Putin said. The Russian president said any ceasefire must lead to 'long-term peace'. But this stands in opposition to comments made by his aide, Yuri Ushakov, who earlier said the proposed ceasefire deal was 'hasty' and would give breathing space to Ukrainian forces at a time when Moscow is close to fully retaking territory in its Kursk region from Kyiv's forces. Meanwhile, Russia is advancing across 'practically' entire front line, Putin claims, adding that he will determine the 'next steps' on the ceasefire based on the success of the Kursk campaign. Vladimir Putin (pictured) has said he is 'in favour' of a 30-day ceasefire, but that 'there are nuances' Putin said he was in 'favour' of the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, but that he had 'serious questions' about how it would work. 'I think we need to talk to our American colleagues... Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,' he said Putin said that Ukrainian soldiers tried to leave in large groups, but this is now impossible. If a physical blockade occurs in the coming days, then no one will be able to leave at all. There will be only two options: surrender or die,' he added, according to Russian media. Putin noted that while it appeared that the US persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire, Ukraine is interested in that because of the battlefield situation, noting that Ukrainian troops that launched an incursion into Russia's Kursk region would be fully blocked in the coming days. 'In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days,' he said. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he said: 'Will all those who are there come out without a fight?' Putin thanked Trump 'for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine.' He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their 'noble mission to end the fighting to casualties,' a statement that signaled those countries' potential involvement in a ceasefire deal. Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said during a live TV interview shortly before the Russian despot's comments: 'I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more.' Firefighters put out the fire at a damaged building after a Russian strike in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine on March 13 2025 Putin added that Russia must talk about ceasefire with US, 'maybe with President Trump', while 'serious questions' remain about how a Ukraine ceasefire would work Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 March 2025 Iryna Petrochenko , 50, looks out from damaged apartment after a Russian missile attack happened killing a 47 year old woman and wounding nine others on March 12, 2025 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine A view of damage at the residential area following a Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine on March 13, 2025 The foreign policy advisor said Moscow sees its goal as being a long-term settlement 'that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our known concerns,' rather than a temporary truce. 'It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation,' he said dismissively. Asked by TV host Olga Skabeeva - also known as Putin's 'Iron Doll' - if this meant an outright rejection of the Trump ceasefire by Moscow, he replied ominously: 'The President will probably [soon] make more specific and substantive assessments.' Ushakov, who previously served as Moscow's ambassador to the US, added that he had outlined Russia's position on the ceasefire to US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. The Russian Defense Ministry's claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in Kursk. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. The renewed Russian military push and Putin's high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, which began more than three years ago with Russia's full-scale invasion. The US on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior US and Ukrainian officials reported making progress on how to stop the fighting during talks in Saudi Arabia. Firefighters work at a damaged building after a Russian strike in Akhtyrka, Ukraine on March 13 2025 Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' aims the M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Russia escalates overnight attacks on Ukraine, killing and wounding crew and port workers in Odesa grain ship strike, destroying homes in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy and hitting Krivyi Rih This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 12, 2025, shows a destroyed building at the site of a strike in Kryvyi Rig Trump said Wednesday that 'it's up to Russia now' as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that Trump is 'willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides,' including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. But it appears that this pressure may not be effective, as an advisory document written for the Kremlin has revealed. Vladimir Putin plans to fight on in Ukraine and weaken Donald Trump's negotiating position in any peace deal by stoking tensions between the US and the rest of the world. As Washington continues to push for a truce, documents from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank, obtained by the Washington Post, suggest that Russia has been working to undermine a possible peace deal since at least February. It appears that some measures in the document, reportedly written by an influential Moscow-based thinktank the week before the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia in late February, have already informed the thinking of the Russian state. The document, written for the FSB's Fifth Service, the security service division that oversees operations in Ukraine, lays out the ways in which Russia could boost its standing by inflaming tensions between the US and both China and the EU. A Russian army soldier walks along a ruined street of Malaya Loknya settlement, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia, in this still image taken from video released March 13, 2025 The renewed Russian military push and Putin's high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war A still image taken from a handout video provided by the Russian Defence Ministry's press-service shows damage in Sudzha, Kursk region, Russia, 13 March 2025 Rescuers clear the rubble of a damaged apartment building after Russian attacks on March 13, 2025 in Kherson, Ukraine The US has twice sided with Russia at UN votes, in a stark reversal of Washington's foreign policy which has worried allies. The first instance was at the General assembly where it opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's actions and reaffirming Ukraine's territorial integrity. The second was at the Security Council where the US drafted and voted for a resolution that called for the end of Russia's invasion without criticising Russia. The pro-Kremlin thinktank's document argues that against this backdrop, Russia should be working towards 'the complete dismantling' of the current Ukrainian government. Putin has skirted the issue of a ceasefire ahead of talks with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff - whose plane was mapped heading to Moscow today - and has instead set his troops the task of grabbing back territory in Kursk. A drug-running primary school teacher who tried to smuggle letters laced with narcotics into jails across Britain has been banned from the classroom for life. Vivienne Williams posted a number of fake packages soaked in the Class B drug Spice, that were destined for prisons in Nottingham, Wandsworth and Cardiff. The bogus parcels were all disguised as legal documents and were sent from Williams' Wembley home while she was teaching children at Elsley Primary School. But the hapless crook's 17,000 drugs ring was exposed by Nottingham Police after they intercepted some of the letters at HMP Lowdham Grange. Williams was jailed for 30 months back in October 2023, having pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to convey banned articles into prison, possession of articles for use in fraud, and a communications offence relating to the prison phone calls. During her sentencing, a judge said the disgraced educator's actions 'rode roughshod over the systems and protections put in place by the prison'. Williams, 30, has now been banned from the classroom for life, following a probe by the Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA). The education watchdog found William's actions 'fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession'. Teacher Vivienne Williams posted a number of fake packages soaked in the Class B drug Spice, that were destined for prisons in Nottingham , Wandsworth and Cardiff the hapless crook's 17,000 drugs ring was exposed by Nottingham Police after they intercepted some of the letters at HMP Lowdham Grange (pictured) 'The panel found this behaviour to be totally incompatible with being a teacher,' the TRA concluded in its report. Williams started working at Elsley Primary School in September 2016, the panel said. But by 2020, the crooked teacher had set up her own drug smuggling operation. Williams was found to be contacting an inmate at HMP Lowdham Grange in July 2020, Nottinghamshire Police said. The reason behind the contact was to try and set up a three-way phone conversation with prisoners jailed elsewhere in the UK. But in October 2020, a number of packages marked and franked as legal documents but containing paper laced with Spice were seized as they arrived at Lowdham Grange. Others were later recovered ready to be sent to other prisons - including HMPs Wandsworth and Cardiff - from Williams' Wembley home. The plot was first uncovered following a probe by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU). The total value of the narcotics seized was estimated at 17,000 but would have been worth 'significantly more had it entered the prison estate', police said. Williams was a teacher at Elsley Primary School, in Wembley, at the time of her crimes Staff at Elsley Primary School were told of Williams' arrest on June 8, 2021. Williams resigned from her position at the primary days later, on June 16. Speaking at the time, Detective Inspector Richard Cornell, from the EMSOU, said: 'Vivienne Williams was a key player in this plot to supply mind-altering drugs to prisoners. 'She exploited her legitimate phone access to an inmate by patching in others to the calls, enabling them to make their criminal plans, and then followed through with those plans by assisting in the movement of the drugs. 'Thankfully, we were soon on to them and the whole illegal operation was brought to an end before the drugs could reach their intended recipients.' The sentencing judge said Williams believed disguising her hidden drugs as legal letters would mean they would be able to slip past prison security checks. 'Williams used the stamps that she had to give the appearance that the letters she was sending in were from solicitors, and contained privileged legal communications, with the belief that the prison would not be allowed to open or examine the contents of those letters,' the judge said at sentencing, the TRA reported. 'In addition, Miss Williams enabled those in custody to communicate with others they were not entitled to, acting as an intermediary on some calls, and receiving calls from illegally possessed phones on other occasions.' Williams was sending drugs from her address in this street in Wembley, London Making a judgement on behalf education secretary Bridget Phillipson, Sarah Buxcey concluded: 'Miss Vivienne Williams is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or childrens home in England. 'Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against her, I have decided that Miss Williams shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach.' DI Cornell added: 'Drugs in prison will not be tolerated as their use is not only illegal, but also puts the health and safety of inmates and staff at risk. 'I am pleased the judge has recognised the seriousness of the matter with the jail term handed down.' Williams, of previous good character, has 28 days to appeal the TRA's prohibition order. She did not attend the TRA hearing. An 11-year-old girl tragically died after inhaling spray deodorant as part of a viral social media trend. Brenda Santana was found unresponsive Sunday at her home in Bom Jardim, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, and rushed to a hospital, where she died after going into cardiac arrest. Her father, Jose Santana, told Brazilian news outlet G1 that he and his wife had previously warned her not to inhale deodorant spray. The dangerous online craze, sometimes known as 'chroming,' involves inhaling toxic fumes from household products including hairspray and nail polish remover to achieve a high. The girl's father said he had no idea how his daughter learned of the trend on social media since she did not own a cellphone, according to Brazilian reporter Adielson Galvao. 'It's up to God,' he said. 'What I wanted was for my daughter to be alive.' Jose Santana said he left his daughter with her grandmother and went to visit a friend, while his wife, Leticia Santana, was at another friend's home near the family's residence. He returned home to find the child lying in a bed with a white substance in her mouth. Brenda Santana, 11, was found unresponsive Sunday at her home in Bom Jardim, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, and rushed to a hospital, where she died after going into cardia arrest 'I tried to lift her up. I put my hands on her wrists. I saw that her pulse wasn't beating,' the father said. The girl was then taken by her mother and a neighbor to the hospital. She went into cardiac arrest before she was admitted, according to the Bom Jardim Health Department. 'Despite efforts of health professionals and the implementation of resuscitation protocols, unfortunately, death was declared after 40 minutes of care,' the Bom Jardim city government said in a statement. Leticia Santana told police investigators that Brenda had a 'habit' of inhaling the aerosol deodorant and was told to stop. Dr. Andrey Damasceno treated Brenda and said that the bronchi, which carry air to the lungs, could have been affected. When inhalants are abused, they affect the central nervous system and slow down brain activity, resulting in a short-term 'high.' It can result in slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea and disorientation, and also cause suffocation. The girl's father said he had no idea how his daughter learned of the dangerous trend on social media since she did not own a cellphone The dangerous online craze , sometimes known as 'chroming,' involves inhaling toxic fumes from products including hairspray and nail polish remover to achieve a high Breathing in toxic fumes can also bring on more serious symptoms, like irregular heartbeat, potentially causing a heart attack or cardiac arrest. The Bom Jardim city government stressed that parents should be more vigilant of their children's activities with household products and the use of cellphones with access to social media. In September 2024, Cesar Watson-King went into cardiac arrest after doing the deodorant challenge at his home in Doncaster, England. The 12-year-old's mother, Nichola King, discovered him on the kitchen floor having a seizure. King performed CPR to restore his breathing as his brother called for an ambulance. Cesar was rushed to the hospital, where he suffered further seizures and a cardiac arrest before being placed in a medically induced coma. Pete Buttigieg ruled himself out of the race for the Michigan Senate seat on Thursday, setting off an avalanche of speculation that he has his sights set instead on 2028. Buttigieg's family recently moved to Traverse City, Michigan from Indiana, raising questions over whether he would run for the Senate should the seat become available or run for governor. But Buttigieg ruled both 2026 bids out this week, but he signaled he was not done with public life. 'I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race,' Buttigieg wrote on X. 'While my own plans dont include running for office in 2026, I remain intensely focused on consolidating, communicating, and supporting a vision for this alternative,' he added in another post. In a separate essay about his decision, Buttigieg said while he wasn't running next year's election, he would be 'getting to work.' Pete Buttigieg ruled out a Senate or gubernatorial bid in Michigan, renewing speculation he has his sights set on the 2028 Democratic presidential primary The former transportation secretary turned heads ahead of the 2020 election when he mounted a formidable underdog bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and went on to become one of the top contenders. He had one of the strongest fundraising operations of the entire Democratic presidential field depsite the crowded race. But as his frontrunner status dwindled after placing second in Iowa and New Hampshire, Buttigieg exited the race and endorsed Joe Biden for president before joining his administration. While he did not come right out and say he would run against in 2028 for the nomination, not running in Michigan next year clears the way for another White House bid. In his announcement on Thursday, Buttigieg vowed he would not be exiting the public spotlight. The 43-year-old said he would be spending more time engaging the media as well as 'partners, allies, friends and strangers in the service of a more convincing and widespread account of American prosperity than either side has so far offered.' Pete Buttigieg's post announcing he would not run for the Senate or for governor in Michigan Buttigieg and his husband Chasten greet supporters on the night of the 2020 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary Since leaving office, Buttigieg has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's policies when it comes to tariffs, taxes, DOGE slashing funds and the workforce and the U.S. response to the war in Ukraine. He has also clapped back and defended his tenure as transportation secretary amid direct attacks on him by Trump administration officials who have pointed fingers following a series of plane crashes. Buttigieg said Thursday he would be taking advantage of leaving public office to speak with people in Michigan and other communities like South Bend, IN where he served as mayor from 2012 to 2020. 'Youll be seeing me on familiar platforms and newer ones, developing this vision and discussing with fellow Americans what they most need from their government and their country at a time like this,' he wrote. Such actions are telltale signs of someone looking to promote their name recognition and brand as they consider higher office. Ahead of his announcement on Thursday, Politico reported the decision was framed by 'several allies and people in his inner circle as putting him in the strongest possible position to seek the presidency.' Buttigieg and husband Chasten with their two young children in 2021. The former South Bend, IN mayor was the first openly gay man to launch a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination with his 2020 bid Should Buttigieg run for president in 2028, he is likely to face a crowded field of Democrats seeking the nomination just as he did in 2020. There have been reports of former Obama White House chief of staff and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel eyeing a bid as well former Vice President Kamala Harris considering another run. Other names floated have included several term-limited Democratic governors. Among them is another prominent figure who would give Buttigieg a run for his money in his adopted home state Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. An American Airlines passenger was caught on camera throwing wild punches at flight attendants after he said evil spirits followed him onto a flight. Delange Augustin, 31, started lashing out just one minute into the Envoy Flight from Savannah, Georgia, to Miami, Florida, on Monday evening. He had been traveling with his sister, identified as Medjina Augustin, who told authorities they were going to Haiti to 'flee religious attacks of a spiritual nature'. Shortly after take off, authorities say he kicked a staff member so hard in the chest he sent them over a row of seats and swallowed a set or rosary beads. His outburst was caught on camera by fellow travelers which included Rob Rosenberg, who has since described the horrific scenes to CBS News Miami. In footage obtained by the outlet, Augustin can be seen wildly throwing kicks and punches at an attendant. He is seen holding onto his sister - who told authorities after the ordeal that her brother had told her to pray as 'Satan's disciples had followed them onto the plane'. Other passengers had to move into restrain Augustin, before authorities quickly boarded the flight when the pilot decided to quickly return to Savannah. Delange Augustin, 31, started lashing out just one minute into the Envoy Flight from Savannah, Georgia, to Miami, Florida , on Monday In footage obtained by the outlet, Augustin can be seen wildly throwing kicks and punches at an attendant Rosenberg was one of those who had to step in and restrain Augustin after he ran for the galley and started throwing haymakers at staff members onboard. Speaking with the outlet, Rosenberg said: 'He started stomping his feet violently, and heavily. 'It was kind of a chant he was talking about devils and possession, you kind of had to see it to believe it. 'He was being so violent you were like "this is not normal", he destroyed this other mans seat, he kicked it and punched and just buckled the seat over. 'He just charged the front doors of the plane' which is when Rosenberg, his friend and another passenger stepped in to restrain him. Airport police soon bordered the aircraft, with Rosenberg saying they tasered Augustin multiple times. Rosenberg said that Augustin was gripping onto his sister, identified as Medjina Augustin, by the hair, and that officers had to cut her hair off as he refused to let go. As he was arrested his sister started singing what sounded like hymns, according to Rosenberg. Augustin was taken into custody by The Chatham County Sheriff's Office and charged with battery, obstruction of law enforcement, and criminal damage According to an arrest affidavit seen by DailyMail.com, he had swallowed the rosary beads to use as 'a weapon of strength in the spiritual warfare' prior to his outburst. Pilots onboard the flight heard the commotion unfolding on the flight and turned the plane around to land back in Savannah - but that didn't halt Augustin's behavior. He started to then punch and kick the seat of the passenger in front of him and kicked a chair until it collapsed. When the official announcement came over the cabin that they would be returning to the airport, Augustin is said to have calmed down. After touching back down and taxiing to the gate, a flight attendant asked everyone to remain seated. That was when he stormed the galley and cornered the flight attendant in the newly obtained video. Augustin had to be taken to hospital after ingesting the rosary beads, with the two flight attendants being evaluated but refusing hospital transport. His sister had told authorities that she wasn't surprised about her brother's outburst, saying he 'hurt anyone because he hurts evil'. According to her, the spirits had followed them onboard as they did not want them to make it to Haiti. The scenes had unfolded on an American Airlines Envoy flight from Savannah, Georgia, to Miami, Florida, on Monday Delange Augustin, 31, was travelling on the flight with his sister, Medjina Augustin, who told authorities they were going to Haiti to 'flee religious attacks of a spiritual nature' She also said that her brother was not suffering from any medical or mental health issues and that he had been fighting for both of them. The affidavit also added that there was only eight passengers aboard the plane, and that no one was seriously injured. Augustin was taken into custody by The Chatham County Sheriff's Office and charged with battery, obstruction of law enforcement, and criminal damage. Savannah Solomon, a special agent with the F.B.I., wrote in the affidavit that there was also probably cause to arrest him with interfering with the flight crew. In a statement, American Airlines said: 'On March 10, American Eagle flight 4162, operated by Envoy, with service from Savannah (SAV) to Miami (MIA) returned to SAV due to a disruptive passenger. 'Safety and security are our top priorities. We appreciate the professionalism of the entire crew and thank our passengers for their understanding.' A federal judge in California has ruled that thousands of fired 'probationary' employees must be reinstated, in the latest blow to President Trump's DOGE efforts. U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Bill Clinton nominee, called the large scale firings across government a 'sham' in a fiery decision, days after ruling that a government directive for the firings was 'unlawful.' The ruling by the San Francisco based judge takes immediate effect, and applies to the Pentagon, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and the Treasury Department. Trump, Elon Musk's DOGE, and the Office of Personnel Management, have been targeting thousands of the provisional employees, who had been thought to be easier targets lacking some of the longer term worker protections. Workers joining the government often work on a probationary basis for one or two years, although it can also apply to veteran employees who assume a new role within the government. The Trump administration signalled its intention to appeal the ruling to a higher court. The judge took the government to task for manufacturing a cause to fire probationary employees. 'It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie,' he said. 'It was a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements,' he added from the bench. A federal judge has rejected mass firings of provisional employees, in the latest move in the DOGE firings The judge lambasted a Justice Department lawyer during a hearing, Politico reported. 'I tend to doubt that you're telling me the truth. I'm tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth,' he said. But the judge also indicated that the Trump Administration could find ways the cut through the workforce through a Reduction in Force. Thursday was a deadline the administration set for agencies to present plans for their RIfs. 'If it's done right, there can be a reduction in force within an agency, that has to be true,' the judge said. Employee unions had challenged the firings. 'OPM's revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees,' said the American Federation of Government Employees president Everett Kelley earlier this month. That came after OPM revised its memo to state that it 'is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees Employee unions have sued demanding fired 'provisional' employees get their jobs back The ruling was a blow to DOGE, but the government is likely to appeal 'Every agency should immediately rescind these unlawful terminations and reinstate everyone who was illegally fired,' he said. In Washington, Judge Tanya Chutkan has given DOGE three weeks to answer questions on its annexation efforts. Still the public has been split on DOGE, with Musk's group slightly under water with 48 percent approval and 52 percent disapproval, according to a poll for DailyMail by J.L. Partners. Police in New York City arrested 98 demonstrators who filled the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan after the ICE arrest of a Columbia University activist. Those with the Jewish Voice for Peace wore red shirts that read 'Jews say stop arming Israel' and carried banners reading 'Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition'. Others said 'fight Nazis not students' while also chanting out 'bring Mahmoud home now'. Police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave. Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. A line of protestors could be seen being led into awaiting NYPD police trucks following the sit in. The NYPD said at a news briefing that they arrested a total of 98 protestors on various charges including trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest. Khalil, 29, a Palestinian who was born and raised in Syria, helped to lead protests against Israel at Columbia University last year. Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group Jewish Voice for Peace following the protest New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group on Thursday Demonstrators are detained during a rally against the ICE detention of Mahmoud Khalil He also acted as a negotiator between students and university officials. The protests were allowed to run rampant for two weeks. They were marked by violent assaults and instances of Jewish students being afraid to go to class. He was taken into custody at his university-owned apartment on Saturday night by ICE agents. The Department of Homeland Security, confirming Khalil's arrest on Sunday, claimed he had 'led activities aligned to Hamas' and that the DHS action was taken 'in coordination with the Department of State.' The president accused Khalil of being 'pro-Hamas' and Rubio declared the U.S. would revoke visas and green cards of 'Hamas supporters in America.' Khalil's supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech, and have been staging protests in the city and across the country. Outside of a Manhattan courthouse on Wednesday hundreds gathered during a brief hearing on the case. Khalil was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup. Mahmoud Khalil, seen here last year, was taken into custody at his university-owned apartment on Saturday night by ICE agents. He has not been charged with a crime. He is also married to a U.S. citizen. His wife is eight months pregnant. His arrest has ignited a fierce debate over whether the Trump administration violated his First Amendment rights by detaining him and trying to deport him. A brief hearing on Wednesday largely focused on jurisdiction, but one of Khalil's lawyers told the judge that they have not been able to have a single attorney-client protected phone call with him. Rubio fired back at critics of Khalil's arrest, saying that it is 'not about free speech.' 'When you come to the United States as a visitor, which is what a visa is, which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor's visa, you are here as a visitor. We can deny you that visa,' the U.S. top diplomat argued. Protesters rally in support of detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 His arrest has ignited a fierce debate over whether the Trump administration violated his First Amendment rights by detaining him and trying to deport him If someone said they intended to come to the U.S. as a student 'and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, anti-Semitic activities' and shut down universities, they would be denied the visa, Rubio said. He added: 'If you actually end up doing that once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it.' Rubio also said if they end up on a green card with such activities, the U.S. will kick someone out. 'This is not about free speech. This is about people who don't have the right to be in the United States to begin with,' the secretary of state said. 'No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card,' Rubio added. He said the U.S. can deny one for 'virtually any reason.' That included 'being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down, and being complicit in what are clearly crimes of vandalization, complicit in shutting down learning institutions.' A National Crime Agency Detective has been charged with the theft of bitcoin digital currency allegedly taken during an investigation into a clandestine online marketplace for illegal drugs. Paul Chowles, 42, is accused of stealing 50 Bitcoin in 2017 then worth nearly 60,000 but which would be worth over 3m at todays value the entire amount seized during the investigation. The accusations date from when Chowles was one of the senior officers in charge of the investigation into a clandestine online marketplace called Silk Road 2.0, which led to its Liverpool-based founder being jailed in 2019. People illicitly using the website to purchase drugs and other substances used bitcoin to make transactions. Chowles, from Bristol, has been charged with 15 offences and will appear before Liverpool Magistrates Court next month. Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, said: We have authorised Merseyside Police to charge National Crime Agency officer Paul Chowles with 15 offences relating to the alleged theft of 50 Bitcoin, worth nearly 60,000 in 2017, during an investigation into online organised crime. Mr Chowles, 42, is due to be charged with 11 offences of concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property, three offences of acquiring, using or possessing converting criminal property and a single count of theft. The CPS said the value of the Bitcoin specified in the charge must relate to what it was worth when stolen. Paul Chowles, 42, is accused of stealing 50 Bitcoin in 2017 then worth nearly 60,000 but which would be worth over 3m at todays value during an investigation The National Crime Agency detective is due to appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court (pictured) on April 25, 2025 Chowles is charged with 11 counts of concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property, three counts of acquiring, using or possessing criminal property, and a single count of theft. He will appear at Liverpool Magistrates Court on 25 April 2025. The CPS confirmed the bitcoin were allegedly taken during an investigation into Thomas White, a university dropout described as the guiding mind behind Silk Road 2.0. He was jailed for five years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2019, for running the site on the dark web, and for possessing hundreds of indecent images of children found on an encrypted laptop after his arrest. White, then 24, set up the site after the FBI show down the original Silk Road site in 2013. Sentencing White, Judge Thomas Teague QC, said: You traded in illicit drugs and facilitated the trading by others in such drugs through the medium of a clandestine online marketplace, Silk Road. It had sophisticated security arrangements to minimise the risk of detection by law enforcement agencies and users made and received payments in Bitcoin. David Jackson, prosecuting, said White, using the name StExo, began using the dark web marketplace in 2013 to buy a prescription drug used for sleeping disorders, and then entered into an agreement with the user MedsforBitcoin, based in India, to become a distributor in exchange for a discount. Mr Jackson said the agreement was a 'stepping stone': White upgraded from a buyers to a vendors account and sold items including drug-testing kits and MDMA. He went on to become involved in advising on security and creating backups of vendor pages and forums in case the site was taken down. In October 2013 the FBI had shut down the site and arrested Ross Ulbricht, who used the name Dread Pirate Roberts, for running it. White collaborated with an American user, Blake Benthall, known as DefCon, to set up a new marketplace, Silk Road 2.0. The CPS confirmed that the bitcoin was allegedly taken during an investigation into Thomas White (pictured) a university dropout described as the guiding mind behind Silk Road 2.0 Mr Jackson said: The crown say this defendant was the guiding mind behind the site whereas Benthall provided the technical knowhow. White took up the mantle of Dread Pirate Roberts but once the site was up and running again he began to reduce his active involvement. Silk Road 2.0 continued to operate until November 2014 but the court heard the defendant, of the Bulrushes, Liverpool, had announced his retirement in messages in January 2014, when he was 19. Judge Teague said: From the beginning of 2014 you reduced your personal involvement in running Silk Road, no doubt in the hope of avoiding Ross Ulbrichts fate. However, the authorities caught up with you. White pleaded guilty last month to supplying MDMA, money laundering and making indecent images of children. He also admitted assisting or inducing the commission of offences abroad. Mr Jackson said the charge reflected sales of class A drugs in Germany worth 110,000, for which White earned 1% commission. When police raided the 1,700-a-month flat rented by White in Mann Island, Liverpool, in November 2014 they seized electronic devices. As well as finding material related to the site, they found 464 indecent images of children, including some as young as six months. At the time, Chowles with fellow NCA detective colleague Garry Tancock gave a statement as lead officers in the investigation into White. They said that among a vast amount of encrypted data found on Whites seized computers, some had been hacked from Nasa, the FBI and the extramarital affairs website Ashley Madison. It is not believed that White himself hacked the data. Nicholas Johnson QC, defending, said: What we are dealing with is a young man, aged 19, sitting in his student accommodation in Liverpool, who has a degree of sophistication so far as the internet was concerned, and thereby helped to facilitate the setting up of a marketplace which others then joined up to and carried out their own drug trafficking. He is, we would submit, significantly removed from what was actually going on. The court heard White had worked as an engineer since his arrest and had tried to make a positive contribution to society. References from his mother and partner were received by the court. The NCA said White, who left after one term of an accounting degree at Liverpool John Moores University, was believed to own 50 Bitcoins at the time of his arrest, which then had a value of about 192,000. Detectives said the self-taught computer expert was controlling, manipulative and forthright online, but the opposite in the real world. President Donald Trump said hes open to talking to Vladimir Putin after the Russian president showed resistance to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine. Id love to meet with him and talk to him but we have to get it over with fast, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about Putin. 'We would like to see a ceasefire from Russia,' the president said. 'A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now we're going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world.' Trump said he hoped for an agreement from Russia on Thursday. 'We hopefully are going to be in a good position sometime today to have a good idea,' he said. 'We know where we are with Ukraine. We are getting good signals outside of Russia as to where we are with Russia. And hopefully they will do the right thing.' President Donald Trump said he's willing to talk to Vladimir Putin Trumps envoy Steve Witkoff is in Russia to meet with Putin later today. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, where they agreed to a ceasefire. But Putin indicated hesitation about a deal as his troops continue to march across Ukraine, taking more territory. He told reporters in Russia he was in 'favor' of a 30-day ceasefire 'but that there are nuances' and that he had 'serious questions' about how it would work. 'I think we need to talk to our American colleagues... Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,' he said. He noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament. 'We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,' Putin said. Trump has indicated he'll hit Russia with sanctions if they don't agree to a deal. He also said he doesn't think Russia will attack any American allies. 'No I don't,' he said. 'When this gets done, they are done. They will all want to go home and rest. 'I don't see that happening. And we are will make sure it doesn't happen. Not going to happen but we will make sure it doesn't happen.' Russian President Vladimir Putin visits troops in Kursk Putin said any ceasefire must lead to 'long-term peace'. Meanwhile, Russia is advancing across 'practically' the entire front line, Putin claimed, adding that he will determine the 'next steps' on the ceasefire based on the success of the Kursk campaign. Putin has a long list of demands from Ukraine. He wants Ukraine to withdraw from its regions partly occupied by Russia essentially giving even more land to Moscow while promising never to join NATO. Earlier Thursday, Putin visited Kursk, the only region of Russia partly occupied by Ukrainian troops. This is the moment a Southport-inspired knifeman wails as armed police arrest him for brutally stabbing a nine-year-old girl. Jordan Wilkes, 29, squealed and dropped to his knees when he opened the door to his flat and was faced with two cops pointing guns at him. Officers scream at him to drop to the floor as he wails before lying down on his stomach. The coward repeatedly says 'ok' as officers place him in handcuffs as they arrest him for the vile stabbing attack on a little girl. Wilkes was obsessed with child murders and had searched numerous YouTube videos and podcasts on such atrocities leading up to the attack. These included the killing of the three girls at a dance class in Southport last year, the murder of James Bulger and several American high school massacres. Hours before the attack he watched a video on Aiden Fucci who murdered a 13-year-old American schoolgirl by stabbing her 114 times. On August 20 last year, three weeks after the Southport killings, Wilkes' victim had been playing with a friend on the stairwell outside his flat in Christchurch, Dorset. Jordan Wilkes, 29, squealed and dropped to his knees when he opened the door to his flat and was faced with two cops pointing guns at him Officers scream at him to drop to floor as he wails before sinking to the floor on his stomach as he arrested for the vile stabbing of a nine-year-old girl Wilkes was obsessed with child murders and had searched numerous YouTube videos and podcasts on such atrocities leading up to the attack Fuelled by thoughts of 'fulfulling a sick fantasy' he opened his door and stabbed the girl three times in the neck, shoulder and knee with a pen knife without saying a word. Luckily, she and her friend managed to flee to the safety of another flat. The wounds to the girl's shoulder and knee were so deep the bone could be seen. She was able to make a full recovery. Wilkes was arrested by armed police who raided his flat a short time after the attack. He denied a charge of attempting to murder the girl, who can't be named for legal reasons, but was found guilty last Friday following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court. Sentencing was adjourned for reports but Wilkes is facing a lengthy prison term. Berenice Mulvanny, prosecuting, said Wilkes had an 'unhealthy fascination with the murder of children and saw his opportunity to fulfil some sort of sick fantasy'. At 1.25am on August 20 last year, the day Wilkes attacked the girl, he watched a video about the case of Fucci. The two girls were playing in the stairwell of the block of flats in Glider Close, Christchurch, when Wilkes launched into the attack. Ms Mulvanny said Wilkes intended to kill the girl. She said: 'She was just playing with a friend on the stairwell outside the flat this defendant lived in with his mother. Wilkes was arrested by armed police who raided his flat a short time after the attack Wilkes had an 'unhealthy fascination with the murder of children and saw his opportunity to fulfil some sort of sick fantasy' On August 20 last year, three weeks after the Southport killings, Wilkes' victim had been playing with a friend on the stairwell outside his flat in Christchurch, Dorset Wilkes watched YouTube videos about the killing of the three girls at a dance class in Southport last year, the murder of James Bulger and several American high school massacres 'He came out of the flat. He didn't say anything, but grabbed hold of her arm then struck her with the knife three times, once to the top of the neck by the jaw line, once to the shoulder and once to the side of her knee.' Giving evidence, the girl said of the attack: 'I saw him reach into his pocket, I didn't know that it was a knife, he hid it with his arm behind him then he came at us. 'He came running at me with a straight face. 'He grabbed hold of my arm, really tight, so I couldn't escape and he was aiming for this area [pointing to her neck].' Her friend described Wilkes as 'mad-looking'. As well as the knife police also recovered a clump of the girl's hair which Wilkes either 'cut as a trophy' or wrenched from her scalp in an attempt to keep hold of her while he was attacking her. His mobile phone was recovered which revealed a 'particularly concerning' search history. The data downloaded from his Motorola mobile phone showed 69 'files of interest' related to violence, knives and child killings in the three months before the attack. The news articles, YouTube videos, documentaries and podcasts had content relating to the Valentine's School Massacre, America's deadliest mass shooting with 17 killed at Parkland High School in Florida in 2018,. Ms Mulvanny said: 'What was found on that phone show an unhealthy interest in violence, in knives, but in particular the murder of children. 'There were searches and videos watched regarding the Valentine School Massacres in America, child serial killers, abuse of children, the murder of James Bulger and the riots that resulted in Southport after the murder of three girls. The Southport murders taking place in July, the attack on [the nine-year-old] weeks later.' Wilkes had denied a charge of attempting to murder the girl, who can't be named for legal reasons, but was found guilty following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court The woman in the flat the two girls ran to said she heard screaming and banging on the door but once inside both girls were 'alarmingly composed', as if in a state of shock. While treating the girl's neck injury, the woman became aware of blood dripping on the floor and then saw a large wound to the chest. She said: 'As I moved her top I saw a huge gash to her shoulder, I could see down to the bone. It was long and wide like it had been pulled open or ripped.' Forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd told the court the girl had a 2cm long neck wound and an 8cm gash above her collarbone. He said the chest wound was deep and would have likely resulted in serious injury or death if it had damaged any of the underlying area. He also added that he had seen many deaths in his career from a single stab wound and the outcome is dependent on chance, not the control of the assailant. Wilkes will be sentenced in April. Contractors working on a rooftop at a Texas hospital have had to halt their work indefinitely because of a hawk's nest. Workers getting ready to build a new helipad on the roof of one of the towers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas were attacked by red-tailed hawks while they were up there, CBS News Texas reported. 'The hawks were buzzing around them pretty closely and so they moved away,' said Chris York, president of the hospital. 'They were making sure the contractors knew they were in unwelcome territory.' York said the workers discovered a nest with two eggs. 'We immediately contacted Texas Parks & Wildlife and they walked us through the do's and don'ts,' he said. 'They're actually federally protected.' All hawks, plus nearly two dozen other bird species, are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The law prohibits anyone from killing, capturing, selling, trading, or transporting any protected bird species. Therefore, the hospital has been forced to delay construction on the helipad until the hawk's eggs hatch. The hawk's nest (pictured) is on the roof of the hospital where workers were set to build a helipad Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas has had to delay construction until the hawk's eggs hatch Workers reported being attacked by the hawk when they went up on the roof A livestream has been set up so anyone in the public can watch the hawk and its two eggs. 'It's been surprising how much excitement there is,' York said. 'I thought there would be some people who really enjoy this, appreciate it, folks that love nature, that sort of thing, but we've had an overwhelming response of people replying.' There is precedent going back decades of legally protected animals getting in the way of construction projects. Last year, several conservative groups sued to stop Dominion Energy from building 176 wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach, citing possible impacts to North Atlantic right whale, an endangered species. The case is still tied up in federal court, but construction has been allowed to continue. In the 1970s, a tiny fish scientists discovered was able to temporarily stop the Tennessee Valley Authority from building a dam on Little Tennessee River Researchers argued that the two-inch fish, which they dubbed the snail darter in 1973, should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, The New York Times reported. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court in 1978, which ruled against the Tellico Dam's builders and ordered them to halt construction to safeguard the fish's habitat. Ultimately, President Jimmy Carter signed a bill that exempted the Tellico Dam from the Endangered Species Act. Since the dam was at least 90 percent done even before the Supreme Court order, it was operational by 1979. A Canadian actress who appeared in one of the American Pie movies says she was locked up and put in chains by ICE while trying to enter the US from Mexico after her visa was revoked. Jasmine Mooney, 35, claimed she has been held in inhumane conditions since she was detained at the San Ysidro border crossing between Mexico and San Diego on March 3. 'Every single guard that sees me is like "What are you doing here? I don't understand - youre Canadian. How are you here?"' said Mooney, who appeared in a racy scene in American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love in 2009. The entrepreneur told Team 10 that US officials revoked her work visa in November as she was trying to travel from Vancouver to Los Angeles, where she had been living at the time as she worked on the health tonic drink she co-founded. She said that, on her lawyer's advice, she went to the border crossing in March with a new job offer and the paperwork to ask for a new work visa. But a border agent told her she needed to obtain a new visa at a US consulate, and detained her, according to Mooney. Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney says she was detained at the US-Mexico border and held in inhumane conditions Mooney had one scene in 2009's American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love, where she is seen, on the right, lifting her top and exposing herself Mooney was detained while trying to cross the US-Mexico border in San Diego The officer reportedly did not allow her to return to Mexico and instead sent her to the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. 'I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days,' she added. Mooney was then transferred to a facility in Arizona. She claimed she was woken up in the middle of the night and held in chains for the entire journey. As Team 10 notes, Mooney's tonic drink, Holy! Water, contains Delta-9 'full spectrum hemp' - so it's possible the border agent could have taken issue with her previous employment. Any product that contains more than 0.3 percent of THC is considered a controlled substance. CBP told the outlet that there could be as many as 60 different reasons to detain a traveler and they treat 'all travelers with integrity, respect and professionalism.' Mooney had been living in Los Angeles before her work visa was revoked in November Mooney's tonic drink, Holy! Water, is advertised as containing Delta-9 'full spectrum hemp' - so it's possible the border agent could have taken issue with her previous employment Becky Burke, 28, was handcuffed and taken to a detention cell in Tacoma, Washington, on February 26 and is still in custody, according to her distraught family Mooney said she has not been charged with any crimes yet still does not know when she will be released. A German tattoo artist was detained at the same border crossing in January and detained for months, DailyMail.com previously reported. Jessica Brosche, 26, said she spent days in a cell at the San Diego border before she was taken into ICE custody and brought to the the Otay Mesa Detention Center, where she was held until she was deported on Tuesday. Staff at the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered babies could face prosecution in connection with their deaths after police today announced several individuals are now being investigated for gross negligence manslaughter. Detectives have upgraded their criminal investigation from a corporate manslaughter inquiry against the Countess of Chester Hospital to include those employed during the former neo-natal nurse's killing spree. Cheshire police refused to reveal exactly which staff members they were treating as suspects, their roles or how many were under investigation. The maximum sentence for gross negligence manslaughter is life in jail. Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole life sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, one of whom she attacked twice, on the hospital's neo-natal unit between June 2015 and June 2016. Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Hummingbird, said: 'In October 2023 following the lengthy trial and subsequent conviction of Lucy Letby, Cheshire Constabulary launched an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital. 'This focuses on senior leadership and their decision making to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities. 'As our enquiries have continued, the scope of the investigation has now widened to also include gross negligence manslaughter. 'This is a separate offence to corporate manslaughter and focuses on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals. It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder. Serial killer Lucy Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole life sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more Image taken from body worn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary of the arrest of Lucy Letby Detectives have upgraded their criminal investigation from a corporate manslaughter inquiry against the Countess of Chester Hospital to include those employed during the former neo-natal nurse's killing spree 'Those identified as suspects have been notified. We will not be confirming the number of people involved or their identity as no arrests or charges have yet been made. 'Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these. 'Our investigation into the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women's Hospital between the period of 2012 to 2016 is also ongoing. 'Our priority is to maintain the integrity of our ongoing investigations and to support the many families who are at the heart of these. 'There is a significant public interest in the reporting of these matters, however, every story that is published, statement made, or comment posted online that refers to the specific details of a live investigation can impede the course of justice and cause further distress to the families concerned.' No NHS hospital has ever been successfully prosecuted for corporate manslaughter, which is punishable with a fine. In 2015, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospital Trust became the first NHS hospital to go on trial in connection with the death of a primary school teacher, Frances Cappuccini, 30, who bled to death while giving birth via a Caesarean section, in 2012. The Countess of Chester Hospital where convicted baby killer Lucy Letby worked Dr Errol Cornish, a consultant anaesthetist, also faced gross negligence manslaughter charges for failings during her surgery. But the landmark trial collapsed after less than two weeks when a judge ordered the jury to find the Trust and Dr Cornish not guilty due to flaws in the prosecution case. In law, an individual can be found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter if they negligently breach the duty of care they owe the person who died and it was 'reasonably foreseeable' that such a breach gave rise to a 'serious and obvious risk of death.' The circumstances of the breach also have to be 'truly exceptionally bad and so reprehensible' that it amounts to gross negligence. Leading criminal barrister Mary Prior KC told the Mail's Trial podcast that gross negligence manslaughter cases in healthcare were rare. 'They are very rare and the reason is because of the distinction between civil and criminal law,' she said. 'What you're dealing with here is whether or not the manager or nurse or whomsoever is actually committing a crime. Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital from 2012 until her arrest in 2018 Supporters of Letby at a rally outside the High Court in London last year 'And there's a distinction in law between getting things horribly wrong and being guilty of a crime. And it's a very important distinction. 'There's no intent to kill in gross negligence manslaughter. There's no intent to cause serious bodily harm. What there is, is an exceptionally bad failure to comply with your duty of care, which provides a serious and obvious risk of death.' Operation Hummingbird, the police investigation into Letby, remains ongoing and last year detectives confirmed they had questioned Letby in prison in connection with more baby murders. Officers have pledged to look at the 4,000 infants Letby cared for during the entire 'footprint' of her nursing career, which dates back to January 2012, and includes two training placements she undertook at Liverpool Women's Hospital, in 2012 and 2015. For more exclusive, behind the headlines coverage of the Lucy Letby case, follow the Mails No.1 True Crime series, The Trial, wherever you get your podcasts now. Plus, subscribe for exclusive weekly bonus episodes from The Trial+, the Mails new members-only series available from Wednesday 19 March. President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated the United States 'needs' Greenland for national security purposes and indicated he's willing to send in American troops to take control of the island. 'I think it'll happen,' the president said of annexing the island during his Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. 'We really needed for national security. I think that is why NATO might have to get involved anyway,' he added. Trump then noted the U.S. already has a military base on Greenland. 'We have a couple of bases on Greenland already and we have quite a few soldiers. May be you will see more and more soldiers go there,' he threatened. 'We have bases and we have quite a few soldiers on Greenland.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was sitting on a couch in the Oval Office during the conversation, nodded in agreement. The U.S. has Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile warning and space surveillance operation, on the island. President Donald Trump wit NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office Trump added he'd talk to Rutte about it. But the NATO secretary declined to get involved. 'When it comes to Greenland, yes or no joining the U.S., I would leave that outside, for me, this discussion, because I don't want to direct NATO in that,' Rutte said. It's not the first time Trump mulled using military force to take control of territory he wants to add to the American map. In early January, after he was elected but before inauguration, Trump indicated he was willing to use force on both Greenland and Panama, where he wants control of the canal. Greenlanders, however, voted to rebuff President Trump's effort to bring their island into the United States. Voters gave first place in Tuesday's elections to Demokraatit, a center-right party that has never held power but is strongly opposed to an American takeover of the island, which is a Danish territory. Democraatit's leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the incoming prime minister, criticized Trump's call for Greenland to become a U.S. territory. 'We don't want to be Americans. No, we don't want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future,' Nielsen told Sky News. 'And we want to build our own country by ourselves.' The election in Greenland wasn't just a rejection of Trump. Citizens of the island are also in favor of independence in general, including a split from Denmark. Second place went to a political party who wants independence from Copenhagen within the next three years. The Greenland flag flying Nuuk, the capital city Colorful houses in Nuuk, Greenland Trump is interested in the island's strategic position in the North Atlantic and its wealth of minerals. It also is believed to have natural gas and oil off its shores. There are already fears on Greenland that Trump could take the island by force. 'I think most of us have been scared since the new year because of (Trump's) interest,' Pipaluk Lynge, a member of parliament from the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit, or United Inuit party, told The Associated Press. 'So we're really, really looking to Europe right now to see if we could establish a stronger bond with them to secure our sovereign nation.' Greenland is the world's largest island and also one of the most sparsely populated. It is home to about 56,000 people. It has been controlled by Denmark for almost 300 years. It became a formal territory in 1953 and gained home rule in 1979. Copenhagen, however, still defends the island contributes about $1 billion to its economy. Greenlanders also have Danish passports and healthcare. The island also benefits from Denmark's memberships in NATO and the EU. Police made the highest number of terrorism-related arrests since 2019 last year, an 11 per cent increase year-on-year. Official figures showed there were 248 terror-related arrests in all during 2024, 25 more than in the previous 12 months. However, the total was still significantly below the peak of 467 in 2017. Counter-terrorism police said the latest increase reflected rising perils to the UK from state threats posed by countries such as Russia, China and Iran. Last years anti-terrorism arrests led to 84 people being charged either with terrorism or another type of offence down from 109 the previous year. The record was set in 2017 with 181 individuals charged. Senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, said: The ripples of global uncertainty continue to be felt domestically and that is reflected in number of arrests our officers made last year. We have also been clear that our demand has increased when it comes to investigating and disrupting national security related cases those linked to state threats. In October Sir Ken McCallum, director general of the Security Service, MI5, warned there had been 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots in Britain over the previous two years. Counter-terrorism police said the latest increase reflected rising perils to the UK from state threats posed by countries such as Russia, China and Iran. Pictured: Police officers outside a house on Walton Drive in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, after a massive security operation resulted in arrests across the UK in connection with an alleged plot to blow up passenger jets leaving UK airports for the US (2006) An armed police officer guards the outside of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, where a 23-year-old man shot during an anti-terror raid was believed to have been taken Your browser does not support iframes. MI5 investigations into state threats jumped by 48 per cent last year, he added. A counter-terrorism policing spokesman said more than a fifth of its casework now focuses on protecting the UK against state threats. DAC Evans added: For the last 18 months, counter-terrorism policing has been operating at a very high operational tempo and it is no surprise to see our teams arrested well over 200 people last year. Within those arrests are three late-stage attacks that were disrupted thanks to the actions of our officers and our partners in the security service. Day in day out, our officers and staff are working with partners to help keep the public safe and todays figures demonstrate the scale of work were undertaking. Significantly, there was a small fall in the number of children being arrested under counter-terrorism powers, after a surge over the previous four years. During 2024 there were 39 under-18s were held by police using anti-terror powers. It was down four on the previous 12 months but still the second-highest annual total since records began in 2002. Anti-terror police stand outside a house in Northern Road, Aylesbury, Thursday July 14, 2005 which they raided in connection with the London "burning cross" bombing gang MI5 buildings in London. The services' investigations into state threats jumped by 48 per cent last year Of those arrested, three were charged compared to 16 the previous year. DAC Evans said: While the data shows a slight dip in arrests of young people, our teams still arrested a concerning number of young people last year. The offences of those who were arrested range from suspicion of possessing a firearm, to those who have allegedly shared terrorist material online, and to those who were thought to be preparing acts of terrorism. For over five years now counter-terrorism policing has been warning about the number of children and young people in our casework and investigations. And while this trend cannot be reversed by law enforcement alone, we must continue to work with our partners to stop young people, no matter their age, from causing harm to the public. There were 32 arrests of people in the 18 to 20 age group, up six year-on-year; 25 of those aged 21 to 24; 31 of those aged 25 to 29; and 121 in the over 30 bracket. A holier-than-thou Ugandan United Nations judge living close to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire warned police that she had immunity from prosecution when she was arrested for keeping a young woman as her slave, new footage revealed today. Lydia Mugambe, 49, gasped when confronted in the country kitchen of her home in Kidlington and insisted that her victim had 'asked' to work for her. 'I even have immunity. I am not a criminal', she said, before blaming her victim, who she had tricked into coming to Britain and then treated as an 'unpaid skivvy'. Thames Valley Police released the footage of her arrest after Mugambe was found guilty yesterday of facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness at Oxford Crown Court. But when confronted with her crimes on February 10, 2023, Mugambe, who was living in England while studying for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford, was outraged when police arrested her on suspicion of keeping someone 'in slavery and servitude'. Mugambe responded by saying: 'I am a judge in my country. I even have immunity. I am not a criminal. I have a diplomatic passport.' She adds: 'I came here as a student. I don't need anyone to work for me. 'I didn't come with her, she asked me. Because she has worked at my home before.' The Thames Valley officer politely asked to see evidence of her diplomatic immunity, which clearly didn't materialise because she was convicted of all four charges yesterday. Lydia Mugambe, 49, had her eyes wide in disbelief when a policeman confronted her in her Oxfordshire home on February 10, 2023 At one point in the video, Mugambe says: 'I am a judge in my country. I even have immunity. I am not a criminal. I have a diplomatic passport' Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe (pictured) took 'advantage of her status' over her victim in the 'most egregious way' by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare for free Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law Mugambe was in the dock at Oxford Crown Court yesterday where prosecutors blasted her for taking advantage of the victim in the 'most egregious way'. She was found guilty of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law. Prosecutor Caroline Haughey KC told jurors: 'Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused (her alleged victim), taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK.' Jurors accepted the prosecution's case that Mugambe had engaged in 'illegal folly' with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa, in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK. Prosecutors said the pair participated in a 'very dishonest' trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the woman's entrance into the UK. In exchange, Mugambe attempted to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in. Mugambe's trial heard she had the intention of 'obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself'. She denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she 'always' treated her with love, care and patience. The young woman Mugambe tricked into coming to the UK, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt 'lonely' and 'stuck' after her working hours were limited. According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the body's judicial roster in May 2023 - three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire. Ms Haughey said: 'Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused the victim - taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK. 'On her arrival she was made to work for Ms Mugambe from the very start, un-remunerated and acting as 'maid' and child carer to give Ms Mugambe back her "life". 'Deprived of her freedom to choose her work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Lydia Mugambe. 'If there was any doubt about this, it can be removed by considering that the minute the victim challenged the defendant's authority and tried to have control of her own ID documents, she was threatened with being returned to Uganda. Mugambe was also found guilty of facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness following a trial at Oxford Crown Court 'A young woman brought in for the convenience of Mugambe's life but mistreated, mistreated by Lydia Mugambe, a woman of power and intelligence who had no qualms in lying not only to the victim but to the police when they sought to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the victim.' The victim entered the UK on July 9, 2022, the jury was told. Mugambe asked her in March 2022 if she was interested in coming to the UK to be her child minder. The jury heard that on February 10, 2023, Thames Valley Police received a call to an address in Oxfordshire having received a report from a woman claiming the victim was being held as a slave. Later that day the victim was found in a TK Maxx store in Oxford - with the reporting party believing her to be a victim of modern slavery, the prosecutor said. On March 20, 2022, Lydia Mugambe attended an event in the Ugandan High Commission in London. There she met the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa. The victim's visa sponsorship form showed that she was going to work for the ambassador as a private domestic servant in a diplomatic household under the employ of John Leonard Mugerwa in - the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner - in North London - the court heard. Oxford Crown Court (pictured) heard when officers arrived at the address, the woman told police that Mugambe would not let her leave the house until she paid her money for her travel to the UK The jury was told that there were false particulars of employment in her visa sponsorship and the alleged victim was never intended to work at the embassy. Mugambe treated the alleged victim as an 'unpaid skivvy,' the prosecutor said. Ms Haughey said: 'That meeting at the High Commission with the Deputy High Commissioner was the turning point when Lydia Mugambe started an illegal folly with the Deputy High Commissioner to bring the alleged victim into the UK.' The jury returned three unanimous guilty verdicts regarding conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national, requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and conspiring to intimidate a witness. A majority guilty verdict was returned regarding a fourth charge of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation. John Leonard Mugerwa - who would have had diplomatic immunity - is now back in Uganda. Mugambe will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 2. A car dealership tycoon has quickly snapped up three mansions in arguably the richest neighborhood in Dallas, which has locals wondering what he's going to do with the homes and the land. According to Dallas County deed records, Clay Cooley of Clay Cooley Auto Group and his wife Lisa took out $13 million in loans tied to the home on Bordeaux Avenue and Armstrong Parkway shortly after they were purchased in late 2024, The Dallas Morning News reported. The loans against the properties - $7 million for one and $6 million for the other - were taken out via limited liability corporations tied to Cooley and his wife. While it's not clear why they borrowed against their new real estate, Todd Luong, a RE/MAX agent in Frisco, told the Morning News that it could have been done so they could have more capital to invest. These two new homes border the couple's original home, on Armstrong Parkway, which they bought in 2020 in Highland Park, a wealthy enclave nestled several miles north of downtown Dallas. With their latest purchase, they now own roughly 2.5 continuous acres of land near the home of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. There is no indication yet on what Cooley may do with his new land, but most are speculating that he's aiming to build his dream home. If that involves demolishing one or both of the homes he just bought, city preservationists could further involve themselves. Clay and Lisa Cooley are now the owners of three houses, all of them right next to each other in the wealthy Dallas neighborhood of Highland Park Pictured: The 2.5 acres the Cooleys now own and the houses that sit on each on each lot Preservation Park Cities, founded in 1982, is an organization that seeks to maintain the historical character of an area called Park Cities, which encompasses the upscale neighborhoods of Highland Park and University Park. In 1986, the organization managed to save a 1908-built home from being bulldozed. It was later restored and moved to Old City Park, where many 19th and 20th century homes and commercial buildings sit for passers by to marvel at. The organization is now concerned that Cooley could demolish one of the homes he now owns that it feels has historical value. The Tudor-style home on Bordeaux Avenue was designed by locally famous Dallas architect Hal Thompson and constructed in the 1920s. Thomson & Swaine, Hal's architectural firm, has built well over a dozen homes in the Highland Park and University Park neighborhoods. Preservationists aren't as concerned about the other homes but would rather see them remain where they are or be moved somewhere else. The mansion on Armstrong Parkway was built by Dallas architect Anton Korn, who designed several other notable properties in the area throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The property on Armstrong, built in 1997, has been dubbed the 'Mushroom House' for its fungus-like shape and shingle color. The Cooleys have applied for a plumbing permit at the Bordeaux Avenue home and a mechanical permit at the Armstrong Parkway home. Pictured: The home on Bordeaux Avenue that was designed by Dallas architect Hal Thompson. This is the home preservationists are most keen to save Pictured: The home on Armstrong Parkway that was built by Dallas architect Anton Korn Pictured: The 'Mushroom House' is at the corner of the Cooley's new 2.5 acre lot Still, they have not yet filed any remodel, building or demolition permits with the city for any of the three properties. This has given Larry Good, a retired architect and a spokesperson for Preservation Park Cities, some hope that he can get through to Cooley. Cooley made a good will appearance at the Preservation Park Cities' February meeting, where he had some good conversations with members, Good said. Two weeks ago, Cooley also allowed the group to tour and photograph the homes at Bordeaux Avenue and Armstrong Parkway. 'It's unprecedented for someone to come to one of our board meetings and say "I don't want to make any enemies," Good said. 'We're doing what we can to be a good friend to him too. I'm optimistic.' Good said he's hopeful that Cooley will at least save the home on Bordeaux Avenue, adding that during the meeting, he proposed ideas on how to preserve it. 'I did a little drawing for him, and I showed him how he could leave [the Bordeaux home] as a guest house [and] build the home of his dreams on the two Armstrong lots,' Good said. Highland Park ordinances already prohibit homeowners from combining more than two lots, so this proposal could go over well with Cooley. 'It would be great if we could especially preserve that Hal Thomson house because its a great house,' Good said. 'Theres really no reason to tear it down. You can do one hell of a house without taking that lot.' John Swinney was yesterday forced to defend Nicola Sturgeons record as he was accused of continuing her toxic legacy of failure and division. The First Minister said he was proud to have served in her government for eight years and attacked her critics for not being graceful about her exit from frontline politics. But he was branded yesterdays man standing by yesterdays women after he gave unfailing support to his former boss despite a litany of charges against her. Ms Sturgeon announced this week that she would stand down at next years election after 27 years as a Glasgow MSP. At a rowdy First Ministers Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay instantly angered Mr Swinney by asking him to name Ms Sturgeons biggest failure in office. Mr Swinney said Ms Sturgeon had given very strong leadership to Scotland and made it a better country than we have been in the past. He said other party leaders had shown a gracefulness in their remarks about her moving on, and complained that graceful tone has been jeopardised by Russell Findlay. Mr Findlay said the FM could have chosen from a vast back catalogue of failures by Ms Sturgeon that had undermined public trust in politics and the parliament. Nicola Sturgeon was accused of leaving a 'vast back catalogue of failures' behind her Mr Swinney claimed Ms Sturgeon had given very strong leadership to Scotland He said: ll start with Scotlands once world-leading education system. A system now more interested in teaching pupils about feelings and pronouns than literacy and numeracy. She is responsible for plummeting league table placements for Scotland and shes responsible for failing Scotlands poorest pupils. Ms Sturgeon admitted she had failed in her mission to close the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils - Mr Findlay said it was still as wide as the Clyde. Mr Swinney said he was proud to have been Ms Sturgeons education secretary and there had been a 44 per cent rise in children from poor backgrounds going to university under the SNP. Mr Findlay accused him of being proud of failure, as on any honest assessment, Ms Sturgeon has failed Scotland. He said: If theres a single word that defines Nicola Sturgeon and her politics it is division. Nicola Sturgeon divided our country, betrayed women, broke her promises to pupils, launched a ferry with painted-on windows, raised taxes, alienated business, and allowed drug deaths to spiral to the worst in Europe. Even on her lifes mission, she failed. Nicola Sturgeon tried to break up our great country. But we, the Scottish Conservatives, stopped her. Ms Findlay said Ms Sturgeons fixation on gender reform had proved as divisive as her Nationalism and accused the first female FM of having trampled on womens rights. He said: She couldnt even bring herself to admit that a double rapist was a man. For years, the SNP government was distracted by the fringe obsession of gender. Nicola Sturgeon focused on they/them, instead of improving public services for everyone. Now that Nicola Sturgeon is quitting, the SNPs gender obsession should follow her out the door. John Swinney is standing by Nicola Sturgeons toxic legacy of failure and division. The First Minister said Ms Sturgeon introduced a Domestic Abuse Act and made free period products available in public places - an idea lifted from Labour MSP Monica Lennon. She also appointed Scotlands first gender-balanced Cabinet, he told MSPs. He accused Mr Findlay of scraping the bottom of the barrel with the type of toxic personality politics that have become the character of the Conservative party in Scotland. He said: I think the more the people of Scotland look at the Scottish Conservatives, the more they will see a party that is toxic in everything that it says. A married PE teacher accused of sexually abusing two teenage students has been hit with fresh charges ahead of the court case. Tayla Brailey, who taught at Lurnea High School in Sydney's southwest, was charged last August over allegedly abusing a 17-year-old male student. Less than a week later, the 30-year-old was hit with further charges of abusing another male student after police went though her phone and found further evidence. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has now finalised which charges it will proceed with as the case works its way through the NSW District Court. In relation to the first teenager, Brailey is facing charges of sexual intercourse with a child under authority and sexually touching a child under authority - and has now been hit with a fresh charge of using a carriage service to access child abuse material. A charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child under authority was withdrawn. In regards to the second student, Brailey is charged with sexually touching a person under special care, inciting a person under care to have sexual intercourse, a related offence of inciting a person under care to sexually touch, and a fresh charge of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to herself. Three charges relating to alleged solicitation, access or control of child abuse material were withdrawn. Tayla Brailey, 30, has been accused of sexually abusing two high school students Brailey married her partner in September 2023 before being arrested less than a year later Brailey has been on bail since she was charged in August after allegedly sexually abusing two students who she met while working at a school in Sydney's south west. Police alleged she began speaking to the first student after he added her on Snapchat, before the pair began exchanging sexually explicit videos. She then allegedly masturbated the teen at her North Wollongong home. On another occasion, Brailey allegedly had unprotected sex with the student in the back of a car after he wagged school to meet her before she went to a pharmacy to get the morning-after pill. She was also accused of masturbating the second teen in her classroom, before trying to get him to having sex with her, but it did not happen. At the time, Brailey was suspended without pay by the Department of Education and support was provided to students and staff at the school. Brailey completed a bachelor's degree in Physical and Health Education at the University of Wollongong in 2017. She then started working for the NSW Department of Education in October, 2017. Brailey became engaged to her partner in December, 2021, and tied the knot in September 2023. She celebrated her hens party in Bali with friends and family, enjoying time at the popular Finns Beach Club, with several snaps shared to social media. She also appeared on Channel Seven's quiz show The 1% Club last year. Brailey has not entered enter any pleas and the matter is listed for a committal mention at Campbelltown Local Court on May 21. Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone and her husband claim they are victims of a politically motivated witch-hunt after accusing the Covid inquiry of being an establishment cover-up. The 53-year-old entrepreneur said she was being silenced from the three-year probe after having their request to be core participants enabling them special legal privileges such as questioning witnesses and accessing evidence turned down by the inquiry chairman. The former Conservative peer and her billionaire husband Doug Barrowman have come under scrutiny after Mr Barrowmans firm PPE Medpro was awarded contracts worth more than 200million to provide equipment during the pandemic upon Baroness Mones recommendation. They denied any wrongdoing. The Covid Inquirys chairman Baroness Hallett has already ruled that evidence will be heard in private to avoid prejudicing a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. In a statement on social media Baroness Mone whose lingerie brand Ultimo earned her the nickname Baroness Bra said the decision to hold closed-door sessions was a blatant betrayal of transparency and justice. She claimed: While the inquiry refused to exclude PPE Medpro, it handed the NCA the power to dictate the proceedings behind a wall of secrecy, ensuring that only their version of events is heard. She said the NCA actively tried to block PPE Medpro from being discussed in the inquiry, and accused it of waging a ruthless campaign to destroy us, dragging out an investigation with no merit, no justification and no end in sight. She added: A public inquiry should be about truth. Instead, this process is rigged held in secret, controlled by those who fear the truth, with a predetermined outcome. We have spent enormous sums fighting a politically motivated witch-hunt. Lingerie tycoon Baroness Michelle Mone (pictured) and her husband say they are victims of a 'politically motivated witch hunt' after accusing the Covid-19 inquiry of being an 'establishment cover-up' The furious 53-year-old entrepreneur (pictured) said she was 'being silenced' from the three-year probe after having their request to become so-called core participants - enabling them special legal privileges such as questioning witnesses and accessing evidence - turned down The former Conservative peer (right) and her billionaire husband Doug Barrowman (left) have come under scrutiny after Mr Barrowman's firm PPE Medpro was awarded lucrative contracts to provide equipment during the pandemic via a 'VIP lane', upon Lady Mone's recommendation In a statement on social media (pictured) - her first on X for nearly a year - Baroness Mone said the decision to hold 'closed-door sessions' was 'a blatant betrayal of transparency and justice' The NCA launched an investigation into the firm in May 2021 over suspected criminal offences committed over the contracts. The agency said there was a realistic possibility that criminal charges against one or more individuals will flow from the investigation. PPE Medpro was awarded two Government contracts in 2020 one for 80.85million to supply face masks, and a second for 122million to supply 25 million sterile surgical gowns. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since issued breach of contract proceedings over the deal. The couples initial bid for core participant status was rejected last month after Baroness Hallett said their request came more than a year after the deadline. The inquiry, reckoned to be the most expensive in British history, is not due to conclude until at least next year. Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of creating a cringeworthy shrine to herself after promoting tributes about her career on social media. The former First Minister shared dozens of gushing messages from fans and colleagues on Instagram after she quit frontline politics. The 54-year-old announced on Wednesday she would stand down at next years Holyrood election after 27 years as a Glasgow MSP. Her Instagram story yesterday was filled with unstinting praise which could be seen by her 123,000 followers. One of the most sycophantic messages shared was from Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, who said there had been an overwhelming outpouring of love for Nicola after her announcement. Ms Gilruth went on: An inspiration to my generation. A diligent defender of Scotland &our democracy. A fighter for a fairer society for all. An election smashing machine. A friend. Nicola Sturgeon was accused of sharing sycophantic messages about her career Hollywood actor Alan Cumming was among those who paid tribute to Ms Sturgeon Former MP Alison Thewliss sent Ms Sturgeon seven glowing messages of support. Its hard to find the words to describe how grateful I am for all the support and inspiration shes given over the years, Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton MSP said: This is exactly the kind of vain self-promotion that we have come to expect from the disgraced former SNP leader. Given her vast back catalogue of failures, some may have thought that she would keep a low profile, but instead she has created a cringeworthy shrine to herself. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian despot Vladimir Putin of being 'afraid' of telling US president Donald Trump that he wants to continue his invasion. Putin this afternoon said that while Russia backed the US proposal for a Ukraine ceasefire, it had 'serious questions' that he needed to discuss with the United States, possibly directly with President Donald Trump. Putin said he was in 'favour' of the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire 'but that there are nuances' and that he had 'serious questions' about how it would work. 'I think we need to talk to our American colleagues... Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,' he told reporters. In response, the wartime Ukrainian leader accused Putin of being 'very manipulative'. and said his words were 'very predicable.' Zelensky said during his nightly address to the Ukrainian people: 'Putin, of course, is afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, he wants to kill Ukrainians. 'That's why they in Moscow are framing the idea of silence with such preconditions that nothing will happen at all or that it will not happen for as long as possible. He said the Russian leader's words were 'just another Russian manipulation'. Earlier, Putin noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament. Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) accused Putin of being 'very manipulative' and said his words were 'very predicable' Vladimir Putin this afternoon said that while Russia backed the US proposal for a Ukraine ceasefire, it had 'serious questions' that he needed to discuss with the United States Donald Trump (pictured) is acting as the prime mediator between Ukraine and Russia 'We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,' Putin said. The Russian president said any ceasefire must lead to 'long-term peace'. Zelensky fired back at Putin, saying that Ukraine does not 'set conditions that complicate anything' while stating that Russia does. 'As we have always said, the only one who will drag things out, the only one who will be unconstructive, is Russia,' he says. 'They want a war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war - day after day.' He also accused Putin of not wanting to end the invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. 'That's why in Moscow they are imposing upon the idea of a ceasefire these conditions, so that nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible.' Zelenskyy ended the address by calling for allies to ramp up the pressure on Putin and impose further sanctions. 'This is possible to ensure, with America's possibilities, and Europe's possibilities.' Zelenskiy said a ceasefire would give time 'to prepare answers to all questions regarding long-term security and a real, reliable peace, and put on the table a plan to end the war.' Putin's claims of wanting peace stood in opposition to comments made by his aide, Yuri Ushakov, who earlier said the proposed ceasefire deal was 'hasty' and would give breathing space to Ukrainian forces at a time when Moscow is close to fully retaking territory in its Kursk region from Kyiv's forces. Meanwhile, Russia is advancing across 'practically' entire front line, Putin claims, adding that he will determine the 'next steps' on the ceasefire based on the success of the Kursk campaign. Vladimir Putin (pictured) has said he is 'in favour' of a 30-day ceasefire, but that 'there are nuances' Putin said he was in 'favour' of the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, but that he had 'serious questions' about how it would work. 'I think we need to talk to our American colleagues... Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,' he said Putin said that Ukrainian soldiers tried to leave in large groups, but this is now impossible. If a physical blockade occurs in the coming days, then no one will be able to leave at all. There will be only two options: surrender or die,' he added, according to Russian media. Putin noted that while it appeared that the US persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire, Ukraine is interested in that because of the battlefield situation, noting that Ukrainian troops that launched an incursion into Russia's Kursk region would be fully blocked in the coming days. 'In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days,' he said. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he said: 'Will all those who are there come out without a fight?' Putin thanked Trump 'for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine.' He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their 'noble mission to end the fighting to casualties,' a statement that signaled those countries' potential involvement in a ceasefire deal. Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said during a live TV interview shortly before the Russian despot's comments: 'I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more.' Firefighters put out the fire at a damaged building after a Russian strike in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine on March 13 2025 Putin added that Russia must talk about ceasefire with US, 'maybe with President Trump', while 'serious questions' remain about how a Ukraine ceasefire would work Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 March 2025 Iryna Petrochenko , 50, looks out from damaged apartment after a Russian missile attack happened killing a 47 year old woman and wounding nine others on March 12, 2025 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine A view of damage at the residential area following a Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine on March 13, 2025 The foreign policy advisor said Moscow sees its goal as being a long-term settlement 'that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our known concerns,' rather than a temporary truce. 'It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation,' he said dismissively. Asked by TV host Olga Skabeeva - also known as Putin's 'Iron Doll' - if this meant an outright rejection of the Trump ceasefire by Moscow, he replied ominously: 'The President will probably [soon] make more specific and substantive assessments.' Ushakov, who previously served as Moscow's ambassador to the US, added that he had outlined Russia's position on the ceasefire to US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. The Russian Defense Ministry's claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in Kursk. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. The renewed Russian military push and Putin's high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, which began more than three years ago with Russia's full-scale invasion. The US on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior US and Ukrainian officials reported making progress on how to stop the fighting during talks in Saudi Arabia. Firefighters work at a damaged building after a Russian strike in Akhtyrka, Ukraine on March 13 2025 Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign 'Krystal' aims the M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Russia escalates overnight attacks on Ukraine, killing and wounding crew and port workers in Odesa grain ship strike, destroying homes in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy and hitting Krivyi Rih This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 12, 2025, shows a destroyed building at the site of a strike in Kryvyi Rig Trump said Wednesday that 'it's up to Russia now' as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that Trump is 'willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides,' including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. But it appears that this pressure may not be effective, as an advisory document written for the Kremlin has revealed. Vladimir Putin plans to fight on in Ukraine and weaken Donald Trump's negotiating position in any peace deal by stoking tensions between the US and the rest of the world. As Washington continues to push for a truce, documents from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank, obtained by the Washington Post, suggest that Russia has been working to undermine a possible peace deal since at least February. It appears that some measures in the document, reportedly written by an influential Moscow-based thinktank the week before the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia in late February, have already informed the thinking of the Russian state. The document, written for the FSB's Fifth Service, the security service division that oversees operations in Ukraine, lays out the ways in which Russia could boost its standing by inflaming tensions between the US and both China and the EU. A Russian army soldier walks along a ruined street of Malaya Loknya settlement, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia, in this still image taken from video released March 13, 2025 The renewed Russian military push and Putin's high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war A still image taken from a handout video provided by the Russian Defence Ministry's press-service shows damage in Sudzha, Kursk region, Russia, 13 March 2025 Rescuers clear the rubble of a damaged apartment building after Russian attacks on March 13, 2025 in Kherson, Ukraine The US has twice sided with Russia at UN votes, in a stark reversal of Washington's foreign policy which has worried allies. The first instance was at the General assembly where it opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's actions and reaffirming Ukraine's territorial integrity. The second was at the Security Council where the US drafted and voted for a resolution that called for the end of Russia's invasion without criticising Russia. The pro-Kremlin thinktank's document argues that against this backdrop, Russia should be working towards 'the complete dismantling' of the current Ukrainian government. Putin has skirted the issue of a ceasefire ahead of talks with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff - whose plane was mapped heading to Moscow today - and has instead set his troops the task of grabbing back territory in Kursk. Jenny Gilruths rejection of a plan for the school leaving age to be lowered has been branded stupid and ridiculous by a billionaire Scots businessman. Jim McColl launched an attack on the Education Secretary after she spoke out against a Tory call for pupils to be allowed to finish their school studies at the age of 14, calling it Dickensian. Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said the move would allow children to train as apprentices or get college places to prevent them leaving school and ending up unemployed. Writing in todays Mail, Mr McColl, chairman and chief executive officer of Clyde Blowers, criticised the backlash and said Mr Findlays plan should be taken seriously. Last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Miles Briggs said: Jim McColl has unquestioned authority on this topic, not just as one of Scotlands leading entrepreneurs, but as someone who has worked to give disengaged youngsters greater opportunities. Jenny Gilruth would do well to follow his advice to drop the sneers and soundbites and engage with Russell Findlays proposals for a range of options to give young Scots a better start in life. Earlier this month, Mr Findlay said that far too many young people are being failed by the SNPs education system and those being left behind should get the opportunity of a hybrid education and training in colleges and the workplace. He said learning a practical trade would improve the life chances of less academic pupils who felt trapped in a system that isnt working for them. It would also help plug skills gaps in the workforce and boost economic growth. Jim McColl, chairman and chief executive officer of Clyde Blowers, said Russell Findlay's proposal to lower the school leaving age to 14 should be taken seriously Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay wants to allow children to leave school at 14 to pursue apprenticeships But John Swinney ruled out lowering the school leaving age despite concern that too many children are being failed by the SNPs education system. Mr McColl said: Among the early critics [of Mr Findlays proposal] was Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth who condemned it as Dickensian a ridiculous and indeed stupid assertion. We can all agree that not every child will thrive at school and that those pupils who dont are most at risk of walking away from the system often to join the dole queue. Mr McColl set up Newlands Junior College in Glasgow which took children at risk of dropping out of the education system, teaching them life and vocational skills, and maths, science and IT. He wanted the successful project to be extended but Glasgow City Council said it could not provide cash for a dedicated facility, so the college closed in 2019. Mr McColl said: Too many MSPs and ministers focus on political point-scoring rather than policy discussion - but theyre gambling with young peoples lives. Now that the topic has been brought up again, it should be taken on and properly debated. I would be prepared to host a seminar for Ms Gilruth and other MSPs with the teachers and some of the kids who went to our college to tell them about what it did, and why it was important. Stupid soundbite quips may make MSPs think theyre smart but they wont change the direction of young peoples lives. Commenting on the plan to lower the school leaving age, Dr Stuart Waiton, a senior lecturer in sociology and criminology at the University of Abertay in Dundee, voiced concern about Mr Findlays plan. He said: Perhaps Ive missed the news about the booming Scottish economy and the shortage of apprentices, as this would seem to be the only logical basis for making such a proposal, and even then, it would be a terrible idea. Mr Waiton said it was one of the tragedies about some modern Conservatives that when it comes to school, they often seem to think that education is simply about jobs, and they appear to have little idea about education as a thing in itself. The 'two-tier justice system' coming into force next month will escalate court backlogs and cost tens of millions of pounds to implement, the Conservatives warned tonight. Official guidelines from the Sentencing Council recommend all ethnic minorities and transgender people convicted of a crime should be treated differently by judges and magistrates. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'This two-tier sentencing guidance isn't just deeply unfair, it will also likely cost the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds. 'It will blow a hole in the Probation Service's budget and overwhelm them, creating delays that will mean victims have to wait longer for justice.' Mr Jenrick has drawn up legislation which would grant ministers a veto over measures unveiled by the Council. The legal measures would require the Justice Secretary to give her consent to new sentencing guidelines plus powers to amend them. Labour will have to indicate whether it will back Mr Jenrick's bill in Parliament when it receives its second reading tomorrow. Ms Mahmood has previously said she would wait until a new sentencing bill is published by the Government - which is unlikely to be in force for at least a year. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) said: 'This two-tier sentencing guidance isn't just deeply unfair, it will also likely cost the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds' Official guidelines from the Sentencing Council recommend all ethnic minorities and transgender people convicted of a crime should be treated differently by judges and magistrates. Pictured: File photo Ms Mahmood (pictured) has previously said she would wait until a new sentencing bill is published by the Government - which is unlikely to be in force for at least a year Mr Jenrick said: 'The Justice Secretary was asleep at the wheel while her department approved this guidance. 'She has a chance to fix her mess by backing my Bill to stop the two-tier system coming into force and preserve equality before the law. 'If Labour refuse, there will be two-tier justice under 'Two-Tier Keir' in just 18 days' time.' There is already a Crown court backlog of 73,000 cases in England and Wales. And background papers published by the Council reveal some magistrates and judges warned the plan could over-burden the Probation Service, which compiles 'pre-sentence reports' (PSRs) on convicted offenders. The new guidelines say it must 'normally be considered necessary' for the courts to commission a PSR if a criminal is from 'an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community'. They also include a long list of other 'minority' criminals to be covered by the measures, including transgender people, young adults and addicts. It should also apply to all women offenders, they add. While drawing up the measures the Council was warned they would be 'biased'. Baroness Falkner (pictured), head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, voiced 'concerns' that there 'might be some discrimination by leaving out some groups and elevating others' Documents reveal 'many' individuals who responded to a consultation said the minorities list should be completely scrapped. 'There were strong opinions from all sides about this section, and many individual respondents, including some magistrates, did not believe there should be cohort list at all, mostly citing reasoning around the idea that the list is biased and conflicts with equality in sentencing,' the documents said. However, the warnings were ignored when the final version was published. Labour's Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood asked the Council to reconsider the measures warning they would lead to 'differential treatment', but was rebuffed. She was due to meet Council members today. This week Britain's equality watchdog also warned the moves - which come into force on April 1 - may be discriminatory. Baroness Falkner, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, voiced 'concerns' that there 'might be some discrimination by leaving out some groups and elevating others'. The Council's background papers also indicated criminals should be ordered to undergo a pre-sentence report if there is a 'possibility' they belong to a minority group. It would include those who claim, for example, to have addiction issues, mental health problems, or to have suffered abuse or coercion. Last night, the Justice Secretary and the head of the Sentencing Council held constructive talks about guidance to judges which prompted claims of two-tier justice. She and council chairman Lord Justice William Davis had a constructive discussion yesterday, the Ministry of Justice and the council said in separate statements. It was agreed that the Lord Chancellor will set out her position more fully in writing, which the Sentencing Council will then consider before the guideline is due to come into effect, both statements said. Thousands of jobs faced the axe last night after Sir Keir Starmer announced NHS England will be scrapped in a bid to slash red tape. He hopes that ditching the worlds largest quango will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year that can be spent on patients instead. The Government said NHS England duplicates work done by officials at the Department of Health and Social Care. Half the 18,600 office staff employed by the two organisations will be lost, with the funds redirected to doctors, nurses and frontline services. This will help to cut waiting lists and improve care, Sir Keir claimed yesterday. Ministers are understood to be adamant that the reorganisation will change the NHS, and allow the service to get back to focusing on patient care. One of the areas where big savings could be made is in the number of equality schemes in the NHS. While ministers view some as important, they say there are far too many that are well-meaning but misguided. As well as saving hundreds of millions of pounds, ministers believe the reforms will allow the NHS to make greater use of the private sector and make it more democratically accountable. But experts warned the biggest restructure of the service in a decade is likely to be a distraction for managers and create disruption for patients. NHS England will be scrapped under major reforms aimed at cutting waste and bureaucracy, Sir Keir Starmer announced on Thursday Almost 10,000 office jobs face the axe as the Government looks to save hundreds of millions of pounds a year in admin costs (file image) The Government said the 'world's largest quango' duplicates work that is already done by officials at the Department of Health and Social Care NHS England is responsible for the overall management of the service, allocating 192billion to local health bodies and providing direction. However, the PM said decisions about billions of pounds of taxpayers money should not be taken by an arms-length body. Bringing remaining NHSE staff into the DHSC will put management of the health service back into democratic control and back at the heart of government, he added. Work will begin immediately to execute the takeover, with the process expected to take two years. On a visit to consumer goods company Reckitt, which owns brands including Dettol and Durex, Sir Keir said: I cant in all honesty explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy. That money could and should be spent on nurses, doctors, operations, GP appointments. So today, I can announce were going to cut bureaucracy... focus government on the priorities of working people, shift money to the front line. So Im bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms-length body, NHS England. The PM added that the Government wants to push power to frontline workers and away from the bureaucracy. Your browser does not support iframes. Half the 18,600 staff employed by the two organisations will be lost, with the funds redirected to doctors, nurses and frontline services (file image) This will help to cut waiting lists and improve care, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer added The decision comes after the resignation of several high-profile NHS England board members, including chief executive Amanda Pritchard and chief financial officer Julian Kelly. The changes will reverse the 2012 shake-up of the NHS under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which the Government says created burdensome layers of bureaucracy without any clear lines of accountability. Wes Streeting told the Commons he was abolishing the biggest quango in the world, with staff cuts delivering hundreds of millions of pounds worth of savings. The Health Secretary said the move was the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation. He added: There are more than twice as many staff working in NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care today than there were in 2010 twice as many staff as when the NHS delivered the shortest waiting times and the highest patient satisfaction in history. 'Today, the NHS delivers worse care for patients, but is more expensive than ever. The budget for NHS England staff and admin alone has soared to 2billion. We have been left with two large organisations doing the same roles such bloated and inefficient bureaucracy cannot be justified. The NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard (pictured) and national medical director both resigned in recent weeks as the scale of the overhaul became clear Your browser does not support iframes. Tory health spokesman Dr Caroline Johnson told the Commons that the Conservatives were supportive of measures to streamline the management and we do not oppose the principles of taking direct control. The Government said Sir Jim Mackey, interim chief executive of NHS England, and Dr Penny Dash, its new chairman, will oversee the transition. The DHSC said: Too much centralisation and over-supervision has led to a tangled bureaucracy, which focuses on compliance and box-ticking, rather than patient care, value for money, and innovation. The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, which represent health organisations, said: This is the end of an era for the NHS and marks the biggest reshaping of its national architecture in a decade. History tells us this will cause disruption. Sir Keir used his speech, in Hull, to outline his desire to slash red tape across government, saying he wanted to take on a watchdog state out of whack with the priorities of the British people. Despite criticising the Blob last year, Sir Keir instead commended the civil service for having some of the best talent in the country but said their energy had been misdirected into blocking. How unions and health leaders feel about Keir Starmer's plan to scrap NHS England Unions and health leaders were quick to criticise the governments plan to scrap NHS England, warning that patient care is likely to suffer. The service remains under extreme pressure and is failing to hit targets for routine, emergency and cancer care, newly published figures revealed yesterday. Some 6.25 million patients were estimated to be waiting for treatments at the end of January, up slightly from 6.24 million at the end of December, the new figures show. And only 73.4 per cent of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days in January, down from 78.1 per cent a month earlier. Meanwhile, ambulances are failing to meet response time targets and an average of 13,740 hospital beds per day were filled last week with patients who were fit to be discharged but were unable to leave. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. This is up from 13,430 the previous week. Dave Penman, general secretary of the civil servants union the FDA, dismissed the suggestion that the reforms would deal mostly with duplication as for the birds. He said: If theyre going to cut staffing in half, the idea that thats youre going to get away with that because there are two comms teams is just for the birds. If youre going to do away with [NHS England], youre going to have a lot of time taken up by reorganising the deck chairs, even if thats into a central department. Unions hit out at the proposed job cuts, with Christina McAnea, general secretary of public services union Unison, saying the prime ministers announcement will have left staff at NHS England reeling. She added: The way the news of the axing has been handled is nothing short of shambolic. It could surely have been managed in a more sympathetic way. The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, which represent health organisations, said: This is the end of an era for the NHS and marks the biggest reshaping of its national architecture in a decade. History tells us this will cause disruption while the transition is taking place. The PM was at the Hull HQ of Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK on Thursday Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: The Government must ensure this transition delivers tangible improvements and doesnt divert attention from urgent priorities like reducing waiting times and improving access to primary care. Patients are less concerned with organisational charts than with whether they can get the right treatment, at the right time, delivered by well-supported healthcare professionals. Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The Kings Fund, a health think tank, said the potential cost savings from axing NHS England are minimal and the Government must ensure it delivers a net benefit. She added: As with previous NHS restructures, structural change comes with significant opportunity cost, with staff who would otherwise be spending their time trying to improve productivity, ensure safety, and get the best outcomes for patients, now worrying about whether they will have a job. And Hugh Alderwick, director of policy at the Health Foundation, a think tank, said: History tells us that rejigging NHS organisations is hugely distracting and rarely delivers the benefits politicians expect. Scrapping NHS England completely will cause disruption and divert time and energy of senior leaders at a time when attention should be focused on improving care for patients. It will also eat up the time of ministers, with new legislation likely needed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is launching an investigation after a DailyMail.com report blew the lid off an air traffic controller cheating scandal. The story published Wednesday exposed how a powerful figure in a massive federal aviation workers association gave test answers to black and minority candidates ahead of a make-or-break test. The bombshell report revealed audio of Shelton Snow, of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE), promising to give answers in advance before prospects took difficult entry exams. 'I am about 99.99 percent sure that it is exactly how you need to answer each question,' Snow can be heard saying. After reading the DailyMail.com exclusive about Snow, Duffy reposted the story on X and announced a new probe into diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 'I am launching a full investigation into the DEI hiring allegations at the FAA immediately,' the secretary wrote. 'If true, swift accountability will come for those responsible,' he said, noting the allegations first reported in the DailyMail.com story. 'We need the best and brightest, not buzzword, DEI hires,' he shared. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy announced an investigation into the FAA after a DailyMail.com story earlier this week on a cheating scandal Just days after taking office in January, President Trump signed an executive order abolishing the government's DEI agenda and stressed that hiring shouldn't be on anything 'other than the brain' A spokesperson for the secretary did not immediately elaborate on the forthcoming plans when reached for comment. Duffy's investigation is a part of President Donald Trump's wider initiative to rid the executive branch of DEI. Already the Republican signed an executive order to dissolve DEI-related positions within government and billions of dollars worth of DEI related grants and projects have been canceled by Elon Musk's DOGE. When signing the anti-DEI executive order the president stressed that hiring shouldn't be based on anything 'other than the brain.' Snow, however, took the opposite approach, by allegedly providing advanced answers to a select group of people to give them a leg up. 'There are some valuable pieces of information that I have taken a screenshot of and I am going to send that to you via email,' says Snow, an air traffic operations supervisor based out of New York, in the clip obtained by DailyMail.com. The inside info was made available in 2014 to black, females, and other minority candidates but whites were left out of the loop to 'minimize competition.' Exactly how many applicants were able to capitalize on Snow's brazen offer to secure coveted controller jobs responsible for the safety of millions of fliers remains unknown. 'We need the best and brightest, not buzzword, DEI hires,' Duffy posted on X alongside the report In audio footage obtained by DailyMail.com, Shelton Snow (pictured), the front line manager of the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE), can be heard promising advance access to test answers to minority prospects vying for an air traffic control job in 2014 But one former NBCFAE member, Matthew Douglas, told DailyMail.com: 'I know several people who cheated and I know several people who are controlling planes as we speak.' The voicemail comes to light as President Donald Trump vows to purge DEI diversity, equity and inclusion from U.S. aviation, among other federal agencies, in the wake of the deadly midair collision at Reagan National airport in January that claimed 67 lives. Snow's message was recorded just weeks after the FAA announced the biggest hiring shake up in its history during an Obama-era push to 'widen the aperture' for women and minorities. As DailyMail.com exclusively revealed, the federal government agency had controversially replaced its peer-reviewed cognitive exam with a 'biographical' quiz asking things like 'how would you describe your ideal job' and 'classmates would remember me as humble or dominant?' Critics say the quixotic blend of multiple-choice questions was designed to screen out elite, mostly white students from FAA-accredited college courses who excelled in traditional aptitude tests. Nonetheless, it was proving incredibly tricky for anyone to pass with a 90 percent failure rate when Snow decided to intervene. The then-President of the NBCFAE's Washington Suburban chapter contacted members in January 2014 with a list of HR 'buzz words' to insert into job applications. 'These buzzwords will flag your resume, thereby giving you the advantage over thousands of resumes that may flood the system,' he wrote. Snow also contacted members in January 2014 with a list of HR 'buzz words' to insert into job applications The FAA's hiring policies came under sharp scrutiny after President Donald Trump controversially blamed the January 29 Ronald Reagan National Airport crash on DEI At a separate teleconference, applicants were urged to highlight their association with the NBCFAE, the largest employee association within the FAA. An agenda for the December 2023 powwow read: 'This is for us to know who our people are in the case that we have one of our own on the board. 'In the past we've always had one and they share our enthusiasm. Can you see the strategy.' It added: 'We are only concerned about African-Americans, Women (of every ethnic background), and other minorities. 'Please ensure that you share this information with no one that is identified outside of that this is to minimize competition.' Snow went further in a voicemail, teasing inside info that would prevent NBCFAE-affiliated applicants from flunking the questionnaire. Longtime Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva passed away Thursday morning after a battle with cancer. His office announced the 77-year-old died from complications with his cancer treatment. Grijalva represented Arizona's Third and Seventh Congressional Districts during his long tenure in the House which began in 2003. 'More than two decades ago, Rep. Grijalva embarked on a journey to be a voice for Southern Arizonans in Washington, D.C. Driven by his community values an spirit, he worked tirelessly and accomplished so much - for Arizona and for the country,' his office said in a statement. The statement went on to tout his work to improve the region he represented and bring new business to southern Arizona. It also noted his work on the Natural Resources Committee which he chaired before Republicans retook the House majority in 2023. 'He was steadfast in his commitment to produce lasting change through environmental policies -- as he would say, "it's for the babies,"' the statement read. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) passed away on Thursday at the age of 77 But as his office announced early Thursday evening that he passed away that morning, there appeared to be some confusion. Just over an hour before his office revealed his death, the congressman's X account put out an anti-Trump post. 'President Trumps latest reckless decision to fire thousands of employees at the Department of Education jeopardizes critical student aid programs, weakens protections for students civil rights, and undermines essential support for students with disabilities,' the post Thursday afternoon read. 'This move severely threatens every childs access to a quality education nationwide,' it continued. The X post was sent out at 3:16pm ET. The statement announcing he had passed went out on X at 5:15pm ET. An X post from Grijalva's account on Thursday afternoon. His office announced he passed away Thursday morning less than two hours later Rep. Grijalva speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 Grijalva was reelected to his Arizona 7th District House seat in November 2024 with more than 63 percent of the vote but announced the month before that he would not seek another term in 2026 as he underwent cancer treatment. However, he was unable to complete his final term. 'Serving Southern Arizona was the honor of Raul M. Grijalva's life,' the statement from his office read. His staff thanked those who partnered with Grijalva over the years as well as his family. California Governor Gavin Newsom denied a bombshell claim that he secretly personally funded his own bronze bust to display at City Hall to commemorate his time as mayor of San Francisco. The shock report published by authors Jedd McFatter and Susan Crabtree in the book Fool's Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All claim Newsom used something called 'behested payments' to fund the monument. Newsom's payments show three private organizations donated to the nonprofit earmarked for 'Mayoral Bust at San Francisco City Hall.' Two of the companies are companies owned by Newsom. Balboa Cafe Partners and PlumpJack Management Group are the Newsom-owned organizations, donated combined $10,000 to the $97,000 bust fund, the book reports. But the governor's office disputed the claim. 'To imply the Governor personally funded or proposed this effort is categorically false,' Brandon Richards, Newsom's Deputy Director for Rapid Response told DailyMail.com. The sculpture currently sits near other two-term mayors such as Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein, and George Moscone. Companies owned by the Newsom family helped pay for his own monument at San Francisco City Hall commemorating his time as mayor A new book threatens to undo Newsom's image rehabilitation by claiming he paid to honor himself at San Francisco City Hall Richards conceded that businesses tied to the Newsom family contributed a 'modest contribution' to the privately funded effort, but said it was not 'secret,' as reports claimed. The governor's office said the governor's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom helped raise the money for the bronze bust of the former mayor, which was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2018. But that report did not reveal the specific donations for the monument made by his family businesses. One of the book's co-authors, Susan Crabtree, responded to Newsom's claims in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'Team Newsom is afraid of the shocking revelations in FOOL'S GOLDwhich is backed by more than forty-five pages of endnotes containing more than 1,000 open-source reputable and verifiable citations with zero anonymous sourcesand that is why they are trying to smear this book,' Crabtree replied. The book threatens to disrupted Newsom's careful effort to rehab his image as he eyes a run for president in 2028 after his time as a surrogate for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The California governor recently launched a podcast, where he is hosting interviews with conservative activists like Charlie Kirk, populist nationalist Stephen K. Bannon and conservative radio host Michael Savage. Newsom served as mayor of California's second largest city from 2004 to 2011, elected while he was still married to Donald Trump's current Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle. The book chronicles Newsom's use of 'behested payments' to fund projects adding to his legacy. 'The simple fact is that no one knew that Gavin Newsom used a called 'behested payments' to solicit funds from his own companies to erect a monument to himself inside San Francisco City Hall until we followed the money and unearthed the obscure documents,' Crabtree stated. 'Furthermore, Newsom's team has thus far whether his companies got a tax break for funding this 'charitable' statue; just like Newsom's and his statute is a scandal, and we stand by our reporting.' When the bust was being constructed, Newsom admitted that he found the whole thing odd but chose to play naive about who paid for it. 'I don't want to call it embarrassing, but it's a strange thing,' he told SFGATE at the time. 'I'm just awkward about it. But now the word is out.' Jedd McFatter and Susan Crabtree's Fool's Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All claim Newsom used something called 'behested payments' to pull it off At the time, the newspaper reported that 'Newsom supporters' had paid for the bust with 'private funds.' Newsom has faced scrutiny for the move, with one calling him 'ridiculous.' 'Now I know what a narcissist is,' wrote another. 'This is peak leftist arroganceworshiping their own failures while everyday Californians suffer under their disastrous policies,' added another. 'If only he cared half as much about fixing his state as he does about immortalizing his own ego.' Newsom has been facing criticism over his his podcast and his handling of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. While the Golden State is in the midst of recovering from the horrific wildfire disaster, which left at least 29 people dead and more than 18,000 structures destroyed, the Democratic governor was accused of having his focus on other issues, as he launched his new podcast venture. The King once again showed his affection for Canada after receiving two senior figures from the country's parliament yesterday. Following his meeting last week with outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the monarch - who is also Canada's head of state - welcomed the 'Canadian Usher of the Black Rod', Greg Peters, and the Speaker of the Canadian senate, Raymonde Gagne, to Buckingham Palace. Ostensibly the meeting was to bestow a new ceremonial sword on the usher, commissioned by the Senate in His Majesty's honour to mark his accession to the throne. While it was a long-standing engagement, it was also considered a chance for King Charles to reaffirm his support and love for Canada and its people. It is understood that there was a 'warm exchange of greetings' - in both French and English from the King - and that he 'shared his profound personal thanks for such a thoughtful gesture'. It was followed by half an hour of talks on 'topics of great concern to all parties, both nationally and internationally'. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on any details of what was discussed as it was a 'private audience'. King Charles meets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on March 3, 2025 The King welcomed the 'Canadian Usher of the Black Rod', Greg Peters (left), and the Speaker of the Canadian senate, Raymonde Gagne (right), to Buckingham Palace As a constitutional monarch the king cannot comment on current tensions between Canada and the US, but sources have made clear in recent days that he is able to show his backing through 'deed if not word'. The US president has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st US state and has made several statements over the country's sovereignty and trade tariffs. On Tuesday, he threatened to double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum for Canada but later halted the plan. The incoming Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has vowed to keep retaliatory tariffs in place until the US commits to free trade. Meanwhile, the premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, last week told The Telegraph the king, as head of state, has a duty to confront Trump. She said: 'We sing "God save the King" every week when we're in legislature. Ostensibly the meeting was to bestow a new ceremonial sword on the usher, commissioned by the Senate in His Majesty's honour to mark his accession to the throne Donald Trump (pictured) has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st US state Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to take on Trump 'I swear an oath to the King, our cabinet secrecy is affirmed by our oath to the King, and we've got him on our bank notes. 'So I think he should have something to say about [Trump's campaign to absorb Canada], because it is, I think, a direct confrontation to British sovereignty.' It comes as His Majesty has also been tasked by the government of woo-ing President Trump with a private visit to Scotland this summer and a forthcoming historic state visit. Unmissable in a red Catherine Walker coat and matching Gina Foster hat, the Princess of Wales dominated media coverage of the annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration this week. It was the first time in two years that Catherine and her father-in-law King Charles had attended the service at Westminster Abbey, because of their respective cancer treatments. And it was the princess, not the monarch, who was pictured on newspaper front pages the next day. Just like the late Queen Elizabeth, who stood out from the crowd with the bright colours she wore, Catherine increasingly seems to wear striking and elegant outfits of a single colour that emphasise her importance to the Royal Family. Camilla is Queen, but Catherine is making clear that she is ready to take that role when her time comes. Her impressive appearance this week made me think back many years to the first occasion I met Catherine or Kate Middleton, as she was known by everyone then. It was at the launch party for Simon Sebag Montefiores biography Young Stalin in 2007, when Catherine had briefly split from Prince William. Catherine, then aged 25, attended the event with her sister, Pippa Middleton, and chatted to me in a group with Sebag Montefiores sister-in-law, the TV presenter Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who sadly died a decade later at the age of 45. Tara, the daughter of two of King Charless closest friends, Charles and Patti Palmer-Tomkinson, had known Prince William since he was a little boy and was not shy about speaking intimately about him to Catherine at the party at Asprey jewellers in Mayfair. Unmissable in a red Catherine Walker coat and matching Gina Foster hat, the Princess of Wales dominated media coverage of the annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration this week I first met Catherine at a book launch in 2007, when Catherine had briefly split from Prince William. She is pictured at the event with her sister Pippa While I made small-talk to Catherine about Montefiores book and how she knew the author, Tara, typically, got straight down to what everyone really wanted to know about: Catherines break-up with William. The split had been a big story since it had been disclosed a few months earlier. How are you doing? Tara asked her. Catherine replied, Fine, and started blushing. It must be so hard... Tara persisted. Really, its fine, Catherine replied, firmly, if uncomfortably. She made clear with her body language that she didnt wish to discuss the subject, and the conversation moved swiftly on to happier and less fraught matters. At that time, Catherine was seen as a party-loving girlfriend of William, but my first encounter with her taught me that she was a tough cookie who wasnt going to be inveigled into saying something she didnt want to say by anyone not even a close friend of the royals. Indeed, she reminded me of members of the Royal Family, much older than herself, who have the uncanny ability to make small-talk with anyone (even tiresome social diarists) without giving anything anyway. They usually manage to turn the conversation around and force the questioner do the talking. Fortunately for the future of the Royal Family, Catherine was reunited with William a couple of months later. Although she has changed in many ways since our fleeting first encounter - becoming, for example, a confident public speaker - there was a hint of that inner steel which has served her so well in the years since. Through the trauma of cancer treatment over the past year, she has emerged as an even more impressive figure who commands attention at big royal events such as the Commonwealth Day Service. The mission to rescue NASA's stranded astronauts has been delayed yet again, marking another setback in the nine-month-long saga. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 7:48pm ET Wednesday, but the mission was scrubbed at the 11th hour. The mission was taking four astronauts to replace Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June. The quad of astronauts were all ready to go and strapped into their seats when the mission was aborted less than 30 minutes before they were due to launch. It's a disappointing outcome for NASA and SpaceX, and undoubtedly the two astronauts stranded in space. Both NASA and SpaceX will now reconvene on Thursday evening to have a second attempt at launching. Commentators from SpaceX said there would also be an opportunity on Friday if the original backup launch also fails. This would have let Williams and Wilmore flee the ISS two days later and be back on Earth with the families by Sunday. The delay comes as Elon Musk said he offered to bring the pair home eight months ago, but the Biden Administration shot it down because it would've made Donald Trump 'look good' in the presidential race against Kamala. The quad of astronauts were all ready to go and strapped into their seats when the mission was aborted less than 30 minutes before they were due to launch The mission was taking four astronauts to replace Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June SpaceX's Crew-10 mission will bring a team of four astronauts to the ISS: Roscosmos Cosmonaut Kiril Peskov (L), NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers (2nd L), NASA Astronaut Anne McClain (3rd L) and JAXA Astronaut Takuya Onishi It's a disappointing outcome for NASA and SpaceX, and undoubtedly the two astronauts stranded in space The next rescue mission has been rescheduled for March 13 at the earliest, which means Williams and Wilmore will not return to Earth until at least Monday. At 6.55pm, just 50 minutes before takeoff and moments before the launch was scrubbed, SpaceX shared behind the scenes photos of the astronauts on X, captioned: 'Crew-10 is go for launch!' But something went wrong with the clamp arm in an incident commentators described as a 'hydraulic ground issue' moments later, sparking an immediate halt on the mission. The crew were taken from the rocket one at a time and led to several waiting Teslas, which are specially designed for the astronauts. They were driven to a quarantine location in Florida, where they must remain until the next launch attempt. 'We will not launch unless we know we can do so safely and reliably,' a SpaceX commentator said in the livestream of the event. The four-person crew included Japan's Takuya Onishi, Russia's Kirill Peskov, and NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers. 'We are going to take a little bit of an adventure,' McClain, who is a US Army colonel and OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot, told Florida Today 'We're ready to high-five them, bring them home.' Williams and Wilmore were originally scheduled for an eight-day mission, but were forced to stay after technical issues plagued the Boeing's Starliner that brought them to the ISS. The crew were taken from the rocket one at a time and led to several waiting Teslas, which are specially designed for the astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams were original scheduled for an eight-day mission, but were forced to stay after technical issues plagued the Boeing's Starliner that brought them to the ISS At 6.55pm, just 50 minutes before takeoff and moments before the launch was scrubbed, SpaceX shared behind the scenes photos of the astronauts on X, captioned: 'Crew-10 is go for launch!' The plan is for them to return inside SpaceX's Crew-9 Dragon capsule that is already docked to the ISS. Williams and Wilmore will be accompanied by NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov when they undock. During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk explained that the Biden administration did not want to jeopardize Kamala Harris' presidential campaign and intentionally 'pushed the return date past the inauguration date.' Musk donated $288 million to Trump's campaign and appeared at several MAGA rallies. The SpaceX CEO also noted that the Biden administration was suing SpaceX at the time. NASA officials have not directly addressed these claims. But during a Friday press briefing, Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the agency's Space Operation Mission Directorate, said SpaceX has been working with NASA to develop a backup return plan for the Starliner mission since last July. 'The SpaceX folks helped us with a lot of options for how we would bring Butch and Suni home on Dragon in a contingency,' Bowersox said. He also admitted that there 'may have been conversations' in the White House about delaying the return for political reasons, but he was not part of the discussions. The delay is a disappointing outcome for Elon Musk's SpaceX Williams and Wilmore are expected to depart about two days after the Crew-10 mission arrives. Typically, a departing ISS crew shares the space station with the incoming crew for about five days in what's known as a 'handover period.' This allows them to get the new crew up to speed on space station operations and ensures a smooth transition between teams. But this time, NASA decided to shorten the handover period to just two days to conserve food on the ISS and open up more undocking opportunities for the Starliner crew in case the weather interferes with their targeted return date. When Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5, they were only supposed to spend eight days on the ISS. But a series of technical issues with their ship, including thruster failures and helium leaks, ultimately drove NASA to send the faulty spacecraft home without its crew in September. Bowersox said that NASA and SpaceX discussed adding a mission or bringing the currently docked capsule home early, 'but we ruled them out pretty quickly just based on how much money we've got in our budget.' In 'The Day After Tomorrow', humanity is frozen under layers of snow, drowned in massive tsunamis and dramatically crushed under vehicles thrown by tornadoes. As it stands, this terrifying scenario caused by a catastrophic climate shift triggered by global warming is popcorn-worthy Hollywood sci-fi. But a new study warns that it could become a reality in Britain by the end of this century. Scientists at the University of Exeter and the Met Office say changes to North Atlantic winds could batter the UK with cold snaps, floods, and storms. They point to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) a natural and temporary cooling and warming over parts of Europe and the North Atlantic ocean. According to their findings, errors in current climate models have led to uncertainty in predictions of the NAOs future behaviour. Taking account of these errors reveals that the NAO could be disastrous for Britain, which is seriously underprepared. 'These findings have major implications for understanding and preparing for extreme weather events,' warned lead study author Dr Doug Smith at the Met Office. In 'The Day After Tomorrow', humanity is frozen under layers of snow, drowned in massive tsunamis and dramatically crushed under vehicles thrown by tornados Discovered through several studies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the NAO acts like a giant meteorological 'see-saw' in the North Atlantic. It has two states positive and negative which both bring very different weather to Europe. The positive phase happens when air pressure is low over Iceland, but high down south over the Azores islands (west of Portugal). This resulting pressure difference drives strong westerly winds and weather fronts that crash into us, whipping up storms and sometimes causing floods. A positive NAO on average can increase rainfall in northern Europe by a little over an eighth of an inch per day and warm the air there by roughly 5F (2.8C). Meanwhile, a negative NAO occurs when the pressure difference between the two points is smallest, meaning less air movement overall. Instead of winds from the west, winds from the east and north-east are more frequent, bringing with them cold air. 'When the NAO is negative, there's a greater chance of a snowier winter,' said Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a weather phenomenon over the North Atlantic Ocean. It is measured by the gradient between high pressure over the Azores (west of Portugal) and low pressure over Iceland Scientists say a negative North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) caused an unusually cold winter in Europe 15 years ago. Pictured, a driver tries to dig a car out from under the snow in Allendale, Northumberland, January 5, 2010 Blanketed with snow: This satellite picture shows the extent of snow cover across Britain and Ireland on January 7, 2010 What is the NAO? The North Atlantic Oscillation (NOA) is just the difference in pressure between two points over a period of time across the North Atlantic. Specifically, the NAO measures the pressure in the Azores archipelago around 900 miles west of Portugal, and at a point near Iceland. A positive NAO occurs when the difference between the two points is the greatest, meaning warmer air from the Azores flows into colder low pressure regions in further North. A negative NAO brings rain to southern Europe but drops temperatures in northern Europe. Advertisement A negative NAO can mean a big freeze, like the one of 2009-10 that caused transport chaos in Britain and was blamed for 90 deaths in Europe. NAO in winter 2009-10 was lower than during any winter in over a century, resulting in more easterly winds bringing cold air into Northern Europe from Siberia and the Arctic. 'The NAO severely impacts society, including through water security, flooding, mortality due to cold weather, transport, energy demand and supply, structural damage from storms and economic losses,' say the team. According to their new study, current prediction models have errors relating to the effect of water vapour, Earth's most abundant greenhouse gas, on the NAO. Correctly taking water vapour into account, NAO could reach unprecedented magnitudes, either positive or negative, by the end of the century due to global warming, they found. Under a scenario of high emissions from fossil fuels, but in absence of major volcanic eruptions (which also release greenhouse gas), NAO will increase to unprecedented levels by 2100, 1.4 to 3.7 times greater than any in the historical period. 'Our study suggests that taking model projections at face value could leave society unprepared for impending extremes,' said Dr Smith. 'Mitigation efforts are crucial to prevent the severe impacts associated with an unprecedented increase in the NAO.' The team conclude that the NAO will 'probably cause severe impacts on society' especially increased flooding and storm damage in Northern Europe In their new study, published in Nature Climate Change, the team conclude that the NAO will 'probably cause severe impacts on society' especially increased flooding and storm damage in Northern Europe. However, they found a 'clear capability' for 'mitigation' to avoid such impacts. The study also suggests that 'taking model projections at face value' could leave society 'unprepared for impending extremes'. 'Models cannot all be correct, and they must ultimately be improved to achieve reliable projections,' they say. 'Alternative recalibration approaches, such as those proposed here, are needed to prepare society for the full range of possible extremes.' Scientists have discovered the oldest human face in Western Europe, potentially rewriting the story of human evolution. The ancient human nicknamed 'Pink' lived in Spain's Iberian Peninsula between 1.1 and 1.4 million years ago. That means Pink easily predates the arrival of modern humans, Homo sapiens, on the continent just 45,000 years ago. The fossilised remains are distinct from other ancient hominin remains found in the area, raising the possibility that Pink could be an entirely new human species. The fragments of this hominin face were discovered in 2022 inside a cave called Sima del Elefante, where some of Europe's most ancient human remains have been found. However, Pink appears to have a different structure from Homo antecessor, another human species which lived in the same area up to 860,000 years ago. Instead, he resembles Homo erectus, a far more ancient human species which emerged in Africa two million years ago and was the first to walk on two legs like a modern human. The researchers believe that Pink's species could have been among the very first humans to arrive in Europe before being wiped out by a sudden shift in the climate. Scientists have discovered the oldest human face in Western Europe. Nicknamed 'Pink' this human ancestor lived in Spain 1.1-1.4 million years ago Through careful reconstruction, researchers found that Pink's face (pictured) doesn't match that of the Home antecessor species which lived in the cave up to 850,000 years ago. This could mean it is a new species of human Composed of several broken fragments and parts of two teeth, the remains found at Sima del Elefante are believed to be the oldest example of human facial bones found in Western Europe. The researchers nicknamed the individual 'Pink' after Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon, which is 'La cara oculta de la luna' in Spanish, where 'cara oculta' means 'hidden face'. When Pink's remains were discovered, scientists initially thought that they would belong to one of the other ancient human species found in the area. Within the cave, researchers have previously found the remains of Homo antecessor dating back 860,000 years. By looking at the thousands of other animal fossils found in the same layer of the cave alongside the traces left in the soil by periodic shifts in Earth's magnetic field, the researchers dated Pink's remains to between 1.1 and 1.4 million years ago. Additionally, after carefully reconstructing the remains, it became clear that Pink's face didn't have the same structure as any ancient human species from the area. Co-author Dr Maria Martinon, director of the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution, says: 'Homo antecessor shares with Homo sapiens a more modern-looking face and a prominent nasal bone structure, whereas Pinks facial features are more primitive, resembling Homo erectus, particularly in its flat and underdeveloped nasal structure.' Homo erectus was the first human species to develop an upright gait and posture like a modern human and was the first to use stone hand tools for cutting. The remains of Pink were found within the Sima del Elefante cave system (pictured) where many of the oldest human remains in Europe have been found Your browser does not support iframes. After emerging in Africa around two million years ago, this species migrated out into Asia and even made its way into Eastern Europe. At a site in modern-day Georgia, palaeontologists have discovered five skulls belonging to Homo erectus dating back 1.8 million years. However, the Western European fossil record is extremely bare before 800,000 years ago. Scientists have only found a single tooth and some stone tools dating to 1.4 million years ago in Spain, along with a jawbone at Sima del Elefante dated to 1.1 million years ago. Near Pink's remains, researchers also discovered stone tools made of quartz and flint, alongside animal bones bearing clear cut marks. This indicates that Pink and their relatives had already developed a simple tool 'industry' and knew how to butcher animals for meat just like Homo erectus. Study co-author Dr Xose Pedro Rodriguez, of the University of Rovira i Virgili (URV), says: 'They suggest an effective subsistence strategy and highlight the hominins ability to exploit the resources available in their environment.' If Pink really is a member of Homo erectus, then this find would show that this human ancestor species spread itself far wider and far earlier than scientists had previously thought. In the same sediment layer where Pink was found, researchers also found a number of simple stone cutting tools. This shows that Pink's species were already using making and using tools The researchers found bones with cut and scrape marks, which shows that Pink was capable of using tools to butcher animals Pink bears a strong resemblance to Homo erectus (pictured), which was an even more ancient human species which first appeared in Africa two million years ago. The researchers dubbed Pink Homo affinis erectus', using the Latin term 'affinis' to mean that it has an affinity with the known species Who were Homo antecessor? Homo antecessor is one of the earliest known varieties of human discovered in Europe, dating as far back as one million years ago. Believed to have weighed around 14 stone, Homo antecessor was said to have been between 5.5 and 6ft tall. Their brain sizes were roughly between 1,000 and 1,150 cm, which is smaller than the average 1,350 cm brains of modern humans. The species is believed to have been right-handed, making it different from other apes, and may have used a symbolic language, according to archaeologists who found remains in Burgos, Spain in 1994. Advertisement However, the researchers aren't convinced that Pink is just another member of this human ancestor species. Although their skulls are similar, Pink's facial structure is narrower than examples of Homo erectus found across Asia and Africa. But, with only fragments of bone and two worn teeth to go on, the researchers cannot yet be certain that Pink is an entirely new species. Instead, they opted to designate Pink as 'Homo affinis erectus', using the Latin term 'affinis' to mean that it has an affinity with the known species. Dr Martinon says: 'The evidence is still insufficient for a definitive classification, which is why we adopted the name Homo affinis erectus. She adds that this was done to 'acknowledge Pinks affinities with Homo erectus while leaving open the possibility that the remains may belong to another species.' The researchers argue that Pink's species was part of the first wave of human migration into Western Europe. Yet, that first migration appears to have been cut off abruptly when the climate of the Iberian Peninsula suddenly changed. The researchers believe that Pink might have been part of the first wave of human migration into Western Europe before being wiped out of the area by a climatic shift. Pictured: Lead researcher Professor Rosa Huget with Pink's facial bones At the time Pink lived in Spain, the Sierra de Atapuerca region would have featured a mix of wooded areas, wet grasslands, and seasonal water sources - making for a resource-rich environment for ancient humans. However, previous studies suggest that there may have been a sudden climatic shift around 1.1 million years ago which could have wiped out the human population. That could explain why there is such a large gap in the fossil record between Pink and the later Homo antecessor remains. Dr Eudald Carbonell, a palaeontologist from URV and co-director of the project, says: 'Evidence for different hominin populations in Western Europe during the Early Pleistocene suggests that this region was a key point in the evolutionary history of the genus Homo.' It's a holiday hotspot thanks to its balmy weather, beautiful scenery and delicious cuisine. But the Mediterranean has become Europe's deepest garbage dump, shocking images show. Scientists have captured photos of litter at the bottom of the Calypso Deep, a trench 16,771ft (5,112m) below the surface of the Ionian Sea. A total of 167 objects made of plastic, glass, metal and paper have been identified at the bottom. This includes plastic bags, a plastic sack, plastic food containers, plastic cups and lids, plastic rope, paper cartons, metal drinks cans and glass bottles. Experts warned their discovery represents one of the highest concentrations of marine litter ever detected at such great depths. The team, from the University of Barcelona, used a high-tech manned submarine called Limiting Factor to reach the bottom of the trench. Images captured by the deep-submergence vehicle confirm that, in addition to accumulating on coasts, the surface of the sea and in shallow waters, litter also reaches the deepest and most remote points of the Mediterranean. Scientists have captured photos of litter at the bottom of the Calypso Deep, a trench 16,771ft (5,112m) below the surface of the Ionian Sea A total of 167 objects made of plastic, glass, metal and paper have been identified at the bottom Your browser does not support iframes. It's likely the litter comes from various sources, the researchers said. It could be transported long distances by ocean currents or even dumped from nearby ships. The Calypso Deep is a depression located 60km west of the Peloponnese coast in Greece. It is surrounded by steep slopes and has a virtually flat bottom. The deepest, most inner part of the trench is kidney-shaped and measured approximately 20km by 5km. Professor Miquel Canals, one of the study's authors, said: 'Some light waste, such as plastics, comes from the coast, from where it escapes to the Calypso Deep just 60km away. 'Some plastics, such as bags, drift just above the bottom until they are partially or completely buried, or disintegrate into smaller fragments. 'We have also found evidence of the boats' dumping of bags full of rubbish, as revealed by the pile-up of different types of waste followed by an almost rectilinear [straight line] furrow. Experts warned their discovery represents one of the highest concentrations of marine litter ever detected at such great depths The team, from the University of Barcelona, used a high-tech manned submarine called Limiting Factor to reach the bottom of the trench Calypso Deep - the deepest point in the Mediterranean Sea The Calypso Deep is a depression located 60km west of the Peloponnese coast in Greece. It is surrounded by steep slopes and has a virtually flat bottom. The deepest, most inner part of the trench is kidney-shaped and measured approximately 20km by 5km. Advertisement 'Unfortunately, as far as the Mediterranean is concerned, it would not be wrong to say that 'not a single inch of it is clean'. He added that the trench 'traps' the litter that reaches it at the bottom due to its structure. The trench also has a relatively weak current of around two centimetres per second, he said, meaning it is unlikely the litter will be moved on further. The first evidence of debris on the world's seabed dates back to 1975, in the Skagerrak Strait in the North Atlantic. Today, the Mediterranean is a marine region particularly affected by this environmental problem. In 2021, a study already identified the Strait of Messina as the area with the highest known density of marine litter in the world. 'The Mediterranean is an enclosed sea, surrounded by humanity, with intense maritime traffic and widespread fishing activity,' Professor Canals said. 'The evidence provided by our research should shake up global efforts, and in particular in the Mediterranean, to mitigate waste dumping, especially plastics, in the natural environment and ultimately in the sea.' He added that unlike other popular places such as beaches or the coastline, 'the ocean floor is still largely unknown to society as a whole, which makes it difficult to raise social and political awareness about the conservation of these spaces'. 'The problem is there, and it has an enormous scope, even if it is not directly visible,' he said. 'We should not forget about it.' The findings were published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin. If you love skygazing, you won't want to miss the spectacular 'blood moon' set to light up the sky tonight. A blood moon, also known as a total lunar eclipse, occurs when the Earth is positioned precisely between the sun and the moon so all three are in a line. During this event, the moon takes on a coppery reddish hue due to a quirk of how the sun's light interacts with Earth's atmosphere. Tonight's blood moon is visible only for people the side of the Earth that is in night time when the eclipse occurs namely North and South America and western parts of Africa and Europe, including the UK. Best of all, you won't need any special equipment whatsoever to see the blood moon, which will look more like Mars than its usual pearly white. 'The best time to see the eclipse will be sometime after 5am and before the sky gets too bright,' said Professor Don Pollacco, astronomer at the University of Warwick. A total lunar eclipse occurs on average every 2.5 years the last one visible from the UK was May 2022 so it's not a very common sight, and one not to be missed! Here's how to see the awe-inspiring spectacle. A blood moon during an eclipse in Santiago, Chile, 15 May 2022. The moon in total eclipse appears reddish in colour when it's illuminated by sunlight that's filtered and refracted by Earth's atmosphere Pictured is what the total lunar eclipse will look like from Britain. The blood moon, or lunar eclipse, will start from 06:26 GMT and continue until 07:31 GMT (UTC) What is a blood moon? 'Blood moon' is not a scientifically recognised term according to experts, but a nickname picked up due to its stunning red hue. The terms 'blood moon' and total lunar eclipse are used interchangeably because they refer to the same astronomical event. During a total lunar eclipse when the moon moves into the Earth's shadow the moon always appears red due to a phenomenon called 'Rayleigh scattering'. 'During this period as sunlight can no longer reach the moon you might expect it to be invisible,' explains Professor Pollacco. 'But instead a small amount of sunlight reaches the moon after passing through the Earths atmosphere and this light is then reflected off the lunar surface making it visible to us on Earth. 'As the sunlight travels through our atmosphere on its way to the moon, the redder wavelengths pass through relatively unhindered while the bluer wavelengths are scattered (that's why the sky is blue) by dust suspended in the earth's atmosphere. 'The red light reaches the moon and is then reflected back to us.' A blood moon occurs when the moon passes into the shadow, or umbra, cast by the Earth. Light from the sun then refracts through the Earth's atmosphere and bounces of the moon The eclipse will be best viewed over the US where all states will be able to see the full length of 'totality'. In the UK, the moon will be much lower on the horizon and the eclipse will occur closer to dawn Those in the west of the UK will see the eclipse from about 4:00am and will be able to watch as the moon turns red in Earth's shadow. However, the East of the country won't be under the path of the eclipse so they will only see about 90 per cent coverage Lunar eclipse: Key times Penumbral eclipse begins: 03:57 GMT The moon enters Earth's shadow and begins to dim. Partial eclipse begins: 05:09 GMT Parts of the moon begin to disappear into shadow. Totality begins: 06:26 GMT The moon is fully within Earth's shadow and starts to turn red. Totality ends: 07:31 GMT The moon exits the umbra and the red colour fades as parts of the moon are hidden by shadows. Partial eclipse ends: 08:47 GMT The moon appears dimmed but complete. Penumbral eclipse ends: 10:00 GMT The eclipse is over. Advertisement How do I see the blood moon? While people in North and South America will get the best views of the eclipse, British space fans should still be able to catch a glimpse in the early morning before the sun rises. The moon will start to enter Earth's shadow at 03:57 GMT with totality lasting from 06:26 until 07:31 GMT. Initially, skygazers will see the edge of the Earth's shadow pushing across the lunar surface, making it appear to vanish from our perspective, but as the Earth's shadow completely covers the moon (a period known as 'totality') the moon will start to glow bright red. 'While this eclipse is best seen from the other side of the Atlantic, observers on the western side of the UK will see the total phase start before morning twilight at about 4am when the Moon is low in the western sky,' said Professor Pollacco. 'From the rest of the UK, the eclipse will not be total (the moon will be greater than 90 per cent obscured) but should still be a striking spectacle.' Blood moon should be close to the horizon, which will also affect how we perceive its size, according to the academic. Our brains experience something called the 'Moon Illusion', which causes the moon to appear bigger when it is near the horizon, but scientists still aren't sure why or how it works. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon can look more like Mars with a rusty red hue, different from its usual pearly white Blood Moon, a full moon that coincides with a full lunar eclipse and that has a reddish appearance, rises over the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 15, 2022 The first time a blood moon was documented was in January 1137. A total lunar eclipse occurs on average every 2.5 years the last one visible from the UK was May 2022 so it's not a very common sight. Pictured, the super blood moon as seen from Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia To ensure you get a good view tonight, find an area with a good view of the horizon to the west where the sun will be setting. Since the moon will be bright and it will be close to dawn, getting away from light pollution isn't much of a concern. But, if you can, getting away from bright streetlights and letting your eyes adjust to the dim light conditions will help you see more details of the lunar surface. Unfortunately, the weather conditions for viewing the blood moon will not be ideal for most of the UK. A Met Office spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The current forecast for the lunar eclipse shows some cloud breaks on Friday night in parts of the UK, particularly in some western areas.' Apple has quietly added a new iPhone feature which could be game-changing for over 300 million users. If you listen to music on your iPhone, then you've likely used the Shazam app to identify songs. Now, an update will make it even easier to find new songs and keep them all in one place. With the latest version of Shazam, iPhone users will be able to identify music from the iOS control centre and add them directly to a playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. In the update notes, Shazam says: 'Weve made syncing songs to Apple Music and Spotify better than ever! 'Shazam will now include songs found via Music Recognition in Control Centre, Siri and Shortcuts in your My Shazam Tracks playlists in Apple Music or Spotify.' That means you won't even need to open the Shazam app to save a track to your device. And using the feature for yourself is as simple as activating one easy-to-find setting. Apple has quietly unveiled a new feature for the iPhone which will affect over 300 million monthly users (stock image) The latest update will be big news for music lovers, as it gives iPhone users an even easier way to identify and save new music (stock image) Shazam is a music identification app that was purchased by Apple in 2018 and allows users to find the name and artist of any song they can hear. The app can be synced with the user's Spotify or Apple Music account so that any identified songs are automatically added to a playlist. Since the iOS 14.2 update in 2020, iPhone users have been able to access Shazam directly from the control centre. However, songs identified through the control centre were not automatically added to the My Shazam Playlist, and had to be saved manually through the Shazam app. Shazam Version 18.9, released on March 5, fixes that issue, so that songs recorded with the iPhone's 'Recognise Music' feature in the control centre are added to your playlist. This gives iPhone users an even quicker and easier way of identifying and saving songs. On social media, music fans rushed to celebrate the update. One commenter wrote: 'Incredible how after basically quarter of a century Shazam is still the only good app.' The lastest version of Shazam will allow iPhone users to record songs directly though the Control Centre and automatically add them to a playlist in Spotify or Apple Music How to use the new feature In Shazam, go to settings and Connect to music app of choice. Turn on 'Sync your songs'. From the Control Centre, add the 'Recognise Music' control icon. When you tap this icon, recognised songs will automatically add to your Spotify or Apple Music playlist. Advertisement Another wrote: 'This is great to see! I use Shazam quite a bit.' While one iPhone user added: 'One of my fave features on this phone is the lil shazam feature!' In order to use this feature, you just need to have the Shazam app installed and the 'Recognise Music' control added to the Control Centre. To add the Recognise Music option, swipe down from the top right of your iPhone to open the Control Centre, then tap and hold until you enter editing mode. You will know this is active when the icons start to flash and the 'Add a Control' option appears at the bottom of the screen. Tap 'Add a Control' and search for 'recognise music', then drag it to where you want it to be on the Control Centre. Once that is set up, you'll need to turn on syncing in the Shazam app itself. Open the app and swipe up to find the home screen, then click on the cog-shaped settings button in the top left-hand corner. To use the feature, ensure your music app of choice is connected to Shazam and activate 'Sync your songs' in the Shazam app. Now, when you record a song through the control centre it will automatically be added to the 'My Shazam Tracks' playlist in Spotify or Apple Music (pictured) If you haven't already connected Shazam to your chosen music streaming service, you'll now have the option to select 'Connect' next to either Spotify or Apple Music. When the apps are connected, you will see the option to 'Sync your songs' with the app, simply toggle this on to allow your playlist to automatically update. Shazam says: 'Simply toggle Sync your songs off and on in Shazam settings to re-sync all your previously discovered songs from the Shazam app. 'You may need to reopen Spotify to see the playlist refreshed.' Now, when you next hear music you want to save, simply open the control centre and tap the Recognise Music icon to add that song automatically to your Shazam playlist. NASA's stranded astronauts fiasco has taken yet another twist. The mission that would have let Sunita WIlliams and Butch Wilmore leave space was supposed to take off last night but was canceled due to technical issues with the rocket. Now, Elon Musk's SpaceX has been forced to abandon the next launch window as strong winds threaten Florida Thursday. If all goes to plan, the next launch will kick off on Friday at 7:03pm ET and the astronauts return home on March 19. Williams and Wilmore were scheduled for an eight-day stay on the International Space Station (ISS) when they arrived in June. However, the Boeing capsule that took them to space malfunctioned, and they have been stuck there for more than nine months. The delays come as Elon Musk said he offered to bring the pair home eight months ago. He claimed the Biden Administration shot it down because it would've made Donald Trump 'look good' in the presidential race against Kamala. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams were original scheduled for an eight-day mission, but were forced to stay after technical issues plagued the Boeing's Starliner that brought them to the ISS Musk backed Trump during the 2024 presidential race, donating $288 million to his campaign and appearing at several MAGA rallies During a Friday press briefing, Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, admitted that there 'may have been conversations' in the White House about delaying the return for political reasons, but he was not part of the discussions. The crew replacing Williams and Wilmore includes Japan's Takuya Onishi, Russia's Kirill Peskov, and NASA 's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers. Wednesday's launch was called off due to a hydraulic system issue with the Falcon 9 rocket. NASA said teams are working to address the problem. This mission would have brought Williams and Wilmore home Sunday. NASA had moved up the return mission by two weeks after after Trump told Musk to 'go get' Williams and Wilmore, saying Biden had 'abandoned' them in space. Before the president's request, the astronauts were not coming back earlier than March 26. 'It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,' Williams said of her family. 'We're here, we have a mission - we're just doing what we do every day, and every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun.' When the new crew, dubbed Crew-10, arrives aboard the station, Wilmore, Williams and two others - NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov - can return to Earth in a capsule that has been attached to the station since September. Wilmore and Williams flew to the ISS as the first test crew of Boeing's Starliner, which suffered propulsion system issues in space. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 7:48pm ET Wednesday, but the mission was scrubbed at the 11th hour. Thursday was a backup date for the next launch, but it was also canceled The crew replacing Williams and Wilmore includes Japan's Takuya Onishi (right), Russia's Kirill Peskov (left), and NASA 's Anne McClain (second left) and Nichole Ayers (second right) NASA deemed it too risky for the astronauts to fly home on the Boeing craft. This led to the current plan to bring them home in a SpaceX capsule that arrived in September. The space agency gave Boeing $4.5 billion contract to develop Starliner in a bid to compete with Musk's SpaceX. Bowersox said Friday that SpaceX 'helped with a lot of options' for bringing Williams and Wilmore back earlier, but the final decision came down to costs. He explained that they discussed adding a mission or bringing the currently docked capsule home early, 'but we ruled them out pretty quickly just based on how much money we've got in our budget.' NASA's budget for the fiscal year 2024 was around $30 billion. It comes after a report found the agency spent millions on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) grants and contracts while Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space. Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president for SpaceX, also said Friday that NASA's delayed plan allowed the agency 'to use Sunny and Butch in a very productive manner' and 'keep the science going. Returning the astronauts early would've meant fewer bodies on the International Space Station (ISS) to continue research. A rare 'Blood Moon' will be visible Thursday night and millions throughout the US will have a good chance of seeing it clearly. This is the first total lunar eclipse since 2022, an event that occurs when the moon slips into Earth's shadow and gives our celestial neighbor a dark reddish hue. Unlike a solar eclipse, these events are completely safe to watch with the naked eye and also last for hours. Several states will have some of the best opportunities to see the moon as it is completely engulfed by Earth's shadow. Out east, viewers in Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, and parts of western Pennsylvania are predicted to have 'good' conditions for seeing the moon tonight. Moving west, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of Georgia and Illinois should also be able get some great pictures of 2025's first Blood Moon. Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and small parts of Colorado and New Mexico are also expected to be prime viewing locations for the total lunar eclipse, according to AccuWeather. Unfortunately, with a major storm moving in heading into the weekend, large portions of the West Coast, Rocky Mountains, and Northern Plains will likely have a poor and cloudy view of the Blood Moon Thursday night into Friday morning. Several states are expected to have good conditions for viewing the total lunar eclipse Thursday night into Friday morning and most of the US will have at least a 'fair' chance of seeing the 'Blood Moon' A 'Blood Moon' describes the reddish color people see when they view the moon during a total lunar eclipse, when the moon is completely engulfed by the Earth's shadow For those that can get a great look at the moon tonight, the stargazing fun officially begins at 11.57 pm ET - when the moon starts to slowly move behind Earth and out of the sun's light. However, the real show takes place between 02.26 and 03.31 am ET, when the lunar eclipse reaches 'totality.' Totality describes the point when the moon falls completely inside the Earth's shadow, also called the umbra. That's also when the moon will appear to turn from its typical grayish color to a deep red. According to NASA, the Blood Moon phase known as the 'greatest eclipse' - when the moon is its reddest - will be visible at 2.59 ET early Friday morning. For anyone still up after the moon reaches totality, the NASA team said you'll still be able to see a partial lunar eclipse at 4.10 am ET, when the moon comes halfway out from behind Earth's shadow and is still half red from our viewpoint. As for why the moon looks red instead of just turning black in our planet's shadow, there's some interesting science which explains this. Even though Earth is in the way, some sunlight still sneaks around the edges of our planet. The Earth's atmosphere then acts like a camera filter. The process is called Rayleigh scattering and it bends the sunlight and scatters out the blue light, leaving mostly the red light to keep going. That red light then hits the moon, giving it that eerie 'Blood Moon' glow. At 2:26 am ET, the moon will move completely inside the Earth's umbra (shadow), creating the deepest red color of the Blood Moon Commenting on this phenomenon, Professor Don Pollacco from the University of Warwick Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, said: 'The moon, like all planets, gives out no light of its own, but instead shines by reflecting sunlight.' 'As the sunlight travels through our atmosphere on its way to the Moon the redder wavelengths pass through relatively unhindered while the bluer wavelengths are scattered (that's why the sky is blue) by dust suspended in the earth's atmosphere,' Prof. Pollacco continued. 'The red light reaches the moon and is then reflected back to us. So, the redness of the moon actually tells us about the conditions in our atmosphere.' Stargazers in Florida, Ohio, and several other states are expected to have the best chance of viewing the Blood Moon Thursday night into Friday morning According to Space.com, every phase of Thursday night's eclipse will be visible across all 50 states (including Alaska and Hawaii). However, as AccuWeather pointed out, your results may vary depending on the weather. If you miss this month's Blood Moon, you'll have another chance later in 2025. Thursday's event is actually the first of three total lunar eclipses between now and 2026. The next Blood Moon will appear on September 7, 2025, but it will only be visible in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. That eclipse will be followed by another one a year from now on March 3, 2026 and it will be visible in the US. If you miss 2026's Blood Moon, you'll be out of luck for a while. The next total lunar eclipse that can be seen in the US won't come around until June 26, 2029. A giant volcano in Alaska is showing signs of an impending eruption. Significantly elevated levels of volcanic gas emissions were recently observed around Mount Spurr, which is located 75 miles from Anchorage that is home to nearly 300,000 people. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) said the emissions 'confirm' that new magma is flowing beneath the volcano, indicating an foreseeable eruption. Increased seismic activity and ground deformation have also been detected in the surrounding area. These signs indicate 'that an eruption is likely, but not certain, to occur within the next few weeks or months,' scientists said. If Mount Spurr erupts, it would produce destructive mudslides, avalanches of hot gas and flows of lava racing down the volcano's side at over 200 miles per hour. Scientists predict the ash cloud would travel hundreds of miles away, engulfing anyone in low-lying areas in toxic emissions. 'While we expect additional changes to monitoring data prior to an eruption, it is also possible that an eruption could occur with little or no additional warning,' they said. Scientists warn Mount Spurr in Alaska could erupt within the next few weeks or months. It last erupted in 1992 (pictured) The warning comes after Mount Spurr experienced a cluster of small earthquakesin recent months. 'Over the last month, AVO has located over 100 earthquakes per week under Mount Spurr,' the team shared in a Wednesday bulletin. 'Most earthquakes are shallow (less than 2.5 miles below sea level). Magnitudes during this time are as large as M2.7. Over 3400 earthquakes have been located under the volcano since April 2024.' The most recent signs were the increase of gas emissions, which reflect shifts in magma properties and activity beneath the volcano. The observatory conducted two flights above the volcano, capturing high levels of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and other gases. Sulfur dioxide levels were nine times higher than a detected in December, which led AVO to issue the bulletin. Coordinating scientist David Fee told the Alaska Beacon: 'There was basically nothing coming out before, and now theres a lot of gas, particularly CO2 coming out, which usually, when weve seen this at volcanoes in Alaska and across the world, it means that eruption is getting more likely. Mount Spurr is one of 53 volcanoes in Alaska. It sits about 75 miles away from Anchorage that is home to 300,000 people Scientists predicted the ash cloud would travel hundreds of miles away, engulfing anyone in low-lying areas in toxic emissions Scientists believe the most likely scenario will be similar to explosive eruptions that occurred in 1953 and 1992. The events lasted between three and seven hours, produced ash columns that rose more than 50,000 feet above sea level and deposited ashfall in south-central Alaska communities, according to the observatory. These emanated from Crater Peak vent, about two miles south of the summit. The last eruption from the summit vent was more than 5,000 years ago. In 1992, ashfall of about a quarter-inch in Anchorage prompted residents to stay inside or to wear masks if going outside to avoid breathing ash. The cloud drifted as far as Greenland. Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and has been used as an industrial abrasive. The powdered rock can cause a jet engine to shut down. The event prompted the temporary closures of airports in Anchorage and other communities. Mount Spurr is an 11,070-foot-tall, ice- and snow-covered volcano, and is one of 53 in Alaska. 'We expect to see further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions, and surface heating prior to an eruption, if one were to occur,' AVO scientists shared. 'Such stronger unrest may provide days to weeks of additional warning.' The FBI is warning the more than 1.8 billion people who use Google's Gmail about a dangerous ransomware scheme that could hold your private data hostage. Medusa ransomware group has already victimized over 300 targets using phishing scams to exploit unprotected software in the users' digital devices. According to the FBI and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the scheme has been particularly devastating for critical infrastructure sectors, with employees in hospitals, schools, and major businesses falling victim to these attacks. Medusa sneaks into computers by tricking people with fake emails or finding weak spots in their systems using malicious online content like phony websites. Once it's in, it locks up all your important files so you can't open them, and also steals copies of them for the hackers. After the victim's private data is essentially taken hostage, Medusa will demand a ransom payment of thousands or even millions of dollars to unlock the files and not leak the potentially embarrassing information to the public. To prevent this ransomware from targeting you, the FBI and CISA are urging anyone using email services like Gmail to immediately start using two-factor authentication (2FA) - an added layer of protection which texts you a security code before logging into your mail. They're also advising that the public and businesses immediately check their operating systems, software, and firmware to make sure they're properly patched and have the latest security updates. The FBI has warned that over 300 victims in critical infrastructure sectors have already been attacked by the ransomware scheme (Stock image) Federal agents added that if you have sensitive information on your devices, it's important to keep multiple copies on separate servers or hard drives. For personal documents or photos that might be stored in your Gmail, it may even be more secure to print out and keep physical copies in a secret location. For larger organizations, CISA urged companies to filter their network traffic by preventing unknown or untrusted origins from accessing remote services. Simply put, companies with many employees should set up their networks so only trusted people or systems can connect to their important internal tools, keeping out random hackers like Medusa. Organizations should also check who has special administrative powers, then limit what they can do to just what's needed, so Medusa can't use those accounts to cause severe damage. To keep places like hospitals and schools safe, authorities recommended that institutions split their computer networks into smaller sections - so if Medusa breaks in, it can't easily spread everywhere. This tactic, called 'segmenting networks,' basically puts up locked doors between the different departments in a building, like the payroll system or patient records. All this makes it harder for Medusa to spread into nearby areas of the computer system and take more files hostage, what CISA called 'lateral movement.' To avoid ransomware, federal agents recommended that everyone switch to two-factor authentication for logging in to their email and download the latest security updates on their devices (Stock image) These ransomware attacks aren't just a bunch of random incidents carried out by various hackers. The FBI noted that Medusa is a ransomware-as-a-service group, meaning they create the malicious software which locks up a victim's computer and then sells those programs to cybercriminals who carry out the attacks. Once the hackers successfully break into someone's computer or an organization's network and get paid by the victim, they'll split those ransom payments with the Medusa group. According to Infosecurity Magazine, the demands sent by Medusa ransomware have ranged from $100,000 to $15 million. The scheme has reportedly already claimed over 40 victims between January and February 2025 alone. However, cybersecurity experts believe that number could be much higher because some victims likely paid off the hackers to avoid reporting that they had been scammed. In February, Wisconsin-based Bell Ambulance had over 200 gigabytes of data stolen by a Medusa attack. The group reportedly demanded $400,000 for its return. In the UK, private healthcare provider HCRG Care Group was held up for $2 million after hackers successfully stole 2.3 terabytes (2,300 gigabytes) of company data. For the nearly two billion people now worried about their Gmail accounts, cyber experts continue to recommend that you keep an active spam filter on at all times to prevent phishing emails from reaching your inbox. For suspicious emails that direct you to click on a link or fill out forms providing detailed information about yourself, delete them immediately. Those links in your email will likely trigger the attack by sending you to a malicious website where the hacker can gain control of your computer. Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn more An Aussie TV reporter-turned-SPF queen, who founded her own sunscreen empire, has seen a huge spike in sales after IT girl Alix Earle spruiked her 'holy grail' item. Samantha Brett has been shaking up the beauty world with her skincare brand Naked Sundays - loved by the likes of Khloe Kardashian and Mikayla Nogueira. But it's the BeautyScreen SPF50 Peptide Foundation Tint that's been winning over fans around the world after amassing a strong waitlist of 160,000 shoppers. The 'game-changing' product has been so popular that it sold 50,000 units on launch day in August 2024, with one of its shades being snapped up within minutes. Not only has BeautyScreen been making waves Down Under, but Naked Sundays has also made a mark in the US market, taking home multiple beauty awards - including the Cosmopolitan 'Best Tint' in the Acne Awards. The Aussie-owned brand has grown rapidly over the last four years, even struggling to keep up with recent orders after TikTok sensation Alix started boasting about the beauty buy to more than 11.3million followers. Naked Sundays reported a staggering 433 per cent increase in sales after the 24-year-old was seen using BeautyScreen in a couple of her viral 'Get Ready With Me' videos. Naked Sundays is the brainchild of Aussie TV reporter-turned-SPF queen Samantha Brett 'I always loved a skin tint and I've been using Naked Sunday's BeautyScreen for two to three months now,' Alix said. 'When I met with my dermatologist doctor, we went through all the ingredients and she approved it for me. She said BeautyScreen is good.' What Alix loves about the Aussie SPF product is its a lightweight formula, especially after struggling with 'cakey' makeup from heavy foundation. 'I've been using this skin tint for a full glam and light makeup (look),' she explained. 'As someone who's super picky about what they put on their skin and in their makeup routine, I've loved this product. 'My skin is well covered, yet still feels glowy and light.' For anyone looking for a 'great base' for their makeup routine, Alix recommended BeautyScreen, saying it's now her 'go-to' formula. Serving as both makeup and skincare with SPF50, the tinted foundation ($54.95) is infused with skin-loving ingredients, including peptides and antioxidants. Great for all skin types, the formula claims to provide broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection, which is what Naked Sundays is most recognised for. BeautyScreen SPF50 Peptide Foundation Tint has been winning over fans around the world after amassing a strong waitlist of 160,000 shoppers The 'game-changing' product has been so popular that it sold 50,000 units on launch day in August 2024, with one of its shades being snapped up within minutes 'BeautyScreen is one of the only SPF50 foundation tints on the market made with mineral SPF filters, along with peptides for added skincare benefits,' Naked Sundays founder Samantha Brett told Daily Mail Australia. 'People are obsessed with it as it gives a flawless finish without being too heavy or greasy, plus it's great for sensitive and acne prone skin.' She said the idea to create BeautyScreen sprang to mind after it became one of the brand's most highly requested products. 'Our customers love our ability to infuse high performance suncare into makeup, and with the rise in the "no makeup makeup" skin, our customers have been begging us for a tint with SPF that wasn't greasy and didn't slip off easily,' Samantha said. Just four weeks after launching BeautyScreen, Naked Sundays had built a massive waitlist of 160,000 fans by September 2024. The sought-after product has been flying off the shelves, even more so after Alix Earle endorsed the brand on her social media channels. 'When we first saw Alix wearing BeautyScreen on TikTok during one of her famous "Get Ready With Me" videos, it was a complete surprise and a true pinch-me moment,' Samantha explained. 'To see one of the world's largest influencers wearing a little Australian brand's product just as we made our USA store debut was such a full circle moment.' The range comes in 13 shades, offering beauty fans a light to medium coverage - with five new shades expected to drop soon Serving as both makeup and skincare with SPF50, the tinted foundation ($54.95) is infused with skin-loving ingredients, including peptides and antioxidants How to use Naked Sundays BeautyScreen 1. Apply BeautyScreen following your skincare routine 2. Shake to activate the tint. 3. Apply generous amount onto fingertips or directly onto your SPF BFF Brush or Sponge. TIP: Use full 1/4 teaspoon for full SPF or layer over your favourite mineral SPF for an added layer of SPF (only rely on tints as full sunscreen if using the appropriate 1/4 teaspoon amount) 4. Blend in well with fingers or by using your SPF BFF Brush or Sponge. 5. Allow the SPF foundation tint 2-3 minutes to fully absorb. 6. Repeat if additional coverage is desired. 7. Don't forget your neck. Advertisement BeautyScreen has received more than 300 glowing reviews and boasts a near-perfect rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Fans of the brand say the 'beautiful' formula 'blends so seamlessly' and 'melts' into their skin - leaving a 'flawless, radiant finish'. 'It's my holy grail sunscreen. Obsessed,' one shopper said. 'It's my "I can't live without" foundation now that we've met. It's a match made forever,' another raved. 'I'll admit, I was initially skeptical that this tint would last all day but it wears beautifully. I set it with a spray and a little powder, just like my other foundations, but it doesn't pill like some other skin tints. It gives a beautiful mid-level coverage and leaves my skin looking natural,' one added. 'This is my new favourite. I've been trying out a lot of tinted moisturisers and skin tints. None compare to this one. It melts into my skin. Such a nice glowy finish without looking greasy in my oily areas (thanks combination skin). The coverage is perfect. The colour match is bang on as well. Please don't stop making this,' another shared. The range comes in 13 shades, offering beauty fans a light to medium coverage - with five new shades expected to drop soon. The tint contains beneficial ingredients such as peptides, an anti-ageing ingredient that stimulates collagen, boosts moisture and hydration, as well as niacinamide and squalane, which helps even out skin tone and brightens the complexion. Perfect for sensitive or irritated skin, bisabolol is a soothing ingredient derived from chamomile, while polyglutamic acid may provide intense hydration and support the skin barrier. Fans of the brand say the 'beautiful' formula 'blends so seamlessly' and 'melts' into their skin - leaving a 'flawless, radiant finish' 'It has so many skincare and moisturising benefits that you really only need one step in the morning,' Samantha said. 'It has replaced makeup and moisturiser for so many of our customers.' Naked Sundays launched in the Australian market in 2021 and has since become one of the best-selling beauty brands in the country. It secured its first retailer within the first few weeks, launching into Mecca later that year and selling out of products in just 24 hours - a feat that was originally forecasted to take three months. Naked Sundays SPF50+ Glow Mist, an Australian first, is the brand's top-rated item, selling every minute around the world. The Aussie brand created the world's first non-silicone, water-based SPF50 CabanaClear SPF50 Water Gel, which led to Naked Sundays going viral multiple times over the past 12 months in the US. The brand has now sold one million bottles of sunscreen globally since its launch. Great for all skin types, the formula claims to provide broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection, which is what Naked Sundays is most recognised for Samantha Brett Naked Sundays launched in the Australian market in 2021 and it has since become one of the best-selling beauty brands in the country 'We cannot believe the rapid growth Naked Sundays has seen,' Samantha said. 'We are so grateful to have been able to change the narrative around suncare so more people think of it as "cool" and an essential, and dare I say it, a fun part of their daily routines. 'Skin cancer is so prevalent in Australia so every positive message means more people will actually want to wear sunscreen. 'Just like hiding vegetables in clever recipes for kids, we've hidden super high performance suncare into your favourite makeup products like tints, bronzing drops, blush and lip oils so you don't even know you're wearing it.' The brand is known for its best-selling products - including the SPF50+ Glow Face Mist Top Up Spray ($25-$38), SPF50+ Collagen Glow Mineral Perfecting Priming Lotion ($25-$39.95), SPF50+ Glow Body Mist Top Up ($42.95) and CabanaGlow SPF50 Mineral Glow Serum Drops ($25-$45). Naked Sundays is now available in Mecca Australia, Sephora UK and Ulta USA. 'Next we have a super surprise launch in May and we'll be continuing our global expansion into North America, the UK and beyond,' Samantha added. To shop the BeautyScreen range, click here. Use SPF as directed, reapply often, stay out of direct sunlight where possible. SPF is only one form of sun protection. Wear protective clothing when outdoors Do you agree with their ratings? Let us know in the comments Time Out canvassed opinions from more than 18,500 people to produce the list The 20 best cities in the world for food in 2025 have been revealed and ranked by Time Out - and this year it's New Orleans that takes the crown. The Southern American city beat hot competition from other global foodie hotspots, including Paris and Madrid. To get the results, Time Out surveyed more than 18,500 people around the world about the food scene in their city and each destination was ranked on affordability and quality of cuisine. The data was then combined with scores from a panel of Time Out experts, from writers to chefs, who shared their insights on the 'best cities for food around the world right now'. Grace Beard, Travel Editor at Time Out, says: 'Food is the backbone of local culture in our cities and the reason many of us choose to travel Time Outs annual ranking of the worlds best cities for food celebrates culinary culture the world over and is a great bucket list for foodies. 'Informed by locals and bolstered by the insight and expertise of Time Outs writers, food critics and Time Out Market chefs, this is the definitive guide for the hungry traveller. 'The cities on this list showcase the best of the old-school and the new when it comes to eating and drinking. In every city, youll find a real melting pot of cuisines, a wave of young chefs at the helm of cutting-edge kitchens, and traditional stalwarts serving up affordable classics.' Scroll down to see the full ranking, presented here in reverse order... 10. Jakarta, Indonesia The 20 best cities in the world for food in 2025 have been revealed and ranked by Time Out. Tenth-placed Jakarta picks up a 94 per cent local approval rating, making it the third-highest-rated city in the survey of residents, behind Cape Town and Paris Time Out describes the Indonesian capital's foodie scene as a 'true melting pot, shaped by Indonesias diverse ethnic groups and global influences, including Dutch, Indian, Chinese and Arab'. What's more, Jakarta picks up a 94 per cent local approval rating, making it the third-highest-rated city in the survey of residents, behind Cape Town and Paris. So where should you go to enjoy its 'undeniably delicious and diverse' cuisine? The experts at Time Out recommend street food hubs such as 'Jalan Sabang and Jalan Pecenongan for Madura noodles, Sumatras grilled satay, and smoky Chinese claypot rice'. The travel guide adds that 'fine dining is on the rise too', with restaurants including Caspar and Henshin 'offering global flavours'. 9. Paris, France Although Paris's foodie scene is on the 'pricier end', the French capital (ninth) earns a 95 per cent approval rating in the local survey, with residents describing its culinary offering as 'gourmet' and 'trendy' The City of Lights' culinary scene has 'never been this electric' and there are 'new restaurants popping up everywhere', reveals Time Out. Although Paris's foodie scene is on the 'pricier end', the French capital earns a 95 per cent approval rating in the local survey with residents describing its culinary offering as 'gourmet' and 'trendy'. Time Out's experts recommend bistros such as Lissit and Cornichon for 'reinventions' of 'French classics' while wine bars such as illets, Furia and coffee shops Grave and Simple 'simply buzz with energy'. For 'fine dining' the travel guide celebrates restaurants Vaisseau and Le Gabriel for their 'unforgettable dishes'. Hunting for comfort food? Time Out says: 'Try saucisse puree at Les Arlots a timeless, comforting classic.' 8. Shanghai, China Shanghai (eighth) earns a 92 per cent approval rating from local residents, who describe its cuisine as 'diverse' and 'trendy' Time Out describes Shanghai as 'China's dining epicentre' as it 'offers 5,000 years of food history in one city'. China's biggest city earns a 92 per cent approval rating from local residents, who describe its cuisine as 'diverse' and 'trendy'. 'Regional cuisines thrive [in Shanghai], from Guizhous minority dishes to Xinjiangs spice-dusted skewers and Yunnans tropical flavours,' reveals Time Out. The experts also love Shanghai's 'neo-bistros run by young chefs' who 'are redefining local ingredients with global techniques'. Looking for quintessential Shanghainese cuisine? Time Out recommends 'shengjianbao, a crispy-bottomed, broth-filled dumpling'. 7. Lagos, Nigeria The 'bold, diverse and delicious' cuisine in Lagos (seventh) makes it a 'foodie's dream' Lagos is a 'foodie's dream', says Time Out, a city where 'food is woven into culture, history and daily life' and the flavours are 'bold and delicious'. What's more, it's the second-most affordable city in the ranking for eating and drinking - 88 per cent of locals say 'it doesnt cost a lot to get a drink' and 68 per cent say going out to a restaurant is 'easy on the wallet'. The travel guide recommends visiting Frejon, Lagos's Brazilian quarter, for 'smoky party jollof rice', which is 'world-famous'. Then there's LE IYAN, which 'celebrates Yoruba cuisine', and NOK by Alara and Slow Lagos, which add a 'modern twist'. Time Out adds: 'Street food thrives akara [bean fritters] with agege bread and boli [roasted plantain] are daily staples, while puff-puff [deep-fried dough] satisfies sweet cravings.' 6. Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City (sixth) is loved by local residents, with 80 per cent giving the capital's dining scene a rating of 'good' or 'amazing' Mexico's capital ranks particularly highly with Time Out's food experts, who rate it second-best in the world. It also scores well with local residents, with 80 per cent giving Mexico City's dining scene a rating of 'good' or 'amazing'. Time Out reveals: 'Its not hard to see why it is a food-lovers paradise. From a torta de chilaquiles to tacos al pastor, everyone has a favourite spot.' The experts say 'chefs are blending global techniques with local flavours' in a move that has 'propelled' restaurants such as Pujol and Quintonil to 'world fame'. And it's not just local cuisine that gets a thumbs up. Time Out reveals: 'A wave of top-notch Italian, Korean, and Thai spots like Piazza Pasticcio, Jowong, and Ladyboy are winning hearts. If chiles en nogada are in season, Nicos is a must.' 5. Madrid, Spain Time Out says the food scene in the Spanish capital (fifth) is 'thriving', with 90 per cent of local residents ranking the cuisine well Madrid's residents are 'the most likely to describe their city's food as "diverse" and "experimental"', explains Time Out. And that's a 'winning combination', as 90 per cent of local residents rate the Spanish culinary scene 'highly'. Time Out adds: 'The Spanish capitals food scene is thriving, from El Invernadero, named the worlds best plant-based restaurant, to Michelin-starred La Tasqueria, which elevates offal.' The travel guide also recommends OSA, Chispa, Lur, and Tonton for 'young chefs making waves' while Sacha and La Tasquita de Enfrente are 'beloved stalwarts'. The city's must-try? Time Out says: 'Head to Pabu, where chef Coco Montes transforms fresh produce into next-level dishes Madrids latest culinary highlight.' 4. Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town (fourth) earns a 95 per cent approval rating from locals. Above is Time Out Market Cape Town, which 'brings the best of the city under one roof' Earlier this year, the South African city took the crown for Time Out's best destination in the world, an accolade which was 'thanks in no small part to its incredible food scene', explains the travel guide. Cape Town earns a 95 per cent approval rating from locals, with residents some of the most likely to call their cuisine 'delicious'. 'A blend of Asian, European, and African influences' makes Cape Town's food scene 'uniquely diverse', according to Time Out. Time Out Market 'brings the best of the city under one roof' says the travel guide, while Bree Street, known as 'Gourmet Boulevard', has 'must-visit spots like Boma and Iron Steak'. And Cape Town's fish and chips 'rival London's'. But according to the travel guide, the city's 'must-try' dish is the 'almighty Gatsby - a towering bread roll stuffed with chips, salad and your choice of filling'. Tempted? Mariam's Kitchen on the Foreshore has 'one of the best'. 3. Medellin, Colombia Dining out in Medellin (third) is 'budget-friendly' according to 89 per cent of locals 'Medellin locals rated the city highly across the board,' says Time Out, 'but it particularly stood out for affordability 89 per cent of locals say dining out is budget-friendly, and 94 per cent say grabbing a coffee is cheap.' The guide stresses: 'No matter the budget, the city offers rich culinary experiences.' So where are the hotspots? Time Out says: 'Stroll La Placita de Florez for exotic fruits like chirimoya and gulupa, enjoy bandeja paisa [a platter that includes rice, chorizo and a fried egg] in any barrio, or indulge in fine dining in El Poblado, Envigado, and Laureles.' To enjoy the city's 'playful side', head to a food festival says the travel guide, while 'top spots like La Cafetiere de Anita, Bistro El Mordisco and Mar Y Fuego highlight its global flavours'. 2. Bangkok, Thailand The travel guide recommends 'wandering through [Bangkok's] Old Town or Chinatown' and 'eating what looks best'. The city ranks second overall The Thai capital's food scene is 'world-renowned' says Time Out and 86 per cent of locals rate its culinary offering as 'good' or 'amazing'. Bangkok also earns the highest share of votes from Time Out's food experts, grabbing it second place overall for food in 2025. Time Out remarks: 'Bangkoks culinary magic lies in its versatility whether its a Michelin-starred meal or a $3/2.32 street-side feast under fluorescent lights, the experience is equally unforgettable.' The travel guide recommends 'wandering through Old Town or Chinatown', following 'the crowds' and 'eating what looks best'. The experts add: 'For a top-tier som tam (green papaya salad), head to Hai Som Tam Convent, where green papaya, fiery chillies and sticky rice pair perfectly with grilled chicken and a cold beer.' 1. New Orleans, USA New Orleans takes the Time Out crown as the world's best destination for food in 2025. Pictured above is a fried soft-shell crab Po'boy Taking the crown as the world's best destination for food in 2025 is New Orleans. Its culinary scene 'blends French, Spanish, Vietnamese and African influences offering everything from historic fine dining at Antoines to casual favourites like Parkway Bakery & Tavern', says Time Out. 'Classic dishes' such as 'shrimp Creole, jambalaya, and red beans and rice' can be found 'citywide', while 'acclaimed' restaurants Dakar, Acamaya, and Saffron put 'fresh spins on Louisiana flavours'. The travel guide adds that there's 'always something delicious to try' in New Orleans as 'food takes centre stage year-round, with festivals celebrating gumbo, beignets, and more'. Singapore Airlines has joined a growing list of carriers banning or restricting the use of power banks while onboard aircraft. The airline announced that during flights after April 1, 2025, its customers and those on its low-cost subsidiary Scoot will not be allowed to charge portable power banks via onboard USB ports, or use power banks to charge their personal devices. The carrier said that power banks must be carried in cabin baggage and are not permitted in checked luggage. It added: Customers may bring power banks up to 100Wh without special approval, while those between 100Wh and 160Wh require airline approval. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority. The airline issued the guidance in a press statement and on Facebook, where one user questioned how cabin crew would police the use of power banks. Singapore Airlines responded: If we may share, our crews are trained to remain vigilant and ensure that customers comply with in-flight safety procedures. Singapore Airlines has joined a growing list of carriers banning or restricting the use of power banks while onboard aircraft Power banks are classified as lithium batteries, which pose a fire risk because they can ignite during a process called thermal runaway. The FAA explains: All lithium-ion batteries are capable of overheating and undergoing a process called thermal runaway. 'Thermal runaway can occur without warning as a result of various factors, including if the battery is damaged, overheated, exposed to water, overcharged, or improperly packed. Thermal runaway can also occur on its own due to manufacturing defects. Power banks are classified as lithium batteries, which pose a fire risk because they can ignite during a process called thermal runaway Such an event is being considered as the cause of a fire on board a Hong Kong-bound Air Busan plane at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, in January this year. All passengers and crew members onboard were safely evacuated, but four were said to have sustained minor injuries. Air Busan subsequently banned passengers from checking in power banks or storing them in overhead bins. Other airlines that have banned or restricted the use of power banks on flights include Thai Airways, AirAsia, EVA Air and China Airlines. Miss Scarlet (U&Alibi) Rating: Who would watch Cagney without Lacey, or Starsky without Hutch? Lose half the partnership and youre left with less than half a show. Thats the problem facing Miss Scarlet, following the departure of Stuart Martin, who played her foil Scotland Yard Inspector William The Duke Wellington. Feisty private detective Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips), investigating murders in Victorian London, is one of the most likeable characters in all of TV crime dramas. Unlike almost every other sleuth, shes never irascible, morose, vengeful or drunk. Theres an irrepressible mischief about her that has made this series reliably fun since it first aired in 2020, as Miss Scarlet And The Duke. But mischief requires an opposing authority. Its no good for Eliza to fizz around being disobedient and impulsive if theres no one scolding her. Miss Scarlet - Series 5 - Episode 1. Tom Durant Pritchard as Alexander Blake Miss Scarlet - Series 5 - Episode 1. Kate Phillips as Eliza Scarlet The shows creator, Rachael New, understands that very well. With co-writer Ben Edwards, she has given Miss Scarlet an even more strict and disapproving counterbalance, in the Yards new detective, Inspector Blake (Tom Durant Pritchard). Like the Duke before him, Blake believes police work has no place for amateurs, especially women, and most of all pert women who wont do what theyre told. Hes also tall, handsome and, importantly, bearded. We expect more emphasis on the simmering romantic attraction than the murders, after all. In the opening two episodes of this fifth series, Blakes personality has been deftly drawn. Hes a widower, the devoted father of a troubled child, a stickler for the rules, highly observant, a demanding boss and a student of psychology. He even speaks Mandarin, which came in handy when he made his first London arrests, at an opium den in the docklands. Hes also oblivious to flirting. Eliza really has her work cut out, particularly now Blake has hired her as a clerical manager in the secretaries office. Feminism really isnt his forte. But none of this tension is suggested by the new title. Calling it simply Miss Scarlet loses the promise of fireworks between two rivals. Surely, the obvious solution was to find an excuse to keep the old title for example, by making Blake an impoverished aristocrat, the 11th Duke of Frampton Cotterell, who cannot afford to take up his seat in the Lords. Miss Scarlet - Series 5 - Episode 1. Paul Bazely as Clarence That aside, the show is as good as ever, with rapid plotting and showcase scenes for its supporting characters. Cathy Belton has a bigger role as Elizas housekeeper and surrogate mother, yearning to try her hand at a bit of police work herself. And Paul Bazely brings a dash of camp comedy to every line he speaks, playing the nervous bookkeeper dipping his own toe into the investigations. Filmed in Serbia, the series does a good job of recreating turn-of-the-century London, with CGI cityscapes and armies of extras in waistcoats and bowler hats. A pall of smog hangs over every shot, blurring the colours. That used to be achieved by smearing Vaseline on the camera lens, but doubtless the methods are more high-tech now. Harrison Ford will be working alongside another Hollywood legend in the upcoming third season of Shrinking. On Wednesday, it was revealed that an Emmy-winning actor was tapped to join the star-studded cast alongside silver screen star Ford, 82, and Jason Segel, 45. In the upcoming season of the hit Apple TV+ comedy series, this versatile actor will portray Segel's character's father in a guest arc, per Deadline. Shrinking follows widowed and grieving therapist Jimmy (Segel) who begins to break the rules and tells his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people's lives, including his own. In the forthcoming season, the shrink's father will be making an appearance and will be played by Jeff Daniels, 70. Harrison Ford will be working alongside another Hollywood legend in the upcoming third season of Shrinking On Wednesday, it was revealed that an Emmy-winning actor was tapped to join the star-studded cast alongside silver screen star Ford, 82, and Jason Segel, 45; pictured in 2023 Shrinking season one still His appearance in the show will mark his return to comedy in over a decade as he has predominately only acted in dramas. Daniels' last comedy role was when he acted alongside Jim Carrey, 63, in the 2014 sequel to Dumb and Dumber. Shrinking is also his first major live-action comedy series role. In the show, Ford plays the part of Dr. Paul Rhoades, a senior therapist with Parkinson's disease. Season two for Shrinking left off with Paul deciding to stop taking his medication for Parkinson's because they were no longer effective as his symptoms were becoming more severe. The star-studded cast also includes Wendie Malick, who plays Paul's former neurologist and now girlfriend Dr. Julie Baram, and Jessica Williams, Paul and Jimmy's colleague at the therapy practice. The co-stars reportedly reunited last month and have already kicked off production in Los Angeles. The production will continue in Los Angeles like in previous seasons even though several sets in Altadena and Pasadena, where they filmed Shrinking, burned down in the Eaton Fire. In the upcoming season of the hit Apple TV+ comedy series, Jeff Daniels, 70, will portray Segel's character's father in a guest arc. Shrinking follows widowed and grieving therapist Jimmy (Segel) His appearance in the show will mark his return to comedy in over a decade as he has predominately only acted in dramas; pictured in 2018 The Looming Tower still Daniels' last comedy role was when he acted alongside Jim Carrey , 63, in the 2014 sequel to Dumb and Dumber. Shrinking is also his first major live-action comedy series role During the wildfires in January, Ford was also one of many residents who were forced to evacuate his home. A week after the wildfires which ablaze on opposite ends of the greater Los Angeles area was put out in early February, Ford spoke about the devastation in Altadena, where they filmed. 'We lost several of our sets, but to us, they were sets,' he told AP. 'To other people, it was their homes, they were their livings, they were their lives, and it's a horrible tragedy.' He continued: 'But we're going back there to shoot and hopefully to bring some economic opportunities back to that area. But we've all got to concentrate on bringing our brothers and sisters through this.' In the show, Ford plays the part of Dr. Paul Rhoades, a senior therapist with Parkinson's disease. Season two for Shrinking left off with Paul deciding to stop taking his medication for Parkinson's because they were no longer effective; pictured in 2024 Shrinking season two still The co-stars reportedly reunited last month and have already kicked off production in Los Angeles; pictured in 2023 Shrinking season one still As production is still ongoing, a release date has not yet been announced The main cast also includes Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley. The second season premiered with a surprise early release in October 2024 with the finale dropping on Christmas Day. The debut season of Shrinking premiered in January 2023. As production is still ongoing, a release date has not yet been announced, however, Shrinking is anticipated to return sometime in late 2025. Nicole Kidman's 2024 Netflix thriller The Perfect Couple could possibly return with a second season featuring a new cast. The show which starred 57-year-old Kidman playing wife to Liev Schreiber, also 57 was based on the 2018 Elin Hilderbrand novel of the same name. It was hit on the streamer and also featured Dakota Fanning, Meghann Fahy, and Eve Hewson, among others. Now, the series is in talks to come back with a storyline based on another piece of literature from Hilderbrand, a book called Swan Song. The show, initially intended to be a miniseries, could potentially become an anthology, according to a report from Variety. Nicole Kidman's 2024 Netflix thriller The Perfect Couple could possibly return with a second season featuring a new cast The show - which starred 57-year-old Kidman playing wife to Liev Schreiber, also 57 - was based on the 2018 Elin Hilderbrand novel of the same name. If greenlit, Joanna Calo would write, executive produce and showrun the new installment. Kidman will also executive produce under the Blossom Filmsbanner, joined by Per Saari, with Gail Berman, Shawn Levy, Susanne Bier, and Hend Baghdady, says Variety. Swan Song, like The Perfect Couple, is set in Nantucket and centers on the Richardson family. An official synopsis reads: 'Chief of Police Ed Kapenash is about to retire. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce. But when a 22-million-dollar summer home is purchased by the mysterious Richardsons how did they make their money, exactly? Ed, Sharon, and everyone in the community are swept up in high drama. 'The Richardsons throw lavish parties, flirt with multiple locals, flaunt their wealth with not one but two yachts, and raise impossible hopes of everyone they meet. 'When their house burns to the ground and their most essential employee goes missing, the entire island is up in arms.' Following its release last September, the show made it to the Netflix English-language Top 10 TV chart. It comes days after Nicole said at SXSW that she plans to take a break following multiple successful projects over the last two years. The series is in talks to come back with a storyline based on another piece of literature from Hilderbrand, a book called Swan Song The show, initially intended to be a miniseries, could potentially become an anthology, according to a new report If greenlit, Kidman will executive produce under the Blossom Filmsbanner, joined by Per Saari, with Gail Berman, Shawn Levy, Susanne Bier, and Hend Baghdady In addition to The Perfect Couple, in 2024 she appeared in the seductive blockbuster Babygirl, season two of Lioness, and the romcom A Family Affair. The mom-of-four, who is married to Keith Urban, also starred in the Amazon Prime limited series Expats at the top of last year. Additionally, she did voice acting in the animated musical/fantasy film Spellbound, which was released on Netflix in the fall. Fans will see her in two more projects confirmed for this year, and then, the 57-year-old Australian siren says she will be taking a well-deserved break. While promoting her latest film, called Holland, at the SXSW Film & TV Festival over the weekend, she shared she is ready to take a step back. 'I was much more out there last year; this year I have Holland, I have Nine Perfect Strangers, and then Im off for the rest of year. So, oh well!' she told to The Hollywood Reporter. Dick and Angel Strawbridge were flooded with support as they broke their social media silence after Channel 4 announced a new Escape To The Chateau spin-off without them. The married couple are best known for starring in the popular reality show, which saw them renovate their 19th-century Chateau de la Motte-Husson in France. Escape To The Chateau aired 50 episodes over nine seasons, before wrapping up in 2022 after it was dramatically axed due to behind-the-scenes bust-ups. Earlier this week Channel 4 revealed a first-of-its-kind new property show in wake of the programme's explosive axe - and the pair aren't involved in any capacity. On Wednesday Dick and Angel took to Instagram after the news to share a snap of one of their house designs - opting not to address news of the new show at all. They wrote: 'A very good morning to you! Dick and Angel Strawbridge (pictured) flooded with support as they break social media silence after Channel 4 announces Escape To The Chateau spin-off without them The couple took to Instagram to share this image on their profile - and fans all said the same thing in the comments section 'Were busylots of changes and lots of activity at the Chateau! Any guesses? 'To keep up to date with whats happening in our world, sign up to our newsletter! 'Link in bio! Have a terrific Tuesday! Xxx.' Some rushed to the comments section to say the same thing. One wrote: 'We definitely need a new series! Please.' Another added: 'Were gunna need more episodes.' 'We need to have a new series to find out!,' a third pointed out. A fourth questioned: 'New series? Please make a new series.' Escape To The Chateau was dramatically axed shortly after bullying accusations were made in 2021. Fans were gutted when the show came to an end three years ago, but now they will be happy to know that there is going to be new a spin-off series. On Monday Channel 4 revealed that they are joining forces with Spark Media North to work on a daytime show called Chateau DIY: Win The Dream. The programme will give one of 12 pairs the chance to win their own chateau in France. On Monday Channel 4 revealed that they are joining forces with Spark Media North to work on a daytime show called Chateau DIY: Win the Dream Channel 4 said that it: 'Will see aspiring chatelains compete in challenges to prove they have what it takes to win a life-changing prize: an authentic castle in France with multiple bedrooms, living quarters and outbuildings which could be worth up to 250,000 lower than the average price of a home in the UK. 'The challengers will compete in a series of heats testing their skills in design, renovation, and business acumen: essential traits theyll need for running their own property. 'Each challenge will be guided and judged by the familiar faces of Chateau DIYs main series, who will share their vast and varied expertise of renovating and running these magnificent properties with the competitors. 'After three weeks of heats, a selection of successful candidates will be put through to the finals week where one lucky pair could win the prize of their dreams.' Channel 4s Jayne Stanger said: 'Chateau DIY has been one of Channel 4s most popular daytime series and were very excited to bring this grand competition to life with Spark Media North. It will offer the perfect blend of glorious escapism and real-life twists and turns that our viewers love to follow.' Spark Media North's Joff Hatfield-Powell added: 'We are delighted by the continued success of Chateau DIY over the last seven years and to have Channel 4s support in producing this ambitious extension, which promises more of the very same thrill and wonder en route to a life-changing prize for one skilful pair of chatelains. 'As proven suppliers to Channel 4, we take pride in delivering daytime shows with primetime values. 'This new series is our most ambitious yet a high-stakes competitive reality show that will captivate audiences and offer one of the biggest prizes in daytime TV history.' Chateau DIY: Win The Dream follows on from Chateau DIY, which is associated with Escape to the Chateau. Chateau DIY, which hit our screens in 2018, follows the lives of families who are renovating their properties in France. There have been eight seasons, with the last on our screens in December 2024. Back in October it was revealed that Chateau DIY and its festive spin-off Chateau DIY has been commissioned for another two years. And fans will be happy to know that instead of 30 hour-long episodes, there will now be 45 instalments for the next two years. Chateau DIY underwent a rebrand in 2021, after it was originally created as a spin-off of associated series Escape to the Chateau. Hosts Dick and Angel Strawbridgewere dropped by Channel 4 three years ago, after being engulfed in a bullying scandal. But it was revealed in May 2023 that Channel 4 had cut ties with them following an independent investigation into their conduct. The TV channel confirmed they would no longer work with the pair on any new productions 'following a review' after they were branded 'spiky and volatile'. A leaked recording revealed Angel branding a producer a 'F***ed up little c**t'. In June, she spoke out for the first time defending herself over the foul-mouthed rant as she explained she fell into a pre-laid trap. The poplar daytime series follows families' journeys in purchasing and restoring various chateaux across France (Chateau DIY At Christmas pictured) While the main show historically had 30 hour-long episodes per season, the broadcaster has increased the order to 45 episodes each series over the next two years (Tim and Krys on show) The TV star admitted that while she wishes the incident hadn't happened, she will not apologise for what she did. Speaking on Elizabeth Day's podcast How To Fail, Angel confessed in that moment she saw red: 'I was the one in the wrong for losing my temper, but do you know what, I will not apologise - he was so disrespectful in our house, he was so upsetting to me, my family, and I stand by what I did. 'If I was to apologise and say "I'm sorry for using bad language and chucking you out," it would just be disingenuous to me.' She added: 'Would I like to erase that? Yeah, I'd love to. But I would also like to erase what he was doing, because my rage just didn't pop out of nowhere. 'It grew over time and it was provoked and therefore I'm not ashamed of what happened in the end, I just wish it hadn't happened.' Speaking about the backlash that followed her rant, Angel previously said: 'The actual incident, it actually happened a long time ago - so it happened about six years ago. 'We had so many amazing people filming Escape To The Chateau, but in this particular quite small timeframe, we had someone that wasn't particularly very nice. 'His behaviour was completely unacceptable, but it didn't just happen in one little moment, it happened over lots of different occasions. Chateau DIY underwent a rebrand in 2021, after it was originally created as a spin-off of associated series Escape to the Chateau (Dick Strawbridge and Donna McDougal on show) The couple found fame renovating their home over nine series of Escape to the Chateau, alongside their two children 'It was a high point towards the end of filming a series. We set a lot of stories in parallel activity. We were particularly busy, and I think that's why we just didn't have the head space to address his behaviour. Recalling his behaviour she explained: 'He was not very nice, he was doing these weird pictures of Dick killing animals and posting them on his Instagram. He was so horrible with the children. 'There was this one incident, and I actually, truly believe that because he knew he was caught, I think in my heart, that is why he set up this filming. 'Because the way that he was acting was how he'd never acted with me before. You don't accidentally film someone when you're not filming. Completely happened secretively and on purpose. 'He broke all of the kids' fishing rods and the next day I was upstairs and he came up in a really very out of character way for him and was really in my face, in a really angry, like he'd lost it kind of way. 'I've not listened back, it makes me feel a little bit sick if I do. But obviously all of my friends have, and they're like "I can hear you" - he actually took out what he said - "I can here you gradually getting more angry, more angry, more angry". 'And then I just say like "get out of my f***ing house". I can't even remember what I said. I think I said a really bad word beginning with c, I think that's how p***ed off I must have been.' Angel said the fallout after the incident felt really 'disproportionate', adding: 'There was so much noise going on on one side. But it was revealed in May 2023 that Channel 4 had cut ties with them following an independent investigation into their conduct (pictured last October) The TV channel confirmed they would no longer work with the pair on any new productions 'following a review' after they were branded 'spiky and volatile' 'And on the other side there was this sort of like outpouring of love and understanding, and people saying "you know what, it's okay to be human". 'But when you have children you have to be able to zone this out, because the kids pick up on everything. 'But for me the children put everything into perspective. And also this went global. I couldn't believe the momentum that everything took. 'I just had to focus on the family, the business. And looking back I probably did feel a little bit ashamed that the kids would listen to it, or someone at the children's school would listen to it. 'But I also think that anyone with a little bit of understanding or common sense, could possibly understand what happened. 'I just regret that I didn't do it sooner and probably in a calmer way. If I'd just taken a breath two weeks beforehand and thought to myself "we need to get him out and get a new person in", then I think it would have played out differently. 'We don't teach our children to use bad language, but when you're pushed that far and are seeing red, it's kind of hard. 'I don't want to say I regret using it. I stand proud for just defending myself at that moment against his behaviour. I probably wish that I hadn't said the c-word. I don't even like that word.' A leaked recording revealed Angel branding a producer a 'F***ed up little c**t'. In June, she spoke out for the first time defending herself over the foul-mouthed rant as she explained she fell into a pre-laid trap Speaking on Elizabeth Day's podcast How To Fail, Angel admitted that while she wishes the incident hadn't happened she will not apologise for what she did Asked if she might have been treated differently if she was a man, she said: 'There's a lot of people that make a great living out of that. There probably is a bit of truth in that. Last October, Dick and Angel dodged questions about the hit Channel 4 show's bullying scandal during an appearance on Lorraine. As Lorraine host Christine Lampard made reference to the scandal, Angel explained: 'You know the saying "Never complain and never explain", I think that was just the best way. 'None of it made sense because we had made that family decision a long time ago that it was the right time for Escape to come to its natural end.' Dick insisted that it was their decision to leave the show and it was decided almost two years ago. He said: 'As a family, we made a decision that last year was going to be the finale. We told everyone two years ago, so this, it wasn't news for us.' Steering clear of directly addressing the bullying claims, he said: 'We made the decision just not to get involved in any of the conversations.' . In May last year, sources claimed Two Rivers Media, the company that produces Escape to the Chateau, raised concerns about the presenting duo, according to Deadline. In May last year, sources claimed Two Rivers Media, the company that produces Escape to the Chateau, raised concerns about the presenting duo, according to Deadline The exact nature of the allegations is not known, but the publication reported that three of their former colleagues alleged the couple have clashed with producers. A source said at the time: 'There has been a deteriorating relationship between Two Rivers and Dick and Angel's Chateau TV for various reasons and it all came to a head.' 'People who try to remote manage them from the UK, that doesn't work, or people who come into their house and boss them around, that doesn't work either,' the source added. 'Producers turn them into this perfect, brilliant, funny couple, they're that on camera, but that's about it.' A Channel 4 spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'Following a review, we have taken the decision not to work with Dick and Angel on any new productions in the future.' A spokesperson for Two Rivers added: 'We can confirm that we will no longer work with Dick and Angel and cannot comment further at the moment.' Sources close to the couple told MailOnline that their behaviour on set was nothing like their 'gorgeous' on screen personas. A source said: 'Dick and Angel come across on screen as the most gorgeous and lovely couple, literally like butter wouldn't melt, but they're not like that off screen. 'It's a full-on show, production is with them at the chateau for weeks so they can't hide their real characters - they can't turn it on for two hours of recording and then not go back to their real persona. 'They're just spiky and volatile people and, as you can imagine, that's a nightmare to work with.' Rating: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS What's most frightening is how plausible it seems. When 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested in his bedroom and charged with murder, in the opening scene of Adolescence, it's obvious what police expect to find. They're looking for a knife. Knife crime among Britain's teens, a rare and shocking occurrence just 25 years ago, has become endemic. When Damilola Taylor, aged 10, was stabbed to death at a south London block of flats in 2000, the national reaction was one of disbelief. His name still resonates. But the awful truth is that, though every violent death is just as tragic, few young knife victims today are as well known. There are so many of them. Netflix's Adolescence review: One-shot Stephen Graham thriller is gruelling to watch but the teen cast's stellar performances and unrelenting tension send a powerful message about knife crime Young actor Owen Cooper plays Jamie Miller in the hit series In a grimly cynical prelude to Jamie's arrest, we see how commonplace the crime has become for police. The two detectives at the centre of the drama, DI Bascombe and DS Frank (Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay) are checking their phones and bickering, as though the fatal stabbing of a schoolchild is just part of an ordinary day's work. But that's the only moment of levity in the opening hour of this four-part drama. After armed police smash down the Miller family's front door and force Jamie's parents and sister to the floor at gunpoint, the tension is unrelenting. We see the boy weeping and shaking as he's held in a cell, searched and interrogated. Stephen Graham, who created and wrote the show with Jack Thorne, plays Jamie's father Eddie determined to believe in his son's innocence until confronted with CCTV footage that appears to show the boy stabbing a girl to death in a car park. The emotional impact is heightened by virtuoso camerawork that records each episode in a single, flowing sequence. There are no cuts or breaks we zigzag between characters, following them in and out of rooms, as their paths cross. It's a dizzying technique, which adds to the sense of disorientation shared with Eddie and his wife Manda (Christine Tremarco), who have no idea at first what's going on or what their child is supposed to have done. Kaine Davies (pictured left) as Ryan Kowalsky, Ashley Walters (right) as Detective Inspector Bascombe The second episode, set in Jamie's school as Bascombe and Frank quiz pupils to uncover a motive for the killing, is even more technically brilliant a sort of television tag, where the focus is passed from police to children to teachers and back to police without a slip. It's effectively a live performance without retakes. This sometimes gives the production a theatrical air, as if the action is taking place on a revolving stage. But the effect is always impressive and never distracting. The strong supporting cast includes Mark Stanley as a solicitor well out of his depth, but the most exceptional performances come from the teenagers especially Owen Cooper as Jamie and Fatima Bojang as the dead girl's bereaved best friend. Adolescence paints our schools, police and an entire generation in a grimly unforgiving light. Watching it is a gruelling experience. But no drama has ever depicted the nightmare of knife crime better. Stephen Graham as Eddie Miller with his wife Manda Miller (played by Christine Tremarco) DEBORAH ROSS Ive been in this game a while and have watched telly since forever. I can remember Watch With Mother, the national anthem at the end of the days play, everyone stopping for The Forsyte Saga. But I cant recall the last time I was as blown away as I was by the one-take drama Adolescence. Its no ones idea of a super fun time its about a 13-year-old boy accused of murder and it is shattering, but once I had finished all four episodes I went back and started watching again, just to see how theyd done it. Thats unheard of. Im strictly an in-and -out person, as a rule. I would have been up for watching it a third time but then I remembered: I do have a life. It is written by Jack Thorne (most recently, Toxic Town) and Stephen Graham, who also stars. The idea came from Graham, who read a newspaper report about a teenager stabbing another teenager at a bus stop and, as such incidents arent uncommon, he wondered why it happened. It is directed by Philip Barantini, who also directed Boiling Point (the film and subsequent TV series) in one continuous take with no edits. This technique puts you right in the middle of the action and is technologically fraught. I dont have the space to relate what this meant logistically, but I do recommend you read about it elsewhere. It opens with two police officers (Ashley Walters, Faye Marsay) in a stationary car chewing the fat. Its easy-going and naturalistic, but moments later the adrenalin kicks in as they lead a team that has been dispatched to the Miller household to arrest young Jamie (Owen Cooper). Here, the door is battered down and its chaos as the police charge in shouting: Get on the floor! The family reel with shock, horror, disbelief, confusion. Eddie (Graham), the father, a plumber, keeps repeating: Youve made a mistake. And: Youve got the wrong lad. The new show has been written by Stephen Graham alongside Jack Thorne - and the actor also stars in the show The show had us in tears with its gut-wrenching acting - but we couldn't help but keep watching episode after episode Could Jamie, a sweet-looking boy with dark, tousled hair, have done it, whatever it is? (We dont properly know for a while.) This, by the way, is the sole action sequence, yet its so urgent and kinetic it makes the set- pieces from, say, Line Of Duty, seem underwhelming. I should also add that while we expect nothing less than excellence from Graham he can convey pain while boiling a kettle Cooper is extraordinary. Child actors can be ropey but were in safe hands here. We follow a weeping, terrified Jamie as he travels, in real time, to the police station in the police van. As hes booked in at the desk it feels as authentic and true as any episode of 24 Hours In Police Custody. He is met by glimmers of kindness Have you had breakfast? Do you like corn flakes? but also humiliation. (Oh God, the strip search.) The show was inspired by Channel 4's 24 Hours In Police Custody The cast manage to avoid stereotypes, while remaining relatable with their characterisation Eddie is appointed his appropriate adult and asks the questions you would ask. If you dont have a solicitor, and the police provide one, does that mean the solicitor isnt any good? I have always worried about that. The first episode is set mostly within the police station as the police eventually present their evidence. You have to wait, just as the family does. The second episode involves the two detectives visiting Jamies school, the third is a two-hander between Jamie and a child psychologist (Erin Doherty) that could be a self-contained play in itself. The fourth, which is the most devastating, brings us back to the family. Each episode is one take and picks up the narrative further down the line. At no point does this deal in what I call direct arrow psychology. Eddie is not a deadbeat dad. Christine Tremarco, I forgot to say, is superb as the mother, and this mother is not a depressed alcoholic or anything like that. Its not simplistic. It allows many factors to come into play, including social media and the manosphere. Andrew Tate is mentioned but that aspect is not overplayed. There has been criticism along the lines that the victim, Katie, who was stabbed seven times, barely features. I get that. Look how long its taken for me to mention her. But surely its important sometimes to ask why, like Graham did, which necessarily puts the focus elsewhere. I dont think I could bear to watch it a third time, actually. And I do have a life, whatever anyone says. KATE FLETT News and documentaries regularly moisten my eyes, but it is so rare for me to cry while watching TV dramas that I cant recall when it last happened. An exception is Netflixs Adolescence, each of the four hour-long episodes of which unfolds in one continuous shot. This labour-intensive production process creates intimate, claustrophobic, never-less-than-gripping TV; a hyper-real version of Real Life. Yet, its the combination of authentically economic dialogue (Copper: Can you explain what being under arrest means? Kid: It means being here) and the intensity of the actors performances that delivers continuous solar plexus sucker-punches. Everybody involved brings their A-game: Ashley Walters is phenomenal as DI Luke Bascombe, and Stephen Graham (also co-writer/producer) and Christine Tremarco as Eddie and Manda the parents of 13-year-old Jamie Miller, accused of murder are faultless too. But Adolescence belongs to young Owen Cooper as Jamie (left). If youre a parent, hell break your heart; if youre not, be grateful. Episode ones final five minutes feature some of the most exceptional small-screen acting I have ever seen. All episodes of Adolescence are available to stream on Netflix now. They have been flooded with kind words from well-wishers across the country after the birth of their baby daughter this week. But Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright, aged 37 and 38 respectively, received a slightly cheekier remark from ITV's Lorraine Kelly, as she paid tribute to the new parents. Discussing the couple's decision to name their girl Palma, Lorraine's mind immediately wandered to where the baby might have been conceived. The TV personality, 65, told her show: 'Huge congratulations to Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright who have announced the birth of their baby daughter - that is such a lovely picture. 'They've called her Palma. Now, Palma is believed to be inspired by their love for the Spanish island of Mallorca, Palma of course being the capital. 'Maybe that might have been where she was conceived, who knows. If so, fabulous.' Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright received a cheeky remark from ITV's Lorraine Kelly, as she paid tribute to the new parents The couple announced the exciting news with an Instagram post on Wednesday as the new mother shared a first look at the newborn and revealed her unusual name Lorraine then moved swiftly on to a discussion about the state of Barack and Michelle Obama's marriage. Mark and Michelle announced the exciting news with an Instagram post on Wednesday as the new mother shared a first look at the newborn and revealed her unusual name. Michelle captioned the post: 'Together we have a new love to share Our little girl. Palma Elizabeth Wright 06.03.25'. The Wright Family and Michelle have long been lovers of Mallorca, sharing snaps from every trip to the idyllic location including a shoot for their pregnancy announcement - ahead of the birth of baby Palma Elizabeth Wright earlier this week. So enamoured are the clan with the island, that Mark's brother Josh and sister Jessica both wed in Mallorca, while the family's frequent visits have now led to the huge nod to Palma - the major city and seaport located in the southwest of Mallorca. Michelle has previously hinted at the couple's desire to own a home in the area, while their trips are forensically documented on social media. Lorraine's comments on the pair's good news come after she gave fans an update on her swollen face. The presenter left viewers of ITV's morning shows a little concerned after appearing on various programmes with a 'puffy' face last Friday. The Wright Family and Michelle have long been lovers of Mallorca, sharing snaps from every trip to the idyllic location It's believed the couple chose the name Palma because of their strong links to Majorca, their go-to holiday destination and the setting for their pregnancy reveal photoshoot Lorraine's comments on the pair's good news come after she gave fans an update on her swollen face During Lorraine's appearance on Good Morning Britain many fans shared their worry on social media. She later appeared on Loose Women and revealed exactly what had happened to her - that she had fallen over a rhino ornament while putting the washing out at home and given herself a black eye. On Good Morning Britain on Monday, Susanna Reid asked: 'How's your eye by the way?' Lorraine said: 'You can see Helen has covered it up. Our fantastic make-up artist. Helen Hand the magician. 'It's still quite bad but the swelling has gone down.' Susanna replied: 'Last week when we saw you, you looked very weepy.' Lorraine agreed: 'Yes, swollen.' Adolescence star Ashley Walters has said he 'f***ing regretted' saying yes to his hero Stephen Graham after gruelling hours on the set of the Netflix show. The intense drama, which is inspired by 24 Hours in Police Custody, centres on a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a schoolgirl, and is the brainchild of Stephen. Top Boy actor Ashley takes on the role of DI Luke Bascombe in the critically acclaimed four-part production, uniquely shot in nearly hour-long continuous single takes. At the show's premiere at Bafta headquarters in London, Ashley spoke of his delight at being asked by his 'friend and mentor' Stephen, 51, to take part in the hard-hitting production. Ashley, 42, said: 'Regardless of what the job was going to be, I would have said yes anyway. 'You never say no to Stephen Graham. Adolescence star Ashley Walters has said he 'f***ing regretted' saying yes to his hero Stephen Graham after gruelling hours on the set of the Netflix show Top Boy actor Ashley takes on the role of DI Luke Bascombe in the critically acclaimed four-part production, uniquely shot in nearly hour-long continuous single takes 'He has a heart of gold, he's one of the purest guys in this industry, as far as I'm concerned. 'I've worked with a lot of people, they are not all like him. So to work with people that you love, respect, is so rare in this game. 'So when you get the opportunity, you do it. And that's what it was.' The whole series took three months to film. Each episode took three weeks to complete, with the first week devoted to script runthrough, the second week to technical rehearsals, and the third to filming. As the show makers needed a perfect hour of television in one continuous take, it required multiple versions to be filmed. The cast and crew filmed 10 single-take versions over episode one of the series, and ended up using take two. While it wasn't until take 14 when they got it perfect for episode two. But Ashley had not anticipated quite how gruelling the unique filmmaking method would be, and humorously confessed: 'When I got there... I f****** regretted it.' He continued: 'It was the hardest thing in the world. No, no it was. I was so insecure. I was so insecure, and it's a lot. I had to learn the whole script. 'And I had a lot to say in that first episode. And you're leading a lot of it, as well. A lot of it is police jargon and whatever.' The drama which is inspired by 24 Hours in Police Custody, centres on a 13-year-old boy (Owen Cooper, left) accused of murdering a schoolgirl, and is the brainchild of Stephen As the show makers needed a perfect hour of television in one continuous take, it required multiple versions to be filmed His confession prompted laughter from the crowd and was followed by a vivid account of the experience. 'Every day, Phil [Barantini, the director] will tell you, I was in tears! Every day I was going home, crying in my script.' Ashley also revealed his behind-the-scenes preparations when he joined a real police raid in Liverpool with his co-star, Stephen's cousin - who Stephen clarified 'was the copper, by the way'. Despite the top police operation turning out to be an 'anti-climax' he found it beneficial. He said: 'It was all irrelevant. It was fun and I got to see procedure and stuff like that, but actually, the heart of that character is him being a dad. That's the connection. 'And, I think, for Bascombe, someone who's dealing with these sorts of cases a lot, he wanted justice for the little girl, he wanted justice for that family.' The upcoming Netflix series sees Stephen play the father of a 13-year-old boy, played by Owen Cooper, who is arrested for the murder of a young girl. As an Executive Producer on the show, Stephen said the idea for the series came to him from looking at the epidemic of knife crime in the UK. Speaking at the Next On Netflix event, the father of two said: 'The idea came as - over the past ten years or so - we've seen an epidemic of knife crime amongst young lads, up and down the country. 'And for me, there were certain instances that really stuck out where young boys - and they are young boys, you know, they're not men - were killing young girls. As an Executive Producer on the show, Stephen said the idea for the series came to him from looking at the epidemic of knife crime in the UK 'We're all guilty of it, because that's the easy common denominator. I just thought, "what if that's not the case at all?" That was it.' Speaking about playing alongside 13-year-old Owen, Stephen said he was very aware of turning young kids down, resulting in one scene having 400 children in it. 'We were conscious not to say, "thank you very much, and see you later, ta-rah",' he said. 'And without being disrespectful, when these things are on the news, your judgement instantly goes to blaming the family, you blame the mum and dad. 'We knew that we wanted one kid, but the others in the final selection - we gave them the opportunity to play other characters within our piece. 'You can break their little hearts in this position. And that's not what you want to do. 'You want to make these kids go, "wow, okay, I can". So they all have roles within the show. Each and every one of the kids were absolutely superb. 'In episode two, there's 400 in one shot.' All four episodes of Adolescence are available to stream on Netflix now. Frustrated fans of the new Channel 5 drama The Au Pair have been calling out an 'implausible' blunder after the latest episode aired... but can you spot the mistake? The series came out on the channel's streaming service on Monday and TV enthusiasts were eager to see whether it could be a new show to get hooked on. Initial signs were promising with a star-studded cast, including Hercule Poirot himself David Suchet, and the tried-and-tested premise of a peaceful country household shaken up by a new arrival. The opening episode saw high-flying Chris Dalton (Kenny Doughty) and his seamstress wife Zoe (Sally Bretton) living happily with two stepchildren, Amber and Noah, in a breathtaking home in the Cotswolds. That is, until French au pair Sandrine (Ludmilla Makowski) entered the fray and became fixated on the family. Soon Sandrine was so involved in the clan's affairs that she was accompanying Zoe on a baby scan trip after the mother fell to the ground. Frustrated fans of the new Channel 5 drama The Au Pair have been calling out an 'implausible' mistake in the minutes after the latest episode aired (pictured: Ludmilla Makowski as Sandrine) The opening instalment saw high-flying Chris (Kenny Doughty, left) and his seamstress wife Zoe Dalton (Sally Bretton, right) living happily with two stepchildren But soon French au pair Sandrine became so involved in the clan's affairs that she was accompanying Zoe on a baby scan trip, during which fans spotted a huge blunder But viewers immediately noticed a technical error in the way the scan's operator went about her business, mocking the nurse for performing it over Zoe's hospital gown. One wrote on X: 'Well Ive seen a lot of implausible things on TV but someone having an ultrasound scan over the top of their clothes is a new one on me.' Another added: '#TheAuPair really irritating me. That ultrasound was just ridiculous.' A third posted: 'Has anyone EVER had a baby ultrasound scan done over clothing?' Another shocked viewer said: 'Aren't ultrasounds performed on the belly with no clothes in the way? This is so weird.' One gobsmacked fan added: 'That's a pretty well developed 5 week old foetus.' And a sixth posted: 'Why would you let the au pair go to the hospital with you? She barely knows her.' It comes after a whole host of viewers were put off by aspects of the series' production as early as the first episode, with many taking to social media to slam its choice of location. Viewers immediately noticed a technical error in the way a baby scan's operator went about her business, mocking the nurse for performing it over Zoe's hospital gown One disappointed viewer said on X: 'Settled down to watch the new series "The Au Pair" tonight. It's set in the Cotswolds. I thought the village looked decidedly uncotswoldy. No cotswold stone cottages was a dead giveaway. On closer inspection It's filmed in Ireland. B****y ridiculous.' Another agreed: 'Looks like Westport in Ireland.' Meanwhile, a host of Channel 5 fans lashed out at the show's 'predictable' plot, with many not even sticking around to see if their theories about what happens materialise. One frustrated X user posted: 'Just tuned in. It feels like this is gonna be the usual debacle... Couple employ an Au Pair.. The couple are having problems. The Au Pair is a psycho, sticks her oar in and causes havoc. Prove me wrong!' Another added: 'The Au Pair Channel 5. I worked out the plot in minutes. Sandrine was fostered by Dalton & had a 'special' 'secret' relationship with him as a child. Zoe was horrible to Sandrine when she was little so Sandrine gets revenge as the Au Pair by murdering George & Zoe. So predictable.' Netflix has delighted fans by dropping the highly-anticipated trailer for Black Mirror's seventh season and announced it's release date - and there's not long to wait. The dystopian sci-fi anthology series is returning to screens on April 10 with six electrifying new stories and an all-star cast. In the new trailer which was released on Thursday, fans got a glimpse of how each of the new stories could play out, without giving too much away. And from 'mind-expanding' chips to AI and robots, it looks like the show will be returning to it's technology storyline roots for the upcoming season. Series seven will also include a sequel to season four's fan-favourite episode USS Callister, which sees a video game programmer invent a simulated reality where he's captain of a spacecraft with his co-workers as his crew. Writer Charlie Brooker told Netflix's Tudum: 'Fans of the show will recognize the cast of a certain spaceship from one of our episodes reappearing. We've done a sequel for the first time in history. Netflix has delighted fans by dropping the highly-anticipated trailer for Black Mirror 's seventh season and announced it's release date - and there's not long to wait The dystopian sci-fi anthology series is returning to screens on April 10 with six electrifying new stories and an all-star cast 'Normally, I kill off all the characters at the end of an episode, [but] I kept some of 'em alive. I'm growing as a human.' Teasing at the other episodes, he added: 'You can expect a mix of genres and styles. We've got six episodes this time, and two of them are basically feature-length. 'Some of them are deeply unpleasant, some are quite funny, and some are emotional.' He added: 'Its back to basics in many ways. Theyre all sci-fi stories theres definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror-movie way. Theres definitely some disturbing content in it.' New cast members announced today include Michele Austin, Ben Bailey Smith, Asim Chaudhry and Josh Finan. James Nelson-Joyce, Jay Simpson, and Michael Workeye will also have roles in the seventh instalment. And to fans delight, Will Poulter will also reprise his role from the interactive film Bandersnatch. They will join the extensive cast list that was announced back in September 2024 and includes a number of exciting new names. Some of the actors leading the 2025 season of the show include a renowned Oscar-winning actor, an alumna of the blockbuster Barbie as well as a star of Netflix's The Crown. In the new trailer which was released on Thursday, fans got a glimpse of how each of the new stories could play out, without giving too much away And from 'mind-expanding' chips to AI and robots , it looks like the show will be returning to it's technology storyline roots for the upcoming season Series seven will also include a sequel to season four's fan-favourite episode USS Callister The names from the USS Callister episode that appeared on the list include Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, Billy Magnussen, Milanka Brooks and Osy Ikhile returning for the upcoming season Writer Charlie Brooker told Netflix's Tudum : 'Fans of the show will recognize the cast of a certain spaceship from one of our episodes reappearing' President Barbie herself Issa Rae, 39, will also be joining the star-studded cast. Teasing at the other episodes, he added: 'You can expect a mix of genres and styles. We've got six episodes this time, and two of them are basically feature-length' The names from the USS Callister episode that appeared on the list include Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, Billy Magnussen, Milanka Brooks and Osy Ikhile returning for the upcoming season. Joining them for the seventh season is Peter Capaldi, 66, who won an Oscar for his short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. Emma Corrin, 28, who portrayed Princess Diana in the fourth season of The Crown and won a Golden Globe for their role, will also be playing a part in the anthology series. President Barbie herself Issa Rae, 39, will also be joining the star-studded cast. Other notable and exciting names include Awkwafina, Paul Giamatti, Rashida Jones and Tracee Ellis Ross. Patsy Ferran from Firebrand will also be joining the cast. Other silver screen stars included in the cast reveal include Lewis Gribben (Blade Runner 2099) and Siena Kelly (Domino Day). The cast also features Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean), Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids), Paul G. Raymond (Horrible Histories), Harriet Walter (Succession) and many more. The first cast announcement was released last year via the Netflix anthology's official X, formerly Twitter, account. Joining them for the seventh season is Peter Capaldi, 66, who won an Oscar for his short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life The first cast announcement was released last year via the Netflix anthology's official X, formerly Twitter, account He added: 'Its back to basics in many ways. Theyre all sci-fi stories theres definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror-movie way The writer said: 'Theres definitely some disturbing content in it' The show appears to be returning to it's sci-fi and technology roots Some of the trailer was eerily shot in black and white Some of the actors leading the 2025 season of the show include a renowned Oscar-winning actor, an alumna of the blockbuster Barbie as well as a star of Netflix's The Crown Taking to the YouTube trailer's comments, fans have expressed their exctiement at the show's imminent return They quipped: 'How did they just make six stories look like an entire seamless movie, Im so happy theyre back' The tweet included a cryptic asset referencing Tuckersoft, the gaming development company frequently mentioned in previous seasons and episodes. 'TCKR_Confidential_NotForDistribution.mp4' was written in the caption alongside a clip of computer codes and notable names flashing across a screen in a data dump. Milioti, Magnussen, Simpson, Brooks and Ikhile will be returning for the follow-up to their season four space epic, the Emmy-winning USS Callister episode. Rashida Jones, who penned the social media takedown Nosedive from season three, will also be returning but this time in front of the cameras. Taking to the YouTube trailer's comments, fans have expressed their exctiement at the show's imminent return. They quipped: 'How did they just make six stories look like an entire seamless movie, Im so happy theyre back.' 'I am once again ready to be disturbed at how close this is to reality.' 'This series should never end. New season every year.' 'Omg I'm stoked that Will Poulter is back, loved his character!!' 'A sequel to my favorite Ep of this entire show count me in.' 'Finally something worth resubscribing to Netflix for.' 'This looks great! It looks like they are putting the focus back on technology more!' Black Mirror will return to Netflix on April 10 Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia's most-trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip BEFORE it makes the news. Musical (editors) chairs at Harper's It was tipped to be the magazine 'relaunch' of the decade when Switzer Media took over the publishing reins of Harper's Bazaar Australia in 2021. But in the four years since, three editors and most of the original staff have disappeared. The sole survivor? Publisher Maureen Jordan. Harper's veteran Eugenie Kelly was initially announced as editor-in-chief of the relaunched title, but only lasted a single edition. Features editor Lauren Sams left soon after, as did art editor Kristina Harrison. Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Jillian Davison has been missing-in-action since December. Her departure from the title was announced on Friday after I made inquiries Three editors and most of the original staff have disappeared since the 2021 relaunch of Harper's Bazaar Australia. The sole survivor? Publisher Maureen Jordan (pictured) The Group Chat is told the latest editor, Jillian Davison, hasn't been seen in the office since December. Rumour has it she didn't see eye to eye with Jordan. 'She has not returned to the office this year. No one knows what's happening,' an ex-staffer tells me. (Interestingly, hours after I made inquiries about the missing Ms Davidson, she announced her exit from the mag in a press release delivered straight to the editor of fawning industry bible Mediaweek. Was it something I said?) Jordan, as CEO of Switzer Financial Group, a financial and publishing business she runs with her husband Peter Switzer, holds the lofty title of publisher of Harper's Bazaar Australia. She is also listed second on the masthead (below editor-in-chief) as 'editorial director', which offers some clue as to her hands-on role. 'They're not journalists or editors - they're accountants,' another former staffer says of Switzer's top brass. 'For the relaunch issue she [Jordan] wanted to put Shemara Wikramanayake, the managing director of Macquarie Bank, on the cover. That or a bottle of Chanel No. 5!' According to my insider, Ms Davison, whose name features in the masthead of the latest edition, boasts 'peerless' experience, having worked extensively in Sydney and New York, and as a fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar U.S. Before joining Vogue Australia in 2018, she held a variety of editorial positions, including fashion director of Glamour U.S. and fashion editor of Teen Vogue U.S. The latest edition of Harper's Bazaar Australia, featuring pop superstar Rihanna on the cover, has Ms Davison listed as editor-in-chief at the top of the masthead 'She is extremely respected and well-liked in the industry, especially with advertisers,' adds my source. Harper's Bazaar was a much-loved staple in the local glossy magazine market until it was axed by its former owner Are Media shortly after that publisher was formed out of the ashes of Bauer Media Australia in 2020. This isn't the first disappearing act at Switzer's stable of titles. Christopher Riley, the former editor-in-chief of Esquire Australia, suddenly departed the publication in January to return to the UK, after helming the magazine since its relaunch. 'One day he was here and the next he was gone,' an insider tells me. Romance down the Pitt Sydney lawyer Nicholas Pitt and high-profile publicist Montarna McDonald split two years ago Pitt went on to date fellow legal eagle Kennedy Potter (pictured), but I hear they recently split after nine months together Ah, the old post-marriage rebound. They never last long, do they? And, predictably, Sydney lawyer Nicholas Pitt's relationship he embarked on after his separation from publicist Montarna McDonald hasn't gone the distance. Pitt and McDonald quietly called time on their marriage about two years ago. After licking his wounds for a while, he began dating fellow legal eagle Kennedy Potter. The two met through legal circles and coincidentally have both worked at the insurance and risk legal firm Wotton Kearney. But I hear they recently called it quits after dating for about nine months. Potter, 35, a former SCEGGS girl, works as a litigation asset manager at Sydney investment firm Court House Capital. The exes were spotted earlier this year in south Bondi, where Pitt is understood to be living in a bachelor pad alongside Johnny Ingham, the so-called 'chicken heir'. Miami Vice in Rose Bay Australia's foremost luxury real estate agent Gavin Rubinstein was pictured with leggy model Sarah-Said Smith outside The Rubinstein Group's HQ in Rose Bay on Wednesday evening Australia's foremost luxury real estate agent and star of Luxe Listings Sydney, Gavin Rubinstein, was spotted with leggy model and Miss Universe Australia finalist Sarah Said-Smith outside his Rose Bay offices on Wednesday. The pair turned heads with their, er, contrasting outfits: Rubenstein was clad in an ill-fitting suit that looked straight out of Miami Vice and Said-Smith resembled a flame-haired cowgirl. Off to a midweek costume party? And finally... guess who, don't sue These two ladies are always down for a good time - but it don't come cheap. Despite being known as the go-to party girls of the eastern suburbs, their 'anything goes' antics have a price tag. Luckily, there are plenty of high rollers willing to pay. The entrepreneurial duo recently worked out they can command an even higher price by offering a 'double package'... The subjects of this blind item are not mentioned or pictured elsewhere in this article. Australia, meet your very first Golden Bachelor. Cameras have officially started rolling on the Samantha Armytage-hosted Channel Nine dating show for older, single romantics looking for a second shot at love. Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal Barry 'Bear' Myrden, a 50-something infrastructure engineer and passionate sailor from Sydney, has been handpicked as the leading man for the upcoming Australian adaptation. In exclusive pictures, Myrden was seen filming the show in Sydney on Wednesday. He channelled James Bond as he piloted a retro Italian speedboat across the Harbour while dressed in a black tuxedo and matching bow tie. Myrden, a father of three and a respected professional in the tech industry, currently works in Data Centre Management for Woolworths Group. Widowed father-of-three and infrastructure engineer Barry Myrden is Australia's new Golden Bachelor Myrden, a respected professional in the tech industry, currently works in Data Centre Management for Woolworths Group and is a passionate sailor With decades of experience in his field, he has held senior roles at major companies like Macquarie Bank and the NSW Port Authority. But while his career has flourished, sources close to Daily Mail Australia reveal that his personal journey has been marked by tragedy - Myrden is widowed. 'Bear is always complaining that his boys are saying that he is bringing around the wrong kind of girls that are just too young and hot for him,' one friend revealed. 'We were always saying that he needs to be put on a show like MAFS, so seeing him up for the Bachelor role is no surprise.' Despite his corporate background, Myrden is far from your typical office-bound executive. A passionate sailor, he has competed in high-profile races like the Sydney to Hobart. In one photo captured during one of his recent sailing ventures, Myrden looked handsome and rugged as he manned a yacht. Unlike The Bachelor and The Bachelorette which feature young men and women, the Golden Bachelor is targeted at a more mature audience eager to watch how those who have already experienced great love and loss are chasing companionship in their next chapter. Myrden channelled James Bond as he drove a retro Italian speedboat across the Harbour while dressed in a black tuxedo and matching bow-tie With decades of experience in his field, Myrden has held senior roles at major companies like Macquarie Bank and the NSW Port Authority The Sydney-based suitor was seen filming outside The Bachelor pad in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs on Wednesday Barry was pictured arriving at the Bachelor mansion dressed in a button-up shirt and black pants Nine secured the rights for The Golden Bachelor in Australia and Samantha (pictured) has been signed up to host the reality dating show Samantha was seen chatting to a security guard outside the mansion, who eventually let her inside after telling them she was the host of the show 'Bear is not your usual reality TV type,' an insider told Daily Mail Australia. 'He's charming, intelligent and has really lived a full life. He's been through love, loss and now he's ready to open his heart again. Women are going to adore him.' Local fans of the The Golden Bachelor have been calling for an Australian version since the U.S. version premiered last year to critical acclaim. Producers are keeping tight-lipped about the contestants vying for Myrden's heart, but if the U.S. series is anything to go by the show promises to deliver a mix of heartwarming moments, deep connections and unexpected twists. In November, it was reported The Golden Bachelor has been scouting for contestants in a very unusual way. A talent scout for the show was spotted handing out business cards to attendees at Royal Randwick racecourse in Sydney. Casting agent Ivanna Tang opted for the unusual method of attempting to recruit racegoers to the upcoming spin-off show. Myrden, far right, is pictured with his three sons While Myrden's career has flourished, sources close to Daily Mail Australia reveal that his personal journey has been marked by tragedy - he is widowed 'Bear is always complaining that his boys are saying that he is bringing around the wrong of girls that are just too young and hot for him,' one friend revealed 'We were always saying that he needs to put on a show like MAFS, so seeing him up for the Bachelor role is no surprise,' added a friend. (Pictured with INXS musician Kirk Pengilly) The series will be hosted by Sam Armytage (pictured) and follows The Bachelor format Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that Australia will be getting a spin-off for the series back in November 2023 Nine secured the rights for The Golden Bachelor in Australia and Samantha Armytage has been signed up to host the reality dating show. Samantha got involved with the casting call, urging people to give their family members a 'nudge'. The outgoing Farmer Wants A Wife host had shocked fans when she stepped down from Seven after 21 years, sparking wild rumours about her next step. Her new TV gig on The Golden Bachelor was finally revealed at Nine's Upfronts in November, where the network's schedule of 2025 programming was unveiled to invited guests. The U.S. version of the show has been wildly successful, with its finale garnering 6.1million viewers, making it the most watched final episode of the American Bachelor franchise since 2021. Channel Nine and Warner Bros. did not respond to queries when approached for comment. Rachel Zegler exuded glamour as she took to the stage to perform at the 'scaled back' Snow White premiere at a remote castle in Spain on Wednesday. The premiere for the Snow White remake was relocated to a remote castle in Segrovia, north-west of Madrid after Disney were forced to change the promo amid backlash against the film's woke themes and stars Rachel and Gal Gadot. Film bosses had originally planned to stage a glittering Hollywood soiree worthy of the staggering $269.4million spent on making the movie - with events planned in Los Angeles, London and around the world. Yet amid a series of scandals and PR nightmares surrounding the remake, Disney scaled back the planned lavish premieres to a 'handful' of tightly controlled Press events. The biggest of these is now thousands of miles away from the media's glare, with Rachel (Snow White) and Gal (Evil Queen) jetting to Segovia, which boasts a population of just 51,000. Rachel entertained those who were invited to the premiere as she performed Waiting On A Wish, an original song written for the film. Rachel Zegler exuded glamour as she took to the stage to perform at the 'scaled back' Snow White premiere at a remote castle in Spain on Wednesday The premiere for the Snow White remake was relocated to a remote castle in Segrovia, north-west of Madrid after Disney were forced to change the promo amid backlash against the film's woke themes In a video shared to Instagram from the event, Rachel can be seen on a stage in front of the castle performing as the sun set. The actress looked incredible in a white sleeveless dress with an intricate floral print and a flowing train. Media outlets were not invited to the event at Alcazar of Segovia, a medieval castle that rests on a rocky crag at the western end of Segovia's Old City, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Earlier this month, an insider told the Mail: 'Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White and have reduced the media schedule to just a handful of tightly controlled Press events. 'That is why they have taken the highly unusual step not to host a London premiere for the film and are minimising the amount of Press questions that Rachel Zegler gets.' A small red carpet was rolled out at the castle for the intimate event which stands in stark contrast to the larger premiere events Disney usually puts on. While the premiere is being held away from typical haunts one would expect for a movie of such grandure, there is some significance in its choice. The Alcazar of Segovia was the inspiration behind the castle in Disney's 1937 original animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with its distinctive shape, turrets and steep roofs seen in the feature. Rachel entertained those who were invited to the premiere as she performed Waiting On A Wish, an original song written for the film The actress looked incredible in a white sleeveless dress with an intricate floral print and a flowing train Film bosses had originally planned to stage a glittering Hollywood soiree worthy of the staggering $269.4million spent on making the movie - with events planned in Los Angeles, London and around the world Yet amid a series of scandals and PR nightmares surrounding the remake, Disney scaled back the planned lavish premieres to a 'handful' of tightly controlled Press events Earlier this month, an insider told the Mail: 'Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White The Alcazar was built and rebuilt over hundreds of years, beginning as a palace of the Moslem governor in the tenth century. Today it is a prominent example of Mudejar architecture, a Moorish-influenced style common in Iberia from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The upper stories of the palace are still used by Spain's royal family when they visit Seville. The public have been banned from entering the castle on Wednesday and Thursday, with a notice stating it has simply been closed for a 'private event'. In a further sign that Press are being held away from the event, the date of the premiere has not been confirmed on media calendars. Later this week, the cast will return to the States, with Zegler, 23, and Gadot, 39, expected attend a pre-party and screening at Los Angeles' El Capitan Theatre on March 15, 'coverage will be limited to photographers and a house crew'. While most premieres invite dozens of media outlets to cover the event and interview the cast, the studio has decided to buck tradition in this case. Zegler had attended an event in Tokyo to promote the film last week but Gadot and the rest of the cast were not in attendance. The castle in Disney's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is based on Alcazar de Segovia, a medieval castle in the Spanish city of Segovia Your browser does not support iframes. Media outlets have not been invited to the event at Alcazar of Segovia, a medieval castle that rests on a rocky crag at the western end of Segovia's Old City Spanish Zegler fan accounts have been sharing evidence of the premiere coming into town and noting the significance of the castle being used The choice comes amid criticism and fears that the remake prioritized 'woke' messaging over authentic storytelling. Since casting Hispanic actress Zegler as Snow White, Disney fans have highlighted the woke deviations from the classic fairy tale. Notably, from dumping the traditional romance plot because of it's 'sexist', to reimagining the Seven Dwarfs as a diverse group of 'magical creatures' of all heights, gender and race. Zegler also criticized David Hand's 1937 original animated film as 'extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman's fit for in the world.' 'The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,' she scoffed to Extra TV in 2022. 'There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn't do that this time.' 'We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie. 'All of Andrew's scenes could get cut, who knows? It's Hollywood, baby!' she joked, before admitting in a separate interview that she was 'terrified' when she went on the beloved Snow White ride at Disney World. The choice to relocate comes amid criticism and fears the remake prioritised 'woke' messaging over authentic storytelling and backlash against the stars (pictured in 2022) About the 1937 film, she said: 'I was scared of the original version. I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I'm being so serious.' Zegler also told Variety that her version of Snow White would be dreaming about becoming a 'fearless leader' rather than 'dreaming about true love.' 'For Snow White, there's a famous scene where she falls into a lake, through a trapdoor-type thing in a forest. And we did it, and I got scuba diving training so that I could spend a long time underwater,' the Golden Globe winner explained to Cosmo. 'You learn how to use a breathing tube. I had this guy named Pete, who is ex-Navy, attached to me at all times, tethered to me. And essentially I spent...I want to say a total of 48 hours training. And then shot for two whole days. It was seven hours underwater.' Sources previously revealed to DailyMail.com that Zegler's reputation as a 'loose cannon' nearly got her axed from playing Snow White. Zegler's strong opinions have prompted some haters to vow to boycott the film. Since her rapid rise to superstardom, after beating 30,000 actresses for the part of Maria Vasquez in Steven Spielberg's 2021 adaptation of West Side Story, she's endured frequent criticism. There was backlash over her casting as Snow White in Disney's 2025 live-action remake of the animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and trolling for her radical left wing stance on politics. Previously, Disney sparked backlash after they announced that 'magical creatures' would replace the seven dwarves to 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' The dwarves are now depicted as animated creatures after stars such as Peter Dinklage criticised the 'f****** backwards story' last year While reflecting on comments made on social media about her casting as Snow White, Zegler insisted she doesn't even try to wrap her head why 'Disney adults' would have a problem with someone Latina portraying the beloved princess. Zegler proceeded to reveal that the line describing her character's 'skin as white as snow' will reference 'another version of Snow White that was told in history,' in which the character 'survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby.' 'The king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience,' the Hackensack native noted. 'One of the core points in our film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.' The star also admitted that it was 'sad' to see so many people rip her apart for teasing that her version of Snow White would not not be saved by a prince. 'In all honesty, it made me sad that it was taken in such a way, because I believe that women can do anything. But I also believe that they can do everything,' she explained. 'It can be very upsetting when things get taken out of context or jokes don't land.' Zegler went on to make it clear that the 'love story is very integral' and that it wasn't true that her remake wouldn't feature any romance. 'I've watched women get torn down my whole life, my whole career,' she said. 'We'll watch it in the election that's upcoming. We're gonna witness that for a long time, I fear. Sometimes it can feel like we're going back; it certainly felt that way when that was happening.' Zegler had attended an event in Tokyo to promote the film last week but Gadot and the rest of the cast were not in attendance Although she is tempted to leave social media, at times, she confessed that she doesn't like to give trolls the 'satisfaction of knowing they hurt me in the moment.' 'You give them a lot of power by taking a social media break,' she pointed out. Over the years, she has used her platforms to champion causes that are important to her. During the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023, she spoke about the possible dangers of AI as she recalled having like '465 photos taken of every corner' of her body for CG stunts. 'It was f**king dystopian,' she said. 'I was really scared of being replaced by an artificial intelligence version of myself that they scanned when I was 18 and then never being able to work on a set again. What was stopping them from using that for the rest of my life?' She's also advocated for Palestinians. 'I can't watch children die,' she told the outlet. 'I don't think that should be a hot take... We're nearing one year since the horrendous attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, but I've been following this conflict for so many years. 'Like so many people, I'm so heartbroken by the loss of life that we're seeing with these insane death tolls coming out of both regions.' Still, she acknowledges that she doesn't 'have the answers.' 'I don't think any celebrity making a political statement has the answers,' she said. 'But we have the platform to share a donation link to make sure that these people get the money, the care and the aid that they need that people in power aren't giving them. If that means that it can fall upon us to be in power in a way that is helpful, then I'm happy to do it.' Since casting Hispanic actress Zegler as Snow White, Disney fans have highlighted the woke deviations from the classic fairytale Previously, Disney sparked backlash after they announced that 'magical creatures' would replace the seven dwarves to 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' with Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage criticized the 'f****** backwards story' last year. 'I was a little taken aback when they [Disney] were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you're still telling the story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs,' he told Mark Maron's WTF podcast. 'It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I'm not loud enough.' Dinklage's concerns were shared by some charities, including the Restricted Growth Association in the UK. 'I very much stand with Peter Dinklage on the disappointment and irritation towards Disney for the remake of Snow White,' Rhonda Cutmore, a member of the association, told The Telegraph. ' Dwarfism writer Steph Robson said she hoped film producers make an effort to avoid stereotypes in its retelling of the classic movie. 'It is my hope that the latest live action remake, and Disney, will, at the very least go some way to redress the decades of the one-dimensional stereotypes that our disability continues to experience, especially within arts and cultural settings,' she told the outlet. The story has also been criticized as being ableist for portraying the dwarfs with lesser intelligence and Snow White seeing them as children. Zegler has criticised David Hand's 1937 original animated film as 'extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman's fit for in the world' Disney later said it's 'taking a different approach' with Snow White's seven companions. In a statement last year, the company said it had been consulting with members of the dwarfism community throughout the early stages of production. 'To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community,' a spokesperson said. 'We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.' In December last year, sources close to the production said Snow White's seven 'dwarfs' were not going to be fully computer generated, and wouldn't be dwarfs at all. Instead, she would be befriended by magical, forest-dwelling creatures. She has been married to two of the biggest names in showbusiness, but Sadie Frost has said she has 'excelled so much more' since being on her own. The actress, 59, who was married to the Jude Law from 1997 until 2003, also revealed that she struggled with 'very low self-esteem' in the aftermath of their divorce. Speaking to Good Housekeeping UK's new podcast, My Life in a Biscuit Tin, in what could be perceived as a swipe at her exes. She said: 'I'm feeling really happy and content at the moment. I feel confident. It took me a long time not to care about what people thought. 'I had very low self-esteem. It really knocked me going through a very horrible, public divorce [from Law].' 'I've excelled so much more since I haven't been with somebody because I think there's a constant thing of having to keep someone else happy. She has been married to two of the biggest names in showbusiness, but Sadie Frost has said she has 'excelled so much more' since being on her own The actress, 59, who was married to the Jude Law from 1997 until 2003, also revealed that she struggled with 'very low self-esteem' in the aftermath of their divorce (pictured in 2001) 'And, at the end of the day, I want to get up at 5am and do my yoga and I'm not compromising unless it's for my children and close friends.' The mother-of-four shares three children with Mr Law, their son Rafferty, 28, daughter Iris, 24 and youngest Rudy, 22. Her eldest Finlay Munro Kemp, 34, is from her previous seven-year marriage to Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp. She also was in an on-off relationship with businessman Darren Strowger for eight years, before Sadie confirmed she was single in an interview last year. The former model said that dealing with her children moving out of the family home was also a challenge she had to overcome. She admitted: 'Even though it was difficult when the kids all left home, it made me embrace being on my own. I had to face that fear of being on my own. She also said that yoga has helped her manage her anxiety and panic attacks, which she attributes in part to her childhood lung disease, Bronchiectasis. 'I used to have a lot of anxiety because of not being able to breathe,' she explained. 'My mum and her friends were always saying, 'Sadie, you've got to do yoga, it will really help you prolong your life.' Prior to her relationship with Jude, Sadie had a seven-year marriage to Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp (pictured in 1988) She also was in an on-off relationship with businessman Darren Strowger for eight years (pictured in 2021) Sadie said: 'I had very low self-esteem. It really knocked me going through a very horrible, public divorce [from Law]' (pictured in 1998) She started making me do it at 15, and I was in and out because you don't want to go to breathing classes when you're 15 you want to go out partying! But through my 20s, 30s, and 40s especially when I had my kids and did pregnancy yoga I realised that to stop anxiety or panic attacks, I had to engage with it. With a strict yoga practice, I've been able to conquer all the problems that came up from having this lung condition, which I'll have forever.' The Dracula star also revealed that she talks to pigeons regularly: 'I'll talk to pigeons, I'll go and have a conversation. I'll talk to anything now because we are finding out more and more about how intelligent they are, how conscious they are.' The full episode with Sadie Frost is available now on all major podcast platforms. A lot can change in a year. Maria Thattil and Moana Hope put on a passionate display at Glamour on the Grid in 2024, telling Daily Mail Australia about their plans for the future together. But on Wednesday night, the former Miss Universe Australia, 32, and AFLW trailblazer, 37, posed for photos separately as hundreds of VIP guests descended on Albert Park, Melbourne ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix. 'We are on amazing terms and spent some of the evening together,' Maria told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday. 'All is well.' 'There is no bad blood or avoidance between the two of us,' she said, explaining that she didn't have time to pose for any photos with her ex because she was on the clock. 'I was working there with Shark Beauty and arrived at a totally different time to her.' Exes Moana Hope (right) and Maria Thatill (left) narrowly avoided each other as they both attend Glamour on the Grid in Melbourne on Wednesday night after their recent break up After months of split rumours, it was reported three weeks ago that Maria had 'quietly called time' on her 18-moth relationship with Moana. Maria certainly showed her ex what she was missing, with the author and Neigbours actress dazzling in Cappellazzo Couture gown. Meanwhile, Moana looked incredibly chic in an Effie Kats suit. She teamed the two-piece ensemble with a striped shirt and tie. The exes, who first met while mixing in Melbourne's celebrity circles after Moana's divorce from her ex-wife Isabella Carlstrom, went public with their romance in September 2023. The AFLW star slammed criticism her new romance with Maria came too soon after the end of her six year marriage to Isabella, with whom she shares two children. An emotionally-charged Moana took to Instagram saying there were no hard and fast rules for when to move on when you separate. 'You're a great step-mum', the AFLW star gushed to Maria during a chat with Daily Mail Australia at last year's Glamour on the Grid. 'Maria is going to buy us a farm to raise the kids on.' 'I am! I am! I'll take that, I am,' Maria responded. '[Moana] makes me want to have balance in my life. 'And I think it makes me a better businesswoman now that I'm feeling fulfilled when it comes to family and love. I feel very lucky, and rich, and blessed for that.' Maria certainly showed her ex what she was missing, with the author and Neigbours actress dazzling in Cappellazzo Couture gown The gown flashed Maria's toned abs Moana looked chic in a Effie Kats suit After months of split rumours, it was reported three weeks ago that Maria had 'quietly called time' on her 18-moth relationship with Moana Taking to her Instagram story on February 22, Maria confirmed that the reports were true and hat her relationship with Moana had run its course Maria revealed that her 'beautiful' relationship with Moana had run its course last month. 'Moana and I have shared a beautiful relationship but wish to share we have decided to go our separate ways,' she wrote on Instagram. Maria said that the breakup, while difficult, was amicable. 'We do this with nothing but respect and care for one another and will always support each other,' she continued. 'Thank you for all the love and support.' Whilst I will have work obligations to post, please know this is not an easy thing to go through,' she added. 'I appreciate privacy around this.' Maria had shut down rumours of a split the week before, telling News Corp 'I'm not single. 'I've seen rumours... but that's honestly all it is.' 'We are good and excited for the year ahead. Excited for 2025 together and it's going to be great.' The pair also celebrated Maria's 32nd birthday together recently. Moana last appeared in a post to Maria's Instagram in November, while Moana last posted Maria in September. Though the couple often appeared publicly together, they rarely made comments about their relationship. Back in June, Maria heaped praise on the 'love of her life' on The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show podcast. 'It is amazing, and challenging, and growing me in ways that I've never experienced,' she said. 'In the past I thought if I wanted a career, to be that person I thought I needed to be, I needed to sacrifice everything else. But here I am with real love in my life. With someone I love very much.' Robert Pattinson revealed that a scene with Zendaya left him going 'crazy for three days.' The Harry Potter star, 38, spoke about his and Zendaya's, 28, upcoming romance comedy-drama, titled The Drama, and how one particular scene had him rattled. 'We had a scene together that was driving me crazy,' the actor who was seen shooting with the Euphoria star in November told French publication Premiere. The father-of-one explained that he was 'desperately looking for its meaning, writing pages and pages of textual analysis.' However, when he reached out to the Dune actress and shared his thoughts, she put his mind at ease and helped him understand that the lines were meant to be taken at face value. 'I ended up calling Zendaya the night before shooting the scene. I shared my doubts with her, I spoke for two hours, and after a while, very calmly, she made me understand that the line just said what it meant to say, that there was no hidden meaning.' Robert Pattinson, 38, revealed that a scene with Zendaya, 28, in their upcoming film, The Drama, left him going 'crazy for three days'; (L) Pattinson seen on Tuesday in New Orleans; (R) Zendaya seen in 2024 'And there I was going crazy for three days,' he lightheartedly added. Though specifics are still unknown, it's reported that Pattinson and Zendaya who is engaged to Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, 28 play a couple whose romance takes an 'unexpected turn' before their 'big day.' The Drama is directed by Kristoffer Borgli. The two were seen exchanging a laugh while on set of their upcoming A24 movie in Andover, Massachusetts in November. The pair looked happy as they strolled down the steps of the Addison Gallery of American Art, which had been transformed into the fictional Cambridge Art Museum. Elsewhere this week, Pattinson was spotted on the set of his other project, a movie tentatively called Primetime. The British actor who hopes to reprise his role as Batman got to work in New Orleans, looking nearly unrecognizable with blonde hair. Pattinson was clad in subtly striped dark trousers, a light blue patterned dress shirt, and a rouge-toned tie. He layered a textured black jacket over his shirt, and carried a black backpack over one shoulder while slipping into character. 'We had a scene together that was driving me crazy,' the actor told French publication Premiere, explaining that he was 'desperately looking for its meaning' After he called the actress the night before shooting the scene, she helped him understand that 'there was no hidden meaning'; Zendaya seen in 2024 Though specifics are still unknown, it's reported that Pattinson and Zendaya play a couple whose romance takes an 'unexpected turn' before their 'big day'; the two seen on set in November Per an account from Axios, production on the movie began last month and is expected to conclude on March 28. The plot centers around a 'journalist who takes on an underworld of crime and ends up changing television forever,' according to a description from Caballero Casting. In October Variety reported that the feature film is inspired by the NBC series To Catch A Predator, which follows undercover crime teams who catch sexual predators. The screenplay was written by Ajon Singh, and Lance Oppenheim is directing the A24 movie. Pattinson will serve as a producer under his production company Icki Eneo Arlo. Phoebe Bridgers and Merritt Wever were also spotted on the set in a Nola parking lot. As recently as last week Caballero was searching for men and women to play 'upscale hotel guests' in the production. A post shared on Instagram alerted the public, 'Last chance to be booked on this one!' as it advertised an overnight shoot to take place at a hotel in Harvey, Louisiana. Around the city, production signs are calling the movie Bluefin Tuna. Pattinson is currently working on another project called Primetime; pictured on February 15, 2025 in Berlin The actor welcomed his first child, a daughter, with fiancee Suki Waterhouse, 33, in March 2024 It comes after Pattinson opened up to Hero Magazine about playing the role of Batman as he ages. Questioned about whether he will reprise the superhero role, Pattinson, answered, 'I f***ing hope so. I started out as young Batman and Im going to be f***ing old Batman by the sequel.' 'Im 38, Im old,' he added lightheartedly, noting, 'Im old, but Im healthier. I think Ive actually brought my biological age down a bit.' Robert initially played the role in 2022's The Batman, in which he starred opposite Zoe Kravitz's Catwoman. The actor welcomed his first child a daughter with fiancee Suki Waterhouse, 33, in March 2024. The couple have been dating since 2018 and got engaged December 2023 with a source telling People at the time, 'They are engaged. They both want to be married. Its important for them.' Ellie Gonsalves left little to the imagination as she attended Glamour on the Grid in Melbourne on Wednesday night. The Australian model and influencer, who went viral for posting 118 reasons not to have kids, arrived to the star-studded event in a bizarre G-string frock. Ellie donned a semi-sheer glittering green corset and matching skirt that left her hips exposed. The revealing ensemble featured a beaded bustline and detailing around the hips. Ellie styled her hair in vintage waves and let her beauty shine with a neutral makeup palette consisting of blush and a nude lip. She held a metallic silver clutch and skipped the accessories but for a bracelet to let her bold look do all the talking. Ellie Gonsalves (pictured) left little to the imagination as she stepped out at Glamour on the Grid in Melbourne on Wednesday night Ellie donned a semi-sheer glittering green corset and matching skirt that left her hips exposed Ellie went viral in 2023 after sharing her list of 118 reasons she does not want children on social media. She has since doubled down on her position, telling Stellar Magazine last year that she also made a decision never to celebrate Mother's Day due to her fractured relationship with her own mother. 'Mother's Day is not something I celebrate. It's just a really unhelpful reminder of what I don't have with my own mother, she said. 'But when I made that decision, I knew it was going to be uncomfortable at times.' Ellie, who is married to film producer Ross Scutts, said she was inspired to start her own list of reasons to be child-free after seeing TikTok user Girl With The List go viral on the video platform with her own collection of reasons. Among her reasons listed were post partum hair loss, the baby may poo inside you, your vagina will be different, your house will never be tidy, childbirth can cause rectal prolapse and you miss out on things you love doing. 'While some of those things on my list are satirical, many are serious and factual. Societal pressure when it comes to this topic are truly questionable and I believe unfair towards those with differing opinions,' she said of the list. 'Very rarely do we see a voice in support of this, because let's face it, the public backlash can be too much,' the influencer added. She held a metallic silver clutch and skipped the accessories but for a bracelet to let her bold look do all the talking Ellie married her long-term partner, entrepreneur Ross, in two luxury ceremonies back in March 2024. The official nuptials took place at the floating beach club La Luna on the Gold Coast, Queensland, in an intimate toi et moi wedding. They followed it up with a second luxury gathering where they invited their bridal party and other guests. The couple, who have been together for 15 years, have been vocal about not wanting to have children. Amie Rohan has shared a heartbreaking tribute to her baby daughter Willow, who died in 2018. The former AFL WAG, 31, posted a photo looking out the window of an airplane and captioned it with some heartfelt words. 'Willow, there's something about returning to Sydney that makes me feel closer to you. It's your home. It's all you ever knew, the only place you ever were,' Amie began. 'I know I travelled around while I was pregnant with you but Sydney was your constant, our constant. It was home, the only home you ever knew. The only one you got to experience.' Amie added she became emotional every time she visited the birth place of her late daughter. 'I know your spirit will never leave my side, your urn is in our home - you will forever be with us,' she wrote. Amie Rohan has shared a heartbreaking tribute to her baby daughter Willow, who died in 2018. (Pictured: Amie with her ex Gary and Willow's twin sister Bella) The former AFL WAG, 31, posted a photo looking out the window of an airplane and captioned it with some heartfelt words 'There's just something about Sydney that holds so many precious memories of you and will always have a special place in my heart.' Amie was married to Geelong Cats forward Gary Rohan for four years, and had three children with him: Twins Bella and Willow in 2018 and Sadie in 2020. Unfortunately, Willow died just five hours after she was born. Willow had suffered a fatal neural tube defect and couldn't be saved, while her sister Bella survived after spending three weeks in intensive care. In April, Amie welcomed a baby boy named Archibald Alexander Todd with her new partner Jaison Todd. 'A very healthy (& big) bubba boy, born naturally weighing 9lbs and 52cm long, our hearts are bursting at the seams,' she wrote on social media at the time. 'The most incredible birthing experience I never thought I'd be able to have. I couldnt have done it without you @jaison_todd.' The post was accompanied by a series of gorgeous black and white images of the proud and their new addition. The former AFL WAG shared a post to social media paying tribute to her late daughter In April, Amie welcomed a baby boy named Archibald Alexander Todd with her new partner Jaison Todd In February last year, Amie told the Herald Sun she was thrilled to be expecting a new baby with Jaison. 'I love being pregnant. I feel my most womanly and most wholesome when I'm pregnant' she said. 'I'm feeling so much elation this entire pregnancy. 'There's so many big life changes for us.' Amie said she and Jaison were considering marriage and already living together. 'With everything I've been through we're taking each day as it come. I said I'd never get married again but who knows, I'm not closed off to the thought of it.' Popular pasta maker Danny Freeman has tried his hand at another royal kitchen creation after tackling Meghan Markle's controversial one-pot spaghetti recipe. Danny, who goes by the Instagram name 'Danny Loves Pasta', is popular on social media thanks to his creative takes on Italian cooking and pasta making, including ravioli in the shape of Taylor Swift and cartoon characters like Bluey. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Danny shared a clip that showed him tackling Kate Middleton's recipe for macaroni and cheese. Before he started making the dish he was adamant he didn't want to pit the two women against each other. 'I really don't want this turning into a post comparing Meghan to Princess Kate, but after my video about trying out Meghan Markle's pasta made international news, I learned that Kate Middleton is also a fan of pasta,' Danny began the clip. 'Maybe this could bring them together. I don't know.' While Danny did not have Kate's exact recipe, he used an interview the Princess Of Wales gave to People Magazine back in 2019 about the foods her children George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, love to eat at home. Popular pasta maker Danny Freeman has tried his hand at another royal kitchen creation after tackling Meghan Markle 's controversial one-pot spaghetti recipe 'Now, we don't have much to go on. According to People Magazine, she said one kid puts in the flour, one adds the milk and butter, so I'm thinking some form of a stove- top mac 'n' cheese,' Danny said as he began preparing the dish. 'This is my recipe but I always start with butter and flour, then I use evaporated milk. It just gives a better, creamier texture. 'Then salt, pepper, garlic powder and Dijon. For this I use an English cheddar and a Dutch gouda, just add a little bit at a time - you want it to really melt into a nice smooth sauce.' While Danny stopped short of directly comparing the two royal pasta creations he gave Kate's dish a tick of approval. 'I don't know I could see a royal child eating this - it's good,' he said. 'My daughter thinks she's a princess and she loves a cheesy sauce. 'I feel like if you are a princess with chefs working for you but you want to try your hand at a family dinner, this is going to be a quick and easy one to do.' Danny's latest creation comes after he took on Meghan's one-pot spaghetti recipe earlier this week. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Danny shared a clip that showed him tackling Kate Middleton's recipe for macaroni and cheese 'I really don't want this turning into a post comparing Princess Meghan to Princess Kate, but after my video about trying out Meghan Markle's pasta made international news, I learned that Kate Middleton is also a fan of pasta,' Danny began the clip The Duchess of Sussex divided fans with her controversial recipe for one-pot spaghetti which features in episode one of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan. The episode sees the Duchess of Sussex tackling a dish called 'skillet spaghetti', which she tells viewers she regularly cooks for Prince Harry and their children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three. On Monday, the social media star shared a clip showing him testing Meghan's one-pot meal. 'This is the most controversial pasta in the world right now. I made Meghan Markle's single skillet spaghetti and as a pasta expert, let me tell you my true feelings,' Danny says in the video. 'This is from her new show With Love, Meghan. She says she makes this for her kids. She puts the leftovers in their lunchboxes. She didn't really give a precise recipe, but I wrote one up based on what she was doing and I put it in the caption.' Danny starts the recipe by cutting cherry tomatoes and adding them to a skillet with olive oil, salt and garlic. He says he would add an extra step in the method to help bring out the flavours of the dish. 'Now personally, I would saute the (garlic) first to get a little bit more flavour, but she has the dry spaghetti right on top and a bunch of lemon zest and then the stems of some Swiss chard,' Danny adds. While Danny stopped short of directly comparing the two royal pasta creations, he gave Kate's dish a tick of approval. 'I don't know I could see a Royal child eating this - it's good,' he said He then reaches the controversial part of the recipe, however Danny hints that Meghan may have been on to something with her unique method. 'Now this is where it gets controversial,' Danny says. 'She boils water in a tea kettle, adds that to the skillet, cooks the spaghetti for a few minutes, adds kale and Swiss chard and cooks it some more and she is right. 'When you cook pasta in just a little bit of water, you get really starchy water that can make your sauce creamy without cream.' Continuing his assessment, Danny reveals that his children would not be as appreciative of the ingredients as Archie and Lilibet. 'When the pasta's done she adds red pepper flakes, parmesan and arugula. My kids are not as healthy as hers, apparently, because they would definitely pick around all these greens. But I really like how this turned out,' he says. Rounding out his post, Danny gives Meghan's controversial dish his tick of approval. 'It is fast and the texture of the sauce is really nice. You can also try this with broth instead of water that will add a little bit more flavour because this sauce was just a little bit bland,' he says. On Monday, the social media star, who goes by the Instagram name 'Danny Loves Pasta', shared a clip showing him testing Meghan's controversial one-pot meal that featured in her Netflix series With Love, Meghan 'It is fast and the texture of the sauce is really nice. You can also try this with broth instead of water that will add a little bit more flavour because this sauce was just a little bit bland,' Danny said. 'But I love this method, I love a one-pot meal, so Meghan, I think this recipe is a keeper.' Danny's video came after fans expressed their horror over the dish Meghan whipped up with her close friend, make-up artist Daniel Martin. 'Netflix paid a lot of money just to let us know Meghan Markle doesn't know how to cook pasta,' one person wrote on X. 'Next she'll show us how to make frozen pizza!' another joked. Another lamented: 'She overcooked the noodles. Slimy looking.' 'Wtf is that? It looks like she made some sort of soup, cooked the vegetables to hell, tossed in some spaghetti and called it a day,' a user commented. 'The pasta looks fine in the end, but I think Italians screamed at their TVs when she poured water into the sauce,' someone else observed. Others, however, came to the Duchess' defence. 'It looked delicious to me,' one person wrote. In another moment that might annoy an entire European nation, the Duchess calls the popular Italian pasta 'noodles' more than once while prepping the meal. And when Parmesan cheese is grated to finish the dish, Meghan pronounces it 'Parmigian', a slightly tweaked version of the Italian word, Parmigiana. Wendy Williams is receiving surprise support from former Hollywood child star Brock Pierce as her conservatorship battle heats up. The talk-show host, 60, has been fighting for her freedom while being 'imprisoned' at a New York-based assisted living facility a claim her legal guardian denies after being diagnosed with progressive aphasia and dementia in 2023. Things took a troubling turn this week when Williams was rushed to hospital on Monday for a psychiatric evaluation after she was seen begging fans for help. Williams said she passed her evaluation with 'flying colors' further putting the validity of her conservatorship into question. And on Wednesday, Pierce known for his roles in The Mighty Ducks (1992) and First Kid (1996) spoke out in support of Williams and publicly offered to help her 'begin her journey to healing.' Specifically, the actor-turned-Bitcoin billionaire, 44, offered to put Williams up in one of his mansions with 'around-the-clock hospital care,' as reported by Page Six. Wendy Williams is receiving surprise support from a former Hollywood child star as her conservatorship battle heats up; Williams seen in 2018 'I've always admired Wendy's strength, and when I saw her ask for help, it was impossible to ignore,' he told the outlet in a statement. 'My offer is simple: a place where she can find peace, receive the care she deserves, and begin her journey to healing.' 'Wendy is a national treasure, and it's time we show her the kindness and support she has always given to so many.' A source close to Pierce a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump elaborated on the star's 'open invitation' to Williams and how 'moved' he was by her 'plea for assistance.' 'Having appeared on Wendy's radio show in the past, Brock is deeply moved by Wendy's plea for assistance,' the insider began. 'Understanding the challenges she faces, Brock is offering Wendy a safe space in his private mansion, with around-the-clock hospital care and professional medical attention tailored to her needs.' The source claimed Pierce's 'goal is to help Wendy regain her freedom and health' and that putting her up in one of his mansions would 'provide Wendy with a secure environment where she can focus on recovery without the pressures of the public eye.' They continued: 'This offer is an open invitation to Wendy to take the time she needs to heal and find peace in an environment free from the pressures that have burdened her.' While Pierce did not specify which mansion would be available to Williams, Page Six uncovered that he owns properties across the United States including in New York City. Pierce's help offer came just hours before TMZ reported that the assisted living facility, Coterie, where Williams has been staying for the last eight months, filed a police report for kidnapping. The Mighty Ducks star Brock Pierce spoke out in support of Williams and publicly offered to help her 'begin her journey to healing' Specifically, the actor-turned-Bitcoin billionaire offered to put Williams up in one of his private mansions with 'around-the-clock hospital care,' as reported by Page Six; Williams seen in 2020 Sources close to Williams told the outlet that the facility claimed her niece, Alex Finnie, broke the law by taking the TV star to dinner on Wednesday night. Finnie reportedly accompanied Williams as she made her way back Coterie from Lenox Hill hospital, where she received her psyche evaluation earlier this week, on Wednesday. Finnie is said to have spent time with Williams at Coterie before taking her aunt out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in New York City that evening. This prompted Coterie to contact the NYPD and file a police report as they claimed 'Alex evaded staff by taking Wendy out of the building,' according to insiders. However, the outlet explained that Williams wouldn't have been allowed to leave her memory unit which is located on the facility's fifth floor without an attendant giving her elevator access. They also claimed that Williams and her niece were escorted to the lobby by an attendant and that the attendant even 'opened the door of their Uber,' which took them to the restaurant. This seemingly contradicts a recent claim made by Williams' guardian Sabrina Morrisey's attorney, who said in a letter to TMZ that Williams could 'come and go' from the facility and that there were no restrictions placed on family visits. According to the outlet, Williams and her niece are still at dinner and have yet to return to Coterie. Earlier Wednesday, Williams got emotional while speaking on TMZ Live hours after Morrissey wanted to set the record straight about her claims she 'imprisoned' her at the assisted living facility. Williams told that outlet it was a 'lie' that she was 'allowed' to leave the Coterie and go shopping, adding that her family has to be 'allowed' by Sabrina to see her. The source claimed Pierce's 'goal is to help Wendy regain her freedom and health' and that putting her up in one of his mansions would 'provide Wendy with a secure environment where she can focus on recovery without the pressures of the public eye'; Pierce seen in 2022 'It is a lie. They are lying people. I'm sorry but I've had it up to here. Thank goodness I can speak.' 'What's more restrictive than the Coterie? The memory unit on the fifth floor. And what is doing on with the Judge [Lisa Sokoloff] speaking to me in such a way,' Wendy said. When asked if she is concerned they were going to move her to a more restrictive unit, she said: 'Yes I am, and don't make me start crying. Because I can laugh and cry at the drop of a dime,' she added. 'It makes me very nervous. Let me be honest with you. I'm scared of that mess. I am. I don't know what could be tighter than where I am but I have to get out of guardian and I have to do it immediately,' Wendy said. When asked why the judge and the guardian want to keep her in the facility, Wendy told Harvey that she would tell him 'behind the scenes,' but Ginalisa Monterroso, who was also on the phone with Wendy - a caretaker who is independent of Williams' guardianship - said she thinks it was because of the Lifetime lawsuit. It's unclear if Monterroso is an employee of the assisted-living facility or what her immediate connection to Williams is. Hours earlier, an attorney for her temporary financial guardian Sabrina wanted to set the record straight about the talk show host's claims she was being 'imprisoned' at Coterie. Sabrina was originally appointed by a judge in 2022 after Wendy's ex-manager Bernie Young reportedly raised concern that she was of 'unsound mind' - which also led to Wells Fargo to temporarily freeze her accounts. Sabrina had told TMZ that Wendy was receiving 'excellent medical care' at the facility, which features a 'spa, a workout room, excellent food, a dining room, and outside terraces' - despite the fact the talk show host had said she can only leave the memory unit with permission. Pierce's help offer came just hours before TMZ reported that the assisted living facility, Coterie, where Williams has been staying for the last eight months, filed a police report for kidnapping; Williams seen in 2019 Sources close to Williams told the outlet that the facility claimed her niece, Alex Finnie (pictured with Wendy), broke the law by taking the TV star to dinner on Wednesday night Last month in February, the star revealed that she has stepped outside only twice in the span of a month as she got candid about her isolating conservatorship. Wendy also claimed she is not 'cognitively impaired' and her family broke their silence in January as they they search for an attorney to help her 'regain control of her life.' Wendy broke her silence on Tuesday in an interview on Good Day New York York with host Rosanna Scotto. Williams had called Scotto from the hospital and explained that she passed her evaluation with 'flying colors.' Rosanna shifted the conversation and said, 'You know what I don't understand Wendy is that they're locking you up like you committed a crime.' Williams replied, 'Yes! I have to tell you something. And you know, I'm on the fifth floor. It's called the memory unit. This is a floor, you know, you don't remember anything. Like really? 'And as far as me being able to go outside, I'm not allowed. You know, I have to stay in this building,' she continued, and added she needs to be 'permitted' in order to go to the gym that is located on the third floor. Wendy then emotionally stated that her money is 'up in the air' before saying, 'This is my life.' This prompted Coterie to contact the NYPD and file a police report as they claimed 'Alex evaded staff by taking Wendy out of the building,' according to insiders; Finnie pictured Towards the end of the interview, she shared that leaving her guardianship is 'the number one most important thing. During her trip to New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital on Monday from the assisted-living facility where she has been forced to live, the former talk show host was evaluated by a psychiatrist. And on Monday, sources told TMZ that Williams received a perfect score on a 'capacity test' administered by the psychiatrist. DailyMail.com has reached out to a representative for Williams for comment. According to the sources, Wendy was administered a 10-item questionnaire that was designed to determine her awareness and decision-making abilities, and she scored 10 out of 10 on the test. Although one test alone doesn't give a full picture of her mental capacity, the fact that she passed the test with flying colors may indicate that she is far more aware than her guardian has indicated. Williams had previously been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. However, sources clarified that the exam Williams underwent was not to dispute her dementia diagnosis. The results of the test will reportedly be shared with the judge who has been overseeing her guardianship. In recent weeks, Wendy has been making an effort to speak to the press to make her case that she has improved and should be able to manage her care - and money - on her own. Williams PR push is set to expand later this week when she is scheduled to make her first national television appearance since her dementia diagnosis. It was previously reported that Williams' visit to the hospital was preceded by NYPD officers visiting her at her assisted-living facility to perform a wellness check. Sources told TMZ on Monday that Gina had allegedly ordered her trip to the hospital and the cognitive test. According to TMZ, New York's Adult Protective Services agency is now conducting an investigation into her guardianship and her stay at the facility, where she is confined to a restrictive memory unit, where she appears to have fewer privileges than patients on other floors. Earlier Wednesday, Williams got emotional while speaking on TMZ Live hours after Morrissey wanted to set the record straight about her claims she 'imprisoned' her at the assisted living facility Back in 2022, Williams was placed under a court-appointed guardianship after Wells Fargo reported several large withdrawals from her bank account that it deemed suspicious; Sabrina Morrissey seen above Williams has denied that she has memory issues, and therefore she doesn't think she should be deprived of her privileges. She also reportedly doesn't have freedom of movement on that floor. According to the publication, APS has been interviewing people close to the gossip monger, including her niece, Alex Finnie, whom employees reportedly interviewed on Monday. Wendy reportedly spoken with the organization recently. The NYPD is also reportedly continuing to investigate the circumstances of her stay in the facility. Williams will be making her first national television appearance since her shocking dementia diagnosis, ABC revealed on Sunday. She will be joining the ladies of The View on Friday, March 14 - even as she wages a legal battle to end her guardianship. Wendy has lately made attempts to speak out via phone from her assisted-living facility, where she has been kept on a restrictive memory unit that gives her few privileges and little right of movement. Although Williams will be back on TV, it's unclear if viewers will get to see her live, as ABC's announcement indicates that she will be doing a phone interview with the View hosts, who include Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin. However, she got a rare breath of fresh air last month when her guardianship and the facility allowed her to fly to Miami to celebrate her father's 94th birthday for a few days. Back in 2022, Williams was placed under a court-appointed guardianship after Wells Fargo reported several large withdrawals from her bank account that it deemed suspicious. After Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia in February 2024, Morrissey later said the gossip monger was 'cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.' But in recent months, a seemingly lucid Wendy has been disputing that she's impaired and begging to regain her freedom. Angelina Jolie's brother James Haven is in the midst of a marriage breakdown, as his wife Romi Imbelli revealed she has filed for an annulment. James, 51 - who infamously kissed Angelina on the lips at the 2000 Oscars - secretly exchanged vows with Romi this past August in Laguna Beach, California after knowing her for 23 years. News of the marriage broke New Year's Day, as Romi shared an Instagram post hinting at troubles in the relationship that she and James were trying to overcome. In that Instagram caption, she explained that she had decided to 'return to my husband' and 'work through our issues' after 'much crying, healing and reflection' during the preceding five months. This week, legal documents revealed that Romi filed for an annulment on August 27, 2024, just 15 days after the wedding took place. The couple were evidently unable to iron out their differences, as Romi issued a statement this Wednesday saying: 'After careful consideration, I have decided to move forward with the annulment of my marriage to James Haven,' via People. Angelina Jolie's brother James Haven is in the midst of a marriage breakdown, as his wife Romi Imbelli has filed for an annulment; James and Romi pictured at their wedding with thier brother 'As reflected in public record, the reason cited remains fraud,' she said, referring to the fact 'fraud' was the box checked in her court documents. 'This has been a deeply personal and difficult decision, but one that I feel is necessary for my own well-being. I appreciate the support of those who have stood by me, and at this time, I am focused on moving forward with clarity and peace.' She added: 'Im finding healing through this process by putting my truth into words in my upcoming memoir, where I will share more about this chapter of my life and the journey that led me here.' Although she and James tied the knot in August, news of their nuptials only went viral over New Year's, via a report in JustJared. James' father Jon Voight was said to be in attendance at his wedding to Romi, but Angelina - in the midst of her own messy divorce from Brad Pitt - was allegedly not. Romi shared loved-up snaps of the big day to Instagram on New Year's Day, writing: 'In 2024, I married my best friend of 23 years. 'The details of our story are too personal and complicated to share now, but I am writing it all in my book. Our wedding day was intimate, just us and our parents while exchanging vows, with plans to have a larger celebration later 'After 5 months of much crying, healing, and reflection, we decided to work through our issues and are now planning a special day with my daughter. Haven is pictured with Angelina in 2000 James is seen sharing a controversial kiss with his sister in 2000 Jolie settled her divorce from Brad Pitt in December - pictured Jolie and Pitt in 2009 'I feel liberated and ready to return to my husband and our home in LA. Everything that has happened in the last few months was all part of a greater plan, and I trust in Gods timing. I will always hold 2024 deeply in my heart. Life is too short. Go out and live it. 'Tomorrow is the day my dad was born. He met Jamie 23 years ago. I believe he is watching over us from heaven and smiling down on us. Jamie proposed to me at my dads grave. There is no guarantee of tomorrow, so give your all today.' Romi also paid tribute to James and Angelina's late mother Marcheline Bertrand, writing: 'Today, Jamies mom is singing for us as they celebrate in heaven together. We are both learning to accept love from someone, this was a special and private day in these pics. I look forward to celebrating with loved ones in the coming year. Happy New Year. Romi starred on the reality show - which followed a group of lesbian friends in Los Angeles - from 2010-2012. She is credited as Romi Klinger. In January 2024, Haven made extremely rare remarks about his relationship with the Oscar-winning actress. He appeared on an episode of the 90who10 podcast in which he delved into how he had focused on caring for Angelina's children in the wake of her split and years-long divorce from Pitt. James who was most recently pictured in public with his father Jon Voight in October 2022 admitted that he saw it as his duty to 'protect' his sister's six children amid the tumultuous divorce and the resulting negative publicity for the sparring exes. The newlyweds wore matching white ensembles for their beach wedding The conversation turned to James' connection to Angelina in recent years and questions about how he had responded to the very public split. 'That's where it all started, it started with the protection of her and then of her children, my nieces and nephews,' James said via Too Fab, indicating that he and his sister began a new phase of their relationship after her split. 'There are those are massively formative years, they're becoming young adults in their early 20s,' he continued, referencing her children. 'That's so crazy thinking that, but yeah, I think it's just very natural [to feel protective] and I just want to be there,' James continued. 'Very much like my mom. Anytime I'm blessed to be in their presence, I want to be in their presence.' He attributed that feeling to a lesson he learned from his late mother Marcheline Bertrand. '[It's] a quality I got from my mom, even though cell phones were not as prevalent as they are now, but back to that idea of her always being like, "You are the focus,"' he shared. 'I set my life up so I can be present with whatever the situation. The formative years, the young adults they're going to become, I want to be there for them or for her whatever she's going through.' Although James has had small parts on film and television throughout the years, it was his connecting to his younger sister that first increased his public profile. He often accompanied her on the awards season trail leading up to her Oscar win for Beset Supporting Actress for 1999's Girl, Interrupted. But the two were beset by rumors inspired by their overly close bond and their public affections, including their habit of kissing on the mouth on the red carpet. Angelina and James stirred up controversy back in 2000, when they shared a kiss on the lips just after she won her Oscar. While accepting her award, Jolie confessed, 'I'm in shock, and I'm so in love with my brother right now. 'He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he's so happy for me. And, um, thank you for that.' James later said the event was 'misconstrued' amid the breathless coverage of it. Angelina also tried to brush off criticism of their public displays, calling the kisses just an example of 'brotherly love.' They two later attributed the stress of having their mother in the hospital around the time of the awards season campaign on the provocative displays. Bertrand had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1999, and despite her initial hospitalization, she live several more years with the disease. The actress died in 2007 at the age of 56. James seemed happy to speak about his connection to his sister, although he mostly spoke in vague terms. However, he indicated that they two hoped to collaborate on some kind of projects in the future, though it wasn't clear if they were film projects or something else. 'We have very mutual interests, especially if it's focuses on how to help kids or stuff like that,' James explained. 'And I know there's going to be many things in the future that we'll probably be working on, which we've never done publicly, like together, but I think there's many things in the future that I think we'll do together.' James had a steady string of small film and television roles beginning in the late 1990s, though many of them were in films starring his sister or second husband Billy Bob Thornton, whom she was married to from 2000 to 2003. He has mostly stayed out of the public eye in recent years, and his last on-screen role was in Easy Silence, a short film from 2013. His sister Angelina has continued to have a varied career as an actor and occasional director, while also working as a human rights activist and a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On Monday, Pitt and Jolie officially settled their divorce, bringing an end to a contentious legal fight that lasted over eight years. However, one major sticking point remains unresolvedtheir $62 million dispute over the French chateau and vineyard they once co-owned. The former couple, famously known as 'Brangelina,' signed off on their divorce paperwork this week. Jolies attorney, James Simon, told DailyMail.com that the actress is relieved to have closed this chapter. Now that his divorce from Jolie is finally behind him ,Pitt is happier than ever with girlfriend Ines de Ramonbut wedding bells arent in their immediate future; (Ines and Brad in September) 'Frankly, Angelina is exhausted,' Simon said. However, she recently expressed dissatisfaction with the film industry and shared her desire to move away from Los Angeles in an interview with WSJ. Magazine. 'Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place,' she said at the time. Both James and Angelina have had a tempestuous relationship with their father, Jon including several years in which they were estranged from him - but his close appearance at the wedding shows they have mended their relationship. Mark Wright's mother Carol has shared a heartfelt tribute to her new granddaughter Palma after her son's wife gave birth to her first child. Michelle and Mark, both 37, announced the news they had welcomed a baby daughter with an Instagram post on Wednesday as she shared a first look at her newborn and her unusual name. The new mum captioned the post: 'Together we have a new love to share Our little girl. Palma Elizabeth Wright 06.03.25'. Mark's mother Carol was among those who sent well wishes. Resharing a photo of the tot, she wrote: 'We are in love with you beautiful baby girl thank you Michelle and Mark for this wonder gift. X.' After announcing their baby news on Instagram, Mark and Michelle received hundreds of congratulatory messages from friends and family including from Rochelle Humes, Kelly Brook, Vicky Pattison, and best pal James 'Arg' Argent. Arg wrote: 'I love you and I'm so happy for you both, you're going to be amazing parents. I can't wait to be an uncle.' Mark Wright's mother Carol has shared a heartfelt tribute to her new granddaughter Palma after her son's wife gave birth to her first child Michelle and Mark announced the news they had welcomed a baby daughter with an Instagram post on Wednesday as she shared a first look at her newborn and her unusual name Carol was among those who sent well wishes. Resharing a photo of the tot, she wrote: 'We are in love with you beautiful baby girl thank you Michelle and Mark for this wonder gift. X' Mark's sister-in-law Hollie commented: 'Josh and Dusty can not wait to meet their new cousin .' While Mark's sister Natalya said: 'So so happy for you both. The best news ever .' Rochelle and Marvin added: 'Over the moon for you both ', 'Amazing news guys..so happy for you both .' Mark's brother Josh posted: 'Over the moon for you both and cant wait for our boys to meet your little one .' Sam Faiers, who previously dated Mark, wrote: ' huge congratulations x.' it's believed the couple chose the name Palma because of their strong links to Majorca, their go-to holiday destination, 'favourite place' and the setting for their pregnancy reveal photoshoot. Speaking of the reveal snaps, a friend of the couple told The Sun: 'Michelle and Mark went on a winter sun break in early November and chose to take the photograph there. 'It was taken on an empty beach by a friend when they knew no one would spot them. The heartwarming meaning behind Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright's baby name has reportedly been revealed It's believed the couple chose the name Palma because of their strong links to Majorca, their go-to holiday destination and the setting for their pregnancy reveal photoshoot Former Coronation Street star Michelle married Mark in May 2015 and the couple live together in an Essex mansion they built from scratch 'Majorca is like a second home to them so it felt special for them to take that photograph there.' Meanwhile, the middle name Elizabeth is thought to be a sweet nod to Michelle's great-great grandmother. According to The Sun, Michelle gave birth to Palma at Portland Hospital in London, where Prince William and Kate welcomed children George, Charlotte and Louis. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Mark and Michelle for comment. Former Coronation Street star Michelle, 37, married Mark, 37, in May 2015 and the couple live together in an Essex mansion they built from scratch. Kym Marsh cut a stylish figure in an all-black look as she attended a Channel 5 event on Thursday. It comes just a few weeks after the former Coronation Street star, 48, reportedly split from her boyfriend Samuel Thomas, 29, after a whirlwind six month romance. Despite this, the actress was glowing as she attended the London event in a black turtleneck teamed with bootcut black jeans and a chic leather jacket. She wore her brunette locks in a sleek straight style and opted for a glamorous palette of makeup for the outing to elevate her natural beauty. The event Kym attended was the launch event for 5, uniting Channel 5 and streaming service My5 under one brand. Kym was joined at the event by GMB's Richard Arnold as the pair are teaming up for Channel 5's The Weekend Travel Show. Kym Marsh cut a stylish figure in an all-black look as she graced the red carpet at a Channel 5 event on Thursday The actress was glowing as she attended the London event in a black turtleneck teamed with bootcut black jeans and a chic leather jacket Sources told The Sun that once their tour finished, Kym, who is 19 years older than Samuel, found it more difficult to spent time with him. A source said: 'Kym and Sam fell head over heels when they first met and couldn't wait to tell the world. 'But once Kym's role in 101 Dalmatians ended it became harder to spend time together and some of the magic they had at the beginning just disappeared. 'It's such a shame, especially before Christmas but Kym surrounded herself with family.' Kym was forced to defend herself for revealing she is dating Samuel, who is the same age as her son, having gushed on social media that he is her 'soulmate.' At 29, Samuel - who she refers to as 'the most amazing man ever' - is the same age as her eldest child, David Cunliffe. Kym's friends were reportedly worried that her new romance with a younger man could all end in heartache if it 'fizzled out'. MailOnline has contacted a representative for Kym Marsh for comment. Also in attendance at Wednesday's Channel 5 event was JLS star JB Gill, who looked dapper in a green polo shirt layered with a zip-up jacket and baggy trousers. It comes just a few weeks after the former Coronation Street star, 48, reportedly split from her boyfriend Samuel Thomas, 29, after a whirlwind six month romance She wore her brunette locks in a sleek straight style and opted for a glamorous palette of makeup for the outing to elevate her natural beauty Kym was joined at the event by GMB's Richard Arnold as the pair are teaming up for Channel 5's The Weekend Travel Show Also in attendance at Wednesday's Channel 5 event was JLS star JB Gill, who looked dapper in a green polo shirt layered with a zip-up jacket and baggy trousers Elsewhere, Vanessa Feltz commanded attention in a neon pink midi dress, which she paired with sparkling black boots And Dancing On Ice star Michaela Strachan stuck with the pink theme in a fuschia knitted long-sleeved top and purple low-waisted jeans TV presenter Gaby Roslin also went for an eye-catching look as she stepped out in a bright neon suit Countryfile star Julia Bradbury wowed in a lacy black cami top, which she paired with a zip up satin red bomber jacket that featured an embroidered flower detail Meanwhile, Benidorm actress Julie Graham posed for a group shot with Liam McMahon and Claire Cooper Hollyoaks legend Claire looked glamorous as she put on a loved-up display with her fellow actor husband Emmett J. Scanlan Jeremy Vine showcased his usual quirky sense of style in a pink patterned shirt complete with a navy suit jacket and trousers Elsewhere, TV favourite Jill Halfpenny was glowing as she rocked a white shirt and black tie teamed with matching trousers and leopard-print ballet pumps Yorkshire Vet Julian Norton also graced the star-studded red carpet Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay looked incredible in a stylish all-black look Elsewhere, Vanessa Feltz commanded attention in a neon pink midi dress, which she paired with sparkling black boots. And Dancing On Ice star Michaela Strachan stuck with the pink theme in a fuschia knitted long-sleeved top and purple low-waisted jeans. TV presenter Gaby Roslin also went for an eye-catching look as she stepped out in a bright neon suit. Countryfile star Julia Bradbury wowed in a lacy black cami top, which she paired with a zip up satin red bomber jacket that featured an embroidered flower detail. Meanwhile, Benidorm actress Julie Graham posed for a group shot with Liam McMahon and Claire Cooper. Hollyoaks legend Claire looked glamorous as she put on a loved-up display with her fellow actor husband Emmett J. Scanlan. Jeremy Vine showcased his usual quirky sense of style in a pink patterned shirt complete with a navy suit jacket and trousers. Elsewhere, TV favourite Jill Halfpenny was glowing as she rocked a white shirt and black tie teamed with matching trousers and leopard-print ballet pumps. Ree Drummond, best known as The Pioneer Woman, delighted fans by sharing a peek into her daughter Paiges dreamy bridal shower. The 55-year-old Food Network star took to Instagram on Wednesday to showcase the elegant celebration ahead of Paiges upcoming wedding to fiance David Anderson. The heartwarming carousel featured snapshots of the lovebirds posing side by sidePaige radiating effortless charm in simple yet sophisticated white gowns, while David kept it casually polished in a suit jacket and jeans. 'A beautiful weekend celebrating Paige and David! Ree captioned the post. Wedding is two months away! I dont have a dress yet but Paige does!!! Aint love grand?' Ree and her husband Ladd Drummond also share daughter Alex, 27, and sons Bryce, 21, and Todd, 20along with their foster son Jamar, 21. The family, one of the top 100 landowners in the U.S., has an estimated net worth of around $200 million, with much of the wealth stemming from Ladd's cattle and horse operations. Ree Drummond, best known as the Pioneer Woman, delighted fans by sharing a peek into her daughter Paiges dreamy bridal shower The 55-year-old Food Network star took to Instagram on Wednesday to showcase the elegant celebration ahead of Paiges upcoming wedding to fiance David Anderson Ladd, who co-owns Drummond Land & Cattle Co., comes from a long line of ranchers dating back to the late 1800s when his ancestor Fred Drummond first began acquiring land in Oklahoma and Kansas. Beyond ranching, the Drummonds also have a lucrative arrangement with the U.S. government. Records obtained by DailyMail.com in 2017 revealed that since 2006, the Bureau of Land Management has paid Drummond Land & Cattle Co. nearly $24 million to provide land for wild horses and burros as part of federal conservation efforts. With a total landholding of 675 square miles, the Drummond estate covers more ground than half of Rhode Island and would rank as the seventh-largest U.S. city by area. Meanwhile, Paige gave fans another glimpse of her special day, sharing more breathtaking photos from the bridal shower on her own Instagram. She captioned the post, 'Another post because I was thrown the sweetest and most gorgeous bridal shower! Im so grateful for all of the strong and beautiful women who are in my life. I just love them all so much!! The bridal shower follows Rees recent revelation that she and Paige enjoyed a fun-filled outing to shop for the perfect wedding dress. Ree shared details of the outing in a Sunday blog post titled 'Ree and Paige Drummond Went Shopping For the Perfect Wedding Dress.' The heartwarming carousel featured snapshots of the lovebirds posing side by sidePaige radiating effortless charm in simple yet sophisticated white gowns, while David kept it casually polished in a suit jacket and jeans Ree and her husband Ladd Drummond also share daughter Alex, 27, and sons Bryce, 21, and Todd, 20along with their foster son Jamar, 21 'A beautiful weekend celebrating Paige and David! Ree captioned the post 'Wedding is two months away! I dont have a dress yet but Paige does!!! Aint love grand?' Ree shared that Paige did not want 'sparkles, sleeves, or applique' on her gown. Ree went on to say that during the day she got to know David's family a bit better. 'Paige had invited David's mom and sister, and we all had the best day together. It was a big of a crash course in getting to know one another since we'd only met a couple of times before, but it was such a fun, natural vibe...and Heather, David's mom, is hilarious and laughs at herself just like I do, so we were equally awkward all day!' The proud mom revealed she and David's mom had taken bets on how many dresses Paige would try on, but both ended up being wrong. One guessed it would be eight dresses, while another thought it would be twenty two, but Paige ended up trying on a total of forty dresses. 'Fortunately, she moved at lightning speed and only lingered on the ones she knew she loved. I have a feeling forty dresses isn't that unusual, but I would have been exhausted if I'd had to get zipped up that many times,' Ree wrote. The lifestyle guru added that her daughter ended up 'finding the dress of her dreams' but that she would wait to reveal the gown after the wedding in May. 'It was such a fun fashion show and I would love to dig into all the options and details and share what I learned,' she wrote. The bridal shower follows Rees recent revelation that she and Paige enjoyed a fun-filled outing to shop for the perfect wedding dress Ree previously shared she kept the engagement a secret 'for about six weeks' before David asked Paige to marry him She added, 'Maybe David's mom and I will take you all shopping with us as we shop for our mother-of-the-bride/groom dresses.' Ree previously shared she kept the engagement a secret 'for about six weeks' before David asked Paige to marry him. 'I am so relieved I can finally share this news because the stress was getting to me,' she shared in a post in August. At the time she also posted a number of photos from the proposal on her social media. 'Happiness is seeing your daughter happy! Congratulations, David and Paige! (This is gonna be fun!),' she wrote in the caption. Robert Irwin has shared an adorable video performing a dance routine with his three-year-old niece, Grace. The 21-year-old wildlife warrior spent the weekend in Byron Bay with his sister Bindi, after weathering ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred at Australia Zoo. In the footage shared to Instagram, Robert is all smiles as he directs Grace through the dance routine, while Bindi giggles behind the camera. 'Grace and I came up with a spooky Halloween dance. We are both aware that Halloween isnt for another 7 months,' he captioned the heartfelt clip. 'But Grace is in her Halloween era, and Im here for it,' 'Also why is spinach featured in this dance I hear you ask??' he added. 'Lets be honest Whats scarier than spinach?' Robert Irwin has shared an adorable video performing a dance routine with his three-year-old niece, Grace. Both pictured In the footage shared to Instagram, Robert is all smiles as he directs Grace through the dance routine, while Bindi giggled behind the camera 'That is so cute,' Bindi said through her laughter. Robert could not wipe the smile off his face as he cheekily hammed it up for the camera, and showed his growing niece the family showbusiness ropes. Many of Robert's celebrity family and friends quickly took to the comment section to gush over the incredible photo. 'The cutest!!' Bindi beamed. 'Nothing could ever make me dislike Robert,' one fan wrote, while model Christie Mcfit said he is the 'world's best uncle.' Bindi Irwin and her American wakeboarder husband Chandler Powell married on March 25, 2020 and welcomed their daughter Grace Warrior exactly one year later, on their first wedding anniversary. Robert and Bindi are the children of Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin, who died age 44 off the coast of Queensland on 4 September 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray while filming a nature documentary. Bindi was six years old when he tragically passed, while Robert was three months shy of his third birthday. In December, Robert shared an adorable pre-Christmas photoshoot of himself posing up with his niece in a 'Who wore it better?' moment In December, Robert shared an adorable pre-Christmas photoshoot of himself posing up with his niece in a 'Who wore it better?' moment. 'Definitely Grace,' the doting uncle captioned the pictures. The I'm A Celebrity! Get Me Outta Here! co-host and Bindi's daughter wore matching ensembles in the backyard shoot, with Grace, three, rocking Robert's denim jacket. The son of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin put on a dapper display as he stepped out at Melbourne Fashion Festival in March in his official runway debut. The wildlife warrior is already a successful conservationist, TV presenter, photographer, men's model, and red carpet host, as well as being the new face of Queensland tourism. But he better watch his back, because fans say Bindi and Chandler Powell's adorable tot looked every inch like her child star mother in the new photos. Blake Lively turned a fun family moment on the Another Simple Favor set into a playful parenting lesson, sharing a hilarious 'mom hack' while the film continues to spark controversy. The 37-year-old actress, who has stepped back into the limelight as her legal battle with Justin Baldoni unfolds, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a series of behind-the-scenes snapshots from the films production in Austin, Texas. One particularly amusing photo showed Lively rocking a black swimsuit with a matching cover-up while sporting an unexpected choice of footwearbrown paper bags. Her explanation? A clever parenting move. 'Your kid forgets their shoes, but you have yours on. So naturally, you give them yours. Then you mom hack' she captioned the snap, which appeared to show her holding hands with one of her children. 'Paper Bags, No Shoes, No Problem.' Lively shares four children with husband Ryan Reynolds: Olin, 2, Betty, 5, Inez, 8, and James, 10. Her lighthearted post follows the premiere of Another Simple Favor, which was overshadowed by controversyincluding a protestor brandishing a 'Justice for Justin Baldoni. Blake lied' sign, a seemingly icy reunion with co-star Anna Kendrick and whispers that the events crowd may have been artificially inflated. Blake Lively turned a fun family moment on the Another Simple Favor set into a playful parenting lesson, sharing a hilarious 'mom hack' while the film continues to spark controversy, including rumored tensions between co-stars Blake and Anna Kendrick (pictured March 7) One particularly amusing photo showed Lively rocking a black swimsuit with a matching cover-up while sporting an unexpected choice of footwearbrown paper bags. Her explanation? A clever parenting move Despite the drama, the Gossip Girl star gushed about the event, comparing it to a 'rock concert' on a previous Instagram post. In the caption she wrote, 'Watching @asimplefavor opening night @sxsw felt like a rock concert. Thank you to the very best audience. Texas turns it out.' 'Making this movie was already the gift, every element of it. To share it with you all and feel the love returned to us was the best feeling. Thank you for having us Austin,' she added. Blake also confirmed that her plunging dress was made of latex, writing, 'And yes. Its latex' along with a dress emoji. She wrapped up her caption writing, '(Shout out to the amazing #bashirsalahuddin who doesnt have an @) And thank you @sxsw and @claudasaur for having us.' Blake went on to share another post showing off a glamorous outfit as she continued to share snaps from the film's press tour. The star wore a floor length peach toned coat with silver embellishments, and a matching pair of pants. She paired the look with a white t-shirt and pointed toe heels. She further accessorized it with a sparkling $5,795 Judith Leiber martini-shaped purse. The Gossip Girl star, who was seen stepping back into the limelight amid her legal battle with Justin Baldoni, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a number of snaps from the event Despite the drama, the star gushed about the event, comparing it to a 'rock concert', and wrote, 'To share it with you all and feel the love returned to us was the best feeling' The bag was topped with a yellow lemon ornament. The accessory appeared to be a nod to her character, Emily Nelson, and her love of martinis. In another close-up snap of her face, she showed off her glam and matching peach tone earrings. The fashionista then added a snap of her rings, which included a white skull ring and two gold and diamond ones. In another photo she posed with her cast, including Morrone, Anna Kendrick, Andrew Rannells, Henry Golding, Alex Newell, Elizabeth Perkins, and director Paul Feig In another photo she posed with her cast, including Morrone, Kendrick, Andrew Rannells, Henry Golding, Alex Newell, Elizabeth Perkins, and director Paul Feig. On Monday, Lively was accused of beefing up the crowd at the premiere. Lively was seen posing for a selfie with Laurie Feig, the wife of Another Simple Favor director Paul. Some of the star's most overzealous critics became convinced based on photos of the selfie that Laurie was pretending to be a fan in the crowd, despite being married to the filmmaker. 'Why is the director of Another Simple Favors wife pretending to be a fan in the crowd waiting for Blake on the red carpet to take a selfie?' wrote a YouTuber who has been critical of Lively, who is wrapped up in dueling lawsuits with her It Ends With Us costar and director Baldoni. 'Watch how many PR bots reply that this is normal, internalized misogyny, and why do you care?' the poster added. The premiere started off on the wrong foot, as Blake was greeted by a protestor. Proving that the PR disaster of It Ends With Us is far from over, a woman was seen wearing a shirt that said 'Blake lied' and held a sign that read: 'Justice for Justin Baldoni. Blake lied,' as the star walked the red carpet nearby. To make matters worse, there appeared to be more awkward moments as Blake's co-star Anna had an awkward response to a question about working with her on the film. 'Oh you know,' Anna said on the red carpet when asked about working with Blake. The premiere had its fair share of controversy, including a protestor holding a 'Justice for Justin Baldoni. Blake lied' sign Blake also had a seemingly frosty reception from her co-star Anna, with whom she did not pose for snaps on the red carpet, aside from a photo with their director While on the red carpet, Blake also appeared to have an awkward interaction with co-star Michele Morrone, 34, as she seemed to make a joke about her braless dress On Monday, Lively was accused of beefing up the crowd at the premiere after she was seen posing for a selfie with Laurie Feig, the wife of Another Simple Favor director Paul. Some critics became convinced that Laurie was pretending to be a fan in the crowd There were also no photos of Blake and Anna posing together, aside from a photo with their director. Inside the event, the stars were pictured awkwardly standing next to each other, with Anna holding her head down as she listened to Lively speak. Lively excitedly recounted the filming of the movie in Capri, Italy, as Kendrick stood by and only glanced over at her co-star one time in a video shared by Variety. Fans were convinced of tension between the two stars. One wrote, 'Oh Lord. Anna Kendrick looking like she would rather be ANYWHERE else, but there, listening to the inane drivel tumbling out of Blake Lively's mouth. Anna's body language is speaking VOLUMES here. God, I feel so bad for her.' Another added, 'Anna Kendrick's body language screams "get me outta here, last time I do a movie with you or be seen in public with you again."' While on the red carpet, Blake also appeared to have an awkward interaction with co-star Michele, 34, as she appeared to make a joke about her braless dress. In a video from the event, the actress looked down and adjusted the top of the dress before looking over at Morrone and making a comment as she laughed. Another Simple Favor, which is slated to officially release later this year on May 1, is the sequel to the 2018 movie A Simple Favor; Anna and Blake seen in a still Expert Nicola Hickling, who is the founder of LipReader, told DailyMail.com that Lively said, 'Oh sorry.' Morrone appeared nervous as he quickly turned his head away and made a hand gesture, before adjusting his hair. Anna and Blake reunited for the anticipated film, which is slated to officially release later this year on May 1, and is the sequel to the 2018 movie A Simple Favor. The premise, 'Follows Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) as they head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily's extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman,' per IMDB. Anna and Blake's joint appearance on Friday at the premiere of their movie comes amid rumors of a 'secret feud' between the pair. It was previously reported that Kendrick is less than thrilled that Blake's legal drama with Baldoni is overshadowing their film. Last month, Lively unleashed a new salvo in her ongoing legal back-and-forth with Baldoni by claiming that she was not the only woman he made uncomfortable on the set of It Ends With Us. An amended version of her complaint filed late in New York federal court alleged that she has corroboration of her original claims, and a spokesperson for the actress claimed that 'other women confided in Blake about their discomfort,' according to People. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit filed in December while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit filed in February; Baldoni is pictured 2024 Baldoni has denied the allegations from Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made by Baldoni; Lively and Baldoni seen on set of It Ends With Us Lively previously filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in December against Baldoni, who costarred in and directed her hit romantic drama It Ends With Us. Baldoni followed up by launching a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her publicist and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. He also filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on Lively's allegations. Despite the escalating legal battle between the two parties, there's no end in sight for Lively or Baldoni. In January, a judge scheduled a trial date for their lawsuits in March of 2026, and both parties have already decided to skip any attempt at mediation. Liev Schreiber has hit back at claims his child Kai is a nepo baby as the teenager made their fashion runway debut at Paris Fashion Week. The American actor, 57, told TMZ that it's unfair to claim 16-year-old Kai's success is a result of their famous parents. 'I don't have many thoughts for the haters. What if you were a professional actor and your child decided they wanted to do something in this world?' he said. 'Do they have a choice? It doesn't matter. That's her life and she does what she wants with her life. 'I'm super proud of her and I thought she did an amazing job with the show,' Liev gushed. Liev shares Kai and son Sasha, 17, with Naomi Watts, who he was in a relationship with for 11 years before they amicably split in 2016. Liev Schreiber (pictured) has hit back at claims his child Kai is a nepo baby as the teenager made their fashion runway debut at Paris Fashion Week The American actor, 57, told TMZ that it's unfair to claim 16-year-old Kai's success is a result of their famous parents Kai made their runway debut at Paris Fashion Week as they stepped out on the catwalk for Valentino. The budding model donned a knit snakeskin mini dress with a feathered collar for their career launch with the designer fashion house. Their accessories included a beige headband which covered most of their blonde tresses, along with Havana sunglasses which featured blue lenses. White lace stockings and matching sandals with a rose strap completed the ensemble. Kai uploaded a gallery of photos of their catwalk debut, including pictures from behind-the-scenes which showed them sitting in the hair and makeup chair. 'Omggg my heart is so full,' they captioned the reel of images. Their actress mother Naomi, 56, also shared content of Kai walking for Valentino, including video which saw her excitedly re-watching the show online. 'Oh my god,' the Hollywood star exclaimed several times as she laid in bed watching her child model for the huge brand. Liev shares Kai and son Sasha, 17, with Naomi Watts (pictured), who he was in a relationship with for 11 years before they amicably split in 2016 Kai's father Liev is married to Taylor Neisen while Naomi went on to find love again with Billy Crudup. Naomi and American actor Billy tied the knot in a modest wedding ceremony at a New York courthouse in June 2023. They then exchanged vows for a second time a year later in a larger ceremony with their family and friends in Mexico. Videos shared on social media by Naomi's brother Ben at the time gave an insight into the lavish ceremony, with notable guests including Nicole Kidman and Isla Fisher. Naomi's child Kai and her niece Ruby were bridesmaids. Her son Sasha and Billy's son William, 20, who he shares with Mary Louise Parker, were also in the wedding party. Brad Pitt is happily moving on after his divorce from Angelina Jolie. The actor, 61, is 'happy' and in a 'great place' with his girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 32, according to People. The Meet Joe Black star who was recently seen looking unrecognizable on set of his new film is 'happy that the divorce is behind him' a source told the publication. 'Life's good, no complaints,' the source said, adding, 'Things are low-key for the family.' Pitt has been dating the jewelry designer who was previously married to The Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley, 42 since late 2022. Pitt and Jolie, 49, reached a divorce settlement in December 2024, following a contentious eight-year legal battle. Brad Pitt, 61, is happily moving on after his divorce from Angelina Jolie, 49, with his girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 32; the pair seen in 2024 in New York City Jolie and Pitt share six children: Maddox Chivan, 23, Pax Thien, 21, Zahara Marley, 20, Shiloh Nouvel, 18, and twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, 16. It comes amid claims that Brad's girlfriend pushed him to finalize his divorce so they could 'have a life' and children together. An insider close to the actor told Page Six in December that Ines 'influenced' him to 'settle' with Jolie in order to make 'progress in the right direction.' 'He was influenced by Ines to finally settle,' the source said. 'Ines wants to have a life together with possibly children in the future without the albatross that was the eight-year War of the Roses.' The insider added, 'She has made [it known that] her opinion is that life would be much more enjoyable with this settled.' Jolie's lawyer has said that his client has been left 'exhausted' by the eight-year fight - but her former partner has been left equally weary because he believes she has been 'dragging her feet'. The Hollywood stars officially signed off on their divorce paperwork in December, following a wrangle that began in 2016. Despite the grief of becoming estranged from at least three of their six children, Brad has found love with Ines, who may even be planning to have a family herself. Pitt and Jolie reached a divorce settlement in December 2024, following a contentious eight-year legal battle; seen in 2015 The actor is 'happy' and in a 'great place' with his girlfriend Ines, according to People; the couple pictured on September 9, 2024 in New York City The Meet Joe Black star is 'happy that the divorce is behind him' a source told the publication of Brad, who's been dating the jewelry designer since late 2022; pictured in 2024 It was previously reported that Ines reportedly pushed him to finalize his divorce so they could 'have a life' and children together; seen in 2024 in Italy A Hollywood insider with links to Team Pitt told DailyMail.com: 'They are looking to get married in the next year and Brad has settled because he wants to keep his children on side for his new marriage to go ahead.' 'Apparently Ines is keen to have children too and pressured him to get it all sorted out as soon as possible'. Brad and Ines began dating almost two years ago and later moved in together. He is said to have introduced her to his close circle, which includes best friend George Clooney. 'Brad will be relieved that he can finally move on and marry again. He has wanted his divorce settled long before now but he believes Angelina has been dragging her feet', another LA insider told MailOnline. 'Angelina will argue she has been fighting for the best deal for their family, but whatever the truth, it ultimately clears the path for him walking down the aisle with Ines'. The source added: 'He will hope that he can build bridges with his children now that the divorce is finalized, but that looks like a long hard road'. Meanwhile Angelina is finding it hard to 'trust men' after officially closing the chapter on one of Hollywoods most high-profile breakups. 'Its hard for her to trust men after what she went through with Brad, a source told Us Weekly earlier this month. 'She hasnt sworn off men, but shes not looking for anything serious right now.' Meanwhile Angelina is finding it hard to 'trust men' after officially closing the chapter on one of Hollywoods most high-profile breakups; seen February 7 at the Critics Choice Awards The divorce has left Pitt estranged from his six children: Maddox Chivan, 23, Pax Thien, 21, Zahara Marley, 20, Shiloh Nouvel, 18, and twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, 16; (L-R) Maddox, Vivienne, Angelina, Zahara, Shiloh and Knox seen in 2021 Pitt's parents (right) have not seen the children in eight years, sources have told DailyMail.com (pictured with Brad, Pax, Shiloh and Maddox in 2014) Brad's relationship with his children has deteriorated to the point where he has 'virtually no contact' with the eldest three (Angelina pictured with Zahara and Shiloh) The insider added that the Malificent star 'doesnt think shell ever get over the trauma of her relationship with Pitt, reinforcing that 'shes not looking for love right now.' Pitt has been estranged from his daughter Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne, as well as his three adopted children Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, since an explosive fight on their private jet in 2016 resulted in Angelina filing for divorce. Their acrimonious legal battle has also torn their children from the actor's parents, William and Jane Pitt, who once 'lived for their grandkids' - but have been forced to accept a 'heartbreaking' lack of contact for the last eight years. 'Brad Pitt's parents have not been able to see their beloved grandchildren for around eight years amid the ongoing divorce and legal battle between Brad and Angelina,' an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively last November. 'Prior to the separation, they were a part of the kids lives and they all spent a lot of time together,' the source continued. 'It is just heartbreaking to see that this is no longer the case.' Brad's relationship with his children has deteriorated to the point where he has 'virtually no contact' with the eldest three. Zahara dropped 'Pitt' from her last name in November 2023, before Vivienne followed suit in June last year. Shiloh joined them in August when she paid for her own lawyer to officially ditch 'Pitt.' Angelina has been accused of deliberately trying to drive a wedge between Brad and their six children. After the actress walked arm-in-arm with Knox at the Governors Awards, a source told DailyMail.com that Brad feels she has turned their brood against him. 'Of course, it bothers him that Angelina has turned them against him,' they said. 'She did this while they were all young and they didnt even get a chance to make up their minds about him.' The pair's youngest children, twins Knox and Vivienne, have recently stepped out with their mother at industry events, with the latter dropping 'Pitt' from her last name 'He believes that, in time, his children will come back into his life.' Although their divorce has been finalized, the legal battle over Chateau Miraval, a celebrated French wine estate, remains contentious. Pitt has accused Jolie of selling her stake in the winery to the Stoli Group, known for its Stolichnaya vodka, without his consent. Despite progress in their divorce proceedings, the vineyard dispute shows no signs of resolution. Sources told DailyMail.com that both parties are prepared to take the matter to a jury trial or pursue mediation if necessary. Wendy Williams is facing more drama in her conservatorship battle after the assisted living facility she's been staying at filed a police report claiming she'd been 'kidnapped' by a family member. According to TMZ, Coterie the New York-based facility where Williams claims she's been 'imprisoned' for the last eight months accused the TV star's niece, Alex Finnie, of breaking the law by taking her out to dinner on Wednesday night. Insiders revealed that Finnie was in New York City on Wednesday to accompany Williams back to the Coterie from Lenox Hill hospital, where she received a psychiatric evaluation earlier this week. Finnie spent time with Williams in the facility's memory unit which costs $18,000 per-month before taking her aunt to an Italian restaurant in the city that evening. This prompted the Coterie to contact the NYPD and file a police report as they claimed Finnie 'evaded staff by taking Wendy out of the building,' insider alleged. However, TMZ explained that Williams wouldn't have been allowed to leave the memory unit which is located on the facility's fifth floor without an attendant giving her elevator access. Wendy Williams is facing more drama in her conservatorship battle after the assisted living facility she's been staying at filed a police report claiming she'd been 'kidnapped' by a family member; Williams seen in 2019 They also claimed that Williams and her niece were escorted to the lobby by an attendant and that the attendant even 'opened the door' of the Uber that took them to the restaurant. The ordeal contradicts recent claims made by Williams' guardian Sabrina Morrisey's attorney, who said in a letter to TMZ that Williams has no restrictions when it comes to family visits and that she can 'come and go' from the facility as she pleases. The outlet caught up with Williams and her niece as they arrived back at Coterie after dinner. Williams called the ordeal 'unbelievable' as she walked arm-in-arm with Finnie, who is the daughter of Williams' older sister Wanda. 'We came back to dinner and apparently police were called,' Finnie told cameras outside the building. 'I was told that, at some point, the police were called because the Coterie here was saying allegedly that I took my aunt from this facility and whisked her away without any sort of confirmation or approval,' she explained. Williams said that the drastic measures allegedly taken by the facility is proof that her legal guardian is 'lying' about her living conditions. 'Clearly they are lying to me saying I can go out and do what I want to do. This is my niece Alex. She just flew in from Miami, ok? I just came from the hospital, so we are going out to celebrate,' Williams explained. According to TMZ , Coterie the New York-based facility where Williams claims she's been 'imprisoned' for the last eight months accused the TV star's niece, Alex Finnie (pictured), of breaking the law by taking her out to dinner on Wednesday night The facility claimed 'Alex evaded staff by taking Wendy out of the building,' according to insiders Williams got visibly choked up as she expressed shock over 'what [had] been done' to her and her niece. Finnie insisted that both her and Williams are 'good and back [at the Coterie] in one piece.' Before heading inside on her mobility scooter, Williams took aim at the facility as she exclaimed: 'These people are going to plead their case [regarding what happened]. I don't hear.' According to Page Six, Williams and her niece dined at Max Tucci's Tucci restaurant and that the TV star 'looked great' in a Gucci bomber jacket. 'She had a super time, she kept writing in her journal, she looked great,' an eyewitness claimed. 'Tomorrow she is going on 'The View.' Guests inside the restaurant respected her. She was with her niece and a young man.' The police report debacle comes soon after Williams was rushed to hospital on Monday for a psychiatric evaluation after she was seen begging fans for help. She has been fighting to be freed from her conservatorship while being 'imprisoned' at a New York-based assisted living facility a claim her legal guardian denies after being diagnosed with progressive aphasia and dementia in 2023. Williams said she passed her evaluation with 'flying colors' further putting the validity of her court-ordered guardianship into question. She got emotional while speaking on TMZ Live on Wednesday hours after her guardian Morrissey wanted to set the record straight about her living claims. Williams told that outlet it was a 'lie' that she was 'allowed' to leave the Coterie and go shopping, adding that her family has to be 'allowed' by Morrissey to see her. 'It is a lie. They are lying people. I'm sorry but I've had it up to here. Thank goodness I can speak.' 'What's more restrictive than the Coterie? The memory unit on the fifth floor. And what is doing on with the Judge [Lisa Sokoloff] speaking to me in such a way,' Williams said. When asked if she is concerned they were going to move her to a more restrictive unit, Williams said: 'Yes I am, and don't make me start crying. Because I can laugh and cry at the drop of a dime,' she added. 'It makes me very nervous. Let me be honest with you. I'm scared of that mess. I am. I don't know what could be tighter than where I am but I have to get out of guardian and I have to do it immediately,' Williams said. When asked why the judge and the guardian want to keep her in the facility, Williams told Harvey that she would tell him 'behind the scenes,' but Ginalisa Monterroso, who was also on the phone with Wendy - a caretaker who is independent of Williams' guardianship - said she thinks it was because of the Lifetime lawsuit. The ordeal contradicts recent claims made by Williams' guardian Sabrina Morrisey's (pictured) attorney, who said in a letter to TMZ that Williams has no restrictions when it comes to family visits and that she can 'come and go' from the facility as she pleases Williams called the police report ordeal 'unbelievable' and that the drastic measures taken by the facility is 'proof' that her legal guardian is 'lying'; Williams seen in 2018 It's unclear if Monterroso is an employee of the assisted-living facility or what her immediate connection to Williams is. Hours earlier, an attorney for her temporary financial guardian Sabrina wanted to set the record straight about the talk show host's claims she was being 'imprisoned' at Coterie. Sabrina was originally appointed by a judge in 2022 after Wendy's ex-manager Bernie Young reportedly raised concern that she was of 'unsound mind' - which also led to Wells Fargo to temporarily freeze her accounts. Sabrina had told TMZ that Wendy was receiving 'excellent medical care' at the facility, which features a 'spa, a workout room, excellent food, a dining room, and outside terraces' - despite the fact the talk show host had said she can only leave the memory unit with permission. Last month in February, the star revealed that she has stepped outside only twice in the span of a month as she got candid about her isolating conservatorship. Wendy also claimed she is not 'cognitively impaired' and her family broke their silence in January as they they search for an attorney to help her 'regain control of her life.' Wendy broke her silence on Tuesday in an interview on Good Day New York York with host Rosanna Scotto. Williams had called Scotto from the hospital and explained that she passed her evaluation with 'flying colors.' Rosanna shifted the conversation and said, 'You know what I don't understand Wendy is that they're locking you up like you committed a crime.' Williams replied, 'Yes! I have to tell you something. And you know, I'm on the fifth floor. It's called the memory unit. This is a floor, you know, you don't remember anything. Like really? 'And as far as me being able to go outside, I'm not allowed. You know, I have to stay in this building,' she continued, and added she needs to be 'permitted' in order to go to the gym that is located on the third floor. Wendy then emotionally stated that her money is 'up in the air' before saying, 'This is my life.' Towards the end of the interview, she shared that leaving her guardianship is 'the number one most important thing. During her trip to New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital on Monday from the assisted-living facility where she has been forced to live, the former talk show host was evaluated by a psychiatrist. The police report debacle comes soon after Williams was rushed to hospital on Monday for a psychiatric evaluation after she was seen begging fans for help And on Monday, sources told TMZ that Williams received a perfect score on a 'capacity test' administered by the psychiatrist. DailyMail.com has reached out to a representative for Williams for comment. According to the sources, Wendy was administered a 10-item questionnaire that was designed to determine her awareness and decision-making abilities, and she scored 10 out of 10 on the test. Although one test alone doesn't give a full picture of her mental capacity, the fact that she passed the test with flying colors may indicate that she is far more aware than her guardian has indicated. Williams had previously been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. However, sources clarified that the exam Williams underwent was not to dispute her dementia diagnosis. The results of the test will reportedly be shared with the judge who has been overseeing her guardianship. In recent weeks, Wendy has been making an effort to speak to the press to make her case that she has improved and should be able to manage her care - and money - on her own. Williams PR push is set to expand later this week when she is scheduled to make her first national television appearance since her dementia diagnosis. It was previously reported that Williams' visit to the hospital was preceded by NYPD officers visiting her at her assisted-living facility to perform a wellness check. Sources told TMZ on Monday that Gina had allegedly ordered her trip to the hospital and the cognitive test. According to TMZ, New York's Adult Protective Services agency is now conducting an investigation into her guardianship and her stay at the facility, where she is confined to a restrictive memory unit, where she appears to have fewer privileges than patients on other floors. Williams has denied that she has memory issues, and therefore she doesn't think she should be deprived of her privileges. She also reportedly doesn't have freedom of movement on that floor. According to the publication, APS has been interviewing people close to the gossip monger, including her niece, Alex Finnie, whom employees reportedly interviewed on Monday. Wendy reportedly spoken with the organization recently. The NYPD is also reportedly continuing to investigate the circumstances of her stay in the facility. Williams will be making her first national television appearance since her shocking dementia diagnosis, ABC revealed on Sunday. Williams said she passed her evaluation with 'flying colors' further putting the validity of her court-ordered guardianship into question She will be joining the ladies of The View on Friday, March 14 - even as she wages a legal battle to end her guardianship. Wendy has lately made attempts to speak out via phone from her assisted-living facility, where she has been kept on a restrictive memory unit that gives her few privileges and little right of movement. Although Williams will be back on TV, it's unclear if viewers will get to see her live, as ABC's announcement indicates that she will be doing a phone interview with the View hosts, who include Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin. However, she got a rare breath of fresh air last month when her guardianship and the facility allowed her to fly to Miami to celebrate her father's 94th birthday for a few days. Back in 2022, Williams was placed under a court-appointed guardianship after Wells Fargo reported several large withdrawals from her bank account that it deemed suspicious. After Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia in February 2024, Morrissey later said the gossip monger was 'cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.' But in recent months, a seemingly lucid Wendy has been disputing that she's impaired and begging to regain her freedom. Nathan Fielder threw his fans another curveball after he was reportedly seen visiting the disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in prison. According to Jeff Sneider of The Insneider, Fielder has visited Holmes, 41, multiple times at FPC Bryan, a minimum-security federal prison located in Bryan, Texas, about 95 miles northwest of Houston. Fielder hasn't shared any details about his trips to the federal prison, but Sneider's report suggests the comedian may be working on a documentary or some kind of experimental video project, according to Just Jared. The 41-year-old actor has made a name for himself with comedy series that blurred the lines between documentary and fiction, including his breakthrough Comedy Central series Nathan For You and his HBO series The Rehearsal, which is set to return for its second season on April 20. Fielder's interest in Holmes piqued his fans' curiosity, as she is infamous for founding the blood-testing company Theranos, which claimed that it was on the cusp of revolutionizing the industry after it developed a method to do full blood tests with only a small fingerprick's worth of blood. Theranos' valuation skyrocketed due to the promising technology, and Holmes briefly became a billionaire in the mid-2010s, before journalists and regulators discovered that Theranos' flagship technology was bunk. Nathan Fielder, 41, threw his fans another curveball after he was reportedly seen visiting the disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in prison; seen in 2023 in NYC According to Jeff Sneider of The Insneider , Fielder has visited Holmes, 41, multiple times at FPC Bryan, a minimum-security federal prison in Texas; Holmes is pictured in 2014 In 2018, the Securities and Exchange commission charged Holmes, as well as her company and its former chief operating officer Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, with fraudulently raising $700 million from investors by making false and exaggerated claims about the blood-testing service. She settled by paying a $500,000 fine and returning nearly 19 million shares of Theranos stock. Holmes also agreed to give up voting control of the company, and she accepted a 10-year ban from serving as a high-level executive at an public company. Things went from bad to worse later that year when Holmes and Balwani were hit with federal fraud charges. She was ultimately acquitted of defrauding Theranos' patients, but she was convicted of defrauding the company's investors. She and Balwani were ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to their victims, and she was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison, a sentence she began serving in May of 2023. Holmes would normally be a tough subject to make a documentary about, as she has been written about extensively, and her crimes were previously explored in Alex Gibney's 2019 documentary The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley. Holmes was also portrayed by Amanda Seyfried in the Hulu limited series The Dropout, which dramatized her rapid ascent and shocking fall. Fielder hasn't shared any details about his trips, but Sneider's report suggests the comedian may be working on a documentary or an experimental video project, according to Just Jared; still from The Rehearsal Holmes is serving an 11-year sentence after being convicted on federal fraud charges. Her company Theranos falsely claimed to have created a blood test that only required far less blood than traditional tests; seen in 2015 in NYC Holmes was also portrayed by Amanda Seyfried in the Hulu limited series The Dropout, which dramatized her rapid ascent and shocking fall Fielder broke out with 2013's Comedy Central series Nathan For You, which he followed with the acclaimed HBO series The Rehearsal and the Showtime series The Curse, which costarred Benny Safdie and Emma Stone; pictured together in January 2024 in Beverly Hills After a string of acclaimed comic performances, Fielder broke out in 2013 with his Comedy Central series Nathan For You. He played a version of himself who tried to help struggling business and entrepreneurs with hilariously harebrained schemes. His next series, The Rehearsal, featured Fielder using elaborate sets and carefully placed actors to replicate the experiences of real-life people in minute detail. The following year, his Showtime series The Curse debuted. Fielder co-created the darkly comic slow-burn thriller with filmmaker Benny Safdie, and the two starred in the series with Emma Stone, with all three and Stone's husband Dave McCary also serving as executive producers. Fielder and Stone played a married couple trying to create eco-friendly houses in New Mexico for an HGTV series, while Safdie played the show's ethically challenged director. Dina Broadhurst has freed the nipple while enjoying a night out in Paris. The Australian artist, 46, posted a photo dump on Thursday of the many things she's been up to while in the city of love, such as eating snails, swimming in the hotel pool and shedding some clothes. Dina, who is no stranger to showing some skin, could be seen posing in a skimpy white bikini and taking selfies in a leggy dinner outfit. The Sydney socialite's date night attire included a taupe-coloured blazer, a white skirt and a black sheer top which saw her breasts on full display. She showed off her never-ending pins in a pair of sky-high white heels, worn with a pair of oh-so-trendy black ankle socks. The interior designer accessorised the ensemble with a Louwe Flamenco leather clutch, which is valued at $3,400. Dina Broadhurst (pictured) as freed the nipple while enjoying a night out in Paris Dina, who is no stranger to showing some skin, could be seen posing in a skimpy white bikini and taking selfies in a leggy dinner outfit The Sydney socialite's date night attire included taupe-coloured blazer, a white skirt and a black sheer top which saw her breasts on full display It comes after Dina stunned Parisians earlier this week when she flashed her bare bottom in the Louvre. She turned heads as she lifted up the back of her skirt in a shock moment caught on camera. In a racy clip posted on Instagram, Dina was seen walking up a set of stairs of the famous museum before looking over her shoulder with a sly smile and flashing her G-string clad behind. She quickly lifted up the back of her skirt to show the camera the underwear she was wearing beneath her $2,260 grey Miu Miu mini skirt. Dina certainly wasn't shy about the act, as she sported a huge grin while several people could be seen walking around her in the video. The Sydney socialite paired her mini skirt with a basic long-sleeved black shirt and slung a $4,500 black Celine handbag across her torso. She pushed back her long brown tresses with designer sunglasses and finished her look with a pair of white Chanel loafers and black socks. The mother-of-one appeared to be channelling Kanye West's wife Bianca Censori, who is known for her incredibly risque outfits and raunchy acts in public. Dina stunned Parisians this week when she flashed her bare bottom in the Louvre The Sydney socialite paired her $2,260 Miu Miu mini skirt with a basic long-sleeved black shirt and slung a $4,500 black Celine handbag across her torso Dina is no stranger to flaunting her naked body. She shared a nude snap late last month as she enjoyed an outdoor shower while on holiday in the Chilean desert. The eye-popping picture showed the eastern suburbs socialite enjoying 'golden hour' by stripping off in the bathroom of her luxury accommodation. Her modesty was barely concealed in the photo by her strategic cropping of the frame above her bare bottom. Other pictures showed a dazzling sunset sinking over the horizon, and reflected in the doors of her love nest at the Alto Atacama Desert Lodge and Spa. The all-inclusive desert lodge nestled in the Catarpe Valley is practically carved out of the orange-gold sand and stone mountains that surround Alto Atacama on all sides. Jack Nicholson's son Ray recreated his dad's famous 'Here's Johnny!' scene in The Shining as he joked with fans while leaving Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday. The actor, 33, was making reference to Jack's terrifying door scene scene from the 1980 film when he pocked his head around a barrier to say hi to some fans. In the film Jack's character Jack Torrance descends into madness with things coming to a dramatic conclusion when he corners his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) in the bathroom. He breaks down the door with an axe with his head then poking through as he menacingly screams: 'Here's Johnny!' The line was a reference to the introduction of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and is one of the most famous movie scenes of all time. Jack looked smart in an all-black look as he left the TV studios after promoting his latest projects Borderline and Novocaine on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood. Jack Nicholson's son Ray recreated his dad's famous 'Here's Johnny!' scene in The Shining as he joked with fans while leaving Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday Jack looked smart in an all-black look as he left the TV studios after promoting his latest projects Borderline and Novocaine on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood Ray is currently dating Victoria's Secret model Sara Sampaio. Ray and Sara were first romantically linked in July 2023 and made their red carpet debut at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Ray is the product of his father's relationship with Rebecca Broussard, whom the Oscar winner dated from 1989 to 1994. Jack has fathered six children by five different women. Following in the footsteps of his famous dad, Ray began an acting career in the mid-2000s. He was featured in a small role with Jared Leto in 2018's The Outsider, and went on to pick up another modest portrayal in 2020's Promising Young Woman opposite Carey Mulligan. Last month Jack made a surprise appearance during Saturday Night Live's star-studded 50th Anniversary special. The 87-year-old rarely seen actor was accompanied by his 34-year-old daughter Lorraine, whom he shares with ex Rebecca Broussard. From his seat in the audience, Jack introduced Adam Sandler, who performed an original ode to the sketch comedy and its 50 years on-air. Following in the footsteps of his famous dad, Ray began an acting career in the mid-2000s The actor, 33, was making reference to Jack's terrifying door scene scene from the 1980 film when he pocked his head around a barrier to say hi to some fans In the film Jack's character Jack Torrance descends into madness with things coming to a dramatic conclusion when he corners his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) in the bathroom Jack and his son Ray are seen together in May 2023. Jack rarely makes public appearances these days 'Ladies and gentleman, Adam Sandler,' Nicholson said, while dressed in a black beret with a New York Yankees logo on the front and purple-tinted, black-rimmed eyewear. The reclusive Hollywood veteran sported a grizzled goatee for the occasion and was in good company with other A-listers. Seated behind him in the audience were Robert De Niro and partner Tiffany Chen. And next to them were Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, who also made a shock appearance amid the former's ongoing legal drama with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni. 'Yeah, baby! Lets hear it for Jack, baby,' Sandler shouted before beginning his song. 'Jack made it out tonight. Love you, brother,' he added. Sandler and Nicholson notably starred together in the 2003 movie Anger Management. In addition to Lorraine, Nicholson shares son Ray, 33 on February 20, with Broussard. He also is father to daughter Jennifer, 61, whom he shares with Sandra Knight; son Caleb, 54, with Susan Anspach; daughter Honey, 44, with Winnie Hollman; and daughter Tessa, 31, with Jennine Gourin. Tessa, is estranged from the Shining actor, and in a 2023 Newsweek article referred to herself as the 'result of a womanizing actor's fling with someone who was then a young waitress.' Disney's Snow White remake has been marred in controversy, and its secret Spanish 'premiere' added to the mystery after they failed to roll out the red carpet for global press. Leading lady Rachel Zegler stepped out at a remote castle in Segrovia, north-west of Madrid, to perform for select 'VIPs' after Disney scaled back the event following a series of scandals and PR nightmares surrounding the divisive remake. Notably, her co-star Gal Gadot - who has also come under the spotlight for her casting as the evil queen - was not in attendance and director Marc Webb was the only other named person involved with the movie who attended. Though it was one of the first events marking the movie's March 21 release, it wasn't described as a premiere, but was carefully referred to as an 'European event' after its glitzy global premieres were ditched in favor of 'tightly controlled' press events. Rather than the usual list of major news outlets flocking to the scene, local Spanish influencers and families from the small city of Segovia, which boasts a population of just 51,000, were among the chosen 'VIPs' in attendance. Zegler and Webb, 50, were the only stars who posed for photographs on the modest red carpet with the absence of other cast and crew members very apparent as a crowd gathered outside the castle. Disney's Snow White remake has been marred in controversy, and its scaled-back Spanish 'premiere' added to the backlash after they failed to roll out the red carpet for global press (pictured: Rachel Zegler) Leading lady Rachel Zegler stepped out at a remote castle in Segrovia, north-west of Madrid, to perform for select VIP guests after Disney scaled back the event following a series of scandals A modest crowd of around 100 people stood behind red rope to watch Zegler as the event appeared to be a very small-scale affair - far from a usual Hollywood premiere The event - which took place thousands of miles away from the gaze of global press - featured a performance from Zegler of Waiting upon a Wish, with 'VIPs' standing in a crowd to watch, as well as a lavish meal with guests. Select guests were given the chance to get a special exclusive screening of the movie itself as influencers gave a glimpse inside the cinema room on social media, though they have to remain mum on their thoughts on the release for now. According to Disney, unnamed 'press', 'content creators' and families involved with local Spanish charities were among those who gathered outside the medieval castle. However, there didn't appear to be many big names from influencer circles in attendance as the Spanish content creators in the crowds boasted mere thousands of followers, rather than millions. A Spanish Snow White movie fan account, which has 3,735 followers on Instagram, shared photographs and videos from the event as they nabbed one of the very select invites. Spanish make-up artist Nuria Adraos, who boasts 815,000 followers on Instagram, was also among the guest list, as well Valencia influencer Almu Carrion. Carrion, who has a reach of 257,000 accounts, described the event as one of the best experiences of her life after she was wined and dined and gifted with freebies as part of the festivities. TikTok star Liv Marks-Howarth, who describes herself as a celebrity interviewer and has 79,000 TikTok followers and 9,500 on Instagram, posted an array of pictures and videos from the event. Notably, her co-star Gal Gadot (pictured in New York on March 10) - who has also come under the spotlight for her casting as the evil queen - was not in attendance TikTok star Liv Marks-Howarth, who is a celebrity interviewer and has 79,000 TikTok followers and 9,500 on Instagram, posted an array of pictures and videos from the event She shared a glimpse inside the formal meal offered as part of the event on Instagram, where guests were served an array of banquet dishes with wine and gifted presents from Pandora Guests were seated at two long candle-lit tables and served a themed red apple dessert among the dishes offered on the menu A Spanish Snow White movie fan account, which has 3,735 followers on Instagram, shared photographs and videos from the event as they nabbed one of the very select invites Select guests were given the chance to get a special exclusive screening of the movie itself as influencers gave a glimpse inside the cinema room on social media Sat on each plate was a free gift from Pandora, a necklace and ring featuring the iconic red apple which the Evil Queen uses to poison Snow White in the classic movie AT A GLANCE: ALL THE CONTROVERSIES TO HAVE ENGULFED THE SNOW WHITE REMAKE Snow White's skin color Since casting Hispanic actress Zegler as Snow White, Disney fans have highlighted the woke deviations from the classic fairytale. While reflecting on comments made on social media about her casting as Snow White, Zegler insisted she doesn't even try to wrap her head why 'Disney adults' would have a problem with someone Latina portraying the beloved princess. Zegler revealed the line describing her character's 'skin as white as snow' will reference 'another version of Snow White that was told in history'. Depiction of the Seven Dwarves Disney sparked backlash after they announced that 'magical creatures' would replace the seven dwarves to 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' after Peter Dinklage criticized the 'f****** backwards story'. 'It makes no sense to me,' he told Mark Maron's WTF podcast. 'You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I'm not loud enough.' Zegler pans original over 'sexism' Zegler criticized David Hand's 1937 original animated film as 'extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman's fit for in the world.' 'The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,' she told Extra TV in 2022. 'There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn't do that this time.' Hollywood-style premieres ditched for 'tightly controlled' press events Film bosses had originally planned to stage a Hollywood soiree worthy of the staggering $269.4million spent on the movie - with events planned in Los Angeles, London and globally Yet amid the series of scandals and PR nightmares, Disney scaled back the planned lavish premieres to a 'handful' of tightly controlled Press events. Advertisement She shared a glimpse inside the formal meal offered as part of the event on Instagram, where guests were served an array of banquet dishes with wine and gifted freebies from Pandora. The place settings featured bunches of red roses while apples were also laid on the red tablecloth in reference to the storyline of the original fairytale. Guests were seated at two long candle-lit tables and served a themed red apple dessert among the dishes, while they also had the chance to pose for photographs on a regal silver throne chair afterwards. Sat on each plate was a free gift from Pandora, a necklace and ring featuring the iconic red apple which the Evil Queen uses to poison Snow White in the classic movie. Before the meal, Zegler, who plays Snow White, was photographed greeting and signing autographs for the children, who all made up the front row as the leading star took to a simplistic pared-back stage to sing. Video footage of her performance showed a modest crowd of around 100 people standing behind red rope to watch Zegler, while a small camera crew immortalised the moment on film. Families involved with charities including Fundacion Aladina, Fundacion sin dano, Juegaterapia, Pequeno Deseo and CEMU nabbed the prime front row position to watch Zegler's solo number in a sweet gesture. A notice revealed that the public have been banned from entering the Alcazar of Segovia on both Wednesday and Thursday as it remains closed for the 'private event'. In a further sign that Press have been held away from the event, the date of the premiere was not confirmed on media calendars before it got underway on Wednesday. Instead, Spanish Zegler fan accounts shared evidence of the premiere coming into town while Zegler herself also documented her arrival on her Instagram Stories. While the premiere was held away from typical Hollywood-style haunts one would expect for a movie of such grandeur, there was some significance in its choice. The Alcazar of Segovia was the inspiration behind the castle in Disney's 1937 original animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with its distinctive shape, turrets and steep roofs all seen in the feature. However, amid a series of scandals and PR nightmares surrounding the remake, Disney scaled back the planned lavish premieres to a 'handful' of tightly controlled Press events. Earlier this month, an insider told the Mail: 'Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White and have reduced the media schedule to just a handful of tightly controlled Press events. 'That is why they have taken the highly unusual step not to host a London premiere for the film and are minimising the amount of Press questions that Rachel Zegler gets.' Later this week, the cast will return to the States, with Zegler and Gadot expected attend a pre-party and screening at Los Angeles' El Capitan Theatre on March 15, where 'coverage will be limited to photographers and a house crew'. While most premieres invite dozens of media outlets to cover the event and interview the cast, the studio has decided to buck tradition in this case. Zegler had attended an event in Tokyo to promote the film last week as she has led the press for the remake, but Gadot and the rest of the cast were not in attendance. Though it was one of the first events marking the movie's March 21 release, it wasn't described as a premiere, but was carefully referred to as an 'European event', with Zegler performing Director Marc Webb was the only other named person involved with Snow White that posed for photographs on the red carpet Rather than the usual list of major news outlets flocking to the scene, families from the tiny city of Segovia, which boasts a population of just 51,000, and other VIPs were in attendance Zegler, who plays Snow White, was photographed greeting and signing autographs for the children, who all made up the front row as she performed The scaled-back press tour has not only left fans baffled as Martin Klebba, who voices Grump, has slammed Disney for their decision to scale back the film's premiere. Klebba, 55, expressed his disappointment, with TMZ reporting that the actor is 'seriously bummed and a bit p**sed' at the situation as he argued it should have got better red carpet treatment. He argued that Zegler and Gadot's political opinions should not 'have overshadowed everyone else's hard work'. Zegler has famously expressed pro-Palestine views, while Gadot, in contrast, is a well-known supporter of Israel. Having starred as Marty in Pirates of the Caribbean, Martin is familiar with big Disney premieres, and argues that Snow White deserves a more significant launch. Disney's choice comes following criticism and fears that the remake prioritized 'woke' messaging over authentic storytelling. Notably, the remake has dumped the traditional romance plot because of 'sexism' and reimagined the Seven Dwarfs as a diverse group of 'magical creatures'. Zegler herself has also criticized David Hand's 1937 original animated film as 'extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman's fit for in the world'. According to Disney, unnamed 'press', 'content creators' and a group of families involved with local Spanish charities were among those who gathered outside the medieval castle The event - which took place thousands of miles away from the gaze of global press - was simply made up of a performance of Waiting upon a Wish It did not appear that the guests or children in attendance were shown a preview of the movie itself, but were given the chance to meet Zegler up-close-and-personal 'The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,' she told Extra TV in 2022. 'There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn't do that this time. 'We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie.' 'All of Andrew's scenes could get cut, who knows? It's Hollywood, baby!' she joked. About the 1937 film, she added: 'I was scared of the original version. I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I'm being so serious.' Zegler also told Variety that her version of Snow White would be dreaming about becoming a 'fearless leader' rather than 'dreaming about true love'. Sources previously revealed to DailyMail.com that Zegler's reputation as a 'loose cannon' nearly got her axed from playing Snow White. Zegler's strong opinions have prompted some haters to vow to boycott the film. The castle in Disney's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is based on Alcazar de Segovia, where the European event was held on Wednesday night Your browser does not support iframes. Reflecting on comments made on social media about her casting as Snow White, Zegler insisted she doesn't even try to wrap her head why 'Disney adults' would have a problem with someone Latina portraying the beloved princess. Zegler proceeded to reveal that the line describing her character's 'skin as white as snow' will reference 'another version of Snow White that was told in history,' in which the character 'survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby'. 'The king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience,' she noted. 'One of the core points in our film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.' The star also admitted that it was 'sad' to see so many people rip her apart for teasing that her version of Snow White would not not be saved by a prince. Disney also sparked backlash after they announced that 'magical creatures' would replace the seven dwarves to 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' after Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage criticized the 'f****** backwards story' last year. 'I was a little taken aback when they [Disney] were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you're still telling the story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs,' he told Mark Maron's WTF podcast. 'It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man? 'Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I'm not loud enough.' The scaled-back press tour has not only left fans baffled as Martin Klebba (pictured in 2018), who voices Grump, has slammed Disney for their decision to scale back the film's premiere Dinklage's concerns were shared by some charities, including the Restricted Growth Association in the UK. 'I very much stand with Peter Dinklage on the disappointment and irritation towards Disney for the remake of Snow White,' Rhonda Cutmore, a member of the association, told The Telegraph. Meanwhile, Dwarfism writer Steph Robson said she hoped film producers make an effort to avoid stereotypes in its retelling of the classic movie. 'It is my hope that the latest live action remake, and Disney, will, at the very least go some way to redress the decades of the one-dimensional stereotypes that our disability continues to experience, especially within arts and cultural settings,' she told the outlet. The story has also been criticized as being ableist for portraying the dwarfs with lesser intelligence and Snow White seeing them as children. Disney later said it's 'taking a different approach' with Snow White's seven companions. In a statement last year, the company said it had been consulting with members of the dwarfism community throughout the early stages of production. Notably, the remake has dumped the traditional romance plot because of 'sexism' and reimagined the Seven Dwarfs as a diverse group of 'magical creatures' Zegler has also criticized David Hand's 1937 original animated film as 'extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman's fit for in the world' 'To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community,' a spokesperson said. 'We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.' In December last year, sources close to the production said Snow White's seven 'dwarfs' were not going to be fully computer generated, and wouldn't be dwarfs at all. Instead, she would be befriended by magical, forest-dwelling creatures. Cara Delevingne cut a stylish figure on Wednesday evening as she joined Samara Weaving at a special screening of the actress' new film Borderline in Los Angeles. The model, 32, looked effortlessly chic in a black leather jacket with a brown faux-fur collar as she posed for snaps with the Australian star, 33. She paired the jacket with a classic white vest and dark blue denim jeans as she smiled for the cameras. Meanwhile, Samara, 33, who plays Sofia in the thriller/comedy, stunned in a semi-sheer purple chiffon dress. She completed the look with a black leather trench coat and kept accessories simple, opting for statement diamond drop earrings. The movie, set to release in the US on March 14, follows a bodyguard tasked with protecting a pop superstar and her athlete boyfriend from a determined stalker in 1990s Los Angeles. Cara Delevingne (right) cut a stylish figure on Wednesday evening as she joined Samara Weaving (left) at a special screening of Weaving's new movie, Borderline, in Los Angeles The model, 32, looked effortlessly chic in a black leather jacket and denim jeans while Samara, 33, who plays Sofia in the thriller/comedy, stunned in a semi-sheer purple chiffon dress Her outing comes after she and her pal Margaret Qualley couldn't keep their hands while warmly greeting each other at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party earlier this month. Cara and the actress, 30, showed their affection for one another as they hung out at at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills on Sunday evening. She and Margaret wrapped their arms around each other's waists as they posed for a selection of fun pictures at the party. The prestigious bash attracts the creme de la creme of the A-list and Cara was among a string of star-studded attendees that made the guest list. Earlier in the evening, she put on a cool display in a strapless denim dress with matching sleeves, as she posed up a storm on the red carpet. Smouldering Cara wore her blonde locks in a sleek loose style, while enhancing her pretty features with a coat of glamorous make-up. The British native accessorised her look with a silver chain necklace and a selection of chunky costume-style rings. Meanwhile, Margaret looked equally stunning in a red satin halter neck dress, which featured a daring thigh slit up the leg. The movie, set to release in the US on March 14, follows a bodyguard tasked with protecting a pop superstar and her athlete boyfriend from a determined stalker in 1990s Los Angeles Her outing comes after she and her pal Margaret Qualley couldn't keep their hands while warmly greeting each other at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party earlier this month Cara and the actress, 30, showed their affection for one another as they hung out at at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills on Sunday evening The legendary bash, which takes place in Beverly Hills, is a celebration of the evening and gathers many of the biggest names in Hollywood. The guest list included comedians and public figures like Renee Rapp, Selma Blair, Monica Lewinsky, Seth Rogen, and Chelsea Handler. The party kicked off after the awards ceremony, where Anora took home Best Picture as well as Best Actress for Mikey Madison. Anora's writer and director earned three awards including: Best Original Screenplay, Achievement in Film Editing, and the coveted Best Director. Adrien Brody won Best Actor for The Brutalist. Demi Moore was left crushed as Mikey beat her to the coveted Best Actress award at the 2025 Oscars, on a night when Anora dominated with five wins, including Best Picture. Demi, 62, had been a clear front-runner, and her fury was palpable as 25-year-old rising star Mikey's name was called out in front of a stunned audience at the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Other big winners included Zoe Saldana, who took home the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the controversial Emilia Perez, and Adrien Brody, who triumphed over Timothee Chalamet for the Best Actor award with his performance in the The Brutalist. Jessika Power has ended her romance her new boyfriend Ryan just weeks after going Instagram official. The Married At First Sight bride, 31, explained in an Instagram Stories post on Thursday that the pair had gone their separate ways, after his text messages to another woman were leaked. The former reality star explained that the pair were on a break from their relationship when the messages were sent and that no infidelity occurred. 'I was so hoping to avoid having to write this BUT unfortunately every personal moment I have or decision I make can become public fodder' she wrote. 'In the past it's made it difficult to maintain boundaries or feel a sense of privacy but I do appreciate the platform I have and the support I receive from you all so I feel it's only right to share my side of the recent articles and allegations being reported about Ryan and let you know our current relationship status' she continued. 'After thoughtful consideration, we have decided to part ways. While our romantic relationship has come to an end, we continue to have great respect for each other and appreciate the moments we've shared. Jessika Power has ended her romance her new boyfriend Ryan just weeks after going Instagram official. Both pictured 'We were hoping to do this privately but unfortunately text messages between Ryan and another woman were leaked and that's created an article; stories and rumors and I wanted to help clear some of that up.' Jessika went on to explain: 'The messages that were leaked were from a period of time in February when Ryan and I decided to take a small break in our relationship when we were trying to better understand what it was exactly we wanted in our relationship and if it was working for either one of us. 'We did decide to make it work but unfortunately for me (just recently) I felt we weren't progressing how I had envisioned. This decision had no connection to the past situation we both went through together it just simply wasn't for me. 'So no, Ryan hasn't been "busted talking to girls" I was aware but I also had no problem as it was when we weren't together. 'I still would like to ask for privacy during this time as we move forward separately. There is no bad blood between either of us and we remain committed to supporting one another in our personal and professional lives. Thank you for understanding.' Jessika went Instagram official with a hunky new man in January, just four months after she called time on her relationship with British DJ Brent Anthony. At the time, she shared several photos to social media which captured her rocking a skimpy red bikini as she had fun in the pool with Ryan. The blonde bombshell and her Gold Coast-based business owner partner looked as loved-up as ever in the photos as Jessika confirmed they were together. The Married At First Sight bride, 31, explained in an Instagram Stories post on Thursday that the pair had gone their separate ways, after his text messages to another woman were leaked The former reality star explained that the pair were on a break from their relationship when the messages were sent and that no infidelity occurred One photo captured her muscular and heavily tattooed boyfriend tenderly wrapping his arm around Jessika as they had dinner together. Another captured Jessika in the pool as she stood next to her shirtless partner, who confidently flaunted his Dwayne Johnson-like heavily tattooed physique to the camera. Jessika confirmed they were an item in the caption: 'This wasn't on my 2025 bonus card BUT can't deny good luck and chemistry.' Her new partner runs his own labouring company in the Gold Coast, specialising in painting and decorating, pressure cleaning and bricklaying. In September, Jessika confirmed her split with British DJ Brent Anthony. The serial reality star made the confession in the comments of an Instagram post. A fan wrote under an image of the blonde in skimpy pink underwear: 'I'm sad you and Brent broke up, you looked so happy with him'. Jessika replied to the fan, writing, 'I really wasn't and I hid a lot of my emotions and embarrassment from the internet.' Jessika went Instagram official with a hunky new man in January, just four months after she called time on her relationship with British DJ Brent Anthony The former Married At First Sight star had hinted the romance was over just days prior. She explained to fans her beloved sausage dog Sushi was living with her ex-boyfriend in France. 'Sushi is with my ex because I had to leave in a rush for my father's funeral,' the Aussie MAFS star said in a Q&A. One of Jessika's 344,000 followers had asked who is looking after her dog now. 'I'm trying to get Sushi on a flight ASAP from France to the UK,' she wrote. 'If anyone knows of any airlines that can help let me know because it's a little unfair he's having to watch my dog as we aren't together anymore.' Jessika has appeared on a string of reality shows around the world since she found fame on MAFS Australia in 2019. She unveiled plans to move home to Australia in 2024 after calling time on her two-year relationship with fellow British DJ Connor Thompson in June 2023. The upbeat star told fans last December she was 'saving money' to relocate back to Australia and is now based on the Gold Coast. TOWIE's Elma Pazar, Sammy Root, and Ella Rae Wise dressed to impress as they attended a Cabaret-themed bash at Stock Brook Manor in Billericay, Essex, on Wednesday. The Essex gang are currently filming a new, dramatic series of the long running ITVBe series. Elma, 32, ensured all eyes were on her as she made a sizzling entrance in a black basque corset dress, arriving with her Love Island beau, Sammy, 23. The beauty elevated her cabaret look with black knee-high lace socks and added inches to her frame with classic black court heels. She completed the ensemble with a black quilted Chanel flap bag, a pearl choker necklace, and matching earrings. Elma styled her blonde locks in a curly blowout and wore glamorous makeup as she posed for the cameras. TOWIE's Elma Pazar, 32, and Sammy Root, 23, shared a smooch as they attended a Cabaret-themed bash at Stock Brook Manor in Billericay, Essex, on Wednesday The couple, who met on Love Island: All Stars looked smitten as they cuddled up together The duo were also joined by Ella Rae Wise, 24, as they got to work filming a new, dramatic series of the long running ITVBe series Meanwhile, her boyfriend Sammy looked incredibly dapper in a black-and-white tuxedo. The former Love Island stars shared a sweet smooch ahead of the event, appearing more loved-up than ever. Meanwhile, Ella, 24, put on a very leggy display in a figure-hugging sparkly silver playsuit. She added height with silver strappy stiletto heels, accessorising with a silver wristwatch, a stack of gold bracelets, and diamond hoop earrings. To complete her look, she styled her long blonde locks in a voluminous curly blowout and wore a glamorous palette of makeup. Ella was joined by her boyfriend, Dan Edgar, 34, who looked handsome in a black satin double-breasted blazer and tailored trousers. The couple looked in high spirits, sharing several smooches during the glitzy bash. Despite past tensions, Ella and Dan's ex, Amber Turner, 31, appeared to have put their differences aside. Elma, 32, ensured all eyes were on her as she made a sizzling entrance in a black basque corset dress, arriving with her Love Island beau, Sammy, 23 The beauty elevated her cabaret look with black knee-high lace socks and added inches to her frame with classic black court heels Meanwhile, Ella, 24, put on a very leggy display in a figure-hugging sparkly silver playsuit She added height with silver strappy stiletto heels, accessorising with a silver wristwatch, a stack of gold bracelets, and diamond hoop earrings To complete her look, she styled her long blonde locks in a voluminous curly blowout and wore a glamorous palette of makeup Ella was joined by her beau, Dan Edgar, 34, who looked handsome in a black satin double-breasted blazer and tailored trousers The couple looked in high spirits, sharing several smooches during the glitzy bash They couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces as they took to the dance floor later in the evening Amber looked sensational in a semi-sheer nude embellished halterneck dress, embracing the cabaret theme with a white feather boa and a diamond Gatsby flapper headband. She added height with silver strappy heels and completed her look with a stack of gold bracelets, several gold rings, and silver diamond drop earrings. Matilda Draper, 24, stood out in a diamond-embellished cut-out mini dress, paired with a white faux-fur wrap and sparkly silver heels. Her dark tresses were styled in a sleek ponytail, and her flawless makeup complemented her look. She was joined by her beau, Roman Hackett, who looked dapper in a black tuxedo jacket and pinstripe trousers. The couple shared a loved-up moment as they posed for glamorous snaps. Courtney Green, 29, looked phenomenal in a celestial embellished sequin top and matching mini skirt. She added height with black platform heels and accessorised with sheer black gloves and a silver wristwatch. Despite past tensions, Ella and Dan's ex, Amber Turner, 31, appeared to have put their differences aside Amber looked sensational in a semi-sheer nude embellished halterneck dress, embracing the cabaret theme with a white feather boa and a diamond Gatsby flapper headband She completed her look with a stack of gold bracelets, several gold rings, and silver diamond drop earrings as she posed up a storm for the cameras Matilda Draper, 24, stood out in a diamond-embellished cut-out mini dress, paired with a white faux-fur wrap and sparkly silver heels She was joined by her beau, Roman Hackett, who looked dapper in a black tuxedo jacket and pinstripe trousers The couple shared a loved-up moment as they arrived at the venue Courtney completed her look with a mini silver handbag and styled her brunette locks in a bouncy blowout. Amy Childs, 34, flaunted her slender figure in a striking green corset featuring a peacock feather embellishment at the bust. She paired it with a black tutu skirt and sexy black lace-top stockings, adding height with open-toe stiletto heels. Green diamond statement earrings, a Van Cleef bracelet, and a silver wristwatch completed her look. Amy arrived at the party linking arms with her partner, Billy Delbosq, 41, and her best friend Harry Derbidge, 30. The boys looked sharp in almost matching red tuxedos as they escorted Amy into the venue. Sophie Kasaei, 35, flaunted her enviable figure in a gorgeous red embellished corset with a gold fringe trim, showcasing her ample cleavage. The chic ensemble also featured a red feather attachment that draped down her legs. Courtney Green, 29, looked phenomenal in a celestial embellished sequin top and matching mini skirt During the bash, the beauty joined her glamorous pals Amber (left) and Chloe Meadows (middle) Amy Childs, 34, arrived at the party linking arms with her partner, Billy Delbosq, 41, (right) and her best friend Harry Derbidge, 30 (left) The reality TV star flaunted her slender figure in a striking green corset featuring a peacock feather embellishment at the bust She paired it with a black tutu skirt and sexy black lace-top stockings, adding height with open-toe stiletto heels as she packed on the PDA with her partner Sophie Kasaei, 35, flaunted her enviable figure in a gorgeous red embellished corset with a gold fringe trim, showcasing her ample cleavage The chic ensemble also featured a red feather attachment that draped down her legs Her boyfriend, Jordan Brook, dressed for the occasion in a red tailcoat and black tailored trousers, completing the look with a black cane The couple appeared more loved-up than ever as Jordan planted a sweet kiss on Sophie's cheek Chloe Meadows, 33, turned heads in a chic red corset with a heart cut-out at the bust, paired with skimpy frilly lace shorts She added height with red knee-high patent leather boots and accessorised with a gothic top hat with a black veil Saffron Lempriere wowed in a sheer black lace floor-length dress, paired with a black feather boa and an extravagant feather-embellished headpiece She was joined by pals Freddie Bentley, 27, and Danni Imbert, 26, and looked in high spirits as they posed together During the bash, the beauty enjoyed some quality time with her pals Freddie and Becks Bloomberg. The trio seemed to have a blast as they sang their hearts out. Later in the evening, Saffron and Freddie hit the dance floor, showing off their best moves The Geordie Shore star added height with gold platform heels and toted her essentials in a mini burgundy handbag. Her boyfriend, Jordan Brook, dressed for the occasion in a red tailcoat and black tailored trousers, completing the look with a black cane. The couple appeared more loved-up than ever as Jordan planted a sweet kiss on Sophie's cheek. Chloe Meadows, 33, turned heads in a chic red corset with a heart cut-out at the bust, paired with skimpy frilly lace shorts. She added height with red knee-high patent leather boots and accessorised with a gothic top hat with a black veil. Saffron Lempriere wowed in a sheer black lace floor-length dress, paired with a black feather boa and an extravagant feather-embellished headpiece. She was joined by pals Freddie Bentley, 27, and Danni Imbert, 26, and looked in high spirits as they posed together. Jodie Wells stunned in a cocoa sheer embellished long-sleeve evening gown, similar to Amber's style. Jodie Wells stunned in a cocoa sheer embellished long-sleeve evening gown, similar to Amber's style Junaid Ahmed, 29, (left) and Joe Blackman, 26, (right) both looked sharp in matching crisp white shirts, black bow ties, and tailored trousers Newcomer Livvy Jay wowed in a sheer grey one-sleeve floral embroidered mini dress She added height with silver padded stiletto heels and toted a matching Louis Vuitton clutch as she posed up a storm alongside her pal Sophie Danni put on a busty display in a figure-hugging burgundy midi dress, adding inches with clear open-toe Perspex heels and carrying a gold knot handbag To complete her look, she wore a glamorous makeup palette and let her curly locks cascade freely down her shoulders Becks also flaunted her legs in a mini cream corset dress, accessorising with nude lace gloves as she posed for the cameras Junaid Ahmed, 29, and Joe Blackman, 26, both looked sharp in matching crisp white shirts, black bow ties, and tailored trousers. Newcomer Livvy Jay wowed in a sheer grey one-sleeve floral embroidered mini dress. She added height with silver padded stiletto heels and toted a matching Louis Vuitton clutch. Danni put on a busty display in a figure-hugging burgundy midi dress, adding inches with clear open-toe Perspex heels and carrying a gold knot handbag. Becks Bloomberg also flaunted her legs in a mini cream corset dress, accessorising with nude lace gloves as she posed for the cameras. Throughout the evening, the TOWIE castmates were in great spirits, enjoying fine dining, drinks, and grooving on the dance floor. Throughout the evening, the TOWIE castmates were in great spirits, enjoying fine dining, drinks, and grooving on the dance floor Matila couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she and Roman caught up with Junaid and Joe. Jordan also appeared in high spirits as he commanded everyone's attention from a podium The TOWIE stars lined up on the dance floor to give him his moment and cheered him on During the bash, Chloe also had the chance to catch up with her pals Junaid and Joe. The trio was seen enjoying drinks as they chatted away While Ella showed off her perky bottom in a stylish playsuit, she took to the dance floor for a long night of grooving The beauty was soon joined on the dance floor by her beau, Dan, and the star looked absolutely smitten Irish Law looked effortlessly chic as she arrived at London's St Pancras Eurostar Station on Thursday. The 24-year-old daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost, who has been in Paris for several days enjoying Fashion Week, wrapped up in a misty blue cape coat. She paired the stylish coat with a simple white top and grey trousers, completing the look with a chic 1,400 YSL bag. Her ice blonde tresses were pulled back with a white and green headband, while two strands of hair were left out and braided. Keeping her jewellery to a minimum, the beauty appeared focused on her phone while making a fashionable exit from the station. It comes just days after Iris attended the Saint Laurent show during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday. Irish Law looked effortlessly chic as she arrived at London's St Pancras Eurostar Station on Thursday The 24-year-old daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost , who has been in Paris for several days enjoying Fashion Week, wrapped up in a misty blue cape coat The stunner turned heads as she wore a bronze semi-sheer dress with metallic detailing. Layered underneath, she wore a red high-neck lace top and added a pair of polka dot tights. Iris topped off her head turning look with gold stiletto heels and slicked her hair down. Fashion Week kicked off last week and wrapped up on Tuesday, with high-profile designers showcasing their womenswear Fall/Winter 2025/2026 collections. Iris sent temperatures soaring last month when she modelled a stunning collection of bikinis from Victoria's Secret PINK collaboration with Frankies Bikinis. The model looked incredible as she showcased her slender figure in a vibrant yellow bikini. The stylish two-piece featured a triangle top and matching tie-side bottoms. On a beach in Costa Rica, Iris posed effortlessly, offering a glimpse of her peachy derriere in paisley print bikini bottoms and a pale yellow vest top. It comes just days after Iris attended the Saint Laurent show during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday. The stunner turned heads as she wore a bronze semi-sheer dress She later slipped into a gorgeous cherry-print bikini top, soaking up the sun at sea before writhing in the shallows in a frilly red bikini top. Iris then switched to a blue gingham bandeau bikini top, striking another sultry pose for the camera, and completed the look with a textured blue crop top as she posed on the sandy beach. Iris discussed her personal sense of style and 'intuitive way' of dressing in an interview with Vogue Espana. She revealed she flits between different phases - sometimes feeling more feminine, while in others she adopts an androgynous look. 'I don't dress for anyone, I just try to feel good and be comfortable,' she explained. 'I let myself be carried away by how I am in an intuitive way, even if it's not what is understood as chic or cool. 'I have gone through many phases: more feminine, more androgynous... I like to change; every day is different.' Iris also made a candid confession about having struggled with anxiety previously, as she revealed her coping mechanisms. She said: 'I love lifting weights; I think it's great for maintaining hormonal balance and it also helps me sleep better.' 'In general, I've noticed a big change in controlling my anxiety, also since I started running.' Georgia Toffolo channeled Princess Diana as she wore her iconic 'black sheep' jumper to day three of Cheltenham Festival on Thursday. The former Made In Chelsea star, 30, who recently tied the knot with BrewDog founder James Watt, 42, wrapped up warm in her 'classic British' themed look. She teamed the red knitwear, by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne for Warm & Wonderful, with a tartan skirt. Toff layered over the Rosa jacket and Regina knee-high boots from Fairfax & Favor and topped off her look with a head piece from V V Rouleaux. Sharing her outfit details in a video shared to Instagram, she explained: 'Keeping in with the theme of doing classic Cheltenham but with a big extortionate twist. 'Today I am celebrating all thing British starting with a classic Fairfax and Favor jacket. A classic jacket that is absolutely stunning. Georgia Toffolo channeled Princess Diana as she wore her iconic 'black sheep' jumper to day three of Cheltenham Festival on Thursday Diana wore the red knitwear, by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne for Warm & Wonderful, to a polo match back in 1981 (pictured) Toff continued: 'It has literally been snowing in Cheltenham so I'm taking no risks I've got my thermal tights on, my trusty boots and hand warmers in my handbag.' 'Do you recognise this jumper? Princess Diana wore it all those years ago.' She captioned the update: 'Im so revved up for Cheltenham day 3 this is a special outfit! So thrilled with it. 'I think this is FUN fashion and should be viewed as so. Im happy to report that there is no snow forecast for today and Im still praying to the racing gods for a whiff of a winner. Will report back later!' Princess Diana's black sheep sweater was sold for $1,143,000 at auction at Sotheby's in New York in September 2023. After two weeks of online bidding it became the most expensive piece of clothing owned by the former Princess of Wales to sell at auction. There were a total of 44 bids within 15 minutes for the famous item of clothing - which ultimately pushed the sale to a staggering 14 times more than its initial asking price of $80,000. Diana first wore the woollen jumper with its black and white sheep motif to a polo match of her fiance, the then-prince of Wales, in June 1981. The former Made In Chelsea star, 30, wrapped up warm in her 'classic British' themed look including the Rosa jacket, Regina boots, and Langham hobo bag boots and by Fairfax & Favor She topped off her look with a head piece from V V Rouleaux It was one of the first pieces designed by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne for their knitwear label Warm & Wonderful, and the outing helped catapult their brand into the public eye. Diana's sweater has also broke the world record for the most expensive jumper ever sold at auction. Alongside the sweater are two letters, which were sent between the label and Buckingham Palace. According to Sotheby's, Diana damaged the sleeve of the garment - perhaps by catching it on her engagement ring - so Buckingham Palace wrote to Warm & Wonderful asking for it to be repaired. They decided it would be best to replace it. According to Sotheby's Cynthia Houlton: 'They sent her a new one in 1981, and then in 1983, she was actually photographed again wearing the replacement sweater at another polo match.' This is significant, the spokesman said, because 'in terms of pieces, if you think of Princess Diana and her wardrobe, she certainly had lots of options in terms of things she could have chosen to wear, things that... meant something to her'. Cynthia explained: 'This sweater... given the fact that she wore it more than once in very public settings... speaks a lot to how important the sweater was to her.' After Diana had it replaced, the original sweater was lost. Princess Diana 's black sheep sweater was sold for $1,143,000 at auction at Sotheby's in New York in September 2023 (pictured with then-Prince Charles in 1983) It broke the world record for the most expensive jumper ever sold at auction This was until Joanna Osborne unearthed it in her attic earlier this year, tucked away in a small box beside a cotton bedspread. Describing the sweater as 'one of the most iconic pieces Princess Diana has ever been photographed in', she added that the piece has never been to market before. According to Cynthia: 'It's such an exciting thing that since 1981, we've been talking about it, and... are now auctioning it. To me, this is the single most iconic piece of hers.' The actress Emma Corrin wore a replica of the sweater when she played Diana in the fourth season of Netflix's The Crown in 2020. At some point during preproduction Hackman called me from his home in Santa Fe. He suggested Harry Zimm, Gene's character in Get Shorty, have fake capped teeth that were way too white. I loved the idea and added a gold chain with the Jewish letter 'Hei' on it. Gene suggested Harry, the schlock producer/director, thought himself a bit of an artist and should have a goatee. I had never seen Gene with facial hair, so I said, 'Yeah. Maybe. Why don't you grow one and we'll look at it together when you get to LA.' 'I'm not going to f***ing waste my time growing a goatee if you're not going to f***ing use it in the film,' Gene, racing from zero to a thousand in about point six seconds, screamed. 'Forget it!' Although I said: 'You're absolutely right Gene. I love the idea. Definitely grow it,' here's what I actually was thinking: 'How hard is it to NOT SHAVE?' I figured if I hated it, I'd deal with his facial hair in person. Gene arrived in LA a month later. His goatee, fake capped teeth, and 'Hei' were brilliant. We started filming on a Monday morning, beginning with a short sequence with Rene Russo and Gene, then got ready for the first scene of the show with Hackman and John Travolta. Gene was a professional, memorizing his lines before showing up on the set. Gene was a professional, memorizing his lines before showing up on the set - unlike John Travolta (right) Gene suggested Harry Zimm, the schlock producer/director, thought himself a bit of an artist and should have a goatee and capped teeth Rene Russo, Gene Hackman, Danny De Vito, and John Travolta in Get Shorty - Travolta was oblivious to Hackman mocking him In fact, he had a unique script. A week or two before starting a film, Gene cuts and pastes his screenplay, removing any descriptions or stage direction that a writer adds to help the studio understand a characters action, emotion, or motivation. While a writer might type "Go to Hell," Harry screamed furiously' in Hackmans script, it just read: 'Go to Hell.' He didnt want any f***ing sh**head writer telling him to scream furiously, unless that was a choice he made. The two actors, cinematographer, prop person, assistant director, script supervisor, and I had a closed set rehearsal. After working on the scene, wed open it up to the rest of the crew to watch a final rehearsal at which point the actors would get into hair, makeup, and wardrobe. The grips and electrics would light and put the camera in position. Travolta and Hackman were about to shoot their first scene together. 'Hey Gene. How was your weekend?' a charming John Travolta asked a very professional, intimidating Gene Hackman. 'Well, with eight f***ing pages of dialogue, I pretty much spent the whole f***ing weekend memorizing todays work.' 'Thats a waste of a weekend,' replied the charmer. 'Uh oh,' thought the director. Indeed, Hackman was off book knowing every line of dialogue. John, on the other hand, probably hadnt read the script since his agent made his very lucrative deal. Fumbling his lines, or forgetting them entirely, I could tell John had no idea how angry Gene was getting. I knew we were in for a very, very long day. What I didnt know was that in an hour my wife Sweetie would be in tears and the crew would be on the lawn playing frisbee, taking naps, and drinking coffee. The actors went to hair, makeup, and wardrobe, and the crew lit the scene. Sweetie, an associate producer on the show, stopped by the set, which was high in the hills of Malibu overlooking a sparkling Pacific Ocean. There are a variety of reasons why I direct standing or sitting next to the camera. Being close to the actors allows me to be an immediate audience. As soon as I call 'cut,' I can step in and give notes. I get a better sense of performance viewing the actors live than on a monitor. Sitting around 'video village,' as it is called, with producers, studio executives, and crew members, watching the actors on a television screen, can make you lazy, plus you are frequently offered unwanted advice. Hackman was off book knowing every line of dialogue. John, on the other hand, probably hadnt read the script since his agent made his very lucrative deal Hackman, Rene Russo, Gandolfini (left), and Delroy Lindo (right) were cooling their jets far too long waiting for John to come out of his camper John didnt realize Gene was making fun of him. Since Genes anger in this one incident wasnt directed at me, I thought it was funny My directors chair is a saddle on wheels. The saddle makes me sit up straight and is much better on my back than a sagging canvas directors chair. The twelve wheels [three on each corner] offer comforting stability and allow me to race up to actors without having to stand. The camera was set up for a two-shot master, which meant we saw Hackman and Travolta in the same frame. For almost any film, but especially comedies, you want the actors to talk fast. Comedies play best in master shots. Action and reaction in the same frame. The more you have to cut to different angles to create pace and performance, the more your comedy isnt funny. Pace should be created on set, not in the cutting room. Playing a scene in a master shot obviously requires both actors to know their lines! Unfortunately, while Hackman spent his weekend learning his, who knows what John was doing. Genes performance was fantastic, John was slow on the uptake and he fumbled and mumbled through the scene. Hackman was getting more and more frustrated with Johns delayed responses and lack of pace. The camera assistant announced he had to reload the camera and while that was happening, I got off my saddle and walked from the set over to Sweetie who was watching the takes from video village. 'Hackman is fantastic, isnt he?' 'Just great,' Sweetie replied. 'Really great.' 'Loaded,' the camera assistant announced. I walked back to the set. 'Roll camera,' I said. 'Oh, and Gene, stand up a sentence earlier on this take. I think it will be funnier. And, action.' At which point, Gene, instead of speaking the dialogue as written, screamed: 'You know what? Cut the f***ing camera. You truly dont have a f***ing clue, do you? Youll take advice from anyone. Youll take direction from your own f***ing wife! Dont you have any god-damn opinions of your own?' I turned to the first assistant director: 'Check with the caterer. See if theyre ready for lunch.' 'Ready for lunch? They wont be ready for at least three hours.' 'Ask them.' I was looking at Sweetie. She was mortified, with tears welling up in her eyes. 'Two hours, if they rush.' 'OK, everyone,' I heard myself say. 'Thats lunch.' As Gene was fuming towards the front door, I stopped him: 'Hey, Gene. One second. Just so you know. If it helps to yell at me this entire movie, go ahead. It doesnt bother me at all, so keep screaming.' 'What the f*** are you talking about?' 'I know youre not angry at me. Youre angry at John for not knowing his lines and you cant yell at him, since youve got to work with him for the next ten weeks. 'You know my wife didnt tell me how to direct, and I know you need to yell at someone, so yell at me. But please leave Sweetie out of it.' Hackman uttered the terrifying words that still give me shivers 29 years later: 'Come to my camper. Well have lunch.' In addition to directing Gene Hackman once, Ive directed Tommy Lee Jones three times. In many ways, theyre the same guy, although theyd hate to hear that. Rumor has it they despised each other while working on The Package. Gene and Tommy are both manly men: Gene flies airplanes and was a race car driver. Tommy is a cowboy. They also both happen to be great actors, and that throws them off. They hate being fussed at. Theyre not comfortable playing 'dress up.' They dislike people putting makeup on their faces, having lint picked off their clothes. But there they are, two manly, highly paid actors. These contradictions lead to self-hate. Sitting in Genes trailer, preferring to be anywhere but here, Hackman tells me he wears a hair shirt [a garment made from rough animal hair, usually goat, designed to make the wearer - usually British - uncomfortable]. My directors chair is a saddle on wheels. The saddle makes me sit up straight and the wheels allow me to race up to actors without having to stand 'You know my wife didnt tell me how to direct, and I know you need to yell at someone, so yell at me. But please leave Sweetie out of it' - Sonnenfeld with his daughter Chloe (left) and Sweetie (right) Gene is in constant, self-loathing pain. Fine for him, not so great for Barry. He tells me how much he hates himself, how hard it is to be him, and how angry he always is. Travolta and Hackman had other run-ins, but in every case, John was oblivious to Genes frustration and I took the brunt of his fury. The second incident was the next day, also at the Malibu house. I realized the only way I was going to have any pace, any chance of staying on a master shot, was to write giant cue cards for John. I had never done this before or since, but it helped. Hackman, Travolta, and Rene Russo are in Renes dining room. At one point John asked me where we were starting from, and before I could answer, Gene, pointing to the cue cards, said: 'Right here, John. Right at the top of your cue card.' John didnt realize Gene was making fun of him. Since Genes anger in this one incident wasnt directed at me, I thought it was funny. Not so funny was the last of Genes fury, once again with me as foil. We were filming at Abiquiu, a fancy southwest restaurant in Santa Monica. It was a difficult day with a lot of different setups, including a scene that had John pulling Jim Gandolfinis stunt double down a flight of stairs. The location was a very expensive rental and our hours were limited. We bought out their lunch service but had to be out by dinner. Unfortunately, Travolta had been nominated for an Academy Award for Pulp Fiction and he decided today was the best time to have various clothing designers offer up their options for his free tuxedo wearing at the Oscars. Hackman, Rene Russo, Gandolfini, and Delroy Lindo were cooling their jets far too long waiting for John to come out of his camper. My sciatica was raging. Finally, after the third time we knocked on his camper door, John came to set. I have never worked with anyone who loved being a movie star as much as John Travolta. Im not saying he didnt also love acting, but he truly loved the fame and glamour and all things that Tommy Lee Jones and Gene Hackman hated. John is charming and not self-aware. He arrived on set for the rehearsal with no sense that he had kept everyone waiting. He proceeded to ask the cast their thoughts about various clothing designers. Gene had no opinions. We finished a rehearsal, I dismissed the cast, and mentioned to the cinematographer and script supervisor that when we went in for Genes close-up, his looks to John would be the wrong screen direction and we would need an additional angle where it would be correct. Travolta (right) discussing a scene with Barry Sonnenfeld (left) In addition to directing Gene Hackman once, Ive directed Tommy Lee Jones three times. In many ways, theyre the same guy, although theyd hate to hear that. Rumor has it they despised each other Gene overheard me and, with the previous license I gave Hackman to yell at me, and given how furious he was at John, Gene started screaming: 'Find a f***ing camera angle where all my looks work. Im not doing a scene where only some of the f***ing shot works.' 'The truth is, Gene ...' 'In my entire f***ing career, I have never worked with a more clueless, inept director.' 'Actually, Gene ...' 'Never have I done a shot where only some of my looks were usable.' 'You know, Gene. Pretty much every day youve been on a movie set there have been camera setups where some of your looks were in the wrong screen direction.' 'Bullsh*t. Find a camera angle where all my looks work.' 'OK. Found it. Go get dressed and made up, and when you come back the camera will be in a place where all your eye-lines are in the proper direction.' I knew Gene would calm down now that he had vented. I also suspected he would forget our discussion about screen direction, which is exactly what happened. Adapted from Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood by Barry Sonnenfeld, published on October 1, 2024. Copyright 2024 by Barry Sonnenfeld. Used by arrangement with Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. All rights reserved. Hannah Norburn has opened up about the cruel online trolling she faced after appearing on the show, revealing it led to a significant weight loss. The Married at First Sight Star, 23, caused up a stir on series nine after getting involved with three different husbands before she dramatically quitting the show. In a new interview, the personal trainer has spoken out about the online backlash and how it affected her. Speaking to TOWIE's Bobby Norris on his Access All Areas podcast on Wednesday, she said: 'I will never be able to describe the emotions and how hard that was. 'I lost nearly a stone weight because I literally just didn't eat. I was so stressed. 'For me, I think because I did come in late, I mixed the show up. I turned it all on its head. I p*ssed everyone off. Hannah Norburn has opened up about the cruel online criticism she faced after appearing on the show, revealing it led to a significant weight loss (pictured at BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend event on March 11) The Married at First Sight Star, 23, caused up a stir on series nine after getting involved with three different husbands before she dramatically quitting the show (pictured with Stephen Nolson) 'I got it really, really hard, and I think the only thing that makes me feel really proud of myself is I genuinely don't give a sh*t what people think about me.' She continued: 'The weird thing for me was people coming for your appearance, and I was like I can understand you coming from my character and my personality, because that's on telly, but what I look like is kind of irrelevant. 'I was getting like, everyone was like, 'Your ears are huge.' And I'm like, 'No, they are, they actually are.' 'But I'm not bothered if the worst thing about me is my ears are massive. I couldn't give a sh*t.' Despite facing online trolling, Hannah expressed gratitude to Channel 4 for their ongoing support throughout the difficult time. She explained: 'I do feel very, very, very looked after by the show, even up until this day, I could ring someone right now and say, I'm in a pickle. I need some help, and that's amazing that they look after you that well.' Hannah previously recalled her 'absolute hell' of a girls' night when she appeared on the reality dating show last year. She joined the show as one of the latecomer intruder brides, initially tying the knot with Stephen Nolson, 33. In a new interview, the personal trainer has spoken out about the online backlash and how it affected her (pictured on MAFS) Speaking to TOWIE 's Bobby Norris on his Access All Areas podcast on Wednesday, she said: 'I will never be able to describe the emotions and how hard that was. 'I lost nearly a stone weight because I literally just didn't eat. I was so stressed' However, their marriage quickly crumbled when she was caught kissing Orson Nurse, 41, behind their co-stars' backs. Hannah then stunned viewers by arriving at the reunion hand in hand with Ryan Livesey, 28. The reality star lifted the lid on her nightmare girls' night out after her huge fall out with the fellow brides. The fitness fanatic recalled being 'screamed at for four hours' by the girls at the reunion and insisted the explosive episode was 'watered down in the edit.' She told The Sun: 'It was four hours of absolute hell on earth for me and I was being screamed at by every single girl apart from Emma [Barnes] and Amy [Kenyon]. 'Every single one of the girls came for me at some point. Lacey was being quite bad and got watered down a little bit. It was over and over and I cried and it was horrible.' She added: 'Im trying to move on, but it is really unfair for these girls to get away with how theyve treated people. I feel like I got bullied by the girls on the show and had a terrible experience because of that.' A Channel 4 spokesperson has said: 'The show is a fair and accurate reflection of events during filming.' It comes after Hannah lifted the lid on her nightmare girls' night out after her huge fall out with the fellow brides The show came to an explosive ending last week when the contestants reunited for two reunion episodes. The Channel 4 series was hit with over 500 Ofcom complaints after leaving viewers disgusted by bullying and rows. After the dinner party aired the regulator received 341 complaints and Thursday's final episode saw 187. Hannah's return did not go down well with the other girls who started a huge argument, which later continued to the final commitment ceremony. She had angered the female members of the cast who accused her of flirting with their husbands following the failure of her own marriage. She moved on to Orson and the pair shared a passionate kiss in secret. Stephen also attempted to form new connections in the group by showing an interest in Sionainn, who quickly knocked back his advances. But it wasn't until filming the series had finished that Hannah and Ryan got to know each other away from the cameras and formed a close connection. They agreed to attend the reunion together despite knowing their ex-partners would be present. Samantha Armytage has given fans a first glimpse at the set of season one of the Golden Bachelor. The television host, who will front the dating series, shared a selfie to Instagram Stories on Thursday as she sat in the makeup chair before shooting scenes for the series. The 48-year-old was busy getting glammed up for her role in front of the camera as shooting gets underway. 'Getting ready to bring you something golden' Sam wrote in the caption alongside the image. Sam was dressed casually for her styling session in a long sleeved blue shirt and a pair of jeans. She was in the process of having her locks tended by a stylist while she shot a mirror selfie. Samantha Armytage (pictured) has given fans a first glimpse at the set of season one of the Golden Bachelor. The television host, who will front the dating series, shared a selfie to Instagram Stories on Thursday as she sat in the makeup chair It comes after the very first Golden Bachelor was revealed. Cameras have officially started rolling on the Channel Nine dating show for older, single romantics looking for a second shot at love. Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal Barry 'Bear' Myrden, a 50-something infrastructure engineer and passionate sailor from Sydney, has been handpicked as the leading man for the upcoming Australian adaptation. In exclusive pictures, Myrden was seen filming the show in Sydney on Wednesday. He channelled James Bond as he piloted a retro Italian speedboat across the Harbour while dressed in a black tuxedo and matching bow tie. Myrden, a father of three and a respected professional in the tech industry, currently works in Data Centre Management for Woolworths Group. With decades of experience in his field, he has held senior roles at major companies like Macquarie Bank and the NSW Port Authority. But while his career has flourished, sources close to Daily Mail Australia reveal that his personal journey has been marked by tragedy - Myrden is widowed. Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal Barry 'Bear' Myrden, a 50-something infrastructure engineer and passionate sailor from Sydney, has been handpicked as the leading man for the upcoming Australian adaptation 'Bear is always complaining that his boys are saying that he is bringing around the wrong kind of girls that are just too young and hot for him,' one friend revealed. 'We were always saying that he needs to be put on a show like MAFS, so seeing him up for the Bachelor role is no surprise.' Despite his corporate background, Myrden is far from your typical office-bound executive. A passionate sailor, he has competed in high-profile races like the Sydney to Hobart. In one photo captured during one of his recent sailing ventures, Myrden looked handsome and rugged as he manned a yacht. Unlike The Bachelor and The Bachelorette which feature young men and women, the Golden Bachelor is targeted at a more mature audience eager to watch how those who have already experienced great love and loss are chasing companionship in their next chapter. 'Bear is not your usual reality TV type,' an insider told Daily Mail Australia. 'He's charming, intelligent and has really lived a full life. He's been through love, loss and now he's ready to open his heart again. Women are going to adore him.' Local fans of the The Golden Bachelor have been calling for an Australian version since the U.S. version premiered last year to critical acclaim Local fans of the The Golden Bachelor have been calling for an Australian version since the U.S. version premiered last year to critical acclaim. Producers are keeping tight-lipped about the contestants vying for Myrden's heart, but if the U.S. series is anything to go by the show promises to deliver a mix of heartwarming moments, deep connections and unexpected twists. In November, it was reported The Golden Bachelor has been scouting for contestants in a very unusual way. A talent scout for the show was spotted handing out business cards to attendees at Royal Randwick racecourse in Sydney. Casting agent Ivanna Tang opted for the unusual method of attempting to recruit racegoers to the upcoming spin-off show. Pregnant Olivia Culpo is surprised she got pregnant so fast with new husband Christian McCaffrey, a source has told DailyMail.com. That is because the 32-year-old suffers from Endometriosis, a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus which can make it harder to get pregnant, according to the World Health Organization. 'Olivia was hopeful she would be able to get pregnant in the years following her wedding to Christian,' the source stated. 'She was really shocked that she got pregnant just a few months after marrying Christian because she has Endometriosis. Is has been a sweet gift for her to get pregnant right away. She can't wait to become a mom.' Olivia married Christian, 28, in June 2024, she got pregnant around four months later and is now about six months along, the source shared. Pregnant Olivia Culpo is surprised she got pregnant so fast with new husband Christian McCaffrey, a source has told DailyMail.com. That is because she suffers from Endometriosis, which can make it harder to get pregnant 'Olivia was hopeful she would be able to get pregnant in the years following her wedding to Christian,' the source stated. 'She was really shocked that she got pregnant just a few months after marrying Christian because she has Endometriosis. Is has been a sweet gift for her to get pregnant right away. She can't wait to become a mom' 'The first four months of her pregnancy were difficult where she could not exercise much, she couldn't even go for power walks in her neighborhood, she had to lay low for the baby. But now she is able to do light exercises in the gym.' Earlier this week DailyMail.com learned that Culpo is about six months along in her first pregnancy. 'She started telling very close family members she was pregnant around Thanksgiving,' a pal told DailyMail.com. 'Olivia has done a very good job at hiding her pregnancy with baggy clothing and covering her tummy with purses. She even used her dog Olive to help cover her bump.' And the source added it is all she and Christian wanted: 'She is thrilled to be having a baby with the love of her life.' The source also said many fans have pretty much known that Olivia was pregnant as she started hiding her midsection in November. 'She used to flaunt her abs on social media and then in November, that was over. Fans were pretty much aware something was up and would ask Olivia constantly on DM if she was pregnant,' said the source. Olivia married Christian, 28, in June 2024, she got pregnant around four months later and is now about six months along, the source shared Culpo made the announcement on social media on Monday morning, posing for pictures where she touched her bump. She captioned the post: 'Next chapter, motherhood'. She also shared a video of her and McCaffrey holding hands and kissing during an outdoor shoot. The couple, who began their romance in 2019, are yet to announce the gender of the baby. McCaffrey is the star running back for the San Francisco 49ers. Culpo has been open about her desire to start a family with McCaffrey before but has also talked about her battle with endometriosis. In a 2022 episode of reality show Culpo Sisters she said: 'I want to have kids, but I want to make sure that I can. It could be really hard for me to have babies. 'Endometriosis can affect your fertility in a lot of different ways. 'You can have endometrial tissue growing near or on your ovaries, it can affect the quality of your eggs, scar your fallopian tubes. 'There is so much that I don't know about what's going to happen in the future with that condition, and I worry all the time about my timeline. I feel like I have to have kids ASAP.' 'Endometriosis wreaked havoc on my life' she said, adding that it took her 'years and years and years to finally get a diagnosis.' The star - pictured 2023 with McCaffrey - has previously spoken about her battle with endometriosis The Rhode Island native said she remembered 'not being able to function' and suffered the 'type of pain that kept [her] in bed all day,' but was not able to get an immediate diagnosis. 'I went to doctor after doctor after doctor, I was told by every single doctor I went to - dozens - that my periods were normal that pain is normal that discomfort is normal that I just need to take medicine,' Culpo said, noting that she 'was prescribed all sorts of things and the pain was not getting any better.' The one-time Miss Universe said she 'was almost made to feel like [she] was making up [her] symptoms and overreacting,' which was 'very painful physically and also emotionally, because [her] pain was never validated.' Wendy Williams sparked concern on Wednesday night after Coterie, an assisted living facility in New York City, called the NYPD over her dinner outing. The 60-year-old presenter - who suffers from Graves' disease and lymphedema - was pictured outside Coterie riding her mobility scooter, which was adorned with Chanel and Louis Vuitton accessories. For her outing, Wendy was dressed in a green graffiti-emblazoned bomber jacket over a black top, blue-denim Daisy Dukes, black leggings, and matching furry boots. Coterie filed a police report claiming Williams' niece Alex Finnie evaded staff by taking her out of the 'prison-like' building to visit an Italian restaurant. 'Clearly, they are lying to me when they say I can go out and do what I want to do,' the five-time Daytime Emmy nominee told TMZ. Alex added: 'I'm wondering how exactly that correlates with the statements that the guardian [Sabrina Morrissey] has made [Wednesday] that Wendy is able to come and go as she pleases and that there are no family visits that are blocked.' Wendy Williams sparked concern on Wednesday night after Coterie, an assisted living facility in New York City, called the NYPD over her dinner outing Wendy has repeatedly claimed she can only leave the fifth floor memory unit with permission aka an attendant unlocking the elevator, which is reportedly what happened Wednesday night. The 60-year-old elder law attorney was originally appointed by a Manhattan judge in 2022 after Williams' ex-manager Bernie Young reportedly raised concerns that she was of 'unsound mind,' which also led to Wells Fargo freezing her bank accounts. That same judge declared the former talk show host legally incapacitated last August - a year after she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, but she sounded a lot like her old self in recent interviews as well as the Tubi documentary Saving Wendy. 'She is in great shape mentally and physically,' Wendy's younger brother Tommy Williams told Us Weekly on Wednesday. 'Let her out.' The Paradise Boat Tours staffer was relieved after Williams went to Lenox Hill Hospital on Monday to have an independent psychiatrist conduct a cognitive test on her, which she passed with 'flying colors.' 'Now she has some direction and understanding of her functional abilities and cognizant abilities,' Tommy said. 'It's a win for Wendy, a big one. And she did it herself. It also shows she is fluid with her thoughts and actions.' Williams added: 'It's a wait and see. We want to root Wendy on. We watch and listen and cheer her on. And we are praying.' The New Jersey native and her caregiver - Connect Care Advisory Group founder Ginalia Monterrosa - are scheduled to speak with the ladies of ABC's The View via phone call this Friday. The 60-year-old presenter - who suffers from Graves' disease and lymphedema - was pictured outside Coterie riding her mobility scooter, which was adorned with Chanel and Louis Vuitton accessories For her outing, Wendy was dressed in a green graffiti-emblazoned bomber jacket over a black top, blue-denim Daisy Dukes, black leggings, and matching furry boots. Coterie filed a police report claiming Williams' niece Alex Finnie (L) evaded staff by taking her out of the 'prison-like' building to visit an Italian restaurant 'Clearly, they are lying to me when they say I can go out and do what I want to do,' the five-time Daytime Emmy nominee told TMZ Alex added: 'I'm wondering how exactly that correlates with the statements that the guardian [Sabrina Morrissey] has made [Wednesday] that Wendy is able to come and go as she pleases and that there are no family visits that are blocked' Wendy has repeatedly claimed she can only leave the fifth floor memory unit with permission aka an attendant unlocking the elevator, which is reportedly what happened Wednesday night The 60-year-old elder law attorney was originally appointed by a Manhattan judge in 2022 after Williams' ex-manager Bernie Young reportedly raised concerns that she was of 'unsound mind,' which also led to Wells Fargo freezing her bank accounts The former talk show host's younger brother Tommy Williams (R, posted December 20) told Us Weekly on Wednesday: 'She is in great shape mentally and physically. Let her out' The Paradise Boat Tours staffer was relieved after Wendy went to Lenox Hill Hospital on Monday (pictured) to have an independent psychiatrist conduct a cognitive test on her, which she passed with 'flying colors' Tommy said: 'Now she has some direction and understanding of her functional abilities and cognizant abilities. It's a win for Wendy, a big one. And she did it herself. It also shows she is fluid with her thoughts and actions' (pictured in 2022) Williams and her caregiver - Connect Care Advisory Group founder Ginalia Monterrosa - are scheduled to speak with the ladies of ABC's The View via phone call this Friday 'She is letting the public know it is unfair, it is unjust. She doesn't need to be in a guardianship. She is not incapacitated. She will continue to voice her opinion,' Monterrosa told Us. 'We'd love for her to be in an unrestrictive environment even at another facility where she has freedom to come in and out, see her friends, people can call her, she can have an iPad, she can use a two-way phone not just [a] one way [phone]. '[She has] the freedom to go to the store and supermarket, to go to the gym, to have a life and the things we take for granted.' Fashionista Anne Hathaway looked downcast and uncharacteristically casual while out in New York City on Wednesday. The Devil Wears Prada star, who is reportedly worth $80M, was a far cry from her typically glamorous self as she opted for an incognito look that kept her under the radar. The Oscar winner, 42, was seen sitting along a plant railing with her hands clasped around her knees. Hathaway has been busy lately filming Verity, the latest Colleen Hoover story to be adapted from a book for the big screen. The new movie is likely to ignite some controversy with the stars of It Ends With Us - the last film adapted from a Hoover book - Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni currently in legal warfare. Hathaway kept a low-profile with the help of sunglasses, a hat, while staying warm with an olive green jacket and coordinating trousers. Fashionista Anne Hathaway looked downcast and uncharacteristically casual while out in New York City on Wednesday Her outfit also contained a few quirky touches including royal blue socks and burgundy Adidas sneakers. A brown corduroy tote was slung over her shoulder. Hathaway's long black hair fell down her back while she appeared to be going for a makeup-free look. Generally the star is considered a fashion icon with her various show-stopping appearances on and off the red carpet. While Hathaway may be worth millions and famously played a character who underwent a fashion makeover in The Devil Wears Prada, in terms of style she prefers keeping it casual when she's enjoying a day off. 'I really seek and crave balance. There are so many aspects of my life that are so full throttle and exaggerated in a certain way that when Im not at work and when the stakes are not quite that high, I tend to keep it pretty simple, pretty nourishing,' she recently told Vogue. 'Very comfortable. But funny enough, Im not comfortable unless theres a little bit of edge there. Im probably never going to walk around the city in my sweatpants, but I will find something as comfortable as sweatpants. 'I definitely have an off-duty mode, but I do it in my own way.' Lately, she's been taking fashion inspiration from Gen Z. 'I know this sounds like Im super-pandering, but Im really switched on by Gen Z,' she said. 'Its a fun generation when it comes to fashion. They really hit it just right where they have a great time with it, but they define themselves by themselves.' She cut a glum figure whilst taking a breather in New York City Hathaway's latest outing comes amid a break in filming her latest film, the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover's book Verity. Hathaway has been seen filming the flick in New York City these last few weeks, including a scene with co-star Josh Hartnett. The film also stars Dakota Johnson. The Les Mis star was announced as the lead in Verity in November, just a month before the legal drama between Lively and Baldoni (who also directed the film) exploded. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit filed in December while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit filed last month. Baldoni has denied the allegations from Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made by Baldoni. The legal drama remains on-going. One of her most beloved roles was playing an assistant at a fashion magazine in The Devil Wears Prada Colleen is now said to be fearing for her future projects after her debut film adaptation found itself at the centre of a bitter legal spat between Blake and Justin, with the saga reportedly threatening the casting for her next film. The popular author, 45, scrubbed Lively, 37, from her Instagram account earlier this month, including a statement in which she described the actress as 'honest, kind, supportive and patient,' after quietly returning to the platform amid the explosive fallout. The ongoing saga has reportedly left Anne toying with the idea of pulling out of the upcoming adaptation of Hoover's 2018 psychological thriller, Verity. Insiders have told DailyMail.com that Hoover is terrified of the impact on current projects and fears it could be detrimental to future deals. 'The reason that Colleen scrubbed her social media accounts is because she doesn't want this saga to impact any future film deals that she has in place, or that she is working on,' an insider told DailyMail.com. 'Yes, Anne Hathaway was on the fence when the It Ends with Us stuff exploded. Colleen knows how devastating this could be for her deals. This is why you will not see her take any sides.' Ordinarily she is known for her glamorous appearances; pictured January Hathaway stunned at last year's SAG Awards in this royal blue gown Verity comes amid Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal drama, which began during the making of another Hoover film adaptation, It Ends With Us Colleen did support Blake during It Ends with Us and they did strike up a friendship. But she has also been friends with Justin for a very long time. Hoover and Baldoni had formed a friendship before he took the lead, and directing duties, on It Ends with Us. It would have never become a movie if it wasnt for Colleens friendship with Justin, a second source said. If it were up to Justin, the film would have stayed completely aligned with the book. Yes, Colleen didnt necessarily agree with the changes but even then, she took a step back and let it play out. Ultimately, she will have nothing to do with this and for good reason. She writes the stories that everyone is interested in telling on the big screen. At the end of the day, Colleen is still friends with Justin. She doesnt talk to Blake. Some people feel she is a sell out for not taking sides. With regards to Hathaway, they added: Colleen would not want any actors to shy away from playing a character in her adaptations because of this ongoing drama. This is another reason she is just not getting involved. According to Deadline, Verity focuses on a character named Lowen Ashleigh, a down-on-her-luck writer who gets an unexpected lifeline with a dream offer. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit filed in December while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit filed last month. They have all denied the allegations Verity Crawford (played by Hathaway) is a massively successful thriller writer, but her husband Jeremy asks Lowen to finish the final books in an ongoing series that Verity began after she has a mysterious and seemingly debilitating accident. But once Lowen begins work at the couple's opulent estate, she discovers a unfinished manuscript that threatens to reveal dark secrets about Verity and her husband's pasts. The young writer is forced to continue her work for Jeremy while trying to determine if Verity's writings are merely fiction, or a disturbing warning from a dangerous woman. Verity, which is described as a 'psychosexual thriller,' was self-published by Hoover in 2018. The film adaptation also stars Josh as Jeremy and Dakota Johnson as Lowen. Colleen, who holds the distinction of having the first self-published book to ever top the New York Times Best Seller list (2012's Hopeless), also self-published Verity in 2018, before it was bought by Grand Central Publishing in 2021 after it had already become its own sensation. Jay-Z's rape accuser is claiming that his private investigators twisted her words to make it look like she retracted her rape allegations in a taped conversation. Earlier this week, in a recording, released by the rapper's lawyers, his accuser, identified as Jane Doe, seemingly walked back on her claim that the hip hop mogul sexually assaulted her. In new documents, obtained by TMZ, Doe, however, told the judge that the two investigators, Charlotte Henderson and James Butler, showed up 'uninvited' to her home in Alabama. During their interaction, Doe claims she 'trembled the entire time' they spoke to her and she was in no way 'calm, natural or at ease' as the men described her. Doe also shut down their story that she 'told them four times Jay-Z was not involved' in her alleged rape following the 2000 VMAs in New York City. 'I never stated (whether once or 4 times) that Mr. Carter did not assault me,' she said in the documents. Jay-Z's rape accuser is claiming that his private investigators twisted her words to make it look like she retracted her rape allegations in a taped conversation (seen in 2024) In the tapes, obtained by ABC News, Doe can mostly be heard responding 'yeah' to their questions. At one point, however, she seemed to claim her attorney, Tony Buzbee, pushed her to sue Jay-Z. Now, Doe says she never 'made any such statement' about Buzbee to 'Henderson or any other person.' Doe also seemed to allude the tape was edited to paint her in an unflattering light. For example, Doe says when she asked the men 'how does this help me' during the conversation, she claims it sounds like she is asking what's in it for her. But Doe insists that her question was a response to Henderson allegedly yelling, 'We're trying to help you.' In the tapes, Doe alleged to private investigators that her attorney pushed her to sue Jay-Z, who is reportedly worth $2.5 billion. 'He was the one that kind of pushed me towards going forward with him, with Jay-Z,' she said in the recording. Jane Doe claimed in a since-dropped lawsuit that she was raped by Jay-Z and Diddy after the 2000 VMAs in New York City (Jay-Z and Diddy pictured in 2020) When investigators asked specifically if she was speaking about Buzbee, she said: 'Yeah.' In a statement to DailyMail.com, Buzbee said: 'I spoke to Jane Doe immediately after being contacted by ABC. Her position is very clear and has never changed. The tape is a pieced together fabrication. The investigators tormented and harassed and tricked that poor woman and took what she said out of context and secretly recorded her.' 'She stands by her claim that Jay Z was there at the party and that he assaulted her. She has never wavered on that point, not once,' Buzbee added. Earlier in the tape, when asked about her claim that Jay-Z (born Shawn Corey Carter) raped her at an VMAs afterparty, when she was 13, she appeared to recant. Per an excerpt of the audiotape, one of the investigators, asked: 'He was just there, but he didn't have anything to do with any sexual acts towards you?' 'Yeah,' Jane Doe replied after previously naming him in a sexual assault case, which was filed in December 2024 and dismissed last month. Doe also shut down their allegation that she 'told them four times Jay-Z was not involved' in her alleged rape following the 2000 VMAs in New York City or that her attorney, Tony Buzbee, pushed her to sue the star (Buzbee pictured in 2023) On Wednesday's episode of Good Morning America, Jay-Z's lawyer, Alex Spiro, detailed his efforts to clear his client's name and spoke about the tapes. 'People around Mr. Carter wanted to know what happened behind closed doors and, so, they asked for her to be interviewed,' Spiro said. 'The interview occurred and the tape speaks for itself,' he explained. 'She says -- in no uncertain terms -- Mr. Carter did not do this. It is effectively a lie. The only reason Mr. Carter is even involved in this is because she was pushed to involve him pushed to include him -- by a lawyer.' In a statement provided to ABC News, Spiro, also denied that Jane Doe ever had any interaction with his client. 'Mr. Carter doesn't know Jane Doe, never met Jane Doe. There's no truth to any of this,' Spiro said. Jay-Z said in a statement, last month after the lawsuit was dismissed, that it felt like a 'victory' Jay-Z said in a statement, last month after the lawsuit was dismissed, that it felt like a 'victory.' 'The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone,' he said. The 99 Problems hitmaker went on to reveal the toll that the case has taken on his entire family. The statement continued: 'The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed. 'This 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The system has failed.' He finished off the emotional statement with a commentary on the court system and sexual assault allegations as a whole. Jay-Z concluded: 'The court must protect victims, OF COURSE, while with the same ethical responsibility, the courts must protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence. May the truth prevail for all victims and those falsely accused equally.' Last month, it was revealed that Jay-Z sued Jane Doe and Buzbee as he claimed the 'lies' and 'extortionate threats' made by them led him to a $20 million loss and traumatized his family In February, it was also revealed that Jay-Z sued Jane Doe and Buzbee as he claimed the 'lies' and 'extortionate threats' made by them led him to a $20 million loss. The Empire State Of Mind artist accused the defendants in the case, in addition to attorney David Fortney, of 'malicious prosecution, abuse of process, civil conspiracy and defamation,' according to legal documents filed in Alabama and reviewed by Dailymail.com. In the legal complaint, Jay-Z says the defendants 'were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth and the most fundamental precepts of human decency.' Diddy's attorney has also released a statement taking aim at opposing attorney Buzbee which read: 'Today's complete dismissal without a settlement by the 1-800 attorney is yet another confirmation that these lawsuits are built on falsehoods, not facts. 'The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed,' Jay-Z said in a statement (Jay-Z seen with his eldest daughter Blue Ivy in 2023) 'For months, we have seen case after case filed by individuals hiding behind anonymity, pushed forward by an attorney more focused on media headlines than legal merit. Just like this claim, the others will fall apart because there is no truth to them. 'Sean Combs has never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyoneman or woman, adult or minor. No number of lawsuits, sensationalized allegations, or media theatrics will change that reality. We will continue to fight these baseless claims and hold those responsible. This is just the first of many that will not hold up in a court of law.' The accuser, who identifies herself as Jane Doe in legal documents reviewed by Dailymail.com back in December, had said the assault took place at a party after the award show. This Tuesday evening, the day before news broke of the latest development, Jay-Z was spotted headed to dinner at a celebrity hot spot in West Hollywood. HIs venue of choice was the upscale Japanese eatery Sushi Park, where he was accompanied by art dealer Jaime Frankfurt. Fans were treated to their first glimpse at Tom Holland in Christopher Nolan's big-screen adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey on Tuesday. The actor, 28, was spotted filming in Methoni, Greece for the action epic, alongside the Oscar-winning director, 54, and a slew of costumed extras. Tom was seen wearing a simple brown cloak and going clean-shaven for the role, as he stood on the parapets of Methonis Castle. He was surrounded by a number of extras, many of whom were clad in ancient Greek style armour, including feathered helmets, bronze breastplates and carrying spears and shields. While other actors wore the era's typical chlamys cloak and tunics, sporting scraggly beards and carrying bowls and wooden staffs. Christopher expertly directed his cast and crew on set, while period-specific ships could be seen in the harbour, ready to set sail for more dramatic scenes. Fans were treated to their first glimpse at Tom Holland in Christopher Nolan 's big-screen adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey on Tuesday The actor, 28, was spotted filming in Methoni, Greece for the action epic, alongside the Oscar-winning director, 54, (pictured centre) and a slew of costumed extras It marks the first appearance of Tom on the set of the film, with it being assumed that he is playing Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. While it has been confirmed that Matt Damon will take on role of the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, with the first look at him in his costume being released last month, looking every bit the tough Trojan Warrior. Anne Hathaway is also rumoured to be playing Odysseus' wife and Queen of Ithica, Penelope, whom he's eager to reunite with following a perilous journey back home. While Charlize Theron is said to be playing the witch goddess Circe in the 3000-year-old fantastical tale full of sirens and a cyclops. The star-studded cast for the highly-anticipated film also includes Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Samantha Morton, Will Yun Lee, and Mia Goth. While Tom's famous fiancee Zendaya has also been cast in an undisclosed mystery role, just months after the pair delighted fans by getting engaged. The InSneider reported that The Odyssey will have a $250M budget, making it 'the most expensive film' of Chris' esteemed directing career. The mythic action epic will also be shot using brand new IMAX film technology' and is already scheduled to hit IMAX theaters on July 17, 2026. Tom was surrounded by a number of extras and crew as they stood on the parapets of Methonis Castle Many of the actors were clad in ancient Greek style armour, including feathered helmets, bronze breastplates and carrying spears and shields While other actors wore the era's typical chlamys cloak and tunics, sporting scraggly beards and carrying bowls and wooden staffs Christopher expertly directed his cast and crew on set, while period-specific ships could be seen in the harbour, ready to set sail for more dramatic scenes It marks the first appearance of Tom on the set of the film, with it being assumed that he is playing Telemachus, the son of Odysseus (pictured October) While it has been confirmed that Matt Damon will take on role of the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, with the first look at him in his costume being released last month, looking every bit the tough Trojan Warrior (pictured) Universal Pictures confirmed Chris was adapting Homer's epic poem, which follows Odysseus' journey home after the Trojan war, at the start of the year . The studio said in a statement: 'Christopher Nolan's next film 'Odyssey is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. 'The film brings Homer's foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.' Tom recently admitted he is 'honoured' to be teaming up with Chris for the project, off the heels of the filmmaker's incredible success with Oppenheimer. The Spider-Man star said it was a 'phone call of a lifetime' when he was presented with the opportunity to take part in the forthcoming film. Speaking on Good Morning America, Tom gushed: 'All I can say is that I'm incredibly excited. 'And obviously honoured, but that's all I can say because, to be honest, that's all I know.' Asked if Chris was the type of director Tom would say yes to 'sight unseen', he confirmed: '100 per cent, without a shadow of a doubt.' Anne Hathaway (left) is also rumoured to be playing Odysseus' wife Penelope, while Charlize Theron (right) is said to be playing the witch goddess Circe in the 3000-year-old tale While Tom's famous fiancee Zendaya has also been cast in an undisclosed mystery role, just months after the pair delighted fans by getting engaged (pictured in October) The InSneider reported that The Odyssey will have a $250M budget, making it 'the most expensive film' of Chris' esteemed directing career (seen at Oscars 2024) He admitted receiving the news about the project reminded him of when he got the call he'd landed the coveted role of Peter Parker, that sent him to superstardom. He said: 'When the opportunity came in, it was the phone call of a lifetime. It was reminiscent of getting the call about 'Spider-Man' 10 years ago. 'It's an amazing thing for me. I'm super proud and I'm really, really excited.' Principal photography began last month in locations like the UK, Morocco, and Sicily, as well as Greece. And last week, film crews were also in the Moroccan village of Ait Benhaddou as cast members and extras flooded the area, including Christopher. The ancient Moroccan region is no stranger to A-listers and has also featured in the likes of Gladiator II and Game Of Thrones. The Odyssey is one of two poems attributed to Homer, composed around the 8th or 7th century BC and is considered one of the most significant works of the Western canon. It has been adapted multiple times over the years, notably with Ulysses, which starred Kirk Douglas and was released in 1954, while it also inspired the likes of 2000's 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'. Teddi Mellencamp shared a heartbreaking post about whether or not she should wear a wig or rock her shaved head - after doctors found five more tumors in her body just weeks after she underwent emergency brain cancer surgery. The reality star, 43, shared a split picture of herself with a blonde wig and without it - revealing her shaven hair. Teddi asked her Instagram followers 'Some days you feel like a wig, some days you don't. You're my bestie going to lunch... am I coming wig or no wig?' The star said in an Instagram post last week that doctors detected two more tumors in her lungs and three more in her brain, noting that she will immediately begin immunotherapy and radiation treatment. The initial brain tumors were found in mid-February, after she suffered debilitating headaches. Teddi has been battling skin cancer since 2022. Teddi Mellencamp shared a heartbreaking post about whether or not she should wear a wig or rock her shaved head - after doctors found five more tumors in her body just weeks after she underwent emergency brain cancer surgery Teddi shared a stunning selfie to her stories, revealing that she is doing a podcast episode her her podcast Two Ts in a Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge. 'Doing a pod with no hair made me a little emotional but figured for first one back I needed to be fully me.' She shared a selfie with her wig and asked followers to vote if she should wear a wig or not. The reality star, who is in the throes of a divorce from husband Edwin Arroyave, said she was 'feeling positive and excited' despite the heartbreaking news. Mellencamp also clarified in an Instagram post, 'These are all a direct result of my melanoma.' She continued, 'I am feeling positive that I will win this battle, that I got this wig (I like the short hair, just not the bald spots), and that I can remember all of Angelinas kids names.' Kyle Richards took to the comments to share a sweet message of support to Teddi. 'Gorgeous either way! I don't know anybody who could look as beautiful as you with a shaved head!' she wrote, garnering thousands of likes for her comment. Teddi shared a stunning selfie to her stories, revealing that she is doing a podcast episode her her podcast Two Ts in a Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge The star's pals all gushed about how beautiful show looked without the wig Emily Simpson from Real Housewives of Orange County also shared a sweet note, writing: 'The face is always serving.' Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jackie Goldscheider wrote: 'Your face is flawless. Both ways are gorgeous. No wig probably!!' Braunwyn Windham-Burke from Real Housewives of Orange County said: 'You look beautiful and you are a warrior!! Rock that natural hair!' Cynthia Bailey of Real Housewives wrote multiple hearts under the post - as did Larsa Pippen. Lisa Hochstein did the heart eye emoji and added: 'Both beautiful' while Ali Landry said: 'Beautiful both ways!!! I have never seen anyone look as good as you do with a buzz cut! Rock that look.' On February 12, Mellencamp posted a statement on her Instagram, revealing how long she's been dealing with all of these health issues. 'For the last several weeks I've been dealing with severe and debilitating headaches. Yesterday the pain was unbearable and required hospitalization,' Mellencamp said. She added that 'after a CT scan and MRI, doctors found multiple tumors on my brain, which they believed have been growing for at least 6 months.' She shared a selfie with her wig and asked followers to vote if she should wear a wig or not The reality star continued: 'Two of the tumors will be surgically removed today - the remaining smaller tumors will be dealt with via radiation at a later date.' Mellencamp paid homage to her inner circle standing by her side amid her health crisis. 'I am blessed to be surrounded by my children, family, friends, doctors, nurses, and surgeons who are doing everything possible to get me back into better health,' she said. She wrapped up in expressing her gratitude toward those who have supported her. 'Thank you everybody who has reached out, and to everyone who has supported me along this journey,' she concluded. Blake Lively's protective order in her legal battle against Justin Baldoni will not prevent the public from eventually gaining access to their private affairs. Despite the Gossip Girl star, 37, receiving a modified protective order by a federal judge on Thursday, DailyMail.com has learned the court limited the scope of the restrictions she sought. While both the former It Ends With Us costars' teams will have the option to designate some sensitive material to be restricted to 'attorneys' eyes only' (AEO), ultimately, if the case goes to trial, it's unlikely the court will 'seal or otherwise afford confidential treatment' for any documents that end up as evidence. This means that as long as the actress and Baldoni, 41, do not settle out of court, 'very few secrets' will stay hidden and 'everything will come out at trial anyway.' According to People, Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled that the materials protected by Attorneys Eyes Only designation 'can only be applied if their disclosure is 'highly likely to cause a significant business, commercial, financial or privacy injury.' In regards to the latest legal update, Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, told DailyMail.com: 'We are fully in agreement with the Courts decision to provide a narrow scope of protections to categories such as private mental health records and personal security measures that have never been of interest to us as opposed to Ms. Livelys exceedingly over broad demand for documents for a 2.5 year period of time which the court rightly quashed.' Blake Lively's protective order in her legal battle against Justin Baldoni will not prevent the public from eventually gaining access to their private affairs; Lively seen earlier this month He continued: 'We remain focused on the necessary communications that will directly contradict Ms. Livelys unfounded accusations.' Freedman also stated that he and his team will continue to 'oppose any efforts by Ms. Lively and her team to hamper' his clients ability to defend against her attacks by incorrectly categorizing important information as trade secrets," especially considering there were no issues in providing these communications willingly to The New York Times. Meanwhile. a spokesperson for Lively told DailyMail.com: 'Today, the Court rejected the Wayfarer Parties' objections and entered the protections needed to ensure the free flow of discovery material without any risk of witness intimidation or harm to any individuals security. With this order in place, Ms. Lively will move forward in the discovery process to obtain even more of the evidence that will prove her claims in Court.' Last week, Lively's attorneys claimed that without proper protections, Baldoni might tell the press about her security arrangements and her medical information She also feared her conversations with celebrity friends and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, could be leaked as well as details about her children. Baldoni's attorneys hit back and said that the idea they would do this was 'offensive' and said that Lively was asking for a 'different law' to protect their powerful and famous friends. Just weeks earlier, Lively asked a judge for a stronger protective order after receiving 'violent' messages. Both Baldoni and Lively previously agreed to a protective order (PO), but the actress has now asked for more protection instead of the court's 'model' order. Despite the Gossip Girl star, 37, receiving a modified protective order by a federal judge on Thursday, DailyMail.com has learned the court limited the scope of the restrictions she sought (Baldoni seen in 2024) In Lively and Reynolds' letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman in New York, obtained by People, the couple requested 'additional protections.' This includes 'an Attorney's Eyes Only ('AEO') category.' It applies to 'Confidential Discovery Material of such a highly confidential and personal, sensitive, or proprietary nature that the revelation of such is likely to cause a competitive, business, commercial, financial, personal or privacy injury.' The attorneys that submitted the letter for Blake and Ryan claimed that [there is] 'good cause exists for the Court to adopt the Proposed PO' and referenced to the star's recently amended complaint. 'As detailed in Ms. Lively's Amended Complaint, Ms. Lively, her family, other members of the cast, various fact witnesses, and individuals that have spoken out publicly in support of Ms. Lively have received violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications.' Justin's legal team responded to Blake's new protective order request in a statement and said, 'We do not condone dangerous rhetoric targeted toward anyone no matter the situation.' Last month, Lively and Reynolds (pictured in February 2024) asked Judge Lewis J. Liman in a letter for 'additional protections' They also alleged to have received similar communications amid the ongoing lawsuit. 'Anyone receiving violent messages by anonymous parties is abhorrent,' his team continued in the statement. 'When private parties were wrongfully accused by Lively and her paid team of wrongdoing, they received continuous death threats and visits to private homes where young children reside 'No one should have to face that, especially private parties who do not have means for security detail.' Upon filing her lawsuit in December, Blake not only sued Baldoni but also producer Jamey Heath, Wayfarer Studios co-founder Steve Sarowitz, crisis PR expert Melissa Nathan, Jed Wallace and his publicist Jennifer Abel. Along with his $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Justin is also suing the New York Times $250 million in a libel lawsuit after the publication reported on Lively's allegations. Baldoni (seen in 2024) and Lively have sued each other for defamation and claimed they both tried to destroy each other's reputation In February, Blake amended her complaint and claimed two actresses from It Ends With Us will provide additional evidence to support her own allegations. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jenny Slate - who played the role of Allysa in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel - had lodged a complaint against CEO of Wayfarer Studios Jamey Heath. However, in her amended documents, Blake notably did not reference Slate by name. Slate had allegedly held a conversation with Heath over her dissatisfaction of the apartment she was renting in NYC amidst filming It End With Us. Jenny, who has a four-year-old daughter, had explained that the space wasn't working out but felt like she couldn't find a different residence due to already putting down a $15,000 deposit. Health allegedly offered to reimburse the actress her lost deposit through Wayfarer Studios so she could move into a new place. Lively was the first to sue at a court in New York and Baldoni retaliated with a $400 million defamation case against Lively, 37, and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48 (pictured in August 2024) But Slate claimed that he used 'language' that made her feel 'uncomfortable,' and sources alleged 'he focused intensely on the sanctity of motherhood and Slate's role as a mother.' Following the alleged interaction, Jenny filed a complaint to Sony - the distributer for It Ends With Us. A separate source informed The Hollywood Reporter that Jamey recalls the communication to be very different from Slate's recollection. He has also stated that the production company offered assistance - which was then 'weaponized against them.' Lively notably filed an amended complaint late Tuesday night, claiming the two actresses on set also had uncomfortable experiences with her It Ends With Us director and co-star. Baldoni is also suing the New York Times for defamation for publishing a lengthy story about Lively's claims last December According to a spokesperson for Blake, the complaint does not name the alleged victim-witnesses or include their texts or screenshots in order to protect their privacy. 'Importantly, however, these victim-witnesses have given Ms. Lively permission to share their communications in the Amended Complaint as they are laid out, and they will testify and produce documents in the discovery process,' the spokesperson said. The complaint is said to contain 'significant contemporaneous evidence' that Blake was not alone in raising allegations of on-set misconduct, along with 'corroboration of her original claims.' It also reportedly claims 'evidence detailing the threats, harassment, and intimidation' of not just Blake, but 'numerous innocent bystanders.' In January, a judge scheduled a trial date for their lawsuits in March of 2026, and both parties have already decided to skip any attempt at mediation. Meanwhile, Justin's lawyer has claimed the allegations have cost his client 'a substantial amount of work.' Last Friday, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alum Isaiah Stokes was convicted of the 2021 shooting death of Tyrone Jones, and he faces 25 years to life in prison at his upcoming March 21st sentencing. The 45-year-old rapper-actor was found guilty of murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree following a two-week jury trial, which began on February 13. Isaiah - who's being held at New York jail Rikers Island - was barely recognizable at a pre-trial hearing on July 24 since he'd lost so much weight. 'This was a calculated murder. The defendant, a part-time actor, stewed for months after being thrown out of a [2020] birthday party for his own inappropriate behavior [toward female party guests],' Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz wrote Monday in a press release. 'Intent on revenge, Isaiah Stokes placed a GPS on the victim's car and tracked Tyrone Jones down to Linden Boulevard, where he ruthlessly shot the man 11 times as he sat in his [parked Jeep Cherokee]. 'My office is laser-focused on gun violence, and we will utilize every tool at our disposal to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those who use deadly guns on our streets. I thank our prosecutors and the NYPD detectives who built this case.' On Friday, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alum Isaiah Stokes was convicted of the 2021 shooting death of Tyrone Jones, and he faces 25 years to life in prison at his upcoming March 21st sentencing (pictured July 24) The 37-year-old victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest and was pronounced dead on the scene, and Stokes was arrested for the murder six months later on July 16, 2021. The Queens native portayed the character Tyrone Beckwith in one episode during season 10 of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which aired back in 2009. In 2006, Isaiah had a two-episode arc as the shooter who murdered NYPD detective Johnny Gavin (Dean Winters) in season three of FX's Rescue Me. In 2011, Stokes played the character Louis in the second season of HBO's Boardwalk Empire. The FONTY Records founder played two different roles - drugstore employee and spitting guy - during seasons two and four of disgraced comedian Louis C.K.'s FX series Louie in 2011 and 2014. Isaiah's last credited acting gig was in 2019 guest-starring as Mozzy in one season six episode of Starz show Power executive produced by 50 Cent. Stokes' last music release was the track Persona of a Hustler in 2023 under his hip-hop alias is I$AIAH. The 45-year-old rapper-actor was found guilty of murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree following a two-week jury trial, which began on February 13 Isaiah - who's being held at New York jail Rikers Island - was barely recognizable at a pre-trial hearing on July 24 since he'd lost so much weight Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz wrote Monday in a press release: 'This was a calculated murder. The defendant, a part-time actor, stewed for months after being thrown out of a [2020] birthday party for his own inappropriate behavior [toward female party guests]' She continued: 'Intent on revenge, Isaiah Stokes placed a GPS on the victim's car and tracked Tyrone Jones down to Linden Boulevard, where he ruthlessly shot the man 11 times as he sat in his [parked Jeep Cherokee]' The 37-year-old victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest and was pronounced dead on the scene, and Stokes was arrested for the murder six months later on July 16, 2021 The Queens native portayed the character Tyrone Beckwith in one episode during season 10 of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which aired back in 2009 Isaiah played two different roles - drugstore employee and spitting guy - during seasons two and four of disgraced comedian Louis C.K.'s FX series Louie in 2011 and 2014 Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis faced court last month after she racked up thousands of dollars in unpaid parking fines between 2012 and 2019. The former reality TV star, 36, appeared before the Melbourne Online Magistrates Court to address 44 parking fines, 10 speeding fines and a $14,000 toll bill. Kalifatidis claimed she was not responsible for the unpaid traffic infringements and blamed her ex-boyfriend Arthur Manidis, according to the Herald Sun. She told magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz her ex promised to pay the infringements himself. Kalifatidis alleged Manidis would often drive her car during their five-year relationship and later took ownership of it when she moved to Sydney in 2016. However, the influencer said she 'stupidly' never transferred the registration out of her name. Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis faced court last month after she racked up thousands of dollars in unpaid parking fines between 2012 and 2019. The former reality TV star, 36, appeared before the Melbourne Online Magistrates Court to address 44 parking fines, 10 speeding fines and a $14,000 toll bill 'Hindsight is a beautiful thing. He always promised, like, he's going to pay them He's going to go on a payment plan,' Kalifatidis told Ms Mykytowycz. 'But he spiralled and spiralled and it got worse and worse, and then we eventually just didn't keep in touch anymore. 'So I didn't even bother asking him anymore what was happening with the fines. 'Then we were in Covid, so I didn't hear anything from anyone. We didn't get letters [from Fines Victoria] or anything like that.' Kalifatidis went on to say she 'wasn't in a place where I was thinking logically' when asked why she didn't nominate Manidis as the driver when she received the fines. 'I just really thought he would sort it all out in the end. I didn't think it would get to this,' she said. However, Kalifatidis did admit some of the fines belonged to her, revealing she racked up parking fines around her workplace and received a speeding fine in 2019. 'I can't just completely say I didn't do any of this,' she said. Kalifatidis claimed she was not responsible for the unpaid traffic infringements and blamed her ex-boyfriend Arthur Manidis, reported Herald Sun on Friday Ms Mykytowycz wiped the fines and ordered Kalifatidis to pay just $2000 by May 20. Kalifatidis rose to fame on season six of MAFS Australia in 2019 when she found love with fiance Michael Brunelli. The couple are considered one of the few most successful couples to come out of the Nine Network show. They share one son named Lucius, who they welcomed to the world in February 2023. Kalifatidis, who made a living as a makeup artist, went on to build a career for herself as an influencer, model, brand ambassador and reality star. She rose to fame playing the prim and proper Princess Anne in The Crown. But Erin Doherty revealed her potty mouth to Today programme listeners tuning into Radio 4 on Wednesday morning. While promoting her new Netflix series Adolescence alongside co-star Stephen Graham, Erin, 32, became embroiled in a conversation about pretentious language used by actors. During the pre-recorded segment, she told presenter Amol Rajan: 'I think there is a weird cliche about being, pardon my French, a w***y actor. I get it all the time.' Her co-star Stephen, 51, chimed back with similarly risque language: 'I've been dying to say that word, but I've said pretentious all the time. I don't want to sound like a w***** basically.' Unlike television, radio is not subject to the watershed but the BBC has strict guidelines over broadcasting offensive language. Erin Doherty revealed her potty mouth to Today programme listeners tuning into Radio 4 on Wednesday morning While promoting her new series Adolescence (pictured) alongside co-star Stephen Graham, Erin, 32, became embroiled in a conversation about pretentious language used by actors The actress rose to fame playing the prim and proper Princess Anne in The Crown (pictured in series in 2019) Words such as w*****, t****r and s**g are deemed by Ofcom to be terms that can cause moderate offence, and therefore the BBC says that care should be taken when broadcasting them and require a clear editorial justification to support their use. When approached last night the BBC refused to say if any complaints had been received, but said that airing offensive language depends on the context and the programme's audience. Adolescence stars Erin as a child psychologist and sees Stephen play the father of a 13-year-old boy, played by Owen Cooper, who is arrested for the murder of a young girl. Last year, BBC Radio 4 presenter Mishal Husain stunned Today listeners when she said the word 's***' seven times in one minute during an interview with James Cleverly. The former Today host, 50, quizzed the then home secretary over his own alleged use of expletives that provoked national controversy during the tense interview. Cleverly had said he did not recognise claims that he had described the Rwanda policy as 'bats**t'. While he also denied calling Labour MP Alex Cunningham's Stockton North constituency a 's**thole', insisting he actually called the politician 'a s**t'. Questioning the politician, Mishal said: 'There have been a number of times now, recently, when things you have said have [got] you into trouble.' Stephen (seen yesterday), chimed back with similarly risque language: 'I've been dying to say that word, but I've said pretentious all the time. I don't want to sound like a w***** basically' Adolescence stars Erin as a child psychologist and Stephen as the father of a 13-year-old boy, played by Owen Cooper (seen in show with Erin), who is arrested for the murder of a young girl 'There was the time it was reported [that] you had called a government policy was 'bats***', there was the personal place you referred to in parliament that was a 's***hole'.' The BBC allows swearing when 'editorially justified' and is likely the word 's**t' was considered tolerable by the corporation because it was quoting a politician in a story where his choice of language was an issue of controversy. It is also not a word that is particularly offensive given it has no sexual, racial or religious connotations. Ofcom ranks 's**t' as 'medium' in terms of its level of offensiveness. This means it is 'potentially unacceptable' before the 9pm TV watershed. However, the watershed does not apply to radio. Last year, BBC Radio 4 presenter Mishal Husain stunned Today listeners when she said the word 's***' seven times in one minute during an interview with James Cleverly (seen) Celebrity chef Courtney Roulston has shared her recipe for 'Big Mac' sausage rolls, which she whipped up to celebrate the star of the AFL footy season. The 45-year-old celebrity foodie, who rose to fame on MasterChef in 2010, revealed the secrets behind the delicious dish on her Instagram. Courtney's recipe calls for seasoned mince, onions, cheese, pickles and mustard wrapped in crispy pastry sprinkled with sesame seeds. And to give the scrumptious treat an extra 'kick', Courtney has devised her own version of Big Mac sauce as a side dish, which consists of American mustard, mayonnaise, gherkin relish, white onion and paprika. The Coles ambassador gave the recipe a 'try out' on live television during a cooking segment on Seven's Sunrise earlier this week. 'If the [Sunrise] crew are anything to go by, then you'd be crazy not to shuffle [the rolls] to the top of your 'to-cook' list pronto,' Courtney gushed in the caption. Celebrity chef Courtney Roulston has shared her recipe for 'Big Mac' sausage rolls, which she whipped up to celebrate the star of the AFL footy season The Coles ambassador gave the recipe a 'try out' on live television during a cooking segment on Seven's Sunrise earlier this week She also shared a photo of the Brekkie Central team digging into her sausage rolls on set. Courtney first starred on season two of MasterChef Australia in 2010, but finished fifth before the winner Adam Liaw. She returned for MasterChef: Back To Win last year and was the second to leave the competition. Courtney was head chef for the Sydney Swans AFL Team for 11 seasons and has been a Coles ambassador for over a decade. The blonde beauty has also been featured as a host on Channel 10's food and travel show Farm to Fork. In 2014, Courtney announced her engagement to her long-term partner Sophie King. She revealed that it was Sophie popped the question while on a trip in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Courtney drew attention to her stunning engagement ring while appearing on MasterChef Back To Win in 2020. Courtney was head chef for the Sydney Swans AFL Team for 11 seasons and has been a Coles ambassador for over a decade. (Pictured) The chef and TV presenter's prized bling, by Fowler and Oldfield Ltd Diamond Merchants, features a vintage cushion-cut emerald stone, surrounded by halo diamonds. A thin band also allows the gemstone and diamonds to take centre stage. Back in 2020, Courtney discussed her wedding plans in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. She revealed she wanted a 'big party' for her special day, having never dreamed of an 'elaborate' wedding. She explained: 'I want something that is enjoyable, some really good food and some good friends. A wedding should just be a big party. 'I don't want a $20,000 wedding dress or any of that stuff. I am pretty old school.' . Austin Butler got a scare earlier this week after learning that his home had been burglarized. According to TMZ, police visited the 33-year-old Dune: Part Two actor's home in LA after his security team reported an apparent break in. Law enforcement forces said the security guards discovered a broken glass door on the home on Monday. After the guards investigated and entered the home they discovered that it had apparently been torn apart by burglars. However, the culprits were reportedly gone by then, as police didn't find anyone still inside the home once they arrived. Luckily, Butler who was reported to have split from Kaia Gerber earlier this year was out of the country at the time of the break in. Austin Butler, 33, had his LA home burglarized, law enforcement sources told TMZ on Thursday; pictured March 11 in Paris Security guards reportedly found a glass door shattered on Monday and discovered the place had been torn up. Police found no suspects in the home; seen filming in NYC in October 2024 DailyMail.com has reached out to Butler's representative for comment. According to the sources, he had been robbed and multiple possessions appeared to be missing. Among the reportedly missing items were a stack of cash and more concerningly a gun. However, a full inventory still needs to be completed to determine if the burglars stole anything else from the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor. Multiple LA based stars have been targeted for burglaries in recent years, and in some cases the thieves have used social media clues to determine when stars will be out of time for an extended period. However, Butler's minimal social media presence likely wouldn't have been much help in this instance. As of Thursday, police are still investigating, and no arrests have been made. It's also unclear if police even have any suspects at this time. Among the missing items were a stack of cash and a gun. Police are still investigating and no arrests have been made; pictured in December in San Francisco, Calif. Butler had a busy 2024 with roles in The Bikeriders, the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters Of The Air and the blockbuster sequel Dune: Part Two (pictured, with Lea Seydoux) Butler has lately been keeping a low profile following news that he and his girlfriend Kaia Gerber split last last year. The actor, who got his start on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, broke out in 2019 with his turn as a sinister Manson family operative in Quentin Tarantino's modern classic Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and he cemented his fame by playing the title role in the hit 2022 biopic Elvis. Last year, his crime drama The Bikeriders came and went without much notice, but he played a major supporting villain opposite Timothee Chalamet in the blockbuster Dune: Part Two that attracted plenty of critical praise. The busy year also included a starring role on the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters Of The Air. Late last year, Butler was reported to have been tapped to star in a new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' iconic novel American Psycho, with Challengers and Call Me By Your Name filmmaker Luca Guadagnino attached as director. A California Ferris wheel will soon take its final spin, and the neighboring Merry-Go-Round horses will screech to a halt. Playland, an amusement park that first welcomed visitors to its seven-acre lot in Fresno in 1955, has announced it will close its gates on March 30. The park opened the same year another California attraction saw its first customers 244 miles south: Disneyland. Unlike Disneyland, Playland was a cost-effective amusement park with fewer brand-name attractions. The local amusement park, featuring train rides, roller coasters, and a waterpark, prided itself as an 'affordable family fun for the current generation of kids big and small.' Tickets to enter the park ranged from $10 to $15. Customers would have to pay additional ticketing fees to get on specific attractions on the campus. But Helm and Sons, the vendor that has operated the park since 2023, told Playland's board of directors that it would not renew contracts, according to California-based Fox affiliate KMPH. A local low-cost amusement park is shutting its gates for the final time on March 30 - unless it finds a buyer The closure brings a dramatic end to years of uncertainty that saw the park shuttered temporarily, handed over to new ownership, and embroiled in a turbulent battle to stay afloat. Most of the rides initially shuttered in 2000, when California changes regulations around amusement park safety, according to SF Gate. By then, the city of Fresno had already stepped in multiple times to help the park pay for its liability insurance. Playland temporarily shuttered in 2015 as operators modernized the attractions. Then, it shut down again in 2020 during the onset of the COVID pandemic. It stayed shut longer than other amusement parks because the attractions required closer contact between park staff and customers. Helm and Sons stepped in three years later with a promise to bring new rides and longer hours to the park. The revised park schedule didn't generate the projected revenue, bringing the vendor relationship to an end. The attractions at the park were also old. Coasters at the amusement park had become too cost-prohibitive to fix Community members are hoping to find new investment sources to keep the park alive Because of their advanced age, many of the parts manufacturers for the rides are no longer in business. Repair prices the rides became cost-prohibitive for the vendors. Fresno's mayor and the executive director of Storyland Park, a neighboring attraction, both said they are in negotiations to keep Playland alive. 'We certainly hope it's not the end,' Cindy Lee, the executive director, told KMPH. 'Storyland board has been actively trying to come up with some plans [like] "what could the next Playland look like?"' Storyland Park, which opened in 1962 with a focus on childhood literacy, has noted an uptick in customer interest and has brought in cash donations from community institutions. But Playland's sales numbers have dwindled since it came back online after the pandemic. Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer defiantly told the station that Playland's 'story isnt over.' Dyer said the city is in talks to find investors who can 'recognize its potential and bring it back to life.' America's seventh biggest bank will shut 38 branches as it continues to roil from massive penalties related to failures in its anti-money laundering controls. TD Bank has filed notice with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to close locations across 10 states on June 5. Closures will include six each in New Jersey and Massachusetts, five in New York, four in New Hampshire and Maine, and three in Pennsylvania and Florida, according to The Philadelphia Business Journal. Of the bank's roughly 1,100 branches across the US, it also plans to shutter two locations each in Connecticut, Virginia and South Carolina, and one in Washington D.C. It comes as banks are shutting branches across the US, leaving communities without access to vital services. Experts are warning that 2025 could be the worst year yet for closures. TD ranked seventh in branch numbers and tenth in assets under management said the closures could lead to some layoffs of branch employees, according to The Philadelphia Business Journal. The bank has been in cost-cutting mode since an investigation into its anti-money laundering compliance efforts ended in October with a $3.2 billion fine. TD Bank has filed to close 38 branches across the US In February, the bank also brought in former chief operating officer Raymond Chun as its new chief executive officer The investigation revealed that failures in its compliance efforts allowed criminals to launder millions in proceeds from fentanyl and narcotics trafficking. It also found that drug traffickers were able to bribe TD employees in some US branches, Reuters reported. TD became the largest bank in US history to plead guilty to violating a federal law aimed at preventing money laundering. The plea deal also includes a rare imposition of a tight cap on its assets and other business limitations. In February, the bank also brought in former chief operating officer Raymond Chun as its new chief executive officer, replacing former CEO Bharat Masrani. TD did not directly respond to The Philadelphia Business Journal's question asking whether the branch closures are part of the bank's cost-cutting strategy. It said the bank 'regularly evaluates its physical store network and looks for opportunities to better align our network of stores to best serve our customers through an optimal mix of convenient TD Bank locations and digital banking products and services.' It comes as major US banks shut more than 100 locations in just three weeks earlier this year. Past and current CEOs of TD Bank Group: Raymond Chun (right) succeeded Bharat Masrani (left) as Group President and CEO of TD Bank Group at the Bank's Annual Meeting of Shareholders on April 10, 2025 Banks are shutting branches across the US, leaving communities without access to vital services TD Bank has filed notice with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to close locations across 10 states later this year Major US banks closed a total of 1,043 branches over the course of last year, leaving communities with dwindling local services Banks filed notice to shut down 107 locations between January 12 and February 6, as experts warn that 2025 could be the worst year yet for closures. Last year, banks closed a total of 1,043 branches. The bloodbath is set to accelerate in 2025, resulting in a further 4.11 percent decrease by the end of the year, a study from Self Financial revealed earlier this year. 'Retail bank closures in the US aren't slowing, and in fact our research shows that the last time this many people relied on a local bank branch was in 1995,' Darren Kingman from Root Digital - who worked on the Self Financial study - told DailyMail.com. 'There's no doubt we're moving towards a cashless society but this increase in people per bank branch and the fact over 200 million Americans still make cash deposits will only mean longer wait times in banks and a potentially a lower overall customer experience,' Kingman explained. Some 45 percent of Americans still prefer to carry out their banking needs in person, a survey by GoBankingRates found. 'The shift towards online banking is growing more intense in 2025,' GoBankingRates lead data content researcher Andrew Murray told DailyMail.com earlier this year. 'Despite the trend towards online banking, our survey data shows more than half of Americans are concerned about the rising number of physical branches that have shut down in the past few years,' Murray explained. 'Meanwhile, a whopping 76 percent says that the current banking system needs small or major changes.' More than half of respondents said they were concerned about the rising number of physical bank branch closures over the last few years. The deadly train hijacking episode has brought the regionas struggle to the fore The recent hijacking of the Jaffar Express in Balochistan marks another deadly episode in the decades-long struggle for Baloch independence. The attack, orchestrated by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), underscores the escalating insurgency in Pakistanas largest but most neglected province. The Pakistani militaryas swift operation to neutralise the hijackers may have ended the immediate crisis, but it has done little to address the underlying grievances that continue to fuel the Baloch nationalist movement. On March 11, armed militants targeted the Jaffar Express, a passenger train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar. The BLA demanded the release of Baloch political prisoners and individuals allegedly abducted by Pakistani security forces. Pakistani military forces swiftly launched a rescue operation. The successful yet costly operation highlights the deteriorating security situation in Balochistan and the growing boldness of separatist groups. The hijacking is not an isolated incident but rather a continuation of the Baloch peopleas longstanding quest for self-determination. Balochistan, rich in natural resources but historically marginalised, has seen multiple uprisings since Pakistanas creation in 1947. The roots of the conflict date back to what many Baloch consider a betrayal by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistanas founder. At the time of Partition, the princely state of Kalat, a major part of present-day Balochistan, opted for independence. However, in 1948, under pressure from Pakistan and with little international support, Kalat was forcibly annexed. This fueled deep resentment among the Baloch people and led to an armed insurgency that has resurfaced in different forms over the decades. Balochistan, despite being rich in resources such as gold, copper, and natural gas, remains the most impoverished province in Pakistan. Baloch nationalists argue that the regionas wealth is exploited by the central government, with little benefit to the local population. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has further intensified tensions, as Baloch rebels view Chinese investments and infrastructure projects as a means of increasing Pakistanas control over their land without addressing local grievances. Adding to the discontent are widespread allegations of human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of activists and civilians. The Pakistani state has often responded with heavy-handed military crackdowns, further deepening resentment. While the Baloch nationalist movement has waxed and waned over the years, recent developments suggest it is gaining momentum. The BLA and other militant groups, such as the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), have intensified their attacks on security forces, government infrastructure, and projects associated with CPEC. Targeted assaults on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan further indicate a strategy aimed at destabilising foreign investments and pressuring the Pakistani state. The hijacking of the Jaffar Express is a testament to the insurgentsa evolving tactics and growing audacity. By targeting civilian infrastructure and taking hostages, the BLA has demonstrated its capability to conduct large-scale operations, signaling an emboldened separatist movement. A military response alone will not quell the insurgency. Addressing the root causesapolitical disenfranchisement, economic marginalisation, and human rights violationsais crucial for any long-term resolution.The ongoing struggle in Balochistan is a reminder of the consequences of neglecting ethnic and regional grievances. Without meaningful dialogue and political solutions, Pakistan risks further destabilisation in its most resource-rich yet volatile province. The recent train hijacking may have been neutralised, but the broader Baloch insurgency remains far from over. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday received Mauritius' highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. He called it a tribute to the centuries-old cultural and historical bonds of kinship between the two nations. Modi is the first Indian leader to receive the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean award from Mauritius, which recognises his contributions to strengthening ties between India and Mauritius. "I express my heartfelt gratitude for being conferred the Highest National Award of Mauritius. This is not just my honour. It is the honour of 1.4 Billion Indians. It is a tribute to the centuries-old cultural and historical bonds of kinship between India and Mauritius," Modi said. Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest at the National Day of Mauritius on Wednesday, a rare repeat invitation for a leader which, officials said, underscores India's special relationship with the island country rooted in shared history, culture, and diaspora ties. Modi first received the honour in Mauritius in 2015, officials said. The BJP said Prime Minister Modi has emerged as a "phenomenal leader" in the world with 21 countries bestowing on him their highest civilian award so far and the latest being Mauritius. The officials cited several instances of Modi being the main guest at signature events of several countries to assert that the prime minister as a "global leader is shaping the rising influence of India" at international level. An official source said, "The 2023 invitation (to PM Modi) to France's Bastille Day Parade was another defining moment, symbolising India's growing military and strategic partnership with France. The sight of Indian tri-services marching down the Champs-Elysees alongside French troops reinforced India's role in global geopolitics." In 2022, official sources noted, Modi visited Lumbini in Nepal for Buddha Jayanti celebrations, emphasising India's historical connection to Buddhism and its shared heritage with Nepal. His visit reinforced India's role in promoting cultural and spiritual ties across the region, they added. In 2021, Bangladesh had invited him to its National Day celebrations, marking 50 years of its independence, an event closely tied to India's role in its liberation. His visit reaffirmed India's commitment to regional stability and shared prosperity, they added. In 2017, his visit to Sri Lanka for the International Vesak Day highlighted India's leadership in "civilisational and cultural diplomacy". By reaffirming India's role as a custodian of Buddhist heritage, he strengthened spiritual and diplomatic ties with Buddhist-majority nations, they added. Hailing the award, the BJP said "With this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received the highest civilian award of 21 countries so far, emerging as a phenomenal leader in the world. Recently, Barbados also bestowed on him its highest civilian award," party national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters in the Parliament complex. These 21 countries include Russia, France, the US and nine Muslim countries, he added. Trivedi further said, "This shows that under the stewardship of Prime Minister Modi, our relationship with various countries in the world have transcended beyond the utility factor of economic, military or diplomatic aspects. "Now, we have reached a different level in which various countries are feeling a very positive, sentimental attachment and respect towards India," the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said, adding, "It's a matter of pride for 140 Crore people of the country." Trivedi said Prime Minister Modi has received several other international awards including the UN Champions of the Earth Award and Seoul Peace Prize in 2018. "In our eternal concept of 'vishva bandhutva' (universal brotherhood), Prime Minister Modi has led India in such a way that the entire world is looking at India as 'vishwa mitra (universal friend)," he said. "It is a matter of pride for all Indians that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, we are not just becoming a ray of hope for the world and the driver of growth engine of the world but also an affectionate point of attraction for the most of the countries," Trivedi added. Syrian Pastor Slams Constitution Declaration for Lacking Religious Freedom Pastor Naim Youssef (left) speaking to Rudaw on March 12, 2025 and a file photo of the SDF-affialited Khabour Guards Assyrian members ( AFP) A pastor in Syria's Hasaka province said on Wednesday that the country's constitutional declaration, which was leaked earlier in the day and publicized on Thursday, fails to guarantee true religious freedom and risks deepening divisions by placing Islamic jurisprudence at the core of the legislation. Naim Youssef, pastor of the Christian Union Church in Derik (al-Malikiyah) in northeastern Hasaka province, criticized a leaked draft of Syria's constitutional declaration before its official announcement by the relevant committee a day later. In early March, Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa established a seven-member committee to draft a "constitutional declaration" for the country's transitional phase. On Thursday, Sharaa signed a draft version of the declaration. The declaration is set to guide Syria's transition following decades of rule by the Assad family and the Baath party. The committee told journalists that the declaration were based on Islamic jurisprudence, adding that it also stipulates that the president of the republic should be a Muslim. "It is impossible to talk about true religious freedom as long as Islamic jurisprudence is the fundamental source of legislation. This makes all other laws hostage to religious interpretation, which contradicts the principle of full citizenship," Youssef told Rudaw. Youssef said the concept of religious freedom in the declaration is nothing more than "fake freedom," explaining that "anything that contradicts Islamic jurisprudence will remain rejected." "True freedom means equality for all, but according to Islamic jurisprudence, a Christian can become a Muslim, but a Muslim has no right to become a Christian. This is a blatant contradiction of human rights," he explained. Many Syrians and foreign powers have expressed concern that the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the offensive that toppled the regime and formed the interim government, may impose strict religious rule and threaten minority groups such as Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites. Kurds in the northeast and Druze in the south have called for a decentralized and secular system. Youssef cited recent incidents in Syria where "interference in personal freedoms has become a catastrophe," saying Christians had been harassed for not fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Videos circulating online have shown purported Islamists harassing Christians. On Monday, Christian human rights watchdogs reported that at least four Christians had been killed in the violence. Assyrian and Syriac Christians in Syria have faced persecution for decades. Before the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Assyrians made up around 30,000 of the 1.2 million Christians in Syria, but attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS) and Turkish-backed militants have pushed the community to the brink of extinction in the country. Last week, Assad loyalists launched attacks on security forces affiliated with the new leadership in western regions. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Monday that around 1,500 people, mostly Alawites, have been killed by government or affiliated forces. Christian human rights watchdogs said at least four Christians were among the dead. In December, Sanharib Barsoum, co-chair of the Syriac Union Party, told Rudaw that the next Syrian constitution must guarantee the rights of the Syriac and Assyrian Christian minorities. Youssef also criticized the draft constitution's preparation process, calling it a "one-sided approach" that excluded key components of Syrian society. He said objections would be submitted to the relevant authorities once the draft is finalized. He voiced support for the recently signed deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damauscus. The deal recognizes Kurds as an integral part of Syrian society, includes a nationwide ceasefire, and facilitates the return of displaced people to their hometowns. It is expected to be implemented by the end of the year, according to the Syrian Presidency. "When a state includes all its citizens, the rate of extremism and tension decreases. The national army and security forces must represent all components under the banner of the nation, not under religious slogans," Youssef said. March 12, 2025: Iran is using their Fajr-5 Multiple Launch Rocket System to place naval mines in the Persian Gulf. This mine deployment has only been tested during naval exercises. If used in an actual conflict the mines would block access to the Persian Gulf. If Iran did this, they would block all their own oil exports plus unite all the Arab oil producers and their Western allies. Iran has already suffered heavy economic losses from Israeli airstrikes and its economy is wrecked and the population impoverished and angry. The Iranian people would blame their government, not foreigners. The religious dictatorship of Iran appears unaware of how much they are hated by Iranians. If there was a war the people would support the Western forces in the hope that their government, since 1979, would be overthrown and replaced by something more pro-Iran and pro-West. The list of problems in Iran is extensive. Since 2020 Iran has been accused by more and more nations of violating their laws by using Iranian agents, often from the Iranian embassy, to intimidate or murder critics of Iran who reside abroad for their health. This led to nationwide protests demanding that the Iranian government cease persecution of Iranians in Iran and overseas. A growing number of protesters are calling for the overthrow of the Iranian government. Despite all this, Israeli intelligence agencies, and those of many other nations report that the foreign intimidation program is continuing. One difference is that Iran is using more foreign criminal contractors to do their dirty work. These contractors are expensive and unreliable. A growing number of European nations have told Iran that they have run out of patience with Iran's insincere promises to halt its violent practices. Iran has always been adept at playing on the vulnerabilities of foreign governments and getting away with murder by offering apologies and promises to not let it happen again. Iran also disavows responsibility when the killer or kidnapper could not be identified. Iran has been getting away with this for decades. That success came at a cost. Decades of bad behavior at home and in so many other nations means that, as one would expect, you eventually reach the point where hardly anyone, including most Iranians, believe the lies and deceptions anymore. Iran became tagged as a known liar and terrorist state more quickly in some regions than others. It happened first in the Middle East, where Iran had been viewed as dangerous and untrustworthy for centuries before the current religious dictatorship took power in the 1980s and created an unprecedented number of Iranian exiles who fled for fear of torture and murder. Iran has no problem letting dissidents flee into exile as long as they do not openly criticize and oppose Iran from exile. In cases like that Irans new mullah regime felt justified in killing them. Some foreign nations shut down these Iranian terrorism efforts more quickly than others. Iran had more freedom of action in South America than in the United States and Canada and, in the 1990s, this led to bombing attacks on South American Jews causing hundreds of casualties. That temporarily shut down Iranian terror and espionage efforts in most of South America. The bombing campaign in South America was mainly about striking back at Israel, which long had the ability to foil Iranian efforts to carry out attacks inside Israel and even Iran attempts often resulted in devastating Israeli counterattacks. After the 1990s Iran made itself unwelcome in most of Eastern Europe for trying to kill local Jews or Israeli tourists there. China and Russia had always made it clear to Iran that any such violence within their borders would result in Israeli-level retribution. Besides, Iran needed help from Russia and China to circumvent the growing list of sanctions imposed by nations subject to Iranian state-supported terrorism. Eventually most of the world was off-limits, to one degree or another, to Iranian retribution operations. One exception was Western Europe, which had become the main target for Iranian intimidation efforts. Europe was, next to the United States and other English-speaking nations, a popular place for Iranian exiles to settle. European nations were also more willing than the U.S. to ignore Iranian misdeeds for the sake of continued trade. That was still true until the leaders of more and more European nations found they had no popular support for tolerating Iranian bad behavior. This shift became obvious after 2018. For example, in late 2019 Iran publicized its capture in France of an exiled critic, Rouhollah Zam, and accused him of spying for Israel. Zam was the founder of AMAD Awareness, Struggle, And Democracy news that was published in the Iranian language Farsi. What upset the Iranian government was that AMAD specialized in reporting details of corruption inside Iran. AMAD was particularly effective at identifying senior government officials, and their families, and describing how these families were living luxurious lives because of specific corrupt practices. AMAD provided details and it was obvious that Zam had inside information. AMAD did have a network of informants inside Iran. To safeguard his informants Zam used encrypted Internet communications to get the information out of Iran. Iran ordered its formidable Internet hacking personnel to find ways to get past the encryption and that had some success. But as long as Zam was a free man, AMAD was still an active threat to the government. In October 2019 Zam was captured when he was lured to Iraq to get such information, purportedly from informants who were reluctant to use the Internet. Zam was warned that this was probably a trap and it was. He disappeared in Iraq and shortly thereafter showed up on Iranian TV as a captured spy. AMADs role in exposing corruption was not mentioned. Instead ZAM was accused of spying for Israel and AMAD was described as a creation of France, the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies. Iranians who knew of AMAD did not believe this, but that was not the point. The Iranian government boasted of having identified and arrested Iranians providing information to AMAD. Few names were mentioned, indicating that few imagined foreign spies were unmasked. In the past Iranian leaders have accused rival politicians, especially those active in criticizing corruption, of working for AMAD. The point of all this was to discourage Iranians from passing on evidence of corruption to foreign news organizations, who would publicize it so that such news would eventually reach the many Iranians who regularly use the Internet to find what is really happening in the world, and inside Iran. Catching Zam and disrupting AMAD was nothing new but the operation against AMAD was the last straw for many European governments. The Iranian religious dictatorship has become infamously eager to take extreme measures to silence Iranian critics who live outside the country. The assassinations were often carried out by agents of the IRGC/Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. Quds is similar to the American Special Forces except that Quds helps establish pro-Iran militias and agents in foreign countries. Sometimes these foreign agents are used for assassinations or kidnappings. In Iraq, Quds can operate rather freely and probably handled the entrapment as well as kidnapping Zam in Iraq and getting him back across the border to Iran. By early 2020 Iran began to back off on the use of death squads after some of those agents were caught and European nations threatened retaliation. But less fatal operations continued and did not reflect well on the clerical rulers of Iran. European nations are, glacially slowly, coming to realize you cant trust Iran and that it is prudent to regard Iran as an enemy. Inside Iran, popular protests against the government have been going on periodically since late 2017 and even some elected officials, who are screened first by the senior clerics, are criticizing their government for trying to ignore or suppress some very real grievances. Most of the protestors are Iranians suffering economically. Most protestors blame the increasingly obvious government corruption. The government response has been to set up a special anti-corruption court which does prosecute obvious cases of corruption, but only non-government corruption. The most flagrant and hated corruption is found among the families of the senior clergy. These are the people who run the country in large part because the IRGC protects the ruling clerics from the wrath of the Iranian people. Despite that, the anti-corruption court is finding and prosecuting some major offenders. Over forty were sentenced to long prison terms and several were executed. None of the prosecuted or executed were among the inner circle of corrupt clerics or their family members. Those punished tend to be critics of the government who forgot which side they were on. The government has been particularly eager to shut down those who provide damaging evidence of corruption by relatives of the senior clerics. For example, in December 2018 someone put a recent photo on the Internet that showed Ahmad Khomeini, the great-grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini the founder of the Iranian religious dictatorship wearing expensive Western clothes and in the company of a female polo player. Ahmad Khomeini insisted the photo was stolen from a friend and uploaded to embarrass his father, Hassan Khomeini, one of the fifteen grandsons of the Ayatollah who had become too reformist for the ruling Guardians Council and was barred from running for election to the Assembly of Experts. This Assembly elects new Guardians Council members to replace those who have died. Hassan Khomeini is like his grandfather and lives simply but his children, like many of the descendants of the Ayatollah, exploit their family connection to get rich via corrupt practices. Ahmad Khomeini is now being called a luxury Aghazadeh, a derisive term for members of senior cleric families. This corruption is no secret but wealthy clerical families make an effort to not flaunt it, especially when the economy is doing poorly and most Iranians are suffering. This problem became more acute by the late 1990s. By then Iran's economy had become similar to that of medieval Europe. Back then, the Roman Catholic Church owned about a third of the real estate in Europe, the result of centuries of donations to various church institutions. Thousands of churches, shrines and monasteries had endowments, usually land, and serfs obliged to work it. This wealth could not be taxed and, eventually, greedy kings and needy parliaments seized the church lands so that today the Roman Catholic Church is a very minor factor in the European economy. Not so in Iran, where pious Iranians were urged to donate property to Islamic institutions. The less pious were shown unpleasant alternatives. As a result, by 2008 over 70,000 mosques, shrines and religious schools owned more than a third of the economy, paid no taxes, and even had their own army, the IRGC. Not all this property was donated, some was simply stolen. There's one big difference between medieval Europe and contemporary Iran. About a thousand years ago, to prevent clergy from passing church property on to their children, the Roman Catholic clergy were forbidden to marry. This was never imposed on Moslem clergy and, in Iran, the families of clergy have a monopoly on jobs and business decisions within the religious portion of the economy. All those assets are there to serve, first and foremost, the clergy and their families. This has not gone unnoticed. Before the emperor or Shah was overthrown in 1979, the religious assets were much smaller and were supervised by government officials. The clergy did not like this at all, and that supervision was quick to disappear once the monarchy was gone. Another post-Shah change was that, rather than wait for pious Iranians to donate property to religious institutions, the clergy seized the assets of wealthy enemies of the state and turned these valuable items over to religious institutions which they operated for their personal gain. The clergy try to portray themselves as pious stewards of these assets. The truth is less savory and is not invisible. All that PR and propaganda just enrage the population more. A growing number of people from these wealthy clerical families are trying to reform the system before there is yet another civil war, something Iranians have been noted for since antiquity. Such an uprising now would rip the country apart and probably leave Iranians worse off than they are now. These reformers believe that the violence could be triggered by something like photos of the luxury Aghazadeh enjoying the company of polo ponies and scantily clad women. It should be no surprise that many of the current protests call for a return of the monarchy. In part that is because nothing irritates the religious dictatorship more than calling for a return of the monarchy. The Shia clerics led a revolution that enabled them to oust the monarchy in 1979 and then take over the government in the 1980s. The current generation of Iranians is too young to have experienced living under the monarchy but it is clear from photos, videos and whispered confirmation from their elders that life was better under the monarchy even though there was always corruption, favoritism and secret police. In short, the Shah was never as crazy, oppressive or destructive as the current religious dictatorship. It is telling that the overseas Iranians, whose numbers have grown enormously since the 1980s, are organizing to support another revolution and many of the exiled aristocracy are involved, including the children and grandchildren of the last shah. Most protestors would settle for a democracy, rather than a constitutional monarchy. March 13, 2025: Military leaders, when faced with peacetime decisions on how to fight the next war, can never predict what will happen if there is a war. Wartime experience is something few countries seek. Russia is one of the few and deliberately invaded Ukraine in 2022.That decision was a lot more expensive in terms of Russians killed, economic damage and becoming a pariah state to most of the industrialized nations in the world. Some of these nations are seeking answers to what would happen to them if they were invaded from the last war they or others fought. For many nations there are important lessons in the Ukraine War and the Russian failure to win against its smaller opponent. One of the only positive things to come out of the Ukraine war was the emergence of drone warfare. Implementing lessons learned from the Ukraine war, especially the widespread use of drones, is forcing military leaders worldwide to rethink how their forces are organized, armed and trained. For example, a few thousand dollars worth of drones can and have destroyed multi-million dollar M1 tanks. The U.S. has over 5,000 M1s available for use. The Americans are not trying to develop and build cheap air-defense drones like those which are already being used in Ukraine. The United States could buy them from Ukraine or build them under license in the United States. There are some other issues. In wartime drone designs evolve rapidly. Stockpiling thousands of drones produced in 2024 and 2025 would create a problem when using them a year or more after 2025. The enemy may have built more advanced drones in anticipation of offing them in a surprise attack. The American stockpiled drones would then be less useful because they are older designs. This is especially true with anti-drone drones, a recent development that is still evolving rapidly. Meanwhile American defense manufacturers resist converting to drone production. There is less profit in cheap drones compared to multi-million dollar aircraft, tanks and air defense systems. It would take a wartime situation to force the defense firms to adapt to producing a lot of cheap drones. American attempts to adopt the new drone tactics and technology developed, and still developing, in Ukraine have encountered problems. First, the U.S. is not at war and the military bureaucracy has a peacetime attitude towards any new technology. This includes the use of drones in Ukraine and the flood of practical experience and solutions passed by Ukraine. Current U.S. Army drones, when used in Ukraine, often encounter problems the Ukrainian drones dont. In a wartime situation, Ukrainians have been quick to make changes until they get the results they need. This includes quickly designing and building long range drones that can attack targets deep inside Russia. These attacks have done noticeable damage to Russian military abilities. As impressive as these attacks are, can other nations reproduce the Ukrainian success? The American military may want to implement the lessons of drone use in Ukraine, but American defense contractors and manufacturers feel compelled to modify and improve what the Ukrainians have done while they adapt Ukrainian drone tech to something new which United States forces can use and Congress will pay for. This process tends to lower the effectiveness of what the Ukrainians have created, while delaying the product and enriching the contractors and manufacturers. The lesser effectiveness is usually revealed the first time American troops use the U.S. version of Ukrainian drone tech. Something is lost in the tech translation. This is nothing new. Its been happening for over a century. Adapting and adopting Ukrainian drone technology means there will be new drone modifications and upgrades for as long as the fighting in Ukraine lasts. These changes come quickly in wartime and always have. In Ukraine, drone designs can be changed in less than a week. This is usually because the Russians have gained an edge with one of their recent tweaks. While Ukraine has been in the forefront of developing and upgrading drone technology, the Russians have kept up. In war time you either keep up or become an inept underdog that falls farther and farther behind. The Russians have kept most of the time and, when they fail to keep up, suffer heavy losses. The peacetime American military has no such wartime feedback loop. If someone in the defense procurement establishment says the current American drone tech is good, it is considered officially adequate. Sending U.S. drone adaptations to Ukraine for testing takes place, but often over the objections of some U.S. manufacturers. When tested in combat, some of the U.S. drones fail to deliver. When the Ukraine war ends, there will be no way to adequately test American drones. There may be other wars where American troops are involved and able to test the new drones. But it wont be in the intensely competitive atmosphere the Ukrainians and Russians created. Ukraine has been writing the book on drone technology since 2022, with Russia contributing edits in real time. When that atmosphere is not present, the speed of developing new tech or maintaining current drones slows down a lot. This process is at work now as the U.S. Army orders drones based on Ukrainian designs. The American military procurement bureaucracy is infamously slow in adopting and manufacturing new weapons. This is especially true if a weapon was not invented by an American weapons manufacturer. It is feared that the Ukrainian drone revolution will be equally slow in actually reaching Americans soldiers and marines. Many military and Defense Department civilians are aware of this problem and see the drone development and procurement program as an opportunity to show that the United States can do it right and quickly. It is said that the Ukrainians suggested that the Americans have a toy company manufacture their drones because they are more efficient than the usual defense firms. Also, the toy companies have spare capacity for months before they have to start making toys for the holidays. Early in the war Ukraine relied on civilians in home workshops to design and build drones. Now that Ukraine is building millions of drones a year, most are built in underground factories. Drone manufacturing is a prime target for Russian drones and ballistic missiles. In early 2024 Ukraine created a new branch of their military, the Unmanned Systems Force or USF. This is in addition to the army, navy and air force. The USF does not control the drones which Ukrainian forces use regularly but instead contributes to developing new drone models and organizes mass production for those new models that are successful. The U.S. military took note of this but acting on it takes a lot longer for a peacetime military. Drones were an unexpected development that had a huge impact on how battles in Ukraine's current war are fought. Drones were successful because they were cheap, easily modified, and expendable. Modifications and upgrades could be implemented quickly and inexpensively Both Russian and Ukrainian forces were soon using cheap quadcopter drones controlled by soldiers a few kilometers distant using First Person Viewing or FPV goggles to see what the day/night video camera on the drone can see. These drones cost a few hundred dollars each with the most complex models going for about a thousand dollars. Most of these drones carry half a kilogram of explosives, so it can instantly turn the drone into a flying bomb that can fly into a target and detonate. Some drones carry more explosives depending on what is needed to deal with a target. These drones are awesome and debilitating weapons when used in large numbers. If a target isnt moving or requires more explosive power that the drones can supply, one of the drone operators can call in artillery, rocket, or missile fire, or even an airstrike. A major limitation to the expansion of drone operations is the need for trained drone operators. As operators spend more hours operating drones in combat, the number of new lessons learned and applied increases. Fortunately, adults or kids who play video games a lot are already trained. Ukrainian drone operators tend to use commercial game controllers. This is why, when Ukraine recruits new drone operators, they favor those with video game experience. The small drones are difficult to shoot down so most of these drones are able to complete their mission, whether it is a one-way attack or reconnaissance and surveillance. The recon missions are usually survivable and enable the drone to be reused. All these drones are constantly performing surveillance, which means that both sides commit enough drones to maintain constant surveillance over a portion of the front line, to a depth, into enemy territory, of at least a few kilometers. Longer range drones can track Russian operations hundreds of kilometers behind the front lines. This massive use of FPV-armed drones has revolutionized warfare in Ukraine and both sides are producing as many as they can. Russia initially produced its own drones now after briefly using imported Iranian Shahed-136 drones that cost over $100,000 each. Ukraine demonstrated that you could design and build drones with similar capabilities at less than a tenth of that. The Iranian drone was more complex than it needed to be, and even the Russians soon realized this and turned from the Shahed-136 for more capable drones they copied from Ukrainian designs or their own. Military leaders in other nations have noted this and are scrambling to equip their own forces with the most effective drones. Not having enough of these to match the number the enemy has in a portion of the front means you are at a serious disadvantage in that area. These drones are still evolving in terms of design and use and are becoming more effective and essential. One countermeasure that can work for a while is electronic jamming of the drones control signal. Drone guidance systems are constantly modified or upgraded to cope with this. Most drones have flight control software that sends drones with jammed control signals back to where they took off to land for reuse. The jammers on the ground can be attacked by drones programmed to home in on the jamming signal. Countermeasures can be overcome and the side that can do this more quickly and completely has an advantage. That advantage is usually temporary because both sides are putting a lot of effort into keeping their combat drones effective on the battlefield. Im gonna call Putin a doo doo face, or maybe something like poop noggin! Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The president wants Russian president Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, but it seems the Russians are dragging their feet. Practising in front of a mirror, The Donald pointed and said, Mangy pinko Russkie! Yeah, Im talkin to you. No one else in this room! Wanna play with the US of A? Dumbass vodka swilling borscht eating Russian dumbo! One of the reporters asked the president if this sort of thing would put Putin in line. Eh, Im walkin and talkin here! Im a New Yorker! We dont take shit from no one, and that includes my pal Putin! Looks like Vlad the Butcher better get his warmongering ways in order pronto and agree to a Ukraine ceasefire because it is clear to see here that Trump means business. FAFO. Sex. White women. What is the most popular subject on the internet? Adult material of course. Millions of men in Third World countries see the West first through the eyes of the internet, and they see white women as an important prize, of great status. They want to exercise their virility, to defile and to lord over something that is viewed by many of their compatriots as unattainable. This is why illegal immigrants and asylum seekers made up solely of single men see Europe as a magnet. The West is no doubt being invaded, and the socialists and communists have welcomed the destruction of Western culture and society with abject glee by opening borders to all and sundry. This is why the mass rape incident with the Rotherham grooming gangs, where Pakistani rapists had their way with English girls treating them like sub-human species, was covered up by the Labour government and by the CPS at the time. The biggest and most satisfying prize of all are Swedish or Scandinavian women, who are viewed by the Third World illegal immigrants as easy prey. For them, the status symbol of bagging one of these types of women is beyond god status. The socialist open door policy in places like Sweden was an open invitation for millions of men from Third World countries to dip their wicks and defile an entire new gene pool. To impregnate a white woman of such stature is even more delightsome because Third Worlders view this as conquest, of spreading their seed into the very den of the enemy, to muddy the waters of the beloved and sacred Aryan waters of purity. At the rate Sweden and the UK, and much of Europe is going, the indigenous race of the continent will be integrated into the Third World in less than 10 years, although some speculate it already has been irreparably lost. What took thousands of years of selective breeding within essentially closed European cultures is thus being undone in mere decades by a deluge of young dark virile breeders from the Third World who have come to the West to do some serious fucking. This is digging for gold time, and indigenous European women are the pussy gold mine. Whilst most Western men are now effete or mostly LGBTQP aficionados, the guys coming into Europe are doing considerable amounts of copulation on the population of indigenous European women, who seem to be all too willing to receive any kind of real masculine attention. The indigenous men in the West have been deliberately emasculated through decades of woke communist indoctrination by their own governments and NGOs, and now many Western men are deemed as useless when it comes to reproduction. The fertlity rate statistics within European countries backs this theory up. The doors of the West are now wide open, and so are the thighs of European women who are encouraged by their woke educators to integrate with the black seed. Welcome, they say, the Channel Tunnel of love is ready to receive the rock hard train from Djibouti. This is why when you see another overloaded rubber dinghy coming across the waters, escorted by the Royal Navy, the smiles on those faces in the dinghies are so wide, they seem to stretch across the entirety of their faces. This is their home now, this is heaven for illegal immigrants, and theyre going to do some serious fucking of white women. Digging for diamonds, digging for gold with their dirty shovels within those legs spread akimbo. You want me to pretend to convert to Christianity? No problem, I will pretend to do that, and I will fuck your daughters too. These guys just won the lottery 100,000 times over, they will get a free place to live, free food, and so much white pussy, a mountain of it, to spread their genes far and wide in a place that used to be unattainable, Shangri-La. Rape by illegal migrants and asylum seekers is also protected, because no one can deport these guys, the ECHR or one of the corrupt leftist lawyers or judges will stop it. Hunker down, dig those toes in Its gonna be Hamma Time! Europe is getting fucked BIG TIME. French girls dance for fake asylum seekers. How will this story end? pic.twitter.com/IpZrL5QlFO RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) March 12, 2025 March 13, 2025: With all the personnel, ship building and deployment problems the U.S. Navy has, arguments over what to name ships should not be a problem. But it sometimes is. In the beginning the first president, George Washington, named the first six American frigates Chesapeake, Constitution, President, United States, Congress and Constellation. These ships were expensive, as in nearly $20 billion in 2025 currency. From then until the 1970s battleships were named for states, aircraft carriers for American Revolution battles Lexington or Saratoga, as well as military terms like Ranger, which refers to a form of elite infantry. Bonhomme Richard honored a successful warship of the American revolution. Cruisers were named for cities and towns, destroyers in honor of American Navy and Marine Corps heroes and submarines after fish. Many of the first American submarines built before World War II were given names consisting of a letter and a number, like L-3. These subs quickly acquired informal names used by the crew. Eventually U.S. submarines were all named after fish, in addition to a letters-number designation like SS-168 for the USS Nautilus. This sub served in the Pacific and was decommissioned and scrapped right after the war. The first nuclear powered sub was the Nautilus, which entered service in 1954 and was decommissioned in 1980. Nearly all subsequent nuclear powered attack subs, or SSNs, were named after fish. The larger ballistic missile carrying SSBNs were named after famous Americans like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In 1984 an SSN was named after Admiral Rickover, the man behind the nuclear submarine program. Rickover was still alive when his namesake submarine entered service. Rickover was the first to be so honored. In 1974 Carl Vinson, a member of Congress had a ship named after him, but he died before the ship was commissioned. So far 21 US Navy ships have been named after people still alive. The navy had banned that practice in 1969 but in 1974 President Nixon revived the practice. Most recently a SSN was named after the still living former President Jimmy Carter, who was scheduled to serve on one when his father died and he left the Navy to take over his familys business. Ship naming practices continue to be controversial. Many navy personnel, active and retired, believe ships should be named after American heroes, not politicians. All this goes back to the period right after World War II, when the military procurement system became more corrupt, largely the result of so much more being spent on defense. One aspect of that corruption was the growing custom of naming major warships after influential politicians. This was a way for the navy, and warship builders, to curry more favor and money from Congress. The worst example of this was the Nimitz class carriers, which could also be called the Politician Class. All but one of the ten carriers was named after political figures that helped the navy. The sole exception was the lead ship, which was named after the World War II Pacific commander, Admiral Chester Nimitz. The successor to the Nimitz class continues the tradition, being named after President Gerald Ford. But at least Ford served with distinction on light carrier USS Monterey during World War II. The most debased example of using warship names to attract political favor, and defense dollars, was the 2010 U.S. Navy decision to name an amphibious ship, LPD 26 after a recently deceased member of Congress, John Murtha. This really angered the troops, especially marines. That was ironic, as Murtha had spent 37 years in the marines, 33 of them in the reserves. He served a year in Vietnam as a staff officer. He parlayed that military experience into a political career, first at the state level then in Washington. Murtha was known as a particularly easy guy to do business with and a supreme opportunist. He was nicknamed the King of Pork for his ability to get projects, often useless but lucrative ones, approved for his district. What made Murtha especially unpopular with the marines was his willingness to join the chorus of accusers condemning seven marines accused of murdering Iraqis in 2005. All but one of the accused eventually had the charges dismissed or were acquitted. It was a witch hunt and marines saw Murtha as one of the more eager hunters. Murtha had also been in trouble before on ethics issues and was known to play dirty when it suited his purposes. But people like Murtha loved to spend federal money, especially for the navy and marines. So while most sailors and marines loathed the man, the brass were more respectful and held firm on the decision to name an amphibious ship after him. by Austin Bay March 12, 2025 Late on March 11, the Trump administration announced Ukraine had agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine War. A joint American-Ukrainian statement said the U.S. will "immediately" resume full intelligence sharing and military-security aid to Ukraine. The Trump administration also said Ukraine had agreed to the strategic minerals deal President Donald Trump offered as payment for U.S. financial and material support. Trump makes the case that the deal serves as an informal security guarantee for Ukraine -- meaning the minerals-for-support deal tells Moscow the U.S. has a strategic interest in peace, in Ukraine's political existence, in Ukraine's economic viability and in its independence from Moscow's destructive absorption and totalitarian corruption. The deep logic behind Trump's deal is based on historical common sense that even a megalomaniac like Russian dictator Vladimir Putin should grasp: Peace empowers genuine economic viability and sustainability. Why? War kills workers and consumers (human beings), destroys railroads and sinks ships (disrupts economic supply chains) and, in the case of U.S. access to Ukrainian strategic minerals in which it now has an international agreement ownership interest, presents Putin with the threat of U.S. economic sanctions and -- the clincher -- possible armed conflict with the U.S. if he continues to wage war. If you think Trump's multivalent diplomatic gambit is all minerals, money and diplo-speak, then you haven't been paying detailed attention to the military muscle. The Barents Observer reported on March 7 that on March 6, Finnish F/A-18 fighters escorted two USAF B-52s into the Arctic Circle on a so-called training mission. A video "by the Finnish Air Force, filmed from cockpit of a F/A-18, shows one of the B-52(s) releasing a guided JDAM bomb. Shortly after, a giant blast can be seen at a designated target in the taiga-forest within the Rovanjarvi firing range." NATO ally training missions take place year-round, but U.S. heavy bombers dropping live bombs? Most unusual. The Pentagon confirmed that "B-52 bombers carried out air-to-ground drops now for the first time in Finland." Rovanjarvi is 100 miles from the Finnish-Russian border. Translation: The U.S. staged a strategic firepower display near northern Russian airbases that now harbor at least half of Russia's strategic bomber forces. To evade Ukrainian drones, Russia withdrew its big bombers to airbases in the east (Urals) and north near Finland and the Barents Sea. The Barents Sea is an arm of the Arctic Ocean east of Greenland. Trump has already made it clear he's interested in defending Greenland against Russia and China. The B-52 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) exercise demonstrated the U.S. can destroy Russian air and naval assets quickly and decisively. This is a form of coercive diplomacy fossil media misses but Russian intelligence and Putin don't. Why is Trump's deal good for Ukraine? Brave Ukraine is near manpower exhaustion. In the last two weeks, both The London Telegraph and The Economist have described Ukraine's manpower situation as dire. On Feb. 26, The Economist reported, "Where it matters -- on the front line, in the trenches -- Russia is replacing its losses much faster than Ukraine." On March 11, a Telegraph correspondent reported, "Ukrainians are exhausted from three years of fighting." The Telegraph's headline: "Ukraine is losing a generation in war against Russia." The conditions recall the April 1917 French Army "mutiny" following the Allies' failed Second Battle of the Aisne (Nivelle Offensive). By early 1917, nearly 1 million French soldiers had been killed out of a pre-war population of 20 million men (all ages). After the offensive failed, about half of France's infantry divisions refused orders to continue to attack. Ukraine March 2025 hasn't reached the desperation of France April 1917. But Ukraine risks buckling and suddenly losing it all. I think this is Trump's bet. A ceasefire and fragile peace stabilize Ukraine. Ukraine begins rebuilding. As for Russia? Its economic decline continues. Western Europe wises up and reliance on Russian energy diminishes. The Green Revolution is spent -- even the Germans turn on the nuclear power. Putin dies in four to five years. Now let's talk about Crimea. Lisneal College Derry is set to host an event celebrating Ghanas 68th Independence Day. Hosted by the Ghanaian Community Northern Ireland, the celebration will take place on March 29. The independence day of Ghana is celebrated annually on March 6 to mark the day the West African nation declared their independence from British colonial rule in 1957. Sandra Atoge, chairperson of the Ghanaian Community NI, said: Ghanaian Independence Day in Northern Ireland is a beautiful fusion of culture, community, and pride. Its a day filled with rich traditional music, dance, colourful attire, authentic Ghanaian cuisine, and, most importantly, a strong sense of unity. We celebrate not just our freedom as a nation, but the strength and contributions of our people here in Northern Ireland. Its an opportunity to showcase our heritage, build intercultural bridges, and connect generations. Our independence celebration is one of many ways we continue to share, preserve, and celebrate our identity while building bridges across cultures. The Ghanaian community in Northern Ireland has steadily grown over the last two decades as professionals, students, and families have moved to this part of the world for opportunities. Derry is one particular area that has seen the Ghanaian community grow and thrive, with this being the reason why Lisneal College was chosen to host the celebration. Sandra said: Derry holds a special place in our heartsits not just a city we live in; its a city we serve. Many members of the Ghanaian community here work as nurses and carers in local care homes and hospitals, playing a vital role in supporting the elderly and contributing to the health sector. Celebrating in Derry is a way to honour our roots while acknowledging our integration and contribution to the citys well-being and cultural diversity. Its our way of saying, We are part of the communityand proud of it. Lisneal College offers a welcoming and spacious environment that aligns perfectly with the scale and spirit of our celebration. Interestingly, Lisneal has also historically been one of the preferred venues where the wider African community has held programs and gatherings. We suppose its because of the warm, accommodating nature of the schools administrationtheyve always made us feel at home. Sandra is proud to have seen Northern Ireland and Derry embrace Ghanaian culture and people, with food, music, language, and fashion becoming more visible and appreciated by the community. She said: Our culture is thriving! From traditional weddings and naming ceremonies to cultural exhibitions and community forums, Ghanaian culture has found a home here. Whats even more exciting is how second-generation Ghanaians are embracing both their heritage and their Northern Irish upbringing. Those looking to attend are encouraged to wear traditional Ghanaian attire, with the event scheduled to start at 1pm on March 29, running until 7pm that Saturday evening. The cost of a ticket is 25 per adult, while children can attend the celebration for free. DAERA Minister Andrew Muir has chaired the second Lough Neagh Stakeholder Forum on the shores of Lough Neagh at Ballyronan Marina. The Forum brings together stakeholders as work continues to implement the 37-point Lough Neagh Action Plan. Speaking following the second forum, Minister Muir said: Today marks another important step in our shared journey to improve the water quality of Lough Neagh and its wider catchment. This is not a challenge that any single organisation or sector can address aloneit requires a collaborative, science-led, and sustained effort from all of us. This forum is an important platform for collaborative action. A number of key actions from the plan will be taken forward in the next period of time, its important we work together on the interventions needed to improve water quality. The Minister concluded: As I have previously stated, the serious water quality problems at Lough Neagh were decades in the making and will be decades in the fixing. It is sadly highly likely that we will yet again witness another recurrence of the blue-green algae blooms this year. In March last year I stated that difficult interventions will be required to address the ecological and biodiversity crisis declared at Lough Neagh. I will continue taking the action needed coupled with sustained engagement to help turn the tide on water quality at Lough Neagh and elsewhere. The Action Plan contains science led actions to tackle the blue-green algae blooms in Lough Neagh and secure longer-term improvements in water quality across Northern Ireland. At the event stakeholders were provided with a progress update on the implementation of the Lough Neagh Action Plan with focus on communications and education activity underway. With Cohesive funding support from the Housing Executive, Fairhill Youth Centre proudly present Empowering Youth for a Safer and Inclusive Maghera which is aimed towards promoting local youth engagement within the local community. Fairhill Youth Centre is dedicated to empowering the youth of Maghera by fostering social inclusion, promoting health and enhancing overall wellbeing within the community. Local youth will capture on film a snapshot of life in the town; by partaking in this project the youth will form relationships, build life skills and ultimately, we aim to develop a sense of respect, inclusion, and stability within the wider Maghera community. A Presentation Night on Monday allowed the youth to present their survey findings and film. Aiming to raise awareness of the underlying fundamental principle that all children are equally important and valued contributors to and members of the local community. This Empowering Youth for a Safer and Inclusive Maghera project aims to create a supportive and engaging environment for young people in Sunnyside, Crawfordsburn, and Tamney Crescent. Project Co-Ordinator, John Donnelly said, With the hope to contribute to the creation of a more stable and cohesive neighbourhood. We expect that this project will help focus on youth in positive ways within the community and thereby help to reduce anti-social behaviour - this project will hopefully be the catalyst for future projects in this community of Maghera town, he said. Mid-Ulster Area Manager, Sharon Crooks added: We hope to contribute to the creation of a more stable and cohesive neighbourhood. We expect that this project will help focus our youth on positive ways within the community. More information here An American couple were so captivated by the glorious surroundings of the Guildhall during an impromptu visit that they decided to move their wedding ceremony across the Atlantic to the Derry venue. Frank Gallardo lives in Arizona and Jean-Robert Lafont (John) is from Georgia but back in 2023 they found themselves Ireland-bound, with Derrys unique Halloween experience high on the agenda. Frank explained: Originally, we had planned a two-week trip to Scotland, Ireland and England, but because of work commitments we had to cut it to a week, so we decided to just visit Ireland. "We were actually debating between Dublin and Belfast, but then our friend Cliff Whitham, who was John's best man, suggested we should come and stay with him in St Johnston so we could visit Derry. "He suggested Halloween once I told him the possible timeframe we were looking at. We loved the Derry Halloween experience and hope to do it again someday! This was our first trip to Ireland, and we fell in love with Derry because of the people, the history, the food and just the general positive feeling the city gave off to us. During their trip the couple visited the Giants Causeway on November 1, where Frank plucked up the courage to propose to John. With love in the air for the American couple their Ireland adventure was coming to an end, and thats when fate intervened to help them find their perfect wedding venue. As we were leaving for Dublin Cliff suggested going to the Guildhall one more time to see the organ upstairs, Frank explained. We had visited during Halloween but were only able to access the ground floor part at that stage, so we were delighted to return and see the rest of the building. When we walked in, we were greeted by Siobhan, whom we had met on the previous two visits to the Guildhall during our stay. When she remarked that it was good to see us again John showed her the engagement ring. "She immediately took us on a tour of the wedding facilities. I didnt say this during the tour, but my initial thought was no way am I getting married in Ireland. "John was all for it from the beginning, but he wanted me to pick the venue. A little over a month later I changed my mind, and the rest is history. We did fall in love with the Guildhall, it was that simple. The history, the wonderful people working there, and the fact it looks like a church but isnt! We love the architecture and the stained glass, and we knew our guests would too, he explained. Trying to plan a wedding from halfway across the globe is a daunting task, but Frank and John found the staff in the Guildhall were invaluable when it came to making their big day a reality. Frank explained: It was definitely a challenge, but Amanda Creagh, Team Lead, Visitor Services and Booking Office, was so informative in her emails and every time I called to speak with her. My calls to the Guildhall increased in frequency in the last two months before the ceremony, whoever answered was so kind, so informative and they got to the point of recognising me when I rang. Well, the American accent made it obvious! We also made the trip back to Derry for the Jazz Festival in 2024 and were able to solidify many of the details during that visit. It was a complex process, but the Guildhall staff really simplified things, which was fantastic. Come December 2024 and the wedding day was within touching distance for John and Frank. Our wedding was planned for 7th December, we arrived on 4th December and met with Amanda on 5th December to finalise things. We really were treated like royalty, Siobhan even made scones for us that morning. Our wedding planner and our two best men were with us, and we were all blown away by everyones kindness. When the big day arrived, Frank and John were joined by 21 guests, 18 of them who had made the trip from America to join the happy couple. And thanks to the efforts of the Guildhall staff, the day went perfectly. Frank explained: The Guildhall staff were a huge part of our day, and we cant thank them enough for all their help. Chris was our representative in the room during the ceremony, he recorded a video of it which we posted for our family and friends who could not travel from the US. Brian gave me last minute Irish lessons since I did the last verse of my vows in Irish and let's just say my translation was a bit off in some parts, but he fixed that. And Lee was our personal bartender after the ceremony as we did a toast with all our guests. I found out later he even made mimosas, and he also showed me the proper way to pour a Guinness 0.0. After their ceremony John and Frank, along with their guests, enjoyed the rest of the celebrations in the Railway Tavern. With Derry now written into their love story Frank and John intend to return to the city frequently to relive their wedding day and create new memories along the way. Some of their guests are already making plans to come back to enjoy Halloween 2025. Alison Morris, Operations Manager, Museum & Visitor Services with Derry City and Strabane District Council, praised her staff for their dedication to making sure Frank and Johns wedding really was the day of their dreams. She said: I am delighted Frank and John had such an amazing wedding ceremony in the Guildhall. Its wonderful to hear such positive feedback about the help and support the Guildhall staff provided to John and Frank, we are delighted we helped to make the day so memorable. We look forward to seeing them again on a return visit to Derry. If you think the Guildhall could help make your wedding day extra special, then visit www.guildhallderry/.com for more information. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A woman has been jailed at Derry Magistrates' Court for what a judge described as a 'scandalous' incident where she 'randomly attacked innocent members of the public' including a grandmother and her young grandson. Courtney Temple (20) of Jefferson Court in Derry admitted two incidents that occurred in February last year. The court was shown CCTV of an incident on February 10 2024 where a woman walking down Waterloo Street accompanied by her young grandson. Temple ran towards the pair and grabbed the boys shirt ripping it before knocking the woman to the ground. The defendant was said to have tried to hit the woman before members of the public intervened. Temple then assaulted another woman who was nearby before running off up William Street. The court was also told about an incident on February 20, 2024 when police attended the former Bank of Ireland building in Strand Road to reports of two females fighting. They spoke to the females including Temple who was said to have been intoxicated. The incident was captured on CCTV and Temple could be seen pulling the other woman by the hair and hitting her 'multiple blows'. When interviewed Temple was asked was it her on the CCTV she replied 'I think it is'. She apologised for her actions and said she could not remember the incident on February 10. Defence counsel Sinead Rogan said Temple had pleaded guilty at an early stage and saved any witnesses having to come to court. She said the defendant had shown remorse for her actions and accepted it was her on the CCTV. District Judge Barney McElholm said he would give credit for her early plea but added that Temple was in breach of a suspended sentence. Temple was sentenced to six months in prison. Numerous domiciliary care users and their families have contacted The Derry News following major changes in provision in Derrys cityside. Introduced by the Western Health and Social Care Trust, the changes came into effect on Monday morning and have caused widespread distress for service users, families and carers. Essentially the changes mean every service user will have completely new carers and will receive significantly shortened care visits. Dr Imelda Foley, who joined the home care system following a two-month stay in hospital suffering from C. difficile, said she had always championed the Trusts services, even when some people criticised them. I have received the best possible care and indeed become friends with some of my carers, said Dr Foley. However, I have serious concerns about the Trusts new home care arrangements, and Im not alone. The Trusts objective of discharging more hospital patients quickly is laudable, but the modus operandi does cause concern. These changes mean a carers workload is to increase by 63%. This massive increase in productivity is expected to be achieved with the same resources as before, drawing on the energy of carers who are already run off their feet. I would ask the Trust to explain current or historic examples of such an endeavour working before. In addition, what consultation process has been conducted between users and providers? I received a letter informing me this was to happen: a letter, after the fact, does not constitute consultation. If the Trusts changes have been successfully introduced elsewhere, how has this success been measured and by whom? And, during this pilot project, has the Trust measured an increase in staff turnover and leave due to stress and anxiety, said Dr Foley. Dr Foley also expressed concern no time had been allocated for carers to travel between calls. She was worried this would cause danger in traffic. I would also love to know how carers in the dedicated time of 25 minutes may undress, shower, dress and dry the hair of the client who relies on them? asked Dr Foley. Speaking about their experience on Monday morning, Dr Foleys daughter said the new carers who came to her mother were forced to explain they had no time now to do some of the things with which she normally gets help. For example, I cook fresh food the night before, so they can heat it on the hob for mum, while I am at university or work, but now they only have time to hand her a sandwich, she said. This is mums main meal of the day because she cant eat at night due to digestive issues, so she is looking at a couple of cheese slices for her days protein. Thats about 90% less protein than is healthy and is not going to help with her osteoporosis. Theyve been allocated just 15 minutes for this lunchtime call. Most of that time is eaten up by walking from the car park to the building, climbing the stairs to the flat, and back again. Someone hasnt thought this through! Carers are also reporting their colleagues at the Waterside, where the successful pilot happened, have quit their jobs in droves. What is the point of increasing efficiency when it dismantles the actual value of the service offered? A cheese sandwich might be more efficient than a real meal, but the calories are empty and so is this whole efficiency drive. The efficiency-mongers forget that care is the heart of what they do, she said. Another domiciliary care user who had to contend with Mondays changes was Eileen Johnson (82), whose husband died this time last year. Eileens daughter, Roisin Gallagher, said her mother, who gets four calls per day, received a letter from the Trust in February informing her about the changes. Mammy has onset dementia and has been receiving domiciliary care since February 2022. The changes have left her very disorientated this week, said Ms Gallagher. I rang her social worker as soon as she got the letter. I explained mammy would be unsettled at this time as it was daddys first anniversary, and if there were any changes happening I would like to be informed so I could prepare mammy. I spoke to the social worker three times. She told me she was sending a letter to the Trust saying she wouldnt recommend mammys carers changing because of her dementia, her situation - she just lost her husband - and she lives alone and would be frightened about new people coming into her home. I assumed because I didnt hear anything, nothing was changing for mammy. It now appears the Trust did not send that information to the domiciliary care agency. Last Tuesday, one of the carers told mammy this would be her last week. Mammy was and is heartbroken. The girls that come into her, we class them all as family friends. They helped us look after my daddy in the final weeks of his life. We put complete trust in them and they are as devastated as us. Because we were not told anything by the Trust or the agency, we were not able to help mammy to transition. She is very worried and on Monday morning the new carers didnt have the key for the door. I was assured on Friday evening when I was speaking to the social work manager, all the information, including a risk assessment, had been passed to the new agency. I reiterated to them, we hadnt been informed. The letter was sent from the Trust and there was zero follow up, said Roisin Gallagher. My mother who worked all her life, paid tax and national insurance, deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, as do all those needing domiciliary care, she added. Adrian Lynchs mother Susan (93) is another of the Derry domiciliary care users affected by shortened calls and changed carers. Speaking to The Derry News he said his familys ultimate aim was to see their mothers care returned to what it had been. We are mystified, he added. As the saying goes, Why fix something thats not broken? Effectively, the strong, caring relationship mum had built with her carers of 20 years has been fractured. Mums carers are family to us. We get them Easter eggs. We get them Christmas presents. They know mums case inside out. They know her needs. They know everything about her. Sometimes they know more than us because she chats to them and they are able to relay information back to us and advise us what to do to make her as comfortable as possible. They are fantastic and they are all on first name terms with mum, said Adrian Lynch. During covid we could not get near my mother and we would have been lost without her carers. They would have phoned us and said, Shes doing grand. They were unbelievable. They are devastated by these changes. As regards my mother, there is not a chance all her care needs will be met in the new 20 minute time frame. She has poor, poor mobility. She needs two carers in the morning. They go upstairs, they wake her, they wash (maybe shower) and change her, they bring her down and make her breakfast. Mum has Alzheimer's and sometimes might not know whats going on but she knows the carers that are there. She will get confused with these new carers. Mums carers were our family and our point is, for the amount of time my mother has left, why, in these circumstances, put her through this massive change? asked Adrian. The letter from the Trusts director of community and older peoples services informing people of the changes to domiciliary care advised anyone with concerns to contact their social worker. One service user, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Derry News she had wanted to keep her carers, who she now regards as her friends, because they provided personal care and it had taken her more than a year to trust anyone in this regard. Her son said it had proved absolutely impossible to contact a social worker to speak to about their concerns because of the huge backlog in the Trust area in appointing social workers for domiciliary care users. In response to an enquiry from The Derry News on the concerns of service users regarding the changes in domiciliary care provision, a WHSCT spokesperson said: The Western Trust can assure that carers workload has not increased by 63%. An analysis of the new arrangements indicates that the number of care calls has increased by around 15%. Typically this represents an additional 2 calls for each rota. The ability to accommodate these additional calls can be explained by the consolidation of rotas within defined geographical areas resulting in less time spent travelling and by better utilisation of gaps in carers rotas. Cityside is the eighth of nine fWestern Trust localities to undergo this change to homecare services. Since 2022 the change has been implemented in Enniskillen, Irvinestown, Limavady, Omagh, Waterside, Lisnaskea and Strabane. Feedback from these areas has been very positive from the range of stakeholders. The Trust has monitored staff turnover and absence rates across the in-house service and independent sector providers who are contracted to deliver homecare services. There is no evidence of increased turnover or absence as a result of the change. The Western Trust factors in travel time between calls. The care rotas are constructed to ensure that there is sufficient time to accommodate the range of tasks required to be undertaken for each of the individuals. The Western Trust is unable to comment on individual cases. The Trust does recognise that during the transition phase that it will take time for the new arrangements to bed in. Affected service users should link with their social worker if they have concerns or are in need of support. The Derry News approached North West Care for comment. Chinese social media platform TikTok has introduced new features that are looking to help make the experience better for everyone, especially the family. The new update from TikTok assures that all members of the family will get a "balanced" and "safe" experience on social media. While the big aspect of this latest update from TikTok is expanding parents' control over their kids' social media access, teens are also given the chance to get more out of the platform, which needs their parents' consent. TikTok Brings New Family Features for Parents, Teens TikTok released a new update that expands the Family Pairing feature on the platform that helps both parents and their children, especially teens, to have a safe and enjoyable experience online. Certain tools are now in place to give parents the peace of mind they need when allowing their kids to use the platform. Time Away is a new feature on TikTok that allows parents or guardians to set the schedule for teens' social media use, deciding on the time they can use the platform and when not to use it, which is especially useful during school nights and more. Teens may ask for more time via the Family Pairing feature, but parents will have the final say on it. TikTok also introduced capabilities for parents to review their child's Following list, their followers, as well as the accounts that their kids blocked. Balanced, Safe Social Media Experience on TikTok TikTok stressed the importance of keeping the balance in this latest update, and it also gave teens control over certain experiences and helped them decide on their social media usage. The company has introduced the Wind Down feature, which will disrupt their feed after 10 p.m. as it will play calming music to remind them that it's time to sleep. Next, when teens report content on the platform, they may choose to share this alert with their parents and help them with their situation, especially if they find it disturbing. TikTok and Its Family-Centered Improvements Social media platforms like TikTok have been introducing parental controls and child restrictions that look to improve the experience for families. Over the years, TikTok, in particular, has introduced new features that focus on offering a wholesome experience for the family, especially when it comes to restricting harmful content. There has been massive controversial content circulating all over TikTok that tackles mature or harmful themes that are not for children to see. Because of this, TikTok has been enhancing its parental controls so the legal guardians can set parameters or limitations to the kind of content they get to access. TikTok has also faced criticism over their platform's safety offers and how they affect not only the overall wellness of all users and not just those who are underaged. Due to this criticism, TikTok is being more mindful of how they affect families, with their latest update offering expanded features for a more balanced and safe experience. North West Regional (NWRC) has awarded three scholarships to asylum seekers living and studying in Derry offering them the chance to pursue their academic and professional goals. Diana Tamayo from Colombia, Ghadeer Fatouh from Syria, and Micheal Mutebi from Uganda are the 2024/25 recipients of the NWRC Asylum Seeker Scholarship, an initiative that seeks to support the colleges ongoing commitment to inclusivity and diversity. Chukwuka Frank Nwanonenyi who was awarded the scholarship last year has gone on to complete his course and has decided to continue his education at NWRC with a Foundation Degree in Applied Science. Mum of one Diana Tamayo moved to Derry in 2020. Having already achieved a degree in Psychology in Colombia she decided to enrol on a Higher National Diploma course at the college and hopes to pursue a career in Early Years. Diana has volunteered in daycares, special needs settings and in local primary schools. 17 years-old Ghadeer Fatouh who studies the Level 2 in Beauty Therapy as well as GCSEs at NWRC is an asylum seeker from Syria. Ghadeer wants to progress with her education so she can help support her family her mum doesnt speak any English. Her brother Ahmed is also in the city and is hoping to enrol with NWRC in the future. Micheal Mutebi is an asylum seeker from Uganda studying the Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care. Micheal, who has a passion for caring for people, has sought opportunities to care for others since he arrived in Northern Ireland and has been volunteering at Altnagelvin Hospital where he was able to gain first-hand experience of the care system, learn about patient support, and understand the importance of empathy and communication in providing effective care. Through his course at NWRC Micheal plans to pursue a career in the health and care sector and work to support individuals and communities, who are vulnerable or in need of care. Gillian Moss, Head of Client Services at NWRC said: For the second year NWRC is awarding scholarships to provide crucial educational opportunities for individuals who have faced significant challenges in their lives. Working in the Further and Higher Education sector we see every day how education and training are powerful tools for change. Once again we are delighted to work with the North West Migrants Forum to support the studies of asylum seekers with the right to study as part of their immigration status. NWRC has long been committed to supporting learners from a range of backgrounds and experiences and I look forward with my colleagues to watching the students succeed as they complete their studies. Paul Sceeny from the North West Migrants Forum congratulated the three recipients who have been awarded the scholarships. He added: The NWMF has partnered with NWRC on several successful initiatives including the Asylum Seeker Scholarship. Accessing education can often be challenging for asylum seekers and refugees, but scholarships such as this can be life-changing for the recipients. Our thanks to NWRC for offering this opportunity to Diana, Ghadeer and Micheal, helping them build a new future in the North West. Detectives have seized more than 2 million of cannabis in recent months in an operation targeting a criminal network suspected of moving drugs and cash in luggage on planes. Police believe that some of the drugs were couriered from Thailand and some were intended to travel on from Northern Ireland to Dublin. One police officer suffered a serious injury while arresting a suspect who had attempted to escape. Detectives from our Organised Crime Branch recently conducted an operation across Northern Irelands airports. Cannabis with a potential street value of over 2m was seized, as well as a large sum of cash. Eleven people were also arrested. More here: https://t.co/SqzPgT7r6b pic.twitter.com/2pNHR1ZzxI Police Antrim and Newtownabbey (@PSNIANDistrict) March 13, 2025 The PSNI said it had recently conducted an intensification of activity across Northern Irelands main airports. As well as the drugs, a large quantity of cash has been seized. Nine men and two women have been arrested on suspicion of drugs-related offences in connection with the investigation. They have all appeared before court. A PSNI spokesperson said: Its clear the drugs and cash seized belonged to a criminal network which we now know has a large footprint across the UK and Ireland. Some of these drugs originated in England, while others were couriered from as far afield as Thailand. These drugs were destined for multiple criminal groups supplying onto the streets of Northern Ireland. Some of those arrested had onward travel booked to Dublin in an attempt to peddle their wares there. Our investigations are continuing into this wider criminal network, and without doubt, there will be exploitation of individuals, whether in the production, supply or consumption of drugs. The PSNI said there is no such thing as harmless drugs. The spokesperson added: Someone, somewhere in this process, is likely to have suffered, and criminals involved in this type of activity are relentless in their pursuit of money. We, however, are equally as relentless in our pursuit of those involved, as demonstrated by the seizures and arrests made to date. Unfortunately an officer involved in this investigation sustained a serious injury effecting an arrest of a suspect who attempted to make off from police. The officer is currently receiving ongoing medical attention. We, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to actively target those responsible. We also, however, rely upon information from the public. With your help, we can focus our efforts on identifying those who make their living by bringing drugs into and onto our streets and neighbourhoods. A body representing health leaders in Northern Ireland has warned that the draft budget could result in service cuts equivalent to the loss of 10,000 health staff. The Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care (Nicon), the membership body representing the leaders of organisations in the sector, has made its submission to the public consultation over the spending plans. It said the proposed health budget is unworkable and counter strategic and would have catastrophic impacts for frontline services. The powersharing Executive at Stormont agreed a draft budget for 2025-26 in December. Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has already warned that it could leave him facing a 400 million funding shortfall. Neil Guckian, speaking on behalf of Nicon, said: Our consultation response details how the HSC (health and social care) will need to find 400 million savings in 2025-26. Coupled with the increase in demand for health and social care services, this is an untenable ask. Achieving this level of savings in-year will require high-impact cuts on a scale not previously seen, with catastrophic impacts for frontline services. Even if the minister were to agree to implement such measures, a one-year budget means our senior teams will likely spend six months in statutory consultation, leaving little to no time to plausibly deliver this level of savings by the end of the financial year. Last week, the Stormont Executive published its programme for government, which contained pledges of extra cash to tackle the hospital waiting list crisis. Mr Guckian added: Additionally, although the Executives plan for waiting list investment is very welcome, this funding must not be secured by simply raiding the existing budget for the day-to-day running of health and social care. This would be entirely counter-intuitive, as any investment in waiting lists would be undermined by the curtailment of services and cuts elsewhere, such as domiciliary care packages, leading to further backlogs in care. We call on political leaders to urgently agree a more rational, innovative approach to HSC funding that will allow us time to implement the strategic approach that we as leaders are confident we can deliver. Nicon said the proposed health funding for Northern Ireland is at a 10-year low relative to NHS England. Mr Guckian said: While an innovative financial arrangement and financial recovery plan will help us through the next three years, we must have a wider societal conversation about how health and care will have to adapt to meet future population needs sustainably. This will require bolder decision-making around additional revenue raising; moving care closer to communities; and prevention, including a rethink on how we support the public to take a more active role in their own health. The less well-known connections between Northern Ireland and the United States are being emphasised ahead of the 250th anniversary of US independence next year. While in Washington DC for St Patricks Day, Communities minister Gordon Lyons said that he has been highlighting these connections ahead of the major anniversary next July 4. He said that emigrants from what is now Northern Ireland travelled to the US and left an incredible mark. Weve really strong links. I want to do what I can to exploit that, he told PA on Thursday. I have been working on that, I had a previous trip to the US last year, and as a result of that engagement, weve made significant progress. Mr Lyons said the group in charge of planning the 250th commemoration is to draft a memorandum of understanding to ensure the story of the Ulster Scots is properly told. He said that Northern Ireland will also have a special role at an international commemoration taking place at Mount Vernon next year, the residence of former US president George Washington. I think the story is really well known of the Irish migration that took place during and after the famine and the movements of people to places like New York and Boston and Philadelphia, he said. Whats less well known is the story of what happened 100 years earlier, when the first migrant ship for America left from Larne in 1717, 200,000 Scots-Irish left at that stage, and they left an incredible mark on the US. He said the stories they were looking to emphasise included that of John Dunlap, from Co Tyrone, who printed the first copies of the Declaration of Independence the day after it was signed. He said: These are people from what is now Northern Ireland who made an incredible impact, but theyre stories that people dont really know. He added: In the discussions that I have had with the 250 commission, they didnt know about a lot of these connections, and theyre genuinely really excited about them. This is about raising the profile of Northern Ireland. Thats what Ive been about this week and in doing so, thats where we get that extra interest. What about Northern Ireland? Is that a place to visit? Is that a place for us to invest? So thats where the benefit comes from as well. Scoping work has begun on looking at alternative provision for legal defence services while industrial action by criminal barristers in Northern Ireland continues, Naomi Long has told MLAs. The Justice Minister said that while she was not enamoured of the idea of a public defenders office in Northern Ireland, she had to explore other options to ensure the sustainability of the justice system as a whole. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents criminal barristers, has withdrawn some services in recent months in a dispute over legal aid fees. Ms Long had said earlier this week that the action was causing serious damage to the justice system. She also told the Assembly her department was on track to introduce a 16% increase in civil, family and criminal legal aid fees in May. The CBA has scaled back its action this month but is continuing to refuse some new cases. Ms Long was asked about the dispute when she appeared before the Justice Committee on Thursday. She told the committee she had consistently reached out to representatives of the CBA and said all sides wanted to see a return to full services. SDLP MLA Justin McNulty said he had concerns that the relationship between the department and the CBA had become strained. The minister responded: The relationships, it would be fair to say, are strained at the moment, that is certainly the view of the Criminal Bar. It is not something I would necessarily lay at the feet of my officials who have gone out of their way and above and beyond in terms of the level of engagement they have had with the Criminal Bar and with the Bar Council more widely. She added: In terms of that strain, I have met with the Bar, I have discussed directly with the Criminal Bar my concerns; at the end of the day relationships are a two-way street. I am willing to do what I can in terms of trying to reach a settlement with them that they are content and satisfied with, but it has to be one that is based on evidence. Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey asked what alternative models the minister had been looking at if the industrial action continued. Ms Long said: If this continues for a prolonged period this started in December, we are now sitting in March we dont know what will happen for the rest of the spring and summer. If this continues for a sustained period, what that means for individuals and for the justice system is stark. We do have to now look at scoping out alternative ways of providing for defence, in the same way that we have alternative ways, that we have a public prosecution service. Now, I am not enamoured of the idea of a public defenders office, I have always been really clear that one of the important things we have is the freedom for an individual to choose their own defence and not to be limited in how they do that. The minister said barristers had raised concerns with her that it was not financially sustainable for them to take on some cases. She added: If they are saying it is just unsustainable for independent barriers to do that work, we will have to look at a different delivery model. It would be reckless of me as Justice Minister not to be asking officials to start to scope that out. However, it is at very early stages so we are not settled on models, we are not settled on what options are available. The minister said some barristers currently struggle to get work. She told the committee: It may be that some of those people would be willing to do the work were we to have a different structure in place. It would allow them to gain High Court experience, would allow them to be able to get a foothold in the profession. If there are mechanisms that we can do that, we need to explore all options. Ms Long said if the situation with the CBA could be resolved then her department could park any discussion on alternative models. She added: But in the interim, and until I have some sense the Bar intends on coming back to full service, I will have to scope out what alternative provision might be necessary. That is not something that can happen overnight but it is something we will have to look at to ensure the sustainability of the justice system as a whole. 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. Taiwan Launches "Best AI Awards 2025" with NT$1M Grand Prize to Attract Global AI & IC Talent TAIPEI, TAIWAN Taiwan is set to host the Best AI Awards 2025, an international competition designed to drive innovation in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Integrated Circuit (IC) Design. Advised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), organized by the Department of Industrial Technology, and hosted by the Taipei Computer Association (TCA), this event offers a highest grand prize of NT$1,000,000 (approx. US32,000). Open to students and experts worldwide, the competition will accept submissions from early March to April 8, 2025. Winners will be invited to Taipei for a physical presentation for the final round in early May 2025, with top participants receiving a special visa to work in Taiwan and access to expert training opportunities. Taiwanese participants are encouraged to collaborate with local teams, fostering greater industry connections. The Best AI Awards 2025 focuses on two core themes: AI Applications and IC Design. Participants are encouraged to submit groundbreaking proposals with strong potential for real-world industry adoption. This competition serves as a unique platform to showcase talent, connect with industry leaders, and explore career opportunities in Taiwan's thriving tech ecosystem. Full details and application guidelines can be found on the "Best AI Awards 2025" official website. Taiwan's commitment to AI talent & innovation Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs, Kuo Jyh-huei, highlighted the nation's global leadership in chip and server manufacturing, with its AI software rankings expected to enter the world's top 14 by year-end. To secure a strong AI workforce, the government aims to cultivate 200,000 AI professionals within four years, driving innovation and industry-academia collaboration. The "2+4" talent program further supports global talent, especially students from Southeast Asia, by offering tuition subsidies, living allowances, and career training in Taiwan's high-tech industries. For AI and IC innovators, the Best AI Awards 2025 is more than a competitionit's a gateway to Taiwan's dynamic tech landscape. Article edited by Jerry Chen Nvidia reportedly visits Samsung packaging plant amid HBM3E supply uncertainty High bandwidth memory (HBM) major client Nvidia is said to have visited Samsung Electronics' advanced packaging plant again, just over a month after their last visit. Industry sources speculate that Samsung is supplying fifth-generation HBM3E and has entered the final stage of quality testing. Sources from Samsung have told DIGITIMES that they would not comment on related reports. According to Financial News, some personnel responsible for developing the sixth generation HBM4 have reportedly been reassigned to the HBM3E project. Currently, the HBM market is dominated by SK Hynix, and the success or failure of recent supply efforts will be crucial for Samsung to potentially shift the market landscape. A representative from Samsung previously stated during an earnings call that they plan to supply HBM3E (8-layer) products to "major clients" in the first quarter of 2025, with less than 20 days remaining until the end of this quarter. Industry sources noted that representatives from Nvidia visited Samsung's Cheonan campus again on March 10 for a packaging process audit, following an on-site inspection in early February. Many believe that this visit was aimed at assessing the quality of HBM3E. The Cheonan campus serves as Samsung's production site for advanced packaging, where chips are assembled into final products and undergo through-silicon via (TSV) technology for HBM stacked packaging. To secure product orders, it is essential not only to obtain approval for the use of HBM itself but also to pass quality tests during the packaging phase connected to GPU chips. This explains Nvidia's frequent inspections of the final stages of packaging production. Sources indicate that Samsung has made multiple preparations to welcome Nvidia's audit team. The current consensus within Samsung is to finalize the supply agreement with Nvidia by the first quarter of 2025. Additionally, Samsung plans to start with 8-layer HBM3E products and aims to supply 12-layer HBM3E products before the first half of 2025. In a bid to reclaim dominance in the HBM market, the head of Samsung Device Solutions (DS), Young Hyun Jun, is reportedly directing efforts to redesign parts of the fourth-generation 1a DRAM circuit at the 10nm level to strengthen foundational technologies. Originally, Samsung viewed the sixth generation HBM4 as a pivotal turning point in the HBM market. However, due to rapidly shifting client demand towards 12-layer HBM3E products in 2025, Samsung is currently focusing all efforts on passing quality tests for both 8-layer and 12-layer HBM3E. Article edited by Jerry Chen Subscriber content preview WASHINGTON (AP) The Environmental Protection Agency said it has terminated grant agreements worth $20 billion issued by the Biden administration under a so-called green bank to finance climate-friendly projects. The action comes weeks after the EPA froze the grants, which EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has characterized as a gold bar scheme marred by conflicts of interest and potential fraud. . . . A girl who was seriously injured in a knife attack in Dublins Parnell Square is creating art and communicating on a whole new level, her family has said. Through a message on a GoFundMe page, the family said she can engage in conversation with her eyes, smiles and sounds resembling words. Two other children and a creche worker were also hurt in the attack in Parnell Square East on November 23 2023. The girl, who is now aged six but was five at the time, was gravely injured and spent several weeks in paediatric intensive care. She spent more than 370 days in hospital before moving home. Earlier this year, she was said to be thriving. In an update on Thursday, the family said: This week has shown us how much strength we can all have in our souls. We had an appointment at Temple Street Childrens Hospital, as an outpatient, and I was rather uncomfortable with the thought of going back there after so long. But, one must persevere. Getting off the Luas, I decided to walk past the school and where the incident had happened. Our little girl doesnt seem to remember, or have any trauma from the day, but I was apprehensive. Once we had walked past, I felt relieved, almost as if we had come full circle, breaking whatever bad energy had been left there on November 23 2023. We can do hard things. And I see this every day with our little girl: she can now hold a paintbrush and, with some assistance, create beautiful art. She can sit on my lap and hold her head up high for several minutes. She can engage with us in conversation with her eyes, smiles and sounds resembling words. She can laugh at silly things and cry during sad moments in her favourite movies. She can decide what she wants to do and clearly what she doesnt. Communication has taken a whole new level. The important thing is, despite the heartache and challenges, never to give up. A riot erupted in Dublin city centre after the attack. A man has been charged and put before a Dublin court. Riad Bouchaker, 50, of no fixed address, is accused of trying to murder the two girls and one boy. He is also charged with assault causing serious harm to the creche worker. He is further charged with three counts of assault causing harm and the possession and production of a 36cm kitchen knife. A Sinn Fein TD has said Donald Trumps claim that he was not aware of the partys White House boycott over Gaza should be taken with a pinch of salt. The US president said he had not heard that some Northern Ireland political parties had decided to boycott St Patricks Day celebrations in Washington DC over his administrations stance on Gaza. Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance had ruled out attending such events. Asked about the boycotts while meeting Irish premier Micheal Martin in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr Trump told reporters: I havent heard that, I really havent heard that. Asked about the comments, Mr Doherty said: We made our decision clear in relation to the White House, and given what Donald Trump has argued for, particularly in terms of Gaza and the displacement of people in Gaza and to turn it into some type of fanciful resort. I heard his comments yesterday. I heard his comments last week as well, when he wasnt aware that he called Zelensky a dictator. So we take what Trump says with a pinch of salt. But look, the reality is that the issues of Gaza and Palestine probably didnt get the airing that they should have got yesterday. I think that Micheal Martin should have asserted the Irish position in a far clearer way. Unfortunately, it appears that the media part of it, or the public part of it, was the main part of the visit. The private part seemed to be curtailed. So I think that that was a missed opportunity for the Taoiseach to assert Irelands position in relation to what is happening in Palestine and indeed the occupied territories. Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) today, celebrated the official opening of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence (AMTCE) in Dundalk, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of Irelands manufacturing sector. The state-of-the-art Centre is designed to equip the workforce with the skills and knowledge required to navigate the challenges of modern, high-tech manufacturing. Since the establishment of the AMTCE in 2021, a total of 62.4 m to date has been invested in it, of which 7m were grants through Enterprise Ireland. Further breakdown of that figure is below. SOLAS, under Mr. Andrew Brownlee, and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) strongly backed the concept, providing the remaining 20% match funding for both EI grants, which came to 1.4 million. The department and SOLAS contributed more than 26m to cover the cost of purchase of the AMTCE building and capital works at Xerox Technology Park in Dundalk. The annual operational budget of around 7m is also provided by SOLAS which has come to 28m over the past four years. The AMTCE has catered for 5,000 learners in the past three years and in excess of 5,000 are projected for 2025 and 2026. The event, which was attended by key figures including Mr James Lawless TD, Minister of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and distinguished guests from various sectors, highlighted the importance of collaboration between industry, education, and government in driving innovation and workforce development in Ireland. Minister Lawless said: I am delighted to be in Dundalk today to officially open this magnificent facility and to meet the people who will benefit from the learning opportunities offered here by LMETB. My Department approved funding for LMETB to acquire and refurbish this building, at a cost of some 26 million, with further investment in leading edge technology and equipment. The provision of technology training at the AMTCE Campus enables LMETB to enhance their range of training and further education programmes, offering exciting new careers and employment opportunities for learners. Minister Lawless continued. Martin G. OBrien, Chief Executive of LMETB, spoke about the journey leading up to the official opening, noting that the AMTCE represents an investment not only in infrastructure but in Irelands future competitiveness. We are at a critical point where traditional manufacturing methods are giving way to cutting-edge technologies, OBrien said. AMTCE is designed to ensure that Irelands workforce is equipped to meet the challenges of tomorrows industries. The AMTCE will serve as a hub for training and innovation, providing world-class education for apprentices, students, and workers at all stages of their careers. It will offer hands-on experience with the latest technologies, ensuring that learners gain the practical skills required by modern manufacturing businesses. The centre will also facilitate collaboration between industry leaders and educational institutions, fostering a culture of innovation and research. Read Next: Speeding crackdown near Louth school sees drivers fined The Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence will play a pivotal role in bridging the skills gap and enabling our workforce to thrive in a fast-changing landscape, said O Brien. This facility exemplifies our commitment to building an innovative and resilient workforce that will drive Irelands future growth. The AMTCE will cater to a broad demographic, offering training in areas such as robotics, automation, cybersecurity, and 3D concrete printing. In collaboration with local businesses, the centre will provide upskilling programs for the workforce, ensuring that Irish manufacturers can stay competitive in an increasingly globalized economy. The centre will also work closely with third-level institutions. This collaboration underscores the centres role as a catalyst for innovation and a key player in Irelands advanced manufacturing ecosystem. Over 250 business representatives from across the island of Ireland attended the 10th Annual Cross-Border Trade & Economic Conference jointly hosted by Newry and Dundalk Chambers on Tuesday 4th March in the Carrickdale Hotel. This conference was supported by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Louth County Council, InterTradeIreland, Louth Local Enterprise Office, Dundalk Chamber Skillnet and M1 Corridor, hosted by Broadcaster & Journalist, Mark Simpson. This years conference was addressed by Alan Dillon TD, Minister of State for Small Business and Retail & Circular Economy in the Irish Government and Shane Murphy, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Department for the Economy. The Minister thanked both Chambers for the invitation to open the conference. He noted that at the first conference 10 years ago the region faced the possibility of tariffs and a hard border. He congratulated the business community for seizing the opportunity of the Winsor Agreement. He thanked Intertrade for the role that they have played in encouraging cross border trade. READ NEXT: Louth's Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence officially opened He also referred to the position the area has within the National Development Plan and its strategic position in the centre of the Dublin -Belfast Corridor. Shane Murphy noted the significant increase in trade from 5 billion in 2015 to over 15billion today. Councillor Kevin Callan Cathaoirleach Louth county Council and Councillor Peter Byrne Chairman of Newry Mourne and Down District Council also congratulated the business community for seizing the initiative and engaging with the LEO and Invest NI The ongoing theme for the conference is Building a Sustainable All-Island Economy and featured 12 expert speakers from both sides of the border across four sections including the All-Island Economy, Business Supports, Skills & People and Growing Prosperity on a Shared Island. Speaking after the event, Newry Chamber President, Edwina Flynn said: This important conference has been another major success with such a varied range of speakers who are experts in their respective fields and I would like to thank everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to contribute what was an excellent event. We have a fantastic working relationship with our partners in Dundalk Chamber and both Chambers have led the way for many years on driving Cross-Border collaboration. The conference highlighted the many opportunities and challenges we face and with the help of a wide range of business support organisations who were exhibiting in the room, there is an extensive range of funding and training programmes available to businesses both North and South. Paddy Malone, Public Relations Officer of Dundalk Chamber said: This conference has been a beacon for the promotion of Cross-Border trade for many years and our partnership with Newry Chamber continues to flourish and set an example of how collaboration can bring benefits to both sides of the border. The aim of the conference is to promote Building a Sustainable All-Island Economy and all our speakers and panellists demonstrated how this can be done and what challenges we need to meet along the way. There is so much economic potential across this island and we all now need to play our part in grasping those opportunities that are coming our way. We have successfully campaigned to have the region designated for growth under the National Development Plan 2040. We see this work as complementing the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor. LauraLynn, Irelands Childrens Hospice is delighted to share its exciting spring challenge. The challenge invites people in Louth to do 100 skips a day every day in April to help raise vital funds for children with life limiting illnesses and their families. In this exciting, sponsored challenge participants commit to getting out their skipping rope every day for the month of April and skipping 100 times. Those who sign up to the challenge will receive a free skipping rope, as well as their own sponsorship page. Funds raised from the 100 Skips a Day challenge will help LauraLynn provide essential care and support to children with life-limiting conditions and their families from all over the country. LauraLynn Fundraising Executive Ciara Donnelly shares why this challenge is so important: "Funds raised from the 100 Skips a Day challenge help us to provide life changing care and support to children with life-limiting conditions and their families all around Ireland. We are asking people to raise funds through sponsorship and take some time out of their day to do their 100 skips a day in April. Read Next: Louth's Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence officially opened Skipping is ideal for all fitness levels and improves cardiovascular health, burns calories, enhances coordination, and strengthens muscles. Participants can take part anywhere they like, either alone or in a group. Participants can share their experiences and photos on social media using the hashtag #TeamLauraLynn and join the dedicated Facebook group to connect with others taking part in the challenge. How to register Minister Jack Chambers deliberately deceived the public during the election campaign by ignoring housing data, a Sinn Fein TD has said. The partys finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said that if information on new-home builds had been made public, it would have changed the result of the election. A spokesperson for Mr Chambers, who is now the public expenditure minister, said he rejects Mr Dohertys claims. Senior government figures have been criticised for claiming during the election campaign that close to 40,000 new homes would be built in 2024. The Housing for All plan set a target of 33,450 new-builds for 2024, with a total of 30,330 built, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) a drop of 6.7% on 2023. Speaking on the Leinster House plinth on Thursday, Mr Doherty claimed that a document from the Department of Finances Budget & Economics Division showed the government had decided consciously to mislead the Irish public. He said that before the Dail was dissolved on November 8, Mr Chambers the then finance minister received a report analysing data on housing progress. The seven-page report states that there were 21,634 new homes completed in the first nine months of the year, 3.1% lower than the same period in 2023. The outturn for completions appears to be broadly consistent with recent downward revisions to forecasts from the Central Bank, which project housing output to be similar to 2023, it said. Mr Doherty said the report from the Budget & Economics Division of his Department made it very clear that it was not achievable to reach 40,000 new-builds by the end of the year. Despite this, we had the Minister of Finance go on the national broadcaster, on Virgin Media, on other radio stations, claiming that they were on a pathway to 40,000, that they were going to deliver far more houses than they delivered the previous year, which was simply untrue, the Donegal TD said. Why did he deliberately mislead the Irish public? Why did he bury a report that he had from his department, which said that the prediction was that they would deliver the same, if not less, houses than the previous year? Why did he allow Micheal Martin, his party leader, to continue to trump the same untruth? Why did he allow the Taoiseach and others to do the same? Asked whether he believed the publishing of the housing figures would have changed the outcome of the election, Mr Doherty said: If you have a report that comes out on the eve of the election, and the minister has to stand up and say The officials in my department are of the same view as the Central Bank, and were likely to deliver less houses this year than we did last year, then of course thats going to change the outcome of the election. A spokesman for Mr Chambers said: The Minister for Finance receives a monthly housing update which summarises reports, projections and publications in the public domain. The November 2024 submission referenced CSO data published on October 24th, 2024 and previous Central Bank projections. This information was not new. The CSO data had been published two weeks earlier and was debated in the Dail on the day of publication. The Minister was already aware of these inputs from the CSO and the Central Bank. Minister Chambers rejects the assertions by Deputy Doherty. There were many different bodies and agencies giving varied projections on housing numbers at the time which were in the public domain. Speaking in Washington DC, Taoiseach Mr Martin said his understanding of the issue was that the CSO statistics were already public knowledge. He added that there were three other indications that the number of new-build houses in 2024 would be much higher than they were. But the bottom line is, were not building as much houses as fast as we possibly can, he said. There are fundamental issues with the apartment side of it. I repeat what I said since this Government was formed: that theres a very real need to enhance and increase the level of private sector investment in housing, and particularly in the apartment side of it, and Government will work to try and devise the best policies that can do that. The state is, by and large, the big player in the housing market at the moment, not just in terms of approved housing bodies or local authorities or the land development agency, but also around the financing mechanisms. I think the cost of finance for building is too high, and so we have to look at that issue as well and thats when I said earlier, we have to work with the commercial banks that need to get more involved in making more money available at reasonable price to builders to build more effectively, because its a big problem. Donald Trump has threaten to place tariff's of 200% on all alcohol products entering the United States if the tariff placed on the United States by the EU is not lifted. Writing on social media President Trump said: "If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES." Read Next: 'Shame on you' Taoiseach laughs and cracks a joke when housing crisis is brought up with Trump This would have a dramatic effect on Irish whiskey which makes over a, reported, $1 billion every year. Speaking on the news Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said: "Irish Whiskey sales increased from 7 million cases ten years ago to over 15 million cases last year. America is by far our biggest market taking over 1/3 of all Irish whiskey produced. The sector is made up of a small number of very large producers and dozens of new craft distilleries. The latest erratic tariff threat from Trump is hugely concerning. A 200% tariff on Irish Whiskey would wipe much of the sector out here in Ireland." "When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. Ireland is potentially the collateral damage here. The difficulty is, the Oval Office meeting between Trump and Martin notwithstanding, Ireland seems to have little influence on either the US or the EU. When the EU targeted US Bourbon as part of its retaliatory tariff threat, it put the Irish drinks industry in the sights of Trump. I have asked the Minister for Finance what contribution has the Irish government in the decisions by the EU to retaliate to the threatened US tariffs. I have also asked the Minister for Finance what contribution if any has the Irish government had over the selection of targets for this retaliation." "It seems to me that Ireland is on the sidelines of these decisions. This is not tolerable. These decisions are too important to our jobs and our economy for the Irish government to outsource these decisions. Ireland exports more relatively to the US than other EU countries. Last year Ireland exported 72.6 billion worth of goods to the US. 58 billion is composed of pharmaceuticals and chemicals. The Oval Office meeting between Trump and Martin yesterday saw Trump clearly single out the Irish Parma sector. If this comes to pass Ireland will be plunged into a collapse in taxes, GDP and jobs." A Cork charity is set to host its annual holy communion fayre to help families struggling with the cost of living. Cork Penny Dinners has, in recent years, run a first communion 'shop' to help families finding it difficult to make ends meet ahead of children celebrating the event. Caitriona Twomey, the charitys volunteer co-ordinator, told The Echo that she and her team would be holding their fayre in the Sacred Heart Parish Centre on the Western Road on Sunday, March 23, from 11am until 5pm. There will be plenty of parking there on the day, and loads of treats for the communion children, Ms Twomey said. First Holy Communion Day should be a very special day for young people, so its important to be able to help people who might be struggling with the cost of living. Everything families might need for the special day is available to them free of charge. If people would like to make donations, we are looking for prayer books, rosary beads, socks, underwear, and treats for the children," she said. Ms Twomey said anyone who needs communion apparel for their child should contact 085 1201742. Overcrowding in Cork Prison meant inmates were subjected to degrading treatment, an inspector said two years ago in a recently-published report however, the number of prisoners without beds in the prison has increased fivefold since then. In March 2023, an unannounced inspection was carried out in Cork Prison which was experiencing unprecedented overcrowding at the time, the inspector said. The inspector noted that some cells designed for double occupancy were accommodating three people, with one person allocated a mattress to sleep on the cell floor. People held in these conditions were not provided with the minimum international personal living space standard of four square metres per person. Some prisoners on restricted regimes were held in these conditions for large portions of the day without access to purposeful activity, with 81% of people on protection surveyed reporting that they spent less than two hours out of their cell each day. Contrary to the requirements of international human rights law, prisoners not convicted were also accommodated in the same cells as convicted prisoners. The inspector said: Overcrowded cells combined with limited time out-of-cell for prisoners on protection regimes meant that people being held in these conditions were being subjected to degrading treatment. In March 2023, there were between 283 and 311 people in custody in Cork Prison, which has a capacity of 296 the population was below this maximum capacity amount for 40% of the month. The prison has been consistently over capacity in the two years since this inspection was carried out, reaching a high of 372 people in custody February this year. There were 355 in custody yesterday, meaning 59 inmates were sleeping on the floor. During the inspection, a serious concern with the operation of the call bell system was identified, resulting in the chief inspector issuing an Immediate Action Notification (IAN). The call bell system permitted only one emergency cell call to be made at a time, despite there being more than 50 cells on some of the prison landings. The dangers of this situation were obvious, as a genuine emergency call could go unremarked and unanswered for a critical period of time, leading to a variety of avoidable harms, up to and including the death of a person living in the prison, the inspector said. The director general immediately responded to this IAN, including by sending a technical team the following day. In December 2023, a follow-up visit took place and found that the mitigation measures were working well. The fact that cells in Cork Prison were equipped with showers was named as a positive, but the inspector said that the shower and toilet facilities were not fully partitioned from the remainder of the cell, meaning prisoners used the toilet in the presence of each other, and also ate their meals in close proximity to the toilet. The overall environment of Cork Prison was described as welcoming and clean, and the school was also noted as being a very positive place, with excellent collaboration between the school, in-prison services, and outside agencies. However, there was a lack of other purposeful activity, with very limited work training opportunities available. 59% of prisoners did not have a job. Prisoners not engaged with school or work did not have access to five hours of structured activity on five days each week, which did not align with the Irish prison rules. A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said that it welcomed the publication of the annual report, and reiterated that the Irish Prison Service must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the courts, meaning it has no control over the numbers committed into custody at any given time. They added: The Irish Prison Service is working closely with officials in the Department of Justice to take steps to ensure a safe working environment for staff and the safety and security of people in custody. A memorial plaque has been unveiled at the community room in Mahon Point Shopping Centre to pay tribute to a local woman. Mahon woman Tracey ODonovan Linnane ran the very successful Footdreams Performing Arts studio at the Mahon Point community room for several years. Hundreds of students passed through the centre on a weekly basis to learn from Tracey. Two years ago, on March 7, 2023, Tracey passed away following a short and sudden illness. In recent days, Mahon Point Shopping Centre and Traceys family paid tribute to the much-loved teacher by unveiling a plaque in her honour in the very room in which she taught so many students. Mahon Point marketing manager Clare ONeill said the centre was honoured to host the plaque unveiling. At our community room here at Mahon Point, classes are run by various different teachers, she said. It is a service that has been offered by the shopping centre for many years. One of these teachers, local Mahon lady Tracey ODonovan Linnane, ran the very successful Footdreams Performing Arts from our community room for several years and had hundreds of students passing through the centre weekly. However, two years ago, Tracey sadly passed away following a sudden illness. Needless to say, we were all heartbroken. On the second anniversary of her passing, we were honoured to welcome back the family of our beloved colleague, Tracey, as they unveiled a plaque in her memory. Tracey was a cherished member of our community, dedicating many years to running her school, Footdreams Performing Arts, in our community room at Mahon Point, said Ms ONeill. Her kindness, passion, and dedication touched so many lives, and it was truly special to come together to celebrate her lasting impact. Though she is no longer with us, Traceys spirit remains a part of Mahon Point, and she will always be remembered with love and admiration. Style Squad sessions in Mahon Point until March 28 The highly anticipated spring/summer Style Squad sessions are running in Mahon Point Shopping Centre until March 28. This free fashion event, which takes place every spring and autumn, has been a staple of the Mahon Point experience for over a decade, attracting fashion enthusiasts seeking personalised styling advice to update their wardrobes for the new season. The spring/summer Style Squad sessions continue until March 28 at Mahon Point Shopping Centre. Picture: Denis Minihane The event gives shoppers the opportunity to join Mahon Points style advisor Dee Kelly Morgan and her team of fashion experts as they guide you through the latest SS2025 trends. This season, we are thrilled to partner with Good Shepherd Cork, a charity that provides invaluable support to vulnerable women and children in Cork, a spokesperson for the shopping centre said. Rooted in the principles of social justice and equality, Good Shepherd Cork is dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness across generations, empowering those in need to build brighter, more independent futures. Instead of a fee for your Style Squad appointment, we kindly encourage clients to make a donation to Good Shepherd Cork. Book your free appointment at: eclv.ie/squad. Local clean up in bad weather The Blackrock Clean Up Group has thanked members of the community for braving poor weather conditions at the weekend and collecting 10 bags of litter. In a statement on Saturday, March 8, the local group said: A sincere thank you to all seven brave souls who, despite the weather, took part in todays Clean Coasts cleanup. In all we collected over 10 bags of litter, so well done. We appreciate the commitment of our regular volunteers, and are always delighted to welcome new volunteers. The group shared photos of the bags of litter collected at the Castle car parks, Dutchmans Cove, in Blackrock Village, and at the Marina. Some photos also show fly tipping over the wall on Castle Road down to the shoreline on Dutchmans Cove, which is so disappointing to see, the group added. As always, thank you to Liam, Martin, and their team in Cork City Council for disposing of the bags we collect. And a big thank you to Emmett, Ian, Jerry, Michelle, and all the staff of the Castle Cafe Cork for looking after us. We look forward our next cleanup on Saturday, April 12, and we hope to see you then. Mahon renewal work Construction works are continuing on the Mahon Street Renewal Scheme, Corks first community-wide streetscape renewal programme, according to the latest progress update from Cork City Council. The scheme aims to provide improved streets which are safer and provide multi-modal connected links to schools, retail, sport, and leisure facilities within the Mahon area. The 12m investment in the area is being funded by the National Transport Authority and aims to deliver new footpaths, carriageways, bus and cycle infrastructure, and additional measures including integrated traffic-calming measures. VEX Robotics success A local primary school recently achieved success at the VEX Robotics All-Ireland competition. Scoil na Croise Naofa, a school that has received numerous awards for their robotics projects, was again successful this year. The schools VEX Robotics team were crowned teamwork champions and also claimed the overall excellence award at the finals at Munster Technological University. In a statement, the school said it was so proud of its students. Well done Maciej, Ethan, Glib, Maiia, Faye, Leon, Jada, Dean, Juliane and Ryan, and huge thanks to Mr Hayes, Mr OConnell and Mr Connaughton for their hard work in preparing the team, the school added. Work experience for students Eight transition-year students from a local secondary school enjoyed an exciting work experience at a major pharmaceutical company in Cork in recent days. The students, from Nagle Community College, were invited to attend a STEM work opportunity at Viatris Pharmaceutical Company in Little Island for four days. In a statement, the school described it as a fantastic opportunity. This was a very hands-on work experience, where the students got to spend a lot of time in the laboratories, carrying out biological and chemical experiments. The students were also given a number of presentations on the careers available and the education paths of Viatris professionals, school management stated. Well done to all, who were excellent participants. Thanks to Ms McLaughlin, for organising. Thanks to John Foley and all the team at Viatris, for your continued support! Have Mahon and Blackrock news to share? Contact darraghberminghamecho@gmail.com. Cork city councillors have voted to approve a northbound contraflow bus lane on Anglesea St between South Terrace and Old Station Rd. It will include the realignment and upgrade of several junctions and lanes, the removal of right turn lane on Copley St, and an upgrading of pedestrian crossings. The removal of public parking and relocation of loading bays on Anglesea St proved controversial, with the council noting that while there were a large number of supportive submissions about the positive impact on bus frequency and reliability, several concerned submissions were made on the removal of parking spaces. To accommodate the proposed new bus lane, 14 public parking spaces on Anglesea St will be removed [nine spaces will be removed on the western side, five spaces on the eastern side], a council report said. The loss of parking on the western side of Anglesea St will be converted to loading bays to offset the loss of the loading bay at the Anglesea St /Copley St junction. Independent councillor Paudie Dineen urged councillors to reject the proposal. He said that the bus lane will not improve the speed of journeys as buses will have to join regular traffic lanes again afterwards. What this proposal will do is remove the much needed parking for residents who reside in the area, he said. There are also several businesses on the street that rely on the on-street parking, he added, cautioning that the removal of it will lead to business closures. Fine Gael councillor Shane OCallaghan said that the motion was necessary to improve the bus network. The reason people dont get buses at the moment is because theyre not reliable ... but the NTA [National Transport Authority] is trying to create a proper bus service for this city. If lots more people use the bus, then there will be less need for cars, he said. Green Party councillor Oliver Moran said the bus service is currently at crisis level, adding that Bus Eireann has done its part in securing more drivers, and our responsibility is to deliver a road network that works for public transport. The motion went to a vote and was passed, with 25 votes in favour and three against Mr Dineen, Independent councillor Albert Deasy, and Independent Ireland councillor Noel OFlynn. US president Donald Trump said he was not going to mess around with Taoiseach Micheal Martin during a meeting at the Oval Office. Mr Martin is the first European leader to meet with Mr Trump since Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyys now-infamous meeting in the Oval Office last month. The pair met today as part of the Taoiseachs US visit for St Patricks celebrations. The two leaders discussed trade, peace, Ireland, and the EU among other issues. During the meeting, Mr Trump referenced Mr Martins late father, Paddy The Champ Martin. Ireland has always had a lot of good fighters. You know why, because theyre tough people, theyre smart people, and theyre passionate people, Mr Trump said. I think your father was a great fighter, right? Mr Trump asked Mr Martin. He was, yes, Mr Martin replied. A very good defensive boxer. He was a good boxer, boxed for Ireland. To laughter, Mr Trump added: Genetically, Im not going to mess around with you. Pharmaceuticals Their light-hearted exchange came as the US president said he does not want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but added that the trade relationship between the countries should be focused on fairness. Mr Trump levelled accusations against Ireland and the EU, during which he raised the massive trade imbalance between the two countries and said Ireland is of course taking advantage of the US. He accused the Irish Government of taking US pharmaceutical companies through attractive taxation. Asked if Ireland was also taking advantage of the US, he said: Of course they are. I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldnt have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didnt have a clue. All of a sudden, Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of 5m people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasps. Mr Trump told reporters he loved Ireland and had received a large share of the Irish-American vote. We dont want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we do want fairness, he added. Speaking to The Echo, the Fine Gael TD for Cork East, Noel McCarthy, said that he thinks Taoiseach Micheal Martin has done the people of Ireland proud and hopes that US pharmaceutical companies will remain in Ireland following Trumps remarks. We know how important pharmaceutical companies are to us in Cork, and I think the most important thing is that theyre happy here as well, said Mr McCarthy. I can see where the president is coming from, but Im hoping he wont encourage them to go back [to the US]. I think that they have invested so much in Ireland now that it would be hard to do that. The companies that are here are happy here. Theyre happy with their workforce and theyre happy with the locations theyre in, so I think that they will stay. Apple Mr Trump also criticised the EUs ruling that found that Apple, whose European HQ is in Cork, owes Ireland billions of euro in taxes, saying they had been treated very badly. Mr Martin interjected to say we fought with them on the EU case. Its the European Union, isnt it? The European Union is going after our companies, Mr Trump said when asked if Apple should relocate from Ireland back to the US. He said previous presidents had lost big segments of the US economy, adding that the European Union treats us very badly. They have not been fair. They sue our companies and win massive amounts of money. They sued Apple, won $17bn, and they use that for other reasons, I guess, to run the European Union. Im not knocking it. Theyre doing what they should be doing, perhaps for the European Union, but it does create ill will and, as you know, were going to be doing reciprocal tariffs so whatever they charge us with, were charging them. Nobody can complain about that. Housing During the meeting, Mr Trump also backed Micheal Martin to solve Irelands housing crisis, saying the housing issue had arisen because Ireland is doing so well. The Government has faced sustained criticism from opposition parties for its housing policies. You know why they have a housing crisis? Because theyre doing so well, they cant produce houses fast enough, Mr Trump said. Thats a good problem, not a bad problem. Mr Martin interjected to say that was a good answer. Mr Trump, gesturing to Mr Martin, added: I know this gentleman, hell get it solved. Reaction Fianna Fail councillor Mary Rose Desmond said she believes Mr Martin has represented the Irish people very well during his visit. I think it was very important that he was there. Its very important for Ireland, for our Irish investments and companies, and for the diaspora in Ireland, she said. Ive had people reaching out already to say how pleased they are with how the visit is going. I think its an opportunity that cant ever be overlooked or underestimated. Its very important for Ireland that the Taoiseach of the day and the [US] president of the day do continue to take this unique opportunity on St Patricks week to meet, she added. Meanwhile, speaking in Macroom today, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the meetings in Washington are obviously extremely important, adding that Mr Martin must speak directly on behalf of the Irish people on the matter of Gaza. However, she added: We thought it was really important this year to make a stand in our own way. We appreciated, of course, the Taoiseach has to be there and has to represent Ireland to protect our interests absolutely and to celebrate St Patricks Day absolutely but also to speak fully and frankly on this particular issue, she added. Fota Wildlife Park has announced the birth of a Francois' langur monkey, an endangered species, in what has been hailed as another milestone for the park. The baby Francois' langur was born on February 1 - St Brigids Day - to mother Mei, and father Shinobi, who are both nine-years-old. They reside in the Asian Sanctuary at Fota Wildlife Park, which is home to a variety of endangered species from across Asia. Mei and her younger sister, Kaili, travelled from Twycross Zoo in the UK to Fota Wildlife Park in September 2022 as part of a European Endangered Breeding Programme (EEP). They were joined a few months later by the male, Shinobi, who arrived from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in December 2022. This latest addition to the family follows the birth of Tang, who was born in November 2023. Fota Wildlife Park has announced the birth of the second endangered Francois' langur born at the wildlife park on St Brigids Day. Picture: Darragh Kane Like all Francois' langur babies, the youngster is currently sporting a striking bright orange coat, which contrasts vividly against the sleek black fur of the adults. Over the next few months, the babys coat will gradually darken, eventually developing the species signature white sideburns that extend from the ears to the corners of the cheeks. Francois' langur monkeys are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Lead ranger, Teresa Power, said the arrival of the infant monkey is significant for Fotas breeding programme. This birth marks another milestone for the parks successful breeding programme for this rare primate species. We hope the birth of this baby will help raise awareness about the critical need for conservation efforts for the Francois langur. There is a wild population of 1,4001,650 in China and fewer than 500 left in Vietnam. Mei, an attentive mother, is doing exceptionally well with her second baby. She is supported by her younger sister, Kaili, who has taken on the role of an enthusiastic and caring aunt. This behaviour, known as allomothering, is common among Francois' langurs, where females within the group help to nurture and raise the young. Fota Wildlife Park is inviting the public to help name its newest arrival. The babys gender has yet to be determined, but visitors can submit their name suggestions via a form on the blog at www.fotawildlife.ie/news for a chance to win a conservation annual pass. The chosen name should reflect the species' native habitat or biogeographic region and carry a positive or meaningful significance for the young monkey, the park said. Two men arrested earlier this week as part of an investigation into dissident republican activity have been released without charge. The men, aged in their 40s, were being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 as amended, in garda stations in Cork city. On Tuesday, a garda spokesperson said that on Monday evening, gardai attached to the Cork city and Cork county divisions supported by crime special branch, Cork city, and regional units including the regional armed support unit were involved in an operation targeting dissident republican activity during which a vehicle was stopped in which one male was arrested. An area of forest and adjoining lands was the subject of a follow-up search when the second male was stopped and arrested, the spokesperson said. During the course of the day on Tuesday, follow-up searches were carried out at eight domestic residences across Cork city. Gardai attached to Cork city and Cork county divisions were supported on Tuesday by the special detective unit, the garda dog unit, and the garda air support unit. Items of evidential value have been recovered across the range of searches and operational activity which has taken place. Investigations are ongoing at this time, the spokesperson said. In an update this morning, gardai said that the two men arrested as part of this investigation have since been released without charge. "A file will be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. "Investigations are ongoing," a spokesperson said. Corks coffee houses will stay open into the evenings this weekend for two nights of Coffee House Lates. Following the success of a similar initiative last November, some 11 independent cafes will open late for a range of free events tomorrow and Saturday. This second round, facilitated by the Cork Business Association (CBA) with Cork City Council, will coincide with the St Patricks Festival. From 6pm-9pm tomorrow, Nadur Deli, at Nano Nagle Place, will be open with live music and a coffee tasting by a Cork independent supplier; while Brian OConnor, of Brians Wines, will be serving alcohol-free drinks and coffee at a Vinyl Brews event from 6-7.30pm at Plugd, Cornmarket St. People can also taste coffees from around the world and non-alcoholic cocktails at Cafe Moly, Douglas St, or attend the launch of an art exhibition and a new spring menu at Filter, Georges Quay, both also taking place from 6-9pm tomorrow. Also from 6-9pm, there will be a craft fair in aid of Cork Penny Dinners at Lough Cafe; Mike ORiordan will perform live at Dukes Coffee Company, Careys Lane; and the Cor Blath Oraiste choral group will perform at the Lee Cafe, Wellington Bridge. DJ Stevie G will be performing at Greenwich, Caroline St, from 6pm to 8pm; while an evening of tarot, oracle, and astrology will be held until 9pm at The Grumpy Bakers, Washington St, with free readings to customers on a first come, first served basis from 6pm. On Saturday, there will be a street art and graffiti exhibition at Old Town Taqueria on Pembroke St from 810pm, with a special introduction by Paul Gleeson from the annual Cork Graffiti Jam and Ardu who will speak at 9pm. A trad-folk collective show will take place at 115 Cafe, Oliver Plunkett St, from 8-10pm both nights. Along with the Coffee House Lates, a night market will be held on Cornmarket St tomorrow, from 5pm to 10pm, as part of Corks night-time initiative featuring a variety of stalls including craft vendors and food stalls with live music. Cork City Councils night-time economy advisor Fiona Collins said she is optimistic about the long-term potential of Coffee House Lates. The popularity of this event last November showed the consumer demand and interest for evening activities that dont necessarily involve alcohol, she said. Were excited about this weekends activities and encourage all to support our coffee houses. A civic reception was held in Cork yesterday in honour of Cork city sheriff and returning officer, Martin A Harvey. The ceremony, hosted at City Hall by the Lord Mayor of Cork councillor Dan Boyle, was aimed at highlighting Mr Harveys more than three decades of service. Mr Harvey served as the city sheriff for more than 30 years, and as part of that role, also acted as returning officer. In November of last year, some 35 years after his first election, Mr Harvey oversaw his last election as Cork city returning officer at the Nemo Rangers count centre. Speaking ahead of the reception, Mr Boyle said it was important that Mr Harvey, who he described as a custodian of our democratic process, be recognised for the work he has done. I am delighted to be able to honour Martin and his team here in City Hall, to acknowledge his service as Cork citys returning officer and sheriff. Rebecca Loughry, director of services Cork City Council, Lord Mayor councillor Dan Boyle with Martin A Harvey, outgoing sheriff and returning Officer for Cork City Council in City Hall. Photo: Darragh Kane Any of us with an interest or involvement in elections in Cork will be familiar with Martins reassuring, calm presence at count centres in the city for more than three decades. As custodian of our democratic process, Martins integrity, his openness and transparency has earned him the respect of everyone involved in politics I wish him and his family well for the future, he said. Chief executive of Cork City Council, Valerie OSullivan, echoed these sentiments. I want to congratulate Martin on over 30 years of public service. Martin is a hugely experienced returning officer who has overseen countless Dail and European elections with integrity and professionalism, Ms OSullivan said. He always worked collaboratively with our own team in City Hall and on behalf of us all, I wish Martin, his team, and his family, the very best for the future. The Supreme Court has ruled that protections prohibiting the naming of a young man convicted of murdering the Co Cork student Cameron Blair should continue to apply throughout and beyond the conclusion of the proceedings relating to the case, including appeals. The courts judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley today, overrules a landmark Court of Appeal judgment permitting the naming of the young man, who was 17 years old when he pleaded guilty to Mr Blairs murder on the Bandon Road in Cork on January 16, 2020. The young man had reached adulthood when the Court of Appeal last year dismissed his appeal against being sentenced to life detention with a review to be conducted after serving 13 years. The court also held that the media could identify an accused who turns 18 during their criminal court proceedings or appeals. This dislodged a long-standing interpretation of section 93 of the Children Act, 2001, that identity protections for child offenders continue to apply when an accused appears before appellant courts. An order was made pausing the effects of the Court of Appeals decision pending his appeal of the courts decision lifting anonymity. The Supreme Court determined that the sole issue in the young mans appeal was whether a defendant who is charged and brought before the courts while a child remains entitled to the Childrens Act 2001 protections if they reach the age of 18 before the criminal proceedings, including any appeals, have concluded. The court ruled that the protections should apply when criminal proceedings are commenced against a child, and continue to apply throughout and beyond the conclusion of the proceedings. Ms Justice O'Malley said that this interpretation of the relevant Childrens Act 2001 section seems to her to reduce the possibility of unequal and unfair treatment as between young offenders, and attempts to ensure that they are not subjected to additional, unjustified and unnecessary pressure and harm while involved in the criminal justice process. The DPP and the Attorney General had said that the protections should apply when criminal proceedings are commenced against a child, and are capable of having indefinite effect. However, the State parties argued the protections should expire if the person reached 18 before the conclusion of the proceedings. The five-judge court agreed unanimously with Ms Justice O'Malley's judgment. She proposed making an order allowing the young mans appeal, and granting a declaration stating the anonymity protections apply to him in proceedings before the Central Criminal Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, notwithstanding the fact that he reached the age of majority during the currency of those proceedings. The case was adjourned to March 26 for the making of final orders, allowing for submissions from the parties. Separate appeal Ms Justice O'Malley noted that a separate Supreme Court appeal which was also delivered by the court today impacts the young man, as a review of his sentence to be conducted after his serving 13 years, stipulated in the life sentence handed down to him by the Central Criminal Court, cannot now be held. The separate appeal was taken by the young man convicted of murdering Mongolian woman Urantsetseg Tserendorj in January 2021 and sentenced to life with a review after 13 years. In the judgment delivered by Ms Justice O'Malley, the Supreme Court ruled that, following the repeal of the Children's Act 1908 in 2007, a sentencing court does not have the power to review the detention of a child convicted of murder. The court ruled that a sentencing court may not reserve to itself the power to modify a sentence through a review procedure, as it infringes on the Constitution. In the circumstances, the court ruled that it would allow the young man convicted of stabbing Ms Tserendorj to death to appeal his sentence. Ms Justice O'Malley said her provisional view is that the case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal so that the court can impose a new sentence. The judgment, in effect, means that a small number of people who were sentenced as children to life sentences are now serving straightforward life sentences. The ruling may now lead to appeals brought by those people against their sentences. A young crew member on board a fishing vessel died following an unfortunate common slip or fall while he was carrying out his work, a Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report has recorded. Desmond (Des) Hurley, aged 29, lost his balance whilst on a ladder in the accommodation deck of a family owned fishing vessel, the Breizh Arvor II, on December 14, 2023. Des, his brother Mark and other crew members had been fishing at the Porcupine Bank off the south west coast of Ireland when the accident occurred. Mark Hurley, who is a brother of the deceased, previously told the Coroners Court that he asked Desmond to take over at the wheelhouse at close to midnight on December 13, 2023. Desmond went down stairs to change his jumper. Mark went looking for his brother when he didnt come back up from accommodation deck in a matter of minutes. He saw his brother lying on the floor of the accommodation deck. CPR was administered to no avail. The MCIB report indicates that the accident appears to have occurred as a result of Mr Hurley slipping or falling or hitting his head in, or departing from, the accommodation area while following instructions to go to the wheelhouse to take over the watch the watch from the skipper. The report further says that circumstantial evidence would indicate that Mr Hurley may have missed one of the steps or slipped, and then fell forward hitting his head on any number of hard surfaces in the small space. Alternatively, he may have misjudged that heights in the accommodation area and hit his head first before falling to the deck floor. Loose footwear may also have contributed to a slip or fall. "There was no major features on the deck floor that could be considered to have caused the fall. Regard must be had to the findings of the Coroner that there was strong circumstantial evidence that the casualty lost his footing on the ladder, thereby sustaining a neck injury and suffered cardiorespiratory failure. The MCIB has recommended that the Minister for Transport circulate a marine notice highlighting the importance of wearing secure footwear at all times on board fishing vessels. They have also asked that owners be advised regarding the dangers of restricted headroom in vessels and the importance of having suitable warning signage at the entrance/exist to spaces with restricted headroom. The MCIB has also recommended that the HAS review their fishing guidelines literature with a view to adding guidance on footwear and on navigating areas with height and space restrictions. Meanwhile, the town of Kinsale came to a standstill on December 18, 2023 for the funeral of Mr Hurley. Des who was from Eltins Wood in Kinsale, is survived by his parents Jimmy and Noreen, his siblings Chris, Mark, Jemma and Vikki, his grandparents Christy and Eileen and partner Larissa. James was a past pupil of Kinsale Community School. He also studied at the BIM fisheries college. He was laid to rest at St Eltins cemetery following a funeral mass at St John the Baptist Church in Kinsale. The cortege stopped off at the pier in Kinsale on the day of the funeral amid poignant scenes. His family undertook fundraising for the emergency services in the months following his death. An East Cork primary school has celebrated the opening of a brand new kitchen which will give pupils the opportunity to learn cooking and baking skills which will stand to them through life. Pupils, staff, and families gathered last week at Scoil Bhride in Midleton to celebrate the grand opening of the schools new student kitchen. Ivana Ndegwa and Caoimhe Morey seen working in the new school kitchen in Scoil Bhride Midleton. Picture: Howard Crowdy School principal Seamus OConnor said the kitchen had been made possible through the fundraising efforts of the group Friends of Scoil Bhride Midleton, and the support of the school community. It stands as a testament to the schools long-standing vision of hands-on, practical learning, he said. With this kitchen, students will have the opportunity to learn invaluable cooking and baking skills, fostering independence, confidence, and a greater understanding of food and nutrition. Amar and Ronan measuring sugar in the new school kitchen in Scoil Bhride Midleton. Picture: Howard Crowdy Mr OConnor offered a heartfelt thank you to the Friends of Scoil Bhride Midleton, our supportive and kind families, local businesses, and all who played a role in making this dream a reality. During the official presentation, special recognition was given to the Presentation Order, the schools founders, and Mr OConnor said the orders dedication to education and life skills remained deeply rooted in the schools ethos. Sixth Class pupil Lena Jablonska cuts the tape to officially open the new Scoil Bhride School Kitchen in Midleton watched by Principal Seamus O'Connor, Fr John Ryan, Evelyn Madigan and Olivia Barrett. Picture: Howard Crowdy The kitchen was launched by local businessman Josh Spillane, from Cornerstone, who spoke of the importance of instilling cookery skills in young people. Food is essential for health and life, Mr Spillane said. Children gaining a sense of creation of ingredients at an early stage is so positive and inspiring. A Labour Party councillor has warned against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by Cork City Council. Mondays council meeting heard concerns that jobs could be lost and replaced with AI. Peter Horgan submitted a motion, proposing that the council limit the use of AI and ensure jobs are not replaced by it, and also that it write to all other local authorities to encourage them to do the same. Ruth Buckley, chief information officer at Cork City Council, said that the council recognises the many potential opportunities for improved customer service, efficiencies and innovation, due to new AI technologies. Sectoral guidance, at a national level, on the use of AI, will be published to encourage a uniform approach to its adoption across all 31 local authorities, Ms Buckley said, following the unanimous adoption of the EU AI Act by all members states in February of 2024, which is likely to be adopted into legislation in each country by 2028. In the interim, Cork City Council ICT has prepared a draft amendment to the information systems acceptable usage policy, governing the use of all cyber assets by staff and external parties. This caters for the use of AI in a way that is reasonable and minimises any risk of data leakage, data loss or other unintended consequences, Ms Buckley said, adding that they are looking at areas where it should not be used, including for taking notes of meetings. AI is at a very early stage of adoption by the public sector in general and a cautious approach within the existing and new legal framework will be adopted in line with best practice, Ms Buckley said. Mr Horgan acknowledged that AI is unavoidable, but warned against it replacing jobs. There are those who believe AI is the next salvation for mankind, Mr Horgan said. Theres no doubt that AI will be a massive part of our lives going forward, but we should be cautious. We must ensure, as a local authority, that roles will not be subsumed by the march of AI and supposed cost savings on peoples salaries and human interaction levels, he said. Yes, AI will lead to job changes and improvements, but Ive yet to meet any device of artificial intelligence that will fix a door, resurface a road, or help a family facing homelessness. Im incredibly proud that Cork City Council has a manned service centre with real people answering calls and emails and has not succumbed to the chatbot fad across all customer service sites. Weve seen online ads of the Taoiseach and Tanaiste and photos on Facebook during elections, and since, that dont quite adhere to reality. We saw it in the local and general elections; there have been candidates who have used AI on their posters. Its important that voters have confidence in what is being portrayed of their representatives is actually truthful, and it is something the Electoral Commission needs to seriously tackle, in real time. Paddy The Champ Martin might have had a wry smile at thought that the president of the US would one day talk about him in the Oval Office, his eldest son has said. The Champ, a gifted amateur boxer who represented Ireland 13 times, was mentioned by Donald Trump on Wednesday when Taoiseach Micheal Martin visited the White House for St Patricks celebrations. Toward the end of a 50-minute press conference, Mr Trump said: You have a lot of great Irish fighters, actually, great fighters, I dont know what that is but Irelands always had a lot of good fighters, you know why? Because theyre tough people, theyre smart people, and there really have been, over the years so many, Mr Trump said, pivoting to Mr Martin. I think your father was a great fighter, right? he asked. The Taoiseach said: He was, youre dead right, he was a good boxer, boxed for Ireland. Mr Trump responded: Look at you, youre so smooth, while Mr Martin said his father was a very good defensive boxer, he could duck and he could weave. He was really good, yeah? asked Mr Trump. That means genetically Im not gonna mess around with you. The Taoiseachs older brother, Cork councillor Sean Martin, said his father was a quiet man who would not have been comfortable in the glare of international attention. Ill tell you now, if he was alive and saw that, hed say Are ye all mad or what? he said. He was never one for that, he never sought the limelight, it was never his style. Sean Martin said he had felt quite emotional when he heard Mr Trump mention the Champ. I had a half a tear on my face when I heard him being brought up, because it would have been the last thing in the world the man would want, or expect. Hed have had a wry smile at that. He added: Micheal did very well, and he was there because of his father and his mother, and it goes back to his Turners Cross background, and his education with the Presentation Brothers and everything else, thats where he comes from, and thats what makes him, he said. And the other point people are missing here is the work thats done in the background by the officials, like, the Irish diplomats around the world are very effective and theyre very good at their jobs, looking back over the years, weve been very well served by our officials. Kanishka Singh and Andrea Shalal, Reuters US Muslim and Jewish advocacy groups criticised president Donald Trump on Wednesday for referring to the top Senate Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer, as a Palestinian, with the organisations saying the president used the term as a slur. Trump, a Republican, was asked by reporters at the White House about US corporate tax rate policy during an Oval Office meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin, and in response expressed displeasure with congressional Democrats not supporting his agenda. "Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I'm concerned. He's become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian," Trump said. Schumer is the highest-ranking elected US Jewish official and is not of Palestinian heritage. "President Trump's use of the term 'Palestinian' as a racial slur is offensive and beneath the dignity of his office," said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations. Awad, who is of Palestinian heritage, said Trump's comments showed the "continuing dehumanization" of Palestinians. Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, also condemned Trump's remarks, as did Halie Soifer, chief executive of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. Trump faced criticism from rights groups during last year's election campaign in which he referred to former president Joe Biden as Palestinian during a presidential debate. He also said last year that Jews who did not vote for him needed to "have your head examined." Trump has previously denied allegations of being discriminatory. The White House and Schumer had no immediate comment. Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. More recently, Trump has faced criticism for his plan for a US takeover of Gaza and to displace Palestinians from the enclave. His plan has been called a proposal of ethnic cleansing by rights groups, Arab states, Palestinians and the UN. The Trump administration is also seeking to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student who has played a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests at New York's Columbia University. By Jonathan McCambridge, PA A father who murdered his infant son has been told he must serve at least 20 years in prison before he can be considered for release. Craig Rowland (29), of Millington Park in Portadown, Co Armagh, was convicted last year at Belfast Crown Court of murdering Lewis Oliver Rowland, who died aged three in October 2018. The child sustained life-changing brain injuries resulting in permanent and severe disability in November 2015, after being violently shaken by his father when he was 13 weeks old. He died three years later from complications arising from surgery. At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, Judge Justice OHara said Lewis death was a direct result of the injuries he had suffered three years earlier. Lewis mother, Laura Graham (32), of Edward Street in Lurgan, was placed on probation for three years for wilful neglect of a child. Name: Sandy ODonnell. Age: 52. Lives: Rochestown, Cork city. Job title: Business Manager for Diagnostic Imaging, Mater Private Hospital Cork. With a team of 30, each month we see between 3,500 to 4,000 patients for diagnostics in everything from cardiac and cardiovascular to abdominal, chest, cancer, neurology and prostate imaging among others. Salary bracket: Salaries vary in the medical field. The work I do with Mater Hospital Cork to improve patient health and wellbeing is hugely important. Being able to do it in a state-of-the-art, modern, and well-invested healthcare setting is an attractive benefit also. Education background: My journey in healthcare started with in St Bartholomews Hospital London where I studied radiography, building on a strong academic foundation from Midleton College in Cork. In this field, learning never stops - ongoing professional development is essential to maintaining my registration as a radiographer. Ive also completed management training to develop my leadership skills. Continuous learning is a key part of working in healthcare, ensuring we stay up to date with the latest advancements to provide the best possible care for patients. Hobbies: I love to switch off while sailing, walking and reading. Describe your job in five words: Challenging, process-driven, dynamic, rewarding, and - being honest - sometimes exhausting! Describe yourself in five words: Driven, detail-focused, patient, fair, and (hopefully!) a good delegator (though I know these can be strengths or challenges, depending on the day!) Personality needed for this kind of work? Empathy is the most important character trait in this field. Our patients are often feeling vulnerable, anxious, or facing challenging medical conditions, and its essential that we never lose sight of that. Providing not just excellent clinical care, but also reassurance and support, is at the heart of what we do. In my role as Business Manager for Diagnostic Imaging for the Mater Hospital Cork, a solution-focused mindset and a process-driven approach are equally important. Ensuring smooth operations, efficiency, and accessibility for patients requires both strategic thinking and attention to detail. Balancing patient-centred care with effective management is key to delivering the best possible experience for those who rely on our services. How long are you doing this job? I started training as a radiographer in 1989 and have been working in the field ever since. However, Ive been in a senior role, as a Radiology Services Manager (RSM), since 2000. How did you get this job? Im fortunate to have had the opportunity to work across several large teaching hospitals, gaining extensive experience in project management and the deployment of new and existing diagnostic services. This included managing the complexities of high-volume diagnostics and ensuring capacity planning was handled efficiently. Ive also worked closely with radiologists and radiology groups, both here in Ireland and internationally. For over 30 years, Ive worked in both the public and private healthcare sectors, and a key part of my role has always been ensuring clinical governance and quality processes are in place. Ive also been heavily involved in radiation safety legislation and inspections, which is crucial for maintaining the highest standards of patient care and safety. In my role as a Business Manager for Diagnostic Imaging, all of this experience has come together, allowing me to help manage diagnostic imaging services in the Mater Hospital Cork - ensuring everything runs smoothly and safely. Do you need particular qualifications or experience? Most Radiology Services Managers (RSMs) typically have at least six years of experience as a qualified radiographer. For a role like mine as a Business Manager, 10-12 years experience is generally needed, along with extensive experience in both clinical and operational management. Radiographers in Ireland are also required to complete ongoing CPD (Continuous Professional Development) each year - so learning never really stops in this field. Describe a day at work? Im usually on-site by 7.30-8am, and from that point on, its a mix of meetings, operational problem-solving, and constant communication with staff, patients, referrers, and consultants. A large part of my role is ensuring everything runs smoothly - from managing patient care and staff support to maintaining high safety and governance standards. Theres huge demand for diagnostic imaging, so I work hard to maximise the use of all our CT and MRI scanners, X-ray rooms, Dexa, etc, to keep waiting lists down and avoid delays in diagnosis. I also collaborate closely with other hospital departments to ensure they have the imaging support they need for their patients. Because we serve a wide area across the southern region, I liaise with various referral pathways, from GPs to consultants, to streamline the process. We offer rapid access to all of our scanners so my days can often be spent going from call to call organising and liaising with referrers and patients. My days can be long, often stretching until 6 or 7pm, with calls even after hours. Its demanding, but at the heart of it all is the patient - making sure they receive the best possible care. Im lucky to have an incredible team, and their dedication makes all the difference. How many hours do you work a week? I typically work 50-60 hours a week, as my role is fast-paced and comes with a range of responsibilities. While it can be demanding, I genuinely enjoy the work and the positive impact it has. That being said, I always make an effort to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I find it important to switch off and enjoy downtime, which helps me stay refreshed and focused when Im back at work. Its all about finding the right balance to manage the workload while also taking care of myself. What do you wear to work? I typically wear smart business attire, but there are times when I need to switch into a clinical uniform, especially if Im involved in hands-on activities or supporting the team in a clinical capacity. Is your industry male or female-dominated? These days, its about a 50-50 split, but historically, the field was predominantly female. Theres still a slight lean towards female representation, but were seeing a more balanced mix as the profession evolves. Does this affect you in any particular way? Its great to have diversity, as different perspectives and skill sets contribute to a stronger, more dynamic workplace. Is your job stressful? How? Rate it on a scale of 1-10: Yes, it can be stressful at times, but Im fortunate to have a hugely supportive and inclusive senior management team at Mater Private Cork, which makes a big difference. That said, the nature of the role - balancing patient care, staff management, and operational demands - means it can reach an 8/10 on occasion. However, the reward of knowing were making a real impact on patient outcomes makes it all worthwhile. Do you work with others or on your own? Its very much a team effort in radiology. From radiographers and consultants to administrative staff and referrers, we all work closely together to ensure the best possible patient care. Collaboration is key - no one person can do it all, and the strength of the team is what keeps everything running smoothly. When do you plan to retire or give up working? Id like to retire by 60, but honestly, Im not sure I could ever fully step away. I enjoy the work so much, and I think Ill always want to stay involved in some capacity, even if its on a smaller scale. Best bits: The best parts of my job are the moments when we really make a difference for our patients - knowing weve provided them with excellent care and a positive experience. Im also lucky to work with such a great team, where theres genuine respect and support for one another. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. Worst bits: The hardest part of the job is when we face poor outcomes for some patients. Its incredibly difficult and sad to see. We always try to do our best, but some situations are beyond our control. Advice to those who want your job? My advice would be to work hard, always treat your peers with respect, and maintain professional courtesy in everything you do. Most importantly, empathise with your patients and go above and beyond to ensure they feel cared for and supported. Any other comments? I really enjoy my job. Even though I dont fit the true definition of a radiographer anymore, its still at the core of what I do, and Im proud of that. It can be challenging and tough at times, but the rewards make it all worthwhile. WCC File photo: Neighborhood in rubbles near as-Shifa hospital in Gaza, April 2024. Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All of Palestine and Jordan, has noted fears the ancient Christian community in Gaza "has now dwindled to under 600 people." He spoke at a showing of the film "Via Dolorosa," which narrates the path of sorrow from the place where Christianity was born and where its presence is now severely threatened. The film, shown at the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 18, details the Christian presence in Palestine, narrated through the eyes of its Christians and capturing important moments that have shaped their history, identity, and resilience. Patriarch Theophilos said, "We proudly commend this blessed work" of Amira Hanania, the film's director, "as well as the granted auspices of the World Council of Churches and the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine, as well as all the other international organizations that lent their name and support." He noted that "The Rum Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the oldest continuous religious institution in the Holy Land." Palestinian Christians consider themselves as among the descendents of the world's earliest Christians and some say the world is not sufficiently aware of their dwindling existence. Theophilos explained that for some years, there has been financial pressure on the churches. - Dire economic situation "Throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem, the economic situation continues to deteriorate because of the lack of pilgrims, the scarcity of jobs, and the unstable security situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem," said Theophilos. Father Ibrahim Faltas, vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land said at the meeting, "This documentary is Via Dolorosa for every Christian person in Palestine. Living in Palestine is a part of sorrow. I have been living in Palestine for 36 years" He said he had witnessed the first and second intifadas and the siege of the Nativity Church. "I am now watching this crazy, irrational war, which is hell for everyone, especially the Palestinians." The situation now is unparalleled, he said, in terms of the challenges and difficulties faced by Christians who have lost faith and hope and "fled the Christian areas in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth." The Palestinian people rarely get the chance to document their own history, said Greece-based Palestinian Ambassador Hanania, but the film "Via Dolorosa," shows the path of sorrows from the place where Christianity was born and where its presence is now severely threatened. Before the film was shown, Hanania told diplomats and the public at the UN in Geneva that "Via Dolorosa" is the first documentary to chronicle the history of Palestinian Christianity through the eyes of its own people. "It tells their story as they have lived itfree from distortion, free from erasure. It is a living testament to the role of Palestinian Christians in the struggle for justice and a powerful rebuttal to those who seek to erase their identity from the national and international arena." She said, "In the face of attempts to erase our history and displace our people, we stand here to declare that this land is not just a relic of the past but a living identity that will never be silenced nor erased." On the platform were also Rev. Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, and Dr. Ramzi Khouri, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Head of the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine. - Dignity for all Pillay told the gathering, "As the World Council of Churches, we stand with you and with all those who seek justice, peace, and the equal dignity and rights of all people in the Holy Land. "The WCC has repeatedly called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to stop the bloodshed and destruction in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to reach those in desperate need." He said the WCC appeals for the recognition of the "equal God-given value and dignity of every human life, Palestinian and Israeli, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian. Only on that basis can a just and sustainable peace be built." "Thus, we also condemned the attack launched against Israel on 7 October," said Pillay. He said, however, that the tragic events witnessed in Gaza over the last 16 months, and in the context of escalating violence in the West Bank, represent the opposite of peace "a rejection and denial of the humanity of the other." Palestinian theologian and founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, Prof. Mitri Raheb, also warned that the Christian presence in Gaza will be eradicated. "Gaza used to be an important Christian hub in Palestine," he said. Christianity did not start in Rome, Wittenberg, or Canterbury, he said. It started in Palestine. Mitri warned about the dangers of Christian Zionism, describing it as an "ideology that is weaponizing the Bible for political ends," and noted, "For Israel, it is easier if this is portrayed as a conflict between Jews and Muslims." But he said, "They (the Christian Zionists) don't care about the Christian people in Palestine," nor about Jews. He added, "It is time to bring peace to the land where peace was born. Palestine gave Jesus to the world. It is high time to give peace to Palestine." "Israel is Gazafiying the West Bank," and turning Palestinians into refugees yet again, the left of center Israeli newspaper Haaretz said in a headline for a piece about the war moving from Gaza inland. Vatican News reported, "As the Israeli government defies global calls to end its weeklong blockade of the Gaza Strip that has resulted in further collapse of the humanitarian situation with no entry of any aid, including food, medicine and fuel, the people are facing more suffering and insecurity." Google is pushing back on a bill that would make Utah the first state in the US to have a law requiring app stores to conduct age verification of their users. The company has formally requested the state's governor to veto the bill, passed by the state legislature last week, as it urges states to consider a different approach to app safety. In a blog post from Google public policy director Kareem Ghanem, the company said the Utah law poses real privacy and safety risks and that states shouldnt rush to pass laws pushed by Meta and other social media companies. Instead, Ghanethe says that Google has proposed an alternative legislative framework that would allow the developers of potentially risky apps to request age signals from app store owners like Google. The statement is the first time Google has publicly opposed the bill, which would make Apple and Google responsible for age verification and parental permission features for children under 18. A spokesperson also confirmed that the company requested that Utah Governor Spencer Cox veto the bill. Cox has previously signed off on laws that imposed age verification and parental permission requirements on social media companies, though the measures were revised and later blocked by a judge. A spokesperson for Cox didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. While its not surprising that Google is opposing the law and others like it (there are at least eight other states considering similar measures), its notable that the company is proposing its own parameters for a law that would take into account what kind of content is available in a given app, which would place more of a burden on social media companies. Ghanem argues that not all apps should be subject to age verification. This level of data sharing isnt necessary a weather app doesnt need to know if a user is a kid, he writes. By contrast, a social media app does need to make significant decisions about age-appropriate content and features. He also argues that app store safety proposals should come with a ban on all personalized ads to anyone under 18, pointedly noting that "other companies" should follow Google's lead on the issue. Google obviously has a vested interest in not being responsible for age verification of its users, which would impose significant logistical and legal risks for the company. But many other privacy and digital rights groups have also opposed age verification laws. Jeff and Annie Strain, the owners of publisher Prytania Media, are suing NetEase over claims of "defamation, unfair trade practices and interference with business relations," Polygon reports. The new lawsuit runs counter to the couple's previous claim that leaks shared with Kotaku led to them shutting down their studios Crop Circle Games and Possibility Space, before Prytania Media itself closed. Per Polygon's reporting, the Strains claim that NetEase "spread false and defamatory statements that caused the demise of Prytania Media," and specifically, that the Chinese company suggested Prytania Media was engaged in financial fraud, scaring away other investors. Prytania Media shutdown Crop Circle Games without warning in March 2024, before closing Possibility Space a month later. Possibility Space was notable for the variety of talent it had working on its first AAA title, including former Waypoint editor-in-chief Austin Walker, Watch Dogs: Legion designer Liz England and Jane Ng, the lead environment artist on Firewatch. At the time, the Strains suggested that information shared with Kotaku about an in-development title called "Project Vonnegut" led to an unnamed investor backing away from offering further funding. If the new lawsuit is to be believed, that was not the case. The lawsuit is headed to federal court. For more color on what the Strains claim NetEase did, read Polygon's report. However things play out, it doesn't change the fact that a lot of people were laid off and Prytania Media did little to make things right. "Severance never materialized btw," Walker shared in a Bluesky thread going over the details of the lawsuit. It only took 20 years for the US to get a second shop. Nintendo has set the date for its second US store to set up shop. Following the announcement last year, Nintendo's brick and mortar location in San Francisco will open its doors on May 15. The opening is happening almost exactly two decades after Nintendo launched its first US store, which is in New York City's Rockefeller Plaza. The San Francisco business "will offer a unique shopping experience filled with Nintendos characters, worlds and exclusive products including accessories, apparel, home goods and souvenirs available only at this location," according to the press release . The jury's still out on whether the Switch 2 will be on the store's shelves when it opens. A lobbyist for the College Board delivered a sharp warning to William Slater last month. She was not happy that the Tennessee Republican lawmaker had recently introduced a bill to allow the states public universities to accept the Classic Learning Test, an upstart competitor to the College Boards famed SAT, as an admissions exam. The lobbyist aimed to kill the bill. She let me know that the College Board is opposed and indicated that she will be speaking with each member of the higher education subcommittee, Slater told RealClearInvestigations. I told her it seems protectionist and Im not going to allow a monopoly to keep us from doing good education policy in Tennessee. Tennessee is just one of the states where the College Board, a nonprofit with $1 billion in annual revenue, is trying to stop the expansion of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), run by a small company with about $10 million in revenue. While the College Board justifies its attack with criticism of the tests quality claims CLT leaders reject underlying the controversy appears to be a fierce competition for market share. The battle over the CLT also reflects the profound forces transforming K-12 education. As growing numbers of Americans seek alternatives to traditional public education, an infrastructure of charter, private, and home schools has expanded to support them. The CLT, which grew out of the classical education movement, is a recent addition to that infrastructure, a bridge between high school and college. The CLT is another option for students that tests a different aspect of education, said Chester Finn, an expert on assessments and president emeritus at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. It has merit as a test for college admissions. For decades, the College Boards SAT and its chief rival, the ACT (which was bought last year by a private equity firm), have dominated the college admissions market. They are not simply exams they are touchstones of academic achievement that have extraordinary influence on education, giving shape to what students study in school and strive for in life. High-performing schools display their students SAT and ACT scores online as a badge of honor. As CLT founder Jeremy Tate sees it, those tests have played a role in making education overly utilitarian and job-focused. It has lost its soul, leaving students bored and uninspired with learning, says Tate, a former public school teacher in New York City. He is not surprised at all that public education is afflicted with sky-high absenteeism and record low achievement. Tate is a central figure in an educational revival that aims to restore some of the wonder in learning. The great books of Western civilization and a focus on big questions of virtue and justice form the centerpiece of classical instruction. Science, math, and technology are important, too, but as pieces within the broader classical approach. Educators of all political stripes, from conservative Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn to progressive philosophy professor Cornel West, are promoting classical Christian and secular charter schools that number in the hundreds. They were the early adopters of the CLT because of its emphasis on classical works, and the test has recently spread into traditional public schools, serving at times as a catalyst for change. In schools that are not already classical, we commonly see some curricular impact after adopting the CLT, like the addition of philosophy or grammar, said Tate, a graduate of the Reformed Theological Seminary. We need to get back to the ancient goal of the cultivation of virtue, and the CLT is part of that. A Battle for Market Share Tate decided to create the CLT while he was running an SAT and ACT test prep company. Those exams are based on the Common Core standards popular in public education but not in the private and home schools where he prepped students for the tests. So, in 2015, he developed the CLT, a two-hour verbal, grammar, and quantitative exam, more aligned to the classical education of his students. Over the next eight years, the number of CLT test takers was de minimis. Although more than 200 colleges agreed to accept CLT scores for admission, they were almost all small religious schools, significantly limiting the tests appeal to students. The CLT broke out of its religious bubble in 2023 when Florida became the first state to approve its use in high schools and public universities. The test suddenly became a more serious player in the market, firing a shot across the bow of the College Board. Thanks to Florida, the number of CLT test takers soared seven-fold to 182,000 last year. The biggest surprise was that the surge in Florida came mostly from public school students, evidence of the CLTs broadening appeal. The CLTs market share is still a far cry from the leading SATs 1.97 million test takers and ACTs 1.4 million for the class of 2024. But Florida made clear that the CLT could become a real competitive threat if more states sign on. There is no doubt that the CLT is taking market share from the SAT and ACT in Florida, said Doug Tuthill, the chief vision officer at Step Up For Students, which runs the states school choice scholarship programs. Now, as Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas consider CLT legislation, the College Board is moving to stop the momentum. It has deployed lobbyists to the state capitols to block the bills for reasons that it posted in a brief on its website in May: New external research shows that the CLT is not predictive of college performance or success and has no relationship to student outcomes. Thats a damning assessment since the very purpose of a college admissions test is to predict how students will perform. CLT leaders say the College Boards assertion is false. To date, there is no completed research that addresses the predictiveness of the CLT. It remains a question to be answered. Last year, Tates company began a longitudinal study tracking the same students over a long period to determine the CLTs predictive power, and the results are not in yet. Absolutely the College Board is trying to undermine the CLT, Tate said. Its part of a duopoly and so it makes sense that they dont want to have competitors in the space. The College Board denies that its criticism of the CLT is based on a desire to protect its market share. The nonprofit says its mission is to help students succeed in college, and it supports having a diversity of tests provided they are backed by research. The College Board believes that students should be able to choose from any research-backed test that allows them to effectively show what they know and can do, Holly Stepp, executive director of media relations, told RCI. Classical Educations Appeal Like the SAT, the CLT is a multiple-choice test of literacy and numeracy. But the two tests differ significantly when it comes to reading content. This difference became more pronounced last year when the College Board rolled out the digital SAT in the U.S., calling it more student-friendly and less stressful. The digital SAT is partly a response to the large number of colleges that have become test-optional, posing a challenge to the CLT and ACT, too. With an eye on preserving market share, the College Board said its goal is for the digital SAT to be the only test that students take. In addition to cutting the SAT testing time to 2 hours and 14 minutes, the reading passages have been significantly shortened to between 25 and 150 words. The College Board said the shorter passages are a better fit for the digital format and are just as challenging. The brief passages also seem to nod at social media, which has transformed how students consume information. CLT leaders say the SATs new approach demands less thoughtfulness from students. The CLTs longer passages of 525 words are drawn from classic works in history, literature, science, philosophy, and religion. A practice CLT test features the Epic of Gilgamesh, St. Teresa of Avila, and James Madison. Tate says the readings make the test engaging and meaningful and will attract more students. Veritas, a classical Christian K-12 academy in St. Augustine, FL, is a true believer in the CLT. The test is more aligned to the schools rigorous program that includes Homer in middle school before Shakespeare and Dostoevsky in later grades, says Andrew Smalley, the head of school. Veritas intentionally gives students difficult works that have stood the test of time to inspire them to rise to the challenge of tackling the question of what it means to be human. This is far superior to other approaches where kids are not being pushed academically and they are just checking boxes on tests that are kind of meaningless to them, said Smalley, a member of the CLTs board of academic advisers. As crazy as it sounds, Smalley says, most of his students are excited to take the CLT because they find the content interesting. Veritas uses it both to meet a state requirement that private schools test students and for college admissions, along with the SAT and ACT. All members of Veritas small class of 2025 have earned a college acceptance. A student walked out of the CLT and told me it had a passage from a beautiful poem that she now had to read, said Smalley. Students dont normally say something like that after taking a standardized test. Its because the CLT validates deeper thinking. Obstacles to CLTs Expansion The CLTs attempt to expand across the country presents a daunting challenge. Tates company of about 50 employees must convince state lawmakers and boards of governors to change their laws and rules to include the CLT on the menu of tests that serve K-12 schools and public universities. Most state lawmakers have never heard of the CLT, or if they have, they dont realize they need to make policy changes so students can take the test for state university admissions, said Michael Torres, CLTs legislative director. Its definitely a big education hurdle but there is significant interest from lawmakers. Whats more, for over half a century, the SAT and ACT have cemented their positions in state law as the gold standard of tests, providing a technically complex service thats hard for newcomers to match without a team of PhDs and ample resources for research studies and lobbying. The College Board also has been adept at maintaining the SATs position as the No. 1 college entrance exam, spending $830,000 on lobbying in 2023. It famously won a state testing contract in Michigan in 2015 with a low bid that was about half the amount of ACTs losing offer. The College Boards aggressive play for market share didnt help students in Michigan, said Richard Phelps, a standardized testing expert and former policy research director at ACT. Schools had been prepping students for years for the ACT and now they had to throw all of that away and start over again with the SAT. It was a mess. The CLTs victory in Florida, where the College Board has 10 lobbyists, was a matter of political good luck. During Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis presidential bid, he attacked the College Board over what he considered its woke AP African American studies course. During the high-profile fight, DeSantis office contacted Tates company to request that it bring the CLT to Florida to compete with the College Board. Soon after, state lawmakers and the board of governors approved the CLT. We were told that the support for the CLT came directly from the governor, Tate says. We didnt have a lobbyist in Florida. The CLTs success in Florida stirred controversy with the College Board. Working under a tight deadline set by Florida, Tates company produced a study called a concordance designed to show how CLT and SAT scores align with each other. The study is essential for admissions officers to compare the performance of students who take different tests. But it has become another target of the College Boards attack on the CLT to prevent other states from adopting it. The College Boards brief says the study is invalid because of several technical issues, including the claim that the sample of students wasnt representative. Eren Asena, a CLT statistical analyst who worked on the study, provided a detailed rebuttal of all the College Board criticisms in an interview. But Tates company says it didnt publish a rebuttal, which would allow independent experts to evaluate the critique of the CLT, to avoid a distracting tit-for-tat argument with the College Board. Iowa Rejects the CLT The dispute has been a drag on the CLTs growth. Last year, the Iowa Board of Regents considered a proposal to include the CLT in its automated admissions process for the states universities. But the board rejected the proposal, citing the College Boards legitimate concerns about the validity of CLT concordance tables related to the SAT. The boards researchers say they didnt contact Tates company to hear its side of the story. Iowa Regent David Barker, a former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told RCI that the CLT should have been approved. It would have attracted more home-schooled students to Iowas universities at a time of fluctuating enrollment. Barker found the study to be valid partly because there is plenty of data to make a strong concordance. But he says the College Boards opposition to the CLT, which influenced the board, didnt surprise him. Whether they are for-profit or non-profit, I expect them to look out for their own interests. But its the job of the regents to see through that and make appropriate choices, said Barker, adding that the board could consider the CLT again. Amid the quarrel over the concordance, representatives from CLT, the College Board, and ACT held a series of meetings to begin a collaboration on a more robust study that all parties could agree on, says CLTs Chief Financial Officer Noah Tyler. They were following a precedent in 2018 when the College Board and ACT collaborated on a study after publicly feuding over a concordance. But the collaboration with CLT ended in September after a College Board executive told Tyler that the organization was too busy to continue. Something dramatically shifted in the College Boards motivation to do a joint concordance, Tyler said. But we dont know why. More States Consider the CLT This year, a wave of CLT bills has emerged in school choice-friendly states following Floridas lead. College Board lobbyists have also appeared to bat them down. Lawmakers in Arkansas, Iowa, Tennessee, and Texas introduced legislation to add the CLT to their list of university admissions tests. Oklahoma's more modest measure, which passed in its House on Tuesday and now goes to the Senate, would allow students to qualify for state scholarships using a CLT score and is seen as a first step to requiring universities to accept the test for admissions. Oklahoma Republican lawmaker Toni Hasenbeck says she sponsored the CLT bill in support of families that are choosing educational alternatives such as homeschooling. She says these students are already taking the CLT for private college admissions and shouldnt have to also take the SAT or ACT for a state scholarship. Soon after introducing her bill, Hasenbeck told RCI that she heard from a College Board lobbyist. He had written a long letter to the state superintendent criticizing several aspects of the CLT, including its concordance study. I told the lobbyist that the letter was very aggressive and I didnt appreciate it, said Hasenbeck, whose bill will face a House floor vote. Im willing to have a conversation. But when people push in that way, Im very resistant to changing my bill. We will see what happens. Hasenbeck, who has seen the benefits of standardized testing from two decades in public education, says she realizes the CLT has a short track record. But she says the benefits of increasing the number of home-schooled students who are assessed outweigh the risks of using a relatively new test. State wins are essential for Tate to reach his goal of 500,000 annual CLT test-takers in three years, or more than twice the 2024 number. By his logic, as the number of CLT students grows, selective private universities will eventually also come on board because they want more applicants to keep their admissions rate low. I think people know that we need disruption in this testing market, that the College Board needs to be challenged, said Tate. And we have a lot of grassroots enthusiasm behind the CLT thats helping us make some big gains. Former Montana U.S. senator Jon Tester blamed Vice President Kamala Harris poor performance in the 2024 election for his loss. Harris lost Montana by 19.9 percentage points to President Donald Trump. Tester, a Democrat seeking a fourth term, lost to Tim Sheehy, a Republican backed by Trump, by 7.1 percentage points. Campaign spending in the Montana race totaled more than $300 million Tester never endorsed Harris and did not attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He did call for former President Joe Biden to drop out of the race in July. On Bill Mahers HBO show earlier this month, Tester blamed the top of the (Democratic) ticket for his loss. "The top of the ticket lost by 30 points. The top of the ticket has to at least be competitive. The top of the ticket did not perform. Because I don't think the top of the ticket embraced the issues that Americans were talking about. We got wrapped up in all the cancel culture crap, Tester said. Trump carried Montana by 16.4 percentage points over Biden in 2020 and by 20.4 points over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in late July after the sitting U.S. president was pressure out of the race by party donors and leaders concerned about his advanced age. In December 2020, Ohio confirmed its first wild deer infected with chronic wasting disease in Wyandot County. It was a mature buck that was taken to a local taxidermist and tested as part of routine CWD surveillance. In January 2021, the states second infected deer was killed at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area. That autumn, eight hunter-harvested deer tested positive during the 2021-22 deer season in southern Wyandot and northern Marion counties and one additional positive deer was removed through targeted shooting in March 2022. Quiet killer Unfortunately, the news hasnt gotten a lot better, but its far better than whats been happening in Wisconsin. More about that in a minute. First, lets review CWD. The disease was discovered in the 1960s in the western United States and has now been detected in cervid populations in 29 states, three Canadian provinces and in captive facilities in 18 states and three provinces. CWD is a neurological disease affecting the brain and central nervous system of an infected animal. Its caused by naturally occurring proteins, called prions, that become mutated, creating holes in the brain tissue. It can take more than two years for CWD to physically manifest, a situation that has caused many biologists to refer to it as the quiet disease. A more accurate moniker would be quiet killer after all, its 100% fatal. In that interim between infection and observable symptoms, the deer will tend to do what deer do: eat, sleep, drink and herd-up with other deer. Theyre also contagious. The disease is closely associated with Mad Cow disease which first hit European livestock during the mid-1980s. That name was picked up in comedians punchlines, but let me assure you that neither Mad Cow nor CWD are laughing matters. During that period, 178 people in the U.K. were believed to have eaten infected beef and developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and died. While CWD has not been identified in any human infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers recommendations when handling harvested deer within known infected deer populations and advises against eating venison from whitetails testing positive. Dr. Deer Theres been plenty of information written about the risks and wildlife management issues involving CWD. One well-known private whitetail biologist has a history with disagreeing with state biologists on the seriousness of the CWD and its impact. Often taking an adversarial role, James Kroll (www.drdeer.com), aka Dr. Deer, isnt shy when it comes to talking about his views about CWD and state agencies responses. During a presentation in Pennsylvania, Mark Nale, reporting for the The Daily Herald newspaper, quoted Dr. Deer, I scare a lot of people in state agenciesTo my chagrin, I have learned how poorly read most agency people are. They talk to each other a lot and they are as bad as the public in perpetuating false information. Many state biologists take issue with Krolls opinions. Krolls views regarding CWD in wild deer populations are sometimes criticized because of his business ties to deer farming and private hunting ranches, mentioned Nale in his reporting. During that presentation, once again as reported by Nale, Kroll added, that if Pennsylvania followed all of the current advice regarding CWD targeted removal, mass culling, reducing the age structure, etc. it would be the end of deer hunting as we kNow it. And we will still have CWD. Johnsons Sportsmen for the Future organization, the event organizer that invited Kroll to speak, is steadfast against mass culling or targeted removal of large numbers of deer. Krolls presentation certainly supported the groups position. He told them what they wanted to hear and that methodology has endeared him to many deer hunters, less so to other deer scientists. His reported credentials are there, though. He is a professor emeritus at the Institute of Whitetail Deer and Management and was hired by Wisconsin in 2011 to examine their growing CWD issue. The report he provided to Wisconsin DNR was reviewed by Daniele Schmidt, writing for Deer and Deer Hunting. (Kroll) was retained by Gov. Scott Walkers administration to serve as a deer czar, offering his opinions on the states deer management program and management practices. Kroll, who (was) being paid up to $125,000 for less than a years worth of service enlisted well-known wildlife biologists to assist in his review. Summarizing his view of the report in one sentence, Schmidt stated, My first reaction is to quote a line from a popular Billy Joel song: Is that all you get for your money? Wisconsin CWD So, whats going on with Wisconsins CWD issues? After having invested and reviewing Krolls information and needing more (a lot more), the state undertook a long-running $5 million study into how CWD affects deer populations. Now complete, the study found that once CWD infects 29% or more of an areas female deer, the herd starts declining as more deer die each year than reproduction replaces. CWD mortality has largely replaced antlerless harvest as the primary driver of the deer populations trajectory in the CWD endemic area (west of Madison), Jasmine Batten, supervisor of the WDNRs wildlife health section relayed to her staff. According to Wisconsins research, a healthy bucks annual survival chances are 69%, while a CWD-infected buck has only a 17% chance of being alive a year later. In Wisconsin, of the 10 CWD infected counties, nine are now above a 10% infection rate in the deer population with six having a 21-33% rate of occurrence; four are above the threshold that reduces deer populations. This comprehensive study is probably the most extensive in the U.S. and is a model that a lot of biologists are reading carefully. Infection rates like this, unchecked, will not burn out of the area until it takes its fatal toll by reducing the number of deer to a point where fewer come into contact to spread the disease. Thats not a healthy scenario for a disease that delivers a death sentence. You can find information about the study at www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/wisconsin-dnr-cwd-sinking-deer-herds-in-disease-endemic-areas. Ohio CWD Fortunately, Ohio is not even close to those infection rates in the Disease Surveillance Area. The Division of Wildlife has tested 33,543 wild deer since 2017. A total of 74 deer have been reported as infected statewide. During the 2024-25 reporting period, 24 of the 5,720 tested animals from the DSA tested positive well under 1% of those tested. Thats a good thing and culling is not currently deemed a necessary management tool. Unfortunately, CWDs footprint is getting larger. The Ohio Wildlife Council is reviewing the possibility of including Hancock Countys Delaware and Madison Townships in the DSA for the 2025-26 season. This is due to infected deer identified near Forest, in Hardin County. What would that mean? If approved, areas within the DSA would start bow season two weeks earlier, and an additional early gun season would take place Oct. 11-13. Deer taken in DSA areas would need to be checked for CWD which can take two-three weeks for results. If a deer is reported as positive, hunters are cautioned to consider the Center for Disease Controls opinion of not eating that venison and disposing of it properly. A new free deer permit can be issued by the division. If the deer is a buck, you may keep the rack, and you will receive a replacement either sex tag. That means an infected buck does not count against your annual harvest limitation of one buck per year. ODNRs goal is to keep the infection rate as low as possible to reduce deer densities and therefore prevalence of the disease. For current information about Ohios DSA rules and status of CWD in Ohio, visit www.wildohio.gov. In the left column, hit the Wildlife Diseases tab then Chronic Wasting Disease. That page, under For More Information you will find the Interactive CWD Dashboard. You can comment on the proposed change to the DSA as well as all wildlife rule proposals from now until March 26. Part of the problem with communicating the urgency of CWD is that its science is dense and complicated. Andrew McKean Present day maps contain names of villages, larger towns and cities, but no publication offers names of old crossroads communities that were once known by people for miles around. Those names will soon be lost for all time. My three older sisters hold vibrant memories of community club meetings in our Eckley-area neighbors homes, though I only experienced the fun by watching old home movies that our mother filmed. Lets have movies tonight! Dad might say, and Mom would get the reel-to-reel player out while my big sisters popped popcorn. Cloyd McNaull Jr. shared his knowledge of the historic Eckley Community in north-central Ohio, which was home to the very first church, school and a cemetery on donated land in this area. Think of it! The War of 1812 had just ended, and there were Native American Indians all around here when the first school was built, a log cabin, in 1815. It housed its first class in 1816, he said. The Eckley Church, also a log cabin, was built by Mr. Eckley in 1815 and 1816. Eckleys first name is unknown, and little was passed down about him. After all his work, a fire burned the building just one week after completion. One bench removed from the burning church by Daniel Smith Jr. remains in the home of McNaulls nephew, Dan McNaull, and his wife, Debbie, who own the McNaull historic homestead. Eckley was the first church in the area, and many were excited to attend. After the fire, it was more quickly rebuilt, opening for a second time later in 1816, and people came great distances to enjoy church together. It was during this time that the Eckley cemetery was laid out. Word of the opening of a church became known to the settlers, and folks from Mansfield in Richland County, about 20 miles away, held conferences at the church. The Eckley school building was repaired numerous times and then torn down (its lumber used to build a house in nearby Jeromesville), and a frame building was erected in 1840. It stood and served students until 1929 when all one-room schoolhouses in the area were closed and replaced by larger schools in Jeromesville and Hayesville, Ohio. Attendance in the late 1800s rose to 70 to 80 students, ranging in age up to 20. Cloyd Junior McNaulls parents both attended school there, and his mother later taught there, with my grandmother, Helen Myers Young, as one of her students. McNaull and I both have early settler ancestors buried in the Eckley Cemetery, one of the very oldest cemeteries in the area. A Revolutionary War soldier is buried there, as well as Civil War soldiers. Eckley native Adam Bahn, imprisoned during the Civil War, boarded the Sultana in April, 1865 in New Orleans to return home. The steamboats designed capacity was 376, and though the full count on board is unknown, estimates put it at about 2,250 to 2,300 men, many of whom were ill, traveling in wet, rainy conditions. A greedy ship captain was paid 10 cents for each aboard and set no limits. When the horrifying happened and the steamboat exploded on April 23, 1865, the lives of some 1,700 to 1,800 were lost, 14 of whom were from Ashland County, Ohio. Adam Bahn, so close to having survived the ravages of the Civil War and a long imprisonment, lost his life aboard the Sultana and is laid to rest in the quiet Eckley Cemetery. The tightly tree-lined, rural setting filled with ancient soapstone monuments from such a long-gone era evokes feelings no other cemetery I have ever attended has managed to do. Set apart from the world, there is no sense of time marching on outside its cocoon. Standing beside graves of the very young is evocative, harkening back to souls who walked this land for such a short time. There is a weight, a mysterious, other-worldly energy, almost a haunting feeling in that plot of ground. McNaull mentioned it first, and each of us visiting at the home of Junior and his wife Mary Ann one day last week agreed we have experienced that very unique feeling there and no other place. One of the first marketing lessons offered to me, a wet-behind-the-ears ag editor, by a steely and successful ag futures trader was as simple and useful as a feed bucket. Markets hate uncertainty, Paul W. explained back when Ronald Reagan was president, because uncertainty fuels panic, panic fuels selling and selling brings lower prices. Pauls straight-line logic came to mind after the Trump White House again said it would impose hefty tariffs on U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico, double current tariffs on Chinese imports and consider new tariffs on other decades-long allies such as the 27-member European Union. The EU, however, sniffed out the Trump plan weeks ago and prepared for any trade punch the American president might throw. According to the Feb. 16 Financial Times, the EU is ready to block imports of certain foodstuffs that could include U.S. crops such as soybeans which are grown using pesticides EU farmers are not allowed to use Its not an empty threat. Right now some EU farm groups are ready to fight an unwelcome, pending EU-Mercosur trade deal that opens their farm markets to South American ag powerhouses Argentina and Brazil and their fast-rising neighbors Uruguay and Paraguay. Given current EU anger, the smart move by the U.S. would be to develop new, innovative programs to encourage increased European purchases of American ag goods, not the imposition of expensive, counterproductive tariffs that will shove Europes food buyers into the open arms of hard-nosed South American competitors. The reason like that feed bucket is simple: In 2024, the EU purchased $12.8 billion of U.S. farm goods, including $2.3 billion of soybeans, $428 million of ethanol and $387 million of corn. The latter two are recent records. But the Trump White House seems unbothered by facts when tariff talk starts. If all the tariffs it has proposed are put in place, American farmers will face a global market that features U.S. tariffs on four of their top five (by 2023 data) ag customers: China ($33.7 billion), Mexico ($28.2 billion), Canada ($27.9 billion) and the EU ($12.3 billion). Only Japan, with $12.2 billion in U.S. ag purchases in 2023, has avoided the American tariff net this year. But its only March, so theres still time for it and others to be pushed into the anti-trade calamity that the White House believes American farmers will embrace. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins assured farmers in early March that she, according to Politico, will bail out farmers who are targets for any retaliation as a result of Trump tariff threats, as former U.S. Department of Agriculture chief Sonny Perdue did during the first Trump Administration. There are just two problems with Rollinss assurances. First, the money promised in any tariff bailout isnt hers; it belongs to U.S. taxpayers. As such, Congress will have a say on any farm tariff bailout. Second, the fact that a second Trump tariff bailout will be necessary only proves that tariffs, contrary to what the White House continues to claim, dont pay; they cost. Somehow the White House, Secretary Rollins and other Trump-supporting public officials never mention that basic economic reality when talking about who paid for earlier Trump tariffs. It wasnt China, as she herself confirmed. U.S. taxpayers paid that $23 billion. If the second Trump tariff fight costs taxpayers another $23 billion and Rollins sends the promised $31 billion to American farmers because of todays already sagging ag exports U.S. farmers will receive more than $50 billion in taxpayer money in the first year of the second Trump administration. Thats not a feed bucket; thats a firehose. CANFIELD, Ohio The North Eastern Ohio Forestry Association will meet at 7 p.m. on March 20 in the McMahon Hall at Mill Creek MetroParks Farm, 7574 Columbiana-Canfield Road., Canfield, Ohio, for a roundtable discussion about Camp Canopy with prior campers. The camp, which focuses on forestry and wildlife, is open to students who have graduated from eighth grade. At the roundtable, students and parents interested in the camp can learn firsthand what to expect and sign up for sponsorship. Campers seeking sponsorship must first apply with the NEOFA before signing up online. This year, the NEOFA sponsorship will cover all but $50 of the camp fees. Students attending the camp have the opportunity to win college scholarships. The organization also wishes to remind members about the annual banquet on April 25, with RSVPs due by April 11. This event is an annual auction that raises funds for Camp Canopy sponsorships and other NEOFA projects. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/kubkhd5z. COLUMBUS, Ohio These days, young adults are under more pressure than ever to figure out what they want to do with their lives. But some might not need to look much further than the dinner table for answers. Those who may be pondering careers in the beef cattle industry will want to join the Ohio Youth Beef Council, which launched Feb. 1 at the Ohio Cattlemen Associations (OCA) annual meeting and awards banquet. The council seeks to connect young Ohioans with opportunities in the beef cattle sector while also developing their leadership skills. The council involves youth of all ages and backgrounds, representing every industry segment and level of experience. The participants will grow their leadership skills to enhance their education, build career pathways and influence their communities, said Tatumn Poff, 18, who chairs the new council, at the event. The youth council, funded by the Beef Checkoff and OCA, aims to provide Ohios youth with the tools to become industry leaders. The program is open to all Ohio youth ages 8 to 21 years old. No relevant beef industry background is required to join. Membership is free, though some upcoming educational contests and events will have registration fees. Programming As with all great coming-of-age adventures, such as the boys search for a dead body in the 1986 drama Stand by Me, the Ohio Youth Beef Council is looking for carcasses, too: beef ones, of course. The councils inaugural program will be a youth carcass contest focusing on meat quality, yield grading and marketing. It will be open to participants from all over Ohio with qualified calves, steers and heifers born between Jan. 1 and May 31, 2025. The registration deadline is Nov. 1. There will be a $50 head registration fee for every animal entered. The council is also planning an Ohio Beef Youth Day this spring, open to youth ages 8 to 21 and parents, in partnership with the Ohio State University Extension meat team and 4H youth development. Younger participants will focus on carcass evaluation and cut ID while older attendees will have the chance to engage with a calving simulator. More information about both planned events is forthcoming. Future plans Much of the youth councils work will be focused on educating the non-ag general public about the beef industry. According to a one-pager about the council, this effort is aligned with the OCAs goal of training advocates and spokespeople within the beef community so they can more easily engage in conversations and address consumer concerns about beef and cattle raising. Industry professionals and people that are already involved in the industry may have an idea, at least, of how our groceries make it to grocery stores. But, for example, with the carcass contest, were reaching out to those outside the industry that may not have ever been familiar with how their meat actually ends up on their plate, Poff said. For the young council, the launch event served as a platform for gathering feedback on potential future programs to host. Suggestions from the audience included hands-on field days for working a group of cattle, cooking and grilling contests, farm tours and advocacy training to address common misconceptions about beef production. Learning A panel of industry leaders next shared personal stories of their journeys in the beef industry, highlighting both their travails and triumphs to help young attendees envision their own paths forward before inviting questions about their experiences. The panel included Zane Gross III of E.R. Boliantz Packing, Lindsey Hall of Maple Crest Meats, Kirsten Nichols of Certified Angus Beef and Garrett Stanfield of Trans Ova Genetics. Panelists highlighted several themes, including the importance of networking, mentorship, business acumen, continuous learning and professionalism. Challenges facing the industry were also discussed, including the aging farming population and the reluctance holding some back from embracing change. Thats where the youth come in, Stanfield said. The average age of the farmer and rancher certainly is not decreasing, he said. I think youll always run up against that mindset of, weve always done it this way, why should we change? But what you all have at your fingertips is more technology than weve ever had in this industry. And that technology only continues to evolve further and further. So I think that you can face that challenge not with fear, but with great confidence in what youre able to do moving forward. In her remarks, Hall focused on the personal qualities she said are critical to success. Drawing from her experience, she warned against the pitfalls of instant gratification and stressed the importance of perseverance and hard work. Dont be complacent and always push yourself. You know, dont be afraid to put in those long hours and the hard work, because it will pay you tenfold in the future, she said. Sometimes youre going to fall down and have to pick yourself back up. But dont let that discourage you, because thats going to only make you better for the future. HARRISBURG, Pa. The Center for Dairy Excellence will host the next monthly Pennsylvania Agriculture HPAI Conference Call at 1 p.m. on March 19 for producers and stakeholders from all animal ag industries. With the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture continuing to detect HPAI in commercial poultry flocks across the state, panelists will answer questions about required surveillance for dairy farms in the control buffer zones around an infected poultry or dairy premise. Panelists will also answer questions about Pennsylvanias overall response efforts, the ongoing HPAI health situation, biosecurity planning and more. The call will include state veterinarian Alex Hamberg, who will share an overall update on the HPAI situation and the states response efforts; Dr. Ernest Hovingh, director at the PADLS lab at Penn State, who will describe how testing is going; Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Biosecurity Program specialist Seth Confer, who will answer questions about the process of creating and getting an approved biosecurity plan, and Dr. Miriam Wamsley, Pennsylvania Department of Health epidemiologist, who will share reminders about personal protective equipment and other resources available to protect operations and teams. Individuals who join the conference call will be able to ask real-time questions to each panelist. To ensure as many questions can be addressed as possible, questions can be submitted in advance of the call by texting 717-585-0766 or emailing ctrdairyexcellence@gmail.com. To join the meeting via Zoom, visit tinyurl.com/ywkbdwpu. To dial in, call 301-715-8592. The Meeting ID is 841 2794 6647. The passcode is 833183. As the dairy industry learns more about HPAI and how it is affecting herds and flocks, the Center for Dairy Excellence will continue to share updates from across the industry. Visit centerfordairyexcellence.org/newsletter to sign up to receive email updates and get notified of future calls, news and resources. WEST SALEM, Ohio Four members of Northwestern-Wayne FFA attended the District 3 Public Speaking CDE contest Feb. 6 at Northwestern High School. Brooke Hershey placed third for her speech Livestock Nutrition in the beginning prepared speaking category. Jamison Gilbert placed third for How has Livestock Nutrition changed in the last 50 years in the extemporaneous contest. Jaysen Royse earned third place for reciting the FFA Creed. Emma Connelly presented The Economy vs. Proposition 12 in advanced prepared speaking, placing second and moving on to the state contest March 1 at Marysville High School, where she placed 10th in her room. SULLIVAN, Ohio Black River FFA launched its spring judging season on March 2 by competing at the Marysville Judging Invitational. Chapter members participated in both the poultry evaluation and general livestock competitions, putting their skills to the test against other FFA chapters across the state. The poultry evaluation team placed 11th, with Emma McCann leading the team and finishing sixth. Aidan Sas, Dagur Charlton, Peter Howard, Kade Kelso, David Bryant, Savanna Landrum, Olivia Bailey and Caleb Howard rounded out the team. The general livestock team placed 37th overall. Rylee Howard, Parker Broadsword, Adalee Hollan, Addison Flynn and Emily Kiser made up the team. SULLIVAN, Ohio Black River FFA recently tapped maple trees that will be collected for sap production on school grounds. The plant and animal science classes prepared collection bags, ensuring everything was ready for the sap-gathering process. Meanwhile, students in forestry and agriculture, food and natural resources classes had the opportunity to head outdoors and tap the trees. This process allows students to witness firsthand how sap is harvested before being transformed into maple syrup. CRESTON, Ohio Norwayne FFA member Halea Taylor competed in extemporaneous speaking at the state public speaking contest that took place at Marysville High School March 1. She placed ninth in her room, discussing how farmers can use proactive health care to prevent diseases and help production in animals. RACINE, Ohio Racine Southern FFA celebrated 2025 National FFA Week Feb. 17-21. This week-long event featured various activities, including community service projects, agricultural education and leadership workshops, all aimed at fostering a sense of community and promoting agricultural literacy. On Feb. 18, the Ohio State FFA Sentinel Caleb Bennett led a variety of leadership skills activities. Feb. 19 was to drive your tractor to school day, and Feb. 21 was Merica dress day. Members went around to all the classes to collect pop tabs, and the winning class was Zach Ashs second-grade class. A surge in sheepmeat imports to the UK - the highest level since 2018 - has been described as a 'very real threat' to the British sheep sector. Concern has been raised following the release of trade figures which has revealed a significant increase of sheep meat imported to the UK in 2024. Data released by the government showed that UK imports of sheep meat surged by 40% on the year, reaching 67,880 tonnes, marking the highest level since 2018. Imports from New Zealand, an increase of 14,300 tonnes, and Australia, a 6,500 tonnes rise, now account for 86% of UK sheep meat imports, marking a huge 78% uptick from 2023. Experts suggest a range of factors are responsible for the rise, including lower prices from the Southern Hemisphere, new free trade agreements, and a record level of deadweight prices in the UK. Data by Defra also showed that UK sheep meat production had declined by 7% in 2024, while domestic beef production in 2024 increased by 4%. Responding, the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) said the surge in sheep meat imports from New Zealand and Australia posed "a very real threat". The union's regional vice-president, Alun Owen said: "It that could undermine the livelihoods of Welsh sheep farmers and the sustainability of our rural communities. "The increased imports are perhaps unsurprising, and follow longstanding warnings that previous governments liberal approach to trade negotiations could drastically undermine farmers and domestic food production. "We are witnessing a potential displacement of high-quality Welsh and UK lamb - a product of world-leading sustainable farming practices - in favour of imports that have travelled thousands of miles. Gareth Parry, FUW head of policy explained that the tighter throughput of livestock across the UK reflected current confidence levels of the sector. "The resulting record-high prices are causing difficulties for processors and retailers across the supply chain which, in part, increases the attractiveness of cheaper imports," he added. "Inherent to the increase in food imports is a reduction in the UKs food security, both through the displacement of domestic production and through additional reliance on food produced many thousands of miles away. The government has been told to deploy 'significantly stronger' security measures to combat illegal meat imports following a case of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary last week. On 6 March, Hungary confirmed its first foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in more than 50 years, with the case found on a cattle farm near the border with Slovakia. The news follows a reported case of the virus in a herd of water buffalo in Germany earlier this year - the first reported case in the country since 1988. The UK government responded by preventing the commercial import from Hungary and Slovakia of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, and their untreated products, such as meat and dairy. In addition, travellers are no longer able to bring meat, meat products, milk and dairy products, certain composite products and animal by products of pigs and ruminants, or hay or straw, from Hungary and Slovakia to Britain. However, the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) has urged the UK government to undertake greater measures to combat illegal imports as they pose 'significant risks' to animal health and the UKs biosecurity. Earlier this year, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request found that authorities at the Port of Dover seized almost 100 tonnes of illegal meat in 2024. More recently, in January 2025, the Dover Port Health Authority said it had removed 25 tonnes of illegal meat, triple the amount seized for the same period last year. The UKs biosecurity measures are currently subject to an inquiry by Westminsters Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee. The FUW warns that insufficient security measures to combat illegal meat imports could leave the UKs agriculture sector vulnerable to serious diseases such as FMD and African swine fever. FUW president, Ian Rickman said: News of FMD on mainland Europe for the second time this year will be a cause for alarm among livestock owners. "While it's crucial to stress that this disease poses no threat to human health or food safety, as evidenced by the 2001 outbreak, its impact on the agricultural sector and our rural economy cannot be understated." The FUW has warned on several occasions that there is an urgent need to increase security measures and vigilance to combat illegal meat imports. In light of this most recent threat, the union said it was essential for 'significantly stronger' government action to combat these illegal imports. The UK has remained free from FMD since 2007, and following the recent cases in Europe, it is urging livestock keepers to remain vigilant to FMD's clinical signs. Foot-and-mouth disease does not infect humans and does not pose a food safety risk. Demand from both the EU and US helped drive the value of UK dairy exports to 1.8 billion in 2024, new figures by AHDB show. Dairy exports fared well in 2024 against a backdrop of challenging trading conditions which impacted competitiveness on the global stage. Despite this tough environment, the total value broadly matched 2023, with export values to the EU and US rising in particular. More than 76% of the UKs total dairy exports were shipped to the EU the UK's closest and largest market and were worth 1.4 billion, up 5.6% on the year. With total UK cheese exports hitting the highest level since 2020 at 887 million, 72% of shipments worth 641 million headed to the bloc up 9.8% on the year. The United States is the UKs single largest export market for dairy outside Europe, and 2024 saw shipments increase by 5.7% on the year. The bulk of UK dairy exports to the US is cheese, worth 75 million in 2024, a jump of 13.5% compared to 2023. Lucy Randolph, AHDB head of international trade development said: The performance of our cheese exports to the EU was particularly encouraging and included an impressive 71.8% increase in value of shipments to Germany worth 48m. "We intend to build on this through our extensive programme of activity, which includes our dairy team taking part for the first time at Anuga in Cologne in October. Cheese exports to the US showed impressive growth in 2024 and the demand for high-quality table butter is growing, according to the levy organisation's figures. While the threat of tariffs looms across agri-food products, the industry has successfully weathered tariffs on dairy products to the US in the past. "We remain quietly confident of the value of our quality dairy products to this critical market," Ms Randolph said. While the total value of dairy exports to the Middle East fell, there were notable gains in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, up 18.9% to 36.2m and 15.3% to 6.5m respectively. Cheese exports to the UAE soared by 52.5% to 23.4m, and to Qatar by 47.7% to 3.3m, reflecting the positive impact of food events like Gulfood and the Lulu Qatar retail promotions. While trade in Asia also presented challenges in 2024, not least with tight economic conditions impacting demand, good opportunities persisted in high-income countries with an established UK dairy presence, like Singapore. Ms Randolph concluded: Its exciting to explore new markets such as Thailand, identified as a priority market for dairy exporters following the UK Dairy Showcase last autumn. AHDB will continue to work with industry and government to help ensure our world-class dairy produce thrives on the global stage in 2025 and beyond. Farmer confidence has hit historically low levels, bypassing the record lows set last year, as Defra's closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) deals another blow to the industry. The previous Conservative government received deep criticism when last years farmer confidence survey showed that short-term confidence had deteriorated to -25 and mid-term confidence to -22. This year, short-term confidence has fallen by another 10 points to -35 and mid-term confidence has dropped by 16 points to a worrying -38. This has created a new all-time low since the NFU launched its survey 15 years ago. If the survey were taken again today, its expected this would drop even further after Defras sudden announcement earlier this week slammed the door shut for farmers who were planning to access the SFI scheme. This comes on top of an ongoing cashflow crisis and the controversial autumn budget, which announced the farm inheritance tax, again widely unexpected by the industry. The new rules, which have triggered dozens of protests across the UK, including four times in London, will see the full 100% relief from inheritance tax restricted to the first 1m of combined agricultural and business property, from April 2026. Farmers have also seen an increase in employer National Insurance (NI) contributions, and the acceleration of the direct payments phaseout. The NFU's survey also showed that, for the first time ever, investment across the board is drying up with farmers not able to make investments in key areas, creating a significant barrier to growth. The SFI news, made by Defra without prior warning on Tuesday evening (11 March), would only exacerbate cashflow issues and farmers capability to invest, the union warned. NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: When our survey results came out last year, we thought wed hit rock bottom. When we were initially looking to release our survey results today, we knew wed hit a new all-time low. "Now, with another hammer blow dealt to the farming sector without warning last night, Im realising there is no such thing as rock bottom as far as Defra is concerned. Business confidence was already low. Now we are in situation where the farming community has no confidence in the government. The NFU's confidence survey revealed that 85% of farmers believe the reforms to inheritance tax would increase their liability, with 32% saying they plan to reduce investment to mitigate this increase. Meanwhile, the vast majority (88%) of respondents said the phasing out of direct payments would negatively impact their business. And three-quarters (76%) of employers expect to be impacted by the increase in employers National Insurance contributions. Because of this increase, 65% said they expect a reduction in profits, while just under half (43%) expect to reduce investment to offset these additional costs. Regulation and legislation also remain a key issue, with a clear majority (84%) of respondents saying they would continue to negatively impact their businesses. Mr Bradshaw concluded: Last year Defra closed applications for Capital Grants, grants that are used for important environmental work, with no notice, leaving farm businesses in the lurch. "Last year this government promised us they wouldnt introduce a tax on family farms upon death, but they did, leaving many farming families without hope for the future. "And now they are taking away direct payments faster than they originally promised leaving farmers with no alternative scheme to plug the financial hole they find themselves with. No business can be expected to plan, invest, grow and increase its economic contribution, whilst hitting government environmental targets, when it is being slammed time and time again by policies which strip away its profitability." Virtual fencing technology - which could transform managing upland suckler herds - is to be trialled in field conditions on four farms over the next two years. The aim of the AHDB-led Monitor Farm project is to assess the cost-benefit of the 'revolutionary' system on commercial farms across the UK. These farms will be early adopters in trying the system, which uses an app to remotely set and manage flexible virtual fences or paddocks which are grazed by cattle with GPS-equipped collars. It means cattle can be contained on unfenced hill land, for example, and that the location and activity of individual cattle can be seen instantly. Christine Cuthbertson, Monitor Farm adviser overseeing the trial, says the technology has potential to revolutionise suckler management on hill and upland farms. "It could help retain cows in these environments as it tackles many of the issues facing herds," she explains. However, while we know it has the potential to improve livestock performance and management, that is not well quantified." The project will be monitoring animal performance over two years and checking it against herd benchmark values and the expectations and practical experiences of farmers. The four farms involved have already highlighted opportunities for the environment, farm profitability, welfare, and well-being by using virtual fencing to manage their suckler cows. "We will be looking at the labour savings from the technology, as well as assessing the training and support needed to implement the system," Ms Cuthbertson says. Argyll-based farmer Craig Archibald hopes the tech will mean he can successfully summer 25 cows and calves on rough pasture, so his improved ground can be saved for later grazing or cut for more silage. "If the system works well, he is considering using it for autumn/winter grazing by cows on similar pasture. Longer term, the technology might help us keep more cows and sell more calves, he says. For South Ayrshire Monitor Farmers John and David Andrew, the technology promises significant benefits, particularly during calving when daily checks over six weeks currently take three hours per day on average. Being able to locate the cattle easily via the collars and app will also reduce fuel use for the farm bike, which usually has to go right around the hill to locate cattle, they said. In Stirlingshire, the Duncan family are hoping to be able to save time and fuel but keep a closer eye on cows at their Inveruglas unit. It will also help keep cattle safe from dangerous areas on their hill land and support a potential nature restoration project. The family is also interested to see how the technology will cope with poorer phone service areas, a key part of the trial. The trial will use technology supplied by Norwegian virtual fencing specialist Monil, with the firm's Ann Elinor Aasen already spending time on the farms assisting with set-up and training. This trial is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate how virtual fencing can transform livestock management," she says. "By enabling precise grazing control without the need for physical fences, farmers can optimise pasture use, improve herd welfare, and reduce labour demands - all while enhancing sustainability." Dolly Jain can solely be credited for elevating sari draping into an art form. Remarkably, it was something that she disliked initially but, over the years, she developed a passion for it and turned it into a profession that has earned her global acclaim. Born in Ranchi and raised In Bengaluru, Dolly moved to Kolkata after marrying into a Marwari family for whom wearing saris daily was customary. Initially, she found sari draping time consuming and would get frustrated wearing one every single morning convincing her mother-in-law to let her wear something else wasnt an option! She then decided to embrace the sari and turned it into an expression of her creativity, sharing her stunning draping skills on Instagram. Her journey took a life-changing turn when actor Sridevi, impressed by her skills, suggested she pursue it as a profession. That advice became the catalyst for Dollys rise to prominence. Dolly holds several records in sari draping, starting with 80 styles and eventually achieving 325 styles the most in the world. Her skills caught the attention of top designers such as Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra and Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla who also introduced her to the Ambani family. From celebrity weddings to high-profile fashion shows, Dolly has truly cemented her place as a unique artist in the fashion industry. Excerpts from an interview: To be known as the go-to person for sari draping is incredibly rewarding. My biggest achievement is the fact that Ive crafted an identity that people recognise by my name, my face, and by the Indian attire I adore the sari. Uplifting this beautiful garment and making it relevant today is my proudest accomplishment. An achiever stands apart by going that extra mile. While everyone has the same 24 hours, achievers squeeze out that extra ounce of effort that little extra sit-up, that late-night brainstorming session or an additional spark of creativity. My success mantra is rooted in dedication and belief. If you manifest your dreams and give your best effort, you can achieve anything. Always believe in your potential and, remember, kindness enhances success. My vision of sharing the art of draping with the world keeps me going. My fans, followers and family inspire me to push my limits every day. I aim to show everyone how to reinvent their wardrobe by mixing traditional saris with modern styling. Im in the midst of planning a coffee table book celebrating sari draping and a YouTube series featuring 300 draping styles. When you know how to drape, your wardrobe becomes your treasure chest, and every day is an opportunity to shine. Femina Achievers East Edition: All the Categories Were Honouring Passionate foodie and dynamic entrepreneur Sakshi Sureka is the founder of Homely Zest, a cloud kitchen based in South Kolkata. She combines her love for global cuisines with a focus on comfort meals, offering a modern twist that caters to the Indian palate. Starting this journey as a passion project during the COVID-19 lockdown, Sakshi has transformed it into an award-winning cloud kitchen in just four years. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Sakshi turned her passion into a thriving business while prioritising sustainability by using eco-friendly packaging.Understanding customer needs, preferences, and feedback has been integral to the success of Homely Zest. Coming up with new recipes and dishes that bring joy to her customers and family each day has been a rewarding experience for Sakshi.Excerpts from an interview: My biggest achievement has been sustaining and thriving in the highly-competitive food industry while staying true to my vision for my brand Homely Zest. I believe what truly sets an achiever apart is the ability to deeply connect with their BENCHMARKSclients. When you are aligned with your customers desires, it creates a bond that goes beyond just business it builds trust and loyalty.The mindset of constantly competing with yourself is crucial. Instead of focusing solely on external competition, I aim to improve upon my own benchmarks. Striving to outdo achieversmy previous achievements, whether in innovation, the quality of service, or the range of offerings, has always helped me reach greater heights.My success mantra is simple: connect with your customers and offer them a variety of culinary experiences under one roof. At Homely Zest, we pride ourselves on providing a comforting yet diverse menu that caters to everyones palate while maintaining a personal touch.The love, trust, and support from my customers and family are my biggest motivators. Every positive review, repeat order, or word of appreciation inspires me to work harder. Knowing that Homely Zest has become a part of peoples special moments is incredibly fulfilling and pushes me to aim even higher.The journey for Homely Zest is far from over. My next goal is to expand its reach while introducing new dishes and cuisines to delight our clients further. Im also exploring innovative ways to enhance our eco-friendly packaging and service experience, ensuring our brand continues to be a frontrunner in the cloud kitchen space. Professor (Dr) Sangeeta Tripathi is a prominent educator contributing significantly to the development of management education in the North-East of India. She has been honoured as an eminent director of the leading institutes of India for 14 consecutive years (20102024). In April 2024, she received CSRs Excellent Director of Leading Institute of India award, and, under her leadership, NERIM in achieversGuwahati, Assam earned CSRs Top University of India Award with a five-star rating in 2024. As Director, she has been pivotal in establishing the NERIM Group of Institutions as a leading name in North East India.With over two decades of experience, Dr Sangeeta has excelled as a teacher, mentor, and counsellor. She has completed various consultancy projects and trained managers in communication, leadership, team effectiveness, and motivation. She has been featured in various prominent publications for her contributions to the field of education.Known for blending knowledge, skills, and societal orientation, she was felicitated by the Governor of Assam for supporting an anti-drug abuse campaign. She believes her greatest achievement has been nurturing students into competent professionals and responsible citizens who contribute meaningfully to society.Excerpts from an interview: My biggest achievement has been making a meaningful difference in others lives. This has been possible by breaking barriers to become a voice for change in my field. Whether it was earning a seat at the decision-making table, mentoring women to believe in their potential, or transforming students into responsible citizens, each milestone represents progress not just for me but for those walking a similar path and for society at large.The desire to create an impact beyond myself keeps me motivated. Whether its contributing to my community, inspiring the next generation, or striving to leave a legacy of progress, the why behind my actions keeps me moving forward.An achiever possesses clarity of vision and unwavering commitment. Its the ability to see the bigger picture while taking small, consistent steps towards it. Achievers inspire others to rise and lead through impact, not position.I believe in leading with purpose and serving with humility. Leadership is not about individual accolades but about empowering others to succeed while staying grounded in values and integrity. Cambodia's apparel exports increased by 26.29 per cent to $1,729.428 million during the first two months of 2025. Apparel exports accounted for 38.8 per cent of the country's total foreign income, which reached $4.460 billion, according to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) under the Ministry of Economy and Finance. During this period, Cambodias exports of knitted apparel and clothing accessories (Chapter 61) totalled $1,038.619 million, marking a 23.3 per cent increase from $842.411 million in January-February 2024. Similarly, exports of non-knitted apparel and clothing accessories (Chapter 62) rose by 31.0 per cent to $690.809 million, up from $527.301 million in 2024. Cambodia's apparel exports rose by 26.29 per cent in January-February 2025, contributing 38.8 per cent of total foreign income. Knitted and non-knitted apparel exports grew by 23.3 per cent and 31.0 per cent, respectively. Imports of textiles also increased, with knitted fabrics rising by 12.9 per cent. While overall trade performance was strong, exports were higher in January than in February. In February 2025, Cambodia's exports of knitted apparel and clothing accessories (Chapter 61) amounted to $467.224 million, a 14.8 per cent increase from $406.847 million in February 2024. Likewise, exports of non-knitted apparel and clothing accessories (Chapter 62) rose by 20.8 per cent to $312.205 million, up from $258.431 million in February 2024. As for the imports, Cambodia's imports of knitted or crocheted fabrics (Chapter 60) reached $455.928 million in January-February 2025, an increase of 12.9 per cent from $403.788 million in the same period of 2024. Imports of man-made fibres (Chapter 55) rose by 2.4 per cent to $226.668 million, compared to $221.301 million in the previous year. Imports of cotton and cotton yarn (Chapter 52) also grew by 12.6 per cent to $122.374 million, up from $108.651 million in January-February 2024. Cambodia's strong performance in the textile and garment trade is noteworthy, signalling an improvement in global demand for textiles and apparel. However, export performance was stronger in January compared to February this year. In 2024, the country's apparel exports surged by 24.44 per cent to $9.791 billion, comprising $6.638 billion from knitted apparel and $3.153 billion from non-knitted apparel. That same year, Cambodia imported knitted or crocheted fabrics worth $3.081 billion, man-made fibres worth $1.349 billion, and cotton and cotton yarn worth $766.003 million. In 2023, Cambodia's apparel exports declined by 12.91 per cent to $7.87 billion, contrasting with a 12.69 per cent increase in 2022, when total exports reached $9.04 billion. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL) John Abraham has ditched social media Filmfares Editor-in-Chief, Jitesh Pillaai, John Abraham revealed, I don't have social media on my phone. My manager handles that. So, I do have handles. I don't use social media because when I see Instagram after a long time, I don't even have that app on my phone, but nothing has really progressed. In fact, the content has become worse than where we started." In an exclusive conversation withs Editor-in-Chief, Jitesh Pillaai, John Abraham revealed, I don't have social media on my phone. My manager handles that. So, I do have handles. I don't use social media because when I see Instagram after a long time, I don't even have that app on my phone, but nothing has really progressed. In fact, the content has become worse than where we started." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Filmfare (@filmfare) Watch the video here: He went on to detail how producers' factor in social media and the audiences dwindling attention spans. "We're scared. As producers, I know when we do films, we say 'Oh my god. The audience is going to pick up the phone, and the whole cinema hall will light up. This scene is too slow. Let's bombard it with background music just to hold their attention, he explained. "I think we're not giving enough credit to our audience. They will come back. We always talk about being flippant. But they're far more socially conscious, he further shared. John Abrahams latest and upcoming projects John Abrahams The Diplomat releases in theatres on March 14, 2025. The film sees him star alongside Sadia Khateeb, Kumud Mishra, Sharib Hashmi, Revathy and more. He is also attached to star in Tehran alongside Manushi Chhillar, Rukmini Maitra, Madhurima Tulli and more. See Also: Check out Akshay Kumar and John Abrahams crackling camaraderie Catch the full In the Ring With Filmfare episode featuring John Abraham on our YouTube channel soon. Check out the teaser here: John Abraham is gearing up for the release of his latest film, The Diplomat. Amidst his busy work schedule, the actor caught up with Filmfare for a candid chat about his iconic films, his disciplined daily routine and more. He also shared his take on social media. In a world where being chronically online is unavoidable, John reveals why he doesnt post from any of his handles. by Alizah Holstein When a statement was issued last November stipulating that a new U.S. government department known by the acronym DOGE was to be formed, the medievalist in me snapped to attention. To me, doge was a word with distinctly medieval meaning. But hardly anywhere was this meaning being explored in the context of DOGE. For anyone who has been living in a glacial crevasse for the past few months, DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency. Two phenomena are purported to have inspired the DOGE acronym. One: the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. And two: the doge internet meme featuring photos of a Japanese Shiba Inu overwritten with pidgin English text that played on a misspelling of the word dog. Both were much beloved by Elon Musk, who has to all appearances been heading DOGE. But theres a third association worth exploring as we consider the implications of this (unofficial) government department. Stated simply, a doge was the chief magistrate of medieval Italian maritime republics. Venice had doges for over a thousand years, from 700 until 1797 when the Napoleonic Wars brought the republic to its end. Genoa, for a shorter time, had them as well, and Pisa, too, counts a single doge in its historical register. What in Italian is doge in Venetian is doxe, and both derive from dux, the Latin word for leader and a cognate of duke. The possible association of DOGE with a medieval magistrate has not been widely explored, but I do think it matters. Why? Because medievalism feels peculiarly salient right now in culture and politics alike. Last month at London Fashion Week, models strutted in chain mail and armor, while one carried a decorative sword.[1] Castlecore, which offers a nostalgic ideal of luxury and wealth, is trending on social, and romantasy sells.[2] Medievalism has never been very far from the American imagination, but in this moment it feels top of mind. And its not all clothing and recreational reads. Saint Thomas Aquinas has not been this popular in the English-speaking world in a long while.[3] And in the more than two decades since the September 11 attacks, the medieval notion of crusading has made a comeback to conceptualize what is depicted by some, especially on the right, as a permanent civilizational struggle against Islam. The political currency of the crusades, among some audiences at least, has soared. We have cabinet members and elected officials who speak of crusades as positive, even noble, endeavors, and who employ crusading symbols both personally and politically. And so, given the rise over decades in the rhetorical prevalence of crusading and our current openness to things medieval, might the DOGE of the modern-day U.S. government have any connection with the doge of medieval Venice? I see two possibilities, the first of which is an oligarchic model of government. Beginning in the nineteenth century and throughout much of the twentieth, historians idealized the Venetian republic as the embodiment of Aristotles ideal of mixed government because it balanced monarchy (as represented by the doge) with aristocracy (the Senate) and a sprinkling of democracy (the essentially powerless popular assembly).[4] In Venice these historians saw a republic that was spared the fractiousness of Florence, Siena, and the other Italian city states, a republic that appeared so peacefully administered that the city earned the moniker la Serenissima (the peaceful). More recent research has shown that this was a highly orchestrated conceit. Venice was a republic, yes. But it was an oligarchic republic in which the oligarchy was itself ruled by handful of families. Over time as that system coalesced, the doge became the symbolic figurehead. As the U.S. wrestles with the possibility of an oligarchy on our own shores, one might wonder whether the Venetian modela republic in appearance, an oligarchy in practice, and festooned with a symbolic monarchical figureheadis a model some find worthy of emulation. To explore the second possibility, let us turn to an unconventional source of historical knowledge: a video game. Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game, where each player represents the leader of a certain nation or ethnic group (civilization) and must guide its growth over the course of thousands of years.[5] One of the civilizations offered by Civilization Vs expansion pack, Brave New World, is Venice. And the leader of Venice that you can play is Doge Enrico Dandolo. Is it serendipity that Elon Musk is a self-described avid player of Civilization V?[6] Perhaps. But as the Shiba Inu might have put it, much interesting. At the time of the Fourth Crusade, which was proclaimed in 1198 but took a few years to get off the ground, Enrico Dandolo was already around ninety years old and was partially blind. In the previous decade during which he was doge, he had reformed the Venetian currency by adding, among others, a new coin called the grosso, which was to become the standard coin of Mediterranean commerce. When the knights of the Fourth Crusade found themselves without the cash to pay for their transit to the Holy Land, Dandolo took the cross, built ships, and promised Venices financial and military backing for the endeavor. As the need grew, Dandolo conceded to accept plunder instead of cash. This led to the attacks, in which Dandolo himself fought, on Zadar, a formerly Venetian city on the Dalmatian coast, and in 1204, of the capital city of Byzantium, Constantinople, where Dandolo died in combat. Both cities had been Christian. In sum, Enrico Dandolo was deeply ensconced in an ideology of civilizational conflict, but either because of shrewdness or desperation, he was willing to use the force he commanded to attack and plunder those who had long been considered allies in the name of financial and political gain. To return for a moment to etymology, two words in modern Italian derive from the Latin dux: doge, and its sibling term, duce. In 1925, Mussolini appropriated the then-antiquated duce for his title il Duce because he thought it reflected on him a kind of long-lost ancient Roman valor. By the time of his assassination in 1945, duce was so closely associated with the fascist leader that it has been all but replaced in contemporary Italian by the English loanword leader [pronounced LEE-dare]). We dont know for sure if DOGE is tipping its hat to the kind of closed aristocratic rule combined with civilizational confrontation that medieval Venice and Enrico Dandolo once exemplified. Nor do we know whether or not the acronym shall one day be struck from the lexicon. *** [1] https://www.vogue.com/article/london-fashion-week-armor-chestplate-trend [2] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/romantasy-books-maas-medieval-romance-taylor-swift.html [3] https://www.ncregister.com/cna/thomist-trend-leading-dominican-theologian-sees-a-rise-in-interest-in-aquinas-among-young-catholics [4] David Abulafia, ed. Italy in the Central Middle Ages 1000-1300 (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2004), 4-5. [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_V [6] https://venturebeat.com/games/spacex-tesla-founder-elon-musk-loves-kerbal-space-program-mass-effect-and-civilization/ Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now. Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan came together ahead of the former's 60th birthday celebrations. While it is not confirmed whether it was a pre-birthday celebration, many fans were excited to see the three of them together. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Filmfare (@filmfare) Many videos surfaced from the event, which excited fans to no end. However, one video of Shah Rukh leaving Aamir's residence in Mumbai was widely shared on social media. Aamir's caring nature towards Shah Rukh touched fans' hearts, as they loved witnessing their bond. Before Shah Rukh reached the stairs where he could be photographed by paps, Aamir reportedly asked the actor to cover his face. After that, Shah Rukh was seen pulling up his hoodie to hide his face. Fans are celebrating the beautiful bond the two actors have. Shah Rukh might be hiding his face to conceal his look for King. While the same hasn't been confirmed, he was seen hiding from getting clicked. Salman Khan was also present, however, he left before Shah Rukh did. The three Khans were photographed discussing something, while nothing has been confirmed by their teams. Many fans are speculating a collaboration, while some think that they met for Iftaar. It is unclear as to why the Khans were together, but their bond was visible from the blurry videos shared by paps. Last year, Aamir was asked about a possible collaboration with the other Khans. He said, "I was the person who brought this up and told Shah Rukh and Salman that it would be really sad if the three of us didn't do a film together. I think Salman and Shah Rukh were equally in agreement and were, 'Yes, we must do a film together. The three of us." He had added, "Hopefully, it will happen soon. It will need the right kind of story. So, we'll have to wait for the right script. We are all looking forward to it." However, nothing has been confirmed about a collaboration yet. Sadie Sink, best known for playing Max in the sci-fi horror series Stranger Things, is all set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actress is reportedly in talks to star in Spider-Man 4. The film will see Tom Holland reprise his role as the web-slinging superhero.As per reports on Deadline, Sadie Sink is expected to play a key character in Spider-Man 4. The Destin Daniel Cretton directorial is produced by Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige. So far, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have not commented on the update.Fans are speculating that Sadie might play Jean Grey in Spider-Man 4. If the theory is proved right, were in for the first Spider-Man and X-Men crossover. A section of fans is leaning towards MJ. While Zendaya plays Michelle Jones in the Spider-Man films, there could be room for a new version of Mary Jane Watson. This ties into the plot of the films since MJ has forgotten Peter Parker towards the end of the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.Sinks potential casting aligns perfectly with her wrapping up Stranger Things. The fifth and final season of the show is set to release later this year. The actress reprises her role as Max alongside Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp and more. The character has been in a coma since the events of Season 4.Before he begins filming for Spider-Man 4, Tom Holland is working on Christopher Nolans star-studded film The Odyssey based on Homers epic. He is currently shooting in Greece. Behind-the-scenes photos show him on a ship alongside Nolan. As per rumours, Holland will play Telemachus, the son of the Greek hero Odysseus, played by Matt Damon.Further information about Spider-Man 4 is awaited. Fans of Vijay Deverakonda and Nani often indulge in fan wars and endless trolls. But in what could be an extremely positive step towards ending fan wars and misconceptions, both the actors were spotted celebrating together the 10 th anniversary of their 2015 film Yevade Subramanyam. The team of Yevade Subramanyam celebrated its 10 th anniversary in Hyderabad, and director Nag Ashwin hosted a private party. At the celebrations Nani and Vijay Deverakonda recreated the fun moments as the breezy entertainer turns 10. Both shared the stage, recreating iconic moments from the film and reminiscing about the journey. Fan wars are not new to the film industry! It's growing impact on social media and consequences have negative corollary against actors and films. In Tollywood, fans of Vijay Deverakonda and Nani often indulge in fan wars and endless trolls. But in what could be an extremely positive step towards ending fan wars and misconceptions, both the actors were spotted celebrating together the 10th anniversary of their 2015 film Yevade Subramanyam.The team of Yevade Subramanyam celebrated its 10th anniversary in Hyderabad, and director Nag Ashwin hosted a private party! At the celebrations Nani and Vijay Deverakonda recreated the fun moments as the breezy entertainer turns 10. Both shared the stage, recreating iconic moments from the film and reminiscing about the journey. They shared their experiences and backstories and how the drama unfolded on the sets. The video and photos of the actors celebrating and turning nostalgic went viral on social media. Fans were thrilled to see the two actors sharing a smile and recalling their memories. Many on social media are hoping that Vijay and Nani have put an end to the long-standing speculation about their rivalry. Netizens are commenting that their reunion will end the fan wars. Yevade Subramanyam released on March 21, 2015, and went on to become a blockbuster. Directed by Nag Ashwin, the film starred Nani and Vijay Deverakonda in a supporting role. The films production house, Vyjayanthi Movies, confirmed that the movie will be re-released on its 10th anniversary captioning, A decade later, Dudh Kasi calls us again. Relive the magic of Yevade Subramanyam on the big screen. The re-release is to further amplify the nostalgia surrounding the film. Yevade Subramanyam happens to be Nag Ashwins directorial debut. While he received acclaim for his directorial finesse, he later directed blockbuster Mahanti (starring Keerthy Suresh), a biopic on late legendary actress Savithri, and followed it up with Pan India film Kalki 2898 AD, starring Prabhas. For a Courtesy Copy of the Federal Complaint, Please Send Your Email Request To: email@citizensagainstdonaldtrump.org ST LOUIS, MO / ACCESS Newswire / March 12, 2025 / CAT is a non-partisan, nonprofit corporation made up of Constitutional law professors, Constitutional attorneys and non-attorneys who believe in "We the people" and our great United States Constitution. CAT has been formed by President James W. Schottel, Jr., a St. Louis attorney who has been practicing in the field of Constitutional law for approximately 25 years with his own practice, Schottel & Associates, P.C., formed on May 1, 2000. Mr. Schottel has been focused on Constitutional law for approximately 20 years; representing the accused in Federal criminal cases and filing Federal civil rights cases. CAT will be fighting against Donald Trump, his Cabinet and his associates' unconstitutional, illegal orders and actions through litigation, where necessary. However, litigation is costly and CAT will be funded through membership fees, sales of merchandise and donations in support of this very important cause. You can find more information about these matters directly on CAT's website at: citizensagainstdonaldtrump.org CONTACT: James W. Schottel, Jr., Esq. President Citizens Against Donald Trump, Inc. jschotteljr@citizensagainstdonaldtrump.org (866) 791-0044 SOURCE: Citizens Against Donald Trump, Inc Allianz will continue as the worldwide insurance partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games French Alps 2030 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Brisbane 2032. Allianz will help deliver multi-sports competitions uniting athletes and billions of fans in its core markets. Benefits for people, business, brand: The Paris 2024 Games demonstrated the value of supporting the Olympic and Paralympic vision for Allianz. Faster, Higher, Stronger Together: Following the unique Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Allianz and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that they will extending their Worldwide Olympic Paralympic Partnership (TOP Partnership) for four more years until 2032. As the Official Worldwide Insurance Partner, Allianz will support the Olympic and Paralympic Movements for an additional Games cycle, which includes the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games French Alps 2030 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Brisbane 2032 (Australia), uniting athletes and billions of fans in peaceful competition in the company's 70 markets around the world. Allianz manages risks, provides protection for organizers, participants and spectators, and supports athletes through mentoring and career opportunities. The 2030 and 2032 Games will take place in two of Allianz's core markets, France and Australia, which contributed more than 10% of the operating profit of Allianz in 2024. Allianz, one of the world's leading insurers and the strongest insurance brand, has been the Official Worldwide Insurance Partner to the Olympic Movement since 2021 supporting the preparation and delivery of Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026 and LA 2028. Allianz has also supported the International Paralympic Committee since 2006, becoming a "Worldwide Paralympic Partner" in 2021. The partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Movements complements Allianz's "Power of Unity" program which helps bring individuals and organizations together to foster inclusive prosperity through togetherness, connection and common understanding. Paris 2024: Record viewership A record 84% of the potential global audience followed the Olympic Games Paris 2024 according to independent research conducted on the IOC's behalf. This equates to around five billion people and means that more than half of the world's population followed the inspirational achievements of the Olympic athletes and the cohesive magic of the Olympic Games in Paris. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were the biggest and best yet, setting a new benchmark for all future Games editions. They brought together a record 169 competing delegations and 4,400 athletes and were broadcast by 225 Media Rights Holders, more than ever before. Highlighting the growing global appeal of the Paralympic Games, the number of live TV hours viewed, excluding the host market, increased by 83% compared to Tokyo 2020. Allianz CEO Oliver Bate said: "The Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 inspired the world as well as our employees, customers and business partners, elevating and uniting people through sport. We also saw very positive benefits for our business and the Allianz brand. We are therefore delighted particularly against the backdrop of an increasingly divided world to extend this successful partnership through 2032 and continue our support for the unifying spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements." IOC President Thomas Bach said: "We are delighted that following the success of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, we will extend our partnership with Allianz for another four years. Allianz is a world leader in its industry and believes in the Olympic vision of building a better world through sport, and supports our commitment to athletes around the world. Now more than ever the world needs the power of sports to unite people. The IOC and Allianz share this vision and this is why we consider our partnership more important than ever. Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), said: "Allianz's journey with the IPC began in 2006 and our partnership and joint passion for making the world a better place has grown stronger each and every day, having a tremendous impact across the Paralympic Movement. We are greatly looking forward to our partnership with Allianz surpassing a quarter of a century with the extension of this agreement through to 2032. It gives us even more confidence in what we can achieve together in the future to make for a more inclusive world through Para sport." Jiri Kejval, Chair of the IOC's Revenues and Commercial Partnerships Commission, said: "Allianz is a great supporter of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements. The company has built a world leading business founded on trust, which underlines the importance of the trust and commitment Allianz has placed in our partnership. We are very proud to be working together with Allianz until 2032." People, business, brand At the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Allianz played a multi-faceted role, providing comprehensive insurance coverage, strong support for athletes, and campaigns in more than 60 markets around the world that connected employees, customers, business partners and fans to the shared vision of building a better world through sport. As the global insurance partner, Allianz helped ensuring the smooth and secure delivery of the Games, protecting athletes, fans and the many actors of the sports ecosystem from start to finish often through 'intangible' solutions and services across 15 lines of business. Allianz rolled out a comprehensive medical assistance program for 155,000 athletes, staff, volunteers and members of the Olympic and Paralympic family, provided ticket cancellation insurance for fans and delivered property and liability coverage for many sports venues. Through its global "Get Ready for the Best" campaign focused on the importance of preparation through various market activities and digital campaigns across more than 60 countries, Allianz fostered a deep connection with the Olympic spirit and engaged new target groups. Since the partnership began in 2021, awareness of the partnership among consumers has increased by double-digit percentage points. This has supported performance on key brand-related metrics such as brand likeability and purchase consideration. Allianz's brand value has been estimated at 23.8 billion USD according to Interbrand. Allianz runs a dedicated athlete support program, Team Allianz, comprising over 100 athletes across the globe. This includes a year-round mentoring Buddy Program and financial literacy initiatives that help athletes manage sports, personal finance and their professional careers. Allianz also leads the MoveNow Program, encouraging young people globally to stay active by providing access and opportunities. Downloads Further links Link pdf press release Allianz Road to Milano Cortina 2026 Allianz gears up for Paris 2024 About Allianz The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with around 128 million* private and corporate customers in nearly 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world's largest investors, managing around 776 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.9 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2024, over 156,000 employees achieved a total business volume of 179.8 billion euros and an operating profit of 16.0 billion euros for the group. Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers. **As of December 31, 2024. About the International Olympic Committee (IOC) The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit, civil, non-governmental, international organization made up of volunteers which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of USD 4.2 million goes to help athletes and sports organizations at all levels around the world. About the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement and is based in Bonn, Germany.Founded in 1989 as an international non-profit organisation, we aim to be athlete-centered and membership-focused in all our endeavors. The IPC's vision is to make for an inclusive world through Para sport, while our mission is to lead the Paralympic Movement, oversee the delivery of the Paralympic Games and support members to enable Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence. Mandatory corporate information:Corporate disclosures These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided below. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements This document includes forward-looking statements, such as prospects or expectations, that are based on management's current views and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance figures, or events may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Deviations may arise due to changes in factors including, but not limited to, the following: (i) the general economic and competitive situation in the Allianz's core business and core markets, (ii) the performance of financial markets (in particular market volatility, liquidity, and credit events), (iii) adverse publicity, regulatory actions or litigation with respect to the Allianz Group, other well-known companies and the financial services industry generally, (iv) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including those resulting from natural catastrophes, and the development of loss expenses, (v) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (vi) persistency levels, (vii) the extent of credit defaults, (viii) interest rate levels, (ix) currency exchange rates, most notably the EUR/USD exchange rate, (x) changes in laws and regulations, including tax regulations, (xi) the impact of acquisitions including related integration issues and reorganization measures, and (xii) the general competitive conditions that, in each individual case, apply at a local, regional, national, and/or global level. Many of these changes can be exacerbated by terrorist activities. No duty to update Allianz assumes no obligation to update any information or forward-looking statement contained herein, save for any information we are required to disclose by law. Privacy Note Allianz SE is committed to protecting your personal data. Find out more in our privacy statement. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250312366232/en/ Contacts: For further information please contact: Lauren Day Tel. +49 89 3800 3345 E-Mail: lauren.day@allianz.com Florian Amberg Tel. +49 89 3800 15924 E-Mail: florian.amberg@allianz.com Heidi Polke Tel. +49 89 3800 90777 E-Mail: heidi.polke@allianz.com IOC Media Team Tel. +41 21 621 60 00 E-Mail: pressoffice@olympic.org Demands the UN's Human Rights agency investigates ongoing human rights violations Plea comes as lawlessless takes hold in Bangladesh, with revenge violence and attacks on minorities and women's rights going unpunished by Muhammad Yunus's unelected government Deep concern also expressed for Rohingya refugees, to whom deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provided shelter Awami League issues the following statement related to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' visit to Bangladesh: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' visit to Bangladesh this week is a critical reminder of the importance of protecting those persecuted because of their religion, ethnicity or political affiliation. Yet, almost eight years since Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government opened its doors to welcome over 700,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing brutal oppression in Myanmar, persecution persists in Bangladesh. This is not just against the Rohingyas -who have seen their food rations halved just this week by the UN's World Food Program -but against Hindus, Christians, indigenous peoples living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, women and girls, lawyers and journalists. As the UN Secretary-General visits Bangladesh for the first time since the Interim Government assumed power, Mr Guterres must observe for himself the vital need for a further and truly impartial investigation into the oppression and disorder that has been allowed to take root under Dr Muhammad Yunus' tenure since August 5. In its recent report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN painted a one-side and incomplete picture of a country in turmoil. A country where revenge violence has been allowed to proliferate with total impunity, where victims of violent crimes are deprived of their right to seek justice, where religious and ethnic minorities live in fear, and where the principles of press freedom and fair trial have been eroded. Bangladesh today has descended into lawlessness. Violence, disorder and state-tolerated destruction abound, while the authorities and security forces turn a blind eye, focusing instead on their ideological pursuit of any democratically dissenting voices they have characterised as 'devils'. The UN acknowledges for itself a critical flaw in the timeframe of its initial investigation, which is woefully confined to the events leading up to August 15. Today, the Awami League calls once again for a new and fully independent investigation of the violence, persecution and mob rule that have become established since August 5 to help address the urgent concerns of the Bangladeshi people, whose lives continue to be blighted by waves of crime. Bangladesh cannot hope to return to its previously prosperous path and be considered a true multi-party democracy while its current government authorises the killing and unlawful detention of supporters of the Awami League and seeks to downplay the violent attacks that have targeted religious and ethnic minorities. Mr Guterres must use this visit to hold the Yunus administration to account for the human rights abuses it has facilitated and ensure his offices conduct a fair examination of all the evidence before them, unclouded by partisan political beliefs. Accordingly, the Awami League also calls upon the Secretary General to establish a permanent OHCHR mission in Bangladesh, tasked with investigating present-day and ongoing abuses. The Awami League is also deeply concerned by indications from the U.N World Food Programme that it intends to cut by more than half the value of food vouchers given to Rohingya refugees to just US$6 per person per month from April 1. Notwithstanding funding cuts to U.N budgets, this would be a completely unacceptable decision: a betrayal of some of the world's neediest and most victimized people, and a betrayal too of Bangladesh's persistent efforts to help them. Mr Guterres must demonstrate good faith to Bangladesh. He must take the opportunity provided by his visit to Dhaka to reassure the country's people that U.N. agencies will fight for their most urgent interests, and provide adequate resources to support the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250312698552/en/ Contacts: Media enquiries: info@albd.org Western Alaska Minerals Corp.?(the "Company" or "WAM") (TSXV:WAM) announces that it intends to complete an unsecured loan transaction with certain lenders to the Company to be determined (the "Lenders"), pursuant to which the Company will issue promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of up to C$1,726,920 (collectively, the "Loan"). The Loan will mature after 15 months and bear interest at rate of 10% per annum. The Loan will be repayable by the Company after 12 months. Subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), the Company will also issue to the Lenders an aggregate of up to 2,698,312 bonus warrants (the "Warrants"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one subordinate voting share of the Company at an exercise price of C$0.64 for a period of 36 months from the date of issuance. The net proceeds of the Loan will be used to fund the filing of a US registration statement on Form S-1 for an equity financing, completion of an application to be quoted for trading on the OTCQX/QB Capital Markets and associated filing fees, and for working capital and general corporate purposes. All securities issued in connection with the Loan will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance under Canadian securities laws and restrictions on resale under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. About WAM Western Alaska Minerals is focused on advancing North America's next major silver and critical minerals district at the Illinois Creek CRD, a prolific 8-km mineral corridor hosting two stand-alone deposits. Anchored by the high-grade silver deposit at Waterpump Creek deposit, 75 Moz @ 980 g/t AgEq (Inferred), open to the north and south and the historic Illinois Creek mine, 525 Koz AuEq: 373 Koz @ 1.3 g/t AuEq (Indicated), 152 Koz @ 1.44 g/t AuEq (Inferred), our 100% owned carbonate replacement deposit reveals untapped potential across an expansive exploration landscape. Within the same CRD system sits the Honker gold vein prospect. Twenty-five kilometers northeast of the Illinois Creek CRD lies the Round Top porphyry copper and the TG North CRD prospects. All prospects were originally discovered by Anaconda Minerals Co. in the early 1980's. WAM's 100% owned cover 73,120 acres (114.25 square miles or 29,591 hectares). Since 2010, WAM, along with its precursor company, Western Alaska Copper & Gold, reassembled the Anaconda land package and has been engaged in exploring the district. Headquartered in both Alaska and Arizona, WAM brings together a team of seasoned professionals with a shared vision of pioneering new frontiers in mineral exploration. Our strategic approach is underpinned by cutting-edge technology, innovative techniques, and a deep understanding of the geological intricacies of the region. On behalf of the Company "Kit Marrs" Kit Marrs President & CEO kit@westernalaskaminerals.com Phone: 1-520-200-1667 For further information, please contact: Vanessa Bogaert, Director of Corporate Communications/IR vanessa@westernalaskaminerals.com Or visit our website at: www.westernalaskaminerals.com Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connation thereof. These forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things, the completion of the Loan, the intended use of proceeds from the Loan; and the receipt of all necessary approvals in connection with the Loan, including the acceptance of the issuance of the Warrants by the TSX-V. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the Company will complete the Loan in the timeframe and on the terms as anticipated by management, that the Company will be able to utilize the proceeds of the Loan in the manner intended, and that the Company will receive all necessary approvals in connection with the Loan, including the acceptance of the issuance of the Warrants by the TSXV. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate 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 plans or expectations include risks relating to the failure to complete the Loan in the timeframe and on the terms as anticipated by management, market conditions, metal prices, and risks relating to the Company not receiving all necessary approvals in connection with the Offering, including the acceptance of the issuance of the Warrants by the TSXV. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by 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 forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. SOURCE: Western Alaska Minerals Corp Johnson City, Tennessee--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2025) - The Sioux Honey Association Co-op is pleased to announce its participation at the Coalition For Kids after-school program alongside a group of about 50 children during in an interactive lesson on honey and honeybee pollination on Wednesday. The event at the Johnson City nonprofit was part of a broader effort to make a record donation of honey by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op, a beekeeper-owned group of 175+ beekeepers, that was joined by regional grocer Food City to donate 2 tons of SUE BEE clover honey to three child-focused organizations: Coalition For Kids; Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley in Knoxville; and Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Va. The honey will be used as part of meals and snacks for after-school programs, organizers said. The donation of 540 cases (with 6,480 bottles of honey) was divided evenly among the three nonprofits. "It's a ton of honey - actually about two-and-a-half tons," said Kevin Hueser, President & CEO of the Sioux Honey Co-op. "But it will go fast; it should certainly be gone before the three-year expiration date for honey passes." On Wednesday, children at Coalition For Kids learned about worker bees, drone bees and queen bees, as well as how honeybees help pollinate everyday foods, such as almonds, melons and avocados. To demonstrate the pollination process, children played "honeybees," with yellow cotton balls while other students portrayed "flowers" by holding cups filled with different-colored glitter. The children learned how honeybees carry pollen from flower to flower, and how cross-pollination happens as pollens mix. "It was a fun exercise for our after-school kids," said Randy Hensley, Executive Director at Coalition For Kids. "And the honey donation will help with snacks for the kids in our after-school programs." Said Chris Mitchell, President at Mountain Mission School: "As a beekeeper myself, I understand the importance of this process of nature; honeybee pollination is an essential part of the food production process." Wednesday's donations to the three child-focused organizations are just one of several donation efforts planned by the Sioux Honey Co-op in 2025. More donations will be coming later this summer following the honey harvest season. "As beekeepers, we are passionate not only about our honey, but also about giving back to the communities we serve," said David Coy, a third-generation Sioux Honey Co-op beekeeper whose family tends to beehives in Perkinston, Miss., and Hebron, N.D. More than 50 students who take part in the Coalition For Kids after-school program in Johnson City, participated Wednesday in an interactive and hands-on lesson about honeybees and how honeybee pollination works. The event was part of a large honey donation made by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op and Food City. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11523/244298_wayfinder1enhanced.jpg A donation of 2,160 bottles of SUE BEE honey was made to Coalition For Kids in Johnson City on Wednesday by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op and Food City. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11523/244298_wayfinder2.jpg For media inquiries or to schedule an interview with a Sioux Honey representative, please contact Jim Minge at 402-740-8188 or jim@wayfinderpr.com. PHOTOS; For additional photos and VIDEO available upon request via jim@wayfinderpr.com To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11523/244298_126fc924c4d64b70_001full.jpg ABOUT SIOUX HONEY: In 1921, the Sioux Honey Co-op began as a small group of just five beekeepers. Located near Sioux City, Iowa, they shared equipment, marketing and processing facilities - all to help support one another. Today, Sioux Honey is still a co-op, but it has grown into 175+ beekeepers nationwide. Some have been members for decades - part of families who have passed down the trade for generations - and some have pioneered and started their own bee farms. But all of the members have a passion for producing a pure, quality product that customers can trust. And we're proud to say we know each of our beekeepers by name, because we've learned that's how you produce the best honey for more than a century. ABOUT FOOD CITY: Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City's parent company) operates 158 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia, and Alabama. COALITION FOR KIDS: https://www.coalitionforkids.org BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS of the Tennessee Valley: https://bgctnv.org/ MOUNTAIN MISSION SCHOOL: https://mmskids.org To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244298 SOURCE: Sioux Honey Association Co-op Will enhance market recognition and talent acquisition under Mitsubishi Electric brand Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced today that ICONICS, Inc., its U.S.-based software subsidiary engaged in the development, marketing and servicing of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software and cloud applications, will change its name to Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions, Inc. effective April 1, 2025. Additionally, three ICONICS subsidiaries located in the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Italy will also be renamed during April. Unifying the name under the Mitsubishi Electric brand is expected to enhance the company's market recognition and global talent acquisition. Additionally, Mitsubishi Electric will leverage its SerendieTM digital platform to accelerate the expansion of ICONICS' business as well as Mitsubishi Electric's factory automation digital solutions business. For the full text, please visit: www.MitsubishiElectric.com/news/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250312840645/en/ Contacts: Customer Inquiries Factory Automation DX Division Factory Automation Systems Group Mitsubishi Electric Corporation www.MitsubishiElectric.com/fa/support/ Media Inquiries Takeyoshi Komatsu Public Relations Division Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Tel: +81-3-3218-2332 prd.gnews@nk.MitsubishiElectric.co.jp www.MitsubishiElectric.com/news/ EQS Newswire / 13/03/2025 / 03:30 CET/CEST SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 13 March 2025 - ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), one of the world's fastest-growing data centre colocation service providers headquartered in Singapore, today announced it is now an NVIDIA colocation partner. Two of its data centre facilities in Southeast Asia (SEA) - STT Singapore 6, and STT Bangkok 1 - have achieved certification in the NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center programme. These are the first facilities in STT GDC's portfolio to achieve this certification. The NVIDIA DGX platform is purpose-built for enterprise AI, powering AI workloads spanning analytics, training, and inference. It offers advanced compute density, performance and scale with a single, unified system that can power the complete enterprise AI lifecycle. The NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center certification enables STT GDC to offer our customers access to world-class, state-of-the-art data centre facilities to run their most important AI workloads. STT GDC is among the first Singapore-headquartered companies to achieve this certification, recognising its continued focus on supporting the global growth ambitions of businesses as they transition from the digital era to the intelligent era. This is driven by accelerated computing, a key driver of AI innovation, and by STT GDC's ability to support advanced AI capabilities and next-generation infrastructure, such as NVIDIA DGX GB200 systems . STT GDC's AI-ready data centres are designed to accommodate the thermal demands of such cutting-edge technology, with support for both immersion cooling and direct-to-chip cooling technologies. "The DGX-Ready Data Center certification helps ensure that our customers have access to the robust infrastructure and expertise required to deploy and scale high-performance AI workloads. Achieving this certification underscores our commitment to supporting the rapid growth of AI adoption across industries, helping our customers focus on innovation, accelerate their AI initiatives with confidence and achieve a quicker time-to-value for their AI investments," said Daniel Pointon, Group Chief Technology Officer, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. "As organizations embrace AI to enhance customer experiences and drive better business outcomes, robust environments that are optimized for AI infrastructure become critical," said Tony Paikeday, senior director of AI systems at NVIDIA. "STT GDC's achievement of the NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center certification empowers enterprises in Southeast Asia to simplify their AI initiatives with optimized, high-performance infrastructure and facilities that enable the delivery of data-fueled insights sooner." AI continues to transform industries globally, driving innovation in everything from predictive analytics to autonomous systems. Worldwide spending on AI is expected to more than double by 2028, reaching US$632 billion[1]. AI has the potential to fundamentally disrupt global markets by innovating new business models and offerings. Strategic investments in AI will be necessary to enable businesses to both unlock competitive advantage and maximise the full potential of AI. [1] Worldwide Spending on Artificial Intelligence Forecast to Reach $632 Billion in 2028, According to a New IDC Spending Guide , August 19, 2024 Hashtag: STTelemedia The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. About ST Telemedia Global Data Centres ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) is one of the fastest-growing data centre providers with a global platform serving as a cornerstone of the digital ecosystem that helps the world to connect. Powering a sustainable digital future, STT GDC operates across Singapore, the UK, Germany, Italy, India, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, providing businesses an exceptional foundation that is built for their growth anywhere. For more information, visit https://www.sttelemediagdc.com/ . News Source: ST Telemedia Global Data Centres 13/03/2025 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad Everyone grieves in their own way. For me, it meant sifting through the tangible remnants of my fathers lifeeverything he had written or signed. I endeavored to collect every fragment of his writing, no matter profound or mundane be it verses from the Quran or a simple grocery list. I wanted each text to be a reminder that I could revisit in future. Among this cache was the last document he ever signed: a do-not-resuscitate directive. I have often wondered how his wishes might have evolved over the course of his lifeespecially when he had a heart attack when I was only six years old. Had the decision rested upon us, his children, what path would we have chosen? I do not have definitive answers, but pondering on this dilemma has given me questions that I now have to revisit years later in the form of improving ethical decision making at the end-of-life scenarios. To illustrate, consider Alice, a fifty-year-old woman who had an accident and is incapacitated. The physicians need to decide whether to resuscitate her or not. Ideally there is an advance directive which is a legal document that outlines her preferences for medical care in situations where she is unable to communicate her decisions due to incapacity. Alternatively, there may be a proxy directive which usually designate another person, called a surrogate, to make medical decisions on behalf of the patient. Given the severity of these questions, would it not be helpful if there was a way to inform or augment decisions with dispassionate agents who could weigh in competing pieces of information without emotions coming in the way? Artificial Intelligence may help or at least provide feedback that could be used as a moral crutch. It also has practical implications as only 20-30% percent of the general American population has some sort of advance directive. The idea behind AI surrogates is that given sufficiently detailed data about a person, an AI can act as a surrogate in case the person is incapacitated, making decisions that reflect what the person would have taken if they were not incapacitated. However, even setting aside the question of what data may be needed, data is not always a perfect reflection of reality. Ideally this data is meant to capture a persons affordances, preferences, and more preferences, with the assumption that they are implicit in the data. This may not always be true, as people evolve, change their preferences, and update their worldviews. Consider a scenario where an individual provided an advance directive in 2015, yet later converted to Jehovahs Witnessa faith that disavows medical procedures that involve blood transfusions. Despite this profound shift in beliefs, the existing directive would still reflect past preferences rather than current convictions. This dilemma extends to AI-trained models, often referred to as the problem of stale data. If conversational data from a patient is used to train an AI model, yet the patients beliefs evolve over time, data drift ensures that the AIs knowledge becomes outdated, failing to reflect the individuals current values and convictions. Many of the challenges inherent in AI, such as bias, transparency, and explainability, are equally relevant in the development of AI surrogates. For instance, an AI surrogate must be able to justify its recommendationshow does it arrive at a particular decision, and can it offer a rationale that aligns with ethical considerations? Moreover, if the model fails to account for the decision-making patterns of minority groups, it risks exacerbating existing disparities. This issue is already evident in hospice and palliative care, where marginalized communities experience greater pain, increased caregiver burden, and poorer end-of-life experiences overall. Unlike other areas of AI deployment, end-of-life decision-making presents a unique challengethere is no opportunity to test alternative outcomes after the fact. Another critical concern is language dialect bias. Large language models, for example, have been shown to exhibit biases against African American Vernacular English (AAVE), potentially leading to incorrect or skewed interpretations in end-of-life scenarios. Additionally, AI-driven decision-making does not operate in a vacuumit is susceptible to external influences, such as cost-saving measures, insurance policies, and hospital efficiency goals. Given the opacity of many AI systems, it is conceivable that such pressures could subtly or overtly shape AI-generated recommendations. The history of healthcare is rife with examples of AI deployment where profit motives took precedence over patient welfare, leading to the use of unreliable or even harmful models in contexts where AI was neither warranted nor beneficial. However, this does not imply that AI surrogates are merely another case of technological overreach. There are notable success stories where algorithmic decision-making has demonstrably improved outcomesfor instance, AI-driven organ matching systems have enhanced transplant success rates by optimizing donor-recipient compatibility. While taking into account the cultural and religious background of individuals is important, it may also clash with legal imperatives. Consider the case of an AI surrogate that has to make recommendation on behalf of a brain-dead pregnant women. A review of brain death protocols in American hospitals revealed that the overwhelming majority of them, around 94%, do not have any guidance on fetal management following maternal brain death. Here the wishes of the woman may clash with state directives e.g., certain states may overwrite the patients directive if there is a possibility of fetus viability. How one views such scenarios would depend upon where one stands on the issue of bodily autonomy and personhood of the fetus. There are unlikely to be clear cut answers even from an AI. Moreover, the AIs decision may conflict with the moral compass of the physician. In case the surrogate decision maker, whether human or AI, causes the physician to experience moral distress, the physician may transfer care to a different physician. In case of absence of a clear directive, one has to take the cultural and religious beliefs of the patient into account as in the case of the Jehovahs Witness example above. However, there is a fine line between coercion and recommendation. There has been some discussion regarding how to deal with situations where a Jehovahs Witness patient may change their mind about blood transfusion in the middle of a crisis. That said, the counterargument is that in such a midcrisis reassessment the decision of the patient may be influenced by coercion from a physician. An AI surrogate would have to navigate the same terrain suggest but do not coerce, take into account the patients values and not necessarily that of the dominant cultural group. This is an acute problem in large language models which often reflect the values of the dominant cultural group while neglecting minority ethnic and cultural perspectives. There have been numerous efforts to explore the requirements of building such a system. As I have ventured into this domain, I have come to grasp the truly herculean nature of the task. Now, as I contemplate the current essay, I open my drawer and again find the last handwritten note my father left before departing this mortal abode. More than a decade has passed, yet I have repeatedly returned to the questions surrounding decision-making at the threshold of life and deathwhether through modeling mortality predictions or witnessing firsthand the delicate interplay of fate and choice in the trauma ICU. There are seldom easy answers. In 2017, when I first began working in healthcare AI, one of my earliest projects involved predicting mortality within a given timeframedetermining, for instance, whether a critically ill patient would survive the next six months. Such predictions carry weighty real-world consequences, informing pivotal decisions: whether to transition a patient to hospice care or persist with treatment. Not long before that, I had created the first iteration of Grandpa Bota digital reconstruction of my father, designed for my children to engage with. Though seemingly disparate, these three inquiries are bound by a common thread: the pursuit of knowledge to better inform ethical decision-making at the fragile boundary between life and death. We may need all the help that we can get to navigate these water and AI crutches may help. Hyundai Motor Group recognized in the IIHS 2025 TOP SAFETY PICK (TSP) and TOP SAFETY PICK + (TSP+) with 12 awards, representing 25% of the total honors in 2025 (TSP) and + (TSP+) with 12 awards, representing 25% of the total honors in 2025 Hyundai Motor secured five TSP+ awards for the IONIQ 5, KONA, TUCSON, SANTA FE, and IONIQ 6 models Genesis also earned five awards, with four TSP+ selections for the GV60, Electrified GV70, GV70, and GV80, and one TSP for the G90 Kia's EV9 and Telluride SUVs both received TSP+ awards SEOUL, South Korea, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) today announced an industry-leading total of 12 models from Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation and Genesis received honors at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 2025 TOP SAFETY PICK (TSP) and TOP SAFETY PICK+ (TSP+) awards. The Group's total represents more than any other automaker in the annual IIHS assessment, comprising 25 percent of the total awards given so far in 2025. "Outstanding safety performance is core to the Hyundai Motor Group and our achievement in the 2025 IIHS awards, with the most stringent test criteria ever, underscores our unwavering commitment to customers and relentless engineering to deliver the highest level of safety for occupants and road users," said Brian Latouf, President and Global Chief Safety and Quality Officer at Hyundai Motor Group. "These results affirm our dedication to safety leadership for 2025 and beyond." What IIHS TOP SAFETY awards did Hyundai Motor Group brands win? Among the Group's brands, Hyundai Motor and Genesis earned five awards each, while Kia received two, highlighting the exceptional safety standards embedded in Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles as part of the Group's overall mission to deliver to customers uncompromising levels of safety and quality. The five Hyundai Motor TSP+ winners included: IONIQ 5 KONA SUV TUCSON SUV SANTA FE SUV (built after November 2024) IONIQ 6 The four Genesis TSP+ winners included: GV60 SUV Electrified GV70 SUV GV70 SUV (built after April 2024) GV80 SUV The Genesis G90 large luxury sedan was also recognized with a TSP award. The two Kia TSP+ award winners were: EV9 SUV Telluride SUV All vehicles were 2025 model year unless otherwise specified. How did IIHS update its award criteria for 2025? For 2025, the IIHS updated its TSP and TSP+ award criteria, placing even greater emphasis on protection for second-row occupants, with tests requiring advanced seat belt technology and other safety innovations to score highly. Further updates to the testing methods and standards raised the already-high benchmark for consideration, resulting in just 48 models qualifying for this year's awards, compared with 71 last year at this time. With the judging criteria including small and moderate front overlap, side impact and crash prevention tests, as well as measures for pedestrian safety and new, more stringent rear passenger safety standards, Hyundai, Genesis and Kia's excellent performance highlights the dedication to safety that is instilled throughout Hyundai Motor Group. For more information on the changes to the award criteria, visit IIHS.org. More information about Hyundai Motor Group can be found at: http://www.hyundaimotorgroup.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2639955/Photo__HMG.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hyundai-motor-group-takes-top-honors-for-safety-with-industry-leading-12-titles-in-updated-2025-iihs-safety-awards-302400536.html Statement of International School Meals Day by Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of children worldwide are going hungry, and we all know that hungry children cannot learn. On International School Meals Day, we are calling on donors to significantly scale-up funding for school feeding to ensure every child can go to school, every child can access at least one nutritious meal a day, and every child can concentrate, develop and achieve. Our investment in school meals saves lives through education in emergencies. It also offers significant economic returns that pave the way for strong economies and increased global security. In fact, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) State of School Feeding Worldwide Report, every dollar invested in school meals has a $9 return. These returns cut across numerous sectors, including agriculture, education, health and nutrition, and social protection. The benefits for learners are significant. According to WFP: "Every day, over 100 million children in low- and lower-middle-income countries are going hungry. Millions go to school on an empty stomach - hunger affects their concentration and ability to learn. There are also millions - particularly girls - who simply do not go to school because their families need them to help in the fields or perform domestic duties. In conflict-affected countries, children are twice as likely to be out of school than their peers in stable countries - 2.5 times more likely, in the case of girls." Investing in healthy school meals - especially in crisis contexts - is an investment in local economies and an investment in local human capital. It's an investment in the future engineers, teachers and technicians that will drive positive change to end repeated cycles of hunger, displacement and poverty. Working together with partners, ECW provides significant investments each year in school feeding. The most recent analysis indicates that ECW investments for quality school feeding interventions active in 2023 reached over 300,000 children across nine countries. In Ethiopia, ECW investments reached around 100,000 children through school feeding programmes. Recognizing that poverty was a crucial factor keeping children out of school, the programme involved families and community members to manage the programme and provide in-kind contributions like building kitchen houses or providing firewood to cook the hot meals. In Cameroon and Haiti, ECW funding delivered by WFP is focused on local procurement from smallholder farmers. This not only ensures nutritious meals for young learners, but also strengthens the local food system and local economy. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over 39,000 students in 69 schools have received nutritious meals through an ECW-funded programme delivered by UNICEF. The needs are skyrocketing. With ongoing conflicts in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan creating ripple effects across Africa - and indeed across the globe - we must ensure that school meals in education investments remain at the top of the international humanitarian funding agenda. ECW connects across various sectors to accelerate the collective impact of humanitarian funding. Together, we can keep hope alive for the 234 million crisis-impacted children that urgently need our support. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640524/UNICE_Ethiopia.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1656121/Education_Cannot_Wait_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/our-investment-in-school-meals-is-our-investment-in-education-302400631.html Burnaby, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Aether Catalyst Solutions, Inc. (CSE: ATHR) (FSE: 2QZ) ("ATHR" or the "Company") announces that it proposes to raise up to $75,000 through a non-brokered private placement of up to 1,875,000 units at a price of $0.04 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of a transferable common share purchase warrant of the Company, with each whole warrant exercisable for a period of 12 months from the date of closing at a price of $0.10 per share. Finder's fees or commissions may be payable to certain eligible persons. All securities issued in connection with the private placement are subject to a 4-month hold period in Canada. The terms of the financing are subject to applicable securities laws and regulatory approval. Additional details regarding the Offering can be found in the Form 9 filed in accordance with the rules of the Canadian Securities Exchange, a copy of which is accessible at www.thecse.com under the Company's profile. The gross proceeds of the private placement will be used for general working capital purposes. The Company confirms that there is no material fact or material change about the Company that has not already been generally disclosed. Closing is expected to occur March 19, 2025. ABOUT THE COMPANY: Aether Catalyst Solutions, Inc. is focused on providing an order of magnitude cost reduction in automotive catalytic converter catalyst, while meeting, or exceeding government emission standards. Aether is working to quickly advance its technology through rapid screening of new materials directed at enhancing end of life conversion levels after accelerated aging. While Aether's primary focus has been automotive applications, the company is also developing catalysts to address small motors emissions - a significant contributor to urban air pollution. The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") or any other securities regulatory authority has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this management prepared news release. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244428 SOURCE: Aether Catalyst Solutions, Inc. Saliran Group Berhad ("Saliran" or the "Company"), an established supplier and distributor of pipes, fittings and flanges as well as related parts and accessories, and steel products, proudly marked its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Bursa Securities") today. Saliran shares opened at RM0.275 per share, reflecting a strong market reception following its successful Initial Public Offering ("IPO") at RM0.270 per share, representing a premium of 1.85%. From Left to Right: Mr. Daniel Kok Tai Meng ?????, Independent Non-Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Ms. Ginnie Ooi Gin Hui?????, Independent Non-Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Datuk Khoo Teck Kee ?????, Independent Non-Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Dato' Josephine Low Suet Moi ?????, Independent Non-Executive Chairperson of Saliran Group Berhad; Mr. Dennis Liaw Choon Wei ?????, Managing Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Mr. William Chan Koon Wai?????, Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Ms. Lim Chia Wei ?????, Managing Director of Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd; Mr. Jason Chan ?????, Co-Head, Corporate Finance of Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd; Ms. Tan Sin Jiang ?????,Vice-President, Corporate Finance of Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd; Mr. Gavin Lim Bak Teik ?????, Chief Operation Officer of Saliran Group Berhad; Mr. Francis Yong Wai Kin ?????, Chief Financial Officer of Saliran Group Berhad Saliran is listed under the stock name "SALIRAN" with the stock code "0346". The Company's listing marks a new chapter in its journey, reinforcing its commitment to driving growth in the industrial supply sector, particularly within the oil and gas ("O&G") and infrastructure industries. With a strong foothold in Malaysia and an expanding presence in Southeast Asia, Saliran is well-positioned to capitalise on industry demand and enhance its market reach. Saliran's IPO raised RM21.7 million, which will be strategically allocated to fuel the Company's growth and operational expansion. The proceeds will be used for the establishment of a sales office in Indonesia, the purchase of machinery and delivery trucks to improve operational efficiency, the repayment of bank borrowings to strengthen financial flexibility, as well as general working capital to support daily business activities. A portion of the funds will also cover listing expenses. Mr. Liaw Choon Wei, Managing Director of Saliran Group Berhad said, "Today marks a significant achievement for Saliran as we take this important step forward as a listed company. This listing is a testament to our unwavering dedication to growth, operational excellence, and creating long-term value for our stakeholders. With the strong foundation we have built over the years, we are confident in our ability to expand further, strengthen our supply chain, and enhance our capabilities to better serve our customers. We remain committed to driving sustainable growth and seizing new opportunities in the industrial supply and O&G sectors." Ms. Lim Chia Wei, Managing Director of Malacca Securities Sdn. Bhd. commented, "We are pleased to have played a role in Saliran's journey to becoming a listed entity. The strong reception to its IPO reflects investor confidence in Saliran's solid track record, industry expertise, and strategic growth plans. With its established presence in the industrial supply sector and commitment to expansion, we believe Saliran is well-positioned for continued success in the public market." Malacca Securities Sdn. Bhd. is the Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Underwriter, and Placement Agent for this IPO. For more information, visit https://saliran.com.my/. Swan Consultancy Sdn. Bhd. on behalf of Saliran Group Berhad For more information, please contact: Jazmin Wan Email: j.wan@swanconsultancy.biz Xinyi Ching Email: x.ching@swanconsultancy.biz SOURCE: Swan Consultancy RESERVES GROWTH IN ALL CATEGORIES. 2024 PDP RESERVES INCREASE 92% FROM 2023 1P AND 2P RESERVES REPLACEMENT RATIO OF 134% AND 231% RESPECTIVELY Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Arrow Exploration Corp. (AIM: AXL) (TSXV: AXL) is pleased to announce the results of its 2024 year-end reserves evaluation by Boury Global Energy Consultants Ltd. ("BouryGEC"). All reserves volume figures stated below are on a Working Interest Gross Reserve basis. Currency amounts are in United States dollars (unless otherwise indicated) and comparisons refer to December 31, 2023. Arrow's reserves growth in all categories demonstrates the high resource density of our Tapir block. Further, moving forward, the Company is confident that it can continue to grow through the drill bit at Tapir. Highlights - Proved Developed Producing ("PDP") reserves: Increased by 92% to 2.38 million barrels of oil equivalent ("MMboe"), driven principally through the successful horizontal drilling campaign in Carrizales Norte, on the Tapir Block, Colombia; and Net present value before tax, discounted at 10% ("NPV-10") is $71.3 million ($29.89/boe) for PDP reserves. - Proved ("1P") reserves: Increased by 10% to 5.80 million barrels of oil equivalent ("MMboe"), driven principally through the discovery of the Alberta Llanos field and the successful horizontal drilling campaign in Carrizales Norte, both on the Tapir Block, Colombia; and Net present value before tax, discounted at 10% ("NPV-10") is $114.57 million ($19.75/boe) for 1P reserves. - Proved plus Probable ("2P") reserves: Increased by 15% to 13.62 MMboe; Before tax NPV-10 is $284.9 million ($20.92/boe) for 2P reserves. - Proved plus Probable plus Possible ("3P") reserves: Increased by 25% to 22.28 MMboe; Before tax NPV-10 is $524.1 million ($23.52/boe) for 3P reserves. - Strong well performance that translated into a higher reserves volumes in comparison with the year-end 2023 - Despite using a lower forecast price deck than 2023, before tax NPV10 values have increased in the PDP, 2P and 3P categories; - Before tax NPV-10 per share of US$0.40/share, US$1.00/share, and US$1.83/share for 1P, 2P, and 3P reserve categories, respectively; - Excellent Reserves Recycle Ratios of 2.7 for 1P, 4.6 for 2P and 8.7 for 3P; and - Reserves Replacement Ratios of 1.34 for 1P, 2.31 for 2P and 4.39 for 3P CEO Commentary Marshall Abbott, CEO of Arrow, commented: "Our exciting growth story continues and we are pleased to be able to report further material reserves increases from our extensive acreage in Colombia. Arrow delivered significant increases in volumes of 1P, 2P and 3P reserves in 2024, due to the Alberta Llanos Carbonera, Guadalupe and Ubaque discoveries and successfully drilling horizontal wells at Carizales Norte. Reserves replacement ratios amounted to 134% 1P and 231% 2P, showing the sustainability of our business model to continue its growth trajectory into the future. We are pleased with the results of the BouryGEC reserves evaluation, which reinforces the significant value of our Colombian and Canadian assets. "The BouryGEC 2024 report does not reflect the most recent drilling activity at Alberta Llanos or Carrizales Norte where particularly AB-3 (drilled and on production in Q1 2025) and CN HZ-9 (drilled in Q1 2025 and currently cleaning up) have not been incorporated into the report. The CN HZ-10 well has spud, as part of the further development of the Carrizales Norte field to the north of the existing development with results to be reported in due course. "Arrow's prospect inventory is multifaceted and demonstrates the hydrocarbon density of the Tapir block in the fertile Llanos Basin. Over the rest of 2025, we look forward to a successful drilling campaign on a fully funded $50MM capital budget that is balanced between development and low risk exploratory wells." 2024 Year-End Reserves Summary Management has presented below a summary of Arrow's reserves as at December 31, 2024, on a working interest gross reserves basis, which have been estimated by BouryGEC, an independent qualified reserves evaluator, in a reserves report with an effective date of December 31, 2024. The figures in the following tables have been prepared in accordance with the standards contained in the most recent publication of the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (the "COGEH") and the reserves definitions contained in National Instrument 51-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101"). In addition to the summary information disclosed in this announcement, more detailed information will be included in Arrow's annual reserves evaluation for the year ended December 31, 2024 to be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and posted on Arrow's website (www.arrowexploration.ca). After tax values have been calculated without taking into account the tax shelter created by capital spending on projects that do not have reserve values associated with them, such as the Tapir 3D seismic project, drilling at Carrizales Norte and annual G&A. Spending on these projects will provide a tax shelter and result in a reduction in future income tax payments. Brent Crude Oil Price and AECO Gas Price Forecasts in BouryGEC Reserves Evaluation Year-End Forecast: 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 Brent (US$/bbl) - Dec. 31, 2024 $76.50 $78.50 $80.00 $81.50 $83.50 $85.17 $86.87 AECO-C Spot (C$/MMbtu) C$2.49 C$3.47 C$3.64 C$3.90 C$4.03 C$4.17 C$4.30 Year-End Working Interest Gross Reserves - Breakdown by Category and Country (Mboe) 2024 2023 Change % Change Proved developed producing 2,384 1,239 1145 92% - Colombia assets (core) 1889 1011 - Colombia assets (non-core) 0 0 - Canada assets 495 228 Proved developed non-producing 404 714 (310) -43% - Colombia assets (core) 198 503 - Colombia assets (non-core) 206 211 - Canada assets 0 0 Proved undeveloped 3,017 3,339 (322) -10% - Colombia assets (core) 1,433 1757 - Colombia assets (non-core) 1,584 1,582 - Canada assets 0 0 Total Proved 5,805 5,292 513 10% Probable 7,813 6,555 1258 19% - Colombia assets (core) 4,511 3,292 - Colombia assets (non-core) 2,758 2,762 - Canada assets 544 501 Total Proved plus Probable 13,618 11,847 1771 15% Possible 8,670 5,958 2712 46% - Colombia assets (core) 6,915 4,349 - Colombia assets (non-core) 1,508 1,435 - Canada assets 247 174 Total Proved plus Probable & Possible 22,288 17,805 4483 25% Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves. (1) "Core" assets include Arrow's share of reserves in the Tapir Block, the Santa Isabel Block (Oso Pardo), and Mateguafa. Arrow's 50% interest in the Tapir Block is contingent on the assignment by Ecopetrol SA of such interest to Arrow. (2) "Non-core" assets include the Ombu Block (which includes the Capella Field) (3) "Canada" assets include Fir and Pepper Year-End Net Present Value at 10% - Before Tax ($ Thousands) Category 2024 2023 % Change Proved Developed Producing 71,253 46,021 55% Developed Non-Producing 8,311 16,544 -50% Undeveloped 35,009 72,310 -52% Total Proved 114,572 134,875 -15% Probable 170,347 145,348 17% Total Proved plus Probable 284,919 280,223 2% Possible 239,228 164,793 45% Total Proved plus Probable & Possible 524,147 445,016 18% Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves. Year-End Net Present Value at 10% - After Tax ($ Thousands) Category 2024 2023 % Change Proved Developed Producing 50,373 34,255 47% Developed Non-Producing 5,794 11,137 -48% Undeveloped 27,165 33,270 -18% Total Proved 83,332 78,662 6% Probable 78,064 73,113 7% Total Proved plus Probable 161,396 151,775 6% Possible 118,451 85,323 39% Total Proved plus Probable & Possible 279,847 237,098 18% Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves. Forecast Revenues and Costs - Undiscounted ($ millions) Category Revenue (3) Royalties Operating Cost (2) Development Cost Abandonment & Reclamation BT Future Net Revenue (1) Income Taxes AT Future Net Revenue (1) Total Proved 312.8 31.1 69.0 64.7 8.7 139.4 37.0 102.4 Total Proved plus Probable 755.8 78.0 170.5 110.2 12.6 384.4 158.5 225.9 Total Proved plus Probable & Possible 1,347.5 146.8 288.6 121.3 14.5 776.3 350.2 426.1 Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves. (1) BT = Before Taxes and AT = After Taxes (2) Operating Cost less processing and other income (3) Revenue includes Petrolco Income 2024 Year-End Working Interest Gross Reserves Reconciliation (Mboe) Total Proved Total Proved plus Probable Total Proved plus Probable & Possible 31-Dec-23 5,292 11,847 17,805 Technical Revisions 1,186 1,578 2,799 Discoveries 307 1,167 2,529 Economic Factors 319 327 455 Production (1,300) (1,300) (1,300) 31-Dec-24 5,805 13,619 22,288 Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves. Qualified Person's Statement The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Grant Carnie, senior non-executive director of Arrow Exploration Corp. Mr. Carnie is a former member of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Alberta and has over 35 years' experience in the oil and gas industry. Cautionary Statement The recovery, reserve estimates and future net revenue provided in this news release are estimates only, and there is no guarantee that the estimated reserves will be recovered nor represent fair market value. Actual reserves may eventually prove to be greater than, or less than, the estimates provided herein. In certain of the tables set forth above, the columns may not add due to rounding. This press release contains various references to the abbreviation "BOE" which means barrels of oil equivalent. Where amounts are expressed on a BOE basis, natural gas volumes have been converted to oil equivalence at six thousand cubic feet (Mcf) per barrel (bbl). The term BOE may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet per barrel is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK version of the market abuse regulation (EU No. 596/2014) as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR"). For further Information, contact: About Arrow Exploration Corp. Arrow Exploration Corp. (operating in Colombia via a branch of its 100% owned subsidiary Carrao Energy S.A.) is a publicly traded company with a portfolio of premier Colombian oil assets that are under-exploited, under-explored and offer high potential growth. The Company's business plan is to expand oil production from some of Colombia's most active basins, including the Llanos, Middle Magdalena Valley (MMV) and Putumayo Basin. The asset base is predominantly operated with high working interests, and the Brent-linked light oil pricing exposure combines with low royalties to yield attractive potential operating margins. Arrow's 50% interest in the Tapir Block is contingent on the assignment by Ecopetrol SA of such interest to Arrow. Arrow's seasoned team is led by a hands-on executive team supported by an experienced board. Arrow is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and on TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AXL". Reserves Categories Reserves are estimated remaining quantities of oil and natural gas and related substances anticipated to be recoverable from known accumulations, from a given date forward, based on analysis of drilling, geological, geophysical and engineering data; the use of established technology; and specified economic conditions which are generally accepted as being reasonable and shall be disclosed. "Proved Developed Producing Reserves" are those reserves that are expected to be recovered from completion intervals open at the time of the estimate. These reserves may be currently producing or, if shut-in, they must have previously been on production, and the date of resumption of production must be known with reasonable certainty. "Proved Developed Non-Producing Reserves" are those reserves that either have not been on production or have previously been on production but are shut-in and the date of resumption of production is unknown. "Proved Undeveloped Reserves" are those reserves expected to be recovered from known accumulations where a significant expenditure (e.g., when compared to the cost of drilling a well) is required to render them capable of production. They must fully meet the requirements of the reserves category (proved, probable, possible) to which they are assigned. "Proved" reserves are those reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of certainty to be recoverable. "Probable" reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than Proved reserves but more certain to be recovered than Possible reserves. "Possible" reserves are those additional reserves that are less likely to be recoverable than Probable reserves. Forward-looking Statements This news release contains certain statements or disclosures relating to Arrow that are based on the expectations of its management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Arrow which may constitute forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements") under applicable securities laws. All such statements and disclosures, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results or developments that Arrow anticipates or expects may, could or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of the words "continue", "expect", "opportunity", "plan", "potential" and "will" and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release reflect several material factors and expectations and assumptions of Arrow, including without limitation, Arrow's evaluation of the impacts of COVID-19, the potential of Arrow's Colombian and/or Canadian assets (or any of them individually), the prices of oil and/or natural gas, and Arrow's business plan to expand oil and gas production and achieve attractive potential operating margins. Arrow believes the expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time but no assurance can be given that these factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. "Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release" Glossary Bbl/d: Barrels per day $/Bbl: Dollars per barrel Mcf/d: Thousand cubic feet of gas per day $/Mcf: Dollars per thousand cubic feet of gas Boe/d: Barrels of oil equivalent per day $/Boe: Dollars per barrel of oil equivalent PDP: Proved Developed Producing 1P: Proved Reserves 2P: Proved plus Probable Reserves 3P: Proved plus Probable plus Possible Reserves Mboe: Thousands of barrel of oil equivalent MMbtu: Millions btu MMboe: Millions of barrels of oil equivalent Mbtu: Thousands btu Mboe: Thousands of barrels of oil equivalent Working Interest Gross Reserves: The reserves attributable to the Company's license working interest pre-taxes and royalties NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION, PUBLICATION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO MIGHT CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244387 SOURCE: Arrow Exploration Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Kobrea Exploration Corp. (CSE: KBX) (FSE: F3I) (OTCQB: KBXFF) ("Kobrea" or the "Company") announces that it has commissioned a heli-borne magnetic and radiometric survey with New-Sense Geophysics Ltd. ("NSG") in conjunction with GeoEnergia Argentina S.A. ("GEA") to be completed at the Company's Western Malargue Copper Projects. Kobrea holds the right to earn a 100% interest in the Western Malargue Copper Projects, which consist of 7 projects totaling 733 km2 in southwestern Mendoza Province, Argentina (see the Company's August 19, 2024 news release for further details). "The upcoming survey will be the first comprehensive geophysical survey covering these projects and will serve to better define known porphyry targets and outline additional porphyry targets within our land package," commented James Hedalen, CEO of Kobrea. "At El Perdido, this data will compliment historical geophysics which already indicates the potential for a large copper-bearing system coming to surface and extending to depth. At El Destino, we anticipate that the alteration footprint of the porphyry copper-gold target continues under younger volcanic cover to the north and south and this survey will help to ascertain the size potential of the porphyry system which already looks to be significant." A property-wide, 2,245 line-kilometre magnetic-radiometric heli-borne geophysical survey has been planned which will provide insight to the scale, geometry and intensity of known alteration systems on the property along with potentially outlining additional porphyry targets within the project boundaries. The survey, scheduled to commence in the coming weeks, will include coverage of the El Perdido and El Destino porphyry copper targets. The ground magnetometer survey completed by a previous operator at the El Perdido porphyry copper target covers the core of the system, while the airborne magnetometer data will present a more comprehensive picture of the geology and hydrothermal alteration beyond those limits defined historically. The radiometric data recorded will highlight the surficial distribution of potassic alteration and the extents of hydrothermally altered rock. At El Destino, a 1-kilometre by 3-kilometre hydrothermal alteration system is suspected to continue under younger Pleistocene-aged ignimbrites to the north and south of the outcropping alteration footprint (Figure 1). The airborne magnetometer will measure the rock properties beneath the younger cover rock to define the greater extent of the hydrothermal alteration footprint. The radiometric data collected will serve to outline additional areas exhibiting potassic alteration beyond those mapped to date. Figure 1 - Aerial photo of El Destino prospect showing hydrothermal alteration footprint abruptly covered by younger ignimbrite to the north and south. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10375/244404_1fedc1c09475bb91_001full.jpg Qualified Person The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Rory Ritchie, P.Geo., VP - Exploration and Director of Kobrea Exploration Corp. and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. About Kobrea Kobrea Exploration Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition and exploration of copper projects. Kobrea holds the right to earn a 100% interest in the Western Malargue Copper Projects, which consist of 7 projects totaling 733 km2 in southwestern Mendoza Province, Argentina. The properties are considered highly prospective for porphyry copper and porphyry copper-gold deposits. Numerous porphyry copper targets have been outlined to date exhibiting multi-kilometre hydrothermal alteration footprints, anomalous copper gold molybdenum geochemistry, quartz stockwork veining, localized hydrothermal breccias and Miocene aged dacitic to dioritic porphyry intrusions. Kobrea also holds a 100% interest in the Upland Copper Project in British Columbia, Canada. For more information, please consult the Company's filings, available at www.sedarplus.ca. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Per: "James Hedalen" James Hedalen CEO & Director Contact Information Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws with respect to the Company, including statements respecting the timing and details of any planned exploration programs or drill programs, including the heli-borne geophysical survey, on the Western Malargue Copper Projects and the potential results thereof. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as "believe," "project," "aim," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," and similar expressions. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244404 SOURCE: Kobrea Exploration Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Quimbaya Gold Inc. (CSE: QIM) (OTCQB: QIMGF) (FSE: K05) ("Quimbaya Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has executed the final payment of 4 contract concessions totalling 1624 hectares in the Tahami project area. The company was able to amend the last payment terms of these concessions from $200,000 USD to $135,000 USD. "We are pleased that we were able to secure these important land packages with the final payments on our highly prospective Tahami area on amended terms that represented a 30% savings from the original last payments", stated Alexandre P. Boivin, President and CEO. The company also announces that it has extended the expiry date of an aggregate of 1,589,344 outstanding warrants of which 1,241,070 warrants were issued in connection with the closing of a non-brokered private placement on June 5, 2024 (the "June Warrants") and 348,274 warrants were issued in connection with the closing of a non-brokered private placement on November 1, 2024 (the "November Warrants"). The initial exercise price of the June Warrants and the November Warrants is $0.75 and remains unchanged. The June Warrants have an original expiration date of June 5, 2025 and the November Warrants have an original expiration date of November 1, 2025. The Company proposes to extend the expiration date of the June Warrants and November Warrants by one additional year to June 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026, respectively (the "Amendment"). All other terms and conditions of the June Warrants and the November Warrants will remain unchanged. The Amendment is subject to final Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") approval, as applicable. No action will be required on the part of the holders of the June Warrants and the November Warrants to give effect to the Amendment. In accordance with the requirements of the CSE, the terms of any warrants issued as compensation warrants or as finder warrants are not eligible for amendment. 528,570 of the June Warrants and 153,600 of the November Warrants are owned by insiders of the Company, representing 42.6% and 44.1%, respectively, of the aggregate number of warrants. As a portion of the June Warrants and the November Warrants are held by insiders of the Company, the Amendment may constitute a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). A material change report will be filed with respect to the Amendment as it pertains to insiders. The Amendment are exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements under MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the June Warrants and the November Warrants issued to insiders nor the cash consideration paid for such June Warrants and November Warrants exceeds 25% of the market capitalization of the Company. About Quimbaya Gold Quimbaya is active in the exploration and acquisition of mining properties in the prolific mining districts of Colombia. Managed by an experienced team in the mining sector, Quimbaya is focused on three projects in the regions of Segovia (Tahami Project), Puerto Berrio (Berrio Project), and Abejorral (Maitamac Project), all located in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Contact Information Quimbaya Gold Inc. Follow on X @quimbayagoldinc Follow on LinkedIn @quimbayagold Follow on Instagram @quimbayagoldinc Follow on Facebook @quimbayagoldinc Cautionary Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and/or forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. When used in this release, such words as "would", "will", "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "potential", "explores" "expects" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any expected future results, performance or achievement that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Certain information and statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, which reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including but not limited: the initial depth of the Initial Drilling Campaign, if any; the successful completion of the Initial Drilling Campaign program and any future drilling under the initial contract, should they proceed, if at all; the ability of the Company to finance and execute its planned and future exploration activities; the quality of service and reputation of the Drilling Providers; the effectiveness of any potential drilling results in defining mineral resources or leading to a commercial discovery; the timing and process for the release of escrowed Consideration Units to the Drilling Providers; the anticipated cost of the Initial Drilling Campaign, if any, which may be subject to overruns; the receipt of regulatory approvals; the obligation for future updates as it relates to the Initial Drilling Campaign or future campaigns; and the initial and the overall success and advancement of the Company's projects. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the high degree of uncertainties inherent to feasibility and economic studies which are based to a significant extent on various assumptions; variations in commodity prices and exchange rate fluctuations; variations in cost of supplies and labour; lack of availability of qualified personnel; the quality of word provided by the Drilling Providers, if any; the receipt of necessary approvals; availability of financing; uncertainties and risks with respect to exploration and drilling; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; certainty that finalized the commercial agreements will be successfully executed; risk of costs overruns with the Initial Drilling Campaign or future campaigns, if any, assurance that the final terms will align with those initially agreed upon or that the Initial Drilling Campaign will proceed as anticipated; timelines for drilling, if at all; obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; any assurances that the Company's stock price will appreciate or maintain its current value; and the fact that the transaction will result in dilution to the Company's existing shareholders, which may impact the market value of their holdings. The Company cautions that there is no guarantee that the planned Initial Drilling Campaign, if commenced, will yield successful results, identify mineral resources, or lead to further exploration or development. Exploration activities are inherently speculative, and drilling results may be inconclusive, insufficient, or unfeasible for further development. The cost estimates provided are subject to change, and the ability of the Company to continue exploration depends on factors such as market conditions, commodity prices, regulatory approvals, and access to additional funding. Additionally, the issuance of Consideration Units as compensation may remain subject to regulatory and exchange final approval, and there is no assurance that such approval will be obtained. The securities issued in connection with this transaction may be subject to resale restrictions under applicable securities laws and CSE policies. For a more fulsome additional list of risk factors please see the Company's December 31, 2023, year-end Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A"), 2024 third-quarter MD&A, available of SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Management of the Company has included the above summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this release in order to provide shareholders with a more complete perspective on the Company's current and future operations and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in any jurisdiction. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244410 SOURCE: Quimbaya Gold Inc. Strongest soil anomaly over the mapped volcanic rocks near the valley floor interpreted to be sub-cropping exposure of the Seven Devils Volcanics, host rock of the Leviathan discovery ZEUS NORTH AMERICA MINING CORP. (CSE:ZEUS)(OTCQB:ZUUZF)(FRANKFURT:O92) (THE "COMPANY" OR "ZEUS") is pleased to announce the discovery of a large Copper and Molybdenum soil anomaly from its recent soil sampling program at its Cuddy Mountain Project (the "Project" of "Cuddy Mountain") in Idaho. Cuddy Mountain is located approximately 3 kilometres ("km") to the north of Hercules Metals Corp.'s high-grade "Hercules" copper-moly-silver porphyry discovery announced in October 2023. Highlights of the Soil Sampling Program at Cuddy Mountain: Collected 799 property wide soil samples at approximately 75 m spacing. Soils delineate a broad 3 km by 3 km copper ("Cu") and molybdenum ("Mo") in soil circular anomaly underlain by the Seven Devils Volcanics (~741 acres). Cu-Mo anomaly is strongest over the mapped volcanic rocks (andesites and rhyodacites) near the valley floor - interpreted to be sub-cropping exposure of the Seven Devils Volcanics, which host the neighbouring Leviathan Porphyry Copper discovery. The newly identified copper-molybdenum soil anomaly contains individual soil samples up to 0.38 percent ("%") copper and 28.5 parts per million ("ppm") molybdenum (31 samples contain 212 ppm Cu or more; 5 samples contain percent level copper up to and including 0.38% Cu; 116 samples contain 2 ppm Mo or more; 6 samples contain more than 10 ppm Mo, with values up to and including 28.5 ppm Mo). Cuddy Mountain continues to show strong similarities to the Hercules discovery, with a comparable soil geochemical footprint. Dean Besserer, President and CEO, stated, "We are greatly encouraged with the discovery of this large-scale anomaly at Cuddy Mountain with significant copper and molybdenum values. This large-scale anomaly covers the mapped Seven Devils Volcanics and is ideally located, reinforcing our confidence in this highly prospective region. We look forward to releasing the remainder of our fieldwork results as we move the Project towards a planned upcoming drill program. With the nearby Hercules Project gearing up for an aggressive 2025 drill season, the geological team at Zeus is eager to follow suit in the near future." About the Cuddy Mountain Copper Property (Idaho, USA) The Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metals Corp.'s recently discovered Leviathan Copper Porphyry ($167M MC). * The discovery resulted in Barrick injecting $23M in equity while staking a substantial land position in the district along with Rio Tinto. The Cuddy Mountain Property consists of 101 lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 2020 acres. Historical Drilling at Cuddy Mountain consisted of 7 shallow drill holes in 1977 intersecting anomalous lead and silver. Drill hole Mun 8 contained 90 feet of 2.02 oz/t Ag (Taylor, 1977). Further historical exploration on Zeus's Cuddy Mountain Project occurred at the Edna May Mine: Mineralized vein with chip samples containing 750 ppm ppm Pb, 7.7% Zn and 252 grams per tonne Silver over 4 feet. Underground drilling in 1979 intersected 1.38 oz/t Ag over 7 feet in a breccia zone (Burmeister, 1980). Additional exploration (By Taylor, 1977) at the Rockslide area encountered Malachite-stained outcrops with a grab sample containing 760 ppm Pb, 0.67 % Zn and 36 grams per tonne Silver (Taylor, 1977). *Adjacent Property (www.herculesmetals.com) *All information is derived solely from management of Zeus Mining and otherwise publicly available third-party information which are believed to be reliable, but which have not been independently verified by the Company and as a result are not guaranteed as to accuracy and completeness. Zeus's management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Zeus may not necessarily be indicative of the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, P.Geo., the President & CEO for the company and Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. On behalf of the board of directors. "Dean Besserer" President and CEO For more information, please contact the Company at info@zeusminingcorp.com FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT: Kin Communications Inc. Ph: 604-684-6730 ZEUS@kincommunications.com About Zeus North America Mining Corp. The Company is in the business of mineral exploration. The Company is focused on its exploration properties in the state of Idaho known as the: Cuddy Mountain; Selway; and Great Western properties, respectively. The Idaho properties consist of 101 (Cuddy Mountain), 57 (Selway) and 38 (Great Western) lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 4,200 acres. The Company's flagship Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metal Corp's Leviathan Copper Porphyry discovery. Forward Looking Statements When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the parties can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information in this news release include, amongst others, the Company's exploration plans. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of the parties; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general development, market and industry conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of its securities or its financial or operating results (as applicable). The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE: Zeus North America Mining Corp. BANGKOK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand's Commission on the National Competitiveness Enhancement for Targeted Industries, at a meeting today, approved an investment by a unit of China's Sunwoda Electronic worth more than a billion dollars in the production of electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) batteries at the cell level, in a move that will strengthen the country's supply chain and support EV manufacturing for both the domestic and export markets. The Commission is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, who is also the Chairman of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI). The Commission, whose secretariat is under the responsibility of the BOI, was established by law in 2017 to support new industries that add value to the economy and enhance the country's competitiveness in a sustainable manner. Sunwoda Automotive Energy Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. plans to build its manufacturing facilities in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor area. The first factory, located in Chonburi Province, will be producing lithium-ion battery cells for EV manufacturers. "Today marks a milestone in the development of Thailand's EV supply chain, as having EV battery cells produced locally will significantly reinforce our status as a manufacturing hub for EVs and hybrids, and increase the country's competitiveness," Mr. Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of the BOI, said after the meeting. "This project will also help widen the use of ESS and solar energy in our country, and, through the hiring of thousands of Thai engineers and workers, contribute to knowledge transfer in an industry which is of critical importance for the future." The construction of Sunwoda's first Thai factory is progressing smoothly. The facility is expected to hire over 1,000 staff once production begins. The entire project, which will include manufacturing as well as research and product development, will employ a significantly greater staff, including a large number of Thai engineers and researchers. Sunwoda Automotive Energy Technology (Thailand) is a subsidiary of Sunwoda Electronic Co.,Ltd, a company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, which is engaged in the production of batteries for a wide range of electronic devices, mobility, and storage equipment. In China, in 2023, Sunwoda's SEVB brand ranked first in sales of batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and third in sales of batteries for high-end EV. Sunwoda's battery cell manufacturing facilities in Thailand will be its first EV-related battery cell factory in the ASEAN region. Thailand has long been a hub in the conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) auto industry, ranking 10th in the world and number one in Southeast Asia as a manufacturer in 2023. Since it started promoting investment in the sector's electrification, with government policies offering subsidies, tax breaks and other incentives to manufacturers and consumers, the country has attracted significant investments in the production of EV and hybrids. Several major Chinese manufacturers of battery electric vehicles (BEV) have already started making cars in Thailand, including BYD, SAIC Motor (MG), Great Wall Motor, Hozon New Energy Automobile (Neta) and GAC Aion. Chongqing Changan Automobile is scheduled to open its Thai factory in the coming weeks, while Chery Automobile is currently building its local manufacturing facility. The Thai EV ecosystem also includes a fast-growing network of charging stations, the local manufacturing of chargers and significant car parts, and the assembly of battery packs and modules from imported cells. In 2024, total applications for investment promotion in Thailand soared 35% in value to 1.14 trillion baht, its highest level since 2014, led by large foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in data centers, cloud services, as well as semiconductor and advanced electronics manufacturing. The automotive and parts sector ranked third in terms of the value of applications with 309 projects, worth a combined value of 102.4 billion baht. For more information, please contact: Thailand Board of Investment Tel. +66 (0) 2553 8111 Website: www.boi.go.th YouTube: Think Asia, Invest Thailand Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640897/BOI_SG.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/thailand-approves-sunwoda-to-invest-more-than-us1-billion-in-ev-battery-cell-plants-302400863.html 149.32m-High ContemBrewery Experience Sets Global Benchmark in Craftsmanship and Sustainability SINGAPORE, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 12, LeVeL33 was awarded the title of Highest Microbrewery in a Building by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS. Official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator Emi Saito, presented the record and confirmed that LeVeL33, standing at 149.32 metres, has set a global benchmark. Founded in 2010 by Dr. Martin Bem, LeVeL33 was built on a bold vision: merging old-world brewing traditions with an excellent wine-and-dining experience within an elevated urban setting. Constructing a fully operational microbrewery 33 floors above Singapore's Central Business District was a feat of engineering, requiring 8,000 kg of brewing equipment to be hoisted into Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1. Nearly 15 years later, LeVeL33 remains the only premium microbrewery concept of its kind in the world. Dr. Bem says, "We are thrilled to be recognised by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS just ahead of our 15th anniversary. We see this as an important achievement for LeVeL33 as well as an opportunity to showcase the Singapore story of odds-defying innovation, record-breaking growth, and unique, world-class sustainable experiences." LeVeL33's brewmaster Gabriel Garcia blends state-of-the-art European brewing techniques with heritage recipes to produce a range of fresh beers, including Ales, Lagers, Irish Stouts, and the signature Czech Pilsner, crafted from organic ingredients, served unfiltered straight from tank to tap. LeVeL33 is an official ambassador of Barons de Rothschild Champagnes and serves ContemBrewery cuisine, which creatively infuses beer brewing elements into modern dishes. This year LeVeL33 will introduce new partnerships, sustainable collaborations, and an exciting lineup of dining experiences, as well as exploring opportunities to bring its elevated microbrewery experience to international audiences. DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE AND IMAGES HERE About LeVeL33 LeVeL33 seamlessly melds craftsmanship, artistry and hospitality for a truly elevated experience across three distinct spaces: The intimate Baron de Rothschild private dining room, LeVeL33 Social and the Terrace, all with breathtaking skyline views of Singapore and delivering varying ambiences from refined privacy to social revelry. Centrally anchoring these spaces is the bar and copper brewery, where craft beers are made by Resident Brewmaster Gabriel Garcia in strict adherence to authentic recipes and traditional techniques and perfectly complemented by Executive Chef Jake Kowalewski's contemporary beer-centric cuisine. Address: 8 Marina Boulevard #33-01 Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1 Singapore 018981 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640919/LeVeL33_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/singapores-level33-recognized-by-guinness-world-records-as-worlds-highest-microbrewery-in-a-building-302400862.html COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor Julia Vorholt's work has changed how we think about plant health. Her innovative research on plant microbiomes holds the potential to transform agriculture. For her achievements, the microbiologist is receiving the Novonesis Biotechnology Prize. Plants are not alone. Just as humans rely on gut bacteria for digestion and immunity, plants also have communities of beneficial microbes living on and inside them. These allies, invisible to our eyes, help plants to fight pathogens, withstand environmental stress and grow more vigorously. But how do these microbial communities work? And can we harness their power to make agriculture more sustainable? These questions have driven Professor Julia Vorholt's groundbreaking research work, which has now earned her the 2025 Novonesis Biotechnology Prize, awarded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. "Receiving this prize is a tremendous honour," says Vorholt, who is Professor of Microbiology at ETH Zurich. "The recognition is overwhelming, and it highlights the importance of understanding microbial communities and their role in plant health," she adds. Deciphering the hidden world of plant microbiomes Historically, plant microbiology research focused on microbes that make plants sick. But Julia Vorholt took a different perspective. Rather than concentrating on plant diseases, she looked at the microbes that naturally inhabit leaves, known as the phyllosphere. Her research revealed that these tiny organisms do not exist randomly but rather form structured, functional communities as ecosystems in their own right. Some of these microbes protect against disease, and others assist plants in nutrient uptake or help them to survive harsh conditions. In turn, plant-associated microbes benefit from their host by gaining access to fixed carbon and multiplying steadily, colonising new leaves as the plant grows. "These microbial communities follow assembly rules," Vorholt states. "By understanding how they establish themselves and how the microbes interact in a community, we may find natural and sustainable ways to improve plant health." Vorholt's approach began with isolating and identifying individual bacteria (altogether several hundred different species from leaves), eventually enabling her and her team to construct defined microbial communities that colonise plants under controlled conditions in the laboratory. By studying them in isolation and in a multitude of combinations, the team uncovered interactions that promote plant resilience and growth. "When I started studying plant microbiomes more than 20 years ago, most research focused on pathogens, which harm plants, or mutualists, such as rhizobial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants to absorb nutrients," Vorholt explains. "I wanted to explore the many other microbes living on plants that were thought to be neutral or unimportant." At the time, the idea that complex microbial communities as a whole could influence plant health was not widely accepted. But as research on the human microbiome grew, scientists began seeing similarities with plants, and interest in the field took off. From understanding to application Julia Vorholt's research has the potential to revolutionise agriculture. By studying how tiny microbes interact with plants, scientists can develop biosolutions - natural ways to help crops resist pathogens more effectively or to grow better while reducing the need for chemical pesticides and fertilisers. Professor Detlef Weigel, Chair of the Novonesis Biotechnology Prize Committee, explains: "Her work has changed how we think about plant health. The myriad microbes on plants are not just passengers - they can actively protect crops from disease and help them to thrive. By figuring out how these tiny organisms work together, Professor Vorholt is paving the way for farming methods that rely less on chemicals and more on nature, making agriculture both more sustainable and more productive." Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, adds: "Julia Vorholt's discoveries are groundbreaking. She has shown that microbes play a fundamental role in the survival of plants. Her ability to distil complex science down to its mechanistic basis could lead to transformative agricultural innovations that will help crops to grow healthier and withstand climate challenges while reducing environmental impact." Summarising her vision, Vorholt states: "If we can predict how complex plant microbiomes come together and function, we can develop strategies that naturally enhance crop resilience and productivity." Unlocking the power of the microbiome Julia Vorholt's research has already shown promise in making a model plant more resistant to disease, and this knowledge can now be exploited in designing natural treatments that support crop health and productivity. "Initially, many experts dismissed the idea that commensal microbes had any real impact on plant health," she recalls. "But our research and that of others has since shown that plants are highly attuned to these microbes. They recognise even harmless bacteria and modulate their immune responses accordingly, tuning their microbiomes in ways that affect overall health." Her team has also discovered that plants use specific molecular components to maintain a balanced microbiome - paralleling how disruptions in immunity can lead to dysbiosis in the human microbiome. "Despite the obvious differences between plants and humans, we see striking similarities in how the respective hosts manage their microbial communities," Vorholt adds. Much more to discover Julia Vorholt's research has helped to shift how scientists think about plant health, positioning microbiomes as fundamental components of plant well-being. "We are only beginning to unlock the full potential of microbes in agriculture," she says. "Our goal is to advance fundamental understanding of how microbial communities are built and to help us translate that knowledge into strategies that preserve beneficial microbes. By investigating these microbial communities and their interactions, we aim to contribute to advancing targeted strategies to protect crops and enhance food security." By studying plant microbiomes, Vorholt's team has shown that the composition of microbial communities follows predictable patterns. More importantly, they could predict interaction outcomes solely based on the properties of individual microbes - an essential step toward developing biotechnology solutions, including tailored microbial treatments that naturally suppress harmful microbes. Receiving the 2025 Novonesis Biotechnology Prize not only honours Vorholt's work but also highlights its potential to transform agriculture. By leveraging beneficial microbes instead of synthetic chemicals, her research is paving the way for healthier crops, higher yields and a more sustainable future for global food production. About Julia Vorholt 1997 : PhD in Microbiology, University of Marburg; research work at Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany : PhD in Microbiology, University of Marburg; research work at Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany 1998 : Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Washington, Seattle, USA : Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Washington, Seattle, USA 1999-2001 : Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany : Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany 2001-2006 : Independent Group Leader, CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), Toulouse, France : Independent Group Leader, CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), Toulouse, France 2006-present : Professor of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland : Professor of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland 2012 : Elected Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina : Elected Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2019 : Elected Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) : Elected Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) 2020-present : Co-Director, National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Microbiomes, Switzerland : Co-Director, National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Microbiomes, Switzerland 2024 : Feodor Lynen Medal : Feodor Lynen Medal 2024: Elected International Member, United States National Academy of Sciences About the Novonesis Biotechnology Prize The Novonesis Biotechnology Prize recognises outstanding research or technological contributions that benefit the development of biotechnological science for innovative solutions. The Prize is awarded annually by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and aims to raise awareness of basic and applied biotechnology research. It is accompanied by DKK 5 million (672,000), comprising: DKK 4.5 million (605,000) as a research grant DKK 0.5 million (67,000) as a personal award Additionally, the Foundation awards DKK 0.5 million for hosting an international symposium within the recipient's research field(s). Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640378/Novo_Nordisk_Foundation_Julia_Vorholt.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pioneering-plant-microbiome-research-julia-vorholt-receives-2025-novonesis-biotechnology-prize-from-the-novo-nordisk-foundation-302400232.html Government initiatives promoting smart farming practices and the integration of digital platforms in agricultural value chains are accelerating market expansion. WILMINGTON, Del., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Digital Agriculture Market by Component (Hardware, Software, and Service), Application (Precision Farming and Farm Management, Livestock Monitoring, Supply Chain Management, Financial Management, and Others), and Technology (AI, Drones, IoT, Automation, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the digital agriculture market was valued at $18.6 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $51.3 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 10.5% from 2024 to 2033. Prime Determinants of Growth The growth of the digital agriculture market is primarily driven by the increase in adoption of precision farming techniques, rise in demand for food security, and advancements in agricultural technologies. Farmers are leveraging digital solutions such as AI, IoT, big data analytics, and remote sensing to optimize resource utilization, improve crop yields, and enhance sustainability. The growing penetration of cloud-based farm management software and automation technologies, including drones and autonomous tractors, is further boosting adoption. Moreover, climate change concerns and the need for efficient water and soil management are pushing farmers toward data-driven decision-making. Investments from agritech startups and collaborations between technology providers and agricultural enterprises are also fueling innovation in digital agriculture. Request Sample Pages:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A121714 Report Coverage & Details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2024-2033 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2023 $18.6 billion Market Size in 2033 $51.3 billion CAGR 10.50 % Segments covered Component, Application, Technology, and Region. Drivers Rise in demand for precision farming Technological advancements in IoT, AI, and big data Government initiatives and subsidies Opportunities Growth of agritech startups and farm automation Restraints High initial investment costs Limited digital literacy and internet infrastructure Buy this Complete Report (389 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/digital-agriculture-market/purchase-options The hardware segment dominated the market in 2023. By component, the hardware segment accounted for the largest share in 2023, owing to the increasing adoption of precision agriculture equipment, including GPS receivers, sensors, drones, and automated machinery. The rising demand for smart irrigation systems, yield monitoring devices, and soil health assessment tools has significantly contributed to the dominance of this segment. Farmers and agribusinesses are increasingly investing in IoT-enabled devices and robotics to enhance productivity, optimize resource utilization, and reduce operational costs. In addition, advancements in satellite imaging and remote sensing technologies have further driven the demand for high-tech agricultural hardware. The integration of AI-powered cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for crop monitoring and field analysis has also fueled market growth. Government initiatives supporting mechanized farming and subsidies for precision farming equipment have encouraged widespread adoption. As the industry continues to embrace automation and data-driven farming, the hardware segment is expected to maintain its leading position in the digital agriculture market. The precision farming and farm management segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. By application, the precision farming and farm management segment accounted for the largest share in 2023, owing to the increasing adoption of data-driven agricultural practices aimed at enhancing productivity and sustainability. Farmers are leveraging advanced technologies such as GPS-guided machinery, IoT-enabled sensors, and AI-powered analytics to optimize resource utilization, monitor soil health, and improve crop yields. The rising need to reduce input costs, minimize environmental impact, and maximize farm efficiency has further propelled the adoption of precision farming solutions. In addition, the growing integration of farm management software for real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, and automated decision-making has strengthened the segment's dominance. Government initiatives promoting smart farming, coupled with increasing investments in digital agriculture, have also contributed to market expansion. The widespread use of drones for field analysis and remote sensing, along with the demand for automated irrigation and variable rate technology, has solidified the precision farming and farm management segment's leadership in the digital agriculture industry. The hardware segment dominated the market in 2023 By technology, the IoT segment accounted for the largest share in 2023, owing to the increasing adoption of connected devices and smart sensors in agriculture to enhance productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. IoT technology enables real-time monitoring of soil conditions, weather patterns, and crop health, allowing farmers to make data-driven decisions and optimize resource utilization. The integration of IoT-based solutions in precision farming, smart irrigation, and automated machinery has significantly improved operational efficiency and reduced costs. Furthermore, the rising demand for remote monitoring and predictive analytics has driven the deployment of IoT-enabled farm management systems. Governments and agricultural organizations are actively promoting IoT adoption through subsidies and initiatives aimed at modernizing farming practices. Additionally, advancements in wireless communication technologies, such as 5G and LPWAN, have enhanced IoT connectivity in rural areas, further accelerating market growth. As a result, IoT continues to play a crucial role in transforming the agricultural landscape and driving the expansion of digital farming solutions. North America region dominated the market in 2023 By region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2023, owing to the early adoption of advanced agricultural technologies, strong infrastructure, and high investment in precision farming solutions. The region's well-established agribusiness sector, coupled with widespread use of IoT, AI, and big data analytics in farming operations, has significantly contributed to market growth. In addition, government initiatives and subsidies supporting smart agriculture, along with the presence of key market players, have further accelerated digital transformation in the sector. The increasing demand for high-yield crops, efficient water management, and sustainable farming practices has driven farmers to adopt automation, robotics, and farm management software. Moreover, the rising focus on reducing labor dependency and improving operational efficiency has boosted investments in agricultural drones, autonomous tractors, and sensor-based monitoring systems. With continuous advancements in AgTech and strong R&D initiatives, North America remains a leader in the digital agriculture market. Enquiry Before Buying:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A121714 Leading Market Players: - John Deere Trimble Inc. AGCO Corporation Bayer AG Indigo Ag Agreena ApS ecoRobotix SA IBM Corporation Microsoft Corporation Gamaya AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. CNH Industrial N.V. TOPCON CORPORATION BASF Digital Agriculture Services Pty Ltd Bosch Global Software Technologies Pvt Ltd. Wipro Limited YARA International ASA AGRIVI Ltd. Small Robot Company If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our analyst at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/A121714 The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the digital agriculture market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different countries. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model): AMR introduces its online premium subscription-based library Avenue, designed specifically to offer cost-effective, one-stop solution for enterprises, investors, and universities. With Avenue, subscribers can avail an entire repository of reports on more than 2,000 niche industries and more than 12,000 company profiles. Moreover, users can get an online access to quantitative and qualitative data in PDF and Excel formats along with analyst support, customization, and updated versions of reports. Get an access to the library of reports at any time from any device and anywhere. For more details, follow the link: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. Contact: David Correa 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/digital-agriculture-market-to-reach-51-3-billion-globally-by-2033-at-10-5-cagr-allied-market-research-302400903.html HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx: 2318 / 82318; SSE: 601318) took top spot in the Brand Finance Insurance 100 2025 ranking, for the ninth year in a row, boasting a brand value of US$33.6 billion. Brand Finance said that Ping An emerges as the sector's most valuable brand. This resilience is attributed to its strong brand familiarity in China and steady growth in life, health, property & casualty (P&C) insurance and accidental injury insurance. Brand Finance, a leading global brand valuation consultancy, also noted that Chinese insurance brands are making their mark on the global stage, driven by digital transformation, AI-driven innovation, and the expansion of 5G services. These brands continue to strengthen their market positions, with their strategic investments in technology and customer experience fueling brand growth. Driven by customer needs, Ping An's core businesses are showing stable growth. Ping An remains steadfast in its customer-centric approach, deepening its technology-driven "integrated finance + health and senior care" strategy and achieving stable growth in its core businesses. In the first three quarters of 2024, Ping An achieved an operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of RMB113.82 billion, representing a 5.5% increase year-on-year (YoY), and operating revenue of RMB775.38 billion, a 10.0% increase YoY. The three core businesses - life and health insurance, P&C and banking - showed sustained growth, with combined operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company reaching RMB119.65 billion, an increase of 5.7% YoY. New business value (NBV) for the life and health insurance business reached RMB35.16 billion, up 34.1% YoY. Customers entitled to service benefits in the health and senior care ecosystem accounted for over 69.6% of the NBV of life insurance. Ping An is building world-leading AI capabilities to drive sales, improve efficiency and control risks.Ping An is focusing research and development investment in cutting-edge technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) large language models. As of the end of September 2024, Ping An had a world-class technology team of over 21,000 technology developers and over 3,000 scientists. The Group's patent applications led most international financial institutions, totaling 53,521 by the end of September 2024. The number of Ping An's generative AI patent applications ranked second globally[1]. With five industry-leading laboratories and nine major databases, covering finance, healthcare, senior care and other fields, Ping An continues to adopt new technology-driven measures to promote sales, improve efficiency, and control risks. In the first three quarters of 2024, Ping An's AI service representatives interacted with customers approximately 1.34 billion times, responding to queries and resolving consumer issues quickly. They covered more than 80% of the total customer service volume in that period. At Ping An Life, smart underwriting and smart claim settlement services resulted in 93% of life insurance policies underwritten in seconds, and claims closed in an average of 7.4 minutes. The Group also continued to improve its risk management, with claims savings via smart fraud risk identification amounting to RMB9.1 billion in the first nine months of 2024. Ping An is promoting its "worry-free, timesaving, and money-saving" brand value proposition as it continues to enhance customer experience. Ping An works to make business as clear, simple and efficient as possible for customers. Ping An Auto Insurance covers 82 service items, including emergency assistance, annual inspection and designated driver services, making life simple for the 200 million users of the Ping An Auto Owner app. To save customers' time, Ping An offers one-stop services, such as Ping An Life's 1-1-1 Superfast Claim, with one-sentence reporting, one-click uploading, and one-minute validation. To save customers' money, Ping An uses professional services to achieve wealth preservation and appreciation, meeting customers' diversified needs. Ping An Bank's Credit Card for Overseas Students integrates insurance, banking, healthcare and other resources, providing a variety of preferential discounts for education, shopping, and travel. Ping An actively fulfils its social responsibilities and supports the development of the real economy. As of the end of June 2024, Ping An had cumulatively invested nearly RMB9.46 trillion to bolster the real economy, covering major national projects in energy, transportation, water conservancy, and other sectors. It also supported major strategic priorities such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. As of the end of June 2024, Ping An's responsible investment of insurance funds reached RMB799.90 billion, including RMB124.88 billion in green investments, RMB652.56 billion in social investments, and RMB22.46 billion in inclusive investments. In the first three quarters of 2024, Ping An's green insurance premium income reached RMB37.34 billion, and its funding for rural industrial vitalization totaled RMB31.406 billion, provided to Ping An's Rural Communities Support Program. Brand Finance conducts first-hand research on over 6,000 corporate brands worldwide each year, engaging more than 175,000 respondents from 41 countries and regions. It defines brand value as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. The top five in the Brand Finance Insurance 100 2025 list are Ping An, Allianz (Germany), AXA (France), China Life, and Generali (Italy). This year, 13 Chinese insurance companies were included in the world's top 100, with brand value accounting for 22.9% of the total value, ranking second globally by country. [1] Ranked according to data on generative AI patent filings released by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2024. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ping-an-1-in-brand-finances-global-insurance-brand-value-for-9th-year-brand-value-reaches-33-6-billion-302400910.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Provenance Gold Corp. (CSE: PAU) (OTCQB: PVGDF) (the "Company" or "Provenance") is pleased to announce the addition of Mackenzie ("Mac") Watson to the advisory board as senior exploration advisor. Watson brings over 50 years of experience in the Canadian exploration, mining and development industry and has been involved in the discovery of numerous mineral deposits in Canada. Watson graduated with a B.Sc. in geology from the University of New Brunswick in 1959. Watson was awarded Canada's Prospector of the Year award in 1991 for his involvement in the discovery of the Holloway Gold Mine (Ontario). Freewest Resources, of which Mac was President, sold its thirty-five (35%) interest to Noranda for $100 million. Mac also discovered or assisted in the discovery of the Icon-Sullivan copper mine (Chibougamau, Quebec) the Long Lake zinc mine (Ontario), the Ellison gold deposit and the Hebecourt copper deposit (Quebec). In l992, he was also awarded the Quebec Prospector of the Year award for the discovery of the Pusticamica and Verneuil gold deposits in Quebec. Watson is a Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee and two-time co-recipient of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Bill Dennis Award, for a Canadian discovery or prospecting success, and his contributions, among others, to the mineral discoveries in the Ring of Fire area of Northern Ontario, Canada. Watson is the first person to have received the Bill Dennis prospecting success award twice: for numerous discoveries in 1991; and in 2009, as part of the team responsible for chromite discoveries in the Ring of Fire by Freewest Resources, which was sold to Cliff Natural resources for $239 million. His success owes much to his tenacity and thoroughness as a geologist and zest for mining discoveries. Rauno Perttu, Provenance's CEO states "Mac's foresight into fast-tracking exploration and development is a great asset at this juncture for our Eldorado project. We look forward to utilizing his experience and knowledge to help expedite our exploration efforts." The Company also announces that it has granted 500,000 stock options to certain advisors and consultants of the Company. The options have an exercise price of $0.20 per share, have a thirty-six (36) month term from the date of the grant and vest immediately. About Provenance Gold Corp. Provenance Gold Corp. is a precious metals exploration company with a focus on gold and silver mineralization within North America. The Company currently holds interests in Nevada, and eastern Oregon, USA. Provenance is also active on social media and invites investors to follow us on X to stay up to date with our latest news and developments: https://x.com/ProvenanceGold Safe Harbor Statement: Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange, nor its regulation services provider, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244421 SOURCE: Provenance Gold Corp. Die Finanzwelt ist im Umbruch! Nach Jahren der Dominanz erschuttert Donald Trumps erratische Wirtschaftspolitik das Fundament des amerikanischen Kapitalismus. Handelskriege, Rekordzolle und politische Isolation haben eine Kapitalflucht historischen Ausmaes ausgelost. Milliarden stromen aus den USA und suchen neue, lukrative Ziele. Und genau hier kommt China ins Spiel. Trotz aller Spannungen wachst die chinesische Wirtschaft dynamisch weiter, Innovation und Digitalisierung treiben die Markte an. Im kostenlosen Spezialreport stellen wir Ihnen 5 Aktien aus China vor, die vom US-Niedergang profitieren und das Potenzial haben, den Markt regelrecht zu uberflugeln. Wer jetzt klug investiert, sichert sich den Zugang zu den neuen Wachstums-Champions von morgen. Holen Sie sich den neuesten Report! Verpassen Sie nicht, welche 5 Aktien die Konkurrenz aus den USA outperformen durften, und laden Sie sich das Gratis-PDF jetzt kostenlos herunter. Dieses exklusive Angebot gilt aber nur fur kurze Zeit! Daher jetzt downloaden! Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - ONGold Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ONAU) (OTCQB: ONGRF) (the "Company" or "ONGold") is pleased to celebrate its chairman, John Kim Bell. On this day (March 13) in 1985, a young John Kim Bell incorporated the Canadian Native Arts Foundation (CNAF) that would become the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) and today Indspire. As the world's first Indigenous symphonic conductor, John Kim was inspired through his work at the world-famous Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York and decided to replicate a similar arts movement for the Indigenous community in Canada. During this era, arts councils did not support Indigenous artists, so he set about to establish CNAF as a Canada Council for Native Peoples. Supported by Sioux artist and Co-Founder, Maxine Noel and Metis businesswoman Suzanne Burnett, John Kim broke through the glass ceiling in 1987 when he borrowed money to produce a Toronto Symphony concert featuring Broadway star, Bernadette Peters and the unknown Shania Twain. Critic Greg Quill wrote in the Toronto Star, "Bell pulled off an extraordinary feat." The following year, John Kim decided to create a $1 million Indigenous ballet, In The Land of Spirits. People opined there were no professional Indigenous ballet dancers and he couldn't raise a million dollars. No one would attend the ballet and only the National Ballet of Canada could produce a ballet on this scale. Six weeks before the premiere in Ottawa's National Arts Centre (NAC), the NAC Chairman, Robert Landry asked John Kim to cancel the production citing that the production would embarrass the NAC. John Kim refused and in November of 1988 with Prime Minister Mulroney and Mrs. Mulroney in attendance, the ballet had its premiere and exceeded all expectations receiving a ten-minute standing ovation from the capacity audience. Spirits was considered to be the most significant cultural breakthrough for the Indigenous community. John Kim then mounted a national tour of Spirits in 1992. Again there were skeptics with a view that a small Indigenous organization would not be able to mount a national tour. The Chairman of Northern Telecom, David Vice, who sponsored the original production and the national tour stated that Northern Telecom supported Spirits because of the incredible grit and determination of John Kim Bell. Mila Mulroney served as the National Honorary Chair of the tour and Robert Foster, a supporter, friend and board member of CNAF vigorously promoted the tour which was highly successful exceeding all expectations artistically and financially. The success of Spirits generated unprecedented corporate support for CNAF allowing the organization to send hundreds of Indigenous youth to university. In 1993, John Kim expanded the Foundation's mandate to support business, medicine and health, science, education and all walks of life. Changing the name to the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, he then created an even larger project, The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards (NAAA), an awards system celebrating Indigenous achievement that culminated in a CBC special television broadcast. Naysayers thought no one would watch a CBC Broadcast about successful Indigenous Canadians or that John Kim could raise the $3.5 million to stage the show. He would overcome all obstacles and the CBC broadcast aired from Ottawa's NAC with Prime Minister Chretien and Governor General Ramon John Hnatyshyn in attendance. The broadcast surprised everyone when the CBC announced the show enjoyed an audience reach of 2 million viewers. The NAAA was now the largest Indigenous cultural project in Canada's history and John Kim was appointed to the board of the CBC several months later. As Executive Producer, John Kim's shows were on a grand scale with special effects, people flying in the air across the stage, monumental theatrical sets never before seen in Canada, and all inspired by Indigenous cultures. He received the International Bronze Prize from the Broadcast Designers Association in 1996 for his set in Winnipeg and the Gold Prize in 1997 for his set in Calgary. In 2003, he convinced 63 corporate CEOs from Canada's largest corporations to gather for a conference entitled Taking Pulse, to discuss how to increase the participation of Indigenous people in the work force. No one before or since has ever assembled so many corporate leaders to discuss Indigenous issues. During John Kim's twenty-year leadership of his Foundation, thousands of Indigenous youth received scholarships to attend university. Upon his retirement in 2004, he left the organization with a $17 million endowment fund and over 200 annual corporate sponsors. John Kim has gone on to establish himself as a corporate executive leading the Indigenous Relations efforts for Brookfield & Glencore. Today, he is a celebrated negotiator representing First Nations across Canada, securing millions of dollars from the negotiation of Impact Benefit Agreements on resource projects. John Kim is the first Indigenous Canadian to serve as Chairman of a Canadian resource company upon his appointment to ONGold Resources in May 2024. Kyle Stanfield CEO and Director of ONGold remarked, "It has been a great pleasure to have gotten to know and work with John Kim over the past number of years. We are so pleased to have such a distinguished Indigenous leader as our Chairman demonstrating inclusion and leadership in our industry. Congratulations John Kim on your continued successes!" Today, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the organization, today known as Indspire, and congratulate the achievement and legacy of the life and career of John Kim Bell. To congratulate John Kim, send an email to: johnkimbell@bellbernard.com. ONGold Resources Ltd. is committed to excellence in mineral exploration and working collaboratively with First Nations Communities. About ONGold Resources Ltd. ONGold Resources Ltd. owns significant exploration assets in Northern Ontario, including the district-scale Monument Bay Gold-Tungsten Project, TPK Project, Domain Gold Project and October Gold Project. These projects represent a strategic footprint in one of Canada's most prolific gold-producing regions. With its extensive technical expertise, strong commitment to social acceptability, mindful Indigenous engagement and partnerships, in addition to a proven track record of responsible exploration, ONGold's team is uniquely positioned to unlock the full potential of its portfolio of projects. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244343 SOURCE: ONGold Resources Ltd. Highlights: American Eagle completes its 100% earn-in at the NAK Copper Gold Porphyry Project ("NAK"), 85 km northeast of Smithers, BC. NAK stands out among Canadian copper-gold porphyries with its combination of large scale, near-surface high grades, accessibility, favorable topography, and growth potential. Highlighted drill results include 248 meters of 1.10% CuEq (NAK24-31) and 302 meters of 1.09% CuEq (NAK24-17) ~$37 million in cash with two major mining companies as strategic investors - South32 & Teck Resources Limited ("Teck") 30,000 metre drill program is scheduled to begin in May and the Company is funded for an ambitious multiyear drill program Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - American Eagle Gold Corp. (TSXV: AE) (OTCQB: AMEGF) ("American Eagle" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has fulfilled all obligations under its December 24, 2021, option agreement and has acquired 100% ownership of the NAK Copper-Gold Porphyry Project. Securing full ownership of NAK marks a major milestone, reinforcing American Eagle's commitment to advancing this high-quality asset. Located in a prolific mining region, NAK has already delivered some of British Columbia's top drill results, including 248m @ 1.10% CuEq and 302m @ 1.09% CuEq, starting at 132m and 167m, respectively. The project hosts a large-scale porphyry system with multiple near-1 km intercepts averaging ~0.5% CuEq, highlighting its significant resource potential. With over 80% of NAK's prospective ground still untested, a 30,000m drill program set for 2025, and with South32 and Teck as strategic investors, American Eagle is well-positioned to unlock substantial value. The Company remains fully funded with ~$37 million in cash to execute an aggressive, multiyear exploration strategy. As part of the final option payment, American Eagle has issued 1,000,000 common shares to Bernie Kreft and completed all required cash and work commitments to secure full title to the project. "American Eagle Gold sincerely thanks Bernie Kreft for his invaluable partnership over the past three years. Bernie secured NAK and recognized the project's potential long before our involvement. Alongside the late Gary Artmont, he was instrumental in introducing the project to American Eagle and helping define the initial drill targets-setting the stage for our success. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Mr. Kreft on NAK and exploring future opportunities together," states American Eagle Gold CEO, Anthony Moreau. American Eagle's 2025 Exploration Plans and Focus: Near Surface Mineralization A primary objective for 2025 is to further define and expand near-surface mineralization further, enhancing the project's economic potential. NAK offers a rare combination of geological and geographical advantages that American Eagle will leverage. Unlike many other porphyry prospects, the NAK Project benefits from road access, gentle topography, low elevation, and proximity to infrastructure. High-grade copper and gold mineralization has already been identified at surface, with significant potential for additional discoveries across the property. Key Targets Within the Main Zones North Zone: Historically defined by near-surface vein and disseminated chalcopyrite mineralization in sedimentary rocks. Expanded in 2022-2023 to include deeper bornite-rich conglomerate and monzonite dykes. 2024 drilling extended the zone northeast, encountering broad intervals of seriate-textured dykes with disseminated bornite. The Northeast Expansion Zone will be an immediate and large focus to expand the North Zone, which remains open to the north, east and at depth, with step-out drilling planned to refine its orientation and extent. Central Zone: The Central Zone links the historical North and South zones. It returned significant intercepts at depth in all of American Eagle's 2022-24 drilling, but little systematic drilling has been undertaken to date at shallower depths, up-dip of those intersections. South Zone: Hosts a large-scale gold-rich quartz stockwork mineralized body at surface. Drilling aims to link the mineralized conglomerate intersected in NAK24-17 and -31 with the broader South Zone. Step-Out Targets and Emerging Zones The Southeast Expansion Zone , south of the Babine porphyry, returned long intervals of anomalous gold and copper in NAK22-09 and -36. Soil anomalies and mineralized outcrops located in the area indicate further potential. The East Expansion Zone will utilize additional geophysical surveys to refine targets within and around the Babine porphyry, with scout drilling planned to test these areas. Click to View Plan Map with 2025 Target Zones Click to View Interactive NAK Map Click to Watch Lead Geo Neil Prowse's Presentation on NAK Exploration Beyond Drilling The 2025 program will incorporate several non-drilling initiatives that will enhance the project. Geophysics : Aeromagnetic surveying and Controlled-Source Audio Magnetotellurics (CSAMT) to refine targets in underexplored areas north, south, and east of the Babine Stock. Metallurgical Studies : Testing targeted drill core to assess recovery characteristics across different mineralization styles. Core Retrieval : Historical drill core (predating American Eagle Gold) for drill holes with significant shallow Main Zone intersections is stored on the NAK property and appears to be in good shape. The Company will relog and resample this core to incorporate it into its model. Timber Harvesting: Collaborating with local logging groups and the Lake Babine First Nation to manage previously permitted logging blocks, improving access to remote parts of the property. Commitment to Community and Sustainability American Eagle is committed to strong relationships with local stakeholders, including the Lake Babine Nation, provincial authorities, and local contractors. The Company prioritizes transparent communication and collaboration as exploration advances. About American Eagle's NAK Project The NAK Project lies within the Babine copper-gold porphyry district of central British Columbia. It has excellent infrastructure through all-season roads and is close to the towns of Smithers, Houston, and Burns Lake, B.C., which lie along a major rail line and Provincial Highway 16. Historical drilling and geophysical, geological, and geochemical work at NAK, which began in the 1960's, tested only to shallow depths. Still, the work revealed a very large near-surface copper-gold system that measures over 1.5 km x 1.5 km. Drilling completed by American Eagle in 2022, 2023, and 2024 returned significant intervals of high-grade copper-gold mineralization that reached beyond and much deeper than the historical drilling, indicating that zones of near-surface and deeper mineralization, locally with considerably higher grades, exist within the broader NAK property mineralizing system. For the latest videos from American Eagle, Ore Group, and all things mining, subscribe to our YouTube Chanel: youtube.com/@theoregroup About American Eagle Gold Corp. American Eagle is dedicated to advancing its NAK copper-gold porphyry project in west-central British Columbia, Canada. The Company benefits from over $37 million in cash, bolstered by two strategic investors formed in the past two years with Teck and South32. With substantial financial and technical resources, American Eagle Gold is well-positioned to drill, de-risk, and define the full potential of the NAK Copper-Gold porphyry project. Q.P. Statement Mark Bradley, B.Sc., M.Sc., P.Geo., a Certified Professional Geologist and 'qualified person' for the purposes of Canada's National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties, has verified and approved the information contained in this news release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding whether the Company will be able to complete the Offering as anticipated, the receipt of regulatory approval, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, to complete the Offering, the intended use of proceeds and intended drill program or its anticipated results at the Company's NAK project, the ability of the Company to make the qualifying expenditures as anticipated by management, and other matters ancillary or incidental to the foregoing. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results might differ materially from those suggested in forward-looking statements. American Eagle Gold Corp. assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to American Eagle Gold Corp. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by American Eagle Gold Corp. with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available under American Eagle Gold Corp. profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the TSX Venture Exchange policies) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244373 SOURCE: American Eagle Gold Corp. Ende Mai leitete US-Prasident Donald Trump mit der Unterzeichnung mehrerer Dekrete eine weitreichende Wende in der amerikanischen Energiepolitik ein. Im Fokus: der beschleunigte Ausbau der Kernenergie. Mit einem umfassenden Manahmenpaket sollen Genehmigungsprozesse reformiert, kleinere Reaktoren gefordert und der Anteil von Atomstrom in den USA massiv gesteigert werden. Ausloser ist der explodierende Energiebedarf durch KI-Rechenzentren, der eine stabile, CO-arme Grundlastversorgung zwingend notwendig macht. In unserem kostenlosen Spezialreport erfahren Sie, welche 3 Unternehmen jetzt im Zentrum dieser energiepolitischen Neuausrichtung stehen, und wer vom kommenden Boom der Nuklearindustrie besonders profitieren konnte. Holen Sie sich den neuesten Report! Verpassen Sie nicht, welche Aktien besonders von der Energiewende in den USA profitieren durften, und laden Sie sich das Gratis-PDF jetzt kostenlos herunter. Dieses exklusive Angebot gilt aber nur fur kurze Zeit! Daher jetzt downloaden! Dr. Sebastian Marx, ITM's chief business officer and member of the Executive Board, is stepping down effective July 20, 2025 after nearly two decades at the company Roger Estafanos, currently U.S. general manager and executive vice president, will be appointed Executive Vice President, Global Head of Radiopharmaceuticals Alexander Pironi, currently Senior Vice President, will be named Executive Vice President, Global Head of Radioisotopes New leadership structure aligns with ITM's strategic focus on driving growth across its radiopharmaceutical and radioisotope businesses Garching / Munich, Germany, March 13, 2025 - ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company, today announced updates to its commercial leadership. Dr. Sebastian Marx, a member of ITM's Executive Board and Chief Business Officer will step down on July 20, 2025 and will depart the company. He has been a member of the company's Executive Board since 2022 and an employee since 2008, and has nearly two decades of leadership in building ITM's business. Roger Estafanos, currently U.S. General Manager, and Alexander Pironi, currently Senior Vice President Commercial Strategy and Services, will assume leadership roles overseeing ITM's distinct radiopharmaceutical and medical radioisotope businesses, respectively effective April 1. Mr. Estafanos will be appointed Executive Vice President, Global Head of Radiopharmaceuticals, and Mr. Pironi will be named Executive Vice President, Global Head of Radioisotopes. Both will report to Dr. Marx until his departure in July, after which they will report to ITM's CEO, Dr. Andrew Cavey. ITM's commercial structure aligns with its strategy as a vertically integrated company, supporting the global launch preparations for n.c.a. 77Lu-edotreotide (ITM-11), commercial readiness for earlier-stage pipeline candidates, and the expansion of its medical radioisotope business. The company continues to advance rapidly, diversifying its global radioisotope portfolio while progressing toward the potential market registration of ITM-11, if approved, which achieved positive Phase 3 results. ITM plans to submit a U.S. New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA in 2025. Meanwhile, ITM is further strengthening its pipeline of targeted radiopharmaceuticals, leveraging unique beta- and alpha-emitting radioisotopes that seek to address high-need cancer indications. "Both the Supervisory and Executive Boards are grateful for Sebastian's formative contributions to ITM. He has played a pivotal role in shaping ITM into the company it is today, helping to establish and expand our commercial relationships with hospitals, research institutions, physicians, and pharmaceutical partners of all sizes," said Dr. Andrew Cavey, Chief Executive Officer of ITM. "As ITM continues to evolve, we are sharpening our commercial approach to support the growth of both our medical radioisotope business and our targeted radiopharmaceutical pipeline. I am delighted to welcome Roger and Alexander to these critical roles. Each of them brings deep expertise and a proven track record that will be instrumental in advancing our commercial strategy. Their leadership comes at an exciting time, as we build on the positive Phase 3 data for ITM-11 and prepare for the next stages of development and commercialization." Roger Estafanos has been U.S. General Manager of ITM since 2023 and has successfully built, and is now expanding, the company's U.S. presence. He was one of the first leaders of the U.S. division of Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a Novartis company and garnered 15 years of experience in management consulting, providing strategic advice to pharmaceutical, biotech, medical, and diagnostic companies on commercializing products across various disease areas. Alexander Pironi has been at ITM since 2016 holding several commercial strategy, sales and services leadership positions, culminating in his current role as Senior Vice President which he has held since 2022. He is a key leader in the company's commercial radioisotope business and has been instrumental in expanding ITM's commercial capabilities and team. About ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE ITM, a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company, is dedicated to providing a new generation of radiopharmaceutical therapeutics and diagnostics for hard-to-treat tumors. We aim to meet the needs of cancer patients, clinicians and our partners through excellence in development, production and global supply. With improved patient benefit as the driving principle for all we do, ITM advances a broad precision oncology pipeline, including multiple Phase 3 studies, combining the company's high-quality radioisotopes with a range of targeting molecules. By leveraging our two decades of pioneering radiopharma expertise, central industry position and established global network, ITM strives to provide patients with more effective targeted treatment to improve clinical outcome and quality of life. www.itm-radiopharma.com ITM Contact Corporate Communications Kathleen Noonan/Julia Westermeir Phone: +49 89 329 8986 1500 Email: communications@itm-radiopharma.com Investor Relations Ben Orzelek Phone: +49 89 329 8986 1009 Email: investors@itm-radiopharma.com Attachment THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES South Star Battery Metals Corp. ("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV:STS)(OTCQB:STSBF), is pleased to announce the appointed of Mr. Tiago Cunha to its board of directors. Mr. Cunha is the manager of equity at investment fund firm Ace Capital and a veteran capital markets executive with extensive mineral resource and energy transition experience. Richard Pearce, CEO of South Star, said, "On behalf of the Board, I am excited to welcome Tiago to our team. I look forward to working closely with him as we ramp-up and expand our graphite production at a crucial time in the critical metals markets. Ace Capital and Tiago have been cornerstone supporters of South Star and his intimate knowledge of Brazil, capital markets and mineral resources are a real asset to the Company as we continue to navigate complex geopolitical times and execute on our strategic initiatives for growth in the coming years." # # # About South Star Battery Metals Corp. South Star is a Canadian battery-metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star's Santa Cruz Graphite Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial- and battery-metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at-surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large-scale pilot-plant testing (> 30 tonnes) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of graphite concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% graphitic carbon ("Cg"). With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South Star Phase 1 is ramping up commercial production in 2025. Santa Cruz Phase 1 commercial production has a nameplate capacity of 12,000 tpy and is the first new graphite production in the Americas since 1996. Phase 2 production (25,000 tpy) is partially funded and planned for 2026, while Phase 3 (50,000 tpy) is scheduled for 2028. South Star's second project in the development pipeline is strategically located in Alabama, U.S.A. in the center of a developing electric-vehicle, aerospace, and defense hub in the southeastern United States. The BamaStar Project includes a historic mine active during the First and Second World Wars. A NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment was filed on SEDAR+ in November 2024. Trenching, Phase 1 drilling, sampling, analysis, and preliminary metallurgical testing have been completed. The testing included a traditional crush/grind/flotation concentration circuit that achieved grades of approximately 94-99% Cg with approximately 90% recoveries. The vertically integrated production facilities include a mine and industrial concentrator in Coosa County, AL and a downstream value-add plant in Mobile, AL, which will be upgrading natural flake graphite concentrates from both Santa Cruz and BamaStar mines. South Star is executing on its plan to create a multi-asset, diversified battery-metals company with near-term operations in strategic jurisdictions. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF. South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG principles, based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education, and stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com . This news release has been reviewed and approved for South Star by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals Corp. On behalf of the South Star Board of Directors, MR. RICHARD L. PEARCE, President & Chief Executive Officer For additional information, please contact: South Star Investor Relations Email: invest@southstarbatterymetals.com Phone: +1 (604) 706-0212 Website: www.southstarbatterymetals.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/southstarbm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetals LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/ YouTube: South Star Battery Metals - YouTube CAUTIONARY STATEMENT Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements regarding production and scaling of operations at Santa Cruz, as well as advancing the Alabama project, and the Company's plans and expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. SOURCE: South Star Battery Metals Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Cabral Gold Inc. (TSXV: CBR) (OTC Pink: CBGZF) ("Cabral" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from 2 surface trenches and 8 reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes at the Machichie Main gold deposit within the Cuiu Cuiu Gold District, Brazil. Highlights Surface trench CT051 at the Machichie Main gold deposit at Cuiu Cuiu returned 20m @ 3.6 g/t gold including 4m @ 15.7 g/t gold in gold-in-oxide material at surface. The mineralized interval within the trench is open to the north and south. These results confirm the presence of significant higher-grade mineralization within the near surface gold-in-oxide material at the Machichie Main deposit Surface trench CT052, developed 150m west of trench CT051 also returned 7m @ 0.8 g/t gold. The mineralized interval is again open to the north and south RC drill results from Machichie Main include; 4m @ 3.9 g/t gold from 36m depth including 1m @ 10.6 g/t gold in RC497 4m @ 3.1 g/t gold from 41m depth including 1m @ 10.6 g/t gold in RC496 7m @ 1.5 g/t gold from 64m depth in RC494 7m @ 1.2 g/t gold from 78m depth in RC495 1m @ 9.9 g/t gold from 26m depth and 1m @ 7.3 g/t gold from 37m depth in RC503 All of these intercepts were in fresh rock intrusive material below the near surface gold-in-oxide material Results thus far from the trenches and initial drill holes confirm continuity and grade of the Machichie mineralization along strike and at depth Samples from the trenches are in the process of metallurgical testing to characterize the Machichie oxide zone Alan Carter, Cabral's President and CEO commented, "The current drilling and trenching program at Machichie Main is aimed primarily at upgrading the Inferred resource base within the near-surface gold-in-oxide zone to Indicated resources. These results confirm the presence of significant grades, both within the near-surface gold in-oxide material which comprises mineralized blanket sediments and saprolite (weathered bedrock), as well as the underlying fresh primary intrusive material at Machichie Main. The trench results in particular are significant because they confirm the presence of excellent grades within gold-in-oxide material at surface. This bodes very well for our efforts to upgrade the Inferred resources at Machichie Main as we work towards updating the results from the PFS study on an initial heap leach starter operation previously released in October 2024." Machichie Main Trench and Drill Results The Machichie Main zone is an E-W trending zone of gold mineralization which is located 500m north of the MG gold deposit (Figure 1). As with the MG and Central gold deposits, the zone of primary mineralization within intrusive rocks is overlain by an extensive weathered layer consisting of near-surface sediments and underlying saprolite (weathered intrusive rock). Both types of material are considered gold-in-oxide material. A preliminary Inferred resource estimate of 3.73Mt @ 0.5 g/t gold was calculated for the gold-in oxide material only at Machichie Main and was released in October 2024 (see press release October 21, 2024). Figure 1: Map showing location of known gold-in-oxide blankets with resources; Central, MG, PDM and Machichie Main. The recently identified Jerimum Cima gold-in-oxide blanket is also shown but as yet has no resources. Machichie Main is located just 500m north of the MG gold deposit and 3.5km NW of the MG gold deposit. * Only Indicated resources at Central and MG were considered in the PFS released on 21st October 2024. The main exploration targets (yellow dots) and distribution of historic placer gold workings (pale yellow outlines) are also shown. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/244431_967a919a8453aba2_002full.jpg The main objective of the current program is to upgrade a significant portion of the current Inferred resources to Indicated status so they can be included in the mine plan for the heap-leach starter operation. The current program of drilling and trenching is also aimed at shedding light on the underlying primary mineralized zone in the intrusive rocks and collecting additional material for a series of metallurgical column-leach tests. Four trenches have been developed recently at Machichie Main to obtain samples for metallurgical testing and further define mineralization in the oxide zone. Results have been received on 2 (CT051 and CT052) of the 4 trenches to date. Trench CT051 was excavated over the central part of the Machichie Main gold deposit, over an interval of 20m and returned 20m @ 3.6 g/t gold including 4m @ 15.7 g/t gold in weathered gold-in-oxide saprolite material (Figures 2 and 3). Mineralization is open to the north and south. The mineralized zone cut in trench CT051 is almost certainly the same mineralized zone cut at depth in drill holes DDH279 (16.6m @ 1.9 g/t gold including 1m @ 29.7 g/t gold), DDH300 (15.7m @ 1.6 g/t gold) and DDH301 (12.2m @ 1.4 g/t gold) (Figure 3). Trench CT052 was excavated 150m west of trench CT051 and returned 7m @ 0.8 g/t gold (Figure 2). The mineralized interval is again open to the north and south. These results confirm the presence of significant high-grade gold mineralization within gold-in-oxide material at Machichie Main and bode well for the possible inclusion of additional Indicated resources from Machichie Main into an updated mine plan for the heap leach starter operation at Cuiu Cuiu. Results are currently pending from two additional trenches at Machichie Main CT053 and CT054. Results were received on 8 RC drill holes (RC494 to RC498, RC500 to RC501 and RC503) at Machichie Main which were all drilled on the margins of the gold-in-oxide zone to determine the extent of the near-surface mineralization. All of the holes intersected multiple zones of mineralization (Table 1, Figure 2). Several of the holes cut significant intercepts within the gold-in-oxide material, e.g. 10m @ 0.42 g/t gold from surface in RC497. However, a number of excellent results were returned from the underlying primary intrusive material including 4m @ 3.9 g/t gold including 1m @ 10.6 g/t gold in RC497 and 4m @ 3.1 g/t gold including 1m @ 10.6 g/t gold in RC496. Other notable results included 7m @ 1.5 g/t gold from RC494, 7m @ 1.2 g/t gold from RC495, and 1m @ 9.9 g/t gold and 1m @ 7.3 g/t gold from RC503. Holes RC496 and RC497 were drilled 50m apart and intersected the same mineralized zone along strike with similar grades and thicknesses. Similarly, the mineralization intersected in holes RC494 and RC495 is the same zone again returning similar grades and thicknesses along strike. Thus far the infill drilling at Machichie has confirmed continuity of grade and thicknesses along strike and at depth into the primary intrusive, affirming potential to upgrade the Inferred resources. RC drilling with 2 rigs continues with results pending on an additional 38 holes. Figure 2: Map showing the Machichie Main gold deposit and recent trench and significant RC drilling results reported here. Section line A-A' is shown in Figure 3. Terms: g/t = grams / tonne, m = metres, Au = gold To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/244431_967a919a8453aba2_003full.jpg Figure 3: Map showing section A - A' (see figure 2 for section location) through the Machichie Main gold deposit and recent trench results from CT051 which returned 20m @ 3.6 g/t gold including 4m @ 15.7 g/t gold. Terms: g/t = grams / tonne, m = metres, Au = gold To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/244431_967a919a8453aba2_004full.jpg Drill Weathering From to Width Grade Hole # m m m g/t gold RC0494 Saprolite 0.0 6.0 6.0 0.25 Fresh Rock 24.0 27.0 3.0 0.96 41.0 42.0 1.0 0.44 45.0 50.0 5.0 0.32 64.0 71.0 7.0 1.53 74.0 75.0 1.0 0.62 79.0 81.0 2.0 0.26 EOH 81.0 RC0495 Blanket 0.0 3.0 3.0 0.36 Fresh Rock 27.0 28.0 1.0 0.42 38.0 40.0 2.0 0.75 46.0 47.0 1.0 0.36 62.0 63.0 1.0 0.57 70.0 72.0 2.0 0.68 78.0 85.0 7.0 1.24 EOH 90.0 RC0496 Blanket 0.0 10.0 10.0 0.20 Fresh Rock 41.0 45.0 4.0 3.08 incl. 42.0 43.0 1.0 10.64 53.0 54.0 1.0 0.88 69.0 70.0 1.0 0.33 74.0 82.0 8.0 0.85 EOH 82.0 RC0497 Blanket 0.0 10.0 10.0 0.42 Blanket/Saprolite 18.0 20.0 2.0 0.63 Fresh Rock 29.0 31.0 2.0 0.91 36.0 40.0 4.0 3.93 incl. 39.0 40.0 1.0 10.55 EOH 60.0 RC0498 Blanket 0.0 2.0 2.0 0.7 EOH 50.0 RC0500 Fresh Rock 28.0 29.0 1.0 2.49 114.0 118.0 4.0 0.96 incl. 116.0 117.0 1.0 2.23 EOH 130.0 RC0501 Blanket 0.0 7.0 7.0 0.28 Fresh Rock 30.0 31.0 1.0 0.21 45.0 53.0 8.0 0.30 EOH 70.0 RC0503 Blanket 1.0 7.0 7.0 0.25 11.0 13.0 2.0 0.21 Fresh Rock 26.0 27.0 1.0 9.91 incl. 35.0 36.0 1.0 1.01 35.0 39.0 4.0 2.20 incl. 37.0 38.0 1.0 7.28 EOH 80.0 Table 1: Drill results from RC drill holes RC494 to RC498, RC500 to RC501 and RC503 all drilled at the Machichie Main target About Cabral Gold Inc. The Company is a junior resource company engaged in the identification, exploration, and development of mineral properties, with a primary focus on gold properties located in Brazil. The Company has a 100% interest in the Cuiu Cuiu gold district located in the Tapajos Region, within the state of Para in northern Brazil. Three main gold deposits have so far been defined at the Cuiu Cuiu project which contain National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 compliant Indicated resources of 12.29Mt @ 1.14 g/t gold (450,200oz) in fresh basement material and 11.11Mt @ 0.48 g/t gold (171,883oz) in oxide material. The project also contains Inferred resources of 13.63Mt @ 1.04 g/t gold (455,100oz) in fresh basement material and 12.22Mt @ 0.39 g/t gold (151,608oz) in oxide material. The resource estimate for the primary material is based on the NI 43-101 technical report dated 12th October 2022.The resource estimate for the oxide material is based on an NI 43-101 technical report dated 21st October 2024. The Tapajos Gold Province is the site of the largest gold rush in Brazil's history which according to the ANM (Agencia Nacional de Mineracao or National Mining Agency of Brazil) produced an estimated 30 to 50 million ounces of placer gold between 1978 and 1995. Cuiu Cuiu was the largest area of placer gold workings in the Tapajos and produced an estimated 2Moz of placer gold historically. Technical information included in this release was supervised and approved by Brian Arkell, B.S. Geology and M.S. Economic Geology, SME (Registered Member), AusIMM (Fellow) and SEG (Fellow), Cabral Gold's Vice President, Exploration and Technical Services, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). The use of the words "will", "expected" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Notes Gold analysis has been conducted by SGS method FAA505 (fire assay of 50g charge), with higher grade samples checked by FAA525. Analytical quality is monitored by certified references and blanks. Until dispatch, samples are stored under the supervision the Company's exploration office. The samples are couriered to the assay laboratory using a commercial contractor. Pulps are returned to the Company and archived. Drill holes results are quoted as down-hole length weighted intersections. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244431 SOURCE: Cabral Gold Inc. Grid Metals Corp. (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) ("Grid" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a corporate update including the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer and completion of an updated transaction with revised terms resulting in an improved working capital position. The Company remains focused on its high potential critical metals projects in southeastern Manitoba including recently announced transactions with Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada Limited (for cesium) and with Teck Resources Limited (nickel-copper-PGM). CFO and Improvement to Working Capital The Company is pleased to announce that Arif Shivji, CPA, MBA, CFA has joined Grid as the Chief Financial Officer. Mr Shivji is a seasoned financial professional experienced in financial management and public company reporting. He has 27 years of related work experience which includes extensive interaction with public exchanges and involvement with public companies in various entrepreneurial and management roles. The Company would like to sincerely thank the previous CFO, Doug Harris, for his steady contributions to the Company and wishes him well in his new role in the cryptocurrency industry. To improve its financial position and reduce future spending commitments, the Company has amended the Bisset gold facility lease agreement, reducing the remaining payments from $510,000 to $400,000 and waiving its right to use the facility in the future to process materials from the Donner Lithium Property. Grid also has the option to pay $100,000 of the $400,000 in Grid shares, subject to regulatory approval. Grids' current working capital position (cash, receivables and securities less the $400,000 in commitments above) is $900,000 ( $480,000 cash and marketable securities held by the market marked to market as of March 7, 2025 ). The Company also notes that exploration expenditures for its Makwa and Donner Projects are currently being funded by its industry partners. ( See press releases dated February 18, 2025 - Grid Metals Corp Announces Cesium Deal with Tanco and December 12, 2024 - Grid Metals Corp Signs Agreement with a Major Mining Company to Fund the Makwa Nickel Project. ) Cesium Projects Update Donner Cesium Drilling - Grid has now completed 28 diamond drill holes totalling 827 metres targeting the near surface portion of the High-grade ("HG") dyke at its 75% owned Donner lithium-cesium property in the Bird River greenstone belt of southeastern Manitoba. The drilling was funded by the Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada Limited ("Tanco") under a recently announced toll processing agreement (see Grid's February 18, 2025 news release for details). The holes tested the HG dyke along a strike length of 200 metres to a maximum vertical depth of approximately 40 metres. Most of the holes intersected the dyke beneath and north of the main surface outcrop of the dyke. A select composite surface grab sample from the HG dyke taken in 2024 returned 17.5% Cs2O associated with coarse-grained pollucite. The new drilling results combined with two deeper holes completed last winter confirmed that the dyke has a minimum vertical depth extent of >100 metres and extends at least 150 metres to the north of the main outcrop area. The new drilling encountered local spodumene- and lepidolite-rich subzones within a ~1 metre-thick, highly fractionated LCT-type pegmatite. The Company is preparing core samples from this program for rare metal analysis and quantitative mineralogical studies. The latter will determine if the cesium-rich mineral, pollucite (the preferred feedstock for Tanco's cesium plant, located ~ 30 km south of the Donner property), is present in the near surface portion of the HG dyke tested by drilling. Following the receipt of assays and the results from the mineralogical analysis the company will determine its future plans for the HG dyke. Falcon West Cesium - As part of its current cesium initiative the company has submitted an exploration permit application for its 100% owned Falcon West lithium-cesium project. Falcon West hosts numerous high-grade cesium drill intercepts from drilling campaigns in 2001, 2012 and 2024. Most of these intercepts occur in a 250 metre-long trend at the southern end of the ~10 metre-thick and highly fractionated Lucy South LCT pegmatite. Highlights from previous drilling within this trend, as described in previous Company news releases, include: 3.20 metres with 4.56% Cs2O in hole ADL24-09 (from 19.9 metres) including 0.65 metres with 11.7% Cs2O 6.68 metres with 1.30% Cs2O in hole LU-12-1 (from 17.2 metres) including 0.79 metres with 7.59% Cs2O 8.37 metres with 4.12% Cs2O in hole LU12-2 (from 25.7 metres) including 3.28 metres with 10.3% Cs2O with 2.18 metres averaging 13.7% Cs2O 1.85 metres with 3.25% Cs2O in hole EOB01-9 (from 21.1 metres) Note: above intercepts range from 80-100% of estimated true width. The targeted Lucy South pegmatite is predominantly flat lying and, where intersected by drilling, occurs from surface to no more than 40 metres vertical depth. The Company plans to release an updated, integrated exploration plan for the Falcon West Property and a new Lucy South cesium drilling program in the next several weeks. Robin Dunbar, Grid's CEO & President, stated, "In the past several months we have completed two significant transactions with key industry leaders (Teck Resources and Tanco) focused on key critical metals. Looking ahead, we will have multiple high-potential exploration programs underway in 2025. Our priority projects are geographically focused in southeast Manitoba and provide multi-commodity optionality. We look forward to further positive developments being generated from these projects as we continue down the path to developing a critical metals production hub in the region." On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp. For more information about the Company, please see the Company website at www.gridmetalscorp.com or contact: Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director Telephone: 416-955-4773 Email: rd@gridmetalscorp.com Brandon Smith - Chief Development Officer - bsmith@gridmetalscorp.com David Black - Investor Relations Email: info@gridmetalscorp.com Qualified Persons Statements Dr. Dave Peck, P.Geo., the VP Exploration of Grid, is the Qualified Person for purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. About Grid Metals Corp. Grid Metals is focused on exploration and development in southeastern Manitoba with four key projects in the Bird River area. The Makwa Property (Ni-Cu-PGM-Co), which is subject to an Option and Joint Venture Agreement with Teck Resources Limited ("Teck"). Teck can earn up to a 70% interest in Makwa by incurring a total of CAD$17.3 million, comprising project expenditures (CAD$15.7 million) and cash payments or equity participation (CAD$1.6 million) with Grid. Makwa is located on the south arm of the Bird River Greenstone Belt. The Mayville Property (Cu-Ni) is located on the north arm of the Bird River Greenstone Belt. Grid owns 100% of the Mayville Property subject to a minority interest. The Donner Property (Li-Cs) is adjacent to the Mayville Property, and Grid owns 75% of the project. Grid announced a cesium purchase agreement with Tanco on February 18, 2025. The Falcon West Property (Li-Cs) is located 110 km east of Winnipeg along the Trans-Canada highway and contains highly anomalous cesium values in a number of historical drill holes including 3.3 m at 10.3% Cs2O and 3.2 m at 4.6% Cs2O. All of the Company's southeastern Manitoba projects are located on the ancestral lands of the Sagkeeng First Nation with whom the Company maintains an Exploration Agreement. We seek safe harbour. This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) (together, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements include the Company's closing of the proposed financial transactions, sale of royalty and property interests. the overall economic potential of its properties, the availability of adequate financing and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements to be materially different. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to potential political risk, uncertainty of production and capital costs estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, physical risks inherent in mining operations, metallurgical risk, currency fluctuations, fluctuations in the price of nickel, cobalt, copper and other metals, completion of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the inability or failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis, and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the most recent financial period and Material Change Reports filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp. SB-007 addresses the root cause of Stargardt disease with the potential to treat all patients across all ABCA4 mutations SB-007 is the first dual AAV gene therapy in clinical development for Stargardt disease BARCELONA, Spain, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SpliceBio, a clinical-stage genetic medicines company pioneering Protein Splicing to address diseases caused by mutations in large genes, today announced that it has dosed the first patient in the Phase 1/2 ASTRA study of SB-007, a dual adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector, for the treatment of Stargardt disease. Stargardt disease is an inherited retinal disorder caused by mutations in the ABCA4 gene. It is the most common form of juvenile macular degeneration, leading to progressive central vision loss and ultimately resulting in blindness, with no approved treatments available. "Stargardt disease has remained elusive to gene therapies due to the large size of the ABCA4 gene. SB-007 is the first gene therapy in clinical development designed to restore expression of the full-length ABCA4 protein across all Stargardt disease patients, regardless of their mutations," said Miquel Vila-Perello, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of SpliceBio. "Treating the first patient in the ASTRA study with SB-007 is an important milestone for SpliceBio and the Stargardt disease patient community, who are in desperate need for a therapy. I am immensely proud of our outstanding team at SpliceBio whose depth of experience in leading numerous ophthalmology gene therapy trials in the last 15 years is unparalleled." Paul Yang, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Paul H. Casey Ophthalmic Genetics Division at Oregon Health & Science University Casey Eye Institute and Principal Investigator of Phase 1/2 ASTRA Study, commented: "Stargardt disease is a devastating inherited retinal disorder with no approved treatments available. The initiation of this study with the dual AAV vector gene therapy, SB-007, represents a critical advancement in finding a potential treatment option for patients with this disease. It is a privilege to be able to collaborate with SpliceBio on this groundbreaking clinical study, and I look forward to advancing research that could bring hope to patients affected by Stargardt disease." Aniz Girach, MD., Chief Medical Officer of SpliceBio, remarked: "We are excited to have treated the first patient in the US with our lead gene therapy. A single dose of SB-007 has the potential to address the root cause of Stargardt disease across all ABCA4 mutations. The Phase 1/2 ASTRA study will assess the safety and efficacy of SB-007 in patients with Stargardt disease. We look forward to continuing enrolment in our Phase 1/2 ASTRA study, alongside our foundational POLARIS trial, with the ultimate purpose of providing an effective and safe therapy for patients. As the study progresses, we aim to present data at upcoming scientific conferences." Alongside the ASTRA study, SpliceBio continues to actively enrol patients through its POLARIS trial, a natural history study monitoring disease progression and endpoints in Stargardt disease patients. For more information or to enquire about participation in the studies, please visit https://splice.bio/clinical/. About SpliceBio SpliceBio is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company pioneering Protein Splicing to address diseases caused by mutations in large genes. The Company's lead program, SB-007, targets the root cause of Stargardt disease, a genetic eye disease that causes blindness in children and adults. SpliceBio's pipeline comprises additional gene therapy programs across therapeutic areas, including ophthalmology and neurology. SpliceBio's platform is based on technology developed in the Muir Lab at Princeton University after more than 20 years of pioneering intein, Protein Splicing, and protein engineering research. For additional information, please visit www.splice.bio. About SB-007 SB-007 is an investigational Protein Splicing dual AAV gene therapy in development for the treatment of Stargardt disease. It is designed to restore expression of the native full-length ABCA4 protein in the retina. SB-007 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation from both the FDA in the US and the European Commission in Europe. In December 2024, SB-007 received FDA IND clearance, marking the first-ever clearance for a dual AAV gene therapy in Stargardt disease. Alongside initiation of the Phase 1/2 ASTRA study, SpliceBio continues to advance POLARIS, a natural history study of the disease. Both studies are actively recruiting. For more information or to enquire about participation in the studies, please visit https://splice.bio/clinical/. About Stargardt disease Stargardt disease is the most common form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration, affecting approximately 1 in 8,000 to 10,000 individuals. Caused by mutations in the ABCA4 gene, Stargardt disease leads to the progressive loss of central vision due to damage to the central region of the retina known as the macula. The disease is variable in the age of onset, including early onset in children and adolescents and late-onset forms in adulthood. There are no approved treatments, and patients face significant challenges in daily life as the disease progresses. Stargardt disease has remained elusive to genetic medicines due to the large size of the ABCA4 gene. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/splicebio-announces-first-patient-dosed-in-phase-12-astra-study-of-sb-007-a-dual-aav-gene-therapy-for-stargardt-disease-302400970.html New leadership to spur innovation and growth to support global market presence and customers' shifting needs TORONTO, March 13, 2025and an increase in R&D development for 2025. These underscore Cority's commitment to providing the leading comprehensive management solutions in the EHS and sustainability markets and guiding customers in the global shift from fragmented compliance to holistic business practices. "With the appointments of Sukaran and Eric, we are gearing up for the next chapter in Cority's story," said Ryan Magee, CEO of Cority. "We've been a trusted partner in helping businesses create safe, healthy, and sustainable workplaces for the past 40 years, and we're doubling down now to invest in our technology and our team so we can lead the way forward for the next chapter in our industry." Sukaran Mehta joins Cority at a critical juncture as the company reaches a major inflection point. In his role, Mehta will lead financial strategies to propel the company's growth and enhance CorityOne , the company's SaaS-based and integrated EHS & sustainability ecosystem. Sukaran has recently been a CFO at Docebo, a publicly traded company. His leadership comes at a time when customers' needs are evolving into long-term responsible operations. Mehta brings 16 years of experience across technology, financial services, private equity, and venture capital, managing key financial operations, including business planning and systems implementation. His previous tenure at RBC included projects including the acquisition of City National Bank. Beginning his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mehta holds academic and professional qualifications from the National University of Ireland and is a certified CPA, CA in Ontario, and an FCA in Ireland. "I am thrilled to join the Cority team and build upon the strong systems already in place to help scale this dynamic company and cement its leadership in the market." Eric Olson joins as CMO. Known for his ability to orchestrate go-to-market strategies across marketing, sales, and product, Olson is also an outspoken health and safety advocate outside of work. In the newly created role of CMO, Olson will be responsible for helping Cority stand out in the market and better reach the customers who need their solutions most. He joins after six years at Quickbase, an AI-powered work management platform, where he helped re-position the brand and verticalize the go-to-market. Prior to that, he was CMO at Sovos, the always-on compliance company, where he created the global brand and grew revenue more than 3X in his four-year tenure. "I'm grateful for the chance to work on advancing Cority's mission of making the world a healthier and safer place, something that is close to my heart," said Olson. "The opportunity to integrate the important work of our customers into the day-to-day operations of every business is immense, and I'm looking forward to helping more people discover what I have - that Cority is the one company capable of achieving that lofty goal," said Olson. Together, Olson and Mehta join a seasoned executive team at Cority, including Ryan Magee, CEO; Pablo Neiman, CCO; Ted Kail and Atish Ghosh, CPOs; and Amanda Smith, EVP. This team's combined expertise will steer Cority towards its mission to establish itself as the definitive leader in EHS and sustainability solutions. About Cority Cority gives every employee from the field to the boardroom the power to make a difference, reducing risks and creating a safer, healthier, and more sustainable world. For over 35 years, Cority's people-first software solutions have been built by EHS and sustainability experts who know the pressures businesses face. Time-tested, scalable, and configurable, CorityOne is the responsible business platform that combines datasets from across the organization to enable improved efficiencies, actionable insights, data-driven decisions, and more accurate reporting on performance. Trusted by over 1,500 organizations worldwide, Cority deeply cares about helping people work toward a better future for everyone. To learn more about Cority or to book a demo, visit www.cority.com . Contact Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Tower Resources Ltd. (TSXV: TWR) ("Tower" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has contracted a diamond drill to further test the high-grade Blue Sky, Thunder and Thunder North gold discoveries on the Company's Rabbit North property near Kamloops, British Columbia (see Fig. 1) in preparation for a major, ~3000-m drilling campaign to systematically assess the overall economic potential of the large, orogenic gold system controlling the mineralization. Blue Sky Zone Four holes are currently planned for Blue Sky to test the vertical and lateral continuity of both the wide (31.5 m down-hole), high-grade (4.15 g/t) Au zone intersected near the bottom of discovery hole No. RN-24-055 (see Fig. 1) and the thick (158 m vertically), overlying interval of low-grade (0.75 g/t) Au mineralization (see January 8, 2025 press release). The high-grade gold zone was intersected at a vertical depth of ~200 m but the glacial till down-ice from Hole 055 is strongly anomalous in gold grains, suggesting that the gold zone extends to surface. Most of the proposed holes will be positioned to intersect the gold zone closer to surface and thus will be significantly shorter than Hole 055, potentially allowing more than four holes to be drilled. Thunder North Zone Two holes stepping east from Hole 056 at 50 m intervals are currently planned at Thunder North to test the lateral continuity of the exceptional gold intersection obtained from that hole (15.85 m of 5.80 g/t Au; see Fig. 1). These holes will be similar in length to Hole 056. Thunder Zone Although the Thunder Zone was discovered in February 2023 and the discovery hole, No. 041, obtained two strong, closely spaced (10 m apart) intersections of 3.28 g/t Au over 13.3 m and 2.16 g/t Au over 10/1 m (see Fig. 1), no follow-up holes were drilled because Hole 041 also intersected a zone of porphyry Cu-Au-Mo mineralization (Rainbow) that initially appeared to be more important than the gold zone. One or two holes stepping east from Hole 041 at 50 m intervals are currently planned to test the eastern continuity of Thunder. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5023/244413_979a297b34441aae_002full.jpg Qualified Person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Stuart Averill, P.Geo., a director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Tower Resources Tower is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and advancement of economic mineral projects in the Americas. The Company's key exploration assets, all in B.C., are the Rabbit North orogenic gold and porphyry copper-gold project located between the New Afton copper-gold and Highland Valley copper mines in the Kamloops mining district, the Nechako porphyry-associated gold-silver project near Artemis' Blackwater project and the More Creek epithermal gold project on the critical "red line" structural zone connecting the mineral deposits of the Golden Triangle. On behalf of the Board of Directors Tower Resources Ltd. Reader Advisory This news release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244413 SOURCE: Tower Resources Ltd. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Nevada Sunrise Metals Corporation (TSXV: NEV) (OTC Pink: NVSGF) ("Nevada Sunrise" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with VRIFY Technology Inc. ("VRIFY"), a Vancouver-based leader in artificial intelligence ("AI") and predictive modeling in mineral exploration, to refine and validate exploration plans and targets at the Griffon Gold Mine Project ("Griffon", or the "Project") in Nevada, USA. DORA, VRIFY's AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform, is the only platform that geologists can access directly and utilize for iterative predictive modeling in real time. The platform uses advanced and proprietary algorithms to generate a prospectivity score - known as a VRIFY Prospectivity Score ("VPS") - that identifies areas of potential mineralization. The VPS and models generated through DORA incorporate probabilistic values, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the predictions (see Figure 1). To power these insights, VRIFY's Geoscience and AI teams will work closely with Nevada Sunrise in compiling and cleaning decades of historical exploration data - including surface geological, geochemical, and geophysical results, as well as a digitized drill hole database - creating a comprehensive, high-quality dataset. By integrating Griffon's project-specific data with VRIFY's industry-leading database, DORA's proprietary algorithms will uncover patterns that would be time consuming and difficult, if not impossible, to extract through manual processes alone, delivering data-based insights and highlighting high-potential areas of mineralization. Figure 1. Example of VRIFY's AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform, DORA To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2799/244422_7b10e5b9d42dcb97_002full.jpg "Our goal at Nevada Sunrise is to improve exploration efficiency and uncover value in our projects, which means embracing new technologies like VRIFY," said Warren Stanyer, President and CEO of Nevada Sunrise. "AI, when combined with expert geoscience teams, is a powerful tool that helps reduce bias and identify potential mineralization that might otherwise be overlooked. As AI becomes increasingly vital in exploration targeting, VRIFY's predictive technology represents a significant advancement for our project. We are excited to be part of this next step for Nevada Sunrise, VRIFY and the industry as a whole." Using DORA, Nevada Sunrise will gain direct access to the web-based platform, receive comprehensive training, and be able to generate and iterate on their own predictive models, allowing for hands-on exploration targeting and validation. "At VRIFY, we believe AI in mineral exploration shouldn't be a black box, which is why we've created DORA. DORA is an intuitive platform that puts the power of AI in the hands of technical teams that know the project best - accelerating exploration and identifying areas of high potential mineralization," explained Steve de Jong, CEO and co-founder of VRIFY. "By combining AI with the deep geoscience bench strength we have at VRIFY, we're helping companies like Nevada Sunrise gain a competitive edge. We believe this approach of integrating technology and experts is the future of the industry and can't wait to see how DORA helps drive discovery at the Griffon Gold Mine Project." About VRIFY VRIFY transforms mineral exploration using DORA, the world's first AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform that helps mining companies more effectively predict mineral deposits, assess exploration potential, communicate project value to investors, and secure investment. With nearly 200 companies across 70 countries partnering with VRIFY, including 26 early-adopter clients using DORA, they set the standard for analyzing and presenting exploration data. Their team of over 100 geoscientists, data scientists, developers, and industry professionals combines deep geological expertise with cutting-edge AI to deliver actionable insights and make discoveries. To learn more about VRIFY visit https://vrify.com About Griffon Griffon is located approximately 50 kilometres (33 miles) southwest of Ely, Nevada and consists of 89 unpatented mineral claims totaling approximately 1,780 acres. The Project is within the fertile Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend in east-central Nevada, which is host to both past-producing and operating gold mines, and a number of significant gold deposits. Nevada Sunrise announced the acquisition of Griffon in February 2025 (see Nevada Sunrise News Release dated February 20, 2025), and has engaged VRIFY to assist the Company in determining new target areas at the Project. Gold was mined at Griffon in two open pits from 1998 to 1999 and until its premature closure, was reported by the State of Nevada to have produced 62,661 ounces of oxide gold1. The Company believes that VRIFY has the potential to provide a refined and validated exploration plan that could lead to new gold discoveries at Griffon. Griffon lies within a 60 kilometre (40 mile) section of the Battle Mountain-Eureka trend, which hosts the following gold mines and deposits (see Figure 2): Pan Mine: Operated by Calibre Mining Corp., which hosts Measured and Indicated resources of 358,900 oz. gold and Inferred resources of 42,000 oz. gold2, and was reported as producing 35,267 oz. gold in 20243; Gold Rock (formerly Easy Junior): Operated by Calibre Mining Corp., which hosts Measured and Indicated resources of 370,700 oz. gold and Inferred resources of 58,100 oz. gold4 and was reported as producing 12,100 ounces of gold in the years 1990 and 19975; Figure 2: Griffon Gold Mine Project Location, White Pine County, Nevada To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2799/244422_7b10e5b9d42dcb97_003full.jpg Mt. Hamilton: Operated by an emerging public company, Bendito Resources Inc., which hosts Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 545,000 oz. gold and 4,459,600 oz. silver contained within Measured and Indicated resources of 727,000 oz. gold and 6,569,000 oz. silver, and Inferred resources of 119,000 oz, gold and 1,153,000 oz. silver6; Green Springs: Owned by Orla Mining Ltd., and currently under option to Centerra Gold Inc. Historical production at Green Springs of 63,000 oz. of gold was reported from 1988 to 1991 under USMX Inc.'s heap leach operation7; Lookout Mountain: Operated by Timberline Resources Corporation, which hosts Measured and Indicated resources of 423,000 oz. gold, and Inferred resources of 84,000 oz. gold. Historical production of 17,700 oz. gold was reported in 19878. References: 1 Nevada Division of Minerals, "Major Mines of Nevada", published 1998 and 1999; 2 NI 43-101 Updated Technical Report on Resources and Reserves, Pan Gold Project, White Pine County, Nevada, prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. and Apex Geoscience Ltd., with an effective date December 31, 2022; 3 Calibre Mining Corp., News Release dated January 8, 2025; 4 Amended Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Gold Rock Project, White Pine County, Nevada, prepared by Fiore Gold Ltd. by Apex Geoscience Ltd. and John T. Boyd Company with an effective date of March 31, 2020; 5 Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology, Special Publication, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1997; 6 NI 43-10 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Mt. Hamilton Gold and Silver Project, Centennial Deposit and Seligman Deposit. White Pine County, Nevada, prepared for Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. and Ely Gold Minerals Inc. by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc., with an effective Date of August 14, 2014; 7 Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology, Special Publication, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991; 8 Technical Report, Lookout Mountain Project, Eureka County, Nevada, USA, prepared for Timberline Resources Corporation by RESPEC Company LLC, with an effective Date of September 1, 2023. For more information about Griffon, including maps and photos, visit the Company's website at: www.nevadasunrise.ca. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Robert M. Allender, Jr., CPG, RG, SME and a Qualified Person for Nevada Sunrise as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Allender has examined information regarding the historical exploration at Griffon, which includes his review of the historical sampling, analytical and procedures underlying the information and opinions contained herein. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by operators unrelated to Nevada Sunrise and have not been verified nor confirmed by its Qualified Person; however, the historical results create a scientific basis for ongoing work in the Griffon property. Management further cautions that historical results, discoveries and published resource estimates on adjacent or nearby mineral properties, whether in stated current resource estimates or historical resource estimates, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Griffon property. About Nevada Sunrise Nevada Sunrise is a junior mineral exploration company with a strong technical team based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, that holds interests in lithium, gold, and copper exploration projects located in the State of Nevada, USA. Nevada Sunrise holds the right to earn a 100% interest in the Griffon Gold Mine Project, located approximately 50 kilometers (33 miles) southwest of Ely, NV. Nevada Sunrise owns 100% interests in the Gemini, Jackson Wash and Badlands lithium projects, all of which are located in the Lida Valley in Esmeralda County, NV. Gemini hosts an Inferred lithium resource estimate of 7.1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, described in a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Resource Estimate for Gemini Lithium Project, Esmeralda County, Nevada", effective January 15, 2024, and dated March 8, 2024, available at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website: www.nevadasunrise.ca. As a complement to its exploration projects in Esmeralda County, the Company owns Nevada Water Right Permit 86863, also located in the Lida Valley basin, near Lida, NV. Nevada Sunrise holds the right to earn a 100% interest in the Coronado Copper Project, located approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Winnemucca, NV. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur and include disclosure of anticipated exploration activities. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date such statements were made. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Such factors include, among others, risks related to: the results of the VRIFY study seeking new target areas at Griffon; the ability of the Company to raise funds for exploration activities and property maintenance costs at Griffon; reliance on technical information provided by third parties on any of our exploration properties; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays due to pandemic; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the Three Months December 31, 2024, which is available under Company's SEDAR profile at: www.sedarplus.ca. Although Nevada Sunrise has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Nevada Sunrise disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244422 SOURCE: Nevada Sunrise Metals Corp. Greene Concepts Inc. (OTC PINK:INKW) proudly announces that the Company continues to actively work on a continuous basis to improve the shelf placement of the company's flagship BE WATER brand at all instore retail locations. The Company works with retailers of all sizes, be it a small individually owned retailer to retail giants such as Walmart. These efforts aim to ensure and enhance visibility of BE WATER in order to drive consumer purchases by positioning BE WATER at eye level and waist level for optimal exposure. Greene Concepts regularly collaborates with retailers to maximize BE WATER's retail performance by implementing creative strategies to boost sales. Potential enhancements include: Optimized Planogram Placement - Adjusting shelf layouts to ensure BE WATER appears at eye level, in high-traffic beverage aisles, and with increased shelf space. Strategic Secondary Placement - Expanding visibility through endcap displays, checkout lane coolers, and cross-merchandising with fitness products, protein bars, or electrolyte supplements to encourage impulse purchases. Enhanced Marketing Visibility - Featuring BE WATER in in-store signage, shelf talkers, digital promotions, targeted ads, and product sampling events. Seasonal & Promotional Integration - Incorporating BE WATER into seasonal campaigns, including back-to-school, summer, holiday, and wellness promotions. Alignment With Sustainability Initiatives - Showcasing BE WATER's commitment to sustainable water sourcing, recyclable packaging, and eco-friendly branding to align with retailer's environmental goals. Expanded Digital & In-Store Integration - Increasing BE WATER's presence on both in brick and mortar retailers and retailers' online shopping portals, in addition to encouraging customer reviews to enhance both online and in-store visibility. Lenny Greene, CEO of Greene Concepts, states, "Walmart, Camping World and all our other retail partners have been fantastic business partners, and we appreciate Anderson Merchandisers' support in tracking sales and optimizing inventory for higher sell-through. We're thrilled that our retail partners including Walmart readily seek input on strategies to further boost BE WATER sales and drive repeat purchases." Mr. Greene adds, "As we continue expanding our distribution footprint (see: January 10, 2025, press release), our retail partners' support in improving consumer awareness and demand is invaluable. Walmart and Camping World, both of whom are merchandising experts, are standout retailers and we greatly appreciate the working relationships we have with them and all the other great retailers. We are confident we will further strengthen BE WATER's market position. With rising sales volume, we are positioning ourselves for even greater opportunities ahead." Follow Greene Concepts, Inc. on Social Media (X) at: @GreeneConcepts About Greene Concepts, Inc. Greene Concepts, Inc. (https://www.greeneconcepts.com) is a publicly traded company whose purpose is to provide the world with high-quality, healthy and enhanced beverage choices that meet the nutritional needs of its consumers while refreshing their mind, body and spirit. The Company's flagship product, BE WATER, is a premium artesian bottled water that supports total body health and wellness. Greene Concepts' beverage and bottling plant is located in Marion, North Carolina, and their water is ethically sourced from spring and artesian wells that are fed from a natural aquifer located deep beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains. Greene Concepts continues to develop and market premium beverage brands designed to enhance the daily lives of consumers. Safe Harbor: This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a few uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and OTC Markets, Inc. OTC Disclosure and News Service. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, because of new information, future events or otherwise. CONTACT: Greene Concepts, Inc. Investor Relations IR@greeneconcepts.com SOURCE: Greene Concepts, Inc. Dario Vitale Appointed Versace's Chief Creative Officer Capri Holdings Limited (NYSE:CPRI), a global fashion luxury group, and Versace announced today that Chief Creative Officer Donatella Versace will assume the role of Chief Brand Ambassador effective April 1, 2025. In her new role as Chief Brand Ambassador, Ms. Versace will dedicate herself to the support of Versace's philanthropic and charitable endeavours and will remain an advocate for the brand globally. Versace also announced that Dario Vitale has been appointed Chief Creative Officer effective April 1, 2025. Mr. Vitale joins Versace from Miu Miu where he was formerly the Design and Image Director. John D. Idol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capri Holdings said, "Today's announcements were part of a thoughtful succession plan for Versace. Since 1997, Donatella has led the creative vision for the House of Versace and played an integral role in the company's global success. Donatella will be assuming the role of Chief Brand Ambassador and will continue to champion the Versace brand and its values." Mr. Idol continued, "We are excited to announce that Dario Vitale will be joining the House of Versace as its new Chief Creative Officer. He is a strong design leader, and we are confident that his talent and vision will be instrumental to Versace's future growth." Donatella Versace said, "Championing the next generation of designers has always been important to me. I am thrilled that Dario Vitale will be joining us, and excited to see Versace through new eyes. I want to thank my incredible design team and all the employees at Versace that I have had the privilege of working with for over three decades. It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy. He was the true genius, but I hope I have some of his spirit and tenacity. In my new role as Chief Brand Ambassador, I will remain Versace's most passionate supporter. Versace is in my DNA and always in my heart." Dario Vitale said, "I am truly honored to join Versace as the Chief Creative Officer and to be a part of this special and powerful fashion luxury House created by Gianni and Donatella. The House of Versace has a unique heritage that has spanned decades and has shaped the history of fashion. I want to express my sincere thank you to Donatella for her trust in me, and for her tireless dedication to the extraordinary brand that Versace is today. It is a privilege to contribute to the future growth of Versace and its global impact through my vision, expertise and dedication." Emmanuel Gintzburger, CEO of Versace said, "Versace is what it is today because of Donatella Versace and the passion she has brought to her role every day for nearly thirty years. The universal values she stands for and her love for uncompromised creativity anchored Versace far beyond a brand or a company. Working alongside her has been an incredible privilege and pleasure. I am confident in the company and where it stands today, as we are well-prepared for the organization to write this new chapter for the house. Dario Vitale is a rare talent, who deeply respects the essence and values of Versace and clearly understands its growth potential. We are convinced that his experience and vision will bring a new perspective to the brand. I am excited to welcome him in the coming weeks and embark on a new and ambitious journey for Versace." About Capri Holdings Capri Holdings is a global fashion luxury group consisting of iconic, founder-led brands Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors. Our commitment to glamorous style and craftsmanship is at the heart of each of our luxury brands. We have built our reputation on designing exceptional, innovative products that cover the full spectrum of fashion luxury categories. Our strength lies in the unique DNA and heritage of each of our brands, the diversity and passion of our people and our dedication to the clients and communities we serve. Capri Holdings Limited is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CPRI. About Versace Versace is one of the most recognizable names in the world. The luxury House immediately became a leader in fashion and culture following its founding in 1978. Versace's energy comes from its clash of irreverent references. The tension between classical and contemporary; Italian tradition with the latest innovation; rock music with royalty; myth with today's celebrity stardom. This unique formula shapes a creative culture that is expressed through now iconic designs, world-leading imagery, true fashion moments, and a heritage of innovative Italian artisanship. The Versace name is identified with a lifestyle and attitude that celebrates uniqueness and the power of a person who feels the ultimate freedom to be themself. The Versace lifestyle includes women's, men's, and children's ready-to-wear, shoes, bags and accessories, Atelier Versace haute couture, eyewear, fragrances, watches, Palazzo Versace hotels and Versace Home homeware. Versace has a network of 230 owned boutiques and over 400 licensed stores worldwide. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Capri about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included herein, may be forward-looking statements. Without limitation, any statements preceded or followed by or that include the words "plans", "believes", "expects", "intends", "will", "should", "could", "would", "may", "anticipates", "might" or similar words or phrases, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results and are based on certain key assumptions, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in any forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please consult these documents for a more complete understanding of these risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date made and Capri disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking or other statements contained herein other than in accordance with legal and regulatory obligations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313624405/en/ Contacts: Investor Relations: Jennifer Davis +1 (201) 514-8234 Jennifer.Davis@CapriHoldings.com Media: Capri Holdings: Press@CapriHoldings.com Versace: Georgina.Scholtens-Day@Versace.it Former Volocopter Chief Test Pilot, with over 28 years flight test experience, joins Vertical Vertical now among the few eVTOL companies in the world with multiple test pilots to have flown full-scale eVTOLs His appointment comes at a pivotal moment as Vertical advances its piloted flight test programme and begins assembly of a third full-scale prototype to increase flight test capabilities Vertical Aerospace (Vertical) [NYSE: EVTL], a global aerospace and technology company that is pioneering electric aviation, is today announcing the appointment of Paul Stone as a Test Pilot. His arrival makes Vertical one of the very few eVTOL companies in the world to have two test pilots with experience flying full-scale, piloted eVTOL aircraft. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313962960/en/ Former Volocopter Chief Test Pilot, Paul Stone, with over 28 years flight test experience, joins Vertical Aerospace (Photo: Business Wire) With over 28 years of experience in experimental, development, certification, and production test flying, including 20 years in the Royal Navy, Paul has accumulated over 4,800 flight hours across more than 200 aircraft types. Most recently he was Chief Test Pilot at Volocopter, flying both their concept demonstrator and full-scale eVTOL Volocity prototype for the last 3 years. He joins Vertical's Chief Test Pilot Simon Davies and test pilot Tim Eldridge. Paul's expertise includes over 15 years of test experience on all marks of Harrier along with pioneering research on Short/Vertical Take-Off and Landing (SVTOL/VTOL) digital flight control systems, contributing to the Vectored-thrust Aircraft Advanced Control (VAAC) Harrier and the Boeing X-32 Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) concept demonstrator. He has also worked on control law development for NASA and Boeing, refining the software that governs aircraft stability and manoeuvrability. Paul also has extensive private defence sector flight test experience, including at BAE Systems where he served as Typhoon Future Capability Director, Director of Flight Operations, and Chief Test Pilot for Combat Aircraft, leading critical flight test programmes. Paul Stone, Vertical Test Pilot, said: "I have been passionate about testing cutting-edge aircraft throughout my career, and Vertical is at the leading edge of electric aviation. With the VX4's progress and the team's world-class expertise, I'm excited to be part of the journey to certify and commercialise the VX4." Stuart Simpson, CEO at Vertical Aerospace, said: "Paul joining Vertical underscores the incredible progress we're making with our piloted flight test programme and sector leading aircraft. A test team with two eVTOL experienced pilots puts us in an elite group worldwide. I look forward to seeing Paul take to the skies in our full-scale prototype as we progress our piloted test programme, which sets our progress apart in the sector." Vertical recently completed piloted thrustborne testing for its VX4 prototype and continues to work with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to expand its flight envelope ahead of wingborne flight which it believes would be a world-first with this aircraft type. Paul's appointment follows Vertical's recent FY24 earnings announcement, which included that the assembly of the third full-scale VX4 prototype has begun at GKN Aerospace's Global Technology Centre. About Vertical Aerospace Vertical Aerospace is a global aerospace and technology company pioneering electric aviation. Vertical is creating a safer, cleaner and quieter way to travel. Vertical's VX4 is a piloted, four passenger, Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with zero operating emissions. Vertical combines partnering with leading aerospace companies, including GKN, Honeywell and Leonardo, with developing its own proprietary battery and propeller technology to develop the world's most advanced and safest eVTOL. Vertical has c.1,500 pre-orders of the VX4, with customers across four continents, including American Airlines, Japan Airlines, GOL and Bristow. Certain customer obligations are expected to be fulfilled via third-party agreements. Headquartered in Bristol, the epicentre of the UK's aerospace industry, Vertical's experienced leadership team comes from top tier automotive and aerospace companies such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus, GM and Leonardo. Together they have previously certified and supported over 30 different civil and military aircraft and propulsion systems. Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding Mr. Stone's impact on Vertical and its flight test programme, the design and manufacture of the VX4, the features and capabilities of the VX4, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, including the building and testing of our prototype aircrafts on timelines projected, completion of the piloted test programme phases, selection of suppliers, certification and the commercialization of the VX4 and our ability to achieve regulatory certification of our aircraft product on any particular timeline or at all, as well as statements that include the words "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "project," "forecast," "estimate," "may," "should," "anticipate," "will," "aim," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are not a guarantee of future performance. Actual outcomes may differ materially from the information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 11, 2025, as such factors may be updated from time to time in the Company's other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date hereof and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the extent required by applicable law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313962960/en/ Contacts: For more information: Justin Bates, Head of Communications justin.bates@vertical-aerospace.com +44 7878 357 463 Samuel Emden, Head of Investor Affairs samuel.emden@vertical-aerospace.com +447816 459 904 DUSSELDORF, Germany, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- LenioBio is proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious STEP Seal by the European Commission as part of its submission to the EU4Health funding call. The STEP Seal-standing for Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform-is granted to projects that successfully navigate the Commission's rigorous evaluation process. For investors, this accolade is a clear signal that LenioBio's technology is both innovative and highly credible. LenioBio continues to advance its revolutionary ALiCE cell-free protein production platform, developing it into a more cost-efficient and optimized biomanufacturing system designed to simplify and accelerate the scale-up of critical protein medicines. This will address the pressing need for more affordable treatments and aligns with the European Union's objectives of building a flexible, scalable, and rapid healthcare response system-a key pillar of the EU4Health initiative. The STEP Seal is a new initiative from the European Commission, designed to spotlight projects and technologies with clear strategic value for Europe and support further investments. This recognition reinforces LenioBio's leadership in transforming biomanufacturing. It demonstrates that the company's technology has met stringent evaluation standards, marking it as a compelling and timely investment opportunity in the strategic healthcare arena. "We are honoured to receive the STEP Seal, as it affirms our commitment to pioneering advancements in biomanufacturing," said Andre Goerke, CEO at LenioBio. "The STEP validates the transformative potential of our technology and serves as a strong signal to investors that our platform is in line with the European Union's strategic priorities in healthcare." LenioBio's project (Project Number: EU4H-2024-PJ-01-3) represents a significant step toward transforming the production of critical protein medicines. With its focus on enhancing cost efficiency and scalability, the project is set to play a vital role in meeting current and future healthcare needs across Europe. About LenioBio GmbH LenioBio GmbH is a life sciences biotech company dedicated to transforming protein production through its proprietary ALiCE technology. By eliminating the limitations and bottlenecks of traditional cell-based systems, LenioBio empowers researchers to explore new frontiers in protein expression and accelerate the development of cutting-edge therapeutics and diagnostics. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640213/LenioBio.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/leniobio-earns-prestigious-eu-step-seal-a-signal-of-excellence-for-investors-302400036.html SOESTERBERG, the Netherlands, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In September 2025, the National Military Museum is set to showcase an original Fokker D.VII fighter aircraft, designed during the First World War which was in service with our Fleet Air Arm before the Second World War. The aircraft comes to us from the Deutsches Museum in Munich. In 1980, the plane was found to carry original Dutch identification markings. As joint provenance research found out, the aircraft was removed from the Netherlands during the Second World War to become part of a Nazi-Luftwaffe museum planned by Hermann Goring. The discovery In 1945, American MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives) servicemen, better known as the Monuments Men, in search of stolen artistic treasures in amongst other things hit on a Fokker D.VII in a farm barn in Vilsbiburg. They gave the aircraft in custody to the Deutsches Museum based in Munich. At that point in time, little to nothing was known about the aircraft's provenance and true identity. Restoration work to the plane carried out in Germany in 1980 revealed the plane's Dutch nationality markings (including its roundels) and a registration number. More recent and extensive German research showed beyond doubt that the aircraft is Dutch, although its identity cannot be ascertained with certainty. Which was reason enough for the German museum staff to look into matters more closely and get in touch with their colleagues in the Netherlands. Intensive investigation In spite of the fact that the investigation is still ongoing, the Deutsches Museum - in part based on the investigations carried out by their Dutch colleagues - has announced its intention to loan the Fokker D.VII to the Netherlands. The past two years saw both parties work closely side by side as befits good professional colleagues, although important factual elements are not known yet, which leaves questions unanswered. The time span between May 1940, when the Fokker D.VII carrying registration number D-28 was demonstrably still in the Netherlands, and December 1945, when the D.VII was uncovered in a barn in the Bavarian town of Vilsbiburg, remains one big black hole. Fokker D.VII on its way to the Netherlands Given the many questions that remain unanswered, there is no legal basis for restitution at the present time. This is why the plane is provisionally going on display at the National Military Museum for the next five years, starting in September 2025. In the meantime, the investigation is set to continue in both countries. National Military Museum The NMM in Soesterberg is one of the three Royal Defence Museums in the Netherlands. Acting jointly, we are keen to raise awareness amongst the public at large of the fact that freedom is not to be taken for granted. We want to do justice to the Armed Forces' contribution to our national history and their role in protecting our peace and freedom. For more details, go to NMM.nl or follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2638945/Fokker_DVII.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/first-world-war-type-fokker-dvii-returns-to-the-netherlands-302401031.html Regulatory News: Carmila (Paris:CARM) acknowledges the decision of the French Competition Authority, which brings an end to the exemption period regarding the takeover of Galimmo's shopping galleries, finalised today. In accordance with the conclusions of the Competition Authority, Carmila will initiate discussions with potential buyers to proceed with the disposal of the Villers Semeuse shopping gallery in 2025. This site, covering an area of 4,761 sqm and comprising 20 units, represents less than 0.2% of the Group's asset portfolio and rental income. This decision is in line with the Group's expectations and will have no significant impact on Carmila, which confirms its financial targets. INVESTOR AGENDA 17 April 2025 (after market close): First-quarter 2025 financial information 14 May 2025: Annual General Meeting 23 July 2025 (after market close): First-half 2025 results 24 July 2025: First-half 2025 results presentation 23 October 2025 (after market close): Third-quarter 2025 financial information ABOUT CARMILA As the third-largest listed owner of commercial property in Europe, Carmila was founded by Carrefour and large institutional investors in order to enhance the value of shopping centres adjoining Carrefour hypermarkets in France, Spain and Italy. At 31 December 2024, its portfolio was valued at 6.7 billion, and is made up of 251 shopping centres with leading positions in their catchment areas. Carmila is listed on Euronext-Paris Compartment A under the symbol CARM. It benefits from the tax regime for French real estate investment trusts ("SIIC"). Carmila has been a member of the SBF 120 since 20 June 2022. IMPORTANT NOTICE Some of the statements contained in this document are not historical facts but rather statements of future expectations, estimates and other forward-looking statements based on management's beliefs. These statements reflect such views and assumptions prevailing as of the date of the statements and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause future results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Please refer to the most recent Universal Registration Document filed in French by Carmila with the Autorite des marches financiers for additional information in relation to such factors, risks and uncertainties. Carmila has no intention and is under no obligation to update or review the forward-looking statements referred to above. Consequently, Carmila accepts no liability for any consequences arising from the use of any of the above statements. This press release is available in the "Regulated information" section of Carmila's Finance webpage: https://www.carmila.com/en/regulated-information View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313004658/en/ Contacts: INVESTOR AND ANALYST CONTACT Pierre-Yves Thirion CFO pierre_yves_thirion@carmila.com +33 6 47 21 60 49 PRESS CONTACT Elodie Arcayna Corporate Communications Director elodie_arcayna@carmila.com +33 7 86 54 40 10 NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Competitive Ranking by global intelligence firm ABI Research finds that Siemens AG is the leading provider of software for green hydrogen production, narrowly beating Schneider Electric to the top spot overall, leading the market across innovation and implementation criteria. Companies assessed and ranked include: Market Leaders: Siemens AG, Schneider Electric Mainstream: ABB, AspenTech, Homer Energy Followers: Rockwell Automation, SLB, ZeroAvia "As green hydrogen production capacity is increasingly established in key markets, demand for technologies that facilitate generation is accelerating. Hydrogen producers are actively seeking partners that can help accommodate the demand escalation forecasted from 2026/2027 onwards, by offering software for the design, construction, operation, scaling, and replication of physical electrolysis processes," explains Daniel Burge, Research Analyst at ABI Research. The ranking evaluated software vendors based on several key factors, including the impact of their solutions on the capital and operational expenses (CAPEX and OPEX) associated with H2 production costs. It also considered the breadth of their portfolios and how well they support entire plant lifecycles. The evaluation examined how well their solutions accommodate different types of electrolysis (alkaline, PEM, and solid oxide), the geographical reach and strength of their partnerships, the extent to which their solutions are already in use by large-scale producers, and how effectively their portfolios support smaller-scale, on-site green hydrogen generation. Siemens AG leads the market, closely followed by Schneider Electric, with ABB following in third place. Siemens positioned first due to its established partnerships in preeminent green H2 production regions, market-leading digital twins, and extensive, dedicated fleet management capabilities. According to Burge, "Comprehensive offerings that cover the lifecycle of production, from initial design through to the expansion and replication of operational plants, are essential for the emergent green hydrogen ecosystem. This is a commodity market where scale is crucial. Resultantly, end-to-end solutions that can support extremely large productive capacities, across multiple regions, will be vital for up to 90% of future generation." "Simultaneously, enterprise-level electrolysis is expected to gain traction as hydrogen solutions are adopted by distributed energy resource owners. Vendors like Homer Energy and ZeroAvia offer stage and industry specific solutions and will play an important role by providing dedicated software for smaller-scale producers. Their unique strengths offer lessons for other, larger vendors in the developing market for green hydrogen," Burge concludes. These findings are from ABI Research's Software for Green Hydrogen Production Competitive Ranking report. This report is part of the company's Smart Energy for Enterprises and Industries research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. About ABI Research ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology solution providers and end-market companies. We serve as the bridge that seamlessly connects these two segments by providing exclusive research and expert guidance to drive successful technology implementations and deliver strategies proven to attract and retain customers. ABI Research?????????????,?????????,???????????????????????,??????????????,??????????????????????????,?????????? For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific, or visit www.abiresearch.com. Contact Info: Global Deborah Petrara Tel: +1.516.624.2558 pr@abiresearch.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2309035/ABI_Research_2024.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/siemens-ag-and-schneider-electric-take-the-lead-in-abi-researchs-software-for-green-hydrogen-production-competitive-ranking-302400712.html Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. (TSX: XTG) (OTCQB: XTGRF) ("Xtra- Gold" or the "Company"); is pleased to announce today that the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has accepted a noticed filed by the Company of its intention to renew its prior normal course issuer bid for a further one-year period. The Company intends to proceed with a normal course issuer bid to purchase up to 4,000,000 common shares of the Company (the "2025 Bid"). The Company is commencing the 2025 Bid, because it believes that the current market price of its common shares may not fully reflect the underlying value of the Company's business and its future business prospects. The Company believes that the purchase of common shares for cancellation is in the best interests of the Company's shareholders by increasing the respective proportionate shareholdings and therefore increasing the respective equity interest in the Company for all remaining shareholders. As of March 6, 2025, the Company has 45,944,217 common shares issued and outstanding. The 4,000,000 common shares that may be purchased by the Company under the 2025 Bid represent approximately 10% of the public float (40,885,362 as of March 6, 2025) of the Company. The 2025 Bid will commence on March 18, 2025, and will terminate on March 17, 2026, or at such an earlier date if the number of shares sought in the 2025 Bid has been repurchased. The Company reserves the right to terminate the 2025 Bid earlier if it feels that it is appropriate to do so. All shares will be purchased on the open market through the facilities of the TSX, and payment for the common shares will be in accordance with TSX policies. The price paid for the common shares will be the market price at the time of purchase. Purchasing may be suspended at any time, and no purchases will be made other than by means of open market transactions during the term of the 2025 Bid. The maximum number of common shares that may be purchased daily is 2,864 common shares representing 25% of the average daily trading volume 11,459 for the last six calendar months, except where purchases are made in accordance with "block purchases" exemptions under applicable TSX policies. The common shares purchased by the Company will be cancelled. The Company has engaged Haywood Securities Inc. to act as broker through which the 2025 Bid will be conducted. Previous purchases were made by the Company under a prior normal course issuer bid (the "2024 Bid"), the results of which are noted hereunder. Results of 2024 Bid Pursuant to a previous notice of intention to conduct a normal course issuer bid, under which Company sought and received approval from the TSX to purchase up to 4,000,000 Common Shares for the period of March 18, 2024 to March 17, 2025, the Company has purchased, as of March 6, 2025, 165,700 Common Shares on the open market at an average purchase price of $1.61 per share. As of March 6, 2025, the issued and outstanding number of Common Shares is 45,944,217 shares and the public float of the Common share is 40,885,362 shares. About Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. Xtra-Gold is a gold exploration company with a substantial land position in the Kibi Gold Belt, in Ghana West Africa. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244346 SOURCE: Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Stardust Solar Energy Inc. (TSXV: SUN) ("Stardust Solar" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its expanding presence in the Lone Star State with a new franchise awarded to James and Valerie Mosley in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Stardust Solar now has a total of 80 franchise territories across North America. This franchise forms part of the couple's investment in two territories, including one previously established in Columbia, South Carolina. With a growing population of over 7.5 million people, Dallas-Fort Worth is one of America's most dynamic regions for residential and commercial solar installations. The Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) territory will initially encompass Arlington and Grand Prairie, positioning the new franchise at the heart of a fast-growing metropolitan area with significant demand for clean energy solutions. Supportive state incentives, favorable sunshine levels, and increased consumer interest in reducing energy costs have created a prime environment for solar adoption. "Expanding into Dallas-Fort Worth reinforces our strategy of targeting high-growth regions with strong demand for solar energy," said Mark Tadros, Founder and CEO of Stardust Solar. "James Mosley's track record-both as a veteran and as a leader in the renewable space-makes him well-suited to champion our mission of delivering cost-effective, sustainable power to Texas communities." Along with the DFW franchise, the Mosleys have the option to secure additional regional markets, which could represent up to 27 new territories and over $855,000 USD in potential franchise fees over the next 12 months, should they choose to exercise their option. This potential area development agreement could encompass further zones of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and even the greater San Antonio region, highlighting Stardust Solar's commitment to accelerating clean energy growth throughout the state. "Dallas-Fort Worth is the perfect stage to showcase the impact of solar power," said James T. Mosley. "We look forward to helping families and businesses here reduce their carbon footprints while enjoying lower utility bills." About Stardust Solar Stardust Solar is a North American franchisor of renewable energy installation services, specializing in solar panels (PV), energy storage systems, and electric vehicle supply equipment. The Company equips entrepreneurs with branded business management services, cutting-edge equipment, and comprehensive support, including marketing, sales, engineering, and project management. With franchises across Canada and the United States, Stardust Solar drives the adoption of clean energy solutions that boost economic development and create a more sustainable future. Disclaimer: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements, including statements relating to the Company's business plans and expected future growth, expected franchise expansions, the outlook of future operations, revenue growth, new opportunities and the demand for the Company's products. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention. It assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244401 SOURCE: Stardust Solar Energy Inc. KINGSPORT, Tenn., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Japanese cosmetics company FANCL launches "toiro," a new skincare line with reusable packaging made with Eastman Tritan copolyester . Taking an important step towards circular beauty, FANCL's latest skincare brand offers consumers a reusable primary package and refillable cartridges. After a one-time purchase of the shatter-proof Tritan cosmetic bottle and cap, consumers will only need to buy refill cartridges, significantly reducing plastic waste. FANCL fans have been thrilled with the toiro packaging, lauding the high-quality Tritan bottle and its benefits for reusable packaging. FANCL leadership has noted that their customers grew up learning about sustainability, so they're eager to embrace products like toiro. Tritan has proven to be a great material for this product because it delivers both quality packaging and reusability, allowing people to add sustainability to their skin care routine. By selecting Tritan, FANCL provides reusable packaging renowned for its exceptional durability and resistance to breakage. Throughout the life of the Tritan bottle, consumers can also be assured of the potency of FANCL's signature preservative-free skincare products. And consumers can feel good about keeping single-use plastic products out of landfills. "FANCL needed a material that could check a lot of boxes for this new line," said Tara Cary, Eastman's market manager for Cosmetic Packaging. "From durability and chemical resistance to aesthetics, Tritan addressed all those challenges. We love working with brands like FANCL who are committed to making sustainable products without compromise." About FANCL FANCL Corporation is a Japanese company that manufactures and sells cosmetics and health food products. It has pioneered the development of "additive-free cosmetics" that do not use preservatives or other additives that can cause skin problems, offering safe, reliable and highly functional cosmetics. FANCL has also created the concept of "supplements" in Japan's health food market, providing high-quality health food products with solid scientific evidence to help people lead healthy and abundant lives. For more details about FANCL, please visit fancl.jp . About Eastman Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman is committed to safety, innovation and sustainability. Headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA, it had 2023 revenues of approximately $9.2 billion. For more information, visit? www.eastman.com . Media Contact: Eastman Jacob Teetzmann, APR jteetzmann@tombras.com +1.423.494.3673 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2400246/Eastman_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640418/Eastman_x_FANCL_Logo.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640419/Eastman_FANCL_toiro.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/fancl-embracing-reusable-trend-in-skincare-with-eastman-tritan-packaging-302400375.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Velocity Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: VLC) (OTCQB: VLCJF) ("Velocity" or the "Company") provides an update on project generation work in northern Greece. The Company has been active in Greece for approximately 18 months, visiting historical mineral occurrences, completing geological mapping, rock sampling and prospecting. In connection with this generative strategy, the Company is pleased to announce that it has been granted an exploration license located in northern Greece ("Miriofito" or the "Property") (Figure 1). Figure 1: Regional Map and location of the Miriofito Property showing location of major porphyry, epithermal and skarn / replacement deposits. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4368/244385_28c32e3334067a31_002full.jpg Miriofito Copper-Gold Mineralization Historically reported copper-gold mineralization has been observed in outcrop by the Company's technical team during their reconnaissance work. Chip-channel rock sampling by the Company (n=36) over widths of 1m to 3m returned encouraging grades from below detection up to 6.61 g/t gold, 0.3% copper, and 4.2 g/t silver (Table 1). Miriophito is a polymetallic copper-gold-silver-lead-zinc vein-replacement type system hosted in a carbonate rock environment at the strongly sheared contact with mica and amphibolite schists. Gold-bearing sphalerite-chalcopyrite-covelline-galena-pyrite quartz veins are found in carbonate and in a strongly sheared marble-schist contact as well as at places controlled by low-angle northwest faults in silicified mica gneiss. The Company is targeting carbonate replacement mineralisation similar to that observed at the Olympias deposit which is owned by Eldorado Gold (15.1 Mt at 8.97 g/t gold, 146 g/t silver, 4.9% lead, and 6.5% zinc) and is part of the same belt. Copper-gold porphyry targets will also be evaluated due to the proximity of known porphyry deposits in the belt (Figure 1). Readers are cautioned that the Olympias deposit discussed above is an adjacent property and that Velocity has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in the deposit, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties, and any production therefore or economics with respect thereto, are not in any way indicative of mineral deposits on Velocity's Miriofito property or the potential production from, or cost or economics of, any future mining of any of Velocity's mineral properties. Next Steps The planned work program includes stream sediment screening of the entire exploration license as well as regional and detailed geological mapping. Geochemical rock and soil sampling and hydrothermal spectral analysis. Various geophysical surveys are planned to include 110-line km of ground magnetics, 20-line km of IP Resistivity and ground gamma spectrometry. This initial work program is designed to delineate priority targets for drill testing and is expected to be the subject of a planned initial NI 43-101 Technical Report. The Company continues to evaluate additional staking and tender opportunities in the region. Figure 2: Large mineralized boulder recorded in marble quarry displaying carbonate replacement pyrrhotite-magnetite+/-pyrite interlayer in marble. 1m chip channel sample (73998, Table 1) grades 6.61 g/t gold, 0.3% copper, with trace silver, zinc and lead. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4368/244385_28c32e3334067a31_003full.jpg Table 1: Chip -Channel Rock Sampling Results Sample_ID Width (m) Au (ppm) Ag (ppm) Cu (ppm) Pb (ppm) Zn (ppm) VIN73964 1.00 0.597 1.6 415 922 107 VIN73965 1.50 0.628 4.5 1240 633 43 VIN73966 0.60 0.263 0.4 6 10 53 VIN73967 2.00 0.064 0 265 20 47 VIN73968 1.00 0.014 0 685 19 68 VIN73969 2.00 0.13 3.7 41 52 44 VIN73970 1.00 3.58 4.2 177 152 16 VIN73971 1.00 0.017 0 3 2 4 VIN73972 1.00 0.473 9.8 484 20020 105 VIN73973 1.00 0.01 0 15 45 9 VIN73974 1.00 0.047 0.7 103 4680 112 VIN73975 1.50 0.032 7.8 104 726 122 VIN73976 1.00 0.175 0.8 1075 1190 114 VIN73977 1.00 0.535 8.4 607 3210 463 VIN73978 1.50 0.045 0.9 422 842 92 VIN73979 1.00 0.023 0 41 116 184 VIN73980 1.00 0 0 10 77 57 VIN73981 0.50 0.009 0 80 50 196 VIN73982 0.50 0.005 0 26 10 56 VIN73983 0.50 0 0 77 6 51 VIN73984 1.00 0.013 0 41 13 50 VIN73985 1.00 0.171 0 197 19 32 VIN73986 1.00 0.007 0 100 8 8 VIN73987 1.00 0.017 0 59 14 43 VIN73988 1.00 0.012 0 16 16 38 VIN73989 1.00 0.083 0 54 10 25 VIN73990 1.00 0.014 0 44 11 92 VIN73991 1.00 0 0 3 5 12 VIN73992 1.00 0.037 0.3 68 123 6 VIN73993 3.00 1.28 0.5 1015 42 197 VIN73994 2.00 0.016 0.5 406 207 1535 VIN73995 1.00 0.046 5 1630 1150 1085 VIN73996 1.00 0.026 0 38 87 831 VIN73997 1.00 0 0 5 11 32 VIN73998 1.00 6.61 2.8 2980 29 105 VIN73999 1.00 0.018 0 83 13 60 Incentive Stock Options The Company announces that it has granted 3,565,000 common share stock options (each, an "Option") to various directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company and its affiliates. The Options entitle the holder to purchase shares at a price of $0.17 per share for a period of 5 years from the issue date. Options will vest over 3 years, beginning 6 months from the date of issue and vesting in equal tranches bi-annually thereafter. Including this issuance, the Company has now set Options representing 8.0% of the issued and outstanding stock. About Miriofito The Miriofito property falls within the Kilkis mineral district which is part of the Greek segment of the Serbo-Macedonian metallogenic province host of world class copper-gold deposits. The 9.72km2 property has potential for multiple mineral deposit types including carbonate replacement, vein and copper porphyry. The license is granted for an initial 3-year period. The project is in a remote, unpopulated area, located outside Natura 2000 environmental protection areas. Quality Assurance / Quality Control The work programs in Greece are designed and supervised by Georgi Magaranov, P. Geo., Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, consulting geologist who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project rigorously collect and track samples which are then security sealed and shipped to ALS Global laboratory in Romania for sample preparation and subsequent analysis. All rock samples are assayed using 30-gram fire assay with atomic absorption finish and ME-ICP41. Quality Assurance and quality control procedures include the systematic insertion of standards and duplicates into the sample streams. Field duplicate samples are taken every 25 samples and standards and blanks are inserted after every 20th sample. All data collected in the field and assay results from the laboratories are routinely verified and entered in a master database. Qualified Person The technical content of this release has been approved for disclosure by EurGeol Georgi Magaranov, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Magaranov is not independent of the Company as he is a consultant to the Company and holds incentive stock options. About Velocity Minerals Ltd. Velocity is a precious metal and copper explorer focused in Europe. Velocity has entered into definitive agreements to sell all of its Bulgarian assets, through a share purchase and option agreement made as of February 24, 2025 with Turker Global Madencilik Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.. Closing is subject to customary conditions precedent, including, without limitation, receipt of all necessary shareholder, board, third party and regulatory (including TSXV) consents and approvals. The Transaction requires a favourable vote of 66 2/3% of the votes cast by Velocity shareholders and Velocity has set a shareholder meeting date of April 15, 2025, to approve the Transaction. On Behalf of the Board of Directors "Keith Henderson" President & CEO For further information, please contact: Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward looking information can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of the Property in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of the Property, and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development and mine development activities at the Property, estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals and copper, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, possible failures of plants, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays or the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSX Venture Exchange acceptance, financing or other planned activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics, and their impact on the Company's business, risks related to joint venture operations, and risks related to the integration of acquisitions, as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual management's discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244385 SOURCE: Velocity Minerals Ltd. With the growing popularity of miniature cattle, the 5T Mini-Cow Ranch in Reno, Nevada is aiming to meet that demand by bringing the charm and uniqueness of mini-cows to families, hobby farmers, and sustainable living enthusiasts across the nation. 5T Mini-Cow Meet the Mini-Cows of 5T Mini-Cow Ranch: Perfectly Sized for Residential Properties The rise in popularity of miniature cows is due to a number of reasons, including their manageable size, affectionate nature, and suitability for smaller spaces. Unlike standard-sized cattle, mini-cows require much less land and feed, making them particularly ideal for small ranches, hobby farms, and even spacious suburban backyards. Mini Highlands For Sale 5T Mini-Cow Ranch has made a name for itself as a premier breeder of miniature Highland, HighPark, and mixed-breed cows, ensuring that customers receive quality livestock raised with care. In addition to cute miniature cows, the ranch enriches the diversity of its farm-friendly animals by also raising Nigerian Dwarf goats. The customer base for these unique animals ranges from small-scale farmers and hobbyists to families and individuals passionate about sustainable living. Whether customers are looking for a miniature Highland Cow as a pet, a sustainable livestock option, or simply a new charming addition to the homestead, the miniature cattle from 5T Mini-Cow Ranch are able to adapt well to a variety of settings, from rural farms to urban homesteads. And for potential buyers who aren't local to the Nevada area, 5T Mini-Cow Ranch will assist in coordinating transportation to ensure a smooth and stress-free process for customers nationwide. About 5T Mini-Cow Ranch With over 30 years of experience in alfalfa and cattle operations, the Tompkins family brings deep-rooted expertise and a passion for responsible breeding. Every calf at 5T Mini-Cow Ranch is raised with hands-on care, resulting in well-socialized and affectionate animals that make wonderful additions to any property. Their dedication to breeding gentle, healthy, and high-quality mini-cows has positioned them as the top choice for miniature cattle in Reno, Nevada, and beyond. To learn more about the 5T Ranch mini cows, visit www.5tminis.com or reach out via email at stephanie@5tholdings.com. Follow @5t_minicows on Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates, and for those eager to experience the ranch firsthand, farm visits and photography sessions are available by appointment. SOURCE: 5tminis Related Images First Open Ecosystem Debuts with Industry-Leading Integration LOS ANGELES, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Martech industry is at a turning point, and Entirely is leading the charge. Launching officially in the U.S. at Henry Stewart DAM LA 2025, Entirely introduces the world's first open ecosystem. A Bold Vision for Marketing Technology Entirely is a community and a catalyst for marketing that matters. Entirely is built as an open ecosystem consisting of a mosaic of composable solutions. The goal is simple: To align the best of marketing technology by offering a clear path forward to enterprise-wide benefits and measurable results. Scott Brinker, editor of chiefmartec, recognizes the disruptive impact of this new open ecosystem: "The future of marketing technology is composability. Businesses need the flexibility to combine different products together to serve their specific needs. They need the freedom to plug in new, emerging technologies quickly and seamlessly. It's great to see Entirely embracing this model at the core of its product strategy and value proposition to customers." From Vision to Execution: Censhare & Marmind Join Forces "With Entirely, we are building the first operating system for an open ecosystem that enables companies to orchestrate, curate and scale composable customer experiences at scale," says Tobias Ackermann, Member of the Entirely Management Board. "Phase 1 of this vision is now a reality. The Censhare-Marmind combined solution and ecosystem integration shows how marketing teams can finally unify budgeting, planning, intelligent asset management and omnichannel content distribution, and performance reporting within a seamless experience." As proof of Entirely's vision in action, Censhare and Marmind - two of the four founding brands behind Entirely - are unveiling their first-ever fully connected solution at DAM LA 2025. This product-level and go-to-market alignment unites Marketing Resource Management (MRM), Digital Asset Management (DAM), Product Information Management (PIM), and Content Management System (CMS)-solving marketing's most significant operational challenges with one seamless, combined solution. For the first time, marketing teams can budget, plan, execute, and optimize campaigns end-to-end within a single Marketing Cockpit. Introducing the Entirely Summit: Lisbon 2025 To showcase the next phase of its open ecosystem, Entirely will host its Summit from October 28 to 30 in Lisbon, Portugal. The Summit will feature: Beta Launch of the Entirely Open Ecosystem Expert Keynotes on AI, composability, and the future of marketing technology Customer Showcases highlighting early adopters Partner Presentations from leading ISVs and technology providers Hands-on Labs & Workshops with the Entirely platform Go to http://entirely.com/summit to find out more. About Entirely Entirely is an open ecosystem enabling customers to drive business outcomes at scale. We are building a whole world of marketing technology - bringing together the best established and emerging solutions to unlock their full potential and drive what matters most. The future of Martech is not just connected - it is aligned. Our flexible approach unites innovative solutions from established and emerging partners, leveraging AI to shift marketing from execution to strategy. By embracing complexity, we unlock potential and drive real, measurable impact. Founded by Marmind, Censhare, Elaine, and Facelift, Entirely is building a whole new world of marketing technology - more than a product or platform. It is a community and a catalyst for marketing that matters. For more information, visit www.entirely.com Van Diamandakis Vdiamandakis-ext@censhare.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/entirely-launches-in-the-us-at-dam-la-2025-a-new-era-for-martech-begins-302401075.html Tech-enabled partnership with Legal Decoder focused on legal spend optimization drove 25% cost reduction while surfacing long-term efficiency gains NEW YORK, March 13, 2025, a tech-enabled legal and professional services company, has been honored by the Association of Corporate Counsel as a 2025 Value Championalongside UBS, a global financial services company, supported by technology from Legal Decoder. This prestigious recognition honors organizations that demonstrate creative and value-based legal management skills, driving both internal efficiencies and industry-wide transformation. The award recipients were honored for their innovative project, "UBS and Credit Suisse Outside Counsel Management Integration: AI-Powered Optimization with UnitedLex and Legal Decoder." The merger of UBS and Credit Suisse presented a significant challenge: the seamless integration of Credit Suisse's open legal matters and external law firms into UBS's legal operations. To address this, UBS's Outside Counsel Management Team, led by John Burke and Vincenzo Purificato, partnered with Chris Ochs of UnitedLex and Joe Tiano of Legal Decoder to conduct a comprehensive AI-driven analysis of the top 25 matters transitioning from Credit Suisse to UBS using detailed line-item billing data. This approach allowed UBS to identify opportunities to improve work allocation, staffing models, fee arrangements, and billing practices across the portfolio. Working closely with the UBS in-house legal team, the results of the analysis were put into action and ultimately the project delivered a 25% reduction in legal spend across this substantial portfolio of matters, while ensuring stronger budget controls and long-term efficiency improvements. "At the heart of this project was the close collaboration between the UBS Outside Counsel Management team, the UBS in-house legal team, and UnitedLex, to turn analytic insights into meaningful action," said John Burke, Managing Director, Outside Counsel Management, UBS. "This was a truly collective effort, requiring precision, professionalism, and objectivity from all stakeholders. We delivered a level of success that speaks to the strength of our partnership and the value of a data-driven approach." By integrating data-driven decision-making into UBS's legal operations, this project strengthened a foundation for sustainable legal cost management, establishing a roadmap for ongoing spend analysis, monitoring, and strategic decision making. "This project is a testament to what is possible when strategic leadership, deep expertise, and cutting-edge technology come together to solve complex problems," said Chris Ochs, Vice President, Outside Counsel Management, UnitedLex. "Our data-driven approach gave us clear, actionable insights - allowing us to pinpoint opportunities, act decisively, and drive lasting efficiency and value. We didn't just analyze the data, we used it to implement real, measurable change." With a global presence and a focus on sectors such as health, energy, and technology, UnitedLex has consistently demonstrated the capacity to develop transformative solutions that increase the scope and efficiency of its clients. Now with its third Value Champions Award since 2021, UnitedLex joins a group of esteemed organizations from around the world, including FedEx, PepsiCo, and Ferring Pharmaceuticals, in receiving this distinguished accolade. The award will be presented on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 4:15 PM CT during the opening of ACC Legal Ops Con 2025. About UnitedLex UnitedLex is the preeminent business partner for legal delivering solutions that achieve value and drive growth for corporate legal departments and law firms in the areas of litigation and investigations, intellectual property, legal operations, contracts, and incident response. Founded in 2006, we co-create solutions that mitigate risk, drive revenue, and optimize business investment-transforming the legal function into a catalyst for success. Our team of 3,000+ legal and business professionals, data analysts, technologists, and engineers support our clients from operational centers around the world. About UBS UBS is a global financial services company providing wealth management, investment banking, asset management, and financial advisory services. About Legal Decoder Legal Decoder is an AI-powered analytics platform that provides deep insights into legal billing data, timekeeper activity, and law firm efficiency. By leveraging machine learning, Legal Decoder helps corporate legal departments optimize spend, improve billing transparency, and streamline legal operations. Press Inquiries Susan Hammann Director, Strategic Communications press@unitedlex.com EisnerAmper today announced the addition of EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l.to the EisnerAmper Global network. EisnerAmper Global is an international network of independent member firms created to address the specialized audit, tax, and advisory needs of clients worldwide. Our expansion into Luxembourg will allow EisnerAmper Global to provide expert guidance to clients seeking to raise capital internationally through Luxembourg, a key global financial center. With deep expertise in local structuring, reporting, and regulatory requirements, EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l. will provide clients with the information and guidance to successfully manage complex and time-sensitive issues in a dynamic environment. "Luxembourg's position as a global financial hub makes it an attractive domicile for investors, and there is a need within our growing private equity client base for local expertise and audit solutions," said Irina Gershengoren, Partner at EisnerAmper and Director at EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l. "Consideration of regulations and Luxembourg reporting obligations is crucial. We're excited to collaborate with EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l. whose expertise will help clients navigate local requirements and ensure regulatory compliance." Clients of EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l., through its membership with EisnerAmper Global, will have the potential to access a full suite of resources to support essential business needs, including: Accounting and financial statement preparation Audits of financial statements Fund structuring and formation support Tax planning, preparation, and regulatory compliance services Advisory, consulting, and outsourcing services "We are excited to join EisnerAmper Global and provide premium service to clients, while complying with the reporting requirements for Luxembourg's Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier," said Ilias Ntougas, Director at EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l. "Leveraging the global network, we will be able to provide EisnerAmper Global clients with expanded access to Europe through this highly sought-after jurisdiction." "We're proud to be one of the leading professional services firms servicing the financial services industry, and we're committed to supporting our clients globally with top-tier audit, tax and advisory services," said Peter Cogan, Managing Partner, Financial Services at EisnerAmper and Chair of EisnerAmper Global. "Welcoming EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l. into EisnerAmper Global further strengthens our network as a leading business advisory services firm in this important European market." For more information, please visit: EisnerAmper Luxembourg S.a r.l. About EisnerAmper EisnerAmper, one of the largest business consulting firms in the world, is comprised of EisnerAmper LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm that provides client attest services; and Eisner Advisory Group LLC, an alternative practice structure that provides business advisory and non-attest services in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, standards and codes of conduct. Clients are in all sectors and leverage a complete menu of service offerings. Our combined entities include approximately 450 partners and 4,500 employees. For more information, please visit eisneramper.com, and be sure to follow us on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313656077/en/ Contacts: Media Peregrine Communications: eisneramper@peregrinecommunications.com The 2023-2024 Georgia Milestones data reveals that third-grade literacy plays a pivotal role in students' long-term success. Third grade can be the make-or-break moment in a student's academic journey, and this year's 2023-2024 Georgia Milestones Assessment data underscores just how critical early literacy is. The results reveal a striking trend: districts that performed well in third grade saw continued success across all future grade levels, while those that struggled in third grade faced persistent challenges. A new comprehensive study of 15 Georgia school districts examined the link between early literacy achievement and long-term academic outcomes. Researchers analyzed reading proficiency rates for grades 3-12 to identify patterns and correlations, accounting for district size, demographics, and geographic diversity, ensuring a broad and representative analysis. The findings are clear: third-grade reading proficiency strongly predicts future academic success, with an 81% correlation between early gains and later gains. Students who met reading benchmarks in third grade were far more likely to excel in later grades, graduate high school, and succeed in college and careers. Conversely, those who fell behind often struggled to catch up, widening the learning gap over time. "In education, we often talk about closing learning gaps, but this research highlights how important it is to prevent them in the first place," said Ron Kirschenbaum, Managing Partner at ReadTheory. "By focusing on foundational literacy skills in third grade, schools can significantly alter the academic trajectory of their students." Many Georgia districts are already integrating evidence-based literacy solutions that align with state standards. ReadTheory , in particular, has gained much traction among educators. Julia Buff, a teacher in Douglas County, shared, "ReadTheory has helped my students grow, ensuring they are very prepared for our state test at the end of the year." The study also revealed that districts using ReadTheory achieved an average proficiency rate of 56% on the 2023-2034 Georgia Milestones, compared to just 15% in districts that didn't use the program. This 3.7x difference underscores the platform's role in strengthening literacy at every stage of learning. The data aligns with the Nation's Report Card by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which found that only 30% of Georgia fourth graders and 31% of eighth graders are proficient in reading. Grounded in the science of reading, ReadTheory is supporting schools in closing the achievement gap and fundamentally shaping brighter futures for their students. Educators and administrators interested in learning more about ReadTheory's impact are encouraged to explore the platform and request an introduction for deeper insights. About ReadTheory ReadTheory is an adaptive reading platform that helps students build essential literacy skills through engaging, personalized practice. Trusted by millions of educators worldwide, ReadTheory delivers real-time insights and effortless differentiation - so every student gets the right support to grow. For more information, visit www.readtheory.org . SOURCE: ReadTheory The Swiss innovation is celebrated at Rinascente in Rome, in presence of the store managers, the Ambassador of Switzerland and the brand Kenzai Cosmetics ROME, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- We spend hours in front of smartphones, tablets, computers, and televisions-accompanied by an invisible presence: blue light, one of the main causes of skin ageing. To combat its harmful effects, Kenzai Cosmetics' anti-ageing products are arriving in Italy. This Swiss start-up, through innovation, research and a composition of rare and natural ingredients, has developed products that act as a shield against blue light and the impact of pollution, particularly urban smog. The range of natural anti-ageing skincare products by Kenzai Cosmetics-introduced at La Rinascente-offers protection against blue light thanks to rare ingredients such as ectoin and bulbina frutescens sap. This innovative approach earned Kenzai Cosmetics the prestigious 'New Brand of the Year 2024' award at the European Natural Beauty Awards in Stockholm. Natural ingredients and sustainability are key elements of this Swiss company, whose Swiss-made label is synonymous with reliability and quality. The brand avoids chemical synthesis and alcohol, instead using natural Swiss Alpine water and prioritising circular economy principles in its packaging, including glass bottles and airless containers. Kenzai Cosmetics has also received the 'Natrue' certification, a quality seal awarded to natural and organic cosmetics made with GMO-free and 100% natural ingredients. The Swiss ambassador to Italy, Roberto Balzaretti, highlighted the importance of economic relations between Switzerland and Italy, particularly in the field of innovation, including the cosmetics sector: "Italy is a key trading partner for Switzerland, with a strong appeal for high-end brands. Swiss start-ups enjoy a reputation for excellence and innovation in Europe. Cooperation between the two countries helps promote young companies capable of revolutionising their markets." "We are delighted with this partnership with La Rinascente in Italy," said Barbara Darbellay-Moor, co-founder of Kenzai Cosmetics. "Italy is an important step in our international expansion." Her brother, Stephane Moor, who is also a co-founder of the Swiss start-up, spoke about the company's early results in Italy: "They are excellent. We are very proud to be in Italy." For La Rinascente, choosing a start-up brand like Kenzai Cosmetics-which embraces natural ingredients, innovation, and social commitment-is a strategic decision. "This is an increasingly crucial strategy for maintaining a solid and lasting reputation that generates value," said Giorgio Caputo, store manager of La Rinascente in Rome's Piazza Fiume. By positioning itself at the intersection of innovation, natural ingredients, and Swiss excellence, Kenzai Cosmetics is emerging as a pioneering brand in blue light protection-one of the key topics in modern beauty. For more information: Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/16f3b345-effc-4484-be46-cf4347bdbf77 A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6e5ce437-1fde-475a-a178-c891ea741f59 KeyBank's Key4Women will present "Awakening the Power of Women: Igniting Social Impact and Change" a free, one-hour virtual event on Wednesday, March 19th at 1:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. MT / 10:00 a.m. PST. This conversation will have participants embark on a transformative journey that shines as spotlight on the pivotal role women play in addressing critical challenges and igniting social impact. Key4Women National Director, Rachael Sampson, will be joined by Founder and CEO of Women Igniting Change, Robbin Jorgensen in a celebration of Women's History Month. Jorgensen will celebrate the awakening of women's power to lead change with profound significance through compelling stories and actionable insights. In this webinar, participants will learn: How key events in women's history have shaped today's landscape. How women serve as key catalysts for transformational change in their community. How to lead by example by advocating for each other and using personal growth and self-awareness in effecting organizational change. "We are happy to celebrate Women's History Month with this impressive webinar," said Sampson. "Robbin is not only knowledgeable on the impact women have on the world, but lives and breathes it every day. We couldn't be more thrilled to bring this to our participants as we know they will walk away feeling inspired. Robbin Jorgensen is the Founder and CEO of Women Igniting Change, a global purpose driven organization that unleashes the contribution of women around the world. She is a status quo disruptor, human rights activist, female change agent, and global citizen. She helps companies move business and humanity forward through women's leadership and social impact initiatives, drawing from her experience working with women in 31 countries. For more information, contact key4women@keybank.com or register online by March 18th here. About Key4Women Key4Women started in 2005 as a campaign to lend $1 billion to qualified women-owned businesses within three years. The program achieved that in two years and has now generated more than $12 billion in loans to women-owned businesses. Membership in Key4Women is free. In addition to helping women business leaders and owners tap into capital to build and grow their businesses, Key4Women members gain valuable access to a team of local Certified Key4Wome Advisors who advocate, connect and empower women on their journey to financial wellness. For more information, visit key.com/key4women. About KeyBank In 2025, KeyCorp celebrates its bicentennial, marking 200 years of service to clients and communities from Maine to Alaska. To learn more, visit KeyBank Heritage Center. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187 billion at December 31, 2024. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit?https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC. ### View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: KeyBank Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: KeyBank RONN Inc. (OTC PINK:RONN) today announced plans to explore integrating BMW's latest hydrogen engine technology into its upcoming exotic hypercar, marking a significant move in the rapidly evolving hydrogen sector. BMW's recent breakthrough in hydrogen engines-along with its pivot beyond battery electric vehicles (EVs)-further validates hydrogen as a core energy source for the global transportation market. These developments align with RONN's broader hydrogen ambitions, including its First Nations partnerships for up to 10 hydrogen fuel hubs across Canada. Key Highlights BMW's Hydrogen Breakthrough BMW has confirmed it "has now solved the problem of hydrogen engines" and intends to introduce hydrogen-powered models in the near future. This commitment signals the industry's accelerating focus on fuel cells beyond conventional EVs. RONN Inc.'s Hydrogen Supercar Ambitions RONN Inc. plans to evaluate BMW's hydrogen advancements for a new hypercar, a successor to its Scorpion hydrogen-hybrid supercar concept. Founder and CEO Ronn Ford aims to combine hydrogen fuel-cell technology with electric drive, targeting 1,000+ horsepower and a 500+ mile range, all while achieving zero emissions. Expanding Hydrogen Ecosystem RONN continues expanding its hydrogen initiatives through First Nations partnerships. The Company plans to build up to 10 hydrogen fuel hubs across Canada, leverage renewable wind and solar power for green hydrogen production, and develop modular hydrogen vehicle platforms, with prototypes scheduled for 2026. Hydrogen Poised as the Next Big Leap Industry experts increasingly view hydrogen fuel cells as the next frontier in sustainable mobility, offering fast refueling, extended driving ranges, and zero emissions. Governments worldwide are investing heavily in hydrogen infrastructure-underscoring a shift in global decarbonization strategies and opening up new opportunities for both established automakers and emerging innovators. BMW Shifts Gears: From EV Leader to Hydrogen Pioneer BMW's decision to incorporate hydrogen engines alongside its EV lineup represents a milestone for the auto industry. Beyond decades of research and pilot programs (such as the iX5 Hydrogen), the German automaker has teamed up with Toyota to develop next-generation fuel-cell powertrains, aiming for a production model by 2028. Industry analysts see BMW's investment in hydrogen as a meaningful endorsement, suggesting fuel cells have matured beyond niche experimentation and into practical commercialization. RONN Inc. Explores Collaboration with BMW By potentially integrating BMW's proven hydrogen engine technology, RONN Inc. seeks to accelerate the development of an exotic, high-performance hydrogen vehicle. This collaboration could help RONN mitigate technical and engineering risks while propelling the new hypercar's go-to-market timeline. Beyond the automotive realm, the partnership also complements RONN's broader hydrogen infrastructure endeavors-providing synergies for everything from vehicle design to fuel distribution. Shifting Landscape in Transportation A growing cohort of automakers, including Toyota and Hyundai, has continued to invest heavily in fuel-cell programs. As more governments incentivize hydrogen adoption, the global landscape is shifting-recasting hydrogen from a niche alternative into a central pillar of the zero-emission strategy. The convergence of this industry momentum bodes well for early movers like RONN, which seeks to capture rising demand across multiple segments, including supercars, commercial transport, and green energy production. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to planned projects, future operations, strategic initiatives, and growth projections. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about the industry and markets in which RONN Inc. operates, management's beliefs, and assumptions made by management. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to secure necessary financing, regulatory approvals, the success of future product and service offerings, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. RONN Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. About RONN Inc. (OTC: RONN) RONN Inc. is a forward-leaning energy and technology company specializing in hydrogen-based solutions aimed at redefining mobility and infrastructure. Through strategic partnerships, such as its JV with Hydrogen Energy Solutions, RONN Inc. focuses on accelerating the global transition to sustainable energy while delivering value to shareholders and community stakeholders alike. Contact Information Ronn Ford CEO ronn.ford@ronnmotorgroup.com SOURCE: RONN Inc. LONDON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Celnor Group, a UK-based provider of testing, inspection, certification, and compliance, announces the acquisition of New-England based John Turner Consulting, marking a significant development in its growth journey. Founded in 1997, John Turner Consulting (JTC), is a multidisciplinary consulting firm that provides geotechnical testing and engineering, materials sampling and analysis, environmental consulting, building sciences, energy consultants, construction engineering, and inspection services. The US based business of 150 colleagues is led by John Turner, Founder and President, who will continue to lead the business. Headquartered in New Hampshire, JTC operates eight offices/laboratories throughout New England to provide a variety of services to clients throughout the region. The firm serves the healthcare, education, transportation, and infrastructure sectors to support safe and sustainable projects. John's vision has steered JTC from a one-man operation in New Hampshire, to a large and growing firm with technical professionals proudly serving public and private clients in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Michigan and New York. The company is dedicated to enhancing client satisfaction by continuously improving efficiency, quality, and competitiveness in its services. "JTC represents a pivotal moment for Celnor as we expand our coverage beyond the UK and Ireland. The Group has grown significantly?over?the past 18 months, enabling us to support over 1,300 colleagues, 5,500 clients?and deliver annualised revenues of over 130m. Announcing our international expansion is a fantastic way to start 2025." Simon Parrington, CEO and Founder of Celnor comments. "John's decades of experience in the industry and his values align perfectly with Celnor. He remains very active in the daily operations of JTC as well as building relationships with clients. The growth of JTC is impressive and a testament to John and his team, I look forward to working with John and the team over the long term." "I rarely take the time to reflect, but during our annual Manager's summit last February to kick off the 2024 season, I was truly in awe. I'm incredibly proud of how far we've come and the depth of talent on our team. It's an honor to be part of this amazing group of dedicated professionals.?Over the years, many firms have approached me about acquiring JTC, but for the first time, I met someone who truly aligns with our vision. This transition isn't just right for me personally, it will create new accelerated opportunities for the JTC team. We're excited to partner with Celnor as we enter the next phase of our growth journey. This partnership strengthens our commitment to delivering geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting, inspection services, and multidisciplinary solutions for the construction, infrastructure, and built environment sectors. Our vision is to grow our team of experts and deliver first-class compliance solutions across New England and the U.S." John Turner, President of JTC. About Celnor Celnor is a leading provider of regulatory assurance, specialising in testing, inspection, and compliance. Celnor Group, backed by Inflexion, a leading mid-market private equity firm with 11bn assets under management, consists of over 20 member companies, that deliver essential data, consultancy, and insights to over 5,500 clients, helping protect people, property, and the environment. Founded in 2023 by Simon Parrington Group CEO, London-based Celnor has rapidly grown to a team of over 1,300 colleagues across 30 UK locations. About JTC John Turner Consulting (JTC), founded in 1997, is a provider of mission-critical testing, inspection, and compliance-driven services to the construction, infrastructure, and built environment sectors throughout North-East USA. With eight strategically located offices, JTC serves clients throughout New England, and beyond. JTC has a strong presence in the transportation sector, working with Department of Transportation bodies in New England, as well as companies in the real estate, construction, and environmental risk management sectors. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2635993/Celnor_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2635994/JTC_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/celnor-group-completes-first-international-acquisition--new-england-based-john-turner-consulting-302398171.html BARCELONA, Spain, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- During MWC Barcelona 2025, the World Broadband Association (WBBA) hosted an industry summit themed "Smarter Broadband: Investment. Innovation. Intelligence." It, along with industry organizations, released the Net5.5G Best Practices & Deployment Guide Whitepaper (the Whitepaper), aiming to accelerate the global commercial deployment of Net5.5G and pave the way for the intelligent era. The Whitepaper showcases the widespread adoption of Net5.5G worldwide. This signifies that a consensus on Net5.5G as the next-generation network infrastructure is gaining momentum. In June 2024, the WBBA published the Network Evolution For the 5.5G And 6G Era - Net5.5G Architecture Whitepaper. It defines a blueprint for network evolution, including an architecture design blueprint, best practices, deployment guide, and POC results. The Whitepaper released at this summit showcases the latest progress, highlighting Net5.5G's rapid global adoption across five continents and its industry-wide recognition. The Whitepaper presents 15 global cases across carriers, enterprises, governments, industries, and more. It elaborates on the background, key technologies, business benefits, and solutions, providing guidance for building next-generation networks and further expediting the global commercial adoption of Net5.5G. For example, in Europe, Swisscom has also leveraged Net5.5G to provide high-quality and differentiated services for enterprises, offering users more flexible and reliable services. In the Middle East, Zain KSA, a carrier in Saudi Arabia, has utilized Net5.5G to upgrade its links to 400GE, simplifying network connections. In Africa, Airtel in Nigeria, has employed Net5.5G to enhance network performance and reduce O&M costs. In Asia Pacific, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, an Indonesian carrier, has adopted Net5.5G to enhance digital service experience, thereby shortening the TTM and seizing business opportunities. To address the new requirements in the intelligent era, the Whitepaper defines four new scenarios: computing connection, intelligence connection, data connection, and airspace connection. It also proposes four key technologies of Net5.5G, including ultra-broadband connections, IPv6 Enhanced functionalities, autonomous driving network, and integrated security protection. Through AI routers at the NE layer, AI new connections at the network layer, and AI agents at the operations layer, Net5.5G has built high-quality 10GE campus networks, high-capacity intelligent transport networks, and high-efficiency data center networks. These technologies help carriers reduce costs, increase revenue, and improve efficiency, thereby unlocking new business opportunities. The Whitepaper also details the remarkable achievements of the Net5.5G Pioneer Program proposed by the WBBA. Since its launch in November 2024, the program has made steady progress globally, giving rise to 18 visionary pioneers, 2 region pioneers, and 18 business pioneers. The program has driven improvements in Net5.5G standards, upgrades of regional network infrastructures, and the sharing of global best practices. By 2027, the program is expected to have 100 visionary pioneers, 100 region pioneers, and 100 business pioneers, with Net5.5G networks benefiting global mainstream carriers and enterprises. At the end of the Whitepaper, the WBBA calls on more industry organizations, standards organizations, government agencies, carriers, enterprises, and device vendors to strengthen cooperation and jointly promote Net5.5G innovation in technical standards, policies, and commercial practices. The release of the whitepaper has laid a solid foundation for accelerating the commercial deployment of Net5.5G and fostering the prosperity of the industry ecosystem. With the advent of the intelligent era, Net5.5G will enable customers to seize opportunities in digital transformation and achieve greater business success through its technical advantages and innovation capabilities. For more details, please click the link below to download the full white paper: https://worldbroadbandassociation.com/knowledge-center/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2641032/Net5_5G_Best_Practices_Deployment_Guide_Whitepaper.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/wbba-releases-net5-5g-best-practices--deployment-guide-whitepaper-to-accelerate-global-commercial-deployment-of-net5-5g-302401152.html Discover 360 years of construction, innovation and passion, as we travel the world to see Saint-Gobain teams in action! In our first stop, we visit the United States of America, where climate expert Francois Gemenne learns how Saint-Gobain contributes to building homes that are more resilient through the use of offsite construction, a method where homes are built in a manufacturing facility and assembled onsite. About Saint-Gobain Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group, celebrating its 360th anniversary in 2025, remains more committed than ever to its purpose "MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME". 46.6 billion in sales in 2024 More than 161,000 employees, locations in 80 countries Committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Saint-Gobain on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Saint-Gobain Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/saint-gobain-north-america Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Saint-Gobain VARMT insists on using the finest ingredients, such as Ruichun soy sauce from Yunlin and handmade noodles from Nantou, embodying a dedication to quality in every bite. (Photography: VARMT) (PRNewsfoto/The Icons) TAICHUNG, Taiwan, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A rising star in the culinary world, Varmt, a modern Taiwanese noodle house based in Taichung, is making waves not only in Asia but also across Europe. Known for combining Michelin-level standards with affordable prices, Varmt has quickly gained recognition among European diners and culinary experts for its innovative approach to Taiwanese cuisine. According to a recent report published by The Icons, Varmt has been recently featured in major European media outlets and celebrated as a pioneer of the "next big thing" in Asian dining. The reports highlight the restaurant's ability to blend traditional Taiwanese flavors with modern techniques, positioning it as a benchmark of innovation in the global food industry. Varmt's signature dish, Garlic Chili Oyster Noodles, embodies this unique fusion-combining the comforting essence of Taiwanese classics with bold, contemporary flavors. CEO Lin Sheng-Lien remarked, "At Varmt, we aim to offer more than just a meal; we deliver an experience that connects culture and taste. It's about creating meaningful moments that resonate with our guests." The growing international attention has sparked discussions with leading European restaurant groups and investors about potential collaborations and expansions. Industry experts believe Varmt represents a new wave in Asian cuisine, combining high culinary standards with accessibility. "This restaurant reflects the future of the global culinary industry-a perfect balance of quality and affordability," noted one experienced European investor. The buzz created by European media has also resonated back in Taiwan, strengthening Varmt's domestic reputation. Market analysts highlight the brand's stable business model, strong customer loyalty, and strategic plans for growth-particularly through franchise development and expansion into overseas markets, including Europe. Varmt's commitment to sustainability and community engagement further enhances its brand value. The restaurant sources local ingredients, reduces food waste, and ensures that social responsibility remains at the core of its operations-all while maintaining profitability. Industry insiders see Varmt's innovative spirit and strong growth potential as key factors for future success in the European market. As it continues to attract global interest, Varmt is not just a restaurant-it's a cultural movement redefining Taiwanese cuisine on the world stage. With its rising global reputation and strategic vision, Varmt is well-positioned to become a leading name in the European dining scene, offering both a unique culinary experience and a promising investment opportunity. Through Alan Lin's efforts, VARMT received recognition from the Michelin Guide, a monumental affirmation and encouragement for the entire team. (Photography: VARMT) (PRNewsfoto/The Icons) Media contact The Icons hello@theicons.net The beauty industry is about to experience a groundbreaking event like no other. Beauty New York, a multi-day celebration of beauty and innovation, is coming to New York City. From October 15-18, 2025, this immersive event will unite beauty consumers, industry leaders, influencers, and beauty brands for a transformative experience in the beauty capital of the world. Rooted in New York City's iconic beauty legacy, Beauty New York will be a dynamic platform that inspires, educates, and empowers the beauty industry. This isn't just another event-it's a transformative opportunity to drive growth, elevate the beauty business, and shape the future of the industry. Positioned to become a landmark moment in the beauty world, Beauty New York will showcase the power of creativity, innovation, and community in a market that has generated billions in revenue, fueling both the economy and job growth. "New York City is the largest beauty market in the U.S. on both a dollar and unit basis, and it is growing at a faster rate than total beauty," says Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at market research company Circana. Sales of beauty products in New York City totaled over $8.3 billion dollars in 2024, an increase of 5 percent. "The success of this market is industry-wide, with both mass and prestige retail posting unit growth, which is a strong indicator of the consumer demand in this dynamic city," says Jensen. (Source: Circana Complete Consumer) Beauty New York will feature an exciting mix of brand activations, cutting-edge product showcases, hands-on masterclasses, thought-provoking leadership forums, and a glittering black-tie gala. Consumers are at the heart of this event, where they can engage directly with brands, explore the latest trends, and fuel the innovation that continues to propel the beauty sector to new heights. "Beauty New York is a celebration of the energy, diversity, and brilliance that defines the beauty industry," says Liza Rapay, Vice President, Head of Cosmoprof North America and Founder of Beauty New York. "New York City is the perfect backdrop for this transformative event-an iconic hub where visionaries from around the world can gather. We're creating a space that amplifies voices from all corners of the industry, from emerging brands to established leaders, and helping to propel the entire business forward with the collective power of innovation and collaboration. Most importantly, we're bringing beauty directly to the consumers who drive this industry, offering them a first-hand experience of the trends, brands, and innovations shaping the future." For the industry leaders, the festivities will kick off with the Beauty New York Gala on October 15th at the stunning Hall des Lumieres, an unforgettable evening celebrating the creativity and innovation shaping the future of the beauty industry. On October 16th, the Beauty New York Voices & Visionaries Forum will bring together the brightest minds from both within and outside the beauty industry featuring curated discussions that will inspire new perspectives and set the course for the future of beauty. On October 17th-18th, the Beauty New York Experience, designed with beauty consumers in mind, will take place at an iconic downtown venue, showcasing the latest beauty innovations. Consumers will have the opportunity to explore immersive displays from both established and emerging brands, attend educational masterclasses, and connect directly with brands for personalized experiences and exclusive insights. Beauty New York is more than just a celebration-it's a pivotal event that will help elevate the beauty industry as a whole, creating new opportunities for connection, growth, and innovation across all areas of the business. Don't miss your chance to be part of New York City's beauty week. Tickets will go on sale in June 2025. For more information, early access, and special offers, visit www.beautynewyork.com or stay up to date with the latest news on social @beautynewyorkofficial . About Beauty New York Beauty New York is a groundbreaking, multi-day event coming to the heart of the beauty world-New York City. From October 15th-18th, 2025, this transformative experience will unite beauty consumers, industry leaders, influencers, and beauty brands for the biggest week in beauty. Rooted in New York City's iconic beauty legacy, Beauty New York is more than just an event-it's a dynamic platform that inspires, educates, and empowers the entire beauty community. With an exciting mix of brand activations, cutting-edge product showcases, hands-on masterclasses, thought-provoking forums, and a glittering gala, Beauty New York is designed to drive growth, elevate the beauty industry, and shape its future. At the heart of Beauty New York is the consumer, offering them a unique opportunity to connect directly with the brands shaping the future of beauty. From discovering new trends to gaining exclusive insights, Beauty New York will be a space where creativity, collaboration, and innovation thrive. Founded by Liza Rapay, Beauty New York serves as a reflection of her vision to create a more inclusive and vibrant future for the beauty industry. Beauty New York is organized by USA Beauty LLC, a joint venture between Informa Markets, BolognaFiere and the Professional Beauty Association. Contact: DKC Emily Fleder beautyny@dkcnews.com SOURCE: Informa Markets - USA Beauty The hydrogen aircraft market is driven by factors such as the growing emphasis on sustainable aviation, increasing regulatory support for zero-emission air travel, and continuous advancements in hydrogen propulsion technology. WILMINGTON, Del., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Hydrogen Aircraft Market by Passenger Capacity (Less than 100, 101 to 200, and More than 200), Range (Short Haul (less Than 1000 Km), Medium Haul (1000 to 2000 Km), and Long Haul (above 2000 Km)), Application (Passenger Aircraft, and Cargo Aircraft), Power Source (Liquid Hydrogen Aircraft, Fully Hydrogen Powered Aircraft, Hybrid Electric Aircraft, and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Aircraft), and Power Output (0 To 100 KW, 100 KW To 1 MW, and 1 MW and Above): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2030-2050". According to the report, the global hydrogen aircraft market was valued at $28.3 billion in 2030, and is projected to reach $590.6 billion by 2050, growing at a CAGR of 16.4% from 2030 to 2050. Download Sample Pages of Research Overview: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A08743 Prime determinants of growth The global hydrogen aircraft market is driven by factors such as growing emphasis on sustainable aviation, advancements in hydrogen propulsion technology, and increasing government investments and industry collaborations. The expansion of hydrogen refueling infrastructure and rise in need to reduce carbon emissions in the aviation sector are expected to create lucrative opportunities for market growth. However, challenges such as high initial investment costs, limited hydrogen storage and distribution infrastructure, and technical complexities in hydrogen fuel cell integration are expected to hinder market expansion. Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2030-2050 Base Year 2030 Market Size in 2030 $28.3 Billion Market Size in 2050 $590.6 Billion CAGR 16.4 % No. of Pages in Report 347 Segments covered Passenger Capacity, Range, Application, Power Source, Power Output, and Region Drivers Increase in air passenger traffic across the globe Rise in environmental awareness and zero emission targets High suitability of hydrogen as an aviation fuel Opportunities Proactive government initiatives toward hydrogen powered aircraft Development of green hydrogen ecosystem Restraints Technical challenges related to aircraft design, and hydrogen storage High costs associated with production and handling of hydrogen Buy This Research Report (347 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/eba97c5cee17217184194ebd1e3b3953 The less than 100 segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. By passenger capacity, the less than 100 segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2030, accounting for more than three-fourth of the global hydrogen aircraft market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This dominance is driven by the growing demand for regional and short-haul flights, where hydrogen propulsion is most viable due to current technological limitations. The increasing focus on sustainable air travel and the development of small and mid-sized hydrogen-powered aircraft by leading aerospace manufacturers further support the market growth. The short haul (less Than 1000 Km) segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period By range, the short haul (less Than 1000 Km) segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2030, accounting for more than half of the global hydrogen aircraft market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This segment's dominance is attributed to the early feasibility of hydrogen propulsion for short-haul flights, where fuel storage and infrastructure challenges are more manageable. The increasing demand for regional air travel, coupled with stringent emission regulations, is driving the adoption of hydrogen-powered aircraft for routes under 1,000 km. The passenger aircraft segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period By application, the passenger aircraft segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2030, accounting for more than four-fifth of the global hydrogen aircraft market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This segment's dominance is attributed to the rising demand for sustainable air travel and the aviation industry's commitment to reducing carbon emissions. The development of hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft by major manufacturers, along with increasing government support and funding for green aviation technologies, is further driving growth. The liquid hydrogen segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period By power source, the liquid hydrogen segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2030, accounting for more than half of the global hydrogen aircraft market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Owing to its high energy density and efficiency, liquid hydrogen is the most viable fuel option for hydrogen-powered aircraft, enabling longer flight ranges compared to other hydrogen-based propulsion systems. Advancements in cryogenic storage and fuel management technologies are further enhancing the feasibility of liquid hydrogen for commercial aviation. The 0 to 100 KW segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period By power output, the 0 to 100 KW segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2030, accounting for nearly three-fourth of the global hydrogen aircraft market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. Owing to its suitability for small regional aircraft, drones, and urban air mobility solutions, the 0 to 100 kW segment is expected to dominate the market. This power range aligns with the early adoption phase of hydrogen propulsion, where lightweight, fuel-efficient systems are critical for operational feasibility. North America dominated the market in 2030 Region-wise, North America generated the largest share in 2030, accounting for more than half of the global hydrogen aircraft market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period, owing to strong government support, significant investments in hydrogen aviation research, and the presence of leading aerospace companies. The region is witnessing rapid advancements in hydrogen propulsion technology, supported by initiatives from organizations such as NASA and the FAA to promote sustainable aviation. Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A08743 Leading Market Players: - Thales AeroVironment, Inc. GKN AEROSPACE PIPISTREL URBAN AERONAUTICS LTD Alaka'I Airbus AeroDelft HES Energy Systems ZeroAvia, Inc The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global hydrogen aircraft market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in country. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. Explore AMR's Extensive ongoing Coverage on Consumer and Goods Domain: - Satellite Connectivity Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/satellite-connectivity-market-A17100 - Aircraft Seat Actuation System Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aircraft-seat-actuation-systems-market-A07210 - Aircraft Refurbishing Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aircraft-refurbishing-market-A09100 - Rocket Hybrid Propulsion Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/rocket-hybrid-propulsion-market-A08614 - Hybrid Aircraft Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/hybrid-aircraft-market-A13306 - Spacecraft Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/spacecraft-market-A10721 - Aircraft Mounts Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aircraft-mounts-market-A07208 - Aircraft Lighting Systems Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2030 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aircraft-lighting-systems-market - Aerostructures Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aerostructures-market-A126733 - Aircraft Oxygen System Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aircraft-oxygen-system-market-A13206 - Aerospace Artificial Intelligence Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2028 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aerospace-artificial-intelligence-market-A11337 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact us: David Correa 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/aerospace-and-defence Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hydrogen-aircraft-market-to-reach-590-6-billion-globally-by-2050-at-16-4-cagr-allied-market-research-302401149.html LONDON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Four leading Nord Anglia Education schools have once again secured their place amongst the world's best private schools, as recognised by the prestigious 2025 Spear's Schools Index. The index, often regarded as the definitive guide to the world's 100 leading private schools, acknowledges excellence in education, innovation, and student success. It has been drawn up annually since 2020 by Spear's, their partners at Thuso, and a panel of independent educationalists from around the world. In this year's index, three schools were once again recognised in the "Top 100": College Alpin Beau Soleil and College Champittet in Switzerland, along with Swiss International Scientific School Dubai. Nord Anglia International School Dubai also features in the Spear's Schools Index as a "Recommended" school. Stuart White, Principal at College Alpin Beau Soleil, said: "Our students and colleagues are at the heart of what makes Beau Soleil such a wonderful international community in the Swiss mountains, and I am delighted they have been recognised by Spear's once again. Our focus on a unique blend of academic and alpine education continues to allow students to develop as tomorrow's global leaders." Philippe de Korodi, Principal of College Champittet, said: "College Champittet is dedicated to shaping future leaders who are compassionate, open-minded, and independent thinkers. Our inclusion in the Spear's Index is once more a recognition of our school community's emphasis on values, engagement, and commitment to academic excellence." Ruth Burke, Principal of Swiss International Scientific School Dubai, said: "This accolade inspires us to continue striving for excellence in all aspects of learning and school life, preparing our students to succeed in a rapidly changing world. As a unique bilingual day and boarding school, it is wonderful to be recognised. Thank you to everyone who plays a part in making our school such an exceptional place to learn and grow." About Nord Anglia's featured schools: College Alpin Beau Soleil: A leading private boarding school in Villars-sur-Ollon in the Swiss Alps. It is home to a thriving international community of students aged 11 to 18. College Champittet: A world-class day and boarding international school in Lausanne, Switzerland, offering an outstanding education that instils lifelong values and inspires academic excellence. Swiss International Scientific School Dubai: A co-educational, IB day and boarding school for students aged 3 to 18 in Dubai, with English only, English-French, and English-German bilingual programmes. Nord Anglia International School Dubai: An outstanding British curriculum school where children are inspired to achieve more than they ever thought possible. About Nord Anglia Education: As a leading international schools organisation, we're shaping a generation of creative and resilient global citizens who graduate from our schools with everything they need for success, whatever they choose to be or do in life. Our strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with cutting-edge technology and facilities, creating learning experiences like no other. Inside and outside of the classroom, we inspire our students to achieve more than they ever thought possible. No two children learn the same way, which is why our schools around the world personalise learning to what works best for every student. Inspired by our high-quality teachers, our students achieve outstanding academic results and go on to study at the world's top universities. Our Nord Anglia global family includes 80+ day and boarding schools in 33 countries, teaching over 90,000 students from ages 3 to 18. To learn more or apply for a place for your child at one of our schools, go to nordangliaeducation.com. For media enquiries: David Bates Communications Manager M +44 (0) 7787 135223 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1503193/5215363/Nord_Anglia_Education_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nord-anglia-education-schools-feature-in-2025-spears-schools-index-of-worlds-best-private-schools-302401300.html Camlin Fine Science Limited and certain significant shareholders of Vinpai, including its founders, have entered into an agreement for the acquisition by CFSL of a majority stake in Vinpai This acquisition would be paid in newly ordinary shares of CFSL to be issued at a fixed price of 3.60 per Vinpai shares Regulatory News: This press release must not be published, distributed or transmitted, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan. CAMLIN FINE SCIENCES LIMITED, a leading Indian group in shelf life solutions for flavour and health wellness ingredients, listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Ltd. in Mumbai India ("CFSL") provides some clarification about the terms and conditions of and timetable for the acquisition of a majority stake in Vinpai (ISIN: FR001400AXT1; ticker: ALVIN) (the "Company" or "Vinpai") by CFSL and the filing of a simplified tender offer for Vinpai shares by CFSL. In a press release dated February 24, 2025, Vinpai announced the signature of an agreement with CFSL, for the acquisition by CFSL of a majority stake in the Company's share capital (the "Block Acquisition") as well as the issuance of convertible bonds to the benefit of CFSL representing financing necessary for the continuation of Vinpai's business. Subject to and upon completion of the Block Acquisition, the convertible bonds will be converted into shares of Vinpai and CFSL shall launch a simplified cash tender offer for the remaining shares of Vinpai. Block Acquisition As indicated in the Vinpai's press release dated February 24th, 2025, CFSL and the majority shareholders of Vinpai (the "Sellers"), currently holding together 78.68% of the Company's share capital and 83.73% of its voting rights, including Mr. Cyrille Damany and Mr. Philippe Le Ray1, have entered into an agreement (the "Share Purchase Agreement") relating to the acquisition by CFSL of all Vinpai shares held by the Sellers. Subject to the customary conditions precedent (including notably the absence of a material adverse change affecting one of the parties or the obtaining of the necessary regulatory and corporateauthorizations), the Block Acquisition will be completed at a price of 3.60 per Vinpai shares, it being specified that price having been mutually agreed between the Sellers and CFSL (the "Acquisition Price In consideration for the sale of all of their Vinpai shares, the Sellers will receive newly issued ordinary shares of CFSL (the "CFSL Consideration Shares"), the issuance of which is to be approved by a decision of the general meeting of CFSL shareholders expected to be held on the latest by the end of April 2025 ("CFSL Shareholders' Meeting"). The convening of this CFSL Shareholders' Meeting is subject to the fulfilment of two technical conditions, namely the obtaining by each transferor of an Indian tax identification number (Permanent Account Number or PAN) and the opening by each of them of a dematerialized account with a bank in India (DEMAT Accounts) in order to receive the CFSL Consideration Shares. The subscription price per CFSL Consideration Share shall be calculated in compliance with the pricing rules for preferential issue set out under Chapter V of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 (the "Subscription Price This Subscription Price is unknown at this stage. As indicated in the Vinpai's press release dated February 24th, 2025, the Subscription Price shall be equal to the closing market price of the CFSL shares as quoted on the Recognised Stock Exchanges on the trading day immediately preceding the date of the meeting of the board of directors of CFSL to be convened for determining the price and for calling CFSL Shareholders' Meeting (it being specified that this price per CFSL Consideration Share shall in no event be less than the higher of pricing as set out under Regulation 164 (1) read with Regulation 161 of Chapter V of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 20182 (the "Floor"); if the Floor is higher than the aforementioned price per CFSL share, then the Floor shall be retained for the purpose hereof and become the subscription price per CFSL Consideration Share. In consequence of the above, each Sellers will receive a number of CFSL Consideration Shares equal to the aggregate amount of the Vinpai Shares sold by him (i.e.: Number of Vinpai Shares sold by him/it x 3.60) divided by the Subscription Price of a CFSL Consideration Share. The board of directors of CFSL will be held promptly after the formalities for obtaining the shareholders PAN and DEMAT accounts of the Sellers have been completed by the Sellers. These formalities are expected to be completed at the latest within 3 weeks. The CFSL Shareholders' Meeting will be held within 30 days following its convening by the board of directors of CFSL. Financing of Vinpai As indicated in the Vinpai's press release dated February 24th, 2025, concomitantly with the signing of the Share Purchase Agreement, CFSL has subscribed to 3,300 bonds convertible into shares issued by the Company, each such convertible bond having a nominal value of 1,000, representing a total bond issue of 3.3 million (the "Convertible Bonds The Convertible Bonds have been listed on Euronext Growth Paris under ISIN code FR001400XS54 on February 28, 2025. The Convertible Bonds will fully automatically converted at a conversion price equal to 3.00 upon the completion of the Block Transaction. Consequently, following the Block Acquisition and the conversion of all the Convertible Bonds into Vinpai shares, CFSL will be held 83.82% of the Company's share capital and 80.33% of its voting rights. Contemplated simplified cash tender offer As indicated in the Vinpai's press release dated February 24th, 2025, subject to completion of the Block Acquisition, CFSL shall file a simplified cash tender offer (offer publique d'achat simplifiee) (the "Simplified Cash Tender Offer") for the remaining shares of Vinpai in accordance with article L.433-3 of the French monetary and financial code and articles 233-1 et seq. of the general regulation of the French Stock Market Authority (Autorite des marches financiers) (the "AMF") within an expected period of 2 weeks following the completion of the Block Acquisition. The Simplified Cash Tender Offer will be paid entirely in cash at the same price per Vinpai share as the Acquisition Price, (i.e. 3.60 per Vinpai share, it being specified that it will be no adjustment of such price as a consequence of the dilution resulting from conversion of the Convertible Bonds). CFSL contemplates to implement a squeeze-out following the Simplified Cash Tender Offer if the minority shareholders of the Company who have not tendered their shares to the Simplified Cash Tender Offer represent less than 10% of the Company's share capital and voting rights. Completion of the Simplified Cash Tender Offer shall remain subject to the regulatory clearance (declaration de conformite) from the AMF. CFSL has published on February 24th, 2025, on its website a press release relating to the terms and conditions of the Block Acquisition and the related launching of the simplified cash tender offer after completion of this Block Acquisition (https://www.camlinfs.com/investor-relations/home/corporate_announcements) For further information about CFSL: www.camlinfs.com Disclaimer This press release does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy Vinpai shares in any country, nor shall there be any sale of shares in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The distribution of this document may, in certain jurisdictions, be restricted by local legislations. Persons into whose possession this document comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such potential local restrictions. This press release constitutes an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of Regulation (EU) no. 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 (the "Prospectus Regulation"). Any decision to purchase shares must be made solely on the basis of publicly available information on the Company. In France, the issue of bonds convertible into Vinpai shares described above was reserved to an investor falling into the category of beneficiaries defined in the sixteenth resolution of the Company's general meeting dated June 26, 2024, pursuant to article L. 228-91 of the French commercial code and applicable regulatory provisions. Pursuant to article 211-3 of the French financial markets authority (Autorite des marches financiers) (the "AMF") general regulations and articles 1(4) and 3 of the Prospectus Regulation, the said issue of convertible bonds will not require the publication of a prospectus approved by the AMF. With respect to Member States of the European Economic Area, no action has been taken or will be taken to permit a public offering of the securities referred to in this press release requiring the publication of a prospectus in any Member State. Therefore, such securities may not be and shall not be offered in any Member State other than in accordance with the exemptions of article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation or, otherwise, in cases not requiring the publication by the Company of a prospectus under article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation and/or the applicable regulations in such Member State. This press release and the information it contains are being distributed to and are only intended for persons who are (x) outside the United Kingdom or (y) in the United Kingdom, who constitute "qualified investors" (as this term is defined in the Prospectus Regulation which forms part of domestic law pursuant to European (Withdrawal) Act 2018) and are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), (ii) high net worth entities and other such persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order ("high net worth companies", "unincorporated associations", etc.) or (iii) other persons to whom an invitation or inducement to participate in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000) may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons in (y)(i), (y)(ii) and (y)(iii) together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire securities to which this press release relates will only be available to and engaged with Relevant Persons. This press release is solely intended for Relevant Persons and any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this press release or any of its contents. This press release and the information contained therein does not, and will not, constitute an offer of securities for sale, nor the solicitation of an offer to purchase, Vinpai securities in the United States of America or any other jurisdiction where restrictions may apply. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The securities of Vinpai have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, and the Company does not intend to conduct a public offering of Vinpai securities in the United States of America. The distribution of this press release may be subject to legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Any person who comes into possession of this press release must inform him or herself of and comply with any such restrictions. The information contained in this press release does not constitute an offer of securities in the United States of America, in Australia, in Canada, in South Africa, in Japan nor in any other country. This press release shall not be published, transmitted or distributed, directly or indirectly, into the territory of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan. 1 The other Sellers are Chris Project (holding 24.37% of the outstanding share capital), Saffelberg Investments (holding 8.82% of the outstanding share capital), Alexandre de Selliers de Moranville (holding 5.03% of the outstanding share capital) and Jean-Marc Loiseau (holding 1.63% of the outstanding share capital). 2 i.e., the higher of (A) the volume weighted average price of the equity shares of CFSL listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Ltd. in Bombay (India) (the "VWAP") during the ninety (90) trading days preceding the date which is thirty (30) days prior to the date on which the meeting of the shareholders CFSL is held to approve the issuance of CFSL shares (the "Relevant Date"), or (B) the VWAP during the ten (10) trading days preceding the Relevant Date. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313275604/en/ Contacts: Camlin Fine Sciences Limited Investor Relations corporate@camlinfs.com T.: +91 22 6700 1000 -Ext. 402 TME Pharma and Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) file new patent applications covering NOX-E36 for treatment of glaucoma filtration surgery and other ophthalmic diseases Preclinical data will be presented by SERI at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2025 Annual Meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah from May 4 to 8, 2025 mNOX-E361 demonstrates similar efficacy in reducing scarring following glaucoma filtration surgery while showing improved safety over standard of care Regulatory News: TME Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALTME), a clinical stage biotechnology company, and the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) announce that an abstract highlighting data from preclinical studies performed with mNOX-E36 by SERI has been selected for poster presentation at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2025 Annual Meeting, taking place in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, May 4-8, 2025. Preclinical data show that mNOX-E36 is as efficacious as standard of care mitomycin C (MMC) at attenuating post-operative inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) following glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS), a common procedure to reduce intraocular pressure while having a much more favorable safety profile. Unlike MMC, mNOX-E36 does not destroy blood vessels in the conjunctiva, potentially overcoming the substantial toxicity seen with MMC which is a key limitation of this current standard treatment. "Ocular scarring remains the major cause of failure in glaucoma filtration surgery, and while MMC has increased the five-year success rate of GFS to between 60 and 80 percent, this still means 20 to 40 percent of these surgeries still fail," said Professor Tina Wong, Co-Head Ocular Therapeutics and Drug Delivery Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, and Senior Consultant, Glaucoma Service, Singapore National Eye Centre. "Our in vivo research demonstrates that the treatment with mNOX-E36 is comparable to MMC in inhibiting fibrosis which is necessary to maintain the success of the procedure. However, unlike MMC, mNOX-E36 is not toxic for conjunctival vasculature, which is expected to reduce severe complications post-GFS." Due to these new findings and other unpublished data, TME Pharma and the Singapore Eye Research Institute have filed patent applications covering use of NOX-E36 in glaucoma filtration surgery and other ophthalmic diseases to support its development through a license to an industrial partner or the creation of a new corporate entity. "These latest data from the SERI preclinical studies demonstrate the potential of NOX-E36 to address significant unmet medical needs in ophthalmic diseases impacted by fibrosis and we are very pleased the results are being presented at the highly regarded ARVO Annual Meeting," said Aram Mangasarian, CEO of TME Pharma. "We also jointly filed with SERI our first patents covering NOX-E36 ophthalmic diseases, which form the foundation of the IP protection around our asset in ophthalmology. These latest developments show that our strategy to generate of proof-of-concept NOX-E36 clinical data at limited cost to the company is progressing well, and our goal remains the creation of a new corporate entity in collaboration with SERI with full rights to develop NOX-E36 further in ophthalmology, supported by private investors." Details of the poster presentation at the ARVO 2025 Annual Meeting are as follows: Title: Inhibition of MCP-1 with mNOX-E36 reduces scarring in an experimental murine model of glaucoma filtration surgery Presenter: Professor Tina Wong, Singapore Eye Research Institute Session: Poster Session, Poster number A0418 Time and Date: 8.30-10.15 a.m. MDT, Tuesday, May 06, 2025 The full abstract is available on the ARVO's meeting planner page. About Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) Established in 1997, SERI is Singapore's national research institute for ophthalmic and vision research. SERI's mission is to conduct high-impact eye research that prevents blindness, low vision and major eye diseases common to Singaporeans and Asians. Over the last decade, SERI has conducted landmark research projects that have led to tangible outcomes, patient benefits, and success stories. It has paved the way for significant improvements in how eye diseases are treated and prevented, not just for Singaporeans or Asians, but on a global scale. At its inception, SERI saw a national remit in ophthalmic and vision research, and till today, SERI ensures that its facilities and resources are open to researchers across Singapore so that the greatest benefit may be obtained from what is a relatively small clinical ophthalmology catchment area in Singapore. SERI has grown from a founding team of five in 1997 to a faculty of more than 196 staff, encompassing clinician scientists, scientists, research fellows, PhD students and support staff. This makes SERI one of the largest research institutes in Singapore, as well as the largest eye research institute in the Asia Pacific region. SERI has also over 220 adjunct faculties from various eye departments, biomedical institutes and tertiary centres in Singapore. SERI has published an impressive array of 4,504 scientific papers and has secured external peer-reviewed competitive grants worth more than $360 million. As of August 2021, SERI's faculty has been awarded with more than 1,755 national and international prizes and filed 145 patents. As the research institute of the SNEC, and directly affiliated to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, as well the Duke-NUS Medical School, SERI undertakes vision research in collaboration with local clinical ophthalmic centres and biomedical research institutions, as well as major eye centres and research institutes throughout the world. SERI ranks first globally in terms of eye publications per capita, far ahead of the US, UK and Japan. With its impressive publication track record, SERI is comparable to renowned eye institutes, both regionally and internationally. Please see www.seri.com.sg. About TME Pharma TME Pharma is a clinical-stage company focused on developing novel therapies for treatment of the most aggressive cancers. The company's oncology-focused pipeline is designed to act on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking tumor protection barriers against the immune system and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the TME, TME Pharma's approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses and enable greater therapeutic impact. In the GLORIA Phase 1/2 clinical trial, TME Pharma is studying its lead drug candidate NOX-A12 (olaptesed pegol, an anti-CXCL12 L-RNA aptamer) in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients who will not benefit clinically from standard chemotherapy. TME Pharma has delivered top-line data from the NOX-A12 three dose-escalation cohorts combined with radiotherapy of the GLORIA clinical trial, observing consistent tumor reductions and objective tumor responses. Additionally, GLORIA expansion arms evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in other combinations where the interim results from the triple combination of NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab suggest even deeper and more durable responses, and improved survival. US FDA has approved the design of a randomized Phase 2 trial in glioblastoma and TME Pharma was awarded fast track designation by the FDA for NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy and bevacizumab for use in the treatment of the aggressive adult brain cancer, glioblastoma. NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy had also previously received orphan drug designation (ODD) for glioblastoma in the United States and glioma in Europe. TME Pharma has delivered final top-line data with encouraging overall survival and safety profile from its NOX-A12 combination trial with Keytruda in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients, which was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer in October 2021. The company has entered in its second collaboration with MSD/Merck for its Phase 2 study, OPTIMUS, to further evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in combination with Merck's Keytruda and two different chemotherapy regimens as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The design of the trial has been approved in the United States. The company's second clinical-stage drug candidate, NOX-E36 (emapticap pegol, L-RNA aptamer inhibiting CCL2 and related chemokines), showing potential to address fibrosis and inflammation is evaluated in ophthalmic diseases with a high need for well-tolerated therapies with anti-fibrotic effect. Further information can be found at: www.tmepharma.com. TME Pharma and the TME Pharma logo are registered trademarks. Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp Dohme Corp. Visit TME Pharma on LinkedIn and X. About the GLORIA Study GLORIA (NCT04121455) is TME Pharma's dose-escalation, Phase 1/2 study of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy in first-line partially resected or unresected glioblastoma (brain cancer) patients with unmethylated MGMT promoter (resistant to standard chemotherapy). GLORIA further evaluates safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in the expansion arm in which NOX-A12 is combined with radiotherapy and bevacizumab. About the OPTIMUS Study OPTIMUS (NCT04901741) is TME Pharma's planned open-label two-arm Phase 2 study of NOX-A12 combined with pembrolizumab and nanoliposomal irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in microsatellite-stable metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. Disclaimer Translations of any press release into languages other than English are intended solely as a convenience to the non-English-reading audience. The company has attempted to provide an accurate translation of the original text in English, but due to the nuances in translating into another language, slight differences may exist. This press release includes certain disclosures that contain "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are based on TME Pharma's current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the risks inherent in oncology drug development, including clinical trials and the timing of and TME Pharma's ability to obtain regulatory approvals for NOX-A12 as well as any other drug candidates. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and TME Pharma undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law. 1 Note that mNOX-E36 (a rodent version of NOX-E36) is used in preclinical models because NOX-E36 binds to human CCL2, but not to mouse CCL2. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250313839845/en/ Contacts: TME Pharma N.V. Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D., CEO Tel. +49 (0) 30 16637082 0 investors@tmepharma.com Investor and Media Relations: LifeSci Advisors Guillaume van Renterghem Tel. +41 (0) 76 735 01 31 gvanrenterghem@lifesciadvisors.com NewCap Arthur Rouille Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15 arouille@newcap.fr BANGALORE, India, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi Use Bioreactor Market is Segmented by Type (Manual, Automatic, Semi-Automatic), by Application (Pharmaceuticals, Scientific Research Institution). According to new survey, Global Multi Use Bioreactor Market is projected to reach USD. 12260 Million in 2029, increasing from USD 6415 Million in 2022, with a CAGR of 9.7% during the period of 2023 to 2029. Claim Your Free Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-37Q12337/Global_Multi_Use_Bioreactor_Market Major Factors Driving the Growth of Multi Use Bioreactor Market: The multi-use bioreactor market is experiencing sustained growth, driven by advancements in biopharmaceutical production, automation, and process optimization. These systems play a vital role in scaling up biologics manufacturing while maintaining cost efficiency and regulatory compliance. Market players are investing in next-generation bioreactor technologies to enhance productivity and meet evolving industry demands. The integration of artificial intelligence, real-time monitoring, and hybrid bioprocessing solutions is transforming biomanufacturing practices. As personalized medicine and cell-based therapies gain traction, the demand for flexible and high-performance bioreactors is expected to rise. The continuous expansion of global bioprocessing infrastructure reinforces the market's long-term growth trajectory, positioning multi-use bioreactors as indispensable assets in pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Unlock Insights: View Full Report Now! https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-37Q12337/global-multi-use-bioreactor TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE MULTI USE BIOREACTOR MARKET: Semi-automatic bioreactors play a crucial role in biopharmaceutical research and industrial fermentation processes by offering a balance between manual control and automation. These systems enable users to adjust key parameters such as temperature, pH, and oxygen levels while leveraging automated controls for consistency. The flexibility of semi-automatic bioreactors makes them ideal for academic institutions, pilot-scale production, and laboratories requiring cost-effective solutions. Their ability to accommodate a wide range of microbial and cell culture processes attracts pharmaceutical companies looking for adaptable production methods. The increasing demand for customized bioproduction, including cell therapy and regenerative medicine, further propels the adoption of semi-automatic bioreactors. These factors drive market growth and expand bioprocessing capabilities globally. Automatic bioreactors are revolutionizing large-scale biomanufacturing by integrating advanced sensors, AI-driven monitoring, and real-time data analytics. These systems optimize fermentation and cell culture processes, reducing human intervention while ensuring precision and reproducibility. The pharmaceutical industry heavily relies on automatic bioreactors for monoclonal antibody production, vaccine development, and protein synthesis. Their ability to maintain sterile conditions and minimize contamination risks makes them indispensable for biologics manufacturing. The growing trend of continuous bioprocessing and process intensification has further increased demand for automatic bioreactors, enabling high-throughput production. Additionally, biopharma firms are investing in these systems to enhance scalability, reduce operational costs, and streamline regulatory compliance, fueling the expansion of the multi-use bioreactor market. The pharmaceutical industry is a major driver of the multi-use bioreactor market, as bioreactors are essential for drug discovery, development, and commercial-scale manufacturing. Biopharmaceutical companies use these systems for cell culture applications, vaccine production, and biosimilar development. With the rise of personalized medicine and gene therapy, pharmaceutical firms are shifting toward modular and flexible bioreactor systems to meet evolving production demands. Regulatory agencies emphasize compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), encouraging the adoption of high-quality multi-use bioreactors. Additionally, the rapid response to emerging diseases, such as COVID-19, has accelerated investments in bioreactor technology for vaccine research and development. This increasing reliance on bioreactors for pharmaceutical applications significantly contributes to market growth. The growing prevalence of chronic diseases and the rise of biologics have fueled demand for biopharmaceuticals, driving the need for efficient multi-use bioreactors. As monoclonal antibodies, gene therapies, and biosimilars gain prominence, manufacturers require scalable bioprocessing solutions. Multi-use bioreactors allow efficient production while ensuring consistency and regulatory compliance. Their ability to support various cell lines and microbial cultures enhances flexibility in drug development. This surge in biologics manufacturing directly contributes to market expansion. Although single-use bioreactors are gaining traction, multi-use bioreactors remain crucial due to their cost efficiency in large-scale production. Many facilities adopt hybrid systems combining single-use and stainless-steel bioreactors to maximize flexibility. Hybrid approaches allow manufacturers to balance cost savings with operational efficiency, reducing turnaround time while maintaining sterility. This transition toward mixed-use systems supports sustainable biomanufacturing and meets evolving industry needs. The rise of personalized therapies, including CAR-T cell therapies and regenerative medicine, has necessitated adaptable bioprocessing solutions. Multi-use bioreactors support customized production of small-batch biologics tailored to individual patient needs. Their scalability and versatility make them ideal for emerging cell-based therapies. As precision medicine gains momentum, demand for bioreactors catering to specialized manufacturing continues to grow. While single-use systems dominate small-scale applications, multi-use bioreactors remain cost-effective for high-volume biomanufacturing. Their ability to process large batches of biologics reduces per-unit costs, making them economically viable for commercial production. Established pharmaceutical companies leverage multi-use systems for blockbuster drug manufacturing, ensuring long-term cost savings. This economic advantage reinforces their continued market demand. Claim Yours Now! https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-37Q12337&lic=single-user MULTI USE BIOREACTOR MARKET SHARE North America dominates the market due to the presence of leading biopharma companies, a robust research ecosystem, and significant government funding. Europe follows closely, with stringent regulatory standards and strong biomanufacturing capabilities. Key Companies: Sartorius Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc General Electric Eppendorf Merck KGaA Pall Corporation ZETA Pierre Guerin Praj Hipurity Systems Limited Bioengineering AG Infors SOLARIS BIOTECHNOLOGY srl Bbi-biotech PBS Biotech;Inc. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft CerCell A/S Purchase Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-37Q12337/Global_Multi_Use_Bioreactor_Market SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. DISCOVER MORE INSIGHTS: EXPLORE SIMILAR REPORTS! - Perfusion Bioreactor market was valued at USD 703.66 Million in 2024 and is anticipated to reach USD 1,153.63 Million by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 7.19% during the forecast period 2025-2031. - Lab Scale Bioreactor market was valued at USD 2369 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 4337.5 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Single-Use Bioreactors (SUB) Market was valued at USD 220 Million in the year 2024 and is projected to reach a revised size of USD 275 Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 3.3% during the forecast period. - Bioreactors Market - Pharmaceutical Fermentation Bioreactor market is projected to grow from USD 6256 Million in 2024 to USD 11080 Million by 2030, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.0% during the forecast period. - Bioreactors and Fermentors Market - Cell Culture Bioreactors Market - Bubble Column Bioreactor Market - Membrane Bioreactor Systems market was valued at USD 3307.4 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 4996.5 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Fixed Bed Bioreactors Market - Micro Bioreactors Market revenue was USD 133.9 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 246.5 Million by 2029 with a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period (2023-2029). DISCOVER OUR VISION: VISIT ABOUT US! Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources. GET A FREE QUOTE Valuates Reports sales@valuates.com For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 WhatsApp: +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Blog: https://valuatestrends.blogspot.com/ Pinterest: https://in.pinterest.com/valuatesreports/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valuatesreports6753 https://www.facebook.com/valuateskorean https://www.facebook.com/valuatesspanish https://www.facebook.com/valuatesjapanese https://valuatesreportspanish.blogspot.com/ https://valuateskorean.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesgerman.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesreportjapanese.blogspot.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/multi-use-bioreactor-market-in-pharmaceuticals-and-research-institutions-to-hit-usd-12-26-billion-by-2029--growing-9-7-annually--valuates-reports-302401344.html The Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who lost his life supporting China's war against Japanese aggression, was launched on Wednesday. LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, Chinese and British publishers hosted a series of events to pay tribute to the victory at the ongoing London Book Fair. On Wednesday, a launch event was held for the Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who gave his life to support China's war against Japanese aggression decades ago. The book, which includes Hogg's letters and journalistic works, offers a fuller picture of his early life and his journey as a reporter in China, documenting both the war and social life. It also highlights his efforts to support the Chinese people during the war, particularly his role in founding a school for war orphans in Shaanxi. Mark Aylwin Thomas, author of the book and nephew of the late Hogg, said at the launch that the translated edition gives Chinese readers the opportunity to learn more about the "extraordinary person" who "loved and respected his fellow human beings regardless of race, belief or cultural differences, striving selflessly with compassion for a common positive goal." Chen Guangyao from People's Publishing House, the book's publisher, said that Hogg's story serves as a historical testament to the friendship between China and Britain. He expressed hope that the Chinese edition will further strengthen this friendship and contribute to promoting world peace and development. Along with the book, five other publications themed around the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression were also unveiled on Wednesday during the three-day book fair. Speaking with Xinhua after a seminar where Chinese and British writers and scholars shared stories and insights on the bonds forged between the two countries during the war, Hugo de Burgh, director of China Media Centre at the University of Westminster, emphasized the importance of helping younger generations "understand the dangers and the terrible suffering caused by conflict and war." He added that "responsible publishers" play a crucial role in reminding people of the "positive aspects of our relationships" that emerged from the shared experiences of war and hardship. In addition, a special screening of "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru" was held during the book fair. The documentary is about the heroic rescue of British prisoners of war by Chinese fishermen during World War II. BH Macro Limited - Transaction in Own Shares PR Newswire LONDON, United Kingdom, March 13 BH Macro Limited (the "Company") (a closed-ended collective investment scheme established as a company with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 46235) Transaction in Own Shares 13 March 2025 BH Macro Limited (the Company) announces today it has purchased the following number of its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange from J.P. Morgan Securities plc: Ordinary Shares: - Share Class Sterling Date of purchase: 13 March 2025 Number of ordinary shares purchased: 169,684.0 Lowest price per share (pence) 376.50 Highest price per share (pence) 380.00 Trading venue London Aggregate volume per date per trading venue: 169,684.0 Weighted average price per day per trading venue (pence): 378.1442 The Company intends to hold the purchased shares in treasury. Following the above share transactions of the relevant US Dollar and Sterling Shares, the total number of shares in issue in each share class of the Company will be as follows: Ordinary Shares in issue (excluding Treasury) Ordinary Shares held in Treasury 339,081,358 Sterling Shares 36,659,353 Sterling Shares 27,132,086 Dollar Shares Nil Dollar Shares From 13 March 2025, the total number of voting rights in the Company (rounded up to the whole number) is 519,425,343 Enquiries: Company website: www.bhmacro.com William Simmonds JPMorgan Cazenove Tel: 020 7588 2828 The Company Secretary Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited Tel: 01481 745001 Roche Bobois, the global leader in the high-end furniture market and the epitome of the French Art de Vivre, publishes its latest news every month. FEBRUARY 2025 LATEST NEWS PENINSULA PARIS & ROCHE BOBOIS The prestigious Peninsula Paris hotel has chosen Roche Bobois to furnish its spectacular Parisian terrace. The iconic Bubble sofa and Aqua table are placed there, installed at the heart of two transparent bubbles offering a unique view of the Eiffel Tower and the rooftops of Paris. OTHER NEWS BONHAMS CARS, GRAND PALAIS Roche Bobois is the partner of Bonhams|Cars for its prestigious classic car auction "Les Grandes Marques du Monde," held at the Grand Palais in Paris from February 4 to 6, 2025. Two days of public exhibitions and one auction day celebrate over a century of innovation and excellence in the field of exceptional automobiles. Roche Bobois has been selected for the design of the VIP lounge, which brings together collectors from around the world. METROPOLITAN OPERA, NEW YORK Roche Bobois is proud to contribute to the renovation of the historic Keebler J. Straz Lounge at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In collaboration with ELLE Decor and interior design firm Gachot Studios, the lounge has been reimagined to honor its historic architectural features while embracing a contemporary and sophisticated style. This project marks Roche Bobois' second collaboration in furnishing lounges at the Lincoln Center in New York and reinforces the brand's commitment to celebrating art, heritage, and innovation worldwide About ROCHE BOBOIS SA ROCHE BOBOIS SA is a French family business founded in 1960. The Group operates in 54 countries and has a network of 339 directly operated stores and franchises (at 31 December 2024) marketing its two brands: Roche Bobois, a high-end furniture brand with a strong international presence, and Cuir Center, positioned in the mid-range market segment with an essentially French customer base. Through its Roche Bobois brand, the Group embodies the French Art de Vivre whose presence can now be felt on the world stage, with original and bold creations from talented designers (Joana Vasconcelos, Bruno Moinard, Ora Ito, Sacha Lakic, Christophe Delcourt, Stephen Burks, Patrick Norguet, Kenzo Takada and Bina Baitel and Jiang Qiong Er,..) and partnerships with fashion and haute couture houses. Roche Bobois is also a committed partner in the world of culture and the arts. Including franchises, these two brands posted 2024 retail sales of 589 million excluding VAT, to which Roche Bobois contributed 499 million and Cuir Center 90 million. Roche Bobois SA's consolidated revenue in 2024 amounted to 414 million. For more information, please visit www.finance-roche-bobois.com Actus Finance & Communication Investor relations Anne-Pauline Petureaux apetureaux@actus.fr / +33 (0)1 53 67 36 72 Press relations Serena BONI sboni@actus.fr / +33 (0)6 19 37 55 31 ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: l5ubkshvlm6cxm1uYphtbWloaGxqmGiXmGGWxpRwk8ybaGtlmmmVbZeXZnJhmWlp - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-90443-news_eng_fev_250310_1.pdf Press release 13 March 2025. The Vente-unique.com group, an expert in online sales of furniture and home furnishings in Europe, announces the grand return of Habitat, the iconic design brand since 1964, to shops following the reopening of its online shop in June 2024. True to its innovative spirit, Habitat has chosen to partner with the young Bordeaux-based brand Fabrique de Styles and is launching exclusive corners in 24 shops across France. This is a unique opportunity to rediscover the brand's iconic designs and explore new creations throughout France. With this strategic shift, Habitat is adopting an omnichannel approach, offering a hybrid customer journey that combines the flexibility of digital with the proximity of physical shops. This partnership between the 2 homeware players is a natural fit, as both share the same ambition: to offer inspiring and accessible collections to all. A hybrid, enhanced customer experience This partnership reflects a complementary aspect of the Habitat brand, offering customers an in-store experience to discover and test products, while benefiting from the expert advice of Fabrique de Styles salespeople. This approach, inspired by the legacy of Sir Terence Conran, Habitat's visionary founder, reflects the company's desire to diversify its services to meet the diverse needs of consumers. True to its mission, Habitat continues to make design accessible and essential in everyday life, combining style and functionality for all. Lucie Crouzet, Habitat Brand Director, states: "Working with Fabrique de Styles allows us to diversify the shopping experiences we offer our customers. While the digital experience remains at the heart of our vision - accessible to all and without barriers - we know that the in-store experience is just as important to many of our customers. Inspired by the legacy of Sir Terence Conran, who founded Habitat with the idea that design should be beautiful, functional and accessible, this partnership reflects our DNA: being close to people, wherever they are. By combining our expertise with that of Fabrique de Styles, we are reaffirming our commitment to making design closer, more inspiring and always more accessible." A partnership built on shared values Highly appreciated by the French and a key player in the country's design scene, Habitat is always keen to get closer to its customers. It was therefore only natural that this partnership with Fabrique de Styles, the homeware department store, took place. Experiencing strong growth and firmly established over the past 5 years, with some thirty shops throughout France, the Bordeaux-based company has made its mark in the home furnishings market, positioning itself as a genuine partner for French and European brands in the sector. Since its creation, it has placed great emphasis on local production, with 30% of its products made in France and 15% made in Europe. By combining its digital expertise with that of in-store sales, Habitat will be able to strengthen its direct link with its loyal customers. Candice Duchesne, Fabrique de Styles offer manager, adds: " Fabrique de Styles was born out of the desire of home design enthusiasts to highlight brands that can inspire people's everyday lives. And what better brand than Habitat to embody design accessible to all? Obviously, welcoming their furniture into our shops is a great opportunity to contribute to the relaunch of this iconic brand, which we all love personally. But most importantly, it's a natural extension of our concept, which promotes the expertise of the finest brands for the entire home. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly for our customers, the opportunity to discover these models in-store will allow them to fully appreciate the brand's fine finishes, and allow them to try out the comfort of the sofas, tables and other armchairs in the collection." An exclusive offering and customizable models A selection of furniture, combining iconic pieces and new designs from the brand, is available to buy in around twenty Fabrique de Styles stores across France. These pieces can be found in dedicated corners in the furniture section of the stores. This range complements the brand's existing offering, with models that combine design and practicality. These include iconic pieces such as the Posada and Montino sofas, which can be fully customized in terms of size and fabric, and the Drio solid oak table, which can seat from 4 to 10 guests in the blink of an eye. In these corners, customers will also find the brand's fabric and leather bar, enabling certain creations to be customized with a wide selection of coverings. This initiative illustrates the brand's commitment to offering unique, custom-made options perfectly suited to each interior. Next publication: H1 2024-2025 revenues, Wednesday 14 May 2025 Read more on bourse.vente-unique.com About Habitat: Founded in 1964 by Sir Terence Conran in London, the Habitat brand revolutionised interior design and made it accessible to everyone. The brand quickly established itself as a benchmark for cheerful, pop design, frequented by celebrities and adopted around the world. Knighted for his contributions to design, Sir Terence has always maintained a close link with the Habitat brand. Today, after a period of transition, the brand is back with the ambition of perpetuating this vision by offering creations that combine aesthetics, functionality and innovation, while remaining faithful to the original spirit. About Fabrique de Styles : Fabrique de Styles, the home department stores. This chain of shops specialising in furniture and decoration is a genuine partner for French and European brands in the sector. Their in-store itinerary features around ten departments dedicated to the world of the home (decoration, furniture, groceries, wellbeing, gifts, children, fresh plants, etc.) and more than 12,000 quality products to treat yourself, furnish your home and look after your entire home. The brand, which was launched in Bordeaux in 2019, already has 34 shops, 24 of which are franchises, with a further ten or so scheduled to open by 2025. About Vente- unique .com Founded in 2006, Vente-unique.com (Euronext Growth - ALVU), a subsidiary of the CAFOM Group (Euronext - CAFO), is an expert in online revenues of furniture and home furnishings in Europe. The company covers 11 countries (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland) and has supplied over 3 million customers since its launch. ACTUS finance & communication Pierre Jacquemin-Guillaume Anne-Charlotte Dudicourt Investor Relations Press Relations vente-unique@actus.fr acdudicourt@actus.fr +33 (0)1 53 67 36 79 +33 (0)1 53 67 36 32 ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: nZyekciXkpyVxm1qk5WYbpKXbG1klWXKbJSXmmpua5mXanCTnJlpm53JZnJhmWhv - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-90439-vu_cp_habitat_fds_eng.pdf Bpifrance's strategic funding of 10 million to accelerate FDE's low-carbon energy production in Europe Pontpierre, France, March 13th, 2024 - FDE (Euronext: FDE - ISIN: FR0013030152), a carbon negative energy producer, has announced that it has secured two strategic loans from Bpifrance for a total amount of 10 million, significantly reinforcing its investment capacity. This major financial operation has been secured under favorable conditions, underlining the renewed confidence of institutional financial partners in FDE's business model, whose resilience is proven by recurring and strong cash flows combined with a solid balance sheet. Structured financings for sustainable growth The "Pret Croissance Relance" with a 10-year term will enable FDE to accelerate its strategic expansion, both in France and internationally, beyond its existing projects and secured portfolio. At the same time, the "Pret Vert" with a 5-year term benefits from a 50% guarantee from the national fund "Fonds Pret Vert 4" as part of the Plan France Relance. This funding is specifically intended to foster the impact of FDE environmental initiatives, which aim to avoid more than 20 million tons of CO 2 emissions annually by 2030. Measurable environmental performance With a currently installed electrical production capacity of 22.5 MW, FDE already avoids more than 3.5 million tons of CO 2 equivalent each year, thereby positioning the Group as a key player in the European energy transition. Strategic expansion in fast growing markets These additional financial resources will enable FDE to accelerate its development in promising strategic segments, such as low-carbon hydrogen in France and internationally, thus consolidating its position as an innovative key player in the energy sector. Julien Moulin, Chairman of FDE, comments: "This structured financing demonstrates the solidity of our business model and the confidence of financial institutions in our sustainable growth strategy. These new resources will enable us to accelerate our development while strengthening our positive environmental impact, thereby creating significant value for our shareholders and all our stakeholders." Yannick Da Costa, Regional Director of Bpifrance Lille, comments: "FDE perfectly embodies the type of innovative company that Bpifrance is committed to supporting as part of the energy transition. Its unique model combining economic performance and measurable environmental impact represents a particularly attractive, perfectly aligned investment case." Financial outlook confirmed for 2030 Annual revenues more than 175 million EBITDA above 85 million euros Over 20 million tons of CO 2 eq emissions avoided per annum Next event: Half-year results 2025: March 25, 2025 Reuters code: FDE.PA Bloomberg code: FDE.FP Press contact@francaisedelenergie.fr + 33 3 87 04 34 51 Investor Relations ir@francaisedelenergie.fr + 33 3 87 04 34 51 Press contacts - Bpifrance Sophie Santandrea sophie.santandrea@bpifrance.fr + 33 (0)788092817 About La Francaise de l'Energie FDE is an independent multi-energy producer dedicated to making Net Zero happen. As a specialist in local energy systems and the circular economy, FDE capitalizes on its industrial know-how ranging from engineering, energy production to CO 2 storage to provide energy solutions that combine carbon footprint reduction with better resilience of the associated eco-systems. For more information, visit https://www.francaisedelenergie.fr/ About Bpifrance Bpifrance, Banque Publique d'Investissement, finances companies - at every stage of their development - with credit, guarantees and equity capital. Bpifrance supports them in their innovation and international projects. Bpifrance also supports their export activities through a wide range of products. Consulting, university, networking and acceleration programs for startups, SMEs and ETIs are also part of the services offered to entrepreneurs. Thanks to Bpifrance and its 50 regional offices, entrepreneurs benefit from a single, close and efficient contact to help them meet their challenges. Further information: www.Bpifrance.fr - https://presse.bpifrance.fr / Follow us on X (ex-Twitter): @BpifranceLeLab - @bpifrance - @BpifrancePresse and on LinkedIn www.bpifrance.fr Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward - looking statements and estimates concerning LFDE's financial condition, operating results, strategy, projects and future performance and the markets in which it operates. Such forward-looking statements and estimates may be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "can," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is designed to," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "objective," "should," or the negative of these and similar expressions. They incorporate all topics that are not historical facts. Forward looking statements, forecasts and estimates are based on management's current assumptions and assessment of risks, uncertainties and other factors, known and unknown, which were deemed to be reasonable at the time they were made but which may turn out to be incorrect. Events and outcomes are difficult to predict and depend on factors beyond the company's control. Consequently, the actual results, financial condition, performances and/or achievements of LFDE or of the industry may turn out to differ materially from the future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by these statements, forecasts and estimates. Owing to these uncertainties, no representation is made as to the correctness or fairness of these forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates speak only as of the date on which they are made, and LFDE undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. statements, forecasts and estimates speak only as of the date on which they are made, and LFDE undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: mmdsksmbaGubmGmfZ5dompJlb2iTmWOdl5XLxJWZZ5qWnGlpxmZhaZzJZnJhmWho - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-90432-cp-fde-pret-de-10m-euro-bpi_-130325_vuk.pdf Business owners across Florida are learning essential business skills thanks to a decade-long collaboration with Wells Fargo. What makes a happy adult? If you ask Lyana Vazquez, it starts with a childhood spent in a happy community. As the owner and director of Best Memories Academy, an early learning child care center in East Orlando, she's built that happy community for hundreds of children over the past 14 years. "As a child, as an infant, all those memories, when they come together, it creates a healthy adult, a happy adult," she said. "That's why you need to create memories with our families and with new friends when you're little, with your community." For that community to last, small businesses like Vazquez's need to thrive. That often requires skills and experiences that many early learning child care center founders don't have. That's why Robyn Perlman started the Business & Leadership Institute for Early Learning, or BLI, a peer network of early learning child care owners and operators across Florida. Through classes developed by successful entrepreneurs in the industry and Wells Fargo business experts, BLI prepares small business owners to invest in their businesses and their skill sets. BLI emphasizes mentorship by pairing graduates and new students. Some of the program's biggest impacts come when seasoned small business owners share the mistakes they've learned from. While Vazquez has spent 30 years caring for children professionally, she said at times overworking has made her enjoy the work less. Now, she's a BLI mentor passing on a lesson of self-care to other students who are juggling how to grow their business while managing day-to-day operations. "As a business owner, sometimes you wear so many hats that you forget about yourself," Vazquez said. "I'm a businesswoman, but I'm still a person. I have to take care of myself so I can help others take care of themselves." 'These entrepreneurs are building support systems' Much of BLI's work is possible thanks to a decade-long collaboration with Wells Fargo meant to address the business literacy gap in the early learning child care industry. The providers that BLI works with run their early learning child care program out of their own home or a property in a low- to moderate-income community and may not have any formal business training or even think of what they do as a business. Because of this, these entrepreneurs may not understand budgeting, how to price their services, or the costs and risks of a lease or property purchase. They also deal with considerable challenges. Many providers take low or no salaries, enjoy few workplace benefits, or mortgage their homes to pay for business cash shortfalls, Perlman said. After decades of teaching or caregiving, they may have little means to show for it. Over the last decade, Wells Fargo has provided more than $950,000 in philanthropic funding to BLI and has been a key partner in developing BLI's programming, The Business & Leadership Institute for Early Learning Master Class Series. But the collaboration doesn't end there. Wells Fargo professionals like Elke Bojes, a district branch senior manager, are on the ground to teach sessions and work with entrepreneurs. "The program is here to provide financial literacy, but what I quickly learn as the program starts is that these entrepreneurs are building support systems," she said. "What's built here is community. It's a family. It's a payback mentality to show support, to pay it forward, to show others that it can be done." Perlman sees the vision of BLI going further than financial literacy. Their work develops a cycle that connects entrepreneurs, businesses, and families, creating a positive economic impact on low-income communities. When these business owners do well, the people around them do, too. "The outcome we're looking for is to [help small businesses] create enough revenue and profits in order to fuel the programming and outcomes that are necessary for children and their families to be successful," she said. Teaching the next generation of business owners In the third grade, Jacqia Carter wrote in a school assignment that she'd run a preschool when she was older. Today, she owns and manages two. "As an adult we continue our day-to-day without pausing and stopping to think. Working with children, they make you stop. They make everything slow down. They ask questions about everything. That's very rewarding to me," she said. That lifelong dream required more than a calling. At 28, Carter invested every dollar she had saved to buy a property for her first school, the Carter Academy. After that, she didn't have much of a plan, but she made it work. Later, when she joined BLI, Carter learned the importance of having a business plan with lease payments, payroll, and much more detail. "One of the most impactful things I took from BLI is to run the numbers. Don't just make moves, and don't run your business on a thought or idea," she said. After graduating from BLI in 2019, Carter was able to grow her business and open a second school. Carter is now a mentor, not only to other founders like herself but to her daughter Jacqua'Jah, who she hopes will be her school's next director. With what she's learned, Carter can continue to support the West Little River neighborhood of Miami where she grew up and chose to open her schools. "Working in this community makes me happy," she said. "Having the privilege of serving this community allows me to fight harder to find support and to create relationships so that we can provide resources to our families." Wells Fargo and the Business & Leadership Institute for Early Learning have helped small child care and early learning centers evolve into thriving businesses, providing quality childcare and fostering economic growth and stability within communities. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wells Fargo & Company on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Wells Fargo & Company Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wells-fargo Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Wells Fargo & Company Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Orestone Mining Corp. (TSXV: ORS) (OTC Pink: ORESF) (FSE: O2R2) ("the Company") is pleased to announce that it is planning an airborne MagnetoTelluric (AirMT) survey to cover the partially defined, T-2 conductivity target at the Company's 100 percent owned Captain Gold Porphyry Project in North Central BC prior to the next drill programe. The project is located 40 kilometres north of Fort St. James and 30 kilometres south of Mt. Milligan, a large open pit copper-gold mine. The T-2 target is the southernmost target zone outlined on the property to date. The Company is obtaining contractor quotes and refining the parameters of the survey at this time. Initially the new survey will consist of 18 lines at 7.2 kilometres in length totalling 157 line kilometres and we expect to complete the program in the summer of 2025. The Captain Project hosts a gold dominant porphyry style mineralized system occurring within a 5 kilometre long, N-S trending corridor of low resistivity defined by a 2022 AirMT survey (for larger maps click here). Three targets occur at the intersection of interpreted northeast and northwest trending cross faults. This type of low resistivity feature is often related to large porphyry systems. Also gold rich porphyry systems such as Red Chris mine in northeastern British Columbia are typically strongly structurally controlled and are characterized by a narrow zone of multiple intrusive dyke phases widening at depth with a halo of copper-gold rich disseminated sulphides and quartz stock works overlying the dyke system. Captain Project Low Resistivity Trend Plan View To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4752/244467_50882a0144e829e3_001full.jpg The T-2 anomaly is similar in intensity to the T-1 target. The central T1 target, an extensive 2 X 2 kilometre tabular zone of porphyry style alteration hosts zones of sericite-potassic-feldspar alteration containing gold-copper mineralization from 20-160 metres thick grading 0.20 to 0.84 g/t gold and 0.05-0.11 percent (500-1100 ppm) copper. Drill core logging has identified altered and mineralized porphyry dykes, both in the hanging wall and dipping into the observed MT conductor implying the presence of a potential intrusive porphyry system. It is thought to be highly probable that the next phase of drill holes will intersect a gold-copper porphyry intrusive system with mineralization similar to that found in the overlying dykes and volcanics. David Hottman, Orestone's CEO, stated: "Orestone's property portfolio includes exploration exposure to gold, silver and copper in Canada and Argentina. The Company's primary asset is the 100 percent owned Captain gold-copper project in North Central BC which hosts a large gold dominate porphyry system; permitted and drill ready. The gold discovery potential of Captain has attracted large producers Centerra Gold, IAMGOLD and New Gold to stake claims almost completely surrounding the property. Earlier stage projects in the portfolio include the Las Burras copper-gold project and the Francisca gold-silver project. Both are earn-in options in Salta Province Argentina and provide scaled exploration exposure to the Company. Orestone employs advanced geological and geophysical techniques in our exploration programs and plans to complete an AirMT survey to cost effectively define the conductive porphyry targets so that they can be systematically drill tested. All of these high potential projects have a relatively low-cost profile to hold and explore and are suitable for exploration year-round. Orestone's exposure to gold, silver and copper projects could well reward shareholders should a large discovery be outlined." The drill intercepts to date from Captain demonstrate a well mineralized system. Below are previously released results. Drill Hole From To Interval m g/t gold % copper C09-05 134.1 137.2 3.1 0.35 0.16 C11-01 127.0 214.0 87.0 0.23 0.03 incl 127.0 170.0 43.0 0.30 0.09 C12-03 179.5 246.5 67.0 0.13 0.06 C12-05 88.1 206.9 118.8 0.65 0.06 (1) 88.1 206.9 118.8 0.30 0.06 incl 152.1 161.2 9.1 6.46 0.27 C12-05 377.6 542.2 164.6 0.41 0.07 (1) 377.6 542.2 164.6 0.32 0.07 incl 499.5 505.6 6.1 4.45 0.51 C13-02 32.4 66.4 34.0 0.20 0.07 C13-02 121.3 170.1 48.8 0.35 0.06 C13-03 204.9 207.9 3.0 1.90 0.23 C19-03 271.0 295.0 24.0 0.27 0.09 C19-07 112.0 203.3 91.0 0.26 0.07 incl 178.9 203.3 24.0 0.56 0.11 C20-03 (2) 247.0 329.0 82.0 0.23 0.11 incl (2) 309.0 329.0 20.0 0.50 0.19 incl 325.0 327.0 2.0 7.05 0.26 C20-03 394.0 408.0 14.0 0.84 0.17 C21-01 541.0 744.0 203.0 0.329 0.06 C21-02 176.5 313.0 136.5 0.18 0.03 and 414.0 436.0 22.0 0.70 0.01 and EOH 608.0 611.0 3.0 0.76 0.05 (1) High gold values cut to 1.16 g/t gold (2) Assay interval of 7.05 g/t gold cut to 1.80 g/t gold Gary Nordin, P.Geo, a Director of the Company, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Nordin has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. Orestone Mining Corp. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Company's property portfolio includes exploration exposure to gold, silver and copper in Canada and Argentina. Orestone's near term objective on the Francisca gold property in Salta Province, Argentina is to define an oxide gold deposit mineable by open pit methods using low cost heap leach gold recovery. The Company's primary asset is the 100 percent owned Captain gold-copper project in North Central BC which hosts a large gold dominate porphyry system; permitted and drill ready. The Las Burras property optioned in Salta Argentina provides large scale copper exposure to the Company. All three projects are road accessible and suitable for exploration year-round. For more information, please visit Orestone's website at: www.orestone.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this News Release. This news release has been prepared by management and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244467 SOURCE: Orestone Mining Corp. Indianapolis, Indiana--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Bekins Van Lines held its sixth annual Van Line Summit & Awards Gala on Thursday, February 27, during which Bekins Vice President of Operations Kevin Miller announced Vince Clemente as the winner of the van line's rare Stephen F. Burns Extra Mile Award. The distinguished recognition, which hadn't been earned since 2019, acknowledges the recipient's dedication to delivering an excellent experience to their customers, no matter whether that means the end customer or peers in the network. The Extra Mile Award was introduced in 2000 to acknowledge an agent, driver or corporate employee of Wheaton | Bekins who performs the extraordinary every day. In 2011, the award was renamed the Stephen F. Burns Extra Mile Award in honor of the company's Chairman of the Board. Award winners' attributes include unselfish contributions to the Wheaton | Bekins system and adherence to the company's mission and values: Treat everyone honestly, fairly and professionally. In his dealings with customers, agencies and the van line staff, Clemente - a well-known operations manager for Boerman Moving & Storage, Inc. in Woodridge, Ill. - goes above and beyond the expected in his role. "Vince's accomplishments speak volumes," said Wheaton | Bekins Director of Operations, Kevin Miller. "He is always willing to go above and beyond to lend support where it's needed, whether for his drivers, Boerman staff, or other agents in the network." Clemente began his career at Bekins Van Lines in 1997, at the age of 20, and joined the Boerman Moving & Storage team in August 2007. Since the inception of the Top Hauler award, Boerman Moving & Storage has received it every year, with Clemente playing a key role in that achievement. Collaborating closely with fellow agents in the Wheaton | Bekins network, Clemente offers support with packing, hauling and resolving customer move challenges, all while maintaining a high standard of service. Clemente consistently emphasizes to his drivers that exceptional customer service is expected at Boerman Moving & Storage. As a result, 92% of Boerman's hauling fleet holds top ratings within the van line network, and his drivers have earned multiple Driver of the Year awards during his tenure. Clemente is a strong advocate for his drivers, always going the extra mile to ensure they are well-supported and equipped for success. In recognition of his achievement, Clemente was honored at the Van Line Summit & Awards Gala with the Extra Mile Award trophy and a well-deserved $2,000 cash award. Figure 1 The Extra Mile award winner, Vince Clemente, was surprised by the award, and by his wife and daughters showing up at the awards gala in conjunction with the announcement. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10823/244370_eec48c6d04e1f862_002full.jpg Figure 2 Wheaton | Bekins VP of Operations Kevin Miller (far left) presented Vince Clemente (second from right) with the 2024 Wheaton | Bekins Extra Mile award. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10823/244370_eec48c6d04e1f862_003full.jpg About Bekins Van Lines Wheaton | Bekins is one of the world's most highly regarded providers of transportation services. The van line owns five household goods relocation brands, Wheaton World Wide Moving, Bekins Van Lines, Stevens Worldwide Van Lines, Arpin Van Lines and Clark & Reid. The van line is the fourth largest household goods carrier. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., through its brands Wheaton | Bekins offers private and corporate domestic and international household goods relocation services as well as special commodities and logistic services. The van line is partner to more than 350 Wheaton and Bekins agents nationwide. To learn more, visit www.bekins.com/why-bekins/partners. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244370 SOURCE: Wheaton | Bekins Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Falcon Gold Corp. (TSXV: FG) (OTC Pink: FGLDF) (FSE: 3FA) is pleased to announce the public release of high-resolution images from the first two drill holes of its late 2024 exploration program at the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project in Central Newfoundland. The images, now available on the Company's website and social media channels, provide an unprecedented visual insight into the early stages of the drilling campaign and the quality of recovery obtained. "Our release of these high-resolution images marks a significant step forward in our exploration program," said Karim Rayani, CEO of Falcon Gold Corp. "They not only highlight the excellent quality of the core recovery but also provide tangible evidence of the promising geological features we are beginning to uncover at the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project. It's still early days in our first phase of exploration however we believe what we are seeing is evidence of an extensive mineralized system. We look forward to updating shareholders once we have further results." Key Highlights: Visual Progress: The released images showcase detailed views of the first core recovered from our late 2024 program, illustrating the promising geological characteristics and mineralization encountered in the initial two holes. Exploration Milestone: This visual documentation supports previous press releases and reinforces the Company's robust exploration strategy in the Great Burnt camp, further validating geophysical targets identified during prior surveys and historical drilling. Enhanced Transparency: By sharing these images, Falcon Gold aims to keep its stakeholders and the broader investor community well informed about the project's progress, underlining its commitment to transparency and open communication. Great Burnt Project Core Image #1, Black Shale with Sulfide Mineralization To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4151/244469_8c53b342a4dfbaf9_001full.jpg Great Burnt Project Core Image #2 , Close up View of Sulfide Mineralization in Shale To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4151/244469_8c53b342a4dfbaf9_002full.jpg Great Burnt Project Core Image #3 , Sulfide Mineralization in Quartz Veins To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4151/244469_8c53b342a4dfbaf9_003full.jpg Qualified Person Victor French, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company. About Falcon Gold Corp. Falcon is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on generating, acquiring, and exploring opportunities in the Americas. Falcon's flagship project, the Central Canada Gold Mine, is approximately 20 km southeast of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef Gold Deposit which currently has an estimated 3.32 million ounces of gold (123.5 million tonnes grading 0.84 g/t gold) mineral reserves and 2.3 million ounces of measured and indicated mineral resources (133.4 million tonnes grading 0.54 g/t gold). The Hammond Reef gold property lies on the Hammond shear zone, which is a northeast-trending splay off the Quetico Fault Zone ("QFZ") and may be the control for the gold deposit. The Central Gold property lies on a similar major northeast-trending splay of the QFZ. The Company holds multiple additional projects: the Viernes Gold/Silver/Copper project in the world-class copper cluster located in Antofagasta, Chile; the Springpole West Property in the world-renowned Red Lake mining camp; a 49% interest in the Burton Gold property with Iamgold near Sudbury Ontario; the Spitfire-Sunny Boy, claims in B.C.; the Great Burnt Copper Project Central Newfoundland, and most recently battery metals projects, Timmins West Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Property Ontario, Outarde Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Property, HSP Nickel-Copper property in northern Quebec and the Havre St. Pierre Anorthosite Complex respectively. Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244469 SOURCE: Falcon Gold Corp. Yerington, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Lion Copper and Gold (OTCQB: LCGMF) (CSE: LEO) ("Lion CG" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the successful negotiation of a Settlement Agreement ("the Agreement") with the Nevada Division of Water Resources and the Nevada State Engineer (collectively, the "State") to reinstate previously forfeited water rights essential for the development of the Yerington Copper Project (the "Project"). This Agreement successfully resolves all outstanding legal proceedings related to the forfeiture of specific water rights (see news releases dated July 26, 2021 and September 1, 2023). Under the terms of the Agreement, Lion CG has secured its full allocation of 6,014 acre-feet of primary groundwater water rights designated for mining uses, representing a crucial resource for the Project's advancement. As a result of this Agreement, the State has officially rescinded its notice of forfeiture, restoring the Company's water rights to good standing. Moving forward, Lion CG will maintain compliance by filing regular applications for extensions of time (EOTs) until the water is put to beneficial use for mining purposes. The Agreement highlights the value of productive collaboration between private industry and regulatory authorities in promoting sustainable and responsible mining development in Nevada. Steven Dischler, CEO of Lion CG, states, "We would like to thank the Nevada Division of Water Resources and the Nevada State Engineer for the time and effort they put into working together with us to get this Agreement in place. Having certainty of water represents a major step forward in advancing our Project toward domestic copper production right here in Yerington, Nevada. A key condition of future EOT applications will be Lion CG's demonstration of consistent progress in advancing the Project toward production. We remain fully committed to maximizing the benefits this Agreement unlocks for the State of Nevada, Lyon County and the surrounding communities. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with our regulatory partners and other stakeholders to earn our social license to operate, while positively contributing to the economic growth of Mason Valley and the State of Nevada." Lion CG confirms it remains on schedule to complete the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study by June 2025 (see news release dated February 4, 2025). About Lion CG Lion Copper and Gold Corp. is advancing its flagship copper project in Yerington, Nevada through an Option to Earn-in Agreement with Nuton LLC, a Rio Tinto Venture. Further information can be found at www.lioncg.com. For more information please contact: Email: info@lioncg.com Website: www.lioncg.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244477 SOURCE: Lion Copper and Gold Corp. A Strategic Partnership for a Large-Scale Project in a Yeongwol-gun Mining Site: Major Investment: Up to $900 million in convertible bonds Strategic Infrastructure: High-capacity 260 MW data center, validated by KEPCO GPU Supply and Technical Expertise: Provided by THOMSON Computing Dammarie-les-Lys, France, March 13, 2025, METAVISIO (THOMSON Computing) (FR00140066X4; ticker: ALTHO), a French company specializing in the design, production, and commercialization of computers and hardware/software solutions, announces the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between its subsidiary TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing (TTC) and BKB Energy Co., Ltd. (BKB) for the development of a large-scale data center in South Korea. This project, based in a Yeongwol-gun mining site, will leverage a 260 MW power supply validated by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), along with an ongoing feasibility study and environmental assessment. A Strategic Collaboration for an Ambitious Technology Project Under this agreement, METAVISIO - THOMSON Computing, through TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing, and BKB Energy commit to working together on several key initiatives: Major Investment: Up to $900 million will be invested in convertible bonds issued by BKB Energy. Rapid Execution: The investment will be deployed within six months. Strategic Partnership: TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing will provide its technical expertise and ensure GPU supply for the data center's infrastructure. Long-Term Vision: This partnership paves the way for further technology collaborations, particularly in GPU supply for future projects. A Leading Partnership for Technological Innovation "This project aligns with METAVISIO - THOMSON Computing's strategy to develop high-performance computing infrastructures and strengthen its role in artificial intelligence and cloud computing technologies. Through our partnership with BKB Energy, we are contributing to an innovative and sustainable data center project in South Korea," said Stephan Francais, President of METAVISIO - THOMSON Computing. "We are excited to collaborate with METAVISIO - THOMSON Computing on this high-potential project, combining energy expertise with technological innovation. This partnership represents a major step forward in developing South Korea's digital infrastructure," added Si Woo Chung, President of BKB Energy Co., Ltd. A Rigorous Due Diligence Process Before making any final investment decision, TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing and BKB Energy will conduct a comprehensive due diligence process, covering: Regulatory Analysis: Verification of permits, land acquisitions, and legal requirements. Financial and CAPEX Study: Assessment of construction costs, financing structure, and expected profitability. Power Supply Agreement: Review of KEPCO's contract, substation development, and cost reduction analysis. Construction and Operations Plan: Evaluation of contractors, project timeline, and risk management strategies. Legal and Contractual Structure: Analysis of existing agreements and investment protection clauses. BKB commits to providing all necessary documents, enabling TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing to finalize its analysis and negotiation of the definitive contract within three months. Toward a Definitive Agreement Under Strict Conditions TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing's final commitment to the project is contingent upon: Successful completion of the due diligence process. Mutual agreement on investment contracts. Approval by TECHNOLOGY 1 THOMSON Computing's investment committee. Compliance with all local and international regulatory requirements. Key Next Steps The parties have defined a clear roadmap to ensure the successful execution of the project: Signing of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to ensure information confidentiality. Due diligence phase and technical discussions, with scheduled meetings for project evaluation. Drafting of the final investment agreement, covering financial terms and necessary contractual agreements. A Strategic Growth Lever Through this partnership, METAVISIO is strengthening its expansion strategy, particularly in the German and European markets. This initiative is fully aligned with the company's growth strategy, which continues to focus on technological innovation and the development of its distribution network. About BKB Energy Co., Ltd BKB Energy Co., Ltd is a South Korean energy company specializing in high-capacity power infrastructure development and supply. Headquartered in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, BKB operates across Asian and global markets, providing energy solutions for industrial, technology, and data center sectors. With a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, the company actively invests in renewable energy and high-efficiency power distribution. BKB Energy manages a diversified portfolio worth several hundred million dollars, securing long-term energy contracts with major industrial players. More information: http://www.bkbkorea.com About METAVISIO-THOMSON Computing METAVISIO - THOMSON Computing (FR00140066X4; ticker: ALTHO), is a French company specializing in the research, design, and commercialization of laptops under the THOMSON Computing brand. Founded in 2013, METAVISIO - THOMSON Computing offers, in 52 countries, a range of products featuring the latest technologies at the best prices. More information: www.metavisio.eu Press & Investor Relations Contact: Gabriel Rafaty: metavisio@aimpact.net ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: l2lqk8loapiZnWpwaZqZmWJnnJtpmmGclmTIlmNqY5mVbZxplWiWbMfHZnJhmWpo - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-90452-english-metavisio-x-bkb-energy_march13_aimpact.pdf Star Royalties Ltd. ("Star Royalties", or the "Company") (TSXV:STRR)(OTCQX:STRFF) is pleased to highlight the reissuance of the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the Copperstone Gold Mine ("Copperstone") by Minera Alamos Inc. ("Minera Alamos") (TSXV: MAI, OTCQX: MAIFF). This reissued PEA does not incorporate ongoing work and trade-off studies currently being evaluated by Minera Alamos but does reflect a reduction in the Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") burden on Copperstone as a 1.5% NSR was extinguished since the first publication of the PEA by Sabre Gold Mines Corp. in 2023. Furthermore, given the significant rise in the gold price over the last 18 months, the reissued PEA includes a gold price sensitivity analysis range of $1,000/oz to $3,000/oz compared to the original PEA's gold price sensitivity analysis range of $1,600/oz to $2,000/oz. All amounts are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated. Highlights Robust Copperstone economics: Copperstone is expected to generate $298 million in after-tax net cash flow, have an after-tax NPV5% of $227 million, and generate an after-tax IRR of 171% as per the reissued PEA and assuming a gold price of $3,000/oz. Enhanced stream valuation: Star Royalties' stream is expected to generate approximately $4.6 million in pre-tax cash flow during Copperstone's first year of production and $20.5 million in life-of-mine pre-tax cash flow, prior to any mine-life extension from resource conversion and exploration success, as per the reissued PEA and assuming a gold price of $3,000/oz. Opportunities to further enhance Copperstone's value: Minera Alamos has identified several opportunities to enhance value at Copperstone that will be further evaluated during the development phase. These opportunities include additional drilling in two priority areas with the goal of expanding mineral resources, investigating if previous marginal grade material can be added to production stopes given improved gold prices, evaluating opportunities to increase plant throughput from potential increases in mining rates and from potential resource expansion, as well as evaluating options for leveraging used equipment to reduce initial capital expenditures and lead time. Exploration Potential at Copperstone: Minera Alamos has also identified several exploration opportunities to further enhance value at Copperstone, including drill testing for the presence of the Footwall Zone at depth and underneath the D Zone, continued drilling to define and expand the Southwest Zone located 760m southwest of the Copperstone pit, following up on the historic drill hole CS-266 that intercepted 3.4 g/t gold over 3.0m approximately 200m southwest of the Copperstone pit, as well as following up on historic drill hole 06CS-20 that intercepted 20.5 g/t gold over 1.5m approximately 900m southwest of the Copperstone pit. 2025 development outlook for Copperstone: With Minera Alamos advancing the low-capital intensity Copperstone to production in the first half of 2026, upcoming catalysts this year from Minera Alamos are anticipated to include securing the remaining financing required to bring Copperstone into production, rehabilitating and installing process plant equipment at Copperstone, submitting final permitting documents for the addition of leaching facilities to the existing processing infrastructure at site, completing process plant installation at site, as well as receiving all necessary documentation to begin operations. Equity ownership of Minera Alamos: The Company owns approximately 9.6 million shares of Minera Alamos, valued at C$3.5 million as per Minera Alamos' latest closing share price. In addition to Copperstone's upcoming development milestones, Star Royalties anticipates several additional catalysts in 2025 that could positively re-rate its Minera Alamos equity ownership, including receipt of final permits and a construction decision for their Cerro De Oro development project, Phase 2 pad construction and production ramp-up at their Santana gold mine, as well as the potential spinout and public listing of Minera Alamos' copper development projects. Alex Pernin, Chief Executive Officer of Star Royalties, commented: "We are encouraged by Copperstone's robust economics and our stream's enhanced value at today's gold prices. Simply based on this reissued PEA and assuming a gold price of $3,000/oz, our stream is expected to generate pre-tax cash flow in only the first year of production equivalent to over a third of our current market capitalization. Over Copperstone's currently stated life-of-mine and prior to any production increases or mine-life extension, the stream is expected to generate pre-tax cash flow of close to twice our current market capitalization. We also note that Copperstone's current mine plan only incorporates half of its high-grade resource. Star Royalties is expected to transition to positive free cash flow with Copperstone commencing production in the first half of 2026, complementing existing cash flow from our other producing royalties at Elk Gold in Canada and Keysbrook in Australia. This would represent a significant milestone for the Company and should unlock meaningful value for our investment and for our shareholders. In addition to Copperstone's development plan, as Minera Alamos derisks its remaining portfolio and advances its pipeline, we continue to see meaningful re-rating potential for the 9.6 million Minera Alamos shares we now own. For instance, Copperstone's after-tax NPV5% of $227 million at a gold price of $3,000/oz by itself exceeds Minera Alamos' market capitalization. Overall, we expect several positive catalysts in 2025 to unlock the significant value present in our mining royalty portfolio and close the valuation gap implied by our share price." CONTACT INFORMATION For more information, please visit our website at starroyalties.com or contact: Alex Pernin, P.Geo. Dmitry Kushnir, CFA Chief Executive Officer and Director VP, Investor Relations and Strategy apernin@starroyalties.com dkushnir@starroyalties.com +1 647 494 5001 +1 647 494 5088 About Star Royalties Ltd. Star Royalties Ltd. is a precious metals and carbon credit royalty and streaming company. The Company's objective is to provide wealth creation by originating accretive transactions with superior alignment to both counterparties and shareholders. The Company offers investors exposure to precious metals as well as carbon credit prices through its pure-green joint venture, Green Star Royalties Ltd., having innovated the world's first carbon credit royalties. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking statements", including those regarding future market conditions for metals and minerals, future valuation of Minera Alamos, development and production of Copperstone, permitting and construction scheduling of Coppertone, future location of Copperstone grinding and flotation equipment, expected future cash flow from the stream agreement, the Company's position in Copperstone's future gold production, the net cash position of the Company, and future capital raising opportunities are statements that address or discuss activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. When used in this news release, words such as "estimates", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "will", "believes", "intends" "should", "could", "may" and other similar terminology are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Star Royalties to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be an accurate indication of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, changes in business plans and strategies, market and capital finance conditions, ongoing market disruptions caused by the Ukraine and Russian conflict, metal and mineral commodity price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production and test results, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operation and development risks relating to the parties which produce the metals and minerals Star Royalties will purchase or from which it will receive royalty payments, risks inherent to royalty companies, title and permitting matters, activities by governmental authorities, currency fluctuations, the global, federal and provincial social and economic climate in particular with respect to addressing and reducing global warming, natural disasters and global pandemics, dilution, risk inherent to any capital financing transactions. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking statements and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. SOURCE: Star Royalties Ltd. Crown Castle's Small Cells Solutions business builds and operates small cells nationwide, serving mobile densification needs for cellular carriers Transaction highlights EQT's active ownership approach by acquiring an attractive, stable core infrastructure platform targeting a substantial market opportunity EQT will aim to further accelerate the Company's future growth ambitions NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Active Core Infrastructure fund ("EQT")" has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Crown Castle Inc.'s ("Crown Castle") (NYSE: CCI) Small Cells Solutions business (the "Company") in a transaction valuing it at approximately $4.25 billion. Crown Castle's Small Cells Solutions business is a leading builder and operator of digital infrastructure, specializing in the deployment of small cell networks that enhance essential wireless connectivity. The Company operates a nationwide portfolio of approximately 115,000 small cells on air or under contract spread across 43 states, serving the top three U.S. mobile network operators. The Company plays an important role in providing capacity for high-demand areas lacking macro towers through its extensive network of small cells. The increasing demand for bandwidth-intensive activities, driven by the proliferation of 5G, IoT, AI, and other emerging technologies, is accelerating the need for network densification. The Company is well-positioned to capitalize on these underlying digitization trends, providing turnkey services that enable carriers to expand coverage, improve network efficiency, and meet growing global mobile data traffic demands. "Small cell networks are an essential part of the digital infrastructure ecosystem," said Alexander Greenbaum, Partner and Head of EQT's Active Core Infrastructure Advisory team. "This investment is a natural fit within EQT Active Core Infrastructure's strategy - investing behind long-term contracted, core infrastructure assets with strong growth potential. With EQT's deep experience in digital infrastructure and active approach to value creation, we see significant opportunity to support the Company's continued growth." "Crown Castle's Small Cells Solutions business is a platform at the heart of the next generation of digital infrastructure, enabling essential digital connectivity that will help power the future," said Nirav Shah, Partner within EQT's Infrastructure Advisory team. "With its significant scale, operational excellence, and deep carrier relationships, the Company is poised to benefit from positive digital tailwinds. We look forward to partnering with the business to help fuel its next phase of growth, drive cutting-edge innovation, and support the long-term expansion of critical digital infrastructure." With a strong foundation of long-term contracts, operational expertise, and deep-rooted carrier relationships, the Company has firmly established itself as a partner of choice in the U.S. EQT will support the Company through its next phase of growth by leveraging its global scale and significant experience within the digital infrastructure space to strengthen its asset base and further deepen its relationships with leading mobile network operators. Transaction Details As part of the transaction, the EQT Active Core Infrastructure fund will acquire Crown Castle's Small Cells Solutions business, while Zayo, backed by the EQT Infrastructure IV fund and Digital Bridge, will independently acquire Crown Castle's Fiber Solutions business, as communicated in a separate transaction announcement today. Concurrent with the acquisitions, Zayo and the Small Cells business will enter into a long-term commercial agreement whereby Zayo will provide fiber to the Small Cells business. The total combined value of the Fiber Solutions and Small Cells transaction is $8.5 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions. TD Securities served as sole financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as legal advisor to EQT in connection with the transaction. Contact EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-to-acquire-crown-castle-s-small-cells-solutions-business,c4118770 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/87/4118770/3320795.pdf Press Release, ACI, Frequency, 130325 https://news.cision.com/eqt/i/avetta-overview-pic,c3386776 Avetta Overview Pic View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/eqt-to-acquire-crown-castles-small-cells-solutions-business-302401514.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Dale Reimer CFO, EnGold Mines Ltd., (TSXV: EGM) ("EnGold" or the "Company") reports that EnGold director Mr. David Brett has resigned from his position as a Director of the Company. The Company thanks him for the service he has provided over the years, and wishes him the best in his future endeavors. About EnGold EnGold is a Vancouver-based copper, gold, silver, and magnetite exploration company focused solely on its 100% owned Lac La Hache property in the Cariboo region of BC which hosts the Spout Copper Deposit, the Aurizon Gold Deposit, and the G1 Copper Deposit and other targets within a large porphyry mineralizing system. With world-class infrastructure at its doorstep, Lac La Hache is a great location to be exploring. EnGold Mines Ltd. Dale Reimer CFO To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244510 SOURCE: EnGold Mines Ltd. A case study on how DelveInsight helped a pharma client navigate the evolving metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) landscape with actionable market intelligence LAS VEGAS, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight recently conducted an in-depth MASH Market Size and Share Assessment to help a pharmaceutical client understand the evolving Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) market in key Asian countries. Formerly known as Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), MASH was officially renamed in 2023 by leading liver disease authorities, including the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), to reflect its metabolic origins better. The client sought to evaluate MASH prevalence, MASH patient burden, existing and emerging therapies for MASH, and market entry feasibility in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian nations. Understanding MASH grade- and severity-specific patient pools, treatment adoption, and competitive dynamics was crucial to shaping their market entry and product positioning strategy. With decades of expertise in Pharma Market Assessments, DelveInsight employed rigorous epidemiological research, competitive intelligence, and strategic forecasting to equip the client with actionable insights. Our comprehensive analysis provided a clear picture of MASH treatment trends, market gaps, and the potential opportunities for innovative therapies. MASH is a rising global health concern, particularly in Asia, where factors such as ethnicity, obesity, and metabolic syndrome contribute to high prevalence rates. According to DelveInsight, there were approximately 42 million prevalent cases of MASH in the 7MM (US, EU5, and Japan) in 2023, with 15 million diagnosed cases, a figure projected to increase significantly by 2034. In Asia, MASH prevalence varies significantly between rural and urban populations. Japan accounted for 2.5 million diagnosed cases in 2023, while India exhibited a higher prevalence in urban areas (17-25%) compared to rural regions (10%). Other Southeast Asian countries, such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore, show prevalence rates ranging from 5% to 35%. Additionally, in South Korea, obesity and abdominal obesity rates reached 36% and 24%, respectively, highlighting a growing risk factor for MASH. Currently, only one drug is approved for MASH treatment. On March 14, 2024, the FDA approved REZDIFFRA for NASH patients with moderate to severe fibrosis (F2-F3), setting a new benchmark for efficacy and safety. Its acceptance is expected to accelerate future NASH treatments, with clinical trials likely expanding to Southeast Asia. Beyond Rezdiffra, several companies are advancing therapies in the pipeline, including Inventiva Pharma, Novo Nordisk, Cirius Therapeutics, Akero Therapeutics, 89bio, Boehringer Ingelheim/Zealand Pharma, Galectin Therapeutics, Viking Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck & Co./Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Gilead Sciences, and others. For the latest insights, explore DelveInsight's updated MASH Market Report. A data-drivenMarketSizeandShareAssessment is vital for strategic decision-making in today's competitive pharmaceutical landscape. DelveInsight's market analysis helps companies identify target patient populations, assess treatment landscapes, and analyze emerging therapies to uncover growth opportunities. DelveInsight enables pharmaceutical firms to make informed decisions, optimize strategies, and secure a strong market presence by providing market forecasting, adoption trends, and competitive positioning insights. With MASH gaining attention as a high-burden disease with significant unmet needs, understanding market dynamics is critical for companies looking to make a meaningful impact. DelveInsight's Data-Driven Market Assessment Methodology for Unlocking MASH Opportunities To help our client navigate the MASH market, DelveInsight employed a multifaceted research and strategic analysis approach, combining epidemiological insights, competitive intelligence, and market forecasting. Our methodology included the following key steps: Market Dynamics Evaluation - The current MASH treatment landscape was analyzed across each target country, assessing market share data for existing therapies and forecasting the adoption of treatments in development. Competitor Analysis & Market Entry Assessment - An in-depth competitor landscape study was conducted, identifying key companies developing MASH drugs and evaluating the feasibility of market entry in each region. Strategic Product Positioning - To differentiate the client's product in a symptom-management-dominated market, a treatment-based approach was emphasized, ensuring better alignment with healthcare providers and patient needs. Grade-Specific Patient Focus - Based on the client's request, research was prioritized on grade-specific patient populations, offering targeted recommendations by understanding disease progression and unmet needs at different stages. Strategic Outcomes of DelveInsight's Market Size and Share Assessment for MASH By integrating rigorous data analysis with strategic insights, DelveInsight provided the client with a clear, actionable roadmap for market entry, competitive positioning, and long-term success in the evolving MASH market. DelveInsight's rigorous epidemiological research provided the client with a detailed assessment of the MASH (formerly NASH) burden across key Asian markets. By analyzing prevalence data across different disease grades and severity levels, we equipped the client with actionable insights into the target patient population, enabling informed strategic planning. Our market dynamics evaluation gave the client a comprehensive view of the existing treatment landscape, including market share insights and future adoption forecasts for emerging therapies. This allowed the client to identify growth opportunities, optimize product positioning, and make data-driven market entry decisions. Through competitive intelligence and feasibility assessments, we pinpointed key players and potential market entry barriers in each target country. These insights helped the client anticipate challenges, refine market penetration strategies, and gain a competitive edge. By prioritizing grade-specific patient segmentation, we provided tailored recommendations, helping the client better understand patient needs at various disease stages. This enabled them to align their strategy with real-world clinical and commercial dynamics, ultimately strengthening their position in the evolving MASH market. Curious about how the MASH landscape is evolving? Let DelveInsight be your guide.Get in touch today for expert insights and strategic solutions! Market Size and Share Assessment Services: DelveInsight provides a 360-degree market landscape analysis, delivering 10-year epidemiology-driven market forecasts. Our expertise offers precise insights into emerging therapies' current and projected market share, helping stakeholders navigate evolving treatment landscapes. By integrating epidemiology-based models, emerging trends, competitive dynamics, and unmet needs, we empower businesses to craft data-driven strategies and identify lucrative opportunities. Whether it's pipeline analysis, pricing strategies, epidemiology-driven forecasting, or competitive benchmarking, DelveInsight delivers actionable intelligence tailored to your strategic goals. Competitive Intelligence Services Tailored to Gastroenterology Domain: DelveInsight's competitive intelligence services deliver real-time, precise insights across therapeutic domains, with gastroenterology being one of our key areas of expertise. We provide in-depth analysis of advancements across both prevalent and rare conditions, including MASH, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Ulcerative Colitis, and Barrett's Esophagus. Our services track competitor pipelines, clinical trial progress, regulatory shifts, and patent landscapes, offering a comprehensive view of the evolving gastroenterology market. By leveraging these insights, stakeholders can identify emerging threats, seize growth opportunities, and craft strategic moves to stay ahead in this dynamic space. Conference Coverage Services: DelveInsight's Conference Coverage Services offer a thorough analysis of outcomes from major gastroenterology events like WCOG, Euro-Global Gastroenterology Conference, ICGH, ICGDD, and ICCGVG. This detailed examination provides businesses with essential insights for competitive intelligence and market trend forecasting, supporting the formulation of future strategies. R&D Analysis: DelveInsight's skilled research and development analyst specializes in the complexities of different indications, offering essential insights and advice to clients aiming to advance in research and development. They utilize a methodical assessment approach, aligned with industry norms, to track the progress of each drug in both pre-clinical and clinical stages. DelveInsight's comprehensive reports are crafted to reduce uncertainties and highlight overlooked areas, providing organizations with timely and strategic intelligence. Why Choose DelveInsight? DelveInsight's Market Assessment Services provide data-driven insights and competitive intelligence to help pharmaceutical companies navigate evolving market landscapes. With 10-year forecasts, drug uptake analysis, competitive benchmarking, and customized market evaluations, we deliver precise projections for both emerging and established markets. Our expertise in epidemiology modeling, primary intelligence, and data analytics ensures clients gain a clear, strategic understanding of their therapy's potential and competitive positioning. Covering the 7MM region and beyond, DelveInsight equips stakeholders with actionable intelligence to drive informed decision-making and commercial success. Get in touch today to leverage our expertise and stay ahead in the competitive market! Contact us for a personalized consultation. About DelveInsight DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform, PharmDelve. Contact Us Shruti Thakur info@delveinsight.com +14699457679 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/3528414/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/unveiling-pharma-market-potential-delveinsights-strategic-insights-into-the-rapidly-expanding-mash-landscape-in-asia-302400766.html Westwood, Massachusetts--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Luxury Pools By MF, a newly established company specializing in custom gunite pools, officially launched on December 1, 2024. Founded by Michael Freiberger, the owner of MF Landscape & Design, LLC, the company now serves homeowners across Massachusetts, including Westwood, Needham, Dover, Wellesley, Newton, Weston, Natick and the surrounding communities. The launch marks an expansion into luxury outdoor living, offering high-end pool design and construction services. Luxury Pools By MF, founded by Michael Freiberger, officially launched on December 1, 2024 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10740/244476_39d13bb2d4b948b0_001full.jpg With years of experience in landscape design, Michael Freiberger recognized a growing demand for premium outdoor installations across Massachusetts. In recent years, the number of homeowners looking for innovative ways to enhance their outdoor spaces, like constructing custom spas and outdoor kitchens, has sharply increased. This demand, combined with his hands-on experience working with clients, led to the creation of Luxury Pools By MF. With the new business, the landscape designer ensures clients are served by a seasoned team of professionals dedicated to luxury service. Luxury Pools By MF designs and builds custom gunite pools Massachusetts that blend seamlessly with existing landscapes, creating personalized outdoor retreats for homeowners. Despite being newly launched, the company is backed by years of experience in high-end outdoor designs. Michael Freiberger and his team have worked with hundreds of clients, gaining a deep understanding of what homeowners seek and the gaps in the market. By curating services to meet these demands, Luxury Pools By MF ensures every project aligns with the client's lifestyle and preferences. MF Officially Launches Expands Custom Gunite Pool Services in Massachusetts To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10740/244476_39d13bb2d4b948b0_002full.jpg The founder also plans to bring other factors that have made MF Landscape & Design, LLC stand out in the competitive market. These factors include a commitment to quality craftsmanship, a detail-oriented approach to design, clear communication, and a strong emphasis on customer collaboration. As Luxury Pools By MF grows, the focus remains on providing homeowners with high-quality and innovative solutions for outdoor living. The company's expansion into custom pool design allows Massachusetts residents to work with a team that understands both landscaping and pool construction. Michael Freiberger and his team are prepared to exceed client expectations and transform outdoor spaces across the state. About Luxury Pools By MF: Luxury Pools By MF is a newly launched company that designs and constructs custom gunite pools and high-end outdoor living spaces across Massachusetts. As a sister company to MF Landscape & Design, LLC, Luxury Pools By MF combines expertise in landscaping and pool design to create fully integrated outdoor environments. The company serves homeowners across Westwood, Needham, Dover, Wellesley, and surrounding areas, offering various services, including pool construction, custom spas, outdoor kitchens, water features, and lounge areas. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244476 SOURCE: GetFeatured Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Minas Metals Ltd. (CSE: MINA) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of two new officers to its executive team: Timothy Chan as Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors, and Peter Rhodes as Chief Financial Officer. These strategic hires have been made in connection with Minas Metals' proposed Change of Business, as previously announced on January 27, 2025, and underscore the Company's commitment to accelerating growth and operational excellence. Timothy Chan, a seasoned finance professional and serial entrepreneur, brings over a decade of expertise in equity derivatives and a proven track record of success in the startup ecosystem. Most notably, Mr. Chan served as Head of Delta 1 Ex-Japan at Sunrise Brokers, a subsidiary of BGC Partners, which is affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald-a global leader in financial innovation with deep ties to cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies, including Tether. His extensive experience in high-stakes financial environments and his entrepreneurial vision position him as a transformative leader for Minas Metals. Jon Bey, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will remain on the board of directors to ensure a seamless transition and provide ongoing strategic guidance. Blair Jordan, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company, noted "We are very appreciative of Mr. Bey's hard work and strategic guidance over the last two years, and look forward to the Company's upcoming change of business to the technology and digital asset space." Joining Mr. Chan is Peter Rhodes, a Chartered Accountant with nearly 20 years of experience in strategic financial leadership across diverse industries. Mr. Rhodes has a proven ability to drive financial performance, scale operations, and secure funding for high-growth organizations. In a previous role as CFO of one of Canada's largest cannabis pre-roll companies, he played a pivotal role in compliance, operational scaling and strategic financing. His expertise extends to mergers, acquisitions, and asset dispositions, where he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital in the metals and mining, cannabis, IT, and financial services sectors. "We are delighted to welcome Timothy and Peter to the Minas Metals team," said Jon Bey. "The Board believes that their exceptional leadership, industry expertise, and proven track records align perfectly with our mission to strengthen our position as an investment company following the proposed Change of Business and deliver sustainable growth. Their appointments mark an exciting new chapter for the Company as we pursue innovative opportunities." The Board believes the addition of Mr. Chan and Mr. Rhodes reflects Minas Metals' strategic focus on building a strong leadership team to drive operational excellence, financial discipline, and innovation. The Board believes their combined experience and vision will be instrumental in advancing the Company's goals following the proposed Change of Business as an investment company focussed on investments in high-growth industries with a particular focus on blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. Minas Metals Ltd. also announces that Kenneth Tullar and Thomas Lewis have resigned from the board of directors, effective immediately. The Company extends its sincere gratitude to Mr. Tullar and Mr. Lewis for their contributions and leadership during their tenure and wishes them success in their future endeavors. Replacing Mr. Tullar and Mr. Lewis will be Mr. Chan, who has also been appointed as CEO, as well as Joshua Mann. Mr. Mann is the Chief Strategy Officer and a Partner at Joseph Gunnar and Co, LLC, an Investment bank based in New York. Previously, Mr. Mann was at Luminous Capital Inc, a private equity and advisory firm he co-founded in 2019 and served as its Managing Partner. Mr. Mann was also a Managing Director of ARC Group. Prior to Luminous and ARC, Mr. Mann was a General Partner at Wildhorse Capital Partners, which he co-founded and served as General Partner. Earlier in his career, Mr. Mann was Vice President of Business Development and Capital Markets at Blackbird Energy until its sale in 2017. Mr. Mann began his career at Stifel Financial Corp. in its natural resource coverage group. Following these changes, the Company's Board of Directors and executive officers consist of: Timothy Chan (Chief Executive Officer and Director), Peter Rhodes (Chief Financial Officer), Jon Bey (Director), Blair Jordan (Director) and Joshua Mann (Director). RSU Grants The Company also announces the grant of an aggregate of 950,000 RSUs to certain directors and officers of the Company pursuant to the Company's long-term incentive plan. Of the 950,000 RSUs granted, 250,000 RSUs will vest immediately on the date of grant and 500,000 RSUs will vest in eight equal installments quarterly, over two years from the date of grant. About the Company The Company is currently a junior mining exploration issuer listed on the CSE. The Company intends to pursue a change of business following which, and subject to the approval of the CSE, the Company will be an investment issuer with a focus in investments in high-growth sectors and digital assets. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Information This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "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 impact of the new management on the Company's business and operations, the Company's plans to complete the change of business, regulatory approval of the change of business, the expected impacts of the change of business on the Company's business and operations, and the Company's plans following the proposed change of business. 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 new officer appointments may not impact the Company's operations or business as anticipated; the Company may decide not to proceed with the change of business; the Company may not receive regulatory approval for the change of business; the Company may not receive the anticipated results on its business or operations following completion of the change of business; the Company's plans following the change of business may vary; the volatility of the digital asset and cryptocurrency markets; the impact of governmental or regulatory orders or decisions on the digital asset and cryptocurrency sectors; and market volatility for the Company's securities. In making the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that: the Company will proceed with the change of business; the Company will receive regulatory approval for the change of business; the change of business will benefit the Company's business and operations; and the digital asset and cryptocurrency sectors will continue to see growth. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244523 SOURCE: Minas Metals Ltd. Not many may be aware of the real story behind John Abraham, Sadia Khateeb starrer Diplomat movie. Here is story of Uzma Ahmad and diplomat JP Singh. read more Who was Uzma Ahmad and how did she get trapped in Pakistan? How Indian diplomat to Islamabad , JP Singh and his colleagues along with the then External Affairs Minister late Sushma Swaraj helped her come out of Pakistan. We learn from the film, The Diplomat that she called Uzma, the daughter of India. Both JP Singh and Sushma Swaraj took the measured risk, by thorough background checking of Uzma as to whether she was actually Indian or not. Proper diplomatic operation was conducted to free Uzma from the clutches of a beastly Pakistani man who forcefully married her and then tortured her day in and day out. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD How did Uzma Ahmad land up in Pakistan? Uzma, was forced to marry a Pakistani on gunpoint. She was drugged and taken to held captive by her husband in Pakistans Buner in 2017. She was inhumanly tortured, beaten up and raped day in and day out by her husband. As per the movie The Diplomat, they met in Malaysia and he seemed to be a good man. But later he invited her to Pakistan and wanted to take care of Uzmas only daughter who was suffering from thalassemia disease. But all these were a very calculated trap by her husband, Tahir Ali. After reaching Pakistan, Uzma realised that Tahir was already married had children. Many women like her were kept as captive and several anti-social elements living together in Buner, a place where ordinary Pakistani masses are scared of going to. These anti-social Pakistani were also involved in women trafficking. Uzma Ahmad and her daughter with External Affairs Minister late Sushma Swaraj How did Uzma escape from the clutches of her husband? Uzma called her cousin in Malaysia from a mobile of another woman who was also kept as captive in Buner. Uzmas friend advised her that by hook or by crook she has to reach the Indian High Commission of Islamabad to escape from Pakistan. Uzma tricked her husband, Tahir Ali that as a gift Indian bride grooms are given certain amount of money by the brides family. She knew that Tahir was a greedy man and will agree to this. Uzma told Tahir that his brother who works in the Indian High Commission will hand over the money to her. Tahir took her to the Indian High Commission office and there Uzma went in and narrated her story and how she was trapped by her husband to the then Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh. Deputy along with his collogues did a proper background checkup. It was a very brave move taken by him and he gave her shelter in the Indian High Commission office. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Diplomat movie shows how cooperative everybody was including the then External Affair Minister, Sushma Swaraj. Uzma Ahmads return to India What Uzma had to say on returning to India? As per a report published in Financial Express, Uzma said, I went to Pakistan as a tourist. The situation changed there so fast that I couldnt notice when Tahir gave me sleeping pill and when I slept. From my point of view, it was kidnapping because I wasnt aware that situation will change so drastically after crossing the Wagah Border. After reaching, I saw there was a weird village, with weird language and weird people. Nothing was right there. If you search on Google, you will find that Buner was under Talibani occupation from 2008-10. Military operations also happen there often. Tahir tortured me in every possible way and even threatened me that he would get my daughter kidnapped and killed in Delhi. She further added, There were guns in the house. They used to keep pistols with them. It is easy to go to Pakistan. But coming back from there is impossible. Pakistan is well of death. You cant come back from there. Normally, Muslim girls here (India) think Pakistan is very good because of Muslim culture. I was trapped, but even those who go to Pakistan after arranged marriage, are in trouble. They want to come back. But they cant. Pakistan is completely like this. In every house, you will find 2-3-4 wives. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Where is Uzma Ahmad now? According to a story published in The Week in 2019, Uzma runs a beauty salon in Brahmpuri, north east Delhi called Falak. The Diplomat is now showing on Netflix WATCH the trailer of The Diplomat movie here: (With added inputs from agencies) John Abraham and Lisa Ray starrer Water was Canadas submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 79th Academy Awards, where it got nominated but didnt win read more John Abraham, who is currently gearing up for the release of The Diplomat, revealed that he garnered praises from Hollywood legends like Steven Spielberg and Charlize Theron for his performance in Deepa Mehtas Water, on the contrary, no one even saw that film in India. The Indo-Canadian was Canadas submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 79th Academy Awards, where it got nominated but didnt win. Recalling the time when he went at the Oscars along with leads Lisa Ray and Seena Biswas, John told BookMyShows YouTube channel, When I went to the awards, I had the honour of meeting Steven Spielberg, and he loved my performance in Water, whereas no one here even saw it for a day. I remember Charlize Theron talking to me and saying that. I loved what you were processing, but no one here talked about that. Advertisement Set in 1938, Water narrates the lives of widows in Varanasi. The screenplay of the film was written by Anurag Kashyap and it also featured Sarala Kariyawasam, Manorama, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav and Vinay Pathak in prominent roles. Meanwhile, Johns The Diplomat will hit the screens tomorrow. The film has been garnering rave reviews from the experts. Firstpost has given the film 3.5 stars and wrote, Through the film we get to know how Uzma Ahmad was rescued because of the hugely brave efforts of the staff of the Indian Embassy, Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh (John Abraham) and the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (Revathy). We also get to know how the situation got tensed up because of Kulbhushan Jadhav case and how it affected the Indo-Pak relationship. Not just the storytelling and the performances by all the actors; its a beautifully shot film with very fine camera work. The Diplomat is indeed an incredibly riveting cinema and a must-watch. Gauri has a Tamilian mother and an Irish father; notably, her grandfather was a freedom fighter read more Aamir Khans new partner at the age of 60 is Gauri Spratt, a resident of Bengaluru. This was the big surprise the actor had on his birthday. But who is Gauri? She is currently working for Aamir Khans production house Aamir Khan Films. She has a Tamilian mother and an Irish father; notably, her grandfather was a freedom fighter. Aamir Khan, who has been an avid smoker, has quit this bad habit as he shared this news at the trailer launch of his son Junaid Khans film Loveyapa. Advertisement I have given up smoking, smoking is something I love very much and its something I enjoy. Kya bolun, sach baat hai yeh, jhooth toh bol nahi sakta. Itne saalo se main cigarette pee rha that, ab pipe peeta hu (what can I say, its the truth, I cant lie. Ive been smoking cigarettes for years, now I smoke a pipe). Tobacco is something I enjoy. Its not good for health. Kisi ko nahi karna chahiye (No one should do it), the megastar shared. Now Kiran Rao, his ex-wife, told Filmfare, I tortured him (Aamir) a little bit. He would give me some suggestions, and Id be like, No, do it like this. Since it was my first film and we had a very tiny budgeta micro-budgetthere was this constant panic that I wouldnt get to do what I wanted. She added, I was patient with everybody else because, obviously, I couldnt shout at everyoneI had to show that I knew what I was doing. But with Aamir, I could snap because hes my husband. Im very happy to say that Ive quit this bad habit. And whoever is watching or listening, I want to tell them too to please quit it. Its not a good habit. I felt I wanted to quit, my sons career is starting too. I made a resolve in my heart. Im quitting, whether it (Junaids next film) works or not, Im doing this independent of that). As a father, I wanted to sacrifice. Aur kahin universe mein ja ke uska kuchh ho. Aap log prarthana kariye, dua kariye. (Hope it does something somewhere in the universe. You guys pray and wish for that, too), Aamir said. Advertisement Just days after the shocking gang rape of an Israeli tourist and her homestay owner in Karnatakas Hampi, another distressing case has emerged from Delhi. A British tourist was allegedly raped by a man she had befriended on social media. The incident took place at a hotel in south-west Delhis Mahipalpur area read more A British tourist was allegedly raped by a man she had befriended on social media. The incident happend at a hotel in south west Delhi's Mahipalpur area. Image for Representation Just days after the shocking gangrape of an Israeli tourist in Karnatakas Hampi, another distressing case has emergedthis time in Delhi. A British tourist was allegedly raped by a man she had befriended on social media. The incident took place in south-west Delhis Mahipalpur area. According to Delhi Police, they have arrested the main accused, Kailash, while his accomplice, Wasim, has been charged with molestation. Authorities have also informed the British High Commission about the incident. Advertisement Heres how the tragic events unfolded. What happened? According to police, the British tourist said she met the accused, Kailash, on Instagram after he approached her. They began chatting regularly, and over time, she decided to travel to India to meet him in person. Police stated that the woman had initially come to India for a holiday in Maharashtra and Goa. While there, she called Kailash and asked him to join her, NDTV reports. However, he told her he couldnt travel and instead suggested she come to Delhi. Agreeing to the plan, she arrived in Delhi on Tuesday and checked into a hotel in Mahipalpur, near Indira Gandhi International Airport. After reaching the hotel, she called Kailash, who arrived with his friend Wasim. The three of them had dinner together and consumed alcohol before heading to her room. It was then that the situation took a turn. The woman told police that she sensed Kailash was behaving inappropriately, leading to a heated argument. She was then allegedly raped by him. The incident happened at a hotel in Delhis Mahipalpur. Following standard protocol, the police informed the British High Commission, which is now providing assistance to the UK national. image for Representation. PTI Panicked and desperate for help, she managed to reach the hotel reception and raise an alarm. However, another man, under the pretext of assisting her, allegedly molested her inside the hotel lift. The next morning, she approached the Vasant Kunj police station and filed a complaint. Following standard protocol, the police informed the British High Commission, which is now providing assistance to the UK national. Investigations revealed that Kailash works at a private firm. The woman also informed the police that he struggled to communicate in English and used Google Translate to converse with her. Advertisement Both accused have since been arrested on charges of rape and molestation, police confirmed. Also read: A rape every 16 minutes: The shocking numbers on crimes against women in India The horrific Hampi rape case Just days before the Delhi case, a horrifying crime shook Karnatakas Hampi, where an Israeli tourist and a homestay owner were gang-raped by three men. Investigations revealed that a group of fivea 29-year-old homestay operator, three male tourists, and an Israeli touristhad gone to the Tungabhadra Canal near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hampi for stargazing. As they played the guitar and enjoyed the night, three men arrived on a motorcycle around 10:30 pm, asking where they could find petrol. Advertisement The homestay operator informed them that there was no petrol station nearby and suggested they check in Sanapur. One of the men then suddenly demanded Rs 100. I told them I didnt have any money, but as they kept insisting, one of the male tourists gave them Rs 20, the complainant stated. However, when the group refused to give more, the men became aggressive. A horrifying crime shook Karnatakas Hampi, where an Israeli tourist and a homestay owner were gang-raped by three men. All three have been arrested by police and charged under The situation quickly spiralled out of control. The attackers started threatening them with stones before two of them assaulted and raped both the homestay operator and the Israeli tourist. The third suspect pushed the male tourists into the water canal. Advertisement The FIR describes the brutality of the attack. The homestay operator said she was dragged away, strangled, and raped one after another. I was bleeding heavily. They hit me with stones and snatched my bag, taking two mobile phones and Rs 9,500 in cash, she alleged. The Israeli tourist also recounted how she was forcibly taken away and raped. We were screaming and crying, but the three men fled on their motorcycle, she said in her complaint. The police have since arrested all three accused. Saranabasava, a 27-year-old carpenter, was the latest to be caught, while the other two, Sai Mallu and Chethan Sai, were arrested in Gangavathi. They have been charged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, including attempted murder, robbery, and rape. Advertisement In response, security in the area has been intensified. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has assured that security at tourist destinations will be significantly strengthened to prevent such horrific crimes in the future. Safety, health biggest headaches for foreign tourists in India Fear of falling sick and concerns about safety and security are the biggest worries for foreign tourists planning a trip to India, according to an international survey. Nearly 60 per cent of respondents cited either of these as their biggest planning headaches. The survey, conducted by global digital travel platform Booking.com, found that 32 per cent of travellers were most worried about getting sick, while 27 per cent were concerned about safety and security. These issues were also the top reasons given by visitors who had been to India but did not wish to return. Other concerns listed by respondents included cultural differences (13 per cent), language barriers (12 per cent), accommodation (8 per cent), transportation (6 per cent), and food (2 per cent). While India seems to deliver on experience; health and safety concerns may be a travel deterrent for the country. Travellers who do not plan to return cited health concernsespecially falling ill during the tripas a significant factor (16 per cent), followed by safety and security issues (15 per cent). Very few raised concerns around value for money, local interactions, availability and variety of local experiences, Booking.com stated in its report How India Travels 2024 The Inbound Edit, which was prepared in collaboration with Accenture last year. The findings are based on Booking.coms India Inbound survey, conducted in August among 2,000 adults across various age groups in 19 countries and territories. The respondents were individuals who intended to travel to India within the next one to two years. With input from agencies A senior Awami League leader and close aide of Sheikh Hasina has made the sensational claim that she will return as prime minister of Bangladesh. Hasina, 76, fled to India after being ousted following a student-led movement. Bangladesh in December officially requested India to send Hasina back. But is a return to power for Hasina really in the offing? read more Can Sheikh Hasina made a comeback as Bangladeshs prime minister? A senior Awami League leader and close aide of Hasina has made the sensational claim. Hasina, 76, the longtime prime minister of Bangladesh, fled to India after being ousted after a student-led movement. Bangladesh in December officially requested India to send Hasina back. The request was made through a note verbale to the Indian government, Bangladeshs Interim governments Foreign Affairs Adviser, Touhid Hossain said. We have sent a note verbale to India requesting to send Sheikh Hasina back, Hossan added. Advertisement But what did the leader say? And can Hasina really make a comeback? Lets take a closer look What did he say? Rabbi Alam, Vice President of the United States (USA) Awami League told ANI that Hasina would return as Bangladeshs prime minister. Sheikh Hasina is coming back as the Prime Minister. The young generation has made a mistake, but thats not their fault, they have been manipulated, Alam was quoted as saying. He also described the current political crisis in Bangladesh as a terror uprising. Bangladesh is under attack and it needs to be addressed by the international community. A political uprising is fine, but that is not what has been going on in Bangladesh. This is a terrorist uprising, he said. Alam further thanked the Indian government for giving Hasina safe harbour. Many of our leaders are sheltered here in India, and we are very thankful to the Indian government for providing the alignment. I also thank PM Narendra Modi for providing a safe travel passage for our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. We are thankful to the people of India, Alam added. Alam also demanded that Mohammed Yunus, the caretaker prime minister of Bangladesh, step down. We want to ask the Bangladesh Advisor to step down and go back to where he came from Sheikh Hasina is coming back as the Prime Minister. The young generation has made a mistake, but thats not their fault; they have been manipulated. Advertisement Can Hasina really make a comeback? She certainly thinks so. As per News18, Hasina in February vowed to return to Bangladesh. Hasina, making a virtual address from an undisclosed location, promised to avenge those who died in the violence during the student-led protests. I will request all of you to have patience and stay united. I will return, avenge our martyrs. I will do justice like I did earlier. You have my word," Hasina vowed. Allah has given me a second life and I believe that this happened for a cause. They tried to kill me earlier also and they tried to kill me on the day (August 5). But I survived, only to a return again. I will do justice. Allah is with all of us," she added. Advertisement Hasina also slammed Yunus and accused him of atrocities. Yunus has no experience of running a government. He dissolved all inquiry committees and unleashed the terrorists to butcher people. They are destroying Bangladesh. We will out this government of terrorists. Inshallah. I had made a trust to support the families, but our bank accounts, the trust and all our assets were frozen by this government. They slaughtered my family including my 10-year-old brother. I know what you are going through. I promise, I will come back," she concluded. Hasina previously accused Yunus of being the mastermind behind the protests that led to her removal, alleging that the protests were meticulously designed to overthrow her government. Advertisement Bangladeshs interim government, headed by Muhammad Yunus, has vowed to extradite Sheikh Hasina. AP Yunus government responded by vowing to extradite Hasina. This is the governments top priority. We will continue our efforts to extradite Hasina to hold her trial in person, Yunus press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, was quoted as saying by NDTV. What do experts say? Some are quite upbeat about the possibility. A return for Hasina is quite credible, Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, told Time Magazine. If you look at the history of dynastic politics in South Asia, you can never rule out dynastic parties even when they appear to be down and out. This government has legitimacy, it has public support, but it doesnt have popular mandate, Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladeshi scholar at the University of Oslo in Norway, added. Advertisement Others are less optimistic in their assessments, noting how Sheikh Mujibs statues have been toppled across the country and his paintings removed from pride of place. Thats how Sheikh Hasinas legacy is being imagined among the young population, says Mubashar. There is no way for Sheikh Hasina and her party to play any significant overt role in Bangladeshi politics for the next decade, added Zillur Rahman, the executive director of the Dhaka-based Centre for Governance Studies think tank and a talk show host. This, of course, could change if the interim government fails monumentally. With inputs from agencies Brazils Belem is set to play host to around 50,000 people during the COP30, the UNs annual climate summit, in November. Ironically, it turns out that the government is cutting down thousands of acres of protected rainforest in the Amazon to build a highway to the host city read more Brazil will be hosting the COP30, the UNs annual climate summit in November. Around 50,000 people, including several world leaders, are expected to attend the summit slated to be held in Belem from November 10 to November 21. However, in an ironic twist, it turns out that thousands of acres of protected rainforest in the Amazon are being demolished to build a road for the climate summit. But what happened? What do we know? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Lets take a closer look: What happened? According to BBC, the four-lane highway goes through tens of thousands of acres. The idea behind the highway to ease congestion to the city of Belem home to more than 2 million people and the capital of Para state. As per India Today, the highway is being called the Avenida Liberdade or Avenue of Liberty. The highway will have two lanes of traffic in both directions, as per the Para government website. It will connect two existing road systems as well as serve as a new entry and exit route for the Belem Metropolitan Region. The cleared land covers a distance of over 13 kilometres. The site is home to diggers and machines which are laying the road over the forest floor. Around 20 per cent of the work has been completed as of November 2024, as per CBS. Claudio Verequete, who resides around 200 metres from the under construction highway, told the BBC that he used to make money from acai berries from trees which once stood. Everything was destroyed, Verequete said. Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Our fear is that one day someone will come here and say: Heres some money. We need this area to build a gas station, or to build a warehouse. And then well have to leave. We were born and raised here in the community. Where are we going to go? Verequete said he received no compensation from the government is now dipping into his savings. However, the Brazilian government has defended the project. According to Daily Mail, Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has projected himself as a defender of the rainforest, said the summit will be a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon. Lula claimed that the COP30 would showcase the needs of the Amazon and display to the world what Brazils government has done to protect it, according to the newspaper. Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defended the project. Reuters The newspaper quoted Adler Silveira, the secretary of the state governments infrastructure, as calling it an important mobility intervention. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Silveira insisted the project was a sustainable highway. We can have a legacy for the population and more importantly, serve people for COP30 in the best possible way, he added. Silveira claimed that the highway would have wildlife crossings for animals, bike lanes as well as solar lighting. What do experts say? Experts are seem less than convinced by the governments assertions. Professor Silvia Sardinha, a wildlife vet and researcher at a university animal hospital which is near the new highway, told BBC, From the moment of deforestation, there is a loss. We are going to lose an area to release these animals back into the wild, the natural environment of these species, she said. Land animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side too, reducing the areas where they can live and breed. Responding to Lulas lofty claims, Sardinha said such talks happen at a very high level, among business people and government officials. She added that those living in the Amazon are not being heard. Verequete agreed, telling the Daily Mail, For us who live on the side of the highway, there will be no benefits. There will be benefits for the trucks that will pass through. If someone gets sick, and needs to go to the centre of Belem, we wont be able to use it. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Rachael Garrett, a professor of conservation and development at the University of Cambridge, told ABC News in September that while paving roadways can benefit citizens, building a highway amidst the rainforest will likely lead to a fishbone pattern of deforestation. The Amazon, an area twice the size of India, holds the worlds largest rainforest, about two-thirds of it within Brazil. It stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change. The Amazon thus prevents the climate from warming even faster than it would otherwise. The basin also holds about 20 per cent of the worlds fresh water and biodiversity includes 16,000 known tree species. Ironically, this is a landmark year for the COP30. This is because countries must come forward with updated commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Whats more, civic groups are particularly interested in attending because Brazil allows for protests and free expression, which are sharply restricted in the previous three host countries Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies Brieonna Cassell, a 41-year-old mother of three, was found alive on Tuesday after being trapped in her car for six days following a crash in northwest Indiana. She was found by a passerby and was airlifted to a Chicago hospital, where shes undergoing treatment read more The Newton County Sheriffs Office said in a statement on Tuesday that Cassell was found by Johnny Martinez, a passerby who was operating drainage equipment in the region. Image Courtesy: @NyraKraal/X The woman had given up hope of being found. She had been trapped in her wrecked car in Indiana for six days. I dont think anybody is gonna find me. I am gonna die in this ditch, she thought. However, soon her prayers were answered. A man operating equipment for a drainage and excavation company found her alive. What happened? Brieonna Cassell, a 41-year-old mother of three, disappeared last Wednesday after leaving her mothers home to visit a friend close to the Indiana villages of Wheatfield and Demotte, according to CNN affiliate WLS. She reportedly fell asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus before veering off the road into a deep ditch in the small town of Brook, which is about 128 kilometres south of Chicago, WLS reported. Advertisement According to her family members and the Newton County sheriffs office, her car had crashed off the road, out of sight of oncoming traffic, and no one could hear her cries for assistance. Also read: Sierra Leones 11-year-old girl survives 3 days at sea, German crew rescues her off Italys island How did she survive for six days? Cassells parents stated during a press conference on Tuesday that she was unable to move her legs after being severely injured in the crash. According to her father, Delmar Caldwell, Cassell used her sweater to wring water out of a nearby creek and drank it in order to survive after her phone died as well. She was stuck in the car and could not get out. But she was able to reach the water from the car, Caldwell said. The only way she was able to survive was using her hoodie and dipping it into the water in a ditch and sucking the water, or bringing the water into her mouth from the ditch. She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldnt see her from the road, her father added. Cassells family joined rescue teams that consisted of local fire, ambulance, and aviation agencies. On Tuesday morning, she had given up hope of being found, Caldwell said, adding, And then, by the grace of God and the prayers and everything, she was found. Also read: How two trekkers caught in anti-terror ops near Srinagar were rescued How was the woman found? The Newton County Sheriffs Office said in a statement on Tuesday that Cassell was found by Johnny Martinez, a passerby who was operating drainage equipment in the region. Martinez contacted his supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwall, also a fire chief in the nearby town of Morocco. The duo inspected the car and found Cassell alone, conscious and speaking, the Sheriffs office said. Thats you? I said, Your familys been looking for you, Vanderwall told the local news station. There are posts everywhere on social media. I said, I cant believe youve been in this long. Advertisement Despite her injuries, Cassell had survived six days waiting to be rescued, the statement read. Cassell was rescued and airlifted to a Chicago hospital, the authorities said. She said, I didnt think anybody was gonna find me. I thought I was gonna die in this ditch, Vanderwall recalled. She was placed in the ICU and underwent surgery on Wednesday after sustaining severe injuries to her legs, ribs and wrist, the reports said. Martinez was operating a tall tractor, according to Vanderwall, so he spotted the car. I, myself, had travelled that road at least three to four times since she crashed and did not see her, he noted. According to Caldwell, Martinez recognised who Cassell was when he found her since the neighbourhood was familiar with his daughters missing person report. Advertisement In my book, Martinez is a hero, and we can never thank him enough for his keen eye and quick action, the sheriff said in a statement. Vanderwall added, If he hadnt seen her and hadnt pushed for me to go back and check on her, she could have laid there for who knows how much longer, and the outcome might not be the same. I could feel something was wrong in my gut and I started panicking, Cassells mother, Kim Brown, told reporters. Everybody that helped to find her and the volunteers and everything It was a wonderful miracle, Caldwell said, adding that Cassell is now in good spirits and eating a lot. Advertisement He added, Its going to be a long road to recovery. Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran called Cassells survival an incredible testament to her will to live. A fundraiser was set up by Cassells daughter, Lexie, to pay for her medical bills. With inputs from agencies The Nasa-SpaceX mission to replace US astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams with a new crew at the International Space Station (ISS) was delayed due to a launch pad issue. The duo, which went to space last June, were to return in a week. They have been there for nine months now. Can they stay longer? read more This image provided by Nasa shows Nick Hague, right, Sunita Williams, and Butch Wilmore. File Photo/Nasa via AP SpaceX and Nasa called off a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) to replace a new crew with the US astronauts Barry Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. With less than an hour to countdown, SpaceX delayed the attempt to send Crew-10 to the ISS due to a launch pad problem. This would add at least two more days to the long-awaited homecoming of Wilmore and Williams who were launched on a Boeing Starliner capsule to the space station last June. Advertisement Now that their return is delayed again, how long can astronauts stay in space? Lets take a look. Flight to replace NASAs stuck astronauts delayed Nasas replacement crew to the ISS was to be launched into space onboard the Falcon rocket from Floridas Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. However, the Nasa-SpaceX mission was postponed on Wednesday due to a hydraulic ground issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket was to fly four new crew members to the ISS, paving the way for the return of Williams and Wilmore. Crew 10, from left, cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, astronaut Nichole Ayers, astronaut Anne McClain and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral for a mission to the International Space Station, March 12, 2025. AP Another launch attempt on Thursday was put off due to high winds and rain forecast. The next liftoff for Crew-10 is planned for 7:03 p.m. EDT (4:33 am IST) Friday, with astronauts Wilmore and Williams expected to depart the space station on March 19, Nasa said in a statement. Wilmore and Williams, who went to the ISS on Boeings Starliner capsule last June, were to return in a week but were stuck after the spacecraft witnessed major breakdowns in transit. Long stays in space Wilmore and Williams are not the only astronauts whose stay in space was unexpectedly extended. Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio has the record for the longest amount of time in space by a US astronaut. He returned to Earth in October 2023 after spending 371 days on the ISS. His space travel was extended after his original capsule was hit with space junk. Rubio and two cosmonauts came back to Earth in a replacement capsule that landed in Kazakhstan. Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov continues to hold the record for the longest ever spaceflight by a human. He spent 437 days onboard Russias Mir space station between 1994 and 1995. In September 2024, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub broke the record for the longest stay on the ISS with 374 days in orbit. Advertisement ALSO READ: Fly me to the moon: How do women handle their period in space? What happens to the body in space? Space travel affects nearly every part of the astronauts body. There is microgravity on the International Space Station that could take a toll on the body. Astronauts and objects float in space as the ISS is in free fall the space station is falling towards Earth and moving ahead around the Earth at nearly the same speed. This ensures that the objects appear weightless in space. Astronauts do not have to strain their muscles to lift or move heavy objects, but there is a downside. Muscle and bone mass begin to diminish in space owing to microgravity. As per the UK Space Agency, astronauts can lose as much as 40 per cent of muscle and 12 per cent of bone mass after five months in space. Advertisement Just two weeks in space leads to a 20 per cent decline in muscle mass, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Astronauts can lose one to two per cent of their bone mass every month in space and up to 10 per cent over a period of six months. After returning to Earth, it can take four years for their bone mass to return to normal. To combat the loss of muscle and bone mass, astronauts have to exercise for over two hours while in orbit at the ISS. The microgravity in space also affects the weight of astronauts. Eyesight can also be impacted, including changes in vision, which could occur just weeks in space. While some vision changes reverse in a year of heading back to the Earth, others can be permanent. Advertisement Skin, genes, immune system and gut bacteria of the astronauts have also been affected in a long-duration spaceflight. With inputs from agencies An American social media influencer stands to lose her Australian visa after she was filmed grabbing a baby wombat from its mother to pose for a photo. Samantha Jones, who describes herself as a wildlife biologist and environmental scientist on Instagram, faced outrage for her actions, and was slammed by Australian PM Anthony Albanese read more Sam Joneswho describes herself on social media as a "wildlife biologist and environmental scientist"faced intense backlash after she was filmed grabbing a baby wombat from its mother to pose for a photo. Image courtesy: Instagram/@Samstrays_somewhere, Pixabay An American hunting influencers trip to Australia has sparked widespread outrage, with growing demands for her deportation after she was filmed grabbing a baby wombat from its mother to pose for a photo. Sam Joneswho describes herself on social media as a wildlife biologist and environmental scientistfaced intense backlash after posting the now-deleted Instagram reel. The controversy even reached Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who criticised the so-called influencer for her actions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed that her visa was under review, with authorities assessing whether any laws had been broken. I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I dont expect she will return, he said. But who is Samantha Jones? Could her visa actually be cancelled? And what does Australian law say about such incidents? Heres a closer look. But first, what happened? Jones, known for her hunting and outdoor adventure content on social media, sparked outrage after sharing a video of herself excitedly running across a road to grab a baby wombat she had spotted in the dark. In the now-deleted 32-second clip, she is seen lifting the joey for a picture while its distressed mother anxiously chases after her. As the baby wombat wriggled in an attempt to free itself, Jones could be heard saying, I caught a baby wombat. Okay, mum is right there and she is pissed. Lets let him go. Meanwhile, an Australian man accompanying her reassured her, saying, Nah, hes all right. American hunting influencer removes baby wombat from distressed mother in Australia. Is this legal? pic.twitter.com/7vvsoM6WQu non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) March 11, 2025 Holding the animal up for the camera, Jones described the moment as her dream before eventually placing the joey back on the ground, claiming that the mother and baby were safely reunited. However, wildlife experts warn that this may not have been the case. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Jess Abrahams, a national nature campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation, stressed that interfering with the joey could have severe consequences, as human scent might cause the mother to abandon her baby. This is not the way to treat wildlife anywhere in the world especially not in Australia, he told The Sydney Herald. Baby Wombat and its mother. Pixabay Licensed wombat rescuer Yolandi Vermaak echoed this concern, explaining to Yahoo News that wombat mothers often do not return for their young if they become separated. Nine out of ten times, the mother will not come back for her baby. Babies are taught from a young age to stay nose-to-heel with their mum. So if mum runs when theres danger, she doesnt stop and check the babyit needs to keep up, she said. You can see the baby is disoriented, and didnt know where to go. While Jones claims that she only held the joey for one minute and it was unharmed upon being returned to its mother, experts have a different view. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Veterinarian Tania Bishop, who works with wildlife organisation WIRES, added that Jones handling of the joey could have caused serious harm. The way that she has picked it up by the forearms and then yanked it up like that alone could cause serious injury to the upper limbs, shoulder, and structures within the shoulder, she said. Swinging it as she ran across the road could have made things even worse. Also read: How cars and chlamydia are threatening Australian koalas Aussies are furious The video has sparked widespread outrage, with many Australians expressing anger over Jones actions. One user wrote, W**, this is horrible. The RSPCA or the Department of Environment needs to prosecute her for interfering with wildlife. A big fine, perhaps 200 hours of community service. Then deport her. Another added, Couldnt care less if its legal. Its abhorrent to take a child from its mother like that. Beyond online backlash, many are demanding that Jones be banned from returning to Australia. Arrest. Fine. Deport. Ban, one commenter insisted. An online petition calling for her deportation has already gathered 10,500 signatures. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese didnt hold back, mocking the American influencer on Thursday, to try to steal a baby crocodile next time. Australian PM Anthony Albanese suggested the American influencer Sam Jones on Thursday, to try to steal a baby crocodile next time. File image. Courtesy: X/@AlboMP I would suggest to this so-called influencer. Maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there, Albanese said. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother. See how you go then. Who is Samantha Jones? According to her Instagram, Jones is an outdoor enthusiast and hunter, with a social media following of over 92,000. She has made her account private since the incident. According to The Sydney Herald, Jones Instagram highlights showcase her travels in Australia, where she has interacted with various native animals. She has shared videos of kangaroos, cockatoos, dolphins, and more hands-on encounters, including fishing and shark handling. One video shows her pulling a small shark from a rock pool, captioned, LITTLE SHARK WAS READY TO FIGHT. Another clip from February 2024 features her holding and stroking a wild echidna before releasing it. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A clip from February 2024 features Samantha holding and stroking a wild echidna before releasing it. Image courtesy: Instagtam/@Samstrays_somewhere In a 2023 Cowboy State Daily interview, Jones, identified as Samantha Strable, discussed her nomadic hunting lifestyle, explaining that she travels south during Wyomings harsh winters, supporting herself through farm and ranch work. She claimed to have bow-hunted stags in Chile and killed a wild pig with a knife in New Zealand, calling it an intense experience. Honestly, I cried, she added. I dont like killing. I like the hunting, I like the chase. Its not fun to see anything die. The best you can hope for is that it dies quickly and painlessly. Jones CouchSurfing profile lists her as a 24-year-old Wyoming native who has lived in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the US. While she claims to be a Wildlife Biologist & Environmental Scientist, past records list her as a Database Administrator at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Will her visa be cancelled? The Department of Home Affairs is now reviewing the conditions of Jones visa to determine if any immigration laws were violated. Immigration Minister Tony Burke hinted that even if her visa isnt immediately revoked, she may struggle to return. Given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, he said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop pointed out that all wildlife in Australia is protected under biosecurity and animal cruelty laws, which vary by state. According to the RSPCA, penalties for violating these laws can range from fines of $22,000 (Rs 12.04 lakh) to $236,500 (Rs 1.29 crore) and even jail terms, with a maximum sentence of five years in New South Wales. With input from agencies US President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs, including a 25 per cent levy on steel and aluminium imports and a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, with limited exemptions. China has retaliated with levies of up to 15 per cent on US agricultural products and energy exports. The EU has announced 26 billion in counter-tariffs, while India disputes Trumps claims of lowering its trade barriers read more US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Business Roundtable event in Washington, DC, US, March 11, 2025. File Image/Reuters United States President Donald Trump has made tariffs a cornerstone of his economic policy, arguing that they will reduce the US trade deficit, bolster domestic manufacturing and address what he sees as unfair trade practices by other nations. Since taking office for his second term, Trump has imposed a range of new tariffs on key trading partners, including China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union, while also announcing reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose trade barriers on US goods. Advertisement In some cases, these tariffs are being used as economic leverage in broader geopolitical disputes, such as migration and drug trafficking concerns with Mexico and Canada. While certain countries have retaliated with their own tariffs, others have either refrained from doing so or are negotiating exemptions. The impact on global trade and industries remains significant, as affected nations weigh their responses and businesses prepare for price fluctuations. Trumps tariffs on Canada and Mexico On March 4, the Trump administration imposed a 25 per cent import tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, with exceptions for energy products and potash, which received a reduced 10 per cent tariff. The next day, the administration announced a temporary suspension until April 2 of tariffs on automobiles eligible for duty-free trade under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). This exemption was extended on March 6 to cover all USMCA-compliant goods. However, goods that do not meet USMCA standards remain subject to the new tariffs. Canada initially planned retaliatory measures totalling $87 billion but held back after some exemptions were announced. However, it proceeded with a separate $21 billion tariff package on US products, including fruits and vegetables, appliances and alcoholic beverages. Additionally, Ontario imposed a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to the US, and some provinces have ceased imports of US alcoholic drinks. Advertisement Mexico, on the other hand, considered retaliatory measures but ultimately did not enact them. Instead, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for calm and diplomacy, while also deploying 10,000 troops to the US-Mexico border to help combat smuggling. Chinas retaliatory measures amid escalation China has been a primary target of Trumps trade policies. On February 3, the US imposed an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, adding to previous tariff rounds from both the Biden administration and Trumps first term. In response, China retaliated with a 15 per cent tariff on US coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as a 10 per cent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and other imports. On March 3, Trump escalated the trade war by increasing tariffs on Chinese goods by another 10 per cent. Beijing responded on March 10 with its own set of additional tariffs, including a 15 per cent hike on US chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton, as well as a 10 per cent increase on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Advertisement Furthermore, China targeted 15 American companies by restricting their access to its export market. Chinas foreign ministry has vowed to take all necessary measures to protect its interests, arguing that these tariffs violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated, If the United States persists in waging a tariff war, a trade war, or any other kind of war, the Chinese side will fight them to the bitter end. European Unions response to Trump The European Union (EU) has not yet been subjected to a new round of tariffs, though Trump has threatened a 25 per cent levy on EU goods. On March 4, he announced reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2 against any country that imposes tariffs on US products. This would apply to the EU, China, India, Mexico, and Canada, though actual implementation is expected to take six months or more. In response, the EU announced retaliatory tariffs worth 26 billion ($28 billion), set to take effect between April 1 and April 13. These tariffs will cover various US goods, including boats, bourbon, motorbikes, steel, and aluminium products. Advertisement European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticised the move, stating, Tariffs are bad for business and worse for consumers. Steel, aluminium, copper and lumber tariffs On March 12, the US implemented a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports from all countries. Canada, Brazil, and Mexico major suppliers of these metals are among the most affected. Despite earlier threats to double tariffs on Canadian metals, Trump reversed his decision hours before they were to take effect, following Canadas suspension of electricity surcharges on US customers. Additionally, on March 4, Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on imported copper and lumber, increasing tensions with trade partners that export these raw materials. Indias position aid Trumps threats India has been drawn into the tariff disputes as well. Trump has repeatedly criticised Indias trade policies, calling its tariffs massive. While Trump claimed that India had agreed to cut their tariffs way down, New Delhi has denied committing to any such reductions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that the US and India will work toward a mutually beneficial trade agreement but has not confirmed any immediate tariff reductions. The US remains a critical market for Indias IT and services sectors, while New Delhi has made substantial military hardware purchases from Washington in recent years. Advertisement Trump is expected to visit India later this year for a Quad summit, which could provide an opportunity for further trade negotiations. Trumps tariffs and their global impact Trumps tariff policies are likely to impact global trade dynamics for the foreseeable future. The increased cost of imported goods could drive up consumer prices in the US and beyond. Historical data shows that previous tariff rounds led to price hikes such as a 34 per cent increase in washing machine prices between 2018 and 2023 before tariffs expired. The stock market has already reacted to the uncertainty, with fluctuations in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. However, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has defended the policies, stating that the tariffs are worth it even if they lead to an economic downturn. Countries like Canada, China, and the EU have already implemented or announced countermeasures, while others, including India and Mexico, appear to be adopting a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, Vietnam, a nation that faces a large trade surplus with the US, expects to sign a trade pace with Washington to avoid any tariffs from the Trump administration, reported Reuters. The southeast nations Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien is headed to meet Trumps team this week. With inputs from agencies With an acute shortage of cadaver kidney donations, most transplant patients rely on living donorsleaving many on dialysis with little hope. Experts highlight awareness, policy reforms, and financial support as key solutions. read more Every year, thousands of Indians suffer from kidney failure clinging to the hope of a transplant, but for many, that hope fades with time. With long waiting lists, a severe shortage of cadaver organ donors, and financial barriers, a large number of patients die before ever receiving a transplant. In Delhi, less than 2% of kidney patients receive cadaver transplants, leaving thousands reliant on living donors or prolonged dialysis. With long waiting lists, low organ donation rates, and financial hurdles, many die before getting a second chance at life. Advertisement India performs approximately 14,000 kidney transplants annually, yet fewer than 2,000 of these come from deceased donors. This means the vast majority rely on living donorsfamily members or close relatives who match their blood type and are willing to donate a kidney. The numbers paint a stark picture of the crisis. At Aakash Healthcare in Delhi, for instance, over 200 transplants have been conducted since 2001, but only four involved cadaver donations. Meanwhile, the hospital currently provides dialysis to over 200 patients, yet fewer than 2% ever get the chance for a transplant. Regarding the frequency of living versus deceased kidney donations, it has been observed that deceased kidney donation remains uncommon in North India, accounting for approximately 1% or less of the total transplants performed. Kidney transplants continue to be predominantly sourced from living related donors, said Dr. Reetesh Sharma, Director & Head, Nephrology & Kidney Transplant Medicine, Asian Hospital. Barriers to Organ Donation Despite Indias vast population and increasing medical advancements, deceased kidney donations remain rare. Experts attribute this to lack of awareness, sociocultural stigmas, and inadequate medical infrastructure. The primary barrier to organ donation is the lack of public awareness about organ donation after brain death. organ donation after brain death does not imply that kidneys are retrieved from individuals who have passed away naturally; rather, they are procured from brain-dead donors. These donors are often individuals who have suffered traumatic brain injuries due to road accidents or strokes and are in a state of irreversible coma and are completely machine dependent. Their brain have no chance of recovery but other organs remain functional. Due to lack of awareness, families often do not consent to organ donation, particularly in times of emotional distress following the sudden loss of a loved one. Grief counselors have a major role where counseling is needed for the families of brain death victims, explained Dr. Swati Mane, Nephrology, Consultant, Nephrology, Jupiter Hospital. Sociocultural beliefs further complicate the issue. Among some prospective recipients, there is denial in accepting organs from deceased individuals due to fear or mistrust, said Dr. Soubeer Ghosh, Consultant, Nephrology and Kidney Transplant Medicine, PSRI Hospital. Sociocultural factors prevent many people from signing up to become donors after death. Besides, lack of medical infrastructure and personnel is a Pan-India issue in this area which requires urgent attention, he added. Advertisement At Aakash Healthcare alone, over 45 patients are currently on the waiting list for a cadaver kidney. Dr. Vikram Kalra, Additional Director, Nephrology & Kidney Transplantation, Aakash Healthcare said other countries have taken different approaches to solve the crisis. In Spain, organ donation rates are higher due to the mandatory opt-out system, which ensures a greater availability of cadaver kidneys. India follows an opt-in system, which significantly affects the number of cadaver transplants performed, he explained. Financial Burden of Transplants Even when a transplant is possible, financial constraints often prevent patients from going through with it. Many continue dialysis simply because they cannot afford the one-time cost of surgery. At Aakash Healthcare, the cost of a kidney transplant from a living donor is approximately Rs 8 lakh, covering surgery, post-operative care, and immunosuppressive medications. For the first three months post-transplant, immunosuppressive drugs cost around Rs 15,000 per month, eventually decreasing to Rs 4,0006,000 per month after six months. Advertisement The overall cost of a kidney transplant depends on the type of transplant. If blood group is compatible, the cost is around 6-8 lakh. If not, it is higheraround 10-15 lakhdepending on various factors, Dr Ghosh said. Financial constraints do influence the decision to continue dialysis, said Dr Reetesh. Though transplantation is a one-time expenditure, unlike dialysis which requires continuous financial investment, many patients struggle to arrange the necessary funds in a single instance and, as a result, opt for dialysis. However, if financial support can be secured, transplantation remains the more effective and medically beneficial option, he added. Reality of Life on Dialysis For those who remain on dialysis, life becomes a cycle of hospital visits. Patients typically undergo two to three dialysis sessions per week, each lasting four hours. Beyond the inconvenience, dialysis significantly reduces life expectancy and brings a host of complications. Long-term dialysis is associated with several complications, including infections, vascular access issues, cardiovascular disease, and malnutrition. Over time, patients may also develop bone weakness and muscle disorders, said Dr. Kalra. Advertisement Life expectancy on dialysis remains significantly lower than that of transplant recipients. Data suggests that the 10-year survival rate for dialysis patients is approximately 1520%, meaning over 80% do not survive beyond ten years. In contrast, kidney transplantation offers a near-normal quality of life, added Dr. Reetesh. In patients on long-term dialysis, heart disease and recurrent infections are the most frequently encountered complications, followed by nutritional deficiencies, muscle wasting, and bone disorders like osteoporosis, said Dr. Ghosh. The Path Forward Experts agree that India needs stronger awareness campaigns to educate the public on organ donation. Schools could play a major role in teaching children about organ donation, allowing them to pass this knowledge on to their families. Success stories need to be promoted so that the population across all educational backgrounds becomes aware, said Dr. Ghosh. The high-power microwave energy weapon can incapacitate or damage the electronic systems of Irans underground nuclear plants without causing casualties or collateral damage read more A US Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber overflies the runway during the F-Air Colombia 2015 air festival on July 9, 2015. AFP When the BUFF appears, its not bluffing. Out of the US Air Forces (USAF) three strategic bombersB-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer and stealthy B-2 Spiritthe Big Ugly Fat Fella (BUFF) is the most iconic, reliable and cost-effective. The nuclear-capable B-52 Stratofortress, the subsonic, monstrous Cold War warrior that has roared for the last 70 years, has a fearsome reputation. From the Vietnam War to targeting the Taliban and the Islamic State, the B-52s appearance sends chills down the enemys spine. Advertisement With the largest wingspan of the three bombers at 185 feet, it is more than 40 feet tall, weighs around 83,250 kg, has a 219,600 kg maximum take-off weight, 141,610 kg fuel capacity, Mach 0.84 speed, 50,000 ceiling and 14,080 km unfuelled combat range. The B-52s most lethal feature is its 31,500 kg payload of the most diverse bombs, missiles and mines of any combat aircraft. Its nuclear firepower includes 12 AGM (air-to-ground missile)-129A advanced cruise missiles, 20 AGM-86A air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) and eight bombs. The conventional payload includes eight AGM-84 Harpoon missiles, four AGM-142 Raptor missiles, 51,500lb bombs, 301,000lb bombs, 20 AGM-86C ALCMs, 12 joint stand-off weapons, 12 joint direct-attack munitions and 16 wind-corrected munitions dispensers. The B-52H can also deliver 51,500lb, 301,000lb and 202,000lb navy mines. Besides, it can deliver the stealthy armour-penetrating ALCM JASSM. B-52s appear frequently in West Asia The US has increased the frequency of its Bomber Task Force in West Asia (Middle East) after Donald Trump returned to the White House. On March 4, one of the two B-52s stationed in Fairford, UK, was joined by Royal Air Force jets and they flew to the Mediterranean. Later, the Israeli Air Forces (IAF) F-35s and F-15s joined the sortie in an integrated mission. WOW! The @IAFsite @IDF conducted a joint aerial exercise with the @AFCENT @CENTCOM to strengthen cooperation. The F-35i and F-15i aircraft flew alongside a U.S. B-52 strategic bomber, practicing operational coordination to enhance their ability to address regional threats. pic.twitter.com/JcgtPfKb2e Aviation News Israel (@AviationNewsIL) March 6, 2025 Advertisement According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the region, the mission aimed at strengthening partner interoperability and demonstrating force projection capabilities in the region. In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces said, During the flight, the forces practised operational coordination between the two militaries to enhance their ability to address various regional threats. On February 17, the two B-52s stationed in the UK escorted by American F-15s and fighters from four partner nations flew across nine countries in the CENTCOM area of responsibility with mid-air refuelling and live munition drops. Advertisement Bomber Task Force missions demonstrate US power projection capability, commitment to regional security and ability to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the CENTCOM region, CENTCOM chief General Michael E Kurilla said. The US military showcases its capabilities in the Middle East with a flyover of B-52 bombers and other fighter jets across nine partner nations in the region. Read more: https://t.co/RlFN7TscSD pic.twitter.com/lAUqvgPSj9 Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 18, 2025 In the next 48 hours, the two B-52s flew across Europe and six partner countries in the region with aerial refuelling and training missions at ranges. .@usairforce B-52 Stratofortresses took fuel from KC-135 Stratotankers over the @CENTCOM area of responsibility, Feb. 20, 2025. Bomber Task Force missions enhance operational readiness for the U.S. strategic bomber fleet through regular & routine interactions with global partners pic.twitter.com/dcfzEO2foi Airman Magazine (@AirmanMagazine) February 27, 2025 The Bomber Task Force missions were a warning to Iran to dissuade it from pursuing a nuclear bomb and not attacking Israel or harming American bases in the region. Trumps maximum pressure on Iran As of February 8, Irans net total enriched uranium stock had increased by 1,690 kg, from 6604.4 kg to 8294.4 kg (Uranium mass), according to the IAEAs quarterly report dated February 26. Per the report, titled Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), Iran can convert its current stock of 60 per cent enriched uranium into 174 kg of weapons-grade uranium (WGU is 93 per cent) in three weeks at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, enough for 7 nuclear weapons, taken as 25 kg of WGU per weapon. Iran could produce its first quantity of 25 kg of WGU in Fordow in less than one week. Irans total stocks of enriched uranium and its centrifuge capacity at Fordow and the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant combined are sufficient to make enough WGU for over 10 nuclear weapons in one month and 12-13 in two months. By the end of the fourth month, Iran would have used up its stocks of enriched uranium and produced enough WGU for 17 weapons. Trump withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Iran nuclear deal)which limited the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and other provisionsin his first term in 2018. In 2020, he declared that as long as [he is] President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. In the same year in November, he asked his senior aides and Cabinet members whether he had options to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. However, they warned him that such an attack would trigger a massive conflict in West Asia. During an election campaign event in North Carolina in October 2024, Trump said that Israel should hit the nuclear [sites of Iran] first and worry about the rest later after Iran fired around 180 missiles at Israel on October 1. Now, Trump has resorted to a maximum pressure campaign against Iran. The campaign includes reducing Irans oil exports down to zero to stop it from obtaining a nuke and ICBMs. Trump has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran in February to prevent it from obtaining a nuke. Trump has adopted a carrot-and-stick policy towards Iran. He has neither ruled out striking Irans N-plants nor said yes while calling for a new nuclear deal. In January, the US president said that he hoped Iran will hopefully make a deal but didnt rule out striking its nuclear plants if it didnt. In a February Truth Social post, he said that reports that the US, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens are greatly exaggerated and he preferred a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement that will allow Iran to peacefully grow and prosper. In early February, he told the New York Post that he prefers a deal with Iran to bombing the hell out of it. Recently, Trump claimed to have sent a letter to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to negotiate its nuclear programme. However, Iran said that it never received the letter. Referring to the letter, Trump again left the military option open when he told Fox News, There are two ways Iran can be handledmilitarily or you make a deal. I prefer to make a deal because Im not looking to hurt Iran. Khamenei dismissed Trumps comment as an insistence of some bullying governments to impose their expectations. Irans foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed direct negotiations with the US unless Trumps maximum pressure policy ends. Israel cant destroy Irans underground N-plants Iran has, at least, 20 nuclear facilities, above and below the ground, dispersed all over the country given the threat posed by US precision-guided munitions and Israeli airstrike capability. The Natanz and Fordow, Irans prized nuclear facilities enriching uranium, are buried several metres underground. Natanzs enrichment chamber is estimated to be 20 meters underground while Fordows is buried at 80 metres. The under-construction enrichment site near Natanz is, at least, 100 metres deep. Israel can only destroy Irans nuclear facilities that are above the ground. On October 26, 2024, Israels Operation Days of Repentance destroyed Irans Taleghan 2 facility, in the Parchin military complex. The plant, part of the Iranian Amad nuclear weapons programme, which was halted in 2003, designed plastic explosives needed to set off a nuclear device. Iran neither revealed that the facility was reactivated nor declared it as part of its nuclear programme. In early 2024, Israeli and American intelligence detected Iranian scientists conducting computer modelling, metallurgy and explosive research at Taleghan 2. Israel doesnt have the bomb(s) and delivery platform to destroy underground N-plants. Israel needs bunker-buster bombs to destroy underground facilities. Israels biggest bunker buster is the US-supplied 2,268-kg GBU (guided bomb unit)-28, which can penetrate 30.5 metres of earth, around 10 metres more than the depth of the Natanz plant. Israels only warplane that can deliver the GBU-28 is the F-15I, a superior version of the US F-15 with a greater range than its F-35Is and F-16Is and is best suited for long-range strikes. However, the F-15I faces several limitations. First, its external fuel tanks would have to be dropped considering the GBU-28s weight and the manoeuvres it would perform to avoid radar detection and air defence missiles. Second, the jets would need refuelling from the IAFs KC130 or the Boeing 7007. A 2009 study by the Washington, D.C.-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that 12 tanker equivalents would be required in one mission to attack Natanz, Isfahan and Khondab. The tankers would be vulnerable to Iranian air defence missiles. Though a June 2022 report in The Jerusalem Post stated that the IAF had modified the F-35I to hit targets deep in Iran without refuelling, external fuel tanks would increase the jets radar signature and compromise its stealth features. Third, one F-15I can realistically carry only one GBU-28. Therefore, several F-15Is with maximum payload would be needed to strike the underground N-plants. Striking Natanz, Esfahan and Khondab simultaneously would probably require 90 tactical fighters, the CSIS stated. For example, in the October 26 attack on Iran, more than 100 Israeli aircraft, including the F-35, F-15A and F-16I, flew for around 2,000 km with refuelling. Israels best option for bombing Natanz is the around 13,600-kg GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) in the US inventory. But Israel has neither the bomb nor the delivery platform. Only the US stealth B-2 Spirit is programmed to deliver the MOP though it was also tested using the B-52. Again, more than one B-2 would be needed to bomb all the underground facilities. In an $ 18.82 billion deal signed last August, the US cleared the acquisition of 50 new F-15IAs, based on the F-15EX, and 25 F-15I+, an upgraded version of the F-15I. The F-15EXs biggest advantage is that it can carry the GBU-57A/B. Still, the Fordow and the under-construction enrichment site near Natanz are beyond the MOPs reach as it can penetrate only 61 metres. B-52s most powerful missile against Iran N-plants The October 26 unprecedented Israeli attack on Iran seems to have been planned for a future strike on its underground nuclear facilities. The IAF destroyed air defence systems, including three Russian S-300 air defence systems, protecting important oil and gas facilities, military sites linked to Irans nuclear programme and ballistic missile production, and radars. Israel wanted to damage Irans air defence so that its nuclear facilities and other critical assets become more vulnerable to future attacks. If the US and Israel decide to bomb Irans underground nuclear facilities, the B-2 can be used to drop the GBU-57A/B However, the bomb will be unable to destroy the Fordow and the under-construction enrichment site near Natanz. Here comes the B-52 with its once-secret weaponperhaps, that explains the increasing number of sorties in West Asia in a warning to Iran. The B-52 can carry the Counter-electronics High-Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) missile. This high-power microwave (HPM) energy weapon can incapacitate or damage the electronic systems of Irans underground N-plants without causing casualties or collateral damage. The AGM-86A missile can carry the Boeing-made CHAMP, which can hit multiple targets. With a range of around 1,123 km, the CHAMP flies at low altitude, enters the enemys airspace and emits sharp pulses of HPM energy that destroy computer chips and disable electronic devices. US DEVELOPED MICROWAVE MISSILES THAT CAN TARGET IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES The US Air Force has activated CHAMP missiles that emit high-power microwaves to incapacitate electronics in Iran's nuclear facilities. Deployed from B-52 bombers, these missiles have a 700-mile range and pic.twitter.com/L9YPGiUPVN Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 20, 2024 According to Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal investigative reporter who wrote the book CIA at War, CHAMP contains an electromagnetic pulse cannon that uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate concentrated energy. An electronic equipment becomes useless as the energy causes the voltage to surge. HMP can reach any military or nuclear facility buried in a mountain and destroy its power cables, communication lines and antennas. Radars cant detect the missile as it renders them inoperable and strikes it target. HMP weapons will also be integrated with the AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range. The weapon is a large, stealthy and low-detection ACLM with a 450-kg armour-piercing warhead. The missile will also be integrated with the F-35 and drones. CHAMP was a secret until the USAF tested it in a flight over the Utah Test and Training Range in October 2012. CHAMPs microwaves destroyed every computer and security system in a two-storey building without any collateral damage. Today, we turned science fiction into science fact, Boeing said in an October 22, 2012 release. In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemys electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive. According to Boeing, the CHAMP missile navigated a pre-programmed flight plan and emitted bursts of high-powered energy, effectively knocking out the targets data and electronic subsystems. CHAMP missiles became operational in 2019 and were deployed in various locations across the globe. The writer is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. On February 26, Lahore sessions court sentenced a man to death for committing blasphemy. Last month, six individuals were sentenced to death in under a week for sharing blasphemous content online a court in Rawalpindi issued death sentences to four persons, and an Islamabad sessions court handed out capital punishment to two individuals. Although the country has not executed anyone yet for committing blasphemy, several suspects have been killed in the pasttargeted killings, police encounters, mob lynchings, and burning the accused alive. Advertisement Shah Nawaz Kumbhar, accused of sharing blasphemous content on social media, was shot dead by the police in an alleged staged encounter in September last year. The week before this tragic incident, another blasphemy accused, Abdul Ali alias Lala from Quetta, was killed by a police officer in a similar fashion. In May last year, a mob attacked a 72-year-old man in Punjab after accusing him of disrespecting the Quran. The man later died in the hospital. A month after that, a mob broke into a police station in Swat, took a blasphemy suspect held there, and burnt him alive along with the police station and police vehicles. The incidents might seem to be spontaneous, but the pattern and frequency of such incidents suggest the perpetrators are driven by hate and extremism that seem less spontaneous and more the result of systematic brainwashing, mixing religion with state institutions, and hate mongeringhate that refuses to die even after the murder. For instance, the radicals took Kumbhars dead body and tried to burn it to prevent his family from giving him a dignified funeral. The burning of the blasphemy suspect in Swat was recorded on videos with the crowd cheering as if it was a bonfire to celebrate some festival. First blasphemy-related murder in Pakistan Although the last year saw a number of murders related to blasphemy allegations, such incidents arent new in Pakistan. The first murder, or rather mob lynching, related to a blasphemy accusation in Pakistan occurred soon after its independence. In 1948, a young military officer, Major Mahmud, an Ahmadi man in Quetta, was literally stoned and stabbed to death, his entire gut having come out. Advertisement Mahmud was returning from a visit to a patient and happened to pass by the place where the meeting of the Muslim Railways Employees Association was being held. Maulvis were addressing the crowd and giving speeches on the subject of khatm-e-nubuwwat (end of the prophethood). References were made to the Ahmadiyya community and their sin (Ahmadis are not considered Muslims by the orthodox Muslim groups). Mahmuds car stopped accidentally nearby and failed to restart. The mob came, and the young officer was lynched to death. Two more persons from the Ahmadiyya community were killed in 1950. After this, there was no blasphemy-related death until 1992, as per the data in a report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). The number of blasphemy-related cases and deaths increased during the 1990s and afterwards. Advertisement Blasphemy accusations and religious intolerance The tendency to make unsubstantiated blasphemy allegations is rooted in religious intolerance, which in turn has been linked with nationalism in Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, declared in his famous August 11, 1947 speech, You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the Statewe are all equal citizens of one State. But his successors did the exact opposite. Efforts were made to block his famous speech from the mainstream media and textbooks. Religion was increasingly mixed with state affairs and was intertwined with the Pakistani identity. India was projected as Hindu, and Pakistan was projected as Muslim. Aspersions were cast on the loyalty of non-Muslims towards Pakistan. Advertisement Since Pakistan was created out of India, Pakistans forefathers found it easy to build a national identity that was anti-India. Religious intolerance was also promoted by Pakistans military regimes. Field Marshal Ayub Khan and General Yahya Khan characterised Hindus as the other and emphasised Islam as Pakistans raison detre. The generals didnt hesitate in mixing religion with the institution of the army. When the 1965 war broke out with India, Syed Abul Ala Maududi, founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami Party, declared a jihad to liberate Kashmir on Radio Pakistan at the behest of President Ayub Khan. This language is used even today. For instance, General Asim Munir announced last year, We do not consider those as Pakistanis who do not follow Shariah and the Constitution. A year before that, he called the Pakistan army the army of martyrs whose motto is imaan, taqwa aur jihad fi Sabeelillah (faith, piety, and jihad in the Path of Allah). Advertisement During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the army committed atrocities against all Bengalis but Hindus were especially targeted. Big yellow Hs were painted on properties owned by Hindus for easier identification. General Zia-ul-Haq took the process of Islamization of the military as well as the society to another level. It was he who changed the motto of the Pakistan Army from ittehad, yaqeen aur tanzeem (unity, faith, and discipline) to imaan, taqwa, jihad fi sabilillah (faith, piety, holy war in the path of Allah). Intensification and Islamisation Pakistan inherited the blasphemy laws from the British, but the country intensified and made them exclusionary in the sense that the laws provide for severe punishments when the blasphemy is committed against Islam or its holy figures. There were calls by the hardliners to declare Ahmadis non-Muslims as early as 1953, but the state rejected these demands. PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a so-called/rather secular leader, finally fulfilled this demand through the second amendment of Pakistans constitution in 1974. After Zia-ul-Haq took the reins of the country in a 1977 coup, things went further downhill. He brought a number of legal changes between 1980 and 1986 that made the blasphemy laws more severe and further underlined that Ahmadis werent Muslims. The effects were seen in the subsequent years and are continued to be seen even today. Only 14 blasphemy-related cases were reported till 1986, after which the number shot up, and from 1987 to 2017, over 1500 people were charged under blasphemy laws. As of 2021, Pakistan has seen 89 extrajudicial killings pertaining to blasphemy accusations. As many as 79 of these killings occurred after 2000. The actual numbers are believed to be higher since not all cases are reported. Section 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) made the use of insulting remarks in respect of holy personages punishable by three years. Section 298-B made it unlawful for the Ahmadiyya community to refer to their call for prayer as azaan and their place of worship as masjid. Section 298-C prohibited the Ahmadiyya group from calling themselves Muslims and their faith Islam and also forbade them from preaching their faith. It also punishes them for hurting the religious feelings of the Muslims. Article 295-A of PPC provides imprisonment for up to two years, a fine, or both for outraging the religious feelings of any community, whereas section 295-B provides for life imprisonment for desecrating the Holy Quran, and section 295-C provides capital punishment for using derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet. The incidents of desecration of churches, temples, and bibles do happen in the country and hurt not only the sentiments of religious minorities but also hurt their lives and properties. But these incidents are not portrayed as blasphemous. The 2023 Jaranwala incident made quite the headlines, where 22 churches and 80 homes belonging to Christian families were destroyed in response to unverified allegations of blasphemy. The law is invoked when the desecration of Islamic holy entities occurs. After the mob vandalised churches and homes in Jaranwala, instead of charging the perpetrators under Section 295-A, the police registered an FIR against the accused under Sections 295-B (defiling of the Quran) and 295-C (derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad) of the PPC. When blasphemy allegations are made, the argument of the accusers is that committing blasphemy in Pakistan is prohibited by law, and if someone violates the law, they must be punished accordingly. Its a different matter altogether that the due process of law is thrown out the window and the accused is killed extra-judicially, as seen in the cases mentioned earlier. Blasphemy allegations have become weapons of persecution, mob lynchings, and lawlessness in Pakistan. Blasphemy laws are often used as cover for these evils. Blasphemy laws, if at all, should exist to protect the religious sentiments of the people of all faiths equally and to maintain the communal harmony in society. They should not be discriminatory against minority groups and a tool to torture them. While its unlikely for any political party in power to undo the blasphemy laws, a gradual approach towards the reforms must be adopted, and whenever a case of blasphemy is reported, an objective investigation and the due process of law must take place. The author is an assistant research analyst (Geopolitics) based in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The post-pandemic world has seen the resurgence of economic nationalism, reshoring of supply chains, and increasing scepticism toward multilateral trade frameworks read more In 1860, Richard Cobden and Michel Chevalier brokered what became a landmark trade agreement between Britain and France, known as the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty. The treaty institutionalised the principle of reciprocity over unilateral tariff advantages, marking a departure from the protectionist mercantilism that had long dominated European trade policies. More significantly, it embedded the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause, ensuring that any tariff concession extended to one country would automatically apply to all others with the same status. This principle later became a cornerstone of multilateral trade liberalisation, shaping the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). Advertisement Trade agreements have historically oscillated between two competing paradigms, i.e., liberal trade theory, which emphasises efficiency gains from comparative advantage (Ricardo, 1817), and strategic trade theory_,_ which argues that state intervention through tariffs or subsidies can create long-term advantages for domestic industries (Brander & Spencer, 1985). The tension between these approaches has shaped global trade regimes, from the repeal of the Corn Laws (1846) to the establishment of preferential trading blocs such as the European Economic Community (1957). The 20th-century trade agenda was further transformed by new trade theory (Krugman, 1979). It highlighted the role of economies of scale and imperfect competition. However, todays trade is defined by a paradox. Many nations are becoming more inward-looking. The post-pandemic world has seen the resurgence of economic nationalism, reshoring of supply chains, and increasing scepticism toward multilateral trade frameworks. The United States has moved away from large-scale free trade agreements. The European Union has introduced more stringent trade and investment screening mechanisms. Chinas economic policies are increasingly centred on self-reliance. Further, the World Trade Organisation, once the arbiter of global trade, faces an existential crisis. It is struggling with structural and geopolitical challenges that undermine its effectiveness. The deadlock of the Doha Development Round, launched in 2001 to make trade more inclusive and assist developing countries, remains unresolved due to persistent disagreements over agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs. This failure has cast doubt on the WTOs ability to facilitate comprehensive trade agreements. Compounding the problem is the paralysis of its dispute settlement mechanism, particularly the Appellate Body, which has been non-functional since 2019 after the United States blocked new appointments, leaving the WTO unable to resolve trade disputes effectively. Additionally, the rise of protectionist policies, particularly under US President Donald Trump, has further weakened the organisations relevance, with unilateral tariffs and bilateral agreements challenging its foundational multilateral principles. Advertisement Amid this shift, India has emerged as a focal point for trade negotiations. The United Kingdom, seeking to redefine its economic strategy post-Brexit, is eager to secure an FTA with India to expand its Indo-Pacific trade footprint. The European Union, despite past deadlocks, has revived trade talks as part of its efforts to reduce dependency on China and secure alternative supply chains. Even the United States, despite its protectionist stance, is exploring deeper economic engagement with India through a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement. There are five reasons for this renewed interest in trade with India, occurring at a time when global economic fragmentation is deepening. First is access to a vast and growing market. Indias 1.4 billion population and rapid economic growth make it a huge prize. It is already the fifth-largest economy and is on track to be third largest by 2030. Indias middle class is projected to swell to 250 million by 2050. This would translate into a surging consumer demand. Preferential access to this market would allow UK and EU businesses to expand exports as they ride Indias growth wave. Advertisement Second, after recent supply disruptions, diversifying sourcing is a priority. Indias emergence as an alternative manufacturing base to China offers the UK and EU a chance to reduce reliance on any single country. A trade deal would ease integration of Indian suppliers, making supply chains more resilient to geopolitical or pandemic shocks. The UK in particular is keen to friend-shore production. It aims to replace some Chinese imports with Indian ones in key manufacturing sectors. Third, India remains one of the worlds most protected major market. A trade agreement that lowers tariff walls can significantly boost UK/EU exports. Hefty duties, often over 100% on imported cars or spirits, currently make many European products uncompetitive in India. Removing such barriers will make British and EU goods cheaper for Indian consumers, directly increasing export volumes. Better access to India should also help reduce trade deficits and support jobs in export industries. Advertisement Fourth, beyond goods, both sides want to partner in new sectors. Indias fast-growing digital economy and ambitious clean energy goals complement UK/EU technological strengths. An agreement could spur collaboration in areas like semiconductors, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence by aligning standards and promoting investment. Indias internet economy alone is projected to reach $1 trillion soon which is a huge opportunity for European tech firms. Fifth, a trade pact with India also yields geopolitical dividends. By tightening economic ties with India, the UK and EU bolster a like-minded partner in the Indo-Pacific, serving as a counterweight to geopolitical rivals and protectionism. For the UK, an FTA with India advances its post-Brexit strategy in Asia. For the EU, it diversifies partnerships in a volatile world. In short, the deal is as much about strategic alignment as about trade. Advertisement Sixth, a trade agreement also gives investors more confidence, encouraging Indian firms to expand in the UK/EU and vice versa. Already, Indian companies support over half a million UK jobs. Reducing barriers would accelerate such investment-driven growth and employment. However, India should be cautious during these negotiations. India faces pressure to cut its high import tariffs on sensitive goods (e.g. autos, alcohol, dairy). Any reductions must be calibrated. Some duties approach 100 per cent, and analysts warn that slashing them too fast could hit domestic industry. There is no doubt that we should reduce our tariffs as higher tariffs have made many of our industries uncompetitive. Textiles is one of the examples. India will likely insist on gradual tariff phase-outs and shield certain products to safeguard sectors like agriculture and small manufacturers. Further, stronger patent and copyright rules sought by Western partners can conflict with Indias priority of affordable medicines and tech access. India will be wary of accepting any TRIPS-plus provisions that go beyond WTO norms. The aim is to protect innovation and assure investors while not undermining Indias ability to produce low-cost generics and software. India has long prioritised easier work visa access for its professionals in trade negotiations, while the UK and EU have been reluctant to liberalise visa policies. However, clinging to this demand weakens our bargaining position. Indian talent will find global opportunities regardless, and we should not concede trade advantages merely in exchange for visa relaxations. Instead, negotiations should focus on securing broader economic benefits. Apart from this, the UK and the EU often link trade deals to strict environmental and labour rules. India traditionally resists such clauses, fearing they could become non-tariff barriers for example, it strongly opposes the EUs planned carbon border levy on steel. We should rather negotiate against such restrictive measures. The Commerce Ministry must accelerate trade negotiations and finalise these agreements without further delay. Prolonged discussions have led to opportunity costs, especially as global trade dynamics evolve. Securing these deals will enhance Indias integration into global value chains, improve market access, and boost export competitiveness. Deliberation must now give way to execution, ensuring agreements align with Indias strategic economic objectives while mitigating risks. A proactive stance is essential to capitalise on shifting trade patterns and drive sustained growth. Aditya Sinha (X:@adityasinha004) is a public policy professional. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The investment aligns with the United Arab Emirates broader push to establish itself as a global technology and crypto hub. The exact size of the stake MGX acquired or which stablecoin would be used for the payment was not disclosed read more MGX has announced a $2 billion investment into Binance the cryptocurrency exchanges first institutional investment ever. Reuters Emirati state-owned investment firm MGX has announced a $2 billion investment in Binance, marking the cryptocurrency exchanges first-ever institutional funding and what the companies called the single largest investment ever paid in cryptocurrency. In a joint statement on Thursday (March 13), MGX and Binance said the minority stake in the crypto exchange would be paid in stablecoins, making it the largest cryptocurrency-based investment in history. Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a fixed value, typically pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. Advertisement MGX expands into crypto MGX an Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm launched last year, has primarily focused on artificial intelligence investments. In September, it partnered with BlackRock and Microsoft to establish a more than $30 billion AI fund, but this marks its first foray into the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors. MGXs investment in Binance reflects our commitment to advancing blockchains transformative potential for digital finance, Ahmed Yahia, managing director and CEO of MGX, said in a statement. The press release added that by partnering with Binance, MGX seeks to drive innovation at the intersection of AI, blockchain, and finance. Neither company disclosed the exact size of the stake MGX acquired or which stablecoin would be used for the payment. UAEs crypto hub ambitions The investment aligns with the United Arab Emirates broader push to establish itself as a global technology and crypto hub. Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, has expanded its presence in West Asia amid regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions in other jurisdictions. According to the press release, Binance employs around 1,000 of its 5,000 global workforce in the UAE. The exchange also claims to have over 260 million registered users worldwide and has surpassed $100 trillion in cumulative trading volume. MGXs investment further cements the UAEs growing influence in digital finance, as the Gulf nation continues to position itself as a leading player in emerging financial technologies. It was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, who made Trump and Zelenskyy come to terms just weeks after their embarrassing public spat. Many believe his diplomatic manoeuvring eventually led to the emergence of a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine read more On Tuesday, Ukraine accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal, raising hopes that it might lead to the end of the war with Russia, which has been raging on for over three years. However, one of the key mediators of the deal was neither US President Donald Trump nor Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, who made Trump and Zelenskyy come to terms just weeks after their embarrassing public spat. Advertisement According to Politico, on Tuesday morning, Starmer sent two WhatsApp messages, one to Trump and the other to Zelenskyy. The British premier congratulated the two world leaders for agreeing on a ceasefire plan and restoring the vital flow of military aid and intelligence from Washington to Kyiv. As per the report, Starmer and one of his advisers had been working intensively behind the scenes for the past week on a draft of the ceasefire deal. I am pleased that we made progress, Starmer reflected on Wednesday, speaking in the British parliament. And Im extremely pleased that support has been put in back by the US for Ukraine," he added. While things have come a long way since the fight between Trump and Zelenskyy, heres a look at how Starmer became a key mediator between the two. Navigating the fight On February 28, the world was shocked after they watched Trump and Vice President JD Vance publically berating their guest, the Ukrainian president, in front of the media at the White House. While Vance frequently asked Zelenskyy whether he has been grateful for the American support, Trump went on to claim that the Ukrainian leader was gambling with World War Three. The whole exchange enraged the European leaders, who soon took to social media to rally behind Zelenskyy. If someone is playing World War III, his name is Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron declared. However, Starmer handled the matter differently. He sent a statement from a spokesperson of unwavering support for Ukraine and then called both Trump and Zelenskyy. His reaction was to pick up the phone, not reach for Twitter, one person familiar with the situation told Politico. One of the major reasons behind this mild approach was that just hours before the spat in the White House, Starmer paid a visit to Trump and attempted to woo the Republican firebrand. Advertisement From delivering an invitation to a state visit from King Charles to proposing beneficial trade deals, the British premier charmed Trump like no one else. Hence, the tussle between Trump and Zelenskyy put Starmer in a precarious position; he couldnt openly criticise Trump and Vance so soon after his own White House love-in, but he still wanted to show support for Ukraine and keep European leaders on board. The diplomatic manoeuvrings that followed The morning after the White House saga, Zelenskyy landed in London, where he was embraced by Starmer and the pro-Ukraine Britons. Starmer quickly called for a one-day summit with Zelenskyy and other European leaders, reaffirming their support for Ukraine. During the meeting, Starmer and the EU leaders vowed to keep stocking Ukraines military with weapons; demanded that any permanent deal ensure the security of Ukraine and that Kyiv be involved in negotiating it; pledged to reinforce Ukraines defences to deter any future Russian attack; and promised to deploy forces to keep the peace. The British premier also assured that the country would put boots on the ground and planes in the air as part of a future peacekeeping mission. Advertisement Days after meeting in London, EU leaders discussed the Russia- Ukraine war in Brussels, where they agreed to ramp up their military spending to levels not seen since the Cold War. While all this was happening, Trump had his own plans. On March 3, the American leader halted the supply of military aid to Ukraine and then banned US intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The orders from Trump came at a complicated time since Ukrainian troops were already struggling to hold on to the occupied parts of Russias Kursk. The whole incident left Starmer surprised since he was unaware of Trumps latest jab despite having a phone call with him just hours before the president made the announcement. Advertisement Hence, Starmer decided to speak to Macron about how to navigate this situation. While this was happening, British national security adviser Jonathan Powell urged Zelenskyy to make amends with Trump, which ultimately led to a letter from the Ukrainian leader emphasising that whatever happened in the White House was regrettable. Before the scheduled meeting between US and Ukrainian diplomats in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, March 11, Powell remained in contact with his American counterpart Mike Waltz, and ultimately, a ceasefire proposal came into the picture. Challenges ahead Over the weekend, Powell travelled to Kyiv, where he sat down with Zelenskyy and his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, to draft the ceasefire agreement. According to Politico, the blueprint of the deal included plans for confidence-building measures, including an exchange of prisoners, the release of detained civilians and the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia. While this was happening, on Monday night, Starmer called Trump and emphasised that Zelenskyy is ready to accept the deal. He also requested that Trump resume the aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine. While many lauded Starmer for his mediation tactics, hours later, Trump imposed tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, disregarding pleas from Americas traditional allies in Europe, including the UK. Advertisement Many are also questioning whether Britain has the military strength to keep the peace in Ukraine. Keir is a diplomatic power player, the last few weeks proved that especially, one US official told Politico. But everyones also wondering whether on the military front the one that really counts for Putin the U.K. isnt a paper tiger. Powell will now be visiting Washington on Friday for more talks with his American counterparts before Starmer convenes another meeting of his coalition of the willing on Saturday. Meanwhile, Russia is yet to accept the ceasefire deal. With inputs from agencies. Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said on Thursday that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end nearly four decades of conflict between the South Caucasus countries, a sudden breakthrough in a fitful and often bitter peace process read more A general view shows the headquarters of Armenia's Foreign Ministry in Yerevan, Armenia, on September 20, 2023. Reuters File Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said on Thursday that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end nearly four decades of conflict between the South Caucasus countries, a sudden breakthrough in a fitful and often bitter peace process. The two post-Soviet countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Advertisement Armenias Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that a draft peace agreement with Azerbaijan had been finalised from its side. The peace agreement is ready for signing. The Republic of Armenia is ready to start consultations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on the date and place of signing the agreement, Armenias Foreign Ministry said in a statement. In its statement, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said: We note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded. However, the timeline for signing the deal is uncertain as Azerbaijan has said a prerequisite for its signature is a change to Armenias constitution, which it says makes implicit claims to its territory. Armenia denies such claims, but Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said repeatedly in recent months that the countrys founding document needs to be replaced and has called for a referendum to do so. No date has been set. The outbreak of hostilities in the late 1980s prompted mass expulsions of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Azeris from Armenia and Armenians, who are majority Christian, from Azerbaijan. Peace talks began after Azerbaijan retook Karabakh by force in September 2023, prompting almost all of the territorys 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia. Advertisement Both sides had said they wanted to sign a treaty to end the long-running conflict, but progress has been slow and relations tense. Their 1000 km (621 miles) shared border is closed and heavily militarised. In January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia of posing a fascist threat that needed to be destroyed, in comments that Armenias leader called a possible attempt to justify fresh conflict. The assault was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of a number of separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering natural resources in Balochistan near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran read more Train passengers sit in a bus after being freed by armed militants who ambushed the train in the remote mountainous area of southwestern Balochistan province, in Mach, on March 13, 2025. AFP The bodies of at least 25 people, including 21 hostages, killed in a train siege by separatist gunmen in Pakistan were retrieved from the site on Thursday ahead of the first funerals, officials said.Security forces said they freed more than 340 train passengers in a two-day rescue operation that ended late on Wednesday after a separatist group bombed a remote railway track in mountainous southwest Balochistan and stormed a train with around 450 passengers on board.The assault was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of a number of separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering natural resources in Balochistan near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran.Death tolls have varied, with the military saying in an official statement that 21 innocent hostages were killed by the militants as well as four soldiers in the rescue operation. A railway official in Balochistan said the bodies of 25 people were transported by train away from the hostage site to the nearby town of Mach on Thursday morning. Deceased were identified as 19 military passengers, one police and one railway official, while four bodies are yet to be identified, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. A senior local military official overseeing operations confirmed the details. An army official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, earlier put the military toll at 28, including 27 off-duty soldiers taken hostage. Advertisement Passengers who escaped from the siege said after walking for hours through rugged mountains to reach safety that they saw people being shot dead by militants. The first funerals were expected to take place on Thursday evening, after the Muslim-majority nation broke its daily fast, for the holy month Ramadan. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif arrived in the provincial capital of Quetta to meet with security officials, his office said. The Prime Minister expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of security personnel and train passengers during the operation, according to a statement. Our women pleaded The BLA released a video of an explosion on the track followed by dozens of militants emerging from hiding places in the mountains to attack the train. Attacks by separatist groups have soared in the past few years, mostly targeting security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province. Muhammad Naveed, who managed to escape, told AFP: They asked us to come out of the train one by one. They separated women and asked them to leave. They also spared elders. They asked us to come outside, saying we will not be harmed. When around 185 people came outside, they chose people and shot them down. Babar Masih, a 38-year-old Christian labourer, told AFP on Wednesday he and his family walked for hours through rugged mountains to reach a train that could take them to a makeshift hospital on a railway platform. Advertisement Our women pleaded with them and they spared us, he said. They told us to get out and not look back. As we ran, I noticed many others running alongside us. Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan but last year saw a surge in violence in the province compared with 2023, according to the independent Center for Research and Security Studies. The Brazilian government has defended the decision, saying the highway would be sustainable. The secretary of the state governments infrastructure said the highway will include wildlife crossings for animals, bike lanes, and solar lighting once completed read more Brazil is set to host the upcoming COP30 climate summit in the city of Belem this November. And guess how the Latin American country is preparing for it: By cutting down tens of thousands of trees. The Brazilian government is receiving criticism for clearing an eight-mile stretch of protected Amazon rainforest to build a brand new four-lane highway leading to the event venue, reported BBC. Belem is going to host over 50,000 people at the event and the new roads are being built to avoid congestion in the city. Advertisement World Economic Forum describes the COP30 as an important platform for enhancing global climate action and establishing clearer carbon trading rules, which aim to strengthen the global carbon system and boost participation from the public and private sectors. Brazil says its sustainable highway Brazilian government has defended the decision, saying the highway would be sustainable, and described the project as an important mobility intervention. We can have a legacy for the population and more importantly, serve people for COP30 in the best possible way, said Adler Silveira, the secretary of the state governments infrastructure. He stated that the highway will include wildlife crossings for animals, bike lanes, and solar lighting once completed. Additionally, new hotels are under construction, and the port is being upgraded to accommodate cruise ships for incoming tourists. The Brazilian government has invested over $81 million to expand the airports capacity, increasing it from 7 million to 14 million passengers, according to the BBC report. Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the summit will be a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon. COP29- A disappointment for the developing world The COP30 Summit comes a year after the COP29 Summit in Baku failed to deliver on the expected climate financing. Brazils main objective for COP30 is to establish a pathway to mobilise $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 for developing nationsfar surpassing the $300 billion agreed upon at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. While the Baku commitment remains intact, Brazil is actively exploring additional financing strategies to bridge this gap, including initiatives like the Baku to Belem Roadmap to 1.3T. Advertisement (With inputs from agencies) Canada launched a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Thursday over US President Donald Trumps across-the-board imposition of 25-per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports read more A logo is pictured on the World Trade Organization headquarters (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 4, 2021. Reuters Canada launched a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Thursday over US President Donald Trumps across-the-board imposition of 25-per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. The steep levies, which came into force on Wednesday, contained no exemptions despite countries efforts to avert them. Canada has requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States regarding the imposition by the United States of import duties on certain steel and aluminium products from Canada, the WTO said. Advertisement Canada claims that the measures, which terminate Canadas exemption from additional duties on certain steel and aluminium products and increase duties on aluminium articles, and which took effect on March 12, are inconsistent with US obligations, the global trade body said. Canada is the leading supplier of steel to the United States, followed by Brazil and then the European Union. The United States imports around half the steel and aluminium used in the country to make items ranging from cars and aeroplanes to soft drink cans. Trumps goal is to protect the declining US steel industry as it faces growing competition, especially from Asia. Canadas request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the Geneva-based WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel. Canada launched a separate WTO complaint on March 4 over Trumps previous tariff manoeuvres. Shortly after Trump returned to office on January 20, he announced - and then paused - blanket 25 per cent tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada and Mexico, accusing them of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Advertisement The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply, with retired and serving members of Taiwans military the main targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, official figures show read more Taiwans President Lai Ching-te on Thursday announced the reinstatement of military tribunals, allowing them to run trials during peacetime and hear Chinese espionage cases as Beijing asserts the island nation as its own. Lai told reporters that the government of Taiwan is working to amend the Military Trial Act to allow military judges to return to the front line and collaborate with prosecutorial and judicial authorities in handling criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel." Advertisement The tribunals will be applicable to crimes like treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty, and insubordination. The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply, with retired and serving members of Taiwans military the main targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, official figures show. The amendment of the law will be a first-of-its-kind decision for a country that was under military rule for decades until the early 1980s. Taiwan currently bans peacetime military tribunals. Taiwans intelligence agency previously said that 64 people were prosecuted for Chinese espionage in 2024, compared with 48 in 2023, and 10 in 2022. The changes proposed by Lai would apply to crimes committed by serving members of the military during peacetime. They would have to be approved by the opposition-controlled parliament, Ryan Yen-Hsuan Chen, a lawyer and executive committee member of the Judicial Reform Foundation, told AFP. Taiwan disbanded the military court system after the death of a young corporal in 2013. Hung Chung-chiu died of heatstroke on July 4, 2013 just three days before the end of his compulsory year-long military service. With inputs from AFP Analysts say the choice of Beijing as the venue signals Irans and Russias growing reliance on China as a diplomatic counterweight to US pressure read more China is preparing to host high-level talks with Russia and Iran on Friday (March 14), reinforcing its role as a diplomatic mediator in the ongoing standoff over Tehrans nuclear program. The meeting in Beijing comes amid renewed tensions, as Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has rejected an offer from former US President Donald Trump for fresh negotiations, calling it a deception. Chinas Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the talks, which will be attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, according to a report in China Daily. Advertisement The discussions are expected to focus on the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear agreement that the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018 under Trumps administration. Since then, tensions have escalated, with Washington reimposing crippling sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to gradually roll back its commitments under the deal. Chinas ambitions as mediator The upcoming talks in Beijing point to Chinas ambition to have a role as a key diplomatic player in West Asian affairs. Chinas Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has stated that the three countries will discuss the Iranian nuclear issue, sanctions relief, and broader international cooperation. Analysts say the choice of Beijing as the venue signals Irans and Russias growing reliance on China as a diplomatic counterweight to US pressure. Wu Bingbing, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University, said that China could also stress the importance of safeguarding the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and stability in West Asia. Iranian officials have also suggested that discussions will extend beyond nuclear policy to economic cooperation, regional security, and multilateral initiatives within BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) two platforms where China, Russia, and Iran have strengthened ties in recent years. Iran dismisses Trumps call for talks The Beijing talks come just days after Iran rejected a fresh US proposal for negotiations on its nuclear program. Last week, Trump confirmed he had sent a letter to Khamenei through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), urging Tehran to return to the negotiating table while warning that Iran had two choices: militarily, or you make a deal. However, Khamenei publicly dismissed the offer, calling it a ploy. When we know they wont honour it, whats the point of negotiating? he told a group of university students, according to Iranian state media. The invitation to negotiate is a deception of public opinion. Khamenei argued that Washingtons past actions particularly Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA and the subsequent sanctions have shown that the US cannot be trusted. He warned that new negotiations under American pressure would only tighten the knot of sanctions and further hurt Irans economy. Advertisement The letter was reportedly handed over to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi by Anwar Gargash, a senior UAE diplomat, during a meeting in Abu Dhabi last week. While the UAE has close security ties with Washington, it has also maintained strong trade relations with Tehran, positioning itself as a key intermediary in regional diplomacy. Beijing talks: A test for multilateral diplomacy The nuclear talks in Beijing will mark a decade since the JCPOA was signed, and experts say the agreement is at a crossroads. The US continues to push for a stricter nuclear deal, while Iran demands the complete lifting of sanctions before considering any new commitments. For China, the meeting is a strategic opportunity to showcase its ability to mediate global conflicts, similar to its role in brokering the Saudi-Iran rapprochement last year. Beijing has long criticised US sanctions-driven diplomacy and has actively supported Irans integration into global economic and political blocs like BRICS and the SCO. Advertisement However, expectations for a breakthrough remain low. The US remains firm on demanding stricter controls over Irans uranium enrichment program, while Tehran has repeatedly warned that it will not engage in talks under economic coercion. As per the report, the Israeli military often sent Palestinians to search buildings and tunnels before entering, which ultimately endangered their lives read more Amid the brewing tensions in West Asia, the Israel Defence Forces Military Police has reportedly launched an investigation into at least six cases in which Israeli troops allegedly used Palestinians as human shields. According to a report by Haaretz, the police will be probing whether the IDF has injured Palestinian civilians while conducting their operation in Gaza. As per the report, the Israeli military often sent Palestinians to search buildings and tunnels before entering, which ultimately endangered their lives. The IDF eventually confirmed the Haaretz report and said that they are looking into the matter. Advertisement The IDF acts in accordance with international law and military values. The IDFs instructions prohibit the use of human shields or forcing people to participate in military missions. The protocols and guidelines on the subject were routinely clarified for soldiers on the ground during the war. Claims of conduct that do not meet the guidelines and protocols are examined," the Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday. The military stated that in several cases, investigations by the Military Police Investigatory Unit were opened after suspicion arose of [troops] using Palestinians for military missions during the fighting. Investigations in these cases are ongoing, and naturally, they cannot be elaborated upon. Why does it matter? It is pertinent to note that this is the first time the Israeli military has acknowledged that there is reasonable suspicion to believe soldiers forced civilians to take part in military operations. It was CNN that initially reported that Israeli soldiers used Palestinian civilians to navigate through booby-trapped houses and tunnels. While the military will not confirm the number of similar cases it is investigating, Haaretz reported that there are as many as 6 cases. In an interview with CNN last year, an Israeli soldier admitted his unit had forced a Palestinian man to enter a building ahead of troops. If there are any booby traps, they will explode and not us, he explained. Interestingly, the practice was so common that the Israeli military reportedly named it mosquito protocol. However, the exact scale and scope of practice by the Israeli military remain unknown. According to CNN, last year, testimonies of both the soldier and five civilians indicated that it was widespread across the territory: in northern Gaza, Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah. One 20-year-old civilian named Mohammad Saad told the American news outlet that IDF soldiers had detained him in Rafah. They would ask us to do things like, move this carpet, saying they were looking for tunnels, he said. Film under the stairs, they would say. If they found something, they would tell us to bring it outside. For example, they would ask us to remove belongings from the house, clean here, move the sofa, open the fridge, and open the cupboard. Amid the accusations at that time, the IDF maintained that military protocols strictly prohibit the use of detained Gaza civilians for military operations. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. The five countries have been concerned about their security since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and have previously said they were reviewing their backing for the Ottawa treaty read more Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuhuiv, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, after Russian airstrike. (Representative Photo, Credit: AFP) Poland, the three Baltic states and Finland, all of which border Russia, are close to an agreement on withdrawing from the treaty banning anti-personnel mines, Lithuanias defence minister said Thursday. All five countries have been concerned about their security since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and have previously said they were reviewing their backing for the Ottawa treaty. But the Red Cross voiced alarm at the apparent growing acceptance in Europe of returning to using long-outlawed weapons. Advertisement Last week, Polands Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament he was going to recommend the countrys withdrawal from the treaty, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Now the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania plus Finland may be set to join Poland, worried by signs of increasing aggression from Russia. We believe we are very close to this solution, Dovile Sakaliene told reporters in Warsaw when asked about the possible pull-out from the convention. At a joint press briefing with her Polish counterpart Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Sakaliene said all five countries were in very intensive discussions for a joint decision to send a common strategic message. The Polish defence minister called the decision necessary and said it was important to present a common position on the issue. More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, including Ukraine, but not the United States or Russia. The treaty bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using anti-personnel mines. The authorities in Kyiv have accused Moscow of genocidal activities for using anti-personnel mines during the conflict. Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million people which was previously under Soviet rule, last week quit the international convention banning cluster bombs, in an unprecedented decision. Advertisement It has stressed the need to strengthen its defences, fearing it could be next in line if Moscow succeeds in Ukraine. Red Cross alarmed In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was very worried by recent developments and urged states to remind themselves what the conventions were for. It is precisely now that these treaties are relevant and not in times of peace or stability, ICRC chief spokesman Christian Cardon told reporters at the organisations headquarters. Cordula Droege, who heads the ICRCs legal department, added: As states seem to be preparing for war we also have a questioning of the humanitarian treaties. There is a bit of panic in Europe at the moment, and I think states are taking very rash decisions. The flurry of announcements on landmines and cluster bombs came as a bit of a shock, Droege said. Advertisement Theres a huge concern here that you will see an acceptance of weapons that are stigmatised and should continue to be stigmatised, she said, recalling that most victims of cluster munitions and landmines are civilians. This idea that you can use these mines in a way thats compatible with international humanitarian law, that you will only use them in areas or on front lines where they will be perfectly distinguishing between civilians and combatants, is just an illusion. Droege said it was worth asking how far does it go? Because will the next thing be that you say, well, actually, we need chemical weapons. They have a great military utility. Is that then acceptable? Advertisement (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) German intelligence agency BND had assessed in 2020 that the possibility of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19 disease, originating in a Chinese laboratory was 80-95% but the German government blocked the release of the agencys findings for nearly five years, according to a report read more Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) during the Feb. 3 visit of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that triggered the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo: AFP) In 2020, Germanys federal intelligence agency BND had assessed that the possibility of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease, originating in a Chinese laboratory was 80-95 per cent, according to a report. The findings of the BND have been reported at a time when the world is observing the five-year mark of the Covid-19 pandemic. In late 2019, SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Chinas Wuhan city that spread to the rest of the world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 to be a pandemic. Advertisement German media outlets Zeit and Suddeutsche Zeitung have reported that the BND had assessed early in the pandemic on the basis of classified intelligence that Covid-19 originated in a laboratory. However, the outlets said that the findings of the BND were neither made public nor shared with Western allies. Two subsequent governments of Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz blocked the release of BNDs findings, according to the report. For much of 2020, the idea of Covid-19 originating from a lab was dubbed by most of the governments as well as scientists and media organisations a conspiracy theory. The working assumption was that Covid-19 emerged naturally in Wuhan and jumped into humans from an animal, most likely a bat. However, in the five years since the first outbreak in Wuhan, no evidence has emerged of natural origin, but a pile of circumstantial evidence has made a strong case of lab-origin. How German intelligence indicted China for Covid-19 origin In the first weeks of 2020, as the Covid-19 was spreading in the world, BND launched an operation codenamed Project Saaremaa to uncover the origin of the virus causing the disease, according to the investigation by German newspapers Zeit and Suddeutsche Zeitung. German intelligence personnel specialising in stealing secrets were part of the project, as per the report. They targeted Chinese government agencies and scientific institutes, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and found unpublished data, internal papers by Chinese researchers, unpublished dissertations from 2019 and 2020, among other information that led them to assess with such a high confidence that Covid-19 originated in a Chinese lab, as per the report. A key factor that helped with the conclusion was that an unusually large amount of knowledge about the supposedly novel virus was available at an unusually early stage with China that suggested that the virus had been around for much longer than known, according to the English translation of the report. Advertisement ALSO READ: Made in Wuhan, shipped by Beijing: A story of how Communist Party of China gave world Covid-19 pandemic The outlets reported that the BND found a series of measurements of data dealing with coronaviruses, information on animal experiments, many scientific studies, including unpublished dissertations from 2019 and 2020 that were supposedly concerned with the effect of coronaviruses on the human brain. BNDs findings were blocked: Report Zeit and Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that two successive German governments, firstly of Angela Merkel and then Olaf Scholz, put the findings of BND under lock and key. They reported that these governments neither made the findings public nor shared with Western partners like the United States. It was only in December 2024 that Germany shared the BNDs findings with the United States for the first time, according to the report. Advertisement In early 2021, after many media investigations and whistleblower revelations, then-US President Joe Biden ordered a review of intelligence regarding Covid-origin. While the US intelligence community did not report any consensus around origin, one agency said it believed in lab-origin and most of the others refused to rule it out. By the end of Bidens term, three US agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Energy, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had concluded that Covid-19 most likely originated in a lab in China. It has emerged in media investigations that Chinese scientists at WIV, in partnership with US scientists, had proposed to develope exactly the same kind of virus that emerged in Wuhan more than a year ago in the name of research in a proposal submitted to US government. The proposal was rejected. The emergence of exactly the same kind of virus in Wuhan later has been seen by many as a smoking gun evidence of Covid-19 originating in a Chinese lab. Advertisement In addition to creating the virus, the Chinese regime has also been indicted for turning it into a global pandemic by lying to the world about the outbreak and its nature and letting it spread. For weeks, Chinese regime did not share with the world virus genome and the fact that it was transmissible. ALSO READ: Covid originated in Chinas Wuhan lab? Theres now smoking gun evidence, says Rutgers scientist Richard Ebright In any other open country, such as the United States, the authorities would have taken the logical steps of alerting the world and sharing the genome at once and the novel coronavirus outbreak would have been little more than a kitchen fire, said Jamie Metzl, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a specialist on China who has previously served at the US Department of State and White House. Advertisement The Chinese government turned the equivalent of a stove fire into a kitchen fire, the kitchen fire into a city fire, and the city fire into ultimately a global inferno. In the critical first days and weeks, the Chinese government did everything wrong and everything possible for political purposes to prevent the kind of response that was so urgently needed. If not for the unique pathologies of the Chinese state, there almost certainly would not have been a pandemic, Metzl told Firstpost previously. There was no technical or legal justification for the meeting, Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement, calling it provocative and political, in line with the unilateral and nervous approach of the United States read more Iran on Thursday summoned diplomats representing the United Kingdom, France and Germany in protest over a UN Security Council meeting on Tehrans nuclear programme. There was no technical or legal justification for the meeting, AFP quoted Iranian foreign ministry as saying in a statement, calling it provocative and political, in line with the unilateral and nervous approach of the United States. The closed-door meeting was called on Wednesday by six of the councils 15 members - the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and Britain. Advertisement The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, has cautioned that Iran is dramatically increasing its uranium enrichment to 60% purity, nearing the 90% weapons-grade threshold. Western nations say there is no justification for enriching uranium to such high levels for any civilian programme, noting that no other country has done so without developing nuclear weapons. However, Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. The three diplomatic representatives were summoned to the foreign ministry in protest over their complicity with the United States and for holding a meeting behind closed doors on Irans peaceful nuclear programme, added the statement. Ahead of the meeting, Britain warned that it would trigger a return of UN sanctions on Iran, if needed, to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. We are clear that we will take any diplomatic measures to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, that includes the use of snapback (of sanctions), if needed, said Britains deputy UN Ambassador James Kariuki told reporters. Irans UN mission accused the United States of seeking to weaponise the UN Security Council to escalate economic warfare against Iran, adding in a post on X: This dangerous abuse must be rejected to protect the councils credibility. Advertisement The US mission to the UN said in a statement after the council meeting that Iran was the only country in the world without nuclear weapons producing highly enriched uranium, for which it has no credible peaceful purpose. It accused Iran of defying the Security Council and violating IAEA obligations, calling on the council to be clear and united in addressing and condemning this brazen behavior. In 2015, Iran reached a landmark deal on its nuclear programme with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, which led to a lessening of sanctions targeting Tehran in exchange for curbs on its programme. Advertisement But in 2018, during his first White House term, Trump withdrew from the deal and reimposed heavy sanctions. Since his return to the White House in January, the Republican president has called for a new nuclear deal with Iran, but Tehran says no such agreement is possible as long as punishing sanctions remain in place. US President Donald Trump last month restored a maximum pressure campaign on Iran in a bid to stop Tehran from building a nuclear weapon. But he also said he was open to a deal and was willing to talk to Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian. Trump wrote a letter to Iran calling for nuclear talks, which was delivered on Wednesday, but Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected holding negotiations. Advertisement China will hold a meeting on Friday in Beijing with Russia and Iran on the Iranian nuclear issue, its foreign ministry said, with both nations sending their deputy foreign ministers. With inputs from agencies Apart from Ukraine, issues like Hamas, Haiti and Venezuela were also expected to be brought up. At least officially, G7 nations dont plan to talk about Trumps trade war or sovereignty threats. But host Melanie Joly, the foreign minister of Canada, has different plans read more Canada is hosting foreign ministers of leading Western democracies in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie starting Thursday (March 13). Leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the EU, are gathering at a time when tensions between American allies and President Donald Trumps administration are at a peak over tariffs and security. Washingtons partners are prioritising a debriefing on Secretary of State Marco Rubios talks with Kyiv, which took place on Tuesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During the discussions, Ukraine expressed readiness to support a 30-day ceasefire deal, a key topic in ongoing diplomatic efforts. Advertisement Apart from Ukraine, issues like Hamas, Haiti and Venezuela were also expected to be brought up. At least officially, G7 nations dont plan to talk about Trumps trade war or sovereignty threats. But host Melanie Joly, the foreign minister of Canada, has different plans. Warning EU and Western allies, she said Wednesday that Canada is the canary in the coal mine. On Thursday, she met with Marco Rubio in an effort to apply maximum pressure over the protection of Canadas sovereignty and way of living. We have done nothing to justify Trumps attacks on our country, on our economy and our identity, Joly said. Canada is your best friend, best neighbour and best ally. On Wednesday, Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminium, adding to a series of ongoing tariff measures. In response, Melanie Joly delivered a blistering speech in Ottawa, accusing Trump of using tariffs as a pretext for economic dominance over Canada. Canada has retaliated by introducing counter-tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. imports in an escalating trade dispute. The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trumps talks of annexing our country through economic coercion, Joly said. He called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric. Well, Canadians have made it very clear that we will not back down, and we will not give in to this coercion. Advertisement Even for the incoming prime minister, Mark Carney, tensions with the US over trade remain a top concern. Carney has criticised Trumps trade policies, calling them an economic and sovereign crisis. He has pledged to resist any US efforts to expand its influence over Canada and Greenland. Melanie Joly attempts to rally other G7 partners to corner US The Canadian minister then revealed what will be her priorities to tackle the Trump challenge. Joly stated that during the G7 meetings, she aims to strengthen defence cooperation with Europe, including joint military exercises and weapons procurement. Joly understands that Europe also stands at the receiving end, just like her own nation. The G7 meeting started Thursday just minutes after Trump threatened to impose 200 per cent tariffs on European wine and other alcohol. Advertisement Earlier this week, Canada and the European Union (EU) slapped retaliatory tariffs after the US imposed 25 per cent duties on global aluminium and steel imports. Canadas tariffs, covering $30 billion worth of US goods, take effect today. The EUs tariffs, covering $28 billion, will roll out in two phases by April 13. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc remains open to talks for better solutions instead of more tariffs. As Canada faces a tremendous Trump threat, Joly now seems to be relying on Ottawas alliances with European partners to ease the pain. Using the G7 platform, she is looking to rally nations disgruntled with Trumps jingoistic policies for a collective pushback. Advertisement Polish President Andrzej Duda has urged the US to relocate nuclear weapons to Poland in order to deter potential Russian aggression against Europe, according to a report read more Polish President Andrzej Duda has urged the US to relocate nuclear weapons to Poland in order to deter potential Russian aggression against Europe. According to a Politico report, citing an interview with the Financial Times, Duda suggested that US President Donald Trump could transfer American nuclear arms currently stationed in Western Europe or the US to Polish territory. He also mentioned having recently discussed this proposal with Trumps special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. Advertisement I think its not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here, Duda was quoted as saying. The borders of Nato moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the Nato infrastructure east. For me this is obvious, Duda added. The Polish president said that Russia didnt even hesitate when it moved its nuclear weapons to Belarus. They didnt ask anyone for permission, he said. The request is likely to provoke a strong reaction from Moscow. Dudas remarks follow his statement last month that Poland would very willingly host American troops if Germany declines. This came in response to German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz, who warned that the Trump administration is indifferent to Europes security and that the continent must urgently bolster its defences. On March 7, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Duda, announced that Poland is pursuing access to nuclear weapons and aims to build a 500,000-strong army to counter the Russian threat. Advertisement Tusk noted that Poland is talking seriously with France about protection under its nuclear umbrella. According to the report, Duda agreed with Tusk that Poland could seek protection from Frances nuclear umbrella, if not that of the US, but dismissed the prospect of Poland developing its own nuclear weapons. I think it would take decades, he was quoted as saying. With inputs from agencies Previously, US President Donald Trump had said that the United Stetes would occupy the Gaza Strip and redevelop the strip after expelling all Palestinians read more US President Donald Trump has continued to sow doubts about his plans for the post-war Gaza Strip. Contrary to what he has said in recent weeks, Trump on Wednesday said that there was no plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Thats not true. Trump has previously said that Gaza would be cleared of all Palestinians who would not be allowed to return to the enclave. In an interaction with the press at the Oval Office of the White House, Trump was asked about the expulsion of Palestinians under his plan for Gaza. Advertisement Nobody is expelling any Palestinians. Who are you with? said Trump and then went on to mock the journalists outlet. REPORTER: What about the president's plan to expel Palestinians out of Gaza? TRUMP: Nobody is expelling any Palestinians. Who are you with? REPORTER: I'm with Voice of America, sir. TRUMP: Oh, no wonder. pic.twitter.com/SfosOKDnv6 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 12, 2025 Last month, Trump shocked the world when he announced that the United States would take over Gaza and develop into the Riviera of the Middle East. While the US takeover of Gaza in violation of all international laws was in itself shocking, Trump then said that all Palestinians would be resettled outside of Gaza and would not be allowed to return. This would amount to state-sponsored ethnic cleansing. In an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked about those resettled Palestinians right to return to their homeland. No, they wouldnt because theyre going to have much better housing. In other words, Im talking about building a permanent place for them, said Trump. Trump doubled down on the stand in a post on Truth Social and said that Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States at the conclusion of fighting and all Palestinians would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities by that time. Even though Trumps plan has been rejected by the Arab world, Israel has accepted the plan. The plan shocked the world as it essentially kills the two-state solution and the idea of a Palestinian state. Advertisement Gaza is one of the many territories that Trump wants to annex. He also wants to annex the Panama Canal, Denmarks Greenland, and Canada. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed Indias support for Mauritius sovereignty over the Chagos Islands during his state visit to the island nation. His statement comes as Mauritius pushes for a fresh agreement on the strategically significant archipelago, which hosts a military base operated by the US and UK. read more PM Modi throws his weight behind Mauritius as it negotiates Chagos deal with UK. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reaffirmed support for Mauritius sovereignty, backing the island nations claim over the Chagos Islands. This development comes as Mauritius has called for a fresh deal on the Chagos Archipelago, which hosts a military base operated by the US and UK. Efforts are underway to reach a formal treaty to resolve a decades-old dispute between London and Port Louis. In the context of Chagos, we fully respect the sovereignty of Mauritius, PM Modi said during a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam. Advertisement A free, open, secure, and safe Indian Ocean is our shared priority, Modi said against a backdrop of Chinas expanding influence in the region. PM Modi stated that the two countries will enhance their cooperation through forums such as the Colombo Security Conclave, the Indian Ocean Rim Association, and the Indian Ocean Conference. PM Modi lands in Delhi PM Modi returned to Delhi on Thursday from Mauritius after a two-day state visit. #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to Delhi from Port Louis, Mauritius, after his 2-day State Visit to the country. (Video source: DD News) pic.twitter.com/Xb3IWRbvOU ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2025 India is proud to be a trusted partner During his meeting with the Mauritius PM, Modi said India is proud to be a trusted partner in Mauritius development, and both nations will work together to support the Global South. During his trip, Modi served as the chief guest at Mauritiuss National Day celebrations on 12 March 2025. This was the second time Modi attended the event in this honorary role, the first being in 2015. Honoured with countrys highest award In a historic move, Modi was later honoured with the countrys highest award, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. He became the first Indian to receive this honour. Advertisement Agreement between Mauritius and Britain Last month, Trump said he would support an agreement between Mauritius and Britain on the future of the US-British military base in the Chagos Archipelago, a group of over 60 islands in the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago, has been home to a joint British-US military base since the 1970s. The Russian president added that Russian troops are advancing in virtually every part of the front line in Ukraine. He also suggested that Russia would need to negotiate outstanding issues with our American colleagues and partners read more Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he is in favour of the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire but added that there are serious issues that need to be discussed. We agree with proposals to cease hostilities, but on the basis that that cessation would lead to long-term peace and addresses the root causes of the crisis, Putin told a press conference in Moscow with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. The US has proposed a 30-day-long ceasefire which will end hostilities on the war front temporarily. The plan, backed by Kyiv, will include a truce on the sea, in the air and on land. Advertisement The Russian president added that Russian troops are advancing in virtually every part of the front line in Ukraine. He also suggested that Russia would need to negotiate outstanding issues with our American colleagues and partners maybe on a phone call with President Trump. He praised the efforts made by Russian troops for advancing in practically all areas of the contact line. Meanwhile, Trumps Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin. Russian officials said US national security adviser Mike Waltz had provided details on the ceasefire idea on Wednesday and Russia was ready to discuss it. Trump had said in the White House on Wednesday that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it would support. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia, Trump said. I dont want to do that because I want to get peace. I want to see peace and well see. But in a financial sense, yeah, we could do things very bad for Russia. It would be devastating for Russia. Advertisement With inputs from agencies US President Donald Trumps Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin. Russian officials said US national security adviser Mike Waltz had provided details on the ceasefire idea on Wednesday and Russia was ready to discuss it read more Servicemen of the 24th Mechanized brigade, named after King Danylo, of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket system toward Russian troops, on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine February 15, 2025. (Photo: Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin may review the US ceasefire proposal for Ukraine later, one of his aides said on Thursday after a Kremlin aide rejected the truce deal. Yuri Ushakov said that any Ukraine peace deal should serve Russias interests. We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement, we strive for this, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country, our well-known concerns, he said according to a report by Interfax. Advertisement The US has proposed a 30-day-long ceasefire which will end hostilities on the war front temporarily. The plan, backed by Kyiv, will include a truce on the sea, in the air and on land. That is what we are striving for. A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said today. Ushakov added, It would be nothing more than a temporary breather for the Ukrainian military, after he spoke to US national security advisor Mike Waltz. Any steps that imitate peaceful action are I believe not needed by anyone in the current situation, he said. Witkoff in Moscow Meanwhile, US President Donald Trumps Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin. Russian officials said US national security adviser Mike Waltz had provided details on the ceasefire idea on Wednesday and Russia was ready to discuss it. Trump had said in the White House on Wednesday that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it would support. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia, Trump said. I dont want to do that because I want to get peace. I want to see peace and well see. But in a financial sense, yeah, we could do things very bad for Russia. It would be devastating for Russia. Advertisement Putins international call The Kremlin has said that Washington has provided certain information about the proposed ceasefire deal adding that Putin may have an international phone call later. With inputs from agencies Putin, dressed unusually in military camouflage, paid a visit to the Kursk command post on Thursday. While addressing the Russian troops, he urged them to push out Ukrainians from the region in the shortest possible time read more A still from a video released by the Kremlin shows Vladimir Putin with Russias chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, in a visit to the Kursk region. Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to Kursk since Ukraines incursion into the border region in August last year. During his trip, the Russian leader ordered his troops to defeat Ukrainian forces in the region as soon as possible. Interestingly, the visit took place shortly before an American delegation headed to Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire deal, which would lead to the end of the war. In August 2024, the Ukrainian troops made a surprise incursion into the Kursk Oblast and captured a small part of the Russian border region. The Ukrainians were expecting to use this territory as a bargaining chip when negotiating any future peace deal with Russia. Advertisement Putin, dressed unusually in military camouflage, paid a visit to the Kursk command post on Thursday. While addressing the Russian troops, he urged them to push out Ukrainians from the region in the shortest possible time, Politico reported. I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will be fulfilled, and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy, he said. Putin also made it clear that the captured Ukrainian fighters will be treated as terrorists, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation. In recent months, Ukrainians have struggled to hold on to the region amid a lethal Russian counterattack. This week, Russia claimed to have recaptured the majority of the seized territory, including the town of Sudzha, Kyivs biggest prize, along with hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers. American delegation heads to Moscow Putins visit to Kursk came at a time when American envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling to Moscow this week. During his visit, Witkoff and his team would present the Kremlin with a ceasefire proposal, which is considered a first step towards a lasting end to the conflict. On Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to the proposal. Ahead of Witkoffs trip, US President Donald Trump said that if Russia does not agree to temporarily halt hostilities, there will be swift reprisals in the form of devastating financial penalties. If Putin refuses, I understand that we could count on strong steps. I dont know the details yet, but we are talking about sanctions and about strengthening Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after accepting the deal. Its up to Russia now, Trump said from the White House on Wednesday. Our people are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully, we can get a ceasefire from Russia, he added. When asked if Putin would abide by the ceasefire, given he has broken them in the past, the president said: We havent spoken to him yet with substance because we just found out. Were going to know very soon. Ive gotten some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing. This is a very serious situation. This is a situation that could lead to World War Three. Advertisement Hence, the ball is now in Russias court, and it will be interesting to see how Putin reacts to the ceasefire deal. With inputs from agencies. The US has proposed a 30-day-long ceasefire which will end hostilities on the war front temporarily. The plan, backed by Kyiv, will include a truce on the sea, in the air and on land read more Russian President Vladimir Putin embraces Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Kazan Kremlin in Kazan, Russia, on October 22. AP File Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (March 14) for the first time reacted to USAs proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. In his opening remarks, the Russian leader spoke at length about efforts made by global leaders to help bring the three-year-old war to an end. Putin mentioned US President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in his speech of gratitude. First of all, I would like to start with words of gratitude to the president of the United States, Mr Trump, for paying so much attention to the Ukraine settlement. All of us have lots on our plates, but many state leaders, the Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China, the Prime Minister of India, president of Brazil and South African Republic. They devote a lot of time to this issue, and we are thankful to them because its all for the noble cause of stopping hostilities and preventing human casualties, he said. Advertisement India on several global platforms has made clear its commitment to peace, saying India was not neutral and it always sided with peace. When PM Modi met with Trump at the White House in February, he reiterated that India is not neutral. India is siding with peace. I have already said to President Putin that this is not the era of war. I support the efforts taken by President Trump, PM Modi said while addressing a joint conference. During his engagement with Russias Putin, PM Modis statement that this is not an era of war but of dialogue and diplomacy earned praise from around the world. He has delivered similar messages to both Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his respective visits to Moscow and Kyiv. On Thursday, the Russian leader while talking to the press said he was technically in favour of the proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, but heavily caveated that with nuances and serious issues. We agree with proposals to cease hostilities, but on the basis that that cessation would lead to long-term peace and addresses the root causes of the crisis, Putin told a press conference in Moscow with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. The US has proposed a 30-day-long ceasefire which will end hostilities on the war front temporarily. The plan, backed by Kyiv, will include a truce on the sea, in the air and on land. Advertisement Reacting to Putins comments, Trump said they were promising but not complete. Trump, during his meeting with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the Oval Office, told reporters that he hoped Russia would do the right thing. Putin put out a very promising statement but it wasnt complete, Reuters quoted Trump as saying. Hopefully Russia will do the right thing, the US leader added. (With inputs from agencies) The 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue is set to take place in New Delhi from March 17 to 19. Recognised as Indias premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, the annual event gathers global leaders to discuss pressing international issues. read more The 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue is set to take place in New Delhi from March 17 to 19. The conference is Indias premier event on geopolitics and geoeconomics, held annually in New Delhi. New Zealands Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, will be the chief guest and will jointly inaugurate the event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. https://youtu.be/fcwqhAM1bVc?si=nZaRs7kRYcxtBf50 Luxon will be accompanied by a high-level delegation. The delegation will include representatives of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand, business leaders, media personnel, top officials, and ministers. Advertisement The Raisina Dialogue is an annual conference hosted by the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs. It brings together global leaders from politics, business, media, and civil society to discuss key issues such as international relations, defence, climate change, cybersecurity, and trade. Theme The theme for Raisina Dialogue 2025 is Kalachakra: People. Peace. Planet. List of guest attending? Apert from New Zealand PMs attendance, Indias premiere dialogue will bring together many top leaders, government officials, and experts from around the world. Ukraines Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, is expected to attend. His participation will be significant, given the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with the US playing a role in efforts to resolve the crisis. US Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard will also be present as part of her Indo-Pacific tour, The New York Times reported. Nepals Foreign Minister, Arzu Rana Deuba, will attend and is expected to meet senior Indian officials and foreign delegates. Russias Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, was invited but will not attend due to scheduling conflicts. Several European ministers from Estonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Turkey will participate. The event will also feature CEOs, industry leaders, academics, and researchers. Representatives from 60 top global government and policy schools across eight regions will take part in the 2025 edition. In what could be a significant setback to Ukraine, Russia has claimed to have captured the key town of Sudzha in Kursk from Ukrainian forces read more Servicemen of the 24th Mechanized brigade, named after King Danylo, of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket system toward Russian troops, on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine February 15, 2025. (Photo: Reuters) Russia has claimed to have captured a key town its Kursk province that had been captured by Ukraine. The claim comes at a time when negotiations for peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine have picked up peace. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, arrived in Russia earlier in the day to hold talks with Russian leaders. He is also expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Advertisement Russia on Thursday claimed that it has captured the town of Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine had captured in the incursion of Kursk. In the course of the offensive operations, units of the North military group liberated the settlements of Melovoy, Podol, and Sudzha, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, according to CNN. Separately, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest update that geolocated footage posted on Wednesday indicated that Russian forces had seized Sudzha and advanced to southern Zaoleshenka, a settlement just northwest of Sudzha. In August 2024, Ukraine launched a lightening incursion into Kursk and occupied large parts of the province and also made some gains in the adjacent Bryansk province. The idea behind the incursion was that these occupied territories could be used to swap Russia-controlled Ukrainian territory whenever a peace deal is reached. However, Russia has made a string of gains in Kursk in recent months that has eroded Ukraines leverage. Earlier this month, when the Donald Trump administration of the United States suspended military aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, Russia launched a renewed thrust in Kursk in which Ukraine. As President Trump has realigned the United States with Russia by moving away from Europe, some had said that the Russian assault appeared to be coordinated with White House to bring Ukraine to its knees. Earlier in the day, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would soon retake entire Kursk. President (Vladimir Putin) said that this needs to be done as quickly as possible. (It will take) as much time as is necessary to save the maximum number of lives of our military and civilians. But there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated fairly soon, said Peskov. Advertisement Separately, Chief of General Staff General Valery Gerasimov on Wednesday said that Russia has so far recaptured over 86 per cent of the area captured by Ukraine. At a time when the onus for a ceasefire has moved from Ukraine to Russia, in the eyes of the Donald Trump administration, Russia has said it is willing to discuss the ceasefire proposal read more Russia has said it would discuss the truce proposal that came out of the US-Ukraine talks earlier this week. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday said that talks with the United States on the truce proposal could take place as early as today. We are ready to discuss the initiatives set out there in future contacts with the United States. Such contacts are already possible as early as today, said Zakharova. Advertisement Earlier this week, US and Ukrainian delegations held talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. They discussed the ways to end the war and proposed a partial 30-day ceasefire as a stepping stone to long-term peace. Ukraine is on board with the proposal and both Ukraine and the United States have said that the ball is now in Russias court. Separately, Reuters has reported that Russia has conveyed its list of demands to the United States. While the news agency did not mention specific demands, it reported two people familiar with the matter as saying that the demands are broad and similar to demands conveyed previously to the United States, Ukraine, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). In recent years, Russia has conveyed a long list of maximalist demands, such as Ukraine giving up vast swathes of land, limiting the size of its military, not hosting foreign troops on its soil, include Russian language in official business, and Russias presence among security guarantors and veto on matters of security guarantees. Russia conveys demands as Zelenskyy puts ball in its court At a time when the pressure has publicly moved from Ukraine to Russia, at least for now, Russia has conveyed its demands, two sources told Reuters. The sources did not specify but said that the demands are in line with those raised by Russia in recent years. In addition to the demands mentioned above, Russia has stressed in recent years that the United States and Nato should address what Russia calls root cause of the war the eastward expansion of Nato. Advertisement US President Donald Trump and his allies are on board on the demand. Trump has falsely slammed his predecessor Joe Biden for provoking Russia by promising Nato membership to Ukraine and blaming the war on Natos expansion. Realistically, however, Nato membership was never close for Ukraine. Sources said that Russias demands are part of both the peace initiative for the war in Ukraine and resetting the relationship with the United States. US still assessing if Russia really wants peace, says Rubio So far, even as Trump has realigned the United States with Russia by ditching Europe, all sanctions remain in place on Russia and the United States continues to remain engaged with Europe in the continents defence against Russian aggression at least on paper for now. As far as the US perception of Russias stand on peace talks is concerned, the agency reported that Russian leader Vladimir Putins commitment to a potential ceasefire agreement is still uncertain even as details are yet to be finalised. Advertisement Notably, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said that the Trump administration has not yet learnt whether Russia actually wants to negotiate a peace agreement. In remarks to the press after talks in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said that the Trump administration hopes Russia would say yes to the partial ceasefire proposal and a refusal would mean that it is not interested in peace. If their response is yes, then we know weve made real progress and theres a real chance of peace. If their response is no, itll be highly unfortunate, and itd make their intentions clear. So thats what were hoping to hear from them, said Rubio. Advertisement In a previous interview with journalist Catherine Herridge, Rubio last month said that it was not yet known whether Russia wants to end the war with Ukraine. Rubio said, The only way is to test them, to basically engage them and say, OK, are you serious about ending the war? And if so, what are your demands? Are your public demands and your private demands different? We have to have some process by which we engage in that conversation. Now, it may turn out that they dont want to end the war. I dont know. Were going to find out. When pressed on the issue further, Rubio added, So at the end, theyre either interested or theyre not. If the demands they make for ending the war are maximalist and unrealistic, then I think we have our answer. If, on the other hand, theres any opportunity to pursue peace, we have to do it. Advertisement President Donald Trump has warned of harsher sanctions on Moscow if it fails to negotiate but has also suggested relief if it agrees to a ceasefire in Ukraine read more Russia is consulting domestic companies on which sanctions it should seek to have lifted ahead of negotiations with Washington, two Russian business sources told Reuters, with restrictions on cross-border payment flows identified as the most burdensome. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that it was now Russias turn to respond, after Washington agreed to resume sharing military aid and intelligence with Kyiv. Ukraine has said it would accept a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Advertisement President Donald Trump has warned of harsher sanctions on Moscow if it fails to negotiate but has also suggested relief if it agrees to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Reuters cited two Russian industry sources as saying that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked businesses to identify the sanctions most urgently in need of removal. One person said the ministry had distributed a form for companies to fill out, asking which restrictions had affected them most. Dollar access and banking sanctions The sources said restrictions on payments were the most pressing issue, though three also cited energy-related sanctions, particularly those affecting Russias oil tanker fleet. Major Russian banks were cut off from the SWIFT global payments system shortly after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Without access to dollar and euro markets, Russian firms have been forced to use alternative currencies and intermediaries in third countries. Everything has become much more expensive given transaction costs and settlements through third currencies, one source said. The most important, most painful issue is the restriction on dollar settlements. When asked which sanctions Russia wanted lifted, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday (March 13) that Moscow considers all sanctions illegal and believes they should be removed. Lifting those restrictions and banking-related sanctions would provide a significant boost to the Russian economy, three sources said, though one acknowledged such an outcome was unlikely in the near term. Advertisement Secondary sanctions and the Europe problem A more likely outcome, two sources said, would be reduced enforcement of secondary sanctions targeting companies in third countries that facilitate Russian transactions. Easing the enforcement of secondary sanctions could improve international acceptance of Russias Mir payment system, a domestic alternative to Visa and Mastercard. However, much of the approximately $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets frozen by Western governments is held in Europe, where leaders have maintained a tougher stance against Moscow than Washington. The issue of European sanctions is going to be on the table, not to mention what happens with the frozen assets, Rubio said Wednesday. Theres going to have to be some decision made by the Europeans about what theyre going to do with these sanctions. Scepticism among Russian businesses Despite the ongoing talks, some Russian executives remain skeptical that any relief will come. German Gref, CEO of Russias largest lender, Sberbank, said his bank is operating under the assumption that sanctions, if anything, will be tightened. Advertisement Eduard Gudkov, deputy chairman of liquefied natural gas producer Novateks board, echoed that sentiment last month. Renaissance Capital analyst Andrei Melashchenko noted that even if the US eases sanctions, Europe may not follow suit. Lifting of US sanctions would not automatically remove European sanctions or fully restore the payment infrastructure, meaning the recovery of commission-based income from cross-border operations would remain limited, he said. With inputs from Reuters In a recent Oval Office meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, President Donald Trump referred to Chuck Schumer as a Palestinian, stating, He used to be Jewish. Hes not Jewish anymore. Hes a Palestinian. read more US President Donald Trump referred to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as a Palestinian, stating, He used to be Jewish. Hes not Jewish anymore. Hes a Palestinian. He said this during a recent Oval Office meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin. This remark came amid discussions on various topics, including the GOP spending bill and U.S. tariff policies. Donald Trump faced criticism from a major US Muslim civil rights group for using Palestinian as an insult while attacking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, claiming he is not Jewish anymore. Advertisement Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called Trumps remark offensive and unworthy of a president. He should apologise to both Palestinians and Americans. Such dehumanisation has fuelled hate crimes against Palestinian-Americans, enabled the genocide in Gaza, and denied Palestinian rights for decades under US administrations, Awad said. Jewish organisations, including the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), also criticised Trumps statement, highlighting concerns over rising Islamophobia and antisemitism. Stopgap funding bill Senate Democrats, led by Schumer, have announced their intention to block the Republican-proposed stopgap funding bill. The current funding is set to expire on Friday night. Without an agreement, non-essential services could be halted, affecting numerous federal workers. The House-passed bill aims to maintain current funding levels through the end of September, proposing a $6 billion increase in defence spending while cutting $13 billion from non-defence expenditures. Democrats argue that the bill lacks bipartisan input and advocate for a shorter-term extension to allow for more comprehensive negotiations. Schumer has suggested a clean continuing resolution (CR) extending funding through mid-April to facilitate bipartisan discussions. Earlier this month, South Korean air force dropped eight bombs on a village that injured at least 29 people and caused extensive property damage read more Officials inspect an area with damaged buildings after South Korea's Air Force said that Mk82 bombs fell from a KF-16 jet outside the shooting range during joint live-fire exercises near the demilitarised zone separating two Koreas in Pocheon, South Korea, March 6, 2025. (Photo: Reuters) South Korean military investigators charged two Air Force pilots on Thursday with criminal negligence over an accidental bombing of a village last week during a training exercise, which injured at least 29 people and caused extensive property damage. Defence ministry investigators have confirmed that errors by the pilots when they entered coordinates into the aircraft systems were direct factors behind the accidental bombing, the ministrys Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement. Advertisement The pilots were charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, the command said, adding the investigation of the incident is ongoing. Eight unguided air-to-surface bombs were launched from two fighter jets and landed on a village in Pocheon near the border with North Korea during live-fire exercises. Several areas in Pocheon and neighbouring regions have training grounds used by the South Korean and U.S. militaries. Residents have for years complained about potential safety risks and disturbance from military units being mobilised in the area. The two pilots have been taken off flight duties and a review of their flight mission certification has been scheduled, a ministry official said. The Air Force chief of staff has apologised for the accident and pledged to review mission procedures to prevent similar incidents. North Korea, which routinely denounces military drills by the South Korean and US militaries, has said the accident showed the risk of the drills triggering armed conflict, citing the possibility the bombs could have dropped north of the border. (This is an agency copy. Except for the headline, the copy has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) The BLA group from its inception has said it is fighting against the exploitation of the regions resources by the Pakistani establishment and the mistreatment of natives when it comes to jobs and human rights read more Passengers who were rescued from a train after it was attacked by separatist militants, walk with their belongings at the Railway Station in Quetta, Balochistan. Reuters Kabuls Taliban regime on Thursday (March 13) rejected allegations levelled by Pakistan that Afghanistan-based militants were involved in the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train in Balochistan. The attack, led by the Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist organisation, saw hundreds of passengers taken hostage in the Bolan region. The train, travelling from Quetta to Bolan, was carrying several personnel of Pakistans armed forces, including army and police. Following the attack, authorities in Pakistan pointed fingers at Afghanistan, accusing its northern neighbour of harbouring the mastermind behind the train hijacking. Advertisement Taliban issue statement However, Taliban rejected the claim as unfounded. We categorically reject baseless allegations by the Pakistani army spokesperson linking the attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan, and urge the Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks, said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for Afghanistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pakistan earlier claimed the attackers were in constant touch with operatives active across the border in Afghanistan. Claims and counterclaims A Pakistani Army spokesperson announced on Wednesday that security forces had successfully ended an operation to rescue hostages from the hijacked train. All 33 militants involved in the attack were killed, the spokesperson said. However, the operation resulted in the deaths of 21 passengers and four Pakistani soldiers, claimed the official. The armed forces successfully concluded the operation on (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said. But this claim made by Pakistan Army was quickly rejected by the BLA. In a statement, it said the fighting was underway and they had inflicted heavy losses on the Pakistan Army. The ground reality is that the battle continues on multiple fronts, and the enemy (Pakistani military) is suffering heavy casualties and military losses, the group said in a statement. The occupying army has neither achieved victory on the battlefield nor managed to save its hostage personnel, it added. More about BLA group BLA, founded in 2000, aims to establish a state of Greater Balochistan. The group from its inception has said it is fighting against the exploitation of the regions resources by the Pakistani establishment and the mistreatment of natives when it comes to jobs and human rights Advertisement The BLA has been designated a global terror group by several Western nations including the US and UK, as per BBC. (With inputs from agencies) Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark part of the United States, saying it is vital to US security interests, an idea rejected by most Greenlanders read more US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington. AP US President Donald Trump on Thursday (March 13) reiterated his ambition to take over Greenland, saying he believed that annexation will happen. We are going to have to make a deal on Greenland, the US leader said, speaking alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. He then pointed at Rutte and added the NATO chief could be very instrumental in the move. You know Mark, we need that for international security we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful, Trump said in subtle reference to China and Russia. Advertisement Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark part of the United States, saying it is vital to US security interests, an idea rejected by most Greenlanders. The island holds substantial natural resources, including critical minerals such as rare earths used in high-tech industries, ranging from electric vehicles to missile systems. Rutte, finding himself in a tight spot, sought to stay clear of any question regarding Greenland becoming part of the United States, saying: I dont want to drag NATO in that. However, when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right, Rutte said. Greenland polls This is Trumps first statement on Greenland after the Arctic Island held its legislative elections on Tuesday. The Democratic Party, which supports a gradual approach to independence from Denmark and has also opposed Trumps idea, secured around 30 per cent of the vote, according to near-final results. While Greenland manages its domestic affairs, foreign and defence policies remain under Copenhagens control. Five of the six major parties back independence, but they differ on how quickly it should be pursued. Do Greenlanders want to join the US? A recent survey found that most of the islands 57,000 residents oppose joining the US. The poll, conducted by the Danish newspaper Berlingske and Greenland-based outlet Sermitsiaq, revealed that a whopping 85 per cent of the people dont support the US taking over their land. Advertisement More than 56 per cent of respondents said they would vote for Greenlandic independence in a referendum. However, 45 per cent would not support it if it negatively impacted their quality of life. (With inputs from agencies) Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, has arrived in Russia to hold talks with the countrys leaders read more Steve Witkoff speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 27, 2024. (Photo: AP) Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, has arrived in Moscow to hold talks with Russian leaders, according to TASS news agency. Witkoff is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin and their discussions are expected to include the war in Ukraine, including the 30-day ceasefire proposal floated in the talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators earlier this week. Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia is open to discuss truce proposal that came out of the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia earlier this week and the talks may take place as early as today. Advertisement Separately, Reuters has reported two sources as saying that Russia has conveyed the list of demands to the United States. While sources did not specify Russias demands, they said the demands are broad and similar to demands conveyed previously to the United States, Ukraine, and Nato. For weeks, the Donald Trump administration of the United States had put all pressure on Ukraine to end the war, falsely accusing the country of starting the war with Russia, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator, and essentially call for his ouster and indicate with covert outreach to his political opponents that it is seeking regime-change in the country, but the ball moved to Russias court with Ukraines acceptance of partial ceasefire for 30 days. Following the US-Ukraine talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russias response to the 30-day truce proposal would clarify whether it wants peace. If their response is yes, then we know weve made real progress and theres a real chance of peace. If their response is no, itll be highly unfortunate, and itd make their intentions clear. So thats what were hoping to hear from them, said Rubio. The Trump administration is expected to invoke a sweeping wartime authority to speed up the presidents mass deportation pledge in the coming days, according to a report, citing four sources familiar with the discussions read more The Trump administration is expected to invoke a sweeping wartime authority to speed up the presidents mass deportation pledge in the coming days, according to a CNN report, citing four sources familiar with the discussions. The little-known Alien Enemies Act of 1798 grants the president significant authority to target and deport undocumented immigrants, though legal experts suggest it may face challenges in court. Earlier, CNN reported that this authority was under discussion among several agencies as officials prepared to implement the law. The main focus is on Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan organised crime group now operating in the US and other countries, recently designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, added the report. Advertisement At the beginning of his term, Trump instructed his administration to designate TDA as a foreign terrorist organisation and utilise this measure to remove identified members. An announcement, possibly as soon as Friday, has been in flux as officials finalise the details. This move is expected to facilitate quicker deportations of certain immigrants. The Alien Enemies Act is intended for use when the US is at war with another country or if a foreign nation has invaded or threatened to invade the US. According to CNN, citing legal experts, it would be challenging for Trump to invoke the Act without an actual attack from a foreign government, even if the administration cites threats from gangs or cartels. Historically, the Act has been invoked three times in US history, all during wartime, as noted by the Brennan Center. It was used during World Wars I and II to justify the detention and expulsion of German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Japanese immigrants. The law also contributed to the controversial policy of Japanese internment during World War II, according to the nonpartisan law and policy institute. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Earlier, the Russian leader while talking to the press said he was technically in favour of the proposed ceasefire on Ukraine, but heavily caveated that with nuances and serious issues read more US President Donald Trump on Thursday (March 13) reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putins comments on Ukraine and US ceasefire proposals, saying they were promising but not complete. Trump, during his meeting with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the Oval Office, told reporters that he hoped Russia would do the right thing. Putin put out a very promising statement but it wasnt complete, Reuters quoted Trump as saying. Hopefully Russia will do the right thing, the US leader added. Advertisement Here are more quotes from Trumps address to the media at the Oval Office: Were getting words that things are going okay in Russia, but that doesnt mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is. But they have very serious discussions going on right now with President Putin and others, and hopefully they all want to end this nightmare. So we hopefully are going to be in a good position sometime today to have a good idea. Well have we know where we are with Ukraine, and we are getting good signals out of Russia as to where we are with Russia, and hopefully theyll do the right thing. Trump also warned that it would be very disappointing for the world if Russia rejected the peace proposal. A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world, Trump said. Putin in favour of proposed ceasefire Earlier, the Russian leader while talking to the press said he was technically in favour of the proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, but heavily caveated that with nuances and serious issues. We agree with proposals to cease hostilities, but on the basis that that cessation would lead to long-term peace and addresses the root causes of the crisis, Putin told a press conference in Moscow with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. The US has proposed a 30-day-long ceasefire which will end hostilities on the war front temporarily. The plan, backed by Kyiv, will include a truce on the sea, in the air and on land. Advertisement Putin said he would negotiate outstanding issues with our American colleagues and partners, suggesting maybe a phone call with President Trump. (With inputs from agencies) US President Donald Trump has warned that Russia could face financial consequences if it rejects a proposed 30-day ceasefire, which was discussed in a meeting between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia. read more The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. File image/AP Donald Trump has warned that Russia could face financial repercussions if it does not agree to the 30-day ceasefire agreement, which was discussed during a meeting between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia, The Guardian reported. Its up to Russia now, Trump said during a press briefing at the White House. Our people are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully, we can get a ceasefire from Russia. Advertisement Trump did not directly threaten Russia with sanctions if Putin refused to sign the deal but warned he could take financial actions that would hurt Russia, saying said he could do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. Trump said, I dont want to do that because I want to get peace. This follows Ukrainian President Zelenskyy urging him to take strong measures if Moscow fails to support a 30-day ceasefire agreement. If Putin refuses, I understand that we could count on strong steps. I dont know the details yet, but we are talking about sanctions and about strengthening Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. This comes after French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu stated in Paris that a ceasefire could be announced as early as Thursday and that Europe must be ready to help enforce it. Washington, Kyiv, and Europe are waiting for Moscows response to the ceasefire proposal, with US envoys set to meet Vladimir Putin by the end of the week. The Kremlin has not said whether it supports an immediate ceasefire. On Wednesday, Trump mentioned receiving positive messages about the ceasefire but added that they mean nothing. The White House later confirmed that Trumps Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, would visit Moscow this week. Advertisement When asked if Putin would stick to a ceasefire despite past violations, Trump said they hadnt had a serious talk yet but would soon. He mentioned receiving positive messages. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary workers fired in mass terminations last month, saying that the personnel office responsible lacked authority read more A federal employee, who asked not to use their name for fears over losing their job, protests with a sign saying "Federal Employees Don't Work for Kings" during the "No Kings Day" protest on Presidents Day in Washington, in support of federal workers and against recent actions by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, on Feb. 17, 2025, by the Capitol in Washington. AP File A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary workers fired in mass terminations last month, saying that the personnel office responsible lacked authority. According to an Associated Press report, US District Judge William Alsup instructed the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defence, Energy, Interior, and Treasury to promptly reinstate employees let go around February 13 and 14, following guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell. Advertisement Alsup directed the agencies to report back within seven days with a list of probationary employees and an explanation of how the departments complied with his order as to each person, added the report. The temporary restraining order was issued in a lawsuit by a coalition of labor unions as the Republican administration seeks to downsize the federal workforce. Judge Alsup voiced frustration over the governments attempt to bypass laws regulating workforce reductions by terminating unprotected probationary workers. He criticised the firings of employees for poor performance, noting many had received positive evaluations just months prior. It is sad, a sad day, when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie, AP quoted him as saying. That should not have been done in our country, he added. Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment. But Alsup has found that difficult to believe. He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing Thursday, but Ezell, the OPM acting director, did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition. The judge encouraged the government to appeal. There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion. About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans care, according to the lawsuit filed by the coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations. Advertisement The plaintiffs said in their complaint that numerous agencies informed workers that the personnel office had ordered the terminations, with an order to use a template email informing workers their firing was for performance reasons. With inputs from agencies The humanitarian crisis in Ethiopias Tigray region has deepened as the Trump administrations decision to dismantle USAID halts food aid and critical programs. read more As a displaced person in Ethiopias northern Tigray region, 76-year-old Haile Tsege is no stranger to hunger. During its war with Tigray fighters that devastated the region in 2020-2022, Ethiopian government restrictions on the rebellious region reduced aid flows to a trickle. Then in 2023, U.S. and U.N. aid distributions of grain were halted for months over a corruption scandal. Now the Trump administrations dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has again halted food deliveries to a sprawling camp of over 20,000 people outside Tigrays regional capital, Mekele. Advertisement We will just die in silence, said Tsege, one of the 2.4 million people in Tigray who depend on humanitarian grain, most of it provided by the U.S. Ethiopia with its over 125 million people had been the biggest beneficiary of U.S. aid in sub-Saharan Africa, receiving $1.8 billion in the 2023 financial year. In addition to life-saving food, the funds were spent on HIV medications, vaccines, literacy programs and jobs creation, as well as services for 1 million refugees hosted by Ethiopia. Most of these programs have been stopped. The USAID staffers who oversaw them have been placed on administrative leave and told not to work, as they face the threat of termination. The U.S. Embassy didnt respond to questions. Emergency food was exempted from President Donald Trumps executive order, signed on his first day in office, suspending foreign aid during a 90-day review amid the administrations allegations of waste. Aid agencies in Ethiopia had to apply to USAID for waivers to continue handing out U.S. grain. These have been secured, but USAIDs payments system is still not functioning. Advertisement As a result, a consortium of aid agencies in Tigray has had to stop distributions to the over 1 million people it has been responsible for feeding with U.S.-provided grain. It has no money to pay for fuel, trucks and drivers to distribute existing food stockpiles. That includes 5,000 metric tons of sorghum enough to feed 300,000 people for a month stuck in a storage facility in Mekele that could rot before it reaches those in need. This is just one warehouse. There are several others across the region, said Teklewoini Assefa, head of the Relief Society of Tigray, part of the consortium. This will create malnutrition, disease. If this situation continues, what follows? Death. Advertisement He added: Everything boils down to the payment system. The effects of the aid cuts are widespread, with many USAID contracts terminated. Already, Ethiopia has been forced to lay off 5,000 local healthcare workers who were working on its HIV response. Tigray relied heavily on U.S. funds. More than two years after the war killed hundreds of thousands, full-scale recovery efforts are yet to start. The regions health system is in ruins and hundreds of schools remain closed. In 2024, child malnutrition stood at 21% in some areas, according to a survey reviewed by The Associated Press far above the World Health Organizations threshold of 15% at which a situation is classified as an emergency. Advertisement Now, aid workers say many programs to improve nutrition have halted. Projects to deliver medicines and vaccines have stopped. Dozens of camps for displaced people have had water sources cut off. The impact has been huge, said Ashenafi Asmelash, executive director of Mums for Mums, which has had two USAID- funded programs terminated. One helped build long-term resilience among farmers. The other helped improve the nutrition of children and new mothers. Management Sciences for Health, another Tigray organization, has halted a project to combat tuberculosis and told its staff to expect mass layoffs in March, according to a senior executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Advertisement Efforts to assist thousands of women who were raped during the war have been derailed, said Rigat Bishaw at Ayder Hospital, Tigrays biggest healthcare facility. This includes counseling and physiotherapy sessions for survivors run by the U.S.-based Center for Victims of Torture, which received a stop-work order from the Trump administration in February and furloughed its staff. CVT also halted a program to train health workers to recognize sexual abuse cases and refer survivors to appropriate health services. This sudden disruption is having a huge impact on the healing of traumatized people, said Yohannes Fisseha, a CVT manager. Major projects to support people living with HIV, improve access to life-saving nutrition services and improve relations between war-affected communities have also been cut off, said Yirga Gebregziabher, the Tigray branch manager of an Ethiopian organization called OSSHD, which helped implement the projects. The organization has been forced to fire dozens of expert staff. Our picture of America was as a protector of rights, a positive force in the world, Yigra said. That image has now been broken. If there was a process, maybe the shock would have been less. But there was no consultation, no engagement. In this years annual legislative meeting, Chinas Xi Jinping urged officials to work towards the advancement and development of diverse technologies, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology and new weapons read more Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang attend the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. Reuters During Chinas annual legislative meeting, President Xi Jinping told his government that nothing should hold Beijing back from being a technological superpower. While dismissing an economic slowdown all together, Xi said that neither heavy local government debt nor a trade war with the United States should emerge as a roadblock to Chinas technological development. The meeting was held in Beijing and comprised of members of the National Peoples Congress, The New York Times reported. The meeting was known for giving Congress delegates, although handpicked by the party, a platform to chide officials over problems like pollution. There were even rare flashes of discord among senior officials. Advertisement However, things have changed over the years, and Xi has turned the meeting into a meticulously orchestrated, weeklong salute to himself and his vision. In this years meeting, Xi urged China to work towards the advancement and development of diverse technologies, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology and new weapons. Xi has seen how decades of investment into science by the U.S. government after World War II was a knockout success for the United States and wants to replicate that, Jimmy Goodrich, who studies Chinas science policies as a senior adviser at RAND, told NYT. He believes strongly that only by being more self-sufficient and a global leader in science can China achieve success in upgrading its economy, boosting its military capabilities and achieving world-leader status," he added. What happened at the meeting? Xis agenda dictated this years meeting. On the first day of the congress, Xi held meetings with the delegates of the Jiangsu Province an industrial powerhouse and told them to seize on scientific and technological innovation. On the second day, Xi reportedly heard annual reports from scientists and education officials and insisted that the development of education plays a crucial role in turning China into a science and technology great power. According to the NYT, on the third day, Xi was seen in his green military uniform and held a meeting with the members of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army. He ordered the countrys military to be more efficient in implementing modernization plans. The public summary following the session mentioned that China is working on next-generation jet fighters, unmanned drones, new submarines and other weapons. Xis ambition of a technological revolution was also reflected in the fact that the Chinese governments science and technology budget this year is equal to about $172 billion, second to the United States. However, some critics are now arguing that Xis futuristic goals can come at the cost of providing help to Chinese citizens struggling to make ends meet. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. Indias telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), intends to propose a five-year satellite broadband spectrum allocation to track early market trends. This move goes against Elon Musks Starlink, which wants a 20-year permit, a senior government source told Reuters. TRAI is working on recommendations for the government, covering spectrum pricing and duration. Unlike traditional auctions, this spectrum will be assigned administratively, the report said. This follows recent tie-ups between SpaceX and Indian telecom giants Jio and Bharti Airtel to launch Starlink services in India. New Partnerships and Past Rivalries Musk recently partnered with Mukesh Ambani, letting Starlink devices tap into Reliances vast distribution network. The report noted this came after the two were rivalsReliance had pushed for spectrum auctions for months, while Musk favored administrative allocation. Starlink argued a 20-year term supports affordable pricing and long-term business plans, per its submissions. Reliance, however, suggested a three-year period with a market review, while Airtel backed a three-to-five-year timeframe. A government official explained TRAIs five-year plan, saying, Its enough to see how the market settles; no need to go longer now. An industry insider added that this shorter term lets the government tweak pricing after five years as the market grows, according to the report. Next Steps and Pricing Details TRAI aims to wrap up its suggestions, including per-megahertz pricing, within a month. These will then head to Indias telecom ministry for approval, the source said. Satellite spectrum will cost substantially less than the 20-year telecom licenses typically auctioned, the official added. Still, Starlinks deals with Reliance and Airtel depend on clearing regulatory hurdles in India. This push gained traction after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk in Washington, discussing space, tech, and innovation. Ambani, whose Reliance spent $19 billion on airwave auctions, worries Starlink could siphon off broadband usersand maybe even data and voice customers later, the report cited. Growth on the Horizon KPMG predicts Indias satellite communication market could jump tenfold to $25 billion by 2028, the report noted. As Jio and Airtels SpaceX collaborations move forward, more updates are likely to follow. Source Samsung has finally started rolling out Android 15-based One UI 7 beta update for the Galaxy S23 series Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra smartphones in India, as it had promised. This comes after the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 smartphones received the update last week, soon after the announcement. The update also brings Android security patch for March 2025. Samsung already confirmed that the Galaxy Tab S10 series and Galaxy A55 will get the One UI 7 beta update later this March. The stable roll-out will begin in April, the company had confirmed. Samsung mentions that One UI 7 will bring exciting visual enhancements as well as upgraded personalization, productivity, and security. It asks users to give feedback and suggestions during the beta program. Samsung Galaxy S23 series users can apply to join the beta program via Samsung Members app by clicking the One UI Beta Program Banner, after which they will automatically receive the over-the-air (OTA) update to One UI 7. Hi, my name is Fred and i from brazil, i own a 2005 ford f250 with the 4.2 engine and here in brazil we loved it. I have seen the post about this engine and i saw several doubts and misinformation. First he is a MWM engine not a Cummins, mwm is a brazilian company that have been sold diesel engines since the 70's it was a 3.9l lsd diesel that went for sale until 1995, later there was a evolution: 4.3l known as unbreakable. With the introduction of the new silverado (1996) mwm desinged a new engine a 6 cylinders hsd without intercooler it weights 260kg, in 1999 f250 was launched with this engine but with intercooler the same that was exported to australia. We dont have the v8 option, we think it is a very powerful engine with great sound and he has a very strong reputation of being strong with regular maintenence (oil, filters and be careful about the radiator (using aditives) it can last more than 1 million km before opening it (it uses wet shirts it is easy to replace). Mine i use as my weekend car, i have driven 650 km. 250 km was in highways and i could average 9.179 l per 100 km. He is easy to tune first you can open the injection pump, it is mechanic all you have to do is open the debit of diesel is a screw you rotate it: 1/2, 1 or 3/2 it injects more diesel in the engine but it will smoke ( black ) and the fuel economy is gone. Later you can change the injectors, and then the turbo, it is quite easy to get 300 hp, but i dont about reliability in those cases. Sorry about my english. Now mwm is owned by navistar (international) and their products is in volvo trucks and internationals. The mirror in the bottom is for 53-55 trucks of any size. The top mirror is for 56 trucks. In 56 doors the mounting holes are diagonally opposite. Why, I don't know. It might have something to do with the new shape of 56 doors . Proper holes could be drilled to use a 56 door bracket with a 53-55 truck and vice versa. The mirror arms on eBay has the same nut to tighten the extendable arm as the top mirror. I've seen the style of a nut to tighten the arm in 57 and up mirror arms. But also have seen pics of 56 NOS arms with the nut. All the 53-56 mirror arms I have or had, have had the the screw and collar to tighten the arm. The 2025 "Shanghe Youth" Advanced Trainee Program is being held in Shanghai, China, to promote exchanges in law studies. Aiming to cultivate elite talents for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries, the program hosted its inaugural edition in 2024. #GLOBALink Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Legislation newly introduced by U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd would revoke recently finalized Bureau of Land Management plans governing things such as local oil and gas leasing, protection of big game from oil and gas development in Colorado and protection of the imperiled Gunnison sage-grouse. Hurds office said in a news release that his Productive Public Lands Act would unlock resource development on some of our most productive lands, while some environmentalists say it would replace locally driven, collaborative planning processes with dictates from politicians in Washington. The Productive Public Lands Act would reactivate the resource potential of our public lands, Hurd, R-Grand Junction, said in his release. This bill would force the Bureau of Land Management to reissue nine Biden-era Resource Management Plans (RMPs), which locked up access to viable lands throughout Colorado and the West. A reissuance of these RMPs will put us on a path to energy dominance allowing for a more secure and prosperous United States. Peter Hart, legal director for the Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop, countered, Without a doubt hes basically shortcutting the whole process and then basically legislating the outcome of a land management plan. This is Washington, D.C., parachuting in and telling local land managers what to do. The bill would revoke plan revisions finalized last year that considerably reduced the amount of acreage available for future oil and gas leasing in the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley BLM field offices. The BLM did the supplemental planning after conservation groups, including the Wilderness Workshop, successfully challenged the 2015 Colorado River Valley plan in court. The new plans largely limit leasing to areas with high oil and gas potential, but dont affect existing oil and gas leases. Hurds bill would rescind the BLMs decision last year to amend resource management plans in Colorado as they pertain to energy development in order to promote conservation of big game corridors and other priority big game habitat. The BLM took that action partly to comply with a settlement agreement for a lawsuit that the state of Colorado brought against the BLM challenging its approval of its resource management plan for the Uncompahgre Field Office, based out of Montrose. Hurds bill would rescind the big game plan by requiring that the BLM adopt a no-action planning alternative that would return to the status quo prior to the plan being adopted. The bill likewise would rescind amendments to local BLM resource management plans implemented last year to better protect the Gunnison sage-grouse. The species, federally listed as threatened, has a population of only a few thousand birds found mostly in the Gunnison Basin but also in small numbers in places such as Pinon Mesa in Mesa County. Some of the BLM protective measures include a one-mile protective buffer around Gunnison sage-grouse habitat and a limitation on surface disturbance on BLM lands in the birds habitat. Hurds bill also would require the BLM to adopt different management alternatives than were selected during the Biden administration for its Royal Gorge Field Office in Colorado and some other field offices in other states. Hart said the revision of the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley plans involved a thorough public process, and entities such as oil and gas associations and companies and Garfield and Mesa counties didnt formally protest the plans. This (bill) doesnt seem to acknowledge how much support there was for those plans, for the culmination of that process or for the hard work and time and effort and money and expertise that our local land managers put into designing and finalizing those plans, he said. Scott Braden, director of the Colorado Wildlands Project, said Hurds bill is really about doing the bidding of Republicans in Washington, D.C., and introducing just more chaos and uncertainty for land managers and communities that depend on public lands on the Western Slope. He said having politicians in Washington dictating to local cooperators and governments what the plans are going to be flies in the face of Hurds supposed belief that land management best happens close to the land. The Western Energy Alliance industry group declined to comment for this story. Its president, Kathleen Sgamma, has been nominated by President Trump to be the BLMs director. Last March, Sgamma testified at a congressional hearing that the Biden administration was using the public land use planning process to preclude oil and gas leasing on vast swaths of land, which was serving as the leasing ban he imposed at the start of his presidency but was overturned in court. U.S. Rep. Doug Lamalfa, R-Calif., who is chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, said in Hurds news release, The Biden Administration was hell-bent on locking up public lands, threatening the prosperity of rural economies across the country. Fortunately, a new era has dawned, and we have the opportunity to reverse these lockups and reinstate the multiple-use mandate on Americas public lands. The Productive Public Lands Act will open up the publics land to be used for recreation, grazing, timber harvesting, drilling, mining, and other appropriate uses. I want to thank Western Caucus Vice Chair Hurd for leading this important legislation. The Colorado Department of Natural Resources said in a statement released Thursday, The Department of Natural Resources has not fully reviewed this specific legislation, but has supported the Grand Junction Field Office plan, Gunnison Sage Grouse Plan and several other management plans which were finalized without any protest from oil and gas industry interests. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has also worked closely with the BLM to advance the BLM big game plan, which is broadly supported by hunters and anglers and was court ordered to protect Colorado's wildlife and maintain consistency with existing state processes. Sat Saturday 95 /64 More sun than clouds. Highs in the mid 90s and lows in the mid 60s. Brooke Rollins was confirmed by the Senate as the 33rd Secretary of Agriculture in a 72-28 vote on Feb. 13. Both the Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union look forward to meeting with Secretary Rollins and looking forward to her serving in this role... The Department of Livestock is asking Montana poultry and dairy owners to be aware of the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) as the spring waterfowl migration gets underway. The virus continues to remain active across the country with 2... The Glasgow City Council will meet in regular session on Monday, March 17, 5 p.m., in the Council Chambers located inside of the Glasgow Civic Center. Click on the link above to view the full agenda. Editors Note: This story was originally published in the March 5, 2025, issue of the Daily Montanan; dailymontanan.com/. The parents of a child that the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services removed because of a suicide risk and gen... The Glasgow School Board will meet in regular session, Wednesday, March 19, 6 p.m., in the Gary F. Martin Board Room, 229 7th Street North, Glasgow. To view the full agenda, click on the image above. On March 8, at 4:30 p.m., dispatch received a citizen complaint about erratic driving. A Valley County Deputy responded to the area and located a vehicle matching the description, stopped in the roadway with its left blinker on, which led to a suspicion of impaired driving. The driver attempted to flee, driving directly at the deputys patrol vehicle. The deputy did an excellent job of narrowly avoiding a collision. The vehicle left westbound on Roosevelt Trail Road with the Deputy in pursuit. Another Deputy and a Glasgow City Police Officer, responded to the intersection of MT Hwy 24 N and Roosevelt Trail. The suspect continued onto Airport Road and into Glasgow, where a third Sheriffs Officer attempted to stop the vehicle. Pit maneuvers were attempted at slower speeds in town but were unsuccessful. The chase continued eastbound on US Hwy 2. An unmarked Sheriffs vehicle moved in front of the suspects vehicle. By slowing down, the suspect collided with the Sheriffs vehicle, ending the pursuit a few hundred feet later. The suspect was taken into custody without further use of force. Neither the suspect nor any officers were injured. A 51-year-old Nashua man was arrested, jailed, and received multiple citations. The incident went well, and no one was hurt. We appreciate the assistance of Glasgow Police Department. A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in-person hunter education field day for online students has been set for Glasgow. The course will be held at the FWP office in Glasgow from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday, March 16. This is a great opportunity for students to be... MND confirms media report on espionage case involving retired major ROC Central News Agency 03/12/2025 10:23 PM Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed Wednesday a local media report detailing the alleged leaking of classified documents to Chinese intelligence personnel by a retired Air Force major, characterizing the incident as a case of Chinese infiltration. The former Air Force officer, identified as Shih Chun-cheng (), was recruited by China after his retirement in 2008, the Chinese-language Mirror Media reported on Wednesday. Shih approached then-Air Force Air Intercept Controller Hsu Chan-cheng () and persuaded him to leak classified files in exchange for payment, which Shih delivered to his contacts in China, according to the report. The report said that the classified information leaked included the Air Force's applications of air-launched Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles and deployments in response to Chinese military incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone. In response, the MND said in a statement that the incident came to light in January 2023 when its Department of Strategic Planning filed a report stating that Shih, "pretending to be an American think tank staffer, approached active service members to engage in espionage." Prosecutors raided Shih's residence in August 2024, and he and Hsu were indicted for violations of the National Security Act, the Classified National Security Information Protection Act, and the Anti-Corruption Act in December, according to the statement. The case is currently being heard by the Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch, the MND said. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed with CNA on Wednesday that the Mirror Media report accurately identified the types of secret files leaked. Shih was allegedly paid more than NT$1.5 million (US$45,509) for the documents he provided, NT$200,000 of which he shared with Hsu, according to the source. The MND said the case shows that Chinese infiltration has never stopped and promised to continue educating officers and soldiers on the issue of espionage, while also working in close collaboration with the country's national security apparatuses to root out spies. (By Sean Lin and Su Mu-chun) Enditem/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USAG Rheinland-Pfalz, unit partners incorporate Army modernization into future property plans By Mary DEL ROSARIO March 11, 2025 SEMBACH, Germany -- U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz commander, Col. Jeffery Higgins, hosted the winter Real Property Planning Board (RPPB) Council of Colonels Engagement Meeting at the workforce development center Feb. 18. The RPPB is a forum for the garrison to align infrastructure priorities with tenant unit and mission partner leaders while incorporating forecasted personnel growth, organizational changes and the Army's modernization efforts. Higgins said the Council of Colonels meeting is a key step in the process of building real property plans aligned with the priorities of the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO), Maj. Gen. Ronald Ragin, 21st Theater Security Command commander, and the Senior Commander (SC), Gen. Christopher Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander. "This is where leaders engage in open dialogue, much like a city council meeting, to make informed decisions that will directly impact the future of our installations," Higgins said. The full RPPB takes place in the spring, where the garrison team, tenant unit leaders and mission partners formally present their agreed-upon project priorities to the SRO and SC. These priorities are then integrated into the overall garrison Facility Investment Plan (FIP) listing. US Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz advances the Department of Defense's mission to achieve peace through strength as we serve, support, and secure the total force community, enabling power projection for the European Theater. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Commission responds to unjustified US steel and aluminium tariffs with countermeasures * European Commission Press release Mar 11, 2025 Brussels In response to the imposition of new, unjustified US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium imports, the Commission has launched swift and proportionate countermeasures on US imports into the EU. The Commission regrets the US decision to impose such tariffs, considering them unjustified, disruptive to transatlantic trade, and harmful to businesses and consumers, often resulting in higher prices. The Commission's response is carefully calibrated, based on a two-step approach: First, the Commission will allow the suspension of existing 2018 and 2020 countermeasures against the US to lapse on 1 April. These countermeasures target a range of US products that respond to the economic harm done on 8 billion of EU steel and aluminium exports. suspension of existing 2018 and 2020 countermeasures on 1 April. These countermeasures target a range of US products that respond to the economic harm done on 8 billion of EU steel and aluminium exports. Second, in response to new US tariffs affecting more than 18 billion of EU exports, the Commission is putting forward a package of new countermeasures on US exports. They will come into force by mid-April, following consultation of Member States and stakeholders. In total, the EU countermeasures could therefore apply to US goods exports worth up to 26 billion, matching the economic scope of the US tariffs. In the meantime, the EU remains ready to work with the US administration to find a negotiated solution. The abovementioned measures can be reversed at any time should such a solution be found. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: "The trade relations between the European Union and the US are the biggest in the world. They have brought prosperity and security to millions of people, and trade has created millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. As of this morning the United States is applying a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminium. We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States. The European Union must act to protect consumers and business. The countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate. As the US are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion. This matches the economic scope of the US tariffs. Our countermeasures will be introduced in two steps. Starting with 1 April and fully in place as of 13 April. In the meantime, we will always remain open to negotiation. We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs. We are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue. I have entrusted Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to resume his talks to explore better solutions with the US." Next steps The decision by the Commission to restore the 2018 and 2020 countermeasures against the US will take immediate effect on 1 April. The process launched by the Commission in response to new US tariffs will proceed under the EU's Enforcement Regulation, considering the US measure effectively as a safeguard measure. As the first step in this process, a two-week stakeholder consultation will run until 26 March. On the basis of the collected input, the Commission will finalise its proposal for the adoption of countermeasures, and consult Member States under the so-called comitology process. Once this process is completed, the Commission aims to have the legal act imposing the countermeasures in place by mid-April. Background In June 2018, the first US administration under President Trump introduced tariffs on 6.4 billion* (8 billion based on 2024 flows and values) of European steel and aluminium exports. In January 2020, additional tariffs, affecting around 40 million of EU exports of certain derivative steel and aluminium products, followed. In response, in June 2018, the EU introduced its countermeasures on 2.8 billion of US exports to the EU* (a similar EU response followed the second set of US tariffs in 2020). The remaining rebalancing measures, affecting exports valued up to 3.6 billion*, were scheduled to enter into force on 1 June 2021. Following discussions with the US on tariff-based quota system for EU exporters, the EU suspended these measures until 31 March 2025 in order to give space for the parties to work out a longer-term solution. On 10 February 2025, the US announced that it would impose 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium and derivative products. President von der Leyen immediately warned that such tariffs are "bad for business, worse for consumers" and would trigger a firm and proportionate European response. The US tariffs of up to 25% will apply on industrial-grade steel and aluminium, other steel and aluminium semifinished and finished products, and also their derivative commercial products (from machinery parts to knitting needles), covering up to 26 billion worth of EU exports to the US. *Values presented are in then current prices. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dalai Lama says his successor will be born in 'free world,' outside China The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him. By Taejun Kang for RFA 2025.03.11 TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, said in a new book his successor would be born in the "free world," which he described as outside China. However, Beijing insists the selection of his successor must follow Chinese law, asserting its authority over Tibetan Buddhism and rejecting any succession outside its control. Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The current Dalai Lama, who as 2-year-old boy named Tenzin Gyatso was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor, had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him. China took control of Tibet in 1950, leading to tensions and resistance. Nine years later, at the age of 23, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India with thousands of other Tibetans after a failed uprising against the rule of Mao Zedong's Communists. China calls the Dalai Lama a "separatist" and insists it will choose his successor, but the 89-year-old has said any successor named by China would not be respected. "Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama -- that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people -- will continue," the Dalai Lama said in his new book "Voice for the Voiceless," published on Tuesday. The release date coincides with the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising against Communist rule. The Dalai Lama added he had received numerous petitions for more than a decade from a wide spectrum of Tibetan people, asking him to ensure that the Dalai Lama lineage be continued. He also wrote that his homeland remained "in the grip of repressive Communist Chinese rule" and that the campaign for the freedom of the Tibetan people would continue "no matter what," even after his death. Chinese suppression of Tibetans Human rights organizations and media outlets report that China suppresses Tibetan culture, religion, and freedom through strict surveillance, forced assimilation, and crackdowns on dissent. Tibetan children are placed in state-run boarding schools to weaken their cultural identity, while monasteries face heavy restrictions. Beijing denies these allegations, claiming it is promoting economic development, stability, and modernization in Tibet while combating separatism. When asked about the book, China's foreign ministry said that the Dalai Lama was a "political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion" and he "had no right to represent the people in Tibet." "The Dalai Lama's lineage, formed in Xizang, China, and religious standing and title which were affirmed by the central government, date back several hundred years," said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Tuesday. Xizang is the official Chinese name for Tibet, used by the Chinese government to refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region -- a label that Tibetan activists have resisted and protested against. "The reincarnation of Living Buddhas including the Dalai Lama must comply with Chinese laws and regulations as well as religious rituals and historical conventions, and follow the process that consists of search and identification in China, lot-drawing from a golden urn, and central government approval," Mao said. China said last month it hoped the Dalai Lama would "return to the right path" and that it was open to discussing his future if he met such conditions as recognizing that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People's Republic of China. That proposal has been rejected by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in India. China and the Dalai Lama's representatives have held several rounds of talks, with key discussions occurring between 2002 and 2010, but they failed to reach an agreement. No formal dialogue has taken place since 2010, as China insists Tibet has always been part of China, while the Dalai Lama continues advocating for Tibetan rights. China has appointed its own Panchen Lama, a significant Tibetan Buddhist figure, to control religious affairs in Tibet. The Panchen Lama traditionally plays a key role in recognizing the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama recognized Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, but China abducted him and replaced him with Gyaltsen Norbu, their state-approved Panchen Lama. Many Tibetans do not recognize China's choice, and the fate of the real Panchen Lama remains unknown. Edited by Mike Firn and Malcolm Foster. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Minister Tsahkna: Continued security assistance affirms US commitment to our region's security Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12.03.2025 Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the decision of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme affirmed that the United States was committed to the security of our region and to strengthening the Alliance. Tsahkna said that the decision provided a chance to continue preparations for the introduction of HIMARS systems. "Estonia highly appreciates the contribution of the United States to our region's security, which, in addition to financial security assistance, is illustrated by the consistent rotating presence of US troops in Estonia," Tsahkna said. The foreign minister said that Estonia was very serious about boosting its defence capabilities, investing 3.7% of GDP in defence this year, and, following a decision by the government, moving towards 5% of GDP in defence spending in the coming years. In addition to the State Department's FMF programme, the United States is supporting the Baltic States through the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI), which is subject to the decisions of the US Congress. The BSI was established in 2020 to develop the independent defence capabilities and interoperability of the Baltic States. The allocations of BSI to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stood at $228 million in 2024; $225 million in 2023; $180 million in 2022, and $169 million in 2021. The BSI allocations are divided differently between the three countries each year according to capability needs. The funds allocated through the BSI and the FMF are meant to be used for acquiring US defence industry production, services, or training. US security assistance has been used to obtain HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, equipment for supporting integrated air and missile defence capabilities, communications systems, night vision equipment, ammunition, including Javelin missiles and large-calibre artillery munitions, maritime situational awareness radars, and military medical equipment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Ministers of Finland and Spain: European countries need to increase their defence spending Finnish Government Prime Ministers Office Publication date 12.3.2025 Press release 100/2025 Boosting assistance to Ukraine and strengthening European defence were key topics on the agenda when Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met for discussions in Helsinki on Wednesday 12 March. While in Helsinki, Prime Minister Sanchez also met with President of the Republic Alexander Stubb. "After last week's Special European Council, it is even clearer that the EU will support Ukraine in every way it can. Russia is a permanent threat to Europe as a whole. That is why, in addition to supporting Ukraine, we must strengthen European security," said Prime Minister Petteri Orpo at the press conference following the prime ministers' meeting. "We need a clear vision for how to build a European pillar of NATO within the next 5-10 years," said Prime Minister Orpo. We must begin this work immediately," said Prime Minister Orpo. Based on the outcome of last week's Special European Council, the prime ministers discussed how to finance initiatives to strengthen European defence. The Prime Ministers also noted that Finland and Spain have a good political relationship that has grown closer in recent years. The two countries have also seen an increase in trade. Last year, Finland's exports to Spain grew by 7 per cent from the year before, while imports from Spain to Finland grew by 12 per cent. The countries are now looking at new opportunities for economic cooperation in the fields of digitalisation, the defence industry, the circular economy and decarbonisation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Duterte's fate draws global attention after being forced onto plane to The Hague Global Times By Hu Yuwei Published: Mar 12, 2025 11:45 PM Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is reportedly to arrive in the Netherlands amid charges related to his crackdown on drugs, the Philippine media Inquirer reported. Duterte will be taken to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) detention unit after landing, where he will be readied for an initial appearance before the court's judges, according to media. "They are taking him out on a plane by force without considering his health conditions," the former president's youngest daughter Veronica Duterte wrote on Instagram. Duterte was placed on a flight late on Tuesday and the plane that brought Duterte to Dubai en route to the Netherlands took off after a stopover of several hours on Wednesday, AFP reported citing a flight tracking site. Zhou Shixin, a research fellow at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times that Duterte may soon face the evidence presentation process at the ICC. Since the Philippines is not a member state of the ICC, the evidence has to be provided by the Philippine authorities, which is likely to be unfavorable to Duterte. Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday departed Manila to join her father, according to the Office of the Vice President (OVP). Veronica "Kitty" Duterte, the youngest child of Duterte, on Wednesday asked the Philippine Supreme Court to compel the government to bring her father back to the country after he was arrested by the ICC, according to the Inquirer. Attorney Salvador Panelo, the former president's legal counsel, and his son Attorney Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. filed a writ of habeas corpus before the Supreme Court with Kitty Duterte as the petitioner. The younger Panelo said that the grounds for the petition are the lack of jurisdiction of the ICC over the country and the basis of the extradition treaty. Malacanang Palace, the official residence and office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, on Wednesday thumbed down Vice President Sara Duterte's remark likening the arrest of her father to a "state kidnapping," Philippine media ABS-CBN reported. At a press briefing on Tuesday night, Philippine President Marcos Jr. defended the Philippines' decision to send Duterte to the ICC, saying his arrest was done "in compliance with our commitments to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)." He said, "Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol which we have to fulfill. If we don't do that, they will not - they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad," according to the Presidential Communications Office. Some netizens in the Philippines have expressed clear indignation. On a social media platform, one netizen remarked, "The ICC has no right to apprehend a citizen of the Philippines." Former Philippine Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan, who served as social welfare undersecretary under the Duterte administration, described the arrest as "sheer audacity and a blatant abuse of power," according to the Inquirer. Zhou believes that the public's complex sentiments in the Philippines are understandable. "Many Filipinos perceive the move as inviting external intervention into internal conflicts, and the former president still enjoys significant support among the populace. Unfortunately, as a sovereign nation, the Philippines fails to fulfill its obligation to protect its own citizens," he stated. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Eide on the escalating tensions in South Sudan Government of Norway News story | Date: 12/03/2025 'I am deeply concerned by the recent violence and ongoing political unrest in South Sudan. The attack on a UN helicopter in Nasir, which claimed the lives of South Sudanese soldiers and UN personnel, is alarming', says Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The detentions of senior leaders and military officials have heightened fears of renewed conflict, jeopardising the fragile peace established with the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. 'I urge all parties to exercise restraint, respect international humanitarian law, and engage in inclusive dialogue to prevent further violence. Ensuring the safety of civilians and safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian actors is paramount', says Eide. Norway commends the UN peacekeeping troops and calls on all parties to continue their cooperation with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Norway continues to stand with the people of South Sudan in their pursuit of peace, stability and a secure future. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sweden provides SEK 300 million in humanitarian support to Gaza Government Offices of Sweden Press release from Ministry for Foreign Affairs Published 12 March 2025 In light of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Government has approved a new support package of SEK 300 million to address the acute needs of the civilian population. The support is to be distributed to the UN Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Development Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Government decided in December 2024 to significantly strengthen preparedness to support the response by allocating SEK 800 million to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region. The Government has now approved an initial disbursement of SEK 300 million. The support package aims to reinforce efforts for health and medical care and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), food distribution and emergency housing in Palestine. "The implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza has resulted in an extremely urgent increase in the supply of humanitarian supplies. It is now of the utmost importance that the partners adhere to the ceasefire in Gaza, that unhindered humanitarian access is ensured and that all hostages are released immediately and unconditionally. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire and the needs are acute, especially for many women and children. In this critical situation, we are giving our full support to the humanitarian response and are therefore further increasing support to Gaza with a particular focus on necessities such as shelter, food and access to health and medical care," says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa. To support an effective scaling up of the response in Gaza, SEK 150 million will be channelled through the UN Humanitarian Land Fund, which allocates funds to international organisations and directly to local civil society actors on the ground. The support, which is flexible and goes to the most prioritised sectors, targets acute needs such as shelter and emergency housing. In addition, SEK 30 million is being allocated directly to the UNDP's support to humanitarian operations with a focus on emergency housing and the removal of debris and waste. To support the delivery of food and other necessities to the civilian population, SEK 60 million is being allocated to the WFP, which both provides direct food assistance as well as logistics support. A further SEK 50 million is being allocated to UNFPA, which seeks to maintain access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services in Palestine. This support is focused on life-saving maternity care, maternal health care and neonatal care, as well as other life-saving services for sexual and reproductive health. UNFPA also provides psychosocial and medical support to victims of sexual and gender-based violence. In addition, SEK 10 million is being allocated to the ICRC, which works to improve access to basic services such as health and medical care, water and electricity. The support for the ICRC will also contribute to the organisation's work on reuniting families and providing support to relatives of Israeli hostages and imprisoned Palestinians. Sweden's humanitarian support to Gaza With the approved support package of SEK 300 million, Sweden's total humanitarian aid to Gaza since October 2023 amounts to more than SEK 930 million. Furthermore, Sweden's generous core support to several of the main humanitarian organisations operating on the ground continues. In addition to the funding allocated by the Government to the response in Gaza, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency has made an initial allocation of SEK 82 million in humanitarian assistance to Palestine for 2025. The impact of Swedish humanitarian assistance Sweden's humanitarian assistance to Gaza is made available both through targeted efforts and flexible core support that humanitarian actors can use where it is most needed. In December, for example, the Government contributed SEK 40 million to winter necessities for children in Gaza through the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which among other things went to winter clothing and shoes for approximately 50 000 children. The support also enabled the acquisition of 180 provisional teaching premises, school supplies and educational and recreational activities for more than 10 000 children. The Government's flexible core support to major humanitarian actors operating in Gaza, disbursed early this year, has helped enable a fast and effective ramping-up of the humanitarian response. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor on the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte International Criminal Court (ICC) / Cour penale internationale (CPI) Statement: 12 March 2025 The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) welcomes the arrest and transfer of the suspect Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte, former President of the Philippines, on 11 March 2025 by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines. Mr Duterte has been arrested in the context of the Office's ongoing investigation into the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines. On the basis of its independent and impartial investigations, the Office of the Prosecutor alleges that Mr Duterte, as founder and head of the Davao Death Squad, then Mayor of Davao City, and subsequently as the President of the Philippines, is criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of murder (article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute) committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019. Mr Duterte is alleged to have commited these crimes as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population. In the warrant of arrest it issued on 7 March 2025, Pre-Trial Chamber I determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte bears criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of murder. The Chamber also noted that the case against Mr Duterte falls within the jurisdiction of the Court as the alleged crimes occurred during the period when the Philippines was a State Party to the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty. The arrest of Mr Duterte is an important development in the Office's pursuit of accountability in the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines for alleged crimes committed in the context of the so-called "war on drugs" campaign. The Office has been able to conduct this work through the coordinated efforts of its Philippines Unified Team, under the guidance and leadership of Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, as well as its newly-established Tracking and Information Fusion Section and other relevant components of the Office. The Office is also grateful for the work of the Registry and the effective coordination of efforts to secure the arrest of the suspect. This is a crucial step in our continuous work to ensure accountability for the victims of the most serious crimes under ICC jurisdiction. The Office is now commencing preparations towards the initial appearance and subsequent judicial proceedings before the Court. The Office wishes to thank all the victims, survivors, witnesses and activists from the Philippines who have stepped forward to cooperate in the Office's investigation. Their strength, courage, and perseverance make these significant developments possible. Those who wish to further cooperate or who have relevant information are encouraged to do so via the Office's Witness Appeal portal. The Office's investigation in the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines continues. In pursuing further accountability in this Situation, the Office hopes to engage with the Philippine authorities on potential avenues of cooperation, and will continue to rely on the partnership of national authorities, regional and international organisations, civil society, and the communities affected by Rome Statute crimes. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Situation in the Philippines: Rodrigo Roa Duterte in ICC custody International Criminal Court (ICC) / Cour penale internationale (CPI) Statement: 12 March 2025 Today, 12 March 2025, Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte ("Mr Duterte"), born on 28 March 1945, was surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC or "the Court"). He was arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines ("the Philippines") in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I ("the Chamber") for charges of murder as a crime against humanity. On 10 February 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC ("the Prosecution") applied for an arrest warrant against Mr Duterte for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape. The Chamber, composed of Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judges Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Maria del Socorro Flores Liera, assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte is individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019. The Chamber found that there was an attack directed against a civilian population pursuant to an organisational policy while Mr Duterte was the head of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), and pursuant to a State policy while he was the President of the Philippines. Moreover, there are reasonable grounds to believe that this attack was both widespread and systematic: the alleged attack took place over a period of several years and resulted in thousands of deaths. In the arrest warrant, the Chamber focused on a sample of alleged incidents to facilitate its analysis. Concerning Mr Duterte's alleged role as the head of the DDS and subsequently as the President of the Philippines, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that he, jointly with and through other persons, agreed to kill individuals they identified as suspected criminals or persons having criminal propensities, including but not limited to drug offenders, initially in Davao and subsequently throughout the country. A hearing will be scheduled in due course for Mr Duterte's initial appearance before the Court. During this hearing, the Chamber will confirm the identity of the suspect and the language in which Mr Duterte is able to follow the proceedings. The Chamber will also satisfy itself that Mr Duterte has been informed of the crime which he is alleged to have committed, and of his rights under the Rome Statute ("the Statute"), which is the Court's founding treaty. The ICC Registrar, Mr Osvaldo Zavala Giler, thanked the authorities of the Philippines for their commitment to upholding international accountability mechanisms, and the authorities of the Host State, the Netherlands, for their cooperation and support. Warrant of Arrest for Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte Background: On 24 May 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC requested authorisation from the Chamber to initiate an investigation into crimes allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines in the context of the "war on drugs" campaign waged by the Government of the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019. On 14 June 2021, the Prosecution's request was made public. On 15 September 2021, the Chamber authorised the investigation. On 18 July 2023, following the Philippine authorities' request for deferral and the subsequent temporary suspension of the investigative activities, the ICC Appeals Chamber delivered its judgment which confirmed the Chamber's decision granting authorisation to the Prosecution to resume the investigation in relation to the situation in the Philippines. The Philippines, an ICC State Party since 1 November 2011, deposited a written notification of withdrawal from the Statute on 17 March 2018. Under article 127 of the Statute, that withdrawal took effect on 17 March 2019. Nevertheless, the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines while the country was a State Party to the Statute. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister announces defence policy formulation and actions Government of Iceland 12 March 2025 Ministry of Justice, Ministry for Foreign Affairs Iceland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, orgerur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, presented a proposal to the government yesterday for the formulation of a policy for Iceland's security and defence. The new coalition government's platform from 21 December 2024 states that a security and defence policy will be formulated. The policy is intended to describe the main security challenges in the short and long term with an emphasis on external threats, highlight Iceland's goals in international security and defence cooperation, discuss necessary defence preparedness, and the organization and capabilities that need to be in place in Iceland, in addition to pointing out possible reforms to the legal and institutional framework for defence. "The need to strengthen security and defence is urgent, and therefore I have accelerated this policy development, which will be carried out in collaboration with all parties in Althingi (parliament)," says Foreign Minister orgerur Katrin Gunnarsdottir. "We need to ensure that the necessary knowledge, capabilities and infrastructure are in place to ensure Iceland's security in collaboration with our Allies. Today, we are not only initiating policy formulation, but also concrete actions." The policy will be based on policies and commitments that Iceland has undertaken and participated in developing, including within NATO, based on the bilateral defence agreement with the United States, and regional defence cooperation. A panel composed of members of Parliament from all parties represented in Althingi will be established to discuss the content and focus of the policy. Input will also be sought from domestic and foreign experts in the field of security and defence. Close consultation will be held with the Foreign Affairs Committee of Althingi, the Ministerial Committee on Security and Defence, and the National Security Council. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will manage the work in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and other ministries and institutions. The aim is to submit a draft policy before the end of the spring session of Althingi. At the same time, actions will be taken to strengthen Iceland's defence capabilities within the current defence budget. This includes, inter alia, increasing synergy in the work of civilian institutions through increased cooperation, enhanced monitoring and response capabilities and the purchase of specialized equipment. Among the actions that will be taken is the establishment of an interagency coordination structure within the Directorate for Defence of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This will be established in close cooperation with the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, the Icelandic Coast Guard and the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IS). An unmanned surveillance submarine will be put into operation in cooperation with the Coast Guard to strengthen surveillance of submarine cables and ports. Surveillance of cyberattacks will also be strengthened, secure communications will be improved, and equipment to detect and stop illegal drones will be purchased. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address European Union hits back at Trump's tariffs as trade war escalates IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 The European Union has retaliated against U.S. President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, unveiling a two-stage tit-for-tat measure that would cover billions of dollars' worth of products. The U.S. decision to raise tariffs on steel and aluminum to 25 percent for global imports took effect Wednesday, the latest salvo in Trump's ongoing campaign to reshape the U.S. trading relationship with the rest of the world. European leaders have warned for months they would swiftly hit back against potential tariffs, even as they emphasized that a trade war would hurt both sides and tried to negotiate an off-ramp with the Trump administration. The European Union said Wednesday that its response will come in two stages. During Trump's first term, the bloc had raised tariffs on a variety of products in response to U.S. measures, which were later suspended after negotiations during the Biden administration. The pause on tariffs will now be allowed to expire on April 1, re-imposing the higher E.U. levies on products, including jeans and boats. The tariffs come at a difficult time for economies in the European Union, which counts the United States as its largest export market. With key countries facing sluggish growth, businesses are bracing for the prospect of a protracted trade war. Germany, the leading exporter to the United States, would be particularly vulnerable. The bloc had been bracing for U.S. tariffs ever since Trump took the helm of the White House in January. At E.U. headquarters, a group informally dubbed the "Trump task force" has since last year been strategizing for his return and focused on preparing for trade scenarios. The European leaders have made clear they would much prefer to negotiate and persuade Trump to forgo steep tariffs. On Wednesday, officials suggested they hoped negotiations would continue and that the new E.U. measures could spur some agreement. 2050**4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemen bans Israeli-related ships passing through the regional waters IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Yemeni armed forces have announced a ban on all Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea, the Arab Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. The Yemeni armed forces action is in line with supporting the Palestinian people and putting pressure on the Israeli regime to end the blockade in Gaza Strip, Yemeni media Al-Masirah reported. Earlier on Friday, the Yemeni Ansarullah movement had given a four-day deadline to international mediators (the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt) to push for the resumption of aid delivery into the Gaza Strip; otherwise, it will resume its naval operations against the Israeli regime, according to the Saba news agency. The Israeli enemy has significantly reduced its obligations, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and the number of patients moving outside of Gaza has decreased drastically, Leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi said. He added that the Israeli regime aims to use hunger as a means to commit genocide once again, which is unacceptable. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint statement by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Nordic-Baltic countries Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12.03.2025 We welcome the joint statement by Ukraine and the United States on a proposed 30-day interim ceasefire and the decision to resume US security assistance and intelligence sharing to Ukraine. We commend the humanitarian proposals included in the statement. We will continue to strive for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the principles of the UN charter and international law. The meeting in Saudi Arabia is a step in the right direction. The Nordic-Baltic countries stand with Ukraine, as we move towards a just and lasting peace. It's time for Russia to demonstrate its will to end its brutal, illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Budrys: a weak response is an encouragement to the aggressor Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2025-03-12 On 12 March, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kestutis Budrys, while on a visit to the United Kingdom, participated in a discussion "Getting our act together in Europe: a path to a stronger security and defence", which was organised by the think tank 'The Council on Geostrategy', where he discussed Europe's security situation with UK officials, academics, representatives of business and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In his speech, the head of Lithuania's diplomacy stressed that Putin's Russia remains the greatest existential threat to Europe. Therefore, it is necessary to show not only with well-meaning words but with concrete actions that the security of the whole of Europe is an indisputable priority for us. "Europe's security situation dictates the need to take all measures to strengthen our defence and resilience. The events of recent months, when Russia's shadow fleet, as if testing our red lines, damaged several underwater energy and data links in the Baltic Sea, show that our readiness to deter such threats is still insufficient. Our weak response to incidents can encourage the aggressor to continue and escalate them. Thus, we must be prepared to respond appropriately to acts of sabotage," the Foreign Minister noted in his statement. During the discussion, Budrys also emphasized the importance of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and emphasized that Russia must be held to account for its war crimes. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The President: Winning freedom is not enoughit must be constantly nurtured, upheld and defended President of the Republic of Lithuania March 12, 2025 On Tuesday, President Gitanas Nauseda congratulated the people of the country on the 35th anniversary of the restoration of Lithuania's independence at the flag-raising ceremony of the three Baltic States at Independence Square. The Lithuanian leader underlined that 11 March holds a special place in Lithuania's great history. "Few moments have seen such bold leaps into the unknown, such striking examples of civic unity, and such courage to act and shoulder the burden of responsibility. Thirty-five years ago, the decision made within these walls reflected the genuine, true and enduring aspirations of the Lithuanian people. The Act of Independence, uniting the grand hall of the Reconstituent Seimas with the nation outside in the square, instantly dispelled the suffocating air of occupation," the President spoke. According to Gitanas Nauseda, back then, we were guided by unwavering faith and determination. "We believed in each other and trusted one another like never before. And we dared greatlyas only those who carry the truth in their heart can dare. Together, we stood strong against the economic blockade, the tragic events of January 13 and the Medininkai massacre. Ultimately, we saw the withdrawal of the occupying army," the Head of State said. The Lithuanian leader underlined that today, freedom is like the air we breatheunnoticed yet vital; so commonplace that, at times, we underestimate its value. "We have become accustomed to living in freedom, not worrying about it and enjoying all its benefits. To thinking and speaking freely, making our own decisions and shaping our lives. Yet the events of recent years, months and days compel us to return to the roots of our freedom more often. We now see more clearly that winning freedom is not enoughit must be constantly nurtured, upheld and defended. Just as Ukraine is defending it. Just as we are defending it in Ukraine," the Head of State pointed out. According to President Gitanas Nauseda, today, as the forces of darkness once again threaten to engulf Europe, the contribution of each and every one of us is essential: our courage and strength, our unbreakable unity as citizens, determined to build a better future together. The Head of State wished everyone to rediscover and awaken the living desire for freedom within ourselves, and to overcome all obstacles, with the Vytis and the Tricolor in our hands and a song on our lipsjust as we did at the dawn of Independence. On Tuesday, President Nauseda also participated in the Restoration of Lithuanian Independence Day celebration and the awarding of the National Independence Grant, which took place in the Hall of the Act of 11 March of the Seimas. The President's Communication Group NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO reaffirms its commitment to Western Balkans stability, as Secretary General Rutte wraps up visits to Sarajevo and Pristina NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 10 Mar. 2025 - 11 Mar. 2025 Last updated: 12 Mar. 2025 On 10 and 11 March 2025, NATO's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, visited Sarajevo and Pristina. In Sarajevo, he met high-level officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Chair and members of the Presidency, the Chair of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence, and the Acting Minister of Security, as well as with the Commander of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Commander of the EUFOR mission. The Secretary General also engaged with students at the University of Sarajevo. During his visit, Mr. Rutte highlighted that "NATO remains firmly committed to the stability of this region and to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of Bosnia and Herzegovina." He added that "the Dayton Peace Agreement is the cornerstone of peace in this country and must be respected; and we support the Office of the High Representative; any actions that undermine Dayton, the constitutional order, or national institutions are unacceptable; inflammatory rhetoric and actions are dangerous; they pose a direct threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina stability and security." The NATO Secretary General also underscored the need for political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina "to do their share" and "take responsibility" for the progress and stability of their country. He made it clear that "this is not 1992" and that NATO and its international partners are present and engaged in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and "will not allow a security vacuum to emerge." Finally, he emphasised that the Alliance stands committed to its cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina. "We already have a solid partnership, and we are prepared to build on NATO's long-standing support to a unified BiH Armed Forces and to defence and security reforms, through our Headquarters in Sarajevo, our newly established Political Cell, and our Defence Capacity Building Package," he said. In Pristina, the Secretary General led a visit of the North Atlantic Council and troop contributing partners to the NATO-led KFOR mission and the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team. Together with the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ms Radmila Shekerinska, and the Chair of NATO's Military Committee, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, they met with the leadership and personnel of KFOR and the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team (NALT). They also had an exchange of views with the Heads of Mission of the European Union, the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission of UNMIK, and the Acting Head of Mission of the OSCE. Furthermore, the Secretary General met with representatives of the Institutions in Kosovo, for bilateral discussions. "NATO has supported peace and stability in the Western Balkans region for thirty years; our commitment remains strong today, spearheaded by KFOR, which is our longest and currently largest mission. Under the excellent leadership of Major General Enrico Barduani, our KFOR troops work relentlessly to ensure a safe and secure environment for all people and communities living in Kosovo, in line with KFOR's long-standing UN mandate; and the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team continues to support the security organisations in Kosovo, through capacity-building, education and training coordination; a secure Western Balkans region means more security across the whole Euro-Atlantic area," Secretary General Rutte said. "NATO will continue to play its part, in close coordination with the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, in our respective roles as security responders," he added. "The solution leading to long-lasting peace is political; NATO will continue to fully support the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, led by the European Union; this is the only way to solve pending issues, and secure a stable future, ensuring that the rights of all communities are respected and safeguarded; to move the Dialogue forward, both sides must show flexibility, make the necessary compromises, and focus on the long-term gains," he pointed out. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Deputy Secretary General welcomes President of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the North Atlantic Council NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 12 Mar. 2025 On Wednesday (12 March 2025), NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska welcomed Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to the North Atlantic Council. Ms. Shekerinska emphasised Allies' respect for the ICRC's mandate and highlighted the importance of NATO-ICRC cooperation on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and humanitarian affairs. The Deputy Secretary General commended the ICRC staff for providing assistance and relief to more than 90 countries, often in challenging and dangerous environments. For its part, NATO remains committed to including measures to protect civilians affected by armed conflict in the Alliance's military doctrine, education, training, exercises, planning, and the conduct of operations. Ms Shekerinska highlighted NATO's longstanding and substantive cooperation with the ICRC, pointing to regular NATO-ICRC talks, cooperation on training, and on relevant NATO exercises. NATO's relationship with the ICRC is guided by a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding with NATO's two Strategic Commands. Ms Shekerinska also praised the work of the ICRC's Delegation in Brussels and noted that the recently-opened NATO Liaison Office in Geneva will help strengthen NATO-ICRC cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A look at the Defence news 3 - 9 March Netherlands Ministry of Defence News item | 12-03-2025 More than 1,000 members of the Netherlands armed forces are taking part in NATO's large-scale exercise Joint Viking in and around Norway. They are preparing to defend Russia's next-door neighbour on land and from the sea. In the coming weeks, some 10,000 troops from several countries will contribute to this effort. F-35s take down drones over the Baltic Sea Last week, two Dutch F-35 fighter jets shot down a number of target drones over the Baltic Sea by firing AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles at them. This was part of a training exercise in controlled airspace. The exercise was initiated by the Netherlands and Estonia. Boekholt-O'Sullivan pushes for gender equality at the MoD (video) Lieutenant General Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan has called for equality in the armed forces across Europe. She did so in a video message delivered to the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality on the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Good night moon: RNZAF NH90 crews and police train near Lower Hutt New Zealand Defence Force Flying by the light of a full moon above a regional park, two Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 crews have trained with New Zealand Police to ensure the two organisations are trained and prepared to respond to a range of situations. 12 March, 2025 The scenario near Lower Hutt recently, was a person had been taken hostage and being held in an isolated rural location. The No. 3 Squadron helicopters, based about 140km north at RNZAF Base Ohakea, were requested to be on hand in case a rescue was necessary. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and Police often work closely on pre-planned operations in which NZDF support is requested for high risk situations. "We flew to the Hutt Valley and as soon as we were at our holding point we got a radio call that, in scenario, we were needed to come in and rescue the hostage. This all happened about 9.15pm when it was dark," pilot Flight Lieutenant Jamieson Taylor said. The helicopters flew without lights and the aircrew used night vision goggles (NVG) and the moon to help navigate. "We joked it was almost like flying during the day. The bright moon meant we could still use our peripheral vision, whereas often on dark nights when you're flying under NVG, all you can see are the things through the goggles. "The challenge is we've still got to scan the screens inside the helicopter. We're looking through the NVGs for the view outside the helicopter, but then we've got to bring our eyes in to view all the instruments inside as well," FLTLT Taylor said. "Night flying is more difficult than day flying, then you add in the element that the moon is always different and sometimes you've got no moon." After arriving at the hostage's location, police officers aboard each aircraft fast-roped out of them to the landing zone a short sprint from the building. "The road we lowered the team to was gravel and we had a huge amount of dust kicked up from the downwash, so that was another challenge we had on the night." However, the dust also did an effective job of masking the rescue team as they ran to the target building, FLTLT Taylor said. "They probably preferred being pelted by small stones and dust than being an easy target." The secluded location also threw up a few surprises for the pilots, with the terrain appearing different in planning images they had studied. "There was a lot more undulating terrain than I realised. For sorties like that we do a huge amount of pre-planning, but you never know what it's going to look like until you get there," he said. The challenges posed were always good to overcome and the training itself was helpful for pilots in both helicopters to upgrade the team's air assault flying qualifications. "It's always good working with Police - they operate in quite a similar way to us. They like to get the work done and they are real problem-solvers. We've gotten to know each other over the years, which helps when it comes to the real thing," FLTLT Taylor said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Philippines: Turk says arrest of former President Duterte is important step toward accountability Press releases Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 12 March 2025 GENEVA -- UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk today welcomed the announcement by the International Criminal Court that it had taken into custody former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who is charged with a series of murders amounting to crimes against humanity during campaigns against illegal drugs between 2011 and 2019. "This is a very important step towards seeking accountability for the thousands of victims of killings and other abuses, as well as their families who have courageously pursued justice," the High Commissioner said. "The extremely serious charges against him will now be addressed fairly and independently, in full accordance with the law," he added. Turk commended the Philippines Government for its cooperation in implementing the international warrant against Duterte. He also stressed the importance, as Court proceedings move ahead, of protecting victims and witnesses in the Philippines, and preventing reprisals and retribution of any kind against them. "The so-called war on drugs undertaken under Duterte's leadership - first in Davao and then across the country - has long been of concern to our Office. We welcome the positive changes in the area of drug policy that the current Government has subsequently pursued," he added. A report by the UN Human Rights Office in 2020 found there were credible allegations of widespread and systematic extrajudicial killings in the context of the campaign against illegal drugs, and that there had been near impunity for such violations. Other UN human rights mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings, also documented extensive and serious human rights violations during this period. In the 2020 report, mandated by the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner called on the international community to consider options for international accountability measures, given the absence of clear and measurable outcomes from domestic mechanisms. "Despite some steps by the Philippines authorities to review and re-open past cases, only a handful of cases so far have resulted in convictions," Turk said. "The ICC proceedings now open a path towards addressing such impunity, at the highest levels, and shedding light on the widespread and systematic nature of these crimes." "Our international legal frameworks and institutions, including the ICC, are fundamental to ensuring justice and achieving accountability for the most serious crimes, preventing future violations, and making the world safer for everyone." The High Commissioner also called on the Philippines to rejoin the Rome Statute, from which it withdrew in 2019. Following publication of the report, the UN Human Rights Office supported the Government of Philippines through a UN Joint Programme on human rights to strengthen domestic accountability mechanisms and adopt human rights-based approaches to drug control, which concluded in August 2024. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Argentina: UN expert concerned by appointment of Supreme Court judges by presidential decree Press releases Special Procedures 12 March 2025 GENEVA -- An independent human rights expert today expressed concern over Argentinian President Javier Milei's temporary appointment of two Supreme Court justices by presidential decree, bypassing the Senate approval process. "The Executive is not above the law", said Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. "By ignoring judicial appointment processes established in the Constitution and clarified in statute, the President is evading legally-established checks and balances." "Judicial appointment through presidential decree sets a dangerous precedent by politicising appointments, eroding transparency, and limiting avenues for public scrutiny and contestation," Satterthwaite said. She warned that security of judicial tenure might be degraded by the temporary nature of appointments by presidential decree. "Security of tenure is crucial for the protection of judicial independence, allowing judges to exercise their functions free from the threat of losing their position if their decisions do not please other branches of government," the Special Rapporteur said. With these two appointments, the Supreme Court will now operate with no women justices. "Such a step back for the country may amount to a violation of the rule of non-retrogression in relation to gender equality norms, sending a very negative message to all women in the country," Satterthwaite said. In her 2024 report to the Human Rights Council, Satterthwaite warned that improper increase of executive or legislative control over judicial appointments erodes the separation of powers, and undermines the capacity of courts to bolster democratic accountability by ensuring that political branches of government comply with the law and respect human rights. "Argentina must recommit to its binding international human rights obligations, uphold the independence of the judiciary and respect the rule of law." The expert is in contact with the Argentine authorities on this matter. *The expert: Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR. Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque increased, access to the Ibrahimi Mosque restricted, a mosque burned, and 75 martyrs Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 12-03-2025 23 Israeli violations against 12 mosques in the West Bank with the onset of Ramadan The Israeli occupation forces escalated their attacks on mosques in the West Bank, in a clear violation of the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan. At Al-Aqsa Mosque, the occupation forces confiscated loudspeakers from the Al-Qibli Mosque, while the Al-Aqsa Mosque was subjected to raids by Israeli extremists throughout the past week, with a total of 9,017 intruders in February 2025. The OIC Media Observatory documented eight violations against the mosque between March 4 and March 10, 2025, marking a significant increase compared to previous periods. The Israeli occupation forces prevented worshippers from performing itikaf (seclusion) at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the night of the first Friday of Ramadan. Strict restrictions were imposed on the entry of worshippers from other West Bank cities and villages to Al-Quds for the first Friday prayer of Ramadan at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Only men over the age of 55, women over the age of 50, and children under the age of 12 were permitted to pray there. Additional limitations were also placed on who could enter. The Israeli occupation forces have declined to transfer control of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, including all its halls, spaces, and facilities, to the Waqf Administration. This transfer usually occurs every Friday during Ramadan in preparation for the mosque's full opening to worshippers. The Israeli occupation forces conducted a raid on the Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Mosque and detained the imam in the town of Bruqin. They also searched six other mosques, including the Al-Nasr Mosque, which they set on fire. Additionally, they prevented the Fajr prayer from taking place in the Old City of Nablus. Furthermore, they raided the As-Salam Mosque in Beit Kahil, Hebron, and destroyed its contents. In relation to settler attacks on mosques, settlers stormed the courtyard of the Kisan village mosque in Bethlehem, provoking worshippers with dancing and singing. Some even hung a poster on the Beit Furik Mosque door in Nablus that read "No Future in Palestine." Others surrounded the village mosque during Ishaand Tarawih prayers. Regarding attacks on the education sector, occupation forces raided and searched the Burqin Girls' School and a UNRWA school in the Shuafat refugee camp. In medical settings, the Israeli occupation forces entered the grounds of the government hospital in Jenin, fired sound bombs at patients, and searched parked Palestinian vehicles. They stopped an ambulance at the Hamra checkpoint in Jericho, detaining the doctor and ambulance driver while releasing a man and his wife. They also raided Ahli Hospital, confiscating its surveillance camera recordings during the operation in Hebron. The Observatory reported 75 Palestinian martyrs between March 4 and March 10, 2025, including 28 in the Gaza Strip and 4 in the West Bank, along with 43 martyrs recovered from under the rubble in Gaza. The total number of Palestinian martyrs from October 7, 2023, to March 10, 2025, has reached 49,337, with 118,535 wounded. Israel, as the occupying power, announced a complete power outage in the Gaza Strip, despite having already cut off electricity since October 7, 2023. This reflects its policy of collective punishment, which involves preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and necessities into the Strip during the holy month of Ramadan. In the West Bank, occupation forces arrested 225 Palestinians and demolished 17 homes in Al-Quds, Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, and Tubas. They also demolished residential tents, shops, industrial facilities, and huts and destroyed an electricity network in the Hebron area, in addition to burning several homes in Jenin camp. The Israeli occupation forces issued an order to confiscate 300 dunams of land from the village of Al-Arqa in Jenin, which is adjacent to the apartheid separation wall. In the past seven days, settlers carried out attacks on Palestinian towns and villages a total of 36 times. During these incidents, they uprooted 100 olive trees in the village of Haris, located in Salfit. Additionally, they stole agricultural equipment, water tanks, and wooden tools in both Salfit and Bethlehem. In an armed robbery in the town of Al-Auja, settlers also stole two flocks of sheep. Furthermore, they cut down electricity poles, resulting in power outages for several homes near the town of Yatta in Hebron. Settlers cut down several olive trees east of the village of Rujeib. Additionally, others attacked and damaged cars in the village of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya in Nablus and in the village of Al-Funduq in Qalqilya. In Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles, smashing their windows. Furthermore, settlers set up two tents in the village of Jaba' in Ramallah to take control of the area. Over the past seven days, this brings the total number of crimes committed by Israelis across the Palestinian territories to 1,310. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PH on solid footing under PBBM amid Duterte arrest - lawmakers Philippine News Agency By Filane Mikee Cervantes March 12, 2025, 7:30 pm MANILA -- Lawmakers on Wednesday said the Philippines remains on solid footing under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s leadership, dismissing concerns that the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant could cause instability. Deputy Majority Leader, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega, said the Marcos administration has maintained stability while pushing economic growth. "From the last few weeks, nakita po natin na gumaganda po 'yung ekonomiya natin (we have seen our economy improving)," Ortega said in a press conference. He added that while some groups might stage protests, they do not pose risk to national stability. "So, for me, tingin ko (I think), they will try to make noise, they will try to have their rallies, pero tingin ko hindi naman siya mag-cause ng direct na instability (but I don't think it will directly cause instability)," Ortega said. House Assistant Majority Leader Jude Acidre said the Marcos administration's strong economic policies and adherence to the rule of law are key stabilizing factors. "We've seen kung paano ang ekonomiya natin... maganda ang fundamentals natin (We've seen how our economy is doing... our fundamentals are strong)," he said. "Pangalawa, naipakita natin hindi lang sa ating bansa, kundi sa buong mundo na (Secondly, we have shown not only to our country, but to the whole world, that) the rule of law is applied equally to everyone in this country." Acidre, meanwhile, emphasized that the Philippine government's cooperation in turning over Duterte to the ICC aligns with local and international laws. He also said the Supreme Court has already affirmed that the country remains bound by ICC obligations for cases initiated before the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which established the international tribunal. "I think the restriction of the ICC despite our withdrawal from the Rome Statute has been affirmed already by the Supreme Court, especially in the ruling in Pangilinan v. Cayetano," Acidre said. Duterte's arrest by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and local police stemmed from the ICC's ongoing investigation into allegations that his anti-drug campaign led to thousands of extrajudicial killings when he was Davao City mayor and president of the country. Duterte was flown out of the country Tuesday night via a chartered plane that would bring him to The Hague in the Netherlands, where the ICC headquarters is located. In a press briefing Tuesday night, Marcos said Duterte's arrest complied with the Philippines' commitment to the Interpol. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DOJ: Ex-PRRD arrest adheres to local, int'l legal procedures Philippine News Agency By Benjamin Pulta March 12, 2025, 5:53 pm MANILA -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday assured the public that the arrest of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte went by the book and strictly adhered to domestic and international legal procedures. "The execution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant of arrest, which was received by the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime (PCTC) from Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization), followed established protocols to ensure due process and the protection of the former president's rights," the DOJ said in a statement. "The Department of Justice confirms that the arrest was conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner. There were no incidents of resistance or disorder during the process, demonstrating the professionalism of our law enforcement agencies and the commitment to upholding due process. The former president was treated in accordance with the law, and all procedural safeguards were observed to protect his rights." The warrant of arrest was issued by the pre-trial chamber of the ICC for the crime against humanity of murder under Article 7(1)(a), in relation to Article 25(3)(a), of the Rome Statute. The DOJ noted that the arrest was carried out by Filipino law enforcement agents as a matter of comity and mutual cooperation in the international community. It also pointed out that under Section 17 of Republic Act 9851, otherwise known as the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, the Philippines may surrender suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court for crimes punished by this law, including crimes against humanity. Despite the Philippines' withdrawal from the ICC in 2019, the country remains a member state of Interpol. "Interpol has played a crucial role in many cases pursued by the DOJ involving subjects who have fled the country in attempts to evade accountability. It is through Interpol that we are able to solve crime on a global scale - a trend that the Philippines has fallen victim to in many ways. Thus, cooperation with Interpol is imperative," the DOJ said. It said that upon receipt of the copy of the warrant of arrest from Interpol, the Philippine National Police (PNP), in the presence of DOJ prosecutors, carried out the arrest at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the former president arrived from Hong Kong. "DOJ prosecutors were present to observe the process and attest to its legality, ensuring that the arrest complied with both local and international standards," the statement read. "Interpol Manila, PCTC, and the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group ensured that the operation proceeded with minimal disruption, while law enforcement authorities formally informed Duterte of his rights and the nature of the charges against him in accordance with Article 59 of the Rome Statute. Moreover, due courtesy and consideration were accorded to the former president and his entourage in the course of the implementation." (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PNP units on heightened alert following Duterte's arrest Philippine News Agency By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan March 12, 2025, 7:54 am Updated on March 12, 2025, 1:32 pm MANILA -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) has placed all its units under heightened security alert status in anticipation of protest actions following former president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest. "This pertains to the current nationwide peace and order situation where possible civil disturbance, rallies and mass actions may arise following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte," the PNP said in a memorandum order issued on Tuesday. The memorandum was sent to all police regional offices and national support units, including the Special Action Force. The PNP instructed all uniformed personnel to conduct proactive security measures and execute extreme caution "for possible enemy atrocities." It also advised police commanders to establish and intensify border control points and prepare civil disturbance management contingents to ensure peace and order and public safety. Duterte was served with an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 after arriving from Hong Kong on Tuesday morning. The arrest warrant was coursed through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) which asked Philippine authorities for assistance, a request which the Philippine government is obliged to comply with to honor its commitments to the international community. Duterte was flown out of the country Tuesday night via a chartered plane that brought him to the Hague in the Netherlands, where the ICC headquarters is located. Situation generally peaceful The PNP said overall peace and order situation across the country remains generally peaceful. "The Philippine National Police continues to monitor the situation closely and is fully prepared to respond to any developments," PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said in a statement. For his part, National Capital Region Police (NCRPO) chief Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin said sufficient police personnel are deployed to secure all possible rally sites in Metro Manila amid the threat of widespread protest actions. "We have been monitoring since Tuesday and we will continue to do so as part of our effort of ensuring peace and order here in Metro Manila," he said. Currently, police officers are already securing the EDSA Shrine where former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque urged supporters of the former president to converge and hold a protest action for what he described as illegal arrest. Aside from EDSA Shrine, the NCRPO has been monitoring the usual rally sites like Mendiola and Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila, Welcome Rotonda at the boundary of Quezon City and Manila, and the People Power Monument in Quezon City. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the Philippine government followed all legal procedures in the arrest of Duterte. Marcos said the Philippine government was merely complying with the Interpol's request to enforce the ICC order which was signed by pre-trial chamber Presiding Judge Julia Antoanella Motoc and two other magistrates, Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Maria del Socorro Flores Liera, on March 7. The ICC is investigating Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity, in connection with the deaths associated with his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and president of the Philippines. Despite the Philippines' withdrawal from the ICC in March 2019, the chamber maintained that it still has jurisdiction over the alleged crimes committed in the country while it was still a state party to the Rome Statute from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019. (with Priam F. Nepomuceno/PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Duterte could face up to 30 years or life imprisonment if convicted Philippine News Agency By Darryl John Esguerra March 12, 2025, 3:35 pm MANILA -- Former President Rodrigo Duterte could face a prison sentence of up to 30 years or even life imprisonment if convicted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with his war on drugs, Malacanang said Wednesday. "But it depends upon the defenses that can be availed of by the former president," Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing. Based on the ICC's website, the tribunal does not impose the death penalty, but its judges can sentence a person to up to 30 years of imprisonment, and under exceptional circumstances, a life sentence. Verdicts are subject to appeal and judges can also order reparations for the victims, the ICC said. Duterte's arrest by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and local police stemmed from the ICC's ongoing investigation into allegations that Duterte's anti-drug campaign led to thousands of extrajudicial killings when he was Davao City mayor and president of the country. The former president was flown out of the country late Tuesday night. Castro, a lawyer by profession, said Duterte would have to face a local court in the Netherlands to determine if his arrest was proper before being brought to the ICC to face the charges against him. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in a press conference moments after Duterte's plane departed for The Hague, stressed that the government was acting on the request of the Interpol, not the ICC from which the Philippines has pulled out in 2019. "The arrest that we did today was in compliance with our commitments to Interpol. It just so happened that that came from ICC. But it's not because it came from ICC, it's because it came from Interpol," Marcos said. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Palace: No info yet on possible warrants vs. Duterte co-accused Philippine News Agency By Darryl John Esguerra March 12, 2025, 2:59 pm MANILA -- Malacanang has yet to receive any information from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) regarding potential arrest warrants for former president Rodrigo Duterte's co-accused in the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation into his controversial war on drugs. In a press briefing on Wednesday, Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said if ever arrest warrants were issued against the co-accused, the government would respond in the same manner as it did with Duterte's arrest. "As of now, wala po kaming nare-receive na information kung meron pa pong darating na warrant of arrest through the Interpol (As of now, we have not received any information if there will be more warrants of arrest to be issued through the Interpol)," Castro said. "Kung meron man po, ganun pa rin po ang magiging tugon namin. Kapag hiningi po ang koordinasyon ng administrasyon, tutugon pa rin po tayo (If there is, the government's response would be the same. Once the Interpol seeks the administration's cooperation, we will again oblige)." Duterte was apprehended on Tuesday by Interpol and local police personnel in connection with the ICC investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity committed during his time as Davao City mayor and president. Duterte's rule has been marred with allegations of human rights abuses linked to his anti-narcotics crackdown. Addressing criticisms on Duterte's arrest, Castro defended the government's actions, calling it a "normal" procedure under Philippine law. "What we did, what the government did was regular. It is based on the law. Based on our law, RA (Republic Act) 9851. It is normal," she said. Section 70 of RA 9851 states that "authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties." In a press briefing Tuesday night, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. reaffirmed that Duterte's arrest complied with the Philippines' commitment to the Interpol. "Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol, which we have to fulfill. If we don't do that, they will not - they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad," Marcos said. Duterte was placed under government custody at Villamor Air Base on Tuesday morning after he, his common-law wife Honeylet Avancena, and members of his entourage arrived from Hong Kong. A plane carrying Duterte later departed Manila en route to The Hague, Netherlands where he is set to face the charges filed against him in connection with his war on drugs. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military spox says AFP always professional, non-partisan Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno March 12, 2025, 2:51 pm MANILA -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday maintained that it remains professional and non-partisan even as it remains focused on its core mission of safeguarding national security and maintaining stability. This, as the military maintained that the arrest of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte is a law enforcement matter and outside of its jurisdiction. "The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte is a matter of law enforcement, and therefore, outside the AFP's direct purview. The AFP remains strictly professional and non-partisan," AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said in a statement. Padilla said the AFP is actively monitoring developments and is prepared to respond appropriately to any threats to peace and order. She also assured the public that the AFP will continue to maintain a high state of readiness. "Speculations of military action or unrest (have) no basis. We remain to be solid and professional, unequivocally committed to the chain of command and the democratic institutions of the Philippines," Padilla said. Aside from this, she also called on all Filipinos to exercise restraint and uphold the rule of law. "Let us prioritize unity and allow the legal processes to unfold. We have full confidence in our institutions to handle this matter with due diligence," Padilla said. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PH courts still working, drug war victims can still file cases -Palace Philippine News Agency By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos March 12, 2025, 2:04 pm MANILA -- Philippine courts are "still working" and victims of the drug war launched by former president Rodrigo Duterte can still file cases against him despite his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Malacanang said Wednesday. "There's no waiver yet of the right of the State to still run after him, if there are other complainants in the country," Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a press conference. Castro said the Philippine government turned Duterte over to the ICC because of its obligation to heed the International Criminal Police Organization's (Interpol) request to implement the warrant of arrest against the former president. She added that the government is merely enforcing Section 70 of Republic Act (RA) 9851, which states that "authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties." "It just so happened that there is a pending case before the ICC and we are just complying and enforcing RA 9851, especially Section 70... So, we have not yet waived the rights of the alleged victims in the Philippines. They can still file cases," Castro said. Over 6,200 drug suspects were killed in anti-narcotics operations during the Duterte administration from June 2016 to November 2021, according to government data. Human rights groups, however, peg the number at around 30,000. Castro said there is nothing wrong with the Philippine government's decision to surrender Duterte to the ICC, noting that the former president was given due process but failed to act on the charges he is facing before the chamber. "Of course, it's still working. Pero sa pagkakataong ito, sa panahon ni dating pangulong Duterte, hindi natin alam. Kaya nga nagkaroon ng pag-file ng complaint sa ICC. Katulad nang sinabi ko, binigyan ang gobyerno ng isang taon para patunayan kung gumagana ang hustisya laban sa mga (But this time, during the time of former president Duterte, we don't know. That's why there was a complaint filed with the ICC. As I said, the government was given a year to prove whether justice is working against the) war on drugs," she said. "It is regular. What the government did was regular. It is based on the law, based on our law. Based on our own RA 9851... This is the first time that we did this. So if you did everything based on the law, I think there would be no question on that," Castro added. Castro also clarified that the Philippines still has no intention to cooperate with the ICC, since the country is no longer a state party to the international court. She echoed the Philippine government's stance that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the Philippines. Asked if the government is considering rejoining the ICC, Castro said there is no discussion on the matter yet. The Philippines formally cut ties with the ICC on March 17, 2019, or a year after the country formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which creates the international court. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Duterte drug war 'unacceptable policy,' says Palace Philippine News Agency By Darryl John Esguerra March 12, 2025, 1:22 pm MANILA -- Malacanang on Wednesday condemned the controversial drug war policy implemented by former president Rodrigo Duterte, emphasizing that it was an "unacceptable" approach for any government. "Hindi siya dapat polisiya ng isang gobyerno (It should not be a policy of any government) in the first place. It's against the law," Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing. Castro questioned the effectiveness of Duterte's drug war from a broader societal perspective, pointing out the grave consequences for the victims and their families. She also stressed that killing, particularly without due process, violates the law. "Killing is against the law. Wala nga tayong death penalty sa Pilipinas, uunahan mo pa na patayin. Ang masama wala pang hearing (We don't even have death penalty here in the Philippines, and you will just go ahead and kill them. Worse, without trial)," she said. "Kung may natulong sa iba, paano naman yung namatayan (If it helped some people, how about the families of the victims)?" Castro further said, as she questioned the success of a policy that she said disregards the lives of those affected by the extrajudicial killings. Duterte's war on drugs has been widely criticized, especially after the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation into possible crimes against humanity, particularly extrajudicial killings, allegedly committed by authorities under his administration. While acknowledging that victims of drug-related crimes have the right to pursue legal action, Castro noted that Duterte's approach was not a policy that should be followed. "Kung merong mga nabiktima itong mga drug users (If there are victims of these drug users), then the victim can file cases against those drug users. Pero hindi natin matatanggap na polisiya na siya na dapat sundin ng isang gobyerno (But we couldn't accept that this policy should be followed by a government)," she said. Duterte was arrested on Tuesday morning upon his arrival to the country from Hong Kong following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating his drug war. The international probe is focused on the alleged killings attributed to Duterte's anti-drug campaign during his time as Davao City mayor and as president. Hours after his arrest by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and local law enforcement authorities, Duterte was flown to The Hague in the Netherlands where the ICC is based. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ex-PRRD's arrest not 'state kidnapping' - Palace Philippine News Agency By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos March 12, 2025, 12:47 pm MANILA -- Malacanang on Wednesday denied that the arrest of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte was "state kidnapping," saying he was not forced to surrender to Philippine authorities. Speaking to reporters, Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Philippine government merely complied with its commitment to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in implementing the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant against Duterte. "Anu-ano po ba ang elements ng kidnapping? Pagkuha ng sapilitan, ng walang awtoridad. 'Yun ang pinakasimple. 'Yun ang pinakasimple para sa taumbayan (What are the elements of kidnapping? Taking by force, without authority. That's the simplest for the people)," Castro said. "Unang-una po, paano magiging kidnapping kung may warrant of arrest? It was issued by an authority, by the court. Kapag ka po meron ng issuance ng anumang order from the court, we have to comply, especially po sa ating nangyari ay through Interpol (First of all, how can it be kidnapping if there was a warrant of arrest? It was issued by an authority, by the court. When there is an issuance of any order from the court, we have to comply, especially in our case, it was through Interpol)." Castro's statement was in response to the claim of Vice President Sara Duterte that her father's arrest was "state kidnapping." Duterte was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Tuesday morning and left the country late Tuesday night to face charges of crimes against humanity before the ICC, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. Castro maintained that the Philippine government's decision to send Duterte to the Hague was "legal." "Kung ano po ang nandiyan at legal po na masasabi nating order from the court (If it is there and the order from the court is considered legal), we should abide. We should abide by that," she said. "So, wala po akong nakikitang kidnapping dahil hindi po ito pwersahan at lahat po ng elemento na dapat gamitin para masabing valid 'yung warrant of arrest, 'yung paghingi ng assistance ng Interpol ay nandiyan po. Kumpleto po tayo ng papel (So, I don't see any kidnapping because it was not forced and all the elements needed to say that the arrest warrant is valid, Interpol's request for assistance was there. We have all the documents)." (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Escudero lauds peaceful execution of ICC warrant vs. Duterte Philippine News Agency By Wilnard Bacelonia March 12, 2025, 11:30 am MANILA -- Senate President Francis Escudero on Wednesday commended law enforcement, legal representatives, and supporters for the orderly and incident-free serving of the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against former president Rodrigo Duterte. In a statement, Escudero highlighted the country's commitment to international agreements, calling the warrant's execution a testament to the "maturity, civility, calm, and professionalism" displayed by all parties involved. "As this legal process unfolds, we expect the International Criminal Court (ICC) to respect the rights of former President Duterte and to ensure that he is afforded due process in accordance with the Rule of Law," he said. The warrant, linked to allegations of human rights violations, has sparked varied reactions, from families of extrajudicial killing victims to Duterte's staunch supporters. Duterte has been flown to The Netherlands Tuesday night to face the charges against him. Escudero urged the public to uphold restraint and respect, mirroring the conduct observed during the warrant's implementation. He also cautioned candidates in the upcoming midterm elections against using the case for political gain. "This is a serious issue that involves lives and should not be trifled with for petty personal or political gain," he said. The Senate President, likewise, urged midterm elections candidates to refrain from using the issue for personal or political gain. As legal proceedings continue, Escudero called for national unity, emphasizing that justice and accountability should be pursued without fostering deeper divisions. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli minister: Expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza 'realistic' move Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 7:47 AM An Israeli minister of right-wing Likud party has called the forced relocation of Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip a "realistic" move after US President Donald Trump brazenly proposed the relocation of Gazans to some neighboring countries. In an interview with Israel's Reshet Bet public radio on Tuesday, Israeli minister of environmental Protection Idit Silman, a member of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said that the "only solution for the Gaza Strip is to remove its Palestinian population," and called the provocative idea "realistic." She also stressed that the Israeli cabinet is committed to the idea of Palestinians' expulsion from the war-ravaged territory, emphasizing that "God has sent us the US administration". Silman claimed that the current US administration is a sign that the occupying entity should "inherit the land." Citing Israel's leading daily Haaretz, the report further quoted the Israeli minister as insisting that the Tel Aviv regime would re-establish illegal Jewish-only settlements in Gaza, specifically naming Gush Katif, a former settlement bloc dismantled in 2005. "There's no question about it. It could be in single-family homes or Trump-style towers, but we will definitely go back," Silman added. Earlier this year, Trump said the US was seeking Gaza's "ownership" as part of a plan that he wheeled out under the guise of "rebuilding" the war-wrecked Palestinian territory, proposing the relocation of some 2.4 million Gazans to Egypt and Jordan. Cairo and Amman strongly rejected the highly provocative plan by the American president, who later threatened he might halt aid to both nations if they refuse to take in the Gazans. Egypt and Jordan, key US allies, depend heavily on foreign aid, as the US is among their top donors. Trump's proposal has drawn condemnations from the Palestinians, Arab countries, and many other nations across the world, including close US allies like Canada, France, Germany, and Britain. Regarding efforts to secure the release of captives held by Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, Silman said the cabinet is considering various options to secure the release of the Hamas-held captives, including extending the first phase of negotiations, setting conditions for a second phase that excludes Hamas from power, or resuming military onslaughts. Israel launched the campaign of genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023. It has killed over 48,400 Palestinians there so far. In January, the Israeli regime was forced to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas given the regime's failure to achieve any of its objectives, including the "elimination" of the Palestinian resistance movement or the release of captives. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indonesia to ratify South China Sea deal with Vietnam in April The two countries concluded 12 years of negotiations on exclusive economic zones in 2022. By RFA and BenarNews Staff 2025.03.12 -- Indonesia is expected to ratify an agreement with Vietnam on the demarcation of their exclusive economic zones next month, settling a decade-long dispute in overlapping waters, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto said. Jakarta and Hanoi reached an agreement on the boundaries of the zones, called EEZs, in December 2022 after 12 years of negotiations. They had been locked in disputes over overlapping claims in waters surrounding the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. For the agreement to take effect, it needs to be ratified by both of their parliaments. "We hope that our parliament will ratify it in April, after Eid al-Fitr, and their legislature is also expected to ratify it soon," Prabowo told Vietnamese leader To Lam, who visited Jakarta this week. Vietnam and Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country by population, elevated bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Lam's visit, reflecting their closer cooperation. Prabowo also said that he planned a reciprocal state visit to Vietnam soon, when he would sign an implementing agreement with his Vietnamese hosts, adding that he was confident that the deal would "bring prosperity to both our peoples." Clear demarcation of maritime zones The shared waters north and east of Natuna Islands saw intense confrontations between the law enforcement agencies of both Vietnam and Indonesia over the activities of Vietnamese fishermen. Indonesia accused them of unlawful encroachment and illegal fishing, and it detained and destroyed dozens of Vietnam's fishing boats. The two countries began negotiating on EEZ delimitation in 2010 and were engaged in more than a dozen rounds of talks before reaching an agreement. An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and seabed, and a clear demarcation would help avoid misunderstanding and mismanagement, said Vietnamese South China Sea researcher Dinh Kim Phuc. "The promised ratification of the agreement on EEZs sends a positive signal from both security and economic perspectives," Phuc said. "Among the latest achievements in the bilateral relations, this in my opinion is the most important one." "It will also serve as a valuable precedent for ASEAN countries to settle maritime disputes between them via peaceful means," the researcher added. I Made Andi Arsana, a maritime law specialist at Gadjah Mada University, said the agreement clarifies fishing rights in the South China Sea. "With a clear EEZ boundary, cross-border management and law enforcement become more straightforward," Arsana said. "Before this, both countries had their own claims, making it hard to determine whether a fishing vessel had crossed the line. Now, with a legally recognized boundary, it's easier to enforce regulations and address violations." He likened the situation to dealing with a neighbor without a fence. "It's difficult to say whether they've trespassed or taken something from your property," he said. "But once the boundary is set, we can confidently determine whether someone is fishing illegally in our waters." China has yet to comment on the Indonesian president's statement. Both Vietnam's and Indonesia's EEZs lie within the "nine-dash line" that Beijing prints on its maps to demarcate its "historical rights" over almost 90% of the South China Sea. Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta contributed to this article. Edited by Mike Firn. BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2 Cambodian generals set for trial in France for alleged role in 1997 attack Some believe the prime minister's bodyguards had a role in the grenade attack on an opposition rally in Phnom Penh. By RFA Khmer 2025.03.12 -- Two Cambodian generals accused of planning a deadly grenade attack on a demonstration in 1997 are scheduled to go on trial in Paris next week -- the first time a judicial body has sought to determine accountability for the notorious incident. A French judge will interview witnesses in the case against Hing Bun Hieng and Huy Piseth from March 19-21, exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy said on Facebook on March 8. Blasts from four grenades that went off in a park on March 30, 1997, where protesters had gathered killed 16 people and injured 150 others, blowing off the limbs of some. Sam Rainsy, the leader of the rally, is thought to have been the target of the attack but was uninjured. Hing Bun Hieng was the commander of then-Prime Minister Hun Sen's bodyguard unit, while Huy Piseth was the commander of the army's Brigade 70, which is responsible for capturing or killing high-value targets. An FBI report indicated that Cambodian authorities possessed prior knowledge of the attack and that there was a possibility the attackers colluded with the bodyguard unit. Former opposition party lawmaker Men Sothavarin told Radio Free Asia on Monday that the French judge has summoned victims and witnesses, as well as Hing Bun Hieng and Huy Piseth, to appear before the court. "If they do not come, the court will try them in absentia," he said of the two commanders. No one was arrested On the day of the attack, protesters had gathered in a Phnom Penh park across the street from Cambodia's National Assembly to denounce the judiciary's corruption and lack of independence. According to eyewitness accounts, the people who threw the grenades ran toward Hun Sen's riot gear-clad bodyguards, who allowed them to escape. Because American citizen Ron Abney was among those seriously injured, the FBI sent investigators to Cambodia in the weeks after the attack. The bureau's report was declassified in 2009. But no one has ever been arrested for the attack, despite the large toll of death and dismemberment. However, warrants for the arrests of Huy Piseth and Hing Bun Hieng were issued in 2021 by Judge Sabine Kheris, the deputy chief of investigation at the Paris Court of Justice. The warrants were issued following a complaint by Sam Rainsy and his wife, Tioulong Saumura, who live in exile in France. The court at first also summoned then-Prime Minister Hun Sen, but the French government later blocked the warrant, citing French law that gives immunity to heads of government. 'Bodies all over the place' Brad Adams, a former U.N. human rights worker, told RFA that he will give testimony at the court next week. In an interview, he recalled arriving at the park about 10 minutes after the blasts. "There were bodies all over the place," he said. "It is one of the worst things I have seen in my entire life." He described a scene in which soldiers actively interfered with efforts to help the wounded. When the police arrived a short time later, they initially just stood around. "The only assistance came from civilians," he said. Hing Bun Hieng is now deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and also serves as the commander of Hun Sen's family bodyguard unit. Huy Piseth is currently a secretary of state at the Ministry of National Defense and deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Hun Manet, Hun Sen's son. Hing Bun Hieng told RFA on Monday that he will not appear before the court or send a lawyer in his place. The case only arose because of Sam Rainsy's emotional and unsubstantiated accusations, he said. "He has accused me for more than 30 years, but there has never been any proper evidence," he said. "Are there any photos showing me ordering the tossing of the grenades?" He also denied any role in the attack during a 2022 interview with RFA in which he dared anyone to present evidence to the contrary. "I already clarified this [with the FBI]. I wasn't involved," he said. "I don't know anything." Hing Bun Heang was sanctioned by the U.S. government in June 2018 over his unit's alleged role in the attack, as well as several other assaults on unarmed Cambodians. Huy Piseth didn't immediately respond to RFA's attempt for comment this week. He has previously acknowledged to the FBI that he ordered the deployment of the 70th Brigade to the park on the day of the attack. Translated by Sum Sok Ry. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pacific governments warned of 'threat' from Cambodia's Prince Group A US-based think tank says the company could help China expand its influence. By Jack Adamovic Davies and Jane Tang for RFA Investigative 2025.03.12 -- The governments of Taiwan and Palau have both been warned that offers of investment from the Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group represent threats to each nation's security and sovereignty. Briefings to the president of Palau and Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered within the last month by the Hawaii-based think tank Pacific Economics described the Prince Group as being "deeply involved in transnational criminal activity," citing evidence previously uncovered by RFA and other organizations. Besides the risk from alleged illicit activity carried out by Prince, which is led by a Chinese national with Cambodian citizenship, its secretive transnational ties could be leveraged as a backdoor for Beijing to exert influence abroad, Pacific Economics suggested. The warning was the culmination of a half year study of foreign investors in Palau, part of a U.S.-government funded project that commissioned Pacific Economics to put together the briefing report. The think tank analyzed the surge in wealthy individuals investing in the tiny island nation. Many of those investors may have criminal ties, according to the think tank's founder, Jarod Baker. "Everyone on the ground sees what's happening," Baker told RFA. "It's an insane amount of money being spent there." In his presentation to President Surangel Whipps, Baker offered the Prince Group as a case study of potentially criminally tainted investments in Palau. In a statement issued to the Phnom Penh Post last Friday, Prince Group called the think tank's findings "defamatory" and denied that it had any investments in Palau. However, Prince Group's founder and chairman, Chen Zhi, is listed as director and 37.5% shareholder of the Palau-registered Grand Legend International Asset Management Group Co., Ltd., according to corporate records bearing Chen's signature seen by RFA. An archived map on the Prince Group website lists Palau as one of sites of its investments. A former employee who is not being named as he was not authorized to speak on the subject confirmed to RFA that the island nation is among the company's territories with holdings. A three-year RFA investigation published last February uncovered allegations that the Prince Group, which has deep ties to the Cambodian government, was involved in large-scale money laundering and human trafficking. A 99-year lease RFA understands that Pacific Economics identified three proposed hotel and resort projects in Palau linked to the Prince Group with an estimated value of $1 billion - more than three times the country's annual economic output. Among those investments was a 99-year lease for the Ngerbelas, an uninhabited, tree-covered island at the northern tip of the chain that makes up Palau, according to documents seen by RFA. The same island is named on the archived Prince Group list of investment sites. According to Baker, Prince acquired the island at a bargain basement price of $1 million. "Land is Palau's biggest asset and these leases tie it up for five generations with no obligation to maintain it or create jobs," Baker told RFA. While avoiding commenting directly on Prince's investments, a spokesperson for the Office of the President of Palau told RFA that the country has "faced challenges in vetting foreign investors." "As a small island developing state, we aggressively pursue investment and developmental partners but also recognize that some individuals or organizations may view us as vulnerable targets," the spokesperson said in an email. "To help counter this, we are strengthening our policies to foster legitimate business partnerships and deter those involved in illegitimate dealings," the person said, noting that Palau has joined Interpol and enhanced cooperation with U.S. intelligence and crime agencies. Partners working with Prince to buy land on Palau raised concerns, Baker, of Pacific Economics, said. Alongside Prince Group founder Chen Zhi, documents seen by RFA showed a person called Rose Wang listed as a director of the holding company that now has the lease to Ngerbelas. Also known as Wang Guodan, the longtime Chinese expatriate has lived in Palau for more than two decades, during which she developed an impressive network of contacts. Wang was designated an "undesirable alien" by the Palau government in 2022 -- a status that usually renders a person's visa null and stops future applications from being approved. The designation appears to stem from earlier contretemps. In 2018, then-President of Palau Tommy Remengesau, Jr. was photographed meeting with U.S.-sanctioned triad kingpin Wan Kuok Koi, whom he later claimed he met through Wang. Wang has claimed that she has no connection to Wan. Asked about her involvement with the Prince Group investment, Wang denied having anything to do with it. "That's not me. I don't even know Chen Zhi," she told RFA. "I have nothing to do with Prince's business," she said. However, Palau corporate records seen by RFA for Grand Legend International Asset Management Group - the company in which Prince Group's chairman has a 37.5% stake - give Wang as the firm's registered agent on the island and a hotel owned by her as its registered address. Speaking to RFA, Wang again denied knowing Wan Kuok Koi but said she was placed on Palau's "undesirable alien" list due to an error in a news report. She said her lawyer successfully had her name removed from the list. She remains in Palau and continues to run her businesses, a hotel and a restaurant. "I'm not some middleman I'm a legitimate businessperson," she said. However, Wang is widely reported to have deep ties to the Chinese state, and her affiliations raise questions over whether she has sought to influence Palau toward Beijing. For example, she held leadership roles within the Palau Overseas Chinese Federation, which operates under the patronage of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and aims to corral Palau's Chinese diaspora into line with the CCP. Such organizations are a crucial tool of Chinese foreign policy in the handful of countries like Palau that recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, experts have said. Beijing refuses to have formal ties with recognizers of Taiwan and uses diaspora organizations and well-connected overseas Chinese entrepreneurs as channels for unofficial diplomacy. While Baker saw no evidence of Prince being involved in such efforts, he did not exclude the possibility. "China has used transnational criminal organizations to achieve state priorities for centuries. China doesn't mind so long as they're patriotic," Baker said. "It's not a stretch for me to imagine that China would use Prince to their benefit. "Rose Wang being on registrations with Chen Zhi tells me that Chen Zhi is strategic," Baker added. Indeed, last spring a purported former agent of China's secret police told RFA that the Prince Group had been involved in planning an abandoned plot to kidnap a Chinese dissident from Taiwan. Prince denied that allegation. 'Substantial' presence in Taiwan Since 2018 the Prince Group has had a substantial presence in Taiwan, with one of its flagship corporate offices occupying an entire building just one block from the office of the country's president. Registered as a "foreign-invested" rather than "Chinese-invested" entity, the group has avoided regulatory scrutiny and restrictions on Chinese capital in Taiwan. According to registration records, the Prince Group's Taiwan operations focus primarily on real estate transactions, investment consulting, and investment immigration programs. Until last year, the company actively courted Taiwanese investors, hosting investment conferences and organizing trips to Cambodia. It marketed serviced apartments in Phnom Penh, touting an annual return of at least 6%. The company remains active in Taiwan, with public job postings seeking hires for multiple positions, including accounting and marketing specialists. A spokesperson for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment directly on the Prince Group, but acknowledged to RFA that "China has long been utilizing specific Chinese-background businessmen and even criminal organizations with specific purposes to infiltrate our diplomatic ally, Palau." "Any company operating in Taiwan found to be involved in illegal activities will be dealt with according to the law by the responsible domestic authorities," the person said. Edited by Boer Deng. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vietnam upgrades Singapore ties as it seeks to boost regional trade Top leader To Lam and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong agreed on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. By Mike Firn for RFA 2025.03.12 BANGKOK -- Vietnam and Singapore have agreed to upgrade their relationship to the highest level of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as Hanoi seeks to grow trade with ASEAN members, while facing criticism and risking tariffs because of its large trade surplus with the U.S. The decision came as Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam held talks with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during a visit to the city state. Lam told Wong the visit contributed to "opening up great opportunities for cooperation, deepening and raising the cooperation between the two countries to a new level, for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for peace, stability and development in the region and the world," the state-run Vietnam News Service reported on Wednesday. Bilateral trade rose to more than US$9 billion last year. Singapore's government and companies have also invested more than US$80 billion in ventures such as Vietnam Singapore Industrial Parks, or VSIPs. "Last year, Singapore was Vietnam's top foreign investor. This reflects the high level of confidence that our businesses have in Vietnam's potential," said Wong during a speech. "Vietnam's exports to Singapore have also increased significantly over the same period, demonstrating the growing links between our two economies," he added, citing the VSIPs, as "symbols of economic partnership" of the two nations. VSIPs are a series of integrated industrial parks developed through a collaboration between Vietnam and Singapore. They are designed to attract foreign investment and provide a well-planned, modern industrial and business environment in Vietnam. There are 20 VSIPs across 14 provinces in Vietnam, according to Wong. Lam arrived in Singapore from Indonesia where he also agreed to raise relations to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership level with President Prabono Subianto. Indonesia was the first country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to forge a top-tier relationship with Vietnam. Vietnam is Singapore's first Comprehensive Strategic Partner in ASEAN. Lam and Wong charged their governments with implementing the partnership by building political trust and expanding trade and investment. The two countries plan to focus on the digital and green economies and cooperate on defense, education and tourism. Vietnam is keen to grow trade with ASEAN members, as it faces criticism and risks tariffs because of its large trade surplus with the U.S. At the same time, Vietnam is being criticized by Europe for failing to live up to the human rights and environmental commitments made in the five-year-old EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement that has made it the biggest ASEAN trading nation with the 27 European Union members.. Edited by Taejun Kang. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jailed Former Georgian President Saakashvili Gets Additional 9 Years In Prison By RFE/RL's Georgian Service March 12, 2025 Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been sentenced to an additional nine years in prison for the large-scale embezzlement of public funds, a charge he calls politically motivated. The sentence was handed down by Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili of the Tbilisi City Court on March 12 and will be served concurrently with the six-year prison term he is already serving for abuse of power. After the judge announced his decision, a commotion erupted in the courtroom with Saakashvili's supporters calling the judge a "slave" of the government. Alongside Saakashvili, the court also sentenced Temur Janashia, the former head of the Special State Guarding Service. He was handed a fine of 300,000 laris ($106,760) for abuse of power. Both Saakashvili, who was president from 2003 to 2013, and Janashia have consistently denied the charges. Their steadfast denial, echoed by the opposition United National Movement and several other political groups, has garnered sympathy and support, with many arguing the case was driven by political retribution. Saakashvili's presidency was marked by ambitious reforms to curb corruption and modernize the country, including significant changes in the police force and the judiciary. After leaving office, he became involved in Ukrainian politics, serving as the governor of Odesa from 2015 to 2016 before falling out with Ukrainian authorities. He was arrested in Georgia on October 1, 2021, after secretly returning to the country ahead of local elections. He had been convicted in absentia on charges related to abuse of power, including granting a presidential pardon to individuals involved in the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of opposition lawmaker Valeri Gelashvili. Since his arrest, he has been held in detention and is currently receiving medical treatment at the Vivamedi Clinic. The prosecution accused Saakashvili and Janashia of misappropriating 9 million laris ($3.2 million) in public funds. The judge ruled that while Janashia's actions did not constitute direct embezzlement, Saakashvili was guilty of misusing state resources for personal expenses. Attendees at the court session also shouted "Bidzina's puppet!"in a reference to former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, whom many opposition supporters accuse of orchestrating politically motivated trials. Several individuals, including activist Zviad Kuprava, were removed from the courtroom for disrupting the proceedings. Saakashvili had requested to be present at his sentencing but cited health concerns for failing to show up. He had previously urged the ruling Georgian Dream party to postpone the pronouncement of the verdict and the sentence. However, Kochlamazashvili stated that the trial could not be delayed indefinitely, emphasizing a defendant's absence does not prevent the court from issuing a ruling. In addition to his latest conviction, Saakashvili remains embroiled in two other ongoing trials. One of these concerns the events of November 7, 2007, when his government dispersed anti-government protests in Tbilisi. The second trial involves charges of illegal border crossing related to his secret return to Georgia in 2021. Saakashvili entered the country hidden in a truck, bypassing border controls, which prosecutors argue was a violation of Georgian law. The cases continue to fuel political tensions in Georgia, with his supporters claiming they are part of an effort to permanently keep him out of the political arena. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/saakashvili- georgia-trial-ivanishvili-court/33344999.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Analysis: The First Shot's Been Fired In A Transatlantic Trade War By Rikard Jozwiak March 12, 2025 The first shot has been fired in a transatlantic trade war that opens up yet another front between the European Union and the United States after their increasingly diverging views on Russia's war in Ukraine and the security architecture of the Continent. Since early February, it was known Washington would impose a 25 percent tariff on European steel and aluminum imports starting on March 12. U.S. President Donald Trump is a vocal critic of the American trade deficit in goods -- not only with Europe -- and believes tariffs are a way to bring investments and jobs back to America. Brussels has been bracing itself for this moment ever since Donald Trump reentered the White House in January, which is why countermeasures were immediately announced on March 12. The US move targets trade worth $28 billion (25.6 billion euros), and the European Union hit back with a package of measures that will total 26 billon euros rolled out in two phases. The first, coming on April 1, hits classic "Americana" products such as bourbon, jeans, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles and is worth 8 billion euros. This is essentially a "snap back measure" from the first Trump term, when the United States and the EU were embroiled in a similar trade spat, and doesn't require the approval of EU member states as trade is primarily the responsibility of the European Commission. The second batch of tariffs, proposed to come into force on April 13, however, needs a qualified majority of EU member states. This one targets goods like agricultural products, textiles, home appliances and plastics, and totals 18 billion euros. The early belief among diplomats whom RFE/RL have spoken to is that this majority very much exists as the bloc has grown increasingly exasperated with the US administration. But it's shaping up to be a prolonged war in which Europe has more to lose than the United States. Is The EU Ready For A Trade War? The figures tell the whole picture. Last year, the United States was comfortably the European Union's largest partner for the export of goods with 20.6 percent going across the Atlantic -- over $600 billion worth, in fact. However, the EU "only" imported $370 billion from the United States in that same period. This is what annoys Trump -- and that makes the EU vulnerable in this fight. The EU is very much a free trade champion in a league of growing protectionism. And while the club has struck a recent free trade deal with a group of countries in Latin America and is courting growing economic giants like India, the transatlantic trade simply is too lucrative. Big European exporters such as Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands -- all of which are grappling with little or no economic growth -- are painfully aware of this. The EU appears united for now, but the longer this goes on, the more individual member states will pressure Brussels to strike a deal with Washington. When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the countermeasures early on March 12, she immediately highlighted that "we will always remain open to negotiations." The hope in Brussels now centers on two things: firstly, that Washington will be willing to lift the measures, at least for a while, just like it has done repeatedly with Canada and Mexico in recent months. And, perhaps, more importantly, that the situation won't escalate further and become a bargaining chip in other political issues such as the war in Ukraine and the security of European countries that still depend on American goodwill. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/analysis-europe-tariffs- trump-trade/33345155.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bosnian Prosecutor's Office Issues Arrest Warrant For Nationalist Leader Dodik By RFE/RL's Balkan Service March 12, 2025 Bosnia-Herzegovina's Prosecutor's Office has issued arrest warrants for Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and other leaders of the country's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, for ignoring a court summons and "threatening the constitutional order," a move the nationalist politician dismissed as politically motivated. Prosecutors said on March 12 warrants were also issued for the entity's prime minister, Radovan Viskovic, and parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic. The furor around Dodik has ignited a major political crisis in the EU membership hopeful, which is often referred to as the world's most complex democracy. Speaking to reporters in the regional capital, Banja Luka, Dodik repeated he would not respond to any summons for questioning, accusing the court and the Prosecutor's Office of heading up an "inquisition." "We will not respond.... If they think the solution is to see Dodik in handcuffs, that is their perogative, but that does not mean they can do it. I will do my job and I will never leave Republika Srpska," Dodik said at a press conference The arrest warrants were issued on the same day Republika Srpska's parliament was scheduled to discuss a draft constitution that seeks to redefine the entity's official status as a state of the Serbian people, grant it the right to self-determination, and establish its own army. It also would abolish Republika Srpska's Council of Peoples, which oversees decisions made by Bosnia's parliament and has a veto right. Zeljko Dragojevic, director of the Republika Srpska Court Police, said his team neither received nor could receive the order to arrest the entity's leadership, as this falls under the jurisdiction of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the federal Court Police. Since the Dayton peace agreement, which was signed in 1995 and ended the war in Bosnia, the country has consisted of the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska under a weak central government. While Republika Srpska can pass laws on internal matters, state-level laws and institutions remain supreme according to the constitution. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) oversees the implementation of civilian aspects of Dayton. Dodik, who is currently under US and U.K. sanctions for actions that Western governments say are aimed at the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia, has refused to implement several orders from the OHR. Adopting a draft constitution would mark another secessionist move by the entity's authorities. This follows the recent enforcement of laws prohibiting the operation of the federal judicial and investigative bodies within Republika Srpska territory. The crisis in Bosnia has been deepening for weeks after Dodik was sentenced in late February to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activities for disregarding the decisions of the OHR. Dodik signed into law on March 5 the laws adopted by the entity's parliament that banned the operation of federal judicial and investigative institutions in the entity. Two days later, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina temporarily suspended the laws, ruling they violated the constitution. Dodik, however, declared the laws would be enforced despite the court's decision. The recent developments in Republika Srpska have sparked widespread international condemnation. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and various foreign embassies in Bosnia have expressed concern over the situation. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bosnia-republika-srpska- arrest-warrant-dodik-constitution-russia/33345135.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Somali forces kill 50 militants in airstrikes after ending hotel siege By Mohamed Olad Hassan March 12, 2025 Security forces in Somalia say they killed all six attackers who laid siege to a hotel in the central town of Beledweyne and later killed at least 50 al-Shabab militants in airstrikes. Speaking to reporters, Beledweyne District Commissioner Omar Osman Alasow confirmed that the hotel siege ended early Wednesday. "Our security forces successfully got rid of six militants who attacked a hotel where traditional elders and security officials were meeting," he said. Al-Shabab, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the hotel attack on Tuesday. Alasow said the government soldiers backed by African Union troops worked through the night to rescue elders, military officers and civilians trapped inside the hotel. "During 18 hours of siege, our brave soldiers shot dead two militants, and four of them desperately blew themselves up when they realized that they could not escape," he said. "Seven other people, including government security officials and two prominent traditional elders, were killed." Since August 2022, when Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called for a "total war" against al-Shabab, Beledweyne, a town near Somalia's border with Ethiopia in Hirshabelle state, about 300 kilometers north of Mogadishu, has been the center of a local community mobilization against al-Shabab. The city has suffered more terrorist attacks than any other in Somalia except Mogadishu. Since 2009, hundreds of people have been killed in suicide attacks and car bombs on hotels, restaurants and government bases. The single biggest attack, in 2009, killed at least 25 people and injured 60 others. Airstrikes kill 50 militants Hours after ending this week's hotel siege, Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency, or NISA, said the country's security forces killed dozens of al-Shabab members elsewhere in Hirshabelle. "Coordinated airstrikes by the Somali army and international partners in the Middle Shabelle region have killed at least 50 al-Shabab militants, including senior leader in charge of the coordination of the group's combat vehicles," the NISA statement said. NISA said the airstrikes targeted the Damasha and Shabeelow areas and killed Mansoor Tima-Weeyne, a senior al-Shabab leader who masterminded the preparation and use of combat vehicles for terrorist attacks. In a separate statement, the Somali Military Command said, "The operation was a significant blow to the group's combat capabilities and part of ongoing efforts to weaken terrorism in the region." Media outlets closed On another counterterrorism front, NISA said Wednesday that it closed 12 media outlets and websites linked to the Khawarij, a derogatory term referring to al-Shabab that loosely translates as "those who deviate from the Islamic faith." This latest announcement followed another crackdown on over 30 al-Shabab-related websites. "The operation targeted platforms spreading extremist ideologies, inciting violence, and disseminating false information. During the operation the government seized critical data and identified individuals involved," said a statement posted by the government's National News Agency. This story originated in VOA's Somali Service. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ex-president Duterte arrives in The Hague, now in ICC custody Philippine News Agency By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora March 13, 2025, 7:52 am MANILA -- Former President Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in The Hague, the Netherlands and is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Philippine Embassy in The Netherlands said the former chief executive arrived at the Rotterdam Airport on board chartered flight RP-C5219 at 4:56 p.m. CET (11:56 p.m., PH Time) Wednesday. Duterte's custody was then turned over by his accompanying Philippine law enforcement authorities to officials of the Judicial Cooperation Unit of the ICC Office of Registry. An ICC nurse, who is part of the reception party, has already talked to Duterte's personal nurse on his medical condition and requirements. The ICC nurse, the embassy said, has relayed the information received to the ICC Medical Doctor for the conduct of medical check-up on the former president on arrival at the ICC Detention Center. The embassy said it provided all necessary consular assistance to Duterte and his delegation, and has also procured and provided them proper winter clothing, change of clothes, and care packages. Upon the embassy's representation, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea was issued a 15-day visa as Duterte's counsel and has been granted permission to visit the former President on Thursday (local time), at the ICC Detention Center in Scheveningen, The Hague. The former president's nurse and aide, meanwhile, are set to return to the Philippines. The Netherlands' immigration authorities granted them, including those who escorted Duterte, two-day visas to enable them to rest and recover for their return flight. Embassy officials earlier called the attention of the ICC officials and Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials on the need to closely attend to and monitor the medical and physical conditions of the former president. Upon arrangement by the embassy, the ICC officials also handed over to the former president the names and contact numbers of embassy officials who can be reached by mobile phone for any consular assistance that he may need. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 12 March 2025 - Day 1113 Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. "To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal] The UK Ministry of Defence reported that overnight 10-11 March, Ukraine conducted its largest Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) strikes against Russia in the conflict so far. The strikes targeted several Russian regions including Moscow and locations in the vicinity, with the Russian Defence Ministry claiming 337 UAS had been `intercepted and destroyed, including 91 over the Moscow region. Fires have been reported in Moscow as well as a temporary halt in operations at all four Moscow airports, and the suspension of the railway connection between Moscow and Domodedovo. The Ukrainian strikes are the latest in a pattern of increased regularity of Ukrainian UAS strikes deep into Russian territory, emphasising the challenge confronting Russia to protect its infrastructure and strategic assets balanced against protecting its operations at the front line. Putin and the Russian senior leadership almost certainly consider Ukraine's ability to both target and cause disruption within Moscow to be a significant embarrassment. It also undermines the Russian leadership's narrative of the conflict as a localised operation as opposed to a war. Russian state-controlled media reporting of the strikes has been minimal which likely reflects unease by the Russian leadership regarding any potential adverse reaction from the population. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to withhold the pressure of the occupation troops. The situation on the Pokrovsky and Kursky directions remains tense - the Russian enemy is focusing the main offensive efforts there. So far, 123 combat clashes have taken place. Today, Russia carried out one missile and 68 airstrikes using two missiles and 97 controlled bombs. In addition, the Russian zombies engaged 812 kamikaze drones for strikes and carried out 3956 shelling positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements. In the Kharkiv direction, the Russian enemy twice attacked in the area of vovcans ka, received a detachment. Eight times Russian forces tried to advance to Ukrainian positions in the Kupyansky direction near the settlements of Petropavlivka, Stepova Novoselivka and Zagrizove. In the Lyman direction for today, Ukrainian defenders repelled seven Russian attacks in the areas of the settlements of Mirne, Kolodyazi and Grekivka. Nine Russian offensive actions were repelled by Ukrainian defenders in the areas of Verkhnyokamiansky, Bilogorivka and Ivano-Daryivka in the Siversky direction. In the Toretsky direction, Ukrainian military repelled 17 Russian attacks in the areas of Toretsk, Leonidivka, Friendship and Ozaryanivka, 13 attacks repelled by the Defense Forces, four more are ongoing. The KABAMA air strikes were suffered by Oleksiev-Druzhkivka, Konstantinivka and Druzhkivko. In the Pokrovsky direction during this day, the Russian aggressor 42 times attacked Ukrainian positions in the areas of the settlements Vodane Druge, Elizavetivka, Novotoretske, Ray, Dacens ke, Novoukrainka, Shevchenko, Kotline, Udacne, Novooleksandrivka, Nadiivka and Andriyivka. The six clashes are still ongoing. According to preliminary estimates, today the Russian occupiers in the Pokrovsky direction lost 217 attackers killed and wounded. Ukrainian soldiers destroyed a mortar, a cannon, four units of automobile equipment, antenna control of the BPLA and four occupiers' motorcycles. Also Ukrainian defenders significantly damaged the mortar and the Russian enemy's cannon. In the Novopavlivs komu direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled ten Russian attacks. Russian forces tried to break through near the settlements of Konstantinopil, Rozlyv and Burlatske. In the direction of Gulyaipils komu, Ukrainian defenders repelled four attacks in the areas of Privilny and Novodarivka, fighting continues in four locations. Aviation strikes were hit by settlements of Shevchenko and Zaliznychne. In the Orihivsky direction, Ukrainian defenders have successfully repelled three Russian attacks in the area of Pyatihatok, Kamiansky and in the direction of Novoandriivka, three more confrontations are still ongoing. In the direction of Kramators komu and Pridniprovsky, Russian forces did not carry out active offensive actions. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of one mechanised brigade, and one motorised infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Kazachya Lopan, Novaya Kazachya, and Volchansk (Kharkov region). The AFU losses were up to 35 troops, two artillery guns, and one ammunition depot. Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Russian troops delivered strikes at manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades and one airmobile brigade of the AFU close to Bugayevka (Kharkov region), Novoye, Drobyshevo, and Redkodub (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses were up to 230 troops, three motor vehicles, two field artillery guns, one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery warfare station, and three ammunition depots. ?? As a result of decisive actions, the Yug Group of Forces' units liberated Novomarkovo (Donetsk People's Republic). Russian troops hit formations of four formations mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, two airmobile brigades, one assault brigade of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, one National Guard brigade near Belogorovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Seversk, Nikolayevka, Reznikovka, Chasov Yar, Druzhba, Konstantinovka, Krymskoye, Predtechino, and Rozovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses were more than 250 troops, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, five pickup trucks, one field artillery gun, one electronic warfare station, and two ammunition depots. As a result of active actions, the Vostok Group of Forces' units liberated Dneproenergiya (Donetsk People's Republic). Russian troops delivered strikes at formations of two mechanised brigades of the AFU close to Otradnoye, Bogatyr, Komar, and Razliv (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses were up to 160 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, five field artillery guns, including two French-made 155-mm Caesar and Bogdana self-propelled artillery systems. Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of three mechanised brigades of the AFU and one territorial defence brigade close to Novodanilovka (Zaporozhye region), Antonovka, Chervony Mayak, and Nikolskoye (Kherson region). The AFU losses were up to 40 troops, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, six motor vehicles, one Anklav-N electronic warfare station, and one ammunition depot. Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged military facilities of the airfield infrastructure, one transport ship carrying ammunition, manufacture, storage and launch areas for drones as well as clusters of manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries in 152 areas. Air defence systems shot down three JDAM guided bombs, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile, and 91 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the AFU losses amounted to 657 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 46,361 unmanned aerial vehicles, 600 anti-aircraft missile systems, 22,127 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,526 MLRS combat vehicles, 22,508 field artillery guns and mortars, 32,717 units of support military vehicles ?? Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of enemy defences. Russian troops launched an attack on formations of three mechanised brigades, one assault brigade, two jaeger brigades, one unmanned aerial vehicle brigade, one assault regiment, one marine brigade near Zverevo, Sribnoye, Udachnoye, Peschanoye, Uspenovka, Novopavlovka, Shevchenko, and Krasnoarmeysk (Donetsk People's Republic). ??The AFU losses were more than 445 troops, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, one French-made VAB armoured personnel carrier, one U.S.-made HMMW armoured vehicle, one Kazak combat armoured vehicle, four motor vehicles, and seven artillery guns, including one Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery system. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region. During offensive actions in Kursk direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces liberated Kazachya Loknya, Pervy Knyazhy, Vtoroy Knyazhy, Zamostye, and Mirny. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on formations of one heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one assault brigade, two air assault brigades, two territorial defence brigades, and two assault regiments near Gogolevka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Zaoleshenka, Pervy Knyazhy, Kurilovka, Melovoy, Oleshnya, Sudzha, Cherkasskaya Konopelka, and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye. One AFU counter-attack was repelled. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware near Gornal, Zamostye, Kolmakov, Martynovka, Makhnovka, Mirny, Mikhailovka, Rubanshchina as well as Basovka, Belovody, Vodolagi, Zhuravka, Miropolye, Yunakovka, and Yablonovka in Sumy region. During the day, the AFU losses were over 260 troops, one tank, three infantry fighting vehicles, three armoured personnel carriers, ten armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, three field artillery guns, one armoured recovery vehicle, and three UAV command posts. Two AFU servicemen surrendered. Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 66,810 troops, 392 tanks, 314 infantry fighting vehicles, 275 armoured personnel carriers, 2,191 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,411 motor vehicles, 545 artillery guns, 52 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and seven of MLRS made by the USA, 26 anti-aircraft missile launchers, one self-propelled anti-aircraft system, ten transport-loading vehicles,120 EW stations,16 counter-battery warfare radars, ten air defence radars, 56 units of engineering and other materiel, including 23 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 15 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle. The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Issues Southwest Border Geographic Targeting Order U.S. Department of the Treasury March 11, 2025 WASHINGTON -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) to further combat the illicit activities and money laundering of Mexico-based cartels and other criminal actors along the southwest border of the United States. The GTO requires all money services businesses (MSBs) located in 30 ZIP codes across California and Texas near the southwest border to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) with FinCEN at a $200 threshold, in connection with cash transactions. "Today's issuance of this GTO underscores our deep concern with the significant risk to the U.S. financial system of the cartels, drug traffickers, and other criminal actors along the Southwest border," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "As part of a whole-of-government approach to combatting the threat, Treasury remains focused on leveraging all our available tools and authorities to better identify and counter these criminal activities." Combatting drug cartels and stopping the flow of deadly drugs into the United States is one of the Administration's highest priorities. In January, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order creating a process by which certain cartels and other organizations would be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and/or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Accordingly, in February, the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State designated eight organizations, including six major Mexico-based drug cartels, as FTOs and SDGTs. These designations will allow the United States to take further steps to deny individuals and entities associated with these groups access to the U.S. financial system. The terms of the GTO are effective beginning 30 days after the date on which the order is published in the Federal Register. The terms are effective for 179 days thereafter. The order covers the following ZIP codes across seven counties in California and Texas: Imperial County, California: 92231, 92249, 92281, 92283 San Diego County, California: 91910, 92101, 92113, 92117, 92126, 92154, 92173 Cameron County, Texas: 78520, 78521 El Paso County, Texas: 79901, 79902, 79903, 79905, 79907, 79935 Hidalgo County, Texas: 78503, 78557, 78572, 78577, 78596 Maverick County, Texas: 78852 Webb County, Texas: 78040, 78041, 78043, 78045, 78046 FinCEN appreciates the assistance of MSBs in defending the United States from Mexico-based cartels, especially those trafficking fentanyl, and in otherwise protecting the U.S. financial system. Any questions about the GTO should be directed to www.fincen.gov/contact. A copy of the GTO is available here. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sanctioning the Foxtrot Network US Department of State Press Statement Marco Rubio, Secretary of State March 12, 2025 Today, the United States is sanctioning the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal organization, and its fugitive leader, Rawa Majid. The Foxtrot Network is a notorious criminal gang based in Sweden and a prominent drug trafficking organization in the region. The group is involved in arms trafficking and contributes to rising violence in Northern Europe, including shootings, contract killings, and assaults. The Iranian regime leveraged the Foxtrot Network to carry out attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe, including the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, in January 2024. Majid has specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which is sanctioned by the United States under multiple authorities. Majid is also the subject of numerous Swedish charges related to narcotics and firearms. The Department of State, together with the Department of the Treasury, will continue to expose and impose costs on the Iranian regime for its malign activities as part of the Trump Administration's renewed maximum pressure campaigns. This action also underscores our commitment to hold accountable those individuals and organizations who work in conjunction with the regime in Tehran to undermine our nation's safety and security and our global partners. The Foxtrot Network is being sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581, as amended by E.O. 13863, for being a foreign person that constitutes a significant transnational criminal organization. Majid is being sanctioned for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Foxtrot Network. As a result, all property and interests in property of the designated persons in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US clears out remaining migrants from Guantanamo Bay By Jeff Seldin March 12, 2025 The United States has cleared out the last migrants being held at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sending them back to the U.S. mainland as they await deportation. Two U.S. defense officials told VOA on Wednesday that 40 detainees, including 23 "high-threat illegal aliens" incarcerated at the base's detention center, were flown to Louisiana on Tuesday. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, said the detainees were flown aboard a nonmilitary aircraft at the direction of officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Neither ICE nor its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, have responded to requests for comment. Last week, in response to a request for updates on the detainees being held at Guantanamo, an ICE spokesperson declined comment "due to pending litigation." ICE and DHS, which has been spearheading the U.S. deportation efforts under President Donald Trump, have repeatedly declined to respond to questions about the identities of the detainees, their countries of origin or the crimes with which they are charged. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media that many of the "high-threat illegal aliens" sent to Guantanamo are members of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua and have confessed to or been charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, weapons trafficking and drug crimes. The Trump administration announced plans to use the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay to hold migrants slated for deportation in late January. At the time, Noem told reporters that the facilities would be used to house "the worst of the worst." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also speaking in late January, called the detention center at Guantanamo Bay "the prefect place" to hold criminals slated for removal, but also said the base's migrant operations center, first built in the 1990s, would also be opened for nonviolent migrants awaiting deportation. The first detainees began arriving at Guantanamo Bay in February aboard U.S. military cargo jets, some staying for days or weeks before being deported. At times, the base held nearly 200 detainees between its prison and migrant facilities. Last month, ICE at one point deported 177 detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras, from which they were to be taken to Venezuela for repatriation, before bringing in more detainees. Immigration rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed multiple lawsuits against the U.S. government over its use of Guantanamo Bay. One suit, filed earlier this month, seeks to stop U.S. officials from transferring migrants to the base, alleging the moves violate U.S. law. An earlier lawsuit filed in February alleged the U.S. government had prevented family members and lawyers from contacting the detainees. DHS has dismissed the allegations in the lawsuits. "The American Civil Liberties Union appears far more interested in promoting open borders and disrupting public safety missions than in protecting the civil liberties of Americans they should consider changing their name," a DHS spokesperson told VOA in a statement earlier this month. "In the meantime, we will continue working with DOJ (Department of Justice) to fend off these baseless legal challenges." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IS in Sahel expands terror threat beyond strongholds By Henry Wilkins March 12, 2025 On Feb. 24, the Moroccan counterterror agency broke up a terrorist cell calling itself "the Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al Aqsa." Authorities said the group was making remote-controlled bombs to carry out attacks in the North African country. In November, a similar terrorist cell was dismantled in the Spanish cities of Seville and Ceuta. The connection? Both Moroccan and Spanish authorities said the groups were aligned with Islamic State in The Sahel. The group is best known for wreaking a devastating wave of violence across Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, plunging these countries into chaos and fueling a spiraling humanitarian crisis. But analysts say the foiled terror cells farther afield are a worrying sign. "Because the counterinsurgency infrastructure in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has been compromised, then it allows them to make inroads into other countries that they perceive to be vulnerable," said Beverly Ochieng, a senior analyst at geopolitical risk consultancy Control Risks. Ochieng said IS Sahel's strategy appears increasingly focused on exploiting security gaps beyond their core Sahelian strongholds. "IS Sahel has seen that its expansion could be directed much further West and much further North, and Morocco would be one place which would be of strategic interest to it," she said. Andrew Lebovich of the Dutch international affairs think tank Clingendael said these disrupted plots are indicative of IS Sahel's broader ambitions. "It does suggest an ongoing effort to increase operations in different ways in other countries," he said, adding that Algeria is facing an increasing threat. And it's not just North Africa that's at risk. Ochieng warns that countries traditionally seen as stable, such as Guinea or even Senegal, could become future targets for IS Sahel militants too. In March, the Global Terrorism Index named the Sahel the epicenter of global terrorism for the second year running. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China has never exported fentanyl-related medications to North America: NMPA Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 13, 2025 12:40 AM In response to a media inquiry regarding the production, operation, and export management of fentanyl-related substances in China, as well as whether there is any issue of fentanyl-related substances leaking from legitimate enterprises, a spokesperson for the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) said China has never exported fentanyl-related pharmaceuticals to North America. China's State Council Information Office released a white paper on March 4, 2025 titled "Controlling Fentanyl-Related Substances - China's Contribution," highlighting the country's rigorous control over these chemicals. The spokesperson noted that in 2024, China produced 100 kilograms of fentanyl-based active pharmaceutical ingredients, primarily for domestic medical use and export. That year, China exported 12.3 kilograms of fentanyl-related medications, measured as fentanyl-related substances, mainly to South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Fentanyl-related medications are primarily used for pain relief in clinical settings. Non-medical use can lead to drug abuse and even cause public health and social issues. As of now, a total of four fentanyl-related medications have been approved for marketing in China: fentanyl and its derivatives sufentanil, alfentanil and remifentanil. Three companies have been authorized to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, while five companies have been approved to manufacture formulations, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson emphasized that China has enumerated fentanyl-related medications in the List of Controlled Narcotic Drugs. The drug regulatory authorities implement the strictest control measures for fentanyl-related medications. Production and business operations are carried out through designated enterprises, with production based on demand and fixed sales channels, while exports are subject to licensing management. Regular inspections and checks are conducted on the production and operation of fentanyl-related medications to promptly identify potential safety risks. Special inspections and surprise checks are organized to effectively regulate the production and business order. The spokesperson further noted that the export of fentanyl-related medications is subject to an international verification system. An export permit is issued only after the legality of the trade is confirmed by the competent authorities of the importing country. Warning and educational meetings are held for the production, operation, and export enterprises of fentanyl-related medications to enhance their awareness of legal compliance and strengthen the safety defense line for fentanyl-related medications. Through the joint efforts of regulatory authorities and enterprises, the production and operation management of fentanyl-related medications have remained stable. No illegal production or operation of fentanyl-related medications has been found in pharmaceutical enterprises, nor have fentanyl-related medications been discovered to flow into illegal channels from pharmaceutical production and business enterprises, said the spokesperson. Moving forward, the NMPA will continue to enhance the supervision and regulation of the production and distribution of fentanyl-related medications. It will enforce strict approval processes for exports, ensure a stable medical supply, and implement robust measures to prevent diversion into illegal channels and misuse, the spokesperson added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address March 12, 2025 By Matthew Olay, DOD News Military-Crewed SpaceX Flight Set to Bring Back Astronauts The SpaceX Crew-10 mission, which includes two active-duty U.S. military officers, is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, today on a quest to bring back a pair of NASA astronauts who have been on the International Space Station since June 2024. Dubbed Crew Dragon Endurance, the SpaceX Dragon 2 reusable spacecraft is set to dock at the ISS Thursday. The mission comes after President Donald J. Trump called for the safe return from the ISS of NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams both retired U.S. Navy captains whose return to Earth was delayed after Boeing's Starliner spacecraft hit technical snags. "These are our people, and we're not leaving them up there," Trump said in a February 2025 speech at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. The mission marks the 10th crew rotation for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and SpaceX's 17th crewed orbital flight. The team effort has a goal of bringing Wilmore and Williams home by March 16. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saluted the mission by releasing a video message earlier today. "The Department of Defense is proud to have multiple branches, and two active-duty U.S. military officers represented in this mission," Hegseth said. Army Col. Anne McClain and Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers made up the active-duty portion of the SpaceX crew. Picked by NASA in 2013 and serving as Crew-10's commander, McClain spent 204 days on the ISS from 2018-2019 during Expeditions 58/59, leading two spacewalks. Ayers, a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2011 and earned her wings in 2014, flying T-38 Talons at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Following that she piloted the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, where she flew over 200 combat hours supporting missions like Operation Inherent Resolve. NASA brought her on board in 2021. An additional astronaut and former Navy SEAL and physician who joined NASA in 2017 Lt. Cmdr. Jonny Kim, is also scheduled to launch no earlier than April 8, 2025, to participate in Expeditions 72/73. "We're praying for you, we wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon," Hegseth told the astronauts via the video. The trouble for Wilmore and Williams started what was supposed to be a week spent on the ISS. Upon arrival, NASA and Boeing identified a number of helium leaks and thruster issues on the Starliner, forcing the astronauts to stay on the ISS. By September, issues with the spacecraft led to NASA opting to send the vessel back to earth unmanned and leaving Wilmore and Williams. Once aboard the ISS, some of the Crew Dragon Endurance team will remain for a scheduled six months. While aboard, the team is set to conduct over 200 experiments, including organoid studies for disease treatments and plant growth tests in microgravity. They'll also try out leg pressure cuffs to help with fluid shifts in space work that supports NASA's Artemis program and benefits life on Earth. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PARLIAMENT QUESTION: FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE SPACE SECTOR India PIB Department of Space Posted On: 12 MAR 2025 4:46PM by PIB Delhi The union cabinet in its meeting held on 21.02.2024 has approved the amendment in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the space sector. Consequent to amended FDI policy in space sector, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance issued the gazette notification No. CG-DL-E-16042024-253724 dated 16.04.2024 for amending the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, in Schedule I, in the table for Sl. No.12 following has been substituted, namely: (1) (2) (3) (4) 12 Space Sector 12.1 Satellites-Manufacturing and Operation Satellite Data Products Ground Segment and User Segment 100% Automatic up to 74% Government route beyond 74% 12.2 (a) Launch Vehicles and associated systems or sub-systems (b) Creation of spaceports for launching and receiving spacecraft 100% Automatic up to 49% Government route beyond 49% 12.3 Manufacturing of components and systems or sub-systems for satellite, ground segment and user segment 100% Automatic The status of the progress, reasons for delay and revision in the cost for the Gaganyaan Programme is as follows: Human Rated Launch Vehicle : Ground testing of propulsion systems stages, including solid, liquid and cryogenic engine, towards human rating of the launch vehicle have been completed. : Ground testing of propulsion systems stages, including solid, liquid and cryogenic engine, towards human rating of the launch vehicle have been completed. Crew Module Escape System : Design & realization of five types of Crew Escape system solid motors completed. Static testing of all five types of solid motors completed. First Test Vehicle mission (TV-D1) for the performance validation of crew escape system (CES) and parachute deployment has been successfully accomplished. : Design & realization of five types of Crew Escape system solid motors completed. Static testing of all five types of solid motors completed. First Test Vehicle mission (TV-D1) for the performance validation of crew escape system (CES) and parachute deployment has been successfully accomplished. Orbital Module Systems : Design &realisation of Crew Module and Service Module structure has been completed. Various Parachute Systems have been tested through Integrated Main parachute Air drop Test and Rail Track Rocket Sledge Tests. Ground test programme towards human rating of Crew Module & Service module Propulsion System have been completed. Characterization of Thermal Protection System has been completed. : Design &realisation of Crew Module and Service Module structure has been completed. Various Parachute Systems have been tested through Integrated Main parachute Air drop Test and Rail Track Rocket Sledge Tests. Ground test programme towards human rating of Crew Module & Service module Propulsion System have been completed. Characterization of Thermal Protection System has been completed. Gaganyatri Training : Two out of three semesters of the training programme completed.Independent Training Simulator and Static Mockup Simulators realized. : Two out of three semesters of the training programme completed.Independent Training Simulator and Static Mockup Simulators realized. Major Ground Infrastructure : Orbital Module Preparation Facility, Gaganyaan Control Centre at ISTRAC, Gaganyaan Control facility at SDSC SHAR, Crew training facility and modifications of Second Launch pad have been completed. : Orbital Module Preparation Facility, Gaganyaan Control Centre at ISTRAC, Gaganyaan Control facility at SDSC SHAR, Crew training facility and modifications of Second Launch pad have been completed. Gaganyaan First Uncrewed mission : Launch campaign for first uncrewed mission has commenced on December 18, 2024 and assembly of one of two solid motor has been completed. Liquid Propulsion Stages and Cryogenic stage are ready. Crew Module and Service Module structure realization completed. Flight integration activities are in progress. Major reasons for the delay: Avionics components production was severely affected due to COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain disruption resulted in irregular supply of raw materials and consequent delay in realization of hardware. The deliveries were shifted/re-scheduled delaying the programme. Global shortage in the supply of space grade and EEE components. Major design revision in orbital module to contain overall mass within HLVM3 capability. Longer cycle time for the indigenous development of life support system being new technology, since procurement through external route couldn't materialise. The total funding for Gaganyaan Programme has been enhanced to 20,193 Crore to address the programmatic requirements as per the revised scope which includes new developments for Bharatiya Antariksh Station & precursor missions, and additional requirements to meet the ongoing Gaganyaan Programme. IN-SPACe has instituted a mechanism for transfer of ISRO's technology to Indian industries, wherein, a list of technologies available for transfer to Industry has been listed in the IN-SPACe portal. The technologies are also broadcasted to about 500 industries registered with IN-SPACe. As on 31 December 2024, about 75 technology transfer agreements have been signed. The Department has a mechanism to identify and enable the indigenisation of various components that are required for satellites. This mechanism has resulted in the indigenisation of systems such as Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier, Atomic clocks and other components used for various sub systems such as relays, connectors, heaters, thermistors, crystal oscillators etc. However, Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) are encouraged to utlilise the facilities built by DoS/ISRO as per the Indian Space Policy -2023. This information was given by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today. *** NKR/PSM (Release ID: 2110835) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PARLIAMENT QUESTION: SUPPORT FOR NESAC PROJECTS India PIB Department of Space Posted On: 12 MAR 2025 4:45PM by PIB Delhi The Union Home Minister and President of NESAC Society, Chief Ministers of NE States and other members suggested many new initiatives for the enhancement of space applications in the NE region; While acknowledging that more than 10 departments in each NE State are actively utilizing space applications, it was suggested that at least 25 departments from each of the state shall be identified for utilization of space applications in consultation with respective Chief Secretaries. This will be followed up by the Ministry of Home Affairs and M/o Development of North-Eastern Region. Identify the deforested areas as well as potential open areas for afforestation in the NER. Initiate flood mapping for entire NER. Prepare a roadmap highlighting the best practices in space applications relevant for NER. Carry out mapping of minerals, oil, and coal in the NER. Plan for organizing interaction event for Govt officials, young generation, students, woman from all segments and tribals in consultation with Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Collaborate with Manipur Remote Sensing Application Centre (MARSAC) towards development of GIS-based cadastral information system for Manipur and augmentation of drone facilities in consultation with NEC. Carryout a comprehensive study on river morphology for Teesta and Rangeet rivers in collaboration with Sikkim Science & Technology Council. Support hydro geo-morphology mapping for 42 Rural Development (RD) blocks in Tripura and the updation of Hazard Risk Vulnerability Assessment (HRVA) of 12 urban local bodies in the state. Provide technical guidance to Nagaland GIS & Remote Sensing Centre (NGISRSC) for formulating a proposal on setting-up of a Geospatial centre in Kohima and Dimapur. Prepare a plan for LIDAR survey for Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generation for flood prone areas of Assam, in consultation with MHA. As per the suggestions made by the Hon'ble Union Home Minister andPresident of NESAC Society during the 12th meeting of NESAC Society, a new programme called "North East Student's Program for Awareness, Reach and Knowledge on Space" (NE-SPARKS), has been initiated. Under this program, Ministry of DoNER will facilitate the visit of 800 young and talented science stream students (100 from each NE State) to ISRO with the support of respective state governments. NESAC/ DoS, Shillong offers opportunities for students and research scholars through the Student Internship Scheme and Student Project Trainee Scheme with the duration of 45 days (internship) and upto 120 days (project trainees). These programs are designed to give students hands-on experience, allowing them to work under Scientists /Engineers in the relevant areas. Students from various academic institutions can benefit from these schemes, gaining valuable insights into space research and technology as part of their academic curriculum. ISRO organises a special programme for School Children called "Young Scientist Programme" "YUva VIgyani KAryakram", YUVIKA, to impart basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the younger students in emerging trends in space science and technology amongst the youngsters, who are the future building blocks of our nation. ISRO has chalked out this programme to "Catch them young" selecting Ten students of class IX and X standards from each State and Union Territory (UT) including NE States. The programme encourages more students to pursue in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based research /career. NESAC receives required funds from the Government of India in the form of grant-in-aid. In addition, the centre also earns financial resources by executing a large number of externally funded projects from various user departments under Central/State Governments, PSUs, and a few other non-government agencies This information was given by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today. *** NKR/PSM (Release ID: 2110833) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jobs boost for Brisbane as Albanese Government invests $200 million in Navy's communications system The Hon Pat Conroy MP Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Minister for International Development and the Pacific 13 March 2025 The Albanese Government is upgrading communication systems on Royal Australian Navy ships under a $200 million program with Boeing Defence Australia that will create dozens of jobs across the Brisbane region. This investment will create more than 50 local jobs primarily in Brisbane, which will be home to the main hub for design and development work for this project. The contract will deliver a state-of-the-art secure and interoperable communications system, known as the Maritime Warfighter Network, and will provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with a single integrated communications network. This project enhances Navy's capabilities in line with the National Defence Strategy and is consistent with Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities set out in the Albanese Government's Defence Industry Development Strategy. It also builds on the Government's previous investment of more than $150 million in Australian-made satellite communications terminals for Navy vessels and is another example of our commitment to building a defence future made in Australia. Quotes attributable to the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, the Hon Pat Conroy MP: "These upgrades enhance Navy's ability to conduct operational tasks, such as surveillance and multi-domain strike. This shows the Albanese Government is ensuring our ADF personnel have access to a modern communication system that makes them better prepared to safeguard Australians and their interests. "With this investment the Albanese Government is making Australia safer while providing financial security to dozens of families by creating more than 50 new jobs." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump imposes additional 25 pct tariffs on steel, aluminum from Canada Global Times By Xinhua Published: Mar 12, 2025 08:20 AM U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will impose an additional 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum from Canada, raising the total tariff to 50 percent, in response to tariffs on electricity exports from the Canadian province of Ontario. "Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25 percent Tariff on Electricity coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25 percent Tariff, to 50 percent, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD," Trump said in a post on social media Truth Social. "This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th," Trump said. On Feb. 10, Trump signed proclamations to raise tariffs on aluminum from 10 percent to 25 percent, aligning them with the existing tariff rate for steel. He also decided to eliminate duty-free quotas, exemptions, and exclusions for steel and aluminum tariffs. These measures are set to take effect on March 12. Trump's latest announcement to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports to 50 percent represents a significant increase. Previously, Trump announced the imposition of a broad 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico, which took effect on March 4. However, just two days later, Trump reversed his position and adjusted the tariff measures, exempting goods that meet the "United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement" (USMCA) preferential conditions from the tariffs, effective until April 2. According to NBC News, a senior U.S. government official estimated that about 38 percent of goods imported from Canada to the United States qualify for the exemption. In retaliation to the broad tariffs on Canadian goods, Canada's Ontario government on Monday officially applied a 25 percent surcharge on all electricity exports to three U.S. states: Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he will not hesitate to increase the charge or even shut off energy exports entirely should the trade war persist. In his latest announcement, Trump also urged Canada to "immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff" on various U.S. dairy products, which has "long been considered outrageous." "If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S.," Trump added. In addition, Trump reiterated his statement that Canada should become the "51st state" of the United States. The newly elected leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party, Mark Carney, will succeed the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the prime minister of Canada. In his victory speech, Carney stated that his government would maintain retaliatory tariffs against the United States until "the Americans show us respect." In response to the U.S. president' repeated claims that Canada should become the "51st state" of the United States, Carney said, "Canada will never, ever ... be a part of America in any way, shape or form." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China, Iran, Russia complete joint maritime drill, 'boosting capabilities in non-traditional security field' Global Times By Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan Published: Mar 12, 2025 09:55 PM China, Iran and Russia on Tuesday wrapped up a maritime drill after practicing night live-fire shooting and rescue operation of simulated hijacked commercial ships near Iran. A Chinese expert said the exercise has boosted the three countries' naval capabilities in dealing with non-traditional security threats. The return of the participating warships from the three countries to the Iranian port of Chabahar on Tuesday afternoon local time marked the successful completion of the maritime drill phase of the Security Belt-2025 joint exercise, China Bugle, an official media account affiliated with the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) news media center, reported on Wednesday. The maritime drill phase was held in a region near Chabahar Port from Monday to Tuesday, featuring training courses such as maritime target strikes, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), damage control, as well as joint search and rescue operations, China Bugle reported. According to a video released by the military channel of China Central Television (CCTV) on Wednesday, the exercise featured live-fire shooting of heavy machine guns against maritime targets, night live-fire shooting practices, light communication practices, rescuing simulated hijacked commercial ships and a fleet review. Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the exercise has boosted the three navies' maritime combat capabilities through maritime strike and damage control trainings. The drill focused on non-traditional security threats, such as countering maritime terrorism and anti-piracy. Routine joint exercises among the three sides continuously enhance their navies' interoperability, and the three sides' joint command and control as well as joint strike capabilities were displayed through the drill courses, Zhang said. The Security Belt-2025 joint exercise kicked off on Sunday and is expected to conclude on Thursday, according to a previous statement released by the PLA Navy on its official WeChat account. The exercise as a whole features three phases, an assembly and preparation phase, a maritime drill phase and a harbor summary phase. The guided missile destroyer Baotou and the comprehensive replenishment ship Gaoyouhu from the PLA Navy's 47th escort task group took part in the exercise. Iran sent more than 10 vessels of various types, including the Jamaran and Alvand destroyers, while Russia deployed ships including the Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and Rezky corvettes, according to the PLA Navy release. In addition, South Africa, Pakistan, Oman and other countries sent observers to participate in the exercise. The aim of the exercise is to deepen mutual military trust and pragmatic cooperation among the participating countries' militaries, the PLA Navy said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China extends warship service life with advanced anti-corrosion technologies Global Times Liu Xuanzun Published: Mar 12, 2025 03:15 PM A Chinese naval researcher recently revealed that her work on anti-corrosion technologies is contributing to extending warships' service life. An analyst said on Wednesday that corrosion protection is a key aspect that directly affects the generation of combat capabilities. Cao Jingyi, a research fellow at the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Naval Research Academy, has dedicated more than 30 years of military service to corrosion protection and new materials development for Chinese warships, the military channel of China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday. "We are somewhat like veteran doctors in traditional Chinese medicine, as we research ways to prolong and extend the service life of equipment," Cao was quoted as saying. It can take years or even decades to conduct an experiment to verify the anti-corrosion effect of a type of coating to be practically applied on warships, according to the report. Corrosion can be highly detrimental to warships' combat capability, because a small rust hole could lead to the abortion of a mission, Cao said. Under the naval gray hull coating, different layers serve specific functions, Cao said, explaining that the hull coating needs to be resistant to different weather conditions, the deck coating needs to be anti-skidding, the hull bottom coating needs to be antisepsis and resistant to the growth of marine organisms, and the coating in the ship's interior needs to be environmentally friendly. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that high temperatures, high humidity and high salinity environments at sea can cause severe corrosion to warships, affecting their weapons, equipment and munitions, potentially even rendering them out of action and severely impacting combat capabilities and logistics support capabilities. This is why corrosion protection is a fundamental component in sustaining a navy's combat capabilities, Song said, noting that maritime environments are very complex, so corrosion protection has been challenging for many countries in the world. Compared with US Navy warships, which are often spotted with visible rust, the PLA Navy's warships have always been kept clean even after lengthy far seas operations, Song noted. Many of the Chinese warships are newly built compared with the US ones, and new anti-corrosion technologies could be applied. Another crucial factor is daily maintenance, as Chinese sailors meticulously maintain their warships and keep weapons and equipment on board in optimal condition at all times, Song said, adding that this combination of technology and rigorous upkeep ensures PLA Navy vessels remain rust-free, reinforcing combat effectiveness. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's foreign ministry responds to Walmart's summons by Chinese regulators Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 12, 2025 04:08 PM It is reported that China's Ministry of Commerce and other departments summoned Walmart on Tuesday for reportedly requiring some of its Chinese suppliers to slash prices significantly in an attempt to shift the burden of the US tariffs on China to Chinese suppliers and consumers. On a regular press briefing, a foreign media reporter asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson to confirm the report, and if true, can she provide more details. Mao Ning a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said "on this issue, I refer you to relevant Chinese authorities," without providing further details. MOFCOM and other departments summoned Walmart on Tuesday, Yuyuantantian, a media affiliated with China Media Group, reported on Wednesday. Walmart has asked some Chinese suppliers for major price cuts, with the US retail giant's efforts to shift the burden of US' tariffs facing strong push back from firms in the Asian nation, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Yuyuantantian noted that the first message conveyed by the talks is that Walmart's unilateral demand for Chinese companies to cut prices could disrupt supply chains, harming both Chinese and US businesses as well as American consumers. Currently, about 60 percent of Walmart's globally sourced products come from China. The second message is that the US' unilateral tariff hikes hurt both Chinese and American businesses, and companies from both countries should work together to navigate these challenges. China has been a key driver of Walmart's global growth over the past year. In the last fiscal year, Walmart's same-store sales in the Chinese market grew by 12.5 percent, 13.8 percent, 15 percent, and 23.1 percent year-on-year across the four quarters - far outpacing its growth in the US market, the report said. The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT) has also urged major US retailers to address international trade issues fairly and reasonably. CCCT has received reports from some member companies that large US retailers are asking Chinese suppliers to lower prices. The chamber is currently verifying the situation. If confirmed, it will take proactive measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its members. The current challenges in international trade stem from the US government's unilateral tariff hikes, which have harmed businesses in both China and the US. The chamber hopes that companies from both countries can resolve shared concerns through friendly negotiations based on equality and mutual benefit, working together to navigate current difficulties and avoiding unilateral actions that leverage market dominance to disrupt supply chain stability, CCCT said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on March 12, 2025 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: March 12, 2025 18:28 China will hold the Beijing meeting between China, Russia and Iran on the Iranian nuclear issue on March 14. Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi will attend the meeting in Beijing. The three parties will exchange views on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues of mutual interest. The New York Times: Chinese media reports say the Ministry of Commerce has summoned Walmart for pressuring Chinese suppliers to lower prices in response to tariffs. Can you confirm if this is true? And if so, can you offer more details? Mao Ning: I'd refer you to competent Chinese authorities on that. People's Daily: The two sessions just came to a conclusion in China. We noted that many in the international community said the two sessions is a window for the rest of the world to understand China's whole-process people's democracy. China's democratic practice leads to a political path different from that of Western countries, and provides valuable experience and inspiration to the world, especially Global South countries. What's your comment? Mao Ning: The two sessions are a vivid practice of China's whole-process people's democracy. This year's two sessions have brought together nearly 3,000 NPC deputies and over 2,000 CPPCC members from diverse backgrounds who represent people's voice on the top-level platform for the deliberation of state affairs and integrate people's aspiration into the top design of national development. Nearly 4,000 suggestions and over 2 million online opinions were solicited for the draft of the Report on the Work of the Government, with the aim of most extensively pooling collective wisdom and representing people's will. After the two sessions were concluded, government departments will comprehensively implement tasks after listening to public opinion and having consultation. Democracy is a common value of humanity and the right of people of all countries. Whole-process people's democracy is the model of democracy in its broadest, most genuine, and most effective form. It is the people's democracy most suitable for China's national conditions and has made important contributions for enriching humanity's political civilization. Bloomberg: President Donald Trump rolled out 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports today. How does China respond and will Beijing retaliate? Mao Ning: China believes that protectionism leads nowhere, and trade and tariff wars have no winners. This has been widely recognized in the international community. What the U.S. did severely violates the WTO rules, harms the rules-based multilateral trading system, and does no good to solving problems. China will take all necessary measures to defend its lawful rights and interests. The New York Times: Does China feel that it has had adequate communication with the Trump administration, particularly on trade and other economic issues? Mao Ning: China believes that the right way is to address each other's concerns through dialogue and consultation on the basis of equality and mutual respect. China-U.S. trade ties are based on two-way and reciprocal interactions. Cooperation will bring about mutual benefit and win-win, and China will definitely take countermeasures in response to arbitrary pressure. NBC: There are some analysts who compare China's rhetoric and countermeasures against President Trump and his tariffs and rhetoric and countermeasures from Canada and Mexico for example, and they say China's responses are actually relatively more restrained. Would you agree? Mao Ning: China has repeatedly made clear its opposition against the U.S. imposing additional tariffs on Chinese imports, and has taken legitimate and necessary countermeasures to defend China's rights and interests. Let me reiterate that China-U.S. business relations are based on two-way and reciprocal interactions. Cooperation will bring about mutual benefit and win-win, and China will definitely take countermeasures in response to arbitrary pressure. Dragon TV: It's reported that terrorists hijacked an express train carrying around 450 passengers in Sibi, Balochistan province of Pakistan. The Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. During the ongoing operation to rescue hostages, Pakistan's security forces freed 104 passengers and gunned down at least 16 terrorists. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying that the security forces are eliminating the terrorists. What's China's comment? Mao Ning: We noted the reports and strongly condemn this terrorist attack. China firmly opposes terrorism in any form. We will continue to firmly support Pakistan in combating terrorism, maintaining solidarity and social stability, and protecting the safety of the people. China stands ready to strengthen counterterrorism and security cooperation with Pakistan and jointly keep the region peaceful, secure and stable. AFP: Ukraine said it is ready to accept a U.S. proposal for an interim 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia. What's your response? Mao Ning: We noted relevant reports. China has been calling for political settlement through dialogue and negotiation since the first day of the crisis, and has been actively working for peace and pushing for talks. We hope that parties concerned will find a sustainable and lasting solution for peace that accommodates each other's concerns through dialogue and negotiation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Evil Presage of Dangerous U.S.-ROK Joint Military Exercises: KCNA Commentary Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, March 12 (KCNA) -- Shortly ago, there occurred an accident showing why the U.S.-led bilateral and multilateral joint military drills, staged frantically in the Korean peninsula, are so dangerous and why they deserve the denunciation by the world people. With the full-scale operation of the worst-ever joint military exercises Freedom Shield 2025 near at hand, there took place a record case of "simultaneous accidental attacks", in which two fighters of the puppet ROK army hell-bent in "firepower demonstration" air-raided a civilian village during a large-scale U.S.-ROK live shell firing drill as prelude to the exercises. It was reported that the intensive dropping of eight bombs, due to the pilots' mistakes in inputting coordinates, caused tens of civilian and military casualties and such property damage as the destruction of private houses and vehicles. Such accidental firing case is a common practice for the U.S. forces and the ROK army, but what merits an attention is the fact that the case occurred near the southern border of the DPRK on the eve of the large-scale joint military exercises simulating a total war against the DPRK. As reported by the New York Times and other U.S. and puppet ROK media, there is no need to explain how the situation would have developed if a bomb had been dropped towards the north a little further to cross the border of the DPRK. The DPRK armed forces are now keeping highly alert to cope with the malicious large-scale joint military exercises of the U.S. and the ROK in the cease-fire area where the Korean War between the DPRK and the U.S. exists in the present continuous form, the most dangerous area in the world in which nuclear forces are standing in confrontation with one another. Under such situation, it is not unreasonable to imagine that an accidental spark might plunge the Korean peninsula and the region and the rest of the world into a new armed conflict. The recent case is no more than an example showing that various kinds of war rehearsals precisely aiming at the DPRK, frequently staged by the U.S. and its vassal forces, are not for "peace and stability of the ROK and the region" as advocated by them, but are the most dangerous and undesirable doings germinating a touch-and-go situation, the world's first nuclear war. Frightened at the danger of such horrible situation, the U.S. and the ROK have now turned Freedom Shield 2025 into a kind of "dumb exercises" prohibiting any live firing. However, they can neither conceal nor quell the danger and gravity of the exercises amplified at home and abroad. Unless the enemy states including the U.S. and the puppet ROK military gangsters stop their frantic war games in the Korean peninsula, a threat to peace and security environment of the DPRK and the region will last forever. The DPRK is keeping a close watch on every reckless military movement of the enemies to cope with any unexpected developments and, if necessary, will go over into a merciless action without warning. Then, they will have no time enough to excuse themselves. The enemies should seriously approach to the evil presage of the dangerous U.S.-ROK joint military exercises and stop at once the nuclear war rehearsals, the root cause of aggravated situation in the Korean peninsula, rather than breathing a sigh of relief. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DELIVERY OF YARD 133 (LSAM 23) India - Press Information Bureau Ministry of Defence Posted On: 12 MAR 2025 5:40PM by PIB Delhi Induction ceremony of ninth Ammunition Cum Torpedo Cum Missile (ACTCM) Barge, LSAM 23 (Yard 133) was held on 12 Mar 25 at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. Chief Guest for Induction Ceremony was Cmde Manish Vig, GM (QA), ND (Mbi). The contract for construction and delivery of eleven ACTCM Barges was concluded with M/s Suryadipta Projects Pvt. Ltd., Thane on 05 Mar 21, a MSME Shipyard. Eight ACTCM Barges have already been delivered and the shipyard has also been awarded a contract for construction and delivery of four Sullage Barges to the Indian Navy thereby highlighting the Indian Navy's commitment towards encouraging MSMEs. The Shipyard has indigenously designed these Barges in collaboration with an Indian Ship Designing firm and subsequently model tested at Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam, successfully to ensure seaworthiness. These barges are built in accordance with the relevant Naval Rules and Regulations of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS). These Barges are proud flag bearers of Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives of Government of India. Induction of these Barges would provide impetus to operational commitments of Indian Navy by facilitating Transportation, Embarkation and Disembarkation of articles/ ammunition to Indian Navy platforms both alongside jetties and at outer harbours. **** VM/SPS (Release ID: 2110906) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ICGS Saksham makes port call at Port Victoria, Seychelles for a three-day visit India - Press Information Bureau Ministry of Defence Posted On: 12 MAR 2025 5:28PM by PIB Delhi Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Offshore Patrol Vessel Saksham made a port call at Port Victoria, Seychelles, on March 12, 2025 for a three-day visit aimed at strengthening maritime cooperation and fostering regional partnerships. The crew of the ship will engage in a series of interactions, including high-level calls on local dignitaries, joint training exercises, and sporting events with their counterparts. These engagements will enhance interoperability, promote mutual learning, and reinforce the strong maritime ties between India and Seychelles. The National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets onboard the vessel will participate in a Walkathon and a beach cleanup activity, contributing to the Government's 'Puneet Sagar Abhiyan' campaign aimed towards environmental sustainability and marine conservation. Additionally, 10 personnel from Assam Rifles embarked on the ship will facilitate inter-agency cooperation, providing the personnel with exposure to maritime operations while fostering camaraderie and knowledge exchange between the two forces. Following its visit to Seychelles, ICGS Saksham will proceed to Madagascar as part of its overseas deployment plan, furthering diplomatic engagements and enhancing Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard collaboration in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The visit underscores ICG's commitment to maritime security, regional cooperation, and fostering strong bilateral ties with nations in the IOR. ***** SR/KB (Release ID: 2110896) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India, Mauritius upgrade strategic ties with eye on China By Anjana Pasricha March 12, 2025 India and Mauritius have upgraded their ties, say leaders of both countries a move analysts say is aimed at increasing New Delhi's influence in the Indian Ocean as it seeks to counter China's expanding footprint in the region. The announcement of upgraded ties came during a two-day visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mauritius, an island nation that sits along vital seaways in the western Indian Ocean. Modi, who was chief guest at Mauritius's National Day celebrations on Wednesday, said that the countries had elevated ties to the status of "enhanced strategic partnership." Following talks with Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, both leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a "free, safe, secure and open Indian Ocean." Mauritius conferred the country's highest civilian honor on Modi, and the prime ministers signed eight pacts to boost cooperation in several sectors including maritime security. Modi announced that New Delhi would invest about $11 million in several community development projects and that India will cooperate in building a new parliament for Mauritius, calling it a gift "from the mother of democracy." China trade with Mauritius on rise While India has long enjoyed good relations with Mauritius, where 70% of the population is of Indian origin, analysts said Modi's visit came amid a recognition that India needs to step up its engagement with a country that is called the gateway to the Western Indian Ocean and Africa, and where Beijing's presence has grown. "China's rise in the island has been quite phenomenal and it is now one of the most important economic players in Mauritius," according to Harsh Pant, the vice president of studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "So, to offset that, it is necessary for India to have constant engagement with Mauritius and help them build capacities in areas such as health, education, and maritime capabilities to demonstrate that it can assist in meeting such challenges." In 2019, China signed a free trade agreement with Mauritius that went into effect in 2021. A page for Mauritius on China's Foreign Ministry website that outlines relations states that the two have a strategic partnership. Bilateral trade between the two countries hit $1.1 billion, a 10.1% increase from the previous year, according to the website. As the region becomes a hotspot for geopolitical competition, India and China have stepped up efforts to build ties with Indian Ocean countries. Underlining India's naval cooperation with Mauritius, an Indian navy contingent participated in the National Day parade and an Indian warship the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer paid a visit to the capital, Port Louis. Last year, India helped Mauritius build an airstrip and a jetty in Agalega two tiny islands covering 25 square kilometers that are located north of the main island. Although Mauritius has said that the facilities are not for military use, they give India a foothold to monitor traffic in the western Indian Ocean, say analysts. "India's construction of logistics infrastructure on Agalega Island underlines both Mauritius's enduring geopolitical significance in the Indian Ocean and Delhi's growing maritime stakes in regional security," political analyst C. Raja Mohan wrote in the Indian Express newspaper. India backs Chagos handover Indian officials have also said that New Delhi would support a planned deal between Britain and Mauritius to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius that is being finalized. One of the islands on the archipelago, Diego Garcia, has been home to a joint U.K.-U.S. military base since the 1970s. British mediahavereported that Britain will cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands and lease back Diego Garcia from Mauritius to allow the military base to remain. "We support Mauritius in its stance on its sovereignty over Chagos, and this is obviously in keeping with our long-standing position with regard to decolonization and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries," Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri said Saturday while announcing plans that Modi will soon also visit the Maldives. Although officials have made no comment, analysts point out that India backs the continuation of the military base in Diego Garcia. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was "inclined" to go along with the deal between Mauritius and Britain over the future of the base. "From New Delhi's standpoint, it helps if there is some American presence there because it balances out the strategic realities of the region," said Pant. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Leader: U.S. president's invitation for talks with Iran aims to deceive the world public opinion IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the United States' claim that it is ready to negotiate with Iran is aimed at deceiving the world public opinion. The Leader made the comment on Wednesday during a meeting with thousands of students from across Iran and representatives of students' associations, nearly a week after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had written a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, demanding that negotiations be re-opened. The announcement by Trump, who began his second term in office on January 20 this year, came a month after he restored his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. Trump initially launched that campaign in 2018 after he withdrew the U.S. from the Iran deal. In his address to the students during the Ramadan meeting in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei said that he has not yet received a letter from Trump, adding that the U.S.'s invitation for talks with Iran aims to deceive the world public opinion, as Washington wants to show that it seeks negotiations and peace, but Iran does not want that. Explaining that why Iran is refusing to hold negotiations, the Leader said that the Islamic Republic "sat down and negotiated for several years", but "this person" tore up the completed and signed agreement. He was referring to Trump who pulled the U.S. out of the Iran deal officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was clinched in 2015 after years of talks between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries namely the U.S., Britain, Russia, China, France, plus Germany. "What negotiations [should] we have when we know that he will not abide by? Therefore, the invitation for negotiations and stating it are to deceive the public opinion," Ayatollah Khamenei said, warning that talks with the Trump administration will only increase pressure on Iran, without lifting the existing sanctions against the country. "If the aim of talks is to lift the sanctions, negotiation with this U.S. government will not lead to the lifting of the sanctions, meaning that it will not remove them," the Leader said in response to calls inside Iran for talks with Washington. Negotiation with "this U.S. government will increase pressure" against Iran, as they will raise new expectations and new excessive demands, creating more problems, he further said, emphasizing "negotiations will not resolve any problem." Ayatollah Khamenei also rejected the idea that Iran's economic problems are solely blamed on the sanctions, saying that the country has already found many ways to neuter the measures. "Our own negligence" is blamed for most of the problems, he added. Further in his speech, the Leader responded to the U.S.'s claims that it would not allow Iran to attain nuclear weapons. "If we had intended to build nuclear weapons, America would not have been able to stop us," he said, emphasizing that it is because of Iran's own will to neither possess nor seek such weapons. And, in response to the U.S.'s threats of military action against Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the threat is "unwise", as waging a war against Iran would not be a one-sided blow against the country. Iran is able of dealing a reciprocal blow, and will definitely do that, he added. "I even believe that if a wrong move is made by the Americans and their agents, they will be the ones who will suffer the most. Of course, war is not something good. We do not seek war. But if someone takes action, we will definitely give a decisive response," the Leader noted. Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran is in a stronger position and continues to progress compared to previous year, contrary to the "superficial" view promoted by the enemies. "Unlike the previous year, we by the grace of God have strengths and capabilities in various aspects", the Leader said. He also touched on bitter and painful events in the West Asia region and the loss of prominent figures such as President Ebrahim Raisi, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and others. Despite these losses, he stressed that the Islamic Republic continues to advance and grow stronger. Addressing regional challenges, Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that the loss of influential individuals does not mean regression, as long as there is commitment to ideals as seen in the current generation which is "better and very good in terms of understanding the issues and being prepared to stand in the forefront." He also hailed the standard of universities, saying they are very different from those existed before the Islamic Revolution and even twenty years ago. The Wednesday meeting took place on the 11th day of the holy month of Ramadan. The annual traditional gathering provided the students with a platform to engage directly with the Leader on national and other issues in an open and friendly atmosphere. The event began with representatives from various student organizations presenting their opinions and suggestions on a range of topics including political, social, scientific, and cultural matters. 3266**4399**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia wants the revival of JCPOA, calls the U.S. demand for new Iran deal 'impossible' IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated Moscow's support for the revival of the landmark deal originally signed by Iran and six other world powers back in 2015. "We discussed the situation in the Persian Gulf as well as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action", Lavrov said during an interview on Wednesday with American bloggers, as reported by the Tass news agency, in response to the question whether the issue of Iran is part of the ongoing negotiations between Russia and the United States. Russia has discussed the situation around the Iran deal with the United States while at the same time maintaining some communication on the issue with the Europeans, he specified, stressing the restoration of the actual deal "from which the Americans dropped during the first Trump government." The top diplomat explained that Russian "would be in favor of resuming the format that developed the original deal endorsed by the Security Council and Iran." "We'll see how it goes," he added, referring to his consultations with American and European officials. The Russian Foreign Minister also talked about the western media reports suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump has called for a new nuclear deal in a letter sent to Tehran. "The U.S. wants to link a new nuclear deal with Iran to oblige it not to support (resistance) groups in the Middle East, but this option will not work. It is worrying the Americans are willing to attach political conditions to this new deal," he said. Lavrov also rejected any pressure on Iran for its growing influence in West Asia and said: "I believe that a situation in which all countries except Iran have the right to influence other countries in the region is an impossible scenario." The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany together called as P5+1 group of countries struck a deal with Iran in 2015 to address the issue over its nuclear program. But Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the accord. Following the U.S.'s exit, the European signatories--Britain, France, and Germany urged Tehran to stick to its obligations, promising to compensate for any economic harm incurred. Iran waited for an entire year before it began rolling back its nuclear commitments after the Europeans failed to deliver on that promise. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Regional states capable of ensuring their own security: Iran Navy commander IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 In an interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera TV network, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, the Navy Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said on Wednesday that enemies must reassess their stance toward the West Asia region, emphasizingthat the regional states can guarantee their own security. The commander stated that the region is no longer what it used to be, and its countries are equipped to ensure their safety; therefore, foes must change their policies and respect regional nations. Rear Admiral Irani also said that the Islamic Republic's message to adversaries is that the country will not be isolated and it will not accept such a fate. He stated that the behavior of Iranians, particularly in the current regional context, aligns with international laws. He further said that insecurity and instability in the region would have negative repercussions on the global economy, adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to share its experiences with regional countries. Naval forces from Iran, Russia, and China, along with observers from Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Sri Lanka, are participating in the 7th Combined Maritime Security Belt 2025 exercise, which commenced on Monday, March 10, in the northern Indian Ocean. 4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tripartite meeting of Iran, China, Russia to focus on nuclear issues IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says the upcoming meeting between Iran, China, and Russia will mainly address the issues related to nuclear energy and sanctions removal. Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Wednesday, Baqaei said that the deputy foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic, China, and Russia are to meet in Beijing on March 14. The meeting will focus on developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions, he said. The official also said that discussions will also cover other topics of interest to the three countries, including regional and international developments, and cooperation within the framework of BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 7129**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Araqchi: Iran to receive Trump's letter through an Arab country IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says a letter written by U.S. President Donald Trump will be handed over to Iran through an Arab state. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session on Wednesday, Araqchi said Trump's letter had been written but not yet received by Iran. He also added that the letter would be received through an Arab country. Earlier on March 7, President Donald Trump claimed that he had sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, asking that negotiations be reopened. The claim comes amid a campaign of "maximum pressure" which Trump restored against Iran early last month, two weeks after he began his second term. Trump initially launched that campaign in 2018 when he withdrew the U.S. from a landmark multilateral deal on Iran's nuclear program. Since his return to the White House on January 20 this year, Trump has spoken of negotiating a new deal with Iran. Commenting on Iran's peaceful nuclear program, he said Iran has always been ready to negotiate on Iran's peaceful nuclear program with an equal stance. The United States withdrew from the Iran Deal and negotiations are underway with European Troika, he said. Araqchi also said that the trilateral meeting between Iran, Russia, and China will be held on March 14, 2025. Reiterating Iran membership in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Araqchi said Iran's nuclear program is quite dynamic and is progressing in the framework of our obligations in the NPT. In response to a question about the European Union's stances against Iran, especially in the IAEA Board of Governors, he said the Europeans have always adopted wrong policies and could not implement their commitments after U.S. withdrawal from the Iran Deal. Elsewhere in his remarks Araqchi reacted to claims regarding Iran's isolation in the world, adding that Iran enjoys extensive friendly relationship with many countries. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Combined Maritime Security Belt Exercise shows the authority of Iran's Navy: Araghchi IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- In a message to the Navy Commander on the occasion of the Seventh Combined Exercise of the Maritime Security Belt 2025, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasized that this exercise demonstrates the valor of the Iranian Navy in the international arenas. In this message, Araghchi emphasized that maritime-based security and development require an authoritative presence and activity in the vast expanse of the seas. Araghchi emphasized the Islamic Republic of Iran's determination to maintain and enhance the security of the Persian Gulf, the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and beyond, and said that the current exercise will demonstrate this determination in front of global observers. The 7th combined Maritime Security Belt 2025 exercise is set to take place in the northern Indian Ocean, featuring naval forces from Iran, Russia, and China, along with observers from various regional nations. The exercise is designed to enhance security, promote sustainable maritime interactions, and strengthen naval cooperation among the three participating countries. 2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM says 'received letter by Trump from Emirati envoy' Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 11:17 PM Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a letter from US President Donald Trump had been delivered to him via an envoy from the United Arab Emirates. In a post on his Instagram account, Araghchi stated, "This evening, I hosted Mr. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates. In addition to discussing bilateral relations and regional issues, a letter from the president of the United States was received." Earlier in the day, during a cabinet meeting, the top diplomat had noted, "The letter has not reached us yet, but an envoy from an Arab country is supposed to deliver Trump's letter to Tehran." The contents of Trump's letter, though, remain undisclosed. Trump himself had previously claimed in an interview with Fox Business that he had sent a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Various Iranian officials, including Araghchi, however, rejected the claim after its issuance by Trump. On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei noted that, following Trump's remarks, a senior White House official had contradicted him by stating that while a letter had been drafted, it had never been sent. "From the very beginning, some analysts described the claim as a kind of media-psychological game, while others said it was a sign of confusion within the US administration and its bureaucratic system," he noted. The official clarified, however, that "no, no letter has been received." Baghaei, meanwhile, asserted that the Islamic Republic would categorically reject engaging in negotiation with the United States "under conditions or approaches [that are] based on coercion, bullying, and pressure." Also on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei said during an address in Tehran that a call by the US president for negotiations with Iran was nothing but an attempt to "deceive the world public opinion" and portray the Islamic Republic as the party not willing to give diplomacy another chance. Observers say that the inconsistencies among various American officials' claims highlight the chronic confusion within successive US administrations and their habitual use of media manipulation to create an illusion of diplomacy, while simultaneously tightening illegal and unilateral measures against targeted nations. They also note that despite the US's pattern of inconsistent and coercive attitude, Tehran has remained committed to meaningful dialogue with other nations regarding regional and international matters. Baghaei likewise pointed out during his Monday remarks that the Islamic Republic had never closed the door to negotiations in the true and correct sense of the word, saying the country had continued its discussions with European countries over recent months. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump's call for talks with Iran 'deception': Ayatollah Khamenei Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 7:06 PM Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says a call by US President Donald Trump for negotiations with Iran is nothing but an attempt to "deceive the world public opinion" and portray the Islamic Republic as the party not willing to give diplomacy another chance. "We sat down for years and negotiated. This same person threw off the table and tore apart the concluded, finalized, and signed negotiations," Ayatollah Khamenei said during an address to a gathering of students in Tehran on Wednesday. "When we know he doesn't honor [agreements], what is the point of negotiating?" the Leader asked. "Therefore, calls for negotiation and talks of negotiation are meant to deceive the global public opinion." The Leader said the Trump administration does not intend to remove the sanctions, and that negotiations will only worsen the pressure campaign as Washington will raise new demands. "If the purpose of negotiations is to lift the sanctions, negotiating with this US administration will not remove the sanctions. It will make the sanctions even tighter and increase the pressure," the Leader said. 'US to lose more in case of war' Responding to Western allegations that Tehran seeks nuclear weapons, the Leader reiterated that Iran does not want to build nuclear arms, adding that it could have done so by now if it had so chosen. "It is said that 'We won't let Iran obtain nuclear weapons.' Had we wanted to build nuclear weapons, America could not have stopped us. The fact that we don't have nuclear weapons and are not pursuing them is because we ourselves don't want them for specific reasons." Referring to US threats of military action against Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei warned that Iran is prepared to deliver a decisive response. The United States, he said, would suffer more in such a confrontation. "In my view, this threat is irrational because war or military aggression is not a one-sided affair. Iran has the capability to retaliate, and it will certainly deliver a counterstrike if necessary," he said. "I even believe that if the Americans or their agents make a wrong move, they will suffer more damage than anyone else." 'Sanctions losing effectiveness' On the sanctions, the Leader said such measures are losing their effectiveness gradually as Iran has found ways to neutralize them. "Over time, when sanctions persist globally, they gradually lose their impact. Even they (US officials) themselves admit this. They acknowledge that a sanctioned country can gradually find ways to neutralize sanctions and render them ineffective. We have discovered many such ways and have neutralized sanctions in many areas," the Leader said. However, Ayatollah Khamenei said that most of Iran's economic challenges stem from internal negligence and mismanagement rather than external sanctions. 'Resistance growing in power' Ayatollah Khamenei also addressed the martyrdom of prominent resistance leaders in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iran over the past year, including Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. While acknowledging the losses felt by the Resistance Front, the Leader emphasized that these setbacks do not signify weakness or decline. "Yes, these brothers were incredibly valuable individuals whose absence is undoubtedly a loss for us, there's no doubt about that," Ayatollah Khamenei stated. "But today, despite their absence, we are stronger in some areas compared to last year on this very day. In other areas, we are at least as strong as before, if not stronger." He added that the loss of prominent figures does not mean retreat or weakness if two key factors remain intact: Having ideals and striving toward those ideals. "If these two factors exist within a nation, then while the absence of such individuals may be a loss, it won't disrupt the overall movement forward," Ayatollah Khamenei said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran warns it is about to target Americans engaged in 'terror, sabotage' with sanctions, legal measures Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 1:35 AM A senior Iranian diplomat has announced plans by the country to impose sanctions and pursue legal actions against American individuals involved in terrorist activities, cyber sabotage, human rights violations, and other actions detrimental to Iranians and the Islamic Republic's national security. The initiative is being coordinated by the Foreign Ministry's Department of Legal and International Affairs, in collaboration with relevant agencies and the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi wrote in a post on X, former Twitter, on Tuesday. He emphasized that the effort was benefiting from existing legislation, such as the "Law on Countering Human Rights Violations and Adventurous and Terrorist Actions of the United States in the [West Asia] Region" and the "Law on Counteracting the Declaration of [Iran's] Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a 'Terrorist Organization' by the United States." The drive is aimed at drawing up a comprehensive list of American individuals involved in these hostile activities, the official noted. The objective, he said, is to sanction these individuals and initiate appropriate legal proceedings against them. The remarks came amid incessant adversarial measures on the part of the United States against Iranian entities and individuals. Also on Tuesday, it was reported that the US State Department's so-called "Rewards for Justice" program had recently offered a sum of up to $15 million for alleged information contributing to Washington's attempts at targeting the IRGC. The United States has designated the Corps as a "terrorist organization" amid the force's extensive successful efforts at ensnaring the individuals and busting the groups enlisted by the US and the Israeli regime, Washington's closest regional ally, that have been trying to sow insecurity and resort to sedition across the Islamic Republic. The designation that took place in 2019 also came in the face of the IRGC's instrumental role across several regional countries in fighting back and vanquishing foreign-backed Takfiri terrorist and militant outfits. Washington has been using the presence of these groups and their remnants as a means of trying to justify its bloated regional military presence and interference. Gharibabadi highlighted that the United States, with its extensive history of interfering in the internal affairs of countries worldwide, had periodically imposed sanctions on Iranian citizens under programs like the so-called "Rewards for Justice." He, however, added, "They (the Americans) seem to have forgotten that whenever there is talk of terror, sabotage, interference in internal affairs, threats, and sanctions, the name of the United States is prominently mentioned." The diplomat was referring to the US's assassinations of senior regional counterterrorism commanders, including Iran's former top anti-terror military official, General Qassem Soleimani, as well as high-ranking resistance officials, who used to lead the fight against Israeli terrorism and occupation throughout the region. His remarks also addressed Washington's de-listing of the anti-Iran terrorist cult of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), which is responsible for killing some 17,000 Iranian civilians and officials since the victory of the country's historic 1979 Islamic Revolution. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UAE Delegate Delivers Letter From Trump To Khamenei, Iran Says By RFE/RL's Radio Farda March 12, 2025 Iran said a delegation led by a senior Emirati figure has delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump to the Islamic republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei told the semiofficial ISNA news agency on March 12 that Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, had delivered the letter. Trump said last week that he had written to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proposing talks to reach a deal over Tehran's expanding nuclear program. "We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon," he said, adding that "something is going to happen very soon." "Hopefully we will have a peace deal," he said, apparently meaning a peaceful resolution of tension over Tehran's nuclear program. "I'm just saying I'd rather see a peace deal than the other. But the other will solve the problem." Khamenei has opposed talks direct talks with the Trump administration and said after the president's announcement last week that Tehran would not negotiate with "bullying governments." "Such negotiations aren't aimed at solving issues. Their aim is to exert their dominance and impose what they want," Khamenei said during a Ramadan speech on March 8. Without explicitly naming the US, he said "bullying governments" are not only focused on Iran's nuclear program but also "make new demands" targeting the Islamic republic's defensive capabilities and regional activities. "Negotiations are a means to impose new demands. Iran will definitely not fulfill these new demands," Khamenei said. The Iranian leader has accused Trump of being untrustworthy after US president withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted under its terms. After abrogating the accord in 2018, Trump welcomed an offer by Japan's then-prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to mediate and in 2019 asked the Japanese premier to deliver a letter to Khamenei. The Iranian leader rejected the letter, saying it was "not worthy" of a response. Russia, which is one of the signatories to the original nuclear deal, has expressed an interest in mediating talks between Tehran and Washington, though many have questioned whether Moscow can be an impartial broker. Referencing Moscow's talks with Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 12 said the Iranian nuclear program has been discussed and that Trump has made Tehran ending its support for its proxies a "precondition for a new nuclear deal." Meanwhile, China has announced that it will host a trilateral meeting with Iran and Russia on March 14 to "exchange views on the Iranian nuclear issue," among other topics. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uae-delegate-letter- trump-khamenei-iran/33345485.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Treasury Sanctions Swedish Gang and Leader Serving Iranian Regime U.S. Department of the Treasury March 12, 2025 WASHINGTON -- Today, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal organization (TCO) primarily based in Sweden that has trafficked illicit drugs and that carried out attacks on Israelis and Jews in Europe, along with its fugitive leader Rawa Majid. In January 2024, the Foxtrot Network orchestrated an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on behalf of the Government of Iran. "Iran's brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime's attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "Treasury, alongside our U.S. government and international partners, will continue to hold accountable those who seek to further Iran's thuggish and destabilizing agenda." Today's action builds on Treasury's continued implementation of National Security Presidential Memorandum-2, aimed at disrupting, degrading, and denying the Iranian regime's ability to sustain its criminal destabilizing activities. IRAN'S CONTINUED USE OF CRIMINALS AND OTHER PROXIES The Iranian regime, as part of its efforts to maintain plausible deniability for its external operations, has increasingly leveraged criminal networks as proxies to pursue its aims. It has targeted U.S. nationals and, in furtherance of its stated commitment to achieve the destruction of Israel, has planned terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets across Europe. Iranian government officials have also sought to assassinate Iranian dissidents through criminal networks, as evidenced by the operations of Iranian narcotics trafficker Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti, who was sanctioned by OFAC on January 29, 2024. TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OF THE FOXTROT NETWORK The Foxtrot Network is one of the most notorious criminal gangs based in Sweden and has conducted shootings, contract killings, assaults, and other forms of violence. The group is also one of the most prominent drug trafficking organizations in the region with a presence in other European countries. The Foxtrot Network has also trafficked arms and is one of the main contributors to rising violence in Sweden. It routinely uses teenagers to conduct attacks, such as in the Foxtrot Network's killing of a rival gang leader's mother. In January 2024, the Foxtrot Network orchestrated an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on behalf of Iran. Rawa Majid (Majid), who leads the gang, has specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). MOIS has been previously sanctioned by OFAC and the U.S. Department of State under multiple authorities. Majid is also the subject of numerous Swedish charges related to narcotics and firearms trafficking. OFAC is sanctioning the Foxtrot Network pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581, as amended by E.O. 13863, for being a foreign person that constitutes a significant TCO. OFAC is sanctioning Majid pursuant to E.O. 13581, as amended, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Foxtrot Network. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the designated 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 a general or specific license issued 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 designated or otherwise blocked persons. U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 13581, as amended. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. OFAC's Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC's enforcement of U.S. sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here. For more information on the individual and entity designated today, click here. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'I was there to try to kill the journalist,' gunman tells New York court By Liam Scott March 12, 2025 A self-described member of a Russian organized crime group told a court on Tuesday that he tried to kill the Iranian American journalist and VOA host Masih Alinejad in New York in 2022. Khalid Mehdiyev told jurors that he was arrested in July 2022 in his car in Brooklyn while in possession of an AK-47 rifle and a ski mask. The 27-year-old made the admission in testimony at a trial in New York of his associates Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, who are facing murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran was allegedly behind the plot, according to prosecutors. Amirov and Omarov, both from Azerbaijan, have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they face decades in prison. Media advocates say the case highlights how far the Iranian government will go to silence its critics. Iran's Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to VOA's email requesting comment. Prosecutors say Amirov, 45, and Omarov, 40, hired Mehdiyev to kill Alinejad, a vocal critic of Tehran's human rights abuses. She left Iran in 2009 and now lives in New York, where she is a host with Voice of America's Persian Service. During opening statements on Tuesday, federal prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig said Tehran offered to pay Amirov and Omarov $500,000 to plan Alinejad's murder. "The defendants were hired guns for the government of Iran," Gutwillig said. "Masih Alinejad was almost gunned down on the streets of New York City by a hitman sent by the defendants." In his testimony Tuesday, Mehdiyev said he observed Alinejad during a seven-day stakeout outside her home. He tracked when she watered her flowers and where and when she bought coffee, he said. "I was there to try to kill the journalist. I know her as Masih," Mehdiyev told jurors. Mehdiyev, who is Azerbaijani, said he is cooperating with prosecutors after pleading guilty to attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm. He faces at least 15 years in prison. Prosecutors told the court they would present "substantial electronic communications" documenting the plan found on Omarov's accounts and devices. Amirov's lawyer, Michael Martin, said the evidence was circumstantial, while Omarov's lawyer, Michael Perkins, said the evidence would not show that his client planned to kill Alinejad. Alinejad, 48, told VOA she could not comment while the trial is ongoing. In a Tuesday afternoon post on X, Alinejad said that while Mehdiyev was testifying, she was "overwhelmed with mixed emotions." "As a witness, I'm not allowed in the courtroom, so I'm sitting outside, reliving the moment when that man stood with a loaded gun in front of my home," Alinejad wrote in the post. Alinejad is scheduled to testify later in the trial, Gutwillig said. "Masih Alinejad inspires others in Iran and around the world to do the same thing. That is why they want to kill her. And you will hear all of that from Ms. Alinejad herself," he told the court. Alinejad has been targeted over her work for years. In 2018, Iranian officials allegedly offered to pay Alinejad's relatives in Iran to invite her to Turkey, with the apparent goal of then bringing her to Iran for imprisonment, according to court documents. The relatives refused. Then, in 2021, Iranian operatives were accused of planning to kidnap Alinejad. An indictment described a plan to bring her from New York to Venezuela, which has close ties with Iran. Tehran has previously called the abduction allegations "baseless." Iran ranks among the worst countries in the world in terms of press freedom, according to rights groups. The country is also among the top perpetrators of transnational repression. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Rubio's Call with Kazakhstan Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister Nurtleu US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson March 12, 2025 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Tammy Bruce: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Kazakhstan Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu to emphasize the U.S. commitment to Kazakhstan's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and a closer bilateral relationship. Secretary Rubio and Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister Nurtleu highlighted the U.S. Enhanced Strategic Partnership with Kazakhstan and noted Kazakhstan's commitment to promoting economic diversification and transparency. The United States looks forward to working with Kazakhstan to deepen economic ties in the energy, telecommunications, and critical minerals sectors. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar's junta targets displaced people returning to embattled Rakhine state People believe that the Arakan Army will protect them from the military if they can make it home. By RFA Burmese 2025.03.12 -- In just over a year of fighting, Myanmar's ethnic Arakan Army has captured 14 of Rakhine state's 17 townships, defeating the military in battle after battle in a stunning advance. Amid the rapidly changing situation in the western state, residents displaced by the conflict have begun to return home, bolstered by the belief that the Arakan Army, or AA, would offer them protection from the military, which seized control of Myanmar in a February 2021 coup d'etat. Such was the case for a dozen persons displaced from Rakhine's capital Sittwe and Gwa township, who secretly attempted to cross the Rakhine Yoma mountain range on the night of March 8 via motorbike taxis from neighboring Ayeyarwady region's Thabaung township, where they had sheltered during the fighting. The displaced individuals, who included some children as young as 1 year old, had hoped to evade scrutiny during the journey. But they were stopped by a joint force of junta troops and police officers at a logging camp near Ayeyarwady's Ma Yan Cho village and "subjected to a suspicious inspection," said a resident of Thabaung who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. "All of the Rakhine residents ... were arrested," he told RFA Burmese. "They were then transported by car, their hands tied behind their backs with ropes, and taken to a pagoda compound." The resident said that in addition to the dozen people, junta forces also arrested the four motorbike taxi drivers from Thabaung who had agreed to take them across the border. After being arrested, he said, at least one of them was able to escape from the vehicle they were transported in, while the other 11 remain in custody reportedly at the Yegyi Township Police Station in Ayeyarwady. Steep fees to return RFA spoke to family members of the displaced from Rakhine's Thandwe and Gwa townships who, since last month, have tried to return home from sheltering in Ayeyarwady's Yegyi, Thabaung and Kyonpyaw townships. They said that their loved ones had paid 350,000-400,000 kyats (US$165-190) per person a massive fee for any Burmese citizen, let alone those who have been forced to flee with only the clothes on their backs to rent motorbike taxis to make the journey via jungle roads to evade junta checkpoints. Junta forces have taken note and begun arresting internally displaced persons, or IDPs, looking to return to their home state. From February up to the second week of March, at least 26 IDPs were arrested near the foothills of the Rakhine Yoma while returning home from Yegyi and Kyonpyaw townships, a person with knowledge of the situation told RFA. "Junta forces arrested them on their way back home," said the source, who also declined to be named. "One group of 20 IDPs and another group of six IDPs were arrested in recent days ... on the way near [Ayeyarwady's] Nga Thaing Chaung township." The arrested IDPs included children under 18 and adults in their 50s, he said, and are being held by the Yegyi township police. Accused of terrorism A displaced person from Rakhine who is sheltering in Yegyi township told RFA that there were "nearly 100 people held in police custody in Yegyi and Nga Thaing Chaung who had tried to return home to Rakhine, none of whom have been charged with a crime. "The arrested IDPs are being held within the police station compound, where they have to prepare their own meals," he said. "They have not been formally charged. Both children and adults are being detained in overcrowded conditions." After losing control of more than half of Rakhine state's townships, the junta enacted a ban on the transportation of fuel and food products there in a bid to stem the flow of supplies to the AA. At least some who have been arrested as they attempted to return to Rakhine state have been charged under Myanmar's Counter-Terrorism Law, accused of having connections with the AA. Additionally, sources told RFA, they face charges for violating the ban on transporting food into Rakhine. Attempts by RFA to contact Khin Maung Kyi, the junta's spokesperson for Ayeyarwady region and minister of social affairs, for comment on the series of IDP arrests went unanswered Wednesday. About 500,000 people in Rakhine state have been displaced by fighting between junta forces and the AA since hostilities began, and aid workers say they face severe hardships in the places where they have taken shelter, including a lack of access to food and medicine. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese envoy discusses election with Myanmar junta chief Myanmar and China hope the election can help end the civil war but critics say it will be a "sham". By RFA Burmese 2025.03.12 -- A Chinese envoy has met Myanmar's junta chief to discuss help for an election that the military aims to hold by January, days after the Myanmar leader secured a promise of support for the vote from its other main foreign backer, Russia. Myanmar's ruling military has been shunned by most Western countries since it overthrew an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 but China and Russia have maintained close economic and military ties, and both have promised support for an election that the embattled junta will be hoping can bolster its legitimacy. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Envoy Deng Xijun and Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing met in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday and discussed the junta's overarching plan for the future, what it calls its "five-pont roadmap", and "preparation to hold an election", the junta's Ministry of Information said in a statement. China has extensive economic interests in its southern neighbor, including energy pipelines from the Indian Ocean and rare earth mines, and it is hoping that an election will help end the civil war that erupted in Myanmar after the military's 2021 coup. The junta will also be hoping that an election will ease international isolation and sanctions and bolster its legitimacy by showing a commitment to a democratic process, despite widespread skepticism about the fairness of a vote under military rule, analysts say. On March 7, while on a visit to Russia and Belarus, Min Aung Hlaing announced that the elections would be held by January next year. One Myanmar political analyst said China was expected to provide Myanmar with an electronic voting system and other support for the polls, which would be a significant help. "They can prepare really well," said the analyst, who declined to be identified as talking to foreign media. China's embassy in Myanmar has not released any information about help for the election and it did not respond to inquiries from RFA. Russia, which has recently discussed investing in a deep sea port in southern Myanmar, also promised Min Aung Hlaing help with election observers as did Belarus. India has also promised help, as have some of Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors. But there are huge doubts about an election in a country where the vote can probably only be organized in less than half of the constituencies because of armed opposition from pro-democracy and ethnic minority insurgents. Opponents of the junta say any vote under the military while the most popular politicians are locked up and their parties are banned would be a "sham." Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday the plan for an election was "farcical." "Myanmar's citizens would head to the polls under a junta that has been committing numerous atrocities since the military took power," the group's deputy Asia director, Bryony Lau, said in a statement. "Widespread repression, including the arbitrary detention of opposition politicians and the dissolution of their political parties, has created a climate of fear that makes free and fair elections impossible." Suu Kyi's party swept Myanmar's last election in late 2020 but the military complained of voter fraud, staged a coup, declared a state of emergency and locked up Suu Kyi and many others. Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Belarus last week that 53 political parties had registered to take part in the election. But Suu Kyi's party has been disqualified under the military's registration rules as have scores of parties with suspected political sympathies or ideological links to rebel groups. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. Copyright 1998-2025, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistani forces rescue 155 train passengers taken hostage by militants IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Pakistani forces have rescued 155 passengers who were taken hostage after militants took over a train in southwest Pakistan, while the militants still hold others. The Jaffar Express train was en route from southwestern Balochistan province to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when militants opened fire on it, officials said on Tuesday. The train reportedly carried more than 400 passengers, including women and children. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to begin executing the hostages unless Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing persons it claimed had been abducted by the military were released within 48 hours. Reuters cited security sources as saying that 27 militants had been killed so far. At least 10 passengers, including the train driver, have been killed as well, the sources said. The government said on Wednesday that a security operation was under way to free the other hostages, without specifying the exact number. They described their continuing efforts as a "complex operation." 4354**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Security sources: 155 hostages freed, 27 militants killed in Pakistan train siege Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 9:06 AM Pakistani security forces say they have freed 155 hostages and killed 27 militants, as operations to rescue passengers of a train siege in the country's southwestern Balochistan province continue for the second consecutive day. Security forces said they have freed 155 hostages from around 450 passengers, including women and children, adding that the operation for the release of the remaining passengers is underway. According to security sources, the militants have positioned bombers right next to innocent hostage passengers, which has made them carry out the rescue operation with utmost caution. On Tuesday, gunmen attacked the Jaffar Express carrying around 450 passengers in nine bogies, which was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. The gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train. The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant group which is seeking independence from Islamabad's control. At least three people, including the train driver, were killed in the assault. Balochistan, a resource-rich but long-neglected province, has been at the center of violence led by separatist groups, particularly the BLA, and other Takfiri terrorist groups. The group claims that Islamabad exploits the province's natural resources, such as gold and copper while neglecting the local population. Energy projects, especially those involving Chinese investments, have been key targets of BLA attacks, as the group claims that foreign powers and Pakistan's central government are looting the region's resources without benefiting its people. Pakistan saw a sharp rise in terrorist attacks last year, making it the deadliest year in a decade, with at least 1,500 people killed in violence across the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fate Of More Than 100 Pakistani Train Hostages Unknown Amid Contradictory Claims By Abubakar Siddique March 12, 2025 Pakistani military sources claim to have "neutralized" the militants responsible for hijacking a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan with more than 400 people on board but doubts persists amid the lack of independent verification and counterclaims by the fighters. Late on March 12, military sources told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that it had killed at least 32 militants in and around the hijacked train in Bolan, a rural district some 160 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital of the restive province of Balochistan. The sources said 18 soldiers were killed in the fighting. But the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist organization that accepted responsibility for hijacking the Jaffar Express on March 11, claimed its militants were still engaged in fighting and holding more than 100 hostages. The BLA said its fighters had killed more than 50 hostages. With more than 400 passengers on board, the Jaffar Express was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province when it was stopped by militants who blew up the train tracks. The bold attack represented the first time the BLA had hijacked a train, a sign it is escalating its fight with Islamabad. The BLA, designated as terrorists by the United States, has warned that it will kill the remaining 150 hostages if Islamabad fails to respond to its prisoner exchange offer within the next day. RFE/RL could not independently verify claims by Pakistani authorities and the separatist militants in the sparsely populated region that is inaccessible to journalists. The AFP news agency quoted an unnamed military official who claimed that all the hostages were freed. The official told the news outlet that 28 soldiers were killed in the siege, adding that"346 hostages were freed, and over 30 terrorists were killed during the operation," the officer said. Earlier, Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, called the attack an "act of terrorism." He said helicopters were supporting security forces in countering the militants in the remote mountainous region. On March 11, the BLA said it freed up to 150 people, including women, children, the elderly, and members of the minority Baluch ethnic group. A passenger on the train told RFE/RL via telephone that the security forces had launched ground and air operations against the armed group while the militants were using weapons and rockets in response. Muhammad Kashif, a spokesman for the Balochistan Regional Railways Department, told RFE/RL that the train had a total of nine carriages and was attacked as it passed through a tunnel in the remote, mountainous area. The train came to a stop after the attack and remained inside the tunnel, Kashif said, estimating the train had been carrying 400-500 passengers. "This is a significant escalation and indicates more violence in the future," said Imtiaz Baloch, an analyst covering Balochistan for Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Balochistan, a vast and resource-rich province, has been plagued by insurgency for over two decades. The BLA and allied Baluch separatist groups seek independence from Islamabad. Baluch nationalists blame Pakistan for committing grave rights abuses while countering the separatists. They criticize Islamabad for exploiting its vast natural resources without benefiting the locals. Islamabad has outlawed the BLA and other separatist groups for their violent attacks on security forces and civilians. Balochistan's regional government has been accused of pursuing hard-line state policies, including forced disappearances, political engineering, and election rigging, which has resulted in bad governance in the marginalized province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. The province has been a recipient of Chinese investments in energy and infrastructure. Since the turn of the century, Beijing has sought to develop Balochistan's Gwadar port as a lynchpin of its efforts to create a new trade route with the Middle East. The BLA has been ramping up attacks during the past few years and has adopted suicide bombings as a lethal tactic to target Pakistani security forces and Chinese personnel. In November, the BLA carried out a suicide bombing at a Quetta train station, killing 26 people, including military personnel, railway workers, and passengers. With reporting by AP, AFP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-balochistan- liberation-army-attacks-train-hostages/33344025.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the Business Council meeting, Moscow, March 12, 2025 12 March 2025 15:26 392-12-03-2025 Colleagues, I am delighted to welcome you at a regular meeting of the Business Council under the Foreign Minister. We regularly meet in this format, discussing current issues at the junction of foreign policy and the economy, including international and domestic economy, which are interconnected. A regular and substantive exchange of views and coordinated efforts are especially important at this stage of historical development, where a hybrid and, to a degree, real war is being waged against Russia and attempts are being made to turn back the historical process of the development of a multipolar world. Restrictions, sanctions and other methods of unfair competition are being used in the economy, with disruptions in the value chain, the growth of artificially created debts and the fragmentation of the legal and regulatory environment. The governments of Western countries are taking advantage of their monopoly at international financial and other global governance institutions, undermining the principles which they promoted for decades, in particular, for the past 30 or 40 years, as universal and indispensable for the harmonious development of all countries without exception on the basis of a reasonable division of labour, the protection of property and the presumption of innocence. All this has been discarded when they set to work to play Ukraine against the Russian Federation in a bid to get a desired geopolitical effect. Despite the negative trends that are impossible to gloss over, the consequences of that short-sighted and improvident Western policy cannot rule out the fact of the consistent and unfaltering shift of the global development centre from the Euro-Atlantic to the Asian-Pacific region, and on a broader scale, to the Global East and South which account for the better part of global economic growth. These statistics are clear evidence of the historical process and trend. We see the development of the new centres of attraction for trade and investment, as well as alternative business models, and the fading of the Western concepts that do not align with the new realities. Trust in these concepts, which looked inviolable only recently, has been undermined through the West's actions. The Russian economic operators, which have been working under pressure, have demonstrated readiness and ability to successfully work in international markets despite these challenges. Many of them are confidently working in the new fields of cooperation with international partners. A number of ambitious projects are being implemented in various spheres of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as well as within the framework of integration formats. The Foreign Ministry considers providing political and diplomatic support to domestic businesses in foreign markets one of its key priorities. We believe it is fundamentally important to work together with the Government's economic agencies and Russian companies to defend the sovereignty of the Russian Federation while steadily strengthening constructive engagement with a broad range of interested countries across the Global Majority. We have no doubt that, sooner or later, a pragmatic approach to fostering fair and mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia will prevail - even in those countries whose governments currently pursue unfriendly, or to put it bluntly, openly hostile policies toward us. In fact, the first signs of such a shift can already be observed in some of them. However, we cannot afford to rely on the goodwill of our current adversaries, who have openly declared their goal of inflicting a "strategic defeat" on Russia. Our position is based on principle. First, experience has taught us not to trust Western promises but to judge solely by concrete actions. Second, recent years have reinforced a crucial lesson: we must never again allow key sectors of our economy, finance and technology to be dependent on the whims of Western suppliers. In the most critical areas - those ensuring our military, food and economic security - Russia must be self-sufficient. Naturally, this also involves working closely with our strategic partners and allies. I am confident that leading Russian companies will play a substantial role in shaping a new paradigm of international economic relations and in establishing stable cooperation mechanisms with foreign partners - without unilateral concessions and without compromising our long-term national development goals or, in the broadest sense, our sovereignty. Today, we have an excellent opportunity to discuss, in practical terms, possible forms of cooperation and concrete steps we can take in this direction. It is essential for us to understand the real needs of Russia's business community and to identify areas where joint efforts will create added value and bring tangible benefits to both the state and its citizens. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Foreign Office protests Russia's campaign of harassment against British diplomats. 12 March 2025 During the past twelve months, Russia has pursued an increasingly aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats, pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work. Russia's expulsion this week of a British diplomat and diplomatic spouse is yet another escalation. The accusations made against these individuals are entirely false, fabricated in order to justify their increasing harassment of UK diplomats. It is clear that the Russian state is actively seeking to drive the British Embassy in Moscow towards closure and has no regard for the dangerous escalatory impact of this. Summoning the Russian Ambassador today, a senior Foreign Office official made clear that the UK will not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families. Consequently, we are taking immediate reciprocal action, revoking accreditation for a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse. We do not take this decision lightly, but we have always made clear to Russia that if they escalate, we will take reciprocal action. The depths to which Russia sinks can only be met through strength. Despite the extremely difficult bilateral relations caused by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and long-running campaign of hostile action against the UK, the UK Government believes that maintaining diplomatic channels of communication, and our respective diplomatic missions, is important. It is deeply disappointing that this is continually made more difficult by unprovoked action from Russia. We have drawn a line under this incident and demand Russia do the same. Any further action taken by Russia will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly. Court rejects Russian oligarch's challenge to US efforts to confiscate yacht By Matthew Kupfer March 12, 2025 A federal court in New York has rejected a Russian businessman's challenge to the U.S. government's efforts to confiscate a luxury superyacht that allegedly belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov. The decision brings the United States closer to taking ownership of the yacht known as Amadea through a legal procedure known as civil forfeiture. The ruling likely represents the biggest victory so far in plans started under former President Joe Biden's administration to seize assets of sanctioned Russian tycoons and use them to support Ukraine's war effort. On March 10, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Russian businessman Eduard Khudainatov did not have standing to challenge forfeiture of the yacht because he was not its owner. And because no one else has claimed ownership, the U.S. Department of Justice will now pursue a judgment of forfeiture by default. Khudainatov's legal team plans to appeal the decision. "The ruling is both legally and factually flawed, and we are confident it will not withstand appellate review," Adam Ford, a lawyer representing Khudainatov and his company, said in a statement. The DOJ declined to comment on the ruling. U.S. prosecutors believe the 106-meter elite superyacht that is valued at over $230 million belongs to Kerimov, a senator, businessman and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court also concluded in legal documents that the evidence suggests that after September 2021, Kerimov or his family exercised ownership of the vessel. In 2018, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Kerimov. The government later alleged he or people acting on his behalf made payments for repairs and upkeep of the yacht that passed through the U.S financial system a violation of those sanctions. U.S. law enforcement seized the Amadea in 2022. But the following year, Khudainatov, who is not under U.S. sanctions, claimed ownership interest, setting the stage for a legal battle that continues today. The outcome of the case will be important not only for the true owner and Ukraine but also for American citizens. As VOA reported in May 2024, U.S. taxpayers have spent more than $740,000 a month on the yacht's maintenance. Last December, The Washington Post reported that servicing the yacht had cost the country roughly $30 million. The court previously denied the DOJ permission to sell the yacht and convert it into cash, a move that would save the government money. Battle for Amadea In May 2022, a few months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the island nation of Fiji seized the Amadea at the United States' request. It was later transferred to U.S. law enforcement. The seizure appeared to be a major victory for Task Force KleptoCapture, a DOJ unit established by the Biden administration to enforce sanctions on Russian oligarchs. But that victory turned out to be elusive. Civil forfeiture allows law enforcement to seize assets frequently drugs, cash, automobiles and houses that have been used in or resulted from the commission of a crime. The legal procedure's main advantage is that it does not require a criminal or civil judgment against the property's owner. But in the case of the Amadea, if Khudainatov is the yacht's owner, then financial transactions made through the U.S. to service the yacht do not violate the sanctions order. The DOJ considers Khudainatov a "straw owner" and alleges that he is the beneficiary owner of at least eight yachts and yacht projects a fleet worth over $1 billion. Prosecutors say that stretches far beyond his financial means, and that the yachts belong to other people. For example, the DOJ claims that Igor Sechin, the sanctioned CEO of Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft, owns one of them. Journalists have tied the Scheherazade, another superyacht from this fleet, to Putin. In May 2022, it was seized in Italy. But proving that the Amadea belongs to Kerimov has been a challenge for the DOJ. Prosecutors alleged that the yacht's ownership was hidden behind several companies. They asserted that documents and testimony discovered during the DOJ's investigation confirmed it was controlled by Kerimov. Khudainatov's legal team argued that U.S. law enforcement conducted a hasty, partial investigation before seizing the yacht. They alleged that the DOJ also pressured yacht personnel and witnesses to provide the testimony it wanted and selectively presented evidence to support its version of the story. Among the evidence that Khudainatov's legal team submitted is a sworn statement by Kerimov's daughter Gulnara, claiming to have chartered the Amadea for a trip in early 2022 with her children, brothers and sisters, and their nannies and bodyguards. But she stated that her parents were not present on the yacht, and that she never owned it. The U.S. government "resorted to desperate, strong-arm tactics to get the statements that fit their false narrative," lawyer Ford said in a statement last month. "The government simply fabricated the allegations that Kerimov purchased the Amadea. It is owned by Mr. Khudainatov and always has been." Next steps Stefan Cassella, a former federal prosecutor and expert on civil forfeiture, does not expect the case to be over anytime soon. A month before the ruling on Khudainatov's status, he told VOA that the standard strategy for resisting forfeiture typically consists of dragging out the proceedings for as long as possible to increase the costs for the government. Cassella expected Khudainatov to appeal any ruling, a process he thought would take at least a year. "Civil forfeiture is often mistaken to be a streamlined process," Cassella said. "It is not. It is saturated with due process and it should be." Additionally, DOJ priorities have changed since the start of the case. On Feb. 5, Pam Bondi took office as the new U.S. attorney general. That same day, she sent a memorandum stating that the DOJ's new priority would be the "total elimination" of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations. In the same document, she announced the dissolution of the KleptoCapture task force, the anti-kleptocracy team and the kleptocracy asset recovery initiative. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the recent wave of violence European Council / Council of the European Union Council of the EU Statements and remarks 11 March 2025 22:18 The European Union is gravely alarmed by the widespread violence in Syria's coastal region over the last days, which has caused a high number of victims, including many civilians. We strongly condemn the attacks by pro-Assad militias against security forces. We also condemn in the strongest terms the horrific crimes committed against civilians, including summary killings, many of which have been allegedly perpetrated by armed groups supporting the security forces of the transitional authorities. We welcome the commitments made by the transitional authorities, and in particular the establishment of an investigative committee, in order to hold the perpetrators accountable in line with international law norms and standards. The EU calls for a swift, transparent and impartial investigation to be conducted to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. We call on the transitional authorities to allow the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to investigate all violations. Everything must be done to prevent any such crimes from happening again. The EU continues to call for an end to violence across Syria, and urges all parties to protect Syrians from all religious and ethnic backgrounds without discrimination; it also calls for the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, and respect of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in all circumstances. We also warn against the rampant manipulation of information, including by foreign actors, to stir further violence and instability. The EU welcomes the agreement reached on 10 March between the transitional authorities and the SDF. This agreement could pave the way for increased stability and a better future for many Syrians. We encourage the parties to work on implementation and we stand ready to support. The National Dialogue, which started in the end of February, should be instrumental to ensure that the transition delivers on the aspirations of all the components of Syrian society. Comprehensive transitional justice in particular is essential on the path to reconciliation and to building a peaceful Syria and an inclusive political transition. The EU recalls its recent suspension of restrictive measures as part of a gradual, reversible approach. The EU will continue to examine possible further sanctions suspensions on the basis of close monitoring of the situation in the country. The EU once again calls for the full respect of Syria's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. The EU is committed to supporting a peaceful and inclusive transition, away from malign foreign interference, which guarantees the rights of all Syrians without distinction of any kind. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address OIC General Secretariat Welcomes the Agreement to Integrate all Syrian State Institutions Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 11-03-2025 The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed "the agreement to integrate all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria into Syrian state institutions." The agreement was signed on Monday evening, March 10, 2025, between President Ahmad al-Shara'a, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, and Mr. Madhloum Abdi, Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The OIC General Secretariat affirmed that the agreement is a step forward in preserving the unity and sovereignty of Syria and in moving forward towards building Syrian state institutions and achieving the aspirations of all the Syrian people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Agreement between the Syrian Interim Authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces US Department of State Press Statement Marco Rubio, Secretary of State March 11, 2025 The United States welcomes the recently announced agreement between the Syrian interim authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the northeast into a unified Syria. The United States reaffirms its support for a political transition that demonstrates credible, non-sectarian governance as the best path to avoid further conflict. We will continue to watch the decisions made by the interim authorities, noting with concern the recent deadly violence against minorities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU invites Syria's HTS regime to Brussels after slaughter of Alawites Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 9:04 AM The European Commission has invited Syria's Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration to an official conference in Brussels after the slaughter of hundreds of Alawites in the country's west. Anitta Hipper, the European Commission spokesperson, revealed at a daily press briefing that "an invite was sent" to HTS foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani to attend the donor conference for Syria's new rulers on March 17. Titled 'Standing with Syria: Meeting the Needs for a Successful Transition', the donor conference - which the EU has been organizing annually since 2017 - is set to be the first held since the ouster of the Assad administration in December. Hipper said the conference presents a "very important occasion" to engage with the new Syrian rulers. HTS-led forces have over the past weeks perpetrated a vast array of massacres against minorities, especially Alawites, in the country's northwestern coastal region. More than 1,540 people, the majority of them civilians, have been killed so far in the violence in the provinces of Tartus, Latakia, Hama and Homs, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). In harsh rebuke of the massacres by HTS-led forces, human rights groups as well as the international community have called for an immediate halt to ethnic cleansing and sectarian-based atrocities in Syria. They have also called for the establishment of an independent international investigation committee under the UN's direct oversight. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday stopped short of condemning the killings and defended the deeds of HTS militants. "It is very, very early to tell whether this goes to the right direction. The first signals are good, but we are not rushing into any kind of arrangements yet, if we don't have certainty," she said. Kallas only expressed concern about the risks of sectarian violence in Syria and a resurgence of extremism in the Arab country Earlier in the month, the United Kingdom announced the removal of 24 Syrian entities from the sanctions it had imposed during the Assad government. The European Union also suspended sanctions imposed on Syria, including the energy, transportation, and financial institutions sectors that were essential for financial stability in the country. Violence has surged in Syria under the HTS rule, with hundreds of kidnappings and extra-judicial killings reported since the fall of Assad's government on December 8, 2024. Most of the victims who were abducted or killed across Syria are members of the Alawite minority religious group, as acts of revenge continue in the Arab country. The HTS had repeatedly claimed it would respect the rights of all sects and religions in Syria, but it was dramatically debunked last week after the rampant massacre of Syrian Alawites by its cadres. Noticeably, the HTS regime in Damascus is not directing its efforts against Israeli occupation forces just 20 kilometers from the capital. Instead, its most keen target is Syria's Alawite minority community, which faces abductions - sometimes in batches of five or 10 per day - executions, home invasions, and even forced humiliation, such as being ordered to bark like dogs. While the HTS administration claims its killing operations target "remnants of the old regime," the military crackdown on Alawites that started in early March quickly has descended into open massacres of civilians. According to SOHR, at least 973 Alawite civilians were slaughtered on March 10 alone. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister: Israeli troops to stay in Syrian territory indefinitely Iran Press TV Wednesday, 12 March 2025 7:44 AM The Israeli minister of military affairs says the regime's troops, who seized a "buffer zone" inside the strategic occupied Golan Heights after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, will stay there indefinitely. Israel continues to occupy Syrian territories beyond the Golan Heights, notably the Syrian side of Mount Hermon just 20 kilometers from Damascus, which it captured days after the dramatic fall of the capital to the former leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, Abu Mohammed al-Julani. "Every morning when al-Julani opens his eyes at the presidential palace in Damascus, he will see the Israeli forces watching him from the peak of the Hermon, and remember that we are here and in the entire security area of southern Syria, to protect the Golan and Galilee residents against any of his threats and those of his ... friends," Israel Katz said during a visit to a new Israeli military outpost on the mountain on Tuesday. Mount Hermon, known as Jabal al-Shaykh in Arabic, is a huge cluster of snowcapped mountain peaks towering above the Syria-Lebanon border. It overlooks the Damascus countryside as well as the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. Katz also said the Israeli military "is prepared to stay in Syria for an unlimited amount of time." "We will hold the security area in Hermon and make sure that all the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarized and clear of weapons and threats," he said. The remarks came hours after Israeli warplanes carried out a series of strikes on former Syrian army barracks and outposts near the capital Damascus and in southern Dara'a province. "Last night we acted forcefully against military targets. We attacked over 40 targets in southern Syria to implement the policy we announced and warned about to thwart any threat to Israel," Katz added. Syrian security sources said at least six aerial raids hit a military position belonging to the former Syrian army's Artillery Regiment 89 on the surroundings of Jabab town in the north of Dara'a. At least another eight struck the 12th Brigade base in the city of Izraa. There were no immediate reports available on possible casualties or the extent of damage caused. Israeli military forces captured the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights hours after armed groups took control of the Syrian capital of Damascus on December 8, 2024. Since then, the Israeli military has been launching airstrikes against military installations, facilities, and arsenals belonging to Syria's now-defunct army. Israel has been widely and vehemently condemned over termination of the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and exploiting the chaos in the Arab nation in the wake of Assad's downfall to make a land grab. The buffer zone in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was created by the United Nations after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Raising Taiwan's defense spending to 10% of GDP 'impossible': Premier ROC Central News Agency 03/12/2025 02:15 PM Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Premier Cho Jung-tai () told lawmakers on Wednesday that Taiwan's government "does not have the capacity" to spend 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) annually on national defense. "It is impossible [for the government] to allocate more than NT$2 trillion (US$60.73 billion) for defense spending, given the current central government's budget scale," Cho said at the Legislature. Taiwan's central government budgets for both 2024 and 2025 are nearly NT$3 trillion, with social welfare spending the largest expenditures. The premier was responding to questions from Kuomintang legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi () about how the government would react if the United States urged Taiwan to increase its defense budget to 10 percent of GDP. Fu said 10 percent would be NT$2.68 trillion, based on a government 2025 GDP estimate of NT$26.88 trillion. U.S. President Donald Trump had previously touched upon the issue during his presidential campaign, calling on Taiwan to raise its defense spending to as much as 10 percent. The calls were renewed earlier this month by Trump's pick for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby in a Senate hearing. Trump "has made the same demand [for defense budget increases] not only of Taiwan but also of many other countries," Cho said. "Currently, the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) does not have the capability to allocate a defense budget of NT$2.6 trillion," he said, adding that the budget would be determined based on the country's financial capacity and military needs. Taiwan's Cabinet had earmarked NT$647 billion for defense spending in 2025, equal to 2.45 percent of GDP, some of which was later cut or frozen by the opposition-controlled Legislature. President Lai Ching-te () later pledged to propose a special budget to raise defense spending to over 3 percent of GDP, though that, too, would require legislative approval. On Wednesday, Cho denied claims made by former legislator Kuo Cheng-liang () in a recent political talk show that Washington had urged Taipei to extend compulsory military service from the current one year to two. There were no such discussions in the government or requests from the U.S., Cho said, stressing that "the status quo remains unchanged." (By Liu Kuan-ting and Teng Pei-ju) Enditem/ASG NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indigenous jet trainer delivery delay due to sourced parts: MND ROC Central News Agency 03/12/2025 12:42 PM Taipei, March 12 (CNA) The delay in the delivery of a batch of domestically made trainer jets to the Air Force is due to problems with "external procurement components and systems," Taiwan's military said in a report sent to lawmakers for review on Wednesday. The military's top research unit, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST) and government-funded Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) are now replacing some of the parts ordered externally with components made in Taiwan, the report said. The report was issued to explain to lawmakers why AIDC had only delivered 43 of the 66 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers (AJT) to the Air Force by the end of February instead of the 47 contracted. It said AIDC told NCSIST that delivery of the planes was behind schedule primarily because of delays in the shipment of seven "externally bought systems and parts." The seven parts and systems consist of engines, environmental control systems, canopy protection systems, landing gear, hydraulic tanks, air door actuators, and emergency shut-off valves, the MND said. AIDC and the NCSIST are now replacing three of the seven -- the hydraulic tanks, air door actuators, and emergency shut-off valves -- with domestically made ones in order to catch up with the delivery schedule. On the other four systems, AIDC is working with suppliers to have them expedite their shipments, the MND said. The Republic of China (ROC) Air Force started to receive the domestically made trainers from AIDC in 2021 to replace its aging AT-3 jet trainers. Aside from the 47 planes to be delivered by the end of February, the remaining aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2026. (By Wu Shu-wei and Joseph Yeh) Enditem/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson on insights Sun Yat-sen left for current cross-Straits relations Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 12, 2025 01:45 PM March 12, 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of renowned Chinese revolutionary and statesman Sun Yat-sen. In his final political testament to the Chinese people, he left the words: "Peace, struggle, and save China." In response to a media inquiry on what insights these words offer for the current cross-Straits relations and China's development, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Sun was a great national hero, great patriot, and great forerunner of China's democratic revolution. Throughout his life, he pursued national unity and the revitalization of China, earning the admiration of all Chinese people. Relevant commemorative activities will be held in places such as Beijing, Jiangsu, and Guangdong, as well as by related democratic parties and organizations, Chen noted. Given the current complex and severe situation in the Taiwan Straits, we hope that our fellow compatriots in Taiwan will join us in carrying forward Sun's legacy, resolutely opposing "Taiwan independence" separatism and external interference, promoting the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and working together toward national reunification and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, said Chen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address It is natural for Taiwan celebrities to express recognition of 'Taiwan, Province of China': spokesperson Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 12, 2025 01:34 PM Recently, many celebrities from Taiwan island have reposted "Taiwan, Province of China" on Weibo while Taiwan's so-called "mainland affairs council" has labeled this as a "united front tool" from the mainland and claimed that they will examine the actions, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory. Taiwan has never been a country. It is entirely natural for a wide range of Taiwan people, including entertainers, to express their recognition of the country and their opposition to "Taiwan independence" separatism. This is a reflection of national righteousness. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities frequently resort to threats, intimidation, and retaliation, attempting to restrict or deprive Taiwan compatriots of their freedom of thought and speech, fully exposing the hypocrisy of the DPP authorities' so-called "democracy and freedom," Chen said. The only reference to the Taiwan region in the UN is "Taiwan, Province of China," Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference on China's foreign policy and external relations on March 7 in Beijing on the sidelines of the two sessions. On Chinese social media, the Foreign Minister's statement had topped the trending list. A number of Taiwan-based celebrities including Angela Zhang, Mark Chao and Patty Hou have reposted relevant posts on Weibo affirming that the only designation for Taiwan is "China's Taiwan Province," that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory, and that there is only one China. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson refutes DPP authorities' hype over mainland defense budget Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 12, 2025 12:11 PM In response to a media inquiry about the Chinese mainland's defense budget increasing by 7.2 percent this year, while Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" claimed it hoped the mainland would exercise "rational restraint" and refrain from "military provocations," Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday that the DPP authorities continuously hype up the so-called military threat from the mainland while currying favor with external forces that exploit Taiwan. It is self-evident who is truly undermining cross-Straits peace and fueling tensions in the Taiwan Straits. Chen said that the mainland's annual defense budget is formulated in accordance with laws. The mainland's defense spending is transparent, reasonable and moderate - driven solely by the need to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as to uphold world peace. Meanwhile, the DPP authorities persist in "seeking independence by relying on foreign support" and "pursuing independence by military means," yet turn a blind eye to the voices within the island calling for improved livelihoods and peace. It is self-evident who is truly undermining cross-Straits peace and fueling tensions in the Taiwan Straits, Chen said. Chen said that the DPP authorities deliberately exaggerate tensions and incite cross-Straits confrontation as a means to divert attention from mounting domestic criticism over their reckless actions, including their bottomless concessions to external forces and their willingness to pay so-called "protection fees." No matter how much the DPP authorities try to distort reality or shift the narrative, they cannot change their essence of serving US interests at Taiwan's expense nor conceal their weakness. "Taiwan independence" is a dead end, and reunification is inevitable. No matter how much the DPP authorities increase their military budget or how much "protection money" they paid, it cannot alter the reality that "armed resistance against reunification is a road to dead end." Nor can it stop the historical trend of national reunification, said Chen. Chen also refuted the nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby's recent claim on that Taiwan's "military budget" should be closer to 10 percent of its GDP. Chen said that the Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China and brooks no foreign interference. We firmly oppose any form of military ties between the US and Taiwan island and demand that the US strictly adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques. The US must stop arming Taiwan and cease encouraging "Taiwan independence" forces in their attempts to seek independence through military means, said Chen. "We also sternly warn the DPP authorities those who willingly serve as pawns of external forces will ultimately be abandoned as discarded pieces," said Chen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan Affairs Office slams US for claiming to 'support Taiwan' while taking actions that harm the island Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 12, 2025 02:15 PM In response to a US official's remarks that "everything the US does in Taiwan is to make Taiwan stronger, safer, and more prosperous" and can build a "supply chain in areas such as drones and robotics," Chen Binhua, a spokesperson of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, slammed the US for talk about "supporting Taiwan," but their actions only "harm and destroy the island." Chen said pressuring TSMC to invest up to $100 billion in the US to build the world's largest chip industry raises the question of whether this strengthens Taiwan or merely serves US interests. As TSMC increasingly became "USMC," the spokesperson questioned how much Taiwan's industrial edge and economic vitality would be left. He criticized US efforts to turn Taiwan into a "porcupine," warning that these actions would turn the island into a ticking time bomb rather than a protective shield. Taiwan's economy has long benefited from a stable cross-Straits supply chain, he said, and forcing a decoupling from the Chinese mainland serves only US interests, not Taiwan's. Chen said these are questions that Taiwan's society must seriously consider, as more people on the island are seeing through US tactics. He warned that the DPP's blind reliance on Washington in pursuit of separatism will only leave Taiwan vulnerable to external manipulation. In response to reports that Taiwan's exports to the US surpassed those to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong for the first time in 24 years, Chen said the DPP authorities' push to sever trade and industrial ties with the mainland contradicts economic logic and undermines the interests of people on both sides. "Such attempts are doomed to fail," he said. Chen pointed to the strong momentum of cross-Straits trade, noting that total trade between the two sides reached $292.97 billion in 2024, a 9.4 percent year-on-year increase. He highlighted that in the first two months of 2025 alone, trade totaled $43.18 billion, an 8.8 percent rise, demonstrating that economic ties remain robust and supply chains resilient. Chen said the mainland will continue to refine policies and measures to "enhance the well-being of Taiwan compatriots" and "support the island's businesses operating in the mainland." He emphasized that efforts to "deepen cross-Straits integration" will not only bring benefits to people on both sides but also open up new economic cooperation opportunities within the mainland's push for high-quality development and a new growth model. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan Affairs Office slams DPP for 'selling out' Taiwan amid concerns of TSMC becoming USMC in island Global Times By Global Times Published: Mar 12, 2025 12:07 PM In response to a recent joint announcement by US President Donald Trump and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) CEO C.C. Wei that TSMC will invest at least another $100 billion in the US, sparking concerns on the island that TSMC is turning into "USMC," while DPP authorities claimed that the move benefits the industry and dismissed such concerns as unnecessary, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press conference on Wednesday that the DPP's rhetoric is no other than swallowing insults while the lies unravel. The so-called move being "beneficial to the industry" actually means beneficial to the US industry. In an attempt to "rely on the US to seek independence," the DPP authorities are shamelessly "selling out Taiwan" with no limits. The US is tightening its grip, hollowing out TSMC and draining Taiwan island, while the DPP authorities allow themselves to be at the mercy of others. Have they ever considered the well-being of the people in Taiwan and the interests of the industry, Chen asked. Taiwan residents' concerns about TSMC becoming "USMC" are far from "groundless worries." Taiwan's transformation from a "pawn" to a "discarded piece" is inevitable, the spokesperson said. When responding to a separate question regarding the recent claims by Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, that what the US does in Taiwan is to "make Taiwan stronger, safer, and more prosperous" and the two sides can build a "non-Chinese supply chain" in areas such as drones and robotics, Chen slammed the US for talking about "supporting Taiwan," while its actions only "harm and destroy the island." Chen said pressuring TSMC to invest up to $100 billion in the US to build the world's largest chip industry raises the question of whether this strengthens Taiwan or merely serves US interests. As TSMC increasingly becomes "USMC," the spokesperson questioned how much of Taiwan's industrial edge and economic vitality would be left. The DPP authorities, out of a mentality of currying favor with the US, blindly meet the demands put forward by the US. This is extremely detrimental to the development of TSMC and is actually a move to hollow out TSMC, Zhang Wensheng, deputy dean of the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. "The concerns of the people on the island are reasonable. TSMC's huge investment in the US may uproot Taiwan's pillar industries in the economy. Not only TSMC itself, but its entire industrial chain, including technology, capital and technical personnel, may be transferred to the US. This will have a huge impact on the future economic development of the island," Zhang said. Chen also said at the press conference that the DPP authorities' push to decouple Taiwan's trade and industrial ties with the Chinese mainland contradicts economic logic and undermines the interests of people on both sides. "Such attempts are doomed to fail," he said. Chen pointed to the strong momentum of cross-Straits trade, noting that total trade between the two sides reached $292.97 billion in 2024, a 9.4 percent year-on-year increase. He said that in the first two months of 2025 alone, trade totaled $43.18 billion, an 8.8 percent rise, demonstrating that economic ties remain robust and supply chains resilient. Statistics on cross-Straits trade show that economic cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan region is strong. Despite the DPP's efforts to sever economic ties with the mainland, Taiwan businesses and entrepreneurs recognize the benefits of the vast market in the mainland, making "decoupling" difficult to achieve, Zhang said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese mainland warns of decisive action if "Taiwan independence" forces cross red line People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 15:45, March 12, 2025 BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- If the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces provoke, exert pressure, or dare to cross the red line, resolute actions will be taken in response, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday. Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks when asked whether the newly unveiled 2025 government work report, which emphasizes "firmly advancing the cause of China's reunification" without mentioning "peaceful reunification," indicates a shift in the mainland's position. Chen said that the principles of peaceful reunification and "one country, two systems" are China's basic policies for resolving the Taiwan question. This is the best way to realize reunification across the Taiwan Strait, and best serves the interests of Chinese people on both sides of the Strait and the entire Chinese nation, the spokesperson added. "We are willing to make the utmost efforts with the greatest sincerity to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification," he said. However, the current situation across the Taiwan Strait is complex and severe, primarily due to the Democratic Progressive Party authorities colluding with external forces to seek "independence," Chen noted. "We have the resolve, the confidence and the ability to thwart any form of separatist attempts for 'Taiwan independence,' safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely advance China's reunification," the spokesperson said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan question fundamentally different from Ukraine issue: mainland People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:14, March 13, 2025 BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Taiwan question is fundamentally different from the Ukraine issue, a mainland spokesperson stressed on Wednesday. Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks at a regular press conference, reiterating that the Taiwan question falls entirely under China's internal affairs and brooks no foreign interference. Chen said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities had previously compared Taiwan to Ukraine to seek external support, but are now scrambling to draw a deliberate comparison between the two. However, no matter how the DPP authorities attempt to justify themselves and reassure the public, they cannot change their submissive and vulnerable position, nor can they dispel the widespread public concern that Taiwan as a pawn will ultimately be abandoned, Chen said. He also responded to a media inquiry on the recent decision from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to invest at least another 100 billion U.S. dollars in the United States, which sparked concerns that it might weaken Taiwan's industrial advantages. He said that the United States has been systematically hollowing out TSMC and draining Taiwan dry, while the DPP authorities simply comply without resistance. Chen said that for decades, Taiwan's economic development benefited from stable cross-Strait industrial and supply chains. "Is forced 'decoupling and supply chain disruption' truly beneficial to Taiwan, or merely serving U.S. interests?" he asked. He stressed that the momentum of cross-Strait economic cooperation remains strong, with economic exchange continuing to strengthen rather than weaken. Active efforts will be made to improve policies and mechanisms that enhance the well-being of the mainland's Taiwan compatriots, and that support Taiwan businesses and enterprises in their development on the mainland, he added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address "Only through Turkiye's full membership can the EU prevent its loss of strength" Presidency of The Republic of Turkey 12.03.2025 Speaking during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Tusk of Poland, President Erdogan said: "We often share our desire with our counterparts to advance our cooperation with the European Union on the basis of mutual interest and respect. Current debates have once again proven how crucial this cooperation is. If the European Union seeks to prevent, and even reverse, its loss of strength and altitude, it can only achieve this through the full membership of Turkiye." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland hold a joint press conference following their bilateral meeting at the Presidential Complex. Stating that they have reaffirmed their will to strengthen and diversify the Turkiye-Poland relations during today's talks, President Erdogan said: "We have addressed the common steps we will take to that end. We are considering visiting Poland in the period ahead. We have a strong potential in social relations and cooperation in the areas of trade, investments and defense. We have discussed all these in detail today. We have had opportunity to address the steps that could be taken to end the war in Ukraine. We have exchanged our views on the developments about Europe's security and regional matters, including Syria and Palestine." "WE ATTACH IMPORTANCE TO THE SOLUTION OF THE VISA PROBLEM OF OUR CITIZENS" Noting that they have discussed the future of security in Europe as well, President Erdogan said: "We have addressed the efforts aimed at strengthening the defense industry cooperation, which is rapidly developing between our countries with new projects. Consolidating our relations in a wide range of areas, from education and culture to science and tourism, would be an important investment to be made in the future of our friendship. We attach importance to the solution of the visa problem of our citizens, our business people and students in particular." "FULL MEMBERSHIP TO THE EU IS OUR STRATEGIC GOAL" Further stating that they have also discussed current regional and global matters as well as the Turkiye-EU relations within the context of Poland's presidency of the Council of the European Union, President Erdogan said: "We stress on every occasion that the full membership to the European Union is our strategic goal. We often share our desire with our counterparts to advance our cooperation with the European Union on the basis of mutual interest and respect. Current debates have once again proven how crucial this cooperation is. I would like to point out once again today that if the European Union seeks to prevent, and even reverse, its loss of strength and altitude, it can only achieve this through the full membership of Turkiye." "WE DO NOT WANT ANY FURTHER BLOODSHED" "The latest situation in the Russia-Ukraine war has been on the agenda of our talks as well," President Erdogan stated, and added: "We consider Ukraine's acceptance of ceasefire during yesterday's talks between the U.S. and Ukraine to be positive and important. And now we wish that Russia will respond to this in a constructive manner. Turkiye's attitude towards this war has been pretty obvious since the very first day. We do not want any further bloodshed. We want our two neighbors to end the war with a just peace. If the latest development ensures the return of Russia and Ukraine to the negotiation table, we stand ready to make any contribution to the establishment of a just and permanent peace, including hosting the talks. As I have previously stated, our region is fed up with wars, conflicts and tears. We hope that our region will rapidly leave behind the difficult situation it has been in for a long time, and find peace and stability. Turkiye will inshallah continue to work to that end." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address "Turkiye is becoming a main hub of peace diplomacy" Presidency of The Republic of Turkey 12.03.2025 Addressing AK Party's parliamentary group meeting, President Erdogan said: "As Turkiye, we are carrying not only the banner of benevolence, but also the climate of peace and security across the world, especially to oppressed regions. We are turning Turkiye into a main hub of peace diplomacy, elevating it beyond being a source of stability in its region." President and Justice and Development (AK) Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a speech at the party's parliamentary group meeting. "We are going through a difficult period of tensions, wars and infighting both in our region and in different corners of the world. Our Sudanese brothers and sisters have been struggling in a vortex of instability for a long time. We see that Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan are facing very serious challenges. The ceasefire in Gaza, which was reached after very long negotiations, continues, albeit with difficulty, despite all the spoiled acts and violations of the Zionist regime. In Syria, where 14 years of oppression came to an end with the December 8 revolution, a new fire of sectarian sedition is being tried to be ignited," President Erdogan said. "As Turkiye, we are carrying not only the banner of benevolence, but also the climate of peace and security across the world, especially to oppressed regions. We have started to reap the rewards of the efforts we made with the maxim that 'A fairer world is possible'. We are turning Turkiye into a main hub of peace diplomacy, elevating it beyond being a source of stability in its region," President Erdogan said. "Those, who tried to divide us as Turkish-Kurdish, secular-anti-secular, progressive-reactionary, Alevi-Sunni for years, are now pursuing different scenarios in recent days. An extremely insidious, extremely dirty scheme is being devised against the brotherhood of our nation by citing the terrorist acts by the remnants of the old regime in Syria. With this scheme, a dastardly assassination is also being organized against the spirit and the will to live together, embodied in our National Anthem. With provocative politics, hate speech, provocative statements, most of which are lies and distortions, a new problematic area, a new area of chaos is tried to be created in Turkiye," President Erdogan said. "NO ONE CAN HARM OUR BROTHERHOOD" "While we are solving a 40-year-old problem of our country through our efforts in line with the goal of a terror-free Turkiye; creating new fault lines that can be exploited is, let me say this clearly and unequivocally, serving imperialism. Whoever rises to the bait of imperialism and targets the brotherhood of this nation, will find us, our state and 85 million people, standing against him. Because we have seen this plot many times in the last 22 years. We have seen this dirty game before on May 27, March 12 memorandum, September 12 coup, February 28 postmodern coup, and the bloody and nefarious paths leading to them. We have seen this kind of rhetoric in the attempts to intervene in our democracy and economy, in all kinds of traps aiming to drag Turkiye into a quagmire of instability. We have seen this abominable scenario before in Maras, Corum, Sivas, Gazi neighborhood and elsewhere. I say this once again to those who pursue the same ambitions: You will not succeed anymore. You will not be able to harm our brotherhood. You will not be able to prevent us from our goal of the Century of Turkiye. You will not be able to confine this nation to its own internal agenda again by scratching the internal dynamics of our country. Inshallah, this time you will not be able to kick Turkiye out of the global race for democracy and development," President Erdogan said. "FAMILY IS THE CORE OF THE NATION" "As our world turns into a giant village with globalization, we are increasingly exposed to the negative effects of neoliberal culture. One of the most important institutions targeted by global culture is the family and family values. First, I have to underline one point here; No matter what modern opinion leaders dictate, in our understanding, the family is the nucleus, the core, the assurance of the future of the country and the nation. It is not possible for a society, where there is no family, where the family is disintegrated and family values are damaged, to look to its future with confidence and hope. The family is the primary school of human beings, the human being learns tolerance, respect and love in the family. Honesty, hard work and patriotism are learned in the family. They learn to tolerate differences, patience, solidarity and patriotism in the family. It is in the family that they learn to respect the rights of others and not to encroach on what is not rightfully yours. In this respect, the family is not only the foundation of society but also the most important pillar that supports the country," President Erdogan said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Comment by Foreign Minister Tsahkna on the results of the Ukraine-US meeting in Saudi Arabia Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12.03.2025 Comment by Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna on the results of the Ukraine-US meeting in Saudi Arabia. "I welcome the announcement by Ukraine and the United States that a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire was agreed upon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia today. It is also crucial that the United States decided to continue military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine immediately. It is a remarkable step towards achieving a just and lasting peace and ending Russia's imperialist ambitions. Russia has the responsibility to demonstrate whether it wants to end its war of aggression against Ukraine." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia is carefully examining U.S.-Ukraine talks, says Kremlin spokesperson IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 12, 2025 Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the Kremlin is carefully examining the talks between the United States and Ukraine and statements by their officials following their meeting on Tuesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "We are examining the statements made following the negotiations carefully, and we are getting acquainted with the text of the joint statement adopted in Jeddah," Peskov told at a briefing on Wednesday. He said that his country is awaiting detailed information regarding the talks between senior officials from the U.S. and Ukraine which lasted for 9 hours and a half. Shortly after Jeddah talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev is prepared to accept a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which would pave the way for Washington resuming its military and intelligence support for Ukraine. The proposal would "establish a complete ceasefire for 30 days, not only regarding missiles, drones and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line", he said in a Telegram post. Zelensky looked for Saudi Arabia's help after his dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House, last month. The Ukrainian delegation met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, the two Trump officials who attended direct talks with Russia last month. The Jeddah talks resulted in a joint statement by American and Ukrainian officials, saying that Ukraine was open to the U.S. proposal "to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties". 9341**4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address OSCE Secretary General concludes visit to Moscow OSCE | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe MOSCOW/VIENNA 12 March 2025 MOSCOW/VIENNA, 12 March 2025 -- OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioglu concluded his official visit to Moscow today. In his discussions with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other high-level officials, Secretary General Sinirlioglu underlined the OSCE's readiness to support efforts towards ending the war in Ukraine, and on the day after. "The ongoing war in Ukraine has inflicted immense loss and suffering on millions of people. There is an opportunity to end this war, and I believe we must take it," said Sinirlioglu. The Secretary General also highlighted that the OSCE remains a key platform for security dialogue among all its participating States, especially those who struggle to find common ground. "I believe that the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act this year, gives us an opportunity to collectively recommit to the Helsinki Principles, and to make full use of multilateral diplomacy and our existing platforms. The OSCE stands ready to support efforts towards ending the war and beyond in any way it can be useful to the sides," said Sinirlioglu. In his meetings, Secretary General Sinirlioglu also raised the issue of the three OSCE officials Vadym Golda, Maksym Petrov, and Dmytro Shabanov who have been detained in Donetsk and Luhansk for almost three years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister Radosaw Sikorski meets with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Republic of Poland 12.03.2025 Minister Sybiha visited Warsaw directly after the conclusion of Ukraine-US talks on ending the war across our eastern border. Poland's and Ukraine's top diplomats discussed the results of the meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Minister Sikorski welcomed the fact that the two sides had reached an agreement to continue the peace process, with a noticeable improvement in bilateral ties between Ukraine and the US. The interlocutors confirmed that the talks resulted e.g. in resuming American military aid delivered to Ukraine through a hub in Rzeszow, and in Ukraine committing to the proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire. The heads of the Polish and the Ukrainian diplomacies also discussed matters related to continued assistance for Ukraine and bilateral cooperation, including support of Polish experts in Ukraine's accession to the European Union. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Warns Russia Of Sanctions As Moscow Considers Cease-Fire Deal By RFE/RL March 12, 2025 US President Donald Trump has urged Russia to agree to a 30-day cease-fire, warning he would slap additional sanctions on the country if it refused the US proposal, as Moscow made more gains on the battlefield. "Russia has no way out but cease-fire. If needed we will sanction it, but I hope we won't need to," Trump told reporters at the White House on March 12. "In a financial sense we can do very unpleasant, very bad things, devastating for Russia, but I don't want to," he said. His comments come a day after Kyiv agreed to the temporary cease-fire following nine hours of talks with Trump administration officials in Saudi Arabia. Trump has made ending Russia's more than three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, quickly dispatching his top officials to Moscow and Kyiv to prepare the groundwork for peace talks. He has used Washington's significant leverage over Ukraine -- namely military aid and intelligence sharing -- to get Kyiv to agree to the cease-fire proposal, which if implemented, would leave almost 20 percent of the country in Russia's hands for the time being, at least. But Trump lacks that type of leverage with Russia, which has navigated sweeping US and European sanctions placed on its economy following the invasion much better than most experts forecasted. Putin may seek to drag out talks with the US over a cease-fire to improve Russia's position on the battlefield and hence at the negotiating table when and if Moscow and Kyiv hammer out a peace deal. As Trump spoke at the White House, Putin was visiting troops in Russia's Kursk region, where fierce fighting is currently taking place and Moscow's forces are advancing. Ukraine seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip during any peace talks. That strategy is now at risk of failing as Russian forces slowly push the Ukrainians out of Kursk. Russians forces have retaken more than half the territory initially captured by Ukraine. Putin's visit to Kursk was his first since the incursion and signals the momentum Russia has in that theater of the war. The Kremlin leader urged his troops to retake the region in its entirety "as soon as possible." Ukraine's top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said that fighting continued in and around Sudzha, the largest town in the part of the region that Ukraine occupied. Unconfirmed reports on March 12 indicated that Ukraine has begun to draw back units as Russian officials claimed their troops had captured more settlements, including Sudzha. "Despite increased pressure from the Russian and North Korean forces, we will maintain the defense of the Kursk region as long as it is appropriate and necessary," Syrskiy wrote on Telegram. In a Facebook post, Syrskiy said that saving soldiers lives is a priority and that Ukrainian troops "maneuver to more favorable positions, if necessary," wording often used top describe a retreat. Concessions? Trump hinted that Ukraine would have to make concessions on land, something more and more experts say is inevitable given Russia's momentum on the battlefield. "When we talk cease-fire [with Ukraine], we talked land, who's withdrawing -- we discussed a lot of things [with Ukraine]," Trump said. "We don't want to waste time, people are dying. Russia is not in the best situation now. I hope [Putin] gets a cease-fire." Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the cease-fire proposal and said he hoped it would be used as a draft for a lasting peace deal that included security guarantees for Ukraine. "It's now up to Russia what is next," he said at a March 12 press conference, and whether "it wants to continue its aggression against Ukraine or not." On the streets of Kyiv, some Ukrainians told RFE/RL's Current Time that they doubted whether Russia would sign on to, and adhere to, a cease-fire deal. "I'm not sure what to say, but it all seems implausible, frankly speaking," said one Kyiv man, while a woman in the capital said the cease-fire talks were "meaningless without Russia taking part." Moscow has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the proposal for the 30-day cease-fire, and it's unclear whether Putin has made up his mind on the agreement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was "carefully studying" the joint US-Ukraine statement issued following the Jeddah talks and will wait to comment until Russian negotiators receive more detailed information from Washington. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who represented the United States at the talks, said Washington "will have contact with Russians" today. Trump on March 11 said he would soon speak with Putin to secure his commitment. Mike Waltz, the White House national-security adviser, spoke with his Russian counterpart on March 12, while Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff also planned to travel to Moscow, possibly to meet Putin. CIA Director John Ratcliffe held a phone call with Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, late on March 11, the Interfax news agency reported. Rubio told reporters on March 12 in first comments since leaving the talks in Jeddah that the United States hoped to have a positive answer from Russia toward the cease-fire deal and "strongly urge[s] Russians to end all hostilities." Konstantin Kosachev, an influential lawmaker in Russia's upper house of parliament, seemed to imply that Moscow would not simply accept the US-backed ceasefire proposal but attach conditions, taking into account that Russian forces have the momentum on the battlefield. "Russia is advancing, and therefore it will be different with Russia," Kosachyov said in a Telegram post. "Any agreements (with all understanding of the need for compromise) will be on our terms, not American," he said. "And this is not boasting, but an understanding that real agreements are still being written there, on the front line. Which Washington should also understand." Rubio also said Ukraine will need a strong deterrent to prevent future attacks and that Europeans will "need to be involved in this regard." He added that further discussions would need to tackle to topic of the European Union lifting sanctions on the Russian economy. "I would imagine that in any negotiation, if we get there, hopefully with the Russians, they will raise these European sanctions that have been imposed upon them," Rubio said. Moscow has so far been against a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Russia's position during an interview with three right-wing US bloggers that it will under no conditions accept the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine. Minerals Deal Washington and Kyiv could sign a framework agreement as early as this week on sharing the revenue generated from Ukraine's mineral resources. Trump and Zelenskyy intended to sign the deal during their meeting at the Oval Office on February 28. However, the two got into a heated, public exchange over security guarantees for Ukraine and the meeting was abruptly ended without any deal. Rubio cautioned that he "would not couch [the] minerals deal as a security guarantee." But he added that "if the United States has a vested economic interest that's generating revenue for our people as well as for the people of Ukraine, we'd have a vested interest in protecting it if it were to be challenged or threatened." The parade of comments come after Russia and Ukraine traded air attacks overnight just hours after Kyiv agreed to accept the cease-fire proposal. Two Russian missile strikes hit the central Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih on March 12, killing one person, while a separate attack killed four crew members of a cargo ship near the southern port city of Odesa. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air-defense systems shot down six drones overnight on March 12, one over Ukraine's Russia-annexed Crimea and five over the Black Sea. The Krymsky Veter Telegram channel reported loud explosions and air-raid sirens over Crimean towns and near Russian military sites. The United States announced after the talks in Saudi Arabia that it would immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and restore military aid to Ukraine, which could be a boost to Ukrainian forces. Ukraine's battlefield positions have been under heavy pressure, particularly in Russia's Kursk region. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-trump-ukraine-war- missile-frontline-ceasefire-attack/33344994.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Military Aid Starts Flowing Across Poland-Ukraine Border By Ray Furlong March 12, 2025 US military aid to Ukraine has now started moving across the border from Poland, following an agreement between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. Sikorski was speaking to reporters alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Sybiha, in Warsaw, as the latter returned from the talks in Jeddah on March 12. "I can confirm that arms deliveries via Jasionka have returned to previous levels," Sikorski said, referring to a logistics hub southeastern Poland. Washington had announced it was freezing supplies last week after a public clash in the White House between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The move caused deep concern in Ukraine, which Current Time documented in interviews with frontline troops. "Give us more weapons, and we'll guarantee our security," said one soldier, identified by the call sign Sokol, serving in an artillery unit in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. "I think things will clear up soon, and we'll keep receiving weapons and other aid." Sokol was right, with aid having now resumed following the nine-hour meeting that resulted with Ukraine and the United States adopting a proposal for a 30-day cease-fire. Washington has now presented this to Moscow, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declaring, "We're going to tell them this is what's on the table." The United States is Ukraine's single biggest arms donor, and Sokol's comments underlined how important the resumption of weapons supplies is to Ukraine's war effort. "We use a lot of weapons produced in the United States and Europe," he said. Another soldier in the unit, identified as Odin, said: "We're doing everything we can to keep [Russian forces] out of the Dnipropetrovsk region. We are inflicting huge losses to minimize their movements on our land." Speaking in Warsaw, Sybiha reiterated his country's commitment to the 30-day truce. "We are ready to create the appropriate team on our side that will work on this road map on how to get this truce, if it happens," he said. Russian officials did not immediately respond to the Jeddah proposals. Speaking on March 12, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "We have planned contacts with the Americans in the coming days, during which we count on (getting)complete information." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-military-aid-poland- ukraine-border/33345179.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fiber-Optic Drones The New Must-Have In Ukraine War By Roman Pahulych and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service March 12, 2025 The Ukrainian military is testing new drones using fiber optics on the front line against Russian forces. The low-flying drones are tied to the ground via thin fiber-optic cables that unwind as the drone flies farther from the controller. Unlike radio-controlled drones, fiber-optic drones cannot be jammed by opposing forces using "electronic warfare." The cable transmits a high-quality image back to the ground, right up to the moment of detonation. "These drones can fly up to 60 kilometers per hour, perform maneuvers, and within a range of 10 kilometers, the fiber does not break," says Serhiy Beskrestnov of the Ukrainian military. Fiber-optic drones can carry small payloads and fly low between buildings or through forests without losing signal, which means areas previously safe from drone attacks can now be hit. "Our guys used to travel along forest roads safely, because the forest blocks radio signals," says Beskrestnov. "It [was] very difficult for the enemy [drone] to descend into the middle of the forest somewhere deep inside our territory, because the radio signal disappears." But drones controlled by fiber optics have their own problems. The lines can become tangled or catch on objects, while the unwinding mechanism adds weight and reduces the loads the drones can carry. "The first tests of our drones were not very good because there were problems with the coils of optical fiber. But the latest tests showed that there are [usable] options from at least six manufacturers," says Beskrestnov. Russia was ahead of Ukraine in deploying fiber-optic first-person-view (FPV) drones on the battlefield, primarily in the Kursk region of Russia. The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion there in the summer of 2024. "According to reports from Chinese manufacturers, the number of orders from Russia is growing every month," says Beskrestnov. "They're producing more drones, and our video records confirm that they are being used increasingly on all fronts." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-fiber-optic- drones-russia/33344310.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kremlin Says It's Waiting For Details Of Ukraine Cease-Fire Deal By Mike Eckel March 12, 2025 Russia reacted cautiously to a proposed cease-fire agreement announced by Ukrainian and US negotiators and held out the possibility of a phone call between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the coming days. Speaking a day after the deal was announced, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 12 that Russian officials were "carefully studying" the announcement but waiting to hear more details from US negotiators before commenting further. Meanwhile, reaction on the streets of Moscow was mixed, with one man saying that "agreeing to a truce now, when the enemy is weakened, is completely inappropriate and wrong." But others welcomed the news. "We just want this to end as soon as possible so that people stop dying," said one woman in the Russian capital. "So many have already perished." The agreement, reached in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 11 specifically called for a 30-day cease-fire between Kyiv and Moscow, though it noted that would be subject to Russia's approval. It also said Washington had agreed to resume sharing intelligence with Ukrainian planners and shipments of weapons and equipment. The US suspension of weapons and intelligence sharing with Kyiv came after a contentious meeting at the White House on February 28 in which Trump and US Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "We'll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they'll say yes, that they'll say yes to peace," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Jeddah. "The ball is now in their court." Mike Waltz, the White House national-security adviser, was scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart this week, and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff also planned to travel to Moscow, possibly to meet Putin. Russia's Foreign Ministry made no comment, though a spokeswoman said talks with US representatives were possible in the coming days. Kremlin-linked commentators, meanwhile, portrayed the agreement as a positive outcome for Russia. Konstantin Kosachev, a lawmaker in Russia's upper house of parliament, asserted that the results of the talks were strictly American, and argued they showed Zelenskyy's weakness. "Russia is advancing, and therefore it will be different with Russia," he said in a Telegram post. "Any agreements (with all understanding of the need for compromise) will be on our terms, not American," he said. "And this is not boasting, but an understanding that real agreements are still being written there, on the front line. Which Washington should also understand." "The most important thing is not to interfere with Russian-American negotiations with third-party comments. Let the negotiators work," he wrote. "Victory will be ours." Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said Russian officials might respond with a counteroffer: a suspension on Western weapons supplies to Kyiv for the same 30-day period, from the United States and from European allies as well. "Europe must support the truce in Ukraine not with words, but with deeds -- an embargo on arms supplies to the conflict zone is a well-known formula in diplomacy," he said in a post to Telegram. Though Washington is the biggest single supplier of weaponry to Ukraine, European allies collectively provide as much weapons and other equipment. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kremlin-russia-ukraine- cease-fire-deal/33345197.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to Press US Department of State Remarks Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Shannon, Ireland March 12, 2025 SECRETARY RUBIO: All right, who's got a question? QUESTION: I do. SECRETARY RUBIO: I knew you would have a question. QUESTION: So - Michael Gordon, Wall Street Journal. Sir, the Russians are still making gains on the battlefield. There's been no public response to the developments in Jeddah. Are you concerned they're playing for time? Have you had any contact with them? What's been their response officially and are they willing to accept the ceasefire unconditionally? SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I mean, we don't know the answer to the last question. That's what we want to know, whether they're prepared to do it unconditionally. We'll have contact with them today. There's already been contacts at different levels with counterparts, different members of the administration, and that'll continue. But as far as the Russian reaction to it, that's really the question here, and that is - this is a few hours old. We're going to bring it to them directly. We're going to say that Ukraine is prepared to stop all battlefield activity and begin the immediate process of negotiating an enduring end to the war, and we'll see what their response is. If their response is yes, then we know we've made real progress and there's a real chance of peace. If their response is no, it'll be highly unfortunate, and it'd make their intentions clear. So that's what we're hoping to hear from them, and obviously, as I said, this was not pre-arranged with them, so they're - they're probably processing the news the same as the rest of the world. And so we hope to have a positive answer from them. The ball is truly in their court. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Nike Ching with Voice of America. What would be a good G7 joint statement on Russia and on China? SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I think the perfect statement would be that the United States has done a good thing for the world in bringing this process forward, and now we all eagerly await and - the Russian response and urge them strongly to consider ending all hostilities so people will stop dying, so bullets will stop flying, and so a process can begin to find a permanent peace. I think the first step in all this is the acceptance that there is no military solution to this conflict. Neither side can militarily achieve their maximalist gains - their maximalist goals. I mean, they're just not going to achieve them through the military side. The only way this conflict can end is through negotiation. That's the only way you're going to have peace is through negotiation. And so we need to start that process. And it is hard to start a process when people are shooting at each other and people are dying. And so our hope is that we can stop that, all these hostilities, and get to a negotiating table where both sides - over some period of time with a lot of hard work - can find a mutually acceptable outcome that, in the case of Ukraine, obviously secures their long-term prosperity and security. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, could you just update us on Mr. Witkoff's plans for Moscow and whether he'll be meeting with President Putin? And then separately, if you wouldn't mind elaborating on something that Mr. Waltz said yesterday about the specifics that you discussed with Ukrainians about what the end of the war would look like, you had mentioned we're not going to get maps out and draw lines, but did you actually talk about territorial concessions? SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we - we had conversations. As far as Steve's trip, I'm not here to - I can't - I'm not going to make any announcements about specific dates, times, or even confirm such a trip. Suffice it to say there is going to be multiple points of contact with the Russians to gauge are they willing to do this or not. And as far as the conversations that were yesterday, yeah - when you sit down with a counterpart like Ukraine, we're not going to negotiate this publicly, we're not going to actually put out there sort of what we talked about, because in any negotiation there's certainly an element where you don't want one side to be giving away all of this leverage from a public perspective. We had a broad conversation about what it would - but I think the bulk of our conversation was what a negotiation process would look like in terms of not the specific conditions, but rather the timing of it, sort of the steps they would like to see taken. The Ukrainians made very clear that this isn't just about ending a war. They need to get their prisoners of war back; they need to get the children back. They'd like to see an exchange of prisoners of war; they'd like to see their children back. So there's all sorts of things tied to the, humanitarian assistance is important as well. There are areas of Ukraine that have been badly damaged that require immediate assistance. So these are the sorts of things that we talked about as being inclusive in the negotiation process. So really the bulk of our conversation, when we got to that stage of it, was discussing the kinds of items that need to be on a negotiation agenda if and when we hopefully get there. QUESTION: He also mentioned security guarantees, which is something that there has been some reluctance for the administration to elaborate on. Have - are you committing to security SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I think the point - no - the point to understand is that we're looking at securing their long-term - what we want to see - like any country in the world, Ukraine wants their long-term security. They want to make sure that this doesn't happen again. We all do. What is the point of spending all this time to get a ceasefire hopefully and then a negotiated end to the war only to see it re-spark up again in about six years, four years, three years? No one's - we're not interested in that, and they certainly aren't, either. So I think the question really is more about a deterrence. Can Ukraine create a sufficient deterrent against future aggression, against future attack, against future invasion? Because every country in the world has a right to defend themselves, and no one can dispute that. So that will most certainly have to be part of the conversation. But again, I don't think there's - there isn't a peace to secure until you have a peace. QUESTION: Not just - not SECRETARY RUBIO: There's no way to have an enduring peace without the deterrence piece being a part of it. QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that particular point? SECRETARY RUBIO: Yes. QUESTION: Because the joint statement talks about European partners being involved in the peace process, but that's only attributed to the Ukrainian delegation. There doesn't appear to be U.S. support for that line SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I think what it says in the statement is that they raised the need for the Europeans. But I have already said publicly the Europeans have issued a series of sanctions against the Russian Federation, and I would imagine that in any negotiation - if we get there, hopefully - with the Russians that they will raise these European - the European sanctions that have been imposed upon them. So I think that the issue of European sanctions are going to be on the table QUESTION: But it SECRETARY RUBIO: not to mention what happens with the frozen assets and the like. And so I think it's self-evident that for there to be a peace in Ukraine, at the end of that process there is going to have to be some decision by the Europeans about what they are going to do with these sanctions and so forth. And so that's why I think they have to be necessarily involved in this regard. Now, whether they're involved at the front end of it or at the back end of it, it'll have to play itself out. And then obviously there is also all sorts of security promises that European countries have made to Ukraine, that that will also be, I imagine, a part of this conversation as we move forward. QUESTION: But SECRETARY RUBIO: So we don't disagree with that statement. I think the statement just reflects that they raised it. QUESTION: But do you back European peacekeepers in Ukraine, which is something Russia has categorically SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we'll see. I mean, there's different ways to - there's different ways to construct a deterrent on the ground that prevents another war from starting in the future. We're not going to go in with any sort of preconceived notion. The bottom line is it needs to be something that makes Ukraine feel as if they can deter and prevent a future invasion. How that looks and how that's put together, that's what we're going to be talking about, if we can get to that stage. Again, right now we're just trying to get to the stage where there's actual diplomacy happening. Here's what we'd like the world to look like in a few days: neither side is shooting at each other, not rockets, not missiles, not bullets, nothing, not artillery. The shooting stops, the fighting stops, and the talking starts. That's what we want to see. What happens during that talking and how that evolves, I think we're going to have to be flexible and nimble and creative and patient and work hard at it and hopefully turn it into something that's concrete. You've covered - many of you have covered foreign policy for years. That's how these things happen, and they're not easy, and sometimes they're difficult to predict which way they're going to go in terms of the specifics of it. But we just want to get to that stage. That would be, for lack of a better term, a good problem to have, to have to figure out how to negotiate a peace because we're actually negotiating a peace while the shooting has stopped. QUESTION: Is the mineral deal essentially the security guarantee that you guys envisioned? And then a second question is: President Trump appealed to a lot of Americans during his campaign on free speech arguments and not suppressing speech, especially from the government, but your revocation of the green card to many is seen as one of the most anti-speech actions a secretary can take with his powers. How do you respond? SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, the first question was again the QUESTION: Is the minerals deal a version of the security guarantee? SECRETARY RUBIO: The minerals deal, yeah. Well, I think that a minerals deal is something that I think is beneficial for both countries. Certainly one of the things that provides for Ukraine's long-term prosperity and security is vibrant economic growth and development. If their GDP is - begins to grow and - that gives them a tremendous amount of leverage and power and the ability to fund their own defenses. So I think certainly any economic development for Ukraine is positive for their own future. Obviously if the United States has a vested economic interest somewhere, we're tied to them on an economic front, we're in partnership with them on something, we will have an interest in the future of Ukraine as well. I wouldn't couch it as a security guarantee, but certainly if the United States has a vested economic interest that's generating revenue for our people as well as for the people of Ukraine, we'd have a vested interest in protecting it if it were to be challenged or threatened. On your first point, when you enter the - this is an important point, and I'm glad you asked this question. When you come to the United States as a visitor - which is what a visa is, which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor's visa, okay - you are here as a visitor. We can deny you that visa. We can deny you that - if you tell us when you apply, "Hi, I'm trying to get into the United States on a student visa, I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages" - if you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us when you apply for your visa, "And by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, anti-Semitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities" - if you told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa. I hope we would. If you actually end up doing that once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it. And if you end up having a green card - not citizenship but a green card - as a result of that visa while you're here and those activities, we're going to kick you out. It's as simple as that. This is not about free speech. This is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, by the way. So when you apply for a student visa or any visa to enter the United States, we have a right to deny you for virtually any reason, but I think being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down and being complicit in what are clearly crimes of vandalization, complicit in shutting down learning institutions - there are kids at these schools that can't go to class. You pay all this money to these high-priced schools that are supposed to be of great esteem and you can't even go to class, you're afraid to go to class because these lunatics are running around with covers on their face, screaming terrifying things. If you told us that's what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we're going to revoke it and kick you out. QUESTION: Can I ask you about the Canada trip coming up? The President has taunted, if you will, Canada, calling it the 51st state, calling Prime Minister Trudeau the governor SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, he said it should become the 51st state from an economic standpoint. He says if they became the 51st state, we wouldn't have to worry about the border and fentanyl coming across because now we would be able to manage that. He's made an argument that it's their interest to do so. Obviously the Canadians don't agree, apparently, but QUESTION: Do you agree with it? Should there be - are you going to discuss that, becoming the 51st SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, that's not what we're going to discuss at the G7, and that's not what we're going to be discussing in our trip here. So it - they are the host nation, and I - I mean, we have a lot of other things we work on together. We defend North America through NORAD and the airspace of our continent together, so - not to mention the issues of Ukraine and other commonalities. So we're going to be focused in the G7 on all of those things. That's what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada. QUESTION: But more broadly QUESTION: But are you concerned at all about the reception that you might be getting, particularly at the event? SECRETARY RUBIO: I don't know, should I be? What do you know that I don't know? QUESTION: They're unhappy. QUESTION: I don't know, you've got the tariffs in the last 12 hours, you've just seen this escalating trade war - not just with Canada but, with the exception of Japan, all the other members of the G7. SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, so what's your point? QUESTION: Well QUESTION: Are you worried about alienating the Canadians, that they wouldn't work with the United States? SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, they've invited us to come. We intend to go. The alternative is to not go. I think that would actually make things worse, not better. So - it's a G7 summit. QUESTION: One alternative could be not to SECRETARY RUBIO: Huh? QUESTION: The alternative could be not to have tariffs or not to have the language that the President SECRETARY RUBIO: No, those are policy decisions. And so at the end of the day, the President's made those decisions. He's explained why. It's not just against Canada, it's not just against Mexico, it's not just against G7 countries. He's imposed steel and aluminum tariffs now on virtually the entire world, and the reason why is not to punish those countries; it's because he has outlined the need to develop a domestic capability. If you don't have steel and aluminum, you can't build warships, you can't build airplanes, and you are not an industrial economy. There are things we have to be able to protect and there's a lot of unfair trade practices, a lot of countries out there who subsidize their industries so that they can gain global market share, so they subsidize the industries, they're operating at a loss. Meanwhile, our industries are trying to compete fairly, and that's why you don't have steel plants and that's why you can't produce the aluminum. And that really threatens our national security in the long term. So these are national security concerns when it comes to steel and aluminum and some of these other products. But ultimately the President feels strongly - and I personally agree - that we have made some decisions when it comes to trade policies that have led to the de-industrialization of America and have left us deeply vulnerable to any sort of interruptions in global supplies and/or it being used to extort us, not to mention our inability to produce things that we need for our own economy and for our own defense. So that's what those policies are about. Every country in the world we expect will act in their national interest. The United States forgot that. President Trump is reminding us of that and getting us back to that, and I think it is quite possible that we could do these things and at the same time deal in a constructive way with our allies and friends and partners on all the other issues that we work together on. And that's what I expect out of the G7 and Canada. QUESTION: Can I just ask on Russia? Did you have - or Waltz - have any contact with Zelenskyy while you were in Saudi Arabia? And then SECRETARY RUBIO: No, I didn't. I don't believe Mr. Waltz did either, but I did not. But that was the team he selected, and it was appropriate. It was his closest advisor, it was their foreign minister, it was their head of security. So we felt that that was the counterparts they sent and to deal with us, and that's obviously pretty common in these sorts of things. Generally the heads of state meet heads of state and appropriate counterparts meet others. He - I imagine he had to get back, and he's - he - the president of a wartime country, so he's - but we did not have any contact with him there. But I wouldn't read - read anything into it other than he selected his team for these talks and the President selected his, so QUESTION: And was there any discussion with the Ukrainians about how a ceasefire, if Russia agrees, would be enforced? How would the U.S. ensure parties SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, well, the interesting thing about modern warfare is there - it's easier than ever to monitor and - simply because there's so many eyes on the ground and there's also all sorts of overhead commercial satellite and the like. It would be pretty hard to hide drone strikes, it would be hard to hide missile strikes, ballistic strikes, artillery. So we feel like that is something that could be monitored. Obviously, if in fact the Russians say yes - let's hope they say yes. If they say yes, one of the things we'll have to determine is who do both sides trust to be on the ground to sort of monitor some of the small arms fires and exchanges that could happen. But those are practices that have become common in these, and I don't think that would be difficult to set up. We didn't get into specifics, but obviously the need to monitor a ceasefire is clear to everyone. QUESTION: Sir, just a quick follow-up on this question. QUESTION: Can I get a last question? Last question? MS BRUCE: One more question. One more. This is it. QUESTION: The SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, because we're fueling up and have to get back on the plane. MS BRUCE: Right. QUESTION: Last question, sir. SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, yeah. QUESTION: The - you haven't - this administration has not hesitated to put a lot of pressure on Ukraine. You reduced their intelligence support in the middle of a shooting war, you temporarily cut off their arms, criticized them publicly - not you, but leadership in public. Are you truly prepared to apply pressure on Russia should it be recalcitrant and not agree to the terms of the ceasefire? There's no been no concrete action that this administration has taken to punish Russia since it's come to office. SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, a couple points. To be clear, as far as I am aware, the United States has not provided armaments to Russia. The United States is not providing assistance to Russia. Every single sanction that has been imposed on Russia remains in place. Every single sanction the President inherited has - remains in place. QUESTION: Trump inherited, previous administration. SECRETARY RUBIO: Right, but - well, I mean, they're pretty sanctioned up. I mean, there's a lot of sanctions on already. So my point being is that we've - there's been no steps taken to relieve any of these things. These things continue to be in place. But we don't think it's constructive for me to stand here today and begin to issue threats about what we're going to do if Russia says no. Let's hope they say yes. At the end, let's understand. I remind everybody and bring you back to the point: The President's desire here is to bring about a lasting and enduring peace in Ukraine. He wants the shooting and the fighting to stop - not just for 30 days, not just for 60 days, but permanently. To do that, both sides have to come to the table. We are happy - we are happy that the Ukrainians have agreed to do so. Now it is up to Russia to say yes. If Russia says yes, that's very good news, and we will begin that process and do everything we can to move that process forward. If they say no, then obviously we'll have to examine everything and sort of figure out where we stand in the world and what their true intentions are. I think it'll be - if they say no, it'll tell us a lot about what their goals are and what their mindset is. But I don't want to go into that before they've even answered us by issuing statements that are abrasive in any way. Our hope is that - when we met with them last, they expressed a willingness under the right conditions, without elaborating on the right conditions, to bring an end to this conflict. That was our question when we met with them. I think I shared it with you that were on our trip. The point of meeting with them was to find out is this a war they wanted to end or is this a war they just wanted to continue in perpetuity until they achieved whatever goals they have in mind, and they expressed a willingness, under the right circumstances, which they did not define, to bring an end to this conflict. So we have Ukraine ready to come to the table. Now we need to get Russia to come to the table. If they do and the shooting stops, I think that's a very good day in the world. Obviously no one here is pretending that that negotiation's going to be easy or fast or simple, but at least we've gotten to that point. If their answer is no, then obviously we'll have to deal with that and we'll have to at that point make decisions on that basis. We're not there yet. Hopefully the answer is yes. MS BRUCE: Thank you, everyone. SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay, thanks, guys. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM statement on talks in Saudi Arabia: 11 March 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer's statement on the talks in Saudi Arabia. 12 March 2025 I warmly welcome the agreement today in Jeddah and congratulate President Trump and President Zelenskyy for this remarkable breakthrough. This is an important moment for peace in Ukraine and we now all need to redouble our efforts to get to a lasting and secure peace as soon as possible. As both American and Ukrainian delegations have said, the ball is now in the Russian court. Russia must now agree to a ceasefire and an end to the fighting too. I will be convening leaders this Saturday to discuss next steps. We are ready to help bring an end to this war in a just and permanent way that allows Ukraine to enjoy its freedom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address During the Talks in Saudi Arabia, the United States Reaffirmed Its Intention to Work Toward Achieving a Just and Sustainable Peace in Ukraine - Andriy Yermak President of Ukraine 12 March 2025 - 00:37 During the talks in Saudi Arabia, the United States showed its intention to work toward achieving a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine. This was stated by the Head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak, at a meeting with media representatives. Andriy Yermak expressed gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump, the Congress of the United States and the American people for their principled support of Ukraine. "We highly value President Trump's leadership. We believe that the United States is the country best positioned today to do everything to achieve a just peace. They have the necessary leverage. And today, we heard from our partners that they are ready to continue working toward this goal. This is not an easy task. I do not know who else could handle this task. What matters, however, is that they are ready to stand with us, ready to work, and it is important to them," the Head of the Presidential Office said. He emphasized that the key outcome of today's meeting is the immediate resumption of U.S. assistance to Ukraine and intelligence sharing. "The Joint Statement results in the understanding that we are together and share the same vision, moving in the same direction toward the establishment of a just peace expected by all Ukrainians with the assistance of our main strategic partner, the United States. In the Joint Statement, you have seen that our European partners will definitely be involved in this process," Andriy Yermak said. The Head of the Presidential Office noted that Ukraine is ready to accept the United States' proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, if Russia agrees to it. "To begin preparing a document, to negotiate all the details that need to be agreed upon, so that Ukraine ends this war with a just peace and receives security guarantees, so that Ukraine, as a victim of this aggression, as a country that did not start this war, achieves the result we need," he added. Afterwards, the U.S. partners are expected to discuss with the Russian side the proposals developed during the meeting. "After this meeting, it is the Russian side that holds the key. And the whole world will see who wants peace and who does not, but only talks about it," Andriy Yermak concluded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US lawmakers welcome Ukraine's agreement to 30-day ceasefire By Katherine Gypson March 12, 2025 U.S. lawmakers welcomed Tuesday's announcement that Ukraine had agreed to a 30-day ceasefire as a step toward peace in Europe. "I'm very encouraged the parties have reached an agreement. I think the president now has decided to lift the freeze on intelligence and weapons very significant," Republican Representative Michael McCaul, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told VOA. The United States announced last week that it would cease military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, following the Oval Office clash between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28. Following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, the United States said Tuesday that it would resume cooperation with Ukraine. "That actually should never have happened in the first place. That never should have been a pause that has real life consequences for Ukrainians who are fighting for their freedom and for democracy and for national security. So it's positive that that was lifted by the administration," Democratic Representative Jason Crow told VOA. The United States and Ukraine were supposed to sign a minerals deal, although that was called off after the two leaders publicly disagreed over U.S. aid to Ukraine. "The next step will be for President Zelenskyy to come hopefully back to the Oval Office to sign the economic cooperation agreement. Then everything is going to turn to Mr. Putin," McCaul said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has not agreed to the ceasefire, but Trump said Tuesday that he had representatives on their way to Moscow for discussions. "I'm hoping the Trump administration will start reaching out to Putin and Russia, bring them to the table and make sure they make some concessions that are reasonable and beneficial to the Ukrainian people," Democratic Representative Glenn Ivey told VOA. But Steven Pifer, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and former diplomat, told VOA there was still a great deal of uncertainty. "Russia, unfortunately, does not have a good record of living up to ceasefires," Pifer said. "We saw what happened between 2014 and 2021 in Donbas, but this is going to be the challenge now, and if the Russians cannot abide by the ceasefire, I think that will be a signal to Washington that the Russians are not serious about finding a solution to this war." Trump and Zelenskyy also publicly disagreed about who was responsible for starting the three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine. "We have to understand that Vladimir Putin is the aggressor. He's the one who started this war. He's the one who can end it by withdrawing his troops. So we're going to see whether this administration can force him to the table on terms that are favorable to the United States and Ukraine," Crow told VOA. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led more than eight hours of peace talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to reach the agreement. Republican lawmakers praised Trump and his Cabinet for their strong negotiating stance. "For three years now, there's been too much killing and too much destruction in Ukraine and in Russia. So this is a very, very positive thing, and I'm very proud of Secretary Rubio, also Mike Waltz, national security adviser," Republican Representative Derrick Van Orden, told VOA. Lawmakers also expressed hope that economic cooperation between the United States and Ukraine could resume. "President Trump is right, and President Trump's proposal to enhance and deepen U.S. investment in Ukraine and critical minerals, oil, natural gas will strengthen deterrence against Russian aggression," Republican Representative Andy Barr told VOA. Pifer noted the ceasefire deal "also has language where it talks about continuing to work between Washington and Kyiv on Ukraine's long-term security. I think that's important, because I think one of the key demands, as I understand from Ukraine, is that there has to be some guarantee for Ukraine security so this war does not resume at some point in the future." Kateryna Lisunova and Iryna Shynkarenko contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian missile attack kills 4 in Odesa, Ukrainian officials say By VOA News March 12, 2025 Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian missile attack hit the southern port city of Odesa overnight, killing four Syrians and injuring several other people. Oleksiy Kuleba, vice prime minister for reconstruction, said on Telegram that the missile struck a cargo ship that was being loaded with wheat set to be exported to Algeria. Russia is attacking Ukraine's infrastructure, including ports that are involved in ensuring the world's food security," he said. Another missile attack hit Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least one person and injuring nine others, according to the regional governor. Governor Serhiy Lysak said the region also came under attack from Russian drones, and that the assaults damaged high-rise and administrative buildings, as well as a school. Officials in the Zaporizhzhia region said a Russian drone struck a medical van. Ukraine's military said Wednesday it shot down 98 of the 133 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, the military said. Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones, with air defenses downing the aircraft over the Bryansk, Kursk and Kaluga regions, as well as the Black Sea and Russia-occupied Crimea. Officials in those areas did not report casualties or damage from the Ukrainian attacks. Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kyiv endorses US-proposed interim truce People's Daily Online By Cui Haipei, Jan Yumul, Mo Jingxi (Chinadaily.com.cn) 08:35, March 13, 2025 Ukraine's support for a US-proposed temporary ceasefire with Russia marks a significant shift by Kyiv from its stance just one week ago with regard to an eventual diplomatic solution to the three-year-long crisis. But analysts said that, despite the turning point that emerged on Tuesday at the talks hosted by Saudi Arabia, much more needs to be done to ensure that there is a peaceful solution to the longest conflict in Europe since World War II. Wang Chenxing, an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' School of International Politics and Economics, said that a final solution to the crisis can only be achieved after the core interests of Russia, the United States and Europe are guaranteed. "Since Russia now has the upper hand on the battlefield, time is on its side in terms of peace negotiations. But the US is eager to withdraw from the crisis, ignoring the feelings of Europeans to some degree," Wang said. A joint statement after the talks in Jeddah, which were held without European participation, said that Ukraine is ready to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by the mutual agreement of the parties. Moreover, Ukraine would receive renewed US security aid and intelligence sharing, and the US would get preliminary approval for access to Ukraine's mineral resources. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday that it is hoped that all parties involved can find a sustainable and lasting solution for peace that addresses each party's concerns through dialogue and negotiation. "China has been calling for political settlement through dialogue and negotiation since the first day of the Ukraine crisis, and has been actively working for peace and pushing for talks," Mao said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly thanked US President Donald Trump for the "positive" proposal. "Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal we see it as a positive step and are ready to take it," Zelensky said. In Washington, Trump said he was ready to welcome Zelensky back to the White House. Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it did not rule out contacts with US representatives. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview published on Wednesday that Moscow will avoid compromises that would jeopardize people's lives, reiterating Russia's stance that under no conditions will it accept the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine, should there be a permanent peace settlement. Nagapushpa Devendra, a West Asia analyst and research scholar at the University of Erfurt in Germany, said that despite the positive diplomatic effort, it may still be unlikely to achieve an immediate ceasefire given the complexities. Without security assurances, Kyiv may hesitate to agree to any political settlement, Devendra said, adding that another crucial aspect is that Russia has agreed to engage with the US but its core demands, like Ukraine's neutrality and territorial concessions, remain unchanged. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Saudi side expressed its hope that the "efforts to achieve comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine" will succeed in ending the conflict in line with international law and the United Nations Charter. Jasim Husain, a Gulf analyst and former member of the Bahraini parliament, highlighted the importance of the Middle East as a mediator in resolving the Ukraine crisis. However, the US-Ukraine statement did not include any mention of the explicit security guarantees that Kyiv had been seeking, as Ukraine and the US said they agreed to conclude a deal "as soon as possible" securing US access to Ukraine's mineral wealth, which Trump demanded as compensation for the billions of dollars in US military aid given to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Analysis: Will Russia Accept The US Proposal For A Cease-Fire With Ukraine? By Steve Gutterman March 13, 2025 For the first time since US President Donald Trump started his second term in January and launched a push to end Russia's war against Ukraine, it is Moscow -- not Kyiv -- that is under greater pressure from the United States to show that it is committed to seeking peace. US officials were headed to Moscow on March 12, Trump said, after Ukraine agreed to a US plan for an immediate, extendable 30-day cease-fire at a meeting in Saudi Arabia a day earlier. Will Russia accept the proposal? A flat-out "nyet" is a possibility, but it's far from a foregone conclusion. "[W]hile the smart money is clearly on Russia declining the offer of a cease-fire, I wouldn't be so quick to rule it out entirely," Russia analyst Sam Greene wrote in a blog post. "Depending on how Moscow sees the trajectory of European policy, it may come to the conclusion that a ceasefire is in its interests." Here are three possibilities. Outright Rejection If Russia's actions follow its public words, rejection is the most likely scenario by a long shot. Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly said that what Moscow wants is not a cease-fire but a comprehensive peace deal that addresses what it claims to see as the "root causes" of the war. Putin launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022 in a bid to subjugate Ukraine, and those remarks suggest Russia might not be prepared to stop fighting unless and until there's a deal in place that would tick the Kremlin's boxes -- providing, among other things, for Ukrainian neutrality, a shrunken Ukrainian military, and a change of government in Kyiv, or at least a clear pathway to the departure of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia also wants a deal that goes beyond Ukraine, reducing NATO's clout in Eastern Europe and handing Moscow greater influence in security decisions affecting the entire continent -- goals that are far outside the bounds of a temporary truce. And with Russian forces slowly but persistently gaining ground in eastern Ukraine, and Kyiv's forces on the retreat in Russia's Kursk region, Putin may see little reason to cease fire now. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia's upper [parliament chamber, alluded unsubtly to this on March 12, saying Washington should understand that "real agreements are still being written...on the front line." Additionally, an outright rejection would please pro-war Russian bloggers -- not to mention hawkish members of Putin's circle --who would be likely to see agreeing to the cease-fire proposal as caving by the Kremlin. Unconditional Acceptance Those factors indicate that unconditional Russian acceptance of the cease-fire proposal is highly unlikely. Another factor: If it is considering accepting a temporary truce, the Kremlin may want to put its stamp on the deal. "Any agreements...will be on our terms, not American [terms]," Kosachev wrote on Telegram. 'Yes, But...' While unconditional acceptance seems out of the question, Russia "may come to the conclusion that a cease-fire is in its interests," Greene, a professor at the King's Russia Institute and director of democratic resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis, wrote in a blog post. He suggested that Putin could take the bait if he sees it as a good way to get closer to his goals. "Moscow's overriding objective is dominion over Ukraine. In the absence of an opportunity to achieve that on the battlefield, Russia may be happy -- temporarily or otherwise -- to exercise control through the threat of renewed aggression," he wrote. "A cease-fire may allow Russia the degree of control over Ukraine it seeks, provided the terms do not create genuine deterrence against renewed aggression." Rumblings about deployment of a European force in Ukraine could figure into Moscow's calculus, Greene wrote: "If Moscow thinks Europe is serious about boots on the ground, it might move for a cease-fire before Europe can get organized -- and then make the absence of troops the condition for maintaining the cease-fire." Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert and an honorary professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, suggested that Putin faces a difficult choice. "The hawks are already claiming that this would mean squandering Russia's current momentum" on the battlefield," he wrote in The Spectator. "At the same time, to refuse would be to waste the extraordinary opportunity Trump has given them to consolidate their gains, with a fifth of Ukraine in their hands, and at least partly normalize relations with the US." Putin may calculate that agreeing to a cease-fire could help reduce Western sanctions against Russia, Galeotti wrote, and he also might worry that rejecting it, on the contrary, could prompt Trump to take a substantially tougher position toward Moscow. On March 12, Trump said the United States could impose additional sanctions on Russia if it is recalcitrant, but added, "I hope we won't need to." Like other analysts, though, Galeotti predicted that Moscow will place conditions on any cease-fire agreement, such as a Ukrainian withdrawal from Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv's forces have held territory since a surprise invasion last August that has embarrassed Putin. "It may be that Putin will try to square the circle by agreeing to the cease-fire on condition that Ukraine's forces in the Kursk salient, already being pushed back, withdraw fully from Russian territory," he wrote. Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said that another possible condition could be the suspension of Western military aid to Kyiv during the cease-fire. "Russia's answer to the cease-fire proposal might be not "No" but "Yes, but," Markov wrote on Telegram. "That is, agree to the proposal for a 30-day truce on condition that an embargo on supplies of weapons to Ukraine is in place for that whole period." On March 12, Trump reiterated his hopes for swift progress on ending the war, saying, "We don't want to waste time, people are dying." But a definitive Russian response to the cease-fire proposal may not come as soon as the United States and Ukraine would like. "Putin is likely to try to drag out the timeline for agreeing to any halt to fighting in Ukraine to make sure the most favorable terms possible are secured for Moscow," Bloomberg News reported on March 12, citing what it said were several people with knowledge of the situation. "The Kremlin has given no indication that it is interested in a cease-fire, and indeed plenty of indication that it is not," Greene wrote on X. "While all that may be bluster, they are likely to try to make Washington squirm, both on the speed and the contours of a deal." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia- ukraine-ceasefire-trump-proposal-moscow-response- gutterman-analysis/33345752.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address What Can Ukraine Learn From NATO's Peacekeeping Mission In Kosovo? By Krenare Cubolli March 13, 2025 While they are more than 1,600 kilometers apart and vastly different in size, Kosovo and Ukraine share a common struggle over sovereignty -- one still reeling from war 26 years ago, the other fighting to preserve its territorial integrity against Russia. As discussions continue about what a peacekeeping force might look like in Ukraine, Kosovo's quarter-century of experience with international peacekeepers could provide valuable insights -- should a cease-fire be reached in the full-scale war Russia launched in 2022. Ivan Vejvoda, a senior fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, said that any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine must involve all parties. "All stakeholders should be on board, of course, the aggressor, Russia, the country that was invaded, Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, NATO," Vejvoda told RFE/RL. "So, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle for a successful peacekeeping mission." "What can be learned is the need to strengthen the foundations of peace and show political willingness. But, of course, on fair terms -- especially for Ukraine, a sovereign European country that was invaded for no reason by its nuclear-armed neighbor, Russia," Vejvoda said. Keeping The Peace In Kosovo NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, known as KFOR, was deployed in June 1999 under NATO's command, following the alliance's bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. NATO launched the military campaign to end the humanitarian crisis and ethnic cleansing of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population by Yugoslav forces led by authoritarian leader Slobodan Milosevic. In the wake of the bombing campaign and years of fighting between the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) and Serbian security forces, the peacekeeping mission's objectives were to maintain security, ensure freedom of movement, and support the establishment of a stable, democratic, and multiethnic Kosovo. KFOR operates under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which authorized an international military presence in Kosovo after Serbian forces withdrew in 1999. While NATO initially deployed around 50,000 troops to Kosovo, the current force is significantly smaller, with approximately 4,600 personnel from 27 contributing countries. Italy currently provides the most troops, with 1,258. What Could A Peacekeeping Force In Ukraine Look Like? European military chiefs are currently meeting in Paris to discuss what a potential deployment could look like. While the United States is at the forefront of efforts to end the conflict, Washington has consistently maintained that US troops will not be deployed on the ground. The United Kingdom and France have expressed a willingness to contribute troops but have stressed the need for US guarantees before proceeding. Such a "backstop" could mean military support without sending troops, or economic and logistical support. Russia, however, has rejected the idea of peacekeepers from European or NATO countries. Several media outlets, including The New York Times, have reported on a 31-page proposal drafted by the Geneva Center for Security Policy, outlining what a cease-fire in Ukraine might look like. The plan suggests establishing a 10-kilometer-wide buffer zone between the two armies, with 5,000 civilians and police officers patrolling the area. According to the proposal, which was drafted in consultation with international cease-fire and mediation experts, around 10,000 foreign troops would be required to ensure security. In January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that. if a cease-fire deal were reached with Russia, at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would need to be deployed in Ukraine to prevent further Russian attacks. "Otherwise," Zelenskyy said, "it's pointless." What Were KFOR's Main Challenges? In 1999, Kosovo was not an independent state and lacked its own army. As Vejvoda said, a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo was then absolutely crucial because "things were not settled." As a result, tensions often reached a breaking point -- such as during the 2004 riots, the largest ethnic clashes since the Kosovo War ended in 1999. The violence was sparked by false rumors that three ethnic Albanian children had drowned as a result of Serb actions. The riots led to 19 deaths, including 11 Albanians and eight Serbs. KFOR was considered to have failed to prevent and halt the large-scale violence. "It was not widely publicized, but NATO troops were shooting at Albanians who were desecrating Serbian houses and churches," Vejvoda recalls. General Holdger Kammerhoff, who served as the commander of KFOR, said at that time that ''proportionate force'' would be used to ensure the troops' safety. As Vejvoda said, this was a major learning experience for KFOR and its commanders, who realized that the challenges were far greater than they had initially anticipated when they arrived in Kosovo in 1999. "I think they certainly rethought their strategy for maintaining peace and order," Vejvoda said. NATO troops also suffered badly in clashes that took place in May 2023 in Zvecan, a town in northern Kosovo. Tens of KFOR personnel were injured, some critically, in battles with Serbian protesters. On a trip to Kosovo on March 11, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte emphasized the alliance's enduring commitment to its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He also urged leaders in Belgrade and Pristina to accelerate their dialogue, resolving outstanding issues and laying the groundwork for a lasting peace. Speaking about a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Rutte said that "One way to do that would be European troops in Ukraine. But there could be also other ways to do this." "I think [US] President [Donald] Trump is right: before you can keep a peace, you need to have the peace. And the peace is not yet there," he added. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by 104 UN member states. After meeting with Rutte, the Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani said that the peacekeeping mission "demonstrates the triumph of democratic and peace-loving states when they stand united around the values of freedom and human dignity." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-peacekeeping-kfor- kosovo/33345666.html Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chicago, March 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patient ID Now, a coalition of leading healthcare organizations, applauds the reintroduction of H.R.2002, the Patient Matching and Transparency in Certified Health IT (MATCH IT) Act of 2025 by Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Representative Bill Foster (D-IL), cosponsored by Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA), in the US House of Representatives. The MATCH IT Act would address the problem of patient misidentification within the healthcare ecosystem while improving patient safety and privacy. The bill would create an industry standard definition for the term patient match rate to allow measurement of patient match rates across the healthcare system and would improve standardization of patients demographic elements entered into certified health IT products to ensure patients are accurately matched with the correct medical record. Patient misidentification within the US healthcare system has long threatened patient safety and privacy and results in unnecessary additional costs to patients and providers. According to Black Book Research, thirty-five percent of all denied claims result from inaccurate patient identification, costing the average hospital $2.5 million and the US healthcare system more than $6.7 billion annually. The inability of clinicians to ensure patients are accurately matched with their health records has caused medical errors and, in some instances, even death. To prevent these medical errors, duplicative testing is often used to ensure prior results are correct. The expense of repeated medical care due to duplicate records costs an average of $1,950 per patient inpatient stay and more than $1,700 per emergency department visit. This bipartisan legislation has been endorsed by the Patient ID Now coalition, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS), Intermountain Health, Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP), American Academy of Ophthalmology, American College of Physicians, American Heart Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Baptist Health, Becton Dickinson (BD), Civitas Networks for Health, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), DirectTrust, e4health, Harris Data Integrity Solutions, Imprivata, Medical Group Management Association, MyLigo, Inc, Nemours Children's Health, OrthoVirginia, Parkview Health, Robert Wood Johnson Barnabus Health, and Verato. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) commends Representatives Mike Kelly and Bill Foster for once again leading the charge to protect patient safety and improve patient matching, said AHIMA President and Board Chair, Maria Caban Alizondo, PhD, RHIT, FAHIMA. The MATCH IT Act would decrease rates of patient misidentification, improve patient privacy and care, and bring down costs within the healthcare ecosystem associated with mismatched patient records. AHIMA looks forward to the passage of this critical legislation. Here is what leaders of other coalition member organizations said about the recent legislation: CHIME applauds the reintroduction of the MATCH IT Act, a critical step toward establishing patient matching standards that enhance patient safety, privacy, and healthcare efficiency. As the industry embraces innovative technologies, ensuring accurate patient identification has never been more urgent. The MATCH IT Act will provide a much-needed framework to improve interoperability, reduce errors, and uphold the integrity of the American healthcare system. We stand in strong support of this bipartisan effort to drive meaningful progress in patient care and health IT. - Russ Branzell, President and Chief Executive Officer, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Intermountain Health is proud to support the MATCH IT Act and applauds Representatives Kelly and Foster for their leadership. Ensuring that patients are accurately and consistently connected to their electronic health data is foundational to patient safety and privacy. While Congress has rightly prioritized interoperability and digital health data exchange, progress toward these national priorities is inhibited by patient matching and identification issues. In addition, movement toward a value-based payment system in which care is coordinated across disparate providers of care is impeded because of difficulties in accurately identifying patients at the point of care and linking their prior care Intermountain Health is committed to advancing this vital legislation. - Ryan Smith, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Intermountain Health ### About Patient ID Now Patient ID Now is a coalition of healthcare organizations representing a wide range of healthcare stakeholders committed to advancing a nationwide strategy to address patient identification through legislation and regulations. Founding members include the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS), and Intermountain Health. TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New-generation Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) Amaran Biotech has been awarded the prestigious Bioprocessing Excellence in Taiwan honor at the Asia-Pacific Biopharma Excellence Awards 2025 ceremony, hosted by renowned consulting firm IMAPAC in Singapore on March 12. Established in 2017, the Asia-Pacific Biopharma Excellence Awards recognize outstanding achievements in bioprocessing, logistics, supply chain management, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and clinical trials experts, organizations and technologies across Asia. The awards aim to foster the advancement of the biopharmaceutical industry. Amaran Biotechs high-purity AB-801 adjuvant, produced through its innovative bioprocessing technology, triumphed after a process including nomination, shortlisting, and public voting. An adjuvant is key component added to vaccines to enhance the bodys immune response, boosting vaccine efficacy while reducing the required dosage per shot. Amaran Biotechs AB-801 offers application capabilities comparable to the globally recognized adjuvant QS-21, which is derived from the soap bark tree (Quillaja saponaria) native to Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Saponin-based adjuvants have been utilized in several vaccines, including Shingrix by GSK for shingles and the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Tessie Che, Chairperson and General Manager of Amaran Biotech, stated: AB-801 is a GMP-grade QS-21 adjuvant, and we are one of the few CDMOs worldwide capable of manufacturing this product. This honor recognizes our team's dedication and hard work. We will continue to enhance our technologies to deliver high-quality bioprocessing solutions to global clients. Currently, AB-801 is supplied to a leading pharmaceutical company worldwide, and has been adopted by research institutions and universities across Europe, North America, China, and Japan, as well as vaccine research organizations and manufacturers in China and India. Moving forward, Amaran Biotech will further expand its production capacity and ensure sustainable supply to serve more international clients and drive the global biotech industry forward. About Amaran Biotech Amaran Biotech is a CDMO specializing in drug process development, analytical services and cGMP manufacturing of high-value biopharmaceuticals. Amaran Biotechs state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is in the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park and has been granted the PIC/S GMP certification from the TFDA since 2017. The company has also been audited and fully qualified by the regulatory agencies and third-party auditors from the USA and the EU. For more information, visit www.amaranbiotech.com Media Contact: Doreen Lin doreen.lin@amaranbiotech.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5d0faf8b-ec8a-4f17-903d-30888555035f Press Release Nokia selected to upscale Vodafone Ideas IP backhaul network for superior 4G and 5G experience Nokia's trusted performance in critical network infrastructure strengthens its partnership with Vodafone Idea to deliver robust IP backhaul expansion through high-performance IP/MPLS solutions. Nokia to deploy products from the 7750 SR and 7250 IXR series, upgrading Vodafone Ideas transport network to deliver superfast speeds and unparalleled customer experience across multiple telecom circles in India. 13 March 2025 New Delhi, India Nokia today announced that it has been selected by Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), to enhance and expand its IP backhaul network. Under the three-year agreement, Nokia will be deploying its cutting-edge IP/MPLS solutions across multiple telecom circles in India. With emerging data-hungry services like AI and immersive gaming, as well as the continued need for business video conferencing and access to digital services, connectivity demands are always increasing. To ensure people and enterprises can live and work without interruption, this vital upgrade will strengthen and future-proof the networks capacity and reliability. As part of this partnership, Nokia will supply its latest portfolio of IP/MPLS products, including the 7750 SR and 7250 IXR series, to modernize VILs transport network. The deployment will help improve VILs core, aggregation and access layers, creating a robust, scalable and future ready network to handle the increasing data traffic and deliver superior connectivity for both mobility and enterprise services. By incorporating the advanced solutions from Nokia, VIL aims to densify its network with a significant deployment of IP routers and replace its legacy networks. This upgrade will enable lower operational costs, faster deployment and seamless scalability for future technologies, ensuring a more efficient and cost-effective network infrastructure. The deployment also integrates advanced planning, design, installation, and migration services, supported by automation-based documentation. The upgraded network will address Vodafone Ideas growing demand for high-capacity and resilient connectivity while ensuring sustainability through reduced Opex and energy-efficient solutions. Partnering with Nokia truly aligns with our vision to enhance customer experience and support the growth of data traffic in the country. The state-of-the-art solutions from Nokia and their proven deployment capabilities will enable us to build a future ready transport network. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to delivering superior connectivity and services to our customers, said Jagbir Singh, CTO at Vodafone Idea Limited. We are delighted to partner with Vodafone Idea to enable the next phase of its network transformation. Our innovative IP/MPLS portfolio, in-depth understanding of 4G and 5G requirements and trusted performance across all network domains will ensure a high-performance network that delivers exceptional customer experiences for Vodafone Idea. This partnership underscores Nokias commitment to driving digitalization and supporting Indias telecom growth, added Prashant Malkani, Head of Network Infrastructure at Nokia India. Resources and additional information Product Page: 7250 Interconnect Router Product Page: 7750 Service Router About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation. With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future. About Vodafone Idea Limited Vodafone Idea Limited is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is amongst Indias leading telecom service providers. The Company provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G and 4G platforms. Company holds a large spectrum portfolio including mid band 5G spectrum in 17 circles and mmWave spectrum in 16 circles. To support the growing demand for data and voice, the Company is committed to delivering delightful customer experiences and contributing towards creating a truly Digital India by enabling millions of citizens to connect and build a better tomorrow. The Company is developing infrastructure to introduce newer and smarter technologies, making both retail and enterprise customers future ready with innovative offerings, conveniently accessible through an ecosystem of digital channels as well as extensive on-ground presence. The Companys equity shares are listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE in India. Media inquiries Nokia Communications, Asia Pacific Email: cordia.so@nokia.com Nokia Press Office Email: Press.Services@nokia.com Follow us on social media LinkedIn X Instagram Facebook YouTube DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kama Capital has launched a new loyalty program aimed at providing traders with structured rewards designed to enhance their trading experience. The program offers a range of incentives based on trading activity, distinguishing itself from traditional brokerage models that primarily focus on fees and retention strategies. A New Approach to Trader Rewards Unlike conventional brokerage loyalty programs that often center on deposit-based incentives, Kama Capitals program is structured to offer traders tangible benefits at various stages of their trading journey. Our Loyalty Program is an extension of our missionto provide traders with meaningful rewards that contribute to their long-term success, said Razan Assaf, Deputy CEO of Kama Capital. We have developed a model that prioritizes traders by offering real benefits rather than promotional incentives. Program Highlights The Kama Capital Loyalty Program offers multiple incentives, including: Welcome Bonus ($10): Traders who complete KYC verification receive a starting bonus to begin trading. Traders who complete KYC verification receive a starting bonus to begin trading. First Deposit Bonus (10% up to $100): New traders can receive additional capital when funding their accounts. New traders can receive additional capital when funding their accounts. Volume-Based Rewards: Traders earn rewards based on their trading activity. Traders earn rewards based on their trading activity. Monthly Challenges: Additional incentives are available for top-performing traders who achieve key milestones in profitability and engagement. Elena Kupriianova, Chief Marketing Officer at Kama Capital, emphasized the programs focus on long-term trader engagement. This initiative ensures that traders are recognized and rewarded for their continued activity in the market. Supporting Trader Growth Kama Capitals approach aims to provide traders with incentives that align with their trading objectives. Loyalty programs should offer meaningful value rather than just encourage deposits, said Basem Elhelaly, Customer Support Manager. Our goal is to create an environment where traders feel supported and in control of their growth. By integrating structured rewards with trading performance, Kama Capital seeks to offer a program that enhances trader engagement while maintaining transparency and value. About Kama Capital Kama Capital is a financial services provider specializing in trading solutions that cater to a diverse range of market participants. The company focuses on offering a flexible and transparent trading environment, providing tools and resources designed to support traders in navigating global financial markets. With a commitment to innovation and trader empowerment, Kama Capital aims to enhance the trading experience through technology-driven solutions and customer-centric initiatives. For more information about the Kama Capital Loyalty Program, users can visit: Kama Capital Loyalty Program Contact Head of Digital & Partnerships Karthik R. Arumugam Kama Capital LLC k.arumugam@kama-capital.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/143b22ca-d8a5-4615-a36f-37a80337a722 PASADENA, Calif., March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dena Oberst, founder and CEO of Gable Tax Group, today announced that Dallas, Texas native Renee Padilla, has been named Director of the firms international sales tax consulting practice. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, Gable Tax Group, i.e.: the Sales Tax Gurus, is a privately-owned firm of experts in sales tax who deliver comprehensive sales tax consulting and compliance services to Fortune 500 companies as well as national or privately-owned companies on everything from payments and permits to process optimization and audit defense. Renee, who works out of Gable Tax Groups Dallas, Texas office, brings over 16 years of public accounting experience to Gable Tax Group with a background of providing sales and use tax consulting services across multi-jurisdictions. In this role, she assists Gables clients in navigating the complexities of indirect tax obligations through specialized services that include audit representation, refund reviews, nexus and exposure analysis, tax research, voluntary disclosures, and tax compliance. With the complexity of sales tax compliance laws that vary from state to state, Gable Tax Group ensures their clients sales tax obligations are consistently met and are always in compliance. Gable Tax Group CEO Dena Oberst stated, Renee plays a vital role in driving innovation and excellence within the sales tax consulting practice. Her leadership and technical expertise empower clients to achieve compliance while mitigating risks and optimizing outcomes. And, her collaborative approach fosters strong relationships with clients ensuring their needs are met with exceptional care and professionalism while delivering specialized and dedicated client service. Ms. Oberst adds, Over the past three years, our business at Gable Tax Group has grown significantly. In 2024, our personnel headcount grew by 40% to accommodate this expansion and we began looking for a leader of the highest caliber who could step in on Day One to lead our international sales tax consulting practice. We found that person in Renee Padilla. As a proven business developer and engagement manager, Renee emphasizes dedicated and customized client service, leaning on core values that align with Gable Tax Groups ICARE principles of Integrity, Consideration, Accuracy, Reliability, and Efficiency. We look forward to growing our client base to a new high with Renees direction. Under founder and CEO Dena Oberst, Gable Tax Groups mission is to simplify sales tax compliance for businesses, nationwide, by providing a host of expert services, such as: registration, returns, and audit defense. The firm works with CFOs, Controllers, and Tax Directors who are looking to save time, money, and resources while ensuring their sales and use taxes are filed accurately and on time, so their leadership can focus on other areas of their business. For this reason, Gable Tax Group is known as a trusted partner in navigating the ever-changing world of sales tax compliance. MEDIA INQUIRIES: Dena Oberst at: (888) 872-6579 Email: info@gable.tax A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3ed76828-f0a5-49c0-952b-7047d4774e43 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE, OTCQX: ORZCF) (the Company or Orezone) is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced bought deal financing (the Offering), pursuant to which the Company issued a total of 42,683,000 common shares of the Company (the Shares) at a price of C$0.82 per Share (the Offering Price) for aggregate gross proceeds of C$35,000,060. Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the Underwriter) acted as sole underwriter and bookrunner for the Offering. The Company has granted the Underwriter an option to acquire up to an additional 6,402,450 Shares (the Over-Allotment Option) at the Offering Price for additional gross proceeds of up to C$5,250,009, exercisable in whole or in part, at any time on or prior to the date that is 30 days following the date hereof. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering (and any proceeds received from the Over-Allotment Option) to accelerate both the Stage II hard rock expansion and additional exploration at its Bombore Gold Mine, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes, as further described in the Prospectus (as defined below). The Shares were offered to the public in Canada by way of a short form prospectus dated March 7, 2025, and filed in each of the provinces of Canada (other than Quebec) (the Prospectus). The Shares were also offered by way of private placement in certain offshore jurisdictions and in the United States pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act). The Shares referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities in the United States, nor in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Orezone Gold Corporation Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE OTCQX: ORZCF) is a West African gold producer engaged in mining, developing, and exploring its flagship Bombore Gold Mine in Burkina Faso. The Bombore mine achieved commercial production on its oxide operations on December 1, 2022, and is now focused on its staged hard rock expansion that is expected to materially increase annual and life-of-mine gold production from the processing of hard rock mineral reserves. Orezone is led by an experienced team focused on social responsibility and sustainability with a proven track record in project construction and operations, financings, capital markets and M&A. The technical report entitled Bombore Phase II Expansion, Definitive Feasibility Study is available on SEDAR+ and the Companys website. Contact Information Patrick Downey President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin MacKenzie Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations Tel: 1 778 945 8977 / Toll Free: 1 888 673 0663 info@orezone.com / www.orezone.com For further information please contact Orezone at +1 (778) 945-8977 or visit the Companys website at www.orezone.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws (together, forward-looking statements). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate, potential, possible and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may, will, could, or should occur. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, the exercise of the Over-Allotment Option and the use of proceeds of the Offering (and from the Over-Allotment Option, if applicable). All such forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management and the qualified persons believe are appropriate in the circumstances. All forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, delays caused by pandemics, terrorist or other violent attacks (including cyber security attacks), the failure of parties to contracts to honour contractual commitments, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure, the possibility of unanticipated costs and expenses, accidents and equipment breakdowns, political risk, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic, market or business conditions, the failure of exploration programs, including drilling programs, to deliver anticipated results and the failure of ongoing and uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, and other factors described in the Companys most recent annual information form and management discussion and analysis filed on SEDAR+. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release. Dublin, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market by Type (Disinfectants, Non-prescription Drugs, Personal Care & Cosmetics), Disease/Disorder Type (Allergy Management, Cardiovascular Health, Chronic Pain), Formulation Type, Distribution Channel - Global Forecast 2025-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market grew from USD 220.52 billion in 2024 to USD 235.16 billion in 2025. It is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 6.78%, reaching USD 327.00 billion by 2030. Recent years have seen transformative shifts in the over-the-counter consumer health products landscape that are reshaping market dynamics and consumer behavior. As technological advancements fuel product innovation, traditional models are being supplanted by digitally-driven processes and customer-centric strategies. The integration of digital platforms and e-commerce channels has enabled companies to reach wider audiences while ensuring a fast-paced feedback loop that informs product development and continuous improvement. Regulatory changes have also played a decisive role in influencing market trends. Stricter safety protocols combined with evolving guidelines have necessitated rigorous quality control and compliance measures, thus pushing manufacturers to invest in next-generation manufacturing techniques. In parallel, consumer preferences have morphed in response to an increasingly health-conscious society. There is now a greater emphasis on transparency, sustainability, and holistic wellness, driving companies to re-assess their formulations and business models. Moreover, market consolidation and strategic partnerships have emerged as common themes among industry players looking to leverage combined expertise and scale operations. This transformative period has not only broadened the competitive landscape but also presented substantial opportunities for innovation and differentiation, encouraging both established players and new entrants to recalibrate their strategies in order to stay relevant in an evolving competitive environment. Key Regional Insights Geographical segmentation offers a window into the regional dynamics that are influencing the over-the-counter consumer health products market. The analysis demonstrates distinct consumer behavior patterns and regulatory environments across key regions, including the Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific. In the Americas, robust consumer health awareness and advanced healthcare systems drive demand for a wide range of over-the-counter products, while ongoing innovation in product development sustains market momentum. The region combining Europe, Middle East & Africa is characterized by stringent regulatory standards and an increasing emphasis on preventive care, leading to the adoption of products that satisfy both clinical efficacy and consumer trust. Furthermore, the diverse demographic landscape in this region creates opportunities for tailored solutions capable of addressing a variety of health concerns influenced by cultural and environmental factors. In Asia-Pacific, rapid urbanization, increasing disposable incomes, and heightened investments in healthcare infrastructure are key factors propelling market growth. This region is witnessing a significant shift towards digital commerce and personalized healthcare, further stimulating demand across various product categories. Overall, regional insights underscore the critical importance of localized strategies that address specific market nuances and demographic variables in shaping the success of over-the-counter consumer health products. Key Companies Insights The competitive landscape of the over-the-counter consumer health products market is defined by a diverse group of key companies that have established strong footholds through innovation, quality, and expansive distribution networks. Industry leaders such as 3M Company, Abbott Laboratories, and Amway Corporation are setting benchmarks in quality assurance and operational excellence. Similarly, major players including Archer Daniels Midland Company, B. Braun SE, Bayer AG, and Beiersdorf AG have demonstrated sustained growth by responding effectively to both evolving consumer demands and rigorous regulatory standards. Further enhancing industry dynamics, companies like Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Cardinal Health, Inc., and Cipla Limited have leveraged strategic investments in research and development to drive product innovation. This trend is also reflected by Cosmetic Skin Solutions, LLC, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, and Essity AB, all of which continue to expand their market presence through targeted acquisitions and an adaptive product offering. Renowned organizations such as Estee Lauder Companies Inc., FastFill Pack, Inc., Glanbia PLC, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. have also made significant inroads within the market, each contributing unique expertise in formulation and distribution. Other key players, including InSpec Solutions, LLC, Integra Lifesciences Corporation, and Johnson & Johnson services, Inc., have successfully enhanced their competitive edge by optimizing supply chains and embracing technological advancements. Notably, companies like Koninklijke DSM N.V., L'Oreal SE, Lonza Group Ltd., and Medline Industries, Inc. further reinforce the industry's commitment to high-performance standards. The strategic initiatives led by Mineral Mine, Molnlycke Health Care AB, Nardo's Natural, Inc. by Barbara Corcoran, Natures Formulae Ltd., and Nestle SA, alongside Nichiban Co., Ltd., Onoxa LLC, Paul Hartmann AG, Pfizer, Inc., Piramal Enterprises Ltd., Reckitt Benckiser LLC, Sanofi S.A., Smith & Nephew PLC, and Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. underscore the vibrant and competitive spirit that defines the market today. Actionable Recommendations for Industry Leaders Industry leaders must reconsider their strategic approach in order to thrive in an environment defined by rapid innovation and shifting consumer preferences. It is imperative to invest in cutting-edge technology and data analytics to not only streamline operations but also enhance product development processes. By leveraging advanced analytical tools, companies can uncover hidden consumer insights that drive targeted marketing and product positioning. To remain competitive, companies should prioritize collaboration and partnerships that enable knowledge-sharing and the pooling of resources. Aligning with technology firms and entering into joint ventures can accelerate innovation by integrating digital health solutions with traditional product offerings. Furthermore, revisiting and revitalizing supply chain management processes is crucial, particularly in light of evolving global logistics trends and demand fluctuations. Another actionable recommendation is to expand research and development initiatives in order to address the rising focus on health and wellness. This includes deepening investment in emerging areas such as personalized healthcare solutions and preventive medicine. Market players should also adapt their product portfolios to cater to disparate regional needs and diverse consumer segments, ensuring that localized strategies are effectively implemented. Finally, maintaining agility and a consumer-centric mindset in daily operations can help companies capture incremental improvements that collectively fortify market position and drive long-term growth. Key Attributes Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 185 Forecast Period 2025-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2025 $235.16 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $327 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 6.7% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered 1. Preface 2. Research Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Market Overview 5. Market Insights 5.1. Market Dynamics 5.1.1. Drivers 5.1.1.1. Rapid integration of digital health tools and advanced analytics for enhanced product personalization and engagement 5.1.1.2. Rising consumer preference for self-medication and preventive health solutions to manage everyday health issues 5.1.2. Restraints 5.1.2.1. Ensuring efficient supply chain operations amid rising demand and regional market variabilities 5.1.3. Opportunities 5.1.3.1. Increased investment in research and development for innovative OTC formulations and delivery systems 5.1.3.2. Growing consumer interest in natural and plant-based OTC products fueled by wellness awareness and sustainability trends 5.1.4. Challenges 5.1.4.1. Complex regulatory landscape and lengthy approval processes impeding market expansion 5.2. Market Segmentation Analysis 5.2.1. Type: Increasing need for pain relievers due to increasing incidences of lifestyle-related ailments 5.2.2. Distribution Channel: Growing consumer preference for hospitals & clinics due to immediate and professional healthcare advice 5.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.4. PESTLE Analysis 6. Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market, by Type 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Disinfectants 6.3. Non-prescription Drugs 6.3.1. Acne Therapies 6.3.2. Cold & Allergy Remedies 6.3.3. Pain Relievers 6.4. Personal Care & Cosmetics 6.5. Vitamin & Supplements 7. Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market, by Disease/Disorder Type 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Allergy Management 7.3. Cardiovascular Health 7.4. Chronic Pain 7.5. Diabetes Management 7.6. Mental Health and Wellness 7.6.1. Sleep Aids 7.6.2. Stress Relief 7.7. Osteoporosis 8. Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market, by Formulation Type 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Gels & Liquids 8.3. Patch & Transdermal 8.4. Powders 8.5. Tablets & Capsules 9. Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market, by Distribution Channel 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Hospital & Clinics 9.3. Hypermarkets & Supermarkets 9.4. Retail Pharmacies 10. Americas Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Argentina 10.3. Brazil 10.4. Canada 10.5. Mexico 10.6. United States 11. Asia-Pacific Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Australia 11.3. China 11.4. India 11.5. Indonesia 11.6. Japan 11.7. Malaysia 11.8. Philippines 11.9. Singapore 11.10. South Korea 11.11. Taiwan 11.12. Thailand 11.13. Vietnam 12. Europe, Middle East & Africa Over-The-Counter Consumer Health Products Market 12.1. Introduction 12.2. Denmark 12.3. Egypt 12.4. Finland 12.5. France 12.6. Germany 12.7. Israel 12.8. Italy 12.9. Netherlands 12.10. Nigeria 12.11. Norway 12.12. Poland 12.13. Qatar 12.14. Russia 12.15. Saudi Arabia 12.16. South Africa 12.17. Spain 12.18. Sweden 12.19. Switzerland 12.20. Turkey 12.21. United Arab Emirates 12.22. United Kingdom 13. Competitive Landscape 13.1. Market Share Analysis, 2024 13.2. FPNV Positioning Matrix, 2024 13.3. Competitive Scenario Analysis 13.3.1. Neutrogena partners with dermatologists for skincare innovation 13.3.2. Abhay HealthTech expands OTC reach with MNP healthcare acquisition 13.3.3. Piramal Pharma explores OTC partnerships amidst strategic debt reduction 13.3.4. NEXGEL Announces Partnership with STADA to Distribute and Commercialize Consumer Health OTC Products in North America 13.3.5. iNova to buy Mundipharma's consumer healthcare brands for USD 540 million 13.3.6. WellSpring Consumer Healthcare Acquires OTC Skin Care Brands from Bayer 13.4. Strategy Analysis & Recommendations Companies Profiled 3M Company Abbott Laboratories Amway Corporation Archer Daniels Midland Company B. Braun SE Bayer AG Beiersdorf AG Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH Cardinal Health, Inc. Cipla Limited Cosmetic Skin Solutions, LLC Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Essity AB Estee Lauder Companies Inc. FastFill Pack, Inc. Glanbia PLC GlaxoSmithKline PLC Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. InSpec Solutions, LLC Integra Lifesciences Corporation Johnson & Johnson services, Inc. Koninklijke DSM N.V. L'Oreal SE Lonza Group Ltd. Medline Industries, Inc. Mineral Mine Molnlycke Health Care AB Nardo's Natural, Inc. by by Barbara Corcoran Natures Formulae Ltd. Nestle SA Nichiban Co. Ltd. Onoxa LLC Paul Hartmann AG Pfizer, Inc. Piramal Enterprises Ltd. Reckitt Benckiser LLC Sanofi S.A. Smith & Nephew PLC Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dnjdkg About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment HOCHIMINH CITY, Vietnam, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- How can Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo serve as a catalyst for Vietnams semiconductor industry to master core technologies? This critical question was thoroughly discussed at the event titled Exchange and Experience Sharing between Leading Global Technology Corporations and Vietnamese Executives in Core 4.0 Technologies held on March 13, 2025, in Ho Chi Minh City. This event was a key component of the Advanced Assembly, Testing, and Packaging Technology Conference: Opportunities for Vietnam, co-organized by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) and CT Group. The event saw participation from numerous international technology corporations, universities, government agencies, and local authorities, including the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Industry and Trade, the Peoples Council and Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Thu Duc City Peoples Committee, Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City, the Management Board of Industrial and Export Processing Zones, and the Ho Chi Minh City Fourth Industrial Revolution Center. Additionally, prominent universities, semiconductor experts, and business leaders from both domestic and international organizations were in attendance, such as VNU-HCM, Hanyang University, Inha University, AMKOR, SPOT, WooWon Technology, LAM Research, ECI Technology, WiV, and Aemulus. During the event, experts and executives analyzed the opportunities and benefits of new semiconductor technologies for Vietnam in the era of Industry 4.0. The semiconductor industry plays a pivotal role in various high-tech sectors. Mr. Vinh Nguyen, former Vice President of ECI Technology, emphasized: A thriving semiconductor industry will drive economic growth, job creation, technological advancement, and global competitiveness, making it a key force for national prosperity and innovation. Particularly in the context of Vietnams semiconductor industry rising to prominence under Resolution No. 57 with strong international support, the event underscored the importance of this policy. On December 22, 2024, the General Secretary issued Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo, marking a breakthrough in the development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation. Resolution No. 57 has generated strong momentum, accelerating semiconductor industry development and encouraging domestic enterprises to invest in this sector. The event featured the participation of Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien, Deputy Director of the General Affairs Department at the Office of the Party Central Committee, who provided an in-depth briefing on Resolution No. 57 and offered strategic guidance for CT Groups investment in new technology industries. Mr. Wan Azmi, Chief Operating Officer of CT Semiconductor, stated: As a subsidiary of CT Group, CT Semiconductor specializes in Semiconductor Assembly, Test, and Packaging (ATP), positioning itself as the first Vietnamese brand in this sector. CT Semiconductor is committed to developing into a Vietnamese enterprise with true mastery of semiconductor technology. Experts and speakers also shared insights on key development strategies, research initiatives, education programs, and international collaboration opportunities in the semiconductor industry. Topics discussed at the conference included smart manufacturing in OSAT companies and its advantages for Vietnam, R&D strategies and process development, university research and semiconductor education programs, and international student exchange initiatives. Addressing R&D and Process Development strategies, Dr. Changhang Kim, Research Professor at Hanyang University, emphasized: To position Vietnam as a leader in semiconductors, close collaboration among enterprises, universities, and the government is crucial. Companies should enhance OSAT capabilities, invest in AI-driven process development, and pioneer 3D IC and chiplet packaging technologies. Universities must focus on advanced packaging curricula, breakthrough research in new materials and processes, and strong industry partnerships. Government initiatives and industry-academic collaborations will be key to driving Vietnams semiconductor packaging sector forward, tackling current challenges, and unlocking future opportunities. Experts, university and business representatives enthusiastically engaged in the panel discussion session. During in-depth discussions, representatives from leading universities such as Inha University and Hanyang University (South Korea) shared insights into educational partnerships and talent development for the semiconductor industry. Industry leaders from companies like AMKOR, LAM Research, WooWon Technology, SPOT, WiV, and Aemulus highlighted lessons for strengthening Vietnams domestic technological capacity through research, education, and international collaboration in semiconductor industry. The event marked a significant milestone in defining long-term strategies for the OSAT sector in Vietnam. CT Group reaffirmed its commitment to continued investment in talent development, scientific research, and expanded collaborations with both domestic and international partners. The conference also underscored practical approaches for leveraging Resolution No. 57 to drive OSAT industry growth, helping Vietnam establish itself as a key player in the global semiconductor supply chain. CT Semiconductor serves as a pioneering Vietnamese brand in the global semiconductor industry. CT GROUP Address: Leman - 20 Truong Dinh, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City Hotline (Zalo/WhatsApp/Viber): 0987 934 774 - 0911 807 668 Email: info@ctgroupvietnam.com https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d93e07c4-4c48-4af6-ba54-5d13fc1cecc4 Los Angeles, CA, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- El Septimo, the avantgarde artisans of luxury cigar craftsmanship and pioneers in blending science with tradition, proudly celebrates a 20-year legacy of innovation and excellence with the unveiling of its most daring creation yetthe Doble Gran Reserva cigar. This revolutionary masterpiece will debut at the 2025 PCA Show this April in New Orleans. A New Epoch in Cigar Artistry. The Doble Grann Reserva transcends conventional boundaries. While a traditional Grand Reserve denotes tobacco aged for five years, our creation elevates this benchmark by harnessing the finest tobaccos sourced from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Ricameticulously aged between 7 and 10 years. The result is a harmonious symphony of rich, layered flavors and sublime smoothness that invites aficionados to a transcendent sensory experience. A Global Convergence of Expertise. This unparalleled blend is the outcome of a worldwide collaboration. Over 60 esteemed cigar connoisseurs, industry officials, and sommeliers lent their discerning palates and expertise to the design, development, and blending process. Their collective vision and diverse insights have shaped a cigar that perfectly balances tradition with modernityensuring every draw delivers a masterpiece of aroma, complexity, and refinement. In celebration of our 20-year milestone, only 1,000 boxes of the Doble Gran Reserva will be produced and only one time. Each box, containing 14 exquisitely crafted Toro cigars (6 x 52 ), is destined to become a coveted collectors item. In keeping with its exclusivity, this limited edition will be distributed solely through the top 50 retailers worldwide only. Priced at $125 per cigar and $1,750 per box, this release embodies the pinnacle of luxury and rarity. Exclusivity Redefined for the Discerning Connoisseur. For two decades, El Septimo has not only produced the worlds most luxurious cigars and accessories but has redefined the industry through scientific innovation and creative excellence. Our relentless pursuit of perfection has led us to apply pioneering research and technology in the art of cigar makinga fusion that transforms each product into a true work of art. With the Doble Gran Reserva, we invite enthusiasts to experience a cigar that challenges expectations and sets an entirely new standard in luxury or store them for the next generation to enjoy. With the Doble Gran Reserva, we have harnessed the collective wisdom of global experts and fused it with groundbreaking scientific techniques in fermentation process to create an experience that transcends tradition. This cigar is a living testament to our passion for innovation and our unwavering commitment to excellence and producing the best cigars in the world, said Zaya Younan CEO of El Septimo. "Experience the Revolution at PCA Show 2025. Come and celebrate our 20th Anniversary with us, smoking our new Doble Gran Reserva," added Mr. Younan. Cigar aficionados, connoisseurs, and media representatives are invited to join us at the PCA Show in New Orleans this April for the exclusive unveiling of the Doble Gran Reservaa true revolution in cigar craftsmanship that promises to redefine the art of indulgence. About El Septimo Cigars: El Septimo Cigars is a luxury global brand known for its exceptional craftsmanship and premium tobacco blends. With lounges and bars around the world, we offer an exclusive and sophisticated cigar experience to connoisseurs across the globe. Our cigars are available through a network of carefully selected retailers and distributors, ensuring that aficionados everywhere can enjoy the finest cigars. Rooted in tradition, our commitment to quality and innovation makes every El Septimo cigar a masterpiece. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 2005, El Septimo Cigars quickly became a hallmark of elegance and craftsmanship. In recent years, the brand was acquired by Younan Company, a private equity firm, which propelled the brand into an expansive global presence. Today, El Septimo Cigars continues to grow and evolve, with lounges, bars, and distributors worldwide, offering cigar enthusiasts unparalleled quality and luxury. Attachments Charleston, South Carolina, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The College of Charleston and German University of Applied Sciences NORDAKADEMIE have partnered together with essential industry partners to offer a German-American co-op program in a unique form. It is designed to provide businesses with skilled, workforce-ready employees on Day One, with international experience. The College of Charleston is excited to partner with NORDAKADEMIE, a university of applied sciences based in Hamburg, Germany, in piloting an innovative bachelors degree equivalent to the German Duales Studium [dual studies] in international engineering and management, which combines academics and real-world work experience, says College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu. This program will benefit South Carolinas workforce development needs, one of the greatest challenges facing our modern economy. Throughout this three-year program, participants will be compensated by their sponsoring employer who is also funding their tuition, gain practical work experience at their employer and complete their bachelors degree in international engineering and management through courses at the College of Charleston and NORDAKADEMIE. Designed to meet our regions workforce development needs, the program offers the flexibility for businesses to select qualified existing employees, high school students or technical and four-year college students. For more information, please visit go.charleston.edu/Nord-Academy or contact Garth Cook, director of business engagement, at cookgo@charleston.edu. Attachment CALGARY, Alberta, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On March 26, the National Music Centre (NMC) will unveil a new exhibition at Studio Bell, in partnership with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), celebrating internationally renowned pop-punk legends SUM 41 as they accept their invitation into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. From their early days in Ajax, Ontario to becoming global pop-punk rock icons, SUM 41 has spent close to 30 years delivering All Killer, No Filler anthems. With over 15 million albums sold worldwide, multiple Billboard-charting releases, a Grammy nomination, two JUNO Awards, a Kerrang! Award, several Alternative Press Music Awards, and countless other accolades, SUM 41 has left an undeniable mark on rock history. Formed in 1996 by founding members Deryck Whibley and Steve Jocz (later joined by Dave Baksh and Jason Cone McCaslin), SUM 41 catapulted to fame with their breakthrough debut studio album, All Killer No Filler. A multi-platinum smash, the record propelled them to international stardom almost overnight, and their breakout hit Fat Lip, remains their biggest to date. With a fearless blend of rock, punk, pop, and alternative metal, their music became an unapologetic soundtrack of rebellion, resilience, and redemption, capturing both irreverent humour and raw vulnerability in a single album. Now, as the band prepares to take their final bow from performing live, the National Music Centre is honouring their legacy with a new exhibition packed with rare memorabilia, compelling storytelling, and never-before-seen artifacts, including the original VHS cassette, or "Home Made EPK," that helped land them their first record deal. "We've kept so many memories over the years from tour footage and stage outfits to the VHS tape that kicked everything off," said SUM 41 frontman Deryck Whibley. "We cant wait to see these pieces come together in one place, and we hope fans enjoy this look back as much as weve enjoyed the ride." After wrapping up their final world tour, SUM 41 will take the stage one last time for an unforgettable farewell performance at The 2025 JUNO Awards Broadcast in Vancouver this weekend on March 30, 2025. While the band may be saying goodbye, fans can relive their most epic moments through this special exhibition at Studio Bell. SUM 41s influence stretches far beyond Canada, said Andrew Mosker, President and CEO of the National Music Centre. Were excited to celebrate their legacy at NMC and give fans an up-close look at the bands journey and rise as global rock icons. SUM 41 has had a global impact on music, and their farewell performance at The JUNO Awards Broadcast will be epic, said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards. Were thrilled to celebrate their career with this exhibition at the National Music Centre that honours their lasting influence on rock music. The 2025 Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee: SUM 41 exhibition is accessible with paid admission to Studio Bell and will run from March 26, 2025 until February 2026. About National Music Centre | Centre National de Musique The National Music Centre (NMC) has a mission to amplify the love, sharing, and understanding of music. It is preserving and celebrating Canadas music story inside its home at Studio Bell in the heart of the East Village in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 territory. NMC is the home to four Canadian music halls of fame, including the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Quebecs ADISQ Hall of Fame. Featuring musical instruments, artifacts, recording equipment, and memorabilia, the NMC Collection spans over 450 years of music history and innovation. A registered charity with programs that include exhibitions, artist development, performance, and education, NMC is inspiring a new generation of music lovers. For more information about NMCs onsite activities, please visit studiobell.ca . To check out the NMC experience online, including video-on-demand performances, made-in-Canada stories, and highly entertaining educational content, visit amplify.nmc.ca . About CARAS The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a not-for-profit organization created to preserve and enhance the Canadian music industry and promote higher artistic and industry standards. CARAS mandate is comprised of four key pillars: Educate through our music education charity, MusiCounts, programs and initiatives; Develop emerging artists through mentorship and development programs; Celebrate Canadian artists with year-round JUNO Awards showcasing; and Honour music industry icons through the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The 54th annual JUNO Awards Broadcast will take place in Vancouver at Rogers Arena on Sunday, March 30, 2025. For more information on the JUNO Awards or The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) please visit junoawards.ca . About the Canadian Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 and recognizes Canadian artists that have attained commercial success while having a positive impact on the Canadian music scene here at home and around the world. Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre in Calgary, is the physical home to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame collection. NMC works closely with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to collect and exhibit items within the collection. As the governing body for the Hall of Fame, CARAS makes annual inductions in the artist, industry, and humanitarian categories each year at the JUNO Awards. For more information, please visit canadianmusichalloffame.ca . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/595ff6b8-2bd4-4850-a8b5-bb1334a9616c Boston, MA, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arguably the most famous sock puppet in the world, Lamb Chop, and sister Mallory Lewis, are lending their voices on behalf of lambs. FOUR PAWS has appointed the ventriloquist duo as Lamb Ambassadors harnessing Lamb Chops lovable spirit and global fan base to expose the inherent cruelty of the Australian Merino wool industry. The partnership between FOUR PAWS and their new Lamb Ambassadors aims to raise awareness to the particularly cruel farming practice called live lamb cutting (also known as mulesing), which has been used for over a century in Australia. It involves a substantial cutting off of young lambs buttocks skin without adequate pain management. FOUR PAWS ultimate goal with this campaign is a ban on live lamb cutting in Australia by 2030, accomplished by public awareness and pressure, fashion brand commitments and policymaker engagement. When I first heard about live lamb cutting, I thought it sounded scary and mean, so I wanted to speak up for all the other lambs who dont have a voice like I do, said Lamb Chop. In 2021, FOUR PAWS launched its appeal to fashion brands to help stop live lamb cutting. This week, the effort celebrates not only Lamb Chop and Mallory Lewis, but its 100th signature of support. One hundred international fashion brands, including leading names such as Zara, Patagonia, and Hugo Boss, have publicly committed to excluding wool sourced from live lamb cutting by signing FOUR PAWS Brand Letter of Intent, a clear signal for more animal welfare in the industry. The growing number of international companies will increasingly urge the Australian wool industry to stop the brutal practice and transition to industry -proven alternatives that are kinder to animals. Mallory Lewis is the daughter of legendary Shari Lewis, who entertained children from the 1950s through the 1990s with the beloved Lamb Chop. After her mothers passing, Mallory took over the act, continuing the legacy and keeping their charm and humor alive. Today, they perform on TV and in live shows and continue to gain a new generation of fans on TikTok and Instagram. Now, the duo uses their global platform to Be Their Voice and help FOUR PAWS save lambs. Following last years launch of FOUR PAWS star-studded animated film with support from Hollywood actors Danielle Macdonald and Scott Evans the organization teamed up with LA production company Pollution Studios to create a series of emotionally charged reaction videos. Volunteering their time, celebrities sat in pairs in front of a monitor that played actual footage of the cruel live lamb cutting practice that over ten million lambs endure every year on Australian farms. Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop also took part and bravely watched the footage in order to witness what lambs go through. This is footage of lambs that look like theyve been butchered, but they're actuallyalive? Horrible," Lewis exclaimed as she watched the cruel footage. 80 per cent of the fine merino wool for the global fashion market comes from Australia - the only country in the world where live lamb cutting is legally and commonly practiced. This mutilation of lambs is used as a quick and cheap method of preventing fly infestation (flystrike). However, there are alternative methods available such as breeding plain-bodied sheep who are naturally resistant to fly infestation and proper management of the animals. This can eliminate both flystrike and lamb cutting. Additionally, industry research and farmers accounts reportedly associate plain-bodied sheep with higher lamb survival rates. Brands that have signed the Brand Letter of Intent have either fully excluded live lamb cut wool from their product range or are committed to do so by latest 2030. By signing the letter, brands are urging the Australian wool industry to transition to available and proven alternatives by 2030. "I'm a lucky lamb, I've always had a voice," Lamb Chop said in a video on Instagram announcing the partnership with FOUR PAWS. She continued "And I need to be the voice for the little lambs that don't." # Attachment SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The first class of AmeriCorps NCCC members serving with Forest Corps has completed their term of service with the program. On March 13, 72 AmeriCorps NCCC members celebrated their collective achievement with a graduation ceremony in Sacramento, where the NCCC Pacific Region is headquartered. Forest Corps is a partnership between AmeriCorps NCCC and the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service. AmeriCorps NCCC members who serve with Forest Corps receive rigorous training with support from the nations most knowledgeable and experienced forestry professionals. Members are deployed to projects that help mitigate the possibility of wildfires, manage and extinguish dangerous fires, and conserve natural resources. In the past year, this cohort has deployed 10 teams to 36 projects across 26 unique ranger districts in nine different states. These members served more than 115,000 total hours primarily focused on reforestation and wildland fire mitigation projects across the western United States. They earned credentials like certifications in chainsaw operations, S190s (certificate of training in wildland fire behavior), and Red Cards, making them official Type-2 firefighters. The first cohort of AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps members has impressed us all with their dedication and flexibility, said Ken Goodson, Director of AmeriCorps NCCC. These teams earned chainsaw certifications, learned to dig fire lines, and managed prescribed burns, which will keep communities safe for decades. They responded to active wildfires, immediately protecting local lands and communities, and nurtured young nursery trees to support national reforestation efforts. Through harsh weather and logistical challenges, they remained agile and passionate. These young people will graduate as 72 trained wildland firefighters, ready to contribute meaningfully to preserving our nations natural resources. We are proud of everything theyve accomplished in the past nine months, together with our outstanding partners in national forests around the nation. In addition to their planned projects, members from six Forest Corps teams responded to active wildfires during their term of service. AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps members received on-the-ground training and experience to more effectively respond to wildland fire disasters, now and into the future. These newly trained teams helped to address wildfire risks to protect communities and make forests more resilient. Many will go on to build on their skills by pursuing wildland fire fighting careers. As this term concludes, 17 members have reported that they intend to pursue a career in fire mitigation or disaster response directly after graduating from the program. Lauren Panozzo, a recent AmeriCorps member with this cohort, didnt join AmeriCorps with the intention of finding a career after in fire management, but that's where her passion grew. Forest Corps was a once in a lifetime experience that has shaped me into a kinder, stronger, more resilient and patient woman, said Lauren Panozzo, AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps alumna. Ive seen more beautiful places in the last eight-and-a-half months than I have my entire life, and I want to do whatever I can to protect and preserve them for others to appreciate. Ive learned the importance of my work, and that even if I cant see the benefits in the moment, Im making National Forests healthier and safer places for future generations. Through Forest Corps and working with engines during active fires, Lauren has been able to secure a job working on a type 3 Fire Engine, a wildland fire truck used to fight fires in remote areas. Forest Corps offers young people the opportunity to gain valuable training in the field while making a meaningful difference in communities across the country. The graduation of this cohort is one of the many AmeriCorps celebrations taking place during AmeriCorps Week, which ends on Saturday, March 15. During this week, the agency, its network of grantee organizations, elected officials, and communities across the country all celebrate the service of millions of AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers. For more information on Forest Corps and to learn how to apply, visit AmeriCorps.gov/ForestCorps. ### AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nations most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov. AmeriCorps offers opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to be a part of the national service community, grow personally and professionally and receive benefits for their service. AmeriCorps.gov/serve. Attachments Nashville, Tenn., March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CEOs need to make sure their companies stay in compliance and make the most of their audit process as an important Employee Benefit Plan Audit (EBPA) filing deadline draws near at the end of July. The ideal audit partner offers strategic insights, lowers risk exposure, and improves financial transparency in addition to checking compliance boxes. CEOs and CHROs must collaborate to assess their audit providers and internal procedures considering the Department of Labor's (DOL) and IRS's heightened regulatory scrutiny. LBMC experts share five important questions CEOs should ask CHROs to guarantee a successful and seamless EBPA. Do We Have a Top-Tier EBPA Provider on Our Side? Not every auditing firm is equal. Working with a company that specializes in EBPA and is regarded as a leader in the sector is essential due to the intricacy of benefit plan audits. For instance, a top 25 EBPA provider offers a wealth of industry best practices, a successful audit history, and a track record that passes regulatory inspection. What to search for: A company that audits a large number of employee benefit plans every year. Committed EBPA experts with extensive knowledge of pension, 401(k), ERISA, and other benefit plans. A track record of compliance with no significant audit flaws or DOL sanctions. Download LBMCs Employee Benefit Plan Audit Guide. Are We Ready for the Filing Deadline in July 2025? The July 31 Form 5500 filing deadline is approaching, and while extensions are available until October 15, staying on track helps ensure a smooth, stress-free process. CEOs should discuss with their CHROs whether they have a well-defined audit schedule and if their provider can meet key deadlines. Important things to consider: Has the audit team provided a clear delivery schedule? Are there any potential obstacles that could delay completion? Have we conducted a pre-audit review to identify possible issues early? How Are Fiduciary Liabilities and Compliance Risks Being Mitigated? With increased DOL audit enforcement, ensuring that all plan-related procedures meet professional standards is critical. A strong audit partner proactively identifies compliance weaknesses before they lead to costly fines or legal issues. Discussion points with your CHRO: Have we previously faced any IRS/DOL inquiries or compliance concerns? Are we staying up to date on participant disclosures and plan documentation? Does our audit provider offer insights on best practices and potential risk areas? Do We Get the Most Out of Our EBPA Process? A top-tier EBPA provider does more than ensure compliancethey offer strategic insights that enhance plan operations, improve efficiency, and elevate employee satisfaction. To assess the value of your provider, ask: Do they offer benchmarking insights so we can evaluate our plan's performance against industry standards? Are they leveraging technology to improve reporting and audit efficiency? What do their long-term clients say? The best referrals come from those who have been through the process. When trust is built, clients don't worry about the detailsthey know their provider has their back. As one of our clients shared, I'm not up at night thinking about these things. I know LBMC has it handled. That trust says it all, says Mark Blackburn, LBMC Audit Shareholder and Employee Benefit Audit Plan group leader. What Are the Questions We Should Ask but Aren't? A great audit provider does more than just respond to your inquiries; they also foresee problems, spot opportunities, and keep you informed about changes in the law. To make sure no important issue is missed, CEOs should push CHROs to have proactive discussions with auditors. Next steps that can be taken: Make an appointment with your audit provider for a preliminary check-in to talk about impending regulatory changes. Make sure your audit firm has a dedicated staff to provide prompt assistance. If your present company isn't providing the necessary insights and value, consider other providers. Selecting the best Employee Benefit Plan Audit firm is more than just a compliance exercise. Now is the time to evaluate your firm's preparedness and make sure your audit team is providing the knowledge and value your company needs as the July 2025 deadline draws near. Searching for a knowledgeable EBPA provider that is in the top 25 in the country? Our group is prepared to assist. To arrange a consultation, get in touch with us. About LBMC LBMC is one of the Southeasts largest accounting and business consulting firms and an Accounting Today Top 35 Firm in the Nation serving more than 11,000 clients with diverse needs across a spectrum of industries. Primary client groups include privately-owned and private-equity-backed middle market companies in the healthcare, manufacturing/distribution, real estate, and technology spaces. At the forefront of innovation, LBMC leverages advanced business intelligence and AI technologies to drive growth, efficiency, and strategic insights for our clients. Founded in 1984 as a traditional accounting firm, LBMC today is an industry leader in audit, tax, advisory, technology, human resources, and wealth advisory services for businesses and individuals. LBMC has more than 900 team members, with offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; and Charlotte, North Carolina and remote offices. For more information on LBMCs experts and comprehensive services, visit our website or call 615.377.4600. Discover career opportunities or learn more about how LBMCs services and culture can support your business goals. Connect with us on LinkedIn for the latest insights on talent, client engagement, and business growth. Attachment Mendham, NJ, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlinkNow Foundation is proud to announce the groundbreaking of its new Kopila Valley Childrens Village, an ambitious project designed to provide safe, nurturing, and sustainable homes for the at-risk children served by Kopila Valley Childrens Home in Surkhet, far western Nepal. This state-of-the-art campus will include modular homes for children, family gathering and play spaces, living quarters for caregivers, dedicated spaces for returning graduates, and a community program headquarters. The groundbreaking ceremony, held in collaboration with the local Surkhet community, was a day filled with love and hope, marking the beginning of a bold new chapter for the organization. The event featured heartfelt moments such as a time capsule filled with letters and keepsakes from the children, preschool children singing, a traditional puja ceremony, and community blessings for the projects success. Addressing Urgent Needs with Sustainable Solutions Since its founding in 2007, Kopila Valley Childrens Home has been on a mission to ensure children are safe, educated and loved. Working in collaboration with the local community and government agencies, and funded by the BlinkNow Foundation, Kopila Valley has provided a home and a family for nearly 90 children in need to date. With over 50 children currently living in the Childrens Home and nearly 40 graduates returning during holidays, the need for more space has become urgent. The new Childrens Village will address the needs of this growing family while prioritizing safety and environmental sustainability. Nepals seismic activity underscores the importance of earthquake-resistant construction, and the campus will feature eco-friendly compressed earth bricks crafted by women trained at the Kopila Valley Womens Center, another one of BlinkNows initiatives in Surkhet. This innovative approach not only ensures structural resilience but also supports local women and their families with vital income opportunities. The campus will also be powered by solar energy and use rainwater harvesting systems, serving as a model for conservation and sustainable living. A Vision Built for the Future The Childrens Village represents a significant step forward in BlinkNows mission to provide holistic care for vulnerable children while fostering community development. Maggie Doyne, CEO and Co-founder of BlinkNow, said, Every child deserves a safe place to grow, to play, and to be surrounded by people who love and care for them. We are so excited to make this beautiful space our new home. Our greater hope is that this project serves as a model and sets a global standard for what home and family can look like for children in need of alternative residential care. These buildings allow us to safely expand our growing family with earthquake resilient structures that integrate with nature. Backed against a community forest and adjacent to our Kopila Valley school, this move offers our children more room to grow and thrive. We will also have space when our transitioned young adults come home to visit. The use of sustainable materials and local labor highlights the organizations commitment to environmental stewardship and economic empowerment. By employing women from the Kopila Valley Womens Center to produce the building materials, the project strengthens the local economy while aligning with BlinkNows broader vision of sustainability. Supporters are encouraged to follow the progress of the Childrens Village on BlinkNows social media channels and newsletter, where regular updates will be shared. The BlinkNow Foundation provides an education and a loving, caring home for at-risk children. The foundation also provides community outreach to reduce poverty, empower women, improve health, and encourage sustainability and social justice - it fulfills its mission by providing financial support and management oversight to the Kopila Valley Children's Home and award-winning Kopila Valley School in Surkhet, Nepal. In addition to the home and school, Kopila Valley runs a Health & Wellness program, Women's Center, home for at-risk girls, Futures Program for career readiness, and integrated Sustainability Program across all initiatives. Between the Mountain and the Sky, a documentary about BlinkNows work and the love of the Children's Home family, is scheduled for theatrical release this year. Attachment Rio Tinto and Edify Energy have signed two new solar and battery hybrid services agreements (HSAs) to increase the supply of reliable, competitively priced electricity to Rio Tinto's Gladstone aluminium operations in Queensland. Under the agreements, Rio Tinto will purchase 90% of the power and battery storage capacity generated by the Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap Solar Power Stations for 20 years. Edify Energy will build, own, and operate the projects, with construction due to begin in late 2025 and targeting completion in 2028. Located in Central Queensland, the adjacent Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap Solar Power Stations, will together feature 600MWac1 of solar and 600MW / 2,400MWh of battery storage. Rio Tinto Chief Executive, Australia, Kellie Parker said: "These agreements are integral to repowering our Gladstone aluminium operations with affordable, reliable and lower carbon energy for decades to come. "For the first time, we have integrated crucial battery storage in our efforts to make the Boyne aluminium smelter globally cost-competitive, as traditional energy sources become more expensive. "We continue to investigate further renewable energy investments to repower our Gladstone aluminium operations." Edify Energy Chief Executive, John Cole, acknowledged the importance of this new services agreement in providing clean, reliable and cost-effective electricity to energy consumers. "The Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap Solar Power Stations deliver the latest in solar, battery and inverter technology to support Australia's power needs. "This collaboration is an important commitment to supporting the sustainable future of Australia's industrial sector. We are proud to advance Rio Tinto's goals to repower its Gladstone operations and to play a role in the transition to a low-carbon economy." When combined with the 2.2GW of renewable wind and solar PPAs Rio Tinto announced for its Gladstone operations in 2024, the Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap agreements help secure a total of 2.7GW2 of future wind and solar energy in Queensland. Together, the four contracted projects are expected to supply 80% of Boyne smelter's annual average electricity demand, reducing the smelter's scope 1 and 2 emissions by 70%3, or 5.6Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. This is the equivalent of removing about 2 million internal combustion engine cars from the road. Rio Tinto's 90% share of the Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap battery system capacity amounts to 2,160MWh, which will provide about 30% of the firming required to repower the Boyne smelter with renewable energy. It will store green energy for reliable use during peak demand periods or low solar output, which will improve stability and resilience of Queensland's power network. Rio Tinto's integrated aluminium production chain in Queensland is a significant economic driver for the state and Australia, directly employing over 4500 people and supporting thousands more livelihoods. The company's operations in Gladstone alone account for more than 3000 jobs, with 1000 of those at the Boyne smelter. Rio Tinto's three production assets in the Gladstone region are the Boyne aluminium smelter, the Yarwun alumina refinery and the Queensland alumina refinery. Further information on the Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap Power Station is available here. 1 The solar farm will have 720MWp (megawatt peak) of installed solar panels - the theoretical maximum potential output- and will deliver 600MWac (megawatts alternating current) of usable power to the grid. 2 This comprises of the following contracted renewable energy projects: 1.1GW of Windlab's proposed 1.4GW Bungaban wind project, 1.1GW from European Energy's proposed Upper Calliope solar farm and 540MW from Edify Energy's combined 600MW Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap Solar Power Stations. 3 5.6Mt CO2e and 70% reduction are on a 100% managed basis. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250312396623/en/ Contact Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com Media Relations, United Kingdom David Outhwaite M +44 7787 597 493 Media Relations, Australia Matt Chambers M +61 433 525 739 Michelle Lee M +61 458 609 322 Rachel Pupazzoni M +61 438 875 469 Media Relations, Canada Simon Letendre M +1 514 796 4973 Malika Cherry M +1 418 592 7293 Vanessa Damha M +1 514 715 2152 Media Relations, US Jesse Riseborough M +1 202 394 9480 Investor Relations, United Kingdom Rachel Arellano M: +44 7584 609 644 David Ovington M +44 7920 010 978 Laura Brooks M +44 7826 942 797 Weiwei Hu M +44 7825 907 230 Investor Relations, Australia Tom Gallop M +61 439 353 948 Amar Jambaa M +61 472 865 948 Rio Tinto Plc 6 St James's Square London SW1Y 4AD United Kingdom T +44 20 7781 2000 Registered in England No. 719885 Rio Tinto Ltd. Level 43, 120 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia T +61 3 9283 3333 Registered in Australia ABN 96 004 458 404 riotinto.com Category:General Dieppe, March 12, 2025 - Colibri Resource Corp. (TSXV: CBI) (Colibri or the Company) is pleased to announce that, in response to increased investor interest, it has sought and obtained consent from the TSX Venture Exchange to extend the closing date for a second tranche of a current offering of units (the "Offering") originally announced on January 17, 2025. Closing of a second tranche will now occur on or before March 28, 2025. The extended closing time was sought to accommodate a number of very recent expressions of interest. The Offering is for the sale of up to 10,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.025 per Unit, for total gross proceeds of up to $250,000. Each Unit is comprised of one (1) common share (a "Common Share") and one (1) common share purchase warrant ("Warrants") of the Company. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional Common Share of the Company at a price of C$0.05 for a period of 24 months following issuance. A first tranche, announced on February 13, 2025, was closed for gross proceeds of $140,400. All terms of the Offering other than the extension of the closing date as described herein remain unchanged. Certain insiders of the Company may acquire Units in the Offering. Any participation by insiders in the Private Placement will constitute a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61- 101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company expects such participation will be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the Units subscribed for by the insiders, nor the consideration for the Units paid by such insiders, is expected to exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period. Final closing of the Offering is subject to acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described in this news release in the United States. The securities offered have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirements. ABOUT COLIBRI RESOURCE CORPORATION: Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) and is focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing prospective gold & silver properties in Mexico. The Company holds four high potential precious metal projects: 1) 100% of EP Gold Project in the significant Caborca Gold Belt which has delivered highly encouraging exploration results and is surrounded by Mexico's second largest major producer of gold on four sides, 2) 49% Ownership of the Pilar Gold & Silver Project which is believed to hold the potential to be a near term producing mine, and 3) two highly prospective interests in the Sierra Madre (Diamante Gold & Silver Project and Jackie Gold & Silver Project). For more information about all Company projects please visit: www.colibriresource.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate. Cornish Metals Inc. (TSX-V/AIM: CUSN) ("Cornish Metals" or the "Company"), a mineral exploration and development company focused on its 100% owned and permitted South Crofty tin project in Cornwall, United Kingdom, is pleased to announce that it has released its audited financial statements and management, discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the year ended December 31, 2024. The reports are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and on the Company's website (www.cornishmetals.com). Highlights for the year ended December 31, 2024 and for the period ending March 12, 2025 (All figures expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated) Strategic investment and fundraise (the "Fundraise") (news releases dated January 28-31, 2024): Fundraise totalling 57.4 million anchored by the National Wealth Fund Limited ("NWF") and Vision Blue Resources Limited ("Vision Blue"), conditionally investing 28.6 million and 18.1 million, respectively, with a further 10.7 million from existing shareholders and new investors, including 1.4 million from a retail offer; The Fundraise is being undertaken in two tranches with the first tranche of 133,817,678 shares issued on February 7, 2025. The second tranche of 583,325,689 shares is expected to be issued on or around March 24, 2025 subject to shareholder approval at the Special Meeting to be held on March 18, 2025; The Fundraise is expected to provide financial runway through to the end of Q1 2026 and will enable the Company to further de-risk the South Crofty tin project and advance it towards a formal final investment decision; Appointment of Don Turvey as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") (news release dated August 11, 2024): Mr. Turvey appointed as CEO and an executive director of the Company effective October 9, 2024, and who has since relocated to Cornwall where he is based; Mr. Turvey is an experienced mining executive with more than 40 years of experience, including successfully securing funding and advancing new projects and historic mines through to production; Upon Mr. Turvey's appointment, Ken Armstrong returned to the position of non-executive director and continues as Chair of the Company's Audit Committee; Patrick Anderson returned to the position of non-executive Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company effective September 30, 2024. US$9.1 million (equivalent to 7.0 million) credit facility arranged with Vision Blue Resources Limited ("Vision Blue") on October 15, 2024 (news release dated October 15, 2024): Non-dilutive secured credit facility to support the continued development of South Crofty; Proceeds of the credit facility were used for the Company's general operating and corporate purposes; The credit facility is being repaid through a set-off with the proceeds from the fundraise mentioned above. Appointment of Endeavour Financial ("Endeavour") as the Company's financial adviser on October 9, 2024 (news release dated October 9, 2024): Endeavour appointed as financial adviser to secure project financing for the construction of South Crofty and advise the Company on funding options on the basis of the completed PEA and ongoing engineering studies; Various sources of funding are being assessed to deliver an optimal project financing solution in the second half of 2025. South Crofty Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), completed on April 30, 2024, validating the Project's economic viability (news release dated April 30, 2024): After-tax Net Present Value ("NPV") of US$201 million and Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 29.8%; Average annual tin production of over 4,700 tonnes for years two through six, totalling 49,310 tonnes over a 14-year Life of Mine ("LOM"); Total after-tax cash flow of approximately US$626 million from start of production. Near-mine Exploration Target at South Crofty (news release dated November 13, 2024): Exploration Target points to potential additional mineralisation upside of 6Mt to 13Mt, at a tin grade of 0.5% to 1.8%, beyond the current South Crofty Mineral Resource in the Lower Mine area; Identifies the near-term resource development pathway at South Crofty. Commencement of second phase of refurbishment of New Cook's Kitchen ("NCK") shaft (news release dated July 10, 2024): Installation of the Phase 2 work platform was completed in July 2024, enabling faster replacement of old shaft timbers with new steel guides; Winders and cages installed, fully commissioned and in operation, and certified to allow for safe transport of equipment and workers within NCK shaft; Rephasing shaft refurbishment improves the functionality of NCK shaft and enables larger equipment to access the mine at an earlier stage in its re-development; Shaft refurbishment has reached approximately 270 meters below surface and is expected to be completed to the 400-fathom level (approximately 730 metres below surface) in Q4 2025 alongside mine dewatering. Mine dewatering continues with the submersible pumps and Water Treatment Plant ("WTP") operating to specifications (news release dated July 10, 2024): The water level in NCK shaft is at approximately 275 meters below surface with the rate of dewatering increased as refurbishment activities have caught up, allowing shaft refurbishment and dewatering to proceed concurrently; Treated water being discharged to the Red River continues to meet the standards permitted by the Environment Agency. Final drilling results from Wide Formation exploration program (news release dated August 18, 2024): The completed 14-hole / 9,000-meter drilling program successfully tested the geometry and continuity of tin mineralization within a 2,500 meter by 800 meter extent of the Wide Formation; Drilling also intersected tin mineralization associated with the Great Flat Lode and the Great Flat Lode Splay, as well as the interpreted eastern extension of the Great Condurrow Mine's Main Lode, and several strongly mineralized steeply dipping zones. Purchase of land totalling 7.7 acres located immediately adjacent to South Crofty surface infrastructure (news release dated May 21, 2024): The purchased land removes reliance on existing right-of-passage agreements, providing the Company with direct access to all surface infrastructure as well as additional space for future site works, opportunities for potential operating cost savings, renewable energy initiatives and improved overall property security. Sale of Mactung and Cantung royalties for US$4.5 million in cash consideration (news release dated July 21, 2024): Completion of disposal of Company's royalty interests on the Mactung and Cantung tungsten projects located in Northern Canada to Elemental Altus Royalties Corp. ("Elemental Altus"); Initial cash consideration of US$3.0 million received on August 1, 2024, with the balance of US$1.5 million due by August 1, 2025. Sale of Nickel King property announced for a total consideration of up to $8.0 million (news release dated June 16, 2024): Entered into a binding letter of intent with Northera Resources Ltd. ("Northera") for the sale of the Company's 100% interest in the Nickel King Property for a total consideration of up to $8 million; Initial cash consideration of $250,000 received to date. Samantha Hoe-Richardson joined the Board as independent non-executive director effective January 8, 2024 (news release dated January 8, 2024). As at March 10, 2025 the Company's cash position was $17.2 million (equivalent to 9.3 million). Don Turvey, CEO and Director of Cornish Metals, stated: "2024 was another important year for Cornish Metals and the advancement of South Crofty towards production with activity levels on-site remaining high and momentum building. Notable milestones achieved include the completion of the South Crofty PEA that confirms the project's potential to be a low-cost and long-life tin mining operation. The PEA results are compelling with a post-tax NPV 8% of US$201 million and IRR of about 30%, representing a strong foundation with potential for significant upside. Teams are working around the clock refurbishing the NCK shaft as they continue to progress deeper down the shaft. 2025 commenced with a strong endorsement from our existing shareholders, including Vision Blue, and we are pleased to welcome the UK's National Wealth Fund and other new investors as shareholders in Cornish Metals, having supported a 57.4 million fundraise. This will enable the Company to maintain its strong momentum and further unlock the project's potential by delivering crucial milestones expected in the coming year including the completion of mine dewatering and shaft refurbishment, the start of early project works, placing orders for long-lead items, and concluding the project finance process." Review of activities Strategic investment and fundraise On January 28-31, 2025, the Company announced a Fundraise totaling 57.4 million that was anchored by NWF and Vision Blue, conditionally investing 28.6 million and 18.1 million, respectively. A further 10.7 million was raised from existing shareholders and new investors, including 1.4 million from a retail offer. The Fundraise is being undertaken in two tranches with the first tranche of 133,817,678 shares issued on February 7, 2025. The second tranche of 583,325,689 shares is expected to be issued on or around March 24, 2025, subject to shareholder approval at the Special Meeting to be held on March 18, 2025. The Fundraise is expected to provide financial runway through to the end of Q1 2026 and will enable the Company to further de-risk the South Crofty Project and advance it towards a formal final investment decision.by: bringing the South Crofty Project nearer to production by funding approximately 20 million of the South Crofty Project's initial capital expenditure requirements; commencing early project works, including initial construction of the groundworks for the processing plant; placing orders for long-lead items of plant and equipment; and advancing detailed project engineering studies. Appointment of permanent CEO On August 11, 2024, the Company announced the appointment of Mr. Don Turvey as CEO and an executive director of the Company effective October 9, 2024, following receipt of a UK work visa. Mr. Turvey relocated from South Africa to Cornwall, where he is now based. Mr. Turvey is an experienced mining executive with more than 40 years of experience in the sector. He has been CEO of private, ASX and AIM-listed mining companies where he has successfully secured funding and taken new projects and historic mines through to production, as well as leading a number of M&A transactions. Upon Mr. Turvey's appointment, Ken Armstrong returned to the position of non-executive director and continues as Chair of the Company's Audit Committee. Patrick Anderson returned to the position of non-executive Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company effective September 30, 2024. US$9.1 million (equivalent to 7.0 million) credit facility with Vision Blue The Company entered into a non-dilutive US$9.1 million (equivalent to 7.0 million) secured credit facility with Vision Blue to support the continued development of South Crofty (refer news release dated October 15, 2024). The proceeds of the credit facility were used for the Company's general operating and corporate purposes. The credit facility has a maturity date of March 31, 2025 and has a fixed borrowing cost of 15% per annum. The security comprises fixed and floating charges over the Company's assets except mineral rights in the UK which are already pledged as security under the royalty agreement with Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. ("Osisko"). The credit facility is being repaid through a set-off with the proceeds from the Fundraise mentioned above. Appointment of Endeavour Financial Endeavour was appointed as the Company's financial adviser to secure project financing for the construction of South Crofty (refer news release dated October 9, 2024). Endeavour will advise the Company on funding options on the basis of the completed PEA and ongoing engineering studies. Various sources of funding are being assessed to deliver an optimal project financing solution with a successful conclusion to the project financing process expected in the second half of 2025. Preliminary Economic Assessment completed for South Crofty The results of the South Crofty PEA were released on April 30, 2024, validating the Project's economic viability and potential to be a low-cost and long-life tin mining operation with a current 14-year LOM. South Crofty is expected to produce a clean, high-grade tin concentrate and to be an important tin producer in Europe, supplying into the growing demand for this critical metal that is essential for the energy transition. Key highlights from the PEA include: After-tax NPV 8% of US$201 million and 29.8% after-tax IRR at base case tin price of US$31,000/tonne; of US$201 million and 29.8% after-tax IRR at base case tin price of US$31,000/tonne; Pre-production capital requirement of US$177 million; Capital pay-back period of three years after-tax; Total after-tax cash flow of US$626 million from start of production, peaking at US$82 million in second year of production; Average annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") of US$83 million and 62.1% EBITDA margin in years two through six; 49,310 tonnes of tin metal in concentrate produced over a 14-year LOM Average annual tin production of over 4,700 tonnes for years two through six, equivalent to approximately 1.6% of global mined tin production; LOM average all-in sustaining cash cost ("AISC") of US$13,661/tonne of payable tin, positioning South Crofty as a low cost tin producer; Growth opportunities from additional in-mine and near-mine exploration with the potential to materially extend the mine life and increase production; and Potential to directly employ up to 320 people with permanent high-skilled and well-paid jobs and create up to 1,000 indirect jobs. Further details can be found in the news release dated April 30, 2024 and the Technical Report entitled "South Crofty PEA" prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and filed on SEDAR+. Near-mine Exploration Target at South Crofty The near mine Exploration Target at South Crofty announced on November 13, 2024 points to potential additional mineralization upside of 6Mt to 13Mt, at a tin grade of 0.5% to 1.8%, beyond the current South Crofty Mineral Resource in the Lower Mine area. This identifies the near-term resource development pathway at South Crofty. South Crofty is one of the highest-grade tin resources in the world with a tin grade of 1.50% in the Indicated category and historically the mine consistently increased its Mineral Resource in line with production each year over the last 20 years of operation. The near mine Exploration Target was primarily based on extrapolation of known, previously mined structures beyond the limits of the current South Crofty Mineral Resource. The mineralization around South Crofty remains open along strike and down dip providing further potential beyond the near mine Exploration Target. The Exploration Target does not consider the wider opportunities within the South Crofty mining permission area, which also shows significant potential and includes the Wide Formation exploration project, or within the wider region in Cornwall where Cornish Metals has extensive mineral rights holdings. Refurbishment of New Cook's Kitchen Shaft - second phase commenced Phase 2 of NCK shaft refurbishment commenced in July 2024, following the on-schedule installation of a new double-deck equipping stage and modified main cage, providing a safe and stable work platform enabling faster replacement of the old shaft timbers with new steel buntons and guides (refer news release dated July 10, 2024). Rephasing shaft refurbishment, concurrent with mine dewatering, will improve the functionality of NCK shaft, enable larger equipment to access the mine at an earlier stage in its re-development and ensure that high health and safety standards are applied as the underground mine workings are accessed. The NCK shaft winding engines and associated winding apparatus, including the refurbished south headframe, enable safe access to NCK shaft for personnel and materials as required to facilitate the shaft refurbishment works and subsequent access to the dewatered deep workings of the mine. Mine dewatering continues with the submersible pumps and water treatment plant operating to specifications. NCK shaft refurbishment has reached approximately 270 metres below surface and the water level in NCK shaft is currently at approximately 275 metres below surface. The treated water being discharged to the Red River is consistently well within the permitted standards. Shaft refurbishment and mine dewatering to the 400-fathom level (approximately 730 metres below surface) are expected to be completed in Q4 2025. Land purchase adjacent to South Crofty surface infrastructure On May 21, 2024, the Company announced the purchase of a 7.7 acre land package situated to the south of Kerrier Way, immediately adjacent to important South Crofty surface infrastructure. The land purchase removes reliance on existing right-of-passage agreements, providing the Company with direct access to all surface infrastructure, as well as additional space for future site works, opportunities for potential operating cost savings, renewable energy initiatives and improved overall property security (refer news release dated May 21, 2024). South Crofty new offices, stores and workshops A detailed planning application for new offices, stores and workshops for South Crofty has been submitted to Cornwall Council. This work has been enabled by receipt of a UK Shared Prosperity Grant and provides the opportunity to build modern, efficient facilities at the proposed centre of mining operations at NCK shaft. Exploration drill program at Carn Brea South A 9,000-meter exploration drill program was completed at the Wide Formation target in the Carn Brea South exploration area with final drill results reported in August 2024 (refer news release dated August 18, 2024). The drill program was designed to test the geometry and the continuity of tin mineralization discovered by the Company at the Wide Formation target (refer news release dated January 10, 2023). The mineralization style in the Wide Formation, comprising pervasive tourmaline and quartz (termed 'blue peach'), is similar in character to that associated with No. 8 Lode, one of the most prolific tin producing lodes in the latter years of operation of the South Crofty mine. The Wide Formation structure has been confirmed over a strike length of over 2,500 meters along strike (northeast to southwest) and a downdip extent of at least 800 meters (north to south), with true thicknesses ranging from approximately 2 to 10 meters. The structure remains open at depth and along strike. Notable tin intercepts from the Wide Formation include 1.21 meters grading 0.87% Sn in CB23_004. Drilling identified a new mineralized structure lying directly beneath the Great Flat Lode (named the "Great Flat Lode Splay"), and several high-grade, steeply dipping tin zones between the Great Flat Lode and the Wide Formation locally referred to as 'Droppers'. Notable tin intercepts from the newly identified Great Flat Lode Splay include 3.38 meters grading 1.01% Sn in CB23_002. Notable tin intercepts from the 'Dropper' zones include 3.09 meters grading 1.21% Sn in CB23_001. Drilling also intersected a new tin structure interpreted as the eastern extension of the Great Condurrow Mine's Main Lode. Notable tin and copper ("Cu") intercepts from the new structure include 2.11 meters grading 0.58% Sn and 5.48% Cu in CB23_011. Sale of Mactung and Cantung royalties The Company completed the sale of its royalty interests on the Mactung and Cantung tungsten projects located in Northern Canada to Elemental Altus for a total cash consideration of US$4.5 million (refer news release dated July 21, 2024). The initial cash consideration of US$3.0 million was received by the Company on August 1, 2024 (refer news release dated August 4, 2024), with the balance of US$1.5 million due by August 1, 2025. Sale of Nickel King Property On June 16, 2024, the Company entered into a binding letter of intent with Northera for the sale of the Company's 100% interest in the Nickel King Property for a total consideration of up to $8 million (refer news release dated June 16, 2024). Under the terms of the letter of intent, Northera made a first non-refundable cash payment of $100,000 (received on June 14, 2024). The Company and Northera subsequently amended the letter of intent whereby Northera made a second non-refundable cash payment of $150,000 (received on September 11, 2024) and a third and final non-refundable cash payment of $800,000 is now due on or before March 31, 2025. Upon receipt of the full aggregate cash consideration of $1,050,000 the Company will transfer the Nickel King Property to Northera. There are no further amendments to the letter of intent and, as previously agreed, upon completion of a go public transaction by Northera, resulting in a listing of securities on the TSX Venture Exchange, or other stock exchange, Northera will issue to the Company common shares in the capital of Northera having an aggregate market value equal to $7.0 million. Appointment of Samantha Hoe-Richardson as independent non-executive director On January 8, 2024, the Company announced that Samantha Hoe-Richardson joined the Board of Directors as an independent non-executive director (refer news release dated January 8, 2024). Ms. Hoe-Richardson is an experienced non-executive director from a global mining, infrastructure and insurance background. She is currently a non-executive director of WE Soda Ltd, Assured Guaranty UK Ltd, Ascot Underwriting Limited and an independent advisor on climate change & sustainability to Laing O'Rourke. Ms. Hoe-Richardson was Head of Environment & Sustainable Development at Network Rail until 2017 and prior to that spent 16 years at Anglo American Plc, latterly as Head of Environment. She previously worked in investment banking and audit. Ms. Hoe-Richardson holds a Masters Degree in Nuclear and Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, and is also a non-practicing Chartered Accountant. Financial highlights for the year ended December 31, 2024 and the eleven months ended December 31, 2023 Year ended December 31, 2024 Eleven months ended December 31, 2023 (Expressed in Canadian dollars) Total operating expenses 8,831,740 4,859,889 Loss for the period 1,066,120 2,714,155 Net cash used in operating activities (4,458,250 ) (2,732,773 ) Net cash used in investing activities (24,944,106 ) (28,164,958 ) Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities 12,036,590 (32,082 ) Cash at end of the period 9,589,029 25,791,552 Operating expenses have risen reflecting increased investor & media engagement, higher professional fees associated with more corporate activity and termination settlement payable to the former CEO; Gain of $4.7 million arising from the sale of the Mactung and Cantung royalties, of which US$1.5 million is deferred consideration due by August 2025; Expenditure of $2.2 million on new or replacement equipment for the mine, including the final payments for the permanent pumps for the underground pump station, cages and the new winders, and associated commissioning costs; Expenditure of $2.8 million on land adjacent to the surface infrastructure at South Crofty; Dewatering costs of $5.5 million for power, reagents, sludge disposal and maintenance of the WTP; Other project related expenditure of $13.2 million relating to the advancement of South Crofty, primarily relating to the ongoing project engineering studies and NCK shaft re-access & refurbishment; Costs of $1.6 million incurred for the completion of the exploration program at the Wide Formation; Receipt of $3.0 million in research and development tax credit refunds arising from past expenditure incurred at South Crofty; Receipt of $12.3 million in net proceeds received under the secured debt facility entered into with Vision Blue; and Cash decreased by $16.2 million to $9.6 million at the period end mainly due to ongoing development activities at the South Crofty tin project, partially offset by proceeds received from the disposal of non-core assets in North America and the debt facility entered into with Vision Blue. The Company changed its financial year end from January 31 to December 31 with effect from December 31, 2023 with the result that the current period of reporting is the twelve months ended December 31, 2024. The comparative period of reporting is the eleven months ended December 31, 2023. Outlook As described above, the Company continues to advance and derisk the South Crofty tin project towards production. By the end of December 2025, the Company's objectives are as follows: Complete dewatering of South Crofty mine and refurbishment of NCK shaft; Advance detailed project engineering studies; Place deposits for long lead items of plant and equipment; Commence early project works, including initial construction of the groundworks for the processing plant; and Arrange project financing for the South Crofty tin project. ABOUT CORNISH METALS Cornish Metals is a dual-listed mineral exploration and development company (AIM and TSX-V: CUSN) that is advancing the South Crofty tin project towards production. South Crofty: Is a historical, high-grade, underground tin mine located in Cornwall, United Kingdom and benefits from existing mine infrastructure including multiple shafts that can be used for future operations; Is fully permitted to commence underground mining (valid to 2071), construct new processing facilities and for all necessary site infrastructure; Has a 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment that validates the Project's potential (see news release dated April 30, 2024 and the Technical Report entitled "South Crofty PEA"): US$201 million after-tax NPV 8% and 29.8% IRR 3-year after-tax payback 4,700 tonnes average annual tin production in years two through six Life of mine all-in sustaining cost of US$13,660 /tonne of payable tin Total after-tax cash flow of US$626 million from start of production Would be the only primary producer of tin in Europe or North America. Tin is a Critical Mineral as defined by the UK, American, and Canadian governments as it is used in almost all electronic devices and electrical infrastructure. Approximately two-thirds of the tin mined today comes from China, Myanmar and Indonesia; Benefits from strong local community, regional and national government support with a growing team of skilled people, local to Cornwall, and could generate up to 320 direct jobs. The 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment for South Crofty is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorised as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment will be realised. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. TECHNICAL INFORMATION This news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Owen Mihalop, MCSM, BSc (Hons), MSc, FGS, MIMMM, CEng, Chief Operating Officer for Cornish Metals Inc. who is the designated Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and the AIM Rules for Companies and a Competent Person as defined under the JORC Code (2012). Mr. Mihalop consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Don Turvey" Don Turvey Engage with us directly at our investor hub. Sign up at: https://investors.cornishmetals.com/link/YeNAky For additional information please contact: Cornish Metals Fawzi Hanano Irene Dorsman investors@cornishmetals.com info@cornishmetals.com Tel: +1 (604) 200 6664 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) Richard Morrison Charlie Bouverat Grant Barker Tel: +44 203 470 0470 Hannam & Partners (Financial Adviser) Matthew Hasson Andrew Chubb Jay Ashfield cornish@hannam.partners Tel: +44 207 907 8500 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) Derrick Lee Pearl Kellie Tel: +44 131 220 6939 BlytheRay (Financial PR) Tim Blythe Megan Ray cornishmetals@blytheray.com Tel: +44 207 138 3204 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. Caution regarding forward looking statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections, outlook, guidance, estimates and forecasts and other statements regarding future plans and operations, the realisation, cost, timing and extent of mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, estimation of commodity prices, currency exchange rate fluctuations, estimated future exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, requirements for additional capital and the Company's ability to obtain financing when required and on terms acceptable to the Company, future or estimated mine life and other activities or achievements of Cornish Metals, including but not limited to: the expected use of proceeds from the secured credit facility with Vision Blue; the balance of the cash consideration due to Cornish in respect of the sale of the Mactung and Cantung royalty interests; mineralisation at South Crofty, mine dewatering and construction requirements; the development, operational and economic results of the preliminary economic assessment, including cash flows, capital expenditures, development costs, extraction rates, recovery rates, mining cost estimates and returns; estimation of mineral resources; statements about the estimate of mineral resources and production of minerals; magnitude or quality of mineral deposits; anticipated advancement of the South Crofty project mine plan; exploration potential and project growth opportunities for the South Crofty tin project and other Cornwall mineral properties, the Company's ability to evaluate and develop the South Crofty tin project and other Cornwall mineral properties, strategic vision of Cornish Metals and expectations regarding the South Crofty mine, timing and results of projects mentioned. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could", "would" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties and 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 are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to receipt of regulatory approvals, risks related to general economic and market conditions; risks related to the availability of financing; the timing and content of upcoming work programmes; actual results of proposed exploration activities; possible variations in Mineral Resources or grade; outcome of any future studies; projected dates to commence mining operations; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations. The list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Cornish's forward-looking statements. Cornish Metals' forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management and reflect their current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date such statements are made. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward- looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Cornish Metals does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. Caution regarding non-IFRS measures This news release contains certain terms or performance measures commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), including "all-in sustaining costs". Non-IFRS measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore they may not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies. The data presented is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS and should be read in conjunction with Cornish Metals' consolidated financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, available on its website and on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (Expressed in Canadian dollars) As at December 31, 2024 As at December 31, 2023 ASSETS Current Cash $ 9,589,029 $ 25,791,552 Marketable securities 2,874,696 2,665,454 Receivables 2,697,326 1,112,638 Prepaid expenses 504,902 591,264 Deferred financing fees 637,718 135,242 16,303,671 30,296,150 Deposits 64,341 85,954 Property, plant and equipment 27,132,244 23,788,325 Exploration and evaluation assets 79,961,014 50,050,323 $ 123,461,270 $ 104,220,752 LIABILITIES Current Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 4,045,083 $ 5,063,940 Deferred income 150,000 - Loan liability 13,457,169 - 17,652,252 5,063,940 NSR liability 9,869,289 9,064,817 27,521,541 14,128,757 SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Capital stock 128,394,652 128,394,652 Capital contribution 2,007,665 2,007,665 Share-based payment reserve 1,353,933 711,690 Foreign currency translation reserve 7,640,757 1,369,146 Deficit (43,457,278 ) (42,391,158 ) 95,939,729 90,091,995 $ 123,461,270 $ 104,220,752 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF LOSS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) (Expressed in Canadian dollars) Year ended December 31, 2024 Eleven months ended December 31, 2023 EXPENSES Travel and marketing $ 920,371 $ 634,145 Insurance 756,331 633,287 Office, miscellaneous and rent 224,021 175,164 Professional fees 2,039,252 1,048,676 Generative exploration costs 13,771 25,680 Regulatory and filing fees 98,127 86,760 Share-based compensation 382,481 205,026 Salaries, directors' fees and benefits 4,397,386 2,051,151 Total operating expenses (8,831,740 ) (4,859,889 ) Interest income 559,982 1,695,837 Interest expense (511,309 ) - Foreign exchange gain (loss) (250,787 ) 394,621 Gain on receipt of non-refundable deposit 84,968 - Impairment reversal of royalties 1,500,000 - Gain on disposal of royalties 4,675,904 - Unrealized loss on marketable securities (119,786 ) (116,903 ) Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment - (921 ) Loss before income taxes (2,892,768 ) (2,887,255 ) Income tax recovery 1,826,648 173,100 Loss for the period (1,066,120 ) (2,714,155 ) Foreign currency translation 6,271,611 2,018,108 Total comprehensive income (loss) for the period $ 5,205,491 $ (696,047 ) Basic and diluted loss per share $ (0.00 ) $ (0.00 ) Weighted average number of common shares outstanding 535,270,712 535,269,215 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Expressed in Canadian dollars) Year ended December 31, 2024 Eleven months ended December 31, 2023 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Loss for the period $ (1,066,120 ) $ (2,714,155 ) Items not involving cash: Share-based compensation 382,481 205,026 Interest expense 511,309 - Foreign exchange (gain) loss 250,787 (394,621 ) Gain on receipt of non-refundable deposit (84,968 ) - Impairment reversal of royalties (1,500,000 ) - Gain on disposal of royalties (4,675,904 ) - Unrealized loss on marketable securities 119,786 116,903 Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment - 921 Income tax recovery (1,826,648 ) (173,100 ) Income taxes received during the period 2,994,765 157,100 Changes in non-cash working capital items: (Increase) decrease in receivables 675,905 (456,230 ) (Increase) decrease in prepaid expenses 189,160 (204,107 ) Increase (decrease) in accounts payable and accrued liabilities (428,803 ) 729,490 Net cash used in operating activities (4,458,250 ) (2,732,773 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Acquisition of property, plant and equipment (6,517,830) (14,192,068) Acquisition of exploration and evaluation assets (22,787,140) (13,942,740) Proceeds from disposal of royalties 4,099,004 - Proceeds from receipt of non-refundable deposits 234,968 - (Increase) decrease in deposits 26,892 (30,150) Net cash used in investing activities (24,944,106 ) (28,164,958 ) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from debt facility 12,311,356 - Increase in deferred financing fees (274,766 ) (31,359 ) Lease payments - (723 ) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 12,036,590 (32,082 ) Change in cash during the period (17,365,766 ) (30,929,813 ) Cash, beginning of the period 25,791,552 55,495,232 Impact of foreign exchange on cash 1,163,243 1,226,133 Cash, end of the period $ 9,589,029 $ 25,791,552 Cash paid during the period for interest $ - $ - Cash paid during the period for income taxes $ - $ 11,012 Vancouver, March 13, 2025 - Red Metal Resources Ltd. (CSE: RMES) (OTC Pink: RMESF) (FSE: I660) ("Red Metal" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has now commenced an extensive sampling and mapping work program to follow-up on and extend previously identified veins that make up approximately 15km of veining extending along strike from the historic Carrizal Alto mine. This active 2025 work program will continue work delineating the vast vein system on Carrizal property and aid in refining future drill targets. All samples will be sent for assay and the Company expects a steady stream of assay results shortly. Figure 1: Brecciated vein from Level 7 of artisanal workings To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4932/244415_dd829b6cf4c73861_001full.jpg Red Metal Resources President and CEO, Caitlin Jeffs stated, "We are now underway with our 2025 work program and are excited to build on our previous discoveries of up to 5.77% Copper. We believe we are in the top of a large IOCG system and that we are in the early stages of showing its full potential." Figure 2: Overview of Farellon Project, Carrizal, Chile To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4932/244415_dd829b6cf4c73861_002full.jpg (1) Management cautions that prospecting surface rock samples and associated assays, as discussed herein, are selective by nature and represent a point location, and therefore may not necessarily be fully representative of the mineralized horizon sampled. A 2022 work program focused on mapping veins along strike of, and to the east of the main Farellon structure with the goal of developing new drill targets. New veins mapped and sampled include the Gorda vein which was drilled in Hole FAR-22-020. The Gorda vein lies 250 metres east of the Farellon structure which was mapped and sampled along strike for a full kilometre. A further five veins were identified and sampled in detail to develop 2025 and future drill targets throughout the property. Highlights A high sample return of 5.77% Cu, 1.55% Co and 0.11 g/t Au two kilometres along strike to the north of the recent drilling on the Farellon structure Three veins mapped, each demonstrating over a kilometre of prospective strike length with mineralized grab samples Table 1: Grab Sample Highlights (1)(2) Sample Number Northing UTM Easting UTM Elevation (asl) Weight of Sample (Kg) Au g/t Co% Cu% 500818 6888943 309490 553 1.54 1.74 0.047 6.26 500902 6891077 310916 632 1.63 0.11 1.545 5.77 500832 6889540 311547 540 1.82 0.22 0.021 5.66 500895 6890377 310310 631 1.58 0.63 0.146 5.18 500887 6889724 311958 495 0.94 0.32 0.063 5.06 500803 6889197 309735 561 2.21 0.04 0.019 4.89 500822 6888323 309800 647 1.96 3.43 0.015 4.59 500830 6889441 311412 524 1.71 0.67 0.027 4.11 500827 6888543 310082 618 1.71 4.91 0.094 3.70 500894 6890373 310305 631 0.45 0.13 0.028 3.41 500844 6888968 310724 496 1.48 0.27 0.024 3.37 500854 6889477 310518 582 1.05 3.28 0.160 3.16 500837 6889267 311117 527 0.67 1.97 0.029 3.03 500814 6889114 309667 587 1.51 0.19 0.057 2.79 500858 6889836 310979 582 2.46 2.06 0.002 2.70 500834 6889309 312021 472 1.52 0.45 0.054 2.64 500824 6888423 309869 621 1.32 0.74 0.136 2.61 500833 6890107 311855 522 1.12 0.21 0.071 2.52 500820 6888717 309359 592 3.64 0.45 0.036 2.50 500831 6889472 311475 533 1.91 0.02 0.015 2.39 500859 6889807 310888 564 1.14 0.17 0.019 2.11 500840 6888767 310417 546 1.07 0.81 0.018 2.06 500850 6888284 310247 572 1.5 1.57 0.029 1.90 500816 6889020 309583 594 3.62 0.38 0.020 1.88 500868 6890705 311339 574 1.43 0.09 0.085 1.77 500886 6889679 312500 457 0.93 0.22 0.002 1.76 500806 6889420 309857 575 1.3 0.09 0.036 1.69 500819 6888717 309359 592 2.64 0.47 0.048 1.54 500855 6889630 310681 596 1.19 0.87 0.025 1.54 500852 6889527 310785 561 1.86 0.24 0.193 1.21 500829 6889352 311252 539 3.43 0.65 0.073 1.20 500856 6889748 310735 570 2.31 0.22 0.024 1.15 500835 6889244 311891 496 3.24 1.54 0.001 0.94 500838 6889227 311054 548 1.26 1.89 0.019 0.88 500892 6889011 312361 435 0.8 0.01 0.033 0.86 500826 6888696 310059 627 1.75 1.79 0.003 0.84 500801 6889269 309795 596 1.96 0.09 0.121 0.82 500823 6888344 309815 637 2.74 0.22 0.006 0.75 500853 6889444 310665 578 2.95 0.43 0.026 0.66 500802 6889233 309758 580 1.67 0.04 0.062 0.55 500825 6888485 309930 617 1.02 2.20 0.030 0.50 (1) Management cautions that prospecting surface rock samples and associated assays, as discussed herein, are selective by nature and represent a point location, and therefore may not necessarily be fully representative of the mineralized horizon sampled. (2) This table represents a selection of highlights including 41 samples out of 102 samples taken Qualified Person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Caitlin Jeffs, P. Geo, who is a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Red Metal Resources Ltd. Red Metal Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on growth through acquiring, exploring and developing clean energy and strategic minerals projects. The Company's portfolio of projects include seven separate mineral claim blocks and mineral claim applications, highly prospective for Hydrogen, covering 172 mineral claims and totaling over 4,546 hectares, located in Ville Marie, Quebec and Larder Lake, Ontario, Canada. As well, the Company has a Chilean copper project, located in the prolific Candelaria iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) belt of Chile's coastal Cordillera. Red Metal is quoted on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol RMES, on OTC Link alternative trading system on the OTC Pink marketplace under the symbol RMESF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol I660. For more information, visit www.redmetalresources.com Forward-Looking Statements - All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Red Metal provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the ability to raise adequate financing, receipt of required approvals, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in Red Metal's public filings under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Although Red Metal has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Red Metal disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244415 Vancouver, March 13, 2025 - Nevada Sunrise Metals Corp. (TSXV: NEV) (OTC Pink: NVSGF) ("Nevada Sunrise" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with VRIFY Technology Inc. ("VRIFY"), a Vancouver-based leader in artificial intelligence ("AI") and predictive modeling in mineral exploration, to refine and validate exploration plans and targets at the Griffon Gold Mine Project ("Griffon", or the "Project") in Nevada, USA. DORA, VRIFY's AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform, is the only platform that geologists can access directly and utilize for iterative predictive modeling in real time. The platform uses advanced and proprietary algorithms to generate a prospectivity score - known as a VRIFY Prospectivity Score ("VPS") - that identifies areas of potential mineralization. The VPS and models generated through DORA incorporate probabilistic values, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the predictions (see Figure 1). To power these insights, VRIFY's Geoscience and AI teams will work closely with Nevada Sunrise in compiling and cleaning decades of historical exploration data - including surface geological, geochemical, and geophysical results, as well as a digitized drill hole database - creating a comprehensive, high-quality dataset. By integrating Griffon's project-specific data with VRIFY's industry-leading database, DORA's proprietary algorithms will uncover patterns that would be time consuming and difficult, if not impossible, to extract through manual processes alone, delivering data-based insights and highlighting high-potential areas of mineralization. Figure 1. Example of VRIFY's AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform, DORA To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2799/244422_7b10e5b9d42dcb97_002full.jpg "Our goal at Nevada Sunrise is to improve exploration efficiency and uncover value in our projects, which means embracing new technologies like VRIFY," said Warren Stanyer, President and CEO of Nevada Sunrise. "AI, when combined with expert geoscience teams, is a powerful tool that helps reduce bias and identify potential mineralization that might otherwise be overlooked. As AI becomes increasingly vital in exploration targeting, VRIFY's predictive technology represents a significant advancement for our project. We are excited to be part of this next step for Nevada Sunrise, VRIFY and the industry as a whole." Using DORA, Nevada Sunrise will gain direct access to the web-based platform, receive comprehensive training, and be able to generate and iterate on their own predictive models, allowing for hands-on exploration targeting and validation. "At VRIFY, we believe AI in mineral exploration shouldn't be a black box, which is why we've created DORA. DORA is an intuitive platform that puts the power of AI in the hands of technical teams that know the project best - accelerating exploration and identifying areas of high potential mineralization," explained Steve de Jong, CEO and co-founder of VRIFY. "By combining AI with the deep geoscience bench strength we have at VRIFY, we're helping companies like Nevada Sunrise gain a competitive edge. We believe this approach of integrating technology and experts is the future of the industry and can't wait to see how DORA helps drive discovery at the Griffon Gold Mine Project." About VRIFY VRIFY transforms mineral exploration using DORA, the world's first AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform that helps mining companies more effectively predict mineral deposits, assess exploration potential, communicate project value to investors, and secure investment. With nearly 200 companies across 70 countries partnering with VRIFY, including 26 early-adopter clients using DORA, they set the standard for analyzing and presenting exploration data. Their team of over 100 geoscientists, data scientists, developers, and industry professionals combines deep geological expertise with cutting-edge AI to deliver actionable insights and make discoveries. To learn more about VRIFY visit https://vrify.com About Griffon Griffon is located approximately 50 kilometres (33 miles) southwest of Ely, Nevada and consists of 89 unpatented mineral claims totaling approximately 1,780 acres. The Project is within the fertile Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend in east-central Nevada, which is host to both past-producing and operating gold mines, and a number of significant gold deposits. Nevada Sunrise announced the acquisition of Griffon in February 2025 (see Nevada Sunrise News Release dated February 20, 2025), and has engaged VRIFY to assist the Company in determining new target areas at the Project. Gold was mined at Griffon in two open pits from 1998 to 1999 and until its premature closure, was reported by the State of Nevada to have produced 62,661 ounces of oxide gold1. The Company believes that VRIFY has the potential to provide a refined and validated exploration plan that could lead to new gold discoveries at Griffon. Griffon lies within a 60 kilometre (40 mile) section of the Battle Mountain-Eureka trend, which hosts the following gold mines and deposits (see Figure 2): Pan Mine: Operated by Calibre Mining Corp., which hosts Measured and Indicated resources of 358,900 oz. gold and Inferred resources of 42,000 oz. gold2, and was reported as producing 35,267 oz. gold in 20243; Gold Rock (formerly Easy Junior): Operated by Calibre Mining Corp., which hosts Measured and Indicated resources of 370,700 oz. gold and Inferred resources of 58,100 oz. gold4 and was reported as producing 12,100 ounces of gold in the years 1990 and 19975; Figure 2: Griffon Gold Mine Project Location, White Pine County, Nevada To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2799/244422_7b10e5b9d42dcb97_003full.jpg Mt. Hamilton: Operated by an emerging public company, Bendito Resources Inc., which hosts Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 545,000 oz. gold and 4,459,600 oz. silver contained within Measured and Indicated resources of 727,000 oz. gold and 6,569,000 oz. silver, and Inferred resources of 119,000 oz, gold and 1,153,000 oz. silver6; Green Springs: Owned by Orla Mining Ltd., and currently under option to Centerra Gold Inc. Historical production at Green Springs of 63,000 oz. of gold was reported from 1988 to 1991 under USMX Inc.'s heap leach operation7; Lookout Mountain: Operated by Timberline Resources Corp., which hosts Measured and Indicated resources of 423,000 oz. gold, and Inferred resources of 84,000 oz. gold. Historical production of 17,700 oz. gold was reported in 19878. References: 1 Nevada Division of Minerals, "Major Mines of Nevada", published 1998 and 1999; 2 NI 43-101 Updated Technical Report on Resources and Reserves, Pan Gold Project, White Pine County, Nevada, prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. and Apex Geoscience Ltd., with an effective date December 31, 2022; 3 Calibre Mining Corp., News Release dated January 8, 2025; 4 Amended Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Gold Rock Project, White Pine County, Nevada, prepared by Fiore Gold Ltd. by Apex Geoscience Ltd. and John T. Boyd Company with an effective date of March 31, 2020; 5 Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology, Special Publication, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1997; 6 NI 43-10 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Mt. Hamilton Gold and Silver Project, Centennial Deposit and Seligman Deposit. White Pine County, Nevada, prepared for Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. and Ely Gold Minerals Inc. by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc., with an effective Date of August 14, 2014; 7 Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology, Special Publication, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991; 8 Technical Report, Lookout Mountain Project, Eureka County, Nevada, USA, prepared for Timberline Resources Corporation by RESPEC Company LLC, with an effective Date of September 1, 2023. For more information about Griffon, including maps and photos, visit the Company's website at: www.nevadasunrise.ca. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Robert M. Allender, Jr., CPG, RG, SME and a Qualified Person for Nevada Sunrise as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Allender has examined information regarding the historical exploration at Griffon, which includes his review of the historical sampling, analytical and procedures underlying the information and opinions contained herein. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by operators unrelated to Nevada Sunrise and have not been verified nor confirmed by its Qualified Person; however, the historical results create a scientific basis for ongoing work in the Griffon property. Management further cautions that historical results, discoveries and published resource estimates on adjacent or nearby mineral properties, whether in stated current resource estimates or historical resource estimates, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Griffon property. About Nevada Sunrise Nevada Sunrise is a junior mineral exploration company with a strong technical team based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, that holds interests in lithium, gold, and copper exploration projects located in the State of Nevada, USA. Nevada Sunrise holds the right to earn a 100% interest in the Griffon Gold Mine Project, located approximately 50 kilometers (33 miles) southwest of Ely, NV. Nevada Sunrise owns 100% interests in the Gemini, Jackson Wash and Badlands lithium projects, all of which are located in the Lida Valley in Esmeralda County, NV. Gemini hosts an Inferred lithium resource estimate of 7.1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, described in a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Resource Estimate for Gemini Lithium Project, Esmeralda County, Nevada", effective January 15, 2024, and dated March 8, 2024, available at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website: www.nevadasunrise.ca. As a complement to its exploration projects in Esmeralda County, the Company owns Nevada Water Right Permit 86863, also located in the Lida Valley basin, near Lida, NV. Nevada Sunrise holds the right to earn a 100% interest in the Coronado Copper Project, located approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Winnemucca, NV. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This release may contain forwardlooking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur and include disclosure of anticipated exploration activities. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forwardlooking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forwardlooking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date such statements were made. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Such factors include, among others, risks related to: the results of the VRIFY study seeking new target areas at Griffon; the ability of the Company to raise funds for exploration activities and property maintenance costs at Griffon; reliance on technical information provided by third parties on any of our exploration properties; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays due to pandemic; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the Three Months December 31, 2024, which is available under Company's SEDAR profile at: www.sedarplus.ca. Although Nevada Sunrise has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Nevada Sunrise disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244422 SURREY, March 13, 2025 - Cameo Resources Inc. (CSE: MEO) ("Cameo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an arms-length binding letter of intent (the "LOI") with 1154308 B.C. Ltd., pursuant to which, and subject to the terms and conditions contained therein, it would enter into an Option Agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire a 51% right, title, and interest in the Katoro Gold Properties (the "Properties"), located in the Geita region of Tanzania (the "Acquisition"). Highlights of the Katoro Property: 12.52 km roadaccessible Properties, approximately 170 km southwest of Mwanza city, 63 km southwest of Geita Region. Located within the Sukumaland Greenstone Belt (SGB") home for the Buckreef mine along the same strike within Katoro, within the Lake Victoria Goldfields in north-west Tanzania. Regional geophysical and structural settings suggesting an exploration potential for significant gold mineralization within the project areas. Souhail Abi-Farrage, President & CEO of Cameo, commented: "Entering into this LOI is a solid opportunity for Cameo. The Property has two complementary exploration upsides, with an established epi-mesothermal zone of higher-grade gold mineralization in quartz veins from surface that Cameo can look to exploit almost immediately, and a much broader under-explored potential for a buried porphyry. We are excited to see the commencement of work on this property." The Katoro Gold Properties The Properties cover 12.52 square kilometers situated within the prospective Sukumaland Greenstone Belt within the Lake Victoria Goldfield (LVGF) (Figure 1). One of the most important mining sites in Africa, Tanzania's LVGF holds several multi-million-ounce gold deposits and has ongoing operations by some of the largest gold companies in the world. The concessions have been mined by artisanal miners for some time, evidenced by the multiple shallow pits and trenches showing iron carbonate altered mafic volcanics (basalts) and quartz feldspar porphyry intrusions. Gold is associated with grey quartz veins and stringers that exhibit a pinch and swell characteristic, parallel to the fabric of east-west shear zones. The concessions occur within a broader area that has seen exploration and mining activities by several companies including, TRX Gold Corp. (TSX:TRX), AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU), and IAMGold Corp. (TSX:IMG). Click Image To View Full Size Figure 1: LOCATION KATORO GOLD PROJECT of the Lake Victoria GoldField greenstone belts in north-western Tanzania. Acquisition Terms Under the terms of the LOI, the Company will earn its undivided 51% right and interest in the Properties upon paying cash payments totaling USD$500,000, (the first USD$250,000 payment will be due upon completion of due diligence by the Company and signing a Definitive Agreement. The second USD$250,000 is to be paid within twelve months of original payment) and issuing 8,000,000 common shares of the Company. The transaction contemplated by the LOI is expected to close on or before April 30, 2025, and is subject to a due diligence period and customary closing conditions and approvals by the Canadian Securities Exchange. It is not anticipated that any new control persons will be created (more than 10% ownership in the Company) post-closing of this Acquisition. Concurrent Private Placement In conjunction with this acquisition, the Company will undertake a non-brokered private placement of up to $1,500,000, by the issuance of units at $0.15 per unit. Each unit will consist of 1 common share and one half of a warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for 2 years at $0.30. The Company will reserve the right to accelerate expiry of the warrants if the shares of the Company trade at or above $0.50 for a period of 10 days, including days where no shares trade. Proceeds will be used for ongoing work on the Company's existing properties as well as initial work on the Katoro Property. Update on the VMP Gold Property Acquisition The Company has continued to pursue the acquisition of the 162-ha, road-accessible VMP Property situated within the Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas Province of Ecuador announced October 15, 2024. The Company is attempting to negotiate an increased interest in the property and will update shareholders as negotiations continue. Qualified Person Brian Thurston, P.Geo., the Company's technical advisor and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. About Cameo Resources Inc. Cameo Resources Inc. is a dynamic mineral exploration company dedicated to discovering and developing valuable mineral deposits. The flagship project in Nevada represents a promising opportunity in the ever-growing field of clean energy. The strategic goal of the Company is to increase shareholder value by advancing the portfolio of lithium exploration projects located in the mineral- rich region of Nye County, Nevada, and through strategic acquisitions in precious metals. For more information on Cameo Resources, please visit the website at www.cameoresourcesinc.com. On behalf of the Board of Cameo Resources Inc. Souhail Abi-Farrage Chief Executive Officer and Director Phone Number: 1-800-325-1308 For further information contact: Investor Relations; Email: IR@cameoresourcesInc.com Phone Number: 1-800-325-1308 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. 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. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, relating to the timing for closing the LOI, or that the LOI will close at all, are forward-looking statements. 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 Interra, 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, risks that lease holder will not approve the sale of the Property, risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of exploration results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Cameo does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Vancouver, March 13, 2025 - Supernova Metals Corp. (the "Company" or "Supernova") (CSE:SUPR) (Frankfurt:A1S) is very pleased to welcome Mr. Tim O'Hanlon to the Supernova Strategic Advisory Board, effective immediately. Mr. O'Hanlon commented: "I am delighted to step into this exciting role as a Senior Advisor to Supernova and look forward to leveraging my expertise in the oil and gas industry, particularly in Africa, and assisting the Company on its prominent exploration opportunities in the Orange Basin, one of the most active oil exploration regions in the world with some of the highest exploration drilling success rates in recent times." Armed with his Civil Engineering degree from University College Dublin, Irishman Tim O'Hanlon joined Schlumberger which served as his earliest introduction to the oil business. Following post-graduate studies in Reservoir Engineering at Imperial College London, he became a member of the founding team of Irish start-up Tullow Oil in the mid 1980's. From the outset, this exciting and ambitious explorer/producer focused on Africa, operating oil and gas opportunities which had proved non-commercial for the IOC Majors. During these early years at Tullow, Tim lived in Senegal heading up the company's onshore, oil & gas, production business cash-cow, splitting his time between wearing coveralls/hard-hat and a suit/tie. More recently as Vice President for Africa, Tim was central to Tullow's rapid expansion across the Mother Continent involving ground-floor licence negotiations, the velvet acquisitions of Energy Africa and Hardman and finally Tullow's fabled frontier exploration of some of Africa's more remote interior basins. During these years Tim was more likely to be found in the Ministerial waiting rooms of Brazzaville or Bujumbura than Tullow HQ or the oil company data rooms of Houston or London. Over the course of Tim's 33 years at the company - during which he was widely known as "Tullow's Monsieur Afrique" - Tim has visited all but one of Africa's 54 countries (Djibouti) and negotiated with dozens of Africa's Heads of State. Since retiring from Tullow in 2020, Tim has been advising Africa-focused explorer/producer Panoro Energy on its growth ambitions across the Continent as well as being involved with start-ups in the African power and forestry sectors. Mr. Sean McGrath, Supernova CEO, commented: "Tim's knowledge at every level of operations and vast experience in the African oil and gas industry is immeasurable. His expertise and relationships in Africa are a tremendous addition to Supernova as we forge ahead with our investment in the Orange Basin." Board of Directors Supernova announces that Dr. Kent Ausburn has resigned from the Company's Board of Directors effective today. We thank Kent for his services and wish him well in his future endeavours. Compensation Securities The Company has granted a total of 500,000 RSUs which will vest over 12 months and will expire on December 31, 2028. About Supernova Supernova is an energy and resource exploration company focused on acquiring and advancing natural resources opportunities globally. The Company is exploring its rare earth project in Labrador as well as holding an 8.75% indirect ownership interest in Block 2712A located in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Sean McGrath Chief Executive Officer E: info@supernovametals.com Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will support the viability of mining exploration, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration of PEL 107, and the availability of and the ability to retain and attract qualified personnel. Other factors may also adversely affect the future results or performance of the Company, including general economic, market or business conditions, future prices of minerals, changes in the financial markets and in the demand for minerals, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the mineral exploration industry, as well as the risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's SEDAR+ profile. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forward?looking information whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Vancouver, March 13, 2025 - Dale Reimer CFO, EnGold Mines Ltd., (TSXV: EGM) ("EnGold" or the "Company") reports that EnGold director Mr. David Brett has resigned from his position as a Director of the Company. The Company thanks him for the service he has provided over the years, and wishes him the best in his future endeavors. About EnGold EnGold is a Vancouver-based copper, gold, silver, and magnetite exploration company focused solely on its 100% owned Lac La Hache property in the Cariboo region of BC which hosts the Spout Copper Deposit, the Aurizon Gold Deposit, and the G1 Copper Deposit and other targets within a large porphyry mineralizing system. With world-class infrastructure at its doorstep, Lac La Hache is a great location to be exploring. EnGold Mines Ltd. Dale Reimer CFO To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/244510 If another federal coronavirus stimulus package is enacted, it's likely to be the last one to come out of the 116th Congress. That's why now is the time for leaders of state and local governments to blitz Capitol Hill and bring a new stimulus bill that offsets their governments' budget shortfalls over the finish line.States alone will likely see about $350 billion in tax revenues evaporate over the next two years. At the same time, state Medicaid and other COVID-19-related health-care spending is expected to explode by over $150 billion. Local governments are being hit just as hard: In April alone, layoffs and furloughs helped to reduce the government workforce by nearly a million employee s, and more than 800,000 of those jobs were lost in local government.The Democratic-controlled House has passed a new stimulus bill, the $3 trillion HEROES Act , that includes $915 billion in flexible aid for state, local, territorial and tribal governments. While the Republican-controlled Senate has not taken up the bill and President Trump has described it as "dead on arrival," several Republican senators are now speaking in favor of some form of aid, and a bipartisan group of senators has introduced its own legislation, the SMART Act , which would provide $500 billion to states and localities.There's no way to predict what might eventually emerge on Capitol Hill, but state and local leaders can make three strong arguments for aid from Washington:In 2019, state and local government spending was 17 percent of GDP. If there is no federal assistance, the balanced-budget requirements in 49 states and many local governments will force them to cut spending far more than they already have, raise taxes or both. This will reduce aggregate demand and make the economic downturn deeper and longer. Even with the 2009 stimulus enacted in response to the Great Recession, states had to cut previously appropriated spending by $54.3 billion between 2009 and 2011, and they enacted tax and fee increases of $23.9 billion in 2010.The other major components of GDP will also continue to decline. Businesses will reduce investment due to uncertainty regarding the speed of the economic recovery. Consumer spending, which is about 70 percent of GDP, will remain sharply down due to consumers' increased debt and reluctance to travel and make non-essential purchases. The only sector where spending will increase is the federal government, but that will not offset the contraction in the other three sectors. If the federal government does not assist states and localities, it will be at least five years before the economy again reaches the GDP level of 2019.The United States has a federal-state partnership: The federal government runs only two major domestic programs, Social Security and Medicare, while states administer all of the others. The system is very interdependent and very efficient, as states are allowed to tailor programs such as health care and food assistance to the unique needs of their citizens.State governments share in the cost of these programs, committing over $250 billion of their own revenues annually. By far the largest federal-state program is Medicaid: In 2019, states paid $231 billion, or about 37.5 percent of the total cost. States also contribute a match of over $20 billion a year for the 200 or so other federal programs that they administer.It does not make sense to throw overboard a strong and efficient partnership in time of crisis. Instead, it is time to strengthen it and for federal policymakers to appreciate the fact that by 2019 states had built surpluses totaling $72.3 billion, or 7.6 percent of their general-fund spending.Both in 2003 and 2009, Congress recognized that it needed to assist states in order to offset their proposed budget cuts and tax increases and to stabilize the economy.In 2003, the states received $20 billion in flexible funding. The first $10 billion was for Medicaid, but the money was flexible in that states could free up their own funds budgeted for the program and use those funds for other critically needed services. The second $10 billion was in the form of flexible block grants.The 2009 stimulus law, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provided $154 billion in flexible funding, an increase of about $100 billion in the federal share for Medicaid, and $54 billion in a stabilization fund primarily for education.In both cases the legislation reduced unemployment and helped stem the economic decline. Not only did the legislation work, but the Government Accountability Office also gave the states high grades for transparency and accountability for minimizing fraud and inappropriate spending.It can work again, and states and localities have powerful allies in making their case to Congress and the White House: Both Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have signaled their support for another round of federal stimulus spending to speed recovery and avert long-term damage to the economy. For state and local leaders, there's no time to waste in making that case.GoverningGoverning Father still disappointed about Audi snub says Sainz Carlos Sainz admits his father is "still disappointed" the ousted Ferrari driver turned down Audi's offer for 2025 and beyond. Carlos Sainz, Italian GP 2024 Ferrari The 30-year-old instead opted for Williams, another midfield team that did impress the Formula 1 world in the pre-season Bahrain test with Sainz's overall fastest time. This was a surprise for us too, Sainz smiled. But the joy in the team is even more important than the fastest time. Everyone is working even harder now. We are going into Australia with some hope, the 4-time grand prix winner added. However, Sainz's decision to accept Williams' offer was actually contrary to the advice and urging of his famous father and namesake, Carlos Sainz senior. Sainz senior, 62, is a former world rally champion who also had great success with Audi at the Dakar rally, winning the famous off-road event just last year. My father is still disappointed that I didn't accept the great offer from Audi, Sainz is quoted as saying by Blick newspaper. "After my dream of moving to Red Bull or Mercedes ended, I had to choose between Audi, Alpine, and Williams. After the factory visits and discussions, my gut feeling immediately told me to go to Williams. They want a better future. And when my heart also said yes, the decision was made. Now I hope that my father, who had great times with Audi, will soon be happy that I chose Williams. Sauber-Audi's overall F1 chief, Mattia Binotto, acknowledges that the team's 2025 drivers - Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto - are unlikely to score points in Melbourne. If everything goes as we expect, the two McLarens, Ferraris, Red Bulls, and Mercedes, as well as Sainz and (Pierre) Gasly, will secure the ten points-scoring positions, the Italian predicts. Sauber had a dire 2024 season, finishing dead last - just behind Williams. A quick points-scoring result would certainly help our team, Binotto said. As for Sainz, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone tips him to have a major impact at Williams. Ferrari will regret letting him go, the 94-year-old told Blick. Carlos is already showing his worth at Williams. It was also like this in my time - give a team with a mediocre car one of the top five drivers in the sport, and you'll experience a surprise. (GMM) Accelerating action: GCB Banks vibrant celebration of International Women's Day GCB Bank Adverts Mar - 13 - 2025 , 06:04 2 minutes read In a dazzling display of white, purple, and green colours symbolizing purity, justice, and hope, GCB Bank offices were transformed to celebrate the invaluable impact of women. The excitement was palpable as employees gathered to celebrate the incredible women who help drive the company's success. This years theme, Accelerate Action, served as a powerful reminder of the urgency required for progress. GCB Bank not only celebrated the women who have made a significant impact within the organization but also emphasized its commitment to gender equity through internal initiatives and strategic external partnerships. The highlight of the day was a heartfelt live video message from Managing Director Farihan Alhassan. Farihan expressed deep gratitude and admiration for women, acknowledging their invaluable contributions and unwavering dedication. "To the phenomenal women of GCB Bank and beyond, your resilience, innovation, and leadership inspire us daily. Continue to strive, break barriers, and push forward," Farihan said, inspiring smiles and applause from all who watched. He added, "At GCB Bank, we dont just talk about change, we embody it. Our commitment to Going Beyond means breaking systemic barriers and biases, championing inclusivity, and creating opportunities for all, especially the women who drive our success every day." As the celebrations drew to a close, the sense of unity and pride was unmistakable. GCB Bank had not only marked International Women's Day but had also reaffirmed its unwavering dedication to equality and empowerment. The event set a shining example for others to follow, showcasing the bank's commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable future. GCB Bank PLC is a leading player in Ghanas banking industry, with 184 branches, 340 ATMs and a host of banking agents spread across the length and breadth of the country. As Ghanas premier indigenous bank, GCB Bank has, since its establishment in 1953, been described as a systemic bank with significant contribution to Ghanas growth in multiple sectors including oil and gas, agriculture, commerce and others. The Bank has transformed itself into one of Ghanas most modern banks in terms of its financial intermediation capabilities including digital payment platforms and consequently strengthened its corporate reputation both at home and abroad. The Banks relationship with its stakeholders is delivered on a platform of trust, support and collaboration and anchored through its brand promise, Your Bank for Life. Access Bank champions digital innovation at Africa Bank 4.0 Summit West Africa GraphicOnline Business News Mar - 13 - 2025 , 17:20 The Group Head of Retail Banking at Access Bank (Ghana) PLC, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, has called for a stronger commitment to digital transformation and fintech collaboration in West Africas banking sector. Delivering a keynote, titled Navigating Tomorrow: Unraveling West Africas Banking and FinTech Frontier, at the 15th Africa Bank 4.0 Summit West Africa, she emphasized the need for financial institutions to embrace emerging technologies to drive financial inclusion and economic growth. She told an audience of banking executives, fintech leaders, and industry regulators, that digitalization is reshaping banking across the region. A youthful and rapidly growing population and high mobile phone penetration spurred Digital Banking and FinTech innovations enabling the introduction of financial products designed specifically for mobile use such as microloans, mobile insurance, and savings platforms. With mobile phones becoming the primary device for financial transactions, these products are easily accessible and tailored to the needs of users. Today, mobile money remains one of the most widely used financial services in Africa, for instance in 2024, MTN Momo in transaction value reached a record GH?3trillion, marking a 57.9 per cent increase from the previous year. While for Traditional Banks the Ghana Interbank Settlement (GIS): recorded a 49 per cent increase in transaction values, reaching GH?3.4trillion in the same year. While both sectors experienced growth, mobile money significantly outpaced traditional banking transactions in terms of total value. Asante-Asiedu emphasized that by leveraging technology, Africa can bridge the financial gap faster and create a banking system that is more inclusive, efficient, and accessible to all. According to a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group Africa's fintech industry is on a trajectory of rapid expansion, with revenues projected to reach $65 billion by 2030, driven by demographic trends and technological adoption Citing use cases for technology such as AI and Predictive Analytics in Access Bank, Asante-Asiedu disclosed that salary account holders of the bank, now receive prompts through Robotic Process Automation to take a salary advance whenever their account balances are low. We are moving towards an era where AI-powered banking can anticipate customer needs even before they arise. This is the competitive edge that banks must harness to remain relevant, she said. While advocating for rapid digitization, Matilda cautioned that the expansion of digital banking should be supported by robust cybersecurity measures and regulatory frameworks. She urged banks and fintech firms to prioritize data security, compliance, and customer data protection to build trust in the financial system, adding that security is non-negotiable as banks push the boundaries of digital finance. The 15th Africa Bank 4.0 Summit West Africa is a platform for thought leaders to discuss emerging trends and opportunities within the banking and fintech sectors. The summit reinforces the urgency for West Africas financial industry to embrace innovation and digital transformation. Accountants must evolve beyond record-keeping Prof Ali-Nakyea at Forvis Mazars Ghana launch Kweku Zurek Business News Mar - 13 - 2025 , 15:47 Tax consultant and senior lecturer, Prof Abdallah Ali-Nakyea, has stressed the need for accountants to move beyond traditional bookkeeping and take on more strategic roles in business planning, risk management, and corporate decision-making. Speaking at the official rebranding of Forvis Mazars Ghana in Accra, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Prof Ali-Nakyea highlighted the rapid transformation of the accounting profession and the increasing demand for accountants to become business advisors rather than just financial record keepers. "The accountant has moved away from the score-keeping function. He is no longer waiting to announce the scores at the end of the period. Now, businesses need advice that will be implemented," he stated. He pointed out that accountants are now key players in economic development, governance, and financial transparency. He referenced recent national debates over unaccounted public funds, questioning the effectiveness of financial oversight in public institutions. "Im sure those of you in Ghana have heard all the banter after the budgetthis money cannot be accounted for and all that. But all these institutions have accountants, dont they?" he remarked. Prof Ali-Nakyea urged accountants to embrace a global perspective, develop new skills, and integrate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud computing into their work. "As technology takes over repetitive tasks, accountants are moving towards more strategic roles. The accountancy profession has come a long way from manual bookkeeping to artificial intelligence. We must embrace international accounting standards, stay up to date with technology, and ensure ethical integrity," he advised. His call for transformation was echoed by the Managing Partner of Forvis Mazars Ghana, Dr. Ernest Toah Akonor Jnr., who underscored the firms commitment to innovation and excellence. "It is with great excitement that we gather to mark the official launch of Forvis Mazars Ghana. This momentous occasion represents the culmination of tireless dedication, innovation, and professional work aimed at transforming the accountancy profession in Ghana," Dr. Toah Akonor said. He emphasised that Forvis Mazars is driven by technology and innovation, positioning itself as a strong alternative to the global accounting giants. "Our firm thrives on technology and innovation. We want to ensure that we provide the best services to our clients, leveraging cutting-edge solutions to improve efficiency and accuracy," he noted. The rebranding of Forvis Mazars Ghana follows a global agreement between Mazars and FORVIS, forming an international partnership that specialises in audit, tax, and advisory services across over 100 countries. 2025 budget bold and ambitious Kofi Pianim Jemima Okang Addae Business News Mar - 13 - 2025 , 12:58 The Head of Global Markets at First National Bank, Kofi Pianim, has described the 2025 financial budget under President Mahamas administration as "relatively impressive," while raising concerns about arrears accumulation, transparency, and auditing. Speaking on Graphic Business X Dialogue about the budgets impact on individuals and businesses, Mr Pianim acknowledged that the revenue projections were ambitious but stressed the need for clarity on certain aspects of its implementation. "There are grey areas, probably around arrears accumulation, how it will be dealt with, and the transparency and auditing of arrears. But if you take that away and look at just the funding requirements and revenue projections, they are bold. I think an increase of about GH40 billion is ambitious, but the market conditions are conducive for growth," he stated. Positive market indicators and liquidity Mr Pianim highlighted encouraging signs in the interbank market, such as a drop in Treasury bill yields, suggesting sufficient liquidity in the banking sector, pension funds, and ordinary Ghanaian savings to support the budget. He noted that Treasury bills are now being oversubscribed, with excess liquidity chasing other assets, leading to lower returns. On monetary policy, he praised the Bank of Ghanas interventions, stating that they are now more aligned with market conditions, ensuring the efficient use of foreign exchange reserves. Impact on businesses and price stability Mr Pianim said the 2025 budget creates a more enabling environment for businesses, particularly within the corporate, commercial, and SME sectors, by improving access to credit. He noted that this could contribute to greater price stability in key areas such as school fees and utility bills. "It also gives us a little bit of calmness because prices will not be changing so rapidlywhether it is school fees or bills, everything will be moderated," he added. While expressing confidence in the governments approach to fiscal management, Mr Pianim remained cautiously optimistic, stating that he does not want to celebrate too quickly but has trust in what the government aims to achieve. Next article: FirstBank Ghana to launch new services for customers Zenith Bank sets the pace with the inauguration of the first-ever Banking Clinic for tertiary students Zenith Bank (Ghana) Business News Mar - 13 - 2025 , 05:54 The Zenith Bank (Ghana) Ltd has taken a groundbreaking step in bridging the gap between theoretical and practical learning for tertiary students studying Banking and Finance by establishing the first-ever Banking Clinic at the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) in the Ashanti Region. This novel project serves as a Banking Simulation and Training Centre where students will be given practical skills in the various aspects of banking operations. The state-of-the-art simulated banking hall has been designed to replicate a standard Zenith Bank branch, complete with all essential departments and equipment found in a typical banking hall - customer service and Funds Transfer/Head of Operations desks, cash and teller points, an office for the branch manager and a relationship manager, money counting machines, computers, an electronic safe to represent a vault, a flat-screen TV for projection of treasury rates and adverts on the banks products and services, mock displays of all regulatory requirements such as the Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation membership certificate, fire certificate, public notices on tax evasion, other money laundering practices among others. The facility is also equipped with two air conditioning units, fans and many more to make learning conducive. At a ceremony to hand over the newly established simulated banking hall to the administration of KsTU, Mr George Imbrah, Divisional Head, representing the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Zenith Bank Ghana, Mr Henry Onwuzurigbo, explained that the initiative aims at addressing the skills gap students often encounter when transitioning from the classroom to internships or the workplace. This initiative significantly reduces the steepness of the transition into the Banking industry. Moving directly from the university into the banking field can be challenging as classroom learning differs from real-world practice. As a Bank, our goal is to bridge that gap, Mr Imbrah said. According to him, this initiative will have a lasting impact on the next generation of banking professionals as staff of the Bank will take turns to train and interact with the students. This simulated banking hall is expected to help students gain practical experience through simulation, exposure to digital technology, and insights into current trends in the banking industry and by the time these students graduate, they will have gained a solid understanding of banking operations, Mr Imbrah added. Mr Imbrah further assured the leadership of KsTU of Zenith Banks commitment to nurturing young minds and the banks continued support of the institution. The Dean of the Business School, KsTU, Professor Abdul-Aziz Iddrisu, who initiated the steps towards engaging Zenith Bank Ghana to establish the Banking Clinic, highlighted the universitys commitment to providing practical training for its students. Many of us come from the banking sector and we brought in colleagues from the industry to train our students using real-world models. Eventually, we realised the need for a dedicated centre that would serve as a one-stop shop for everything students need to know about banking. This led us to approach the Zenith Bank Ghana through our Vice Chancellor and today, we are proud to be opening this facility, Professor Iddrisu said. He further revealed that the Banking Clinic would not only benefit KsTU students but would also be used to train staff from low-tier financial institutions. The Vice Chancellor of KsTU, Professor Gabriel Dwomoh, expressed his gratitude to the Zenith Bank for pioneering the project, which prioritises the interests of students. As a technical university, we are committed to a Competency-Based Training (CBT) curriculum. To deliver this effectively, we need the full complement of practical facilities to augment theoretical knowledge. This includes laboratories, workshops, and other practical resources such as the Zenith Bank-KsTU Banking Clinic, Professor Dwomoh stated. He emphasized that the uniqueness of technical universities lies not only in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) - related programs, but also in ensuring that business-related programs have the necessary practical components. For the humanities and business disciplines, there is often a gap between theory and practice. This Banking Clinic is a significant step towards bridging that gap. We are therefore grateful to Zenith Bank for bringing real banking operations to the doorstep of our students. They can now practice banking operations here, which will prepare them to meet industry standards upon graduation, the vice chancellor said. Professor Dwomoh also noted that the simulated banking Clinic demonstrated the Zenith Banks commitment to impact the environment within which it operates. This initiative shows that Zenith Bank is dedicated to producing graduates with the requisite competence to excel in the industry. This will benefit the industry as a whole, and we hope other institutions will take an interest in the training that takes place here. Prof. Dwomoh described the Zenith Bank KsTU Banking Clinic as a testament to the power of partnerships between academia and industry, promising a brighter future for KsTU students and the broader financial ecosystem in Ghana. Next article: The effects of the US foreign aid suspension on northern Ghana Pan-African movement key to drive reparations agenda Michael Quaye Opinion Mar - 13 - 2025 , 09:17 8 minutes read The timely call by Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama for reparations to Africa to compensate for colonisation and its associated injustices has provoked diverse reactions, bringing to the fore the urgent need for a unified front to drive that agenda. The speech made by President Mahama at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on February 20, 2025, highlighted the enormous damage inflicted on Africa during the colonial period and also revived conversation on a decision had remained stagnant, buried in bureaucratic drawers for the past two years, until his re-election in December. He cited historical estimates suggesting that the total economic loss to the continent due to the outflow of human and material resources amounted to trillions of dollars. In 2023, a conference on reparations was held in Ghanas capital, where it was decided that reparations should not only include financial compensation but also measures for restitution, rehabilitation, and guarantees against the recurrence of similar abuses in the future. Pan-African movement It is instructive to note that almost all summit participants expressed similar positions on reparations, indicating the urgent need to establish a unified Pan-African movement that can effectively address economic development issues, including the reparations project, as well as political representation. Such representation is essential for negotiations with the countries obligated to compensate Africa for the losses suffered during colonialism and slavery. Furthermore, a Pan-African movement would focus on preserving the cultural identity of the vast African family of nations. This initiative has been enthusiastically received by other heads of state outside the African Union (AU). The project has also received strong support from Alliance of Sahel States (ASS) members Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In these countries, petitions were even launched to support the reparations project and the revival of the Pan-African movement. To those who question the need for yet another organization, the answer is that despite the numerous summits and associations already in place, no existing movement is actively working to build a Pan-African progressive policy. Yet, only through collective efforts can a broad range of challenges from economic issues to social policies be effectively addressed. Though many countries are clamouring for the leadership and organization of the Pan-African progressive movement, Ghana historically was the first country on the continent to launch the struggle for independence. That makes Ghana the best qualified base for the rebirth of the Pan-African movement to vigorously promote the interest of the African continent. Governance experts' views Meanwhile, a Ghanaian governance expert has observed that while the potential of reparations to resolve Africa's economic challenges is a nuanced issue that warrants careful examination, it could serve as a meaningful step towards rectifying historical wrongs afflicted on the continent. A Senior Political Science Lecturer and Head of the Department of Political Science at the University for Development Studies, Dr Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari, said reparations were not merely about financial compensation, but also about recognising and acknowledging the systemic exploitation and dehumanisation that characterised colonisation and the transatlantic slave trade. He consequently urged African governments to fashion out comprehensive long-term development strategies that address political governance, economic inequalities, and the imperative of sustainable development. Two other academics in the governance space expressed similar sentiments in separate interviews, cautioning African governments not to put all hopes on reparations, but instead find solutions to the various issues that undermine development on the continent. Assuaging emotional wounds The two Dr Samuel Kofi Darkwa of the Institute for Economic Affairs and Gilbert Ahinful Aidoo of the University of Education, Winneba stressed that reparations to Africa are, however, important to assuage the emotional wounds of Africa. The interviews were triggered by President John Dramani Mahama's demand for adequate compensation in terms of reparations to Africa for the trauma and injustice inflicted by colonisation, the slave trade and related actions on the continent. President Mahamas call for reparations to Africa as compensation for colonisation and its associated injustices marks a significant and timely contribution to a longstanding global debate within the political and economic governance discourse, Dr Bukari said. This demand is deeply rooted in the historical exploitation, enslavement, and colonisation of Africa, which have left enduring scars on the continent's economic, social, and political fabric, he added. The academic added that reparations could be a form of restorative justice aimed at addressing the imbalances created by centuries of exploitation. By addressing the extraction of Africa's wealth and resources which significantly contributed to the continent's underdevelopment, reparations could, if properly structured, provide critical resources for infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other essential sectors, he added. Dr Bukari, however, stressed that reparations alone were unlikely to fully resolve Africa's complex economic and governance issues. The continent's challenges are multifaceted, encompassing governance deficiencies, corruption, inequitable global trade systems, and internal structural weaknesses. Without addressing these root causes, reparations may not lead to any meaningful development. While they could seemingly play a pivotal role in compensating for historical injustices, as advocated by Ghana's President Mahama, they are not a cure-all for Africa's economic and governance struggles, he said. Dr Darkwa, on the other hand, said the challenges facing African nations were not solely financial, and that unfair global trade practices, reinforced by institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), continued to undermine African economies. He said acknowledging the wrongs of colonization, exploitation, slavery and other injustices was crucial, as reparations can provide much-needed funding for essential sectors such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure, fostering long-term development. While countries like Germany and the UK have made attempts at compensating for past injustices, the conversation surrounding reparations for Africa must extend beyond simple financial compensation. It must address the deeper, systemic inequities that continue to hold back the continent's progress, Dr Darkwa said. The structure of international governance, particularly the composition of the United Nations Security Council which has no permanent seat for any of the 55 African countries, often works against Africas development rather than supporting it. These external factors perpetuate a cycle of underdevelopment, which requires a comprehensive approach to tackle the root causes, he observed. Internally, he said, African nations must confront challenges such as endemic corruption, which diverts billions of dollars from crucial development efforts, and the urgent need for greater industrialization, insisting that regional integration and effective trade policies were essential to building resilience and fostering collaboration across the continent. Furthermore, responsibly harnessing Africas vast natural and human resources will be key to achieving sustainable development, he stressed. While reparations are an important step towards justice for Africans and people of African descent, they must be part of a broader strategy that addresses both global systemic injustices and internal challenges, he added. While agreeing that the trans-Atlantic slave trade, for instance, had had a lasting impact on Africa, Mr Arhinful Aidoo said the continents economic challenges were multifaceted and required more than financial compensation. Structural issues such as corruption, weak institutions, and reliance on raw material exports must also be addressed. Diversifying economies, investing in human capital, and fostering regional integration are crucial for sustainable development. "Reparations could provide a financial boost, but they must be complemented by systemic reforms and good governance across the continent, he said. Additionally, the global economic system, which often disadvantages African nations through unfair trade and other practices, as well as the debt burdens, need serious structural reform. "Reparations should be part of a broader strategy that includes fair trade agreements, debt reliefs, and increased investment in African industries, he added. Mr Arhinful Aidoo said African leaders must also strive to reduce their own overdependence on the goodwill of external donors, adding that African leaders should work toward improving upon the human resource quality, as well as equipping themselves with the necessary modern technologies to enable them to fully exploit and better manage their own resources in order to end present day neocolonialism, which he described as the worst form of colonialization. In fact, there should be deliberate efforts toward improving African agency on the global stage so as to better position the continent to fully benefit from its resources and other international arrangements for the betterment of the masses of the African peoples. Accra proclamation on reparations An Accra Reparations Conference was held in Ghana's capital from 14 to 17 November, 2023, under the theme, "Building a United Front to Advance the Cause of Justice and Reparations to Africans". It attracted delegates from all the regions of the Continent of Africa and the African Diaspora, including the Caribbean, Latin America, USA, Europe and the U.K. It will be further recalled that in August 2022, the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the African Union, in collaboration with global civil society, held the Accra Summit on Reparations and Healing to build on ongoing conversations in and outside of the African Continent and explore ways to create a platform for adoption of a single transcontinental plan for reparations. From the foregoing, it is evident that the formation of a pan-African movement will play a key role in the realisation of the reparations dream as soon as practicable. 94 Ghanaians deported from US in 2024 Ablakwa Pacome Emmanuel Damalie Mar - 13 - 2025 , 17:17 3 minutes read The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed that 94 Ghanaians were deported from the United States in 2024 as part of the US government's intensified immigration crackdown. Addressing Parliament on Thursday, March 13, 2025, Mr Ablakwa stated that no Ghanaian had been deported from the US so far this year. He referenced data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which recorded 37,660 deportations in January 2025, with no Ghanaians included. He further revealed that two Ghanaians had recently been deported to Costa Rica, with Ghanas Washington Mission working with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to facilitate their transfer back to Ghana. 150 Ghanaians await deportation from United States Providing additional details, Mr Ablakwa informed Parliament that 150 Ghanaians are currently being held in various US detention centres for offences such as rape, internet fraud, and illegal entry. Fifty out of the 150 individuals have received final deportation orders from the court, with their deportation expected by mid-year. The remaining 100 cases are either under appeal or have been dismissed, he noted. He added that diplomatic interventions had secured the release of one Ghanaian on medical grounds, while three others are scheduled to depart the US on commercial flights on March 19, March 28, and April 1, 2025. Additionally, ten Ghanaians have been interviewed by the Ghanaian Embassy to verify their nationality and ensure they have received a fair hearing. They are now awaiting the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to purchase their flight tickets before their travel documents can be issued. Unaccompanied Ghanaian migrant children at risk The Minister also revealed that a recent directive from US ICE has placed over 600,000 unaccompanied migrant children under review for possible deportation. There are four Ghanaian children known to the Ghana Mission who fall under this category, he disclosed, adding that these minors could face deportation if they fail to prove familial connections or legal guardianship. Expansion of US deportation efforts Mr Ablakwa informed Parliament that in an effort to streamline deportation operations, former US President Donald Trump had signed a memorandum on January 29, 2025, directing DHS to expand the migrant operations centre at Guantanamo Bay. This expansion will facilitate the temporary housing of up to 30,000 undocumented immigrants. Following this directive, 178 Venezuelan migrants were transferred to the facility and subsequently deported to Honduras, from where they were repatriated to Venezuela. As of now, no Ghanaian nationals are reportedly detained at this facility, he said. He further explained that the US government, in partnership with Panama and Costa Rica, had established agreements to temporarily detain deportees in these countries before their repatriation. Under these arrangements, migrants deported from the US are held in detention camps in Panama or Costa Rica as part of the deportation process. Reports from detainees in Panama have raised concerns over harsh living conditions, limited freedoms, and restricted access to legal assistance. The involvement of third-party countries in the deportation process reflects a broader US strategy to manage its deportation efforts and control migration flows, he noted. Government's response and reintegration efforts To address the potential deportation of more Ghanaian nationals, Mr Ablakwa announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had begun engaging stakeholders to develop reintegration plans. A key step in this process was the Stakeholders Meeting held on February 17, 2025, he said, explaining that the meeting aimed to assess vulnerabilities within the Ghanaian migrant community and establish necessary support mechanisms. One of the key outcomes, he stated, was the identification of resources needed to assist deported nationals, including transportation to their final destinations and access to reintegration programs. Mr Ablakwa assured Parliament that the Ministry would continue to work closely with local organisations and international partners to ensure the well-being of deported Ghanaians upon their return. Mahama to SOE CEOs: Deliver on reset agenda or step aside Mohammed Ali Mar - 13 - 2025 , 12:02 2 minutes read President John Dramani Mahama has issued a stern warning to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), stating that only those willing to align with his administrations "reset agenda" will retain their positions. Speaking at a meeting with SOE heads under the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) on March 13, Mahama made it clear that underperforming executives must either improve or step aside. If you are not matching the pace of the reset agenda, you might be asked to step aside, he declared. We expect something completely different from you. Your performance will determine whether you continue in your roles when we review progress in 2026. The President stressed the urgent need for efficiency, accountability, and profitability within state enterprises, condemning years of mismanagement and financial waste. He insisted that the era of impunity and mediocrity in SOEs must come to an end. Mahama also announced stricter performance measures for SOE leadership, stating that CEOs will be required to submit audited financial statements annually. Non-compliance, he warned, could result in severe penalties, including dismissal. The Ghanaian people deserve better and will not accept mediocrity, he stated. If you are not prepared to be part of the reset, now is the time to walk out. He highlighted key actions already undertaken within the administrations first 120 days, including the formation of a lean government, the swift confirmation of cabinet ministers within 14 days, and the introduction of a strict code of conduct for public officials. President Mahama receives credentials from 5 envoys Raymond Arthur Mar - 13 - 2025 , 09:57 3 minutes read President John Mahama yesterday received letters of credence from five envoys at the Jubilee House in Accra. They were the ambassadors of Italy, Laura Ranalli; Cuba, Julio Enrique Pujol Torres; Liberia, Musu Jatu Ruhle; The United Arab Emirates, Abdulla Muraid Sulaiman Mohammed Al Mandoos, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Ghomshi. Italy Ambassador Ranalli, who was accompanied by her husband, Piotr Kepinski, conveyed felicitations from the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, who visited Ghana in 2023. She pledged Italys commitment to Ghanas development through the Mattei Plan, a strategic initiative aimed at boosting public and private investments in key sectors. Cuba Ambassador Torres emphasised Cubas long-standing friendship with Ghana, which he said was rooted in their shared struggles for independence and development. President Mahama (right) proposing a toast to Julio Enrique Pujol Torres, Cuban Ambassador to Ghana He outlined plans to enhance cooperation in health care, education and biotechnology while building on Cubas existing support for Ghanas medical sector. In response, President Mahama commended Cuba for its solidarity with Ghana over the years and expressed interest in exploring new areas of collaboration, particularly in science and technology. Liberia Ambassador Ruhle also highlighted the deep cultural and historical ties between her country and Ghana, saying both nations share a common vision of regional stability and economic growth. Musu Jatu Ruhle (left), Liberian Ambassador to Ghana, with President Mahama She outlined plans to strengthen trade and investment links, particularly in agriculture and infrastructure. President Mahama welcomed the ambassadors commitment to fostering closer ties and reiterated Ghanas support for Liberias development agenda. United Arab Emirates Ambassador Al Mandoos expressed his countrys interest in expanding economic and cultural relations with Ghana. President Mahama with Abdulla Muraid Sulaiman Mohammed Al Mandoos (left), the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Ghana, and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs He mentioned potential collaborations in renewable energy, aviation and tourism, and said that Ghanas strategic location and stable environment made it an attractive partner for the UAE. President Mahama expressed gratitude to the UAE for its investments in Ghana and welcomed further cooperation in areas such as infrastructure development and technology transfer. Islamic Republic of Iran For his part, Ambassador Ghomshi said Iran was dedicated to strengthening bilateral relations with Ghana, particularly in the areas of energy, agriculture and education. Ali Ghomshi (left), Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a discussion with President Mahama He also expressed his countrys willingness to share expertise in oil and gas exploration, as well as advancement in agricultural technology. President Mahama described the ambassadors proposals as laudable and expressed interest in deepening cooperation in science, technology, and cultural exchange. He called for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, adding that, the killings in Gaza must stop, and we demand a two-state solution with Palestinians having their own state and living in their own space. Commitment President Mahama further expressed Ghanas commitment to fostering strong diplomatic relations with all nations. He said that the importance of collaboration in addressing global challenges such as climate change, terrorism and economic inequality was significant. Ghana remains a beacon of peace and stability in the region, and we are committed to working with our international partners to promote sustainable development and prosperity for all, the President added. IMANI Africa warns against removal of IGP Dampare GraphicOnline Mar - 13 - 2025 , 08:27 2 minutes read Prominent members of IMANI Africa, including Vice President Kofi Bentil and Founding President Franklin Cudjoe, have cautioned President John Dramani Mahama against removing the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, from office. Kofi Bentil, in a Facebook post, warned that dismissing Dr Dampare would be a repeat of what he described as the wrongful removal of former Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, under the previous administration. We should try not to become what we criticized before. Domelevo was sacked for doing his job! The Supreme Court ruled it as wrong. What has the IGP done, except doing his job very well? I hope the NDC wont repeat the evils of the NPP! Bentil wrote. He further urged President Mahama to respect due process and allow the Supreme Court to rule on an ongoing case regarding the dismissal of security chiefs before making any decision. The court is expected to deliver its verdict on May 7, 2025. The government should respect the rule of law and wait for the ruling of the Court, he emphasised. Bentil also reiterated that Dr Dampare has been diligent and professional in leading the Ghana Police Service, stating, This IGP has been great at his job and should have been retained for all our sakes. But even if President Mahama wants to repeat the mistakes of the NPP, he should at least signal that he accepts the rule of law and wait for the Supreme Court to rule. We hope Ghana will see the promised reset instead of repeating the sins of the NPP in worse form. Similarly, Franklin Cudjoe described Dr Dampare as a "consummate professional" whose leadership has transformed the Ghana Police Service. It would be sad if someone who has been a true professional, risen through the ranks, changed the face of policing, enhanced our nations security, and crucially survived all daggers from within and outside the service, is relieved of his position without any adverse findings. We must insist on professionalism instead of extreme partisanship. There are few good men keep them when you find them, Cudjoe asserted. Next article: 50 Ghanaians face deportation from the US by mid-year Foreign Minister Previous article: Bank of Ghana Governing Board sworn into office by Vice President Nungua Queen mother's death: Case adjourned to March 26 GraphicOnline Mar - 13 - 2025 , 17:01 1 minute read The case in which Samuel Adjei is being held for the murder of a queen mother at Nungua, has been adjourned to March 26. The adjournment was due to the absence of the Judge. Adjei is being held on the charges of unlawful possession of firearms and murder. The plea of the accused person has not been taken. Meanwhile, the Police are preparing a duplicate docket to the office of the Attorney General for advice. Adjei was arrested when Lawrencia Naa Borley Nelson aka Naa Gamu, a queen mother of Ga Adangme Muslim Union, died after being shot at her enskinment at Nungua in Accra. The musket being fired during the ceremony struck the queen mother in the thigh. President Mahama forms Anti-Flood Taskforce to tackle Ghanas flooding crisis GraphicOnline Mar - 13 - 2025 , 14:50 2 minutes read President John Dramani Mahama has established a seven-member Anti-Flood Taskforce to combat Ghanas persistent flooding challenges. The task force is chaired by Mr Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations at the Presidency. Other members include Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing; Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs; Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Abdul Osman Razak, National Security Coordinator; Mr Teddy Addi, Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO); and Madam Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, Legal Counsel to the President and Secretary to the taskforce. As part of its field operations, the Anti-Flood Taskforce conducted an aerial reconnaissance mission on Wednesday to assess flood-prone areas and gather critical data to prevent future disasters. The inspection covered key locations including Weija, the Sakumono Ramsar site, and the Tema Fishing Harbour area. Following the aerial survey, Mr Stanislav Dogbe announced that the government will enforce stricter flood prevention measures. He disclosed that the 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces, in collaboration with local government authorities, will immediately commence desilting of major drains to improve water flow and mitigate flood risks. Additionally, a road reconnaissance survey will be undertaken to assess the impact of poor drainage systems on flooding. Brigadier General Richard Kinney, Commander of the Engineer Brigade of the Ghana Armed Forces, attributed Ghanas recurring floods to indiscipline among residents living in flood-prone areas. He emphasised that preventing construction in waterways is a critical step in addressing the crisis. Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, assured that the flood assessment efforts will be extended beyond Accra to other regions. "The rains will be setting in soon, and permanent solutions must be implemented. But in the interim, maintenance works like desilting must be the immediate step," he stated. Next article: GBC, GNA, ISD, National Security: See the public sector workers captured in the Presidency's budget GIHOC making losses despite high alcohol demand Finance Minister expresses shock Mohammed Ali Mar - 13 - 2025 , 11:52 2 minutes read The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has expressed concern over the continuous financial struggles of GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited, a state-owned alcohol producer, despite the high demand for alcoholic beverages in Ghana. Speaking at the President Mahama Meets CEOs of Specified Entities under SIGA event in Accra on March 13, 2025, Dr Forson revealed that GIHOC Distilleries recorded a loss of GH25.1 million in 2022 and GH25.5 million in 2023, compounding the financial woes of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Mr President, this one surprises me. Even the alcohol-making company, the alcohol-making company is making losses, losses, he remarked, highlighting the irony of an alcohol business struggling in a thriving market. SOEs in deep financial crisis GIHOC Distilleries is not the only state entity facing financial difficulties. Dr Forson noted that major institutions such as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), and COCOBOD have also reported significant losses, worsening the financial burden on the state. He further disclosed that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), once one of the few profitable SOEs, has now joined the list of loss-making entities. In 2018, GPHA was one of only two SOEs paying dividends, but by 2024, it had started making losses, he revealed. The Finance Minister stated that in 2024, only three SOEsState Housing Company, Ghana Reinsurance Company, and TDCpaid dividends, contributing a total of GH28.7 million. This figure is a stark contrast to the billions of cedis in losses recorded by other SOEs, raising concerns about their impact on Ghanas economy. Government pushes for financial discipline To address the crisis, Dr Forson outlined a plan to restore financial stability in SOEs. He stressed the need for improved leadership, operational efficiency, and corporate governance training to ensure strict regulatory compliance. He also reminded SOE heads of their obligation under Section 95 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), which mandates the timely submission of audited financial statements. The Ministry of Finance will work closely with SIGA to enforce this regulatory requirement, he stated, adding that financial discipline would be crucial in reversing the losses of state-owned enterprises. Previous article: 50 Ghanaians face deportation from the US by mid-year Foreign Minister SSNIT OBS Trial: Ernest Thompson acquitted as Afaglo seeks plea deal over fake certificates Justice Agbenorsi Mar - 13 - 2025 , 16:04 2 minutes read The High Court in Accra has acquitted and discharged former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ernest Thompson, along with two others who were accused of causing a financial loss of $15.3 million to the state. Justice Henry Kwofie dismissed the charges against Mr Thompson, former SSNIT IT Manager John Hagan Mensah, and SSNIT Counsel Peter Hayibor after the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice withdrew the case against them. The charges were dropped under Section 29 of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30), which allows the prosecution to withdraw a case with the consent of the court before judgment is pronounced. Following this, Justice Kwofie ruled in line with Section 59 (2)(b)(ii) of Act 30, acquitting the accused persons. However, the withdrawal notice excluded Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, who remains on trial for allegedly securing employment at SSNIT using forged academic certificates. Afaglo has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding by false pretence, possession of forged documents, and uttering forged documents, contrary to section 169 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). Plea bargaining talks begin Afaglos counsel, George Bernard Shaw, informed the court that his client has initiated plea bargaining negotiations with the Attorney-General. Previously, the defence had sought leave to subpoena three witnesses: Dr James Moss of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr Julian Malveaux of Bennett College, and Professor Derrick Lloyd. However, when the case was called on March 13, Mr Shaw revealed that his client had encountered difficulties in obtaining witness statements. As a result, we have advised our client to explore avenues open to him in the defence of this matter, he told the court. Plea bargaining is a process in which an accused person agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a lesser charge, reduced number of offences, or a reduced sentence. Senior State Attorney, Nana Ama Adinkra, confirmed that the prosecution had received a formal request from Afaglos legal team indicating their intention to negotiate a plea deal with the Attorney-General. The case has been adjourned to May 8, 2025. GBC, GNA, ISD, National Security: See the public sector workers captured in the Presidency's budget Mohammed Ali Mar - 13 - 2025 , 11:35 3 minutes read Thousands of public sector workers are now under the Office of the Presidents budget, following the closure of some ministries and the reassignment of their staff under the presidencys administrative structure. The 2025 Budget, presented by Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson on March 11, 2025, shows that the GH2.7 billion allocated to the presidency includes the salaries of workers from government agencies that were previously under now-defunct ministries. In a Facebook video broadcast on March 14, 2025, the Minister for Government Communications, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, explained that the shift was a result of the governments decision to reduce the number of ministries from 30 to 23, requiring the reassignment of staff to other government structures. These are not new hires, but civil servants whose agencies have been reassigned after their parent ministries were scrapped, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said. Which workers are now under the presidencys budget? According to the 2025 Budget, salaries for staff from several state institutions are now classified under the presidencys expenditure. These include: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) 1,115 employees Information Services Department (ISD) 1,309 employees Ghana News Agency (GNA) 133 employees National Security Council and intelligence agencies, including the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), National Signals Bureau, and the Research Department With the Ministry of Information and the National Security Ministry no longer in operation, their staff have been moved under the presidencys budget for administrative purposes, according to Mr Kwakye Ofosu. Speaking in Parliament on March 11, Dr Forson also confirmed that the salaries of these workers had to be accounted for following the ministry closures. He stated that their funding was now reflected under the Office of Government Machinery (OGM) in the budget. Government says restructuring reduces operational costs Mr Kwakye Ofosu stated in his broadcast that placing these salaries under the presidencys budget does not increase overall government expenditure, as these workers were already part of the public payroll. By collapsing some ministries, the government is saving costs on ministerial salaries, vehicles, and operational expenses. The civil servants from those ministries remain, but their salaries now reflect under the presidency, he explained. Dr Forson, in his budget presentation, also said the restructuring was aimed at reducing the number of ministries while maintaining public services. GH78 million for state media operations Concerns have been raised about the GH78 million allocated under the presidencys budget for state media organisations. Addressing the issue, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said the amount was not for government propaganda but for the operational costs of GBC, ISD, and GNA. These institutions provide public service information, and their operations are funded by the state. This is not a separate allocation for political activities, he said. Dr Forsons budget statement confirmed that these state-owned media outlets had previously received funding under the now-defunct Ministry of Information, and their allocations were now reflected under the presidencys budget. Watch the video of the minister: Flynn McGarry, at work in his Gem kitchen in 2022. Photo: Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet When we last caught up with Flynn McGarry in November, Gem Home had just opened on Mott Street. Its a cafe in the back, where one can nosh on focaccia sandwiches and pastries at communal candlelit tables, and fine grocer in the front, sprinkled with McGarrys vintage sundry selections. At the time, McGarry emphasized it was not a restaurant, but when its lease runs out at the end of the month, Gem Wine will now be closing. The nighttime wine and food will move over to Gem Home, which will have a harder time fighting off the restaurant allegations when it opens for dinner service on April 3. Its becoming incredibly difficult to create this line between restaurant, wine bar, cafe, whatever. And I think that has sort of happened with Gem Wine, says McGarry. Gem Wine was never supposed to exist without Gem. As Gem Wine expanded to accommodate requests for more food while still calling itself a wine bar, customers would treat it as both somewhere to chat with some friends over a bottle and a place for a romantic dinner date. Behind the scenes, it was tough to be two things at once; on a recent night, McGarry was in the kitchen sending out full meals to three tables, while everyone else got snacks. Defining the line between restaurant and cafe has become more urgent, with Cove, McGarrys new restaurant, set to open this fall in Hudson Square. Whereas the Gem umbrella of restaurants has always occupied cozy, charming spaces around the Lower East Side, Cove will be bigger and more ambitious than anything McGarry has done before. We have a 15-year lease, and were building it once, McGarry says. Hes looking forward to two different spaces that will offer two distinct experiences: In the summer, when I get tomatoes, theres two ways I want to eat them. Its either just sliced on a plate or as a composed dish, he explains. I dont need two restaurants in downtown New York that serve the same thing. As for the business thats closing: Gems wine cellar, which has been the domain of McGarrys sister Paris since the original Gem opened, will be split up between the restaurants accordingly, with special bottles to accompany dining going to Cove and by-the-pour-friendly picks going to Gem Home. Before Gem Wine shutters forever, theyll say farewell with a weeklong bash of special guests cooking dishes that they think are their real version of wine bar, McGarry says. It really is a way for everyone to feel out what theyve maybe been missing in wine bars lately. Festivities start on Tuesday, March 25, with Marc-Olivier Frappier and Jessica Noel from Mon Lapin in Montreal, who will supply their cured meats and some special wines. The next day, chef Macklin Casnoff from L.A. will bring fresh produce and finger sandwiches. Thursday belongs to Eli Zabar, who will serve some wines from his decades-old collection. To finish on Friday, wine importer Zev Rovine, (Part of the reason wine bars exist in New York, says McGarry) will bring the bottles while the menu is in the hands of Serbian restaurant Kafana, though it will probably bring some wine, too. Earlier this week, Samsung confirmed its plans to roll out One UI 7 Beta to older devices, starting with users in India, Korea, the UK and the US. The Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 got it first (well, after the S24 series), then its the turn of the Galaxy S23 to get the beta. The Samsung Community forums are awash with people sharing screenshots of the update notification. The update is for the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra. Sorry, Galaxy S23 FE owners, youre not invited. Also, note that this update is only for unlocked phones. The Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra are receiving the One UI 7 beta update (in select regions) Its a pretty hefty update, weighing in at 4.7GB. It brings the Android version to 15, One UI to 7.0 and the security patch to March 1. Again, this is the beta version, so if you want to try it, you will have to sign up through the Samsung Members app. And you have to be in one of the test regions, of course. Weve seen reports from India, Korea, the UK and the US, so the update has reached all intended regions. The stable release is expected in April. Source 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Samsung Galaxy S23 Samsung Galaxy S23+ Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Fold7 will have a 200 MP main camera, a new report says today. This confirms what we've already heard last month from the source of the first leaked renders showing the device. The 200 MP sensor is the same one used in the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition which launched in Korea and China last year. It's also the same main camera that the Galaxy S25 Ultra uses. So that will be quite an improvement compared to the Fold6's 50 MP snapper. Additionally, today's report also claims the under-display camera embedded below the folding screen will finally get a much needed upgrade as well. It's unclear just what this will entail, but better quality and a higher resolution than the measly 4 MP we've had so far would both be very much appreciated, that's for sure. Unfortunately, those are the only two camera upgrades that the Fold7 is getting. It will thus be stuck with the same 12 MP ultrawide, 10 MP telephoto, and 10 MP selfie camera on the cover screen as its predecessor. The Fold7 is expected to become official in July alongside the Flip7 and Samsung's first 'tri-fold' device, which may get a very limited release. Source (in Dutch) Currently, Samsung's LSI arm is responsible for the Exynos chip design, but internal talks suggest that the task might be transferred over to Samsung MX (Mobile Experience). That is the division responsible for the Galaxy smartphones. The idea behind it is to bring the chip design team under the Samsung MX umbrella so they can all work on improving the Exynos chips' performance and overall user experience. Samsung's Foundry business will still be manufacturing the SoCs, though. However, there seems to be internal disagreement over that move, the report suggests. Some oppose the decision, others are on board. After all, such restructuring requires a lot of planning. The reason why Samsung is flirting with the idea is likely due to Samsung LSI's poor performance in recent years. The LSI arm missed the deadline with the Galaxy S25 series and couldn't deliver the Exynos 2500 on time, and the same thing happened with the Galaxy S23 series. And when the team actually delivers, the Exynos alternative to Qualcomm's Snapdragon is often lacking in some aspects. But even if everything goes smoothly with the restructuring, Samsung MX could face another problem - the Samsung Foundry division. It had some problems of its own in the past few years also. It's finding it hard to keep up with TSMC, lagging behind in manufacturing process tech. Source Application is now open for 15 to 17-year-olds interested in working in daycare centers, summer camps and other childcare organizations for the summer. Job duties for positions in this program include greeting children and parents, assisting with playtime, filing documents, light cleaning duties and more. The Department of Youth Affairs opened the application for the Governors Summer Youth Employment Programs child care component. Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 28, and will only be accepted at the resource center that the application was picked up at. Applications are available at the following locations: Lagu Youth Resource Center 143 Catalina Ln., Dededo (across Maria Ulloa Elementary School), (671) 635-4392/3 Kattan Youth Resource Center 228 Teresita Ln., Mangilao (behind DYAs main compound), (671) 477-9557/8 Haya Youth Resource Center 321 Calle De Los Marteres, Hagat (Across Hagat Church), (671) 565-5031/2 Unlike previous GSYEP, applications will not be available online. The following documents will be provided by DYA: 2025 GSYEP-Childcare application Health Certificate Clearance application Bureau of Child Care Services consent for Disclosure of Client Information Form Police Clearance Authorization Form Court Clearance Authorization Form Health Certificate Authorization Form In addition to completing the forms provided by DYA, the application must also include the following documents upon submission: Copy of applicants photo ID Copy of parent/legal guardians photo ID Copy of the applicants Social Security Card The Childcare component of the 2025 GSYEP is scheduled to begin on June 9 and conclude on July 18. A description of job duties and frequently asked questions is available on DYAs website at dya.guam.gov. For more information, contact Ashley Bato at (671) 735-5034 or email dya.youth.employment@dya.guam.gov. Guam is hosting three Japanese exchange students who showcased their culinary skills for island students and others at LeoPalace Resort Guam on Wednesday. The students from Hirosaki Jitsugyoi High School in the Aomori Prefecture won first place in the prestigious high school cooking contest Umaimon Koshien 2025, earning them the opportunity to participate in a cultural and culinary exchange on Guam. This whole program is a product of collaboration between Guam Community Colleges Culinary and Hospitality and Tourism Management programs, and the Guam Visitors Bureau. Regina Nedlic, GVB senior marketing manager, said the tourism bureau wants to rebuild and enhance exchange programs to improve the visitor experience for the youth, students, and children. Food is a universal connector, and as our president and CEO mentioned, it ties in well with how we all relate to each other through food, Nedlic said in an interview with the Pacific Daily News. On Wednesday, Japanese students Aki Yamada, Arisa Sasaki, and Mai Saito demonstrated their culinary skills in the kitchen of Iki Japanese Restaurant at LeoPalace Resort Guam, and shared the food they cooked and prepared with GCC and Okkodo High School students and other guests. They prepared their award-winning dish, Gappado Aomori Burger. GCC culinary students came with their food already prepared. The culinary exchange program, a key initiative for GVB this year, offers Japanese students the opportunity to experience Guams culture and culinary offerings. By supporting the winners of Japans national cooking competition, GVB connects the two regions hospitality industries. One of our proudest initiatives this year is the culinary food exchange program, Nedlic said. GVB and Guam provided the prize for the winners of the national Japan cooking competition, offering them the chance to visit Guam and experience both the island and the culinary exchange program with GCC. This marks the second consecutive year of cultural and culinary exchange between GCC students and their Japanese counterparts, further solidifying the bond between the two regions. Last September, GVB launched a program with the University of Guam, inviting universities and schools from Japan to learn more about the island, drawing about 75 participants, according to Nedlic. Nedlic also acknowledged the involvement of chef Koji Tanimoto, personal chef to the new consul general, Susumu Ueda, who expressed support for the program to further strengthen collaboration between the two regions. While she acknowledged the challenges of language barriers in international exchanges, Nedlic emphasized the importance of Japanese students practicing their English during their visit. Guam is a U.S. territory, and we want these students to engage with our local students and use English as part of their cultural exchange, she said. Funding for these initiatives comes from GVBs marketing budget, she said, emphasizing the bureaus commitment to making these exchanges possible through both local and international support. We help fund the students trips to Guam, including their accommodations, transportation, and other expenses, Nedlic said. This is an investment in the Japan market, and its essential for our future tourism efforts. GVBs goal for the program is to promote the island as a desirable travel destination. Our goal is to build lasting relationships, share Guams hospitality, and help students understand the Guam brandour message is clear: Guam, enjoy Guam, love Guam, Nedlic said. This is the direction we want to continue moving in, and were excited to see the future of this program. Regine Biscoe Lee, the new GVB general manager, congratulated the students from Hirosaki Jitsugyoi High School winning a national cooking competition and welcomed them to Guam. She also thanked those who worked so hard to put this program together, for opening your doors and for really providing the students from both Japan and our students from Guam a unique opportunity to grow and share. Its really interactions such as these that help build relationships across the ocean...So Im so grateful that we have our students here from Guam, our contest winners from Japan, she said. Really, food can showcase ones culture and transcend borders, and as Im saying that, Im starting to get a little bit hungry. A meal can bring people together as they share the experience of trying a new dish together. Was the governors Wednesday night address a show of leadership towards building a stronger Guam, or a speech from a whole different reality? It depends who you ask. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero laid out the progress we have made as an island and the challenges we must continue to address, the Democratic Party of Guam said in a statement. We commend her leadership in stabilizing our economy, securing federal funding, and prioritizing health care, education, and housing for our people. It was clear the governor was staying on top of the uncertainty in Washington D.C., and willing to work with Republican Del. James Moylan to fix them, the Democratic Party said. But the governors address left leadership in the new Republican Legislature wanting more. Vice Speaker Tony Ada said the governor spoke a lot about inactions from the attorney general and delegate, but did not address shortcomings in the government. She didnt speak a lot about the hospital, she didnt speak about public safety: Guam Police Department, the Guam Fire Department, he said. Ada said he wanted to see Leon Guerrero push harder for unity and collaboration among elected leaders. There are hard times coming up, and the only way were going to tackle these hard times is both in the legislature, with the administration and the Congress. And thats what we need to do, the vice speaker added. The governor, in her address, highlighted her administrations successes in keeping GovGuams finances and operations in line, but also the looming uncertainty over potential federal funding cuts, and the islands slumped economy and high prices. Guam is good, but we will not stop until it is better, she said. Just the opposite Republican Majority Leader Sen. Jesse Lujan said there was a lot of talk about progress when families were seeing just the opposite every day. But Republicans were ready to work together, and had a number of policy proposals to strengthen the economy. Not everything is rosy from this administration. So I would hope that working with the 38th Guam Legislature, the Republican majority, that youll see more progress, Lujan said. I think youre going to see more progress in this next two years than you did in the last six. Speaker Frank Blas Jr. was asked for comment on the governors address, but deferred to his colleagues. Republican and economic investment chairwoman Sen. Telo Taitague said the governor was too bright about economic growth and didnt address the real anxiety residents felt. Our tourism industry is stagnant and documented as one of the worst recoveries in all of Asia. Not enough is being done, Taitague said. There is too much at stake to keep trying to paint a picture of improvement when the reality is something else. Right on point about taxes Republican budget chairman Sen. Chris Duenas said the governor was right on point on plans to lower business privilege taxes from 4% to 3% for businesses making up to $1 million annually. Basically thats got to be at the forefront in terms of how were going to manage this, and how were going to get money back to the people and in the economy, Duenas said. Democrat Sen. Joe San Agustin was also positive on the tax policy change. I like that one, that one I was already drafting so Im going to work on that, San Agustin said. The Democrat senator, whos already floated an interest in running for governor in 2026, said Wednesday night he did want to take time to go over the governors speech, adding I have no objection to it. Democrat Sen. Chris Barnett said the governor is living in one reality, while the people of Guam, unfortunately, are at a whole different reality. From the drugs and the cost of living, a lot of those issues, and then...the governor talking about people struggling while our cabinet continues to get raises, while we see all these audits that are coming out talking about misspending, Barnett said. Federal funding crisis Budget chairman Duenas said he was positive on the governors message to keep hands off Guam on potential federal funding cuts, and a willingness to take a one Guam approach to advocating for the island. However, Duens said, Its a little bit lacking in terms of what the effects to some of the budget issues were going to face. Discussion on where the local government would need to slash spending were critical, and needed to happen early, Duenas said. Democrat Sen. Therese Terlaje, the speaker of the last legislative term, had a similar opinion. Terlaje said she was glad to see the governor share concerns about federal funding. But, we didnt get any details as to what our local plan is going to be, besides asking Congress, we didnt hear the real details about the local plan that we need to make here to shore ourselves up for any cuts that might come, she said. Potential Medicaid cuts were a big concern, Terlaje said. On the hospital With the new Mangilao hospital project in court, and the current Guam Memorial Hospital short on cash, the governors appeal for construction of a medical complex came up short for health oversight chairwoman Sen. Sabrina Salas Matanane. Its going to take seven to eight years to build a hospital. So what are we going to do with GMH right now? And I was hoping to hear more about that, Salas Matanane said. In particular, the hospitals finances remained a concern, she said. Attorney General Douglas Moylan, who the governor directly addressed on the hospital issue, called her speech ironic. Shes talking about the problems in bringing in money to Guam. This is a billion dollar hospital, Moylan said. Theres no project plan that was provided for it at all. So what dream are we on today? Thats the type of conversations, thats why were in federal court, said the AG, who is now suing over various alleged illegalities in the hospital land acquisition. No fresh move on public safety Republican public safety chairman Sen. Shawn Gumataotao said he wanted to hear a bold or fresh move forward from the governor on Wednesday. I didnt get that, he said. Gumataotao said most of the public safety talking points involved the governor telling the delegate or AG that I need you to do something. I think weve been looking at policies that are created by this branch that I think she, we all agree, including her, that shes looking forward to working with us to make that happen, Gumataotao said. AG Moylan said there wasnt enough action from the executive branch. The governor failed to address the meth problem, or open the Port Authority of Guam up to inspection for meth, instead focusing on the post office as a route for drug shipments, the AG said. He also called her attack on his prosecutorial record, complete disinformation. I take issue with her. All you got to do is look at the trial wins that we have at the Superior Court of Guam, the AG said. We have a winning trial record. Ive got a winning trial team. Residents started experiencing load shedding past 5 p.m. Thursday. Much earlier, the GPA communications office announced that with multiple power plants operating at limited capacity or offline, residents could expect load shedding. The Pacific Daily News received reports of outages at past 5 p.m. in line with the GPA load shedding schedule issued earlier. GPA dispatch said areas can anticipate outages at the top of the hour, in line with the schedule, if generation capacity requires the outage. GPA issued on Wednesday a load shedding schedule, saying a partial implementation of the one-hour rotating outage schedule may be implemented due to limited generation capacity. The power agency said plant personnel are working around the clock to get generator units back online and increase system capacity. The current situation is expected to be short term as we get units repaired and returned to service as soon as possible, GPA said. Power plant status Baseload unit Piti#8 is still operating at a limited capacity of 22 MW due to high liner temperature issues. Once repairs are complete, the unit is expected to return to service on or before Thursday, March 20. Outage for repair of the unit is pending the return of Cabras 2. Baseload unit Piti#9 is currently operating at a limited capacity of 30 MW as of Wednesday due to high liner temperature issues. Baseload unit Cabras#2 repairs on the boiler tube are underway. The unit was taken down last week, with plant personnel anticipating its return to service on or before Sunday, March 16. Piti 7 CT is still undergoing repairs to address start-up issues which occurred last Sunday. GPAs recent progress to address Guams power capacity shortfall has reduced the frequency and scale of load shedding events in the last few months, the agency said. However, when two or more baseload units are offline for emergency repairs or limited in capacity production, it puts the power system in a precarious situation, leaving it vulnerable to some capacity shortages until we bridge the gap to the new Ukudu Power Plant scheduled for commissioning by September 2025, GPA said. To increase capacity and assist with generation shortfall, GPA said it is working with its battery operators to shift up to 16 MWh of battery energy storage system. GPA said it is also requesting assistance from our U.S. Navy partners to help with additional capacity during peak hours. Guam Ukudu Power, GPAs partner for the Ukudu Power Plant provides limited support during peak hours when testing. GPA continues to encourage its customers to conserve power from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and implement conservation measures such as turning off water heaters and limiting full usage of air conditioning at their homes and offices. Enacting conservation plans reduces the demand for energy and can mitigate the need for outages. GPA assures the community that the partial implementation of the rotating outage schedule is a last resort, and every effort is being made to restore service promptly, the agency said. The power agency acknowledges that the outages are an inconvenience and thanks the community for its continued patience and understanding. A man with a lengthy criminal record was found guilty in a case in which he held a woman against her will for several days, beating her with his fists and a 12-volt battery, and forcing her to tell a relative that she was OK. Jonathan Andrew Castro Borja was convicted of felonious restraint and aggravated assault as third-degree felonies, and was also convicted of the special allegation for possession and use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, according to the Office of the Attorney General. The AGs office announced a jury of 12 quickly returned guilty verdicts against Borja on Tuesday and Wednesday after deliberations. According to court documents, Borja has had 20 previous arrests on various charges and five convictions on charges of theft, theft by receiving, assault, aggravated assault and family violence. The jury on Wednesday unanimously convicted Borja of felonious restraint and aggravated assault as third-degree felonies after one hour and 18 minutes, according to the AGs office. On Thursday, the jury found Borja guilty of special allegation for possession and use of a deadly weapon in commission of a felony after 12 minutes of deliberations, the AGs office said. The AGs office said it will ask Superior Court Judge Alberto Tolentino to sentence Borja to the maximum sentence of 35 years. According to Borjas charging documents, when the woman was finally able to get away from Borja, police noted she had trauma to both eyes, a cut on the side of her head, bruising on her neck and shoulders, dark bruising around her rib cage, bruising on both legs and a cut to her shin. Borja was charged in November 2024 with kidnapping as a second-degree felony and aggravated assault as a third-degree felony. The aggravated assault charge carries a special allegation of using a deadly weapon the 12-volt battery in the commission of a felony. The woman had been staying with Borja on Sept. 26, 2024, when he woke her up and demanded to know the names of men who visited her. He told her his friends were spying on her, so she should be truthful. Then he began punching and slapping her, and she ran into a closet, the magistrates complaint stated. He followed her, and she noted blood was dripping from her mouth and head, so she stopped resisting him. He left and returned with a machete, which she grabbed from him, so he got the battery and began beating her with it, according to the complaint. For the next few days, he made sure she was never alone so that she could not leave. A friend would watch her for brief periods when Borja had to leave, the complaint stated. Borja would not allow her to answer video calls from a relative, but would occasionally allow her to take voice calls. He forced her to tell the relative that she was OK, according to the complaint. When Borja left the woman alone on Sept. 30, she was able to escape. Police learned Borja was on his way to her residence, so they intercepted him and took him to the precinct where he was arrested. The AGs trial team consisted of prosecutor Neil Bonavita, investigator Jason Lujan, paralegals Jam Aichem and Lucas Brock and victim advocate Jacqueline Munoz. A federal judge on Wednesday approved the $33 million sale of Pacific Star Resort and Spa in Tumon to a Georgia-based construction firm. Its always nice to know that we can save a hotel on Guam, thats for sure, said District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, moments after approving the sale. Georgia-based Eastern Contractors Corp. agreed in February to a $33 million purchase agreement for Pacific Star, whose owner Marianas Properties LLC declared bankruptcy in September on the eve of a foreclosure on the hotel. But the private sale needed approval from the bankruptcy court before moving forward. Tydingco-Gatewood on Wednesday said she found that the deal was in the best interest of Marianas Properties and its creditors. The largest of the hotel owners creditors is Bank of Guam, which issued the company and its affiliates a loan that had an outstanding balance of $29.9 million as of Sept. 24, according to court documents. In September, the bank tried to auction off the hotel, after finding the loan was defaulted on. But Marianas Properties filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the morning of the auction, freezing the foreclosure. Bank of Guam attorney William Brennan on Wednesday told the court that the bank would not stand in the way of the sale to Eastern Contractors Corp. The construction company has already agreed to put up a $3 million deposit for the hotel, made in three separate $1 million installments, Eastern Contractors president Peter Kim stated in a signed declaration filed with the court. Kim stated the balance of $30 million will be paid out once the sale is closed. Eastern Contractors will buy the hotel through a locally formed entity, Cartium Enterprise LLC, according to Kims declaration. Marianas Properties attorney Andrew Helman on Wednesday said the deal was the highest and only offer the debtor had received for the property. At $33 million, the offer for Pacific Star was in line with an appraisal secured for the hotel, which was phenomenal, Helman told the court. A signed declaration from Siska Hutapea of Cornerstone Valuation, on file with the court, put the appraised value of the hotel at just about $20,000 higher than the $30 million offer from Eastern Contractors. Its a great deal for the bankruptcy estate, Helman told the court, adding, We have no other deal. Selling off the property would allow Marianas Properties to pay off its creditors, avoid further litigation and interest payments, Helman said. Marianas Properties president Ajay Pothen, in a declaration filed last year, stated the Bank of Guam loan accrued more than $8,000 in interest every single day. Helman noted that none of the personally identifiable info about past hotel clients will be included as part of the sale. Marianas Properties hoped to close the sale by April 1, before an insurance policy on the property came due for renewal, the attorney said. Looks like the creditors will be happy, Tydingco-Gatewood said of the deal. The judge said she was glad to see that the hotel was maintained well enough that it could be presented to buyers. Value down $10M over 5 years The $33.02 million appraised value provided to the court in a March 11 declaration from Cornerstone Valuations Hutapea is about $10 million less than what Pothen has stated the hotel was valued at in 2020, $43 million. Back in 2019, the 436-room Pacific Star was raking in $17 million a year with an occupancy rate of 77%, Pothens past declarations to the court stated. The facility employed 160 full-time and 80-part time employees pre-pandemic, according to Pothens court filings. But the hotels only business during the COVID-19 pandemic years was as a quarantine facility contracted by the government, filings show. It was supposed to open again regularly in 2023, but those plans stalled after substantial damage from Typhoon Mawar, Pothens filings show. The hotel previously assessed Mawar damages at upwards of $25 million, though an initial assessment by the hotels insurer was just $13 million, according to court filings. Delayed insurance payouts stalled repairs needed to re-open further. Micronesia Mall owner Goodwind Development Corp. was also interested in the hotel as late as this February, and had offered $33.5 million. But parties were not able to reach an agreement on several terms, and the deal went to Eastern Contractors, the Pacific Daily News reported last month. Through subsidiary Cartium Enterprise, the construction company will become the third company to own Pacific Star and fourth to run it, PDN files show. Pacific Star was originally a property of the Republic of Nauru Guam Inc., which sold the property in 2004 to UFB Guam Hotel Corp. UFB held the property up until a 2009 Chapter 11 bankruptcy. UFB owed more than $6.25 million. Marianas Properties acquired the hotel next, and it was initially run as the Marriott Resort and Spa, PDN files show. The Marriott hotel brand exited Guam in 2014. Pacific Star is also the second hotel to be sold off in a bankruptcy in the past five years. In 2022, Verona Resort and Spa sold for $13.6 million after former owner Polaris Guam LLC was forced into bankruptcy, PDN files show. As of this year, Verona remains shuttered. Sen. Telo Taitague on Thursday asked Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero to clarify Medicaid coverage for Guam, after hearing that Hawaii is no longer accepting Guam patients. Reliable sources are reporting that referrals for medical care are no longer being accepted in Hawaii, forcing patients to seek coverage in California as the next closest provider, Taitague said in a letter to the governor. The federal funded Medicaid provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The Department of Public Health and Social Services on Thursday deferred comment to the governors office, and Adelup spokesperson Krystal Paco-San Agustin said theyre working on a response to Taitague. In her letter to the governor, Taitague cited a report from the Office of Public Accountability on Guams Medicaid program, showing significant deficiencies in assessing whether Medicaid providers eligibility and revalidation processes comply with local and federal laws and regulations. The audit highlighted issues with record storage and safekeeping, the maintenance of updated and accurate data within DPHSS database, and inefficient eligibility screening, approval and revalidation processes and procedures. Taitague said a clarification of Guams Medicaid status is a pressing concern, saying this has caused considerable distress among residents, many of who depend on accessible health care options for critical treatments. I am calling on your leadership to address this matter with urgency and transparency. These unresolved issues have left our constituents, as well as policymakers, in a vulnerable position, Taitague wrote to the governor. Swift action is needed to restore confidence and ensure that our residents health care needs are met. The senator said the added financial and logistical burden of traveling to California for care is unsuitable for many families and raises serious concerns about equitable access to health care for Guams residents. She has asked the governor several questions for clarification, including: As the chair of the Guam Education Board, the actions in Washington, D.C. with respect to education and the federal funding that have long been a lifeline for our own Guam Department of Education is something we did not expect but we now have to prepare for. Three weeks ago, the process of requesting drawdowns for federal funds that support our many programs changed, particularly for American Rescue Plan funded projects we have in the pipeline. We are currently repairing and refurbishing 12 of our schools to bring them up to health and safety standards. We are refurbishing the vacated F.B. Leon Guerrero Middle School so that it can reopen. These projects were humming along because we had the ability to pay the contractors once their invoices were submitted for work rendered and completed. As of three weeks ago, we no longer have that ability unless we can provide proof of payment in advance of the drawdown. To add insult to injury, the feds say there is no guarantee that requests for reimbursements will be approved! The truth of the matter is, this is a drastic, almost unbearable change in the mandates from the U.S. Department of Education. So fasten your seatbelts, its going to be a bumpy ride. The GEB, along with the superintendent and his staff, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, the Department of Administration, the Bureau of Budget and Management Research, and the 38th Guam Legislature are all working together in unison to meet this dilemma head on and yes, with our seatbelts on. It will be a bumpy ride but with all of us working together, we will find the solutions so that the education for our students will not be compromised. We have begun to look at different scenarios and the initial thing we will do is challenge the new mandate and request a drawdown as we always have in the past. We anticipate the U.S. Department of Education to tell us, What part of no do you not understand? Heck, we understand but that doesnt mean we cant respond back and also saywhat part of no do you not understand? We already have projects and contracts in place. We are fixing schools, installing air conditioners, purchasing materials and supplies, and more. Putting a stop to these needed expenditures is a risk we are not willing to accept. So fasten your seatbelts, its going to be a bumpy ride! Adding more to this unexpected mandate of how we request for drawdowns is the announcement that more than half of U.S. Department of Education employees are terminated, effective March 11, 2025. So who will handle our requests? Who will handle our federal grants? Who will approve our drawdowns? If, and when the U.S. Department of Education is completely dismantled, then how will federal education funds be distributed to all of the states and territories? Who will be the accepting and approving authority for these funds and the expenditures thereof? The GEB? The GDOE superintendent? The governor? It remains to be seen. However, if the approving authority for federal funds given directly to the states and territories is to be vested in the heads of those states or territories, then I believe a change in local law and perhaps the Organic Act is necessary to give back authority and responsibility of our education system to our governor. If this is the mandate resulting in the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, I have no objection. Give it back to the person where the buck stops on every other issue on Guam. Whatever happens and wherever this dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education takes us, fasten your seatbelts, its going to be a bumpy ride! But you know, it is Mes CHamoru so let us respond the CHamoru way. We all know our best trait as CHamorus is our ability to come together and face our challenges together. This new mandate from the U.S. Department of Education is a man-made disaster but we have always made it through worse natural disasters. We are strong and resilient and somehow, we will make it through this one. No one, especially as far away as Washington, D.C. will thwart our determination to do what is best for our children. If there is one thing we have to learn from this setback we face is that we do not have the luxury of depending on Uncle Sam forever. As leaders in our community, we will continue to fasten our seatbelts, but let us assure our people and our students that we can, and will, someday, have a smooth ride! Biba Guam! Haiti - Social : Tribute to the 5 police officers killed in combat in Village de Dieu (2021) Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime : "Four years ago, five Haitian police officers, Pierre Lucdor, Alexis Vivender, Desilus Wislet, Eugene Stanley, and Patrick Anozart, were fatally wounded in Village de Dieu while bravely carrying out their duty. Today, the nation bows to their memory and that of all law enforcement officers who have fallen victim to criminals' gunfire. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime strongly reaffirms his unwavering commitment to eradicating the armed gangs that sow terror and paralyze our society. Faced with growing insecurity, the Government is intensifying its efforts to: - Restore State authority - Strengthen the capabilities of security forces, and - Restore a climate of peace and stability This fight against impunity and violence is a top priority. The Haitian government, with the support of its national and international partners, will spare no effort to dismantle criminal groups and restore hope to the population. The sacrifice of our police officers will not be in vain. Their fight for a safer Haiti is ours, and we will resolutely pursue the mission of freeing the country from the yoke of insecurity. May they receive justice. May Haiti live in peace! Haitian National Police : "Wednesday, March 12, 2025, marked the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of five valiant police officers who were engaged in a police operation against armed gangs in Village de Dieu, at the southern entrance to Port-au-Prince. March 12, 2021, remains a somber date in the history of the Haitian National Police (PNH). On that day, five of our brothers in arms, namely Pierre Lucdor, Alexis Vivender, Desilus Wislet, Eugene Stanley, and Patrick Anozart, made the noble choice to protect and serve. These committed, courageous, and dedicated men served their country with honor. In the line of duty, these police officers bravely confronted the armed bandits, putting their lives at risk simply to defend and protect the Haitian people. Furthermore, they devoted themselves body and soul every day to a battle against insecurity, a fight for a better future for their compatriots. Despite the challenges, they never backed down. Their commitment was total, their will unwavering. Today, the extended PNH family pays them a solemn tribute. To their bereaved families, their loved ones, and their colleagues who continue the fight, we express our deepest gratitude. Their memory will live on within us, inspiring every police officer to pursue this noble mission with honor and discipline. Their sacrifice will not be in vain. The PNH remains standing, united, and determined to ensure security triumphs throughout the national territory." Also read on this topic : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-36173-icihaiti-pnh-requiem-mass-in-memory-of-the-police-officers-who-disappeared-in-village-de-dieu.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33240-haiti-socialnational-mourning-of-3-days.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33226-haiti-flash-failure-of-the-anti-gang-operation-in-village-de-dieu-several-police-officers-killed-others-injured.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Economy : Dominican exports to Haiti on the rise In January 2025, total exports to Haiti reached $96.77 million, representing a 54.65% increase compared to the same month last year, which recorded $62.57 million, according to the Directorate General of Customs (DGA). The reasons for this increase could be linked, among other things, to the "difficulties" Haiti faces in importing goods directly from other countries due to the armed conflicts within its territory. Domestic exports (products manufactured in the Dominican Republic using local inputs and labor) increased by 79.41%, reaching $66.40 million, according to the DGA's monthly bilateral trade report. In contrast, exports from free zones, products manufactured in industrial parks benefiting from tax incentives, saw a slight decrease of 2.80%, with a value of $23.81 million. 58.27% of Dominican exports to Haiti were concentrated in just 10 products. Within this group, at least three saw significant increases in January compared to the same month last year: sales of hydraulic cement reached US$7.79 million, an impressive increase of 999.32%; sales of iron or steel bars totaled US$5.65 million (an increase of 354.83%), and soybean oil totaled US$5.21 million (an increase of 354.68%). The list of exported products also includes: wheat flour (US$4.97 million), bakery and biscuit products (US$3.55 million), sauce preparations (US$2.69 million), plastic packaging products (US$2.53 million), pasta (US$2.43 million), dried vegetables (US$2.09 million), and sugary drinks (US$1.79 million). Similarly, 91.88% of the free zone's exports were also concentrated in 10 products, mainly : T-shirts and knitted T-shirts (US$9.97 million), cotton fabrics (US$6.59 million), and synthetic yarn fabrics (US$1.11 million), according to the DGA. S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... The Oloffson Hotel and St. Gerard Church in the hands of bandits Wednesday, March 12, in downtown Port-au-Prince. Heavily armed individuals from the "Viv ansanm" gang coalition targeted the streets of Saint Gerard, Cadet Jeremie, and part of Capois Street. The thugs took control of the Oloffson Hotel and the St. Gerard Church in Carrefour-feuilles. The Haitian Chancellor received by the State Department On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Haiti, was received by a large delegation from the State Department. On the instructions of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), led by President pro tempore Fritz Jean, and Prime Minister Didier Alix Fils-Aime, the Haitian Chancellor placed three priorities at the heart of the discussions: the fight against insecurity, strengthening the operational capabilities of the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Haitian Armed Forces (FAd'H), and the holding of the upcoming electoral contests, including the referendum and general elections scheduled for the end of 2025. PNH Update (Video) On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Deputy Spokesperson Lionel LAZARRE provided an update at a press conference on all the operations and interventions carried out by the Police Force against armed gangs in recent weeks. Azerbaijan : Friendly Match details As announced, our Senior Grenadiers will face the Azerbaijani national team on March 22nd in Baku in an international friendly match. This match will take place at the Baku Olympic Stadium at 9:30 p.m. local time, or 1:30 p.m. in Port-au-Prince. The Haitian delegation is expected in Baku on March 17, and training sessions are scheduled for March 18-21. List of players convened : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-44416-icihaiti-senior-grenadiers-haiti-azerbaijan-list-of-players-called-up.html Condolences The Office of the Secretary of State for Population and Human Development (BSEPDH) learned with outrage and deep bitterness of the assassination of the former Secretary of State for Population and Human Development, Dr. Laurent Beauge https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44463-haiti-news-zapping.html . The Office strongly condemns this odiousact and respectfully bows before the remains of the deceased, tragically taken from his life. The Office offers its sincere condolences to Dr. Beauge's family, his loved ones, his political circle, and all those affected by this loss. Nurses : 3,682 candidates for 430 positions Following the call for applications published at the end of February 2025, aimed at recruiting 430 nurses, the Ministry of Public Health informs that 3,682 applications have been selected to take the assessment exam on March 16, 2025, in the 10 departments. List of Examination Centers B> The exam will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will be held at the following centers : - Artibonite (DSA): Immaculate Conception College (CIC); (460 candidates); - Center (DSC): Central Health Directorate (DSC); (242 candidates); - Grande-Anse (DSGA): Perpetual Help School of Nursing in Jeremie; (220 candidates); - Nippes (DSNI): Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Bel-Air (The Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Miragoane); (120 candidates); - North (DSN): FIC (Rue 18); (502 candidates); - Northeast (DSNE): DBTEC; (350 candidates); - North West (DSNO): Bishopric of Port-de-Paix; (139 candidates); - West (DSO): Canadian Haitian College; (960 candidates); - South (DSS): Brother Odile Joseph; (425 candidates); - Southeast (DSSE): Departmental Office at Saint-Michel Hospital in Jacmel (264 candidates). HL/ HaitiLibre The venture capital beat is buzzing as 2025s first quarter barrels toward a close. Todays headlines underscore a sector flexing its resilience amid choppy marketsand a few bold bets that could reshape the landscape. AI Fuels Funding Surge: The AI frenzy shows no signs of cooling. TrueBridge Capitals latest outlook pegs 2024s AI startup haul at $131.5 billion globallya third of all VC dollarsand whispers on the Street suggest Q1 2025 is tracking even hotter. Stateside, VC firms are pouring cash into a handful of mega-rounds, with chatter of a $500 million raise for an undisclosed generative AI play out of Silicon Valley. This is transformative capital chasing transformative tech, one LP source told HedgeCo.Net. Watch for spillovers into fintech and healthcare as the year unfolds. Indias VC Revival Gains Steam: Across the Pacific, Indias venture scene is thawing after a brutal funding winter. Bain & Companys 2025 India VC Report, released this week, clocks 2024 funding at $13.7 billionup 40% from 2023buoyed by policy tailwinds like the angel tax repeal. Bessemer Venture Partners is doubling down, closing a $350 million India-focused fund targeting AI, fintech, and consumer brands. The IPO pipelines heating up, and M&As back on the table, a Lightspeed India partner noted. Consumer giants like Zepto, which snagged $1.4 billion last year, are still the darlings, but expect alt-sectors to elbow in. Secondary Market Sizzles: VC firms are flexing their muscle in the secondary market, with 2025 poised to top last years record activity. Preqin data shows LPs anticipating a distribution rebound, and firms are snapping up stakes in pre-IPO unicorns to juice returns. Its a liquidity lifeline for portfoliosand a signal exits are coming, says HFRs Sarah Kline. Hedge funds arent sitting idle either; some are quietly building positions to arbitrage the next wave of VC-backed listings. Headwinds Loom: Not alls rosy. Vietnams renewable energy sector is rattling investors, with over $13 billion in solar and wind projects at risk after a retroactive tariff rollback spooked 28 signatories, including Dragon Capital. Closer to home, macro uncertaintythink Fed stubbornness and Trump tariff noisehas VC-backed tech valuations wobbling. Were seeing caution creep into term sheets, one Bay Area GP admitted. Quick Hits: Motivity raised $27 million to scale its healthtech platform, per X posts, while Greenspace Health locked in a Series B. DeepSeek AIs refusal to take VC cash (yet) has China watchers buzzingfounder Liang Wenfengs betting on self-funded R&D over quick monetization. Meanwhile, Ventos 75 million fund for Italian founders signals Europes VC pulse is still kicking. Intel shares are becoming a plaything of the rumor mill. With every new speculation about cooperations or takeovers, the value rises, only to fall again. Recently, the news agency Reuters brought a company merger into discussion, whereupon Intel's share price rose again by 10 percent. Anzeige The Taiwanese chip contract manufacturer TSMC is said to have proposed a joint venture to four US companies to take over Intel's ailing chip manufacturing division (Intel Foundry): Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom and Qualcomm. TSMC is said to have submitted the proposal before the announcement of its own new US semiconductor plants. Despite investments totaling 100 billion US dollars, talks about a possible joint venture are still ongoing, according to Reuters. Only Qualcomm is said to no longer have any interest in Intel. According to previous rumors, the Trump administration is allegedly in favor of a takeover of the Intel plants. However, because they would formally remain in US ownership, TSMC's share would never exceed 50 percent in the proposed constellations. AMD, Broadcom and Nvidia chips from the Intel Foundry In establishing a joint venture, TSMC is apparently also interested in purchase guarantees: the partners are to commit to buying chips from Intel factories. Nvidia and Broadcom are reportedly already testing chips with Intel's next production generation 18A. AMD is currently evaluating the process. After years of building new semiconductor plants strictly on its own, the global market leader is now opening up to cooperation. In the Far East, TSMC founded Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, Inc. (JASM) in 2021, which includes Sony's semiconductor division, Denso and now Toyota. In Germany , the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) is being created together with Bosch, Infineon and NXP. Anzeige The Intel Board of Directors is currently said to be in favor of a sale, but only as part of an overall package together with the chip design division for the Core and Xeon processors. This could complicate any negotiations. Broadcom's CEO Hock Tan ruled out a (partial) purchase of Intel, at least under its own management. However, a joint venture under TSMC management would negate the arguments put forward. Meanwhile, Intel shares are subject to strong fluctuations, exacerbated by market uncertainty under the Trump administration. Since the latest rumors became known, the share price has fallen again by around five percent. Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen. Preisvergleiche immer laden Preisvergleich jetzt laden (mma) Don't miss any news follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Mastodon. This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication. Corporate income tax applies to business profits of limited liability companies. The grey economy related to this tax includes deliberate efforts to evade payments through illegal means. A recent report by Finlands Grey Economy Information Unit estimates that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) evade up to 120 million in corporate income tax annually. This amounts to around five per cent of the total corporate tax payable by companies of this size. While most companies follow tax regulations, authorities estimate that a significant portion of tax revenue is lost each year due to such practices. According to Janne Marttinen, Director of the Grey Economy Information Unit, the estimated tax losses are equivalent to the amount Finland is reducing from vocational education funding this year. The report examined companies with an annual turnover below 10 million and found that tax evasion methods differ based on company size. Smaller businesses commonly fail to report all or part of their income, thereby avoiding taxable profit calculations. The report found that 70 per cent of SME tax evasion cases involve companies with a turnover below 300,000 or whose financial details are unknown to the Tax Administration. Smaller firms, which often lack external accountants, may find it easier to manipulate financial records. In contrast, medium-sized companies typically lower their taxable profits by exaggerating expenses. Some businesses record personal costs as company expenditures to reduce taxable earnings. According to the report, these practices are most common in construction, food and beverage services, and property maintenance sectors. The study did not examine large corporations, which often employ more complex methods to minimise tax liability, such as shifting income and expenses across different countries. Marttinen stated that estimating large-scale corporate tax evasion would require a separate investigation using different methods. Authorities rely on tax audits and data from third parties, such as banks and payment service providers, to identify fraudulent activities. The Tax Administration believes that further digitalisation of financial records could improve oversight. A planned digital financial administration service aims to streamline reporting, allowing businesses to submit financial data once for use by multiple government agencies. To address tax evasion and financial crime, Finland approved a new Action Plan for Tackling the Grey Economy and Economic Crime in December. The initiative includes 19 projects coordinated by various authorities. HT The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma has selected Klara Kristalova, Benjamin Orlow, and Tori Wranes to represent the Nordic Countries Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. The exhibition will be curated by Anna Mustonen , Kiasmas Chief Curator, and commissioned by Kiasma in collaboration with Moderna Museet in Sweden and the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA). The exhibition will bring together artists from Finland, Sweden, and Norway, each with a distinctive approach to sculpture, installation, and performance. Their works explore transformation, resilience, and vulnerability while blending Nordic mythologies with global themes of identity, cultural survival, and gender equality. Kristalova, born in Prague and based in Sweden, is known for her ceramic sculptures that merge fairytale imagery with psychological depth. Orlow, originally from Finland and working in London, examines cultural narratives and human interactions with built environments. Wranes, based in Oslo, fuses music, performance, and sculpture to create immersive and otherworldly experiences. Mustonen described the exhibition as a dialogue between imagination and reality, set against the architectural backdrop of Sverre Fehns Nordic Countries Pavilion. The pavilion, completed in 1962, has served as a collaborative platform for Finland, Sweden, and Norway, with each country taking turns as the principal commissioner. Kiasma is leading the 2026 edition, with support from the Saastamoinen Foundation. The exhibition will run from 9 May to 22 November 2026. HT In just three months, Finnish exporters' confidence in the US market has dropped significantly. Uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump s trade policies is weakening the outlook for Finnish exports, according to a survey by Finlands Chambers of Commerce. The results show that 80 percent of responding companies believe Trumps approach to trade and foreign policy will have a negative impact on their business. In December, 45 percent of companies saw growth potential in the US, but by March, that figure had fallen to 28 percent. At the same time, the number of companies seeing the US market as less important rose from three percent to 16 percent. Paivi Pohjanheimo, Director of International Affairs at Finlands Central Chamber of Commerce, said the shift reflects a growing unease about the unpredictability of Trumps trade policies. "Exporters expected changes, but few anticipated this level of turmoil," she said. The survey, conducted from 47 March, included responses from 110 Finnish exporting companies. Alongside concerns about Trumps policies, companies cited declining demand, the impact of Russias war in Ukraine, the global economic slowdown, and rising costs as major factors weakening their export outlook. A key concern is Trumps threat to impose tariffs on European imports. If such tariffs are introduced, only nine percent of companies would consider expanding their operations in the US, down from 18.5 percent in December. The share of companies ruling out expansion in the US has jumped from 38 percent to 66.4 percent over the same period. Pohjanheimo warned that tariffs would have negative consequences not just for Finnish exporters but also for American consumers. "Trade restrictions and erratic tariff policies create uncertainty, which ultimately weakens competitivenessnot only for Finnish businesses but for the US itself," she said. The survey also highlighted growing concerns about global instability. Of the respondents, 16 percent said uncertainty was having a significant impact on their operations, 48 percent saw some impact, and 24 percent reported a slight effect. Only 11 percent believed unpredictability had no impact on their business. HT Only 14% of respondents expect their own future to be worse than the present, and over half believe they can influence their own path. Confidence in the future is declining in Finland, with fewer people believing in a better tomorrow for their municipality, the country, or humanity as a whole, according to Sitras latest Futures Barometer. While most Finns remain optimistic about their personal future, trust in broader societal progress is fading. However, just 18% see a better future for Finland, a sharp drop of 11 percentage points from the previous survey in 2023. Optimism about humanitys future is even lower, with only 11% holding a positive outlook. Regional disparities are evident. The bleakest views come from South Savo, where half of the respondents see their municipalitys future worsening. In contrast, residents of Pirkanmaa are the most optimistic, with 37% expecting improvement. People in rural areas are generally more pessimistic than those in cities. The survey also reveals a growing disconnect between citizens and decision-makers. Only 15% of Finns feel they have a say in shaping their municipalitys future, and nearly half believe they lack opportunities to participate in discussions about local governance. Just 11% think regional policymakers have an inspiring vision, while 64% disagree. At the municipal level, confidence is slightly higher, with 21% believing in their leaders vision. Economic concerns dominate the political landscape ahead of Finlands 2025 municipal and regional elections. Jobs, national security, and preserving the welfare state are the key issues influencing voter decisions. While these topics have consistently been priorities, job creation has gained particular importance. Sitras experts warn that Finland needs more than short-term crisis management. A lack of long-term planning and citizen involvement is weakening trust in local democracy. The report calls for decision-makers to present clear, inspiring visions for the future to counteract rising uncertainty and disengagement. HT The Finnish Science Centre Heureka has sold its highly popular Power of Play exhibition to The Scientific Center of Kuwait, where it will open later this spring. The exhibition attracted over 660,000 visitors during its run in Finland. Power of Play was a major success at Heureka, drawing children and families eager to explore its 24 interactive play stations. The exhibition celebrates childhood, curiosity, and the science behind play. It highlights different aspects of play, such as creativity, adventure, exploration, and social connection. Kuwaits leading science centre purchased the exhibition as part of its 25th anniversary expansion project. The upgrade will more than triple its exhibition space and support its mission to engage communities and strengthen scientific knowledge in Kuwait. The centre attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and focuses on education, public events, and environmental awareness. Msaed Alyaseen, Director General of The Scientific Center of Kuwait, emphasised the importance of play in fostering creativity, collaboration, and STEAM skills. With Power of Play, we aim to provide interactive experiences that ignite curiosity and promote well-being. This exhibition empowers visitors to think innovatively, work together, and develop essential skills for the future, he said. Mikko Myllykoski, CEO of Heureka, noted that few science centres produce their own exhibitions, let alone export them internationally. Exhibition exports push us to maintain world-class quality. The joy of discovery knows no borders, and through this, we are shaping the future of Heureka and the global science centre industry, Myllykoski said. Heurekas exhibitions have reached nearly 32 million people worldwide Heureka Overseas Productions Ltd, a subsidiary of the Science Centre Foundation that runs Heureka, promotes the centres exhibitions through international rentals and sales. Since its opening in 1989, Heurekas exhibitions have reached over 31.7 million visitors in 32 countriesmore than 10 million in Finland and 21.7 million worldwide. One of Heurekas longest-running touring exhibitions, Mental Health: Mind Matters, originally launched as Heureka Goes Crazy in 2013, continues to attract audiences. It most recently opened at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, USA, in early March. HT U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports have kicked in, and Canada, the country's largest foreign supplier of the said products, didn't back down from the trade war, swiftly announcing retaliatory tariffs. Canada's announcement came after the European Union declared it would impose "countermeasures" against the United States starting April 1. Which Products Are Targeted by Canada's Tariffs? Canadian Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc on Tuesday announced that his country is imposing tariffs on $21 billion worth of American goods starting Wednesday. Some of the products from the U.S. that will be affected by the retaliatory tariffs are: Candles, tapers and the like Umbrellas Tableware, kitchenware, etc. Platinum, gold, "waste and scrap of precious metal," other metals, etc. A wide variety of iron and non-alloy steel products Imitation jewelry Display monitors Computers and servers Sports equipment Many other products were specified in Canada's list of products from the U.S. that will be subject to the huge tariffs. "With these tariffs, the U.S. administration is needlessly disrupting an incredibly successful trading partnership. It is a completely unwarranted and unjustified move that will raise costs for Americans and Canadians alike. While we actively work to remove these tariffs, our government will use every tool at its disposal to defend Canadian jobs and support our businesses and workers during these challenging times," LeBlanc said in a statement following his announcement. The Canadian government noted that the tariffs on the listed goods will be in place until the Trump White House withdraws tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum products. Canadian Leaders Slam Trump Tariffs Canadian leaders have stood by their government's decision to levy retaliatory tariffs on American products. Prime Minister-Designate Mark Carney said his country was "rightly retaliating" since the U.S. tariffs were hurting Canadian workers. The unjustified U.S. tariffs hurt Canadian workers. Were rightly retaliating and every dollar from our tariffs will support our workers. Many families in Hamilton have worked multiple generations at ArcelorMittal Dofasco. Well take every step to ensure our steel and aluminum pic.twitter.com/gN4WRwQsdL Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) March 12, 2025 Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng said her country is "deeply disappointed" in the U.S. tariffs that were "unjustified" and were hurting businesses from both nations. Please see my statement. pic.twitter.com/rKAXAbNHnC Mary Ng (@mary_ng) March 12, 2025 Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said Tuesday that Canada "did not choose" the trade war, but it will stand strong and "fight" to the end. The U.S. administrations unjustified tariffs on aluminium and steel will harm industries, workers, and families on both sides of the border. pic.twitter.com/jwI1lcNSdt Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) March 12, 2025 Trump Says More Tariffs May Come Following the retaliatory announcements from the EU and Canada, the U.S. president threatened to escalate the trade war. He said the EU will see additional penalties if it pushes through with counter tariffs in April. "Whatever they charge us, we're charging them," he told reporters. Trump has yet to respond to Canada's retaliatory duties, but it's clear the U.S. president is fixated on pressuring its neighbor as he touts a future where Canada is the 51st state of the U.S., with no tariffs and no trade wars. Originally published on IBTimes North Korean IT workers, forced to generate illegal revenue for the Kim Jong-un regime, face constant surveillance and immense pressure to meet harsh work quotas just to receive their pay, according to a new report released by the human rights organization Pscore. The report, titled, "Investigating digital rights violations and North Korean IT workers' conditions in North Korea and Abroad," was presented on Wednesday at an event on North Korean human rights hosted by the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, the Korea Times reported. It highlights the plight of North Korean tech workers, who are often seen primarily as perpetrators of illicit activities, instead of victims of severe human rights abuses under the Kim regime. "It is critical to recognize these IT workers as victims of North Korea's cyber agenda," the Pscore report emphasized. The findings were based on interviews conducted in 2024 with North Korean defectors who were previously employed as IT workers. Pscore, a Seoul-based nongovernmental organization advocating for human rights in North Korea, argues for shifting the focus from the illicit revenue these workers generate to their severe exploitation. Jasmin Ringel, a researcher at Pscore, explained, "Due to their precarious working and living conditions, we believe that even the regime's highly skilled workers are deprived of various human rights." The report was part of a project supported by the Embassy of Canada Fund for Human Rights in North Korea, which aims to promote human rights efforts within the country. The report paints a bleak picture of the daily lives of North Korean IT workers, who typically work over 10 hours a day, often overnight, to serve international clients across different time zones, the Korea Herald reported. This leads to sleep deprivation and irregular working hours. Workers live in cramped conditions, with five to six people sharing small living spaces. Movement is highly restricted, with workers allowed only one daily walk and an occasional outing once a week. Kang Ju-won, a former North Korean IT worker who developed programs in Southeast Asia, described his routine: "We sleep a bit during the day, and since it's a system where we work during the nighttime, you do assignments through the internet at night and continue to develop (them) during the day." The mental toll of such demanding work is severe, according to Kim Ji-min, another North Korean defector and IT expert. "The stress and pressure to perform at the workplace greatly affect the mental health of IT employees, predisposing them to depression and panic attacks," Kim explained. "His co-workers have taken their own lives due to these strenuous conditions. Such incidents illustrate how these difficult and intense conditions consume IT workers to an extreme extent." The report also reveals that workers are required to meet strict monthly income quotas set by the North Korean government. Failure to meet these quotas results in public humiliation, severe psychological harassment, and, in some cases, physical abuse. "Some workers even face physical abuse as a means of coercion. Verbal threats and constant performance monitoring are common, creating a work environment where many workers experience psychological trauma," the report states. Workers must remit 90 to 95 percent of their earnings to North Korean authorities, under the guise of patriotism. Former IT worker Na Jeong-seok shared, "I only received about 5 percent of the money I earned as an allowance. It was big back then, too. In North Korea, you have to do unpaid work." Na also recounted the immense pressure he felt to meet his quotas, saying, "I couldn't sleep and kept working. I was very stressed because my assignment wasn't going well. Even if I can't secure the money for myself, there's a lot of pressure to fulfill the quota." To secure employment with foreign businesses in China and Southeast Asia, IT workers must use false identities and endure round-the-clock surveillance. Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced significant concerns over a 30-day ceasefire proposal in the ongoing Ukraine war during a press conference on Thursday. While technically "in favor" of the ceasefire, Putin stressed that there were unresolved "nuances" and "serious issues" that must be addressed before any agreement could move forward. During the joint press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin outlined that any ceasefire must "lead to an enduring peace, and remove the root causes of this crisis," suggesting that Russia's broader security demands in Eastern Europe, particularly concerning Ukraine and the United States, remain a key factor in any negotiations. Putin emphasized the importance of preventing any ceasefire from being exploited to rearm Ukraine for future conflict. "The ceasefire should not be used to rearm Ukrainians, mobilize more troops, and prepare for further confrontation," he said. He also raised concerns over practical issues, including the status of the Ukrainian "incursion" in Russia's Kursk region and how any potential violations would be monitored. The Russian president indicated that he would need to discuss these unresolved issues with "our American colleagues and partners," suggesting a possible phone call with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Putin praised the U.S. push for peace as "great and correct," but emphasized that many details still needed to be worked out before a ceasefire could be agreed upon. The uncertainty surrounding the U.S. ceasefire proposal has drawn criticism from Ukrainian officials. Volodymyr Omelyan, a major in the Ukrainian armed forces, told Al Jazeera that Putin's strategic goals have already collapsed. "His plans to capture Kyiv, Ukraine, and get NATO out of Eastern Europe have all collapsed," Omelyan stated. "Trump is doing a favor for Putin with the call for negotiations, because otherwise, I would say that Russia would stand for another year or so and then it would be a collapse of the whole Russian economy," he added. Despite Putin's support for a ceasefire in principle, it remains clear that multiple critical issues must be resolved before any lasting peace can be achieved. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has launched a monumental chapter in its residential journey with the debut of Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills. A reflection of luxury reimagined, this exceptional property marks the brand's first-ever standalone residential offering and its inaugural venture into Los Angeles, California. Developed by Nahla Capital and GPI Companies, its arrival heralds a new era in elevated living - an era where a modern, personalized lifestyle converges with timeless elegance, where every moment is steeped in discovery. Nestled on South Santa Monica Boulevard where the famed Friars Club once stood, Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills was born from a vision to create the space, services and surroundings that support a fully enriched life, one without compromise. Comprising a select collection of just 17 residences complemented by cultivated amenities and shared spaces, the boutique building extends timeless architecture, high-quality craftsmanship, and exceptional service not yet experienced in Beverly Hills. The five-story landmark has been brought to life by the internationally acclaimed Thomas Juul-Hansen, known for his expert ability to harmonize contemporary luxury with classic refinement. In harmony with Rosewood's philosophy of A Sense of Place, Juul-Hansen channeled the neighborhood's effortless elegance and timeless sophistication into every element of the property's design. The result is a destination that is chic yet charming, not only in look and feel but, more importantly, in the experience it extends. Empowered by a dedicated Rosewood Residential team whose passion and purpose revolves around the genuine relationships they establish with owners, life at Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills is one of constant surprise, delight and discovery. Estate-Style Living, Brought to Life by Sophisticated Architecture and Design For Thomas Juul-Hansen, whose celebrated portfolio includes luxury residences and hospitality projects like One57 and Two Twenty-One West 77, Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills offers a canvas for his signature design philosophy. Essential to his vision was the integration of the finest natural materials across both the exterior and interiors, blending them together with an approach that is contemporary yet timeless. Take, for example, the generous amounts of glass on the exterior that flood the residences with air and light, giving the building a modern appearance that is balanced by the classicism of the limestone cladding. Stone, wood, metal and leather are carefully laid throughout the interiors alongside custom hardware and the finest fixtures: floors are lined in wide-plank white oak, walls finished in Venetian plaster, and kitchens and bathrooms equipped with state-of-the-art appliances, beautifully converging to create one-of-a-kind spaces that are as luxurious as they are livable. Endowed with lavish proportions, the 17 residences range from 3,000 to over 7,000 square feet and feature open, flowing layouts that are both gracious and warm. Accessed by private elevator entrances, large entry foyers set the stage for each impeccably designed home, where the famously abundant Southern California sunshine streams through floor-to-ceiling windows. Entertainers' kitchens provide for an enlivened gathering place for family and friends, several of which offer twin oversized islands alongside custom millwork from Molteni & C., hand-picked marble from Greece, including the same Dionysus white that was used to construct the Parthenon over 2,400 years ago; and state-of-the-art applications from Sub-Zero and Wolf. Generously sized bedroom suites are tucked away for privacy and seclusion, accompanied by enormous walk-in closets and five- and six-fixture bathrooms. All 17 homes enjoy sweeping terraces that seamlessly blend the indoors with the outdoors, with six also benefiting from private pools and spas, alfresco dining areas, and outdoor kitchens. Additional amenities featured throughout each home include indoor and outdoor fireplaces, wet bars, wine storage, butler's pantries, and discreet laundry and mudroom access, making them reflective of true estate properties in Beverly Hills. Destined to be among the most coveted real estate in the greater Los Angeles area, four sprawling penthouses occupy the uppermost floors of the Rosewood Residences as their crown jewels, each spread over two floors with their own private rooftop retreats. A Neighborly Approach to Enriched Living Exclusively managed by a dedicated Rosewood Residential team that oversees every aspect of the property's luxury service offerings, Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills extends an exquisite collection of amenities and services designed to elevate the living experience of each owner. Fostering connection and community amongst residents, resort-like shared spaces facilitate the optimal Southern California lifestyle. Residents and their guests are welcomed to the property by an elegant porte-cochere and discreet reception area ensure privacy and exclusivity, while 24/7 security offers peace of mind. A rooftop haven is home to a 50-foot pool, jacuzzi, fitness center and outdoor recreation areas; a wellness lover's dream. It also offers an intimate lounge, bar and dining room, where floor-to-ceiling windows frame the breathtaking beauty of Beverly Hills. The rooftop will play host to residents' private gatherings as well as inspired events and experiences developed by the Rosewood team. While open to the public, the ground floor retail spaces have been carefully curated as additional on-site amenities for owners, serving to further enrich the resident experience. In addition to all the intuitive services that have come to be expected of branded residences, owners of Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills will be consistently engaged with unique offerings and invitations that are tailored to their individual preferences. Whether it be through a special reservation to mark a birthday or anniversary, an in-residence spa experience to decompress following a busy day, or simply an airport pick-up after a long week of travel, the Rosewood Residential team considers it their calling to facilitate exceptional, intuitive service that evolves over time just as the owners do. This commitment extends beyond the grounds of Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills through Rosewood Reserve, an exclusive membership program that brings owners closer to the places, people and occasions that empower and enrich. Through privileged and personalized experiences across Rosewood's global collection of hotels and resorts, in addition to unique events and partnerships amongst an inspiring community of like-minded individuals and cultural tastemakers alike, Rosewood Reserve ensures that the exquisite lifestyle proposition inherent to each residential address is enduring and omnipresent for owners. Highlights of the owner experience include: Residential Butler Service: Overseen by Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills' House Manager, the property's butlers are available to assist with every need, from managing household tasks to providing personalized services while homeowners are onsite or traveling. Owners will be able to connect with the onsite team through a designated Rosewood app. Overseen by Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills' House Manager, the property's butlers are available to assist with every need, from managing household tasks to providing personalized services while homeowners are onsite or traveling. Owners will be able to connect with the onsite team through a designated Rosewood app. Exclusive Pet Services: In collaboration with renowned local pet handlers, owners can enjoy top-tier pet care for their furry companions including on and off-site training, grooming, and scheduled walks. In collaboration with renowned local pet handlers, owners can enjoy top-tier pet care for their furry companions including on and off-site training, grooming, and scheduled walks. Rotating Art Program: Developed in partnership with Creative Art partners, a carefully curated art program allows owners to experience changing exhibitions that reflect the aesthetic and culture of Beverly Hills. Developed in partnership with Creative Art partners, a carefully curated art program allows owners to experience changing exhibitions that reflect the aesthetic and culture of Beverly Hills. Health & Wellness: Owners have access to a reputable health and wellness expert, including personalized fitness training services, ensuring that both physical and mental well-being are prioritized. Owners have access to a reputable health and wellness expert, including personalized fitness training services, ensuring that both physical and mental well-being are prioritized. Exclusive Dining & Events Access: Rosewood owners can secure VIP access to special events and make exclusive dining reservations, offering a lifestyle of elevated experiences and luxury. Rosewood owners can secure VIP access to special events and make exclusive dining reservations, offering a lifestyle of elevated experiences and luxury. Community Engagement: Rosewood Residences actively engages with the local community by working with neighborhood retailers and hosting planned community events, fostering a sense of connection and belonging. Rosewood Residences actively engages with the local community by working with neighborhood retailers and hosting planned community events, fostering a sense of connection and belonging. Private Delivery & Security: All mail and packages are delivered directly to owners' residences, providing ultimate convenience and privacy. The building also features a service elevator to maintain discretion when accessing private areas of the residence. All mail and packages are delivered directly to owners' residences, providing ultimate convenience and privacy. The building also features a service elevator to maintain discretion when accessing private areas of the residence. Rosewood Reserve: From day one, the Rosewood team establishes a personal connection with all owners, recognizing them as the most significant individuals within the global Rosewood community. This manifests through the privileged access owners receive to the best of Rosewood worldwide: from preferred rates and benefits across the global network of properties, to personal lifestyle curation and travel concierge, to exclusive event invitations. Sales at Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills are spearheaded by Compass Development Marketing Group in partnership with Sally Forster Jones of Compass and Tomer Fridman of Christie's International Real Estate SoCal. Pricing for residences is approximately $10 million to $45 million. Hotel website Dan Applegate has been promoted to Vice President of Finance, where he will oversee financial strategy, hotel and company reporting, forecasting and owner relations to support the company's expanding portfolio.With 25 years of hospitality experience spanning both finance and operations, Applegate has continually demonstrated his leadership and expertise. Prior to this role, he served as Director of Finance and has held several key positions within the company, driving growth and financial performance. A recipient of the prestigious Courtyard by Marriott Craig Lambert Culture Awardrecognizing individuals who exemplify exceptional team leadership, unity and brand culture at the highest levelApplegate will continue to inspire excellence and elevate the finance team. Lodging Dynamics Provo, Utah United States Website BOSTON Today, Massachusetts lawmakers, hospitality industry leaders, and survivor advocates gathered at the Massachusetts State Capitol to highlight the urgent need to implement human trafficking recognition training across the hotel industry. The industry is already leading this effort. Since the AHLA Foundation launched the No Room for Trafficking initiative in 2019, over 2.2 million trainings have been completed to recognize and respond to trafficking situations. These efforts ensure that every hotel workerfrom the front desk to housekeeping and food serviceis equipped to identify and report suspicious activity. The event underscored support for S.1729/HD.1764, which would mandate human trafficking training for all hotel employees in Massachusetts, ensuring that every worker is equipped to recognize and respond to trafficking situations. The event featured remarks from Senator Mark C. Montigny (Second Bristol and Plymouth), Representative Thomas P. Walsh (12th Essex), Kevin Carey, President & CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Foundation, Chris Pappas, President & CEO of Massachusetts Lodging Association (MLA), and Delia Vega, Senior Survivor Mentor and Policy Specialist of My Life My Choice. Kevin Carey, President & CEO of the AHLA Foundation, reaffirmed the industry's dedication to combating human trafficking, The hotel and hospitality industry thanks Senator Montigny and Rep. Walsh for their leadership on this issue. We stand with them as our partners in this fight against human trafficking. Prevention training is already a standard practice at many hotels in Massachusetts, and we remain committed to partnering with law enforcement and survivor advocacy organizations to strengthen these efforts. Human trafficking remains a vicious crime and modern-day version of slavery that exists in almost every community across the Commonwealth and the United States, said Senator Mark Montigny, the lead author of the first anti-human trafficking law in Massachusetts and sponsor of S.1729. This is not simply some awful problem occurring in some far away land. Many victims are vulnerable women or children from our own communities, and hotels and motels are often exploited by traffickers to perpetuate this heinous crime. We must break through the inertia on Beacon Hill and mandate training for hospitality workers who can play a lifesaving role in combatting trafficking. Representative Thomas P. Walsh echoed these sentiments, saying Human trafficking is a serious issue in Massachusetts, and hotels play a crucial role in preventing it. Ive seen firsthand how traffickers exploit the I-95 corridor, using hotels to transport and harm victims. This legislation will ensure front-line hospitality workers are trained to recognize and report trafficking, helping to protect the most vulnerable. I appreciate the collaboration of the lodging industry, law enforcement, and survivor advocates in this fight. Chris Pappas, President & CEO of MLA said, The hotel industry has long led the fight in human trafficking prevention. This bill will ensure that every frontline hotel employee will be trained to spot the signs and appropriately respond to suspected acts of human trafficking. The Massachusetts Lodging Association is proud to support this bill. In 2025, social media isnt just a toolits one of the main pillars of a hotels marketing strategy. Worldwide, 35% of travellers now use platforms like Instagram and TikTok for inspiration. With over 80% of people active on social media, your hotels digital presence can make or break your bookings. The numbers dont liehotels leveraging social platforms see up to 20% more direct bookings each year. Yet, the competition is fierce, and attention spans are razor-thin. How do you hook travellers scrolling at lightning speed? How do you turn a double-tap into a confirmed stay Types of content strategies Short-form video: The fast lane to attention Short-form video will continue to dominate in 2025. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts demand snappy, vertical content15 to 60 seconds max. For hotels, this means quick room tours, drone shots of your infinity pool, or a barista pouring latte art. Use familiar audio to support the video; choose a popular tune or a global hit. Post three to five times weekly to stay top-of-mind. These clips capture four times the reach of static images. Focus on one feature per video, e.g., the spa, restaurants, bars, or a beach sunset. Make sure to add subtitles, as many people scroll through their social feeds silently. Influencer collaborations: Trust through real voices Influencer marketing has changed; travellers seek authenticity, not just follower counts. Collaborate with influencers such as food enthusiasts for your restaurant or adventure seekers for outdoor opportunities. Hiltons TikTok campaign with creators hit 36 million views by keeping it relatively simple. Pick influencers whose audience matches your target: luxury seekers or family-orientated. Micro-influencers (10k-50k followers) often spark higher engagement than more prominent creators with higher subscribers. Their posts feel more like a friends recommendation. Track their success via booking codes or engagement spikes. When selecting influencers, its important to check their style; wellness influencers wont suit a party hotel, so aligning personalities with the brand is key. Establish clear collaboration goals by agreeing on two posts and a story while allowing influencers the creative freedom to showcase their style authentically. If possible, partnering with local talents adds regional credibility and helps connect with the audience more genuinely. Guests as your megaphone User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool. Guests trust their peers; 79% say UGC influences their hotel choices more than flashy advertisements. Create a branded hashtag like #MyHotelStay or #HotelHaven to assist reach. Reshare guest pictures; e.g. a family at your pool or a couple toasting on the balcony of their suite. Run a contest and post with your hashtag for a chance at a free night. Ritz-Carltons #RCMemories feed thrives on guest content alone. Credit the creators, mix UGC into your grid weekly, and watch your community grow. Encouraging guests to share their experiences can be as simple as providing a share your stay note at check-in or including it in pre- and post-stay emails. Building a strong community means actively engaging with user-generated content (UGC), so make it a habit to reply to every post with a friendly Thanks for sharing! To maximise impact, repurpose standout contentturn a guests sunrise photo into a Story with a booking link to encourage future travellers. Interactive and engaging content Static posts are yesterdays news. Interactive content such as polls, quizzes, or live streams helps to maintain followers attention. Use Instagram Stories for Which view is your favourite? polls or do a live Q&A with your chef. Host virtual tours of your rooms to showcase their variety. Including behind-the-scenes clips can help enhance customer loyalty. Launch a hashtag challenge#MyHotelEscapeto spark user stories. Add Augmented Reality filters so guests can snap selfies with your logo or a virtual landmark. Engagement increases when followers tap, swipe, or join in. Incorporating them into your brand will promote brand loyalty. Storytelling and brand voice Facts can be tedious, but stories tend to be captivating. Share your hotels soul; think of a team members 10 or 20-year journey or a guests proposal at your restaurant. Marriotts day in the life reels spotlight staff crafting magic moments. Four Seasons Based on a True Stay campaign recreates taleslike a kids beach treasure hunt. Keep your brand voice consistentsophisticated on Instagram, professional on LinkedIn, cheeky on TikTok. Define your toneluxury calls for elegance; boutique a little more quirky. Emotion beats sales pitches every time. Tailor for global markets North America: Video-first mindset Instagram drives 37% of travel inspiration in the U.S. and Canada, while YouTube and TikTok chase close behind. Older travellers linger on Facebook, so it is best not to overlook it. Focus on slick, short videosHiltons amusing TikTok skits proved very successful. Storytelling goes a long way to sealing the deal, and video is a powerful tool. Europe: Local flavour wins Europe is more like a patchworkInstagram and Facebook lead. The UK leans more towards X.com (formerly Twitter); Italy loves lush visuals. Sustainability is a hot topic, show off your eco-efforts like solar panels or zero-waste menus. Use multilingual captions such as French, German, and Spanish. Tie posts to events like Paris Fashion Week or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Asia-Pacific: Hyper-local rules Asia-Pacific is a little more varied. China demands WeChat and Douyin; these are not considered global apps even though a small percentage of users are outside China. India loves Instagram and YouTube Shortspost in Hindi or Tamil. Southeast Asia blends Facebook and TikTokpost in Bahasa or Thai. Highlight family trips or nature escapes per market. Middle East: Luxury and culture The UAE boasts 74% Instagram penetration, so ensure you focus there. TikTok and Snapchat influence with luxury messages, so they can be good places to showcase penthouses or VIP perks. Use Arabic and English captionsrespect traditions. AR filters of your hotel facilities look their best. Latin America: Vibrant and social Facebook is very popular in Mexico, while Instagram has more substantial usage in Brazil. Both have a strong love for TikTok. Post in Spanish or Portuguese, and make sure to keep it upbeat with salsa or humour. Influencers here have loyal fans, so maximising their reach is a good idea. Celebrate Carnival or family travel. It is a passionate region, and emotion encourages shares. Africa: Mobile-first focus Africas 384 million social users lean on Facebook, but Instagram and TikTok are growing more in this region. When posting, use Swahili, French, or local dialects. Highlight safaris and note that you should optimise your content for mobile data limits. WhatsApp is popular and spreads a lot of content, so try to make your material share-worthy. Emerging trends and AI-driven content creation AI: An efficiency superpower AIs reshaping social media in 2025. It crafts captions, schedules posts, and predicts peak engagement times. Chatbots handle guest queries 24/7, freeing your team to focus more directly on your guests. Use AI analytics to spot trends, e.g. more sunset posts if they spike likes. Tools like Hootsuites AI or ChatGPT save hours. Personalise offers by offering sea-view rooms for beach lovers. Choosing the right tools can make all the differenceuse Riverside for captions, Canvas AI for appealing visuals, and Sprout Social for valuable insights. Personalisation is key, so tailor ads to specific audiences, like promoting city escapes for urban dwellers and nature retreats for adventure seekers. To maximise engagement, leverage AI-driven analytics by testing recommended post times and tracking performance to refine your strategy. AR and VR: Immersive wow factor Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are game-changers. Offer VR toursPeninsula Hotels 360 previews hook dreamers. Create AR filters to encourage guests to snap selfies with a virtual landmark backdrop. Augmented reality (AR) can add a fun, interactive touchlet guests try a spa massage through AR for a post-worthy experience. Virtual reality (VR) also offers exciting opportunities, such as hosting a virtual wine-tasting event directly linked to real bookings. Start small with free AR tools like Snapchat Lens Studio to keep costs low, making it easy to experiment without a big investment. Your time to shine In 2025, social medias your hotels digital front door. Master short videos, UGC, and regional flair to cut through the noise. Embrace AI and AR to save time and stun guests. Learn from leaders in this field, and dont forget to look at content producers outside of hospitality for ideasauthenticity and innovation rule. Your social strategy isnt a nice-to-haveits your survival kit. Note: Consider using a digital asset management tool such as Iceportal Content to ensure your images, content are uniform across all platforms. This article provides an overview of capitalization rates and rooms revenue multipliers, as well as a summary of recent trends for these metrics and their role in the valuation of limited-service hotels. U.S. Hotel Appraisals and HVS continually track capitalization rates and rooms revenue multipliers for limited-service assets on which we consult. Multipliers and capitalization rates are inversely relateda lower capitalization rate results in a higher value, while a lower multiplier results in a lower value. In the case of hotels that were sold near the date of our valuation, we can derive the capitalization rate and rooms revenue multiplier by comparing historical and forecasted rooms revenue or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) Less Replacement Reserve against the actual purchase price. Capitalization rate (cap rate) is the rate of return on a real estate investment property based on the income that the property is expected to generate. It is calculated by dividing the property's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) Less Replacement Reserve by its current market value or purchase price. Derived cap rates from actual sales can then be analyzed to determine their applicability to any given hotel. For example, if an 8.0% cap rate is derived from the sale of a five-year-old hotel, and the hotel being analyzed is 25 years old, an upward adjustment for age would need to be applied to the cap rate. This is the case for any metric of comparison, such as location, brand, renovation history, historical and expected changes in income generation, and changes in market conditions. Once an appropriate cap rate is determined for a hotel, the value can be calculated by dividing EBITDA by the cap rate. A lower cap rate equates to a higher value. Rooms revenue multiplier (RRM) is a metric used to value a property based on rooms revenue. In limited-service hotels where rooms revenue comprises nearly all of the total revenue, a rooms revenue multiplier is a straightforward, easy to explain and understand method of valuation, particularly for stabilized assets. Using this method, the value of a hotel is equal to annual rooms revenue times a multiplier (RRM). The multiplier is calculated by dividing the property's purchase price by its annual rooms revenue. Similar to cap rates, derived RRMs must be analyzed and adjusted to determine their applicability to a specific hotel. For example, if a 4.0 RRM is derived from the sale of a five-year-old hotel, and the hotel being analyzed is 25 years old, a downward adjustment for age would need to be applied to the RRM. Similar adjustments can be made for other metrics of comparison. A lower RRM equates to a lower value. Real-World Data A summary of recent trends for derived cap rates and rooms revenue multipliers from sales of limited-service hotels is illustrated below. We note that there tends to be a lag between the sales data and current market conditions; thus, the full effect of the recent changes in the economy and capital markets may not yet be reflected. Cap Rates Derived from Limited-Service Hotel Sales in 2024 Source: HVS Rooms Revenue Multipliers Derived from Limited-Service Hotel Sales in 2024 Role in Valuation & Applicability Source: HVS Ultimately, the multiplier and direct capitalization approaches are both limited to one year of performance in their assessment of the asset and operation. As such, significant adjustments to the capitalization rate or multiplier may be required if the hotel is not stabilized. The RRM metric shows how efficient and profitable a hotel is, along with its capital needs and market risk. However, because the application of a rooms revenue multiplier to determine value only considers revenue, the drastic increases in operating and fixed expenses that the industry has experienced over the past several years has resulted in downward pressure on multipliers and the recognition that these metrics may not return to pre-COVID levels in the near term. In other words, because many expenses, such as payroll, insurance, and property taxes, are higher and rising at a faster pace than revenues, a hotel may be valued at a lower multiplier because of profitability challenges. In prior periods, the multiplier may have been higher given stronger profitability levels or more availability of debt at a lower cost. On the surface, the rooms revenue multiplier is a very simple concept, but determining the most applicable multiplier for a hotel is a thorough process that must consider all aspects of the real estate and operation. While not perfect, the RRM metric is helpful for owner-operated hotels with unusual accounting or expense histories. The direct capitalization approach considers both revenues and expenses, providing a clearer picture of profitability. In addition, cap rates are more sensitive to market conditions and can help investors assess the risk associated with a property. Generally, lower cap rates indicate lower risk and higher demand, while higher cap rates suggest higher risk and potentially higher returns. In any appraisal, multiple approaches to value are used, and the direct capitalization approach and rooms revenue multiplier are only two. A third approach under income capitalization is the discounted cash flow analysis, which considers multiple years of cash flows (and could be examined in its own article). In nearly all appraisals that are completed for limited-service hotels at U.S. Hotel Appraisals and HVS, all three valuation approaches under the income capitalization approach are considered (direct capitalization, rooms revenue multiplier, and discounted cash flow analysis). For more information on discount rates and equity yields, as well as other valuation metrics, reach out directly to Katy. U.S. Hotel Appraisals and HVS specialize in appraisals for limited-service hotels. We complete thousands of assignments each year, with limited-service hotels being the subject of roughly half. The extensive internal database at our fingertips is unprecedented in this industry. We pride ourselves on concise, credible, and cost-effective appraisals to meet a variety of clients needs and price points. Contact Katy Black, MAI, at [email protected] or +1 (970) 305-2229 with any of your hospitality appraisal or consulting needs. Katy holds permanent commercial appraisal licenses in Colorado, Arizona, California, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico, with the ability to obtain reciprocal licenses in all 50 states and all U.S. territories. Among the top 25 markets, St. Louis led the way with the highest occupancy increase, up 12.1% to 59.4%. - Image Credit Unsplash The U.S. hotel industry reports positive growth in occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the week ending March 1, 2025. Among the top 25 markets, St. Louis saw the highest occupancy lift, while major increases in ADR and RevPAR were seen in New Orleans. According to recent data from CoStar, a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, the U.S. hotel industry witnessed positive year-on-year comparisons for the week ending March 1, 2025. The industry reported a 0.4% increase in occupancy at 62.8%, a 2.7% rise in the average daily rate (ADR) to $159.26, and a 3.1% increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to $100.06. Among the top 25 markets, St. Louis led the way with the highest occupancy increase, up 12.1% to 59.4%. New Orleans, boosted by the Mardi Gras celebrations, reported the largest increases in ADR and RevPAR, up 36.8% to $233.77 and 30.6% to $148.54, respectively. However, occupancy in New Orleans declined by 4.6% to 63.5%. On the other hand, Oahu and Boston reported the steepest RevPAR declines, down by 13.1% to $206.45 and 11.0% to $102.66, respectively. Despite Recession Fears, American Travelers Maintain High Volume of Travel Plans in 2025 - Image Credit Unsplash The overall state of American travel in March 2025 remains robust, with most travelers holding onto their plans amid growing economic concerns. A record-high 48.2% of American travelers are likely to make international trips within the next 12 months. However, the increasing fears of a potential recession are tainting the financial outlook for many. According to Future Partners' latest State Of The American Traveler report, in March 2025, American travelers are maintaining a high volume of travel plans despite growing apprehensions about future economic conditions. Over 25% of these travelers have plans for the summer months, yet concerns about controlling costs persist. A significant 48.2% of American travelers have expressed their likelihood to travel internationally within the next year, which is a record high. The financial sentiment among American travelers is generally positive, with an improvement in their assessment of their financial well-being. About 32.7% feel financially better off now than a year ago. Confidence in leisure travel spending has also seen an uptick, with 36.7% believing that the current time is favorable for such spending. Furthermore, 59.5% of these travelers have prioritized travel in their budgets. On average, American travelers have planned around four leisure trips over the next year, reaching a five-year high. However, despite the current enthusiasm, there are growing concerns about the future. Fears of a recession are rising, with 41.9% of Americans expecting a downturn within the next six months. Moreover, only 46.2% anticipate their financial situation to improve in the coming year, a sharp drop from the previous month and a nine-year low. The summer travel season looks promising, with approximately a quarter of travelers having plans for each summer month. Most of these summer travelers are full-time employees with higher annual household incomes and children in their households. Cost considerations and saving money feature significantly in their summer trip priorities, with more than a third seeking budget-friendly destinations and accommodations. Food, history, and international travel are the top interests of these summer travelers. The planning window for a one-week domestic vacation has decreased to 11 weeks from 12 weeks in 2024. Yet, about a third of American travelers plan their summer trips 13 or more weeks out. In the last week alone, 84.4% of American travelers reported engaging in travel planning or dreaming, with 42.5% researching travel ideas online, 25.8% finding places to visit on social media, and 20% making travel reservations. In terms of travel marketing, while TikTok has maintained steady popularity, there has been a recent surge in Instagram and X as sources of travel inspiration. In conclusion, despite prominent economic concerns, American travel in March 2025 remains resilient, with a record number of travelers intending to make international trips within the next year. Asian Travelers Prioritize Sustainable Tourism, Agoda Survey Shows - Image Credit Agoda According to a recent survey conducted by digital travel platform Agoda, sustainable travel is a major consideration for most Asian travelers. The survey "2025 Sustainable Travel Survey", ranked travelers from the Philippines as the most conscious about sustainability, with 86% stating it was a key factor in their travel plans for 2025. Travelers from India (82%), Taiwan (80%), Malaysia (80%), and Vietnam (77%) also showed a strong commitment to sustainable travel. The survey drew upon responses from over 6,000 participants across 11 Asian markets. It highlighted that sustainable travel, characterized by authentic experiences and off-peak travel, is becoming increasingly popular in Asia. 68% of surveyed Asian travelers consider sustainability when planning their travel for 2025. However, a small percentage of travelers, especially from Hong Kong (21%) and Japan (17%), reported that sustainability was not a core factor influencing their travel choices. Many Asian travelers are attracted to contributing positively to local communities through authentic tourism experiences. Around one in four survey respondents prioritize such experiences, while 22% aim to support local economies when they travel. Personal values and beliefs drive 24% of Indian travelers to opt for sustainable travel, indicating a shift towards meaningful and impactful travel. Furthermore, the survey revealed that many Asian travelers are exploring off-peak travel to reduce their environmental impact and alleviate overcrowding. Nearly a quarter of the respondents preferred this option. Also, 20% of travelers choose accommodations with sustainability certifications and 18% pack reusable items to minimize waste. Japanese travelers, in particular, are highly committed to reducing waste, with 25% packing reusable items such as water bottles and shopping bags on their trips. Senior Vice President of Supply at Agoda, Andrew Smith, commented on the survey findings, stating that Asian travelers are progressively seeking ways to impact their travel destinations positively. He mentioned Agoda's Eco Deals Program as an initiative that supports this trend, offering value deals on partnering properties and donating a dollar to local conservation projects for each booking made through the program. The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), a non-profit organization supporting the travel technology industry, has submitted a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, expressing concerns over the global Digital Services Taxes (DSTs). The letter was written in response to a request for comments within President Trump's Memorandum issued on February 21, 2025, about protecting American businesses and innovators from overseas exploitation and unfair penalties. Travel Tech asserts that DSTs imposed by some foreign jurisdictions are discriminatory and non-reciprocal. These taxes are levied on marketplace activity, not direct sales to customers, leading to an unequal tax burden on U.S.-based travel comparison platforms. The association argues that this tax structure distorts competition, impedes growth, and escalates costs for travelers. Travel Tech's member companies collectively connect millions of travelers to vast numbers of travel service providers worldwide. They aid in selling time-sensitive commodities like hotel rooms or airline tickets. Despite offering the same products, DSTs are exclusively imposed on travel comparison platforms, not the travel service providers. According to Laura Chadwick, President & CEO of Travel Tech, this jeopardizes the transparency and competition that Travel Tech members provide to travelers. The association's letter further outlines their concerns about DSTs, which range from double taxation and compliance difficulties to financial strain, lost revenue, and missed opportunities for American innovation. Previously, Travel Tech has communicated its concerns about the impact of global DSTs on travel technology companies to the Trump Administration. It has also made representations to the former U.S. Trade Representative about Canada's DST tax. This latest letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer underlines the association's ongoing commitment to addressing the issues surrounding digital services taxation and its impact on the U.S. travel industry. Wait! Before you go Please sign up for our Evening Digest and Breaking Newsletters Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. GForest, the in-app tech platform created by GCash to empower users to contribute to various environmental initiatives, its planting partners and 21 million GForest Green Heroes active users, have planted a monumental 4 million trees in 2024. This milestone has advanced the ecological and socioeconomic impact of reforestation and agroforestry projects carried out in partnership with the ABS-CBN Foundation, Culion Foundation, Friends of Hope, Inc., the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCBI), Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI), Silliman University, and The World Wildlife Fund (WWF). GForest Green Heroes active users and its environmental partners have planted a 4 million trees in 2024 GForest is a digital eco movement where anyone can help the environment and empower local communities with just a few taps on their phones. GCash users can plant virtual trees by converting green energy points that they earn from in-app digital transactions (such as paying bills, sending money, or buying load). Actual, corresponding native and indigenous trees are planted by environmental partners in key areas across the country, with the planting sites also maintained by members of local communities to support their livelihoods. This achievement marks the success of a multi-stakeholder model where conservation experts, environmental organizations, local communities, and GForest app users can all significantly contribute to environmental efforts through climate technology, as they play a role in boosting the livelihoods of Filipino farmers. GForest is a key innovation within GCash thats simple, easy, and accessible, allowing us to use tech for good to empower every Filipino to be part of the solution, says CJ Alegre, GCash head for sustainability. Environmental conservation is a shared responsibility, so it is amazing to see the significant strides we can make together to promote sustainability and combat climate change. We look forward to building on this strong foundation. As of 2024, 21 million active GForest users have contributed to planting 4,033,854 trees spanning 14,364 hectares, in partnership with six nationwide planting partners, and empowering and benefitting over 11,244 local farmers across the Philippines, including smallholder farmer families. Joining forces: science and tech for good Crucial to the success of GForest are the science-based strategies and local community engagement developed through the expertise of key environmental partners: WWF-Philippines, ABS-CBN Foundation, Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCBI), Friends of Hope, Inc., Culion Foundation, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), and Silliman University. To ensure environmentally sound activities and the long-term survival of species, these organizations have meticulously selected the correct species for each planting site, abiding by the highest environmental standards. The diverse species planted include mangroves, native trees, fruit-bearing trees, and coffee, each contributing uniquely to ecological protection and community development. Driving change through key partnerships Since 2018, GForest and WWF have planted 220,000 trees (including yakal, dungon, and narra) in the Ipo Watershed, reinforcing the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watersheds system that supplies roughly 96% of the water needs of Metro Manila. In 2023, GForest and the ABS-CBN Foundation successfully cultivated 180 hectares of land with seedlings, as part of the La Mesa Watershed projectresulting in 160,000 trees planted, including lipote, lago, malapapaya, and yakal. GForest also launched collaborations with Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCBI) and Friends of Hope, Inc. Through PCBI, native coffee tree seedlings were planted in Cavite and Benguet to support local livelihoods. The agroforestry program with Friends of Hope, Inc., meanwhile, benefits over 7,300 smallholder farmers and their families. In Palawan, GForest and Culion Foundation, Inc. are focused on advancing environmental sustainability through restoration and education. Through their partnership, 325,000 mangroves have been planted in 15 barangays in Coron and Culion since 2022. In Negros Oriental, GForest and Silliman University have been mobilizing a five-year joint project to mitigate the effects of climate change and support biodiversity. Since partnering in 2023, they have planted 180,000 mangroves and beach trees in the Negros region. In 2024, GForest and RAFI celebrated the success of their four-year reforestation initiative in Cebu, having planted 800,000 mangroves that year alone and bringing the total number of trees planted through their partnership to 1,400,000. Fostering thriving local communities Community empowerment is another key component of GForests sustainability efforts. As all planting partners connect with local community groups and Peoples Organizations (POs), livelihood opportunities are incorporated into each project. This is where local farmers and fisherfolk play an integral role in planting and maintaining seedlings, plants, and trees. For many, this initiative provides an additional annual income of up to PHP 25,000, serving as a significant livelihood stream to support local communities. In addition, all proceeds from planting activities go directly to the farmers and fisherfolk involved, with no profit gained by the organizations. This advocacy model not only bolsters the financial independence of members of rural communities but also opens up new avenues of economic growth. CJ Alegre shares, At GCash, our goal is to continue harnessing tech for good to support this green cyclethrough the way GForest enables our app users, how we engage our planting partners, and in the upliftment of the communities that contribute to the cause. For more information about GForest and other sustainability initiatives, please visit www.gcash.com. 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 Blake Lively thanked fans for their support after her first movie premiere since her messy legal battle with Justin Baldoni began. The 37-year-old actor shared a post to Instagram on Tuesday with photos from the premiere of her new movie, Another Simple Favor. The film, which she stars in alongside Anna Kendrick, debuted on Friday at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. Livelys post included multiple snaps of her on the red carpet. In it, she wore a pink strapless dress, with a matching latex shirt dress over it, and her hair half-up. She also shared photos with the rest of the cast and crewincluding actor Henry Golding and the director of the A Simple Favor sequel, Paul Feigand expressed her gratitude to her fans. Watching @asimplefavor opening night @sxsw felt like a rock concert. Thank you to the very best audience. Texas turns it out, the Gossip Girl alum wrote in the caption of her post, which also included photos of her greeting fans at the movie premiere. Making this movie was already the gift, every element of it. To share it with you all and feel the love returned to us was the best feeling. Thank you for having us Austin. And yes. Its latex, she continued, referring to her shirt dress. During an interview with Variety at the event, Kendrick was asked how her new film is being impacted by everything going on in the world which appeared to be a reference to Livelys ongoing legal battle with Baldoni. The actor responded with what fans called the perfect response: Why? What happened? I did ayahuasca, and the last year of my life has been gone. But I heard the movies amazing. The Pitch Perfect alum gave an similarly terse response to a reporter who asked her what it was like working with Lively again, simply saying: Oh you know. Meanwhile, Lively described working working with Kendrick as the best. Rumors then spread that the two actors were feuding, with social media users claiming Lively was terrified to talk the red carpet, as Kendrick was p***** and never wants to work with her again. Feig quickly shut those accusations down, however, responding: Um youre wrong. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 8.99/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. 8.99/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. Blake Lively attended the movie premiere in a latex shirt dress on Friday. ( Getty Images ) Any questions about Livelys ongoing legal battle were perhaps unsurprising, given it was her first premiere since she sued Baldoni in December for sexual harassment and trying to destroy her reputation. Rumors of a feud between the actors on the set of It Ends with Us started swirling online last year, as they appeared to avoid each other during the films promotional tour. At the time, Lively was called out for a tone-deaf approach to the movie, with fans claiming she failed to treat its heavy subject matter with the appropriate solemnity. In the lawsuit against Baldoni, Lively alleged that the backlash she received was part of a carefully orchestrated effort by Baldonis PR team. The Jane the Virgin star, who denies the accusations, is suing The New York Times for $250 million, and he is counter-suing Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million. The lawsuit against the couple alleges that theyre attempting to destroy Baldonis reputation and career. In January, a New York federal judge informed both parties to prepare for a trial in March 2026. After this, Lively and Reynolds attorneys filed a notice stating that they would seek to dismiss Baldonis counter-lawsuit. Only three weeks ago, Lively asked a judge for a stronger protective order than the courts model one, after receiving violent messages amid her and Baldonis legal battle. In addition, her team asked for certain material to be categorized as an Attorneys Eyes Only, which would make those legal documents highly confidential. However, Baldonis legal team then criticized those requests, accusing Lively of trying to shield, from public view, documents and information exchanged herein. The document also alleged Lively and Reynolds gave an otherwise confidential administrative complaint to The New York Times when she first filed her lawsuit in December. 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 Julia Stiles has shared the details of an uncomfortable experience she had working on a film with Harvey Weinstein. The convicted rapist is currently awaiting a retrial for a number of charges including that he forcibly performed oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013. An additional charge was filed last September, which alleges that he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006. Weinstein denies the charges. His 2022 conviction still stands. Stiles, 43, worked with Weinstein on the 2000 romantic comedy, Down to You. Written and directed by Kris Isaacson, the film also co-starred Freddie Prinze Jr. But the 10 Things I Hate About You star slammed it for being one of the worst movies ever made and blamed Weinstein. "It was a time when teen romcoms were really popular and the director wrote the script, she told Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein on the Films to be Buried With podcast. He was a first-time director and he was a very, very intelligent, capable guy. The script was very good. And then Harvey Weinstein got his hands on it." She explained: Because of the success of Save the Last Dance, or the success of 10 Things I Hate About You, with me dancing on the pool table, he needed to have me dancing in the film." Stiles said Weinstein tried to capitalise on pool table scenes trend and called his attempt to do so dumb. Stiles said she felt slimy working with Weinstein ( Getty ) "I felt so slimy doing it the whole time," she said "It was annoying. Because I was like, 'Well, this is so cheap, and it's not adding to the story.'" The former film producer, who suffers from chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and heart problems, is currently detained in Rikers Island, awaiting retrial, while also serving a 2022 conviction for raping an actress in 2013. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 8.99/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. 8.99/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. Actor and fashion designer Georgina Chapman filed to divorce Weinstein in October 2017 after the allegations against her husband came to light. The pair had been married for 10 years. 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 Disney fans have been left unexpectedly optimistic about the forthcoming Lilo & Stitch live-action remake after the official trailer landed yesterday. The film, adapted from Chris Sanders and Dean DeBloiss 2002 cartoon, will star Maia Kealoha as Lilo, Sydney Agudong as her sister Nani, with Chris Sanders reprising his voice role as Sitch. Dean Fleischer Camps remake will also see Courtney B. Vance take on the role of former CIA agent Cobra Bubbles, with Billy Magnussen playing alien Earth expert, Pleakley. The 2002 original Lilo & Stitch movie follows the story of a lonely six-year-old girl, who adopts what she thinks is a dog but actually turns out to be an extraterrestrial entity that has escaped prison. In the trailer, the Lilo & Stitch live action script almost exactly follows that of the cartoon, with fans celebrating how similar the adaptation is to the original film. Omg from everything to the [Elvis Presley] music to the ice cream dropping on the floor is perfect, one person wrote in the YouTube comment section, referencing a side character who always drops his cone in the sand at the beach in the original film. This is the first Disney live-action remake Im actually excited for, added another fan. Stitch and the other alien characters look great and its really nostalgic to see all the scenes recreated. open image in gallery Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders and Sydney Agudong in the Lilo & Stitch' trailer ( Disney ) Meanwhile, a third person added: Thank god they cast mostly unknowns instead of shoving in a bunch of celebrities and cameos for the sake of celebrity marketing, this actually gives me a slight bit of hope this movie might have some soul. Over on TikTok, Disney fans were similarly excited. Might actually be the first GOOD live action remake, one user said. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 8.99/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. 8.99/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. They did a fantastic job of adapting Stitch, he looks so cute, another person added, while other fans warned moviegoers to keep their kids at home as the theatres would be full of adults. Live-action remakes, including Beauty and the Beast in 2017, The Lion King in 2019 and The Little Mermaid in 2023 have proven divisive among Disney fans. open image in gallery Sanders and Agudong in the Lilo & Stitch trailer ( Disney ) The Snow White live-action has been hit with such a long string of controversies over race, politics, and the inclusion of the seven dwarves so much so that the Hollywood premiere was scaled back. The films star, West Side Story actor Rachel Zegler, first sparked controversy among conservative and right-wing critics in 2023 when she suggested the remake would be more feminist than the original film, which was released in 1937. Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, also faced backlash from right-wing voices who were unhappy about the lead fictional character being portrayed by a person of colour. open image in gallery Rachel Zegler will portray Snow White in a live-action remake of the animated Disney classic ( Left: YouTube/20th Century Studios Right: YouTube/RKO Radio Pictures ) Further controversy came over Disneys inclusion of the seven dwarfs in the remake. Peter Dinklage, who has dwarfism, said in 2022 that he was surprised Disney was so proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, while youre still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what youre doing there. He continued: It makes no sense to me. Youre progressive in one way, but then youre still making that f***ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together? 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 Thirteen-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is in his pyjamas in a space-themed bedroom, when armed police smash through his front door in a dawn raid. We, the viewer of Netflixs Adolescence, follow the officers with bulletproof vests and guns in real time, as the schoolboy and his family are left shocked and terrified. Up the stairs, and into the bedroom, back down and into the van. Did this really happen? wrote confused social media users as a behind-the-scenes trailer for the show was released this week. He is then driven to the local station, where his fingerprints are taken (we experience each one complete with beeping machine and officer instructions: And the next one, and the next one...). Medical tests are conducted, and a strip search is resisted by his father, Eddy Miller (played by the shows co-creator and co-writer Stephen Graham). Jamie is accused of the brutal murder of a 13-year-old girl who is stabbed to death and left to die in a car park. While a murder mystery is familiar ground for TV, Boiling Point director Philip Barantinis decision to shoot each episode of this four-part series in one-take breaks new ground. With no editing, no outtakes, bloopers or re-dos, we watch as every minute adds to our understanding of the lives of its lead characters played by Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and 15-year-old Cooper. It was quite difficult, but it was fun as well, Barantini tells The Independent. It was meticulously planned. Part of that planning included weeks of rehearsals, with one week for cast and one week for tech crew. Co-writer Jack Thorne, who has worked with Graham on multiple projects including This is England, was on hand to make changes to the script alongside the actor and director. [Tech rehearsals] would be an opportunity for the sound team to put the booms where they needed to be. And, we had all the support and the runners and ADs all dressed in police uniforms in the first episode and teachers in the second episode so they could be on camera and cueing things, Barantini explains. It was technically challenging, but a huge collaboration. open image in gallery Owen Cooper plays Jamie Miller and is the shows breakout star ( Courtesy of Netflix ) The show features real locations as well as ones created solely for production, like the police station and DIY store. Footage released by Netflix shows the sheer physical challenge of the feat; a cameraman in his shorts jogs along with police as they break down the door, before the camera is clipped onto a crane for the next sequence. Its even strapped on to a drone to get a birds-eye view of the fictitious town. Each of the camera positions were meticulously mapped out with cinematographer Matt Lewis . With the foundation in place, Barantini says, from there it was sort of a dance really. Barantini has previously explained that the one-shot approach to filming is an intentional device used to demand the attention of time-poor viewers. He used the technique in his 2019 film Boiling Point, although the series posed a bigger challenge than the one-location backdrop of the restaurant in that movie. But beneath the clever directing and the scrupulous technicalities lies something far more terrifying. Really what it's about is looking at male rage and looking at our own anger and looking at who we are as men, says Thorne. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 8.99/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. 8.99/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. open image in gallery Stephen Graham co-created the show and co-wrote the series alongside Jack Thorne ( Netflix ) We're all three very different types of men, but we all have a relationship with anger and, and I think that's what I'm proudest of in the show is that we looked at ourselves and I think that honesty shows through on the screen. Predicted to be an instant classic by industry professionals, the idea was the brainchild of A Thousand Blows star Graham, who portrays Jamies hot-headed father. I read an article about a young boy stabbing a young girl, he says. And then maybe a couple of months later, on the news there was [another] young boy who'd stabbed a young girl, and if I'm really honest with you, they hurt my heart. I thought that this would be a really interesting thing to look at for many aspects but, as a society to maybe ask the question why. open image in gallery Adolescence covers issues of male rage, misogyny and incel culture ( Netflix ) Adolescence does not deal with Andrew Tate or incel culture directly, an intentional decision by writer Thorne to shed light on the complex influences impacting young people. The kids aren't watching Andrew Tate, he says. They're watching a lot more dangerous stuff than Andrew Tate. We were trying present a portrait of complexity of this kid that had been made by all sorts of different influences and the thing about incel culture is there's a logic to it. Cooper, the shows breakout star, is now set to star as the young Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie. Graham reveals that the team behind Adolescence were adamant about creating opportunities and says that Coopers success is one of the shows biggest achievements. Hailing from a normal working class family from a normal council estate he describes Coopers family as just wonderful, beautiful people. Everyone unsuccessful in the audition for the role of Jamie was recruited as an extra in school scenes. open image in gallery Series is predicted to be an instant classic ( Netflix ) The challenge of weaving sensitive topics with industry-defying technical routines kept Barantini up at night, and gave Hannah Walters, Grahams wife and executive producer of Adolescence, dry mouth and heart palpitations. But after one week of filming, which included doing two takes every day, there werent any major mistakes, says Barantini. The team selected the best take of 10 options for the final cut, though there were some minor mishaps. open image in gallery Erin Doherty and Owen as Jamie and in 'Adolescence' ( Netflix ) One time the camera was knocked on the door, so the lens shook a little bit and we wouldn't be able to fix that, he says. And the other time the lights just went off in the studio in the police station. So it was like, we can't shoot this now, we have to stop. Yet the pressure was palpable. The actors are in it. There's no room for error and everyone has the ball and you're passing the ball to each other and it's trust. All the actors are trusting each other and if they mess up a line, someone else will come in. Adolescence is available to stream on Netflix now. 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 Black Mirror fans are celebrating on social media after a new trailer revealed that the release of the seventh season of Charlie Brookers hit dystopian anthology series is less than a month away. All six new episodes will arrive on Netflix on Thursday, April 10. The trailer offers glimpses of a star-studded cast that includes Cristin Milioti, Paul Giamatti, Chris ODowd, Issa Rae, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Rashida Jones, Tracee Ellis Ross and Awkwafina. On YouTube, one fan wrote: Here we go. This show is practically a documentary for our times now. Another added, I am once again ready to be disturbed at how close this is to reality. For the first time, the new season will include a sequel episode revisiting the characters from season 4 episode USS Callister, with Milioti reprising her role as Nanette Cole. Cristin Milioti in 'Black Mirror' Season 7 ( Nick Wall/Netflix ) In another episode, Will Poulter appears to be returning to the role he played in the ground-breaking 2018 interactive episode Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The show has been widely praised over the years for its uncanny ability to foresee how technological innovations might affect everyday life. On X/Twitter, one fan wrote: We all know that whatever is in this season, well probably be living it soon. Stoked for a new season! However, not everyone is happy with the first glimpses of Black Mirror season 7. The series started life on Channel 4 in 2011 before moving to Netflix in 2016, and some fans on X have complained about the perceived Americanization of the show. One wrote: The Americanization of Black mirror is the worst thing to happen to this series. Bring back the Euros. Another added: I will never really understand the Americanisation of Black Mirror. Not saying there havent been good episodes since Season 3 but it seems to really lose its magic with each new season. Anyway, make Black Mirror Briish again. Back in 2023, writer-director Brooker responded to similar critiques by saying: One of the criticisms we sometimes get is, I prefer the show when it was British and everyone in it was miserable and everything smelled a little bit of s*** and all the stories were horrible. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 8.99/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. 8.99/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. And then its gone to Netflix and suddenly everythings sunny and happy and everyone has wonderful teeth, and its full of Hollywood stars and its lost that edge. Brooker said he understood the criticism, noting that everyone expected me to be like the Unabomber once he started doing business in the U.S. He added: I was aware were going on a global platform now, so weve got to make these stories a bit more international. And I wanted to mix it up a bit, as in not just keep doing bleak-a-thons. 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 How do you solve the problem of today? Thats the question that therapists often pose to people experiencing the wide range of lifes traumas. Dont relitigate the past, dont attempt to fix the future, try and solve the problem of today. Its a mantra that crops up in Netflixs Adolescence, a four-part drama looking at the fallout from an unthinkable crime, and the many todays that must be solved, over and over, as a consequence. Its 6am on an apparently normal morning. Normal, that is, until armed police, led by DI Bascombe (Ashley Walters) storm into a family home and arrest a 13-year-old boy, Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper). His parents, Eddie and Manda (played by Stephen Graham and Christine Tremarco), watch on in horror as their little boy is dragged to the local police station, processed and placed in a cell. Jamie is suspected of murdering a schoolmate, and alongside Eddie, as his appropriate adult, and a solicitor, must face the evidence that the police have compiled against him. It is a nightmarish frenzy, transporting the Miller family from their pocket of suburban calm to the fear, recrimination and revelations of a murder inquiry. It is a stunning opening. Each of the shows four episodes is filmed in one continuous take, a technique mastered by its star Graham (who co-created this project with extremely busy scribe Jack Thorne) and director Philip Barantini on the 2021 film Boiling Point. In real-time, we watch the Miller family from the moment the police enter their home, to the terrible presentation, less than an hour later, of the authorities smoking gun against Jamie. The confusion and tension are palpable, as is a sense of sorrow. I hate juvenile cases, a duty nurse says, after testing Jamies understanding of his situation. No one likes them, the desk sergeant replies. And yet, everyone does their job methodically, the camera swimming around the station to capture the minutiae of Jamies terminal arrival in the justice system. That is day one. The other three episodes are spread across the next year and a half, as the investigation progresses. Bascombe and his deputy DS Frank (Faye Marsay) visit the victims school; Jamie is assessed in prison by psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty); and, finally, Jamies plea comes through on Eddies 50th birthday. None of these episodes beg the one-shot technique in the same way that the first does. Indeed, they sometimes feel stifled by it, because the criminal justice system is a glacial thing, and rarely operates in kinetic hour-long slots. This makes the series feel lop-sided: a virtuoso first episode that catches you clean in the gut, followed by three episodes that feel more instructional. After all, the first hour of Jamies incarceration is a natural starting point, but what does the creative decision to focus on day three, or months seven or thirteen, tell us about the story? Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty) and Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) talk it out ( Netflix ) Graham and Thorne seem to want to place the accusations against Jamie into context, both familial and social. Words like incel, manosphere, and red pill are rapidly deployed (Andrew Tate shite, comes DS Franks judgment). At home, his parents deal with their guilt; a guilt focused far more on their son than his victim. He was in his room, wasnt he? Eddie despairs. We thought he was safe. It is a challenging but miserable premise, one in which no one is spared their share of the blame. Violent misogyny being fomented in Britains schools, families blind to their kids internet activities, parents handing down destructive traits. We are all part of the problem that leads to Jamies, and leads to children dead from knife wounds in bleak, empty car parks. Coopers performance as the accused is very able, nimbly shifting the audiences sympathies for Jamie. The two-handed episode that he shares with Doherty is troubling yet compelling, and the acting throughout the series (Graham is, once again, likely the standout) is a masterclass (and thats putting aside the self-imposed constraints of the one-shot technique). The episodes themselves are more of a mixed bag: investigations at a school feel too much like a bog-standard police procedural meets Grange Hill, while the shows resolution feels calculated towards despair. It is a fine line when creating a show that fictionalises the real experiences faced by real families, between empathy inducement and misery porn. And for Adolescence, that line becomes blurry at times. Yet there is no doubting the intensity of that first episode. It is television in its purest distillation: unflinching, pulse-quickening. It caters both to our morbid fascination with crimes at the exotic extremes, and the sense of unravelling a moral knot. The fact that the rest of the series cant quite match those heights is both a problem and a testament to the impact of that opener. Never less than well-made, Adolescence sustains a rawness that makes it a tough but compulsive watch. 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 China has expressed its willingness to open dialogue with the US amid the tit-for-tat trade war kickstarted by Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl. The Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday said Mr Trump had undermined the bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation by imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods and used the synthetic opioid as a bargaining chip to "blackmail" Beijing. "The US should've said a big thank you to us," a senior Chinese foreign ministry official told reporters at a briefing in Beijing to discuss China's white paper on fentanyl issued earlier this month. "But regrettably...the United States doesn't appreciate this kindness," the official said, accusing the US of using the fentanyl issue to "spread all kinds of lies" and "smear" China regardless of the progress of the cooperation. Mr Trump this month increased tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20 per cent from the previous 10 per cent to punish Beijing for what he says is its failure to halt shipments of chemicals used for the production of the deadly opioid. The US president claimed a large percentage of these deadly substances were made in China. Beijing responded by imposing up to 15 per cent levies on American agricultural goods. The US and China restarted fentanyl and law enforcement cooperation more than a year ago under former president Joe Biden, helping to improve ties that had suffered over issues ranging from trade rows, Covid-19, Taiwan and human rights. The cooperation has resulted in multiple high-level visits over the last year and improved information sharing between the investigators. However, Mr Trump has repeatedly accused China of not moving hard and fast enough with its fentanyl crackdown. China claimed the US has not outlined detailed steps they expect from Beijing to deal with fentanyl to lift the tariffs, a claim rejected by the White House, according to Bloomberg News. The Chinese foreign ministry official said that the US using "something that has achieved a lot of progress...as an excuse to slap tariffs on China was not the way to solve problems," adding that the US was "returning kindness with hostility" and its actions made "no sense". "It will seriously undermine dialogue and cooperation between the two countries on drug control," Reuters quoted the official as saying. China says it has taken steps to constrict the fentanyl pipeline, by placing the opioid under national control, effectively ending illicit exports of the finished product. But exporters shifted their tactics, experts say, by instead selling "precursor" or even "pre-precursor" chemicals used to make fentanyl by Mexican cartels that require only minor modifications to create the final product. The US, where fentanyl abuse has been a major cause of death, has pushed China for deeper law enforcement cooperation, including tackling illicit finance, arrests of rogue chemists and raids of labs involved in the production of precursors. 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 Taiwanese actor Darren Wang began his conscription service on Thursday, a month after he was arrested for allegedly evading mandatory military duty. The 33-year-old star began his one-year military service, the Ministry of Interior said, as he joined general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung. He would first undergo 26 days of training before being assigned a designated service unit, Taipei Times reported. During his training, Mr Wang would participate in disaster response exercises, entry-level emergency medical technician training, simulated and live-fire shooting drills, team-building activities such as rock climbing, and physical fitness tests, as well as a 3km run and push-ups, the report said. The actor, who shot to fame for his role in romantic comedy-drama Our Times and Suddenly Seventeen, was arrested on 18 February for allegedly evading military service and forging military documents. However, he was released on bail for NT$150,000 ($4,583) after questioning. open image in gallery Taiwan's military holds a military exercise in Hsinchu County, northern Taiwan, on 7 January ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Taiwan's Central News Agency said that police seized "relevant evidence" from his home. Taiwan has a long-standing system of mandatory military conscription and all men have to undergo compulsory military training for a year. The law governed under the Act of Military Service System has undergone several reforms in recent years due to geopolitical concerns, declining birth rates, and public sentiment. The duration was raised from four months to one year in 2022 over growing threats from mainland China. Instead of active-duty military service, some men can opt for alternative service in government agencies, public service roles, or specific industries. Taiwan considers itself an independent nation and governs itself, but China views it as a breakaway province that will eventually come under Beijing's control. 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 Police say they have arrested two men over the alleged rape and molestation of a 36-year-old British tourist at a hotel in the Indian capital Delhi. The woman was reportedly assaulted at a hotel in Delhis Mahipalpur area, 15km south of the Indian parliament. One of the suspects, identified as Kailash, had befriended the London resident on Instagram, the police said. He was arrested on charges of rape, while a hotel staff member named Wasim was held on charges of molestation. This is not a gang rape. These are two separate incidents of sexual abuse. The suspects are not related to each other, a South West Delhi police officer told The Independent. The woman arrived in Delhi from the UK to meet the suspect after becoming friends with him on social media, police said. The woman was on holiday to Maharashtra and Goa when she asked Kailash to join her, news outlet NDTV reported. However, the suspect allegedly said he could not travel, which prompted the British national to visit Delhi this week. The woman checked in to the hotel on Tuesday, where Kailash, a resident of Delhi, allegedly visited and subsequently assaulted her. The woman reportedly alleged that hotel staff inappropriately touched her while she was in the lift. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told The Independent: We are supporting a British woman in India and are in touch with the local authorities. The British national was allegedly assaulted less than a week after a 27-year-old Israeli tourist and her Indian homestay operator were gang-raped near a Unesco world heritage site in Karnataka. A fellow Indian male traveller was killed, while two others, including an American man, survived. The two women, who were stargazing with three male tourists near Sanapur Lake in Hampi, Karnataka, were attacked by three assailants last Thursday. The incident prompted foreign and local tourists to leave the state or cancel their travels to India. Reports of horrific sexual assaults on women have become familiar in India, where police recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, a 20 per cent increase from 2021, according to the latest figures available from the National Crime Records Bureau. The real figure is believed to be far higher due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence. The gang rape of a tourist from Spain in the eastern state of Jharkhand last year sparked anger and a discussion on safety in a country with rising crimes against women. The 28-year-old woman and her husband were assaulted in the Dumka district of Jharkhand where they had set up their tent for the evening. The couple, who manage an Instagram page chronicling their motorbike travels across South Asia, posted a video recounting their ordeal. In February this year, a 31-year-old man was jailed for life over the rape and murder of a 28-year-old Irish tourist in Goa. 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 Police in India have arrested a cryptocurrency exchange administrator wanted in the US for alleged money laundering and sanctions violations, the country's top investigative agency said. Aleksej Besciokov, a 46-year-old Lithuanian citizen who lives in Russia, was arrested from the southern Indian state of Kerala on Tuesday at Washington's request, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The US, Germany, and Finland took down the online infrastructure used by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, the US Justice Department said last week, adding that two administrators of the exchange were charged. Garantex was sanctioned by the US in April 2022. One of those administrators was Mr Besciokov, who was charged with money laundering and also faced accusations of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, the Justice Department said last week. The CBI said India's foreign ministry issued a provisional arrest warrant at Washington's request. It was unclear when and why Mr Besciokov arrived in India. The CBI coordinated with the Kerala police to arrest the fugitive criminal, the agency said, adding that Mr Besciokov will now be produced in a lower court in Delhi for extradition proceedings. Mr Besciokov was arrested from the popular tourist destination of Varkala while on a vacation with his family, the Times of India reported. "I can confirm Aleksej Besciokov, one of the administrators of Garantex, was arrested in India at the request of the United States," a US Justice Department spokesperson told CNN. Garantex has been accused of laundering millions of dollars, including proceeds from ransomware groups such as Black Basta, Play and Conti between 2021 and 2024, according to reports. The exchange has processed at least $96bn (74bn) in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019, authorities in the US said. The Justice Department said the proceeds were used to "facilitate several crimes" such as hacking, ransomware, terrorism and drug trafficking. It accused Mr Besciokov and Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda of knowing that the criminal proceeds were being laundered through Garantex and taking steps to conceal the facilitation of illegal activities. Mr Besciokov has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. 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 Pakistans army has said it has freed more than 300 hostages from a train hundreds of separatist militants hijacked in a remote and volatile region. At least 33 militants were killed in gunfire exchanges which started on Tuesday, when militants stormed the train travelling through a tunnel in Balochistan. Twenty-one hostages and four members of the military were killed before the armys operation started, a military spokesperson said, adding that its search operation is ongoing to rule out lasting threats. The militants said they killed 50 passengers. The Independent was not able to verify the militants account. The security forces held off from full-out battles as militants wearing suicide vests loaded with explosives barricaded themselves inside the train with passengers in the rugged Bolan area. Helicopters backed up the Pakistani forces desperately trying to free hostages. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has taken responsibility for the attack, demanding the release of jailed militants in exchange for the release of the passengers. There has been no comment from the government, which has previously rejected similar demands. Hostages and some captured Pakistan security force members were guarded by suicide bombers, the BLA said. open image in gallery Soldiers secure Mach railway station after Pakistani security forces freed some passengers ( AFP via Getty Images ) This is an act of terrorism, government spokesman Shahid Rind said. Footage released by the BLA shows the moment the militants blew up the railway, erupting in a black cloud of smoke and trapping the Jafar Express train in a tunnel before opening fire on the onboard security staff. Some BLA fighters are believed to have then gathered on a hill in the distance as the train came to a halt. Balochistan trains typically have security personnel on board as military often travel from Quetta to other parts of the country by train. The attack, which wounded the driver, happened while the train was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, police and railway officials said. open image in gallery Soldiers are working to evacuate freed train passengers at the Mach railway station ( AFP via Getty Images ) Reports of heavy fire on the railway were confirmed by a Balochistan government spokesperson yesterday. The tough terrain made it hard for authorities to access the site, the spokesperson added, but a relief train was sent and security forces are active in the area. The train was stopped in a mountainous area where militants have easier access to hiding and planning. Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the scene of insurgency with separatists demanding greater autonomy from the government in Islamabad and a larger share of the region's natural resources. open image in gallery Relatives of the hostages gathered at Quetta station, hoping their families were amongst those rescued ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Rescued passengers were sent to their hometowns and the injured were being treated at hospitals in the Mach district. Others were taken to Quetta, the provincial capital, about 62 miles away. Relatives of the hostages had gathered at Quetta station, hoping their families would be amongst those rescued. Many of them cursed Pakistans Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi who last year claimed that the BLA was no threat and that "an ordinary police inspector could fix this situation. Mr Naqvi has condemned the attack but said the government would not concede to beasts who fire on innocent passengers. open image in gallery Rescued passengers were being sent to their hometowns and the injured were being treated at hospitals in the Mach district ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) The brother of one hostage, Hamad Khan, had said he was desperate for information about about him. The mother of a son held hostage confronted regional minister Mir Zahoor Buledi when he visited the freed passengers. If you cannot protect trains, then you should not run them. Please, bring my son back, she said. Another man, Shams Ullah Khan, said two of his relatives were also on the train - a bank employee and a labourer. open image in gallery Freed train passengers gather at the Mach railway station after Pakistani security forces rescued some passengers following a security operation ( AFP via Getty Images ) People were attacked ... passengers were injured and some passengers died, said Muhammad Ashraf, who was on the train. Other witnesses told Geo News that security asked them to stay low during the gunfire. Pakistan Railways has suspended operations from Punjab and Sindh to Balochistan until safety is restored, local media reported. 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 Singapore has banned a Malaysian-made coffee product after authorities found it contained a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said it detected tadalafil, a potent medication requiring medical supervision, in the instant coffee mix Kopi Penumbuk, which was being sold on local e-commerce platforms. The product was advertised with claims of enhancing male sexual performance. SFA has worked with various online e-commerce platforms to remove listings of the product and issued warnings to the respective sellers to refrain from selling the product with immediate effect, the agency said in a statement. Tadalafil is a prescription drug that, if misused, can cause severe health complications, including heart attack, stroke, migraine, and priapism a painful and prolonged erection. The drug is particularly dangerous for individuals with heart conditions, as it can lead to a sudden drop in blood pressure, especially when taken alongside nitrate-based heart medications, the agency warned. Consumers who have purchased Kopi Penumbuk have been advised not to consume it. The agency has also directed those facing health concerns after consuming the coffee product to seek medical attention. Consumers should also exercise caution and be mindful of the risks associated with consuming food bought from unknown or unverified sources, and are advised to seek more information before making any purchase, it said. Under Singapores Sale of Food Act, selling unsafe food products can result in a fine of up to S$5,000 (2,890). Repeat offenders face steeper penalties, including fines of up to S$10,000 (5,781) or a jail term of up to three months or both. The SFA has previously flagged several Malaysian-made food products over safety concerns. In February, a weight-loss drink was removed from online platforms after it was found to contain sennosides, a laxative that can cause abdominal pain and cramps, reported the South China Morning Post. Last year, two types of candy were also pulled from the market for containing medicinal ingredients banned in food. In 2022, Singapores Health Sciences Authority reported that two individuals were hospitalised after consuming a sexual enhancement coffee product containing tadalafil, suffering from migraine and priapism. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Archaeologists in Cambodia have unearthed the torso of a Buddha statue at the ancient Angkor temple complex, believed to match a head discovered nearly a century ago. The remarkable find, made in February at Ta Prohm temple, adds another layer of intrigue to the already fascinating history of the site. The torso, standing 1.16 metres tall, is thought to date back to the 12th or 13th century and is in the distinctive Bayon art style, known for its intricate carvings and association with the Bayon temple. Archaeologist Neth Simon, speaking from Siem Reap province, described the discovery as a "big surprise", as previous excavations at the site had yielded only small fragments. The statue's design features carved jewellery, robe, and sash, with a unique left-hand gesture across the chest an uncommon representation in Khmer (Cambodian) art, Ms Simon said. Adding to the excitement, an optical electronic scan has confirmed that the torso matches the head discovered in 1927 during the French colonial era, currently housed at the National Museum in Phnom Penh. The torso was found about 50 metres from where the head was originally unearthed, raising questions about the circumstances that led to their separation. The torso matches a head found in 1927 ( AP ) A near-complete reconstruction of the statue is now possible, Ms Simon said, now that only the right hand of the statue remains missing. Her team will ask the Minister of Culture and Fine Art for approval to reattach the head and body of the sculpture to make it whole for public display. The Angkor site sprawls across some 155 square miles (400 square kilometres), containing the ruins of capitals of various Cambodian empires from the 9th to the 15th centuries. Scholars consider it to be one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. The site is Cambodia's most popular tourist attraction and in 2024 attracted about a million international tourists, according to Cambodia's Tourism Ministry. The excavations aim to organise and preserve the numerous art objects scattered throughout the Ta Prohm complex, highlighting the ongoing efforts to protect and understand Cambodia's rich cultural heritage, the Apsara Authority said. Ms Simon said she would be delighted if the statue's pieces could be reassembled after being far apart from each other for a century. "As an archaeologist, I would be really happy. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The sewer systems of Florida are teeming with an abundance of alligators, racoons, and a dozen other animals using the drain pipes to traverse the city, scientists reveal in a new study. Wildlife across the world are forced to navigate human-altered environments as rapid urbanisation continues. A new study, published in the journal Urban Naturalist, examined how wild animals use Floridas well-connected subterranean stormwater sewer systems (SSS). Researchers used camera traps to find how wildlife exploited this pathway, particularly in the states Alachua County. Overall, scientists found a total of 35 species of vertebrates using the sewer system to navigate, including amphibians, reptiles, and birds. The abundance of animals down there was surprising, study co-author Alan Ivory from the University of Florida told the New York Times. Seven species of reptiles were also found, including the American alligator species Alligator mississippiensis documented across the greatest number of sites. Most of the reptiles were found at sites that held water for more than half of the study period, researchers said. Some reptiles, including the turtle species Yellow-bellied Slider, appeared to be using the pipes as corridors between ponds, scientists said. The study suggests several animals are using the sewer system to avoid crossing busy roads. A few other animals, especially smaller ones, appear to be swept into sewers after storms carry large amounts of water into the system, researchers say. Of the 5 sites, 4 of the sites where alligators were observed were simple culverts, and for this reason most of the alligator observations were of animals swimming from one pond to another (35 of 50 observations), thereby avoiding crossing busy roads, scientists wrote. Raccoons and small bats native to the southeastern US made most of the observations in the sewer system, pointing to their widespread presence in the subterranean pipes. Among other animals spotted by the camera traps included, possums, armadillos, cats, black rats, squirrels, egrets, wrens, and toads. Our research offers a comprehensive exploration of vertebrate diversity within an unconventional urban habitat and provides valuable insights into the relationship between SSS and species utilisation patterns, scientists wrote. They hope the findings could lead to more ecologically conscientious urban planning strategies. US: Camera Trap Captures Rare Footage of Bobcat Hunting Alligator Citing a limitation of the research, scientists said the true count of some reptiles could be greater in the sewers as the camera trap system used in the study relied on an animal being warmer than its surroundings to trigger image capture. The detection probabilities of amphibian and reptile species are likely lower than the detection of the endothermic species, they said. Researchers call for further studies to better understand why some amphibians and reptiles enter the sewer system to help prevent them from becoming trapped. If amphibians are falling in from the curb, and are unable to exit, exclusion devices and climbing aids could be implemented to prevent such wildlife from being trapped within SSS, they said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Detectives who investigated the murders of babies, leading to the conviction of nurse Lucy Letby, have launched new probes into whether anyone should be charged with gross negligence manslaughter. Letby is serving 15 whole life orders in prison after being convicted of killing seven babies, and attempting to murder seven more, at the Countess of Chester Hospital nearly a decade ago. In October 2023, police launched a separate investigation into corporate manslaughter by senior leadership at the hospital, but now say they are focusing on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals. Anyone considered a suspect has been informed, Cheshire Constabulary says. Gross negligence manslaughter is a separate offence from corporate manslaughter, the detectives stressed. It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder, the force said. Officers said they would not reveal how many people were now suspects or their identity because no arrests or charges have yet been made. Letby, 35, from Hereford, has protested her innocence and her legal team is appealing against her conviction to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The babies were attacked while she was working as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016. A panel of experts and MP David Davis say there is new evidence showing Letby is innocent ( PA ) As part of her appeal, a panel of experts has claimed Letby did not commit murder after its chair presented significant new medical evidence, suggesting the deaths and injuries were caused by natural causes or bad medical care. The former chief executive of the hospital was worried about a wrongful conviction after Letbys arrest, the Thirlwall public inquiry heard last month. Tony Chambers was said to have had the concerns after Letbys initial detention by Cheshire Constabulary in July 2018. In 2023, the doctor who first raised the alarm over Letby called for NHS managers to be held accountable for ignoring concerns that he raised in July 2015. Lead paediatric consultant Stephen Brearey called for hospital managers to be regulated in the same way as doctors and nurses. Police said on Thursday: Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these. Our investigation into the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Womens Hospital between the period of 2012 to 2016 is also ongoing. Our priority is to maintain the integrity of our ongoing investigations and to support the many families who are at the heart of these. There is a significant public interest in the reporting of these matters; however, every story that is published, statement made or comment posted online that refers to the specific details of a live investigation can impede the course of justice and cause further distress to the families concerned. Sign up for the Independent Women email for the latest news, opinion and features Get the Independent Women email for free Get the Independent Women email for free Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Spotify has taken down Andrew Tates pimping hoes podcast as it was found to be in breach of the companys rules. Before it was removed, the podcast had received 276 comments from users demanding its removal and a petition urging Spotify to remove all content by the self-proclaimed misogynist influencer has gathered more than 90,000 signatures. Spotify continually monitors any content uploaded in case it directly violates its platform rules, but it does not remove content based on the activity of creators outside of the platform. These rules ban dehumanising comments or content that incites violence against people with protected characteristics, such as gender or race. They also ban any content that targets individuals or groups for harassment. Mr Tate and his brother Tristan are currently facing a series of rape and human trafficking allegations in the UK, US and Romania. The brothers, both UK-US nationals, have denied the claims and claim they are being targeted because of their wealth. The ban comes amid media reports that Spotify staff complained about the podcast, which Mr Tate falsely advertised as a degree course. The reports are not believed to have played a role in the decision to remove the content. Pretty vile that were hosting Andrew Tates content, one member of staff also wrote on an internal messaging channel, according to 404 media. The content in question was removed because it violated our policies, not because of employee discussion, Spotify told The Independent. The removal is the latest in a series of podcast removals from Spotify this week. Other podcasts published by Mr Tate are still available on Spotify, including How to get girls fast and easy which has been advertised as a PhD course. The change.org petition has gathered more than 90,000 verified signatures online. It argues the podcasts actively teach men how to manipulate, control, and profit from the exploitation of women. Some Spotify users went as far as cancelling their subscription over Mr Tates content. I cancelled my Spotify Premium subscription on Sunday night, former user Sam Taylor said on social media. Andrew Tate's 'Pimping Hoes Degree course'... gives people a playbook for coercive and control and sexual manipulation - I can't continue to give that company money each month. Mr Tate was first arrested in 2022 on allegations of sexual intercourse with a minor, trafficking minors and money laundering. He has not yet responded to a request for comment. 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 King Charles has reportedly expressed his deep affection for Canada as Donald Trump has threatened to annex the nation and has engaged in a trade war with his northern neighbour. His Majesty, who is also King of Canada, delivered a warm exchange of greetings in French and English to Gregory Peters, the Usher of the Black Rod of the Senate of Canada and Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne ahead of a private meeting on Wednesday. In the 30-minute meeting, they are thought to have discussed topics of great concern to all parties, both nationally and internationally. open image in gallery ( Aaron Chown/PA Wire ) A royal source told The Telegraph that it would have been unusual if they had not discussed Mr Trumps threat to wreak financial devastation on Canada amid an escalating and erratic trade war, alongside repeated vows to make the country Americas 51st state. Charles is very conscious of his global responsibility and unique diplomatic role and is determined to put that to use, a royal source previously said. The audience was held to present Mr Peters with a new ceremonial sword commissioned by the Senate in the Kings honour to mark the change of reign. Charles is said to have shared his personal thanks for what was described as such a thoughtful gesture as he bestowed the sword on Mr Peters. Mr Trump praised King Charles III as a "beautiful man" as Sir Keir Starmer presented a letter inviting the US president for a historic second state visit to the UK last month. open image in gallery ( Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street ) It came as Mr Trump threatened to double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25 per cent to 50 per cent for Canada, before backtracking on the plan just hours later. Trump also threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested on Tuesday that the border is a fictional line. Incoming Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has pledged to impose 29.8 billion Canadian dollars (16bn) worth of retaliatory tariffs until the US commits to free trade. We dont want to do this because we believe in open borders and free and fair trade but we are doing this in response, Mr Carney said. Mr Carney, who will be sworn in Friday, spoke to reporters as Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25 per cent. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the US. I am ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time under a position where there is respect for Canadian sovereignty and we are working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade, Mr Carney said. Despite Mr Trumps claim that the US doesnt need Canada, nearly a quarter of the oil America consumes per day comes from Canada. About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. 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 A recently bereaved pensioner is being forced to move from her home and has been left absolutely petrified after a housing association threatened to evict her from the property shes lived in for over 30 years. Grandmother Maureen Brum, 79, was sent an email in November 2024 by Notting Hill Genesis, giving her notice to quit the family home in Feltham and rejecting her application for discretionary tenancy despite her providing ample evidence that it is her much-loved home. Her daughter Lisa has now launched a petition and garnered the support of her MP and local councillor, with 48,000 people signing in support of Ms Brum, who has been described as a local icon within the west London community. While the housing group has now offered Ms Brum a discretionary tenancy, it is only if she downsizes and moves to a different unknown location, which her family say will prove devastating for her. open image in gallery Mrs Brum has been living at the Feltham address for over 30 years ( Supplied ) What they dont seem to understand is that this isnt just a house, its her home, her daughter Lisa said. Shes lived there for 30 years. If they move her, she will go back to her home. She will try to put her key in the door, and when it doesnt work, she will be frightened and confused. In 1993, the Brum family moved to the three-bedroom property operated by NHG, then known as Notting Hill Housing, with Lisa and her brother Jay remaining there throughout their teenage years. Sadly, their father died in 2007 of bladder cancer and with Jay suffering with his mental health, they placed the tenancy in his name in order to ensure that he would be able to remain there in the event of his mothers death. However, Jay sadly passed away in 2021. A grieving Ms Brum completed the necessary paperwork within a matter of weeks to apply for tenancy succession, so she could live there with her grandson. Shes lost her husband, shes lost her son, shes suffered so much loss that to lose her home would be the end of her Mrs Brum's daughter Lisa The grounds are pretty simple you prove that youve lived there and your relation to the person who was a tenant, her daughter Lisa said. Despite dealing with her grief, Ms Brum supplied the relevant information but failed to hear anything back from NHG for the following three years. Soon after she received an email regarding a kitchen floor repair last October, she was sent an email with a notice to quit, which is similar to an eviction notice and is used for periodic tenancies when the landlord wants the tenant to vacate. Describing the communication as awful, Lisa said that the company requested proof of residence for 2022, 2023, and 2024, which Ms Brum supplied, but this was again rejected with NHG telling them that they had failed to provide evidence for the 12 months before Jay died. Not once in the email had they asked to see documentation from 2020-2021, they asked for it after theyd denied her the discretionary tenancy. The amount of documentation weve had to send is ridiculous, weve had to jump through every hoop. Among the documentation she has provided are bills and GP letters that are dated from 2009 onwards, and include bills from 2014 and 2017 that are in Ms Brums name. The issue weve faced is that its been really difficult to get documentation from three years ago, as the majority of companies only go back 24 months. Ive had to put in FOI requests to Affinity Water and to the local borough council. For Ms Brum the possibility of losing her home, which contains precious memories of her late husband and son, has been devastating. A local character in Feltham, she has run her shop Not Just Nets on Staines Road for over 30 years, working six days a week producing curtains. Mum is really upset about this, its completely knocked her for six. She wont go to the front door, shes unsure if someone is going to get her out of her house, Lisa said. Shes so worried, shes absolutely petrified of losing her home. Shes lost her husband, shes lost her son, shes suffered so much loss that to lose her home would be the end of her. She was frail after Jay died but since this has happened, she has become more and more frail. She still works hard, how many other people know a 79-year-old working every day in her shop? Shes a local icon, everyone knows who she is. open image in gallery Her daughter Lisa (right) has said that leaving her home will be devastating for her mother ( Supplied ) Following contact with both her local councillor and The Independent, Notting Hill Genesis has offered her a discretionary tenancy in a new location, with her family vowing to fight until the end. I think its a flawed system, this could happen to anybody. Maybe they need to relook at that policy and what they can do to make sure this doesnt happen again. A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson said: We apologise to Maureen and her family for the time it has taken to reach a resolution on this matter. There are strong regulations around the succession of social homes to ensure the right home goes to the right household. In this case the tenancy only allowed for one succession, which took place in 2008 when Maureens son took over the property. We understand Maureens preference to remain in the home she already occupies, however we also need to take into consideration other families across London, many of whom are currently living in overcrowded conditions or temporary housing. For these families, the chance to move into a three-bedroom home would be life-changing. We want to support Maureen and have taken the discretionary decision to offer her a new tenancy. We are now working with her and her family to find a suitable alternative home that is an appropriate size and meets her needs. Once that is found, we will fund a professional service to pack up her belongings safely and securely and move them to the new home. 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 Tesco is set to give away food for free in its pursuit to end food waste and hit its net zero targets. The supermarket is trialing a yellow sticker system with marked prices of 0 for food that is about to go out of date, in a change from its usual reductions which see food discounts typically limited to 90 per cent. The company is testing this change in a small number of its Express stores for shoppers who visit past 9.30pm. Tesco aims to give unsold food to charities, but some of it has been used to generate gas that can be burned for energy in a process known as anaerobic digestion, counted as waste. As part of this new trial Tesco will still give food to charities, while staff with get priority for yellow sticker items that had been reduced earlier in the day. open image in gallery Tesco will trial the scheme in some of its Express stores (Jonathan Brady/PA) ( PA Wire ) Any leftover food which is still in stores in the run-up to closing time, which is marked Reduced to Clear, will be available for customers to take home for free as part of the trial. Tesco told staff in an internal memo, seen by The Telegraph, that the trial would allow it to continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations. The brand has set itself ambitious targets to hit Net Zero, which were validated by Science Based Targets Initiative in 2023. One of these targets include to halve food waste in its operations by 2025. Last February the supermarket had to revise its figures about the progress they had made cutting down on food waste, as it emerged that it had been working with a food waste processor using anaerobic digestion. This meant it had cut food waste by just 18 per cent between early 2017 and 2023, instead of the 45 per cent it had believed. A Tesco spokesperson said of its latest trial:We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste. In all our stores we offer unsold surplus food to charities and community groups, donating millions of meals each month. This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Ministers are ploughing 1.3bn into army recruitment to bolster the UKs depleted armed forces and tackle a crisis of staff retention, The Independent can reveal. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) last month announced the creation of a new body, the Armed Forces Recruitment Service (AFRS), to streamline the hiring process and ensure the British military remains ready to face emerging threats. It is set to launch in 2027 and will replace individual schemes run by the Royal Navy, British army, and Royal Air Force. open image in gallery John Healey said deep-set problems were plaguing the armed forces ability to recruit and retain staff ( AP ) A contract for the delivery of AFRS, worth 1.3bn, was awarded to defence and security firm Serco and will run until March 2034. It comes just weeks after the government announced plans to boost defence spending as the UK readies itself to provide peacekeeping troops to Ukraine as part of a plan to end the war with Russia. The new programme is part of an attempt to turn the tide on the growing recruitment crisis plaguing Britains armed forces. The MoD said it would remedy issues with inefficiencies and delays in recruitment that have led to fewer than one in 10 applicants joining the armed forces in 2023. It comes months after the defence secretary said deep-set problems were affecting its ability to recruit and retain staff, confirming that, for the year previous, the armed forces had lost hundreds more full-time staff each month than it had been recruiting. Recruitment targets were set and missed every year; in the last year, service morale fell to record lows, Mr Healey told the defence select committee in the Commons in November. Over the last year, our forces were losing 300 more full-time personnel than were joining, every month. In April 2024, the army fell below its recruitment target for the first time since it was set, with personnel numbers at the lowest level since the Napoleonic wars, at around 73,000 troops. All three branches of the UK armed forces are currently sitting below their size targets. Meanwhile, MoD figures published in June 2024 revealed that more than 15,000 full-time personnel quit the armed forces in the 12 months previous, while just over 11,000 signed up. However, in October 2024, the number of people joining increased by 18.9 per cent since September 2023, and the number of those leaving had decreased by 7.3 per cent. Announcing the AFRS last month, armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the government was taking decisive action to address recruitment and retention challenges and the programme would help it attract top talent. For too long, we have seen keen and capable prospective recruits failed by an outdated system, full of delays and inefficiencies. He added: By making it quicker and easier for people to sign up to serve, while maintaining the very highest standards, we will strengthen our armed forces and make the UK more secure. Our ambition is for those who apply to serve our country to receive a conditional answer within 10 days and a training start date within 30 days. As global threats increase, we are making the changes necessary to get the brightest and best into Britains military. open image in gallery British army soldiers in Poland ( AFP/Getty ) The government also plans to hand retention bonuses to thousands of staff in a bid to tackle the long-term decline in numbers. The scramble to boost recruitment comes amid increasing global instability, and mounting pressure from US president Donald Trump to increase Britains defence capabilities. Last month, Sir Keir Starmer bowed to pressure from Mr Trump to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by slashing foreign aid, just 24 hours before he flew to Washington DC. The PM told a press conference in Downing Street that the decision had been three years in the making since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, describing his decision as a generational moment. The MoD has been contacted for comment. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A cabinet minister accused of misrepresenting his CV has admitted to Parliament that he was wrong to describe himself as a solicitor when he never qualified. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he should have made clear that he was referring to his time as a trainee solicitor in a speech a he made in the House of Commons a decade ago. It is an offence for someone to call themselves a solicitor if they are not qualified and registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the regulator is investigating Mr Reynolds claim. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has apologised for the error ( PA Wire ) Mr Reynolds has faced questions about his career in recent weeks and even apologised to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. He worked as a trainee solicitor in Manchester but left his legal career behind when he entered politics. The MP for Stalybridge and Hyde told the House of Commons on Wednesday evening: "On a point of order, it has come to my attention that in a speech I gave on April 28 2014, recorded in column 614 of Hansard, on the subject of high speed rail, I made a reference to my experience of using our local transport system in Greater Manchester when I worked as a solicitor in Manchester city centre. "I should have made clear that specifically that was a reference at the time of being a trainee solicitor. "This was an inadvertent error and although this speech was over a decade ago, as it has been brought to my attention, I would like to formally correct the record and I seek your advice on doing so." Mr Reynolds also claimed on his old constituency website that he had worked as a solicitor at the Manchester branch of the law firm Addleshaw Goddard before becoming an MP. His LinkedIn profile also previously stated he was both a trainee solicitor and a solicitor with an overlap in dates. The profile has since been updated. When the claims came to light, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed Mr Reynolds had fabricated his CV. But Labour sources argued that the website entry was a human error from his office. In an interview after the row erupted, Mr Reynolds said: For a speech - and I think a tweet or maybe a Facebook post over a decade ago - I dont think its a huge deal, but I should apologise for that, if anyone has misunderstood that, but I dont think they have. It followed interest in Rachel Reevess CV, following allegations that the chancellor exaggerated her Bank of England experience. Questions arose after a BBC investigation found she had stopped working for the bank nine months earlier than stated on her LinkedIn profile. There were also allegations that she had been investigated for using company expenses in a former job to buy handbags, perfume, earrings and wine for colleagues at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). These claims have been disputed. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Sir Keir Starmer has abolished NHS England to bring the health service back into government control in an attempt to cut bureaucracy and save money. In a surprise move, the leader of the party which founded the NHS, announced he would abolish the independent quango which has run the health service for more than a decade, cutting up to 10,000 jobs. Ministers said the plans would help deliver savings of hundreds of millions of pounds every year, which would be used to cut waiting times by slashing red tape to help speed up improvements in the health service. The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed the move with a sliver of caution, as her party warned Labour that it had to deliver, while health bodies and unions said another reorganisation of the NHS risked diverting time and energy away from improving care for patients. However, former Tory health minister James Bethell tweeted: I wish we'd had the guts to do this. open image in gallery Government ministers have pledged more money for frontline services ( PA Archive ) The dramatic move comes just days after an exodus of people at the top of NHS England, including the resignation of its chief executive and medical director. Announcing the reform during a speech in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, Sir Keir pledged to go further and cut bureaucracy across the state, focus government on the priorities of working people [and] shift money to the front line". He said scrapping NHS England would put the NHS back at the heart of government where it belongs, freeing it to focus on patients, less bureaucracy, with more money for nurses. An NHS refocused on cutting waiting times at your hospital". And he added that it was far from the only tough choice he would make, promising: In this era, they will keep on coming. Under the plans, which are set to begin now but could take up to two years to implement fully, NHS England, which the government described as the "world's largest quango", will be brought back under the Department of Health and Social Care. open image in gallery The PM in Kingston upon Hull on Thursday ( AFP/Getty ) Sir Keir said the body, created by the Tories a decade ago, had resulted in a huge amount of duplication at a time when waiting lists mean the NHS can least afford it. He told his audience: "We're duplicating things that could be done once. If we strip that out, which is what we're doing today, that then allows us to free up that money. Health secretary Wes Streeting said the reform was the final nail in the coffin of the previous governments disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which had led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction, and most expensive NHS in history. The move is expected to save at least 500m a year and could see around half of the 15,300 people who work for NHS England and half of the 3,300 who work at the Department of Health lose their jobs. open image in gallery Wes Streeting answered questions on NHS Englands abolition in the Commons ( House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire ) Sir James Mackey, CEO of NHS England, backed the change, although he admitted the announcement was unsettling for the organisations staff. But health think tanks warned that another reorganisation of the NHS risked diverting and distracting staff from the job of improving the health service for patients. Hugh Alderwick, director of policy at the Health Foundation, warned: History tells us that rejigging NHS organisations is hugely distracting and rarely delivers the benefits politicians expect. Scrapping NHS England completely will cause disruption and divert time and energy of senior leaders at a time when attention should be focused on improving care for patients. open image in gallery NHS England was the brainchild of former Tory health secretary Andrew Lansley ( PA ) Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The Kings Fund, said the potential savings were a minimal part of the huge NHS budget, adding that structural change comes with significant opportunity cost, with staff who would otherwise be spending their time trying to improve productivity, ensure safety, and get the best outcomes for patients, now worrying about whether they will have a job. Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, warned: The chaotic reorganisation that created NHS England cost billions and took money and attention away from clinical care. Nobody can afford a repeat now that NHS performance is already at a historic low and money is scarce. That view was echoed by Prof Phil Banfield, chair of the British Medical Association council, who said: "Doctors' experiences of reorganisations of the NHS have not been positive. This must not become a distraction from the crucial task that lies ahead. Union bosses hit out at the way the PM announced the job losses, with NHS England sources telling The Independent they were given no notice and that there were gasps in the office when the news broke. Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: The way the news of the axing has been handled is nothing short of shambolic. It could surely have been managed in a more sympathetic way. Despite creating NHS England, the Tories appeared to cautiously welcome its abolition. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: "I think every government that is elected should do whatever it thinks it needs to do to deliver services for the public. "So if that's what they think is needed, then I have no qualms with that. I don't think everything needs to go to a quango. Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: We support measures to streamline NHS management and the principle of taking direct control. But he added: Labour ministers now have nowhere to hide or anyone else to blame on NHS performance. The Liberal Democrats said the reform was a welcome move but it would not matter unless Mr Streeting stops ignoring the elephant in the room to reform social care to reducing the number of people stuck in hospital with no need to be there. Last week, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England medical director, said he would stand down this summer, just a week after the surprise resignation of boss Amanda Pritchard, closely followed by three other senior managers. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to to fight the overcautious and flabby British state, promising root and branch reform of the civil service. Ahead of a speech on Thursday, where he will put thousands of civil servants on job alert, the prime minister made the stark admission that record tax and spending in recent years has not led to improvement in front-line services. Writing in The Telegraph, the prime minister described the civil service as overstretched, unfocused and unable to deliver the security people need today. His warning that the state has become bigger, but weaker is a significant intervention for the leader of a Labour government and echoes the sentiments of Trump-ally Elon Musk, who has been tasked with slashing bureaucracy in the US administration. But Sir Keir insisted he is not interested in ideological arguments about whether it should be bigger or smaller. I simply want it to work. open image in gallery Keir Starmer ( House of Commons ) Speaking on Thursday, the PM will hail a 45bn jackpot from digitalising government services, linked to announcements over the weekend about reforming Whitehall to cut costs. In a worrying sign for many civil servants, he will insist that jobs should not exist if artificial intelligence (AI) or computers can do them better. Sir Keir will hail a new era in government operations and while ministers have refused to set a target on how many jobs may be scrapped, his words suggest a potential major reduction. The prime minister is expected to say: The great forces buffeting the lives of working people, and an era of instability driving in their lives. The need for greater urgency now could not be any clearer. We must move further and faster on security and renewal. Every pound spent, every regulation, every decision must deliver for working people. If we push forward with the digitisation of government services. There are up to 45bn worth of savings and productivity benefits, ready to be realised. And thats before we even consider the golden opportunity of artificial intelligence. An opportunity I am determined to seize. Ahead of the speech, technology secretary Peter Kyle said: There is a 45bn jackpot to secure if we use technology properly across our public sector but we cant hope to come close to securing that if we dont have the right technical talent with us in government. Not only will these changes help fix our public services, but it will save taxpayer cash by slashing the need for thousands of expensive contractors and create opportunities across the country as part of our plan for change. In his speech Sir Keir will set out how he will go further and faster in reshaping the state to make it work for working people. Reflecting on international events of the last few weeks, he will say that national security is economic security, and therefore the fundamental task of politics right now is to take the decisions needed on national security, to deliver security for people at home. open image in gallery Reforms will mean the Civil Service becoming smaller, with more of the remaining jobs moving outside of London (Yui Mok/PA) ( PA Archive ) The prime minister will set out his belief in the power of an active government that takes care of the big questions, so people can get on with their lives. He will share his diagnosis that the state has become bigger, but weaker and isnt delivering on its core purpose, before outlining his mission to reshape it. He will say that the new global era of instability means that the Government must double down in delivering security for working people and renewing our nation. The intervention follows the governments step change in approach to regulation and regulators, following the abolition of the Payment Services Authority as the Prime Minister commits to a government wide target to cut administrative costs of regulation by 25 per cent. New plans announced to support delivery will include new AI and tech teams sent into public sector departments to drive improvements and efficiency in public services. One in 10 civil servants will work in tech and digital roles within the next five years with 2,000 tech apprenticeships turbo charging the transformation. open image in gallery Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (PA) ( PA Wire ) The moves come as the Government slashes the costs of red tape by a quarter for businesses. The approach will be underpinned by the mantra that No persons substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard. The digitisation will include the sweeping modernisations, a new apprenticeship scheme, TechTrack, will bring 2,000 apprentices into public sector departments by 2030, making sure the UK government has the skills needed to overhaul public services using tech - creating new opportunities across the country and delivering on the plan for change. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Slashing billions from the benefit bill and cutting the size of the civil service does not mark a return to austerity, Sir Keir Starmer has insisted, vowing that we are not going down that route. There is mounting unease at the prime ministers plans to cut welfare spending by up to 6bn but Sir Keir said part of the problem weve got with our public services is what was done to them a decade or so ago by David Cameron and George Osborne. We are not going down that route, none of our plans go down that route, the PM vowed. open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer has vowed no return to austerity under Labour ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) He added that under Labour there is no return to austerity. But deputy chief executive of think tank the New Economics Foundation (NEF) Hannah Peaker said: Balancing the books on the backs of some of the most vulnerable in society is austerity, no matter how you want to spin it. After over a decade of brutal spending cuts, the UK has the weakest social safety net in the developed world. And former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Labour risks being like George Osborne all over again. The independent MP, who was suspended for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, told Times Radio cutting benefits was not the right plan. He added: Certainly not for a Labour government. It's a sort of return to some of the harsher forms of austerity that we've seen under the Tories, under George Osborne." Sir Keir made the promise after announcing he was axing NHS England to bring the health service back under government control amid a wider drive to streamline the civil service. Now, he said, it was time to turn attention to the benefits system, which is also in need of reform. He said: When it comes to welfare, there are important principles: We must support those that need support, but equally we must help those who want to get back into work, into work. And, at the moment, the system doesn't do that." He said the current welfare system cannot be defended on economic terms or moral terms, adding, We've set up a system that basically says 'if you try the journey from where you are into work and anything goes wrong, you'll probably end up in a worse position than when you started'. "And so, understandably, many people say 'well, I'm a bit scared about making that journey', therefore we're baking in too many people not being able to get into work. And that's across the board. "I use the example of young people, because I just think it's so tragic that people who are just starting their journey in life are already stuck in a system that won't let them get to where they need to be, in my view. And that is not a good thing, I don't think, for them or for the country." But Sir Keirs insistence that his cuts do not amount to a return to austerity are unlikely to quell growing unease among Labour MPs at the planned reduction in welfare spending. It comes a day after a Labour MP poised to rebel over the cuts said she could not look her mum in the eyes if she voted for the proposals, estimated to save between 5bn and 6bn. Nadia Whittome, who has spoken publicly about living with multiple disabilities, said you cannot incentivise people out of sickness. She told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: It was wrong when David Cameron cut welfare, it would be wrong for us to do that now. It's not disabled people who crashed the economy or who are responsible for rising rents or falling living standards. We must not scapegoat them for the failures and the political choices of conservative government. open image in gallery Diane Abbott said Keir Starmer was balancing the governments books on the backs of disabled people ( PA Archive ) Fellow left-winger Diane Abbott said Sir Keir was seeking to balance the government books on the back of disabled people. The NEF meanwhile has warned the governments planned benefit cuts will actually end up being 1.5 billion bigger than current plans suggest. Its economists have warned that government plans to close the gap between payments to those on universal credit (UC) and those claiming disability benefits would take an extra 1.5 billion off of payments to ill and disabled people. We urgently need honesty from the government about the scale of the cuts they have planned, NEF head of social policy Tom Pollard said. He added: We have seen a very real increase in the scale and complexity of poor health and disability in the working-age population, compounded by a cost-of-living crisis, crumbling public services and poor-quality, insecure work. We should be tackling these underlying causes and supporting more people to work and live independently where possible. But slashing the incomes of people in this situation will fail to deliver sustainable savings and will make millions of peoples lives even harder than they already are. Sir Keirs benefit cuts faced a setback as austerity architect Mr Osborne pointed out even he did not go as far as the prime minister is planning. Ahead of a major cut to the welfare bill next week, the PM is reportedly planning to freeze personal independence payments (PIP) for the ill and disabled. I didn't freeze PIP. I thought [it] would not be regarded as very fair, the former Tory chancellor told his Political Currency podcast. In a sign of how far to the right Labour has tacked on welfare spending to shore up support for Sir Keir, Mr Osborne added that he tried to make the payments less generous. But Iain Duncan Smith resigned as the welfare secretary from the cabinet over that, and I had to back down on it, he said. Hailing the abolition of the worlds biggest quango in NHS England, Sir Keir said scrapping the body would cut bureaucracy and boost democratic accountability for the health service. He also described the overcautious and flabby civil service as overstretched, unfocused and unable to deliver the security people need today. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Sir Keir Starmer is in a race against time to secure a deal with Donald Trumps White House to escape tariffs on steel and aluminium, and dodge further reciprocal tariffs which could come into play at the start of next month. It comes after the White House imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on Wednesday, signalling that last-ditch efforts to persuade Mr Trump to spare British industry from his global tariffs failed. While the European Union responded by announcing trade counter-measures and hitting American goods with retaliatory tariffs, the prime minister resisted calls for the UK to immediately hit back. open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer is in a race against time to secure a deal with Donald Trumps White House ( PA Wire ) Instead, British officials are already working at pace with their US counterparts to get an economic agreement over the line, which would exempt Britain from the 25 per cent tariffs announced by Mr Trump on Wednesday. A minister on Thursday told MPs business secretary Jonathan Reynolds is in talks with the US and is standing up for British industry. Business minister Sarah Jones said: Of course, we will continue talking with the US, as the secretary of state has been doing, and make sure we are standing up for British industry and doing the right thing." It comes after the prime minister insisted all options are on the table when it comes to responding to Mr Trumps tariffs, but promised to take a pragmatic approach. While he said he was disappointed by the decision, he reminded MPs at PMQs that the UK is negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed. The Independent understands conversations have already started taking place between trade teams on either side of the Atlantic, with the UK government hopeful it can get a deal over the line as quickly as possible. And next week, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will travel to Washington for talks as part of the governments ramped-up effort to come to an agreement. However, well-placed sources within the Trump White House on Wednesday told The Independent that the UK can get a quick trade deal, but free speech issues raised by vice-president JD Vance with Sir Keir are likely to get in the way. open image in gallery The White House imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on Wednesday ( Reuters ) Mr Vance will be in charge of the US side of the talks, and The Independent has been told he will be prioritising free speech amid anger over people being arrested for posting on social media and proposed online safety legislation, which he sees as an assault on US tech companies. It comes as the US president gears up to impose wider tariffs of 25 per cent on all imports from countries that charge VAT on imports from the US, including the UK something which could be imposed as soon as 1 April. While government sources stressed that they never put timelines on trade deals, there is pressure on negotiators to reach an agreement before the April deadline. Meanwhile, The Times reported the date has been World Tariff Day in Whitehall as officials scramble to get a deal over the line and keep Sir Keirs plan for the economy on track. In the wake of Wednesdays tariff announcement, officials stressed the need for a cool-headed approach. But there is growing pressure on ministers to follow the EUs approach and bolster the UKs trade defences. Gareth Stace, the director-general of trade association UK Steel, branded the Trump administrations move hugely disappointing and urged the government to take decisive action to protect the industry. Meanwhile, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called for steel to be immediately designated as critical national infrastructure to properly protect it. And the steelworkers union Community said Britain must match any measures taken in response to the tariffs by the European Union at a minimum. 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 Doctors are fighting to save the legs of a woman who was trapped in her car for six days after crashing into a ditch in Indiana. Brieonna Cassell, 41, was stuck inside her Ford Taurus for six days after her car wrecked into the ditch off a rural road in Newton County, Indiana. After surviving the harrowing ordeal, the mother of three began treatment at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. When she arrived at the hospital, she had compound fractures and infections in both of her legs and a compound fracture in one of her wrists. Cassell underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon. Doctors are waiting to see if her infections are going to heal before they continue with further treatment and surgeries. If the infections in her legs do not heal, then doctors may be forced to amputate them. open image in gallery Brieonna Cassell, the second from the right, with her family. Cassell was trapped in her car for six days after she wrecked into a ditch in Indiana ( GoFundMe ) Police believed she fell asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus and veered off the road while driving near the small town of Brook, approximately 80 miles south of Chicago. Cassell crashed into a very big, deep ditch that couldnt be seen from the road, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told ABC7 Chicago. He added that passersby couldnt hear her cries for help from their cars. She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn't see her from the road, her father said. The crash pinned her legs inside the vehicle and kept her from moving, but Cassell was resourceful and found a way to keep herself alive despite being immobilized. To avoid dying of dehydration, Cassell put her vehicle in neutral, allowing it to slide further into the ditch, where she could then whip her cardigan out of her window to soak in the muddy waters around her car. She then sucked the liquid from her garment. She put the car in reverse and let it roll back down the bank to the water, so she could reach out, Aaron Cassell, her husband, told WGN9. She could only reach out with one arm to reach the water and then let it soak up in there and pull up and suck the water out of the hood. open image in gallery Cassell was airlifted to Chicago Hospital Tuesday after being located, the Sheriff's Office said ( x ) After six days, an equipment operator named Johnny Martinez spotted Cassell's vehicle and reported it to his immediate supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also the volunteer fire chief of the nearby town, Morocco. Martinez and Vanderwall investigated the vehicle and found Cassel conscious. They then called for medical assistance. First responders provided initial treatment at the scene and then handed Cassell off to a life-flight helicopter. Cassell's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the woman cover her medical bills. Lexie Cassell, Brieonna's 23-year-old daughter, said her mother does not have health insurance. The fundraiser has brought in $13,000 of its $25,000 goal. 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 Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu that has decimated flocks and driven egg prices to record highs of nearly $6 a dozen, but concerns over valuable export markets are hindering their widespread adoption. The US Department of Agriculture has pledged $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. The funding is part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices. While egg and turkey producers, whose products are primarily consumed domestically, have been hardest hit by the outbreak, the chicken meat producers remain the most hesitant to vaccines. Their reluctance stems from fears that vaccinating flocks could jeopardise lucrative export markets, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year. Why is a vaccine needed? Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022. Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens, and the death of so many hens is the main reason egg prices keep rising. The average price per dozen has hit $5.90, and in some part of the country, it is far higher. Poultry veterinarian Simon Shane, who runs www.Egg-News.com, said the government is hesitant to use vaccines and change its policy of killing birds largely because of the meat chicken industry's opposition. Basically this is a political issue, and this only came to a head because eggs are at $8 to $9 a dozen, and its embarrassing the government embarrassing the present administration, Shane said. Why doesn't the US use a bird flu vaccine? Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to devise an effective system and monitor for outbreaks within vaccinated flocks that might not show any symptoms, said John Clifford, the USDA's former longtime chief veterinary officer, who now works with a poultry industry export group. Once that is figured out, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trade problems. What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share that with the trading partners and then find out what kind of impact that that will have on trade, Clifford said. There are fears that vaccinating could allow the virus to linger undetected in flocks and mutate in ways that could make it more of a threat to humans and allow sick birds to get into the food supply. Like with other diseases, properly cooking chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken buyers don't want it there at all. open image in gallery Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) For meat chicken, known as broilers, the virus isn't as significant because those birds are slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks old and thus have less chance of being infected compared with egg-laying hens, which live to 2 years or older. Also most broilers are raised in the Southeast, which hasn't had as many outbreaks as the Midwest and West. Another delay to vaccinating concerns distribution. Egg farmers want to administer it through chicken feed or water, saying it's not practical to give shots to millions of birds in a single barn. It can also be difficult to tell the difference between a vaccinated bird and one that has been sick with the virus. That would make other countries nervous about importing meat. People have talked about how expensive it would be to monitor vaccinated populations. And it would be. But where do we want to spend our money? said Dr. Carol Cardona, a bird flu expert at the University of Minnesota. Were spending our money hand over fist right now in depopulation and to buy eggs for breakfast. What does the experience in other countries show? China and Mexico have been vaccinating their poultry for years, but they take different approaches. In Mexico, chicken are vaccinated, but Clifford said the country doesn't slaughter flocks when infections are found. That basically ensures the virus is present in poultry. China still slaughters vaccinated flocks when infections are found, which has proven more effective at limiting the spread of the virus and reigning in outbreaks. Clifford said the U.S. would need to continue culling flocks with outbreaks even after vaccinating, and it might make sense to give shots only to egg layers and turkeys, not broilers. Will it help egg prices? Don't expect big relief anytime soon. The USDA, which did not respond to a request for comment for this article sent last week, clearly isn't moving to vaccinate immediately. And, regardless, it will take time to raise new hens. Were going to have to wait to replace those with new hatched chicks, and it takes 20 weeks before they even start laying, Shane said. So I dont know where theyre going to get the eggs from. Prices may ease somewhat later this year after peak demand, which happens around Easter, if massive egg farms in Iowa, Ohio, California and elsewhere can avoid more outbreaks. The USDA has predicted that average egg prices will be 41 percent higher than the 2024 average of $3.17 per dozen. That would mean $4.47 per dozen, slightly below the current average. 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 struggling film producer fleeced a longtime pal of his fathers in an audacious con that netted the 41-year-old more than $7 million over a seven-year period, authorities allege. The victim, who is identified in court records by the initials R.P., has known the scammer, Justin Berns, since he was four, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Wednesday and reviewed by The Independent. Bernss brazen scam revolved around an ongoing financial hard-luck tale featuring phony bank documents, bogus collection agency letters, and a California attorney who never actually existed, the affidavit states. The West Hollywood resident co-produced the popular web series My Gay Roommate, which ran for three seasons and spawned a made-for-TV movie, which Berns co-executive produced. He produced three or so other projects, in 2016 and 2017, while working in digital marketing at 20th Century Studios, Bernss LinkedIn profile shows. Federal agents arrested him in Michigan on March 11, but Berns, whose Facebook profile includes photos that show him hobnobbing with various political figures, does not yet have a lawyer listed on the docket and was not able to be reached for comment. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Bernss father, who lives in South Florida, told The Independent that he cant talk now, before quickly hanging up. Bernss alleged ruse kicked off in April 2017, when Bernss dad told R.P., a friend of his since 1987, that his son was in the midst of substantial financial hardship, the FBI affidavit states. He said he had been helping Berns pay off a mountain of debt, but that he himself had since run out of money in the process, the affidavit explains. (Bernss father is not accused of any wrongdoing.) Berns then connected with R.P., telling the Palm Beach County, Florida, resident that due to his extensive debts, history of overdrafts, and writing bounced checks, the money his dad had given him was tied up and frozen by [his] banks, the affidavit goes on. He said he needed R.P.s funds to pay off a certain amount of his existing debt, which would subsequently unfreeze the funds his father had fronted him, according to the affidavit. Once the money was unfrozen, Berns assured R.P. he would pay back both him and his dad, the affidavit continues. R.P. agreed to lend Berns what he needed, believing he was helping his old friends son get back on his feet, the affidavit states. open image in gallery Justin Berns's alleged ruse drew the attention of the feds, who say he extracted more than $7 million from a close family friend ( AFP via Getty Images ) So, R.P. soon began wiring money according to Bernss instructions, the affidavit says. However, each time R.P. sent the amount Berns had requested, he would ask for more, floating an array of excuses as to why his accounts were still frozen. On some occasions, [Berns] would tell R.P. that his money was received but reversed by the bank weeks later due to his blacklisted status with various banks and credit unions, the affidavit contends. [Berns] told R.P. that the banks collaborate with one another, and therefore several banks know of his poor financial history. [Berns] explained that banks use Early Warning Services and Chexsystems as a weapon against consumers attempting to utilize the banks services. To bolster his claims, Berns regularly sent R.P. screenshots of his accounts, purportedly showing large amounts of money, sitting there frozen, the affidavit alleges. It says he backed these up with correspondence from various collection agencies he claimed were working on behalf of the banks, insisting to R.P. that, for these reasons, he was unable to send and receive money through traditional banking methods. Berns told R.P. that he hired a lawyer named Stephen Hernandez to help him fight back against the banks and collection agencies, according to the affidavit. R.P. subsequently began receiving regular emails from Hernandez, who kept him updated on the details of Bernss financial circumstances, forwarding emails and other documentation from banks and collections firms from his own Gmail account, the affidavit states. One included a promissory note from Berns to R.P., drafted by Hernandez, for $3.9 million, it says. According to R.P., Hernandezs emails to R.P. legitimized [Bernss] situation, the affidavit states. Yet, it maintains, each time R.P. called Hernandez at the number Berns gave him, no one ever picked up the phone. When R.P. tried to confirm Hernandezs identity for himself, he was unable to do so, as was a California-based attorney he hired to track him down, according to the affidavit. It says FBI investigators analyzed subscriber and IP login records for the Gmail address Hernandez used to communicate with R.P., and found it had been created around the same time Berns claimed to have retained him. IP connection logs for the Hernandez Gmail account also overlapped with connection logs for Bernss personal email address, the affidavit states, noting that the contents of Hernandezs Gmail only pertain to communications with R.P. and not to any other clients. open image in gallery ( US District Court for the Southern District of Florida ) As it turned out, Berns created Stephen Hernandez out of whole cloth, according to the affidavit. Throughout the investigation the FBI has attempted to verify Hernandezs existence and status as a California attorney, the affidavit maintains. The California State Bar confirmed that there is no record of a person named Stephen Hernandez ever being licensed to practice law in California since the Bar's establishment in 1927. Last March, a letter on TD Bank letterhead that Berns sent to R.P. showed a balance of roughly $6.4 million, and told his benefactor it would release the funds within three to five business days, according to the affidavit. But, the FBI says it contacted TD Bank, which said Bernss accounts had already been closed at that point, there was no money in them, and confirmed that the letter was counterfeit, the affidavit states. It says the FBI also got in touch with Transworld Systems, the collection agency Berns claimed was hounding him, having sent R.P. at least 21 letters purportedly from a pair of employees at the firms office in Horsham, Pennsylvania, named R. Saguaro and A.L. Maxwell. Again, TSI executives told the FBI that the company not only had no record of any accounts related to Berns, and didnt send the letters, it didnt have an office at that address, and did not have any employees by those names, according to the affidavit. Therefore, it appears that these letters were also fraudulently created by [Berns] and sent to R.P. in an effort to further his fraud scheme and extract additional money from R.P., the affidavit alleges. In all, the affidavit says R.P. wired Berns over $7 million between May 2018 and May 2024. Berns does not appear to have any other course of income, it contends, adding that, to date, R.P. has not been repaid. Furthermore, the affidavit concludes, an analysis of bank records received revealed that [Berns] used the funds received from R.P. on international travel, luxury hotels, nightclubs, gambling, and personal living expenses. Berns is facing one count of wire fraud, a charge that could put him behind bars for up to 20 years. He remains detained pending an initial appearance on April 2 in West Palm Beach federal court. 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 US influencer has sparked backlash and calls for her deportation from Australia after she grabbed a baby wombat from its mother. Sam Jones, who claims to be a wildlife biologist and environmental scientist posted a video to Instagram showing her taking the marsupial and then running across the road dangling the joey, while its mother gives chase. An Australian man in the since-deleted video can be heard laughing and says, Look at the mother, its chasing after her! I caught a baby wombat! Jones says in the video, as the baby makes distressed noises. OK mamas right there and she is p***ed, lets let him go, she adds, before walking across the road to release the baby. Australian radio station 2GB reported that she captioned the video: My dream of holding a wombat has been realised! Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush. While she added in the caption that the baby and mum were safely united, the video drew swift condemnation. Jones, who has more than 100,000 followers combined on TikTok and Instagram, has since deleted the clip, and has made both her social media accounts private. Australian native animals are protected by law, and wildlife rescue organisation Wires confirmed to News.com.au that such an act was illegal. WIRES Wildlife Vet Dr Tania Bishop told the news outlet that the joey looked about eight months old, an age where it would be relying on its mums protection at all times. Dr Bishop said the situation would have been distressing for both mother and joey, but Jones could have also injured the baby by the way she carried it. open image in gallery The baby wombat could be heard squealing in the video while dangling from the influencers arms ( Reuters ) When shes running, its not supported underneath, and wombats are incredibly solid, especially in their back end, so theres every chance she could have fractured the upper humerus, or the top of the arms, or caused damage to the shoulders, she said. The vet also pointed out the influencer potentially put the mother in harms way, as she could have been hit by a car running across the road. In a Reddit thread on the video, users said they were depressed and angry to see this behaviour. One pointed out that if the wombat was a Northern Hairy-nosed wombat, it would be on the protected species lists and she could face even tougher penalties for handling it, including a fine of up to $330,000 (160,500). Every Aussie knows. You see baby wildlife with its family you leave it alone. They aren't toys for your amusement, one user said in the subreddit thread on r/Australia. Its not just the entitlement its the disrespect. That her first instinct is not awe and gratitude to see this animal in the wild but to rush in to greedily exploit the moment for personal gain no matter the trauma it causes to anything and anyone else, its such an indictment on her character. Absolutely shameful, another said. A third said: Oh my god. Why do people feel the need to just insert themselves in nature and desecrate it? Leave them be! This poor mother is trying to protect her young. Disgusting behaviour. Other users called for her to be deported and banned from Australia. Arrest. Fine. Deport. Ban. One user said. Another added: That poor wombat. Australia needs to do more to kick these morons out. 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 Canadian businesswoman who was arrested in the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents over an incomplete visa is being held in inhumane conditions in an Arizona detention center, according to her family, who have now gone public in an attempt to secure her release. Jasmine Mooney, 35, co-founder of the Holy! Water health drink brand, was detained after crossing the San Ysidro border between Mexico and San Diego on March 3. She was carrying an incomplete application for a new Trade NAFTA (TN) work visa after her first was unexpectedly revoked, according to her mother, Alexis Eagles. Eagles said her daughter was subsequently held for three nights at the border before being transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Centre in San Diego for three more. An online tracking system then indicated Mooney had been released, only for it to emerge that she had been transferred to the San Luis Detention Center in Arizona. Mooney, speaking to ABCs 10 News San Diego from the latter facility, said: Every single guard that sees me is like What are you doing here? I dont understand youre Canadian. How are you here? open image in gallery U.S. Marines pictured along the U.S.-Mexico border near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, where Mooney was first detained, in San Diego with Tijuana, Mexico, in the background ( AP ) She said of her time at the Otay Mesa facility: I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days. Mooney said that she and 30 other women were then relocated to Arizona in the middle of the night, adding: We were up for 24 hours wrapped in chains. I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane, she said of conditions in the San Luis center. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has so far declined to say on what precise grounds Mooney was detained, citing privacy restrictions, according to 10 News. However, they did say the agency routinely prevents travelers from entering the country on 60 different grounds, adding that it treats all travelers with integrity, respect and professionalism. Mooney is understood to have moved to Los Angeles, California, in the summer 2024 to work on her water venture on a three-year TN work visa. However, her authorization was revoked by a customs officer at Vancouver airport in November when she attempted to return to L.A. after visiting her family in British Columbia. They told me I was unprofessional because I didnt have a proper letterhead on my paperwork, she explained. Eagles said her daughter had entered the U.S. via Mexico when she was granted her first visa and had been attempting to do the same this time. We have no issue with her being denied entry, we have no issue with her initially being detained, she said. But we have a huge issue with the inhumane treatment she is receiving and that she knows nothing, has not been charged and has not been able to speak with us directly. open image in gallery Mooney said that her visa was revoked because of a simple admin error ( EPA ) Mooneys Chicago-based business partner BJ McCaslin told Postmedia News: It seems like a nightmare and living hell. I dont know how someone in her position can be subject to this, and not released immediately once they found out the circumstances. McCaslin added: Shes definitely not a criminal. She [was] coming to a health-food product exposition [in Anaheim]. Shes an upstanding person who is very well-respected in our industry. I fully support the American government, but Im very fearful for my friend. Brittany Kors, Mooneys best friend, told 10 News: I just feel really helpless We dont know what the next steps are. We dont even know the reason why they are holding her there. Global Affairs Canada has said it is aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen in Arizona. Consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and to provide consular assistance. Every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The government of Canada cannot intervene on behalf of Canadian citizens with regard to the entry and exit requirements of another country. Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Kuwait has released a group of American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on drug-related charges, in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill between two allies, a representative for the detainees told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the Trump administration's top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued U.S. government push to bring home American citizens jailed in foreign countries. Six of the newly freed prisoners were accompanied on a flight from Kuwait to New York by Jonathan Franks, a private consultant who works on cases involving American hostages and detainees and who had been in the country to help secure their release. My clients and their families are grateful to the Kuwaiti government for this kind humanitarian gesture, Franks said in a statement. He said that his clients maintain their innocence and that additional Americans he represents also are expected to be released by Kuwait later. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The names of the released prisoners were not immediately made public. Kuwait did not acknowledge the release on its state-run KUNA news agency and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and its upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday typically see prisoner releases across Muslim-majority nations. Kuwait, a small, oil-rich nation that borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and is near Iran, is considered a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid tribute to that relationship as recently as last month, when he said the U.S. remains steadfast in its support for Kuwaits sovereignty and the well-being of its people. The countries have had a close military partnership since America launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the country, with some 13,500 American troops stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base. But Kuwait has also detained many American military contractors on drug charges, in some cases, for years. Their families have alleged that their loved ones faced abuse while imprisoned in a country that bans alcohol and has strict laws regarding drugs. Others have criticized Kuwaiti police for bringing trumped-up charges and manufacturing evidence used against them allegations never acknowledged by the autocratic nation ruled by a hereditary emir. The State Department warns travelers that drug charges in Kuwait can carry long prison sentences and the death penalty. Defense cooperation agreements between the U.S. and Kuwait likely include provisions that ensure U.S. troops are subject only to American laws, though that likely doesnt include contractors. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, his Republican administration has secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel in a prisoner swap with Russia and has announced the release by Belarus of an imprisoned U.S. citizen. The Americans released Wednesday had not been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained. The status is applied to a subsection of Americans jailed abroad and historically ensures the case is handled by the administration's special presidential envoy for hostage affairs the office that handles negotiations for a release. But advocates of those held in foreign countries are hopeful the Trump administration takes a more flexible approach and secures the release of those not deemed wrongfully detained. The sad reality is that these Americans were left in prison for years due to a misguided policy that had, before President Trump took office, effectively abandoned Americans abroad who hadn't been designated wrongfully detained, Franks said in a statement. These releases," he added, demonstrate what is achievable when the U.S. government prioritizes bringing Americans home. ___ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 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 Former First Lady Michelle Obama will open up about life and her marriage to former President Barack Obama in a new podcast featuring her brother. Launching on Wednesday, IMOshort for In My Opinionwill see Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, discuss their life experiences, interview celebrities, and take questions from listeners. According to reports, the show will not delve too deeply into politics. Let's be real: we are living through some really complicated and confusing times, and people are feeling more alone than ever, Obama says in a trailer for the podcast. But I've learned that if you're feeling a certain kind of way, the reality is that others are probably feeling that way too, and when you take the time to be just a little vulnerable and open up about it, it's a whole lot easier to find the answers you're looking for. She said weekly guests would keep us honest while also sharing their own insights about life, whether you are navigating the grey areas of marriage and raising kids, dealing with a little friend drama, or even figuring out how to put yourself out there in the dating world. open image in gallery Former First Lady Michelle Obama did not address the unfounded rumors involving her own marriage in the trailer ( Getty Images ) In a review of the first two episodes, the New York Times said Obama and her brother discuss Robinsons divorce and her initial reluctance to support her husbands bid for the presidency. The second interview includes a chat with actress Issa Rae about how to maintain adult friendships. Obama also discloses that she has finally started driving again after years of Secret Service restrictions. According to Higher Ground, the Obamas production company, IMO will combine the unique experiences and candid perspectives of Obama and Robinson. Each week, they will be joined by a special guest or expert to share hilarious, practical, and insightful opinions that shaped each of their remarkable journeys. This podcast will leave you laughing, reflecting, and feeling more prepared to tackle lifes challenges, Higher Ground said in a press release. Slated guests include actors Seth Rogan and Keke Palmer, director Tyler Perry and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. The podcast will also be available in video form. The Obamas have been dogged by persistent and unfounded divorce rumours after the First lady did not appear at either former President Jimmy Carters funeral or at President Donald Trumps inauguration. open image in gallery Michelle Obama didnt attend Jimmy Carters funeral earlier this year ( Getty Images ) The hearsay forced Jennifer Aniston into publicly refuting rumours that she had an affair with Barack Obama, saying she had only met him once in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel late last year, adding that she knew Michelle better than the former president. However, this past Valentine's Day the former president showed the marriage was still going strong, sharing a touching tribute to his wife of more than 30 years. Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away, he wrote on X, sharing a happy photograph of the couple. Happy Valentines Day, @MichelleObama! This marks the third podcast launched by the former First Lady. She released her first, The Michelle Obama Podcast in 2020 followed by The Light We Carry in 2023. 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 remains of a two-year-old boy who went missing at the start of this month were recovered in Oregon on Tuesday. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said Dane Paulsen was located in the Siletz River following an extensive search when a volunteer diver spotted the boy in the water three miles downstream from his familys home. Dane went missing on March 1 around 4:25 p.m. He was last seen playing in the yard outside his house. Siletz is a city along the states coast. Its located about 130 miles south of Portland. "Our thoughts are with the family, who are facing an unbearable sorrow," said Sheriff Adam Shanks in a news release. "We are deeply grateful for the support and dedication shown by the search teams and our communities throughout this difficult time, though we wish it was under different circumstances." The sheriffs office is now working with the county medical examiner as the investigation continues. Officials did not provide additional details. There is currently no evidence to suggest foul play factored into the boys disappearance. A county crime team and the FBI are assisting with investigative leads. So far, officials have a vehicle of interest, but its unknown if the vehicle is tied to any crimes. The FBI is providing services for the family through its Victim Services Division. Local officials said they narrowed in on the river because evidence indicated the boy was at the rivers edge before he went missing. The waters temperature was about 44 to 46 degrees around that time. The sheriffs office is currently processing the scene. Diver Juan Heredia of Angels Recovery Dive Team found Dane during a two-hour dive. He offered his services to the childs family after hearing about Danes case. Heredia first connected with the sheriffs office and was later escorted onto the river by a local guide and drove up to Oregon from Stockton, California to offer his assistance. A lot of people put a lot of faith in me, Heredia told CNN. When asked why he wanted to assist, he said, I want to help the family have closure. After he found Danes body, Heredia said the boys mother came up to him and thanked him. [It was] a terrible moment with no words, he said. Hundreds of volunteers also helped in the search from state and federal law enforcement agencies. Volunteers used specialized equipment, dogs, drones and watercraft to help locate the child. A GoFundMe has been launched for Danes family and currently has over $21,000 donations. 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 Trump administration is free to use a wartime powers law to speed up deportations after a Supreme Court ruling on Monday. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 which Trump used last month to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador gives the president broad authority to remove undocumented immigrants, but it had previously only ever been invoked during actual wartime. Venezuelan organized crime group Tren de Aragua, which is present in the U.S. and other countries, is the top target for deportation under the law, the White House said last month. Trump instructed his administration to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization, and they claim theyre using the law to remove its members. I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies, the invocation on the White House site states. open image in gallery The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times throughout history ( Getty ) The law is intended to be invoked when the country is at war or if a foreign nation has invaded the U.S. or has issued threats that they will. While the administration has pointed to threats from gangs and cartels, legal experts have noted that it would be challenging for the administration to use the law when the U.S. isnt being actively attacked by a foreign government. The deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members was temporarily blocked by a lower court last month after it ruled that the Trump administrations actions under the act required further scrutiny. Trump has claimed that the migrants were members of the Tren de Aragua and that they were conducting irregular warfare against the U.S. and could therefore be removed under the act. At least 137 people have recently been deported under the act, with some relatives of the deported migrants claiming that they were wrongly detained and not affiliated with any gangs. The Supreme Court justices said that deportees must be given the chance to challenge their removal, saying in an unsigned decision on Monday that the notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs. "The only question is which court will resolve that challenge," they added. The ruling on Monday stated that the challenge, which was put forward by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of five migrants, was incorrectly raised in a court in Washington, D.C., instead of in Texas, where the migrants are held. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by Trump during his first term, joined the liberal justices in dissenting from the majority ruling. They wrote that the administrations conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law. Trump, meanwhile, said the ruling was a great day for justice in America. The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself, he said in a post on Truth Social. ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in a statement: We are disappointed that we will need to start the court process over again in a different venue, but the critical point is that the Supreme Court said individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. Mondays ruling by the Supreme Court vacates a previous ruling by federal Judge James Boasberg, who had temporarily blocked the use of the law. The Alien Enemies Act has been used three times throughout history, the Brennan Center, a non-partisan law and policy institute, states. It was used during World War I and World War II to detain and remove thousands of German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Japanese immigrants, as well as during the War of 1812 against Britain. Under the law, the president can detain and deport natives and citizens of a combatant nation even without a hearing. It was meant to prevent espionage and sabotage during war, but it has also been used to target immigrants who havent broken any laws, havent shown indications of disloyalty, and whose status in the U.S. is legal, according to the Brennan Center. It is an overbroad authority that may violate constitutional rights in wartime and is subject to abuse in peacetime, the center states. open image in gallery Harry Truman (1884-1972), the 33rd President of the USA, addresses media in 1945 in Washington, D.C. His administration used the Alien Enemies Act until 1951 ( AFP via Getty Images ) While the president may invoke the law during wartime, the Constitution hands Congress the power to declare war, meaning that the president must wait for Congress to act to invoke the Alien Enemies Act. However, the president need not wait for Congress to invoke the law based on a threatened or ongoing invasion or predatory incursion, according to the Brennan Center. The Trump White House chose not to wait for Congress to act, invoking the law last month. While some anti-immigration politicians view the law as an authority to be used to deport unlawful immigrants, the Brennan Center argues that invoking it in peacetime to bypass conventional immigration law would be a staggering abuse. Both Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman continued to use the legislation even after the end of the fighting in the world wars. While World War I ended in 1918, German and Austro-Hungarian immigrants were interned until 1920. Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Truman administration used the law to intern and deport people until 1951. Beatriz Lopez, the co-executive director of the Immigration Hub, said in a statement before the White House invocation that Trump is unearthing one of Americas darkest laws to launch a deportation dragnet unlike anything in modern history. The Alien Enemies Act will make it easier for ICE to identify, arrest, and deport taxpaying, long-settled immigrants who have built lives, families, and businesses here, she added. Especially with access to personal data through the IRS, families across the country will be at risk of deportation even if they arrived in the U.S. lawfully. Katherine Yon Ebright, a counsel at the Brennan Center, said on X last month that Obviously this is an illegal invocation of a wartime authority for peacetime immigration enforcement. The administration is invoking the Alien Enemies Act to effect summary deportations of Venezuelans who it *claims* are members of Tren de Aragua, she added. They are hoping that the wartime law will allow them to evade judicial review and get away with making baseless accusations. 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 President Donald Trump has suddenly withdrawn his nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hours before he was set to testify at a Senate confirmation hearing. Just 12 hours before Dave Weldon, a former congressman from Florida, was supposed to appear before the Senate health committee at the Capitol, a White House staffer informed him his nomination had been pulled, Weldon told The Independent in a statement. Weldon, 71, said the staffer informed him he did not have enough votes to be confirmed. The hearing, scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday, would have been the first time an agency director would have been subject to the confirmation process. open image in gallery Dave Weldon, a physician from Florida, was a little-known former politician who Trump nominated to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But his nomination was pulled at the last minute ( Getty Images ) The Independent has asked the White House for comment. Trump nominated Weldon, a little-known former politician, to serve as head of the CDC in November. Weldons nomination was subject to scrutiny due to his casual link between vaccines and autism a debunked theory. He had repeated the disproven claim that children could develop autism after being vaccinated against measles. Those views aligned with claims Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made in the past. While serving in Congress, representing Floridas 15th district from 1995 until 2009, Weldon had criticized officials in the CDC and Food and Drug Administration for having conflicts of interest and undermining public confidence in the safety of vaccines. open image in gallery Before being nominated to serve as head of the CDC, Weldon had maintained a relatively low profile ( AP ) However, Weldon has also defended his record on vaccines, saying he believes in vaccines and that both of his adult children were immunized. As a physician, he said he had prescribed vaccines to patients. Senate committee members were expected to grill Weldon about his views during the hearing. Trump has not named a new nominee to fill the position leading the CDC. 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 Trump administration has filled the nations 47,600-bed capacity of people awaiting deportation and is now scrambling to open new facilities to hold even more as the White House ratchets up its migrant crackdown. Since Trump took office, immigration law enforcement officials have arrested and detained more than 32,800 people, a Department of Homeland Security official said. However, the administration has largely ended the practice of releasing some people who are considered non-threatening to the community out of detention centers something the Biden administration followed. DHS officials have now turned to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense and United States Marshals Service to increase bed space while the agency asks Congress for more funding to help carry out President Donald Trumps mass deportation plan. Trumps team has also partnered with private, for-profit centers to hold migrants awaiting deportation. open image in gallery The Trump administration has filled the 47,600 beds available for people awaiting deportation and now is scrambling to open new centers to house migrants. Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, is a center set to reopen to house more migrants ( AFP via Getty Images ) The Trump administration has been aggressively cracking down on immigration, promising to deport all undocumented immigrants and end what the president calls an invasion of migrants into the U.S. "We expect these ICE arrests and removal numbers will only go up as we unleash an agency that has had its hands tied behind its back for the past four years," said acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, according to NBC. "These ICE enforcement operations are not only removing criminals from the American communities, but they are also discouraging people from coming to our country illegally." It remains unclear exactly how many of those detained under Trump had been deported. As the White House pushes its immigration plans, enforcement agencies have run into financial, administrative and legal roadblocks. To ease the tension on detention facilities across the country, DHS has begun releasing certain people by following Immigration and Customs Enforcements Alternative to Detention program, which allows for release based on medical or humanitarian concerns, an agency official told reporters. The Trump administration had initially sent dozens of undocumented immigrants, some with criminal records, to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, but officials unexpectedly cleared out groups of migrants on Tuesday, according to the New York Times. It is unclear why the change, but the administration has faced several lawsuits over its use of Guantanamo Bay for immigration detention. The administration remains confident it will continue carrying out Trumps immigration agenda at the same pace. open image in gallery Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the administration could house detainees at U.S. military bases ( AP ) Over the weekend, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said federal law enforcement agencies are planning to detain immigrants at U.S. military bases to deal with the capacity issues. Yes, there is a plan to use the facilities at Fort Bliss for detention facilities, she told CBSs Face the Nation. But also we need to remember to ask Congress needs to continue through with funding that this administration has asked for. House Republicans have proposed a resolution that would avert a government shutdown. That suggests slashing the fiscal years budget by $13 billion in non-defense spending but boosting funding for ICE. Noem said DHS cant keep pace with Trumps aggressive anti-immigration agenda without it. That reconciliation bill needs to happen, Noem said. We have just weeks before we are out of the funds to continue the operations that we have. Alex Woodward contributed to this report 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 At least 10 people working with Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency are embedded within the Social Security Administration to bolster claims from Donald Trump and the worlds wealthiest man that millions of dead people are receiving benefits, according to court documents. Seven DOGE employees have been granted access to Americans Social Security data or personally identifiable information, government lawyers said. Their level of access provides no avenues to change beneficiary data or payments, but gives them the ability to review records needed to detect fraud, lawyers wrote in court filings March 12. open image in gallery Elon Musk has labeled Social Security a Ponzi scheme ripe for fraud ( Reuters ) The results of background checks for two of the 10 DOGE employees are still pending, they said. Musk has baselessly labeled the nations retirement and disability agency a Ponzi scheme and claimed that as much as $700 billion in annual payments were fraudulent, raising concerns among DOGE opponents that he is laying the groundwork for dramatic cuts to the nations largest and most popular program. I dont want the system to collapse, Social Security Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek said in a closed-door meeting last week, according to a recording obtained by ProPublica. Allowing the DOGE kids to make sweeping changes like those at the U.S Agency for International Development and elsewhere across the federal government would be catastrophic for the people in our country, he said. The Independent has requested comment from the agency. The U.S. DOGE Service team at Social Security includes four special government employees and six people detailed to the agency from other offices. Officials at the agency declined to name the employees to protect the privacy of these individuals, and to avoid exposing them to threats and harassment, according to a sworn statement from deputy commissioner Florence Felix-Lawson. A political appointee, a software engineer and experts are reviewing Social Securitys death master file to find payments to dead Americans, Felix-Lawson wrote. DOGE staff have attended in-person meetings or meetings through Microsoft Teams about ethics and privacy laws and information security, according to government lawyers. The overall goal of the DOGE team inside Social Security is to detect fraud, waste and abuse, according to a sworn statement from the agencys chief technology officer Michael Russo. This level of access ensures these employees can review records needed to detect fraud but does not allow them the ability to make any changes to beneficiary data or payment files. One of those DOGE staffers is reportedly Marko Elez, who resigned from the administration last month after The Wall Street Journal uncovered a history of now-deleted racist statements on X, including support for eugenic immigration policy and calls to normalize Indian hate. Elez, an engineer who previously worked Musks SpaceX and X, recently had an office at the Treasury Department and an email address with the agency, where he was mistakenly given read/write permissions to write over payment systems that disburse trillions of dollars, according to court documents. open image in gallery Protesters outside the U.S. Capitol on March 10 called for bipartisan cooperation to prevent DOGE from seizing and dismantling federal agencies ( Getty Images ) He then moved to Social Security, after Vice President JD Vance encouraged Musk to bring back Elez. Trump, when asked about Vances support, said he didnt know about that particular thing" but agreed with the vice president. If the vice president said that did you say that? Im with the vice president, Trump told reporters last month. Moments later, Musk wrote: He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine. The latest filings follow a lawsuit from federal workers unions calling on a judge to block what they have called DOGEs unprecedented data grab. Trump and administration officials have repeatedly suggested looming cuts to Social Security as well as federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid in an attempt to justify significant cuts to federal spending. The president and Musk have amplified baseless claims that tens of millions of dead Americans are collecting Social Security checks, which, according to Trump, if you take all of those numbers off, because theyre obviously fraudulent, or, incompetent, but if you take all of those millions of people off Social Security, all of a sudden we have a very powerful Social Security, he told supporters in Miami last month. Any meaningful reduction of government spending to cut the budget by trillions of dollars would require some combination of severe cuts to expensive but critical government programs like Social Security as well as the Department of Defense and tax increases. I work for the president. I need to do what the president tells me to do, Dudek said, according to the recording obtained by ProPublica. Ive had to make some tough choices, choices I didnt agree with, but the president wanted it and I did it The president has an agenda. Im a political appointee. I need to follow that agenda. open image in gallery Senate Budget Committee vice chair Patty Murray and fellow Senate Democrats have warned that Social Security benefits are not safe in the Trump administration ( Getty Images ) DOGE staffers now have access to a massive database that contains a master list of Social Security holders and applications, though the list does not include all death dates, a point which Trump and Musk have used as the basis of their claims to argue millions of dead people are still receiving checks. Money is being paid to many of them, Trump said in his remarks to Congress last week. There was roughly $72 billion in improper Social Security payments over a seven-year period from 2015 through 2022, though not all of that was fraud, according to an inspector generals report. That figure represents less than 1 per cent of all benefits paid, and all but $23 billion was recovered by the government. The agency has also abandoned plans to stop millions of people filing retirement and disability claims by phone, following reporting in The Washington Post. Blocking people from calling Social Security for their claims would have forced elderly Americans and people with disabilities to rely only on the internet and in-person appointments. Approximately 40 percent of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with someone calling [Social Security to change direct deposit bank information, the agencys press office said in a statement following the newspapers reporting. Current protocol of simply asking identifying questions by telephone is no longer enough to prevent fraud. A post from DOGEs X account called the report inaccurate and misleading and that DOGE is protecting our seniors by ensuring bank accounts arent changed with little to no authentication. DOGE said people could make payment changes online using two-factor authentication or in-person at a Social Security office. This is identical to the fraud protections at almost all major banks, where deposit changes are made either online or in person, the post said. All other [Social Security] phone services remain unchanged. 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 Elon Musk backed off his reported plot to cut off phone service for the public to the Social Security Administration following a hot cascade of criticism from Americans and their lawmakers. Young DOGE staff complained to Social Security officials about phone fraud they have yet to reveal or prove, and called for shutting down claims processing and questions via phone, requiring millions of elderly and disabled Americans to use the internet or travel to Social Security offices to deal with issues in person, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. DOGE was hit with fury after the news broke. Going after 90-year-old grandmas who cant drive and dont have a computer? asked New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a post on X. Thats just low. Yea, lets make the group of people who are the least computer literate and have the hardest time getting to places, use the computer and go places! How efficient! John Saponaro (@johnsaponaro) March 12, 2025 Gramma and Grampa are already waiting too long for answers about their Social Security, Sen. Ed Markey wrote. Now, Elon Musk and DOGE want to close field offices and take away their option to use the phone. This is outrageous. So when they cut your benefits, there'll be no one to call about it. The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 12, 2025 Thats their goal. Make the agencies fail by removing parts of it, so they can privatize it. (@fxshea62) March 12, 2025 Taking health care from moms and babies just doesnt produce quite enough money to shell out to corporations and billionaires, so he simply MUST dip his paws into grandma and grandpas Social Security too. The rich can never be too rich right?pic.twitter.com/OAdZXrn5xb Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) March 12, 2025 DOGE later issued a statement that the Post report was inaccurate and misleading, but did not specify how. It did confirm that it will no longer allow Social Security recipients to change their direct deposit information by phone. People will have to do that via the internet or in person. The strategy was widely regarded as a back-door way for Musk to begin dismantling Social Security, a 90-year-old bedrock program that was instituted after the Great Depression that some 70 million Americans rely on for retirement. Doge claims the program is rife with fraud, but has yet to prove it. Musk has falsely claimed that tens of millions of dead people are collecting Social Security checks, which he has complained is a huge problem, yet cant prove it because its not happening. 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 Two days before voters elected Donald Trump for his second term, Elon Musk claimed on X that all government data should be default public for maximum transparency. Now, Musks Department of Government Efficiency is obscuring the data of the programs and contracts they cut, leaving it impossible for independent organizations to fact-check their savings claims, The New York Times reports. The DOGE website touts billions of dollars in savings and lists the individual contracts, grants and real estate that were cut. Originally, each individual item came with identifying information that allowed everyone to fact-check the savings, according to the Times. But now, those identifying details are no longer being shared on the site, the Times reports, further obscuring the work of the already-secretive agency. Elon Musks DOGE is no longer sharing identifying information on the grants and contracts it is cutting, preventing independent organizations from fact-checking their claims, according to a new report When DOGE was sharing the identifying details, it allowed journalists to discover several errors in their reporting. For instance, the agency once claimed to have canceled contracts that ended under President George W. Bush. The agency also wrongly reported they canceled an $8 billion contract when it was only worth $8 million. The White House told the Times that DOGE cut back on the transparency due to security concerns which have indeed cropped up. Just last week, the General Services Administration publicly shared a list of properties they were selling amid DOGE cutbacks. That list revealed the location of a secretive CIA facility, Wired reported, and has since been taken down. Other reports have indicated Musks savings goals dont make sense. Earlier this month, The New Yorker reported that DOGE would only save $245.8 billion a year if it fired every single federal worker outside the military or USPS a number nowhere close to his promised goal of saving $1 trillion. The Timess report comes two days after a federal judge ruled DOGE must comply with public transparency laws because the agency has unprecedented authority and operates with unusual secrecy. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled DOGE wields the requisite substantial independent authority to be subject to requests under the Freedom of Information Act, a law which allows members of the public to request federal records. The authority exercised by [DOGE] across the federal government and the dramatic cuts it has apparently made with no congressional input appear to be unprecedented, Cooper wrote. Meanwhile, the White House has argued DOGEs records should be protected until at least 2034 despite Musks previous arguments in favor of maximum transparency. 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 Elon Musk responded to The Daily Show after it released a tongue-in-cheek White House Tesla auto mall advert following President Donald Trumps purchase of a $80,000 Model S on Tuesday. Despite being on a one-week hiatus, the late-night show took to Musks X platform on Wednesday evening to ridicule the event on the White House south lawn which appeared to be part press conference, part car promotion. The back-and-forth comes as questions remain if Musk will accept host Jon Stewarts invitation to be interviewed on the long-running late-night show. Going on now at the White House Tesla auto mall, its the biggest sale of the year, the narrator said in the spoof commercial, before Trump cuts in appearing to list the Cybertrucks credentials: Its very safe, it's very strong, heavy. Its all steel, stainless steel. Come on down to Pennsylvania Avenue just off Route 29 to get our best deal ever on a brand-new Tesla, it continued, with more cutaways to the president gushing over the electric vehicles. So dont waste your time going to other dealerships with riots and flaming Cybertrucks, you've gotta come down to White House Tesla auto mall. open image in gallery Elon Musk (left) has spoken out after The Daily Show's spoof Tesla advert ( The Daily Show/X ) Musk surprised his X followers in the early hours of Thursday morning and thanked The Daily Show for their promotional content. Thanks for helping sell Teslas!!, he tweeted with a laughing face emoji. Tesla Takedown protests have erupted across the U.S. in recent weeks, with showrooms besieged and charging sites vandalized. These incidents illustrate growing unease over Musks influence over the president and the administrations aggressive efforts to shrink the federal government through his Department of Government Efficiency. On Monday, the EV companys share prices plunged by 15 percent, returning to their lowest levels since Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris in November and their worst day since 2020. It made it the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500. open image in gallery Elon Musk (left) is reportedly planning to donate $100 million to Donald Trump's political operation ( AP ) In a thinly-veiled show of support, the president vowed in the early hours of Tuesday to purchase a brand new Tesla while taking a swipe at radical left lunatics staging protests against the electric vehicle company, attempting to punish Musk and his baby. Hours after Trump announced that he was planning to purchase a Tesla, reports emerged that Musk was considering a $100 million donation to a super PAC associated with the president. Later Tuesday, Trump transformed the White House's south lawn into a Tesla exhibit, showcasing five vehicles before he decided to purchase a deep red Tesla Model S, with a price tag starting just shy of $80,000. Trump told reporters that Musk, who boasts a $320 billion net worth, had been treated very unfairly and that he cant be penalized for being a patriot. Trump also labeled those vandalizing Teslas as domestic terrorists. open image in gallery Elon Musk (left) sat with President Donald Trump as he purchased a new Tesla Model S on the White House south lawn Tuesday ( AP ) Last month, Musk said he would be interviewed by host Jon Stewart on The Daily Show if it airs unedited. Both Stewart and Comedy Central appeared to agree to Musks conditions saying they would be delighted to host the South African billionaire. Musk has previously called Stewart a propagandist who used to be more bipartisan. Issuing a message directly to Musk, Stewart said in an episode of his show: Look, Elon, I do have some criticism about DOGE. I support, in general, the idea of efficiency and delivering better services to the American public in cheaper and more efficient ways. And if you want to come on and talk about it on the show, great. And if you dont want to, sure. 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 When right-wing network Newsmax and Smartmatic agreed to settle the voting software firms election defamation lawsuit last fall, the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed and seemingly remained confidential. That is no longer the case. In a regulatory filing released this week by Newsmax as part of its planned initial public offering, the channel revealed that it agreed to pay Smartmatic $40 million as well as issue a five-year cash exercise warrant for the voting machine firm to purchase 2,000 shares of preferred stock in the conservative cable channel. The investment prospectus also noted that there was an inherent risk to investors due to the ongoing defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which is set to go to trial next month. While Newsmax Media is vigorously defending the Dominion suit, an unfavorable outcome in the matter could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial position, results of operations and cash flows, the companys filing stated. We entered into a confidential settlement with Newsmax in September to resolve litigation and cannot comment further on the details, J. Erik Connolly, Smartmatic external legal counsel, said in a statement to The Independent. We are now focused on our litigation against Fox News for defaming Smartmatic and knowingly lying to their viewers about Smartmatics role in the 2020 election. We look forward to presenting our evidence to a jury and finally having the opportunity to hold Fox accountable for its harmful actions. ( REUTERS ) Newsmax officials issued a statement late last year as part of the settlement reiterating, despite Newsmax reporting, that there is no evidence that Smartmatic machines or software altered the votes in the 2020 U.S. election. A spokesman for the company, who responded 36 hours after The Independent reached out for additional comment, noted there are multiple ongoing cases involving voting companies and the 2020 election in multiple jurisdictions outside the state of Delaware that he claimed are largely going nowhere, indicating that Newsmax may have lost its last suit over false election reporting. Various state and federal courts elsewhere are applying standard libel law, allowing for standard libel defenses, and not allowing the plaintiffs to be granted highly unusual and non-case related discovery of the defendants, he added. Smartmatic, which also reached a confidential settlement with One America News in a similar case last April, still has several pending cases against right-wing outlets and MAGA personalities over false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. A New York appeals court ruled in January that Fox Corporation must face trial in Smartmatics massive $2.7 billion lawsuit over Fox News promotion of baseless conspiracy theories that voting machines rigged the election on Joe Bidens behalf and stole it from Donald Trump. In the largest defamation settlement in U.S. history, Fox paid $787.5 million to Dominion in 2023 to settle that companys election lawsuit. Smartmatic also recently got a favorable ruling in its lawsuit against election-denying pillow salesman Mike Lindell. A federal judge in Minnesota found the MyPillow CEO in contempt of court for failing to hand over financial documents and other discovery material in the case. That ruling came after another judge ordered Lindell to pay nearly $60,000 in legal fees over his frivolous countersuit against the firm. While nowhere close to the eye-popping settlement that Dominion received from Fox News, the $40 million Newsmax agreed to pay Smartmatic represents a significant chunk of the MAGA networks revenue base. According to the filing, the network between its broadcast and digital operation pulled in $135 million of revenue in 2023 and close to $80 million in the first six months of 2024. Net losses for the network were close to $55 million for the first half of last year which was $17 million higher than the same period in 2023. Additionally, its possible that Smartmatic agreed to the settlement amount due to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruling out the possibility of punitive damages just days before the trial was to start. While Davis agreed that Newsmaxs statements about Smartmatic altering the results of the election were factually false, he rejected the claim that the channel acted with express malice under Florida law, which is where Newsmax is headquartered. There is no evidence that Newsmax acted with evil intent towards Smartmatic, the judge noted at the time. Following last years settlement, Smartmatic said it was very pleased to have secured the completion of the case against Newsmax and was looking forward to our court day against Fox Corp and Fox News for their disinformation campaign, adding that lying to the American people has consequences. Two months later, Newsmax published a statement that it had resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement and the allegations regarding whether the [2020 U.S. presidential election] and its results were somehow altered or manipulated by Smartmatic are factually false/untrue. Smartmatic is pleased that Newsmax, in a statement published on its website on November 30, 2024, has finally acknowledged the falsehood of claims alleging that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was manipulated by Smartmatic, the voting software company reacted. After years of litigation and extensive discovery, Newsmax was unable to substantiate its accusations. This acknowledgment reinforces Smartmatics dedication to protecting its reputation and combating election disinformation. In this months prospectus, which came out after Newsmax said it had reached its goal of raising $225 million in order to go public, the network noted that it was paying the Smartmatic settlement in four installments and insisted that none of the funds raised in the stock offering would be paid to Smartmatic. Newsmax Media reached a settlement agreement with Smartmatic on September 26, 2024, pursuant to which all claims will be released by Smartmatic for consideration, including a cash amount of $40 million payable over time and the issuance of a five year cash exercise warrant to purchase 2,000 shares of Series B preferred stock at an exercise price of $5,000 per share, the documents state. As of the date hereof, the Company has made payments under the settlement agreement totaling $20 million. Payment of the remaining balance will be made in installments of $10 million on or prior to each of March 31, 2025 and June 30, 2025. The payments will be made from the Companys existing cash on hand, and no proceeds of this Offering will be used to make the remaining payments. As first revealed in its prospectus last June when it launched its $225 million placement, Newsmax also informed prospective investors that it is currently paying off another large settlement to an anonymous counterparty over breach of contract claims in a commercial agreement. As was the case with Smartmatic, Newsmax stated that no funds from the offering would be used towards paying this settlement agreement. In March of 2023, Newsmax and the counterparty entered into a settlement agreement to resolve these claims prior to the commencement of any litigation against Newsmax. In addition, the parties also entered into an amendment to their commercial agreement, the filing stated. The Company has a total of approximately $34.6 million remaining to be paid to the counterparty pursuant to the terms of the agreement, with annual payments that will range from approximately $6.7 million to $7.3 million through 2028, with the balance, if any, payable through the end of the term. Based on the IPO circular, Newsmax stated that it currently has roughly $6.7 million of cash on hand. Also, due to its current settlement liabilities and pending litigation, the network warned investors that there could be some risk associated with Newsmax going forward. As of the date of this Offering Circular, Newsmax is unable to predict the final outcome of the Dominion matter and cannot reasonably estimate the amount of its liability, if any, the prospectus noted. However, an unfavorable outcome in the Dominion matter could have a material adverse effect on Newsmaxs financial position, results of operations and cash flows. 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 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg revealed Thursday that he will not run for governor or the open Senate seat in Michigan, clearing the way for a potential White House bid in 2028. I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race, Buttigieg wrote on X Thursday morning. I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not only opposing todays cruel chaos, but also presenting a vision of a better alternative. A number of allies have noted that the move would put the former 2020 presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, mayor in a stronger position to run for president in the next Democratic primary, as running campaigns in 2026 and 2028 would be challenging. Buttigieg said recently that he had been looking at a Senate campaign, and that he had a meeting with Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the party is working to hold on to the swing state seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Republicans hope to flip the seat after nearly winning the states other Senate seat in the last election. Buttigieg moved to Traverse City, Michigan, along with his husband and children after four years in the Biden cabinet. Those in his inner circle told Politico that the workload of being in the Cabinet, the travel that accompanies such a job, and the idea of starting a campaign soon after, affected the decision not to run for the Senate. In the months ahead I will be spending more time engaging both legacy and digital media in the service of a politics of everyday life, rooted in the values of freedom, security, and democracy, Buttigieg wrote in a post on Substack. I will be engaging partners, allies, friends and strangers in the service of a more convincing and widespread account of American prosperity than either side has so far offered. And Ill also be taking advantage of my exit from office to spend much more time offline, in dialogue with people like my neighbors in Michigan and communities like South Bend, Indiana, where I grew up and served as mayor. David Axelrod, who helped shepherd former President Barack Obamas two campaigns for the highest office, said he spoke to Buttigieg on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport November 21, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Hes reportedly set to announce that hes not running for the open senate seat in Michigan ( Getty Images ) The hardest decision in politics is to pass on a race you have a very good chance to win, Axelrod told Politico. Pete was an A-list recruit and would have been a formidable candidate for the Senate had he chosen to run, he added. But had he won in 26, it would almost certainly have taken him out of the conversation for 28. This certainly keeps that option open. Beyond that, I have a sense that he wanted to spend more time with his family, and with people in communities like his, where the conversations and concerns are so different than the ones you hear in the echo chamber of Washington, said Axelrod. The former mayors decision not to run for the open seat in a state won by President Donald Trump in November reshapes the upcoming race, with State Sen. Mallory McMorrow having told other Democrats in the state that she will run for the office. Rep. Haley Stevens has also made moves towards running for the seat, such as hiring staff. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii spoke to Buttigieg on several occasions as he made his decision. He wanted to decide quickly enough to give other folks a chance to mobilize if they wanted to run, Schatz told Politico. He handled it responsibly. Hes a rising star in the Democratic Party. In a hypothetical 2028 Democratic primary, Buttigieg is only polling behind former vice president and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, whos considering whether she will run for governor of California in 2026. 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 stopgap spending bill that Republicans in the House of Representatives passed on Tuesday put Democrats into a bind: Do they oppose the bill and risk a government shutdown or do they support a bill that significantly slashes government spending and allows Elon Musk to run even more roughshod over various departments? So far, they seem no closer to answering that question. The bill includes steep cuts to major Democratic priorities. It slashes the spending for the CURES Act, which focuses on accelerating development of medical products and delivering them to patients, from $407 million to $127 million. It slashes spending for programs meant for Native American tribes. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland specifically flagged how the bill reduces spending for Washington, D.C. police. open image in gallery Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) dodged when asked if he would vote for the stopgap spending bill to keep the government open ( Getty Images ) I want to be clear, there are lots of reasons to hate the House Republican CR, that is one of them, and it doesn't save taxpayers a dime, he told The Independent. That provision on D.C. is all about Congress trying to run the District of Columbia, doesn't save federal taxpayers. Republicans rallied on Tuesday and managed to get all but one Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to vote for the bill while only one Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted for it. When that happened, Democrats in the House signaled that their Senate counterparts would need to take a hard line against it. This actually creates much more waste and much more of a slush fund, because there's far fewer of those reporting abilities for accountability, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent. Progressive groups surely will raise hell if Democrats collaborate with Republicans, but Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, one of the most outspoken members of the Democratic caucus, said he did not think in those terms despite the fact he will vote against the bill. My job is to do the right thing for for the country and for my state, he told The Independent. I don't want to set up slush funds for the president. I ultimately want to make sure that the services that matter most in Connecticut, funded in this, this doesn't do it. Other Democrats seemed more evasive and seemed to concede the fact that Republicans outsmarted them: by passing the continuing resolution without Democratic input when government dollars run out on Friday and then leaving for recess as the Senate is about to adjourn for recess, they all but dared them to vote for the bill. I havent decided how Im going to vote, but I think these are two terrible options and either one is going to end up hurting Minnesotans, Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, who is retiring, told The Independent. open image in gallery Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said she didnt know how anyone can vote for it ( Getty Images ) Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts gave a more forceful denunciation of the legislation. I dont know how anyone can vote for it, she told The Independent. Democrats have historically not supported shutting down the government. They see themselves as the party that cares about governing and when Republicans tire out from their shenanigans, they provide the votes for continuing resolutions to prevent shutdowns, which would stop vital programs from running. Trumps ability to make Republicans, even with tight margins in the House, fall in line, changes that dynamic. After Democrats had their lunch, Warren and Smith did not speak to reporters. Instead, they scurried back to their offices. And those that did offered evasive answers. Instead, they talked about allowing for a 30-day continuing resolution to allow for negotiations on spending to continue. We have an opportunity here to put a 30 day CR on the floor, and see if we have the votes for that, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told The Independent. Sen. Alex Padilla of California hails from a state still reeling from the wildfires. But he offered a similar solution to Kelly. I think the best way forward is a 30 day CR, continue to negotiate and include disaster aid, he said. The legislation leaves out aid for wildfire victims, which would likely be a dealbreaker. But the House GOP would be in no mood to bring their members back to Washington and break a planned recess, especially to help out Democrats. As long as that remains, Democrats will likely be stuck between two bad choices. 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 HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced this week that the Trump administration is dropping its lawsuit against Southwest Key, a service that works with migrant children. The lawsuit, initiated during the Biden-era, accused the companys employees of sexual abuse against unaccompanied migrants at its various facilities. Kennedy Jr. said that the focus will now shift to moving migrant children out of the care of Southwest Key and initiating an investigation of the service, including its grants. "For too long, pernicious actors have exploited such children both before and after they enter the United States," Kennedy, Jr., said in the release. "Todays action is a significant step toward ending this appalling abuse of innocents.Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Key contracts with the federal government to care for young migrants arriving in the U.S. without parents or legal guardians, and has operated 27 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California. It is the largest provider of shelter to unaccompanied minor children. open image in gallery Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the investigation into Southwest Key this week ( Getty Images ) The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in July 2024 in the Western District of Texas alleging a "pattern" of "severe or pervasive sexual harassment" going back to at least 2015 in the network of Southwest Key shelters. The complaint included alleged cases of "severe sexual abuse and rape, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures. "Lawyers representing the Justice Department and Southwest Key submitted a joint motion for dismissal on Wednesday, the court record shows. Southwest Key denied the allegations. "Southwest Key strongly denied the claims relating to child sexual abuse in our shelters, and there is no settlement or payment required. We are glad this matter is now concluded. We always believed the facts would prove the allegations to be without merit," its spokesperson said.The spokesperson added that South West Key was furloughing about 5,000 program employees, citing a federal funding freeze. Bloomberg first reported the plans to dismiss the case. The news outlet reported that an attorney for Southwest Key had contacted the Justice Department and asked it to dismiss the matter, saying the case could hinder Trump's administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The Justice Department's abrupt reversal comes at a time when Attorney General Pam Bondi has prioritized combating illegal immigration over other initiatives pursued during Biden's administration. open image in gallery Attorney General Pam Bondi has prioritized combating illegal immigration over other initiatives pursued during Biden's administration ( REUTERS ) In response to the Justice Department's decision, the National Center for Youth Law sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright seeking to intervene in the case in a bid to keep it alive. According to the letter written by the center's co-director of litigation, David Hinojosa, the center asked Albright to delay a ruling on the Justice Department's motion to dismiss by 30 days and allow it to file an intervening motion "on behalf of intervenors whose interests are no longer protected by the United States. " "Until today, the United States has faithfully sought to uphold the rule of law by prosecuting claims and seeking relief that would help both protect unaccompanied children and compensate them for their damages," Hinojosa wrote. "Countless children now risk being denied any recourse for the terrible harms suffered while in the care of Southwest Key."The court record shows Albright accepted the joint motion to dismiss and ordered the case closed. The National Center for Youth Law also wrote a letter to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley urging him to call on the Justice Department to explain its reasons for dropping the lawsuit and identify who made the decision." Given your history of advocating for the safety of unaccompanied children, we respectfully request your offices continued leadership to protect these children and hold accountable all entities - public or private - that jeopardize their welfare," wrote Johnathan Smith, the center's chief of staff and general counsel. Grassley's spokesperson Clare Slattery said the senator has contacted the Justice Department seeking clarity about the lawsuit's dismissal, and "looks forward to a follow-up conversation soon." 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 A federal judge is considering whether to strike down President Donald Trumps ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military as defense officials begin removing trans troops from all branches. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. is considering a motion for a preliminary injunction from 20 plaintiffs, including decorated U.S. military service members from across the branches, to block the Trump administrations executive order effectively banning transgender service members from serving and additional policy guidance from taking effect. In a disjointed five-hour hearing Wednesday that included a 30-minute break for government lawyers to get up to speed on relevant materials cited in a recent Department of Defense memo, the judge questioned the scope of the federal guidance, scrutinized the data it cited in its orders, and scolded the Justice Department attorneys lack of preparedness. Standing here today, you do not understand the scope of the ban, Reyes told them. You dont understand the scope of the symptoms of gender dysphoriaYou dont know the answer to what attempted to transition means. The hearing revolved around the language of two documents, one of which was a Pentagon memo issued last month that states that the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service. At one point, Jason Manion, a lawyer for the government, tried clarifying the scope, claiming the policy does not include all trans people. open image in gallery Trump administration lawyers struggled to defend the presidents executive order effectively banning transgender service members from serving in the U.S. military during a hearing Wednesday ( AP ) But the judge then cited a Defense Department post on X from February 27: Transgender troops are disqualified from service without an exemption. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also shared the post from his official account. Do you think you can say one thing in publicand say another thing in court? This wasnt some off-the-cuff remark at a cocktail party, Reyes said. The judge asked if he was using loose language but Manion argued Hegseth was using shorthand. Im not going to speculate that he was just being sloppy when he said that. Im going to take him at his word, the judge said. Reyes then asked government attorneys about the literature review and studies cited in the February 26 Pentagon memo. The government lawyer said he hadnt read these materials. No one on the governments legal team was prepared to answer questions about the relevant studies, Justice Department attorney Jason Lynch confessed. On February 19, Reyes warned Lynch that the studies were going to be important in her analysis, she said. She then gave a 30-minute break for government lawyers to review the report and literature review. Reyes also suggested officials cherrypicked parts of a study cited in Hegseths memo and ignored the context, noting that the memo didnt compare non-transgender service members. We cant say anything about whether this data is meaningful without any point of comparison, said the judge, calling the data used in the memo meaningless. I wouldnt say its meaningless, its some data, the government attorney argued. The study showed a group of trans people were deployed longer than a comparison group of non-transgender service members who were diagnosed with depression, the judge said. open image in gallery Judge Ana Reyes quizzed Trump administration lawyers over their defense of the presidents executive order effectively banning transgender service members from serving in the U.S. military and additional guidance from the Pentagon as to how that will be implemented ( REUTERS ) This will tell us that [trans service members] are actually better suited to stay in service, Reyes said. Those with gender dysphoria suffer more suicidal ideation not for biological reasons, but because they face more stigma and discrimination, the judge later said, pointing to findings from a 2025 literature review. The government also appeared to undermine its own argument that trans service members disrupt unit cohesion. The plaintiffs cited former military officials who said they had not seen any such examples. Lead plaintiff Nicholas Talbott, like every other service member, has been deemed physically and mentally fit for duty, has no accommodation, has had no issues with deployability, and has more service awards than you and I have books in our library, Reyes said. She pressed government attorneys whether she should defer to Hegseth, who, at the time he issued Trumps anti-trans policy, had been the Secretary of Defense for about 30 days and had no prior military history other than, I think, he had an early deployment before his television career? Each of the plaintiffs service records are remarkable, the judge said. Youre going to get rid of all these very qualified people who the military has spent millions of dollars into training specialized jobs for no other reason than they have had gender dysphoria or they transition, she said. open image in gallery The judge noted that Pete Hegseth, at the time he issued the policy had been the Secretary of Defense for about 30 days and had no prior military history other than, I think, he had an early deployment before his television career? ( AFP via Getty Images ) Wednesdays hearing follows a series of memos that outline a categorical ban on trans people serving in any capacity following Trumps executive order commanding the Pentagon to remove them and prevent trans recruits from joining. Jennifer Levi, an attorney for the plaintiffs, explained they were asking for an injunction because these directives question their integrity. Levi added: What service members rest upon is other people's faith and confidence and belief in them, and that to continue to serve under an order that deems them unfit for service because of who they are and irreparably harms them in multiple ways. Trumps order one of several that explicitly removes federal recognition of trans people claims that the adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individuals sex conflicts with a soldiers commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in ones personal life. A mans assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member, the order states. That language came under fire during a two-day hearing last month, when Reyes grilled government lawyers over the demeaning language in Trumps order that suggests trans people are incapable of service. During the hearings second day, she suggested that, taken together, Trumps executive orders against trans people scream animus, or motivated by prejudice. 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 Donald Trumps administration is taking the legal fight over birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court with a demand that justices limit the scope of multiple court rulings that have rejected his executive order that seeks to block children of certain immigrants from being citizens at birth. Petitions to the nations high court on Thursday calls on the justices to limit three nationwide injunctions issued in courts across the country to apply only to the states that sued and won. That move would allow the administration to begin implementing his executive order in other states, despite rulings from federal judges and appeals courts and arguments from legal scholars across the ideological spectrum that his attempt to unilaterally redefine the 14th Amendment is plainly unconstitutional. open image in gallery On his first day in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order that attempts to deny citizenship to children whose parents are unlawfully in the United States or have lawful but temporary status ( AP ) Trumps executive order would deny citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents are unlawfully present or have lawful but temporary status in the country. A request to the Supreme Court from acting solicitor general Sarah Harris does not necessarily argue the merits of the challenges against the order but about the authority of courts to issue nationwide injunctions. Federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington have issued overlapping nationwide injunctions following challenges from 22 states and immigrant advocacy groups, among others. Universal injunctions have reached epidemic proportions since the start of the current administration, the filing says. Those universal injunctions prohibit a Day 1 Executive Order from being enforced anywhere in the country, as to hundreds of thousands of unspecified individuals who are not before the court nor identified by the court. The administration calls on the Supreme Court to limit those injunctions to states that are actually within the courts power. Trumps order, among the first signed by the president within his first hours in office, attempts to conditionally grant citizenship for children born in the United States. The 14th Amendments citizenship clause states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. The Naturalization Act of 1790 applied citizenship only to free white persons, and the Supreme Courts reviled decision in Dred Scott v Sandford in 1857 affirmed that citizenship could not be granted to Black people of African descent. That decision was later rectified with the ratification of the 14th Amendment that ended slavery in America and established citizenship for freed Black Americans, as well as all people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. The Supreme Court upheld that principle in 1898, when it determined that Wong Kim Ark who was born in San Francisco but denied entry into the United States because he was of Chinese descent was a U.S. citizen. open image in gallery Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is among several state officials across the country joining legal battles against Donald Trumps executive order to that seeks to block children of certain immigrants from being citizens at birth ( AFP via Getty Images ) In recent years, right-wing legal groups have elevated a once-fringe argument against the concept, which was featured in Project 2025s guide for Trumps immigration policy. Groups like the Heritage Foundation and Claremont Institute have sought to argue that the word jurisdiction in the 14th Amendment means only a persons political allegiance to the United States, and that the allegiance of children born to immigrant parents is to their parents home countries. Following a lawsuit from group of 16 pregnant immigrant women whose children would be stateless under Trumps order, Maryland District Judge Deborah L. Boardman said the order runs counter to our nations 250-year history of citizenship by birth and likely violates Supreme Court precedent, which has resoundingly rejected the presidents characterization of the 14th Amendment, Boardman said. In fact, no court in the country has ever endorsed the presidents interpretation, she said last month. This court will not be the first. 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 Its rare for threats of annexation to be delivered with a smile. But in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump repeated his intention to eliminate Canada from the map and occupy Greenland with the same casualness that one might order lunch. I love Canada. I love the people of Canada. I have many friends in Canada the great one, Wayne Gretzky, the Great. How good is Wayne Gretzky? He's the great one. I know many people from Canada that are good friends of mine, Trump said with a smirk, before explaining why the country shouldnt exist anymore. Canada only works as a state, he went on. If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S., just a straight artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago many, many, decades ago, and makes no sense. It's so perfect as a great and cherished state. It was not all bad news for Canadians, however. In this terrible vision of the future imagined for them, presumably after a brutal insurgency by the Royal Mounties has been crushed in the Canadian Rockies, and after millions have fled to become refugees in other parts of the Commonwealth, Trump promised that those left behind could keep their national anthem but as a state anthem. O Canada, the national anthem. I love it. I think it's great. Keep it, but it will be for the state, one of our greatest states, maybe our greatest state, Trump continued. open image in gallery President Donald Trump meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office ( REUTERS ) Trumps comments come as a trade war between the two former close allies has spiraled out of control in recent days. Just as concerning as the casualness of the threat was the justification behind it. It is perhaps the first time in modern history that a leader has threatened to annex a country for aesthetic reasons. This would be the most incredible country visually, Trump said of the new land he would create from the ashes. Trumps threats were made all the more jarring because they were interspersed with repeated calls for peace between Ukraine and Russia. Thousands of young people are being killed a week, and we want to see that stop, Trump said. They're not Americans, and they're not from the Netherlands for the most part. They're from Russia and they're from Ukraine, but they're people. There was a grim irony here in that his rhetoric on Canada bears a striking resemblance to Vladimir Putins own words on Ukraine. For years before he launched his invasion of Ukraine, Putin engaged in a similar campaign of attacks on the validity of Ukraines existence, repeating the falsehood that it was not even a real country. Sitting alongside Trump as he laid out his plans for world domination was the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, who would in theory lead the fighting force that would be forced to respond militarily if Trump followed through on his threats. open image in gallery A customer holds a bottle as a sign that reads ''Buy Canadian Instead'' is displayed after the top five U.S. liquor brands were removed from sale at B.C. Liquor Stores, as part of a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, February 2, 2025. ( REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo ) Moving on to Greenland, with an appetite that would make Napoleon blush, Trump suggested that the NATO chief might be able to help him take over the Danish-owned territory. Well, I think it'll happen, Trump said in response to a reporters question. And I'm just thinking, I didn't give it much thought before, but I'm sitting with a man who could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, Trump said, addressing Rutte. Rutte had obviously watched the horror shows of Volodymyr Zelensky and Keir Starmers visits and trained for weeks in the art of deflection and flattery. He masterfully batted away each of Trumps invitations to sanction his sweep across the northern hemisphere. So when it comes to Greenland, yes or not, joining the US, I would leave that outside for me this discussion, because I don't want to drag NATO in that, he said. But when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right. The Chinese are using these routes. We know that the Russians are re-arming. We know we have a lack of ice breakers, he continued, dodging an international incident. With Greenland, too, Trump offered up a lackluster justification for invading the territory of a fellow NATO member. Denmark's very far away, he said. A boat landed there 200 years ago or something, and they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's true. I don't think it is, actually, he added, as Christopher Columbus turned in his grave. But he was insistent that the annexation of Greenland would happen, and for the first time raised the prospect of military action to achieve it. Again, with a wink. You know, we have a couple of bases on Greenland already, and we have quite a few soldiers, and maybe you'll see more and more soldiers go there, he said. I don't know, what do you think about that, Pete? he asked U.S. defense secretary Pete Hesgeth, the former Fox News host who now runs the most powerful military force the world has ever seen, and who was standing nearby. Don't answer that, Pete. Don't answer that, Trump said, with a laugh. 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 Trump administration has gutted the ability of the Department of Education to investigate civil rights complaints at schools across the country, despite the president making tackling campus antisemitism a key part of his agenda. Of the roughly 4,000 people at the agency, 1,315 have been slated for layoffs, and another 600 have accepted offers to leave. Among those cut are at least 243 members of the departments civil rights office, which investigates complaints of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, and disability status at the nations schools. The department has also cut the number of regional offices, a key node in such investigations, from 12 to five. What youve got left is a shell that cant function, Catherine Lhamon, who ran the departments Office of Civil Rights during the Obama and Biden administrations, told ProPublica, making it virtually impossible to investigate civil rights complaints. The Independent has contacted the department for comment. The new administration has already slowed the pace of civil rights investigations on campus, after ordering a freeze of most such cases when Trump took office and reportedly directing officials to prioritize antisemitism investigations above all others. open image in gallery Education Secretary Linda McMahon leads a department thats slated to lose half of its roughly 4,000 employees ( AP ) A February ProPublica analysis found that the pace of the department opening new civil rights investigations under Trump so far has been between six and 10 times slower than that of Biden during the same period. While the Department of Education may be able to field less civil rights complaints coming in, it has gone on the offensive in other areas, leaning on threats and directed investigations, launched by the administration rather than an outside complaint, to tackle campus antisemitism. This week, it warned 60 colleges and universities that they could face prosecution unless they complied with federal civil rights obligations to protect Jewish students from religious discrimination. The administration has already pulled $400 million in federal funding to Columbia, the target of one such investigation, over its alleged failure to stop campus antisemitism. In addition to using directed investigations and the power of the purse, the administration has also used the State Department to enforce its agenda on campus. Over the weekend, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested recent Columbia grad and campus pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil in a university-owned apartment building. Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident with a green card, was detained because of the nature of his political activism, officials said. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told The Independent on Sunday that Khalil was arrested in support of President Trumps executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism. open image in gallery The administration has said it will enforce its anti-discrimination priorities on campus by targeting non-citizen students who engage in pro-Palestine activism ( Getty Images ) Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, they added. Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined there was reasonable ground to believe that [Khalils] presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post. Khalil has argued he was illegally targeted then shipped off to a Louisiana detention center for removal based on his political viewpoint, a violation of his First Amendment and due process rights. An administration official told The Free Press the Khalil arrest would be a template for a wave of future immigration operations based on allegations of campus antisemitism. The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law, the officials said, but that such students are a threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States. Elsewhere, the administration has sought to roll back discrimination protections under the same law its using for its campus antisemitism probes. Trump has directed federal agencies to ignore a Biden-era order to enforce a 2020 Supreme Court decision that found that anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination amounted to sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Donald Trump wasted no time in signing off on a stack of executive orders since commencing his second presidency on January 20, setting about his task in the Oval Office almost immediately after his inauguration ceremony was concluded. The 47th presidents trusty Sharpie has since crossed orders relating to everything from the declassification of files pertaining to the 1960s assassinations of John F Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy and Dr Martin Luther King to ending the federal procurement of paper straws in favor of plastic ones. He has extended a lifeline to the social video app TikTok, rolled back restrictions on artificial intelligence, revoked the security clearances of former intelligence officials and reinstated military personnel who refused to receive a Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic. open image in gallery The 47th presidents trusty Sharpie has since crossed orders relating to everything from the declassification of files pertaining to the 1960s assassinations of John F Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy and Dr Martin Luther King to ending the federal procurement of paper straws in favor of plastic ones ( EPA ) Accused of violating the principles of the U.S. Constitution, ignoring state laws and attracting widespread criticism, Trump has continued undaunted and signed almost 90 orders to date. Heres a look at some of the most consequential issued so far. Ending the weaponization of the federal government No. 14147, signed on January 20 2025 The very first order signed by Trump at the commencement of his second term prompted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other federal agency heads to review all legal cases and intelligence activities brought about by the Joe Biden administrations Justice Department to assess whether actions could be seen to have been authorized for the sole purpose of punishing political opponents (i.e. Trump himself) and to propose appropriate remedial actions where appropriate. Ending government DEI programs No. 14151, signed on January 20 2025 This order calls for the eradication of all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies and programs from the U.S. government and directs department heads to terminate all positions that can be traced back to DEI principles. Withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization No. 14155, signed on January 20 2025 Orders the American withdrawal from the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), which led the global response to the Covid pandemic in 2020, also pausing all funding and reassigning all American personnel currently working with that organization with immediate effect. The WHOs Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged Trump to reconsider. Designating Mexicos drug cartels as foreign terrorist groups No. 14157, signed on January 20 2025 Calls on cabinet secretaries to draw up a list of cartels and other violent gangs, including Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13, that could be considered for designation as terrorist organizations. Doing so would, theoretically, provide the U.S. with a basis for pursuing military action against them in the interests of safeguarding its national security. Establishing the Department of Government Efficiency No. 14158, signed on January 20 2025 Formally establishes the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been used by Trumps billionaire special adviser Elon Musk to identify and cut what he and his staff deems to be wasteful government spending, eradicating thousands of jobs and programs in the interest of creating a more streamlined federal bureaucracy. open image in gallery Methamphetamine belonging to the Sinaloa cartel after it was seized by authorities in Spain, earlier this year Trump designated Mexican drug gangs as foreign terrorist groups ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Ending birthright citizenship No. 14160, signed on January 20 2025 One of Trumps most far-reaching, controversial and perhaps unrealistic orders, this instructs government agencies not to issue documents confirming citizenship unless the parents of the person concerned both have a lawful permanent residence in the United States or are both American citizens themselves. The order has been temporarily blocked in court amid a legal challenge centred on the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment, which has long been interpreted to guarantee citizenship to anyone born on American soil. Withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement No. 14162, signed on January 20 2025 Not content with withdrawing from the WHO, Trump also ordered the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (ultimately expected to be New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik) to submit written notification of the countrys withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on tackling climate change and reining in greenhouse gas emissions. Restoring the death penalty No. 14164, signed on January 20 2025 Backs the use of capital punishment where possible as the ultimate criminal deterrent and directs the attorney general to seek the death penalty in the event that a law enforcement officer is murdered or if someone commits a capital crime. open image in gallery Trumps prospective UN ambassador Rep. Elise Stefanik, shown here, was charged with initiating the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Securing Americas borders No. 14165, signed on January 20 2025 Makes a sweeping series of changes to the policing of Americas southern border with Mexico, calling for the erection of a physical barrier akin to that started but never completed during Trumps first term, declares that illegal immigrants must be returned to the territory from which they came, ends the practice of catch and release and closes down Custom and Border Patrols CBP One app. Rolling back federal recognition of gender identity No. 14168, signed on January 20 2025 Widely seen as an attack on trans rights, this order declares that the official position of the U.S. government is that there are only two sexes: male and female. It directs federal agencies not to use the term gender and to ensure that personnel records and government-issued documents like passports accurately reflect the holders sex and that those agencies do not themselves engage in the promotion of gender ideology. It further bars federal funds from being spent on gender transition healthcare in prisons and mandates privacy in intimate spaces. Renaming American landmarks No. 14172, signed on January 20 2025 This order reverts the name of Alaskas Denali mountain to Mount McKinley after it was changed by Barack Obama in 2015 and renames the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The administration has already fallen out with the Associated Press news agency over its refusal to use the latter name in its reporting. open image in gallery Trump has also reversed a President Barack Obama initiative to change the names of landmarks such as Mountain McKinley ( AFP via Getty Images ) Blocking trans people from competing in womens sports No. 14201, signed on February 5 2025 Another move against transgender citizens, this order stops federal funds from reaching educational programs that allow trans women and girls to participate in womens sports. It also permits the U.S. to pull out of international competitions that permit the inclusion of trans athletes in womens events. Establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission No. 14212, signed on February 13 2025 Empowers Trumps Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, along with the leaders of the Food and Drug Administration, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health to study and seek to address the childhood chronic disease crisis. Ending Covid vaccine mandates in schools No. 14214, signed on February 15 2025 Directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to issue guidelines on coronavirus vaccines and Kennedy to compile a report on educational institutions that have vaccine mandates in place and also receive federal funding, presumably with a view to threatening the withdrawal of the latter if they do not rescind the former. Expanding access to IVF No. 14216, signed on February 18 2025 Calls for a new report on expanding access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and cutting costs associated with it. Designating English as the official language of the U.S. No. 14224, signed on March 1 2025 Recognizes English as the official language of the United States, a culture war issue given that the country now has an enormous Spanish-speaking population that could soon outnumber its total of Anglophone citizens. Establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve No. 14233, signed on March 6 2025 Part of the presidents push to support cryptocurrency, a sector of which he was once deeply suspicious, this order directs his White House crypto and AI adviser David Sacks to create a national strategic reserve comprised of bitcoins confiscated from criminals, currently estimated to be worth around $18bn. 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. military is reportedly drawing up plans to increase American troop presence in Panama at the direction of the White House part of President Donald Trumps goal to take back the Panama Canal. Since taking office in January, the president has vowed to reclaim the Panama Canal, which is currently operated by Panama, as part of his effort to improve foreign relations in what he believes is the nations favor. Part of that includes directing the U.S. South Command to develop plans that vary in proposals from the U.S. military partnering with the Panamanian military to a less likely scenario of America seizing the canal by force, officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. The Independent has asked the White House and Pentagon for comment. open image in gallery President Donald Trump has vowed to take back the Panama Canal, believing it is in the U.S.s favor. Now, come reports the military is looking at plans to increase troops in Panama ( REUTERS ) New efforts to increase military presence in Panama are reportedly part of the Trump administrations attempts to diminish Chinese influence at the canal, officials told the outlet. Although the canal is considered neutral and both nations have denied one country exerts more power over it, Trump has asserted that Chinese soldiers are controlling the canal and believes the Panamanian government is overcharging the U.S. for its use. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has consistently brushed off Trumps claims, calling them nonsense. But Trump has remained firm in his desire to exert more control over the canal echoing it during his joint address earlier this month. Already, the U.S. has begun inching more control in the Panama Canal area since Trump took office. Earlier in March, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate agreed to sell its stake in a subsidiary that operates ports near the Panama Canal to a group of companies, including BlackRock. The deal must be approved by the Panama government first. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also visited the canal in February and later falsely asserted that Panama was going to let American ships use the canal free of charge. However, after Mulino pushed back on that claim, Rubio clarified those were the U.S.s expectations. open image in gallery Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Panama Canal in February looking for ways to follow up on Trump's threat to take back the canal ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) More than 200 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Panama, though the number fluctuates, an unnamed defense official told NBC News. Officials told NBC News a potential option includes opening a military training camp in Panama to prepare U.S. troops in the event of a regional war or situation that would require the military to secure the canal. An invasion of Panama is highly unlikely and would only occur under serious consideration, officials told NBC News. 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 corner of New York Citys 5th Avenue and 56th Street is typically dotted with shoppers, designer goods and more than one reaction to the famous building casting its shadow over the block. Images of Donald Trump's "Fight Fight Fight" are held in the air, others choose to put a choice finger in the air, merchants hawk T-shirts with the president's mugshot. A few buskers hope to sell MAGA hats to anyone who breaks stride. On Thursday, that typical NYC chaos turned into actual - but short-lived - chaos. MAGA-red was replaced by protest red and cop blue as protestors were dragged outside the famous tower after occupying it. Free Mahmoud! Free them all! protestors shouted from the street as they watched about 100 detainees marched onto NYPD buses. Around noon, about 150 pro-Palestine protesters flooded Trump Tower. Some waved banners demanding: Fight Nazis, not students. They wanted a free Palestine and the release of a Columbia graduate student for his alleged role in protests on campus last year in the wake of Israels response to the October 7 Hamas attacks. We see that the president is taking action in the name of combating anti-semitism, Jay Saper, with Jewish Voices for Peace, told The Independent. And so we're here to say, get our name out of your mouth. This is not about Jewish safety. This is about an attack on students. Saper estimated 300 demonstrators occupied Trump Tower. open image in gallery Trump Tower was filled with protesters on Thursday as they demanded a Free Palestine and the release of a student being held for deportation ( AP ) Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, was arrested Saturday and had his green card revoked. He was processed for deportation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights, as his lawyer put it. The Trump administration, however, painted him as pro-Hamas for his role in the campus protests. Protests erupted on the Ivy League campus last year, demanding the university divest from Israel in the wake of its attack on Gaza. The protests lasted for weeks and ended with police breaking them up. They became fodder for the right to say education was pushing leftist ideals. Khalil mediated between university officials and the activists and students who demonstrated, his supporters claim. The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association called him a ringleader of the chaos on campus. The university has investigated several allegations against him, most recently whether he violated university policy by calling a dean genocidal. This is the first arrest of many to come, Trump warned in a post on Truth Social Monday. We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Khalil is now being held in a Louisiana jail as his lawyers fight his deportation. The protesters, angered by the presidents move and the continued holding of Khalil, decided to make 5th Avenue their town square. About an hour after the demonstration began, NYPD cops lined the streets. Barricades prevented entry to Trump Tower. A helicopter and drones buzzed overhead. We will not comply, Mahmoud we are on your side! some people shouted from behind the steel barricades. open image in gallery New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday ( AP ) open image in gallery After being dragged out by police officers, protesters were arrested and lined up to board a bus. Nearly 100 people were arrested by police as part of the protest ( The Independent ) By 1.30 p.m., about 100 red-shirted protesters were hauled out of the building. They stood in a single-file line, their hands cuffed behind their backs, before being boarded onto a city bus. They were arrested on charges of trespassing, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest, police told NBC News, noting there were no injuries or damage to property. As the protestors stood in a line waiting to board the bus, a few passersby shouted for them to take off their masks and called them offensive terms. When asked about whether Saper and other organizers were afraid to act, given this divisive political climate and apparent harassment on sidewalks, Saper said they find "strength in community. What we're seeing is that the president is emboldening people to attack our movements and attack people who are taking action for justice, and I know that I find strength in community, they said. The organization is striving to build a world that doesn't support fascism, to build a world where everybody gets to live in their homes without fear that bombs will be dropped upon them, to be able to graduate from college without fear of being deported, deported, Saper said. It's OK to be afraid and to do something brave at the same time. By 1.50 p.m., the inside of Trump Tower looked untouched. A massive American flag hung down from the ceiling. A handful of probable tourists strolled each floor. The golden escalator, the same one that Trump rode down 10 years ago to announce his candidacy, glistened. A white-gloved doorman outside of Trump Tower said he didnt see anything; the entire event transpired while he was on his lunch break. The protestors were gone. The corner had returned to normal. The newest chaos had subsided. 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 New York Police Department has made multiple arrests after dozens of activists swarmed Trump Tower to protest the immigration detention of a Columbia University activist. Chaotic scenes showed NYPD officers dragging out members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace on Thursday. Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn't been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalils arrest was the first of many to come and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. However, Khalils supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech, and protests have been staged elsewhere in New York City and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case. open image in gallery NYPD officers made multiple arrests on Thursday as activists occupied Trump Tower in New York in protest of the detention of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil ( AP ) open image in gallery Chaotic scenes showed protesters, who were members of the group Jewish Voice For Peace, being dragged out of the building near to Central Park ( AP ) At Thursdays Trump Tower protest, police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building, just off Central Park, ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave. The demonstrators who wore red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and carried banners reading Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition and Fight Nazis not students chanted Bring Mahmoud home now!" Video showed demonstrators being escorted out of the building by police with their hands cuffed behind their backs, and later being loaded onto city buses. However, despite some more vocal protests, most remained calm and were escorted out in an orderly fashion. Out of the crowd of roughly 300 demonstrators, 98 were arrested, according to The New York Post. Those arrests are for trespassing, obstructing government administration, and resisting arrest by virtue of us having to carry some of the people out of the escalator, which you saw, NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said. open image in gallery Mahmouds arrest has sparked multiple protests across the country, with his supporters saying that it was an attack on free speech ( AP ) open image in gallery On Thursday, the demonstrators wore red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and carried banners reading Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition and Fight Nazis not students ( AP ) We gave warnings on our pager system and once we did that warning three times, the NYPD with its professionalism, as you saw, went in and made the arrests, there were no injuries. There were no incidents. There was no damaged property. The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment about the protests at Trump Tower. Khalil, 30, is being detained at an immigration detention center more than 1,300 miles away in Louisiana, though a district judge temporarily halted his removal from the U.S. on Monday. Columbia University was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests.Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia masters degree in December. open image in gallery NYPD officers inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building, just off Central Park, ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave on Thursday ( AP ) Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing. Khalil had been identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights, Ramzi Kassem, an attorney with the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project at CUNY School of Law, said at Wednesdays hearing. His detention in Louisiana has severely limited his attorneys access to him, Kassem told the judge. open image in gallery Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on Khalils case. A district judge in Louisiana temporarily barred the government from deporting him on Monday ( AP ) In addition to the widespread protests from civil rights groups, Khalils arrest has been widely condemned by Democratic officials, who have questioned how a legal permanent resident could be deported, without facing any criminal charges, and without any evidence from the government of the allegations against him or any other demonstrators. Administration officials have argued that Khalil doesnt need to be charged, let alone convicted of a crime, to be removed from the country, alleging without evidence he was aligned with Hamas thus providing material support to a terrorist organization. Additional reporting from Alex Woodward and Richard Hall. 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 Australias Prime Minister has dared an American social media influencer to pick up a baby crocodile, after she sparked outrage for taking a baby wombat from its mother. Sam Jones, who claimed to be a wildlife biologist and environmental scientist shared a video with her 92,000 Instagram followers showing her taking the marsupial and then running across the road dangling the joey, while its mother gave chase. I caught a baby wombat! Jones says in the video, as the baby makes distressed noises. The incident has now sparked condemnation from the very top of the Australian government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage. I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals, take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back, rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother. open image in gallery Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has weighed-in on the controversy ( REUTERS ) Wombats are a protected native Australian species, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his department was examining the conditions of Jones visa to see whether immigration law has been breached. Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, he said. "I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don't expect she will return." The location of the incident within Australia remains unclear. RSPCA senior scientific officer Di Evans told the Australian Broadcasting Commission that the video showed a blatant disrespect towards Australian wildlife. "The distress caused by the callous act is obvious, with the joey screeching for their mother and the mother being extremely anxious," Dr Evans said. An Australian man in the since-deleted video can be heard laughing and says, Look at the mother, its chasing after her! She later said OK mamas right there and she is p***ed, lets let him go, before walking across the road to release the baby. open image in gallery The baby wombat was filmed hissing in distress ( Getty/iStock ) Before Jones deleted the video and made her Instagram account private, she defended her actions, according to News.com.au. For everyone thats worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum, she wrote. Jones could not be reached for comment. Her Instagram remains private and her previous TikTok account has been deleted. It was not clear if she remained in the country. Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the video was distressing. "It looked pretty dreadful, didn't it?" she said in an interview with Channel Seven on Thursday. "Really, leave the wombat alone." Sign up for the Independent Women email for the latest news, opinion and features Get the Independent Women email for free Get the Independent Women email for free Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The Queen has sent a letter of support to French mass rape victim Gisele Pelicot. An envelope bearing the seal of the British royal family arrived among thousands of letters of support to Ms Pelicot, following her fight against her husband and the men who raped her. "She was stunned, moved and quite proud to see that she had managed to take the fight to the British royal family," Ms Pelicots lawyer Antoine Camus told Le Monde . open image in gallery The Queen has sent a personal letter of support to Gisele Pelicot ( PA Wire ) Ms Pelicot emerged as a courageous symbol against rape culture as her husband was jailed for drugging her and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her while he filmed it. The three-month mass-rape trial in France last autumn saw 51 men convicted for a total of 428 years. Retired electrician Pelicot was jailed for the maximum term of 20 years. The 72-year-old bravely chose to waive her anonymity in the trial which took place in Mazan village in southeastern France. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the contents of the private letter. But Camilla was said to have been tremendously effected by Ms Pelicots battle and wanted to recognise her dignity and courage, Newsweek reports. open image in gallery Gisele Pelicot waived the right to anonymity to speak out on behalf of other victims of sexual assault (Alamy/PA) ( PA Media ) The letter comes after Ms Pelicot told sexual violence survivors they will never be alone in a powerful message shared with The Independent marking International Womens Day. As The Independent named her the most influential woman of 2025, Ms Pelicot highlighted victims are still battling for justice especially those who are doing so alone and in the dark. Several months have passed since the Mazan trial ended but Ms Pelicots lawyers, Mr Camus and Stephane Babonneau, say they continue to send her a box full of letters every week, according to Le Monde. There hasn't been a day since the end of the trial when I haven't had to think about it, not a day when I haven't received a message about it, not a day when I haven't talked about it with someone close to me, Mr Babonneau told Le Monde. On the dozens of letters that arrive every week, Mr Camus added: We cant ignore these people... We pass them on to Gisele, and thank everyone on her behalf. 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 North Korean troops have been sent in suicidal attacks involving waves of men to overrun Ukrainian troops during Russias offensive to retake its border region of Kursk. The launch of the Kursk operation was marked by attempts to break through Ukrainian lines outside the salient of land captured by Kyiv in a surprise assault in August. Likening the North Korean tactics to a cyber attack that can crash a website with mass attempts to access it, a Ukrainian military officer told The Independent: [We faced] human waves like DDOS attacks on our positions... we killed eight out of 10 North Koreans. But in some areas we had only small numbers of troops and so they killed and killed until they were overrun, the senior officer commanding a reconnaissance unit added. open image in gallery Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits a command point for the Kursk group of troops involved in the counteroffensive in the Kursk region ( KREMLIN.RU/AFP via Getty Images ) Ukraine has now been forced out of almost all of Kursk. The assault accelerated when Ukraine was cut off from using US intelligence feeds following a row in the Oval Office between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky two weeks ago. Russian troops are also using long-range drones controlled by fibre optic cables that spool out of them making them immune to electronic counter-warfare signal blocking. Thirty to 40 per cent of drones are fibre optic, the Ukrainian officer said. The range of the drones is also unprecedented, reaching up to 25 kilometres (15 miles), he added. The human wave assaults involving North Korean soldiers were part of the shaping operations for the Russian counteroffensive, allowing them to force Ukrainian troops out of small villages inside Russia, like Sverdlikovo but only after hundreds of North Koreans had been killed. As US negotiators arrived in Moscow for talks with Russia over the ceasefire proposal agreed between Washington and Kyiv, Ukrainian forces withdrew to their border, with orders to hold the Russian advance there. open image in gallery Putin's forces have been pushing to retake Kursk ( Supplied ) The Russians are trying to move south into Ukrainian territory to try to cut the main Ukrainian supply routes. Theyre not getting anywhere vas we now no longer have to expose ourselves inside Russian territory and hold a wide area of land, the Ukrainian officer told The Independent. So we are able to inflict heavy casualties. The officer said that across the last three days the Russian forces, who have deployed their most elite units of special forces, marines and paratroopers into Kursk, have been operating with completely different tactics to those used by the North Koreans in the first wave of assaults. The Russians are approaching in very small numbers carrying a lot of supplies and trying to sneak into our territory and remain there to build up their forces. Some are using thermal masking techniques which makes them very hard to find, he said. open image in gallery Russia has retaken large chunks of land from Ukraine in its western Kursk region over the past week ( Russian Defence Ministry/AFP via ) Others have tried to get across the border using quad bikes. We had attacks like that yesterday using 18 quads with three men on each only three squads escaped back to their lines. We destroyed the rest with drone and artillery, the officer added. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukrainian forces said in a Facebook statement: Despite the increased pressure of the Russian and North Korean army, we will hold the defence in Kursk region as long as it is appropriate and necessary. It was once a necessary part of Ukraines negotiation platform in any future peace talks for Kyiv to control some Russian territory. But as Ukraine has taken heavy casualties and is being driven out of the territory it had seized, it is now deemed appropriate that Ukrainian troops pull back. Heavy fighting is continuing and Sudzha the largest town taken by Ukraine forces is in the hands of the Kremlins troops, Moscow claimed. Syrskyi said that the town had been heavily bombarded and we as now in ruins. open image in gallery Footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on Thursday shows troops in the destroyed town of Sudzha ( Russian Defence Ministry/AFP via ) He added that units were manoeuvring to "more favourable positions" to save soldiers' lives but that Ukraine was fighting on with drones and artillery. Videos and stills sent from the battlefield directly to The Independent show Ukrainian successes not the losses that soldiers privately admit have been extremely heavy. They give some credibility to Syrskyis claims that dozens of Russian armoured vehicles and hundreds of other pieces of equipment have been destroyed and show Ukrainian hits against vehicles, bunkers, and North Korean troops advancing through woods. If we speak about Korean tactics, the Ukrainian officer said. The question is how many they are ready to sacrifice for this movement forward. 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 Naples has been rocked by one of the worst earthquakes in the region for 40 years, with residents forced to sleep on streets in the Italian city. A huge roar preceded the tremors in the southern Italian city, sending residents running for the streets at around 1.25am on Thursday. The entire city and large swathes of its surroundings woke up as the 4.4-magnitude earthquake shook for about 20 seconds. open image in gallery The entire city and large swathes of its surroundings woke up as the 4.4-magnitude earthquake shook for about 20 seconds ( LaPresse/AP ) But the seismic swarm which ensued saw tremors shake the city for two hours. The quake started about 2.5km beneath Pozzuoli city on the coast, west of Naples, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Firefighters worked tirelessly to rescue panicked residents, pulling an injured woman from the rubble of her home after the ceiling collapsed in Pozzuoli. open image in gallery Firefighters inspect a bell tower at the church of SantAnna following an earthquake, in Bagnoli ( EPA ) Elsewhere in the neighbouring Bagnoli district, rescuers freed trapped residents, while others climbed out of their windows, news agency ANSA reported. It comes after a 4.4-magnitude quake was recorded last May, making this quake the joint strongest to hit the area in decades. The epicentre of both quakes was documented in the Phlegraean Fields in Pozzuoli, which lies on top of Europes largest active volcanic caldera. More than 500,000 residents live in the active Mount Vesuvius danger zone. open image in gallery The streets were strewn with rubble after the tremor ( Reuters ) Videos and photos flooded social media this morning showing cars covered in debris, houses cracked and residents fleeing to the streets at night. City authorities closed Bagnoli schools and set up waiting areas for residents to shelter. Firefighters continued to work across Bacoli, Bagnoli and Pozzuoli, the service said. open image in gallery Some locals slept in their cars after the earthquake ( Reuters ) Italys prime minister Giorgia Meloni also said she was actively monitoring the situation and is in contact with authorities. Seismic activity in the 1980s caused mass evacuation but specialists say a major eruption soon is unlikely. 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 Carl Lundstrom, the co-founder and early financial backer of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, died after a small plane he was flying crashed in the Slovenian mountains. Lundstrom, who was also a member of the far-right Alternative for Sweden party, was travelling from the Croatian capital of Zagreb to Zurich in Switzerland when his plane crashed. The 64-year-old businessman was flying his Piper Mooney Ovation M20R, the party said, confirming reports of his death in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Lundstrom was alone in the plane, they added. The propeller plane split into two after crashing into a wooden cabin in the Velika Planina mountain in the north of Slovenia on Monday. Bad weather prevented rescue teams from discovering the body and parts of the plane inside the cabin until Tuesday, AFP reported. Lundstrom, a legend and veteran of Swedish nationalism, died in a plane crash on Monday, the far-right party wrote. The plane likely crashed due to spatial disorientation in bad weather, local media website 24.ur reported. It added that the aircraft started spiralling downward from the altitude of 2.5km. He was one of the early financial backers of The Pirate Bay, which was founded in 2003 to allow users to dodge copyright fees and share music and other files. His company Rix Telecom provided services and equipment to The Pirate Bay till 2005. The Pirate Bay hit one million unique users in May 2006, the same month that Swedish police first raided its servers. Lundstrom was one of the defendants charged with being an "accessory to breaching copyright law" when the website was dragged to court for promoting copyright infringement. He was sentenced to prison in 2012 and handed down heavy fines along with other founders. However, following an appeal, his prison sentence was shortened to four months instead of one year. Lundstrom also financed the Swedish Progress Party in 1991, which later merged with the Sweden Democrats. The Alternative for Sweden said Lundstrom joined the far-right party in 2018 and contested the 2021 Assembly election, which he lost. Lundstrom was also the heir to a Swedish crispbread brand known as Wasabrod, the Metro reported. 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 A chest X-ray has confirmed that Pope Franciss condition is improving as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia. The latest medical bulletin, released by the Vatican, showed he continues to recover, two days after doctors announced he was no longer in imminent danger. While the 88-year-old pontiff's condition remains stable, the Vatican acknowledged the complexity of his situation given his overall fragility. Francis continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day and uses a non-invasive mechanical mask to assist his breathing at night. He is also undergoing physical and respiratory therapy. Despite his illness, the Pope has been following the Vatican's spiritual retreat remotely and had a quiet night, the bulletin said. His weekly Wednesday general audience was cancelled as the Vatican hierarchy is currently on retreat as part of the Lenten spiritual exercises. This week marks a significant milestone for Francis the 12th anniversary of his election as the 266th pope on Thursday. A woman prays for the Pope at the Vaticans St Peters Square ( AP ) The Holy See has not yet announced how the anniversary, a public holiday in the Vatican, will be observed. No medical bulletin is expected to be released on that day. The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave that was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. While Francis has praised Benedict's humility in stepping down and said he might follow in his footsteps, more recently he has said the papacy is a job for life. Another milestone comes Friday, when Francis marks four weeks of hospitalisation. St. John Paul II has the record for a hospital stay, at 55 days in 1981 when he underwent a minor surgical operation and then was treated for a cytomegalovirus infection. Francis is on track to equal the second-longest stay, 28 days, which John Paul recorded in 1994 when he had surgery to repair his right hip joint after he fractured his right femur in a fall, according to Gemelli hospital. The Vatican has released no photos or video of Francis since he was admitted. The pope recorded an audio message last week to thank people for their prayers, though the weakness and breathlessness of his voice made clear how frail he was. 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 Vladimir Putin has endorsed US plans for a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine but has insisted he will do so only on his terms. The Russian president made a series of demands for concessions from Ukraines President Zelensky, which some experts said would amount to a surrender by Ukraine. Mr Putin said: We agree with the proposals for the ceasefire, but our position is based on the assumption the ceasefire will lead to a long-term peace. Any such agreement had to address the root causes of the conflict, he said at a press conference. Mr Putin said he was broadly in favour of Donald Trumps proposed 30-day truce, which Mr Zelensky has approved. But the Russian leader said there were nuances that had to be dealt with. He has repeatedly insisted any temporary ceasefire could proceed only if he was given a guarantee that Ukraine would not join Nato, and he is adamant that Ukraine will not be given back land seized by Russia. He said serious questions remained over how the ceasefire, agreed in talks between Washington and Kyiv in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, would be implemented. Mr Putins response drew criticism from leading diplomats and pundits. Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul told the BBC: We are forcing Ukraine to surrender. Putin is occupying their territory, denying them their sovereignty to choose their alliances, he is now telling them they cannot even import weapons. Thats not a great deal from Zelenskys perspective. Vitaly Shevchenko, Russia editor for BBC Monitoring, said Mr Putins response to the ceasefire plan was a no disguised as a yes. Mr Shevchenko added: The conditions he is putting forward for Ukraine would be devastating to accept. No more weapons supplies, no more mobilisation, surrender rather than withdrawal of Ukrainian troops in Kursk region. Mr Putins demand for the root causes of the dispute to be addressed was a coded demand to be allowed to achieve his initial aim in invading Ukraine, to wipe it off the map, said Mr Shevchenko. The Russian president warned Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk to surrender or die. He said the proposal for the ceasefire was good, and we absolutely support it. Russian forces have been advancing since the middle of last year, and now control nearly a fifth of Ukraine's territory, three years after the Kremlin sent tens of thousands of troops to invade the country. open image in gallery Putin held out the prospect of building a gas pipeline to Europe ( Sky News ) At the same time, Ukrainian forces are losing ground in the Kursk region amid a major Russian offensive to recapture land which Kyiv had hoped could be a crucial bargaining chip in peace negotiations. Mr Putin asked: If we ceased hostilities for 30 days, would it mean that everybody there would leave? Should we release them after they committed serious crimes against civilians there? How will other aspects be dealt with along with 2,000km contact line? As you know, the Russian troops are advancing practically in every sector of the contact line, and all the conditions are there for us to besiege fairly large [Ukrainian] units. So what would happen during those 30 days? Ukraine is likely to see Mr Putins stance as an attempt to buy time while Russian troops squeeze the last Ukrainian troops out of western Russia and Moscow sticks to demands that Kyiv regards as seeking its capitulation. Mr Putin also held out the idea of building a gas pipeline to Europe, because, he said, it needs cheap Russian gas. open image in gallery Steve Witkoff is holding talks with Putin on Thursday night ( AP ) Ukrainian troops stranded in Kursk would need to surrender or die, the Russian president warned. The situation is fully under our control and the group that invaded our territory has been isolated, fully isolated, he said. Any ceasefire negotiations would depend on the situation on the ground. After Mr Putins press conference, which was held with Belarusian president and ally Alexander Lukashenko, he was set to hold a meeting with US president Donald Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Those discussions, behind closed doors in Moscow, were expected to focus on some of the details of the proposals. The Russian leader thanked Mr Trump for giving so much attention to a settlement in Ukraine. Asked about the prospect of the US lifting sanctions, he said any companies that wanted to return to Russia would be welcomed. But sanctions on Russia, he said, had created Russias independence and our sovereignty. He reminded the world that tactical nuclear arms have been deployed in Belarus. Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians Volodymyr Zelensky Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Mr Putin of being afraid to admit to Mr Trump that he wants to kill more Ukrainians. Mr Zelensky said: Now we have all heard from Russia the very predictable, very manipulative words of Putin in response to the idea of silence on the front he is actually preparing a refusal as of now. Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians. And that's why there, in Moscow, they set up the idea of silence with such prerequisites that nothing would happen at all or that it would not happen for as long as possible. He added: Putin often does this he does not say no directly, but he does it in such a way that practically everything only delays and makes normal decisions impossible. We believe that this is all just another Russian manipulation. Ukraine does not set conditions that make things difficult, the president said. This is what Russia is doing. As we have always said, the only one who will delay everything, the only one who will be unconstructive, is Russia. They need war. Putin stole years of peace and continues this war day after day. Sanctions were needed to force Putin to accept the terms of the ceasefire, he added. Addressing his allies, he said: Now you have to put pressure on him. It is necessary to introduce sanctions that will help. Earlier, he accused the Kremlin of wanting to postpone a truce for as long as possible. open image in gallery President Trump met Nato chief Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Thursday ( Reuters ) Mr Trump said Mr Witkoff was in serious discussions with Russia about ending the war. The president, who said he was willing to talk to the Russian leader by phone, called Mr Putins statement very promising but said it was not complete. Hopefully, theyll do the right thing, he said during a meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte. He said he did not believe Russia would attack US allies. It's not going to happen. Well make sure it doesnt happen, he said. 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 Ever the statesman, always the general, Vladimir Putin both welcomed and scorned the joint American-Ukrainian ceasefire plan brought to his capital by US diplomats on Thursday night - trying to keep officials guessing if he would accept it or not. As the politician, the president of the Russian Federation welcomed the proposal, stating that the idea in itself to stop this conflict in a peaceful way - that's something that we support. But the military man who ordered his troops into Crimea in 2014, promised safety to trapped Ukrainian troops but massacred them in the Donbas that same year, and violated past ceasefires dozens of times, seems to want to have another go at annihilation. In a joint press conference with Belrusian president and close ally Alexander Lukashenko, he boasted of Russias recent success in freeing Kursk from a Ukrainian incursion that has lasted since August last year, claiming that huge numbers of Kyivs forces were trapped there and complaining that a ceasefire now would be unfair. First of all, so what is happening with that area of incursion in Kursk? he asked. If we stop our military action for 30 days, what does that mean? open image in gallery Vladimir Putin both welcomed and scorned the joint American-Ukrainian ceasefire plan brought to his capital by US diplomats on Thursday night ( REUTERS ) That means that all the people that are there, military people, Ukrainians that are there, will have the opportunity to leave without the fight. Will we let them go all these people who committed crimes, or they're going to surrender? Many Ukrainians will recall the Iloviask massacre in August 2014 in Donetsk province, when Ukrainian troops were surrounded by Russian forces and offered a safe passage but tried to leave with their weapons. At least 366 were killed, and more than 150 went missing. A nervous looking Putin dressed in fatigues visited Kursk on Wednesday to review the Russian operation. While there, he said that any Ukrainian soldiers captured on Russian territory would not be treated as prisoners of war. All those in the... Kursk region [who] committed crimes against the civilian population, opposed our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services, are terrorists in accordance to the laws of the Russian Federation, he is quoted as saying on the semi-official Tass news agency. Russian forces have a well earned reputation for murdering Ukrainians who have surrendered - just as they have for killing civilians in places like Bucha and Irpin, near Kyiv, at the start of their full scale invasion exactly three years ago. Ukrainian soldiers know they risk a similar fate if they fall into Russian hands. Putin went on to claim how, since Russia was doing so well on the other frontlines, it would be a huge concession to agree a ceasefire now. So how are they [Ukraine] going to use these 30 days? Are they going to use it in order to continue the forced mobilization in Ukraine, in order to supply weapons to those areas, in order to newly mobilize units to undergo training? open image in gallery A Ukrainian soldier looks at the sky searching for Russian FPV drones as he gets ready to fire a M777 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline near Donetsk, March 3, 2025 ( AP ) Certainly Ukraine will do that. But as the US suspended all military aid to Ukraine for several days and has proved an unreliable supplier of intelligence, it is Russia that will be best placed to use a 30 day pause to rearm and reorganise. Putins claim of imminent encirclement of Ukrainian forces is overblown. He has been throwing untold numbers of men and material into battles for towns like Pokrovsk, Kupyansk, and even Kharkiv but his forces have only inched forwards over months. An opportunity to build up forces to try to land a killer blow would be welcomed by Moscows forces. Ukraine has been forced in to agreeing to a ceasefire offer with terms that will be discussed further by Putins team. He may even meet top level envoys from Trump himself, behind closed doors. He has laid out how, if he agreed to any kind of a ceasefire, it would be entirely as an act of statesman-like kindness in the context of a hard charging Russian advance. In Kursk thats what has been essentially achieved, largely thanks to the White House which blindsided Ukrainian troops with a blackout on their satellite and signal intelligence feeds that would have been vital for Ukrainians on the ground. open image in gallery Vladimir Putin visits a command point for the Kursk group of troops involved in the counteroffensive in the Kursk region ( KREMLIN.RU/AFP via Getty Images ) Hundreds, probably thousands of Ukrainians have keen killed in Kursk after Trumps demonstration of passive aggression to a former ally in Kyiv. So far the only consequence of a Russian refusal to sign a ceasefire has been Trumps threat to hit Russias economy. US trade with Moscow is a minuscule $3.5 billion a year. But if statesman-general Putin accepts a ceasefire then he can blame any breakdown on Ukraine, given that there are no independent sources of verification. Hes only likely to do that when his troops are ready to deal a death blow to the Ukrainian troops he hopes to finally surround. 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 Vladimir Putin has declared a Easter truce in Ukraine, ordering his forces to end hostilities at 6pm on Saturday until the end of Sunday. The Russian Defence Ministry said it had given instructions on the ceasefire to all group commanders in the area of the "special military operation", which is the Kremlin's term for the war. However, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian air defence units had hours earlier repelled an attack by Russian drones saying this showed Moscow's true attitude to Easter and the lives of people. The Russian president has an extensive history of breaking peace agreements. Last month, Mr Putin broke an energy infrastructure ceasefire hours after telling Mr Trump his forces would stop attacks. Earlier this year, Mr Zelensky handed a document to Mr Trumps Ukraine envoy detailing what he said were the 25 ceasefires Russia had violated since the start of its aggression in 2014. . Below, we look at some of those agreements and how exactly these previous ceasefires broke down. The Minsk Agreements open image in gallery Talks between Vladimir Putin, Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel and Petro Poroshenko lasted through the night in 2015 ( Retuers ) After pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in 2014 following the Euromaidan revolution, Mr Putin sent plainclothes Russian soldiers into the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and then into the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Fighting quickly broke out as Russia denied involvement. Moscow claimed it was Ukrainian separatist forces. Nonetheless, by September of that year, Ukraine, Russia and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) convened for the first of what would be many peace talks. They were brokered by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 5 September, the first of two agreements was signed in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Its provisions included prisoner exchanges, the delivery of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons. But a day later, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council announced that Russian troops had fired at Ukrainian positions at least 10 times. The ceasefire failed to materialise into anything substantive. By the turn of the year, fighting had intensified. Pro-Russian insurgents attacked Ukrainian positions at Debaltseve, a transport hub near the administrative line between Donetsk and Luhansk, eventually forcing a Ukrainian withdrawal by mid-February. At that point, a second agreement was underway in Minsk, this time overseen by German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande. The agreement came into effect on 15 February but lasted only a few minutes, as Russian units fired on a Ukrainian checkpoint near Zolote in Luhansk Oblast, according to Ukraine's military. Easter and Christmas ceasefires open image in gallery Pro-Russian fighters patrol the streets of Makiivka, in the suburbs of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in 2015 ( AFP/Getty ) For the next four years, Russia and Ukraine agreed to several ceasefires a year, often timed with Christmas, Easter or the harvest, around June/July. Not a single one held for very long. On several occasions, the OSCE helped broker agreements, but skirmishes broke out quickly. Neither side believed a truce could hold. Soldiers would fire at one another within hours of the supposed start of a ceasefire. The OSCE said both sides would also deny them access to inspect military equipment, though they said the Russian-backed rebels were typically guilty of the more serious violations of ceasefire agreements. Back in 2022, just a few months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a ceasefire was proposed to take place between 21 and 25 April. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres put forward the idea, aiming to "open a series of humanitarian corridors" and allow for the "safe exit of all civilians wishing to leave areas of confrontation". But the plan never came to fruition. While Ukraine expressed support for the proposal, Russia rejected it, saying it did not want to give Kyivs forces a chance to rest. Russias deputy permanent representative to the UN, Mr Dmitry Polyansky, called the proposal insincere and claimed it would give Ukrainian troops more time to regroup and receive weapons. Zelenskys 2019 and 2020 attempts open image in gallery Ukrainian soldiers ride an armoured vehicle to Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, Donetsk region ( AFP/Getty ) It was just two months after the comedian-turned-politician Mr Zelensky assumed his role as the president of Ukraine that he found himself opposite Mr Putin for the latest round of peace talks. Ms Merkel and the new French president Emmanuel Macron oversaw the talks. In a written statement, the countries agreed to the release and exchange of all conflict-related detainees by the end of 2019. They also pledged to disengage military forces in three additional regions of Ukraine by the end of March 2020, without specifying which regions would be affected. But it was a deal that was doomed to fail. We saw differences today, Mr Macron admitted at the time. We didn't find the miracle solution, but we have advanced on it. The following July, another agreement was struck, one that did reduce the level of fighting but never quite stopped it completely. 2025 energy infrastructure ceasefire Mr Putin broke his promise to Mr Trump to stop attacking Ukraines energy infrastructure just hours after his agreement with the US president. In a readout of a call between the two leaders in March, the Kremlin said Mr Trump had requested that Russia refrain from striking energy infrastructure. It added that Mr Putin had responded positively to this request and had immediately given the Russian military the corresponding command. But Russia fired several ballistic missiles and nearly 150 drones across Ukraine a few hours later, cutting off electricity in the eastern city of Slovyansk, damaging two medical facilities in the northeast Sumy region, and wounding people in the capital of Kyiv. Russian state media then claimed that Ukrainian drones had hit an oil facility in the Krasnodar Krai region, sparking a small fire at an oil depot located near the village of Kavkazskaya. Russian site Shot posted a video of a fire in what seemed like an industrial area, but it was unclear if this was of the actual attack. Ukrainian governmental and local authorities posted extensive footage of Russias attacks. 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 Flanked by minefields, with the deadly percussion of shelling in the background, we made our way cautiously into recently liberated Kherson. This was November 2022, in the southeastern corner of Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces had launched a successful counteroffensive against Russia to reclaim land lost in Moscows full-scale invasion. At the time, it was the latest in a string of stunning wins for the Ukrainians, who, against the odds, were pushing Russia back. As in other recently liberated cities, dazed residents emerged from their homes for the first time in months with stories of disappearances, detentions, torture, and death. open image in gallery Ukrainian soldiers near the frontline in Donetsk region ( AP ) Leering down on them were the dystopian billboards of happy faces promoting Russias so-called referendum to annex Kherson and three other recently occupied regions of Ukraine. For years, I have tracked Russias bloody actions inside occupied territory. The referendums, denounced globally as coercive and a sham, were just one part of a concerted effort to quickly and thoroughly "Russify" occupied territory, an action Ukrainian officials believe is intended to permanently change the demographic reality on the ground and erase any notion of Ukraine and its statehood. From our own investigations into occupied territory, we have documented how Russian soldiers have forcibly transferred and deported thousands of Ukrainians in occupied areas deeper into Russian-held land or even into Russia itself. Many including those with disabilities, the elderly, and children are being held incommunicado and forced to accept Russian passports to secure pensions, medical treatment or medicines. Maksym, who has been unable to use his legs since birth, was among them. He described Russian officials arriving at his institution in Kherson in late 2022 to take the residents to the seaside. open image in gallery Residents hug a Ukrainian soldier as they celebrate the liberation of Kherson on 13 November 2022 ( AFP/Getty ) Anyone who refused was locked in a room and had their phone confiscated. Maksym was taken from everyone he knew and moved against his will to the Russian town of Anapa. His wheelchair was taken in transit. When Russia tried to force a passport on him for the second time, he had to smuggle himself out of the country with the help of a network of Ukrainian volunteers. Others were not so lucky and are still missing, like Inna, 46, who has Down syndrome. She was taken with 54 women from her institution into Russian-occupied Crimea in November 2022, and hasnt been seen since. Her parents are still desperately searching for her. We uncovered credible evidence that Ukrainian children with disabilities are among thousands sent to re-education camps. There, they are given pro-Russian lessons, with revised history, Russian language, and culture lessons. One Ukrainian official put it to me that, quite literally, the aim was to erase the memory of Ukraine. More recently, I have spoken to people in occupied territory who say it is now impossible to access social services or healthcare, keep a job, open a bank account or buy or even retain your house if you do not take a Russian passport. open image in gallery Donald Trump clashes with Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House ( AP ) Russia itself has recently declared that they have issued a total of 3.5 million passports to Ukrainians living in occupied territory. And this week, the UK Ministry of Defence warned that possession of a Russian passport would also constitute eligibility for conscription into the military, demonstrating "the Russian senior leaderships continuing commitment to, and pursuit of, a Russification policy. All of this is concerning against the backdrop of the emergence of a possible ceasefire. Following a very public spat with US president Donald Trump and then negotiations with US officials in Saudi Arabia, President Zelensky said on Wednesday that he would back a 30-day US-brokered truce to allow consultations on a longer peace plan. US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who led the Jeddah talks, said the US would take the proposal to Russia and that the ball is truly in their court. In a joint statement, the US and Ukraine said the truce would include the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of thousands of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children. Russia is examining the deal, with Kremlin officials saying it is "early days". open image in gallery Destroyed buildings in the frontline town of Chasiv Yar ( Reuters ) But the concern is that, with Russia advancing albeit slowly in Ukraine, they will have no interest in a ceasefire that doesnt include significant capitulations from Ukraine. And even though Putin has spoken of the need for long-term peace, the aim of a deal would be to allow Russia, as it has done before, to regroup, re-arm, and attack again, all while entrenching the illegal annexation of Ukrainian land by changing the demographic reality on the ground. Putin himself said in June that his terms were that Ukraine must officially drop its Nato ambitions and completely withdraw its troops from four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia. Russia controls around 20 per cent of Ukraine, or about 46,000 sq miles, including 70 per cent of Kherson, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, and more than 99 per cent of Luhansk region, according to open-source maps and Russian estimates. Putin wants all of those oblasts handed over. There are deep concerns that even if that extreme demand is dismissed, and the battle lines are frozen where they are, the reality on the ground in these four regions is so completely changed, it will become increasingly difficult or impossible for Ukraine to negotiate their return to Ukrainian control at some point in the future. Any ceasefire deal must come with guarantees for Ukraine that it is not just a path to more loss and erasure that it is not a pause to allow another bloody, ruinous invasion. 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 chances of Vladimir Putin upholding a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine are close to nil European officials fear, with one warning that it could last just 30 minutes. Ukraine agreed to a 30-day truce after talks with the US in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. But while the world waits for the response from the Kremlin, current and former officials across Europe have told The Independent Moscow would try and extract as much as possible from the US for any agreement and then violate it anyway. One senior official from Lithuania one of the Baltic nations which fears Mr Putins invasion could be extended to their border said: What for us, Ukraine or the US, is 30 days could be just 30 minutes for Russia. There are a lot of examples of this, said the official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation openly. Russia has repeatedly ignored previous agreements to end fighting between Kyivs forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has been underway since 2014, all before Mr Putins full-scale invasion three years ago. Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6 from 2014 to 2020, said Mr Putin would probably agree to the 30-day ceasefire, but then try to push his luck with unworkable demands that would put a truce under extreme pressure and make progress difficult. [Putins] demands will be maximal and I dont see how Ukraine can meet them, he said, suggesting they will be based on ensuring that Ukraine is essentially a non-country, one that is neutral and disarmed. Sir Laurie Bristow, the British former ambassador to Moscow from 2016 to 2020, said the chances of Russia respecting [a ceasefire] are as close to nil as makes no difference. He suggested the Russians will commit actions below the military threshold to undermine the ceasefire, provoke the Ukrainians and try to improve their positions. open image in gallery Moscow says Vladimir Putin is waiting to study the details of the ceasefire ( AP ) open image in gallery Volodymyr Zelensky says everything depends on Russia ( AFP/Getty ) Sir Laurie said that could include assassinations or moving the frontline forward during the night, as they did during a ceasefire with Georgia after a Russian invasion in 2008 in support of separatists in the breakaway South Ossetia region. They will also certainly try to use provocations to try to transfer blame for any breakdown in the ceasefire to the other side, the former ambassador said. They [the Kremlin] always do that. Speaking on Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped for strong steps if Russia rejects the offer of a ceasefire or violates any agreement. Everything depends now on whether Russia is willing to do so or is it rather willing to continue killing people, he said. "I am very serious [about a ceasefire] and for me it is important to end the war," Mr Zelensky said during a briefing in Kyiv, where he described the resumption of US aid and intelligence in the wake of the talks in Jeddah as very positive. Both military aid and intelligence sharing had been suspended by Donald Trump in the wake of a fiery exchange with the Ukrainian president during a meeting at the White House two weeks ago. Lisa Yasko, an MP with Mr Zelenskys Servant of the People party (Sluha Narodu), said it was useful that the US was involved as a mediator but that I am personally generally sceptical of any possible real ceasefire acceptance by Russia. But it is worth trying. The Kremlin said it was carefully studying the results of the meeting and would await details from US secretary of state Marco Rubio who led the Washington delegation in Saudi Arabia and White House national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chair of the Ukrainian parliaments foreign affairs committee, Oleksandr Merezhko, told The Independent that if Mr Putin agreed to a ceasefire and then broke it he would face an angry reaction from the West. Interestingly, we might have a new, sort of psychological and political guarantee, for ceasefire if Putin agrees to it, he said. And this guarantee is Trump himself. If Putin violates a ceasefire he will have to face Trumps anger because Trump will take it personally as an insult. So, Putin now is in a difficult situation. He is afraid of Trump and wouldnt like to irritate him. he added. Mr Rubio said the United States was hoping for a positive response, and that if the answer was "no" then it would tell Washington a lot about the Kremlin's true intentions. open image in gallery US secretary of state Marco Rubio speaks to the press on Wednesday ( Getty ) He said there would be contacts with Moscow on Wednesday, that Europe would have to be involved in any security guarantee for Ukraine, and that the sanctions Europe has imposed would also be on the table. Asked whether Russia could accept the ceasefire unconditionally, Mr Rubio said: "That's what we want to know, whether they're prepared to do it unconditionally." The talk of a ceasefire comes as Kyivs forces come under pressure over their foothold inside Russia's border Kursk region. Ukraine sprang one of the biggest shocks of the war in August last year by storming across the border and grabbing a chunk of land inside Russia, taking hold of a potential bargaining chip. Russia's Defence Ministry claimed the capture of five more villages, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that "the dynamics are good". Video published by Russian bloggers and state media showed troops standing with a Russian tricolour flag on a square in the centre of Sudzha, a town near the Ukrainian border on a highway used by Kyiv as a supply route. Ukraine's army denied this week that their forces were being encircled, but said they were taking up better defensive positions. Skadovskyi Defender, a Ukrainian military blogger, posted on Telegram: "Ukraine's Armed Forces are leaving Kursk. There will be no Ukrainian soldier there by Friday." open image in gallery A Russian aerial attack destroyed an apartment block in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday ( Telegram/Ukraine's Emergency Services ) A senior Ukrainian ministerial adviser said of the situation on the ground and a potential truce: A ceasefire agreement from us at least means that we are back talking to the Americans and they have given us access to the intelligence we need. Kursk shows what happens when we dont have it. However, a senior Russian source told Reuters that Mr Putin would find it hard to agree to the ceasefire proposal given this. "Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing," the source said. Another senior Russian source said the ceasefire proposal looked, from Moscow's perspective, to be a trap. Inside Ukraine, Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five civilians, officials said on Wednesday. Mr Rubio said he hoped to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days as a first step. "We don't think it's constructive to stand here today and say what we're going to do if Russia says no," he said, adding he wanted to avoid statements about Russia that "are abrasive in any way". In Ukraines second-largest city of Kharkiv, just 40 km (25 miles) from the Russian border and one of the most targeted civilian-populated areas in the country, local officials say a temporary ceasefire would not affect their spending on things like bomb shelters. Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelenskys top adviser and the man who led Ukraines peace delegation in Saudi Arabia, said after the talks on Tuesday that the key is now in Moscows hands. The whole world will see who really wants to end the war and who is simply playing for time, he wrote on Telegram. 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 Russia has presented the US with a list of demands for a deal to end its invasion of Ukraine and reset relations with Washington, it has been reported. The demands were submitted to Washington after Ukraine accepted a 30-day proposal discussed with the US during peace talks in Saudi Arabia on 11 March. It is unclear what was included in that letter, but a senior Russian official told state media that any long-term peace deal rests on guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join Nato. We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement, deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said. Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance. The Ukraine-US talks in Saudi Arabia produced a commitment that the US would renew intelligence and security support after suspending both last week following a disastrous White House meeting between President Trump and Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky in February. Last week, it emerged that UK officials, including a Downing Street fixer, were reportedly intimately involved in brokering the talks. Below we look at everything we know about the ceasefire deal so far. What are Vladimir Putins demands? open image in gallery Vladimir Putin has broken truces in the past ( AP ) During a press conference in the Kremlin on Thursday, Vladimir Putin said he agreed with the ceasefire but added there were nuances that had to be discussed. He would agree to a truce based on the assumption it would lead to a long-term peace, he claimed, adding that any such agreement had to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. The Russian president said Russian forces were moving forward along the entire front line and that the ceasefire would have to ensure that Ukraine did not seek to use it simply to regroup. While Russian forces have staged a successful counteroffensive in the border region of Kursk in the last week, their attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk have slowed to a halt. Ukrainians have begun launching counterattacks along that eastern line, particularly in Toretsk. The overwhelming concern among Ukrainians and their European allies is that it is Russia that would use a pause in fighting to regroup and attack Ukraine again. Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk would have to surrender or die, Mr Putin warned. He questioned what would happen to troops currently in Kursk during any truce. Previously, he has ruled out territorial concessions and said Ukraine must withdraw fully from four Ukrainian regions claimed and partly controlled by Russia. He has also insisted any ceasefire could proceed only if the West gave a guarantee that Ukraine would not join Nato. What is Ukraines reaction? Mr Zelensky on Tuesday called on Russia to accept the ceasefire deal his team agreed with the United States, posting on social media that Ukraine was ready to accept it. But following Mr Putins revealing his conditions, the Ukrainian leader said Mr Putin wanted to delay a truce and was playing for time. Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putins highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines at this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it, he said. Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians. Thats why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible. Putin does this oftenhe doesnt say no outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible. We see this as yet another round of Russian manipulation. There was a US proposal for an unconditional ceasefirein the air, at sea, and on the front lines. We in Ukraine accepted this proposal. He said the Americans were ready to organise, monitor and verify the ceasefire. It was feasible, he said, to put a plan to end the war on the table during the ceasefire. We are not setting conditions that complicate the processRussia is, he added. open image in gallery Mr Zelensky said he has wanted peace from the first minute of the invasion ( Office of Ukraine President ) The truce proposals were reportedly drafted with the help of UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell, who visited Mr Zelensky in Kyiv on the weekend. Mr Powell also worked with US counterpart Mike Waltz and German and French officials to fashion a plan for the ceasefire, government sources told the BBC. Proposals drafted with Mr Powell reportedly included a temporary pause in fighting, prisoner-of-war exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia. Mr Zelensky says a more permanent ceasefire is not possible without some form of American security guarantees. His ultimate goal is Nato membership for Ukraine but the US appears to have ruled that out. Previous suggestions that they will not stop fighting until Russian forces are pushed completely out of Ukraine, including from Crimea, seem to have been dropped. What has the US said? President Trump, who said he was willing to talk to the Russian leader by phone, called Mr Putin's statement "very promising" and said he hoped Moscow would "do the right thing". But, he added: Now were going to see whether or not Russia is there, and if theyre not, itll be a very disappointing moment for the world. He said Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, was engaged in serious talks with the Russians in Moscow on the US proposal, which Kyiv has already agreed to. Mr Trump claims he has received positive messages about the ceasefire from Moscow and reiterated on Wednesday that he would do things financially that would be very bad for Russia if they did not accept it. He said that a ceasefire would make sense for Moscow but said there was a lot of downside for Russia too, without elaborating. We have a very complex situation solved on one side, pretty much solved. We've also discussed land and other things that go with it, he said. We know the areas of land we're talking about, whether it's pull back or not pull back. He acknowledged that positive signals from the Russians meant nothing until a deal had been signed. Much of Europe and Ukraine believe Mr Putins positive signals will continue to mean nothing even after a peace agreement is signed; history is filled with examples of Russia, under Mr Putins leadership, breaking ceasefire agreements, they say. US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who led the delegation in Saudi Arabia, said after the talks that the US would take the offer to Russia, and the ball is in Moscow's court. "Our hope is that the Russians will answer 'yes' as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations," he told reporters. What happens now? Mr Rubio said the plan would be delivered to the Russians through multiple channels. The Kremlin says it will respond after the US has discussed with them the details of the proposal agreed by Ukraine. Mr Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, is due to meet his Russian counterpart in the coming days and Mr Witkoff met with Kremlin officials in Moscow on Thursday. In the meantime, fighting continues. Russian forces are in the middle of a major counteroffensive in the border region of Kursk. They could retake the salient soon, removing a key territorial bargaining chip for Ukraine. Mr Putin, donning military fatigues, visited troops in Kursk recently. It is the first time he has visited the frontline in three years of war against Ukraine. It is telling that he did so less than 24 hours after Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire. Moscow also continues to launch hundreds of missiles and drones at civilian-populated cities and towns across Ukraine each night. 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 A US-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire proposal has put the notion of a negotiated end to the three-year war on the agenda, and in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But even before Moscow responds, its pretty clear where the parties stand. Breaking a prior taboo against negotiations involving territorial concessions, the US has suggested Ukraine must cede land in any permanent deal, whereas President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated repeatedly that he will never yield sovereignty over Ukraines territory. Meanwhile, Russia has demanded that Ukraine renounce its aspiration to join Nato and accept restrictions on its military. But at present, Kyiv looks unlikely to gain the security guarantees it seeks from the US before contemplating such terms. What is talked about less is what the Ukrainian people are willing to accept for peace. And while any armistice will likely be dictated by guns, territorial gains and great power geopolitics, it will be in large part down to ordinary Ukrainians to shape what happens afterward. An ugly peace may be accepted by a war-weary population. But if it has little local legitimacy and acceptance, peace is likely to be unsustainable in the long run. We have tracked public opinion in Ukraine from before the war and during the course of the conflict. It is an imperfect exercise; most polling in wartime Ukraine is by mobile phone and depends upon those with service who are willing to participate. Many people, especially in the countrys south and east, do not want to answer sensitive questions out of concern for themselves and relatives, some in occupied territories and Russia. Those who do respond may give guarded responses. Some are mindful of wartime censorship, while others are patriotic or wish to present themselves as such to the stranger calling them. Meanwhile, many other Ukrainians are overseas and excluded. Similarly, those in Russian-occupied territories are left out of surveys. Nonetheless, the responses still give insights into how opinions in Ukraine have evolved since the Russian invasion of February 2022. Here are five important findings from relatively recent public opinion polls that are relevant to any forthcoming peace negotiations. 1. Nearly all Ukrainians are stressed and tired of war Unsurprisingly, three years of a brutal war of aggression has created tremendous stress among a population increasingly weary of war. A December 2024 poll from the respected Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, or KIIS found that nearly 9 in 10 Ukrainians experienced at least one stressful situation in the previous year. Large shares reported stressful experiences related to bombing and shelling (39 per cent), separation from family members (30 per cent), surviving the death of loves ones (26 per cent) and the illness of loved ones (23 per cent). Only 10 per cent said theyd experienced no stressful situations. In a related vein, surveys we have conducted showed that by summer 2024, 84 per cent of the population had experienced violence in some form be that physical injury at the hands of Russian forces, displacement, loss of family member and friends, or witnessing attacks. And consistent with a growing number of news reports, we found that Ukrainians were deeply worried about war weariness among their fellow Ukrainians just 10% reported that they did not worry about war fatigue at all. 2. More Ukrainians want negotiations, but there are red lines As the war has gone on, several polls show that Ukrainians increasingly support negotiations. The share of the population in favor of negotiations varies depending on how the question is posed. When given the choice between two options, a Gallup Poll from late 2024 showed that 52% preferred that Ukraine should seek to negotiate an ending to the war as soon as possible, whereas 38% preferred that Ukraine should continue fighting until it wins the war. Our earlier surveys from 2022 and 2024 similarly show a growing preference for negotiations, though at a lower level from 11 per cent in 2022 to 31 per cent % in 2024. In contrast to the binary Gallup question, our surveys presented respondents with different territorial compromises for a ceasefire. While about one-third wanted an immediate ceasefire, half wanted to continue fighting until all territories, including the predominately Russian-speaking Donbas region and Crimea, are brought back under Kyivs control. But survey responses make clear that the countrys political independence is a red line for the public even if defending it comes at a very high cost. 3. Ukrainians are more open to territorial concessions In tandem with growing support for negotiations, our surveys in line with KIISs own polls show growing willingness to cede territory. And among those most worried about war fatigue and more pessimistic about continued Western support, the willingness to cede territory is higher. That said, most Ukrainians still want Ukraine to continue fighting until the countrys territorial integrity is restored and under Kyivs control, including Crimea. But that majority has diminished since the beginning of the war from 71 per cent in 2022 to 51 per cent in 2024. When we asked in July 2024 whether people agreed with the statement: Russia should be allowed to control the territory it has occupied since 2022, 90 per cent disagreed. As such, there is very little evidence that Russias territorial annexations or an agreement recognizing these, which is what Russia wants will have any legitimacy among Ukraines population. 4. Ukrainians see Russias war goals in existential terms Neither Zelensky nor most Ukrainians trust Putin hence theres a strong preference for any agreement being accompanied by security guarantees from Nato states. Poll findings in the past month from KIIS reveal that 66 per cent of Ukrainians interpret Russias war aims as an existential threat, comprising genocide against Ukrainians and destruction of its independent statehood. And 87% believe Russia will not stop at the territories it already occupies. Negotiating with an enemy bent on Ukraines destruction appears delusional to many Ukrainians. 5. Zelensky remains popular; his endorsement matters open image in gallery Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky ( EPA ) As a defiant wartime leader, President Zelenskys popularity was very high in the immediate months after the invasion. Indeed, KIIS polls from May 2022 show that 90% of the population expressed trust in him. This has declined as the war has endured, but it has always remained above 50%. Recent polling measuring his approval puts it at 63 per cent, an increase from 2024. Indeed, the very latest KIIS polls, from February through March of this year, show a 10-point jump in his trust rating to 67 per cent, a finding widely viewed as rallying in the face of US criticism. Thus Zelenskys endorsement of any ceasefire and settlement will matter, though ceding territory is likely to be hazardous for him politically. While the U.S.-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire has put the ball in Russias court, it is unclear whether it will be enough to bring Putin to the table. And even if it does, given past precedent it is difficult to see him arriving as a compromiser rather than a conqueror. What does appear clear is that whatever peace emerges looks set to hang more on Ukraine making concessions and accepting losses. Such a peace can be negotiated behind closed doors. But without public acceptance in Ukraine, whether it endures on the ground is another matter. Gerard Toal is Professor of Government and International Affairs, Virginia Tech John OLoughlin is Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder Kristin M Bakke is Professor in Political Science and International Relations, UCL This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article 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 Ukraines massive and widespread drone attacks against Russia on the eve of talks between the US and Ukraine employed exactly the same tactics as Moscow has used to terrorise its neighbour for three years: the swarm. If the Kremlins figures are to be believed they usually are not, but in this case they might be accurate Ukraine flew 337 aircraft into Russian airspace. The drones used are made in Ukraine, employ the latest technology, and were sent in such numbers that Russian air defences were unable to cope. Most nights, Ukraine is hit by waves of 100-200 cheap Shahed drones a 40kg bomb powered by a lawnmower engine which are sent along with ballistic missiles carrying half a tonne of high explosives. These swarms are intended to distract and overwhelm Ukraines defences, and lately have included dummy drones carrying no explosives, which are used to waste a multi-million dollar air-defence missile supplied by Europe or the US. In a show of strength and defiance after the US cut military and intelligence support for Kyiv, Ukraine has now done the same. open image in gallery A damaged apartment building in Ramenskoe, outside Moscow, after Ukraines drone attack ( EPA ) However, its drones are higher grade and use the latest technology to get around Russian radar, avoid its surface-to-air missiles, and fly on to targets accurately by navigating themselves. The development of a huge unmanned air force has been driven by a Ukrainian government announcement earlier this year that it would produce 30,000 long-range drones and 3,000 ballistic missiles. Ukraine used to be the main producer of rockets for the Soviet space programme. Its second city, Kharkiv, remains a world centre for rocket science, and its development of drone technology has been supercharged by arms investors from around the world keen to cash in on Ukraines unparalleled experience in this new kind of warfare. Were leading the world in some of this weapons technology and we just need a bit more time to get right ahead of the Russians, said a senior officer in the new Ukrainian UAV Force. The Ukrainian air attack against Russia hit oil refineries as well as Moscow and killed three people, Russian officials have said. Fourteen Ukrainians were killed in Russian air attacks on Saturday. Russia was probably hit by Ukraines homegrown Palianytsia missile-drone which carries a 50kg warhead and can fly 600km at about 800kph. open image in gallery An image posted by Moscows governor Andrei Vorobyev purporting to show a car park in southern Moscow after the Ukrainian drone attack ( Telegram ) Moscows four airports were shut down and an apartment block was hit, while refineries came under attack in Russias Oryol region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "All (defensive) measures and actions were carried out in advance, in good time. And this allows for the protection of Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as many other regions." Ukraine has asked for an air and naval ceasefire as part of its negotiations for peace. The US has ruled out Ukraine recovering its lost territory, as well as Nato support and indefinite military aid and intelligence sharing all bargaining chips that could have been used by Ukraine. The attacks on Moscow were intended to show Vladimir Putin that even with the vocal backing of the Trump administration, Ukraine is capable of hurting Russia. Peskov said the visiting secretary general of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Feridun Sinirlioglu, had been shown the damage caused by the attack on Moscow. "It's important that he was shown the aftermath of the attack. But more importantly, what the Kyiv regime is hitting residential buildings," said Peskov. Thats not a statement that will trouble Zelensky. 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 Ukrainian forces are rapidly losing ground in the Kursk region amid a major Russian offensive to recapture land which Kyiv hoped could be a crucial bargaining chip in peace negotiations. In an attempt to divert Russian forces from the brutal frontlines in eastern Ukraine and embarrass Vladimir Putin Ukraine smashed across the border into the Kursk region in August, the biggest attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of 1941. Putin visited the western region for the first time since its seizure on Wednesday, in a sign of the confidence Moscow has that they will retake complete control of the region. Moscow claims that recent advances from its forces have left Ukrainian troops with less 200 square km (77 square miles) in Kursk, down from 1,300 square km (500 square miles) at the peak of the incursion. Ukraine's top army commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Wednesday that Kyiv's troops would keep operating in Kursk as long as needed. The Independent details how and why Ukraine seized Kursk, and what will happen if Russia retakes the entire territory. When did Ukraine seize Kursk? In early August 2024, reports emerged that a few hundred Ukrainian troops had staged an incursion into Russias Kursk region. Within days, the Ukrainian operation went far beyond anyones expectations, was far bigger than anyone had expected, extending to a pocket of territory which Kyiv said measured 1,376 sq km (530 sq miles) at its peak and included about 100 towns and villages. One of those towns was Sudzha, the largest town captured by Ukraine in the offensive. Commander Syrskyi, said on Wednesday that Kyiv's troops are still fighting in and around the town, despite the Kremlin claiming that Russian forces have retaken control. Why was the land important for Ukraine? Seizing much of Kursk had a number of strategic benefits for Ukraine. Although a tiny fraction of the area which Russia has captured from Ukraine since 2014, the attack on Kursk gave Ukraine its largest gains against Russian forces for two years when its forces retook swathes of territory in Ukraine in a summer 2022 offensive. It also proved a major morale boost for Ukrainian troops, wearied by years of battling Russias invasion. The operation had stunned Russia and proved Kyiv could still seize the initiative in what was becoming a gruelling war of attrition. open image in gallery Vladimir Putin in Kursk ( Russian Presidential Press Service ) Kyiv also hoped it would slow Russias advances in its eastern regions, forcing Moscow to redirect troops to defend its own territory. Perhaps most crucially, President Volodymyr Zelensky had hoped the pocket of land could be used as a bargaining chip for peace negotiations, saying as recently as last month that the territory could be traded for Ukrainian territory under Russian control. How has Russia responded? The invasion was humiliating for president Vladimir Putin, who desperately tried to play down its military impact. Since then, Russian forces bolstered by thousands of North Korean troops sent by Putin-ally Kim Jong-un have sought to claw back most of that land. The North Korean troops began arriving in Kursk from late October as part of a mutual defence pact agreed between Putin and Kim. Putin has never acknowledged their role on the battlefield but Ukraine and its allies say the North Koreans have played an active part in fighting and sustained heavy casualties. Deep State, an authoritative open-source intelligence site that charts the frontlines of the war, updated its battlefield map to show Ukrainian forces were no longer in control of Sudzha, the biggest town Ukraine controlled in Kursk. Fighting continued on the outskirts, DeepState said. open image in gallery A drone view shows men dressed in military uniform waving flags, including the state flag of Russia, and standing on a water tower in the centre of Sudzha town in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict ( via REUTERS ) Ukrainian sources said that Donald Trumps pause in military intelligence sharing with Kyiv after a clash with Mr Zelensky at a White House meeting two weeks ago may have contributed to the accelerating Russian gains. Speaking to The Independent, a senior ministerial advisor said: Kursk shows what happens when we dont have [US intelligence]. The US agreed to resume the intelligence sharing on Tuesday, after talks between officials from Washington and Kyiv in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Putin arrived in Kursk on Wednesday, paying his first visit since Kyivs lightning offensive last August. "Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region," he told generals in televised remarks, dressed in green military gear. It is a rarity to see Putin in military fatigues. What happens next? Losing territory in Kursk could damage both the morale of Ukrainian troops and be detrimental to its bargaining power round the negotiating table. It would also intensify pressure on Mr Zelensky as he attempts to navigate a turbulent relationship with the Trump administration - which is pushing Ukraine to accept long-term peace with Russia. But there is also pressure on Putin, as the United States urges him to join a proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine told Washington on Tuesday it was ready to support. Putin's surprise visit to Kursk in combat gear appears aimed at sending a signal of military resolve to the West, while making clear to his own forces to ensure the ejection of Ukrainian forces before entering any negotiation to end the war. 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 A document prepared for the Kremlin by a Moscow-based think tank states that a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine war cannot happen before 2026, according to The Washington Post. The document, drawn up in February, outlines the Russian plan to weaken the U.S. position on the Ukraine crisis by boosting tensions between the Trump White House and other nations as Russia moves ahead with its plans to pick apart the country. The document, obtained by a European intelligence agency and reviewed by The Post, argues that the current Ukrainian government needs to be fully dismantled. The current Kyiv regime cannot be changed from inside the country. Its complete dismantling is needed, the report states. The think tank behind the document has close connections to Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), which is in charge of Russian operations in the war-torn country, and pushes extreme demands for a peace deal, stating that President Donald Trumps plan to reach a peace agreement within 100 days is impossible. The plan also rejects any notion that peacekeepers be allowed in Ukraine, as several European leaders have suggested. In addition, the document insists on recognition of Russian sovereignty over the territory it has seized in Ukraine. The document calls for a buffer zone in northeast Ukraine on the border with the Russian regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, in addition to a demilitarized zone in southern Ukraine close to Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Vladimir Putin may not be interested in a peace deal with Ukraine any time soon, analysts say ( AP ) Following talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine has endorsed a proposal from the U.S. for a 30-day ceasefire. But analysts told The Post that Russia still has ways it can prolong the fighting, and that the path to a peace deal remains fraught with difficulty. Council on Foreign Relations fellow Thomas Graham, who was senior Russia director at the National Security Council during George W. Bushs administration, said Russia is not interested in an early resolution of the Ukraine crisis. He noted: They consistently talk about the root causes, which are about the domestic politics in Ukraine, and even more important than that, the European security architecture, which would be the role of NATO. A simple ceasefire which doesnt take that into account is of no interest to Russia. And Trump doesnt appear to understand. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper that the Russian government was not aware of such recommendations outlined in the document. He said they were extremely contradictory, and added: We are working with more-considered options. The document was put together ahead of talks on February 18 between Russia and the U.S. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A Russian academic with connections to top Russian diplomats told The Post that the recommendations in the document are an amalgamation of the consensus in the Russian capital. He noted that its unclear how much the Kremlin takes into account documents prepared for it. The document states that without official recognition of the territories seized by Russia, its likely that the fighting would begin again for example after the next change of administration in the U.S. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Climate change is wreaking havoc on Earth but soon it will even be messing up its orbit, scientists have revealed. It is poised to exacerbate the growing problem of space debris, potentially shrinking the usable space for satellite in low Earth orbit, according to a new MIT study. Researchers have calculated that the ongoing warming trend, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, could diminish available orbital space by anywhere from one-third to 82 per cent by the end of the century, depending on the extent of future carbon emissions. The culprit? A weakened natural cleaning mechanism in the upper atmosphere. The same greenhouse effect warming the lower atmosphere also cools the upper layers where satellites operate. This cooling reduces atmospheric density, lessening the drag that normally pulls space debris down towards Earth, where it burns up upon re-entry. Consequently, a less dense upper atmosphere translates to less efficient removal of space junk. As debris accumulates, the risk of collisions increases, threatening the functionality of vital satellites. This escalating congestion in low Earth orbit poses significant challenges for future space endeavours, according to the study, published in Nature Sustainability. open image in gallery More and more space junk is being seen in low Earth orbit ( Nasa ) We rely on the atmosphere to clean up our debris. Theres no other way to remove debris, study lead author Will Parker, an astrodynamics researcher at MIT, said. Its trash. Its garbage. And there are millions of pieces of it. Circling Earth are millions of pieces of debris about one-ninth of an inch (3 millimetres) and larger the width of two stacked pennies and those collide with the energy of a bullet. There are tens of thousands of plum-sized pieces of space junk that hit with the power of a crashing bus, according to The Aerospace Corporation, which monitors orbital debris. That junk includes results of old space crashes and parts of rockets with most of it too small to be tracked. There are 11,905 satellites circling Earth 7,356 in low orbit according to the tracking website Orbiting Now. Satellites are critical for communications, navigation, weather forecasting and monitoring environmental and national security issues. There used to be this this mantra that space is big. And so we can we can sort of not necessarily be good stewards of the environment because the environment is basically unlimited, Parker said. But a 2009 crash of two satellites created thousands of pieces of space junk. And Nasa measurements are showing the reduction of drag, so scientists now realise that that the climate change component is really important, Parker said. The density at 250 miles (400 kilometres) above Earth is decreasing by about 2 per cent a decade and is likely to get intensify as society pumps more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, said Ingrid Cnossen, a space weather scientist at the British Antarctic Survey who was not part of the research. Cnossen said in an email that the new study makes perfect sense and is why scientists have to be aware of climate change's orbital effects so that appropriate measures can be taken to ensure its long-term sustainability. 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 SpaceX plans to launch the mission that will enable the rescue of two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station no earlier than Friday, after scrubbing an attempt on Wednesday due to a ground system issue. US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the ISS for the last nine months, will now have to wait until at least next Wednesday to return to Earth. Nasa said in a statement that Wednesdays Crew-10 launch attempt was called off due to a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket, while a backup launch window on Thursday was abandoned due to poor weather conditions. Fridays launch attempt will aim to deliver a replacement crew for the ISS in a mission that would set up the return to Earth of Wilmore and Williams stuck in space since June after a trip on Boeing's faulty Starliner craft. Nasa had moved up the mission by two weeks after President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, called for Wilmore and Williams to be brought back earlier than Nasa had planned. A planned eight-day stay on the orbiting station has dragged on for Wilmore and Williams, both veteran astronauts and US Navy test pilots. Starliner returned to Earth without them last year. SpaceX's rocket had been scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 7:48 pm ET (11:48 pm GMT) with a crew of two US astronauts and one astronaut each from Japan and Russia. Wilmore and Williams have been working on research and maintenance with the space station's other astronauts and have remained safe, according to Nasa. Williams told reporters in a 4 March call that she is looking forward to seeing her family and dogs upon returning home. "It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us," Williams said of her family. "We're here, we have a mission we're just doing what we do every day, and every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun." The flight, known as Crew-10, normally would be considered a routine astronaut rotation. Instead, it has become entangled in politics as Trump and Musk have sought without offering evidence to blame former President Joe Biden for the delayed return of Wilmore and Williams. This image provided by Nasa shows Nick Hague, right, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore ( Nasa ) The demands by Trump and Musk for an earlier return were an unusual intervention in Nasa's human spaceflight operations. The mission previously had a target date of 26 March, but Nasa swapped a delayed SpaceX capsule with a different one that would be ready sooner. When the new crew arrives aboard the station, Wilmore, Williams and two others Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov can return to Earth in a capsule that has been attached to the station since September, as part of the prior Crew-9 mission. Wilmore and Williams cannot leave until the new Crew-10 craft arrives so that the ISS staffed with enough US astronauts for maintenance, according to Nasa. Wilmore and Williams flew to the station in June as the first test crew of Boeing's Starliner, which suffered propulsion system issues in space. Nasa deemed it too risky for the astronauts to fly home on the Boeing craft. This led to the current plan to bring them home in a SpaceX capsule. Nasa said it is now targeting a launch for 7:03 pm EDT (11:03 pm GMT) on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Additional reporting from agencies. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Less than an hour before it was due to blast off, NASA stood down the launch of four Crew-10 astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket to rescue two astronauts who have been living in space for months. The next available window is 7:26pm EDT on Thursday. The astronauts arrival at the orbiting laboratory is designed clear the way for Crew-9 to return to Earth, including NASA astronauts Barry Butch Wilmore and Sunita Suni Williams. The pair have been on board since last June. Lift-off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon spacecraft had been slated for 7:48 p.m. EDT from Floridas Kennedy Space Center. A NASA stream of the event had been set up. The crew had been expected to dock at the space station by approximately 6 a.m. on Thursday. The international group on Crew-10 includes NASAs Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos Kirill Peskov. open image in gallery Four Crew-10 astronauts had been scheduled to lift off from Earth on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon capsule ( AP ) Crew-10 is the tenth crew rotation mission of SpaceXs human space transportation system and its 11th flight with astronauts. The space agency said that when the Dragon capsule eventually docks at the station, Crew-9 will familiarize their fellow astronauts with the stations ongoing science and maintenance work. The crew will spend several months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations and experiments for the benefit of humanity and deep space exploration, NASA explained. After a brief handover, and pending good weather, NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will head back home. Gorbunov and Hague came to the space station on a mission after Williams and Wilmore arrived. open image in gallery The Crew-10 astronauts include NASAs Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos Kirill Peskov ( NASA Commercial Crew/X ) I'm looking forward to seeing my classmate, Expedition 59 crewmate, spacewalking partner, and friend [Anne McClain] float through the hatch. Go Crew-10! wrote Hague before the launch was stood down. Williams and Wilmore have spent an extra, and initially unexpected, nine months in zero gravity following issues after their Boeing Crew Flight Test: the first crewed mission of the capsule. The capsule returned to Earth without them last September in an unexpected uncrewed return after technical difficulties. That left Williams and Wilmore in space for longer than intended. While the astronauts have refuted continuous narratives that have been stuck on the space station, President Donald Trump has repeatedly placed blame on the Biden administration for [allowing it] to happen. We love you, and were coming up to get you, and you shouldnt have been up there so long, Trump said earlier this month. open image in gallery Williams and Wilmore were originally set to return to Earth from the International Space Station in June. The duo, former Navy captains, have pushed back on the narrative that they were stuck in space ( NASA ) SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who now has an advisory role in the Trump administration, also previously claimed on social media that his aerospace company could have brought the duo back months earlier. Trump has pleaded with Musk to rescue the astronauts. What was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that process went thats information that we simply dont have, Wilmore said in a recent briefing to reporters. He and Williams have made the best of their situation. "Of course, you know, we came up here thinking we'd be only here for a little while and do our test flight, but then the added time here has allowed us to do all the science experiments," Williams told AccuWeather. "We've gone through a lot of holidays together. We've learned how to make cakes up here for each other. So it's been a lot of fun actually." Vladimir Putin and Russia will come back in four years if Donald Trump leaves the White House, a counter terror adviser has warned. Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the US president, discussed his concerns about the Russian leader, when he appeared on BBC Newsnight on Wednesday (12 March). Mr Gorka was challenged by host Victoria Derbyshire about whether the US needs to provide security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression. This comes after Ukraine accepted a 30-day proposal discussed with the US during peace talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Donald Trump claimed Ireland's housing crisis has arisen because the country is doing so well in a meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin at the White House on Wednesday, 12 March. During the bilateral meeting, the US president was asked what Ireland had to do to build thousands more homes a year. "Theyre doing so well, they cant produce houses fast enough. Thats a good problem, not a bad problem," Mr Trump claimed. The Irish government has been criticised for the General Election campaign that 40,000 new homes would be delivered in 2024. Mr Martin previously said the government was "extremely disappointed" that the actual number of homes delivered was lower than the official target of 33,000. Vladimir Putin has vowed to push Ukrainian forces out of Kursk as he made his first visit to the region since Kyiv's incursion. In the last few days, Russian troops entered the town of Sudzha near the border that had been occupied by the Ukrainian forces since their surprise incursion into the region last August. Speaking to military commanders on Wednesday, 12 March, Putin said he expects the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. Ukraine's raid into Kursk was the first foreign occupation of Russian territory since the Second World War. Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Ukraines partners not to let Russia and Vladimir Putin deceive them over a ceasefire. The Ukraine president issued his warning in a video address on Wednesday evening (12 March). It came following breakthrough talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv saying it was ready to accept a proposed 30-day ceasefire. President Zelensky said: The key factor is our partners ability to ensure Russias readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war. He made his call and then it was up to me to make my call and I did Joey OBrien on decision to take over from Damien Duff and nervy win over Cork Ever wonder if the guy next to you in the office is getting paid more for the same work? Now you can find out We do not like to pay claims that we do not believe are valid says Axa CEO Insurance giant has an appetite for underwriting that climate risks can not shake Marguerite Brosnan. Photo: Fennells Donal O'Donovan Thu 13 Mar 2025 at 03:30 Axas Marguerite Brosnan is mad keen to talk about sustainability as we meet in the French-owned insurers offices, just off Mary Street in Dublin city. Radio reviews: Newstalk Breakfast, Today with Claire Byrne and Liveline Theres a lot of bad news to be faced every morning. Not even Marty Whelan can make it better reading out the headlines, just one damn thing after another. And then Eanna Ni Lamhna, the well-known environmentalist, is talking to Shane Coleman on Newstalk Breakfast (Newstalk, weekdays, 7am) with this message: Dont cut the grass now, it would be bad for the bees to get rid of all those dandelions. Forget about it for a few weeks, until the end of March anyway. Television review Theres nothing more quintessentially Irish than the Cheltenham Festival, as those covering it every year will insist on repeating ad nauseam. Live Racing (Virgin Media One, Tuesday, 12.45pm) was par for the (race)course in that respect, opening the week of daily broadcasts on Tuesday by declaring Cheltenham was woven into the Irish conscience (sic). That the Irish have done so well at Cheltenham down the years is a justifiable source of pride and rightly reflected in the coverage. Virgin was simply showing the live feed from ITV, but you wouldnt have known it. Everyone on screen seemed to be Irish. The treats are mini towers consisting of a rich chocolate filling on top of a sponge base, encased in chocolate and topped with a disc of marzipan (Hazel Carmicheal/Mediaconsult) A famous cake created by a Hungarian refugee who fled to Ireland in the 1950s is to be celebrated at a St Patricks Day event attended by more than 300 diplomats and politicians in Budapest. The Irish ambassador to Hungary Ragnar Almqvist has invited Bewleys Grafton Street to showcase the Mary Cake at a reception hosted by the countrys Irish embassy. A 20-year mystery surrounding the famous dessert was solved in 2022, thanks to a collaboration between two granddaughters. It was introduced to Ireland in 1956 by Hungarian confectioner Henry Spelter, who was among a number of refugees offered training and employment by Bewleys when they arrived in Ireland. But the recipe vanished during extensive renovations at Bewleys two decades ago. Carolina Malagon, Hazel Carmichael and Col Campbell of Bewleys at the re-launch of the iconic Mary Cake at Bewleys Cafe in Dublin in 2022. Picture: Conor McCabe. No-one could recreate the cake until Hazel Carmichael, granddaughter of Bewleys managing director Victor Bewley, tracked down Henrys granddaughter Carolina Malagon in New York. Both women met for the first time when the Mary Cake was relaunched in 2022 and will reunite again at the Budapest event. It was so wonderful to meet Carolina in 2022 because she could share with me Henrys handwritten recipes and the notes he had kept, said Ms Carmichael, who runs Hazels Cake Studio in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Through her, I learned more about the opportunity that Bewleys gave to Henry and it was humbling to hear what that seemingly small thing meant for their family. The essence of the story is a refugee who came to Ireland and was given a chance by Bewleys but who also brought his own heritage. Henry and my great-uncle Alfred Bewley worked on that recipe together to make it suitable for Bewleys to reproduce and it was a customer favourite for decades. The treats are described as mini towers consisting of a rich chocolate filling on top of a sponge base, encased in chocolate and topped with a disc of marzipan. Oscar Campbell, part of the management at Bewleys Grafton Street, will travel to Hungary to represent the Bewleys team and the Campbell family. Pic. Col Campbell. A confectioner by trade, Ms Carmichael was asked by Col Campbell of Bewleys to recreate the original cake for Bewleys Grafton Street. The Bewley family came to Ireland as refugees and the business, founded on Quaker principles, has been helping Irelands new arrivals since 1840, said Mr Campbell. The original cakes have been brought back to life by Bewleys and one euro from every purchase goes to support the Irish Red Cross. At a time of significant unrest, it seems fitting to celebrate all the good the Mary Cake represents as well as its dual citizenship on St Patricks Day in Budapest. The Bewleys team and the Campbell family who own and operate the cafe will be represented at the celebrations by Oscar Campbell, part of the management at Bewleys Grafton Street. EU 'penny has dropped' on need to cut regulation - Martin The "penny has dropped" over the need for a reduction in EU regulations, the Taoiseach said. Micheal Martin said the "winds of change" were blowing towards innovation and "reduction of regulation". "There's a move within the European Union now to simplify regulation. I think the penny has dropped. The message has got home." He made the comments as he attended an event at the US Chamber of Commerce on the penultimate day of his week of engagements in the US. Mr Martin, who told the event that France was his favourite European country, added: "[French President] Emmanuel Macron held a very good AI action summit in Paris about a month ago and [US] vice president JD Vance was there, he gave a very strong message. "A hard message, but he gave it very clear that the US were going to go 'innovation, innovation, innovation'. "Emmanuel Macron and [European Commission President Ursula] von der Leyen was saying Europe has to become more innovation-focused." Mr Martin said Ireland was committed to working with the D9+ group of countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) to advocate for the simplification of regulations in the EU. "It's not been satisfactory. We in Ireland understand that, because a lot of the companies are located in Ireland." He said there was "growing recognition" across Europe for the need for a reduction in regulations, but added: "That has to be matched by action and real concrete development." Mr Martin said it is inarguable that European defence spending will increase. He said it is "very clear" that Ireland will "have to play its role" in European security, while taking its traditional military neutrality into account. "I can predict that the next multi-financial framework, which is the European Union budget, which will come for the Irish presidency, will involve a significant increase in European Union spending on defence capability, which will be focused on increasing opportunities and capacities from member states to increase their expenditure." The Taoiseach added that Ireland will become a net contributor to defence capability across Europe through a collective debt instrument. He added: "But Ireland in itself will have to increase, and we are doubling our defence - coming from a very low base - defence expenditure. "But again, we have to do it in a targeted way. Cyber security, sub-sea cables, maritime security - those are probably the most immediate vulnerabilities." Mr Martin heard that the US Chamber is "committed" to the trade relationship with Ireland. Its chief executive and president Suzanne Clark told the Taoiseach: "We're such firm believers in the indivisible connection between our countries." Mr Martin said the relationship between Ireland and the US is an "enduring partnership". He added: "We do genuinely see this as a two-way street. Ireland is a small, open economy, we depend on trade. We would argue that free trade has lifted prosperity in the world, the era of free trade greater than any other era." Mr Martin was asked what more the US could do to bring more Irish investment. In general, he said the feedback about the US was "very positive" but the issue of visas between the two countries can be particularly "problematic". However, he revealed he found "ways around it" during his time as minister for enterprise. Mr Martin said: "Flexibility around inward movement of people into the United States is problematic, it is a very restrictive environment in terms of a mobility of visas that are granted from one company to another." He said flexibility would benefit the US as it would allow qualified people to work for its companies. He added: "We should be imaginative and we've tried this on a number of occasions that we'd be creating a legal channel between America and Ireland, that Americans can come to Ireland through us offering visas to Americans to reside and work in Ireland. "And when I was in Enterprise a long time ago, it used to always pain me, but I did find ways around it. "When Americans fell in love in Ireland, we had to find... they developed specialties in certain areas of work and got work permits, and they were happily married ever after. "But, I mean, you know, there was too much to navigate in all of that." Mr Martin said President Donald Trump was "very well disposed" to such a mechanism. David Young Government is accused of divide and rule tactics Hundreds of care staff, including home-help workers based in Dublin, are not included in a new 9.25pc pay deal. The 140m-a-year wage proposal was brokered for over 40,000 workers in voluntary and community organisations at the Workplace Relations Commission earlier this week. In a message to members on the pay proposals, Siptu accused the Government of an attempt at divide and rule. The union said certain organisations are out of scope, and will not have access to funds to implement the pay rises agreed under the proposals. Talks were held at the Workplace Relations Commission Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 13th It is understood that home-help staff and workers at a community hospital are among the Siptu members it claims were left out of the proposed deal. If the proposals are accepted, workers who benefit are set for a total pay rise of 9.25pc.This will be paid in phases up to October 2026. The first 2.25pc increase is backdated to October last year. We firmly reject the Governments approach, which we see as an attempt at divide and rule In addition, the staffs pay would be linked to any future pay rises under public-service pay deals under the proposals. The workers who were represented at the talks work in state-funded organisations, but are not public servants. They are now set to ballot on the proposals. Workers across the sector balloted in favour of industrial action ahead of the talks. In its message to members, Siptu said the proposals for the so-called section 39 workers are a step forward in its campaign. However, it said it is deeply disappointed that the Government has excluded some of our members organisations from the pay proposals due to their funding arrangements. We firmly reject the Governments approach, which we see as an attempt at divide and rule, Siptu sector organisers Damian Ginley and Sharon Cregan said in their update. Rest assured, we will not leave any member behind. It said the union will be engaging directly with all members in Section 39 organisations to discuss their next steps in the fight for pay justice. Sources claimed the government side refused to agree to fund pay rises for organisations whose services are tendered due to legal issues. A HSE spokesperson said an unprecedented agreement was reached for organisations funded under legislation. This included Section 39 of the Health Act, Section 56 of the Child and Family Agency Act, Section 10 of the Housing Act and Section 40 of a domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency act. He said the organisations delivering these services range from multinationals with hundreds of employees to local community-based organisations. The spokesperson said the workers are employed in community and voluntary organisations that are not public bodies. It is only organisations in these categories that are within the scope of this agreement estimated at over 40,000 workers, he said. He said funding for services commissioned through tendering arrangements are not covered in the agreement as these are separately contracted with relevant providers. This article was edited at 10.50am on March 13, 2025 to correct a referenced increase to 2.25pc The Taoiseach has dismissed the criticism he has received for telling Donald Trump it was a good answer when he said Irelands housing crisis was a good problem to have. During a meeting between Mr Martin and Mr Trump in the Oval Office yesterday, the US president was asked about Irelands housing crisis. Mr Trump replied that the housing crisis was because Ireland is doing so well. They cant produce houses fast enough. Thats a good problem, not a bad problem, he added. Leaning back in his chair and laughing, Mr Martin said: Thats a very good answer, president. Speaking in Washington, the Taoiseach pointed to the comments he made later on in the Oval Office, where he said housing is the number one issue. We have to be careful not to parrot Sinn Fein on every occasion, he said. Its classic opposition to do that and I think that was an over-the-top reaction from Eoin O Broin. Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers. Photo: PA An internal document released to Sinn Fein shows how Department of Finance officials told then finance minister Jack Chambers on the eve of the general election announcement that 2024 housing completions would not be anywhere near the 40,000 figure used throughout the election. Sinn Fein has accused Mr Chambers, now Public Expenditure Minister, of burying the report. Opposition parties had previously accused the previous government of misleading the public over housing completions during the election campaign. While both Mr Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris said in the run-up to polling day that completions would be close to 40,000, the final figure came in at just over 30,000. The controversy over the use of the overinflated figure has centred around a letter by former Housing Minister Darragh OBrien in August, which told coalition leaders that completions would be close to 40,000. This was in contrast to reports from the ESRI and Central Bank that didnt support that figure. However, a monthly housing update released to Sinn Fein deputy leader and finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has shown that the report was sent to Mr Chambers to review on November 6. Tanaiste Simon Harris. Photo: Getty As part of the overall assessment, it told the minister that the figures to-date are broadly in line with recent revisions to completions forecasts from the Central Bank for 2024, which point to housing output similar to, or slightly lower, than last year. Mr Doherty accused the minister of deliberately misleading the public ahead of the election. The Sinn Fein TD said that despite the report from department experts, Mr Chambers went on to speak to the media, and said that Ireland would see close to 40,000 home completions. Jack Chambers now needs to be clear: why did he deliberately mislead the Irish public? Why did he bury a report that he had from his department which said that the projection was that they would deliver the same, if not less, houses than the previous year? Mr Doherty said. Mr Doherty said the minister must clarify if he informed both the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste about the assessment of housing completions included in the report. A spokesperson for Mr Chambers said the minister rejects the assertions by Deputy Doherty and that the information contained in the report in question was not new. Reacting to the briefing document in Washington, the Taoiseach said the figures relate to CSO statistics, which he said were already public. My understanding is that it related to CSO statistics, which were public knowledge at that stage because they had been published earlier. There were three other bodies who had given indications that the figures would be much higher, Mr Martin said. Former housing minister Darragh O'Brien. Photo: Getty Were not building as much houses as fast as we possibly can. There are fundamental issues with the apartment side of it. Theres a very real need to enhance and increase the level of private sector investment in housing, and particularly in the apartment side of it. Government will work to devise what the best policies that can do that. In a statement, Mr Chambers said: The Minister for Finance receives a monthly housing update which summarises reports, projections and publications in the public domain. The November 2024 submission referenced CSO data published on October 24, 2024 and previous Central Bank projections. Mr Chambers said this information was not new, and that the CSO data had been published two weeks earlier and was debated in the Dail on the day it was published. He added he was already aware of these inputs from the CSO and the Central Bank. A spokesperson for Mr Harris referred to his comments during an interview with RTEs Claire Byrne several weeks ago. In that interview, the Tanaiste said while he believed the letter from Mr O'Brien was sent in good faith, the figure of 40,000 homes should not have been given. A major public sector union is recommending a yes vote on a 9.25pc pay deal for over 40,000 workers in the community and voluntary care sector. Forsa said it will ballot members in state-funded health service employments on the terms of proposals agreed on Monday at the Workplace Relations Commission. Its health and welfare divisional executive met this morning. It decided to issue a ballot with a recommendation to members for a vote in favour of the terms of the proposals. Preparations for a ballot will get underway in the coming days. An initial pay rise will be backdated to October last year under the proposals and the pay rises are phased over two years to the end of 2026. The workers had voted in favour of industrial action ahead of the talks. In a communication to members yesterday, Forsas head of Health and Welfare Ashley Connolly said the new proposed pay agreement was achieved following months of challenging negotiations. She said the terms build on an October 2023 agreement. This agreement allows for future pay increases, and funding will be adjusted to allow for application of equivalent general round pay adjustments, as provided for in any successor agreements to the public service agreement, she said. She said the proposed agreement clearly states that any funding provided to organisations under this agreement can only be used to meet the pay increases. Ms Connolly advised members that a joint monitoring group, made up of funding agencies, employer representatives and staff union representatives, will be set up. She said it will ensure practical issues and disputes can be resolved in a timely and effective manner. An independent data-gathering exercise will be conducted over the next eight months, if the agreement is ratified in a ballot. Ms Connolly said the work of achieving the provisions in the pay agreement had continued for close to ten years. The Government welcomed the unprecedented agreement to fund health and social care and homeless sector employers for the 9.25pc pay rise. It said in a statement that the deal recognises that staff in these sectors should be fairly paid and appropriately recognised for the vital work they do. Taken with an October 2023 agreement of an 8pc increase, it said this amounts to a 17.25pc pay funding increase over a three-and-a-half year period. It said the 9.25pc pay rise equals the current public sector pay deal and it had delivered on a Programme for Government commitment. Taoiseach Micheal Martin wins Donald Trumps approval during warm White House meeting but president has eye on multinationals based here Relief all round at friendly exchanges as Trump expresses admiration for how Ireland lured top companies US president Donald Trump and Taoiseach Micheal Martin at yesterday's traditional shamrock presentation at the White House in Washington. Photo: Reuters Gabija Gataveckaite Thu 13 Mar 2025 at 03:30 There was relief all round among the Irish delegation that Taoiseach Micheal Martin did not get the Zelensky treatment when he visited Donald Trump in the White House yesterday. Water charges. Two simple words that would define almost a decade of Irish politics and protests. In 2013, Irish Water was established with the aim of improving Ireland's antiquated water system. At breakneck speed, meters were installed in properties across the country. Bills were to be sent out to every household. However, the politicians were playing with fire. Thousands of people took to the streets in protest, leading to the infamous Jobstown incident involving the then-Tanaiste Joan Burton. The story of water charges in this country is one that has sunk political careers, plagued governments and led to protests on an unprecedented scale. So, surely, they couldn't be back on the agenda. Or could they? Today, Kevin Doyle is joined on the Indo Daily by Caroline O'Doherty, environment correspondent with the Irish Independent, and by John Downing, political correspondent with the Irish Independent, to ask if the question of water charges is fully consigned to the history books? Cork schools who want to open special classes are not being given the chance said Deputy Eoghan Kenny. The Labour Party TD for Cork North Central has criticised the Department of Education for not sanctioning special classes to schools where there is willingness and classroom availability. Deputy Kenny who is the Party Spokesperson on Education said: A number of schools have contacted me to express their grave concerns that they are not being afforded the opportunity to open a special class, even though they have requested the sanctioning. The Mallow based TD highlighted the case of Bweeng National School who wrote to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in September 2024 asking them to sanction a second special class. They have the willingness of teachers and have a fully fitted classroom ready to go. They have clearly been told it is not feasible. From my point of view, it is not feasible because the department are not willing to staff the classroom. It all comes back to money, said Deputy Kenny. We have parents marching the streets. We have waiting lists of 30/40 students long. We have children not knowing whether they will have a school place or not for September, but Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are not willing to open as many special classes as possible. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael own the purse strings on this problem. They will tell you super great figures, tell us that they are doing all they can, but Bweeng National School is a prime example of this government failing our children, he added. Deputy Kenny called on the Minister for Education Helen McEntee to inform the school why they are not being sanctioned a second special class. If this government are willing to fail children, children with additional needs who need the comfort of a special class within their locality, then shame on them. The Cork TD said he will continue fighting for the children. For too long, this government have failed to adequately plan for this demand, have failed on their delivery of special classrooms and continue with their weak commitment to staffing our classrooms, to give every child across the country the same right to education. A key priority for the proposed Mallow Relief Road is to ease the chronic traffic congestion that has blighted the town in recent years. Concerns have been expressed by a Cork TD over recent reports that the retail trade in Mallow town is down 30% for the first two months of this year. Traffic congestion and the lack of parking spaces have been presented as factors in the sharp decline Cllr Pat Hayes (Fianna Fail) was one of several councillors who raised major concerns over the chronic traffic situation in the town at a recent Kanturk-Mallow Municipal District meeting. Cllr Hayes described the traffic congestion problems as unacceptable and said it was having a devastating impact on business owners and residents. Independent Ireland TD for Cork North Central Ken OFlynn said the decline in trade is deeply concerning and needs to be addressed. We must address the alarming report indicating that Mallows retail sector has experienced a substantial 30% decline since the beginning of the year. This decline is deeply concerning, highlighting the urgent need for both local and national investment in our town. We cannot afford to wait, said Deputy OFlynn. We must actively pursue meaningful government investment to restore the vibrancy of our community. I am steadfast in my commitment to advocate for the Mallow Distributor Road which will be essential for boosting the development of north Cork. Improved infrastructure will play a key role in enhancing accessibility and attracting new opportunities. Deputy OFlynn welcomed the news that Mallow Town Hall will be going to tender in six weeks. This initiative marks a crucial step forward. This transformation will not only enhance our cultural offerings, but also serve as a vital catalyst for economic revitalisation in Mallow. I am determined to see our town flourish again. The Cork TD reiterated his call for Cork County Council to take a more proactive approach in the redevelopment of Mallow. I welcome the recent announcement from Cork County Council granting permission for the demolition of the front of the Central Hotel. This step is promising, but we need Cork County Council to take a more proactive approach in the redevelopment of Mallow. Deputy OFlynn however expressed his concerns about the recent trend of converting high street shops into apartments. We must remain vigilant against the trend of converting our high street into apartments, which risks dulling the lively atmosphere that has long characterised north Cork. I pledge to continue working closely with Cork County Council and engage on a national level to advocate for the revitalisation and redevelopment of Mallow, he added. A motion was tabled to protect against potential jobs losses at Council level from the technology There are concerns that the use of Artificial Intelligence could put jobs at Cork City Council under threat. According to the Future of Jobs Report 2025, 41% of workforces around the world plan workplace reductions as AI expands. Programmers, software developers, accountants, lawyers, and data analysts are those most expected to be at risk from the new technology, whose use has grown exponentially in the past number of years. Councillor Peter Horgan says that, in the current climate of increasing efficiency, he wants to protect those working for the council who are at risk of losing their jobs should the new technology be further implemented. He tabled a motion at the most recent Council meeting that the Council would not only limit the use of AI to ensure no jobs are replaced by this technology including but not limited to the areas of finance, communications, customer service and public works, but also that the council would write to other local authorities and the Minister for Local Government to encourage others to do the same. Im incredibly proud that in my time in council, the service centre where people log their requests is fully staffed by humans, that we havent gone down the chatbot route, and I would hope we wouldnt go down that route. Theres also an element of democratic deceit with AI, where you see certain videos, like Trump on Gaza, and a lot of them simply didnt happen. Weve seen it creeping into the Irish electoral process, and the Electoral Commission in my opinion need to step in a bit more, particularly ahead of the Presidential elections later this year. Ive spoken to a lot of people that work in the AI sphere, and it does have a cost. Weve been at farcical situations where [there have been] suggestions to cut the IT department, and replace it with AI, not thinking about well who is going to manage that AI?. Independent Councillor Albert Deasy brought up the issue of AI at the meeting on Monday, but said that he has no desire to see jobs cut in the council. However, the former businessman says councillors are sticking their head in the sand about the technologys inevitable growth. We have to accept the reality that its here, and we have to deal with it, Deasy said when asked about Horgans motion on Monday. Theyre ignoring the reality of the changes that are coming in, the storm that will be coming, and regardless of whether you like it or not, its going to hit us. Its used all over the place anyway. Anytime a fellow uses a swipe card to go to work for example hes acquiescing to the system that some politicians, like Mr Horgan, are seeking to destroy. But you cant have it every way, its there and it is in use. What I said was that, in order for the council to be prepared for the threat posed to jobs, tax, and the erosion of our rates base, the administrative arm of the bureaucracy is top-heavy and it needs to be restructured. They can deal with those by way of natural wastage. So last year, there were 58 people retiring, and this year 61, many of those are in areas that AI candoing clerical work and administrative work. Theres a threat to jobs, but you deal with it by not re-employing people into areas that theyre not needed. Had the Executive maintained the cost ratio for wages and superannuation to that of rates and services at the 2020 budget standard, the City Council would be up 16 million. If we can use AI and carry out the reform of the City Council, and the benefit there can then be used on the operational side of the organization to focus on things that were elected to do, which is to provide for housing, roads, footpaths and general infrastructure. However, Horgan still says that a firm commitment needs to be made to ensure that no job losses occur, hence why he proposed the motion at Council level last Monday. There needs to be buttresses and there needs to be protections for employees, and I think the EU acting on it is an important step forward. It may be a case where certain roles are fizzled out, but it shouldnt be a case where we hammer down about the use of AI and 200 jobs are gone, that cant be the case. A wide range of health services will be available for those who need them this weekend, including pharmacies, Out-of-Hours GP services, Injury Units and Emergency Departments. HSE South West has reminded everyone in Cork that a range of urgent care options will be available over the St Patricks Bank Holiday weekend, A wide range of health services will be available for those who need them this weekend, including pharmacies, Out-of-Hours GP services, Injury Units and Emergency Departments (ED). Typically, EDs are busier during bank holiday weekends, and all patients will be seen. However, priority will be given to people in urgent need. Dr John Sheehan, HSE GP Lead Network 8, is urging people to ask themselves if they can avail of alternative care instead of using the ED over the weekend. Bank holiday weekends put additional pressure on our Emergency Departments in Cork. The sickest people will be seen first, so please stop and ask yourself: Do I really need to attend the ED? Our Emergency Department cares for those who are seriously ill or injured, so please consider alternative care pathways where possible. Your local pharmacy, GP, Southdoc or Injury Unit are convenient options if you have a minor ailment or injury, Mr Sheehan said. Injury units treat injuries that are not life-threatening, such as broken bones, dislocations, sprains, wounds, scalds and minor burns. This weekend, the following injury units will be available in Cork city and county: The Mercy Injury Unit Gurranabraher at St Marys Health Campus Gurranabraher, open 8am to 6pm and available to those aged 10 and older. The Mallow Injury Unit, open 8am to 8pm, and available to those aged five and older. Bantry Injury Unit, open 8am to 8pm, and available to those aged five and older. In addition, the Irish Life Health expresscare clinic is available to treat minor injuries on the same terms as the HSE injury units. It is open from 10am to 8pm for those aged 12 months and over. Claire Crowley, General Manager at Mallow General Hospital said they can provide care for non-life threatening situations. The teams at other Cork hospitals may decide to transfer you to us, in order to keep beds available for those who require high dependency care. Hopefully, you won't need emergency care this weekend but patients presenting to Cork Emergency Departments should be aware that they may be transferred here, where we will take excellent care of you during your stay, Ms Crowley added. It has been confirmed that Mallow Town Hall will be going to tender in six weeks. The news has been welcomed as a significant development by Labour Party TD for Cork North Central Eoghan Kenny. This is a very significant step towards getting shovels in the ground for an arts hub in Mallow Town Hall. At my first council meeting, in February 2024 I asked about the development of Mallow Town Hall. We have driven this project for over a year now. It was announced in recent months that Mallow Town Hall had been selected for revitalisation, with plans to convert the town hall into a vibrant arts centre for Mallow. 7m in funding was announced for Mallow Town Hall under THRIVE, the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme. The money was secured by Cork County Council and it will help fund the transformation of Mallow Town Hall. The funding will be utilised to regenerate Mallow Town Hall which is vacant and derelict. The design is community led and proposes the delivery of a shared cultural infrastructure that is sustainable, socially inclusive and beautiful. The project will redevelop Mallow Town Hall into a 200-seat theatre and multi-use art centre. It will also provide space for community groups. The current building will be refurbished and a new link section will replace part of the existing building. An extension will be built to the west and south to provide the necessary accessibility and fire safety requirements. Deputy Kenny said continued investment is needed in Mallow to ensure the town continues to grow economically. It will enhance our main street significantly, bringing together arts, cultural and musical groups. To allow our main street to grow we need to see continued investment, ensuring that economically our town grows, where we support our current businesses and encourage further business growth in Mallow. Labour Party councillor Ronan Sheehan added: Im delighted to see the Mallow Town Hall project progress. Until we get shovels in the ground we will continue to fight for the project. It is essential that we give our most talented people in our community a venue to express their artistic and musical abilities. A new proposal would turn existing food kiosks into a new base for An Garda Siochana Cork could see a brand-new permanent base for Gardai, right on the street in the heart of the city centre. Its as a proposal at City Council has called for the kiosks around Grand Parade, formerly occupied by food vendors, to be transformed into a base for Gardai on the beat. The proposal, by Fine Gael Councillor Damien Boylan, says that the kiosk would serve as a point of contact for the public to report crime, seek assistance, and enhance the perception of safety in the city centre. Additionally, it would act as a deterrent to criminal activity and contribute positively to the overall security and well-being of city centre users. It comes following a number of anti-social incidents around the area of the kiosk, including most recently where a man chased others wielding a knife outside the City Library, with local businesses saying the constant bad behaviour is turning away shoppers. That areas never had anti-social behaviour the way it has now, Boylan told the Irish Independent. But now, people feel a level of threat around town, especially after COVID. I think after the pandemic we came out and people werent comfortable inside town. I know my mother wasnt comfortable inside town, and Im not comfortable with my 20-year-old being in town sometimes, at night especially. They have something in Times Square in New York, and Im not suggesting we should have that exactly, but something like that wouldnt be a bad idea, just to be seen. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has previously visited Cork to hear from officials about the rise in anti-social behaviour in the city, which councillors say has rendered certain parts as no-go areas. However its not clear yet whether the kiosk is something that Gardai in Anglesea Street actually support themselves. The Irish Independent has requested an interview with Chief Superintendent Tom Myers and is awaiting a response. Its got to go to one of the committees first, but they know about my request. We had a meeting the other day, a Core meeting with the Chief Executive, and she said that she felt it had merit. That maybe it could be an office that could be shared between Cork City Council and the Gardai, as a shared civic space. Boylans proposal follows a garda initiative that saw a police van parked in prominent locations around the city centre over Christmas. He believes it did act as a deterrent to crime, during a particularly busy time for events and businesses. That was a great visible presence, and to have this there would be the same. Were always giving out and in fairness its gotten a lot better in the last few months that we dont see guards out and about. If you know that this is a safe place and you can get there in a hurry, or that the guards are nearby and can get to you in a hurry, thats going to give you a level of comfort. I think everyone sees the merit in it, I would hope the guards see the merit in it. We have a great relationship with Tom Myers and John Deasy and the rest of the lads over in Anglesea Street. Its like a squad car but it has no wheels, and you know exactly where its going to be. You put two or three bodies inside there of a Thursday/Friday/Saturday night, maybe over the weekend, who then can get there in two or three minutes. Town is going through a metamorphosis, like every other city in the world. The shopping experience has changed and, while it was slowly changing, COVID turbocharged that with all the online shopping. I mean I personally know the delivery driver because he delivers so much to my house, and that shouldnt be the way! We need to get people into the city and to revive it as a living, breathing organism. Were going through that change at the moment and were at an awkward stage, but part of that is providing a good, solid, police presence on the ground, so that people are tempted back to town today. I love town, ever since I was 15, Ive been in to there. I absolutely love the place, and the idea that people wouldnt love going into town sickens me. Trinity College report finds access to healthcare and safety issues remain for many Those taking strenuous exercise has more than doubled since 2014 The survey found smoking rates in Tallaght have fallen significantly. (Jonathan Brady/PA) Smoking rates have fallen and physical activity is on the rise among people in Tallaght, according to a new survey. A Trinity College report, reviewing the health and wellbeing landscape in the Dublin 24 area, reveals those living there are leading healthier lifestyles compared to previous surveys. However, it also addresses key concerns, including mental health, healthcare affordability and community safety. The Health Assets and Needs Assessment (HANA) study, based on 755 residents in randomly selected households, builds on previous assessments from 2001 and 2014, and provides a comprehensive analysis of progress and challenges in the community. The study found that smoking rates have declined significantly, dropping from 69pc in 2001 to 32pc in 2024. Tallaght residents are also more active, with those taking strenuous exercise more than doubling, from 2.7pc to 5.8pc, since 2014. Despite these gains, the report also reveals money worries, safety and rising mental health concerns, with nearly 70pc of residents experiencing stress in the past year. This is up from 59pc in 2001, with financial strain cited as a growing source of anxiety. Loneliness also remains a concern, as the survey shows 29pc experience loneliness some of the time, while 10pc feel lonely often. Professor Catherine Darker, lead author of the report, stressed the urgent need for action. While progress has been made to improve health and wellbeing in Tallaght, persistent and increasing amounts of stress, healthcare affordability, and community safety must be urgently addressed, she said. John Kelly, interim CEO of Tallaght University Hospital, highlighted that these findings can benefit healthcare in the area. Those taking strenuous exercise has more than doubled since 2014 It is great to see the expansion of our services and community health initiatives, since the last report, have made a real difference, he said. As part of the new Hospital Strategy which we are in the midst of developing, we will be looking at the new data to help us identify what is working well and where improvements are needed. The survey found that 84pc use public transport, while the proportion of residents with a third-level qualification has grown from 6pc in 2001, to 35pc in 2024. Almost half of residents (47pc) attended Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) for tests or treatment in the past year more than double the 2014 rate. However, access to healthcare remains an issue too, with one in three residents with chronic illnesses on a waiting list, and a quarter of households lacking private health insurance. There are concerns over community safety with 72pc of residents feeling unsafe due to increased reports of anti-social behaviour and crime, discouraging outdoor activities and social engagement. A recent workshop, attended by 50 residents, recognised key actions and next steps. Brian Kearney, the HSEs Head of Primary Care in the area, said: Using this approach, we can ensure a more targeted approach to meaningful improvements in community health in areas such as chronic disease support, GP access and mental health services. By working together with residents, health services, community organisations, funders and policymakers we are turning evidence into impact for Tallaght. A Dublin cafe owner has shared footage of an attempted break-in this week, saying this is the new reality for the hospitality industry. Gregory Wincenty-Cichy, who owns Flower & Bean on Cork Street with his wife Marta, said he decided to share the CCTV to showcase what they face on a daily basis. The footage shows an intruder crawling under the half-closed shutters as the cafe was about to close. But the owner reacted quickly, grabbing the intruder by the wrist and pushing him out of the building. We got pretty good footage of the whole thing on CCTV, so we decided to highlight it because this is the new reality of what the hospitality industry looks like now, Gregory said. On top of all the other struggles that come with running a small business in this industry, particularly within the last six months, this is another thing we have to face on a daily basis. Weve been absolutely overwhelmed with the kind words from everyone, but we want people to be reminded this is happening every day in Dublin. Its not happening here or there; its happening quite often, and more often than not, people are not reporting it to gardai because nothing comes of it. At the end of the day, I was not injured, but its about what if theres a different coffee shop with staff who are not as confident? It couldve been a lot worse. Burglary, attempts of robbery or even verbal abuses, along with the tip jar being stolen, are all things that happen daily. Coffee shops are often the first job for many young people and students. Im not small, and its my business, and Im going to protect it, but we told staff to never try anything like this, he added. Break-ins among hospitality businesses in the city centre have become commonplace, with Library Street restaurant on Setanta Place, Bang restaurant and wine bar on Merrion Row, Coppinger Row, and Kickys on Georges Street all suffering from similar incidents in recent months. Its a Trap Bakery on Aungier Street was broken into last month for the second time in less than a year and said it has left them devastated after the thief made off with more than a thousand euros worth of money and goods. Business owners are calling for better response times and a more visible garda presence to ensure the safety of their staff. A garda spokesperson said: Gardai received a report of an attempted robbery that occurred at a commercial premises on Cork Street, Dublin 8, at approximately 5.30pm on Monday, March 10. No property was reported as taken. A man in his 30s was later arrested and charged in connection with this investigation. He appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice (Court no.1) on Tuesday, March 11. As this matter is now before the courts, An Garda Siochana is not in a position to comment further at this time, they added. While most of us in our mid-teens didnt have an iota about what we wanted to do career wise, one such teenager from Tralee seems to have know exactly where her future lies after she recently completed the Law Society of Irelands innovative TY Programme. Emma Boyce, a student in Presentation Secondary School in Tralee, was one of just 40 TY students from 13 different counties that attended the popular week-long Solicitors of the Future programme at the Law Society in Dublin last month from 18 February to 21 February 2025. The programme was one that aimed to to teach students about the law and to consider a future legal career. Facilitated by Law Society staff, trainee solicitors, and expert practitioners, the activity-based programme featured expert-led workshops, guest speakers, courtroom activities, a careers seminar and a mini mock trial. Solicitors of the Future encourages TY students to consider a career in law while offering an insight into the role of a solicitor in practice. The programme is carefully planned to give students a holistic understanding of a legal career, and the many different forms this can take, said President of the Law Society, Eamon Harrington. From human rights lawyers and newly qualified solicitor guest speakers to visits to corporate law firms and the Criminal Courts, students are given an overview of the wide range of avenues a career as a solicitor can take. Places on this years programme were allocated on a lottery basis, with 20 per cent of places held for students from DEIS schools across the country. The programme also highlighted to students that there are many practical supports available to help you qualify as a solicitor, including financial grants such as the Law Societys Access Scholarship Programme. It doesnt matter where you come from or what your background, a career in law is open to everyone, he said. A man in his 30s appeared at a sitting of Mullingar District Court this morning charged with three counts of rape. A man in his 30s has appeared in court today charged with the rape of an elderly woman in county Longford just over two weeks ago. The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was brought before a sitting of Mullingar District Court on Thursday morning. He was charged with three counts of rape at a location within the midlands county on February 25. Follow Independent Longford on Facebook Inspector Paddy McGirl handed in evidence of arrest, charge and caution to presiding Judge John Brennan. He said the State would be objecting to bail, revealing that application would not be required owing to the accused opting against seeking bail at this juncture. Defence solicitor Frank Gearty confirmed that stance with Inspector McGirl, applying for the accused to be remanded in custody to a sitting of Longford District Court next Tuesday. He said that submission was being made in order to allow formal directions be obtained from the Director of Public Prosecutions. The accused sat with his hands clasped in the body of the court throughout the five-minute hearing. Inspector McGirl also applied for reporting restrictions to be applied, given the nature of the charges. Judge Brennan acceded to that request with the court also sanctioning legal aid to the man following an application made by Mr Gearty who revealed his client was currently unemployed and reliant on social welfare. The man was consequently remanded in custody to appear back by video link to a sitting of Longford District Court next Tuesday (March 18). Flogas which has had headquarters in Drogheda for 38 years are completing their move to new offices in Dublin Airport from next week, Tuesday March 18 with their Louth base closing today. The decision to close their Drogheda office was taken last May and was at first expected to be complete by September. At the time of the announcement there were around 270 staff based at the Drogheda headquarters at Matthews Lane, with others working from the LPG terminal on the Marsh Road, which is to remain in town. Louth Labour TD, Ged Nash said: "As 1 said when the original announcement was made almost a year ago, the decision by a company with so many dedicated local employees and that is synonymous with Drogheda is a real blow to their workers and to our area." "This move, on top of the imminent closure of BD with the first round of redundancies at the plant to take effect at the end of this month, makes the case I have consistently made to government for a focused State-led and local agency supported Jobs and Investment Task Force for the Drogheda area, more pressing. Local staff were shocked by the Flogas announcement, stating We all knew that we needed more space and our understanding was the office would get a massive upgrading, but none of us imagined it would mean moving out of town and commuting to a Dublin office. In a statement shortly after staff were informed of the decision last May they said, due to continued customer growth in energy services and the consequent increase in employee numbers, Flogas headquarters will be relocating form Knockbrack in Drogheda to Dublin Airport Central. Management told staff that they had carried out a full review of their office space over an 18 month period and couldnt obtain more floorspace at the current location for the growing workforce. After a search of suitable office space in Drogheda and Dublin City Centre, the site at Dublin Airport was deemed the most attractive. Speaking last May, John Rooney, Managing Director of Flogas Ireland stated, Our roots will always and forever lie in Drogheda and Louth. As employee numbers have increased by over 40% in the past few years, a move to a single larger premises has become a necessity. Sligo based engineering firm Jennings ODonovan are one of the first organisations in Ireland to use new digital technology to reward staff with a local gift card. Jennings ODonovan used the technology available through their local Town & City Gift Card to reward their 90+ staff with an e-card as a Christmas reward. The new tech allowed the firm to send the digital Love Sligo Gift Cards to staff on a chosen day and time, ensuring all staff members received their reward at the same time. Focused on renewable energy, water supply and wastewater treatment across Ireland, Jennings ODonovan said the new way of rewarding their team digitally had a number of benefits over physical gift cards, while the local element allowed their employee reward investment to benefit the local economy. David Kiely is director at Jennings ODonovan and commented: As a Sligo based organisation, we feel the need to give back to the community, support local businesses and support placemaking efforts in the town too. A strong town attracts new industry and encourages new businesses, which is a real positive for Sligo. Choosing our local Town & City Gift Card, the Love Sligo Gift Card, meant the 30,000 we invested in our team rewards went directly into the local economy, and stayed in the local economy. Another reason for moving to the Love Sligo Gift Card was the zero commission that businesses have to pay to accept the card, so if a team member spends 50 with a local shop, the shop keeps the full 50. Lots of retailers, restaurants and other businesses accept the Love Sligo Gift Card, so there was plenty of choice for our team. Our employees were told in advance that theyd be receiving their digital Love Sligo Gift Card reward by email. The ease of use for us in administering the digital card over a physical card was brilliant. We have a hybrid working system which means that not all employees are in the office at the same time. In the past, this has meant we couldnt get the cards to the staff member in person, so they had to then be posted out. With the digital Love Sligo Gift Card, everyone received their reward at the same time. The Love Sligo Gift Card has been well received by staff, particularly the ease and choice. Some staff members used their card to put fuel in their cars, others used their card at the supermarket or the DIY store. People may not always want to spend their reward on discretionary items, and the Love Sligo Gift Card offers our team the chance to spend as they choose. As local employers and organisations, it is very important that we are involved in, and support our town centres. Local businesses have had, and continue to face many challenges, and choosing the Love Sligo Gift Card is a tangible way that we have been able to give our local businesses a lift. The Town & City Gift Card initiative is active across Ireland in Ballinrobe, Carndonagh, Cavan, Donegal Town, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford and County Wexford. The cards can be spent with a variety of local businesses, making them popular for employee rewards. 10.5 million of Town & City Gift Cards were purchased in Ireland in 2024, up from 7 million in 2023. Local gift card sales in Ireland are expected to exceed 15 million in 2025. In Sligo, over 1.5 million Love Sligo Gift Cards were purchased between November 2023 and November 2024, with around 70% of sales dedicated to local organisations purchasing the gift card for employee rewards. Over 1.1million of the overall sales figure has now been redeemed across 240 Sligo businesses by way of 29,000 plus instore transactions. The Love Sligo Gift Card was introduced by Sligo BID in association with County Sligo LEADER Partnership to drive spend in Sligo. Cards can be spent with around 240 participating businesses, driving footfall in the town. Gail McGibbon, CEO at Sligo BID said: We are proud to see well-respected Sligo firm Jennings ODonovan leading the way with local digital reward technology, ensuring their 30,000 investment in staff rewards also benefits their town. More and more Sligo organisations are making the move to the Love Sligo Gift Card for their rewards and incentives. The option of the physical card to hand out or the digital card to send to multiple staff on a date and time of their choosing gives organisations the chance to select the reward option that best suits their needs, and the needs of their people. Mark Cunningham, Love Sligo programme coordinator and business development manager for Miconex Ireland, said: One of the main benefits of the Love Sligo Gift Card is that every card has to be spent in person, driving footfall in Sligo. The card is commission free for businesses to accept and can also be used to reward staff tax free, using the Small Benefit Exemption scheme, which increased to 1,500 across five gifts in January 2025. I urge all organisations to take Jennings ODonovans lead and choose a gift card that directly supports the local economy. Colin Munro is the managing director of Miconex and commented: In November 2024, we introduced new digital gifting technology allowing organisations to distribute digital e-card Town & City Gift Cards, and its fantastic to see Jennings ODonovan using this technology to reward their people easily, with a tangible positive impact on their local economy. In our 2024 research, 89% of organisations said supporting local businesses was important to them and 94% said their rewards and incentives align with their organisational purpose and values. Town & City Gift Cards allow organisations to take an active role in the success of their community, while giving employees unbeatable local choice. Organisations can purchase physical or digital Town & City Gift Cards online. The Vision Built Tubbercurry team pictured with Minister of State Marian Harkin at the National MMC Conference are Ian Evans, Senior Manufacturing Manager, Caroline OLaochdha, Head of Health, Safety, Security, and Quality, Minister Harkin, Brian Kennedy Managing Director and Wayne Yeomans, Sales and Marketing Director A Tubbercurry based modular construction firm has been hailed as industry pioneers at the cutting-edge of modern construction. The company, employing 90 people, specializes in the design and manufacture of modular sustainable buildings, including fully built 3D modules and flat-packed 2D panels. Their products are widely used in residential, educational, healthcare, and commercial projects in both Ireland and the UK. Speaking at the National Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Conference, Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education Marian Harkin singled out Vision Built. Vision Built is a prime example of how Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) can revolutionize not just the construction process but also training and mentorship across key areas such as design, sustainability, manufacturing and delivery, Minister Harkin remarked. Minister Harkin, who has responsibility for Apprenticeships, Construction and Climate Skills, underscored the need for innovation and efficiency in the sector. Addressing the audience of industry experts and practitioners at Enfield in Co Kildare, Minister Harkin said the adoption of MMC and the development of a new generation of skilled workers in the construction industry are crucial if we are to respond to Irelands urgent infrastructure needs. The government is committed to growing the role of MMC as a key driver of innovation, ensuring the industry can meet our national housing and infrastructure goals. This commitment is firmly embedded in the Programme for Government. Minister Harkin also outlined her Departments efforts to create diverse and flexible education pathways to support lifelong learning and career development in the construction sector. Collaboration with key partners, including SOLAS, the National Construction Training Campus at Mount Lucas under the Laois Offaly Education and Training Board, and Skillnet Irelands MMC Accelerate Programme, is key to expanding learning opportunities in MMC, the Minister said. Concluding her address, Minister Harkin reaffirmed the Governments commitment to investing in innovative construction skills to accelerate project delivery and address housing and infrastructure needs. MMC is central to our strategy for upskilling the workforce, driving efficiencies, and ultimately ensuring that Ireland meets its construction demands in a timely and sustainable manner, she said. Overall Winner Junior Category Christmas All Boxed Up - Colaiste Iascaigh. Front : Katie Conway, Hannah Fleming, Jack Rolston and Alex Keaveney. Back: Liam Kiely, Head of Enterprise, Sligo County Council, Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Cllr. Declan Bree and Ciara Moran (teacher) Teenage entrepreneurs from Corran College, Colaiste Iascaigh, Ballinode College,and Colaiste Muire will represent Sligo at this years Student Enterprise Programme National Final on Thursday 8th May. The students all took part in the Sligo County Final on March 6th, which was held at the Sligo Park Hotel. An estimated 9000 students from 12 second-level schools in Co. Sligo took part in the annual programme locally. The enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw over 30,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2023 / 2024. The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Final. In the Junior Category, the students representing Sligo at the mational final are: Hannah Fleming, Katie Conway, Alex Keaveney and Jack Rolston from Christmas All Boxed Up at Colaiste Iascaigh. In the Intermediate Category, Slone Irwin and Kayleigh Ruane from S&K Gifts at Colaiste Iascaigh will be representing the county at the Final. In the Senior Category of the competition, Sligo will be represented on May 8th by Conor Duffy, Finn Lee, Jayden Mulligan and Kristofeurs Petrosus from Duffmeister of Ballinode College. Special guests at the Sligo County Final included Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Cllr. Declan Bree, and Head of Enterprise Sligo County Council, Liam Kiely. Guest speaker, Cllr Bree said: Its inspiring to witness the entrepreneurial spirit flourishing among the youth of County Sligo! Your ingenuity and confidence reflect a promising business future for our county. Initiatives like the Student Enterprise Programme not only foster economic growth but also empower you, our youth, to pursue your passions and contribute to our community. I congratulate all the students who have made it to the county final, and wish the overall winners at Junior, Intermediate and Senior level the very best of luck at the National Student Enterprise Programme Final on May 8th. Liam Kiely, Head of Enterprise, Sligo County Council, congratulated the students, saying: We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Sligo, with over 800 students from 12 second-level schools in the county taking part this year. Our national finalists are excellent ambassadors for the programme and we wish them the very best of luck on the 8th May next. The ultimate aim of the Student Enterprise Programme run by the Network of Local Enterprise Offices is to provide targeted support and encouragement to assist students to develop a business idea and develop it into a real-life business. The skills they learn along the way, such as business planning, market research, selling and team-work, will help them become more entrepreneurial throughout their future careers. The local students will be competing against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland at the Student Enterprise Programme National Final, taking place in the Mullingar Park Hotel on the 8th May. There is double cause for celebration for the Wall family of Enniscorthy as both siblings Sinead Wall and Eamonn Wall will be leading the St Patricks Day Parades as Grand Marshals in Enniscorthy and St Louis Missouri, respectively. Eamonn has lived in St Louis since 2000 and is the Smufit-Stone Corporation Professor of Irish Studies, as well as a Professor of English Studies, at the University of Missouri-St Louis (UMSL). It is no surprise that he was chosen given his dedication and involvement in bridging the gap between American and Irish Culture. At UMSL, he curates the monthly Irish lectures, readings, and concerts series for UMSL Global, is currently the Director of their annual summer study abroad programme at the University of Galway, as well as teaching various classes on Irish writing. In addition, he is the prolific author of 11 books including My Aunts at Twilight Poker and Writing the Irish West: Ecologies and Traditions. He has also published a number of essays in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and many more. As such, he has received a number of awards commending his contribution to Irish writing; the Durkan Prize from the American Conference for Irish Studies, the Irish Echo Award for distinguished service to Irish Arts and Culture in North America, as well as being the first Irish-born academic to be elected as President of the American Conference for Irish Studies. Joining him on the parade route will be Irish Guest of honour Fianna Fail Senator Shane Curley. Prior to his position on the Cultural and Educational Panel, he was a member of Galway County Council from 2019 to 2025, serving as one of the countrys youngest elected officials. Thousands are estimated to turn out in the streets for the festivities which will take place on Saturday, March 15 and will feature more than 135 floats, marching bands, Irish dancers and huge character balloons. Speaking to Spectrum News in St Louis, Parade Director Kevin Griffin said that they predict it will be a great day with equally great weather. "We're expecting great weather for the parade. It should be 65 degrees and sunny. Looking forward to lot's of smiling Irish eyes and plenty of green, he said. "Im grateful to carry on that tradition. Theres a lot of history within the parade itself and within the Irish community in St Louis, he added. On home turf, Eamonns sister Sinead will be front and centre on top of a convertible on Monday, March 17 at 3 p.m. where she will lead the procession through the town. Students from Colaiste Bhride in Carnew recently led a protest demanding a change to the broad Junior Cycle grading brackets outside Dail Eireann, where they engaged with politicians and the public to deliver their message loud and clear about the unfair scoring system and its impact on the morale of teachers and students. Leaving Carnew at 7.45am, Colaiste Bhrides Young Social Innovators and their supporters made their way to the capital wearing t-shirts and bearing placards with the name of their project, Take a Stand Change the Band, which sheds light on the negative effects of a system where students achieving between 55pc and 74pc are in the same bracket and are provided with limited access to the exact percentage. Arriving in Dublin, the group made their way from St Stephens Green to the bottom of Grafton Street, before proceeding to the Dail (via South Anne Street), chanting their slogan and answering the publics questions as they went. After speaking outside Leinster House, students engaged with the media and a string of high-ranking politicians on the issue, including Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik and long-serving TD Michael Healy-Rae. The students were then led by Wicklow-Wexford TD Brian Brennan into the main foyer of Leinster House, where they met with Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore and Education Minister Helen McEntees private secretary, to whom they presented a letter outlining the merits of their project and the need for change. The busy day for the YSI students continued at the Mansion House, where they attended their YSI Speak Out and presented their project to other schools and the YSI judging panel. The impressive students used a striking visual aid to press home their message, filling two five-gallon drums with water, one 55pc of the way and the other 74pc, before adding dye and asking the audience: Are they equal? YSI student Sarah Jennings, who has spearheaded the Colaiste Bhride project alongside vice project leader Phoebe Doyle, said the students were blown away by the publics interest and felt they were being listened to every step of the way. It definitely felt like we were heard, and we actually got Brian Brennan in trouble for being too loud, and the cabinet said we were causing too much havoc their quote! she joked. There were so many people that came up to us, people in their 30s or 40s that have their own kids but had no clue about the Junior Cycle grading system. This was unreal to us. Our survey showed that 98pc of teachers dont agree with the brackets as they are and that its very hard to teach with a grading system that you dont agree with. Its really demotivating to students too, who dont know how well they did. Everyone in our YSI group is very proud of what weve done. We all worked together, and couldnt do enough for each other to get the project as far as it could go. Were hoping to get a lot of media attention from the protest, and see where it goes from there. Equally proud of her students and the school community back in Carnew, who split into a group of 55pc and 74pc in a show of solidarity, YSI teacher Ms Karen Murphy said that the day simply could not have gone any better. We were overwhelmed by the support the students got, and the amount of people that stopped them and asked what the project was about, she said. Its funny, because the first group we met were Bulgarian teachers on an Erasmus training program, and were an Erasmus+ school. They asked us what we were doing, and we explained the Junior Cycle system. They were quite surprised by the broad grading brackets, and ended up coming with us and joining the march! The students had their placards and t-shirts that we financed through YSI Den funding, and their chant, which they practised on the bus, and was perfectly in time. Every single truck, bus or taxi that went past beeped and waved at the students, with so many people stopping them and asking what the protest was about. There was one gentleman who complimented the students on the project and said people would take them seriously because the message was so clear and the protest was so well-organised. It was quite a busy day because the cabinet was sitting, so there were a lot of journalists around and we really couldnt have picked a better day for the protest, she continued. The first person we met at the Dail was Ivana Bacik TD, who, even though she has two daughters who went through the Junior Cycle, didnt know about the grading brackets and thought it was terrible. That really drove home the importance of the project and its message, especially when you have a government TD with children who doesnt know how the system works. Deputy Brennan came out and spoke to the students, then we met with Jennifer Whitmore TD, who brought the Social Democrats Education spokesperson out to meet us. A lot of schools couldnt come on the day, but we sent out 12 protest packs to schools, and weve already had a couple of schools that are going to put up pictures of themselves dressed up in our t-shirts and supporting our cause. The Speak Out in the Mansion House went well too, where Sarah and Phoebe went through what weve done and there was a rap that was led by Aoife Neville, who won a prize for her rapping skills! The number of teachers that came up to us afterwards and said the grading brackets drive them mad, or students who said that it struck a chord with them was amazing. The whole day simply could not have gone any better. Asked about the next steps of the project, Ms Murphy said that the students would use the knowledge and experience they have gained throughout the process to create a workshop showing younger students that young people can change the world. I have eight weeks left with the YSI class and what we always try to do at the end of the year is share the message of the project as far and wide as possible, she said. We were talking amongst ourselves and one thing we might do is show young people can change the world, and we are thinking of creating some kind of workshop that we can bring to primary schools about the student voice and young people who have done exceptional things to get their message across. Something apparent at the Speak Out from the reaction to our presentation was that some students thought tackling the Junior Cycle would be too big to take on, an immovable object, but our whole aim of the project was to bring schools together in a national movement, which is achievable. The new Education Minister has a carte blanche now. Nothing is set in stone, and there is no reason the bands cant be changed. Theres no Oireachtas Committee for education yet, and Deputy Brennan, who has been fantastic with us, said he would push to get us in front of them. Wexford-born frontman of Black 47, Larry Kirwan, on how music played such an integral part of the late Jack OLearys life Jack was the man! I first met him when I was 18 and playing a gig with Johnny Reck in The Dolphin at the top of The Faythe. I already knew him by sight, but then who didnt you know in the self-contained Wexford of those days? I was singing the ballad Donna, Donna into the hum of conversation; no one was listening, except Jack. During a break he complimented me on my choice of material and stated that Donna, Donna was an old Jewish folksong. From that moment on we were linked. Wexford was like that, mad for music, and people were defined and drawn together by their tastes. Jack was a walking talking compendium of music, he seemed to know every song that had any bit of soul or history to it. From then on, he regularly dropped by wherever I was gigging and Id delight in trying out new songs for him. Jack would roam around the room, resplendent in a well-cut grey suit, pint in hand, swaying to the music, and urging the players on at every opportunity. Back then he worked on the Rosslare/Fishguard ferries and was well known around town, the centre of attention in every pub he frequented. Larry Kirwan. He introduced me to the Goal Bar on South Main Street and we began congregating there on Saturday afternoons. Johnny Murphy was our genial host and the sessions were mighty. I spent some of the happiest hours of my life there with Jack and musicians the like of Mick Whitney, Eddie Redmond, Nick Cloake, the Hennessys from Wales and many others, swapping songs and learning my trade. There too I grasped the breadth of Jacks taste in sea chanteys, particularly in the semi-mystical songs of Cyril Tawney. Joe Strummer of The Clash in 1979 The years passed and I left for New York, but wed have an almighty session when Pierce Turner and I would return at Christmas. Eventually, thered be no more Wexford Christmases for me, but we had a memorable one in London when Black 47 opened for The Pogues at their joyous show. There, I introduced Jack to Joe Strummer. Backstage they spent hours talking head-to-head at the bar. When Jack finally took a toilet break, Joe turned to me and said, Where did you find him, guy knows more about music than anyone Ive ever met. I told Joe he should visit Wexford where music was at the core of everything, and we were all linked by the songs we loved, and by the humanity fostered when singing them. To my mind, Jack personified that old and special Wexford. But that was Jack all over, a wonderful husband, father, friend, writer, historian, storyteller, with a huge welcoming grin rarely far from his face. At the same time, he was sharp as a tack and could blow away a musical icon like Strummer in a Maudlintown minute. All those songs we sang still echo down the lanes and the narrow streets of our hometown, old friend, and youll be remembered as long as people sing them. You were the man, Jack, and theres not a prayer in heaven well ever see your like again. Larry Kirwan, New York Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne highlighted the need for urgent upgrades to the Dublin to Rosslare rail line at a recent Dail debate, where he called on Transport Minister Sean Canney to invest in the much-forgotten service. Asking the Minister to provide details of plans to upgrade the overburdened service, which stops in Wexford, Enniscorthy, Gorey, Arklow, Rathdrum, Wicklow, Kilcoole, Greystones and Bray, Fianna Fail Deputy Byrne told him that a realistic alternative for rail users would require real investment in the rail line. I ask about the Dublin to Rosslare rail line specifically, in which there has been a lack of investment, Byrne said. In light of the Ministers previous comments about investment in rail, will the Minister of State outline what he plans to do with this much-forgotten service? Noting that significant improvements are planned across Irelands rail network, including on the Dublin to Rosslare line, Minister Canney replied: Last year, some changes to timetables on the line were introduced, including a new late evening service between Wexford and Gorey. I look forward to similar timetable improvements being introduced in the coming years. My department is also working to pursue the recommendations in the all-island strategic rail review, including an increase in services between Wexford and Rosslare to at least one train every two hours by 2030. As part of the DART+ programme, specifically the DART+ coastal south project, it is planned to increase service frequency between the Bray and Greystones portion of the Rosslare line from approximately every 30 minutes in each direction to every 20 minutes. Work is ongoing by larnrod Eireann and the NTA to investigate the best way to achieve this frequency improvement, including any infrastructure needs, and it is currently anticipated that it can be delivered by around 2028. Furthermore, the NTA Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042, adopted in 2023, included a recommendation to extend the Dart service to Wicklow town, he added. I understand this extension can be facilitated through utilising the new battery-electric Dart carriages which are currently arriving in Ireland and undergoing testing. As more carriages arrive, it may be feasible to also deploy them to extend Dart services to and from Wicklow, subject to funding and approvals for the required charging infrastructure. The NTA is examining this issue with a view to progressing the extension around 2029. Responding, Deputy Byrne said he loved that the Minister of State described the addition of one late evening service as a significant change, adding: The late evening service left 45 minutes ago so I cannot avail of it I am not sure what time the Minister of State regards as late evening. He mentioned the six services available to people I represent in Rathdrum, Arklow and Gorey. Equidistant from Dublin is Carlow, represented ably by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, from which there are 11 services daily. Commuters travelling from Dundalk have 16 services while those coming from Portlaoise, equidistant from Dublin with Arklow or Gorey have 32 services. I do not believe six daily services, in competition with a clogged-up M11, could be regarded as significant investment. Acknowledging Deputy Byrnes frustration, the minister pointed to the all-island rail review, noting that improvements in the line to Wexford and Rosslare are part of the overall plan. Concluding the question, Deputy Byrne said that the only thing being suggested is forcing commuters to change in Wicklow or Greystones. If they are on a train early in the morning and it is wet and cold, commuters from Gorey, Arklow or Rathdrum to the city are expected to change trains, he said. It is not acceptable. The Minister of State needs to be talking about a significant investment. There is discussion as part of the all-island rail review of doubling the number of tracks between Dublin and Belfast to four. I welcome and support that. We ask for the same doubling of the number of tracks, simply from one to two, so more services are available. The M11 is completely clogged up and if we are going to provide an alternative, we need serious investment. The former Tourist Office building on Wexford Quay, which is now home to The Makers House. Pic: Jim Campbell With the old Failte Ireland tourist office on Wexford Quay having been repurposed as the new location for The Makers House, it seems unlikely that the town will ever have a stand-alone, dedicated tourist office again, it has emerged. Independent councillor Leonard Kelly raised the topic at the March meeting of Wexford County Council. "First of all, Id like to wish Wexford man Paul Kelly all the best as he departs the role of CEO of Failte Ireland, Cllr Kelly said. Perhaps as a kind of a parting gift, we could get some kind of permanent tourist office once again in our county town. Cllr Kelly suggested that the old Mechanics Institute building on the Main Street would be an ideal location, drawing visitors towards the Main Street. However, council officials quickly poured cold water on the idea. "Failte Ireland don't fund new tourist offices anymore, Chief Executive Eddie Taaffe said. The vast majority of people now get their info online. Noting the presence of a dedicated, staffed, tourist information area at Wexford Arts Centre, Cllr Kelly asked would it not be possible to just put this in a dedicated building? Director of Services Liz Hore pointed out that Wexford County Council is working closely with Visit Wexford on a number of campaigns and online initiatives, which would see content regularly updated on the website. However, she once again stressed that "most information is sought online in this day and age". One of the most controversial events in Wexford history is to be dramatised in a new stage production at the National Opera House this summer. Irish Affair - A Love Story for all Time is based on the infamous Fethard-on-Sea boycott from the late 1950s which saw Sean, a Catholic, and Sheila Cloney, a Protestant, make international headlines after Sheila refused to raise their children as Catholics. As a result the parish priest organised a boycott of the local Protestant population which was endorsed by the local bishop and led to taoiseach Eamon de Valera visiting the small seaside village. With additional music, double the cast and the addition of dancers and musicians, this new version of Irish Affair will be introduced by the legendary lyricist and executive producer of Irish Affair, Sir Tim Rice. It comes to Wexfords National Opera House for one night only on June 27. Irish Affair is penned by West End composer Stuart Brayson, produced and directed by Wexford soprano Deirdre Masterson, with musical arrangements/direction by David Wray. Having worked on this musical for several years prior to its inaugural public viewing last year, Stuart Brayson, said, Im thrilled that Irish Affair will return this June to the prestigious National Opera House in Wexford. Its such a wonderful and inspiring true story. Im very proud of the score. I do think its one of my best. This new production of Irish Affair will simply capture your heart. It really is a love story for all time. The National Opera House and The Irish College of Music Theatre proudly collaborated in presenting the premiere of Irish Affair in a series of workshops in June 2024. Director and producer Deirdre Masterson and composer and lyricist Stuart Brayson were encouraged to develop the piece further as a result. They were further encouraged by lyricist Sir Tim Rice and global music executive Chris Wright CBE, who later offered to come on board as Executive Producers. Having worked with Stuart Brayson on our West End Musical From Here To Eternity, I am delighted that he has created a new work for the stage. He is a marvellous songwriter, original and enthusiastic, said Sir Tim. Karla Tracey and Fionn Gardner in 'Irish Affair' by Stuart Brayson - photo by Mark A. Ivory. Commenting on her experience as director and producer of Irish Affair, Deirdre Masterson said, It has been such a joy to work alongside Stuart and David, with the fabulous cast and crew in collaboration with The National Opera House. I am excited for audiences to see the developments we have made to the show since last June. Being a proud Wexford woman, I feel privileged to act as director and producer for this very special musical project Irish Affair. The creatives and I feel very strongly that the sentiment, tone and the ethos of the piece is organically home grown first, before giving it an opportunity to take flight into the other corners of the world. Tickets can be purchased online at www.nationaloperahouse.ie or by ringing the National Opera House box-office on 053 912 2144. The team from Frank Duffs in Bray celebrate winning the Pub of the Year for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood Maggie Roche (left) from Little Acorn Cafe is awarded the Best Use of Social Media prize for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Sceal in Greystones celebrate winning the Best Cafe title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from First Batch Bakery in Aughrim celebrate winning Innovator of the Year for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Frank Duffs in Bray celebrate winning the Pub of the Year for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Grangecon Kitchen celebrate winning the Best Casual Dining title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Pink Salt celebrate winning the Best World Cuisine title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from The Wicklow Arms in Delgany celebrate winning the Best Gastropub title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Chakra by Jaipur celebrate being crowned Wicklow's Best Restaurant for the fourth consecutive year at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Caladh celebrate winning the Best Newcomer title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Tinahely Farm Shop celebrate back to back wins in the sustainability category at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Caladh celebrate winning the Best Newcomer title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from the Chester Beatty Inn in Ashford were double winners at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood The team from Daata in Bray celebrate winning the Best Customer Service title for Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood Sophie Woodroofe from The Roundwood Stores is crowned Best Chef in Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood Christoper White from the Pigeon House in Delgany is crowned the Best Manager in Wicklow at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards. Photo: Paul Sherwood Chakra by Jaipur has been named Wicklow's Best Restaurant for the fourth consecutive year at the Leinster portion of the Irish Restaurant Awards 2025. The Indian establishment in Greystones was among many eateries, bars and pubs in the county to add to their burgeoning awards collections at the ceremony on Wednesday evening in Kildare. Retaining the title of Wicklow's Best Wine Experience was one of the Duggan family's newest additions in Bray, Conlon's Wine Bar, a low-key haunt on Brennan's parade. The Tinahely Farm Shop was another to win the same award, retaining the title of Wicklow's Best Sustainable Practices, while Little Acorn Cafe in Baltinglass took home 'Best Use of Social Media', having won 'Best Casual Dining' in 2024 and 'Local Food Hero in 2023. Grangecon Kitchen's quality fare was awarded 'Best Casual Dining' for a second time, having won the title in 2023, along with 'Best Chef', and 'Best Contemporary Irish Cuisine' last year. That award this year went to the Chester Beatty Inn in Ashford, who were double winners on the night, also landing the title Wicklow's Best Hotel and Guesthouse Restaurant. Recognition for Wicklow's finest hospitality operators was handed out across 18 categories, the most coveted title beyond Wicklow's Best Restaurant arguably being Wicklow's Pub of the Year, which was awarded to Frank Duffs in Bray. The popular fixture at the top of Bray's Main Street joins an illustrious list that includes The Harbour Bar (2019), Glenmalure Lodge (2020), O'Keeffe's Pub (2023) and The Dying Cow (2022 and 2024). Wicklow's Best Gastropub is The Wicklow Arms in Delgany and the Best Cafe is newcomer Sceal, a bakery in Greystones. 'Best Newcomer' went to Caladh in Greystones, while Daata, also in Greystones, won 'Best Customer Service' and Pink Salt landed the 'Best World Cuisine' award, which they also won in 2022 and 2019. The team were also celebrating when their own Susan O'Brien won the 'Employee Excellence Award'. Wicklow's Best Restaurant Manager is Christoper White at The Pigeon House Restaurant in Delgany, which celebrated 10 years in business last year, and the Best Chef is Sophie Woodroofe at The Roundwood Stores. First Batch Bakery in Aughrim landed the prestigious 'Innovator of the Year' title, and Local Hero was Patrick Ryan at Firehouse Bakery in Delgany. All the winners will go forward to the all-Ireland final, which takes place on Monday, May 19 in Dublin. Podcaster and breast cancer survivor Georgie Crawford has told how a chance encounter with Rosanna Davison led her to exploring surrogacy, which cost her life savings to pursue. The Good Glow podcast host was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer at the age of 32 in 2017 shortly after the birth of her first child Pia, who was seven months old at the time. Speaking to the Insights with Sean ORourke podcast, the mother of two discussed her diagnosis, her journey with her wellness brand and podcast and her experience with surrogacy. She completed a round of IVF before her chemotherapy treatment which was really successful in terms of retrieving a number of embryos, but the circumstances of her diagnosis and treatment meant she felt scared about getting pregnant again. "I didn't know much about surrogacy until I heard Rosanna Davisons story, she said. I didn't know much about it, but I was getting my hair done one day and Rosanna Davison walked behind my chair. One of the girls said, You know, Rosanna is doing the surrogacy journey? And I said, Yeah, it's amazing. And she said, She's doing it in Ukraine. And I said, Oh, really? Ukraine? I didn't know anything about it. She started researching from there, finding a solicitor, Annette Hickey, who she described as an incredible woman. "I needed to learn a lot about it before I made any decisions. But she was telling us, you know, there's a really safe ethical pathway to having a baby in Ukraine with a surrogate mother. And we decided that this was the right thing for us to do. Ms Crawford said the cost of the process were her life savings. Everything that I had worked for, for years, went into it. And my family helped us as well and Jamie's family. But really every penny that we made went into a savings account, she added. Asked whether the cost amounted to more than six figures, Ms Crawford said: No, we're just touching on. "We had a lot of legal costs because we kind of, ticked the box on everything so having an independent legal representative in the country, then our surrogate mother, she would have legal representation and then we would have legal representation. So, we kind of went above and beyond and then because our embryos were transferred out of Ukraine and into Georgia and we started the journey again, we lost some money. The escalation of the war in Ukraine came as Ms Crawford was about to begin the process, with the podcaster recalling how everyone had been tippy-toeing around her as they knew how much I wanted a baby. She said it marked the end of our journey in Ukraine as she prayed that a bomb hadnt dropped on the clinic where her embryos were stored in Kyiv and that they were safe. A couple of weeks later, somebody told me that the embryologist in the clinic put everyones embryos into the boot of his car and drove to Slovakia to save them. "Tahlie, our second baby, was now in Slovakia, as an embryo. She said the process started all over again in Georgia, where they were matched with an amazing Georgian lady. Her daughter, Tahlie, was born via surrogate in 2023. On whether she had plans for the other embryos, she admitted she does not currently have plans but unless I win the lotto, I think were done. Russian president warns any truce must address root cause of conflict Kremlin says Putin sent Trump a message on Ukraine ceasefire idea, talks of 'cautious optimisThe Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent U.S. President Donald Trump a message about his proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine via Trump's special envoy and that there were grounds for "cautious optimism." Russia said on Thursday there was no doubt that its troops would soon complete the task of clearing out Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region where they have held a pocket of territory for more than seven months. Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community! Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region. Gone Girls The Long Island Serial Killer OTT release date: Girls, a brand-new documentary series, will soon be available on Netflix. Based on the material released by the producers, the documentary series will undoubtedly keep you intrigued. It explores the prolonged inquiry that led to the much anticipated arrest. Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer will be released on Netflix on 31st March 2025. Plot Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer explores the extended inquiry that led to the much anticipated arrest. It also looks at the stigma associated with the victims' profession, which might have played a part in the investigation's excruciatingly sluggish progress. Cast and crew Garbus, the director of the 2020 drama Lost Girls, which followed the mother of one of the potential victims of the Long Island Serial Killer and her quest for justice, is directing the series, which includes interviews with journalists, law enforcement officials, and friends and family of the victims and the accused killer. What else to expect? As per Tudum, Gone Girls uses reenactments to help viewers relate to the people who died, in addition to interviews with the victims' friends and family that emphasise their lives and the continuous battle to get their disappearances treated seriously by authorities. By highlighting the fact that these women were moms, sisters, and daughters who worked in the sex business, director Liz Garbus says she aimed to make them relatable and come to life. Given that many families lacked sizable photo collections, Garbus aimed to produce an intimate portrait that could only be accomplished by an actor's performance. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Happy Holi 2025: Holi, the beautiful festival of colours, is joyfully celebrated across Northern and Eastern India. It is a time when people put aside differences and come together in harmony. Send your warm Happy Holi 2025 wishes to your employees with thoughtful greetings and messages. These cheerful Holi quotes are perfect for business owners to express their best wishes to their team, staff, and colleagues. Share these Holi messages with your boss, office team, or business associates. You can send them on WhatsApp, Facebook, or any other platform to spread festive cheer. Happy Holi Wishes & Messages for Your Boss Wishing you a very Happy Holi, boss! May this festival bring you success, happiness, and new opportunities in the year ahead. Dear boss, may the joyful spirit of Holi fill your life with laughter, positivity, and great energy. Have a wonderful celebration! Happy Holi! May the bright colours of this festival bring happiness, harmony, and prosperity into your life and career. Sending my best wishes to you, boss! May this festival mark a fresh start, helping you reach greater heights. Enjoy a fantastic Holi! Respected boss, may your life be as vibrant as the colours of Holi. Wishing you success, good health, and endless joy. On this special occasion, I hope you have a colourful and delightful Holi, filled with happiness and cherished moments. To an inspiring leader, may this festival bring you enthusiasm, positivity, and success in all your ventures. Happy Holi! Wishing you a joyful and prosperous Holi, boss! May this festival bring you endless happiness and achievements. Happy Holi, dear boss! May the colours of Holi spread the message of peace in your life. Wishing you success, good health, and achievements on this occasion. Happy Holi Wishes & Messages for employees Your dedication, hard work, and loyalty add special colours to our organisation every Holi. Wishing you joyful moments with your family, a day filled with happiness, and beautiful memories. Happy Holi! Sending my warmest wishes on Holi! May this festival bring you a cheerful day with your loved ones, and may the joy of colours and the sweetness of gujiya fill your life with success and happiness. Happy Holi! Every staff member is a valued part of our company. Wishing you and your family a bright and blessed Holi filled with love and joy. Happy Holi to all! May your Holi festival be full of warmth and happiness. Treasure each moment spent with your family and friends. Wishing you a vibrant and joyful Holi 2025! Let the colours of Holi bring fresh energy and positivity into your life. May this year bring you success, good health, and joy. Best wishes for a colourful Holi! On this festive occasion, I wish you a life filled with happiness and prosperity. May Holi bring new opportunities and progress your way. Happy Holi to you and your family! As you celebrate this beautiful festival, I pray for your well-being, success, and endless joy. Sending you warm Holi wishes! May the bright and vibrant colours of Holi bring happiness and success into your life. Wishing you and your family a blessed Holi! No shade is as powerful as the colour of success. This Holi, we celebrate the dedication and commitment of our hardworking team. Wishing you all a joyful and colourful Holi! Holi is a time to spread love, forgive, and create happy memories. Wishing you a wonderful Holi celebration! Happy Holi to you and your family! May this festival bring you good health, success, and prosperity. May God bless you always. Sending you my best wishes for a Holi filled with sweet memories and joyful moments. May your life be as colourful as this beautiful festival! Happy Holi Wishes & Messages For Colleagues Happy Holi, dear colleagues! Let's take a break from our busy schedules today and have some fun together. May Holi inspire us to work with renewed energy. Enjoy this wonderful day of Holi with countless blessings. Its a pleasure sharing office space with you, dear colleague. Have a great time. Hope you have a joyous Holi, dear colleague. Indulge in delicious food and remember to have fun. Wishing you happiness on this Holi and every other day. May this holiday season bring you closer to your family and friends. Happy Holi to a fantastic boss! May this festival of colours paint your life with harmony and bring new opportunities. Heres to a journey ahead filled with success and achievements. Have a splendid Holi with your family and friends, dear colleague. Enjoy the vibrant colours, spring breeze, and delicious food. Sending you all my warm wishes on this Holi, dear colleague. Enjoy this festive occasion with your loved ones. Wishing you and your family a Holi filled with joy, success, and bright colors! May this festival bring prosperity to your life. Happy Holi! May the colors of Holi inspire you to reach new heights in your career and fill your life with happiness. Have a wonderful and safe Holi! Holi is the time to celebrate teamwork, positivity, and success. Wishing you a vibrant and cheerful Holi with your loved ones! Lets celebrate the festival of colors with joy, enthusiasm, and positivity. Wishing you a very Happy Holi, dear colleague! Just like Holi adds colors to life, may your work bring you success, happiness, and great achievements. Happy Holi to you! Wishing you a Holi filled with bright colors, happy moments, and professional success. May you achieve all your dreams this year! This Holi, lets take a break from work stress and celebrate the festival with joy, laughter, and beautiful colors. Have a great Holi! Happy Holi! May your life be as colorful and joyful as this festival, and may your career be filled with success and growth! Wishing you a Holi filled with happiness, harmony, and new opportunities. May your professional and personal life be as vibrant as Holi colors! Enjoy this Holi with enthusiasm and positivity! May it bring you success at work and endless happiness in life. Have a safe and colorful Holi! For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events. Holi images, cards, posters, wallpapers & more: Holi, also called the "Festival of Colours," is an important Hindu festival mainly celebrated in India and Nepal. Over time, this joyful festival has gained popularity in other countries, including the USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius, Australia, UK and Fiji & Indonesia. In 2025, Holi will be celebrated on Friday, 14th March. This colourful festival marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. The celebrations begin the night before Holi with Holika Dahan (Thursday, March 13), a ritual where people gather around a bonfire to burn away negativity and evil. They collect wood and other materials to build a pyre, placing an effigy of Holika on top. At sunset, families and friends come together, perform religious rituals, and set the pyre alight. Holi symbolises the victory of good over evil and is also a time to express gratitude for a good harvest. The festival lasts for two days the first evening is known as Chhoti Holi or Holika Dahan, while the next day, called Rangwali Holi or Phagwa, is filled with joyful colour play. Holi usually falls on the last full moon of the Phalguna month. As Holi 2025 approaches, lets make it extra special by sharing beautiful Happy Holi images, wallpapers, posters, and greeting cards with our friends and family on WhatsApp and other social media platforms. Happy Holi Images, Cards, and Posters to Share Celebrate Holi by sending your loved ones stunning Holi-themed images, greeting cards, wallpapers, and posters. Whether on WhatsApp, Facebook, or any other social media platform, spread the joy of colours with festive pictures and heartfelt wishes! Best 2025 Happy Holi images Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi photos 2025 to share Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp 2025 Happy Holi pictures & cards Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Unique Happy Holi wishes WhatsApp status Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi Images 2025 Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Happy Holi images for WhatsApp Creative Happy Holi wallpapers 2025 for Android & iOS Credit: Pixabay Credit: Pixabay Credit: Pixabay Credit: Pixabay Happy Holi Images HD Happy Holi WhatsApp image Happy Holi WhatsApp image Happy Holi WhatsApp image Happy Beautiful Holi images Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Happy Holi images download Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Happy Holi Images 2025 Happy Holi images & cards Happy Holi images & cards Credit: Freepik Happy Holi Images for Kids Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Credit: Freepik Holi 2025: Holi is a bright and joyful festival of colours, celebrated with great happiness in India. It marks the victory of good over evil and welcomes the spring season. In 2025, Holi will be on March 14, and Holika Dahan will be on the evening of March 13. This festival is not just about playing with colours but also about spending time with family and friends. Since schools and offices give holidays in many states, it is a great chance for people to visit their hometowns and celebrate with loved ones. Checking the holiday schedule for your state can help you plan your travel and celebrations smoothly for a wonderful Holi. When is Holi in 2025? In 2025, Holi, the joyful festival of colours, will be celebrated on Friday, March 14. The celebrations start a day earlier with Holika Dahan, also called Chhoti Holi, on Thursday, March 13. This special bonfire ritual represents the victory of good over evil. Holika Dahan 2025 Subh Muhurat The Holika Dahan ceremony will take place between 11:26 PM on March 13 and 12:30 AM on March 14, after Bhadra Kaal ends. Holi is an important Hindu festival that welcomes spring and is celebrated with great excitement all over India. People come together to enjoy colours, music, and happiness, making it a festival of joy and unity. How many days will schools be closed for Holi 2025? Delhi: Schools will be closed on March 1314, but since many follow a 5-day workweek, holidays may extend till March 16, giving a 4-day break. Schools will be closed on March 1314, but since many follow a 5-day workweek, holidays may extend till March 16, giving a 4-day break. Rajasthan: Schools may have a 3-day holiday for Holi. Schools may have a 3-day holiday for Holi. Uttar Pradesh: Schools will remain closed on March 1314, especially in cities like Mathura and Vrindavan, where Holi is celebrated with great enthusiasm. Schools will remain closed on March 1314, especially in cities like Mathura and Vrindavan, where Holi is celebrated with great enthusiasm. Bihar & Jharkhand: A 2-day holiday is declared for Holi. A 2-day holiday is declared for Holi. Madhya Pradesh: Schools in cities like Bhopal and Indore will be closed on March 1314. Schools in cities like Bhopal and Indore will be closed on March 1314. Punjab & Haryana: A 2-day Holi holiday is confirmed for schools. A 2-day Holi holiday is confirmed for schools. Telangana & Andhra Pradesh: March 14 is an official holiday. Since March 15 is a Saturday, some schools may give a half-day or an extra holiday, leading to a 3-day break. State-wise School Holidays for Holi 2025 State/City Holiday Dates Details Delhi March 13-14 Schools closed for two days. Rajasthan Likely March 13-15 Three-day holiday expected. Uttar Pradesh March 13-14 Major celebrations in Mathura and Vrindavan. Bihar & Jharkhand March 13-14 Two-day holiday in both states. Madhya Pradesh March 13-14 Schools closed in Bhopal and Indore. Punjab & Haryana March 13-14 Two-day holiday in both states. Telangana March 14 (Friday) Official holiday; might extend to three days due to Saturday and Sunday. Karnataka March 14 (expected) Single day holiday expected. State-wise Office Holidays for Holi 2025 State/City Holiday Dates Details Delhi March 14 (Friday) Official holiday for Holi. Rajasthan March 14 (Friday) State government offices closed. Uttar Pradesh March 14 (Friday) Official holiday for Holi, with festivities in Mathura and Vrindavan. Bihar & Jharkhand March 14 (Friday) Official holiday in both states. Madhya Pradesh March 14 (Friday) State government offices closed. Punjab & Haryana March 14 (Friday) Official holiday in both states. Telangana March 14 (Friday) Official holiday; private offices may observe a half-day or full-day closure. Karnataka March 14 (Friday) Official holiday in some regions, especially in areas with major Hindu populations. Maharashtra March 14 (Friday) Official holiday in Mumbai and other parts of the state. Gujarat March 14 (Friday) Official holiday; major celebrations in Ahmedabad and other cities. Holi 2025 is a great time for students, working people, and families to take a break and enjoy the festival. Most schools and offices will be closed on March 13 and 14, making it a perfect chance to spend time with loved ones and celebrate together. (Note: Dates/timings may be subject to change; details mentioned here are as per the information available.) For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Is Raha Kapoor the richest Bollywood kid?: Raha Kapoor, the daughter of superstar couple Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, was born into Bollywood royalty and has immediately gained notice. Raha's destiny is set against a backdrop of tremendous money, luxury, and celebrity, thanks to her ancestry, which includes the Kapoor history and the Bhatt brilliance. But does this adorable star kid have the distinction of B-Town's richest baby? Raha's net worth may outshine that of other famous children thanks to expensive gifts and a fortune that includes a mansion, business assets, and more. Curious about how rich she and what makes her life so grand? Let's explore the opulent world of Bollywood's newest hit! Who is Raha Kapoor? Credit: Radiocity Raha Kapoor is the daughter of Bollywood's star couple, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Raha, born on November 6, 2022, is already a well-known celebrity child despite her parents' desire to keep her upbringing quiet. She is a member of two of Bollywood's most influential families: the Kapoor dynasty (one of the most recognized film families in Indian cinema) and the Bhatt family, which is well-known for its cinematic history. Her grandmother, Neetu Kapoor, picked the name Raha, which means "peace" and "happiness" in several languages. Raha, who is still a toddler, is frequently the target of media attention, with fans hoping to glimpse her rare public outings. Why Raha Kapoor the richest kid of Bollywood? Credit: Instagram Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt will soon move into their new house, a magnificent bungalow in the heart of Mumbai's Bandra that is currently being built. According to Bollywood Life, Hindustan Times, and Mint, Ranbir "will name the bungalow" after his and Alia's daughter, Raha Kapoor. According to reports, Kapoor and Bhatt's new home cost the family Rs 250 crore, making it the most expensive celebrity house in Mumbai, surpassing Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat and Amitabh Bachchan's Jalsa. Raha would also become "the richest star kid in Bollywood." According to the source, Ranbir and Alia "equally invest their hard-earned money to make their dream house." Furthermore, the source stated, "It is also said that Ranbir Kapoor, who is madly and deeply in love with his daughter Raha Kapoor, will name the bungalow in her name, making the little one the richest star kid in B-Town (Bollywood)." Along with this large mansion, Alia and Ranbir possess four flats in the Bandra region worth more than Rs 60 crore." To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending. Late actress Kim Sae Ron was accompanied by a man in the passenger seat during her DUI incident in 2022, and rumors are now circulating that the individual was none other than her former Gold Medalist colleague Choi Hyun Wook. This isnt the first time Choi Hyun Wooks name has been linked to Sae Ron's drunk driving incident, but at the time, his involvement was reportedly downplayed by his agency, which is co-owned by Kim Soo Hyun, in an effort to protect their rising star's image. The rumors resurfaced recently, fueled by claims from a Chinese blogger, amid Kim Soo Hyun's ongoing dating scandal with Kim Sae Ron. Choi Hyun Wook gets dragged into Kim Sae Ron's DUI incident After Kim Soo Hyun's dating scandal with Kim Sae Ron blew up online, details related to her DUI incident started resurfacing. A Chinese blogger claimed that Choi Hyun Wook, a labelmate of Kim Sae Ron's at the time, was reportedly a passenger in the vehicle when Kim Sae Ron was involved in a DUI incident. Although Kim Sae Ron took full responsibility for the accident, which caused property damage, claims suggest that their management company, Gold Medalist, intentionally concealed Choi Hyun Wook's presence to protect his rising career from the fallout. CHINESE BLOGGER: THE PERSON WHO ACCOMPANIED KIM SAE RON DRUNK AND DRIVING WAS CHOI HYUN WOOK The Chinese blogger revealed that Choi Hyun Wook was endorsed by the GM so the company slightly hid information about the "man sitting in the seat next door". pic.twitter.com/vSBQeHy8JD My Drama (: (@tired69200) March 12, 2025 However, the Twinkling Watermelon actor's fans have come to his defense, pointing out that reports from 2023 clearly state the passenger in the Bloodhounds actress' 2022 accident was a woman in her 20s, not a celebrity, and she was fined 5 million won. Netizens uncovered an old article from the Korean news outlet Bridge Economy, published on April 12, 2023. The article, titled "Court Sentences Kim Sae Rons Passenger to a 5 Million Won Fine for Aiding Drunk Driving," presented details that contradicted the circulating rumors. The report stated, "A 21-year-old woman, who was in the passenger seat during actress Kim Sae-rons drunk driving incident, was sentenced to a 5 million won fine in the first trial for aiding and abetting drunk driving, as ruled by Judge Lee Hwan-ki of the Seoul Central District Court on April 12." Did Choi Hyun Wook attend Kim Sae Ron's funeral? The Chinese blogger further fueled the controversy by claiming that Choi Hyun Wook did not attend her funeral despite their apparent close bond as seen in their Instagram interactions. The rising actor's fans countered these rumors as well by sharing an article from Ilgan Sports, confirming that he did attend Kim Sae Ron's memorial service. The article described Choi Hyun Wook arriving at the funeral home with a somber expression, paying his respects, and then departing quietly. According to reports #ChoiHyunWook attended #KimSaeRon's funeral with a sorrowful expression and quietly left after paying his respects. Sae Rons aunt also didn't mention him during the GaroSero livestream. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/svzxMqhb4Q Hallyu FORUMS (@hallyuforums) March 12, 2025 Kim Sae Ron and Choi Hyun Wook's friendship As rumors related to Choi Hyun Wook's involvement in Kim Sae Ron's DUI incident continued to circulate, some netizens also pointed out that the two stars shared a close bond. During the filming of Choi's 2020 series Real:Time:Love:4, Kim Sae Ron, along with Seo Yea Ji, who was also signed under Gold Medalist at the time, sent a coffee truck to the actor to extend their support. #KimSooHyun, Seo Yea Ji and Kim Sae Ron sent a coffee truck to the set of Real:Time:Love:4 to support Choi Hyun Wook! pic.twitter.com/NkfztHuyGz lin (@soohyunks) November 1, 2020 In 2022, Sae Ron once again sent him a coffee truck while he was shooting for a K-drama. The banner on the coffee truck read, "You look the prettiest when you eat." Choi Hyun Wook posted a picture with the coffee truck on Instagram and captioned it, "A woman who doesnt betray my expectations, Kim Sae Ron Jjang." Saeron sent coffee truck for Choi Hyun Wook The upper banner says you look the prettiest when you eat Hyunwooks caption: A women who doesnt betray my expectations, Kim Sae Ron Jjang#KimSaeRon # #ChoiHyunWook #TwentyFiveTwentyOne pic.twitter.com/rABEFcjHxS Taeriyaki (@taerijjang) February 6, 2022 Despite the rumors and controversy surrounding him, Choi Hyun Wook and his agency have chosen not to publicly address the allegations. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Garosero Research Institute recently dropped new evidence that seemingly confirmed Kim Soo Hyun's relationship with Kim Sae Ron despite his agency threatening legal actions as they denied the actor's romantic involvement with the late actress. From Paris postcards to military love letters and intimate pictures, the contentious YouTube channel has opened a Pandora's box, sparking fresh backlash against the actor. After the pictures shared by Garosera began circulating on the internet, Gold Medalist has now shared a new statement. Kim Soo Hyun's agency Gold medalist shares fresh statement In a statement released on March 13, Kim Soo Hyun's agency, Gold Medalist, which the actor owns with his cousin Lee Sarang, announced that they will clarify the facts and respond to the "baseless rumors" next week. The agency also apologized for the distress due to the ongoing controversy, acknowledging that it has caused "prolonged fatigue." Check out their full statement below: We would like to address the recent content regarding Kim Soo Hyun that was broadcasted on the YouTube channel HoverLab Inc. Gold Medalist will clarify the facts and respond to the baseless rumors by presenting a clear and substantiated position next week. We sincerely apologize for causing prolonged fatigue and ask for your understanding as we aim to prevent further ongoing reports. Thank you. Kim Sae Ron's aunt shares details about her debt in a new interview Kim Sae Ron's aunt, who is not a blood relative but a family friend of the deceased, has stood firm in her allegations against Kim Soo Hyun, despite his denial of an inappropriate relationship with the late actress. In an exclusive interview with THE FACT on March 13, 2025, she shared more details about the late actress's 700 million KRW (approximately 483,000 USD) debt. This debt was allegedly used by her former management and Kim Soo Hyun's Gold Medalist to threaten her. She clarified that Kim Sae Ron had personally covered all costs resulting from her DUI accident, including damages to a transformer and nearby shops. However, she was unable to repay the remaining amount, which was roughly 700 million KRW. According to the aunt, Kim Sae Ron claimed that Kim Sae Ron claimed that Kim Soo Hyun had personally lent her the money to cover this amount. While acknowledging Sae Ron's fault in the DUI accident, she deemed Gold Medalist's decision to pressure her with legal action as "excessive." She also reiterated her previous claims about Kim Soo Hyun's alleged inappropriate relationship with Kim Sae Ron, stating that no parent would lie about their deceased child. As per the aunt, Kim Soo Hyun had reassured Kim Sae Ron's parents when signing her to the newly established agency, stating that he would "take full responsibility for her" and that they had no need to worry. She concluded the interview by expressing her hope that Koreans would participate in the ongoing petition advocating for stricter regulations against YouTubers who infringe on celebrities' privacy rights. More about the Kim Soo Hyun controversy The controversy surrounding Kim Soo Hyun intensified after Garosero Research Institute aired allegations claiming he was in a romantic relationship with Kim Sae Ron for six years, starting when she was 15 and he was 27. Leaked content, including intimate photos, military letters, and private messages, further fueled the debate, with some netizens expressing outrage. Kim Soo Hyun's agency has vehemently denied the allegations, labeling them as baseless. Nevertheless, the controversy has begun to take a toll on his career. Although he continues filming for Knockoff Season 2, his involvement in other projects remains uncertain. He has also withdrawn from the scheduled March 13 filming of Good Day, sparking speculation about his potential exit from the program. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Ranbir Kapoor has given Bollywood some of the most iconic Holi songs, like Balam Pichkari from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Cutiepie from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. These tracks have become festival favorites, showing how to celebrate Holi with full energy. But behind all the colour and fun, theres a lesser-known story about Holi in Ranbirs life. The actor once shared how his grandfather, the legendary Raj Kapoor, hosted grand Holi parties that were both exciting and, at times, terrifying for him as a child. Why Ranbir found Raj Kapoors Holi parties scary Ranbir Kapoor recently attended the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), where he paid tribute to Raj Kapoor ahead of his 100th birth anniversary in December 2024. During a conversation with filmmaker Rahul Rawail, Ranbir spoke about the legendary Holi celebrations at RK Studios, extravagant gatherings where Bollywoods biggest stars, from Amitabh Bachchan to Nargis, came together with crew members to celebrate. Recalling his childhood memories of these parties, Ranbir revealed that while the atmosphere was filled with laughter, colours, and fun, he also found it overwhelming at times. He shared, I was very young, and honestly, it was quite scary for me. Everyone was covered in black and other colors, and people were being thrown into trucks. It was chaotic in a way. I think you would remember it better But yes, it was a one-day celebration where everyone looked completely unrecognizable by the end of it. Bollywoods biggest stars partied with crew members Despite his initial fear, Ranbir acknowledged that these celebrations were not just about fun but also about unity. The Holi parties at RK Studios were attended by not just actors and directors but also cameramen, production staff, and crew members. Everyone, regardless of their position in the film industry, came together as equals for the festival. Talking about this, Ranbir added, What I have heard from my elders is that these werent just for actors and actresses. Everyone, from the camera crew to the production staff joined in. There was no hierarchy. Everyone played Holi together, and thats what made it so special. A celebration that became Bollywoods favourite Raj Kapoor was known for being a visionary filmmaker and a brilliant actor, but he was also a fantastic host. His Holi parties became an annual tradition, attended by the whos who of Bollywood. The celebrations featured music, food, dance, and colors, making RK Studios the place to be during Holi. In a delightful addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sadie Sink, star of Stranger Things and The Whale, is officially joining the Spider-Man franchise. Deadline announced on March 12 that Sink has signed on for Spider-Man 4, the latest installment in the beloved film series. Sadie Sink's Spider-Man 4 casting sparks X-Men speculation. Tom Holland's Spider-Man is one of the most popular MCU franchises of recent times. With Sadie Sink, a main cast member of Stranger Things, one of the biggest Netflix series, joining Spider-Man 4, fans have been buzzing with excitement, theorizing how she will be introduced in the world of the web-slinger. Many believe she may play the role of Jean Grey, a pivotal member of the X-Men, signaling the first major X-Men crossover in the MCU. However, others propose an alternative theory, saying she might play Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man's iconic love interest. Although Zendaya played 'MJ' in the previous trilogy, her character was Michelle Jones, leaving room for a new interpretation of Mary Jane Watson. Sadie Sink could be playing either Jean Grey or Mary Jane in SPIDER-MAN 4. pic.twitter.com/xOfHu6eDNa Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) March 12, 2025 Fans react to Sadie Sink joining Spider-Man 4 "I bet she'll play Mary Jane, she's more suited to that role, and it's a logical scripted move since MJ forgot Pete," one user argued. I bet she'll play Mary Jane, she's more suited to that role, and it's a logical scripted move since MJ forgot Peter Ella (@ellailonaaa) March 13, 2025 Another user wrote, "Everyone speculating Sadie Sink is going to be Jean Grey, MJ, or Gwen Stacy only for her to probably end up being Peters classmate #2." Everyone speculating Sadie Sink is going to be Jean Grey, MJ, or Gwen Stacy only for her to probably end up being Peters classmate #2 https://t.co/eI9GH70uYs pic.twitter.com/2SZfVUa8zT Tyler Calvert (@ItsTylerCalvert) March 12, 2025 Meanwhile, a third commented, "I have no idea who Sadie Sink could be playing in Spider-Man 4 & Im both happy & nervous about that." I have no idea who Sadie Sink could be playing in Spider-Man 4 & Im both happy & nervous about that pic.twitter.com/H4NH30QjCe T.C (@TeeCeeComics) March 12, 2025 "Okay assuming Sadie Sink is Jean Grey (I'm willing to bet she is), this means we're definitely getting Margaret Qualley as Rogue. And no I will not be hearing otherwise at this time," a fourth commented. Okay assuming Sadie Sink is Jean Grey (I'm willing to bet she is), this means we're definitely getting Margaret Qualley as Rogue. And no I will not be hearing otherwise at this time. https://t.co/tBlAi2gWZX pic.twitter.com/EP4Sefq8ef Will Martinez (@willmovies) March 12, 2025 Zendaya fans are upset over Sadie's casting Zendaya fans have expressed disappointment and frustration over reports of Sadie Sink joining Spider-Man 4 as a potential new love interest of Tom Holland's character, with many stating that Zendaya's MJ and Peter Parker should be the end game. blah blah sadie sink as jean grey or mary jane whatever, MICHELLE JONES I WILL KEEP FIGHTING FOR YOU pic.twitter.com/cqzjpkvtWi anakin* (@DISGUSTRR) March 12, 2025 spending three films making zendaya's michelle become "mj watson", to get to the movie 4 and randomly make sadie sink the official mary jane is diabolical https://t.co/fcCmwnLlxn pic.twitter.com/4jnMId6LgC female stan marsh (@stanleyzmarsh) March 12, 2025 No way yall actually think they would disrespect Zendaya by casting Sadie Sink as Mary Jane pic.twitter.com/jJWYvjWz8J (@wandasattorney) March 12, 2025 I gotta worry abt Monica's fate in the Avengers movies & Sadie Sink replacing Zendaya's MJ. Trump's America everybody. pic.twitter.com/Ptrkd31Ln6 (@SPEEDRCER) March 12, 2025 Sadie Sink's casting to infuse new life into Spider-Man's storyline? The addition of Sadie Sink to the Spider-Man 4 cast signals a turning point in the franchise, as in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker erased himself from the memories of his loved ones and the world. As Marvel integrates mutants into the universe, Sadie's casting is expected to allow a fresh start for Peter Parker. Deadline further reported that Spider-Man 4 is expected to start production once Tom Holland completes his current project, The Odyssey, with Christopher Nolan. As of now, the film has been scheduled to arrive in theaters in the summer of 2026. Sadie Sink in Stranger Things Sadie Sink plays Max Mayfield in Stranger Things, bringing depth and emotion to the tough, independent teen as she battles personal demons and the Upside Down. Her character arc becomes more central, especially in season 4, where she plays a key role in the battle against the dark forces in the sci-fi series. The actress will return for Stranger Things season 5, which reportedly premieres on October 10, 2025. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. In a first, US to hold investment roadshow in India Kolkata: The US' first-ever India roadshow will kick off tomorrow with an aim to attract Indian investors.Under the US Department of Commerce's 'SelectUSA' programme, the roadshow will be held from October 13-16 in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata: The US' first-ever India roadshow will kick off tomorrow with an aim to attract Indian investors. Under the US Department of Commerce's 'SelectUSA' programme, the roadshow will be held from October 13-16 in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, in that order, a release said. The Kolkata leg of the roadshow on Friday will be held at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry featuring a half-day seminar, with sessions by American professionals on investment visas, legal and financial issues, investment incentives and successful strategies, it said. There will also be one-on-one consultations with participating US states. Investors will be offered insights about unique incentives of each area and key contacts to guide their investment decisions. The US delegation is being led by 'SelectUSA' Executive Director Vinai Thummalapally. India is now the fourth-fastest source of investment in the United States, with USD 11 billion till date. The number of Indian companies operating in the US has gone up to over 200 companies today, from an estimated 85 in 2005. Konstantinos Tasoulas will be sworn in as the new President of Greece today, pledging to uphold the constitution and serve the Greek people in a ceremony steeped in tradition. At 11:00 a.m., Mr. Tasoulas will take the presidential oath before Parliament, vowing to safeguard national independence, protect citizens' rights, and serve the nation. The oath, invoking the Holy Trinity, reflected Greece's Orthodox Christian heritage. First Vice President of Parliament Ioannis Plakiotakis presided over the ceremony, announcing the results of the parliamentary vote that elected Mr. Tasoulas. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, along with members of the Holy Synod, were escorted into the chamber. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Parliament President Nikitas Kaklamanis will greet Mr. Tasoulas at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where he inspected a military honor guard. The swearing-in protocol will be signed by Mr. Tasoulas, the prime minister, the parliament president, and the archbishop. Following the ceremony, Mr. Tasoulas will greet political leaders and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The event is expected to draw significant attention, with foreign delegations showing heightened interest. Traffic restrictions will be implemented in central Athens to facilitate the proceedings. Mr. Tasoulas's first official trip will be to Ancient Olympia on Monday to attend the election of the new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), highlighting Greece's historical and cultural significance. His presidency is expected to focus on upholding democratic values and promoting national unity. iefimerida.gr The utilization of new technologies and artificial intelligence was one of the primary goals that we have set in the ministry from the beginning, Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Kikilias: Artificial intelligence boosting citizen security - Konstantinos Tasoulas has officially assumed office as the ninth President of the Hellenic Republic, succeeding Katerina Sakellaropoulou. During a formal session in Parliament, Mr. Tasoulas took the oath of office. Following the ceremony, Mr. Tasoulas proceeded to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where he laid a wreathhis first official act as Presidentbefore heading to the Presidential Mansion to formally take over from his predecessor, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The outgoing President praised Tasoulas, stating, "Your tenure as Speaker of Parliament and your long political journey, dedicated to serving the nation's values, are a guarantee of success." In response, the newly sworn-in President commended Sakellaropoulou for her work during her five-year term. In his first remarks as President, Tasoulas highlighted the European Unions recent steps toward significantly strengthening collective defense. He also addressed the public demand for justice in the wake of the tragic Tempi train disaster, emphasizing that accountability is essential for a modern state. He further stressed that "national unity is not just a wishful slogan but an indispensable condition for achieving great goals" and pledged to make "every possible effort as the President of all Greeks." #ENGLISH_EDITION #GREECE At least 32 individuals have been convicted of internet fraud by different courts in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibadan Zonal Directorate, prosecuted the convicts on separate one-count charges related to impersonation and cyber offences. On Wednesday, Justices Ladiran Akintola, O.S. Adeyemi, K.B. Olawoyin, and G.A. Sunmonu of the Oyo State High Court, alongside Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court, sentenced the fraudsters to different jail terms and community service. Advertisement READ MORE: EFCC Detains 28 Ponzi Scheme Operators In Niger The EFCCs Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, revealed this in a statement. The EFCC stated that the convicts pleaded guilty to their respective charges and were sentenced accordingly. The statement said, Justice Olawoyin sentenced Olajide Peter to two years in prison with an option of a 500,000 fine, while Ayodeji got one year with a 250,000 fine. Justice Maha sentenced Abayomi to one-year imprisonment or a 250,000 fine. Justice Adeyemi imposed a one-year jail term on Oriyomi and Ibrahim without an option of fine, while Ayobami, Abdullahi, and Ayinde were sentenced to six months of community service each. Ojo, Mustapha, and Adebesin bagged three months of community service without an option of fine. Justice Akintola sentenced Oladimeji, Joseph, and Olaoluwa to one year imprisonment with an option of 50,000 and 150,000 fines, respectively. Adeniyi was handed a six-month jail term or a 150,000 fine, while Jelili was sentenced to six months of community service or a 150,000 fine. Michael and Olamide received three-month jail terms or a 50,000 fine each. Justice Sunmonu convicted Akinlosotu, sentencing him to three months of community service without an option of fine. In addition to their sentences, the convicts forfeited various items to the Federal Government, including cash, phones, and laptops. Also seized were vehicles linked to some of the convicts, including a green Toyota Camry (EPE-232-GU) from Oriyomi, a wine Toyota Camry (MUS-84-GU) from Ibrahim, a red Toyota Corolla (chassis number: 2T1BU4EE3AC495391) from Olaoluwa, a black Toyota Camry (MUS-683-HJ) from Adeniyi, and a golden Toyota Camry (chassis number: 411BE46KX8U203665) from Abdullahi. Furthermore, Ayobami was ordered to refund 2.5 million to his victim as restitution. The EFCC reaffirmed its commitment to cracking down on internet fraud and other financial crimes nationwide. The Ekiti State Police Command has taken 12 suspects into custody for allegedly stealing and vandalising electric cables and transformers in Ado Ekiti and other parts of the state. Sunday Abutu, the Police Public Relations Officer, disclosed in a statement on Wednesday that the suspects were apprehended at several criminal hideouts both inside and outside of the state capital. Abutu stated, Following reports of vandalisation of electric cables and transformers in the state, the Ekiti State Police Commands Rapid Response Squad, in collaboration with non-state actors, launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. Advertisement This effort yielded positive results as operatives swooped on their various hideouts on February 22, 2025, around 1:30 pm and arrested 12 suspects. READ MORE: EFCC Detains 28 Ponzi Scheme Operators In Niger According to the police spokesperson, investigations confirmed that the suspects confessed to the crimes. Recovered stolen items included rolls of armoured cables, recline cables, aluminium conductors, a transformer feeder pillar, binding wires, electrical cables, and generator parts. Abutu stated that the suspects would be prosecuted as required by law. The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Joseph Eribo, has cautioned criminals to abandon their activities, stressing that the police remain committed to cracking down on crime in the state. Former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasiru El-Rufai, has said that he left the ruling All Progressives Congress with prayer support of ex- president Muhammadu Buhari. Recall that Mr. El-Rufai, while announcing his defection to the Social Democratic Party in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Monday, cited lack of partys vision. He also complained that strange people have taken over the affairs of the ruling party. Advertisement Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa service on Wednesday, El-Rufai disclosed that he had secured the consent of Buhari before dumping the APC. He said: I left the APC with his full knowledge. I visited him on a Friday and informed him of my decision to leave the party, because I involve and consult with him on all my matters. READ MORE: Defection: Despite Track Records, El-Rufai Still Has Weaknesses To Work On SDP 2023 Presidential Candidate After going through the list, he nodded his approval and offered prayers. I consult with him in all I do. I have those I consult with in everything I do. I inform them of anything I intend to do, and when they demand that I keep off, I do. My first godfather is Muhammadu Buhari. For the rest, I will not mention them because if I do, theyll be pressured. Speaking over his relationship with President Bola Tinubu before the 2023 general election, El-Rufai noted that he supported the former Lagos State governor for balance and love of the country. He said: I havent regretted it, but I have been taken by surprise. But why I dont regret supporting him is, some Yoruba leaders from the South West had visited Kaduna and informed me that the Muslims of their region were being politically marginalised. That was the first reason I supported Tinubu. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has killed Salisu Mohammed, popularly known as Dogo Saleh, a suspected notorious kidnapper, in Abuja. According to Josephine Adeh, FCT police spokesperson, the suspect was eliminated on March 3 after attempting to flee during an operation. The police stated that Dogo Saleh was behind criminal activities along the Kaduna-Lokoja-Enugu highway and in Abuja. Advertisement READ MORE: NiMET Warns Of Rising Temperatures, Heat Stress In 19 States The FCT Police Command has recorded a major breakthrough in its relentless fight against criminal elements terrorizing the Federal Capital Territory and neighboring states, the statement reads. In a well-coordinated intelligence-led operation, FCT Police operatives neutralized a notorious bandit, Salisu Mohammed, alias Dogo Saleh, following an intense counter-kidnapping operation aimed at dismantling a syndicate responsible for violent crimes along the Kaduna-Lokoja-Enugu highway and within the FCT. Adeh revealed that the 21-year-old suspect from Baban Saural village in Chikun LGA, Kaduna, was a feared hitman for bandit leaders operating in Rijana Forest and had been responsible for terrorising communities along key highways. The police spokesperson disclosed that operatives recovered an AK-49 rifle, two magazines, 60 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, and N3 million in cash, believed to be proceeds from past kidnappings. She stated that the suspect had participated in several high-profile crimes, including the 2023 attack on Kyauta Village in Chikun LGA, where two people, including a security officer, were kidnapped and killed despite a N1 million ransom payment. Further investigations revealed his direct involvement in several high-profile kidnappings and killings, including Kike village (one year ago) a security officers wife kidnapped. Ransom collected millions of naira; Bagada Village (five months ago) three individuals kidnapped. Ransom collected millions of naira, Adeh added. A village near Kaduna refinery (one year ago) two men kidnapped. Ransom collected millions of naira; Karuga village, Chikun LGA (one year ago) One person kidnapped. Ransom collected millions of naira. Bagado Village in Chikun LGA (eleven months ago) ransom collected millions of naira; Dan-Bushiya Village (two years ago) ransom collected millions of naira; kidnapping of a woman and her two children at police quarters in Baban Saural, Chikun LGA The officer and her children remain in captivity; attack on security outpost at Kujama Market, Kaduna (January 5, 2025) two security personnel killed, firearms stolen. Adeh further stated that the suspect was involved in the recent abduction of a tribal youth leader, during which a ransom was requested for his release. Nigerian Senate has denied allegations claiming that the six-month suspension to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was connected to sexual harassment claim against Senate President Godswil Akpabio. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the Senate on Wednesday, was responding to Senator Natashas statements at the Inter-Parliamentary Union on Tuesday. Recall that the Kogi lawmaker had taken her case before IPU for them to prevail over what she described as injustice. Advertisement She claimed that she was suspended from the Senate over sexual harassment case against the Senate President. After listening to her complaint, the international group told her that the union will take necessary steps to address the situation she brought to them after hearing from the other side. Reacting to the development on Wednesday, in a statement by Senate Leader Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, refuted what he characterized as deliberate misinformation and false narratives circulating in certain media outlets. READ MORE: Sexual Harassment: Well Hear From Both Sides Before Making Decision Inter-Parliamentary Union Replies Senator Natasha Senator Bamidele noted that the disciplinary action was due solely to her gross misconduct and repeated violations of parliamentary rules. The statement reads: Let it be unequivocally stated that Senator Uduaghan was suspended solely for her persistent acts of misconduct, blatant disregard for the provisions of the Senate Standing Orders 2023 (As Amended), and gross indiscipline, nothing more, nothing less. Let it be unequivocally stated that Uduaghan was suspended solely for her persistent act of misconduct and disregard for the Senate Standing Orders. James LaForte, in a law enforcement surveillance photograph from 2021 submitted with an FBI affidavit accusing LaForte of attacking a lawyer for the court-appointed receiver overseeing Par Funding, the Philadelphia loan company his brother Joseph founded. Read more James LaForte, a former loan finder and debt collector at Philadelphia-based Ponzi scheme Par Funding one of the largest financial frauds in the regions history was sentenced Thursday to more than 11 years in prison for using violent, mob-style intimidation against people viewed as threats to the company headed by his brother. LaForte, whose brother Joseph and sister-in-law Lisa McElhone, founded Par Funding in 2012, pleaded guilty last year to crimes including conspiracy, extortion, and obstruction. Advertisement Par Funding, which portrayed itself as a legitimate cash-advance lender but fraudulently took investors money, made predatory loans to desperate borrowers and routed millions to company executives even as borrowers defaulted under onerous terms. James LaForte, 48, served in a role akin to a company attack dog, first recruiting borrowers into high-cost loans, then intimidating them into paying under threats of violence. He admitted to assaulting a lawyer in 2023 on a Center City street who was working on a court-ordered effort to sell a home owned by LaFortes brother and raise cash to reimburse some of Pars victims. U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney said that for all of LaFortes criminal conduct in the case which included threatening to kick in peoples teeth or harm their children the attack on the lawyer, Gaetan Alfano, was perhaps the most serious. The judge called it cowardly thuggery that threatened the U.S. legal system as he imposed a penalty of 137 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release, including a year of house arrest. It was the maximum sentence allowed under LaFortes plea agreement. You have no respect for the law whatsoever, Kearney told LaForte. LaForte apologized for his actions, saying: I shouldnt have done what I did at all. And he directly addressed Alfano, who testified about the attack and its impact. LaForte said his crime in striking the lawyer over the head with a flashlight on 19th Street in 2023 could be called much worse than cowardly, the word Alfano had used. I embarrassed myself and my family, LaForte said. The conspiracy involving Par began falling apart in April 2020, when the company, having paid millions to its founders and the companies they controlled even as loan payments lagged, stopped paying investors their monthly dividends. In July 2020 federal Judge Rodolfo Ruiz in Florida put Par under the control of court-appointed receiver Ryan Stumphauzer, who has since been managing and selling Par properties and seizing assets from the LaFortes. In a presentencing memo Jan. 21, Kearney found that the LaForte brothers and Par chief financial officer Joseph Cole Barleta had enriched themselves and other insiders by taking more than $150 million out of the company for personal use, even as the business lost money. He concluded that the trio had caused investors losses totaling a net $288 million. A judge in Florida separately ruled that Par was a Ponzi scheme, in which the companys owners extracted millions to support their luxury lifestyle and paid old investors with new investors cash, to keep the conspiracy running. For the crimes he pleaded guilty to in Philadelphia, and given his previous criminal history, LaForte agreed to prosecutors recommendations that he face a sentence of at least nine years and two months in federal prison, and to pay restitution of $2.5 million. LaFortes lawyer, Thomas Mirigliano, said in court filings that his client regretted his actions. For the first time, he fully comprehends the profound impact of his actions on all who cared for him, he wrote. LaForte, the lawyer said, had not been motivated by greed, personal animosity, or an attempt to exert power over others. Rather, he said, LaForte acted from an overwhelming sense of frustration, fear, and desperation as he watched the court-appointed receivership sell Par Funding-related assets and evict his brother and sister-in-law from their Main Line home. That misplaced loyalty fed LaFortes actions, the lawyer said. But Par Funding had already been shut down by the government, the founders assets seized, and grand jury criminal indictments delivered when LaForte attacked the lawyer and threatened Abbonizio and his family, noted Kearney, the judge. You werent trying to protect your family. It was too late for that, he said. You were vindictive. Joseph LaForte; his wife, Lisa McElhone; former Par conspirators Joseph Cole Barleta and Perry Abbonizio; debt collector Renato Gioe; and others are to be sentenced on charges related to the fraud later this spring. Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski, seen here in 2023, had been charged with corruption of minors, furnishing alcohol to minors, and related crimes. A judge dismissed the charges against her, citing a lack of evidence. Read more A prominent Delaware County lawyer and former candidate for district attorney was cleared of criminal charges Thursday after a judge ruled that prosecutors had not proven she supplied alcohol to teenagers during a party at her home last spring. Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski, 56, was charged in November with corruption of minors, furnishing alcohol to minors, and related crimes in connection with the March 2024 incident, during which police say dozens of high schoolers got drunk at her daughters birthday party. Advertisement She also was charged with harassment after investigators said she threatened to use her connections in Delaware County to have the Pennsylvania State Police troopers who came to her home fired. District Judge David R. Griffin dismissed the case against Stefanide-Miscichowski after a two-hour preliminary hearing, saying there was not enough evidence to support the allegations. State police visited Stefanide-Miscichowskis home on Glen Mills Drive in Thornbury on March 15, 2024, after her neighbors called in complaints about teenagers drinking outside her home and blocking driveways and a dead-end street with their vehicles, according to testimony Thursday. When the troopers arrived, they found as many as 100 teens in the backyard and basement, and many of them scattered and ran into nearby woods. Beer cans and empty boxes of beer and liquor were scattered throughout those areas, the troopers said. Six underage partygoers stopped by the troopers tested positive for alcohol when administered Breathalyzers, according to investigators. They admitted they were drunk and said they had been given alcohol at the home by its owner. Most of those who attended the party were 16 or 17 and still in high school, authorities said. The troopers spoke with Stefanide-Miscichowski, who was in the kitchen and told them that only 30 people were in her home for the party, and that all of them were in college. She denied serving any of them alcohol. Stefanide-Miscichowski appeared to be intoxicated, the troopers said, and she became confrontational and demanded that they leave. She then followed them to their vehicles, asked if they knew who she was, and told them she had run for district attorney months earlier, according to evidence presented Thursday. READ MORE: From 2023: "Delco DA candidate calls for investigation into county jail after deaths and reports of attacks on staff" You better watch out, she told one trooper, according to the affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. I know a lot of people. Stefanide-Miscichowski, a Republican, ran for Delaware County DA in 2023, promising to address and reverse what she described as a spike in crime during the tenure of incumbent Jack Stollsteimer. Stollsteimer defeated Stefanide-Miscichowski, winning 60% of the vote. Her attorney, Mark Much, said Thursday there was no direct evidence that his client was the one who gave the teenagers alcohol, since none of the them named her. During Thursdays hearing, he asked the troopers why they didnt charge any other adults, including Stefanide-Miscichowskis husband, who were also at the party that evening. They have to prove, even foundationally at this level, that it was her who provided the alcohol, Much said. Not one of the other adults there, not one of the teenagers there who may have snuck it into the basement without her knowing. Deputy Attorney General Madelyn Abry said the suggestion that Stefanide-Miscichowski didnt realize so many teenagers were drinking and partying in her basement made no sense. And she noted that Stefanide-Miscichowski had attempted to intimidate the troopers by identifying herself as a public figure. But the judge was not swayed. State prosecutors handled the case because Stefanide-Miscichowski previously worked in the county district attorneys office, overseeing juvenile cases. A 38-year-old Williamstown man who served as treasurer for a labor union representing firefighters and emergency medical technicians in several Burlington County municipalities has been charged with stealing nearly $10,000 from the union, LaChia L. Bradshaw, the county prosecutor, announced Wednesday. Joseph Tull Jr., who was employed as a full-time firefighter in Cinnaminson Township, was taken into custody Monday at the prosecutors office in Mount Holly and then released after being processed, Bradshaw said. Advertisement Tull, who was treasurer for the Burlington County Professional Firefighters Association Local 3091 of the International Association of Firefighters, is charged with computer criminal activity, theft by deception, and misapplication of entrusted property, Bradshaw said. The case is being prepared for presentation to a grand jury. In January, union leaders contacted law enforcement officials to report bookkeeping irregularities, Bradshaw said. The subsequent investigation revealed that Tull allegedly used the unions debit card to withdraw $6,300 from ATMs, which he then deposited into his personal bank account. Tull also allegedly used the unions debit card to spend $3,384 at businesses such as Wawa, Jersey Mikes, and Ritas Italian Ice, Bradshaw said. In a statement Wednesday night, the union said it discovered that funds were missing while conducting its 2024 financial audit. Upon reviewing the discrepancies the executive board took immediate action and removed Joseph Tull Jr. from his position as Treasurer and his access to all internal files and financial accounts within our association, the union said. Tull could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. It was unclear if Tull still worked for Cinnaminson. A representative for the township could not be reached for comment. The U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights in Philadelphia is one of seven such offices to be shut down nationally as part of the sweeping cutbacks and layoffs being carried out in the department this week, according to a source familiar with details. The office, which oversees five states including Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, and Delaware, is responsible for the enforcement of laws around discrimination cases based on sex and race, as well as shared ancestry, and those involving disabilities. In recent months, it oversaw probes into local colleges and school districts charged with failing to properly handle complaints about antisemitism in the wake of Hamas October 2023 attack on Israel. Advertisement READ MORE: The Department of Education just laid off half its staff. How will that affect local schools? It is among seven OCR offices nationwide that are being shuttered, said the source, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. Others are based in Boston, New York, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Chicago. Five offices will remain open in Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, Atlanta, and the Washington, D.C., metro area. The Philadelphia OCR is based in the historic Wanamaker building, which is largely vacant and in foreclosure. The offices lease already had been targeted for cancellation by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Employees in the office are to be placed on administrative leave through June and then possibly offered severance or retirement, the source said. The changes and layoffs come as President Donald Trump has vowed to eliminate the Education Department and dramatically reduce the size of the entire federal workforce. Nearly half the staff of DOE learned Tuesday that they would lose their jobs. What they are doing is absolutely unconscionable in terms of the impact it will have on the students in the 750-plus school districts in the five states that Philadelphia has the jurisdiction for, in the 400 colleges and universities in those states and in the 225 charter schools, said Wendella P. Fox, who had served as director of the Philadelphia office from December 1997 through December 2021, under five U.S. presidents. READ MORE: Temple, Drexel, Swarthmore, Rutgers and others among 60 U.S. colleges threatened with sanctions amid antisemitism investigations Fox said staff members are absolutely shell-shocked and what they are feeling cannot be stated publicly or printed in a newspaper .... My Philadelphia OCR family knows that I stand with them, and am here to help in any meaningful way that I can. She said the OCR is a separate line item in the congressional budget, not part of the Education Department budget. READ MORE: Temple agrees to provide training and review its response to antisemitism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian complaints Backlog of investigations Judith Risch, who left OCR in May after 20 years with the agency and had worked for a time in the Philadelphia office, said there was a large backlog of cases nationally. I anticipate thats going to get worse and the people who are being harmed are the children who those cases are about, said Risch, who now serves as Title IX & Equity/Access Services Special Advisor for Grand River Solutions, a higher education consulting company. Justice delayed is justice denied. Fox estimated that there are more than 10,000 complaints pending nationwide, in addition to directed investigations launched as a result of something that happens and compliance reviews, initiated as part of a strategic plan to focus on a certain area. Whatever number of offices are closed, realistically speaking, I cannot see a reduced staff in whatever remaining offices that would be open that can handle that, she said. The Education Department did not respond to questions Wednesday about the cuts, how the decision was made to close the Philadelphia office, or what would happen with open cases at local schools. But on Thursday, Madi Biedermann, the departments deputy assistant secretary for communications, said: To better serve American students and families, changes are being made as to how OCR will conduct its operations. OCRs staff is composed of top-performing personnel with years of experience enforcing federal civil rights laws. We are confident that the dedicated staff of OCR will deliver on its statutory responsibilities. The department said it plans to increase mediation and a faster process known as rapid resolution to address disability-related complaints and harassment complaints. Recent revisions to its manual will help remove undue evidentiary burdens on both recipients and OCR staff, the department said. In a news release earlier in the week, the department said it was cutting 50% of the federal Education Departments overall workforce as part of the Trump administrations effort to minimize the department and the federal role in education to whatever extent possible by law. Todays reduction in force reflects the Department of Educations commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. The federal department, which will be reduced from 4,133 workers to 2,183, said it would continue to provide all statutory programs that the agency is responsible for, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking. Director of Philly office: I feel blindsided Beth Gellman-Beer, regional director of the Philadelphia office who has worked in the department for 18 years, did not respond to requests for comment, but acknowledged the cuts in a post on LinkedIn Wednesday afternoon. Its true, she wrote. I, along with my entire staff, were terminated last night. I feel blindsided, barely able to catch my breath. Hundreds of agreements negotiated through the years on every possible jurisdictional basis. Just since October 7, at least ten agreements resolving complaints of shared ancestry harassment at k-12 schools and universities. All that work, just gone overnight ... my heart is shattered into a million pieces. Fox said when she started at the office, approximately 60 employees worked there. By the time she left, it was down to about 30 with twice the caseload. The federal Education Department also has several other offices in the Wanamaker building; its not clear what, if anything, is happening with those offices. Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center-PA, expressed deep concern over the actions happening in Washington. Cuts will certainly mean fewer federal resources for our most underfunded schools and a lack of federal oversight, Gordon Klehr said. Federal education funding is targeted to students who are most marginalized, including students impacted by poverty, students with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness, and students in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. About half of OCRs cases involve students with disabilities who say they are not receiving proper accommodations, and the majority of those cases are in school districts. Risch, who had been an attorney adviser for OCR, emphasized that just because the offices are closing doesnt mean the laws are going away. Enforcement may be changing but this doesnt mean that obligations arent there, she said. Impact on local schools The department earlier this week said in a news release that it had sent letters to 60 universities under investigation for antisemitic discrimination and harassment. Temple, Drexel, Swarthmore, and Rutgers were among the schools receiving letters, according to the department. How those investigations will be carried out without a Philadelphia office is unclear. Temple president John A. Fry said in a statement Tuesday it had received the letter warning of potential loss of federal funding if the school is found not to be in compliance. The university last year entered into a resolution agreement with OCR over antisemitism and anti-Palestinian complaints, he said. Drexel University also had entered into an agreement last year to improves its handling of antisemitism complaints. As part of the agreement, Temple undertook several commitments to be completed in the next year, all of which are underway, he said, citing additional training, a survey and internal reviews of the handling and response to prior incidents. We are on schedule to fulfill our obligations under the agreement and will report to OCR on our progress. The university will cooperate with OCR, he said. In the Central Bucks School District, which has been facing civil rights investigations into alleged antisemitism and anti-LGBTQ discrimination, spokesperson Michael Petitti said Wednesday the district has received no information about how this development may or may not impact any current OCR investigation at any school district. Staff writers Julia Terruso and Maddie Hanna contributed to this article. Mia Kripke, 18, addresses the Radnor school board's policy committee in this screenshot of a videorecording of Tuesday's meeting. Kripke expressed worry and disappointment over the district's decision to ban three books in response to a parent's challenge. Read more Radnor school officials said they will review their library selection policy amid community backlash over the districts decision to ban three graphic novels last month. During a school board policy committee meeting Tuesday, administrators who have said the removals of Gender Queer, Fun Home, and Blankets were in line with the districts policy acknowledged the complaints. They said they would research other school policies, consult with librarians, and review best practices from the American Library Association before bringing information to the committee in April. Advertisement Susan Stern, the policy committee chair, said board members want to give administrators time to do that work thoroughly. But the promise of a review did not stop community members from speaking out during meetings Tuesday against the districts process in banning the three books two of which are LGBTQ-themed and objecting to a lack of transparency around the removals, which stemmed from challenges filed by a parent in January. The parent, whose name was redacted from records provided by the district, objected to illustrations of sexual scenes in each of the books and alleged they contained child pornography. A district spokesperson, Theji Brennan, said the books were removed from the high school library Feb. 28 after an ad hoc committee appointed by the superintendent voted 5-1 that they were not age-appropriate. Brennan also said committee members who she said signed confidentiality agreements to safeguard their anonymity had discussed how Gender Queer has been in the library for six years and has never been checked out by a student except for the time it was checked out to be challenged. Blankets, Brennan said, had not been checked out by a student since 2022. Circulation records obtained by Radnor parents indicate physical copies of Gender Queer were checked out seven times since 2019, and an electronic version once. Blankets was checked out eight times since 2013, while Fun Home which Brennan had not addressed was checked out 17 times since 2019. Asked about those records, Dan Bechtold, an assistant to Superintendent Ken Batchelor, on Wednesday supplied a different version of circulation data that showed only five checkouts for Blankets and one checkout for Gender Queer. The reason for the different data was not immediately clear, though the parent record for Gender Queer appeared to include a prior copy of the book in circulation from 2019 to 2022. At Tuesdays policy committee meeting, some parents and students said that even if books had not been checked out often, that was not a valid reason to remove them. (One Radnor student, Caitlin Roeltgen, told the board that if youre going to go through the library and remove every book that has not been checked out in the past year, there will not be a lot of books left like maybe five books.) Others said kids may be privately reading books in the library. Michael Roche, a Radnor parent, recalled how when growing up, his brother, who was gay, would sneak The Color Purple out of the library due to its depiction of a lesbian relationship. If he checked out that book, what would people say? Roche said. Roche suggested that by removing biographical memoirs, Radnor was telling students and adults, Stay in the closet. We dont want to hear from you. Mia Kripke, who is 18, told board members that when she started to question her sexuality at age 13, she was confident she would be accepted in the Radnor school community. Now, however, Im worried about the community that is being created, Kripke said. Im worried about this precedent you guys are setting, and Im honestly really disappointed. Kripke said books had helped her discover her identity, including by reading Girl Made of Stars, a young-adult novel featuring a bisexual character. If youre taking this away, youre taking away their ability to discover who they are. Thats not what Radnor is about, Kripke said. Others objected to the policy underlying the removal decisions, noting that it had not been updated since 2008, though book challenges have surged since then. The policy allows individuals, organizations or groups to file requests to reconsider library materials, and directs the superintendent to appoint a committee including an administrator, a principal, a librarian, a board member, a classroom teacher in the subject area and a parent to review the challenge. It does not provide further directions on how the evaluation should proceed. Joanna Bell-Mariam, a Wayne resident, told the board that the public should be notified if someone challenges a book saying that the recent removals, which residents learned about after the fact, really restricted the voices of the community. She also questioned whether the superintendent should have unilateral power to appoint the committee. Others said that a student should be on the committee, and that there should be an appeals process. Sarah DeMaria, president of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, pointed to recommendations that review committees for high school library materials should include students. Policies should also make clear that excerpts of books do not automatically discount a book from inclusion in the collection, according to the recommendations. Rather, the decision is made based on whether the book is of literary value, and suitability for the intended audience is determined by consulting reviews by professional literary critics for childrens and young adult literature. Committee members should remain anonymous to protect the objectivity of the deliberation, DeMaria said, though she said the committees report on its decision can be public. She also drew a distinction between weeding library books due to limited use and removing books after a challenge. Weeding should be a librarians decision, DeMaria said, and not done on the basis of an individual or groups disapproval of a books subject matter. Some expressed hope Tuesday that Radnor might return the books to library shelves a prospect that Stern, the board member, said would require full board discussion. Carl Rosin, a Radnor English teacher, said he used Fun Home in his classes as an optional choice for students analyzing the development of two characters. Losing the book, he told the boards curriculum committee Tuesday, would impoverish some students exploration of the world of ideas. Arguing that literature is all about analyzing the human condition, Rosin said that depictions of sex were not necessarily pornography and had to be viewed in context. Without the consideration of complexity, we cant come to an appropriate judgment about the pluses or minuses of any work of art, he said. J. Larry Jameson, who has been serving as the interim president of the University of Pennsylvania, has been named permanent president and his term has been extended to 2027. Read more As the University of Pennsylvania faces the potential loss of hundreds of millions in funding and intense federal scrutiny on the higher education sector, its board of trustees has made the schools interim president permanent. J. Larry Jameson was named president and his term was extended to June 2027, a year longer than his previous appointment, Penn announced Thursday. It means he will be in place to lead the school through turbulent political and fiscal times for another two-plus years. Advertisement The challenges facing higher education today are among the most significant ever encountered by American universities, board chair Ramanan Raghavendran said in a statement. Given Penns complexity, size, location, and visibility, these issues have profound implications for our community. In such a moment, there is nothing more important than leadership. READ MORE: J. Larry Jameson to remain interim Penn president through 2026 academic year Penn could lose $250 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health under an executive order by President Donald Trump. The university has reduced its graduate admissions and has instituted a hiring freeze as it braces for impact. The school also last month scrubbed its websites and programming of references to diversity, equity, and inclusion in response to another Trump order, which brought criticism from some faculty. In a message to the campus community earlier this week, the universitys provost, John L. Jackson Jr., and Craig R. Carnaroli, senior executive vice president, said that the challenges, given their scope and pace, may be even more severe than the 2008 financial crisis or the pandemic. Jameson also led the university last spring while a pro-Palestinian encampment was erected on the College Green and eventually taken down by police at the schools direction. READ MORE: Penns medical school dean is being eyed as interim president of the university Jameson, 70, has served as interim president since December 2023, taking over after the resignation of Liz Magill following a bipartisan backlash over her congressional testimony on the schools handling of antisemitism complaints. Last June, the board extended his term through the 2025-26 academic year. He previously served as executive vice president of Penns health system and medical school, a position he had held since July of 2011. He earned a salary of more than $5 million in 2022 and additional compensation of more than $1.2 million, according to the most recent tax filings available. I look forward to continuing the vital work of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members to uphold Penns mission of utilizing knowledge for the greater good, Jameson said in a statement. I am confident that our universitys future is bright as we prioritize our core values of excellence, freedom of inquiry and expression, and respect. Jameson, a molecular endocrinologist and native of Georgia, came to Penn from Northwestern University, where he had most recently served as dean of the medical school and vice president of medical affairs. He received his medical school degree at the University of North Carolina in 1981 and had worked at Harvard Medical School earlier in his career. Key lime pie at Royal Tavern, which is having a second Pieway to Hell this weekend, featuring an epic lineup of pies sweet and savory. Read more How to lure people into a dark, cavernous bar just as the weather is warming up? Royal Tavern chef Nic Macri is betting on a dozen pies to do the job. Macri is the driving force behind Royal Taverns Pieway to Hell, a three-day bonanza featuring a globally inspired menu of pies eight savory, four sweet, five vegan that starts this weekend. The 12 options run the gamut from traditional (Key lime pie, smoked cheddar-onion tart) to Great British Bake Off-esque (banoffee pie, roast pork pithivier). Advertisement And because were in Philadelphia, Macri says, there will also be tomato pie with Jersey tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, Maldon sea salt, and dried oregano, baked on a 24-hour cold-fermented dough. Its not a pie in the sense that people are thinking of pie, but it is a pie, he says, adding that hes also trying to add an apple pie as a surprise 13th option. Im a glutton for punishment maybe. (He is definitively a glutton for punishment: Last July, Macri and staff literally cranked out thousands of hot dogs from scratch.) This is a playful ode to Pi Day a math-inspired holiday that has been co-opted by many restaurants in recent years but the special is also an opportunity for Royal Taverns kitchen crew to try new things and do something different for the neighborhood. If we just did what everyone wanted, all we would do is sell burgers, fries, and beers but it wont be as fun, Macri says. If we give people something to be excited about, theyll come in for it. To curate the menu, the team considered pies and pie-adjacent dishes from around the world. Thats how youve got Nanaimo bar pie a celebration of a western Canadian dessert layered with coconut and cocoa, sweet custard, and chocolate alongside a wild mushroom empanada with chimichurri next to a roast chicken en croute next to a pecan pie. The kitchen is making seven crust recipes (including hot-water crust, puff pastry, short crust, and a vegan pie crust enriched with roast sweet potatoes) plus dough for the tomato pie. Some are built for sharing, like the Japanese curry pie, while others come as a wedge or a handheld treat. Macri is banking on the tomato pie, ham-and-cheese turnovers, and Key lime slices being the bestsellers, but his pick of the litter is the roast pork pithivier: an often-savory French-style pie thats sandwiched by two discs of puff pastry. Its real nerdy, like borderline esoteric, but not because were making it into a roast pork sandwich, Macri says. A former meat monger and charcuterie whiz, Macri initially experimented with an even fancier pithivier involving a pork mousseline center laced with broccoli rabe and wrapped in Tuscan kale but he pulled back to make it less Frenchy and more Philly. As it now stands, the puff pastry encases thick shreds of slow-roasted pork shoulder that have been tossed with sauteed broccoli rabe, diced provolone, and fortified pork stock. The pithivier comes with a gravy boat of pork jus on the side for good measure. Macri likes the pithivier so much hed love to have it on his regular menu, but Royals kitchen isnt equipped with machinery (a sheeter, a giant stand mixer) to streamline pie production, so this weekends goods have all been produced in small batches. If they sell out, they sell out. But maybe if a pie proves popular enough and the logistics work out, it could make the jump to the regular menu if only for a little while. Last years one-day, six-pie Pieway to Hell featured a pate en croute that was such a hit, it stuck around for almost two months. Still, your best bet to try everything, Macri says, is that you gotta come in all three days. Back to back to back. Pieway to Hell runs March 14 through 16 at Royal Tavern (937 E. Passyunk Ave.) from 4 p.m. till 1 a.m. or sellout. Royals regular menu will be abridged for the weekend. No one needs to worry, the burgers are going to be there, Macri assures. Besides the pithivier ($22) and tomato pie ($6), heres the full menu: Smoked cheddar-onion tart ($13): An egg custard laced with Birchrun Hills smoked cheddar, white onion, and a puree of roasted onions for big sweet-onion flavor. Served with a bitter green salad. Smoked salmon quiche ($16): House-cured and smoked king salmon, Yukon Gold potatoes, chives, onions, and eggs in a short crust pastry. Served with a side salad. Ham-and-cheese turnover ($12): House-smoked ham, Swiss, cornichons, and grain mustard sandwiched between layers of puff pastry, sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. Mushroom empanada ($7): Thyme-roasted shiitake, oyster, and crimini mushrooms are sent through the meat grinder, then cooked with olives, peppers, and onions to mimic an Argentine-style beef empanada. Chimichurri on the side. Japanese vegetable curry ($16): Vegan hot-water crust gets filled with potato, onion, peas, rice, scallions, and Japanese curry sauce, served with a gravy boat of Japanese curry sauce on the side. (In case youre unfamiliar, Japanese curry is a smooth, rich, sweet-savory sauce spiced with the usual curry powder suspects.) Roast chicken en croute ($15): Roast chicken mousseline (imagine a savory pastry cream) thats peppered with even more chicken is wrapped in short crust pastry. Its served cold with cranberry relish and Dijon mustard on the side. Aileen and Brian Roberts are shown in a mockup of a patient room in the new patient pavilion under construction at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The new inpatient complex will be known as Roberts Children's Health. Read more Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and his wife Aileen are giving Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia $125 million and will get their name on the nonprofits new $2.59 billion patient tower expected to open in late 2028, CHOP said Thursday. The gift is the largest in CHOPs 170-year history. The new inpatient building, with 200 beds in private rooms and the capacity to add 300 more, plus an existing inpatient building next door, will form a complex known as Roberts Childrens Health. Advertisement Were honored and humbled to help ensure CHOP remains a magnet for the greatest medical talent, a refuge for those facing the most complex cases, an incubator for breakthrough treatments, a beacon of hope, and the pride of Philadelphia for decades to come, the couple said in a news release. The donation is Brian and Aileen Roberts biggest ever and continues a history of giving by the Roberts family at CHOP and at other Philadelphia institutions. The expansion will give CHOP more than 700 private rooms in University City. The campus currently has 607 licensed beds, some of which will be converted from double rooms into private rooms. CHOP will have more than 30 procedure and imaging rooms for cardiology, neurology, and other specialties at the site. Roberts Childrens Health will greatly enhance the hospital experience for our patients and their families, equip our staff with the latest innovations, and revolutionize how we provide care, all while continuing our long legacy of breakthroughs, CHOP CEO Madeline Bell said in a statement. Roberts family ties to CHOP The $125 million donation continues a history of giving by the Roberts family at CHOP. The $275 million Roberts Center for Pediatric Research opened in 2017 with the help of a $25 million gift from the family. That gift also helped pay for the Roberts Collaborative for Genetics and Individualized Medicine. The Roberts familys ties to CHOP span three generations, starting with Brian Roberts uncle, Robert Fleisher. He was on CHOPs board and got Comcast founder Ralph Roberts and his wife Suzanne Fleisher Roberts involved in supporting CHOP. Aileen Roberts is a former CHOP board member. A member of the third generation, Sarah Hall, is on the CHOP Foundation Board of Advisors. The Roberts family has also donated to Penn Medicine, which has clinical and academic ties to CHOP though they are separate nonprofits. In 2006, Brian Roberts and his father (whose 105th birthday would have been Thursday), announced a $15 million gift to Penn Medicine in 2006 for proton therapy center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Brian Roberts sister, Catherine Clifton, and her husband, Anthony, donated $120 million to Penn last month for the renaming of Penns new patient pavilion. Its now called the Clifton Center for Medical Breakthroughs. CHOP construction boom CHOPs new 1.3 million-square-foot patient tower is going up on the site of the Wood Center, which opened in 1989 as CHOPs first outpatient facility. The steel frame of the new building is one-third completed, CHOP said. The cost of Roberts Childrens Health adds to the billions CHOP has poured into construction in University City and at a site across the Schuylkill River next to the South Street Bridge. CHOP opened the Colket Center for Translational Research in 2010 ($480 million), the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care in 2015 ($645 million), and The Hub for Clinical Collaboration in 2022 ($492 million). On the Center City side of the river, CHOP is building a 17-story tower that will be named the Morgan Center for Research and Innovation for $480 million. A $50 million gift from real estate investor Mitchell L. Morgan and his family is helping to pay for that center going up next to the Roberts Center for Pediatric Research. More than five years ago, CHOP started working its plan for the new patient tower, saying at the time the existing hospital was out of room. CHOP said the system would pay for the new building without borrowing money, instead relying on financial reserves, profits, and philanthropy. Since then construction costs have increased substantially and the conceptual price tag increased from $1.9 billion to nearly $2.6 billion, according to municipal bond offerings last fall that raised $750 million toward the construction of the Morgan and Roberts buildings. Overall higher operating costs in health care have squeezed CHOPs profitability. From fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2024, CHOPs operating profit margin averaged 2.2%. In the three years before the pandemic, the average was 7.4%. Now CHOP faces potential cuts to Medicaid and federal research funding from the administration of President Donald Trump. Editors note: This story has bee updated to correct the age Ralph Roberts would have been Thursday. Emine Emanet hugs her husband Celal Emanet as she leaves the ICE Elizabeth Detention Facility Wednesday Mar. 12, 2025 following her release two weeks and a day after the couple were arrested at their Jersey Kebab restaurant in Haddon Township. Their son Muhammed Emanet (second from left) and a family friend, Mustafa Tug (left), who owns the Efes Halal Meat Market in Delran, look on. Read more Emine Emanet walked free from a New Jersey immigrant-detention center and into the arms of her family on Wednesday, two weeks and a day after she and her husband were arrested by ICE agents at their Haddon Township restaurant. The Jersey Kebab owner hugged her eldest son, Muhammed, and then her husband, Celal, raising her arms and crying out as they presented her with flowers outside the jail in Elizabeth, N.J. The husband and wife embraced for several minutes, speaking to each other in their native Turkish. Advertisement Emanets release came a little more than 24 hours after an immigration judge ruled that she could be freed from custody on $7,500 bond. The case roused outrage in Haddon Township, where the immigrant owners of the corner eatery are a familiar and welcome presence. A locally organized GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $327,000 for the familys legal defense, living expenses, and lost income. Emine Emanet, 47, has been jailed since she and her husband were arrested Feb. 25, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived at their Haddon Township business, which the couple have run since 2020. Her husband, Celal Emanet, 51, was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor and released. The bond hearing that enabled her release took place Tuesday in a small courtroom inside the detention center where Emanet has been held. Judge Adrian Armstrong rejected the government argument that Emanet was a flight risk. Her attorney, Joseph Best of Best Law Associates LLC, argued that the family was in fact deeply rooted, with a business to run, children at home, and all their extended family around them in South Jersey. This entire incident could have been avoided simply by mailing a notice to appear in immigration court to our clients, Best said shortly after Emanet was released Wednesday. Instead, tens of thousands of dollars of public money was spent arresting and detaining a grandmother with no criminal record. That, he said, was both unjust and inefficient. ICE has not commented on Emanets being granted bond. In Haddon Township on Wednesday, friends waited anxiously for Emanets release. Muhammad Belal, who owns the Cloud Smoke Shop directly across Haddon Avenue, said it has been sad to see the restaurant dark. He and the Emanet family tended to close up their businesses together, usually around 9 p.m., and always shared a word or a story about the days work. Muhammed, he said of the couples eldest son, is like a brother to me. One call away. He has phoned his friend every day since the arrests, he said, asking what he can do to help, and the reply is always the same: Just pray. It is not clear why Emine Emanet was jailed and her husband released, given their similar circumstances. The couple, who live in Cherry Hill, came legally to the United States in 2008 but fell out of status when their visas expired. He entered the country on an R-1 visa, the type of visa that can be granted to ministers or religious leaders, and she was what is known as the derivative, able to apply for a visa based on the principals application. ICE says that it exercises its discretion in making custody decisions, and that those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis after considering the totality of circumstances primarily the potential risk of flight, threat to national security, and risk to public safety. At the bond hearing, the government argued only one of those points that Emanet was a risk to flee. Her attorney rejected that, along with any idea that she posed a security threat, and the judge ruled from the bench within 15 minutes. Im glad to see that Emine was able to reunite with her family, U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross of South Jersey said after the bond hearing. While their legal battle is far from over, my office will continue to work with the family throughout the process. During the hearing, Emine Emanet sat alone at one table before the judge, the government lawyer at another to her left, her attorney speaking by video feed to her right. She said nothing during the proceedings. When the judge ruled, she stood and flashed a smile to the people who filled the courtroom. Thank God! Celal Emanet told The Inquirer as he left the court after the bond ruling on Tuesday. My heart is full. Son Muhammed Emanet had awaited the bond hearing with hope and expectation, chatting in a courtroom hallway with friends who had traveled from Philadelphia and South Jersey in support. Im very relieved, he said, walking out of the detention center. It kind of felt like this two weeks were a nightmare that turned into a dream. Hopefully its going to have a fairy tale ending at the end of it. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasized that the terms are yet to be worked out and added that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace. The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk about it with our American colleagues and partners and, perhaps, have a call with President Trump and discuss it with him. Advertisement READ MORE: Short-term ceasefire wont lead to Ukraine peace if Trump keeps backing Putin | Trudy Rubin President Donald Trump said there have been good signals coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putins statement. He reiterated that hes ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war. Putin put out a very promising statement, but it wasnt complete, Trump said Thursday at a start of a meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Now were going to see whether or not Russias there. And if theyre not, itll be a very disappointing moment for the world. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin is essentially preparing to reject the ceasefire. Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation. That is why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the idea of a ceasefire with such preconditions that nothing will come of it or at least, it will be delayed as long as possible. The Russian president, he added, often acts this way. He doesnt say no outright but ensures that everything drags on and that normal solutions become impossible. Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, noted the need to control possible breaches of the truce and signaled that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use the break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilization. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin said. The Russian leader made the remarks just hours after the arrival of Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for talks on the ceasefire, which Ukraine has accepted. A Kremlin adviser said Putin planned to meet with Witkoff later Thursday. The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. Russia questions details of truce offer Putin said it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he questioned what will happen to them if the ceasefire takes hold: Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender? Putin thanked Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their noble mission to end the fighting, a statement that suggested those countries could be involved in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce. Putins seemingly friendly tone toward the White House reflected the astonishing shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January. Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the United States was Ukraines staunchest and most powerful ally and a force for isolating the Kremlin. But Trumps election threw that policy into reverse. Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks to end the war, and Zelenskyy had a testy meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war. The Trump administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraines hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russias army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country. The Russian Defense Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operations hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in the Kursk region. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Administration repeats threat of new sanctions As Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, he has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that Trump is willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides, including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signaling its openness to a ceasefire at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from the renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly grim news from the front line, as well as to draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and to gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that previously was home to about 5,000 people. Ukraines top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian aircraft conducted so many strikes on Kursk that Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said his country was maneuvering (troops) to more advantageous lines. Scene from the 191-acre Scotland Run Fire that began Wednesday in the Franklinville section of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, and was fully under control by Thursday morning. Read more A 191-acre wildfire that tore through Franklin Township, Gloucester County, starting Wednesday evening was fully contained as of Thursday, according to New Jersey firefighting officials. Initially the fire, dubbed the Scotland Run Fire, threatened about 60 buildings, including homes and an elementary school. However, none were damaged, and no one was injured. Advertisement Crews from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service are expected to remain on scene in the townships Franklinville section at least until rain arrives, possibly Friday. The fire service said it had contained the blaze in the area of Pennsylvania Avenue and Proposed Avenue, near Mary F. Janvier Elementary School, as of 8 a.m. Thursday. The fire was first spotted from the Blue Anchor Fire Tower in Winslow Township at 3:34 p.m. Wednesday. Crews responded with bulldozers and a helicopter. The cause of the fire is under investigation. On Thursday, state fire and environmental officials urged residents to conserve water as drought conditions from last year are persisting into spring peak wildfire season at the same time water demand grows for lawns and gardens. The state is already well ahead of the normal amount of fires as the true wildfire season begins. So far this year, there have been 381 wildfires that have burned 1,242 acres, representing a 266% increase over the same period as last year. Three of those have been major wildfires, meaning they were 100 acres or larger. Much of the state faces drought conditions, with all of South Jersey either in a severe or extreme drought, and the risk of wildfires remained high throughout the state Thursday, according to the Forest Fire Service. READ MORE: How you can conserve water as Pa. and N.J. drought drags on Shawn LaTourette, the commissioner of the states Department of Environmental Protection, said the state is already at high risk for fires because of the dense population that lives near large tracts of protected lands, such as the Pinelands. The state remains under an official drought warning as rainfall is still running below normal, although February was close to normal. January, however, was the third-driest on record, coupled with well-below average precipitation in fall through December. As a result, officials said, reservoirs and waterways are still well below normal. Because of the conditions and the abnormal number of wildfires in recent months, the risk for more wildfires has increased dramatically. Its also decreased the number of prescribed, or preventive, burns by the Forest Fire Service. Typically, the Forest Fire Service targets 25,000 acres of forest, grasslands, and marshlands for prescribed fires that consume dried fuel, such as branches and twigs, on forest floors. But the drought has reduced that to 1,707 acres of grasslands and six acres of forest to date a historic low. Our forests are very dry, and our precious drinking water sources remain stressed from lack of precipitation, LaTourette said. All regions of New Jersey have been under drought warning since November, and residents have been urged to voluntarily conserve water to prevent mandatory restrictions if a drought emergency has to be declared. Among ways to conserve water: If you must water a garden, do it in the morning or evening with drip irrigation; water lawns only if necessary; set up a rain barrel and reuse the water, and run the dishwasher only with a full load. READ MORE: Tips for conserving water The old, now shuttered, newsstand at 7th Street and Avenue of the States in downtown Chester. The city has been in "distressed" status for 30 years, and in "fiscal emergency" for five. Read more The state official who took the City of Chester into a rare and often-contentious bankruptcy in all likelihood wont be around for the conclusion of a process that has generated an avalanche of court filings and shows no evidence of ending imminently. Five years after former Gov. Tom Wolf declared a fiscal emergency in Delaware Countys only city and appointed Michael Doweary the receiver, the state announced Thursday that Doweary has resigned, effective July 1. Advertisement His successor, pending an expected court approval, will be Vijay Kapoor, who has been Dowearys chief of staff since the city went into receivership, when its police pension fund was so depleted that it had cash on hand for only two months worth of checks $1.9 million according to the Department of Community and Economic Development. It now has funds to cover the next three years. Doweary, who will become the chief financial officer at his alma mater, York College, said during a Facebook presentation that while the departure was bittersweet this is an opportunity I couldnt pass up and was a chance for him to go home. Doweary is a former York city administrator. He added that he hadnt anticipated being in Chester for five years, and didnt expect this process to take this long. He was unavailable for further comment. Mayor Stefan Roots praised Doweary for becoming engaged in the city. He remembered Doweary telling him, if I dont understand the community Im trying to fix, I cannot do my job effectively. Roots added that Kapoor would be taking over in a critical time in the citys struggles to emerge from bankruptcy. The citys future fiscal health may hinge on a court decision that is expected later this year. The status of the Chester bankruptcy Doweary was appointed in April 2020 when Chester became only the second city in the state Harrisburg was the other to go into receivership under a fiscal emergency law passed in 2011. When Doweary arrived in Chester, the city, which has an annual budget around $65 million, owed over $40 million to its pension fund and was running annual deficits. Doweary filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after he learned that a key financial officer had lost $400,000 in a phishing scam. Of more than 35,000 municipalities in the nation, only about 30 have filed for bankruptcy, among them Detroit. Doweary had an acrimonious relationship with the former city administration, but Roots, elected in November 2023, has been a staunch supporter of the receiver, who brought in some professional managers. The city now has a balanced budget, and with no service cuts expected in 2025. However, the state has spent $11.5 million on the bankruptcy, and with Chesters depleted tax base, the receivers office says the only way to ensure long-term solvency would be for the city to sell its water assets. Doweary has insisted they remain in public hands, lest rates spike as a result of pressure from investors. But the question of whether the city has the power to sell those assets is mired in litigation involving the receiver, the Chester Water Authority, and two other entities. That issue is before the state Supreme Court, and attorneys are awaiting word on oral arguments. At stake is hundreds of millions of dollars. Aqua Pennsylvania offered over $400 million for the water authority, which has tens of thousands of customers, most of them outside of Chester, in 2021. Water is an enormous business in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that, conservatively, U.S. residents spend $100 billion a year on water. The city holds that the infrastructure and the authority, itself, belong to Chester and that it was pirated from city control in a well-executed, and well-concealed, legislative maneuver. The water authority counters that the city is engaging in a conspiracy and hostile takeover. In messages to prospective bidders, the authority asked, Why would you be involved in such an effort? At a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the judge called the language over the top, over the top, and ordered the authority to cease and desist. Whats next for Chester For now, waiting. The change in receivership should be seamless, given that Kapoor will be taking over. He has said that in the long run Chester has to find new revenue streams, and that without the sale of the water assets, its unclear what else would fill those streams. Once an industrial powerhouse during the two World Wars, Chester began to see slippage in its economy in the 1950s, and the deterioration accelerated frighteningly in the next two decades. In 1995, when it entered Act 47 distressed status for communities in trouble, state officials found that Mandated pensions and daily bills were not paid. The press, the public and the courts viewed Chester as an object of ridicule. In a statement announcing his nomination, Kapoor said, Chester is a community that has had to fight simply to survive, enduring decades of disrespect in the process. He said he is committed to making sure that Chester is a great place to live and do business. The Cecil B. Moore Library, located at 2320 Cecil B. Moore Ave., Philadelphia, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. It has been closed since January. Read more Councilmember Jeffery Young sped through his PowerPoint presentation as the heckling and shouting got louder and louder. The crowd of hundreds gathered at Wayland Baptist Church in North Philadelphia chanted Time is up! calling for someone to cut his microphone. Young was speaking at a community town hall Tuesday night on the future of North Phillys Cecil B. Moore Library, which has been closed since Jan. 21 because of a defunct HVAC system. Young is proposing to demolish the building and replace it with a new library that has affordable housing units above it. Advertisement Community members resoundingly told Young that they do not want that to happen, and instead implored him and the Free Library of Philadelphia to move forward with plans to renovate the branch that were designed and approved long ago through the citys Rebuild initiative. They were angry, and told Young repeatedly that he was not listening to them. My job is to look at every resource available to make our community better, Young said. He promised that despite some rumors, the library would not be permanently closed, and that the city and Free Library officials were working on identifying temporary library spaces for the community. Teenagers and seniors alike gave emotional testimonies about the importance of the library to the neighborhood. They shared deep concerns about how attached housing could negatively impact the operation of a library branch. I grew up in this neighborhood, I learned how to read at that library, said Cynthia Harris, a local block captain. Youre not concerned about us you want to build affordable housing? Weve got it all around the block and you know what? Most of the housing that youre building here, the people that live here cant even afford to live in them. We are against demolition, said Nadine Blackwell, another longtime neighborhood resident. You are pushing for mixed-use units above the library. We resoundingly do not want that. We want a library. Murky plans and passionate responses Renovations to the branch through the citys Rebuild initiative were scheduled to begin in October 2024. These repairs to the library, which first opened in 1962, were initially planned to be more limited in scope and cost about $1 million, but community groups and lawmakers have fought to secure a total of $5.3 million for the project, according to the Save the Cecil B. Moore Library Greater Coalition. Rebuild has proposed repairs in collaboration with community groups, which include a new HVAC system, plumbing, a new teen space, ADA accommodations, painting and flooring, and exterior improvements. Those designs were finalized and scheduled for bidding last year. But that never happened. Instead, Young, who filled outgoing Council President Darrell L. Clarkes seat in 2024, secured an additional $5 million from the citys 2025 capital budget and delayed the project. Young offered his proposal to demolish the current branch and attach housing to a new library instead, suggesting it could cost around $20 million. It is unclear where the extra $10 million would come from. Those renovation plans are 20 years too late, Young said at the town hall. He gave examples of other co-located spaces in Philadelphia and other cities as support for his vision, like CHOPs South Philadelphia Health and Literacy Center and in New York City. The goal of these kinds of spaces, he said, is to better connect low-income communities with public resources and create more housing, particularly in Philadelphia where affordable housing is scarce or not actually affordable. Real estate is limited, he said. When Young said that he wanted the Philadelphia Housing Authority to manage the new units, the crowd bristled, even after Young promised to hold them accountable. You can walk up and down this neighborhood and see that PHA aint never been accountable, said a young woman who said she is a lifelong neighborhood resident and library user but did not announce her name. A young man named Shane, who did not announce his last name, said he was concerned with how a private developers involvement, which could be necessary to close the significant funding gap, might hurt the community. Time after time, the public is ignored while rich people fill their pockets, he said. Who is really benefiting from this? This fight is part of the Free Librarys citywide struggle, where branches suffer from a lack of investment and are closing as aging infrastructure becomes unusable. Some renovations that have been planned through Rebuild are moving achingly slow or are outright stalled. READ MORE: The Port Richmond library is closed again, as Rebuild roof project stalls Youngs office recently conducted a community survey regarding possible options for the future of the library. The survey asked whether respondents preferred to renovate the current space, demolish the current library and replace it with a new one, or demolish the library and replace it with the mixed-use building. Of the 137 respondents, the largest group, 43.8%, voted for the mixed-use building. The survey options described renovating the current space as leaving the exact same footprint and programming spaces, and demolition for a new library or the mixed-use building was described as getting a brand-new state of art 21st century library. (The coalition, offering different options for the space, did their own survey with very different results.) Liz Gardiner, a library worker and AFSCME DC47 union member, said she believed from firsthand experience that the mixed-use proposal would harm the librarys ability to function properly. She worked at Queen Memorial Library in Point Breeze, which has apartments above it. Gardiner said that she experienced lots of issues in her workplace, like leaks, fires, and pests, because of the apartments. If you love libraries so much, they deserve their own space, she said. Another young woman spoke about similar concerns about conflicting space, like how her ability to study could be impacted by someone throwing a party right above the library. Why is the library closed when you have money allocated right there? said community member Donna Price. Listen to what were trying to tell you no to housing. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has pledged to invest $800 million into building new homes and repairing existing housing in neighborhoods such as this section of West Philadelphia. Read more Mayor Cherelle L. Parker touted her plan to pump $800 million into housing programs Thursday during her second budget address to Philadelphia City Council. Advertisement Half of the money would become available almost immediately, she said. Parker promised all the details of our proposed housing plan will be revealed in 10 days time at a special session of City Council on March 24 the D-Day for housing. Parker has promised to have 30,000 units of housing built or rehabbed during her time in office. To fund the work, her budget calls for an increase to the realty transfer tax from 3.278% to 3.578% of the sale price or assessed value of a property. A small increase to the realty transfer tax will generate $173 million over the next five years, Parker said. When we need to build or preserve 30,000 units of housing, this revenue will help us to get there. The mayor said that the administration would begin by issuing $400 million in bond financing in the 2026 fiscal year and that they will move fast on these housing policies. We plan on spending that money as quickly as possible, Parker said. I want shovels in the ground. Parker said she would not play politics with housing policy and would not pit the have-nots against those who have just a little bit. The mayor was referring to a long-standing debate in local politics between those who want to spend the citys extremely limited resources on housing for the lowest-income Philadelphians a fifth of the citys population lives in poverty and those who want to also promote so-called workforce housing for families with slightly higher incomes. At a media briefing on the budget Wednesday, administration staffers told reporters that the new programs would largely target lower-income residents who make between 30% and 60% of area median income (AMI), or roughly between $34,000 and $68,000 for a family of four. The citys market is taking care of the market-rate piece, but the bulk of the unmet demand in the city is in the area median income 30% to 60% range, Sabrina Maynard, the citys budget director, said at the budget briefing. The Parker administration has said that building new homes is just one piece of their housing plan. Home repairs will also be a big focus, which is especially important in an old city with an unusually large number of lower-income homeowners. While more low-income housing is welcome, we are not going to be able to build our way out of the housing safety crisis, said Shawmar Pitts, co-managing director of Philly Thrive, a Southwest Philly housing justice group. The city needs to invest in programs that make needed repairs to keep low-income residents in their homes not give handouts to corporate developers. Parker also highlighted that she would seek to eliminate the construction impact tax, created in 2019 to fund community development programs favored by Parker and former City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. Administration staffers said the tax hadnt raised significant revenue, bringing in less than $4 million annually and that it dampens development. We can incentivize the building of new housing by removing this levy, Parker said during her speech. The Building Industry Association (BIA), an influential advocacy group for residential developers in Philadelphia, heaped praise on Parkers speech and the policy proposals she outlined. With the announced $800 million bond, elimination of the construction tax, and the new set of policies and recommendations announced on March 24, housing production including affordable housing will be on steroids, said Mohamed Mo Rushdy, president of the BIA. After four consecutive years of losses to Philadelphias estimated population, the city may have begun to turn it around in 2024. Between July 2023 and July 2024, Philly gained about 10,500 residents, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday. That figure represents a 0.7% increase, putting the citys estimated population at 1,573,916 residents. Advertisement It also starts to reverse Philadelphias pandemic-era population decreases, which saw estimates for the citys number of residents fall each year dating back to April 2020. But with revisions to the Census Bureaus past estimates, those losses may not have been as significant as initially thought, said Katie Martin, project director at Pew Charitable Trusts Philadelphia research and policy initiative. Experts cautioned against reading too much into the Census Bureaus yearly estimates, as they do not provide a complete picture of the citys population and might not be indicative of the citys long-term standing. Still, this years estimates could be considered good news. We are cautiously optimistic about this, said Greg Diebold, a planning data analyst with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. This years results appear to match what we see on the ground. The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Whats behind Phillys estimated population increase? The Census Bureaus annual estimates serve as a 12-month snapshot of county populations, and reach their totals by taking into account births, deaths, and the movement of residents into and out of the area. Since about 2006, Martin said, growth in Philadelphia has largely been a result of foreign-born residents moving into the city, which the Census Bureau refers to as international migration. That trend appears to have continued in 2024, and at a higher rate than during the pandemic years. Between July 2023 and July 2024, about 21,000 immigrants moved to Philadelphia, more than double the number who arrived in 2022, according to Census Bureau estimates. Additionally, in 2024 about 15,000 more people left Philadelphia for elsewhere in the United States than moved in roughly half the number of other recent years. As a result, Philly saw a net migration gain of about 6,000 residents last year. Likewise, births outpaced deaths in Philadelphia by about 4,600 people, putting the city in a net positive for what the Census Bureau calls natural change. During the early years of the pandemic, that figure was much lower, standing at about 1,700 in 2021. Overall, however, migration historically has had a more significant impact on Philadelphias population than births and deaths. Our region does well with international migration, and for domestic migration, we have seen a net outflow, Diebold said, adding that that outflow historically slowed during the 2010s. So, this is sort of a return to what we were seeing pre-pandemic. The Philly suburbs grew, too Philadelphia was not the only place to grow locally in 2024. Every county in the region showed modest growth for the year, too, census figures showed. While the city had the largest increase in total population by number of residents, five counties beat Philly out proportionally: Burlington (1.1%), Chester (1%), Gloucester (1%), Montgomery (0.9%), and Camden (0.8%). South Jersey counties, Diebold said, showed slightly higher growth than their Pennsylvania counterparts in 2024, though he expects local counties in both states to continue to grow moderately in the long term. But despite gains last year, Philadelphia has seen a net loss of about 30,000 residents since April 2020, Census Bureau estimates indicate. Suburban collar counties, meanwhile, collectively added more than 90,000 residents during that time with about a third of that group coming from South Jersey. Metro areas rebounding? Phillys population decrease is not unusual nationally. Throughout the pandemic, most big cities lost residents, with those declines largely being attributed to COVID-19-era changes like the rise of remote work and telecommuting, cheaper suburban real estate, and concerns about crime. But now, the Census Bureau said in a statement, many metro areas that experienced pandemic population losses Philadelphia included are seeing gains. Largely, that is due to immigration, with every metro area in the country showing positive net international migration between 2023 and 2024, the bureau said. Pandemic losses revised The Census Bureau regularly revises its population estimates, and provides updated numbers with its new annual releases. For 2024, those revisions saw estimates for Philadelphias population losses across the pandemic shrink significantly, Martin said. Previously, estimates showed the citys population dropped by about 3.3% since April 2020, or about 53,000 people which would have been a historic decrease, as Philly had not posted a 3% decrease in population across three years since the 1970s. But with the revised numbers, that drop appears to be less than initially reported, standing at about 1.9%, or about 30,000 people. Those numbers, Martin said, are more in line with historic records. The revision may come from what the Census Bureau referred to as methodological improvements, which include the use of additional data, Diebold noted. Such revisions are not unusual. The new estimates are looking more like typical year-over-year churn, Martin said. The 10,500-person increase, she added, is also closer to the Philly population gains of the 2010s, a decade when the city saw similar growth each year. Actual counts remain forthcoming Because the Census Bureaus estimates take into account only births, deaths, and migration data, researchers like Diebold and Martin tend to take them with a grain of salt. More emphasis is generally given to the decennial census, which will not happen again until 2030. That census is an actual count, rather than an estimate. And this year, we are smack in the middle between the last decennial census of 2020 and the next one, which makes getting an accurate picture more difficult. The further you get from that count, the more of an estimate it is, Martin said. It is a sample. Its not the entire population. Still, after several years of reported declines in the city, its tough not to feel at least a little good about Phillys increase even if it is only an estimate. I was really happy to see the numbers, Martin said. In this July 2024 photo, a passerby takes an early morning photo of the U.S. and NATO flags at the Eisenhower Building in Washington, D.C. Read more Wearing the cloth of our nation for 31 years has allowed me to witness some extraordinary moments. After America was attacked on 9/11, I had command of an aircraft carrier battle group of 12 American ships headed for the northern Arabian Sea. That moment, when we as a nation had been singled out in an unprecedented attack, was fraught with distress and anxiety, and many felt very alone in a world that had changed so radically from one moment to the next. Advertisement But we were not alone out on the Arabian Sea. Waiting to meet us was an international armada of 22 foreign ships: Japan (operating outside the Sea of Japan for the first time since World War II), the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Poland, Greece, New Zealand, Canada, and other allies had assembled there for battle the only time NATO has invoked Article 5, on the day after 9/11. As Italys ship set sail to join us, its minister of defense spoke for all when he explained, with a touch of humor, why they were there. Many may think of us Italians primarily as lovers, he said, but America has been attacked, and we will be there for them. Our shipmates have been there for us, even if we didnt call on them to be. Canada hid our embassy escapees in its ambassadors family home during the Iranian revolution at great risk to the safety of its own diplomats. Or when we suddenly needed a network of supply routes from Baltic and Caspian Sea ports to the Afghanistan War, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia stepped up because our frontline warriors (the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. State Department) had been there working to develop and strengthen relationships with them since the Cold War ended. Even the crown prince of Tonga once reminded me how his nation had proudly repaired damaged U.S. Navy warships during World War II. And then there were the 42 nations that joined the first Gulf War spearheaded by the United States, and the 48 that joined us for the tragic misadventure of the second. I believe alliances we have forged globally highlight Americas greatest power its power to convene, to bring nations and peoples together for a common cause and has long been recognized as serving more than simply our own interests. When World War II ended, America did something never achieved before: We brokered over 75 defense agreements, treaties, alliances, and coalitions for our own security, sure, but also for the security of our global partners. Together, we won the third world war the Cold War without firing a shot at an adversary who had threatened, We will bury you. This world concord, which we led, provided not only for increased safety but for increased economic prosperity. It took great men and women who understood that to have global open markets meant maintaining a dialogue in multilateral organizations that adhered to global rules that reflected our values. Beyond ensuring economic freedom and vigor, our universal values have earned us the unbreakable admiration of our allies and partners something Russia and China have long envied. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has noted, our own story as a nation began with a Revolutionary War that brooked no half-measures, only full independence would do. But even then, we werent abandoned without recourse to alliances. The French resolved to stand alongside us for seven long years of conflict. Not only did France provide us millions in its livre currency, 63 warships, 12,000 troops, and tons of military supplies, but it was also a French general who prompted our national survival at the decisive victory at Yorktown. It was Gen. Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, who convinced a reluctant George Washington to leave New York for Yorktown, where the French navy would block a British retreat to its own fleet offshore. Once there, Washington gave operational control of Americas troops to Rochambeau, who commanded the combined French and American forces to win our nonnegotiable war of freedom. Today, in honor of an allys lead in winning our survival as a nation, the sculpture closest to the Oval Office is not of an American, but the Frenchman, Rochambeau. This is why Ukraines president spoke of our storied history, from the Battle of Saratoga to the Battle of the Bulge, as embodying the meaning of Ukraines own battle for survival today, each conflict a courageous step in a long war for independence alongside indispensable allies. It is our turn now to lock arms with Ukraine standing together against Vladimir Putins invasion. Joe Sestak is a former Navy vice admiral, a former U.S. representative for Pennsylvanias 7th Congressional District on the House Armed Services Committee, and director for defense policy of the National Security Council staff. With the White House making seemingly delirious decisions that have inflated prices, may lead to a recession, and have put the United States on the wrong side of a potential fourth world war, its understandable that most Americans paid little attention to a rare execution by firing squad that took place in South Carolina last week. Even so, we must keep in mind that this nation was born in the pursuit of justice, and acknowledge that it is clearer now than ever before that the death penalty is an unjust form of punishment that provides no discernible deterrent to crime. As retribution, the death penalty may have merit, but retribution isnt the same as justice. Advertisement Brad Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead Friday after being shot by a firing squad at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, S.C. He became only the third person executed by a firing squad in the United States since 1977. Sigmon was sentenced 23 years ago for the 2001 bludgeoning deaths of his ex-girlfriends parents. It was a heinous crime that deserved a severe sentence. Sigmon spent a quarter of a century in prison awaiting his fate, which is common. Some death row inmates have spent as much as 40 years in prison. Some have grown old and died before being executed. The long appeals process that keeps them jailed is supposed to favor defendants, but it took at least 25 years for more than half the exonerations received since 2013 to be granted. Is that justice? Crimes like Sigmons, and others even more reprehensible, shouldnt be cherry-picked to make a case for an abominable practice so broadly applied that innocent people have been executed. At least 20 people executed since 1976 died because evidence was discovered too late or was never considered by the courts, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Marcellus Williams, 55, was executed last September for a 1998 murder in Missouri even though the man who prosecuted his case cited new evidence and said he no longer believed Williams was guilty. Marcellus Williams should be alive today, former St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell said after the execution. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. It would be even better to end the death penalty, period. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall made an unsuccessful but true argument in a 1972 case that executions violate the Constitutions prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. If it is impossible to construct a system capable of accommodating all evidence relevant to a mans entitlement to be spared death, no matter when the evidence is disclosed, Marshall said, then it is the system, not the life of the man sentenced to death, that should be dispatched. The cruelty of executions is undeniable, but in 21st-century America, their rarity is also a reality. There were 26 executions in America last year, the 10th year in a row with fewer than 30. Ninety-nine people were executed in 1999. Twenty-three states no longer have a death penalty, and four (California, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Ohio) have execution moratoriums. Pennsylvanias moratorium was declared by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2015 and has been extended by Gov. Josh Shapiro. The last execution in this state was of serial killer Gary Heidnick in 1999. Similar to its love affair with guns, America has an affinity with capital punishment that most Western nations lack. Every European country except Belarus has abandoned capital punishment. Even Russia has observed a moratorium on executions since 1996. China is believed to execute the most prisoners, but its statistics are a state secret. Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are believed to be responsible for 86% of all recorded executions. Must that be the company America keeps? As retribution, the death penalty may have merit, but retribution isnt the same as justice. Family and friends who lose a loved one to violence may understandably want the perpetrator of that crime to no longer exist. But many will admit after an execution that the fleeting satisfaction they felt will never fill the void created when someone they treasured was mercilessly killed. Retribution doesnt last, and removing a criminal from society doesnt require a death sentence. Maintaining a system that kills both the innocent and the guilty is itself a crime. But that wont change until politicians more concerned with winning the next election stop ignoring the issue. Trying to end the death penalty may not win them votes, but its the right thing to do. Americas once treasured image as being dedicated to the idea of justice for all was never accurate, but our flawed nation typically bent toward what was morally right. The death penalty is wrong. It doesnt deter crime. It kills innocent people. It needs to end. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in episode two of With Love, Meghan, now streaming on Netflix. Read more In Meghan Markles new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, she pads around barefoot while turning everyday household items into objects of beauty. She even fills her own tea bags to brew sun tea. Its a sun-splashed, calming program. I havent finished the first season, but I already plan on rewatching because I keep missing scenes when I fall asleep to it. Advertisement Released March 4, its a timely antidote for our current harsh political reality. Meghan, who pointed out on the show that she uses Sussex as her last name now, is married to Harry, Duke of Sussex, and lives in Montecito, Calif., with their two children. Hers is a decidedly different reality than the one the rest of us mere mortals inhabit. Theres not much most of us can do about the dumpster fire raging in Washington, D.C., besides protest and pressure our members of Congress to intervene as President Donald Trump and unelected billionaire Elon Musk dismantle critical government programs and offices, while also laying off tens of thousands of federal workers and pushing back on diversity, equity, and inclusion, among other things. I am part of the 92% demographic that proudly voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. Black women werent able to carry the election, but we did our part. So excuse me while I curl up on my couch and let Meghan teach me how to live a soft life. I am done with marching, at least for now, and this is a much-needed distraction from cable news talking heads. Watching her painstakingly decorate a homemade honey lemon cake with fresh raspberries and hand-mix bath salts for an overnight guest relaxes me. I dont find With Love, Meghan unrelatable. Granted, most kitchens arent as nice as the one she films in, but she makes skillet spaghetti in the first episode. Whats high-end about that? In another, she uses a cookie cutter to cut finger sandwiches. All of this domesticity has me looking around my own house differently. Suddenly, I am thinking of planting berries in my own backyard and canning my own fruit preserves. Will it ever happen? Not likely. But so what? This is a much-needed distraction from cable news talking heads Meanwhile, the Meghan bashing is out of control. You would think the former Suits actress had committed a crime instead of living out a real-life fairy tale of marrying a handsome prince in 2018. People are still mad because she got handed the keys to the royal castle and said, No, thank you. She took her prince and moved back to America. Now shes living her best life, and they cant take it. Her detractors will never admit that, though. Instead, they nitpick. Shes inauthentic. Why doesnt she have a relationship with her dad? Shes no chef. She doesnt know what shes doing. To me, that translates into: Shes not worthy. She doesnt deserve the fame and attention shes getting. Who does she think she is? Some members of the we-hate-Meghan club need DEI sensitivity training. I get the sense that some of the same people who refused to vote to elect the nations first female president also have a problem with Meghan. Why do you think that is? No other member of the firm attracts nearly the same level of vitriol. Meanwhile, I cant get enough of With Love, Meghan. Netflix has already renewed it for a second season. It has its flaws, but it will continue to be my guilty pleasure. After all, as Meghan points out on the show, life is about pursuing joy, not perfection. Flower sprinkles, anyone? U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon is one of three Democrats circulating a letter castigating President Donald J. Trumps administration for the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil and seeking answers from two of his top cabinet members about the case. Khalil, who helped lead protests at Columbia University against civilian casualties in Gaza, was arrested by immigration officers and sent to a detention center in Louisiana. He is a permanent legal resident of the United States who recently graduated from the school. Advertisement The letter, coauthored by U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.), ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, (D., Wash.), ranking member of the immigration subcommittee, is addressed to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Scanlon, whose district includes all of Delaware County and parts of South Philadelphia and Montgomery County, is the ranking member of the Judiciarys Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. It was the second letter sent by congressional Democrats to Noem. On Tuesday, 14 Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Summer L. Lee, who represents Pittsburgh, signed a letter demanding Khalils immediate release. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman in New York ordered that Khalil, 30, not be deported while the court considers legal challenges brought by his attorneys. Khalil, who is legally considered a permanent U.S. resident with a green card and has not been charged with a crime, is a graduate student at Columbias School of International and Public Affairs and finished his requirements for a masters degree in December. He and his wife are expecting a child this spring and live in a university-owned apartment complex near campus. On Saturday night, he was inside campus housing when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers entered and took him into custody, said Amy Greer, one of his lawyers. The agents told Greer that they were revoking Khalils green card. Greer said the agents initially refused to say over the phone why they were detaining Khalil and at one point hung up on her. The agents then said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke his student visa, Greer said. When she said he did not have a student visa and was a permanent resident with a green card, the agents said they would revoke that instead. Khalil, who was born in Syria and is the grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyer said, was taken to New Jersey to be held, then was moved to an immigration detention center in Louisiana. Until Wednesday, the only Pennsylvania representative to weigh in on the case was Lee of Western Pennsylvania. Every Member of Congress should be outraged at this blatant erosion of our constitutional rights. We are beyond just a slippery slope, Lee said on the Hill earlier this week. Rubio, speaking to reporters in Ireland on Wednesday, defended the arrest and accused Khalil of partaking in antisemitic, pro-Hamas protests. He said foreign-born immigrants can have their visas or green cards revoked and be kicked out for such activity. This is not about free speech, Rubio said, according to the New York Times. This is about people that dont have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, by the way. A draft version of the new Democratic letter, obtained by The Inquirer, says the arrest is based on vague language in the Immigration and Nationality Act, claiming his speech has ambiguous foreign policy consequences for the United States, and accuses the administration of failing to provide any explanation for what those consequences are. This deployment of a dusty old statutory section to punish speech is a dangerous attack on both the First Amendment and on all, including lawful permanent residents, who enjoy its protection, the legislators wrote. This maneuver evokes the Alien and Sedition Acts and McCarthyism. It is the playbook of authoritarians, not of elected officials in a democratic society who claim to be champions of free speech. The letter goes on to ask Rubio and Noem how many times the section has been used to place a lawful permanent resident in removal proceedings, and what grounds there are for doing so with Khalil. While there may be disagreement with Mr. Khalils speech, it is his Constitutional right in our democracy to express his political views, the letter says. That is why every American should be outraged by this brazen attempt to use the power of the United States government to silence and punish people who do not agree with the sitting President. In January, Trump signed an executive order against antisemitism that targeted what he described as Hamas sympathizers on college campuses. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Khalils arrest was the fulfillment of Trumps executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. The Trump administration says the nationwide protests in solidarity with Gaza are antisemitic rather than First Amendment-protected demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians. Columbia University became a focal point of a U.S. pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across college campuses nationwide last year. Ramzi Kassem, one of Khalils lawyers, told the judge at the Wednesday hearing in lower Manhattan that Khalil was identified, targeted and detained because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights and his First Amendment protected speech. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration moved to deport him under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives the secretary of state the power to deport a noncitizen on foreign policy grounds. Last week, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia University, along with nine other universities that had pro-Gaza demonstrations, claiming the schools failed to take steps against antisemitism. Kassem, Khalils lawyer, said the legal grounds cited by the government to detain Khalil were vague and rarely used, and were disguising the true reason: retaliation and punishment for the exercise of free speech. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Protestors hold signs to get their message out during the Save Our Services day of action event, at Independence Mall in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Federal workers and everyday Americans came together to protest Elon Musk's push to gut federal services and impose mass layoffs. Read more Federal workers in Philadelphia faced layoffs last month, and now as a government shutdown looms, some face the reality of having to work through it. If the shutdown comes to fruition, it would represent fear, anxiety and insult to injury for some Philadelphia Internal Revenue Service workers, deemed essential federal employees, who would be required to continue to work without pay, said Alex Jay Berman, who represents IRS workers in the city. Advertisement If the shutdown drags on, how do you keep coming into work? Wheres the money for the gas coming from? How are you coming into work when you might not have the copay for your doctor if youre getting ill?, asked Berman, the executive vice president of the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 71. We just want to be able to do our job and to be able to do our jobs properly, he said. That requires proper funding of the government without this gamesmanship. And right now, the only way for federal workers to avoid a shutdown, which would mean foregoing pay for some, seems to be through the spending bill, spearheaded by Republicans the party that has created significant upheaval in the federal government and its workforce through mass layoffs and spending cuts ordered by President Donald Trumps administration and Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency. The U.S. House passed the legislation 217-213 Tuesday, largely along party lines. Now, its in the hands of the Senate, where at least eight Democrats are needed to pass the bill, which would fund the government through September. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa) said he intends to vote for the bill to keep the government open. The spending bill, known to lawmakers as a CR, is now in the hands of Senate Democrats who are weighing whether to vote on the bill that would avert a partial government shutdown. Some in the caucus are worried a shutdown will add to the chaos DOGE is creating in the federal workforce. Others dont want Democrats to be blamed for a shutdown. If an agreement is not reached, some federal workers will be required to continue to work without pay until after the shutdown ends, while others could be furloughed and resources could be strained. Phil Glover, the national vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) District 3, who oversees federal workers in Pennsylvania and Delaware, said the union wants to avoid a shutdown, citing the necessity for workers to continue to receive pay. But he would also like Democrats to fight for our rights, including those of Transportation Security Administration workers, who were stripped of their key union protection last Friday. LaShanda Palmer, president of Local 333 AFGE who represents TSA workers at the Philadelphia International Airport and Wilmington Airport, opposes a shutdown, remembering the toll that previous cessations have taken on workers. She said TSA employees already distraught over the Department of Homeland Securitys decision to dismantle collective bargaining rights are bracing for the potential impacts of being furloughed. Palmer said the union has been reaching out to SEPTA and food banks in the event that employees at PHL cant afford to travel to work or feed their families without a steady income. It put us in situations that we should never be put in as employees of the government, Palmer said. Philadelphia AFL-CIO president: The devils absolutely in the details In a letter Wednesday, AFGE national president Everett Kelley urged senators to vote no on the CR, citing the absence of language that commits to protecting federal workers or defunding DOGE as was previously stipulated in his letter to House members prior to their vote earlier in the week. AFGEs decision to oppose the spending measure is not taken lightly. AFGEs position until this year has been that although continuing resolutions are far from ideal, they are better than an outright government shutdown, Kelley wrote. During past budget stalemates, AFGE has always reluctantly supported passage of CRs. This year is different. Its highly unlikely that AFGEs demands will materialize from the GOP, which holds a trifecta in the federal government, but Senate Democrats whose votes are needed to pass the bill may be more receptive. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., NY) said Wednesday that Democrats would reject the current incarnation of the bill and suggested a 30-day stopgap measure as an alternative. But without the CR or another option to keep the government open the public will face serious disruptions. [It] disrupts vital services the American people depend on, compromises national security, deprives millions of military personnel and federal civilian employees of their incomes, and hurts an increasingly fragile American economy, Kelley wrote of a potential shutdown in his letter to the House last week. Danny Bauder, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, which includes some 15 local unions for federal workers in Philadelphia, expressed disappointment in the system that has gotten the federal government to the brink of a shutdown yet again. Its disgraceful that this is how our government functions, he said. That were forced to, ad nauseam, do these CRs every six months. One day before the government shutdown deadline hits, Senate Democrats are trying to stop a Republican-led bill that could give President Donald Trumps administration free rein to dismantle federal agencies and operations. The new bill, which has already passed through the House and Trump has indicated support for, fails to slap on any limits toward the president or billionaire Elon Musks already ongoing efforts to purge thousands of federal workers from their jobs. Advertisement If passed, it would temporarily fund the government through Sept. 30. Democrats are attempting to push a stopgap 30-day funding bill as an alternative, but its chances are slim thanks to a Republican-controlled Congress. READ MORE: Another government shutdown looms whats different about it this time around? Its time to fish or cut bait, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said when the Senate opened Thursday, with one day to go before deadline. Heres what to know ahead of final decisions. When is the Senate voting? A vote for or against the spending bill passed by the House would likely take place Friday. Senators will also likely have a chance to vote on the Democrat-led stopgap measure, but if it fails, the Senate would turn to the broader House-passed bill for passage ahead of the shutdown deadline. What have Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats said about the funding bill? Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the Democrats would reject the House-passed government funding bill as it stands. He added that the Democrats were unified in pushing for a 30-day stopgap measure as an alternative. The stopgap would temporarily fund operations through Sept. 30. Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR, Schumer said on the Senate floor, calling for a one-month funding bill that would provide more time to negotiate a deal. Senate Republicans have shown little interest in the Democrat-led short-term bill. They say the funding bills fate rests with Schumer. Is John Fetterman voting for the funding bill? Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) said he would support the Democrat-led stopgap funding bill, but hed also likely vote for the Republican-led bill if push came to shove because in his eyes, it beats a government shutdown. Fetterman has said he wouldnt be OK with a shutdown. What does a government shutdown mean? A government shutdown occurs if Congress cannot reach some sort of agreement on 12 individual appropriation measures that represent all federal operations. The existing spending plans expire on March 14, marking the end of the existing continuing resolution passed in December 2024 to avoid a shutdown. If the appropriations bill or an extension isnt passed and signed by then, it means funding for the new fiscal year isnt in effect and the government could either completely or partially shut down. When a shutdown happens, the government isnt able to spend money with some exceptions meaning that federal employees across the country are expected to work without pay until after the shutdown ends. In turn, essential services will continue to operate, but resources will be significantly strained. When was the last government shutdown? The last time a government shutdown took place, it lasted more than 35 days from December 2018 through January 2019 while Trump was serving his first term as president. It marked the longest shutdown in history and was also the second under Trumps presidency. That shutdown ended after East Coast airports faced major delays when unpaid air traffic controllers stopped coming to work. Unlike during the last shutdown, todays Congress features a divided Republican majority, making a consensus even harder to reach. Democrats have also suggested that Republicans dont have the 60 votes theyd need to defeat a filibuster. At least eight Senate Democrats would have to join the 53 Republicans to clear a 60-vote threshold and advance the bill toward a final vote. Some Democrats, including Fetterman, worry that a shutdown would be worse than accepting any bill, regardless of if they agree with the terms or not. When is the government shutdown deadline? Congress and the Trump administration need to reach an agreement by the end of the continuing resolutions deadline, which is March 14 at midnight. If they dont, the shutdown would go into place on March 15 at 12:01 a.m. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mayor Cherelle L. Parkers second budget address to Philadelphia City Council sounded in many ways like an ordinary mayoral speech, with Parker waxing poetic about heroic first responders, touting wins during her first year, and pitching new proposals on housing and tax cuts contained in her $6.7 billion proposal for the city budget that takes effect July 1. But looming over Parkers 90-minute speech on Thursday was a wild card with the potential to make this years city budget negotiations anything but ordinary: President Donald Trump, who has threatened to dramatically cut federal funding for local government. Advertisement I know there is uncertainty in the air right now, Parker said in Council chambers during her speech, which has traditionally served as Phillys version of the presidential State of the Union address. People dont know what to expect from their government, and uncertainty can breed fear. I want the people of Philadelphia and our city employees to hear me: Your city is here to keep you safe and to safeguard your basic rights. The remarks were among the few comments Parker has offered on the national political dynamic since Trump took office in January. But she still avoided saying Trumps name and didnt dwell on the issue, focusing instead on her proposals to issue $800 million in bonds to fund her housing initiative and commence an effort to dramatically reduce the business tax over the next 15 years. Parkers address officially kicks off budget season in City Hall. Next, Council will hold a series of hearings from late March to early May, going department by department to probe the administrations spending and taxing proposals. Then, the administration will negotiate with Council over amendments to the proposal. They must reach a deal before the end of June, when the current fiscal year ends. Councils last meeting of the session is scheduled for June 12. If lawmakers follow normal procedures, the deal must get preliminary approval in committee prior to Councils meeting on June 5. Councilmember Rue Landau, one of the bodys more progressive lawmakers, said she was hopeful Parkers proposal would lead to more spending on issues like housing, street safety, and cleaning, before indicating she was skeptical of whether this is the right year for tax cuts given the potential of Trump cutting grants to the city. But, [the proposal] also raises questions, Landau said in a statement. Namely how is the City going to balance proposed revenue cuts at this time as we face down pending federal funding cuts that will lead to a loss of services? Council chambers were packed with top administration officials and other dignitaries, including Republican Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday; Democratic State Sens. Vince Hughes and Anthony Williams; and labors leader Ryan Boyer of the building trades and Greg Boulware, president of the largest union for city workers. Federal fears Trump has threatened to cut funds to so-called sanctuary cities, which are local jurisdictions including Philadelphia that decline to assist federal immigration enforcement. And in the opening days of his administration, he briefly paused all federal grants and contracts before letting the money flow again while promising to follow up with significant reductions. The Trump administration has already cut funding to the city for sustainability programs, City Finance Director Rob Dubow said this week. Those cuts so far havent added up to much, he said, but deeper reductions could be catastrophic for a city that received $2.8 billion in federal funding in the 2024 fiscal year. Parkers budget would create a $95 million reserve to help offset potential cuts, which she acknowledged later was a drop in the bucket compared to overall federal aid to Philly. In an interview after her speech, Parker elaborated on how damaging federal cuts could be for Philly. Were just a little old city of Philadelphia, Parker said, and so the potential impacts of federal cuts and what they could mean to the city of Philadelphia are grave and extremely concerning to this administration. The mayor added that her efforts to develop services for people experiencing homelessness and addiction in Kensington and other neighborhoods depend on federal aid. When I think about potential cuts to Medicaid and community development block grant funding, how do you think we will be able to treat the people were building a wellness ecosystem with? Housing bonds Parker is making her modified campaign initiative to build or preserve 30,000 homes a top priority for her second year in office. The mayor still has not released details on what policies and programs will be involved in her plan, and she said that she will articulate her housing agenda on March 24. But Parker on Thursday laid out how she plans to pay for it: by borrowing $800 million. This is going to be an historic unprecedented investment for Philadelphians, she said. READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker will propose cutting taxes and borrowing $800 million for housing in Phillys next city budget Parkers plan would have the city issue two batches of general obligation bonds worth $400 million each, with the first coming in 2025. General obligation bonds are paid back from the city budget, rather than a specific revenue stream. We plan on spending that money as quickly as possible, Parker said. I want shovels in the ground. Tax cuts on the table Parker on Thursday cast her tax cut plan as historic and unprecedented, saying that she wanted to dramatically reduce the business tax in an effort to boost the local economy. This proposal will spur businesses to grow and new ones to locate here, Parker said in her budget address. The mayor is proposing that the city adopt a 15-year schedule for tax cuts. But during this springs budget negotiations, the administration and Council can only control what happens in the fiscal year that begins July 1. And Parker is proposing starting small. Her budget calls for reducing the business income and receipts taxs net income rate from 5.81% to 5.71% next year, and the BIRTs gross receipts rate from 0.1415% to 0.141%. Those cuts would cost the city $9.2 million in a proposed $6.7 billion budget. READ MORE: What you need to know about the Philly business double tax that some city leaders are trying to kill In the long term, Parker hopes the city will eliminate the gross receipts levy and cut the net income tax in half. The city will be able to do that, she said, once it able to take advantage of more than $400 million in annual savings after the pension fund becomes fully funded, which is projected to happen around 2032. If Parker runs for and wins a second term, that would be near the end of her tenure. Parker also wants to resume the citys long-standing policy of adopting small annual cuts to the much-maligned wage tax. For next year, her proposal calls for the wage tax rate to be cut from 3.75% to 3.74% for residents and 3.44% to 3.43% for people who live outside Philly but commute into the city. Parker this year is also proposing eliminating the citys 1% tax on construction and increasing the real estate transfer tax from 3.278% to 3.578% of the sale price or assessed value of a property. She framed both of those moves as part of her new housing initiative. New spending on public safety Parker proposed doubling down on spending to support crime-fighting citywide and her administrations efforts to end open-air drug markets, framing her ask as a continuation of her first-year priorities. One of the biggest expenses is nearly $300 million in proposed new funding over the next five years to continue construction and operations at the Riverview Wellness Village, her administrations new city-run rehabilitation housing for people recovering from drug addiction. The recovery house is a key pillar of her plan to address the opioid crisis in Kensington. Parker touted that her administration opened the facility in January, just a year into her term. We did not have time to wait, she said. We are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, and we acted with urgency, focus, and a plan. The mayor also proposed directing $67 million to build and operate a new police forensics lab and announced the location publicly for the first time Thursday. The new facility will be located in University City at 4101 Market Street in a burgeoning life sciences corridor. READ MORE: New Philly police forensics lab will be in University City, Parker administration says Officials have long said that replacing the citys current crime lab, which is undersized and outdated, will allow for law enforcement to solve crimes faster and build stronger cases. Were embracing technology to improve our performance, she said. The police department will move forward with a new forensics lab to assist the force with forensics investigations to help solve crime. Year-round schooling expansion Parker also said her administration is planning to expand the so-called extended-day and extended-year program by adding 15 more schools 10 traditional district and five charter. It wasnt immediately clear which schools will be added. On the campaign trail in 2023, Parker, a former teacher, made year-round schooling one of her signature policy proposals. For the current school year, she and Superintendent Tony P. Watlington launched a pilot program for 25 district and charter schools to provide before and after-care, remain open during winter and spring break, and offer six-week summer programs. Study after study shows that these programs matter greatly when it comes to childrens educational development, she said. Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article. Mayor Cherelle Parker speaks during a news conference in July. At left is District Attorney Larry Krasner and at right is Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. Parker announced this week that her administration has selected a location to construct a new police forensics lab. Read more The Philadelphia Police Departments new forensics lab will be located on Market Street in University City, a decision the city made after spending years securing funding and evaluating real estate options. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced the location of the new crime lab Thursday during her budget address, saying the new lab to be located at 4101 Market St. will mark a giant step forward in forensics technology and crime-solving ability for our police department. Advertisement Were embracing technology to improve our performance, she said. The police department will move forward with a new forensics lab to assist the force with forensics investigations to help solve crime. The selection will kick off a new, monthslong phase of planning, development, and construction that will culminate with the police department opening an expanded lab for handling and testing guns, drugs, DNA, cell phones, and other forms of evidence. Officials have long said that replacing the citys current crime lab, which is undersized and outdated, will allow for law enforcement to solve crimes faster and build stronger cases. Elected leaders including former Mayor Jim Kenney and District Attorney Larry Krasner have been advocating for a new police crime lab for years, including amid a pandemic-era surge in gun violence when officials said it was a potential solution to improve clearance rates of shootings. Since then, securing funding and selecting a location has been a process steeped in politics and beset by delays related to both the pandemic and the transition last year to a new mayor. Kenneys administration secured millions of taxpayer dollars from the state to pay for forensics equipment in 2022, and the following year, 14 firms applied to house the site but he didnt select a space before leaving office. After Parker took over as mayor last year, the city set aside millions more to construct the lab and conducted site visits at three locations that were finalists: the one in University City, as well as one in North Philadelphia and another near the police headquarters on North Broad Street. In April, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told an increasingly impatient City Council that the process of selecting a space was in the homestretch. Nearly a year later, Parker said her administration plans to spend $67 million over the next five years for the lab and related costs, which she called money well spent. City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, whose district includes University City and who had advocated for the crime lab to locate there, said Thursday that the space was already outfitted to be a laboratory and that putting it in West Phillys burgeoning life sciences corridor is the best spot for it. Im so excited that its finally a done deal, she said. Our forensic staff here in the city of Philadelphia are fantastic. Theyve been doing everything they can, more than they can, with not the best set of resources they deserve. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman speaks at the Penn Ag Democrats Luncheon at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, Pa., on Saturday Jan. 4, 2025. Read more The heat is on for Senate Democrats this week as they weigh whether to support a Republican-led government spending bill that they oppose or to risk being blamed for shutting down the federal government. And front and center is Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), who has vowed to support the bill to avoid a shutdown, in a moment reflective of the larger question confronting the Democratic Party: When to fight and when to fall in line? Advertisement The Senate has three days to pass the stopgap bill, which funds the government for the next seven months. It cleared the House on Tuesday. READ MORE: Another government shutdown looms whats different about it this time around? No Pennsylvania Democrats voted for the House bill and all of the states Republicans voted in its favor, including U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County, who had said he was on the fence ahead of the vote. Given Republicans 53-47 Senate majority, GOP lawmakers would need eight Democrats to join them to advance the bill to a final vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Wednesday afternoon that Democrats would refuse to back the bill and instead push for another extension to allow time to consider individual spending bills. But any changes to the bill passed in the House or an extension would require House members who adjourned for the week to return and approve those changes, which is unlikely. That puts both parties in a standoff with the deadline looming. Fetterman, the only Democrat in the chamber to unequivocally pledge to back the spending bill, has urged members of his party to do the same. Last week, he joined some fellow Democrats in criticizing displays of displeasure with President Donald Trump during his joint address to Congress. The weeks of performative resistance from those in my party were limited to undignified antics, he posted on his social media accounts, including Trumps platform, Truth Social. Voting to shut the government down will punish millions or risk a recession. I disagree with many points in the [continuing resolution], but I will never vote to shut our government down. For Fetterman, the move is in line with how he has reacted to Republican control of the White House and Congress over the last few months, urging his party to have a more measured approach to a deluge of policy changes, picking rare moments to speak out against the Trump administration while finding opportunities to support Trumps agenda. But whether other Senate Democrats follow Fettermans lead remains to be seen. Many are grappling with determining the lesser of two evils for a party struggling to reboot after November losses nationwide. On one hand, Democrats do not want to further empower Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk, and the vote is a rare moment when they have leverage to reject a bill and force the GOP to work with them. On the other hand, they do not want to be blamed for a shutdown in a moment when the Democratic Party brand is struggling to connect with voters. Democrats havent positioned themselves politically to win this fight, said Democratic political consultant Sean Coit. This isnt The West Wing, its real life, and if theres a shutdown, Democrats will end up muddling the clear message the American people are hearing every day right now, which is that Trump and Republicans are causing the chaos. Some Democrats are also concerned that a shutdown dilutes their own argument against federal funding cuts and government layoffs and could just ramp up Musks sweeping plans to reduce the federal workforce. Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) is among the senators who have ruled out supporting the bill. I do not want to shut down our government, I want to improve it, streamline it and ensure it delivers services our communities need, he said in a statement Wednesday morning. A vote could come anytime between Wednesday and late Friday. The deadline to avoid a shutdown is Friday at midnight, when government funding for the year runs out. Other local Democrats, including New Jersey Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker and Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, have not publicly telegraphed how they plan to vote and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their thinking. The last government shutdown lasted 35 days, from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019, and was the longest in four decades. But they have become a recurring threat in recent years. Shutdowns are deeply unpopular but have historically largely been associated with the Republican Party. Democrats are kind of in the wilderness right now, said Chris Borick, a pollster at Muhlenberg College. I think theyre desperately looking for a place where they have some leverage, and on the surface it may seem this is a situation that provides that, but I dont think its the battle that they are best suited to engage in. Fettermans move to the center Fetterman has long characterized his style of legislating as pragmatic, but in a moment when Trump has taken a slash-and-burn tactic to reshaping government, some of his fellow Democrats have called for more pushback and unified outrage. Nobody wants a government shutdown, but politically, Ive never seen a political party pay a price on Election Day for shutting down the government, Democratic strategist Mike Mikus said, noting that the GOP was largely responsible for a 2019 shutdown and it did not become a major campaign theme. This is one instance where the minority party has the opportunity to speak, and they should speak loudly, Mikus said. He thinks part of the Democratic Partys drop in popularity stems from a base upset it has not fought back, not one looking for compromise. You can get it back by standing up to Donald Trump. Mikus, who ran a Senate campaign against Fetterman in 2016, criticized Fettermans move toward the middle, saying he has spent the last few months blowing up his brand. Hes going to find himself on a political island, and his actions are recruiting a primary opponent, Mikus said. He will not be our senator in 2029, I guarantee it. Fetterman ultimately voted for 10 of Trumps cabinet nominees, tying for the most of any Democrat along with New Hampshire Sens. Margaret Wood Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego. READ MORE: How local lawmakers are voting on Trumps cabinet picks Hickenlooper told CNN on the hill on Wednesday that he was leaning toward advancing the budget plan, though he had not made a final decision. If you shut down the government, the president is the person who decides what is essential, Hickenlooper said. He decides what part of the government stays open, so you are actually giving him even more power. Blood moon as seen from East Falls section of Philadelphia early Monday morning on Jan. 21, 2019. Read more It will get mighty dark up that way, but the best viewing during the total eclipse of what will become the sanguinarily named blood moon might well be from the moon itself. Through a perfectly clear sky free of water vapor and unsightly atmospheric muck, during totality you would see the Earth obscure the sun, and a spectacular ring of reddish, glowing light would surround our planet, says Harry J. Augensen, director of the Widener University planetarium. Advertisement We dont see total lunar eclipses often well have to wait four years to see the next one around here but they occur on average about twice a year, and experts have predicted the day is not all that far away when lunar tourism will be a reality. Not that it would be cheap. In the meantime, the earthbound in Philly and the rest of the Western Hemisphere should get a decent show, weather permitting, and providing you dont mind surrendering more sleep during a week in which you likely already have lost some. The sun, Earth, and moon will align, and during a six-hour period the shadow cast by our planet will slowly cover the moon in its entirety, then just as slowly allow the moon to reemerge as its cratered, full-faced self. What time does the eclipse start ? The event begins just before midnight Thursday, when the first trace of Earths shadow will encroach upon the moon, which will be at 99.98% fullness. But dont expect to see much immediately, NASA officials advise. It will get better. A partial eclipse should be evident at 1:09 a.m. Friday, when it looks like a bite is being taken out of the moon, they said. Totality begins at 2:26 a.m. about a half hour before the instant of fullness and expect the moon to turn a a coppery red, and not from embarrassment for being overshadowed by Earth. What youre looking at, says NASA, is the glow of all of the sunrises and sunsets on Earth. So this is why they call it the Blood Moon During a total eclipse, the sunlight beaming on the Earths atmosphere is refracted, or bent, and the blue hues become more or less bleached out and the light is reddened, Augensen said. Reds and oranges are able to make it through our atmosphere because they have longer wavelengths than the blues, which are easily scattered. Some of that reddened light washes onto the surface of the moon, creating that copper glow, Augensen said. Its not exactly the color that the concept of blood might evoke, but somehow the term copper moon doesnt carry the same sense of drama. What time will the eclipse end? Totality will last 65 minutes, ending at 3:31 a.m., and that may be a saving grace given the forecast, which calls for the sky over Philly to be about two-thirds cloud-covered. Given the duration of the eclipse, Even if its cloudy you may still be able to glimpse it if the clouds are scattered, said NASA scientist Renee Weber. While the sky forecast isnt great, said Patrick OHara, National Weather Service meteorologist in Mount Holly, its certainly possible that breaks in the clouds could occur. The partial eclipse will be over at 4:47 a.m. Is any special equipment needed to view the eclipse? No, but a telescope or binoculars would enhance the viewing experience during totality. Of course, surveys indicate that a majority of the local population will be watching the insides of their eyelids during totality. But, for the record, given that the clocks got nudged forward an hour only a few days ago, your body might think its only 1:26 a.m. when totality occurs. In 2024, Allianz's brand value reached $23.5 billion, up from $20.85 billion in 2023, marking an increase of approximately 12.7%. This growth propelled Allianz to the 29th position in Interbrand's Best Global Brands ranking, maintaining its status as the world's most valuable insurance brand for the sixth consecutive year. ABS data said that, in 2023, there were 3,214 deaths by suicide in the country an average of about nine deaths per day. Most of the suicides were by males. Over a smaller age range, the group with highest rate of suicide is currently men aged 55 to 59. However, the data shows that the rate of suicide for this group has actually halved compared to what it was up to about 1930. Historical records indicate that during the last prolonged negative IPO phase (1947-1976), cyclone activity increased in Southern Queensland and New South Wales, with at least one cyclone reaching Sydney. However, when the Cyclone Reinsurance Pools pricing was determined in 2022, this climate shift had not been confirmed. A survey commissioned by the company in July 2024, involving more than 1,000 Australians, found that 20.1% of respondents do not have home or contents insurance for any of their possessions. Another 33.1% reported having partial coverage, while only 42% indicated that all their valuables were insured. Claims are being processed across affected areas, including Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Ballina, and Tweed Heads in New South Wales, as well as Redlands, Hervey Bay, Logan, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast in Queensland. Insurers have deployed additional claims assessors and engaged contractors from outside the region to expedite the process. Insurers are responding to these risks by refining coverage terms, including exclusions for cyber warfare and politically motivated cyber incidents. Lockton advises businesses to assess whether existing cyber policies cover nation-state attacks, business interruption, and third-party liability for data breaches. Aligning IT liability (PI), cyber, and public and products liability (PPL) policies can help prevent coverage disputes in the event of an incident. This suggests that many of the main health costs of poor air quality are not yet showing up as insurance losses. However, global insurers in the workers compensation space may have more to worry about. The new headquarters is part of the companys expansion in Pennsylvania, where the company said it plans to add at least 1,250 jobs and has committed to preserving 3,200 jobs in the state over the next five years. Anwar described his proposal as the broader of the two, though SB 1269 has advanced further in the legislative process. Anwar said the most urgent priority for lawmakers is the four-year rate moratorium, arguing that it would force a reassessment of the LTC insurance market. Wu, who has nearly 30 years of experience in commercial casualty insurance, will oversee HGICs casualty underwriting from Las Vegas. He will report to HGIC chief underwriting officer Marco Hensel. Long, who has over 35 years of experience in underwriting and alternative risk markets, will report to Wu. This ruling underscores the importance of Related Claims provisions in insurance policies and how they influence coverage across multiple policy periods. The decision clarifies that when insurers define claims broadly as "related," they may be required to cover subsequent lawsuits even if those lawsuits arise outside their active policy period. The announcement follows Davies launch of its Vision-2030 strategy, led by Saulter, which aims to grow annual global revenue to 2.5 billion to 3.0 billion over the next five years. The strategy includes investment in four areas: technology and AI, organic growth and cross-selling, geographical and solution expansion, and operational improvements. The former CEO of Magellan Diagnostics pleaded guilty on Monday to a criminal charge related to a malfunction in the companys lead-testing devices that produced inaccurately low results for tens of thousands of patients. Amy Winslow was the last of three former Magellan executives indicted in 2023 over the malfunction to strike a deal to plead guilty rather than proceed to trial next month in federal court in Boston. She agreed to plead guilty to a single count in the indictment that charged her with violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by introducing misbranded medical devices into interstate commerce with the intent to mislead. That charge related to allegations that after Magellan discovered the malfunction, it sent customers a letter in 2014 that Winslow edited to advise them to incubate blood samples for 24 hours before using one of its lead-testing devices. Prosecutors said those instructions were contrary to the devices label, which promised immediate, accurate results without any incubation, and were altered without first notifying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as required. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend that Winslow be sentenced to a year and a day in prison and a $10,000 fine and to drop various fraud charges against her. Her sentencing was set for July 23. Winslows lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Massachusetts-based Magellan, now owned by Ohio-based Meridian Bioscience, in May agreed to pay $42 million and plead guilty to resolve related charges concerning the reliability of devices it sold for detecting lead levels and lead poisoning in the blood of children and adults. The malfunction was discovered in 2013 and affected three testing devices in Magellans LeadCare line, including one that accounted for more than half of all blood lead tests conducted in the U.S. between 2013 and 2017, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said Winslow and her co-defendants never reported the issue to the FDA and only notified the agency after Meridian had acquired the company for $66 million in 2016. A recall was launched in 2017. Prosecutors have also recently reached plea deals with Hossein Maleknia, Magellans former chief operating officer, and Reba Daoust, the companys former manager and director of quality assurance and regulatory affairs. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang) NJM Insurance Groups President and Chief Executive Officer Mitch Livingston, will retire on July 31, after 19 years at the company, including the past seven as its leader. The companys board of directors has selected Carol Voorhees, NJMs executive vice president and chief operating officer, to succeed Livingston. Voorhees joined NJM, based in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1996 as a systems analyst. In 2018, the board of directors elected her senior vice president and chief information officer, and she joined the companys executive leadership team. Voorhees was named executive vice president & chief operating officer in 2024. The captain of the Solong container ship that crashed near the UK is a Russian national, the ships owner said. The rest of the crew are a mix of Russian and Filipino, shipping company Ernst Russ AG said in a statement. Russia and the Philippines are among the worlds top providers of crew to vessels, so its not unusual for ships to have Russian seafarers. The Solong crashed into an oil tanker hauling fuel for the US Navy off the coast of the UK. While there were fears the freighter would sink, it now appears likely to remain afloat. Its being held in a safe position offshore, and the fires on board have greatly reduced, the coastguard said on Wednesday. Read more: Unexplained Ship Collision off UK Coast Triggers Race for Clues Theres nothing to indicate the incident is a national security issue, although its too early to completely rule anything out at this stage, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because theyre not authorized to comment publicly. The arrest of the ships captain, announced late on Tuesday by local police, was for gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collisions. This kind of charge suggests lack of intent. Police said Wednesday they are continuing to conduct extensive lines of inquiry. The risk of significant environmental damage from the incident appeared to subside as the coastguard said late on Tuesday that air quality sampling onshore shows no toxins, and modeling from the Met Office indicates no threat to the public. There have been no further reports of pollution to the sea from either vessel, beyond what was observed in the initial incident, the coastguard added on Wednesday. Crowley, the company that manages the Stena Immaculate oil tanker involved in the incident, said Tuesday it remained uncertain how much fuel may have been released. The firm previously said the tanker was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks when it was struck. Were not quite out of the danger zone yet, but its starting to look like an environmental disaster may have been narrowly averted, said Paul Johnston, from the Greenpeace Research Laboratories. In terms of minimizing any further risks to marine life, the priority should now be to ensure as far as possible that both ships remain afloat, that no further jet fuel leaks from the tanker and that the cargo of the container ship is fully characterized and secured. Photograph: Smoke rises from the Solong cargo ship off the UKs east coast on March 11, 2025. Photo credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Related: Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. Topics Russia AM Best has placed under review with positive implications the Financial Strength Rating of C++ (Marginal) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of b (Marginal) of Wolverine Mutual Insurance Company (Wolverine) based in Dowagiac, Michigan. The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Wolverines balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as weak, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management. These rating actions follow the announcement that Wolverine and Clover Financial Corporation (Clover) have signed and filed a sponsored demutualization transaction with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. In this transaction, Wolverine will convert into a stock company and Clover will purchase the entire stock of the newly formed company, at which point Wolverine will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Clover. The under review with positive implications status reflects the opportunity for improved balance sheet metrics and operating performance for Wolverine, if it becomes a subsidiary of Clover. Clovers parent company, Oakland Financial Corporation, currently owns Cherokee Insurance Company (Cherokee), which maintains a Long-Term ICR of a (Excellent) with a stable outlook. Cherokee and Wolverine entered a 25% quota share agreement on all personal lines of business, effective Jan.1, 2025. Cherokee is a leading auto lines writer in Michigan with sufficient financial flexibility and strong underwriting guidelines. AM Best expects that subsequent to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2025. The ratings will remain under review with positive implications pending the completion of the transaction and until AM Best can appropriately evaluate Clovers plan for Wolverine. Source: AM Best Topics AM Best Michigan A Canadian man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for shootings at an oil pipeline in South Dakota and an electrical substation in North Dakota that caused $1.7 million in damages after a judge found that his crimes met the definition of terrorism. Cameron Smith, 50, was also ordered Monday to pay more than $2.1 million in restitution, the Bismarck Tribune reported, as well as fines totaling $250,000. He faces deportation after his release. Smith, who is originally from the Toronto area but had been living in Astoria, Oregon, pleaded guilty last September to charges of destroying energy facilities for the incidents near Carpenter, South Dakota, in 2022 and in 2023 near Ray, North Dakota. U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor sentenced Smith to two consecutive 12.5-year terms, far above federal sentencing guidelines that recommended 3.5 to 4.5 years per count. Prosecutor David Hagler said the higher sentence was justified because Smiths actions met the definition of terrorism by attempting to intimidate or coerce a civilian population. Defense attorney Douglas Passon argued against the longer sentence, describing Smith as a hyper-aware individual wanting to create awareness about climate change who intentionally avoided harming anyone. In the South Dakota incident, prosecutors said the damage inflicted by Smith caused a shutdown of a pump station on the Keystone XL Pipeline, which led to a leak that damaged neighboring land. Damages to transformers and other infrastructure at a North Dakota power substation caused outages to 243 customers. Smith told the court his actions were driven by frustration after years of trying to raise awareness of climate change through lawful means. He said he chose remote locations to avoid harming people, and he argued for a lesser sentence, citing his autism and Crohns disease. This is tantamount to a life sentence, and I dont think thats right, Smith said. He expressed doubt he would receive adequate medical care while incarcerated. I wont survive this, Smith said. Traynor was not swayed. You ignored the rule of law in the United States and carried out your actions in a terrorist manner, Traynor said. You did not engage in this conduct on a whim. You committed two separate attacks on critical infrastructure 10 months apart and traveled a great distance to do so. Passon told The Associated Press on Tuesday that they will appeal. He said the sentence was unjust given Smiths medical and mental conditions and disproportionate compared with similar crimes. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A year after Elon Musk urged U.S. companies to abandon Delaware as their legal home and follow Tesla to Texas, legislators in the two states on Wednesday considered bills in an unusual battle over corporate law that critics say benefits powerful shareholders. Until recently, Delaware was the undisputed home to Corporate America, even though few companies have significant operations in the state. Most large public companies charter their business in Delaware to take advantage of its corporate law governing relations between boards of directors and shareholders. More than 20% of state budget revenue comes from corporate fees. Last year, after a Delaware judge rescinded Musks $56 billion pay package as CEO of electric car maker Tesla TSLA.O, a trickle of companies departed the state. Delaware leaders fear that could turn into a stampede dubbed DExit. In February, state lawmakers proposed major changes to the corporate law. On Wednesday, witnesses told the Delaware Senate Judiciary Committee the bill was not driven by Musk but by recent court decisions that created uncertainty about the corporate law. His commentary had a megaphone effect, but the legislation expressly doesnt help him, and were addressing the deeper concerns from many companies and investors beyond just one person, Amy Simmerman, a corporate attorney in Delaware, told the committee. The Delaware bill creates safe harbors from litigation for transactions involving controlling shareholders, such as buying a controlling shareholders business or restructuring a class of stock, although it will not impact a takeover of the company by the controlling shareholder. If a deal is approved by a board committee that has a majority of independent directors or by a vote by unconflicted shareholders, the deal cannot be reviewed by a court. Currently, litigation can only be avoided if both steps are used and the committee must be entirely made up of independent directors. The bill also makes it harder to challenge whether a director is independent. It defines controlling shareholder and limits records available to shareholders who want to investigate a deal for conflicts. The bill aims to give Wall Street dealmakers confidence that they can structure deals involving controlling shareholders to avoid lengthy legal challenges by investors. Sponsors said it also protects shareholders. Opponents call it a billionaires bill, that favors powerful controlling shareholders like Meta Platforms META.O CEO Mark Zuckerberg and makes it harder for public shareholders to monitor conflicts. Meta is reportedly considering leaving Delaware. Christopher Foulds, a Delaware attorney who represents shareholders, told the senate committee that investors holding trillions of dollars of capital oppose the bill, which he said prevents stockholders from challenging conflicted transactions. The controlling stockholder could put their best friend on a committee and negotiate against them, and thats fine, according to their bill, he said. State Senator Bryan Townsend has said the bill was drafted with support from Governor Matt Meyer and is sponsored by the legislative leadership of both parties. The committee ended the hearing without taking action. On Wednesday morning in Austin, Texas, state legislators discussed Texas House Bill 15, which would enshrine in the code the so-called business judgment rule. This protects boardroom decisions, even if they turn out poorly, as long as they were taken in good faith by independent directors. The bill also allows companies to bar derivative lawsuits unless they are brought by an investor with at least 3% of the companys stock. Derivative lawsuits are cases brought by investors against the directors for the benefit of the company. Musks pay case was a derivative lawsuit, which was brought by an investor with nine Tesla shares. Governor Greg Abbott has said he would sign the bill. Its sponsor, Representative Morgan Meyer, told a state House of Representatives committee the bill would make Texas the best state to incorporate in, although only a few large companies have. The committee heard testimony without taking action. Brian Quinn, a professor of corporate law at Boston College Law School, said there is no recent precedent for states to compete so openly over corporate law. Thats like an old topic from the 1930s, he said. Thats over, because Delaware won the race. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by David Gregorio) Topics USA Texas Gail Slater, the new head of antitrust enforcement at the US Justice Department, plans to hire veterans of previous administrations under Barack Obama and Donald Trump to help her oversee cases and investigations in tech, healthcare, finance and other sectors, according to people familiar with the matter. Slater, who was sworn in Wednesday as assistant attorney general for antitrust, will name as her top deputy Roger Alford, according to the people, who asked not to identified discussing confidential information. Alford is a Notre Dame University law professor who served in the DOJ during Trumps first term as president as a liaison with international antitrust enforcers. Alfords new role will put him first in line to take the lead on any matters in which Slater may be recused. The other hires include Baker & McKenzie partner Mark Hamer and Apollo Global Management lawyer William Rinner, who will co-head civil antitrust enforcement, according to the people. Omeed Assefi, who has served as the DOJs acting antitrust head for about two months, will run criminal enforcement, while Chetan Sanghvi, a senior managing director of the consultancy NERA, will lead the divisions economic work, said the people. Slaters choices for her deputies shows she is keen on aggressive enforcement and also values extensive defense side experience. Slaters predecessor who served in the Biden administration, Jonathan Kanter, took a hard line against deals and largely refused to settle merger cases, while Slater has said that such settlements where companies agree to sell assets or avoid certain conduct are valuable if done right. None of Slaters new team members have started in their roles. Rinner confirmed his pending job. Alford, Sanghvi and Hamer didnt respond to requests for comment. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment. Slater was confirmed by the US Senate on Tuesday in a bipartisan, 78-19 vote. Slater will inherit a heavy litigation docket, including a high-profile restructuring of Alphabet Inc.s Google following the Biden administrations victory last year in which a federal judge ruled that the company illegally monopolized the online search market. The DOJ is looking to force a sale of Googles Chrome internet browser and bar the company from paying for preferred placement on mobile devices. Other pending cases include lawsuits against Apple Inc., Visa Inc. and Live Nation Inc. Prior Roles After leaving the DOJ before the end of the first Trump Administration, Alford consulted for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on his offices antitrust case against Google over its advertising technology business. In its second lawsuit against Google, the DOJ wrapped up trial in its own ad tech case last year and is waiting for a ruling, while Texas and a group of states have a trial set for this summer. Rinner served as chief of staff to Makan Delrahim, the DOJs antitrust head in the first Trump administration, while Hamer was a staff lawyer from 2010 to 2016, working on cases including the DOJs antitrust lawsuit against American Express Co. Sanghvi previously did a pair of stints at the FTC, according to his NERA biography, and overlapped with Slater while they both worked for then Democratic Commissioner Julie Brill, where Sanghvi served as an economics adviser. He was also the agencys lead economist on its challenge to the Whole Foods takeover of Wild Oats, which was ultimately settled. In addition to ongoing lawsuits, Slater will need to tackle pending mergers, including Capital One Financial Corp.s proposed acquisition of Discover Financial Services and T-Mobile US Inc.s acquisition of US Cellular Corp., as well as ongoing probes of companies including UnitedHealth Group Inc. Photo: Abigail Slater, US assistant attorney general nominee for US President Donald Trump, during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, on Feb. 12, 2025. Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. Atlas Insurance Agency, based in Sarasota, Florida, announced it has acquired its sister company, Atlas Employee Benefits. The firms will now operate under a single brand name. While Atlas Insurance and Atlas Employee Benefits have operated separately in the past, this acquisition brings them together under one umbrella, creating a more connected, efficient client experience, the company said in a news release. Atlas Employee Benefits will operate under the Atlas Insurance brand, offering a wider range and streamlined services to business clients. Atlas Insurance, founded in 1953, serves clients in 45 states, providing business and personal lines coverage through local and national carriers, the company said. The company has more than 60 professionals on staff. Rob Brown is president. A Florida House bill that would bar Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from writing condominium properties that havent complied with inspection deadlines passed its first hurdle this week. But the measure has been questioned by some as unnecessary and potentially detrimental to struggling condo associations. House Bill 913, introduced by state Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, was quickly approved by the House Agriculture, Housing and Tourism Subcommittee earlier this week. It would prohibit Citizens, the state-backed property insurer, from issuing or renewing a policy for a unit owner or a condo association unless the association has completed a milestone inspection and a structural integrity reserve study. After the Surfside condominium collapse in 2021, which killed 98 people, Florida lawmakers in 2022 required condo buildings of more than three stories tall to complete structural integrity inspections and reserve studies by Dec. 31, 2024. Only about a third of the eligible structures in the state have complied, according to state agency and news reports. Lopez said after the committee meeting that a stick is now required to bring condos in line and ensure safety, and that stick is blocking Citizens coverage. The insurer is attractive because other carriers have limited some condo coverage and Citizens is statutorily limited on rate increases and often writes at lower premiums than primary market carriers in Florida. As of 2024, Citizens held more than 100,411 policies in force for condominiums, including owners and associations, multi-peril, wind-only and dwelling fire policies, according to data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. A similar Senate bill, SB 1742, does not include the Citizens prohibition. The bills sponsor, state Sen. Jennifer Bradley, said that adding that restriction would make things even harder for condominium associations and owners that have faced soaring repair costs and few insurance options, according to the Florida Phoenix news site. Others, including a condo insurance broker, agreed that the clause is unnecessary. Citizens already has strict underwriting guidelines, requiring much of the same information that HB 913 targets, said Matt Mercier, national director of community associations for CBIZ, an insurance broker and advisory firm. Florida law and regulations currently allow Citizens, the states largest property insurer, to decline to write condo properties that have not shown progress on maintenance, repairs and more. And the corporation is unlikely to bend its rules, anyway, despite some condo owners pleas, he noted. The state of Florida shouldnt have to back up community associations unless they have a legit, darn good reason why, Mercier said. Lopez bill would both provide other relief mechanisms for condos trying to meet inspection and repair deadlines. The measure would, if signed into law, allow association boards to obtain loans and assess new fees for needed maintenance without the prior approval of the associations membership. Both Lopez and Bradleys bills also would let members vote to obtain lines of credit in lieu of reserves to meet funding requirements for maintenance and repairs. Bradleys bill would authorize the condo board to invest their reserve funds. Lopez bill also would impact insurance carriers directly. The measure would allow insurance coverage for condominiums to be based on the replacement value of the property, updated regularly. The amount of adequate insurance coverage for full insurable value, replacement cost, or similar coverage may be based on the replacement cost of the property to be insured as determined by an independent insurance appraisal or update of a previous appraisal, HB 913 reads. The replacement cost of property covered must be determined every 3 years, at a minimum. That could raise the cost of insurance coverage, in some cases. But Mercier said that condo claims payments already end up covering much of the full replacement costs, in many cases. Carriers initial payouts may cover actual cash value, but once repairs are completed, condos can claim additional expenses, he noted. Bradleys bill has been assigned to committees, but hearings have not been set. The legislative session began March 4 and runs until May 2. Top photo: A Florida condo building after a 2024 hurricane. (Matt Mercier) Topics Florida A San Jose, California, body shop owner was charged with insurance fraud following an undercover sting operation that reportedly revealed he jacked an insurance damage estimate on a bait car. The operation, led by investigators from the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office, reportedly found that Jairon Escobar, 49, owner and operator of Radiator & Body Parts, inflated damages from a car with a single dent to include thousands in damages that did not exist. The sting operation was conducted by Organized Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force, comprised of investigators from the Santa Clara County D.A.s Office, the California Highway Patrol, and the California Department of Insurance. In May 2024, the task force set up an undercover operation to find body shops engaging in insurance fraud and encouraging customers who brought in their damaged vehicles for repair to also engage in fraud. Escobars body shop was one of those businesses targeted by the task force. Task force operatives used as the bait car a Toyota Camry supplied by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The car only had a dent above the front wheel fender, but Escobar encouraged the undercover officer report to the insurer more than $3,000 in damages to the vehicle. Escobar submitted the vehicle estimate of repairs to Mercury Insurance, according to the Santa Clara County D.A.s Office. Escobar was arraigned Tuesday on charges of felony attempted insurance fraud. If convicted, he faces incarceration. Topics California Fraud Auto CannGen Insurance Services LLC is now offering workers compensation coverage for the legal cannabis industry through specialty insurance provider Crum & Forster. The program is available in all 50 states. CannGen policyholders can access C&F Connect, an online portal designed to offer 24/7 claims reporting, self-service billing and loss control tools. The program offers access to three different writing papers, and it is intended to allow for flexible pricing for different types of risk profiles. Roseville, California-based CannGen is a managing general underwriting firm focused on providing property/casualty lines of coverages to the cannabis, CBD and hemp markets. CannGens primary offerings in the U.S. include property, general liability, product liability, commercial auto, motor truck cargo, management liability, workers comp and excess liability. Morristown, New Jersey-based Crum & Forster provides P/C, accident & health and specialty insurance services. The company offers admitted and surplus lines products for several industries. Topics Workers' Compensation New Markets Ahead of a decision from Californias insurance commissioner on a State Farm General request for emergency rate increases, company executives and representatives of a consumer group pled their opposing cases in letters to Commissioner Ricardo Lara. Breaking News Update: After this story first published, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara provisionally approved State Farms request for an emergency interim rate increase, only if the company can justify it with data in a public hearing scheduled for April 8, 2025. Additionally, this week Commissioner Lara called on State Farm to halt non-renewals and pursue a $500 million capital infusion from its parent company to restore financial stability. California Insurance Commissioner Provisionally OKs State Farms 22% Rate Request News outlets in California reported earlier this week that Commissioner Lara is leaning toward a solution that would have State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the parent company of State Farm General, shoulder more of the burden of the California homeowners companys financial struggles. (See, for example, California insurance chief says hes near solution on State Farm rate hike Daily News) While such reports have not been confirmed by Carrier Management, State Farm executives addressed the possibility in a March 11 letter to the commissioner and at a hearing on Feb. 26. Reiterating in-person remarks at the hearing from Keesha-Lu Mitra, State Farm Generals senior vice president and general counsel, the letter from Mitra, Dan Krause, president and chief executive officer of State Farm General, and Mark Schwamberger, vice president and treasurer, said that the State Farm Mutual Board is comprised of all external, independent directors except for the State Farm Mutual CEO and that their fiduciary duties require them to exercise reasonable care, judgment, and diligence [around] what is in State Farm Mutuals best interest as an entity and its policyholder group as a whole. With State Farm Mutuals policyholders spanning 50 states, [i]t would be imprudent to ask State Farm Mutuals Board of Directors to consider injecting capital into a company whose prospects for repayment are grim without emergency rate approval and continuing transformational reforms to the market, the letter said. Still, the letter said that an emergency rate approval would be a positive sign in support of a request from SFG [State Farm General] to the State Farm Mutual Board of Directors for financial assistance. More directly, at the hearing, Lara sought clarification: Would an approval help you potentially make a successful request to the parent company for additional support? Krause, who said he would be the person officially tasked with making such a request, replied: It would allow a positive sign that would show that this is a market that we can compete, generate a return in, and stay inand give us a chance for consideration for the parent company. Yes. The idea of greater parental support beyond the reinsurance State Farm Mutual already extends to State Farm General seems to have originated with representatives of Consumer Watchdog, serving as intervenor representing the interests of the public, empowered by a decades-old law, Proposition 103. Several past announcements from Consumer Watchdog refer to the possibility, including a Feb. 26 media statement in which the consumer groups executive director, Carmen Balber, said, State Farms affiliate in Texas was supported by SFMAIC [State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company] following hurricane and other catastrophe losses. There has been no explanation as to why State Farm would treat California homeowners less fairly than Texas homeowners. The State Farm General executives respond to that in their March 11 letter. That example is actually instructive, as the rating environment there has in fact allowed that particular surplus note to be entirely repaid, with interest. Without realistic prospects for an affiliate to be able to stand on its own, parental support would merely temporarily mask whatever is contributing to its financial distress and the affiliate would before too long revert to where SFG is today, the letter concludes. Earlier portions of the letter address what State Farm describes as the intervenors ongoing mischaracterizations and misunderstandings, which the executives said they felt compelled to correct. The intervenors propound an alternate reality where property insurers are making enormous profits in California but are inexplicably pulling back from the market, the letter says. Among the Consumer Watchdog beliefs that State Farm execs and consumer representatives have been debating in dueling letters to Commissioner Lara is the idea that the reinsurance deals between the parent company and the California subsidiary are benefitting the parent to the detriment of California policyholders. As evidence of this, Consumer Watchdog added up reinsurance premiums paid to the parent and subtracted losses recovered for the years 2015-2024, tallying a $3 billion difference. Consumer Watchdog has also noted that State Farm General sent $1 billion in wildfire subrogation recoveries from 2017 and 2018 to the parent company as part of its reinsurance agreementsanother sign of a bad deal for the California company. The fact that SFG paid more for reinsurance over an arbitrary time period than it received back in recoveries isnt evidence of a bad deal any more than is a homeowner paying for insurance even in years their house didnt burn downbecause no one can know in advance when it will. Otherwise, no one would buy insurance at all, State Farm executives wrote in their letter to Commissioner Lara this week, going on to note the coverage of infrequent severe events in a marker of catastrophe reinsurance. The letter also notes that premiums paid by the California company to the parent for reinsurance over the decade provided an average of $4.0 billion in annual coverageand $8.8 billion in the most recent treaty year. Based on market insights from our reinsurance broker, placing this much coverage with third-party reinsurers would be at a rate significantly higher than that charged by State Farm Mutual, if it could be placed at all under todays difficult reinsurance market conditions in which many reinsurers are viewing CA wildfire as too volatile to allocate more capacity to the peril, they wrote. It is because of reinsurance that SFG hasnt already been forced to massively reduce its book of business, the State Farm executives wrote to counter the intervenors assertions. And it is because of reinsurance that SFG still has a chance to retain much of that business, assuming an emergency rate is approved. Later, the letter says, Writing new policies doesnt make any sense at this time. Having blamed SFGs problems on growing too much without securing sufficient rate increases, the intervenor suggests the remedy is more of the same. This fails to understand basic economic realities of the business of insurance. Increasing our risk exposure wouldnt be responsible for an insurer thats already struggling to maintain statutorily-required levels of surplus for the exposure it already has. The letter is brief in dealing with more recent problems that Consumer Watchdog brought to Commissioner Laras attentiona video circulating on social media featuring a former executive offering a simplified view of the California ratemaking process to a citizen reporter working on behalf of OKeefe Media Group, among other statements. In the undercover video, Haden Kirkpatrick, the former vice president of Innovation at State Farm, responds to the OKeefe Media Group reporter who observes that carriers have pulled out of the California fire. It seems like its all, I dont know, orchestrated, the reporter said, prompting Kirkpatrick to give a view of the give-and-take of the ratemaking process. It kind of is, but not in the way that you would think, he says. Property prices in California appreciate more than 7 percent per year, he says, likely alluding to the fact that intervenors are involved in the rate review process when carriers file for increases above 6.9 percent and informing the reporter that insurance is highly regulated in the state. Recognizing that the carrier will be short of funds if something happens, well go to the Department of Insurance and say were overexposed here, you have to let us catch up our rating The Insurance Commissioner is an elected position in California. Hell say nah. And well say, OK, then we are going to cancel these policies.' Consumer Watchdog Litigation Director Will Pletcher said Kirkpatricks remarks strongly suggest that policy cancellations are being wielded as a strategic bargaining tool rather than as a necessary response to financial risk. Continued Pletcher: This contradicts the impression State Farm sought to convey at the [Feb. 26] meetingthat it would remain in the market if rate relief were granted, and calls into question the transparency and good faith of State Farms dealings with both regulators and policyholders. Responding to Consumer Watchdogs interpretation of Kirkpatricks remarks from the hidden camera video, State Farm characterized them as unofficial comments [made] in a personal setting from an individual no longer associated with any State Farm company. This person was never an officer of SFG, never supervised any officers of SFG and was never involved in or had any responsibility for business decisions relating to SFG or its California operations, including anything to do with our pending rate requests or exposure reduction measures, the March 11 letter from State Farm General executives to Lara states. SFGs actions and communications have been grounded in our attempts to be forthright with you and with the public about the economic realities we face and the difficult choices before us. (Editors Note: As vice president of Strategy, Innovation & Venture Capital, Kirkpatrick directed strategic initiatives to future-proof the organization against disruptive threats, working on advanced tech R&D, new product and service development, and the deployment of a $200 million corporate venture capital fund. Among other projects, he spearheaded State Farms smart home telematics program, which he wrote about for Carrier Management in the article The State Farm Vision: Ecosystem Capabilities for the Insurer of the Future) Topics California Many owners of damaged forestry are still in limbo. Michael Healy-Rae, minister of state at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture has said that almost 24,000 hectares of forestry has been damaged by Storm Eowyn; this is about 3% of all forestry land in the Republic of Ireland. A significant portion of these plantations will need to be clear-felled either partially or fully. Forest owners are frustrated that clear-felling licences are needed in order to get the timber extracted. However, there is some good news on that front with clarity having been issued from the Department of Agriculture that existing in-date clear-fell licences (including combined thinning and clear-fell licences) may be used to fell and remove trees, where the forest plots covered by these licences have windblow damage caused by Storms Darragh and/or Eowyn. The existing conditions of the licence shall apply to any cutting, felling and removal of timber, including any timing restrictions in the licence conditions that might apply. Where a forest owner has an existing thinning-only licence, owners can now complete and submit a notification form to the Department of Agriculture to get their licence extended to deal with recent storm damage. Forest owners who do not have any current clear-fell or thinning licence can get an application fast-tracked by notifying the Department of Agriculture when making their application. The storm damage is, according to Teagasc, equivalent to more than what would be regularly harvested over the course of two years. The fear amongst forest owners affected by the storms is that the trees damaged by the storm will deteriorate in quality if not harvested within a reasonably short amount of time. From a tax perspective, forest owners will be able to receive whatever proceeds from the thinning, partial clearing or clear-felling of their forests free from income tax. Harvesting Forest owners are, however, in a precarious position as there is limited harvesting capacity, meaning timber processors can be picky about what sites they will actually take on given the dynamics of over-supply. Afforested areas which might struggle to get tidied up include areas experiencing a relatively smaller quantum of damage, smaller overall plot size, awkward sites either in terms of terrain or access and sites where trees are not near maturity and are of less value to the timber-processing industry. Delayed clearing of plots results in dead time as the land cannot be re-planted until the damaged trees are removed. Forest owners are also left in limbo as to whether forestry premiums which can be payable for the first 20 years of planting will continue to be paid for plots where storm damage has occurred. On the insurance front, forest owners are concerned that some areas badly affected will no longer be covered even though some forests within these areas escaped entirely, and separately many are worried that the cost of insurance is likely to rise. Forestry programme Michael Healy-Rae has previously voiced his ambitions to get Irelands forestry programme back on track by ensuring the Department of Agriculture and stakeholders work better with farmers. Having been thrown into the deep end with Storm Eowyn, it remains to be seen whether existing forest owners will be catered for adequately by the Department of Agriculture with Michael Healy-Rea in the driving seat. Knowing that the Department of Agriculture wont be found wanting in the event of once-in-a-generation events is a precursor to instil confidence for any other landowners who may be considering forestry as an option. From a tax perspective, forestry continues to be hugely attractive with the capacity to earn premiums and timber sales income tax-free with special tax rules also catering for exemptions and reliefs from capital gains tax, stamp duty and gift and inheritance tax in certain cases. Forest owners will be pleased to know that insurance proceeds relating to the damage of forests can be exempted from income tax. The aforementioned capital gain tax exemption available to forest owners who are individual (non-corporates), only applies to standing timber. It also remains to be seen if any compensation package will come from the Department of Agriculture, the conditions relating to same and whether such a payment would be considered income from forestry and therefore exempt form income tax or a capital transaction, which under existing legislation wouldnt be considered exempt from capital gains tax. When I was seven, the professional ballet company in Washington DC where I was doing dance lessons said I could no longer attend I wasnt thin enough. They said: There needs to be an arch in her back when she lies down, where you could put a stick through. Shes too overweight so you cant. My mother was furious. I felt sad and very embarrassed. All my friends were going on to the next level. And I felt shame. It was the first time I realised people strangers were looking at my body, judging it. What are Jellycats? They are toys made by London-based brand Jellycat since 1999 yes, theyre over a quarter of a century old. They pride themselves in being luxuriously soft and highly loveable and playful toys. The soft toy creations range from animals to amusables, which are anything from croissants to raindrops, all beloved by their TikTok generation fans. Whats the hype around the Irish one? Jellycat fans queuing in Dublin to buy Siofra Shamrock Firstly, its a limited edition toy and only available in Ireland, so that has caused a surge in interest around this particular toy. Jellycat describes Siofra Shamrock as a lucky clover like no other. Featuring three perfectly plush leaves, a cheerful smiling face, an adorable stem tail, and chocolate cord boots, this delightful character brings the spirit of the Emerald Isle to life in the most huggable way imaginable. Siofra is ready to become the star of your Jellycat collection, your St Patricks Day celebrations, and beyond. Brown Thomas, where the toy is for sale, added to the sense of occasion with a giant-sized Siofra Shamrock in its Grafton Street store, offering shoppers a chance to snap a photo with the exclusive Jellycat. Siofra Shamrock is a very special addition to the Jellycat family, and we are delighted to offer it as a world exclusive, said Edel Woods, head of home and lifestyle buying at Brown Thomas Arnotts. The Jellycat collection brings joy to so many, its exciting to launch a character that celebrates Irish heritage in such a playful and endearing way. We cant wait to welcome our customers to experience the magic of Siofra in-store and take home a little piece of Irish charm. So has it sold out? Jellycat fans in Dublin with their Siofra Shamrocks Kind of. Jellycat's 'Siofra the Shamrock' saw fans flying into Ireland from the UK and beyond to snap up one of the limited edition toys. Brown Thomas says the collection sold out online in just 27 minutes. However, a spokesperson says that while the collection is limited, there will be a delivery into Brown Thomas and Arnotts every day this week for in-person shoppers. Arent they just kids toys? Siofra Shamrock Jellycat Yes and no. They are toys, however, the adult collectors probably drive a massive percentage of Jellycat sales. Jellycat themselves say the toys are for people of all ages: For a quarter of a century, we have shared the joy of Jellycat toys with people of all ages, across the globe. Over this time, our unmistakable characters have gained the affection of millions and centre stage in many of the most prestigious stores across 77 countries. For the launch of Siofra Shamrock, (grownup) Irish influencers were invited to Brown Thomas on Grafton Street ahead of the crowds and also to an event in The Westbury. However some were told they could not bring their children as it was an adults-only event for the toy launch. How collectable are they? Remember Beanie babies? Picture: AP Photo/Michael S. Green Jellycats to Gen Z and Gen Alpha are what Beanie Babies were to Gen X and Millenials. For example, Siofra Shamrock is priced at 30 with Brown Thomas and Arnotts, though sold out online, but a quick search of eBay shows the toy with asking prices of 81, 120, 130, and 200 and this is just the week of its release. Other rare Jellycats fetch large sums when resold. The Poloneck Peeker Posse Bat, a rare, retired bat wearing a purple polo neck jumper, is on eBay for 773. A never played with Snowy Bear Jellycat also sold on Etsy last October for 434.57 and they have been known to sell for over 1,000 due to their scarcity. Members of Enoch Burke's family staged a protest in the vicinity of the White House in Washington DC in advance of the ceremonial presentation of shamrocks to the US president by the Taoiseach. The family was spotted on a flight to the US capital on Tuesday afternoon which led to speculation that they may have been invited by Elon Musk, who has previously posted on his X platform in support of the jailed teacher. Uisce Eireann says it cannot attend a special meeting of Cork City Council next week on the citys dirty water crisis a stance politicians have branded as "outrageous" and "beyond insulting". It comes as the utility announced overnight water restrictions in parts of West Cork following detection of ammonia levels in the River Illen on Wednesday night, triggering a shut-down of the Ballyhilty water treatment plant to ensure that drinking water quality was not compromised. The plant is now fully compliant and back in operation, but the storage capacity of reservoirs in the locality remains critically low, Uisce Eireann said. In order to boost reservoir levels, an overnight restriction is required from 7pm, Thursday, March 13, until 9am on Friday, March 14," a spokesperson said. The areas impacted include Skibbereen, Baltimore, Lisheen, Church Cross, Ballydehob and areas east of Schull. The restrictions will allow reservoir levels to recover and to ensure water supply to industries, schools, residences, and commercial premises during business hours. Meanwhile, TDs and city councillors in Cork City reacted angrily on Thursday following confirmation that while Uisce Eireann officials are due to meet city officials next Wednesday, they are not available to attend a special public meeting the following day, called specifically to discuss the city's ongoing discoloured water problem. Fine Gael councillor Shane OCallaghan branded the utilitys position as outrageous. "The refusal by the CEO and management of Uisce Eireann to attend a specially convened meeting of Cork City Council on the 20th March is totally unacceptable. "On several occasions, Cork City Council have asked for them attend a meeting to answer questions regarding the management of water services in our City and they have repeatedly refused to do so. "Their latest refusal to attend the meeting on March 20 is yet another slap in the face to the people of Cork, particularly those residents who have had to deal with filthy, brown water coming out of their taps or their water being turned off without sufficient notice. Uisce Eireann/Irish Water is a public utility that is funded by the taxpayer. They are therefore answerable to the people and the people's representatives. "If the CEO and management of Uisce Eireann/Irish Water are either unwilling or unable to attend a meeting of the representatives of the people of Cork to answer questions about the service they provide, then they should be asked whether it is appropriate for them to continue to serve in their current roles." The Green Party said it was as if Uisce Eireann was accountable to no one. Northside councillor Oliver Moran said the city had housing projects that were dependent upon Uisce Eireann providing services. There are incidents of raw sewage spilling onto public roads, he said. Households across the city are having to purchase under-the-sink filters because they can't trust the water coming out of their taps. It's councillors who are being asked about these things, but Uisce Eireann don't think they've any reason to come before us? When Cork City Council wrote to the minister about these issues, he wrote back to us saying he has no operational say over Uisce Eireann. He said the best place to contact them was through their customer service telephone number. The EPA and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities don't appear to have any grip on them. They won't come before councillors like any other state body would, so who are they responsible to?" Sinn Fein, which tabled amendments at Mondays March meeting of the city council calling for the EPA and HSE to be invited to next week's special council meeting too, said Uisce Eireanns inability to attend was beyond insulting. The people of Cork deserve answers and they deserve accountability, Cllr Michelle Gould said. Uisce Eireann are hiding from this because they know they are failing the people of the northside and everyone supplied by the Lee Road treatment centre. WARNING: Some readers may find the following report upsetting A teenager who says that she was raped in the back of a car on an afternoon at Limerick Racecourse was cross-examined on Thursday by lawyers for the two accused teenagers. Two defendants who were aged 13 and 15 at the time - are both charged with raping and sexually assaulting the then 16-year-old girl at a St Stephens Day race meeting in 2023. A third boy is accused of aiding and abetting the first two defendants in carrying out these offences and he is also charged with falsely imprisoning the girl. First cross-examination Tom Creed, senior counsel for the 13-year old (who is now 15), said: It would appear there was kissing involved with (boy, 13) and that the kissing may have involved your neck and breast and at some stage he put his finger in your vagina. The complainant said that she had said to the teenager: No, I am having my period. Mr Creed said: Up to that point, everything that was done with (name) was consensual? The complainant, who was 16 at the time and is now 18, replied: Yes, up until that point. The defence senior counsel said: You say he took down his pants and had sexual intercourse with you. She agreed. Mr Creed asked: At that stage did you attempt to fight him off or anything? She replied: Not fight him off, but I told him I was on my period. I did tell him, no. She said she did not consent to sexual intercourse with him. She agreed that there was an opportunity for her to leave the car when the teenager left the car but she did not do so. Mr Creed asked what happened when the 13-year-old left the car? She replied: What happened then was his friend jumped in the back and did the same thing. Second cross-examination Vincent Heneghan, senior counsel, represented the teenager accused of rape who was 15 at the time, and said: My client admits he had sexual intercourse with you but that it was consensual. Mr Heneghan said of his client: He said it was you in the racecourse who approached the three. She replied: I dont remember exactly but it could have been. Did you tell them you had been drinking with your friends? he asked. She replied: I did not say it but you could see it from me. She agreed that she willingly got into the car. Mr Heneghan said: You said to him you wanted to have sex? She replied: No. I have no recollection of that. I believe I did not say that. Mr Heneghan said his client was the first person to have sexual intercourse with her. She disagreed. Further, he said she was the person who initiated sexual conduct. To that, she said: No, I was not. Going back to the parties meeting at the pavilion of the racecourse that afternoon she agreed that she did not know the three defendants before this. He suggested that she took an interest in the 15-year-old defendant (who is accused of rape) on the way to the car having first expressed an interest in the 13-year-old accused. She denied taking an interest in the 15-year-old, as suggested by Mr Heneghan. Mr Brian McInerney, senior counsel for the defendant who is not charged with rape or sexual assault but is charged with aiding and abetting and false imprisonment, said he did not wish to cross-examine the complainant. Dean Kelly, senior counsel for the prosecution, re-examined the complainant and asked: Did you consent to anyone taking off your clothes? She replied: No, I did not say yes. As for her condition with regard to alcohol, she answered: "I knew I was drunk. I did have a good few drinks in me and I knew I was not thinking properly. The trial continues at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of nine women and three men. - If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services. A meeting between Micheal Martin and Jewish leaders in the US is now in jeopardy after the Taoiseach was accused of antisemitism. The Taoiseach said he hopes the meeting will still go ahead despite the fact that a number of groups have now cancelled. Israel's ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter has supported the move from Jewish representatives stating that if any Jewish leader cancelled the meeting, they should be commended. It would show leadership. The battle for antisemitism starts with shunning antisemites, Mr Leiter told the Jewish Insider publication. Asked about this, Mr Martin hit out at "any deliberate distortions of Ireland's position", particularly in relation to allegations of antisemitism. He confirmed that some of the organisations have now indicated they will not attend the meeting, but stressed the Jewish groups in the US had initially reached out to arrange the discussion. "We're very open to meeting with as broad a range of representative organisations in the Jewish community in America, again, to engage with them in a respectful way, in respect of our perspective on the Middle East and the conflict and so on and the war in Gaza. "We've been very, very consistent in terms of condemning the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7. We called for the unconditional release of hostages from the very, very beginning, an end to the war and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. And indeed, after October 7, I visited kibbutz Be'eri in solidarity with what happened there. "So again, we're open, and hopefully the meetings will go ahead." He added: "We were approached, and we responded in the right way. I've had good communications with the Jewish community in Ireland, and I've had meetings and engagement with representatives there. "I intend to continue that, to make sure that there's not a misrepresentation of Ireland's position on this, or any deliberate distortions of Ireland's position, particularly in relation to allegations of antisemitism and so forth. "So we would be very robust in rejecting any false assertions to the contrary," Mr Martin said. Chinese modernization: blueprint for global progress 14:55, March 12, 2025 By He Yin ( People's Daily At China's recent annual "two sessions," Chinese modernization once again captured global attention. International observers are closely following a range of new measures designed not only to accelerate Chinese domestic transformation but also to unlock fresh opportunities for global development. Chinese modernization, built on a foundation of openness and cooperation, will continue to yield global benefits with each new milestone. An Australian exhibitor poses for a picture with visitors at the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE), Nov. 8, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Wang Chu) Today, China stands as a formidable force in the global economy, accounting for around 18 percent of the global economy, and the added value of China's manufacturing sector contributes to about 30 percent of the world's total. Year after year, the nation has contributed about 30 percent to global economic growth. With import and export records with almost all countries and regions designated in the United Nations Statistics Division, the country is a major trading partner for more than 150 countries and regions. In 2024, its exports to over 160 countries and regions saw growth. Often hailed as the "world's largest developing country," the "second-largest economy," "world's factory," "global market," and "innovation powerhouse," China is increasingly viewed as a beacon of stability and progress. In recent years, high-profile events such as the seventh China International Import Expo - where the value of intended deals exceeded $80 billion - and the establishment of over 1.239 million foreign-invested enterprises by the end of 2024 have reinforced the nation's reputation as a vast, dynamic market. Meanwhile, policies encouraging Chinese companies to "go global" have seen a steady stream of new technologies, goods, and services permeate international markets, knitting the country ever tighter into global value chains and bolstering its commitment to win-win cooperation. Containers are handled at the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu province. (People's Daily Online/Chai Junwei) The influence of Chinese modernization is evident far beyond its borders. In the Central African Republic, President Faustin-Archange Touadera has repeatedly screened China's political documentary Carry the Reform Through to the End for cabinet discussions, while officials in Uzbekistan are adapting China's poverty-reduction experience to suit their national context. These moves challenge the assumption that modernization must follow Western models, suggesting that China's alternative pathway offers a viable route to development. Beyond economic growth, Chinese modernization is increasingly celebrated for its potential to foster win-win cooperation and shared prosperity. Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), for example, Kazakhstan secured its first maritime access and Laos launched its first modern railway. Support from the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund has propelled over 160 projects, benefiting more than 30 million people. Moreover, China has given all the least developed countries with which it has diplomatic relations zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines, signaling its commitment to an open and inclusive global economy. China's modernization agenda also tackles global challenges head on. In response to global environmental risks, China advocates for building a community of all life on the Earth. To bridge the digital and AI divide, it has launched the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All to ensure that technological advancements benefit every corner of the globe. The 14th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to South Sudan (Wau), undergoes the second military capability assessment by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, receiving high praise from the evaluation team, Aug. 20, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Wang Haoyu) On the security front, China continues to promote dialogue and reconciliation in conflict zones while engaging in multilateral security collaborations, reinforcing its reputation as a nation committed to peace and stability. By proposing initiatives such as the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilizations Initiative, China is not just charting its own course toward modernization but championing an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization - one that seeks to ensure that no nation is left behind on the path to prosperity. The global appeal of Chinese modernization is far from accidental. Decades of reform and opening up have accelerated its development while enabling the country to contribute to global governance. On the international stage, it has taken on a leadership role - actively participating in the development of international rules, building a community with a shared future for mankind, and advancing world peace and development. By sharing its successful experiences and technological advancements, the country seeks to help other developing countries chart their own courses toward progress. With over 1.4 billion people engaged in this modernization journey - a number that surpasses the total population of all developed countries combined - China's approach is redefining the global modernization landscape. For China, modernization is not solely a national endeavor but a blueprint for global progress - a vision that promises a more inclusive future for all. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) We Love Donald Trump is the worlds new currency, determining a course of action in every sector around the globe now. If you dont pay your bills in We Love Donald Trump currency, you might face tariffs or be exposed to Russian bombs. This is what Ukrainians clearly understand now after their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had an unforgettable experience of hospitality at the White House recently. After the US stopped its military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, Russia, increased its attacks against Ukraine, killing hundreds of people. Without US intelligence support, Ukrainians were left blind; Kyiv had no means to detect the approach of Russian bombers and other warplanes. As a result: Less time to warn civilians about the airstrikes leading to more deaths every day. Going to Jeddah for a meeting with secretary of state Marco Rubio and national security advisor Mike Waltz this week, Ukrainians made sure they had enough of We Love Donald Trump currency in their pockets. Kyiv is now ready to sign a mineral deal with the US and head for a ceasefire with Russia without any clear security guarantees. The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trumps vision for peace, White House national security adviser Michael Waltz said after the meetings. An important remark: Ukrainians were made to share Trumps vision. They dont have many options or the cards, as Donald Trump put it to President Zelenskyy during their disastrous meeting in the Oval Office. Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire and is looking forward to Washington restoring its military aid and intelligence sharing. This restraining exercise was aimed at making Ukraine bend more easily and accept a peace deal with no security guarantees or clear understanding of whether the aggressor will ever be held responsible for his war crimes. Liudmyla Bortok: Ukrainians were made to share Trumps vision. They dont have many options or the cards, as Donald Trump put it to President Zelenskyy during their disastrous meeting in the Oval Office. Trumps determination to end the fighting is now making headlines in Maga media in the US and is spoken aloud by those who carry We Love Donald Trump currency in their pockets. It is presented as something Kyiv is opposed to. In reality, Ukraine has been screaming about the need to end the fighting for more than 10 years now, since Russia first invaded the Donbas region and annexed Crimea in 2014. Since then, the Kremlin has killed thousands and displaced millions through the ongoing war. Does it look like Ukrainians want this nightmare to continue? Definitely not. Kyiv has already made numerous attempts to end this war, but every single peace deal, starting with the Minsk Agreement, was violated by Moscow. Will a 30-day ceasefire on land, sea, and in the sky with Russia be any different? US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the 'ball is now in Russia's court' to accept Ukraines truce. That means it is now Moscows turn to present their We Love Donald Trump currency. Will there ever be the promised sanctions against Russia? Any tariffs for Moscow? It is very unlikely that Russia will have any restraints imposed on them or even face criticism if Moscow refuses to play by Americas rules. Trump has already said that dealing with Ukraine is more difficult for him than dealing with Russia. Even if the Kremlin kicks the ball out and Moscow violates the 30-day ceasefire, Ukrainians are likely to be blamed for it. Russians are well advanced not only in producing propaganda and disinformation but also in staging Ukrainian attacks on their territory to fuel hatred among the Russian people against Kyiv. The thing is, Russia has its own Maga Putins supporters. Millions of brainwashed people entirely embrace their leaders vision and every course of action. To ensure the long-term effect of their commitment and support, the Kremlin keeps them in fear, scaring them with stories about numerous enemies of Russia and the fearless fight against them. Until recently, this list of Russias enemies included Ukraine, the EU, and the US. Since Trump took office in the White House and turned the boat in the opposite direction, the Kremlin has changed its rhetoric. Praise for the US president is all over Russian media. America has embarked on a path of destroying relations with its long-time partners and siding with Russia and North Korea, like during the recent vote at the UN. Its role in Nato and commitments to the North Atlantic Alliance are highly questionable at the moment. Besides, Trump does not hide his feelings for Putin. He has publicly admitted that he trusts the Kremlins dictator. Lets imagine that Russia strikes a peace deal and Donald Trump is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Will the peace last? Very unlikely. Russia wants to destroy Ukraine and erase it from the face of the Earth, placing its tanks next to Nato borders. Donald Trump wants Ukraines rare earths and minerals, turning the country into an obedient supplier for Americas economy. How can this be achieved without making Putin angry? Simply by keeping Ukraine weak and making it the bad guy. Who knows, maybe the US has already agreed with Russia on Ukraines capitulation in exchange for the Kremlins commitment not to become close friends with China. A just peace for Ukraine remains the ultimate goal for its people. In order to achieve it, Ukrainians are ready to make many sacrifices like making We Love Donald Trump the official currency in the country and maybe even buying electric cars in enormous amounts so there will be no need to turn the White House into a car dealership anymore. The only sacrifice Ukrainians will never make is their freedom. Liudmyla Bortok is a Ukrainian journalist living in Cork. Donald Trump is a bully who looks for weakness and takes what he can. His conduct during press conferences is a mixture of vanity and menace. As the leader of a small state coming to the Oval Office, you could forgive Taoiseach Micheal Martin for not wishing to offend this most thin-skinned of presidents. The problem for the Taoiseach is that he was meeting the president just hours after Trump had started a trade war with the European Union, announcing tariffs of 25 per cent on US imports of steel and aluminium products. The EU quickly responded by saying it would impose counter-tariffs on up to 26bn worth of US goods in the coming weeks. Yet the timing of that announcement was condemned by some in Ireland. Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern observed that: If it had been me, I would have been very annoyed at the EU for deciding to make their statements this morning. That wasnt very helpful to the Taoiseach. Bizarrely, rather than blaming Trump for starting a trade war shortly before meeting with the leader of an EU member state, Ahern took issue with Brussels for sending a clear and immediate signal of strength and unity to Washington. Micheal Martin did not mention the EU once during his nearly one-hour meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, aside from a brief mention of how US companies based in Ireland had access to the European market. President Trump referred to the EU 16 times, claiming its core mission is to take advantage of the United States. The Taoiseach offered no defence of the EU, not even a gentle attempt to suggest past EU-US disagreements could be overcome under Trumps presidency. In his meeting with Micheal Martin, Trump said he was in 'a battle' with the EU and that he was going to win it. Trump went on to say he was going to take back the wealth from Ireland, and that American companies would soon be relocating to the United States. For some, the fact Micheal Martin avoided being upbraided or mistreated in the Oval Office was a success in itself. The encounter was the first with a European leader since Trumps recent White House attack on Ukraines president. At that meeting, Trump berated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling him he did not have the cards and he should simply accept US demands sign a bilateral minerals agreement and agree to a ceasefire without any security guarantees from Washington, although no pressure had yet been placed on Russia to reciprocate. Without such guarantees, President Zelenskyy was rightly concerned the Putin regime would strengthen its position and once again violate a ceasefire agreement. By resisting Trump in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy may yet get better for his country. The Taoiseach praised Trump for his peace initiatives when it came to Ukraine. But Micheal Martin should also recall that when Michael Gove, a Conservative government minister and a leader of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, claimed Britain held all the cards in its future negotiations over post-Brexit arrangements such as the border in Ireland, the EU rushed to support the Irish government and turned the tables on London. That is power. And for Ireland in the world, power principally runs through Brussels, not Washington. The EUs single market and customs union are envied by small states all over the world. The European Commission, which oversees both, was partly created to ensure large member-states, such as Germany and France, could not dominate the EU. Trump determined to destroy the EU Donald Trump is determined to destroy the EU. He is aware of its global economic power, and he resents dealing with leaders of EU institutions who seem impervious to bullying and threats. In his meeting with Micheal Martin, Trump said he was in a battle with the EU and that he was going to win it. It is no accident that President Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Elon Musk have spent so much time and in Musks case money supporting political parties and movements, including far-right extremists, who wish to dismantle the EU. Conor McGregor, who Trump praised when asked to name his favourite Irish person, has campaigned for Ireland to leave the EU. Trump wants to peel off EU member states one by one and undermine its institutions. The governments of two EU member states, Hungary and Slovakia, despise the current European Commission and are especially sympathetic to Trump and the Russian government. Italys prime minister and longtime Trump admirer Giorgia Meloni has backed the EU for now. But all is to play for, not least in the 2027 French presidential election, if the EU is to survive the trade and disinformation onslaught being directed against it by the government of the United States. Ireland has tested its EU partners of late, not least due to its weak contribution to European defence and complex caveats over its support for the Ukrainian military. The EU is preparing for a potential attack by Russia on a member state within the next decade. It is doing so in the full understanding the post-1945 security landscape has been overturned President Trump US security guarantees can no longer be relied upon. Ireland appears to have not yet fully appreciated this new European reality. A single positive word by the Taoiseach about the EU in the Oval Office would have reassured our European partners that Ireland gets it, and signalled to Trump that picking off member states, even those like Ireland with close ties to the United States, may be harder than he thought. Regrettably, that solidarity was not forthcoming. When it comes to the EU and Trump, Ireland needs to pick a side and act accordingly. Trump understands power. Nothing else will do. Amid all of the clamouring and questioning of Donald Trump in the Oval Office, it was clear that much of the Irish coverage would focus on the president's targeting of our economy. That, as journalists would say, was "the line". But the first question asked of Mr Trump from the travelling Irish contingent during a 51-minute press conference was about another matter that has not really grabbed the attention. I havent heard that, I really havent heard that," was Mr Trump's answer when asked by a reporter from UTV if he was disappointed that a number of Northern Irish parties had declined invites to the White House. Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance had ruled out attending such events in response to Mr Trump's position on Gaza, but it appeared not to trouble the US president that those parties would not be at the Shamrock Ceremony in the East Room of the White House later that day. That event is usually attended by a few hundred people and it is likely that Mr Trump is not au fait with the details, but will Sinn Fein have any concern that their protest had fallen on deaf ears? That depends on who you believe that the party is appealing to - Irish voters or the American president? In a piece for the Irish Times when the boycott was announced, the party's former deputy head of press Siobhan Fenton wrote about it being part "strategic positioning". There was, she said, a concerted effort on the behalf of Sinn Fein to put water between itself and the Fianna Fail/Fine Gael government. "(In the South) the boycott is part of an increasingly aggressive approach to put clear water between Sinn Fein and the Government parties a bid to shed its 'government in waiting' tag, which undermined its electoral performance in the 2024 general election," Ms Fenton wrote. To that end, being dismissed by Donald Trump is not the worst thing in the world. While it does imply that the boycott didn't register at the highest levels, it does also allow the party show that it is set apart from Fianna Fail. The party has seized on Mr Martin's laughing response to Mr Trump's answer to a question on Ireland's housing crisis. Sinn Fein's position The message is clear: here is a government that is pally with Donald Trump who has advocated the redevelopment of Gaza as a holiday resort. Sinn Fein didn't even get on the plane. Asked on Thursday about the president's comments, Pearse Doherty was characteristically unfussed. "We made our position clear in relation to the White House, and given what Donald Trump has argued for, particularly in terms of Gaza and the displacement of people in Gaza and to turn it into some type of fancy resort. "I heard his comments yesterday. I heard his comments last week as well, when he wasn't aware that he called Zelenskyy a dictator. So we take what Trump says with a pinch of salt," Mr Doherty said. But the follow-up from the Sinn Fein deputy leader was more interesting as he underscored why Sinn Fein had boycotted. "The reality is that the issues of Gaza and Palestine probably didn't get the airing that they should have got yesterday. I think that Micheal Martin should have asserted the Irish position in a far clearer way," Mr Doherty said, allowing his party to frame the Taoiseach's trip as a net negative. Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly, meanwhile, said that there was a positive spin that could be put on the boycott of her First Minister Michelle O'Neill. 'Confidence' The DUP politician said the Sinn Fein boycott of the White House "shows a confidence in our Executive". I think it demonstrates that the Executive is actually working well together. I believe Im a very strong voice for Northern Ireland. Im not shy about putting forward our case and making sure that we do get into those rooms, and we are saying everything that is fantastic about our wonderful place we call home. It is a purposefully optimistic spin, but one that does allow Sinn Fein to get the domestic benefit of a boycott while ensuring that the North's government is represented on the biggest stage. It's not quite having your cake and eating it, but it's not a million miles off. The arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza has sparked questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are protected against being deported from the United States. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested last Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Homeland Security officials and President Donald Trump have indicated that the arrest was directly tied to his role in the protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City. Khalil is being held at an immigration detention centre in Jena, Louisiana, while he awaits immigration court proceedings that could eventually lead to him being deported. His arrest has drawn criticism that hes being unfairly and unlawfully targeted for his activism while the federal government has essentially described him as a terrorist sympathizer. But it raises many questions about what protections foreign students and green card holders have, and what might be next for Khalil. Can someone with a green card be deported? A green card holder is someone who has lawful permanent residence status in the United States. Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer is a law professor at Cornell Law School who teaches immigration law. She said lawful permanent residents generally have many protections and should be the most protected short of a US citizen. But that protection isnt absolute. Green card holders can still be deported for committing certain crimes, failing to notify immigration officials of a change in address or engaging in marriage fraud, for example. The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was taken into custody as a result of Trumps executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. Trump has argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza and has been designated as a terrorist organization. Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of antisemitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also includes Jewish students and groups. But the protest coalition, at times, has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Islamist organization designated by the US as a terrorist group. Experts say that officials seem to indicate with their rhetoric that they are trying to deport Khalil on the grounds that hes engaging in some sort of terrorist activity or somehow poses a threat. Khalil has not been convicted of any terrorist-related activity. In fact, he has not been charged with any wrongdoing. But experts say the federal government has fairly broad authority to arrest and try to deport a green card holder on terrorism grounds. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders do not need to be convicted of something to be removable, Kelley-Widmer said. They could be deported if the secretary of homeland security or the attorney general have reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in, or are likely to engage in, terrorist activities, she said. But Kelley-Widmer said shes never seen a case where the alleged terrorist activity happened in the US, and she questioned whether taking part in protests, as Khalil did, qualifies. What did ICE say about why they were arresting him? One of the key issues in Khalils case is what ICE agents said to his lawyer at the time he was arrested. His lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agents who took him into custody at his university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa. But when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead. Kelley-Widmer said that exchange raises questions about how familiar the agents who arrested him were with the law or whether there was a real disregard for the rule of law. I think we should be really concerned that this is happening, she said. What are the next steps in his case? Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message posted Sunday on X that the administration will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported. If someone is in the country on a student visa, the State Department does have authority to revoke it if the person violates certain conditions. For example, said Florida immigration attorney John Gihon, its quite common for the State Department to cancel visas of foreign students who get arrested for drink driving. But when it comes to someone whos a lawful permanent resident, that generally requires an immigration judge to determine whether they can be deported. Gihon said the next step is that Khalil would receive charging documents explaining why hes being detained and why the government wants to remove him, as well as a notice to appear in immigration court. Generally, he should receive those within 72 hours of being arrested, and then he would make an initial appearance before an immigration judge. That could take from 10 days to a month, Gihon said. But he cautioned that right now hes seeing extensive delays across the immigration court system, with clients often moved around the country to different facilities. We are having people who are detained and then theyre bounced around to multiple different detention facilities. And then sometimes theyre transferred across the country, he said. Khalils lawyers have also filed a lawsuit challenging his detention. A federal judge in New York City ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considered his case. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. US arms deliveries to Ukraine have resumed, officials said. The move comes a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyiv in its fight against Russias invasion, and Ukrainian officials signalled that they were open to a 30-day ceasefire backed by Washington. Ukraine has signalled it is open for talks towards a ceasefire (AP) Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it is important not to get ahead of the question of responding to the ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting detailed information about it from the US and suggested that Russia must receive that first before it can take a position. The Kremlin has previously opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict and has not accepted any concessions. US President Donald Trump wants to end the three-year war and pressured Mr Zelenskyy to enter talks. The suspension of US assistance came days after Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. The administrations decision to resume military aid after talks on Tuesday with senior Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia marked a sharp shift in its stance. Mr Trump said that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia, Mr Trump said Wednesday in an extended exchange with reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Micheal Martin, the Taoiseach of Ireland. And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath ended. The US president again made veiled threats of hitting Russia with new sanctions. A burned car and damaged residential buildings in Kryvyi Rih (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP) We can, but I hope its not going to be necessary, Mr Trump said. US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation to Tuesdays talks in Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine consented to the US ceasefire proposal, said Washington will pursue multiple points of contacts with Russia to see if president Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war. He declined to give details or say what steps might be taken if Mr Putin refuses to engage. The US hopes to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days as a first step, Mr Rubio said at a refuelling stop Wednesday in Shannon, Ireland, on his way to talks in Canada with other Group of Seven leading industrialised nations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz spoke with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday. She also confirmed that Mr Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will head to Moscow for talks with Russian officials. She did not say with whom Mr Witkoff planned to meet, but a person familiar with the matter said Mr Witkoff is expected to meet with Mr Putin later his week. Mr Zelenskyy said a 30-day ceasefire would allow the sides to fully prepare a step-by-step plan for ending the war, including security guarantees for Ukraine. Technical questions over how to effectively monitor a truce along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line, where small but deadly drones are common, are very important, Mr Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv. Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics centre, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced on Wednesday. The deliveries go through a Nato and US hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow that has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighbouring Ukraine about 70km (45 miles) away. The American military help is vital for Ukraines shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russias bigger military force at bay. For Russia, the American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving war aims, and it could make Washingtons peace efforts a tougher sell in Moscow. The US government has also restored Ukraines access to unclassified commercial satellite pictures provided by Maxar Technologies through a program Washington runs, Maxar spokesperson Tomi Maxted told The Associated Press. The images help Ukraine plan attacks, assess their success and monitor Russian movements. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Mr Putin on Wednesday visited military headquarters in Russias Kursk region, where Kremlin troops are close to driving out Ukrainian forces. Speaking to commanders, Mr Putin said he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. However, Russian officials signalled wariness about the prospect of a ceasefire. Senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said in a post on the messaging app Telegram: Any agreements (with the understanding of the need for compromise) should be on our terms, not American. Mikhail Sheremet told the state news agency Tass that Russia is not interested in continuing the war, but at the same time Moscow will not tolerate being strung along. John Hardie, a defence analyst and deputy director of the Russia programme at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute, said the outcome of the Saudi Arabia talks places the onus on Washington to persuade Moscow to accept and implement the ceasefire. Russias foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, reported that the services chief, Sergei Naryshkin, spoke by phone Tuesday with CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The two discussed co-operation in areas of common interest and the resolution of crisis situations, according to a statement by the SVR. Russian president Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, ordered top commanders to defeat Ukrainian forces in the western region of Kursk as soon as possible after the United States asked him to consider a 30-day ceasefire proposal. Ukrainian forces smashed across the Russian border on August 6 and grabbed a slice of land inside Russia in a bid to distract Moscow's forces from the front lines in eastern Ukraine and to gain a potential bargaining chip. But a lightning Russian advance over the past few days has left Ukraine with a sliver of less than 200 square km (77 square miles) in Kursk, down from 1,300 square km (500 square miles) at the peak of the incursion last summer, according to the Russian military. "Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region," Putin told generals in remarks televised late on Wednesday. "And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border." The remarks by Putin, dressed in a green camouflage uniform, came as US president Donald Trump said he hoped Moscow would agree to a ceasefire and said that if not then Washington could cause Russia financial pain. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia's Gneral Staff, told Putin that Russian forces had pushed Ukrainian forces out of over 86% of the territory they had once held in Kursk, the equivalent to 1,100 square km (425 square miles) of land. "Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region," Putin told generals in remarks televised late on Wednesday. Gerasimov said Ukraine's plans to use Kursk as a bargaining chip in possible future negotiations with Russia had failed and its gambit that its Kursk operation would force Russia to divert troops from its advance in eastern Ukraine had also not worked. He said Russian forces had retaken 24 settlements and 259 square km (100 square miles) of land from Ukrainian forces in the last five days along with over 400 prisoners. Russia's operation to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk has entered its final stage, state news agency TASS reported on Thursday citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Ukraine's top army commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Wednesday that Kyiv's troops will keep operating in Kursk as long as needed and that fighting continued in and around the town of Sudzha. The US on Tuesday agreed to resume weapons supplies and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said at talks in Saudi Arabia that it was ready to support a ceasefire proposal. The Kremlin on Wednesday said it was carefully studying the results of that meeting. Russian forces have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russias Kursk border region, officials have claimed. The news comes as US officials are seeking the Kremlins response to a proposed 30-day ceasefire which Ukraine has endorsed. Several individuals have been arrested as part of a corruption investigation linked to the European Parliament, Belgian federal prosecutors have said. The arrests come amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU politicians. Some 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels as well as in Flanders, Wallonia and Portugal, the federal prosecutors office said. The suspects were arrested for questioning in connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries, prosecutors said. The offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organisation. This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years (Virginia Mayo/AP) According to an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media, lobbyists working for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei are suspected of bribing current or former MEPs to promote the companys commercial policy in Europe. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A European Parliament spokesperson said only that the assembly takes note of the information. When requested, it always co-operates fully with the judicial authorities. The federal prosecutors office, which did not name Huawei, said that corruption was believed to have been practised regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day, and taking various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches. Prosecutors believe that payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. From this point of view, the investigation also aims to detect any evidence of money laundering, they said. Police seized several documents and objects during the searches. This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was left reeling after a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labour rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup. The scandal scarred the reputation of the EUs only institution comprised of officials elected directly in the 27 member countries. It undermined the assemblys claim to the moral high-ground in its own investigations, such as into allegations of corruption in member country Hungary. The impact of the scandal is still being felt, with the parliament due to rule soon on whether to lift the immunity of two more politicians who were implicated. An envoy of US President Donald Trump has arrived in Moscow for talks on an American-proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has accepted but which a senior Russian official said would help Kyiv by giving its weary and shorthanded military a break. The diplomatic development coincided with a Russian claim that its troops had driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. Mr Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia for talks with officials on the US ceasefire proposal, according to an American official. US President Donald Trump is pressing for a diplomatic end to the war (Pool via AP) The Russian defence ministrys claim that it had recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim. The renewed Russian military push and Mr Putins high-profile visit to his troops came as Mr Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. The US lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv on Tuesday after senior American and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia. Mr Trump said Wednesday that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire, which is being proposed three years after Russias full-scale invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, met commanders at military headquarters in the Kursk region on Wednesday (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) The US president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it will not engage with peace efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not comment on Moscows view of the ceasefire proposal. Before the talks start, and they havent started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public, he told reporters. Senior US officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days. But Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putins foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks that a ceasefire would grant a temporary break for the Ukrainian military. Speaking later to reporters in the Kremlin, Mr Ushakov reaffirmed that the US-proposed ceasefire would give us nothing, adding that it would only give the Ukrainians a chance to regroup, consolidate their forces and keep doing the same in the future. Mr Ushakov would not comment on Mr Witkoffs talks in Moscow on Thursday, saying that the parties had agreed to keep them confidential. Mr Ushakov said that Moscow wanted a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscows interests and concerns. His comments came a day after his phone call with US national security adviser Mike Waltz. Mr Ushakovs comments echoed statements from Mr Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its western allies. Ukraine has levelled similar accusations to Mr Ushakovs, claiming Russia would use a truce to regroup and rearm. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided Russia on his Telegram messaging app on Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal. He said that Ukraine was determined to move quickly toward peace and hoped US pressure would compel Russia to stop fighting. The US still has about 3.85 billion Us dollars in congressionally authorised funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signalling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since the Second World War and embarrassed the Kremlin. Speaking to commanders on Wednesday, Mr Putin said that he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. Mr Putin added that its necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border, in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraines neighbouring Sumy region. This idea could complicate a ceasefire deal. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. Syrias interim president signed a temporary constitution on Thursday that leaves the country under Islamist rule for five years during a transitional phase. The nations interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of Syria since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning insurgency that overthrew longtime president Bashar Assad in December. Former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now the countrys interim president a decision that was announced after a meeting of the armed groups that took part in the offensive against Mr Assad. At the same meeting, the groups agreed to repeal the countrys old constitution and said a new one would be drafted. Former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now the countrys interim president (Francisco Seco/AP) While many were happy to see an end to the Assad familys dictatorial rule of more than 50 years in the war-torn country, religious and ethnic minorities have been sceptical of the new Islamist leaders and reluctant to allow Damascus under its new authorities to assert control of their areas. Abdulhamid Al-Awak, one of the seven members of the committee Mr al-Sharaa tasked to draft the temporary constitution, told a news conference on Thursday that it would maintain some provisions from the previous one, including the stipulation that the head of state has to be a Muslim, and Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence. But Mr Al-Awak, a constitutional law expert who teaches at Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey, also said that the temporary constitution included provisions that enshrine freedom of expression and the media. The constitution would balance between social security and freedom during Syrias shaky political situation, he said. A new committee to draft a permanent constitution would be formed, but it was unclear if it would be more inclusive of Syrias political, religious and ethnic groups. Mr Al-Sharaa reached a landmark pact with the US-backed Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria on Monday, including a ceasefire and a merging of their armed forces with the central governments security agencies. A key goal of the interim constitution was to give a timeline for the countrys political transition out of its interim phase (Omar Albam/AP) The deal came after government forces and allied groups crushed an insurgency launched last week by gunmen loyal to Mr Assad. Human rights groups say that hundreds of civilians mostly from the Alawite minority sect to which Mr Assad belongs were killed in retaliatory attacks by factions in the counteroffensive. A key goal of the interim constitution was to give a timeline for the countrys political transition out of its interim phase. In December, Mr Al-Sharaa said that it could take up to three years to rewrite Syrias constitution and up to five years to organise and hold elections. Mr Al-Sharaa appointed a committee to draft the new constitution after Syria held a national dialogue conference last month, which called for announcing a temporary constitution and holding an interim parliamentary election. Critics said that the hastily-organised conference was not inclusive of Syrias different ethnic and sectarian groups or civil society. The US and Europe have been hesitant to lift harsh sanctions imposed on Syria during Mr Assads rule until they are convinced that the new leaders will create an inclusive political system and protect minorities. Mr Al-Sharaa and regional governments have been urging them to reconsider, fearing that the countrys crumbling economy could bring further instability. African leaders announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi who were sent to quell insurgencies in mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where M23 rebels have killed some of the peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year. Troops from the three countries were sent in 2023 under the banner of the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, but public opposition to the deployment has surged since 14 South African and three Malawian peacekeepers were killed by the rebels in January. The decision was announced after a virtual meeting of the 16-member bloc, which also includes Congo, and came a day after Angola announced it would host peace talks next week between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels. No timetable was announced for the pullout of troops, who have numbered up to 3,000, but the SADC said in a statement that it would be a phased withdrawal. All the forces that are not invited, non-invited parties, in that conflict must also withdraw and be engaged in a process of ceasefire South African foreign minister Ronald Lamola told his countrys national broadcaster, SABC, that other belligerents should also now withdraw. All the forces that are not invited, non-invited parties, in that conflict must also withdraw and be engaged in a process of ceasefire, Mr Lamola said. The SADC mission was part of a myriad of forces operating in the mineral-rich region plagued by decades of armed violence. They include Congolese government soldiers, foreign mercenaries, a United Nations peacekeeping force and more than 100 groups that are fighting for power, land and valuable mineral resources. Others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings and ethnic cleansing. The M23 rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congos capital, Kinshasa, more than 1,000 miles away. Rwanda has rejected charges, including by the Congolese government and UN experts, that it backs M23 in eastern Congo, a region that is now one of the worlds largest humanitarian crises with more than seven million people displaced. I chaired the SADC Extraordinary Summit on the DRC crisis, reaffirming our commitment to peace and stability. Urgent action is needed to implement solutions, strengthen security, and protect communities. Together, we will secure our region. #SADC #DRC #PeaceAndSecurity pic.twitter.com/SKDp0WIPoB President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) March 13, 2025 The withdrawal of SADC troops comes after the M23 took control of eastern Congos main city of Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu, in offensives over the past two months. Fourteen South African soldiers, and at least three from Malawi were killed in January in the fighting. The United Nations later evacuated a group of critically injured South African peacekeepers, although the South African government did not provide figures. SADC deployed troops to eastern Congo in December 2023 and extended the mandate by another year during a meeting in Zimbabwes capital, Harare, last November. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the SADC chairman, appealed for continued support for the safe withdrawal of the troops and evacuation of equipment, adding that dialogue is a key cog to usher lasting peace in Congo. The UN Human Rights Council last month launched a commission that will investigate atrocities, including allegations of rape and killing akin to summary executions by both sides. Belgian federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament and the Chinese company Huawei, which is suspected of bribing EU legislators. The arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media said lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant were suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the companys commercial policies in Europe. The prosecutors office confirmed in a statement that the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei. About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal. A man walks by the headquarters of Huawei in Brussels (Sylvain Plazy/AP) The investigating magistrate in charge of the case also asked for seals to be placed on offices inside the EU Parliament allocated to two parliamentary assistants allegedly involved. Prosecutors said one person was arrested in France. The suspects would be questioned over alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries, prosecutors said. The offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organisation. The company said in a statement that Huawei takes these allegations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to further understand the situation. Huawei has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times, it added. Huawei public relations representatives in London did not respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached by phone. The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy. Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers The European Parliament said only that the assembly takes note of the information and always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities. Huawei, which makes cellphones and is the biggest maker of networking gear for phone and internet carriers, has been caught in tensions between the United States and China over technology and trade. Some European nations have followed Washingtons lead and banned Huaweis equipment from next-generation mobile networks over allegations that it poses a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese spying. The company has repeatedly denied this. People looking at their phones in front of the Huawei logo during a conference in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP) European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the EUs executive branch had no comment regarding the investigation but underlined the commissions security concerns about Huawei and Europes fifth-generation mobile phone networks. The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy, Mr Regnier told reporters. Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers. EU member states should swiftly adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks, Mr Regnier said. A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk. The prosecutors office said it believes there was corruption from 2021 to the present day in various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches. Prosecutors also believe payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. They said they would also look to detect any evidence of money laundering. Police seized several documents and objects during the searches. Staff at Huaweis offices in Brussels declined to comment and turned the lights off inside to avoid photographs taken through the window. This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was shaken by a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labour rights concerns ahead of the football World Cup. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he agrees in principle with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but the terms need to be worked out, and he emphasised that it should pave the way to lasting peace. So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. He noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilisation and rearmament. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Mr Putin said. Mr Putin noted that while it appeared that the US persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire, Ukraine is interested in that because of the battlefield situation, noting that Ukrainian troops that launched an incursion into Russias Kursk region would be fully blocked in the coming days. In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days, he said. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he said: Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Mr Putin thanked US President Donald Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their noble mission to end the fighting to casualties, a statement that signalled those countries potential involvement in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any Nato members to monitor a prospective truce. Thursday, Mar 13th, 2025 (2:26 pm) - Score 880 Rural gigabit broadband ISP Alncom has today announced that theyre working on a 1.4m project to extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover over 200 of the hardest to reach premises in and around the remote town of Rothbury in Northumberland (England), which aims to tackle areas that are still unable to access ultrafast broadband. In fact, Alncoms network already reaches into central Rothbury, although their new roll-out looks to be targeting some of the more isolated properties. We should add that Openreach (BT) and the Fusion Fibre Group (formerly FACTCO) also have some FTTP coverage of the town and its surrounding areas. NOTE: Alncom using kit from ADTRANs TA5000 fibre access platform is supported by investment from Alncom using kit from ADTRANs TA5000 fibre access platform is supported by investment from Railsite Telecom here ) and the governments gigabit voucher scheme. The operator, which will need to navigate many challenges during its expansion (e.g. narrow roads, streams, ancient monuments and sites of special scientific interest), added that they would also provide free public WiFi across the town centre and community halls as part of this roll-out. Advertisement The build itself is due to begin sometime this summer (2025) and will then take around 12-months to complete. Stephen Pinchen, MD of Alncom, said: We plan to start in the summer of 2025 with the build taking around 12 months. Ultrafast broadband is now a vital part of everyday life and as a company, we have been heavily focussed on being able to deliver this roll-out to the people and businesses who have been left behind. It has taken a lot of planning and negotiation, working closely with BDUK to get our teams into these harder to reach and more isolated homes and commercial premises. County Councillor. Steven Bridgett. said: I am over the moon that our most remote and hardest to reach properties are finally being given the attention they deserve. This is long overdue! Alncom have helped play a key role in highlighting this. So I am very pleased that they have been awarded the contract to ensure everyone can benefit from the fastest internet speeds no matter where they live in Coquetdale. The addition of a free public WiFi system for residents and visitors to Rothbury can only serve to enhance Rothburys offering. With the added bonus that the installation of a new free WiFi system in the centre of Rothbury will also benefit our Christmas lights with new electricity points. This is a win all round for Rothbury and the Coquet Valley. The provider itself is currently aiming to build their full fibre network to cover 50,000 premises across the North East of England (theyve already done well over half that) mostly in rural parts of Northumberland, County Durham and the Scottish Borders and they also have an existing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network. Four Dead in Russian Strike on Ukrainian City of Odesa A Russian ballistic missile strike struck the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, resulting in the deaths of four individuals and damage to a Barbados-flagged cargo ship, according to Ukrainian officials. Regrettably, four individuals lost their lives they were citizens of Syria. At the time of the strike, the ship was loading wheat destined for export to Algeria. It was a fully civilian vessel, Oleksiy Kuleba, vice prime minister for reconstruction, stated on social media. In another incident, a missile attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih claimed the life of a 47-year-old woman and left at least five others injured, as reported by Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak. The attack also targeted an infrastructure facility, causing a fire, he added in a statement via the Telegram messaging platform. Local official Oleksandr Vilkul noted that civilian infrastructures, businesses, and apartment buildings were damaged, and assured that city services were working to provide repair materials to residents of Kryvyi Rih. During the night, Russia executed an air attack on Kyiv, with air defense forces actively engaged in thwarting the strikes, reported Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital. In the meantime, Russia announced it was achieving significant progress in the Kursk region, reasserting control over five villages that were previously occupied by Ukrainian forces. Additionally, Russian troops have entered the town of Sudzha, the largest location that had been under Ukrainian control, and are reportedly conducting assault operations there, according to the state news agency TASS. People stroll along a street past a damaged building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk, Ukraine Our militarys information indicates that our forces are making successful advances in the Kursk region, freeing areas that were under militant control. The dynamics are promising, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Ukraine initiated a surprise offensive in the Kursk region last August, but has gradually lost ground as Russia dispatched thousands of reinforcements, including soldiers from North Korea. Over the past week, Ukraine has given up control of numerous square kilometers of territory, as noted by military bloggers. Video footage shared by Russian news outlets allegedly showed Russian troops waving flags in the center of Sudzha, a location seized by Ukraine shortly after the offensive commenced. Read more: US to resume military aid to Ukraine following talks. European ministers to discuss Ukraine peacekeeping force. Kursk represents one of Ukraines few negotiating points for land swaps with Russia, which has occupied approximately one-fifth of Ukraine since its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the initiation of its full-scale assault in February 2022. The recent attacks in Ukraine and the reclamation of territory in Kursk followed Ukraines endorsement of an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and its agreement to engage in immediate negotiations with Russia, following talks in Saudi Arabia. The administration of President Donald Trump also consented to lift a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine and anticipated the dawn of an end to the conflict. In the hours subsequent to the talks, the Ukrainian military reported that Russia launched three missiles and 133 drones in an overnight attack. The air force managed to shoot down 98 of those drones. Ukraine executed its largest drone attack on Moscow yesterday. Another 20 drones failed to reach their objectives, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures, according to reports. The fate of the remaining 15 drones remains unspecified. Concurrently, the Russian defense ministry reported that its air defense units intercepted and destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones overnight. Twelve of these drones were downed over the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, while the rest were engaged over the territories of Kursk and Kaluga regions, as well as the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea. These overnight attacks followed previous Russian strikes that resulted in the deaths of six individuals, including two children, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, as reported by the regional governor. Odesa was also targeted yesterday, with reports indicating a Russian attack igniting a fire at a fuel storage facility, a private residence, and a storage site for childrens toys. The assaults by Russia transpired as Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack on Moscow and its surroundings the previous day, resulting in the deaths of at least three employees at a meat warehouse, injuring 17 others, and causing a brief shutdown of four airports in the Russian capital, according to officials. A spokesperson for Hamas has expressed approval of US President Donald Trumps apparent withdrawal from his proposal for the permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, urging him to avoid aligning himself with the agenda of the extreme Zionist right. This statement from the Hamas official followed Mr. Trumps remarks that nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza during a meeting at the White House with Taoiseach Micheal Martin. If President Trumps comments signify a withdrawal from any notion of displacing the residents of the Gaza Strip, we welcome that, the official noted in the statement. We (Hamas) urge this position to be strengthened by holding the Israeli occupation accountable for fulfilling all the terms of the ceasefire agreements. On Sunday, Taher Al-Nono, political advisor to the Hamas leader, confirmed that unprecedented direct discussions with Washington were held in the Qatari capital over the past week, centered around the release of an American-Israeli dual national in the groups custody in Gaza. He also mentioned that the meetings involving Hamas leaders and US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler included discussions on the implementation of a phased agreement aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Israel and Hamas indicated on Saturday that they were preparing for the next stage of ceasefire negotiations, as mediators advanced discussions to extend a 42-day truce that commenced in January. A Hamas delegation met with Egyptian mediators over the past two days and reaffirmed their willingness to negotiate the next stage of the ceasefire. On Monday, Israel sent negotiators to Doha for further ceasefire talks. The discussions between Mr. Boehler and Hamas have marked a break from a long-standing US policy against negotiating with groups designated as terrorist organizations. The Islamist militant group conducted a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking a devastating war in Gaza that, according to health officials, has resulted in the deaths of over 48,000 Palestinians. According to Israeli reports, Hamas militants killed 1,200 individuals and took 251 hostages. Read more: Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centres genocidal UN probe. UN warns aid stocks are dwindling in Gaza. Latest Middle East stories. The captain of the ship that collided with a US-flagged tanker off the coast of England has been identified as a Russian national, according to the German company owning the vessel. The Solong encountered the Stena Immaculate, a tanker transporting jet fuel for the US military, on Monday. On Tuesday, British police detained the captain of the Solong under suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. Authorities noted that the 59-year-old is currently in custody. At the time of the incident, the Stena Immaculate was anchored when it was struck by the smaller Solong, resulting in significant fires and explosions, with one crew member missing and presumed dead. The incident also led to fuel being released into the sea, raising concerns about potential environmental damage. A view of the MV Stena Immaculate oil tanker off the coast of East Yorkshire following Mondays collision The Solong failed safety evaluations Officials from Ireland Last year, the Solong did not pass certain steering-related safety tests. Documents from a port state control (PSC) inspection in July revealed that Irish officials reported the vessels emergency steering position communications/compass reading was not readable. This was one of ten deficiencies noted during the inspection of the Portuguese vessel in Dublin. Other identified issues included inadequate alarms, improperly maintained survival crafts, and fire doors that did not meet requirements. Another PSC inspection conducted by Scottish authorities in Grangemouth in October 2024 uncovered two deficiencies with the Solong. One of these was related to lifebuoys, which are meant to be thrown into the water to prevent drowning, being not properly marked. Despite the findings from the inspections in Dublin and Grangemouth, the Solong was not detained. PSC inspections are performed on vessels in ports around the globe. These inspections aim to assess the condition of a ship and ensure that its equipment complies with international regulations. US President Donald Trump has threatened to introduce 200% tariffs on wine, champagne, and other alcoholic products imported from France and various European Union nations as a response to the blocs proposed tariffs on US-made whiskey. If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will soon impose a 200% tariff on all wines, champagnes, & alcoholic products coming from France and other EU member countries, he stated on his Truth Social platform. Since entering office, Mr. Trump has initiated trade conflicts with both competitors and allies, using tariffs as leverage to influence countries on trade and other policy challenges. Yesterday, the European Union announced tariffs in retaliation to US actions involving steel and aluminum, affecting approximately 26 billion ($28 billion) worth of US goods, set to be implemented in stages starting in April. He described the EU as one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world, asserting that it was created solely to exploit the United States. Concerns about Mr. Trumps trade strategies and the possibility of them triggering a recession have unsettled financial markets. However, US stocks regained some value yesterday, despite a decline in some Asian markets. Read more: Tariff threat very concerning for Irish spirits sector US distillers have expressed disappointment over the EUs tax on American whiskey, calling it deeply disappointing. Reinstating these damaging tariffs during a time when the spirits industry is already experiencing a slowdown in the US market will further impede growth and adversely affect distillers and farmers across the nation, remarked Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council, in a statement. The imposition of similar tariffs in 2018 resulted in a 20% decrease in American whiskey exports to the European Union. The removal of that measure in 2021 led to a nearly 60% increase in US whiskey exports, according to industry data. It remains unclear what legal rationale Trump would use to justify increasing tariffs on European alcoholic beverages. Mr. Trumps tariff campaigns have targeted Canada, Mexico, and China, accusing them of not sufficiently addressing fentanyl smuggling or illegal immigration into the United States. He has also focused on specific commodities, including steel, aluminum, and copper. In retaliation to Trumps strategies aimed at correcting what he claims is an unfair trade balance, some countries, like the EU, have enacted retaliatory tariffs against the United States. China has pledged to take all necessary measures in response to US actions and has already implemented tariffs of 10% and 15% on various US agricultural products, including soybeans and chicken. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EUs retaliation, which impacts products ranging from bourbon to motorcycles, is strong but proportionate. Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) The efforts to discredit and suppress the film No Other Land are part and parcel of a broader effort by Republicans to dominate and manipulate the mainstream media. They have gone to great lengths to undermine traditional media, in favor of the partisan charged social media outlets, free of boundaries and regulation. Though they dismiss mainstream media as fake news, they are forceful in manipulating its content through intimidation, meritless lawsuits and disinformation campaigns. In his Oscar acceptance speech filmmaker and subject Basal Adra offended Zionist and Republican sensibilities when he called for an end to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, and said, We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice. His appearance at the awards ceremony with Israeli partner Yuval Abraham, has elicited a firestorm of mendacity and hate from supporters of the current far, far-right Israeli government and their American counterparts, MAGA supporters. It concerns the fate under Israeli military occupation of 19 historic villages of Masafer Yatta near al-Khalil, the major Palestinian city that Israelis call Hebron. Peter Lagerquist informs us, The standard historical narrative of Masafir Yatta is that the ancestors of its present-day inhabitants first settled the area in the early decades of the nineteenth century [under the Ottoman Empire], and that they were farmers from the village of Yatta, today a large town dominating the southern reaches of the Hebron mountains. Their descendants will show you Ottoman-era tax receipts and sometimes ownership documents, proving their title to some stretch of land. It is thought that the migration occurred because of pressure on existing land reserves around Yatta . . . No Other Land, the story of the repeated destruction of homes and attacks on civilians of the Israeli occupation army and of illegal Israeli squatters on Palestinian land has still failed to secure a major US distributor, despite its Oscar win for Best Feature Documentary, among other high awards. It faces an extremely hostile atmosphere in a far right-wing United States. We have moved from a post-truth era to an anti-truth epoch. Convicted felon Donald Trumps return to the White House has wrought a lightning strike of Orwellian nightmares in the US, including dramatic instances of Thought Police invocation. Trumps Thought Police mentality has filtered into local government, as Republican enforcers have taken it upon themselves to unlawfully evict people from local government Council and Commission meetings. This happened in Coeur DAlene, ID at a Republican Town Hall in February. The unlawful detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian student leader at Columbia University, is yet another instance. He was arrested on March 9 and sent to a federal detention facility in Louisiana, though he has not been charged with any crime. No Other Land | Trailer | Berlinale 2024 Now a theatre in Miami is having its lease revoked over its refusal to adhere to Mayor Steven Meiners directive not to show the film. Out of devotion to his own orthodoxy, Meiner is abusing his standing to introduce legislation to terminate the lease of the O Cinema theatre at the old City Hall, and all of its public financing. This is direct retaliation for the screening of No Other Land, and a gross instance of government censorship in service to the new American far right agenda. The Founding Fathers, who didnt want the government abridging the freedom of speech, are turning in their graves. Attacks on the films integrity have come from a variety of far right sources. Greater Israel ideologues dream of annexing the entirety of the Palestinian West Bank, and misrepresent the legal situation there in favor of illegal Israeli squatters. The fact is that the 1993 Oslo Accords awarded all of the Israeli-Occupied territories to the Palestine Authority. The Israeli government, which signed them, pledged to withdraw all Israeli squatters from the Palestinian West Bank by the end of 1997. Benjamin Netanyahu boasts of having reneged on these treaty obligations, but that perfidy does not remove the obligations. The International Court of Justice ruled in summer 2024 that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza is illegal. The Palestinian inhabitants of Masafer Yatta have every right to live in their villages and to build buildings, and the Israeli state has no legal justification for intervening against them. As No Other Land itself noted, the Israeli government pretext of making Masafer Yatta a military artillery testing zone was deliberately made up to prevent Palestinian villages in the area from growing. Expelling occupied populations from their homes is a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. And if it is so important that Palestinians be expelled from their homes in Masafer Yatta for the sake of Israeli army firing ranges, why is it all right for armed squatters to come over the Green Line from Israel to settle there and to attack the local Palestinians? A widely circulated and tendentious critique was published by two Israelis who are clearly in the camp of the Israeli squatter-settlers. Filmmaker Golan Ramraz and entrepreneur Guy Goldstein argued in the film trade website The Wrap that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The Academy) promoted a flagrant distortion of the truth, and compromised its journalistic integrity in favor of political pandering. They claim that the film violates the non-fiction requirement for the Academys consideration of a documentary film, and that the Oscar should be rescinded. How can raw footage of the IDF destroying homes, a school, an electrical tower, chicken coup and water well be considered fiction? Viewers of the film saw it recorded in real time, and this not something that can be staged. They claim the film employs historical fiction methodology, and calls it a masterclass in selective storytelling, omission and outright falsehoods a piece of propaganda draped in the trappings of journalism. Their source for determining this? The pro-settlement organization Ragavim Movement, which positions itself as a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), in a lame stab at legitimacy for a Likud-sponsored hate group. As with Mahmoud Khalils arrest, suppression of the film is another instance of thought police enforcement with Trumps return to the White House. Far right wing Zionist and Republicans are making every effort to frame the film as anti-Semitic and fictionalized; with the common, willful failure and refusal to distinguish Judaism the religion, from the political ideology of Zionism. Calling out Israeli atrocities is not an act of anti-Semitism, but an obligation in Judaism to not dignify lies! This film painfully documents the facts of life on the ground for residents of Masafer Yatta, a collective of villages in the South Hebron Hills, inhabited by Palestinian families since the mid-19th Century. As for the allegation that this film compromises journalistic integrity, this is a documentary film, not pretending to be a journal with opposing view obligations. Yet, Ramraz and Goldstein look to the Ravagim historical whitewash, in attempt to argue that Masafer Yatta was never inhabited by Palestinians UNTIL it was declared a military zone as a result of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Alternative facts, indeed! Their own journalistic weaknesses exude themselves with phrases such as how the film depicts Masafer Yatta residents purportedly expelled by Israeli authorities. Purportedly? The film carefully documents the escalating instances of destruction. And when the settlers withstand all the indignities the Israeli Army can dish out, the lawless settlers move in with more unregulated brutality, which ultimately prompts some residents to finally leave. Masafer Yatta, Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3 / Clip2Comic, 2025 The films far-right critics pursue the settlers argument that their actions are merely to discourage illegal construction of dwellings, but make no mention that Palestinian building permit requests are uniformly denied as a pretext for the destruction of their villages. The official Ravagim position argued by Ramraz and Goldstein is that, Masafer Yatta is state land, which was declared a military training ground in the early 1980s. They make the absurd assertion that, like all state lands set aside for military use, there was not, nor had there been in over 100 years, settlement of any kind on the land in question no private property, no historic villages, nothing. Yet public documents, historical records, period maps and other documents attest that this is an elaborate falsehood! Ramraz and Goldstein characterize the film as a curated story of victimhood, omitting any mention of illegal construction . . , though the film clearly depicts the frustration of resident applying for building permits, only to have everything denied. While its true that, The film includes no interviews with Israeli officials, the filmmakers had no such obligation. Why interview subjects poised to tell lies? No Other Land makes no pretensions of being the on the one hand sort of journalism. Rather, it is a work of advocacy, a testimony to the heartbreaking, home-wrecking actions of the policies of Israels ruling Likud Party, directing the Israeli occupation army to drive people off of their family homesteads, destroy their water sources and all life-supporting infrastructure. As there are not always two equal and logical sides to every argument, a journalist has no obligation to dignify a fictionalized denial of truth and proven facts. So why is there still no major US distribution deal for the film, despite the acclaim? Middle East expert Ken Dorph points out, Aside from perhaps, a pro-Israel tilt in the film distribution chain, the film industry likes to depict Americans as the good guys, and this is not a good guy narrative. There are many films about the Holocaust, where the Americans are heroes fighting off the Nazis, but we are NOT the heroes in the Middle East. Its hard for Americans to see the US as bad guys. It doesnt sell. By Ali Mamouri, Deakin University Shortly after the fall of Bashar al-Assads regime in Syria, the new government led by rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged to unite Syrians and establish a civil peace in the country. In recent days, this fragile peace has been tested. Late last week, clashes broke out between government security forces and the remnants of pro-Assad militias in the former presidents stronghold of Latakia province on the northwestern coast. More than 1,000 people were killed, mostly civilians. In a positive sign, a major deal was struck on Monday between the government and another armed faction, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northeastern Syria. The SDF has agreed to integrate all of its forces and institutions with the central government in Damascus. Yet, the threat of more violence in the fractured country remains. This raises serious doubts about whether al-Sharaas vision can become a reality. What caused the recent violence? The unrest in Latakia was sparked by an ambush attack by pro-Assad gunmen against government security forces (composed primarily of former rebel fighters) last Thursday. This reignited old wounds from Syrias 13-year civil war, triggering the deadliest violence since the fall of al-Assad in December. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 1,068 civilians were killed in the violence mostly members of the Alawite minority (a sect of Shiite Islam), as well as some Christians. The United Nations said it had received extremely disturbing reports of entire families being killed, including children. Many members of Assads family and his former regimes high-ranking officials belong to the Alawite minority. Tensions have persisted between these Assad loyalists and the new government, which is dominated by Sunni factions with a history of jihadist and anti-Shiite leanings. The government said its operations against the pro-Assad forces had ended by Monday. Al-Sharaa also acknowledged that human rights violations had occurred and announced an investigation to identify those responsible. However, he placed primary blame on the pro-Assad groups for instigating the violence. While defending the crackdown overall, he stressed that security forces should not exaggerate in their response. Following the violence, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed solidarity with Syrias religious and ethnic minorities, calling on the interim government to hold the perpetrators accountable. The European Union, which recently eased some restrictions on Syria to support an inclusive political transition, also condemned the violence. Transitional justice is key In a diverse and deeply divided country like Syria, the decades of dictatorship eroded national identity and fueled sectarian conflict. This is why a comprehensive process of transitional justice is essential. Such a process would help bridge the divisions between different ethnic and religious communities. This would foster national unity, while respecting the unique identities of individual groups. Although the new administration has emphasised the importance of social cohesion, its forces are accused of acting counter to this pledge and carrying out extrajudicial killings. Sectarian rhetoric from some pro-government figures has only further inflamed tensions. Latakia, Digital, Dream / ChatGPT, 2025 Additionally, Alawites have faced increasing marginalisation, including dismissals from public employment, salary cuts and targeted persecutions. These developments underscore Syrias urgent need for an independent transitional justice committee. Without a structured approach to hold those accountable for crimes committed under the Assad regime and national reconciliation, the country risks replacing one cycle of repression with another. This will only deepen grievances, not heal them. A well-designed justice process is crucial to help Syrians move beyond the trauma of the previous regime and build a stable, inclusive future. Challenges to a united Syria Amid the ongoing turmoil, the recent agreement signed between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and al-Sharaas government has raised hopes the country may still have a chance to maintain its unity and avoid fragmentation. However, the details of how the SDF forces will be integrated remain unclear. Will the Kurds finally achieve their long-held demand for semi-autonomy within a federal state? Or will this integration mark the end of their aspirations? The situation is equally complex for the Alawites and Druze communities in the western and southern regions of Syria, given they have two powerful regional forces backing them. Israel has made significant inroads in the Druze areas of southern Syria, offering to defend the Druze if necessary. Similarly, Iran continues to support the Alawites, with its leadership predicting an uprising against the new Syrian regime. These dynamics present serious obstacles to Syrias unity. In such a polarised environment, a federal system may be the last viable option to preserve the countrys cohesion. However, if the new regime continues to reject this idea, the country risks fragmentation and undoubtedly more violence. Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. CALIFORNIA SCHOLARS FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM March 11, 2025 Katrina Armstrong, President Columbia University Daniel Abebe, Dean Columbia School of Law Dear President Armstrong and Dean Abebe: We are writing on behalf of California Scholars for Academic Freedom, a group of over two-hundred scholars from campuses across California, to call upon you to demand the immediate release from ICE custody of your alumnus Mahmoud Khalil. It is obvious that the charges justifying his detention and deportation, and the cancellation of his US permanent residency card, are highly dubious. You have already neglected to act proactively to prevent this dire turn. According to news reports, recently Mr. Khalil wrote to your administration of a vicious, coordinated, and dehumanizing doxxing campaign led by Columbia affiliates Shai Davidai and David Lederer who, among others, have labeled me a security threat and called for my deportation. Needless to say, this repeats the pattern observed last spring, when the Columbia administration failed to act as extreme violence was wielded against your students by IDF-affiliated and non-Columbia-affiliated demonstrators, which led to at least ten hospitalizations. As the ADC has noted, [w]hat is happening to Mr. Khalil goes against the First Amendment rights enshrined inthe U.S. Constitution. In a time that demands robust public discourse, any infringement on free speechespecially under the pretense of national security or immigration policyundermines our democratic values.With its justly renowned history of championing academic freedom under the leadership of faculty such as John Dewey, Columbia has a special responsibility to ensure the free and unhindered consideration of controversial subjects by your students and faculty, and to protect them from repressive measures depriving them of these constitutionally guaranteed rights.For Columbia to turn its back on Mr. Khalil at this critical moment would be to betray its history. But even more than that, you would ignore that his arrest and immediate removal to a facility in Louisiana have plumbed depths of malice that appear to have been inspired by a foreign nation demonstrably less committed to the equal protection of all under the law. By verbally threatening his wife and depriving her of his support just as she is preparing to give birth to their first child, the behavior of ICE evokes the modus operandi of the Israeli AI program known as Wheres Daddy, which has led to the slaughter and maiming of countless fathers and their extended families over the past 17 months across Gaza. Just as such heinous cruelty has brought about countless miscarriages and deaths of newborns, the shock of losing her partner is certain to place severe stress on this pregnancy. Perhaps that was the pointjust as the Israeli government apparently sees every newborn Palestinian a future terrorist to be snuffed out, ICE and the forces colluding with it are engaging in a level of brutality toward Mr. Khalil and countless others that results in the physical destruction of innocent life. Columbia must rise to the moment and repudiate the harm that your affiliates . . . have brought down upon Mahmoud Khalil and his family. If you allow this injustice to go unanswered, you will be opening the door to a future of barbarous lawlessness that . . . will have Columbias fingerprints all over it. Please call for his immediate release! [California Scholars for Academic Freedom is a group of scholars committed to academic freedom and rights to education of faculty and students not only in California and the United States but internationally as well. We recognize that violations of academic freedom anywhere are threats to academic freedom everywhere. California Scholars for Academic Freedom investigates legislative and administrative infringements on freedom of speech and assembly, and it raises the consciousness of politicians, university regents and administrators, faculty, students and the public at large through open letters, press releases, petitions, statements, and articles.] Sincerely, Stephen Roddy Co-Coordinator, Executive Board, CS4AF Professor Languages, Literatures, and Cultures University of San Francisco Sang Hea Kil [Currently job suspended for Palestine and signing as an individual and not as a SJSU representative] Co-Coordinator, Executive Board, CS4AF Professor Justice Studies Department San Jose State University Dennis Kortheuer, Department of History, Emeritus, California State University, Long Beach Lisa Rofel Professor Emerita and Research Professor, Department of Anthropology University of California, Santa Cruz Nancy Gallagher Professor Emerita, History, University of California, Santa Barbara Rabab Abdulhadi Director, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies San Francisco State University Vida Samiian Professor & Dean Emerita CSU Fresno Richard Falk Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University Chair of Global Law Queen Mary University London Sondra Hale Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Gender Studies, University of California, Los Angeles Dina Al-Kassim Associate Professor Department of English Literatures and Language Associate, Institute for Social Justice Associate, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies University of British Columbia, Vancouver Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Committee Member, American Comparative Literature Association 2020-28 David Klein Emeritus Professor of Mathematics California State University Northridge Rupa Marya Professor of Medicine University of California, San Francisco TORONTO, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM, OTCQB: WLBMF) (Wallbridge or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has received final assay results from the 2024 exploration drilling program carried out by Agnico Eagle Mines (Agnico) on the Detour East property located approximately 55 kilometres west of its 100% owned Fenelon Gold Project (Fenelon) and 25 kilometres east of Agnicos Detour Lake gold mine. Agnico holds an option to earn a 75% interest in the Detour East Property, which is currently 100% owned by Wallbridge. Assay highlights include: 9.95 g/t Au over 0.5 metres in hole DTE-24-55, which drilled a previously untested target located along the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone ( SLDZ ) within a few hundred metres of Wallbridges neighboring Casault property ) within a few hundred metres of Wallbridges neighboring Casault property 1.34 g/t Au over 3.0 metres in hole DTE-24-64 plus 1.27 g/t Au over 3.7 metres and 2.57 g/t Au over 2.1 metres in hole DTE-24-65, drilled on a previously identified target located along an accessory structure 2 kilometres north of the SLDZ near the boundary with the Casault property 1.43 g/t Au over 5.0 metres, 5.79 g/t Au over 1.0 metre and 7.02 g/t Au over 3.5 metres in hole DTE-24-66 and 2.2 g/t Au over 2.4 metres in hole DTE-24-68, drilled on the historic Lynx target located along the Massicotte Deformation Zone (MDZ) We believe these positive drill results, in combination with the completion of the airborne geophysical survey, represent another significant step forward toward a new gold discovery in the northern Abitibi region, commented Brian Penny, Wallbridge CEO. Since entering into the Detour East option agreement in late 2020, Agnico has invested approximately $5.5 million into exploring the property, with approximately $2.0 million of qualified expenditures remaining in order to acquire an initial 50% interest in the property. We look forward to continued positive exploration results at Detour East during 2025, concluded Mr. Penny. The 2024 exploration program at Detour East was conducted in two phases. The first involved the completion of a property-wide airborne Mobile Magnetotellurics (MT) geophysical survey totaling 1,923 line-kilometres to map bedrock lithology, structure and possible alteration and mineralization concealed beneath the extensive surficial overburden cover characteristic of the region. The results of the MT survey were used to identify prospective geologic and geophysical targets in proximity to the regional scale SLDZ, MDZ, and interpreted accessory fault structures as they extend across the northern and southern portions of the property. The second phase involved the completion of a 14-hole diamond drilling program totaling 6,475 metres. Significant brittle-ductile style structural deformation hosting localized gold mineralization was intersected at multiple targets, confirming the locations of the main SLDZ and MDZ structures and accessory fault structures. Of the 14 holes drilled, 9 intercepted gold mineralization that may warrant further drilling. Gold mineralization occurs in association with quartz-sulfide and quartz-carbonate veining and breccia fillings. Additional details from the 2024 drilling program are provided in the summary table below: Detour East Gold Project: 2024 Drill Assay Highlights Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Targeted Zone DTE-24-55 198.0 198.5 0.5 9.95 SLDZ DTE-24-56 234.0 236.0 2.0 0.53 SLDZ DTE-24-57 No significant assays reported MDZ DTE-24-58 No significant assays reported MDZ DTE-24-59 No significant assays reported MDZ DTE-24-60 231.0 233.0 2.0 0.50 MDZ DTE-24-61 No significant assays reported MDZ DTE-24-62 102.6 103.6 1.0 2.26 MDZ 299.0 300.0 1.0 1.29 DTE-24-63 118.0 118.9 0.9 1.85 MDZ DTE-24-64 97.0 98.0 1.0 1.18 SLDZ 188.0 194.3 6.3 0.72 223.0 226.5 3.5 0.45 251.0 253.0 2.0 0.75 267.0 270.5 3.5 0.87 431.0 434.0 3.0 1.34 DTE-24-65 183.3 187.0 3.7 1.27 SLDZ 209.8 211.9 2.1 2.57 DTE-24-66 87.0 92.0 5.0 1.43 MDZ 115.0 116.0 1.0 5.79 123.0 126.5 3.5 7.02 129.2 130.1 0.9 1.58 DTE-24-67 No significant assays reported MDZ DTE-24-68 88.0 89.0 1.0 1.25 MDZ 93.5 96.3 2.8 0.70 124.5 126.9 2.4 2.20 132.3 137.7 5.4 0.57 Notes 1 Assay results are presented in summary format as reported by Agnico to Wallbridge. 2 As these are exploration results, accurate estimation of true interval widths have not been determined. Links to a drill hole location map and an example cross-section for drill holes reported in this news release are provided here: Detour East Project: 2024 Drill Hole Location Map & Cross-Sections The Detour East property is a 231 km2 claim block that comprises part of the Companys 830 km2 Detour-Fenelon Gold Project land package. It covers approximately 20 km of the SLDZ and approximately 15 km of the MDZ as they extend east from the Quebec-Ontario border. Under terms of the Detour East option agreement, Agnico has the option to acquire an initial 50% ownership interest in the property by funding expenditures of $7.5 million by November 23, 2025. Upon Agnico exercising its option to earn the initial 50% interest, a joint venture will be formed and Agnico will have a second option to earn an additional 25% interest in the property by completing an additional $27.5 million in qualified work expenditures within 5 years of entering into the joint venture agreement, for a total undivided 75% interest in the property. Agnico is the project operator during the full term of the option period. There is a NSR royalty of 2%, relating to the entirety of the property, payable to a former owner, which may be repurchased at any time for $1.0 million for the first 50% of the NSR interest and $2.0 million for the remainder. Quality Assurance / Quality Control Agnico Eagle Mines Limited maintains a Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") program for all its exploration projects using industry best practices. Key elements of the QA/QC program include verifiable chain of custody for samples, regular insertion of blanks and certified reference materials, and completion of secondary check analyses performed at a separate independent accredited laboratory. Drill core is halved and shipped in sealed bags to ALS Minerals in Timmins, Ontario for sample preparation. Samples are logged in the tracking system, weighed, dried, and finely crushed to better than 70% passing a 2 mm screen per preparation code CRU-31. A split of up to 500 g is taken using a Boyd rotary splitter and pulverized to better than 85% passing a 75 m screen per code PUL-32m. A 200g split is sent to ALS Minerals in Vancouver for analysis. Samples are assayed for gold using fire assay techniques on a 50 g sample with atomic absorption spectroscopy finish (Au-AA24). Samples with >10 g/t Au are reanalyzed with a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA22). Samples containing visible gold are analyzed using a screen metallics procedure and followed with a silica wash of equipment per request by Exploration personnel. A high-grade standard is placed before the sample with visible gold within the previous 10 samples and a blank sample is inserted immediately after the sample with visible gold. ALS Minerals operates under a Quality Management System that conforms to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Qualified Person The Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this news release is Mr. Mark A. Petersen, M.Sc., P.Geo. (OGQ AS-10796: PGO 3069), Senior Exploration Consultant for Wallbridge. About Wallbridge Mining Wallbridge is focused on creating value through the exploration and sustainable development of gold projects in Quebecs Northern Abitibi region while respecting the environment and communities where it operates. The Company holds a contiguous mineral property position totaling 830 km2 that extends approximately 97 kilometers along the Detour-Fenelon gold trend. The property is host to the Companys flagship PEA stage Fenelon Gold Project, and its earlier exploration stage Martiniere Gold Project. For further information please visit the Companys website at https://wallbridgemining.com/ or contact: Brian Penny, CPA, CMA CEO Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. M: +1 416 716 8346 Tania Barreto, CPIR Director Investor Relations Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. M: +1 289 819 3012 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information The information in this document may contain forward-looking statements or information (collectively, FLI) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. FLI is based on expectations, estimates, projections, and interpretations as at the date of this document. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are FLI that involve various risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. Generally, FLI can be identified by the use of statements that include, but are not limited to, words such as seeks, believes, anticipates, plans, continues, budget, scheduled, estimates, expects, forecasts, intends, projects, predicts, proposes, "potential", targets and variations of such words and phrases, or by statements that certain actions, events or results may, will, could, would, should or might, be taken, occur or be achieved. FLI in this document may include, but is not limited to: exploration by Agnico or the Company on the Detour East property; the Companys exploration plans; the future prospects of Wallbridge; statements regarding the results of the PEA; future drill results; the Companys ability to convert inferred resources into measured and indicated resources; environmental matters; stakeholder engagement and relationships; parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resource estimates (MRE) at the Fenelon and Martiniere properties (collectively the Deposits); the prospects, if any, of the Deposits; future drilling at the Deposits; and the significance of historic exploration activities and results. FLI is designed to help you understand managements current views of its near- and longer-term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes. FLI by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such FLI. Although the FLI contained in this document is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities of the Company that actual results will be consistent with such FLI, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such FLI. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such FLI contained in this document to reflect new events or circumstances. Unless otherwise noted, this document has been prepared based on information available as of the date of this document. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the FLI, or information contained herein. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in FLI. Assumptions upon which FLI is based, without limitation, include: the results of exploration activities, the Companys financial position and general economic conditions; the ability of exploration activities to accurately predict mineralization; the accuracy of geological modelling; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities; the legitimacy of title and property interests in the Deposits; the accuracy of key assumptions, parameters or methods used to estimate the MREs and in the PEA; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals; geological, mining and exploration technical problems; and failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the evolution of the global economic climate; metal prices; foreign exchange rates; environmental expectations; community and non-governmental actions; and, the Companys ability to secure required funding. Risks and uncertainties about Wallbridge's business are discussed in the disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Cautionary Notes to United States Investors Wallbridge prepares its disclosure in accordance with NI 43-101 which differs from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Terms relating to mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources and economic studies used herein are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended. NI 43-101 differs significantly from the disclosure requirements of the SEC generally applicable to US companies. As such, the information presented herein concerning mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Wallbridge Mining Detour Fenelon Gold Trend Properties Detour East Property 2024 Drill Hole Locations Hole ID Northing UTM_N Easting UTM_E Elevation (masl) Depth (m) Azimuth (Degrees) Dip (Degrees) Hole ID Northing UTM_N Easting UTM_E Elevation (masl) Depth (m) Azimuth (Degrees) Dip (Degrees) DTE-24-55 5536321 624700 252 564 320 52 DTE-24-62 5533178 616235 244 510 200 52 DTE-24-56 5537731 621743 252 409 220 52 DTE-24-63 5533306 615975 259 450 220 52 DTE-24-57 5532842 618184 255 447 190 52 DTE-24-64 5540603 626990 261 510 172 52 DTE-24-58 5532553 619418 254 540 20 52 DTE-24-65 5540422 627011 261 402 172 52 DTE-24-59 5533335 620237 255 600 205 52 DTE-24-66 5532861 617812 255 402 0 58 DTE-24-60 5533069 620580 255 489 180 52 DTE-24-67 5532861 617812 255 300 0 76 DTE-24-61 5532923 621202 256 552 200 52 DTE-24-68 5532861 617812 255 300 340 58 Note: Coordinate system UTM NAD 83, Zone 17 Wallbridge Mining - Detour East Property Agnico Eagle Mines Option 2024 Drill Hole Locations Wallbridge Mining - Detour East Property Agnico Eagle Mines Option Cross Section Drill Holes DTE-24-64 & 65, DTE-18-42A Wallbridge Mining - Detour East Property Agnico Eagle Mines Option Cross Section Drill Holes DTE-24-66, 67 & 68 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Falcon Gold Corp. (TSXV: FG) (OTC Pink: FGLDF) (FSE: 3FA) is pleased to announce the public release of high-resolution images from the first two drill holes of its late 2024 exploration program at the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project in Central Newfoundland. The images, now available on the Company's website and social media channels, provide an unprecedented visual insight into the early stages of the drilling campaign and the quality of recovery obtained. "Our release of these high-resolution images marks a significant step forward in our exploration program," said Karim Rayani, CEO of Falcon Gold Corp. "They not only highlight the excellent quality of the core recovery but also provide tangible evidence of the promising geological features we are beginning to uncover at the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project. It's still early days in our first phase of exploration however we believe what we are seeing is evidence of an extensive mineralized system. We look forward to updating shareholders once we have further results." Key Highlights: Visual Progress: The released images showcase detailed views of the first core recovered from our late 2024 program, illustrating the promising geological characteristics and mineralization encountered in the initial two holes. Exploration Milestone: This visual documentation supports previous press releases and reinforces the Company's robust exploration strategy in the Great Burnt camp, further validating geophysical targets identified during prior surveys and historical drilling. Enhanced Transparency: By sharing these images, Falcon Gold aims to keep its stakeholders and the broader investor community well informed about the project's progress, underlining its commitment to transparency and open communication. Great Burnt Project Core Image #1, Black Shale with Sulfide Mineralization Great Burnt Project Core Image #2 , Close up View of Sulfide Mineralization in Shale Great Burnt Project Core Image #3 , Sulfide Mineralization in Quartz Veins Qualified Person Victor French, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company. About Falcon Gold Corp. Falcon is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on generating, acquiring, and exploring opportunities in the Americas. Falcon's flagship project, the Central Canada Gold Mine, is approximately 20 km southeast of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef Gold Deposit which currently has an estimated 3.32 million ounces of gold (123.5 million tonnes grading 0.84 g/t gold) mineral reserves and 2.3 million ounces of measured and indicated mineral resources (133.4 million tonnes grading 0.54 g/t gold). The Hammond Reef gold property lies on the Hammond shear zone, which is a northeast-trending splay off the Quetico Fault Zone ("QFZ") and may be the control for the gold deposit. The Central Gold property lies on a similar major northeast-trending splay of the QFZ. The Company holds multiple additional projects: the Viernes Gold/Silver/Copper project in the world-class copper cluster located in Antofagasta, Chile; the Springpole West Property in the world-renowned Red Lake mining camp; a 49% interest in the Burton Gold property with Iamgold near Sudbury Ontario; the Spitfire-Sunny Boy, claims in B.C.; the Great Burnt Copper Project Central Newfoundland, and most recently battery metals projects, Timmins West Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Property Ontario, Outarde Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Property, HSP Nickel-Copper property in northern Quebec and the Havre St. Pierre Anorthosite Complex respectively. Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 24.7 meters grading 0.5 g/t Au including 2.9 meters grading 1.9 g/t Au 2025 Exploration Budget - US $5,000,000 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2025) - Ridgeline Minerals Corp. (TSXV: RDG) (OTCQB: RDGMF) (FSE: 0GC0) ("Ridgeline" or the "Company") is pleased to announce final assay results for core hole SW24-007, at the Swift gold project ("Swift" or "Project"), currently being operated under an exploration earn-in agreement with Nevada Gold Mines ("NGM") (Figure 1). NGM has spent a total of US $10,078,008 in qualifying work expenditures through December 31, 2024, and has approved a 2025 exploration budget of US $5,000,000. Drillhole SW24-007 was the second of two deep core holes completed in the 2024 program and was drilled to a total depth of 1,071.1 meters ("m"). The hole was drilled approximately 1.3 kilometers ("km") to the southwest of and down-dip of hole SW24-006, which returned the highest-grade intercept in project history including 1.1m grading 10.4 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") within 2.7m grading 7.0 g/t Au starting at 676.3m downhole (see November 7, 2024 PR HERE). Hole SW24-007 intersected several thick, continuous intercepts of low-grade gold including a highlight intercept of 2.9m grading 1.9 g/t Au within 24.7m grading 0.5 g/t Au starting at 963.0m downhole (Figure 2). Chad Peters, Ridgeline's President, CEO & Director commented, "Today's results continue to demonstrate the potential scale of the gold system at Swift. Hole 7 represents one of the best consolidated gram.meter intercepts drilled on the property to-date and now brackets the southern margin of a 4 square kilometer gold footprint at the Southwest Swift target." Mr. Peters continues, "We are very encouraged by the scale of the gold system at Swift and our partners at NGM have approved an expanded drill program for 2025 as we continue vectoring towards the interpreted core of a higher-grade system." SW24-007 Highlights SW24-007 was designed to test favourable carbonate host rocks (Lower Plate) at the projected intersection of a north-south trending fault corridor with the southwest projection of the Mill Creek thrust fault, a significant structural control and conduit for gold mineralization at Swift (Figure 2). A significant portion of the targeted Roberts Mtn. and all of the Mill Creek formation host rocks were offset by a north-south fault corridor (Figure 2), which was intersected farther east than projected. However, drilling still intersected several notable mineralized zones in the Upper and Lower Plate (carbonate host rocks) and further highlights the strength of the hydrothermal gold system at Swift. Upper Plate intercepts include: 1.4 m grading 1.0 g/t Au within 30.2 m grading 0.4 g/t Au starting at 651.7m downhole and 1.3 m grading 1.0 g/t Au within 10.4 m grading 0.3 g/t Au starting at 714.2m downhole starting at 651.7m downhole and starting at 714.2m downhole Lower Plate intercepts include: 2.4 m grading 1.2 g/t Au within 8.9 m grading 0.5 g/t starting at 908.8m downhole and 2.9m grading 1.9 g/t Au within 24.7 m grading 0.5g/t starting at 957.7m downhole (Figure 2) For a complete table of Swift assay results click HERE. NGM has incurred a total of US $10,078,008 in qualifying work expenditures at the Project through December 31, 2024, and must spend a minimum of US $20,000,000 in qualifying work expenditures by December 31, 2026, to earn an initial 60% interest in the Project (see September 22, 2021 press release HERE). 2025 Exploration Budget NGM has approved a 2025 exploration budget totaling US $5,000,000 to drill up to five deep core holes at Swift Drilling will test down-dip and along strike of the known mineralized corridor at Southwest Swift to vector towards the interpreted core of a higher-grade gold zone to drill up to five deep core holes at Swift Drilling is expected to begin as early as late Q2 with start dates highly dependent on the pending approval of an amended Bureau of Land Management drill permit Figure 1: Plan view map of the Cortez District showing the location of the Swift project and NGM's 2024 drill holes SW24-006 and SW24-007 (white stars) within a broader 4 square kilometer Au footprint (red) To view long section A-A' to the NW of section B-B' Click HERE To view the SW24-007 Core Photo Click HERE Figure 2: Long-Section B-B' showing several thick but low-grade gold intercepts in SW24-007 as well as narrow high-grade intercepts of up to 1.1m grading 10.4 g/t Au (red star) in SW24-006 Swift Earn-In Terms NGM retains the right to earn an initial 60% interest in the Swift project (see September 22, 2021 press release HERE) over an initial five year term by incurring a minimum of US $20.0 million in qualifying work expenditures. NGM retains the option to increase its interest up to 70% by incurring an additional US$10.0 million in qualifying work expenditures before December 31, 2029. Within 90 days of a joint venture decision to proceed with development and construction of a mine and/or related processing facilities on Swift, NGM will have a one-time option to elect to provide, or arrange for third-party, financing of Ridgeline's portion of debt financing required for the development in consideration, in either case, for an additional 5% interest in the project for a total of 75% (or 65% if the second option was not exercised). QAQC Procedures Samples are submitted to ALS Minerals, Elko Nevada, which is a certified and accredited laboratory, independent of Nevada Gold Mines. Samples are prepared using industry-standard prep methods and analysed using Au-AA23 (Au; 30 g fire assay) and ME-MS61 (48 element Suite; 0.25 g 4-acid digestion/ICP- MS) methods. ALS also undertakes its own internal coarse and pulp duplicate analysis to ensure proper sample preparation and equipment calibration. Nevada Gold Mines QAQC program includes regular insertion of CRM standards, duplicates, and blanks into the sample stream with a stringent review of all results completed internally by Nevada Gold Mines technical personnel. Technical information contained in this news release has been prepared under the supervision of, and approved by, Michael T. Harp, CPG, the Company's Vice President, Exploration. Mr. Harp is a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Ridgeline Minerals Corp. Ridgeline Minerals is a discovery focused precious and base metal explorer with a proven management team and a 200 km2 exploration portfolio across seven projects in Nevada, USA. The Company is a hybrid explorer with a mix of 100%-owned exploration assets (Big Blue, Atlas, Bell Creek & Coyote) as well as two earn-in exploration agreements with Nevada Gold Mines at its Swift and Black Ridge projects and a third earn-in with South32 at its Selena project. More information about Ridgeline can be found at www.ridgelineminerals.com. On behalf of the Board "Chad Peters" President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, the assay results for core hole SW24-004 and the potential significance thereof. The words "potential", "anticipate", "meaningful", "significant", "pending", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "plan", "historical", "historic" and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify Forward-Looking Information. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, Ridgeline has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that the current objectives concerning the Swift project can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; and that all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Ridgeline to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to dependence on key personnel; risks related to unforeseen delays; risks related to historical data that has not been verified by the Company; as well as those factors discussed in Ridgeline's public disclosure record. Although Ridgeline has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Ridgeline and may cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information 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 Information. Except as required by law, Ridgeline does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. (8) Source: Barrick Gold., 2024 Resource & Reserve Statement: https://s25.q4cdn.com/322814910/files/doc_news/2025/01/Barrick-Grows-Gold-and-Copper-Reserves-Significantly-Setting-It-Apart-From-Peers-as-It-Positions-for-Growth.pdf Strongest soil anomaly over the mapped volcanic rocks near the valley floor interpreted to be sub-cropping exposure of the Seven Devils Volcanics, host rock of the Leviathan discovery VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / ZEUS NORTH AMERICA MINING CORP. (CSE:ZEUS) (OTCQB:ZUUZF) (FRANKFURT:O92) (THE "COMPANY" OR "ZEUS") is pleased to announce the discovery of a large Copper and Molybdenum soil anomaly from its recent soil sampling program at its Cuddy Mountain Project (the "Project" of "Cuddy Mountain") in Idaho. Cuddy Mountain is located approximately 3 kilometres ("km") to the north of Hercules Metals Corp.'s high-grade "Hercules" copper-moly-silver porphyry discovery announced in October 2023. Highlights of the Soil Sampling Program at Cuddy Mountain: Collected 799 property wide soil samples at approximately 75 m spacing. Soils delineate a broad 3 km by 3 km copper ("Cu") and molybdenum ("Mo") in soil circular anomaly underlain by the Seven Devils Volcanics (~741 acres). Cu-Mo anomaly is strongest over the mapped volcanic rocks (andesites and rhyodacites) near the valley floor - interpreted to be sub-cropping exposure of the Seven Devils Volcanics, which host the neighbouring Leviathan Porphyry Copper discovery. The newly identified copper-molybdenum soil anomaly contains individual soil samples up to 0.38 percent ("%") copper and 28.5 parts per million ("ppm") molybdenum (31 samples contain 212 ppm Cu or more; 5 samples contain percent level copper up to and including 0.38% Cu; 116 samples contain 2 ppm Mo or more; 6 samples contain more than 10 ppm Mo, with values up to and including 28.5 ppm Mo). Cuddy Mountain continues to show strong similarities to the Hercules discovery, with a comparable soil geochemical footprint. Dean Besserer, President and CEO, stated, "We are greatly encouraged with the discovery of this large-scale anomaly at Cuddy Mountain with significant copper and molybdenum values. This large-scale anomaly covers the mapped Seven Devils Volcanics and is ideally located, reinforcing our confidence in this highly prospective region. We look forward to releasing the remainder of our fieldwork results as we move the Project towards a planned upcoming drill program. With the nearby Hercules Project gearing up for an aggressive 2025 drill season, the geological team at Zeus is eager to follow suit in the near future." About the Cuddy Mountain Copper Property (Idaho, USA) The Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metals Corp.'s recently discovered Leviathan Copper Porphyry ($167M MC). * The discovery resulted in Barrick injecting $23M in equity while staking a substantial land position in the district along with Rio Tinto. The Cuddy Mountain Property consists of 101 lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 2020 acres. Historical Drilling at Cuddy Mountain consisted of 7 shallow drill holes in 1977 intersecting anomalous lead and silver. Drill hole Mun 8 contained 90 feet of 2.02 oz/t Ag (Taylor, 1977). Further historical exploration on Zeus's Cuddy Mountain Project occurred at the Edna May Mine: Mineralized vein with chip samples containing 750 ppm ppm Pb, 7.7% Zn and 252 grams per tonne Silver over 4 feet. Underground drilling in 1979 intersected 1.38 oz/t Ag over 7 feet in a breccia zone (Burmeister, 1980). Additional exploration (By Taylor, 1977) at the Rockslide area encountered Malachite-stained outcrops with a grab sample containing 760 ppm Pb, 0.67 % Zn and 36 grams per tonne Silver (Taylor, 1977). *Adjacent Property (www.herculesmetals.com) *All information is derived solely from management of Zeus Mining and otherwise publicly available third-party information which are believed to be reliable, but which have not been independently verified by the Company and as a result are not guaranteed as to accuracy and completeness. Zeus's management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Zeus may not necessarily be indicative of the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, P.Geo., the President & CEO for the company and Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. On behalf of the board of directors. "Dean Besserer" President and CEO For more information, please contact the Company at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT: Kin Communications Inc. Ph: 604-684-6730 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. About Zeus North America Mining Corp. The Company is in the business of mineral exploration. The Company is focused on its exploration properties in the state of Idaho known as the: Cuddy Mountain; Selway; and Great Western properties, respectively. The Idaho properties consist of 101 (Cuddy Mountain), 57 (Selway) and 38 (Great Western) lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 4,200 acres. The Company's flagship Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metal Corp's Leviathan Copper Porphyry discovery. Forward Looking Statements When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the parties can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information in this news release include, amongst others, the Company's exploration plans. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of the parties; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general development, market and industry conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of its securities or its financial or operating results (as applicable). The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. March 13, 2025 TheNewswire - SURREY, British Columbia Cameo Resources Inc. (CSE: MEO) (Cameo or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an arms-length binding letter of intent (the LOI) with 1154308 B.C. Ltd., pursuant to which, and subject to the terms and conditions contained therein, it would enter into an Option Agreement (the Agreement) to acquire a 51% right, title, and interest in the Katoro Gold Properties (the Properties), located in the Geita region of Tanzania (the Acquisition). Highlights of the Katoro Property: 12.52 km roadaccessible Properties, approximately 170 km southwest of Mwanza city, 63 km southwest of Geita Region. Located within the Sukumaland Greenstone Belt (SGB) home for the Buckreef mine along the same strike within Katoro, within the Lake Victoria Goldfields in north-west Tanzania. Regional geophysical and structural settings suggesting an exploration potential for significant gold mineralization within the project areas. Souhail Abi-Farrage, President & CEO of Cameo, commented: "Entering into this LOI is a solid opportunity for Cameo. The Property has two complementary exploration upsides, with an established epi-mesothermal zone of higher-grade gold mineralization in quartz veins from surface that Cameo can look to exploit almost immediately, and a much broader under-explored potential for a buried porphyry. We are excited to see the commencement of work on this property." The Katoro Gold Properties The Properties cover 12.52 square kilometers situated within the prospective Sukumaland Greenstone Belt within the Lake Victoria Goldfield (LVGF) (Figure 1). One of the most important mining sites in Africa, Tanzanias LVGF holds several multi-million-ounce gold deposits and has ongoing operations by some of the largest gold companies in the world. The concessions have been mined by artisanal miners for some time, evidenced by the multiple shallow pits and trenches showing iron carbonate altered mafic volcanics (basalts) and quartz feldspar porphyry intrusions. Gold is associated with grey quartz veins and stringers that exhibit a pinch and swell characteristic, parallel to the fabric of east-west shear zones. The concessions occur within a broader area that has seen exploration and mining activities by several companies including, TRX Gold Corporation (TSX:TRX), AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU), and IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX:IMG). Figure 1: LOCATION KATORO GOLD PROJECT of the Lake Victoria GoldField greenstone belts in north-western Tanzania. Acquisition Terms Under the terms of the LOI, the Company will earn its undivided 51% right and interest in the Properties upon paying cash payments totaling USD$500,000, (the first USD$250,000 payment will be due upon completion of due diligence by the Company and signing a Definitive Agreement. The second USD$250,000 is to be paid within twelve months of original payment) and issuing 8,000,000 common shares of the Company. The transaction contemplated by the LOI is expected to close on or before April 30, 2025, and is subject to a due diligence period and customary closing conditions and approvals by the Canadian Securities Exchange. It is not anticipated that any new control persons will be created (more than 10% ownership in the Company) post-closing of this Acquisition. Concurrent Private Placement In conjunction with this acquisition, the Company will undertake a non-brokered private placement of up to $1,500,000, by the issuance of units at $0.15 per unit. Each unit will consist of 1 common share and one half of a warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for 2 years at $0.30. The Company will reserve the right to accelerate expiry of the warrants if the shares of the Company trade at or above $0.50 for a period of 10 days, including days where no shares trade. Proceeds will be used for ongoing work on the Companys existing properties as well as initial work on the Katoro Property. Update on the VMP Gold Property Acquisition The Company has continued to pursue the acquisition of the 162-ha, road-accessible VMP Property situated within the Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas Province of Ecuador announced October 15, 2024. The Company is attempting to negotiate an increased interest in the property and will update shareholders as negotiations continue. Qualified Person Brian Thurston, P.Geo., the Companys technical advisor and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. About Cameo Resources Inc. Cameo Resources Inc. is a dynamic mineral exploration company dedicated to discovering and developing valuable mineral deposits. The flagship project in Nevada represents a promising opportunity in the ever-growing field of clean energy. The strategic goal of the Company is to increase shareholder value by advancing the portfolio of lithium exploration projects located in the mineral- rich region of Nye County, Nevada, and through strategic acquisitions in precious metals. For more information on Cameo Resources, please visit the website at www.cameoresourcesinc.com. On behalf of the Board of Cameo Resources Inc. Souhail Abi-Farrage Chief Executive Officer and Director Phone Number: 1-800-325-1308 For further information contact: Investor Relations; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone Number: 1-800-325-1308 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. 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. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, relating to the timing for closing the LOI, or that the LOI will close at all, are forward-looking statements. 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 Interra, 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, risks that lease holder will not approve the sale of the Property, risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of exploration results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Cameo does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. VANCOUVER, BC, March 12, 2025 /CNW/ - Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm Gold Royalties", "Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE: SAND) (TSX: SSL) is pleased to provide various developments and exploration highlights within its diversified stream and royalty portfolio (dollar figures in USD unless otherwise indicated). Erdene Secures Working Capital for Bayan Khundii Commissioning; First Gold Expected Mid-2025 Erdene Resource Development Corp. ("Erdene") has secured a $50 million working capital facility provided by the Development Bank of Mongolia, which will fund pre-mining and commissioning activities of the Bayan Khundii gold project in Mongolia. In December 2024, Erdene reported construction progress at the process plant and critical non-process infrastructure buildings. Mechanical and electrical works are expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2025 followed by commissioning and pre-production mining in the second quarter. Erdene expects first gold produced at Bayan Khundii in mid-2025 and commercial production in the third quarter. For more information, visit Erdene's website at www.erdene.com and see the press release dated December 10, 2024. Sandstorm has a 1.0% net smelter returns ("NSR") royalty on the Bayan Khundii project. 8.5 Metres of 173 g/t Gold Intersected at Fruta del Norte; Copper-Gold Mineralization Discovered at New Trancaloma Target Subsequent to the release of the updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") at the Fruta del Norte mine ("FDN") in Ecuador, Lundin Gold Ltd. ("Lundin Gold") has released additional drill results from its ongoing near-mine exploration program. The results include the highest-grade intercepts ever reported at the FDN South deposit ("FDNS") as well as early-stage results at the new Trancaloma copper-gold target located less than one kilometre east of the Bonza Sur deposit. Drilling east of the FDN deposit ("FDN East") also confirmed continuity of gold mineralization, including the widest mineralized interval at FDN East to date. All drill results reported by Lundin Gold at FDNS, FDN East, and Trancaloma are included within the area of interest of Sandstorm's precious metals royalty. Highlighted drill results include (not true widths): FDNS UGE-S-24-212: 173.98 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold over 8.45 metres from 77.60 metres, including 572.47 g/t gold over 2.50 metres; 173.98 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold over 8.45 metres from 77.60 metres, including 572.47 g/t gold over 2.50 metres; UGE-S-24-213: 77.31 g/t gold over 10.90 metres from 94.80 metres, including 394.78 g/t gold over 2.10 metres; 77.31 g/t gold over 10.90 metres from 94.80 metres, including 394.78 g/t gold over 2.10 metres; UGE-S-24-185: (included in 2024 MRE) 49.86 g/t gold over 7.80 metres from 59.00 metres, including 83.48 g/t gold over 4.50 metres. FDN East FDNE-2024-200: 3.15 g/t gold over 53.00 metres from 277.80 metres, including 7.13 g/t gold over 8.40 metres; 3.15 g/t gold over 53.00 metres from 277.80 metres, including 7.13 g/t gold over 8.40 metres; UGE-E-24-210: 10.16 g/t gold over 6.25 metres from 238.85 metres, including 14.84 g/t gold over 3.25 metres. Trancaloma Target BLP-2024-195: 0.25% copper, 0.08 g/t gold over 407.75 metres from 22.50 metres, including 0.31% copper and 0.10 g/t gold over 228.00 metres. The near-mine drill program is focused on extending mine life through the expansion of Mineral Resources at FDN by exploring and delineating new discoveries nearby existing operations. At FDNS, exploration drilling has successfully defined Inferred Mineral Resources of 2.09 million ounces ("Moz") contained in 12.35 million tonnes with an average grade of 5.25 g/t gold, which was previously reported in the FDN updated MRE (see Lundin Gold's press release dated February 18, 2025). Exploration activities continue to generate new discoveries at FDN, including the new copper-gold Trancaloma target. Lundin Gold has completed four drill holes to date at Trancaloma, which all returned anomalous values of copper and gold, potentially related to an outer hydrothermal alteration halo of a porphyry system. The target requires further exploration to determine its significance and Lundin Gold currently has two surface drill rigs at Trancaloma. Lundin Gold plans to drill a minimum of 80,000 metres at FDN in 2025, following up on the 80,000 metres drilled in 2024. For more information, visit Lundin Gold's website at www.lundingold.com and refer to the press release dated February 23, 2025. Sandstorm holds a 0.9% NSR royalty on the precious metals produced at FDN. High-Grade Assays from Hugo North Extension and New Drilling at Heruga Deposit Entree Resources Ltd. ("Entree") has released additional analytical results from drilling completed in 20222024 at the Hugo North Extension ("HNE") and the western edge of the Heruga deposit at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. The results are in addition to previously released assays in the latter half of 2024, and Entree will continue to release results as they become available from the company's joint venture partner Oyu Tolgoi LLC ("OTLLC"). At HNE, eight underground drill holes with newly reported significant assays were drilled at moderate dips towards the north and northwest and after crossing onto the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi Joint Venture Property intersected significant grades of copper and gold within the potential Lift 2 footprint of HNE. At the Heruga deposit, the first drill hole since 2012 was completed, several hundred metres west of the majority of previous drilling in the northern half of the deposit. Consistent mineralization, cut by occasional andesitic dikes, started at 1,090 metres and continued until the end of the hole where it terminated in strong copper-gold mineralization. The grades across this interval appear to be consistent with the average grade of the overall Heruga deposit and suggest that the deposit remains open to the west in some areas. Highlighted drill results include: HNE Underground Drill Holes UGD 578: 164 metres grading 1.36% copper and 0.42 g/t gold from 150 metres, including 72 metres grading 2.42% copper and 0.80 g/t gold from 206 metres; 164 metres grading 1.36% copper and 0.42 g/t gold from 150 metres, including 72 metres grading 2.42% copper and 0.80 g/t gold from 206 metres; UGD 807C: 465.5 metres grading 1.19% copper and 0.56 g/t gold from 205.1 metres, including 188.5 metres grading 1.95% copper and 0.94 g/t gold from 420 metres; 465.5 metres grading 1.19% copper and 0.56 g/t gold from 205.1 metres, including 188.5 metres grading 1.95% copper and 0.94 g/t gold from 420 metres; UGD 815: 224 metres grading 1.75% copper and 0.50 g/t gold from 298 metres; 224 metres grading 1.75% copper and 0.50 g/t gold from 298 metres; UGD 852: 351.2 metres grading 1.31% copper and 0.36 g/t gold from 125 metres, including 104 metres grading 2.06% copper and 1.01 g/t gold from 368 metres. Heruga Drill Hole EJD0099: 409.9 metres grading 0.36% copper and 0.32 g/t gold from 1,090.1 metres, including 230 metres grading 0.51% copper and 0.37 g/t gold. For more information, visit Entree's website at www.entreeresourcesltd.com and refer to the press release dated February 27, 2025. Sandstorm has a copper and precious metal stream with Entree whereby the Company has the right to purchase 0.33% of the copper and 4.47% of the gold and silver produced at the HNE, and 0.33% of the copper and 3.39% of the gold and silver produced from the Heruga deposit. The Company will make ongoing cash payments of $0.50 per pound of copper, $220 per ounce of gold, and $5.00 per ounce of silver1. Omai Gold Mines Drills 4.48 g/t Gold Over 57 Metres at Wenot and Releases First Assays from Gilt Creek Deposit Omai Gold Mines Corp. ("Omai") has released significant assay results from the 2024 drill program at the Omai gold mine ("OGM"). During 2024, over 13,000 metres of drilling across 26 drill holes were completed. The objectives of the drill program were to delineate further mineralization in previous undrilled areas along the 2.5 kilometre strike of the OGM Wenot deposit, extend known mineralization in multiple subparallel zones, and increase shallow drilling at West Wenot. Additional drilling was also completed at the Gilt Creek deposit, which has the potential to become an underground expansion of the OGM. Omai has commenced its 2025 drill program with an initial 10,000 metres planned. An updated MRE is expected in the second quarter of 2025 followed by an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") in the third quarter. The updated PEA is expected to incorporate the Gilt Creek underground deposit into an expanded mine plan with the Wenot open pit, which has the potential to significantly increase projected production rates and life of mine for the OGM. Highlighted drill results include: Wenot Deposit 24ODD-092: 4.48 g/t gold over 57.0 metres from 561.5 metres, including 21.13 g/t gold over 10.0 metres; 4.48 g/t gold over 57.0 metres from 561.5 metres, including 21.13 g/t gold over 10.0 metres; 24ODD-097: 5.21 g/t gold over 19.3 metres from 382.4 metres, including 11.44 g/t gold over 4.6 metres and 11.75 g/t gold over 3.6 metres; 5.21 g/t gold over 19.3 metres from 382.4 metres, including 11.44 g/t gold over 4.6 metres and 11.75 g/t gold over 3.6 metres; 24ODD-094: 1.13 g/t gold over 20.4 metres from 241.40 metres and 1.10 g/t gold over 63.2 metres from 290.30 metres; 1.13 g/t gold over 20.4 metres from 241.40 metres and 1.10 g/t gold over 63.2 metres from 290.30 metres; 24ODD-091: 5.76 g/t gold over 5.4 metres from 389.5 metres, 2.50 g/t gold over 9.0 metres from 489.0 metres, and 0.79 g/t gold over 48.0 metres from 667.0 metres; 5.76 g/t gold over 5.4 metres from 389.5 metres, 2.50 g/t gold over 9.0 metres from 489.0 metres, and 0.79 g/t gold over 48.0 metres from 667.0 metres; 24ODD-090: 1.01 g/t gold over 28.5 metres from 395.5 metres. Gilt Creek Deposit Assay results from hole 24ODD-095 include: 2.00 g/t gold over 64.0 metres from 543.0 metres, including 5.79 g/t gold over 9.0 metres, and also including 2.68 g/t gold over 12.5 metres; 1.90 g/t gold over 48.0 metres from 815.5 metres, including 4.19 g/t gold over 7.5 metres; 2.14 g/t gold over 37.5 metres from 623.5 metres, including 2.62 g/t gold over 24.2 metres. Once South America's largest producing gold mine, the OGM produced over 3.7 Moz of gold between 1993 and 2005. A PEA released on the Wenot deposit in April 2024 envisioned an open pit operation producing 1.84 Moz of gold over a 13-year period. The 2024 PEA only incorporates 45% of the property's current MRE of 2.0 Moz of Indicated Resources and 2.3 Moz of Inferred Resources. For more information, visit Omai's website at www.omaigoldmines.com and refer to the press releases dated January 21, February 24, and March 5, 2025. Sandstorm holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the OGM. Gold Fields Restarts Drilling at Phoenix JV; High-Grade Assays from Moss Target Bonterra Resources Inc. ("Bonterra") has released additional high-grade assay results from the Moss target at the Phoenix JV (formerly the Urban-Barry Property) and announced the restart of drilling at the project by its joint-venture partner Gold Fields Ltd ("Gold Fields") (formerly Osisko Mining Inc. "Osisko Mining"). The project is under a definitive earn-in and joint-venture agreement with Gold Fields, whereby Gold Fields has the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in the project by spending C$30 million on the project over a three-year period. To date, over 60,000 metres have been drilled, and approximately C$16 million has been spent at the Phoenix JV. Extensive drilling at the Moss target has identified high-grade mineralization and the recently released assays highlight the potential for further discoveries. Highlighted drill results include: OSK-PHX-24-112: 6.23 g/t gold over 2.8 metres from 210.1 metres, including 18.1 g/t gold over 0.9 metres; 6.23 g/t gold over 2.8 metres from 210.1 metres, including 18.1 g/t gold over 0.9 metres; OSK-PHX-24-073: 3.97 g/t gold over 3.4 metres from 554.6 metres and 12.3 g/t gold over 0.5 metres from 700.4 metres; 3.97 g/t gold over 3.4 metres from 554.6 metres and 12.3 g/t gold over 0.5 metres from 700.4 metres; OSK-PHX-24-106: 7.50 g/t gold over 0.9 metres from 453.0 metres, including 20.9 g/t gold over 0.3 metres; 7.50 g/t gold over 0.9 metres from 453.0 metres, including 20.9 g/t gold over 0.3 metres; OSK-PHX-24-053: 5.05 g/t gold over 1.0 metres from 89.0 metres. Following Gold Field's acquisition of Osisko Mining in October 2024, exploration activities have re-commenced at the Phoenix JV property. Gold Fields is in the planning stage for a potential 20,000-metre drill program and possible geophysical surveys, having identified several prospective targets based on historical data. For more information, visit Bonterra's website at www.btrgold.com and refer to the press release dated December 11, 2024. Sandstorm holds an NSR royalty ranging between 0.5%3.9% on portions of the Phoenix JV property, which covers both the Barry and Moss deposits. Sandstorm also holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the neighbouring Gladiator (West Arena) gold deposit. Notes 1. Stream terms reflect bought down rates applicable to HNE and Heruga deposits assuming the Mongolian Government acquires a 34% interest in Entree's share of the joint venture, at which time Sandstorm will receive up to $6.8 million in total consideration. Qualified Person Imola Gotz (M.Sc., P.Eng, F.E.C.), Sandstorm's Vice President, Mining & Engineering is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Ms. Gotz has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release. Contact Information For more information about Sandstorm Gold Royalties, please visit our website at www.sandstormgold.com or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD ROYALTIES Sandstorm is a precious metals-focused royalty company that provides upfront financing to mining companies and receives the right to a percentage of production from a mine, for the life of the mine. Sandstorm holds a portfolio of over 230 royalties, of which 41 of the underlying mines are producing. Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low-cost production profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties. For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS TO U.S. SECURITYHOLDERS The financial information included or incorporated by reference in this press release or the documents referenced herein has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, which differs from US generally accepted accounting principles ("US GAAP") in certain material respects, and thus are not directly comparable to financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP. This press release and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, have been prepared in accordance with Canadian standards for the reporting of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, which differ from the previous and current standards of the United States securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "inferred mineral resources,", "indicated mineral resources," "measured mineral resources" and "mineral resources" used or referenced herein and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Definition Standards"). For United States reporting purposes, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to modernize the mining property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which became effective February 25, 2019. The SEC Modernization Rules more closely align the SEC's disclosure requirements and policies for mining properties with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101, and replace the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7. Issuers were required to comply with the SEC Modernization Rules in their first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system, the Corporation is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, mineral reserve and mineral resource information contained or incorporated by reference herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources." In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" to be "substantially similar" to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards that are required under NI 43-101. While the SEC will now recognize "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources", U.S. investors should not assume that all or any part of the mineralization in these categories will be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves without further work and analysis. Mineralization described using these terms has a greater amount of uncertainty as to its existence and feasibility than mineralization that has been characterized as reserves. Accordingly, U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, or inferred mineral resources that the Company reports are or will be economically or legally mineable without further work and analysis. Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a greater amount of uncertainty and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. Therefore, U.S. investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred mineral resources will be upgraded to a higher category without further work and analysis. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. While the above terms are "substantially similar" to CIM Definitions, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules or under the prior standards of SEC Industry Guide 7. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Sandstorm Gold Royalties. Forward-looking statements include the future price of gold, silver, copper, iron ore and other metals, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, realization of mineral reserve estimates, and the timing and amount of estimated future production. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans", or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm Gold Royalties to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Sandstorm Gold Royalties will operate in the future, including the receipt of all required approvals, the price of gold and copper and anticipated costs. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, failure to receive necessary approvals, changes in business plans and strategies, market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, gold and other commodity price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks relating to the parties which produce the gold or other commodity the Company will purchase, regulatory restrictions, activities by governmental authorities (including changes in taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility and competition. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over mining operations from which the Company will purchase gold, other commodities or receive royalties from, and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold and other commodities, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risks to Sandstorm" in the Company's annual report for the financial year ended December 31, 2024 and the section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's annual information form dated March 27, 2024 available at www.sedarplus.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortuna Mining Corp. (NYSE: FSM | TSX: FVI) is pleased to provide an update on its exploration programs at the Seguela Mine in Cote dIvoire. Paul Weedon, Senior Vice President of Exploration at Fortuna, commented, Exploration drilling at Kingfisher has moved to infilling and improving the resource confidence along the 1-kilometer strike length of the current resource pit, with several notable intersections including 7.2 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 31.5 meters in drill hole SGRC2278. Mr. Weedon continued, At the Sunbird deposit, deep exploration drilling testing the southern extent has continued to return excellent results, including 4.3 g/t Au over a true width of 23.1 meters from 733 meters in drill hole SGRD2215, representing the deepest intercept to date, with mineralization remaining open at depth and down plunge. Kingfisher deposit Once the infill program and near exploration are successfully completed, we expect to migrate the Kingfisher resources into the Seguela Mine Mineral Reserves in 2025. Drilling highlights include: SGRD2153: 10.6 g/t Au 65.9 g/t Au 44.8 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 9.4 meters from 223 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.9 meters from 223 meters, and over an estimated true width of 0.9 meters from 227 meters SGRC2264: 8.4 g/t Au 62.6 g/t Au 6.9 g/t Au 43.2 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 14.5 meters from 10 meters, including over an estimated true width of 1.7 meters from 19 meters over an estimated true width of 6.0 meters from 31 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.9 meters from 31 meters SGRC2278: 7.2 g/t Au 28.9 g/t Au 128.9 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 31.5 meters from 91 meters, including over an estimated true width of 1.7 meters from 118 meters, and over an estimated true width of 0.9 meters from 123 meters SGRD2280: 8.1 g/t Au 18.7 g/t Au 24.6 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 16.2 meters from 89 meters, including over an estimated true width of 3.4 meters from 96 meters over an estimated true width of 1.7 meters from 106 meters SGRC2309: 3.3 g/t Au 26.2 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 35.7 meters from 46 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.9 meters from 74 meters SGRC2312: 3.8 g/t Au 44.2 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 39.1 meters from 86 meters, including over an estimated true width of 1.7 meters from 123 meters SGRC2322: 7.9 g/t Au 68.5 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 11.9 meters from 140 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.9 meters from 149 meters An additional 100 drill holes, totaling 10,978 meters of a planned 28,000-meter drilling program, have been completed at the Kingfisher deposit (see Figure 1) as part of the resource confidence infill program (see Figure 2). Drilling remains ongoing across the current pit-constrained Inferred Resource and will also extend to test the immediate margins, both at depth and along strike, where late 2024 drilling identified several promising intervals intersected after the initial resource estimate was completed (refer to Fortunas news release dated December 16, 2024). The recent drilling has continued to highlight the widths and grade tenor intersected in the first drilling phase, supporting and refining the geological interpretation. Kingfisher remains open at depth for most of the drilled 2-kilometer strike length, with the deepest drilling testing to only approximately 250 meters below surface (refer to Figure 2). Figure 1: Seguela Mine deposit locations Figure 2: Kingfisher deposit long-section - looking west Sunbird deposit Drilling has now extended mineralization approximately 700 meters to the south beyond the limit of the current underground Inferred Resource and some 600 meters below surface. Drilling highlights include: SGRD2207: 8.3 g/t Au 6.0 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 3.5 meters from 250 meters over an estimated true width of 4.2 meters from 301 meters SGRD2208: 9.3 g/t Au 60.5 g/t Au 7.5 g/t Au 17.4 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 5.6 meters from 583 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.7 meters from 585 meters over an estimated true width of 2.1 meters from 595 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.7 meters from 595 meters SGRD2211: 3.9 g/t Au 38.0 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 23.8 meters from 648 meters, including over an estimated true width of 1.4 meters from 670 meters SGRD2212: 6.3 g/t Au 12.6 g/t Au 29.1 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 22.4 meters from 339 meters, including over an estimated true width of 1.4 meters from 342 meters and over an estimated true width of 2.1 meters from 345 meters SGRD2214: 4.6 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 7.0 meters from 370 meters SGRD2215: 4.3 g/t Au 45.8 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 23.1 meters from 733 meters, including over an estimated true width of 0.7 meters from 735 meters Results from a further 10 holes, totaling 5,120 meters of a planned 12,000-meter drilling program have been received, including an interval of 4.3 g/t Au over a true width of 23.1 meters from 733 meters in drill hole SGRD2215, which is the deepest intersection drilled at Seguela (refer to Figure 3). The last phase of the current program will step out above and below the current intersection to further refine the geometry and controls on the interpreted mineralized shoot during the second quarter of 2025. Figure 3: Sunbird long section - looking west Refer to Appendix 1 for full details of the drill holes and assay results for this drill program at the Seguela Gold Mine. Quality Assurance & Quality Control (QA - QC) All drilling data completed by the Company utilized the following procedures and methodologies. All drilling was carried out under the supervision of the Companys personnel. All reverse circulation (RC) drilling used a 5.25-inch face sampling pneumatic hammer with samples collected into 60-liter plastic bags. Samples were kept dry by maintaining enough air pressure to exclude groundwater inflow. If water ingress exceeded the air pressure, RC drilling was stopped, and drilling converted to diamond core tails. Once collected, RC samples were riffle split through a three-tier splitter to yield a 12.5 percent representative sample for submission to the analytical laboratory. The residual 87.5 percent samples were stored at the drill site until assay results were received and validated. Coarse reject samples for all mineralized samples corresponding to significant intervals are retained and stored on-site at the Company-controlled core yard. All diamond drilling (DD) drill holes started with HQ sized diameter, before reducing to NQ diameter diamond drill bits on intersecting fresh rock. The core was logged, marked up for sampling using standard lengths of one meter or to a geological boundary. Samples were then cut into equal halves using a diamond saw. One half of the core was left in the original core box and stored in a secure location at the Company core yard at the project site. The other half was sampled, catalogued, and placed into sealed bags and securely stored at the site until shipment. All RC and DD samples were transported to ALSs preparation laboratory in Yamoussoukro, Cote dIvoire, before also being transported via commercial courier to ALSs facility in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Routine gold analysis using a 50-gram charge and fire assay with an atomic absorption finish was completed for all samples. Quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, duplicates and sample standards into the sample stream. In addition, the ALS laboratory inserted its own quality control samples. Qualified Person Paul Weedon, Senior Vice President, Exploration for Fortuna Mining Corp., is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 being a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (Membership #6001). Mr. Weedon has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Weedon has verified the data disclosed, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein by reviewing geochemical and geological databases and reviewing diamond drill core. There were no limitations to the verification process. About Fortuna Mining Corp. Fortuna Mining Corp. is a Canadian precious metals mining company with four operating mines and exploration activities in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Mexico and Peru, as well as the Diamba Sud Gold Project located in Senegal. Sustainability is integral to all our operations and relationships. We produce gold and silver and generate shared value over the long-term for our stakeholders through efficient production, environmental protection, and social responsibility. For more information, please visit our website. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Jorge A. Ganoza President, CEO, and Director Fortuna Mining Corp. Investor Relations: Carlos Baca | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | fortunamining.com | X | LinkedIn | YouTube Forward-looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements which constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, Forward-looking Statements). All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are Forward-looking Statements and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the Forward-looking Statements. The Forward-looking Statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements about further extension potential at the Kingfisher and Sunbird deposits; statements that the Sunbird deposit continues to support underground mining potential; the Companys expectations regarding drilling in the second quarter of 2025 to step out and above of the current interception to refine the geology and controls on the intercepted mineralized shoot at the Sunbird deposit; mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; expectations regarding additional drilling and exploration programs planned; the Companys business strategy, plans and outlook; the merit of the Companys mines and mineral properties; mineral resource and reserve estimates; timelines; the future financial or operating performance of the Company; expenditures; approvals and other matters. Often, but not always, these Forward-looking Statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, planned, reflecting, will, containing, remaining, to be, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations. Forward-looking Statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-looking Statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; changes in prices for gold, silver, and other metals; the timing and success of the Companys proposed exploration programs; technological and operational hazards in Fortunas mining and mine development activities; risks inherent in mineral exploration; fluctuations in prices for energy, labor, materials, supplies and services; fluctuations in currencies; uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, mineral resources, and metal recoveries; the Companys ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in a timely manner; governmental and other approvals; political unrest or instability in countries where Fortuna is active; labor relations issues; as well as those factors discussed under Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Information Form for the financial year ended December 31, 2023. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-looking Statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking Statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to expectations regarding the results from the exploration programs conducted at the Companys mineral properties including the Seguela Mine; expected trends in mineral prices and currency exchange rates; the accuracy of the Companys information derived from its exploration programs at the Companys mineral properties; current mineral resource and reserve estimates; the presence and continuity of mineralization at the Companys properties; that the Companys activities will be in accordance with the Companys public statements and stated goals; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained; that there will be no significant disruptions affecting operations and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking Statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any Forward-looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that Forward-looking Statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on Forward-looking Statements. Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Reserves and Resources Reserve and resource estimates included in this news release have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for public disclosure by a Canadian company of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates contained in the technical disclosure have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and mineral reserve and resource information included in this news release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. Appendix 1 Seguela Mine drill program details of the drill holes and assay results for the Kingfisher and Sunbird deposits Kingfisher deposit HoleID Easting (WGS84_29N) Northing (WGS84_29N) Elevation (m) EOH1,2 Depth (m) UTM Azimuth Dip Depth2,3 From (m) Depth2 To (m) Drilled2 Width (m) ETW4 (m) Au (ppm) Hole Type5 Area SGRD2131 743746 892908 428 199.6 90 -60 159 169 10 8.5 0.8 RCD Kingfisher 178 190 12 10.2 3.9 RCD Kingfisher incl 184 185 1 0.9 21.2 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2135 743631 892500 414 220 90 -60 NSI RCD Kingfisher SGRD2137 743719 892906 429 260.2 90 -60 204 213 9 7.7 1.0 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2138 743580 892500 426 290 90 -60 192 197 5 4.3 1.6 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2139 743584 892546 430 105 90 -60 NSI RCD Kingfisher SGRD2146 743584 892545 430 291.3 90 -60 218 230 12 10.2 1.1 RCD Kingfisher SGRC2147 743604 892802 429 60.0 90 -60 Abandon RC Kingfisher SGRD2148 743772 893004 413 228 90 -60 161 179 18 15.3 0.9 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2149 743570 892395 422 295 90 -60 187 195 8 6.8 4.1 RCD Kingfisher incl 190 191 1 0.9 25.6 RCD Kingfisher 200 204 4 3.4 3.5 RCD Kingfisher incl 201 202 1 0.9 11.4 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2150 743604 892802 429 370.4 90 -60 266 297 31 26.4 2.4 RCD Kingfisher incl 267 268 1 0.9 16.1 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2151 743526 892592 445 330 90 -60 NSI RCD Kingfisher SGRD2152 743836 893102 414 160.3 90 -60 121 127 6 5.1 2.3 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2153 743718 892955 429 291.3 90 -60 223 234 11 9.4 10.6 RCD Kingfisher incl 223 224 1 0.9 65.9 RCD Kingfisher and 227 228 1 0.9 44.8 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2154 743456 892592 463 399 90 -60 384 388 4 3.4 2.6 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2155 743808 893102 413 201.3 90 -60 135 138 3 2.6 1.8 RCD Kingfisher 164 168 4 3.4 1.3 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2156 743617 892000 439 168 90 -60 69 81 12 10.2 0.5 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2157 743828 893200 427 150 90 -60 NSI RCD Kingfisher SGRC2252 743868 892982 375 61 90 -60 22 33 11 9.4 1.7 RC Kingfisher SGRC2253 743889 892981 389 30 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2254 743894 893031 393 36 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2255 743850 892732 366 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2256 743701 892480 382 66 90 -60 37 39 2 1.7 4.6 RC Kingfisher SGRC2257 743802 892731 388 100 90 -60 12 25 13 11.1 1.7 RC Kingfisher 36 55 19 16.2 0.7 RC Kingfisher SGRC2258 743888 892936 373 30 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2259 743858 892936 378 60 90 -60 35 44 9 7.7 2.7 RC Kingfisher SGRC2260 743827 892733 368 61 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2261 734802 892887 398 90 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2262 743827 892888 394 86 90 -60 67 68 1 0.9 5.4 RC Kingfisher SGRC2263 743772 892730 388 126 90 -60 65 76 11 9.4 0.6 RC Kingfisher 85 105 20 17.0 3.6 RC Kingfisher incl 97 98 1 0.9 11.1 RC Kingfisher and 102 103 1 0.9 27.2 RC Kingfisher SGRC2264 743853 892888 391 54 90 -60 10 27 17 14.5 8.4 RC Kingfisher incl 19 21 2 1.7 62.6 RC Kingfisher 31 38 7 6.0 6.9 RC Kingfisher incl 31 32 1 0.9 43.2 RC Kingfisher SGRC2265 743852 892833 389 61 90 -60 20 31 11 9.4 1.3 RC Kingfisher SGRC2266 743825 892834 389 80 90 -60 21 33 12 10.2 1.4 RC Kingfisher 55 66 11 9.4 1.7 RC Kingfisher SGRC2267 743799 892832 389 113 90 -60 41 61 20 17.0 0.7 RC Kingfisher 70 73 3 2.6 1.8 RC Kingfisher 82 104 22 18.7 0.9 RC Kingfisher SGRC2268 743750 892679 390 134 90 -60 82 109 27 23.0 3.4 RC Kingfisher incl 95 97 2 1.7 27.5 RC Kingfisher SGRC2269 743774 892835 393 133 90 -60 87 99 12 10.2 0.9 RC Kingfisher 118 127 9 7.7 1.2 RC Kingfisher SGRC2270 743773 892680 388 88 90 -60 33 36 3 2.6 3.9 RC Kingfisher 57 72 15 12.8 5.3 RC Kingfisher incl 67 69 2 1.7 34.8 RC Kingfisher SGRC2271 743750 892835 414 36 90 -60 Abandon RC Kingfisher SGRC2273 743824 892682 382 70 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRD2275 743747 892778 392 150 90 -60 122 148 26 22.1 3.2 RCD Kingfisher incl 138 139 1 0.9 13.7 RCD Kingfisher and 145 146 1 0.9 27.4 RCD Kingfisher SGRC2276 743726 892478 379 110 90 -60 41 66 25 21.3 1.8 RC Kingfisher incl 60 61 1 0.9 13.6 RC Kingfisher SGRD2277 743799 892681 385 90 90 -60 15 30 15 12.8 1.1 RCD Kingfisher SGRC2278 743701 892480 382 132 90 -60 54 65 11 9.4 2.6 RC Kingfisher 74 76 2 1.7 5.0 RC Kingfisher 91 128 37 31.5 7.2 RC Kingfisher incl 109 110 1 0.9 13.5 RC Kingfisher and 114 115 1 0.9 18.7 RC Kingfisher and 118 120 2 1.7 28.9 RC Kingfisher and 123 124 1 0.9 128.9 RC Kingfisher and 125 126 1 0.9 10.8 RC Kingfisher SGRC2279 743776 892783 393 120 90 -60 72 109 37 31.5 1.2 RC Kingfisher SGRD2280 743725 892629 397 151 90 -60 89 108 19 16.2 8.1 RCD Kingfisher incl 96 100 4 3.4 18.7 RCD Kingfisher and 106 108 2 1.7 24.6 RCD Kingfisher and 112 114 2 1.7 6.2 RCD Kingfisher incl 113 114 1 0.9 11.8 RCD Kingfisher SGRC2281 743798 892477 383 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2282 743751 892631 395 117 90 -60 58 75 17 14.5 1.2 RC Kingfisher 79 87 8 6.8 3.6 RC Kingfisher incl 79 80 1 0.9 19.1 RC Kingfisher SGRC2283 743776 892478 399 70 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2284 743773 892631 390 100 90 -60 33 48 15 12.8 1.0 RC Kingfisher SGRC2285 743725 892430 383 102 90 -60 33 75 42 35.7 2.5 RC Kingfisher incl 36 37 1 0.9 11.0 RC Kingfisher and 53 54 1 0.9 11.6 RC Kingfisher and 65 66 1 0.9 13.2 RC Kingfisher SGRC2286 743801 892801 391 86 90 -60 66 77 11 9.4 0.8 RC Kingfisher SGRC2287 743800 892631 386 81 90 -60 2 12 10 8.5 6.7 RC Kingfisher incl 5 6 1 0.9 30.3 RC Kingfisher and 9 10 1 0.9 16.1 RC Kingfisher SGRC2288 743775 892428 380 60 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2289 743751 892433 379 80 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2290 743802 892581 385 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2291 743799 892429 379 40 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2292 743776 892583 380 70 90 -60 3 16 13 11.1 0.8 RC Kingfisher SGRC2293 743751 892581 383 97 90 -60 34 56 22 18.7 2.1 RC Kingfisher incl 52 53 1 0.9 13.6 RC Kingfisher and 55 56 1 0.9 11.6 RC Kingfisher SGRC2295 743751 892479 382 90 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2296 743824 892781 390 80 90 -60 2 8 6 5.1 1.0 RC Kingfisher 19 39 20 17.0 0.9 RC Kingfisher SGRC2297 743852 892782 382 60 90 -60 3 18 15 12.8 1.0 RC Kingfisher SGRC2298 743725 892582 391 132 90 -60 66 79 13 11.1 1.5 RC Kingfisher incl 78 79 1 0.9 10.3 RC Kingfisher SGRC2299 743800 892532 377 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2300 743775 892531 379 70 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2302 743779 892379 376 36 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2303 743752 892380 377 60 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2304 743751 892730 391 135 90 -60 19 20 1 0.9 5.6 RC Kingfisher 74 80 6 5.1 1.3 RC Kingfisher 90 132 42 35.7 2.7 RC Kingfisher incl 118 119 1 0.9 23.1 RC Kingfisher and 130 131 1 0.9 33.9 RC Kingfisher SGRC2306 743752 892528 383 90 90 -60 22 29 7 6.0 1.1 RC Kingfisher SGRC2307 743728 892528 388 110 90 -60 48 59 11 9.4 1.0 RC Kingfisher 76 85 9 7.7 2.8 RC Kingfisher SGRC2308 743726 892380 377 80 90 -60 19 36 17 14.5 2.3 RC Kingfisher incl 34 35 1 0.9 14.0 RC Kingfisher SGRC2309 743701 892380 381 104 90 -60 46 88 42 35.7 3.3 RC Kingfisher incl 71 72 1 0.9 12.1 RC Kingfisher and 74 75 1 0.9 26.2 RC Kingfisher and 79 80 1 0.9 18.1 RC Kingfisher and 82 83 1 0.9 18.3 RC Kingfisher SGRC2311 743674 892379 383 111 90 -60 42 48 6 5.1 1.7 RC Kingfisher 70 74 4 3.4 2.2 RC Kingfisher 78 95 17 14.5 0.7 RC Kingfisher 99 105 6 5.1 1.0 RC Kingfisher SGRC2312 743700 892530 390 150 90 -60 72 78 6 5.1 1.4 RC Kingfisher 86 132 46 39.1 3.8 RC Kingfisher incl 104 105 1 0.9 13.1 RC Kingfisher and 110 111 1 0.9 11.6 RC Kingfisher and 123 125 2 1.7 44.2 RC Kingfisher SGRC2314 743776 892330 376 30 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2315 743749 892331 377 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2316 743726 892330 379 70 90 -60 6 10 4 3.4 1.9 RC Kingfisher SGRC2317 743700 892581 396 130 90 -60 97 120 23 19.6 2.1 RC Kingfisher SGRC2318 743700 892328 380 90 90 -60 36 70 34 28.9 2.2 RC Kingfisher incl 52 53 1 0.9 23.6 RC Kingfisher SGRC2320 743674 892330 399 108 90 -60 36 43 7 6.0 1.0 RC Kingfisher 64 78 14 11.9 1.3 RC Kingfisher 82 108 26 22.1 1.6 RC Kingfisher incl 102 103 1 0.9 11.6 RC Kingfisher SGRC2322 743676 892482 387 156 90 -60 108 130 22 18.7 2.1 RC Kingfisher 140 154 14 11.9 7.9 RC Kingfisher incl 144 145 1 0.9 15.0 RC Kingfisher and 149 150 1 0.9 68.5 RC Kingfisher SGRC2325 743775 892278 375 30 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2328 743753 892279 369 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2329 743725 892277 377 70 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2330 743748 892226 375 40 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRD2331 743649 892380 377 150 90 -60 70 73 3 2.6 5.0 RCD Kingfisher SGRD2332 743675 892531 405 174 90 -60 101 124 23 19.6 2.1 RCD Kingfisher incl 109 110 1 0.9 10.8 RCD Kingfisher 158 163 5 4.3 1.8 RCD Kingfisher SGRC2334 743725 892229 377 60 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2336 743701 892230 388 80 90 -60 15 29 14 11.9 1.2 RC Kingfisher 37 51 14 11.9 2.2 RC Kingfisher incl 48 49 1 0.9 15.3 RC Kingfisher SGRC2337 743675 892231 390 100 90 -60 43 74 31 26.4 3.5 RC Kingfisher incl 44 45 1 0.9 18.7 RC Kingfisher and 52 54 2 1.7 10.7 RC Kingfisher 78 91 13 11.1 2.6 RC Kingfisher incl 81 82 1 0.9 13.4 RC Kingfisher SGRD2341 743624 892232 391 132 90 -60 80 97 17 14.5 1.5 RCD Kingfisher SGRC2342 743752 892182 376 30 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2343 743726 892182 377 50 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2344 743700 892179 378 70 90 -60 10 14 4 3.4 2.2 RC Kingfisher 18 40 22 18.7 3.9 RC Kingfisher incl 24 25 1 0.9 23.7 RC Kingfisher and 28 29 1 0.9 14.8 RC Kingfisher and 35 36 1 0.9 20.7 RC Kingfisher SGRC2345 743679 892179 391 94 90 -60 34 71 37 31.5 3.1 RC Kingfisher incl 35 38 3 2.6 18.1 RC Kingfisher SGRC2346 743650 892179 381 112 90 -60 53 54 1 0.9 6.7 RC Kingfisher 59 78 19 16.2 3.7 RC Kingfisher incl 71 73 2 1.7 24.0 RC Kingfisher SGRC2348 743602 892181 403 153 90 -60 90 103 13 11.1 1.4 RC Kingfisher 114 119 5 4.3 1.5 RC Kingfisher 126 134 8 6.8 1.9 RC Kingfisher SGRC2351 743725 892132 405 30 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2352 743701 892131 405 72 90 -60 12 32 20 17.0 3.7 RC Kingfisher incl 22 23 1 0.9 12.0 RC Kingfisher and 26 27 1 0.9 16.7 RC Kingfisher and 28 29 1 0.9 13.7 RC Kingfisher SGRC2355 743721 892075 388 34 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2356 743698 892074 387 40 90 -60 NSI RC Kingfisher SGRC2357 743676 892076 386 74 90 -60 35 49 14 11.9 1.0 RC Kingfisher Notes: 1. EOH: End of hole 2. Depths and widths reported to nearest significant decimal place 3. NSI: No significant intercepts 4. ETW: Estimated true width 5. RC: reverse circulation drilling | DD: diamond drilling tail | RCD: reverse circulation drilling with diamond tail Sunbird deposit HoleID Easting (WGS84_29N) Northing (WGS84_29N) Elevation (m) EOH1,2 Depth (m) UTM Azimuth Dip Depth2,3 From (m) Depth2 To (m) Drilled2 Width (m) ETW4 (m) Au (ppm) Hole Type5 Area SGRD2205 742500 892435 554 450.2 90 -60 363 374 11 7.7 2.2 RCD Sunbird 406 414 8 5.6 3.3 RCD Sunbird incl 407 408 1 0.7 11.0 RCD Sunbird 423 426 3 2.1 4.8 RCD Sunbird incl 425 426 1 0.7 11.2 RCD Sunbird 434 440 6 4.2 2.4 RCD Sunbird SGRD2206 742505 892550 553 456.1 90 -60 351 352 1 0.7 12.2 RCD Sunbird 444 448 4 2.8 2.3 RCD Sunbird SGRD2207 742565 892485 565 370.2 90 -60 250 255 5 3.5 8.3 RCD Sunbird incl 250 251 1 0.7 16.8 RCD Sunbird and 252 253 1 0.7 10.9 RCD Sunbird 281 286 5 3.5 3.3 RCD Sunbird incl 284 285 1 0.7 10.9 RCD Sunbird 301 307 6 4.2 6.0 RCD Sunbird incl 304 305 1 0.7 11.2 RCD Sunbird SGRD2208 742370 892125 596 630.1 90 -60 561 572 11 7.7 2.9 RCD Sunbird incl 570 571 1 0.7 15.0 RCD Sunbird 583 591 8 5.6 9.3 RCD Sunbird incl 585 586 1 0.7 60.5 RCD Sunbird 595 598 3 2.1 7.5 RCD Sunbird incl 595 596 1 0.7 17.4 RCD Sunbird SGRD2209 742445 892335 567 500.2 90 -60 466 482 16 11.2 1.9 RCD Sunbird SGRD2211 742324 892026 603 708 90 -60 214 217 3 2.1 2.9 RCD Sunbird 648 682 34 23.8 3.9 RCD Sunbird incl 670 672 2 1.4 38.0 RCD Sunbird 688 690 2 1.4 3.9 RCD Sunbird SGRD2212 742540 892510 563 405 90 -60 339 371 32 22.4 6.3 RCD Sunbird incl 342 344 2 1.4 12.6 RCD Sunbird and 345 348 3 2.1 29.1 RCD Sunbird and 349 350 1 0.7 14.9 RCD Sunbird and 356 357 1 0.7 13.3 RCD Sunbird SGRD2213 742575 892610 568 400.1 90 -60 308 319 11 7.7 2.2 RCD Sunbird SGRD2214 742500 892360 564 420 90 -60 274 276 2 1.4 2.9 RCD Sunbird 320 328 8 5.6 1.4 RCD Sunbird 337 345 8 5.6 2.2 RCD Sunbird incl 337 338 1 0.7 13.8 RCD Sunbird 354 362 8 5.6 2.4 RCD Sunbird 370 380 10 7.0 4.6 RCD Sunbird incl 371 372 1 0.7 13.6 RCD Sunbird and 373 374 1 0.7 13.2 RCD Sunbird SGRD2215 742280 891928 600 780 90 -60 694 718 24 16.8 0.9 RCD Sunbird 723 728 5 3.5 1.0 RCD Sunbird 733 766 33 23.1 4.3 RCD Sunbird incl 735 736 1 0.7 45.8 RCD Sunbird and 741 742 1 0.7 10.4 RCD Sunbird and 745 746 1 0.7 14.9 RCD Sunbird Notes: 1. EOH: End of hole 2. Depths and widths reported to nearest significant decimal place 3. NSI: No significant intercepts 4. ETW: Estimated true width 5. RC: reverse circulation drilling | DD: diamond drilling tail | RCD: reverse circulation drilling with diamond tail UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was headed to Bangladesh Thursday for a four-day visit that will see him meet with Rohingya refugees threatened by looming humanitarian aid cuts. Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar. Successive aid cuts have already caused severe hardship among Rohingya in the overcrowded settlements, where many rely on aid and suffer from rampant malnutrition. Guterres is slated to visit one of the largest relief camps on Friday for an evening fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "The Bangladeshi government believes this visit will bring the Rohingya crisis back to the forefront of global discussions," government spokesman Shafiqul Alam told reporters Wednesday. Severe aid funding shortfalls would require a cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6.00 per person, the UN World Food Programme announced earlier this month. Youngsters in the camps are already experiencing the worst levels of malnutrition since 2017, with admissions for severe malnutrition treatment up 27 percent in February compared with the same month in 2024, the UN children's agency UNICEF said. --Securing additional aid-- US President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on foreign aid in January pending a review, with a knock-on effect in the Rohingya camps. UNICEF's representative in Bangladesh Rana Flowers told reporters this week that cancelled US grants for Bangladesh accounted for around a quarter of her agency's Rohingya refugee response costs. Bangladesh's government said it was exploring ways to secure additional humanitarian aid for the Rohingya refugees. "Our government does not want to compromise on the nutritional needs of the Rohingyas in any way," Alam said. "But international support is essential." More than 100,000 refugees are expected to participate in Friday evening's fast-breaking meal with Guterres, the Bangladeshi government said. Guterres is also scheduled to meet with de facto Bangladeshi leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took charge last year after a student-led uprising toppled autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina in August. A report by the UN's rights office last month found Hasina's government was behind systematic attacks and killings of demonstrators as it tried to hold onto power. More than 800 people died during the weeks of protests that ultimately toppled Hasina after 15 years of iron-fisted rule. Bangladesh has since sought her extradition from neighbouring India to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Rodrigo Dutertes drug war has been ongoing since 2017. Duterte served as president from 2016 to 2022 and although he withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019, he remained liable for crimes committed up to 2019. Depending on how far back the court wants to go, Duterte was also mayor of Davao city in the southern Philippines from 1988. He has openly admitted to killing people himself and with his Davao Death Squad, whose extrajudicial executions are well documented. The Hague court has called for witnesses -- somewhat naively, given the danger it may put people in. Current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has largely maintained the stance that he would not cooperate with the ICC investigation. But when Duterte returned on March 11 from a political rally in Hong Kong where he addressed crowds about the ICC investigation, he was arrested upon arrival in Manila. Still not cooperating with the ICC? President Marcos claims the country was only honouring its duties to Interpol by facilitating the execution of the ICC warrant. This line from Marcos may not stand up to scrutiny for very long. And in any case, this raises some basic questions. Why didnt the court issue the arrest warrant years ago? Has new evidence come to light? Dutertes responsibility for the drug war has never been in question and he has never refuted it. But he never pulled the trigger in any of the deaths, unless we go back to the Davao days. Is this the last and only throw of the dice for the ICC? A true investigation and accountability for the victims families would involve a much-needed examination of the Philippines National Police (PNP) and transmitting evidence they have of the crimes. Here lies the sticking point for Marcos and those in the PNP now promoted to senior roles. If the country is still not going to cooperate with the ICC, a deep prosecution of the drug war will be impossible, and Duterte will be the only target. This will lead to accusations of a show trial and ultimately not serve the Philippines people very well. Shoring up Western support Manila finds itself in an awkward diplomatic spot. Its Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Enrique A. Manalo, was in London last week, doing the rounds to shore up western commitment to the Philippines in its increasingly fractious rivalry with China. Manalo has a difficult task in Europe right now, with attention focused on Ukraine, as well as in finding a way to navigate the new United States administration. As any career diplomat would do, he said very little and asked for nothing specific from the United Kingdom, the EU, the US or other regional allies. Instead, he portrayed the Philippines as the Far-Eastern stronghold of international law and rules-based international order. This is clearly a blatant contradiction, coming from a country that continues to maintain it is not cooperating with the ICC. The Trump administration is desperate to refocus on China and put Gaza and Ukraine firmly as second priorities. The US has openly declared it has interest and responsibility in the Asia-Pacific region. Manalo knows that western attention and support for Manila is entirely reliant on its geopolitical use as a buffer against China. The Philippines territorial case is clear under international law, despite what China may claim, using ancient crudely drawn maps as a justification. The Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of the Philippines against China in July 2016, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. But China ignores the ruling, so boats are rammed, lasers and water cannons are fired, and tensions only rise. International law, for what it is worth these days, has become a crutch for the Philippines foreign secretary to lean on in London and in Washington. And freedom of trade through the South China Sea is the only reason why western nations are backing the Philippines. ICC doesnt act in the proper way But when I confronted Secretary Manalo with the contradiction -- if not hypocrisy on the Philippines approach to international law, during a 18 February 2025 Chatham House conversation, he claimed the ICC doesnt act in the proper way. Appealing to the populations, be they in Manila where many oppose US military influence, or in London, is the spirit of the time. Claiming legitimacy under international law is contemptuous of the public and the vitality of international law. This is not an academic point. Understanding the true nature of our allies and the binds that will be tested in times of conflict are best stressed in peacetime. We should also recognize that the Duterte regime in Manila tried to turn its back on the West and wanted to ignore the court's South China Sea ruling. This was a regime that not only massacred its own people with impunity, but would have sold out to China if it could have secured enough in return, which Duterte couldnt. Beijing saw him as unruly, unstable and not worth expanding its fight with the US for. Bringing the Dutertes to heel The current Marcos regime has used its potential cooperation with the ICC as a tool to bring the Dutertes to heel. But it seems this wasnt enough. Rodrigo Dutertes daughter Sarah, who is current vice-president despite a potential impeachment for threatening to have President Marcos, his wife and others assassinated and for embezzling $8 million , is the likely next president in 2028 unless she is barred from public office. Marcos needed a political blow to take out the entire clan. That involves multiple agencies and moving parts beyond The Hague. Claiming to be stalwarts of international law while ignoring human rights abuses at home has sadly become an easy line for the Philippines in 2025. It is unclear if anything has fundamentally changed yet, or if there is to be cooperation with the ICC beyond the Interpol arrest. It is also unclear what international pressure has been put on Marcos and, finally, whats next for the Duterte clan in Filipino politics. The "genocidal acts" a United Nations investigation said Thursday that Israel had carried out in Gaza are the most serious crimes recognised by international law, but also the most difficult to prove. - Nuremberg trial - The term genocide -- derived from the Greek word "genos", for race or tribe, and "cide" from the Latin for "to kill" -- was coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin. A Polish Jew who had fled to the United States, he used it to describe the crimes committed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. It was used for the first time within a legal framework by an international military tribunal at Nuremberg to try Nazi leaders for their crimes in 1945. However, those accused were eventually convicted on charges of crimes against humanity. - Legal definition - Genocide is the gravest crime in international humanitarian law -- and also the most difficult to prove. It has been recognised within international law since 1948, with the advent of the UN Convention. The Convention defines genocide as any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group." These five acts include killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) was created in 1992 to try the perpetrators of genocide. - Some genocides recognised by international law - The massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915 was recognised in 1985 as genocide by the UN, as well as by governments and parliaments in many countries, including the US, France and Germany, but fiercely rejected by Turkey. The Rwandan genocide, in which the UN said some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered in 1994, led to the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, based in Arusha, Tanzania. The massacre of almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica, in July 1995 during the Bosnian war, was recognised as genocide by the UN's highest judicial organ, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2007. The Balkans war crimes court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, has convicted several accused of genocide. A UN-backed tribunal found two top leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-79 guilty of genocide in a landmark ruling in 2018. Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has been on the ICC's wanted list for genocide and crimes against humanity in the western province of Darfur for more than a decade. Arrested by the Sudanese army in 2019, he has still not been handed over. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Bangladesh Thursday for a four-day visit that will see him meet with Rohingya refugees threatened by looming humanitarian aid cuts. Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar. Successive aid cuts have already caused severe hardship among Rohingya in the overcrowded settlements, where many rely on aid and suffer from rampant malnutrition. Guterres landed in Dhaka on Thursday where he was greeted by floral bouquets and a guard of honour. He is slated to visit one of the largest Rohingya relief camps on Friday for an evening fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "The Bangladeshi government believes this visit will bring the Rohingya crisis back to the forefront of global discussions," government spokesman Shafiqul Alam told reporters Wednesday. Severe aid funding shortfalls would require a cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6.00 per person, the UN World Food Programme announced earlier this month. Youngsters in the camps are already experiencing the worst levels of malnutrition since 2017, with admissions for severe malnutrition treatment up 27 percent in February compared with the same month in 2024, the UN children's agency UNICEF said. - Securing additional aid - US President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on foreign aid in January pending a review, with a knock-on effect in the Rohingya camps. UNICEF's representative in Bangladesh Rana Flowers told reporters this week that cancelled US grants for Bangladesh accounted for around a quarter of her agency's Rohingya refugee response costs. Bangladesh's government said it was exploring ways to secure additional humanitarian aid for the Rohingya refugees. "Our government does not want to compromise on the nutritional needs of the Rohingyas in any way," Alam said. "But international support is essential." More than 100,000 refugees are expected to participate in Friday evening's fast-breaking meal with Guterres, the Bangladeshi government said. Guterres is also scheduled to meet with de facto Bangladeshi leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took charge last year after a student-led uprising toppled autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina in August. A report by the UN's rights office last month found Hasina's government was behind systematic attacks and killings of demonstrators as it tried to hold onto power. More than 800 people died during the weeks of protests that ultimately toppled Hasina after 15 years of iron-fisted rule. Bangladesh has since sought her extradition from neighbouring India to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity. Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci, who is on trial in The Hague on charges of war crimes, was allowed to visit an ailing family member in Kosovo, a spokesperson from the special tribunal said Thursday. Thaci is on trial for alleged war crimes committed while he was a leading member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during and after the 1998-1999 independence fight against Serbia. The case is being heard by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), set up to prosecute mainly former KLA fighters for war crimes. "Due to compelling humanitarian grounds, the relevant judges instructed the KSC Registry to manage a custodial visit to Kosovo for Hashim Thaci to be with his father," said Michael Doyle, a KSC spokesperson. "During this custodial visit, the accused remains in detention and in the custody of the Specialist Chambers," he added. Local media published TV footage of Thaci leaving a hospital in the capital Pristina on Thursday, escorted by a large security detail. Several dozen people were gathered in front of the hospital and chanted Thaci's name during his visit. Thaci's father has been reported to be in poor health. The former president played a leading role in the Kosovo war -- the last of the 1990s conflicts that tore apart the former Yugoslavia -- that claimed around 13,000 lives. It ended after a NATO bombing campaign forced Serb forces to withdraw. Thaci has been held in custody since resigning from the presidency in late 2020 to face war crimes and crimes against humanity charges. He has pleaded not guilty. The former KLA commander was the young nation's first prime minister after it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. But he has been dogged by allegations of committing crimes during and after the war, along with accusations of corruption in Kosovo, where KLA commanders retain key roles in public life. The KSC was set up in 2015 after a 2010 Council of Europe report linked Thaci to organised crime during and after the war. International tensions remain high over Kosovo, which has been recognised by many Western countries but not by Serbia, Russia or China. Thursday, March 13, 2025 - Police have arrested some of the goons who took advantage of President William Rutos rally in Mathare slums to rob motorists and other innocent Kenyans. The goons descended on the busy Thika Superhighway and robbed motorists and pedestrians near Muthaiga and KCA University. Most of the goons in custody are Luos and come from the Mathare slums. See photo. The Kenyan DAILY POST Thursday, March 13, 2025 A video of Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika enjoying a romantic date with her husband, businessman Sam Mburu, in the U.S has set tongues wagging. For months, rumors have swirled about Kihikas prolonged stay in Texas, with speculation that her marriage was in trouble. However, the video, shared by former Senator Millicent Omanga, tells a different story. The couple was seen in an upscale restaurant, deeply engaged in conversation. Kihika, sipping tea, couldnt stop smiling as her husband spoke, exuding warmth and affection. Omanga captioned the moment: "Love is a language the heart speaks fluently." Amid mounting questions about her absence from Nakuru, Kihika recently addressed her constituents, clarifying that she has been on maternity leave. Watch the video below. Meet the Kenyan, Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika who works from her home in USA! pic.twitter.com/X4lT6hMb1p The Kenyan Vigilante (@KenyanSays) March 12, 2025 The Kenyan DAILY POST Thursday, March 13, 2025 - Fresh details have emerged regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of Sedgwick Insurance Brokers CEO Sammy Methu Kiragu at 4th Avenue Towers on Fourth Ngong Avenue, Nairobi, on Tuesday afternoon. Reports now reveal that Kiragu was under investigation over allegations of fraud linked to a Ksh240 million insurance tender at the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). Sedgwick Kenya Insurance Brokers had initially won the tender after submitting the lowest financial bid. The company received an official notification on June 7th, 2023, and a formal award letter on June 21st, 2023. It accepted the award in writing on June 26th, 2023, and forwarded confirmation of cover from Old Mutual General Insurance Kenya Limited as the underwriter on September 7th, 2023. However, KPC later awarded the contract to Four M Insurance Brokers Limited on September 7th, 2023, and signed the deal on October 2nd, 2023. Sedgwick challenged this decision before the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB), which ruled in its favour on November 2nd, 2023, nullifying KPCs award to Four M. Four M then moved to the High Court in a judicial review application. The court ruled that Sedgwicks bid was non-compliant as it lacked the financial capacity to honour its bid terms. It found that Sedgwick had attempted to adjust its pricing after winning the tender, a violation of procurement laws. The ruling cited breaches of Section 167(1) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act and Section 20 of the Insurance Act, stating that Sedgwicks bid was tainted with illegality. The court upheld KPCs decision to award the tender to Four M. Investigators later established that Sedgwick had colluded with UAP Old Mutual Insurance Company Limited to manipulate premium adjustments to match market prices. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) opened an inquiry under file number 185/2024. Senior officials from UAP Old Mutual had already recorded statements, and Sedgwick executives were due for questioning when Kiragu died. A letter from the Insurance Fraud Investigations Unit, dated February 18th, 2025, summoned UAP representatives to explain their role in the tendering process. The letter stated that preliminary investigations had revealed an agreement between Sedgwick and UAP Old Mutual to adjust premiums to fit a predetermined figure of USD 1,911,755.66. Kiragu was scheduled to appear before investigators on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025, a day after his death. The Sedgwick CEO jumped from the seventh floor of 4th Avenue Towers on Tuesday afternoon, despite the firm operating from the 14th floor. He died on the spot. Police arrived at the scene, processed it, and moved the body to the mortuary pending a post-mortem examination. Sources suggest that pressure from the ongoing probe may have contributed to his suicide. Sedgwick Insurance Brokers has not issued any public statement on the matter. Police have confirmed that investigations into Kiragus death are ongoing. The Kenyan DAILY POST Thursday, March 13, 2025 - Kenyans have taken to social media to castigate President William Ruto after a foreign national was killed by his speeding convoy along Ngong Road. The incident occurred near Adams Arcade as the convoy traveled from Langata to Kibra. The victim, a middle-aged white man, was reportedly attempting to cross the road when he was hit, seemingly unaware of the oncoming vehicles. A senior police officer described the incident as an unfortunate accident. The deceaseds body has been taken to City Mortuary for an autopsy. Meanwhile, President Ruto continues his weeklong meet-the-people tour, aimed at promoting his unity pact with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. He has launched several development projects in Kibra and Langata constituencies, accompanied by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and opposition lawmakers from the city. The tragedy has sparked debate over road safety and government accountability. The Kenyan DAILY POST Thursday, March 13, 2025 - Public Service and Human Capital Development Cabinet Secretary, Justin Muturi, has declared that he will not attend any Cabinet meetings until the issues of abductions and extrajudicial killings are officially included in the agenda. Muturi revealed that he had formally informed President William Ruto of his decision, citing the urgent need for the Cabinet to address these concerns. Muturi has been absent from all Cabinet meetings chaired by the President since the beginning of 2025. Speaking on JKL Live, Muturi while acknowledging the significance of these sessions, argued that he could not participate in the countrys top decision-making body if it failed to prioritize critical issues affecting citizens. "Attending Cabinet meetings is mandatory unless excused by the President. I have formally written and requested to be excused from attending these meetings until or unless the issue of abductions and extrajudicial killings is officially tabled before Cabinet through a Cabinet memorandum," Muturi stated. Despite his boycott, Muturi maintains that he remains actively engaged in his ministerial duties. He also made it clear that he is ready to be dismissed for his stance against state-sanctioned abductions. Muturi has become a vocal critic within the Government, particularly after alleging that his child's abduction in June 2024 was orchestrated by National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General Noordin Haji. He claimed that President Ruto personally intervened, calling Haji to secure his childs release. The Kenyan DAILY POST Thursday, March 13, 2025 - The internet has erupted after a corporate ladys dark past was unearthed. She posted a photo at Kenyatta University leading a masterclass on personal branding in the digital space, only for a nosy X user to remind her about her past life as a video vixen. He shared a screen grab of the raunchy music video by Benzema in which she was featured as a video vixen. The music video dubbed Ngwatiology, stirred controversy when it was released. As they say, the internet never forgets. The Kenyan DAILY POST Thursday, March 13, 2025 - After a three-month absence, Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika has reemerged online. The county boss, who recently explained that she is on maternity leave in the U.S, was spotted having a good time with former Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga in Texas. Omanga shared photos of their meet-up, captioning them with a heartfelt Bible verse. She expressed gratitude for their friendship, calling Kihika a blessing. A friend loves at all times, and a sister is born for a time of adversity. Proverbs 17:17 Blessed to have a best friend who walks with me in faith, love, and laughter. Grateful for the bond God has given us! Susan Kihika. Omanga captioned. However, the photos did not sit well with a section of Kenyans. Netizens quickly accused Kihika of abandoning her responsibilities, with some sharing images of Nakurus deteriorating roads as the Kihika enjoys extended break abroad.Top of Form Bottom of Form See the photos and reactions below. The Kenyan DAILY POST THE opportunity for Cross and Passion College (CPC) Kilcullen students to speak in French and German with counterparts was a key part of a recent visit by student groups from Caen in Normandy and Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia. Caoimhe Egan, Saoirse O'Brien, Aine Browne The five-day event was a return visit from one made earlier by CPC young people and involved 14 students and two teachers from each country. It was facilitated by the EU Erasmus student mobility programme, to which CPC signed up last year. German visitors Theresa Franken and Louisa Munnex During their time in Kilcullen, the visitors visited a farm, learned about bogs and took part with CPC counterparts in a number of projects. They also went to Croke Park, and had the opportunity to learn about Kilcullen's historical beginnings during a talk at the ancient monastic Old Kilcullen site. French students Emma Rouxel and Andre Munteanu A day was spent shadowing their counterparts to see what school life and classwork was like compared to their own systems. Following a final evening in the assembly hall of pizza, music and singing and a gymnastic display, their Irish visit concluded with a day in Dublin before flying home to their respective countries. Miya O'Byrne gave a gymnastic display Teacher Mary Quinto, the CPC Erasmus Coordinator, said the emphasis on the trips was linguistic and cultural experiences and that it has been a 'busy and exciting' time since making the Erasmus linkage. In addition to the reciprocal visits, teachers have been able to spend time in counterpart schools in a number of different countries. Getting into an Irish bog She is particularly proud of how the Kilcullen students conducted themselves while abroad. "They are great ambassadors. They have been complimented everywhere we have gone and they have just been brilliant." Representing the French students, Emma Rouxel said she was was especially impressed at the numbers of young people in CPC who are actively involved in music, and said she found Irish music "makes me want to dance". Some singalong and traditional music from Fionn Linehan and teacher Ciaran Blanchfield Her fellow student Andre Munteanu commented on the way CPC has classrooms for individual subjects, comparing it to their own school where theres a general room for most main subjects, with some students leaving that for more specialised classes. Here, students move around between every class, always mixing and circulating. I think thats very good for togetherness between them. Listening to Grace O'Donnell on keyboard at the final evening pizza and culture event German students Theresa Franken and Louisa Munnex particularly enjoyed the visit to Causey Farm in Meath which included a lesson in bread-making, Irish dancing as well as getting up close to farm animals. Meeting with students from other countries gave both girls the sense that there are not significant differences between them. Louisa said: "We're all kind of the same. We all have similar interests, and we're not so different as I thought in the beginning." Gordon Deegan South Dublin residents are contesting Orchid Homes' plans to construct a 212-bed student space on the Vector Motors site at Goatstown in Dublin 14. This follows three separate third party appeals lodged with An Bord Pleanala against Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's decision to give the scheme the go-ahead. The originally planned 220-bed student space scheme was to be accommodated in a six storey building and Orchid Homes has told the appeals board that the scheme would provide high quality, much needed student accommodation proximate to UCD. In its grant of permission, the Council ordered the omission of eight bed-spaces from the 5th floor. Appellants and local residents, John and Oksana Cronin have told the board that addressing housing issues should not come at the cost of the quality of life for existing residents. They state that this project is not even about solving a housing crisis - it is purely driven by profit. They further state: If this new six storey building is allowed to be constructed in front of our windows - no more sky, no more sunlight, no more birds flying by as that would block the skyline. Other third party appeals have been lodged by Gary McIlroy and Trimbleston Owners Management CLG, while Orchid Residential Ltd - which is co-owned by Max O'Reilly Hyland - has lodged a first party appeal against a financial contribution. In the Trimbleston Owners Management CLG appeal drawn up by BPS Planning and Development Consultants, it claims that the proposal would comprise a dominant and visually incongruous scheme due to its height, scale, design and massing. The appeal states that the impacts on Trimbleston would be visual overbearing and loss of privacy. According to MD of BPS Planning and Development Consultants, Brendan Buck, the proposed would seriously injure the amenities or depreciate the value of property in the area. Mr Buck claims that the quantum of development shoe-horned into the applicant site is excessive. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Councils grant of permission followed An Bord Pleanala only in January of this year refusing planning permission to Orchid Residential Ltd for a Strategic Housing Development (SHD) for 221 student bed spaces at the same site. The SHD plans were first lodged in April 2022 and appeals board refused planning permission for that proposal as it would not be satisfied that the proposal would not adversely impact on daylight levels within existing properties immediately adjoining the application site. In the first party appeal, Orchid Residential Ltd is contesting a planning condition by the Council requiring the applicants to pay 389,587 in respect of a shortfall in public open space. Recent analysis by racing experts claims that Kilkenny stud owner John Malone is amongst the wealthiest in the industry, surpassing some of the most well-known names in racing. According to an analysis by OLBG, Malone, who owns the renowned Ballylinch Stud near Thomastown, has an estimated net worth of 8.5 billion. Other publications have Malone's net worth estimated at approximately 5 billion but some, including Forbes, have it at $10 billion (7.7 billion). Such discrepancies may result from differences in valuation methods, asset inclusions, or the timing of assessments. Malone and his wife Leslie purchased Ballylinch Stud in 2014, and under their stewardship, it has become one of Europes leading breeding operations. READ NEXT: Manchester United legend has Kilkenny man to thank for huge win at Cheltenham The stud has been involved in the success of 19 Group 1 winners, further cementing its status in the racing world. While rankings of personal wealth can vary depending on methodology and sources, OLBGs report places Malone at the top of the list. As well as having a long and proud tradition of standing top-class stallions, Ballylinch Stud is also renowned as a outstanding nursery. Ballylinch Stud was founded by Major Dermot McCalmont over a century ago to stand the fastest racehorse ever seen The Tetrarch. However, the origin of the site can be traced back almost 500 years, standing on land seized from Cistercian monks by the Crown forces of Henry VIII in 1541. In the mid eighteenth century, the first Earl of Carrick, a member of the Butler family who had taken possession of the adjoining lands one hundred years previously, constructed a beautiful house on the estate by the banks of the River Nore, which he named Mount Juliet after his wife. He had a bridge built over the River Nore to link the estate to Ballylinch. The White Bridge still stands today as the demarcation between Ballylinch and Mount Juliet. Also under the stewardship of John and Leslie Malone are Ballylinchs sister farms Castlemartin Stud in County Kildare and Bridlewood Farm in Florida. FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE Kilkenny Education Support Centre, in partnership with Concern Worldwide, proudly celebrates another successful year of the Concern Primary School Debating Competition. This year, 20 schools from Carlow, Tipperary, and Kilkenny demonstrated their debating skills, engaging in high-quality discussions on pressing global issues. Now in its twelfth year, the competition continues to develop students debating abilities, confidence, and critical thinking while deepening their awareness of global challenges. Among the motions debated this year were: "Every person in Ireland should be given a bike." "The arts are key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)." "We should only buy Fairtrade products." "Our schools should be paperless." The competition reached an exciting conclusion on Friday, March 7, in the Kilkenny County Council Chamber, where the grand final debate focused on the motion: "Cities are essential to tackling climate change." Two Carlow schools competed for the coveted title. These were Newtown Dunleckney National School last years runners up and former champions, and St Brigids National School, Bagenalstown- impressive newcomers who made their grand final debut. In a closely contested debate, Dunleckney emerged victorious, demonstrating outstanding skill and argumentation. READ MORE: Experts estimate eye-watering net worth of Kilkenny stud owner Reflecting on the competition, John OSullivan, Director of Kilkenny Education Support Centre, praised the high standard of debating. He said, "It is always inspiring to see young students engage so passionately with global issues. The adjudicators were hugely impressed with the quality of debating again this year. We congratulate Dunleckney on their well-earned victory and commend both teams for their exceptional performances." The adjudicators for this years final were retired teachers Marie Stapleton, Betty Brennan and Siobhan Tulloch. Following the debate, Cllr Michael McCarthy, Chairman of Kilkenny County Council, presented awards to the finalists in recognition of their achievements. Kilkenny Education Support Centre extended its sincere gratitude to Eilis Costelloe, retired teacher and principal, for her invaluable coordination of the competition. Special thanks also go to the adjudicators, participating schools, teachers, parents, and students for their dedication and enthusiasm. Last years champions were Kilkenny's Carrigeen National School, who reached the national semi-finalan inspiration for future participants. Well done to all! Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Showers and thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High around 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Mahmoud Khalil standing outside the gates of the Columbia University campus on April 30, 2024. Khalil was part of the encampment on campus, but did not take part in occupying Hamilton Hall. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. A WOMAN who runs a business on Dublin Street, Carlow and her husband will be sentenced at the next sitting of Carlow Circuit Court after they pleaded guilty to possessing various kinds of drugs worth 230,000 for sale or supply. Edyta Scibior, 128 Crossneen Manor, Leighlin Road, Carlow was arraigned last week in the circuit court, when she pleaded guilty to possessing drugs for sale or supply at that address and also at her business, Home of Shellac, Dublin Street, Carlow on 22 February 2023. Her husband, 42-year-old Kamil Scibior, also of Crossneen Manor, had already pleaded guilty in July last year in Carlow Circuit Court to one count of possessing drugs for sale or supply at that address, arising from the same incident. Aiden Doyle SC asked Judge Eugene OKelly for a variation on the bail conditions so as to allow Ms Scibior (36) to return to Poland in March for medical reasons, which Judge OKelly allowed. Mr Doyle told him that the co-defendants were husband and wife with varying and differing levels of offending. Judge OKelly then ordered the preparation of a probation report on Ms Scibior while remanding both of them on continuing bail until the next sitting of Carlow Circuit Court on 20 May for sentencing. Local Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley, while speaking in the Dail this week, said that the income thresholds for people of working age applying for full medical card entitlements have not changed in 20 years. However, he said that 400,000 people of working age are likely to be entitled to a free GP Visit card but have not applied. In light of the situation he called on the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill examine the threshold for full medical card entitlement. He said We have not moved on this for years, and it is causing problems. There are a great many people caught without one, who are in desperate need of it. We have the aim of getting to a universal health system, but we are caught in this situation now and need to move on it. The Minister in response said: People under 70 are assessed under the general means-tested medical card thresholds which are based on an applicants household income after a deduction of tax, PRSI and universal social charge. Certain expenses are also taken into account. People aged 70 and older are assessed under medical card income thresholds which are based on gross income. However, those aged over 70 can also be assessed under the general means-tested scheme where there are particularly high costs. She said: I assure the Deputy that my department keeps medical card issues under review in order to ensure the medical card system is responsive and sensitive to peoples needs. over the course of 2025, we will review the existing eligibility framework to clearly assess what is working well and to inform future policy proposals regarding the eligibility based on robust evidence. That is an important step towards delivering universal healthcare in Ireland. In response to this Deputy Stanley said: This question refers to people under 66 years of age. The income thresholds are 184 for a person who is single and 201.50 if you are over 66. The basic rate of social welfare is 50 ahead of that at the moment. For a couple, the figure is 298. I ask the Minister to picture this. For a couple with two children, 342 is the limit of the income threshold. It is a real problem for workers and families. The Minister indicated she might review it. I ask her to go for it in the next budget. Minister Carroll MacNeill replying said: In 2023 GP visit card eligibility was extended enormously. While that does not meet everything if you have a GP visit card plus the drugs payment scheme plus, potentially the long-term illness scheme. What I really struggle with is that while 430,000 people were estimated to be eligible under that expansion as of 13 of January this year only 38,517 GP visit cards have been awarded, under that median income expansion. It is not as though we do not want people to take them up. As a result of that initially slow update, a media campaign was rolled out to encourage uptake. Concluding Deputy Stanley said: This is helpful because the GP visit card is welcome. We acknowledge that it is there. The figures the Minister gave means that, only one in 12 People who are entitled to it have applied for it. Obviously, there is a big piece of work for the Government and all of us to try get the word out there on that. It is important that we get people into primary care and that we are able to treat them, because many people neglect their own health due to costs and they finish up with a more chronic condition in some accident and emergency unit. By Richard Wheeler, PA Parliamentary Editor A proposed law to help thousands of mother and baby homes survivors accept compensation without losing access to benefits has been tabled in the UK Parliament. Labour MP Liam Conlon moved Philomenas Law, named after survivor and campaigner Philomena Lee, as he warned that many survivors living in Britain have been deterred from making an application to the compensation scheme operated by the Irish government. Mr Conlon said current rules mean any money accepted through the scheme would be considered as savings and could see the survivor lose means-tested benefits and financial support for social care. He added that ministers in Westminster could help up to 13,000 women by amending UK law to remove the risk, in line with similar changes made to help victims of the 7/7 London bombings and payments made under the Windrush compensation scheme. Family members of Ms Lee watched in the House of Commons as Mr Conlon presented the Bill on Wednesday. Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench portrayed Ms Lee in the 2013 film Philomena, which documented her 50-year search for her forcibly adopted son, Anthony. Mr Conlons Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme (Report) Bill would require the UK Government to examine the potential merits of making the change. The MP for Beckenham and Penge told the Commons: Philomena is one of tens of thousands of women and their infant children who spent time in mother-and-baby homes across Ireland for the perceived sin of becoming pregnant outside of marriage. The women were regularly used as unpaid labour and infant mortality was alarmingly high. They experienced harsh conditions, mistreatment and abuse, both physical and psychological. In certain homes, women were routinely separated from their children, with some being adopted against the wishes or knowledge of their mothers, as happened to Philomena Lee and her son Anthony. As a direct result of the abuse and trauma they experienced, many mother-and-baby-home survivors moved to England. In some cases they came here because they thought that disappearing from their home country was the only way to protect their familys reputations. And so for decades, thousands of survivors, including here in Britain, lived in secrecy and shame. Mr Conlon said the Irish government later apologised and the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme opened to applications last year. He said: Ultimately, the scheme aims to acknowledge the suffering and improve the circumstances of former residents of mother-and-baby homes, which is why its wrong that up to 13,000 survivors living here in Britain today risk losing their benefits if they accept this compensation. Under our current rules, any money accepted through this payment scheme would be considered savings and could see them lose means-tested benefits and financial support for social care. For some, it is deterring them from making any application at all, its one of the reasons why only 5% of survivors in Britain have applied so far. And for others, having received the compensation offer, they are now having to weigh up whether its worth accepting the money or if to do so would sink them into a worse financial situation overall. Mr Conlon said for many survivors the payment scheme had become an additional burden but noted there was a relatively simple solution. He said: The introduction of an indefinite capital disregard, which my Bill is proposing, would remove any risk to an applicants benefits and there is also strong precedent for this with the same arrangements having been applied to similar special compensation schemes in the recent past. They include those introduced for the victims of the 7/7 London bombings and payments made under the Windrush compensation scheme. Mr Conlon asked for his Bill to be considered at second reading on March 28th. Laura Harmon, a Labour member of the Irish parliaments upper house, said in a statement: I welcome this Bill and Philomenas Law will deliver justice to thousands of mother-and-baby homes survivors living in Britain. She added: No amount of money can rectify the wrongs that were inflicted on survivors but access to this scheme should be uncomplicated for all survivors. By David Young, PA, in Washington, DC Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said that the oppositions criticism to his comment on housing in the White House was over the top. During a meeting between Mr Martin and Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the US president was asked about Irelands housing crisis. Mr Trump replied that the housing crisis was because Ireland is doing so well. They cant produce houses fast enough. Thats a good problem, not a bad problem, he added. Leaning back in his chair and laughing, Mr Martin said: Thats a very good answer, president. Asked about the comments on Thursday, Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said people had said they felt insulted by the Taoiseach. Its not a good look for the Taoiseach to be laughing about a housing crisis when we have record numbers of homelessness, including child homelessness, when we have such a scandal that hasnt transpired because of the booming economy, it has transpired because the government has deliberately decided not to build houses during much part of the previous decade. Mr Martin said on Thursday that during the Oval Office press conference, he was also asked what he would wish for Ireland. He said: I equally said in the press conference, very emphatically, when I was asked What was the number one issue or what would I really wish for Ireland, and I said The number one issue in Ireland is housing, and we need to build as many houses as we can, as quickly as we can, for young people in Ireland to be able to afford to buy or affordable rent. Its classic (for the) opposition to do that, and I think that was an over the top reaction. Micheal Martin's meeting with Donald Trump dominates the front page headlines on Thursday. The Irish Times has analysis of how the Taoiseach used his diplomatic skills to "say nothing" in the Oval Office. The Irish Examiner and Irish Independent focus on the potential impact on the Irish pharmaceutical sector after Mr Trump claimed Ireland "stole" the industry from the US. The Irish Daily Mail says "job done" as Mr Martin avoided a public spat with the US president despite their differences. The Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star quote Mr Trump as saying he does "not want to hurt Ireland" alongside photos of the bowl of shamrock and JD Vance's shamrock socks. The Belfast Telegraph carries a photo of Mr Trump alongside the North's deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly. The paper says the region could become collateral damage in any potential trade war with the European Union. The impact of Mr Trumps tariffs on steel and aluminium imports features among a range of stories leading the British papers. The Metro reports UK prime minister Keir Starmer refused to join worldwide reprisals on the decision, while the Daily Mirror leads with fears over job losses for the British steel industry. Elsewhere, the i Paper and The Guardian say planned cuts to sickness and disability benefits in Britain could be watered down due to opposition from Labour MPs. Thursday's i: Benefits turmoil in No 10 as Labour MPs fight Reeves plan to cut welfare#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/dHtAS4IIe2 Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) March 12, 2025 Thursday's GUARDIAN: Starmer faces MPs' anger over major cuts to welfare#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/KcXa6HvXsl Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) March 12, 2025 The Daily Telegraph carries comment from Mr Starmer, who warns the British state has become overcautious and flabby. The US president has warned Russia to sign the ceasefire deal with Ukraine or face economic devastation, according to The Times. Thursday's TIMES: Back peace or I'll ruin you, Trump tells Putin#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/g5bk51cydK Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) March 12, 2025 Back at home, the Daily Mail reports a record number of Britons are part of the 40 per cent tax bracket. Thursday's DAILY MAIL: Record 5 million forced to pay higher rate tax#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/u13Bo3TEHz Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) March 12, 2025 The Daily Express says Britain's Queen Camilla has sent a message of support to French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot. Thursday's DAILY EXPRESS: Caring Queen's support for rape survivor Gisele#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/HlpMzIHd8Y Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) March 12, 2025 The Financial Times reports Britains top financial regulators have axed plans to impose stricter rules for diversity and inclusion following criticism from politicians and businesses. Thursday's FINANCIAL TIMES UK EDITION: City watchdogs scrap diversity and inclusion drive after firms' backlash#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/WyqfSKqGxK Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) March 12, 2025 The Sun says celebrity couple Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright have welcomed a baby girl. Lastly, the Daily Star dubs the Cheltenham Festival the cold cup after the event was hit by a blizzard, with the cold spell set to continue. David Raleigh A woman who was repeatedly raped by her uncle when she was a little girl, Thursday, called on the State to electronically tag him and other known sex offenders order to protect children from them. Sonya Stokes told a demonstration held at City Hall on Thursday evening, that her paedophile uncle Joseph Hogan, and all other convicted sex offenders, should be housed on Spike Island, a former island prison located off the Cork coast, to prevent them harming other victims. Hogan, (71), Rose Court, Keyes Park, returned to Stokes native Treaty City after he was freed from prison last Thursday, after serving a ten-year sentence for raping her over a four-year period, from 1984-1988. Ms Stokes, who presently lives in Portaloise, said she returns to Limerick three days-a-week providing support to other victims of sexual abuse. Seeing or bumping into Hogan in the street in their home city fills her with dread and more trauma, Ms Stokes explained. Calling on law makers to make it a crime for convicted sex offenders to live or work in the same city, town, village or area as were their victims reside or work, Ms Stokes said: I should feel safe in my home town, and I dont want to be booking into a hotel and meet him in a lift while Im in there, because I cant say what my reaction would be. I, as the victim, should not be put in that position and I should not have to fight this fight. Speaking out is my duty to protect other children, and the State needs to make this change and thats the bottom line. [caption id="attachment_1740336" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Photo: Brendan Gleeson[/caption] Ms Stokes said that, after his release from jail, Hogan was initially residing at a Limerick hotel, where vulnerable women and children were staying. She said Hogan vacated the hotel after she informed the premises about his horrific child sex crimes. Hogans last known whereabouts were in a building located very near a school. I spoke with the manager, who was flabbergasted. He (Hogan) was booked into the hotel under a different name. Its just not acceptable, its just not good enough, said Ms Stokes. There are a number of convicted sex offenders, including several convicted paedophiles, living in Limerick City, however Ireland, unlike other countries does not have a publicly accessible sex offenders register. In 2015 Hogan was jailed for 15 years after a jury at the Central Criminal Court found him guilty of raping Ms Stokes when she was a child. What the jury did not know at the time was that Hogan had previous convictions in 1973 and 1974, in Ireland and in England, for indecently assaulting young girls. Ms Stokes was accompanied at Thursdays protest by fellow Limerick woman, Leona OCallaghan, who was raped by Patrick Whacker ODea, Pike Avenue, Limerick, when she was 13; and by Shaneda Daly, Shannon, Co Clare, who as a child was raped daily by her prison officer father, Harry Daly. Ms Stokes said: This is very important to me and other victims. My happiest days were when he (Hogan) was locked up, and now he is out and living in Limerick and I am not even sleeping. Ok, he is out and he is entitled, as a human, to live somewhere, but he should not have his freedom in our home town, he should not have rights to live in the same town where he offended. To prevent paedophiles going underground if outed, Ms Stokes said: Put them in an institution, open up the likes of Spike Island and put them there, they shouldnt be around a school or a creche. Last night he (Hogan) was spotted in a premises across the road from where I go when I come into Limerick every week. Calling for a change in the law, Ms Stokes said: Enough is enough, what is happening is wrong, it is just wrong. Ms Stokes also called for increased garda supervision of known sex offenders. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. On 12 March Guatemalas interior minister, Francisco Jimenez, announced the arrest in Mexico of Aler Baldomero Samayoa Recinos, alias 'Chicharra', one of the main leaders of Guatemalan drug trafficking organisation (DTO) Los Huistas. End of preview - This article contains approximately 404 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options On 12 March Perus congress approved a bill which would increase government oversight over NGOs that receive funding from abroad. End of preview - This article contains approximately 389 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options A relaxing trip to Bali with a girlfriend left Amber Hills, a single mum from Brisbane, with no memory and a black eye. Amber Hills, a single mum from Brisbane, was left with no memory and a black eye after sipping on a cocktail while on holiday in Bali. Source: @AmberHillsOfficial/Instagram An Aussie mum is warning others to be careful after a spontaneous birthday trip to Bali with a girlfriend took a terrifying and life-threatening turn. Exhausted after a busy few months with her young twins, Amber Hills and her mate jumped on the opportunity to sneak away during the school holidays last year for a cheeky adventure. We just wanted to lay on the beach and read a book in silence, the 34-year-old, who had never before visited the Indonesian tourist hotspot, told Yahoo News Australia on Monday. After spending three days doing just that, the single mum was feeling relaxed as the pair sat down one night at a restaurant recommended for its sunset views. Upon hearing of the venues $60 minimum spend per person, Hills said she decided to change up her usual order of a bottled beer or wine for a margarita. ADVERTISEMENT The reason why I made the decision to buy a cocktail because I was so firm on just drinking bottled drinks the table in front of us, it was a family with a toddler and newborn baby and they were drinking cocktails, she recalled. So I thought, okay, if theyre drinking cocktails and theyve got very little people at their table, it must be safe. If Im gonna have a cocktail in Bali, this would be the place. Reflecting on what came next, she said: It just shows that you can never be too careful. Even the places that seem safe potentially could not be safe. Bali tourist collapses after drinking cocktail Not long after finishing off her first drink and sipping her second, which seemed to taste different, the friends entrees two seafood dishes were placed on their table. Thats the last thing I remember, the 34-year-old from Brisbane said. Although she did eat some of the food, Hills' friend could tell she was struggling. Feeling unwell, she stumbled off to the bathroom before returning to her concerned travel partner, who alerted their driver and some of her local mates that something was wrong. ADVERTISEMENT I was deteriorating quickly, Hills told Yahoo. The Good Samaritans transported the mum to a venue near their resort that is run by an Aussie expat. At this point my eyes kept rolling back, she said. Moments later she collapsed in the bathroom, hitting her head on a sink on the way down, as she began to non-stop vomit. They told me it was like a waterfall, she said. Mum wakes up with black eye and 'no idea' where she was Terrified, Hills mate and the driver took her to a friends house where they were met by an on-call doctor who immediately began pumping fluids into her body. Thats how I woke up with a black eye and no idea where I was, she said, claiming that if it hadnt been for everyones help she 1000 per cent wouldnt be alive. While Hills said she was told her drink had been spiked, methanol poisoning has also not been ruled out. The last thing the 34-year-old remembers is sipping on a margarita as her entree arrived at her table at a beachside restaurant. Source: @AmberHillsOfficial/Instagram Although she wasnt due to leave for another week, the shaken mum travelled back home with her friend the next day. I felt like my body had been completely thrown around. I was traumatised, the 34-year-old recalled. ADVERTISEMENT I did go to the doctors when I got back to Australia to get tests but they said everything probably in my system would have been gone. Weeks after the horrifying incident, Hills decided to share her story on social media in the hopes of educating others about the danger of drinking alcohol in Bali. She said hundreds of people have since contacted her, some of whom shared their own awful encounters with tainted booze. Drinking alcohol in Bali 'not worth it' Methanol is a dangerous byproduct of the distillation process that has no odour and on occasion isnt properly removed when bootleg spirits are made, and in turn, poisons unwitting drinkers. ADVERTISEMENT While rare, methanol poisonings have been an obscure and ugly offshoot of capitalism in Bali, with Colin Ahearn, a well-known safe drink advocate, previously telling Yahoo News that drinking any liquor in the holiday destination is not worth the potential risk. Travellers should stick to beer, wine and pre-mixed can drinks when wanting to crack open a cold one on holiday, he warned. Theres never been a case of methanol poisoning from any of those. Theres probably 30, 40, 50 different kinds of pre-mixed single serve drinks that you can buy out of the mini mart fridges over there, he said, urging Aussies to avoid spirits. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. THIS NUMBER IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE Dear Heloise: I love your column and read it every day. Here is my solution for your readers on how to get rid of scam calls. (I would receive 10 per day.) I called my telephone provider, and they have a link where you can list up to 30 telephone numbers that are allowed to call your phone. All others will receive a message that this number is no longer in service. It worked like a charm, and I have not had any scam calls since. Thank you! -- Ms. Deanne Dillenbeck, in Cypress, California NEW MEDICARE CARDS Dear Heloise: You had a reader who was contacted about a new Medicare card. She is correct that a scammer was possibly trying to get her Medicare number, but her information regarding new Medicare cards is incorrect. I received a new Medicare card in the mail with a letter saying to destroy the old card and start using the new one. I have no reason to think its a scam. Whether they sent it out to everyone in the country, I do not know. She can ask her medical insurance carrier or her doctors office if they have knowledge of new Medicare cards with different numbers that are being sent to people. -- Rise Schurman, via email WHEN TO CHANGE YOUR TOOTHBRUSH Dear Heloise: When should you replace your toothbrush? When it is showing wear. Keep a spare on hand. Compare the bristles on the old toothbrush versus the replacement. I prefer a manual brush, but I understand that electric ones are used by many. -- Jeanie Bray, in Bryan, Texas PAINTING TIP Dear Heloise: When I am painting with a brush and have to stop for an unexpected visitor, phone call, or lunch break, I dont want to clean my brush or let it get hard and dry. So, I do one of two things: I either wrap the brush up in plastic food wrap. Or I stick it into the bag that my newspaper comes in, squeeze out the air, and put a twist tie around the handle. Then I can go back to painting without a problem! -- Michelle Balk, via email DAMAGE TO REFRIGERATOR DOOR Dear Heloise: I have a new refrigerator, and I put magnets on the exterior as I did with my previous one. Two magnets adhered, but one slid down and caused a long scratch. I contacted the manufacturer and was told to see if I could rub it off the surface of the door. It didnt work. I contacted a local appliance store and was told that the new finishes would make it impossible to minimize/remove the scratch. I tried a stainless steel product that is used to remove fingerprints, to no avail. Can you suggest any other remedies or at least warn your readers to be cautious of these new finishes? Thank you! -- Mary Williams, in San Juan Capistrano, California LINT ROLLER HINT Dear Heloise: I dont know if you already have this hint, but here it is: To clean lint and pet hair from your felt chair pads, just use your lint roller. It works like a champ! -- M.W., Madison, Mississippi Send a money-saving or time-saving hint to Heloise@Heloise.com. I cant answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column. SEND A GREAT HINT TO: Heloise@Heloise.com (c) 2025 by King Features Syndicate Inc. L'Oreal has recalled its La Roche-Posay benzoyl peroxide spot treatment acne cream, which might contain benzene, a known carcinogen. Canva/Victoria Rosenthal Makeup company LOreal has recalled popular brand La Roche-Posays acne cream because it may contain benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, according to New York Post. Effaclar Duo Dual-Action Acne Treatment contains benzoyl peroxide, which could have the known carcinogen, according to Valisure, an independent testing lab in Connecticut. The lab found that acne products with benzoyl peroxide could contain the cancer-causing chemical. LOreal recall 2025 This recall originally highlighted La Roche-Posays Effaclar treatment, however LOreal has decided to voluntarily recall several other products. La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo Dual Action Acne Treatment: Lot Number #MYX46W Exp. Date of April 2025 Walgreens Acne Control Cleanser Lot Number #2309328 Exp. Date of September 2025 Proactiv Emergency Blemish Relief Cream Benzoyl Peroxide 5% Lot Number #V3305A; V3304A Exp. Date of October 2025 Proactiv Skin Smoothing Exfoliator Lot Number #V4204A Exp. Date of July 2025 SLMD Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Lotion Lot Number #2,430,600 Exp. Date of March 2025 Walgreens Tinted Acne Treatment Cream Lot Number #49,707,430 Exp. Date of March 2026 The brands are sold at many major retailers, including Walmart, Walgreens, Ulta, Amazon, Target, and more. Valisure reported their findings to the Food and Drug Administration and urged the organization to submit a regulation, revise guidance, and recall benzoyl peroxide-based products. However, the FDA sent an interim response letter instead and delayed issuing a recall to complete a review of Valisures report. According to the ingredients list, Effaclar Duo, which costs $35.99, is formulated with 5.5% micronized benzoyl peroxide. Results from Valisures tests show that on-market BPO products can form over 800 times the conditionally restricted FDA concentration limit of 2 parts per million (ppm) for benzene, and the current evidence suggests that this problem applies broadly to BPO products currently on the market, the Valisure report explained. High levels of benzene were not only detected inside BPO products, but also in the air around incubated BPO products, showing that benzene can leak out of some product packages and pose a potential inhalation risk. According to the report, Valisure was able to find benzene in a Proactive product with benzoyl peroxide that was heated to the temperature of a hot car (70 degrees Celsius or 158 degrees Fahrenheit). The amount of benzene in the air was about 1,270 times the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) calculated threshold for increased cancer risk by long-term inhalation exposure to benzene, Valisure said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Victoria Rosenthal can be reached at vrosenthal@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips. Possessing small amounts of marijuana will remain a misdemeanor in Easton following a city council vote Wednesday night. In a 3-3 vote with one abstention, Easton City Council voted no to an ordinance that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. The proposal, brought forth by Councilman Frank Pintabone, would treat possession of a small amount of marijuana as a summary offense rather than a misdemeanor. Under Pennsylvania law, when someone is caught with a small amount of marijuana (less than 30 grams of marijuana or 8 grams of hashish), they face a misdemeanor charge. Upon conviction, the penalty is a fine of up to $500 and/or 30 days in jail. Additionally, the conviction remains on their record. Pintabone said this could negatively impact future employment, housing, and licensing opportunities. In his proposal, if someone is caught with a small amount of marijuana, the fine would be $25 for the first offense, $35 for the second offense, and $45 for the third. Should someone be caught smoking it, the fine would be $150 for the first offense, $250 for the second and $300 for the third. After the third offense, it would move up to the Northampton County Court. Pintabone said raising the fines would act as a deterrent, preventing residents from committing the crime. Mayor Sal Panto Jr. with fellow council members Roger Ruggles and Ken Brown voted no, while Pintabone joined council members Crystal Rose and James Edinger in voting yes. Taiba Sultana chose to abstain. She said a concern was brought to her attention, and she requested to table the ordinance so she could investigate the concern. I can get behind this if our state legislators get behind it, Brown said during discussions. Panto and Ruggles took the same opinion, stating that they believe the issue is a state-level matter. While supporting the ordinances intent, they were hesitant to pass an ordinance that contradicted state law. Everybody up here took an oath to uphold the laws of this Commonwealth, and its my opinion that by doing this, we are not upholding that specific law of the Commonwealth that says marijuana possession is a misdemeanor, Ruggles said. He added that Easton police officers took the same oath. If there are two separate laws on the matter, he said it may lead to confusion on how to enforce it. Pintabone said he spoke to over a dozen police officers who would be in support of the ordinance. They said it would save them a lot more time on paperwork and to get back to normal business, including ones who said sometimes they overlook it because the process is too hard, he said. Chief Carl Scalzo previously said a local policy contradicting state law could confuse officers and lead to inconsistent enforcement. We have ordinances, and ordinances are typically utilized to address areas and communities such as ours that arent addressed under federal or state statute, Scalzo said at a previous meeting. But in this instance, thats not what this is. This is actually something thats already addressed under state statute. If we want to change something in the state of Pennsylvania thats already addressed in law, then that argument should be made, and then go through that process of changing that law. City Solicitor Joel Scheer said the ordinance could be reintroduced once Sultana is comfortable voting on it. I am not against the intent of this ordinance, Panto said. We are a commonwealth, not a state, so we are products of the state, and we are sworn to do what they say to do. Chelsea Kun can be reached at ckun@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chelsealehighvalley. Hokulea is pictured at the shore of Kualoa Regional Park after its 50th birthday commemoration, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin) AP KANEOHE, Hawaii (AP) Hawaiis American colonizers once banned the Hawaiian language in schools. Some Native Hawaiians tried to lighten their skin with lye. Many people believed Polynesian voyagers had simply lucked into finding the islands by drifting on logs. But a canoe launched half a century ago helped turn Hawaiian culture from a source of shame to one of pride, reviving the skill of traveling the seas by decoding the stars, waves and weather. That vessel a double-hulled sailing canoe called the Hokulea, after the Hawaiian name for the star Arcturus would even influence the Disney blockbuster Moana decades later. This April 1975 photo shows crew members training on the Hokulea canoe in waters off Kualoa on Oahu, Hawaii. (James Kimo Hugho via AP) AP To mark the anniversary, the Hokuleas early crew members gathered Saturday for ceremonial hula and kava drinking at the Oahu beach where the canoe launched on March 8, 1975, and where they began their first training sails. Kamehameha Schools Hawaiian Ensemble dancers perform during Hokulea's 50th birthday commemoration at Kualoa Regional Park, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin) AP Abraham "Snake" Ah Hee, a member of Hokulea's first return trip from Tahiti to Hawaii in 1976, center, drinks "awa" or kava, during Hokulea's 50th birthday commemoration at Kualoa Regional Park, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin) AP Its a vehicle of exploration. Its a vehicle of discovery, Nainoa Thompson, the CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, said in an interview. Its also been our vehicle for justice as Native Hawaiians, as Pacific Islanders, as a very unique, special culture of the Earth. In 1980, Thompson became the first Hawaiian in six centuries to navigate to Tahiti without a compass or other modern instruments a span of about 2,700 miles (4,300 kilometers). Hawaiian culture had long been repressed Thompson, 71, remembers stories from his grandmother, born less than a decade after the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. Teachers beat her for speaking Hawaiian, and her uncle tried to wash the brown off his skin with lye. When she had children, she didnt teach them Hawaiian. If her children tried to be Hawaiian, they would get hurt in the new society, Thompson said. And so you have to become something else. A resurgence of Hawaiian pride and identity starting in the late 1960s and 1970s set off a cultural renaissance. Artist Herb Kane began painting ancient canoes based on drawings from European explorers and got the idea to build a double-hulled canoe with tall, triangular sails similar to those his ancestors had used hundreds of years earlier. This April 1975 photo shows crew members training on the Hokulea canoe in waters off the windward coast of Oahu, Hawaii. (James Kimo Hugho via AP) AP Debunking the drifting log theory At the time, many people accepted the notion that Polynesians settled islands by accident. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl had theorized that Polynesians arrived from South America, pushed west by the prevailing winds and currents. In 1947, he set out to prove it by floating from Peru on a log raft. He landed in the Tuamotu Islands north of Tahiti and wrote a best-seller. Heyerdahls theory took hold even though Hawaiians for generations had passed down stories of people who traveled from the distant lands -- including Kahiki, possibly what is today known as Tahiti by canoe, bringing with them edible plants such as ulu, or breadfruit. Kane, University of Hawaii archaeologist Ben Finney and Honolulu surfer Tommy Holmes wanted to challenge the drifting log concept. They started the Polynesian Voyaging Society, intent on sailing a canoe to Tahiti without modern instruments. They needed a navigator. Traditional long-distance voyaging skills had all but disappeared, but a Peace Corps volunteer on the isolated atoll of Satawal in Micronesia told them about Pius Mau Piailug, who had been taught navigation from childhood. Over about a month in 1976, Piailug guided the Hokulea from Hawaii to Tahiti about the same distance from Hawaii to California. A mural of navigator Pius "Mau" Piailug of Satawal in Micronesia is seen on a building in Honolulu's Kakaako neighborhood, May 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Sam Eifling, File) AP Some 17,000 people thronged the Tahitian shore to greet them and witness what one crew member called the spaceship of our ancestors. Former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee was in his 20s then, and a delegate to the 1978 state Constitutional Convention. The Hokuleas success spurred delegates to make Hawaiian an official state language even though few residents still spoke it, he said. They also created the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians. It helped us believe in everything that we were doing, Waihee said. Today, two dozen schools have Hawaiian language immersion programs, and Census data show more than 27,000 people in Hawaii, and 34,000 in the U.S., speak Hawaiian at home. Kamehameha Schools Hawaiian Ensemble dancers perform during Hokulea's 50th birthday commemoration at Kualoa Regional Park, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin) AP Bringing dignity to the elders In 1978, an ill-prepared crew set out for Tahiti in poor weather, and the Hokulea capsized just hours after leaving port. Crew member Eddie Aikau paddled his surfboard to get help. The Coast Guard rescued the canoe, but Aikau was never found. The voyaging society overhauled itself in response, setting clear goals and training requirements. Thompson studied at a Honolulu planetarium and spent over a year under the tutelage of Piailug. In 1980, he navigated to Tahiti. Thompson said he felt a deep obligation to fulfill Aikaus wish to follow the path of his ancestors and pull Tahiti out of the sea. But he didnt celebrate when the Hokulea got there. I just went into a quiet, dark place and just told Eddie we pulled it out of the sea, Thompson said. Theres no high fives. Its too profound. In decades since, the society has sailed the canoe around the Pacific and world, including New Zealand, Japan, South Africa and New York. The traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokulea, on an around-the-world journey, sails by the United Nations on New York's East River during the World Oceans Day observance, June 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) AP It inspired other Pacific Island communities to revive or newly appreciate their own wayfinding traditions. In Rapa Nui, Chile also known as Easter Island islanders have embarked on long-distance canoe voyages. The University of Guam has a navigation program. Similar trends have surfaced in the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Samoa and Tonga, said Mary Therese Perez Hattori, the director of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center. We come from very, very ancient societies, said Hattori, who is Chamorro, the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands. Hokulea sort of helped us remind the world of this. Hawaiian culture practitioners blow conch shells to welcome Hokulea during its 50th birthday commemoration at Kualoa Regional Park, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin) AP Hollywood makes a blockbuster Hokuleas influence spread in 2016 when Disney released Moana, an animated film about a 16-year-old girl who learns wayfinding about 3,000 years ago. Thompson spoke to hundreds on the movies creative team about wayfinding and the importance of canoes to Pacific culture, said Aaron Kandell, a Hawaii-born writer who worked on the movie. Kandell, who is not Native Hawaiian, spent a year studying navigation with the Polynesian Voyaging Society during his 20s and incorporated that into the script, including where Moana learns to use her outstretched hand to track the stars and runs her hand in the ocean to feel the currents. Crew members taught animators about coconut fiber ropes so they would look right when Moana pulls on them, Kandell said. The Polynesian Voyaging Societys initial plan was to sail to Tahiti once, supporting a documentary, book and research papers. Thompson remembers pushing Hokuleas hull into the water with the crew back in 1975. It was really a moment I didnt recognize it but this was going to change everything, he said. An amphibian commonly found in coniferous and deciduous forests, this Eastern newt was spotted in August 2022 in northeastern Pennsylvania. Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com Northampton County will close the eastern half of Institute Drive in the Slate Belt for several weeks starting Friday. Northampton County Parks and Recreation Division officials on Wednesday announced the roughly half-mile closure through Totts Gap Conservation Area. The goal is to allow amphibians to safely get to breeding pools that dot the area. Closing roads to protect breeding amphibians is a common practice for that part of eastern Pennsylvania in spring. The National Park Service routinely closes River Road in Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County, within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area for the same reason, but has yet to announce the closure for 2025. Institute Drive is a connector route linking Totts Gap Road and Blue Mountain Drive, located between Routes 611 and 191, in Upper Mount Bethel Township. The closure is expected to continue through April 25. Frogs, toads and salamanders are triggered to cross Institute Drive in search of breeding ponds during evening rain with mild temperatures, generally above 40 degrees, according to the countys announcement. Theyre primarily active from dusk to dawn as long as conditions remain favorable. Nearby to the countys Totts Gap Conservation Area, The Nature Conservancy maintains the 150-acre Minsi Lake Vernal Pools Preserve between Institute Drive to the north and Minsi Lake to the south. The woodlands on either side of Institute Drive are home to the largest concentration of natural seasonal pools and associated species of amphibians anywhere in Pennsylvania, according to county parks officials. Some of these species are listed as threatened and endangered by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which oversees the states fish, reptiles and amphibians. Recommendations from the countys Minsi Lake Corridor Greenway & Stewardship plan highlight the need for protection of critical landscapes, county Parks & Recreation Superintendent Bryan Cope said in this weeks road-closure announcement. This temporary closure is a major step in the on-going efforts (to) provide sustainable conservation practices. For more information on the natural phenomenon of springtime amphibian migrations and how motorists can help protect them in their travels, visit shaverscreek.org. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. A UK boutique camping company is hiring staff in Laois and Ireland to join their team for Electric Picnic - and one of the perks of the job is a festival ticket. Pink Moon Boutique camping operate at major events in the UK and Ireland, including the Isle of Wight festival and the Silverstone Formula 1 Grand Prix. This year they will be making their way to Laois in August to literally set up camp for Electric Picnic. They published a call-out for application to join their "Electric Picnic" team on social media. They said: "Calling all Ireland-based festival lovers! Were looking for enthusiastic people to join our Electric Picnic team. Dont miss out - apply now via the link in bio!" The general crew roles come with several perks, including that all-important festival ticket, three meals a day and free accommodation. READ NEXT: Throwback pictures of cracking Laois Electric Picnic craic in Stradbally The line-up has not yet been revealed for Electric Picnic 2025 but a number of world famous acts will be announced as the year goes on. The event is already sold out so these jobs are sure to attract a lot of applicants. The Electric Picnic takes place in Stradbally from 29 to 31 August at Stradbally Hall. Laois Tidy Towns groups were commended for their work at a prize-giving ceremony for The 2024 SuperValu TidyTowns awards for the Midlands and East region on Monday March 10. There were many Laois winners at the event. Tree Project Award sponsored by the Tree Council of Ireland: Recipient - Portlaoise County - Laois Award - National Winner Waters & Communities Award sponsored by Inland Fisheries Ireland, Waterways Ireland & The Local Authority Waters Programme: Recipient - Durrow TidyTowns County - Laois Award - Highly Commended Midlands and East Medallist & County Awards 2024 sponsored by SuperValu: Recipient - Abbeyleix County - Laois Award - Gold Medal & County Award Recipient - Durrow County - Laois Award - Silver Medal & Highly Commended Recipient - Killeshin County - Laois Award - Endeavour Recipient - Portlaoise County - Laois Award - Gold Medal & Commended Ballinahown, the deserving winner in this region was presented with their awards by Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran and Yvonne OBrien, Community & Sponsorship Assistant Brand Manager with SuperValu, who are this year celebrating their 34th year of partnership and sponsorship of the competition. Ballinahown also won the title of Irelands Tidiest Village 2024. At the ceremony, Minister Moran congratulated all of the winners and referenced the huge interest in the competition, which this year celebrates 67 years of environmental and community initiatives. The 2024 SuperValu TidyTowns competition received over 900 entries. Minister Moran said: I am delighted to attend these awards on behalf of Minister Calleary and I encourage all voluntary committees to continue with their efforts in making their towns and villages better places in which to live and work and for all of us to visit. Minister Moran also referenced the 1.5 million in grant aid that previous Minister Humphreys announced at the results ceremony of the 2024 competition last November. This funding is to assist committees with their various projects and initiatives ahead of this years competition. It is the seventh consecutive year that funding has been provided to support local Tidy Towns gowns groups and brings the total amount allocated since 2017 to over 11 million. He went on to say: In recent years, thousands of individuals have volunteered with TidyTowns groups. I have the greatest respect for the volunteers here tonight from the nine counties in the Midlands and East region and for all the volunteers who have given of their time and skills so selflessly over the last 67 years. Minister Moran also thanked SuperValu who this year celebrate 34 years of sponsorship of the competition. He applauded the support SuperValu show at a local and national level and for the initiatives they have brought about in recent years, helping to ensure that, in collaboration with the Department of Rural and Community Development, the competition thrives and continues to have a real impact on communities throughout the country. READ NEXT: Laois natives to recount experiences in Ireland's Defence Forces at Tribunal Speaking at the event, Yvonne OBrien, Community & Sponsorship Assistant Brand Manager said: On behalf of SuperValu, I want to congratulate and thank the TidyTowns committee volunteers for the wonderful work they do, week in week out, all year long. You have shown that local action makes a global impact. "I would also like to acknowledge the fantastic support from our SuperValu retailers right across the region. We cannot underestimate the lasting impact committee volunteers and retailers have on the sustainable development of every community in the county. Every year we can see the impactful and lasting changes that are being made nationwide and we thank you for your contributions. As a proud sponsor of the competition for 34 years, I would like to congratulate all SuperValu TidyTowns winners and committees in the Midlands & East region on the tremendous hard work, commitment and effort shown by them, all year round, to make our towns and villages more attractive places to live, work and play. "SuperValu TidyTowns is a unique community movement, that has developed into the largest sustainability community-led initiatives in Ireland, if not in Europe, and its heartening to see the collective climate action being taken by all committees to protect the environment and promote biodiversity in their local areas. Interest in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition has increased year on year with over 900 entries received for the competition in 2024. The competition has been running since 1958 and is administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The competition has been sponsored by SuperValu since 1991. Volunteers were conducting a cleanup of the St Kilda breakwater when they spotted a length of green rope snagged between the rocks. Source: Zarah Wessels When a volunteer rubbish collector began pulling at a green rope stuck between two rocks, she couldnt have imagined what was caught on the other end. It was one of thousands of pieces of garbage collected from a rocky breakwater at the end of St Kilda pier in Melbournes south-east but easily the most memorable one. An image supplied to Yahoo News reveals in grim detail the harm it caused to a local creature that nests underneath the rocks. The rope can be seen tightly knotted around the gnarled bones of a little penguins leg. St Kilda Earthcare, which organised the breakwater cleanup, believes the unlucky aquatic bird either became entangled while swimming or waddling along the rocks. The groups March cleanup was their first in the area since the new pier opened in December, and more than 25kg of rubbish was collected. Its vice president, Dr Flossy Sperring told Yahoo News the penguin likely starved to death because it couldnt break free. ADVERTISEMENT Its a pretty devastating way to go. And pretty heartbreaking to think how that penguin must have suffered, she said. People would have been enjoying the new pier totally oblivious to the penguin. March has been a bad month for Victoria's little penguins, with large numbers discovered dead on beaches in and around Warrnambool and west of Phillip Island. Those deaths have been linked to rising sea temperatures and overfishing of the penguin's natural prey. The rope was caught around the little penguins leg and this prevented it from escaping. Source: Zarah Wessels How did the rope end up in a penguin colony? The penguin is part of a colony of 1,400 that live in St Kilda. Because rubbish from all over Melbourne drifts into Port Phillip Bay, the birds often have to navigate around bottles, soft plastics and fishing gear. Similar issues occur in NSW, where the Hawkesbury River washes microplastics and other rubbish into Central Coast waters. ADVERTISEMENT Its not necessarily people dropping litter around St Kilda. Then rubbish that ends up in the bay drifts over to the breakwater, Sperring said. Rubbish from anywhere can end up in a penguin colony or other wildlife habitat. So the best thing to do is to think twice before consuming anything [like plastic] thats going to end up in the environment for a long time. And of course, if you see rubbish then pick it up as well. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. Income thresholds for full medical card entitlements for workers in Laois and other counties must change, according to a Laois TD. Dep Brian Stanley made the demand because he said they thresholds have not changed in 20 years, even though 400,000 people of working age are likely to be entitled to a free GP Visit card and have not applied. The Portlaoise-based TD's questions also revealed that huge numbers are people are not applying for the GP only card. In a statement to the Leinster Express / Laois Live, the independent TD said he asked the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll McNeill if she will examine the threshold for full medical card entitlement. We have not moved on this for years, and it is causing problems. There are a great many people caught without one, who are in desperate need of it. We have the aim of getting to a universal health system, but we are caught in this situation now and need to move on it, he said. Dep Stanley outlined the figures. "The income thresholds are 184 for a person who is single and 201.50 if you are over 66. The basic rate of social welfare is 50 ahead of that at the moment. For a couple, the figure is 298. I ask the Minister to picture this. For a couple with two children, 342 is the limit of the income threshold. It is a real problem for workers and families. The Minister indicated she might review it. I ask her to go for it in the next budget, he said. The Minster for Health responded in the Dail. People under 70 are assessed under the general means-tested medical card thresholds which are based on an applicants household income after a deduction of tax, PRSI and universal social charge. Certain expenses are also taken into account. People aged 70 and older are assessed under medical card income thresholds which are based on gross income. "However, those aged over 70 can also be assessed under the general means-tested scheme where there are particularly high costs. READ ALSO: New planning sought for LAOIS school in PORTLAOISE "I assure the Deputy that my department keeps medical card issues under review in order to ensure the medical card system is responsive and sensitive to peoples needs. over the course of 2025, we will review the existing eligibility framework to clearly assess what is working well and to inform future policy proposals regarding the eligibility based on robust evidence. That is an important step towards delivering universal healthcare in Ireland, she said. She said that in 2023 GP visit card eligibility was extended enormously. "While that does not meet everything if you have a GP visit card plus the drugs payment scheme plus, potentially the long-term illness scheme. What I really struggle with is that while 430.000 people were estimated to be eligible under that expansion as of 13 of January this year only 38,517 GP visit cards have been awarded, under that median income expansion. It is not as though we do not want people to take them up. As a result of that initially slow update, a media campaign was rolled out to encourage uptake, she said. Dep Stanley welcomed the extension of the GP only card. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Laois TD Brian Stanley "The figures the Minister gave means that, only one in 12 People who are entitled to it have applied for it. Obviously, there is a big piece of work for the Government and all of us to try get the word out there on that. It is important that we get people into primary care and that we are able to treat them, because many people neglect their own health due to costs and they finish up with a more chronic condition in some Accident and Emergency unit, he said A famous cake created by a Hungarian refugee who fled to Ireland in the 1950s is to be celebrated at a St Patricks Day event attended by more than 300 diplomats and politicians in Budapest. The Irish ambassador to Hungary Ragnar Almqvist has invited Bewleys Grafton Street to showcase the Mary Cake at a reception hosted by the countrys Irish embassy. A 20-year mystery surrounding the famous dessert was solved in 2022, thanks to a collaboration between two granddaughters. It was introduced to Ireland in 1956 by Hungarian confectioner Henry Spelter, who was among a number of refugees offered training and employment by Bewleys when they arrived in Ireland. But the recipe vanished during extensive renovations at Bewleys two decades ago. No-one could recreate the cake until Hazel Carmichael, granddaughter of Bewleys managing director Victor Bewley, tracked down Henrys granddaughter Carolina Malagon in New York. Both women met for the first time when the Mary Cake was relaunched in 2022 and will reunite again at the Budapest event. It was so wonderful to meet Carolina in 2022 because she could share with me Henrys handwritten recipes and the notes he had kept, said Ms Carmichael, who runs Hazels Cake Studio in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Through her, I learned more about the opportunity that Bewleys gave to Henry and it was humbling to hear what that seemingly small thing meant for their family. The essence of the story is a refugee who came to Ireland and was given a chance by Bewleys but who also brought his own heritage. Henry and my great-uncle Alfred Bewley worked on that recipe together to make it suitable for Bewleys to reproduce and it was a customer favourite for decades. The treats are described as mini towers consisting of a rich chocolate filling on top of a sponge base, encased in chocolate and topped with a disc of marzipan. A confectioner by trade, Ms Carmichael was asked by Col Campbell of Bewleys to recreate the original cake for Bewleys Grafton Street. The Bewley family came to Ireland as refugees and the business, founded on Quaker principles, has been helping Irelands new arrivals since 1840, said Mr Campbell. The original cakes have been brought back to life by Bewleys and one euro from every purchase goes to support the Irish Red Cross. At a time of significant unrest, it seems fitting to celebrate all the good the Mary Cake represents as well as its dual citizenship on St Patricks Day in Budapest. The Bewleys team and the Campbell family who own and operate the cafe will be represented at the celebrations by Oscar Campbell, part of the management at Bewleys Grafton Street. Tributes have been paid to 'a true Newbridge man' from Kildare who passed this week. Vincent Ferrer Brady passed peacefully on March 12 2025 in the wonderful care of the nurses and staff of Suncroft Lodge Nursing Home. Vincent late of Irish Rail is predeceased by his parents Paddy & May, brother Ciaran, sister-in-law Bridget, brother-in-law Tom Kennedy. He is deeply regretted by his loving sisters Dympna (Kennedy), Mary (Brett), and brother Justin, brother-in-law Noel, sister-in-law Olive, nieces and nephews, cousins, relatives and friends. May Vincent Rest in Peace. Heartfelt tributes paid on RIP.ie this week included: We are very saddened and extend our deepest sympathies to Dympna, Justin and Mary. Vinny was a long-time friend... a gentleman and always friendly. He was a great supporter of all local history projects and especially helpful with his design and photographic expertise for various publications. Vinny was a true Newbridge man and will be missed. May he now rest in peace. And: My deepest sympathy to Vincent's family and friends. I knew him through the Newbridge photography club where he was admired for his photographic skills and ability to sensibly critique an image for competition purposes. He will be missed, but will live on in our shared memories for a long time to come. Rest in Peace. While another mourner wrote: An absolute & true gentleman, blessed to have known you. As well as our paths crossing in Irish Rail Inchicore works I have very fond memories of our paths crossing in our weekly commuting to and from the works. Always a smile. Condolences to his family. May you rest in peace. And another added: Sincere sympathy to Dympna, Mary and Justin and the extended Brady family on the death of Vincent. May he rest in peace. The Brady family are a lovely family and were great neighbours of my father (Mick Collatin) in Rowan Terrace many years ago. May those who mourn Vincent find comfort in their loving memories of him and in the support and comfort of one another at this sad time. Reposing at Anderson & Leahy Funeral Home, Henry Street, Newbridge from 4pm on Thursday with prayers at 7pm. Removal on Friday morning at 10.30am to arrive at the Dominican College Church, Newbridge for 11am Mass which will be livestreamed on https://www.facebook.com/dominicansnewbridge. Funeral afterwards to St. Conleths Cemetery, Newbridge. Family flowers only please. Donations if desired to Cancer Care Newbridge. READ NEXT: Major new residential development approved for Kildare town Maynooth Local Market is set to host a special St. Patricks weekend market at Court House Square, featuring Irish music and a dedicated Kids Zone with themed crafts and games. The market in Kildare will take place on Saturday, March 15 from 10am to 3pm, providing an opportunity to explore locally produced goods, handcrafted items, and a variety of food options. Collie Flower Designs will unveil an exclusive St. Patricks Day collection of dog bandanas and bows, all handmade in Maynooth. The market welcomes pets, allowing visitors to bring their dogs while browsing the stalls. Fun Foods will offer a range of hot food, including pizza and crepes. Donadea Organic Veg will have a selection of locally grown vegetables and homemade vegetable soup available. So Obsessed will also be at the market, offering soaps, deodorants, perfumes, candles, melts, and balms, all made with the finest natural ingredients and packaged sustainably. Local artist Maura McDonnell will showcase a selection of prints inspired by the Maynooth landscape, as well as artwork influenced by nature and iconic Irish figures. Karen from Skinny Pixels will present a diverse collection of photographic prints capturing the essence of Maynooth, the energy of New York, and striking scenes from her travels. Visitors can also enjoy freshly baked bread, cakes, and cookies from the award-winning First Batch Bakery and Once Upon a Whisk, and pick up high-quality eggs from market regulars Dunnes Farm Pastured Eggs. Cllr. Peter Melrose, chair of the Maynooth Local Market committee, encouraged visitors of all ages to embrace the community spirit on the square and support local businesses. He said, "As we approach the one-year anniversary of the market, were incredibly proud of how it has grown and the role it plays in bringing people together. The atmosphere each weekend is fantastic, with families, friends, and visitors all enjoying what our local vendors have to offer. St. Patricks weekend will be a great opportunity to celebrate this milestone and show support for our vibrant local market. For further information, follow @themaynoothlocalmarket on Facebook and Instagram. READ NEXT: Kildare Gardai probe bizarre theft at Dunnes Stores Combining Leixlip and Maynooth for primary care services, as planned by the Department of Health, is not good enough, a Fianna Fail TD has stated. A primary care centre, based in Leixlip, has been planned to serve Leixlip, Maynooth and surrounding areas. Deputy Naoise O Cearuil's contention is that a dedicated primary care centre is needed for the growing population of Maynooth, but the Department of Health has stated that no suitable site has been located for a centre in the town. The Kildare North TD was addressing the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll McNeill in the Dail recently, requesting an update on the proposed primary care centre in Maynooth. He pointed out that the population of Maynooth stands at 17,000, on top of which there are 14,000 students, yet still Maynooth does not have a dedicated primary care centre. READ NEXT: Kildare Gardai probe bizarre theft at Dunnes Stores Responding to Deputy O Cearuil, the Minister stated that since 2015, several sites in Maynooth were explored, but no suitable option emerged. As a result, she said, a larger primary care centre will be built in Leixlip to serve both the Maynooth and Leixlip populations and their surrounding areas. The existing Maynooth health centre will serve as a satellite and complementary unit to the larger primary care centre in Leixlip, she added. The Minister told Deputy O Cearuil that a schedule of accommodation is being finalised, with a view to the HSE tendering in the second quarter of 2025. The Minister said: I am aware that Maynooth continues to grow. It was the original intention to have that facility there. A number of issues have been thrown up in that infrastructure process that give me pause as Minister for Health as to how we well deliver better infrastructure around the country. Responding to the Minister, Deputy O Cearuil said he welcomed the news of a primary care centre in Leixlip, but that the idea of primary care was accessibility. Deputy O Cearuil said: I ask the Minister, as she stated, to continue the review. This goes back as far as 2015. It is now ten years on and no real progress has been made for a primary care centre for north-east Kildare. While it is positive that there will be a primary care centre in Leixlip, for a town the size of Maynooth - it is the same in south County Dublin, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Louth and Meath - there need to be primary care centres. It is not good enough that towns are combined for primary care. The Minister, agreeing with Deputy O Cearuil, reiterated that the intention was to do this in Maynooth. Several site locations for the Maynooth area had been explored since 2015, she said, but with no success. Deputy O Cearuil said: There is a wider argument around planning, particularly how one arm of the State speaks to another. That is a wider question. He concluded: I welcome that there will be a primary care centre in Leixlip. I will continue to work with the Minister to try to find an alternative site in Maynooth. I appreciate all the work she has been doing in increasing primary care throughout the country. Kildare County Councils Local Enterprise Office has announced that teenage entrepreneurs from Salesian College Celbridge will represent Kildare at this years Student Enterprise Programme National Final on Thursday May 8. The students participated in the County Final on February 27, held at the Killashee Hotel, Naas. A total of 125 students from 14 schools took part in the annual programme. The team, named Medieval Mayhem, consists of Emmett Villing (Financial and Assistant Marketing Manager), Kyerin Hunter (Managing Director), Charlie Kavanagh (Artist and Marketing Manager) and Henley Chacko (Production Manager). Supported by their teacher Michael Greene, they impressed the judges with their self-illustrated and strategy-based card game. READ NEXT: Major new residential development approved for Kildare town The enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw over 28,000 students take part in 2024/2025. The programme supports students in creating, designing, and marketing their own businesses, all with the hope of reaching the National Final. Special guests at the Kildare Final included the Cathaoirleach of the County of Kildare, Cllr Kevin Duffy, Cllr Seamie Moore, Cllr Bill Clear, Cllr Anne Breen and Naoise O Cearuil TD. Speaking at the county final, Jacqui McNabb, Head of Enterprise, Economic Development and Tourism, Kildare County Council said: Today we celebrate an incredible milestone in your entrepreneurial journey. You have taken a bold step forward, not just as students, but as entrepreneurs ready to make your mark on the world. You are stepping into a world that needs your creativity, your passion, and your vision. Believe in your ideas, believe in yourself, and never stop learning. The Cathaoirleach of the County of Kildare, Cllr Kevin Duffy, also extended his congratulations, saying: Over 28,000 second level students join us and take up the challenge every year. And this year you have stepped up to the challenge. Entrepreneurship is not just about building businesses; its about solving problems, creating value, and shaping the future. Each one of you has identified a challenge, seen an opportunity, and dared to create something new. That mindset the courage to innovate is what will set you apart. The local students will be competing for the title of Student Enterprise of the Year against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland at the Student Enterprise Programme National Final, taking place in the Mullingar Park Hotel on May 8 2025. Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 400,000 students have taken part, learning key skills on how to develop a business idea and how to start and grow that idea into a flourishing business. Further information about the programme, registration for the 2025-26 academic year and access to a range of online resources available to students and teachers can be found on the website at www.StudentEnterprise.ie Ireland shares President Donald Trumps unrelenting focus on peace, Irish premier Micheal Martin has said. Mr Martin hailed the US presidents work on peace initiatives in Ukraine and the Middle East at several engagements across his Washington, DC itinerary on Wednesday. He told US President Donald Trump: In my view, there is nothing more noble, president, than the pursuit of peace. He added: Ireland is ready to work with you and our international partners to end conflict, and especially to bring just, lasting and sustainable peace to the people of Ukraine and the people of the Middle East. Conflict and war hurt the most vulnerable. Too many children in particular have died in Gaza, in Israel, in Sudan, and too many children have been abducted in Ukraine. Let us together never cease to strive for peace, prosperity and opportunity for all the worlds children. That would be an extraordinary achievement for the transatlantic relationship and an extraordinary legacy for the ages. Speaking during their earlier meeting in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said US work on proposals for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine had been a great success. People are going to Russia right now as we speak and hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia. And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished. Its a bloodbath that is taking place over there. On average, 2,000-3000 young people a week are being killed, and that stupid war that would have never happened if I would have been president. Mr Martin said he wanted to pay tribute to Mr Trumps work towards a ceasefire in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is a devastating war on young people and I think that very simple straightforward narrative is to be commended. We all have children, we would be shocked at the prospect of young people losing their lives in that number, be they Ukrainian, be they Russian. On the Middle East conflict, Mr Trump said the US was working hard with Israel over what he described as a very deep-seated problem. He was responding to a question on Irelands Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Mr Trump said: Israel has been under siege, as you can see, and they had to fight back. October 7 was a terrible thing. People dont like to mention it, but it was a terrible, terrible day in the life of the world. He said that hostages taken in Gaza were treated badly and that October 7 was a terrible thing. Ireland, Spain and Norway recognised Palestinian statehood last year in a stance not shared by the US. Asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he would discuss this difference in opinion with Mr Trump, Mr Martin said: I dont have to inform the president. Hes very well clued into the whole situation. He added: Its been our view that a two-state solution would be ideal. Its become much more challenging and difficult as time moved on but that has always been our position. The Taoiseach said Mr Trumps administration pursued a ceasefire as soon as they came into office. Mr Martin said: Weve been calling for a ceasefire for a long time we want to consolidate the peace that is our fundamental aim. Recalling his own visit to Kibbutz Beeri after October 7, he said: We want the hostages out, Ive been saying it from day one a horrific thing to do, to take someone as a hostage. The Irish premier also called for a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, adding that Ireland is motivated by a humanitarian impulse. He said the position was informed by the experience of violence on the island of Ireland in the past: Weve been through some of this. Mr Martin expanded on this idea at the Friends of Ireland luncheon at the US Capitol. He said: Our nations green has been threaded through the rich tapestry of the United States by almost 32 million Irish Americans. Throughout our Troubles, the friends of Ireland, Republican and Democrat alike, held fast to a vision of Ireland not marred by violence or terror. You worked unrelentingly to realise that fragile hope. You stood shoulder to shoulder with us, no matter how fierce the challenge and there were many such challenges. It is that same determination that together we must devote to todays conflicts in the Ukraine and in the Middle East. Our shared history teaches us that peace however elusive it may sometimes seem is achievable. Its promise remains within our grasp. Mr Martin told Mr Trump: We hope to welcome you back to our small island. He added: Mr President, we are forever grateful for the United States contribution to transforming our island, and we wish you well in the efforts that you are making to bring peace to the Ukraine and to the Middle East and further afield. We thank you for your leadership and indeed your ongoing friendship to Ireland. During the meeting between the Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin and US President Donald Trump in the White House on Wednesday, the Toaiseach is seen laughing as the topic of the Irish housing crisis is brought up. US President Donald Trump suggests that the Irish housing crisis is because Ireland is "doing so well" as Micheal Martin laughs by his side. Read Next: WATCH: Taoiseach taken aback by random question by interviewer in the States In the clip Trump's words are as follows: "You know why they have a housing crisis? Because they(Ireland) are doing so well, they can't produce houses fast enough, that's a good problem not a bad problem." To which the Taoiseach responds in a jokey manner: "That's a pretty good answer President" as the room bellows out in laughter. To which Trump continues "Everybody should have that problem, I know this gentleman he will get it solved." Social media hasn't taken too kindly the clip of the two with comments under the clip reading: "Homelessness is hilarious, especially when there are tens of thousands of empty homes throughout the country" Another reads: "Laughing at the housing crisis.. absolutely deplorable, shame on you." Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin writes on his X account: "Do the thousands of people in emergency shelters think this is funny? or those trapped on Council waiting lists? or those paying rip off rents? or those living in their parents box bedroom? or those forced to emigrate? Joking about the housing crisis is never "a good answer" The full clip can be found on RTE's Twitter account HERE or by viewing the post below this article. For two years, researchers and farmers have worked to repair Leitrims historic bogs, tackling erosion, water pollution, and climate change in the county. The WaterLANDS project, currently paused in Leitrim and Cavan until September to accommodate the ground bird nesting season, is part of a broader European effort to address wetland restoration across countriesfrom Bulgarias marshlands to the lagoons of Venus in Italy. The Sliabh an Iarainn and Bencroy mountains in Leitrim have been the primary focus for researchers and farmers involved. Funded by the European Union and the Shared Island project, this is one of the largest research experiments on blanket bogs in the world, with 50 monitoring points recording data on precipitation, humidity, and temperature in the bog. The researchers are working with farmers to address issues on their land caused by the erosion of bog cover over time. These issues stem from several factors, including exposure to wind, rain, frost, fires on heather, and over-grazing. The breakdown of the bogs, which are the largest carbon-saving landscapes in the world, leads to the release of large amounts of carbon, contributing to climate change. For us, it is very important to keep that carbon there. At the moment, what is happening is that because all of that soil is exposed, CO2 and CH4 emissions are going into the atmosphere, says Dr. Guaduneth Chico Leon, action site coordinator of WaterLANDS. Additionally, the lack of cover on top of the bogs results in soil sediments coming loose and ending up in the water supply, degrading water quality in the area. Right now, we are dealing with the consequences of the past, so we have to fix that, says Dr. Chico. We are taking actions to retain the soil at the top of the hill so it does not go into the water, which would degrade drinking water. By doing this, future water treatment will be cheaper. The actions being carried out aim to slow down the flow of water from the top of the bog to the bottom. Small wooden dams, around 10-20 cm high with holes in them, are being built at the top of the mountain, while stone dams are placed closer to the bottom. These dams slow the flow of water, giving the bog more time to retain moisture and promote the growth of heather and peat. Additionally, biodegradable coconut blankets are being used to soak in water, retain moisture, and encourage vegetation growth higher up the mountains. The initiative also focuses on cutting back invasive species of conifers at the edges of the bog, which rob moisture from the bog. So far, the initiative has received an extremely positive response from farmers who have participated in training and open sessions. The success has been so great that more funding was required to keep up with demand. However, space is still available, and farmers are welcome to apply to have their land included when WaterLANDS resumes in September, according to Dr. Chico. Of the roughly 3 million invested in the Waterlands project, 60% will go directly to the farmers, says Dr. Chico. Farmers who sign up receive training, materials, support, and payment for the labor they put into restoring their land. The support and engagement of farmers are crucial, he adds: The farmers who have joined the project have agreed to participate in the restoration. That has not happened before in Ireland. In other projects, there may have been interest from farmers, but when it came time to do the work on the ground, they may have said no, even though they didnt disagree with the project. Two years into the initiative, the interventions are starting to take effect, but the results will take time. Peat grows at a rate of about 1mm per year. Its already working very well, but we just need to wait a bit longer. I would say in a couple of years, well see vegetation returning, and in five or six years, the bogs will be in really good shape, says Dr. Chico. READ MORE: Application to build 19 houses in Leitrim town submitted In a retaliatory act of defiance we've seen developing in Canada, Australians have been urged by Anthony Albanese to focus on our own goods if that's what Donald Trump thinks is best for his country. Canadian consumers were implored to buy local goods after the US president slapped tariffs on several Canadian industries, with vision of iconic US imports such as Jack Daniel's whiskey being pulled from shelves. And Albanese has said Australians should think about doing the same. "I would urge Australians, if they're in a local shop, to look to buy Australian," he told ABC radio on Thursday. "That's the one way that consumers can assist to create jobs here and to support our local industries." The tariffs were "very disappointing", the prime minister reiterated, but the government will continue to try to negotiate an exemption with the US. - With AAP From left: Minister of Finance and Development Planning Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan III; National Port Authority (NPA), Managing Director Sekou Hussein Dukuly; GTMS Managing Director Aminata Bangura; Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Commissioner General James Dorbor Jallah; and Minister of Justice, Oswald Tweh "This is not just for me," she said. "I want this center to go beyond meto stand as a living symbol for every woman who has ever stood up and said, 'I believe in democracy, I believe in freedom and rights, and I will challenge wrong. Give us 10 yearsfive women presidents. (L-r): Steve Flahn Paye, the project coordinator for the Japanese Food Assistance Program and His Excellency Yoshimoto Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to Liberia As Liberias longstanding development partner, the World Bank Group stands ready to support Liberias reset and the ambitious strategic reorientation reflected in the AAID, Wallen stated. As it stands, the insurance sector is vulnerable without a proper regulatory authority. This is why the Law Reform Commission is on boardto ensure that we draft and advance this law to the President and the Legislature, ultimately establishing a vibrant Insurance Commission for Liberia, said Cllr. Boakai Kanneh, Chairman of Liberias Law Reform Commission. Bones and tools found alongside the ancient skull fragments give some insight into the ancient human's life. Archeologists have unearthed what could be the oldest human face in Western Europe. Dated at between 1.1 and 1.4 million years, the bone fragments have some resemblance to extinct Homo erectus and was found close to animal bones with cut marks from stone tools. This week, Professor Rosa Huguet from Rovira i Virgili University recalled the moment her team first discovered the fossilised bones. She described the feeling as one of great excitement paired with the responsibility of needing to rigorously research the find. Where it was recovered was very ancient. Later, when we realised it was a face, and during the paleoanthropological study, we saw that the discovery was not only important but also groundbreaking for the study of human evolution, she told Yahoo News. Related: Object used in 12,000 year old curse unearthed in cave 3D imaging techniques were used to recreate and mirror the bone fragments to help indicate how the ancient human once appeared. Source: Maria D. Guillen / IPHES-CERCA What part of the face are the bones from? The fragments, which have been collectively named ATE7-1, were found at the Sima del Elefante dig site in Northern Spain in 2022. They were once part of the ancient humans maxilla and zygomatic bones that form the upper part of the jaw, roof of the mouth, and areas of the eye socket and nose. The findings were published in the prestigious journal Nature overnight. ADVERTISEMENT Humans are thought to have settled in Eurasia about 1.8 million years ago and this is evidenced by the ancient stone tools from the period. Bone fragment fossils are much less common. In an email to Yahoo, Huguet described the world in which ATE7-1 likely lived in. Paleoecological data suggests an open, humid forest landscape with trees, shrubs, and watercourses in the vicinity of the site, she said. Ancient tools were found close to the skull fragments. Source: Nature / Maria D. Guillen / IPHES-CERCA What was life like for the ancient human? Looking at the adult face bones, its impossible to tell anything about the persons appearance, sex, or even which species it is. Its been provisionally named Homo aff. erectus, indicating an affinity to Homo erectus, pending further evidence. What tells us more about the person and how they lived are the other objects found nearby. We have recovered a small collection of tools, including cobbles and flakes made of quartz and flint, both local materials, suggesting that the lithic resources were sourced from areas near the site, Huguet said. ADVERTISEMENT Use-wear analysis of these tools indicates they were likely used for processing animal meat. Additionally, we recovered a rib from a deer-like animal at the site, which shows clear cut marks, providing evidence that these hominins could obtain meat resources for their survival. Huguet hopes to find more fossils at Sima del Elefante that will allow her team to better understand this new species that lived in Europe over a million years ago. It will certainly be challenging, but not impossible. And if [Sima del Elefante] has shown us anything, its that anything can happen, and everything is possible, she said. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. THE Thomond Wind Ensemble, in partnership with the Colony High School Orchestra and Choir from Alaska, USA, will present a concert to celebrate St Patricks Festival. The concert will take place at St Joseph's Church on O'Connell Avenue, Limerick city this Friday, March 14 at 7.30pm, offering an opportunity for local audiences to experience an evening of Irish and international music. The Thomond Wind Ensemble is a premier wind ensemble based in Limerick, dedicated to showcasing the finest in wind band music. Under the direction of Dr Andrew Jordan, the ensemble is known for its innovative programs and vibrant performances. The concert will feature a dynamic blend of traditional Irish music and internationally acclaimed pieces, highlighting the cultural connections between Ireland and the United States. READ MORE: Students and teachers take to the catwalk for the Laurel Hill Fashion Show The repertoire will include TC Kellys A Wexford Rhapsody, Graingers Molly on the Shore and Derry Air, along with Alfred Reed's dramatic El Camino Real and much more. This performance is a chance to experience the talent of young musicians from Alaska alongside one of Irelands finest wind ensembles. The concert will explore diverse musical traditions, from the lively rhythms of Irish folk music to sophisticated orchestral arrangements, all while honouring the spirit of St Patricks Day. Tickets are available on www.eventbrite.ie or they can also be purchased at the door on the night. Ticket prices - adults 15, OAP and U18 10. For further information contact Thomond Wind Ensemble at thomondwindensemble @gmail.com LIMERICK native Michael Dowling has been presented with a Research Ireland St Patricks Day Medal at a ceremony in Washington. Taoiseach Micheal Martin made the presentation during his visit to the US for St Patricks Day. Knockaderry native Dowling is CEO of NorthWell Health - the largest healthcare provider in New York state, with a network of 21 hospitals and more than 900 outpatient facilities. NorthWell also has a research arm, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, which develops treatments for conditions such as lupus, arthritis, sepsis, cancer, psychiatric illness and Alzheimers disease. Also honoured was Richard Kearney, a philosophy professor at Boston College. To Prof Richard Kearney winner of the Academic Medal, and to Michael Dowling winner of the Industry Medal, congratulations on your awards, and on your respective successes to date. And thank you for your tremendous contribution to research in, and between, the United States and Ireland, said An Taoiseach Micheal Martin at the ceremony this Thursday. READ MORE: Limerick GAA jersey presented to international music sensation ahead of 3Arena show It is your respective visions, commitment and resulting actions that have had a ripple effect of binding our two countries together in such natural and profound ways, said An Taoiseach. Michael your contribution in the healthcare arena has been deep and far-reaching: from your support of education and training for entrepreneurs, researchers and health service professionals to the numbers you employ and, not least, the numbers of patients who have benefitted. I know you are a proud Limerick man, but you did study in Cork, so I wont hold that against you! In conclusion, I am delighted, on behalf of the Government of Ireland and Research Ireland, to be able to present the Research Ireland St Patricks Day Medal to Richard (for Academia) and Michael (for Industry). The SFI St Patricks Day Science Medal has been awarded annually to a distinguished researcher or technology leader living and working in the USA with strong Irish connections. GRAFFITI was daubed on a wall outside Askeaton Garda Station and in housing estates in the town under the cloak of darkness. The Limerick Leader understands the messaging was of a political nature expressing alleged dissident Republican sympathies. A garda spokesperson confirmed they are investigating an incident of criminal damage that occurred in Askeaton, County Limerick overnight between Tuesday, March 4 and Wednesday, March 5. The incident occurred at Askeaton garda station and other locations in the town, said a garda spokesperson, who asked for witness who may have seen any suspicious behaviour to come forward. Gardai are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to contact them. Similarly, any persons with mobile phone or dash-cam footage are asked to make that footage available to gardai, said the garda spokesperson. Investigating gardai can be contacted at the Newcastle West Garda Station on 069 20650, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station. READ MORE: 'You have lived a nightmare': Limerick coroner tells family at inquest of Joe Drennan Mystery surrounds the graffiti in the town and its political messaging. It was fair brazen to do it on the wall outside the garda station. It's in a couple of other locations as well. "I don't know what to make of it. Nobody seems to know who is behind it in the town, one local said this week. Blackstone Group Inc of the US will build out its credit and infrastructure verticals in India to complement its private equity (PE) and real estate businesses, senior executives at the firm said, adding that the firm is expecting to double its India assets under management (AUM) over the next three years. We have a global (credit) business of over $450 billion in assets that we hope to bring into India," Blackstones chairman, chief execuitve officer and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman said in a media interaction in Mumbai. To be sure, Blackstone has an overall AUM of more than $1.1 trillion. We also think that it is very logical to try and bring (to India) our infrastructure business in the future," added Schwarzman, an Indophile, who is in India this week to celebrate Blackstones 20th anniversary. The PE firm is expected to host more than 300 top firms and business partners in Mumbai in a private event on 13 March to mark the milestone. Blackstones India head and Asia head of private equity Amit Dixit said that the firms success in India is likely to help it find more investment opportunities and double its assets under management in India in the near term. Also read | Blackstone bought this edtech at the peak of a funding frenzy. Now, it's looking at an exit. Dixit said it plans to do so by building its credit and infrastructure verticals, while strengthening the PE and real estate businesses. Currently, the firms AUM in India stands anywhere between $50 billion and $55 billion, he said. Blackstone has seen India turn into its best performing region in terms of investment returns globally over the past 5-10 years. Its private equity and real estate investments registered a record exit year in 2024, Mint reported in December 2024. The narrative surrounding India exits has also changed for the better, Dixit said. (Exit potential) has dramatically changed in multiple ways, whether these are exits by sales to strategics or the IPO (initial public offering) market. In fact, India has become the worlds most vibrant IPO market," Dixit said, pointing to several companies the firm has taken public including Aadhar Housing Finance and International Gemmological Institute. On credit, Blackstone expects to launch its India offering by the end of the year and has appointed an India head. Also read | Blackstone, Sattva-backed Reit files draft papers for 7,000 cr IPO In infrastructure, the US-based firm has identified three key potential areas of interest around digital infrastructure, energy transition resulting from climate change, and transportation. These are the specific areas that the firm rallies behind within infrastructure globally that are relevant for India, too, Dixit said. Blackstones interest in digital infrastructure includes investments in data centres and telecom towers. Through its real estate investing business, the firm has invested in Lumina, a data centre platform. The second area is energy transition. As you know, India's has a 500-GW non-fossil fuel target by 2030. Infrastructure required for that, whether it is renewables or suppliers to renewables, will be huge," said Dixit. Schwarzman was also optimistic about Indias economic growth despite the tapering over the past few years from 9.5% to around 6.5%. The real economy on a long-term basis in India is excellent, and growth rates here have been top of the world," he said. Read this | Mint Explainer: The Aakash feudManipal vs Blackstone and the fight for control He was even more optimistic about Indias demographic dividendnoting that Indians were among the few countries still producing children" and is able to replace its population, something that has become a challenge in some countries. Schwarzman also said he is less pessimistic about India being adversely impacted by the tariff-related negotiations with the US. He expects India to emerge relatively safer through negotiations. I think India is quite well placed. Prime Minister Modi had a very good meeting with the President (Donald Trump) and they agreed to do a trade agreement. There are very few countries in the world who have that treatment. India has already made some changes on the higher tariffs and I would anticipate that the negotiations, I'm not conducting them, so I'm just anticipating that they should go relatively well there," he said. And read | Aster DM, Blackstone-backed Quality Care announce merger in $5 bn deal Kirsten Ritchie tried to create a safe space for rough sleepers in Tasmania. Now she's been left with no other option but to sell the innovative trailers. The pods were aimed at giving of Launceston's homeless a place to sleep. Source: Strike It Out/Facebook A frustrated and exhausted anti-homelessness advocate said she's "done" trying to work with a local council after years of failed negotiations to establish portable sleeping pods for rough sleepers. Kirsten Ritchie, who runs Launceston-based charity Strike it Out, said community fundraising allowed them to purchase and fit out two huge trailers one with seven sleeping pods and another with showers and amenities at a cost of $160,000. The big undertaking to help the growing homeless population began back in 2019. But now more than five years later, still with no council approval, she has been left with no choice but to sell the innovative trailers. Ritchie warned that homelessness in Launceston in Tasmania is at crisis levels, with census data showing 67 in every 10,000 residents sleep rough, well above the national average of 48. ADVERTISEMENT Speaking to Yahoo News, she described her relentless efforts to get the project off the ground, only to have the council repeatedly reject her proposals, leaving her with no viable alternative as she has been unable to park the sleeping pods on council land. The City of Launceston Council said Kirsten failed to obtain the appropriate documentation to have the pods installed permanently, and cited "antisocial behaviour" among occupants and local complaints for their dismissal. But Kirsten argued the City made it unnecessarily difficult to obtain the permits, and said that effectively, she was told "council are not interested and never will be". Ritchie explained that Strike it Out couldnt afford to purchase land for the pods, nor navigate the zoning requirements alone. Source: ABC Kirsten Ritchie (centre) has worked to obtain permits for the pods in Launceston, but said she's now been forced to sell them. Source: Strike It Out/Facebook Charity forced to sell sleeping pods truck over council red tape The best course of action to further give back to the community, Kirsten said, is now to sell the pods. ADVERTISEMENT "I'm so exhausted, I'm pretty much done," she told Yahoo News Australia. "They're never going to be interested in making this happen." "We don't have money to afford our own piece of land to purchase, and it has to be in the correct zoning and all that kind of stuff anyway. I thought the community own the community spaces, don't we?" Kirsten argued council should prioritise "collecting rates, organising rubbish and the roads" and believes her and the local homeless community have been treated unfairly. "All I want is to provide the homeless community with their basic human rights, with infrastructure that's available 24/7," she said. ADVERTISEMENT With the pods now losing value "sitting in a paddock waiting for something to happen", she's looking for buyers. Strike It Out bought two trailers, one with seven sleeping pods and another with showers and amenities for the homeless. Source: Strike It Out/Facebook Council says it 'worked tirelessly' with the charity For its part, the City told the ABC it had "worked tirelessly" to help Strike it Out over the past couple of years, but the charity "repeatedly failed to come to the table" with what officials "needed for a legitimate proposal." Yahoo News Australia has sought further comment from the City of Launceston Council. Kirsten claimed she even sought advice from a human rights lawyer just before Christmas. Though she said his attempts at contacting the City were ignored. "Council said the risks are too high [to establish the pods]," she said. "Well I say, don't you think there's more risk in sleeping rough than there is providing amenities and helping people?" ADVERTISEMENT Kirsten said she's had quite a lot of interest in the pods, from those in "private businesses", to the healthcare sector and accommodation service providers. "It's just ridiculous, there's so many other mobile facilities operation around Australia I don't know why it's so hard." Cities across the country are facing pushback over their handling of rising homelessness. On Wednesday, the Brisbane City Council and its Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told homeless people living in tents in public parks they had 24 hours to pack up and vacate. He said the move was an effort to make the city safer. As a community that cares, I dont believe we should ever accept that tents in public parks are an acceptable substitute for secure and safe accommodation," he said in a statement. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Bengaluru: Mattress maker Duroflex has aggressively pursued profitability in the past two years as it prepares to list on the public markets in the coming 18 months, its group chief executive officer (CEO) Sridhar Balakrishnan said. The public offering will largely be to give its investors an exit, he said, adding that there is no pressure for the company to raise funds through private equity or an initial public offering (IPO) in the near term as it is well-capitalized for its future expansion plans. We will start the preparation soon for a listing in 18-24 months. Its always a good idea to be IPO-ready and then go to the market when the timing is right," Balakrishnan told Mint in an interview. If all goes as planned, Duroflex will likely be the second company in the space after its larger rival Sheela Foammaker of Sleepwell and Kurlon mattresseswent public in 2016. Duroflex also competes with other players such as Wakefit, The Sleep Company and SleepyCat. In 2023, Sheela Foam acquired a 94.6% stake in Kurlon Enterprise Ltd (KEL) at an equity valuation of 2,150 crore, and a 35% share in furniture rental startup Furlenco for a cash consideration of 300 crore. Year-to-date, the companys shares have lost more than a quarter, closing at 708 apiece on the National Stock Exchange on Thursday. Also read | Neobanking startup Jupiter sees three senior exits amid crucial restructuring Duroflex last raised $60 million in 2021 from investment firm Norwest Venture Partners for its house of brandsDuroflex and Sleepyheadat a valuation of $312 million, according to data from market intelligence provider Tracxn. Prior to this, it had raised growth capital of $22 million from Lighthouse Funds in 2018. The company is largely a promoter-led entity, with private equity funds holding a 33.4% stake. Balakrishnan explained that the company is currently adequately capitalized for growth, expansion, investing behind talent as well as increasing retail footprint. Over the past two financial years, Duroflex has been laser-focused on profitability to ensure that its expansion and growth plans can come from internal accruals. In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), the company reported a consolidated operating income of 1,095 crore, compared to 1,057 crore in FY23. It posted a profit of 11.2 crore, from a loss of 15.47 crore in FY23. The company has clocked profits in FY25 as well but did not disclose the figures. We have seen a significant shift in the last year in terms of profitability. It has largely been a function of making sharp choices in the segments, channel, and product types. We have reassessed our priorities and our focus and non-focus areas," he said. While we continue to invest in marketing, we have also taken a closer look at our overall cost structures and have tried to eliminate or reduce those that have been non-value-adding to the business." In 2017, Duroflex launched another vehicle within the groupSleepyhead, which caters to the growing demand for mattresses online, especially among first-time consumers. The vertical is focused on the younger, digitally native millennials and Gen Z who are now coming into the workforce. We strongly believe that the two-brand play is needed to address different consumer cohorts, basis age, profiles, psychographics and attitude. From this standpoint, both brands have different prime prospects and therefore total addressable market (TAM)," Balakrishnan said. Nearly seven years later, Sleepyhead decided to ditch its direct-to-consumer-only strategy with the opening of three new stores in Bengaluru. It expects to open three-four more stores in the coming months. After the company establishes significant presence in Karnatakas capital city, it will also evaluate other metro cities to open similar stores, Balakrishnan said. Also read | Razorpay bolsters Southeast Asia bet with Singapore foray Sleepheads products, prices, and experiences are different from that of Duroflex, but the entire backend for both the divisions is synergized to enable higher cost savings. Currently, it contributes about 10-15% to the overall revenue for the Duroflex Group. Devangshu Dutta, chief executive at consultancy firm Third Eyesight, also emphasized that older companies need to update their offering, branding and communication for the younger, digital-friendly generations. The newer competitors are yet to penetrate cities where older incumbents already have a presencethis offers the older companies at least some chance to refresh their business and retain the territory," he said. Dutta added that they need to reach out to the different segments with a varied product mix as well as through different channels. While there is growing competition in the space, he believes the market opportunity is also expanding simultaneously, as more and more youth are forming new households, often in cities away from their parental home, as they move into their careers. This is creating an expanding opportunity for furniture, home decor, home utility and furnishings companies. Short-term economic cycles may cause consumers to tighten their wallets and postpone their purchases, but the broad trend is that of growth," Dutta added. However, Sleepyhead is a slightly late entrant to offline expansion as many of its peers like Wakefit and The Sleep Company already have over 100 stores. We have been very careful about expanding in retail. In the case of a wrong location or a wrong business model, it can be a drain on the profitability, so we have taken time to patiently assess and then go about this strategy," Balakrishnan said. He added that most companies are a little prudent about growing their footprint after the initial phase of expansion, as the operating costs of running a store are significant. Balakrishnan also highlighted similar expansion plans for Duroflex, which derives the bulk of its revenue from mattresses and foam, followed by furniture and other accessories. While we have gone a little slower on expansion this year to focus on profitability, we plan to drastically increase our footprint and double down on those geographies which are of strategic importance to us over the next 9-12 months." Although its a pan-India brand, the company gets about 65% of its revenue from the southern part of the country, which is the single-largest zone for the entire comfort solutions category. Its strong brand positioning with plans for geographical expansion, growing scale of operations and comfortable risk profile will keep Duroflex in good stead for future growth, Care Edge Ratings said in a report in November. Also read | Mattress company Duroflex signs Virat Kohli as brand ambassador Founded in 1963 by the late P.C. Mathew and George L. Mathew, the company has a vast distribution network with over 2,000 dealers nationwide for its mattresses, furniture and accessories segment, and about 190 dealers and 100 distributors across the country for its foam products. India's judiciary is grappling with the unintended consequences of live-streamed court cases as short, often out-of-context, clips go viral on social media, fuelling misinformation. And that has reignited the debate whether the proceedings should be shared live online at all. Supreme Court judge Justice B.R. Gavai, slated to become the next Chief Justice of India, has voiced serious reservations, highlighting the potential to undermine the integrity of judicial processes. These clips, when taken out of context, can lead to misinformation, misinterpretation of judicial discussions, and inaccurate reporting," he said at an event. Former Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel told Mint that live-streaming of court proceedings trivializes a judge's work". He flagged a lack of control over viewers on platforms like YouTube, contrasting it with virtual or hybrid hearings where attendees can be traced through their IP addresses. We do serious work that affects individuals, corporates...," Justice Patel said. The clips that are circulated are part of long hearings; there is something taken out of context for shock value. It has become a real menace." Once uploaded, there is no way to control the manner in which it is replicated, so it does more harm than good, he said. Unless there is some law governing live streaming or changes in technology for live streaming, it should altogether be stopped." Also read | From Likes to Live: Digital influencers take baby steps into the real world The Supreme Court started live telecasts of court proceedings as part of the right to access justice under Article 21 of the Constitution, aiming to enhance transparency and public confidence. The top courts e-Committee, under the leadership of then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, issued model guidelines that only authorized entities can record or share proceedings, and unauthorized use is punishable under copyright, IT, and contempt laws. Enforcement, however, remains a challenge. A judge who refused to be identified said the viral nature of these clips could exert undue pressure on the judiciary, potentially compromising its independence and impartiality. Judges like to ask questions and engage in discussions with lawyers. Such scrutiny may make judges conscious," he said. Hamza Lakdawala, a lawyer practising in the Bombay High Court, also expressed concerns. Virtual hearings are a natural extension as we have open courts. However, live streaming could have a chilling effect on lawyers," he said, suggesting lawyers might mellow down or play to the gallery". He advocated alternative solutions, such as allowing virtual hearing access via platforms such as Zoom and Webex and sharing archived transcripts and audio recordings for educational purposes. People can attend court proceedings; they can come to court and attend hearings," he said, emphasizing that these measures do not restrict access entirely. Also read | The secret struggle behind Indias influencer explosion Any unauthorized reproduction, dissemination or modification of such contentabsent a legitimate defence such as fair useconstitutes an actionable violation of copyright law, permitting courts to seek injunctive relief, damages, and criminal prosecution of infringers. Courts may also invoke takedown mechanisms provided under the IT Act to prevent the proliferation of unauthorized content. Some lawyers see live-streaming as a significant step toward transparency and public engagement with the legal system. There should be clear, enforceable guidelines" to regulate the use and reproduction of court proceedings, said Tushar Kumar, an advocate in the Supreme Court. A prudent regulatory framework could incorporate delayed broadcasting of live proceedings, allowing courts a window to redact sensitive portions or pre-empt the risk of misrepresentation." He added that courts may also mandate standardized disclaimers accompanying all live streams, clarifying that isolated clips do not reflect the entirety of judicial discourse. Kumar also advocated binding content moderation directives for social media platforms". Content creators back live-streaming of court cases and virtual hearings, citing public good. Read this | Blue collar influencers: An emerging force but their brands are yet to catch fire Hybrid court hearings have made access to the judicial system easy, and it should not be undone," according to lawyer Anwesh Panigrahi, co-founder of Deadly Law, a social media channel for legal news and information. He cited how virtual hearings of the Cuttack High Court have cut down unnecessary expenditure" for litigants. While acknowledging that content is, at times, sensationalized, he said, People don't want to consume this information in a boring or preachy way. They prefer entertaining memes, so legal content in that sense is important." To give perspective, in 2024 alone, close to 210 thousand posts related to legal content were seen on Instagram from India, which saw engagement from over 1.1 billion users, according to data furnished by Qoruz, an influencer marketing tech platform. And while some legal experts call for doing away with live-streaming of proceedings, Panigrahi flagged that the space for content creators is already shrinking. Our freedom of speech has already been restricted to some extent due to the fear that if we offend any particular set of people, they will come after us heavily," he said. So instead of freely expressing, content creators are practising conditional speech." According to Anirudh Sridharan, CEO of HashFame, a creator networking platform, a lot of creators are even going back to their old content on platforms, including Facebook, to delete the older posts years ago when everything was unfiltered. They want to ensure that their past content or anything that they post from further on does not affect their work or personal lives". And read | How influencers can stay out of legal trouble Sridharan, however, said that social media platforms get away lightly. Compared to other countries, intermediary liability is very limited in India," he said, adding that when something goes wrong, the platforms aren't held accountable as much and they often blame it on algorithms. Soldiers took part in exercises for NATOs new quick-reaction force in Smardan, Romania, last month. Last month roughly 10,000 NATO troops carried out drills just miles from Ukraines border to test a new quick-reaction force created after Russias large-scale invasion of its neighbor. The show of military muscle was unusual for who was absent: the U.S. Now people in and around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are wondering whether Europeans could handle more than just an exercise on their own. Americas commitment to NATO security guarantees is suddenly in doubt, even after the U.S. reinstated military support for Ukraine this week after Kyiv accepted a cease-fire and Moscow signaled it is in no hurry to end hostilities. American diplomatic outreach to Russia and the Trump administrations frostiness toward Europe raise worries. That is leading some to ask a once-unthinkable question: If trans-Atlantic ties deteriorate further, could Europe be forced to defend itself against Russia without U.S. support? American military brass and officials who have served across the Atlantic say Europe would pack a strong punch in such a scenario. Europe lacks important air-defense and intelligence capabilities, but its militaries together constitute a massive air force, giant navy and formidable army. Those land forces, which shriveled after the Cold War, are now gradually rebuilding and adding advanced equipment. A fight would be deadly and hugely destructiveas Russias invasion of Ukraine has shownand raise the risk of nuclear war. But in conventional combat, say strategists, Russia would struggle against Europe. NATO members have said that Russia in a few years could be strong enough to launch a more traditional attack on Europe, especially if a Ukraine peace agreement allows Moscow to rebuild its armed forces. Whether a reconstituted Russian military could take European ground is the question. What weve seen of Mr. Putins army is, they are certainly not 10 feet tall. They have struggled mightily in fighting Ukraine," said retired U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, a former NATO supreme allied commander. He said that 11 years after Moscows initial attack on Ukraine, when it seized the Crimean Peninsula, and three years after its full-scale invasion, their army has been decimated" by a lesser Ukrainian force. Breedlove and others are positive on Europes prospects in a fight with Russia in part because of the potential circumstances: a Russian attack on Europe. Europe has no thoughts of attacking Russia. Defending territory is easier than taking it, as ragtag Ukrainian forces showed three years ago when they stopped Russias attempt to grab Kyiv. I think that the European armies are well-suited to any problem that would happen with Russia," said Breedlove. One caveat raised in recent days, following President Trumps blockage of aid to Ukraine, is the U.S. actively impeding European NATO action. Thats no longer completely unimaginable," said Giuseppe Spatafora, a former NATO planner and now a research analyst at the European Unions Institute for Security Studies. NATO countries are racing to learn from Ukraine and develop their own drones and antidrone systems. Europes military shortcomings are well documented. Its forces rely on the U.S. for vital intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transport aircraft and command-and-control. Perhaps most critical in a fight with Russia is Europes lack of air defenses. Russia has demolished Ukrainian towns and cities with missiles and rockets. Still, Europes militaries together have significant defensive capabilities, which they are building through incessant training. The scale of exercises has increased and their focus has shifted to collective defense. U.S. absence from the reaction-force drill in February was largely due to troop rotations and European initiative to lead the effort, say NATO officials. NATOs 32 members last spring staged their largest exercise since the Cold War, including roughly 90,000 troops, more than 80 aircraft and 1,100 combat vehiclesa big chunk of which came from the U.S. This year, NATO plans nearly 100 separate exercises, said NATOs supreme allied commander Europe, U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, in January. Most are in or near Europe. This is an intensive schedule, its ambitious, but its absolutely necessary so that we can make sure our forces are trained and ready to defend our citizens," Cavoli said. The exercises let combat troops get used to fighting alongside allies and help commanders learn how to lead mixed-nationality forces. They also force noncommissioned officers, who lead troops in battle, to practice making decisions under stress and in fast-changing circumstances. NATOs training of Ukrainian soldiers in its leadership approach, known as mission command, helped its forces prevail against Russias assault on Kyiv, said Ukrainian and NATO officers. Russian combat commanders struggle to improvise and adapt, the past three years have shown. NATOs European militaries also have large amounts of equipment, though much needs to be readied for action. Together they have roughly 5,000 tanks and more than 2,800 self-propelled artillery systems. Russia has up to 3,000 tanks left, according to open-source analysts, though the actual numbers are difficult to judge after it lost thousands of tanks in Ukraine. It has about half as many self-propelled artillery systems as Europe, according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a think tank in London. Drones have cut the usefulness of such systems, and Russia now is a world leader in uncrewed systems. NATO countries are racing to learn from Ukraine and develop their own drones and antidrone systems. A destroyed bridge in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. For more traditional air combat, NATOs European members have roughly 2,000 jet fighters and other warplanes, according to the IISS. Europeans are expanding and modernizing those fleets. By 2030, Europe will have more than 500 cutting-edge U.S.-made F-35 fighter planes. Russias air force has roughly 1,000 fighter, bomber and ground-attack aircraft, and they havent performed well in combat, according to the IISS, which estimates Russia has lost roughly one of every five planes it sent into combat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reoriented his economy to a wartime footing, and it is now working flat out to supply its troops. If fighting were to cease, Russia could quickly rebuild its forces, Western officials fear. European countries have depleted their arsenals by donating equipment to Ukraine and are struggling to replace all that. Our industry is still too small, it is too fragmented, and to be honest, it is too slow," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the European Parliament earlier this year. European leaders are scrambling to fund new military production, including at a summit meeting in Brussels last week. The effort has gotten fresh urgency from Trumps pressure. How Europeans might fight without U.S. participation is a new question for NATO countries. While European investments will bolster the continents defenses, the equipment and units are part of NATO battle plans and command structures premised on U.S. involvementand even leadership. Aside from NATO, Europe has no continentwide military command. The U.S. spent decades ensuring that by co-opting or squelching any effort by allied European governments to create rival military groupings. Europeans have repeatedly talked about establishing a multinational fighting force but made little headway. Now Europeans are pondering what collective defense might look like without the U.S. A starting point could be NATOs own battle plans, which are adaptable to varying force levels, alliance officials say. The elaborate, flexible and detailed plans are classified. Still, NATOs fundamental approach today, as during the Cold War, is to employ forces available in Europe to hold off Russian attackers until reinforcements arrive from the U.S. Europe could still use NATO blueprints as a basis for its own defensive plans, even if they have gaps. Developing capabilities that could alleviate shortfalls if Washington declined to join a conflict is an undertaking that would balloon Europes bill for military modernization. You have to use the best tools available," said Spatafora at the EU institute. NATOs plans are a good model because components of national armies are being put together for that." Write to Daniel Michaels at Dan.Michaels@wsj.com Want to celebrate Holi in Varanasi or spend Eid unwinding in the Maldives? Be ready to pay up. With Holi falling on 14 March (Friday) and Eid expected on 31 March (Monday), travellers are seizing the back-to-back long weekends, sending hotel rates soaring. Luxury stays are commanding record prices. In Agra, Oberoi Amarvilas near the Taj Mahal is charging 1 lakh per night, while in Varanasi, Taj Nadesar Palace costs 1.35 lakh, excluding taxes. Other top-tier stays are also seeing steep markups. In Varanasi, Brijrama PalaceBy The Ganges is priced upwards of 77,000 a night, while a Holi weekend stay at Goas Taj Exotica costs 37,000 per night, dipping slightly to 35,000 for Eid. Meanwhile, Westin Rishikesh has crossed 37,000 per night. At the high end, wealthy Indian travellers are opting for quick getaways to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Seychelles, Bali, Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand. Some high net-worth travellers are booking luxury holiday packages to nearby international destinations, with many high-end options already sold out, said Radhika Khanijo, founder of Delhi-based Welgrow Travels, which caters to premium travelers. Another travel agency, STIC Travel Group, has seen early demand for these long weekends. A lot of travellers booked their packages a month in advance, with Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other locations already sold out, said Subhash Goyal, chairperson of STIC Travel Group. The holiday-driven surge follows the 600-million-strong pilgrimage rush to Prayagrajs Maha Kumbh in January and February. Now, demand is spilling over into Holi hotspots like Mathura and Vrindavan, beach destinations like Goa, and international retreats in Southeast Asia. Read this | Maha Kumbh 2025: After the chaos, calm returns to Prayagraj Pricing surge and booking trends With a spurt in domestic trips to Holi hotspots like Varanasi and Mathura, five-star hotels are seeing a 20-25% surge in pricing for the Holi weekend. The Eid weekend later in March is also seeing a 10-15% increase in room rates over the usual averages. Read this | After a strong Q3, top hotels see room for further growth "While our city hotels will show the typical weekend trend, we are expecting just shy of 80% occupancy across our resort portfolio for the Holi weekend. We will also see double digit average daily room rate growth," said Monisha Dewan, vice president sales and distribution for South Asia, at Marriott International which runs brands like Westin and JW Marriott. The destinations which are seeing an increase are its hotels in Goa, Mahabaleshwar, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand and its Aravalli property in Faridabad. The average daily rate is a key metric used by hoteliers to measure room revenue. Airlines are tapping into the demand surge with targeted fare discounts. Akasa Air is offering up to 15% discounts on both domestic and international routes, while IndiGo has launched a three-day Holi sale, with domestic fares starting at 1,200 and international at 4,200. However, with most Indian travellers booking within seven days of departure, airlines appear to be using targeted sales to capture last-minute demand. Among domestic routes, cities such as Patna, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Goa are seeing strong airline bookings, along with leisure destinations like Jaipur, Puducherry, Ooty, Srinagar, Mahabaleshwar, Corbett, and Wayanad. Yatra Online Ltd has reported a 10-15% increase in bookings compared to the same month last year. However, the travel momentum this March appears weaker than January and Februarys Mahakumbh-driven surge. "Typically, March is strong for international travel, though some Indian families avoid vacations due to school exams. However, we are seeing an uptick from younger couples and travellers without children," said Bharatt Malik, senior vice president for air and hotel business at Yatra. Read this | Yatra bets big on corporate travel amid rising costs On average, hotel prices are up 10% compared to last year, though industry executives attribute this to an already high base in 2023, when hotel rates were at peak levels. Demand is similar to last year, but higher room rates and airfares are driving up overall revenues. Looking ahead, rating agency Icra Ltd expects the domestic hospitality industrys revenues to grow by 7-9% year-on-year in FY25 and 6-8% in FY26, building on the strong base of FY24. Pan-India premium hotel occupancy is also projected to rise to 72-74% in FY26, from 70-72% in FY25. Long weekends remain a key driver of travel, accounting for over 10% of Yatras total leisure business. For both weekends this month, were seeing people looking for markets where they can drive to and check into resorts with all inclusive stay packages," Malik added. Popular destinations include the usual suspects around HoliVaranasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Vrindavan and others in the Uttar Pradesh belt where the festival is celebrated. Hotel booking costs have surged by 20-25%, with average room rates increasing by 18-22% for the upcoming weekend and about 10-15% over the next weekend, Malik said. For villa rentals, SaffronStays co-founder Devendra Parulekar said bookings have grown 25% over last March, driven partly by new inventory additions. While pricing for villas and holiday homes remains unchanged from last year, demand has shifted toward private getaways near major cities. At present it's all about the Holi weekend for us. We are not seeing much demand for Eid yet because the day could change. But what's attracting holidaymakers is that there is no change in our villa and holiday home pricing over last year," said Parulekar. "Markets being slightly depressed is also impacting discretionary spends on travel. But we're seeing 25% growth in demand as compared to last year's March. This growth is also on the back of the new additional supply we've added to our portfolio," he added. Drive-to markets near Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are emerging as top picks for travellers seeking villa stays. In Bhilvale, in Maharashtra, a nine-guest booking at Casa Manga includes a designated space for Holi celebrations. Meanwhile, a family of 11 has booked the 7 Seas seven-bedroom villa in Alibaug, where rates this weekend are hovering around 75,000 a night. Also read | What should investors expect from the ITC Hotels demerger? Beyond luxury stays, travellers are also booking religious and cultural escapes. Santosh Kumar, country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia at Booking.com, said destinations like Puri and Lonavala are seeing strong demand. The company declined to share specific booking figures. As Holi and Eid fuel a fresh wave of travel, industry players are watching whether this momentum will carry forward into the summer seasonor if high prices will start weighing on demand. Business families are not immune to the presence of spoilt brats and individuals who may exhibit undesirable behaviour within their ranks. Whether due to entitlement or lack of accountability, such individuals can pose significant challenges to the harmony and success of the family enterprise. Their actions and attitudes may undermine teamwork, erode trust and create tension among family members and employees alike. Spoilt brats within business families pose a significant threat to the stability and longevity of the family enterprise. Their privileged upbringing often results in a lack of appreciation for the values that built the business. The absence of self-discipline can manifest in reckless decision-making, entitlement issues and an overall disregard for the hard work that went into creating the family wealth. These individuals, accustomed to instant gratification, might lack the resilience to navigate the challenges of running a business. Their unchecked behaviour can lead to internal conflicts, as family members witness a deviation from the core principles that define the familys success. In the context of succession planning, the presence of spoilt brats can complicate matters. Their sense of entitlement might clash with the merit-based approach necessary for identifying competent successors. This dynamic introduces an element of favouritism and undermines the principles of fair leadership selection. Strengthening family values becomes imperative as a countermeasure. Instilling a sense of responsibility, work ethic and gratitude for the family legacy can mitigate the negative impact of the entitlement. A deliberate effort to cultivate humility and a deeper understanding of the familys journey is crucial for aligning these individuals with the values that sustain the business. Spoilt brats within business families not only jeopardize the internal cohesion of the family unit but can also erode stakeholder confidence, causing tangible harm to the business. When family members exhibit entitled behaviour, engage in public scandals or make questionable decisions without accountability, stakeholders, including investors, employees and customers, can lose faith in the businesss leadership. Such publicized family conflicts can result in a loss of trust from stakeholders. Investors may become wary of potential disruptions to business operations, and customers may question the companys ethical standards. Employees, too, may feel uncertain about the companys future direction, impacting morale and productivity. Spoilt brats who are perceived as taking undue advantage of their familys business can be a liability, causing reputational damage that goes beyond the confines of the family. Stakeholders value stability, transparency and ethical conduct in businesses, and any deviation from these principles can lead to a loss of confidence. The grooming of the next generation within a business family is a critical responsibility that goes beyond providing financial privileges. While it may seem cute or endearing when children display confidence or assertiveness due to their familys wealth, the long-term implications of allowing wealth to shape behavioural arrogance can be detrimental to both the family and the business. View Full Image Family and Dhanda: A to Z of Succession Planning for Founders and Successors by Srinath Sridharan, Rupa Books At an early age, the confidence displayed by affluent children may be perceived as harmless, even charming. However, if not tempered with a sense of humility, responsibility and empathy, this early display of entitlement can evolve into a pattern of arrogance as they mature. The danger lies in the fact that wealth-driven arrogance can manifest in entitlement, a lack of respect for others, and an assumption that success is guaranteed without the need for hard work or ethical conduct. As these children grow older and assume roles within the family business, their behaviour can impact relationships with employees, partners and even family members. Arrogance can lead to a disconnect with the workforce, hinder effective collaboration and create a divisive atmosphere within the family. Moreover, stakeholders, including customers and investors, may distance themselves from a business perceived as being driven by arrogance rather than merit and competence. In addition to the challenges of spoilt brat syndrome, there is a risk of the current generation and children in subsequent generations succumbing to vices, bad habits and undesirable company. As business families accumulate wealth over generations, the temptation of indulgence and excess can overshadow the values instilled by previous generations. This phenomenon poses a significant challenge for business families, as they must not only pass on their wealth and legacy but also ensure that their successors embody the values and principles that underpin their success. Moreover, the proliferation of modern distractions and temptations, exacerbated by easy access to wealth, further complicates the task of steering successive generations towards a path of responsibility, integrity and purpose. Thus, business families face the daunting task of navigating these external influences while imparting the necessary values and discipline to their heirs, safeguarding both their family cohesion and the integrity of their business legacy. One illustrative example is the case of a prominent business family whose scion, due to unchecked arrogance, publicly made derogatory remarks about employees. The incident not only caused internal turmoil but also led to a significant backlash from the public and damaged the familys reputation. *** To avoid such pitfalls, the previous generation must instil values that prioritize humility, respect and a strong work ethic. While financial privilege can provide opportunities, it should not become a shield against the realities of life and business. Encouraging the next generation to understand the value of hard work, to appreciate the contributions of others, and to approach success with a sense of responsibility can prevent the emergence of toxic behaviours associated with wealth-driven arrogance. However, addressing the issue requires a delicate balance. Heavy-handed tactics may exacerbate rebellion, while a laissez-faire approach risks an unchecked erosion of family wealth. This necessitates a nuanced strategy, blending discipline with empathy. Proactive intervention through mentorship programmes, exposure to the realities of the business and, if needed, external counselling can redirect the energy of spoilt brats towards constructive contributions. Encouraging them to forge their identity within the context of the family legacy rather than against it can harness their potential positively. Families need to handle such situations with sensitivity and discretion, recognizing the potential impact on both the business and the familys reputation. Addressing issues related to spoilt brats and bad apples requires clear communication, setting boundaries and enforcing consequences for inappropriate behaviour. Family leaders must strive to uphold the values and principles of the business while fostering an environment of accountability and mutual respect. Moreover, families may need to seek professional guidance or support from advisors experienced in family dynamics and conflict resolution to navigate these challenging situations effectively. By addressing issues promptly and decisively, families can mitigate the negative impact of spoilt brats and bad apples on their business and reputation, ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of the family enterprise. Excerpted with permission from Family and Dhanda: A to Z of Succession Planning for Founders and Successors by Srinath Sridharan, published by Rupa. The book is out on 20 March. Europes industrial production recovered at the start of a year that could see the beginnings of new investment and a new dawn for the beleaguered manufacturing sector. In the 20-member eurozone, industrial output was 0.8% higher in January than a month earlier. But compared with a year earlier, production stagnated, extending a slump that began with Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. However, ambitious plans to boost defense investment in response to growing doubts about the reliability of the U.S. as an ally in the face of potential Russian aggression may lift Europes manufacturers out of their torpor by finding a new purpose for underused factories. Between producing cars and producing tanks, there is some connection," said Pierre Wunsch, head of Belgiums central bank, in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal. German arms maker Rheinmetall could take over plants from carmakers like Volkswagen Group, its chief executive told analysts Wednesday. One thing is clear: Before Ill build a new tank factory in Germany, well of course take a look at it," Armin Papperger said. A jump in European military outlay would mean a jump in production abilities, he said. If that happens, we have to double our ammunition capacity," he said. If that happens, we have to double our vehicle capacity." Volkswagen, a global titan of auto making, has laid out plans to cease making vehicles at its plants in the German cities of Dresden and Osnaebrueck, part of a drive to save billions of dollars a year in costs as it struggles with lackluster demand. While there are no concrete plans to see those factories produce other kinds of goods, the group could listen to proposals, VW said. We are open to sensible subsequent utilization of the two sites," the company said in a statement. A group spokesman declined to specify if that would mean making guns and tanks. But moving from civilian to military production is not a major leap for vehicle factories. Rheinmetall, which produces ammunition, said last month that it will repurpose two plants that currently make automobile parts toward mostly military manufacture. French train maker Alstom last month inked a deal to sell a German rail factory to defense consortium KNDS, which plans to use the site to make battle tanks and armored vehicles. That comes in the context of a major gap in capacity for the scale of new production targeted. An increase in defense spending to 3% of European gross domestic product from around 2% now means equipment made at home would need to increase around 140%, according to analysis from Morgan Stanley. Investments will likely be material relative to the size of Europes defense industry, but small in comparison to total industry in Europe," the banks analysts said in a note. Europes defense industry is essentially at capacity at the moment." However, European factories as a whole are operating at less than 80% capacity, according to the European Commission. And while unemployment stood at a record low in January, more workers may soon be available for the defense industry. European auto makers and suppliers, including VW and tire makers Michelin and Continental, are planning to downscale operations and cut tens of thousands of jobs. Swedish battery maker Northvolt this week filed for bankruptcy in its home country, pointing to rising capital costs, geopolitical turmoil and lower demand in a sector until recently seen as a guiding light for clean and forward-looking industry in Europe. European officials last week outlined a plan to raise hundreds of billions of euros for defense, including a joint fund of some 150 billion euros backed by EU debt, as well as a relaxation of strict limits on borrowing at the national level. Germany has said it will exempt military spending from its strict fiscal rules. That could imply an increased military spend of 70 billion euros annually, almost doubling Germanys current defense budget, according to research from BNP Paribas. Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com Russia said its forces were in the final stages of ousting Ukraines army from the Kursk region, where Kyiv had taken Russian territory that it had hoped to use as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. The Russian military said Thursday it had retaken Sudzha, the biggest town held by Ukraine in the Kursk region, after recapturing a string of villages in recent days. Ukraine didnt immediately respond to comment early Thursday. It had been using Sudzha as a logistical hub to resupply troops in the area. The Russian advance came at a crucial moment for cease-fire negotiations that have gathered pace this week. President Trumps envoy to the Middle East, who has also been involved in talks to end the Ukraine war, was headed for Moscow to discuss a proposed 30-day cease-fire agreed to by Kyiv this week, according to two U.S. officials. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command post in Kursk on Wednesday, his first time in the region since Ukraines incursion there, and after the U.S. and Ukraine agreed to the cease-fire proposal that Russia has yet to respond to. Our immediate goal is as soon as possible to conclusively destroy the enemy entrenched on the territory of Kursk region," Putin said, dressed in military fatigues as he addressed top generals. The rapid retreat of Ukraines forces in Kursk followed a pause in U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine in the wake of an Oval Office confrontation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump. Washington said it would restart military aid after Ukraine agreed to the terms of a cease-fire during a meeting in Saudi Arabia this week. The loss of Ukraines toehold in Kursk, where at one point it had captured an area roughly the size of the city of Los Angeles, would mark a significant defeat for Kyiv. Russia has thrown enormous resources into the campaign to recapture its territory, deploying North Korean troops and staging daring operations. One unit crawled through a disused section of a natural gas pipeline this week to outflank Ukrainian troops defending Sudzha, with several dying of methane poisoning, according to pro-Kremlin war bloggers. Critics of the Kursk operation, including some in Ukraine, said the incursion into Russia had drained resources and manpower from strained parts of the Ukrainian front line. Zelensky has argued that control of Russian territory would provide leverage in any future negotiations to end the war. On Wednesday, Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander of Ukraines armed forces, said his highest priority was to safeguard the lives of Ukrainian troops. To do this, the units of the Defense Forces, if necessary, maneuver to more favorable positions," he said in a post on social media. He added that Sudzha has been almost completely destroyed by fighting. Write to Matthew Luxmoore at matthew.luxmoore@wsj.com The world is being resurrected. Now our saviour, Donald Trump , is back. And his backing of crypto will change the world of finance. In-DeFi-nately." Ah, the sweet irony of great expectations. A digital currency born out of rebellioncreated by an anonymous entity right after the 2008 financial crisis that America gifted the worldis now being paraded around by the very institutions it was designed to overthrow. Bitcoin was meant to challenge financial systems under sovereign control. By offering an escape hatch from the state-controlled printing of fiat money and reckless monetary expansion, it was invented to decentralize currency management. Yet, here we are, watching the US government embrace it. For years, crypto cultists screamed about the tyranny of central banks, the evils of government oversight and the need for a currency free of state control. The idea was to create a medium of exchange and store of value that wasnt subject to government manipulation. And now? The very people who chanted HODL"short for Hold On for Dear Life, urging us to invest in crypto for the long termin defiance of regulators wrote campaign cheques to ensure their favoured politicians pass crypto-friendly laws. This qualifies as the greatest bait-and-switch of our time. Americas so-called Crypto Strategic Reserve is a glorified slush fund for billionaire backers who have presumably converted the worlds most powerful person to their cause by talking money (any kind of it). This looks like regulatory capture at its most blatant. Those who challenge the industry face well-funded smear campaigns and social media attacks. Crypto bros have been painting themselves as rebellious pioneers, out to tear down the old financial order in the name of decentralization and financial freedom. In reality, many of them are players in a casino where the house always wins and hapless retail investors are left footing the bill. Their utopian vision conveniently ignores the real-world complexities that keep financial systems functional: regulatory oversight, consumer protection and economic stability. Instead of democratizing finance, they create closed circles of hype and speculation, where the loudest voices pump up unregulated assets before quietly cashing out, leaving the typical investor to watch her savings vanish. The very regulations they sneer at exist to prevent the kind of disasters that crypto markets undergo with alarming regularity. FTX, Celsius, Terra-LUNAeach was hailed as the future and each is now a cautionary tale. Meanwhile, the US regulatory system is riddled with contradictions. For years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was cracking down on crypto firms, warning about fraud, money laundering and volatility, only to suddenly change its tune on a presidential diktat. Trump, who once called Bitcoin a scam, has happily given it a form of official recognition. This is a real threat for global economies, where regulation is crucial for stability. When wealth moves into digital blackholes, governments lose control over taxation, economic planning and financial security. Meanwhile, the crypto bro dream of a regulation-free economy based on blockchain financial transfers is a haven for cybercriminals, money launderers and rogue states. Terror financing? Sanction evasion? Dark web marketplaces? All thrive. But when regulators try to rein in the chaos, the crypto elite cry foul, wrapping themselves in libertarian rhetoric. What happened to the crypto dream of dismantling financial oligarchies? Turns out, it was never about liberation; it was about creating a new elite. The cypherpunk fantasy of banking without banks has morphed into a corporate coup where the new overlords wear hoodies instead of suits, but their power grab is no less ruthless. For years, the crypto elite have fantasized replacing governments with their own blockchain fiefdoms. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, spent years lobbying for a world where network states replace nation-statesa world where governance isnt determined by democratic institutions, but by crypto token holders. A world where taxation is voluntary, regulations are dictated by private entities and citizenship is a matter of buying into the right blockchain. In this dystopia, the rule-makers wouldnt be accountable to voters, but to venture capitalists. Lets not pretend this is an inconsequential American absurdity. And the US government seems ready to hand them the keys. The same country that tanked the global economy in 2008 with its subprime mortgage crisis, one that has run fiscal deficits in 77 of the last 90 years and racked up $34 trillion in national debt, now wants to grant crypto legitimacy? While its crypto reserve isnt going to use public funds to buy tokens, as declared, its very creation signals acceptance of the idea. Lets not pretend this is an inconsequential American absurdity. Washingtons embrace of crypto could pressure other countries to follow suit. America has a knack for exporting its financial messesask any country that lived through the aftershocks of its past economic crises. If theres one thing that history has made painfully clear, its that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world ends up in the ICU. This time, lets shore up our immunity before America sends us yet another financial pandemic. The authors are, respectively, a corporate advisor, independent director on boards and author of Family and Dhanda; and co-founder, DeepStrat. The US-India economic partnership is the envy of many. But our joint mission of achieving $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 stands on shaky ground. US President Donald Trump s reciprocal tariff policy, due to come into effect on 2 April, has upset global markets and will strain our trade relations. India must keep its eyes wide open at this time of heightened global uncertainty and consider three scenarios that may unfold. Scenario 1A full-blown trade war: A trade war triggered by reciprocal tariff hikes can upend bilateral trade and is not unlikely. India imposes an average tariff of around 15% on US imports, and the US imposes around 4% on Indian imports. This means the US may hike tariffs by around 10 -11 percentage points to match our rates, and this does not count how America will quantify the impact of Indias non-tariff barriers, such as cumbersome customs and standards accreditation procedures for certain goods. Key Indian exports, including chemicals, metal products and jewellery, are particularly vulnerable to US tariff hikes. Goldman Sachs estimates that a 10-percentage-point increase in American tariffs could reduce Indias GDP by up to 60 basis points as exports fall by 11-12%. If India responds with counter-tariffs on US goods, especially in politically sensitive sectors such as agriculture and defence, Trump is sure to react badly. A vicious and impractical escalatory spiral is already on full display in US-Canada trade relations, which is telling, given that the two countries are seen to be joined at the hip. This week, Trump threatened to double the tariffs he previously announced on Canadian steel and aluminium imports to the USto 50%. This was in response to a 25% surcharge Ontario announced on electricity it sends to northern US states. De-escalation talks on this have reportedly begun. Scenario 2India and the US strike a free-trade deal: The two countries could technically conclude a comprehensive trade agreement that accelerates trade growth towards the $500 billion target. But a deal which redirects Trumps interests is unlikely, as he wants his negotiators to reduce US trade deficits, not increase them. India enjoys a $46 billion surplus with the US. This means that we will have to buy much more from America, while finding a way to increase bilateral trade. Where will India find the appetite for nearly $50 billion in US goods? And how can we be expected to do this while the world seems precariously close to a secular recession and our consumption story is so weak? The seemingly impossible balancing act between growing trade volumes and reducing the trade gap is perhaps only possible to achieve in the limited context of sectors like electronics and digital technologies, where both sides have something to give the other. For instance, the US leads in high-tech design but lacks skilled and cheap labour for large-scale manufacturing, which India now has thanks to transnational firms diversifying away from China. Similarly, digital businesses like Google, Meta and Amazon are prominent in India, and local firms like Zoho and Freshworks are using this interconnected ecosystem to expand into the US marketa path that remains open as long as hawkish digital regulations or compliance regimes dont create roadblocks on either side. Scenario 3Negotiated sectoral compromises: Both countries could alternatively engage in targeted sectoral negotiations even outside a free-trade deal setup to avoid extreme hikes and deepen bilateral commerce. This would involve adjustments, such as India lowering tariffs on American automobiles in return for exemptions on Indian exports such as pharmaceuticals and textiles. Trumps reciprocal tariffs will have limited impact on the Indian economy only as long as he doesnt put major restrictions on our key exports to the US. This means that moderate trade growth is within the realm of possibility if both countries avoid major retaliatory measures. This scenario also buys India enough time to diversify its trade partnerships and strengthen ties with the EU and Asean to hedge against Trumps policies. Trumps meeting in February with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the stage for such cooperation, with productive discussions in sectors like nuclear energy, defence, and oil and gas. Both leaders stated their commitment to implementing the 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement, outlining plans to localize and potentially transfer technology for US-designed nuclear reactors in India. They also announced new defence collaborations, including for co-production. Aim for a soft landing: Union commerce minister Piyush Goyals expedited US visit to address economic concerns reflects our realization that the stakes are high. The US government, on its part, has begun an expansive review of all types of trade barriers that American firms face in Indiaand this may result in an additional 4-5-percentage- point hike in reciprocal tariffs. If diplomatic efforts stall, the first scenario of a trade war could very well ensue, stifling trade and economic growth. Cooler heads must prevail. Both countries would do well to prioritize the pragmatic combination of a limited trade deal and targeted sectoral concessions for now. These are the authors personal views. The authors are with Koan Advisory Group, New Delhi. The virtue economy has completely burst [in the US]. Many companies are cutting their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, environmental, social and government (ESG) funding in the US has fallen, and companies are being quieter about politics. The disappearance of the virtue-industrial complex comes with a human and financial cost. At the same time, there is a clear winnerthe concept of shareholder primacy. The idea, popularized by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman in 1970, is that corporate executives and boards have a single goal: to maximize returns to their shareholders. This notion sounded cruel and heartless in 2019, when 181 CEOs of the Business Round Table in the US signed a statement redefining the purpose of a corporation. They committed to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholderscustomers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders." How they would do this, and to whom they would be accountable, was unclear. But who could argue with such a noble-sounding goal? By then ESG standards and DEI programmes were already popular, but the statement signified full private sector buy-in. Soon it seemed every corporate decisionfrom who it hired to how it managed its supply chainwas weighed in relation to its stated values. It featured heavily in marketing, to demonstrate how a company was committed to a better world (and worthy of your business). Eventually, true to the spirit of capitalism, an industry of DEI consultants, marketers and HR professionals sprang up. It went beyond the corporate world: Virtue became a bigger priority among university administrators, non-profits and the media. I remember talking to a business school dean in 2022 who noted that more students were aspiring to work in DEI because they saw such jobs as well paid, hard to monitor and stable. By 2025, that turned out the be a bad bet. It took a few years for America Inc to realize that Milton Friedman was right: It is better for society, the economy and a companys bottom line for it to just focus on profits. This is not to say that advocates for the virtue economy did not have noble motives; it was a sincere effort to make the world a fairer, safer and cleaner place. The problem is that the stakeholder capitalism model pits equally deserving (if thats the right word) groups against each other. For example, should a company move a factory from Detroit to Nashville? If it does, unionized workers in Detroit will suffer, but non-unionized workers in Tennessee will benefit. Whose interests matter more? Or consider environmental concerns: How much should consumers be willing to give up today in exchange for a better environment decades from now? There are winners in the future, losers todaywhose preferences matter more? How much weight to put on each of these goals is a question of values. Everyone has different values, and ones values are not necessarily better than anothers. This may be why, when companies take a political stand, it tends not to boost employee morale, but to be divisive. Friedmans argument wasnt that values have no place in the economy. Workers have rights. Inequality and discrimination exist. If companies were simply allowed to pursue profit without regulation, some would harm the environment or take risks we all end up paying for. The case for shareholder primacy doesnt deny any of that. It simply argues that it is not the CEOs job to impose his or her values on shareholders, employees, customers or anyone else. It is the role of public officials to represent societys values through appropriate laws, regulation and taxation. If they have values the majority of the public doesnt agree with, voters can hold them accountable. Also Read: The death of the idea of affirmative action Many champions of the virtue economy are now dismayed to see CEOs courting US President Donald Trump. Instead of seeing this as a betrayal, maybe its better to view it as the final act of the virtue economy. Were these CEOs pretending to care about DEI a few years ago, or pretending not to now? Its impossible to say. But if they had just stuck to business, none of this would be necessary. Going forward, some economic and professional readjustments in the US will be necessary. With the demise of the virtue economy, some jobs are being lost, some skills will prove less useful and many young people will need to rethink their careers. At least the population that was most likely to benefit from the virtue economythe well-educated and relatively affluentalso tends adjust fairly quickly to economic shocks. That is one small consolation in what, with the benefit of hindsight, has been a costly experiment. Bloomberg Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he can't wait for Australia to 'see the back' of hunting influencer Sam Jones. Sam Jones's visa conditions are being "worked through" by Australia's Department of Home Affairs. Source: @samstrays_somewhere Home Affairs is scrutinising the visa conditions of a US tourist who took a baby wombat from its mother. Immigration Minister Tony Burke confirmed with Yahoo News his department is working to determine whether influencer Sam Joness actions have breached the nations immigration law. Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, he said. I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I dont expect she will return. His comments follow reports on Wednesday that Jones, a hunting influencer and wildlife biologist, had snatched the terrified animal and uploaded video of the encounter to her 92,000 Instagram followers. The incident made international headlines and sparked a public outcry. ADVERTISEMENT The 34-second clip, which has now been deleted, shows Jones gleefully running back to her car holding the animal. Just caught a baby wombat, she says. Her Australian colleague then laughs from behind the camera and says, Look at the mother, chasing after her. The video does not show whether the mother and baby wombat were reunited, however a caption that originally accompanied the clip indicated they were. "Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush," it said. Penny Wong describes video of wombat encounter as 'dreadful' The video sparked a public backlash during which Aussies took to social media, calling for her to leave the country. More than 10,000 people have signed a Change.org petition saying she should be banned from ever returning. Immigration Minister Penny Wong also confirmed she was aware of the video and believed the wombat should have been left with its mum. It looked pretty dreadful, didnt it, she told Channel 7. Immigration Minister Penny Wong described what she saw in the video as "dreadful". Source: Sunrise Posts on social media about her Joness wombat video have attracted thousands of comments. Deport her and never return, one Australian wrote on Reddit. Have her deported and fined for this, another added. ADVERTISEMENT On X, Americans also weighed in with some apologising for their countrywomans behaviour. Im American and I say Kick her out, one wrote. Others have noted the baby and mother appear to be suffering a condition called sarcoptic mange. It can be transferred to humans as it's the same parasite that causes scabies. If wombats aren't treated then the disease is ultimately fatal. Experts call for stronger media regulations to protect wildlife Monash Universitys Dr Meg Shaw is an expert in how social media behaviour impacts our interactions with wildlife. Shes called for stronger social media regulations to protect animals in their natural habitat. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed his department is looking into Sam Jones's visa. Source: AAP She said the video highlights how platforms like Instagram and TikTok can be responsible for normalising harmful interactions with wild animals. ADVERTISEMENT Approaching animals in their habitats disrupts their health, welfare and breeding, and can also endanger humans. Content showing humans and wildlife interacting has also been linked to increased demand for the illegal pet trade and unethical tourism, both major threats to endangered species that are not widely understood, she said. After the video was released, licensed wombat rescuer Yolandi Vermaak said Joness video had left her feeling angry and distressed. She told Yahoo News in most cases a brief separation is bad news for the baby, and that they should never be picked up. Nine out of ten times, the mother will not come back for her baby if theyre separated, the Wombat Rescue founder said. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. She had ordered a hit man, the vice president said, to kill the president in the event she herself turned up dead. For months, tensions had built between Sara Duterte, the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, the divisive former president of the Philippines, and President Ferdinand Bongbong" Marcos Jr., himself the scion and namesake of the countrys longtime dictator. Considered a natural successor to her father, Sara Duterte was watching her political fortunes slip amid allegations of large-scale corruption and attacks on her familys friendly ties with China. So in a midmorning news conference in November, Sara Duterte clapped back. She said she had asked a hit man to assassinate Marcos Jr., along with his wife and the speaker of the countrys House of Representatives. I said, do not stop until you kill them," Sara Duterte said. The hit man, she added, said yes." The profanity-laden briefing was an astonishing episode in the high-stakes political feud now roiling one of Americas prime allies in the Pacific. Pitched against each other are the Philippines two most powerful dynastiesthe Dutertes and the Marcoseswho have steered the fortunes of the island nation for much of the past six decades. Their feud entered a decisive new chapter this week with the arrest of former President Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity. Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court allege that he is responsible for the extrajudicial killings of thousands of Filipinos during the countrys war on drugs." The bloody counternarcotics campaign began in the late 1980s, when Duterte became mayor of the family stronghold of Davao in the southern Philippines, and spread nationwide during his presidency from 2016 to 2022. Within hours of his arrest, Duterte, who turns 80 this month, was bundled onto a chartered plane en route to The Hague, where the ICC is based. The Philippines Supreme Court, most of whose judges Duterte had appointed, declined to rush a temporary restraining order that would have kept him in the country. In a defiant selfie video recorded just before his plane landed in Europe, Duterte once more took responsibility for the war-on-drugs policies. Forwhatever happened in the past, I will front our law enforcement and our military," he said. I will continue to serve my country and if this is my destiny, so be it." His is the highest-profile arrest in the ICCs history and comes as the court has struggled to get states to act on its warrants, including for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was made possible, current and former Filipino and ICC officials said, by the collapse of a political marriage of convenience between the Dutertes and the Marcoses, families long saddled with allegations of financial and rights abuses. More than a year ago, a senior ICC official said, the Marcos Jr. government had quietly communicated to the court that Philippine authorities would act on an international warrant for Duterte should one be issued. The message, shared by a senior Filipino official, contradicted public statements by the president at the time that he opposed the ICC investigation. The ICC official said prosecutors were aware that the government was moving against Duterte for political reasons, but knew that the dispute offered perhaps the only opportunity to arrest the former president. Dutertes arrest has nothing to do with accountability, nothing to do with justice for thousands of families victimized by the drug war," said Ruben Carranza, who, as part of a presidential commission in the early 2000s, helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars hidden in foreign banks during the elder Marcoss 22-year rule. Its simply a question of two families competing for power." The office of President Marcos Jr. didnt respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for Rodrigo Duterte have said that his arrest was illegal, citing, among other points, the Philippines decision in 2019 to pull out of the treaty that governs the ICC. In a news conference on Tuesday, Marcos Jr. rejected the idea that the arrest of his predecessor was political and denied that his government was working with the ICC. We are not speaking to [the] ICC. They are requesting plenty of documents that we did not give," Marcos Jr. said. He said Philippine authorities acted on a request from Interpol, the international law-enforcement body on which the court relies to circulate its warrants. This is what the international community expects of us as the leader of a democratic country," he said. The complicated relationship between the Marcoses and the Dutertes dates to the 1960s, when Dutertes father served in the first cabinet of the elder Marcos. Two decades later, in 1986, Dutertes mother, a teacher and activist, sided with the People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos and sent the family, including first lady Imelda and Marcos Jr., into temporary exile. The departure of Marcoss allies from the Davao city government helped usher Rodrigo Duterte into the office of mayor in 1988. Duterte founded and led the Davao Death Squad, a group of police officers and vigilantes with a mission to kill anyone even loosely suspected of selling drugs, according to public testimony from former members of the squad and the ICC warrant.When he won the presidency in 2016, Duterte made no secret of his role in the bloody campaign. Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts" in the Philippines, he said months after his election. Id be happy to slaughter them." His violent rhetoricand the bodies that piled up in streets across the countryearned him rebukes from abroad, but his campaign was popular at home. He left office in 2022 with approval ratings above 70%. Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 12,000 Filipinos were killed in the war on drugs during his presidency. By then, his daughter, Sara, had served her own stretch as mayor of Davao and was favored in the polls for the next president. Viral videos showed her punching a sheriff who wanted to demolish a Davao slum. Many Filipinos were surprised when she instead ran for the vice presidency, leaving the top job to Marcos Jr. In the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately, but the two campaigned as effective running mates. It was a fairly basic calculation that if they both ran for president, they would lose," said Carranza, now a senior expert with the International Center for Transitional Justice, a nonprofit based in New York. Marcos Jr. won the presidency with an overwhelming margin. It was a triumph that allowed him to recast his fathers tainted legacy. The deal, many Filipinos assumed, was that Sara Duterte would go for the presidency in 2028, when Marcos Jr. wouldnt be eligible for another run under the countrys one-term rule. But soon, cracks began to appear in the alliance between the two dynasties. The president didnt give Sara Duterte the powerful defense ministry she had requested, instead handing her the education department. The elder Duterte had moved the Philippines closer to China and suspended military exercises with the U.S. Marcos Jr., meanwhile, pulled the country back toward Washington and openly challenged Beijings claims on the South China Sea. In January last year, Rodrigo Duterte, months after a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, accused Marcos Jr. of being a drug addict, followed by a crude epithet. The president hit back with the same accusation against his predecessor.In June, Sara Duterte resigned from the cabinet, but stayed on as vice president. Soon after, she publicly ruminated about cutting off the presidents head. Martin Romualdez, the speaker of the House and a cousin of Marcos Jr., backed an investigation into millions of dollars in public funds she allegedly misappropriated. Lawmakers summoned her father to interrogate him about the war on drugs. By the time she made her comments about hiring a hit man, members of Congress had brandished receipts that allegedly showed how money went to made-up recipients, with names derived from popular snack brands and restaurants. Sara Dutertes approval ratings dropped amid her refusal to appear at the hearings and her staffs failure to explain some of the alleged payments. She has denied misappropriating public funds. She comes off as this arrogant, entitled nepo-baby," said Carlos Conde, senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in the Philippines who previously covered the Dutertes as a journalist. Vice President Sara Duterte has denied misappropriating public funds. In February, the House voted to impeach Sara Duterte, on charges that include allegations of corruption and her threats against the president. By then, administration officials were saying publicly that they would act on an ICC warrant against her father. The senior ICC official said prosecutors spotted an opening when father and daughter traveled to host a rally for Filipino workers in Hong Kong over the weekend. It was easier to arrest the president at an airport upon his return to the Philippines than at his residence in Davao. On Friday, judges at the court approved a secret warrant that prosecutors had filed last month. Rodrigo Dutertes fate now depends on the court, where previous defendants have been acquitted for lack of evidence or have seen the charges against them dropped. His daughter faces a trial in the Senate later this year, where, if impeached, she would be banned for life from running for office again. Before then, however, Filipinos vote in midterm elections in May that are now overshadowed by the dynastic feud. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism counted at least 10 members of the wider Marcos clan running for office in various levels of government this year. It tallied at least five Dutertes in the race, including the former president who was considering a return as Davao mayor. On Wednesday, Sara Duterte was on her way to The Hague, to stand by her father. Before she took off, she told journalists that she viewed the arrest as an attack by the president against her and her familys political ambitions. Its very personal," she said. Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at Gabriele.Steinhauser@wsj.com and Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com UPDATE: The Hamilton County Health Department and EMS are launching the Tennessee's first overdose prevention team. The team is made up of paramedics, peer support specialists, and a navigator with the health department. The team will operate through unmarked response vehicles to provide confidential care. Because of federal funding, the team's services will be free to anyone who uses them. Katrina Hereford, the overdose prevention manager, says this shows how important partnerships are to helping people in recovery. "Being able to actually have this position of watching EMS and the health department collaborate, we're able to connect these individuals to this wide network throughout the community and it takes a lot of people and a lot of community partners to be able to help that person who does want to be successful on their journey to recovery, said Hereford. They hope to launch the team in mid-summer. If you're interested, you can apply for positions through the Hamilton County Health Department. PREVIOUS STORY: The Hamilton County Mayor's office and Hamilton County EMS have launched a new overdose prevention team, marking a groundbreaking initiative not only for Hamilton County but for the state of Tennessee. This team, the first of its kind in the state, is part of the countys broader effort to combat the ongoing opioid crisis. According to Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, the new overdose prevention team will play a pivotal role in the county's aggressive approach to addressing opioid addiction. Wamp emphasized the vital role that Hamilton County EMS personnel will play in this initiative, helping to provide immediate care and support to those affected by overdose. Hamilton Co. Mayors Office to launch new Overdose Prevention Team on Wednesday The event will be held at the Hamilton County EMS Administration & Training Center on Volunteer Drive in Chattanooga at 2:00pm. For years, Hamilton County EMS focused on the immediate treatment of overdose victims. Now, with the formation of this new team, the focus has expanded to include long-term care, aimed at guiding individuals through a continued recovery process. Wade Batson, the Director of Hamilton County EMS, explained that the team will not only provide immediate intervention but will also work to connect individuals to treatment options that will help them address their opioid addiction in a more sustained way. We want to get people medicated-assisted treatment for their opioid addiction, and also support their transition into more permanent treatment solutions, Batson stated. Dr. Ron Buchheit, the architect behind the strategy for this overdose prevention team, explained that the teams goal is to eliminate the barriers that often prevent individuals from seeking help. Many people struggling with opioid addiction face challenges such as finding transportation to treatment centers, concerns about privacy, or fears of stigma. By addressing these issues, the team hopes to make it easier for people to access the care they need. The team will provide not just emergency care, but ongoing support to help individuals navigate the recovery process, Dr. Buchheit said. We aim to ensure that everyone who seeks help gets personalized treatment based on their unique needs. In addition to paramedics who will provide immediate care, the team includes peer support specialists who will assist individuals in identifying obstacles to their recovery. A dedicated navigator from the health department will help guide individuals toward community resources and long-term rehabilitation options. The team will operate through two Quick Response Vehicles. These vehicles are unmarked to protect the privacy of patients, helping to eliminate the stigma surrounding addiction treatment. Dr. Buchheit emphasized that this initiative is not just about treating addiction but also about changing the narrative around it. Theres no group of people who are untouched by addiction. What we want to do is go beyond that and find ways to help individuals get back into society and lead fulfilling lives free from addiction, Dr. Buchheit explained. As the program begins, the team will be hiring paramedics, peer support specialists, and navigators to support its efforts. With the help of opioid settlement funding from the state, the initiative will provide treatment at no cost to patients, helping to ensure that everyone who needs assistance can access it. In addition to the launch of the Overdose Prevention Team, the county is allocating funds to several key partners. These are the organizations who would receive proposed funding for the Renewal Project: Launch, CADAS, The McNabb Center, Chambliss Center for Children, Boys & Girls Club of Chattanooga, Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, and End School-Age Homelessness Initiative. Local experts say it's critical for victims to understand that support and resources are available, even in the most dangerous situations. UPDATE: Prentice Cooper State Forest and Wildlife Management Area (WMA) will remain closed until Monday, March 17. "Crews continue to battle a 130 acre wildfire at Prentice Cooper, with severe weather expected to move into the area this weekend," says WMA. The Tennessee Division of Forestry (TDF) is leading wildfire suppression efforts, supported by the TWRA and the Tennessee National Guard. PREVIOUS STORY: Prentice Cooper State Forest is temporarily closed on Thursday, March 13 and Friday, March 14 due to the ongoing wildfires. UPDATE: Prentice Cooper fire 100% contained The Prentice Cooper fire on Mullins Cove Road has been 100% contained, according to the Signal Mountain Fire Department. "We are taking this step to protect visitors and staff, including the wildland firefighters working to suppress the fires," says the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). The United Automobile Workers (UAW) union has filed federal labor charges against Volkswagen over what it claims are violations of U.S. labor laws at its Chattanooga plant. The UAW claims that VW is making major changes without lawfully negotiating with the union. VW Chattanooga asks employees to voluntary quit while switching to two-shift operation Production employees will be offered a voluntary attrition program with benefits, severance packages, retirement options, and education programs in partnership with the State of Tennessee. News of the federal charges comes after the automaker announced on Thursday that it was asking employees to voluntarily quit their jobs as the company switches to a two-shift production team. The UAW said the move shows "a continuing trend of union-busting tactics by Volkswagen aimed at silencing American workers." UAW President Shawn Fain under investigation by federal monitor The news of the investigations and competing allegations come at a bad time for the union as it campaigns to organize non-union auto plants around the country. UAW President Shawn Fain said the following after filing the charges: Nearly a year ago, thousands of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted to join the UAW, to win the respect and dignified life that union autoworkers at the Big Three have enjoyed for generations. Since then, the company has failed to meet the basic standard at the bargaining table that 150,000 American autoworkers have won at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. Volkswagen is the second most profitable automaker in the world. On Tuesday, the company reported over $20 billion in profits in 2024. And on Wednesday, they announced their intention to cut a shift at their single American plant, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. UPDATE: VW Chattanooga first foreign automaker in South to join UAW after NLRB certifies union vote The NLRB's ceritification of the vote makes Volkswagen Chattanooga the first foreign automaker in the Southeast to have UAW representation. This is a company that makes 75% of their North American products in Mexico, paying highly exploited workers around $7 an hour to sell cars for tens of thousands of dollars in the US. They do this to avoid paying a living wage and drive a race to the bottom in the auto industry. Its bad for workers everywhere. And instead of coming to a fair agreement for their American autoworkers in Tennessee, Volkswagen is choosing to attack American auto jobs. The UAW has notified the Trump Administration of Volkswagens unacceptable, anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-American conduct. It is no accident that they want to ram through a layoff in America in the days before expected auto tariffs take effect, as they profit from high exploitation labor in Mexico. The 4,000 autoworkers in Chattanooga deserve better. America deserves better. And the UAW is going to fight like hell to deliver for Chattanooga, for Volkswagen autoworkers, and for the whole working class. Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp released the following statement about VW's shift model change and the UAW's allegations: Unfortunately, we are already experiencing the negative impacts of the UAWs presence in Hamilton County. In most communities where the UAW has gained a foothold, their lofty promises to employees have, in reality, led to job losses and dysfunction. The UAW was encouraging its members to participate in a 1:30pm rally at the automaker's plant in Chattanooga on Thursday. Stay with Local 3 News for updates to this developing story. UPDATE: A former Hamilton Co. Schools teacher has changed his plea agreement to a guilty plea on federal child sex crimes charges. Kenya White, a teacher at Chattanooga Preparatory School and East Lake Academy, pleaded guilty to federal charges related to messaging his underage students inappropriately. Court documents show two victims were involved, one student at East Lake Academy and one student at Chattanooga Preparatory School. White will face sentencing on October 22 for his federal charges. He still faces state charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and solicitation of a minor. White was arrested while employed at Chatt Prep in February. He was hired while under DCS investigation. PREVIOUS STORY: The case involving Kenya White, a former Hamilton County teacher facing numerous child sex crimes charges, was back in a Hamilton County courtroom on May 8. The former teacher at Chattanooga Preparatory School and East Lake Academy recently pleaded guilty to federal charges related to messaging underage students inappropriately. He still faces state charges, including sexual exploitation of a minor and solicitation of a minor. White's attorney and the judge discussed the next steps in his case. "He'll have to enter a change of plea, and then there will be a sentencing date," said Judge Dunn. White's next court date is July 16th. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory School has made a statement following a former teacher's plea deal on child sex crimes that detailed his relations with two victims, one being a Chatt Prep student. Troy Kemp, CEO of Prep Public Schools, says a student at Chatt Prep reported Kenya White's inappropriate actions to a faculty member only after hearing of his arrest on February 12, 2025. Kemp says the school followed protocol and state law by informing the Department of Children's Services and the Chattanooga Police Department. Kemp also explained why the school never chose to share that White was accused of committing the same crime at Chatt Prep that he did at East Lake Academy: "Out of an abundance of concern for the student's anonymity, because there was no threat to other students, and because DCS and CPD were only beginning their investigations, Prep Public Schools did not share news of this secondary allegation. School leaders and counselors have been in contact with the student and his parents throughout this situation and ask for the media to respect the privacy of the student as well." White pleaded guilty to federal charges of enticement of a minor. The mandatory minimum prison sentence is 10 years. Court documents show two victims were involved, one student at East Lake Academy and one student at Chattanooga Preparatory School. White was employed at Chatt Prep at the time of his arrest in February. He was hired while under DCS investigation, stemming from his misconduct at East Lake Academy. White was one of several teachers at the school at the time without a valid teaching license. PREVIOUS STORY: The former Chattanooga Preparatory Schools teacher arrested in February for several child sex crimes has pleaded guilty to his federal charges. Court documents show Kenya White has pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor. The mandatory minimum prison sentence is 10 years, with a possible fine up to $250,000. It also includes at least five years of supervised release. Court documents show two victims were involved, one student at East Lake Academy and one student at Chattanooga Preparatory School. On February 16, 2023, a Chattanooga police dept. investigator responded to East Lake Academy on reports of White having inappropriate contact with a 12-year-old student at the school. At the time, White was 30 years old. The officer located texts over a three day period, starting on Feb. 13, where White tried to persuade the victim to take explicit images to send to White. "The defendant used an iPhone to commit the offense - an iPhone is a facility of interstate commerce," says the plea agreement. Two years later in February of 2025, a second victim, a student at Chatt Prep, reported to a school counselor that he had received inappropriate messages from White, a teacher at the school. White began communicating with the 14-year-old student on Snapchat in May of 2024. White's messages continually asked the second victim to "create sexually explicit images of himself and send them" to White. White also asked if the victim would allow him to "perform a sexual act on him." The court documents say "The defendant is pleading guilty because the defendant is in fact guilty." The plea agreement was signed on May 1 and 2 of 2025. PREVIOUS STORY: Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Robertson no longer recommends for the charter to be revoked for Chattanooga Preparatory School after finding nearly half of the teachers were unlicensed in March. The school caught attention in February when an unlicensed teacher was arrested on several child sex crimes charges. That teacher, Kenya White, has since been arrested a second time on federal charges. He was under a Dept. of Children Services investigation when he was hired at Chatt Prep, which began when he was working at East Lake Academy. The joint statement released on April 16 stated: "Instead, the schools charter will be placed in probationary status while the district and the school continue to work together to ensure the school is aligned with all compliance expectations. A probationary charter does not affect the schools operations or accreditation." The statement says the following corrective actions must be implemented: Provide Course Verification for students in grades 6-11 and provide additional evidence that all standards within the course have been taught and assessed for all current students. Provide Proof of Insurance Coverage to ensure no gap in coverage will occur. Update PowerSchool to accurately reflect the Teacher of Record. If an administrator is listed as the Teacher of Record, provide an explanation of how the administrator is teaching the course while also serving in the administrator role. The following corrective actions have already been completed: Verification and updating of teacher licensures and certifications A thorough audit of students transcripts to ensure timely graduation or promotion for all students who were believed to be on track Revision of HR procedures to ensure proper hiring, evaluation, and documentation practices Ongoing collaboration with Chattanooga Prep, HCS, and legal and education consultants. One of the main concerns previously written in the letter to recommend the charter to be revoked was the graduating senior class possibly not gathering valid credits because of unlicensed teachers. Chatt Prep has since hired new leadership at the school. Kenya White is still in federal custody. PREVIOUS STORY: A newly unsealed indictment for Kenya White, a former Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher facing several child sex crimes charges, says he coerced a minor to engage in sexual activity and the production of child porn. The indictment says the federal charges stem from incidents between Feb. 13 to 15 of 2023, when White was a teacher at East Lake Academy. Chattanooga Prep parents frustrated over unanswered questions at school meeting A video sent to Local 3 News by a concerned parent captured the emotional gathering in the school's gymnasium, where hundreds of parents sought clarity on the school's potential charter revocation. However, many left feeling the meeting was more of a formality than a forum for transparency. White was arrested exactly two years later, on Feb. 13, 2025, on the following charges while he was a teacher at Chatt Prep: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping Indictment documents say in Feb. of 2023, White drove a child across state lines to "persuade, induce, entice, and coerce" a minor in sexual activity: the production of child porn, exploitation, especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, and soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means. Two days later, White was informed by Hamilton County Schools that he was suspended without pay regarding a Dept. of Children's Services investigation. Documents from the hiring process of Kenya White at Chatt Prep show he did not tell the school why he was previously removed as a teacher from East Lake Academy. Chatt Prep was not set up through DCS to provide background checks, but they knew there was a disciplinary hold on White's file. He continued to work as a teacher at Chatt Prep until his arrest, two years after the incident. White was also unlicensed during his time teaching at Chatt Prep, as were nearly half of the school's staff, says Hamilton County Schools. In a letter to Chatt Prep, Hamilton Co. Schools says they will recommend the revocation of the school's charter on April 17. Chatt Prep has since hired new leadership at the school. Former Chatt Prep coach begins 30-day jail sentence for aggravated assault In July of 2024 he was indicted on charges of domestic assault, aggravated assault, child abuse and neglect, and evading arrest. PREVIOUS STORY: A judge has set the federal trial date for Kenya White, the former Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher who faces several charges. White was first arrested on various child sex crimes charges in February, stemming from a two-year Dept. of Children's Services investigation. White was then arrested again in March on federal charges of enticement of a minor and exploitation of a minor. The trial is set to begin on May 19. Internal emails at Chatt Prep show the school knew White was under DCS investigation at the time they hired him. Hamilton Co. Schools soon after found that White was one of several teachers unlicensed at the charter school. In a letter to Chatt Prep, Hamilton Co. Schools says they will recommend the revocation of the school's charter on April 17. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory Schools says "a new era began" on Tuesday, March 25, as the school announced new leadership at Prep Public Schools. Troy Kemp has been named Chief Executive Officer and Chad Everett as Vice President of Schools. "Both Kemp and Everett have passed all necessary background checks without issue," says Austin Cantrell in a release from the school. The scrutiny of Chatt Prep began in February when an unlicenced teacher, Kenya White, was arrested on various charges of child sex crimes. Hamilton County Schools began investigating other teachers at the school and found almost half of the teachers were unlicensed as well. They recommended the charter be revoked. Kemp comes to Chatt Prep with 27 years of experience at the McCallie School, as well as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. I am thrilled to lead the efforts of Prep Public Schools because this is an opportunity to rewrite the narrative, increase the expectations, and improve the outcomes for Black and brown boys in Chattanooga and Knoxville, said Troy Kemp, incoming CEO of PREP Public Schools. Challenges in the past may have pushed us back on our heels, but we are shifting our stance and playing from our toes. Everett currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of IOTA Community Schools, a charter network serving 2,100 students. I am excited for the opportunity to cultivate the environment I wanted as a scholar and that every scholar deserves an environment where every scholar has the freedom to discover curricular truths, as well as truths about themselves; an environment where excellence is the expectation and the brilliance of scholars and teachers is embraced bell-to-bell, every class, every day, said Chad Everett, VP of Schools of PREP Public Schools. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory Schools is set to introduce the school's new leadership after an unlicensed teacher's arrest led Hamilton Co. Schools to recommend the school's charter be revoked. Hamilton Co. Schools says they found almost half of the teachers at Chatt Prep were not licensed. The investigation began when an unlicensed teacher under a Dept. of Children's Services investigation was hired at the school in 2024. Former Chatt Prep teacher, Kenya White, was arrested in February on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was then arrested again in March on federal charges of enticement of a minor and exploitation of a minor. PREVIOUS STORY: Hamilton County Schools says they are currently verifying senior credits to ensure Chattanooga Preparatory School's senior class will graduate on time. HCS released the following statement: "Our top priority is supporting the students at Chattanooga Prep and safeguarding their academic progress. We are currently verifying senior credits and taking any necessary corrective actions to ensure that the Senior Class will graduate on-time. We are hopeful that all 50 seniors will graduate on time, but more collaboration is needed before we can state this definitively. Hamilton County Schools and Chattanooga Prep continue to work together to address the recent concerns regarding teacher licensure and ensure compliance with state requirements. Through our collaborative efforts, we have identified a few of Chatt Prep's 50 teachers are not eligible for a teaching license, permit, or waiver. We are actively taking steps to secure the appropriate certifications, waivers, or permits for the remaining teachers to ensure all instructional staff meet state guidelines. As we move forward, we are committed to strengthening procedures for verifying teacher eligibility to prevent future issues. Through ongoing collaboration and accountability, we are confident in our ability to resolve this matter so that Chattanooga Prep can continue providing a high-quality education to its scholars for years to come." Hamilton County Schools recommended for Chatt Prep's charter to be revoked after finding almost half of teachers were not licensed. The investigation began when an unlicensed teacher under a Dept. of Children's Services investigation was hired at the school in 2024. Former Chatt Prep teacher, Kenya White, was arrested in February on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was then arrested again in March on federal charges of enticement of a minor and exploitation of a minor. PREVIOUS STORY: The latest TCAP scores for the 2023-24 school year show Chattanooga Preparatory Schools is below the state average in every subject. Hamilton County Schools is recommending the school's charter to be revoked after learning that 21 of 45 teachers at the school were unlicensed. The achievement rate at Chatt prep is 26.1%, while the state average is 39.6%. Biology I State average: 45.2% Chatt Prep average: 29.5% ELA State average: 33.1% Chatt Prep average: 21.5% HS English State average: 42.8% Chatt Prep average: 35.8% HS Math State average: 28.5% Chatt Prep average: 13.8% Math State average: 37.6% Chatt Prep average: 28.1% Science State average: 43.9% Chatt Prep average: 29.7% Social Studies State average: 45.5% Chatt Prep average: 37.8% PREVIOUS STORY: The Tennessee Charter School Center has released a statement pertaining to Chattanooga Preparatory School students potentially impacted by unlicensed teachers: There is no law that would specifically prevent these students from graduating or invalidate their credits based solely on the licensure status of the teacher in the classroom. The state does not issue credits or diplomas and therefore would not be in a position to reject these credits or prevent a student from graduating. Issuing credits is a local issue. Chattanooga Prep makes awards credits and diplomas. We hope Hamilton County will not pursue any action that would negatively impact any student. A letter from Hamilton County Schools recommending the revocation of Chattanooga Prep's charter status said that it's "likely" the entire graduating class was not accumulating valid credits after they found 21 of 45 teachers at the school to be unlicensed. Spring 2025 will be Chatt Prep's first graduating class, and the school says students have accumulated $638,000 in scholarships already. The investigation into Chatt Prep began when an unlicensed teacher was hired while under DCS investigation, then arrested for several charges of solicitation of a minor. Kenya White was recently arrested a second time for federal charges. Several leaders at the school have resigned or been put on leave since. Hamilton County School and Chattanooga Preparatory School say they are both committed to working together to "ensure that Prep meets or exceeds its high standards for hiring personnel." PREVIOUS STORY: Hamilton County Schools says 21 of 45 teachers at Chattanooga Preparatory Schools are unlicensed, not having permits or waivers for classes they teach. This means high school students are not accumulating valid credits towards graduation. "Likely, Chattanooga Prep's entire senior class is impacted by this licensure issue." Spring 2025 was expected to be the school's first graduating class. The school posted on facebook that each senior has a post-high school plan, and the class has together secured $638,000 in scholarships. Hamilton County Schools say they were not aware that almost half of Chatt Prep's teachers were teaching without a license, waiver, or permit "until recently." In a letter to Chatt Prep, Hamilton Co. Schools says they will recommend the revocation of the school's charter on April 17. The revocation will be effective at the end of the school year. The letter from Hamilton County Schools states: "Chattanooga Prep have willfully violated Tennessee laws governing the licensure of teachers. I also believe that the governing body and management have deliberately misrepresented who were the teachers of record in classes actually taught by these unlicensed personnel in order to avoid scrutiny from TDOE." HCS states in the letter that all teachers in a public charter school must hold a valid Tennessee educator license. The following teachers listed on the Chatt Prep website either did not have permits or waivers at all, or did not have an active license through the TN Dept. of Education license look-up: Ethan Reyes - 12th Grade AP Calculus Justin D. Shull - 12th Grade AP Government and Economics Brandie Morgan - Exceptional Education Assistant Davarius Joseph Harris - Geometry Erikka Nichole Benning - Computer Science Jaylin Davon Rogers - Physical Education Theanthony Demonta Haymon - Behavior Interventionist Ivan Andres Lobo - 9th Grade Guided Math Joshua Carroll Grossi - 9th Grade Guided Reading Khalil Marjon Watts - 8th Grade ELA Peyton Anderson Whitley - 7th Grade History Cheryl Hines - 7th Grade Math Kenya White has been removed from the schools website, but was unlicensed at the time of his arrest. The investigation into Chatt Prep began when an unlicensed teacher was hired while under DCS investigation, then arrested for several charges of solicitation of a minor. White was recently arrested a second time for federal charges. PREVIOUS STORY: Hamilton County Schools has started the process to revoke Chattanooga Preparatory Schools charter after an unlicensed teacher was arrested for child sex crimes. Chatt Prep stated in a letter to families that while they believe it is "Unnecessary," they will work with HCS to find a solution that benefits the district and the school. Chatt Prep says the primary concern of Hamilton County Schools is teacher licensure. "Prep has accepted HCS's offer to send HR staff to work alongside our employment attorneywho is currently auditing our HR processesto review employment practices and recommend any necessary changes." Chatt Prep said there will be no disruption to school operations for the time being. The school also promised parents that they are committed to addressing concerns while they work closely with HCS. The school also told parents to attend and share their opinions at the upcoming School Board meeting, contact members of the Hamilton County School Board, and post on social media about how the school has benefited their children. A former Chatt Prep teacher was arrested on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor in February, then arrested a second time on federal charges early March. Internal emails obtained by Local 3 show that Kenya White was hired at Chatt Prep while he had a disciplinary hold on his file for being under a Dept. of Children's Services investigation. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory School says they will have an answer about where they conduct teacher background checks by the end of the week, after hiring a teacher under Dept. of Children's Services investigation for sexual exploitation of a minor. Chatt Prep's Interim CEO, Micah Bess stated: "Our third-party legal team, which we have hired to audit our hiring processes (including our use of the DCS portal), believes they will be able to answer this question by this Friday. We will provide you with that answer as soon as it is available." DCS told Local 3 News that the charter school was not set up in their system to do background checks for any teachers, despite the school saying they were. It's state law for all public and charter schools to perform background checks for teachers through DCS. Kenya White, a former Chatt Prep teacher, faces several charges including federal charges of enticement of a minor and exploitation of a minor. He was hired at Chatt Prep while under a DCS investigation that began while he was employed at a city school. Local 3 reached out to learn if Knox Prep, Chatt Prep's sister school in Knoxville, uses the same hiring process. Bess told Knoxville NBC affiliate, WBIR, that the Knoxville campus will learn from Chatt Prep's mistakes, but did not specify their background check process: "All personnel being considered for employment at Knox Prep are required to undergo several levels of background checks to ensure every one of our scholars is safe while learning. Chattanooga Prep is working to hire an outside firm that specializes in HR practices to review the school's past and current processes to ensure the school's process for conducting these checks is performed without exception. Lessons learned from that review will be applied to Knox Prep if necessary. Neither Chattanooga Prep nor Knoxville Prep will allow this situation to distract from our mission to prepare the next generation of young men for success in our communities." Local 3 has reached out to Chattanooga Preparatory Schools with more questions on staff impacted. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory School has declined the former principal's request to be paid severance after quitting during an investigation into a former teacher hired while under Dept. of Children's Services investigation. Former principal Diamond Kelley's letter of resignation to the school says she had been "hurt." Kelley also asks for an "exchange" to waive any legal claims against the school: "I am also offering to waive any legal claims I have against Chattanooga Preparatory School. In exchange, I am requesting: 1. Severance pay in an amount equal to the remainder of my contract. 2. A letter confirming that background checks were the responsibility of HR. Let me be clear: my reputation is not for sale. My integrity is not up for negotiation. I have carried myself with dignity, and I will not allow my name to be tarnished." She goes on to say, "Only God knows I did what I was supposed to do. I leave with my head held high, I do not leave in surrender. I stand on my character, my values, and my unwavering commitment to these young men." Chatt Prep's interim CEO Micah Bess responded to Kelley's resignation email saying, "it seems we must agree to disagree about your record while at Chattanooga Prep." The email goes on to state: "I politely decline the opportunity to respond to every aspect of your resignation message, except to say this: you have not been slandered by Chattanooga Prep. Your personnel file, which was requested by several local media outlets due to your involvement in the situation regarding Mr. White, speaks for itself. Chattanooga Prep was compelled by law to respond to these FOIA requests, and we had no choice but to share your record, along with a great deal of other information legally requested by local media. I also politely decline your request to be paid a severance. The circumstances surrounding your resignation, do not lend themselves to such an outcome." Read the full resignation below: PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory School Principal Diamond Kelley, originally placed on leave after the arrest of a former teacher, has now resigned. Kelley was placed on administrative leave on Feb. 18. The letter from Chatt Prep's interim CEO says the leave was while law enforcement continued to "review the Kenya White situation." She then resigned on March 6. Kenya White, a former Chatt Prep teacher, was first arrested on Feb. 13 on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means, solicitation of a minor, and kidnapping. On March 7, White was arrested a second time on federal charges of enticement of a minor and exploitation of a minor. Internal emails from Chatt Prep show the school saw a disciplinary hold on his file while he was under a Dept. of Children's Services investigation, but decided to hire him anyway. Local 3 also learned that Chatt Prep was not set up to background check teachers through DCS, which is required by law. PREVIOUS STORY: Kenya White, a former Chattanooga Preparatory Schools teacher, faces federal charges of enticement of a minor and exploitation of a minor after his second arrest on Friday morning. These are in addition to his previous charges he was indicted on: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping While those charges stem from a Chattanooga police and Dept. of Children Services investigation that began in 2023 while he taught at East Lake Academy, it's not clear what situation led to the recent federal charges. Documents show White did not tell the school why he was previously removed as a teacher from East Lake Academy. The Chatt Prep screening says Kenya White told the school he left for his own reasons: "White reports he was employed with HCDE- East Lake Academy and left in March 2023, due to unhappiness at the school. For six years, he taught Theatre, 6th, 7th, 8th. White was a participant in HCDE's Grow Your Own program and program ended after his voluntary resignation; therefore, no teaching license." However, White's personnel file at Hamilton County Schools says he was suspended without pay because of a Dept. of Children's Services investigation linked to inappropriate communication with a student: Chatt Prep was not set up through DCS to provide a background check after their screening. DCS says the school is not set up in their system to provide background checks for any teachers, and Hamilton County Schools say they did not perform a background check on White through their services. One of the references given to Chatt Prep by an East Lake Academy teacher says his weaknesses were "setting boundaries with the students. Students see him as a big brother, rather than a teacher." Despite that statement, Chatt Prep stated on White's screening that White has "appropriate communication with parents and students." Chattanooga police are still looking for potential victims of White during their investigation. If you have any information, call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or the Department of Children's Services at 877-237-0004. PREVIOUS STORY: McCracken Poston, attorney for Kenya White, the former Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher who now faces federal charges after his second arrest, states: "Our constitution provides that every person is to be considered innocent until they are found guilty by plea or trial. Its unfortunate that this matter is now being used as a political issue to attack others, and even the entire concept of charter schools. My focus must and will remain on ensuring that Mr. White gets the fairness guaranteed to every citizen in our courts." White was first arrested on several charges in February of 2025: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping Local 3 News has reached out to Chattanooga police to ask if they are still searching for potential victims. PREVIOUS STORY: The former Chattanooga Preparatory Schools teacher previously arrested on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor is now behind bars again on federal charges. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office says Kenya White was arrested in Rossville, GA and brought into the Hamilton Co. Jail around 1:00am on Friday, March 7, by federal law enforcement officials. He has now left their facility. Chattanooga police first arrested White on Feb. 13 after an investigation that began two years prior with the Dept. of Children's Services. At the time of White's first arrest, police said they were actively investigating if there could be more victims. Since White's arrest, Local 3 discovered that Chatt Prep hired White knowing he was under a disciplinary hold stemming from the 2-year-long investigation. Internal emails show the school decided to hire him anyway. On March 5, Tennessee Representative John Ray Clemmons requested the state to investigate Chattanooga Preparatory School. On March 6, DCS told Local 3 that the school wasn't set up to background checks in their system, which is law for Charter Schools in Tennessee. Since White's arrest, Chattanooga Preparatory School principal Diamond Kelley has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review, and Human Resources Coordinator, Dr. Angelnetta Ulmer, took an early retirement. PREVIOUS STORY: A Hamilton County charter school facing scrutiny for hiring a teacher under investigation by the Dept. of Children's Services has given Local 3 News conflicting reports of where they perform background checks for teachers. Chattanooga Preparatory School's interim CEO, Micah Bess, stated: "Chattanooga Prep uses the DCS portal to retrieve background checks for all prospective employees as part of our schools hiring process." The Department of Children's Services states the opposite: "Chattanooga Preparatory School is not set up through the TN Dept. of Childrens Services portal to perform DCS background checks. It is the responsibility of each school system to identify a select number of personnel to be granted access to the portal for the purpose of conducting background checks." Hamilton County Schools tells Local 3 News that the school did not perform a DCS background check through their system either: "Chattanooga Prep does not obtain background checks through HCS." Tenn. Code Ann. 49-5-413 states that all local boards of education, charter schools, or child care programs are required to perform a DCS background check on any applicants for teaching positions. Chatt Prep teacher Kenya White was arrested in February of 2025 on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. The DCS investigation began when White was a teacher at East Lake Academy in 2023. White was suspended from East Lake Academy and put on a disciplinary hold, which showed up in his file during the hiring process at Chatt Prep in 2024. Internal emails show Chatt Prep knew of the disciplinary hold, but decided to hire him anyway. Since the arrest, Chattanooga Preparatory School principal Diamond Kelley has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review, and Human Resources Coordinator, Dr. Angelnetta Ulmer, took an early retirement. Tennessee Representative John Ray Clemmons has officially requested the state to investigate the school. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory Schools confirms to Local 3 News that Human Resources Coordinator, Dr. Angelnetta Ulmer, is stepping down earlier than expected. Ulmer initially planned to retire at the end of the 2024-25 school year, but school officials say she chose to accelerate her departure due to several factors including the ongoing situation with Kenya White, a former Chatt Prep teacher indicted on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. Internal emails within Chatt Prep reveal the school knew of a disciplinary hold on White but decided to hire him anyway - even though he was under investigation by the Dept. of Children Services. Emails show Chattanooga Prep knew about teachers troubled past before hiring Tennessee Rep. John Clemmons is urging the state to investigate how White was allowed to teach at Chattanooga Prep despite his documented past. Chattanooga Preparatory School principal Diamond Kelley has also been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review after White was arrested. Chattanooga police are still looking for potential victims of White during their investigation. If you have any information, call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or the Department of Children's Services at 877-237-0004. PREVIOUS STORY: Tennessee Representative John Ray Clemmons has officially requested the state to investigate Chattanooga Preparatory School after the school hired a teacher on a disciplinary hold, who was later arrested for sexual exploitation of a minor. The letter to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti states: "One would expect a school, even a charter school that operates with little to no oversight, to make best efforts to protect students by requesting pertinent information from a previous employer and performing a background check." Rep. Clemmons goes on to say a state investigation into Chatt Prep would "shed much-needed light on how something as seriously disturbing as this could happen." Read the full letter here: PREVIOUS STORY: Internal emails show Chattanooga Preparatory School knew about a teacher let go from a different school in Hamilton County because of a Dept. of Children Services investigation before he was hired again at Chatt Prep. The DCS investigation into Kenya White first started while he was an Education Assistant at East Lake Academy. He put on leave in 2023 pending a law enforcement investigation. In January of 2024, White was then hired as an 8th grade english teacher at Chattanooga Preparatory School. Internal emails obtained by Local 3 News show that Chatt Prep saw the disciplinary hold on White, but hired him anyway. One email sent within the school said, "we cannot hire him while he's under review," and "we will need to terminate Mr. White this week." Parents concerned about Chatt Prep's oversight after hiring teacher under DCS investigation Local 3 News is working with DCS to confirm if Chatt Prep requested background checks through DCS for White and current employees. However, instead of terminating White, an employee at the school replied, "let's discuss this before he is terminated." The Chatt Prep website listed him as a Guided Reading teacher for the 2024-2025 school year on their website. Almost exactly one year since those emails were sent, White was arrested on several charges in February of 2025: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping Chattanooga Preparatory School principal Diamond Kelley has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review after White was arrested. Chattanooga police are still looking for potential victims of White during their investigation. If you have any information, call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or the Department of Children's Services at 877-237-0004. Hamilton Co. School Board discusses charter school application process after teacher's indictment Questions about the application process for charter schools come after a now former teacher of Chattanooga Preparatory was hired amid an investigation. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Preparatory School principal Diamond Kelley has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review. In February, Chatt Prep teacher Kenya White was arrested on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means. White's personnel file shows White was suspended from his previous employment in 2023 at East Lake Academy pending a Dept. of Children's Services investigation. Tenn. Code Ann. 49-5-413 states that all local boards of education, charter schools, or child care programs are required to perform a DCS background check on any applicants for teaching positions. Local 3 News is working with DCS to confirm if Chatt Prep requested background checks through DCS for White and current employees. Micah Reed Bess, Interim CEO of PREP Public Schools stated: The greatest responsibility of every school is to ensure the safety of the children it has the privilege to educate. Chattanooga Prep believes this is one of our most fundamental responsibilities to the community we serve, which is why the school has been taking sweeping actions since learning that one of its former employees was arrested on charges that have nothing to do with Chattanooga Prep. The extraordinary actions we have taken since learning of Mr. Whites arrest include firing the employee, placing on leave senior school staff, making counseling services available to members of our school community, and hiring an independent employment firm to investigate what internal HR processes require changes to ensure this situation never happens again. Chattanooga Prep is determined not to allow this situation to distract from our mission to prepare the next generation of young men for success in Chattanooga. Former teacher employed for years by Hamilton Co. Schools before child sex crimes indictment Kenya White's personnel file from Hamilton County Schools shows he was originally hired as a part-time tutor at East Lake in 2018. PREVIOUS STORY: Now-former Chattanooga Prep School teacher Kenya White was arraigned in court Friday, Feb. 21 after he was charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means, solicitation of a minor and kidnapping. No testimony or video was shown. White is due back in court on May 8. PREVIOUS STORY: A spokesperson for Hamilton County Schools says they did not receive any reference checks on Kenya White, the Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher arrested on charges of sexual exploitation. Dr. Zac Brown, Chief of Talent with Hamilton County Schools, says, "As far as I know, [Hamilton County Schools] did not receive any reference checks on Mr. White. Children's Advocacy Center gives tips to parents after local teacher arrested for child sex crimes A local expert said parents should look for these signs to keep their kids from becoming a victim of sexual misconduct by an educator. White was employed at East Lake Academy for the 2022-2023 school year when the initial investigation began, but was working at Chatt Prep at the time of his arrest. PREVIOUS STORY: The Chattanooga Preparatory School has confirmed a teacher arrested for sexual exploitation is no longer employed at the school. Chatt Prep declined to answer multiple requests about Kenya White's employment status since his arrest on Feb. 13. On Feb. 19, the school said: "Chattanooga Preparatory School is deeply troubled by the recent arrest of a former employee. The safety and well-being of our scholars remain our top priority, and we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are cooperating with law enforcement and conducting a thorough internal review. As this is an open investigation, we cannot provide further comment at this time." White was arrested on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means, solicitation of a minor, and kidnapping. While Hamilton County Schools says he was employed at East Lake Academy for the 2022-2023 school year when the investigation began, Chatt Prep has not said if they were aware of the investigation when hiring White. A student of Chatt Prep says he was a teacher at the school since 2023, but the school has not confirmed this. Former teacher employed for years by Hamilton Co. Schools before child sex crimes indictment Kenya White's personnel file from Hamilton County Schools shows he was originally hired as a part-time tutor at East Lake in 2018. PREVIOUS STORY: Hamilton County Schools confirms to Local 3 News that Kenya White, the Chattanooga Preparatory teacher arrested for sexual exploitation, was employed at East Lake Academy for the 2022-2023 school year. Chattanooga police say they first responded to East Lake Academy in February 2023 to investigate Kenya White. The school system declined to answer if parents at East Lake were notified of the investigation or if White had a valid teaching license at the time. Kenya White was arrested on the following charges: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means- 12 counts Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping Police are actively seeking to find if there are more victims. If you have any information, call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or the Department of Children's Services at 877-237-0004. Chattanooga Preparatory School has still declined to answer if White is still employed at the school or not. PREVIOUS STORY: Tennessee Department of Education records show that Kenya White, the Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher arrested for sexual exploitation of a minor, does not have a teaching license in the state currently. It is not clear if White's license was suspended or revoked, or if he ever had a valid teaching license in the state. Chatt Prep has still declined to comment on White's employment status. The Chattanooga Police Department says they are actively investigating if there could be more victims of White, after he worked as a teacher for two years before the investigation lead to an indictment. If you have any information, call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or the Department of Children's Services at 877-237-0004. PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga police say the investigation into a Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher arrested for multiple counts of solicitation of a minor began two years ago. The Chattanooga Police Dept. says they first responded to East Lake Academy in February of 2023, when the Special Victims Unit and Dept. of Children's Services joined the investigation. Multiple teams worked together to obtain digital forensic evidence to successfully lead to an indictment of Kenya White in February of 2025. Kenya White was arrested on the following charges: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping The Chattanooga Police Dept. says they are actively investigating if there could be more victims. If you have any information, call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or the Department of Children's Services at 877-237-0004. Chatt Prep has still declined to comment on if White is still an employee at the school at this time. PREVIOUS STORY: A Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher has been ordered to not have contact with minors after being indicted on 14 counts related to sexual exploitation. Kenya White's charges all stem from a February 2023 incident. White faces a $10,000 bond for each count. He was indicted on February 10, 2025 on the following charges: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping The sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means indictment indicate White exposed a child younger than 13 years old to sexual material through electronic communication. The solicitation of a minor charge involved a child younger than 18 years old in sexual activity. The kidnapping charge does not detail the age of the victim. The school still declines to comment on if White is still employed. PREVIOUS STORY: A Chattanooga Preparatory School teacher has been arrested on several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. Chattanooga Preparatory School lists Kenya White as a Guided Reading 6th Grade teacher on its website. While the Hamilton County Courts System doesn't have documents on his arrest yet, the following charges are listed: Sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means x12 Solicitation of a minor Kidnapping Chattanooga Preparatory School posted on Facebook in 2024 that White was recognized as teacher of the month in March. When asked if White was still employed by the school, Chattanooga Prep responded: "Chattanooga Prep cannot speak to the facts surrounding the criminal charges. Please refer all questions to the Chattanooga Police Department or the Hamilton County district attorney's office." When asked a second time if White was still employed by the school, they declined to answer the question again. Use the Arrows < > above to go through the gallery The best restaurants and hospitality business owners in Longford were honoured at the Leinster Regional Final of the Irish Restaurant Awards at the Killashee Hotel, Kildare. All of the Longford winners now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Titles, which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards All-Ireland Final on Monday, May 19 at the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin. READ MORE BELOW PHOTO There was success for twelve Longford businesses across eighteen categories and there were over 1000 attendees at the presentation ceremony on Tuesday, March 11. The County Longford winners were: Best Restaurant Sponsored by San Miguel Longford Jodhpur Indian Restaurant Best Chef Sponsored by BWG Food Service Longford Lisa Vocella, Vocellas Best Restaurant Manager Sponsored by Elavon Longford Amit Prasher, Jodhpur Indian Restaurant Best Hotel & Guesthouse Restaurant Sponsored by Frylite Longford PVs Longford Best Use of Social Media Longford The Rustic Inn Employee Excellence Award Sponsored by Peninsula Longford Frances Nugent, Spice India Longford Best Casual Dining Sponsored by Musgrave MarketPlace Longford Spice India Longford Best Gastro Pub Sponsored by Paynt Longford The Rustic Inn Best Cafe Longford Menara Cafe Best Contemporary Irish Cuisine Sponsored by FBD Insurance Longford PVs Longford Best Newcomer Sponsored by Square Longford Oyama Sushi Japanese Restaurant Pub of the Year Sponsored by istil.38 Longford Duignans Tallyho Best Wine Experience Sponsored by Bibendum Longford Vocellas Best Customer Service Sponsored by Restaurant-insurance.ie provided by Dolmen Longford Macs Shack Best World Cuisine Longford Chan Oriental Best Sustainable Practices Sponsored by Familia Torres Longford Fiona Egan Cloughan Farm & Cookery School Innovator of the Year Sponsored by Diageo Longford Fiona Egan Cloughan Farm & Cookery School Local Food Hero Sponsored by Sugar Snap Longford David and Martina Burns, Richmount Cordial Company Speaking at the ceremony, Sean Collender, President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said, Tonight is about recognising the outstanding efforts of those who bring Irelands culinary reputation to life every day. In a challenging business environment, it is more important than ever to honour the people whose hard work, passion and creativity shape our hospitality sector. The Leinster Regional Final once again showcased the incredible talent and innovation that define this regions culinary landscape. I want to extend my congratulations to all the winners and nominees. It is their hard work that makes Irelands food scene truly exceptional. The penny has dropped over the need for a reduction in EU regulations, Irelands premier has said. Micheal Martin said the winds of change were blowing towards innovation and reduction of regulation. Theres a move within the European Union now to simplify regulation. I think the penny has dropped. The message has got home. He made the comments as he attended an event at the US Chamber of Commerce on the penultimate day of his week of engagements in the US. Mr Martin, who told the event that France was his favourite European country, added: [French President] Emmanuel Macron held a very good AI action summit in Paris about a month ago and [US] vice president JD Vance was there, he gave a very strong message. A hard message, but he gave it very clear that the US were going to go innovation, innovation, innovation. Emmanuel Macron and [European Commission President Ursula] von der Leyen was saying Europe has to become more innovation-focused. Mr Martin said Ireland was committed to working with the D9+ group of countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) to advocate for the simplification of regulations in the EU. Its not been satisfactory. We in Ireland understand that, because a lot of the companies are located in Ireland. He said there was growing recognition across Europe for the need for a reduction in regulations, but added: That has to be matched by action and real concrete development. Mr Martin said it is inarguable that European defence spending will increase. He said it is very clear that Ireland will have to play its role in European security, while taking its traditional military neutrality into account. I can predict that the next multi-financial framework, which is the European Union budget, which will come for the Irish presidency, will involve a significant increase in European Union spending on defence capability, which will be focused on increasing opportunities and capacities from member states to increase their expenditure. The Taoiseach added that Ireland will become a net contributor to defence capability across Europe through a collective debt instrument. He added: But Ireland in itself will have to increase, and we are doubling our defence coming from a very low base defence expenditure. But again, we have to do it in a targeted way. Cyber security, sub-sea cables, maritime security those are probably the most immediate vulnerabilities. Mr Martin heard that the US Chamber is committed to the trade relationship with Ireland. Its chief executive and president Suzanne Clark told the Taoiseach: Were such firm believers in the indivisible connection between our countries. Mr Martin said the relationship between Ireland and the US is an enduring partnership. He added: We do genuinely see this as a two-way street. Ireland is a small, open economy, we depend on trade. We would argue that free trade has lifted prosperity in the world, the era of free trade greater than any other era. Mr Martin was asked what more the US could do to bring more Irish investment. In general, he said the feedback about the US was very positive but the issue of visas between the two countries can be particularly problematic. However, he revealed he found ways around it during his time as minister for enterprise. Mr Martin said: Flexibility around inward movement of people into the United States is problematic, it is a very restrictive environment in terms of a mobility of visas that are granted from one company to another. He said flexibility would benefit the US as it would allow qualified people to work for its companies. He added: We should be imaginative and weve tried this on a number of occasions that wed be creating a legal channel between America and Ireland, that Americans can come to Ireland through us offering visas to Americans to reside and work in Ireland. And when I was in Enterprise a long time ago, it used to always pain me, but I did find ways around it. When Americans fell in love in Ireland, we had to find they developed specialties in certain areas of work and got work permits, and they were happily married ever after. But, I mean, you know, there was too much to navigate in all of that. Mr Martin said President Donald Trump was very well disposed to such a mechanism. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: March 13 2025 Governors FY26 Executive Budget Proposes Funding for Marketing and Research To Further Grow the Maple Industry and Help New York Become the Leading Maple Innovator. Governor Kathy Hochul today encouraged New Yorkers to support their local maple producers during Maple Month. The Governor highlighted New Yorks upcoming Maple Weekends events and activities, which will take place March 22-23 and March 29-30, along with other special events and promotions throughout the month. New York State continues to rank second in the nation in maple production, and in 2024, maple production increased to 846,000 gallons, up nearly 100,000 gallons of maple syrup from the 2023 season. Recognizing the importance of the maple industry to New Yorks agricultural economy, Governor Hochul proposed additional funding in her FY26 Executive Budget to further grow the maple industry and help New York become the leading maple innovator. Maple Month is officially underway, offering New Yorkers from every corner of the State the chance to support the hardworking producers of this sweet agricultural crop, Governor Hochul said. New York State has a long history with this delicious crop, and continues to be home to a thriving community of maple producers making some of the most delicious and innovative maple products in the world. I encourage all New Yorkers to participate in Maple Weekends to sample some of the world-class items that New Yorks maple community has to offer. As part of the kickoff to Maple Month, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball visited Shadow Hill Maple Farm, a family-owned farm in Ontario in Wayne County, for an annual maple tree tapping to highlight New Yorks maple industry and encourage visitors to participate in Maple Weekends. In addition to Maple Weekends, Shadow Hill Maple Farm is open every weekend in March for sampling of a variety of maple products, tours of the facility to see how sap is collected, and to learn how maple syrup is made. Shadow Hill Maple Farm is a part of the New York State Grown & Certified program, which promotes New York farms that adhere to a higher standard for food safety and environmentally friendly practices. More than 100 maple producers participate in the NYS Grown & Certified program, which verifies New York's agricultural producers and growers who adhere to food safety and environmental sustainability standards. Find a current list of maple producers who are a part of the NYS Grown & Certified program at certified.ny.gov/where-buy. New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said, As the first agricultural crop of the year, the maple season provides a sweet way to usher in New Yorks delicious harvest season. Thanks to our dedicated maple producers, including those who are in our NYS Grown & Certified program, New York continues to be a top maple producer in the country, contributing tremendously to our local communities and economies. I encourage New Yorkers to find a nearby, local producer hosting Maple Weekend activities to find out more about the syrup-making process, taste some delicious New York products, and support this unique industry! Maple Weekends Throughout the month of March each year and the last two weekends of the month in particular, maple farms across the state open their doors to the public to provide a chance to taste pure maple syrup, right from the source, and experience the unique family tradition of making maple syrup in New York State. Producers offer tours and pancake breakfasts, sell maple products, and demonstrate the syrup-making process, which includes the traditional system of hanging buckets on trees or more modern methods of production using vacuum systems to increase the yield of sap per tree. A searchable list of Maple Weekend events is available at mapleweekend.nysmaple.com. Maple Promotions New Yorks Taste NY Markets across the state are highlighting unique local maple products and producers during the month of March, with product specials, giveaways, and more. The Western NY Welcome Center is offering a maple gift basket giveaway and a maple product scavenger hunt, with visitors getting 10 percent off the maple products they find in store. The Capital Region Welcome Center will have a sampling event on March 28, featuring pancakes by Phoenicia Diner and Jourdins Maple Syrup. Additionally, the Mohawk Valley Welcome Center is doing a gift basket giveaway, and the Adirondacks Welcome Center will feature educational displays from the Upper Hudson Valley Maple Association with information about the history of maple production and modern production techniques. Visit your local Taste NY Market to take part in their Maple Month celebrations! Find a market in your region at http://taste.ny.gov/. Shadow Hill Maple Farm Owner Gretchen Milke said, Shadow Hill Maple has been hosting maple open house weekends for 25 years and are serving all-you-can-eat pancakes for the community every weekend in March. Our sugar house is located right in the center of our sugar bush, giving visitors the best maple experience, allowing them to enjoy their pancakes with real maple syrup while viewing the trees where the sap was collected. We also offer free samples of all color grades of syrup in addition to numerous other maple treats and products. Guests are welcome to walk the trails through the sugar bush and around the three acres pond. It is certainly a great family event for all ages! We are proud to be a part of the maple tradition in our state, which is so important to New York agriculture. State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, Maple syrup production has been a cherished tradition in New York for centuries, passed down through the generations. Family-owned businesses are the backbone of this growing industry, and their hard work has made New York the second-largest maple producer in the nation. March Maple Month is the perfect time to visit a local sugar shack, try some of the delicious New York maple products, and support the farm businesses that strengthen our local and state economies. Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, One of the best parts of early Spring in New York are Maple Weekends. With New York ranking second in the nation for maple production, there are plenty of locations to choose from for a visit. The public can learn about how syrup is produced, sample new products, and support our local maple farms. As one of New Yorks biggest maple syrup consumers, I never miss the chance to celebrate New Yorks maple industry. New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher said, The maple industry in New York is not only one that is full of tradition and history, but it is also an important contributor to our agricultural economy. As the second-largest maple producer in the country, New York is proud of our maple heritage, and there is no better way to celebrate than Maple Weekends. New York Farm Bureau continues to advocate for funding to support this growing industry. Governor Hochuls FY26 Executive Budget includes proposed funding to further grow the maple industry. In 2024, Governor Hochul signed three bills at the Great New York State Fair to strengthen New York's agricultural industry, including a new law that allows state land to be leased for sap production. The Governor will further expand the states support of New Yorks maple industry with more than $400,000 that will be dedicated for marketing and research, helping New York to become the leading maple innovator. Currently, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets supports the maple industry through the New York State Budget which includes funding for promotion and educational programs as well as through investments in research projects, such as Cornell Universitys Maple Programs Arnot Teaching Forest, and through its NYS Grown & Certified and Taste NY marketing programs. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: March 13 2025 AG James Leads Coalition of 20 Attorneys General in Suing to Stop Trump Administration from Shutting Down the Department of Education. New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education (ED). On March 11, the Trump administration announced that ED would be firing approximately 50 percent of its workforce as part of its goal of a total shutdown of the Department. Attorney General James and the coalition today filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the targeted destruction of this critical federal agency that ensures tens of millions of students receive a quality education and critical resources. This administration may claim to be stopping waste and fraud, but it is clear that their only mission is to take away the necessary services, resources, and funding that students and their families need, said Attorney General James. Firing half of the Department of Educations workforce will hurt students throughout New York and the nation, especially low-income students and those with disabilities who rely on federal funding. This outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal. Today I am taking action to stop the madness and protect our schools and the students who depend on them. The EDs programs serve nearly 18,200 school districts and over 50 million K-12 students attending roughly 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools throughout the country. Its higher education programs provide services and support to more than 12 million postsecondary students annually. Students with disabilities and students from low-income families are some of the primary beneficiaries of ED services and funding. Federal ED funds for special education include support for assistive technology for students with disabilities, teacher salaries and benefits, transportation to help children receive the services and programming they need, physical therapy and speech therapy services, and social workers to help manage students educational experiences. The ED also supports students in rural communities by offering programs designed to help rural school districts that often lack the personnel and resources needed to compete for competitive grants. As Attorney General James and the coalition assert in the lawsuit, dismantling ED will have devastating effects on states like New York. K-12 schools in New York received $6.17 billion, or $2,438 per student, from the ED in federal fiscal year 2024. Federal funding for public colleges and universities averaged $1,256 per student in New York in federal fiscal year 2024. The administrations layoff is so massive that ED will be incapacitated and unable to perform essential functions. As the lawsuit asserts, the administrations actions will deprive students with special needs of critical resources and support. They will gut EDs Office of Civil Rights, which protects students from discrimination and sexual assault. They would additionally hamstring the processing of financial aid, raising costs for college and university students who will have a harder time accessing loans, Pell Grants, and work-study programs. This would be particularly harmful to New York, where more students receive Pell Grants than almost any other state. With this lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition are seeking a court order to stop the administrations policies to dismantle ED by drastically cutting its workforce and programs. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the administrations actions to dismantle ED are illegal and unconstitutional. The Department is an executive agency authorized by Congress, with numerous different laws creating its various programs and funding streams. The coalitions lawsuit asserts that the executive branch does not have the legal authority to unilaterally incapacitate or dismantle it without an act of Congress. Joining Attorney General James in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. This is the latest action Attorney General James has taken to protect New Yorkers and the services they rely on from the Trump administrations illegal attacks. On February 13, Attorney General James and a coalition of attorneys general secured a preliminary injunction stopping the administrations illegal revocation of birthright citizenship. On February 24, Attorney General James led a coalition of attorneys general in securing a court order preventing Elon Musk and members of DOGE from accessing Americans private information through the U.S. Treasury. On March 5, Attorney General James and a coalition of attorneys general secured a court order stopping the Trump administration from withholding vital funding to the National Institutes of Health. On March 6, Attorney General James led a coalition of attorneys general in securing a court order blocking the Trump administrations freeze of essential federal funds to states. Also on March 6, Attorney General James and a coalition of attorneys general sued the Trump administration for illegal mass firings of federal employees and sued the Trump administration for cutting critical grant programs for teachers through the Department of Education. Houthi militants. The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have gained global attention this month after renewed threats against Israel and the US State Departments re-designation of the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). However, the Houthis increased domestic attacks against Yemens internationally recognized government (IRG) have received less international coverage. At the beginning of 2025, Houthi military activity shifted away from the Red Sea and Yemens coastal areas to the front lines of Houthi-controlled territory, especially Marib, which had seen almost no fighting by the group in the final months of 2024. In January and February, recorded instances of Houthi combat engagements and remote violence nearly doubled those in any month since October 2023. The United Nations noted that these attacks include shelling, drone attacks, infiltration attempts and mobilization campaigns. Additionally, the Houthis recently demonstrated some of their more advanced capabilities in Marib by targeting a US jet and drone with surface-to-air missiles. The group claimed to have shot down 15 MQ-9 Reaper drones since October 2023, a number the US has not confirmed. A Yemeni military-affiliated website reports regular confrontations between the Yemeni Army and the Houthis in front-line governorates. In recent days, Yemens military has encountered increased attacks in and around Marib Governorate, a strategic region on the edge of Houthi-controlled territory. These encounters capped the Houthis busiest two months in Maribs recent history. Marib is of particular strategic importance. The governorate is one of the last locations that the internationally recognized government controls in the northern part of the country. The Houthis control the western edge of the governorate, while the IRG holds its central and eastern regions, including the city of Marib. Marib Governorate was the site of intense fighting prior to the United Nations brokering an April 2022 ceasefire as both parties vied for the area and its resources. In addition to Marib being a central location, some of Yemens largest oil and gas resources, refining facilities, and key pipelines are in the government-controlled portion of the governorate. Before the conflict, Marib provided almost all of the countrys domestic fuel production and almost 90% of its liquified petroleum gas, according to the crisis-tracking nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). If these resources fall into the hands of the Houthis, they will generate substantial revenue to support the groups terrorist activities. A 2021 report by the humanitarian reporting nonprofit ACAPS indicates the Houthis possessing Maribs resources could bring in between $1.3 million to $5.5 million in daily revenue. The potential inclusion of these resources into the Houthis economy, which is facing the consequences of the new FTO designation by the US, might help them weather incoming difficulties. The FTO enables the US to take additional measures to criminalize and restrict support for the terrorist group. The Trump administration has also made it clear that aid from the United States cannot be delivered in a way that enables Houthi exploitation. Along with the FTO designation, the US Treasury Department has removed Biden-era permissions for transactions with the Houthis in refined petroleum products and telecommunications. The Houthis could mitigate these financial repercussions by gaining access to Maribs substantial oil and gas facilities. The group and its Iranian sponsors would also likely gain significant power over the broader Yemeni population by controlling the levels of refineries and pipelines. Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focusing on Iranian proxies, specifically Iraqi militias and the Houthis. The official Luxembourg premiere of Poison on the evening of Tuesday, 11 March was preceded by an homage to one of its leads, Tim Roth. Following some kinds words and a short clip show showcasing his most iconic roles, the English actor spoke directly to the audience at Kinepolis as a guest of honour of the Luxembourg City Film Festival. Indeed, the audience was in illustrious company. Besides Roth, co-star Trine Dyrholm and the films Luxembourg director Desiree Nosbusch, Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Minister of Culture Eric Thill were also in the audience Director Desiree Nosbusch with actors Tim Roth and Trine Dyrholm at the premier of Poison at LuxFilmFest on 11 March Photo credit: Margaux Gatti/LuxFilmFest Poison, shot in the historic castle town of Vianden, a historic town, after all, sets a new bar for Luxembourg filmmaking. Based on a play by Lot Vekemans, the film begins with a divorced couples encounter in the graveyard where their son is buried. Thing start off quite awkwardly: they exchange small talk and try to connect, but ultimately cant overcome the frosty atmosphere of Viandens cemetery. As their first conversation in ten years gains momentum, a lot of the drama in Poison hinges on things left unsaid. Lucas (Roth) walked out on Edith (Dyrholm) not long after their young sons death. He is haunted by a sense of resignation, she by resentment. Both embody different kinds of grief. Lucas has done his best to move on, to pick up new creative outlets, to start a new family. Edith, the more tragic character of the two, is emotionally frozen in the moment when she was abandoned. Her resentment towards Lucas is palpable, and she can barely hide it. The film is little more than a long conversation over the course of a dreary afternoon, meaning that so much of its emotive potential is delivered through its lead actors performances. Dyrholms escalating bitterness, when met by Roths touchy, teary-eyed diffidence, renders many scenes with emotional charge. The drama, as such, retains a certain dramaturgical quality. The whole thing plays out very much like a play, with its two leads sharing an emotionally claustrophobic setting with nothing to bounce off of but each other. This is by no means to its detriment. Rather, it simply represents a true transferral from stage to screen. With the added benefit of film cameras, so much drama can be produced and detected in Lucas and Ediths faces, and the cemetery in Vianden in turn adds a lot to the plots elegiac atmosphere. For a film dependent entirely on a bittersweet (and borderline caustic) chemistry, Poison certainly succeeds as a meditation on grief, both as a universal and deeply lonely experience. Its certainly not a very easy movie to watch, given that it deals with the most terrible kind of long-term suffering which, by its very nature, cannot ever really abate. Neither was it a very easy movie to produce, as cast plus crew explained in a post-screening Q&A. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes many, many countries to make a movie. Desiree Nosbusch Director of Poison As Roth told the enraptured audience: This was one of the hardest films Ive made, emotionally. And also the most rewarding. Roth and Dyrholm both admitted that they found the script daunting. Its difficult subject matter, combined with the sheer amount of text they had to learn, meant that the pair had to rehearse in a hotel room together for two weeks. It also meant that chemistry was crucial. Luckily, so Dyrholm explained, she found Roth to be very supportive in such a challenging role. More impressively, although she has directed short films before, this was a debut feature for Nosbusch, who is better known as an actress and presenter. Remarking that Poison in particular may not have been the easiest project to start with, she was nevertheless very thankful to her cast and crew. Further, she added that it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes many, many countries to make a movie. A Luxembourgish, Dutch, and British co-production, one cant help but feel that Poison nevertheless marks a new filmmaking high in the Grand Duchy specifically. Not only is it a carefully crafted and emotionally charged film; its setting in one of Luxembourgs most scenic landscapes renders it all the more real. Having its grand finale this weekend, the LuxFilmFest offers a wealth of films and events - with a major emphasis on productions made in/with Luxembourg. Check out our preview of the festival linked above, as well as some of its biggest highlights here. When: Until Sunday, 16 March Where: Luxembourg Citys various movie theatres Cost: Varies (many events free!) Here are some highlights for the upcoming weekend at the LuxFilmFest. Of course, we highly recommend that you also check out the programme for yourself (linked above)! Uni.lu opens its doors this Saturday to let prospective students peruse its halls. Discover its Bachelor and Masters programmes, meet staff, and get a feel for campus life! When: Saturday, 15 March, 09:00 to 16:00 Where: University of Luxembourg Belval Campus Cost: Free Boasting a sizeable population of Irish nationals (and more than a few Irish pubs), celebrating Saint Patricks Day in Luxembourg is a hoot. Check out our guide to celebrating Saint Paddys this weekend in Luxembourg, which includes traditional music, parties, and Guinness on tap. When: Monday, 17 March (but theres plenty to do this weekend, too!) Where: Hibernian establishments and organisations across Luxembourg Cost: Varies Its your last chance this weekend to take part in this collective project by artist Lara Ruiz. Participants are asked to submit pictures featuring urban soil from their countries of origin, so as to paint a greater picture of multicultural Luxembourg. The final project will be unveiled at Casino in September 2025. When: Deadline Saturday, 15 March Where: Casino Luxembourg Inspired by the timeless stories of Anton Chekhov, The Good Doctor is a collaboration between MITOS and the New World Theatre Club featuring a series of delightful vignettes that explore love, ambition, and the absurdity of life itself. When: Friday, 14 March, Saturday, 15 March, and Sunday, 16 March, at 20:00 (and Monday, 17 March, at 15:00) Where: Centre polyvalent A Schommesch, Oberanven Cost: 20 (Members: 18 / Students: 12) Theres still a wealth of events related to the IWD on the Luxembourgish cultural calendar. Linked above youll find a guide to upcoming workshops, roundtables, and more. If youre thinking of moving to a new network, and want to keep hold of the same iPhone, you may hit a snag: the device is locked to your current carrier and cant be used with any other company. Fortunately, you should be able to get your network provider to unlock the iPhone for you, and often theyll do this for free. In fact, you might even be able to do it yourself. In this article we show how to unlock any iPhone model, either by yourself, with assistance from the network provider, or using a third-party service. Is iPhone unlocking legal? The days of being tied to a single carrier with a locked phone for months on end are all but over. Where we once were forced into 24-month contracts with devices that were useless on any other network, nowadays your wireless carrier must unlock your phone if you request it. Seriously, they do. Its actually a law. The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act makes it so any phone purchased after 2015 will work with any carrier, so your provider cant keep your phone tied to their network because they feel like it. However, there are some terms and conditions that youll need to follow before you can pop another SIM into your phone, and of course they vary by carrier. In some countries its actually illegal to sell locked handsets. In the U.K., for example, Ofcom banned such practices in 2021, although this didnt affect devices already in circulation and there will still be a few locked phones out there. There have been rumors and rumblings of a similar ban in the U.S., but it hasnt happened yet. Is my iPhone locked? If you bought an iPhone on contract, in the U.S. at least, then theres a good chance that its locked and will need to be unlocked before you can use it with a different carrier. (Some carriers automatically unlock phones remotely after a certain period of time, so you might be lucky and find this has already happened.) This should have been made clear at the time of purchase, if not explicitly by the salesperson then more discreetly in the terms and conditions. The most common scenario where an iPhone would be locked without your knowledge is if you bought it second-hand or inherited it from a friend or family member. The previous owner may have bought the iPhone as part of a contract, and the network provider will have used software restrictions to tie the device to its service for the duration of the contract. If you want to check, try setting up the phone with a SIM from the wrong carrier. This will generally trigger a message saying something like SIM Not Supported. For more information, we have a separate article explaining how to tell if your iPhone is locked. Unlocking instructions for U.S. networks Before you can hook up your phone to a new network, you need to meet a series of requirements. First and foremost, it needs to be a legitimate device. That means it cant have been reported as lost or stolen, or associated with any sort of illegal activity. Then your account will need to be free of any financial obligations. If you accepted a contract in exchange for a subsidized up-front cost, youll have to either wait until your contract is up (usually 24 months) or, if you bought your phone on a payment plan, pay the balance. Additionally, most carriers require accounts to have been active for a certain number of days before they will allow devices to be unlocked. For T-Mobile its 40 days, while AT&T and Verizon specify 60 days. And you might need to factory-reset your phone before the new network can be recognized, so make sure youre backed up. Beyond that, the process varies slightly for each carrier. How to unlock an iPhone on Verizon Verizon has a set of surprisingly friendly unlocking policies that vary slightly for postpay and prepaid devices, but in both cases the company says the lock will be removed automatically 60 days after activation. No code is needed to open up your iPhone for use with another carrier. If you want to move to a new network, simply cancel your service and start a new plan with the carrier of your choice. There are only two exceptions to this. The first is when you buy a Verizon iPhone from a different company, in which case the lock period may be different: Verizon says you should review the back of the box to determine this. The second applies to military personnel, where a complication can arise if the iPhone owner receives deployment orders and applies to suspend the line. Check the linked article above for more details. How to unlock an iPhone on AT&T On its unlock page, AT&T says eligible iPhones that are active on the AT&T network should automatically unlock, provided you meet the unlock requirements. These are pretty standard: purchased more than 60 days ago; paid in full; not reported lost or stolen. If your iPhone is on an AT&T Prepaid plan or youre not an AT&T customer (presumably this applies in the unusual event of an iPhone being bought from its owner within 60 days of the original purchase?), things are more complicated. Youll need to submit an unlock request. Foundry How to unlock an iPhone on T-Mobile In the companys unlock policy document, T-Mobile says it will automatically and remotely unlock your device once it becomes eligible, if it can do so. (Not sure if this has happened? Got to Settings > General > About. If the section labelled Carrier Lock or Network Provider Lock says No SIM restrictions, your iPhone is unlocked.) The eligibility requirements are the usual: device sold by T-Mobile, not reported as lost or stolen, paid off and account in good standing. The only complicating factor applies to prepaid accounts, which must either have been active for 365 days, or have had more than $100 in refills per line. If your device doesnt support remote unlock, the company will send you a notification with instructions on completing the unlock process. If you havent received a notification, contact T-Mobile to seek clarification, or read its unlock explainer. How to unlock an iPhone on Boost Boosts unlocking policy largely mirrors that of T-Mobile: it will automatically and remotely unlock your device when it becomes eligible, if that device supports remote unlocking. If this isnt possible, you should get a notification informing you that an unlock is now available. Contact Boost on 833-50-BOOST (thats 833-502-6678) to request an unlock. The company also offers special unlocks for members of the armed forces who have been deployed overseas and whose accounts are in good standing. Unlocking instructions for U.K. networks There are four simple steps to unlock an iPhone: Contact your provider and request an unlock using the contact details and online tools listed below. If you havent got the original SIM, youll need to reset the phone before it can be unlocked. Power down the phone, then replace the old SIM card with a SIM from a different network. Check that the iPhone is able to connect a phone call over the new network. Thats the short version, anyway. But lets go through those steps in a bit more detail for each network. How to unlock an iPhone on EE EE has stated in the past that it will automatically unlock an iPhone 18 months after sale or dispatch. Considering that Ofcom banned handset locking more than 18 months ago, you should find that the device has unlocked itself by now. Should this not be the case, however, you can still request EE to unlock it, which it will do so free of charge. Youll need the 15-digit IMEI number, which you can get by dialling *#06# or by looking on the packaging or on the device itself. (Weve got a separate article on finding your IMEI.) Then you enter it into EEs unlock page and go through a checking process. You should find any remaining information you need on EEs How to complete the unlock process page. How to unlock an iPhone on Vodafone Vodafone states that all Apple products issued by the company are already unlocked. Should you find that for some reason this isnt the case, youll need to get a network unlocking code (NUC) from Vodafone. (Note that the company cannot unlock phones purchased from a different provider or company. The device could be locked by the other provider, not Vodafone.) If youre thinking of handing on your iPhone to someone else, and are worried that it might be locked to your account, you can use Vodafones online unlocking form to complete the process. The company claims it usually manages to unlock your device within 72 hours, but that in some cases it may be up to 10 days depending on the circumstances. The process is free. How to unlock an iPhone on Three Three keeps things nice and simple. On its website, the carrier states that any iPhone purchased from it after 1 January 2014 is automatically unlocked as soon as you connect it to Wi-Fi or Finder (or iTunes on older versions of macOS). It seems like a long shot that anyone would still be using iPhones from before that date; the page where Three used to host an online unlocking form no longer bothers to offer this, apparently on the assumption that its no longer needed. But if you are in that group, connecting the iPhone to Finder/iTunes and restoring it should unlock it. Youll want to back up first. How to unlock an iPhone on O2 If you or the original owner purchased your iPhone from O2 after 1 August 2018, it should be unlocked already. Should you find you still cant use another SIM with it, contact the company and ask for it to be unlocked. Call free on 202 from a pay monthly O2 phone, on 4445 from a pay-as-you-go phone, or use the Live Chat feature on the O2 site. Whichever method you use, be sure to have your IMEI ready. The whole process is explained clearly on the Unlocking an O2 mobile page of the companys website. It will send a text to let you know when the iPhone is unlocked. You then just need to pop in the new SIM card and it should show as unlocked. How to unlock an iPhone on Tesco Mobile If youve been with Tesco Mobile for 12 months or more, or if youve completed your contract, youll be able to get an unlock code from Tesco for free by using the online form. How to unlock an iPhone on Giffgaff Giffgaff has a handy tool that helps you figure out how to free your iPhone from its own and other networks. It has the wonderful name of Unlockapedia and is well worth exploring. Using a third-party unlocking service An alternative to contacting your carrier and asking them to unlock the iPhone is to use a mobile phone unlocking service. Retailers in most areas will arrange an unlock code for a small fee. You can also find online services that will unlock your iPhone, but they arent always reputable and we would generally advise against it. If you do decide to use one, please make sure you read all the small print before you buy, because they can surprise you with extra bills at the end of the process. Weve tried Doctor SIM, which promises to refund you if the unlock is unsuccessful, so that could be an option if youve tried all of the methods listed above. Doctor SIM successfully unlocked our phone with no problems and no hidden fees, so we feel confident in recommending them. How to tell if the unlock worked Once your phone has been unlocked youll receive a confirmation from the carrier. Now follow these steps: Turn off the phone: hold down the power button and either volume button, then swipe your finger across the screen as directed. Use the provided tool to eject the SIM card holder from your phone. Remove the old SIM card from the holder. Insert your new SIM, and return the card holder into the iPhone. Make a phone call, and check that the iPhone is able to connect over the new network. If youve requested an unlock from your carrier, but have not got the original SIM card, or if you have acquired a locked iPhone from someone else, you may need to reset the phone before it will be unlocked. Follow these steps to reset the iPhone: Back up your iPhone. Erase your iPhone. Open Settings and select General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Complete the setup assistant and restore from your backup. The phone should now be unlocked. You can insert the new SIM card and it should work. And there we have it! Your iPhone should now be unlocked and free for use on any network. If youre interested in repeating the process for your tablet, weve got a separate guide for those who wish to unlock an iPad. If youre thinking of moving your old iPhone on to someone else, read how to sell your old iPhone for some tips on reselling it and getting the best deal. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese new energy vehicle maker XPENG announced this week that on March 8, 2025, a shipment of 300 right-hand-drive XPENG X9 units arrived in Thailand from Nansha Port, Guangzhou city, with the official deliveries started in the country upon the arrival. This move further strengthens XPENG's product lineup in the Thai market. Photo credit: XPENG As XPENG's flagship MPV, the X9 made its global debut at the 41st Thailand International Motor Expo in November 2024, signaling the model's official entry into international markets. The right-hand-drive X9 subsequently hit the market at the Singapore Motor Show on January 9, 2025, followed by its introduction in China's Macao city on February 15, offering a premium all-electric MPV option to local consumers. On February 22, XPENG held its 255th overseas shipment ceremony at Nansha Port in Guangzhou, where the first batch of 300 right-hand-drive X9 units was dispatched to global markets. At the event, XPENG Chairman He Xiaopeng emphasized the X9's strong competitive edge in the high-end electric vehicle segment across the Asia-Pacific region, expressing confidence in leading sales within the sector by 2025. He also highlighted the X9's flexible interior design, tailored to the needs of Southeast Asia's large family structures, as a key advantage that makes it stand out. As part of its global strategy, XPENG has outlined a multi-dimensional approach focusing on deeper market penetration, the widespread adoption of core technologies, and the expansion of an international ultra-fast charging network. Since launching its internationalization efforts in 2020, the company has expanded its presence to over 30 countries and regions worldwide. Looking ahead, XPENG aims to enter 60 countries and regions, and establish more than 300 overseas service outlets by 2025. By 2027, it seeks to rank among the top three global exporters of new energy vehicles (NEVs), with a long-term goal of having overseas sales account for over half of its total deliveries by 2030. On the technology front, XPENG plans to accelerate the development of its Turing AI intelligent driving system, targeting full-scenario autonomous driving capabilities by 2026. Simultaneously, the company is pushing forward with the global rollout of its ultra-fast charging network, creating an efficient energy replenishment ecosystem for users worldwide. Threats to move the St. Patricks Day Parade a 124-year-old South Boston tradition to downtown Boston have ruffled feathers among residents and business owners. I hope that doesnt happen, said Ronak Patel, a South Boston resident, told MassLive on Wednesday. A lot of people are connected to this, and a lot of people who live here enjoy and want the parade, he said. But according to Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, this Sunday could mark South Bostons last St. Patricks Day celebration. The day after last years parade, Flynn called for major changes after he said attendees were completely out-of-control and had anything goes attitudes. This included public urination and alcohol consumption, unsafe parties on rooftops and cans thrown at parade marchers. Councilor Ed Flynn speaks during a Boston City Council meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Trea Lavery/MassLive) Trea Lavery/MassLive A video of an assault two blocks from the parade at Medal Park also went viral last year, involving four people who kicked another person down the parks slope and into a metal fence. To help mitigate problems for Parade Day 2025, Flynn and about 20 elected officials met monthly over the past year, which met for a final meeting on Wednesday night. They created strategies like the earlier 11:30 a.m. start time, and a crackdown at liquor stores and on MBTA lines for underage drinking. As usual on Sunday, alcohol service will stop by 7 p.m. at Southie bars and restaurants, and liquor stores will close by 4 p.m., Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said at a parade safety meeting Wednesday morning. He was joined by State Police and Boston EMS leaders to explain Sundays safety measures. The final meeting of the Task Force on March 12, 2025, for safety preparations around the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday. (Irene Rotondo/MassLive) Despite the more than 130 Boston Police officer deficit the department faces this year, there will be a robust presence of law enforcement, Cox said on Wednesday. There are no known threats to the parade, he said. The department has also taken steps for implementing barriers to prevent vehicular attacks on large crowds of pedestrians, like the deadly New Years incident seen in New Orleans this winter. Officers will be strategically placed on routes, Cox said, along with EMS stations throughout. Per usual, large bags and backpacks arent allowed, and there will be an increase of public toilets throughout the neighborhood this year. Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox at a public safety meeting about the St. Patrick's Day Parade 2025 on March 12. (Irene Rotondo/MassLive) We ask parents to accompany their young people or not allow them to come at all, Cox warned, adding that the event is not a drinking fest. Flynn also sent a letter to address students and underage revelers through the Associated Independent Colleges & Universities of Massachusetts (AICUM) and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. Its not Mardi Gras, and its not a party ... last year was an embarrassment, and it cant continue again, Flynn told MassLive on Tuesday. However, to move the parade out of South Boston would require more than just Flynn and the desire of the task force, said state Sen. Nick Collins, First Suffolk, on Wednesday night. The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council have a Constitutional right protected by a 9-0 Supreme Court decision to put forth the parade of their assembly," Collins said. No one has ever challenged that successfully. I dont see that happening, he said. Sen. Nick Collins (left) and Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn (right) after the final St. Patrick's Day Parade safety meeting on March 12, 2025. (Irene Rotondo/MassLive) Still, Flynn explained that, as many South Boston residents are now young professionals, we need to do a better job of educating the public about what the parade is about to promote better behavior. He and Cox emphasized the parade is meant to honor military veterans and their service as a family-friendly event. I respect and welcome the young people that are living in South Boston. I think its also important for everyone in the community to know about our proud history of service to our nation, Flynn said. But to Larry Friedman, whos owned the Economy True Value Hardware store for the past 12 years on Dorchester Street right off the W Broadway parade route the St. Patricks Day celebrations already have long-standing meaning to his businesss neighborhood. True Value Economy Hardware in South Boston, right near W Broadway on March 12, 2025. (Irene Rotondo/MassLive) It doesnt seem right [to move the parade], its tradition, Friedman said. He closes his store every Parade Day to stay out of the bustling crowds, and said theres only been one incident a broken window in the past 12 years. A Sherwin Williams employee at the W Broadway location also said their store would close Sunday. While hes seen no damage in the past two years, he noted the streets last year were covered with more trash than Ive ever seen, which city workers cleaned up by noon the following Monday. South Boston resident Patel has also managed the Bay View liquor store right off W Broadway for the past four years, which prepares to stop underage buyers each Parade Day with a bouncer at the front door. Its the busiest day of the year for the small Southie spirit shop, he said. To Patel, any plans to move the parade to downtown wouldnt make sense. Besides the reason of tradition, South Boston has wider streets and less neighborhood congestion than downtown, Patel argued. Additionally, moving the parade wont lessen revelers rowdiness itll just be harder to clean up in the tighter space, he said. If theyre making a mess here, theyre gonna make a mess there, he said. However, Flynn said hes ready to take on any backlash he might face over the decision. Ill pay any political price for moving the parade out of South Boston, but I will not stand for anyone disrespecting South Boston veterans and our military families, Flynn said. Sam Adams teamed up with Brad Marchand to release a limited-edition beer. The announcement comes five days after the Boston Bruins traded their captain to the Florida Panthers. Brad Marchand will forever be a Boston legend, and legends deserve legendary beer, Sam Adams captioned their Instagram post with a video featuring Marchand. So, we made some. The beer fittingly called Marchand(y) is a fun spin on the classic shandy style ale, a perfect counterbalance to Brads spirited reputation on the ice. Its fruit-forward with notes of blackberry, easy-drinking, yet with just enough edge to keep things interesting, a press release from Sam Adams said. Marchand was traded to the Panthers at this years trade deadline after 16 seasons in Boston. Being the captain of the Boston Bruins was the greatest honor of my life, and I am proud to team up with Samuel Adams on the Marchand(y) as a tribute to my time in this city, Marchand said in the release. I will always be a Bostonian at heart, and I hope that fans will enjoy this beer to celebrate the 16 unforgettable years I spent wearing this jersey. The Marchand(y) will be available on March 30 at Sam Adams' Boston Brewery and Downtown Boston Taproom. Tool, the rock band led by Maynard James Keenan, could face a potential lawsuit for delivering the same performance twice at the band's own music festival, Live In The Sand. (Courtesy photo/Travis Shinn) A lawyer is thinking of filing a class action lawsuit against Tool after the bands underwhelming set at their own music festival essentially went against what they had originally promised fans. Georgia-based lawyer Stas Rusek believes fans are entitled to compensation after Tool played a similar setlist twice at the bands all-inclusive destination festival Live In The Sand. The potential lawsuit would go against the festivals promoters. We have had lots of interest from Tool fans who attended the festival, a category which I personally fall into, Rusek told Metal Hammer. These were my 27th and 28th Tool shows. There was a palpable sense of betrayal in the air as the show began the second night, and it lingered throughout the remainder of the weekend. Tickets for the festival were sold as a package, which included tickets to two performances at the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from March 7-9. Tool headlined the first two days of the festival. While fans were originally told that Tool would play a different set each night, the band instead played the same songs. This infuriated many fans, some who shelled out upwards of $10,000 to attend the festival. As far as I know you could not purchase tickets to one night of the show. Meaning that everyone here was here for two nights hoping to see an epic no repeat set, a Reddit post from a fan who attended Live In The Sand reads. They started the second evening with a repeat of the night before. Everyone [was] disappointed about the repeat from the night before. Then Maynard asked who wasnt here last night. No hands went up, the post continued. They played a new song (Aenema) and then played repeat after repeat from the night before. We watched huge fans next to us walk out of the show. Why fly to the DR on a 3 night ticket to watch an hour of repeat songs from the night before? Not sure what to say but this was a very disappointing show. Especially for the cost, the Reddit post reads. To pay to see a show and it turn out to be two of the same show was a major bummer. I will never pay to see them again which is very disappointing. What it boils down to is that purchasers of the festival package were promised two unique sets by Tool. While the comments on these posts argue about what unique means, the reality is that the opportunity to see Tool play two unique sets, ie no repeats, was the determining factor for most attendees to pull the trigger on spending thousands of dollars to attend, Rusek told Metal Hammer. Most Tool fans, like me, have attended multiple shows on the same tour, and we know that, due to the spectacular and complex nature of their show, most songs will be repeated, he said. However, this is not what festival attendees were promised. Tool fans, who are famously devoted to the band, let the group know just how angry they were with the show. Concertgoers booed and flipped off the band during the second night Live In The Sand, according to a TikTok. HELL YEAH LET EM KNOW, the TikToks caption reads. Tools my fav band and I love them but as soon as I saw tool and festival in the same sentence I knew it was gonna be a disaster, one comment on the TikTok reads. This whole thing was a scam. Rusek also believes that fans should be compensated for the performance being cut short. His firm, Stasio French Rusek, LLC, is calling for frustrated fans to join the lawsuit. Rusek told Metal Hammer that fans will not pay a fee unless they win the suit. Editors Note: Sebastian Restrepo is a multimedia specialist at MassLive. The Forgotten Mass. photo series represents some of the work he captures from his travels across Massachusetts and beyond. It focuses on abandoned places, hidden gems, historical relics and forgotten lands. If youd like to submit a tip to New England Uncovered, email srestrepo@masslive.com. My visit to Medfield State Hospital last month was inextricably linked to memories of being chased by nothing visible up the basement stairs of my childhood home. There were also times as I walked along the broken pavement of the long-forgotten streets that the calm was welcome and inviting. The Medfield State Hospital campus has no shortage of history to justify both. Medfield State Hospital, formerly known as Medfield Insane Asylum, was the first of its kind. Designed in the late 1800s to treat chronic mental health patients, it was designed with a new layout that promoted the feel of living in a community rather than a hospital. The history of this place is rife with sadness and you sense that when youre alone. Medfield State Hospital was closed in 2003. The few patients who were left were moved to area hospitals and the buildings were left to continue to deteriorate into the state they are in today. There is hope for this space yet. The town of Medfield elected a developer to convert this space into housing with a proposed plan to be finished by the end of 2026. Until then, this property and the feelings it may give you, are available for all to walk around and experience. An unknown number of patients who underwent surgeries at Baystate Wing Hospital in February have been urged to get tested for hepatitis and HIV following a potential sterilizer unit failure. The community hospital in Palmer, owned by Baystate Health, confirmed they detected a possible issue with the sanitization of surgical equipment during a routine assessment and out of an abundance of caution contacted patients who could have been affected, a spokesperson said in a statement to MassLive. Baystate Wing Hospital would not answer specific questions about the total number of patients contacted, saying only that it was a limited number. They also did not answer why it took weeks to inform them. One of the patients is a 42-year-old Westfield woman who underwent a routine gallbladder removal on Feb. 19. The surgeon called this week to tell her she should immediately get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, she told MassLive. The patient, who MassLive is not naming to protect her privacy, said she was horrified. She has since contacted a lawyer and had her blood tested, which the hospital paid for, she said. She awaits the results, though hepatitis and HIV can take anywhere from weeks to months to become detectable. The Department of Public Health confirmed the incident had been reported to its Cross-Department Health Care-Associated Infection team, specifically a potential sterilizer unit failure over a two-day period in February. The sterilizers biological and chemical indicators had passed quality testing during that time, DPH said. According to DPH, the hospital has since instituted corrective actions, including reeducation and retraining, and the sterilizer units manufacturer has been onsite to confirm it is operating correctly. DPH continues to work with the hospital, the agency said. The hospital statement said the risk to the affected patients is exceedingly low, and no related illness or infection has been identified. While we are not going to comment further on specifics, we can share that all patients who required outreach have received it from their provider, the spokesperson said, emphasizing the hospitals commitment to patient safety and transparency. The patient who spoke to MassLive Thursday said the March 11 phone call from her surgeon was the only notification she received and nothing was put in writing. She said the call was traumatic and left much to be interpreted. I still dont feel like Ive been told 100% what the situation was, the woman said. The doctor said the hospital is trying to get out in front of it, which made me a little bit nervous. Is this going to be huge? Or is this not a big deal? I feel like theyre not telling me enough. The town of Palmer Health Department did not return a request for comment. In 2023, Salem Hospital announced nearly 450 endoscopy patients could have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV due to improper administration of their IV medications over the course of two years. At the time, a hospital spokesperson said the likelihood that patients were actually infected was extremely small, following review by the Department of Public Health. A class action lawsuit was later filed against Salem Hospital in Suffolk Superior Court claiming negligence. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 11, Chinese software company ThunderSoft signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Hyundai Motor's Advanced Technology R&D Center and Hyundai Motor R&D Center in Shanghai. Concurrently, the unveiling ceremony for the Hyundai & ThunderSoft Joint Laboratory was held, marking a new phase in their collaboration on intelligent vehicle software development. Photo credit: ThunderSoft The Joint Lab aims to integrate the technological and market advantages of all three parties through complementary resources and expertise, driving innovation in intelligent cockpit technology. The partnership will focus on Hyundai Motor Groups new-generation intelligent cockpit platform, leveraging shared resources to enhance Hyundai's competitiveness in China and globally while accelerating the implementation of its Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) strategy. The cooperation will span key areas of intelligent cockpit software development, including app stores, navigation, speech and large language models, smartphone connectivity, and multimedia services. Beyond technology development, the collaboration extends into industry-academia partnerships. Through joint research and industrialization efforts, the partners will share industry insights, market trends, and frontier technologies, further integrating the supply chain and fostering innovation. A Roxbury woman pleaded guilty to stabbing three people and hurting a fourth person in a Boston hotel in 2023 and was sentenced to prison on Wednesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said. Kourtney Godfrey, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of carrying a dangerous weapon (knife). Judge Anthony Campo sentenced her to eight to 11 years in state prison, followed by three years of probation, Haydens office said in a statement on Thursday. The full horror of this incident is made perfectly clear by the words of the victims, who suffered physical wounds that day and continue to suffer from those wounds and deeper psychological wounds to this day, Hayden said in the statement. Our office will continue to stand by them as they continue their recoveries. On Dec. 17, 2023, Boston police learned of a stabbing at the Doubletree Hotel in Dorchester, Haydens office said. Police found four people with stab wounds. A woman and her two daughters were in the hotels cafe area and saw Godfrey squatting in the corner, making crying noises, Assistant District Attorney Brandon DeAvilla said in the statement. You guys see me crying and you dont help? Godfrey said before she ran up to the woman with a large hunting-style knife and stabbed her in the back, DeAvilla said. Godfrey raised the knife again before the womans daughters pulled their mother away. Godfrey then stabbed another woman in the neck and another woman in the forehead, Haydens office said. Godfrey ran to a man and swung the knife at his chest. The man blocked the knife with his forearms until he lost balance and fell. The third woman yelled out at him and Godfrey ran back to her. The man and the third woman then pushed an ice cream freezer toward Godfrey and caused her to fall, the statement read. The man then tried to subdue Godfrey and, with the help of two hotel employees, took her knife away. The first woman stabbed, a former police officer in Puerto Rico and an Air Force veteran, had a punctured lung that detached from her chest wall and had a fractured rib, which became displaced and caused further injury to her lung, Haydens office said. The other two women and the man, all siblings, were in Boston for their grandmothers funeral the day before, the statement read. The second woman hurt had a C5 facet fracture from the stabbing to the right side of her neck. The third womans injury was a superficial cut to her forehead, Haydens office said. The man had lacerations on his left forearm and right hand, and dislocated his left shoulder. All four people gave impact statements at Wednesdays sentencing. The family of Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read murder case, released a statement on Thursday accusing Read and her lawyers of using egregiously false statements during court hearings and in public statements. Elizabeth Proctor, the troopers wife, and Courtney Proctor, his sister, said in a news release that they wanted to address ongoing misrepresentations of his character and that the trooper has been defamed, maligned and falsely labeled corrupt by the alleged murderer, her family, her defense team and a mob of her followers. The embattled state trooper appeared before the Massachusetts State Police trial board on Thursday, which concluded in the afternoon after three nonconsecutive days of hearings since January. A panel of three commissioned officers will deliberate and bring their recommendations to the state police Col. Geoffrey D. Noble. Proctors ongoing disciplinary proceedings Proctor has been suspended without pay since July 2024 when he was relieved of duty after Reads first trial ended. During the Read trial, Proctor testified about sending disparaging texts about her as he investigated the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John OKeefe, in January 2022. In text messages, Proctor called Read a whack job and said he hoped she killed herself, among other disparaging comments about the target of his investigation. Under direct examination by the prosecution, he testified about text messages he sent to his high school friends and family members about the ongoing investigation. He described his remarks as unprofessional and regrettable and poor language on my part. In a court filing by Norfolk County prosecutors last year, they acknowledged Proctors damaging testimony. Proctor was subject to sharp cross-examination from Reads lawyers on alleged conflicts of interest, communications with non-involved civilian persons regarding the Read case, and statements regarding the defendant from which defense counsel argued a bias could be formed, they wrote. With the trial board hearing concluding on Thursday, the board will make recommendations to Noble who will determine the outcome of the internal affairs investigation into Proctor. Proctor is not the only State Police trooper to have faced discipline in connection with the Read case. A pair of his supervisors, Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik and Det. Lt. Brian Tully, were ordered to forfeit accrued vacation time for failing to properly supervise or discipline Proctor. Tully, who led the detective unit assigned to the district attorneys office, was transferred out of that post. What did Proctors family say? Proctors wife and sister said in the statement on Thursday that Reads defense team has used him to deflect from the overwhelming evidence against Karen Read. At the end of the day, a beloved police officer and honorable man was killed, Elizabeth Proctor said in reference to OKeefe. The prosecution believes its an open and shut case, and the defense knows this, too. So, their tactic is to put my husband, the lead investigator, on trial for sending texts on his personal phone to his friends and family. The Karen Read defense team is unabashedly creating false narratives and distracting the public and potential jurors from clear-cut evidence. The news release also acknowledged recent statements in court by specially appointed prosecutor Hank Brennan about a federal investigation that has overshadowed the case. While no targets were publicly identified, Proctor was one of many witnesses from the Read case who were called before a federal grand jury in 2023. Brennan said recently the investigation into OKeefes death and other related matters is over, according to information he received from the U.S. Attorneys Office. No arrests or charges were announced. After exhaustive investigations at both the state and federal level, and a grand jury, only one person has been charged with a crime, the defendant Karen Read, said Elizabeth Proctor. Proctors family accused the defense team of unrelenting propaganda and disinformation with the hopes of tainting the jury pool. Proctor has served the state police for 12 years, and the family described his record as unblemished. Referencing his text messages revealed at trial, they wrote, the texts on his personal phone were unprofessional and regrettable, but certainly didnt affect the integrity of the investigation. David Yannetti, a lawyer for Read, did not immediately return a request for comment. Reads first trial ended in a hung jury in July. The second trial begins with jury selection on April 1. Prosecutors say Read, 45, intentionally backed her SUV into OKeefe after dropping him off outside the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer following a night of drinking on Jan. 29, 2022. Reads defense has claimed she is being framed and that others are to blame for OKeefes death. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will meet with the mayors of several major cities, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, to discuss how they responded to antisemitic incidents at schools and college campuses over the last two years. Created through an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 29, the task force told city leaders that it wanted to engage with local leadership, including the mayors, district or city attorneys, and local law enforcement, according to a statement from the Department of Justice released Thursday. Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the statement. Actions have consequences inaction does, too. Leading Task Force member and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell informed Wu, along with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, of the coming discussions, the Justice Department said. Terrell told the mayors that the task force was aware of allegations that the schools in their respective cities may have failed to protect Jewish students from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law, the statement read. Terrell will meet with city leaders, impacted students, local law enforcement and community members while it continues to gather information about these incidents and decides if federal intervention is necessary. The purpose of these meetings, Terrell said, is to quickly and effectively identify ways that, working together or apart, we return safety, civility and sanity to our nations schools and end this scourge of antisemitism. The news comes not long after Columbia University graduate student and U.S. resident Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal immigration agents and flown to an immigration jail in Louisiana. He has not been charged with a crime. But Trump argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by protests he claimed supported Hamas, the terrorist group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil is the first of many to come, Trump said. The task force previously announced plans to visit Harvard University. It claimed that Harvard may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law since October 2023 related to the war in Gaza. Harvard was one of 10 universities that the task force said it would go to, along with Columbia University, George Washington University and the University of Southern California. A Massachusetts State Police trooper accused of asking a man for a sexual favor during a traffic stop in August pled not guilty to charges related to the incident on Thursday. Terence Kent appeared in Middlesex Superior Court Thursday for his arraignment on bribery and indecent assault and battery charges after he was indicted Tuesday. Kent pled not guilty to the charges and was released on personal recognizance. He was also ordered to stay away from the victim and have no contact, court prosecutors said. His case was continued to April 2 for a scheduling conference. My client has pled not guilty today ... Wed ask people to not jump to any conclusions. The process will play out, Kents attorney, David Yannetti, told reporters outside the courthouse on Thursday. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Terence Kent (right) with his attorney David Yannetti (left) during Kent's arraignment on sexual assault and bribery charges in Middlesex Superior Court on March 13, 2025. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe POOL) Kent has been accused of blocking a mans car with his cruiser on Aug. 24, 2024. It was around 4 p.m., and the man had been parked near Soldiers Field Road in Brighton. Kent drove his cruiser up to the man to prevent him from leaving, according to the D.A.s office. When the man asked Kent to move, Kent told the man his cars registration and insurance had expired. Kent then said he had to tow the mans car, the office said. When the man expressed concerns over the situation, the office said, Kent asked the man to meet him at a Department of Transportation location in Lexington located about 25 minutes away from Brighton. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Terence Kent during his arraignment on sexual assault and bribery charges in Middlesex Superior Court on March 13, 2025. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe POOL) Kent asked the man perform a sexual act as a favor to him and in turn, Kent would take care of the victim by not towing his car, according to the district attorney. Kent was suspended from the police force in November amid an investigation into the allegations. He was a 2017 State Police Academy graduate, and was previously suspended in 2023 for abandoning his assigned post. When a reporter asked Yannetti on Thursday about why Kent wanted to meet in Lexington, Yannetti said he would not be commenting on specific allegations today. Kent's defense attorney, David Yannetti, speaking with reporters outside Middlesex Superior Court on March 13, 2025. (Irene Rotondo/MassLive) Were going to have to see what discovery material they have for us, Yannetti said. The prosecution has provided some of it to us, but we havent seen grand jury transcripts. We havent seen any lab results or testing, theres a lot more to be seen here that we need to evaluate, Yannetti said. Kents family was also present in court on Thursday, and Yannetti said Kent has the full support of his family, which he called a very good family from my hometown of Melrose. In a state consistently viewed as a national leader in education, Massachusetts is still trying to rebound from the pandemic, especially in literacy. While students of all backgrounds are struggling, low-income and students of color are being left behind, said Jennie Williamson, state director of EdTrust, a research and policy organization working to increase access to education. Forty percent of Massachusetts fourth-graders scored at or above proficient in reading last year. However, within that group, only around 20% of Black, Latino students and those from low-income households scored proficient or above, according to the U.S. Department of Educations National Assessment of Educational Progress or the Nations Report Card. The literacy crisis is just another important and sobering reminder that Massachusetts is number one, but only for some, Williamson said. The growing gaps were seeing across different demographic groups, I think, should serve as a wake-up call to state policymakers that bold action is needed and fast. A statewide campaign launched on Tuesday aims to reduce the states literacy crisis, she said. The campaign offers a statewide data dashboard on literacy and curricula by district and two toolkits that teach people how to advocate for better literacy outcomes in their district. Literacy includes reading and writing and the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve ones goals and to develop ones knowledge and potential, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy. The campaign, sponsored by the Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership, alongside over 20 civil rights organizations, educators, parents and nonprofits, seeks to mobilize families and communities to demand bold, systemic action to improve literacy outcomes across the state, the organization said. Reading test scores have declined since before the pandemic, making it clear that the pandemic didnt create these problems, but it definitely amplified them, Williamson said. The purple and yellow dotted lines in these graphs from the Education Recovery Scorecard show that student performance in Massachusetts declined during the pandemic in reading and math. The blue lines show that while math performance has improved, reading has continued a slight downward trajectory and both aren't close to pre-pandemic performance. The gray lines show performance was declining in both subjects before the pandemic. Education Recovery Scorecard What should be done to address Massachusetts' literacy crisis? Massachusetts isnt keeping up-to-date on the most scientifically proven instructional methods for teaching reading, Williamson said. Unlike other states such as Alabama or Connecticut, Massachusetts allows districts to choose their own curricula and approaches. As a result, some districts literacy instruction has been scientifically proven to be effective and other districts use outdated forms of instruction, said Edith Bazile, founder of Black Advocates for Educational Excellence and a member of the Equity Partnership coalition. " This is not rocket science. Its evidence and its research. Its been part of the research there for decades, but yet, school districts are just not paying attention to it. This failure is avoidable," Bazile said. To help implement evidence-based literacy strategies statewide, such as phonics-based literacy, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler helped launch a multi-year strategy last year called Literacy Launch: Reading Success from Age 3 through Grade 3. For students, grade-level reading skills are crucial by third grade in furthering learning comprehension in all other subjects, including social studies and math. Phonics-based learning teaches letters and sounds before words, while other forms of instruction, such as whole language, focus on words first. " Phonics clearly has been shown over and over and over again to be the most effective strategy in meeting the needs of all learners, and this goes back decades," Tutwiler said In its first year, $20 million was spread across schools in the state, with millions of dollars more to be allocated. But while the advocates commend the creation of the Literacy Launch, they say they want more to be done to address declining rates of reading test scores, such as more robust legislative and policy changes. They also want more teacher preparation of science-based reading approaches. There is pending legislation in Massachusetts related to evidence-based approaches to reading, which seeks to promote high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction. Eighty-four percent of Massachusetts parents said schools should be required to use evidence-based curricula aligned with the science of reading, according to an EdTrust poll. While state leaders have taken steps to address the crisis, we need a long-term, systemic solution. But parents and students cant afford to wait. Every day that passes without meaningful action is another day a child falls further behind, Williamson said. Our hope is that these resources will empower families to advocate boldly, push local education leaders for reforms, and ensure that every child especially those struggling the most gets the support they need to succeed," Williamson said. Equity gaps persist in Mass. education Among both reading and math outcomes, there are clear divides between those who are rebounding since the pandemic and those falling behind. Hispanic and low-income students have been struggling more than other racial, economic or ethnic groups in recovering from the pandemic, according to the Education Recovery Scorecard. While Massachusetts is touted as number one in education, Jorge Fanjul, Massachusetts Executive Director of Latinos for Education, said the differences between racial and ethnic groups and even district-by-district demonstrate inequity in the system. While it feels very good to talk about how successful we have been by lifting up these amazing, amazing, amazing exemplars, it is not indicative of the entire state, and that has been the case for a long time, Fanjul said. It hurts us more to think that were doing better than we actually are. Nearly one in three Hispanic and Latino students were chronically absent in the 2023 to 2024 school year, according to the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub. That is the highest average chronic absence rate of any other racial or ethnic group. Hispanic students also have lower four-year college graduation rates, college enrollment and persistence rates. Persistence includes a students ability to stay continuously enrolled in college. Reading scores have continued to fall even after the pandemic has ended. The arrows in brown in this Education Recovery Scorecard chart show large drops in reading performance, particularly among Hispanic and female students from 2019 to 2022. Blue arrows show that the reductions have largely continued. Education Recovery Scorecard One challenge to education can be a language barrier. A glaring example to Fanjul was during the pandemic when Boston Public Schools were using Google Translate to translate important documents for parents. " Google Translate should not be the way that you go and translate documents in the education space on serious things ... topics about health issues, topics about the future of their childs education," Fanjul said. " Our community is ready. Were at the table willing to do our part, but we need you to meet us where were at, right? And so often that doesnt happen and its always, always a question of resources," Fanjul said. A 2022 report by the Latino Equity Fund at The Boston Foundation, Boston Indicators and the Gaston Institute at UMass Boston recommended more significant support for English learners and increased access to early college and community colleges. Fanjul also emphasized the need for more teachers of color, training on cultural competency and an acceptance of multi-language learning and non-traditional forms of learning outside of a classroom setting. Bazile, from Black Advocates for Educational Excellence, said Black students are also disproportionately struggling with reading but it isnt because they are incapable, it is because our education system is failing them, she said. How can we expect progress as a nation when so many of our children are left behind? These children represent our future, and we must demand immediate, decisive action from state and local leaders to address these systemic inequalities, Bazile said. Tutwiler said he is proud of the work educators and families have done to meet students' needs. He said the state is taking the appropriate steps to address the impact of the pandemic. This is something that is going to take time, but were leaning in robustly to ensure that districts will have the support and the resources to address this challenge, Tutwiler said. A Tewksbury man was sentenced to prison for sex trafficking seven women across New England, New York and New Jersey for prostitution, United States Attorney Leah Foleys office said. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper sentenced Jermall Anderson, 45, to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, Foleys office said in a statement. Anderson pleaded guilty in November 2024 to seven counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, one count of coercion and enticement, and one count of interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution. He, along with two co-conspirators, was indicted in August 2023. Jermall Anderson preyed on vulnerable women, targeting and sexually exploiting homeless and drug-addicted women for his own benefit. He controlled his victims with fear, violence and drugs all so that he could profit off of them, Foley said in the statement. The U.S. Attorneys office will continue to fight for sex trafficking victims and hold accountable those who victimize them. I applaud the brave victims who stood up against Jermall Anderson, Foley continued. In doing so, they took back control of their lives and assured that a violent and depraved predator is no longer a threat to the community. Between 2012 and 2016, Anderson and his co-conspirators used physical violence, threats and the giving and withholding of heroin and cocaine to force seven women to prostitute on their behalf, Foleys office said. They targeted several women, specifically those struggling with drug addiction, homelessness and a lack of economic resources. Anderson recruited women in detox and drug rehabilitation facilities, and forced and coerced them into providing commercial sex for his financial benefit, Foleys office said. President Donald Trump threatened on social media that the United States could impose a 200% tariff on European wine and spirits following a retaliatory 50% tariff on American whiskey. In the Thursday post, the Republican president called the European Union one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, and said the whiskey tariff was nasty. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump said. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. In another post hours later, Trump said, The U.S. doesnt have Free Trade. We have Stupid Trade. The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!! The European Union trade commissioner is expected to speak with U.S. officials on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the AP. We dont like tariffs because we think tariffs are taxes and they are bad for business and they are bad for consumers, she said. We have always said at the same time that we will defend our interests. Weve said it, and weve shown it, but at the same time I also want to emphasize that we are open for negotiations. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States asked Trump to come to an agreement. Since 2022, tariffs on American whiskey exports have been suspended, the council said in a statement. The U.S. spirits sector supports more than $200 billion in economic activity, 1.7 million jobs across production, distribution, hospitality and retail, and the purchase of 2.8 billion pounds of grains from American farmers, the council stated. We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which benefits the hospitality industry and U.S. craft distillers who export their products. We want toasts, not tariffs. This is the latest in an ongoing trade war since Trump started his second term. Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all global steel and aluminum imports, along with 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, the White House stated on Feb. 1. He also imposed 10% tariffs on imports from China. A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) AP This week nearly half of the employees at the U.S. Education Department, including all those at the regional Boston office, were fired as part of President Donald Trumps attempt to dismantle the department. The Boston office was largely made up of around 30 people who work with the Office for Civil Rights, which protects students from discrimination, Katy Joseph, former Office of Civil Rights chief of staff, told MassLive. Federal Education Department officials said the agency would continue to deliver on its key functions such as the distribution of federal aid to schools, student loan management and oversight of Pell Grants. Will Ragland at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, said that message is utter horse crap. There is no way that they can ensure that this funding reaches its intended targets without half of their staff there to do it, said Ragland, who was a former employee at the Department of Education. It is a giant first step toward their goal of eliminating the Department of Education, its protections and yes, likely a lot of their funding that reaches local school districts (and) institutes of higher education, he said. Joseph, the former Office of Civil Rights chief of staff, said key functions cant happen with a reduction in force. When you cut staff to the point where ... its impossible to actually deliver on the mission of the organization, its hard to make the claim that you havent effectively abolished the department, Joseph said. There are still hundreds of cases that are under investigation or complaints that are pending, Joseph said. Maine, which has come under fire for their Title IX enforcement, is under the Boston offices purview, she said. It is unclear whether the Northeast region of the country will have any Office of Civil Rights support or enforcement or what comes next given the closing of regional offices, she said. Read more: Massive Education Department layoffs to affect all Boston employees A representative at the U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond for comment on this article. In a letter, entitled Our Departments Final Mission, McMahon describes an overhaul of the federal agency to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy which will have profound impacts on staff, budgets, and agency operations here at the Department. Millions of young Americans are trapped in failing schools, subjected to radical anti-American ideology, or saddled with college debt for a degree that has not provided a meaningful return on their investment, she said. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves after just a few years and citing red tape as one of their primary reasons. The what if world Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega said leaders like himself live in the what if world. I think that when you go into a position of leadership, uncertainty is always the thing that keeps you up at night, right? And particularly in the area of federal investment, Ortega told MassLive. Massachusetts is dependent on federal money, receiving over $2 billion in federal education funding per year a number that the state cant fully replace, according to the Healey-Driscoll administration. Programs like the newly implemented free community college are based upon federal funding distributed through Pell Grants, Ortega said. Ortega said the state believes in maintaining the commitment to programs like free community college but is also banking on the fact that it would take tremendous effort to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and Congressional involvement. The cuts to the U.S. Department of Education are going to jeopardize a lot of the ground that states have made in increasing post-secondary access for a number of students, Ortega said. While Congress would need to create a bill and pass it with a minimum of 60 votes in the Senate to abolish the agency, Ragland said the Trump administration can effectively shut the department down by stripping it back until it barely has anyone working there and cant operate. Whats next for the U.S. Department of Education? President Trump has made it known that he wants United States Education Secretary Linda McMahon to put herself out of a job. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that an executive order to dismantle the department has been drafted. Education Secretary McMahon has said she wants to reduce bloat and improve efficiency to be able to send more money to local education authorities. So many of the programs are really excellent, so we need to make sure the money goes to the states, McMahon said in an interview on Fox News. Moving the money to local education authorities is concerning to many, including Ragland. Theyre going to be handing blank checks to states, localities, etc. with little to no oversight or enforcement for that money to be spent as required, he said. People forget that the federal government had to step in to force states to desegregate schools and give students with disabilities fair access to education, he said. All of these things, protections, long-held protections for generations now that have been in place that will not be able to be enforced anywhere near the same way as they were a week ago because of these cuts, Ragland said. I fear that if there is no federal floor, no federal standard, no federal minimum of whats required that a lot of states will leave the hardest to reach kids behind, he said. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell, along with 20 state attorneys general, sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its unlawful attempts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. The Trump administration has also been dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, also known as USAID, and cutting back staffing at the Department of Educations research arm the Institute of Education Sciences, according to The Associated Press. The research arm includes the National Center for Education Statistics, which collects data through the Nations Report Card on how students from Kindergarten to 12th grade are performing across the country. If they continue to move down this path and these firings are for real which it sure seems like it is then were going to be flying blind, Ragland said. We wont know how well kids are doing in math and English. We wont know how many kids are going to community college or going to trade school or going right to a career or getting their four-year degree after high school. Impact on Massachusetts Commissioner Ortega said he is concerned by how quickly the U.S. Department of Education will be able to respond to student financial aid and loan repayment programs with a limited staff. We anticipate that were going to have to work harder now to encourage students to ignore the noise thats happening at the federal level and still go through with the application of financial aid, Ortega said. Ortega said he doesnt want students to think twice about filling out federal aid forms or entering higher education. Especially since fewer Massachusetts high schoolers filled out the Department of Educations Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Massachusetts Application for State Financial Aid (MAFSA) this year and there have been two years of delays. A lot of the students who are historically underrepresented, first generation, with not a whole lot of college knowledge, it doesnt take a whole lot to convince them not to take that final step, he said. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page and vice president Deb McCarthy raised similar concerns about the cuts to the federal Department of Education. Most of the funding provided by the department supports students in poor communities and students with disabilities. It also allows our young people to access higher education, the two said in a statement. The plan to dismantle the department threatens that funding and how it will be allocated. In a long list of federal funding distributed to Massachusetts from the U.S. Department of Education, some of it includes: $405 million in Pell Grants for 91,000 students in the state, $366 million for 182,000 students with disabilities, and $289 million for 425,000 low-income students, according to National Parents Union. One good thing for the state is that as a leader in education, it has made significant state investments and is therefore a bit less reliant on federal funding than other states, Ragland said. I wouldnt say its safe. A 5% to 10% overall cut is still pretty tough, Ragland said. It wont be hit as bad as places like Kentucky or Mississippi, he said. Connection to Project 2025 While the Trump administration has said it wont cut those key functions, the conservative playbook of Project 2025 lays groundwork for abolishing the Department of Education. Chapter 11 of the plan states that school funding should be sent to states. The first page of the chapter highlights and encourages a state plan where that money would be used on education options such as private school tuition, online courses, and tutoring rather than on public school education. During Trumps campaign, he denied his involvement in Project 2025. However, his aim to significantly cut the federal agency is in line with what is stated in the conservative blueprint. Sen. Warren said the cuts to the federal Department of Education emphasize that President Trump is following his plans to abolish the agency. Shutting down an agency that provides financial aid to families, funds afterschool programs and enforces our nations civil rights laws doesnt help our students learn and doesnt make our country better. If you send your kids to public school, Trump is sending you a clear message: he doesnt care about you, Sen. Warren said. Ortega is still trying to find a silver-lining through the disruption of the Department of Education and federal actions. It does serve as kind of an incentive for states to step in and do more, Ortega said. Vermont confirmed its first case of measles in 2025, Monday, but the risk to the public is considered to be low. A child from Lamoille County in Vermont got sick with measles after returning home from an international trip with their family in recent days, according to the Vermont Department of Health. This case of measles isnt linked to the three ongoing measles outbreaks in the U.S. or to the current outbreak in Quebec, the department said. Since the child has been isolated from most community settings while they have been contagious, the risk to the public is considered to be low, the department said. There were two cases of the illness in Vermont in 2024, and one case in 2018 and another case in 2011. The positive test result for measles was confirmed on Monday evening. The one known site of exposure is at Copley Hospital, where the child was evaluated on Sunday. Copley Hospital has reached out to people who visited its emergency department during that time, the department said. The department recommends that people who were inside the emergency department at Copley Hospital between 3:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday do the following: Brookline residents beware, turkey mating season is here, meaning you might run into some really aggressive turkeys. Several aggressive turkeys were on Babcock Street Wednesday around 8:30 a.m., according to the Brookline Police Department. One such report stated a turkey chased a parking enforcement officer into a building and then began pcking on the glass door! Animal Control Officer Bridges subsequently responded to assist, the department wrote on Facebook. During turkey mating season, which is between March and May, male turkeys also known as toms become territorial and may look at humans as threats or competition, according to the department. They may chase, peck, or attempt to intimidate people entering what they consider their territory, the department said. If you see a turkey, the police department suggests: Maintaining a distance from wild turkeys. Never feed wild turkeys because it reinforces bold behavior. If a turkey comes near you, try to make yourself look large by opening your coat or raising your arms. Make loud noises to discourage turkeys from coming near you. Use an umbrella as a shield from turkeys. Keep small kids and pets close when in known turkey areas. If you see an unusually aggressive turkey, call the Brookline Police Departments Animal Control at 617-730-2222. Give them the location of the animal, time and description of the turkeys behavior. This is a temporary seasonal occurrence, the department said. Turkey aggression typically subsides after mating season ends. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On March 11, GAC Energy, a subsidiary of GAC Group, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Telecom Guangdong Branch at GAC Group's headquarters. Since 2023, the two companies have collaborated in the new energy vehicle (NEV) charging and battery-swapping sector, achieving significant results. Through building "HYPTEC Ultra-Fast Charging Station" at China Telecom's Dongguan business hall, they have established an extensive NEV charging network across 10 towns and districts in Dongguan city. With over 140 charging piles in operation and an annual charging capacity exceeding 12 million kilowatt-hours, the initiative has greatly enhanced the efficiency and convenience of energy replenishment and communication services for NEV users. Photo credit: GAC Energy Under the new partnership, GAC Energy and China Telecom Guangdong Branch will leverage their respective strengths in telecommunications and energy to deepen cooperation in six key areas: planning and construction of NEV charging and battery swapping stations, smart charging solutions and platform interconnectivity, integrated smart energy models, diversified NEV charging services, joint marketing, and brand collaboration. Together, they aim to explore innovative business models in the NEV sector and contribute to the advancement of Guangdong's new energy vehicle industry. GAC Energy stated that the agreement reflects their commitment to China's "dual-carbon" strategy and the accelerating transformation of the automotive industry. By integrating China Telecom Guangdong Branch's extensive site resources with GAC Energy's technical expertise, the companies plan to accelerate the deployment of charging and battery swapping stations across residential areas, commercial districts, and transportation hubs, making energy transitions more accessible for users. Additionally, the interoperability of their charging management platforms will enhance the overall user experience with smoother and more efficient charging services. By the end of February 2025, GAC Energy's charging network covered 202 cities across 31 provinces in China, operating nearly 1,500 charging stations and 14,770 charging terminals, along with 68 battery-swapping stations nationwide. So youve just downloaded an app or enrolled in a streaming service. You know what comes next: A whole mess of complicated legalese and a little box at the end, that you click, acknowledging that youve read it all. But ... come on ... did you? Really? If youre among the countless Americans who skip to the bottom, click, and live on in blissful ignorance of the legal agreement you just tangled yourself up in, only to have it bite you later, dont worry. Theres a bill for that. On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, teamed up with two U.S. senators, to reintroduce a bill requiring online companies to make all that legalese comprehensible to the average consumer. Theyve dubbed the bipartisan, bicameral bill the Terms of Service Labeling, Design, and Readability Act, or, for the extremely online among you, the TLDR Act. See what they did there? U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District. (MassLive file) "Consumers shouldnt have to wade through pages of dense legal jargon just to use a website or app, Trahan said in a statement. Right now companies force users into an all-or-nothing choice: agree to everything or lose access entirely. No negotiation, no alternatives, no real choice, the Lowell Democrat, who sits on the Houses Energy and Commerce Committee, added. On the other side of Capitol Hill, U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., are sponsoring companion legislation. Far too many companies take advantage of consumers by burying critical details about their data policies and shield themselves from legal liability in complicated terms-of-service agreements, Lujan said. The TLDR Act will end these harmful practices and help empower and protect consumers. Informing consumers is a bipartisan issue, and Im proud to join my colleagues to provide real choice online, Lujan continued. Experts agree that most consumers have no idea whats in the lengthy agreements, nor the rights or privacy protections that theyre signing away when they hurriedly click I Agree, so they can binge-watch their favorite shows. Whats more, the legal documents have increased in length and complexity, leading to fewer Americans reading the terms of service before agreeing, the lawmakers said. And its not a new problem. They pointed to 2012 study found that it would take 76 work days for the average American to read the agreements for the websites and platforms they routinely use. And a 2022 poll found that nearly 9 out of every 10 Americans have agreed to a companys terms of service without reading the fine print, the noted. We know from studies that nobody reads [the terms of service], University of Chicago Law School professor Omri Ben-Shahar told NPR in a 2014 interview. And when I say nobody, Im not rounding up a small number to zero, he quipped. Flash-forward a decade, and nothings changed. Nobody is going to read pages of legal jargon. Companies should be required to provide terms of service that people without a law degree can understand, Cassidy said in that joint statement. Americans have the right to know how their data is collected and used. If its passed by the House and Senate and signed into law, the bill would require online companies, except small businesses, to include a nutrition label-style summary table at the top of their terms of service and tag the full, long-form terms with XML tags. That would make the agreements more accessible and understandable for consumers and researchers alike, they said The bill also mandates that the summary inform consumers about how their data is collected and shared, including by requiring companies to produce a graphical representation of how their consumer data is shared with third parties. And, if youve made it to the bottom of this story, the last word goes to Trahan who noted that online companies hold all the cards on these legal agreements. And they exploit this imbalance by burying critical terms in confusing contracts, knowing most people dont have the time to sift through them just to send a message or make a quick purchase, she said. The bill puts power back in consumers hands by requiring companies to provide clear, transparent summaries of their terms something the American people overwhelmingly support. A view of the U.S. Capitol building at night on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (John L. Micek/MassLive) John L. Micek By Lena H. Sun, Fenit Nirappil, and Dan Diamond The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Dave Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a Senate health committee official and a Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive situation. The Senate health committee announced Weldon had been pulled shortly before he was scheduled to testify Thursday morning before the Senates health committee. The pulling of Weldon marks a rare setback for a Trump administration nominee. The Senate has confirmed every controversial choice brought to a full vote on the floor to date. Weldon, who left Congress in 2009, drew scrutiny for his longtime promotion of the false claims that vaccines can cause autism. Weldon was slated to testify before the Senate Health Committee on Thursday as he sought confirmation to head a division of the Department of Health and Human Services charged with protecting the United States from health threats at home and abroad. Trump had plucked Weldon from political retirement for the role, selecting a social conservative best known in public health circles for promoting the debunked link between vaccines and autism. Some public health advocates fighting Weldons nomination have called that record disqualifying, as vaccine skepticism moves from the fringe to the upper echelons of federal health policy. The CDC, a $9 billion agency, makes vaccine recommendations, works to prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, tracks opioid overdoses and fights infectious-disease outbreaks, including listeria infections and the Zika virus. In recent years, the CDC has been under intense scrutiny by conservatives in Congress and think tanks about its scope and mission. They have proposed budget cuts to eliminate programs they say arent central to its core mission of fighting infectious disease. In announcing his pick, Trump had called Weldon a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues who held health agencies accountable. For the first time, the CDC director must be Senate-confirmed, along with the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, the director of the National Institutes of Health and the surgeon general. Unlike Trumps other health nominees who had a high profile by appearing regularly on Fox News, Weldon has lain low since leaving Congress in 2009. But he has continued to boost the false claims that vaccines cause autism despite overwhelming scientific evidence disproving them. The Northampton City Council censured Ward 3 Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg during a special meeting Wednesday evening. The meeting was called to address what much of the council characterized as Rothenbergs egregious conduct during a February public safety dispatch call. The censure, which voices the councils disapproval but does not mandate any action against Rothenberg, alleges that during the call, the councilor violated the city charter, potentially violated Massachusetts rules and laws governing the ethical conduct of public officials, harassed city employees and generally behaved in a manner unbecoming to a city councilor. Rothenberg declined to comment on the censure Wednesday night. A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on display at the Lubbock Health Department on Feb. 26 in Lubbock, Texas. (Mary Conlon / Associated Press) AP SPRINGFIELD With measles outbreaks on our doorstep, city officials urged residents to get themselves and their children up to date on their vaccinations. Concerned about the outbreaks across the country, which have caused two deaths, and the spreading bird flu, City Councilor Brian Santaniello recently held a health and human services subcommittee meeting to ensure the city is prepared. UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester announced a hiring freeze, spending freeze and rescinded admissions for one of its biomedical science doctorate programs this week, citing ongoing uncertainty regarding federal funding. A memo on Tuesday by UMass Chan Chancellor Michael Collins and three additional officials from the school reads that a hiring and spending freeze goes into effect immediately. The memo said UMass Chan faces uncertainty due to the Trump administrations plan to put a 15% cap on indirect costs on all future and existing grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH). All hiring, including faculty, grant-funded positions and summer internships, are paused until further notice and furloughs and layoffs will be necessary, according to the memo. Additionally, all discretionary spending, including but not limited to using university funds for conferences, travel, food and events, consultants and contractors and memberships, dues and subscriptions, have been paused until further notice, the memo reads. Through this uncertain time, be assured that executive leaders are in close communication and working through these challenges with department chairs and other leaders across our organization, while also continuing to advocate for the lifesaving and life-enhancing benefits that we know biomedical research offers people across the commonwealth and around the world, the memo reads. The school also released another statement this week announcing that several dozen applicants seeking their doctorate at the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences were informed that their offers of admission were rescinded. The decision to rescind the admissions was also related to NIH funding uncertainties, according to the schools office of communications. With uncertainties related to the funding of biomedical research in this country, this difficult decision was made to ensure that our current students progress is not disrupted by the funding cuts and that we avoid matriculating students who may not have robust opportunities for dissertation research, the statement reads. Current doctoral candidates for the school are not impacted, nor are any applicants to UMass Chans two other graduate schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, the statement reads. Impacted applicants are being offered the chance to receive priority consideration without the requirement to reapply if they wish to join the schools doctoral program during a future admission cycle, according to the statement. Other Massachusetts education institutions have taken steps to limit hiring amid uncertainty regarding federal funding. Harvard University announced a temporary hiring freeze on Monday due to rapidly shifting federal policies, according to a letter from Harvard President Alan Garber. Even though a federal judge in Boston has blocked the 15% cap on NIH funding during legal proceedings, the Tuesday memo reads that it is not a final resolution, and UMass Chan stands to lose $40 to $50 million annually, according to the memo. Additionally, the memo reads that promotions and raises, including the annual July 1 salary increase program, are on hold and that the schools research facility is facing a slowdown in federal meetings and reviews, which moves the process along for grant funding. Taken together, these proposed policy changes require us to reduce spending immediately to address the very real and immediate impacts created, the memo reads. While we wish there was a straightforward way to insulate our campus from these actions, the only prudent and responsible path forward is to act now. Video News: [Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 12 mars 2025[Video News] Message de Navin Ramgoolam pour le 12 mars 2025[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 11 mars 2025[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 8 mars 2025[Video news] Le MMM Celebre la Journee Internationale de la Femme[Video News] Jean-Luc Chane-Kane a anime un seminaire sur la socialisation des chiens[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 7 mars 2025[Video News] Seance parlemantaire du 7 mars 2025[Video News] Nouvelle identite de la Turbine: au-dela dun incubateur, un partenaire strategique de linnovation responsable [Video News] Grays celebre son expertise et son heritage lors de son second Corporate Media Breakfast[Video News] Rebranding de La Turbine[Video News] Conference de presse de lUnion of Artists[Video News] 2e Corporate Media Breakfast de Grays a Villebague[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 5 mars 2025[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 4 mars 2025[Video News] Conference de presse du MSM[Video news] Seance parlementaire du 4 mars 2025 en Live[Video News] Message du ministre des Affaires Etrangeres[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 28 fevrier 2025[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 28 fevrier 2025[Video News] Seance parlementaire du 28 fevrier 2025Garance: Treizieme bulletin de cyclone pour Maurice (27-02-2025 : 04h10)Garance: Onzieme bulletin de cyclone pour Maurice (26-02-2025 : 22:10)[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 25 fevrier 2025Garance: Septieme bulletin de cyclone pour Maurice ( 26-02-2025 @ 4h10)[Video News] Elsa Wolinski, Clementine Galey, Shakti Callikan et Cristele de Speville font du podcast un vecteur de proximite et dauthenticiteGarance: Sixieme bulletin de cyclone pour Maurice ( 25-02-2025 @ 22h10)[Video news] Point de presse du NCC du 25 fevrier 2025Garance : Cinquieme bulletin de cyclone pour Maurice (25-02-2025 : 16 h 10)Communique du National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management CentrePremier bulletin de cyclone pour Maurice (24-02-2025 : 16:10)[Video News] Dimans politik[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 22 fevrier 2025[Video News] Attitude Talk Series No 7[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 21 fevrier 2025[Video News] Coup denvoi de Pepcity No 2 avec le concert de Atif Aslam, le 5 avril 2025[Video News] Seance parlementaire du 21 fevrier 2025 en Live[Video News] Vernissage de Cendrine Bolaram[Video news] QBL annonce le concert dAtif Aslam a Cote dOr et Pepcity @ Bagatelle[Video news] Bilan des 15 ans de Lottotech[Video News] Expo peinture a loccasion abolition de l esclavage a Quatre Bornes[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 18 fevrier 2025[Video news] Nando Bodha a dit[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 15 fevrier 2025[Video News] Dimans Politik[Video News] Pravind Rughoo : Fair attention kan sorti dan Sud Moris [Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 14 fevrier 2025[Video news] Atelier de travail de PILS sur la sexualite[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du12 fevrier 2025[Video news] Lancement du livre de Jeremie Brousse de Gersigny[video News] Edition Speciale[Video News] Attitude Foundation offre deux fontaines a eau a lecole Sir Pierre Dalais de Trou dEau Douce[Video News] Conference de presse du Kolektif 420[Video News] Dimans Politik[Video News] MCB Talk Thierry Hebraud [Video News] Action de la Fondation Attitude pour leau potable et moins de plastique a lEcoleTrou dEau Douce[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 8 fevrier 2025{Video news] Atelier de travail An update of the Labour Legislation in Mauritius [Video news] Seance parlementaire du 7 fevrier 2025 en Live[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 5 fevrier 2025[Video News] Collaboration essentielle face au changement climatique[Video News] Pou Mwa Ou SpesialEn Route Vers le Made in Moris : Presentation de la cohorte 2025[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 4 fevrier 2025[Video news]Seance parlementaire du 4 fevrier 2025[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 1er fevrier 2025[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 31 janvier 2025[Video News]Reneworld : Apres 5 000 installations photovoltaiques residentielles, cap sur les entreprises et lindustrie[Video News] Lancement officiel de la Cohorte 2005 dEn Route vers le Made in Moris[Video News] Restrictions deau renforcees a Maurice face a la secheresse[Video News] Reneworld Ltd passe au plan B2B[Video News] LArtigiano ouvre sa premiere franchise a Moka[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 29 janvier 2025[Video News] Nandos Maurice celebre la finale du concours dArt #Feedyourcreativity[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 28 janvier 2025[Video news] LArtigiano ouvre sa premiere franchise a Moka[Video News] The Joint Committee celebrates a strong partnership that goes far beyond fisheries[Video News] Azaad au Cinema Sirsa[Video News] Dimans Politik[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du janvier 2025[Video News] Lancement de Racines et Prespectives dAlain Jeannot[Video news] Laetica a remporte #Feed your Creativy de Nandos[Video news] Reaction de Gheerishsing Gopaul sur le discours programme 2025-2029[Video News] Conference de presse de la Plateforme Lunite natif Afrikain (Maurice)[Video news] 2e reunion de travail EU/Maurice sur la peche soutenable[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 22 janvier 2025[Video news] Atelier du RUSI sur les risques de financement de la proliferation[Video news] Fabrice David a dit[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 21 janvier 2025[Video News] Conference de presse de la ministre de LEgalite du Genre[Video News] Dr Jyoti Jeetun a dit[Video news] Dimans Politik[Video news] Conference de presse du Reform Party[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 18 janvier 2025[Video news] 5th Entrepreneurial Exchange[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto Vert du 17 janvier 2025[Video News] Edition Speciale[Video news] Baisse du niveau deau dans les reservoirs[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 15 janvier 2025[Video news] Conference de presse de Patrick Assirvaden A MAN has been accused of brandishing an intimidation firearm at a group of Irish language students in the Mayo Gaeltacht. Krzysztof Knapik (43) of 2 Cois Abhainn, Carrowtighe appeared before Belmullet District Court where he was charged with possession of an imitation firearm outside his home on August 11, 2024. It is alleged that Mr Knapik brandished the imitation firearm in front of a group of up to eight Irish language students from Dublin as they walked to their accommodation between 1 am and 2 am. The court heard that the DPP had directed that the matter be dealt with summarily in the district court and the allegations against the defendant were outlined to Judge Fiona Lydon for jurisdictional purposes. Inspector Dermot Butler explained that the students were attending the Irish language college in Carrowtighe in the Erris Gaeltacht and they were on their way home. As they passed by the defendant's home, it is alleged that he came outside and brandished what they thought was a firearm at them and they ran away frightened. Insp Butler explained that as they ran away, some of the teenagers who were aged between 15 and 16 heard a loud bang which frightened them further. He said the teenagers reported the incident to their supervisors and the gardai were notified. When gardai arrived at Mr Knapnik's home, Insp Butler said the firearm was found on his kitchen table. A photograph of the alleged offending weapon was shown to Judge Lydon who commented that in all intents and purposes it looked like a real handgun and expressed concern about the allegations. Mr Knapnik told Judge Lydon that he is a Polish national and he did not have a solicitor but he later appointed Peter Loftus to represent him in court. When asked for further details, Insp Butler confirmed that Mr Knapnik did not engage with the youths but it is alleged he pointed the weapon in the air before they took off running. He added that he imagined the group were boisterous as they made their way back to their accommodation after socialising. He said that the firearm looks very realistic and they were very frightened. Judge Lydon reiterated her concerns regarding the seriousness of the allegations against Mr Knapnik and as a result she was refusing jurisdiction. She adjourned the case until May 14 in Belmullet District Court for DPP consent. Micheal Martin goes to the White House this week for the shamrock ceremony which for long has been the envy of far bigger players on the world stage. But this time, it might be different, and the Taoiseach will need every ounce of his tact and diplomacy to emerge unscathed from what is turning into a bearpit for visiting heads of state. The shameful ambush on President Zelenskyy has given Mr Trump and his henchmen a taste for blood. And the new found American animosity towards Europe means that the Taoiseach will need his strongest suit of armour before entering the lions den. The American pivot to align itself with the gang of rogue states has taken the world by surprise. Within weeks of his new presidency, Mr Trump has sold out Ukraine, rehabilitated Russia, and signalled his refusal to come to Europes aid when not if the next confrontation arrives. His pandering to Russia meant that Europe was excluded from the White House /Kremlin talks on the proposed carve-up of Ukraine, a gesture which, late in the day, alarmed Europe into accepting the need for it to become self sufficient in its own defence. That the US chose to vote in step with Russia, Belarus and north Korea in the UN resolution on Ukraine was a clear indication that America would prefer to follow the path of brutal dictators who brook no dissent, and that Mr Trump would happily follow the same playbook. The dismissive treatment of Mr Zelenskyy at the White House may be partially explained by Trump still smarting over the Ukrainian leaders refusal to investigate the activities of the son of the former President, Hunter Biden. Insofar as that goes, the Taoiseach may have a better chance of surviving this weeks encounter with his dignity intact. But much depends on the mood of the moment, and the thin skinned occupant of the Oval office is likely to take offence at any perceived slight. His mood towards Europe will hardly have been sweetened by the warm, friendly sympathetic reception extended to Zelenskyy in London after his bruising encounter in Washington. Whether he plays the part of friend or foe to his Irish visitor will be down to his fickle and erratic nature, with the warning caveat that, as the entire world knows, here is a man who relishes every chance of putting people down. Disturbingly, too, there are a couple of big sticks which, if Trump chooses, he will use to beat us with. The trading imbalance which irks him so much has particular resonance for Ireland, where Trumps big complaint is that US companies manufacture drugs here, and declare their profits here, at beneficial rates, even though the research and development for these products has been done in America. And for a man who hates nothing more than being suckered in business, the idea of Ireland taking Uncle Sam for a ride is an indignity too degrading to swallow. It has been suggested that the Taoiseach may seek to appease the White House irritation by offering a deal, something always close to Trumps transactional nature. An offer to impel big pharma to declare more of its profits, and thus pay more taxes, in the US, while at the same time pressing them to reduce their export prices, might stave off something more damaging. (Mr Martin will not be unmindful of the recent Apple announcement to repatriate 20,000 jobs and $500 billion investment back to the home country over the next four years). And he could also usefully remind his hosts that all of the traffic is not one-way. Ryanair has placed a $ 22 billion order with Boeing for 210 new aircraft, to be manufactured in America, with a further 300 to come within ten years. The other big stick which the Taoiseachs host may choose to brandish, should the mood take him, is that of the status of the thousands of undocumented Irish now living good lifestyles in the US. And while it might seem unlikely that the net of deportation will be cast over our law abiding, exemplary emigrants, the mere hint of uncertainty would be enough to cause deep unrest. In an administration as unpredictable as that in Washington is proving to be, nothing is off the table, and Mr Trump is surrounded with acolytes who seem quite ready to bring the house down in the pursuit of the disruption which is a core part of official policy. Micheal Martin has a reputation for a safe pair of hands; its an attribute he will require in abundance in the next few days. The stakes have never been higher for a leader from a Europe which is so out of favour with the ruling administration in America, and all for no better reason than a personal animosity and a deep grievance over perceived unjustness. The shamrock is said to bring good luck to the Irish; the next few days will put that belief to the test. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 10, Chery's EXEED brand officially put the STERRA ES range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) edition onto the market. The model is available in four versions, Plus, Pro, Max, and Ultra, with a price range from 152,800 yuan to 209,800 yuan. Photo credit: Chery The STERRA ES REEV integrates two of Chery Group's top-tier technologies, the Gold Range Extender and Falcon Intelligent Driving System (names in translation). The STERRA ES REEV features a battery-powered range of 255km under CLTC conditions, and the world's highest combined range of 1,645kmcomparable to a two-hour flight on an Airbus A320, said Chery. Photo credit: Chery The Falcon Intelligent Driving System provides full-scenario, end-to-end intelligent driving. It enhances safety through predictive driving functions such as pedestrian yielding, blind-spot deceleration, large vehicle avoidance, and smart speed adjustments in curves. Additionally, it includes over 20 active safety features, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and lane departure warning and prevention. Chery disclosed that in 2026, the Falcon Intelligent Driving System will evolve into its 3.0 version, incorporating Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models and a world model. It will recognize traffic police gestures, textual traffic signs, and complex scenarios like accidents and multi-lane toll stations. The system will also achieve advanced scenario comprehension, natural language processing, and human-like logical reasoning for intelligent decision-making. by Tanya Gazdik , March 12, 2025 Members of the Bilt rewards loyalty program can now use points to book Lyft rides. In order for it to work, Lyft riders must first link their Bilt rewards and Lyft accounts. Lyft is the first rideshare company to offer pay with points capability throughout this partnership with Bilt, according to the companies. With this integration, Bilt members will see a Points button in the Lyft app when requesting a ride, allowing them to use Bilt points anytime. We are totally focused on curating a great rider experience, and adding Pay with Points functionality to our partnership with Bilt gives riders another reason to choose Lyft every time, said Audrey Liu, Lyft executive vide president of rider experience, in a release. Meanwhile, another longtime Lyft partnership ends in April. advertisement advertisement Delta Airlines is discontinuing its eight-year partnership with Lyft, moving to larger ride-hailing rival Uber. Delta did not comment on why it is switching ride-hailing partners, though Deltas credit card partner American Express offers some cardholders credits to use with Uber for rides and food delivery. Lyft also recently inked a deal with another new company. The ride-share company partnered with DoorDash to offer benefits on both rides and local delivery. DashPass members will unlock monthly rideshare benefits at no additional cost, and eligible Lyft riders will receive a free trial of DashPass. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 12, 2025 On Wednesday, shortly after seeking to delay a trial against Amazon over its alleged use of "dark patterns" to dupe Prime subscribers, the Federal Trade Commission reversed itself and said it is fully prepared to litigate. Following today's telephonic status conference, I write to clarify comments I made today, FTC attorney Jonathan Cohen said in a letter sent Wednesday to U.S. District Court Judge John Chun in Seattle. I was wrong, Cohen wrote. The Commission does not have resource constraints and we are fully prepared to litigate this case. Please be assured that the FTC will meet whatever schedule and deadlines the court sets. Earlier Wednesday, Cohen asked Chun to delay the trial, scheduled to begin in September. Cohen reportedly said at the time that the agency was in a dire resource situation due to recent resignations and a hiring freeze. Meta is encouraging advertisers to integrate Google Analytics 4 with its ad platform, offering early access to advertising system updates that show a boost in conversions. GA4 is Google's analytics platform that collects event-based data from websites and apps. Samantha Noble, a freelance paid search and social consultant out of Havant, England, posted the note on LinkedIn. Meta will make visible all traffic data sources in Google Analytics 4. By connecting Meta with Google Analytics, advertisers improve their attribution models. Advertisers will need to configure event mapping to connect Meta conversion events with Google Analytics conversion events. It aims to improve conversion attribution and cross platform measurement. advertisement advertisement The test is available to advertisers maintaining a high-quality connection will get early access to the new ad system updates. The post says it takes between five and 10 minutes to get up and running. Meta conducted a performance campaign analysis on 1,075 advertisers globally. The results demonstrated a 5% average increase in conversions driven by Meta The company has worked on this integration with Google Analytics during the past year. The idea is to gain additional data in the feed to collect additional traffic insights to help improve ad performance. Meta Events Manager supports the linking process. Events Manager is where advertisers oversee integrations with Meta Ads accounts. Metas system aggregates data from Google to establish the connection and monitor context for web traffic. When combined with the Meta Pixel and the Conversions API, it can provide advertisers with a better understanding of campaign performance, the company said. In the official announcement made last year, Meta touted this integration as a new opt-in attribution setting that optimizes for and reports on incremental conversions, which are conversions that we believe would not have occurred without the ad being shown. The goal was to begin in 2024 and continue into this year, introducing the ability for businesses to connect their analytics tools directly to Metas ads system through a simple API setup. The company started with Google Analytics and Northbeam, and intended to expand this to Triple Whale and Adobe. Wonderkind in Amsterdam published a post on the pros and cons to this integration for advertisers, suggesting those benefiting the most include ecommerce brands, lead generation businesses, and multi-channel advertisers. Potential challenges include data privacy concerns because of the data sharing, especially in Europe, accuracy of event mapping, and limited availability of the service. by Danielle Oster , March 13, 2025 Technically speaking, Claussen is entering the beverage category. The Kraft-Heinz pickled cucumber brands latest release packs a piquant punch into a pint-sized package -- or, to be more accurate, half-pint. And yes, were talking about pickle juice here. Claussen is releasing "Just The Brine for a limited time ahead of St.Patricks Day, making its brine available by itself for the first time. Beginning March 14, the brand will sell six packs of eight-ounce Just The Brine bottles via delivery service GoPuff in Boston, Chicago, and New York, while supplies last. The three cities were chosen for their Irish lineage, according to Clausen, citing Chicagos iconic, green-dyed river, Bostons historic Southie parade and New Yorks vibrant bar crawls. For pickle lovers outside those cities, the brand is also running a promotional giveaway online offering the opportunity to win a duo pack of the product. advertisement advertisement Claussen is positioning "Just the Brine" as a way for revelers to pickle and unpickle themselves during and after celebrating the booze-fueled holiday over the weekend -- as both a mixer for alcoholic beverages (mixer by night), and as a morning-after hangover cure providing electrolytes (electrolytes by day). Pickle flavors are having something of a prolonged moment, popping up everywhere from condiments (Heinz Pickle Ketchup) to soda mixers, and even baked goods. According to data from research firm NIQ cited by the brand, pickle-flavored spirits grew by 29% last year, and pickle-flavored mixers by 24%. Claussen has been putting itself at the center of the picklepalooza. Last summer, the brand partnered with Baked by Melissa on pickle cupcakes, and with Spritz Society on a pickle-flavored sparkling wine cocktail. The latter started as an April Fools joke before the response convinced the brand to make the product for real. The Just The Brine launch similarly follows Claussen teasing a brine-only offering last October, to an enthusiastic response. After seeing the overwhelming response from fans when we teased the concept last year and all the creative ways people use our brine, we knew we had to make this product a reality, Claussen Brand Manager Caroline Sheehey said in a statement. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 13, 2025 New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced her support for a bill that would broaden the state's consumer protection law by outlawing unfair and abusive business practices. If passed, the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices (FAIR Business Practices Act), sponsored by state Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblymember Micah Lasher, could give state officials new authority to tackle a range of scams, James said. New York's current consumer protection law only prohibits deceptive acts and practices. The proposed law could make it easier for state officials to investigate a host of activity -- including data breaches and certain predatory lending practices, James said. She also said the law could enable state officials to protect consumers from recurring cancellations that are difficult to cancel. advertisement advertisement Former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, who supports the bill, suggested it could also empower New York officials to crack down on data brokers and companies that use illegal dark patterns. Khan elaborated that the proposed law would give New York officials the kinds of tools that the FTC relied on to take on opaque data brokers that quietly track and harvest some of people's most sensitive data -- including what medicines someone is taking or what websites they're visiting online. She added that those tools also enabled the FTC to take on illegal dark patterns -- when firms design their websites or apps in ways that manipulate you into signing up for a product, or making payments that you dind't really agree to. Last year, the FTC passed click to cancel regulations that aim to make it easier for people to terminate recurring subscriptions to newspapers, gyms, retailers and other businesses. The Interactive Advertising Bureau and other business groups are challenging the rules in court, and it's not yet clear whether they will be upheld at the national level. The regulations were passed by a 3-2 vote, with both Republicans on the commission, including current chair Andrew Ferguson, voting no. World Kidney Day: 'Are Your Kidneys OK?' Early detection saves lives. Protect kidney healthact now. Trusted Source World Kidney Day Go to source Trusted Source On #WorldKidneyDay, let's prioritize #kidneyhealth! Regular checkups & a healthy lifestyle are key. #WKD #kidneydiseases #medindia Chronic Kidney Disease: A Silent Public Health Crisis Advertisement Exercising regularly Drinking plenty of fluids Controlling blood sugar levels Limiting salt intake Avoiding tobacco and alcohol World Kidney Day - (https://www.worldkidneyday.org/) On the occasion ofUnion Health Minister JP Nadda emphasized the critical need toObserved annually on March 13, World Kidney Day ) aims to highlight the importance of early detection, preventive measures, and risk factors associated with kidney diseases In a post on social media platform X, Nadda underscored the significance of early detection and prevention, while also highlighting the government's efforts to address the growing burden of kidney diseases in India."As we observe #WorldKidneyDay, it is a crucial time to raise awareness about the importance of kidney health and the need for early detection and prevention of kidney-related diseases," Nadda said.He also shed light on the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP), a transformative initiative launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Through this program, thousands of dialysis centres are now providing life-saving treatment to millions across India," Nadda added.is a progressive condition where the kidneys gradually lose their ability to filter waste and excess fluids from the blood. It has emerged as a significant public health challenge in India, affecting one in 10 adults and causing over 100,000 new cases of kidney failure annually.Despite its prevalence, early detection remains alarmingly low, often leading to severe complications such as hyperkalemia (high potassium levels), which increases the risk of heart failure . The lack of noticeable symptoms in the early stages of CKD contributes to delayed diagnosis and treatment.Recent research published in thejournal reveals an alarming rise in CKD cases across India. The study, analyzing data from 2011 to 2023, found that CKD prevalence among individuals aged 15 and above increased from 11.2 percent (2011-2017) to 16.38 percent (2018-2023). The findings also highlighted a significant rural-urban disparity, with CKD affecting 15.34 percent of the rural population compared to 10.65 percent in urban areas.Kidney health is closely linked to conditions like diabetes and obesity, which are among the leading causes of CKD. As the disease often progresses silently, millions are at risk of severe complications, reduced quality of life , and increased healthcare burdens.The Ministry of Health has urged citizens to prioritize kidney health by adopting simple yet effective lifestyle changes. In an infographic posted on X, the ministry recommended five key steps to maintain healthy kidneys:"Early detection, proactive management, and access to effective treatments are crucial in addressing this growing public health challenge," the ministry stated.Minister Nadda called for a collective effort to spread awareness and ensure kidney health remains a priority for all. "Let us join hands to spread awareness and ensure that kidney health remains a priority for all," he said.As India continues to grapple with the rising burden of kidney diseases, initiatives like the PMNDP and increased public awareness campaigns offer hope in combating this silent epidemic. On World Kidney Day, the message is clear: prevention, early detection, and timely intervention are key to safeguarding kidney health and improving quality of life for millions.Source-Medindia US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that more than 80 percent of the programs sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would be canceled. After a 6-week review, the Trump administration is "officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID," Rubio wrote in a post on the social platform X. He said the 5,200 contracts spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, and in some cases even harmed, the core national interests of the United States. US President Donald Trump said last month that there was "tremendous fraud" in the use of USAID funds at "unprecedented levels of corruption" and demanded that it be shut down. Trump administration is ending nearly all foreign assistance programs operated by USAID. On Feb. 4, the official website of USAID issued a notice that said all directly employed personnel worldwide would be placed on "administrative leave," with a few designated individuals as exceptions. According to previous reports from US media, the Trump administration's goal was to reduce USAID's global workforce from over 10,000 to fewer than 300, a reduction of 97 percent. USAID, an agency of the US government responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance, is a key target for government reform by the Department of Government Efficiency. Some countries have accused the agency of being a US tool to fuel civil unrest. The Traigo48 range features load capacities from 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes Toyota Material Handling Europe has introduced its new Toyota Traigo48 range of electric counterbalanced forklifts. They offer superior performance, unmatched design, and a comprehensive set of features that set a new standard for material handling. With 3 and 4-wheel models available in various sizes, the Traigo48 range is tailored to meet the needs of customers requiring versatility and productivity in applications such as loading, unloading, stacking, and horizontal transport. The Traigo48 range features load capacities from 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes, with lift heights up to 7.5 metres and a maximum speed of up to 20 km/h, offering customers the flexibility they need to tackle a wide variety of tasks in both indoor and outdoor environments. Jose Maria Gener, Vice President Sales at Toyota Material Handling Europe says: "With the launch of our latest electric counterbalanced models, Traigo24 and Traigo80, weve stayed true to one of our core principles: Kaizen, or continuous improvement. "This approach drives us to always go the extra mile to meet our customers' evolving needs and challenges. Our commitment is evident in the next generation of Traigo48 trucks, which combines strength, durability, and with its top-tier performance, its a game changer. "Were delivering a truly unique driving experience, integrating cutting-edge design, exceptional comfort, energy efficiency, and enhanced productivity. The new Traigo48 range is designed to make a real difference in the market." Toyotas Traigo48 range is available with flexible battery options to fit various operational requirements: conventional lead-acid (LAB) batteries and lithium-ion (LIB) batteries. The flexibility to choose between these options allows customers to select the best fit based on their operational needs, ensuring optimal performance and cost efficiency. For those who prioritise ergonomics and fast charging, Toyota Material Handling is launching the brand-new Traigo_i model. The electric counterbalanced Traigo_i stands out with its integrated lithium-ion battery. This design not only offers powerful performance but also features a space-saving configuration for operators, which provides them with extra legroom for more comfort. The exterior design of the Toyota Traigo_i trucks presents a unique but unmistakably Toyota appearance. Inspired by the iconic shape of the katana, the dynamic frame line under the operators seat and the accentuated design of the cabin add to the pristine look. The Traigo_i, specifically designed with lithium-ion batteries, offers an easy access to the charging port integrated into the counterweight allowing for quicker and more efficient opportunity charging. On the standard Traigo48 models equipped with lead-acid battery, the side chassis panel door allows for quick and efficient battery exchange. The new Toyota Traigo48 forklifts range boasts high levels of productivity. SyncoDrive from Toyota offers an important reduction in energy consumption compared to the previous model, ensuring optimal efficiency and enhanced responsiveness. The combination of an IPM (Interior Permanent Magnet) synchronous motor for traction, and advanced controllers for swift load handling operations delivers smooth, reliable performance across tasks like stacking, loading, unloading, and horizontal transport. Further enhancing their efficiency, the 48-volt electric trucks can also be equipped with an optional high-performance motor for lifting, offering an additional boost to productivity. This combination of advanced technology and performance ensures that Toyotas new Traigo48 range will meet the needs of demanding applications, while also reducing energy usage. Thanks to these improvements, the new Traigo48 can achieve up to 18% reduction in energy consumption compared to the previous model. The Toyota Traigo_i model takes the operator experience to the next level, focusing on ergonomics and comfort. With an emphasis on providing a spacious workspace and excellent legroom, the Traigo_i creates an environment that promotes productivity and comfort for drivers, even during long shifts. Due to its unique design, centered around the lithium-ion battery. Magnus Oliveira Andersson, head of Design at Toyota Material Handling Europe states: The symmetry of the design gives the truck functional aesthetics, usability benefits and operational efficiency. "Unmatched design that puts a new perspective on the evolution of Toyota Material Handling Europe's design language and demonstrates its future philosophy. Additionally, as part of the new overall design, the operator compartment on both designed for lithium-ion and standard models has been enhanced with features like a smaller steering wheel, an adjustable steering column and a new armrest with choice of levers. There is also an integrated colour touchscreen display providing an easy man-machine interface. Forward visibility is further enhanced by the updated overhead guard and the new lower dashboard design. The full-floating driver compartment, mounted on four suspended dampers, drastically reduces vibrations, ensuring a smooth, low-noise operation that enhances operator comfort and lessens fatigue. An optional wide visibility glass roof further enhances visibility, allowing operators to have a clearer upward view on the forks and loads, adding to the overall safety. With all these improvements, driving becomes more intuitive and comfortable, greatly enhancing driver ergonomics and efficiency. Discover the difference that unmatched design and cutting-edge performance can make by choosing Toyota Traigo48 range for your efficient material handling operations. The new Traigo48 models will be premiered at this years LogiMAT fair, an International Trade Show for Intralogistics Solutions, held at Stuttgarts Trade Fair Centre from March 11 to 13 in Germany. BEDFORD, Mass. -- Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member who caused an international uproar when he leaked highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, pleaded guilty to military charges of obstructing justice at his court-martial Thursday and called himself a "proud patriot." In a 10-minute address, Teixeira said he was "exposing and correcting the lies that were perpetrated by President Biden and force-fed to the American people" about the war in Ukraine. "I believe the Department of Justice was politicized against President Trump and myself," added Teixeira, who said he acted alone. He called on Trump and members of his administration to reverse his convictions. "If I saved one American, Russian or Ukrainian life in this money-grabbing war, my punishment was worth it," he said. The plea agreement calls for a dishonorable discharge and no jail time. The judge approved the plea agreement, but had not addressed his sentencing yet, which was expected to occur later Thursday afternoon. Teixeira was already sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, following his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years. Military prosecutors said before the court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts that charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice were appropriate given that obeying orders is the "absolute core" of the military. Teixeira's lawyer, Lt. Col. Bradley Poronsky, argued Monday that the obstructing justice charge should either be dismissed or go unpunished, saying it amounts to double jeopardy because it already factored into Teixeira's November sentencing. A plea agreement was accepted by both sides that drops the disobeying orders charge. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, admitting that he used a hammer to destroy a cellphone, a computer hard drive and an iPad after seeing some news reports of the leaked documents. He also admitted to telling his friend to destroy messages exchanged on a communication app. "I was scared about a potential law enforcement investigation into me and my friends," he said in court Thursday. As the sentencing phase began, Teixeira's parents said he took an early interest in the military as a child. His father, also named Jack Teixeira, described him as "a good kid, energetic, intelligent, and quirky." When his son decided to join the military, "I was excited about it," the elder Teixeira said. "It was a good option for Jack." He said it gave him direction and the chance to see the world. "He made a mistake," his mother, Dawn Dufault, said. "Everyone makes mistakes. He's my son, I love him. He deserves a second chance." The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia's war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The leaked documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversary's plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas. Teixeira worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the United States. The U.S. military wants to keep training at Pohakuloa, so it's ready to quickly send troops to Asia and the Pacific. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates A letter U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Iran's supreme leader in an attempt to jump-start talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program has arrived in the Iranian capital. While the text of the letter hasn't been published, its arrival comes as Trump has levied new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign targeting the country. He also suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached. Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has mocked Trump, but officials in his country also have offered conflicting signals over whether negotiations could take place. Here's what to know about the letter, Iran's nuclear program and the overall tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Why did Trump write the letter? Trump dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: Ive written them a letter saying, I hope youre going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, its going to be a terrible thing. Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while simultaneously ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites. A previous letter Trump the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dispatched during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader. But Trumps letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyangs atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S. How has Iran reacted? Iran has offered a series of seemingly contradictory responses. Khamenei himself said he wasn't interested in talks with a bullying government. But Iranian diplomats including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier suggested that talks over guarantees that Tehran wouldn't seek a nuclear weapon could be possible. Araghchi, who took part in negotiations for Irans 2015 nuclear deal, later toughened his tone and said talks couldn't happen under U.S. pressure, following Khamenei's lead. However, Araghchi still met with the Emirati diplomat carrying Trump's letter. Why does Iran's nuclear program worry the West? Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so. Why are relations so bad between Iran and the U.S.? Iran was once one of the U.S.'s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shah's rule. But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Iran's theocratic government. Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah's extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The Tanker War during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner. Iran and the U.S. have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, sparking years of tensions in the Mideast that persist today. If I'd shout one piece of financial advice from the rooftops (or at least casually mention it over a cup of coffee), it would be this: Make a plan, review it annually and update it when life changes. It's simple and effective, but if you ignore it, you might just find yourself wondering, "Why are my finances a train wreck?" Now, I get it: Planning isn't always fun. It's about as exciting as watching paint dry, and it doesn't provide the instant gratification of, say, a shiny new gadget. But here's the thing: Your financial plan is the glue that holds everything together. Without it, your budgeting, saving, investing, tax, insurance protection and retirement planning just float around like a lost sock in the laundry. Step 1: Make a Plan (Yes, You Need One) A financial plan is your road map. It tells you where you are, where you're going and how to get there without running out of gas -- or cash -- along the way. A solid plan covers: Budgeting: Knowing how much comes in and goes out (and, no, "hope" is not a strategy). Saving and investing: Building wealth for short-, mid- and long-term goals. Debt management: Because the only good kind of debt is the one you control. Insurance and risk management: Protecting what you've built. Estate planning: Yes, even if you're not a millionaire, you need a plan for your assets. If you've never put all these pieces together, now's the time. A good plan isn't about making sacrifices. It's about making smart choices that align with your goals. Here are five steps military families can take. Step 2: Review it Annually (No, Once Isn't Enough) You wouldn't drive across the country without occasionally checking your GPS, so why would you set a financial plan and never look at it again? Reviewing your plan once a year -- New Year's, tax season or your birthday (happy financial checkup!) -- ensures that you're still on track. Life changes, and so should your plan. You might get a raise (or face a pay cut), welcome a new family member, buy a house or get stationed somewhere new. If your financial situation changes, your plan should reflect that. Start with this financial action plan and repeat it yearly. Step 3: Update with Life Changes (Because Life Happens) Some life events demand an immediate update: Marriage or divorce: Two incomes (or one income less) changes everything. Having kids: Welcome to 18+ years of financial responsibility. Time to revisit insurance and college savings. PCS or career changes: Moving? New job? Your budget, savings and retirement plans need tweaking. Health issues or major purchases: Unexpected medical costs or big purchases (home, car, boat -- because why not?) mean financial adjustments. Retirement approaching: It's time to shift from saving to building a plan to draw income strategically. Becoming a civilian: Here's how to avoid unexpected costs when doing your first civilian taxes. Why This Is the Most Important Financial Advice (and Why I'm Biased) I've spent three decades helping people manage their finances, and I can tell you this: People with a plan, who regularly review it and adjust when needed, are the ones who build and maintain financial security. It's not about being rich; it's about being in control. A plan doesn't mean you won't face setbacks. But when life happens, you'll have a strategy instead of scrambling. It's like having an emergency kit for your money -- only instead of bandages and flashlights, it's an emergency fund, updated insurance and a clear investment strategy. Want financial peace of mind? Make a plan, review it annually and update it when life changes. It's the simplest, smartest and most effective financial habit you can build. And if you need extra motivation, just imagine your future self thanking you -- preferably from a stress-free, financially secure retirement. Military households: Here's how to start building your emergency fund now. Get the Latest Financial Tips Whether you're trying to balance your budget, build up your credit, select a good life insurance program or are gearing up for a home purchase, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com and get the latest military benefit updates and tips delivered straight to your inbox. Days after bitter talks with his US counterpart Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with no other choice has learned to play Trump's game. "Ukraine expressed its readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire," according to the joint statement released Tuesday after Washington-Kyiv meetings in Saudi Arabia. In return, the US will "immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine." Since the conflict broke out three years ago, Zelenskyy has been repeatedly urging the United States for security guarantees. But in the meantime, Trump is straightforward about his purpose to get the money back for the billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. Washington's resumption of security assistance, unsurprisingly, is well-priced. In Tuesday's joint statement, the US and Ukraine agreed to conclude a rare minerals deal "as soon as possible." As the deal was halted after the Trump-Zelenskyy fiery exchanges last week, the Trump administration has resorted to a different approach as delegations of the two countries meet again in Saudi Arabia this week. Instead of coercing Ukraine to express gratitude to the US with rare minerals like what happened in Oval Office, Trump's team has dangled the carrot this time in Saudi Arabia the resumption of security assistance. Be it the stick or the carrot, the Trump administration is firm in its ultimate purpose: to grab as much as possible from Ukraine. Under the guise of "peace" talks, the Trump administration aims to secure control over Ukraine's resources, thereby consolidating US global dominance. Rare minerals, which are required in aerospace, semiconductors, defense and many other key areas, are what the US has been craving in recent years. Thus Trump has been straining every nerve, from coercion to security assistance, to work out a mineral deal with the Ukrainian government. True, Washington, self-positioning as the "guardian" of world peace and freedom, has been providing military, intelligence, and financial assistance to Ukraine in the past three years. However, these maneuvers are believed to be an attempt to use Ukraine as a tool to strike Russia. Now, with Ukraine retreating one step after another with no sign of victory, Washington wants to get the money back and make the best use of its tool, which explains Trump's eagerness for a rare minerals deal. It is also worth noting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Monday that Ukraine would have to cede "territory" to Russia as part of any peace agreement. If the Trump administration is sincere in its security guarantees to its allies, it will not push Ukraine to make concessions on land. With a collapsing economy and rising death tolls, Ukraine has not much leverage at the table. Zelenskyy has no other choice but to dance to Trump's tune: pause the fighting, sign the mineral deal and accept the current frontlines being frozen on the map. From a "firm ally" for Ukraine to a "neutral mediator" in peace talks, Washington has its selfish political calculations. It is not mediating for "peace" but to maximize its own interests in the conflict. Having reaped colossal profits from arms sales and energy sales to the EU, the US is diverting its attention to mineral resources. In the name of "peace," the US has turned out to be the biggest winner in this conflict, and Ukraine is merely a pawn that can be discarded at any time. (Source: CGTN) The Rockies announced Wednesday that theyve optioned catcher Drew Romo and second baseman Adael Amador. Both players made their MLB debuts last season but will start this year in the minors. Thats more notable for Romo. Colorado called up the former second-round pick last August in tandem with the decision to release veteran Elias Diaz. Romo started 13 games behind the plate. He struggled in his first look at big league pitching. The switch-hitting Romo hit .176 without a home run through 53 plate appearances. Colorado re-signed Jacob Stallings on a $2.5MM free agent deal. The 35-year-old backstop had a nice 2024 season in a part-time role. Stallings hit a career-best .263/.357/.453 with nine homers across 281 plate appearances. His far more modest career numbers suggest hes unlikely to repeat those numbers, but he should provide a steady hand defensively. Stallings is a former Gold Glover who works well with a pitching staff. The Rockies may be reluctant to overwork Stallings, who caught around 600 innings last year. That opens the door for one of Colorados controllable catchers to play their way into semi-regular playing time. Romo and Hunter Goodman are the only other catchers on the 40-man roster. Goodman didnt have an impressive 24 season overall (.190/.228/.417), but he hit five homers in September to provide some positive momentum going into the offseason. If there were an open camp competition to split time with Stallings, Goodman has had the clear advantage. Hes hitting .368 with four walks and three strikeouts in 23 Spring Training plate appearances. Romo had just two hits and a walk while striking out four times in 17 at-bats. Thomas Harding of MLB.com wrote over the weekend that the Rox are prioritizing Goodmans work behind the plate after using him more frequently in the corner outfield last season. The Rockies also have five-year MLB veteran Austin Nola in camp on a minor league deal. Hes hitting .364 in 11 games. The Rox could theoretically opt for a Stallings/Nola tandem, but it seems likelier theyll give the 25-year-old Goodman a longer look. Romo, who hit .297/.339/.499 for Triple-A Albuquerque last year, should continue playing regularly in the minors. Amador, 22 next month, never had much of a shot of breaking camp. He played in 10 MLB games last year while Brendan Rodgers was on the injured list. The Rox surprisingly jumped him directly from Double-A, and he hit .171 over 36 plate appearances. Amador hit .296 this spring, but hes due for his first Triple-A experience. The Rockies brought in Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada on cheap one-year deals to handle second base until Amador is ready for regular MLB playing time. Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson was scratched from Wednesdays lineup due to some back pain, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reported yesterday. Today, manager Terry Francona tells Sheldon that the backstop is headed for an MRI. Hes going to be fine, Francona said yesterday. It just didnt seem to make sense to push something through. While Francona downplayed the severity of the issue yesterday, the fact that Stephenson is going for an MRI today suggests that it perhaps didnt improve as hoped in the past 24 hours or so. Ideally, the MRI will find nothing and Stephenson can be back in the lineup soon, but it will be a situation worth monitoring since the Reds dont have a ton of depth behind the plate. Stephenson and Jose Trevino are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster at the moment. Trevino is an excellent defender but has hit just .236/.275/.362 in his career, production which translates to a wRC+ of 74. Stephenson, on the other hand, isnt well regarded behind the plate but has hit .267/.343/.427 in his career for a 106 wRC+. He is likely to take the bulk of the time at the catching position, though Trevino would have to step up if Stephenson needed to miss any time. That would be an upgrade defensively but a downgrade offensively. The club would also need to figure out who to add to the roster alongside Trevino. Austin Wynns is a veteran who is in camp as a non-roster invitee. His defense is generally ranked as adequate but he has only hit .230/.277/.332 in his 673 big league plate appearances, leading to a 65 wRC+. He played for the Reds a bit last year and they re-signed him to a minor league deal, so they clearly like him as a depth option. The chart will look fairly thin if Stephenson needs time on the injured list, though some other players might shake loose as camps break. Players like Tomas Nido (Tigers), Reese McGuire (Cubs) and Luke Maile (Royals) are currently NRIs with other clubs and might be available as final roster decisions are made in the coming weeks. Though for the Reds, they best-case scenario would just be a healthy Stephenson. This static image shows population change from 2023-24 by county. An interactive version with the data behind each county can be found below in this story. Scott Levin | slevin@mlive.com Michigan saw 55 counties almost 67% of the state increase in population last year, according to new Vintage 2024 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The state had a total net gain of 57,103 residents in 2024 from 10,083,356 in 2023 to 10,140,459, up 0.6%. The Census report uses a baseline estimate from its 2020 decennial report, and then calculates new births and deaths, as well as domestic and international migration, to create annual estimates. The leader in growth from 2023 to 2024 was Lake County, which went up 1.87%. The additional 239 residents pushed its population over 13,000. Oakland County, the second-largest in the state with 1.27 million people, had the highest net increase of residents, jumping 15,502, for a 0.5% increase. It was the only county to grow by more than 9,000 residents. On the other end, 27 counties saw a decline, with Luce County shrinking the most, by 1%. Though its small population of 6,328 means it lost only 61 residents. By net loss, Huron Countys 163-person decrease was the largest in the state, leaving it with a population of 30,780. Iosco County was the only one in the state to show no growth or decline, matching its population of 25,361 for the second consecutive year. Below are the top and bottom 10 counties by percent change in population. Most of Michigans highest-populated counties saw increases over the last year. Each of the top 10 by population increased by at least 0.5%, and every one but two - Genesee and Livingston - exceeded 1,000 new residents. In fact, of the 36 counties with more than 50,000 residents, only five - Saginaw, Bay, Shiawassee, Tuscola and Cass - saw a drop in population, none greater than a 2% dip. Inversely, the four least-populated counties - Luce, Keweenaw, Baraga and Ontonagon, all in the Upper Peninsula - also had the largest percentage declines. Regionally, the western side of Michigan, in particular from Lake to Kent counties, are a cluster of growth. Mason County is the only one in that area to register a drop. The most significant region of loss came from the Upper Peninsula, with 11 of its 15 counties experiencing a year-over-year decline. Luce County saw the largest percent decrease, down 0.95%, while Delta County had the U.P.s largest net decline in residents, with 159 fewer than 2023. Thats a reversal of trend for the U.P., which from 2020 to 2023 had increases in all but five of its counties. Now, only Houghton, Marquette and Schoolcraft counties have continued that trend of growth from the previous 3 years. Related: From 2020-23, Michigans population headed north Adjacent to the U.P., the three counties that top Lower Michigan - Emmet, Cheboygan and Presque Isle - also registered a drop in population, as did nearby Leelanau. The top of the Thumb also are a cluster of loss. Below is a searchable database of all 83 counties, their change in population since 2023 and the trend since 2020. An anonymous Yooper shared this photograph from March 6 with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, where scientists confirmed it is a cougar cub. Michigan Department of Natural Resources ONTONAGON COUNTY, MI Michigan wildlife biologists confirmed a pair of endangered cougar cubs were spotted and photographed last week in the far reaches of the western Upper Peninsula. Scientists confirmed on Wednesday that a pair of wild cat cubs spotted on March 6 by a couple of Yooper motorists in Ontonagon County were cougars, approximately 7 to 9 weeks old. Officials said this is the first time cougar cubs have been verified in the state since the big cats were hunted out of existence in Michigan in the early 1900s. The cubs were not seen in the presence of their mother, but biologists said she wouldnt have been far away because cubs at that age are highly dependent on their mothers. The hope is all three since reunited, said Brian Roell, wildlife biologist and Michigans large carnivore specialist. It is pretty exciting, he said, since this could be the first known cougar reproduction in modern times in the western Great Lakes states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin. Related: Wild cougar caught with prey in rare U.P. trail camera footage Were just reminding folks that cougars are an endangered species in Michigan, so it is illegal to harass them and obviously you cant hunt them. But at this point, were not releasing any more information on location or anything, just to protect her and those cubs, Roell said. He said the cubs were spotted by a local man driving in Ontonagon County. Saw the two young kittens running down the road and stopped, and one of them ran under his truck, Roell said. He thought they were bobcat kittens, and so he took some pictures of them, and someone else actually stopped, and they both talked about them, like, Oh, neat kittens. And then they went along their day, not thinking anything of it. An Upper Peninsula resident spotted a pair of big cat cubs on March 6 in Ontonagon County, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Michigan Department of Natural Resources The cubs have not been spotted again since March 6. Roell underscored that this evidence of cougar reproduction doesnt equate with a breeding population. Biologists can only assume the cubs were born in Michigan, but not necessarily bred here. The birth was obviously in Michigan, because she didnt carry them here from some other state, Roell said. He said that until now all 130-plus documented cougar sightings in Michigan since 2008 have been male cats and presumed to be transient animals from the Dakotas migrating through the Great Lakes region. Were using a little bit of caution about ... saying we now have a population of them. Weve documented reproduction. Potentially the animal bred here, but we dont even know that, Roell said. DNR scientists consulted with wildlife biologists from western states to both confirm the species and estimate an age of the cubs from the photographs. There are not very many states where you can go have the potential to see a wolf, a moose, and a cougar, and so that really should be celebrated for Michigan, that we have the habitat that we do have, Roell said. A Yooper photographed what he thought were bobcat kittens on March 6, but state biologists confirmed they were cougar cubs. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Sandhill cranes at Kensington Metropark near Milford, Mich., Aug. 4, 2022. Cranes at the park are acclimated to humans and will approach vehicles looking for food. (Garret Ellison | MLive) They arent the flashiest of birds, but they are harbingers of spring in Michigan. Keep your eyes and ears open for red-winged blackbirds, sandhill cranes, Canada geese and turkey vultures. These early migrants are already making their appearance after spending the cold winter months in warmer climates. Spring is a great time for birding in Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Our early migrants are back and settling in to woo a mate and raise a family. These may not be rare and exciting birds at first glance, but their comfort in living around people gives us an opportunity to watch them as they go about their day. A red-winged blackbird calls to other birds in Holland, Michigan on Saturday, May 9, 2020. Joel Bissell Red-winged blackbird This boldly colored species boldly returns to Michigan in mid- to late February. By mid-March red-winged blackbirds can be seen and heard, calling out from trees and cattails at local wetlands, across most of the state. The males are recognizable by their glossy black coloring and bright orange-red shoulder patches. Females resemble larger, spotty-brown sparrows. Find them congregating near ponds, marshes and wetlands, or soggy spots along roadsides. RELATED: Have you heard it? Bird thats a sure sign of spring is singing in Michigan right now A sandhill cranes flies on Beaver Island on July 17, 2023. (Neil Blake | MLive.com) Neil Blake | MLive.com Sandhill crane In early spring, sandhill cranes migrate to their breeding grounds, according to the DNR. Birders might catch a glimpse of their dance or hear their distinctive call. These cranes are identifiable by their red crown and gray feathers dappled with tan. They are tall with long necks and legs. Find them in Michigans marshlands. A Canada Goose rests near the water at the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary in Kalamazoo County on Monday, April 15, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com Canada goose The large, black-necked Canada goose with its signature white chinstrap mark is a familiar sight across Michigan. These birds make a mass exodus of the state as cold weather sets in and then are among the first to return in springtime. They prefer marshes but can also be spotted in parks, fields and even your backyard, especially if theres water nearby. They are often seen in pairs. A turkey vultures circles overhead on May 3, 2022. Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advance Turkey vulture This raptor is often spotted while driving as it soars overhead with its wings raised in a V, making circles. They use their keen sense of smell - among the best for birds - to find fresh carcasses, which is often roadkill. Identify turkey vultures by their black body, gray flight feathers and naked, red head. A least sandpiper is seen in this photo from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Peak migration Peak migration hits Michigan in May. These birds wintered farther south than their early migrant counterparts. When the time comes, look for colorful warblers, flocks of dappled sandpipers, and the return of puddle ducks. According to the bird migration forecast from Cornell Lab or Ornithology, migration will peak in the Lower Peninsula from May 6-9, and in the Upper Peninsula from May 9-12. RELATED: Get a birdwatching boost with bird texts Michigan is a birdwatching wonderland in all four seasons; check out each season here. The state is home to 11 designated birding trails, 19 Enhanced Grouse Management Sites and 14 Wetland Wonders all great places for birding. The DNR offers weekly updates on what birds are on the move in and the best state parks to see them. Register by texting BIRD to 80888 or sign up online here. Elon Musk flashes his t-shirt that reads "DOGE" to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) AP WASHINGTON -- Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made its weekly update to the agencys Wall of Receipts. Most of the savings center around grants and contracts that have been cancelled involving government agencies like the Department of Agriculture, USAID and the Department of Health and Human Services. Related story: Michigan tribes losing key federal agency office to Trump cuts On the real estate side, DOGEs latest cuts appear to largely target the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Mine Safety Health Administration. As has been the case with previous DOGE savings the website does not offer much detail into what is exactly being cut or how the agency arrived at the claimed savings amount. DOGE terminated leases for the National Parks Service at multiple locations, including in Charles Town, West Virginia and in Moab, Utah. DOGE claims those terminations will save the government $9.3 million and $7.9 million respectively. Again, DOGE did not provide details on how it calculated those figures. In Michigan, the list of leases that have been or expect to be terminated remains unchanged. The following seven locations remain on the DOGE website: Baraga -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs. A 1,200 square-foot facility. The annual lease was $14,400. The cut offers no actual savings as there were no future lease obligations. Detroit -- Agricultural marketing services. An 856 square-foot facility. The yearly lease is worth $17,120 and the cancellation will save $72,760 total. Grand Rapids -- Departmental management (IG). A 2,145 square-foot facility. Cancelling the lease will save $51,742 yearly and $202,657 total. Marquette -- Internal Revenue Service national office. A 3,122 square-foot facility. $53,343 will be saved in the closure. Okemos -- The Social Security Administration building with an annual lease cost of $108,966. The cut offers no actual savings as there were no future lease obligations. Sault Ste. Marie -- Indian Health Service. An 1,100 square-foot facility. Cancelling the lease will save $34,375 yearly and $85,937 total. Traverse City -- Indian Health Service. A 798 square-foot facility. The cut will save $28,638 yearly and $50,117 total. DOGE was created through an executive order signed in January by President Donald Trump and is tasked with modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. During a speech before Congress last week, Trump praised Musk for his efforts with DOGE and acknowledged the tech billionaire as the head of the agency. I have created the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps youve heard of it, which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight, Trump said. In an interview with Fox News this week, Musk said DOGE employees are in nearly every government department and could double its staff over the next year. The U.S. Coast Guard used a helicopter similar to the one above to rescue a man who fell while sky surfing and broke through the ice in a Livingston County Lake on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. The man later died. (MLive file photo /Justin Lofton) Grand Rapids Press/Justin Lofton LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MI A man who was sky surfing above Lake Chemung died Wednesday, March 12, after he fell through the ice. Emergency responders were called to the lake near Howell at around 2 p.m. Wednesday, after the man went through the ice, CBS News Detroit reports. LENOX, MI A prisoner has pleaded no contest to murder in the strangling and stabbing death of his cellmate, authorities announced. Ruben Martinez, was found hogtied, strangled and stabbed to death underneath his bunk on Oct. 18, 2022, at a state correctional facility. Michael Ketchum, 47, a prisoner at Macomb County Correctional Facility in Lenox, is charged with first-degree murder, a felony punishable by life in prison without parole, according to the Macomb County Prosecutors Office. He pleaded no contest. Other charges will be dropped. On Oct. 18, 2022, Ketchum went to breakfast and stabbed another inmate multiple times, officials said. Officers then went to his cell and discovered Martinezs body. Ketchum was also charged with assault with intent to murder, a life felony; and prisoner in possession of a weapon, a five-year felony, the release said. Those charges will be dismissed at sentencing because the second victim didnt cooperate with the investigation. By pleading no contest to first-degree murder, the defendant has taken responsibility for his actions, ensuring justice for the victims family and his loved ones, said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. This guarantees that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Ketchum is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 8:30 am by Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn Viviano. While a no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, it is treated as such at sentencing. Sarah Kresnak, a Kentwood Public Schools elementary teacher, has been selected as one of the state of Michigans 10 Regional Teachers of the Year for 2025-26. Courtesy of Michigan Department of Education GRAND RAPIDS, MI Kentwood elementary teacher Sarah Kresnak said shes motivated every day by an opportunity to watch her first-grade students learn to read. In her 20th year as an educator, she teaches at Discovery Elementary School, part of the Kentwood Public Schools district. Kresnak has spent the entirety of her education career with Kentwood Public Schools, starting as a Michigan State University intern at the districts Challenger Elementary. Shes taught full time with the district since 2005. She said seeing her hard work pay off has been incredibly fulfilling. For the 2025-26 school year, Kresnak was selected as one of the Michigans 10 Regional Teachers of the Year. But the biggest reward, she said, is getting to work with her students every day. Im here every day because of them, she said. They make it the best job. The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced the regional honorees in late February for the year 2025-26. Kresnak was named Teacher of the Year for Region 3, which includes an area of West Michigan that encompasses 13 counties, from Mason, Lake and Osceola counties in the north to Allegan and Barry counties in southwest Michigan. The competitive application process began with student, staff and community member nominations. They are finalists to be Michigans Teacher of the Year. Kresnak is one of 693 teachers in the Kentwood Public Schools serving the districts 9,639 students as of the 2024-25 school year. RELATED: This school district has the highest graduation rate in the Grand Rapids area Together, the regional teachers make up the Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council, working with MDE to provide education policy input and taking back information to their regions. The Regional Teachers of the Year are selected from among Michigans many outstanding educators who play such an important role in student learning, State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a statement. Regional Teachers of the Year also elevate the voices of teachers by sharing their experiences and valuable insight with our department and the State Board of Education. Kresnak said the experience that brings her the most joy is teaching her first-graders how to read. They come in just starting to know how to read, she said. I feel incredibly fortunate that I get the opportunity to see all the lightbulbs pop on at different times. The coolest part is that it breeds excitement. One child will get it, and there will be this domino effect of excitement for other friends as they understand it. The biggest challenge throughout this process is helping reluctant students find the motivation to learn to read, she said. We have a lot of mottos that I use to motivate kids who might take a little longer, like everyone reads at different speeds or fast doesnt always mean great. Kresnak said finding silly things to help students, like printing off pictures of celebrities and adding speech bubbles to their faces, is a fun part of her job that also makes a difference. One of the biggest lessons shes learned in teaching is to look at student behavior as communication. Really getting to know students is important to understand them and their needs. Kentwood Superintendent Kevin Polston said the district is proud of Kresnaks accomplishment as Region 3 Teacher of the Year. This honor reflects the everyday excellence she exudes in her classroom by fostering meaningful relationships with students and families and delivering rigorous learning experiences to help our students achieve at the highest levels, he said. Additionally, her innate belief in the potential of our kids sets her apart. We couldnt be more delighted for Sarah, Discovery Elementary School, and the entire Kentwood community as we celebrate this well-deserved recognition, Polston added. Kresnak said working at Kentwood is a unique and valuable experience because the district has such a diverse student population, and its really incredible to see all of the diversity and the value that each family brings to our school and to our classroom community. Regional Teachers of the Year go on to interview with a panel of statewide education stakeholders before one person is selected for the 2025-26 Michigan Teacher of the Year. The selected teacher has a non-voting seat on the states Board of Education, also representing the state across the country and becoming a candidate for National Teacher of the Year. Kresnak said her goal with this larger platform is to shine a light on district achievements and try to involve the community more in elementary programming. Other Regional Teachers of the Year include: Region 1: Susan Solomon, an elementary teacher at JKL Bahweting Anishnabe Public School Academy in Sault Ste. Marie. Region 2: Thomas Schultz, a science teacher at Charlevoix Middle/High School in Charlevoix Public Schools. Region 4: Heather Wolf, a social studies teacher at Shepherd High School in Shepherd Public Schools. Region 5: Corey Rosser, a social studies teacher at Quest High School in North Branch Area Schools. Region 6: Becky Manore, a Spanish teacher at Grand Ledge High School in Grand Ledge Public Schools. Region 7: Lindsey Cook, an elementary teacher at Sonoma Elementary School in Harper Creek Community Schools. Related : Manchester educator one of 10 Michigan Regional Teachers of the Year Region 8: Deidra LaPointe, an elementary teacher at Luther C. Klager Elementary School in Manchester Community Schools. Region 9: Stephanie Jaskolski, an English language arts teacher at Woodhaven Upper Elementary in Woodhaven-Brownstown School District. Region 10: Susan Kelsey-Brewton, a science teacher at Hope Academy in Detroit. If you would like more reporting like this delivered free to your inbox, signup for our weekly newsletter: Michigan Schools. The former Kent Community Hospital, located at 750 Fuller Ave., is being considered for potential renovation as Kent County looks for a new space for its administration building. Kent County GRAND RAPIDS, MI Kent County is considering moving most of its administrative services into a six-story former hospital building off I-196 in Grand Rapids, in an effort to make its services more conveniently accessible for residents. The Kent County Board of Commissioners toured the former Kent Community Hospital, located at 750 Fuller Ave. on the countys Fuller Avenue campus, on Thursday, Feb. 27, to get a sense of what the space currently looks like and what renovations would be needed to turn it into an administrative building. The county is also weighing the possibility of tearing down the hospital and constructing a brand new administration building on the Fuller campus. However, commissioners want to see if the existing vacant building can be repurposed in a cost-effective way, since it provides many of the features the county is looking for, said Tim Bradshaw, Kent Countys facilities director. No decision has been made yet on whether to build new or renovate, but Bradshaw said hes hoping to be able to provide the board with an apples to apples comparison of the two options by June so commissioners can compare both options. The county has hired Progressive Companies to develop schematic designs for the hospital renovation, which will provide more detailed cost estimates and conceptual plans for the building. Heres what to know so far about the countys proposed move. How much would each option cost? Remodeling the former hospital into a new administration building could cost anywhere from $93 million to $108 million, Bradshaw said. The six-story, 162,000-square-foot former hospital building would essentially have to be gutted out if the county were to repurpose it. Alternatively, the cost of constructing a new administration building on the Fuller Avenue campus is estimated to be around $92 million. However, Bradshaw noted the new building is still only about 40% through the design process, so it would be reasonable to expect the building could cost anywhere from $83 million to $97 million. County leaders have not yet requested bids on the potential demolition of the hospital, but Bradshaw said hes hoping that would cost around $5 million. Although the overall cost of the hospital renovation is higher, Bradshaw pointed out that it is more cost-effective on a per-square-foot basis because the hospital building is larger. Why is the county looking to relocate some services? The countys administrative services are currently located in the three-story, 66,000-square-foot Kent County Administration Building downtown, next to Grand Rapids City Hall and Calder Plaza. The building at 300 Monroe Ave. was built in the 1960s and shares a public parking garage and a front lobby with Grand Rapids City Hall. County officials began discussing moving some services out of downtown after a 2023 space needs assessment found that the current administration building lacks convenient access and parking and has a confusing layout, all of which inconveniences residents seeking services at the building. The study recommended moving the administration building to the countys Fuller campus to provide free parking for customers, improved building layout and easy highway access. RELATED: Kent County plans to move 280 employees out of downtown Grand Rapids Initially, the plan was to build a new administration building on the Fuller campus. Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Fishbeck was retained to come up with the conceptual designs for the new space, which was proposed to be approximately 130,000 square feet. However, as the county worked through the design process, staff started looking into the idea of repurposing the hospital into an administration building. Progressive Companies was hired in the fall to provide conceptual renderings and estimates, and initial concept designs were presented to the board in January. Some of the benefits of renovating the hospital includes the environmental benefits of repurposing the concrete, and saving some money from not having to demolish the hospital building as previously planned, Bradshaw said. The building was previously home to Kent Community Hospital and was later leased by Corewell Health. Corewell moved out last fall to build its own facilities, and the building has sat unoccupied since then. Bradshaw said the board has not set a deadline by which theyd like to have a decision made about building new or repurposing the former hospital. They (the commissioners) recognize that whichever options we choose, you know, hopefully were going to be in that building for the next 50 to 100 years, he said. And while going slow is sometimes painful, these are really important decisions that were making, and we need to make sure that were vetting all options well and continuing to provide good fiscal responsibility to all of our constituents. What county services are going to be relocated? The county plans to move 187 of its staff to the new administration building, regardless of whether its a new construction or a repurposed facility. For residents, that means services from the county clerk, treasurer, register of deeds and equalization will be moved out of downtown to the Fuller campus. The Kent County Board of Commissioners would also meet at the new administration building. The new building would also house staff from county administration, human resources, veteran services, fiscal services, purchasing and information technology. What would happen to the current administration building? The building at 300 Monroe Ave. would be refitted and modernized after staff move to the Fuller campus. Once completed, around 244 employees from the countys 82 Ionia Ave. building will move into the updated 300 Monroe space. This will include staff from the Circuit Court Probation, Friend of the Court and the prosecutors office. This would leave 82 Ionia vacant, and the county intends to sell the building as the final step. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter. The Beatrice Mary Family YMCA opened the long-awaited new facilities in February. Executive director Alison Leonard said the new pool area is warm water. The temperature is around 90 to 91 degrees, she said. Its really great for individuals that have arthritis. Weve been offering a few aqua exercise classes a week. We have also been partnering with Beatrice Public Schools with individuals with special needs. The ramp allows us to roll chairs into the pool and the water is a little more shallow. Swim lessons have all moved to the new pool area. The warmer and shallow water have been more conducive to the younger children just learning to swim. The indoor splash pad is also located in the new area. The kids like to run around in there after swim lessons and its been great during the cool days for family swim times. The kids can play in the splash pad and the parents can sit in the hot tub if they want, she said. On the east wall in the cool-water pool (82 degrees) is a cold-water plunge. It is set at 42 degrees with space for three to four people. Two saunas are also in the pool area. Leonard said the project took a lot longer than it was supposed to with about two years of construction for the addition. There was a part that there was trouble shipping and there was bad weather. One area was held up depending on the completion of another area. It was probably close to two years. We did the capital campaign and the amazing thing is that we will actually walk away with some extra funds for future projects. Its really nice to not have debt lingering, she said. She said the membership is at the 4,100, which has increased since the renovation. People from a 45-mile radius travel to Beatrice to use the facilities at the YMCA. Approximately 75 people are employed, with six of them full time. Many of the employees are youths. Sometimes we forget that those first jobs are the beginning of leadership and taking on responsibilities. The majority of our employees are 20 and younger, she said. There are approximately 60 opportunities to participate in exercise classes, yoga and others for a variety of interests. A new class will be offered in the next month focusing on mind, body and spirit in the new pool area. It will be meditation in a warm, comfortable space with wave boards focusing on connecting the mind, body and spirit, she said. Leonard noted they recently opened the shed for exercise classes. It is kind of where fitness is moving to the indoor and outdoor spaces. There have already been classes on the deck. There is also a new machine for cross training in the area, she said. She said the best part of the new area is that they are able to meet the needs of everyone. We knew the current pool wasnt ideal for swim lessons or for those that have arthritis and joint pain. We knew we wanted to create a space for families to enjoy together. The indoor splash pad is the only one in a two-hour radius. The overall space is more accessible and conducive to all individuals we want to serve at the YMCA, she said. Leonard said she is proud of the YMCA being available to anyone and everyone. Anyone, regardless of where they are financially, can be part of the same thing and feel welcome is really important to me. There is no reason someone cannot be a member, she said. Hours for YMCA is posted at www.beatriceymca.org with 24-hour access to the Wellness Center upstairs. AbdelAziz Abu Shaaban stands in the hallway of the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons in Kalamazoo. Aya Miller KALAMAZOO, MI -- AbdelAziz Abu Shaabans life changed forever when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Shaaban, a graduate of Western Michigan University, was living in Gaza City with his wife, son and two daughters when the ongoing war in Gaza began. Shaaban was born in Saudi Arabia and grew up in Gaza. Now 47 years old, Shaaban said hes lived through four wars. The Egyptian and Israeli governments have been jockeying for control over the territory, home to Palestinians, for decades. But this latest conflict has left permanent scars on Shaaban and his family. Shaabans 15-year-old daughter, Jude, was killed in their family home while the family hid from air raids. The rest of his family suffered various injuries. Looking back, Shaaban never expected his home would be a target. Shaaban wants to spread awareness about the conditions in Gaza and advocate for other children, like his daughter, who have been killed in the war. I dont forget her, because shes part of my life, Shaaban said. Shaaban will be speaking at an event hosted at WMUs Lee Honors College from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 13 to share his experiences with the war and evacuating to the U.S. The event is open to the public. Growing up in Gaza Growing up in Gaza City was beautiful, Shaaban said. But he had to adjust to the constant shift in what powers controlled the region. Gaza is a strip of land on the Mediterranean Sea bordered by Egypt and Israel. Israeli troops withdrew from the territory in 2005, but still controlled the flow of goods and the movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza, according to the BBC. Shaaban said Israeli officials would come into his family home and humiliate them. When Shaaban was a child, Israeli officials broke in and demanded his father show identification proving he was a citizen, Shaaban said. Israeli officials also didnt respect their cultural values and treated Palestinians as if they were criminals, Shaaban said. They were dealing with Palestinians as if they are not human, Shaaban said. Shaaban also faced barriers growing up as a blind man in Gaza, he said, as hes been blind since age 8. There was an expectation blind individuals would study religion, but Shaaban pursued a degree in English and English literature instead. He made the decision not only to be in rebellion, but also to to discover how blind people live in other cultures. Shaaban received his bachelors degree from the Islamic University in Gaza and taught visually impaired students in Gaza City. Then he received a scholarship to get his graduate degree in education studies at WMU. In the interview, I told them that I will be the voice of the blind, the voice of the disabled in America, Shaaban said. I need to take that knowledge, the experience in the U.S., and try to transfer it in Gaza City. While studying at WMU, roughly 20 years ago, Shaabans wife gave birth to a son. When Shaaban finished his degree, he moved back to Gaza and had two more daughters. While Israel controlled the borders, Gaza was not a good place to live, Shaaban said. There were routine shortages of electricity and a lack of job opportunities, Shaaban said. But after Oct. 7, things went very bad. Electricity, water, medical supplies and other goods were cut off to the region. A city under siege For six days, Shaaban hosted his sister and friends at his Gaza City home until they were told to evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Shaaban couldnt find a shelter for he and his family, so they slept in a school. Shaaban learned his family could potentially flee to the United States because his son was a U.S. citizen. They traveled toward a checkpoint in Raffah, a city bordering Egypt. But the checkpoint never opened, so they returned home. After three days of sheltering at home, a nearby field was hit by an Israeli airstrike. My daughter was standing in front of her mom and she was killed by the shrapnel, Shaaban said. Shaaban was hugging his other daughter, and they were both hit by shrapnel, too. His son and wife sustained less severe injuries. After the blast, they waited two hours for an ambulance. First responders had to wait for the airstrikes to end, Shaaban said. One of Shaabans neighbors tried to help his family stop the bleeding in the meantime. By the time they arrived at the hospital, Shaaban realized his daughter was dead. I asked about my daughter and the ambulance person told me she was killed, Shaaban said. I didnt want to believe him. Shaaban and his family were taken to Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. But the hospital didnt have capacity for everyone seeking treatment. Shaaban waited hours on a stretcher without a mattress or pillow and only a water bottle to rest his head on, he said. After two days there, airstrikes began near the hospital and Shaabans family evacuated again. The Israeli military raided Al-Shifa hospital in November 2023 and April 2024, according to Aljazeera. At another hospital, Shaaban underwent surgery on his arm. Skin was taken from his leg to graft onto his arm, but additional surgeries were needed beyond what the hospitals doctors could do. If Shaabans family could make it back to Raffah, the American Embassy could fly them to the U.S. It was very dangerous because the Israeli army was already in the place and we had to walk, Shaaban said. As they made their way, Shaaban said he couldnt sleep from the pain in his leg. Now, two years later, Shaabans family lives in Flint. His son is taking classes at Mott Community College and his wife is learning English. But Shaaban is still struggling to find work as a translator or teacher to support his family in the United States. Shaaban holds back tears when he talks about his daughter, killed in the war. He used to sing to her in Arabic, Hey Jude, how is your health?" She would repeat the song back to him. She was dreaming to be something important, and she was killed, Shaaban said. As of January 2025, more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The death toll is 10 times higher than any other conflict in Gazas history, according to Reuters calculations. Though Hamas and Israel have reached a tentative ceasefire, Palestinians have paid the price, Shaaban said. Stores and homes are destroyed and thousands of Palestinians are dead. We, as people, are the losers, Shaaban said. Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter. SAGINAW, MI The first openly-gay member of the Saginaw City Council said he plans to file for temporary residency status in Mexico. The decision came after he saw images of a President Donald Trump social media post featuring a symbol associated with gay men imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Councilman Bill Ostash said he plans in the coming weeks to visit a Mexico consulate in Detroit to apply for the temporary residency status in Puerto Vallarta, a Pacific coast city about 200 miles west of Guadalajara. Ostash said, if he were to leave the U.S., he would flee with his husband, Kevin Rooker, a Saginaw Public Schools Board of Education member. Im not saying Im going anywhere, Ostash said, but if something were to happen and we needed to flee, were gone until we can come back safely. Ostash said he would choose Puerto Vallarta which he has visited because of its reputation as a gay-friendly community. The councilman said his fears about living in the U.S. stem from a screenshot image circulating on social media that shows a Sunday, March 9, post shared on Trumps Truth Social account. The shared post links to a Washington Times opinion piece that posited the Trump-led military was serious and prepared to fight in part because the administrations military recruitment efforts did not focus on attracting LGBTQ+ members. Ostash was less concerned about the opinion piece. The councilman said he was most disturbed by the image featured in the article: an illustration of a crossed-out pink triangle. Although later reclaimed as a symbol of gay pride, the pink triangles origins began in World War II-era concentration camps, where prisoners wore pink triangle-shaped badges after Nazi authorities identified them as gay or transgender. Ostash said he interpreted the crossed-out pink triangle as a warning directed at the LGBTQ+ community familiar with the symbols dark, oppressive history. Dont ever say it cant happen, Ostash wrote in a social media post earlier this week. The Jews thought the same thing and they too voted for Hitler. Trump has not addressed the post publicly. Ostash said the Truth Social post was circulated widely enough to alarm members of the LGBTQ+ community across the U.S. Several LGBTQ+-focused media outlets have covered the issue, including Out Smart Magazine, which called the pink triangle imagery a dangerous dog whistle. Ostash said he has a hard time imagining the circumstances that could lead him and Rooker to flee the U.S. for Mexico. Fear of imprisonment would trigger such action, he said. There would have to be something in the news (that would make us) worry we would be arrested or we would be put in a camp, Ostash said. The image of the Truth Social post wasnt the first concerning sign for Ostash, he said. The councilman said Trumps posture toward the LGBTQ+ community has been alarming particularly toward individuals who identify as transgender since the presidential campaign season. Theres a fear, Ostash said, describing the LGBTQ+ community watching Trump and his administration pursue policies that would impact transgender individuals' rights. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order that called on the federal government to define sex as only male or female. Under the order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and rape victims were to be segregated by sex as defined by the order. Also in January, Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19. Last month, a memo sent to Defense Department leaders ordered the services to set up procedures to identify troops diagnosed with or being treated for gender dysphoria by March 26. They will then have 30 days to begin removing those troops from service. That order expanded on an earlier executive order signed by Trump that established steps toward banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The directive has been challenged in court. Also in February, references to transgender people were removed from a National Park Service website for the Stonewall National Monument, a park and visitor center in New York commemorating a 1969 riot that became a pivotal moment for the LGBTQ+ rights movement. For the government to decide theyre going to change that, no; thats ours, Ostash said, referring to the LGBTQ+ community. We own that. Ostash said he grew especially alarmed by Trumps position on LGBTQ+ issues when the Republican candidate during presidential campaign rallies last year regularly denounced the advancement of transgender rights. Its, like, just let them live their lives, Ostash said. My mother raised me on the golden rule: treat others like you want to be treated. Saginaw voters first elected Ostash to the Saginaw City Council in 2018, making him the first openly-gay candidate to win office on the citys nine-member, nonpartisan governing body. After he lost a reelection bid in 2022, the council appointed him weeks later to a vacant seat on the board. Ostash last November won his latest reelection attempt. The councilman was politically active in other ways during the 2024 election season. Last March one year ago this week then-President Joe Biden campaigned in Saginaw County. One of the then-Democratic presidential candidates two stops included a visit to a 131-year-old Victorian mansion owned by Ostash and Rooker. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Want more Bay City- and Saginaw-area news? Bookmark the local Bay City and Saginaw news page or sign up for the free 3@3 daily newsletter for Bay City and Saginaw. The cost of beer is expected to rise due to the U.S. trade war with Canada, which exports aluminum widely used to make beer cans at American breweries. (N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse.com) N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse.com KALAMAZOO, MI Chris ONeil has never raised the cost of his beer sold in stores before, but hes considering that now amid the new U.S. trade war with Canada, which supplies critical beer-making and packaging materials like aluminum and barley. Weve had conversations with our distributors on raising the costs we charge, said ONeil, whose popular Kalamazoo microbrewery, One Well Brewing, distributes in Michigan, Ohio, New York and Puerto Rico. The current weather pattern and the extended look at the pattern says severe thunderstorm outbreaks are now possible in our Great Lakes region as we head through March and April. There isnt an imminent widespread severe weather outbreak coming to Michigan in the next few days. However, tomorrow will likely have a large severe weather outbreak with tornadoes just southwest of Michigan in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. That area of severe thunderstorms may move into southwest Lower Michigan as it weakens Friday night. The official severe weather forecast has just the very southwest corner of Michigan in the severe weather chance late Friday. Overall severe weather risk forecast for 7 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 14-15, 2025. NOAA The tornado forecast for Friday highlights a large area just southwest of Michigan. The black hatched area is due to the strong nature of the storm and means strong tornadoes are possible. Tornado risk forecast for 7 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 14-15, 2025. NOAA Its this same type of storm system that looks to occur about every five days here in the Great Lakes. Extended data shows four large spring storm systems rolling across Michigan in these last two weeks of March. Here is that forecast showing the four storm systems. Surface forecast from Friday, March 14 to Friday, March 28 showing four large, mature storms that could produce severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. NOAA Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are not a sure bet in Michigan over the next month, but is a pattern that has the energy for large-scale severe weather here. Fortunately for us in Michigan severe weather usually has a small window of time in the late afternoon and evening to occur. Most Michigan severe weather weakens just after dark- but not always. As we go into April these storm systems will track farther north, putting Michigan squarely into the severe thunderstorm zone of a weather system. Of course we will try to alert you a few days in advance of potentially widespread severe thunderstorms here in Michigan. You can always stay updated on Michigans changeable weather at MLive.com/weather. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris will wade into the legal tangle surrounding Yellowstone National Parks bison management on April 7, considering more than a dozen issues during a 1:30 p.m. hearing in Helenas Paul Hatfield Federal Courthouse. News of the hearing comes as the parks wild bison are once again being captured by the National Park Service and shipped to slaughter or entered into a quarantine program for live transfer to tribes. Once processed, the bison meat is distributed to the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes under what the park now calls its food distribution program. Under the park's winter operation plan, it was proposed 1,375 animals needed to be removed from the park to meet its population goals. Out of this number, there is room for 100 to be entered into quarantine. Yellowstone lawsuit refresher Judge Morris has several issues before him. Heres a refresher of whats happened since the end of last year. Thats when the state of Montana filed a lawsuit against the outgoing Biden administration challenging the parks 2024 bison plan that authorizes the culling and quarantine thats currently being conducted. The state wants the park to limit the bison herd to no more than 3,000 animals, and claims Yellowstone ignored Montana in its planning process. Gov. Greg Gianforte has threatened to remove tolerance zones outside the park where bison are allowed to roam and tribal hunters take aim at the large mammals. The Park Services new plan, finalized last summer, calls for a bison population ranging between 3,500 to 6,000 animals after calving an average population of around 5,000 animals. To stay within that range, the Park Service plan utilizes shipment to slaughter, quarantine of bison that test negative for the disease brucellosis for possible transfer to tribes, and tribal hunting outside the park. The agency has previously stated Montana had ample time to comment on the new plan. The state said the plan was developed too quickly. Law firm, Sierra Club intervene Throwing a wrench into the states lawsuit is the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center and the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club. In February, the Bozeman-based law firm of free-thinking rabble rousers, led by John Meyer, asked the court to reopen a 2018 bison lawsuit the firm filed and to impose the order issued in 2020 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Under the order, the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Custer Gallatin National Forest were told to analyze enforcement of Montanas admittedly arbitrary political boundary constraining bison movement outside of Yellowstone in light of the new science and information regarding transmission of brucellosis, Cottonwood stated in its brief. Today, elk are allowed to migrate freely on federal public land and have been found to transmit brucellosis to cattle all over Montana in areas where bison are not allowed to travel, the groups noted. Requiring APHIS and the Forest Service to prepare supplemental analyses could sideline the states lawsuit until those actions are completed. Whether the state or Cottonwood prevail in court, the Park Service may need to write a new plan. The difference being Cottonwood wants more bison on the landscape outside the park to facilitate hunting. The law firm is also seeking to lessen quarantine timeframes so transfers of disease-free live bison to tribes could be conducted more frequently. On this argument, Cottonwood points to a 2023 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association that the quarantine time could be reduced from more than 900 days to 300 days with little risk of missing a bison that had been exposed to the disease brucellosis. State, feds counterpunch The state of Montana including Gov. Greg Gianforte, the Department of Livestock and Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks want Cottonwood and the Sierra Club left out of their lawsuit. In a Feb. 20 filing, the states attorneys cited technical deficiencies, including that the request was filed electronically, as reasons to strike or deny the groups from intervening in the lawsuit. The same day, attorneys representing Yellowstone filed a motion to strike Cottonwood and the Sierra Clubs filings because a ruling had not yet been made on whether they could intervene. Five days later, Judge Morris approved Cottonwood and the Sierra Clubs request to intervene. The same day, Morris accepted the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes and four conservation groups motion to join the lawsuit. The groups are Defenders of Wildlife, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, National Parks Conservation Association and Park County Environmental Council. The tribes have a 320-acre quarantine facility, built in 2014, that acts as the final holding facility for bison moved from Yellowstone after passing initial tests for exposure to brucellosis, the disease which can cause pregnant ungulates to abort. Defenders of Wildlife has helped build the tribes facilities and assists with live bison transfers. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition helped fund new quarantine corrals near Yellowstones North Entrance. Feds respond to Cottonwood Further thickening the legal court docket, on March 10 federal attorneys filed their motion to have Judge Morris deny Cottonwood and the Sierra Club from adding APHIS and the Forest Service to the lawsuit, calling it an attempt to hijack this litigation to address their particular concerns. The Court should reconsider its decision to join the two agencies to this litigation to address issues wholly foreign to those brought by the state, the federal attorneys argued. Neither APHIS nor the Forest Service claim an interest regarding this action. In seeking to enlarge the scope of the litigation beyond the bison plan and the Park Services jurisdiction, the federal attorneys wrote Cottonwood and the Sierra Club would only prolong or unduly delay the litigation. One of the primary reasons for Cottonwood-Sierra Clubs proposed intervention appears to be to seek a stay of this case for an indefinite amount of time, while it seeks to reopen a case that was closed in 2020, they added. The feds also asked Judge Morris to limit Cottonwood and the Sierra Club to addressing the merits of Montanas claims. To be consistent, the attorneys also requested the tribes and conservation groups be similarly limited. The other Yellowstone lawsuit Not to be forgotten is the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Council on Fish & Wildlifes lawsuit filed in January challenging Yellowstones bison plan. Their lawsuit contends the Park Service failed to incorporate the findings of a 2020 National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering report regarding the disease brucellosis, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services current consideration of bison as a threatened or endangered species due to its range being restricted. The lawsuit cites six main reasons the environmental impact statement for the bison plan should be revised, including that there is no analysis of the effectiveness of the measures proposed in the document. More specifically, there is no meaningful analysis of the fact that after 20 years of implementation, capture and slaughter has proven to be an ineffective management tool to reduce the prevalence of brucellosis in wild Yellowstone bison, the lawsuit stated, calling the removal of bison an aggressive and controversial management tool. On March 6, District Court Judge Donald Molloy issued an order in the case requiring the parties to file a case management plan on or before June 4. Bison advocates decry slaughter As the legal wrangling continues, more Yellowstone bison are being corralled and shipped to slaughter or confined to quarantine corrals prompting outcry from bison advocates. On Monday, Buffalo Field Campaign said 26 bison had been shipped to a meat processing facility. The Park Services capture of bison is also impeding tribal hunters along the parks border, the group contended. Government and Tribes are manipulating the buffalo, serving only human needs, said Jaedin Medicine Elk of Roam Free Nation in a press release. The buffalo are being denied their perspective, their freedom. Die at the boundary by gunfire, or get rounded up and captured for slaughter or domestication. All of it serves the human, not the buffalo. The buffalo need more protection, more room to roam, not this disservice by a conglomerate of selfish humans. Dead or in jail is no way to live. Karnataka CM Says No Re-Exam for KPSC Civil Services Without Court Orders Archisha Yadav USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Archisha Yadav USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Abhishek Bachchan is all set for a dramatic physical transformation in Shah Rukh Khan's King Vaishnavi Gavankar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Director Sailesh Kolanu shares latest update on upcoming film Court: State Vs A Nobody after Nani's bold statement M Snehanjali USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Daredevil: Born Again Episode 3 Release Date, Plot, and Schedule Everything You Need to Know Vaishnavi Gavankar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept The post-PSBT story: Why two PSBT showrunners went indie to produce feminist & queer documentaries Moneycontrol Features USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Sarika Sharma USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Paras Bisht USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Business barons go nuclear in the race for power Sweta Goswami USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Arindam Roy USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Select committee on I-T bill to submit recommendations in monsoon session Meghna Mittal Deputy News Editor at Moneycontrol. Meghna has experience across television, print, online and wire media. She has been covering the Indian economy, monetary and fiscal policies, Finance and Trade ministries. She tweets at @Meghnamittal23 Contact: meghna.mittal@nw18.com Meghna Mittal USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Govt planning roadshows in May to sell stake in former Air India arms Yaruqhullah Khan USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Goyal tells exporters to come out of 'protectionist mindset' amid Trump's tariffs Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years. Adrija Chatterjee USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept GST cut on insurance premia likely; final rate yet to be decided: Report Aishwarya Dabhade USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Surabhi Pandey USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Rohit Singh USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Veer Sharma USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Sebi not in favour of entry barriers for investors in equity F&O segment Ashish Rukhaiyar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Sunil Matkar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Top gainers and losers today: Stock that moved the most on March 13 Khushi Keswani USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept More trouble for Diageo as CAG points to lapses in liquor quality control in Delhi B Kumar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Mumbai Polices EOW may question RBI officials in the New India Cooperative Bank case Manish M. Suvarna is Senior Correspondent at Moneycontrol. He writes on the Indian money markets, RBI, Banks and NBFCs. He tweets at @manishsuvarna15. Contact: Manish.Suvarna@nw18.com Manish M. Suvarna USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Aishwarya Dabhade USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Momentum funds, once star performers, are now in a free fall Ravindra Sonavane USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Tushar Goenka USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Debaroti Adhikary USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Siddharth Chakravorty USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Smriti Mishra USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept BJP reacts after Telangana imposes restrictions for Holi: 'Anti-Hindu agenda out in open' Priyanjali Ghose USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Priyanjali Ghose USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Chhabi Kala USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years. Siddharth Chakravorty USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Parimal Peeyush USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Gold smuggling case: How did actor Ranya Rao try to dodge airport security? Chhabi Kala USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Irony of TN politics: The DMK connection to the rupee logo, dropped by Stalin govt amid language row Priyanjali Ghose USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Kannada actor Ranya Rao reveals how she was handed gold in Dubai: 'This was my first, learned from YouTube Priyanjali Ghose USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Christin Mathew Philip is an Assistant editor at moneycontrol.com. Based in Bengaluru, he writes on mobility, infrastructure and start-ups. He is a Ramnath Goenka excellence in journalism awardee. You can find him on Twitter here: twitter.com/ChristinMP_ Christin Mathew Philip USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Armaan Bhatnagar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Sonalee Borgohain USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Why are Sambhal's Jama Masjid, other UP mosques covered with tarpaulin sheets ahead of Holi? Priyanjali Ghose USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Why Manipur not on itinerary: Congress on Amit Shah's Assam, Mizoram visit Smriti Mishra USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Namrata Agarwal USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept I read Cp.25 of the book The Good Earth. It describes the life of the people at that time, A) (1) Cp.2 There was this luxury of living. The next morning this woman rising from his bed as though she had risen every day of her life. The old man cough rose and he said to her, Take to my father a bowl of hot water for his lungs. She asked, Are there to be tea leaves in it? This simple question troubled Wang Lung. He would have liked to say, Certainly. But he knew his father would be angry. He replied, No- it makes his cough worse. Then he lay in bed while in the kitchen the woman boiled the water. He desired that she should like him as her husband. During these next months, in reality he worked as he always had. When he could go to his house and food would be there ready for him to eat, and the dust wiped from the table. The woman in the morning took the bamboo rake countryside, reaping grass and twig, returning with enough to cook the dinner. In the afternoon she picked the droppings from animals and carried it home for fertilizer for the field. And when the end of the day came she did not rest herself until the ox had been fed. She took their ragged clothes and mended. Their bedding she took into the sun, killing the vermin. The old mans cough grew better. One day when Wang Lung was hard pressed with the swelling wheat, her shadow fell across the furrow, and there she stood, with a hoe across her shoulder, without speech she took the furrow to the left of him. The sun beat upon them, there was only this perfect sympathy of movement, of turning this earth of theirs over and over. this earth which formed their home and fed their bodies and made their gods. When the sun had set, she smoothed a last furrow slowly. Then she said, I am with child. Wang Lung took the hoe from her hand a he said, We will tell the old man. Out of this body of his, out of his own loins , life! (2) Cp.3. when the hour for birth drew near he said to the woman, I know nothing of these affairs. Is there none in the great house with whom you were friends, who could come? None in the house! she cried out at him. She said, When I return to that house it will be with my son in my arms, I shall have a red coat on him. And I will wear a new coat and I will show myself and my son to all of them. I suppose you need some money, he said. If you will gave me three silver pieces.... she said fearfully. He put the three silver dollars upon the table, he had sold a load of reeds from the pond to the town market. Then, after a little hesitation, he added a fourth piece which he had kept by himself on the chance of gamble. She said, It is the first time I have had silver money in my hand. Wang Lung thinking of the silver. It had come out from the earth that he ploughed. It came one night, early. She was working beside him in the harvest field. She stopped. It is come, she said. I will go into the house. Bring me a newly peeled reed, that I may cut the childs life from mine. When he reached the house he found his supper hot on the table and the old man eating. The old man said, Ah me, to think that out of all the children l begot and your mother born, one after the other, only you have lived! Wang Lung stood listening at the door, a thin, fierce cry came out. Is it a man?he cried importunately. And the voice of the woman answered, A man! When she called to him to come in and he went in. She was lying neatly covered upon the bed. Beside her, lay his son. His heart rushed out to these two and he said, Tomorrow I will buy a pound of red sugar for you. (3) Cp.4 The next day after the child was born the woman rose as usual and prepared food for them. Wang Lung went to the market and bought fifty eggs and red paper to boil in the water with them to make them red. And he bought a pound of red sugar. He bought four sticks of incense and he went into the small temple. He watched the four sticks well lit and then went homeward, comforted. And then, the woman was back in the fields beside him. The harvests were past. They beat the grain out with flails. They winnowed it, the chaff blew away with the wind.Then there were the fields to plant for winter wheat again. She worked all day now and the child lay on the ground. When it cried the woman stopped and uncovered her bosom to the childs mouth. Winter came on. There had been such harvests as never were before. In their room were filled full of wheat and rice. Much of this would be sold. Wang Lung was frugal, he sold it at the New Year when people will pay well for food at any price. His uncle sell his grain before it was well ripened to get a little cash. His uncles wife was a foolish woman, fat and lazy. There was never anything hanging from the rafters in his uncles house. But in his own there was even a leg of pork. There were as well two of their own chickens killed and dried. Soon the child could almost sit alone. They had had a feast of noodles, which mean long life, on his month birthday, and Wang Lung had invited those who came to his wedding feast and to each he had given a round ten of the red eggs. From the produce, Wang Lung had a handful of silver dollars.Wang Lung was conscious that he had money more than he need spend. (4) Cp.5 The New Year approached. Wang Lung went into the town and he bought squares of red paper and two red candles. And he bought pork fat and white sugar, the woman took the rice flour, she mixed and kneaded rich New Years cakes. When the cakes were laid out upon the table, the woman said, Those are not for us to eat. We are not rich enough to eat white sugar and lard.I am preparing them for the Old Mistress, I shall take the child on the second day of the New Year. Then on the second day of the New Year, they rose at dawn and the woman dressed the child in his red coat, and she put on her new coat, they set out on the path across the fields. Then Wang Lung had his reward at the great gate of the House of Hwang. The gateman was impressed with all he saw and he said to Wang Lung, Do you sit within my room while I announce your wife and son within. It seemed a long time before the gateman returned, bringing back again the woman and child. With short bows to the gateman and to his wife he hurried O-lan away and he took into his arms the child. She said in a whisper, I believe that they are feeling a pinch this year. I saw no one slave with a new coat like me. Wang Lung urged his wife. Did you find out why they are poorer? She replied, the cook said This house cannot stand forever with all the young lords spending money like waste water, and the Old Lord adding a concubine or two each year, and the Old Mistress eating enough opium every day. She added, The Old Mistress herself told me they wished to sell land. Suddenly a thought came to him. He cried, we will buy the land. It is a good thing to buy land, she said pacifically. And the slow smile spread over her face, she said, Last year this time I was slave in that house. B) I think: (1) This passage talked about family poverty and how to change it. Wang Lungs family was poor, but they were very thrifty. After O-lan came in, she worked hard, their life improved and they bought land. His uncle's family was still poor because they were not industrious and thrifty. The House of Hwang , due to drug abuse and corruption, although originally rich, but gradually poor. (2) As a country, there are also the problems of poverty and how to eliminate it. At that time, China only had agriculture and handicrafts, without industry, and was very poor and backward. In the era of Mao Zedong, establishing people's communes and state-owned enterprises could not eliminate poverty but even poorer. After the reform and opening up, foreign investment was introduced, industrial production saw significant growth, and people's lives improved. Developing production is a hard principle, but how can we develop production? We must rely on the enthusiasm and creativity of the masses! We need to rely on the progress of technology. These requires a democratic political system and free surrounding. Online educations potential is beyond question, but there are challenges to overcome Namrata Agarwal USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Why India should keep out TikTok in the age of information warfare Lokendra Sharma is a Research Analyst with the High-Tech Geopolitics Programme at the Takshashila Institution. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Namrata Agarwal USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Ishaan Gera USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Happy Holi 2025: How the festival is expected to generate Rs 60,000-crore business Ankita Sengupta USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Ankita Sengupta USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Sheetal Kumari USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Astronomers discover 4 new planets orbiting Earth's nearest stardo they have life too? Sheetal Kumari USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept MC Science Desk Read the latest and trending science newsstay updated on NASA, ISRO, space missions, planets, asteroids, black holes, AI, quantum physics, galaxy discoveries, and more exciting breakthroughs. Sheetal Kumari USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Sunita Williams homecoming delayed once again as NASA-SpaceX postpones Crew-10 mission, but why? MC Science Desk Read the latest and trending science newsstay updated on NASA, ISRO, space missions, planets, asteroids, black holes, AI, quantum physics, galaxy discoveries, and more exciting breakthroughs. Sheetal Kumari USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Chrome users, government has issued a security warning: Check if you are affected and all other details MC Tech Desk Read the latest and trending tech newsstay updated on AI, gadgets, cybersecurity, software updates, smartphones, blockchain, space tech, and the future of innovation. 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 Shaurya Shubham USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Aihik Sur USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept MC Tech Desk Read the latest and trending tech newsstay updated on AI, gadgets, cybersecurity, software updates, smartphones, blockchain, space tech, and the future of innovation. Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Ankita Chakravarti USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Debangana Ghosh USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Balochistans endless conflict: How Jinnah betrayed the Khan of Kalat, leading to armed struggle Pradeep Tripathi USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept 'Can do things financially ...': Trump's stern warning as US delegation heads to Russia for ceasefire talks Sonalee Borgohain USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept ALBANY President Trumps border czar on Wednesday slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul over New Yorks immigration policies and suggested federal authorities could take matters into their own hands if the state did not get out of the way. In a visit to the State Capitol joined by Republican lawmakers, Tom Homan called for the repeal of the states Green Light law, which prevents federal immigration officials from accessing state motor vehicle records. And Homan blasted state sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants. In 2018, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order to prohibit state employees from sharing immigration status information with federal law enforcement. New York State, you got to change the sanctuary status, Homan told reporters. If you dont, get out of the way or were going to do our job. Homan, while fielding questions from reporters, added: Were going to do our job, despite this administration. Were going to go arrest public security threats. Were going to arrest national security threats. Well double the man-force here, if we have to. Trump's 'border czar' targets NY law that lets undocumented migrants get drivers licenses The incoming "border czar" said the Trump administration wants to pressure New York to change its law that provides driver's licenses to undocumented migrants. Homan said he had no plans to meet with Hochul while visiting Albany. Neither his office nor hers reached out to one another, he said. Shes got my phone number. She can call me, Homan said. Im doing nothing wrong. She is. Homan embraced criticism, saying: You want to hate on me, hate on me. I eat it up. Because I know what Im doing. Outside the news conference, a dozen or so protesters ripped Homan, holding signs and yelling: No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here! State Police quelled a chaotic scene in a hallway around the corner from the State Senate chamber. Several Democratic lawmakers later blasted Homan and Trump for their positions on immigration. That included the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist in student protests at Columbia University now facing deportation. Do you believe in the First Amendment? Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan? shouted Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, D-Queens, who is running for New York City mayor. Sen. Gustavo Rivera, D-Bronx, suggested that an apple Homan was spotted eating was likely picked by a migrant. In November, Trump appointed Homan, a Jefferson County native and former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to be his point man on immigration and border issues a signature part of his campaign. Homan told The Buffalo News in January that he was considering potential actions that federal officials could take to pressure New York into revoking or changing the Green Light Law. At the time, Homan did not rule out the possibility that federal authorities could block New York license-plated cars and trucks from entering the United States from Canada until New York began sharing information from the Department of Motor Vehicles. On Wednesday, when asked if that was under consideration, Homan said it was not. But referencing Hochul, Homan questioned how the governor would feel if the federal government made a similar decision that kept information from the state. He suggested the states immigration policies put New York and its officers at a great safety risk. And he scoffed at being told that federal investigators can seek a warrant to get the access to information they want. What if I did the same thing or this administration did the same thing? Homan asked. You know what, we wont because we want to protect New Yorkers. He said depending on the sector, illegal crossings are down 68% across the northern border. Hochul administration officials say the state can still coordinate with federal immigration officials when the undocumented immigrant has been convicted or suspected of a crime, including a crime with possible multinational dimensions, or when it is relevant to an investigation of a state crime. Homan criticized Hochul, claiming that the governor tried to fire New York City Mayor Eric Adams because Adams was working with Tom Homan. Adams was facing federal corruption charges until Trumps Department of Justice dropped the case against him. Former interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon said the dismissal was a quid pro quo in exchange for Adams help with Trumps immigration agenda. Hochul faced pressure to use her authority to remove Adams, but ultimately decided against it. Governor Hochul has been clear with New Yorkers: She supports secure borders and deporting violent criminals, but wont let New York help the Trump Administration tear babies away from their parents, said Avi Small, a spokesperson for Hochul. This isnt the first time Trump Administration officials have lied about our policies and it probably wont be the last but Governor Hochul is staying focused on keeping New Yorkers safe. Homan spoke at a forum hosted by Senate Majority Leader Robert Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, that drew the presence of more than a half-dozen Republicans from Western New York. Assembly and Senate Republicans pushed for the passage of Lakens Law, which would restore cooperation between courts, law enforcement and federal immigration officials when an undocumented immigrant is arrested or detained. It is named for Laken Riley, 22, a Georgia college student who was killed by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela. Former Philippines President Duterte in ICC custody, says he is responsible for drug war crimes Pradeep Tripathi USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Measles cases in Europe doubled in 2024 to highest in more than 25 years: WHO 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Putin says 'in favour' of 30-day ceasefire, but 'there are nuances' Swarali Bodas USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Pradeep Tripathi USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Trump to name Michelle Bowman as top bank regulator at Federal Reserve: Report 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept US whiskey makers look to flood EU market ahead of 50% tariffs Arindam Roy USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Business / Local by Stephen Jakes Mine workers in Matabeleland South have reported facing threats of illness, death from diseases, violations of their labour and human rights, and horrific living conditions during their work in mines.The mine workers, drawn from various mines around Gwanda district, described numerous unfair labour practices by employers, including poor remuneration, unfair dismissals, victimisation for raising concerns about their rights, poor accommodation, lack of ablution facilities, inadequate personal protective clothing (PPE), and physical abuse, among other issues.The workers' representatives voiced these concerns during the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union's (ZDAMWU) Gwanda regional meeting, held recently in the Matabeleland South provincial capital.The meeting aimed to adopt the union's second congress resolutions, passed during the congress held in Bulawayo in August. These resolutions focused on fostering proper health conditions, fair labour practices, living wages and salaries, an end to sexual harassment in mines, and adequate PPE provisions, among other issues.A Blanket Mine workers' representative lamented poor remuneration and allowances."Our salaries at Blanket Mine are meaningless. If they say there is an increment, you would be told that it's 1.5%, and 1.5% of nothing is nothing. If you are being paid US$200 and 1.5% is added, what is that?" said the worker."The money we are getting as workers at Blanket Mine is below the poverty datum line. Recently, it was US$455, but I believe it's now around US$600. Yet the lowest-paid employee is earning less than that."He also highlighted challenges with allowances, noting that standby workers are paid only US$1 and that unpaid overtime is common. Workers are made to work 12-hour shifts but are not allowed to claim overtime pay, instead being forced to take time off."On accommodation, some live in houses unsuitable for habitation. When it rains, you sleep standing with sheets. We use Blair toilets at Blanket Mine, and we do not think this is acceptable in this modern day; these are colonial conditions," he said.He further complained about discrimination in housing allocation, with workers placed in high-density areas while management resides in low-density areas with uninterrupted electricity supply.A Jessie Mine workers' representative expressed concerns that trade union members are often blocked from attending union business, with management sometimes refusing to grant them permission to attend."When requesting PPE, you are told there is none, and you are forced to work without it. When PPE eventually becomes available, you are required to return the old one before receiving the new one," he said.He also voiced concerns about poor toilet facilities, adding that workers fear a cholera outbreak during the rainy season.A Horn Mine workers' representative said workers reside in uninhabitable cabins, with only human resources officers enjoying better accommodation."We are suffering. When it's hot, you cannot enter that cabin; you have to spend the day under trees," he said.He appealed for ZDAMWU to intervene regarding allowances, adding that most lower-grade workers are not given any.The workers' representative also decried poor safety and health conditions, noting the presence of unusable toilets and workers resorting to relieving themselves in the bush. He raised concerns about poor-quality water, posing a serious health risk, and noted that PPE shortages further endangered workers.A Freda Mine representative said management frequently fires workers arbitrarily and called for ZDAMWU's intervention, highlighting that many workers have been dismissed for union activism."We are seeking proper procedures to be followed when one is to be fired so that we can defend ourselves. If you enter Freda Mine, you will think it's a cattle kraal. No water, no good sanitation, no education," he said."We need proper living conditions in that company. Health-wise, we are happy because they recently opened a clinic there. Previously, we had to walk 15 km to reach a clinic."A representative from the Chinese-owned Long Fortune Mine lamented that Chinese employers across the country are known for disregarding labour rights."The Chinese are the same everywhere. At Long Fortune Mine, there is gross underpayment of workers. The lowest-paid employee earns US$180. Identifying yourself as a union member is considered an offence," he said."On accommodation, it is worse there. Four to eight workers share one room and use a single toilet."Matabeleland South Labour Officer under the Ministry of Labour, Tinashe Chisveto, urged workers with unresolved labour disputes to appeal to the ministry within 30 days of company-level hearings."As a ministry, we fight for fair labour standards," Chisveto said.ZDAMWU General Secretary Justice Chinhema said that despite the workers' concerns about poor accommodation at mines, the union had resolved to fight against workers' dependence on employers for housing. He added that workers should be given opportunities to own their houses or rural homes to avoid desperation after retirement or dismissal."We are against the compounding of workers. We do not want to see what is happening now at Shabani Mashava Mine, where former workers are now desperate for accommodation after being evicted from company houses," he said.Meanwhile, three illegal gold panners recently fell into an excavation shaft at Vumbachikwe Mine in Gwanda. Reports indicate that rescue operations managed to retrieve only one body, with two others remaining unrecovered.Reports suggest that the remains of about 17 other panners, who had previously fallen into the same site, were also discovered during the rescue efforts.The frequent illegal invasion of the mine by gold panners highlights serious neglect by the current owners, Forbes and Thompson Private Limited Company, who have failed to revive the mine since its closure in 2022 following worker protests over unpaid salaries.The mine has remained closed, with the owners seemingly shifting operations to a milling company without significant mining activities. Allegations have surfaced that some remaining corrupt workers accept bribes to sneak in illegal panners for underground mining.A source at Vumbachikwe Mine said tragedy struck recently when three people fell into the mine excavation site and died."Three people fell into the old excavation site and died. Their relatives reported the accident to the police. So far, only one body has been recovered from level 34. The other, at level 20, could not be retrieved due to inaccessible conditions," the source said."During the search for the three victims, the team reportedly discovered other unidentified bodies, which has been kept secret."The source claimed that the rumoured 17 deaths in the mine shafts were indeed true.Contacted for comment, Matabeleland South Acting Mining Director Tariro Ndhlovu had not responded to inquiries.Meanwhile, a source indicated that the company recently paid workers a meagre US$105 as part of outstanding wages owed from September to November 2022."This was a deliberate move to evade the pending High Court corporate rescue case. Before releasing the funds, they pressured us to sign complaint forms to justify firing and evicting us from the mine premises. Their plan has failed since no judgment was delivered within 30 days of issuing the notification for a hearing under Chapter 28 of the Labour Act, Section 101 SS 6," the source said."The payment started last week. The company has not yet resumed full operations. Only about 100 workers are under essential service, and we have little hope that the mine will ever reopen given the current circumstances." Wife of arrested Columbia student says she was naive to believe he was secure Sonalee Borgohain USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept News / National by Ndou Paul Residents in a Harare suburb are threatening legal action against a local church, accusing it of operating without the necessary permits and disrupting the neighborhood with excessive noise.A group of affected residents has submitted a petition to the City of Harare, demanding urgent intervention. However, the local authority has yet to respond, and attempts to reach both council and church officials have been unsuccessful."We are considering applying for an urgent court order to stop these activities immediately," the residents said in a statement.If investigations confirm that the church is operating illegally, residents want authorities to impose penalties and shut down its activities on the property.Harare Residents Trust (HRT) coordinator Precious Shumba urged the council to enforce zoning regulations impartially."The church should be requested to put in place a soundproof system so that the noise does not affect the surrounding properties but is contained within the church building where it is generated," Shumba said.The situation has fueled tensions between the church and the community, with residents insisting that authorities must act to restore peace. News / National by Staff reporter A 34-year-old Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) pastor has been convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison for engaging in an incestuous relationship with his stepdaughter.The court heard that the clergyman, whose identity has been withheld, repeatedly had sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter between 2022 and 2024 at various locations.The illicit affair reportedly began in 2022 when the girl's mother left her in the stepfathers custody. It was revealed that their first encounter took place in his bedroom while they were watching videos together.Their relationship continued over the years, leading to the stepdaughters pregnancy in 2023. The court was told that the pastor arranged for the pregnancy to be terminated in an attempt to cover up the affair.A tip-off to authorities led to investigations, culminating in his arrest and prosecution.The sentencing serves as a stern warning against abuse of authority and sexual exploitation within religious institutions. Reporter Andrew Roberto was raised his whole life on Saipan. He graduated from Saipan Southern High School, holds a degree from Northern Marianas College, and a BA in English from the University of Guam. He once worked for KUAM, UNO Magazine, and the Guam Daily Post. Zaldy Dandan is a recipient of the Best Editorial Writer Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the CNMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/. News / National by Staff reporter ZANU-PF legislator for Mazowe North, Tsungai Makumbe, has been found not guilty and acquitted of raping his ex-wife at gunpoint.Harare magistrate Clever Tsikwa dismissed the allegations, ruling that the State lacked sufficient evidence to secure a conviction.The case stemmed from accusations by Makumbe's ex-wife, who claimed the alleged rape resulted in pregnancy and that he had infected her with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.According to the prosecution, the incident reportedly occurred in November 2022 at the entrance of the complainant's residence in Mt Pleasant.The State alleged that Makumbe arrived at the complainant's home around 11 p.m. and called her outside, where he attempted to rekindle their relationship. When she refused, he allegedly brandished a firearm and forced her into his car before assaulting her.Prosecutors claimed he later gave her US$20 to purchase morning-after pills, which she declined. Medical examinations at Parirenyatwa Hospital later confirmed her pregnancy and HIV-positive status.However, after reviewing the evidence, the court ruled in Makumba's favor, acquitting him of all charges. Interfaith Coat Drive View Photo Sonora, CA After reviewing past, current, and future financial projections, Interfaith Social Services has made the difficult decision to reduce staff and the hours of operation. Interfaith is located on Striker Court in Sonora and provides food and services to those in need. It is currently open five days a week. A statement provided by CEO Doug Linze, and the Board of Directors, states, It was determined that the current financial trajectory is not sustainable. Staffing cuts are necessary, and the hours of operations will also be reduced. Effective April 1, 2025, the Interfaith doors will only be open Tuesday through Friday from 10 am 1 pm. Interfaith currently serves approximately 1000 Tuolumne County residents per month, an increase of 25-30% from 2023 to 2024. The increased need, combined with the increased expenses, is negatively impacting the organizations ability to offer the same level of service. The statement adds, We will continue to look for ways to make our operations more efficient. Interfaith also thanked the 100-plus volunteers, along with several local businesses, who graciously support their efforts. The organization concludes, In addition to cutting costs, it is imperative that we secure additional funding and food donations to continue the level of service that our clients have relied on. Interfaith relies solely on private donations to feed and clothe those in need. Deuteronomy 15:8 states, You shall open your hand to your brother, to your poor and your needy in your land. We are committed to this mission with your support. Interfaith was founded in the early 1980s by about a dozen churches in Tuolumne County to provide for the needs of struggling residents and families. It was a desire to have a central location that all participating churches could support, rather than each church having their own resource center. The current list of supporting churches includes: First Presbyterian Church of the 49ers, Sierra Bible Church, St. Matthew Lutheran, Sonora United Methodist, St. Patricks Catholic, Country Cowboy, Mountain Lutheran, Word of Life Fellowship, All Saints/St. Josephs Catholic, The Gathering, Twain Harte Bible, Mt. Calvary Lutheran, Mountain Ranch Community and Tuolumne Methodist Church. News / National by Staff reporter A 47-year-old Zimbabwean man, reported missing last Saturday, has been found dead in what is believed to be a drowning incident in the northern Welsh town of Llangollen. Clifford Sibanda's body was discovered in the River Dee, near the Chainbridge Hotel, according to a statement from North Wales Police.Sibanda, who had been residing in Birkenhead near Liverpool, was last seen traveling to Llangollen on March 8. Police believe he boarded a bus from Chester Train Station and arrived in the area that same day. The discovery of his body follows an earlier search that began after Sibanda's belongings, including his backpack, train ticket, and bank cards, were found by walkers on a rock at the edge of the River Dee. The items were handed over to authorities.A postmortem has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death. Although formal identification is still pending, North Wales Police have confirmed that Sibanda's family is being supported by specialist officers, and the local coroner has been notified.The investigation has revealed that Sibanda's clothes were found near the river, suggesting he may have changed into swimming trunks before entering the water. His family, who spoke to ZimLive, expressed confusion over his actions, as they were unaware of why he would have been at the river. They also emphasized that Sibanda was a "decent swimmer," leading them to question what might have prevented him from swimming to safety.Sibanda, originally from Nkayi in Matabeleland North, had lived in the United Kingdom for nearly 25 years. His ex-wife, who lives in Birmingham with their seven-year-old twin children, is among those left shocked by his untimely death.The investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death is ongoing. Lilongwe, Malawi Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary Bushiri, have been ordered to be extradited to South Africa, a ruling welcomed by South African authorities but signalling the start of a protracted legal battle. The Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Malawi delivered the verdict, paving the way for the couple to face a litany of charges after their dramatic escape from South Africa in 2020. The Bushiris, who lead the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church, are wanted in South Africa on charges including rape, violating bail conditions, contraventions of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, Banking Act, Civil Aviation Act, and Immigration Act. The charges stem from allegations of fraud and money laundering to the tune of R102 million linked to an investment scheme. Mmamoloko Kubayi, South Africas Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, welcomed the ruling, calling it a significant milestone in international legal cooperation. This decision reaffirms judicial independence, international cooperation, and public trust in the South African and Malawian legal institutions, Kubayi said in a statement. It reinforces the principle that no one is above the law and underscores the importance of accountability, transparency, and adherence to legal frameworks in both South Africa and Malawi. The South African government submitted an extradition request to Malawi after the Bushiris failed to comply with their bail conditions and fled the country under mysterious circumstances. The couple had appeared before South African courts in 2020 before their escape. According to Kubayis spokesperson, Terrence Manase, the judge in Malawi ruled that South Africa meets the extradition requirements under Malawis Extradition Act. Of the 13 charges presented by the State, 10 were considered in court and deemed sufficient to warrant prosecution for both fugitives, Manase stated. However, Malawis Ministry of Justice offered a slightly different account, stating that the court acknowledged four out of 10 charges against the Bushiris. Despite the ruling, the legal saga is far from over. The Bushiris have indicated their intention to appeal the extradition order, a move that the South African government has vowed to oppose. The South African government will oppose the appeal. The department will await the outcome of the appeal process if they proceed. If they choose not to pursue the appeal, the department will await formal notification from the Central Authority of the Republic of Malawi, Manase said. The case is expected to move to the High Court and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court of Appeal, potentially dragging on for months or even years. Adding another layer of complexity, Bushiri has claimed a remarkable victory on his Instagram account, stating that the court dismissed 10 of those cases due to lack of evidence. The Bushiris lawyer, Wapona Kita, has already requested bail for the couple, arguing that the extradition order should be paused. Malawis Ministry of Justice confirmed that the defence asked the court to allow the Bushiris to remain on bail until they received direction from the High Court on an appeal. The state has not objected to the bail request, leaving the court to decide on the matter. They further applied for a 30-day stay order on the ruling, which the court granted. The court referred the matter of bail to the High Court, as the magistrates court does not have jurisdiction to grant bail to fugitives. The defence is expected to apply for bail during the stay order, as directed by the magistrates court. This means the Bushiris will remain out on bail, the ministry stated. The circumstances surrounding the Bushiris initial escape from South Africa remain shrouded in mystery. It was widely speculated that they used President Lazarus Chakweras presidential plane to flee, although this has never been officially confirmed. The aircraft was subjected to rigorous searches by South African authorities before Chakwera was allowed to depart for Malawi. Kubayi underscored the critical role of legal agreements and treaties in combating transnational crime. South Africa remains committed to strengthening legal and diplomatic partnerships to ensure that fugitives are brought to justice and that legal systems remain fair, credible, and effective, she added. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development works with the Malawi Central Authority, INTERPOL, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the South African Police Service (SAPS). Kubayi added that she had been informed that the Bushiris intended to appeal the ruling. She said if they do not appeal, the Department of Justice will await formal notification from Malawis Central Authority. Once received, INTERPOL, in collaboration with the South African Police Service (SAPS), will coordinate the transfer arrangements and logistics. The State will cover all associated costs, Kubayi added. The case has drawn significant public and media attention, highlighting broader issues of corruption and accountability. Eyewitness News has reliably learnt that Bushiri may be facing other charges in Malawi, as the court is currently hearing an application for bail by the fugitive. The legal battle is far from over. The case is expected to move to the High Court and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court of Appeal. Despite the ruling, the Bushiris lawyer, Wapona Kita, has requested bail for the couple, arguing that the extradition order should be paused. The state has not objected to the bail request, leaving the court to decide on the matter. Bushiris dramatic escape from South Africa in November 2020 remains a mystery. It was widely speculated that he and his wife used President Lazarus Chakweras presidential plane to flee. The aircraft was subjected to rigorous searches by South African authorities before Chakwera was allowed to depart for Malawi. The circumstances surrounding their escape continue to raise questions. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares Harare The Government has issued a stringent 48-hour ultimatum to all local authorities across Zimbabwe, demanding the immediate removal of vendors from the streets of cities and towns nationwide. This drastic measure includes a complete ban on night vending, citing escalating health, safety, and security concerns stemming from the recent surge in informal trading activities. Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe, addressing a media briefing in Harare yesterday, declared that all vendors must possess valid licences and operate exclusively from designated areas. The ultimatum comes amidst growing concerns over increased human traffic, widespread littering, and disruptions to legitimate businesses operating in central business districts. The Government has noted with great concern the proliferation of illegal vendors in central business districts and surrounding areas in cities and towns across the country, particularly the influx of night vendors, which has created serious health, safety, and security concerns, Minister Garwe stated. He emphasised the Governments commitment to creating a safe, clean, and orderly environment for all citizens. Illegal vending perpetuates unsanitary conditions as vendors operate in areas without potable water and ablution facilities, which poses a significant risk for disease outbreaks such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera, he said. Furthermore, the accumulation of waste from these vendors has rendered some roads, sanitary lanes, and sidewalks impassable, exacerbating public health and security issues. Minister Garwe reiterated that the Government is directing all local authorities to clear vendors from undesignated points within 48 hours. During this operation, local authorities will be supported by law enforcement agents to ensure the maintenance of law and order. The Minister was firm on the issue of night vending, stating that it has no place in Zimbabwes formal economy. In the matrix of small to medium enterprises, even in our laws, there is no provision for night trading in our cities. There is no room for creating capacity for night vendors, he said. Zimbabwe is an economy which operates during the day so we are not going to create a night economy which is driving hate, drug abuse, illicit deals and a lot of ugly issues. For our vendors who operate during the day, we have existing facilities where they can go and operate from, he said. Garwe further said local authorities are required to enforce regulations requiring all traders to hold valid licenses and operate only in designated areas that are equipped with adequate sanitary facilities. We are dealing with the night vendors. There is no room for creating capacity for night vendors. Zimbabwe is an economy which operates during the day. We have got facilities, existing facilities, where during the day our vendors can go and operate. What we want to disabuse ourselves of is to have people operating as vendors during the day in the Central Business District, he said. The Minister also highlighted the link between unregulated vending and criminal activity. He said the rise in illegal vending has contributed to an environment conducive for criminal activities, such as theft, robbery, and drug dealing, creating significant risks for both residents and visitors. The lack of regulation and oversight in these areas allows criminal elements to exploit the situation, further destabilizing communities and eroding public trust in law enforcement, he stated. The Government remains committed to fostering a safe, clean, and orderly environment for all citizens and will take further measures as necessary to address these challenges, he added. Harare Mayor, Councillor Jacob Mafume, speaking at the same occasion, said the city council is prepared to work towards restoring sanity in the capital. We are also committed as a council to the enforcement of bylaws. I stated earlier that there is no permission for night vending as the Minister said. Even during the daytime, there are laws that control vending. People are not supposed to operate anywhere and everywhere they see fit, he said. Clr Mafume said council would also consider introducing name tags on the uniforms of council police officers to enhance accountability and enable citizens to identify those involved in corrupt practices. I dont see any challenge in us having name tags. If its the best practice that is being done by the ZRP as well, I am sure we will adopt that method as soon as possible. We need to identify and be able to know who is asking you to comply with the law. Its international best practice and well adopt it as well, he said. In the past, council police and the Zimbabwe Republic Police have been involved in running battles with illegal vendors in a bid to remove them from the CBD. But there have been allegations that some officers accept bribes to turn a blind eye to illegal vending activities. In response, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister Chido Sanyatwe said the Government was prepared to root out corrupt police officers if sufficient evidence of such malpractices is provided. Simultaneously, authorities are cracking down on errant kombi drivers to restore order and sanity in the capital city. On the issue of unregulated kombi operations, national police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi emphasised their unwavering stance on enforcing the law. In every entity, there are laws which regulate how we behave, how we conduct ourselves. The same applies to the kombi operators. We have close to 16 000 kombis, but only 2 500 to 3 000 are registered. The rest are playing hide and seek with the law. So theres no going back in enforcing the Governments laws, and we are not apologetic about that, he said. Comm Nyathi called for a shift in attitude among Zimbabweans to support the countrys development. He said since January this year, the police have impounded nearly 10 000 vehicles, which are being screened in collaboration with the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID), local government, and other relevant entities to ensure only roadworthy vehicles are permitted back on the streets. The 48-hour ultimatum is likely to face resistance from vendors who rely on informal trading for their livelihoods, raising concerns about potential clashes with law enforcement and the economic impact on vulnerable communities. The effectiveness of the Governments directive will depend on the willingness of local authorities to enforce the ban and provide viable alternative trading spaces for displaced vendors. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares News / National by Staff reporter Journalist Blessed Mhlanga was returned to jail on Wednesday after a Harare High Court judge requested more time to deliver a verdict on a defence application seeking critical evidence used by police to charge him with incitement to commit public violence.Mhlanga's lawyer, Chris Mhike, had demanded the release of further particulars, including electronic and video recordings that form the basis of the charges against the journalist. Mhike argued that these pieces of evidence are crucial to strengthen their application for bail.Mhlanga, who was arrested on February 24, is facing accusations from the prosecution that he conducted interviews with a group of war veterans, led by former Zanu PF MP and central committee member Blessed Geza, who has since been expelled from the party. In the interviews, the veterans allegedly called for the immediate resignation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and threatened to organize mass protests to oust him.Mhike told the court that the video evidence is essential to clarify discrepancies between the charges listed on the remand forms and what is actually shown in the recordings. He stated that this evidence would also assist the court in determining whether Mhlanga should be granted bail."The prosecution has a warned and cautioned statement which they cannot release because of the privilege they have on the docket," Mhike explained. "We believe the video graphic evidence will cure our arguments."However, prosecutors opposed the request, arguing that the defence should have made the demand for the evidence during Mhlanga's initial court appearance at the Magistrates Court, where his bail application was denied.Justice Gibson Mandaza, presiding over the case, adjourned the hearing indefinitely to give him time to prepare a ruling on the defence's application. The judge noted that the lawyers would be contacted once his decision is ready, although no communication had been received by the close of business on Wednesday.Mhlanga remains in custody as the legal battle over the evidence continues. Harare An Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) pastor has been convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison after engaging in a shocking incestuous relationship with his stepdaughter. The 34-year-old clergyman, whose identity has been withheld to protect the victim as she was sexually violated since she was 15-year-old, was found guilty of repeatedly having sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter, who is now 18 years old, between 2022 and 2024. The court heard harrowing details of the illicit affair, which began in 2022 when the girls mother left her in the stepdads custody. The pair first became intimate in his bedroom while watching videos. The relationship continued over the years, leading to a pregnancy in 2023, which he later arranged to be terminated. A tip-off led to investigations and his subsequent arrest. This scandal is the latest in a string of sex-related controversies to plague the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) in Zimbabwe, raising serious questions about accountability and ethical conduct within the church. In September 2018, Pastor Lovejoy Chabata, then Principal of the APOSTOLIC Faith Mission in Zimbabwe theological college, was embroiled in a messy sex scandal after being accused of molesting one of his female subordinates. Ms Victoria Phiri, who was working as a professional assistant to Pastor Chabata, made a formal complaint against him on September 3, 2018, in an internal memo written to the seminarys Tynwald campus coordinator, Reverend Irene Chatora. In a letter titled Complaint of sexual harassment, Ms Phiri narrated how she was allegedly abused by Pastor Chabata. She wrote, It was on a Friday 10 August 2018 at 16.45pm when the principal Pastor Lovejoy Chabata called me to his office to file documents which were lying on his table. I went to his office and started to do the filing in his presence and he asked me to change one of the files and replace it with a book which was on his table. He asked me to put the book on top of his filing cabinet. As I finished placing the book there, he had moved from his chair and he was standing tightly hugging me and l had to push him away. He continued holding my right hand, rubbing it inside my palm and I quickly left his office. He called me back to his office to file another document which he said was on his table. When I went back to his office, he said he wanted to come to my house to spend the day with me. He then said he feared that my boys would beat him up. On Friday 17 August 2018, Pastor L Chabata said he had found me a house to rent in Marlborough for $500 despite the fact that I had not asked him to look for a house for me. He started pestering me about the issue saying he wanted to go view the house with me and would leave my car at work. He even offered to look for people who would share the house with me. In October 2019, another Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) pastor, Felix Mazengero (30), based in Mutare, was hauled before the courts on allegations of having sexual intercourse with a minor after he reportedly impregnated his 14-year-old sister-in-law before promising to marry her after her grade seven exams. It was the States case that in August 2018, Mazengero proposed love to his minor Sister-in- law to which she was not opposed as she accepted the proposal. The court heard that sometime in June 2019, Mazengero went to his in laws house where he had sexual intercourse with his teenage lover. It was the States case that Mazengero promised to marry the girl after she finished writing her grade seven exams when she informed him she had missed her period. The matter came to light when police got a tip off that the 14-year-old girl was pregnant and upon being quizzed she told the police her story leading to Mazengeros arrest. Prior to these cases, in June 2018, Pastor Toni Kandiye from the AFM Tshabalala Assembly in Bulawayo disappeared from his home after allegedly impregnating a maid and one of his wifes relatives. His daughter Grace confirmed her fathers misdeeds, stating, Im worried about my mum because people talk about Vivian, our former maid who had a relationship with dad and also my aunt in Gweru who is my fathers other mistress. Grace told The Chronicle that her mother and her unnamed relative met at her grandmothers funeral in Gweru and resolved some of their issues. My mother is suffering as she has to keep up appearances in church and lie on my fathers behalf. I have grown sick of it. Dad couldnt just take off without a word and expect us to be telling tales when people ask about him, she said. Mrs Kandiye initially rubbished the allegations before changing her stance and telling this newspaper that it was a private matter. Church members know which channels to follow if there are problems. Why are they taking my issues to The Chronicle. People just hate my husband and may be after his position. We are dealing with the matter as a family and people must not talk about things that they dont know, she said. In August 2016, A PROMINENT Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) Harare pastor, Oliver Makomo, who was attached at Springvale, Ruwa assembly, was taken to court on allegations of raping a 22-year-old congregant. Makomo appeared before magistrate Tendai Mahwe and was charged with four counts of rape and one of indecent assault. The State alleged that the alleged victim, who resides in Hatcliffe, was Makomos congregant since 2012. It was alleged that sometime in 2012, Makomo approached the girl, who was then working at a local supermarket as a till operator, and asked for her phone number. The two started communicating and on one occasion, the complainant, who had nose-bleeding problems, called Makomo for prayers. According to prosecutors, Makomo invited her to his office where he prayed for her. Makomo then allegedly closed the door after the prayer and went on to fondle, kiss and insert his fingers in the girls private parts, telling her repeatedly she was going to be well. The girl left and did not tell anyone of the alleged sexual attack because of the trust she had in her pastor and because of the relationship which was between her parents and Makomo. The State further alleges that Makomo called the girl to his house during the same year. She found the pastor and his family at home and there were some visitors. Prosecutors allege that he then left with the visitors, but told the complainant not to leave in his absence. The girl complied and slept over, but during the night, Makomo allegedly sneaked into the spare bedroom where she was sleeping and raped her once. The girl left the following morning and in 2014, Makomos maid invited the complainant to the pastors home. It is alleged Makomo again sneaked into the spare bedroom during the night and raped her once without protection. She again did not tell anyone for the same reasons. According to the State, on December 23 the same year, Makomo allegedly called the girl to his place of residence while he was alone. He gave the complainant keys to the house and ordered her to get inside. Makomo then allegedly followed her and raped her once without using protection. In August 2016, the complainant confided to her boyfriend, who then confronted the pastor complaining about the issue. The recent conviction of the AFM pastor for incest has reignited calls for greater scrutiny and accountability within religious institutions. The repeated instances of sexual misconduct within the AFM raise serious questions about the vetting processes for religious leaders and the mechanisms in place to protect vulnerable individuals within the church community. As the AFM grapples with yet another scandal, the spotlight is firmly on the church leadership to take decisive action to address these systemic issues and restore public trust. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares Harare Mazowe North Member of Parliament, Tsungai Makumbe (Zanu-PF), has been acquitted of rape charges stemming from allegations made by his 23-year-old ex-wife. The case, which involved accusations of rape at gunpoint, has captivated and divided public opinion since the initial report. Harare magistrate Clever Tsikwa delivered the ruling on Wednesday, stating that the state had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The courtroom was packed as the verdict was read, with observers eager to hear the outcome of the highly publicised trial. The prosecutions case rested on the allegation that the rape, which purportedly occurred in Mt Pleasant in November 2022, resulted in a pregnancy and the transmission of a chronic illness to the complainant. According to the prosecution, on the night of the alleged incident, Makumbe went to his ex-wifes residence around 10 PM and summoned her to meet him at the gate. Upon her arrival, she entered Makumbes vehicle. The accused person pulled out a greyish pistol and placed it on the dashboard. He got out of the car from the driver seat and proceeded to the passenger seat where the complainant was seated and opened the passenger door where the complainant was seated and started to demand sex from the complainant, the National Prosecuting Authority had stated in its charge sheet. It was further alleged that Makumbe then suddenly pulled the complainants left leg down and twisted it and that led the complainant to stand on the ground. The prosecution argued that Makumbe then forced the complainant to bend over and proceeded to rape her once without using protection. The alleged rape was not immediately reported to the authorities. However, it was claimed that Makumbe gave the complainant US$20 to purchase morning-after pills in an attempt to prevent pregnancy. Following the alleged incident, the woman sought medical treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital, where she reportedly tested positive for HIV. It was only on September 2nd of this year that she formally reported the matter to the police. However, Magistrate Tsikwa, in his ruling, stated that the court found inconsistencies and contradictions in the womans testimony, ultimately undermining the credibility of her account. The complainants version has many inconsistencies and lies. She attempted to paint the accused wrongly, Tsikwa said. The magistrate further noted that there was a lack of corroborating evidence to support the complainants claims. John Ndomene, representing the lawmaker, successfully argued that the prosecutions case was weak and lacked the necessary evidence to secure a conviction. The initial allegations, which surfaced earlier this year, had sent ripples through Zimbabwes political and social circles. The prosecution alleged that Makumbe, a prominent figure within the ruling Zanu-PF party, had forced his ex-wife into sexual intercourse at gunpoint. The incident, according to the prosecution, left the woman traumatised and facing the devastating reality of contracting HIV. The details presented by the prosecution painted a disturbing picture. It was alleged that Makumbe approached his ex-wifes residence around 10 pm and called her outside. When she complied, he allegedly proposed love to her, which she refused. It was at this point that Makumbe allegedly pulled out a grey pistol and placed it on the dashboard of his car. The accused person pulled out a greyish pistol and placed it on the dashboard. He got out of the car from the driver seat and proceeded to the passenger seat where the complainant was seated and opened the passenger door where the complainant was seated and started to demand sex from the complainant. The accused person suddenly pulled the complainants left leg down and twisted it and that led the complainant to stand on the ground. Makumbe then allegedly forced his ex-wife to bend over before raping her without protection. The incident was not reported immediately. However, Makumbe is alleged to have given the complainant US$20 to buy morning-after pills to prevent pregnancy. Following the alleged rape, the woman sought treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital, where she tested positive for HIV. It was only on September 2nd of this year that she filed a report with the authorities. Makumbe appeared before magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa on September 3rd, facing charges of rape. He was remanded out of custody and bail issues did not arise because he was coming from home. The prosecution, initially represented by Lancelot Mutsokoti, laid out the allegations in court, portraying a grim picture of abuse of power and violence. The case sparked considerable public outcry, with many taking to social media to demand justice for the complainant and accountability for Makumbe. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares Johannesburg South Africas Justice Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, has moved to reassure the public that fugitive Shepherd Bushiri and his wife will face justice, despite concerns that the couple may attempt another escape. This follows a ruling in Malawi that the couple has a case to answer and could be extradited to South Africa to face charges of fraud, money laundering, and rape. The Bushiris infamously fled South Africa to Malawi in November 2020, after being granted R200,000 bail. Their escape sparked outrage and raised serious questions about the security measures in place to prevent such incidents. On Wednesday, the Chief Resident Magistrates Court in Lilongwe ruled that four out of the ten charges faced by the pair rape, contravention of bail conditions, forgery, and fraud must be heard in South Africa. This ruling was seen as a significant step forward in the extradition process. However, Bushiris legal team has indicated that they will appeal the ruling at a high court in Malawi, potentially delaying the extradition process further. According to the Malawian Ministry of Justice, The defence has requested that the magistrates court allow the Bushiris to remain on bail until they receive directions from the high court. They further applied for a 30-day stay order on the ruling, which the court granted. The magistrates court clarified that it does not have the jurisdiction to grant bail to fugitives, and therefore, a decision on the Bushiris bail will be determined by the high court. This means that, for now, the Bushiris will remain on bail, as the defence is expected to apply for bail during the stay order, as directed by the magistrates court. This situation has raised fears that the couple may use this opportunity to flee Malawi, potentially making their apprehension even more difficult. Speaking on eNCA on Thursday, Justice Minister Kubayi addressed these concerns, stating that she is confident that the Bushiris will be caught if they attempt to escape again. If [the Bushiris] do, then they are on the Interpol. So if they move to another country, well go and look for them and bring them back, Kubayi asserted. Kubayi also confirmed that Bushiris appeal will be strongly opposed. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the [Malawi] prosecutor are working together because the law requires them to work, she said, emphasising the collaborative effort to ensure the Bushiris are brought to justice. South Africa has recent experience with extradition cases, including ongoing efforts to bring the Gupta family back to the country to face corruption charges. The Gupta family, like the Bushiris, fled South Africa to avoid prosecution, highlighting the challenges involved in extraditing fugitives from other countries. According to Kubayi, the NPA has assured her that they are still actively working to bring the Gupta family back to South Africa. At the right time well communicate, like were communicating now with the Bushiri matter. We dont want to communicate things that are still in process and compromise the work, the minister explained, urging patience and understanding while the extradition process unfolds. Kubayi acknowledged that it would be unrealistic to provide a specific timeline for when the Gupta family will be returned to the country. Its not a matter that is within my control. Its work that we can commit [to and] that we will not abandon the case, she affirmed, reiterating the governments commitment to pursuing justice, regardless of the complexities and challenges involved. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares Harare Police in Harare have launched a manhunt for Vision Makichi, a 31-year-old man from Highfield, who is on the run after allegedly raping his 16-year-old maid. The incident has sparked outrage and renewed calls for the protection of vulnerable domestic workers. Harare provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Luckmore Chakanza, confirmed the case and appealed to the public for any information that may lead to Makichis arrest. Police are investigating a rape case involving an employer and his maid, said Insp Chakanza. According to police reports, the alleged rape occurred in the afternoon while Makichis wife was at work. The complainant, who was caring for a nine-month-old baby at the time, was reportedly asleep in her room when Makichi returned home. The accused person returned home and found the complainant fast asleep in her room. The accused entered the room and raped her, Insp Chakanza stated. Following the alleged assault, Makichi reportedly pleaded with the complainant not to disclose the incident to anyone. After the act the accused begged the complainant not to tell anyone about his deeds. He promised to do anything for her if she kept the secret, Insp Chakanza added. The complainant subsequently confided in her aunt, who then referred her to the Family Support Clinic at Sally Mugabe Hospital for medical examinations. The incident has brought into sharp focus the vulnerability of domestic workers, particularly young girls, who often face exploitation and abuse at the hands of their employers. The police are urging anyone with information regarding Makichis whereabouts to come forward and assist with the investigation. This case comes on the heels of another recent incident in Kwekwe, highlighting the ongoing challenges faced by domestic workers in Zimbabwe. Just weeks ago, a 31-year-old woman from Mbizo, Kwekwe, was convicted of assault after she brutally attacked her maid, accusing her of having an affair with her husband. In a statement released by the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ), the woman, Hazvinei Tswangira, appeared before the Kwekwe Magistrates Court on assault charges following the incident. The accused, Hazvinei Tswangira, violently attacked her maid, repeatedly striking her on the face and right shoulder with both her fists and an electric cable. The incident was reported to the authorities, resulting in Tswangiras arrest, the statement read. The attack allegedly stemmed from Tswangiras suspicions that her maid was involved in an affair with her husband, a claim that led to the violent outburst. The court sentenced Tswangira to pay a fine of US$250 or face 60 days in prison. Additionally, she was given a wholly suspended 3-month imprisonment sentence. The police are urging anyone with information about the Highfield rape case to contact their nearest police station. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are determined to bring Vision Makichi to justice. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares Shurugwi A 67-year-old man from Shurugwi has been sentenced after admitting to having sexual intercourse with his neighbours calf, claiming he was sex starved and driven by evil spirits. Twoboy Shamhu made the bizarre confession before Magistrate Sithabile Zungula, stating that his girlfriend was not providing sufficient intimacy and his wife had passed away, leaving him without an outlet for his desires. He further claimed he lacked the financial resources to engage the services of a sex worker. Shamhu appeared before Magistrate Zungula facing bestiality charges, a crime that has been on the rise in Zimbabwe in recent months. Magistrate Zungula sentenced him to six months in jail, suspending two months of the sentence on condition of good behaviour. The remaining four months were commuted to community service. The incident occurred last Friday when Shamhu entered the Marihoho homestead at night, opened the pen, tied the calf to a log, and proceeded to commit the act. Craig Mudzingwa, returning from the local shopping centre around 11 PM, heard unusual noises emanating from the pen. Upon investigation, he discovered Shamhu in the act of bestiality. A police report was subsequently filed, leading to Shamhus arrest. Tafadzwa Guzete prosecuted the case. This disturbing incident is not isolated, as Zimbabwe has seen a worrying increase in cases of bestiality, particularly involving defenceless animals like goats and donkeys. In a similar case from October last year, a 23-year-old man from Esigodini was apprehended for raping a goat, just over a year after another man from the same area was arrested for raping a goat to death. In the first Esigodini incident, Mthandazo Ndlovu raped Brighton Nkomos goat to death before being caught red-handed with Luckson Mkandlas goat. Both Nkomo and Mkandla are from Ntabende village in Esigodini. In the more recent Esigodini case, Nkosikhona Moyo, a married herdsman with two children, caused outrage after raping Munyaradzi Marufus goat from Njuka Farm. Similar to the previous case, Moyo was apprehended after goat owners followed a trail of footmarks from the goat pens to his home. Evidence presented in court revealed that on October 6, 2024, Moyo entered Marufus pen at Njuka Farm during the night, grabbed a female goat, and engaged in sexual activity with it. The following morning, Marufu discovered the goat unconscious and, upon examination, found what appeared to be human semen on its rear. Marufu and his co-workers then tracked the footsteps from the goat pen to Moyos residence. The matter was reported to the police, resulting in Moyos arrest and appearance before Esigodini magistrate Jeconia Prince Ncube. He was charged with bestiality as defined in Section 74 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23. Moyo pleaded guilty and was fined US$150 or two months imprisonment in default of payment. Magistrate Ncube described Moyos conduct as barbaric and morally reprehensible. In determining the sentence, the magistrate considered Moyos status as a first offender, his marital status, and his responsibility to support his children. He also noted that Moyo was the primary breadwinner for his family and that a custodial sentence would negatively impact his dependants. The magistrate also acknowledged Moyos guilty plea, which saved the court time. He pleaded guilty to the offence and did not waste the courts time. The goat did not die or suffer injury as a result of the offence. In aggravation, no compensation was paid to the owner of the goat. Further, the conduct of the offender was barbaric, ruled the magistrate. Be that as it may, imprisonment will be too harsh as the conduct of the offender did not cause the death of the goat. As such, a fine will serve the justice of the case. In another case, in September last year, Edward Chitivha, a 28-year-old man from Tolrose Compound in Kadoma, faced bestiality charges after allegedly having sex with a goat belonging to Isheunesu Shangudze, a 40-year-old villager of Plot 9, Blagdon Farm, Eiffel Flats. The incident, which occurred on August 12th, left villagers in shock and anger. According to court documents, Shangudze had secured his five goats for the night at around 4 PM. During the night, Chitivha allegedly entered the goat pen, removed his clothes, and placed them on the ground. He then tied the legs of a white female goat to a pole and proceeded to violate the animal. Shangudze, awakened by the distressed cries of the goat, went to investigate and spotted Chitivha, who fled the scene, leaving his clothes behind. Shangudze reported the incident to the police, leading to Chitivhas arrest. He appeared before the Kadoma Magistrates Court and was remanded in custody until September 17th. Bestiality is a serious crime under Zimbabwean law, carrying a potential fine of up to level fourteen or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or both. The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] specifically addresses bestiality in Section 74, defining it as any sexual act between a human and an animal. The Act states: Any person who knowingly commits any sexual act with an animal or bird shall be guilty of bestiality and liable to a fine up to or exceeding level fourteen or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or both. Breaking News via Email Related Pin Share Share 0 Shares Why Are Cats Such a Medical Black Box? New York Times Climate/Environment Pandemics China? Fascinating research by @MacroPoloChina: https://t.co/OSUvGP6Jbg Theyve looked at top-tier AI talent around the world and found that an astounding half of them (almost: 47%) were Chinese in 2022! The 2nd topmost nationality were Americans, at 18%. However, this top talent pic.twitter.com/bf3Cn4RrPw Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) March 7, 2024 Duterte in ICC custody after arriving in Netherlands: court DW Former Philippine President Duterte arrested for crimes against humanity WSWS. Washingtons accelerating preparations for war with China are fuelling the conflict in the Philippine eliteDuring his term as president, Duterte attempted to orient Philippine foreign policy away from Washington, announcing an end to a number of joint military exercises with the United States and refusing to pursue sovereignty claims against China over disputed waters in the South China Sea. Over the past three years, Marcos, the son of the countrys former dictator, has reintegrated the Philippines in Washingtons war drive. He has opened military bases for US forces, allowed the Pentagon to supervise confrontations with China in the South China Sea with drones, and authorized the US deployment of an intermediate range Typhon class missile launcher system to the country with the capacity to target nearly all of China. The Lucky Country Ruling elite demands massive increase to Australian military spending for war WSWS O Canada Syraqistan European Disunion New Not-So-Cold War Oh shit In case anyone is curious, Putin never makes a single move just for show. Only to send a message of whats to come. And this does not look like a man preparing to accept a 30 day ceasefire. https://t.co/0iPmtMhJs3 Duopoly Destroyer (@realnikohouse) March 12, 2025 Imperial Collapse Watch Against Nihilism NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS Biden Post Mortem Democrats en Deshabille Rahm Emanuel Is Gearing Up to Run for President Politico Dem Senator Elissa Slotkin (MI) says that by electing Trump, America is acting like petulant and angry teenager without a fully form[ed] brain: What do you do when you have a teenager threatening themselves and others, you just try to get them through this period alive. pic.twitter.com/7EN0xLkt7A Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 11, 2025 Biggest Federal Employee Unions Says Shutdown is Preferable to Elon/Trump CR Talking Points Memo Trump 2.0 / DOGE New Paper (hi law reviews!) Digitizing the Fisc is the first article to address the current separation of fiscal powers crisis, exemplified by Trumps takeover of the Treasurys payments IT systems, through a multidimensional legal, political economic, & technological lens pic.twitter.com/oeNtLV6XLs Rohan Grey (@rohangrey) March 11, 2025 Groves of Academe Just as predicted, the US governments abduction of Mahmoud Khalil has galvanized & re-invigorated the student protest movement against Israels genocide of the Palestinian people: UC Berkeley students walk out: https://t.co/ySmaoxLWfB Stanford students walk out: https://t.co/wkv0p08Txu Zachary Foster (@_ZachFoster) March 12, 2025 Yale Suspends Palestine Activist After AI Article Linked Her to Terrorism Gizmodo Police State Watch On CNN, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says Mahmoud Khalil is paid by a terrorist organization, saying I have evidence. When asked by who, Blakeman replies: Well, I didnt ask my intelligence division exactly who paid for him. pic.twitter.com/xUBLE7mGeM Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 11, 2025 PROFESSOR AT CENTER OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY DEPORTATION SCANDAL IS FORMER ISRAELI SPY MintPress News Tommy Tuberville: When it comes to protesters, we gotta make sure we treat all of them the same: send them to jail. pic.twitter.com/Na55pK3QsM Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 12, 2025 Urban Planning Architecture and urban planning have historically been used for population control and counterinsurgency. For decades, Israel has routinely destroyed the dense and meandering fabric of Palestinian refugee camps and neighbourhoods, which provided the local population with an pic.twitter.com/5cUtarXEwJ Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) March 10, 2025 Our Famously Free Press Miami Beach mayor moves to end O Cinema lease after screening of Israeli-Palestinian film Miami Herald Guillotine Watch Fink says he expects people to be working longer careers in the future (as long as they dont have work-related injuries and disabilities). Says research shows that people who retire early can suffer b/c they become isolated/lack purpose. Richard Morrison (@RichardMorrison) March 12, 2025 Supply Chain Shortage Economy Fowl Play: How Chicken Genetics Barons Created the Egg Crisis BIG by Matt Stoller Thank God For Weed Gummies Defector Antidote du jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Even though the Russians have made clear that they are in an uncompromising mood about Ukraine, the US has been so thick about getting the message that the Russians have resorted to using a two by four. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal have as their lead stories that the Russian have rejected the 30 day ceasefire scheme cooked up in Jeddah between the US and Ukraine as the way to get peace negotiations rolling. Mind you, this unofficial but really not so response may be a sign that Russia recognizes that it is dealing with an even more gang that cant shoot straight bunch than the fabulously lightweight Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan and does not see much point in coddling them. More on that angle in due course. Here is what the much-broadcast rejection amounted to. The interviewee, Yuri Ushakov, is an aide to Putin and an adviser on the Ukraine negotiations. As you can see, he is senior enough to be an interlocutor to Mike Waltz: Russia says it isn't interested in a temporary ceasefire but a permanent, long-term peaceful settlement with Ukraine. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/0Haf6xyHxM Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 13, 2025 Ushakov told the RT reporter that he told Waltz that the Russian position was no ceasefire. When he asked if his statement amounted to a Russian rejection, he demurred and said the two presidents would be talking. But Ushakov could have easily deflected the question had he wanted to or more importantly, had the Kremlin wanted to. A similar fast-out-of-the-box reaction didnt get as much play in the Western press: Temporary ceasefire is 'absolutely unacceptable' Member of Russian Parliaments Defense Committee Viktor Sobolev In a personal statement, Sobolev says that such a truce would only 'play into the hands of Ukrainian fascists', allowing them to 'regroup and rearm' https://t.co/NBTbpbNoaD pic.twitter.com/7BXYOPVMdj RT (@RT_com) March 11, 2025 Notice Putin shortly after the US-Ukraine scheme was announced donned military fatigues during a visit to Kursk. Most readers know that Ukraine invaded Kursk, a Russian oblast, but didnt get very far, and have been throwing men and material into Kursk as Russia has kept chewing away at their position. Hard-core military types have been upset that Russia did not dispatch the Kursk operation quickly, but I can see the logic of bleeding the Ukrainians there. Keeping a presence in Kursk became critical to Ukraine preserving appearances that it could keep up the fight against Russia, so they kept wasting soldiers and weapons to hold a strategically unimportant position. Putins change in attire seems out of proportion to merely commemorating the imminent success of the clearing-Kursk operation (readers: did he ever suit up during the Chechen war?). So I put this in the category of yet-another over-the-top message to the very thick Americans. Some Americans took it that way: Putin in a military uniform? Guess he didnt like the idea of a temporary ceasefire. UKRAINE IS FUCKED! pic.twitter.com/izyVLcueUN Jackson Hinkle (@jacksonhinklle) March 12, 2025 Reader Safety First described the key points Putin made : Putin, very, very uncharacteristically, donned a military field uniform, rolled down to the regional HQ in Kursk (Gerasimov was already there), and made a 5-minute on-camera statement, one of the two salient points of which is that he strongly suggested the military considers establishing a buffer zone around Russian borders after finishing clearing out the Kursk region. If that isnt a signal to the Americans about any ceasefires, I do not know what is His second salient point, by the way, was to stress that any Ukrainians captured in the Kursk region were not actually POWs, but rather terrorists, i.e. persons who have violated Russias criminal anti-terrorism statutes. Lets return to Ushakovs remarks. As indicated yesterday, I was highly confident the Russians would not entertain the US-Ukraine scheme, but I had assumed they would go through the diplomatic motions, of at least having a what I called a tea and cookies chat, and yet again restating Russias conditions before talks could begin. As readers pointed out in comments, Russia could also have gone for slow-walking to get expectations down: We agreed in Riyadh that we needed to get the diplomatic machinery on both sides back in operation before we can entertain any proposal. So why a speedy and very public rebuff? One possibility is that it was important to reassure the Russian public that Putin was not going all wobbly in response to a US overtures, particularly after the important milestone of the Ukraine rout in Kursk. But I can see at least two other motives. Ushakov pointed out that Putin and Trump will be talking. Getting the message out fast that the ceasefire was na ga happen would recalibrate Trumps expectations for what he could accomplish in that talk. The alternative, that Trump was all pumped up on the mistaken belief that Putin would agree to the ceasefire, perhaps after wrangling some concessions from Trump, could result in an unpleasant conversation. Another motive might be to discourage the US from attempting to engage in diplomacy via press release. Ushakov made his remark before Trump negotiator Steve Witkoff landed in Russia. In a recent talk on Nimas Dialogue Works, John Helmer argued that Witkoffs job was to talk business. I am dubious. Witkoff seems to be Trumps favorite negotiator. He dispatched Witkoff to handle a diplomatic matter, that of browbeating Netanyahu into accepting a ceasefire. If Witkoff was indeed traveling to Moscow to (along with other matters) to try to move the peace talks forward, he would find it embarrassing to have part of his agenda undercut before he landed on Russian TV. The Financial Times write-up of the Ushakov remarks and other developments includes: Russias rejection of the US proposal aligned with Putins hardline stance ahead of high-level talks later on Thursday in Moscow, where Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, has landed Ushakov said Witkoff, who spoke to Putin last month as the US began extraordinary attempts at a rapprochement with Russia, would not be the White Houses main envoy to Moscow. The Russian adviser said Washington and Moscow had agreed that any future contacts would be of a closed nature and declined to name the envoy. It could also be that the Russian side is even getting pissed and having to work to maintain its famous froideur. John Helmer, in the same talk with Nima, emphatically made the same point we did, that the US was siding with and backing Ukraine despite trying to pretend it was going to be a fair broker. He picked up that it included a demand based on ia debunked Ukraine propaganda claim: . return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children. He added that the US-Ukraine Joint Statement had it all backwards, in setting the objective as negotiations toward an enduring peace that provides for Ukraines long-term security. Putin has been talking since the 2007 Munich Security Conference about the Wests threat to Russian security, and the resulting need for a new European security architecture. This is yet more proof that the US pays no heed to Russian words or interests. In his talk yesterday, Alexander Mercouris read the Joint Statement as indicating that the US and Ukraine would negotiate together with Russia. I dont infer that, but if Mercouris has this right, this would be another show-stopper. The Ukrainians do not want peace. Or maybe this would not be so bad from the Russian vantage. I could see the Russians maneuvering with the Ukrainians to thwart any forward movement. This raises a final big issue: it is extremely hard to negotiate with people who dont know what they are doing, which is the Trump team and the Ukrainians in spades (remember that the Zelensky government is composed heavily of members of his old production team, which is why they are so good at PR and stunts and not much else). Ive been in that position occasionally, and it is very hard to lead functionally incompetent people (as in they may be skilled at other matters, but not the task at hand), since you need to take charge without looking like you have done so. I cant imagine either the Trump or Ukraine team to be tractable. In the mean time, the Europeans are trying to escalate. From Axios: Polish President Andrzej Duda has called on the U.S. to move some of its nuclear arsenal to Polish territory to deter potential future Russian aggression Duda told the Financial Times in an interview published Thursday that the U.S. could move nuclear weapons stored in Western Europe or the U.S. to Poland, and that hed discussed the idea with U.S. envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg. Scholz is on his way out, but is still reaffirming the European commitment to prevent an end to the war, since on current trajectories, it will be on Russian terms: Scholz said that Russia is striving to demilitarize Ukraine, but that this cannot be allowed. He stressed that a strong army is "the most important guarantee of the country's security." pic.twitter.com/RSwPzaI0Mg Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) March 13, 2025 So despite the US and its mouthpieces saying the ball was in Russias court, its now back on the US side of the net. Well see what happens next. News / National by Staff reporter Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, has firmly rejected a proposal to conduct coal mining within Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, emphasizing that alternative coal-rich areas are available elsewhere in the country.This opposition comes after a Chinese company, Sunny Yi Feng, applied for an Exclusive Prospecting Order in the Matabeleland North mining district, specifically targeting the Sinamatella area within Hwange National Park.Addressing members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Tourism during an induction workshop, Mudenda made it clear that he would not support any mining activities in national parks. He highlighted that coal deposits are abundant in other regions of the country, thus eliminating the need to mine in environmentally sensitive areas."I will not support mining in national parks. The area identified for mining is not the only place where coal can be found," Mudenda said. "We have coal deposits in the southern part of Binga, as well as in the southeast and southwest of Binga - virgin land with abundant coal reserves. Why disturb the delicate ecology of the animals there?"The proposal to mine coal in Hwange National Park has also been met with strong opposition from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks). In a statement last week, ZimParks urged the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to reject the application for exclusive prospecting rights, especially within the Sinamatella Black Rhino Intensive Protection Zone."We implore the ministry never to entertain such applications in the future," ZimParks said, stressing the significant environmental risks posed by the proposed mining project. The authority also raised concerns about the potential for increased land degradation, which is already a critical issue for ZimParks as part of its commitment to restoring at least 30% of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and ecosystems by 2030."The proposed mining project poses a significant threat to the environment and worsens land degradation," ZimParks warned.This rejection of mining in Hwange National Park reflects broader concerns over balancing economic development with environmental conservation in Zimbabwe. As the country seeks to tap into its vast natural resources, the protection of its wildlife and natural ecosystems remains a key issue for lawmakers and environmental bodies alike. Death by CHEMICAL RESTRAINTS: How Australias elderly and vulnerable were SEDATED into early graves during the COVID scandal In 2020, Australias elderly population faced a grim reality as public health authorities and medical systems implemented policies that not only failed to protect them but actively hastened their deaths. Approximately 75% of Australias so-called covid-19 deaths occurred in residential aged-care facilities (RACFs), with 40% of these deaths concentrated in just ten facilities, nine of which were in Victoria. The shocking truth? Sedatives like midazolam and morphine were widely used as chemical restraints, not to heal but to suppress and control. These drugs, administered under the guise of infection control and palliative care, accelerated the deaths of vulnerable elderly Australians, raising serious questions about the ethics and legality of these practices. This article exposes how Australias public health system, under the banner of pandemic management, abandoned its most vulnerable citizens, depriving them of proper medical care, isolating them from loved ones, and subjecting them to chemical restraints that suppressed their respiratory systems and hastened their demise. The elderly were not properly treated and cared for In 2020, Australia recorded 909 covid-19 deaths, with 678 of these occurring in RACFs. The case-fatality rate (CFR) for RACF residents was a staggering 33.45%, compared to just 0.04% among RACF staff. This disparity highlights the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on the elderly, particularly those with comorbidities. However, the high CFR in RACFs cannot be explained by the virus alone. The use of sedatives like midazolam and morphine played a significant role. These drugs, recommended for covid-19 patients and those unable to follow infection control measures, were administered under Australian law despite restrictions on chemical restraint. The evidence suggests that their use was not only widespread but also likely contributed to the elevated death toll in RACFs. By sedating the elderly, medical authorities were able to push other deadly interventions that further caused harm to their health, putting them in critical condition. The subsequent use of ventilators and the acquisition of hospital-acquired infections was part of the process. Sedation as a "solution": how the system failed The Australian New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM) published guidelines in April 2020 recommending the use of sedatives for covid-19 patients, including those receiving palliative or end-of-life care. These guidelines blurred the line between palliative care and end-of-life care, allowing for the widespread use of sedatives even in cases where recovery was uncertain. By September 2020, the National Covid-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce (NCCET) expanded on these recommendations, advising the use of sedatives to manage symptoms like breathlessness and agitation. The guidelines also suggested minimizing staff interaction with residents by using slow-release medications, effectively isolating patients and reducing their access to care. The consequences were devastating. Sedatives like midazolam and morphine suppress the central nervous system, exacerbating respiratory issues caused by covid-19. For elderly patients, already vulnerable due to age and comorbidities, these drugs likely hastened their deaths. Data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) reveal a surge in the use of sedatives during Australias covid-19 waves in 2020. Shortages of midazolam, morphine, and other palliative care drugs were reported, driven by unexpected consumer demand. These shortages coincided with spikes in prescriptions for sedatives, particularly in RACFs. The timing of these surges suggests that sedatives were used not only for palliative care but also as chemical restraints to control residents deemed difficult or wanderers. The result? A pull-forward effect where increased sedation likely hastened mortality among vulnerable individuals. Deaths by other causes: the hidden toll The use of chemical restraints in RACFs did not just impact covid-19 deaths. Data shows elevated mortality from other causes, such as dementia, during the pandemic. In 2020, dementia deaths exceeded those recorded during Australias worst flu season in 2019, despite the near-total absence of influenza. This suggests that the increased use of sedatives and the isolation of residents in RACFs contributed to a broader decline in health and well-being. The elderly, already marginalized by the pandemic response, were further victimized by policies that prioritized social distancing and isolation over compassionate care. The use of chemical restraints in Australias RACFs during the covid-19 pandemic represents a profound betrayal of trust. Public health authorities and medical systems, tasked with protecting the vulnerable, instead subjected them to policies that hastened their deaths. Sedation became a tool of convenience, a way to manage understaffing and infection control at the expense of human dignity. The elderly, isolated from their families and denied access to early treatments, were left to suffer in silence. Their deaths, whether labeled as covid-19 or attributed to other causes, are a testament to the failures of a system that prioritized control over care. As the world moves forward, the lessons of Australias pandemic response must not be forgotten. The elderly deserve better than to be sedated into early graves. They deserve compassion, dignity, and the right to live their final days surrounded by loved ones, not chemical restraints. This is not just a story of medical malpractice it is a story of systemic failure, human rights abuses, and the tragic consequences of prioritizing fear over humanity. Sources include: Expose-News.com Substack.com Health.gov.au [PDF] Archive.md Archive.md CDCs new conflicts of interest page: A step toward radical transparency or a distraction from Big Pharmas grip? The CDC has introduced a new webpage listing conflicts of interest among members of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since 2000, aiming to address concerns about pharmaceutical influence on public health policy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the move as a step toward "radical transparency." While transparency advocates like Kennedy applaud the initiative, critics, including former ACIP member Paul Offit, argue it is superficial and does little to address systemic issues. Offit dismissed the webpage as "nothing new," claiming such information has always been publicly available. The webpage discloses roughly 200 conflicts among over 40 current and former ACIP members, including consulting fees and patent holdings. This highlights long-standing concerns about the close ties between vaccine advisory boards and pharmaceutical companies. The initiative is seen as a small step in addressing the broader influence of Big Pharma on public health policy. Critics point to historical examples, such as the Gardasil vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines, where financial ties may have compromised public trust and decision-making. While the webpage is a positive move, advocates emphasize the need for systemic reforms to ensure public health decisions prioritize public well-being over profit. Kennedy and others argue that true accountability requires addressing financial ties and rebuilding trust in public health institutions. In a move that has sparked both praise and criticism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a new webpage detailing the conflicts of interest among members of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hailed the initiative as a step toward radical transparency, while critics dismissed it as a superficial gesture in the face of mounting public distrust of pharmaceutical influence on public health policy. The webpage, which lists conflicts of interest declared by ACIP members since 2000, is part of an ongoing effort to address concerns about the integrity of vaccine advisory boards. Critics claim the timing and motivations behind this move raise questions about the CDCs commitment to true accountability while supporters recognize it as a critical first step toward dismantling the deep-seated influence of Big Pharma on public health decisions. A long overdue step toward transparency For decades, critics have raised alarms about the cozy relationships between vaccine advisory board members and pharmaceutical companies. The ACIP, which plays a pivotal role in recommending vaccine schedules and policies, has long been scrutinized for potential conflicts of interest. The new webpage, which compiles disclosures from over 40 current and former voting members, reveals roughly 200 declared conflicts, ranging from consulting fees to patent holdings. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime advocate for vaccine safety and transparency, celebrated the move on social media, stating, Thank you, CDC, for your commitment to radical transparency. Kennedy, who has been a vocal critic of pharmaceutical influence on public health, has made transparency a cornerstone of his tenure at HHS. However, not everyone is convinced that this new tool represents meaningful progress. Paul Offit, a former ACIP member and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, dismissed the initiative as nothing new. In an interview with The Hill, Offit stated, I heard they were going to do this. Theres nothing new. This has always been available to the public. The bigger picture: Big Pharmas influence on public health The CDCs new webpage is a small step in addressing a much larger issue: the pervasive influence of pharmaceutical companies on public health policy. Historically, the relationship between regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry has been fraught with conflicts of interest. From the opioid crisis to the rapid approval of COVID-19 vaccines, critics argue that financial ties between regulators and industry have often compromised public trust. The ACIP, for example, has faced criticism for its role in recommending vaccines that are later found to have safety concerns. Critics point to the Gardasil vaccine, which was fast-tracked by the FDA in 2006 despite concerns about its long-term effects. Similarly, the rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines under emergency use authorization has raised questions about whether financial incentives influenced the approval process. The new webpage, while a step in the right direction, does little to address the systemic issues at play. As Kennedy has repeatedly argued, the pharmaceutical industrys financial ties to government agencies create a captured system where profit often takes precedence over public health. Vaccine zealots dismiss it as a distraction While the CDCs initiative has been praised by transparency advocates, some see it as a distraction from more pressing issues. Offit, for instance, argued that the focus on conflicts of interest detracts from the real threat of vaccine-preventable diseases. I think its just a distraction, he told The Hill. I think RFK Jr. believes that the pharmaceutical industry has captured committees like the ACIP or the FDA vaccine advisory committee, for which he has no evidence. But it sells in the current climate, this notion of conspiracy, that theres dark forces working behind the scenes to do harm. Yet, for many Americans, the notion of dark forces is not a conspiracy but a reality. The pharmaceutical industrys financial contributions to political campaigns, lobbying efforts and even academic research have created a system where profit often trumps public health. The CDCs new webpage, while a small step toward transparency, does little to address these systemic issues. A call for true accountability The CDCs new conflicts of interest webpage is a welcome, if overdue, step toward transparency. However, it is only a first step in addressing the pervasive influence of Big Pharma on public health policy. True accountability will require more than a list of disclosures; it will require systemic reforms to ensure that public health decisions are made in the best interest of the people, not the pharmaceutical industry. As Kennedy and other advocates continue to push for radical transparency, the CDC must go further to rebuild public trust. This means not only disclosing conflicts of interest but also addressing the financial ties that have long compromised the integrity of public health policy. Only then can we hope to create a system that prioritizes health over profitand restores faith in the institutions tasked with protecting our well-being. In the words of Kennedy, Radical transparency is not just a slogan; its a necessity. The CDCs new webpage is a small step in the right direction, but the journey toward true accountability has only just begun. Sources include: JustTheNews.com CDC.gov NewsNationNow.com Chinas galactic gamble: An orbiting SOLAR ARRAY to revolutionize renewable energy China plans to build a massive 0.6-mile-wide solar power station in geostationary orbit, 22,370 miles above Earth, capable of generating energy equivalent to all Earth's oil reserves in one year. The space-based solar array would collect solar energy continuously, unaffected by weather, day-night cycles, or seasons, offering a virtually limitless and clean energy source. The project relies on the development of the Long March-9 heavy-lift rocket capable of carrying 150 tons to low Earth orbit, and advanced technologies for assembling the array and beaming energy back to Earth via microwaves. While the United States, Japan and the European Space Agency are also exploring space-based solar power, China's project stands out for its scale and ambition, aligning with its broader goals of energy independence and space technology leadership. If successful, the project could revolutionize renewable energy, reduce fossil fuel dependence and mitigate climate change, though significant technological and logistical hurdles remain. In a bold move that could redefine the future of renewable energy, China has announced plans to construct a colossal solar power station in space, capable of generating energy equivalent to all the oil reserves on Earth in just one year. The project, spearheaded by leading Chinese rocket scientist Long Lehao, envisions a 0.6-mile-wide solar array orbiting 22,370 miles above Earth. This ambitious initiative, likened to "another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth," aims to overcome the limitations of terrestrial solar power by harnessing the sun's energy in space, where it is 10 times more intense than on the planet's surface. (Related: Solar power 24/7: China plans to build first solar power station in space and beam power to Earth.) The announcement, made during a lecture hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in October and later published in December, underscores China's growing ambitions in space technology and renewable energy. If successful, the project could mark a turning point in the global energy landscape, offering a virtually limitless and uninterrupted power source. The proposed space-based solar power station would be placed in geostationary orbit, ensuring it remains stationary relative to Earth. This positioning would allow the array to collect solar energy continuously, unaffected by weather, day-night cycles, or seasonal variations. According to Long, the energy collected by the array in one year would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that can be extracted from Earth. "This is an incredible project to look forward to," Long said during his lecture. "The energy collected in one year would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that can be extracted from the Earth." The project draws parallels to the Three Gorges Dam, China's massive hydropower project on the Yangtze River, which generates approximately 100 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The dam is so large that the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) estimates it has slowed Earth's rotation by 0.06 microseconds due to the mass of water it holds. Long's vision of a space-based solar array is equally monumental, with the potential to revolutionize energy production on a global scale. Heavy-lift rockets and technological hurdles Building a solar array of this scale in space is no small feat. The project hinges on the development of the Long March-9 (CZ-9), a reusable heavy-lift rocket capable of carrying at least 150 tons (136 metric tons) to low Earth orbit. This rocket, currently under development, would surpass NASA's Saturn V and Space Launch System (SLS) in payload capacity, making it a critical component of China's space ambitions. "The CZ-9 will reach 110 meters tall, and a major use of the rocket will be the construction of space-based solar power stations," Long explained. The logistical challenges of assembling such a massive structure in space are immense. Multiple launches would be required to transport the array's components, and advanced technologies would be needed to beam the collected energy back to Earth via microwaves. China has already begun testing key technologies, including the "Chasing Sun Project," a ground verification system for space solar power that demonstrated world-leading performance in microwave power transmission and efficiency. China is not alone in exploring space-based solar power. The concept, often referred to as the "Manhattan Project of the energy sector," has been discussed in scientific circles for decades. The United States, Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA) have all investigated the technology, with Japan planning to launch a small proof-of-concept satellite this year. U.S. companies like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are also actively developing space-based solar power systems. However, China's plan stands out for its scale and ambition. The country has already made significant strides in space technology, including the construction of its Tiangong space station and plans for a lunar research base by 2035. The space-based solar power project aligns with China's broader goals of achieving energy independence and reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. While the project is still in its early stages, its potential impact is staggering. Space-based solar power could provide a clean, renewable energy source that operates continuously, addressing one of the key limitations of terrestrial solar power. If successful, it could reduce global dependence on fossil fuels and help mitigate climate change. However, the road ahead is fraught with challenges. The development of the Long March-9 rocket, the assembly of the solar array in orbit, and the efficient transmission of energy back to Earth are all formidable tasks that will require years of research and testing. For now, the world watches as China takes a bold step toward a future where the sky is no longer the limit for renewable energy. Watch this clip of NASA astronauts installing a new solar array at the International Space Station. This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: To infinity and beyond: Space-based solar power eyed for cleaner energy. Chinese lunar probe returns with first-ever samples taken from the far side of the moon. Scientists now looking at transparent nanolayers for increased solar power production. Sources include: LiveScience.com InterestingEngineering.com NDTV.com Brighteon.com Democratic Party used taxpayer dollars to fund THUG UKRAINIAN SPIES to target Vice President J.D. Vance and other American leaders In a shocking revelation, USAID-funded Ukrainian groups have been exposed for using American taxpayer dollars to defame U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, members of Congress, and journalists as "foreign propagandists" aligned with Russia. This corrupt operation, which includes training Ukrainians in psychological warfare (PSYOP) tactics , raises serious questions about the U.S. government's role in meddling in its own politics and silencing dissent. USAID-funded Ukrainian group Molfar labeled Vice President J.D. Vance, Rep. Thomas Massie, and Counter terrorism Director Joe Kent as "foreign propagandists" and demanded their removal from public office. Molfar, with direct U.S. government support, trained thousands of Ukrainian public workers in smear tactics, cyber warfare, and PSYOP techniques. Other U.S.-funded groups, including VoxUkraine and Ukraines Center for Countering Disinformation, collaborated to create blacklists targeting American journalists and politicians critical of U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Molfars activities extended beyond smearing Americans, as it provided intelligence used to target Russian soldiers, resulting in devastating human costs. The Deep States shadow war on American dissent The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), long criticized for its wasteful and opaque foreign expenditures, has now been implicated in one of the most scandalous operations in recent memory. Documents reveal that USAID funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to Ukrainian groups like Molfar, VoxUkraine, and the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), which systematically targeted American political leaders and journalists who dared to question U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Vice President J.D. Vance, a vocal critic of endless foreign wars and Ukraines NATO aspirations, was branded a foreign propagandist of the Russian Federation by Molfar. The groups website condemned Vance for stating that Ukraine should not join NATO, arguing it would invite the American nation to go to war. Molfar also attacked Vance for comparing Ukrainian democracy to Afghanistan and opposing continued U.S. funding of the conflict. But Vance was not alone. Rep. Thomas Massie and Counter terrorism Director Joe Kent were similarly smeared, with Molfar demanding their removal from public positions, the introduction of sanctions, and investigations into personal involvement in crimes. The groups blacklist, which remains active to this day, accuses these Americans of posing a threat to the national security of countries that do not support the terrorist policy of the Russian Federation. U.S.-funded psyops and the weaponization of information Molfar, whose name translates to sorcerer or wizard, describes itself as an open-source intelligence agency dedicated to collecting lists of Ukrainian enemies to bring war criminals to justice. However, its activities go far beyond intelligence gathering. A 2022 report bearing USAIDs logo revealed that Molfar, with the support of the U.S. Civil Research and Development Fund (CRDF) and the U.S. Department of State, trained over 2,000 Ukrainian public workers in open-source searches, contact search, using Telegram bots, PSYOP and their use as a method of information warfare, image analysis, and human intelligence (HUMINT) or social engineering. In total, USAID allocated $60 million to strengthen Ukraines cybersecurity, a euphemism for funding groups that weaponize information against American citizens. Molfars tactics included doxxing journalists like Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone, publishing his home address, family details, and even the addresses of his co-workers. This reckless endangerment of American lives was carried out under the guise of combating Russian propaganda. The web of censorship and blacklists Molfar was not the only U.S.-funded group targeting Americans. VoxUkraine, a Ukrainian think tank and self-styled fact-checker, received millions from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and USAID. In 2024, VoxUkraine partnered with the CCD to compile a blacklist of 26 Western experts, including journalists Tucker Carlson, Glenn Greenwald, and academics like Jeffrey Sachs and John Mearsheimer, accusing them of promoting Russian narratives. The CCD, an official appendage of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, also smeared now-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard as being on the Kremlins payroll. Despite later deleting the post and blaming an unspecified employee, the damage was done. These groups, funded by American taxpayers, have systematically worked to silence dissent and criminalize anti-war voices. The human cost of taxpayer-backed information warfare While Molfar gained notoriety in the West for smearing American leaders, it earned a different reputation in Ukraine for its role in targeting Russian soldiers. The groups CEO, Artem Starosiek, boasted that Molfars intelligence led to HIMARS strikes on Russian positions, including a devastating attack in Rubizhnoye. However, the human cost of these operations is staggering. Elderly survivors in Rubizhnoye described the horror of losing everything to U.S.-supplied missiles, with one woman condemning the fascists who carried out the strikes and the Americans who enabled them. The revelation that U.S. taxpayer dollars funded Ukrainian groups to smear American leaders and journalists as Russian propagandists is a damning indictment of the Deep States corruption. This shadowy alliance between USAID, Ukrainian intelligence, and neo-Nazi-linked groups like Molfar represents a betrayal of American values and a dangerous escalation in the weaponization of information. As Vice President J.D. Vance and other targeted officials now hold key positions in the Trump administration, the question remains: will they dismantle this corrupt information warfare apparatus, or will the Deep States tentacles continue to strangle dissent? Sources include: TheGrayZone.com Molfar.com Molfar.com Do non-citizens have constitutional rights? The founding fathers thought so. Columbia University student and legal US resident, Mahmoud Khalil, was arrested last week by federal agents. Although Khalil is a legal resident with a green card, and has not even been accused of any immigration-related infraction, he is being held at an immigration detention center. (Article by Ryan McMaken republished from Mises.org) The Trump administration has hinted that Khalil is guilty of some sort of non-specific terrorist activity, but Khalil has yet to be charged with any crime at all. Indeed, when House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked at a recent press conference what crime Khalil had committed, he couldnt name one. Rather, as the AP reported yesterday, The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was taken into custody as a result of Trumps executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. So specific act of violence, theft, vandalism, or fraud is named. So, heres the situation: a legal resident of the United States, who has not been convicted of any crime, or even facing any charges, is now in a holding cell until government agents can come up with a crime that they think they can get past a federal judge. Do Non-Citizens Have Constitutional Rights? Whatever one may conclude in the recent debate over illegal aliens and whether or not those people have a right of due process no one disputes that Khalil is a legal resident. Moreover, hes a green card holder and permanent resident, and not just a visa holder. So, does Khalil have a legal right to due process in the United States? Can the administration simply pack him off to jail because the president wishes it? The Trump administration and its supporters have long labored under the false notion that non-citizens do not have full legal rights under the US constitution. In this, they reflect the views of Dick Cheney and other politicians of the era of the Global War on Terror when the executive state was forever searching for new ways to justify spying on American citizens and expanding the police state. This idea, however, has no grounding in text of the Bill of Rights or in the thinking of American founders influenced by Thomas Jefferson and other opponents of a strong central American state. David Cole writes in the Thomas Jefferson Law Review: The Constitution does distinguish in some respects between the rights of citizens and noncitizens: the right not to be discriminatorily denied the vote and the right to run for federal elective office are expressly restricted to citizens. All other rights, however, are written without such a limitation. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment due process and equal protection guarantees extend to all persons. The rights attaching to criminal trials, including the right to a public trial, a trial by jury, the assistance of a lawyer, and the right to confront adverse witnesses, all apply to the accused. And both the First Amendments protections of political and religious freedoms and the Fourth Amendments protection of privacy and liberty apply to the people. The fact that the Framers chose to limit to citizens only the rights to vote and to run for federal office is one indication that they did not intend other constitutional rights to be so limited. The Court has repeatedly stated that the Due Process Clause applies to all persons within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent. ... When noncitizens, no matter what their status, are tried for crimes, they are entitled to all of the rights that attach to the criminal process, without any distinction based on their nationality. There are strong normative reasons for the uniform extension of these fundamental rights. As James Madison himself argued, those subject to the obligations of our legal system ought to be entitled to its protections. This idea is clearly represented in the text of the Bill of Rights itself. Historian Wang Xi notes: It is also important to note that the word citizen or citizens was not used at all in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments added to the Constitution in 1791. The Bill of Rights used people five times and person/persons four times. The implication is clear: the fundamental rights to be protected here were not the rights to be granted to citizens but rights that had belonged to people before citizenship was created. These rights were beyond the reach of the (federal) government. This last sentence is key and illustrates an important philosophical and ideological reason why the Bill of Rights rightly applies to all persons, and not only to citizens. Rights can only truly be beyond the reach of the federal government if they are assumed to not be voidable by the US government. If rights can be voided by revoking or denying citizenship, then federal government enjoys a big loophole when it comes to the bill of rights. The early framers recognized this, and since the Bill of Rights was designed specifically by the anti-federalists to limit federal power, this disconnect between rights and citizenship helped ensure that the federal government could not do an end run around rights by simply declaring that a person was not a citizen. (Notably, in the early decades of the constitution, it was the states, not the federal government, that determined citizenship, further limiting federal power.) This all makes perfect sense when we recognize that citizenship and natural rights are two completely different things. Citizenship is an administrative status that has no meaning outside of administrative government. Rights, understood as property rights or natural rights, pre-date the state and exist separate from it. True property rights are natural, and if rights are natural in their origini.e., people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, to use Jeffersons phrase then rights cannot be denied based on ones citizenship status. The Current Hysteria Mirrors that behind the Alien and Sedition Acts In the centuries since the Bill of Rights was written, however, the federal government has become far more powerful than it was in the 1790s. The federal government usually motivated by fears over insurrectionists and foreign threats has invented for itself many ways that it can get around the Bill of Rights. Indeed, those who favored an expanded federal state almost immediately set to work giving the federal government new powers to be used against resident aliens. This can be seen in the Federalist Partys support of the Alien and Sedition Acts during the John Adams administration. The Federalists routinely played up domestic fears about French revolutionary involvement in the United States, and used this as justification for new laws allowing the President vast new powers to deport alleged enemies of the state and to silence critics. This was justified on the idea that foreign agents were undermining the United States government somehow, and therefore resident aliens ought to be stripped of their natural rights. As a result, many enemies of the Adams regime were arrested and deported, Some were even imprisoned in the United States. Fortunately, the Jeffersonians came to power in 1801 and allowed most of the provisions of the acts to expire. For decades afterward, the federal government remained extremely limited in its powers to deny property rights based on citizenship or claims of insurrection. It was not until the aftermath of the US Civil War, with newly invented political crimes like sedition, that the Federal government was again able to significantly expand its prosecutions of alleged foreign agents. These federal powers were again greatly expanded with the widespread xenophobia that prevailed during the two World Wars. Property Rights versus the Fake Crime of Federally Defined Antisemitism The current administrations efforts to void property rights for non-citizens is especially troubling given the political nature of the alleged crimes of Khalil. On Monday, federal official claimed Khalil was arrested to enforce the White Houses new order on antisemitism. On Tuesday, however, officials were claiming that Khalil was arrested for some sort of terrorism because Khalil had facilitated the distribution of pro-Hamas propaganda. Either way, it seems the federal government plans to charge Khalil with some vague antisemitism charge or with the crime of saying pro-Hamas things. Its hard to imagine two crimes that are less permissible under an honest reading of the First Amendment. First of all, the new crime of antisemitism, invented by the presidents recent executive order, is nothing more than the sort of hate crime law that Conservatives used to revile. The presidents order says that discriminating against Jews or engaging in crimes that target Jews are a special kind of crime. Conservatives used to mock this sort of thing and rightly so. First of all, if Jewish students on campuses have been physically assaulted or their property vandalized, then the people who commit those crimes should be prosecuted for assault and vandalism. Vandalism and assault are already illegal. Moreover, discrimination isnt a real crime if it doesnt involve some sort of physical violence, fraud, or theft. Not liking a person because he or she is a member of a certain group is illogical and distasteful, but it has never been an actual violation of property rights. Non-violent discrimination is simply another term for free association. Specific threats against the safety of any person whether Jewish or not are already crimes. There is no need of a special antisemitism law. Of course, the administration knows that acts of violence and vandalism are already illegal. The real purpose of the executive order is to crack down on protests against the State of Israel and virtually everyone knows this. It is clear that Khalils real crime is criticizing the State of Israel, and Trump has said as much, singling out anti-Israel protests as the only sort of protest for targeting in his executive order. If Khalil had protested anything other than the State of Israel, hed be a free man right now. Nor is it a real crime i.e., a violation of property rights to say things in support of some alleged terrorist organization. The very idea of such a thing would have struck most conscientious Americans as despotic in the extreme throughout most of the nineteenth century. For many supporters of the administration, the fact that federal agents have arrested Khalil is enough to establish his guilt and revoke his rights. No due process is necessary. And, apparently, its not even necessary that Khalil commit any actual crimes against person or property. Its enough that hes a person the administration doesnt like. So deportation awaits. The spirit of the Alien and Sedition acts is alive and well. Read more at: Mises.org Europe is now a dictatorship: Romanian presidential frontrunner barred, sparking political crisis Calin Georgescu, the leading candidate in Romanias presidential election rerun, was disqualified by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) for allegedly holding anti-democratic and extremist views, sparking widespread protests and accusations of political interference. Georgescu condemned the decision as a blow to democracy, declaring, Europe is now a dictatorship; Romania is under tyranny, and warning of global democratic collapse if Romanias democracy fails. The BECs decision triggered violent clashes in Bucharest between Georgescus supporters and riot police, highlighting deep societal divisions and raising concerns about Romanias democratic integrity. Romanias political instability, rooted in its history of fascism and communism, is exacerbated by suspicions of Russian interference and claims that the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) manipulated the election process to sabotage Georgescu. The crisis has significant geopolitical ramifications, as Romanias role in NATO and the EU is critical amid the Ukraine conflict. The Constitutional Courts upcoming ruling on Georgescus appeal will determine Romanias political future and test its democratic resilience. In a dramatic turn of events that has shaken Romania and drawn international attention, presidential frontrunner Calin Georgescu has been barred from running in the upcoming election rerun, prompting him to declare that Europe is now a dictatorship and Romania is under tyranny. The decision by Romanias Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) to reject Georgescus candidacy has ignited protests, accusations of political interference and a deepening crisis in one of the European Unions most strategically important member states. A controversial decision On Sunday, March 9, the BEC dismissed Georgescus bid to run in the presidential election rerun, citing his allegedly anti-democratic and extremist stance. The ruling stated that Georgescu had failed to comply with the rules of the electoral procedure, violating the very obligation to defend democracy. The decision came as a shock to many, as Georgescu had been polling between 40% and 45% and was widely seen as the favorite to win the presidency. Georgescu, a vocal critic of NATO, the EU and Western support for Ukraine, did not mince words in his response. A direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide! I have one message left! If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall! This is just the beginning. Its that simple! Europe is now a dictatorship; Romania is under tyranny! he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). The BECs decision has plunged Romania into chaos. Hundreds of Georgescus supporters took to the streets of Bucharest, clashing with riot police who responded with tear gas and pepper spray. Protesters waved Romanian flags and chanted, Thieves! and The last resort is another revolution! The unrest underscores the deep divisions within Romanian society and raises questions about the integrity of its democratic institutions. A nation at a crossroads Romanias political turmoil is not without historical precedent. The country has a long history of political instability, from the interwar period dominated by the fascist Iron Guard to the decades of communist rule under Nicolae Ceau?escu. The 1989 revolution that toppled Ceau?escu was supposed to usher in a new era of democracy, but corruption and political infighting have plagued the country ever since. Georgescus rise to prominence is emblematic of this ongoing struggle. A relatively unknown figure before the 2024 presidential election, he surged to victory in the first round with 23% of the vote, only to have the results annulled by the Constitutional Court. The court cited irregularities in his campaign and intelligence reports alleging Russian interference. However, preliminary investigations suggested that the irregularities may have been orchestrated by a consulting firm linked to the ruling pro-Western National Liberal Party (PNL), which allegedly sought to sabotage another candidate but inadvertently boosted Georgescu instead. This latest decision to bar Georgescu from the rerun has further fueled suspicions of political manipulation. George Simion, a close ally of Georgescu and leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, denounced the move as a coup detat. The bureau does not have the right to reject a candidate when all the requirements regarding documents, signatures and forms are met, Simion said. The broader implications The crisis in Romania has far-reaching implications for Europe and the West. As a member of both the EU and NATO, Romania plays a crucial role in the geopolitical landscape, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Georgescus anti-NATO and anti-EU rhetoric, coupled with his past praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has raised concerns about the direction Romania might take under his leadership. However, Georgescu has denied being pro-Russia, stating that his criticisms of NATO and the EU are rooted in a desire for national sovereignty. I am not pro-Russia, he has said. I am pro-Romania. The BECs decision to bar Georgescu has also reignited debates about the state of democracy in Europe. Critics argue that the move sets a dangerous precedent, allowing unelected bureaucrats to disqualify candidates based on subjective criteria. Supporters, on the other hand, contend that Georgescus alleged ties to extremist ideologies and his failure to disclose campaign finances make him unfit for office. Whats next? Georgescu has appealed the BECs decision to Romanias Constitutional Court, which is expected to issue a ruling by Wednesday, March 12. The courts decision will be pivotal in determining the future of Romanias political landscape. If Georgescu is allowed to run, he could potentially win the presidency, reshaping Romanias foreign policy and its relationship with the West. If he is barred, the protests and unrest are likely to intensify, further destabilizing the country. As the first round of the election rerun approaches on May 4, 2025, Romania finds itself at a crossroads. The outcome of this crisis will not only determine the fate of Calin Georgescu but also test the resilience of democracy in a nation still grappling with the ghosts of its past. For now, Georgescus words ring loud and clear: If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall. Whether this is a prophetic warning or political hyperbole remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: The eyes of the world are on Romania. Sources include: RT.com WashingtonPost.com EuroNews.com Opposing Trumps Nakba plan for Gaza is the only way for Jordan and Egypt to survive Within 24 hours of US President Donald Trump meeting Jordan s King Abdullah II, the White House released a recorded video of Trump praising the king after a humiliating exchange in front of the media. (Article by Raja Abdulhaq republished from MiddleEastEye.net) During their meeting, Trump pushed the king to accept his plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza into Jordan, leaving Abdullah struggling to find an appropriate response. In the lead-up to the meeting, Trump threatened to cut aid to Jordan and Egypt should they reject his plan. Egypt has since repeated its refusal and stressed the importance of ending the war and rebuilding Gaza without displacement, while President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reportedly postponed a visit to the White House to avoid discussing Trumps proposal. King Abdullah, on the other hand, seemed to signal his openness to the idea by asserting that he would do whats best for his country - an apparent deviation from the long-standing official Jordanian position of rejecting the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland. The king himself, along with his foreign minister and the White House press secretary, all later reiterated Jordans official position of rejecting any displacement plans. These desperate attempts to clarify Jordans position, despite Trumps bullying rhetoric, highlight the importance of Jordan for US power and influence in the region. Although Trump had already backtracked on his ultimatums against Jordan and Egypt, his video praising the king should be seen as an intervention of the US bureaucracy, as Trumps words have clearly become a liability for the American empire. Severe backlash While the US could attempt to unilaterally force Jordan and Egypt to accept the Gaza displacement plan, the backlash against American interests in the region would be severe. Both regimes are vital to US hegemony in the region, especially in relation to Israel. Agreeing to a large-scale displacement of Palestinians would undermine the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes, both morally and politically. Jordan and Egypt are responsible for protecting the borders of Israel against attacks and arms smuggling to Palestinian resistance groups. They also work to contain local political actors who oppose American hegemony and the Israeli occupation. Since the Nakba in 1948, Jordan has struggled to deal with the presence of Palestinian refugees within its borders. The 1964 formation of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and the strong presence of the Palestinian resistance in Jordan, complicated matters further. After expelling Palestinian revolutionary forces to Lebanon in 1971, Jordan began a process of Jordanisation, aiming to create a single national identity that eclipsed the Palestinian presence. This left Palestinian refugees in the country in a vulnerable position, similar to other immigrants pushed to assimilate into the American melting pot. The Palestinian cause became a secondary issue, as Jordans borders with Israel were secured against attacks under the pretext of preserving Jordans national security. Jordan doubled down on its commitment to protecting Israels borders with the signing of their 1994 peace treaty. Accepting displaced Palestinians from Gaza into Jordan wouldnt just be a public relations nightmare for the regime; it would also undermine every aspect of the Jordanisation project that has been pivotal in streamlining the countrys political discourse, benefitting the US and Israel. Alongside the social and economic impacts of taking in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Jordan would struggle to assimilate the newly displaced population, risking political destabilisation. The last thing the Jordanian regime needs is a rerun of the 1960s. Existential threat Egypt, meanwhile, has played a critical role in recent years in suffocating Gaza through the destruction of more than 2,000 tunnels and the razing of Rafah to create a five-kilometre buffer zone, aiming to stop the smuggling of weapons. This has helped Israel to tighten its siege of Gaza. But after failing to liquidate the Palestinian resistance in Gaza through 17 years of blockade, several major wars and a 15-month genocide, Israels last resort seems to be a repeat of the 1948 ethnic cleansing. Thwarting Trump's displacement plan may be the only strategy left for these regimes to stave off their political demise Although Jordan and Egypt are deeply reliant on US support, they cannot accept Trumps Gaza displacement plan because it constitutes an existential threat to their regimes. Up until now, their dependence presented a win-win situation, as both states could align with US interests while publicly pushing for a just solution to the Palestinian question. But with the new US-Israeli push to ethnically cleanse Gaza, Jordan and Egypt must realise that their decades-long servitude to American interests, dressed up as pragmatism for survival, will not protect them from the expansionist Zionist settler-colonial project. Since Palestinians in Gaza refuse to be expelled, its in the best interests of Jordan and Egypt to provide them with logistical and political support. While normalising with Israel and protecting its borders were the costs of staying in power, today, thwarting Trumps displacement plan may be the only strategy left for these regimes to stave off their political demise. If Jordan and Egypt work proactively against the displacement of Palestinians, even if such a strategy is self-serving, the US would have to make hard choices as to whether the ramifications of undermining its biggest allies in the region to fulfil the fantasies of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are worth it. Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net States race to ban toxic food dyes as RFK Jr. pushes industry for reform At least a dozen states are banning synthetic food dyes linked to health risks, particularly for children, citing neurobehavioral issues and cancer concerns. West Virginia leads with a comprehensive ban on multiple food dyes, gaining bipartisan support and public backing from the MAHA movement. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pressured food industry leaders to remove artificial dyes from products before he leaves office. The FDA faces criticism for its slow response to banning harmful additives, prompting states to take independent action. In a sweeping effort to protect public health, at least a dozen U.S. states are racing to ban common food dyes and chemical additives linked to health risks, particularly for children. From West Virginia to New York, lawmakers are taking action to eliminate synthetic dyes found in candies, snacks, and beverages, citing growing concerns over neurobehavioral issues and potential cancer risks. The movement has gained momentum under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has urged food industry leaders to remove artificial dyes from products by the time he leaves office. West Virginia leads the charge West Virginia has emerged as a trailblazer in the fight against food additives, passing a comprehensive ban on a range of yellow, blue, green, and red dyes. The measure, which has garnered bipartisan support, prohibits the sale of any food product containing these chemicals and is expected to reach the governors desk for final approval soon. State Senator Laura Wakim Chapman, chair of the West Virginia Senate Health and Human Resources Committee, credited the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement for galvanizing public support. Viral videos and social media content are informing the public about the dangers of unnecessary food additives, Chapman said. I am a mother of two and care deeply about their health. I think most parents do. Other states are following suit. Virginia recently passed a bill banning seven food dyes from public schools, while Oklahoma advanced a measure to prohibit 21 synthetic dyes and additives, requiring warning labels on affected products. New York lawmakers are pushing for a ban on seven dyes in school foods and statewide sales of products containing Red 3 Dye and other additives. California, a leader in the movement, banned six dyes from school meals last year and prohibited Red 3 Dye and three other additives from statewide sales in 2023. RFK Jr.s ultimatum to the food industry These state-level efforts align with a broader push by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made removing artificial dyes a cornerstone of his public health agenda. In a closed-door meeting with food industry leaders, including CEOs from PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, and General Mills, Kennedy issued a clear directive: eliminate artificial dyes from products before he leaves office. The Secretary made clear his intention to take action unless the industry is willing to be proactive with solutions, wrote Melissa Hockstad, CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, in a memo obtained by ABC News. Kennedys stance reflects growing public demand for safer food options. Consumers are demanding better food choices and questioning why other countries restrict harmful dyes while America continues to allow them, said Hillary Pugh Kent, a Republican legislator in Virginia who championed the states dye ban. FDA under scrutiny The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has faced criticism for its handling of food additives. In January, the agency banned Red 3 Dye, but only after years of pressure from advocates citing studies linking the dye to cancer in rodents. Critics argue the FDA has been slow to act, prompting states to take matters into their own hands. I think many see FDAs belated ban on Red 3 as further evidence that FDA is not very effective at safeguarding the food supply, said Lisa Lefferts, an environmental health consultant who served on a 2011 FDA advisory board. The food industry, however, has pushed back, warning that state-level bans could lead to higher prices and reduced accessibility. The National Confectioners Association (NCA) argued that the FDA should be the sole authority on food additives, stating, Decision-making should be left to FDA. As states forge ahead with bans and Kennedy pressures the industry to reformulate products, the movement to eliminate artificial dyes marks a turning point in the fight for safer food. With bipartisan support and growing public awareness, the push for transparency and healthier options is gaining traction. Sources for this article include: TheGuardian.com Reuters.com ABCNews.go.com News / National by Staff reporter A Livingstone couple has been detained after allegedly attempting to smuggle three Zimbabwean children, aged between 4 and 12 years into Zambia.Humphrey Likando (62) and Maggie Phiri (51) of Dambwa Central were apprehended following an attempt to smuggle the Children at the Victoria Falls Border Control.Immigration Department Public Relations Officer Namatu Nshiinka says officers intercepted James Simaundu, a taxi driver, who was transporting the children.Nshiinka says upon questioning, Simaundu failed to provide a satisfactory account of the children's identities or their origins, leading to his detention.He says further investigation revealed that Simaundu was hired by the couple to transport the children from Zimbabwe into Zambia. U.S. regulator greenlights banks for crypto activities, reversing 2021 restrictions On March 7, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that banks can now engage in cryptocurrency-related activities, reversing its 2021 policy that imposed stricter oversight. This marks a significant step toward mainstream adoption of digital assets in traditional banking. The OCCs new guidance allows banks to hold cryptocurrency assets, manage stablecoin reserves and participate in distributed ledger networks without prior regulatory approval. Banks must maintain robust risk management controls similar to those used for traditional banking activities. The decision rescinds the 2021 policy that required banks to notify regulators and obtain approval before engaging in crypto activities. This shift reflects growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate financial asset class, despite past concerns about volatility and risks. The OCCs move bridges traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem, enabling banks to streamline payments, reduce costs and enhance transparency. It also supports the integration of stablecoins, which are increasingly used for transactions and remittances. While the decision fosters innovation, challenges remain, including cryptocurrency volatility, fraud and inconsistent regulatory oversight across agencies. The move aligns with global trends toward crypto acceptance but highlights the need for a cohesive regulatory framework to balance innovation and risk management. In a landmark move that signals a shift in the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced on March 7 that banks are now permitted to engage in certain cryptocurrency-related activities. This decision reverses a 2021 policy that imposed stricter oversight on banks venturing into the crypto space, marking a significant step toward mainstream adoption of digital assets in the traditional banking system. The OCCs latest guidance allows banks to hold cryptocurrency assets, manage reserves for stablecoins and participate in distributed ledger networks without requiring prior approval from regulators. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney E. Hood emphasized that banks must maintain robust risk management controls, akin to those used for traditional banking activities. The OCC expects banks to have the same strong risk management controls in place to support novel bank activities as they do for traditional ones, Hood stated. Todays action will reduce the burden on banks to engage in crypto-related activities and ensure that these bank activities are treated consistently by the OCC, regardless of the underlying technology. A rollback of 2021 restrictions The OCCs decision to rescind its 2021 policy is a pivotal moment for the banking sector. That year, the regulator had mandated that banks notify their supervisory offices and obtain approval before engaging in crypto-related activities. Supervisors were required to evaluate a banks systems to ensure they could safely conduct such activities. This cautious approach reflected broader regulatory concerns about the volatility and risks associated with cryptocurrencies. In 2023, the OCC, alongside the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), issued a joint statement warning banks about the risks posed by crypto-asset market vulnerabilities, including liquidity concerns. However, the OCCs latest move signals a departure from this stance, aligning with the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate financial asset class. A rocky road for crypto regulation The OCCs evolving stance on cryptocurrencies has been a rollercoaster ride. In 2020, under the Trump administration, the regulator issued a series of interpretive letters that opened the door for banks to provide services to crypto firms, hold reserves for stablecoin issuers and use blockchain technology for payment activities. These actions were seen as a nod to the burgeoning crypto industry. However, the regulatory environment shifted in 2021, when the OCC introduced stricter oversight, requiring banks to demonstrate they could manage crypto activities in a safe and sound manner. This move was met with criticism from the crypto community, which argued that excessive regulation stifled innovation. The Biden administration further complicated matters by maintaining a cautious approach, with the OCC rescinding some of its earlier pro-crypto guidance. The latest announcement, however, suggests a renewed willingness to embrace the potential of digital assets while ensuring robust oversight. Implications for the banking sector The OCCs decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for the banking industry. By allowing banks to hold crypto assets and manage stablecoin reserves, the regulator is effectively bridging the gap between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem. Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar, have gained traction as a reliable medium for transactions and remittances. The OCCs endorsement of stablecoin activities could pave the way for greater integration of these digital assets into the mainstream financial system. Moreover, the ability to participate in distributed ledger networks the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies could enable banks to streamline payment processes, reduce transaction costs and enhance transparency. A broader trend toward crypto acceptance The OCCs announcement comes amid a broader trend of increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies. President Donald Trump, a vocal advocate for digital assets, recently signed an executive order establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve. The reserve will reportedly be funded using bitcoin seized from criminals, a move that underscores the growing recognition of bitcoin as a store of value akin to gold. The OCCs decision also aligns with global efforts to regulate and integrate cryptocurrencies into the financial system. Countries like Switzerland, Singapore and Japan have already implemented frameworks to support crypto innovation while mitigating risks. Challenges ahead While the OCCs latest guidance is a positive development for the crypto industry, challenges remain. Cryptocurrencies are still highly volatile, and regulatory clarity is needed to address concerns about fraud, money laundering and consumer protection. The OCCs decision to withdraw from joint statements on crypto risks with the Federal Reserve and FDIC raises questions about the consistency of regulatory oversight across agencies. Critics argue that a fragmented approach could undermine efforts to create a cohesive regulatory framework for digital assets. Conclusion The OCCs reversal of its 2021 policy marks a significant milestone in the evolution of cryptocurrency regulation. By allowing banks to engage in crypto-related activities, the regulator is fostering innovation while emphasizing the importance of robust risk management. As the crypto industry continues to mature, the OCCs decision could serve as a catalyst for greater collaboration between traditional financial institutions and the digital asset ecosystem. However, achieving a balance between innovation and regulation will remain a key challenge for policymakers in the years to come. For now, the message is clear: Cryptocurrencies are no longer on the fringes of finance they are becoming an integral part of the banking system. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Reuters.com Occ.treas.gov DailyHodl.com Michael Yon on Decentralize TV: Self-reliance and decentralization amid global collapse Seasoned journalist and geopolitical analyst Michael Yon highlighted the interconnected nature of global crises, such as the deindustrialization of Europe and disruptions in migration patterns suggesting these are part of a broader, orchestrated plan to destabilize regions. The discussion emphasized the role of global elites, including figures like Bill Gates, George Soros and the Chinese Communist Party, in pushing agendas like depopulation, economic manipulation and cultural destabilization often through platforms like the World Economic Forum. Yon and Mike Adams warned against the dangers of implementing price controls on groceries, arguing that such measures can exacerbate food shortages and lead to famines by distorting market signals and discouraging production. The conversation delved into the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, with Yon suggesting that these are parts of a larger strategic plan to create conditions for global instability, including a critical analysis of the Israel Defense Forces' response to the October 7 attack. Yon stressed the importance of decentralization and self-reliance in the United States, urging Americans to prepare for potential disruptions in basic services and to build resilient, community-based structures, while also reflecting on the high stakes of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. In an era fraught with geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainties and social upheavals, the need for individual and collective preparedness has never been more critical. This was the central theme of a "Decentralize TV" episode, where hosts Mike Adams and Todd Pitner welcomed Michael Yon for an in-depth discussion on the imminent threats facing the world and the steps individuals can take to navigate these turbulent times. Yon, a seasoned journalist and geopolitical analyst, began by emphasizing the interconnected nature of global crises, drawing from his extensive travels and observations across continents. From the deindustrialization of Europe to the destabilization of migration patterns, the combat correspondent and author underscored that these events are not isolated incidents but part of a broader, orchestrated plan. His insights into the closure of the Nord Stream pipeline and the Groningen gas field highlighted the deliberate efforts to disrupt energy supplies, leading to potential famines and increased human migration. "It's definitely a doom loop and it's all manufactured," Yon said. A recurring theme in the discussion was the influence of global elites, a term Yon used to describe a network of powerful interests with varied but often overlapping agendas. These include figures like Bill Gates, George Soros and the Chinese Communist Party. Regardless of their origins, Yon pointed out that these entities are working toward different forms of global control, whether through depopulation, economic manipulation or cultural destabilization. The World Economic Forum was singled out as a key platform where these interests converge, acting as a nexus for globalist agendas. (Related: Michael Yon: Chinese Communist Party an ULTRA-RACIST cult seeking to RULE THE WORLD.) Economic collapse, price controls and the geopolitical chessboard Adams and Yon delved into the economic ramifications of the globalist agenda, particularly the proposal by Kamala Harris to implement price controls on groceries. Yon emphatically warned that price controls are a surefire way to exacerbate food shortages and famine. "If you want to create famine, do price controls," Yon stated. By distorting market signals, price controls discourage production and lead to even greater scarcity. The combat correspondent instead advocated for allowing the market to function freely, enabling food to flow to areas of need and incentivizing farmers to produce essential crops. The conversation then turned to the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. Yon painted a picture of a global chessboard where each move is calculated to achieve broader strategic objectives. According to the former Green Beret, the invasion of Ukraine and the recent escalation in Gaza are not isolated military actions but parts of a larger plan to destabilize regions and create conditions for global conflict. Yons deep knowledge of military tactics and his firsthand experience in conflict zones provided a sobering analysis of the Israel Defense Forces' delayed response to the October 7 attack, suggesting a level of complicity that has been widely underreported. The United States: A nation at risk A significant portion of the discussion focused on the United States, where Yon warned of the dangers of uncontrolled illegal immigration and the deliberate weakening of national borders. He emphasized the importance of decentralization and self-reliance, urging Americans to prepare for potential scenarios where basic services like electricity and food supplies could be disrupted. Yons call for individuals to move out of densely populated cities and to build resilient, community-based structures resonated with the hosts and the audience. As the conversation drew to a close, the hosts and Yon reflected on last year's U.S. presidential election. He urged viewers to stay engaged and to prepare for the possibility of further instability, regardless of the election outcome. Yon concluded the interview with a call to action, emphasizing that the coming challenges are inevitable, but not insurmountable. He encouraged viewers to take practical steps to prepare, such as building food reserves, learning survival skills, and fostering strong, resilient communities. It is time to act, to prepare and to stand strong in the face of the coming storm. Watch the full interview between Michael Yon, Todd Pitner and the Health Ranger Mike Adams on "Decentralize TV" below. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: WATCH as Michael Yon speaks about U.S. involvement in Iraq and Israels future, destructive ramifications of Gaza conflict on Jewish people. Germanys green energy dream turns into a NIGHTMARE: economic collapse, environmental failures and geopolitical tensions. Andrei Martyanovs book unveils alarming signs of imminent American collapse. Sources include: Brighteon.com MichaelYon.com Zuckerbergs Meta: A double game on China and censorship Former Meta global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams filed a 78-page complaint with the SEC, alleging that Meta developed a censorship system for China in 2015 and was willing to share user data with the CCP, compromise privacy and censor content to enter the Chinese market. Codenamed "Project Aldrin," Meta's plan involved creating a version of Facebook compliant with China's censorship laws. This included automatic detection of restricted terms, hiring 300 content moderators, and potentially allowing a Chinese firm to review user content for compliance. Zuckerberg personally courted Chinese officials, writing a blurb for Xi Jinping's book and displaying a copy on his desk. He even suggested naming his unborn daughter after Xi, highlighting his eagerness to gain favor with the CCP. Despite public criticism of China's censorship and surveillance, Meta was secretly developing tools to enable these practices. The company allegedly provided misleading information to investors and regulators, raising concerns about transparency and accountability. The scandal underscores the need for greater oversight of Big Tech. Meta's actions are seen as a betrayal of American values and security, prompting calls for accountability and legislative action to prevent similar compromises in the future. In a stunning revelation that underscores the lengths to which Big Tech will go to appease authoritarian regimes, a whistleblower complaint has exposed Metas secret efforts to enter the Chinese market by promising censorship and potentially sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The allegations, brought forward by former Meta global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, paint a damning picture of Mark Zuckerbergs company as a willing collaborator with one of the worlds most oppressive regimesdespite its public posturing as a defender of free speech and civil rights. This scandal is not just a corporate misstep; it is a betrayal of the principles Meta claims to uphold. For years, Zuckerberg has positioned himself as a champion of a free and open internet, even as his company quietly worked to build tools that would enable the CCP to suppress dissent and surveil its citizens. The hypocrisy is staggering, and the implications for national security are profound. The whistleblowers bombshell Sarah Wynn-Williams, who served as Metas global policy director until her termination in 2017, filed a 78-page complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detailing the companys efforts to curry favor with Beijing. According to the complaint, Meta developed a censorship system in 2015 specifically for China, complete with a chief editor who would have the authority to remove content and shut down the platform during periods of social unrest. Wynn-Williams alleges that Meta was willing to go even further, including restricting the account of Guo Wengui, a prominent Chinese dissident living in the United States, after pressure from a high-ranking Chinese official. The complaint also claims that Meta considered weakening privacy protections for Hong Kong users and storing Chinese user data in local data centers, which would have made it easier for the CCP to access sensitive information. In countries with authoritarian leanings like China, stringent government controls over data flows are twisted into tools of censorship, surveillance and repression, said Katitza Rodriguez, policy director for global privacy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Metas actions, as outlined in the complaint, suggest a company all too willing to enable such repression in pursuit of profit. Project Aldrin: Metas secret China playbook The whistleblower complaint reveals that Metas efforts to enter China were codenamed Project Aldrin, a reference to astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who landed on the moon. The project, launched in 2014, aimed to develop a version of Facebook that could operate within Chinas draconian censorship laws. Internal documents show that Meta was prepared to bend its own rules to accommodate the CCP, including weakening privacy protections and granting Chinese officials oversight of content. In one particularly egregious example, Meta considered allowing a Chinese private-equity firm, Hony Capital, to review and decide whether content posted by Chinese users was consistent with applicable law. The company also built a censorship system capable of automatically detecting restricted terms and popular content, hiring 300 content moderators to support the effort. Zuckerbergs personal involvement in courting Chinese officials is equally troubling. The CEO famously wrote a blurb for CCP Secretary Xi Jinpings book, The Governance of China, and displayed a copy on his desk during a meeting with Chinese officials. He even asked Xi to name his unborn daughtera gesture that underscores the lengths to which Zuckerberg was willing to go to win favor with Beijing. A pattern of deception What makes this scandal particularly egregious is the stark contrast between Metas public statements and its private actions. While Zuckerberg has publicly criticized China for its censorship and surveillance, his company was quietly working to enable those very practices. In a 2019 speech at Georgetown University, Zuckerberg warned that China was exporting their vision of the internet to other countries. Yet, behind the scenes, Meta was developing tools that would have helped the CCP tighten its grip on information. The whistleblower complaint also alleges that Meta executives stonewalled and provided nonresponsive or misleading information to investors and U.S. regulators when questioned about their China efforts. This pattern of deception raises serious questions about the companys commitment to transparency and accountability. Why this matters today This scandal comes at a critical moment in the ongoing battle between the United States and China for technological supremacy. As the U.S. government takes aggressive steps to counter Chinese influenceincluding efforts to ban TikTokMetas actions reveal a troubling willingness to collaborate with the CCP. For conservatives and national security advocates, this is a wake-up call. Big Tech companies like Meta cannot be trusted to act in the best interests of the United States. Their pursuit of profit often comes at the expense of American values and security. As Wynn-Williams aptly put it, People deserve to know the truth. Metas spokesperson has dismissed the allegations as the work of a disgruntled former employee, but the evidence speaks for itself. The companys willingness to compromise its principles for access to the Chinese market is a betrayal of the trust placed in it by users and regulators alike. A call for accountability The revelations in Wynn-Williams complaint underscore the urgent need for greater oversight of Big Tech. Companies like Meta wield immense power, and their actions have far-reaching consequences for free speech, privacy and national security. Congress must take action to ensure that these companies are held accountable for their actionsboth at home and abroad. As for Zuckerberg, this scandal is a stark reminder that actions speak louder than words. His companys efforts to appease the CCP stand in stark contrast to its public rhetoric, and the American people deserve better. Its time for Meta to come clean and for policymakers to ensure that such betrayals of trust never happen again. Sources include: Breitbart.com Yahoo.com Fortune.com Bad Pharma: Unveiling the dark side of the pharmaceutical industry "Bad Pharma" by Ben Goldacre, published in 2012, critically examines the pharmaceutical industry, revealing how companies manipulate clinical trials, hide unfavorable data and influence medical professionals, often compromising patient safety and medical integrity. The book highlights that clinical trials, crucial for assessing drug efficacy and safety, are frequently designed to favor the sponsor's products, with methods such as using unrepresentative patient groups or biased statistics. A 2010 study cited shows 85 percent of industry-funded trials report positive results, compared to 50 percent of government-funded trials. Goldacre discusses the ethics of clinical trials conducted in low-income countries, where standards may be lower than in wealthier nations, raising concerns about data validity and fairness. He also critiques regulatory bodies for not sharing comprehensive trial data with the public and healthcare providers. The pharmaceutical industry's marketing budget, twice as large as its R&D expenditure, is revealed to significantly influence doctors' prescribing decisions, often through various marketing strategies, perpetuating a system where corporate profits outweigh patient interests. Goldacre proposes solutions like a global registry of clinical trials for full transparency, the importance of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to ensure a comprehensive and unbiased view of treatment effectiveness. He calls for informed and proactive behavior from patients, doctors and policymakers to demand better standards and practices in the pharmaceutical industry. In a world where medical advancements are celebrated as triumphs of human ingenuity, "Bad Pharma" by Ben Goldacre challenges the very foundation of modern medicine. This critical and meticulously researched book, published in 2012, exposes how pharmaceutical companies manipulate clinical trials, hide unfavorable data and influence doctors, ultimately harming patients. The pharmaceutical industry's pursuit of profit, Goldacre argues, often comes at the expense of patient safety and medical integrity. One of the book's most startling claims is that clinical trials, the gold standard for evaluating the efficacy and safety of new drugs, are frequently designed to favor the sponsoring company's products. "The very foundation of medicine clinical trials is often manipulated by drug companies," Goldacre writes. This manipulation can take many forms, from using small, unrepresentative patient groups to employing biased statistical methods that exaggerate a drug's benefits. For example, a 2010 study cited by Goldacre found that 85 percent of industry-funded trials reported positive results, compared to only 50 percent of government-funded trials. This discrepancy highlights the pervasive influence of financial interests on scientific research. When only positive results are published and negative or neutral findings are buried, doctors and patients are left with a skewed understanding of a drug's true effects. "Bad Pharma" also delves into the globalized nature of clinical trials, where ethical standards can vary widely. Goldacre documents how trials conducted in low-income countries sometimes fail to meet the same rigorous standards as those in wealthier nations. This raises serious questions about the validity and fairness of the data used to approve and market drugs worldwide. Regulatory bodies, while often privy to most of the trial data, frequently fail to share this information with the public and healthcare providers, leaving doctors to rely on potentially biased sources, such as pharmaceutical sales representatives and industry-sponsored journals. The pharmaceutical industry's massive marketing budget estimated by Goldacre to be twice as large as its research and development expenditure further exacerbates the problem. Companies invest heavily in influencing doctors' prescribing decisions, often through subtle and not-so-subtle means. This marketing spend, which ultimately comes from patients and taxpayers, perpetuates a system where the best interests of patients are secondary to corporate profits. Goldacre's book is not just a critique of the industry's practices but also a poignant account of the human cost of these deceptions. The story of TGN1412, a drug that caused severe adverse reactions in volunteers during a clinical trial, serves as a stark example. Unpublished data from a similar study could have predicted these outcomes, but it was never shared. Such failures to disclose critical information can lead to unnecessary suffering and even death. While "Bad Pharma" is a sobering read, it is not without hope. Goldacre offers practical solutions to address the systemic issues he identifies. He calls for greater transparency in the publication of all trial results, regardless of whether they are positive or negative. This includes the creation of a global registry of clinical trials and the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that all data are publicly accessible. Goldacre also emphasizes the importance of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, which synthesize the results of multiple studies to provide a comprehensive and unbiased view of a treatment's effectiveness. The Cochrane Collaboration, a network of researchers dedicated to producing high-quality systematic reviews, is presented as a model for evidence-based medicine. In conclusion, "Bad Pharma" is a wake-up call for everyone involved in healthcare patients, doctors, regulators and policymakers. It exposes the flaws in the pharmaceutical industry and challenges readers to demand better. As Goldacre writes, "We need to be informed and proactive. We need to ask questions, seek out reliable information and advocate for change." For patients, this means being more vigilant about the medications they take and the sources of the information they rely on. For doctors, it means recognizing the biases in the evidence they use to make clinical decisions and striving to base their practice on the best available data. For policymakers, it means enacting regulations that promote transparency and accountability in the pharmaceutical industry. Learn more about the book "Bad Pharma" by watching the video below. This video is from the BrightLearn channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: Brighteon.ai Brighteon.com Houthi rebels target Israeli ships in Red Sea amid rising tensions over Gaza aid blockade Yemens Houthi rebels declare all Israeli vessels in key waterways legitimate targets, escalating tensions in critical maritime trade routes. The Houthis broad definition of Israeli ships risks collateral damage to global trade, threatening vessels linked to Israel in any capacity. Over 100 Houthi missile and drone attacks since November 2023 have disrupted shipping, forcing reroutes and increasing global supply chain costs. Israels blockade of Gaza, cutting aid and electricity, has sparked international outrage and worsened the humanitarian crisis for 2 million Palestinians. The U.S. military is monitoring the situation, with fears of a broader maritime conflict destabilizing the Middle East and global trade. Yemens Houthi rebels have now declared that any Israeli vessel navigating key regional waterways is now a legitimate target. The announcement comes in response to Israels decision to halt humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza, a move that has drawn widespread condemnation and reignited fears of a broader conflict in one of the worlds most critical maritime trade corridors. The Iran-backed Houthi group, formally known as Ansar Allah, has warned that its naval forces are prepared to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea unless Israel lifts its blockade on Gaza. The rebels ultimatum, which expired on Tuesday, underscores the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the growing regional fallout from Israels military campaign, which has been widely criticized as disproportionate and genocidal. Houthis loose definition of Israeli ships puts global trade at risk The Houthis declaration has sent shockwaves through the international shipping industry, as their definition of Israeli ships is notoriously broad. According to maritime security firm Ambrey, the rebels targets could include vessels partially owned by Israeli entities, ships managed by Israeli companies, or even those heading to Israeli ports. This ambiguity raises the specter of collateral damage to global commerce, with the Red Sea serving as a vital artery for trade between Asia and Europe. Any Israeli vessel attempting to violate this ban will be subject to military targeting in the declared operational area, the Houthis Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center stated. The group framed its actions as a response to Israels starvation and terrorist siege of Gaza, emphasizing its religious, humanitarian, and moral responsibility to the Palestinian people. Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched over 100 missile and drone attacks on commercial and military vessels in the region, sinking two ships, seizing another, and killing at least four sailors. These attacks have forced many shipping companies to reroute their vessels around Africa, significantly increasing costs and disrupting global supply chains. Israels aid blockade sparks international outrage The Houthis latest threat comes as Israel faces mounting criticism for its decision to block all aid shipments to Gaza earlier this month. The move, which includes cutting off electricity supplies, has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave. Over 2 million Palestinians, many of whom rely on international aid for survival, are now at risk of starvation and disease. We hope it is understood that the actions taken by the (Houthi military) ... stem from a deep sense of religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility toward the oppressed Palestinian people, the Houthis statement read. The group has repeatedly framed its maritime campaign as a form of resistance against Israels military offensive in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and reduced much of the territory to rubble. Despite international pressure, Israel has shown no signs of relenting. The Israeli government has defended its actions as necessary to pressure Hamas into releasing remaining hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attacks. However, critics argue that the blockade amounts to collective punishment and violates international law. A dangerous escalation in a volatile region The Houthis renewed threats have also drawn the attention of the U.S. military, which maintains a significant presence in the region. The USS Harry S. Truman and its carrier group are currently operating in the Red Sea, with the Pentagon vowing to do what is necessary to protect and defend U.S. personnel, assets, and partners. While the Houthis have not directly threatened U.S. forces, their past attacks have targeted American and Western warships, sparking some of the most intense naval combat since World War II. As the situation unfolds, the international community must pressure Israel to end its blockade and allow aid into Gaza or risk a full-blown maritime conflict that could destabilize global trade and further inflame tensions in the Middle East. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com APNews.com AlJazeera.com Kash Patels crusade: Exposing the J6 pipe bomb hoax and restoring trust in the FBI FBI Director Kash Patel is aggressively pursuing transparency regarding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, particularly the unsolved "J6 pipe bomb" incident. He has delivered over 400 pages of records to the House Judiciary Committee ahead of schedule, aiming to restore public trust in the FBI amid criticism of its handling of high-profile cases. The pipe bomb incident remains unsolved, with no suspect identified despite the discovery of devices near the DNC and RNC headquarters on January 6, 2021. Speculation persists that the incident may have been staged or covered up, with some suggesting the involvement of a "government ruse" or an "FBI rogue source." Patel has raised concerns about potential corruption, hinting that the case files might reveal misconduct tied to election-time narratives. His efforts align with investigative reports from outlets like Revolver News, which have highlighted inconsistencies in the FBI's handling of the case. Patels leadership marks a shift toward transparency, contrasting with his predecessors. He has prioritized cooperation with Congress, delivering minimally redacted documents and addressing other controversial FBI actions, such as its engagement with social media companies and the Foreign Influence Task Force. The case holds broader implications for government accountability and trust in law enforcement. Patels push for transparency is seen as a critical step in restoring the FBIs reputation, which has been damaged by controversies like the Russia collusion investigation and alleged targeting of parents at school board meetings. In a dramatic turn of events, FBI Director Kash Patel is making waves in Washington, D.C., as he aggressively pursues transparency surrounding one of the most controversial episodes of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot: the so-called J6 pipe bomb incident. According to an exclusive report by Fox News, Patel is working tirelessly to comply with congressional document requests, delivering over 400 pages of records to the House Judiciary Committee ahead of schedule. This move is part of Patels broader mission to restore faith in the FBI, an institution that has faced mounting criticism for its handling of high-profile investigations, including the January 6 pipe bomb case. The revelations come as Patel, a staunch advocate for government accountability, has long suggested that the pipe bomb incident may have been a government ruse. His efforts to uncover the truth have sparked both hope and fearhope among those seeking answers and fear among those who may have something to hide. The pipe bomb mystery: A four-year cover-up? The January 6 pipe bomb incident has been shrouded in mystery since the day it occurred. On the morning of January 6, 2021, pipe bombs were discovered near the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Despite an extensive investigation, the FBI has yet to identify or apprehend a suspect. This failure has fueled speculation that the incident may have been staged or covered up by federal agencies. Revolver News, a conservative outlet known for its investigative reporting on January 6, has been at the forefront of exposing inconsistencies in the FBIs narrative. In a recent update, Revolver highlighted that Google could identify the pipe bomber tomorrow if they wanted tobut they havent. Elon Musk, a prominent figure in the tech world, has also weighed in, suggesting that the pipe bomber could be a secret government employee. Kash Patel has echoed these concerns, stating during a January 2024 appearance on Benny Johnsons YouTube show that the case files may reveal an FBI rogue source was responsible. If the allegations arent true, or there were some government ruse, or some FBI rogue source, or whateverI dont know because I dont have the case filesthen theres another corruption scandal in and around an election-time narrative that theyre advancing today that we still dont know about, Patel said. Patels push for transparency Since assuming the role of FBI Director in February 2025, Patel has made it his mission to bring transparency to the bureau. His recent actions demonstrate a stark departure from the practices of his predecessors, Christopher Wray and James Comey, who were often accused of stonewalling congressional inquiries. On Friday, the FBI sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, notifying Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that it was handing over a tranche of documents related to the January 6 pipe bomb investigation, among other topics. The records, which included minimal redactions, were delivered more than a week ahead of the March 17 deadline. We are thankful for Director Patels work, and we will have more updates soon, said Russel Dye, spokesperson for Jordan. Patels efforts have also garnered praise from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who simply remarked, Praise the Lord, when asked for comment. Patels commitment to transparency extends beyond the pipe bomb case. The FBI has also turned over documents related to its engagement with social media companies and the now-disbanded Foreign Influence Task Force. Additional records are expected to be delivered to Congress in the coming weeks. Why this matters: A historical perspective The January 6 pipe bomb incident is not just a footnote in historyit is a pivotal moment that has shaped the national conversation about government accountability and trust in law enforcement. The failure to solve the case has led many to question whether the FBI is truly committed to uncovering the truth or if it is complicit in a cover-up. Historically, the FBI has been a cornerstone of American law enforcement, tasked with protecting the nation from both domestic and foreign threats. However, its reputation has been tarnished by a series of high-profile controversies, including its handling of the Russia collusion investigation and its alleged targeting of parents at school board meetings. Patels efforts to restore trust in the bureau are a critical step toward reclaiming its legacy as a defender of justice. As Patel continues to push for transparency, the stakes could not be higher. The January 6 pipe bomb case is not just about solving a crimeit is about holding those in power accountable and ensuring that the American people can trust their government. The road ahead Kash Patels aggressive approach to transparency has already yielded significant results, but the fight is far from over. With more documents set to be released in the coming weeks, the truth about the January 6 pipe bomb incident may finally come to light. For Patel, this is more than just a professional obligationit is a moral imperative. Director Patel is adamant about restoring faith and trust in the FBI through full transparency and engaging with Congress is a critical part of that effort, said FBI spokesman Ben Williamson. As the nation watches closely, one thing is clear: Kash Patel is a man on a mission, and his efforts could reshape the future of the FBIand the countryfor years to come. Sources include: Revolver.news AOL.news Yahoo.com Mainstream media finally admits lockdowns were a disaster Lockdowns during COVID-19 caused more harm than good, with studies showing devastating impacts on mental health, education, and the economy. Media and tech platforms censored and mocked critics of lockdowns. Research reveals lockdowns were ten times deadlier than the virus itself, measured by years of life lost due to collateral damage. Trust in public health institutions has eroded due to the medias failure to critically examine lockdown policies in real-time. The lockdown era highlights the dangers of unchecked government power and the need for accountability to prevent future mistakes. Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world, the mainstream media is finally acknowledging what many conservatives and skeptics warned from the start: Lockdowns caused far more harm than good. This belated admission comes after years of relentless mockery, censorship, and deplatforming of those who dared to question the wisdom of extreme measures like forced masking, school closures, and business shutdowns. Now, as studies reveal the devastating collateral damage of these policies, the medias delayed reckoning raises serious questions about its role in silencing dissent and promoting fear-driven narratives. The lockdown disaster: A costly experiment In 2020, as the pandemic spread, governments worldwide implemented unprecedented lockdowns to curb the virus. These measures were justified by experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci and political leaders who warned of a dark winter if Americans didnt comply. Yet, five years later, the data tells a different story. A groundbreaking study commissioned by Revolver News found that lockdowns were ten times more deadly than the virus itself, measured in terms of years of life lost due to economic devastation, mental health crises, and social isolation. The studys findings have since been echoed by a growing body of research. Schools closures led to catastrophic learning losses, with students still half a grade behind in math and reading. Mental health crises, particularly among young people, skyrocketed, with anxiety, depression, and suicide rates reaching alarming levels. Small businesses shuttered, livelihoods were destroyed, and social bonds frayed under the weight of prolonged isolation. The medias role in suppressing the truth Whats most galling is how the media treated those who raised concerns about lockdowns. Conservatives, scientists, and everyday citizens who questioned the efficacy of these measures were labeled conspiracy theorists, censored on social media, and even deplatformed. Figures like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration opposing lockdowns, faced vicious backlash and death threats. Facebook and Twitter silenced dissenting voices, while public health officials like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins dismissed alternative viewpoints as dangerous. Now, the same media outlets that once championed lockdowns are cautiously admitting their failures. The Boston Globe recently published a piece questioning whether the trade-offs of lockdowns were worth it, citing studies that show the policies did little to slow the virus while inflicting immense collateral damage. Even some former lockdown supporters, like Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, now express doubts about the decisions made in 2020. The lockdown era showed us the dangers of unchecked government power and the medias complicity in amplifying fear. The medias failure to critically examine these policies in real-time has had lasting consequences. Trust in public health institutions has eroded, and the public is now more skeptical of expert advice than ever before. As Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert, admitted, The lockdowns were never really effective, and the confusion around them sowed a great deal of public distrust in government. The lockdown debacle serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of sacrificing liberty for the illusion of safety. The medias delayed admission of failure is cold comfort to the millions who suffered under these policies. Whats needed now is accountabilitynot just for the politicians and public health officials who pushed these measures, but for the media outlets that silenced dissent and spread fear. As we face the possibility of future pandemics, we must remember the lessons of COVID-19: Question authority, reject propaganda, and never let fear dictate policy. The lockdowns were a catastrophic mistake, and the best way to ensure they never happen again is to hold those responsible to account and to never forget the price we paid for their hubris. Sources for this article include: Revolver.news BostonGlobe.com DW.com Mississippi joins growing list of states BANNING lab-grown meat with bill passed in state House The Mississippi House of Representatives passed HB 1006, prohibiting the manufacture, sale or distribution of cultivated meat. Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson and other supporters frame the ban as a defense of traditional farming and consumer choice. Opponents argue the ban is premature and politically motivated, noting that cultivated meat is not yet commercially available in states with such bans. Mississippi joins Florida, Alabama and Nebraska in restricting lab-grown meat. The divide ultimately highlights a growing national debate over the role of cultivated meat. Mississippi has become the latest state to take a stand against lab-grown meat, with the state's House of Representatives passing House Bill (HB) 1006 a bill that would outlaw the manufacture, sale or distribution of cultivated meat within the Magnolia State. Introduced by Mississippi State Reps. Bill Pigott (R-District 99) and Lester Carpenter (R-District 1), HB 1006 passed both houses of the Mississippi Legislature without a single vote in opposition. It now awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who can either veto it or sign it into law. If Reeves does affix his signature to HB 1006, anyone found violating the ban faces a misdemeanor charge punishable by a fine of up to $500, prison time of up to three months in county jail or both. Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, a vocal critic of the cultivated meat industry, has praised the bill. "I want my steak to come from farm-raised beef, not a petri dish from a lab," Gipson wrote on his website last year. The commissioner previously supported a 2019 proposal that sought to prevent lab-grown products from being labeled as meat. The push to ban cultivated meat has been framed by supporters as a defense of traditional agriculture and consumer choice. Critics like Suzi Gerber, however, see these bans as politically motivated and premature. Gerber executive director of the Association for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation called HB 1006 "political theater." She noted that cultivated meat is not yet available for sale in any of the states that have banned it, including Mississippi. From petri dish to dinner plate: Why southern states are banning fake meat The Magnolia State's ban on fake meat follows similar moves in Florida, Alabama and Nebraska, as lawmakers across the country push back against what they see as an unnatural and unnecessary alternative to traditional agriculture. Last month, the Alabama Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 23 a proposal to make the manufacture, sale or distribution of cultivated meat in the Yellowhammer State a Class C felony. SB 23's passage in the state senate moves it to the Alabama House of Representatives. State Sen. Jack Williams (R-Georgetown), a cattle farmer and SB 23's sponsor, argued that there is no need for lab-grown alternatives in a state with abundant livestock. "We have plenty of cattle and chicken. There's no reason for us to bring this product in here," he told Alabama Daily News. In May of last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that banned lab-grown meat in the state into law. He framed the Sunshine State's prohibition as a fight against "the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish," promising to "save our beef." (Related: Lab-grown meat now BANNED from being sold in Florida.) DeSantis' decision to ban fake meat was warmly received. Cattle rancher Dean Black called cultivated meat a national security risk, warning that centralized protein production could be vulnerable to attacks. Meanwhile, U.S. Cattlemen's Association President Justin Tupper argued that lab-grown meat could tarnish the reputation of conventional meat. As the debate over cultivated meat continues, one thing is clear: The battle lines are drawn. For now, states like Mississippi, Florida and Alabama are betting on tradition. Watch The Last American Vagabond elaborating on the Food and Drug Administration's approval of lab-grown meat. This video is from the What is happening channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Nebraska moves to ban lab-grown meat, joins growing push against fake food. Florida lawmakers advancing bills to block the sale of LAB-GROWN MEAT in the Sunshine State. Backlash against lab-grown meat inside and outside the U.S. signals growing resistance to FAKE FOOD. Sources include: WIRED.com AL.com NBCNews.com Brighteon.com Zelenskys arrogance and entitlement cost Ukraine more territory and lives as RUSSIA ADVANCES, taking Constantinople Russian forces have seized control of Constantinople in the Donetsk Peoples Republic, marking a significant territorial gain. Ukrainian troops face mounting losses, with up to 1,300 soldiers killed in the past 24 hours alone, alongside the destruction of Western-supplied military equipment. The suspension of U.S. intelligence sharing has crippled Ukraines defense capabilities, leaving its forces vulnerable to Russian advances in the Kursk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys refusal to negotiate peace has exacerbated the crisis, with up to 10,000 troops at risk of being cut off in Kursk. In a devastating turn of events, Russian forces have tightened their grip on key Ukrainian-held territories, including the symbolic village of Constantinople in the Donetsk Peoples Republic. The Russian Defense Ministry announced the "liberation of the village" on Sunday, accompanied by a video of Russian troops raising their flag over the settlement. This victory comes as part of a broader offensive that has seen Ukrainian forces suffer catastrophic losses, with over 1,300 troops killed in a single day and significant Western-supplied military hardware destroyed. The situation has been further exacerbated by the abrupt suspension of U.S. intelligence sharing, a move initiated by President Donald Trump following a contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This decision has left Ukrainian forces blind to Russian movements, unable to effectively deploy advanced weaponry, and increasingly vulnerable to encirclement in the Kursk region. As Zelenskys government clings to its dwindling bargaining power, the question remains: How much more will Ukraine lose before Zelensky desires a peace deal? The fall of Constantinople and mounting Ukrainian losses The village of Constantinople, named by Greek settlers from Crimea in the 18th century, has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing conflict. Russian forces have not only reclaimed the settlement but also inflicted heavy casualties on Ukrainian troops, with over 50 soldiers reported dead in the fighting. The Russian Defense Ministrys Sunday report detailed staggering Ukrainian losses, including the destruction of U.S.-made HIMARS rocket systems, M777 howitzers, and armored vehicles, as well as Polish-made artillery. Russian strikes have also targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, hitting gas processing facilities, military airfields, and drone assembly workshops. These attacks have further crippled Ukraines ability to sustain its war effort, leaving its forces increasingly isolated and demoralized. The situation in Russias Kursk region has grown increasingly dire for Ukrainian troops. Russian forces have taken the villages of Viktorovka, Nikolayevka, and Staraya Sorochina, tightening the noose around Ukrainian-held territory. The town of Sudzha, the largest settlement under Ukrainian control in the region, is now under intense pressure, with Russian forces targeting its sole remaining supply route. Ukrainian troops, numbering between 6,500 and 10,000, risk being completely cut off as Russian drones and artillery strike critical infrastructure. Bridges have been destroyed, and road networks are in shambles, leaving Ukrainian forces with dwindling options for resupply or retreat. The Kursk incursion, launched by Ukraine in August 2023, has proven to be a costly misadventure, with over 65,500 Ukrainian soldiers killed or wounded and thousands of armored vehicles lost. The consequences of Zelenskys arrogance The suspension of U.S. intelligence sharing has dealt a crippling blow to Ukraines war effort. According to Time magazine, the lack of U.S. reconnaissance data has directly resulted in hundreds of dead Ukrainians and left the country unable to track Russian bombers and fighter jets. This intelligence blackout has also hampered Ukraines ability to launch precision strikes against Russian positions, further eroding its defensive capabilities. The freeze was triggered by a heated exchange between Zelensky and Trump during a February 28 meeting at the White House. Zelenskys dismissive attitude toward diplomacy and his assertion that the U.S. will feel the impact of the conflict reportedly angered Trump, who accused the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful and reckless. Youre gambling with World War III, Trump reportedly told Zelensky, emphasizing the need for peace talks. Zelenskys refusal to engage in meaningful peace negotiations has only deepened Ukraines crisis. His governments insistence on continuing the fight, despite mounting losses and dwindling support, has left the country increasingly isolated. The loss of U.S. intelligence and military aid has not only weakened Ukraines defenses but also emboldened Russian forces, who are now making rapid advances on multiple fronts. As Russian troops tighten their grip on key territories, Zelenskys government faces a stark reality: Without a shift in strategy, Ukraine risks losing even more ground and lives. The U.S., once a piggy bank for Ukrainian corruption, has signaled its unwillingness to continue supporting a war effort that shows no signs of ending. The fall of Constantinople and the encirclement of Ukrainian forces in Kursk mark a turning point in the conflict. Zelenskys arrogance and entitlement have cost Ukraine dearly, leaving its troops demoralized and its territory shrinking. The suspension of U.S. intelligence sharing has only accelerated this decline, handing Russia a stronger hand in the war, and signaling to Europe that Russia will no longer be bullied by war propaganda, broken pacts, globalism, unfounded sanctions, assassinations, and European military alliances threatening their borders. Sources include: RT.com RT.com RT.com Saturn dethrones Jupiter as the solar systems moon king with 128 new discoveries Astronomers have discovered 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing its total to 274, nearly double the number of moons orbiting all other planets combined. The discovery was made using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and the shift and stack technique, which combines sequential images to detect faint objects. All 128 new moons are irregular, potato-shaped objects likely formed from collisions of larger moons or captured asteroids. The findings shed light on Saturns turbulent past and could help explain the origins of its iconic rings. The International Astronomical Union officially recognized the moons on March 11, 2024. The hunt for Saturns hidden moons Saturn has officially claimed the title of the solar systems moon king, leaving its former rival, Jupiter, in the dust. A team of international astronomers, led by Dr. Edward Ashton of Academia Sinica in Taiwan, has announced the discovery of 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing the ringed planets total to an astonishing 274. This discovery, confirmed by the International Astronomical Union on March 11, 2024, solidifies Saturns dominance in the moon race, with nearly twice as many moons as all other planets combined. The findings, made using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), reveal not only the sheer number of Saturns moons but also provide a glimpse into the chaotic early days of the solar system. Sure enough, we found 128 new moons, said Dr. Ashton. Based on our projections, I dont think Jupiter will ever catch up. The discovery was the result of a meticulous, multi-year campaign. Between 2019 and 2021, the team used the CFHT to repeatedly monitor the sky around Saturn, employing a technique called shift and stack. This method involves taking sequential images of the same patch of sky and combining them to amplify the faint signals of distant objects. The initial observations yielded 62 moons, but the team suspected there were more. With the knowledge that these were probably moons, and that there were likely even more waiting to be discovered, we revisited the same sky fields for three consecutive months in 2023, Dr. Ashton explained. Their persistence paid off, uncovering an additional 128 moons. Irregular moons and a violent past All 128 new moons are classified as irregular moons, small, potato-shaped objects that were likely captured by Saturns gravity during the early days of the solar system. These moons, ranging from a few kilometers in size, are thought to be fragments of larger objects that collided and shattered within the last 100 million years. These moons are likely all fragments of a smaller number of originally captured moons that were broken apart by violent collisions, either with other Saturnian moons or with passing comets, said Dr. Brett Gladman, an astronomer at the University of British Columbia. The discovery of so many small moons suggests a relatively recent collision within Saturns moon system. Given the high number of small compared to large moons, there was likely a collision somewhere within the Saturn system within the last 100 million years, Dr. Gladman added. Otherwise, these moons would have collided with each other and been blown into smithereens. Most of the newly discovered moons are clustered in the Mundilfari subgroup, a region of Saturns moon system that appears to be the site of this ancient collision. This finding not only highlights the dynamic nature of Saturns moon system but also provides clues about the planets history and the origins of its iconic rings. Whats in a name? For now, the 128 new moons have been assigned strings of numbers and letters, but they will eventually be named after Gallic, Norse, and Canadian Inuit gods, in keeping with the tradition for Saturns moons. Most of the new moons fall into the Norse cluster, meaning astronomers will soon be scouring ancient texts for obscure Viking deities. Eventually, the criteria may have to be relaxed a bit, Dr. Ashton joked, acknowledging the challenge of finding enough names for Saturns ever-growing moon family. The discovery of these moons offers more than just bragging rights for Saturn. It provides scientists with a unique opportunity to study the early solar system, a time when planets migrated in unstable orbits and collisions were common. By analyzing the orbits and compositions of these moons, researchers hope to better understand the processes that shaped the solar system and, potentially, the origins of Saturns rings. Our carefully planned multi-year campaign has yielded a bonanza of new moons that tell us about the evolution of Saturns irregular natural satellite population, said Dr. Ashton. As Saturn basks in its newfound lunar glory, one question remains: What other secrets does the ringed planet hold? With each new discovery, the solar system reveals itself to be more dynamic and mysterious than we ever imagined. As Dr. Gladman put it, The universe is full of surprises, and Saturn is no exception. For the latest on astronomy, visit Space.news. Sources include: TheGuardian.com Saturn.ubc.ca MinorPlanetCenter.net News / National by Staff reporter Prominent lawyer Wilson Manase is now a wanted man after Harare magistrate Clever Tsikwa issued a warrant for his arrest following his failure to appear in court to face fraud charges involving nearly US$3 million.Manase, who is being charged alongside Marshall Mutandwa Shadaya, was expected to stand trial but did not turn up, prompting the court to take action. Meanwhile, his co-accused, Shadaya, was present in court and was remanded for trial on March 19.The case stems from allegations raised by the complainant, Langton Nyatsambo, who accuses the two of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to unlawfully take over the estate of his late wife, Fiona Dambudzo Shadaya.According to court documents, Nyatsambo legally married Fiona in 1995 under the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11), and the couple acquired multiple properties registered jointly and in Fiona's name. Their union resulted in the birth of their child, Nyasha Nyatsambo.However, tragedy struck on February 22, 2009, when Fiona passed away after falling ill. It is alleged that following her death, Manase and Shadaya conspired to defraud Nyatsambo by forging legal documents to claim the deceased's estate.The accused allegedly produced and submitted fraudulent documents to the High Court and the Master of the High Court, falsely claiming that Fiona was unmarried at the time of her death. Among the alleged forgeries were a fake Will, Divorce Order, Marriage Certificate, and Death Certificate.Shadaya, who had access to the couple's personal records, allegedly worked with Manase, who then acted as the Executor of Fiona's estate. They reportedly presented the fabricated documents to the High Court to facilitate an illegal registration of the estate, excluding Nyatsambo from the inheritance process.Investigations revealed major inconsistencies in the documents submitted by the accused. The purported Will presented to the High Court was signed on October 5, 2008, whereas a different version submitted to the Master of the High Court was dated November 5, 2008.Further scrutiny exposed that the Divorce Order, which supposedly dissolved the marriage between Nyatsambo and Fiona in 1996, had never been granted by the courts. Additionally, discrepancies were found in the estate's distribution accounts. The accused presented one set of figures to the Master of the High Court showing a distribution balance of US$4,978,956.98, while a different figure of US$2,845,958.80 was submitted to the High Court.Nyatsambo became suspicious when he attempted to claim his late wife's estate, only to find that official records falsely stated he had been divorced from Fiona for over a decade before her death. Upon verifying with the High Court, he discovered that the documents allegedly filed by Manase and Shadaya had no legal basis.Realizing that his rights had been violated, Nyatsambo reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of Shadaya and the issuance of a warrant for Manase.As the legal proceedings unfold, the case has drawn significant attention, given Manase's high-profile legal career. With the arrest warrant now in effect, authorities are expected to take further action to bring him before the court. Trump Administration targets pro-Palestine activist for DEPORTATION, citing foreign policy threat in free speech crackdown The Trump administration is seeking to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and pro-Palestine activist, not for breaking any laws but for his political activism, which it claims threatens U.S. foreign policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally signed off on the deportation order, using a rarely invoked provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that allows the deportation of non-citizens deemed a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Critics argue the move is a blatant attack on free speech, setting a dangerous precedent for the deportation of lawful permanent residents based on their political beliefs. In a chilling escalation of the Trump administrations crackdown on dissent, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and vocal critic of Israels actions in Gaza, is being targeted for deportation not because he broke any laws, but because his activism allegedly poses a national security risk to U.S. foreign policy. The move, spearheaded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has ignited a firestorm of controversy, with free speech advocates warning that the administration is weaponizing immigration law to silence political opposition. Khalil, a green card holder, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Saturday evening following his involvement in campus protests against Israels military campaign in Gaza, which has displaced over 2 million Palestinians and resulted in widespread starvation and civilian casualties. The Trump administration claims Khalils activism aligns with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, and that his presence in the U.S. threatens national security. However, no evidence has been provided to substantiate these claims. The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law, a White House official told The Free Press. He was mobilizing support for Hamas and spreading antisemitism in a way that is contrary to the foreign policy of the U.S. A dangerous precedent: free speech under fire The administrations case against Khalil hinges on a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Section 237(a)(4)(C), which allows the secretary of state to deport non-citizens if their presence is deemed to have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the U.S. According to sources within the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, Rubio personally signed off on Khalils deportation order, marking a significant escalation in the administrations efforts to suppress dissent. This provision, enacted in 1952, was originally designed to target Eastern European Jewish Holocaust survivors suspected of being Soviet agents. Its use today to target a pro-Palestine activist has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts and civil rights advocates. Thats how powerful it is, said Charles Kuck, an immigration attorney and adjunct professor of law at Emory University and the University of Georgia. Most secretaries of state would stand their ground and follow due process considerations. But theres never been a secretary of state as manipulatable as our current Secretary Rubio. The State Department has not disclosed the specific evidence used to justify Khalils deportation, raising concerns about transparency and due process. The INA provision explicitly states that individuals cannot be deported based on their past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations if such actions are lawful within the U.S. However, it allows for an exception if the secretary of state determines that the individuals presence compromises a compelling United States foreign policy interest. A fight for the soul of democracy The Trump administrations decision to target Khalil for deportation based on his political activism has sparked outrage among free speech advocates, who warn that the move sets a dangerous precedent. Courts have previously ruled that lawful permanent residents share the same First Amendment rights as U.S. citizens, making the administrations actions particularly alarming. What is the limit? Kuck asked. Instead of being pro-Palestinian, lets say youre so anti-Trump that it impacts foreign policy. Can you be deported for that if youre a permanent resident? That seems to be beyond the pale. So then the question becomes, whats the line? Rubios involvement in Khalils case is especially ironic given his past statements on free speech. In 2017, he praised the U.S. for allowing citizens to oppose the party in power without fear of imprisonment. We are truly blessed to be able to live in a country where opposing the party in power does not mean you go to jail, he said on the Senate floor. Yet, under his leadership, the State Department is now using its authority to deport individuals for exercising those very rights. The deportation of Mahmoud Khalil is not just about one individual; it is a battle for the soul of American democracy. By targeting lawful permanent residents for their political beliefs, the Trump administration is eroding the foundational principles of free speech and due process that define the United States. As protests erupt across the country and legal challenges mount, the question remains: Will the courts uphold the Constitution, or will they allow the executive branch to wield unchecked power in the name of foreign policy? The answer will determine whether the U.S. remains a beacon of liberty or succumbs to the authoritarian impulses of its leaders. In the words of Khalils supporters, this is not just about Palestine or Israelit is about the right to dissent, to speak truth to power, and to hold governments accountable. Sources include: InformationLiberation.com Zeteo.com Enoch, Brighteon.ai USAID staff ordered to DESTROY EVIDENCE in mass document purge amid DOGE investigations In a shocking move that reeks of desperation and corruption, senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ordered staff to destroy sensitive documents en masse on Tuesday , sparking outrage and raising questions about the agencys integrity in hiding key evidence linking the former administration to money laundering, propaganda campaigns, and other criminal activity. The directive, issued via email by acting executive director Erica Carr, instructed employees to shred and burn classified materials, including personnel files and classified safes, at the agencys now-former headquarters in Washington, D.C. This unprecedented purge comes amid mass layoffs, a near-total freeze on U.S. global assistance, and accusations from Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that USAID is a criminal organization. The timing of the document destruction, coupled with the agencys rapid dismantling, suggests a coordinated effort to erase evidence of potential wrongdoing by the former administration, including money laundering, insider trading, and political favors disguised as foreign aid. With USAIDs website offline, security leaders removed, and employees fearing surveillance, the agencys once-storied reputation as a global humanitarian force is being systematically dismantledleaving behind a trail of secrecy and suspicion. The purge: a coordinated effort to destroy evidence According to an email obtained by Politico, USAID staff were instructed to report to the Ronald Reagan Building for an all-day document destruction event. The email, sent by acting executive director Erica Carr, provided detailed instructions: Shred as many documents as possible before resorting to burn bags. Label burn bags with SECRET and USAID/B/IO using a dark sharpie. Do not overfill burn bags and ensure they are securely stapled at the top. The email did not explain the reasoning behind the mass destruction, but the timing aligns with the agencys ongoing layoffs and the Trump administrations efforts to dismantle USAID. A former USAID staffer, speaking anonymously, expressed disbelief: Ive never seen something like thisen masse. Everyone with a safe is supposed to keep it up to date and destroy documents when they no longer need to be stored. Sometimes security will check your safe and tell you if you have to clean out old material. The directive raises alarming questions: What are they trying to hide? Why the urgency to destroy documents now? And who stands to benefit from erasing sensitive information? Elon musks DOGE is exposing USAID corruption The document purge comes on the heels of a controversial attempt by Elon Musks DOGE to access USAIDs secure systems, including personnel files and classified information. According to NBC News, DOGE employees, some without proper security clearances, attempted to gain access to sensitive systems, prompting USAIDs director of security, John Voorhees, and his deputy, Brian McGill, to block them. When Voorhees and McGill refused access, DOGE employees reportedly threatened to call the U.S. Marshals. The standoff ended with DOGE gaining access to the systems, though it remains unclear what information they obtained. Musk, who has openly called for USAID to die, accused the agency of being a criminal organization. The Trump administration has backed Musks efforts, with President Trump himself calling USAID run by a bunch of radical lunatics and vowing to get them out. This rhetoric has created a climate of fear among USAID employees, with one official telling NBC News, No one feels safe to go anywhere near the Ronald Reagan Building. We just had Elon Musk call us a criminal organization. Our security chief was escorted out. We know we are being surveilled by DOGE. A history of corruption and propaganda USAID, established in 1961, has long been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, managing a $40 billion annual budget and employing over 10,000 staff worldwide. However, critics have accused the agency of being a vehicle for political favors and corporate interests under the guise of humanitarian aid. The Trump administrations dismantling of USAID, coupled with Musks aggressive tactics, has reignited these criticisms while raising new concerns about transparency and accountability. Democrats have condemned the administrations actions, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) calling the reports of unauthorized access to classified systems incredibly serious and unprecedented. Meanwhile, legal experts argue that placing USAID under the authority of the State Department would violate federal law, further complicating the agencys future. However, federal officials have reiterated that DOGE has not accessed classified material without proper security clearances. As the shredders whir and the burn bags fill, one thing is clear: the dismantling of USAID is not just about efficiency or budget cutsits about power, control, and the erasure of history. In the end, the truth may be buried in the ashes, but the stench of corruption will linger for years to come. Sources include: Zerohedge.com NBCNews.com X.com USAIDs overseas labs and reckless research: The real culprit behind disease outbreaks, says biosafety expert Biosafety expert Richard H. Ebright challenges the New York Times' narrative, arguing that USAID's funding of high-risk research and poorly regulated overseas labs, not budget cuts, is the primary driver of global disease outbreaks. The Times claimed that reduced USAID funding increases the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Ebright counters that USAID's reckless support for dangerous research abroad has historically fueled health crises, not prevented them. U.S. agencies, including USAID, have spent billions on constructing unsafe labs and funding unnecessary, high-risk pathogen research overseas. Ebright cites USAID's $60 million grant to EcoHealth Alliance for SARS coronavirus research in Wuhan as a potential catalyst for the COVID-19 pandemic. Ebright criticizes gain-of-function research, which enhances pathogen transmissibility or virulence, as unregulated and high-risk. He calls for independent oversight to prevent future outbreaks caused by reckless experimentation. Ebright and others advocate for reducing funding for high-risk research programs, arguing that this would prevent future pandemics. They emphasize the need for accountability and reform in how U.S. agencies manage and regulate global health research. In a scathing critique of the New York Times recent reporting, biosafety expert Richard H. Ebright, Ph.D., has turned the narrative on its head, arguing that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its funding of overseas labs are the true catalysts for global disease outbreaksnot the recent budget cuts to the agency. Ebright, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology and lab director at Rutgers Universitys Waksman Institute of Microbiology, spoke exclusively with The Defender, challenging the Times claim that reduced USAID funding is setting the stage for disease outbreaks. Instead, he asserts that the agencys reckless support for high-risk research and poorly regulated labs abroad has been the real driver of global health crises. The Times misguided narrative Last week, the New York Times published an article titled Deepening Peril of Disease As Trump Cuts Foreign Aid, warning that reductions in USAIDs budget would leave the world vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks. The piece quoted current and former USAID officials, health organization members and infectious disease experts, painting a grim picture of a world made more perilous by funding cuts. But Ebright, a leading voice in biosafety and biosecurity, says the Times got it completely wrong. The facts of the matter are that USAIDs and other agencies support for overseas labs and reckless overseas research has been setting the stage for disease outbreaks, Ebright told The Defender. Ending this insanity will set the stage for reducing disease outbreaks. Mary Holland, CEO of Childrens Health Defense, echoed Ebrights sentiment, stating, Dr. Ebright is spot onlessening the U.S. role in funding pandemic preparedness will reduce outbreaks, not increase them. Holland criticized the Times for spreading fear, noting that the articles core message was to be afraid of reduced funding, while ignoring the dangers posed by USAIDs past actions. Billions spent on unneeded and unsafe labs Ebright pointed to the irony of the Times opening line, which highlighted dangerous pathogens left unsecured at labs across Africa. He explained that the primary reason for such vulnerabilities is the billions of dollars spent by U.S. agenciesincluding USAID, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)to construct and fund labs overseas. U.S. agencies have spent billions of dollars over the last two decades to construct unneeded and unsafe labs overseas, and to fund unneeded and reckless research on discovering and enhancing new dangerous pathogens in labs overseas, Ebright said. He cited USAIDs 60 million grant to EcoHealth Alliance, a now-debarred NGO, as a prime example. EcoHealth used these funds to conduct high-risk research on SARS coronaviruses in Wuhan, China research that Ebright believes led to the COVID 19 pandemic, which has claimed 20 million lives and cost the global economy 25 trillion. Ebright also revealed that USAID had allocated over 200 million to EcoHealth and its partners in Project PREDICT to discover new bioweapons agents overseas. Before COVID?19 emerged, USAID was even planning a 1.2 billion expansion of this effort through the Global Virome Project, aimed at cataloging hundreds of thousands of novel viruses. This is not pandemic preparedness, Ebright said. This is pandemic creation. Gain-of-function research: A dangerous game Ebright has long been a critic of gain-of-function research, which involves enhancing the transmissibility or virulence of pathogens. In June 2024, he testified before the U.S. Senates Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, arguing that such research has no civilian application and poses significant risks. Researchers undertake it because it is fast, it is easy, it requires no specialized equipment or skills, and it was prioritized for funding and has been prioritized for publication by scientific journals, Ebright said during the hearing. He emphasized that gain-of-function research is largely unregulated, with no independent oversight to ensure safety. There needs to be an independent agency that oversees and imposes regulation on this scientific community that has successfully resisted and obstructed regulation for two decades, Ebright told The Defender. A call for accountability and reform Ebrights revelations underscore the urgent need for accountability and reform in how the U.S. funds and regulates high-risk research abroad. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dangers of poorly managed labs and reckless experimentation, yet U.S. agencies continue to pour billions into projects that prioritize discovery over safety. As Ebright and Holland have pointed out, reducing funding for these programs is not a threat to global healthits an opportunity to prevent future outbreaks. USAID has been funding gain-of-function or bioweapons research overseas for decades, leading to undisputed lab leaks and outbreaks, Holland said. The reality is likely the opposite of what the Times is suggesting. The question now is whether policymakers will heed these warnings and take meaningful steps to rein in the reckless practices that have put the world at risk. For Ebright, the answer is clear: Ending this insanity will set the stage for reducing disease outbreaks. The stakes could not be higher. As the world continues to grapple with the aftermath of COVID-19, the lessons of the past must guide the decisions of the future before another pandemic emerges from the very labs meant to protect the people. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org Rutgers.edu TheThinkingConservative.com Sorry, something doesn't look right. Something seems unusual about your device or browser. Please contact support. Huawei is at the center of an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption within the European Parliament. Belgian Federal Police raided 21 locations across Belgium and in Portugal on Thursday morning and made arrests in Belgium and France as part of the investigation. Disguised as commercial lobbying, the corruption is said to have begun in 2021 and taken the form of excessive gifts or remuneration for adopting certain political positions, the Belgian public prosecution service said in a statement. Chinese networking and telecommunications equipment supplier Huawei is said to have benefited from the alleged bribery, the public prosecution service said. SUSE expanded its AI platform today with new tools and a new partnership but SUSE AI, which first launched in November of 2024, lags far behind other AI platforms. The product delivers valuable insights into AI workloads, LLM token usage, and GPU performance, and increased functionality to support the development of agentic workflows, says Abhinav Puri, VP and GM of portfolio solutions and services at SUSE. The updated product also has enhanced security features, including LLM guardrails. Our vision is to be the platform of choice for running AI applications, says Puri. 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. A modified herpes virus that targets spinal cord nerve cells to treat neurogenic bladder in people with spinal cord injury is underway in a first-in-human clinical trial by UTHealth Houston at TIRR Memorial Hermann. Neurogenic bladder, also called neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction, often occurs after a spinal cord injury. The spinal cord helps coordinate bladder storage and voiding. The neurogenic bladder that occurs after a spinal cord injury can lead to discoordination of normal bladder function, resulting in involuntary bladder muscle contractions which can cause overactive bladder symptoms like frequency, urgency, and incontinence, and can even lead to urinary tract infections and permanent kidney injury. The therapy is a nonmultiplying gene therapy vector, or transporter, which is a modified form of the herpes virus. This vector carries the gene encoding the active part of botulinum toxin, which it will make in the spinal cord to block the sensory nerve signals that result in involuntary bladder contractions. The therapy is named EG110A by its developer EG 427, a biotechnology company. They have modified the herpes virus, which affects nerves, so that it is not virulent and does not multiply, and are relying on its innate ability to travel along nerve cells and reside in the sensory cells by the spinal cord. Once the vector is in place, it will manufacture its medication. It will block the sensory signals in the spinal cord that cause reflexive bladder contractions. This is the science fiction stuff that I dreamed about as an undergrad." Argyrios Stampas, MD, MS, lead investigator for the Houston site of the trial and associate professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in McGovern Medical School, UTHealth Houston Current treatment with BOTOX for neurogenic bladder requires multiple injections, as many as 30, into the detrusor muscle of the bladder every six months. Preclinical study results showed that EG110A could last for several years. "When people living with spinal cord injury are surveyed, bowel and bladder issues are their top priority," said Stampas, director of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine Research at TIRR Memorial Hermann. "The opportunity to have one procedure that could relieve incontinence for years would be a huge improvement on their quality of life." The 52-week, Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial will enroll people from 18 to 75 years of age who are at least 12 months post-spinal cord injury. The trial includes a five-year safety follow-up period. Because it is a first-in-human study, an overnight hospital stay is required after the bladder injections. Visit-related expenses are reimbursed. The drug has received investigational new drug clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Houston is one of four sites across the country for the study. The others are Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles; University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Philadelphia. Surgical adhesions - common, sometimes life-threatening complications that arise after open or laparoscopic abdominal surgery - can be prevented in mice and pigs by a gel impregnated with a molecule that blocks a key signaling pathway in the formation of scar tissue. The gel can be applied as a spray or a wash to the inside of the abdominal cavity immediately after surgery. Over a period of two weeks, the gel releases a small molecule, T-5224, that blocks the activation of adhesion-forming cells called fibroblasts without affecting normal wound healing. A practical, simple way to prevent or reduce the formation of post-surgical abdominal adhesions in humans, which are currently unpreventable and largely untreatable, could save billions of dollars in health care costs each year and significantly reduce the incidences of chronic pain, infertility and bowel obstructions that arise when adhesions are severe, the researchers believe. Showing success in large animals such as pigs is a key step toward human clinical trials. Adhesions happen primarily when you injure or interact with the bowel during surgery, whether the surgery is open or laparoscopic. This gel reduces the likelihood of adhesions without compromising the ability of the animal to heal after surgery. And, as a surgeon, I'm already used to washing out the surgical site at the end of the procedure, so this would be easy to incorporate into our normal workflow." Michael Longaker, MD, professor of surgery Longaker, the Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor in the School of Medicine, and assistant professor of surgery Daniel Delitto, MD, PhD, are the senior authors of the study, which was published March 12 in Science Translational Medicine. Former postdoctoral scholar and surgical resident Deshka Foster, MD, PhD, and postdoctoral scholar Jason Guo, PhD, are the lead authors of the research. The problem with scar tissue Abdominal adhesions form in the weeks after surgery as the body heals. Between 50% and 90% (depending upon the type and location of the surgery) of abdominal surgeries result in adhesions, characterized by excessive scar tissue that tethers organs and tissues to one another or to the abdominal wall. Although many adhesions cause no symptoms, between 5% and 20% are severe, causing chronic pain, infertility and life-threatening bowel obstructions. There is no reliable method to prevent or treat them, and complications from abdominal adhesions are estimated to cost billions of health care dollars each year. Longaker, Foster and their colleagues have been studying scar formation and adhesions for many years. In 2020 they identified the biological pathway responsible for adhesion formation in mice and humans and showed that inhibiting the activity of a protein called c-Jun - produced by fibroblasts in response to injury - substantially reduced the formation of adhesions in laboratory mice. The inhibitory molecule, called T-5224, had been identified for its ability to modulate the excessive scarring and inflammation, and has been tested in clinical trials as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and in animal models of cancer metastasis and inflammation. "We wanted to learn whether we could deliver this small molecule inhibitor directly to the abdominal cavity over a period of several days and, if so, whether it would impact adhesion formation," Longaker said. The researchers collaborated with study co-author and associate professor of materials science and engineering Eric Appel, PhD, to design a biomaterial called a shear-thinning hydrogel that flows like a liquid under pressure - such as being forced through a syringe - but stabilizes when the force is removed. When the gel is impregnated with T-5224, it slowly releases the small molecule over 14 days. When tested in mice and minipigs, the T-5224-impregnated gel significantly reduced the formation of adhesions - scored from 0 to 5 by the degree of contact between neighboring tissues - by nearly 300% in response to abdominal surgery compared with animals that received a saline wash of the surgical site or application of the gel without T-5224. "The sustained release formulation of T-5224-hydrogel and the ability to easily apply it to the abdominal cavity are ideal qualities for a potential clinical therapy for adhesions," Foster said. "We are eager to take the next steps to bring this approach into the clinic." "It's great to find a treatment to block adhesions," Longaker said. "But more importantly, we saw no effect on wound healing. If we prevent adhesions, but the bowel falls apart or the abdominal opening doesn't close properly because of the treatment, it wouldn't be usable. Now we have enough data in a large animal model showing that this is a safe and effective treatment to talk about launching trials in people." The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants 1F32CA239312-01, 1F32HL167318, 1R01GM116892, 1R01GM136659 and T32GM008412), the National Science Foundation, Stanford SPARK Program, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the John and Marva Warnock Faculty Scholar Award, the Emerson Collective/Goldman Sachs Foundation, Stanford's Child Health Research Institute, Stanford's Transplant and Tissue Engineering Center of Excellence, the Gunn/Olivier Fund, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. Longaker, Foster and other study co-authors are inventors on patents held by Stanford University covering the use of the inhibitor molecule in hydrogels to prevent adhesions. Appel is a cofounder, equity holder and advisor for Appel Sauce Studios LLC, which holds an exclusive license from Stanford University to a patent application describing the hydrogel materials reported in this work. Canadian researchers have developed an effective new technique for identifying aggressive medulloblastoma-the most common type of malignant brain tumor in children-and potentially sparing young patients from unnecessary treatments and their harmful long-term side effects. The technique, spearheaded by researchers from UBC's department of pathology and laboratory medicine, BC Cancer and BC Children's Hospital, can help doctors tailor treatments to individual patients and ensure high-risk cases receive the intensive therapy they need. "This test will allow hospitals around the world to identify high-risk cases without requiring expensive or complex technology. More children will receive the right treatment based on their tumor type," said Dr. Alberto Delaidelli, the study's first author and a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of UBC professor Dr. Poul Sorensen, distinguished scientist at BC Cancer and investigator with the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program at BC Children's Hospital. The method was published online last week in Neuro-Oncology. Brain tumors are the leading cause of childhood cancer deaths, and medulloblastoma is the most common type of brain tumor among kids. It affects approximately 500 children per year in Canada and the U.S., which makes improving diagnosis and treatment a top priority in pediatric oncology. While some children with medulloblastoma respond well to treatment, others experience aggressive tumors that are likely to relapse, making it critical to categorize tumors early and accurately. However, current diagnostic techniques rely on complex genetic tests that are expensive and only available in a handful of specialized laboratories worldwide. Dr. Sorensen and his team tackled this challenge using proteomics, a technique that analyzes the entire spectrum of proteins-the building blocks of cells-to identify biological markers of disease in medulloblastoma. They discovered that a protein called MYC is prominent in the most aggressive medulloblastoma cases. By applying a widely available lab technique called immunohistochemistry (IHC) to nearly 400 tumor samples, they found that MYC-positive tumors were far more likely to relapse and resist treatment. Currently, children with medulloblastoma receive similar treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, radiation in particular can cause severe long-term side effects in young children, including learning disabilities and developmental delays. The new MYC test can help doctors decide which children truly need radiation and which can safely avoid it. Our test can be performed in a single day by any pathology lab around the world, instead of waiting weeks for complex genetic tests. It's a practical solution for hospitals everywhere-no expensive equipment, no long delays, just better, faster care for children with brain tumors." Dr. Poul Sorensen, UBC professor A global collaboration with immediate clinical potential This study, a collaboration between researchers in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Halifax and Heidelberg, Germany, offers a major step forward in making personalized treatment for medulloblastoma a global reality. Since IHC is already a routine practice in pathology labs worldwide, this test could be implemented almost immediately, transforming the way this deadly childhood cancer is treated, Dr. Sorensen added. A new study from the University of Nottingham has revealed that poor sleep quality may increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs, with depression likely playing a key role in this relationship. Experts from the University's School of Psychology examined the link between sleep quality and conspiracy beliefs in two studies involving over 1,000 participants. Their findings, published in the Journal of Health Psychology, indicate that individuals with poorer sleep quality over the past month were more likely to endorse conspiracy theories, particularly after exposure to conspiratorial content. Conspiracy theories claim that powerful, secretive groups act in their own self-interest, to the detriment of society. These beliefs can have serious consequences, such as increasing vaccine hesitancy, climate change scepticism, and political distrust. In their first study, 540 participants completed a standardised sleep quality assessment before reading an article about the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris. Some were exposed to a conspiracy narrative suggesting a deliberate cover-up, while others read a factual account attributing the fire to an accident. The researchers found that those with poorer sleep quality were more likely to believe the conspiratorial version of events. A second study with 575 participants expanded on these findings by investigating the underlying psychological mechanisms that explain the link between poor sleep quality and conspiracy beliefs. The results showed that both poor sleep quality and insomnia were positively linked to the endorsement of conspiracy theories, with depression emerging as a mechanism. Anger and paranoia also played a role, but their effects were less consistent. Dr. Daniel Jolley, Assistant Professor in Social Psychology led the research team that included, Research Fellow Dr Iwan Dinnick and recent graduates Lauren Burgin, Sophie Ryan, Olivia Morgan-Finn and Samuel Muncer. Sleep is crucial for mental health and cognitive functioning. Poor sleep has been shown to increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and paranoia - factors that also contribute to conspiracy beliefs. Our research suggests that improving sleep quality could serve as a protective factor against the spread of conspiratorial thinking" Dr. Daniel Jolley, Assistant Professor in Social Psychology, University of Nottingham These findings highlight the potential for sleep-focused interventions to mitigate susceptibility to conspiracy theories. By addressing sleep quality, individuals may be better equipped to critically evaluate information and resist misleading narratives. High-grade glioma, an aggressive form of pediatric and adult brain cancer, is challenging to treat given the tumor location, incidence of recurrence and difficulty for drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier. Researchers from the University of Michigan, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Medical University of Vienna established a collaborative team to uncover a potential new avenue to address this disease. A study, published in Cancer Cell, shows that high-grade glioma tumor cells harboring DNA alterations in the gene PDGFRA responded to the drug avapritinib, which is already approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors with a PDGFRA exon 18 mutation as well advanced systemic mastocytosis and indolent systemic mastocytosis. We were excited to see that avapritinib essentially shut off PDGFRA signaling in mouse brain tumors." Carl Koschmann, M.D., ChadTough Defeat DIPG Research Professor and clinical scientific director of the Chad Carr Pediatric Brain Tumor Center at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital Aside from surgery and radiation, there aren't effective drugs to treat high-grade gliomas, especially upon recurrence. Koschmann and his collaborators targeted PDGFRA, which is one of the most commonly mutated genes, as a potential inroad to discover new drug therapies. "We'd been doing screens with a lot of commercially available drugs that inhibit PDGFRA. We found avapritinib to be the strongest and most focused inhibitor that targets PDGFRA alterations," Koschmann said. Along with colleagues from the labs of Mariella Filbin MD, PhD (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and Johannes Gojo (Medical University of Vienna) who were investigating the effectiveness of PDGFRA inhibitors, Koschmann and his team were excited to see that avapritinib crosses the blood brain barrier, a normally high hurdle for drugs. "When we gave mice the drug and showed that it reached the brain, we knew we were onto something," explained Kallen Schwark, a U-M M.D./Ph.D. student and one of the study's lead authors. The team was able to treat some patients with high-grade glioma through an expanded access program established by Blueprint, while a clinical trial was not yet available. "Across multiple international institutions, we treated the first eight patients with high-grade glioma with avapritinib," Koschmann explained. "The patients tolerated the drug well and in three of the eight patients, we were able to see their tumors shrink." This early data and preclinical data helped provide the basis to include pediatric high-grade glioma in a phase I pediatric solid tumor trial, which recently completed accrual, and for which analysis is underway. "We have very few examples of drugs entering brain tumors like this and shutting down key oncogenic pathways. These results support a lot of ongoing efforts to build on the success of avapritinib and other brain penetrant small molecule inhibitors," Koschmann continued. High-grade gliomas are very aggressive, with a prognosis of less than two years and limited treatment options. Though this work is preliminary, Koschmann is hopeful that avapritinib could be an additional tool to help patients. "We know a single drug is not going to be enough for this disease," he said. "The way to make true progress will be combining many different types of modalities, like combining drugs that are target pathways activated by the first drug. We already have a follow-up story on targeting avapritinib with MAP kinase inhibitors that we are just as excited about." Seven years ago, Erica Green learned through a Facebook post that her brother had been shot. She rushed to check on him at a hospital run by Denver Health, the city's safety-net system, but she was unable to get information from emergency room workers, who complained that she was creating a disturbance. "I was distraught and outside, crying, and Jerry came out of the front doors," she said. Jerry Morgan is a familiar face from Green's Denver neighborhood. He had rushed to the hospital after his pager alerted him to the shooting. As a violence prevention professional with the At-Risk Intervention and Mentoring program, or AIM, Morgan supports gun-violence patients and their families at the hospital as he did the day Green's brother was shot. "It made the situation of that traumatic experience so much better. After that, I was, like, I want to do this work," Green said. Today, Green works with Morgan as the program manager for AIM, a hospital-linked violence intervention program launched in 2010 as a partnership between Denver Health and the nonprofit Denver Youth Program. It since has expanded to include Children's Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado Hospital. AIM is one of dozens of hospital-linked violence intervention programs around the country. The programs aim to uncover the social and economic factors that contributed to someone ending up in the ER with a bullet wound: inadequate housing, job loss, or feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood, for example. Such programs that take a public health approach to stopping gun violence have had success one in San Francisco reported a fourfold reduction in violent injury recidivism rates over six years. But President Donald Trump's executive orders calling for the review of the Biden administration's gun policies and trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans have created uncertainty around the programs' long-term federal funding. Some organizers believe their programs will be just fine, but others are looking to shore up alternative funding sources. "Weve been worried about, if a domino does fall, how is it going to impact us? Theres a lot of unknowns," said John Torres, associate director for Youth Alive, an Oakland, California-based nonprofit. Federal data shows that gun violence became a leading cause of death among children and young adults at the start of this decade and was tied to more than 48,000 deaths among people of all ages in 2022. New York-based pediatric trauma surgeon Chethan Sathya, a National Institutes of Health-funded firearms injury prevention researcher, believes those statistics show that gun violence can't be ignored as a health care issue. "It's killing so many people," Sathya said. Research shows that a violent injury puts someone at heightened risk for future ones, and the risk of death goes up significantly by the third violent injury, according to a 2006 study published in The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection and Critical Care. Benjamin Li, an emergency medicine physician at Denver Health and the health system's AIM medical director, said the ER is an ideal setting to intervene in gun violence by working to reverse-engineer what led to a patient's injuries. "If you are just seeing the person, patching them up, and then sending them right back into the exact same circumstances, we know it's going to lead to them being hurt again," Li said. "It's critical we address the social determinants of health and then try to change the equation." That might mean providing alternative solutions to gunshot victims who might otherwise seek retaliation, said Paris Davis, the intervention programs director for Youth Alive. "If thats helping them relocate out of the area, if thats allowing them to gain housing, if thats shifting that energy into education or job or, you know, family therapy, whatever the needs are for that particular case and individual, that is what we provide," Davis said. AIM outreach workers meet gunshot wound victims at their hospital bedsides to have what Morgan, AIM's lead outreach worker, calls a tough, nonjudgmental conversation on how the patients ended up there. AIM uses that information to help patients access the resources they need to navigate their biggest challenges after they're discharged, Morgan said. Those challenges can include returning to school or work, or finding housing. AIM outreach workers might also attend court proceedings and assist with transportation to health care appointments. "We try to help in whatever capacity we can, but its interdependent on whatever the client needs," Morgan said. Since 2010, AIM has grown from three full-time outreach workers to nine, and this year opened the REACH Clinic in Denver's Five Points neighborhood. The community-based clinic provides wound-care kits; physical therapy; and behavioral, mental and occupational health care. In the coming months, it plans to add bullet removal to its services. It's part of a growing movement of community-based clinics focused on violent injuries, including the Bullet Related Injury Clinic in St. Louis. Ginny McCarthy, an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado, described REACH as an extension of the hospital-based work, providing holistic treatment in a single location and building trust between health care providers and communities of color that have historically experienced racial biases in medical care. Caught in the Crossfire, created in 1994 and run by Youth Alive in Oakland, is cited as the nation's first hospital-linked violence intervention program and has since inspired others. The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, a national network initiated by Youth ALIVE to advance public health solutions to gun violence, counted 74 hospital-linked violence intervention programs among its membership as of January. The alliance's executive director, Fatimah Loren Dreier, compared medicine's role in addressing gun violence to that of preventing an infectious disease, like cholera. "That disease spreads if you dont have good sanitation in places where people aggregate," she said. Dreier, who also serves as executive director of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education, said medicine identifies and tracks patterns that lead to the spread of a disease or, in this case, the spread of violence. "That is what health care can do really well to shift society. When we deploy this, we get better outcomes for everybody," Dreier said. The alliance, of which AIM is a member, offers technical assistance and training for hospital-linked violence intervention programs and successfully petitioned to make their services eligible for traditional insurance reimbursement. In 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive action that opened the door for states to use Medicaid for violence prevention. Several states, including California, New York, and Colorado, have passed legislation establishing a Medicaid benefit for hospital-linked violence intervention programs. Last summer, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis, and the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act earmarked $1.4 billion in funding for a wide array of violence-prevention programs through next year. But in early February, Trump issued an executive order instructing the U.S. attorney general to conduct a 30-day review of a number of Biden's policies on gun violence. The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention now appears to be defunct, and recent moves to freeze federal grants created uncertainty among the gun-violence prevention programs that receive federal funding. AIM receives 30% of its funding from its operating agreement with Denver's Office of Community Violence Solutions, according to Li. The rest is from grants, including Victims of Crime Act funding, through the Department of Justice. As of mid-February, Trump's executive orders had not affected AIM's current funding. Some who work with the hospital-linked violence prevention programs in Colorado are hoping a new voter-approved firearms and ammunition excise tax in the state, expected to generate about $39 million annually and support victim services, could be a new source of funding. But the tax's revenues aren't expected to fully flow until 2026, and it's not clear how that money will be allocated. Trauma surgeon and public health researcher Catherine Velopulos, who is the AIM medical director at the University of Colorado hospital in Aurora, said any interruption in federal funding, even for a few months, would be "very difficult for us." But Velopulos said she was reassured by the bipartisan support for the kind of work AIM does. "People want to oversimplify the problem and just say, 'If we get rid of guns, its all going to stop,' or 'It doesn't matter what we do, because they're going to get guns, anyway,'" she said. "What we really have to address is why people feel so scared that they have to arm themselves. President Donald Trump's health officials want you to take your vitamins. Mehmet Oz, the nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has fed calves on camera to tout the health wonders of bovine colostrum on behalf of one purveyor in which he has a financial stake. Janette Nesheiwat, the potential surgeon general, sells her own line of supplements. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, said he takes more vitamins than he can count and has suggested he'll ease restrictions on vitamins, muscle-building peptides, and more. Their affection for supplements might lead to tangible consequences for Americans' health regimens. Late in the 2024 campaign, Kennedy claimed the federal government was waging a "war on public health" by suppressing a vast array of alternative therapies many of them supplements, like nutraceuticals and peptides. In February, Trump announced the "President's Make America Healthy Again Commission" with Kennedy at the helm, calling for "fresh thinking" on nutrition, "healthy lifestyles," and other pathways toward combating chronic disease. Spokespeople for Kennedy did not reply to multiple requests for comment. Supplements can be beneficial, particularly in aiding fetal development or warding off anemia, said Pieter Cohen, a general internist at the Cambridge Health Alliance, who researches supplements. "I recommend supplements routinely," he said. Still, "the majority of use is not necessary to improve or maintain health," and due to only light regulations, supplement makers may make claims about their benefits without sufficient evidence, Cohen said. "No supplement needs to get tested or vetted by the FDA before it's sold." Consumer watchdogs, regulators, and researchers have reported cases of finding traces of lead and other toxins in supplements. And a 2015 analysis from a team of federal health researchers attributed about 23,000 emergency department visits annually to supplement use. (The Council for Responsible Nutrition, the industry's lobbying group, challenged the findings, arguing some visits were due to over-the-counter and homeopathic medicines that should not have been included.) Nevertheless, many Americans are ready to buy in. Internet forums populated by biohackers, weight lifters, and enthusiasts of alternative medicine, along with supplement producers, applauded Kennedy's elevation to health secretary. Many express hopes that he'll loosen what they perceive as unwarranted restrictions on these products. The Natural Products Association saluted Trump's health nominees as a victory for "health freedom." "For the first time in our industry's history, the top healthcare political appointees think it is important that Americans have the right to use nutritional supplements," wrote Kyle Turk, the association's vice president for government affairs. The worlds of supplement users and the Trump team overlap substantially when it comes to being skeptical of the traditional health system. Supplement use is part of "a broadening sort of health populist movement," said Callum Hood, the head of research at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that researches online disinformation, pointing to influencers who criticize conventional public health measures and offer alternatives like supplements, powders, or peptides. To many supplement enthusiasts, Kennedy's views align with theirs particularly his dislike for Big Pharma and Big Food, which he characterizes as corrupt, profiting from Americans' ill health. Kennedy promotes supplements as a key part of good health. In a prerecorded interview aired this month, amid a growing measles outbreak that started in West Texas, he said doctors had had "very, very good results" by treating those patients with cod liver oil, which can be delivered in pill form, along with a steroid and an antibiotic. (Separately, he wrote in a Fox News op-ed that parents should discuss the vaccine with their doctors, adding, "The decision to vaccinate is a personal one.") "What we're trying to do is really to restore faith in government and to make sure that we are there to help them with their needs and not particularly to dictate what they ought to be doing," Kennedy said in a Fox News interview. Kennedy spoke of federal officials delivering vitamin A to affected communities a treatment he pushed in past remarks as chairman of the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense. "What is the cure for measles?" he told an audience in 2021 at an Amish country fair in Pennsylvania. "Chicken soup and vitamin A. And neither of those things can be patented." The World Health Organization advises people who contract measles to take vitamin A, which can prevent blindness and death but it also strongly urges all children be vaccinated against the disease. While the image of natural wellness has long evoked organic supermarket-patronizing, liberal types, supplement use is bipartisan and now slightly more popular with Republicans. A December poll from Ipsos and Axios found that 63% of Republicans take supplements daily or most days, versus 58% of independents and 52% of Democrats. Supplement companies sometimes explicitly court right-wing customers. In the days before Trump's inauguration, the brand Nugenix posted an ad on the social platform X for its testosterone supplement with the president's trademark red hat perched on the bottle, bearing the slogan "Make Your T-Levels Great Again." (Adaptive Health, Nugenix's parent company, did not respond to requests for comment.) Some industry observers think the shift rightward happened during the pandemic. "During the covid era, Democrats became the party of science and establishment," said John Roulac, a California-based supplements entrepreneur. In his telling, the party and especially its elected officials were more likely to trust the FDA and other big institutions and to discount any potential contribution to health from supplements. "Under RFK, you have people associated less with pharmaceutical drugs and more with healthier lifestyle choices, whether thats eating organic food or using herbs or taking vitamins," Roulac said. Kennedy and others in Trump's orbit have found a particularly warm reception among some of the biggest supplement evangelists: influencers, who often promote personal responsibility, in the form of vitamins and other products, as the key to health and have provided plenty of airtime in recent years for Trump's newly minted health officials. On popular podcast host Lex Fridman's show in 2023, Kennedy accepted praise for being in "great shape" and attributed it, in part, to his vitamin regimen. "I take a lot of vitamins," he said. "I can't even list them to you here because I couldn't even remember them at all." In November, Oz endorsed Kennedy's nomination on his TikTok channel and then, in his next post, told viewers they need an alphabet soup" of vitamins to protect their brains and power their organs. Oz, who at the time had not yet been named to lead CMS, pointed viewers to a "trusted source" of vitamins: iHerb. Federal ethics rules generally bar public officials from using their office for financial gain. Last month, in a letter to the health agency's ethics official, Oz disclosed that he is an adviser to iHerb and holds a financial stake in the company. He wrote that, if he is confirmed, he plans to resign and divest from iHerb, as well as recuse himself from policy matters directly involving the company "until I have divested." Oz's Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for March 14. A spokesperson for Oz did not reply to multiple requests for comment. Nesheiwat, Trump's pick for surgeon general, has touted BC Boost, a combination of vitamins promising to toughen one's immune system and rev energy. The supplement which advertising claims was formulated by Nesheiwat herself bears her name and portrait on the package. "After years of educating my patients, now I made it a little easier to get all the nutrition you need to live strong and stay healthy," reads a marketing quote attributed to Nesheiwat. The surgeon general, considered "the nation's doctor," does not set policy but rather acts as a spokesperson for public health. During the Biden administration, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy outlined the ills from alcohol, loneliness, and social media. Nesheiwat, whose financial disclosures are not yet public, did not reply to an inquiry to her website, nor did an HHS spokesperson reply to a request for comment. It's unclear what moves the administration might take to boost supplements. Industry officials say they hope the government will make it easier for everyday consumers to use health savings accounts to buy vitamins and other products. The FDA could also decide to allow manufacturers to make more aggressive claims about their wares' health benefits. Contrary to Kennedy's claim of a "war on public health," in recent years the supplements industry has seen its fortunes grow, and attempts to increase regulations have fallen short amid pressure from supplement makers. According to the Nutrition Business Journal, revenues for the supplement industry surged during the pandemic, as customers became "more invested in their health," said Journal analyst Erika Craft. Revenues have continued to increase since then, outpacing earlier industry expectations and boosting product sales to some $70 billion per year, she told KFF Health News. One FDA attempt to put more stringent regulations like registration on businesses, during the 1990s, was defeated soundly after the industry and its clients lobbied Congress. "It was one of the largest campaigns to Congress imaginable," David Kessler, the FDA commissioner at the time, said in an oral history. Grace Sparks, a survey analyst at KFF, the health policy research, polling, and news organization that includes KFF Health News, provided research assistance for the Ipsos-Axios poll. Among older adults in Spain, hospitalization rates from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection increases progressively with age and is more likely among people with other health issues and who live in nursing homes, according to a study published in Eurosurveillance. The hospitalization rate varied considerably with age and the presence of risk conditions, with important implications for possible targeted interventions. This population-based cohort study analysed patient data for adults over the age of 60 years in seasons 2016/17 to 2019/20 obtained through electronic medical records from the region of Navarre in Spain, with RSV hospitalizations being confirmed with PCR testing. The average annual incidence rate of RSV hospitalization was calculated for the pool of the four study periods by dividing the total number of cases by the sum of the study population at the beginning of each period. The hospitalization rate for each socio-demographic and risk condition was analyzed using Poisson regression. Higher hospitalization rates with age and presence of risk conditions On average over four seasons, the study found that RSV caused 84.7 hospitalizations per 100,000 among people older than 60 years, and varied significantly depending on age and certain risk factors. The likelihood of hospitalization was strongly associated with increased age. Compared with people aged 6064 years, the rate increased 2-, 3-, 4- and 6- fold in people older than 70, 75, 80 and 85 years, respectively. It reached the highest rate among those aged 8594, with more than 200 RSV hospitalizations per 100,000 people in this group. This increased risk might be explained by the gradual decline of the immune system related to aging. Higher hospitalization rates were associated with several chronic conditions, possibly due to a higher likelihood of infection and increased severity of RSV disease. Blood cancer was the chronic condition that increased the risk of hospitalization the most, multiplying it by a factor of 3.8. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was also an important risk factor. The most common chronic condition in patients was cardiovascular disease, which doubled the risk of hospitalization for people infected with RSV. Other conditions associated with higher rates of RSV hospitalization were functional dependence, asthma, severe obesity, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. People living in nursing homes were twice as likely as those with similar traits who did not live in these facilities to be hospitalized, which could be due to close contact with caregivers and other vulnerable people. Targeted public health action could significantly reduce hospitalization rates Based on the results, the authors recommend that non-pharmacological preventive measures be strengthened for the adults identified to be at the highest risk in this study, and that they be considered a priority target population for RSV vaccination. As their rates of hospitalization are very high (>0.3%), these include people 60 years and older with hematological cancer or nursing home residence, people older than 74 years with COPD or functional dependence, and people older than 84 years with asthma or cardiovascular disease. Based on the Navarre data, considering these risk groups as target groups would involve immunizing only 13% of people aged 60 years and older, but would address half of RSV hospitalizations in this age group, and could substantially reduce the burden of RSV on healthcare systems and RSV-related deaths. IndiGo To Launch Direct Flights From Bengaluru To Krabi From March 30 Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:07 IST From Bengaluru, IndiGo operates more than 200 daily departures to over 65 domestic and 10 international destinations. With over 95 weekly flights to Thailand, the airline is expanding its presence in the region. (File Photo) IndiGo announced on March 12 that it will start direct flights from Bengaluru to Krabi, Thailand, beginning March 30. This will make Bengaluru the second Indian city, after Mumbai, with a direct link to Krabi. Recommended Stories The daily flight will give travellers quick and easy access to Krabis beautiful beaches and islands, reaffirming IndiGos commitment to expanding its international network. Flight Timings Bengaluru to Krabi (6E 1083): Departs at 3:30 PM, lands at 8:45 PM Krabi to Bengaluru (6E 1084): Departs at 11:35 AM, lands at 1:40 PM Furthermore, IndiGo stated that Krabi is the airlines 12th international and 81st overall destination from Bengaluru, further strengthening the citys reputation as a key international hub. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all According to Money Control, Vinay Malhotra, IndiGos Global Sales Head, shared his excitement about the new route, saying, With over 95 weekly flights between India and Thailand, this new connection bridges the gap like never before. Thailand remains a favourite holiday destination, and we are committed to offering seamless, affordable, and hassle-free travel." The new flight adds to IndiGos growing operations from Bengaluru, where the airline runs over 200 daily departures, connecting travellers to 65+ domestic and 10+ international destinations. About the Author Samreen Pall Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: 'Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.' This motto c... Read More Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: 'Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.' This motto c... Read More Get the latest updates on car and bike launches in India including reviews, prices, specs, and performance. Stay informed with breaking auto industry news , EV policies, and more, Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:07 IST Mumbai: Uber Offers Rs 7500 Cover For Missed Flights Amidst Traffic Chaos, Here's How To Claim Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 10:28 IST Uber launched this scheme at the end of February in partnership with Reliance General Insurance. For just Rs 3 extra per ride, passengers can opt for this coverage. To be eligible for the claim, passengers must have airport as their ride destination. (Representative Image) Mumbais never-ending roadworks and traffic jams are making life tough for travellers. With over 701 km of roads under construction, commuters are constantly stuck in traffic. The situation is so bad that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to pause new digging projects to reduce disruptions. Recommended Stories For cab drivers, this chaos means late arrivals, angry passengers, and even road rage incidents. Having said that, Uber has introduced a special insurance plan called Missed Flight Connection Cover to help passengers who miss their flights due to delays. Missed Flight Connection Cover: All You Need To Know The plan offers a compensation of up to Rs 7,500 if an Uber ride to the airport takes too long, causing a missed flight. This applies to both domestic and international flights. This new insurance cover, launched in partnership with Reliance General Insurance, started in February. At just Rs 3 extra per ride, passengers can get this coverage, which also includes medical costs in case of an accident. How the Insurance Works? The insurance applies only if the ride is booked with airport" as the destination. The estimated arrival time (ETA) must be between 90 to 120 minutes before the flight. To claim compensation, passengers must submit proof, including their flight ticket, booking details, and a no-travel confirmation from the airline. Why Uber Took This Step? Many cab drivers under the Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh (MRRKS) have been reluctant to take airport trips because of unpredictable delays. They often face abuse from frustrated passengers when they fail to reach the airport on time. According to Hindustan Times, Anand Kute from the Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh (MRRKS) explained, The Uber app might say 2-3 minutes to the destination, but road conditions make it 8-10 minutes instead. This makes passengers impatient and drivers anxious." Drivers Struggle With Poor Roads top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Angered by low fares and high commission rates (25-30 percent), Mumbais Uber and Ola drivers staged a flash strike at Mumbai Airport on Tuesday from 5 PM to 9 PM. Many drivers claimed that apart from bad roads cutting into their earnings, they are struggling with Ubers pricing policies. Meanwhile, social media users are venting their frustration at the citys road repairs. One Instagram user sarcastically asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to name a final amount to fix the roads: Just take that full and final amount from taxpayers and give us our city back!" About the Author Samreen Pall Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: 'Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.' This motto c... Read More Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: 'Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.' This motto c... Read More Get the latest updates on car and bike launches in India including reviews, prices, specs, and performance. Stay informed with breaking auto industry news , EV policies, and more, Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:26 IST After Selling 9% Stake To Temasek, Haldiram's To Sell Additional 5% To Other Investors Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 15:38 IST Haldiram's is looking to sell another 5% stake for nearly $500 million; the company will continue to be run by its promoters, the Agarwal family. Haldiram's was earlier seeking higher valuation for the company but the extended decline in the stock market has made it difficult to get investors on those valuations. After signing a deal with Singapores Temasek to sell a 10 per cent stake in the snacks business of Haldirams, the countrys largest packed snack and sweets company is looking to sell another 5 per cent stake for nearly $500 million, according to a Business Standard report citing sources. The report, citing the sources, said Haldirams will continue to be run by its promoters, the Agarwal family. The family may use part of the proceeds from the sale to expand the business, while the rest will be allocated to the family office for other purposes. Recommended Stories Haldirams has been in talks with various buyers, including consumer goods and private equity firms such as Tata Consumer Products and Blackstone, but no deal materialised. This is the first time the company has sold a stake. The company was earlier seeking higher valuation for the company but the extended decline in the stock market has made it difficult to get investors on those valuations. Meanwhile, Temasek, Singapores state investment company, has signed a deal to acquire nearly 9 per cent stake in Haldirams snacks business for about Rs 8,000 crore, according to reports. The deal has valued the entire company at around Rs 90,000 crore. The agreement follows months of negotiations, with Temasek considering Haldirams a prized asset" that will focus on Indias consumer sector, a source was quoted as saying by Moneycontrol. The stake acquisition comes shortly after private equity firm Blackstone withdrew from the race to invest in Haldirams, citing concerns over valuation. According to the Moneycontrol report, Haldiram Snacks is also mulling the sale of additional minority stake beyond 9% to other suitors beyond Temasek. Founded in 1937 in Bikaner, Rajasthan, Haldirams has grown into a dominant player in Indias snacks market. According to Euromonitor International, the company holds nearly a 13% share of Indias $6.2 billion savory snacks market. Among its most iconic offerings is bhujia", a crispy fried snack made from flour, herbs, and spices, which is available in small mom-and-pop stores for as little as 10 rupees (12 US cents). Temasek has been steadily increasing its footprint in India with investments in Manipal Hospitals and Devyani International, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut. With this latest stake in Haldirams, the firm is now betting on the countrys booming packaged snacks industry. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Earlier, a demerger of the FMCG business of Haldiram Snacks Private Ltd (HSPL or Haldiram Delhi group) and Haldiram Foods International Pvt Ltd (HFIPL or Haldiram Nagpur group) was initiated to set up a newly-incorporated entity named Haldiram Snacks Foods Private Ltd (HSFPL), wherein existing shareholders of HSPL and HFIPL would acquire 56% and 44% shareholding respectively. According to a report by Crisil Ratings, the Haldiram Groups product profile is diversified, comprising snacks, namkeen, sweets, ready to eat / pre-mix food, frozen food, biscuits, non-carbonated ready to drink beverages, pasta, etc. The group has diverse presence in India and exports to various countries outside India, including the United states of America and Europe". About the Author Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 15:38 IST Happy Holi 2025: How The Festival Of Colours Is Expected To Boost Consumption, Generate Rs 60,000-Crore Business Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 16:33 IST The Holi 2025 is expected to generate business worth Rs 60,000 crore this year, which is 20 per cent higher than last year, amid high demand for colours, gulal, water guns, sweats, dry fruits, and FMCG products, among others. This Holi, products that are in high demand are sweats, FMCG products, gift items, dry fruits, clothing, flowers and fruits, and consumer durables, among others. The festival of colour, Holi 2025, is here. Apart from bring festivities, the festival is also expected to add colours to the economy with an economic boost of Rs 60,000 crore. According to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the Holi is expected to generate business worth Rs 60,000 crore this year, which is 20 per cent higher than last year, amid high demand for colours, gulal, water guns, sweats, dry fruits, and FMCG products, among others. Similar to previous years, traders and customers are boycotting Chinese goods this year also. Only Indian-made herbal colours, gulal, balloons, apparel, pooja materials, water guns (pichkari), and sandalwood are being sold. Recommended Stories CAIT in its official statement said various business sectors are witnessing a sharp rise in Holi-related sales amid higher spending. Among the products that are in high demand are sweats, FMCG products, gift items, dry fruits, clothing, flowers and fruits, and consumer durables, among others. The traders body said there is also a high demand of T-shirts, kurta-payjamas, ans salwar suits for playing Holi with colours. T-shirts with Happy Holi written on them are also in steady demand in the market. According to CAIT data, the Holi festival this year is expected to generate business worth over 60,000 crore, which is about 20 per cent higher than the Rs 50,000 crore recorded last year. In Delhi alone, an estimated business of over Rs 80,000 crore is anticipated. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of CAIT and BJP MP from Delhis Chandni Chowk, said there is an increased for venues also as large-scale celebrations are taking place across Delhi and the entire country. More than 3,000 Holi Milan celebrations of varying scales are being organised in Delhi alone. It said shops and markets are recording heavy footfall amid Holi 2025. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Kandelwal said Holika Dahan is being held on March 13, while the festival of colours will be celebrated on March 14. He said Holi is expected to stimulate economic activities, benefiting local businesses, small traders, small-scale industries, and the MSME sector in particular". About the Author Mohammad Haris Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to markets, economy and companies. Having a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris has been previously asso... Read More Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to markets, economy and companies. Having a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris has been previously asso... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 16:26 IST EPFO 3.0 Update: PF Withdrawals Via ATMs Soon? Check Process, Rules & Launch Details Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 06:45 IST EPFO plans to launch an innovative upgrade, allowing users to withdraw their Provident Fund (PF) from ATMs. Check out the new features, benefits, and step-by-step guide on how to withdraw PF hassle-free. EPFO 3.0 Update: How Employees Can Withdraw PF Money from ATMs PF ATM Withdrawal: The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is on the verge of revolutionizing how subscribers access their savings. Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently announced the upcoming EPFO 3.0 version," promising seamless PF fund withdrawals directly from ATMs. Seamless Withdrawals, Just Like Your Bank Account Recommended Stories With this innovative system, gone are the days of visiting EPFO offices or relying on employers for withdrawals. Mandaviya assured subscribers, It is your money. You will be able to withdraw it from ATMs whenever you want." The Ministry is committed to making this vision a reality by significantly upgrading its IT infrastructure. The aim is to simplify PF withdrawals, making them as straightforward as withdrawing cash from your bank account. Lengthy claim processes and waiting periods will become a thing of the past. How ATM Withdrawals Will Work EPFO plans to connect PF accounts with an ATM-compatible system, enabling subscribers to access their funds through their registered Universal Account Number (UAN) or linked bank accounts. To ensure security, withdrawals will likely involve multi-factor authentication, such as OTP verification sent to the registered mobile number. Beyond ATMs: Fund Withdraw Via UPI Soon Beyond ATM access, EPFO is actively working towards enabling PF claims through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This integration with popular platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and BHIM will facilitate instant fund transfers, eliminating the current 2-3 day processing time associated with NEFT or RTGS. EPFO 3.0: Your Guide To ATM Withdrawals top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The new system will provide you with a dedicated PF withdrawal card, functioning like a regular ATM card. This card will empower you to withdraw your EPF funds directly from designated ATMs at your convenience. While the specific details and the list of approved ATMs are yet to be announced, the withdrawal process is expected to be simple and user-friendly. About the Author Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 06:45 IST Singapore's Temasek Signs Deal For 9% Stake In Haldiram's Snacks Biz For Rs 8,000 Crore: All You Need To Know Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 11:54 IST The agreement follows months of negotiations, with Temasek considering Haldiram's a "prized asset" that will focus on India's consumer sector. The deal has valued Haldiram's at around Rs 90,000 crore. Temasek, Singapores state investment company, has signed a deal to acquire nearly 9 per cent stake in Haldirams snacks business for about Rs 8,000 crore, according to reports. The deal has valued the entire company at around Rs 90,000 crore. The agreement follows months of negotiations, with Temasek considering Haldirams a prized asset" that will focus on Indias consumer sector, a source was quoted as saying by Moneycontrol. Recommended Stories The stake acquisition comes shortly after private equity firm Blackstone withdrew from the race to invest in Haldirams, citing concerns over valuation. According to the Moneycontrol report, Haldiram Snacks is also mulling the sale of additional minority stake beyond 9% to other suitors beyond Temasek. Earlier, news reports have indicated that Haldiram may look to sell upto 20% stake as part of the ongoing attempt to unlock value in the firm. Founded in 1937 in Bikaner, Rajasthan, Haldirams has grown into a dominant player in Indias snacks market. According to Euromonitor International, the company holds nearly a 13% share of Indias $6.2 billion savory snacks market. Among its most iconic offerings is bhujia," a crispy fried snack made from flour, herbs, and spices, which is available in small mom-and-pop stores for as little as 10 rupees (12 US cents). Temasek has been steadily increasing its footprint in India with investments in Manipal Hospitals and Devyani International, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut. With this latest stake in Haldirams, the firm is now betting on the countrys booming packaged snacks industry. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Earlier, a demerger of the FMCG business of Haldiram Snacks Private Ltd (HSPL or Haldiram Delhi group) and Haldiram Foods International Pvt Ltd (HFIPL or Haldiram Nagpur group) was initiated to set up a newly-incorporated entity named Haldiram Snacks Foods Private Ltd (HSFPL), wherein existing shareholders of HSPL and HFIPL would acquire 56% and 44% shareholding respectively. According to a report by Crisil Ratings, the Haldiram Groups product profile is diversified, comprising snacks, namkeen, sweets, ready to eat / pre-mix food, frozen food, biscuits, non-carbonated ready to drink beverages, pasta, etc. The group has diverse presence in India and exports to various countries outside India, including the United states of America and Europe". About the Author Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 11:54 IST Govt Committed To Fair Conduct Of Exams, Will Not Allow Any Malpractice: Sukanta Majumdar Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 14:50 IST MoS Education Sukanta Majumdar In Rajya Sabha rejected the NEET UG 2024 irregularities claims citing SC order. Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar. (Image: X/@DrSukantaBJP) The Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday said that the government is committed to ensuring fair conduct of examinations and trying to strengthen the system to prevent any malpractice. While replying to queries during Question Hour related to irregularities in the NEET UG 2024, Majumdar asserted that there was no systemic failure in the conduction of the NEET UG examination citing the Supreme Court order. He added that the government has asked CBI to investigate the matter and five charge sheets have been filed against 45 people in the paper leak case. Our government is committed that examinations are held in a clean system. We assure that under the Modi government, we will not allow any malpractice," he said. Recommended Stories Majumdar further said that the Supreme Court has given a verdict that there is no systemic leakage. So, if we call it a leakage then, we are disobeying or disrespecting the verdict of the Supreme Court." Steps are being taken and will be taken against those who have availed unfair means, he added. Minister further stated that the government has passed a new law Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 and implemented many recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan committee. In the new Act, we have made some provisions through which we can punish those people who will try to breach the system. We are trying to strengthen our system so that no one can breach our system of examination," he said, adding that the National Testing Agency (NTA) is using CCTV and also metal detectors for searches. The NTA conducted the NEET UG 2024 on May 5, 2024. In June 2024, controversies sparked after reports of a paper leak in June 2024, leading to petitions in the Supreme Court alleging irregularities and demanding its cancellation. However, in July 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that a retest was not justified. In its detailed verdict in August 2024, the Court stated that there was no widespread breach in the NEET UG 2024 exam, except for incidents in Hazaribagh and Patna. In the NEET UG Patna leak case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a third chargesheet in October 2024, naming 21 people as accused. After the conduct of NEET(UG) 2024 Examination, certain cases of alleged irregularities/cheating/malpractices were reported," Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said in a statement earlier. The ministry had asked the CBI to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the entire gamut of alleged irregularities, including conspiracy, cheating, and breach of trust with respect to the NEET(UG) 2024 Examination. As on November 21, 2024, the CBI has filed five charge sheets in the NEET(UG) paper theft case against a total of 45 accused," Pradhan said. Names of candidates, who are beneficiaries of the paper theft/unfair means and names of the MBBS students who had solved the stolen paper or who had appeared in the exam as impersonators have already been identified and sent to concerned authorities, as the case may be, for necessary action, he had stated. In order to suggest effective measures for transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations by NTA, the ministry constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts (HLCE) on June 22, 2024, headed by K Radhakrishnan, former Chairman ISRO and BoG, IIT Kanpur. The committee submitted its report on October 21, 2024, and recommended the Reformation of National Common Entrance Testing, including the strengthening of NTA, institutional linkage with states, involvement of Test Indenting Agencies as Knowledge and Examinations partners etc. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The panel also laid out measures and recommended Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prevent breaches in Pen and Paper Test (PPT) and Computer Based Test (CBT) examinations. The committee also recommended the constitution of a high-powered steering committee to monitor the implementation of recommendations of HLCE on NTA and the same has already been constituted. About the Author Education and Careers Desk A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 14:50 IST IIT Tirupati Is Offering Two-Month Summer Internship For UG, PG Students; Check Details Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 17:21 IST IIT Tirupati Summer Internship 2025: Pre-final year students of B.E, B.Tech, B.Sc, M.Sc, B.A, M.A or equivalent from any recognised university can apply for the programme The internship will take place from May 12 to July 11, 2025 (Image: iittp.ac.in) IIT Tirupati Summer Internship 2025: IIT Tirupati has invited applications for its Summer Internship programme 2025. Undergraduate and postgraduate students can apply online by visiting the official website at iittp.ac.in by March 31. Pre-final year students of B.E, B.Tech, B.Sc, M.Sc, B.A, M.A or equivalent from any recognised university can apply for the internship. There is no registration fee. The internship will take place from May 12 to July 11, 2025, providing students with valuable research experience. They will also be provided free accommodation along with a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000. Recommended Stories Internships are offered across various departments in the institute, including Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics. IIT Tirupati Summer Internship 2025: How To Apply? Step 1 Go to the official website of IIT Tirupati at iittp.ac.in Step 2 Search for and click on the internship link Step 3 Read the details and click on the application link Step 4 Read department-wise eligibility criteria Step 5 Proceed to registration. Candidates will have to fill out their personal and academic details. Step 6 Submit and save the page for further use. IIT Tirupati Summer Internship 2025: Selection Process Here is the department-wise selection process: Computer Science and Engineering: An online coding test followed by an interview Electrical Engineering: The department will scrutinise the received applications and choose the top 10 students Chemical Engineering: Shortlisting and selection will be based on the CGPA and Statement of Purpose (SOP) followed by an interview (if required) Mechanical Engineering: The department will scrutinise the received applications and choose the top 10 students Civil and Environmental Engineering: The department will scrutinise the received applications and choose the top 10 students Mathematics & Statistics: Minumum CGPA: At least 7.5 or minimum of four courses in either mathematics or statistics in their UG Chemistry: The department will scrutinise the received applications and choose the top 10 students top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Physics: Candidates with a minimum CGPA of 7.5 or equivalent will be considered Humanities & Social Sciences: Those with 75% in UG or 7.5 CGPA on completion of the first year of PG will be considered. About the Author Sukanya Nandy Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in Journalism... Read More Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in Journalism... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 16:59 IST Important Update For Tamil Nadu Students: Exam Schedule, Summer Vacation Dates Announced Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:25 IST The final exams for students in Classes 1 to 9 in Tamil Nadu are set for April, with the official timetable now released. Summer vacation dates have also been finalised and announced following the exams For Classes 1 to 5, summer holidays will begin on April 22, while for Classes 6 to 9, the break will commence on April 25. (News18 Tamil) An important update has been announced for school students in Tamil Nadu regarding the full-year examinations and summer vacation for the academic year 2024-25. Exam Schedule For Classes 1 to 9 Recommended Stories The Directorate of School Education, Primary Education, and Private Schools has officially published the exam schedule for students in Classes 1 to 9. As the academic year nears its final phase, public examinations for classes 10, 11, and 12 are already underway, scheduled between March and April. Meanwhile, full-year exams for students in classes 1 to 9 will be held in April. Classes 4 and 5: Exams will be held in the afternoon from April 9 to April 21 Classes 1 to 3: Exams will be conducted in the morning from April 15 to April 21 Classes 6 to 9: Exams will take place from April 9 to April 24 All District Education Officers have been directed to ensure that principals of government, government-aided, and private schools are informed about the schedule. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Summer Vacation Dates Announced Following the completion of exams, summer vacation dates have also been finalised and announced. For Classes 1 to 5, summer holidays will begin on April 22, while for Classes 6 to 9, the break will commence on April 25. Location : Tamil Nadu, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:25 IST MPSC Exams To Be Held In Marathi: Maharashtra CM Fadnavis Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 13:42 IST Responding to Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Milind Narvekar's query in the state legislative council, CM Fadnavis addressed the concern that some agriculture and engineering exams were solely in English Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis (File Photo) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that all Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exams will be conducted in Marathi. Responding to Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Milind Narvekars query in the state legislative council, CM Fadnavis addressed the concern that some agriculture and engineering exams were solely in English, reported PTI. Narvekar specifically questioned the absence of Marathi as an option for engineering-related exams. CM Fadnavis clarified that while exams are generally offered in both Marathi and English, court rulings mandated English for certain agricultural engineering exams. This was due to the unavailability of Marathi textbooks for those subjects. However, the government is actively working to create Marathi textbooks for technical fields, the report added. He emphasised the New Education Policys (NEP 2020) provision for conducting engineering courses in Marathi. Recommended Stories MPSC exams were held only in English due to a lack of Marathi study material. Supporting textbooks are being produced and a timeline will be established with the MPSC to introduce these Marathi exams, the report added. This initiative aims to assist Marathi-speaking students facing language barriers while appearing for the MPSC exams. ALSO READ | Look At Their Hypocrisy: Nirmala Sitharaman Slams DMK Over Language Row top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all This announcement comes amid the ongoing language row between the Education Ministry and the Tamil Nadu government. While CM MK Stalin has alleged Hindi imposition" by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the latter has clarified that the central government is not imposing any language on anyone, nor is it taking away anyones rights. Responding to questions on the functioning of the Ministry of Education in the Rajya Sabha, Pradhan stressed that India is a multilingual country and the Modi government would not hurt anyones feelings based on language." Pradhan stated that Tamil language is no ones monopoly" and expressed that there was no need for anyone to question the central governments commitment to Tamil. About the Author Education and Careers Desk A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 13:25 IST TOSS SSC, Inter April/May Exam 2025 Schedule Released; Check Timetable Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 20:03 IST TOSS April/May Exam 2025: The theory exams are scheduled from April 20 to April 26, 2025, followed by practical exams from April 26 to May 3, 2025 To access the detailed date sheet, candidates can visit the official TOSS website at telanganaopenschool.org. (Representative image/File) Telangana Open School Society (TOSS), Hyderabad, has announced the dates for its SSC (Class 10) and Intermediate (Class 12) examinations for April/May 2025. The exams will be held from April 20 to May 3, 2025. To access the detailed date sheet, candidates can visit the official TOSS website at telanganaopenschool.org. The theory exams are scheduled from April 20 to April 26, 2025, followed by practical exams from April 26 to May 3, 2025. Both SSC and Intermediate exams will have two shifts: 9 am to noon and 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. In light of the above, the District Educational Officers are requested to take necessary measures to ensure the seamless administration of the examinations and to communicate the timetable to all learners through AI Coordinators for their requisite preparations," reads the official notice. Recommended Stories The SSC exams will commence with Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil papers in the first shift and Psychology and Marathi papers in the second shift. The Inter exams begin with Telugu, Urdu, and Hindi papers in the first shift, and Arabic in the second shift. The concluding exams for SSC include all vocational subjects in both shifts, while the Inter exams conclude with all vocational subjects in the first shift. TOSS SSC, Inter April/May Exam 2025 Schedule TOSS SSC, Inter April/May Exam 2025 Schedule: How To Check Notice? Step 1: Go to the TOSS website at telanganaopenschool.org Step 2: Search and click on the SSC and inter exams schedule notification link Step 3: Read the notice carefully. Step 4: Carefully review all the information. Download and save the page for further use. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all ALSO READ | TS SSC Hall Tickets 2025 Released At bse.telangana.gov.in, Direct Link To Download Here Meanwhile, Telangana Intermediate regular students who took the 2nd-year English exam on March 10, 2025, will all receive full marks for question number 7. The Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) has announced the decision after students reported errors in a question about a pie chart. Around 9.96 lakh students registered for the TS Intermediate public exams, which began on March 6. About the Author Sukanya Nandy Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in Journalism... Read More Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in Journalism... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 19:51 IST Decoding Ukraine-Russia Ceasefire Deal That The US Has Proposed, Will Putin Accept It? Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 13:39 IST The 30-day ceasefire deal lifts pause on intelligence and military aid to Ukraine. But it does not mention security guarantees that Zelenskyy had demanded and critical minerals deal that Trump has been eyeing According to Russian President Vladimir Putin's former aide, if Moscow accepts the US suggestion, it will lead to a 'dangerous situation'. (Reuters Image) The talks in Saudi Arabias Jeddah concluded on Tuesday with a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan accepted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in war with Russia. The Trump administration sees the deal as a major breakthrough towards foreign policy goals and a leaders promise to end the war. Recommended Stories For Ukraine, the ceasefire announcement amounts to a reprieve for Zelenskyy after the humiliation at the Oval Office a fortnight ago by President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance. For Russia, the onus is on them whether President Vladimir Putin will accept the terms and conditions of the eight-paragraph-long deal, with little details divulged to the press, as per the BBC. What Does The Ceasefire Deal Say? Immediate Ceasefire: The key part of a joint statement released after the Jeddah meeting was that Ukraine was willing to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire which can be extended". This goes against Ukraines proposal for an initial air and sea ceasefire, which left open the possibility of ground warfare. Zelensky had previously told the Americans that Putin cannot be trusted, as he had broken the European-backed Minsk agreements after seizing Ukrainian territory in 2014. Trump has dismissed such concerns, saying there will be security for Ukraine, but without saying how this will be assured. He has said Putin will be deterred and is in a difficult position with no choice" but to make a deal for reasons that only I know". Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday after the talks, Trump said the deal was for a total ceasefire". US military aid restored: The proposal has focused on lifting the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine. This looks like a big win for Zelenskyy as US weapons supplies delivered at a rate of $2 billion-worth a month will be restored, as per BBC. The talks largely focused on repairing the US and Ukraine ties after a disastrous dust-up between Trump and Zelenskyy in Washington. No security guarantees for Ukraine: The phrase security guarantees" a key demand of Zelenskyy that the US provides a commitment to protect it if Russia were to renege on any ceasefire deal was not mentioned in the joint statement. The deal was hailed by French President Emmanuel Macron but he cautioned that Kyiv needs robust" security guarantees, as mentioned by The Guardian. No Critical Minerals Deal: It seems Zelenskyy had bought more time to dodge the critical minerals deal that Trump has used to put pressure on the Ukrainian president to give 50% stake in revenues from the sale of Ukraines minerals wealth. Prisoner Swaps: According to the joint statement, the ceasefire will include the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children to Russia. What Are Russias Options? Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state who led the negotiations, said the ball was now in Russias court". After the talks were concluded in Jeddah, Russias foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova declined to comment on specifics and thus said the formation of the position of the Russian Federation [would] take place inside the Russian Federation". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov skirted the issue. Lets not get ahead of ourselves," he said, adding Moscow was acquainting itself" with the joint statement issued in Jeddah, as per BBC. Reports suggest that US envoy Steve Witkoff could travel to Moscow on Thursday and Peshkov said the media would be kept informed. According to former Putin aide Sergei Markov, who told BBC, that if the Russian president accepts the US suggestion, it will lead to a dangerous situation", arguing that the Russian army currently has the upper hand on the front line and may lose it. There are also concerns that Ukraine could use the month-long ceasefire to rearm, so Russia may put forward some conditions, such as demanding an end to the Western supply of weapons to Kyiv. The condition should be that during this period, an embargo must be introduced on arms supplies to Ukraine Europe should support a ceasefire in Europe, not with words, but with actions," Markov told Russian media, as quoted by BBC. But if Russia accepts the ceasefire, it can later blame Ukraine for any violations as provocations", in the hope of discrediting Kyiv in Trumps eyes. After Russia seized Crimea in 2014, several attempts were made to implement a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv. But all of them failed. On Wednesday, Russia TV and popular Telegram channels ran images of Russian soldiers recapturing Sudzha the largest town Ukraine managed to seize in Kursk region , showering praise for the daring" work of Moscows army. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The real conditions for negotiations are now being created by our heroic guys all along the front line, said Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets. Regardless of the chatter, the final decision as always will rest with Vladimir Putin. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 13:31 IST What Is NEP 2020s Three-Language Formula? How Tamil Nadu Has Protested Hindi Imposition For Years | Explained Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 10:48 IST NEP Row: Anti-Hindi protests in Tamil Nadu date back to pre-Independence days. After three-language policy was introduced in 1968, the state under CM Annadurai adopted two-language formula, teaching only Tamil and English The Tamil Nadu government led by MK Stalin views NEP as a covert way to introduce Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states. (Photo: PTI) NEP 2020: The DMK government led by MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu has vociferously opposed the three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy 2020, declaring the state will not implement it. His concern stems from the perceived Hindi language imposition and potential disruption of DMKs education model, which the state government believes is a violation of cooperative federalism. Recommended Stories What Is The Three-Language Formula? The three-language formula states that the student learns three languages, at least two of which must be native to India. This applies to both government and private schools, giving the states flexibility to choose languages without any imposition. The NEP states that the medium of instruction will be home language, mother tongue, local language or regional language until at least Class 5 but preferably till Class 8 and beyond. What Does NEP 2020 Say About Three-Language Formula? The NEP proposes an early implementation of the three-language formula to promote multilingualism" from the school level. The document states that the three-language formula will continue to be implemented while keeping in mind the Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions, and the Union, and the need to promote multilingualism as well as promote national unity." The NEP states no language will be imposed on any state, in fact, there will be greater flexibility in the three-language formula. The policy states that the three languages learned by students will be the choices of states, regions, and of course, the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. What About Foreign Languages? The NEP 2020 states, in addition to Indian languages and English, students at the secondary level can also learn Korean, Japanese, French, German and Spanish, among other foreign languages. English which is used as medium of instruction in majority of schools, will now be considered a foreign language. This means, students opting for English will have to opt for two Indian languages. What Is The History Of Three-Language Formula? The three-language formula was first proposed by the Education Commission (1964-66), officially known as the Kothari Commission. It was formally adopted in the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1968 under then prime minister Indira Gandhi. The policy was reaffirmed in NPE 1986 under PM Rajiv Gandhi and revised in 1992 by Narasimha Raos Congress government to promote linguistic diversity and national unity. The formula included three languages mother tongue or regional language, official language (including English) and a modern Indian or European language. Why Tamil Nadu Has Opposed NEP 2020 The Tamil Nadu government views NEP as a covert way to introduce Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states. However, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, There is absolutely no imposition of any language on any state or community. NEP 2020 upholds linguistic freedom, ensuring students have the autonomy to learn in the language of their choice." Stalin and other DMK leaders said they are firm that they will not let the Centre impose Hindi in a Tamil-speaking state, adding that they had no opposition to any language. The chief minister asserted that those interested in learning Hindi were free to enrol in Kendriya Vidyalayas or attend classes conducted by the Hindi Prachara Sabha. We would have welcomed the NEP if it was a scheme designed to bring everyone into education. The NEP will totally destroy Tamil Nadus progress in education. That is why we are opposing it," Stalin said, as quoted by The Hindu, addressing a public meeting organised by the party in Tiruvallur. The stand-off has prompted the Centre to withhold funds to the tune of Rs 2,400 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for Tamil Nadu after the state refused to join PM-SHRI school scheme aimed at developing 14,500 schools across India based on the objectives envisaged in NEP 2020. According to policy rules, states must comply with NEP guidelines to receive SSA funding, of which 60% is provided by the Centre to states like Tamil Nadu. Both Tamil Nadu and Kerala view the denial of funds under SSA as arm-twisting" by the Centre to make them accept the PM-SHRI scheme. What Is Tamil Nadus Resistance With Hindi Imposition? The southern state has historically rejected the three-language formula. In August 1937, the Congress government led by C Rajagopalachari introduced compulsory Hindi in schools. In April 1938, he issued a government order making Hindi compulsory in 125 schools. The move led to widespread protests organised by the Justice Party and Dravidian leaders like Periyar. The policy was revoked in 1940, but anti-Hindi sentiments persisted. After Independence, the Constitution of India (in 1950) declared Hindi as the official language, with English as a temporary associate language until 1965. The Central government intended to make Hindi the sole official language by 1965, replacing English. This sparked massive protests in Tamil Nadu, led by CN Annadurai, founder of the DMK. The anti-Hindi agitation in 1965 turned violent, with students immolating themselves and holding large-scale demonstrations. As a result, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri allowed English to continue indefinitely as an associate official language. When the three-language formula was introduced in 1968, Tamil Nadu opposed it, seeing it as an attempt to impose Hindi. Under Chief Minister CN Annadurai, the state adopted a two-language policy, teaching only Tamil and English. Tamil Nadu remains the only state that has never implemented the three-language formula, choosing English over Indian languages, including Hindi and other regional languages. In the 1990s, protests took place again when the Centres exams and recruitments were seen as favouring only Hindi speakers. In 2014, the NDA government, led by Narendra Modi, pushed for greater use of Hindi in official communications, triggering criticism. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all In 2017, the Tamil Nadu government opposed making NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) Hindi-based, arguing that it put non-Hindi-speaking students at disadvantage. Home Minister Amit Shahs calls for making Hindi a link language" led to backlash in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala in 2019 and again in 2022. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:42 IST 'Free From Saliva Contamination', What Is Malhar Meat? '100% Hindu' Mutton Controversy Explained Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Sumedha Kirti Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 15:05 IST Malhar Certification Controversy: 'Malhar' mutton can be seen as an extension of 'jhatka' meat, promoted as an initiative for Hindu consumers with a certification introduced by Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane exclusively for Hindu mutton traders. Nitish Rane stated that Hindu shopkeepers selling 'jhatka' mutton would be granted 'Malhar Certification'. A newly-launched meat certification by Maharashtra government has been caught in the eye of the storm ever since Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane promoted the initiative as 100% Hindu-owned mutton shops, free from adulteration". Rane stated that Hindu shopkeepers selling jhatka mutton would be granted Malhar Certification, and urged Hindu consumers to purchase mutton exclusively from certified vendors. The move has sparked sharp political reactions across party lines. While opposition parties have alleged that the certification would divide the society, the BJP-led Maharashtra government has not officially backed the initiative amid concerns of government involvement in food choices. Recommended Stories Some even raised questions on the legitimacy of the certification. If this is an official government scheme, why didnt the chief minister launch it? Who exactly owns this certification company," NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Rohit Pawar asked, hinting at possible private interests behind the initiative. Let us understand the controversy. How Can A Mutton Certification Lead To Religious Divide? Municipal and zilla parishad elections in Pune district are approaching. And there are fears that this issue could become a major political flashpoint, shaping the narrative of communal and cultural politics in Maharashtra. The debate over food choices and religious identity has added another layer to the states already heated political climate. Controversy over anti-conversion law promise: Before the state elections last year, Bharatiya Janata Partys anti-conversion law and no quota for minorities assurance has triggered members of the minority communities. Besides the Muslim residents, leaders from the Christian community advised members to vote in large numbers for parties that respect the Constitution". A report in Times of India had quoted Cyril Dara, core member of a federation of NGOs named Samast Christi Samaj, as saying, Christians are targeted by anti-conversion laws, which create an environment where conversion to a minority religion is very dangerous, and sharing the gospel can lead to persecution." Haji Malang Dargah Controversy: A year ago, then Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde had stirred a by claiming that the tomb of an Arab missionary, who came to India more than 700 years ago, was a Hindu temple. Reports quoted Shinde as saying that he would liberate" it. A recent report claimed that a Gram Sabha meeting held at Madhi village in Ahilyanagars Pathardi taluka misused signatures to pass a resolution to boycott Muslim traders who would gather at the Kanifnath shrine for the annual Madhi fair. The shrine is located 50 kilometres from Ahilyanagar (earlier called Ahmednagar). Over time, the Kanifnath shrine an important place of worship for some nomadic communities has acquired visual markers that claim it is a Hindu" shrine. What Is Jhatka And Halal? The latest controversy over Malhar Certification has added another layer to existing controversies, with food choices being questioned. But its just not about food preference here. Theres a religious connection too. The Malhar Certification is for shopkeepers selling jhatka mutton. In laymans words, jhatka (which means swift in Hindi) is a non-Islamic method, involving a single strike to the head to ensure immediate death of the animal. Reports suggest that people belonging to the Sikh community usually prefer this method. Supporters of the Jhatka method argue that it is a more ethical practice, as the animal is killed instantly without prolonged suffering. On the other hand, halal refers to the Islamic method of slaughter with the slower bleeding method that claims to drain all blood" from the animal. Nitish Rane-promoted MalharCertification.com is a dedicated platform for jhatka meat suppliers operated solely by Hindus from the Khatik community. According to the website, the certified meat is fresh, clean, free from saliva contamination" and not mixed with any other animal meat. The website already mentions name and location of nearly 14 mutton shops in and around Pune. Jhatka + Hindu = Malhar Mutton: Heres Whats New Malhar mutton can be seen as an extension of jhatka meat, promoted as an initiative for Hindu consumers with a certification introduced by Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane exclusively for Hindu mutton traders. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The demand for non-Halal products has been growing, with recent changes such as Air India switching to non-Halal food for Hindu and Sikh passengers in November last year. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:06 IST Ayushman Bharat Scheme To Be Implemented In Delhi Soon, To Benefit 55 Cr People Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:26 IST The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana will benefit nearly 55 crore people by giving them health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. Representative image (Credits: Getty) The Delhi government is all set to sign an MoU with the National Health Authority to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) on March 18, official sources said on Thursday. With this, Delhi will become the 35th state/UT to implement the health insurance scheme. Recommended Stories West Bengal will remain the only state to not have adopted the scheme. "The Mou will be signed on March 18 in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda and five families will be given AB-PMJAY cards making them beneficiaries of the scheme," the sources said. Implementation of the scheme was one of the major promises of the BJP for the Delhi Assembly election. The previous AAP government had devised their own scheme and refused to implement AB-PMJAY. The BJP won the February 5 Delhi Assembly election returning to power in the city after over 26 years. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The AB-PMJAY provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to approximately 55 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12.37 crore families constituting economically vulnerable bottom 40 per cent of Indias population. On October 29, 2024, the Central government had expanded the AB-PMJAY to provide free treatment benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status.PTI PLB DV DV First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:26 IST Bengaluru Woman Electrocuted While Fetching Water At Civic Body Pump, Protesters Blame Poor Infra Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:23 IST Selvi died from electrocution while using a water pump in Bengaluru's Chamarajpet. Her death led to protests against BBMP for negligence, causing traffic jams. Residents accused MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan of discrimination. The protest caused a massive traffic jam on Market Road. (PTI Image) A woman died from electrocution while trying to fetch water by trying to operate a civic body water pump in Bengalurus Chamarajpet on Thursday morning, triggering massive protests in the city. She allegedly came in contact with a live wire and eventually lost her life. The incident took place in the Anandapura, Market Road, Chamarajpet, which is under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits in the heart of old Bengaluru around 5:30 am, reported Asianet. Recommended Stories The deceased has been identified as 58-year-old Selvi, who was engaged in domestic work to support her household. Selvi, a widow who lost her husband 12 years ago, was the sole provider for her four children. With her sudden demise, the children are now orphaned. Her body has been shifted to Victoria Hospital for post-mortem. Public Outrage Following the tragic incident, residents of Anandapura blocked the roads in protest against the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), blaming the authorities for negligence and poor infrastructure. The protest caused a massive traffic jam on Market Road. Although the incident occurred early in the morning, police arrived at the scene only after several hours, further fuelling public anger. Residents claimed that the area has been suffering from severe water scarcity for over 30 years. Water is being supplied only between 3 am and 6 am, forcing people to rely on motors connected to large pipelines. Protesters alleged that despite repeated requests, no permanent water connection has been provided to their homes. Allegations of Discrimination Amidst the outrage, local women accused MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan of discrimination in providing basic amenities. They claimed that Hindu-majority areas like Anandapura lack proper water and drainage facilities, whereas nearby Tipu Nagar, which has a larger Muslim population, enjoys better infrastructure. They call our area a slum when we ask for basic facilities, but arent we voters too?" lamented one of the protesting women. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all About the Author Poulami Kundu Poulami Kundu is a senior copy editor with News 18's general news desk. She hails from Guwahati and has over six years of experience in print and digital media. Poulami is a voracious reader, hodophile, and an ... Read More Poulami Kundu is a senior copy editor with News 18's general news desk. She hails from Guwahati and has over six years of experience in print and digital media. Poulami is a voracious reader, hodophile, and an ... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:13 IST British Woman Allegedly Raped By Her Social Media Friend In Delhi Hotel, 2 Arrested Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 11:02 IST The British woman, was friends with the man through social media, and had come to Delhi to meet him. The man and his accomplice were arrested in connection to the rape and molestation case. (Image: Representative/PTI) A British woman was allegedly raped in Delhi after she arrived in the capital to meet the perpetrator she became friends with through social media. According to the police, the man has been arrested on charges of rape. The incident took place in a hotel in the Mahipalpur area of Delhi. The mans accomplice was also arrested on charges of molestation. Recommended Stories The accused contacted the victim on Instagram. Following which, the women came to Delhi from UK to meet him. The information about the incident had been forwarded to the British High Commission. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The incident is reported days after an Israeli tourist, along with a homestay owner, was gang-raped in Karnataka by three men. The mishap occurred when a group of travellers was stargazing near the canal situated near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hampi. All three suspects have been arrested. Another traveller from Odisha was found dead in the incident after he and two others were pushed into a canal by the attackers in Karnataka. About the Author Mahima Joshi Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a... Read More Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a... Read More Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 09:42 IST Chennai Doctor Dies By Suicide With Wife, Two Sons; Police Point To Huge Debt Burden Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 17:41 IST Dr Balamurugan, doctor and sonographer, ran several ultrasound centres in the city. Chennai-based Dr Balamurugan who died by suicide along with his family was facing a debt burden. (IMAGE: UNSPLASH) A Chennai-based doctor was found dead inside their home in Anna Nagar along with his wife and two sons on Thursday morning, broadcaster NDTV said in a report. Dr Balamurugan, a sonographer, who ran several ultrasound centres in the city was found dead along with wife Sumathy, an advocate, and their sons, NEET aspirant Jaswant Kumar and Class 11 student Lingesh Kumar. They were found hanging in two rooms. Recommended Stories The police told the broadcaster that they died due to suicide as they faced huge debts. The driver was the first person to report the deaths. He suspected something had gone wrong when no one responded to his calls. He went inside to find the dead bodies of the doctor and his wife and children. We suspect they killed themselves. They were in debt. We are investigating. No formal complaint received from anyone so far," the police officer was quoted as saying by NDTV. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The report said that it remains unclear if they left a suicide note behind or if they were facing pressure from lenders to return their money. This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata) About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 17:10 IST Dalit Man Paraded Naked For Affair With Married Woman In Gujarat, Forced To Sign Apology Letter Published By : PTI Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 21:04 IST A video of the incident, which took place in a village near Idar town on the night of March 11, went viral on social media. Representative Image A Dalit man was thrashed and paraded naked in Gujarats Sabarkantha district allegedly by the husband and kin of the woman with whom he was having an affair, a police official said on Thursday. A video of the incident, which took place in a village near Idar town on the night of March 11, went viral on social media. Recommended Stories In the video, the 20-something man can be seen walking naked while being subjected to harassment and assault by a mob. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Based on the viral video, an FIR was registered against the womans husband and other relatives. The man, who was in a relationship with a married woman, was abducted from his house in Idar town, some 20 kilometres from Himmatnagar, thrashed and paraded naked. They let him off only after making him sign an apology letter," Sabarkantha Superintendent of Police Vijay Patel said. We contacted the victim after the video went viral on Wednesday. A case was lodged today. The accused have been charged with abduction, assault and other offences under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and SC/SC (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. No arrest has been made in the case," the SP informed. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More Location : Gujarat, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 21:04 IST Foreign Terrorists Exceed Local Ones In J&K, Overall Number Dips From Last Year Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 17:14 IST A senior government official revealed that reports suggest 60 foreign terrorists from Pakistan-based groups are currently active in the region. According to sources, a total of 77 terrorists are active in J&K, reflecting an almost 20% decrease compared to the previous year In response to the growing foreign terrorist presence, security forces have intensified operations, employing advanced surveillance and intelligence networks to counter infiltration and neutralise threats proactively. (Representational pic/PTI) Hinting at large-scale infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, a worrying trend has emerged: the number of active foreign terrorists (FTs) has significantly surpassed that of local militants (LTs), indicating increased intrusion from across the border. A senior government official revealed that reports suggest 60 foreign terrorists from Pakistan-based groupsHizbul Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)are currently active in the region. Pakistan persists in promoting terror, supplying sophisticated weaponry to highly trained terrorists. Among the foreign militants, Jaish-e-Mohammed boasts 21 operatives, followed by Lashkar-e-Taiba with 35, and Hizbul Mujahideen with 3. In contrast, local terrorist strength remains significantly lower, with just 3 in Jammu and 14 in the Kashmir Valley. Recommended Stories According to sources, a total of 77 terrorists are active in J&K, reflecting an almost 20% decrease compared to the previous year. Sources also highlighted the continuous decline in terrorist numbers but emphasised that FTs remain a concern. Security agencies attribute this shift to heightened recruitment efforts by foreign terror handlers and renewed attempts at infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC). Furthermore, sources revealed that the recovery of 265 rounds of ammunition in Reasi by the 126th Battalion of the CRPF and the Special Operations Group (SOG) on February 22 raises concerns about a potential increase in terror activities. Since the beginning of the year, four rockets have also been discovered in Reasi. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all In South Kashmir, security forces successfully averted imminent attacks by detecting and neutralising two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Shopian and Pulwama. These incidents suggest a rise in cross-border operatives orchestrating attacks due to dwindling local recruitment within militant ranks. In response to the growing foreign terrorist presence, security forces have intensified operations, employing advanced surveillance and intelligence networks to counter infiltration and neutralise threats proactively. Authorities urge citizens to remain vigilant and cooperate with security forces in safeguarding the region. About the Author Ankur Sharma With over 15 years of journalistic experience, Ankur Sharma, Associate Editor, specializes in internal security and is tasked with providing comprehensive coverage from the Ministry of Home Affairs, paramilitar... Read More With over 15 years of journalistic experience, Ankur Sharma, Associate Editor, specializes in internal security and is tasked with providing comprehensive coverage from the Ministry of Home Affairs, paramilitar... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 17:14 IST Holi 2025: Massive Traffic Jam On Mumbai-Goa Highway As People Head For Long Weekend Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:40 IST Holi 2025: The construction work on the Mumbai-Goa Highway has further contributed to the traffic jam People heading to Konkan face massive traffic jams on the Mumbai-Goa highway. (Source: X/@RajuKocharekar) Holi 2025: Massive traffic jams and long queues of vehicles have plagued the Mumbai-Goa Highway as holidaymakers head for a long weekend ahead of the festival of Holi. People are heading to their hometowns or native places to celebrate Holi with their families and loved ones on March 14. Some are even heading to Konkan for a break from their daily lives. Recommended Stories Mumbai to Pune Express way jam packed at khalapur to Lonavala. Several vehicles break down in https://t.co/CymLrqkVl5 many people leaving for Pune, Satara and tourists place,weekend home for Holi celebrations are fade up with traffic jam. #Longweekend @TimeMaharashtra pic.twitter.com/biNppLx69u Rajesh Kocharekar (@RajuKocharekar) March 13, 2025 The festival of Holi falls on March 14, which is Friday, giving the holidaymakers an extended weekend this week. The increase in the number of vehicles moving towards the Konkan region before Holi and the ongoing construction work on the Mumbai-Goa Highway has led to incessant traffic jams on the highway. Maharashtra: Traffic on the Mumbai-Goa Highway has increased due to a rise in the number of passengers heading to Konkan from Mumbai. Vehicles were seen in long queues pic.twitter.com/pdFZYHr1Su IANS (@ians_india) March 13, 2025 The ongoing construction work on the Mumbai-Goa Highway was earlier scheduled to end by December 2024. However, it got delayed and the motorway is likely to open by 2026. Minister of Public Works Shivendra Raje Bhosale had recently checked the progress of the construction work on the highway. After carrying out a comprehensive assessment, the minister said that he has issued directives to further speed up the construction of the highway. The construction faced numerous delays because of various reasons like disagreements between contractors in the Sangameshwar-Lanja stretch and the collapse of a flyover in Chiplun, Bahadur Sheikh. However, the project officials later confirmed that all the problems were already resolved. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Celebrate Holi with Your Loved Ones!We are happy to announce Weekly Superfast Special Holi Trains between LTT, Mumbai and Kanpur (Train No. 04152/04151).Check detailed timings and halts at https://t.co/5VaUUo1VJQ or on the NTES App.#CentralRailway #HoliSpecialTrain pic.twitter.com/reJsyJUmDm Central Railway (@Central_Railway) March 13, 2025 In the wake of Holi, Central Railways also announced that they will be running weekly Superfast Special Holi trains between Mumbai and Kanpur. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:38 IST ISRO Aces 'Unbelievable De-docking' Of SpaDeX Satellites, Shares Viral 'Spectacular View' Post Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 18:33 IST After ISRO shared the video of the de-docking of SpaDeX satellites, Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said that it was an 'unbelievable de-docking'. ISRO shares visuals of the successful de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites on X. (Source: X/@isro) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), completed the de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites. This accomplishment of the Indian space agency cleared the path for the future missions of the country, which includes Chandrayaan-4 and Gaganyaan. Announcing the achievement, the ISRO shared two spectacular views" of the de-docking of SpaDeX satellites on X in which its successful separation in orbit was visible. Spadex undocking captured from both SDX-1 and SDX-2," read the post. Recommended Stories Spadex undocking captured from both SDX-1 & SDX-2! Watch the spectacular views of this successful separation in orbit. Congratulations to India on this milestone! #Spadex #ISRO #SpaceTech pic.twitter.com/7u158tgKSG ISRO (@isro) March 13, 2025 ISRO successfully completed docking of two SPADEX satellites (SDX-01 & SDX-02) in the early hours of 16 January, 2025.#SPADEX #ISRO pic.twitter.com/UJrWpMLxmh ISRO (@isro) January 17, 2025 Amit Shah Congrats ISRO, Calls It Bharats Giant Stride In Space Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated ISRO and said that it was Bharats giant stride in space". Taking to X, Shah said, Bharats giant stride in space. Congratulations to Team @isro on the successful accomplishment of the de-docking of the #SPADEX satellites in space. It is a proud moment for us that will accelerate PM Shri @narendramodi Jis vision to build our own space station, Chandrayaan 4 and Gaganyaan. Our scientists have proven yet again that even the sky is not our limit." Bharats giant stride in space.Congratulations to Team @isro on the successful accomplishment of the de-docking of the #SPADEX satellites in space. It is a proud moment for us that will accelerate PM Shri @narendramodi Jis vision to build our own space station, Chandrayaan 4 Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 13, 2025 Meanwhile, Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said that it was an unbelievable de-docking". SpaDeX satellites accomplished the unbelievable de-docking. This paves the way for smooth conduct of ambitious future missions, including the Bharatiya Antriksha Station, Chandrayaan 4 & Gaganyaan," wrote Singh on X. Congrats team ISRO. And heartening for every Indian," he said. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modis continuous patronage keeps the spirits soaring". All About ISROs SpaDeX Mission ISRO launched the SpaDeX mission on December 30 last year from the Sriharikota launch site in Andhra Pradesh. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Two satellites SDX01 and SDX02 were subsequently placed by the ISRO in an orbit to show the docking experiment in space. Both the satellites weighed 220 kilograms each and were successfully docked by the space agency on January 16. India was the fourth country in the world to accomplish such a space mission after Russia, the US and China. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 17:48 IST J&K Youths Rescued From Cybercrime Hub In Myanmar Reveal Conspiracy To Dent Indian Economy | Exclusive Reported By : CNN-News18 Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 23:27 IST News18 spoke to two of the youths, Irshad and Faraz, who revealed startling details about the nefarious agenda of these scammers with the involvement of Chinese and Pakistani operatives The Jammu and Kashmir police, in collaboration with Interpol and CBI, have successfully repatriated 280 individuals from across India who were trapped in similar scams. (Representational image) Eleven youths from Jammu and Kashmir were rescued from a cyber fraud hub in Myawaddy, Myanmar, after falling victim to a job scam. The group, originally promised employment in Thailand, was trafficked to Myanmar via Thailands Mae Sot. According to sources, the incident reveals a larger network involving Pakistani and Chinese operatives that aims to dent the Indian economy. CNN-News18 spoke to two of the youths, Irshad and Faraz, who revealed startling details about the nefarious agenda of these scammers. Recommended Stories We were offered a job in Thailand. The moment we reached there, we were put in the Myanmar armys custody. They said that money was paid to their agents and that we would be released if the money is returned. They asked for Rs 10 lakh. When we refused, they started hitting us," said Irshad. The Jammu and Kashmir police, in collaboration with Interpol and CBI, have successfully repatriated 280 individuals from across India who were trapped in similar scams. The rescued youths from Jammu and Kashmir, including one woman, revealed the modus operandi of the network during interrogation. They recounted being lured under false pretenses of employment and trafficked to Myanmar. Like Irshad said, we wanted to leave. I called up my agent to rescue us from the trap. My agent blocked my number. They asked us to pay Rs 10 lakh. They cited expenses on us and payment to agents. We would be released if we paid up," said Faraz. I was connected to this via Facebook and Telegram. They promise high salaries. We get to know the truth on reaching there." Irshad said they realised this was a conspiracy after they were put in the custody of the Myanmar army. We thought we would be killed. They asked us to trap Indians in the US and Canada. To lay a love trap for them. We urge everyone not to fall into this trap," he said. Faraz said he was made to sign a one-year contract first and was promised a salary jump if he performed well. I later came to know that the work involved scamming," he said. Irshad said he was told this was the job of a data entry operator. Their first promise was providing a genuine job," said Faraz. There is no easy money. I request everyone to be aware of this scamTheyll use all means." Their main motto is to bring down the Indian economy, Irshad said. I refused the work first, and they beat me," he added. Their target was the Indian market, said Faraz. We had to find numbers and scam. Emotionally blackmail them to give moneyThese are Chinese scammers. They have leased a small area in Myanmar. They have construction on the site. The Myanmar army provided them security in exchange for money. Thats how all this works. They call it pig butchering in their language." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Irshad said that a few days ago a Chinese model was kidnapped. The models girlfriend escalated the issue, and then we were released," he said. Faraz and Irshad also thanked the Indian embassy and the government for their efforts. Our passports were blocked but an email worked. The embassy was in touch with the government," they said, while hoping to be reunited with their families soon. About the Author Manoj Gupta Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 First Published: March 13, 2025, 23:26 IST Life Turned Upside Down 5 Years Ago, Now Thane Man Set To Receive Rs 1.39 Crore Compensation Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 15:19 IST Mahesh Lalchand Makhija, who lost his hand in a 2019 Thane bus accident, was awarded Rs 1.39 crore. The tribunal held United India Insurance and bus owner Riyaz Kader liable The victim was travelling on a private luxury bus when the driver lost control, resulting in a crash near Savarne village in Thane. (Representative/PTI File) A man in Maharashtras Thane who lost his hand in a bus accident five years ago has now been awarded Rs 1.39 crore in compensation. The victim, identified as Mahesh Lalchand Makhija, a former sales manager, was travelling on a private luxury bus when the driver lost control, resulting in a crash near Savarne village in Thane district on Kalyan-Nagar Highway. Recommended Stories The accident, which occurred on December 16, 2019, left Makhija with severe injuries, ultimately leading to the amputation of his left hand at a Mumbai hospital. Makhija, who was 51 at the time, initially sought compensation based on his then-monthly income of Rs 3.6 lakh. In his ruling on March 10, Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MACT) Chairman SB Agarwal attributed the accident to the negligence of the bus driver. The tribunal found the vehicles insurer, United India Insurance Company Limited, primarily liable for the compensation. However, the tribunal also granted the insurer the right to recover the awarded sum from the bus owner, Riyaz Kader Mohammed. The insurer had contested the claim, arguing that the driver lacked a valid licence for a heavy vehicle, thus violating the insurance policy. However, the tribunal dismissed this argument. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The insurers defence was that the driver did not hold a valid licence for a heavy vehicle. The licence on record was for an LMV (light motor vehicle) and the owner had not provided any evidence to the contrary," it said. The tribunal deemed both respondents liable for compensating the petitioner. The tribunal ordered the insurance company to pay Makhija Rs 1,39,48,645 in compensation, plus 7.5% interest accruing from the date the petition was filed. The insurer then has the right to recover this amount from the bus owner. Location : Thane, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 15:19 IST Man Killed, Two Friends Injured As MSRTC Bus Hits Scooter In Mumbai, Driver Held Published By : PTI Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 23:54 IST The accident occurred around 2.30 am on the Prabhadevi bridge when Pranay Bodke, Karan Shinde and Durvesh Gorde were going to Dadar flower market from Kalachowki, an official said. Representative Image (Shutterstock) A 29-year-old man died and two of his friends sustained injuries on their way to buy flowers for Holi celebrations after a state transport bus hit their scooter in central Mumbai on Thursday, police said. The accident occurred around 2.30 am on the Prabhadevi bridge when Pranay Bodke, Karan Shinde and Durvesh Gorde were going to Dadar flower market from Kalachowki, an official said. Recommended Stories A Shivneri bus, part of the state-owned fleet of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), was heading to Pune when it dashed into the scooter carrying the trio, he said. Bodke died at the scene, while Shinde and Gorde suffered serious injuries. The two were rushed to a private hospital, he said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Bodke worked for the opposition NCP (SP)s social media wing. Police apprehended the bus driver on the spot. A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Motor Vehicles Act at the Bhoiwada police station, he added. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 23:54 IST No Time Restrictions For Holi, Basanta Utsab Celebrations In Bengal's Birbhum, Police Clarify Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 17:21 IST Birbhum's district police confirmed that no time restriction will be imposed on the Basanta Utsab celebration after BJP slammed state government over various restrictions imposed on celebrations. Students of Visva Bharati University celebrate Basanta Utsab at Santiniketan in Birbhum. (Source: PTI) The district police of Birbhum in West Bengal on Thursday clarified that no time restriction has been imposed by them over the Basanta Utsab and Holi celebration in the district amid political row over the various restrictions imposed on the celebrations by the Mamata Banerjee-led government. The police said that the festival will be celebrated the way it has been always. Recommended Stories This is to clarify that no time restriction has been placed by Birbhum District Police in repect of Basanta Utsab and Holi celebration. It will be celebrated as it has always been.We urge all to avoid misinformation and rely only on authentic sources for accurate updates. Birbhum District Police (@BirbhumPolice) March 13, 2025 This is to clarify that no time restriction has been placed by Birbhum District Police in repect of Basanta Utsab and Holi celebration. It will be celebrated as it has always been. We urge all to avoid misinformation and rely only on authentic sources for accurate updates," said Birbhum District Police. What Is Basanta Utsab? In Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagores Santiniketan in Birbhum, Holi is marked by an artistic, graceful and cultural festival called Basanta Utsab". The festival was introduced by Tagore as a cultural event and is celebrated every year on the beginning day of the Bengali month of Falgun. The Basanta Utsab was started by Tagore at Visva-Bharti University, Santiniketan for blending education with tradition, art and nature. In this festival, people wear yellow dresses and sing Rabindra Sangeet, perform traditional dance and apply abir on each other. During Basanta Utsab, people also indulge in Bengali sweets like Patisapta, Pithe and Mishti Doi. BJP Slams Mamata Govt For Restrictions Imposed on Basanta Utsab This year, the West Bengal government has banned Basanta Utsab celebrations at the popular Sonajhuri Haat near Santiniketan citing environmental impact. The marketplace is close to the Visva Bharati Universitys Santiniketan campus, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the first time such a restriction has been imposed on Sonajhuri Haat after public participation in Basanta Utsab in Visva Bharati University was halted in 2019. The tourists have also been told not to record videos of the celebrations. This year also, Visva Bharati University will not open its campus to the public and will have private celebrations because of its UNESCO heritage status. To protect the World Heritage site status, the abir (coloured powders) has also been banned in the celebrations. So, Basanta Utsab will be celebrated sans its usual vibrant colours. The restrictions have received criticism from the BJP government, which accused the state government of doing politics of appeasement". West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said to ANI, This has not happened in just one area. Police conduct coordination programs at the time of the programmes of other communities. We saw this happening during CPI(M) and TMC regimes. But in 2025, for the first time, meetings were held at every Police Station for Holi. What was the issue in the meeting, this is a special month for the other community and this time Holi is falling on a Friday. So, it was openly said that colours should not be used and Holi should be celebrated. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all There will be arrests if someone does something. Birbhum Additional SP said that by 10 am, the Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should be wrapped up because it is FridayThis is happening in Bengal for the first timeMamata Banerjees Police administration is doing politics of divides, it is doing politics of appeasement," he said. However, the district police confirmed that there will be no restriction on the timing of the celebrations. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More Location : Birbhum, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 17:01 IST Panchayat Patis To Be Treated As Impersonators? Centre Mulls Penalty, Law Review; Consultations Likely Soon | Exclusive Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 07:00 IST The process is set to begin this month after which the related policy will be formulated, Vivek Bhardwaj, secretary, ministry of panchayati raj told News 18 in an exclusive interview The practice has not only undermined womens political empowerment but also made a mockery of local governance. (X) A man wielding power on behalf of his wife, who is an elected member, might be considered impersonation or defrauding, and a review of the Panchayat Act might be conducted, as the government is set to take action based on the report submitted by the committee on panchayat patis. However, the decisions on these and other such initial steps being planned will be taken only after consultations with the states. Recommended Stories The process is set to begin this month after which the related policy will be formulated, Vivek Bhardwaj, secretary, ministry of panchayati raj told News18 in an exclusive interview. PANCHAYAT PATIS To dismantle the deeply entrenched practice of men unofficially controlling the power of their elected wives in the three-tier panchayat system, the ministry is now set to initiate consultations with states to bring specific rules and recognise the practice as misconduct. The discussions will explore legal measures, including amending the Panchayat Act or introducing provisions to classify such cases as impersonation or cheating. For almost a decade, Indias grassroots democracy has been plagued by the phenomenon of sarpanch pati, mukhiya pati or proxy pradhan, where women elected to panchayat positions remain mere figureheads while their husbands or other male relatives exercise real authority. The practice has not only undermined womens political empowerment, but also made a mockery of local governance. OFFENCE, PENALTY FOR PROXIES After submission of a detailed report by a committee, the Modi government is now considering a legal crackdown to put an end to this shadow rule of the proxy power centre. Even though there are some initial considerations, the final policy decision would only be taken after consultation with all states. One option on the table is a necessary amendment to the Panchayat Act, introducing stringent penalties against men who unlawfully wield power in their wives names. The other is treating such cases as impersonation or cheating, potentially bringing them under the criminal law. Speaking with News18, Bhardwaj, who played a crucial role in bringing the change, said, This report has given us new insights into the issue, and the recommendations have been very useful. Wherever it is happening, it has to be addressed. We have already implemented two major recommendations. First is about the capacity building programme and second was the campaign through digital content." The capacity building programme is tailor made for the elected women representatives, keeping their needs in mind. This is going to be a gamechanger in cultivating, fostering womens leadership. Around 15 lakh elected women representatives will be benefitted. But we also need to bring about behavioural change," he added. We cannot impose a penalty which is not sanctioned by the law. The acts will have to be reviewed. There would be a consultation with all states. A proper methodology for having the consultation will be finalised," he further stated. CHANGING RURAL DYNAMICS The senior bureaucrat emphasised that true womens empowerment in governance is impossible unless elected representatives hold actual power. If implemented, this move could trigger a significant shift in rural political dynamics, stripping self-styled sarpanch pati of their unofficial control and ensuring that power rests where it was democratically intended. Speaking about the prevalent practice of having panchayat pati system across the rural hinterland, Bhardwaj said, There has been a large social acceptance. They need to realise that the proxy system they are running is illegal and undesirable. Moreover, it is harming the country." We need to formulate a policy that will have the offence defined, and also a penalty specified. This can be an offence like impersonation or defrauding the people. So, an elector may lodge a complaint in such cases. Meanwhile, the officers serving at the local government must see this as their duty to ensure that misrepresentation does not happen. However, these are all initial thoughts. We will know more only after we consult with the states. This is about formulating a major policy," said Bhardwaj. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all If need be, we may even need to amend the act and recognise this as a misconduct," he added. He further explained that the practice has been found quite dominant across states. Apart from a few states, a large part of the country has this phenomenon. This is not new; it has been there for decades. This is the first time we confronted it," he said, elaborating on the report. About the Author Madhuparna Das Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has covered Naxa... Read More Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has covered Naxa... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 07:00 IST Ranya Rao Case: Here Is How A Well-Oiled 'Courtesy' System At Airports Works Dedicated For VVIPs Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Pragati Ratti Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 10:20 IST According to sources, multiple agencies including the CISF (which secures airports), Customs, Immigration, airport operators, airlines, and local police have dedicated staff and arrangements in place to facilitate VVIP travelers. Though airport authorities and agencies refer to it as "courtesy" or "facilitation", the reality is that a structured control room exists to ensure a smooth passage for high-profile individuals. (Representational Image: PTI) While the general public waits in long security lines at airports, a seamless system operates behind the scenes for VVIPs and celebrities at major Indian airports. Though airport authorities and agencies refer to it as courtesy" or facilitation", the reality is that a structured control room exists to ensure a smooth passage for high-profile individuals. According to sources, multiple agencies including the CISF (which secures airports), Customs, Immigration, airport operators, airlines, and local police have dedicated staff and arrangements in place to facilitate VVIP travelers which include political leaders, bureaucrats, officials of Armed Forces, celebrities, famous personalities etc. Proper registers are maintained by these stakeholders to coordinate the process efficiently. Although these passengers still undergo security checks, they are spared the inconvenience of standing in long queues. There are dedicated control rooms to facilitate these VVIP passengers for better coordination as they are important persons. Its a decades old system that runs behind the scenes. While private players can facilitate but government agencies are not allowed to do so officially, a top level official said. Recommended Stories A senior CISF official told News18, At major airports like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, a courtesy control room, primarily managed by CISF, coordinates the facilitation of VVIP passengers. Dedicated personnel maintain records and ensure smooth passage, helping them bypass regular queues. Different agencies have assigned staff to assist such passengers from entry to boarding." A System Mired in Controversy This system has existed for years, occasionally drawing controversy. Several high-profile individuals such as Ranya Rao, Vijay Mallya, and late former MP Matang Sinh have allegedly benefited from these special arrangements. The system primarily serves powerful and well-connected individuals, with dedicated staff accompanying them throughout their airport journey. Some government agencies even have personnel working in shifts to fulfil facilitation requests. Who Can Access This Facility? There is no formal eligibility criterion for availing this unofficial facilitation. The key requirement, as per an official, is simply having connections with senior government officials. A former CISF Inspector General who previously oversaw airport security confirmed that any request coming from a senior authority is typically honoured by officials on duty. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all How the System Work A senior government official, businessman, or celebrity informally requests assistance from a senior official. This request is then relayed to relevant airport agencies. The details such as the passengers name, flight number, timing, and contact information are recorded in a register or by staff. A designated official contacts the traveler and meets them at the airport entrance. The official stays with the passenger throughout the process, ensuring hassle-free passage until boarding. This unofficial yet structured system remains a privilege for the well-connected, offering them a level of convenience unavailable to the general public. About the Author Ankur Sharma With over 15 years of journalistic experience, Ankur Sharma, Associate Editor, specializes in internal security and is tasked with providing comprehensive coverage from the Ministry of Home Affairs, paramilitar... Read More With over 15 years of journalistic experience, Ankur Sharma, Associate Editor, specializes in internal security and is tasked with providing comprehensive coverage from the Ministry of Home Affairs, paramilitar... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:20 IST Ranya Rao's Statement Adds To Gold Smuggling Case Mystery: 'Man With Foreign Accent, Auto At Bengaluru Airport' Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Pragati Ratti Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 13:44 IST Ranya Rao Gold Smuggling Case: Rao has claimed that this was her first trip to Dubai in relation to bringing foreign gold into India illegally from Dubai. This is contrary to the declaration she had made to Dubai custom officials about buying gold on Nov 13, 2024 and Dec 20, 2024. Actress Ranya Rao was arrested for allegedly smuggling gold from Dubai. (Photo: X,Representative) Ranya Rao Gold Smuggling Case: Kannada actor Ranya Rao has provided startling information to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) regarding her alleged involvement in gold smuggling. In her statement, accessed by CNN-News18, Rao revealed that her recent trip on March 3, 2025, when she travelled to Dubai from Bengaluru on Flight EK569, was unplanned and initiated by a mysterious call. According to Rao, she received a call on March 1, 2025, from an unknown foreign number, a common occurrence for her over the past two weeks. These calls, originating from VoIP networks, instructed her to collect gold bars at Dubai International Airports Terminal 3, Gate A, and deliver them to Bengaluru. Despite the unsettling nature of these calls, Rao admitted to not informing the police, citing privacy concerns. Recommended Stories Contradicting her initial claims of a first-time gold smuggling operation, Raos statement clashed with Dubai customs records recovered from her residence. These records indicated previous gold purchases on November 13, 2024, and December 20, 2024. Elaborating on the Dubai Airport incident, Rao recounted her encounter with the unidentified caller. Describing him as having an African-American accent", the caller, she said, instructed her to meet a tall, well-built individual" wearing a white gown near the Espresso machine at the Terminal 3, Gate A dining lounge. After clearing security, this individual, whose identity remains unknown to Rao, handed her two tarpaulin-wrapped packages containing gold bars. Inside a nearby washroom, Rao said she discovered 12 gold bars within the packages: three packs of four full bars and one pack of five cut pieces. Following instructions from YouTube videos, she meticulously strapped these bars around her calf muscles and waist using adhesive tape and tissue paper. She further concealed some bars beneath her shoe soles and the remaining pieces in her jeans pockets. Raos statement also shed light on the planned nature of the operation. She confessed to purchasing adhesive tape from a shop named Boots near the airport and a stationery store half a mile away. Anticipating airport security restrictions, she pre-cut the tape to size. Upon her return to Bengaluru, the unknown caller directed Rao to an unmarked auto-rickshaw waiting at the end of the service road after exiting the airport toll gate. Without disclosing the registration number, the caller instructed her to identify the auto through a pre-arranged signal and hand over the gold bars. Further investigation revealed that Rao had booked her Bengaluru-Dubai flight tickets on March 1, 2025, through the Emirates website using her husband, Jatin Visayakumars, Mashreq credit card. The Ranya Rao Case Probe In a surprising turn of events, the Karnataka government revoked its earlier order for a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe into the protocol violations linked to the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. The withdrawal came merely hours after the probe was initially announced. The government clarified that the decision was made because a separate investigation, overseen by senior IAS official Gaurav Gupta, was already underway. Gaurav Guptas mandate is to delve into the alleged protocol breaches by Ranya Rao at Bengalurus Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and to scrutinize the potential involvement of her father, DGP K Ramachandra Rao, in the gold smuggling operation. Ranya Rao is currently in judicial custody, facing a 14-day remand following her arrest at Bengaluru airport. She was apprehended for allegedly evading customs duty amounting to Rs 4.83 crore on gold purchased from Dubai. Authorities seized gold worth Rs 2.06 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash during the operation. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) strongly opposed Raos bail plea, emphasizing the gravity of the accusations against her. The agency argued that releasing her on bail could compromise the ongoing investigation, potentially leading to evidence tampering or witness manipulation. In its arguments before the court, the DRI revealed that a Dubai residency card and foreign-origin gold were discovered at Raos residence. The agency suspects her involvement in hawala transactions, and determining the ownership of the seized cash is crucial to the investigation. Adding another layer to the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also initiated an investigation based on a communication from DRI Director General Abhai Kumar. The letter hinted at the possibility of unidentified public servants aiding the smuggling ring. The CBIs FIR, accessed by CNN-News18, reveals the DRIs suspicions of a well-organized smuggling syndicate operating from Dubai. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all About the Author Harish Upadhya Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India's space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi... Read More Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India's space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 13:40 IST Ranya Rao's Statement To DRI: 'Watched YouTube To Learn Hiding Gold, Used Husbands Card For Dubai Ticket' Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Pragati Ratti Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:27 IST According to Rao's statement to DRI, accessed by CNN-News18, she claimed that she received an unexpected call on March 1, 2025, directing her to collect gold bars at Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, Gate A, for delivery at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Kannada actress Ranya Rao arrested for smuggling 14.8 kg of gold. Actor Ranya Rao told the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) that she watched YouTube videos to understand how to conceal gold on her body. According to Raos statement to DRI, accessed by CNN-News18, the actor said that she booked tickets for her first trip to Dubai to bring foreign gold into India" using her husbands credit card. According to the statement accessed by CNN-News18, Rao also travelled to Europe, America and Africa as a tourist. She told DRI that she travelled to the Middle East on several occasions seeking work related to photography and as a real estate agent. Recommended Stories When taken for personal search by the DRI, Ranya Rao admitted to concealing gold bars and removed them in front of the DRI officials. Ranya Rao informed the DRI that her Dubai trip was unplanned. She claimed that she received an unexpected call on March 1, 2025, directing her to collect gold bars at Dubai International Airports Terminal 3, Gate A, for delivery at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Similar calls persisted for two weeks prior, but she didnt report them to protect her privacy, she told DRI. The caller, she said, with an African-American accent, instructed her to meet a man in a gown near the espresso machine at Gate As dining lounge. She said that she was told that the man would provide the gold bars after security for delivery in Bengaluru. Rao described the individual as a 6-feet tall, wheatish man dressed in a white gown. The gold, received in two tarpaulin-wrapped packets, was then concealed using adhesive tape and tissues in the restroom as Ranya admitted to watching YouTube videos for guidance on concealing gold. She told the DRI that prior calls informed her about the gold ingot format and the drop-off procedure in Bengaluru. She said she was instructed to leave the gold bars in an auto waiting at the traffic signal after exiting the airport toll gate via the service road. The Ranya Rao Case Probe On Wednesday, Karnataka government withdrew the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigation into protocol violations in connection with Ranya Rao gold smuggling case, hours after issuing the probe order. The government said that since another probe, led by senior IAS official Gaurav Gupta, was already being carried out, the CID probe was being withdrawn. The government appointed Gupta to investigate the protocol violations by Ranya Rao at Bengalurus Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), and the possible role of her DGP father, K Ramachandra Rao, in the gold smuggling case. Ranya Rao was remanded to 14-day judicial custody following her arrest after she was found smuggling gold at Bengaluru Airport. Rao was arrested at Bengaluru airport for evading Rs 4.83 crore in duty on gold bought from Dubai. Gold worth Rs 2.06 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash were seized. Earlier on Wednesday, the DRI opposed the bail to Rao and highlighted the seriousness of the charges against her. It argued that granting her bail could hinder the ongoing investigation and potentially lead to tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The agency told the court that it seized a Dubai residency card as well as foreign gold from the actors residence. It suspects that she was involved in hawala transactions, and it was important to find out who the seized cash belongs to. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the Ranya Rao case, based on a letter from DRI Director General Abhai Kumar, which suggests the possible involvement of unknown public servants facilitating smuggling. In the CBI FIR in the Ranya Rao case, accessed by CNN-News18, the DRI has alleged a potential smuggling syndicate operating from Dubai. About the Author Harish Upadhya Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India's space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi... Read More Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India's space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:03 IST Toll On National Highways Collected In Perpetuity; No Need To Audit For Reducing Booths, Ministry Tells RS Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Apoorva Misra Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 09:30 IST The ministry explained that user fee, earlier called toll, is collected for the use of any section of National Highway, in accordance with the provisions of the NH Fee Rules P Wilson, DMK Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, had asked Union minister Nitin Gadkari whether any audit has been undertaken to analyse the amount invested and realised in the toll plazas across the country. (PTI) The ministry of road transport and highways, while ruling out any audit of fee plazas with respect to the amount invested and the amount realised to reduce or close the toll booths, informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that toll on National Highways is collected in perpetuity. P Wilson, DMK Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, had asked Union minister Nitin Gadkari whether any audit has been undertaken to analyse the amount invested and realised in the toll plazas across the country. He also asked if any steps have been taken to reduce toll fee or close the plaza where the amount has been realised by the concessionaire and NHAI. Recommended Stories The user fee at fee plazas on National Highways is collected in perpetuity. Thus, the need to audit fee plazas with respect to the amount invested and the amount realised, to reduce or close the fee plaza, does not arise," said Gadkari. The ministry explained that user fee, earlier called toll, is collected for the use of any section of National Highway, in accordance with the provisions of the NH Fee Rules. As per the provision of National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, the fee as notified as per Concession Agreement shall be leviable till the end of the concession period and after the concession period is over, the fee shall be collected by the government or the executing authority as per the fee specified," Gadkari said, adding the user fee is revised annually. In respect of a public-funded project, Gadkari said the fee leviable will continue to be collected in perpetuity for such sections of the National Highway, bridge, tunnel or bypass, as the case may be, to be revised annually in accordance with these rules. In the case of BOT Projects, after the end of the concession period, the toll plaza is handed over to the government and thereafter the user fee is collected by the government through its implementing agencies," he said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The MP had also asked about the pending projects in Tamil Nadu. Gadkari informed that 48 works amounting to Rs 38,359.25 crore with a collective length of 1,046.84 km are ongoing in Tamil Nadu. These works are targeted for completion in phased manner by February 2027. The completion of the works is delayed mainly due to delays in land acquisition, forest clearance, utility shifting, borrow area approvals, abnormal rainfalls, NGT orders for not working in the rainy season, poor planning and resources mobilisation by the contractors," he added. About the Author Nivedita Singh Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @nived... Read More Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @nived... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 09:30 IST Scientist On Dialysis Dies After Fight With Mohali Neighbour Over Parking, Video Surfaces Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 11:50 IST The scientist, Abhishek Swarnkar, a native of West Bengal, had undergone a kidney transplant recently and was on dialysis. The family has lodged a complaint with the police. (Image: News18) A scientist at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) died on Tuesday after he was allegedly assaulted by his neighbour during a dispute over parking in Sector 67 of Mohali. The scientist, Abhishek Swarnkar, a native of West Bengal, had undergone a kidney transplant recently and was on dialysis. Swarnkar lived in a rented house in Mohali with his elderly parents. Recommended Stories His family accused neighbour Monty, an IT professional, of brutally attacking him despite knowing about his health conditions. The altercation was captured on CCTV. An autopsy will be conducted on Thursday and appropriate legal action will follow," police said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Notably, IISER revealed that Abhishek Swarnkars research paper was published in the Journal of Science. Due to this, he got a chance in IISER. IISER expressed deep sorrow over his death and said, We have lost a brilliant mind. Such an act of violence is unacceptable and strict action should be taken against the accused." About the Author Mahima Joshi Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a... Read More Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a... Read More Location : Punjab, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 08:34 IST UP Man Lands In Jail After Faking Kidnapping For Cash, Father Ends Up Paying His Bail Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 16:10 IST According to officials, on March 7, Pradeep Chauhan sent a message to his father claiming that he had been kidnapped and then switched off his phone Pradeep admitted during questioning that he left home voluntarily without informing anyone and had not been kidnapped. (Representational image via Unsplash) A man who allegedly faked his abduction to his family in a bid to take money from his father was taken into custody in Maharashtras Pune, officials here said on Thursday. The 28-year-olds father, meanwhile, still had to pay to secure his release on bail after he was brought to a police station in Uttar Pradeshs Bhadohi from Pune where he was hiding. Recommended Stories According to officials, on March 7, Pradeep Chauhan sent a message to his father claiming that he had been kidnapped and then switched off his phone. Concerned, his father Rama Shankar Chauhan reported the matter to the police. Station in-charge of Chauri police station here said during investigation, Pradeeps location was traced to Hinjewadi police station limits in Pimpri-Chinchwad area of Pune. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Pradeep admitted during questioning that he left home voluntarily without informing anyone and had not been kidnapped. Police said he confessed that he had sent the fake kidnapping message to his father to obtain money from him. A case was registered against him under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). His father pleaded for his release citing Holi festival. Since the charges were bailable, police granted him bail, Kumar added. Location : Uttar Pradesh, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 16:09 IST Attukal Pongala 2025: Date, Puja Timings, Rituals And Significance Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 07:10 IST Attukal Pongala, a 10-day festival at Attukal Temple in Kerala, runs from March 5-15 in 2025. The main event is on March 13, where women devotees prepare a sweet dish for the goddess. Attukal Pongala is a special festival celebrated only by women in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. (File pic) Attukal Pongala is a 10-day festival celebrated at the Attukal Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This festival is dedicated to Attukal Devi and is known for its massive gathering of women devotees. It takes place in the Malayalam month of Kumbham which falls between February and March. Women from different parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu participate in large numbers as they prepare a sweet dish in earthen pots to offer it to the goddess. The ninth day is the most significant, when thousands of women gather at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple to pray and seek the goddess blessings. Recommended Stories Heres everything about Attukal Pongala 2025 including the date, puja timings, significance and rituals. Attukal Pongala 2025: Date The festival started on March 5, and will continue until March 15. The main event will take place on March 13. Attukal Pongala 2025: Puja Timings March 13, 2025: Aduppuvettu (lighting of the hearth) 10:15 AM Pongala Nivedyam (offering) 1:15 PM Purathezhunnalethu rituals 11:15 PM March 14, 2025: Kappazhikkal ritual 10 PM March 15, 2025: Kuruthi Tharpanam ritual 1 AM Attukal Pongala 2025: Significance Attukal Pongala is celebrated in honour of the Goddess Kannagi at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Goddess Kannagi is believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. According to the Tamil epic Silappathikaram, Kannagis husband, Kovalan, was falsely accused of stealing the queens anklet and sentenced to death. After proving his innocence, Kannagi left Madurai and set out for the Kodungalloor temple. On her way, she stopped at Attukal, where she is believed to have taken the form of Attukalamma. Attukal is said to be the place where her anger subsided. Here, she became compassionate and started blessing those who worshipped her. Devotees believe that she listens to their prayers, fulfills their wishes and removes their sufferings. Attukal Pongala is a festival of devotion, faith and womens strength. Attukal Pongala 2025: Rituals Attukal Pongala is a special festival celebrated only by women in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This ninth day of the festival is the most important and known as Attukal Pongala Mahotsavam. On this day, women begin by taking a bath early in the morning. They then prepare a sweet dish as an offering to the goddess. The word Pongala" means to boil over which is why the dish is cooked in an earthen pot. The offering is a rice-based sweet dish made using coconut, jaggery and plantain. This dish, known as payasam, is offered to the deity at Attukal Bhagavathy Temple. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all It is believed that the goddess is pleased when a devotee makes this offering. As per tradition, only women can perform these rituals. Attukal Pongala has set records for massive gatherings. In 1997, around 1.5 million women took part in the festival. In 2009, the number rose to 2.5 million. Both times, the festival entered the Guinness Book of World Records. About the Author Nibandh Vinod Nibandh Vinod is a seasoned journalist with 26 years of experience, specializing in covering events, festivals, and driving SEO content for News18.com. A tech-savvy person, Nibandh works closely with a young te... Read More Nibandh Vinod is a seasoned journalist with 26 years of experience, specializing in covering events, festivals, and driving SEO content for News18.com. A tech-savvy person, Nibandh works closely with a young te... Read More fashion, travel, The News18 Lifestyle section brings you the latest on health food , and culture with wellness tips, celebrity style, travel inspiration, and recipes. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! Location : Thiruvananthapuram, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 07:10 IST End Of An Era: Donatella Versace Bids Farewell To Fashion House She Reinvented Published By : AFP Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 23:46 IST Donatella Versace departed as the creative director of Versace, a luxury label her brother Gianni invented. Top models (from left) Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Italian designer Donatella Versace (C), Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen pose at the end of the show for fashion house Versace during the Women's Spring/Summer 2018 fashion shows in Milan. (IMAGE: AFP) Donatella Versace, whose departure as creative director of the family-founded luxury label was announced Thursday, overcame tragedy and self-doubt to reinvent herself as head of one of Italys leading fashion houses. One of the industrys most recognisable figures, with her platinum blonde hair and penchant for black leather and plastic surgery, Versace spent much of her early life as the self-styled muse to her older brother Gianni, who founded the flashy luxury label in 1978. Recommended Stories But Giannis murder in Miami in 1997 at the hands of a serial killer thrust the youngest Versace sibling to the helm of the family fashion empire that was the darling of celebrities from Elizabeth Hurley to Princess Diana and Elton John. Suddenly in the spotlight as new chief designer at 42, Versace faced the dual challenge of disproving those who believed the label would fail without Gianni, and finding her own voice. I felt for a long time that I had this job because of a tragedy, not because I deserved it," she said in a 2008 interview. I wanted to succeed for Gianni because he cared so much for the company and I knew he would have wanted it to carry on. But I was frightened and I had no confidence." Rehab Chain-smoking and petite despite her habitual high heels Versace had previously directed advertising campaigns and designed for ready-to-wear line Versus, but was unprepared to take over running the firm. And she struggled, plunging into a depression chronicled in celebrity magazines and reflected in Versaces business, where sales began declining and profit losses began. After years of cocaine addiction, she went into rehab in 2004, encouraged by friends including Elton John. That same year she hired former Fendi head Giancarlo di Risio as chief executive officer. As Di Risio strove to cut costs, reinvigorate sales and restore profits, Versace began offering more sophisticated, wearable looks in contrast to what some critics had dismissed as more vulgar previous offerings. Out went the loud, colourful silk prints and decoration, in came more focus on cut and silhouette. Showstoppping creations continued, nevertheless, most notably Jennifer Lopez green chiffon jungle print dress that sent photographers into a frenzy at the 2000 Grammy Awards for its plunging bodice. Miniskirt and boots Versace was born on May 2, 1955, in Reggio Calabria, the toe of Italys boot, the younger sister of brothers Gianni and Santo. A third sibling, Tina, died as a child. Their mother was a seamstress who inspired Gianni, while young Donatella acted as his model. I was never a little girl," Versace told W magazine in 2017. My brother Gianni would dress me and I would go out with a cire jacket, a patent leather miniskirt and tall boots." After studying languages at University of Florence, she joined Gianni in Milan to help with the young brands public relations. Her forte was spotting talent and creating relationships with the growing list of celebrities and fashion A-listers as the era of supermodels began Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and others. In 1983, she married model Paul Beck, and had two children, Allegra and Daniel. They later divorced. After the death of Gianni, Versace inherited 20 percent of the brand, with 30 percent going to Santo and 50 percent to Allegra. With sales hit by the 2008 financial crisis, Di Risio was replaced by new CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris, who embarked on a restructuring that cut a quarter of the workforce but restored profitability in 2011. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all In 2014, private equity group Blackstone acquired 20 percent of the brand, and four years later, Michael Kors Holding later named Capri Holding bought the company for 1.83 billion euros (then $2.2 billion), with Versace staying on to lead the creative direction. However, the label has since been losing some of its lustre and Capri is reportedly in talks to sell Versace to Italian house Prada. About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More fashion, travel, The News18 Lifestyle section brings you the latest on health food , and culture with wellness tips, celebrity style, travel inspiration, and recipes. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! Location : Rome, Italy First Published: March 13, 2025, 23:46 IST Beyond Gujjia: 5 Traditional Holi Sweets You Must Try in Delhi Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 15:12 IST Holi is all about vibrant colours, laughter and of course, delicious food. While gujjia remains a festival staple, exploring these traditional sweets will add a new, interesting dimension to your celebrations Holi 2025: step beyond the usual and let your taste buds revel in the diverse and delicious flavours that Delhis iconic sweet shops have to offer. Holi is incomplete without indulgent sweets and while gujjia has won our hearts forever, Delhis legendary sweet shops offer a treasure trove of other traditional delights that deserve just as much attention. The city has something for every kind of sweet tooth with its wide array of delights to choose from. If you are looking to experiment beyond gujjia this Holi, here are five must-try sweets from some of Delhis most iconic establishments. Haldirams Rajbhog Recommended Stories Rajbhog, often seen as the richer cousin of rasgulla, is a Holi staple that packs a flavour punch. Haldirams serves one of the finest and innovative versions of this saffron-infused dessert. Made from chhena (Indian cottage cheese), Rajbhog is stuffed with a rich mix of dry fruits and cardamom along with a hint of saffron before being soaked in fragrant sugar syrup. Each bite bursts with delectable flavours, making it an irresistible treat during the festival. The delicate balance of sweetness and texture ensures that its both indulgent and refreshing, perfect after a long day of Holi. Chaina Rams Mohanthal If you love besan (gram flour) sweets, then Chaina Rams Mohanthal is a must-try. This rich, fudgy sweet is crafted from slow-roasted gram flour, ghee and cardamom, giving it an earthy aroma and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Topped with slivered almonds and pistachios, it has just the right amount of sweetness to leave you craving for more. Chaina Rams, known for its heritage sweets, prepares this Sindhi delicacy with a time-honoured recipe that ensures each bite is packed with warmth and nostalgia. Best enjoyed with a hot cup of chai! Nathus Thandai While technically a drink, thandai is as much a Holi tradition as any mithai. Nathus in Delhi serves a version that is fragrant and absolutely refreshing. Made from a blend of almonds, saffron, fennel seeds, rose petals and cooling spices, their thandai strikes the right balance between sweetness and spice. Served chilled, its the ideal way to cool down after hours of playing with colours. Opt for this classic version at Nathus, whose thandai is an experience in itself. Bikanervalas Malpua Malpua is the kind of dessert that makes Holi celebrations even sweeter. Bikanervalas version of this traditional Indian pancake is crisp around the edges, fluffy in the center,and drenched in a fragrant sugar syrup infused with cardamom and saffron. Often paired with a generous serving of rabri, this deep-fried delight is a festival favourite. The contrast of textures, the crispiness of the malpua against the creaminess of rabri, makes it a treat worth savouring. Bikanervalas take on this timeless sweet is known for its perfect balance of flavours and rich aroma, making it a must-have on your Holi menu. Kalevas Pista Badam Barfi top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all For those who love dry fruit-based sweets, Kalevas Pista Badam Barfi is the best choice. This rich, nutty delicacy is made with finely ground pistachios, almonds and a touch of cardamom, resulting in a subtly sweet confection thats both healthy and indulgent. This barfi offers a dense, melt-in-the-mouth texture that lingers long after you take a bite. Known for its premium quality ingredients, Kaleva ensures that each piece of their Pista Badam Barfi is a celebration of flavours, perfect for gifting or personal indulgence during Holi. Holi is all about vibrant colours, laughter and of course, delicious food. While gujjia remains a festival staple, exploring these traditional sweets will add a new, interesting dimension to your celebrations. Each of the above-mentioned treats brings something unique to the festive table. So step beyond the usual and let your taste buds revel in the diverse and delicious flavours that Delhis iconic sweet shops have to offer. About the Author Swati Chaturvedi Swati Chaturvedi, a seasoned media and journalism aficionado with over 10 years of expertise, is not just a storyteller; she's a weaver of wit and wisdom in the digital landscape. As a key figure in News18 Engl... Read More Swati Chaturvedi, a seasoned media and journalism aficionado with over 10 years of expertise, is not just a storyteller; she's a weaver of wit and wisdom in the digital landscape. As a key figure in News18 Engl... Read More fashion, travel, The News18 Lifestyle section brings you the latest on health food , and culture with wellness tips, celebrity style, travel inspiration, and recipes. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 15:12 IST Elevate Your Holi with Delightful Treats Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 19:13 IST Here are some easy-to-make delights that will make your Holi celebrations even more special. Celebrate the festival of colors with delicious homemade recipes that blend tradition with a modern twist. Holi is a festival of colors, joy, and togethernessand what better way to add sweetness to the celebrations than with a delicious twist on festive favorites? This year, bring a unique fusion to your Holi celebrations with the rich, choco crunch of Britannia Bourbon. Indulge in a perfect blend of tradition and indulgence with Bourbon Gujiya, where crispy layers meet a luscious choco filling. Savor the melt-in-your-mouth goodness of Bourbon Choco Ladoos, or treat your taste buds to the creamy delight of Bourbon Kalakand. Each bite is a burst of festive flavors, making your Holi even more special. Recommended Stories Celebrate with vibrant colors, joyful laughter, and the irresistible taste of Britannia Bourbon treats. Let the festivities begin. Britannia Bourbon Gujiya To make Britannia Bourbon Gujiya, start by preparing the doughmix maida with Britannia ghee, then knead it with water until smooth. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grind Britannia Bourbon biscuits into a fine powder and mix it with khoa in a 2:1 ratio. For extra richness, add dry fruits or dates if desired. Once the dough is ready, roll out small portions into thin, poori-like shapes. Place each on a gujiya maker, add a generous amount of the Bourbon-khoa filling, and carefully seal the edges. Arrange 5-6 gujiyas together and bake them in an air fryer or oven until golden and crispy. Enjoy these irresistible Bourbon Gujiyas, where the richness of khoa meets the crunch of Bourbon biscuits, making for the perfect Holi treat. Choco Ladoo To make Britannia Bourbon Ladoo, start by grinding biscuits into a coarse powder. In a large bowl, mix the biscuit powder with milk powder, chopped nuts, and milk, kneading well to form a soft dough. Once ready, shape the mixture into bite-sized ladoos and coat them in cocoa powder for a rich, velvety finish. Serve these delicious treats on a festive platter, garnished with crushed Britannia Bourbon biscuits for an extra crunch. For a warm and gooey experience, microwave the ladoos for 30 seconds before serving. Celebrate Holi with love, laughter, and the indulgent flavors of Bourbon Choco Ladoos. Kalakand To make Britannia Bourbon Kalakand, start by grinding a pack of biscuits into a coarse powder. In a pan, cook grated Britannia Come Alive paneer with milk on a medium-low flame for 58 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons of sugar and stir until it dissolves completely. Once done, mix in the Bourbon biscuit powder and continue stirring until well combined. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Transfer the mixture into a baking tray, garnish with chopped nuts, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set. Your delicious Britannia Bourbon Kalakand is now ready to serve! For a fun twist, layer the kalakand between two Good Day biscuits to create a unique kalakand sandwich. Celebrate the festival of colors with delicious homemade recipes that blend tradition with a modern twist. About the Author Lifestyle Desk Our life needs a bit of style to get the perfect zing in the daily routine. News18 Lifestyle is one-stop destination for everything you need to know about the world of fashion, food, health, travel, relationshi... Read More Our life needs a bit of style to get the perfect zing in the daily routine. News18 Lifestyle is one-stop destination for everything you need to know about the world of fashion, food, health, travel, relationshi... Read More fashion, travel, The News18 Lifestyle section brings you the latest on health food , and culture with wellness tips, celebrity style, travel inspiration, and recipes. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 19:11 IST Holi 2025: How The Festival Of Colours Is Celebrated Around The World Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 16:59 IST Holi 2025 will be celebrated globally with vibrant festivities. Berlin, London, the US, Nepal, Australia, and Trinidad and Tobago will host large gatherings. Holi 2025 Celebration: From traditional ceremonies to grand public gatherings, Holi festivities are marked in many places to explore. (Image: Shutterstock) Holi 2025 Celebrations Around The World: The festival of colours, aka Holi, is celebrated with much fervour and joy, not just in India but across various corners of the world. The vibrant festival is believed to signify the victory of good over evil, also officially marking the arrival of spring in the country. From traditional ceremonies to grand public gatherings, Holi festivities are marked in many places to explore. Ahead of Holi 2025, heres a look at how the festival is celebrated around the world. ALSO READ: Holi 2025: Holika Dahan, Shubh Muhurat, History, Rituals, And Wishes To Share Recommended Stories United Kingdom The United Kingdom is also known for holding some of the most happening Holi celebrations outside the country. The Rang Barse Holi Festival in London is particularly very popular among tourists, attracting many to the open-air venues. The festivities include traditional music, dance and food, especially delicious Indian cuisine. ALSO READ: Happy Holi 2025: Top 50+ Wishes, Quotes, Captions, And Messages To Share With Friends And Family United States The Indian diaspora alongside a broader community comes together to observe the festival of colours with great enthusiasm across the US. Some of the major celebrations are witnessed in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where communities gather around and celebrate Holi while dancing to Indian music and savouring Indian dishes. The people even hold special events to observe Holika Dahan, a day before the main festival. ALSO READ: Holi 2025: Rituals, History, Significance, And Celebrations Across India Nepal Nepal is known for sharing strong ties with India, thus celebrating the festival with equal enthusiasm. Holi, also called Phagu Purnima, is a major event where people indulge in colours, music, sweets, and more. The celebrations are similar to the festival of Holi. Germany The country is known for embracing the festival with open arms, with many German cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Munich organising Holi gatherings that attract thousands of participants. These events consist of live music, DJs and dance performances where participants enjoy the festive atmosphere while throwing coloured powder at each other and dancing to the energetic beats. Australia For years now, Australian cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and more have been hosting some of the most energetic Holi celebrations. One of the major highlights is the Holi Mahotsav held at Darling Harbour in Sydney. Melbourne also observed the day in a grand manner, a place that is home to Indian communities. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Trinidad and Tobago Holi, also known as Phagwa, is widely observed by members of the Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago. The festival is marked as a national holiday, owing to its cultural significance for the country. A distinctive music known as chutney soca is played during the festivities, referring to a unique blend of traditional Indian music and jovial soca rhythms. About the Author Nibandh Vinod Nibandh Vinod is a seasoned journalist with 26 years of experience, specializing in covering events, festivals, and driving SEO content for News18.com. A tech-savvy person, Nibandh works closely with a young te... Read More Nibandh Vinod is a seasoned journalist with 26 years of experience, specializing in covering events, festivals, and driving SEO content for News18.com. A tech-savvy person, Nibandh works closely with a young te... Read More fashion, travel, The News18 Lifestyle section brings you the latest on health food , and culture with wellness tips, celebrity style, travel inspiration, and recipes. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:00 IST Holi 2025: From Lathmar To Shigmo, Unique Holi Traditions Across India Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 16:59 IST Happy Holi 2025: Holi features unique traditions: Uttar Pradesh's Lathmar Holi, Maharashtra's Rang Panchami, Punjab's Hola Mohalla, West Bengal's Basanta Utsav, and Goa's Shigmo. Holi 2025: Lathmar Holi is a special tradition from Uttar Pradesh. (Image: Shutterstock) Holi 2025: Colours, music, sweet treats and non-stop fun yes, we are talking about one of the most energetic festivals of India, Holi. This year, the Festival of Colours will be celebrated on March 14, according to Drik Panchang. During this festival, people gather with their friends and family to throw colours, and enjoy traditional dishes and sweets. ALSO READ: Happy Holi 2025: Top 50+ Wishes, Quotes, Captions, And Messages To Share With Friends And Family Recommended Stories While this is the common way to celebrate, there are unique customs and traditions across India that make this festival even more special. Lets take a look at how Holi is celebrated in different parts of India: Lathmar To Shigmo: Here Are The Unique Holi Traditions Across India Lathmar Holi Lathmar Holi is a special tradition from Uttar Pradesh. It takes place in Barsana which is known as the birthplace of Radha. During this celebration, women from Barsana playfully chase and strike men from Nandgaon, Krishnas village, with sticks. ALSO READ: Holi 2025: Holika Dahan Date, Shubh Muhurat, History, Significance, And Rituals This fun-filled event is meant to recreate the playful teasing between Radha and Krishna. The festival is full of energy and colour that creates a joyful atmosphere. Phoolon Ki Holi Another unique tradition from Uttar Pradesh is Phoolon Ki Holi, celebrated in Vrindavan which is known as the childhood home of Lord Krishna. Instead of the usual coloured powders, people throw fragrant flower petals. The Banke Bihari Temple and the ISKCON Temple are popular spots to experience this cheerful tradition. ALSO READ: When Is Holi 2025? Date, Rituals, History, Significance, And Celebrations Across India Rang Panchami Rang Panchami, celebrated in Maharashtra, takes place on the fifth day after the full moon. During this time, people gather with their friends and family to sing folk songs and dance to traditional beats. They also apply colours on each other and enjoy the spirit of the festival. Hola Mohalla Celebrated in Punjab, Hola Mohalla is a time when the Sikh community comes together to showcase their strength and unity. This tradition was started by Guru Gobind Singh. It features martial arts displays, mock battles and colourful processions. This celebration of bravery and pride brings people together to show the strong and courageous spirit of Sikh culture. Basanta Utsav Basanta Utsav, celebrated in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, offers a unique take on Holi. Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore, the festival is filled with dance, music and poetry. The students wear outfits in yellow and orange hues and come together to sing Tagores songs, perform traditional dances and then apply colour to each other. It is an artistic and peaceful way to celebrate Holi where focus is given on literature and culture. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Shigmo Shigmo is a spring festival celebrated in Goa that marks the arrival of spring and the victory of good over evil. It is one of the biggest festivals in Goa which is celebrated with music, dance and the throwing of colours. The streets are filled with grand parades and traditional music is played with instruments like dhol, taasha and kasale. About the Author Nibandh Vinod Nibandh Vinod is a seasoned journalist with 26 years of experience, specializing in covering events, festivals, and driving SEO content for News18.com. A tech-savvy person, Nibandh works closely with a young te... Read More Nibandh Vinod is a seasoned journalist with 26 years of experience, specializing in covering events, festivals, and driving SEO content for News18.com. A tech-savvy person, Nibandh works closely with a young te... Read More fashion, travel, The News18 Lifestyle section brings you the latest on health food , and culture with wellness tips, celebrity style, travel inspiration, and recipes. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 09:00 IST BTS Jin Steals The Show With His First-Ever Acting Role, ARMY Celebrate Actor Jin Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 14, 2025, 03:53 IST BTS Jin stuns fans with his first-ever acting role in a ramen commercial, turning a simple ad into a spectacle. Jin has released three solo tracks with BTS recently. BTS Jin has officially made his acting debut, and fans are losing their minds. The global superstar stepped into the world of acting with his first-ever commercial for Otokis Jin Ramen, and its far from just another ad. Packed with drama, surreal visuals, and Jins undeniable charisma, the commercial instantly became a fan favorite. The ad opens with Jin walking through heavy rain, exuding his signature Mr. Worldwide Handsome energy. The scene takes a surreal turn when he locks eyes with a woman enjoying a bowl of ramen. Their gaze is intense, and the moment grows even more dramatic as Jins lips part to say, I really miss you. I see you everywhere." Recommended Stories Just when the atmosphere reaches peak tension, a giant bok choy appears out of nowhere, and suddenly, sparks fly. The noodles break free from their cup, spiraling into the sky and transforming the entire world into an enormous ramen bowl. The drama escalates as Jin exclaims, I cant take it anymore!" But before things get even wilder, he wakes upit was all a dream. The commercial then shifts to a cozy kitchen, where Jin prepares his ramen just the way he likes it. With a satisfied slurp, he smiles and says, Mmm, its really delicious." The ad wraps up with the playful tagline, Jinjaa Love, Jin Ramen," and a cheeky cast list crediting Jin: As Himself. Jin: As Itself." Fans React to Actor Jin The internet exploded with reactions, with fans celebrating Jins acting debut. One ecstatic fan wrote, I cant believe we got actor Jin in 2025. My heart is full ." Another added, OMG! Is he serious?! Actor Jin??! Im done!! " Some praised the ads creativity, with a fan commenting, This is the most creative and best ramen commercial Ive ever seen Good job Jin and Jin!" Others simply gushed over Jins perfection, with one writing, HOW CAN YOU BE SO PERFECT IN EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO?! " While Jin has already conquered the music world, his venture into acting is something fans never knew they needed. And if this ad is any indication, Actor Jin is here to stay. About the Author Shrishti Negi Shrishti Negi is a journalist with over eight years of experience in the media industry. She leads the Entertainment desk at News18.com. She writes breaking news stories, generates feature ideas, edits copies, ... Read More Shrishti Negi is a journalist with over eight years of experience in the media industry. She leads the Entertainment desk at News18.com. She writes breaking news stories, generates feature ideas, edits copies, ... Read More Location : Seoul, South Korea First Published: March 14, 2025, 03:53 IST Govinda Recalls Slapping Man On Sets, Says The Case Was Lucky For Him: 'Friend Told Me To Do Sting Operation...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 08:47 IST In 2017, Govinda resolved a 2008 case where he allegedly slapped a fan, Santosh. The case was dismissed after Govinda recorded Santosh demanding money to drop charges. Govinda reveals why he slapped a man on sets. In 2017, actor Govinda resolved a case related to an incident where he allegedly slapped a fan over ten years earlier. He recently called the case lucky," claiming it was dismissed after he caught his accuser in a sting operation. The incident happened in 2008 on the set of Govindas film Money Hai Toh Honey Hai. After an argument, Govinda slapped a man named Santosh, who then sued him for assault and asked for money. Talking about it on Mukesh Khannas YouTube channel, Govinda said, The slapping case was so lucky for me. Somebody was misbehaving, and I slapped the person. The case went on for 9 years and in the end, a friend of mine told me to do a sting operation on him and record whatever he was saying. The guy asked me for Rs 3-4 crores to take back the case. I recorded that conversation and sent it to court." Recommended Stories A fan named Santosh was acting inappropriately with a woman on set, prompting Govinda to slap him in anger. Afterward, Santosh filed a lawsuit, asking for an apology from the actor. Govinda said, His name was Santosh. A lot of women told me not to do anything wrong with him further. They asked me to be respectful. I saw that nobody supported me; those who have been standing because of me were after me, trying to pull me down." Govinda and his wife Sunita Ahuja have been hitting the headlines amid speculations regarding their marriage. Reports suggested that they were heading for divorce after 37 years of marriage. When ETimes contacted Govinda, he reacted saying, These are only business talks goingI am in the process of starting my films." On the professional front, Govinda was last seen in the 2019 film Rangeela Raja. However, he recently appeared on The Great Indian Kapil Show. About the Author Shreyanka Mazumdar Shreyanka Mazumdar is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. With an unbridled passion for all things Bollywood, she loves deep-diving into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world, bring... Read More Shreyanka Mazumdar is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. With an unbridled passion for all things Bollywood, she loves deep-diving into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world, bring... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 08:47 IST Kim Soo-hyuns Old Interview With Child Actress Kim Yoo-jung Sparks Fresh Debate Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: March 12, 2025, 15:00 IST Kim Soo Hyun mentioned in his past interview that he would love to work with Kim Yoo-jung as his romantic counterpart in a K-drama. Kim Soo Hyun allegedly dated Kim Yoo-jung when she was 15. (Photo Credit: Instagram) South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun, one of the industrys highest-paid and most popular stars, is facing controversy over allegations of a past relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron. The claims surfaced when Sae-rons aunt made a shocking revelation on the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, alleging that the two were in a relationship for six years, beginning in 2015. The controversy intensified as it was claimed that Sae-ron was just 15 years old at the time, while Kim Soo-hyun was 27. Amid the ongoing controversy, an old interview of Its Okay to Not Be Okay actor Kim Soo-hyun has resurfaced on social media. The interview took place during a promotional event for his K-drama The Moon Embracing the Sun in December 2012 in Japan, where he was joined by co-stars Han Ga-in and child actress Kim Yoo-jung. According to a report by the Korean media outlet TV Report, a particular comment Soo-hyun made about 13-year-old Kim Yoo-jung at the event has now drawn significant attention online. Recommended Stories When asked about what Yoo Jung was like, Soo Hyun, who was 24 back then, said, I guess I previously thought of her as too much a baby. After seeing her in real life, I thought she was really confident and smart, and I didnt feel like she was young. I cant wait to see her mature and I think Ill be able to soon meet her as partners in a drama." Though the comment initially went unnoticed, its resurfacing after allegations of Soo Hyuns relationship with Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor has led to widespread outrage. Many on the internet found his remark quite unsettling" and creepy". Others wondered why a grown-up man would anticipate working with a child actress as his romantic counterpart in a drama in the future. Kim Soohyun gets himself in hotter waters after old interview of him telling a 13 years-old Kim Yoojung that he can't wait for her to play his partner resurfaceshttps://t.co/7Sacsho7t1 pic.twitter.com/un9QuivJ03 pannchoa (@pannchoa) March 11, 2025 One user said, I mean, he said it when she was 13 thats kinda weird no matter how you spin it.." Another quipped, I remember thinking at the time, why would you say that to a 13-year-old girl? But I didnt go into it, I guess because of the good image he conveys but the saying goes, we see faces, but we dont know hearts" Look at her reaction. She was probably uncomfortable every time they were together," pointed out a different user. Ever since the scandal related to Kim Soo Hyun unfolded, people on the internet have demanded the cancellation of his upcoming projects and brand deals as well. About the Author Shreyanka Mazumdar Shreyanka Mazumdar is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. With an unbridled passion for all things Bollywood, she loves deep-diving into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world, bring... Read More Shreyanka Mazumdar is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. With an unbridled passion for all things Bollywood, she loves deep-diving into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world, bring... Read More First Published: March 12, 2025, 14:58 IST Malaika Arora Sets The Internet On Fire With Her Latest Looks In Black Outfit, Fans React | Photos Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 19:27 IST In terms of professional endeavours, Malaika Arora is set to join choreographer-director Remo DSouza as a judge on Hip Hop India Season 2. Malaika Arora shares new photos Malaika Arora is rightly called the fashionista of Bollywood and has proved it many times. Today, the actress shared a series of photos on her social media, which has gone viral. Fans are reacting to it and calling her beautiful. Malaika is looking stunning in a black colour outfit. Taking to her Instagram handle, Malaika Arora shared photos in which she is looking beautiful and sexy. Her makeup is subtle and she opts for open hair. One of the fans wrote, Beautiful goddess." Another wrote, Hotness Overloaded." Many dropped heart emojis. Recommended Stories Take a look here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Malaika Arora (@malaikaaroraofficial) Often turning heads with her sartorial choices, she arrived for the screening of My Melbourne, an anthology by Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Onir and Rima Das. A video featuring a snippet of her presence at the star-studded event is now going viral among fans. It shows her patiently posing for the paparazzi, humbly greeting them with a bright smile. Dressed in a black crop top and fitting pants elevated with an overshirt shirt for the layer-up, Malaika proved her knack for fashion and we are taking notes. Keeping it fuss-free, minimal yet glam, she tied her hair in a messy bun and rounded off the look with soft glam makeup. In terms of professional endeavours, Malaika Arora is set to join choreographer-director Remo DSouza as a judge on Hip Hop India Season 2. Touted as Indias first and only hip-hop-based dance reality show, the show will be streaming for free on Amazon MX Player from March 14 onwards. Manisha Rani and Wicked Sunny will take on the hosting responsibilities. Malaika Arora has lately been in the headlines for her personal life as well. Her breakup with her boyfriend of nearly six years in 2024 left many heartbroken. Amid the buzz around her relationship rumours, she keeps sharing cryptic posts on Instagram, keeping her fans glued to her feed. Most recently, she added a picture on her Instagram stories that talked about the real luxuries of life. It read, The real luxuries in life: time, health, a quiet mind, slow mornings, ability to travel, rest without guilt, a good nights sleep, calm and boring days, meaningful conversations, home-cooked meals, people you love, people who love you back." Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor started dating in 2018. About the Author Akriti Anand Akriti Anand is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. A news writer with over a decade of experience, Akriti loves to keep a close watch on Bollywood celebrities and their social media. A post-g... Read More Akriti Anand is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. A news writer with over a decade of experience, Akriti loves to keep a close watch on Bollywood celebrities and their social media. A post-g... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 19:27 IST Ranbir Kapoor Calls Working With Bhansali 'Tiring', Opens Up On Love And War: 'Can Be Daunting...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 12:05 IST In Love And War, Ranbir Kapoor will be sharing the screen with Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. Ranbir Kapoor also made his acting debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya. Ranbir Kapoor has said that working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali can be tiring but is also satisfying. On Thursday, the actor held a meet and greet with the media personnel in Mumbai when he talked about reuniting with Bhansali for Love and War. Ranbir mentioned that he is glad that the film will provide him an opportunity to share the screen with brilliant actors like Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. Ranbir Kapoor then praised Sanjay Leela Bhansali and lauded his perfection. He also admitted that working with the filmmaker can be long but it is also amazing. Recommended Stories Love and War is something which is every actors dream. To work with brilliant actors like Alia and Vicky and to be directed by the master Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I worked with him 17 years ago. To work with him again, I can say this with so much of clarity that I havent met a human being who works so hard, who understands characters, emotions, music, Indian culture, Indian value system, as much as Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Just to be on his set, it is tiring. It is long. The process can be a little daunting but eventually, as an artist, it is so satisfying. He really nurtures art. As actors, its truly been amazing so far," Ranbir said. Last year, in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Alia also talked about the film and her reunion with Ranbir when she said, I, as an audience, am more excited to see him [Bhansali] and Ranbir collaborate, again, after so many years. I am like, wow, whats that going to be like?" Talking about reuniting with Vicky Kaushal, Alia continued by saying, Vicky and I coming together again; Ranbir and Vicky created magic with Sanju. So, it is a lot of combinations." At the end of the day, the intention is to keep your head down and work hard. Not let the other excitement get in the way, because the excitement about the film and the material is the most important. When you are on set, you just have to give your 180 percent," the actress added. Love And War will go on the floors later this year. The film will hit theatres in March 2026. About the Author Chirag Sehgal Chirag Sehgal works as a Sub-Editor in the Entertainment team at News18.com. With an experience of five years in the media industry, he largely focuses on Indian television coverage. Apart from bringing breakin... Read More Chirag Sehgal works as a Sub-Editor in the Entertainment team at News18.com. With an experience of five years in the media industry, he largely focuses on Indian television coverage. Apart from bringing breakin... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 12:05 IST Global Watch | Bar Councils & Bartered Credibility: Reclaiming Bangladesh's Courts From Clutches Of Cronyism Written By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 13:05 IST Genuine judicial reform is inextricably linked to the moral and institutional renewal of Bangladeshs political class. A judiciary cannot exist in splendid isolation, untouched by the political culture within which it operates Following Sheikh Hasinas ouster, public anger crystallised into demands for the immediate resignation of the Chief Justice and five of his Appellate Division colleaguesjudges whose rulings were widely perceived as politically compromised. (PTI) The dramatic ousting of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024 marked not merely the conclusion of the Awami Leagues uninterrupted 15-year tenure, but also served as an unflattering mirror, reflecting the deeper fractures within Bangladeshs political architecture. To attribute the entirety of Bangladeshs democratic malaise to the Awami League alone would, however, be both historically myopic and analytically inadequate. The systemic malaise afflicting the countrys polity is, after all, the cumulative consequence of governance choices made by successive regimes since the restoration of civilian rule in the 1990s. Each political formation has, in its own way, contributed to the calcification of a political culture marinated in corruption, entrenched party favouritism, and unabashed nepotism. Recommended Stories It is precisely this historical baggage that the interim government, ushered in after the Leagues dramatic fall from grace, has resolved to address through a comprehensive agenda of institutional reform. At the heart of this ambitious reform package lies the judiciary, the very custodian of constitutional morality and the ultimate arbiter of justice. The focus on judicial reform is far from incidental, for the judicial systems credibility has long been compromised by its subjugation to the vagaries of partisan politics. Among the institutions under particular scrutiny is the Bangladesh Bar Council, an autonomous regulatory body originally conceived to ensure the smooth functioning of the legal profession and, by extension, the judiciary itself. On paper, Bangladeshs legal framework guarantees the independence and autonomy of the judiciary. Yet, the distance between legal theory and institutional practice could scarcely be greater. The judiciary faces a plethora of challengesforemost among them being a chronic paucity of resources. This resource deficit is not merely financial but extends to infrastructure, technological modernisation, and the woeful inadequacy of trained legal personnel. These operational handicaps directly impede the timely dispensation of justice, thereby eroding public confidence in the judicial machinery. But far graver than the systemic resource crunch is the pervasive political infiltration into the judiciary, which has corroded the very notion of judicial independencea cornerstone of any functioning democracy. This political encroachment, though not entirely novel, has assumed increasingly brazen dimensions under the Awami Leagues prolonged reign, turning the judiciary into little more than a pliant adjunct of the executive. The Bar Council itself was founded under the Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Order 1972, and was tasked with vital responsibilities ranging from licensing legal practitioners and overseeing legal education to regulating professional conduct, promoting disciplinary norms, and advocating for the collective welfare of Bangladeshs legal fraternity. In theory, it ought to stand as a bastion of professional integrity, free from the taint of partisan contamination. The Councils biennial elections, which allow Bangladeshs licensed lawyersfrom the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court Bar Association to the relatively modest District Bar Associationsto vote directly for their representatives, ought to have served as a showcase of democratic vitality within the legal fraternity. Instead, these elections have degenerated into yet another theatre of political warfare, with the countrys dominant political parties brazenly backing their proxies and turning the contest into a thinly-veiled partisan slugfest. This toxic cocktail of politics and the legal profession has predictably engendered electoral malpractices, rampant voter manipulation, and a host of procedural irregularities. In essence, the pathologies that have long beset Bangladeshs general elections have found a mirror image in the Bar Councils own electoral process. The upshot has been the contamination of the legal profession itself, with the apex regulatory body transformed into a microcosm of the countrys broader culture of political factionalism. Unsurprisingly, the jurisprudential output of Bangladeshs courts has often reflected this politicisation. Legal rulings, especially in high-profile political cases, have rarely been evaluated solely on their legal merits; instead, they have been viewedand rightly soas reflecting the political loyalties of those presiding over them. The subordination of judicial impartiality to partisan expediency constitutes not merely a betrayal of the judicial oath, but also a profound erosion of public trust in the judiciarys capacity to function as an independent, neutral adjudicator. During the Awami Leagues tenure, this corrosion became particularly egregious. It was an open secret that the Chief Justice, along with a cohort of senior judges, were closely aligned with the League. This alignment was not confined to mere ideological sympathy, but translated into judicial outcomes that overwhelmingly favoured the regime and penalised its political adversaries. Small wonder then that, following Sheikh Hasinas ouster, public anger crystallised into demands for the immediate resignation of the Chief Justice and five of his Appellate Division colleaguesjudges whose rulings were widely perceived as politically compromised. It was against this volatile backdrop that the new interim government established a Judicial Reform Commission in October 2024. Charged with undertaking a comprehensive diagnostic review of the judiciarys structural and procedural shortcomings, the Commission presented its report this February. Among the Commissions most noteworthy proposals was a call for transparency in judicial appointments, aimed at ensuring that appointments are predicated solely on professional merit and not on political fealty. Additionally, the Commission recommended the decentralisation of the judiciary, which could potentially enhance both accessibility and efficiency. However, the report, for all its earnestness, arguably misses the larger point. The issue at hand is not exclusively structural or procedural; it is, at its core, political. The Bar Council, when originally conceived, embodied the aspiration for a professional, independent, and self-regulating legal community. What has vitiated its functioning is not structural inadequacy, but the pervasive infiltration of partisan politics. Reform, therefore, must begin with the depoliticisation of the Bar Council. The Council must be reclaimed as a non-partisan guardian of legal professionalism, dedicated to upholding legal ethics and safeguarding the independence of the judiciary. Only once the Councils neutrality is restored can more contemporary reformssuch as modernising the curriculum for legal educationbe meaningfully pursued. The existing legal framework, on paper, already guarantees judicial independence. What has undermined that independence is the corrosion of Bangladeshs wider political culture, which treats all institutionsincluding the judiciaryas mere instruments of partisan contestation. Thus, unless the countrys political parties undergo a thoroughgoing internal reformeschewing their addiction to clientelism, patronage, and institutional capturethe interim governments reform agenda, however well-intentioned, risks being little more than cosmetic tinkering. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Ultimately, genuine judicial reform is inextricably linked to the moral and institutional renewal of Bangladeshs political class. A judiciary cannot exist in splendid isolation, untouched by the political culture within which it operates. Without fundamental political reform, judicial reform will remain a Sisyphean endeavourperpetually rolled up the hill, only to come crashing down under the weight of entrenched political interests. The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh First Published: March 13, 2025, 13:05 IST Opinion | Rahul Gandhis Call For Congress Revamp: Genuine Reform Or Political Rhetoric? Written By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 10:31 IST The Congress has a long history of making lofty promises of change, only to retreat into its old ways when faced with the prospect of making difficult decisions If Rahul wants to bring about meaningful change, he must either assume formal leadership or empower Kharge to take decisive action. (Image: AICC via PTI) The Indian National Congress, once the undisputed leader of Indian politics, is now a shadow of its former self. Plagued by internal strife, electoral setbacks, and a lack of clear ideological direction, the party is struggling to remain relevant in a political landscape dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Against this backdrop, Rahul Gandhis recent remarks during a meeting with Gujarat Congress workers have sparked a fresh debate about the possibility of a much-needed revamp within the party. While his statements have been bold and uncharacteristically direct, the question remains: Is Rahul Gandhi serious about reforming the Congress, or is this just another instance of rhetorical posturing? Recommended Stories RAHUL GANDHIS RHETORIC: A HISTORY OF EMPTY PROMISES Rahul Gandhis address in Ahmedabad, where he called for the removal of 10 to 40 individuals to set an example, and criticised certain leaders as the B-team" of the BJP, is not the first time he has made such sweeping statements. Over the years, he has repeatedly spoken about the need for change within the Congress, yet little has been done to address the partys deep-rooted issues. His resignation as the Congress president in 2019 after the Lok Sabha defeat was seen as a moment of accountability, but since then, he has continued to wield significant influence without formally taking responsibility for the partys failures. This pattern of making grand statements without following through raises doubts about his sincerity. If Rahul Gandhi is serious about reform, why has he not assumed formal leadership of the party? Why does he continue to operate as a de facto leader while leaving the official role to Mallikarjun Kharge, who appears more as a figurehead than a decision-maker? This ambiguity in leadership only adds to the confusion and undermines the partys credibility. FACTIONALISM AND INFIGHTING: A FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP One of the biggest challenges facing the Congress is factionalism, which has plagued the party for decades. In states like Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, bitter infighting among senior leaders has weakened the partys organisational structure and demoralised its cadre. Rahul Gandhis recent call to separate loyalists from rebels is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough. The Congress has a long history of making lofty promises of change, only to retreat into its old ways when faced with the prospect of making difficult decisions. For instance, the G-23 group of dissenting leaders had previously demanded internal reforms, but their concerns were largely ignored. If Rahul Gandhi is serious about revamping the party, he must go beyond rhetoric and take concrete steps to address the root causes of its decline. This includes holding leaders accountable for their actions, even if it means expelling high-profile figures who have failed to deliver results. LACK OF ORGANISATIONAL STRENGTH: A REFLECTION OF WEAK LEADERSHIP The Congresss inability to build a robust organisational structure at the grassroots level has been a key factor in its electoral failures. In states like Bihar, where elections are imminent, the Congress unit is in shambles. Rahul Gandhis failure to address this issue reflects a lack of vision and leadership. While he has spoken about the need to promote young leaders, the party continues to rely heavily on veteran leaders who have been in top positions for decades but have failed to deliver electoral success. The BJP, on the other hand, has been successful in promoting young leaders and giving them a platform to shine. If Rahul Gandhi is serious about revamping the Congress, he must focus on nurturing a new generation of leaders who can connect with the aspirations of Indias youth. This will require a willingness to let go of the old guard and create space for fresh talent. However, his track record suggests that he is either unwilling or unable to take such bold steps. IDEOLOGICAL CONFUSION: A LACK OF CLEAR VISION Over the years, the Congress has oscillated between soft Hindutva and secularism, leaving its core ideology unclear. This ambiguity has cost the party dearly, as voters are increasingly drawn to the BJPs clear and assertive narrative. Rahul Gandhis failure to articulate a coherent vision for the Congress has further exacerbated the partys identity crisis. While he has been critical of the BJPs majoritarian politics, he has not been able to provide a clear alternative that resonates with the public. If Rahul Gandhi is serious about revamping the Congress, he must articulate a coherent vision for the party and communicate it effectively to the public. This will not only help the party regain its identity but also provide a clear alternative to the BJPs politics. However, his inability to do so thus far raises questions about his leadership and vision for the party. THE LEADERSHIP VACUUM: A MAJOR HURDLE FOR REFORM One of the biggest challenges Rahul Gandhi faces is the lack of clarity regarding leadership within the Congress. Although he is widely seen as the de facto leader of the party, he has not officially taken on the role of Congress president since his resignation in 2019 following the Lok Sabha defeat. This has created a leadership vacuum, with current President Mallikarjun Kharge often appearing as a figurehead rather than a decision-maker. If Rahul wants to bring about meaningful change, he must either assume formal leadership or empower Kharge to take decisive action. The current ambiguity only adds to the confusion and undermines the partys credibility. PROMOTING YOUNG LEADERS: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY One of the BJPs greatest strengths has been its ability to promote young leaders and give them a platform to shine. The Congress, on the other hand, has been criticised for relying too heavily on veteran leaders who have been in top positions for decades but have failed to deliver electoral success. If Rahul Gandhi is serious about revamping the party, he must focus on nurturing a new generation of leaders who can connect with the aspirations of Indias youth. This will require a willingness to let go of the old guard and create space for fresh talent. WILL RAHUL GANDHI DELIVER? Rahul Gandhis recent statements have certainly raised hopes of a Congress revival, but the road ahead is fraught with challenges. The partys decline has been decades in the making, and reversing it will require more than just rhetoric. Rahul must demonstrate the political will to take tough decisions, address internal dissent, and rebuild the party from the ground up. He must also provide clear and decisive leadership, something that has been lacking in the Congress for years. The time for half-measures and empty promises is over. If Rahul Gandhi is serious about revamping the Congress, he must act now. The partys future, and perhaps his political legacy, depends on it. However, given his track record, there is little reason to believe that he will rise to the occasion. CONCLUSION: REFORM OR PERISH top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Rahul Gandhis recent remarks have once again brought the spotlight onto his leadership and the partys future. While his statements have been bold and direct, they raise a critical question: Is Rahul Gandhi truly committed to reforming the Congress, or is this just another round of empty rhetoric aimed at deflecting blame for the partys continuous decline? The Congress stands at a crossroads, and the choices it makes in the coming months will determine its fate. If Rahul Gandhi fails to deliver, it may well be the end of the road for the once-dominant Indian National Congress. The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author. He pens national, geopolitical, and social issues. His social media handle is @prosenjitnth. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. About the Author Prosenjit Nath The writer is an Indian technocrat, political analyst, and author. The writer is an Indian technocrat, political analyst, and author. First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:31 IST Opinion | Vandalising Temples Expose Mental Bankruptcy Of Khalistanis Written By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 18:13 IST Those who vandalise temples are hoodlumsthe very elements in whose hands the Khalistan movement has always been. No wonder the movement has been characterised by slander, vilification campaigns, and terrorism rather than any positive or rational content BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir defaced in California, US | Image/X Though no one has yet claimed responsibility for the recent vandalism and defacement at the BAPS Hindu Temple in Chino Hills, California, the act bore the hallmarks of Khalistani groups active in the USA. The incident was strikingly similar to several acts of defacement that have occurred across North Americathe USA and Canadain recent years, some of which featured pro-Khalistani graffiti. Last November, the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Canada, was stormed by a pro-Khalistani mob protesting against the mysterious killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Tellingly, the defacement of the BAPS Hindu Temple came just days ahead of the Khalistani referendum" in Los Angeles. Recommended Stories The present act might not qualify as defilement and desecration in the same manner as the incident on 28 April 1982, when two severed bovine heads were placed at two Hindu places of worship in Amritsar, Punjab. Handwritten posters, apparently from Dal Khalsa, were recovered from the sites, and in a statement to the press, the group justified the act and asserted that such actions would be repeated. This was conveyed by the then Minister of State for Home, P. Venkatasubbiah, in the Rajya Sabha a day after the incident. Yet, in spirit, they are not very differentexcept that back then, it was Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was vilified as the leader of Hindu society, whereas today, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham temples have become prime targets now, primarily due to their Gujarati origin. Those who vandalise or deface temples are hoodlumsthe very elements in whose hands the Khalistan movement has always been. No wonder the movement has been characterised by slander, vilification campaigns, and terrorism rather than any positive or rational content. Its proponents have not even been able to present a map of Khalistan, let alone outline the form of government or define the relationship between the state and the church, namely the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. The issue of restructuring its economy or deciding the fate of Sikhs who live and earn outside Punjab, in different parts of India, has never been addressed. India waged a long struggle for her independence against the British, yet it was not marked by vilification of the British, even while highlighting the evils of colonial policy. Indias national leaders considered various aspects of the countrys reconstructionpolitical, economic, social, and educationalduring this period. The Church of England has been present in India since the early days of the John Company, and after the enactment of the Charter Act of 1813, it entered a new phase of activity, under which dioceses multiplied and Episcopal supervision was introduced. Missionary activities also proliferated. However, Indias national leaders, including Hindutva ideologues like Sri Aurobindo and Veer Savarkar, did not instigate any hatred towards the British as Christians. No wonder no church was targeted, nor was any priest molested as part of the freedom movement. The greatest fear that Eyre Chatterton, Bishop of Nagpur and official historian of the Anglican Church in India, could entertain after the enactment of the Government of India Act, 1919, was rather modest. Just now," concludes Chatterton, we are face to face with a new India in which, with Government increasingly Indian, the Church must inevitably experience difficulties which have never been experienced before. Privileges which the Church has long enjoyed may soon be ours no longer. Before long, we shall almost certainly have to do for ourselves far more than we have done before" (A History of the Church of England in India, pp. 344345). II Even the sanctity of Sikh religious places was outraged with impunity by the Khalistanis. They were the first to take assault weapons inside the Golden Temple, months before the Indian Army was forced to do so. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale moved his headquarters from Mehta Chowk, outside Amritsar city, to Guru Nanak Niwas inside the Golden Temple in July 1983. Later that year, on 15 December 1983, he, along with his gun-toting entourage, moved to the Akal Takht itself. What did the Indian Army find during Operation Bluestar? The Akal Takht had been fortified like a dugout position of any modern army. Guns were placed at almost every level, from the basement upwards, including at floor level, window level, roof ventilators, the first floor, and upper storeys. The terrorists had cut holes in the walls and the marble facade, turning them into pillbox-like positions for their weapons (Government of India, White Paper on the Punjab Agitation, 1984, p. 46). The Golden Temple was not the only house of prayer turned into a fortress. Several gurdwaras across Punjab had become hideouts for terrorists. On 5 June 1984 as part of Operation Bluestar42 religious sites were identified for sanitisation. Repeated appeals were made over the public address system for them to surrender to the authorities. However, when these appeals were met with no response, the army had to move in to flush out the terrorists. In most locations, little actual resistance was encountered, as the terrorists surrendered. However, in gurdwaras at Moga and Muktsar, security forces came under fire. The armed forces were also fired upon at gurdwaras in Faridkot, Patiala, Ropar, and Chowk Mehta. A major recovery of arms took place at gurdwaras in Chowk Mehta, Patiala, and Ropar. These operations were concluded by 5 PM on 6 June 1984, after the last terrorist was flushed out from Muktsar Gurdwara (White Paper on the Punjab Agitation, 1984, p. 52). A Kali Puja event at C.R. Park, New Delhis Mini Kolkata," came under fire from Khalistani terrorists on the night of 21 October 1987. The attack on the Puja and the Bengali neighbourhood left around 10 dead. It is a pity that those Khalistanis forgot Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, who, in 1936, built the Shri Kali Devi Temple in Patiala, then a princely state. The Maharaja brought a six-foot-tall idol of Goddess Kali from Bengal to Patiala. In the previous century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (17801839) venerated the sacred temples of Jwalaji and Kangraji in Himachal Pradesh. His biographer, Bikram Jit Hasrat (1977), informs us that the Jwalaji temple was on the active list of Ranjit Singhs religious grants and endowments. The official Lahore Diarist records that in August 1835, the Maharaja presented the temple with golden umbrellas, and the royal princes and court nobles visited the shrine. Several prayog (esoteric acts) were performed in the temple during his illness for his health and recovery. During his last illness, the Maharaja directed his teenage grandson, Kunwar Nau Nihal Singh, the son of Kharak Singh, to proceed to Jwalaji and Kangraji to make ardas in the humblest possible manner and perform Hom and Shanti-Prayog, among other rituals (Life and Times of Ranjit Singh: A Saga of Benevolent Despotism, p. 201). The dying Maharajas last wish was to present the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, then in his possession, to the Jagannath Temple in Puri. However, after his death, this wish was never fulfilled, and the exquisite diamond fell into British hands. Instead of reaching Puri, it ended up in Londonyet Khalistanis, to this day, have made no attempts to recover it! Ranjit Singh was no less a Sikh, yet he patronised Hindu temples. This speaks volumes about his constructive mindset. He ruled for 40 years from his capital, Lahore. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Those who vandalise and deface temples express themselves through hatred alone, only exposing their mental bankruptcy. No wonder they have failed to present even the barest outlines of Khalistan in the last 50 years. The writer is author of the book The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. First Published: March 13, 2025, 18:13 IST Opinion | Why The Lefts Outrage Over Hindu-Muslim Binary In Popular Films Is Hypocritical Written By : News18.com Last Updated: March 12, 2025, 16:27 IST All history is complex, not just that of the Mughals. But the real issue here is that Indian liberals are trying to have it both ways A section of Indian liberals is upset about how the story of the Maratha king Sambhaji was portrayed in the recent blockbuster movie 'Chaava'. So, a section of Indian liberals is upset about how the story of the Maratha king Sambhaji was portrayed in the recent blockbuster movie Chhaava. For them, the film creates a simplistic Hindu-Muslim binaryAurangzeb, the Muslim zealot, cast as the villain against a Hindu king. They argue that the reality is far more complex, pointing out that several Hindu kings worked with the Mughals, including Aurangzeb himself, and held important positions throughout the Mughal empire. Fair enough. History is indeed complexwe can see it unfolding right now in Ukraine. But the real issue here is that Indian liberals are trying to have it both ways. Recommended Stories All history is complex, not just that of the Mughals. Many Indian historians have served as mythmakers for the old Congress-Left establishment, particularly the Nehru-Gandhi family. They have had a free run for 75 years, branding forces such as the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha as traitors, fascists, Nazis, and worse. Savarkar spent over 10 years in the Andaman Cellular Jail, yet they still call him a traitor. They love creating simplistic binaries when it serves their propaganda. But when someone does the same to Aurangzeb, they argue that history is complex." If you want to embarrass one of the mythmakers of the Nehru-Gandhi family, ask them this: Did Nehru really defend the soldiers of Boses Indian National Army (INA) when the British put them on trial at the Red Fort in 1945-46? The trial lasted for months, yet Nehru attended for just three days. He spent the rest of the time touring the country, milking it for publicity. Nehru was a politician, after allnot a hero. As for the INA itself, it was originally under Rashbehari Bose of the Hindu Mahasabha. So how does this fit the secular" narrative that the Hindu right played no role in the struggle for Indian independence? Subhas Bose was handed command of the INA only when he arrived in Japan much later, in 1943. And here is one bitter fact: after 1947, several high-ranking Muslim officers of the INA betrayed Netaji, betrayed India, and defected to Pakistan. The Pakistani attack on Kashmir in 1948 was led by Habib-ur-Rehman, who had been Subhas Boses chief of staff in the INA. History is complex," they said. Now, put yourself in Savarkars place in 1942he foresaw the danger clearly. By then, everyone knew that the British Empire was set to collapse. Indian independence was inevitable. Can you imagine what could have happened in 1947 if the Indian Armyfully trained, heavily armed, and hardened by World War IIhad been a majority-Muslim force? It made perfect sense for Savarkar to call on Hindus to join the Army, gaining training and weapons while the British were offering them for free. But no secular" historian will give you this context. Instead, they seize the opportunity to create a simplistic binary: Nehru as the patriot and Savarkar as the traitor." You must have heard the charge that the RSS is fascist" and that its founders were admirers of Hitler." Let us examine this. It is true that Golwalkar praised the Nazis in his 1939 book. The historians of the Congress-Left establishment have used this fact to embarrass the RSS for 80 years. But open Nehrus Glimpses of World History, and you find him doing something far worse regarding the Armenian genocide. In his book, Nehru portrays it as a two-way conflict between Turks and Armeniansa classic genocide denial tactic. He did this to justify the Congresss support for the Khilafat movement and his own admiration for Mustafa Kemal, the leader of the Turks. At another point in his book, Nehru expresses relief that Turkey had been freed from its racial problems"this after the Turks had murdered 1.5 million Armenians, nearly 1 million Greeks, and expelled all other minorities. By the standards applied to Golwalkar, Nehru would certainly qualify as an apologist for genocide. Equally chilling is Nehrus radical support for Stalins famines in Ukraine, which claimed 3.5 million lives in 193233. Nehru described it as the Soviet government acting against saboteurs" and counter-revolution." Stalin did to Ukraine what Churchill did to Bengaland Nehru took Stalins side. So, if Hindutva has a problematic history, so does everything else. The Indian National Congress was blinded by its support for the Khilafat movement. The intellectual heroes of socialism, such as George Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell, were all supporters of eugenicsthe pseudo-science of race that later became associated with the Nazis. In fact, George Bernard Shaw advocated that every human being should be put on trial before a government death panel every five years. Unless one could prove their utility to society, the panel would have the power to order their execution. In other words, there is a direct line from socialism to the death camps at Treblinka and the gas chambers at Auschwitz, run by the National Socialists. Incidentally, the nickname Nazi" conveniently obscures the fact that Hitler and his party members only ever referred to themselves as National Socialists." Hitler never used the word Nazi"only National Socialist." Similarly, he never used the word Swastika" either. Yet, the West prefers to say Swastika" rather than acknowledging that it was originally the hooked cross." Speaking of the cross," let us not forget that the Church endorsed Mussolini. Catholic priests also ran forced conversion and death camps during World War II, where hundreds of thousands of Serbs were murdered. But you would never hear about this from Indian leftist historians, who regard the Christian missionary network as their ally against the BJP. History has always been told selectively. In India, the Left grew accustomed to monopolising popular imagination. They used this monopoly to construct a series of simple binaries that served their narrative: RSS bad, Communists good, Socialists good, Christian missionaries good, and Nehru the greatest of all. But now, the establishment in India is changing. The new establishment, perhaps, wants to view history through its own preferred Hindu-Muslim binary. Now, the deposed leftist Tsars complain that history is complex and cannot be reduced to binaries. Well, it is too late to protest nowand far too hypocritical. Now, if you want to embarrass a Communist historian, ask them this: is it not true that Lenin was funded by the German Emperor? Lenin played no role in overthrowing the Tsar. The Germans smuggled him into Russia to overturn democratic elections and betray his country by signing a surrender to Germany. So, if Savarkar is to be shamed for receiving a pension from the British, what do we say about Lenin? Was the worlds greatest socialist revolutionary merely a German imperial agent? top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all For 75 years, the Congress-Left establishment has lived in a glass house, throwing stones at everyone else. But now, the glass is shattering. Serves them right. Abhishek Banerjee (@AbhishBanerj on X") is an author and columnist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. First Published: March 12, 2025, 16:25 IST Pakistans Breaking Point: A Call To End Militarys Stranglehold Written By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 10:46 IST History warns us of Yahya Khans disregard for democratic mandates that fractured Pakistan; General Asim Munir now throttles Khans popular support while stoking separatist movements in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with every forced disappearance Since ousting Imran Khan in 2022, Asim Munir has systematically dismantled democracyrigging elections, imprisoning Khan since August 2023, and crushing his party --- with brute force. (AP) Pakistan stands at a precipice, its democratic aspirations suffocated under General Asim Munirs authoritarian gripa force eroding the nations fragile foundations. Echoing General Yahya Khans catastrophic misrule that led to the loss of East Pakistan in 1971, Munirs actions risk plunging the country into another devastating collapse. Terrorism is surging, the economy is crumbling, and Balochistans unrest is boiling over. This is not merely a warningit is Pakistans grim reality. The time for decisive action is now; failure to pivot could spell our nations demise. Recommended Stories The Jaffar Express hostage crisis, where over 400 were seized by the Baloch Liberation Army, underscores Pakistans unravelling. Voices like Mahrang Baloch channel decades of anguish endured by the Baloch peopletyranny and torture hauntingly reminiscent of the Bengalis plight before 1971. Professor Akbar Ahmed starkly declares Pakistan embroiled in civil war: We cant treat the Baloch as second-class citizens," he warns. Stop the killingwere running out of time." Yet, these pleas echo into a void dominated by military indifference. Munirs tenure mirrors Yahya Khans ruinous script. Since ousting Imran Khan in 2022, Munir has systematically dismantled democracyrigging elections, imprisoning Khan since August 2023, and crushing his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), with brute force. Terrorism has doubled, with attacks rising from 517 in 2023 to 1,099 in 2024, placing Pakistan second-worst globally per the 2025 Global Terrorism Index. Borders bleed and citizens live in fear while the military remains fixated on consolidating power. Under Khans leadership, Pakistan glimpsed a brighter future: political and economic stability flourished with 6 per cent GDP growth; extremism waned; and global recognition followed his Covid-19 response and environmental initiatives like the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami. This vision of a unified Pakistanbinding Punjabis, Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis, and leveraging its diasporas $30 billion annual remittancescould transform our nation into a beacon of hope. Conde Nast once hailed Pakistan as a tourism haven; imagine that resurgence under genuine democracya safer land with thriving communities and renewed pride. Instead, Munir delivers chaos: a faltering $7 billion IMF bailout amid tax failures, dwindling investments, and a brain drain hollowing out our youth. His reported Afghan war gambit risks igniting a regional firestorma reckless move reflecting traits of narcissism and Machiavellianism. History warns us of Yahya Khans disregard for democratic mandates that fractured Pakistan; Munir now throttles Khans popular support while stoking separatist movements in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with every forced disappearance. From Adiala Jail, Imran Khan insists: Military operations arent the answer only public trust brings stability." Pakistan has reached its breaking point. Free Imran Khannot just a leader but a symbol of national hope. Restore free elections; send the military back to its barracks; revive an independent judiciary. Zalmay Khalilzad warns of a meltdown" rippling beyond our bordersa collapse that could destabilise South Asia entirely. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all We must act decisively to avoid repeating 1971s tragedy. Under true democracy, Pakistan can heal ethnic divides, harness its diasporas strength, and reclaim global respect. The people must rise against tyranny; the military must relinquish its colonial reign over governance; democracy must breathe once more. Free Imran Khanbefore we lose Pakistan forever. Salman Ahmad is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and author of the book Rock and Roll Jihad. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:45 IST 'A Woman Can Marry 10 Men In The North': DMK Minister Stokes Row Amid Language, Delimitation Standoff Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 20:15 IST Tamil Nadu Minister Durai Murugan has stoked a row with his North-South divide remarks as he alleged that a woman can marry 10 men in North India while a man marries only one woman in the South. Tamil Nadu Minister Durai Murugan stokes row (PTI File Photo) Tamil Nadu Minister Durai Murugan stoked controversy on Thursday as he alleged that there is a culture in North India to have multiple spouses and threatened to cut off" tongues of those insulting Tamil. His remarks deepened the North-South divide that has been a subject of debate in the political corridors. His statement comes at a time when the Centre and Tamil Nadu government are engaging in heated exchanges over the Hindi imposition" and proposed delimitation exercise. Recommended Stories Addressing a public meeting, the Minister claimed that North Indian traditions, unlike Tamil customs, endorse polygamy and polyarchy. CM @mkstalin must apologize to our North Indian brothers and sisters!DMKs senior-most leader and Minister Duraimurugan has insulted them by calling them pigs. This kind of derogatory remark is unacceptable and exposes DMKs deep-seated hatred. Stalins silence is proof of his pic.twitter.com/IcOkIKoQ4f Amar Prasad Reddy (@amarprasadreddy) March 12, 2025 In our culture, a man marries only one woman. However, in North India, a woman can have multiple husbands sometimes five or even ten. Similarly, five men can marry one woman. This is their tradition. If one leaves, another takes their place," Murugan said in an apparent reference to Draupadi from the Mahabharata. The delimitation row is the heart of the controversy, in which the Tamil Nadu government is apprehensive about losing the number of seats in the Parliament if the process is executed on the basis of the new population data. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Congress and other parties that governed at the Centre urged us to control the population, and we followed their directives. As a result, our population has declined. However, in North India, the population did not decrease. Families there continued to have 17, 18, or even 19 children, as if they had no other responsibilities," he said. He made a reference to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhans remark against DMK MPs in the Parliament and said, Coming from this stinking culture, and you are calling us uncivilised? We will cut your tongue. Be careful". About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Location : Tamil Nadu, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 20:15 IST Anti-Hindu: BJP Calls Out Telangana Govt After Hyderabad Cops Ban Group Rides On Holi Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 09:07 IST BJP criticized the Telangana government for its "anti-Hindu" agenda after Hyderabad and Cyberabad police issued Holi restrictions, including bans on group rides and alcohol. Hyderabad Police have also warned people against smearing colour on unwilling people. (Representative image) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called out the Telangana governments anti-Hindu" agenda after Hyderabad and Cyberabad cops issued restrictions for Holi, including bans on group rides and alcohol. BJPs Shehzad Poonawalla said the Telangana Congress governments anti-Hindu agenda was out in the open again. Recommended Stories Now, they are restricting Holi celebrations in Telangana. Hindus are being told how to celebrate their festival!" he added. Holi Restrictions Rachakonda Police Commissioner G Sudheer Babu issued an order on Wednesday regarding the closure of liquor outlets for the Holi festival on March 14, from 6 am to 6 pm. The order stipulates that wine shops, toddy shops, and bars attached to restaurants within the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate will remain closed, with the exception of those in star hotels and registered clubs. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Cyberabad Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty issued a separate directive on Wednesday, advising citizens against throwing colour or water on strangers, vehicles, or public places, and discouraging smearing others with colour in a manner that causes disturbance. The order also prohibits groups from aimlessly driving around on roads, causing inconvenience to others. This regulation will be in effect from 6 am on March 14 to 6 am on 15th March. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 09:05 IST BJP Slams Himachal Govt For Asking 30% Of Income From Magic Shows In Schools: Place Donation Box Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 11:55 IST The BJP criticized the Himachal Pradesh government for asking 30% of income from school magic shows for the CM's relief fund. The education department retracted the order after backlash. Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (PTI File Photo) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the Himachal Pradesh government for asking 30% of income earned from magic shows in schools for donation to the chief ministers relief fund and later retracting the order. BJP leader Randhir Sharma said, The situation is so dire that the Himachal government is taking money from temples and diverting funds from central schemes just to keep running. Now, it has even issued a notification to organize magic shows in schools to collect money for the CMs relief fund." Recommended Stories If the situation is this pathetic, the government might as well place a donation box outside the state secretariat so people can contribute," he added. The state education department retracted the letter on Wednesday that had been criticised for requesting 30% of the income from magic shows held in schools to be donated to the chief ministers relief fund or disaster management assistance. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Education Minister Rohit Thakur explained that the letter, issued by the deputy director of elementary education in Hamirpur district on March 11, was withdrawn, and an explanation was sought. The letter had approved magic shows in schools but conditioned that 30% of the proceeds be allocated to the chief ministers relief fund or disaster management assistance. Furthermore, the shows were to raise awareness about the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign and fight against superstition. As the letter spread on social media, the opposition BJP criticized the government, accusing it of being so financially strained that it was resorting to collecting funds from temples and schools. About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:29 IST 'How Stupid...': BJP's 'Designed By Tamilian' Reminder As Stalin's Govt Drops Official Rupee Symbol Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 17:37 IST Annamalai further expressed his disappointment with the governments decision, stating that the move was the last straw on the camels back" Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai took to X, calling out CM MK Stalin and his government for their decision. (PTI file photos) Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Thursday reminded the MK Stalin-led DMK government that the Indian rupee symbol was designed by a Tamilian. His criticism came in response to the state governments decision to replace the rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in the logo for the 2025-26 state budget. The move, which has sparked debate, comes ahead of the budget being presented in the state assembly on Friday. Recommended Stories Annamalai took to the social media platform X, calling out Stalin and his government for their decision. He pointed out that the rupee symbol was designed by a Tamilian, Thiru Udaya Kumar, and adopted by the entire nation. Thiru Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, Thiru @mkstalin?," Annamalai wrote in his post. The DMK Governments State Budget for 2025-26 replaces the Rupee Symbol designed by a Tamilian, which was adopted by the whole of Bharat and incorporated into our Currency.Thiru Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, pic.twitter.com/t3ZyaVmxmq K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 13, 2025 Last straw on camels back While speaking with CNN-News18, Annamalai further expressed his disappointment with the DMK governments decision, stating that the move was the last straw on the camels back." The Tamil Nadu BJP chief added that the DMK had entered a zone from which there was no return and warned that the decision would have serious consequences for the party. Its going to blow back very, very hard Theres no coming back for them now," he stated. Calling the Stalin governments decision as double standards," Annamalai asserted that the people would not accept this move and would not forgive them for it. The BJP leader further remarked that anything which challenges the concept of Bharat" will not be accepted by the nation. Today they are changing the symbol tomorrow they could say that a Tamil person in the Indian Army will wear a different uniform. They will pay a heavy price for it," Annamalai warned. An irony for Stalin govt BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya also weighed in on the issue, calling it an irony" for the Stalin government, given that the person who designed the rupee symbol is the son of a former DMK MLA. The irony doesnt stop therethe symbol was adopted in 2010 when the Congress was in power at the Centre and the DMK governed the state," Malviya wrote in his post on X. More embarrassment for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. The symbol was designed by Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, a Tamilian and the son of a former DMK MLA. The irony doesnt stop therethe symbol was adopted in 2010 when the Congress was in power at the Centre and the DMK https://t.co/hFfjDK33NG pic.twitter.com/wnCSK6f5mc Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 13, 2025 He also shared an old video, presumably from 2010, showing Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram facilitating Udaya Kumar for his design. The logo for the budget, released by the Stalin government on Thursday, carried ru, the first letter of the Tamil word Rubaai, which denotes the Indian currency in the vernacular language. The logo also had the caption everything for all," indicating what the ruling DMK claims is its inclusive model of governance. The decision to replace the rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in the logo for the state budget has drawn strong criticism from the BJP, especially given the ongoing tensions between the Tamil Nadu state government and the BJP-led central government. The two parties are already at odds over the implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the proposed three-language formula included in the policy. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all ALSO READ: Stalins Govt Replaces Rupee Symbol With Tamil Letter In State Budget, Draws BJP Fire In Language War (With inputs from agencies) About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More Location : Tamil Nadu, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 16:42 IST Jagan Reddy's Sea-Facing 'Sheeshmahal' Under TDP Lens: What To Do With Rs 500-Cr Palace? Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 14:14 IST A mansion on Rushikonda Hill in Vizag, built for ex-Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, faces scrutiny for alleged fund misuse and environmental violations. Critics compare it to Kejriwal's "sheeshmahal." Visuals from the luxurious mansion. (Screengrab/ANI) A grand sea-facing mansion on the Rushikonda Hill in Vizag, which was built to serve as the office-cum-residence of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has now garnered attention for all the wrong reasons. While the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led NDA government has accused the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) of gross misuse of funds, critics have compared the structure to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals sheeshmahal". Spread across 10 acres and four blocks in the tourist hub Rushikonda area, the mansion has extravagant interiors, including gold embellishments, Italian marble flooring, and plush furnishings. Recommended Stories #WATCH | In visuals, inside of YS Jagan Mohan Reddys, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, sea-facing mansionBuilt on Rushikonda hill in Visakhapatnam, the mansion comprises four sprawling blocks spread over 10 acres in Rushikonda. pic.twitter.com/FHa4Lk8Fvg ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025 The property includes extensive infrastructure paved roads, drainage systems, bulk water supply, and a 100 KV power substation adding to the cost. The visuals of the luxurious building have now taken over the internet and triggered a huge political debate. #WATCH | Outside visuals from former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys sea-facing mansion built on Rushikonda hill in Visakhapatnam.The mansion comprises four sprawling blocks spread over 10 acres in Rushikonda pic.twitter.com/GRHmUPPwWQ ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025 Mansion Under TDP Scrutiny The TDP government has been grappling with how to repurpose the mansion. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had previously called for a public debate on the issue. Speaking to the media, he stated that the entire structure violated relevant laws and regulations. Naidu accused Jagan Mohan Reddy of harming the environment to satisfy his whims and fancies." Naidus administration has also criticized Jagan Mohan Reddy for the alleged misuse of public funds, with some estimates suggesting the total cost may have exceeded Rs 600 crore. Former YSRCP Minister Gudivada Amarnath, however, defended the previous governments decision, asserting that the project adhered to legal guidelines. Meanwhile, EAS Sarma, a former Secretary to the Government of India, has called for the demolition of the illegal structures, urging authorities to restore the ecological balance of Rushikonda. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Environment Norm Violation Alleged A key challenge in repurposing the mansion is the legal and environmental concerns surrounding its construction. Rushikonda Hill is located in a sensitive coastal zone, and environmentalists are against large-scale developments in the area. Activists argue that the project violates Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations and have called for an investigation into whether the necessary environmental approvals were secured. About the Author Poulami Kundu Poulami Kundu is a senior copy editor with News 18's general news desk. She hails from Guwahati and has over six years of experience in print and digital media. Poulami is a voracious reader, hodophile, and an ... Read More Poulami Kundu is a senior copy editor with News 18's general news desk. She hails from Guwahati and has over six years of experience in print and digital media. Poulami is a voracious reader, hodophile, and an ... Read More Location : Andhra Pradesh, India, India First Published: March 13, 2025, 13:26 IST 'Secessionist Sentiments': FM Sitharaman Slams DMK After Tamil Nadu Drops Rupee Symbol From Budget Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 22:50 IST Nirmala Sitharaman blasted Tamil Nadu government for replacing Rupee symbol in its Budget document and said that the step promotes "secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride". Nirmala Sitharaman slams DMK over Rupee symbol row (PTI Image) Launching a scathing attack on the Tamil Nadu government for replacing the symbol with a Tamil word Ru in its budget document, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the move points to a dangerous mindset that weakens national unity". The Minister said that the MK Stalin governments step goes on to promote secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride". Recommended Stories Her remarks came after the Stalin government removed the symbol from the Budget document and replaced it with Ru, sparking a massive row and drawing backlash from the BJP. The latest step followed days of language debate between the southern state and the Centre over the National Education Policy. Sitharaman Takes On Tamil Nadu Govt Taking the Stalin government head on, the Union Minister said that by removing the officially recognised Rupee symbol, which was designed by Udaya Kumar, a Tamilian, the DMK has utterly disregarded the creative contribution of a Tamil youth". If the DMK (@arivalayam) has a problem with , why didnt it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the @INCIndia-led UPA government, at a time when the DMK was part of the ruling alliance at the Centre?" Sitharaman questioned. The DMK government has reportedly removed the official Rupee symbol from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented tomorrow.If the DMK (@arivalayam) has a problem with , why didnt it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 13, 2025 Ironically, was designed by Th. D Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. By erasing it now, the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth," she added. She highlighted the deep roots of the Tamil word Rupaai in the Sanskrit word Rupya and said that several countries use Rupee as their currency name. The Tamil word Rupaai () itself has deep roots in the Sanskrit word Rupya, meaning wrought silver or a worked silver coin. This term has resonated across centuries in Tamil trade and literature, and even today, Rupaai remains the currency name in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. In fact, several countries, including Indonesia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, officially use Rupee or its equivalent/derivatives as their currency name," the Minister wrote. Bid To Weaken National Unity: Sitharaman The Union Minister reminded of the Constitutional oath for public representatives and said that the Tamil Nadu governments decision to replace the symbol goes against the very oath". top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all All elected representatives and authorities are sworn under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation. Removing a national symbol like from the State Budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity," she said. This is more than mere symbolismit signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism," the Minister added. About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 22:50 IST Bihar Girl Wanted To Study Science, Forced To Pursue Arts; She Breaks Down On Camera Over Gender Bias Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 23:46 IST A heart-wrenching story of a girl has come to the fore, exposing the prevalent gender bias in Indian societies even in 2025. Khushboo narrated on camera how she faced gender bias in her family. Bihar girl speaks up on gender bias on International Women's Day (Image: News18 Bihar Jharkhand) A heartbreaking story came to the fore in Bihars Patna that exposed the injustice and absence of a level playing field for daughters as against sons in the society. Khushboo, an intermediate student pursuing Arts instead of Science which she intended to go ahead with after her matriculation, hailed from Danapur and was sent by her parents to Patna to take up further education in Humanities. Recommended Stories She wanted to proceed in her career by opting for Science as her field of studies, however, failing to meet the conditions set by her parents to do so by just 1 mark crushed her dreams to dust. Dear politicians of India, here is an opportunity for you. Find this girl. Talk to her family. Help her study what she wants. Make a statement. This discrimination against daughters should not be happening in 2025! The public will appreciate. It can at least change a few lives. pic.twitter.com/OxJIXW6tCr Aravind (@aravind) March 13, 2025 Girl Narrates Heartbreaking Ordeal Of Gender Bias Speaking to News18 Bihar Jharkhand on the occasion of International Womens Day on March 8, she poured her heart out about the gender-based injustice meted out to daughters and the opportunities they are deprived of on the basis of their gender. While her brothers were given the freedom to pick their choice of subjects, things were made different for Khushboo. Her parents asked her to score 400 out of 500 in her matriculation in order to pursue Science in intermediate, or else be contented with Arts. She was not even given a phone to study, she said. At my home, there is still a difference between me and my brothers. My brothers have the freedom to pursue studies, but the sisters do not. We are not even given phones to study. When I was in Matric, my mother told me that if I secured 400+ marks, I could pursue Science, otherwise, I could not. I could not score 400 marks; I got 399, which is why I am pursuing Arts today," the student said, as she sobbed with teary eyes, further breaking into tears. Netizens Voice Support Her comments went viral on social media, where the netizens sympathised with her and brought up the lack of opportunities daughters face even in 2025. As the matter was raised with the Bihar government and officials, they assured whatever will be possible within the ambit of law to help her pursue Science will be done. Dear politicians of India, here is an opportunity for you. Find this girl. Talk to her family. Help her study what she wants. Make a statement. This discrimination against daughters should not be happening in 2025! The public will appreciate. It can at least change a few lives," a user said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all There are many many such cases prevalent in our society , we need to see everyone as human first and then see Boys or Girl . Human consciousness needs to be awakened," another one said. This video is hard hitting and I feel pity about Indian society, some parts of India especially northern states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, chattisgarh, interior maharastra and West Bengal they dont encourage girl childs to study and become an independent lady in this f****** society," another user wrote. About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More News18's viral page features trending stories, videos , and memes, covering quirky incidents, social media buzz from india and around the world, Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 23:46 IST Indian Managers Are S**t: Employee Calls Out Toxic Work Culture In Fiery Notice Period Rant Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 09:44 IST The employee, who tagged Indian bosses as toxic, stated that they are set to join one of the FAANG companies. However, their current employer is refusing an early release without imposing conditions and is not even open to a buyout. The employee, whose boss is piling on work as a condition for early release, is set to join one of the FAANG companies. (Representative Pic: GettyImages) An employee serving their notice period took to Reddit to expose what they described as a toxic work culture at their company. The Reddit user, who goes by the username life_rolla_costa", vented their frustration over the companys refusal to grant an early release and accused their manager of piling on extra work as a condition for shortening the notice period. The employee, who is set to join one of the FAANG companies Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (now Alphabet), tagged Indian managers shit". They went as far as saying, Even shit is better than these f**kers." Recommended Stories In the following lines, they detailed the situation, So, I have put my resignation and its been 15 days now They are not letting me go, making excuses like there is a lot of work and blah blah. I am just asking to adjust my ELs to reduce the 60 days notice period to 30 days, because I am joining one of FAANGs and they are not agreeing to anything more than 30." They further revealed that their employer was imposing unreasonable conditions for an early exit. They are even making terms and conditions like, if you want 30 days, do this work and that work." How can I commit anything on my notice period?" they asked. The Redditor concluded their post with the words: I am so frustrated now. Its getting on my nerves. I am literally crying while writing this." The post was shared in the IndianWorkplace" community, a space where employees engage in candid Office Canteen Conversations" free from the ears of bosses or HR. A Reddit user, who faced a similar situation, said, Do enough to not burn bridges, but if you dont want to return, then ignore and watch movies while sitting in AC. I did that and the manager let me go in 15 days." Just faced a similar situation where my NP was unnecessarily extended along with illogical project demands," another joined. A few suggested buying out the notice period. Its all about priorities. Every company has a buyout option where you can walk out without a notice period, but they wont give you F&F settlement. If joining the FAANG company means more to you, then go for a buyout. Not a big deal," suggested a third Internet user. The Redditor informed that their present company is not agreeing to a buyout. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A fourth commented, Simply complete your notice period as there is no point in arguing with such people. Now that they know you are in a hurry, they will make your life hell. Better leave on good terms." The Redditor responded, Ill lose my next employer if I complete 60 days." Many even asked to name the company so that they can bash them left, right and centre. About the Author Arfa Javaid Arfa Javaid, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, keeps her finger on the social media pulse, covering all things trending and viral. She also covers human interest stories. A Delhi University alumna, Arfa also hol... Read More Arfa Javaid, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, keeps her finger on the social media pulse, covering all things trending and viral. She also covers human interest stories. A Delhi University alumna, Arfa also hol... Read More News18's viral page features trending stories, videos , and memes, covering quirky incidents, social media buzz from india and around the world, Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: March 13, 2025, 09:42 IST Balochistan Hijacking Exposes Deep Cracks Between Pakistan Govt, Military | Exclusive Reported By : CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 15:50 IST The absence of cabinet meetings or official statements during the crisis suggests the civilian government was completely sidelined by the military, mirroring the disastrous handling of the Jaffar Express hijacking People gather outside a train during an attack by separatist militants near Mashkaf, Pakistan. (IMAGE: REUTERS) The recent hostage crisis in Balochistan has exposed a dangerous disconnect between Pakistans civilian government and its powerful military, raising serious concerns about the countrys stability and the safety of its citizens. Despite claims of a successful operation, doubts linger about the true fate of the abducted army personnel. The governments silence and conflicting narratives have fuelled suspicions of a botched rescue attempt and a potential cover-up. Recommended Stories Opposition leaders and intelligence sources point to a lack of transparency and coordination, with key opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan accusing the government of maintaining an eerie silence" in the National Assembly. The absence of cabinet meetings or official statements during the crisis suggests the civilian government was completely sidelined by the military, mirroring the disastrous handling of the Jaffar Express hijacking. Rana Sanaullah, Special Envoy to prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, appeared evasive and unprepared when questioned about the governments response, further eroding public trust. Discrepancies in casualty figures and reports of remaining hostages contradict official claims of a swift resolution. Sources suggest as many as 150 soldiers may still be held captive, potentially moved to different locations with suicide bombers. The crisis lays bare the fragility of Pakistans democracy and the unchecked power of the military. With the real representatives of the Baloch people silenced, the lack of accountability and transparency threatens to push the region further into turmoil. Security officials on Thursday said they freed more than 340 train passengers in a two-day rescue operation that ended late on Wednesday after the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) bombed a remote railway track in mountainous southwest Balochistan and stormed a train with around 450 passengers on board. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all BLA IS one of a number of separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering natural resources in Balochistan near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran. Attacks by separatist groups have soared in the past few years, mostly targeting security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province. Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan but last year saw a surge in violence in the province compared with 2023, according to the independent Center for Research and Security Studies. About the Author Manoj Gupta Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: March 13, 2025, 15:50 IST BBC Deeply Sorry For Not Doing Much For Women Staffers Abused By Ex-Presenter Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 07:57 IST The BBC apologized to four ex-employees for not protecting them from Alex Belfield, a former presenter jailed for stalking. The BBC admitted it ignored their warnings. Former BBC presenter Alex Belfield. (Photo: PA Media) The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has issued a full and unreserved apology" to four former female employees, acknowledging that it failed to adequately protect them from a local radio presenter who was later jailed for stalking Jeremy Vine. Alex Belfield, a former host on BBC Radio Leeds, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of a stalking campaign targeting four individuals, including Vine. The BBC has now expressed its deep sorrow" to the four women who were subjected to years of abuse by Belfield, according to a report in The Guardian. Recommended Stories While Belfield was acquitted of stalking Helen Thomas, Rozina Breen, Liz Green, and Stephanie Hirst, the judge concluded that they had been personally targeted in a campaign of revenge," which left them all requiring psychological support. Belfield was also given an indefinite restraining order barring him from contacting the women. The BBC admitted that it did not take the womens early warnings seriously enough. People who work for the BBC are often in the public eye and under scrutiny, but it is unacceptable for anyone to be the target of sustained abuse, as Rozina Breen, Elizabeth Green, Stephanie Hirst, and Helen Thomas were over several years," it said. We recognise that before 2019, we simply did not do enough to understand the full impact of Alex Belfields unacceptable behaviour on these staff members. For that, we are deeply sorry and offer a full and unreserved apology." The broadcaster added that it had since expanded its mental wellbeing resources for staff and improved its internal investigative processes. We are now significantly better equipped to manage these issues, but we will never be complacent," it stated. The apology comes at a time when the BBC is facing increasing scrutiny over its handling of staff and complaints. The corporation has already admitted it fell short" after uncovering evidence of bullying and misogynistic" behaviour by former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood. Last year, it also apologised to the parents of a young person who had lodged a complaint about disgraced BBC presenter Huw Edwards, acknowledging that it should have acted more swiftly. Green, who received the apology years after she first raised concerns about Belfield, said his actions had caused her to live with constant fear. I expected the BBC to use available laws to stop it, for us to be listened to and cared for," she said. For over a decade, that did not happen. They have apologised for that and say lessons have been learnt. Every employer must protect their staff. The four of us were high-profile women in the north. We have all since left the BBC." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Vine supported the BBCs apology, adding that the women had initially been advised to ignore and delete" thousands of abusive emails. The advice should have been log and keep," he said. Because of this bad advice, incriminating material that could have increased Belfields sentence was lost to the court. The BBC only began to take the case seriously when Tony Hall and Tim Davie took charge. I hope this statement from the BBC, along with any compensation, helps these four survivors move past this dreadful case." About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 07:57 IST Brazil Razes Thousands Of Trees In The Amazon Rainforest To Build Road For Climate Summit Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 14:11 IST The Amazon rainforest is vital in the fight against climate change. Scientists warn that the new road cutting through the rainforest could have serious consequences on the ecosystem and disrupt the movement of wildlife The highway is intended to alleviate traffic congestion expected during the COP30 summit in November with over 50,000 attendees including world leaders. (AP File) A new four-lane highway is being carved through thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest in Belem, Brazil, sparking outrage among locals and environmentalists just months before the city hosts the COP30 climate summit in November. The highway, intended to alleviate traffic congestion expected during the November summit with over 50,000 attendees including world leaders, is being touted by the state government as sustainable" development. Recommended Stories However, the project has been met with fierce criticism, with many reportedly arguing that the destruction contradicts the very purpose of the climate conference. The Amazon rainforest plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide and fostering biodiversity, making its preservation vital in the fight against climate change. Along the partially constructed highway, piles of logs lay strewn across cleared land, a stark reminder of the lush rainforest that once stood tall. The road, which stretches for over 8 miles, cuts through protected areas, requiring the filling of wetlands and the felling of vast swathes of trees. Claudio Verrequete, who lives near the construction site, has lost his livelihood harvesting acai berries from the now-razed trees. He has reportedly received no compensation and worries about further deforestation now that the area is easily accessible. He fears businesses will encroach on the land, forcing him and his community to relocate. Adding insult to injury, it has been reported that the highway will be inaccessible to Verrequete and his community due to bordering walls, rendering them unable to benefit from the project while suffering its consequences. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Scientists share these concerns, warning that the road, which divides two protected forest areas, will fragment the ecosystem and disrupt wildlife movement. Professor Silvia Sardinha, a wildlife doctor and researcher working at a nearby university animal hospital, has reportedly witnessed the impact of human activity on animals, many of whom arrive at the hospital with injuries inflicted by vehicles. The construction of this highway raises questions about the sincerity of Brazil hosting a climate summit while actively contributing to deforestation. Location : Brazil First Published: March 13, 2025, 14:11 IST Global Trade War On The Cards? Trump Threatens More Tariffs On EU & Canada, Draws Retaliation Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 09:44 IST Donald Trump said he would impose additional penalties if the EU continues with its counter tariffs plan on some US goods next month. US President Donald Trump (Reuters File) US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers. Just hours after the 25 percent duties imposed by Trump on all US steel and aluminum imports took effect, the US President said he would impose additional penalties if the EU continues with its counter tariffs plan on some US goods next month. Recommended Stories Whatever they charge us, were charging them," Trump said at the White House. Trumps action came following Canadas move of imposing a similar amount of tariff on US goods in response to broader tariffs by Trump. Notably, Canada is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States. All Will Lose: UN Chief Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned against this tariff war and said that all will lose" when countries get into such situations. I think we live in a global economy. Everything is interlinked. And obviously, one of the great advantages of having a situation of free trade is to create the conditions for all countries to benefit. When we enter into a trade war, I believe all will lose," Guterres said. Canada Firm On Retalitory Tariffs We will not stand idly by while our iconic steel and aluminum industries are being unfairly targeted," Canadas Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was quoted by Reuters. Meanwhile, the 27 countries of the European Union are less exposed, as only a small fraction" of targeted products are exported to the United States, reuters reported citing Germanys Kiel Institute. EU Retaliates Against Trumps Tariffs The European Commission has announced it would launch swift and proportionate countermeasures" on US imports into the European Union in response to the tariffs imposed by the US on EU steel and aluminium imports. The European Commission expressed regret over the US decision to impose US tariffs, calling them unjustified, disruptive to transatlantic trade, and harmful to businesses and consumers, often resulting in higher prices." The European Union will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon and motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans in response to President Donald Trumps increased tariffs on aluminum and steel import. Trump To Respond With Further Tariffs Trump said he would respond with further tariffs if the EU followed through on its plan. With Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at his side, Trump criticised the EU member country for luring away US pharmaceutical companies. Martin, in remarks delivered later at a White House ceremony, touted the history of free trade between the two nations. Let us continue to build on that foundation," he said looking at Trump. Let us continue to work together to make sure that we maintain that mutually beneficial, two-way economic relationship that has allowed innovation and creativity and prosperity to thrive." Trump Continues Tariff Tirade Against India, China Trump upended global trade, targeting friends and foes alike. Despite having close relations with India, Trump has time and again called out the country for the high tariffs that it imposes on American products. He recently criticised the high tariffs charged by India and other countries on the US and termed them very unfair", announcing that reciprocal tariffs will kick in next month. Targeting India amid the ongoing trade war, Trump stated that India charges massive tariffs" and said that you cant sell anything in the country. Following this, the US President announced that New Delhi had agreed to cut their tariffs way down". top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all However, the Indian government responded soon saying that India has not committed to slashing import duties on US products. The government told a parliamentary panel that no commitments had been made to the US on the issue". Last week, Trump announced fresh duties on Chinese goods. However, Chinas Foreign Affairs Ministry shot back and said, If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, were ready to fight till the end." About the Author Mahima Joshi Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a... Read More Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a... Read More Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: March 13, 2025, 07:13 IST I Think It Will Happen: Donald Trump Says US Would Annex Greenland Published By : AFP Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 23:29 IST Donald Trump made the statement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte beside him. US President Donald Trump had refused to rule out using military or economic action to pursue the acquisition of Greenland. (IMAGE: REUTERS/NASA) US President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his desire to annex the autonomous territory of Greenland from Denmark in the interest of international security." I think it will happen," Trump told reporters at the White House alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, when asked about his vision for the annexation. Recommended Stories He pointed at Rutte and added the NATO chief could be very instrumental" in the move. You know Mark, we need that for international security we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful," he said, apparently referring to rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region. Trumps threats to take over the resource-rich Arctic island have shined an unprecedented global spotlight on the territory, as he has previously refused to rule out the use of force to get Greenland." The US presidents comments come days after Greenlands elections, with all the political parties, and the majority of the islands 57,000 inhabitants, backing independence though they disagree on how quickly the process should go. Rutte said that he would not be involved in any question of Greenland becoming part of the United States, saying: I dont want to drag NATO in that." However, when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right," Rutte said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Chinese are now using these routes. We know that the Russians are rearming. We know we have lack of icebreakers. So the fact that the seven outside Russia seven Arctic countries working together on this under US leadership is very important to make sure that that region, that part of the world stays safe," Rutte said. About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: March 13, 2025, 23:08 IST How 30-Hour Hostage Situation On Pakistan Train Ended: Passengers Freed, Militants Killed Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 10:04 IST Hostages on the hijacked Jaffar Express train were freed. The hostage situation resulted in the killing of 28 military personnel who were onboard the train, and 33 militants involved in the act. Ambulances seen carrying rescued/freed hostages after a train in Pakistan was hijacked (Photo: AP) The hostage situation on the hijacked Jaffar Express train in restive southwestern Pakistan ended on Wednesday night. According to what a Pakistan army official told news agency AFP, all 346 hostages were freed and 33 Separatist Baloch militants (all of whom were involved in the hijack) were killed during the operation. He also said that 27 off-duty soldiers who were passengers on the train were killed by militants, while one was killed during the operation. Recommended Stories Reuters also quoted the military as saying that 21 hostages and four security troops were killed over the course of the standoff. The killing of the militants was also confirmed by army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, and the countrys Federal Minister for Information, Attaullah Tarar, according to news agency PTI. ALSO READ | Wont Shake Pakistans Resolve: Shehbaz Sharifs First Reaction To Jaffar Express Hijacking As the standoff concluded, Sharif told Reuters that the operation was carried out with great care" as there were also women and children among the hostages. Today we freed a large number of people, including women and children The final operation was carried out with great care," Chaudhry said, adding that no civilians were killed in the final stage of the operation. The militants were reported to be wearing suicide vests and were sitting among the passengers, holding them hostage, and using them as human shields. According to what junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry told Geo television, the military sent in hundreds of troops to free the hostages. The military also deployed the air force and special forces to tackle the militants, he said. As the operation neared its conclusion, special forces first took out the suicide bombers before troops went from carriage to carriage to kill the rest of the militants, Chaudhry said. It was not known where the passengers were first taken after being evacuated. Balochistan Video Captures The Moment Rebels Attacked Jaffar Express, Triggered Blast And Took Hostages The Jaffar Express train was attacked on Tuesday (March 11) and militants blew up the railway track and hurled rockets at the locomotive when it was on its way to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Balochistans capital of Quetta. According to Reuters, the train was carrying 440 people at the time of the attack. The train was hijacked near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel 160 kilometres from Quetta. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on March 11 when they said they killed six soldiers. ALSO READ | BLA Shot Soldiers In Front Of Me: Freed Pakistan Train Hijack Hostage Recounts Terrifying Ordeal About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks. Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks. First Published: March 13, 2025, 10:04 IST Massive Protests, Debates Erupt In US Over Pro-Hamas Campus Campaigner Mahmoud Khalil's Arrest Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 08:23 IST Mahmoud Khalil's arrest has sparked a massive controversy and an online debate, with critics calling it an attack on free speech and authoritarian overreach, while supporters argue it is justified. Mahmoud Khalil addresses the media (Photo: Reuters) The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil a Palestinian activist who helped lead student protests at Columbia University, has sparked a controversy and has triggered outrage from critics of the Donald Trump administration, as well as free speech advocates, including some on the political right, who say such a move has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. However, some are also supporting his arrest and say he must be deported, alleging that Khalil fomented unrest in the United States. Recommended Stories Khalil was detained on the night of March 8, as he and his wife, Noor Abdalla, were returning to their Columbia University-owned apartment in upper Manhattan. They both were detained by officials from the US Department of Homeland Security, who told the couple that Khalil was being detained because his student visa had been revoked. He was then taken to Louisiana, sparking protests. The Department of Homeland Security, confirming Khalils arrest on March 9, claimed he had led activities aligned to Hamas" and that the action was taken in coordination with the Department of State." In the latest, Khalil has been denied legal advice after US President Trump vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators. Khalil remains in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana, with a judge having temporarily blocked efforts to deport him, pending further legal proceedings. MAHMOUD KHALILs ARREST DEBATED ONLINE US Senator Bernie Sanders, in a post on X, addressed to Donald Trump and opined that Khalils arrest was rather illegal" and showed authoritarianism". He also said that people cannot be put behind bars because of their political views. No, Mr. President, you cannot illegally arrest and detain legal US residents because of their political views or opinions.In America, we have a little something called the First Amendment. Throwing protesters in jail is yet another step on the path to authoritarianism. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 12, 2025 Echoing Sanders, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said this case should matter to everyone. There is a young man in jail today for protesting at his college. No charges. No criminal conduct. In dictatorships, they call this a disappearance". I want to tell you why this case should matter to you, even if you strongly disagree with what he said or did," he wrote in an X post. A journalist, named Ryan Grim, wrote, The lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil, at todays hearing, said that she has been unable to speak to her client once since his detention. Does any of this sound like the America you were taught about growing up? A legal permanent resident kept incommunicado with no charges specifically for his speech" (sic). Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, wrote, The Trump Administrations treatment of Mahmoud Khalil is inhumane and unconstitutional. The Trump Administrations treatment of Mahmoud Khalil is inhumane and unconstitutional.Today, I was proud to join @ValdezAssembly, @CMAlexaAviles, and 27 city, state, and federal officials to call for his immediate release. pic.twitter.com/cPK0SNzQII Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) March 12, 2025 Another social media user wrote, Khalil isnt a terrorist, Hes a Columbia graduate student and a legal US resident. Hes a husband. And his wife, a US Citizen8 months pregnanthas no idea where he is. This is how authoritarian regimes operate." Meanwhile, the others supported the deportation of Khalil and said his actions were supportive of terrorism. As Khalil was arrested, US State Secretary Marco Rubio defended the Trump administrations action by saying that this was about people who do not have a right to be in the United States, and no one has a right to a student visa and a green card. .@SecRubio on arrest of Mahmoud Khalil: This is not about free speech. This is about people that dont have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card." pic.twitter.com/eej8vyBLKm CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2025 The Department of Homeland Security, in announcing Khalils arrest, said it had acted in support of President Trumps executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State." An independent freelance shared some images and photos of Khalil and wrote, Theres footage of Mahmoud Khalil engaging in criminal activity just last week, when he helped take over a Barnard College academic building that was then littered with terrorist propaganda." Another journalist wrote, Mahmoud Khalils group wants to eradicate Western Civilization & foment unrest in the United States. President Trump and Secretary Rubio are well within their legal rights to deport this radical. We are either going to stand up or become Europe," (sic). MASSIVE PROTESTS IN NEW YORK CITY As the controversy snowballed and a court heard Khalils case, hundreds protested in support of Khalil, flying Palestinian flags and holding up banners, while actor Susan Sarandon was at the court to back the detained man. Scores of students across the United States, primarily in New York City, hit the streets, demanding the release of Khalil. TODAY: UC Berkeley students walked out, joining nationwide protests demanding the release of Palestinian Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, and an end to US funds to Israel. pic.twitter.com/dRZNNHi4Ze BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 11, 2025 Jewish students at Columbia University also protested Khalils arrest. Jewish students protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University. Genocide defenders want you to believe this is antisemitic, Hamas propaganda.pic.twitter.com/1kT0av7383 Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 11, 2025 Other than students, others in New York also demanded Khalils release. Protestors in New York are demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student at threat of deportation after organising pro-Palestine campus protests last year. pic.twitter.com/GmR7C9LyYb Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 12, 2025 KHALILs WIFE SPEAKS UP Two days before US agents arrested Khalil, he had asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. I didnt take him seriously. Clearly I was naive," Abdalla, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview. She said her husbands focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways. She has had a few brief phone calls with Khalil from jail, where he told her he had been helping other detained migrants with poor English fill out forms written in legalese and donating food to his jail-mates, bought from his commissary account. Mahmoud is Palestinian and hes always been interested in Palestinian politics," she said. Hes standing up for his people, hes fighting for his people," she added. THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING KHALILs ARREST Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the US on a student visa in 2022, getting his US permanent residency green card last year. He completed his studies at Columbias School of International and Public Affairs in December but is yet to receive his masters degree diploma. He became a high-profile member of the Ivy League universitys student protest movement, often speaking to the media as one of the lead negotiators with the Columbia administration over the protesters years-long demands that the school end investments of its $14.8 billion endowment in weapons makers and other companies that support Israels government. The government has not accused Khalil of breaking any laws, suggesting instead that his permanent residency was being revoked over his involvement in the protests, news agency AFP stated. During the latest hearing in his case, there was no immediate decision on deportation, or on the legal question of where the case should be heard, with the government arguing it should be either New Jersey, where Khalil was processed, or Louisiana. Judge Furman set a deadline of Friday for the government to submit arguments to the court with a decision due on Monday. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Campuses across the United States were rocked last year by student protests against Israels war in Gaza, with some resulting in violent clashes involving police and pro-Israel counter-protesters. Trump and other Republicans have broadly accused the protesters of supporting Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group whose deadly attack on October 7, 2023, against Israel sparked the war. About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks. Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks. First Published: March 13, 2025, 08:23 IST Porn Star Bonnie Blue Eyes 'Barely Legal Girls' On Spring Break For New Sex Stunt Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 19:41 IST Blue is currently in Cancun, Mexico, for Spring Break, where she has already courted controversy for partying with young college students OnlyFan creator Bonnie Blue | File Image.X British adult film star Bonnie Blue, known for her controversial stunts, has sparked outrage again by declaring she wants to sleep with barely legal girls". The OnlyFans star, whose real name is Tia Emma Billinger, recently made headlines for allegedly sleeping with 1,057 men in 12 hours, a claim she says broke a world record. Recommended Stories Blue is currently in Cancun, Mexico, for Spring Break, where she has already courted controversy for partying with young college students. The 25-year-old is staying at the Grand Oasis resort, a popular destination for American students on Spring Break. Shes been open about her intention to sleep with young men, even changing her Instagram bio to reflect this. Photos on her account show her drinking and engaging in intimate behaviour with young people. Now, Blue has announced on TikTok her desire to sleep with teenage girls, using the phrase barely legal girls taste super sweet", Daily Mail reported. This latest remark has ignited a firestorm of criticism online, with many calling her behaviour outrageous and harmful. Some users have pointed out the hypocrisy of the situation, stating that a man making similar comments would face severe backlash. People pray, this is what the world has come to. Shame on all of you, no respect. I pray for the world," a user said. Another user remarked: Completely outrageous." Meanwhile, a user asked: Imagine the uproar if a man said this?! However, this isnt the first time Blue has been the centre of controversy. She rose to fame by targeting college-aged men with her content, often attending events like Spring Break to meet them. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Blue, originally from the East Midlands, worked in recruitment before entering the adult industry. She began as a webcam model before joining OnlyFans in 2023, where she quickly gained notoriety for her controversial content and statements. ALSO READ: After Sleeping With 1,000 Men For Record, Bonnie Blue Plans A New Stunt: Sex With Barely Legal Teens About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More Location : United Kingdom (UK) First Published: March 13, 2025, 19:39 IST Promising But Not Complete: Trump Reacts To Putin's Remark On Ukraine Ceasefire Plan Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 23:22 IST Russian President Vladimir Putin sought answers to serious questions on the Ukraine ceasefire proposal from US counterpart Donald Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and US President Donald Trump are pictured before a meeting in Helsinki in this 2018 file photo. (IMAGE: AFP) US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putins, statement on the Washington-backed Ukraine ceasefire plan was promising but not complete. Trump told reporters that Putin had put out a very promising statement" on a possible Ukraine truce, but he added that it wasnt complete". Recommended Stories The US president said that Id love to meet with him or talk to him. But we have to get it over with fast." Trump, whose special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks on Ukraine, added that it would be a very disappointing moment for the world" if Russia rejects the peace plan. A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world," Trump said. Trump also gave a glimpse of the negotiations for a longer-term peace after any ceasefire, including what territory Ukraine would have to give up to Russia. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. We have not been working in the dark. Weve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost," he said. He added that there was also a very big power plant involved whos going to get the power plant?" Trump did not name the give any specifics but the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, currently held by Russia, is on the front lines of the fighting. It is Europes largest nuclear power station. Negotiations were complex because they were effectively creating the edge of a country," Trump added. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Ukraine agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire at talks in Saudi Arabia this week, bowing to pressure after a showdown between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28. (with inputs from AFP) About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: March 13, 2025, 22:47 IST Putin Makes Surprise Visit To Western Kursk, Asks Army To Retake Parts Under Ukraine's Control Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 07:15 IST President Putin visited Russian troops in Kursk, urging them to reclaim territory from Ukraine. Russian forces recaptured areas, capturing 430 Ukrainian soldiers. Russian President Vladimir Putin (Reuters Image) President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Russian troops in the western Kursk region on Wednesday, donning military fatigues and instructing them to intensify their advance to reclaim the remaining territory from Ukrainian forces swiftly. This visit followed a request from Washington for Putin to consider a 30-day ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine, and it came after Russian forces had recaptured significant areas in Kursk, forcing Ukrainian troops to retreat and cede control of the town of Sudzha. Recommended Stories Kursk is the only Russian province where Ukraine has managed to gain any foothold during the ongoing conflict. Amid the continued fighting, Russian forces entered the Sumy region, which lies within the broader Kursk region, as reported by Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, to President Putin, according to state agency TASS. Gerasimov reported that around 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner in the Kursk region. Recognising the futility of further resistance, the Ukrainian military began surrendering. A total of 430 fighters were captured," he said. He also informed President Putin that, over the past five days, Russian forces had liberated 24 settlements and reclaimed 259 square kilometres of territory in the Kursk region. In just five days, the Kursk Battlegroup has retaken 24 settlements and 259 square kilometres of territory in all directions," Gerasimov said, as quoted by TASS. Meanwhile, following peace talks in Jeddah, Ukraine expressed its readiness to accept the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. The United States also agreed to immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine. Both sides agreed to form negotiating teams and commence talks aimed at securing long-term peace and ensuring Ukraines security. The US committed to discussing these proposals directly with Russia, while Ukraine emphasised the importance of involving European partners in the peace process. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all US President Donald Trump welcomed Ukraines acceptance of the ceasefire proposal, highlighting the need to end the horrible war" and the importance of halting further loss of life among Russian and Ukrainian soldiers. He expressed hope that Russia would also agree to the ceasefire. (With inputs from Reuters and ANI) About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More First Published: March 13, 2025, 07:08 IST Sheikh Hasina's Close Aide Makes Big Claim, Says 'She Is Coming Back As Bangladesh PM' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 13:25 IST Sheikh Hasina's close aide Rabbi Alam said Bangladesh is under attack and that she will return to the country as the Prime Minister again. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Image: Reuters) A close aide of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and vice president of United States Awami League Rabbi Alam said on Wednesday raised concerns over the current situation in the country and said that Bangladesh is under attack. He further asked Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of Bangladeshs interim government to go back where he came from and stated that Sheikh Hasina will return to the country as PM again. Alam urged the international community to intervene in the matter. Recommended Stories Hasina Coming Back As PM, Says Rabbi Alam Referring to the student-led protests last year that turned violent and led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina and Bangladeshs PM, Alam said they made a mistake" because they were manipulated". We want to ask the Bangladesh Advisor to step down and go back to where he came from. Sheikh Hasina is coming back as the Prime Minister. The young generation has made a mistake, but thats not their fault; they have been manipulated," he added. Meanwhile, a court in Dhaka has recently ordered the seizure of Sheikh Hasinas Dhanmondi residence, Sudasadhan, and some other properties owned by her family members, who are in exile in India. In addition to this, the court also ordered the seizure of 124 bank accounts belonging to her family. Alam Thanks PM Modi Rabbi Alam thanked India for providing shelter to Hasina when tensions escalated in Bangladesh. He further thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing a safe travel passage for Sheikh Hasina. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Bangladesh is under attack, and it needs to be addressed by the international community. A political uprising is fine, but that is not what has been going on in Bangladesh. This is a terrorist uprising. Many of our leaders are sheltered here in India, and we are very thankful to Indian government for providing the alignment," he told news agency ANI. (With agency inputs) About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh First Published: March 13, 2025, 13:22 IST Pakistan Spreading Lies: Baloch Rebels Say Jaffar Express Standoff Far From Over Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 16:21 IST Baloch rebels said that international media should probe the incident instead of blindly following the narrative peddled by the Pakistani state. The BLA in its statement questioned the Pakistan Army over the casualties and asked them why have not they made public the names of those soldiers killed in the standoff. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE) The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in a statement issued Thursday said that the operation in Balochistans Bolan is far from over and its battle with the Pakistani army continues. The BLAs statement said that the Pakistani Army is hiding the real number of casualties in a bid to not hurt the morale of the forces and urged international media to probe instead of reporting the narrative peddled by the Pakistani state and media. Recommended Stories Pakistan ISPRs claim of ending the operation at Bolan of Balochistan is a lie and the battle continues. Pakistan Army has not yet publicly shared names and photographs of 100+ Pakistani soldiers killed. No names or photos of 33 Baloch fighters released (either)," the BLA statement said. The bodies of at least 25 people, including 21 hostages, were retrieved from the train hijack site. The Pakistani army claims that it freed more than 340 train passengers in a two-day rescue operation that ended late on Wednesday. It also said that 28 soldiers died, including 27 off-duty soldiers. Passengers who managed to flee the siege said they trekked for hours across rugged mountains to find safety and witnessed militants shooting people dead. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was also expected to visit Balochistan, his office said. The Prime Minister expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of security personnel and train passengers during the operation," it said in a statement. Baloch rebels claim they have killed over 100 Pakistani soldiers. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The BLA released a video of an explosion on the track followed by dozens of militants emerging from hiding places in the mountains to attack the train. They bombed a remote railway track in mountainous southwest region of Pakistan and stormed the train when there were at least 450 passengers on board. About the Author Manoj Gupta Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: March 13, 2025, 16:09 IST Man, Seen With Indian-Origin Student Before She Went Missing, Named 'Person Of Interest' Published By : PTI Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 11:59 IST US authorities are investigating the disappearance of 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic, and have identified Joshua Riibe as a person of interest. Indian-origin woman Sudiksha Konanki missing in Dominican Republic (Photo: Social Media) The US authorities have identified a 24-year-old man as a person of interest in the case of a 20-year-old Indian student who has mysteriously gone missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic. Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town. Recommended Stories She has gone missing while on vacation in the Dominican Republic and US federal law enforcement agencies are working with authorities in the Caribbean country in the probe into her disappearance. The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office, Konankis hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with Sudiksha at a resort before she went missing, spokesperson Chad Quinn told USA TODAY. Though Konankis father has asked local authorities to broaden the investigation, Quinn said the case is not a criminal investigation, so Riibe is not considered a suspect in Konankis disappearance. This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest," Quinn was quoted as saying by USA TODAY. Quinn confirmed Riibe was a person of interest in the case, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions, the New York Post reported. This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect," Quinn said. It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group travelling with the missing person. A student at the University of Pittsburgh, Konanki was vacationing with five female college friends at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when she went missing on March 6, the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office said in a statement Monday. In a previous statement, police said surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach at about 6 am on March 6. Konanki apparently stayed behind with a man, and surveillance video shows him leaving the beach area hours later without her, the report said. Quinn said Riibe was not part of the group that Konanki travelled to the island with and is believed to have met them in the resort town of Punta Cana. Riibe is originally from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and has been a student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota since 2023, according to university spokesperson Zach Dwyer. Meanwhile, Family members of Konanki, a native of India, live in a Washington, D.C., suburb, and the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office is assisting the FBI and local law enforcement in the investigation. A number of people have been interviewed by the Dominican National Police with the assistance of the FBI," Quinn said. Father of Sudiksha, Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP-FM radio station that he wants authorities to pivot from the assumption that his daughter drowned and consider multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction." The radio station reported that a complaint seeking to broaden the investigation was filed on Sunday. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Her belongings, including personal items like her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her," the record of the complaint obtained by WTOP-FM stated. The Dominican Republic National Police said Tuesday it has worked with multiple US agencies to establish a high-level commission" to oversee the investigation and will be reinterviewing targeted individuals" who were seen near or with Konanki at the time of her disappearance. About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks. Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks. Location : New York, United States of America (USA) First Published: March 13, 2025, 11:59 IST Putin's Adviser Downplays Trump's Ceasefire Plan: 'Just A Temporary Breather For Ukrainian Troops' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 18:16 IST Yuri Ushakov said the US-Ukrainian ceasefire proposal would be substantively assessed by Vladimir Putin, the Russian President. A Ukrainian serviceman passes by a residential building damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine. (IMAGE: REUTERS) A top Kremlin aide on Thursday criticised the US-Ukrainian proposal for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, saying it would just be a breather" for the Ukrainian military. It would be nothing more than a temporary breather for the Ukrainian military," Yuri Ushakov told state media after speaking by phone to US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Recommended Stories He said President Vladimir Putin would probably make more specific and substantive assessments" on Thursday. Ushakov also said that Russia was aiming for a long-term peaceful solution" that would secure Russias legitimate interests". That is what we are striving for," he said. Any steps that imitate peaceful action are, I believe, not needed by anyone in the current situation," he said. US negotiators travelled to Russia on Thursday to present their plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, as Washington pushed Moscow for an unconditional" pause to the three-year conflict. No Ceasefire Reply Means Moscow Wants To Fight On: Zelenskyy top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said Moscows lack of a meaningful" response to the United States 30-day ceasefire proposal signals that the Kremlin remains intent on continuing its war in Ukraine. Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made. This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war," Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media. About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Location : Moscow, Russia First Published: March 13, 2025, 18:00 IST The Time Has Come: Poland Tells US To Send Nukes Amid Russian Threat Published By : AFP Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 21:11 IST Polish Prime Minister Tusk, however, urged that the President be discreet regarding such aspirations and convey such messages diplomatically. Serviceman patrols in front of the Patriot air defence system during Polish military training on the missile systems at the airport in Warsaw, Poland. (IMAGE: REUTERS) Polish President Andrzej Duda called on the United States to transfer its nuclear weapons to Poland, urging an eastward shift of the NATO infrastructure" in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday. Poland, a staunch ally of Ukraine, has been ramping up its defence as it aims to deter a potential threat from neighbouring Russia. Recommended Stories The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east. For me this is obvious," Duda was quoted as saying by the FT. I think its not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here," he added. In April, Duda a conservative ally of the right-wing Polish opposition said his country was ready to host NATOs nuclear arms. Moscow in response warned it would take steps to ensure its security". Duda said in Thursdays interview: Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus." They didnt ask anyones permission," he told FT. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier that Poland in arming itself must reach for the most modern options, also related to nuclear weapons". On Thursday he told reporters he appreciated president Dudas efforts" to strengthen the security of his country. He added, however, that it was preferable to deal with this type of issue discreetly and not through interviews with the press". Polands foreign ministrys spokesman told AFP Dudas comments had not been made in consultation with the government. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Tusk last week hailed Frances offer to discuss extending its nuclear umbrella to other European nations as very promising". Poland is already far ahead of its allies in terms of military expenditure, aiming to allocate 4.7 percent of its output to defence spending. About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Location : Warsaw, Poland First Published: March 13, 2025, 21:11 IST Putin Says Ukraine Ceasefire Plan Has Nuances, Wants Trump To Answer Serious Questions Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 22:50 IST Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his nation is 'in favour' of a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine war, but 'there are nuances' and said that the US should hold ceasefire discussions with Russia and wanted American counterpart Donald Trump to play a role. Russia's President Vladimir Putin also expressed concern on how the truce in the ongoing Ukraine war would work out. (IMAGE: REUTERS) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his nation is in favour of a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine war, but there are nuances and said that the US should hold ceasefire discussions with Russia and wanted American counterpart Donald Trump to play a role. The US President said that Putin not being opposed to the ceasefire is promising but said that the Russian Presidents statement was incomplete. Recommended Stories He also said that the ceasefire should lead to long-term solutions while highlighting that the Kursk offensive, to seize regions of Kursk from Ukrainian control, would determine next steps on ceasefire. He added that any Ukraine ceasefire must lead to a long-term settlement of the conflict and address its root causes. We agree with proposals to cease hostilities, but on the basis that that cessation would lead to long-term peace and addresses the root causes of the crisis," Putin told a press conference in Moscow, responding to a joint US-Ukrainian plan for a 30-day truce. The Russian President also said that he had serious questions" that he needed to discuss with the United States, possibly directly with President Donald Trump. Putin said he was for" the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire but that there are nuances" and that he had serious questions" about how it would work. I think we need to talk to our American colleagues Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him," he told reporters. The Kursk Question Earlier, Russian officials said that the plan only would lead to a temporary breather" for Ukrainian forces who are locked in a heavy battle with Russian army. Russia said Thursday it had taken full control of Sudzha, a town in the Kursk region that fell to Ukrainian troops shortly after their shock offensive last August. Sudzha, home to around 5,000 people before the fighting, was the largest settlement Kyiv seized after it launched its cross-border assault into Russia last year. Ukraine now risks losing its grip on the border region entirely, ceding dozens of square kilometres in the past seven days, according to military bloggers. The Kursk region was one of Kyivs few bargaining chips in swapping land with Russia, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale assault in February 2022. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had liberated" Sudzha along with two other settlements in the border region. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the region on Wednesday. Dressed in battle fatigues, he expressed hope his army would fully liberate" areas under Kyivs control. Moscows rapid advances in the region came after the US paused intelligence sharing and security support for Ukraine, although a military analyst cautioned against making a direct link. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Outnumbered and outgunned by Russian troops, Kyiv has been ceding ground across the front line for over a year. (with AFP inputs) About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Location : Moscow, Russia First Published: March 13, 2025, 21:38 IST UKs Queen Camilla Sends Letter To French Woman Whose Husband Invited Men To Rape Her Published By : AFP Last Updated: March 13, 2025, 19:11 IST Gisele Pelicot became a symbol in France in fight against sexual abuse of women for her plight. Gisele Pelicots husband drugged her and enlisted strangers to rape her for over a decade. (IMAGE: AFP/REUTERS) Britains Queen Camilla wrote a private letter to Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot who was drugged and raped for a decade by her now ex-husband and strangers he enlisted online, sources said Thursday. Camilla, 77, has long been a vocal campaigner to improve support for survivors of rape and abuse. Recommended Stories As a long-term supporter of survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, the queen wrote to Madame Pelicot privately," a palace source told Newsweek magazine, adding the letter was at the queens instigation". She was tremendously affected by the Madame Pelicot case in France and that ladys extraordinary dignity and courage," the palace source said. Because as she rightly put it, why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame?" Pelicots lawyer, Antoine Camus, confirmed to AFP that his client had received a letter from Buckingham Palace, but did not divulge its private" contents. Pelicots husband Dominique, 72, was tried alongside 50 other men and sentenced to 20 years for aggravated rape in the French city of Avignon in December. Dozens of men who visited the family home to rape Gisele Pelicot, who was unconscious after being drugged by her husband, were handed terms of between three and 15 years. Some are now appealing their sentences. A source with knowledge of the letter confirmed to AFP that it had been sent by Camilla, but Buckingham palace did not want to comment publicly. Lawyer Camus told Le Monde daily that Pelicot was flabbergasted, touched and very proud to see that she succeeded in bringing her fight to attention of the royal family in England". Pelicot, 72, was hailed as a hero for waiving her anonymity and said she never regretted" opening the trial to the public. She said after the trial she was now thinking of the unrecognised victims whose stories often remain in the shadows". More than 173,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to Pelicot. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all It is hard to think of any form of violence that poses a greater challenge to peace than sexual violence. It is gendered and endemic," said Catherine Mayer, who launched the appeal on change.org. Gisele Pelicot cut through the smog of misinformation in waiving her anonymity to attend the trial of her attackers and give testimony," she added. About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev... Read More Location : London, United Kingdom (UK) First Published: March 13, 2025, 19:09 IST A staggering 81 percent of the kombis in Harare, representing 13 000 kombis, are not registered, in what is a graphic demonstration of the lawlessness in the kombi industry. Only 3,000 of the 16,000 kombis in Harare are registered. This was revealed by National Police Spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who said the bulk of the kombis on the streets of the capital were not operated according to the laws governing their operations. Comm Nyathi revealed these shocking statistics during a Media Engagement Forum facilitated by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services,. In Zimbabwe, there are laws in whatever you are doing, you need to assist the Government by being responsible citizens. In every activity, there are laws which regulate how we behave and conduct ourselves. The same applies to kombi operators, its sad that for Harare alone we have close to 16 000 kombis, but only 3000 are registered. The rest are playing hide-and-seek with the law, yet the Government has put in place regulatory mechanisms to assist people into business. They dont want to, they want to take money and put it in their pocket, no safety for the Zimbabweans, no compliance. He added: First, all kombis must be registered, the kombi operators must lead by example in their operations by being responsible Zimbabweans. We have made it clear, through Commissioner General of Police Stephen Mutamba, that police officers will take action against any police officer, who will try to endanger the lives of people of Zimbabwe by doing things which are not according to police standards. We have had an operation since January where we have impounded vehicles between 1000 and 10 000. We are currently screening the vehicles in the presence of VID, police, local government and all relevant entities to ensure that the issue of fitness, registration take centre stage. So, the owners must comply and if they dont comply we will continue to arrest and impound until they comply. He said the public should not board such vehicles. The public should also listen to board registered vehicles for their own safety and benefit of their facilities. It is in the interest of the public not to board these vehicles because they are not insured. It is sad that every time there is a fatal road accident, the Government chucks out money to pay for the funeral expenses but someone is operating a business which is taking money into his pocket and making no contribution. The law is the law, no negotiations. He appealed to kombi drivers not to flee from the police. But we also said, when you are arrested, you are not being killed, you are making the law to take its course, why do you want to run away? Comply with the law. If you are to go to court, go to court, if you are to pay a fine and go back to your business. Sadly, people are not registered yet they are operating as mombe dzemashanga, thats why they want to run away, because they dont want to pay fines, they dont want to comply with the law. However, Comm Nyathi said police will not let the situation deteriorate into a Wild West scenario. There is no going back in enforcing the law and we are not apologetic about that. There are now people circulating old videos, fighting police officers but anyone who will try to interfere with police duties, will only have themselves to blame. We want Zimbabweans to be responsible citizens because the Government has put in place laws for you to make money but make money following the law. Definitely we will take action and even the issue of corruption. Recently, we had a problem because we were arresting officers alone, when they go to court, the witnesses abscond, and the officers are then acquitted. We have now said we will take action on both sides, the police officer and the person who is offering money. People should not fool themselves to say ndopa mupurisa mari then handisungwe. He called for a change of attitude. We want Zimbabwe to change their attitude towards the development of our country. We have met with kombi associations, the Ministry of Transport and all relevant ministries. People who want to operate in the transport business must register according to Governments laws, this the position of the police. H Metro Acting Chief Makumbe of Buhera, born Paul Chengeta, has died. He was 30. Chengeta passed away yesterday after his vehicle, a Toyota Revo, collided with a Gold Class Express bus in Marondera. Buhera District Development Coordinator (DDC) Freeman Mavhiza confirmed the death to The Mirror. Chengeta, a final-year Civil Engineering student at the University of Zimbabwe, was traveling to Mutare from Harare with a friend when the accident occurred. His uncle, Tapiwa Chengeta, said the family is yet to announce the burial date. He added that Chengeta was not married. Paul was the eldest son of the late Chief Makumbe, born Shepherd Chengeta, who passed away in March 2023. Paul was appointed Acting Chief Makumbe last year. He was driving towards Mutare with his friend when he collided with a Gold Class Express bus. The friend sustained minor injuries. We are waiting for the necessary protocols and leadership guidance to decide on the official burial date, but it will most likely be on Saturday at his rural home in Buhera, said Tapiwa. Masvingo Mirror The Chairperson of Bikita Rural District Council (RDC), Thomas Mataga who is also Ward 31 councillor has been arrested by the anti-graft body, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for allegedly defying a ministerial directive regarding the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the local authority. Mataga (52) of Munatsi Village under Chief Mazungunye, is facing criminal abuse of office charges as defined in Section 174 of the Criminal law [Codification and Reform Act] Chapter 9:23 or alternatively refusal to obey order, requirement or directive of Minister as defined on Section 161 of the Rural District Councils Act Chapter 29:13 by challenging the appointment process. As the chairperson of the council, his duties include presiding over council meetings and ensuring adherence to the laws of the land. According to the State, the controversy began in June 2024 when the Human Resources Committee of the Bikita Rural District Council convened an emergency meeting to discuss the appointment of a CEO. The position was subsequently advertised in The Sunday Mail on September 8, 2024. Several candidates applied, and after a rigorous selection process, three individuals were shortlisted which included Arnold Mtuke, Archibald Ncube, and Savory Chikomwe. Following interviews, the Human Resources and Gender Committee submitted its recommendations to the Full Council, which endorsed them. The list was then forwarded to the Minister of Local Government and Public Works for approval. On January 2, 2025, the Minister appointed Archibald Ncube as CEO, with a condition that if he declined the position, it would be offered to Savory Chikomwe. Should both candidates refuse, the position was to be re-advertised. Despite Ncubes appointment, the accused allegedly wrote an objection letter to the Minister on January 21, 2025, contesting the decision. The law stipulates that failing to comply with ministerial directives is an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to six months. Mataga has been remanded out of custody. If convicted, he faces potential jail time or a financial penalty. The case has sparked debate within the local governance sector, with some questioning the ministers decision to overlook the top candidate, while others argue that due process must be followed in challenging ministerial directives. Masvingo Mirror The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced the repeal of dozens of protectionsincluding rules concerning air and water pollution and wetlandsin what Administrator Lee Zeldin called "the most consequential day of deregulation in American history." Zeldin revealed the actions in a series of news releases and an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal , saying the changes will cut the cost of living while benefiting business. "By overhauling massive rules on the endangerment finding, the social cost of carbon and similar issues, we are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America's Golden Age," Zeldin wrote. "These actions will roll back trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes." The announcements singled out rules, many from the Biden administration, designed to help the move toward electric vehicles and reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming, per the Washington Post. Zeldin said he and President Trump favor rewriting the agency's 2009 finding that those greenhouse gases endanger public health, per the AP, the basis for many climate regulations affecting vehicles, power plants, and other sources of pollution. Climate scientists and environmentalists said such an effort is unlikely to succeed. "In the face of overwhelming science, it's impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court," said one of them. The changes announced do not become law yet, per the New York Times. A lengthy process for public comment is required in most instances, and the EPA would have to present environmental and economic justifications for the changes. Beyond individual policies, Zeldin's headline in the Journal heralded the end of the "Green New Deal," and he recast his agency's mission as economic"to unleash energy dominance and lower the cost of living"while helping Trump keep those promises. "We at EPA will do our part to power the great American comeback," Zeldin wrote. Reaction came from: Climate advocates : "Corporate polluters are celebrating today because Trump's EPA just handed them a free pass to spew unlimited climate pollution, consequences be damned." Charles Harper of the group Evergreen Action : "Corporate polluters are celebrating today because Trump's EPA just handed them a free pass to spew unlimited climate pollution, consequences be damned." Charles Harper of the group Evergreen Action Business groups : "President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin have answered the calls of manufacturers across the country to rebalance and reconsider burdensome federal regulations harming America's ability to compete."Jay Timmons of the National Association of Manufacturers : "President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin have answered the calls of manufacturers across the country to rebalance and reconsider burdensome federal regulations harming America's ability to compete."Jay Timmons of the National Association of Manufacturers Democrats : "Today is the day Trump's Big Oil megadonors paid for."Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse : "Today is the day Trump's Big Oil megadonors paid for."Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Farmers: "This is a first big step in a very difficult farm economy that gives farmers and ranchers hopehope that good things are going to happen in the future."Zippy Duvall of the American Farm Bureau Federation A former mob boss was chased in his car, then fatally shot on a motorway in southeastern France on Wednesday. Jean-Pierre Maldera, 71, described as a "godfather" of the local mafia in the 1980s and '90s, got out of his BMW and attempted to escape on foot across the A41 motorway near Grenoble before he was killed by three to four gunmen, local media reported, per the BBC. He was pronounced dead 10 years after the disappearance of his younger brother, Robert Maldera, nicknamed "the madman," at age 55. Robert Maldera wasn't seen again after attending a meeting near Grenoble, and a prosecutor concluded he was probably killed, per AFP. A group of 40 migrants taken to Guantanamo Bay in recent weeks was returned to the US on Tuesday, marking the second time the Trump administration has brought people to the US military base only to remove them a short time later"a costly and time-consuming exercise," per the New York Times . On Feb. 20, after paying up to $27,000 to fly individual detainees to the base, the administration repatriated 177 Venezuelans to their government, which had claimed they were "unjustly taken" to Guantanamo. Since March 2, nearly 100 more migrants have been flown from Guantanamo to an international airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, the Times reports. As of Friday, at least 290 migrants from 27 countries had been cycled through the base. There were 23 migrants remaining in Camp 6, and another 17 in the Migrant Operations Center, a dormitory-style building on the other side of the base, per the Times and Washington Post. However, all were flown to Louisiana on non-military aircraft over the last two days, reports ABC News. President Trump ordered a 30,000-person migrant facility be constructed at the base. Almost 200 tents able to hold about 500 migrants were erected, but they lacked air conditioning and other amenities required by ICE, per ABC. There are now indications the base will be used in a reduced capacity. The 1,000-worker operation has cost a reported $16 million so far, and the Trump administration has not offered a detailed explanation for it, even as immigration law experts question the legal basis for transferring migrants to Cuba without its consent. The Justice Department argues the operation is lawful under the Immigration and Naturalization Act, which allows the government to detain people in a government facility. Trump suggested Guantanamo would be used to hold dangerous detainees, including members of the Tren de Aragua gang. But the administration presented no evidence of gang activity for the 177 Venezuelans. Most had no criminal records in the US, per the Times. Mahmoud Khalil will remain detained in Louisiana until at least next week but can finally speak to lawyers while they fight the Trump administration's plans to deport the Columbia University graduate student for his role in campus protests against Israel, a judge decided at a hearing Wednesday. The brief hearing, which focused on thorny jurisdictional issues, drew hundreds of demonstrators to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan to denounce the Saturday arrest of Khalil, a permanent US resident who is married to an American citizen. Khalil, 30, was not brought to the hearing from an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup, the AP reports. After Khalil's Manhattan arrest, Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Monday that the 30-year-old not be deported while the court considers a legal challenge brought by his lawyers, who want Khalil returned to New York and released under supervision. For now Furman is letting Khalil remain in Louisiana. During Wednesday's hearing, attorney Brandon Waterman argued for the Justice Department that the venue for the deportation fight should be moved from New York City to Louisiana or New Jersey because those are the locations where Khalil has been held. One of Khalil's lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, told the judge that Khalil was "identified, targeted and detained" because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights and his protected speech. He said Khalil has no criminal convictions, but "for some reason, is being detained." Kassem also told Furman that Khalil's legal team hasn't been able to have a single attorney-client-protected phone call with him. Furman ordered that the lawyers be allowed to speak with him by phone at least once on Wednesday and Thursday. Calling the legal issues "important and weighty," the judge also directed the two sides to submit a joint letter on Friday describing when they propose to submit written arguments over the legal issues raised by Khalil's detention. Russia claimed Thursday that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russia's Kursk border region. The Russian Defense Ministry's claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk, couldn't be independently verified, per the AP . Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha. Ukraine's top military head, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said late Wednesday that Russian aviation had carried out an unprecedented number of strikes on Kursk, and that Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He didn't comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said it was "maneuvering [troops] to more advantageous lines." Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Dmytro Krasylnykov, commander of Ukraine's Northern Operational Command, which includes the Kursk region, was dismissed from his post, he told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne on Wednesday. He said he wasn't given a reason for his dismissal, saying, "I'm guessing, but I don't want to talk about it yet." Speaking to commanders on Wednesday, Putin said he expected the military "to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future," adding that "it's necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border," in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraine's neighboring Sumy region. That idea could complicate a ceasefire deal, which Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, said would offer a "temporary break for the Ukrainian military." Ushakov added that Moscow wants a "long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscow's interests and concerns." story continues below The Ukrainian army's foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine's daring incursion in August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front lines, as well as draw Russian troops away from inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion didn't significantly change the dynamic of the war. More here. The Chinese government wants the birth rate to increase for the good of the state, with one planning association contending that marriage and childbirth are not private matters. Several state-backed trade unions just reminded employers that they are, NBC News reports. Companies are not to "inquire or investigate the marriage and childbearing status of female job applicants," a notice issued last week in Hunan province says. Some employers who have asked prefer to employ single women; at the same time, some women are concerned about discrimination on the job if they do not contribute to growing the population. The notices, which also were posted in the city of Shenzhen and the province of Qinghai, led to social media discussion of women's experiences. "Female employees are expected to lie when employers ask about personal privacy during the job search process and give the employer a satisfactory answer if they really like the job," said a post on Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. Adding to the pressure are moves like the one by a chemical manufacturer, which told its single employees that they must start a family by Sept. 30, per the New York Times. Otherwise, the memo says, "the company will terminate your labor contract." The company dropped the threat after an outcry, per NBC. Employers shouldn't favor men in the hiring process, said the Hunan Federation of Trade Unions. And women shouldn't lose their jobs or have their pay cut because of marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, it said, per Reuters. Posts recognized the contradictions. "In the workplace, women are required not to have children but society requires women to have more children," one said. "After having children, women are required to take care of children and the family while earning money in society." Australians are hopping mad about an American influencer's interaction with one of the country's marsupials. In video shared on Instagram, Sam Jones picked up a baby wombat that had been walking with its mother by the side of a road at night; still holding it, she ran towards a car, the BBC reports. "I caught a baby wombat," she said, holding the clearly distressed joey. The man filming laughed as he said, "Look at the mother, it's chasing after her." Wombats are protected animals in Australia, and some conservationists are calling for Jones, who describes herself as an "outdoor enthusiast and hunter," to be deported. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the video was an outrage. "I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she should try some other Australian animals, maybe she should try a crocodile," he said. "Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother." Jones, who has more than 90,000 followers on Instagram, made her account private after the backlash, NBC News reports. In a comment under the now-deleted video, she said she released the wombat to its mother after around a minute and they "wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed." Veterinarian Tania Bishop says the way Jones grabbed the joey could have seriously injured it, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. In a Facebook post, the Wombat Protection Society of Australia said Jones "appeared to have no understanding of wombat behavior or the severe stress caused by human interference and separation from its mother" and noted that there is "no clear evidence that the joey was successfully reunited with its mother." story continues below Tony Burke, Australia's home affairs minister, said authorities are reviewing Jones' visa to determine whether immigration laws had been breached. "Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I'll be surprised if she even bothers," he said. "I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual. I don't expect she will return." Pope Francis has marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate in the hospital as he received increasingly positive medical news on his recovery and hundreds of messages wishing him well. The pope spent the morning in physiotherapy, followed Lenten spiritual exercises of the Roman curia, and stopped to pray at the chapel in the Gemelli Hospital, where he has been under treatment for a complex lung infection since Feb. 14, Vatican sources said. A chest X-ray has confirmed improvements in his condition, the Vatican said on Wednesday, just two days after doctors declared he's no longer in imminent danger of death. The AP reports that the latest medical bulletin said the 88-year-old pope's condition remained stable but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility, which includes his age, limited mobility often requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man. Francis was elected on March 13, 2013 as the 266th popeand the Catholic Church's first Latin American pope. It is a public holiday at the Vatican, and a Mass is planned in Francis' honor later at the Argentine church in Rome. Francis received hundreds of drawings and messages from children and young people from around the globe wishing him a full recovery, the Vatican said. The Rev. Enrico Bortolaso, who led a group of pilgrims, offered prayers near a statue of Pope John Paul II outside the hospital. "We wanted to come here to pray for him and for his recovery,'' said one of the faithful, Alberto Jerbonato. "We are aware that he is 88 years old, and we are fully aware of what he is facing." Pope John Paul II, who spent 55 days in Gemelli in the longest hospital stretch by a pope to date, used to quip that it was ''Vatican 3," following the Vatican itself and Castel Gandolfo, long used as a papal retreat. "It's sort of a seat of fragility, from where he continues his ministry,'' Cardinal Marcello Semeraro told L'Avvenire newspaper. L'Avvenire underlined that Francis is the first pope in modern history to spend the anniversary of his pontificate in the hospital. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia agrees in principle with an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukrainebut there are a lot of details to be worked out before any pause in the fighting. "We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities," Putin told reporters at the Kremlin, per Reuters . "But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis." He said Russia needs to determine who would police the ceasefire, and whether a pause in fighting would allow Ukraine to receive more weapons and train newly mobilized troops, the Guardian reports. "As you know, the Russian troops are advancing practically in every sector of the contact line," Putin said, speaking at a joint press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. "The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it," Putin said of the ceasefire proposal, adding that there are "issues" that need to be discussed "with our American colleagues and partners." The AP reports that Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, arrived in Moscow for talks Thursday. Putin said he might also speak to Trump soon. Putin has previously stressed that Russia will not return any of the Ukrainian lands its troops have seized, the Telegraph reports. Analysts say his call to eliminate the "root causes" of Russia's invasion of Ukraine could include a demand for a reduction of NATO forces in eastern Europe. "Bottom line: It's not a yes, but it's also not a no," writes Anton Troianovski at the New York Times. "As expected, Putin is driving a hard bargain." Rep. Raul Grijalva died Thursday after a battle with lung cancer. The 77-year-old Democrat, the longest-serving member of Arizona's congressional delegation, died in Tucson, KPNX reports. Grijalva was elected to House for the 12th time in November after saying it would be his final term; he'd received the lung cancer diagnosis in April. "Rep. Grijalva's kind and humble nature was known to many," his congressional staff said in a statement. "He was approachable by all because he believed people should be treated as equals." The son of a Mexican immigrant, Grijalva was an advocate of environmental protections during his political career, per the AP. "I came of age admiring Democrats who fought for civil rights, for women's rights, for clean air, clean water and for peace," Grijalva said in a 2016 speech to the Democratic National Convention. His office cited his work to safeguard the Grand Canyon and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Grijalva was a past chair of the House Natural Resources Committee and remained its top Democrat until earlier this year. Grijalva belonged to the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, per CNN. In 2010, Grijalva urged an economic boycott of Arizona after Gov. Jan Brewer signed the "show me your papers" law targeted undocumented immigrants, per KPNX. A judge eventually blocked enforcement of the law. His death leaves Democrats with 213 House seats and Republicans 218, per NBC News. In recent months, he had been absent from Congress while undergoing cancer treatment. Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas died last week, two months after taking office. Columbia University says it has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring, and has temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students who have since graduated. In a campus-wide email sent Thursday, the university said its judicial board had issued the sanctions after a monthslong investigative process against dozens of students who occupied Hamilton Hall, based on its "evaluation of the severity of behaviors," the AP reports. The university did not provide a breakdown of how many students were expelled, suspended or had their degree revoked. The university and its students already were reeling from the arrest of a well-known campus activist, Mahmoud Khalil, by federal immigration authorities last weekendthe "first of many" such arrests, according to President Trump. And the Trump administration has stripped the university of more than $400 million in federal funding over what it describes as the college's inaction against widespread campus antisemitism. The takeover of Hamilton Hall took place on April 30, 2024, an escalation led by a smaller group of students of the tent encampment that had sprung up on Columbia's campus against the Israeli attacks in Gaza. Students and their allies barricaded themselves inside the hall with furniture and padlocks in a major escalation of campus protests. At the request of university leaders, hundreds of New York Police Department officers stormed onto campus the following night. Officers carrying zip ties and riot shields poured in to the occupied building through a window and arrested dozens of people. At a hearing in June, the Manhattan district attorney's office said it would not pursue criminal charges for 31 of the 46 people initially arrested on trespassing charges in the administration buildingbut all of the students still faced disciplinary hearings and possible expulsion from the university. TDT | Manama Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Consort of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), has reaffirmed Bahrains dedication to advancing global efforts for womens empowerment with the launch of the third edition of the Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Womens Empowerment. HRH Princess Sabeeka made these remarks in a recorded speech during the award launch event, held on the sidelines of the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). She underscored the awards significance as a platform for promoting sustainable initiatives that empower women worldwide. Highlighting the awards success over the past two editions, HRH Princess Sabeeka expressed pride in its role in showcasing exemplary projects that support women across different nations. She noted that the launch of the third edition aligns with Bahrains silver jubilee celebrations of His Majesty the Kings accession to the throne, reinforcing the Kingdoms commitment to fostering womens contributions to their communities and sustainable development. Calling for global participation, HRH Princess Sabeeka encouraged government institutions, private sector entities, civil society organizations, and individuals to engage with the award to strengthen its impact and align with international efforts to achieve sustainable development goals. Lulwa Al Awadhi, Secretary General of the SCW, emphasized the awards importance as a global platform that promotes womens empowerment across various sectors. She expressed appreciation to UN Women for its continued collaboration in managing the previous editions and launching the third. Al Awadhi also praised the role of the UN Women Regional Office in overseeing the awards implementation and ensuring its objectives are met worldwide. She reiterated Bahrains commitment to supporting initiatives that promote gender equality and advance womens participation at local, regional, and international levels. Dr. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women and Chair of the Award Committee, underscored the awards role in supporting global womens empowerment programs. She highlighted the significant contributions of past winners in advancing gender equality and praised Bahrains dedication to sustainable development goals. Dr. Moez Doraid, Regional Director of UN Women in the Arab States, described the award as a model of effective partnership between Bahrain and UN Women. He noted that the third edition builds on the success of its predecessors, which attracted participation from over 90 countries and increased private sector engagement due to awareness efforts by UN Women. The Bahraini delegation, led by Lulwa Al Awadhi, continues its participation in the 69th session of the CSW, which runs until March 21. The delegation attended a side event organized by the Saudi Family Affairs Council in collaboration with the League of Arab States, titled "Perspectives on the Care Economy," featuring discussions on policies from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, South Africa, and the Arab League. Additionally, the delegation participated in a session titled "Women in Gaza," organized by the Arab League in partnership with UN Women. On the sidelines, Al Awadhi held discussions with Dr. Abdulaziz Al Wasel, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN and Chair of the CSW session, and Buthaina bint Ali Jabr Al Nuaimi, Minister of Social Development and Family of Qatar, to explore regional womens achievements and strategies for further empowerment. The Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Womens Empowerment continues to be a key initiative in advancing gender equality and promoting sustainable development worldwide. TDT | Manama Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com MPs pushed ahead with a plan to scrap property registration fees for first-time homebuyers, overruling calls to delay the debate and warnings of financial risks. The bill, which removes the 2 per cent charge on property sales, exchanges, and high-value property transfers, faced resistance from the government, which cautioned that it could reduce public revenue and increase the risk of misuse. Wording During the session, Parliaments Public Utilities and Environment Committee urged MPs to hold off, saying the wording needed tightening. Committee rapporteur Mohammed Al Balushi asked for the vote to be postponed so the final recommendation could include the phrase for residential purposes, making it clear the exemption applied strictly to housing. The current wording, he said, could leave room for loopholes. His request was met with strong opposition, and MPs pressed ahead. Costs MP Jalal Kadhem backed the proposal, saying it would ease costs for all citizens, not just those on lower incomes. He cited previous exemptions granted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning to encourage home ownership, arguing this was no different. He also dismissed fears that landlords and developers would benefit from the exemption, insisting the law already limits eligibility to residential properties and applies only once. System MP Mahmood Fardan went further, criticising the system as unfair. He cited Article 18 of Bahrains Constitution, which guarantees equal treatment under the law, and questioned why buyers using state-backed housing loans were exempt from fees while those funding their homes themselves were not. If someone gets a government loan, they pay nothing. But if they work hard and buy a home on their own, they get hit with extra costs? he said. Fairness He argued that the bill was about fairness, not speculation, as it only applies to first-time buyers. The government warned that waiving the fees could strain the state budget, widening the deficit and pushing up public debt. Most lower-income buyers, it added, already avoid these charges through government-backed housing loans, so the measure might offer limited relief. Concerns There were also concerns over how transactions would be handled if only one party qualified for the waiver, with ministers warning it could lead to artificial transactions. The Survey and Land Registration Bureau reiterated its opposition, saying the charges were a key source of income and should not be weakened further. The law already includes a range of exemptions, it said, and adding more risked turning waivers into the rule rather than the exception. Reducing this revenue, it added, could have broader financial consequences. TDT | Manama Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com Sri Lanka has earned the top spot as the most family-friendly country for 2025, according to the latest immigration index from Remitly, an American remittance company. This comprehensive report, released in March 2025, evaluated 82 countries across 24 factors, including healthcare, economic stability, safety, and digital connectivity. Among these criteria, the countrys affordable childcare and robust education system helped it score highly on the family-friendly scale. Renowned for its natural beauty, rich history, and vibrant culture, Sri Lanka is a prime destination for families seeking both outdoor adventures and relaxation. Its impressive educational framework, scoring 0.7 out of 1.0, and the low cost of childcareonly $354.60 annuallyset it apart from other countries, including the U.S., where childcare can cost upwards of $16,439.40 per year. This recognition reflects Sri Lankas growing reputation as a family-oriented destination. Conde Nast Traveller recently named it one of the best locations for multi-generational vacations, thanks to its welcoming nature, family-friendly accommodations, and an abundance of outdoor activities that cater to all ages. The islands diverse wildlife, expansive national parks, and pristine beaches provide ample opportunities for outdoor exploration. Its ancient cultural landmarks and rich heritage offer families a chance to connect with history, while its vibrant culinary scene and bustling markets ensure a delightful experience for all family members. Sri Lankas affordability, strong educational system, and focus on family well-being continue to make it an attractive choice for those looking to relocate or spend quality time with their loved ones. As the most family-friendly nation in 2025, Sri Lanka solidifies its position as a prime destination for families worldwide. Here are the top 10 most family-friendly countries in 2025: ST. JOSEPH, Mo. School board candidates voiced their opinions on subjects ranging from a move to two high schools to improving school attendance at a St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce forum on Wednesday morning. All six candidates were in attendance and answered questions about important topics affecting the St. Joseph School District. A hot topic during the forum was candidates views on support for SJSDs long-range plan and Proposition 2. We definitely need the change. And we all know that our our school district needs an uplift, a facelift I would say, said Jennifer Kerns, a board candidate. So whatevers going to move this district forward is what I support. Kim Miller said the long-range plan provides a path for the board. I do like that there is a plan to follow because it gives us goals to reach, Miller said. And some of that has to be determined ahead of time. Some of that can be tweaked as it moves along. Brian Kirk and Cassandra Veale both said they support the districts long-range plan and Prop 2. Candidate James Mrkvicka said while he supports the long-range plan, he is hesitant to vote yes on Prop 2 due to the financial effect it will have on fixed-income taxpayers. Kenneth Reeder said the long-range plan is misguided, but he would support one new high school as long as Benton and Lafayette high schools were left alone. Two high school model and middle school structures As the district looks to move to a two-high school model, four of the candidates supported the right-sizing. Reeder was the only candidate in complete opposition to two high schools. Our town could handle three schools. Theres nothing wrong with a school, a high school thats 700 to 800 kids, he said. You know, all those in this state that are 700, 800 outperform all the big schools every single time. Mrkvicka said he understands both views. I am very fond of the three-high school model, but realistically speaking, you know, theres a lot of empty seats in some of these schools, said Mrkvicka. And so it only makes sense to try to consolidate. When it comes to the middle school model of potentially moving sixth through eighth graders to the four middle schools, Miller and Kirk said they support the three grades being grouped together. Kerns, Veale and Mrkvicka said the district would need to look at boundaries in St. Joseph, be consistent with whatever model would best suit the community and maximize building resources. Increases to academic scores and attendance As the district works to increase its academic scores and attendance rates, candidates shared their views on ways they think would help the district see those successes. A majority of candidates gave suggestions like investing more in the districts early learning centers, fostering more parental and family engagement and providing more resources to teachers. I think one thing that we need to do is constantly continue to look at the data, look at where kids are out on their benchmarks, Veale said. Look at, you know, what were doing and whats working correctly. In terms of parental involvement, Kirk mentioned the importance of family and community involvement to academic and attendance improvements. The classroom extends beyond the school building and into the home, and so we could be doing more in our community to educate parents, to support parents on how they are educators as well, and how they are also part of the school district, and then we will see academic success as well, he said. News-Press NOW will continue to provide information on School Board candidates and proposition two leading up to the April 8 general municipal election. ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- With the April 8 election on the way, discussions about a bond proposal that would move St. Joseph in the direction of two new high schools. If approved, Proposition 2 would allow for a 60-cent tax levy to fund a new high school, which is estimated to cost $157 million. The increase would be part of a 20-year bond to pay for the construction of the first of two new high schools. "Obviously, we don't know exactly where yet, but the 60-cent ask on the ballot kind of sets us up to do a second school in a reasonable time frame," said Mike Moore, the vice president of the St. Joseph School District board. School officials propose to build two new high schools in St. Joseph, one north of Highway 36 and one to the south. Leaders have not released information on exactly where those two schools might be built, but the south one will be constructed first. Breaking down the math So, how much can taxpayers expect to pay if the bond is approved? News-Press NOW broke down the costs based on the assessed values on two houses. The owner of a $150,000 house would pay $171 more in taxes in 2025, as opposed to the $1,401 in 2024. The owner of a $325,000 house would pay $370.50 more in taxes in 2025, compared to the $3,035 in 2024. The increase also applies to personal, commercial and agricultural property. The future of the potential bond Although the ballot language mentions the levy would cover the cost of one high school, Moore said some of the money allocated may be able to roll over towards the construction of the second high school. "We'll be paying stuff back at a rate that our bond capacity will grow to a point where we'll have a good chunk of money to build a second high school," Moore said. "It's kind of like predicting your retirement in five years. But what we think is we'll have something like $116 million of borrowing capacity built up by 2033." Moore said as things get more expensive as years go by, another bond request may or may not be made of voters in the future. "Our estimates on that money are pretty conservative. It all has to do with tax valuation growth," Moore said. "We assume a pretty conservative number there to get to that $116 million. So, you know, I'm not going to rule out the fact that this, it's possible we could do a second high school without an additional ask at that time." If the bond measure is rejected, the district would ask voters to approve a $80 million no-tax-increase bond in April of 2026 to upgrade two existing high schools, Central and Lafayette. Regardless of if the $80 million no-tax-increase bond passes, the district's long-range plan still makes mention of aligning boundaries, reconfiguring middle schools and right-sizing elementary schools. Whatever voters decide, school officials said it will still be a few years until constituents see its effects. "I know that there's a lot a minds that wander and are worried about this," said Gabe Edgar, SJSD superintendent. "Nothing is going to happen until the fall of '28. There's going to be a feeder program where you have four middle schools, two of those middle schools will feed into the south high school, two will feed into the north high school." The district plans to move to a model with 10 elementary schools, four middle schools and two high schools. Similar Missouri school districts with this pattern include the Liberty Public School District, which has about 12,300 students. With close to 12,000 students, the Park Hill School District also has a two-high school model. Be sure to tune in to this News-Press NOW three-part series throughout the rest of March on NBC 21 KNPG and CBS 30 KCJO. ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) St. Joseph may not be out of the woods yet with its urgent landfill situation, but optimism is building that major concerns could be avoided after state officials approved a critical request for additional space. City officials received the OK this week from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on its vertical expansion waiver submitted in early January, a move that provides much-needed flexibility to reduce the chances of cell 7 reaching capacity. The request allows for an additional 475,000 cubic yards of airspace by raising the approved elevation by 21 feet, from 1,111 to 1,132.5 feet. Waivers must be approved by the DNR when seeking to extend waste beyond normally approved elevations. If we didnt get this vertical expansion request approved ... It would have just cut the time that we have to build the new cell 8 tremendously, Abe Forney, the St. Joseph public works director, said. So were not out of the woods yet, but were in pretty good shape. Contractors with M-CON are close to 80% of the way through excavation of cell 8, an expedited phase of construction before protective ground liners are installed immediately afterwards. The city has previously said a conservative timeline for cell 8s completion is October. Barring a delay in the ongoing construction of cell 8 or another unforeseen disruption, DNRs approval paired with cell 8s expedited construction is projected to ensure enough space remains until dumping can begin at the next cell, a positive development for local trash haulers and the lifespan of cell 7, which at one time was projected to reach capacity by July. Cell 7 reaching capacity would have forced the city to enter into a soft closure by the DNR, meaning the facility would have stayed active and allowed a very limited amount of waste, but local trash companies would be barred from dumping. Forney praised new city manager Mike Schumacher as being instrumental in guiding the city through the situation. Bringing that new vision has been great for us, Forney said. (He) got us working with the DNR to get that vertical expansion request approved and then also getting M-CON out there to dig that hole for us. At the same time, a number of local haulers have helped provide key support by voluntarily agreeing to reduce waste during the Data reviewed during the last Landfill Task Force meeting on Feb. 26 showed the landfill was on pace to reduce waste by its target 30% for the month. Forney said the city will continue to encourage haulers to limit waste when possible, lauding them for their cooperation during the difficult situation. I really appreciate the help from the haulers, from M-CON and of course the DNR, Forney said. Anything that we can do to reduce the amount of trash thats coming in is going to be beneficial for us in the long run. City officials have been working closely with the DNR in the wake of the situation that escalated this past November, a problem caused by trash intake doubling over the last five years, skyrocketing from an average of 110,000 tons per year to upwards of 220,000 tons. The situation was compounded by delays getting previous cells open, strained resources and challenges implementing waste reductions, fueling the emergency that posed widespread impacts to local trash haulers and residents. Confidence had been growing in recent weeks that the DNR would approve the request after significant action was taken in recent months to address the urgent situation. I think its really important to emphasize the communication factor with the DNR, telling them where were at and what situation were in and just communicating with everybody to get to everyone to the same goal, he said. Forney said the top priority moving forward is providing all the necessary help to ensure M-CON completes cell 8 on time, as well as ramping up construction of cell 9 for long-term stability. ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) Irish roots run deep for the family heading St. Josephs St. Patricks Day Parade, with a legacy that stretches back to County Cork on the Emerald Isle. The Supple family will act as grand marshals for this years parade, which begins at noon on Saturday, March 15, at Frederick Avenue and Noyes Boulevard before making its way along Frederick to Downtown to Eighth and Felix streets. When Patrick Supple came to the U.S. in 1912, he worked as a farmer for his brother in Iowa. He eventually settled in Atchison, Kansas, where we had seven kids. One of them being my dad, Jim Supple, who also had seven kids. Im one of seven. Me and six sisters, all sympathy appreciated. Tom Supple said. Tom Supple and his siblings, along with their spouses and children, are helping defy gravity with their magical themed float this year. We have a family castle, Supple Castle in County Cork, Supple said. With an estate like that in its lineage, the Wicked theme for the Supple float is fitting for the family. The honor of being grand marshals was given to the family by St. Josephs John Corby division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which looks for individuals or families with a rich Irish heritage to head the parade each year. One of six sisters, Mary Supple Bish said building parade floats for more than 30 years now allows the family to come together and make the most of the Irish weekend. We start the day early with green doughnuts at my house, and we do the parade, Bish said. Then we all get together and have corn beef and cabbage. We just try to spend the day together and usually the next day until everyone has to hit the road and go home. The celebration allows their parents legacy to continue to be passed on, Bish said. Since they passed, we like to carry on the tradition of having the parade every year, Bish said. When asked about their familys impact on St. Joseph, Tom Supple describes it as more than fun but also years of tradition. In Ireland, St. Patricks Day, up until recently, has been a religious holiday celebrated by going to Mass, he said. So we acknowledge that, but we realize theres a party going on too, and we want to celebrate that too. "We are incredibly thankful to Hyundai Canada for its generous support and commitment to paediatric cancer patients and their families," said Delphine Brodeur, president and chief executive officer, CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. "Long-term investment in paediatric research is essential to advancing patient care, and the launch of Hyundai Hope On Wheels in Canada marks a significant step forward for research funding nationwide. We deeply appreciate Hyundai's dedication, which will drive major breakthroughs at CHU Sainte-Justine's Centre de cancerologie Charles-Bruneau, and the vital impact Hyundai Hope On Wheels will have on the lives of children across Quebec facing a cancer diagnosis." Recognized as a leader in paediatric oncology in North America, CHU Sainte-Justine is home to Quebec's national centre of excellence for paediatric bone marrow and cord blood transplants and is one of the five most active paediatric centres for cord blood transplants in North America. Hyundai Hope On Wheels' donation will not only help fund critical research but also provide essential support for patient care and survivorship programs. "We're proud to support CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation as we introduce Hyundai Hope On Wheels in Canada," said Steve Flamand, president and CEO of Hyundai Auto Canada. "At Hyundai, driving progress for humanity is at the heart of everything we do, and few causes are more impactful than the fight against childhood cancer. CHU Sainte-Justine's renowned oncology program plays a vital role in providing exceptional care and advancing research for children across Quebec. By working together, we can bring hope to families by helping to bridge critical funding gaps." Representatives of the CHU Sainte-Justine and its Foundation accepted the $1 million cheque at a press conference on Wednesday, March 12, hosted by Hyundai Canada. The event brought together representatives from Hyundai Canada, CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation and CHU Sainte-Justine patient ambassadors for Hyundai Hope On Wheels' signature Handprint Ceremony. This heartfelt tradition, held at every Hyundai Hope On Wheels event, invites children and families affected by cancer along with donors, researchers and supporters to leave their painted handprints on a Hyundai vehicle, creating a powerful symbol of hope in the shared fight against childhood cancer and search for a cure. Hyundai Canada is dedicated to supporting the communities its employees live and work in and creating brighter futures for all, starting with Canada's youth. Each year, Hyundai Hope On Wheels will distribute research and support grants to institutions and organizations across Canada, helping to advance treatments and improve outcomes for children facing cancer. About CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation The CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation mobilizes communities in support of the excellence and innovation that are the hallmarks of Sainte-Justine. The Foundation strives to inspire and motivate donors to help transform pediatric medicine and improve the lives of children and their family. One gift at a time, the Foundation empowers Sainte-Justine to drive change and build a better tomorrow for all. About Hyundai Hope On Wheels Hyundai Hope On Wheels will be a registered non-profit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Formed in Canada in 2025, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides support to both research, through grants, and care and survivorship, through impact donations. First launched in the U.S. in 1998, it is now one of the largest non-profit funders of paediatric cancer research in that country. Primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels in Canada comes from Hyundai Auto Canada and its more than 226 Canadian dealers nationwide. Media Contacts: Frederic Mercier , manager, Quebec public relations, Hyundai Canada; [email protected] , manager, public relations, Hyundai Canada; Mohga Hassib , public relations analyst corporate communications, Hyundai Canada; [email protected] , public relations analyst corporate communications, Hyundai Canada; Caroline Mondou , account executive, Middle Child; [email protected] SOURCE Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. Weather Alert Take action to protect yourself and others extreme heat can affect everyones health. Determine if you or others around you are at greater risk of heat illness. Check on older adults, those living alone and other at-risk people in-person or on the phone multiple times a day. Watch for the early signs of heat exhaustion in yourself and others. Signs may include headache, nausea, dizziness, thirst, dark urine and intense fatigue. Stop your activity and drink water. Heat stroke is a medical emergency! Call 9-1-1 or your emergency health provider if you, or someone around you, is showing signs of heat stroke which can include red and hot skin, dizziness, nausea, confusion and change in consciousness. While you wait for medical attention, try to cool the person by moving them to a cool place, removing extra clothing, applying cold water or ice packs around the body. Drink water often and before you feel thirsty to replace fluids. Close blinds, or shades and open windows if outside is cooler than inside. Turn on air conditioning, use a fan, or move to a cooler area of your living space. If your living space is hot, move to a cool public space such as a cooling centre, community centre, library or shaded park. Follow the advice of your regions public health authority. Plan and schedule outdoor activities during the coolest parts of the day. Limit direct exposure to the sun and heat. Wear lightweight, light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. Never leave people, especially children, or pets inside a parked vehicle. Check the vehicle before locking to make sure no one is left behind. Humidex values reaching 40 are expected. A heat event is expected this weekend. What: Daytime highs of 31 to 33 degrees Celsius and a humidex of 40. Overnight lows of 21 to 25 degrees Celsius, providing little relief from the heat. When: Today to Sunday, coming to an end Sunday night. Additional information: Hot and humid air can also bring deteriorating air quality and result in the Air Quality Health Index approaching the high risk category. ### For more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/climate-change-health/extreme-heat/how-protect-yourself.html https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/climate-change-health/extreme-heat/who-is-at-risk.html Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ONstorm@ec.gc.ca or post reports on X using #ONStorm. A 35-year-old Nevada man who was training to become a truck driver was sentenced to prison for slashing his instructor with a box knife at an Albany-area truck stop. Jaylon Marquise Gatlin, a Las Vegas resident, was charged with felony counts of second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon in December 2023. Authorities said the instructor suffered serious cuts to his thigh and arm, requiring more than two-dozen stitches between two wounds. In a statement read by Prosecutor Douglas Prince, the victim said he is still affected physically and mentally by the assault, as well as financially. I used to be very outgoing and ambitious. Now, it's as if I'm dragging myself along. My concerns for safety have really broadened, he wrote. I have flashbacks, cold sweats, nightmares and generally shy away from people. Truthfully, I'd like some time for the young man in prison to get to read the Bible and get to know God. I know this young man has a family, and it's important that he be there. Because of the assault, the instructor, a California resident at the time of the assault, said he missed more than six months of work and lost nearly $35,000 in wages. That was on top of costs for doctors and psychologists, he said, to address his great anxiety and severe depression. Gatlin pleaded no contest to attempted second-degree assault in January. Under a plea agreement, the unlawful weapon use charge was dismissed. Calling the attack egregious, Judge Keith Stein on Wednesday, March 12, sentenced Gatlin to six years in prison. Given an opportunity to address the court, Gatlin apologized and said he never intended to hurt anyone. He was just trying to better his life. I do wish I could take it back, Gatlin said. It was one of the worst days of my life. Law enforcement was dispatched to the incident at the EZ Trip Travel Plaza on Highway 34 on a Sunday morning around 10:30 a.m. after Gatlin and the instructor both called 911. The victim told dispatch he was locked in the cab of a semi, and Gatlin was trying to get in, according to an affidavit. A Linn County Sheriffs deputy arrived and detained Gatlin, finding a Husky-brand, folding box knife in his pocket. Gatlin told the deputy that he and the instructor work for Western Express, and he was training in a company-provided truck. During an argument over going to a store, Gatlin claimed the victim hit him in the back of the head and neck area. Gatlin said while his head was being held down, he grabbed for anything he could use to defend himself, finding the box knife near the trucks center console. Gatlin described being in survival mode, swinging his arms around behind him before being pushed out of the cab. He tried to get back inside and noticed a cut on his instructors left leg. The victim was taken to Lebanon Community Hospital, where he received 21 stitches for a large gash on the posterior of his left leg and another seven stitches for a deep cut on his left arm, the affidavit states. Interviewed later at the Sheriffs Office, the instructor said Gatlin was in the drivers seat and was trying to start driving. He took the key, but Gatlin tried using a second key to start the truck again. The victim reportedly grabbed for the second key, then opened the drivers side door and pushed Gatlin out, struggling but succeeding in closing the door. Thats when he realized he was cut, telling the deputy he did not see the box knife in Gatlins hand until after the door was closed. Gatlin still had the second key and kept trying to get in, so the victim had to hold the locks on both doors to keep Gatlin out, according to the affidavit. A witness said he saw Gatlin trying to get in the cab, and while partially in, he appeared to hit the victim repeatedly. The witness said he saw a knife fall to the ground when Gatlin was pushed out of the truck. Related story: Authorities have identified a 20-year-old Florence woman as the minivan passenger killed in a crash with a truck Tuesday in Burlington Township. Kayla Stanton died following the 11:30 a.m. crash at the intersection of County Route 541 and Cadillac Road, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office said Thursday. The crash occurred when a tractor-trailer and a minivan collided at a traffic light, authorities said. The driver of the minivan and an infant in the back seat were taken to an area hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, according to officials. The driver of the tractor-trailer was alone in the truck and remained at the scene, officials said. No charges have been filed. NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Enuco contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. One man was killed and another was injured by an unknown shooter in Camden city on Wednesday night, officials said. A notification on the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system sent police to Morse Street at 10:29 p.m. Jose Hiraldo-Peralta, 32, of Camden, was then found lying on the street with multiple gunshot wounds, the Camden County Prosecutors Office said in a statement. The second victim, a 28-year-old Camden man, was located in a nearby residence with a single gunshot wound, authorities said. Wendy Williams' living facility accused her niece of kidnapping the former talk show host. Lifetime Its been a tumultuous past few years for New Jersey native and former talk show host Wendy Williams. Williams wild story took yet another turn this week when the New York City assisted living facility shes been living in accused Williams niece of kidnapping the Asbury Park native, according to TMZ. Coterie (the Manhattan housing facility) accused Alex Finnie (Williams' niece) of breaking the law by taking Williams out to dinner recently. Finnie reportedly took Williams out to dinner at an Italian restaurant after spending some time with her at Coterie. Shortly after, Coterie filed a police report with the NYPD claiming Finnie evaded the facilitys staff while taking Williams out of the building, TMZ reports. Williams is allegedly not able to leave the buildings fifth floor memory unit without a building attendant. An attendant supposedly let Williams and Finnie downstairs and into their Uber to dinner. Williams told TMZ it was an unbelievable situation. We came back to dinner and apparently police were called, Finnie said to TMZ. I was told that, at some point, the police were called because the Coterie here was saying allegedly that I took my aunt from this facility and whisked her away without any sort of confirmation or approval." Finnie explained that her and Williams were both good as Williams returned to the facility on her mobility scooter. Williams is scheduled to appear on The View Friday for a phone interview. More entertainment news: Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Christopher Burch can be reached at cburch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SwishBurch. Find NJ.comon Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips The ACLU says public school administrators have the duty, power and responsibility to protect students' rights regardless of immigration status. AP The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and a pair of immigrant and childrens rights groups have sent a letter to New Jerseys 600-plus school districts and charter networks advising them not to let ICE agents into buildings or onto school property without a judicial warrant signed by a state or federal judge or magistrate. The groups said the letter was in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump rescinding a policy that had declared schools and churches off-limits to agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as ICE is formally known, and its sister agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The letter was sent out jointly this week by the Jersey City-based New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, the ACLU-NJ, and the Education Law Center, both based in Newark. Public school administrators have the duty to educate all students, and the power and responsibility under the U.S. Constitution and state law to protect the rights of their students, read a statement from ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha. New Jersey schools have an obligation to ensure that all students feel welcome, regardless of immigration status, and no matter who is in the White House. The letter includes references to the New Jersey and U.S. constitutions, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the U.S. Supreme Courts Plyler v. Doe decision in 1982, and other legal precedents and statutes, granting the same benefits and protections to immigrant students, documented or otherwise, as those of their citizen classmates. ICE did not respond to a request for a comment on the letter on Wednesday. The letter also instructs districts of their restrictions and obligations regarding immigrant children. For example, it says districts cannot make immigration status a condition of enrollment or even keep a students immigration status on file, except in cases involving Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides federal funding for English language instruction. The letter urged school officials to demand that enforcement agents produce a judicial warrant signed by a state or federal judge or magistrate. Even then, the groups urged principals or other officials to ask their superintendent and district lawyer to review the warrant to ensure its properly filled out and signed and is being used to search only the address specified or arrest only individuals identified by name. The letter advises districts that ICE agents may try to enter a protected location by presenting an administrative warrant, a departmental document that, despite its name, lacks the authority of a judicial warrant to grant agents access to a location without the occupants consent. While longstanding law requires schools to comply with valid judicial warrants and subpoenas, immigration agents often serve what are known as administrative warrants, which do not have the same legal force, the letter states. Paul Brubaker, a spokesman for Newark Public Schools, said in an email Wednesday that the district has clear procedures and protocols regarding anyone who is not a student or staff member who visits a school building. And that is what we follow at all times, he added. Nobody knows Jersey better than NJ.com Sign up to get breaking news alerts straight to your inbox. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com Gov. Phil Murphy ordered flags in New Jersey to be flown at half staff on Friday in mourning of the Newark police officer shot and killed last week in the line of duty. The U.S. and New Jersey flags will be lowered on the day of the funeral servicefor Newark police Detective Joseph Azcona, Murphy said Thursday. Community members have rallied to support a mother and her three children seriously injured in a crash Sunday on Route 55 in Gloucester County that left three others dead. A GoFundMe for the family has raised more $41,000 as of Wednesday night. The husband and father of this family is in the hospital around the clock providing support, acting as an advocate and caregiver to each of his children and his wife which keeps him from returning to work to provide for his family, the fundraisers description said. The woman is a mother of five and is in critical condition with a severe brain injury, according to the fundraiser. The money raised by the GoFundMe will be used for medical expenses and general financial support for the family, the description says. The crash that sent the woman and her three kids to the hospital happened at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday on northbound side of Route 55 in Elk Township. A car driven by 19-year-old Brenden Cary of Franklinville hit the rear of an SUV. Cary to lost control of the vehicle and veered onto the right shoulder of the highway, hitting the disabled minivan the woman and her three kids were in, according to police. The minivan overturned and the 36-year-old mother was seriously injured. Her three kids suffered minor injuries, authorities said. Brenden Cary (left) and Dominic Reyes (center), both 19 of Franklinville, and 17-year-old Ivan Gastelum (right), 17, of Winslow Township, died Sunday in a crash on Route 55 in Gloucester County. (Bell-Hennessy Funeral Home/Boucher Funeral Home) Cary was killed in the crash, along with two passengers. Dominic Reyes, 19, of Franklinville, and Ivan Gastelum, a student at Winslow High School, were also killed in the crash, according to police. Cary and Reyes died at the scene, according to police. Gastelum was taken to a hospital where he later died, his mother told NBC10. Carys legal guardian, Laura Perez, described the boys as very close. They were always together, working on their cars, going to the car wash and car meets, playing video games or just hanging out, Perez said Monday. Its an immense loss that Im not sure we will ever fully recover from. Cary was a student at Delsea Regional High school and was set to graduate in June, according to Perez. Reyes graduated from Delsea Regional High School last year, according to the district superintendent. A GoFundMe to raise money for their Reyes and Carys services raised more than $5,000 Wednesday evening. Services for Reyes are scheduled for Friday at Boucher Funeral Home in Deptford. A service for Cary is scheduled for Saturday at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Sicklerville. Services for Gastelum have not been announced. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X Sebastian Maniscalco will perform in New York at the UBA Arena on March 15. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Sebastian Maniscalco is ready to perform his final New York show on his tour schedule, and you dont want to miss it. The legendary comedian will perform in New York at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park on March 15. Sebastian Maniscalco tour 2025 The cheapest tickets to see Sebastian Maniscalco in New York this weekend are on Vivid Seats. Buy Now Plus, tickets for this show currently are under $60, and thats a deal you dont see often. Here is how you can get tickets to see Sebastian Maniscalco in New York this weekend. How to get tickets Sebastian Maniscalcos 2025 tour The cheapest tickets we could find for Sebastian Maniscalcos March 15 show at the UBS Arena is $57 on Vivid Seats. If you happen to miss out on this cheap ticket, then you can find other affordable ones on StubHub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, TicketNetwork and Viagogo. Plus, if you are a first-time Vivid Seats user, you can save $20 on ticket orders over $200 by entering promo code NJ20 at checkout. A complete list of Sebastian Maniscalcos tour dates is available here. Sebastian Maniscalco tour 2025: Dates, schedule & more Sebastian Maniscalcos second leg of the It Aint Right tour began on Jan. 17 in West Valley, Utah, and is set to wrap up on Sept. 28 in Atlantic City. In a statement, Maniscalco promises fans that they can joke around with him as he dissects todays absurdities, from nonexistent manners and soaring prices to the chaos of social media. If you want to catch Sebastian Maniscalco live again later in the year, then you can get tickets to one of his shows in Atlantic City from Sept. 18-28. Upcoming comedy tours Sebastian Maniscalco is not the only comedian going on tour. Here are a few more upcoming tours you wont want to miss: Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Steve Martin & Martin Short and Nikki Glaser. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips. Trenton Fire Dept. Capt. Marissa Bergen at Engine Co. 8 on March 12, 2025. Bergen is the first woman to be promoted to captain in the department. She has been a city firefighter since 2017. (Photo by Kevin Shea | NJ.com) Marissa Bergen did not set out to be a trailblazing firefighter when she joined the Trenton Fire Department in 2017. I was just happy to be here, Bergen said. McDonald's wants to build a restaurant with a dual drive-thru at the site of the old Friendly's restaurant on Speedwell Avenue in Morris Plains. Google Maps The proposal to build a new McDonalds with a two-lane drive-thru in a New Jersey town has left locals residents grimacing. A group of Morris Plains residents has filed suit against McDonalds, the local planning board and the propertys owners seeking to block the restaurant on Speedwell Avenue. The lawsuit filed March 6 in Superior Court in Morris County seeks to overturn the boards Dec. 18 approval for the project. McDonalds plans to build the new restaurant where a Friendlys restaurant once stood, according to court papers. But 13 local homeowners argue the larger McDonalds project with two drive-thru lanes will create serious traffic and safety issues in the area. Representatives from McDonalds and the Morris Plains Planning Board did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment. The site plan does not adequately account for increased vehicle congestion, particularly along Speedwell Avenue and Dayton Road, where large delivery trucks may violate local weight restrictions, according to the lawsuit. The McDonalds project will significantly increase traffic and create safety hazards for pedestrians and local drivers, the lawsuit states, citing expert testimony that estimated the site would generate about 710 vehicle trips daily. The residents also argue that the traffic study conducted by McDonalds was flawed, relying on limited data collection and failing to include real-world comparisons with similar fast-food locations. In addition to traffic concerns, residents claim the planning board improperly waived the requirement for an Environmental Impact Statement. The residents argue that McDonalds failed to provide adequate data on air pollution, noise and odor on nearby homes. The planning board violated procedural rules by improperly limiting public participation in hearings and restricting cross-examinations of McDonalds experts, according to the lawsuit. Those who had contributed to a GoFundMe campaign opposing the project were prohibited from asking questions, the lawsuit states. A conflict-of-interest claim is also included in the lawsuit. Residents allege that planning board member and borough Councilwoman Cathie Kelly should have recused herself from voting due to statements she made in a campaign video posted on social media. The video, posted while the application was pending, appeared to express support for economic development in Morris Plains, which the residents argue indicated bias in favor of the McDonalds project. Kelly told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday that she sought advice from attorneys who told her she did not have to recuse herself from voting on the project. I dont agree with what theyre doing, Kelly said of the homeowners who are suing. She declined further comment. Despite an initial 4-4 tie vote that legally resulted in denial of the application, the board later adopted a resolution approving the project, a move the lawsuit claims was improper and unlawful. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. A former special education aide has filed a lawsuit against the Jefferson Township Board of Education in Morris County, alleging she was unlawfully reassigned and ultimately fired due to her pregnancy. Tiffany Messina, who worked at White Rock Elementary School, claims in a complaint filed in New Jersey Superior Court that school officials discriminated against her after she disclosed her pregnancy in January 2024. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 8, names the school board, Principal Michael Valenti, and Superintendent Jeanne Howe. Valenti and Howe did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. A spokesperson for the Jefferson Township School District did not return a call seeking comment. Messina was initially assigned to a classroom for students with autism spectrum disorder, where she had received positive feedback. However, after informing Valenti of her pregnancy, she alleges he removed her from the special education setting, citing concerns for her safety. I dont want you to get hit in the special education classroom, Valenti allegedly told her, according to the lawsuit. He later reassigned her to a different autism spectrum disorder classroom, stating she was less likely to get punched in the stomach. Messina contends that after she fell ill in March 2024 and took a school-approved leave, she was accused of misconduct upon her return. Valenti allegedly told her he had received reports that she hit a child and used profanity in front of students allegations she denies. After the accusations, Messina said she made multiple attempts to contact Valenti but received no response. She was later terminated by Howe, who allegedly refused to discuss her absences or the allegations against her. The district fired Messina without the required 14 days' notice, violating her employment contract, the suit alleges. Messina is suing for violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, breach of contract, and emotional distress. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys fees, and a jury trial. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The settlement will speed the criminal expungement process by the New Jersey State Police. Tim Wynkoop For years, critics say the New Jersey State Police has taken far too long to erase the convictions of those charged with minor crimes despite court orders to seal those records leaving thousands in legal limbo. On Thursday, the state Office of the Public Defender said it reached a settlement that should speed up the slow-as-molasses criminal expungement process, with the goal to resolve those cases within 90 days. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends. Here, they discuss the weeks political events with Opinion editor Enrique Lavin. Q: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka tops a recent poll of Democratic voters, followed by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill. Progressives favor Baraka, while moderates lean towards Sherrill. In a January poll, Sherrill led, followed by Baraka and NJEA President Sean Spiller. Former state Senate President Steve Sweeney and U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer face challenges. Your thoughts on these results? Mike: Everything I see shows the Democratic primary race is still wide, wide open. This is the strongest field weve seen in decades. Sherrill has been winning important county party endorsements. They still matter, but perhaps less so without the line. Spiller has been outspending the field, and its working by increasing his name ID. Fulop is on the air and getting around the state. Sweeney has picked up some endorsements. But others, especially Gottheimer, who has a boatload of money in his Congressional account and a unique message, still havent started serious spending. Baraka has impressed many in the debate and on the campaign trail and is benefiting from being mayor of the states largest city. One could make a case for each candidate. Its still early because theres so much money left to spend, which could quickly change voter perceptions. Julie: Two things are going to be much more dispositive in the Democratic primary now that the line is no more: authenticity and money. Baraka strikes voters as deeply authentic. Spiller and Gottheimer have the money, though Gottheimer has not yet begun to spend it in any serious way. Sherrill has the organization support. That is critical in counties like Middlesex that have a professionalized operation that knows how to get out the vote but not as important in other counties that have long relied on the line, instead of doing the hard work of building up a real operation. All of this is a long way of saying that Mike is absolutely right: its anyones race. Q: You mentioned in a recent Friendly Fire that state Sen. Jon Bramnick would be a tough challenge for Democrats if he won the Republican nomination. Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is the frontrunner, however. Amid Trump 2.0 chaos, whos the right Democratic candidate to face Ciattarelli, assuming he tops the ticket? Mike: Democratic voters dont care what I think. Any Republican would prefer to run against a Democrat that is too far left than one thats more centrist. Each Democrat has different strengths and weaknesses. Baraka and Fulop can fire up the progressive base. Gottheimer has a centrist message and a history of winning a difficult district which could carry statewide. Sherrill has a great profile as a candidate and also won a difficult North Jersey district previously held by a Republican. Sweeney has a real record of working across the aisle which will endear him to centrists, but ticks off the far left. Spiller is a strong campaigner, will rally public-sector union support, and is unafraid to take on the right wing of the GOP. None will be easy to beat in a state where theres almost a million more Democrats than Republicans. Julie: A Democratic will not win or lose this election because of his or her Republican opponent. After eight years of Democratic control, voters would typically be ready for a change if we lived in normal times. But we live in a dystopian world where Republicans control every lever of government at the federal level, so it may be that New Jersey voters take their displeasure out on Trump this November by sending a Democrat back to Drumthwacket. In this environment, the Republican opponent is almost irrelevant because whoever he is, he will talk about New Jerseys affordability crisis, while Democrats tie him to Trump. (Yes, even you, Senator Bramnick, as unfair as that would be.) Q: Democrats are worried about managing the fallout from voters blaming them for the 17% increase in monthly electric bills starting June 1. With affordability a concern, is this an opening for state Republicans? Mike: Energy reliability and affordability is definitely an opportunity for Republicans. While well-intentioned, misguided policy approaches to green energy pushed by the far left at the federal and state levels have left us with a lack of capacity and supply, just as energy demand increases from more consumption, more EVs, more data centers, and soon, new AI data centers. PJM [Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection] also failed to see our lack of capacity has a problem and now consumers will pay higher prices because of it all. Simply put, this is a supply and demand issue. New Jersey needs to recognize there isnt enough solar and wind capacity to meet the governors ambitious goals. It is time to invest more in generation from natural gas and nuclear and allow for the building of pipelines and transmission. The last decade of poor decisions at the state and federal levels on energy have put us in a precarious spot. Our utilities do a good job of ensuring reliability and affordability of our energy supply. Now its time for policy makers to do their part, and make the tough but correct decisions, even if they offend the crazy naive green far left. Julie: There are so many openings for Republicans on the affordability front that its an embarrassment of riches. Q: Speaking of affordability, Mike mentioned that people wont be paying attention to the fireworks in Washington until the summer when President Trumps economic plan could be fully in place. The tariffs are a scary ride at Six Flags. DOGE cuts and the stock market rollercoaster have shaken Fox News, which is calling out the Republican administration for economic volatility. Will Trump voters wait that long to speak up? Mike: Trumps numbers are starting to lag a bit on the economy. While there was an isolationist bloc to his support that loves tariffs and hates spending money to help Ukraine, there was also a traditional economic conservative bloc that supported Trump. Those traditional conservatives hate tariffs because they see them as a tax, and they hurt our manufacturers who export because of retaliatory tariffs. They see trade wars with our allies as foolish and counterproductive. As long as peoples retirement accounts and kids college funds are volatile, voters will start to lose faith. Julie: I disagree with Mike on this. Voters are paying attention now, which is why Trumps numbers on the economy are precipitously tanking and more and more voters consider him too extreme. There is a cohort of MAGA voters who will go over the cliff with him no matter what but for the people who supported him because he promised to lower grocery prices on Day One, every day that passes without relief only solidifies their despair. Q: President Trump applauded the arrest of a pro-Palestinian protester at Columbia University, vowing to deport students involved in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. The detained protester is a green card holder, which I know firsthand is difficult to acquire. Any concerns over freedom of speech? What about the arrest method? Mike: Democrats should not fall into the trap of making this guy the poster child for abuses by Trump. If one is not a citizen and has been let into this country at our discretion to attend an elite university, that is a privilege granted to you by the United States government, not a constitutional right afforded to a U.S. citizen. A privilege can be revoked. A right cannot. Leading protests that turn violent, shut down universities, infringe on the rights of others, and sympathize with terrorist, rapists and murderers, certainly should lead to a revocation of privileges to live here and attend a university that 99.999% of U.S. citizens couldnt be fortunate enough to attend. The left plays into Trumps hands making this guy a victim. Julie: I am a proud Zionist and I am upset by what has been happening at Columbia over the last year. Despite that, I am beside myself at the treatment and disappearance of this man. They have not identified a crime he has committed; they have not identified why he needs to be detained by ICE when he is a legal resident and they have not explained why he has been prevented from having the due process afforded all American citizens and green card holders, aside from the fact that Donald Trump does not agree with his rhetoric. That is the clearest violation of the First Amendment I can think of. And if you are Jewish and you support this, let me remind you that throughout history, they always always come for the Jews next. Q: Education Secretary Linda McMahon says mass layoffs at her department are the first step toward shutting it down. Will Congress allow this to happen? Mike: The current Congress will allow this to happen, as long as priority programs, like Pell Grants, are protected and moved to another department. The trick for Republicans now is saving the good and doing away with the unnecessary and expensive bureaucracy. That will be easier said than done. Julie: Come on, Mike. The current Congress will allow this to happen even if they shut Pell Grants down. Trump could shut down every single elementary school and they would support Trump. Heres the reality: if you have a child with learning differences, you will be harmed. If your children need a paraprofessional, you will be harmed. If your child needs special education help, you will be harmed. You can thank this president and the Republicans in Congress for doing this to our kids. A note to readers: Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we prove it every week with this Friendly Fire conversation. Mike and Julie are deeply engaged in politics and commercial advocacy in New Jersey, so both have connections to many players discussed in this column. DuHaime, the founder of MAD Global Strategy, has worked for Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and George W. Bush. Roginsky, a principal of Comprehensive Communications Group and author of the Salty Politics column in Substack, has served as senior advisor to campaigns of Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg, and Phil Murphy. Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez) AP Catherine Rampell will join MSNBC as a co-host of The Weekend evening program starting in the spring, according to the network. The Washington Post columnist will join the networks evening program from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, co-hosting with Ayman Mohyeldin and a third host to be announced later, according to MSNBC. Rampell shared Varietys report of her hiring in a post to social media platform X. MSNBC also announced the news in a segment with Rampell on Tuesday. Im ecstatic to join MSNBC as a co-host of the evening edition of The Weekend alongside Ayman Mohyeldin and our soon-to-be-announced third co-host, Rampell said in a statement, reported by Forbes. This is a tremendous opportunity to bring my reporting to the airwaves and continue holding those in power to account. Given the economic forces likely to shape the next few years trade wars, tax fights, safety-net cuts, federal power struggles, deportations of critical workers there will be plenty to cover, and I cant wait to get to work, she continued. Rampell, a staunch critic of President Donald Trump, writes about the economy, politics and public policy in her columns for The Post. She frequently criticizes Trump, writing in a column earlier this month that he is throwing away what could have been the next great American century. She was an economics and politics commentator for CNN, where she often made appearances to debate with conservative pundit Scott Jennings on NewsNight with Abby Phillips. According to her LinkedIn profile, she ended her time as a CNN commentator last month. Her announcement comes as MSNBC has reportedly shaken up its programming after Trumps inauguration. It also comes after MSNBC parted ways with popular host Joy Reid last montha move that drew criticism from liberals and fellow MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow. President Donald Trump walks down the stairs after a luncheon with the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) AP President Donald Trumps latest tariff announcement could drive up prices for Americans at the liquor store. Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. will place a 200% tariff on wines, Champagne and other alcoholic products imported from the European Union (EU). His escalation is in response to the EUs decision to place a 50% tariff on American whiskeya move that was prompted by Trumps blanket tariffs on aluminum and steel. The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, he wrote on Truth Social. He added: This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Many social media users pointed out that there is no Champagne business in the U.S. because the drink only comes from the Champagne region in France. There is no such thing as a "champagne" business in the United States because champagne comes from, well, Champagne pic.twitter.com/w1zvYZxQHV Alexander Clarkson (@APHClarkson) March 13, 2025 There was plenty of backlash against the tariffs on social media. The Republicans Against Trump account on social media platform X wrote: This is insane and will only further wreck our economy. Trump critic Ron Filipkowski suggested that the Trump family could benefit directly from the tariffs because his son, Eric Trump, owns and operates the Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia. Another user joked about the new tariffs: Additional bad news for everyone who is required to keep up with the tariffs and just want a drink at the end of the week. Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged U.S. allies and vowed to take back wealth stolen by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation. He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging reciprocal rates starting on April 2. The EU announced its own countermeasures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros, or about $28 billion. Those measures cover not just steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Marvin Fugon, 23, of Delaware, died after jumping from the Delaware Memorial Bridge last week. His family is asking for help finding his body. (Provided Photo/Jason Smith) The family of a man who died by suicide when he jumped from the Delaware Memorial Bridge earlier this month is asking for the publics help to bring him home. Marvin Fugon, 23, jumped after stopping his vehicle on the New Jersey-bound span around 5:30 a.m. on March 7, according to his family. Rescue units responded to search for Fugon without success. Those units included Delaware River and Bay Authority Police, Delaware State Police and marine units from several Delaware fire companies, according to a spokesman with the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which operates the bridge. Fugons stepfather, Jason Smith, lives in Pennsville, where the bridge enters New Jersey. Hes monitoring the river himself, along with reaching out to area police and fire units, businesses and people fishing along the river to let them know that his stepson has not been found. Hes also been sharing the situation on social media. Right now, were just hoping that somebody finds him, Smith said. Thats all we can hope for. Once somebody finds him, then we can bring him home. Emergency response units that participated in the initial effort to locate Fugon will continue periodically searching the river for his body, the Delaware River and Bay Authority spokesman said, though he noted that the authority does not control search activities. Fugon lived in Delaware with his mother and worked in construction, Smith said. I love him. Hes my stepson, but hes my son, he said. Hes a good kid, a hard worker, always happy. People were drawn to him. Smith said he had a good relationship with his son and tried to be there for him. We were good friends, he said. He knew he could come over and talk to me if he needed to talk. Another member of Fugons family has created a GoFundMe account for help with funeral costs and other expenses. Smith said his effort to find Fugon is also about helping other young people who may be struggling. In his recent travels along the river, hes told kids about his familys loss and reminded them that they arent alone. Im trying to get awareness out there for these kids, Smith said. Please talk to somebody. Youre never alone. Theres always somebody that loves you. Editors note: NJ Advance Media typically limits reporting on suicides to those that occur in crowded public places, involve public figures or, in special circumstances, where there is a larger public impact. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be reduced with the proper mental health support and treatment. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. The countdown to spring break is on and before you know it, youll be basking in the sun and running your toes in the sand. But before you go, youre going to want to stock up on these Crocs sandals deals for your feet. Crocs is offering major deals on sandals, flip flops, slides and more with discounts up to 47% off just in time for spring break. This includes select styles for men, women and kids with sale prices as low as $20. Crocs Getaway Strappy Sale Price: $30, instead of $40 Buy Now We found big price drops on a slew of Crocs sandals with top styles to take you from day to night. This Brooklyn Low Wedge has a $13 price cut and you can grab it in a classic Black or an easy-to-wear Mushroom. Or if your spring break includes some relaxing days at the beach, you can snag these Miami Toe Loop Sandals for $10 off in a bold Lava. This Crocs Sale is the ideal time to stock up on sandals and more to take you into summer. Plus, Crocs offers free shipping on all online orders over $49.99 and free returns on all purchases. Crocs sandals to shop for spring break Heres a look at some of the top Crocs sandal deals you can score during this big online sale. Miami Toe Loop Sandal for $30, instead of $40 Brooklyn Low Wedge for $42, instead of $55 Crocs Slide for $20, instead of $25 Mega Crush Sandal for $45, instead of $70 Getaway Flip for $30, instead of $40 Getaway Strappy for $30, instead of $40 Classic Sandal for $27, instead of $35 Classic Slide for $23, instead of $30 Bayaband Flip for $25, instead of $35 Shop for even more Crocs sandals on sale here. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Dawn Magyar can be reached at dmagyar@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/. Union Square in Phillipsburg is seen from an unmanned aerial vehicle Sept. 25, 2020. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com The Town of Phillipsburg declared a state of emergency for some of its residents over the weekend. A sewer line breakdown in the neighborhood of No. 1 to 5 Fairview Heights and 36 to 43 Washington Streets required immediate repair. The break affected some of the towns historic terracotta pipelines. The residential neighborhood includes some of the towns most appealing homes, located directly above Front Street and Morris Street, overlooking the Delaware River. This incident serves as a reminder that our sewer system, along with other underground utilities, need the upgrades and replacements that we have been witnessing throughout the streets of Phillipsburg, Mayor Randy Piazza Jr. said. The approximate cost incurred to the town was placed at $120,000 to $150,000. Members of the Phillipsburg Town Council unanimously approved the administrations request for an immediate delivery of funds on Wednesday. For residents, there was no major disruption. The Department of Public Works needed to remove a broken tree in order to access the site. Town administration did not comment on whether a similar incident was likely to occur. The town said its taking an piecemeal approach to replacing its century-old sewer system throughout the rest of Phillipsburg. Recent emergencies are unlikely to change its strategy. According to the towns engineer Tim OBrien of Van Cleef Engineering LLC, it is a very rough estimate, but approximately 12% of households, a number of commercial properties and the Phillipsburg Middle School drain through that line. Montana Contracting was hired, with exigency, to make the repairs. The town needed to rent bypass pumps and hoses, pipes, fitting and police services, the emergency declaration states. The labor costs were incurred by The Phillipsburg Department of Public Works and Police Department. Due to the nature of Fridays emergency, officials noted the contract price with Montana Contracting exceeded the regular bid threshold (limited to $10,000) for the towns temporary budgeted appropriations. Thank you for supporting our journalism. Consider leaving a tip. Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or at glenn_epps on Instagram, Facebook and Threads. China Unicom and Huawei co-hosted an innovation summit during Mobile World Congress 2025, themed 5G-A Empowering, AI Transforming, Digital Living. At the summit China Unicom unveiled its AI Unites All plan, which envisages utilizing AI agents to comprehensively upgrade its home cloud and achieve full convergence of AI across a range of personal and home scenarios. Senior representatives from the operator and its partners gathered on stage for a signing ceremony to launch AI Unites All during the summit. AI Unites All was introduced by Jian Qin, General Manager of China Unicom who outlined the operators latest 1+1+N innovations and best practices which comprises converged architecture, plus converged agent, plus converged services. According to Jian "China Unicom remains committed to technological innovation as our guiding principle, actively embracing the Al revolution, and contributing 'Unicom Intelligence' and 'Unicom Solutions' to global smart transformation. With forward-looking planning and sustained investment in Al, we prioritize integrated innovation across five pillars: computing infrastructure, network connectivity, data resources, model development, and application scenarios. Our goal is to lead and drive the convergence of Al technologies and industrial applications." Welcoming the initiative, Louise Easterbrook, CFO of the GSMA highlighted the alignment of China Unicoms vision to the goals of the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative. As AI becomes mainstream the potential for it to enhance operations is rapidly increasing, as evidenced by the 37 industry-specific AI models China Unicom has built in the past year with its own large language model (LLM). Easterbrook noted the rapid development and use of AI LLMs highlights the need for a Responsible AI Roadmap and an agreed set of Open Telecom LLM Benchmarks which the GSMA is currently promoting. Summarising the relationship between 5G and AI she said: We are halfway through the 5G story and at the beginning of the AI story it feels like a moment in time. Yang Chaobin, Huawei Board Member and CEO of the ICT Business Group said that that Huawei looks forward to working with China Unicom to support their AI Unites All strategy. "We will do this by facilitating a wide range of intelligent user applications with the latest AI technologies. This will allow China Unicom to create new AI service portals with a global impact and make intelligence more inclusive for all," he said. As a strategic partner of China Unicom, Huawei and China Unicom maintain close cooperation and work together on converged AI innovation to seize new business opportunities in the AI era. Both parties have built a cloud-based AI service platform for individual and home users, combining cloud, computing, networks, and devices for a unified AI service portal. For example, during the Asian Winter Games, China Unicom launched personalized and cloud-based AI phones with the AI assistant named Tone. The product uses mainstream foundation models and 5G-A networks to provide users with a consistent experience in all scenarios and secure and reliable AI services. Huawei and China Unicom have also been using AI to empower sectors like government, healthcare, and manufacturing, as well as cultural and creative industries, making network experience more secure, reliable, flexible, scalable, efficient, and collaborative. China Unicom has also been actively engaged in advancing synergy between AI and networks. For smart home services, China Unicom has been a leading player in whole-house fibre broadband. The carrier launched the industry's first HI-CON (Home Intelligent Collaborative Optical Network) communications system that features optical and Wi-Fi collaboration. This system is powered by an intelligent scheduling algorithm that greatly improves overall network experience for home users. Wang Limin, SVP Marketing, China Unicom, discussed how the AI Unites All initiative will drive unified communication by applying AI powered digital intelligence to provide innovation in networks, technology and services simultaneously. This will, Wang said, enable operators to transition from being communications service providers to become technology service providers and to provide more convenient and efficient services to customers. Operators should integrate network technology and services by using AI tools such as Deep Seek for converged innovation. Hao Liqian, DGM & SVP Government & Enterprise, China Unicom outlined the scale of growth for AI, which he said is estimated to account for 3.5% of global GDP by 2030. In addition, Hao shared China Unicoms new vision for AI, which comprises implementing an integrated innovation strategy to provide accessible computing which is available everywhere and to everyone like water, to provide intelligence everywhere like chips, and to bridge the gap between data and knowledge with computing. Meng Shusen, CEO, China Unicom Global, focused on how China Unicom believes that open collaboration with a range of global organisations will help accelerate global technology innovation. China Unicom Globals Hong Kong based Innovation Research Institute leads international collaboration efforts with universities, research organisations and global enterprises, through activities taking place worldwide, including in Sao Paolo, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Dubai and Singapore, as well as at multiple locations throughout the Chinese mainland. According to Meng, international collaboration on 5G-A and AI will strengthen global interconnection and build a strong network infrastructure base, promote the secure flow of data and strengthen global data governance and trust, develop the Open Gateway open ecosystem, share green and low-carbon technologies to promote sustainable development and promote AI for Good. Representatives from other ecosystem partners including Edward Tiedemann Jr., SVP, Qualcomm Technology, Roger Suess, CEO, Green, and David Joosten, Director, Vodafone Business International rounded off the summit, with presentations on topics including energy use and sustainability, where collaboration between AI and 5G-A delivered by the AI Unites All initiative will drive innovation. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. Whether you're looking to get dressed up or keep it casual on a dinner date in New Orleans, one thing is for sure: It'll be tasty. 'Before Elvis' digs into the Black music that fueled the success of Presley's rock 'n' roll Elvis, who was strongly influenced and nurtured by Black music, was a part of the revolution that stood up against Jim Crow just as music has always done. How Corporate America Is Retreating From D.E.I. Household-name companies, like Walmart and Meta, have scaled back diversity, equity and inclusion goals in recent months. These brands are part of a widespread retreat happening across corporate America, according to a New York Times analysis of annual financial filings. It has been as noticeable among tech giants as among drug makers, concert promoters and nearly every sector of the U.S. economy. So far this year the number of companies in the S&P 500 that used the language diversity, equity and inclusion in these filings has fallen by nearly 60 percent from 2024. The Companies That Mentioned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Each Year In 2021, 68% of S&P 500 companies mentioned D.E.I. Trump Inauguration JAN 20, 2025 400 companies 300 200 George Floyd killed MAY 25, 2020 100 2015 2020 2025 Trump Inauguration JAN 20, 2025 400 companies In 2021, 68% of S&P 500 companies mentioned D.E.I. 300 200 George Floyd killed MAY 25, 2020 100 2015 2020 2025 Source: Securities and Exchange Commission Seventy-eight percent of companies 297 out of the 381 that have filed their reports so far this year continue to discuss various diversity and related initiatives, according to the Times analysis, which examined a decade of financial filings known as 10-Ks that public companies submit each year to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But many of them have softened or shifted previous language, by removing the word equity, for example, or emphasizing belonging rather than D.E.I. Major corporations began to shy away from taking strong stances on D.E.I. before President Trump re-entered office, but the trend accelerated rapidly after. These filings arent the only reflection of what companies are doing, or declining to do, to promote diversity, equity and inclusion but they offer one view of changing stances in the words of the companies themselves. Plenty of language in these filings changes from year to year, though the Times analysis focused specifically on language about D.E.I. In some ways, the shift reflects a pattern of companies chasing what seems most socially and politically expedient. After the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, many companies denounced racial injustice. By 2022, over 90 percent of the S&P 500 had language about D.E.I. in their annual filings. Uber, for example, committed to becoming an anti-racist company. Best Buy wrote in a quarterly regulatory filing that in the wake of George Floyds death the company would strive to address racial inequities. By 2024, the social pressure had started to reverse critical race theory was labeled by some senators as activist indoctrination, and many states took steps to restrict D.E.I. programs at universities. This backlash was accelerated by a Supreme Court decision in 2023 that struck down affirmative action in college admissions. While that decision was not directed at corporations, some law firms began to face lawsuits over fellowships that were open only to marginalized groups, and other employers started to pay more attention. Mr. Trump then took direct aim at corporations. Soon after his inauguration in January, he issued an executive order that instructed federal agencies to investigate illegal D.E.I. in the private sector. He changed the staffing and leadership of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the countrys anti-discrimination laws, putting in place an acting chair who said her priorities included rooting out unlawful D.E.I.-motivated race and sex discrimination. Lawyers who have been helping companies navigate the new legal landscape said that some executives were worried about public disclosures on diversity efforts. Company leaders might want to keep their diversity initiatives in place, but realize that describing D.E.I. goals in public documents, like 10-Ks, could prompt scrutiny or government investigation. So some have found ways to hedge or otherwise tweak the language they use to make it more vague. Dow Chemical Used the same language about employee resource groups from 2021 to 2024. Deleted in 2025 Added in 2025 Dow's 10 ERGs represent a workforce rich in diversity of thought, perspectives and backgrounds Adobe Used language about historically black colleges and universities from 2021 to 2024. Deleted in 2025 Added in 2025 We take action to improve the hiring, retention and promotion of a more diverse workforce that reflects Adobe's global footprint. We invest in partnerships and events to grow our pipeline and engage candidates across underrepresented communities. Dow Chemical and Adobe did not reply to requests for comment on the shift in language in their annual reports. You dont want to provide a road map for critics to look into what youre up to, said Jon Solorzano, a partner at the law firm Vinson & Elkins who counsels companies on governance issues, including D.E.I. Talking about it externally is now viewed as a riskier proposition, while continuing to talk about it internally is maybe less risky. Because executives were preparing their 10-K reports right as Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Solorzano noted, they were able to move quickly to drop public disclosures on D.E.I., though actually unwinding the programs will take more time. Theres an annual review of 10-Ks, and the annual review happened to coincide with new fears, he added. Other D.E.I. experts noted that some companies are shying away from the term equity because it tends to attract more scrutiny than diversity or inclusion. The E in D.E.I. is the real problematic one, said Musa Al-Gharbi, a sociologist and an assistant professor at Stony Brook University who has written extensively on diversity programs. To actually achieve equity often requires policies that are alienating to a lot of stakeholders. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Used the same D.E.I. language from 2021 to 2024. Deleted in 2025 Added in 2025 we focus on a culture that values all employees Johnson & Johnson Used the same D.E.I. language between 2021 and 2024. Deleted in 2025 Added in 2025 underpinning these focus areas are ongoing efforts to cultivate and foster a culture built on innovation, health, well-being and safety, inclusion and belonging where the company's employees are encouraged to succeed both professionally and personally while helping the company achieve its business goals Vertex Pharmaceuticals did not reply to a request for comment on the shift in its 10-K language on D.E.I. It still has a page on its website on the topic, something that other companies have also maintained even as they have softened the language on it in their annual regulatory disclosures. In a statement, a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman said the company has always been and will continue to be compliant with all applicable legal requirements and remains dedicated to the values in our credo. Given the mounting pressures from the Trump administration, it is perhaps surprising that hundreds of companies have maintained D.E.I. language in their 10-Ks this year. Delta Air Lines wrote: Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is critical to effective human capital management. Arthur J. Gallagher & Company, the insurance brokerage, reported the share of its employees and managers who are racially/ethnically diverse. (The New York Times, which is not in the S&P 500, shortened the section on diversity in its 10-K this year. Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for The Times, said: We still have the same diversity and inclusion-related programs that we did last year. She added: Specific language in 10-Ks changes year to year.) Still, the pendulum is swinging away from D.E.I., many corporate lawyers say, and the momentum can be hard to resist. Companies often tend to follow the crowd, whether that means adopting a certain approach to management (think agile), a popular strategy on innovation (like design thinking) or a job title that many of their peers are suddenly adding (chief of staff). But fads often have shallow roots, and companies might drop that practice as soon as it opens them to social critique or legal scrutiny. Companies will adopt these fads and fashions, and theyll do it for legitimacy and reputation management purposes and never fully adopt it, said Ranjay Gulati, a Harvard Business School professor. Then its a self-fulfilling prophecy, because it doesnt achieve their business goals so it goes out of fashion and they dump it. Uber 2021 In July 2020, we publicly committed to becoming an anti-racist company 2022 In July 2020, we announced 14 commitments to becoming a more anti-racist company 2023 In July 2020, we announced commitments to becoming a more anti-racist company 2024 2025 DuPont 2021 The Company believes that diversity and inclusion is central to high employee engagement. 2022 The Company believes that diversity, equity and inclusion ("DE&I") is central to high employee engagement. 2023 The Company believes that diversity, equity and inclusion ("DE&I") is central to high employee engagement. 2024 The Company believes that diversity, equity and inclusion ("DE&I") is central to high employee engagement. 2025 Live Nation Entertainment 2021 In July 2020, in response to events in the U.S. and around the world that sparked overdue reflection on racism and discrimination in our societies, we announced ambitious goals to strengthen the company's diversity from the top down that we will strive to obtain by the end of 2025 2022 We remain committed to reaching the ambitious goals we set to strengthen the company's diversity from the top down 2023 We remain committed to reaching the ambitious goals we set to strengthen the company's diversity from the top down 2024 We remain committed to making continuous progress toward our ambitious representation goals to strengthen the companys diversity from the top down 2025 DuPont declined to comment and Uber did not reply to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Live Nation wrote in a statement: While the legal landscape may be evolving, our commitment to inclusivity and Taking Care of Our Own will always remain at our core. Some of Live Nations previously announced diversity goals stated 2025 as the target year to reach them, and previous 10-K documents had said the company was making progress toward achieving them. An additional factor in the pullback, lawyers say, is some executives realizing that they might have set goals in 2020 or 2021 that they cannot achieve without aggressive D.E.I. efforts that might be targeted with lawsuits or investigations in the coming months. Since President Trump took office, the E.E.O.C. has made clear that it intends to investigate what it sees as D.E.I. overreach, which could include specific targets for hiring employees of underrepresented groups, or executive bonuses tied to meeting those goals. Some goals based on race and gender that were set during the Biden administration were not reflective of availability in the work force, potentially operating more like a quota than a good faith placement goal, said Craig E. Leen, a partner in the employment practice at the law firm K&L Gates. Some employers are realizing that the goals are not attainable in a legal manner and are therefore resetting expectations. To some D.E.I. proponents, the speed of the reversal has underscored the shallowness of some of the initial commitments. As youre seeing companies pull back from these commitments, a lot of people are questioning how credible those commitments were in the first place, Mr. Solorzano of Vinson & Elkins said. Lacey Outten For years, food tourism was synonymous with big citiesthink Manhattans Michelin-starred restaurants, Parisian bistros, Tokyos famed sushi counters. But a shift is underway. Travelers are finding themselves increasingly drawn to small-town food scenes, seeking out hidden gems that offer an authentic sense of place. Todays culinary tourists crave more than just a meal; they want an experienceone that connects them directly to the heart of a destinations culture, history and people. This evolution isnt a passing trend. Culinary tourism has become a significant economic driver that is fueling local economies and reshaping the way small towns position themselves in the travel space. From farm-to-table eateries to regional food festivals, the culinary scene within small-town dining is no longer an afterthoughtits now a reason to visit and in many cases, the reason to visit. The rise of small-town culinary destinations There are several factors creating this shift in food tourism. The first of which is the quest for authenticity. Travelers crave immersive experiences that showcase local flavors and traditions. They are prioritizing the undiscovered over the must-see. Social media also has a profound impact on culinary tourism. Instagram and TikTok have turned off-the-beaten-path restaurants into viral sensations overnight. Food bloggers and influencers are spotlighting mom-and-pop establishments, drawing visitors eager to taste what theyve seen online, but not just for the food to be part of the story. And finally, diners are becoming more conscious of where their food comes from. Theyre prioritizing restaurants and brands that source locally, support regional farmers and practice sustainability. How the local food scene fuels local economies and tourism growth A thriving food scene doesnt just benefit restaurantsit uplifts entire communities. When a town becomes a food destination, it sees increased visitor spending as well as growth in its hospitality sector, from the emergence of new boutique hotels to guided culinary tour companies. As more new businesses emerge to support the influx of food travelers, a destination will see more job creation and local investment. Culinary tourism also helps small towns preserve their heritage and support local producers. Restaurants sourcing ingredients from nearby farms strengthen regional agriculture, while food festivals celebrating historic dishes keep local traditions alive. Investing in a vibrant food scene often means reinvigorating a towns identity, making it a destination rather than a detour. This article is featured in O'Dwyer's Mar. '25 Food & Beverage PR Magazine Leveraging PR and storytelling to spotlight small-town culinary scenes The key to positioning a small town as a culinary hotspot lies in storytelling. The most successful campaigns highlight what makes a destination unique, whether its a century-old family recipe, an unexpected fusion of cultures, or a chef redefining a certain cuisine. Tourism boards and destination marketing organizations play a crucial role in amplifying these stories. By integrating these angles into their marketing strategies, they can attract culinary travelers who might otherwise overlook their smaller destination. At Hemsworth, we offer a unique specialization in food and beverage and destination marketing, helping brands craft compelling narratives that showcase their unique culinary offerings to travelers looking to create long-lasting vacation memories. From orchestrating immersive culinary press trips to developing tailored F&B-themed social media campaigns, our team understands how to turn local flavors into national headlines. For small-town destinations to gain regional or national recognition, a strong public relations strategy is essential. Some proven tactics include: Press trips and media tastings. Inviting journalists and influencersqualified, vetted ones!to experience a destination firsthand ensures authentic storytelling and high-quality content Strategic collaborations. Partnering with well-known chefs, brands, food writers or social media influencers can lend credibility and expand your reach Seasonal and event-based pitches. Leveraging food festivals, restaurant weeks and seasonal ingredients found in your destination can create timely media opportunities to attract travelers Digital storytelling. Blogs, social media campaigns and video content help engage culinary enthusiasts worldwide, turning curiosity into visitation Small towns are no longer just stopoverstheyre becoming primary tourism destinations. By leveraging strategic PR, creative storytelling, and a focus on authentic experiences, tourism leaders can elevate their communities and attract the right type of traveler to their destination, prompting future growth and success for their local business owners and brands. *** Lacey Outten is an Associate VP at Hemsworth. THE Kilcormac Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is polluting the town's river, according to a recently published report, an issue which many locals are very concerned about. A Study of the Silver River was commissioned by the local Angling Club and it was researched and written by ecologist Rory Dalton of Ecology Research and Solutions, Killarney. The report includes a letter sent by Rory to the Irish Water Head Office in Dublin, which was an official complaint on behalf of the community. The WWTP is non-compliant with its discharge licence. An examination of the Plant's outfall during medium to high flows shows that the effluent is having an impact on the river. READ NEXT: Man must pay 15,000 for breaking Offaly man's jaw with one punch at house party The water coming from the outfall has a grey tinge and there are high levels of algae, indicated enriched conditions. During medium to high flows there is also a smell from the outfall. If Uisce Eireann / Irish Water fail to deal with this discharge problem then the locals want a number of surveys to be carried out on the river in order to build up their case. The studies, if carried out, will examine the levels of Phosphates, Nitrates and Algae, both upstream and downstream of the discharge point. All surveying would be carried out in low flow conditions and warm sunny weather when the river's pressures become most apparent and when most of the damage is done ecologically. A dedicated doctor in Offaly has retired retires after 40 years of service in general practice. Dr Velma Harkins of Banagher Family Practice has officially retired after over four decades of dedicated service to general practice in Banagher. Dr Harkins first arrived in Banagher in 1984 as an assistant in Dr Peadar Kennys practice. In 1990, she established her own practice at the Health Centre on Cuba Avenue, where she remained a steadfast advocate for rural general practice, diabetes care and GP training. Throughout her career, Dr Harkins has made a profound impact both locally and nationally. She has represented general practitioners on numerous national committees, including the BreastCheck Steering Group and, more recently, the National Screening Advisory Committee. A pioneer in diabetes care, Dr Harkins was instrumental in transforming the management of Type 2 diabetes in the Midlands. Recognising the need for structured care, she spearheaded the creation of the Midlands Structured Diabetes Care Programme, a model that has since shaped national policy. As the author of the first ICGP/HSE national guidelines for integrated diabetes care, she played a pivotal role in standardising diabetes management. Her expertise led to her appointment to the Expert Advisory Group on Diabetes in 2009, and she went on to serve as National GP Lead for Diabetes from 2010 to 2014. In recognition of her outstanding vision and leadership in enhancing Type 2 Diabetes Care in Ireland, in 2020 she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. READ NEXT: 'He never ages' - Fans thrilled as Offaly 'living legend' appears on RTE show Beyond her clinical work, Dr Harkins was deeply committed to medical education. A GP trainer since 1995, she mentored 26 GP registrars, shaping the next generation of family doctors. She also served as Chair of the National Association of Trainers in General Practice, where she played a key role in negotiating the National GP Trainers Contract. Dr Harkins has also made significant contributions to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), serving two terms on its Board. From 2017 to 2022, she chaired the Quality, Safety & Standards Committee, leading efforts to develop and implement quality measures for both GPs and patients. She is looking forward to taking up the role of President of the College for a one-year term commencing in May 2026, a role she is sure to relish and will carry out with her usual aplomb. Reflecting on her career, Dr. Harkins said I have been incredibly fortunate to serve as a GP in Banagher. It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to care for my patients and their families over the years. The connections Ive built with my patients are something I will deeply miss. I am also grateful to have worked alongside such wonderful colleagues and a truly supportive team. READ NEXT: Popular Offaly Pub celebrates 20 years in business with big night Dr Shane Carroll, her GP partner, paid tribute to her legacy: General practice has changed tremendously during Dr Harkins career. Through both challenges and progress, she remained unwavering in her commitment to providing the highest quality care to all her patients. She was the driving force behind the construction of the Banagher Primary Care Centre, which opened in 2021 - her lasting legacy to the community. We have been privileged to work alongside Velma and are truly inspired by her compassion, knowledge, and dedication. Velma, we wish you a long and happy retirement! Practice Manager Diane FitzGerald added: Velmas commitment to both the staff and the people of Banagher has been extraordinary. She will be deeply missed, but we wish her all the best in her well-earned retirement. Dr Harkins leaves behind a remarkable legacy of patient care, medical education, and healthcare advocacy. Her impact on general practice, diabetes management, and GP training will be felt for years to come. In a collaborative effort to address one of Australias most pressing workforce challenges, Engineers Australia and Consult Australia have unveiled Improving Access to Global Engineering Skills, a comprehensive business guide designed to empower Australian companies to harness the untapped potential of overseas-qualified engineers. This initiative arrives at a critical juncture when engineering expertise is in unprecedented demand across all sectors of the economy. The guide serves as a beacon for businesses seeking to bridge the skills gap, diversify their teams, and bolster resilience in an increasingly competitive global market. Australias engineering sector is facing a paradox. While more than 60% of the nations engineering workforce comprises individuals born overseasa testament to the countrys reliance on international talentnearly half of these overseas-qualified engineers remain unemployed or underemployed. This statistic represents not only a significant loss of potential but also an opportunity for businesses willing to adapt and innovate. For businesses, the benefits of adopting the guides recommendations extend beyond immediate staffing needs. Hiring overseas-qualified engineers can enhance a companys reputation as an inclusive and forward-thinking employer, attract top talent domestically and abroad, and position it to thrive in an interconnected world. For the engineers themselves, it opens doors to meaningful employment, allowing them to contribute their skills to Australias growth while building fulfilling careers. A Call to Embrace Diversity in Engineering Bernadette Foley, Acting Chief Engineer at Engineers Australia, emphasized the transformative potential of embracing overseas-qualified engineers. Australias engineering community stands to gain immensely by broadening our horizons and fully recognizing the value that international professionals bring to the table, she said. These engineers offer fresh perspectives, diverse expertise, and innovative approaches that can invigorate our industry. By tapping into this talent pool, were not just addressing a skills shortagewere building a stronger, more sustainable future for all Australians. Foleys remarks underscore a broader truth: diversity is a strength, not a liability. Overseas-qualified engineers often bring unique experiences from working in different regulatory environments, climates, and infrastructure contextsskills that can enhance Australias capacity to tackle complex challenges, from climate-resilient infrastructure to cutting-edge technological advancements. Yet, barriers such as qualification recognition, cultural integration, and bureaucratic hurdles have historically prevented businesses from fully leveraging this resource. The new guide seeks to dismantle these obstacles, providing a clear path forward. The Engineering Skills Crisis The urgency of this initiative cannot be overstated. According to the 2024 Infrastructure Australia Market Capacity Report, the shortage of engineering skills in Australia remains acute. Between 2021 and 2026, an estimated 25,000 engineers are projected to retirea significant exodus that threatens to exacerbate existing gaps in expertise. Compounding this challenge is the lengthy timeline required to train new engineers. Developing a professional capable of practicing independently typically takes around a decade, factoring in education, practical experience, and accreditation. For industries grappling with immediate needssuch as infrastructure development, renewable energy projects, and urban planningthis delay is untenable. A Practical Roadmap for Businesses Kristine Banks, National Policy Manager at Consult Australia, highlighted the guides role as a practical tool for employers. Addressing the engineering skills shortage requires a multifaceted approach, she explained. This guide provides a clear, step-by-step roadmap for businesses looking to recruit and retain overseas-qualified engineers. From understanding international qualification frameworks to navigating visa processes, its designed to demystify the journey and make global talent accessible to organizations of all sizes. The guide is structured to address the full spectrum of the hiring process, ensuring that businesseswhether small firms or large corporationscan implement its recommendations with confidence. It begins with an exploration of how to assess overseas qualifications, a task that can often feel daunting due to variations in educational systems and professional standards worldwide. By breaking down these complexities, the guide equips employers with the knowledge to evaluate candidates fairly and efficiently. Beyond qualifications, the guide delves into the intricacies of Australias visa system, offering clarity on sponsorship requirements, processing times, and compliance obligations. For many businesses, particularly those new to hiring internationally, these bureaucratic hurdles can be a deterrent. The guide alleviates these concerns by providing detailed guidance, supplemented with real-world examples of companies that have successfully navigated the process. Whats Inside the Guide? Improving Access to Global Engineering Skills is more than just a theoretical resourceits a hands-on toolkit packed with practical insights. Key features include: Case Studies : Real-life success stories of Australian businesses that have integrated overseas engineers into their teams, showcasing tangible benefits such as improved project outcomes, enhanced innovation, and stronger workforce diversity. : Real-life success stories of Australian businesses that have integrated overseas engineers into their teams, showcasing tangible benefits such as improved project outcomes, enhanced innovation, and stronger workforce diversity. Myth-Busting Facts : A section debunking common misconceptions about overseas qualifications, such as the notion that they are inherently inferior or incompatible with Australian standards. : A section debunking common misconceptions about overseas qualifications, such as the notion that they are inherently inferior or incompatible with Australian standards. Recruitment Strategies : Practical advice on sourcing talent, conducting interviews, and onboarding international hires to ensure a smooth transition into the workplace. : Practical advice on sourcing talent, conducting interviews, and onboarding international hires to ensure a smooth transition into the workplace. Retention Tips : Guidance on fostering an inclusive culture that supports long-term employee satisfaction and productivity. : Guidance on fostering an inclusive culture that supports long-term employee satisfaction and productivity. Standards and Frameworks: An overview of Australias engineering standards and qualification recognition processes, helping employers align international credentials with local expectations. Download the ImprovingAccess to Global Engineering Skills business guide HERE Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. OpEd News One-Time Security Check This Is NOT An Error Message Your site IP address* (145.224.119.253) is listed on one or more Internet blacklists. We get visited by hundreds of these spambots daily. To prevent these from taking resources away from legitimate users, we show this page. Please use the CAPTCHA below which proves you are human, not a spam bot. It's a one-time action** for your IP. After that, you will be able to access OpEd News easily. Thank you for your patience. * Here's more info about IP addresses. ** If your IP address is fixed, you'll be able to use this website from now on. However, if your Internet Service Provider (such as Verizon or T-Mobile) assigns you a different IP address every time you use your device, AND these IP addresses are NOT on an Internet blaclist, then all is good. If, for some strange reason, your ISP assigns you an IP that is blacklisted, then you'll have to go through this process again. (Unless you keep yourself logged in. We only check for spambots on non-logged in visitors.) (Image by SWinxy) Details DMCA Palestinian Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil was detained by US immigration authorities over the weekend for allegedly violating the terms of his visa after he was accused of illegally protesting against Israel on campus. However, a federal judge blocked any immediate effort by the Trump administration to deport Khalil, late Monday afternoon. Judge Jesse Furman ordered a hearing on Khalil's case to be held Wednesday morning in New York City. A group of 14 Democrats signed a Tuesday letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urging her to release Khalil. Democrats and even some on the right have called the arrest a violation of his First Amendment rights. The Trump administration is reportedly relying on a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives Secretary of State Marco Rubio sweeping power to expel foreigners. "We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported," Rubio said Monday on the social platform X, sharing a news report about Khalil's arrest. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more than two dozen other New York elected officials have signed on to a letter calling for the immediate release of Khalil. "The administration's pattern of targeting the rights of students and immigrants to speak against injustice undermines democracy and makes everyone less safe," reads the letter. "We're writing to urge his immediate release back to his family in New York City. We also call on the administration to remove ICE and DHS from our campuses. Finally, we urge Columbia University to cease any and all cooperation with immigration officials who violate our sanctuary city protections and put their students at risk." The Democrats argue he was "targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader" of the Gaza protest encampments last summer. "This illegal political justification has been stated clearly by figures throughout the administration, including the president himself. We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country." There is no question that the Trump administration is using Khalil as a "guinea pig" and a facade for its so-called crackdown on alleged violence. The fact is there is no evidence that Khalil is anything more than an activist fighting for the rights and freedoms of people around the world. There is nothing he has done that can be considered criminal and there is no reason for ICE to be going after him. This is just one example among many more to come of the Trump administration engaged in overreach and abuse of power. The American people cannot allow themselves to be governed by a despot dictator who believes he can rule the country at whim and based on what side of the bed he woke up on. It is time to make our voices heard and ensure that the freedoms and liberties of all Americans remains within the law. No government can violate these rights and we must work together to ensure this. Let's start be demanding the release of Khalil. I'm Back with a vengeance (Image by Akemi Ohira) Details DMCA Before Fri 2-28-25 Televised Oval Office executive sham, tag you're it defamation attempt on heroic American ally, many Americans hadn't recognized the inequitable mutualism uniting Trump and Putin against the best interests of the United States, its Allies - and all Americans. Before 9/11/2001, we believed it couldn't happen here! Then on 1/20/21, in real time, we watched a loser's inspired domestic terrorism against America's Congress. Before #45, Americans agreed: Russian and Chinese leaders choose to be America's enemies. Before #47, we honored our global responsibility to a Russian invaded friend who asked not for American boots on the ground, but for equipment and munitions to aid in defending their sovereignty - and by extension: providing America a European buffer between USA and Russian military aggression. Before 1-20-2025, we didn't believe the oath keeping promises for blanket pardons as inevitable extensions of, Stand Back and Stand By - guaranteeing a rogue White House an unregulated militia ready, willing and able to impose an unconstitutional third term. After 2-28-2025's staged photo-op serializing TV Apprentice memories for Trump's orgasmic, you're fired , Trump confessed: This Is Going to Be Great Television . Before the applause of Russia's Oligarchy chorus could completely encircle America's trumped honor into foreign submission, - branches of our State and Federal governments began resisting the inevitable, Zelenskyy was prevented from explaining in the Oval by a rehearsed Vance performing his lines , because one soulless felon is easily camouflaged by two so low solos. Threatening an American ally with a WWIII Russian victory, America's what's in it for me transactional #47 reprised 45's 7-25-19 telephone version of, let's make a deal - confirming the only cards DJT holds are, delt by a Kremlin, grateful for classified documents his comrade stole. Remember, just because a court jester longing to be the ring master plays ring around the roses' Red Square, doesn't mean life, liberty and the pursuit of American happiness can be denied by those who enable the circus. FYI: while a patiently silent China waits watching Putin/Trump weaken America's Ol' Glory , a muskrat can't do anything without a self-serving felon's U. S. Seal of approval. Revelation: America's Russian-Puppet-in-Chief is ready, willing and able to sacrifice each and every person in America - for his personal gain. Allow: fool me once to suffice, and be not deceived by the serpent's cunning, or we risk our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. America's real enemies are hiding in plain sight and have - without fear of Americans' reprisal - just brazenly broadcast their flip-flopping on NATO in favor of Putin. Now, how best will we, the reasonable non-violent American patriots, extirpate this evil from the land? America is not a business, but if it was, would it be wise to hire someone to run it who has six bankruptcies on his credit report. Government needs dedicated and responsible personnel who know which agency does what and for whom - not fortune hunters. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). A worker piles freshly harvested durians at an orchard in Chumphon, Thailand, Sept. 18, 2023. Photo by AFP Fruit was the most valuable agricultural export of Thailand last year, with total turnover hitting US$6.51 billion, surpassing the five-year average of $5.86 billion, according to the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO). Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of TPSO, attributed this success to rising demand in global markets, and increasing popularity because of Thai fruit's high quality, variety and unique flavours. Thailand earned $5.15 billion in revenue from exporting fresh fruits in 2024. Key exports included durian, longan, mangosteen, young coconut and mango. China was the dominant export market, accounting for 97.4% of these shipments, followed by Hong Kong (China), the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and the U.S. Poonpong said while Thailand's fresh fruit exports are heavily dependent on the Chinese market, increased competition poses challenges, especially for durian. Since 2023, China has allowed imports of Thai durian, but also started permitting imports from Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, coupled with stricter import regulations. To maintain competitiveness, he said Thailand needs to adapt swiftly and explore new export markets, including the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. The Thai Commerce Ministry sets to increase exports by exploring new potential markets, while also supporting value-added processing of agricultural products and preparing strategies to manage fruit production this year, ensuring market stability. Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The grim job of graves being dug, and burials has finally begun up and down the Syrian coast as calm is slowly restored, and the survivors of Alawite families can return home to bury their dead. According to Western diplomatic sources, the Damascus administration of interim President Ahmad Sharaa will be arresting Abu Amsha, the head of the 25th division, in the investigation of sectarian crimes on the coast. His real name is Mohammed Al-Jassin, from eastern Syria. On March 10, Sharaa said mass killings of members of a minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country and promised to find those responsible and carry out punishments. According to Rami Abdul Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), more than 1,000 have died in violence in the Syrian coastal cities of Tartus, Banias, Jeblah, Latakia, and the rural countryside adjacent to them. Abdul Rahman spoke with Al Hurra TV, an Iraqi media supported by the US. He said survivors were prevented from burying the dead because the killers re-dressed some victims in battle fatigues before filming videos justifying their murders. The dead were shot with bullets at close range. According to SOHR, at least 250 Alawite fighters and more than 230 members of the security forces had died. Damascus blamed armed gangs associated with the ousted president, who are backed by foreigners for triggering the bloodshed, but acknowledged that revenge killings had followed. On March 9, Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of the ousted president of Syria, blamed the violence on former Brigadier General Ghiyath Dalla, an officer in the Fourth Division. Makhlouf accused him of sparking the recent killings in the Syrian coast that prompted the retaliatory and revenge attacks by the security forces. What have you done to our people, Ghiyath Dalla? What did you do with the head of military intelligence and the civilians around you? Why did you involve these innocent civilians in this affair with you and exploited their need for money? he wrote. Haven't you, Mr. Fleeing President, already destroyed the country, divided it, ruined its army and economy, starved its people, and fled with money that, if distributed, would have ensured no one went hungry or poor?, added Makhlouf. A small group of Alawites had planned a coup against the Sharaa government in Damascus, seeking to break off the coast into an Alawite state. Some former loyalists felt the loss of power, influence, and income. While the former president and family left, their minions remained and lost the lavish lifestyles of the hangers-on. Mansions and Mercedes were confiscated, forced into hiding, and bitterly disappointed. Iran also has lost everything in Syria. But, Iran is a state, with funds to support getting their foot back into the door in Syria on the coast. Iran supported the insurgency from the safety of Tehran, but the comeback attempt failed and left hundreds of innocent farmers paying the ultimate price for the Iranian gamble. Abu Amsha and Hamzat divisions are being blamed for the majority of the killings of civilians on the coast. These two groups joined with the HTS in November in Idlib, and by December 8th the coalition of rebel fighters had successfully ousted the former president. Both factions and their leaders are under US sanctions for alleged serious human rights abuses including rape and torture which pre-date the current allegations. Sharaa had voiced concern about having foreign fighters in the new security forces, and some had wanted them to be removed. Both of the accused groups have foreign fighters, such as Chinese Uyghurs, Uzbeks, and Chechens. According to survivors, they looted the homes of gold, cash, and cars before killing unarmed people. Sharaa gave two speeches addressing the situation. He provided clarity and formed an investigation committee. He was interviewed by Reuters, saying he was not to let any group, whether a minority or his own associates, derail the path towards peace, security, and prosperity. On March 9, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the killings and accused the security forces who carried out the civilian massacres of being "radical Islamic terrorists". "The bloodshed in Syria must stop immediately, and perpetrators of violations must be held to account," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Dujarric referred to "widespread summary killings, including of entire families, and the loss of one of our colleagues from UNRWA," who was caught in the crossfire. On March 10, the UN Security Council met in a two-hour closed session requested jointly by the US and Russia concerning the coastal massacres. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after the meeting that the 15-nation council "was pretty unanimous" on the gravity of the situation. On March 11, the UN Security Council held a briefing on cooperation between the UN and EU, with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas. Kallas called for a Syrian-led political process to establish credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance. She noted that on February 24, the EU lifted sanctions impacting Syria's oil, gas, electricity, and transport sectors as part of its effort to support Syria's transition, economic recovery, and reconstruction. She noted that a conference will be held in Brussels on March 17 to mobilize support for Syria. Turkish media followed the coastal situation with balanced reporting, while the Turkish government supported the Sharaa administration. Turkey has been keen to see Syria become a safe place so that the roughly 3 million Syrian refugees can return home. On March 9, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, and Turkey's Intelligence Organization Director Ibrahim Kalin attended the meeting among Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria in Amman, Jordan. Experts fear this violence may cause a mass exodus of minorities from the coastal region, as they seek safety abroad. Recently, there have been attacks on Christian churches and graveyards. These events instill fear in the various religious and ethnic groups. Many of the brightest minds and skilled workers come from the minority communities, and experts fear a growing 'brain drain', leaving Syria lacking when the recovery process begins. Despite the Sunni majority of Syria and the fact the new administration is led by Sunnis, there is a substantial portion of the Syrian population who are Sunni and staunchly secular in their political beliefs. These Syrians had been happy at the fall of Assad but may grow increasingly disappointed with the trajectory of the Damascus administration. They too may join their fellow Syrians in charting a new life abroad. Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. Oslo, Norway. 12th March 2025 Aida Social, an innovator in AI-driven social media content creation and management, has been named the official Social Media Sponsor for the 2025 Hashtag Events Business Shows, spanning the UK and Ireland. This exciting collaboration will provide businesses of all sizes with complimentary access to Aida Social's advanced AI platform, supercharging their approach to online presence. Through this strategic partnership, every business attending or exhibiting at Hashtag Bragoli & Associates, a trusted and accomplished personal injury law firm on Long Island, is proud to announce the launch of the Bragoli & Associates 2025 Scholarship. This scholarship reflects the firm's ongoing commitment to supporting the next generation of legal professionals while fostering a positive impact on the New York community. The scholarship is open to undergraduate students planning to attend law school or current law school students enrolled in A former Clackamas County corrections deputy was sentenced to a year of probation Wednesday for punching a jail inmate in the summer of 2023. Getty Images A former Clackamas County corrections deputy was sentenced to a year of probation Wednesday for punching a jail inmate in 2023. Jeanamarie Fisher, 45, received her sentence in Clackamas County Circuit Court after she agreed to plead guilty to one count of official misconduct, a misdemeanor. As part of her sentence, she must complete 40 hours of community service and must surrender her law enforcement certification. Surveillance video in the Clackamas County jail showed Antwon Lee Williams, 43, asleep in a holding cell July 27. Prosecutors wrote in a news release that Fisher entered the cell and tried to wake him up by shaking him. She noticed Williams was wearing multiple shirts and pulled up the outermost layer. Williams then took off a shirt, tossed it to the ground and threw another piece of clothing at Fisher, according to the news release. Prosecutors say Fisher then began punching him in the face, striking him six times in four seconds. She was placed on administrative leave the following week. Fisher joined the Clackamas County sheriffs office as a jail deputy in 2015. She was let go last month. Zaeem Shaikh covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-221- 4323, zshaikh@oregonian.com or on X @zaeemshake A man wearing a face covering accidentally set himself on fire while burning three Tesla charging stations in an act of protest, South Carolina police said. Before igniting the flames March 7, the man used red spray paint to write a profane message against President Donald Trump and long live Ukraine on the ground next to the charging stations outside of a Mellow Mushroom, according to a North Charleston Police Department report shared with McClatchy News. The man then ignited an unidentified material stuffed into beer bottles and began to throw the bottles at the stations, police said. Witnesses told officers the man ran away after accidentally catching his back on fire, according to the report. No arrests have been made, North Charleston Police spokesperson Harve Jacobs said Tuesday. The agency turned the investigation over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Investigators collected the beer bottles while firefighters cut the power to the chargers and put out the blaze. Fire officials cut power to the three stations that were ablaze, police said. Damages are an estimated $60,000, according to the report. The incident is one of several at Tesla-related sites, including one in Salem, after Elon Musks moves to reduce federal spending under Trump. According to reports, theres been an uptick in arson and vandalism of Tesla property since Musk, the companys CEO, began his role as head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, established by Trump. McClatchy News reached out to Tesla for comment March 12 but did not receive an immediate response. Trump bought a Tesla on March 11 in support of Musk. I think hes been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people, and I just want people to know that he cant be penalized for being a patriot, Trump said about Musk. Number one, its a great product, as good as it getsand number two, because @ElonMusk has devoted his energy and his life to doing this and I think he has been treated very unfairly pic.twitter.com/6qrfwrbT0f Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2025 The next day, House Speaker Mike Johnson made a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the attacks. Congress will investigate the sources of these attacks and help the DOJ & FBI ensure those responsible are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Johnson said. --The Associated Press and Tribune News Service contributed The state has carried out three executions by lethal injection, starting with its first in 1994. AP BOISE Gov. Brad Little signed a bill into law Wednesday to make Idaho the only U.S. state with a firing squad as its preferred option to end prisoners' lives starting next year, amid lawmakers' claims the controversial method would reduce litigation and execution delays. Littles action comes on the heels of the first U.S. execution by firing squad in nearly 15 years last week in South Carolina. Idaho counts nine prisoners on its death row, but hasnt carried out the death penalty in more than a dozen years. The state failed last year in its attempt to perform a lethal injection when the execution team could not find a suitable vein for an IV on 73-year-old prisoner Thomas Creech. Littles online bill action tracking sheet reflected that he signed House Bill 37 Wednesday morning. More than two-thirds of the Republican-controlled Legislature supported the bill, which keeps lethal injection as the states backup method. Littles office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Idaho Statesman Wednesday evening when the updated tracking sheet posted. Two years earlier, the two-term Republican governor approved a law to add a firing squad as the states backup execution method, but stated his continued preference for lethal injection. The families of the victims deserve justice for their loved ones and the death penalty is a way to bring them peace, Little said in a statement at the time. I am signing House Bill 186 because I support policies that enable the state of Idaho to successfully carry out the death penalty. The family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four University of Idaho student stabbing victims, backed that bill and also issued their public support last month for the switch to a firing squad in state executions. Prosecutors in the case intend to seek the death penalty for suspect Bryan Kohberger if he is convicted on four counts of murder. Kohberger, whose trial is scheduled for this summer in Boise, is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. We are not walking away from this fight. This coward will pay for what he has taken from all four families, Tami Buttz, Goncalves' aunt, wrote last week in a post on a dedicated family Facebook page. Living without them is a lifetime sentence for all of us. He deserves more! That means death penalty by firing squad! Nothing less! The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, meanwhile, condemned Littles decision Wednesday. Besides Idaho and South Carolina, the other U.S. states with a firing squad on the books are Utah, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Regardless of how the state conducts executions, the ACLU of Idaho remains adamant that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendments protections to all citizens against cruel and unusual punishment, spokesperson Rebecca De Leon said in an emailed statement to the Statesman. It is upsetting that Idahos officials continue to expand into more barbaric ways to kill a person who has already been removed from society. Idaho has never used a firing squad to carry out the death penalty, and the prison systems execution chamber at the maximum security prison south of Boise has still yet to be renovated to accommodate the method. The Idaho Department of Correction ran into past issues finding a contractor willing to perform work on the project, but has since had designs produced, with cost estimates approaching $1 million. The state has carried out three executions by lethal injection, starting with its first in 1994. Before that, Idaho hanged prisoners who were sentenced to death, having last done so in 1957, according to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. Last week, South Carolina executed convicted double-murderer Brad Sigmon by firing squad. At 67, he was the oldest prisoner to be put to death in that states history, The State newspaper in South Carolina reported. The shots were fired, they obliterated the target on his chest, and then the bullets spread on impact, and he was killed, Robert Dunham, an attorney and director of the Death Penalty Police Project, told the Statesman by phone. The general description was that it was a violent execution and he died quickly. The new law in Idaho will shift the state away from lethal injection as its leading execution method to a firing squad starting in July 2026. Idaho previously had a firing squad as a reserve execution method from 1982 to 2009, but it went unused and was removed from law until Little agreed to bring it back in 2023. This year, backed by LaMont Anderson, capital litigation chief in the Idaho Attorney Generals Office, bill sponsors Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, and Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, told fellow lawmakers that prioritizing a firing squad would help reduce appeals from death row prisoners and speed up the execution process. They also said shooting prisoners to death is more humane because it is more certain and effective than lethal injection, which in recent years has seen a rise in botched attempts across the U.S., including with Creech last year. The Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association took no position on the firing squad bill, and a spokesperson for the organization declined to comment to the Statesman. A stay of execution remains in effect for Creech, now 74, while he awaits a federal judges ruling on whether a second attempt to put him to death would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Creech has been incarcerated for more than 50 years after convictions for three murders in Idaho, the majority of that time under a death sentence, which makes him the states longest-serving death row prisoner after decades of appeals. The Federal Defender Services of Idaho, the legal nonprofit that represents several of Idahos death row prisoners, including Creech, has previously declined to comment on this years firing squad bill. The organization did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday from the Statesman after Little signed it into law. Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt, who oversees the states executions, has so far declined to comment on the prison systems transition to a firing squad as its primary option. But before a House committee in February 2022 concerning another execution-related bill, Tewalt cautioned lawmakers that assertions the method will lead to less litigation were wrong. Despite testimony we heard earlier, I dont think you could expect fewer legal challenges to a firing squad, he said. I would suggest that viewing alternative methods of execution as an easier path or as a path to reduce litigation, or make executions more likely is going to have the inverse result. Dunham told the Statesman that there could be fewer lawsuits concerning the specific execution method with the transition from lethal injection to a firing squad. But appeals from death row prisoner wont suddenly evaporate from the change, he said, and new legal avenues also may present themselves depending on Idahos firing squad procedures. Tewalt said during his 2022 House committee testimony that, as the IDOC director, he didnt feel the compulsion to ask my staff to participate in a firing squad execution. More recently, an IDOC spokesperson told the Statesman that the firing squad procedures have yet to be finalized, but state prison officials are exploring a remote-operated system as one possible option. Something like that would certainly lead to litigation, Dunham said in a phone interview. How accurate is it, and whats the training of the people who are going to be setting it up? I dont know if thats done by a program, but whats the process by which you determine where its firing? That will all come under scrutiny in the courts. Beyond legal questions, Dunham warned of other potential repercussions, including social and financial impacts, that may result from Idaho moving to firing squad executions. Shooting prisoners to death has consequences for the reputation of the state, he said. Some companies wont want to do business in Idaho, some nations' tourism industries will not want to send people to Idaho for recreation. Thats a cost that legislators often dont consider, but being perceived as a Wild West state thats engaged in frontier justice doesnt reflect well on the bottom line. _____ 2025 Idaho Statesman. Visit at idahostatesman.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Dr. Edward Gary Edwards routinely molested the boys at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility with ungloved hands in a practice so ubiquitous and well-known among boys and staff at Oregons youth prison that he earned the name Dr. Cold Fingers, the civil rights lawsuit alleges. Beth Nakamura/Staff (file) Ten men who were held as boys at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility filed a $51 million lawsuit Thursday against the state, alleging they were sexually abused by the prisons longtime chief medical officer. Dr. Edward Gary Edwards routinely molested the boys with ungloved hands in a practice so ubiquitous and well-known among boys and staff at Oregons youth prison that he earned the name Dr. Cold Fingers, the civil rights lawsuit alleges. Portland police on Thursday released a photo of a man they identified as a supect in a fatal July shooting of a 35-year-old man in Old Town. They're asking for the public's help to ID him and potentially share his whereabouts. Courtesy of Portland Police Bureau Portland police are asking for the publics help to identify a suspect in a fatal July shooting of a 35-year-old man in Old Town. Officers were patrolling the neighborhoods entertainment district shortly before midnight July 5 when they heard gunfire in the area of Northwest 3rd Avenue and Everett Street. When they arrived, they found Jose Luis Galindo-Maldonado suffering from serious injuries. Police have not announced any arrests or suspects. Courtesy of the Tigard Police Department Police are investigating a shooting at a Tesla dealership in Tigard on Thursday morning the second at that location in a week. More than a dozen shots were fired at around 4:15 a.m., causing extensive damage to the dealerships building as well as cars parked on the lot, officials said. A security guard was on the property at the time of the shooting, but nobody was injured, according to a Tigard Police Department statement. The previous Thursday, March 6, the same Tesla dealership was peppered with at least seven shots that damaged three cars, shattered windows and even pierced an office wall and hit a computer monitor, police said. Tigard police have not announced any arrests or suspects. The department said it is working with the FBI and ATF on the investigations into the shootings. The shootings targeting the dealership come as Teslas CEO, Elon Musk, increasingly becomes a controversial political figure. President Donald Trump made Musks a special government employee and charged him with slashing the size of the federal government, provoking waves of protests across the country, including in Oregon. In January, a Tesla dealership in Salem was firebombed, and a month later, gunshots were fired into the building, leading to an arrest. Tatum Todd is a breaking news reporter who covers public safety, crime and community news. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com or 503-221-4313. On June 28, 2019, Frank Gable walked out of the Lansing Correctional Facility, in Kansas, where he had been held last after serving nearly 30 years of a life sentence without the possibility of parole in the killing of Oregon prisons chief Michael Francke, 42, in Salem. The state has offered to pay nearly $2 million plus attorney fees to Frank Gable to settle his wrongful conviction lawsuit against Oregon in the 1989 killing of Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke. The March 4 offer, signed by Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Enfield, is not an admission of liability, according to a copy obtained Wednesday by The Oregonian/OregonLive and first reported by the Portland Tribune. AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. Photo by Reuters South Koreas semiconductor industry faces a talent shortage as top students choose medical schools over engineering, sparking concerns about the countrys competitiveness in artificial intelligence and chipmaking. Despite stable job prospects at major firms like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the admission withdrawal rate for top semiconductor departments surged to 179% in 2024, according to The Korea Herald. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy estimates a shortfall of 56,000 chip engineers by 2031. Experts warn that South Korea risks lagging behind global rivals like China and the U.S., both investing heavily in AI and semiconductor research. "China is set to invest 1,800 trillion won (US$1.24 billion) in AI over the next five years until 2030. The U.S. is also committing $500 billion under the Stargate Project. Koreas investment last year amounted to just 1.8 trillion won," Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the ruling People Power Party, a former physician and founder of South Korean cybersecurity firm AhnLab, said. "How can we catch up? China has 410,000 AI researchers and the U.S. has 200,000. South Korea has fewer than 20,000." Lee Jong-hwan, a system semiconductor engineering professor at Sangmyung University, cited Chinas DeepSeek AI model as an example of how strategic talent development fuels innovation. "In Korea, top talent is drawn to medical schools. At prestigious universities, even those enrolled often retake the college entrance exam to pursue medical school," he said. Although the government has expanded semiconductor-related university programs, experts argue that a structured workforce development plan is crucial. The country also struggles to retain highly skilled professionals, as global chipmakers offer lucrative salaries that lure Ph.D. graduates abroad. "I had received a job offer from Qualcomm, but I chose Samsung, and I was an unusual case among my colleagues," said a semiconductor engineer with a Ph.D. in chip engineering from a top-tier university, speaking on condition of anonymity. Enrollment in semiconductor graduate programs continues to decline, with Sungkyunkwan Universitys rate dropping from 17.6% in 2021 to 15.8% in 2023. Industry leaders emphasize the need to improve social perceptions and offer better incentives for semiconductor professionals to safeguard South Koreas future in the global chip race. "Social perceptions and treatment of the semiconductor and engineering fields should undergo significant changes for the future of the chip industry," Lee said. A Vancouver man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a slew of crimes in Multnomah County, including shooting a man to death in 2022 and then, two years later, trying to kill a witness to the shooting. Jacob Fitzgerald, 24, was sentenced to 34 years in prison for manslaughter, attempted murder, assault, burglary with a firearm and robbery, according to court documents and a Multnomah County District Attorneys Office statement. Fitzgeralds attorney declined to comment on the guilty pleas. In the early morning hours of August 6, 2022, Fitzgerald was driving a stolen car, with 53-year-old Otis Abner and a woman identified as Ryan Smith as passengers, court records state. Fitzgerald and Abner got into an argument, which escalated until Fitzgerald stopped the car near 1130 N. Schmeer Road in Portland, records say. Abner got out of the car, and he threw a sandwich at it as Fitzgerald began to drive away. Fitzgerald hit the brakes, got out of the car and fired seven rounds at Abner with a 9 mm handgun, prosecutors alleged. A bullet hit Abner in the heart, killing him, court records say. Smith witnessed the shooting, and over a year later Fitzgerald attempted to cover up the murder by trying to kill her, prosecutors alleged. In February 2024, Smith contacted police, telling officers that Fitzgerald was hunting her, records state. Two days later, Jacob Fitzgerald and his sister Joanna allegedly crept up on the motorhome where Smith was staying and forced the door open while Smith called 911. Jacob Fitzgerald fired a gun at Smith and her boyfriend. Smith was shot in the face and arm, and the Fitzgerald siblings fled the scene, court records say. Smith was driven to a hospital and survived her injuries. Police arrested Jacob Fitzgerald about a month after the alleged attack on Smith. Police also arrested Joanna Fitzgerald. She faces charges that include attempt to commit murder, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and burglary. She is scheduled to appear in court this week. In addition to the charges associated with Abners killing, Jacob Fitzgeralds guilty plea includes an armed robbery that occurred the day before he was arrested on March, 18, 2024. The district attorneys office also said that his guilty plea resolves a case in Washington County, apparently referring to an alleged hit-and-run in 2021. Tatum Todd is a breaking news reporter who covers public safety, crime and community news. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com or 503-221-4313. Chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson stands in the entryway of her restaurant, Javelina, in Northeast Portland on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Vickie Connor/The Oregonian Editors Note: Javelina will be moving to a new location at 4636 N.E. 42nd Ave. Their last day in the current space will be Saturday, March 29. After a short break, they will relaunch on April 17, 2025, in the Cully neighborhood. The tasting menu experience, Insha, will return in May. Alexa Numkena-Anderson, an Indigenous Hopi, Yakama, Skokomish and Cree Nations and Mexican chef, sees her first restaurant, Javelina, as her duty to the community. Javelina felt like a necessity in many ways. Lack of representation, I mean, thats a huge part of it, Numkena-Anderson said. Aside from Javelina, There are no Native American restaurants here in Portland, even though we have a huge rich urban Native population here in Portland alone. The small space, just off Northeast Killingsworth Street, is decorated with Indigenous art, cozy seating and a shelf filled with books, knicknacks, spices and bottles of wine. A kitchen in the main dining area splits the room in half, giving visitors a front-row seat to Numkena-Andersons craft. Javelina is a Northeast Portland restaurant with a menu that highlights traditional ingredients and dishes from chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson's tribal heritage. Vickie Connor/The Oregonian The restaurant, which opened in January, has steadily grown into a gathering place for the Indigenous community, Numkena-Anderson said. I think my whole mission is really to welcome community and help give them a platform, Numkena-Anderson said. The concept began as a pop-up food stand at powwows and Indigenous marketplaces, offering comfort food like fry bread, bison chili and burgers. I think November 12, 2023, was the first pop-up that we ever did, said Nick Numkena-Anderson, minority owner and general manager of Javelina, as well as Alexas spouse. We had a line around the corner. Alexa was surprised by the overwhelming community support, expecting it would take five years not one to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant. That excitement extended to the January opening of Javelina. People absolutely love Javelina, Alexa said. Moms and elder women have come in, and theyve been very emotional about it. A lot of times, people will ask me if they can give me a hug. Theres a lot of gratitude happening, and it makes me emotional. True to its nature, Javelina is intimate, warm and comfortable and the menu echoes those qualities. Bison sliders, blue corn tostadas, elk fry bread and hearty soups are paired with fresh herbal teas or wines from BIPOC- or women-owned wineries. Everything on the menu draws from first foods fare that existed in pre-colonial America. Blue Corn Tostada, Elk Fry bread and Sakari Farms Blueberry Leaf tea. Chiara Profenna The elk fry bread is the most popular item on the menu, Nick said, and a good representation of Javelinas approach to Indigenous cuisine. The dish is topped with braised elk shoulder, huckleberry barbecue sauce, mixed greens, chiles and red onion. Foundationally, its fried, Nick said. But on top is all this noncolonial goodness. Thats kind of what Javelina is trying to capture. The menu at Javelina redefines North American cuisine, said Nick, by representing the land. For Alexa, blending Indigenous and Mexican foods was both a challenge and workshop in creativity. Javelinas menu highlights traditional ingredients and dishes from chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson's tribal heritage. Vickie Connor/The Oregonian This has been all my own seeking and me trying to reconnect with being a Native person, Alexa said about the process of creating Javelinas menu. It was really emotional. It still feels emotional, the things that I get attached to. Its been fun, also, getting to learn about the different types of ingredients just getting to work with first foods has just been pleasantly surprising. Alexas culinary background as line cook and chef in Portland includes Bullard Tavern, Sammich, Radio Room, King Tide Fish & Shell, Headwaters and Imperial. However, she said, she didnt have full creative freedom at those locations. I had always tried to express the Native cooking side, but it was never about me, Alexa said. As a line cook, you kind of just put your head down, you show up, you do good work, shut it down, go home. Theres a lot of expectation to be like a kitchen soldier, in a way. I tried to express myself a few times, and sometimes it was received, and then other times it wasnt. Insha, meaning My Daughter in Yakama, is another venture into creative cuisine. On Friday and Saturday evenings, Javelina transforms into an intimate dining experience, offering just 22 tickets per night at $120 per person. The elevated tasting menu is dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, cane sugar-free and sources proteins found only in pre-colonial America, including wild boar, bison, duck, goose, rabbit and tribally caught fish. The menus at Insha change seasonally, but a recent menu included a three sisters dish beans, corn and squash oysters, rabbit and wild rice soup, smoked Yakama sturgeon, bison short rib and blue corn cake. Each course is inspired by Alexas tribal affiliations and is rooted in education and storytelling. The Rio Zape bean, a type of Pinto bean used in the three sisters dish, has its own rich history of rediscovery in 1935 in a Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. Insha is for people who want to learn about Indigenous foods, Alexa said. So a lot of people, if you serve beans on a plate, theyre like, Oh, its beans on a plate. But if I tell you the story of a Rio Zape bean and how it was extinct until they found it in a Pueblo that was actually a childrens honored grave site, then you look at it differently. While each course is naturally striking, Alexa hesitates to label it fine dining, calling the term a bit pretentious. Im really just trying to showcase first foods and giving it a platform, Alexa said. The plus side is that it just comes out naturally, beautiful and worthy of that recognition. While Insha offers a more upscale take on Indigenous dining, Alexa is confident that Javelina is here to stay. Javelina is first and most important to me, just because its so backed by the community, Alexa said. And so I dont ever want to take that away from people and what it represents. If you go: Javelina: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; Insha: 6 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 5425 N.E. 30th Ave., Portland; javelinapdx.com Lea este articulo en espanol: Como Javelina Indigenous Dining esta redefiniendo la cocina norteamericana Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; cprofenna@oregonian.com or @chiaraprofenna. The Oregonian/OregonLive receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to bring readers stories on religion, faith and cultural connections in Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive is solely responsible for all content. Pioneering chef and restaurateur Sam Ung founder of Phnom Penh Noodle House, Seattles first known Cambodian restaurant, and author of a 2011 autobiography about his experience as a refugee and genocide survivor died of a heart attack March 5 at his home in Independence, Mo. He was 70. Ungs work ethic was legendary among his friends and family. The longtime owner of Phnom Penh Noodle House didnt procrastinate if he had a goal in mind, he wouldnt wait to get started. He makes us look really bad, said Diane Le, one of his daughters, with a laugh. He never took naps, he never wasted time. Make no mistake, though: Cooking was his talent and his art. Born in Battambang, Cambodia, to Cheng Ung and Meng Tan on Feb. 28, 1955, Ung was the sixth of nine kids. He realized cooking was his passion while working in the kitchen of his parents' noodle shop growing up and dreamed of someday opening his own restaurant. Ung and his then-wife, Kim, came to Seattle in 1980 from a refugee camp on the Thailand-Cambodia border after escaping the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. The couples oldest daughter, Dawn Ung, was born a month after they arrived in Washington state. After seven years of working in kitchens at Ivars and the Rainier Club in Seattle while raising Dawn and her younger sisters, Diane and Darlene Ung opened Phnom Penh on Maynard Avenue in the Chinatown International District in July 1987. But Ung continued to work at the Rainier Club. Once, he decided he wanted to learn to carve fruit so Ung bought two books and started creating massive, intricate carved-fruit sculptures at the club. Each day, he would rise early in the morning and head to Phnom Penh, prepping food for the evenings dinner rush. Hed then report to the Rainier Club for a lunch shift before heading back to his own restaurant for dinner service. He was the hardest-working man we know, Dawn Ung said. He was gone before we woke up in the morning and home after we were in bed. When we saw him, it was at the restaurant after school. Phnom Penh was the first Cambodian restaurant to open in the Chinatown International District and it quickly became known for its special rice noodle soup. The restaurant also became a touchpoint for many Cambodians and Cambodian Americans in Seattle and beyond. Karuna Long, owner of Cambodian bar and restaurant Sophon on Phinney Ridge, started visiting Phnom Penh Noodle House as a kid while visiting family in the Seattle area. Traveling from his childhood home in Long Beach, Calif. where there is a large Cambodian population Long said Phnom Penh stood out in the Seattle restaurant scene. What (Ung) did was create a pillar that represented a culture that most people didnt understand, Long said. They didnt know about the trauma and genocide that our parents went through, so seeing someone like him do what he did in Seattle planting the first Cambodian flag in Seattle means a lot." Running a restaurant for decades wasnt easy. In 1997, the roof collapsed after a heavy snowstorm and the restaurant relocated to a larger space on South King Street. The restaurant closed in 2018 but reopened again in 2020 with a location on South Jackson Street and with Ungs three daughters at the helm. Through it all, Wednesdays were always the day that the Ung family slowed down. The restaurant was closed, and the family would celebrate holidays on Wednesdays, too (regardless of their actual date), gathering for dinners at which Ung would experiment in the kitchen. He was so creative, Le said, in that he could cook so many different cuisines. Hed re-create a Big Mac or do a whole traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. Longtime friends Mary Fulnecky and Ron Klein spent some of those Wednesday evenings with the family. Klein recalls deboned duck stuffed with mushrooms and wok-fried Dungeness crab. It would be the most unbelievable crab youve ever tasted, Klein said. He would have 20 or 30 people in the dining room and hes just in the back, in the kitchen cooking away, happy. For Ung, cooking for others was a joy a part of his giving nature and every day was treated as a gift. He said he was on the verge of death so many times that the years after (the genocide) were just bonus, Le said. Beyond cooking for family and friends, Ung spent two years' worth of Wednesdays recording his oral history with Thomas McElroy, who helped write the resulting memoir, I Survived the Killing Fields: The True Life Story of a Cambodian Refugee, in 2011. Hes being held prisoner and at one point has a gun pointed right at his head, Klein recalled. Hes facing death and another Khmer Rouge (member) said, Dont do it, and his life was spared. Who lives to tell that? The man was a survivor. By retelling his story, Ung worked through latent trauma from surviving the genocide. When he retired from restaurant life in 2013, Ung moved back to Cambodia, settling a few hours from the city of Phnom Penh. He spent the next decade as an active community member: teaching English, helping people start their own noodle carts, hosting parties. Giving back was vital to Ung throughout his life. Its what he always preached, Le said. When asked what is your religion, hed say, I just believe in all things that are good. Be good, do good, dont hurt others and help them when you can. Ung would return to the United States once a year to spend time with his daughters, who still run the restaurant today. He also loved spending time in Las Vegas cheap prime rib and slot machines, Ung explained, chuckling and requested that his ashes be scattered there. In 2024, Ung left Cambodia for good, moving to Missouri to be close to aunts and cousins. I think he had a wonderful year here, Le said. He had community and this neighborhood was good for him. When it comes to Ungs legacy in Seattle, Le thinks of the word trailblazer. Sophons Long echoed the sentiment, saying that if it wasnt for the elders like him that were able to survive and do what he was doing, it would be a lot harder to have the courage to represent the culture the way we want to. Ung is survived by his three daughters, Diane, Dawn and Darlene, and seven grandchildren. 2025 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. EPA Aministrator Lee Zeldin said among his plans is to have the EPA rewrite a rule restricting air pollution from fossil-fuel fired power plants and a separate measure restricting emissions from cars and trucks. AP In what he called the most consequential day of deregulation in American history, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of actions Wednesday to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles. We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in Americas Golden Age, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in an essay in The Wall Street Journal. The Trump administrations actions will eliminate trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes, Zeldin said, lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices for such essentials such as buying a car, heating your home and operating a business. Our actions will also reignite American manufacturing, spreading economic benefits to communities, he wrote. Energy dominance stands at the center of Americas resurgence. In all, Zeldin said he is rolling back 31 environmental rules, including a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action against climate change. Zeldin said he and President Donald Trump support rewriting the agencys 2009 finding that planet-warming greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The Obama-era determination under the Clean Air Act is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources. Environmentalists and climate scientists call the endangerment finding a bedrock of U.S. law and say any attempt to undo it will have little chance of success. In the face of overwhelming science, its impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court, said David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. In a related action, Zeldin said EPA will rewrite a rule restricting air pollution from fossil-fuel fired power plants and a separate measure restricting emissions from cars and trucks. Zeldin and the Republican president incorrectly label the car rule as an electric vehicle mandate. President Joe Bidens Democratic administration had said the power plant rules would reduce pollution and improve public health while supporting the reliable, long-term supply of electricity that America needs. Biden, who made fighting climate change a hallmark of his presidency, cited the car rule as a key factor in what he called historic progress on his pledge that half of all new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. will be zero-emission by 2030. The EPA also will take aim at rules restricting industrial pollution of mercury and other air toxins, as well as separate rules on soot pollution and federal protections for significant areas of wetlands, Zeldin said Wednesday. The EPA has also terminated its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and will shutter parts of the agency focused on environmental justice. The effort strived to improve conditions in areas heavily burdened by industrial pollution, mostly in low-income and majority-Black or Hispanic communities. This isnt about abandoning environmental protection its about achieving it through innovation and not strangulation, Zeldin wrote. By reconsidering rules that throttled oil and gas production and unfairly targeted coal-fired power plants, we are ensuring that American energy remains clean, affordable and reliable. University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann called the EPAs action just the latest form of Republican climate denial. They can no longer deny climate change is happening, so instead theyre pretending its not a threat, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that it is, perhaps, the greatest threat that we face today. The directive to reconsider the endangerment finding and other EPA rules was a recommendation of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trumps second term. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and co-author of Project 2025, called the actions long overdue. EPAs regulation of the climate affects the entire national economy jobs, wages and family budgets, Vought said Wednesday. The Trump administrations ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet, countered Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute. Come hell and high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of peoples lives. Reconsidering the endangerment finding and other actions wont stand up in court, Rylander said. Were going to fight it every step of the way. The United States is the second largest carbon polluter in the world, after China, and the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases. The moves to terminate environmental justice staff follows an action last week to drop a case against a Louisiana petrochemical plant accused of increasing cancer risk in a majority-Black community. Zeldin called environmental justice a term that has been used primarily as an excuse to fund left-wing activists instead of actually spending those dollars to directly remediate environmental issues for those communities. Matthew Tejada, who once led EPAs environmental justice office, said Trump and Zeldin were taking us back to a time of unfettered pollution across the nation, leaving every American exposed to toxic chemicals, dirty air and contaminated water. Tejada now works at the NRDC. Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council, an oil industry group, hailed Zeldins actions and said the U.S. is stronger and more secure when we are energy dominant. Her group has long called for changes to EPA rules so they are workable, effective and build on the significant emissions reductions made by oil and gas producers, Bradbury said. We support updating these rules so the American people can continue to benefit from affordable, reliable and clean American energy. New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called Zeldins actions a despicable betrayal of the American people. Every day, more Americans lose their jobs, homes and even their lives to worsening climate disasters, Pallone said. Trump and Zeldin are making a mockery of those peoples pain, Pallone said, adding that will have swift and catastrophic ramifications for the environment and health of all Americans. -- The Associated Press Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill to rein in the soaring costs of medical care by cracking down on a little-known line item thats increasingly showing up on patients bills. Senate Bill 539 takes aim at facility fees, which are the extra charges that hospitals and health systems tack on to a patients bill. Facility fees were originally designed to help hospitals cover overhead costs associated with maintaining emergency departments and inpatient care costs that have escalated since the pandemic because of an influx of sicker patients. But the fees have expanded in scope as hospital systems buy up physician practices and outpatient clinics and apply a hospital-based billing structure to routine office visits and outpatient procedures. That, supporters of the bill say, often results in higher costs for patients compared to services provided in independent practices or freestanding clinics. SB 539 would limit the types of care such fees can be added to, and the settings where such fees can be charged. For example, it would prohibit hospitals from charging facility fees for most outpatient and routine office visits in hospital-owned clinics, as well as certain types of care delivered on a hospital campus. The measure also aims to increase transparency by requiring hospitals to notify patients about any facility fees when scheduling appointments. It also would require hospitals to report their facility fees annually to the Oregon Health Authority, which would make them publicly available. Health policy experts and consumer advocates say the growing prevalence of facility fees, and a lack of regulation on how much hospital systems can charge, have led to higher overall health care spending, which in turn raises insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for all consumers. Facility fees increase the cost of care, and to a large extent, insurers are absorbing the higher prices that theyre having to pay and then passing along those cost to consumers, said Charlie Fisher, state director at Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group backing the bill. Fisher said insurance companies play a role in determining how much patients have to pay for facility fees. He said those with high-deductible health plans are particularly affected, as they would have to cover the fees out of pocket until they meet their deductible. Health care providers in support of SB 539 say facility fees often leave patients with unaffordable bills or forcing them to delay or forgo necessary care. Dr. Rishi Rattan, a Portland-based trauma surgeon practicing at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, testified that facility fees offer no added benefit to patients but significantly inflate medical bills. Patients are rarely informed about these fees in advance, leaving them blindsided when the bill arrives, he wrote. The lack of transparency and regulation allows hospital systems to charge facility fees at unpredictable rates, putting Oregon families at risk of medical debt. Dr. Van Anh Nguyen, a family medicine doctor in Beaverton who testified in support of SB 539, said patients she refers elsewhere for a diagnostic colonoscopy could pay $10,000 for the procedure at hospital-owned clinics compared to just $900 for the same procedure at an independent practice. Critics of SB 539 include the Hospital Association of Oregon, which argues that facility fees are a critical funding stream for all hospital-owned locations that see sicker, more complex patients than private practices and other ambulatory care settings. The hospital lobby group said that limiting the settings where such fees can be applied could lead to further consolidation. The Hospital Association of Oregon opposes Senate Bill 539 because it will further destabilize hospitals in Oregon and reduce access to care across our state, Becky Hultberg, president and CEO of the hospital association, said in a statement. At its core, this bill is not about lowering health care costs for patients. If insurers were truly concerned about affordability, we would be having collaborative conversations. States including Connecticut and Colorado have restricted hospital systems from charging facility fees for routine outpatient care. Oregon joins other states this year that are considering bills aimed at hospital facility fees. On Thursday, Oregon lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Health Care will hold a public hearing on SB 539. -- Kristine de Leon covers consumer health, retail, small business and data enterprise stories. Reach her at kdeleon@oregonian.com. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today. Cherry tree blossom watchers in Salem are hopeful buds will burst into shimmery pink and white petals in time for Saturdays annual Cherry Blossom Day celebration on the Capitol Mall. Saturdays free, family friendly event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. launches 17 days of Yozakura-style nighttime viewings of cherry trees illuminated with traditional Japanese lanterns at the State Capitol State Park on the Capitol Mall across Court Street from the Capitol Building. U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz says he fully supports the Trump Administration budget cutting, (Oregons GOP congressman Cliff Bentz: I fully support Trumps efforts to cut spending, March 8). The Republican budget will inevitably lead to drastic cuts in Medicaid, and likely Medicare as well. While the cuts may be packaged or disguised as cuts to state budgets, states will have to seriously cut back Medicaid benefits to cover this shortfall. Low-income, disabled, pregnant and elderly Oregonians count on those benefits. Few families will be entirely untouched. And people will suffer and die all to pay for tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy. It is simply immoral for a country as wealthy as ours to treat its people so poorly. Amalia Gladhart, Eugene To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion. Rescuers on an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter whisked to safety two stranded skiers on South Sister on Tuesday. Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Rescuers with the Oregon Army National Guard ferried two skiers stranded on South Sister to safety on Tuesday. The skiers, 19- and 20-year-old men from Salt Lake City, needed help after one of the pair injured himself on the 10,358-foot mountain, according to the Deschutes County Sheriffs Office. The sheriffs office was the first to deploy rescuers, but it was a Black Hawk helicopter from the National Guard that picked up the skiers and took them to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, the sheriffs office said. An Oregon Army National Guard helicopter was part of the rescue mission on South Sister on Tuesday after two skiers became stranded. Deschutes County Sheriff's Office In September, rescuers safely located a Beaverton hiker who got lost near the summit of South Sister, Oregons third-highest peak. Beth Slovic is an editor on the public safety and breaking news team. Reach her at 503-221-8551 or bslovic@oregonian.com. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com/subscribe. Diver Juan Heredia jumped into the Siletz River on Tuesday morning, his mind focused on 2-year-old Dane Paulsens sweet features and the clothing the boys mother last saw him wearing: jeans, blue shoes and a hoodie with bear-shaped ears. The day before, Heredia, 52, had driven about 12 hours from his home in Stockton, California, to help with the exhaustive search for the toddler, who had gone missing March 1 while playing in the front yard of the familys home along the river. Mount Spurr has seen volcanic unrest for several months, including an increasing number of earthquakes. (Dreamstime/TNS) TNS ANCHORAGE, Alaska The likelihood that Mount Spurr, the closest active volcano to Anchorage, will erupt is increasing, with scientists now saying an eruption is likely within weeks or months. During flights over the volcano on March 7 and 11, scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory measured significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions and saw what were described as newly reactivated gas vents at Mount Spurr, about 75 miles west of Anchorage. Elevated earthquake activity and ground deformation continue, the volcano observatory said in a bulletin. The most likely scenario is an eruption similar to those that happened in 1953 and 1992, each lasting hours and producing clouds of ash that circulated for hundreds of miles, the scientists said in the bulletin. The previous eruptions coated Anchorage and other Southcentral Alaska cities with up to 1/4 inch of ash, canceling flights, fouling engines and plunging Anchorage into an eerie darkness. For months, scientists with the observatory have been monitoring increasing earthquakes around the volcano, as well as other signs of an impending eruption such as bulging ground and melting snow. May 18 is the anniversary of Mount St. Helens' devastating eruption in 1980. The volcano is monitored with instruments including seismic sensors, satellite imagery and web cameras, among other tools, and scientists say they expect Mount Spurr to show more signs of activity before an eruption. We expect to see further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions, and surface heating prior to an eruption, if one were to occur, the bulletin said. Such stronger unrest may provide days to weeks of additional warning. 2025 Anchorage Daily News. Visit at adn.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Indonesia, Thailand, and India are Vietnam's top tourism markets, with satisfaction levels from these countries being the highest in Asia, according to a recent report. The Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures satisfaction, willingness to continue using a service, and the likelihood of recommending it to others, was 51 for Indonesians, 49.3 for Thais, and 39 for Indians, based on a survey of 4,000 tourists from eight Asian destinations conducted by market research and data analytics firm Outbox Company. The regional average for Asia was 26. Outbox reported that visitors from these countries not only expressed high satisfaction with their experiences in Vietnam but also tended to recommend the country positively to friends and relatives. "This was a positive signal for the tourism industry," the company said in a press release. It recommended that the tourism industry create incentive programs for returning visitors and promote promotional content based on visitors' own experiences. The report also highlighted that India and Thailand had the highest intention to visit Vietnam again. On the other hand, Japan and Taiwan had the lowest consideration scores. In 2024, over 184,000 Indonesians visited Vietnam, a 74% increase year-on-year. The country's profile was further boosted by the arrival of many famous Asian celebrities including travel bloggers and actresses from Thailand. In August, Dilip Shanghvi, the Indian owner of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and one of Indias richest individuals, brought 4,500 employees to Vietnam for a company vacation. A wolf from the Snake River Pack passes by a remote camera in eastern Wallowa County in 2014. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP, File Oregon ranchers want higher payouts from the state to recoup their losses for cattle and other livestock killed by wolves. But the fate of a bill that would increase those payments will be determined by whether enough Democratic lawmakers, who hold the majority in Salem, are willing to defy environmentalists and support the proposal. For years, Oregon ranchers have complained about wolves preying on their cows, horses and other animals. Because shooting a wolf is against state hunting laws, lawmakers in 2011 agreed to compensate ranchers for the financial loss of any animal that dies following a wolf attack. Ranchers say the money is vital to keeping their operations profitable. In 2023, Oregon counties gave ranchers $70,300 from state coffers for dead or injured cattle that experts determined were likely attacked by wolves. Ranchers are currently compensated for the market value of the cattle lost to wolves. But ranchers say the losses they suffer are deeper than merely the cost of a replacement calf or cow. Wolf depredation is not only a financial concern, it is an emotional and mental concern and it is causing a great deal of stress to ranchers across entire sections of the state, Gabrielle Homer, president-elect of Oregon CattleWomen, said in written testimony to lawmakers. Numerous Republican lawmakers agree. Sen. Todd Nash, a Republican from Enterprise and former president of the Oregon Cattlemens Association, introduced a bill in January that would require the state to pay ranchers at least the fair market value and in many cases far more for animals injured or killed by wolves. Under the bill, Oregon would have to pay seven times the market value of cow calves, sheep and goats, and three times the market value for other cows. These multipliers, ranchers say, are necessary because wolf attacks on herds can negatively impact cattle and ranchers in many unseen ways. This stress impacts every animal and comes at a cost to the rancher in the way of less pounds to sell, an animal aborting or not rebreeding, and the overall disposition of their cattle, Oregon cattle ranchers Creighton and Gabriella Nevin wrote to lawmakers. Republicans and a few moderate Democrats have expressed support for the bill. But some Democrats, who have a supermajority in both chambers and will ultimately control which bills pass this session, have shown reluctance to support the proposal. A large reason for their hesitancy: environmentalist opposition to the bill. Wildlife and environmental advocacy groups argue the proposal would worsen the already-tense relationship between ranchers and wolves and could result in ranchers getting money that would be better spent on preventing wolves from attacking cattle in the first place. In 2023, Oregon counties spent more than $400,000 from the state on preventative measures to stop wolves from attacking cattle. Those included building new fences, reducing cattle bone piles or carcasses that can draw wolves and installing alarm systems that can sense and deter wolves. But because that program receives funding from the same pool of money that pays farmers for livestock lost to wolves, environmentalists worry that the bill will decrease funding for preventative efforts. (Another Republican bill would deposit $2 million into this pool, to be used for preventative efforts and to compensate ranchers). At a time when Oregonians and the Legislature are being asked to tighten our belts due to shifting funds, this bill benefits only a small number of Oregonians who are already eligible for market-rate compensation of lost or missing livestock, Michael Dotson, executive director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, wrote to lawmakers. Also, wildlife advocates say, increasing the amount of money that ranchers receive for lost cattle will decrease their desire to use non-lethal methods to deter wolves. Why bother to implement those methods if, when one of your livestock becomes a confirmed or probable wolf kill, youll receive payments of up to seven times their value? Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, wrote to lawmakers. Environmentalists also push back on several of the ranchers assertions. While ranchers say they should receive more money for indirect effects on their cattle following wolf attacks, environmentalists say those effects have not been closely studied and are difficult to quantify, and therefore should not necessarily result in higher payouts to ranchers. Wildlife advocates say they dont have a problem with ranchers being compensated for killed animals, but they want to negotiate with lawmakers and ranchers to reach a compromise that would prioritize the safety of wolves. Now, lawmakers are conflicted. On Tuesday, the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire decided to postpone a vote on the bill after two Democrats expressed hesitancy to support it. Is the real complaint that were not doing enough on the prevention part? Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Portland, asked Tuesday. If thats whats actually really going on, then maybe we could have an opportunity to achieve both. Similar bills in at least two previous legislative sessions have died after ranchers, environmentalists and lawmakers failed to reach a consensus. But three Senate Democrats have joined several Republicans in co-sponsoring the bill, signalling that at least some Democrats are ready to pass the proposal. With Republicans making up 12 of the Senates 30 members, it will take at least four Democrats agreement to pass the bill through that chamber. But whether they can convince enough of their colleagues in both chambers to agree remains to be seen. Sen. Jeff Golden, a Democrat from Ashland and chair of the committee, acknowledged Tuesday that Democrats in the full House and Senate might not want to support the bill. But he said passing the proposal as written, meeting some of the ranchers long standing requests, would be a strong starting point to eventually reach a compromise. What we are doing here is putting on the table a specific proposal, instead of saying, Lets work group this more, he said. Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com. The yard at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn. The facility is part of Oregons juvenile justice system, overseen by the Oregon Youth Authority. Beth Nakamura Joe OLeary, the longtime director of the Oregon Youth Authority, was fired Wednesday by Gov. Tina Kotek as the agency confronts a backlog of abuse reports that spans years, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed. OLeary was terminated on the eve of the agencys disclosure of detailed records showing the mishandling of thousands of abuse complaints. Students graduate from Oregon State University. U.S. Senate Democrats are demanding to know why applications for repayment plans that help student borrowers manage payments were abruptly taken off the U.S. Department of Educations website. Courtesy of Oregon State University More than 12 million Americans who took out loans from the U.S. Department of Education to attend college are now stuck in limbo about whether or not theyll get to participate in income-driven repayment plans that have served millions of Americans before them. On March 7, Oregons U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, joined 23 other U.S. Senate Democrats from across the country demanding to know why, on Feb. 24, applications for repayment plans that help student borrowers manage payments were abruptly taken off the U.S. Department of Educations website. In a letter authored by Wyden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and cosigned by the other senators to Linda McMahon, the agencys secretary, they wrote that this was done without warning, without congressional notification, and without clear guidance for borrowers on what they should do next or expect in the future. In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Missouri upheld and expanded a temporary injunction pausing the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE plan, that has been on hold since a legal battle brought by Republican states attorneys general in 2024. But the senators asked McMahon why applications for three other income-driven repayment programs not involved in litigation have also been removed from the education agencys site. Borrowers have relied on many of these plans for decades and this sudden and reckless action means millions of borrowers have fewer repayment options available and are unsure of what to do in order to manage their debt, they wrote. Aissa Canchola Banez, policy director at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Student Borrower Protection Center said the ruling is being misinterpreted and called it cruel in a news release. To be clear, this is not what the Eighth Circuit ordered and the Trump administration is using this ruling to inflict massive economic pain on millions of working families with student debt, she said. The federal education department is reviewing repayment applications to conform with the court ruling, according to an email attributed to an unnamed education department spokesperson. In the meantime, borrowers can still submit a paper loan consolidation application, according to the spokesperson. Three income-driven repayment plans offered by the U.S. Education Department are affected by the most recent decision to pull applications, as are applications for loan consolidation. Loan consolidation has to happen before borrowers can access any of the federal loan forgiveness plans. Effected plans include the Pay As You Earn, or PAYE, program and the Income-Contingent and Income-Based repayment plans. Each of these plans limits monthly repayments to a specific percentage of a borrowers discretionary income, and each sets out a term of repayment that ends with loan forgiveness after 20 to 25 years. More than 12 million student loan borrowers rely on the plans, according to U.S. Department of Education data, and more than 1 million borrowers applied for income-driven repayment plans that were still processing as of the Feb. 24 application take down, according to Wyden spokesperson Hank Stern. The department has not yet provided guidance about that, Stern said. Also because the department has closed all online forms, borrowers trying to manage their IDR plans are now unable to do so through the FSA (Federal Student Aid) website. The changes so far have not impacted the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, available to borrowers who work for government or nonprofit organizations and do public service work, and which forgives loans remaining after the borrower has made 120 qualifying payments. President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order attempting to limit who qualifies for such forgiveness. The SAVE plan, at issue in litigation brought by Republican attorneys general and frozen since June 2024, made it easier for low-income borrowers to meet monthly repayment terms, requiring they pay nothing if their annual income is $30,000 or less. It also limited the amount of interest that could be collected on loans and forgave loans after 10 to 20 years based on their size. The Republican attorneys general ordered this was beyond the authority of the education agency. The first income-driven repayment programs were passed by Congress in 2007 and signed by former U.S. President George W. Bush, a Republican. -- Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle This combo of pictures show President Donald Trump, left, addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025, and a handout of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attending a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis - Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates A letter U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Irans supreme leader in an attempt to jump-start talks over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program has arrived in the Iranian capital. While the text of the letter hasnt been published, its arrival comes as Trump has levied new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign targeting the country. He also suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached. Irans 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has mocked Trump, but officials in his country also have offered conflicting signals over whether negotiations could take place. Heres what to know about the letter, Irans nuclear program and the overall tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Trump dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: Ive written them a letter saying, I hope youre going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, its going to be a terrible thing. Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while simultaneously ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites. A previous letter Trump the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dispatched during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader. But Trumps letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyangs atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S. Iran has offered a series of seemingly contradictory responses. Khamenei himself said he wasnt interested in talks with a bullying government. But Iranian diplomats including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier suggested that talks over guarantees that Tehran wouldnt seek a nuclear weapon could be possible. Araghchi, who took part in negotiations for Irans 2015 nuclear deal, later toughened his tone and said talks couldnt happen under U.S. pressure, following Khameneis lead. However, Araghchi still met with the Emirati diplomat carrying Trumps letter. Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so. Iran was once one of the U.S.s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shahs rule. But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Irans theocratic government. Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shahs extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The Tanker War during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner. Iran and the U.S. have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, sparking years of tensions in the Mideast that persist today. -- The Associated Press Stanley just dropped a surprise sale, knocking 25% off some of its most popular tumblers, including the Quencher H2.0 FlowState models in 20-, 30-, and 40-ounce sizes. If past Stanley sales are any indication, the new and most popular colors and sizes wont stay in stock for long. The 40-ounce Quencher H2.0 FlowState tumbler in a soft matte finish is now $37.50, down from $50.00. The 30-ounce version is selling for $26.00 instead of $35.00, while the 20-ounce model is available for $22.00, marked down from $30.00. All three versions come in a variety of colors, but availability is already starting to dwindle. You can shop the sale directly at Stanleys website, but dont waitlimited-time Stanley sales like this tend to sell out fast. Why are Stanley Quenchers so popular? Limited edition Stanley Quencher drops are known for selling out fast, but what makes them worth the hype? A lot of people enjoy that they keep drinks cold for hours, and that even the largest Stanley cups fit in a standard cup holder. Many styles come with a lid that resists spills and a handle that makes them comfortable to carry while on the go. Add in limited-edition colors and designs, celebrity collabs, and holiday exclusives, and its no surprise these tumblers have a devoted following. What tumblers are comparable to Stanley? For those looking beyond the viral Stanley Quencher, Owala and Oregon-based Hydro Flask are solid alternatives. Hydro Flask is known for its durable stainless steel bottles in bright colors. The companys newest release, the shaker bottle ($34.95), comes with a whisk ball for mixing protein and pre-workout shakes easily, is leakproof, dishwasher safe, and keeps your drink cold for 24 hours. Owala was one of the best Stanley dupes out there by Wirecutter. The brand is known for its flip-top lid and built-in straw, designed for easy, spill-free sipping. Owalas latest collection, available exclusively at Target, features 30- and 40-ounce tumblers in spring-inspired shades like Tangy Tango (bright orange with pink and purple accents), Sandy Shores (soft, creamy orange), and Misty Meadow (muted blue). These tumblers tend to sell out quickly, making them a sought-after alternative to Stanleys lineup. Whether youre waiting for the next Stanley drop or exploring new favorites, theres no shortage of stylish, functional options out there. Stay hydratedand good luck in the hunt. People are seen riding a chairlift as skiers and snowboarders pass below at Red Lodge Mountain, Feb. 20, 2023, near Red Lodge, Mont. (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP) AP A 37-year-old man died after falling from a chairlift that was having a mechanical problem at a Montana ski area, according to local authorities and a spokesperson for Red Lodge Mountain. The man was riding alone in a three-person chair that carries skiers up the mountain when he fell from an unspecified height, they said. The accident happened Monday just before noon at the ski area southeast of Billings in the Beartooth Mountains. Jeffrey Zinne, of Billings, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead early Wednesday from injuries suffered in the fall, according to Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan and Rich Hoffman with the Yellowstone County Coroners Office. The lift, known as the Triple Chair, was stopped after the accident, Red Lodge Mountain spokesperson Troy Hawks said. More than 100 people who were on it at the time were evacuated by ski patrollers who used ropes to lower them to the ground. Hawks said the lift had a mechanical problem at the time Zinne fell but declined to comment further and said the circumstances were being investigated. Weather conditions and the victims actions also were being looked at, he said. On the morning of the accident, some other chairlifts at Red Lodge Mountain were not operating because of high winds. Wind gusts of about 50 mph were recorded in the area shortly before and after the accident, according to the National Weather Service. Hawks said the Triple Chairlift, which is almost a mile long and was built in 1983, was operating within safety parameters. It will remain shut down until an engineer fully assesses it, he said. Staff at the ski area inspect its chairlifts daily, Hawks said. A professional inspection is conducted annually as required by Red Lodge Mountains insurance carrier and the U.S. Forest Service, which leases land to the ski area, he said. Zinne, who was snowboarding Monday prior to his accident, was married with a 2-year-old son and owned the Montana Air Cartage freight hauling company, according to a post on a GoFundMe fundraising site set up on his familys behalf. He was more than just a boss for many people here. He was a friend, a mentor, said Jessice Sande, a manager at Montana Air Cartage who recalled Zinnes infectious laugh. Fatal lift accidents at ski areas are relatively rare, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Between 1956 and 2024, 35 people died in accidents involving chairlifts and aerial ropeways. Sixteen of the deaths were linked to mechanical malfunctions, according to data collected by the group. The latest death during that time period was in 2020, when a man died at Colorados Vail resort after his clothing got entangled in part of the chairlift, making him unable to breathe. Spring in the Willamette Valley is a floral affair. Bright yellow daffodils erupt from the soil, announcing the awaited end of winter. Thousands flock to Portlands downtown waterfront as blooming cherry blossoms fill the trees with pastel pink buds. And across the state, farms flaunt flowers of all kinds: irises, rhododendrons and peonies proudly on display. But the true harbinger of spring in Oregon has always been its tulips, and we just might do them better than almost anywhere else in the country. SIXT (a car rental company, naturally) recently shared their list of the top tulip festivals in the United States and Oregons very own Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival came in at No. 4. The annual Woodburn festival houses millions of flowers, in more than 100 different varieties, across the farms 40 acres of fields. The Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest features 40 acres of tulips in a variety of colors, as well as a play area for children, hay rides, hot air balloons and many other activities. LC- The Oregonian The festival boasts around 4,000,000 tulips, the press release reads, so guests are sure to be wowed by the stunning colors and beautiful smells. Other than sheer number of flowers, SIXT also ranked festivals based on Google search demand and TikTok views. The Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival garnered 30.4k searches and 481.2k TikTok views as of early March, according to the release. One detail SIXT didnt consider: Were any other tulip festivals the site of the U.S. Postal Services tulip-themed forever stamps unveiling? Showing during the new Tulip Blossoms Forever stamp reveal are, from left, Patti Iverson, event coordinator; Pastor Luis Molina, Woodburn Foursquare Church (emcee); Linda Malone, U.S.P.S. Vice President of Engineering Systems; Barb Iverson, co-owner of Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm; Ben Wing, local student who sang the National Anthem; and Woodburn Mayor Frank Lonergan. Courtesy of United States Postal Service New Jerseys Holland Ridge Farms U-Pick Tulip Fest clinched the No. 1 spot, with Texas Tulips, Michigans Tulip Time Festival and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Mount Vernon, Washington, rounding out the top five. Lucky for those here in Oregon, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival kicks off next week. The monthlong festival runs March 21 through April 27, inviting visitors to snack, browse weekend art vendors, take hot air balloon rides and of course revel in the tulip fields. The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm welcomes sunshine and warmth for the 2023 Tulip Festival. The Oregonian/OregonLive Festival hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Those interested in a more scenic experience can opt for sunrise admission, which begins at 5 a.m. General admission ranges in price from $11 to $21 based on age and day of the week (Children 12 and under are free with a ticketed adult.). Tickets must be purchased online in advance. The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm welcomes sunshine and warmth for the 2023 Tulip Festival. The Oregonian/OregonLive Prospective visitors can see how tulips are faring on the farms bloom status page. Flowers tend to peak in mid-April, but its ultimately up to Mother Nature. Last year, the festival ended one week early due to an unusually warm spring. Doesnt seem like that will be the case this year, though. Veronica Nocera covers life and culture. You can reach her at vnocera@oregonian.com, 503-221-8111 or @vernocera Thousands descend upon downtown McMinnville, Oregon for the annual McMenamins UFO Festival on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian Oregon, it seems, is a great place to disappear. Who among us hasnt dreamed of a life off the grid, of leaving behind all worldly desires and shacking up among the forest and Bigfoot sightings? Isnt that the main appeal of the Pacific Northwest anyway? But if youre looking to vanish with a bit more fanfare, it turns out Oregon has got you covered there, too. Of all 50 states, Oregon is the No. 4 most likely spot for an alien abduction, according to data from the National UFO Reporting Center. The nonprofit, which is headquartered in Davenport, Washington, has catalogued unidentified flying object, or UFO, sightings across the country since its founding in 1974. Reports are made via the centers hotline or through an online report form. In Oregon, residents have reported 3,674 UFOs over the past five decades about one sighting per 1,156 people, according to an online casino site that crunched the numbers. Parade-goers at the 20th annual McMinnville UFO Festival in 2019 seize the chance to dress up. Mark Graves/Staff Each report is thorough, including details like shape, color, speed and any unusual characteristics: Did the object move or make a sound? Was there an aura? Did animals and insects go suddenly, eerily silent? Viewers describe a giant orange orb hovering over northeast Oregons Antony Lakes and a string of lights landing along the beach. Others recount hearing grumbling engines or seeing flashing truck lights, only to spot mysterious blinking saucers along the horizon. If a sighting is deemed a close encounter, questions are even more bizarre: Did you experience missing time? Emerge with unexplained marks on your body? Could it, possibly, have been an abduction? It has all the workings of a storyline from supernatural television series The X-Files which aptly sets its pilot episode in the fictional town of Bellefleur, Oregon. But while Oregon may not be the UFO capital of the United States (that title goes to California, followed by Washington and, oddly enough, Florida), theres no lack of in-state paranormal lore. Paul Trent and his wife, Evelyn, took two UFO photos outside their McMinnville home in 1950. The pictures ran in The Oregonian one month later. The Oregonian archive In 1950, farmer Paul Trent and his wife, Evelyn, spotted a round, shiny, wingless object outside their home in Dayton and snapped two iconic photos, which later ran in The Oregonian. Evidently, UFO sightings arent rare, but this one caught the attention of the Air Force, who classified the Trents story as difficult to explain in a conventional way. (Translation: Maybe it really, truly was aliens.) The incident brought authors like Ralph Blum to Portland to advertise their work, most fierce believers in the existence of extraterrestrial life. To this day, aliens invade downtown McMinnville every year for the towns annual UFO Festival. Thousands descend upon downtown McMinnville, Oregon for the annual McMenamins UFO Festival on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian And just a few months ago, the question of UFOs once again took over the headlines when pilots flying over Oregon encountered unexplained lights zipping across the sky. So, if leaving Earth behind for good is on your agenda, dont worry theres still hope. If history proves anything, Oregonians are not alone. Veronica Nocera covers life and culture. You can reach her at vnocera@oregonian.com, 503-221-8111 or @vernocera The Department of Justice unsealed indictments charging Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng, eight employees of i-Soon, a Chinese technology company, and two officers of Chinas Ministry of Public Security with a variety of hacking-related offenses. The Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security paid handsomely for stolen data. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the Peoples Republic of China, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies. In addition, the Diplomatic Security Services Rewards for Justice Program is offering up to $10 million for information on i-Soon, its employees, and the Ministry of Public Security officers engaged in malicious cyber activities highlighted in the Department of Justices indictments. Moreover, the United States imposed sanctions on the Shanghai-based malicious cyber actor and data broker, Zhou Shuai, and his company, Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company. Zhou Shuai illegally acquired, brokered, and sold data from highly sensitive U.S. critical infrastructure networks, including in the defense industrial base, communications, health, and government sectors. The Department of State also announced reward offers under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program of up to $2 million each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng. The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people, said Sue Bai, head of the Justice Departments National Security Division. [W]e are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed. We will continue to fight to dismantle this ecosystem of cyber mercenaries and protect our national security. It is clear that China offers safe harbor for private sector companies that conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States and its partners, said State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce in a statement. China-backed malicious cyber actors continue to be one of the greatest and most persistent threats to U.S. national security. This multi-agency effort reflects our whole-of-government approach to protecting and defending against China-based cyber threats to Americans, their sensitive personal data, and our critical systems, said Ms. Bruce. President Trump is committed to protecting the American people and U.S. critical infrastructure from these pervasive threats, and we will resolutely use all the tools at our disposal to do so. Amid nationwide layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, city leaders are traveling to Washington, D.C., to advocate for meteorologists and the National Weather Center. Twenty one representatives from the city, including Norman Chamber of Commerce members, city council members and business and university leaders, will be traveling to the U.S. Capitol from April 7-9 to advocate for issues that are important to Normans business community. Scott Martin, president and CEO of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, said it just so happens that the trip coincides with mass federal cuts by the Trump administration. NEWSLETTERS * required Thank you for subscribing! Email * Please enter a valid email address First Name Last Name When major news breaks + a few times a week FREE SIGN UP Subscribing... According to The Associated Press, NOAA, the nations top weather and climate agency, began plans to lay off 1000 jobs 10% of its current workforce on Tuesday. This year with all the discussion around DOGE, were very locked into the impact that discussion may have around meteorology, radar, forecasting, and on top of that, our partners at the Mike Monroney FAA Center and also Tinker Air Force Base, Martin said. According to reporting by The Norman Transcript, federal employees at Tinker Air Force Base are facing cuts. Martin said many Norman residents work at federal establishments, so its important to emphasize that significance to lawmakers. We want to ensure that the root mission, critical services that are provided and the jobs that go with those services are defended and protected, Martin said. Martin said the chamber recognizes the importance of the weather industry for the Norman community but also the state of Oklahoma. NO PAYWALL, NONPARTISAN Students pay about $14 in fees that support the Daily. If you're not a student, please join those invested in OU and Norman who have given more than $110,000 to support our trustworthy, independent journalism. SUPPORT OUR LOCAL JOURNALISM Oklahoma and the rest of the central U.S. experiences peak tornado season between April and June, according to the National Weather Service. Martin emphasized how the work of the National Weather Center is important for predicting weather for the city, such as school districts and the agricultural community. When you're thinking about the critical functions that NOAA provides within Norman through radar, forecasting, prediction, it goes way beyond just how it impacts our family and our businesses, but it also goes to the farmers and ranchers that are our friends and neighbors, Martin said. Martin said he has faith in Oklahomas representatives to stand up for the best interests of the community. On Friday, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) announced that three federal offices in Oklahoma, including the National Weather Center, will not be terminated after conversations with President Donald Trumps administration. According to the Department of Government Efficiencys list of terminated property leases, NOAAs office in Norman is still listed as having a canceled lease. Martin said, while he is optimistic that the federal delegation is going to stand up for these agencies and the services they provide, he understands why others are worried. Our delegation, they've been huge champions for these federal jobs and programs in Norman in and around Norman and so I'm confident that they're going to do great work representing these entities, Martin said. But I know it causes a great deal of concern for those that are employed by NOAA, and we want to be mindful of that. I would encourage others to step up and help be a voice for our friends and neighbors here in Norman that are employed by NOAA and other federal agencies. This story was edited by Ismael Lele. Grace Rhodes copy edited this story. Sappi Europe Announces Price Increases for Its Speciality Products March 13, 2025 - Sappi Europe announced that it will increase prices for its Speciality products by 8% effective on deliveries as from April 15. Sappi said the increases are necessary to offset the impact of rising costs. Sappi's European sales team will be in further contact directly with customers to discuss the details of the implementation, the company added. Headquartered in Brussels (Belgium), Sappi Europe is the leading European producer of coated graphic paper as well as packaging and speciality papers. SOURCE: Sappi Europe Anna Bjork Bjarnadottir, chief service and operating officer (CSOO) at Keflavik International Airport, discusses the moderated session Challenges and benefits of integrating alternative fuels in airport development that she will participate in at Passenger Terminal Conference 2025, which is being held in Madrid, Spain, on April 8, 9 and 10. What is your panel about? This panel discussion addresses the critical climate risks facing the aviation industry, with a focus on transitioning to alternative fuel technologies, especially hydrogen infrastructure. Participants will explore the challenges and opportunities in adopting alternative fuels such as electric and/or hydrogen as a sustainable solution to mitigate climate change impacts. The session highlights the five key risk areas spatial, operational, safety, stakeholder and financial that airports must navigate. Featuring real-world case studies and actionable insights, the discussion emphasizes the role of innovative strategies and infrastructure development in driving resilience and sustainability within the sector. What are the main challenges airports face when integrating alternative fuels into operations? Typically, the challenges will be costs of infrastructure for storage and distribution, limited availability and supply chain constraints, as well as regulatory hurdles. Then, you always have to consider resistance to change from different stakeholders. As Iceland is a nation of only 400,000 people, far out on an island in the middle of the Atlantic, the challenges can be somewhat different. Keflavik International Airport is the main gateway to Iceland, and the only airport in our country that can fulfil the task of being the vital connectivity hub. Domestic production of SAF is an unviable choice in Iceland, and the vast majority of SAF would likely need to be imported under current technology or we would have to import feedstocks for production. Then again, were the ingredients available in Iceland, production would require an almost 40% increase in new electricity generation just to support it. The cost of importing SAF is likely to be high, in addition to the carbon footprint of such import. This, along with policies aimed at congested mainland Europe or altogether different emphasis on emissions in the US, could reduce the competitiveness, not only on Keflavik Airport, but on Iceland as a country. The magnitude and quality of air connectivity via Iceland is highly linked to the countrys capability of enhancing GDP and prosperity. How can alternative fuels impact sustainability in airport development projects? In general, airport emissions account for about 10-20% of the aviation industrys emissions, coming from various sources, such as ground support equipment and ground transportation for passengers, staff and cargo; energy consumption powering the airport facilities; waste management; and finally emissions from building and expanding airport infrastructure. All these need to be addressed, where alternative fuels, particularly SAF, can significantly enhance sustainability in airport development projects in several ways. In Iceland, where we are fortunate to have renewable energy to power the airport facilities, 65% of our emissions come from our fleet of heavy sweepers and other big vehicles for snow removal and de-icing on the runway system, as well as fire fighter trucks and other ground vehicles. We are now in the process of changing from diesel to biodiesel. Were also very closely following the development of technology for alternative fuels such as electricity and/or hydrogen. What role does government regulation and policy play in airport fuel management? Aviation needs to remain competitive and at the same time reach net zero, but the industry cannot ensure this alone. Government regulations and policies, on both international and national levels, play a key role in enabling the shift to sustainable fuels for aviation as a whole. The European aviation industry alliance Destination 2050 has made a firm call for action toward the European Commission (EC), where they argue that the industrys effective and successful transition to net zero is not achievable without more immediate EU public support. The support needs to be in the form of strong policies and streamlined regulations, funding and rapid certification of new technologies, stable investment framework and policies, and plans that account for low-carbon energy and critical raw material needs. How do you foresee alternative fuel technology evolving in the airport sector? Environmental change and the need for sustainable solutions have already sparked a lot of technological innovation and will, without a doubt, continue to do so. It will be exciting to see how development and adoption of SAFs can further drive innovation, fuel production technologies, supply chain logistics and airport operations overall. However, the present geopolitical situation could cause some stagnation, or even a setback, in innovation and development in the sustainability sector due to a change in national priorities. What opportunities are there for airports to collaborate with airlines and suppliers to adopt sustainable fuel solutions? Partnerships across the whole industry are vital to drive adoption of SAF. Airports bring to the collaboration their role as airport ecosystem enablers. They provide space and on-airport utility infrastructure such as pipelines, hydrant systems, etc. What is also extremely important, regarding collaboration in the airport ecosystem, is collaboration culture and collective use of real-time data. We take our role as an airport ecosystem enabler very seriously and focus firmly on catalyzing a constructive and collaborative airport culture on one hand, and a central open source of real-time data for successful operations of the airport on the other. In my mind, these two factors will prove a valuable foundation for successful collaboration in driving sustainability, as it is in airport operations as a whole. Partnering with airlines and suppliers on policy advocacy can help secure government support and funding for sustainable fuel initiatives. Airports, airlines and suppliers can work together to influence regulations and policies that promote the adoption of SAF, as the example of Destination 2050 alliance shows. The same goes for raising awareness about the benefits of SAF among passengers and the general public. This can include educational campaigns, sustainability reports and showcasing successful SAF initiatives Furthermore, airports can host pilot programs and demonstrations of SAF use in collaboration with airlines and suppliers. These initiatives can provide valuable data and insights, helping to refine and scale up sustainable fuel solutions. To hear more valuable industry insights from top aviation executives, book a conference pass for Passenger Terminal Conference, taking place on April 8, 9 & 10, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. Thirty-seven years ago, in February 1988, the government of Iraq, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, initiated the infamous al-Anfal campaign. At the time, the war between Iran and Iraq was drawing to a close and Iraqs war efforts were complicated by a Kurdish population that had for years forcefully resisted the Iraqi governments Arabization of ethnic minorities. The term Anfal means spoils of war, and the campaigns goal was to exterminate or displace the Kurdish inhabitants of northern Iraq. Saddam Hussein put his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid in charge of Iraqs Northern Region, including Iraqi Kurdistan. Al-Majid was infamous for his brutality, which included collective punishment and the use of overwhelming force against civilians. On March 16, 1988, Al-Majids forces committed one of the worst atrocities of the modern era: the murder by poison gas of thousands of Iraqi civilians in the Kurdish-Iraqi town of Halabja. On that evening, after a day of shelling that broke windows and doors across the town, Iraqi helicopters and planes began to pepper the city with canisters of toxic gas. Heavier than air, the chemicals sank to the ground and seeped into the damaged buildings, killing civilians sheltering in cellars. Around 3,500 to 5,000 people died that day in Halabja. It was the first time in modern history that a government attacked its own people with chemical weapons. The events of March 16, 1988, were a continuation of the genocidal campaign that began a year before Anfal, and a promise of events to come. Over the course of one year, some 100,000 people were killed, most of them civilians, and many of them by poison gas. From then on, Ali Hassan al-Majid was known as Chemical Ali. After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, Chemical Ali was executed by hanging for his part in the genocide, and for other crimes. The Iraqi Special Tribunal dropped charges against Saddam Hussein himself only because he was executed after being convicted in a separate case. The head of government has a responsibility to the country, and to its people, to act in their best interest. Ultimately, few dictators die in bed or exit the scene of their crimes gracefully. The fate of those who instigated the Anfal campaign and killed thousands of innocents in Halabja, should serve as a warning to others who follow in their murderous footsteps. Youve been putting it off for years, but its finally time to upgrade your desk setup and get a premium monitor. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is down to its very best price on Amazon, meaning you can get it for $680 right now a massive 43% off its $1,200 MSRP. This is a 34-inch monitor with an ultrawide 34401440 resolution and a curvature thatll make all those hours spent in front of your computer that much easier on your eyes. Youll also love the OLED panels vibrant colors, deep blacks, and next-gen experience. This monitor also comes with ample ports along the back, including two full-sized HDMI, a DisplayPort, and two USB-A. Its a gaming-capable monitor, by the way, with its 175Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time for smooth gaming visuals with no dropped frames or lag to speak of. Furthermore, it has compability with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for ultra-smooth gaming. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is normally quite pricey, but its an absolute steal at this price. Get it right now for $680 while you still can because that whopping $520 discount wont last forever! Its just a foretaste of the discounts we expect to see in Amazons Spring Sale. Save an incredible 43% on Samsung's ultrawide OLED monitor See our Best Monitor round-up for more PC monitor buying advice. If youre one of the unlucky Chromecast owners whose untrusted device stopped working earlier this week, heres some good news: a fix is on the way. As reported by 9to5Google, Google has issued a fix that should restore service to the stymied Chromecast streamers, including the second-generation Chromecast (pictured above) and the Chromecast Audio. Were pleased to share some positive news regarding Chromecast 2nd gen & Audio, read a Google email shared on Reddit. The fix is being implemented and will be available shortly. Thank you for understanding. Users of the affected Chromecasts should keep their devices connected to Wi-Fi to apply the fix, Google told 9to5Google, adding that the patch rollout will be completed over the next few days. At least a few Chromecast users on Reddit said their devices were already working again. The Chromecast bug cropped up on Sunday, when the owners of older Chromecast players and the Chromecast Audio started getting errors that read, Untrusted device: [name] couldnt be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmware. The devices then refused to play. Newer Chromecast devices, including the Chromecast with Google TV (both the 4K and HD versions) as well as the Google TV Streamer, werent affected by the glitch. The timing of the bug was unfortunate. Just last month, Google stopped selling its Chromecast with Google TV models in favor of the $100 Google TV Streamer (the second-gen Chromecast and Chromecast Audio were discontinued years ago), leading some to worry that Google had dropped support for the older devices. But Google assured users that the untrusted device error was a simply a bug. Google also advised Chromecast owners not to reset their devices as the company worked on a fix. Google hasnt specified the reason for the untrusted errors, but some have speculated that expired SSL certificates were to blame. More than 80 people were laid off after a fire at a Pennsylvania plant. Arway Uniform and Linen Rentals filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining and Notification with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry informing the state it has closed its facility at 1696 Foulkrod St. in Philadelphia, and 85 employees were laid off. The fire took place around 9:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department. At one point, there were more than 120 Philadelphia Fire Department members at the scene, and 12 hours later, firefighters were still there. The company officially informed the state of the layoffs last month. The facility closed due to the direct effects of a natural disaster specifically a fire that caused the entire facility to burn, the company said in a WARN notice. We are providing as much notice as is practicable under the circumstances and given the rapid pace at which this situation has developed. Given that the facility is no longer operable, resulting in an impact on Arways financial conditions, Arway is no longer able to employ a majority of the employees at the facility and therefore must terminate their employment. Company officials said the business has made an efforts to retain some employees, including transitioning four employees to management positions and three employees to positions directly assisting truck drivers, who were not impacted by the plant closure. Arway continues to employ 25 employees as truck drivers and driver helpers. Arway is in the process of building a new facility in Philadelphia, where the terminated employees are welcomed to apply, if and when open. However, Arway cannot predict with any degree of certainty if and when the new facility will be opened, the company said in the WARN notice. The company said on it Facebook page following the fire that it was ramping up construction on its new facility in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. The employees were separated from employment on January 2. Arway provides front and back of house restaurant linen rentals including towels, uniforms and floor mats, among other items. The company was founded in 1979. The WARN Act is federal legislation that offers protection to workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of a covered-business closing and covered-business mass layoff. There are some exceptions to that requirement. The WARN notice was dated Feb. 17. A defense attorney filed several motions in Mangione's Blair County case to dismiss evidence and drop charges. Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal court for his arraignment on state murder and terror charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, on Dec. 23, 2024, in New York. AP A Blair County defense attorney recently filed several motions on behalf of Luigi Mangione, asking a judge to release him from custody and dismiss dozens of pieces of evidence on the basis that he was illegally arrested, searched and questioned in Altoona. Mangiones charges in Blair County are separate from the New York case in which he is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 in Manhattan. A lawsuit seems to have resulted in the series's cancellation. (Getty Images) Getty Images/fStop Fans of a popular Discovery Channel show have been left wondering for quite some time now about the fate of the series. The show has been on hiatus for almost three years, but some new information appears to have shined some light on the situation. TV Insider reports how the Alaskan Bush People aired for 14 seasons but hasnt released a new episode since December 2022. The U.S. Sun further reports how the series might have been quietly axed by Discovery although the company has yet to formally announce any cancellation due to a $500,000 legal war between the estate of late cast member, Billy Brown, and his former business partner, Robert Maughon. A separate Sun article explains how Maughon filed a breach of contract lawsuit following the stars death in 2021 at the age of 68. He claims he entered into a contract with Brown by fronting $20,000 for business purposes on the grounds he would receive 10 percent of earnings; this, says Maughon, was not upheld. The Sun highlights how testimony from Browns wife, Ami, refers to the show in the past tense, reading, the show Alaskan Bush People ultimately had 14 seasons, with the last season being filmed in 2022. Mrs. Brown has, on her end, filed a motion to dismiss the claims against her in February, reports another Sun article. According to a Discovery synopsis, Alaskan Bush People is a reality series depicting the Brown family, who has lived off the grid in Hoonah, Alaska, for roughly 30 years. The show featured the late Mr. Brown and Mrs. Brown along with their seven children as they navigate life in the wilderness. Maughon is seeking that $500,000 as well as a trial. Further information regarding this lawsuit remains pending. New Jersey was found to be the least federally dependent overall. (Getty Images) Getty Images A new report has listed which states are the most and least dependent upon the federal government. Pennsylvania landed amongst the former. Conducted and published by WalletHub, the study ranked the Keystone State in the 20th overall spot. It also ranked third overall when it came to the amount of other financial assistance it receives based on the amount of federal taxes paid. WalletHub researchers determined these rankings by analyzing each of the 50 states across two main metrics: State Residents Dependency and State Governments Dependency. Various submetrics such as Share of Federal Jobs and Federal Funding as a Share of State Revenue were taken into account as well. Alaska ended up ranking in first as the most federally dependent state overall. Kentucky came next in second then West Virginia, third. Alaska is the most federally dependent state, as over 50% of the states revenue comes from federal funding, the study explains. Some reasons why Alaska gets a lot of federal dollars include the difficulty of maintaining infrastructure in a big state with harsh weather and a small population, plus Alaskas richness in natural resources, its vulnerability to disasters and its defensive importance. Alaska also has a lot of federal jobs in fact, nearly 5% of the states workforce is employed by the federal government. For context, the share for most states is only 1% and 3%. The study also notes that Alaska has a very good return on the taxes that its residents pay to the federal government, too. Regardless of whether the distribution of federal funds is fair or not, living in one of the most federally dependent states can be beneficial for residents, says WalletHub analyst, Chip Lupo. For every dollar residents of the top states pay in taxes, they get several dollars back in federal funding, which often leads to higher-quality infrastructure, education, public and more. The least federally-dependent state was found to be New Jersey. Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have deported a family with a child recovering from brain cancer. Getty Images A 10-year-old girl who was being treated in the U.S. for brain cancer was deported along with the family to Mexico. Immigration authorities removed the girl, her parents and her four siblings on Feb. 4, according to NBC News. The family was taking their daughter to an emergency medical checkup in Houston, Texas, when they were stopped at an immigration checkpoint. The family had been able to pass through the checkpoint previously by showing letters from their doctors and lawyers to immigration officials, but attorney Danny Woodward of the Texas Civil Rights Project said this time that wasnt enough and they were arrested when they couldnt present legal immigration documentation. The childs mother told NBC News that she tried to explain her childs health condition, but they werent interested in hearing that. The parents have no criminal history apart from being undocumented, Woodward told the news outlet. The 10-year-old was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and had surgery to remove the tumor. However, the swelling on her brain has not gone away yet, which is causing difficulties with speech and mobility. Its a very difficult thing, the mother said to NBC News. I dont wish anyone to go through this situation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to comment on the case. A social media influencer has come under fire for snatching a baby wombat away from its mother. Getty Images A U.S. social media influencer who stole a baby wombat from its mother while in Australia could lose her visa to stay in that country. Sam Jones, an outdoor enthusiast and hunter, who has over 91,000 followers on her Instagram account, was seen on a video snatching a baby wombat away from its mother and running towards a car while the mother chases after her. The video does show Jones releasing the baby, which can be seen hissing at her, back onto the road but it is not clear if the animal was able to reunite with its mom. It isnt clear where or when the video was shot, but it appears to be somewhere along southeast Australia, where wombats are common, according to CNN. The footage has been met with outrage in Australia, to the point where now Jones is being investigated for a potential breach of her Australian visa. Given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers. I cant wait to see the back of this individual, Australias home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said in a statement on Thursday, per The Guardian. To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Wombats, like all animals native to Australia, are protected by law. Jones has since made her Instagram account private. A middle school student and a teacher were injured during a fire in a cooking class in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on Wednesday, authorities said. The fire broke out in a classroom at the Monroe Middle School when the girl came into contact with an open flame and her clothing caught fire at about 10:25 a.m., township police said. As the teacher tried to smother the flames, another student used a fire extinguisher to knock down the blaze, authorities said. WILLIAMSPORT A retired Mount Carmel police lieutenant has admitted he participated in a conspiracy to assault detainees and cover up the evidence. Inference was made Wednesday in U.S. Middle District Court by Assistant U.S. Attorney C.D. Marchioli such police activity had occurred for years in the Coal Region borough. When he recited the evidence against David J. Donkochik, the prosecutor noted he learned how to cover up assaults from predecessor senior officers. The United States is closely linked to Europe through shared values and common history, noted U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea, Charge d Affaires ad interim at the United Nations. Our national story and our form of government have their origin in the political philosophy that originated on the European continent. From that shared heritage, we derive our commitment to democracy, freedom of expression, the rule of law, religious freedom, respect for individual rights and liberties, and economic opportunity. The United States stands firmly behind these universal principles. The EU and the United Nations should cooperate to meet the challenge of preserving peace, urged Ambassador Shea. For example, in the Western Balkans, EUFORs Operation Althea supports the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of a multiethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina, as authorized by this Council. Given persistent threats to Bosnia and Herzegovinas territorial integrity, we continue to look to EU leadership to ensure EUFOR Althea is fully resourced to continue carrying out its mandate. We also welcome the EUs support for regional peace and security through its Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo and the efforts to advance Serbias and Kosovos normalization for regional stability, said Ambassador Shea. But clearly, today, Europes greatest security challenge is the Russia-Ukraine war, said Ambassador Shea. [T]his Council adopted a landmark resolution, put forward by the United States, calling for an end to the war. The United States, as President Trump has made clear, is committed to ending the war and achieving a durable peace. We are counting on Europe and the European Union to help facilitate and to help underwrite that peace. Once a durable peace has been achieved, it will be more urgent than ever for the EU and its Member States to play a key role in providing security guarantees, stressed Ambassador Shea. Europe must be strong, resilient, self-sufficient to ensure not just peace and security in Europe, but to be a true partner in ensuring international peace and security. The United States recognizes the important role of European countries in welcoming millions of Ukrainian refugees and leading contributions they will make to Ukraines post-war reconstruction and security. We encourage the EU to continue working closely with the United Nations, said Ambassador Shea, and particularly the Security Council, to promote peace and security for the European region and beyond. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) AP TRAVERSE CITY, MI Pete Buttigieg, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Joe Biden, will not seek a U.S. Senate seat and may instead pursue the presidency, according to a Politico report. The Traverse City resident was expected to announce Thursday, March 13, that he will not serve as a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan that will open when Democrat Gary Peters retires in two years, the publication reported. Buttigiegs decision was framed by several allies and people in his inner circle as putting him in the strongest possible position to seek the presidency, the Politico report stated. Seeking both a Senate seat and then the presidency would involve the Democrat running successive campaigns in 2026 and 2028. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was among the Democratic leaders considered a potential candidate to succeed Peters. Buttigieg has a history of ambition to serve as U.S. president. He was among an early slate of candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination for president that Biden eventually secured. Although Buttigieg withdrew his name from the race nine days earlier, he received 1.4% of votes in the March 2020 Michigan presidential primary election for Democrats. One month before the 2020 Michigan presidential primary, though, Buttigieg experienced significant early victories in his bid for the presidency. He won the Iowa caucuses and placed second in the New Hampshire primary. Buttigieg was a strong advocate for Democrats during the 2024 presidential campaign. He supported the candidacy of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, appearing at rallies to push voters to choose the then-vice president over Republican Donald Trump. Buttigieg was a frequent guest on conservative-leaning talk shows during the campaign season, when he gained a reputation for answering tough questions about both the Biden and Harris candidacies. While Buttigieg did not practice politics in Michigan, the 43-year-old South Bend native moved to the state in 2022 with his husband. Buttigieg previously was elected mayor of South Bend in 2012 and served in that capacity until 2020. Peters, of Bloomfield Township, in January announced he will not seek reelection when his second Senate term ends in 2027, when he plans to dedicate more time to family. Voters first elected Peters in 2014 to the seat once occupied by fellow Democrat Carl Levin, the longest-serving senator in Michigan history. FILE - Vice President JD Vance, right, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, left, listen as Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, center, speaks in East Palestine Fire Station on Feb 3, 2025, in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) AP By Matthew Daly, The Associated Press WASHINGTON In what he called the most consequential day of deregulation in American history, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of actions Wednesday to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles. We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in Americas Golden Age, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in an essay in The Wall Street Journal. If approved after a lengthy process that includes public comment, the Trump administrations actions will eliminate trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes, Zeldin said, lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices for such essentials such as buying a car, heating your home and operating a business. Our actions will also reignite American manufacturing, spreading economic benefits to communities, he wrote. Energy dominance stands at the center of Americas resurgence. In all, Zeldin said he is rolling back 31 environmental rules, including a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action against climate change. Zeldin said he and President Donald Trump support rewriting the agencys 2009 finding that planet-warming greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The Obama-era determination under the Clean Air Act is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources. Environmentalists and climate scientists call the endangerment finding a bedrock of U.S. law and say any attempt to undo it will have little chance of success. In the face of overwhelming science, its impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court, said David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. In a related action, Zeldin said EPA will rewrite a rule restricting air pollution from fossil-fuel fired power plants and a separate measure restricting emissions from cars and trucks. Zeldin and the Republican president incorrectly label the car rule as an electric vehicle mandate. President Joe Bidens Democratic administration had said the power plant rules would reduce pollution and improve public health while supporting the reliable, long-term supply of electricity that America needs. Biden, who made fighting climate change a hallmark of his presidency, cited the car rule as a key factor in what he called historic progress on his pledge that half of all new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. will be zero-emission by 2030. The EPA also will take aim at rules restricting industrial pollution of mercury and other air toxins, soot pollution and a good neighbor rule intended to restrict smokestack emissions that burden downwind areas with smog. The EPA also targeted a clean water law that provides federal protections for rivers, streams and wetlands. FILE - Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Capitol Hill, Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) AP None of the changes take effect immediately, and nearly all will require a long rulemaking process. Environmental groups vowed to oppose the actions, which one said would result in the greatest increase in pollution in decades'' in the U.S. Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, made the claim as she denounced Zeldins unlawful attack on the public health of the American people. The EPA has also terminated its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and will shutter parts of the agency focused on environmental justice, Zeldin said. The effort strived to improve conditions in areas heavily burdened by industrial pollution, mostly in low-income and majority-Black or Hispanic communities. This isnt about abandoning environmental protection its about achieving it through innovation and not strangulation, Zeldin wrote. By reconsidering rules that throttled oil and gas production and unfairly targeted coal-fired power plants, we are ensuring that American energy remains clean, affordable and reliable. University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann called the EPAs action just the latest form of Republican climate denial. They can no longer deny climate change is happening, so instead theyre pretending its not a threat, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that it is, perhaps, the greatest threat that we face today. The directive to reconsider the endangerment finding and other EPA rules was a recommendation of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trumps second term. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and co-author of Project 2025, called the actions long overdue. EPAs regulation of the climate affects the entire national economy jobs, wages and family budgets, Vought said Wednesday. The Trump administrations ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet, countered Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute. Come hell and high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of peoples lives. Reconsidering the endangerment finding and other actions wont stand up in court, Rylander said. Were going to fight it every step of the way. FILE - Louise Hamlin visits her home ravaged by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) AP The United States is the second largest carbon polluter in the world, after China, and the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases. The moves to terminate environmental justice staff follows an action last week to drop a case against a Louisiana petrochemical plant accused of increasing cancer risk in a majority-Black community. Zeldin called environmental justice a term that has been used primarily as an excuse to fund left-wing activists instead of actually spending those dollars to directly remediate environmental issues for those communities. Matthew Tejada, who once led EPAs environmental justice office, said Trump and Zeldin were taking us back to a time of unfettered pollution across the nation, leaving every American exposed to toxic chemicals, dirty air and contaminated water. Tejada now works at the NRDC. Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council, an oil industry group, hailed Zeldins actions and said the U.S. is stronger and more secure when we are energy dominant. Her group has long called for changes to EPA rules so they are workable, effective and build on the significant emissions reductions made by oil and gas producers, Bradbury said. We support updating these rules so the American people can continue to benefit from affordable, reliable and clean American energy. New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called Zeldins actions a despicable betrayal of the American people. Every day, more Americans lose their jobs, homes and even their lives to worsening climate disasters, Pallone said. Trump and Zeldin are making a mockery of those peoples pain, Pallone said, adding that will have swift and catastrophic ramifications for the environment and health of all Americans. Associated Press writer Michael Phillis in St. Louis contributed to this report. Another Record Field as Triton SHRS Jeju Crowns Four PLO Champions Will Shillibier Managing Editor Copy link The Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju delivered another exciting set of high-stakes results this week, with four Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) champions crowned. The highlight was, of course, the $100,000 PLO Main Event, where Sergio Martinez emerged victorious over a record field. The tournament saw a total of 91 entries, making it the largest six-figure buy-in PLO tournament in history. In other events, there were victories for Tom-Aksel Bedell, Lautaro Guerra and Gergo Nagy, while poker legends Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel also made final table appearances. Martinez Bags $2.34 Million in $100k PLO Main Event Spains Sergio Martinez has emerged victorious in the biggest-ever $100K PLO event, claiming his first Triton Super High Roller Series title in style. The high-stakes tournament, featuring 91 entries, generated a record-breaking $9.1 million prize pool. Martinez took home $2.34 million and a prestigious Jacob & Co timepiece awarded to Triton Main Event champions. Martinez dominated much of the final table, holding an overwhelming chip lead for long stretches. However, a resilient Ding Biao, a two-time Triton champion, mounted a fierce comeback in heads-up play. Biao famously denied Phil Ivey a year ago in Jeju, and was on the brink of another victory, only for Martinez to battle back dramatically before sealing the win. The final table saw a strong Chinese presence with Huang Wenjie, fresh from his victory in the $100,000 NLHE Main Event, the first elimination at the final table. He was joined by Lin Wei and Zhikang Dai at the final table, with Ding ultimately finishing runner-up for $1.61 million, while Lin Wei secured third place and a career-best $1.05 million. Event #16: $100,000 PLO Main Event Final Table Results Place Player Country Payout 1 Sergio Martinez Spain $2,340,000 2 Ding Biao China $1,610,000 3 Lin Wei China $1,055,000 4 Zhikang Dai China $854,000 5 Tom Vogelsang Netherlands $686,000 6 Mads Amot Norway $536,000 7 Huang Wenjie China $423,000 Third-Oldest Triton Champion Ever as Bedell Clinches First Title At 64 years old, Norwegian poker pro Tom-Aksel Bedell has made history as the third-oldest champion in Triton Super High Roller Series history, capturing the $25K PLO title in Jeju. Only Richard Yong and Vladimir "Gambledore" Korzinin were older winners, with Korzinin 69 years old at the time of his victory four months ago. Despite starting the final table as chip leader, Bedells path to the title was anything but smooth. He saw his stack dwindle to near elimination before mounting a remarkable comeback, navigating a wild final table, and securing a $709,000 payday after eventually defeating Chinas Shi Ning Dan in a short but intense heads-up battle. Shi, competing in his first-ever Triton event, impressed with a runner-up finish worth $486,000, while British PLO specialist Richard Gryko claimed third place for $320,000. The final table featured poker legends Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel, with Ivey even holding the chip lead five-handed, but both fell short. Event #13: $25,000 PLO Place Player Country Payout 1 Tom-Aksel Bedell Norway $709,000 2 Shi Ning Dan China $486,000 3 Richard Gryko UK $320,000 4 Eelis Parssinen Finland $264,000 5 Phil Ivey USA $213,000 6 Lin Wei China $166,000 7 Erik Seidel USA $123,000 Nagy Flips the Script with Heads-Up Victory Over Jouhkimainen Gergo Nagy turned the tables on Joni Jouhkimainen to claim the title in the Triton SHRS $50,000 buy-in PLO event in Jeju. The two had previously faced off in the Super High Roller Bowl Series in Cyprus, where Jouhkimainen came out on top. This time, Nagy exacted revenge, claiming $1.36 million for first place, while Jouhkimainen earned $930,000 for second. The tournament drew 112 entries, creating a prize pool of $5.6 million. The final table saw a number of skilled PLO players, including Patrik Antonius, and Eelis Parssinen. Jeremy Ausmus, who had already won a title earlier in the trip, finished sixth. As the final table progressed, the chip lead fluctuated, with Gruff Jones briefly taking control before being eliminated in third place for $611,000. The heads-up match between Nagy and Jouhkimainen featured dramatic shifts in chip stacks, but Nagy would ensure his revenge, cracking Jouhkimainen's aces int he final hand to secure victory. Event #15: $50,000 PLO Place Player Country Payout 1 Gergo Nagy Hungary $1,360,000 2 Joni Jouhkimainen Finland $930,000 3 Gruffudd Jones UK $611,000 4 Xu Liang China $505,000 5 Tom Vogelsang Netherlands $408,000 6 Jeremy Ausmus USA $318,000 7 Eelis Parssinen Finland $235,000 Spain at the Double! Guerra Wins PLO Bounty Quattro Lautaro Guerra of Spain claimed victory in the $30,000 PLO Bounty Quattro event at the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju, taking home $783,000, including $280,000 in bounties. The tournament saw a total of 100 entries, generating a prize pool of $3 million, with $1 million allocated to bounties. An impressive performance saw Guerra eliminate six opponents en-route to victory, with three knockouts occurring in consecutive hands at the final table. The victory meant a double for Spain, with compatriot Sergio Martinez' PLO Main Event victory coming just hours earlier. Start-of-day chip leader Alex Foxen could only manage third place, with Canada's Sam Greenwood the eventual runner-up, eliminated heads-up in just a single hand by eventual champion Guerra. Guerra picked up the lion's share of bounties ($280,000) while Alex Foxen and fourth-place finisher Gavin Andreanoff ($160,000) also picked up healthy additional bounty prize money. Event #17: $30,000 PLO Bounty Quattro Final Table Results Place Player Country Payout 1 Lautaro Guerra Spain $783,000 2 Sam Greenwood Canada $380,000 3 Alex Foxen USA $381,000 4 Gavin Andreanoff UK $343,000 5 Danny Tang Hong Kong $187,000 6 Stephen Chidwick UK $156,000 7 Nacho Barbero Argentina $89,000 Note: Payouts include bounties Triton SHRS Jeju Remaining Events The final events of the Triton Jeju Super High Roller Series kick off today, with Event #18, Event #19, and Event #20 all in Short Deck Hold'em set to round out the series. Date Event Buy-in March 13, 2025 #18 Short Deck Ante-Only (2-Day Event) $30,000 March 14, 2025 #19 Short Deck Ante-Only PLPF (2-Day Event) $50,000 March 15, 2025 #20 Short Deck Ante-Only (Single Day) $25,000 Share this article Nik Airball is Back and Coming for HCLs Million Dollar Cash Game | PokerNews Podcast #882 Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager Copy link In the 882nd episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Kyna England, and Connor Richards discuss the return of Nik Airball to Hustler Casino Live (HCL) after a yearlong casino ban. They also dive into other HCL news such as the announcement of the next Million Dollar Cash Game, GGPoker buying out Nick Vertucci's shares, and Ryan Feldman celebrating his 40th birthday. Speaking of the big 4-0, Chad and Connor also surprise Kyna with decorations and cake for her 40th birthday! The triumvirate then highlight Ari Engel retaking the lead from Maurice Hawkins in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit all-time ring race with both Josh Reichard and Daniel Lowery staying hot on their heels with recent ring wins of their own. You'll also hear about Chad Eveslage winning the $100K Super High Roller Bowl Mixed Games, Bryn Kenney winning another Triton Poker title, and Keith Heine earning his way into the MSPT Hall of Fame. Plus, an update on the Tom Goldstein high-stakes poker saga and the return of the Bay 101 Shooting Star to the World Poker Tour (WPT) schedule for the first time since 2017! Finally, you can check out the latest installment of "New Vlogs on the Block" and details on our backpack & hoodie giveaway in conjunction with Tilted Compass. Visit the Tilted Compass website here! The podcast is sponsored by the #1 free-to-play WSOP app. Remember to use bonus code "POKERNEWS" if you download and play for an extra 1,000,000 in chips! A new PokerNews Podcast will drop weekly every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode! Tell us who you want to hear from. Let us know what you think of the show tweet about the podcast using #PNPod, and be sure to follow Chad Holloway on X. Time Stamps Subscribe to the PokerNews Podcast on Apple Podcasts here! You can also find us on Spotify as well as our new page on SoundCloud! Check Out Past Episodes of the PN Podcast Here! Share this article Aiken Standard reporter Dede Biles is a reporter for the Aiken Standard. She covers Aiken County government, business and horse industry. To support local journalism, sign up for a subscription. See our current offers Aiken Standard reporter Matthew Christian is a reporter for the Aiken Standard. He covers the Savannah River Site, city of Aiken, politics and public safety and courts. Matthew previously covered government and politics for the Morning News in Florence. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and the University of Charleston in West Virginia. To support local journalism, sign up for a subscription. See our current offers Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 84F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a half an inch.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms developing late. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 72F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Tropical storm conditions possible. Occasional rain tapering to a few showers late. High around 85F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Tropical storm conditions possible. Rain showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving overnight. Low 74F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Photo: Jussi Ratilainen for Nefco The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) has already completed 24 projects within the framework of the Green Recovery Program for Ukraine, created in response to Russian aggression in 2022, NEFCO Investment Advisor Yulia Shevchuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. "We are actively working within this program. It currently covers over 60 projects, and several more are at the development stage. Despite the war, we have already managed to complete 24 projects. The main areas of our work are improving the energy efficiency of public sector buildings, reconstruction and construction of new housing for internally displaced persons, as well as projects related to critical infrastructure. We work in the areas of water supply, heat supply and waste management, contributing to their modernization and sustainable development," Shevchuk said. In total, the NEFCO Green Recovery Program for Ukraine has attracted more than EUR323 million. Approximately two-thirds of this was provided by the European Union, one-third by the NEFCO founders, the countries of Northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland), as well as the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) and the Nordic Environmental Development Fund (NMF). Growth & Development Reporter Caleb Bozard covers business, growth and development for The Post and Courier Columbia. He has previously written for The State and the Times and Democrat. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2023. April Santana covers Lexington County for the Post and Courier Columbia. A New Jersey native, she studied journalism and political science at Syracuse University. April has written for Lohud/Democrat and Chronicle, The Arizona Republic and Syracuse.com. Reporter Lillia Callum-Penso covers food for The Post and Courier Greenville. She spent over a decade as a reporter with The Greenville News where she covered business and food and won awards for her feature, profile and food writing. Outside work, Lillia can usually be found running to keep up with her very energetic twins. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 86F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 73F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to occasional showers during the afternoon. High 84F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 71F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Russian troops hit high-rise buildings in Kostiantynivka with bombs, two people were killed, five more were wounded, the press service of the Donetsk region police reported. "As a result of the hits, several houses caught fire, people were trapped in a fire and smoke. There is information about the death of a 51-year-old couple. The husband and wife are probably under the rubble," the report says. Among the wounded is a 72-year-old man and four women aged 58, 70, 75, 88, all the victims were in their homes. They were diagnosed with concussions, cut and stab wounds. Police paramedics provided first aid to the injured and evacuated them to the hospital. Also, 14 civilian objects were damaged in Kostiantynivka: six multi-story buildings, a pharmacy, a store, five civilian cars, and a gas pipeline. Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Tropical storm conditions possible. Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 84F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Tropical storm conditions possible. Rain showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving overnight. Low 74F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Myrtle Beach, SC (29577) Today Tropical storm conditions possible. Heavy rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch.. Tonight Tropical storm conditions possible. Rain. Thunderstorms possible...mainly overnight. Low around 75F. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Spartanburg, SC (29301) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Hot. High 92F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low around 70F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. At night, 74 out of 117 enemy UAVs shot down, 38 imitator drones lost in location Photo: National Guard Last night, units of the Defense Forces shot down 74 enemy UAVs out of 117 that attacked the territory of Ukraine, 38 imitator drones were lost in location, the press service of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. "As of 09:00, it has been confirmed that 74 Shahed attack UAVs and other types of drones have been shot down in Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions," the report said. At the same time, 38 enemy imitator drones were lost in location (without negative consequences). As noted, on the night of March 13 (from 19:00 on March 12), the enemy attacked with an Iskander-M ballistic missile from Kursk region and 117 Shahed attack UAVs and imitator drones of various types from the directions of Shatalovo, Millerovo, Kursk, Bryansk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk - the Russian Federation. The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and Defense Forces of Ukraine. Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhia regions were affected by the Russian attack. PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:20:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 520 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / National plaintiffs law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP encourages investors in Atkore Inc. ("Atkore" or the "Company") (NYSE:ATKR) who purchased Atkore common stock between February 1, 2024, and February 3, 2025, inclusive (the "Class Period") to contact us immediately regarding a pending securities class action against Atkore. The deadline to apply to be lead plaintiff is April 23, 2025.Class Period: February 1, 2024 - February 3, 2025Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 23, 2025Case information: https://lieffcabraser.com/securities/atkore/ Contact us: Email or text investorinfo@ lchb.com or call 1-800-541-7358Atkore, headquartered in Harvey, Illinois, is a manufacturer of electrical, safety, and infrastructure products, including polyvinyl chloride ("PVC") water pipes and electrical conduit pipes.The action alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Atkore and certain of its senior executives failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the Company was engaged in an anticompetitive price-fixing scheme that kept the price of its PVC pipes artificially inflated even after COVID era supply chain issues had resolved; (2) Atkore received substantial, unsustainable financial benefits from its anticompetitive actions; and (3) the Company's poor quarterly financial results were due to it and its co-conspirators refusing to lower their artificially inflated prices even after foreign competitors were able to reenter the market and price PVC appropriately.On July 24, 2024, asset management firm ManBear released a report claiming that Atkore was engaged in an industry-wide price fixing scheme which had "massively inflated pipe prices" and "appear[ed] to defy economic logic, remaining at extremely elevated levels despite normalized supply chains." On this news, Atkore's stock price declined 8.53% from its closing price of $145 per share on July 23, 2024, to close at $132.63 per share on July 24, 2024.On February 4, 2025, before the market opened, Atkore announced disappointing financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, reporting net sales of $661.6 million which was significantly below analysts' estimates. In addition, Atkore reduced its earnings guidance for 2025. During the Company's earnings conference call with analysts and investors later that day, Atkore CFO, defendant John M. Deitzer, revealed that Atkore's "plastic pipe and conduit product category declined mid-single digits during the quarter," and attributed the Company's lowered 2025 guidance to Atkore's PVC business, stating "roughly $75 million or 3/4 of that is on the PVC side." On this news, the price of Atkore common stock fell 19.56% from its closing price of $79.72 per share on February 3, 2025, to close at $64.13 per share on February 4, 2025, on extremely heavy trading volume.About Lieff CabraserLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with over 125 attorneys in offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich, Germany, is an internationally-recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility. Repeatedly recognized as a "Plaintiffs' Powerhouse" by Law360, Lieff Cabraser has litigated some of the most important civil cases in the United States, and has assisted clients in recovering over $129 billion in verdicts and settlements. For over 50 years, Lieff Cabraser has remained committed to ensuring access to justice for all.Source/ContactSharon LeeLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP415 956-1000 slee@ lchb.com SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 20:50:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 957 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 COVINGTON, LA / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / The juvenile justice system in Covington, LA, presents unique challenges for young offenders, their families, and the legal professionals dedicated to ensuring fair representation. According toAttorney Michael Bradley,a highly respected attorney in Covington, LA, the need for comprehensive legal advocacy has never been more critical."Youth offenders require a distinct approach within the criminal justice system," says Bradley. "Unlike adult defendants, juveniles are often more impressionable, and the legal system must balance accountability with rehabilitation." As an experienced lawyer, Michael Bradley emphasizes that juvenile defense requires a deep understanding of Louisiana's laws, as well as the ability to advocate for alternatives to incarceration that prioritize a minor's future.Addressing the Rise in Juvenile CrimeIn recent years, Covington, LA, has seen an increase in juvenile crime cases ranging from petty theft to more serious offenses. Bradley attributes this trend to various socioeconomic factors, family dynamics, and the challenges of modern adolescence. "We have to recognize that many young offenders come from difficult backgrounds. Addressing juvenile crime is not just about punishment - it's about intervention and creating opportunities for change," Michael Bradley states.Bradley adds that many juveniles find themselves in legal trouble due to a lack of proper guidance or exposure to negative influences. "As a lawyer in Covington, LA, I have seen firsthand how early legal intervention can significantly impact the trajectory of a young person's life. When a juvenile has a strong legal advocate, the chances of rehabilitation increase dramatically." The Role of Legal Advocacy in Juvenile CasesMichael Bradley believes that strong legal representation is crucial when dealing with juvenile cases. "The legal system must recognize that juveniles are different from adults in terms of decision-making and accountability," he explains. "The approach should be restorative rather than purely punitive." As an experienced attorney, Michael Bradley works closely with families to ensure minors receive fair treatment under the law. He highlights that one of the most important aspects of juvenile law in Covington, LA, is securing diversion programs that allow young offenders to rehabilitate without a permanent criminal record. "Diversion programs, community service, and educational interventions often serve as better alternatives to detention," Bradley says.Navigating the Juvenile Court SystemOne of the biggest challenges families face is understanding the juvenile court system, which operates differently than adult criminal courts. "Many parents don't know where to start when their child is arrested," says Michael Bradley. "They need a knowledgeable attorney who can guide them through the process and advocate for the best possible outcome." Bradley emphasizes that the goal of juvenile court is rehabilitation, but that doesn't mean the process is easy to navigate. "Juvenile court proceedings can be complex, and without proper legal guidance, minors may face harsher penalties than necessary," he explains. "As a lawyer in Covington, LA, I work to ensure my young clients receive the due process they deserve while also helping families understand their options." The Importance of Early InterventionAccording to Bradley, early intervention is key in preventing repeat offenses. "The earlier we can provide legal assistance and advocate for rehabilitative measures, the better the chances of preventing a juvenile from entering a cycle of crime," he states. "Every case is different, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work when dealing with young individuals." Bradley highlights that mentorship programs, mental health support, and educational initiatives can play a critical role in reducing recidivism rates among juveniles. "Attorneys and legal advocates must work hand-in-hand with community organizations to provide a support system for at-risk youth," he adds.Michael Bradley's Commitment to Juvenile DefenseWith over 17 years of legal experience, Michael Bradley has dedicated his career to defending the rights of individuals in Covington, LA.From his early days as a public defender to his thriving private practice, Bradley has made a name for himself as a relentless advocate for justice. His legal expertise spans criminal defense, family law, personal injury, maritime law, and parole advocacy, but juvenile defense remains a core focus."As a lawyer in Covington, LA, I've always believed in fighting for fair representation, especially for those who may not have the resources to defend themselves adequately," Michael Bradley states. "Juveniles deserve legal advocates who understand their unique needs and are willing to fight for their future." Bradley also co-founded and chairs the Criminal Division of the 22nd Judicial District Bar Association, an initiative that works to improve efficiency and fairness in the local legal system. Michael Bradley is licensed to practice in Louisiana, with offices in covington and Franklinton. His dedication has earned him numerous accolades, including recognition as one of the top 100 trial attorneys in the United States and being voted the St Tammany West's Favorite Attorney across all categories.Final Thoughts: A Call for Community InvolvementWhile legal professionals play a significant role in juvenile justice, Michael Bradley believes that community involvement is equally important. "Addressing juvenile crime in Covington, LA, is not just the responsibility of lawyers and the courts - it's a collective effort that involves families, schools, and local organizations," he asserts. "If we want to create real change, we need to support initiatives that offer positive alternatives for at-risk youth." For parents seeking legal representation for their child, Michael Bradley encourages early action. "The sooner we get involved, the more options we have for a positive resolution," he says. "No child should be defined by a mistake - they deserve a chance to rebuild their future." Michael Bradley:Email: mbradley@ baslawgroup.com SOURCE: Michael Bradley PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 08:20:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1019 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 UPPSALA, SE / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 /Biovica International (STO:BIOVIC-B)(STO: BIOVIC.B)(FRA:9II) Quarterly sales doubled, expanding market potential exponentiallySEK tQ3 24/25Q3 23/24May-Jan 24/25May-Jan 23/24Full year 23/24Net sales2,2611,0756,2875,3917,290Operating profit (loss)-22,183-27,848-65,499-85,355-126,845Profit (loss) for the period-22,816-27,343-66,857-85,292-124,823Earnings per share, after dilution-0.23-0.44-0.74-1.66-2.14Average number of shares during the period97,786,38462,816,18590,886,91151,432,91154,408,099Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period43,508105,23843,508105,23879,407Significant events during the third quarterNew DiviTum TKa data that significantly increases the market potential was presented at SABCSBiovica signed an agreement with US healthcare and insurance giantBiovica's CLIA lab has obtained a permit from the state of New York, which opens up the entire US marketBiovica signed a significant order with UK-based pharma/biotech company for TKa testing servicesSignificant events after the end of the periodBiovica signed an agreement with EuroBio Scientific covering 60% of the European marketBiovica signed a new work order for SEK 2.5 million with US biotech company for TKa testing servicesBiovica has begun collaborating with Outcomes4Me - a patient app with more than 250.000 usersWebcast:When: 13/3 2025 kl. 15.00 CET Where: registration via: Biovica Q3 Report FY 2024/2025Broadcast language: in EnglishCEO's commentsIn the third quarter, I note a positive sales trend, with sales doubling compared to the same period last year, while we have also grown our backlog of orders from pharmaceutical companies.But the most significant event of the quarter was when we signed the most important agreement thus far in Biovica's history. It is with a US Insurance giant that is one of the largest Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) in the USA. The agreement is significant not only because of its enormous commercial potential, but also because it confirms the substantial savings DiviTum TKa can offer insurers and caregivers, while benefiting patients.This covers more than 10 million US policyholders and opens up a new, important distribution channel for us. Furthermore, conditions within the organization are favorable for DiviTum TKa to become a standard for monitoring breast cancer treatment, which would significantly boost sales.Now that Biovica's CLIA lab has obtained a permit from the state of New York, we have full coverage in the USA for offering DiviTum TKa to all patients and caregivers.Subsequent to the end of the period, we signed two additional significant orders for TKa analyses and expertise in interpreting the results to pharmaceutical companies that are developing new drugs in cancer treatment. One is with a UK-based pharma/biotech company and the other is with a company based on the east coast of the U.S. Both are developing promising next generation CDK inhibitors.These orders, together with those we are expecting during the last quarter of the financial year, give us a pipeline of services ordered but not yet delivered of SEK 25 million. It is a doubling of what we had at the beginning of the financial year. It is a clear indication of the positive trend in this area and our enormous future potential here.We are working to sign agreements with more major caregivers and distributors in the USA and Europe. One of the agreements already in place is with EuroBio Scientific, which will be selling and providing DiviTum TKa in Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. EuroBio Scientific is dedicated to building a strong presence in oncology across Europe. An important milestone for them was the acquisition of two products and a sales organization from Myriad in fall 2024. Now, they are further expanding their oncology portfolio with DiviTum TKa. Together with the prior signed agreements, we now have coverage of all the important markets in Europe.It is also noteworthy that a total of 7 abstracts of studies where DiviTum TKa has been used were presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), which is the world's largest breast cancer conference. The results reinforce that our assay is an important indicator and predictor for patients with both metastatic and early breast cancer. The new results, especially regarding DiviTum TKa's use in adjuvant treatment, support the assay's use also in earlier stages and not just for patients with metastatic breast cancer. This multiplies the market potential of DiviTum TKa by a factor of six.Interest in the assay has surged since DiviTum TKa data for adjuvant treatment was presented at SABCS and diagnostic companies seeking to cut healthcare costs while maximizing patient benefit are increasingly drawn to Biovica and DiviTum TKa.The results from using DiviTum TKa to guide the use of CDK inhibitors are convincing. According to a study presented at ASCO 2024, the world's largest cancer conference, the cost increases by SEK 132,500 (USD 12,212) per patient each month when CDK4/6 inhibitors are used in addition to endocrine treatment. The authors of the study emphasize the importance of only using these expensive treatments on the patients who can benefit from them the most[1]. This is where DiviTum TKa has an important role to play.To accelerate acceptance and use of DiviTum TKa, we also embarked on a new collaboration with Outcomes4Me. It is a professional organization focused on helping and empowering cancer patients in the USA. The company has developed a cancer navigation platform that supports more than 250,000 patients, which offers us a direct channel for creating awareness of what DiviTum TKa can offer them.We are putting a great deal of effort into developing our business model and strengthening our financial position while maximizing our long-term growth. In 2025, an improvement of our cash flow will continue to be the key priority. To support this, it is particularly important that we can demonstrate the significant progress we've made - including new partners, stronger clinical evidence, positive order growth, and a much larger total addressable market for our test. We are optimistic about the steps we will make in the next quarters and the long-term potential of DiviTum TKa.Anders Rylander, CEOFor more information, please contact:Anders Rylander, CEO Anders Moren, CFOPhone: +46 (0)18-44 44 835 Phone +46 (0)73 125 92 46E-mail: anders.rylander@biovica.com E-mail: anders.moren@biovica.com Biovica International AB (publ PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:00:22 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 530 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Setting a New Standard for Secure, AI-Driven Contract ManagementDALLAS, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Cognitus proudly announces that LambdaX - its AI-powered Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution and part of its SAP-endorsed Industry Solution for Government Contractors - has achieved FedRAMP Ready status. This milestone further solidifies its position as a highly secure, compliance-driven platform tailored for federal agencies and regulated industries looking to streamline contract management.FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) is a U.S. government-wide initiative that standardizes security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. This saves time and reduces cost in the federal IT landscape. By achieving FedRAMP Ready status, Cognitus' CLM solution aligns with these benefits. Being officially listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace validates that Cognitus' CLM solution meets stringent security requirements, enabling agencies to deploy with confidence, knowing their contract management processes are safeguarded by rigorous security and compliance standards."This achievement underscores Cognitus' dedication to providing highly secure, scalable, and intelligent solutions that empower government agencies to innovate with confidence" said Rahul Lamba, VP of Cloud Solutions, Cognitus. "With our fully integrated, AI-driven CLM solution being FedRAMP Ready, federal agencies can ensure seamless compliance across all contract processes." Cognitus' CLM solution goes beyond standard contract management-leveraging a Private-AI model to protect sensitive data and connecting natively with SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and 100+ applications to enable smooth operations across enterprise ecosystems. The AI-native insights allow proactive risk monitoring and real-time intelligence for smarter decision making and the no-code workflows enable 3x faster deployment. It also enhances contract execution speed while tracking risks with features like redlining, built-in governance tools, and a customizable UI for regulated workflows."The FedRAMP landscape is constantly evolving, with heightened security requirements and increasing compliance complexities for government contractors," said Nitin Khanna, Managing Director of Regulated Industries at Cognitus. "We are proud to offer a secure, fully integrated, cloud-compliant CLM platform that not only accelerates time-to-value for government agencies but ensures seamless, FedRAMP-compliant operations. By balancing the need for transparency while protecting sensitive information for federal contractors, we are empowering them to focus on mission-critical objectives with confidence." With FedRAMP Ready status achieved, Cognitus is now focused on advancing toward full FedRAMP Authorization, enabling broader adoption by federal agencies. Cognitus' teams are committed to ongoing security monitoring, compliance reporting, and continuous enhancements to ensure its CLM solution meets evolving federal security standards. By strengthening its cloud security framework, Cognitus aims to expand its presence in highly regulated markets and provide government agencies with a seamless, AI-driven contract management experience.About CognitusCognituscombines deep expertise with a passion for innovation to help businesses thrive in today's dynamic market with cutting-edge cloud capabilities. The company's SAP-endorsed solution and AI-powered products for contract lifecycle management, regulatory compliance, data migration, and real-time billing continue to empower its clients across diverse industries to adapt to market changes. As an SAP Gold Partner and Co-Innovation Partner, Cognitus rapidly implements SAP S/4HANA, RISE with SAP, and GROW with SAP leveraging the latest SAP technologies, tools, and resources, helping clients gain a competitive edge.Contact InformationMeghan DemoDirector of Corporate Marketingmdemo@ cognitus.com SOURCE: Cognitus Photo: https://t.me/dnipropetrovskaODA/18285 Civilian casualties from February 24, 2022, after Russia began a full-scale war against Ukraine, until the end of February 2024 amounted to at least 42,505 people, including 12,737 deaths, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported. "At least 123 civilians were killed and 567 injured in Ukraine in February 2025. While the numbers constitute a 24 per cent decrease from January 2025 (148 killed; 761 injured), they are a 35 per cent increase compared with February 2024 (153 killed; 359 injured)," the monthly report states. According to it, the vast majority of civilian casualties (94%) and damage to educational and medical facilities (94%) occurred in territory controlled by Ukraine. "As in December 2024 and January 2025, short-range drones, including First-Person-View drones, caused the highest number of casualties, exceeding the impact of any other weapon. In government-controlled parts of Kherson region, this weapon accounted for 63 percent of the casualties," the report notes. The majority of casualties (77%) occurred near the contact line, primarily in Donetsk and Kherson regions, with at least 18 civilians killed and 45 injured in Kostiantynivka (Donetsk region) alone, the report said. OHCHR added that three educational institutions were destroyed and 40 damaged in February, and two were destroyed and 22 medical facilities were damaged. According to confirmed UN data, a total of 6,286 men, 3,905 women, 354 boys and 291 girls have been killed since the full-scale Russian aggression, while the gender of 28 children and 1,873 adults has not yet been established. Among the 29,768 injured, 916 are boys and 681 girls, as well as 285 children whose gender has not yet been established. It is noted that the total number of civilian casualties is likely to be underestimated in cities where prolonged intense fighting was taking place at the beginning of the armed attack in 2022 - for example, Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lysychansk, Popasna and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region). It is specified that in February of this year, at least 77 men, 42 women, two boys and two girls were killed, and 287 men, 254 women, 14 boys and 12 girls were injured. In total, in two months of 2025, according to the UN, 271 civilians were killed due to the war unleashed by Russia, while in the whole of 2024 - 2,071, in 2023 - 1,971, and in 2022 - 8,427. The HRMMU also notes that in total, since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, 89 medical and 346 educational institutions have been destroyed and 724 and 1,359 damaged, respectively. If earlier the UN OHCHR report on the number of casualties was published daily, and then only on working days, then from July 2022 it became weekly, from the end of May 2023 - every two weeks, and after the attack on Israel in October 2023 - monthly. PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 17:31:51 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 480 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Community Care Alliance recently disclosed that it suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personal and protected health data of individuals.This data breach has led to concerns over the security of sensitive personal and protected health information entrusted to Community Care Alliance.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?On July 6, 2024, Community Care Alliance experienced a network disruption that affected its ability to access certain systems. Upon detection, Community Care Alliance launched an investigation with the assistance of third-party cybersecurity experts to determine the nature and scope of the incident. Through the investigation, it was determined that certain information may have been accessed or acquired by an unauthorized individual between July 1, 2024, and July 5, 2024. On or around January 8, 2025, Community Care Alliance conducted a comprehensive review of the impacted data to determine what information was compromised and identified affected individuals.Upon information and belief, the following types of sensitive personal and protected health information may have been compromised: first and last name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, Social Security number, diagnosis/condition, lab results, medications, patient ID number, health insurance information, provider name, and/or other treatment information. On March 7, 2025, Community Care Alliance disclosed the breach to the Maine Attorney General's office, and, on March 10, 2025, began mailing notice letters to impacted individuals.Compensation may be available for those individuals who received notice that their personal information was compromised.WHY I MAY BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION?Data breaches are serious matters that can cause long-term damage. Hackers may use stolen information to commit identity theft, financial fraud, or other crimes. Companies that fail to secure your personal data may be held liable for the resulting harm.HOW DO I KNOW IF I WAS AFFECTED?If you received a data breach notification letter from Community Care Alliance,you are likely affected. Follow the link below to find out if you may be eligible for compensation.Levi Korsinsky, LLP is investigating whether affected individuals are entitled to compensation. If you have received a notice about the data breach, you may be entitled to compensation. There is no cost or obligation to participate. Follow the link below to find out:Levi & Korsinsky is a nationally recognized consumer advocacy law firm that has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars against large corporations. The firm's team of over 70 extraordinary attorneys and professionals have a winning track record going against the most powerful defense attorneys in the world and know how to maximize your compensation. The firm is a 100% contingency firm - we don't get paid unless you get paid! Please visit us at www.zlk.com for more information. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLPJoseph E. Levi, Esq.Ed Korsinsky, Esq.33 Whitehall Street, 17th FloorNew York, NY 10004 jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212) 363-7500Fax: (212) 363-7171 https://zlk.com/ SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 18:41:50 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 325 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Featuring matching styles for the full family, this new collection is perfect for all your spring festivities.DALLAS, TX / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / RuffleButts + RuggedButts , a popular brand known for its high-quality children'sUPF 50+ swimand apparel, is excited to announce the launch of its new full-familyEaster Collection . Featuring dresses, rompers, button-downs, and theirSoftSnooze bamboo-viscose pajamas , this collection offers styles for the entire family to celebrate spring in style.This thoughtfully designed collection embraces the joy of the spring season with fresh prints, vibrant colors, and whimsical patterns. In addition tomommy-and-me styles , the collection also includes options fordaddy and me , creating endless opportunities for family matching moments.Family matching apparel is indeed trending in 2025 and perfect for Easter celebrations, Mother's Day, Father's Day, spring festivals, playdates, weddings, family photos, and more. RuffleButts + RuggedButts offersembroidered personalizationfor an additional special touch.So far, customers agree the new family matching styles are a hit across the assortment. Lauren M. said " The perfect outfit for family pictures!" and Sabrina R. stated, "...perfect for our family photo session. The pictures turned out great!".TheFull-Family Easter Collectionis available now onwww.rufflebutts.comandwww.ruggedbutts.com . Shoppers are encouraged to explore the entire collection early to ensure they find the perfect matching styles before they sell out.To see more full family collections, visit theirmatching family page here .About RuffleButts + RuggedButtsRuffleButts + RuggedButts is a digitally native premium children's apparel company founded in 2007 with a ruffle bloomer that has now grown to a full assortment of premium children's apparel. Known for lasting quality, playful prints, and family-matching collections for life's special moments, RuffleButts has quickly grown to annual revenue exceeding $40M. Our products can be found online at Rufflebutts.com Ruggedbutts.com , Amazon, select premium retailers such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and hundreds of specialty retail locations around the globe. RuffleButts has been a Summit Park holding since 2020.Contact InformationScott Adams Sr. Director of Marketingsadams@ rufflebutts.com (704) 825-8811SOURCE: RuffleButts, Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:00:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 651 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Several state engineering boards are revising their Professional Development Hour (PDH) requirements for license renewal in 2025, and PDH-Pro is helping engineers stay informed and compliant amidst these changes, including new ethics training mandates, increased credit hour requirements, and stricter guidelines on acceptable course providers. PDH-Pro Engineering Continuing EducationFailure to stay abreast of this shifting regulatory landscape puts engineers at risk of delays in their license renewal, incurring potential fines, and even the temporary suspension of their professional credentials. With that in mind, PDH-Pro - a premier provider of online continuing education training materials for professional engineers - is closely monitoring these regulatory updates to ensure that its course offerings remain fully compliant with each state's latest guidelines.PDH-Pro's State-Specific Course Packages Make Compliance EasyPDH-Pro is well known in the engineering community for offering customizedstate-specific course packagesdesigned to meet the PDH requirements of individual states. These packages simplify the renewal process by bundling together the necessary ethics courses, technical training, and any state-mandated topics, allowing engineers to quickly find and enroll in the courses they need without having to sift through multiple providers or risk signing up for non-compliant courses.PDH-Pro courses are designed by industry experts and align with National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) guidelines. Engineers are able to choose between self-paced online courses for flexibility or live webinars for real-time engagement with instructors. Upon course completion, participants receive instant access to certificates, allowing them to submit their PDH credits without delay.The challenge, however, is that each state has different guidelines for PDH requirements, which can make it difficult for engineers to keep track of their specific obligations. PDH-Pro is aboard-approved course providerin Florida, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, and Indiana, and they check with each state board annually to verify their rules and regulations, comparing that information with each of their course packages to remove any guesswork. So whether an engineer needs a refresher in professional ethics, the latest technological advancements, or courses on safety and compliance, PDH-Pro ensures they have access to high-quality education in one convenient place.Why Engineers Should Plan Ahead for 2025 ComplianceEngineers often wait until the last minute to fulfill their PDH requirements, leading to unnecessary stress and rushed coursework. By understanding the 2025 changes now, engineers are able to select the right courses well in advance and avoid potential non-compliance issues. Taking a proactive approach to PDH compliance not only helps engineers avoid penalties but also provides an opportunity for professional growth. PDH-Pro's flexible and informative courses allow professionals to enhance their knowledge and remain competitive in the job market while ensuring their licensing remains in good standing.For engineering firms, PDH-Pro also offers corporate training solutions, making it easy to keep entire teams compliant at a discounted rate. Firms that invest in ongoing education for their employees benefit from increased efficiency, improved safety practices, and adherence to regulatory standards. PDH-Pro's corporate packages also streamline the training process, providing a cost-effective solution for large and small engineering teams alike.With its trusted, state-approved courses, PDH-Pro is a reliable resource for engineers seeking a convenient way to maintain their licensure, and by enrolling in PDH-Pro's expert-led courses now, engineers can stay ahead of regulatory updates, maintain their credentials, and advance their careers with confidence.About PDH-ProPDH-Pro provides affordable, expert-designed-and-led PDH courses for continuing education tailored to meet state and specialty requirements. With a commitment to high-quality education and regulatory compliance, PDH-Pro helps engineers navigate evolving licensure requirements with confidence.The company's user-friendly online platform, expert instruction, and commitment to customer service make it a top choice for engineers seeking a hassle-free PDH experience. By prioritizing regulatory compliance and professional growth, PDH-Pro continues to be a trusted partner in continuing education.To learn more about PDH-Pro, please visit: https://pdh-pro.com/ Contact InformationRobert Shawadmin@ pdh-pro.com 603-540-5868SOURCE: PDH Pro PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:00:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 684 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Intiva Health proudly announces itself as the parent company of three industry-leading brands: Incredable, Nova Vita, and Gummi World.AUSTIN, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Intiva Health proudly announces its transformation into a dynamic parent company overseeing three industry-leading brands: Incredable, Nova Vita, and Gummi World. This strategic evolution solidifies Intiva Health's committment to driving innovation, efficiency, and well-being across healthcare, wellness, and nutraceutical sectors.As these industries continue to evolve rapidly, Intiva Health is at the forefront, pioneering advancements that enhance patient care, streamline provider administration, and elevate consumer health products. From AI-powered credentialing solutions to groundbreaking wellness therapies and premium nutraceutical manufacturing, the IH family of brands is shaping the future of integrated health solutions."Our transition to a parent company structure is not just about growth-it's about reshaping the future of healthcare, wellness, and consumer nutrition," said Alexander C. Candelario, Chairman and CEO at Intiva Health. "By bringing Incredable, Nova Vita, and Gummi World together, we're fostering collaboration, accelerating innovation, and driving meaningful change across industries. This strategic shift enables us to deliver comprehensive solutions that enhance lives on a global scale." The Intiva Health Brands:Each brand within the Intiva Health portfolio is a leader in its field, driving innovation and efficiency in healthcare administration, wellness, and nutraceutical manufacturing:Incredable (formerly Ready doc) is transforming provider credentialing and healthcare administration with AI-driven automation, seamless compliance solutions, and unmatched configurability. Unlike rigid, one-size-fits-all systems, Incredable adapts to each organization's unique needs, offering fully customizable workflows that streamline credentialing and payer enrollment. With competitive pricing and an intuitive platform that eliminates inefficiencies, Incredable reduces administrative burdens, optimizes operations, and empowers providers to focus on delivering quality care.Nova Vita is redefining the approach to medical wellness, offering a comprehensive range of IV therapy, peptide treatments, and telehealth services designed to help clients optimize their health and well-being. To enhance accessibility, Nova Vita is soon launching a new, competitive membership pricing structure, making personalized wellness solutions more attainable than ever. Whether you're looking to boost energy, strengthen immunity, manage weight, or enhance longevity, Nova Vita provides expert-driven solutions tailored to your needs.Gummi World is the industry's most certified gummy manufacturer, holding more quality and safety certifications than any other in the space. With cGMP certifications from NSF and SGS, NSF for Sport approval, and an SQF score of 98.74%, GW guarantees the highest production standards. As a trusted partner to world-class brands like One Stop Nutrition, Gummi World delivers custom formulations, in-house manufacturing, and private-label solutions that help brands create premium gummy supplements. "Gummi World comes highly recommended by industry leaders for its exceptional standards in gummy manufacturing. Their reputation for quality and innovation speaks for itself," Brian Kerry, CEO of One Stop Nutrition, said. With advanced production capabilities, including the Tanis 400 system, Gummi World offers unmatched efficiency and flexibility. Faster turnaround times enable brands to bring products to market quickly without compromising quality. By combining scientific innovation, superior nutrition, and exceptional flavor, Gummi World continues to lead in delivering high-quality, great-tasting gummy supplements in a competitive nutraceutical space.Together, these brands form a synergistic ecosystem, bringing efficiency and innovation to healthcare administration, patient wellness, and consumer nutrition under one strategic vision. Intiva Health's evolution sets the stage for future expansion, strategic partnerships, and continued advancements across its industries. Leveraging collective expertise, Intiva Health remains dedicated to driving innovation and delivering exceptional value to clients, providers, and consumers alike.About Intiva Health: Intiva Health is revolutionizing the health of healthcare through technology, compliance, and wellness innovation. As the parent company of Incredable, Gummi World, and Nova Vita Wellness Centers, Intiva Health delivers cutting-edge solutions across multiple industries. Incredable streamlines provider credentialing and compliance with an industry-leading digital platform. Gummi World, the most certified nutraceutical manufacturer in the industry, ensures unmatched quality and safety in custom gummy and supplement production. Nova Vita Wellness Centers provide advanced regenerative health therapies, including IV infusions, peptides, and telehealth services. Together, these companies are transforming healthcare by improving efficiency, accessibility, and patient outcomes.Contact InformationClaudia GiuntaContent Leadclaudia@ incredable.com SOURCE: Intiva Health PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 17:32:17 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 484 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Hillcrest Convalescent Center recently disclosed that it suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personal and protected health data of individuals.This data breach has led to concerns over the security of sensitive personal and protected health information entrusted to Hillcrest.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?On June 27, 2024, Hillcrest became aware of a security incident on its network. Upon detection, Hillcrest launched an investigation with the assistance of third-party cybersecurity experts to determine the nature and scope of the incident. The investigation determined that an unauthorized third party gained access to certain Hillcrest data. Hillcrest conducted a comprehensive review of the impacted data to determine what information was compromised and identified affected individuals. On February 13, 2025, Hillcrest identified persons whose sensitive data was included in the impacted data.Upon information and belief, the following types of sensitive personal and protected health information may have been compromised:name, Social Security number, address, date of birth, driver's license number, government issued ID number (e.g., passport, state ID card), financial information (e.g., account number, credit or debit card number), medical information (e.g., patient data, treatment information, health care provider information), and health insurance information. On March 4, 2025, Hillcrest filed a notice with the Attorney General of California and started sending out notice letters to the impacted individuals.Compensation may be available for those individuals who received notice that their personal information was compromised.WHY I MAY BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION?Data breaches are serious matters that can cause long-term damage. Hackers may use stolen information to commit identity theft, financial fraud, or other crimes. Companies that fail to secure your personal data may be held liable for the resulting harm.HOW DO I KNOW IF I WAS AFFECTED?If you received a data breach notification letter from Hillcrest Convalescent Center,you are likely affected. Follow the link below to find out if you may be eligible for compensation.Levi Korsinsky, LLP is investigating whether affected individuals are entitled to compensation. If you have received a notice about the data breach, you may be entitled to compensation. There is no cost or obligation to participate. Follow the link below to find out:Levi & Korsinsky is a nationally recognized consumer advocacy law firm that has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars against large corporations. The firm's team of over 70 extraordinary attorneys and professionals have a winning track record going against the most powerful defense attorneys in the world and know how to maximize your compensation. The firm is a 100% contingency firm - we don't get paid unless you get paid! Please visit us at www.zlk.com for more information. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLPJoseph E. Levi, Esq.Ed Korsinsky, Esq.33 Whitehall Street, 17th FloorNew York, NY 10004 jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212) 363-7500Fax: (212) 363-7171 https://zlk.com/ SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:00:52 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 964 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. ("IIPR", "IIP", or the "Company") (NYSE:IIPR) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and docketed under 25-cv-00182, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired IIPR securities between February 27, 2024 and December 19, 2024, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.If you are an investor who purchased or otherwise acquired IIPR securities during the Class Period, you have until March 18, 2025 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 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.[Click here for information about joining the class action]IIPR is an internally managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") purportedly focused on the acquisition, ownership, and management of specialized properties leased to state-licensed operators for their regulated medical-use cannabis facilities.As a REIT, IIPR's primary source of income is derived from rental revenue generated by the properties that it acquires. To measure its financial performance, IIPR uses funds from operations ("FFO"), a metric calculated by adding depreciation, amortization, and losses on sales of property to earnings and then subtracting any gains on sales of property and any interest income. REITs tend to consider FFO to be a more accurate measure of a REIT's value than net income because it addresses the limitations of traditional accounting methods-particularly regarding depreciation, which can misrepresent the true value of real estate assets-and focuses on the cash flow generated by a REIT's core operations. As a result, FFO provides investors with a clearer picture of a REIT's ability to generate revenue and pay dividends.The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) IIPR was experiencing significant declines in rent and property-management fees in connection with certain customer leases; (ii) the foregoing would likely impair the Company's ability to maintain FFO and revenue growth; (iii) accordingly, IIPR's leasing operations were less profitable than the Company had represented to investors; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.On November 6, 2024, IIPR reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2024. Among other items, IIPR reported normalized FFO per share of $2.02, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 and declining from $2.09 in the same period in 2023. IIPR also reported revenue of $76.5 million, missing the consensus estimate of $77.5 million and declining from $77.8 million in the same period in 2023. IIPR stated that the year-over-year decrease was due to a $3.0 million decline in contractual rent and property management fees in the third quarter related to properties that IIPR regained possession of since June 2023; a decline of $1.3 million due to rent received but not recognized in rental revenues resulting from the re-classifications of two sales-type leases beginning January 1, 2024; and $1.3 million of contractually due rent and property management fees that were not collected during the current quarter.On this news, IIPR's stock price fell $12.93 per share, or 10.51%, to close at $110.07 per share on November 7, 2024. 7.Then, on December 20, 2024, IIPR announced that on the previous day, PharmaCann Inc. ("PharmaCann"), the tenant for eleven properties that IIPR owns-and the revenues from which represented 17% of IIPR's total rental revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024-defaulted on its obligations to pay rent for the month of December under six of its eleven leases (the "Leases"), for properties located in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. December rent, including base rent, property management fees, and estimated tax and insurance payments, totaled $4.2 million for these six properties. Further, IIPR stated that it applied security deposits held by IIPR pursuant to these Leases for the payment in full of the defaulted rent, in addition to late penalties and interest. Finally, the Company revealed that "although PharmaCann paid rent in full under the remaining five Leases totaling $90,000 for the month of December, as a result of cross-default provisions contained in each of the Leases, on December 19, 2024, PharmaCann also defaulted on its obligations under these five Leases, as a result of the non-payment of rent on the other six Leases." On this news, IIPR's stock price fell $21.68 per share, or 22.73%, to close at $73.66 per share on December 20, 2024.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 17:32:07 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 462 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / If you suffered a loss on your Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) investment and want to learn about a potential recovery under the federal securities laws, follow the link below for more information:or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. via email at jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com or call (212) 363-7500 to speak to our team of experienced shareholder advocates.THE LAWSUIT: This lawsuit is on behalf of all shareholders that purchased stock pursuant and/or traceable to Venture's registration statement for the initial public offering held on or about January 24, 2025.CASE DETAILS: According to the complaint, Venture completed its initial public offering on January 27, 2025, selling 70 million shares at $24.00 per share. On February 5, 2025, TotalEnergies, an energy company that was a target customer of Venture, rejected opportunities to become a long-term customer of Venture, citing lack of trust. In particular, TotalEnergies CEO, stated that he was approached by Venture to see if the company would be interested in a long-term supply contract for liquefied natural gas from the Calcasieu Pass terminal in Louisiana, but he rejected the offer "because of what they are doing." Venture is currently facing legal challenges from existing large clients, such as BP and Shell, due to delays in supply contracts as Venture commissions its projects. Given the fact that defendants ability to deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the world and to continue development of Venture's five natural gas liquefication and export projects depends on customer contracts, defendants' failure to account for and address these issues caused statements in Venture's registration statement to be false and/or materially misleading at the time of the initial public offering.WHAT'S NEXT? If you suffered a loss in Venture stock during the relevant time frame - even if you still hold your shares - go to https://zlk.com/pslra-1/venture-global-inc-lawsuit-submission-form?prid=135803&wire=1 to learn about your rights to seek a recovery. There is no cost or obligation to participate.WHY LEVI & KORSINSKY: Over the past 20 years, Levi & Korsinsky LLP has established itself as a nationally-recognized securities litigation firm that has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders and built a track record of winning high-stakes cases. The firm has extensive expertise representing investors in complex securities litigation and a team of over 70 employees to serve our clients. For seven years in a row, Levi & Korsinsky has ranked in ISS Securities Class Action Services' Top 50 Report as one of the top securities litigation firms in the United States. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLPJoseph E. Levi, Esq.Ed Korsinsky, Esq.33 Whitehall Street, 17th FloorNew York, NY 10004 jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212) 363-7500Fax: (212) 363-7171 https://zlk.com/ SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 22:00:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 517 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 HUDDERSFIELD, GB / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / The digital landscape is evolving, and with the rise of AI generated content in 2025, E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) has become more important than ever. The continued increase of misinformation has also led to stricter search engine guidelines. In order to rank on search engines such as Google, businesses and content creators must prioritise credibility and E-E-A-T.Under the lead of their CEO Steve Harvey-Franklin, Yorkshire based Search Marketing Agency Maratopia have committed to creating valuable content for their clients that keeps up with Google's continued push for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness."With AI, everything seems to have changed, but really it's all still the same. AI is a valuable tool, but shouldn't be used to write content for SEO. Securing the AI Overview position on Google like the featured snippet spot, requires good original content. Put yourself in Google's shoes, for Google to use content for its own AI result, it needs to demonstrate that it is authoritative, written with Expertise and Experience and that it is from a Trustworthy source and engenders Trust itself. So what was good for content in 2023/2024 is even more relevant for 2025 and beyond, without new content, new ideas, new opinions, new ways of saying things AI results die." Steve Harvey-FranklinGoogle's Latest UpdatesRelying on AI generated content, particularly when it comes to YMOYL (your money or your life) advice can have a detrimental impact on business, with Statista finding less than 25% of consumers trust AI when it comes to medical or legal advice.This has led to a series of updates from Google to weed out poor quality, AI generated content. The updates that Google has made to its search engine show that they are continuing to prioritise authoritative content that is well-researched and driven by experience when choosing which sites to rank for any given keyword.What Does E-E-A-T Mean in 2025Experience: As real world insights now hold more weight in Google rankings, it's important that a brand's content reflects first hand experience.Expertise: To give a brand's content more value, contributors should either have extensive industry knowledge or a recognised qualification.Authority: When the published content cites reputable sources and secures backlinks from quality sites, it can help to improve its credibilityTrust: By maintaining a secure website and being transparent, contributors can help to improve the rankings of a page and build lasting trust with their readers.For more information on Maratopia's commitment to Google's E-E-A-T requirements, then visit Maratopia at https://www.maratopia.co.uk/ today.About MaratopiaMaratopia is a Yorkshire based Search Marketing Agency with more than 20 years of experience in SEO, PPC, and Web Development, and part of The Think Again Group. Founded in 2003 by Steve Harvey-Franklin, the agency is committed to driving their clients to the top of the search engine rankings.Media ContactOrganization: Maratopia Search MarketingContact Person Name: Steve Harvey-FranklinWebsite: https://www.maratopia.co.uk/ Email: steve@ maratopia.co.uk Contact Number: +441484556704Address: The Media Centre, 7 Northumberland St, Huddersfield HD1 1RL, United KingdomCity: HuddersfieldCountry: United KingdomSOURCE: Maratopia Search Marketing PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 21:30:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 472 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Electronic Caregiver Opens Nationwide Direct Sales Opportunities for Female EntrepreneursLAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Electronic Caregiver, the leading provider of innovative health technology solutions, has launched a nationwide direct sales initiative aimed at empowering female entrepreneurs. This initiative offers a lucrative, meaningful, and home-based business opportunity centered around Addison Care, the company's groundbreaking Virtual Health Companion.With live caregiving costs financially out of reach for most Americans, Addison Care provides an affordable alternative to address the growing caregiving crisis. Currently, 140 million Americans manage chronic conditions, 56 million aging adults face health risks, and 53 million family caregivers struggle with stress and burnout. Addison Care is a comprehensive, tech-driven solution designed to support both caregivers and those in need of care.Addison Care is a 3D digital health companion that delivers 24/7 health management support, including:Vitals monitoring and medication adherence remindersInteractive wellness checks and symptom trackingTwice-monthly TeleCare interviews assessing physical, emotional, and environmental healthEmergency response capabilities via voice or touch activationWearable safety devices, including an emergency wrist pendant and GPS trackerAI-powered home activity monitoring for family caregivers through an iOS and Android appAddison how-to guide booklet on the art of free caregiver delegation"Addison Care is a complete solution," said Anthony Dohrmann, CEO of Electronic Caregiver. "Addison monitors, guards, entertains, and enraptures clients. We've integrated life-safety features with chronic care management, caregiver support, and personalized companionship. By improving treatment adherence at home we can reduce hospitalizations, prevent health escalations, and extend functional independence." Electronic Caregiver has already served tens of thousands of clients nationwide and major clinical organizations, with 90% of its reseller network being female entrepreneurs."Women are natural caretakers," said Erika Ruiz, COO of Electronic Caregiver. "Many have raised children and supported aging parents or loved ones. Our program is a perfect fit as they seek new purpose and financial independence. There's no startup cost or investment-we provide training, sales materials, inventory, and services. Our resellers build connections within their communities and social networks while earning recurring passive income." To learn more about joining the Addison Care reseller program, visitwww.electroniccaregiver.com/startup/or call 833-324-5433 Ext.1.About Electronic Caregiver:Electronic Caregiver, Inc. is a leading digital health technology and services company dedicated to transforming care for aging and chronically ill individuals worldwide. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the company pioneers innovative telehealth solutions, including Addison, the AI-driven 3D Virtual Caregiver. By integrating advanced technology-such as real-time health monitoring, medication management, and personalized support with a patient-centric approach, Electronic Caregiver empowers individuals to live healthier, more independent lives while enhancing caregiver efficacy. Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, Electronic Caregiver partners with global leaders like Samsung, Intel, and AWS to deliver scalable, cutting-edge care solutions.SOURCE: Electronic Caregiver, inc. PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:10:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 494 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / National plaintiffs law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP encourages investors in Novo Nordisk A/S. ("Novo" or the "Company") (NYSE:NVO) who purchased or otherwise acquired Novo securities between November 2, 2022, and December 19, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period") to contact us immediately regarding a pending securities class action against Novo. The deadline to apply to be lead plaintiff is March 25, 2025.Class Period: November 2, 2022 - December 19, 2024Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: March 25, 2025Case information: https://lieffcabraser.com/securities/novo-nordisk/ Contact us: Email or textinvestorinfo@ lchb.com or call 1-800-541-7358Novo, a Danish company with its U.S. headquarters in Plainsboro, New Jersey, is a healthcare company focused on the research, development, manufacturing, and distribution of pharmaceutical productions to address diabetes, obesity and rare diseases.The action alleges that, during the Class Period, Novo and certain of its senior executives made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose: (1) that Defendants created the false impression that they possessed reliable information pertaining to Novo's projected successful outcome of the REDEFINE-1 study of its new experimental weight loss drug, CagriSema, while avoiding discussions centered around dosage tolerability as it related to the CagriSema; (2) that Novo's claims that CagriSema would achieve at least 25% weight loss in the REDEFINE-1 study was not based on facts; and (3) that the REDFINE-1 study utilized a "flexible protocol" that limited the study's ability to effectively provide weight loss data on the dosage tested, suggesting either that tolerability was significantly worse than expected, resulting in patients titrating down their dosages to avoid complications, or that the patient selection process was rushed and led to the onboarding of patients who did not seek to achieve the study's 25% weight loss target.On December 20, 2024, before the market opened, Novo announced disappointing results for the REDEFINE-1 trial, noting that CagriSema had achieved only a weight loss average of 22.7% after 68 weeks. In addition, Novo revealed, for the first time, that the study used a "flexible protocol, allowing patients to modify their dosing throughout the trial" and which resulted in only 57.3% of patients reaching the full dose of CagriSema. On this news, the price of Novo's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") fell 17.83% from its closing price on December 19, 2024, to close at $85.00 per share on December 20, 2024.About Lieff CabraserLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with over 125 attorneys in offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich, Germany, is an internationally-recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility. Repeatedly recognized as a "Plaintiffs' Powerhouse" by Law360, Lieff Cabraser has litigated some of the most important civil cases in the United States, and has assisted clients in recovering over $129 billion in verdicts and settlements. For over 50 years, Lieff Cabraser has remained committed to ensuring access to justice for all.Source/ContactSharon LeeLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP415 956-1000 slee@ lchb.com SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP The flow of arms and the exchange of intelligence between the United States and Ukraine have been fully restored, CNN reports, citing an American official. According to the publication, American weapons are again arriving in Ukraine, and the exchange of intelligence between the countries has been fully restored after a meeting between representatives of the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, March 11. An unnamed American official told the publication that artillery shells, anti-tank weapons and ammunition for HIMARS missile systems are again being sent to Ukraine as part of aid packages approved by the Joseph Biden administration. In addition, the official added that American contractors who are in Ukraine for maintenance, training and support of more complex weapons systems have also resumed their work. It is unclear whether they left the country during the suspension of aid or remained in Ukraine. Some of the weapons were reportedly stored in Poland before they reached Ukraine. On Tuesday evening, the State Secretary of the Polish Ministry of National Defense, Pawel Zalewski, reported on social media that weapons in Rzeszow, near the border with Ukraine, had begun to move again. PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 21:30:38 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1023 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Not for dissemination in or into the United States or through U.S. newswiresAll dollars are Canadian unless otherwise notedVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 /Relevant Gold Corp. (TSXV:RGC)(OTCQB:RGCCF) (the "Company" or "Relevant Gold") is pleased to announce that it has closed tranche 2 ("Tranche 2") of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (see news releases dated Feb. 21, 2025 and Feb. 28, 2025) consisting of 23,527,333 common shares ("Common Shares") at a price of $0.30 per Common Share for gross proceeds of $7,058,199.90 and together with the first tranche which closed on February 28, 2025 an aggregate of 28,447,333 Common Shares for aggregate gross proceeds of $8,534,199.90 (the "Offering").In connection with Tranche 2, the Company entered into subscription agreements dated February 28, 2025 with each of Kinross Gold Corporation ("Kinross") (NYSE:KGC, TSX:K) and Mr. William G. Bollinger ("Bollinger") pursuant to which Kinross agreed to purchase 15,410,000 Common Shares and Bollinger agreed to purchase 8,070,000 Common Shares. Upon closing of Tranche 2, each of Kinross and Bollinger will hold 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company.Upon closing of Tranche 2, the Company entered into an amended and restated investor rights agreement with Kinross to amend and restate the investor rights agreement entered into on July 8, 2024. The Company also entered into an investor rights agreement with Bollinger. Each investor rights agreement will confer on the investor certain participation rights, information rights and the right to nominate a member to the board of directors of the Company.All securities issued in connection with Tranche 2 of the Offering are subject to a four-month Canadian restricted resale period that expires, with respect to resales in Canada, on July 14, 2025, and applicable securities legislation hold periods outside of Canada.Proceeds from the Offering will be used to fund exploration activities at the Company's projects in Wyoming, USA, and for general working capital.The participation of Bollinger in the private placement is considered to be a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") since Bollinger held more than 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares prior to giving effect to the Offering. The transaction will be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of any shares issued to or the consideration paid by Bollinger will exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell 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 Relevant Gold Corp.Relevant Gold Corp. is a North American gold exploration company founded by experienced exploration geologists and operated by a highly respected team with a proven record of significant value creation for shareholders. Relevant Gold is focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery, and development of district-scale gold projects in the state of Wyoming - one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in the United States and globally.On behalf of Relevant Gold Corp.,Rob Bergmann, Chief Executive OfficerMore informationNeither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.For further information about Relevant Gold Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.relevantgoldcorp.com or contact Rob Bergmann, President and CEO, or Kristopher Jensen, Manager of Investor Relations, at 763-760-4886 or by email at investorrelations@ relevantgoldcorp.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Historical InformationThis news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events of Relevant Gold Corp. ("Relevant" or "Relevant Gold" or "the Company"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "outlook" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward looking information. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include, among others, the inherent risk of the mining industry; adverse economic and market developments; the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing additional acquisitions; risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; the possibility that the Company's estimated burn rate may be higher than anticipated; risks of unexpected cost increases; risks of labour shortages; risks relating to exploration and development activities; risks relating to future prices of mineral resources; risks related to work site accidents, risks related to geological uncertainties and variations; risks related to government and community support of the company's projects; risks related to global pandemics and other risks related to the mining industry. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking information should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update any forwardlooking information except as required by law. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, o PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 06:00:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 595 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Saliran Group Berhad("Saliran" or the "Company"), an established supplier and distributor of pipes, fittings and flanges as well as related parts and accessories, and steel products, proudly marked its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Bursa Securities") today. Saliran shares opened at RM0.275 per share, reflecting a strong market reception following its successful Initial Public Offering ("IPO") at RM0.270 per share, representing a premium of 1.85%.From Left to Right: Mr. Daniel Kok Tai Meng , Independent Non-Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Ms. Ginnie Ooi Gin Hui, Independent Non-Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Datuk Khoo Teck Kee , Independent Non-Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Dato' Josephine Low Suet Moi , Independent Non-Executive Chairperson of Saliran Group Berhad; Mr. Dennis Liaw Choon Wei , Managing Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Mr. William Chan Koon Wai, Executive Director of Saliran Group Berhad; Ms. Lim Chia Wei , Managing Director of Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd; Mr. Jason Chan , Co-Head, Corporate Finance of Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd; Ms. Tan Sin Jiang ,Vice-President, Corporate Finance of Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd; Mr. Gavin Lim Bak Teik , Chief Operation Officer of Saliran Group Berhad; Mr. Francis Yong Wai Kin , Chief Financial Officer of Saliran Group BerhadSaliran is listed under the stock name "SALIRAN" with the stock code "0346".The Company's listing marks a new chapter in its journey, reinforcing its commitment to driving growth in the industrial supply sector, particularly within the oil and gas ("O&G") and infrastructure industries. With a strong foothold in Malaysia and an expanding presence in Southeast Asia, Saliran is well-positioned to capitalise on industry demand and enhance its market reach.Saliran's IPO raised RM21.7 million, which will be strategically allocated to fuel the Company's growth and operational expansion. The proceeds will be used for the establishment of a sales office in Indonesia, the purchase of machinery and delivery trucks to improve operational efficiency, the repayment of bank borrowings to strengthen financial flexibility, as well as general working capital to support daily business activities. A portion of the funds will also cover listing expenses.Mr. Liaw Choon Wei, Managing Director of Saliran Group Berhad said, "Today marks a significant achievement for Saliran as we take this important step forward as a listed company. This listing is a testament to our unwavering dedication to growth, operational excellence, and creating long-term value for our stakeholders. With the strong foundation we have built over the years, we are confident in our ability to expand further, strengthen our supply chain, and enhance our capabilities to better serve our customers. We remain committed to driving sustainable growth and seizing new opportunities in the industrial supply and O&G sectors." Ms. Lim Chia Wei, Managing Director of Malacca Securities Sdn. Bhd. commented, "We are pleased to have played a role in Saliran's journey to becoming a listed entity. The strong reception to its IPO reflects investor confidence in Saliran's solid track record, industry expertise, and strategic growth plans. With its established presence in the industrial supply sector and commitment to expansion, we believe Saliran is well-positioned for continued success in the public market." Malacca Securities Sdn. Bhd.is the Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Underwriter, and Placement Agent for this IPO.For more information, visit https://saliran.com.my/ Swan Consultancy Sdn. Bhd. on behalf of Saliran Group BerhadFor more information, please contact:Jazmin WanEmail:j.wan@ swanconsultancy.biz Xinyi ChingEmail:x.ching@ swanconsultancy.biz SOURCE: Swan Consultancy PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 14:00:17 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 675 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 The digital marketing agency has managed to boost visibility and revenue for the Maui-based stone distributor in just six months through SEO, website optimization, and online adsBOCA DEL MAR, FLORIDA / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Award-winning digital marketing agency SEO Brand is proud to release the latest results of its campaign to transform visibility, revenue, and overall business growth for Stone Source Hawaii, a well-established stone supplier in Maui. SEO Brand SEO Brand Puts Stone Source Hawaii on Track for 15% Annual Revenue GrowthStone Source Hawaii reached out to SEO Brand in August 2024 regarding a number of challenges impacting their ambitious goals of increasing revenue by 15% and eventually doubling business and purchasing a warehouse. Despite decades of experience in the stone supply industry, the business was struggling with visibility in their local market, with limited marketing efforts proving to be a major obstacle to attracting new customers.With the design and execution of a comprehensive digital strategy that included search engine optimization (SEO), custom website redesign, and targeted advertising through Google Ads, SEO Brand positioned Stone Source Hawaii in the number one spot on Google for key search teams - and put the stone supplier on track to reach its goal of a 15% increase in annual revenue. Stone Source Hawaii also saw a significant increase in web traffic and visits to its physical storefront in Lahaina.The strategy that SEO Brand created on Stone Source Hawaii's behalf included:Custom website redesign with user-friendly navigation and a high-quality product gallerySearch engine optimization, including a complete SEO audit, keyword research, competitor analysis, content optimization, and technical improvementsLaunch and optimization of targeted Google Ads campaignsIn order to reach the highest quality leads, SEO Brand focused on geo-targeted Maui residents and high-intent customers with Stone Source Hawaii's organic and paid outreach efforts. SEO Brand then monitored and optimized the campaigns on a continuous basis to maximize conversions and enhance Stone Source Hawaii's marketing ROI. In just six months of partnering with SEO Brand, Stone Source Hawaii:Increased organic traffic by 360%Achieved first-page rankings for key search termsDoubled phone inquiries and in-store foot trafficGot on track to meet their 15% revenue increase goalBoth SEO Brand and Stone Source Hawaii were pleased with the effectiveness of the strategy, and the brands look forward to future collaboration."They take a lot of pride in their work and make you feel like they're an extension of your company," said Mattias Thompson, General Manager of Stone Source Hawaii. "If you are between SEO Brand and another company, be confident that SEO Brand will go above and beyond." Righardt Niemand, Account Manager with SEO Brand, said, "It's been amazing to see Stone Source Hawaii's growth in just six months. With strategic SEO, a website revamp, and targeted ads, we've boosted visibility and doubled in-store visits. We're excited to keep building on this momentum!"SEO Brand is currently accepting new clients in a wide range of industries, including home design and architecture, healthcare, finance, and retail. Businesses that would like to learn more are encouraged to contact SEO Brand directly for a free proposal.About Stone Source HawaiiStone Source Hawaii is a leading supplier of natural and engineered stone based out of Lahaina, Hawaii. The family-owned and operated business has more than 35 years of experience in the sourcing and installation of premium stone slabs, providing home- and business-owners with an extensive inventory of products and a stress-free process for bringing stone projects to life both indoors and out. For more information, visitwww.stonesourcehawaii.com About SEO BrandSEO Brand is an award-winning digital marketing agency that has helped North American businesses build their brand online for more than two decades. The South Florida-based agency, which runs offices nationwide, provides full-service digital marketing packages to business clients with services that include, but are not limited to, search engine optimization (SEO), custom web design and development, paid ad management, and analytics. For more information, visitwww.seobrand.com Contact InformationRIghardt Niemandinfo@ seobrand.net (800) 262-5023SOURCE: SEO Brand PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 11:30:23 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 968 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / South Star Battery Metals Corp.("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV:STS) (OTCQB:STSBF), is pleased to announce the appointed of Mr. Tiago Cunha to its board of directors. Mr. Cunha is the manager of equity at investment fund firm Ace Capital and a veteran capital markets executive with extensive mineral resource and energy transition experience.Richard Pearce, CEO of South Star, said, "On behalf of the Board, I am excited to welcome Tiago to our team. I look forward to working closely with him as we ramp-up and expand our graphite production at a crucial time in the critical metals markets. Ace Capital and Tiago have been cornerstone supporters of South Star and his intimate knowledge of Brazil, capital markets and mineral resources are a real asset to the Company as we continue to navigate complex geopolitical times and execute on our strategic initiatives for growth in the coming years." # # #About South Star Battery Metals Corp.South Star is a Canadian battery-metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star's Santa Cruz Graphite Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial- and battery-metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at-surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large-scale pilot-plant testing (> 30 tonnes) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of graphite concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% graphitic carbon ("Cg"). With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South Star Phase 1 is ramping up commercial production in 2025. Santa Cruz Phase 1 commercial production has a nameplate capacity of 12,000 tpy and is the first new graphite production in the Americas since 1996. Phase 2 production (25,000 tpy) is partially funded and planned for 2026, while Phase 3 (50,000 tpy) is scheduled for 2028.South Star's second project in the development pipeline is strategically located in Alabama, U.S.A. in the center of a developing electric-vehicle, aerospace, and defense hub in the southeastern United States. The BamaStar Project includes a historic mine active during the First and Second World Wars. A NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment was filed on SEDAR+ in November 2024. Trenching, Phase 1 drilling, sampling, analysis, and preliminary metallurgical testing have been completed. The testing included a traditional crush/grind/flotation concentration circuit that achieved grades of approximately 94-99% Cg with approximately 90% recoveries. The vertically integrated production facilities include a mine and industrial concentrator in Coosa County, AL and a downstream value-add plant in Mobile, AL, which will be upgrading natural flake graphite concentrates from both Santa Cruz and BamaStar mines. South Star is executing on its plan to create a multi-asset, diversified battery-metals company with near-term operations in strategic jurisdictions. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF.South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG principles, based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education, and stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com This news release has been reviewed and approved for South Star by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals Corp.On behalf of the South Star Board of Directors,MR. RICHARD L. PEARCE,President & Chief Executive OfficerFor additional information, please contact:South Star Investor RelationsEmail: invest@ southstarbatterymetals.com Phone: +1 (604) 706-0212 Website: www.southstarbatterymetals.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/southstarbmFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetalsLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/YouTube:South Star Battery Metals - YouTubeCAUTIONARY STATEMENTNeither 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 press release.Forward-Looking InformationThis press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements regarding production and scaling of operations at Santa Cruz, as well as advancing the Alabama project, and the Company's plans and expectations.Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and busin PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 20:16:08 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 660 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / Leading securities law firmBleichmar Fonti & Auld LLPannounces that a lawsuit has been filed against Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) and certain of the Company's senior executives for potential violations of the federal securities laws.If you invested in Atkore, you are encouraged to obtain additional information by visiting https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/atkore-inc Investors have until April 23, 2025, to ask the Court to be appointed to lead the case. The complaint asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on behalf of investors who purchased Atkore stock. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and is captioned Westchester Putnam Counties Heavy & Highway Laborers Local 60 Benefits Fund v. Atkore Inc., et al., No. 25-cv-01851.Why was Atkore Sued for Securities Fraud?Atkore manufactures electrical, safety, and infrastructure products including polyvinyl chloride water and electrical conduit pipes ("PVC Pipe"). During the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping costs rose dramatically, leaving foreign PVC Pipe manufacturers unable to profitably sell PVC Pipe in the U.S. As shipping prices returned to normal when the pandemic subsided in 2022, foreign PVC Pipe manufacturers gradually returned to the U.S. market. Shortly thereafter, in late 2022, the price of PVC Pipe began to decline.As alleged, Atkore repeatedly misrepresented that post-pandemic PVC Pipe price declines were the result of "pricing normalization" that reflected "competitive dynamics" and assured investors that the Company would continue to successfully compete in the post-COVID-19 market.On July 24, 2024, an activist investor named ManBear published a report titled "Pipe Price Fixing" which accused Atkore and three of its competitors of using the commodity pricing service OPIS to coordinate pricing actions and fix the price of PVC Pipe.In truth, it is alleged that Atkore engaged in an anticompetitive price-fixing scheme that artificially inflated the price of PVC Pipes.The Stock Declines as the Truth is RevealedOn February 4, 2025, Atkore announced disappointing earnings and reduced guidance, disclosing that the "plastic pipe and conduit product category declined mid-single digits during the quarter" compared to "high single digits in the prior year," and largely attributed the guidance reduction to Atkore's PVC Pipe business, stating, "roughly $75 million or 3/4 [of the guidance reduction] is on the PVC side." This news caused the price of Atkore stock to decline nearly 20%, from $79.72 per share on February 3, 2025 to $64.13 per share on February 4, 2025.On February 14, 2025, Atkore disclosed that it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division seeking the "production of documents relating to the pricing of the Company's PVC pipe and conduit products." Click here if you suffered losses: https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/atkore-inc What Can You Do?If you invested in Atkore you may have legal options and are encouraged to submit your information to the firm.All representation is on a contingency fee basis, there is no cost to you. Shareholders are not responsible for any court costs or expenses of litigation. The firm will seek court approval for any potential fees and expenses.Submit your information by visiting:Or contact:Ross Shikowitz ross@ bfalaw.com 212-789-3619Why Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP?Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP is a leading international law firm representing plaintiffs in securities class actions and shareholder litigation. It was named among the Top 5 plaintiff law firms by ISS SCAS in 2023 and its attorneys have been named Titans of the Plaintiffs' Bar by Law360 and SuperLawyers by Thompson Reuters. Among its recent notable successes, BFA recovered over $900 million in value from Tesla, Inc.'s Board of Directors, as well as $420 million from Teva Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd.For more information about BFA and its attorneys, please visit https://www.bfalaw.com Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.SOURCE: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 07:15:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 960 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 / SumiSaujana Group Berhad("SumiSaujana" or the "Company") and its subsidiary ("Group"), an established manufacturer of oil and gas ("O&G") specialty chemicals, has launched its prospectus in conjunction with its proposed Initial Public Offering ("IPO") on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Bursa Securities"). This IPO marks a significant step in SumiSaujana's corporate evolution, providing the Group with the resources to expand its production capacity, enhance global market penetration, and strengthen business sustainability.L-R: (From SumiSaujana Group Berhad) Mr. Ramli Bin Mohamad, Executive Director/ Chief Operating Officer; Mr. Toh Chee Seng , Executive Deputy Chairman; Mr. Norazlam bin Norbi, Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer; (From RHB Investment Bank Berhad) Mr. Kevin Davies, Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director; Mr. Tommy Har , Director, Head, Corporate FinanceEstablished in 2010, SumiSaujana has built a reputation as a trusted manufacturer and supplier of high-performance specialty chemicals for the oil and gas industry. The Group specialises in drilling fluid chemicals, production chemicals, and refinery chemicals, which are essential in enhancing operational efficiency, equipment protection, and process optimisation across the upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas sectors. Over the years, SumiSaujana has secured long-term partnerships with multinational oilfield service providers, international oil companies, and national oil corporations, reinforcing its strong market presence. Over 70% of SumiSaujana's revenue comes from international markets, including the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas region.Through this IPO exercise, SumiSaujana aims to raise RM74.4 million via the issuance of 310.0 million new shares at an issue price of RM0.24 per share. The proceeds from the IPO will be allocated as follows:RM40.2 million (54.0%) for the acquisitions of the New Puncak Alam Warehouse and New Puncak Alam Corporate Office to consolidate its operational and warehousing facilities.RM18.9 million (25.4%) for the acquisition of its existing Puncak Alam Factory to support long-term operational sustainability.RM2.1 million (2.8%) for capital expenditure, supporting enhancements to its facilities.RM7.6 million (10.3%) for expansion of R&D division.RM5.6 million (7.5%) for listing expenses.As part of the IPO, an Offer for Sale of up to 90.0 million shares, representing 6.23% of the enlarged share capital, will be made available via private placement to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI). The proceeds from the Offer for Sale will accrue to the Selling Shareholders.Applications for the IPO open today following the prospectus launch and will close on 25 March 2025. SumiSaujana is expected to debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities on 9 April 2025. At an IPO price of RM0.24 per share, the company's market capitalisation upon listing will be approximately RM346.5 million.Encik Norazlam Bin Norbi, Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer of SumiSaujana Group Berhad, commented, "The launch of our IPO prospectus represents a transformative moment for SumiSaujana Group Berhad. Since our establishment, we have continuously expanded our capabilities and strengthened our position as a trusted solutions provider for the oil and gas industry. Our ability to consistently meet the evolving demands of our customers has been key to our success, and this IPO will enable us to further accelerate our growth trajectory." He added, "We are committed to driving business sustainability and innovation, ensuring that our customers continue to receive high-quality specialty chemicals that enhance efficiency and reliability in their operations. With the funds raised, we will focus on expanding our production capacity, strengthening our global footprint, and reinforcing our commitment to delivering value to all our stakeholders." Mr. Kevin Davies, Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director of RHB Investment Bank Berhad, stated, "We are honoured to partner with SumiSaujana Group Berhad on this significant milestone. Thier IPO marks the beginning of a new phase of expansion and opportunity for SumiSaujana, positioning it for continued success in the highly specialised oil and gas industry. As the Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Sole Underwriter, and Sole Placement Agent, RHB Investment Bank Berhad is privileged to be part of this journey and looks forward to supporting the Group as it takes this next step forward." Beyond O&G specialty chemicals, SumiSaujana is expanding into the industrial specialty chemicals sector to diversify its product portfolio. Internationally, the Group is strengthening its global footprint with plans to set up a new production facility in North America and the Middle East, reinforcing its presence in key international markets.With its upcoming listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities, the Company is poised for accelerated growth, market expansion, and long-term value creation for stakeholders. The Group's strategic investments in manufacturing, R&D, and sustainability initiatives reinforce its position as a trusted name in the global O&G specialty chemicals sector.RHB Investment Bank Berhadis the Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Sole Underwriter and Sole Placement Agent for SumiSaujana Group Berhad's IPO.About SumiSaujana Group BerhadSumiSaujana Group Berhad and its subsidiary ("SumiSaujana Group") is an established manufacturer of oil and gas ("O&G") specialty chemicals with over a decade of experience, specialising in the formulation, manufacturing, and supply of drilling fluid chemicals, and production, and refinery chemicals for the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments in the O&G industry. With a strong presence in Malaysia and exports to the Asia Pacific, Middle East and North America regions, SumiSaujana Group serves top-tier global O&G service providers, production and refinery companies and chemical manufacturers. As a Petronas-licensed manufacturer, SumiSaujana Group is committed to innovation, quality, and sustainability, continuously enhancing its product offerings to meet the evolving needs of the global O&G industry.For more information, visit https://www.sumisaujanagroup.com and https://sstcm.com/ Issued By: Swan Consultancy Sdn. Bhd. on behalf of SumiSaujana Group BerhadFor more information, please contact:Jazzmin WanEmail: j.wan@swanconsultancy.b PR-Inside.com: 2025-03-13 08:05:30 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1007 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Strongest soil anomaly over the mapped volcanic rocks near the valley floor interpreted to be sub-cropping exposure of the Seven Devils Volcanics, host rock of the Leviathan discoveryVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / March 13, 2025 /ZEUS NORTH AMERICA MINING CORP. (CSE:ZEUS)(OTCQB:ZUUZF)(FRANKFURT:O92) (THE "COMPANY" OR "ZEUS") is pleased to announce the discovery of a large Copper and Molybdenum soil anomaly from its recent soil sampling program at its Cuddy Mountain Project (the "Project" of "Cuddy Mountain") in Idaho. Cuddy Mountain is located approximately 3 kilometres ("km") to the north of Hercules Metals Corp.'s high-grade "Hercules" copper-moly-silver porphyry discovery announced in October 2023.Highlights of the Soil Sampling Program at Cuddy Mountain:Collected 799 property wide soil samples at approximately 75 m spacing.Soils delineate a broad 3 km by 3 km copper ("Cu") and molybdenum ("Mo") in soil circular anomaly underlain by the Seven Devils Volcanics (~741 acres).Cu-Mo anomaly is strongest over the mapped volcanic rocks (andesites and rhyodacites) near the valley floor - interpreted to be sub-cropping exposure of the Seven Devils Volcanics, which host the neighbouring Leviathan Porphyry Copper discovery.The newly identified copper-molybdenum soil anomaly contains individual soil samples up to 0.38 percent ("%") copper and 28.5 parts per million ("ppm") molybdenum (31 samples contain 212 ppm Cu or more; 5 samples contain percent level copper up to and including 0.38% Cu; 116 samples contain 2 ppm Mo or more; 6 samples contain more than 10 ppm Mo, with values up to and including 28.5 ppm Mo).Cuddy Mountain continues to show strong similarities to the Hercules discovery, with a comparable soil geochemical footprint.Dean Besserer, President and CEO, stated, "We are greatly encouraged with the discovery of this large-scale anomaly at Cuddy Mountain with significant copper and molybdenum values. This large-scale anomaly covers the mapped Seven Devils Volcanics and is ideally located, reinforcing our confidence in this highly prospective region. We look forward to releasing the remainder of our fieldwork results as we move the Project towards a planned upcoming drill program. With the nearby Hercules Project gearing up for an aggressive 2025 drill season, the geological team at Zeus is eager to follow suit in the near future." About the Cuddy Mountain Copper Property (Idaho, USA)The Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metals Corp.'s recently discovered Leviathan Copper Porphyry ($167M MC). * The discovery resulted in Barrick injecting $23M in equity while staking a substantial land position in the district along with Rio Tinto. The Cuddy Mountain Property consists of 101 lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 2020 acres.Historical Drilling at Cuddy Mountain consisted of 7 shallow drill holes in 1977 intersecting anomalous lead and silver. Drill hole Mun 8 contained 90 feet of 2.02 oz/t Ag (Taylor, 1977). Further historical exploration on Zeus's Cuddy Mountain Project occurred at the Edna May Mine: Mineralized vein with chip samples containing 750 ppm ppm Pb, 7.7% Zn and 252 grams per tonne Silver over 4 feet. Underground drilling in 1979 intersected 1.38 oz/t Ag over 7 feet in a breccia zone (Burmeister, 1980). Additional exploration (By Taylor, 1977) at the Rockslide area encountered Malachite-stained outcrops with a grab sample containing 760 ppm Pb, 0.67 % Zn and 36 grams per tonne Silver (Taylor, 1977).*Adjacent Property ( www.herculesmetals.com) *All information is derived solely from management of Zeus Mining and otherwise publicly available third-party information which are believed to be reliable, but which have not been independently verified by the Company and as a result are not guaranteed as to accuracy and completeness. Zeus's management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Zeus may not necessarily be indicative of the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties.Qualified PersonThe scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, P.Geo., the President & CEO for the company and Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.On behalf of the board of directors."Dean Besserer"President and CEOFor more information, please contact the Company at info@ zeusminingcorp.com FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:Kin Communications Inc. Ph: 604-684-6730 ZEUS@ kincommunications.com About Zeus North America Mining Corp.The Company is in the business of mineral exploration. The Company is focused on its exploration properties in the state of Idaho known as the: Cuddy Mountain; Selway; and Great Western properties, respectively. The Idaho properties consist of 101 (Cuddy Mountain), 57 (Selway) and 38 (Great Western) lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 4,200 acres. The Company's flagship Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metal Corp's Leviathan Copper Porphyry discovery.Forward Looking StatementsWhen used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the parties can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information in this news release include, amongst others, the Company's exploration plans. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by f Savannah Energy PLC, the British independent energy company, announced that it has completed its acquisition of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Limited (SIPEC). The company, in a statement, said SIPECs principal asset is the 49 per cent non-operated interest in the Stubb Creek oil & gas field, which is operated and 51 per cent owned by Universal Energy Resources Limited (a Savannah affiliate company). It explained that the SIPEC acquisition increased Savannahs Reserves and Resources base by approximately 30 per cent from 151 MMboe to 197 MMboe, adding 227 Bscf of 2C gross gas Resources at Stubb Creek Field, securing significant additional long-term feedstock gas available for sale to Accugas customers. Savannah Energy PLC, the British independent energy company focused on the delivery of projects that matter, is pleased to announce, further to its announcement of 19 March 2024, that it has completed its acquisition of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Limited (SIPEC) (the SIPEC Acquisition), the statement said. It noted that the transaction consideration is fully funded through a drawdown under a $60 million Reserve-Based Lending debt facility arranged by the Standard Bank of South Africa Limited. At completion, it said the cumulative consideration paid was approximately $35.1 million (inclusive of approximately $19.5 million of cash available to SIPEC), with $2 million in deferred cash consideration payable in eight quarterly installments post-completion. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Savannah now intends to commence an up to 18-month expansion programme, which is anticipated to increase Stubb Creek Field gross production from an average of 2.7 Kbopd in 2024 to approximately 4.7 Kbopd, it said It further explained that the Stubb Creek Field, located in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, is a producing oil field with considerable undeveloped, non-associated 2C gas resources. As of year-end 2024, it said Stubb Creek Field had an estimated 11 MMstb of 2P gross oil Reserves and 515 Bscf of 2C gross gas Resources1. Commercial oil production started at Stubb Creek Field in 2015, with cumulative production of 8.1 MMstb to 31 December 2024. Oil produced at Stubb Creek Field is processed through production facilities onsite and then exported to the Qua Iboe terminal via a 25 km pipeline. The Stubb Creek Field was converted to a 20-year petroleum mining lease in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and effective from 1 December 2023, it added. Andrew Knott, Chief Executive Officer of Savannah, said: We are delighted to announce the completion of the SIPEC acquisition the achievement of one of our core business priorities for 2025. Our focus at the Stubb Creek Field will now turn to progressing the expansion project, which we expect to increase production by almost three quarters over the course of 2025/26. I look forward to updating shareholders on this in the coming months, as well as on the progress we make towards achieving the other core business priorities we outlined to shareholders earlier this month. I would like to thank the government of Nigeria for the support that they have shown our company in approving the SIPEC acquisition and I extend a warm welcome to the SIPEC employees joining Savannah today. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) will return for its 11th edition on 10 May in Lagos. This edition will feature a significant expansion, including a new category, Best Music Score. During a press conference on Thursday at MultiChoice Studios in Ilupeju, Lagos, attended by PREMIUM TIMES, the executives revealed key details of this years (2025) event, confirming that there will be 28 award categories. Busola Tejumola, executive head of Content and Channels, West Africa, at MultiChoice, reaffirmed the AMVCAs commitment to spotlighting African storytelling globally. Celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of African storytelling, we are excited once again to open the doors for talented creatives across the continent to showcase their remarkable work, she said. Voting structure Ms Tejumola explained that the awards will be divided into two major segments: non-voting categories, which recognise technical and behind-the-scenes excellence, and public voting categories, where fans determine key winners. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The 11th edition of the AMVCA will honour excellence across 28 categories. The non-voting categories, which celebrate craft and expertise, will be adjudicated by a panel of prestigious judges, she said. According to her, 18 categories will be judged by an expert panel, while 10 will be open for public voting on the AMVCA website following the nominee announcement on 23 March. The Multichoice West Africa content and channels head noted that this years AMVCA will span four days, from 7 to 10 May, to celebrate achievements in film, culture, fashion, and music. She added that the grand finale on 10 May will be broadcast live across Africa Magic channels to reach millions of its viewers across the continent. Best Music Score category Introducing the Best Music Score category is a significant highlight of this years awards. This is the platforms first introduction to a music-related category. At the press conference, Femi Odugbemi, the head judge of the AMVCA, spoke on the importance of this addition. With this category, we celebrate the creative professionals whose artistry brings authentic and lucid experiences to our productions. Sound design shapes a films atmosphere, tension, and emotion, while a compelling score breathes life into the narrative, making a story resonate long after the credits roll, he said. Mr Odugbemi also reiterated the AMVCAs commitment to evolving alongside industry standards. As an industry, we are constantly evolving. The expectations of filmmakers, audiences, and stakeholders continue to rise, and the AMVCA is committed to evolving with them, he added. Highlights Industry stars attended the press conference, including Saga Deolu, Ireti Doyle, Vj Adams, Ik Osakioduwa, Liquorose, Wanni, Handi, Shaun Okojie, Daniel Etim-Effiong, Efa Iwara, Hermes Iyele, Dabota Lawson, Akin Faminu, and Adeola Diiadem. The exclusive media event also featured stand-up comedy and a musical performance by Nigerian Idol Season 7 winner Progress Chukwuyem. A panel discussion followed, featuring Ms Tejumola, Francis Obiajulu (MD of Amstel Malt), and Adebola Williams (ONGA representative). ONGA and Amstel Malt are the key sponsors of this years edition. Africa Magic and MultiChoice opened entries for the 11th AMVCA from 23 December 2024 to 31 January. In the 10th AMVCA, Breath of Life won Best Movie, Jagun Jagun took Best Indigenous Film, and BB Sasore was Best Director. Wale Ojo and Kehinde Bankole won Best Lead Actor and Actress, while Layi Wasabi was Best Digital Content Creator. Chimezie Imo got the Trailblazer Award, and veterans Idowu Philips (Iya Rainbow) and Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) received the Industry Merit Awards. Founded in 2013, the AMVCA is a top honour in African film and TV, celebrating talent, creativity, and storytelling. The inaugural ceremony occurred in Lagos in March 2013 and was broadcast live across over 50 countries. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has been extradited to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his deadly war on drugs. Mr Duterte arrived at The Hague in the Netherlands on Tuesday, where he is to face charges of crimes against humanity. The former president was arrested at the airport in Manila, the capital city, and within hours was on a chartered jet that flew via Dubai to The Hague, where the ICC sits. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ICC confirmed his arrest, noting that he had been surrendered to its custody and that a hearing would be scheduled in due course. The 79-year-old could become the first former Asian head of state to face trial at the ICC. When he served as the president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, he oversaw a brutal anti-drug campaign that led to the murder of about 30,000 people. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Some of them were small-time drug dealers, while some were also minors and citizens who were falsely accused. They were shot by police officers, hit men or vigilantes. Human Rights Watch said Mr Dutertes arrest is a critical step for accountability in the Philippines. ICC investigation Mr Duterte was first accused at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2017, when a Philippine lawyer, Jude Sabio, filed a complaint. Mr Sabio claimed that the former president operated a death squad in Davao City during his time as mayor and expanded the killings nationwide as president. In 2018, the ICC formally opened a preliminary examination into the drug war killings. However, in response, Mr Duterte announced the Philippines withdrawal from the ICC, which took effect in 2019. Still, the ICC ruled in 2021 that it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member. It also formally authorised a full investigation into Mr Dutertes war on drugs, citing evidence of extrajudicial killings. ALSO READ: Nigerian student allegedly murdered in Philippines The investigation was temporarily suspended in 2022 but resumed in January 2023 after the ICC rejected the Philippine governments appeal to stop it. Meanwhile, Mr Dutertes extradition to the ICC marks a dramatic turn in his ongoing political feud with the current Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Duterte and Marcos families, two of the most powerful dynasties in the Philippines, were once strong political allies. They joined forces to win the 2022 national election, but their relationship has fractured as their political ambitions began to differ. According to multiple reports, Dutertes handover to the ICC is the latest and most public chapter in their escalating rivalry. However, President Marcos said the country only upheld its legal obligations. This is what the international community expects of us, he declared in a televised speech. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Despite increased pressure, we will hold defense in Kursk region as long as expedient, necessary Syrsky Photo: t.me/osirskiy Active combat operations continue in the operational zone of the Kursk group of forces, in the suburbs of Sudzha and the areas around it, said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky. On his Facebook page, the commander-in-chief stated that the enemy is using assault units of the airborne troops and special operations forces to break through the Ukrainian defense, oust Ukrainian troops from the territory of Kursk region of the Russian Federation and transfer the fighting to the territory of Sumy and Kharkiv regions. "Trying to achieve political goals at all costs, the enemy has already suffered and continues to suffer significant losses in Kursk region," he emphasized. According to Syrsky, Russian aviation carried out an unprecedented number of strikes on the territory of its own region. In particular, as a result of air strikes on the city of Sudzha, this settlement was almost completely destroyed. "In the most difficult situation, my priority was and remains to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. For this, the Defense Forces units, if necessary, maneuver to more advantageous lines. First of all, the unmanned component is involved, as well as artillery fire weapons. I have given all the necessary orders for this," the commander-in-chief said. He reported that as of 6 p.m., Ukrainian troops had repelled eight enemy assault actions in Kursk direction. "Despite the increased pressure of the Russian-North Korean army, we will hold the defense in Kursk region as long as it is expedient and necessary," said Syrsky. According to his information, since the beginning of the Kursk operation (from August 6, 2024 to the present day), the total losses of Russian troops have amounted to more than 54,900 people. Of them: KIA - more than 22,200, WIA - 31,800, and POWs - 942 people. Also, about 2,100 units of Russian military equipment and weapons were hit or destroyed. In particular, 90 tanks, 654 armored combat vehicles, five MLRS, two air defense systems, one aircraft, two helicopters, more than 1,100 cars, 28 units of special equipment. In addition, almost one and a half thousand drones. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian military command in Kursk region of Russia is trying to save as many lives as possible of Ukrainian soldiers. The Kremlin has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may address a possible ceasefire with Ukraine on Thursday, the state news agency, TASS, has reported. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin is set to take questions from reporters with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, while the latter is on an official visit to Russia. Everything will depend on what reporters will ask, Mr Peskov told TASS when asked whether Mr Putin would comment on issues beyond Minsk-Moscow relations. During talks between US and Ukraine in Jeddah, a Saudi port city, on Tuesday, Ukrainian delegation expressed willingness to agree to an immediate 30-day comprehensive ceasefire if Russia would do the same. The US administration then lifted the temporary halt on arms deliveries to Kiev in return to Ukraines gesture. On Wednesday, MrPeskov said that Moscow would not publicly comment on the proposal discussed by the US and Ukraine until when it would know all the details. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later ALSO READ: Putin receives briefing on Ukrainian drone attack US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have promised to provide Moscow with all the information about the Jeddah negotiations. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a US delegation was on its way to Moscow. Later, the White House announced that special envoy Steve Witkoff would visit Russia in a few days. Mr Trump had also said that he would want to speak with Mr Putin by phone, soon. (dpa/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A Nigerian delegate at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting, Kafilat Ogbara, has urged the National Assembly to ensure a fair and transparent investigation into sexual harassment allegations levelled against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. Mrs Ogbara, who chairs the House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, also called for the safeguarding of human rights and protection from intimidation for all parties involved in the allegations. She made the call at a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday. I called for the following actions: A thorough and unbiased investigation; ensuring that all claims and defences are examined fairly and transparently; protection of all parties involved; safeguarding the rights of all individuals; and preventing any form of intimidation or retaliation, accountability and transparency, she said. Mrs Ogbaras statement comes in response to complaint raised by Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, during the IPU meeting on Tuesday. During the meeting, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan reported her six-month suspension from the Senate and sexual harassment allegations against Mr Akpabio, where she sought international intervention. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later She described her suspension from the Senate as unlawful and that it was a deliberate attempt to silence her for speaking out against alleged misconduct in the Nigerian upper legislative chamber. Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan directly linked her suspension to her petition against Mr Akpabio, accusing him of sexual harassment. She urged the IPU to intervene, noting that her fight was also for other Nigerian women who are facing similar challenges. In response, President of the IPU, Tulia Ackson, said the global parliamentary organisation would take necessary steps on the issue reported by Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, but it would also provide an opportunity for the Nigerian Senate to present its side of the story before taking any action. Call for fairness Mrs Ogbara, who represents Kosofe Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, urged members of the National Assembly to ensure that the allegations and the responses are examined fairly. She advocated for the need to uphold institutional integrity and prevent any form of intimidation or retaliation that may arise in the course of the investigation into the allegations. Upholding institutional integrity by ensuring that due process is rigorously followed. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to ensure that a fair and transparent resolution is achieved. Most importantly, ensuring that we uphold justice, fairness, and posterity to judge us right, she said. Nigerias commitment to justice Mrs Ogbara reaffirmed Nigerias dedication to justice and fundamental human rights. She assured that the National Assembly will remain committed to upholding womens rights and addressing gender-based violence through strong legal frameworks and institutional reforms. I would like to reaffirm that Nigerias unwavering commitment to the principles of justice cannot be overemphasised, to due process and to the protection of our fundamental human rights. As a nation, we recognise the gravity of sexual harassment and acknowledge the necessity of addressing such allegations with all sense of responsibility. Such allegations demand a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation. At the same time, we must ensure that fairness is upheld for all individuals involved and that justice is neither predetermined nor one-sided. Nigeria remains firmly committed to upholding womens rights and combating gender-based violence through strong legal frameworks and institutions, she said. The lawmaker highlighted ongoing legislative efforts to improve womens representation and rights, citing the Reserve Seats Bill and other proposed constitutional amendments bills before the National Assembly. ALSO READ: IPU to address sexual harassment allegations against Akpabio Our Parliament and judiciary continue to undergo reforms to strengthen these efforts. The ongoing legislative initiatives seek to address historical imbalances in womens representation in our Parliament, including the Reserve Seats Bill and other crucial proposed constitutional amendments aimed at safeguarding the rights and privileges of women. These efforts underscore our commitment to fostering a more inclusive and equitable political space, Mrs Ogbara stated. Global and domestic reactions The allegations made by Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan during the IPU meeting have generated attention within Nigeria and internationally. Mrs Ogbara acknowledged the significance of these claims but emphasised the importance of hearing all perspectives before giving a judgement on the issue. The allegations against the Nigerian Senate and the Senate President Godswill Akpabio raised during the IPU conference yesterday have garnered significant attention both within Nigeria and internationally. Senator Natasha has expressed concerns regarding what she perceives as unfair treatment following the presentation of these serious claims. However, it is equally important to acknowledge that the senate president, in his official capacity, has strongly denied these allegations. It is crucial that all perspectives are heard and that all aspects of the situation are duly considered, she said. Senates position on Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans suspension Mrs Ogbara also read a letter from the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, explaining that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans suspension was due to her alleged misconduct during the plenary and violations of Senate Standing Rules, not because of the sexual harassment claims against Mr Akpabio. PREMIUM TIMES reported the suspension, minutes after she raised the sexual harassment allegations. However, the controversial suspension was for an earlier action deemed a misconduct based on Senates rules. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Senators on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a vote of confidence in the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, despite the sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Members of the upper chamber also urged Nigerians not to allow the allegations to serve as a distraction from the legislative responsibilities of the National Assembly. The resolution followed a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District. Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan had accused Mr Akpabio of sexual harassment and reported the matter, along with her suspension from the Senate, to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The suspension of the Kogi senator has been a subject of controversy, with some critics alleging it was politically motivated. Mr Bamidele, while presenting the motion, acknowledged that the issue had attracted widespread public interest, especially regarding how the Senate planned to handle the allegations. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Theres no pretending about the fact that members of the public have been genuinely interested in matters happening within this hallowed chamber in the last two weeks, especially with respect to the allegation by one of our distinguished members, home and abroad, as to whether or not she had been sexually harassed. And I feel it is important once and for all that we place on record where we are on this matter and rest the matter as an institution so that we can concentrate, while we allow the court of law and any other agencies who constitute such matters to do their job. The senate leader questioned the credibility and timing of the allegations, explaining that the Senate was unaware of any such claims until Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan spoke about them on Arise Television. He noted that her claims coincided with the day the Senate referred her alleged misconduct to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions. This Senate, for the record, was never at any point between August 2023, when distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged to have been sexually harassed by the President of the Nigerian Senate, until the day that we announced on this floor that we were referring the petition brought by the distinguished Senator Yemi Adaramodu, with respect to Senator Natashas flagrant disobedience to the rules and regulations of this Senate, was referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions. In other words, none of us was ever told about any sexual harassment situation. I want that to be clear. Sexual harassment allegation is distraction Mr Bamidele insisted that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans suspension had nothing to do with her allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Akpabio. He reiterated that her six-month suspension from the Senate was based on her alleged violation of Senate rules, which the senate president had the duty to enforce. I also want to make it clear to the public that the issue before us, as of the time we referred this matter to the Ethics and Privileges Committee, it had nothing to do with sexual harassment, he noted. Mr Bamidele dismissed claims that Mr Akpabio acted as a judge in his own case with a clarification that the senate president only presided over the issue of misconduct and not the sexual harassment claims. He urged the public to understand that the Senate is governed by laws, not personal interests. Mr Bamidele argued that suspension is a necessary measure to maintain order in the parliament. And some of the critics who have said this Senate allowed Senator Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, to be a judge in his own case and to preside over his own matter, need to be told, with all due respect, that the matter before us and on which Senator Godswill Akpabio presided over, as the President of the Senate, had to do with the motion that was referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions. While we appreciate the concern of the public on this matter, I just want to emphasise that it is important that we also seek the understanding of the general public that we were elected to serve the people and we are guided. Whatever we do in this chamber, we are guided by rules. And these rules are also drawn pursuant to the Constitution of our country. So, it is not a rule of men. It is a rule of law. It is not about some men trying to gang up against a woman or anybody. It is about ensuring that our rules are respected. That is the only way we can guarantee peace, we can guarantee law and order. That is the only way we can have an atmosphere in which we will be able to do our job and serve the Nigerian people, he said. Legality of Apoti-Uduagans suspension The legality of Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans suspension has been a subject of debate, with the argument that the legislature lacks the power to suspend its member beyond 14 days as mandated by a court ruling. However, Mr Bamidele defended the Senates decision by citing Section 60 of the Nigerian Constitution, which gives the legislature the power to regulate its own procedure. He said, Again, some of the critics have also said we have no right to even suspend a member of this parliament or this Senate. Again, I will leave that within the context of jurisprudence, as the courts will always speak to that. But it is very clear on our rules as to how far we can go, and we are not of the opinion that we are in breach of either the Constitution or any of our rules. Section 60 of the Nigerian Constitution confers on this parliament the constitutional rights to regulate its own procedure. And section 1 (b) of our rules book also makes it clear by reiterating that constitutional authority granted to us by section 60 of the Constitution gave us the right to regulate our procedure. And suspension, as far as we are concerned, is the only alternative to the kind of anarchy that the nation witnessed in the past, where members of parliament had reasons to shout, to get physically engaged with each other, to engage in acts of violence, to tear each others clothes and, you know, do all manners of things. We are moving, thank God that we have moved away from that. It also shows that democracy is growing. If there are people who still have issues with whether or not we can even suspend an erring legislator who has refused or who is refusing to work within the rules, you know, I believe, again, like I said, its for the courts to continue to adjudicate, you know, on that, unless the Constitution is amended, taking away the authority for us to regulate our own procedure. And then, of course, with respect to the question of whether or not we are to, I mean, follow our rules, let me emphasise that the seventh schedule to our Constitution, the seventh schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, is clear. And it contains the oath of office that we are all made to take before we assume office as senators. Senate unites behind Akpabio The motion of confidence in Mr Akpabio was seconded by the Deputy Minority Leader, Olalere Oyewumi, representing Osun West. It was, thereafter, put to a vote by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session. A majority of senators expressed their support for Mr Akpabios leadership, despite the controversy surrounding him. The deputy senate president approved the vote of confidence. He reiterated that the matter is now before the court and thereafter, urged senators to focus on their oversight functions, especially with the recently passed budget. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has urged Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to seize the opportunity to apologise to the Senate for a possible reconsideration of her six-month suspension. Mr Akpabio said the Senate, under his leadership, remains open to reconciliation and ensuring peace. He warned that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans approach to her grievances might discourage political stakeholders from appointing women to high-ranking positions in the future. The senate president made these comments during plenary on Thursday after senators unanimously passed a voice of confidence in his leadership. We are still open to making sure that we remain in peace. We left room for her to recognise that what she is doing may even frighten a lot of men in future from even appointing or selecting female deputy governors. You can imagine if somebody like Kamala, the immediate past vice president of the United States, were to go on CNN to say that President Joe Biden sexually assaulted her by shaking her hand or by holding her hand to show her the office of the president. That automatically means that nobody will pick another woman as vice president, he said. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Mr Akpabio pleaded with politicians to continue giving women a chance in governance. But I have four daughters, so I want to plead with politicians to still give my four children a chance. Do not take the action of one person and punish others, he said. Senate confidence in women remains strong Despite the controversy, Mr Akpabio reaffirmed that the 10th Senate remains committed to gender inclusion. He noted that all four female senators currently in the chamber serve as committee chairpersons to give women a voice in parliament. My religion and the Bible forbid that, that the sins of the father will no longer be visited on the children. So please, we still have absolute confidence in our female folks. In this 10th Assembly of the Senate, we have only four women and the four of them are all committee chairmen, intentionally, in order to give a voice to women in the parliament, he noted. The senate president assured his colleagues that he would not take their vote of confidence for granted and encouraged them to remain focused on their legislative duties. So, I thank you for this vote of confidence. I will not take it for granted and I also have confidence in you and your ability to continue to contribute your quota towards nation building. Lets remain focused on why we are here. This is a distraction, a diversionary. My God Almighty bless all of you. Decision to suspend Akpoti-Uduaghan was unanimous Mr Akpabio reiterated that the decision to suspend Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was not personal but a unanimous decision by the Senate. He accused her of misrepresenting the facts surrounding her suspension on media platforms, including Brekete Radio, a human rights radio station in Abuja and Arise Television. Its also important for the public to know that whatever decision we arrive at here is unanimous and I recall the last decision we took which concerned one of our sisters, Distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Im also aware that when she left the chambers, she went to Brekete Radio and Arise Television, and she distorted the facts, he added. Apoti-Uduagans behaviour embarrassing Nigeria Mr Akpabio maintained that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans decision to take her grievances to the Inter-Parliamentary Union was an attempt to embarrass the country. Im aware further that she has now externalised the matter by attempting to embarrass the Federal Republic of Nigeria by going to give a narrative at the IPU UN event, totally different from what occurred in the Senate. But I want to thank Rt. Honourable member Kafilat Ogbara, who had to give a press conference in New York to caution the international press not to vilify Nigeria but to note that the facts presented by her were totally out of tune with what occurred in the Nigerian parliament and that we have our own internal mechanisms of resolving issues in Nigeria. The senate president criticised Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan for seeking external intervention without allowing due process within the judiciary and the Senate to take its course. Outside this parliament, we also have the judiciary which she is even standing before the judiciary, so I dont know why she wouldeven here she has brought a petition and she has not allowed us to even look into it. She went to court and then she has not allowed the court to look into it. He maintained that the Senate operates under the rule of law and the Nigerian Constitution, and that there are internal mechanisms for resolving disputes among senators. She has gone to the international community, and she may not even allow the international community to look into it. She might decide to run to..I dont know where. I dont want to be misquoted. But the reality is that we remain resolute. We are law-abiding. We operate through the rules of the Senate, which is an extension of the powers and privileges given to us by the grund norm, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. With the Senate leaving room for reconciliation, the ball is now in Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghans court to decide. Whether she will take Mr Akpabios advice and apologise or continue seeking redress through the judiciary and international bodies is uncertain. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former President Muhammadu Buhari has reaffirmed his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying he would want to be addressed as a loyal member of the party. Mr Buhari said this in a statement on X by his media aide, Garba Shehu, on Thursday. The statement comes following the recent defection of the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Mr El-Rufai, a founding member of the APC, had said he consulted the former president on his plan to exit the ruling party. I consulted Buhari on Friday; I told him my reasons for leaving the APC and the responses of other people I consulted. (Mr) Buhari responded that he is now a statesman, but he knows my worries and prayed for me, the former governor told the BBC Hausa Service in an interview. Mr El-Rufais statement fuelled speculations in some quarters that some prominent members of the APC were planning to dump the party. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Mr Buhari, in the statement, said he would never turn his back on the party that offered him its presidential ticket twice. He was president between 2015 and 2023. He said he would remain in the APC to popularise it by all means. I am an APC member and I like to be addressed as such. I will try to popularise the party by all means, he said. Read the full statement I AM APC MEMBER, I LIKE TO BE ADDRESSED AS ONE-BUHARI. Without referring to any individual, a cast of characters, or issues, principles and ideals currently being discussed by party leaders at various levels, the former president, Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated what he said times without number that he is member of the All Progressives Congress, APC and would like to be addressed as a loyal member of the party. He says he wants to leave no one in doubt that he would never turn his back to the party that gave him two terms of office and would do whatever he can to popularise it. I am an APC member and I like to be addressed as such. I will try to popularise the party by all means. He went on to add that at present, he has nothing but gratitude for the support that the party gave him before and during his tenure as president, which he considers as the highest honour, and would never ask for anything more. He further stated that the pains taken by the founding fathers to establish a strong party to protect our constitution, and democracy as a system of government are worthy sacrifices that should be cherished and nurtured. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Archery Federations (NAFED) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the ANOCA office in Abuja on Monday, 10 March, has been rocked with allegations of denial of some delegates entry into the venue. The alleged exclusion of these delegates has sparked fresh outrage, further intensifying calls for leadership change within the federation. At the heart of the crisis is NAFED President Mohammed Abdullahi, who has been in office for nearly a decade despite mounting opposition and demands for fresh leadership. Mr Abdullahi and his allies are accused of deliberately blocking opposition voices from attending the AGM to prevent a vote of no confidence from being passed against the embattled president. Delegates speak out against exclusion Former NAFED Secretary Gbenga Boluji was among those barred from entry. Expressing his frustration to journalists, he stated: We arrived at the venue, but they refused to let us in after collecting our money. I was shocked because even World Archery had asked us to come and present our case. Instead, Tarik (Amiry), the African representative from World Archery, requested my documents but did not allow me inside. Documents alone wont fight for usthey can easily be ignored. It is clear he is siding with Abdullahi. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Mr Boluji further alleged that the justification for barring delegates was fabricated: They claimed we werent up to date with membership fees, but that is a lie. No one has ever paid membership fees since the inception of Nigerian archery. Suddenly, they used this excuse to block us. Meanwhile, they allowed two out of ten legitimate state representatives to enter while presenting 17 delegates from states that dont even practice archery. Our constitution doesnt permit that. This is manipulation to retain power. Another aggrieved delegate, Oguntayo Idris from Ogun State, decried the exclusion of legitimate archers from the meeting: Eight out of the ten archery states were left outside. We paid all our dues, yet only two were allowed inside. They also suddenly demanded a 20,000 affiliation fee, which has never been required before. No one in NAF has ever paid such a fee, yet they forced us to pay it into a personal account belonging to Mr. Rabiu just to be allowed inside. We complied because we wanted to voice our grievances to the world body, but it was all a ploy to shut us out. Mr Idris accused Mr Abdullahi of using archery for personal gain: None of the people inside are real archers. I personally introduced archery to Edo, Rivers, and Bayelsa. I trained military and paramilitary personnel across Nigeria. The people inside were handpicked by Abdullahi to maintain his grip on power. After two failed terms, what has he contributed to archery? Nothing. He is using the federation for his personal benefit, and we wont allow it anymore. Tantur Namwar, a delegate from Plateau State, also encountered obstruction at the venue: I arrived in the morning and saw the gate surrounded by police. When I identified myself, I found my name had been altered and merged with another name, effectively invalidating my identity. Despite presenting evidence of my payments, I was still denied entry. The affiliation fee, which was last set at 24,000 in 2019, was suddenly increased to 35,000 without justification. This was all a trick to keep us out and protect the fraudulent election they conducted last year. Only two people were allowed in, making this entire meeting a sham. Growing calls for intervention For analysts, the exclusion of key delegates from the AGM has further damaged the credibility of the Nigeria Archery Federation under Mr Abdullahis leadership. Many within the sport believe this was a calculated move to prevent a vote of no confidence against him. The crisis has already drawn attention from World Archery, which had instructed concerned parties to present their grievances at the meeting. However, with allegations of bias against the World Archery representative, Tarik Amiry, faith in the international bodys intervention is beginning to wane. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A bill to establish the National Council for Traditional Rulers, formalising their roles and recognition, has passed its second reading in the Senate. The bills general principles were presented on Thursday by Simon Lalong (APC-Plateau South), its sponsor. The debate elicited concerns from lawmakers, particularly regarding potential conflicts of responsibility with elected political officers at local government councils. Mr Lalong, former governor of Plateau State, explained that the bill was first introduced on 8 October, 2024. He highlighted that before the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates and the Colony of Lagos, traditional authorities were highly influential in Nigerian governance. He said the traditional rulers were custodians of culture, tradition, values, and religion, and played crucial roles in managing communal conflicts, commerce, and industry through trade with other kingdoms. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Mr Lalong said between 1910 and 1960, Nigerian traditional rulers had significant authority. Under the British colonial indirect rule system, they functioned as the executive, legislature, and judiciary. This continued during the First Republic as members of the regional houses of chiefs. However, subsequent military regimes, starting with General Aguiyi Ironsis unitary government in 1966, stripped traditional rulers of their powers, redistributing them between federal, state, and local governments. While the 1979 constitution somewhat restored the role of traditional institutions, the 1999 constitution relegated them to the background. Mr Lalong noted the absence of a legal framework to guide the operations of traditional rulers, in spite of their The lawmaker emphasised the important non-kinetic role traditional rulers play in tackling security challenges, citing their education and insight into national issues. He urged senators to support the bills second reading. During discussions, some senators expressed concerns about potential overlaps with government functions and recommended clarifying the role of traditional rulers. READ ALSO: Senate to meet service chiefs over rising insecurity Senate President Godswill Akpabio agreed that the bill should outline traditional rulers functions more clearly and called for a public hearing to gather input from other stakeholders. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Establishment for further consideration and would be presented for a third reading in four weeks. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian government, in partnership with a multinational healthcare company, Roche and digital healthcare provider, Oncopadi Technologies, has launched the Breast Cancer Access Navigation and Testing (BRANT) Programmean initiative aimed at supporting breast cancer patients across Nigeria. The programme aims to enhance early detection and ensure timely, accurate breast cancer diagnosis by offering free immunohistochemistry tests, multidisciplinary care, and navigation services to 5,000 Nigerian women. Speaking at the launch of the programme in Abuja on Thursday, the Director- General, National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, Usman Aliyu, noted that BRANT is a milestone in the nations continuous effort to enhance patient care, streamline support systems, and empower individuals battling the disease. Mr Aliyu, represented by the Director of Cancer Prevention and Control, Waziri Usman, emphasised that the programme is designed to make patient navigation, a complex landscape of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, much easier. He emphasised that the programme would also empower individuals battling breast cancer, offering them better access to resources and guidance throughout their journey. Breast cancer care The Chief Executive Officer of Oncopadi Technologies, Omolola Salako, said the Global Cancer Observatory has projected that more than 32,000 new breast cancer cases will be recorded in Nigeria in 2025. Ms Salako, a consultant clinical oncologist, observed that the statistics imply that approximately 2,700 cases would be detected each month and 88 cases each day. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later For five seconds, I want you to imagine what it feels like for the 88 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer today. Now imagine the mental, physical and financial barriers breast cancer raises, when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, a ton of emotions consume her, fear, anger and confusion, she said. In a matter of weeks, she would realise the direct cost of her treatment would cost between N20 to N30 million or maybe more. In fact, her indirect cost of care may even cost her more if her source of livelihood (her job or business) is threatened. She noted that multiple hospital visits for diagnosis, treatment, and management of side effects may consume a patients time and prevent her from earning potential. Ms Salako noted that the situation can be overwhelming, frightening, and distressing for any woman diagnosed with breast cancer. She pointed out that in such a state of mind, many women may make uninformed decisions regarding their healthcare. She stated that Nigeria has the highest age-standardised breast cancer mortality rate in the world. The oncologist observed that delays in accessing care, missing life-saving treatments and the aggressive nature of breast cancer in Nigerian women, particularly those with triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer, contribute to poor survival outcomes. She explained that the BRANT journey began in 2022 when Oncopadi and Roche engaged in numerous co-creation sessions to develop a novel programme to digitally enhance breast cancer diagnosis and care. She observed that the BRANT programme was birthed by leveraging Roches expertise as a global leader in oncology diagnostics and treatment whilst utilising Oncopadis digital oncology capabilities and community mobilisation strategies in Nigeria, adding that a strategic agreement was signed by both parties in 2024. According to her, Oncopadi has mobilised many cancer patients over the years, especially women, to access care and educational resources online. To this end, a strategic agreement was signed by Roche and Oncopadi in 2024 and we have worked tremendously hard to fulfill our shared vision, which is to support 5,000 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. BRANT programme The General Manager, Roche Nigeria, Ladi Hameed, said BRANT programme is a transformative initiative to reshape breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Nigeria. Mr Hameed, represented by the Medical Director, Roche Products Limited, Bola Oyedeji, said five in 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer would not be here in five years, hence the need to reduce the time of diagnosis to improve survival. He stated that in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, half of the women diagnosed with breast cancer do not survive beyond five years due to factors such as lack of awareness, insufficient funds, and limited access to testing and treatment, adding that the average diagnostic timeline extends to six months, compared to less than 60 days elsewhere. READ ALSO; Nigeria govt calls for integration of diagnostic services in healthcare delivery He, however, said that even though the programme would run for the next 18 months, there is need to collectively think about sustainability. The Deputy Country Representative of the World Health Organisation to Nigeria, Alexander Chimbaru, commended the organisations for coming up with a home-grown solution to reducing the burden of breast cancer. Mr Chimbaru said, This is a very valuable and informative initiative to make breast cancer screening, navigation, and testing more accessible for women. However, what is remaining now is action. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has said that a total of 3,688 inmates are currently on death row across various correctional facilities in the country. The Acting Comptroller-General of the NCoS, Sylvester Nwakuche, disclosed this during his screening before members of the Senate Committee on Interior on Wednesday. He was nominated earlier in the week as substantive comptroller-general by President Bola Tinubu. Mr Nwakuche said the number of inmates on death row increased from 3,590 in September 2024 to 3,688 in March 2025, a situation that shows the challenges of congestion within Nigerias prison system. Inmates on death row are now 3,688 from 3,590 in September 2024, he said. Nigeria is one of the countries yet to abolish the death penalty despite pressure from groups such as Amnesty International. However, state governors, who have the final power to approve the killing of death sentence inmates after judicial rulings, are reluctant to do so. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Governors inactions worsening prison congestion The acting comptroller-general explained that the reluctance of state governors to either execute death row inmates or commute their sentences to life imprisonment is a major reason for prison congestion. State governors are part of our challenges. They refuse to execute inmates on the death row; neither do they commute their death sentence to life imprisonment, he said. Mr Nwakuche explained that if these sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, the NCoS could redistribute the affected inmates to rural correctional facilities, which are less congested compared to those in urban areas. This is because the issue of congestion is a major urban phenomenon. Our correctional facilities in urban centres are more congested than those in rural areas. If we commute them to life sentencing, we will be able to distribute them equitably, he added. Push for collaboration with security agencies Beyond the issue of death row inmates, Mr Nwakuche emphasised the urgent need for collaboration with security and justice institutions to tackle the challenges of awaiting-trial inmates, which also contributes significantly to prison congestion. He noted that many inmates have been held in correctional facilities for years without trial, some even beyond the sentences they would have served if convicted. This is very important for any establishment to forge ahead. An establishment like correctional centres cannot do anything without collaboration. We are the ones at the recipient of the products of all the prosecuting agencies. ALSO READ: Inmates escape as rainstorm destroys Nigerian correctional centre When I met with the Inspector-General of Police, I said some of your inmates are in our facilities. They have stayed up to five or six years. Some of them are not needed to be in our facilities any longer. If they had been sentenced, some of them would not spend up to two to three years in prison. But they have stayed in our facilities for six years. For me, such persons should be discharged and acquitted. That is one area we must collaborate to decongest our facilities, he said. To address these issues, Mr Nwakuche noted that he had initiated discussions with key security and legal institutions, including the Nigeria Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), State Security Services and the Attorney-General of the Federation. He stressed that without proper collaboration among these agencies, prison congestion would persist. I also met the Director-General of DSS (SSS) on the need for collaboration. I met the Attorney-General of the Federation for the same reason. Some of the inmates are waiting for the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution. If we do not reach out to these agencies, our people will continue to be in prisons unnecessarily, he said. Committees response The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Adams Oshiomhole, assured Mr Nwakuche that the committee would evaluate his performance and submit a report to the Senate. Mr Nwakuche was accompanied to the screening by top NCoS officials, including his Principal Staff Officer, Godwin Okosun, a Deputy Controller of Corrections, Babatunde Ogundare, and Assistant Controller General Ahmed Adagiri. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Troops of Sub-Sector 4, Operation FANSAN YAMMA, on Tuesday, ambushed bandits and killed three of them off the Kaduna-Abuja highway, according to an official statement. Acting Deputy Director Army Public Relations, 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Musa Yahaya, confirmed the development in a statement issued on Wednesday in Kaduna. Mr Yahaya said, In a well-coordinated operation on Tuesday, troops of Sub-Sector 4, Operation FANSAN YAMMA successfully neutralised three Violent Extremists and Insurgents (VEIs) in an ambush at an area near Ngwagi Hill, Gwagwada Community, off the Kaduna Abuja highway in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State. The spokesman said the operations success was based on credible intelligence that the suspects were sighted near Ngwagi Hill. He said that troops were immediately deployed on long-range fighting patrol to the likely road-crossing point of the insurgents. According to him the troops got to the location at about 5.30 p.m. on the same date and successfully launched the ambush, during which three armed members of the group were killed. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later During the operation, troops also recovered a cache of arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles, eight AK-47 rifle magazines, 374 rounds of 7.62mm x 39 special ammunition and 88 rounds of 7.62mm x 54 NATO ammunition. Other items recovered were one Infinix mobile phone, medical supplies, clothing, and dry rations, Mr Yahaya said. He said the operations success was a testament to the troops high fighting morale and combat efficiency. This achievement is also as a result of the effective collaboration between the military and intelligence agencies, which provided credible intelligence that informed the operation. He said the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Nigerian Army, and Commander Sector 1 Joint Task Force Operation FANSAN YAMMA, Maj.-Gen. Mayirenso Saraso, commended the troops for their resilience and successful conduct of the operation. He charged the troops not to relent on their oars until all criminal elements operating in the division and the sectors area of operational responsibility were killed. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ukraine supplies additional 3,850 tonnes of wheat flour to Syria under Grain From Ukraine initiative Ukraine supplied Syria with an additional 3,850 tonnes of wheat flour as part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's humanitarian program Grain From Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha reported. "Together with 500 tonnes in December, this will provide 60,000 Syrians for half a year," he wrote on the social media X. Sybiha assured that Ukraine continues to support the Syrian people and food security in the Middle East. Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has shed light on how he was denied access to the state assembly quarters on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, the state capital. Mr Fubara was at the assembly quarters to re-present the 2025 budget to 27 lawmakers of the state assembly under the leadership of the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule. The Amaewhule-led assembly is made up of 27 lawmakers, all of whom are loyal to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike. How my communications were ignored Fubara Mr Fubara, in his first public response later on Wednesday, said he was shocked that the lawmakers denied him access into the assembly quarters despite previously informing them of his coming. The governor spoke during the inauguration of the Bori Zonal Hospital in Khana Local Government Area of the state, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Nelson Chukwudi. Mr Fubara said, in complying with the Supreme Court judgement, it was pertinent for all parties to be more interested in saving the economy of the state and ensure that public sector workers are not subjected to untold hardship. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later For that reason, I made all frantic efforts to reach the Speaker, which I believe, he cannot deny that, and other members of the assembly. I went further to send WhatsApp information to him (Speaker) and (26) others, notifying them that I will be coming by 10 Oclock this morning to present the budget so that there wont be any reason why Rivers State will be in any fix because of me, as being alleged, he said. But it was unfortunate when we got there this morning, we were denied access, and the next story I am hearing is that we didnt make any communication. But I leave it to God who sees in secret places. The governor argued that he did everything that needed to be done to ensure that the situation was properly handled. He, however, expressed optimism that the lawmakers, when they get instruction, will comply with the Supreme Court judgement, which ordered that the budget be presented to the lawmakers. I had to bring this up because I am aware of some news going round in the media that there was no communication, and that I was not complying. They even said that I was not making any effort. So, I feel it is an opportunity here where everybody can hear from me and understand the situation that we are facing, he said. I dont intend to abuse my powers. Mr Fubara, given the fleeting nature of power, said he does not intend to abuse his power as the Rivers governor. What is most important is what we do with the power, and I have chosen, even if I have the power as they claim, and that I dont know how to use it, I do not intend to abuse my powers. Because power, when you abuse it, is what leads to this kind of situation, he said, apparently referring to the feud between him and his predecessor, Mr Wike. Continuing, he said: I will not abuse it. I will continue to work and operate with so much restraint because I know that there is life after power. Background Messrs Fubara and Wike have been in a serious political face-off over the control of political structure in the south-southern state. The face-off has split members of the state assembly into two factions 27 lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike and three to Mr Fubara. Both factions held parallel plenaries. Following the demolition of the assembly complex, the pro-Wike lawmakers moved their sitting to a different venue, while those loyal to Mr Fubara moved to a building at Government House. Mr Fubara had been forwarding all executive communications, including bills and nominees for appointments, to the three-member faction for consideration and approval. But in February, the Supreme Court restored Mr Amaewhules position as the speaker, reinstated the others as legitimate members of the assembly, and nullified the local election organised by Mr Fubaras administration. The lawmakers subsequently gave the governor 48 hours to re-present the budget. The governor had vowed to implement the order of the Supreme Court despite disagreeing with the verdict. Meanwhile, on 7 March, the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Tammy Danagogo, wrote the lawmakers, inviting them to a meeting with Mr Fubara to discuss a befitting space for the assemblys sittings, payment of outstanding remuneration and allowances for the lawmakers, and budget presentation. But the lawmakers declined the invitation. Ahead of the Wednesday visit to the lawmakers, Governor Fubara informed the Amaewhule-led assembly that he would come to their chambers to present the Rivers 2025 budget for their consideration and approval. The governors letter to the Speaker, Mr Amaewhule, was dated 11 March 2025. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Suspected bandits who invaded a farm two weeks ago and abducted four people harvesting yams in the Alkareri Local Government Area of Bauchi State have demanded a N30 million ransom for their release. The abducted persons are residents of Futuk, a village in the Gwana District. They were abducted by bandits operating from the Mansur forest in the Alkaleri local council area. A resident, Bello Haruna, said the whereabouts of the victims were unknown since the kidnappers demanded the ransom a few days after the abduction. Mr Haruna identified the abducted persons as Umar Yalwan-Barde, Adamu Ahmad, aka SK, Garba Makanike, and Baba Alhaji-Shehu. The kidnappers separated the captives across different camps in the forest; nobody knows about their condition, the source added. It has been over two weeks that they have been in the kidnappers den. The abductors established contact with the family of one of the abducted persons, demanding a N30 million ransom. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The amount they are requesting is huge; none of the families of the abducted person can raise such an amount because they are living from hand to mouth. We have reported the incident to security agents, but we are yet to receive any response, Mr Haruna said. The police spokesperson in Bauchi State, Ahmad Wakili, could not be immediately reached to comment on the development as his phone number did not connect Thursday morning. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, says he consulted President Muhammadu Buhari before he left the All Progressives Congress (APC). Mr El-Rufai left the APC on 10 March after meeting the former president at his Kaduna residence on 7 March. He said he consulted the former president and several other personalities before making the decision. I consulted Buhari on Friday; I told him my reasons for leaving the APC and the responses of other people I consulted. (Mr) Buhari responded that he is now a statesman, but he knows my worries and prayed for me, Mr El-Rufai said in an interview with BBC Hausa Service Thursday morning. In the interview, Mr El-Rufai said he didnt regret supporting President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 election but was disappointed by the president. He also refuted a narrative that he left the ruling party because of his botched ministerial nomination. People said I left the APC because I wasnt given a minister, but I never opted to be a minister in Tinubus cabinet. I knew people who paid money to get a ministerial appointment. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The President begged me publicly to join his cabinet and threw up to me a challenge to fix the power sector, and I accepted the challenge because the president said he wanted to break the jinx and fix the power sector; I thought he was truthful, but I learned that he deceived himself, the former governor said. Mr El-Rufai campaigned for President Bola Tinubus election. He was thereafter nominated for a ministerial position, but the Senate withheld his confirmation, citing a report from the State Security Service (SSS). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Pope Francis has marked the anniversary of his election as the head of the Catholic Church in hospital, a statement from the Vatican said on Thursday morning. Thursday marks 12 years since Francis was elected as the successor to the German pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger. The pope started his day after a quiet night in the hospital, the Vatican said. Following the unexpected resignation of Benedict XVI in 2013, then-Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the new pope on 13 March 2013. He is the fifth ballot of the conclave, of the secret gathering of cardinals that chooses the pontiff. The anniversary of the election is a public holiday in the Vatican, but there are no special events planned. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The 88-year-old Francis has been undergoing treatment for the past month at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. ALSO READ: Cardinals say Pope Francis could resign if health worsens He is suffering from double pneumonia. Francis is on the path to slight improvement, though this is progressing slowly, the attending doctors have said. It remains unclear how much longer he will need to stay in the hospital. (dpa/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A prosecution witness has told the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin that former Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his then finance commissioner, Ademola Banu, allegedly diverted funds meant for universal basic education projects in 2013 and 2014. Testifying before trial judge Mahmud Abdulgafar, on Wednesday, Musa Dasuki, a retired Permanent Secretary at the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said that the diversion of funds resulted in several abandoned educational projects across the state. Mr Ahmed governed the state between 2011 and 2019. Led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuting lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Dasuki explained that the Kwara State Government, during Mr Ahmeds administration, made a formal request to use Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds to pay teachers salaries. The fund is the total of the contributions of each state and the matching grant from UBEC. The then Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, who is the second defendant in this case, initially made an oral request for the release of the 2013 UBEC Matching Grant to pay teachers salaries. However, we insisted that such a request must be made in writing, Mr Dasuki told the court. Mr Dasuki said that the request was later formalised through a letter from the finance commissioner and was signed on his behalf. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later He noted that the funds were deposited into the state governments account at Skye Bank Plc. Despite initial opposition from SUBEB, the board approved the release of funds after assurances from Mr Banu that the money would be repaid once the state received its federal allocation. However, Mr Dasuki testified that the repayment never happened. He further disclosed that the 2013 action plan, which the UBEC funds were meant to execute, included constructing 40 standard classroom blocks with offices, 40 VIP toilets, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres in primary and junior secondary schools across Kwaras 16 Local Government Areas. However, many of these projects could not be executed because the funds had been diverted, he said. Contractors, he added, protested over non-payment for completed projects. During cross-examination by Jimoh Mumini, also a SAN, counsel for Mr Ahmed, Mr Dasuki confirmed that neither the former governor nor his finance commissioner was a member of SUBEB. EFCC alleges widespread diversion of UBEC funds EFCC accused Messrs Ahmed and Banu of misappropriating a total of N5.78 billion in UBEC funds during Mr Ahmeds eight-year tenure. However, the duo pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were re-arraigned in October 2023. Abubakar Hassan, an assistant director of finance at UBEC, testified earlier as the first prosecution witness. He told the court that Mr Ahmeds administration allegedly diverted funds meant for 51 UBEC projects in Kwara. My lord, the Projects Monitoring Committee conducted investigations and found that many projects were either unexecuted or abandoned, Mr Hassan stated. He added that in May 2018, UBEC wrote to Mr Ahmed, demanding an explanation, but received no response. Mr Hassan also testified that on 6 January, UBEC had to loan N1 billion from the 2013 UBEC Matching Grant Account with Skye Bank to pay staff salaries and pensions due to the mismanagement of funds. Mr Hassan further alleged that on 18 February 2016, the Kwara SUBEB illegally withdrew N1.8 billion from the UBEC fund. He explained that state matching grants are strictly meant for education projects and cannot be used for other expenses. State Matching Grants are not permitted to be borrowed or utilized for any purpose outside the approved action plan. The objectives of UBEC were undermined due to these infractions and the failure to implement the Action Plan, he said. He also noted that UBEC had written to the state government, requesting documentation on how the funds were utilised. Mr Abdulgafar adjourned the trial until Thursday for further proceedings. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) permission to present two additional witnesses virtually in the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, over the controversial 2022 Naira redesign policy. The trial judge, Maryanne Anenih, approved the EFCCs request on Thursday, allowing the two witnesses, who are based in the United Kingdom, to testify remotely at a later date. At the hearing, EFCCs lead counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court of his intention to call two additional witnesses to establish the charges against Emefiele. He also submitted additional proof of evidence to support the prosecutions case. However, Mr Emefieles lead counsel, Olalekan Ojo, also a SAN, objected, arguing that the anti-graft agency should file a formal application specifying the witnesses names, their testimonies, and reasons for preferring virtual testimony. Ms Anenih overruled the objection, noting that the witnesses details and the justification for virtual testimony were already included in the prosecutions submission. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Witness details Naira redesign process During the proceedings, an EFCC witness, Chinedu Eneanya, who participated in the investigation, detailed how the complaint against Mr Emefiele was referred to his team. He explained that four former CBN deputy governorsAdesonubi Folashodun, Adamu Edward, Kingsley Obiora, and Aisha Ahmedwere invited for questioning and provided statements about their involvement in the redesign process. The court admitted their statements, along with a separate statement from Ahmed Halilu, former Managing Director of the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC). Mr Eneanya testified that on 6 October 2022, Mr Emefiele sent a memo to then-President Muhammadu Buhari seeking approval to redesign the N1,000, N500, N200, and N100 notes. He said the memo, which included specimen designs, was immediately approved by Mr Buhari on the condition that the new notes be produced locally. However, the witness said Mr Emefiele later altered the plan, citing the minting companys inability to meet production deadlines. Instead, he and Ahmed Halilu opted for a colour-swapping approach, involving a UK-based firm, De La Rue, which was paid 205,000 for consultancy services. While fielding questions from the EFCCs counsel, Mr Eneanya had alleged that Mr Emefiele breached presidential directives by deviating from the approved design and involving a foreign company in the process. Background The Naira redesign policy, implemented under Mr Emefieles leadership, sparked severe cash shortages in early 2023, causing public hardship. Despite widespread criticism, Messrs Emefiele and Buhari defended the policy, insisting it was necessary to curb vote buying ahead of the 2023 general elections. However, reports later emerged that the CBN board was not consulted before Mr Buhari approved the redesign. At a previous hearing, Kingsley Obiora, a former deputy governor, testified that the board never recommended the policy. Further revelations by another former acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi, suggested that standard procedures were not followed, with Mr Emefiele allegedly acting unilaterally. Mr Shonubi told the court that the CBNs Currency Management Department had proposed a redesign as early as 2021, but Mr Emefiele repeatedly shelved the plan before secretly securing Buharis approval in 2022. The Supreme Court later nullified Mr Buharis directive and extended the use of old notes, criticizing the administrations disregard for due process and legal orders. Trial continues Ms Anenih has adjourned the case till 29 April for the continuation of trial. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Wasiu Adeyemo, announced on Thursday that the students of Kings College, Annex, Lagos, who were admitted with diphtheria on Saturday, are recovering well and will soon be discharged. Mr Adeyemo disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. PREMIUM TIMES reported the death of a Junior Secondary School student following the diphtheria outbreak in the school. Many other students of the popular Nigerian government-owned school were also hospitalised following the outbreak. The Lagos State Government has since declared an emergency in the school and commenced vaccination of all the students and staff. Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It is a contagious disease that can spread quickly through contact with an affected person. Students condition Mr Adeyemo stated that the students health had been assessed and confirmed to be stable, making them medically fit to be discharged. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The CMD, who admitted that the students were still in the hospital in spite their fitness, said that the hospital want to further monitor their health condition to ensure that everything is normalised before they leave. According to him, as soon as the extra monitoring is completed, which will not take any longer time, the students will be discharged to go home. The health condition of the diphtheria affected boys under our care has improved, as they are now fit to go and will soon be discharged, he said. Despite their present sound health, they are still in LUTH because the hospital still wants to further observe their health condition. This is to be sure that everything has normalised and there wont be any issue or case of relapse even after they leave the hospital, Mr Adeyemo told NAN. Regarding their medical bills, the CMD explained that the bills would be jointly paid by the Lagos State Government, school management, their parents and the hospital. According to him, payment of the medical bills will not be an issue, noting that what matters is to ensure that the students have adequately recovered and are back on their feet. Mr Adeyemo, therefore, advised students, school management, parents and the general public not to relent in taking precautionary measures to prevent contraction and spread of the disease. He urged the school and parents to give the students all the necessary support needed to aid their recovery, stressing that good hygiene practices are key to preventing contraction of diphtheria infection. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The House of Representatives on Thursday, adopted the Tax Reform Bill as a working document. Arising from the Committee of the Whole, the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, said that after deliberations on clauses of the bill, the house adopted it as a working document. Mr Tajudeen, who commended the Committee on Finance for a work well done, said the report was a reflection of Nigerias mind. All the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory have their representatives in the sub-comittee. This is the first time such a report is getting hundred per cent approval by almost all members, he said. Earlier, while presenting the report, Chairman of the finance committee, James Faleke, said that contentious areas were well taken care of. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Mr Faleke said the committee recommended that Value Added Tax be based on consumption. He explained that Value Added Tax still remained 7.5 per cent as it had been. Mr Falake said the committee recommended a repeal of the Federal Inland Revenue Service to establish the Nigeria Revenue Service. He said the Nigeria Revenue Service would be saddled with the responsibility of collecting revenues for the Federal Government of Nigeria. He, however, expressed optimism that the Nigeria Revenue Service would enhance seamless tax harmonisation and administration. President Bola Tinubu transmitted four reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration on 3 October, 2024. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has expressed support for the implementation of local government financial autonomy as a critical step toward improving primary healthcare (PHC) delivery across Nigeria. Mr Pate emphasised that financial independence for local governments would ensure better healthcare services at the grassroots level, aligning with the governments vision of cooperative federalism. At the National Stakeholder Engagement on Accelerating Improvement in Primary Health Care in Nigeria with Local Government Financial Autonomy, held in Abuja on Thursday, Mr Pate underscored the importance of strengthening PHC services to provide quality, accessible, and affordable care. He noted that President Bola Tinubus administration is committed to reforming the health sector to ensure that all Nigerians, regardless of location, have access to essential healthcare services. Supreme Court ruling The event highlighted the Supreme Courts landmark ruling on 11 July 2024, which grants direct financial autonomy to Nigerias 774 Local Government Councils (LGCs). The ruling, delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, affirms LGCs as the third tier of government and grants them direct access to the Federation Account (FAC) funds. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later This development ensures local governments can independently manage resources for developmental projects, particularly in the healthcare sector. ALGONs commitment to strengthening PHC The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) also pledged to support efforts to enhance PHC services nationwide. Speaking at the event, ALGON National President Bello Lawal, represented by Aminu Hassan, ALGON Chairman of Taraba State, hailed the Supreme Courts ruling as a transformative step for the PHC administration in Nigeria. Mr Lawal explained that the ruling empowers the 774 Local Government Health Authorities (LGHAs) to take full responsibility for PHC budgeting and service delivery. Under this framework, LGCs will administer all funds allocated for PHC services. They will oversee the construction and renovation of healthcare facilities based on community needs and also handle the recruitment, promotion, and discipline of staff from levels 16, he said. The LGCs will secure a stronger presence on rebranded State Primary Healthcare Governing Boards to enhance decision-making in PHC administration. Mr Lawal commended Mr Pate and the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Muyi Aina, for organising the stakeholder engagement. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has said that he is ready to work with Peter Obi to provide good governance to Nigerians. Mr Mohammed stated this in Bauchi on Thursday when Mr Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, paid him a consultation visit at the states Presidential Lodge. According to him, the visit, which also centred on how he and Mr Obi could work closely together to address poverty and criminality, transcended political, religious or tribal lines. We discussed state by state challenges and I feel highly appreciative of what he is doing as the leader of the opposition because whether we like it or not, he is the leader of the opposition, now, in Nigeria. I want to say at this level, not to make some of those doubting Thomases and mischievous minds to pre-empt what we are doing, that Im ready to work with Peter Obi. We will make sure we come together, close ranks, bring good governance to the country, give vibrant opposition with knowledge, timelines, visions in such a manner that we will rescue and recover our country. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Our coming together is a message and the message is going to resonate because all our colleagues, the PDP governors, are behind this kind of journey because it is a transcendental one. We are coming together to work together irrespective of party, region, religion or any other thing, said Mr Mohammed. In his remarks, Mr Obi said he decided to visit Governor Mohammed to discuss Nigerias issues and consult him, being the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum and a critical stakeholder in Nigerias politics today. Its just a consultation and discussion meeting that will continue to go on as we talk about the future of this country. We have to discuss issues happening in the North. I have told the governor today that the North is a critical component if we are going to get it right in this country. There is poverty in Nigeria. We have to deal with the issue of poverty and until you solve poverty, then you can talk about criminality, he said. READ ALSO: There are more Yahoo boys in government than outside Peter Obi Mr Obi added that the country needed to invest hugely in critical areas to put people out of poverty so as to reduce criminality in the society. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Obi was in a closed-door meeting with Governor Mohammed for more than three hours before addressing the press. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Head of Kyiv City State Administration Vitali Klitschko dismissed a number of city officials involved in corruption investigation in Kyiv, the mayor reported on the Telegram channel. "Regarding the latest high-profile news, which concerns in particular the land sector of the Ukrainian capital Deputy Head of Kyiv City State Administration Petro Olenych, Deputy Head of the Municipal Enterprise Kyivblahoustriy Oleksiy Mushta have been dismissed from their positions at Kyiv City State Administration. Deputy Director of the Municipal Enterprise Spetszhytlofond Yuriy Leonov will be procedurally dismissed from tomorrow," he reported. The mayor also stressed that deputy of Kyiv City Council, the head of the land commission Mykhailo Terentyev wrote a statement of resignation from the position of director of the Municipal Enterprise Engineering Center, and the faction of the UDAR party is recalling him from the deputies of Kyiv City Council. According to Klitschko, director of the Municipal Enterprise Kyiv Institute of Land Relations Ihor Dolynsky, director of the Municipal Enterprise Spetszhytlofond Volodymyr Shariy, director of the Financial Company Zhytloinvest Viktor Pohrebny and deputy director of the department of urban planning and architecture Valentyna Sviatyna are also subject to dismissal. A number of dismissals expected in the near future have also been announced for the municipal association Kyivzelenbud. These include general director of the enterprise Yuriy Bakhmat, his first deputy Oleksiy Lukash, and deputy head of the capital investment department Oleksandr Hora. "Inspections in various departments are ongoing, and these will not be the last dismissals for the sake of cleaning up," the mayor of Kyiv emphasized, adding that the city provides law enforcement with all requested documents and assists in the investigation. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Thursday, inaugurated its South-south Caretaker Committee, saying it has yet to conduct its congress for the zone. The PDP acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, stated this while inaugurating the Emmanuel Ogidi-led PDP South-South Zonal Caretaker Committee at the partys national headquarters in Abuja. I want to use this opportunity to tell us that there was no election in the South-south as far as this party is concerned. I have to make this clear because the tenure of the zonal committee has expired, and we still have a few weeks or a month or so to hold the congresses, hence the necessity for this caretaker committee. Mr Danmagum advised the zonal caretaker committee members not to be biased or take sides with any member. He urged them to be diligent in the execution of their duties and come up with an all-inclusive election for the new executive committee of the zone. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later I have no doubt that you will be diligent in your responsibility and usher in the new, soon-to-be-elected executive committee of the zone, he said. Mr Damagum described the PDP as a party to beat, urging its leaders not to be afraid of constructively engaging the ruling party. Nobody is going to change your destiny for you other than yourself. So please, lets be up and doing. Dont fear anyone, Nigeria belongs to all of us. Theres nobody who is a better Nigerian than you are. Its all an opportunity and if you put your acts together, the path is very bright, we will reach the destination, Mr Damagun said. In his remarks, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, represented by his deputy, Monday Onyeme, also tasked the committee to discharge its duties in a manner that would further unite the party in the zone. It is my prayer that this new caretaker committee will discharge its duties very favourably to the extent that our great party will become more united and continue to win elections in the South-south just as we used to. It is my belief and that come 2027, all the six states of the South-south will belong to PDP, Mr Oborevwori said. The Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), Adolphus Wabara, said the inauguration of the caretaker committee was not about the 2027 general elections but to get PDP right. Its about PDP as a platform. If we get it right, 2027 is just for us to pick, he said. The Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, described the inauguration as inspiring and a signal that the PDP is on the trajectory of regaining its winning ways. Mr Moro assured the party of the continued support of PDP lawmakers in the National Assembly. However, the caretaker committee chairman, Mr Ogidi, pledged that the members would discharge their responsibility passionately with all fairness, saying we will give everyone equal opportunity. READ ALSO: Security operatives disperse thugs at PDP national headquarters as NWC meets I want to give thanks to God Almighty for this opportunity to serve and also to the National Working Committee for approving us. I want to assure you that by the grace of God, we will discharge our duties dispassionately to the glory of God. I want to thank everybody present. I will assure you that what is expected of us, we are going to do it, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print From a position of trampling upon the rules of the Senate, she has gained a global audience and sympathy on an issue that is still an ordinary allegation. All she did was to change the narrative. While we keep arguing over truth, facts or lies, she has strategically picked her moment and has awed the world. Did you watch her addressing the global community in New York? Her voice evoked instant compassion. Her feminine demeanour stirred anticipated non-verbal sympathy. Then, she sobbed, and that immediately brought the hall to a pin-drop empathy. Dramatically, hot tears tumbled down her dreamy face. Cameras clicked. Emotions gripped the audience. The world watched. Silence reigned. Her voice magnified. Someone whispered, whoever hurt this woman has hurt womanhood. None of these scenes affected her audacious deportment. She seized the moment. Delivered her short speech with clarity, faultlessly playing to the eager gallery. She excellently applied all the rules required for showboating. Promptly, she created global headlines by waking up passions among women across the world. If this was a drama, it was not only well-scripted, but superbly rehearsed, and skilfully staged. It was an Oscar performance. Her name is Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a senator, a mother, a wife and a friend to many. I love the name Natasha, although I have no idea what it means. It sounds Ukrainian, quite unique and even romantic. Kindly permit any further reference to her in this article as simply Natasha. Let me start by declaring my moral assets. I have never met Senator Natasha in person. I have only noticed her beauty and guts from afar. But, from what I perceive of her, even from a comfortable distance, she must be tough, unyielding, and brilliant. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Here is a stubbornly determined woman in pursuit of her rights the right to be heard, the right to have her way, even if it means violating established protocols. She has not allowed the pursuit of her beliefs to be intimidated by rules. Natasha is the kind of person we used to say in the Nigerian metaphorical jargon: trouble dey sleep, yanga go wake am up. The Senate has woken up the lioness in her. She is on the offensive. No one seems capable of calling Natasha to order. After Natasha, the Senate will never be the same again! Naturally, people with righteous anger easily win my sympathy. But is this righteous anger? Either way, Natasha knows how to create headlines. Her media consultant deserves a bigger pay. After setting the local media landscape ablaze with her story, she went to the biggest headline-making scene in the world New York City. I was awed watching her presentation at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference in New York. She told them her story with tears in her eyes and a voice soaked in emotions. She made it clear that she was not speaking for herself but for every woman in her shoes. I wish she had a better story to tell about her country. I wish she went there to seek global help against hunger and insecurity. Instead, she went to wash dirty local linens in a global stream. Suddenly, Nigeria is back in the news for the wrong reasons. World media headlines on our country have turned sour again. Diplomatic discussions have shifted from economic help to something luridly sensational. What shall we tell our children! People would rather be moved by the tears of a beautiful woman, claiming sexual harassment. I must confess that Natasha deserves a huge applause. She is unflinching in her campaign against Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, even if she has to twist the truth a little to suit her purpose. Yes, Nigerian children are facing hunger and malaria attacks. Most of them are out of school. Their parents are jobless and poverty-stricken. the cost of transportation is rising daily and has affected costs of food. No meal has a square look these days. Yet, we are discussing sexual harassment on a world stage. What an irony! Here is a bit of what Natasha told the world parliamentarians: I come with a heavy heart from Nigeria. But first, Id like to apologise to Honourable Kathila Obara. I am not here to bring shame to our country. I am here to seek help for the women of Nigeria. Again, my name is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Five days ago, on the 6th of March, 2025, I was suspended. As a senator, I was suspended illegally because I submitted a petition of sexual harassment against the president of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio. I thought that by submitting the petition, he would recuse himself and both of us will submit ourselves to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition for a fair and transparent investigation. Unfortunately, I was silenced and I was suspended. I was suspended for six months, amongst many other stringent conditions, such as taking away my security and all the officials, vehicles, and other items handed over to me as a senator. My salaries would be cut off. I must not appear anywhere near the National Assembly. And for six months, Im not to introduce myself or present myself as a senator locally in Nigeria or internationally. That means I am here illegally. But I have no other place to go but to come here and speak to you women. Because this is a bigger picture. This is a bigger picture. It depicts the crisis of womens political representation. My suspension is not just about me. Its about the systemic exclusion of women from political leadership in Nigeria. Women make up 3.6 per cent of political office-holders. And in the Senate, its just 2.8. We have 109 men, and only four of us are women. So right now, its 108 with only three women. This is a clear case of political victimisation, punishment for speaking out against insecurity, corruption, and gender-based violence. The United Nations Declaration 48/104 declares sexual harassment as a form of gender violence. The Senate action is an assault on democracy. I was elected by my constituents to represent them, yet a few powerful men have unilaterally decided to silence their voices by suspending me for six months. My call for an open and transparent investigation into harassment allegations has been met with hostility instead of accountability. If a female senator can be treated this way in the full view of the world, imagine what partners in Nigeria will go through every day, in workplaces and in universities. Since I was not in New York, I am not sure Natasha told the IPU her story from the beginning. That was quite tactical of her. Who would be interested in the Senates sitting arrangement, in line with the Senates Standing Orders? That is a local problem. People would rather be moved by the tears of a beautiful woman, claiming sexual harassment. I must confess that Natasha deserves a huge applause. She is unflinching in her campaign against Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, even if she has to twist the truth a little to suit her purpose. My unsolicited advice is this, let those who run commentaries on this issue have a good grasp of the facts. The issue of sexual harassment is so crucial to any woman that the temptation is to brush aside reasoning and urgently call for Godswills head, when he is yet to be found guilty. I love it when people challenge authorities or pursue their rights on the basis of facts verifiable facts. I love it when people seek justice with clean hands. I love it when people tell the truth the truth as God knows it, and not an inaccurate narrative. That is why I am concerned about the issues raised by Natasha. Those who care for the truth know that she was not suspended from the Senate because of the petition over alleged sexual harassment. The Senate said she was suspended because while seeking justice over sitting arrangements and, later, while peddling allegations of sexual harassment, she violated all the rules that would have helped her case. However, this was not what she told the IPU women. She made no mention of the rules she is said to have violated. Who should we believe Natasha or the Senate? It is most likely that from the issue of sitting arrangement to that of submitting a petition, our beloved Natasha was so much in a hurry to nail Godswill that she trampled upon all the rules of engagement. If this be the case, then she is not seeking justice with clean hands. The Senate, just like the judiciary, worships rules. This is understandable. You cannot make laws without first honouring the procedures for law-making. By the way, Godswill can only ignore Natasha at his own risk. Natasha would soon appear on CNN with Christine Amanpour, offering answers to deep questions. By the time this matter is over, a lot of harm would have been done to Nigerias image, that of the Senate as an institution, and Godswill as a politician. My unsolicited advice is this, let those who run commentaries on this issue have a good grasp of the facts. The issue of sexual harassment is so crucial to any woman that the temptation is to brush aside reasoning and urgently call for Godswills head, when he is yet to be found guilty. The move to remove Godswill as Senate president has been a full-time assignment for some people, such that any issue that would clinch and hasten that process is a priority to even some of his colleagues. Natasha already has a lot of converts in this campaign. The public trial of Godswill in the court of Nigerian women and the men who care to join them is so hasty that his media team has been bombed into total submission and inaction. Meanwhile, Natashas publicity machine is roaring and crushing. Natasha has bruised big toes with unprecedented temerity. She has the nerves! Her profile is rising. But what will the end be like will it justify the means? From a position of trampling upon the rules of the Senate, she has gained a global audience and sympathy on an issue that is still an ordinary allegation. All she did was to change the narrative. While we keep arguing over truth, facts or lies, she has strategically picked her moment and has awed the world. Sam Akpe writes from Abuja. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ultimately, website security is the responsibility of owners and administrators, not just the government. While regulatory bodies can issue guidelines and create policies, website owners must take proactive steps to secure their platforms. Relying solely on government intervention is not a sustainable solution, especially in an environment where enforcement remains weak. Implementing security best practices such as regular updates, strong authentication methods, and continuous monitoring is the most effective way to prevent cyberattacks. The recent warning from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) about a critical security flaw in the Jupiter X Core WordPress plugin underscores a persistent issue in the digital world: the ongoing cybersecurity threats facing website owners. While vulnerabilities like this are common, the real danger lies in the negligence of website administrators who fail to take preventive action. Many website owners prioritise security only after an attack occurs, often with devastating consequences. Cybercriminals exploit these gaps, but website administrators who ignore basic security practices are equally to blame. A common misconception among website owners is that their sites are too small or insignificant to attract cybercriminals. This mindset breeds complacency, as they assume hackers only target high-profile organisations, government institutions, or large e-commerce platforms. However, cybercriminals exploit the weakest links, and smaller websites with poor security practices provide easy entry points. Today, hackers use automated tools to scan the internet for vulnerabilities, meaning any website regardless of size or popularity can become a target. By the time many website owners recognise the risks, their sites have already been compromised. One of the most common cybersecurity mistakes among WordPress website owners and administrators is the failure to regularly update software and plugins. Content management systems like WordPress rely on plugins and themes to enhance their functionality, but these components often contain security vulnerabilities. Developers continuously release updates to patch known flaws, yet many website administrators neglect them, leaving their sites exposed. Cybercriminals actively search for outdated software to exploit, and a single unpatched plugin can allow attackers to gain full control of a website. WordPress, which powers 43.6 per cent (513.58 million) of all websites globally, is a prime target of cybercriminals. Its widespread adoption makes it a lucrative target for hackers seeking to exploit vulnerabilities to gain unauthorised access, inject malware, or steal sensitive user data. Unlike custom-built websites, which are developed with tailored security frameworks, WordPress sites rely heavily on third-party plugins and themes that introduce security risks. While WordPress offers convenience and scalability, its popularity means that a single vulnerability can endanger millions of websites. This is where regulatory bodies like NITDA play a crucial role in raising awareness about cybersecurity threats. By issuing advisories, they aim to inform website owners of potential risks and encourage them to take preventive measures. However, the effectiveness of such warnings is often limited, as many businesses and individuals either ignore them or lack the technical expertise to act on them. The reliance on third-party plugins is a major security concern. Many website owners install plugins without fully assessing their security implications. Some plugins, developed by independent developers, may become outdated or abandoned, leaving security vulnerabilities unpatched. Even reputable plugins can contain flaws that hackers exploit. Malicious plugins also exist, designed to provide hackers with backdoor access to a website, allowing them to manipulate content, steal user data, or spread malware. This highlights the need to download plugins only from verified sources and conduct thorough security audits before installation. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Zero-day vulnerabilities pose another critical risk. These are newly discovered security flaws that hackers exploit before developers can release a fix. Because WordPress has a vast user base, cybercriminals actively seek out and exploit these vulnerabilities on a large scale. In contrast, custom-built websites, which do not rely on publicly available code, are less susceptible to mass attacks. Businesses with custom-built solutions benefit from greater control over their security infrastructure, making it harder for hackers to find and exploit weaknesses. This difference underscores the importance of choosing the right platform based on security needs. This is where regulatory bodies like NITDA play a crucial role in raising awareness about cybersecurity threats. By issuing advisories, they aim to inform website owners of potential risks and encourage them to take preventive measures. However, the effectiveness of such warnings is often limited, as many businesses and individuals either ignore them or lack the technical expertise to act on them. Without strict enforcement mechanisms or mandatory compliance policies, these advisories serve more as cautionary notices than actionable directives that lead to meaningful change. Nigerias cybersecurity policies, though evolving, still face enforcement and compliance challenges. Existing regulations, such as the Cybercrime Act, provide a legal framework for prosecuting cybercriminals but do little to enforce security standards for website owners. Unlike in some developed countries where regulatory agencies impose fines or penalties for security lapses, Nigerias approach remains largely advisory. As a result, many fail to prioritise cybersecurity, knowing there are no immediate consequence for neglecting best practices. Strengthening cybersecurity policies with clearer enforcement strategies is essential for ensuring that organisations take security responsibilities more seriously. Cybersecurity is not just about preventing hackers from breaching systems it is about website owners taking responsibility for securing their platforms. Many breaches occur not because hackers are exceptionally skilled but because website administrators fail to follow basic security practices. Outdated plugins, weak passwords, and a lack of monitoring make it easy for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. Ultimately, website security is the responsibility of owners and administrators, not just the government. While regulatory bodies can issue guidelines and create policies, website owners must take proactive steps to secure their platforms. Relying solely on government intervention is not a sustainable solution, especially in an environment where enforcement remains weak. Implementing security best practices such as regular updates, strong authentication methods, and continuous monitoring is the most effective way to prevent cyberattacks. Until website owners acknowledge their role in cybersecurity and take decisive action, they will remain the weakest link in the fight against cyber threats. Cybersecurity is not just about preventing hackers from breaching systems it is about website owners taking responsibility for securing their platforms. Many breaches occur not because hackers are exceptionally skilled but because website administrators fail to follow basic security practices. Outdated plugins, weak passwords, and a lack of monitoring make it easy for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. While regulatory bodies like NITDA issue warnings, their impact is limited if website owners do not take proactive steps to protect their platforms. Neglecting security updates and best practices puts not only websites at risk but also endangers user data and business credibility. Cybersecurity is an ongoing commitment, not a one-time effort. Without decisive action, website owners will continue to be their own worst enemies, leaving their platforms vulnerable to attacks that could have been easily prevented. Now is the time to take security seriously before the consequences become irreversible. Shuaib S. Agaka, a tech journalist, writes from Kofar Famfo, Kano State. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The moral of this opinion is clear: when you find yourself in a position of opportunism, the best path to sustainability is humility the willingness to learn, adapt, and grow. Without this, accidental opportunism will always fall short of creating lasting impact. Engagement recently unfolded in a vibrant Political Advantage Group, a formidable WhatsApp platform comprising highly active Nigerian adults. There, Comrade Abiyos Roni shared excerpts of a recent television interview featuring Senator Shehu Sani, who dissected how Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, contributed little to President Bola Ahmed Tinubus electoral victory in the 2023 election. Senator Sani pointed out that the electoral numbers from Kaduna State told the story: Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secured his highest votes from the state, while the PDP also swept other positions like the Senate and House of Representatives. As is typical in WhatsApp groups, once a topical issue is shared, members who feel compelled to contribute their opinions often do so. I responded to the video, arguing that Senator Shehu Sanis analysis highlights the behaviour of an opportunist specifically, an accidental opportunist. Comrade Abiyos Roni, ever sharp, recapped my opinion and coined the term Accidental Opportunist, suggesting that a column be written on the matter. As someone deeply interested in critical discourse, I obliged, hence todays topic. For those familiar with my trajectory over the past decade, it is no secret that I have been actively involved in youth politics from at least 2014 to the present. Yet, many wonder why I have not been appointed to a high political office like some of my peers who struggled alongside me in the trenches. I rarely respond to such inquiries because, as I highlighted in my 2020 article recounting my experiences with Nigerian youth in politics and governance, I have concluded that many lack seriousness, tact, and strategy in building a sustainable and formidable front to advance their interests within the system. These experiences taught me that the only sustainable agenda at the time was to focus on developing my skills, while treating politics, advocacy, and public engagement as hobbies or side activities. This approach has since been vindicated. In a 2021 article, I warned the youth that self-development remains their only viable path to sustainable growth. I recount these experiences to underscore how many of those I began my political journey with individuals who can be described as opportunists in terms of appointments and political ascendancy are now struggling with sustainability. If you interrogate Senator Shehu Sanis analysis of Nasir El-Rufais political contributions after eight years in office, youll notice the inherent dangers of accidental opportunism: it lacks the foundational elements required for sustainability. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Compare this to the deliberate efforts of political figures like Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. Despite their imperfections, the sustainability of their political influence remains evident. In contrast, Mallam El-Rufai recently stated in an interview that he remains in politics. But the question is, how? How does one intend to mobilise a people he failed to mobilise while in power? The moral of this opinion is clear: when you find yourself in a position of opportunism, the best path to sustainability is humility the willingness to learn, adapt, and grow. Without this, accidental opportunism will always fall short of creating lasting impact. God bless Nigeria. Hashim Suleiman can be reached through [email protected] Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print With only four women out of 109 senators (both chambers of the National Assembly have eight of 490 members), this might sound like music to the ears of the male-dominated chamber. But in the hallways, just outside their gilded offices, the word is that after a previous sexual harassment allegation by Akpoti-Uduaghan against former presidential aide Reno Omokri, its time to teach her a lesson. Many years ago, when my teacher said nothing sells like sex, crime, and money, I didnt fully understand what he meant. Yet, over the years, Ive repeatedly seen that a judicious mix of these socio-economic ingredients is a spellbinder. Apart from the tragic news about banditry, the suspense in Rivers State, and the heightened prostitution amongst politicians crossing carpet or finding new harems, nothing has hugged the headlines as relentlessly as the salacious tango between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. After weeks of trying to see, hear, and say no evil, Im compelled to overcome the temptation of abstaining by yielding. Its not an easy road, believe me not for those genuinely trying to make sense of it, not for the busybodies and certainly not for the parties involved. Managing their Libido Its heartbreaking that despite the perennial underperformance of the legislature, managing the libido of its menfolk has piled on the hazards we must endure. But its not a Nigerian thing, if that is any comfort. A 2016 study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on sexism, harassment and violence against women parliamentarians indicates that 20 per cent of women parliamentarians globally report sexual harassment during their terms. The hospitality and healthcare sectors follow the pecking order, with power relations influencing the trend in several industries, professions, and workspaces. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Allegations of sexual harassment or assault have indeed been weaponised in the past. From the Central Park Five in the US to Ivan Henry, and Perry Lott, exonerated only two years ago after serving 35 years for a rape conviction in Oklahoma, the literature is replete with cases of persons wrongfully convicted for sexual offences they did not commit. Lott wont be the last. What Is Behind Seven Yet, Akpoti-Natashas allegation should be taken more seriously than just another regular nuisance from an under-performing legislative branch. The feedback from insiders has been puzzling. Akpabio and Akpoti-Natasha have been good friends, one source told me. In Akpabios Senate presidency, the source said, none of the other three female senators have enjoyed the privileges Akpoti-Uduaghan has, even though she is a first-timer. Jealousy, I thought, especially when my source added that apart from her appointment as chairman of the juicy local content development committee, Akpoti-Natasha had been a part of the Senate presidents entourage on trips to several enchanting destinations before things fell apart. This source, Ive known for years, is not given to flippancy. But I pressed for more. The point is that even though he has framed this dispute as a useless distraction, he should never have been the prosecutor and judge in his own case. Because he was involved the second time in five years the matter should have been referred to an independent panel or opened to the public. Show Me Your Friend The source added that Akpoti-Uduaghans husband, Emmanuel, a hard-working man, high chief, husband of one wife, and friend of the establishment but a non-legislator, had also executed several significant contracts for the National Assembly running into hundreds of millions of naira. For anyone familiar with how things are done here, lavish travels and contracts for ones buddies are only a tiny part of the fringe benefits. There is a common saying among Nigerian politicians that one does not give jobs to ones enemies. Yet, if its also true that ones friends can sometimes tell a lot about who they are, then anyone who is Akpabios friend and gets special treatment cannot claim theyre strangers to his flippancy, a shortcoming for which he cannot help himself. Akpoti-Uduaghan should know him. A Lifestyle of Rough Jokes As governor of Akwa Ibom State, he said before TV cameras at a zonal meeting in Port Harcourt that hungry state party chairmen of his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), should be given one million naira each for snacks at Mr Biggs. Akpabio also famously said that whatever money cannot do, more money can do. The bawdier variety range from telling young protesters last year that those who wanted to protest could do so while the rest of us would be here eating. Not to mention his off-colour quip about the Senate not being a night club or his pre-recess gaffe to send prayers (meaning money) to senators just before their holiday. The man cant help himself. He thinks the allegation against him is wokeism gone rogue and called it a useless allegation of sexual harassment. But the gravity goes beyond his insinuation that Akpoti-Uduaghan is fighting back for losing her juicy committee seat or his charge that she thinks of herself as finer than Snow White, a woman to kill for. Under the Rug The point is that even though he has framed this dispute as a useless distraction, he should never have been the prosecutor and judge in his own case. Because he was involved the second time in five years the matter should have been referred to an independent panel or opened to the public. Allegations of sexual harassment are often difficult to prove. Many incidents occur privately, leaving no direct witnesses or corroborative testimony. Claims usually rely on the complainants words, and documentation of circumstantial evidence is challenging. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has said Akpoti-Uduaghan was not suspended for her allegation against the Senate president but for multiple breaches, from refusal to sit in her assigned seat, speaking without recognition, disruptive behaviour, and failure to appear before the Senate Ethics Committee, contrary to Senate Orders 2023 as amended. Referring the matter to the Ethics and Privileges committee was supposed to create a veneer of impartiality. Still, Akpabios vindictiveness was apparent long before the committee returned the six-month suspension verdict on Akpoti-Uduaghan. The Senate president was pulling the strings. It was not Akpoti-Uduaghans right to a fair, impartial hearing alone that was at stake, even though the absence of that should have been sufficient to discredit her punishment. Akpabio has also abridged the rights of the senators constituents in Kogi Central by this libidinous overreach. He should have been more restrained. A Worrying Record Discipline of members shouldnt be taken lightly. Of eight senators suspended since 1999, three have been in the last two years under Akpabios presidency. In 236 years, the US Senate has censured nine members. In South Africa, apart from the raft of parliamentarians who resigned after the so-called Travelgate scandal in the early 2000s, the most notable cases of censure since 1994 have been Julius Malema and Jacob Zuma, for different reasons. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has said Akpoti-Uduaghan was not suspended for her allegation against the Senate president but for multiple breaches, from refusal to sit in her assigned seat, speaking without recognition, disruptive behaviour, and failure to appear before the Senate Ethics Committee, contrary to Senate Orders 2023 as amended. With only four women out of 109 senators (both chambers of the National Assembly have eight of 490 members), this might sound like music to the ears of the male-dominated chamber. But in the hallways, just outside their gilded offices, the word is that after a previous sexual harassment allegation by Akpoti-Uduaghan against former presidential aide Reno Omokri, its time to teach her a lesson. Spouses Beware Akpabio cannot come clean by asking his wife to tell us what a faithful husband he has been. Or telling us stories of how he spent the night at the Dangote Cement factory to make it to Akpoti-Uduaghans wedding. We have an idea what spouses would say in situations like this, and where he spent the night to attend his friends wedding is his business. Enough of the salacious spellbinder. He should allow an independent investigation and publish the findings to bring closure to this sordid episode. Azu Ishiekwene is the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book, Writing for Media and Monetising It. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Africas global bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, is set to host its inaugural Business Series for the year to commemorate the International Womens Day 2025. With the theme, Against All Odds: The Impact of Women, this edition of the UBA business series will highlights the remarkable journeys of women who have broken barriers, redefined success, and driven progress in their respective fields, aligning with this years International Womens Day theme, #AccelerateAction, and will be aired on ARISE News, TVC, likewise on the Banks social media handles. The enlightening session will feature an esteemed panel of accomplished women, including Board Chairman, Africa Prudential Plc, Mrs Eniola Fadayomi; Founder & CEO, Shule Direct of Tanzania, FarajaKottaNyalandu; Managing Director, BOI Investment and Trust Company Limited, Flora Fabyan, Nollywood Actress, Nancy Isime, and will be taking place at the Tony Elumelu Amphitheatre in UBA House, Marina, Lagos on Thursday, 13 March, 2025, at 12:00 PM (WAT) These inspiring female leaders will share their personal stories of resilience, innovation, and success, offering valuable insights into how women can overcome challenges and make a lasting impact in their respective industries and spheres of operations. Speaking ahead of the event, UBA Groups Head, Retail and Digital Banking, Shamsideen Fashola, emphasised the importance of this event, stating that the information that will be shared by the panellists will serve as a catalyst to inspire other women This edition of the UBA Business Series is a celebration of the incredible contributions women have made to society and the economy. We cannot overlook the impact and dedications these make to nation building and the economy; that is why we intend to inspire more, Mr Fashola said Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later By sharing their experiences, our panellists will inspire and empower others to rise above challenges and drive meaningful progress. UBAs Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Alero Ladipo, highlighted the banks commitment to gender equality and womens empowerment, noting that the composition of the banks board reflects this dedication. At UBA, we believe in the power of women to transform societies, and this is shown in our corporate governance and workforce recruitment. We are honoured to host these remarkable women who have defied the odds and achieved extraordinary success in their respective fields. The UBA Business Series continues to serve as a vital platform for knowledge sharing, equipping individuals and businesses with the tools and strategies to achieve long-term success. United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 45 million customers globally. Operating in twenty African countries and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani has flagged off the commencement of the Kabala Costain to Aliyu Makama link dual carriage road project that was abandoned by the previous administration after 30% of the project was completed. The Governor who performed the ceremony near the Kabala Costain link bridge on Wednesday, said that his administration has already mobilised the contractor to ensure that the remaining 70% of the project is completed in record time. This road is a vital artery that will connect the vibrant communities of Kaduna South to Kaduna North Local Government Areas, he said, adding that the project is not just an infrastructure, but a lifeline for commerce and a pathway to opportunity. According to him, the road will also serve as an alternative route for long distance travelers in the event of traffic congestion on other roads, thereby enhancing easy movement for those traveling from the north eastern and north western parts of the country to the Federal Capital Territory and beyond. Governor Sani recalled that he had promised the people of Kaduna State to construct 50 kilometres of road in all the 23 local governments, during his campaign tour as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC). In the past 20 months, our administration has initiated over 78 road projects across Kaduna State, covering a total of approximately 775 kilometres. These projects are not just numbers; they represent the dreams and aspirations of our people. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later On December 24, 2024, we commissioned 21 of these road projects. We are steadily fulfilling our promises to the good people of Kaduna State. We are simultaneously transforming rural and urban poor communities that have often been overlooked. We understand that infrastructure is the backbone of development, and we will continue to prioritise projects that uplift our citizens and improve their quality of life. The Governor praised the people of Kaduna State for the prevailing peace, adding that the state has not experienced any ethno-religious crisis in the last 22 months. He emphasised the nexus between peace and development, adding that there cannot be development without peace in any society. In his welcome address, the Managing Director of Kaduna State Roads Agency, Abdullahi Baba Ahmed disclosed that outstanding debts related to the completed portion of the Kabala Costain to Aliyu Makama Dual Link Road road totalled N2.2 billion. The Managing Director announced that Governor Sani has already approved and mobilised the contractor with more than 50% of the funds to complete this great project. According to him, one of the primary reasons the previous administration abandoned the project in December 2022 was the significant geological challenges encountered during the construction phase. Soil investigations revealed that just beyond the existing bridge, they were faced with extremely poor soil conditions compounded by the heap of waste deposited by nearby streams and tributaries. This unsuitable material posed a serious threat to the structural integrity of the road, he explained. To address these issues, there are two main options: either extending the dual carriage bridge by 180 meters or stabilising the soil by excavating to a depth of six meters, which is roughly equivalent to a 2-storey building. This second option required specialized machinery to excavate the unsuitable soil and replace it with imported boulders in layers a task that is both complex and resource-intensive. Unfortunately, due to these challenges, the project was left in limbo. However, I am proud to say that under the leadership of our able Governor, Senator Uba Sani, we are taking the bull by the horns and moving forward with this important project. The Governor has ensured that the contractors, Messrs CCECC Nigeria Limited, are adequately mobilised with the necessary resources to overcome these challenges, he added. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Dogo Saleh, a 21-year-old who leads an armed group terrorising communities in Abuja and Kaduna, has died from gunshot wounds sustained during a gun battle between his group and police operatives, according to an official statement. The police said Mr Saleh, born Salisu Mohammed, had been apprehended by the police and was leading a police team to his groups hideout when they were ambushed. Abuja police spokesperson Josephine Adeh said Mr Saleh was arrested on 3 March when police operatives acted on intelligence about the infiltration of bandits into the Nigerian capital. The Officer-in-Charge of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit led operatives to block their access routes, she said, adding that Mr Saleh was arrested at Gidan Abe forest while he was en route to Bwari Area Council, FCT. Salisu Mohammed, a 21-year-old Fulani man from Baban Saural village, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, was identified as a notorious hitman for bandit leaders operating in Rijana Forest, Kaduna State, Ms Adeh added. He had terrorised communities along major highways, kidnapping unsuspecting victims and extorting huge ransoms. PREMIUM TIMES reports that Rijana forest previously served as a hideout for Boko Haram terrorists under the leadership of Mallam Sadiku who now operates four camps in Alawa forest in Niger State. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The police spokesperson said Mr Saleh attempted to escape during the operation that led to his arrest, abandoning his weaponry which included an AK-49 rifle with two magazines of 60 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition and N3 million cash suspected to be ransom proceeds. His death The police said that a day after he was arrested, Mr Saleh led armed police officers to his gangs den in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna, in an effort to arrest the other gang members. The team was ambushed by the suspected terrorists who tried to free Mr Saleh and a shootout ensued, the police said. On March 4, 2025, at approximately 11:14 PM, leveraging intelligence provided by the arrested suspect, operatives launched a high-risk follow-up operation to dismantle his [Saleh] gang, the police spokesperson said. The suspect led the Anti-Kidnapping Unit to Kwasau Forest, Kagarko LGA, Kaduna State, where his gang, led by one Abdu Musa, alias Kanabaro had established a major hideout. The operatives swiftly engaged the criminals in a fierce gun battle, displaying superior tactical expertise and resilience. The bandits were ultimately overpowered and forced to flee into the forest with severe gunshot wounds, the police continued. Mr Saleh sustained gunshot wounds during the shootout from bullets believed to have been fired by his gang members. The suspect sustained fatal gunshot wounds inflicted by his own gang during the crossfire. He was rushed to Kubwa General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead, the police spokesperson wrote. While the terrorists hideout was dislodged, according to the police, one officer, an inspector from the FCT Anti-Kidnapping Unit, sustained minor injuries and has since been treated and discharged. The police said they recovered an AK-47 rifle and one magazine with two rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition. The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Olatunji Disu, psc, has commended the officers involved in the operation for their bravery, professionalism, and tactical efficiency, the police spokesperson stated. He assured residents that operations are ongoing to track and apprehend the fleeing gang members and dismantle all criminal networks operating within the region. Salehs reign of terror According to the police, Mr Saleh was involved in at least nine violent operations including kidnapping-for-ransom and killing. At Kyauta Village in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State, Mr Saleh, about two years ago, abducted two people including a security agent, the police said. He collected an unspecified amount of money as ransom even though the security agent was later killed. The police added that Mr Saleh, a year ago, was also involved in the abduction of a security officers wife at Kike village. Around the same period, according to the police, he took part in a raid on Kuriga and a village near Kaduna Refinery where his gang kidnapped three people. In a raid on Bagada village about five months ago, the police said, Mr Saleh was involved in the abduction of three people. He also reigned terror in villages like Dan-Bushiya and Bagado. Mr Saleh was involved in the kidnapping of a woman and her two children at Police Quarters in Baban Saural, Chikun LGA, the police said. The officer and her children remain in captivity. He was also involved in an attack on security outpost at Kujama Market, Kaduna in January where they killed two security operatives and carted away some firearms. Salisu Mohammed and his gang were actively involved in kidnapping motorists along the Lokoja-Enugu highway. Led by his gang leader, Kanaboro, alongside Saleh and Abubakar, they recently kidnapped a tribal youth leader and others, collecting ransom before their release, the police added, mentioning other criminals who were part of Mr Salehs team. Connection with Dogo and Ansaru The police also said that Mr Salehs gang is loyal to the notorious Dogo Gide and that the group also collaborates with the Ansaru terrorist group for arms and ammunition supply. Ansaru is an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). It broke away from Boko Haram around 2012 and many of its members moved to Kaduna, where they lured locals around the Birnin Gwari axis to join their ranks. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State was on Wednesday prevented from accessing the State Assembly Quarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital. PREMIUM TIMES learned that Mr Fubara was at the quarters to re-present the 2025 budget to the lawmakers under the leadership of the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule. The Amaewhule-led assembly is made up of 27 lawmakers, all of whom are loyal to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike. After the assembly complex was demolished in December 2023, the 27 lawmakers began to use their official quarters as the chamber for legislative sitting. Denial of access A video clip circulating on Facebook showed that when Mr Fubara and his entourage arrived at the entrance of the assembly quarters, the gates were locked. Speaking to reporters at the gate, the governor accused the Speaker, Mr Amaewhule, of deliberately avoiding him. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Before my arrival here, I made several attempts to speak to the Speaker. I also sent a letter which was transmitted for this particular invitation. Unfortunately, at the gate, you can see that the place is completely sealed, and there is no sign that anything is going to happen today, he stated. Mr Fubara stressed that his quest to re-present the 2025 budget to the lawmakers as ordered by the Supreme Court was in the interest of the people. The governor said he remains committed to fulfilling his constitutional duties in the state. The reason why we are doing this, I have always said, is in the interest of our people, which is the most important thing. I dont think there is anything to worry about. I expect to hear from them (lawmakers) after today, he said, before leaving the premises with his entourage. Background Messrs Fubara and Wike have been engaged in a protracted political face-off over the control of political structure in the south-southern state. The face-off split the state assembly into two factions 27 lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike and three to Mr Fubara. Both factions held parallel plenaries. Following the demolition of the assembly complex, the pro-Wike lawmakers moved their sitting to a different venue, while those loyal to Mr Fubara moved to a building at the Government House. Mr Fubara had been forwarding all executive communications, including bills and nominees for appointments to the three-member faction for consideration and approval. But in February, the Supreme Court restored Mr Amaewhules position as the speaker, reinstated the others as legitimate members of the assembly, and nullified the local government election organised by Mr Fubaras administration. The lawmakers subsequently gave the governor 48 hours to re-present the budget. The governor had vowed to implement the order of the Supreme Court despite disagreeing with the verdict. Meanwhile, on 7 March, the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Tammy Danagogo, wrote the lawmakers, inviting them to a meeting with Mr Fubara to discuss a suitable space for the assemblys sittings, payment of outstanding remuneration and allowances for the lawmakers, and budget presentation. But the lawmakers declined the invitation. Ahead of the Wednesday visit to the lawmakers, Governor Fubara informed the Amaewhule-led assembly that he would come to their chambers to present the Rivers 2025 budget for their consideration and approval. The governors letter to the Speaker, Mr Amaewhule, was dated 11 March 2025. As of the time of this report, the assembly has not given an official reason for Wednesdays incident although Mr Amaewhule has accused the governor of insincerity in implementing the Supreme Courts ruling. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Police Command in Akwa Ibom State has said its operatives recovered a locally fabricated firearm and two live cartridges from a vehicle during a stop-and-search operation in the state. Timfon John, the commands spokesperson, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Uyo. Ms John, a deputy superintendent of police, said the incident occurred at the Ikot Ekpene Control Post when officers stopped a Mercedes Benz C300 with a customised plate number, FORBES JR, carrying three male occupants. According to her, the three men hail from Itak and Ndiya villages in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom. The stop-and-search strategy aims to curb crime and enhance public safety, Ms John said, adding that the police are determined to rid Akwa Ibom of illegal firearms and criminals. The police spokesperson stated that the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom, Baba Azare, has ordered an investigation into the matter. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later She reassured the public of the commands commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and property across the state. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Officials have admitted that Kyiv no longer has a single long-range missile for the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), the Associated Press reported on Thursday. According to the agency, according to an American official and a Ukrainian deputy in the defense committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, Ukraine has run out of ATACMS. The American official also said that in total the U.S. provided fewer than 40 such missiles and that they ran out of them in Ukraine at the end of January. Senior U.S. defense officials, including former Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, have made it clear that only a limited number of ATACMS will be delivered, and that the U.S. and NATO allies consider other types of weapons more valuable. It was previously reported that the flow of weapons and intelligence exchange between the U.S. and Ukraine has been fully restored after a meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, March 11. Artillery shells, anti-tank weapons, and ammunition for HIMARS missile systems are again being sent to Ukraine as part of aid packages approved by the Joseph Biden administration. An angry mob has attacked a police constable in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, apparently in reaction to alleged police extortion and harassment in the area. A Facebook user, Assam Uwana, posted a video clip of the incident on the social media site. He said it happened on Tuesday. He did not, however, mention the exact location in Eket where it happened. The video showed the mob pounding on the unidentified constable. You wan do police work, dem go kill you today, a background voice in the clip shouted in Pidgin English. Una see person for road, una go dey do anyhow. This community police na dem bad pass, the voice added, indicating the operative may be a special constable. The mob forced the constable to sit on the ground by the roadside. He crawled and eventually stood up and wobbled around. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Come on, follow your people, dey go. Go that side! the background voice ordered the humiliated man, who was seen walking away from the mob with his uniform torn. Dem go kill you. You wan carry police work chop, the voice shouted. Mr Uwana, the Facebook user who posted the video, said in a comment that accompanied the clip that the police were extorting and harassing residents of Eket. The rate at which the police, in connivance with those they call community police, extort and harass people in Eket, I think something needs to be drastically done about it because when the people have their excesses to the brim and revolt, it wont be a joke. Eket is one of the civilised towns in Akwa Ibom and the police cannot behave like animals, Mr Uwana said. When our reporter contacted him on Thursday, the Divisional Police Officer in Eket, Nelly Martis, declined to comment on the incident. It is not my place to confirm anything to you, I am sorry, Mr Martis said in response to our reporters enquiry. PREMIUM TIMES also contacted the police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Timfon John, who requested that the video clip be forwarded to her. Hours after our reporter forwarded the clip to her, she had yet to comment on the incident. Special constables The Nigeria Police Force has been recruiting special constables to assist the regular police in detecting and fighting crime. They are deployed to several communities across Nigeria. They will perform duties like crime detection, prevention, and settling low-level civil disputes and petty crimes. Sensitise, reassure and advise the public on public safety, crime prevention and security tips; deal with minor offences and social vices, as well as assist in traffic management and school safety duties. Work with the community, schools and young people, business communities, religious bodies, cultural groups, community-based associations, recreational centres and hospitality businesses towards crime control, the then-Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mohammed Aliyu, said in 2021 of the duties of the special constables. The operative attacked by the mob in Eket appears to be a special constable. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print ( Read 4786 Times) New Delhi, From facing the world's largest chocolate fountain, enjoying a bird's eye view of one of the world's bluest lakes, Blausee in Switzerland, and standing in the middle of several kilometres of salt flats in Bolivia to revelling in the awesomeness of China's rural dwellers, when Parikshit Balochi is not thrilling hundreds of thousands of listeners on regular mornings in the United Arab Emirates, you'll find him wanderlusting somewhere in Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean or even Asia.. But it didn't always begin this way for Parikshit. In fact, just over a decade ago, this now renowned radio presenter and travel blogger didn't even own a passport. Today, he's an established travel blogger with footprints in at least 80 countries around the world. And if you ever find yourself in the UAE or connect with his show online, you'll hear his voice reverberating on City 101.6's Breakfast Show between 6 am to 10 am. Who better to host and present the breakfast show on Bollywood's Music Station if not the charismatic, lively, and knowledgeable Parikshit? Born in the small town of Jodhpur, India, where he had his elementary education until XIIth standard, Parikshit's first attempt at radio was more or less accidental. He had only accompanied his friends to audition for Jodhpur's first private radio station and ended up being the only selected male out of about 8,000 people. All he ever knew before then was working with his hands to put food on the table. At the tender age of 13, and like most other small town Indian boys, he already knew what it meant to carry an entire family on his shoulders. At the time, college wasn't even in the picture. He would simply find copies of newspapers and flip over to the ad pages. That was where he found his passion - a passion he never knew he had. He never even thought about becoming a radio jockey. He still recounts how he was the only male in his first ever on air team - the poor, little teenage boy from Jodhpur. Parikshit has an air of excitement around him; the type that gets you pumped up for the rest of the day. His voice and strong positive energy comes across as inspiring, motivating and energising, the kind anyone wants to listen to first thing in the morning. But beside this fun and exciting part that loves to thrill with games and music lies a serious journalistic side to him. He still remembers his live broadcast from the 26/11 attacks where he was on air giving live and important updates during a trying period. Parikshit was also on ground doing a live coverage during the Navratri stampede; still regarded as one of Jodhpur's biggest tragedy. After doing radio in India for half a decade, he moved to Dubai in 2010 where he now hosts a popular breakfast show on UAEs No.1 Bollywood Music Station. He's a complete Indian abroad - on and off air - exploring as many places and people as he possibly can. His show is one of the most popular in Dubai and even beyond, not just among the Indian community, but also among non-Indians. No wonder he's been widely recognised by reputable organisations over the years. One noteworthy achievement was getting on the Limca Book of World Records for hosting the longest live radio ever - a whopping 195 hours. Parikshit is also the proud recipient of the prestigious IRF Award for his amazing contributions to the De Taali campaign in Delhi, a movement against eve teasing. Since moving to Dubai, he has been nominated thrice as Best Radio Presenter in the UAE, a feat he doesn't take likely. What makes his show standout is his ability to create a comfortable atmosphere of informality with his guests who are mostly Bollywood celebrities. He connects on a very intimate level, helping them to ease into the show and interact as though they're having a chat with friends and family. From spot on interviews with stars like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan to exclusives with other top celebrities from the Indian and global movie and music scene, Parikshit has been able to build the biggest breakfast show in the UAE using wits, talent, creativity and consistency. It is this fame, eclectic and eccentric personality that has drawn individuals and brands to him. He has had several collaborations with brands such as Policy Bazaar, Midea, Al Ansari Exchange, Western Union, Novo Nordisk, RAKBANK, Landmark Group, Emaar and Carpisa. Others include Singapore Tourism, Air India, Goa Tourism, Malta Tourism, Bolivia Tourism, Majid Al Futtaim, and Century Financial. These brands have benefitted immensely from his large radio and social media following and influence to build their own brands and positioning. He has also gracefully hosted several red carpet shows, concerts and events such as the IIFA Green carpet and TOIFA red carpet, sharing the stage with big names like AR Rahman, every time he has performed in the UAE, Mika Singh, Neha Kakkar, Sonu Nigam, Salman Khan, Arijit Singh, Daler Mehndi, Vishal Shekhar, Badhshah, and Honey Singh. But of all these moments, the most beautiful was proposing to his sweetheart and partner at one of Indian music composer, production, sing-songwriter Vishal Shekhars concert - a moment he'll cherish forever. Riding on his successes as a radio jockey and celebrity host, Parikshit has had the opportunity to travel to several destinations, including the Maldives, Switzerland, the Chinese hinterlands, South America, and others. With this, he has documented his many thrilling encounters with mind-blowing sights, places, people, and foods, culminating in an Instagram travel blog that has garnered hundreds of thousands of following, millions of engagements and reputable recognition. So Hola at him on Instagram - @parikshitbalochi Awarded as the Middle East's travel blogger of the year in 2019 and Filmfare Middle East's Travel blogger of the year in 2020, it seems there's no stopping him now. Firing on with vigour and focus, Parikshit is building a remarkable profile and expanding his brand for even more outstanding exploits. Source : WASHINGTON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is set to kick off Match Week 2025, a pivotal occasion for the medical education community. On Monday, March 17, residency applicants from across the nation and around the world learn if they have matched to a clinical training program. For applicants who do not match, the NRMP's Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) provides an opportunity to obtain an unfilled position before "Match Day", Friday, March 21. Applicants celebrate "Match Day" when they learn of the residency programs in which they will train. "Given its scale and scope, the NRMP's Matching Program is a critical bellwether of the state of the physician workforce," says NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN. "This year's Match looks to once again set records in the number of applicants and residency positions available, reflecting the continued growth and evolution of graduate medical education." Match Cycle. For applicants, the Main Residency Match cycle begins in September during the final year of medical school. Applicants apply to residency programs of their choice, and throughout the fall and early winter, applicants interview with programs. Between early February and early March, applicants and program directors come to the NRMP to submit confidential rank order lists that capture their true preferences for training. The NRMP uses a computerized mathematical algorithm to process those lists and place applicants into training programs. Research using the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012. For the first time, the 2025 Main Residency Match includes multiple application services for applicants to secure residency positions. The NRMP has worked closely with application service providers to promote a seamless experience for applicants. As the landscape of the transition to residency evolves, the NRMP remains committed to ensuring a fair and transparent matching process for all who wish to participate. Match Week (March 17 21, 2025). Match Week begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday, March 17, when residency applicants learn if, but not where, they have matched to a residency training program. Unmatched or partially matched applicants who are eligible may participate in the SOAP, conducted Monday through Thursday of Match Week. SOAP provides a uniform system for programs to offer unfilled positions to applicants through a series of offer rounds, thus maximizing the number of applicants obtaining a position before Match Day. The NRMP is proud to facilitate SOAP as it helps ensure the highest possible number of positions are filled and bolsters the placement of young physicians into the training experiences that will equip them with skills needed to join a robust physician workforce. Friday, March 21 - Match Day - is recognized with ceremonies and festivities that align with the NRMP's release of Match results at 12:00 p.m. ET. In-person and virtual events hosted by medical schools allow parents, friends, and communities to commemorate this rite of passage for their loved ones. Match Data and Publications. Also on Friday, March 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET, the NRMP will publish a Match Day press release, infographic highlighting Match results, and Advance Data Tables showcasing key Match outcomes data. This information will be found on the NRMP website, www.nrmp.org, under the Match Data tab. Additional data, including SOAP outcomes, will be published in the Results and Data: 2025 Main Residency Match report later this Spring. For more information about Match Week and the Main Residency Match, visit www.nrmp.org. To view reports from previous Main Residency Matches, visit Match Data. About NRMP The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 to oversee The Match. The Match was established at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. In addition to the annual Main Residency Match for more than 50,000 registrants, the NRMP also conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 75 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service (SMS). SOURCE National Resident Matching Program FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A brutal attack on a nurse at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital has underscored the urgent need for stronger safety measures in workplaces, including healthcare facilities, schools, and public institutions. The incident, in which a patient under an involuntary psychiatric hold violently assaulted a 67-year-old nurse, has sparked widespread concern over the rising violence in various environments where safety is paramount. A doctor uses the SaferWatch app for instant emergency communication. As organizations nationwide grapple with increasing security threats, SaferWatch provides cutting-edge emergency communication technology that enhances safety, streamlines response efforts, and strengthens coordination with law enforcement. A Growing Crisis in Workplace Safety Violence in workplacesespecially in public institutionshas been rising at an alarming rate. Healthcare workers, educators, and public servants face increased risks of aggressive incidents that demand immediate intervention. The attack in Loxahatchee is just one example of why all institutions must take proactive steps to enhance their emergency response capabilities. "Workplace safety should never be an afterthought," said Geno Roefaro, CEO of SaferWatch. "Our platform equips organizations with the tools to quickly call for help, alert authorities, and communicate in real-timebecause in emergencies, every second counts." How SaferWatch Strengthens Safety Across Industries SaferWatch is revolutionizing emergency communication and security response with its advanced platform, which includes: Mobile & Fixed Panic Buttons: Instant emergency activation from mobile devices, desktops, or strategically placed LTE panic buttons. Instant emergency activation from mobile devices, desktops, or strategically placed LTE panic buttons. Real-Time Alerts to Security & Law Enforcement: Immediate notifications to local authorities and internal security teams for rapid response. Immediate notifications to local authorities and internal security teams for rapid response. Mass Notifications: Quick communication to staff and personnel during emergencies such as lockdowns, evacuations, or violent incidents. Quick communication to staff and personnel during emergencies such as lockdowns, evacuations, or violent incidents. Two-Way Communication: Secure messaging between employees, administrators, and first responders during a crisis. Secure messaging between employees, administrators, and first responders during a crisis. Anonymous Tip Reporting: Enabling individuals to report safety concerns anonymously before situations escalate. Proactive Protection for Employees and the Public Organizations that implement SaferWatch's safety solutions are seeing faster response times and stronger security measures that help prevent incidents before they escalate. With the rise in workplace violence and emergency threats, institutions must adopt modern safety technology to ensure a secure environment for all. "We have seen firsthand how technology can make the difference between a close call and a tragedy," added Geno Roefaro. "By equipping organizations with instant emergency communication tools, SaferWatch helps create a safer environment for those who dedicate their lives to serving others." A Call for Action The attack in Loxahatchee highlights a nationwide crisis in workplace safety. Schools, healthcare facilities, and businesses must take immediate steps to enhance security through better training, increased staffing, and technology-driven emergency response systems like SaferWatch. About SaferWatch SaferWatch is a leading provider of emergency communication and security solutions for workplaces, schools, healthcare facilities, and public institutions. With real-time panic alerts, mass notifications, and law enforcement integration, SaferWatch enhances emergency response and workplace safety. For more information please visit: SaferWatchApp.com SOURCE SaferWatch ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Accrete Government, a subsidiary of Accrete, Inc., a leader in AI solutions has been selected to receive a $15 million Program Year 2025 Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) by AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory, and SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force and a unique division within AFWERX. With this funding, Accrete will enhance its Argus for Social Media Influence software by expanding its coverage to foreign social media platforms, advancing predictive modeling, and improving the capabilities of expert AI agents. "The STRATFI funding reinforces the Air Force's confidence in Accrete's ability to build products that enable their teams to be as impactful and effective as possible. We value the partnership we've developed with the customer and look forward to providing these enhancements as part of our long-term commitment to the Department of Defense," said Bill Wall, CEO of Accrete Government. The planned advancements will provide unparalleled situational awareness of low-density social media platforms currently unmonitored by the Air Force or Department of Defense (DoD) elements. Accrete worked with the customer to identify additional platform functionality that supports their specific mission. "Seeing our platform deliver tangible, real-world value to the Department of Defense by helping make timely decisions that support national defense is both gratifying and invigorating," said Prashant Bhuyan, Co Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Accrete, Inc. As a dual-use AI company, we are proud to bring this innovation and a decision advantage to government and enterprise customers alike". From curating new expert AI agents to incorporating varied data sources, Argus is designed to create efficiency and empower users by providing critical insights relevant to their mission. About Accrete Government Accrete Government offers dual-use technology that helps federal entities rapidly capture and analyze massive amounts of disparate data, providing analysts with deep insights that enable faster decision-making. A trusted government partner experienced in analyzing open source and government data, Accrete Government works with customers to configure its Argus platform to address their specific problem set. Accrete Government is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Accrete, a dual-use AI company. Contact Megan Thatford 781-910-6869 [email protected] SOURCE Accrete United by a shared vision and commitment to bold, on-the-ground environmental action with local partners, the two organizations will combine their expertise to maximize impact, bringing together Re:wild's extensive conservation impact around the globe with Age of Union's powerful storytelling, art, and action-oriented conservation initiatives. The first major project together will focus on protecting Madagascar's biodiversity with a USD 1 million commitment to combat deforestation and species extinction in one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. "We are incredibly proud to announce our partnership with Re:wild, an organization that shares our deep commitment to conservation and protecting wildlife," says Dax Dasilva, Founder of Age of Union. "At Age of Union, our mission is to unite humanity with nature in hopes of solving critical environmental challenges. By joining forces, we are aligning our strategies to amplify our work on the ground and creating a future where the wild not only survives, but thrives." The partnership was officially announced yesterday at South by Southwest (SXSW) Convention in Austin, Texas, during the panel Can Immersive Art Save Planet Earth?, featuring Dax Dasilva and Re:wild CEO and Chair Wes Sechrest, where the discussion explored the intersection of conservation, art, and technology as tools for driving environmental awareness and action. This collaboration will amplify efforts to safeguard biodiversity, ecosystems and people; mobilize resources; and inspire global action for nature conservation. "Age of Union aligns perfectly with the mission of Re:wild and our partners around the world," says Wes Sechrest, Chair and CEO of Re:wild. "Under the incredible leadership of Dax Dasilva, Age of Union has built up an impressive array of projects with partners, amplifying their work with innovative storytelling. We are looking forward to scaling up conservation impact together, unifying how international organizations work with local partners." A Powerful Alliance for Nature Both Age of Union and Re:wild have built a reputation for catalyzing change through action-driven conservation projects. Age of Union, founded by tech leader and environmental activist Dax Dasilva, is a global non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring threatened ecosystems. Age of Union drives engagement with direct conservation funding, grassroots activism, and immersive storytelling across art, film, and experiential installations, inspiring people to connect with nature in new and thoughtful ways. Since launching in 2021, Age of Union has worked on the conservation of threatened biodiverse ecosystems in Canada, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Haiti, Trinidad, and West African waters, and the protection of important species such as leatherback turtles, orangutans, dolphins, lowland gorillas, and much more. Re:wild works with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, governments, corporations, and organizations to implement nature-based solutions that address the interconnected threats of biodiversity loss, climate change and human wellbeing. Re:wild - along with its global network of more than 500 partners in more than 80 countries - is working to conserve more than 565 million acres of the wild, driving targeted conservation action for 265 threatened species and benefitting an additional 31,000 species. With a shared conservation vision and a desire to accelerate the protection and restoration of nature for future generations, this strategic partnership will see Age of Union move its existing conservation projects under Re:wild's management while leveraging each organization's expertise and strengths. Together, Age of Union and Re:wild will: Scale conservation funding and enhance project support - Re:wild will provide financial and technical oversight for key partnerships to increase efficiency, unify additional donors, and drive greater impact. - Re:wild will provide financial and technical oversight for key partnerships to increase efficiency, unify additional donors, and drive greater impact. Strengthen scientific impact - Age of Union's initiatives will align under Re:wild's programmatic arm, ensuring projects contribute to broader regional conservation frameworks across the world. Age of Union's initiatives will align under Re:wild's programmatic arm, ensuring projects contribute to broader regional conservation frameworks across the world. Expand storytelling, art and advocacy - Age of Union will remain a key player in the conservation field, emphasizing storytelling more than ever and championing artistic installations and film production to engage audiences. Re:wild and Age of Union will work together on some key storytelling and campaigns to protect nature. USD 1 Million Commitment to Protect Madagascar's Biodiversity The first major initiative under the Age of Union and Re:wild partnership is a USD 1 million investment over five years to combat deforestation and species extinction in Madagascar, one of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems on Earth. In 2024, Dasilva toured these Madagascar areas with Re:wild Chief Conservation Officer Russell Mittermeier to help shape a joint conservation strategy. Madagascar has lost over 90% of its original forest cover due to slash-and-burn agriculture and overexploitation of natural resources, placing countless species, including many endangered lemur species, at risk. Re:wild has been working with local organizations to build national and community support for the protection and sustainable management of these irreplaceable forests. In order to restore Madagascar's biodiversity, Re:wild and Age of Union will collaborate alongside local communities to develop and implement programs focused on forest monitoring and regeneration, keystone species conservation, and economic growth. In 2025, Re:wild will channel Age of Union's first USD 200,000 towards: Advancing management of priority sites , with a focus on Madagascar's eastern rainforests alongside several local partners. , with a focus on eastern rainforests alongside several local partners. Catalyzing investment in the nation's Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA ) alongside a diverse coalition of partner organizations, government collaborators, and local and national stakeholders. KBAs are critical to the persistence of global biodiversity and the planet's overall health. ) alongside a diverse coalition of partner organizations, government collaborators, and local and national stakeholders. KBAs are critical to the persistence of global biodiversity and the planet's overall health. Bolstering targeted species recovery by launching a funding mechanism called "The Madagascar Biodiversity Action Fund" to support the conservation of Madagascar's most threatened species and their habitats. To commemorate the official launch of the Age of Union and Re:wild partnership, both organizations will co-host an exclusive evening party on Friday, March 14th in downtown Austin, Texas. Curated by Refraction and featuring Age of Union's immersive art exhibition The Black Hole Experience (BHX) Season 2 , guests can enjoy a live panel, cocktail hour, auction, and dance party by headlining DJ Tiga. BHX will be open starting at 6 p.m., with the exclusive Age of Union x Re:wild party running from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Visit HERE to register for tickets. About Age of Union: Age of Union is a non-profit organization committed to uniting humanity with nature. It supports and makes visible a global community of changemakers working on the ground to protect the planet's threatened species and ecosystems. Launched in October 2021 by tech leader and environmental activist Dax Dasilva in Montreal, Canada, Age of Union seeks to ignite a flame within every person through conservation efforts, film, and immersive experiences that hope to solve critical environmental challenges around the world and inspire high-impact change by showing the positive impact that every individual can make. For more information, please visit: AgeofUnion.com On social media: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter About Re:wild Re:wild protects and restores the wild. We have a singular and powerful focus: the wild as the most effective solution to the interconnected climate, biodiversity and human wellbeing crises. Founded by a group of renowned conservation scientists together with Leonardo DiCaprio, Re:wild is a force multiplier that brings together Indigenous peoples, local communities, influential leaders, nongovernmental organizations, governments, companies and the public to protect and rewild at the scale and speed we need. Learn more at rewild.org . SOURCE Age of Union Alliance AMSTERDAM, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aquatech Amsterdam 2025, the world's largest water technology exhibition, was held from March 11 to 14 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. The event gathered global industry leaders, experts, research institutions, and government representatives. ANGEL, a global leader in water purification technology, showcased its latest innovations, drawing significant industry attention. ANGEL presented several advanced purification solutions, notably the Space Master Series Whole House Water Filtration System and the T7 Countertop Ice-Making RO Water Purifier. It also introduced groundbreaking technologies such as the AIMS (ANGEL Ionic Microsensor), the Long-lasting Reverse Osmosis Membrane 2.0, and APCM Sterilization Material. On the first day of the event, Mr. Zhao Kai, Vice President of ANGEL Group, spoke at the AquaStage about the AIMS, a rapid and economic strategy for smart water quality monitoring. He highlighted the importance of sensors in smart water treatment, showcasing ANGEL's independently developed AIMS, which solves common sensor issues such as leakage, low accuracy, and size limitations. AIMS enables precise real-time monitoring and efficient control of water resources. AIMS has wide-ranging applications in biomedical, environmental, agricultural, and industrial sectors, ensuring water quality safety and suitability. AIMS has been featured at Aquatech Amsterdam's Innovation Lab, and has previously won the Innovation Award at Aquatech China. ANGEL has obtained over 1,000 patents, participated in the development of 20 national and industry standards, and received 27 international invention awards over the past three years, achieving a patent "Grand Slam" from the world's top five patent offices. ANGEL's continuous breakthroughs in core technology and industrial application have solidified its leading market position. At the exhibition, Per Brandberg, a senior research consultant from Euromonitor International, awarded ANGEL's Space Master Series dual certifications for being leaders in industry sales: "Angel Space Master M7 Series-No.1 in Household Central Water Purifier Sales in Mainland China" and "Angel Space Master Series Whole-House Mini Water Softener-No.1 in Household Central Water Softener Sales in Mainland China." As the frontrunner in China's water purification industry, ANGEL has earned global recognition through its outstanding products and technology. Moving forward, ANGEL will continue advancing its globalization strategy, expanding into international markets, enhancing service systems, and delivering more convenient, efficient, and intelligent water purification solutions for consumers worldwide. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640825/ANGEL_Unveils_Innovative_Water_Purification_Technology_at_Aquatech_Amsterdam_2025.jpg NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Apploi, the leading workforce platform for healthcare employers, is excited to announce a new partnership with CentralReach, the foremost provider of Autism and IDD Care software for ABA, multidisciplinary, and special education. Central Reach logo "We are thrilled to partner with CentralReach to offer their valued customers healthcare-focused hiring solutions to keep up with ever-rising ABA industry demands," said Adam Lewis, CEO of Apploi. "This alliance is a prime example of how Apploi is dedicated to supporting employers through every step of the staffing process, so their providers and patients prosper." Apploi's all-in-one platform allows users to hire, onboard, and schedule top autism and IDD care talent, enabling providers to allocate more time on delivering quality patient care by significantly reducing the time required to: Find qualified candidates: Customers can find more qualified autism and IDD care candidates faster by uploading jobs once through the platform and automatically promoting the listings to dozens of top job boards, including Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter. Customers can find more qualified autism and IDD care candidates faster by uploading jobs once through the platform and automatically promoting the listings to dozens of top job boards, including Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter. Complete the hiring cycle: Users can decrease time-to-hire by screening candidates and keeping them thoroughly engaged throughout the hiring process with unlimited, automated texts or emails. Users can decrease time-to-hire by screening candidates and keeping them thoroughly engaged throughout the hiring process with unlimited, automated texts or emails. Onboard effortlessly: Once a new hire is selected, users can easily onboard hires and get them on the schedule through the platform with digital onboarding packets, license verification, and shift management. CentralReach COO, Clark Convery added, "Partnering with Apploi creates a comprehensive experience for our customers, from therapist recruitment through patient management. This is a critical time for hiring managers in the ABA industrywe're happy to offer CentralReach customers an efficient, easy way to attract and retain urgently-needed therapists with Apploi's market-leading platform." About CentralReach CentralReach is the leading provider of autism and IDD care software, providing the only complete, end-to-end software and services platform that helps children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) - and those who serve them - unlock potential, achieve better outcomes, and live more independent lives. With its roots in Applied Behavior Analysis, the company is revolutionizing how the lifelong journey of autism and IDD care is enabled at home, school, and work with powerful and intuitive solutions purpose-built for each care setting. Trusted by more than 185,000 professionals globally, CentralReach is committed to ongoing product advancement, market-leading industry expertise, world-class client satisfaction, and support of the autism and IDD community to propel autism and IDD care into a new era of excellence. For more information, please visit CentralReach.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. About Apploi Apploi is helping healthcare facilities stabilize their workforce and increase occupancy in the midst of a labor shortage with an all-in-one platform built to hire, onboard, and schedule top healthcare talent. Working with over 9,000 healthcare organizations across the United States, the NYC-based tech company helps leaders solve the industry's most pressing problem: how to provide superb care with few workers and more turnover. With the Apploi platform, facilities can manage the staff experience from job post through shift fulfillment empowering teams to fill roles quicker, lessen agency dependence, and increase occupancy rates. To learn more about Apploi, visit apploi.com. SOURCE Apploi PORTLAND, Ore., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to Governor Tina Kotek's proclamation of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day on March 10, Archbishop Alexander Sample issued a Pastoral Teaching letter, expressing deep sorrow over what he describes as "a kind of spiritual blindness so thick that what should be self-evidentthe sheer wonder and worth of a human lifeis obscured entirely." The Archbishop warns that honoring abortion providers represents "not just moral confusion. It's something deeper." He calls on the faithful to recognize the gravity of a culture that not only permits abortion but now seeks to celebrate it: "The idea that those who make a living ending innocent, unborn life should be publicly honored This isn't just moral confusion. It's something deeper." At its core, the Archbishop's message is not political but profoundly spiritual. He reminds us that throughout history, the Church has stood against the notion that the strong may determine the fate of the weak: "A return to humanity's oldest, darkest impulse: might makes right. But followers of Jesus have always stood in the way of that tide and simply said, No. Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the ones with no power at all." While the Archbishop's words challenge prevailing cultural narratives, his message is ultimately one of grace, healing, and hope: "The gospel is not about condemnation. It's about invitation Grace is still available. Forgiveness is still possible." He urges all people to consider a different path, one that embraces life in all its forms: "Choose to see reality as it truly is. To embrace the mystery, the beauty, the wonder of existence itself." The Archdiocese of Portland recognizes that this is a difficult and deeply personal issue, and we encourage thoughtful and respectful conversation about the dignity of human life. The Church remains committed to supporting women, families, and all those facing difficult circumstances with compassion, tangible resources, and the unwavering belief that every life is a gift. View the full Pastoral Teaching here. CONTACT: Vanessa Gallant, Director of Communications, Archdiocese of Portland 503-233-8373 [email protected] SOURCE Archdiocese of Portland In Oregon PJSC Ukrnafta has obtained ISO certificates confirming that its corporate processes meet the highest global standards. "The company has successfully completed the certification of its Integrated Management System in accordance with international standards," Ukrnafta stated in a press release on Thursday. Specifically, the company received certification in the areas of quality management, environmental management, occupational health and safety, and industrial safety. "We extend our gratitude to all employees who contributed to aligning the company's business processes with leading international standards. This is a significant achievement that underscores our commitment to further development while strengthening trust among investors, partners, and contractors," said Ukrnafta's Director, Serhiy Koretsky. The certification process was conducted by Technical and Managerial Services, a company with extensive experience in assessing and auditing Ukraine's oil and gas sector. The company operates as a subsidiary of TUV Austria, a global certification body that has been conducting testing, inspections, certifications, training, and professional development since 1872. Ukrnafta is Ukraine's largest oil extraction company and operates a national network of filling stations. In March 2024, the company took over the management of Glusco assets, and now operates 544 filling stations 461 of its own and 83 under management. Ukrnafta holds 92 licenses for industrial development of fields. It has 1,832 oil and 154 gas production wells on its balance. The largest shareholder in Ukrnafta is Naftogaz Ukrainy, which holds a 50% plus one share. In November 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to transfer the corporate rights of the company, previously owned by private shareholders, to the state. The Ministry of Defense now oversees these shares. VANCOUVER, BC, March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Aris Mining Corporation (Aris Mining or the Company) (TSX: ARIS) (NYSE-A: ARMN) announces its financial and operating results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2024 (Q4 2024 and 2024, respectively). All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. Highlights: Figure: Strong AISC Margin Growth ($ million) - Segovia (CNW Group/Aris Mining Corporation) Highest Quarterly Gold Production : 57,364 ounces (oz), highest quarterly production in 2024. : 57,364 ounces (oz), highest quarterly production in 2024. Record Quarterly Financial Results : $22 million of net income 1 and $67 million of EBITDA 2 and in Q4 2024. : of net income and of EBITDA and in Q4 2024. Strong AISC Margin Growth: Segovia reduced its All-in Sustaining Cost per Ounce Sold (AISC/oz) to $1,485 /oz in Q4 2024 and generated an AISC margin of $58 million , up 32% from $44 million in Q3 2024. Segovia reduced its All-in Sustaining Cost per Ounce Sold (AISC/oz) to /oz in Q4 2024 and generated an AISC margin of , up 32% from in Q3 2024. Segovia Expansion on Track : Expanded processing facility set for commissioning in Q2 2025. : Expanded processing facility set for commissioning in Q2 2025. Enhancing Marmato: Assessments completed to expand the in-construction Lower Mine by 25% to 5,000 tonnes per day (tpd), up from the initial 4,000 tpd. The updated cost to complete construction is $290 million , inclusive of the scope change which requires acceleration of certain project components into the initial capital phase. The Marmato production ramp up is scheduled to start in H2 2026. Assessments completed to expand the in-construction Lower Mine by 25% to 5,000 tonnes per day (tpd), up from the initial 4,000 tpd. The updated cost to complete construction is , inclusive of the scope change which requires acceleration of certain project components into the initial capital phase. The Marmato production ramp up is scheduled to start in H2 2026. Balance Sheet Strength: Growing cash flow generation and refinancing of our Senior Notes contributed to a cash balance of $253 million as of December 31, 2024 . Q4 2024 Q3 2024 2024 Gold production (ounces) 57,364 53,608 210,955 Segovia AISC/oz $1,485 $1,540 $1,507 EBITDA $66.6M $27.8M $147.5M Adjusted EBITDA $55.6M $43.0M $163.1M Net earnings (loss) $21.7M or $0.13/share $(2.1)M or ($0.01)/share $24.6M or $0.16/share Adjusted earnings $24.7M or $0.14/share $13.1M or $0.08/share $55.9M or $0.35/share Neil Woodyer, CEO of Aris Mining, commented: "Q4 2024 was a standout quarter for Aris Mining, delivering our highest gold production of the year at 57,364 oz and our strongest financial results, with $55.6 million in Adjusted EBITDA and $24.7 million in Adjusted Earnings. At Segovia, we achieved a three-year high in AISC margin of $58.3 million, a 32% increase over Q3, reflecting our continued focus on improving operational efficiency and cost controls. For the full year, we generated $163 million in Adjusted EBITDA, reinforcing our financial strength as we advance our major expansion projects. We remain on track to commission the expanded processing facility at Segovia in Q2 2025 with the installation of the second ball mill currently underway. As a result of the ramp-up to 3,000 tpd capacity by year-end, Segovia is expected to produce 210,000 to 250,000 ounces this year and in the range of 300,000 ounces per year from 2026 onwards. We have also been exploring opportunities to scale up Marmato into a higher-capacity operation. We are upgrading the design of the new Lower Mine carbon-in-pulp (CIP) processing facility to 5,000 tpd by using the major components from the current 4,000 tpd design and integrating select higher-capacity components and additional equipment to achieve the increased capacity. Construction remains on track, with $75 million invested to the end of February. The Company also plans to expand our Contract Mining Partner (CMP) business model, increasing the feed to the existing Upper Mine flotation processing facility. Marmato's production is expected to start ramping up in H2 2026, potentially increasing annual gold production to over 200,000 ounces." _____________________________ 1 Net earnings represents net earnings attributable to owners of the company, as presented in the annual and interim financial statements for the relevant period. 2 All references to EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted (net) earnings, cash cost and AISC are non-GAAP financial measures in this document. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under GAAP, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. Refer to the Non-GAAP Measures section in this document for a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measure disclosed in the Company's financial statements. Segovia Operations Review Higher Gold Production: A modest increase in tonnes milled and a 7% increase in average gold grade processed to 9.84 g/t in Q4 2024, driving an 8% increase in gold production over Q3 2024. A modest increase in tonnes milled and a 7% increase in average gold grade processed to 9.84 g/t in Q4 2024, driving an 8% increase in gold production over Q3 2024. Lower Costs : Owner Mining AISC costs improved to $1,386 per ounce in Q4 2024 from $1,451 per ounce in Q3 2024, while the CMP segment generated the highest quarterly AISC sales margin of 39%. : Owner Mining AISC costs improved to per ounce in Q4 2024 from per ounce in Q3 2024, while the CMP segment generated the highest quarterly AISC sales margin of 39%. Strong AISC Margin at Segovia: Improved to $58.3 million in Q4 2024, up 32% from $44.1 million in Q3 2024, driven by higher gold prices, increased production, and lower costs. Total Segovia Operating Information Q4 2024 Q3 2024 % Change 2024 Average realized gold price ($/ounce sold) 2,642 2,457 8 % 2,378 Tonnes milled (t) 167,649 166,868 0.5 % 644,854 Average tonnes milled per day (tpd) 1,949 1,940 1,885 Average gold grade processed (g/t) 9.84 9.23 7 % 9.41 Gold produced (ounces) 51,477 47,493 8 % 187,583 Cash costs ($/ounce sold) 1,199 1,257 -5 % 1,228 AISC total ($/ounce sold) 1,485 1,540 -4 % 1,507 AISC Margin - $M 58.3 44.1 32 % 163.0 Segovia Operating Information by Segment Q4 2024 Q3 2024 Q2 2024 Q1 2024 2024 Owner Mining Gold sold (ounces) 28,149 22,952 20,183 22,445 93,729 Cash costs per ounce sold ($ per oz sold) 1,042 1,081 1,222 1,191 1,121 AISC/oz sold - ($ per oz sold) 1,386 1,451 1,616 1,553 1,486 AISC margin ($'000) 35,340 23,093 14,075 11,423 83,931 Contract Mining Partners (CMPs) Gold sold (ounces) 22,260 25,107 23,183 22,843 93,393 Cash costs per ounce sold ($ per oz sold) 1,399 1,417 1,367 1,133 1,336 AISC/oz sold - ($ per oz sold) 1,610 1,622 1,532 1,316 1,527 AISC sales margin (%) 39 % 34 % 34 % 36 % 36 % AISC margin ($'000) 22,958 20,972 18,098 17,044 79,072 Total: Owner Mining & CMP Margin ($'000) 58,298 44,065 32,173 28,467 163,003 * Aris Mining operates its own mines and collaborates with community-based mining partners, referred to as Contract Mining Partners (CMPs), to increase total gold production. Some partners work within Aris Mining's infrastructure, while others manage their own mining operations on Aris Mining's titles. In addition, Aris Mining purchases high grade mill feed from third-party contractors operating off-title, which further optimizes production and increases operating margins. Segovia Expansion Project As announced in Q4 2023, the Segovia expansion project aims to increase processing capacity from 2,000 to 3,000 tpd and is progressing as scheduled. Phase 1 of the Segovia expansion is complete with the newly expanded receiving area for our CMPs fully commissioned and handed over to operations. The new facility began receiving material in October 2024 . . Phase 2 involves installing a second ball mill in the former contractor receiving area, and is underway with commissioning scheduled in Q2 2025, followed by a ramp-up period to reach a production rate of 3,000 tpd by the end of 2025. The total cost of the processing plant expansion project is estimated at $15 million , with $8.5 million spent as of December 31, 2024 . Enhanced Marmato Expansion The pre-feasibility study 3 of the Lower Mine contemplated a processing rate of 4,000 tpd, producing gold at an average rate of 117,000 ounces per year over an 18-year mine life. Combined with the Upper Mine, the average expected life of mine gold production was 162,000 ounces per year over a 20-year period. of the Lower Mine contemplated a processing rate of 4,000 tpd, producing gold at an average rate of 117,000 ounces per year over an 18-year mine life. Combined with the Upper Mine, the average expected life of mine gold production was 162,000 ounces per year over a 20-year period. Aris Mining has been exploring opportunities to expand Marmato into a higher-capacity operation, increasing production and reducing unit costs. As a result of the expansion plans described below, new Marmato has the potential to produce over 200,000 ounces of gold per year. In Q1 2025, the Company initiated engineering assessments to expand the CIP processing facility currently under construction. The upgraded 5,000 tpd design will use the major components from the current 4,000 tpd design while integrating higher-capacity components and additional equipment. Key enhancements include the installation of a secondary crushing circuit and an extra leach tank to support the increased throughput while also requiring the acceleration of certain project components into the initial capital phase, such as the backfill plant, rather than the previous plan where they were funded over time during operations. The Company also plans to expand our CMP business model, increasing the feed and average grade to our existing Upper Mine flotation processing facility and thereby further increasing gold production. The estimated cost to complete construction, including the 25% throughput increase to 5,000 tpd, is $290 million . The Company has spent $75 million on construction to February 2025 , resulting in a total construction cost of $365 million , which compares to the previous estimate of $280 million . The majority of the initial capital cost increase of $85 million is a result of the acceleration of certain project components and the decision to internally fund the $20 million grid power line, rather than use an independent contractor. . The Company has spent on construction to , resulting in a total construction cost of , which compares to the previous estimate of . The majority of the initial capital cost increase of is a result of the acceleration of certain project components and the decision to internally fund the grid power line, rather than use an independent contractor. Aris Mining's construction funding amount is reduced to $208 million , after the remaining stream funding of $82 million . , after the remaining stream funding of . Meanwhile, construction continues to progress: access roads to the Lower Marmato process facility and accommodation camp are now 100% complete; decline development is underway with 200 metres completed to the end of February 2025 ; and process plant foundation earthworks 12% ahead of schedule as of the end of February 2025 . With new Marmato and the expansion at Segovia, Aris Mining is targeting an annual production rate of more than 500,000 ounces of gold. _______________________ 3 Refer to the pre-feasibility study on the Marmato Lower Mine Project with an effective date of June 30, 2022, see Section "Qualified Person and Technical Disclosure" 2025 Production and Cost Guidance4 During 2025, Aris Mining expects consolidated gold production of between 230,000 and 275,000 ounces, with in-progress expansion projects to contribute to production growth in 2025 and beyond. Segovia Operations 2024 Guidance 2024 Actual 2025 Guidance Gold production (oz) 185,000 to 195,000 187,583 210,000 to 250,000 Cash cost Combined Owner & CMP $1,125 to $1,225 $1,228 AISC (US$/oz) Combined Owner & CMP $1,400 to $1,500 $1,507 Cash cost (US$/oz) Owner Mining segment $1,121 $1,050 to $1,150 AISC (US$/oz) Owner Mining segment $1,486 $1,450 to $1,600 AISC sales margin (%) CMP segment 36 % 35% to 40% ____________________________ 4 2025 cash cost and AISC forecasts are based on a gold price of US$2,600/oz and a USD to Colombian peso exchange rate of 4,200. With a total of 187,122 ounces sold in 2024, Segovia generated an AISC margin of $163.0 million , including $83.9 million from the Owner Mining segment and $79.1 million from the CMP segment. With 2025 gold production expected to range between 210,000 and 250,000 ounces, the Company anticipates a significant increase in Segovia's AISC margin this year of more than $230 million (using the mid-point of our 2025 guiding ranges at a gold price of $2,600 /oz). , including from the Owner Mining segment and from the CMP segment. With 2025 gold production expected to range between 210,000 and 250,000 ounces, the Company anticipates a significant increase in Segovia's AISC margin this year of more than (using the mid-point of our 2025 guiding ranges at a gold price of /oz). In 2025, production from the Segovia Operations will be sourced approximately 50% to 55% from Owner Mining and 45% to 50% from mill-feed purchased from CMPs. For the Owner Mining segment, AISC per ounce sold is expected to range between $1,450 and $1,600 and the CMP segment is expected to achieve an AISC sales margin of 35% to 40%. and and the CMP segment is expected to achieve an AISC sales margin of 35% to 40%. The 2025 cash cost and AISC guidance have been provided separately for the two segmentsOwner Mining and CMPsgiven their distinct primary cost drivers. Owner Mining costs are primarily driven by conventional expenses such as labour, consumables such as explosives and fuel, and power. In contrast, CMP costs are mainly influenced by the cost of purchasing mill feed, which depends on material volume, recoverable gold grade, and the spot gold price. Distinguishing between Owner Mining and CMP cost metrics is necessary given the current rise in gold prices and resulting challenge in forecasting CMP costs. As a result, we believe the CMP segment is best presented on a sales margin basis to provide a clearer representation of its financial performance. The Marmato Upper Mine is an historic small-scale, narrow vein operation with a 1,000 tpd processing facility that produced 23,372 ounces in 2024 and a similar production level is expected for 2025, while construction of the new large scale Lower Mine, which will access wider porphyry mineralization, continues. Marmato Upper Mine 2024 Guidance 2024 Actual 2025 Guidance Gold production (oz) 20,000 to 25,000 23,372 20,000 to 25,000 Aris Mining will resume providing cash cost and AISC guidance for the Marmato Mine when the Lower Mine achieves commercial production, which is expected in 2026. Aris Mining's Audited Annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 and related MD&A are available on SEDAR+, in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and in the Financials section of Aris Mining's website here. Hard copies of the financial statements are available free of charge upon written request to [email protected]. Q4 2024 Conference Call Details Management will host a conference call on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 9:00 am ET/6:00 am PT to discuss the results. Participants may gain expedited access to the conference call by registering at Diamond Pass Registration (dpregister.com). Once registered, call in details will be displayed on screen which can be used to bypass the operator and avoid the call queue. Registration will remain open until the end of the live conference call. Webcast Conference Call Toll-free North America : +1-844-763-8274 : +1-844-763-8274 International: +1-647-484-8814 Audio Recording After the call, an audio recording will be available via telephone until the end of day on March 20, 2025 . . Toll-free in the US and Canada : +1-855-669-9658 : +1-855-669-9658 International: +1-412-317-0088; and using the access code: 2571874 A replay of the event will be archived at Events & Presentations - Aris Mining Corporation. About Aris Mining Founded in September 2022, Aris Mining was established with a vision to build a leading Latin America-focused gold mining company. Our strategy blends current production and cashflow generation with transformational growth driven by expansions of our operating assets, exploration and development projects. Aris Mining is listed on the TSX (ARIS) and the NYSE-A (ARMN) and is led by an experienced team with a track record of value creation, operational excellence, financial discipline and good corporate governance in the gold mining industry. Aris Mining operates two underground gold mines in Colombia: the Segovia Operations and the Marmato Upper Mine, which together produced 210,955 ounces of gold in 2024. With expansions underway, Aris Mining is targeting an annual production rate of more than 500,000 ounces of gold following the ramp-up of the Segovia mill expansion, expected during the second half of 2025, and the new Marmato Mine, which is expected to start ramping up in H2 2026. In addition, Aris Mining operates the 51% owned Soto Norte joint venture, where studies are underway on a new, smaller scale development plan, with results expected in mid-2025. In Guyana, Aris Mining owns the Toroparu gold/copper project, further diversifying its asset portfolio. Colombia is rich in high-grade gold deposits and Aris Mining is actively pursuing partnerships with the Country's dynamic small-scale mining sector. With these partnerships, we enable safe, legal, and environmentally responsible operations that benefit both local communities and the industry. Aris Mining intends to pursue acquisitions and other growth opportunities to unlock value through scale and diversification. Additional information on Aris Mining can be found at www.aris-mining.com, www.sedarplus.ca, and on www.sec.gov. Cautionary Language Non-GAAP Financial Measures EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted (net) earnings, cash cost and AISC are non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP ratios. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS or by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. For full details on these measures and ratios refer to the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section of the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months and years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (MD&A). The MD&A is incorporated by reference into this news release and is available at www.aris-mining.com, on the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in its filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The tables below reconcile the non-GAAP financial measures contained in this news release for the current and comparative periods to the most directly comparable financial measure disclosed in the Company's financial statements for the three months and years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. Cash costs per ounce Reconciliation of total cash costs by business unit at Segovia to the cash costs as disclosed above. Three months ended Dec 31, 2024 Three months ended Sept 30, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Segovia Marmato Total Segovia Marmato Total Total gold sold (ounces) 50,409 5,925 56,334 48,059 5,710 53,769 Cost of sales1 68,078 15,111 83,189 66,570 16,673 83,243 Less: materials and supplies inventory provision (965) (225) (1,190) Less: royalties1 (4,342) (1,406) (5,748) (3,506) (1,343) (4,849) Add: by-product revenue1 (2,308) (255) (2,563) (2,665) (613) (3,278) Total cash costs 60,463 13,225 73,688 60,399 14,717 75,116 Total cash costs ($ per oz gold sold) $1,199 $1,257 Total cash costs including royalties 64,805 63,905 Total cash costs including royalties ($ per oz gold sold) $1,286 $1,330 Year ended Dec 31, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Segovia Marmato1 Total Total gold sold (ounces) 187,122 23,494 210,616 Cost of sales1 254,879 59,880 314,759 Less: materials and supplies inventory provision (965) (225) (1,190) Less: royalties1 (13,934) (4,959) (18,893) Add: by-product revenue1 (10,153) (1,133) (11,286) Total cash costs 229,827 53,563 283,390 Total cash costs ($ per oz gold sold) $1,228 Total cash costs including royalties 243,761 Total cash costs including royalties ($ per oz gold sold) $1,303 1 As presented in the Annual and Interim Financial Statements and notes thereto for the respective periods. Cash costs per ounce Business Units (Segovia) Three months ended Dec 31, 2024 Three months ended Sept 30, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Owner CMPs Total Owner CMPs Total Total gold sold (ounces) 28,149 22,260 50,409 22,952 25,107 48,059 Cost of sales1 34,518 33,560 68,078 28,820 37,751 66,570 Less: materials and supplies inventory provision (717) (248) (965) Less: royalties1 (2,754) (1,588) (4,342) (1,999) (1,507) (3,506) Add: by-product revenue1 (1,727) (581) (2,308) (2,000) (665) (2,665) Total cash costs 29,320 31,143 60,463 24,821 35,579 60,399 Total cash costs ($ per oz gold sold) $1,042 $1,399 $1,199 $1,081 $1,417 $1,257 Three months ended June 30, 2024 Three months ended Mar 31, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Owner CMPs Total Owner CMPs Total Total gold sold (ounces) 20,183 23,183 43,366 22,445 22,843 45,288 Cost of sales1 28,530 33,752 62,282 30,083 27,865 57,948 Less: royalties1 (1,720) (1,358) (3,078) (1,677) (1,331) (3,008) Add: by-product revenue1 (2,151) (711) (2,862) (1,663) (655) (2,318) Total cash costs 24,659 31,683 56,342 26,743 25,879 52,624 Total cash costs ($ per oz gold sold) $1,222 $1,367 $1,299 $1,191 $1,133 $1,162 Year ended Dec 31, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Owner CMPs Total Total gold sold (ounces) 93,729 93,393 187,122 Cost of sales1 121,450 133,429 254,879 Less: materials and supplies inventory provision (717) (248) (965) Less: royalties1 (8,151) (5,783) (13,934) Add: by-product revenue1 (7,540) (2,613) (10,153) Total cash costs 105,042 124,785 229,827 Total cash costs ($ per oz gold sold) $1,121 $1,336 $1,228 1 As presented in the Annual and Interim Financial Statements and notes thereto for the respective periods. All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Reconciliation of total AISC by business unit at Segovia to the AISC as disclosed above. Three months ended Dec 31, 2024 Three months ended Sept 30, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Segovia Marmato Total Segovia Marmato Total Total gold sold (ounces) 50,409 5,925 56,334 48,059 5,710 53,769 Total cash costs 60,463 13,225 73,688 60,399 14,717 75,116 Add: royalties1 4,342 1,406 5,748 3,506 1,343 4,849 Add: social programs1 4,063 165 4,228 4,294 185 4,479 Add: sustaining capital expenditures 5,426 931 6,357 5,423 938 6,361 Add: lease payments on sustaining capital 567 567 389 389 Total AISC 74,861 15,727 90,588 74,011 17,183 91,194 Total AISC ($ per oz gold sold) $1,485 $1,540 Year ended Dec 31, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Segovia Marmato Total Total gold sold (ounces) 187,122 23,494 210,616 Total cash costs 229,827 53,563 283,390 Add: royalties1 13,934 4,959 18,893 Add: social programs1 12,766 1,667 14,433 Add: sustaining capital expenditures 23,569 3,475 27,044 Add: lease payments on sustaining capital 1,826 1,826 Total AISC 281,922 63,664 345,586 Total AISC ($ per oz gold sold) $1,507 1 As presented in the Annual and Interim Financial Statements and notes thereto for the respective periods. All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Segovia by Business Unit Three months ended Dec 31, 2024 Three months ended Sept 30, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Owner CMPs Total Owner CMPs Total Total gold sold (ounces) 28,149 22,260 50,409 22,952 25,107 48,059 Total cash costs 29,320 31,143 60,463 24,820 35,579 60,399 Add: royalties1 2,754 1,588 4,342 1,999 1,507 3,506 Add: social programs1 2,558 1,505 4,063 2,449 1,845 4,294 Add: sustaining capital expenditures 3,818 1,607 5,426 3,640 1,783 5,423 Add: lease payments on sustaining capital 567 567 389 389 Total AISC 39,018 35,843 74,861 33,297 40,714 74,011 Total AISC ($ per oz gold sold) $1,386 $1,610 $1,485 $1,451 $1,622 $1,540 Three months ended June 30, 2024 Three months ended March 31, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Owner CMPs Total Owner CMPs Total Total gold sold (ounces) 20,183 23,183 43,366 22,446 22,842 45,289 Total cash costs 24,660 31,682 56,342 26,745 25,878 52,623 Add: royalties1 1,720 1,358 3,078 1,677 1,331 3,008 Add: social programs1 1,185 935 2,120 1,276 1,013 2,289 Add: sustaining capital expenditures 4,677 1,547 6,224 4,659 1,837 6,496 Add: lease payments on sustaining capital 364 364 506 506 Total AISC 32,606 35,522 68,128 34,863 30,059 64,922 Total AISC ($ per oz gold sold) $1,616 $1,532 $1,571 $1,553 $1,316 $1,434 Year ended Dec 31, 2024 ($000s except per ounce amounts) Owner CMPs Total Total gold sold (ounces) 93,729 93,393 187,122 Total cash costs 105,042 124,785 229,827 Add: royalties1 8,151 5,783 13,934 Add: social programs1 7,468 5,298 12,766 Add: sustaining capital expenditures 16,794 6,775 23,569 Add: lease payments on sustaining capital 1,826 1,826 Total AISC 139,281 142,641 281,922 Total AISC ($ per oz gold sold) $1,486 $1,527 $1,507 1 As presented in the Annual and Interim Financial Statements and notes thereto for the respective periods. Additions to mineral interests, plant and equipment Three months ended, Year ended, ($'000) Dec 31, 2024 Sept 30, 2024 June 30, 2024 March 31, 2024 Dec 31, 2024 Sustaining capital Segovia Operations 5,426 5,423 6,224 6,496 23,569 Marmato Upper Mine 931 938 782 824 3,475 Total 6,357 6,361 7,006 7,320 27,044 Non-sustaining capital Marmato Lower Mine 18,998 18,135 19,143 14,865 71,141 Segovia Operations 21,041 16,962 16,284 11,023 65,310 Marmato Upper Mine 5,369 2,965 1,046 2,278 11,658 Soto Norte Project 3,604 5,033 8,637 Toroparu Project 1,719 1,970 2,079 1,939 7,707 Juby Project 34 1 1 3 39 Total 50,765 45,066 38,553 30,108 164,492 Corporate Assets 3,895 3,895 Additions to mining interest, plant and equipment1 57,121 51,427 49,454 37,428 195,431 Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and adjusted EBITDA Three months ended, Year ended, ($000s) Dec 31, 2024 Sept 30, 2024 Dec 31, 2024 Earnings (loss) before tax1 37,513 13,603 79,330 Add back: Depreciation and depletion1 9,530 9,019 34,150 Finance income1 (1,606) (1,351) (6,894) Interest and accretion1 21,165 6,493 40,957 EBITDA 66,602 27,764 147,543 Add back: Share-based compensation1 (483) 2,533 5,265 (Income) loss from equity accounting in investee1 14 17 2,884 (Gain) loss on financial instruments1 (6,561) 12,842 16,167 Other (income) expense1 1,116 (428) 3,369 Foreign exchange (gain) loss1 (5,113) 311 (12,122) Adjusted EBITDA 55,575 43,039 163,106 1. As presented in the Annual and Interim Financial Statements and notes for the respective periods. Adjusted net earnings and adjusted net earnings per share Three months ended, Year ended, ($000s except shares amount) Dec 31, 2024 Sept 30, 2024 Dec 31, 2024 Basic weighted average shares outstanding 170,900,890 169,873,924 157,727,394 Net loss1 21,687 (2,074) 24,582 Add back: Share-based compensation1 (483) 2,533 5,265 (Income) loss from equity accounting in investee1 14 17 2,884 (Gain) loss on financial instruments1 (6,561) 12,842 16,167 Other (income) expense1 1,116 (428) 3,369 Loss on extinguishment of Senior Notes 11,463 11,463 Foreign exchange (gain) loss1 (5,113) 311 (12,122) Income tax effect on adjustments 2,536 (109) 4,243 Adjusted net (loss) / earnings 24,659 13,092 55,851 Per share basic ($/share) 0.14 0.08 0.35 1. As presented in the Annual and Interim Financial Statements and notes for the respective periods. Qualified Person and Technical Information Pamela De Mark, P.Geo., Senior Vice President Geology and Exploration of Aris Mining, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101), and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Unless otherwise indicated, the scientific disclosure and technical information included in this news release is based upon information included in the NI 43-101 compliant technical report entitled "Technical Report for the Marmato Gold Mine, Caldas Department, Colombia, Pre-Feasibility Study of the Lower Mine Expansion Project" dated November 23, 2022 with an effective date of September 30, 2022 (the "2022 Marmato Pre-Feasibility Study). The 2022 Marmato Pre-Feasibility Study was prepared by Ben Parsons, MAusIMM (CP), Anton Chan, Peng, Brian Prosser, PE, Joanna Poeck, SME-RM, Eric J. Olin, SME-RM, MAusIMM, Fredy Henriquez, SME, ISRM, David Hoekstra, PE, NCEES, SME-RM, Mark Allan Willow, CEM, SME-RM, Vladimir Ugorets, MMSA, Colleen Crystal, PE, GE, Kevin Gunesch, PE, Tommaso Roberto Raponi, P.Eng, David Bird, PG, SME-RM, and Pamela De Mark, P.Geo., each of whom is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined in NI 43-101, and with the exception of Pamela De Mark of Aris Mining, are independent of the Company within the meaning of NI 43-101. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" or forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements relating to the operational focus of management of the Company and expected growth strategy, the Segovia expansion project and the timing thereof, the timing, implementation and potential benefit of the Phase 2 expansions at Segovia, the timing, projected costs and potential benefit of the enhanced Marmato expansion, the Company's targeted annual production rate, the development and expansion of the Soto Norte and Toroparu projects and the timing thereof and the Company's 2025 production and cost guidance are forward-looking. Generally, the forward-looking information and forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "will continue" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The material factors or assumptions used to develop forward looking information or statements are disclosed throughout this news release. Forward looking information and forward looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Aris Mining to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or forward looking statements, including but not limited to those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Aris Mining's annual information form dated March 12, 2025 which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in the Company's filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov. Although Aris Mining has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information or statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information or statements. The Company has and continues to disclose in its Management's Discussion and Analysis and other publicly filed documents, changes to material factors or assumptions underlying the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements and to the validity of the information, in the period the changes occur. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and Aris Mining disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. This news release contains information that may constitute future-orientated financial information or financial outlook information (collectively, FOFI) about the Company's prospective financial performance, financial position or cash flows, all of which is subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations and qualifications as set forth above. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise or inaccurate and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on FOFI. The Company's actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, FOFI. The Company has included FOFI in order to provide readers with a more complete perspective on the Company's future operations and management's current expectations relating to the Company's future performance. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. FOFI contained herein was made as of the date of this news release. Unless required by applicable laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any FOFI statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Aris Mining Corporation MEXICO CITY, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V.(NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) (ASUR), a leading international airport group with operations in Mexico, the United States, and Colombia, today announced that its General Annual Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting will be held on April 23rd, 2025 and announced the agenda for the meeting. The following is the complete text of the call to assembly for the shareholders' meeting: CALL TO ASSEMBLY FOR ORDINARY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SHAREHOLDERS OF GRUPO AEROPORTUARIO DEL SURESTE, S.A.B. DE C.V. By resolution of the Board of Directors adopted at the meeting held on the 13th of March 2025 and pursuant to the provisions of Articles 36, 37 and other provisions of the bylaws of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (the "Company") and Articles 181 and 183 of the General Corporations Law ("Ley General de Sociedades Mercantiles"), the Company's shareholders are hereby called to attend the Ordinary Annual General Shareholders' Meeting (the "Meeting"), which will take place at 10 o'clock a.m. on the 23rd of April 2025, at the Company's offices at Bosque de Alisos No. 47-A 4th floor, Colonia Bosque de las Lomas, 05120, Mexico City, Mexico, in order to discuss the following matters: A G E N D A I. Presentation and, if applicable, approval of the following: a. Report of the Chief Executive Officer, in accordance with Article 172 of the General Corporations Law and of Article 44, subsection XI, of the Securities Market Law ("Ley del Mercado de Valores"), accompanied by the independent auditor's report, in connection with the operations and results for the fiscal year ended the 31st of December 2024, as well as of the Board of Directors' opinion of the content of such report; b. Report of the Board of Directors in accordance with Article 172, subsection b, of the General Corporations Law, which contains the main policies, as well as the accounting and reporting criteria followed in the preparation of the financial information of the Company; c. Report of the activities and operations in which the Board of Directors intervened, in accordance with Article 28 IV (e) of the Securities Market Law; d. Individual and consolidated financial statements of the Company for the fiscal year ended the 31st of December 2024; e. Annual report on the activities carried out by the Audit Committee of the Company in accordance with Article 43 of the Securities Market Law and report on the Company's subsidiaries. Resolutions thereon; and f. Report on compliance with the tax obligations of the Company for the fiscal year ended the 31st of December 2023, in accordance with Article 76, section XIX of the Income Tax Law. Resolutions thereon. II. Proposal on and, if applicable, approval of the application of the Company's results for the year: a. Proposal for increase of the legal reserve; b. Proposal by the Board of Directors to pay an ordinary net dividend in cash from accumulated retained earnings and the share buyback reserve in the amount of $50.00 (fifty pesos and zero cents, Mexican legal tender), payable in May 2025, as well as an extraordinary net dividend in cash from the share buyback reserve in the amount of $15.00 (fifteen pesos and zero cents, Mexican legal tender), payable in September 2025, and an extraordinary net dividend in cash from the share buyback reserve in the amount of $15.00 (fifteen pesos and zero cents, Mexican legal tender), payable in November 2025, for each of the ordinary "B" and "BB" Series shares. Resolutions thereon; and III. Ratification, if applicable, of the administration by the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer for the fiscal year of 2024 and appointment or ratification, as applicable, of (i) the persons who comprise or will comprise the Board of Directors of the Company, once assessed as independent, as applicable, (ii) the Chairperson of the Audit and Corporate Practices Committee, and (iii) the persons to serve on the Nominations and Compensations Committee of the Company; determination of corresponding compensations. Resolutions thereon. IV. Appointment of delegates in order to enact the resolutions adopted at the Meeting and, if applicable, to formalize such resolutions. Resolutions thereon. Subject to the provisions of the paragraph immediately following this one, in order to have the right to attend the Meeting, the shareholders shall (i) be registered on the Company Shareholder Register, or provide other proof of ownership of Company shares or the corresponding certificates in accordance with the Mexican Stock Market Law. The Shareholder Register will be closed three working days prior to the date set for the Meeting, that is, on the 18th of April 2025; and (ii) have obtained their admission pass. In order to have the right to attend the Meeting, at the latest on the working day before the Meeting (i) the shareholders shall deposit at the Company's offices, with S.D. Indeval, S.A. de C.V., Institucion para el Deposito de Valores ("Indeval") or with any national or foreign financial credit institution, their share certificates or the receipts or other proof of deposit issued by any such institutions, and (ii) the brokerage houses and the other depositaries at Indeval shall present a list containing the names, addresses, nationalities and number of shares of the shareholders that they will represent at the Meeting. Upon receipt of such documents, the Company shall issue an admission pass to the shareholders and/or deliver the forms that they may use in order to be duly represented at the Meeting pursuant to subsection III of Article 49 of the Securities Market Law. In order to attend the Meeting, the shareholders shall present the corresponding admission pass and/or form. The shares deposited at the Company by the shareholders for the purposes of attending the Meeting shall be returned when the Meeting has ended, upon the delivery of the deposit receipts issued to the shareholder or attorney-in-fact for such shares. The shareholders may either attend the Meeting personally or be represented by a person or persons duly authorised in a power of attorney in accordance with Article 49 subsection III of the Securities Market Law or by any other form of representation granted pursuant to the law. Furthermore, please be advised that the supporting documentation for the adoption of the resolutions of the Meeting hereby convened, and the application previously mentioned, shall be placed at the disposal of the shareholders at the Company's offices fifteen days prior to the date of the Meeting. Mexico City, 13th of March 2025 ____________________________________ Rafael Robles Miaja Secretary of the Board of Directors About ASUR: Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a leading international airport operator with a portfolio of concessions to operate, maintain and develop 16 airports in the Americas. This comprises nine airports in southeast Mexico, including Cancun Airport, the most important tourist destination in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and six airports in northern Colombia, including Medellin international airport (Rionegro), the second busiest in Colombia. ASUR is also a 60% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport serving the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan. San Juan's Airport is the island's primary gateway for international and mainland-US destinations and was the first, and currently the only major airport in the US to have successfully completed a publicprivate partnership under the FAA Pilot Program. Headquartered in Mexico, ASUR is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares. For more information, visit www.asur.com.mx SOURCE Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. Winemaker Luca Paschina and his team bring further recognition to the Monticello AVA RICHMOND, Va., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Glenn Youngkin awarded the 2025 Virginia Governor's Cup to Barboursville Vineyards for its 2023 Vermentino - a white wine with 100% Vermentino grapes, grown on the vineyard's estate. This year's prestigious award was announced during the annual Virginia Governor's Cup Gala, held at Richmond's Main Street Station on March 13. In its 43rd year, the competition received over 600 entries from over 140 Virginia wineries, cideries and meaderies. "Luca Paschina and his team at Barboursville Vineyards embody the passion and pioneering spirit of Virginia wines. Their dedication to excellence is evident in every vintage they produce, showcasing an unwavering commitment to craftsmanship and innovation," said Governor Glenn Youngkin. "I am honored to recognize Barboursville's achievements and the lasting impact they continue to make on Virginia's world-class wine region." "Wine and cider are important agricultural products for our Commonwealth and an important economic driver for our state," said Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matthew Lohr. "I welcome the opportunity to see new wineries and our standard-bearers of Virginia's quality continue to raise the bar for what can be achieved in Virginia as a wine region." Located in Barboursville, Virginia, Barboursville Vineyards has been producing Virginia wines for almost five decades. Winemaker and General Manager Luca Paschina joined the estate in 1990. Paschina, along with Vineyard Manager Fernando Franco and Assistant Winemaker Daniele Tessaro, have worked to experiment with new grape varieties suited to Virginia's climate while crafting expressive white wines and complex, age-worthy reds. This year marks the sixth time the Governor's Cup award has been given to Barboursville Vineyards. Under Luca Paschina's leadership, Barboursville has previously won the coveted Governor's Cup for their 1988 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, 1997 Cabernet Franc, 1998 Cabernet Franc Reserve, and 2009 Octagon. To receive the Cup, the 2023 Vermentino earned the highest average score from a panel of esteemed judges who evaluated the wines based on appearance, aroma, flavor, commercial suitability and overall quality. The wine will be featured alongside 11 other wines in the Virginia Governor's Cup Case, a collection of the competition's 12 highest scoring wines. The full case includes: 50 West Vineyards, 2021 Aldie Heights Cuvee Barboursville Vineyards, 2023 Vermentino Barboursville Vineyards, 2017 Octagon DuCard Vineyards, 2023 Cabernet Franc Vintners Reserve King Family Vineyards, 2021 Mountain Plains Red Michael Shaps Wineworks, 2022 Chardonnay Paradise Springs Winery, 2023 Cabernet Franc, Brown Bear Vineyard Potomac Point Winery, 2023 Albarino Trump Winery, 2018 Sparkling Rose Valley Road Vineyards, 2023 Petit Manseng Veritas Winery, 2023 Monticello White Winery at La Grange, 2023 Petit Manseng The Virginia Governor's Cup Case showcases the exceptional quality and diverse range of wines produced in the Commonwealth. This prestigious selection features a well-balanced mix of six white and five red wines, and a sparkling rose, highlighting the craftsmanship and variety that define Virginia winemaking. For the fifth year, Virginia cider was judged in its own category with the highest scoring cider awarded as Cider of the Year. Earning a gold medal in this year's competition, Daring Wine & Cider Company received the Cider of the Year recognition for its Crab Apple Blend. Beginning this year, standout wines in categories with the most submissions were named Best in Show. To win, at least 5 wines needed to be entered in the category, with the Best in Show being the highest scoring gold-medal wine. This year's winners include Breaux Vineyards' 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 Lady Vineyards' 2017 Petit Manseng for Dessert Wine, Pollak Vineyards' 2022 Merlot Reserve, Carriage House Wineworks' 2022 Petit Verdot Reserve, and Jefferson Vineyards' 2023 Viognier. About the Virginia Governor's Cup Competition The Virginia Wineries Association's Governor's Cup is held in partnership with the Virginia Wine Board. All entries must be made from 100% Virginia-grown fruit to be eligible. Each wine is ranked based on a unified scoring system. For more information about the Virginia Governor's Cup Competition and a complete list of winners, visit: https://www.virginiawine.org/governors-cup/awards. For photos or additional information please contact Annette Boyd at the Virginia Wine Board, [email protected] or (804) 402-1896. SOURCE Virginia Wine SAN IGNACIO, Belize, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As Belize continues to shatter tourism records and attract visitors worldwide, Keller Williams Belize is offering unique investment opportunities for those seeking their own slice of paradise. The surge in tourism and rising interest in vacation rentals make this the perfect time for North Americans weary of political and economic uncertainty to consider a luxury retreat or an income-generating property in Belize. The statistics from the Belize Tourism Board show 2024 had the highest numbers in overnight guests in decades, with 2025 starting off to show a current trend to surpass 2024. Island Life Macarena Rose, a seasoned real estate professional who moved to Belize in 2004, notes the tremendous growth in interest from North Americans: "In 2024, we're seeing a 20% increase in people moving to Belize from the United States and Canada, motivated by the desire for a slower lifestyle and greater peace of mind. Belize offers a unique blend of beauty, opportunity, and ease of living, making it the perfect choice for those seeking a change." Belize's stable political environment, supportive foreign investment policies, and emphasis on sustainable tourism have created a favorable climate for both investors and residents. With tourism now surpassing 2019 levels and showing no signs of slowing, Belize's real estate market is poised for significant growth. The statistics from the Belize Tourism Board show 2024 had the highest numbers in overnight guests in decades, with 2025 starting off to show a current trend to surpass 2024. Keller Williams Belize provides two primary options for those looking to buy: private island properties or upscale condominiums on Belize's most popular tourist island, Ambergris Caye. Escape to Your Own Private Island For those dreaming of an exclusive family retreat, Keller Williams Belize offers a rare opportunity to own a private island with a helipad just off the Belizean coast. This 3.6-acre island oasis boasts breathtaking views, complete privacy, and luxurious amenities. The island is an ideal retreat for families looking to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life or for investors seeking a unique, high-end property that can generate income through vacation rentals. With interest in private island ownership at an all-time high, properties like this are rare finds that combine luxury with serenity. Condo Life on Ambergris Caye For those looking for something closer to the vibrant energy of Belize's tourism hub, Keller Williams Belize is offering condo opportunities from 205,000 USD (https://rainforestrealty.com/listings/condo-sapphire-beach-resort-ambergris-caye/) and upwards. Another option is if you are a pilot, you can Live, Fly, and Thrive at Belize Air Ranch Where Your Aviation Lifestyle Takes Flight! Exclusively listed by Belize's premier Realtor, Macarena Rose of Keller Williams Belize, Belize Air Ranch offers an extraordinary opportunity for private pilots and aviation enthusiasts to live the dream in one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. Nestled in the picturesque foothills of the Mayan Mountains, this one-of-a-kind airpark combines the natural beauty of Belize with the convenience of direct taxiway access. Designed for those who love the skies, Belize Air Ranch ensures homeowners can step out of their front doors, taxi their aircraft from their private hangars, and be airborne in just minutes. It's the ultimate lifestyle for those passionate about aviation and adventure. Why Belize Air Ranch? Exclusive Residential Airpark Community: Enjoy deeded access from your home to taxiways, bringing unparalleled convenience and ease to your flying lifestyle. Enjoy deeded access from your home to taxiways, bringing unparalleled convenience and ease to your flying lifestyle. Prime Location: Launch into the heart of Central America and Mexico with Belize as your home base. Whether for adventure or leisure, the skies are yours to explore. Launch into the heart of and with as your home base. Whether for adventure or leisure, the skies are yours to explore. Aviation Services On-Site: Comprehensive aviation mechanic services and an on-site Aviation Inspector for annual safety inspections ensure your aircraft is always ready for takeoff. Why Belize? The Ultimate English-Speaking Caribbean Escape In the first quarter of 2024, Belize saw an incredible 29.7% increase in overnight arrivals compared to 2023. This boom highlights Belize's growing appeal, not only as a vacation destination but as a safe haven for those seeking a slower, more relaxed lifestyle. This year promises to be the busiest year ever for Belize tourism, with potential for record-breaking numbers. Belize offers North Americans an accessible, English-speaking destination with pristine beaches, diverse culture, and a welcoming community. Convenient travel routes from major North American cities make Belize more accessible than ever. Starting in December 2024, United Airlines will introduce a new nonstop flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Belize's Philip Goldson International Airport (BZE). This new route, combined with regular direct flights from hubs such as Miami, Houston, New York, and Los Angeles, makes Belize an ideal option for a quick getaway or long-term investment. Discover Your Paradise with Keller Williams Belize Whether seeking a luxurious family retreat on a private island or a condo with rental income potential, Keller Williams Belize has options to meet diverse lifestyle needs. This unprecedented rise in tourism, combined with increasing demand for vacation rentals, presents a unique opportunity to invest in Belize's growing real estate market. For those interested in learning more, Keller Williams Belize invites you to explore these exclusive listings and find your perfect tropical getaway or investment property. Contact: Keller Williams Belize Yvette Dalton Phone: 727-556-1507 Email: [email protected] Website: https://rainforestrealty.com/ SOURCE Keller Williams Belize SHANGHAI, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCity Biopharmaceutics Co., Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration agreement with MSD (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA), to evaluate the combination of BioCity's BC3195 and MSD's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), in a global phase 1/2 trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors. Under the terms of the agreement, BioCity will conduct a phase 1/2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BC3195 in combination with KEYTRUDA. BioCity and MSD each retain all commercial rights to their respective compounds. The recruitment in the clinical study is expected in Q4 2025. "We are encouraged by the clinical data we have seen thus far for BC3195 as monotherapy, which have demonstrated improved anti-tumour activity in patients with certain non-small cell lung and breast cancers. We now look forward to exploring the potential of BC3195 in combination with KEYTRUDA through this collaboration, as we continue to advance our clinical program and seek to further validate our differentiated drug discovery and development approach." Said by Ivy Wang, Co-founder and Executive President of BioCity. KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA. About BC3195 BC3195 is currently the only ADC targeting CDH3 (P-Cadherin) in clinical development globally. In preclinical studies, BC3195 binds to membrane CDH3 with strong affinity and is efficiently internalized. BC3195 is designed with a clinically validated, cleavable linker and payload (vc-MMAE) allowing for the destruction of targeted cancer cells, as well as surrounding cells, which is known as the bystander effect. In animal models, BC3195 demonstrated a favorable safety profile and robust antitumor activity with tumor growth inhibition 100% in some animals bearing well established cancers. BC3195 is currently undergoing concurrent Phase I dose optimization and dose expansion in China and in US. BC3195 demonstrated a manageable safety profile and favorable PK characteristics, significant antitumor activity with confirmed PRs observed across multiple tumor types. About BioCity Founded in December 2017, BioCity is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing novel and highly differentiated, modality-independent therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disorders including chronic kidney diseases. BioCity has established a pipeline of more than 10 innovative drug candidates, including small molecules, monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). Currently, BioCity has five core oncology assets in Phase 1/2 clinical development, including first-in-class CDH3-targeting ADC and GPC3-targeting ADCs, WEE1 and ATR inhibitors targeting the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway, and a monoclonal antibody targeting TIM-3 in collaboration with AstraZeneca. In addition, BioCity's SC0062, a highly selective ETA antagonist, is in phase 3 clinical development for IgA nephropathy and a global phase 3 registration trial is being planned. For more information, please visit www.biocitypharma.com Or LinkedIn BioCity Biopharma Contact: [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE BioCity Biopharma The syndicated loan follows the Green Loan Principles (GLP) guidelines of the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA). It reflects the commitment of both entities to support projects that promote the transition to renewable energy, help mitigate climate change and strengthen the energy supply for the country's growth. PANAMA CITY, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex) and The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) announced the successful closing of a US$100 million syndicated loan for Empresa Generadora de Electricidad Haina (EGE Haina), reaffirming their commitment to the region's energy transition and sustainable development. In the photo, from left to right: Guillermo Gamundi - Bladex, Warren Bonilla - Bladex, Gonzalo Gil - Scotiabank, Jose A. Rodriguez EGE Haina, Rodrigo Varillas EGE Haina, Carlos Bogaert - Scotiabank (PRNewsfoto/Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex)) (PRNewsfoto/Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex)) The proceeds of the syndicated loan will be used to support EGE Haina in the development of its renewable energy assets platform, supporting the company's growth strategy in line with the national objective of increasing the share of renewable energy in the Dominican Republic's energy matrix. Jorge Salas, CEO of Bladex, said, "This financing reaffirms our mission to be a key strategic partner in the development of sustainable infrastructure in the region. We are proud to partner with Scotiabank and support EGE Haina in its commitment to energy transition and the generation of cleaner, more efficient energy for the Dominican Republic." Gonzalo Gil, CEO of Scotiabank Dominican Republic, said, "we are committed to the Dominican Republic and to our customers, to continue helping them grow with a vision of sustainable development." The successful completion of this financing strengthens the relationship between EGE Haina, Bladex and Scotiabank and reaffirms the role of financial institutions in supporting sustainable projects and economic growth in the region. "The installation of new renewable energy generation is a fundamental pillar of EGE Haina's growth. As such, the Company continues to anchor its financing strategy in green or sustainably labeled capital structures. This financing fits perfectly with our development plans. We are grateful for the support of the financial institutions that strengthen our sustainable energy model," said Rodrigo Varillas, Senior Finance Director of EGE Haina. EGE Haina is a leader in sustainable energy generation in the country, with a diversified portfolio that includes wind farms, solar plants and efficient thermal generation. With this new financing, under the Green Loan Principles (GLP) guidelines of the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), the company aims to further strengthen its position as a key player in the decarbonization of the electricity sector and energy security in the Dominican Republic. About Bladex: Bladex is a multinational bank founded in 1979 by the central banks of Latin America and the Caribbean to promote trade finance and economic integration in the region. Headquartered in Panama, with representative offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and an Agency in the United States, the Bank provides financial solutions to institutions and corporations throughout the region. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BLX) since 1992 and on the Mexican Stock Exchange for more than 10 years, Bladex has consolidated its presence in the international financial markets. Its shareholder base includes central banks, government entities and banks from 23 Latin American countries, as well as institutional and private investors. About Scotiabank Scotiabank's vision is to be our clients' most trusted financial partner, to deliver sustainable, profitable growth and maximize total shareholder return. Guided by our purpose: "for every future," we help our clients, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With assets of approximately $1.4 trillion (as at October 31, 2024), Scotiabank is one of North America's largest banks by assets and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on X @Scotiabank. About EGE Haina: EGE Haina is the leading public-private company in the country, one of the most important electricity generators in the Dominican Republic and a leader in renewable energy in the Antilles. It has invested more than US$1.6 billion in creating a diversified and sustainable electricity generation matrix with an installed capacity of more than 1,200 MW. The company is the largest private issuer of corporate bonds in the local capital market, the leading issuer of green bonds on the Dominican Republic Stock Exchange and the first Dominican issuer of a sustainability bond in the international markets. CONTACT: Warren Bonilla, Head of Central America and the Caribbean E-mail address: [email protected] Tel: +507 210-8625 SOURCE Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex) Applications are open until April 10, 2025 CHICAGO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - BMO and 1871 today announced a call for applications for WMNfintech, an annual, award-winning program that empowers startup founders as they create and scale innovative services and solutions that support the financial sector. In its sixth year, WMNfintech has become North America's largest alumni network of women-founded and women-led startups as well as those who support women in fintech, providing entrepreneurs access to a robust support network to help them to grow their businesses and bring new technologies and products to market. "BMO is committed to driving innovation to help our customers, clients, and the communities we serve make real financial progress," said Andrew Harrison, Head of Emerging Partnerships and the Digital Innovation Fund at BMO. "We are excited to welcome our 2025 cohort into WMNfintech's incredibly powerful business ecosystem and to helping them accelerate time to market for new technologies and products. Supporting the success of businesses, small, medium or large is central to BMO's purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life." The five startups selected to participate will gain access to tailored resources and programming, including: One-on-one guidance and insights from top BMO industry experts Specialized curriculum focused on enterprise sales cycles, vendor management, information security, and risk and regulatory requirements Six-month membership to 1871, including its resources and a roadmap for support Opportunities to attend industry events with various stakeholders, banking partners, regulators and trade groups Pitching feedback, mentorship, and strategic connections Exclusive alumni networking opportunities This year's program runs from May to August, including four immersive weeks of curriculum where founders gather in-person and/or virtually. The 2025 WMNfintech cohort will also have the opportunity to attend exclusive events across the U.S., including locations in New York City, Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas and San Francisco. The WMNfintech Impact Since launching in 2020, participating fintech startups from across the globe have created over 200 jobs and raised over $45 million in capital. "Empowering fintech startups isn't just the right thing to doit's a smart investment in the future of financial innovation. WMNfintech has built an incredible community of founders who are redefining what's possible in this industry," said Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871. "At 1871, we're committed to providing them with the resources, mentorship, and connections they need to scale. We're thrilled to continue our partnership with BMO to foster bold ideas and support the next generation of fintech leaders." To apply for the WMNfintech program by April 10, 2025, and learn more about the program, visit https://1871.com/membership/wmnfintech/. About BMO: BMO Financial Group is the eighth largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of $1.5 trillion as of January 31, 2025. Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets and investment banking products and services to 13 million customers across Canada, the United States, and in select markets globally. Driven by a single purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future, and inclusive society. About 1871: 1871, a nonprofit global innovation hub, exists to inspire, equip, and support early-stage, growth-stage, late-stage, and corporate innovators in building extraordinary businesses. 1871 is home to ~500 early-stage startups, ~250 growth and late-stage companies, and ~60 corporates, and is supported by an entire community focused on accelerating their growth and creating jobs in the Chicagoland area. The member experience includes virtual and in-person access to workshops, events, mentorship, and more. The nonprofit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, alongside access to more than 200 partner corporations, universities, education programs, accelerators, venture funds, and others. Since its inception in 2012, more than 1,050+ alum companies are still active, have created over 14,700 jobs, and have raised more than $3.7 billion in follow-on capital. SOURCE BMO US The Bezel Portfolio of Wine to be Available Nationwide Beginning in March 2025 NAPA VALLEY, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cakebread Cellars, one of Napa Valley's premier family-owned wineries, announced the nationwide launch of its new brand, Bezel, from California's Central Coast. Perfect for elevating everyday occasions, the latest innovation from the Cakebread family is available beginning in March. Bezel offers vibrant, fruit-forward wines that blend more than 50 years of the Cakebread family's winemaking expertise with the Central Coast region's unique terroirs. The new brand's portfolio includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc (available in select markets). "Bezel's national debut marks an expansion in Cakebread Cellar's commitment to making wines that are distinct and accessible," said Mike Jaeger, President and CEO of Cakebread Cellars. "This new venture not only broadens Cakebread's reach beyond Napa Valley, but also broadens the occasions we can serve, offering special wines for everyday moments." "Our family's story, inspired by our parents, Dolores and Jack Cakebread, has always centered on bringing people together through welcoming experiences and high-quality wines," said co-owners Bruce and Dennis Cakebread in a joint statement. "Bezel represents a continuation of this legacy, offering carefully crafted wines that pair best with friends and family. With its distinctive properties and lush vineyards, the Central Coast proved to be the perfect region to extend our family's winemaking outside of Napa, embracing it as our new home for Bezel." Bezel wines are meticulously blended to showcase the defining elements of the Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo Coast AVAs. These regions foster ideal conditions for bright fruit flavors and refreshing acidity, delivering wines that are as enjoyable as they are expressive. Winemaker Jane Dunkley brings extensive international experience to Bezel, having worked 25 harvests across Australia, Italy, Portugal and the U.S., focusing on the Central Coast. "The blend of sunny days and cool, ocean-driven nights on the Central Coast creates the ideal conditions for our grapes," said Jane Dunkley, winemaker of Bezel. "Bezel captures the vibrant, fresh flavors that define the region with fruit-forward wines that are full of life. Each bottle reflects the dynamic character and essence of Paso Robles, offering a lively and engaging experience." Rooted in the craftsmanship that has defined Cakebread Cellars, Bezel's namea nod to the intricate setting in jewelry that enhances a gem's luster and the precision and artistry in watchmakingreflects the brand's dedication to framing the region's vibrant and exceptional wines in each bottle. At its heart, Bezel is for those who seek wines that balance quality, style, and an approachable price point, making it the perfect choice for making every day, not so everyday. To learn more about Bezel and locate wines at retailers nationwide, visit www.BezelWines.com. About Bezel Bezel was founded in 2022 by the renowned Napa Valley winery Cakebread Cellars. With grapes grown in the California Central Coast AVAs most suited to each varietal, Bezel represents the latest example of the Cakebread family's 50-year commitment to quality winemaking and terroir expression. The name Bezel is a nod to craftsmanship, symbolizing the winemaking expertise the Cakebread family brings to their new Central Coast venture. Capturing the unique charm and quality of California's burgeoning wine regions, Bezel wines are made for impromptu get-togethers and lively nights in, offering bottles priced just right to make every day, not so everyday. About Cakebread Cellars Cakebread Cellars was founded in 1973 by Jack and Dolores Cakebread, whose sons, Bruce and Dennis, own the winery today. In its 50-year history, the family-owned winery has earned a reputation for its exceptional wines, leading-edge sustainability practices, and culinary excellence. Cakebread Cellars is the proud recipient of multiple sustainability awards, including the Napa Green Medal Award IWCA silver-level membership, along with several Great Places to Work awards. Its success is built on quality, consistency, and continuity not only in grape-growing and winemaking but in the dedicated people who create Cakebread Cellars' world-class wines. Best known for its Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir, the family's offerings include 18 wines in total, with nine distributed nationally and internationally. About Kobrand Corp. Founded in 1944, Kobrand Corporation remains one of the few family-owned wine and spirits companies in the United States. Kobrand's portfolio was meticulously selected according to a single, unerring principle: quality. This continued focus has made the Kobrand name synonymous with wines and spirits of the highest caliber for nearly 80 years. Kobrand is the exclusive agent for an outstanding selection of fine wines, spirits, and sakes from key regions around the world, including the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand. SOURCE Bezel NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Carr Workplaces is thrilled to announce the grand re-opening of its Central Park location at 745 Fifth Avenue, Suite 500. Located in the heart of Midtown Central, this newly refreshed space offers a perfect blend of Art Deco elegance and modern functionality. Designed by CSO Architects, this location provides a stylish, professional environment for businesses and individuals looking to thrive in one of New York City's most iconic settings. Carr Workplaces Announces the Grand Re-Opening of Central Park Location at 745 Fifth Avenue, Suite 500, New York, NY The Central Park location features a distinctive design that integrates geometric shapes, luxurious materials, and bold symmetry, creating an inspiring space that fosters both collaboration and productivity. With its sleek lines, metallic accents, and refined finishes, the center exudes sophistication, while a natural palette of earth tones, rich woods, black, and brass adds warmth and elegance. New arches and stone-look surfaces further enhance the space's overall aesthetic, providing a perfect backdrop for creative thinking. "We are thrilled to unveil our newly renovated Central Park location," said Margot Simioni, the new General Manager of Carr Workplaces Central Park. "This space is designed to meet the needs of today's professionals, combining functionality and style in an environment that inspires collaboration, creativity, and success." Key Features of the Central Park Workspace The Central Park location offers an array of modern amenities tailored to hybrid work and diverse professional needs, including: Newly Renovated Reception Area and Social Hub: A welcoming space designed for networking and collaboration. Prime Location: Just steps from Central Park, Fifth Avenue shopping, and dining options. 68 Private Offices: A variety of office sizes to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Central Park Views: Experience breathtaking views of Central Park right from your office. Versatile Meeting Rooms: State-of-the-art technology for team huddles or large conferences. Professional Piano Player: Enjoy live music in the welcoming lobby. Art Deco Building on Gold Coast Fifth Avenue: A landmark building with historical elegance. On-Site Notary: A valuable new on-site on-demand service. Amenities: 24/7 security, private conference rooms, business center, and high-speed Wi-Fi. "We are proud to offer a space that balances modern design with the warmth and glamour of the Art Deco era," said Laura Schellinger, principal at CSO Architects. "The Central Park location is designed to be a place where professionals can connect, collaborate, and focus on what matters most." Marie Albrecht, Senior Associate at CSO, added, "Nestled in the heart of one of the world's most vibrant cities, the newly reimagined Carr Workplaces Central Park location blends Art Deco opulence with modern workplace demands. Designed for professionals seeking both inspiration and function, it offers a refined atmosphere that supports focus, collaboration, and a connection to New York City's dynamic spirit." Meeting Room Options Carr Workplaces Central Park offers a range of flexible meeting room solutions, including spaces for smaller gatherings or larger presentations, all equipped with essential technology and available to both members and non-members. A Commitment to Excellence This new location aligns with Carr Workplaces' mission to deliver tailored solutions for businesses of all sizes. Whether you're a solo professional, a startup, or an established organization, the Central Park center offers a productive environment where businesses thrive. Community Center Club Membership Benefits Members of Carr Workplaces enjoy exclusive benefits, including discounted meeting room bookings and access to Carr Workplaces' nationwide network of locations. The Community Center Club app makes it easy for members to book meeting rooms and manage their workspace needs from anywhere. Learn More and Schedule a Tour Discover how Carr Workplaces can elevate your business. Schedule a tour or explore more details at carrworkplaces.com/central-park or contact us at (646) 849-4038. The Central Park location is now open and accepting new members. Take the next step in redefining your workspace and see how Carr Workplaces can help your business thrive. About Carr Workplaces Carr Workplaces is a premier provider of flexible office solutions, offering fully serviced workspaces, meeting rooms, and virtual office services across the United States. With a commitment to fostering community and productivity, Carr Workplaces delivers high-touch support and modern amenities tailored to professionals, entrepreneurs, and enterprises. With prime locations nationwide and a focus on hospitality-driven service, Carr Workplaces empowers businesses to focus on what matters most: growth and success. Learn more at www.carrworkplaces.com. About CSO Architects CSO Architects is a nationally recognized design firm specializing in creating innovative, human-centric spaces that enhance functionality and inspire creativity. Known for their attention to detail and sustainable design practices, the firm has a rich portfolio of projects spanning corporate, residential, and commercial spaces. SOURCE Carr Workplaces NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chaos Labs today announced the preview of Chaos AI , the first AI-powered crypto researcher. Designed with deep domain expertise and powered by proprietary crypto data, Chaos AI provides everyday users with instant, institutional-grade insights through a natural language chat interface. Who is Chaos AI for: Investors: Make decisions like the most sophisticated traders in the world Researchers: Turbocharge productivity with Deep Research Developers: Build smarter DeFi applications with verified, risk-informed data Reserve your spot for EARLY ACCESS: https://chaoslabs.xyz/ai/signup Chaos AI is the latest innovation from Chaos Labs, the trusted leader in risk intelligence with more than $200 billion assets secured. Built by quant researchers, former hedge fund analysts, and top machine learning engineers, Chaos AI not only democratizes access to the most valuable financial data but is programmed with day-to-day decision-making processes of investors, traders, and analysts. The Chaos Labs team has long leveraged AI-powered research for its internal Agent-Based Monte Carlo simulation platform, generating deep insights that help protocols and exchanges navigate volatility and assess market risks. Building on this success, Chaos Labs is now launching Chaos AI to bring next-gen financial intelligence tools to everybody. Rather than giving raw market data and esoteric reports, Chaos AI is a precision-driven answers engine that presents insights in structured, intuitive formats such as interactive charts, videos, and dynamic visuals that users can easily understand, refine, and customize. "The launch of Chaos AI reflects our ongoing commitment to make markets safer and more accessible," said Omer Goldberg, CEO and Founder of Chaos Labs. "As the world's economy moves onchain, financial intelligence must evolve with it no longer concentrated among the elites, but decentralized, transparent, and accessible to all. We look forward to shaping this new era of financial intelligence together with the entire community." Chaos AI is intentionally open source, allowing anyone to contribute, refine, and expand its capabilities. By making Chaos AI's agent toolkits publicly available, Chaos Labs enables developers and protocols to integrate their own datasets and build specialized AI agents to analyze specific ecosystems. Learn more about our Artificial Financial Intelligence (AFI) initiative here . About Chaos Labs Chaos Labs builds technology that makes markets safer and more accessible. Its risk management systems, oracles, and AI models secure hundreds of billions in value across leading protocols while democratizing access to institutional-grade financial tools. Since its founding in 2021, Chaos Labs has set the industry standard for onchain risk management. Its Edge Oracles are the only infrastructure product to provide real-time price, risk, and proof of reserves data. Chaos AI transforms complex market data into clear, actionable intelligence using years of proprietary data typically only accessible to large institutions. Backed by top venture firms, Chaos Labs currently secures more than $200 billion in assets across dozens of protocols. Through its product suite, Chaos is leading a new generation of financial tools that turn sophisticated market intelligence into a universal resource. SOURCE Chaos Labs, Inc. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) records the intensification of Russian special services in the information space of Ukraine with the involvement of propagandists, bloggers and so-called experts. "These individuals create and distribute anti-Ukrainian content, which the enemy is then trying to 'disperse' in social networks and controlled media, mainly through bot farms," the SBU reported on its Telegram channel on Thursday. In particular, as the Ukrainian special service noted, among the theses being distributed are the following: "rehearsing the Kremlin's narratives about the war in Ukraine; accents aimed at violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our state; information campaigns against the military-political leadership of Ukraine; theses about the 'loss of subjectivity' during negotiations in the international arena." In addition, it is about the spread of decadent sentiments, covered under supposedly neutral expert assessments, which actually work in the interests of Moscow. "The introduction and discussion of these narratives within our state are part of the Russian strategy. And the enemy's attempts are aimed at destabilizing the socio-political situation in Ukraine, reducing the level of international support, creating the illusion of protest sentiments and distorting data about the situation on the front," the department emphasizes. The SBU recalls that such actions in favor of the aggressor state contain signs of criminal offenses and fall under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. "In particular, they can be classified as high treason committed in wartime. And the punishment for this type of crime can be life imprisonment," the SBU specifies. According to the report, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the SBU, as part of countering Russian information aggression, has opened almost 2,500 criminal proceedings against Internet agitators who spread anti-Ukrainian content. In these cases, more than 1,700 people have been reported under various articles of the Criminal Code. Currently, more than 800 court verdicts have already entered into force. In particular, this mass also includes 162 criminal proceedings, in which 62 propagandists and media workers were reported suspicion. Of these, 16 are suspected under Article 111 of the Criminal Code (high treason). The courts have already issued 10 guilty verdicts specifically against propagandists and media workers. "The Security Service constantly monitors the information space, neutralizes cases of the spread of pro-Russian propaganda and regularly brings the persons involved to justice," the report states. The SBU calls on citizens to be vigilant: to observe information hygiene, not to participate in the spread of Russian narratives, and not to respond to hostile provocations and informational attacks. This June in Hong Kong, cloud native enthusiasts from across Asia and around the world will convene to move forward cloud native, open source, and AI technologies HONG KONG, March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), which builds sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software, today announced the schedule for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025 . The conference will take place in Hong Kong from 1011 June, 2025, and will feature over 65 sessions, including 11 maintainer track sessions. Following the success of previous conferences, KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025 will continue to serve as a hub for cloud native and open source practitioners, fostering collaboration among key industry leaders, project maintainers, and end users. The event will provide deep technical content covering Kubernetes, cloud native architectures, artificial intelligence, and the open source ecosystem. The conference will feature over 65 sessions, including 11 maintainer track sessions. Post this Representatives from organizations across Asia, including Alibaba Cloud, ByteDance, DaoCloud, Huawei, and OPPO, will cover critical topics in cloud native computing, open source innovation, and AI development. Maintainers and end users of CNCF-hosted projects will share deep dives into their technologies and discuss real-world impacts. "China's cloud native and open source ecosystem is growing at an incredible pace, with groundbreaking innovations emerging every year," said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of CNCF. "KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025 is an opportunity for developers, maintainers, and industry leaders to come together, exchange ideas, and build the future of cloud native technology. We are excited to host this event in Hong Kong, fostering collaboration across open source, AI, and cloud native communities." Led by program co-chairs Vivian Hu, product manager at Second State, and Roby Chen, founder and CEO of DaoCloud, more than 50 members of the program committee reviewed over 571 submissions to curate a compelling lineup. The schedule offers relevant and educational content for attendees of all experience levels, with sessions presented in English and Chinese; captioning will be available if translation is needed. The community-curated schedule for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025 will feature sessions including: Registration Registration includes access to all sessions at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025. Discounted rates are available for students, academics, and non-profit attendees. Diversity, Maintainer, and Need-Based Scholarships CNCF's scholarship program for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025 provides assistance to individuals who may not otherwise have the opportunity to attend. A travel fund is also available to help ensure accessibility for all. Travel Funding Scholarship applications are due by 13 April, 2025, at 11:59 PM PT/ 2:59 PM HKT. Complimentary Registration Scholarship applications are due by 4 May, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT / 2:59 PM HKT. Thank You, Sponsors KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China 2025 is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors . Sponsorships are still available until 18 April, 2025. Press Members of the press interested in attending can request a press pass by contacting [email protected] . Additional Resources About Cloud Native Computing Foundation Cloud native computing empowers organizations to build and run scalable applications with an open source software stack in public, private, and hybrid clouds. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) hosts critical components of the global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy. CNCF brings together the industry's top developers, end users, and vendors and runs the largest open source developer conferences in the world. Supported by more than 800 members, including the world's largest cloud computing and software companies, as well as over 200 innovative startups, CNCF is part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation. For more information, please visit www.cncf.io . The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, see our trademark usage page . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Media Contact Kaitlin Thornhill The Linux Foundation [email protected] SOURCE Cloud Native Computing Foundation Texas community college increases crucial mental health support for students NATICK, Mass., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Coastal Bend College (CBC) has announced a strategic partnership with Uwill, the leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students, to strengthen the college's counseling offerings and provide students with immediate, flexible support, becoming the ninth Texas school to partner with Uwill. This collaboration enhances Cougar Care, CBC's holistic student support initiative, by expanding access to licensed mental health professionals, crisis support, and wellness programming tailored to students' unique needs. Uwill's proprietary technology facilitates immediate appointments with licensed mental health counselors based on student needs and preferences, and offers students a direct connection to a licensed therapist trained in trauma. "At Coastal Bend College, we recognize that student success is about more than academics - it is about ensuring students have the support they need in every aspect of their lives," said Dr. Justin Hoggard, President of Coastal Bend College. "Through Cougar Care and our partnership with Uwill, we are committed to making mental health support more accessible." Recent survey data shows that 90% of adults believe the country is facing a mental health crisis, and 42% of college students have expressed the need for help with mental health difficulties in the past year. Moreover, in Texas, over 30% of adults who reported needing counseling or therapy did not receive it, as compared to the U.S. average of 28.2%, according to recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) data . Coastal Bend College continues to prioritize student well-being by integrating innovative mental health solutions with existing resources through Cougar Care. By combining Uwill's mental health offerings with Cougar Care's wraparound support; including food resources, emergency aid, transportation, and caregiving; CBC ensures students have the comprehensive support they need to overcome challenges and achieve success. "Mental health challenges are often a hidden barrier to student success, and schools who prioritize mental health empower students to not only succeed academically, but also build resilience that will carry them far beyond graduation," said Michael London, Founder and CEO of Uwill. "We are honored to both assist CBC students and vastly increase our foothold in Texas, providing Texas students with much needed support. We know with the combination of Cougar Care and Uwill, students will have the support they need to thrive." Utilizing its proprietary technology and counselor team, Uwill pioneered the first student and therapist matching platform. The solution offers an immediate appointment with a licensed counselor based on student preferences, all modalities of teletherapy, a direct crisis connection, wellness programming, realtime data, and support. Uwill serves more than 3 million students from all 50 states at institutions including Baylor University, Bergen Community College, Columbus State Community College, and Our Lady of the Lake University. About Uwill: Uwill is the leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students, and the 27th fastest growing private company in the nation according to the Inc. 5000. As the most cost-effective way to enhance a college's mental health offering, Uwill partners with more than 400 institutions, including Northeastern University, the Ohio State University, Princeton University, Santa Fe Community College, and University of Alabama - Online. Uwill is also the teletherapy education partner for NASPA and the Online Learning Consortium. For more information, visit uwill.com. For more information on Cougar Care, visit coastalbend.edu/student_success_engagement/cougar_care Contact: Brett Silk [email protected] SOURCE Uwill, Inc LIBREVILLE, Gabon, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 28, 2025, the President of the Transition, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, officially commissioned Karpowership's floating power plants in the municipality of Owendo. This strategic initiative marks a significant milestone in strengthening Gabon's energy supply, reducing recurring power outages, and supporting the country's economic development. Karpowerships Powerships in Gabon (PRNewsfoto/Karpowership) This initiative is part of a broader effort to stabilize electricity supply and ensure reliable service for the people of Gabon, especially in a context where frequent power cuts hinder daily life and economic growth. A Strategic Partnership for Energy Sovereignty Karpowership, the world leader in floating power plants -Powerships -, was selected to contribute to this ambitious project. Ali Hjaiej, Vice President of Karpowership Group, emphasized the importance of this collaboration: "Energy is one of the fundamental pillars of a nation. It embodies both sovereignty and security. We are honored by the opportunity Gabon has given us to contribute to this mission and its success." He also expressed his gratitude to the Gabonese authorities for their trust: "I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and thanks to the Head of State, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, and his entire team for their unwavering dedication and commitment that made this project a reality." The commissioning of these Powerships is also a first step toward broader energy diversification and reducing inequalities in energy access, particularly in rural and remote areas. Cutting-Edge Technology for Sustainable Energy Technological innovation lies at the heart of Karpowership's solution. Equipped with the latest advancements in power generation, these Powerships provide Gabon with a flexible infrastructure capable of delivering stable electricity tailored to the country's needs. The Powerships integrate advanced energy conversion and optimization systems, ensuring higher efficiency and significantly reducing losses. A Key Step in Modernizing Gabon's Energy Sector The launch ceremony brought together several high-ranking officials, including the Vice President of the Transition, Mr. Joseph Owondault Berre, the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Seraphin Akure-Davin, the Interim Administrator of the Gabon Energy and Water Company (SEEG), Mr. Steeve Saurel Legnongo, the General Manager of Karpowership Gabon, and the Ambassador of Turkey to Gabon, Mr. Can Incesu. Together, they welcomed this milestone in the modernization of Gabon's energy sector and its positive impact on the daily lives of Gabonese citizens. This ambitious project demonstrates the Gabonese government's commitment to ensuring stable and high-quality energy access, a crucial factor for the country's economic and social development. The partnership between Gabon and Karpowership serves as a model for public-private collaboration in the energy sector, aligning with Gabon's commitments to sustainability and energy transition. Karpowership is a global energy company with over 25 years of experience in developing innovative power solutions. Through its investments and expertise in floating infrastructures, renewable energy, and land-based power plants, the company provides integrated energy solutions, delivering fast, reliable, and affordable electricity while contributing to the energy mix of its partners. Karpowership owns, operates, and builds the world's only fleet of Powerships, generating electricity in 16 countries across four continents with a total installed capacity exceeding 7,500 MW. The company provides immediate access to sustainable electricity through its unique, ready-to-deploy Powerships. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640424/Karpowership.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2404491/Karpowership_Logo.jpg SOURCE Karpowership A new database of 334 tools, services, and platforms deployed in the public interest by nonprofits to secure networks and empower and increase resilience of Internet users. LONDON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Common Good Cyber celebrated its first anniversary yesterday in London with the event Bridging the Gap: Delivering Cybersecurity to High-Risk Actors 1, opened by Andrew Whittaker, Head of Cyber Policy Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) with a keynote speech by Jonathan Allen, Director General, Defence and Intelligence, FCDO. Bridging the Gap (FCDO + Common Good Cyber) Cyberattacks disrupt operations, leading to financial losses (e.g., reduced donations, halted services) and human consequences 2(e.g. fraud, abuse, trauma). More than 10 million NGOs worldwide face cybersecurity threats, yet current support structures only reach a fraction of them. This event focused on support for high-risk actors like journalists, activists, and rights defenders, understanding and addressing gaps in cybersecurity resources, and supporting the cybersecurity nonprofits that provide those resources. With support from the UK FCDO and the European Union Institute for Security Studies, Common Good Cyber reviewed the cybersecurity tools, services, and platforms deployed in the public interest to secure networks, empower Internet users, and increase resilience across sectors. The result is a Common Good Cyber Mapping Database , 3 which so far categorizes 334 public interest-driven cybersecurity tools, services, and platforms organized in six groups: Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. These initiatives form a vital layer of defense for the broader digital commons, and yet their maintenance and deployment is disproportionately distributed among nonprofits, individuals, and volunteers with limited resources and budgets. At the event, participants discussed the need for multi-year, unrestricted funding, as organizations currently spend up to 30% of their budgets on securing funding instead of focusing on their mission. "Organizations and people must navigate an increasingly dangerous digital landscape. Security should be fundamental and available to everyone like safe drinking water, but instead digital security is a daily struggle, managed by people and at-risk actors with help from resources provided by nonprofits with limited means themselves. Common Good Cyber is committed to changing thisimproving security and resilience for everyone and supporting the cybersecurity-focused nonprofits that protect us all," said Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance, which formed the Common Good Cyber initiative. Attendees, including policymakers, were encouraged to take the message back to their governments and advocate for better, long-term funding for cybersecurity nonprofits. Common Good Cyber aims to establish a joint funding mechanism for nonprofit organizations that aim to protect high-risk actors and the public by March 2026. About Global Cyber Alliance The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) is an international nonprofit organization working with communities to improve the Internet and help people and organizations be more secure online. It achieves this in three ways: working with communities; engaging infrastructure owners and operators; and driving ecosystem engagement for collective action on cybersecurity. GCA is a 501(c)(3) in the U.S. and a nonprofit in the U.K. and Belgium. MEDIA CONTACTS Marina Calvo, Director of Global Strategic Communications, and Megan Kruse, Senior Communications Director can be reached via [email protected] Ronjini Joshua 9492959779 [email protected] SOURCE Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) Top Construction Companies Convene for Inaugural CEO Council Meeting RESTON, Va., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Top executives from America's largest construction companies and unions hosted the inaugural CEO Advisory Council meeting focused on preventing suicides in the construction industry. Members of the CEO Advisory Council gathered to evaluate current initiatives, discuss industry-wide strategies, and establish goals to lower suicide rates and improve mental health across the construction industry. The meeting was hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and executives attended from Bechtel, Fluor, Turner Construction, North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU), Kiewit, Clark Construction, and Skanska. Members of the CEO Advisory Council gathered at the AFSP headquarters in New York City for their inaugural meeting. In October 2024, Bechtel formed the CEO Advisory Council as part of its $7 million, five-year commitment to AFSP the largest pledge in AFSP's history and the largest single donation from the Bechtel Group Foundation. "As leaders, it's our shared responsibility to help the construction professionals building our country get the resources and support they need to thrive," said Brendan Bechtel, Bechtel Chairman and CEO. "The high rate of suicide in the construction community demands that we find new and better solutions that prioritize mental health as much as we do physical safety. The partnership between CEOs from some of the industry's biggest and best companies, along with AFSP, will help us all achieve this goal faster and more effectively." The inaugural CEO Advisory Council meeting served as a key moment to reflect on the partnership's first year and chart a course for the future. The council set clear goals for collaboration and outlined next steps to drive progress in reducing suicide rates within the construction industry. In the near term, efforts will focus on evaluating the impact of current initiatives and developing targeted education and support programs to address challenges such as cultural and communication barriers and resource gaps. Together, the group represents more than 3 million construction and union workers across the U.S. This effort will bring resources and support to them but it won't stop there. It also aims to reach construction workers and companies of all sizes nationwide. CEO Advisory Council members also shared their perspectives, emphasizing the industry's commitment to addressing mental health challenges and creating meaningful change. "Through our commitment to innovation, safety and productivity, DEWALT has been supporting the needs of professional tradespeople around the world since 1924," said Don Allan Jr., President and CEO, Stanley Black & Decker. "Today, 100 years later, DEWALT remains committed to this mission our DEWALT Grow the Trades program carries forth this legacy and represents our $30 million commitment to support initiatives and programs for current and future skilled workers, including engagements that will bring experts in public and private partnerships together to help address the mental health issues impacting tradespeople. Together, in partnership with the Advisory Council, we are committed to identifying solutions and prevention strategies to support the construction industry." "Over the last several years and on an annual basis, Fluor's global project sites and offices participate in STAND Up for Suicide Prevention Week to raise awareness about the suicide crisis in the construction industry," said David Constable, Chairman and CEO, Fluor. "In addition, Fluor leaders receive Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health First Aid. The course teaches individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide and the process for referring a person to get the help they need. Fluor also deploys site specific programs to engage front line workers and supervisors in discussions about mental health awareness. Emphasizing a culture of care and prevention, Fluor supports employees' and subcontractors' holistic wellbeing and encourages open conversations about mental health." "We are committed to creating and sustaining the right environment where people can be at their best, be authentic, and are treated with respect and dignity," said Peter Davoren, Chairman and CEO, Turner Construction Company. "We want to eliminate hate and bias in all its forms. We actively care about the people we welcome onto our projects so that they may feel extraordinary. Through industry-wide collaboration, we can accelerate progress in providing the resources needed to help workers recognize and respond to mental health challenges. Together, we will create a safer and healthier future for all." "As a leader in suicide prevention, AFSP is well positioned to work alongside the construction community on this initiative to prioritize mental health in the workplace. Although the industry has experienced a higher rate of suicide, we know through research that there are effective educational strategies and sound interventions that can curb this trend," said Robert Gebbia, AFSP CEO. "With the support of Bechtel, and commitment from other leading and dynamic industry leaders, we know we can make mental health on job sites as important as physical safety and we are going to pave the way forward together to support construction workers now and in the future." "In coming together, we are determined to raise awareness, destigmatize mental health challenges and drive meaningful change in our industry," said Richard Kennedy, President and CEO, Skanska USA. "There is a significant opportunity in our industry to make sure our people and their families have access to the support and services they need to successfully manage their mental and emotional well-being," said Rick Lanoha, President and CEO, Kiewit. "Kiewit is pleased to continue in this important collective effort and pursue real, impactful ways to address this crucial issue so that everyone in our industry is better for it." "The well-being of our workforce is at the core of everything NABTU does, and NABTU is honored to serve on this CEO Advisory Council to better address the unique risks in our industry and develop comprehensive solutions that protect our workforce," said Sean McGarvey, NABTU President. "We thank Brendan Bechtel for his leadership in putting this together. The construction industry has long prioritized occupational safety and health, but we are now placing equal emphasis on mental health. Addressing the crisis of suicide in construction requires taking critical steps together as an industry to ensure that every worker has access to the resources, education, and support they need. Together, we will build a culture that fosters mental well-being and saves lives." "Addressing mental health challenges is vital to ensuring the well-being of the talented men and women who serve as the foundation of our industry," said Robert D. Moser, Jr., CEO, Clark Construction. "Clark is honored to join with our peers in breaking down the stigma around mental health and advancing this critical work raising awareness, providing education, and equipping our people and industry with the resources to foster a culture where mental health is prioritized just as much as physical safety." "The numbers show why this matters. The suicide rate in construction is more than double the national average across industries. In fact, the suicide fatality is more than five times the rate of workplace fatalities. Our focus on workplace safety needs to be applied to mental health," said George Pfeffer, CEO, DPR Construction. "Construction is seen as a tough industry, but we're all just people at the end of the day, and sometimes we need extra help and support. This council is about tackling an issue that has been overlooked for too long." Learn more about this initiative and how to get involved at Confronting Suicide in the Construction Industry | Bechtel . About the CEO Council Backed by the largest financial pledge in history to the AFSP, this initiative aims to develop research-based programs tailored to the construction industry, with a goal of reaching 500,000 U.S. workers over the next five years. The CEO Advisory Council will meet quarterly to evaluate current programs, address gaps, and create new initiatives focused on training, awareness, and expanding mental health resources for construction professionals. About AFSP The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide, including those who have experienced a loss. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through public education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, with a public policy office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. As a reminder, suicide is a public health matter and most often a result of a mental health condition in combination with other risk factors. How we talk about suicide in the media can negatively or positively influence the health outcomes of those who are vulnerable to suicide. To reduce the risk of suicide contagion we encourage journalists to follow guidelines for reporting on suicide: www.afsp.org/safereporting. About Bechtel Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers' objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place. Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Manufacturing & Technology; Mining & Metals; and Nuclear, Security & Environmental markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations. www.bechtel.com Media Contact Ashley Accardo, Bechtel [email protected] Maria Corral, AFSP [email protected] SOURCE Bechtel FORT COLLINS, Colo. and AURORA, Colo., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiso, the globally renowned retail chain known for offering affordable and unique products, is excited to announce the grand opening of its first two stores in Colorado. The new stores will open on March 15th and March 22nd, 2025, marking a milestone in the brand's expansion. The first Colorado location will open in Fort Collins at Pavilion Shopping Center. The second store will open in Aurora at Village on the Park. "We are beyond excited to bring Daiso to Colorado for the first time," said Jack Williams, Chief Retail Operations Officer for Daiso USA. "Both Fort Collins and Aurora are fantastic communities, and we've seen growing demand for our distinctive and value-driven offerings. We can't wait to introduce our brand to these new customers." Each store will feature Daiso's signature fun, treasure-hunt shopping experience, offering a wide range of products including home decor, kitchenware, beauty products, stationery, Japanese snacks, and more. Known for its unbeatable prices, Daiso has become a favorite among savvy shoppers. "We've been receiving tremendous interest from customers in Colorado, and we're eager to offer them the Daiso experience," said John Clarke, Chief Development Officer for Daiso USA. "These two locations are just the beginning of our expansion in 2025. We're excited to introduce more customers to our special and budget-friendly items." To celebrate the grand openings, Daiso will offer special promotions. The first 100 customers at each location on both Saturday and Sunday who make a minimum purchase of $30 will receive a special Daiso goodie bag as a thank-you for their support. A coupon promotion will also be available all weekend long. The Fort Collins store will open on March 15th and the Aurora store will follow on March 22nd. Store hours will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Store Locations: Pavilion Shopping Center : 4300 S College Ave, Suite 18, Fort Collins, CO 80525 : 4300 S College Ave, Suite 18, 80525 Village on the Park: 2353 S Havana St #D16, Aurora, CO 80014 About Daiso: Daiso is a global retail chain founded in Japan, offering a wide selection of affordable, high-quality products. Daiso entered the U.S. market in 2005 and has since expanded across the country. The company's U.S. headquarters is located in Anaheim, CA. SOURCE Daiso USA ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiso, the globally recognized retail chain known for offering affordable and unique products, is excited to announce the grand opening of its latest store in Aliso Viejo, California, on March 15th, 2025. Located at The Commons at Aliso Viejo, this store marks a significant milestone in Daiso's U.S. expansion. "We are thrilled to open our new store in Aliso Viejo," said Jack Williams, Chief Retail Operations Officer for Daiso USA. "This milestone reflects the continued support of our customers, and we're excited to introduce Daiso's budget-friendly offerings to the Aliso Viejo community. We invite everyone to Discover Daiso and explore the variety of products we offer." The new Daiso store, located at The Commons at Aliso Viejo, spans 8,503 square feet and features a wide selection of products across multiple categories. Customers can find everything from Japanese-inspired home decor and kitchenware to beauty products, stationery, and snacks. Daiso's commitment to providing affordable and unique merchandise has made it a go-to destination for shoppers seeking unique items at great prices. "Thanks to the enthusiasm of our loyal customers, we're excited to expand in Southern Orange County," said John Clarke, Chief Development Officer for Daiso USA. "We continue to see growing demand in the region, and we're proud to be opening more stores in 2025. With 180 stores now operating across the U.S., we're excited to serve new communities and bring the Daiso experience to even more customers." To celebrate the grand opening, Daiso will offer exclusive promotions at The Commons at Aliso Viejo location. On March 15th and March 16th, the first 100 customers who make a minimum purchase of $30 will receive a special Daiso goodie bag as a thank-you for their support. The new store will be located at: 26517 Aliso Creek Rd, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 Store hours will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Daiso invites customers to visit, explore the latest offerings, and find new favorites. About Daiso: Daiso is a global retail chain founded in Japan, known for its wide selection of unique and affordable products across categories such as household goods, stationery, beauty, and more. Daiso entered the U.S. market in 2005 and has expanded into multiple states. The company's U.S. headquarters is in Anaheim, CA. SOURCE Daiso USA "DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol takes pride in providing a memorable travel experience for visitors and this highly-anticipated transformation will allow guests extra comfort after a day exploring Austin," said Stephen Drew, general manager, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol. "The property's reimagination further demonstrates our commitment to guest satisfaction and alignment with the standards of this award-leading brand." Owned by RLJ Lodging Trust and managed by Hilton, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol offers a selection of fully renovated spacious suites featuring a living area with sofa bed, dining area and separate bedroom. Designed with extended stays in mind, these suites include unique kitchenettes with stovetops complete with plateware, a microwave, refrigerator, sink, and coffee station. All 195 bedrooms embody subtle Western tradition with textured brown leather headboards, warm accent lighting from modern bedside glass sconces, a coveted Sweet Dreams Bed and crisp, smooth linens for superior comfort. Each suite living room features a prominent Texas Longhorn artwork frame as a signature design element and deep emerald velvet sofa complemented by rustic textured pillows that offer a relaxing environment. Six renovated flexible meeting rooms, totaling over 5,000 square feet of event space, include state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment and are named after Texas icons and citiesBluebonnet, Longhorn, Houston, Austin, Travis, and Lonestarare available for weddings, corporate functions, and private events of various sizes. The hotel's restaurant, ATX BARREL + BITES, complements the hotel's interior by offering a modern and comfortable setting with large windows that allow for natural daylight and views of the bustling downtown city streets. The full-service restaurant serves up a decadent menu with an American and Southwestern twist, while its lounge and bar provides a relaxed yet sophisticated atmosphere for handcrafted cocktails, a curated selection of beer and wine, and delectable small bites. Open daily, ATX BARREL + BITES is the perfect place to savor great food and drink in the heart of downtown Austin. Whether traveling for business or leisure, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol guarantees each guest a warm welcome wherever their trip takes them. Guests receive a DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie at check-in with their choice of an allergy-friendly soft baked or original chocolate chip cookie, a hallmark of the brand's warm and hospitable service. In celebration of the renovation, the hotel is offering 5,000 Hilton Honors bonus points for a minimum three-night stay for any new bookings made directly through the hotel website with stays between March 4 and August 31, 2025. Terms and conditions apply. DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol is part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest loyalty program for Hilton's 24 world-class brands. The hotel is located at 303 W. 15th St, Austin, TX 78701. For more information or to make reservations, please visit DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol or call +1 (512) 478-7000. Read more about DoubleTree by Hilton at Stories from Hilton. SOURCE DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown Capitol Nashville-focused campaign earns prestigious award, showcasing Fink's dedication to local engagement and exceptional service NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fink's Jewelers , a family-owned and operated company since 1930 and one of America's "Top 50" jewelers, is celebrating the Emmy win for its "Make You Dance" marketing campaign , a testament to the brand's commitment to community engagement and exceptional customer service. The award, presented by the Nashville/Midsouth Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), recognizes the outstanding work of The Loudr Agency , Fink's agency of record, and specifically honors Dewey Taylor (Director) and Emelia Appelmann (Producer) for their creative leadership. Fink's Jewelers - Timepiece Tussle Emmy award for "Make You Dance" campaign The Emmy-winning campaign, "Make You Dance," was produced entirely in Nashville, utilizing local talent and crew, including Director of Photography Joshua Ausley, Steadicam operator Tim Yoder, 1st AC Austin J. Lewis, Gaffer Darryl Wilson, choreographers Solace & Richy Mon, and the dancers of FreshTalent Group. This localized approach underscores Fink's dedication to connecting with each community it serves, a cornerstone of the brand's philosophy. "This Emmy win is a reflection of our deep commitment to understanding and engaging with our customers on a personal level," said Lindsey Sinozich, Marketing Director at Fink's Jewelers. "We strive to create experiences that resonate with the unique spirit of each community we're a part of, and Nashville was no exception. By working with local talent and highlighting the vibrant energy of the city, we were able to create a campaign that truly captured the essence of our brand and connected with our audience." The "Make You Dance" campaign , conceived and executed by The Loudr Agency, aimed to magnetize Fink's, connect with the right audience at the right time, and make every piece of jewelry come alive through movement, emotion, and multi-touchpoint storytelling. The campaign successfully positioned Fink's as a dynamic force in the Nashville market, aligning with the brand's recent expansion into Franklin, TN. "From our first store in Roanoke, Virginia, to our numerous locations throughout Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, Fink's has always prioritized customer service and community engagement," said Matthew Fink, President of Fink's Jewelers. "This Emmy win validates our approach and inspires us to continue elevating our service offerings and deepening our connections with the communities we serve. As we grow, we remain dedicated to providing the same quality, service, and selection that has defined our brand for over 90 years." Fink's Jewelers, known for its expansive collection of fine jewelry, Swiss timepieces, and hand-selected diamonds with the "Superior Quality" trademark, continues to stand strong behind its traditions while embracing innovation. The brand's commitment to excellence and its ability to connect with customers on a personal level has solidified its position as one of America's leading jewelers. About Fink's Jewelers: Founded in 1930, Fink's Jewelers is a family-owned and operated company with locations throughout Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. As one of America's "Top 50" jewelers, Fink's offers an extensive selection of fine jewelry, Swiss timepieces, and hand-selected diamonds. Committed to exceptional customer service and community engagement, Fink's Jewelers continues to uphold its legacy of quality and excellence. Contact: Lindsey Sinozich [email protected] Marketing Director Fink's Jewelers SOURCE Fink's Jewelers Sixteenth annual Smart Energy Summit research event features keynotes from NRG, Savant, Southern Company, and Renew Home DALLAS, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Parks Associates' new research shows 42% of US internet households indicate an electricity provider/utility as their preferred provider to deliver an app to monitor their energy usage. The international research firm will host its 16th annual Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, co-located at DISTRIBUTECH on March 25-26 in Dallas, TX, featuring keynotes from NRG, Savant, Southern Company, and Renew Home. Energy and smart home industry players will address how utilities can enhance customer engagement, optimize grid reliability, and drive adoption of energy management programs. Parks Associates: Preferred Provider for Energy Usage Monitoring and Optimization App Parks Associates' latest research study of 8,000 US internet households, Smarter Energy at Home: Intelligence, Coordination, Services, shows continued demand for information and products that help reduce energy usage at home. Study highlights: 61% of households report electricity costs are too high. Across segments, consumers feel their electricity costs are too high. 50% of consumers actively work to reduce energy consumption; 36% need help. Saving energy is a top three reason smart home device owners coordinate their devices into "routines." Electricity providers struggle with customer satisfaction, with an NPS of -25. Only 22% of smart thermostat owners currently participate in a demand response (DR) program. "The huge and fast expansion of data centers for cloud computing and AI is driving unprecedented demand for electricity, putting pressure on grid stability and resource management. The residential consumer market presents a key opportunity to enhance load flexibility and demand-side management," said Daniel Holcomb, Sr. Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "By leveraging smart home technologies, dynamic pricing models, and DR programs, utilities can shift and reduce peak energy consumption." Smart Energy Summit keynote speakers: Will Dillon , Savant , Savant Jeff Gleeson , Chief Product Officer, Renew Home , Chief Product Officer, Renew Home Robin Lanier , Managing Director, New Ventures, Southern Company , Managing Director, New Ventures, Southern Company Jim Nye , Chief Product Officer, NRG Consumer Featured sessions focus on DR participation, smart thermostats, and the future of home energy management: Smart Thermostats and Consumer Engagement: Enhancing Home Efficiency Energy Providers' Role in Demand Response: Strategies for Grid Stability The Future of Home Energy Management These sessions highlight the increasing importance of consumer-driven energy management and the role of smart technologies in creating a more efficient, responsive grid. Session Speakers: Kerri Carnes , Director, Customer to Grid Solutions, APS - Arizona Public Service , Director, Customer to Grid Solutions, APS - Arizona Public Service Christopher Freeman , Director, Connected Products Ecosystems, Rheem Manufacturing , Director, Connected Products Ecosystems, Rheem Manufacturing Jonathan Hastings , Director of Innovation, Solution Architect, Home and Distribution Division, Schneider Electric , Director of Innovation, Solution Architect, Home and Distribution Division, Schneider Electric Lon Huber , SVP, Pricing and Customer Solutions, Duke Energy Corporation , SVP, Pricing and Customer Solutions, Duke Energy Corporation Christopher LaPre, Head of Technology, Connectivity Standards Alliance Jarrod Maddox , Director, Product Development & Energy Innovations, TXU Energy , Director, Product Development & Energy Innovations, TXU Energy Meghan McConomy , VP, Consumer Brand Strategy, NRG , VP, Consumer Brand Strategy, NRG David Oberholzer , General Manager, Resideo Grid Services, Resideo , General Manager, Resideo Grid Services, Resideo Hrag Ohannessian , SVP, Global Sales, Home Automation, Security & Hospitality, Universal Electronics, Inc. , SVP, Global Sales, Home Automation, Security & Hospitality, Universal Electronics, Inc. Lisa Scott , Senior Manager, ecobee , Senior Manager, ecobee Gomathi Sadhasivan, VP, Energy Systems, DNV Paul Wezner , Chief Product and Customer Officer, Powerley Event sponsors include Schneider Electric, SkyBell, Universal Electronics, Savant, Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), LG NOVA, NRG, and the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative. Registration is through the DISTRIBUTECH Website. To request data or an interview, contact [email protected], 972-490-1113. About Smart Energy Summit The 16th annual Smart Energy Summit, co-located with DISTRIBUTECH and organized by Parks Associates, brings together leaders and innovators from the energy, smart home, and technology industries to explore the future of energy management, renewable energy adoption, and grid modernization. The summit provides a platform for industry professionals to engage in discussions, hear trending industry and consumer data, network and collaborate with peers. The 2025 summit is held March 2526 in Room D162/164 at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Center in Dallas and will focus on integrating smart energy solutions, leveraging AI and IoT for home energy management, and tackling the challenges of demand response and grid orchestration. Follow #SmartEnergy25 on Parks Associates' LinkedIn. For information on speaking, sponsoring, or attending Smart Energy Summit, visit www.smartenergysmt.com. Follow Parks Associates on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Media Contact: Mindi Sue Sternblitz-Rubenstein Parks Associates 972.490.1113 [email protected] SOURCE Parks Associates AI expected to accelerate self-driving tech 08:31, March 13, 2025 By Fan Feifei ( Chinadaily.com.cn A passenger gets off a Pony.ai robotaxi after reaching his destination point in Nansha district of Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, March 11, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua) The fast-evolving artificial intelligence technology is expected to spearhead an industrial revolution and expedite the development of China's autonomous and intelligent connected vehicles, as AI is emerging as a critical strategic opportunity for the automotive industry, said national lawmakers, political advisers and experts. As China is accelerating steps to advance the mass production and commercialization of self-driving vehicles, more efforts should be made to improve the regulations and standards for autonomous driving, speed up the construction of intelligent transportation infrastructure, and expand the testing and application for autonomous vehicles in a wider range of scenarios, they added. Their comments follow this year's Government Work Report, which stated that under the AI Plus initiative, China will support the extensive application of large-scale AI models and vigorously develop new-generation intelligent terminals and smart manufacturing equipment, including intelligent connected new energy vehicles. He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors, said a transformative AI era is approaching, and AI will accelerate the arrival of self-driving vehicles and even driverless vehicles. He emphasized that his company has continued to invest in AI and launched its self-developed AI-powered chips to enhance the intelligent driving capabilities of vehicles. The Xpeng CEO, who is also a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, said he believes that 2025 will mark a significant turning point in intelligent driving. With the continuous advancements and breakthroughs in core technologies such as algorithms, sensors, and computing platforms, it is appropriate to bolster the mass production of Level 3 autonomous driving technology, he added. Autonomous driving is categorized from Level 0 to Level 5. The higher the level, the more intelligent the technology and the lesser the involvement of humans. Level 3 refers to conditional automation, which allows vehicles to perform autonomous driving tasks under certain conditions. Such vehicles have "environmental detection" capabilities and can make some informed decisions, but are still subject to a human override. "Xpeng is planning to roll out its Level 3 capabilities in the second half of the year," He said, adding that by 2026, the company aims to explore Level 4 (high automation) capabilities, including fully driverless parking. Level 4 vehicles can intervene if there is a system failure and do not require human assistance in most circumstances. However, a manual override option is still available. Feng Xingya, chairman of automobile manufacturer GAC Group, said, "The advancements in AI technology are becoming the core driving force bolstering the development of intelligent connected vehicles, and the application of AI will help reshape the automotive industry." AI is reshaping the intelligent experience of automobiles from intelligent driving to human-machine interaction and driving the transformation of automobiles toward "intelligent terminals", said Feng, who is also a national lawmaker. Looking ahead, GAC will promote the iteration of advanced intelligent driving and AI models, while speeding up the application of AI in fields such as automobile research and development, manufacturing, and marketing, he added. While highlighting the significance of bolstering the commercialization of self-driving technology, Feng said that autonomous driving serves as the core technology of intelligent connected vehicles and a vital link in intelligent transportation. GAC is among the first carmakers to test Level 3 autonomous vehicles on public roads, and it plans to mass produce these vehicles this year. Feng suggested revising the Road Traffic Safety Law to clarify the liabilities concerning autonomous vehicles and accelerating the research and establishment of a specific law related to intelligent driving. China has introduced a series of policies to promote the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicles in recent years. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the country supports the commercial application of Level 3 and above autonomous driving systems. Over 50 cities nationwide have released autonomous driving pilot demonstration policies, and stepped up efforts to expand the application scenarios of self-driving technology. Wang Xianjin, vice-president and chief engineer of the China Academy of Transportation Sciences, said the testing and operation of self-driving vehicles has accelerated significantly in China, laying a good foundation for the commercialization of autonomous driving, a tech frontier in which all major economies are scrambling to establish a beachhead. Wang, who is also a national political adviser, called for efforts to speed up formulation and revision of policies and regulations supporting the commercial application of self-driving technology, and continuously expand the scale of pilot operations of autonomous vehicles in more cities. Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Corp and a national lawmaker, proposed establishing a national testing and verification system for autonomous vehicles. He stressed the need to accelerate the commercial mass production of self-driving vehicles, with the goal of supporting their use on highways, expressways, and urban roads by 2026. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) On the evening of March 12, Ukrainian long-range drones attacked a UAV production site in the village of Obukhovo, Dzerzhinsk district, Kaluga region, Russia. As sources in the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense told Interfax-Ukraine, the occupiers placed production lines for assembling drones in the workshops of the Kaluga Aerated Concrete plant. Local residents reported powerful explosions and a fire at the plant on social networks. Eyewitnesses managed to record and post videos of the hit and a strong fire on the territory of the plant on public forums. It is reported that due to the drone attack at the Kaluga airport, the Carpet plan was introduced, all flights were canceled from 21:00 on March 12 to 06:00 on March 13. On Thursday morning, the governor of Kaluga region confirmed a night drone attack on the region, hitting an industrial enterprise, a communications and energy infrastructure facility. AUSTIN, Texas, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR), the Texas Trucking Association (TXTA) and the Texas Food and Fuel Association (TFFA) released the following statement today upon Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's announcement of the second round of his top 40 priority bills for the 89th regular legislative session: "We applaud Lt. Gov. Patrick for prioritizing Texas businesses and the Texas families they serve by including Senate Bill (SB) 30 among his top 40 priority bills for the 2025 Texas Legislative Session. Members of the Lone Star Economic Alliance (LSEA) converged at the Texas State Capitol on March 11 to advocate for legislative reforms that will restore fairness and transparency to Texass legal system "SB 30 will play a critical role in curbing the 'nuclear verdicts' verdicts of $10 million or more that are increasing the cost of doing business in Texas and endangering the Texas economy, the eighth largest in the world. "The Lone Star Economic Alliance (LSEA) of which TLR, TXTA and TFFA serve as founding members, is advocating for reforms that will protect Texans from higher insurance costs; guarantee fair restitution for legitimate injuries; and create a legal environment that encourages medical providers to treat accident victims without fear of litigation abuse. "Additionally, we thank Lt. Gov. Patrick for including SB 39 among his priority bills. The legislation will make commercial motor vehicle collision lawsuits consistent with existing law, fair for plaintiffs and defendants, and uniform across the state. "We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature to pass and enact these critical reforms which will restore fairness to Texas's legal system." LSEA advocates for policies that ensure employers can continue to create jobs and safely provide the goods and services that are essential to Texas families. LSEA is comprised of nearly 150 business associations and 1,000 Texas job creators and individuals who share a common mission: to curtail the skyrocketing cost of doing business by exposing unfair litigation practices and their impact on the jobs and businesses that fuel our economy. Visit lseatx.com. ### TLR's mission is to foster freedom, innovation and job creation by advocating for a fair, efficient and predictable civil justice system staffed by competent and independent judges who apply the constitution and laws as written. Visit https://www.tortreform.com. Since 1932, TXTA has served as the unified voice for the trucking industry in Texas. TXTA is dedicated to advocating sound public policies, providing excellence in education, research, training and information as well as promoting a safe, dependable and efficient motor transportation system. The Texas Food & Fuel Association represents the retail and wholesale sectors of the oil and gas industry in Texas. Based in Austin, the association works to build consensus among industry professionals, local municipalities, state and federal governing agencies, elected officials, and others who have a vested interest in the petroleum marketing and convenience retail industries. SOURCE Texans for Lawsuit Reform TORONTO and CALGARY, AB, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - CGX Energy Inc. (TSXV: OYL) ("CGX") and Frontera Energy Corporation (TSX: FEC) ("Frontera") announced today that the joint venture (the "Joint Venture"), which was established through their respective subsidiaries in the Petroleum Agreement and the Petroleum Prospecting License for the Corentyne block offshore Guyana (the "License"), recently received a communication from the Government of Guyana informing the Joint Venture that: on the one hand, "The Government is of the view that the Petroleum Agreement and Prospecting Licence are at an end," but on the other hand, that the Government of Guyana "hereby terminates the Petroleum Agreement and cancels the Prospecting Licence with immediate effect." The Joint Venture remains firmly of the view that its interests in, and the License for, the Corentyne block remain in place and in good standing and that the Petroleum Agreement has not been terminated. The Joint Venture and its shareholders continue to invite the Government of Guyana to amicably resolve the issues affecting the Joint Venture's investments in the Corentyne block. Should the parties not reach a mutually agreeable solution, the Joint Venture and its shareholders are prepared to assert their legal rights. The Joint Venture looks forward to expeditiously resolving this matter and continuing its multi-year efforts and investments to realize value for the people of Guyana and its shareholders from the Corentyne block. About CGX CGX is a Canadian-based oil and gas exploration company focused on the exploration of oil in the Guyana-Suriname Basin and the development of a deep-water port in Berbice, Guyana. About Frontera Frontera Energy Corporation is a Canadian public company involved in the exploration, development, production, transportation, storage and sale of oil and natural gas in South America, including related investments in both upstream and midstream facilities. The Company has a diversified portfolio of assets with interests in 22 exploration and production blocks in Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana, and pipeline and port facilities in Colombia. Frontera is committed to conducting business safely and in a socially, environmentally and ethically responsible manner. If you would like to receive News Releases via email as soon as they are published, please subscribe here: http://fronteraenergy.mediaroom.com/subscribe Social Media Follow Frontera Energy social media channels at the following links: Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/fronteraenergy?lang=en Facebook: https://es-la.facebook.com/FronteraEnergy/ LinkedIn: https://co.linkedin.com/company/frontera-energy-corp . Advisories NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information relates to activities, events or developments that CGX and Frontera believe, expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, without limitation, statements relating to the Joint Venture and its shareholders asserting their legal rights and the Joint Venture's continuing efforts and investments in the Corentyne block. All information other than historical fact is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information reflects the current expectations, assumptions and beliefs of CGX and Frontera based on information currently available to them and considers the experience of the Joint Venture and its perception of historical trends. Although CGX and Frontera believe that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such information. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, some that are similar to other oil and gas companies and some that are unique to CGX and Frontera, including the ability of the Joint Venture to reach an agreement with the Government of Guyana or successfully assert its legal rights. No assurance can be given that either an agreement will be reached, or the successful asserting of its rights can be achieved. The actual results of the Joint Venture may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, either CGX or Frontera. The annual information form of Frontera for the year ended December 31, 2024, and CGX's and Frontera's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other documents each of CGX and Frontera files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities describe the risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and such factors are incorporated herein by reference. Copies of these documents are available without charge by referring to each company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. All forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, each of CGX and Frontera disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. SOURCE Frontera Energy Corporation Simplifying IND and BLA filings for cell therapy developers WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Gemini Bioproducts, LLC ("GeminiBio"), a biopharma and advanced therapy raw materials supplier, and a portfolio company of BelHealth Investment Partners, LLC ("BelHealth"), a Fort Lauderdale-based healthcare private equity firm, announced today the submission of a Drug Master File (DMF) to the US FDA in support of the company's cGMP grade human serum products. GeminiBio provides serum, customized media, buffers, and process liquids to biopharma and advanced therapy companies focused on the research and production of mRNA, AAV, monoclonal antibody, and cell therapy technologies. Human serum is a critical raw material supplement for cell therapy manufacturing and is used to support the expansion of human immune cells (e.g., T cells, NK cells, etc.) that form the backbone of the cell therapy industry. GeminiBio Submits Drug Master File (DMF) to FDA - Simplifying IND and BLA filings for cell therapy developers Post this With the filing of a DMF for GeminiBio's Human Serum with the FDA, GeminiBio has made it easier for cell therapy companies to progress towards commercialization. Because the FDA requires detailed information about human serum as part of their Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and Biologics License Applications (BLA), the DMF from GeminiBio reduces the burden for cell therapy companies in their regulatory submissions - enabling customers to incorporate manufacturing, quality, and compliance data with ease into their filings. "As an ancillary product used in cell therapy manufacturing processes, human serum has very specific quality and safety requirements as communicated by various global regulatory agencies," said Robert Perry, Chief Scientific Officer at GeminiBio, "and, over the last several years we have seen a significant increase in the regulatory support required by our customers as the cell therapy industry has gained traction. This was the catalyst to compile and submit our DMF to the FDA." Brian Parker, GeminiBio's CEO, added, "We are very excited to support cell therapy developers across the globe, and the company has hundreds of cell therapy customers spanning the clinical development process, including pre-clinical, phase I, phase II, and phase III." Mr. Parker continued, "We are particularly excited to see one of customers receive US FDA approval of their BLA and are currently supporting the commercialization of this product. The submission of our DMF will further simplify our customer's regulatory process and enable them to focus on progressing their advanced therapies." For more information on GeminiBio, please visit: www.geminibio.com About GeminiBio GeminiBio is a portfolio company of BelHealth Investment Partners. GeminiBio was founded in 1985 and serves the global biopharma, cell and gene therapy industries. Its focus is on helping customers (from basic research to commercial production) accelerate the development of life-enhancing biotherapeutics by streamlining and improving their cell culture and process liquid manufacturing workflows. The company provides critical raw materials used in cell therapy, gene therapy and biotherapeutics manufacturing including serum, customized media and buffers solutions, and process liquids. Located in West Sacramento, California, GeminiBio has 57,000 square feet of cGMP manufacturing space, segregated between animal origin-free and animal component manufacturing. GeminiBio is an ISO 13485:2016 certified, FDA-registered Class 1 Medical Device Manufacturer, aligned with 21 CFR Part 820. Contact Brian Parker (CEO) Email: [email protected] Phone: +1(832) 541-9668 www.geminibio.com About BelHealth Investment Partners BelHealth Investment Partners, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a healthcare private equity firm focused on lower middle market companies. BelHealth acquires majority positions in entrepreneur-owned companies that it believes will benefit from its extensive investing, executive management and entrepreneurial experience. Contact Inder Tallur (Partner) Email: [email protected] Phone: +1(917) 975-6604 www.belhealth.com SOURCE Gemini Bioproducts, LLC TAIPEI, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- GIGABYTE, the world's leading computer brand, announced that its groundbreaking MO27U2 QD-OLED monitor is now available. As the industry-leading 27-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor, the MO27U2 delivers ultra-crisp visuals with a remarkable 166 PPI, setting a new benchmark in clarity and precision for its popular size. The MO27U2 is engineered to redefine visual excellence in the QD-OLED display industry with cutting-edge Tandem OLED panel technology, upgraded Tactical Features, and Graphene Thermal Film Technology. GIGABYTE MO27U2 4K 240Hz QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Hits the Market With built-in G-Sync support and seamless integration with the latest GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards featuring DLSS4, the MO27U2 delivers an extraordinary 4K 240Hz gaming experience. Its high 166 PPI ensures every detail is rendered with exceptional clarity, while advanced color accuracy is achieved with delta E2, 99% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and Pantone Validated certification. Additionally, its 0.03 ms gray-to-gray response time ensures super smooth, low-latency visuals. The MO27U2 combines stunning visuals with upgraded Tactical Features to enhance gameplay precision. Leading the way is Tactical Switch 2.0, which enables a one-click Resolution Switch and effortless adjustment to 4:3 and 5:4 aspect ratios. Ultra Clear reduces motion blur with advanced black frame insertion for high-speed action, ensuring sharp visuals in every frame. Black Equalizer 2.0 further refines clarity, helping players maintain a consistently clear view of the battlefield. Complementing these is VRR Anti-Flicker, which precisely adjusts the VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) range to minimize screen flicker, ensuring smooth, tear-free visuals even in fast-paced dynamic scenes. The GIGABYTE MO27U2 integrates the Graphene Thermal Film Technology and four-way airflow design to ensure stable performance even during extended use. Combined with its exclusive GIGABYTE OLED Care, an AI-based panel protection system that prevents burn-in, and a comprehensive thermal management system, this monitor is engineered to extend display longevity while delivering a consistently vibrant viewing experience. Engineered for advanced hybrid gamers who demand high performance for AAA gaming, streaming, work, and light creative tasks, the GIGABYTE MO27U2 delivers unmatched visual precision and dynamic performance. In addition, the GIGABYTE OLED gaming monitor lineup includes the MO27Q2, tailored for competitive gamersespecially FPS and action game enthusiasts seeking ultra-fast refresh ratesand the MO32U, designed for those craving immersive audiovisual experiences with superior picture quality, ideal for open-world RPGs and action-adventure games. For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/GIGABYTE_MO27U2 SOURCE GIGABYTE Reports Record $11.6 Billion in 2024 Net Sales Celebrates 100th Anniversary as Independent Company in 2025 ST. LOUIS, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, industrial, automation and connectivity products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, today announced its 2024 financial results. Graybar, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary as an independent company this year, reported a record $11.6 billion in 2024 net sales, an increase of 5.5% over the prior year. The company has achieved record net sales in 12 of the past 13 years, with the exception occurring in 2020 due to the global pandemic. Graybar celebrates its 100th anniversary as an independent company in 2025. Graybar reported $423.1 million in net income in 2024, the third highest net income in the company's history. Net income declined by 8.7% over 2023, predominantly due to the company's significant investments in Graybar Connect, a multi-year, strategic business transformation project detailed below. "Graybar's record sales performance in 2024 demonstrates our ability to deliver continued profitable growth while investing in our future," said Kathleen M. Mazzarella, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Graybar. "Employee ownership underpins this long-term mindset and is critical to everything we do. This approach has been a consistent aspect of our culture since Western Electric spun off Graybar as a separate business in 1925. Graybar's employees purchased the company in 1929, and we have been 100 percent owned by our employees and retirees ever since. At a time when American businesses are frequently bought and sold by investors on public markets, Graybar's consistent structure stands apart. We do business the right way, deliver on our promises and always look to leave our company better than we found it." During 2024, Graybar invested in its future through several key initiatives, including: Invested for profitable, diversified growth through acquisitions, including Blazer Electric Supply, an electrical distributor in Colorado , Dynamic Solutions in California (through subsidiary Valin Corporation) and Power Supply Company in Tennessee (through subsidiary Cape Electrical Supply). through acquisitions, including Blazer Electric Supply, an electrical distributor in , Dynamic Solutions in (through subsidiary Valin Corporation) and Power Supply Company in (through subsidiary Cape Electrical Supply). Invested in advanced technology through Graybar Connect , a multi-year project focused on transforming the company's technology, data, processes and organization. After several years of investments, Graybar plans to launch a new core ERP system in 2025. This represents the company's first major milestone toward reimagining its operating model and process framework. As the new system provides employees with advanced capabilities and analytics, it also sets the stage for future phases of the project, all with the goal of supporting long-term growth, improved profitability and an enhanced customer and employee experience. , a multi-year project focused on transforming the company's technology, data, processes and organization. After several years of investments, Graybar plans to launch a new core ERP system in 2025. This represents the company's first major milestone toward reimagining its operating model and process framework. As the new system provides employees with advanced capabilities and analytics, it also sets the stage for future phases of the project, all with the goal of supporting long-term growth, improved profitability and an enhanced customer and employee experience. Invested in the next generation of leaders, with key leadership appointments across its regional business units, as well as Sales, Operations, Strategic Planning and Customer Experience. The company knows that strong leadership is vital to its long-term success and continues to prepare its managers to step into roles of greater responsibility across the organization. Mazzarella concluded, "Today's business environment is more complex and uncertain than ever before. The pace of change continues to accelerate, and sustaining our leadership position requires us to strategically invest in our future through initiatives like Graybar Connect. Graybar's strong balance sheet gives us the financial flexibility to manage through challenges, while we capitalize on opportunities in new markets, new customers, new technologies and of course, acquisitions." About Graybar Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, industrial, automation and connectivity products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of 350 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network, automate and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR. Media Contact: Tim Sommer (314) 578-7672 [email protected] SOURCE Graybar This awarded contract simplifies the purchasing process of Greenworks Commercial outdoor electric power equipment for government entities, schools and nonprofits across the U.S. and Canada MOORESVILLE, N.C., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenworks Commercial, a leader in green innovation, has been awarded a Sourcewell contract for its commercial offerings, making environmentally friendly outdoor power equipment more accessible to public agencies, including government entities, schools and nonprofits across the U.S. and Canada (In partnership with Canoe Procurement Group of Canada). This contract guarantees these public agencies access to Greenworks Commercial's cutting-edge technology, competitive pricing, quality, and sustainability standards, streamlining the purchasing process for its battery-operated outdoor power equipment. Sourcewell contracts are awarded through a competitive evaluation process, ensuring that only the most qualified companies are selected. Greenworks Commercial has successfully navigated the bidding process, and its products exceed all local requirements for public agencies, making them an ideal choice for eco-driven communities. With Greenworks Commercial's reliable and efficient products now more accessible, public agencies can reduce emissions, lower noise pollution, and cut maintenance costs, all while enhancing their operational efficiency. "We are honored to have aligned with Sourcewell's standards for sustainability and innovation," said Yin Chen, CEO of Greenworks. "This is a significant step towards a greener future as it makes battery-powered tools easier to adopt. This partnership enables agencies to accelerate and simplify their transition to electric solutions by eliminating time-consuming research and RFP processes." The products approved under the contract encompass Greenworks Commercial's full range of commercial equipment, including utility vehicles, OPTIMUS family of lawn mowers, blowers, trimmers, power cutters, chainsaws and edgers. Included in this lineup is Greenworks Commercial's industry-leading OPTIMUSZ family of Zero Turn Mowers, featuring high-powered, low-vibration, emissions-free lawn mowers designed to handle the toughest tasks. Organizations seeking more information about the awarded Sourcewell contract, including contact details for purchasing, can visit sourcewell-mn.gov. For additional information on Greenworks Commercial and to stay up to date on the latest product offerings, visit greenworkscommercial.com. About Greenworks Commercial Charging the industry since 2002, Greenworks Commercial has exclusively focused on producing products powered by lithium-ion battery technology, continuing to push the boundaries of batteries for the greater good. Greenworks Commercial offers a range of battery-powered solutions for landscaping professionals setting the standard for commercial-grade, battery-powered outdoor equipment. Greenworks also offers a non-commercial product line designed for homeowners and do-it-yourselfers, which is available online and at more than 11,000 retail locations. For more information, visit www.greenworkscommercial.com. Contact: Alexa Dargis Interdependence Public Relations (630) 248-0434 [email protected] SOURCE Greenworks Global Authority DNV Validates Top-Tier Safety and Performance Standards Second Major Certification Following Korean Register Approval Last Year Company Positioned to Advance Zero-Carbon Maritime Propulsion Technology SEOUL, South Korea, March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanwha Aerospace announces that it has received Approval in Principle (AIP) certification from DNV for its 200kW hydrogen fuel cell system designed for maritime applications, marking a significant milestone in the company's official entry into the eco-friendly zero-carbon vessel market. This achievement follows the company's development of the world's first liquid-cooled Energy Storage System (ESS) late last year, securing consecutive world-class zero-carbon power solutions. The certification ceremony took place on the 12th at Hanwha Aerospace's R&D Center in Pangyo, with Executive Director Dong-jo Oh of Hanwha Aerospace and Vice President Sung-ho Shin of DNV in attendance, the company announced on the 13th. AIP certification verifies the safety and compliance with international regulations of new technologies applied to ships and materials during the basic design phase. This rigorous evaluation process ensures that innovative marine technologies meet the highest standards of safety and performance before implementation. "This certification from DNV validates our hydrogen fuel cell technology at the highest global standards for safety and performance," said Dong-jo Oh, Executive Director of Hanwha Aerospace. "We will leverage our eco-friendly marine solution technologies to continuously collaborate with Hanwha Ocean in targeting the global zero-carbon vessel market, helping the maritime industry achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions." This latest certification builds upon Hanwha Aerospace's previous success in obtaining AIP certification from the Korean Register of Shipping (KR) last year. With validation now from both KR and DNV, Hanwha Aerospace is positioned to begin full-scale marketing and sales of its maritime hydrogen fuel cells in the global market. With this certification, Hanwha Aerospace is positioned to secure type approval for its Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technology, strengthening its competitiveness in the zero-carbon propulsion systems market. The company plans to further develop and commercialize this technology for various marine vessels, from commercial ships to specialized maritime applications. SOURCE Hanwha Aerospace LUND, Sweden, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Helge Tiainen, Business Development Director at InCoax Networks, has been recognized with a Broadband Forum Award for his outstanding contributions to advancing broadband network intelligence and user-centric solutions. The award was presented during the Broadband Forum's Spring Member Meeting in Hong Kong this week, acknowledging his efforts in driving innovation and shaping the future of the industry. "Congratulations to all of the award winners. The awards reflect the remarkable achievements and progress of the Broadband Forum over the past year during this crucial time for the entire industry," said Broadband Forum Chairman, John Blackford. "We look forward to seeing the innovations and contributions over the next year within our new work area structure, which further strengthens our commitment to enabling services-led and intelligent broadband that provides the applications and services most demanded by users." As a key figure at InCoax, Helge Tiainen has played an essential role in advancing broadband technology, particularly through the use of existing in-building infrastructure to provide cost-effective, multi-gigabit connectivity. His work aligns with InCoax's mission to bring intelligent broadband solutions based on global BBF standards that enable interoperability, faster deployments, greater sustainability, improved digital inclusion, and increased accessibility. The Broadband Forum Awards celebrate individuals who have made significant contributions to the industry. Alongside Helge Tiainen, other award recipients included representatives from BISDN, Futurewei, Huawei, Liberty Global, Nokia, NTT, Orange, Outsys, Radisys, and Vodafone. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below, at 13.00 CET on March 13, 2025. For additional information, please contact: Jorgen Ekengren, CEO, InCoax Networks AB [email protected] +46 73 899 55 52 About InCoax Networks AB InCoax Networks AB (publ) re-purposes existing property coaxial networks in fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) extension deployments for Communication Service Providers (CSP) globally. The technology is a high performance, future proof, reliable and cost-effective complement that reduces installation time and improves take-up rate, to boost digital inclusion and internet access for all. To keep updated on corporate information, visit incoax.com. Vator Securities AB, tel. +46 8-5800 6599, [email protected], is acting as the company's Certified Adviser. About the Broadband Forum The Broadband Forum is an industry-driven global standards development organization helping operators, application providers, and vendors deliver better, services-led broadband. As the industry-recognized center of competence, the Broadband Forum provides an accessible, efficient, and effective community where all broadband stakeholders can collaborate on, develop, and promote open standards and open software. This provides the basis for deployable solutions for the global broadband industry. The forum publishes interoperable standards and open software, has launched certification programs, and promotes industry education. These best practices and models can be adopted to help realize an effective broadband ecosystem that drives a thriving, services-led broadband industry based on global collaboration, open standards, and open source, maximizing value for all stakeholders. For more information, visit https://www.broadband-forum.org/ This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com. https://news.cision.com/incoax-networks-ab/r/helge-tiainen-of-incoax-honored-with-broadband-forum-award-for-instrumental-industry-contributions,c4118525 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/15562/4118525/3319544.pdf 2025-03-13 PR BBF Award win EN final https://news.cision.com/incoax-networks-ab/i/bbf-award-ht-cut,c3386618 BBF award HT cut https://news.cision.com/incoax-networks-ab/i/20250313-beskuren,c3386619 20250313 beskuren SOURCE InCoax Networks AB SAN FRANCISCO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyde Park Capital announced today that its client, Infiniti Medical LLC (and its subsidiary Orthomed UK Ltd), two globally recognized brands specializing in veterinary interventional radiology, cardiology, soft tissue surgery, and orthopedics, has been acquired by Creative Science, a CIMA Animal Health company, and a leader in veterinary medical solutions. CIMA Animal Health, a portfolio company of Incline Equity Partners, is dedicated to improving the lives of animals and those who care for them. Hyde Park Capital, led by Managing Director Craig Lawson, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Infiniti Medical for this transaction. Tombstone of deal: Infiniti Medical Sale to CIMA Animal Health, a Portfolio Company of Incline Equity Partners (PRNewsfoto/Hyde Park Capital) This acquisition reinforces Creative Science's dedication to delivering innovative solutions that elevate the quality of care in veterinary medicine. Infiniti Medical remains at the forefront of the global animal health technology industry, supplying veterinarians worldwide with cutting-edge products. Founded in Silicon Valley, Infiniti Medical has been a trailblazer in developing innovative veterinary technologies, from its revolutionary Vet Stent solutions to advancements in diagnostics, telemedicine, and digital health. Meanwhile, Orthomed has built a strong reputation over the past 15 years for its high-quality orthopedic implants and instruments, consistently raising the standard for surgical precision in veterinary care. "This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity to expand our impact on veterinary medicine," said Lynn Snodgrass, CEO of CIMA Animal Health. "Infiniti Medical and Orthomed are trailblazers in their respective fields, and by joining forces, we can accelerate innovation and provide even greater value to veterinary professionals worldwide." Jared Finegold, CEO of Infiniti Medical, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership: "Infiniti Medical was founded on the belief that advanced technology could revolutionize veterinary medicine. By partnering with Creative Science, we will continue to scale our efforts, invest further in veterinary medical device innovations, and accelerate our development of cutting-edge technologies and training solutions for veterinarians across the globe." Craig Lawson, Managing Director at Hyde Park Capital, also highlighted the significance of the transaction, "Infiniti Medical and Orthomed have built an outstanding legacy of innovation in veterinary medicine. This partnership with Creative Science is a natural fit and positions these brands for even greater success. We are proud to have advised Infiniti Medical on this strategic move and look forward to seeing the impact this collaboration will have on the future of veterinary care." About Infiniti Medical Infiniti Medical is a global leader in veterinary medical technology, specializing in interventional radiology, cardiology, soft tissue surgery, and orthopedics. Founded in Silicon Valley, Infiniti Medical has been at the forefront of developing groundbreaking veterinary devices and solutions, including its pioneering Vet Stent technology. With a strong commitment to innovation, education, and advancing animal healthcare, Infiniti Medical provides cutting-edge tools and training to veterinarians worldwide. Through its subsidiary, Orthomed UK Ltd, the company also offers industry-leading orthopedic implants and instruments, setting new standards for surgical excellence. For more information, visit www.infinitimedical.com. About Creative Science Creative Science is a leading provider of innovative animal health solutions, formed from the merging of several veterinary-trusted companies, including Arenus Animal Health, Kinetic Vet, Banixx, Equine Medical & Surgical Associates, Breeder's Choice, and Exodus Breeders. With a strong commitment to science and service, Creative Science's mission is to bridge the critical gaps in pet, livestock, and equine care, ensuring that veterinarians, owners, and producers have access to essential tools, advancing animal healthcare and supporting animals' overall well-being. For more information about Creative Science, please visit www.creative.science. About Hyde Park Capital Hyde Park Capital is an institutionally focused boutique investment banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions and focusing on serving the corporate finance needs of successful founder and family-owned companies. Hyde Park's principals have extensive investment banking experience managing merger and acquisition engagements, including executing sell-side and buy-side sale of company assignments, recapitalizations, financial advisory services, fairness opinions, and raising growth capital and acquisition financing for companies, including equity, mezzanine, and senior debt. Hyde Park Capital has extensive experience across numerous industry sectors, including industrial, technology, consumer, healthcare, business, and financial services. Hyde Park Capital is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and is a member of FINRA and SIPC. Hyde Park Capital is also a member of the Geneva Capital Group (GCG) International M&A Alliance (see www.gcg.com). For additional information, please visit www.hydeparkcapital.com. Media Contacts: Craig Lawson Hyde Park Capital [email protected] (415) 515-6315 SOURCE Hyde Park Capital Developmental Disorders Fell Out of the National Top Five Telehealth Diagnostic Categories for First Time in 2024 NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In December 2024, telehealth utilization increased nationally and in every region except the West, where it decreased, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. Nationally, telehealth claim lines1 increased from 4.82 percent of medical claim lines to 5.04 percent, a 4.5 percent increase. In the Midwest, the increase was 5.6 percent; in the Northeast it was 3.1 percent; and in the South it was 4.7 percent. In the West, however, telehealth claim lines decreased by 0.9 percent. The data represent the commercially insured population, excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid. Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, December 2024, United States Diagnostic Categories In December, developmental disorders fell out of the national top five telehealth diagnostic categories for the first time in 2024. In the Midwest and West, this diagnostic category also fell in the rankings in December. In the Midwest, it fell from fourth to fifth position, and in the West, it fell from third to fourth. In the Northeast, however, it remained ranked in third position, and in the South, it remained absent from the top five rankings, as it had for all of 2024. In the Northeast, for the first time in 2024, overweight and obesity dropped out of the top five telehealth diagnostic categories in December; it had been ranked in fifth position in November. Continuing the trend noted in November, acute respiratory diseases and infections increased in its percent of telehealth claim lines nationally and in every region in December. Mental health conditions remained in first position in December, nationally and in every region, as for all the earlier months of 2024. Specialties From November to December 2024, at the national level, and in the West, there were no changes in the rankings of the top five telehealth provider specialties. In the Midwest, psychiatric nurse fell from second to third position, while in the South it fell from third to fourth. In both regions, this specialty was replaced by nurse practitioner, which rose from fourth to second position in the Midwest and from fourth to third in the South. Psychologist fell from third to fourth in the Midwest. In the Northeast, psychiatric nurse rose from fourth to third position, switching rankings with psychologist, which fell from third to fourth. Social worker remained in first position nationally and in all regions in December, varying from 29.8 percent of telehealth claim lines in the South to 40.1 percent in the Midwest. Mental Health Diagnoses There was no change in the rankings of the top five mental health diagnoses from November to December 2024. Nationally and in every region, the top five mental health diagnoses in both months were: generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, adjustment disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Utilization by Age In December 2024, as in November, the age group 31-40 accounted for the largest share of telehealth claim lines nationally and in all regions, while the age group 19-30 accounted for the second largest share everywhere. In both months, these two age groups each accounted for between 20 and 30 percent of telehealth claim lines nationally and in every region. Monthly Cost Spotlight Nationally, the median allowed amount2 for CPT3 97155 (adaptive behavior treatment by professional using an established plan, each 15 minutes) in December 2024 was the same when rendered via telehealth and in an office. In the Midwest, Northeast and West, however, the telehealth cost was higher than the office cost, and in the South, the reverse was true. Nationally, the telehealth and office cost were both $24. In the Midwest, the telehealth cost was $22, and the office cost was $21; in the Northeast, the telehealth cost was $26, while the office cost was $24; and in the West, the telehealth cost was $28 and the office cost was $26. But in the South, the telehealth cost ($23) was lower than the office cost ($24). About the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker Launched in May 2020 as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving from month to month. An interactive map of the four US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in the nation as a whole or in individual regions. Each year, the infographic introduces varied views into telehealth utilization. In this fifth iteration of the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, each infographic shows month-to-month changes in volume of telehealth claim lines; that month's top five diagnostic categories, mental health diagnoses and specialties; age distribution; and the Place of Service Cost Corner, which compares median allowed amounts for a specific procedure provided via telehealth to the same procedure provided in an office. For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here. Follow us on X @FAIRHealth About FAIR Health FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of commercial healthcare claims data, which includes over 50 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 3 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its commercial data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D, which accounts for a separate collection of over 50 billion claim records; FAIR Health includes among the commercial claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 Type 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org. Contact: Rachel Kent Executive Director of Communications and Marketing FAIR Health 646-396-0795 [email protected] 1 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim. 2 An allowed amount is the total fee paid to the provider under an insurance plan. It includes the amount that the health plan pays and the part the patient pays under the plan's in-network cost-sharing provisions (e.g., copay or coinsurance if the patient has met the deductible). 3 CPT 2024 American Medical Association (AMA). All rights reserved. SOURCE FAIR Health Sweden will allocate $137.7 million for the reconstruction and development of Ukraine, as well as for its urgent humanitarian needs, Sweden's Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa said on Thursday. According to him, this is the largest civilian assistance program in Sweden's history: it includes funds for infrastructure restoration, demining and training of medical workers. Dousa added that support for Ukraine is, in particular, a matter of Sweden's security. Transforming Home Design with AI and Visualization Technologies SAN JOSE, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Homestyler, a game-changing online 3D interior design platform, is excited to announce its participation at NVIDIA GTC 2025, the premier global Artificial Intelligence (AI) conference, to present its latest advancements in AI-driven home design. The conference, renowned for its impact on AI and deep learning, will be held in San Jose, California from March 1721, 2025. Discover the Allure of AI-driven Design with Homestyler at NVIDIA GTC 2025 At this year's keynote session, Homestyler will explore how AI and real-time rendering technologies are revolutionizing the home design industry, making it more accessible, efficient, and immersive for consumers, designers, and businesses. Dr. Bing Sun, the Chief Technology Officer of Easyhome, along with Xingjian Ma, the Head of Global Operations of Homestyler, will discuss how innovative technologies can bridge the gap between virtual renderings and real-world choices. Attendees will gain valuable insights into cutting-edge strategies that empower customers to visualize products and services more effectively, leading to informed decisions. "I am truly honored to speak at this event and share my insights on how visualization tools and generative AI are revolutionizing customer decision-making online. The opportunity to explore these innovations with industry peers is exhilarating, and I look forward to inspiring new ideas that can empower consumers in their digital journeys." said Dr. Sun. The session will address key challenges faced by consumers, designers, and businesses in the home design industry: Consumers : Difficulty visualizing designs, articulating their needs, and navigating complex design software. : Difficulty visualizing designs, articulating their needs, and navigating complex design software. Designers : Challenges with fragmented design assets and the absence of real-time collaboration tools. : Challenges with fragmented design assets and the absence of real-time collaboration tools. Businesses: High costs associated with implementing AI-driven solutions in commercial environments. With the help of NVIDIA Omniverse and NIM, Homestyler will unveil groundbreaking AI-driven solutions tailored to these challenges: For Consumers: AI Design Assistant, AI Designer , and AI Modeler to simplify and personalize the home design experience. For Designers: Integration with OpenUSD, significantly improves 3D file format conversion efficiency by 10 times. OpenUSD enables seamless data exchange and unlocking enterprise data assets worldwide and supports version control and large-scale collaborative 3D design projects globally, which means architects, interior designers, and clients can collaborate on the same projects in real time from anywhere. Harnessing NVIDIA Edify to reduce modeling costs and democratizes 3D design. Leveraging NVIDIA's RTX rendering technology to enhance real-time visualization and design precision. It delivers stunning 3D visuals across devices, allowing consumers to virtually explore products and spaces from anywhere. For Businesses: AI deployment platform powered by NVIDIA NIM, enabling seamless AI adoption for home and furniture enterprises, by addressing challenges in AI model tuning and cost-effective implementation. NVIDIA NIM-powered microservices provide scalable AI deployment, model optimization, and intelligent business transformation. During the session, they will also talk about the future of home and interior design such as digital supply chain and smart home renovation. Join Homestyler at NVIDIA GTC 2025 Homestyler is the world's first Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, serving more than 18 million users globally and featuring over 38 million design cases. Homestyler's participation in NVIDIA GTC 2025 highlights its commitment to AI-driven innovation in home design. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies, Homestyler is enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of interior design, empowering consumers, designers, and businesses worldwide. For more information about Homestyler, please visit: https://www.homestyler.com?utm_medium=press_release&utm_source=homestyler&utm_campaign=press_release_gtc&adid=660001&source_page=gtc SOURCE Homestyler PITTSBURGH, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to create a product to help prevent bottle milk or other fluids from flowing into a baby's ear canals when drinking in a back-lying, side-lying, or reclined position," said an inventor, from Waukegan, Ill., "so I invented THE FLUID EAR CATCHER. My design would provide added safety, comfort and convenience when bottle-feeding a baby." The invention provides an effective way to prevent liquids from baby bottles from flowing into a baby's ears when they are in a reclined position. In doing so, it could help prevent potential ear infections. It also provides added protection and peace of mind. The invention features a practical design that is easy to use so it is ideal for parents and caregivers of bottle-fed infants, childcare facilities, etc. Additionally, a prototype is available. The original design was submitted to the Chicago sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 23-CHK-2090, InventHelp, 100 Beecham Drive, Suite 110, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9801, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. SOURCE InventHelp Release Date: March 29, 2025 Available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, and other streaming platforms. Physical copies (CD) available at: Omik Music Store and BandCamp SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Composer and retired U.S. Army Captain James Kimo Williams is set to release Symphony For Vietnam Veterans, a powerful and deeply personal musical piece that encapsulates his reflections on his time in the Vietnam War. Originally composed as Quartet For The Sons of Nam and later arranged for a full orchestra in 1992, this 2025 release has been reimagined for string orchestra, offering a fresh and poignant interpretation. Symphony For Vietnam Veterans with my personal images from 1970. Self Portrait: In Vietnam, waiting to hit the jungle J. Williams Headshot "Music provides a unique way to reflect on history and personal experiences. With Symphony For Vietnam Veterans, I have sought to translate my memories as a Vietnam Veteran into a meaningful musical journey. This composition, first conceived as a string quartet, has evolved into a full orchestral expression of my emotions and recollections from the war." James Kimo Williams, Captain (Ret.), U.S. Army, Vietnam 1970. A Musical Reflection on Vietnam Williams' inspiration for this symphony emerged in 1986 after participating in the Chicago Welcome Home Parade for Vietnam Veterans. The event reignited memories from his deployment, prompting him to explore his emotions through music. Over time, he has composed in various genresjazz, country, and classicaleach serving as a medium for storytelling and remembrance. Honoring Service Through Music This release aligns with and was inspired by Kimo's attendance at the 2012 United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration proclamation event, an initiative authorized by Congress and led by the Secretary of Defense to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The commemoration extends through Veterans Day 2025, honoring service members and their contributions. Williams' composition reflects the commemoration's second objective: "To highlight the service of the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War and the contributions of Federal agencies and governmental and non-governmental organizations that served with, or in support of, the Armed Forces." In response, he meticulously reorchestrated and renamed his work to ensure its resonance with this historical milestone. A Journey Through Music and Memory The symphony unfolds in four chapters, each representing key moments from Williams' Vietnam experiencefrom his arrival in 1970 to his departure eleven months later. To accompany the audio release, Williams has also created a music video featuring personal photographs from his deployment. Additionally, program notes detailing each movement's narrative are available in the YouTube description. Watch the official Symphony For Vietnam Veterans video: Watch Here For more information, including artist biography, CV, and high-resolution images, visit: JamesKimoWilliams.com Media Contact: James Kimo Williams Email: [email protected] Website: www.omikmusic.com Phone: 304-582-1487 (Text preferred) About James Kimo Williams James Kimo Williams is a composer, musician, Fulbright Specialist, Composer of The Year, Chicagoan of the Year and cofounder of the Lt. Dan Band. He is a retired U.S. Army Captain committed to using music as a means of storytelling and historical reflection. His works have been performed internationally, spanning multiple genres. Through Symphony For Vietnam Veterans, he continues to share his experiences and honor those who served. SOURCE James Kimo Williams JND Recognized for Fourth Consecutive Year in National Law Journal Hall of Fame SEATTLE , March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- JND Legal Administration (JND), the U.S. leader in legal management and administration services, has again been named Best Class Action Claims Administrator in The National Law Journal's Hall of Fame as a part of its 14th annual 'Best Of' supplement. This marks the fourth consecutive year that JND has received the Hall of Fame Award. JND Named to National Law Journal Hall of Fame for Fourth Consecutive Year. JND was founded by Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola and David Isaac in 2016 and was named #1 Class Action Claims Administrator in the country by the National Law Journal in its very first year of operation. The company now staffs more than 300 employees across four offices, offering industry-leading class action settlement administration, eDiscovery and litigation support, incident response, and legal notice services. Routinely selected by attorneys on both sides of the aisle as well as by government agencies and Fortune 500 companies to handle large and complex class action administrations, JND is the settlement administrator for the $2.67 billion Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Settlement, the $1.3 billion Equifax Data Breach Settlement, the largest data breach settlement in history, and the $1 billion Realtors Antitrust Settlements among hundreds of other recent matters. "We are honored to be included in the NLJ's Hall of Fame for the fourth straight year," says Jennifer Keough, CEO of JND. "We thank our clients for their continued trust and confidence in JND's team to handle their most complex matters." Every year since its founding, JND has received the top honor from a leading legal publication. In addition to the National Law Journal, JND has also achieved top rankings in other ALM Media-administered regional programs, including Best of the Midwest, Best of New York Law Journal, Best of New Jersey Law Journal and Best of Texas Lawyer, for providing exceptional legal management and class action administration services. Access the full online edition of The National Law Journal 'Best of 2025' Survey, here. About JND Legal Administration JND Legal Administration, a Sedgwick company, is the nation's foremost legal services management and settlement administration solutions provider. Founded by industry veterans Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola, and David Isaac, the company serves plaintiff and defendant law firms, global corporations, and U.S. government entities across five main service lines and has offices in California, Minnesota, New York, and Washington. For more information, visit www.JNDLA.com. Media Contact: Joe Sexton JND Legal Administration [email protected] Tel: +1 800-207-7160 www.jndla.com SOURCE JND Legal Administration AUSTIN, Texas, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- K Friese + Associates, a Lochner Company, is pleased to announce that Mason Liebau, PE, SIT, CFM has joined the firm as the Director of Strategic Growth for the Texas-based Water Practice. Located in San Antonio, Mason will play a key role in expanding client relationships and supporting water infrastructure development across Texas. Mason Liebau, PE, SIT, CFM With 25 years of experience in water resources engineering, Mason has built a distinguished career in the design and management of large-scale projects across the country, with a strong focus on South-Central Texas. He is a recognized leader in riverine hydrology and hydraulics, guiding teams in delivering complex projects for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Texas General Land Office, and the Texas Water Development Board. Additionally, Mason holds expertise in managing municipal bond and capital improvement projects. "Mason's strong relationships with key regional clients, including Bexar County, the City of San Antonio, Nueces River Authority and the San Antonio River Authority make him a valuable addition to our team," said Karen Friese, PE, Lochner Board Director and Water Practice Lead. "His expertise and leadership will enhance our presence in San Antonio and across Texas, positioning us for continued growth in water infrastructure planning and development." Mason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Texas Tech University. About K Friese + Associates, A Lochner Company Founded in 2003, K Friese + Associates provides civil engineering consulting services to municipalities, counties, state agencies, and river authorities throughout the State of Texas, with an emphasis on water, wastewater, stormwater, transportation, and aviation planning, design, and construction management projects. About Lochner Founded in 1944, Lochner provides planning, environmental, design, construction engineering and inspection, and program/construction management services for surface transportation, aviation, and water clients across the United States. The company is ranked No.103 in Engineering News-Record's list of the Top 500 Design Firms. CONTACT: Laura White Director of Marketing and Business Development [email protected] 737.704.3080 | 701.269.2110 (cell) SOURCE H.W. Lochner, Inc. SHENZHEN, China, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Kandao is excited to announce that the Kandao Meeting Ultra has achieved full certification by Zoom, ensuring seamless compatibility with Zoom Rooms. This all-in-one video conferencing solution is ideal for small to medium-sized rooms (2-18 participants) and delivers exceptional video and audio quality for a fully immersive meeting experience. Additionally, it supports combining up to 4 units with the Kandao Meeting Omni software, meeting the requirements of larger meeting rooms for a scalable and flexible conferencing solution. Kandao Meeting Ultra Achieves Full Certification by Zoom Kandao Meeting Ultra features a 360-degree panoramic camera, dual 4K HDR capture, and dual 15.6" FHD touchscreens, providing clear, real-time visuals and intuitive controls. Equipped with AI face and motion tracking, it automatically highlights the active speaker, while advanced noise cancellation ensures crystal-clear audio. Its 5-in-1 design combines touchscreens, camera, omni-directional microphones, hi-fi speaker, and cutting-edge AI for an effortless and professional meeting experience. With its simple, built-in Android OS, the Kandao Meeting Ultra works both as a standalone device or a USB camera, offering full compatibility with popular platforms like Zoom, Tencent Meeting, Skype, and Microsoft Teams. "We're thrilled to partner with Zoom to bring the Kandao Meeting Ultra to organizations seeking an innovative and reliable video conferencing solution," said Dan, CEO at Kandao. The Kandao Meeting Ultra has received multiple prestigious awards, including the CES Innovation Award 2023, the GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2023, and the iF Design Award 2023, recognizing its excellence in design and functionality. Kandao Meeting Ultra is available now, ready to transform how teams collaborate in hybrid and remote settings. For more information, visit https://www.kandaovr.com/meeting-ultra. About Kandao Kandao is a leader in 360 video and camera technologies, committed to delivering cutting-edge solutions for communication, collaboration, and creativity. For business inquiries, please contact: [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640978/Kandao_Meeting_Ultra_Achieves_Full_Certification_Zoom.jpg CHICAGO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Kearney's agriculture and food team and Purdue University's Center for Food and Agricultural Business have established a partnership to bridge the gap and foster collaboration between academia and industry. The goal of the partnership is to enhance agricultural research, strengthen industry engagement, and build connections with corporate clients and industry partners across the agriculture and food value chain. Key objectives include developing industry-relevant research, providing thought leadership and preparing students to become future industry leaders through experiential learning opportunities. Initial discussions have focused on corporate partnerships, grower engagement, and the expansion of career pathways for undergraduate and graduate students through awareness initiatives and internships. "This partnership between Purdue and Kearney represents an exciting opportunity to bring industry and academia together to tackle the real challenges agribusiness professionals face today," said Scott Downey, professor of agricultural economics and director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Business. "Kearney's deep industry knowledge, combined with Purdue's research expertise and global reputation, allows us to develop practical insights that help agribusiness leaders make better decisions and meaningful learning experiences that help prepare the next generation of industry leaders." The partnership also reflects Kearney's ongoing commitment to the food and agricultural sector, which faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities ranging from dramatic shifts in consumer preferences, regulatory changes and the integration of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence. "We are so excited to realize the potential of this partnership," said Rob Dongoski, partner and food and agribusiness leader at Kearney. "Purdue's history of leadership in agricultural education dates back to 1869, and Kearney will turn 100 years old next year," Dongoski said. "While a robust legacy demonstrates a tenured track record, this partnership is about creating lasting change and codesigning the future of agriculture and food. Both Purdue and Kearney have anchored their success in developing pragmatic tools and insights to affect real change. Purdue's deep research coupled with Kearney's focus on impactful change for our clients creates a combination that will benefit corporate clients and introduce outstanding young people to the world of agriculture and food consulting." For more information on Kearney's agriculture and food expertise, visit this page. To learn more about Purdue's Center for Food and Agriculture Business, visit this page. About the Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business The Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business provides professional development, advanced degree programs and applied research for the agribusiness industry. Established in 1986, the center is part of Purdue's Department of Agricultural Economics and connects academic expertise with industry needs. Programs include open-enrollment workshops, custom training, and the MS-MBA in food and agribusiness management. The center also conducts research to support data-driven decision-making in food and agriculture. Learn more at https://agribusiness.purdue.edu. About Kearney Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm. For nearly 100 years, we have been a trusted advisor to C-suites, government bodies, and nonprofit organizations. Our people make us who we are. Driven to be the difference between a big idea and making it happen, we work alongside our clients to regenerate their businesses to create a future that works for everyone. Learn more at www.kearney.com. About Purdue Agriculture Purdue University's College of Agriculture is one of the world's leading colleges of agricultural, food, life and natural resource sciences. The college is committed to preparing students to make a difference in whatever careers they pursue; stretching the frontiers of science to discover solutions to some of our most pressing global, regional and local challenges; and, through Purdue Extension and other engagement programs, educating the people of Indiana, the nation and the world to improve their lives and livelihoods. To learn more about Purdue Agriculture, visit this site . About Purdue University Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue's main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives. Media contacts: Meir Kahtan, [email protected]; Devyn Raver, [email protected] SOURCE Kearney FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TIME recognized Lowell Observatory in its annual list of the World's Greatest Places, which highlights 100 extraordinary destinations to visit and stay. Lowell Observatory recognized as one of the world's 100 greatest places by TIME. Astronomy Discovery Center at Lowell Observatory. "Each year, TIME solicits nominations of placesincluding hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks, and morefrom its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as through an application process, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences," describes the introduction to the list. "The result: 100 extraordinary destinations to stay and to visit this year." Special consideration is given to new experiences. Lowell Observatory, included in the "Places to Visit" section of the list, is highlighted in the introduction, "In Flagstaff, Ariz., The Lowell Observatoryfamous as the site of Pluto's discoverynow features an open-air planetarium, where visitors can get live commentary on that night's sky from the comfort of heated seats." Lowell Observatory has been a leading center of astronomical research and education since its founding in 1894. The open-air planetarium is part of Lowell's new public education facility, the Marley Foundation Astronomy Discovery Center, which opened this past November. This recognition from TIME comes on the heels of Lowell Observatory also being voted as Newsweek's Best Science Museum on March 6. "Congratulations to Lowell Observatory for being named by TIME as one of the world's 100 greatest places this year," said Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. "For more than a century, Lowell Observatory has been at the forefront of space exploration and scientific discovery, inspiring generations of astronomers and deepening our understanding of the universe. This well-deserved honor reflects its lasting contributions to science and education. I am proud that Arizona is home to this world-class institution, and I look forward to seeing Lowell Observatory continue to push the boundaries of discovery." Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said, "Congratulations to Lowell Observatory on this well-deserved recognition. For over 130 years, Lowell has led the way in astronomical research and education. It stands as a crown jewel of Arizona, yet its impact reaches far beyond, shaping science, education, the economy, and culture worldwide." Lowell Observatory was the first permanent scientific organization established in Flagstaff and laid the groundwork for the community to grow into a major center for astronomical research and education that now includes Northern Arizona University, the United States Geological Survey Flagstaff Science Campus, the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, and Coconino Community College, as well as the Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalition. "The world will now know what Flagstaff has known for more than 100 years," said Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett. "Planetary scientists and astronomers at Lowell Observatory are not only conducting innovative research, but the observatory's education team is translating it into thrilling firsthand programming. The new Astronomy Discovery Center at Lowell Observatory guarantees that future planetary scientists and astronomers will be created right here in Flagstaff." TIME's announcement comes on the 170th anniversary of the birth of Lowell Observatory founder Percival Lowell, who was born on March 13, 1855, and the announcement of Lowell Observatory's discovery of Pluto on March 13, 1930. "We are honored to be named as one of the world's greatest places," said Lowell Observatory Executive Director Dr. Amanda Bosh. "We think of Lowell Observatory as a portal between our world and other places in our solar system, galaxy, and universe. Our research brings space closer to us through our understanding of it, and we invite the public to join us in exploring the wonders of our universe as well." Links: Lowell Observatory: lowell.edu TIME Listing for Lowell Observatory: time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2025/7263157/lowell-observatory TIME World's Greatest Places Full List: time.com/worldsgreatestplaces Newsweek Announcement: newsweek.com/readerschoice/best-science-museum-2025 Flagstaff, Arizona: discoverflagstaff.com About Lowell Observatory Founded in 1894, Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, is a renowned nonprofit research institution. It is the site of historic and groundbreaking discoveries, including the first evidence of the expanding universe and the discovery of Pluto. Today, Lowell's astronomers utilize global ground-based and space telescopes, along with NASA spacecraft, for diverse astronomical and planetary science research. The observatory hosts more than 100,000 visitors annually for educational tours, presentations, and telescope viewing through a suite of world-class public telescopes. About Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff is a four-season destination that provides an ideal home base for visitors to explore some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, including the Grand Canyon and other national parks and monuments, Route 66, a charming historic downtown with trains, shopping, art galleries, events, music, restaurants and nightlife. This mountain town is the world's first international dark-sky city and is also in the world's largest ponderosa pine forest and surrounded by Native American culture. Please stay and play responsibly. SOURCE Lowell Observatory WASHINGTON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced the winners of its 2025 TOP SAFETY PICK and TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards and Mazda is proud to receive eight TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards, more of the absolute highest award in vehicle safety than any other brand. The awarded vehicles include the 2025 model year Mazda3 Sedan, Mazda3 Hatchback, CX-30, CX-50 including CX-50 Hybrid, CX-70, CX-70 PHEV, CX-90 and CX-90 PHEV. Mazda Leads Industry in IIHS 2025 TOP SAFETY PICK+ Awards: Moves Closer to Goal of Eliminating Traffic Fatalities To earn these esteemed awards, vehicles must achieve top ratings in IIHS's front and side crash tests, pedestrian front crash prevention assessments and come with standard acceptable- or good-rated headlights. With each year IIHS strengthens the award criteria, making the 2025 awards program the toughest yet. "The success of our awards program depends on automakers' commitment to safety," IIHS President David Harkey said. "Kudos to Mazda for meeting this challenge with eight TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners, the most of any brand." Mazda has risen to the top through outstanding performance in IIHS's newest crash test that requires heightened rear seat occupant protection, with all tested models earning a top, Good rating. It was accomplished through the addition of rear seat belt pretensioners and load limiters and advanced airbags to our already robust structures, which Mazda proudly offers as standard equipment across all models. For Mazda, making safer cars is about more than just protecting the people riding in them. In our approach to advanced crash avoidance technologies, Mazda has also ensured that our crash avoidance systems are tuned to consider pedestrians in a variety of lighting conditions. "Mazda's dedication to keeping our customers and their passengers safe in the pursuit of eliminating traffic fatalities is evidenced in these latest awards from IIHS," said MNAO President and CEO Tom Donnelly. "We deeply appreciate IIHS continually challenging the industry with ever moving targets with their rigorous crash testing that reflect real-world crash scenarios." To learn more about advanced safety at Mazda, please visit the MazdaUSA.com website - https://www.mazdausa.com/why-mazda/safety. The IIHS is an independent, non-governmental safety-testing organization, funded by the insurance industry. For more information, visit https://www.iihs.org/ratings/top-safety-picks. About Mazda North American Operations Proudly founded in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda has a history of sophisticated craftsmanship and innovation, and a purpose to enrich life-in-motion for those it serves. By putting humans at the center of everything it does, Mazda aspires to create uplifting experiences with our vehicles and for people. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Colombia through approximately 795 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario; operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and operations in Colombia are managed by Mazda de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at news.mazdausa.com. Follow @MazdaUSA on social media: Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and Threads. SOURCE Mazda North American Operations COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Express Wash Concepts (EWC) today announced its continued Central Ohio expansion with the grand opening of its latest wash at 1390 West Mound Street in Columbus. Currently, EWC operates 36 Moo locations in Central Ohio and a total of 108 award-winning express car washes across Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus, Hampton Roads, and Pittsburgh. Looking ahead, more than 25 new EWC locations are planned for construction or opening in 2025, including two in Central Ohio on Sawmill Road and East 5th Avenue. "As a home-grown company, we take immense pride in expanding right here in our own backyard. With each new location, we're not just opening another car wash we're investing in our community, creating jobs, and building relationships with the customers who have supported us from day one," said John Roush, Founder and CEO of Express Wash Concepts and Moo Moo Express Car Wash. "Our commitment goes beyond clean cars; it's about giving back, growing together, and making a lasting impact in the neighborhoods we're proud to call home" From March 14-23, 2025, the newest West Mound Street Moo is offering a free signature Creme de la Creme + Ceramic car wash ($22 value) to all customers. Customers can also sign-up for the Grand Opening Unlimited Wash Club special for 50% off their first 3 months, a savings of up to $60. For every Unlimited Wash Club sign-up, Moo Moo Express will donate $10 to Central Ohio-based non-profit Growlers Dog Bones. Growlers Dog Bones changes lives one dog bone at a time by providing individuals with disabilities vocational training, employment and volunteerism opportunities. Each dog treat is handmade by Growlers Dog Bones team members with locally sourced, all natural ingredients. Additional Moo Moo Express grand opening promotions include a $50 Moo gift card for $25 with all proceeds donated back to Growlers Dog Bones. Once purchased at the West Mound Street location, gift cards are redeemable at any Moo Moo Express or EWC location. Moo Moo Express and the EWC family of brands offer a state-of-the-art, high-quality, environmentally friendly express wash experience with complimentary professional grade vacuums. The Company's popular "Wash Smart" unlimited wash club membership, starting at $20 a month, offers truly unlimited washes across the entire Express Wash Concepts portfolio. About Express Wash Concepts: Express Wash Concepts (EWC) operates 108 award-winning, express car wash locations across six states under the following brands: Moo Moo Express Car Wash, Flying Ace Express Car Wash, Clean Express Auto Wash, Green Clean Express Auto Wash and Bee Clean Express Car Wash. EWC brands feature fast, high quality and environmentally friendly express tunnel wash experiences and free vacuums. The company's popular Wash Smart Unlimited Club packages offer members the convenience and value of truly unlimited washing at any location. For more information, please visit www.expresswashconcepts.com. SOURCE Express Wash Concepts Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has held a meeting with representatives of leading Finnish defense and technology companies, the Defense Ministry's press service reported on its Telegram channel. "The focus is on the production of ammunition, the development of satellite communication systems, telecommunications, armored vehicles and strengthening maritime security," Umerov said, commenting on the negotiations. He noted that Finland has valuable experience in creating effective defense solutions and is a leader in technological innovation. "Our partnership opens up new opportunities for strengthening the Ukrainian army with modern weapons and equipment," the minister emphasized. He thanked Finnish companies for their openness to cooperation and invited them to Ukraine, emphasizing that the government is ready to invest in expanding production capacity to provide the army with the necessary equipment. PITTSBURGH, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) today announced it has accepted the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer, Lee B. McChesney, effective March 21, 2025. Mr. McChesney, who was elected CFO in October of 2022, is leaving to accept a similar position at another public company. Steve Blanco, MSA Safety President and CEO, said the company has initiated a comprehensive search for a new CFO. In addition, MSA Executive Director of Financial Planning and Analysis and Strategy, Elyse L. Brody, has been appointed interim CFO. "We extend our thanks to Lee for the contributions he has made since joining the company," Mr. Blanco commented. "Lee was a strong advocate for the MSA Business System, which he utilized in his continuous improvement efforts to strengthen the foundation within our Finance organization in pursuit of functional excellence," he said. About MSA Safety MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) is the global leader in advanced safety products, technologies and solutions. Driven by its singular mission of safety, the company has been at the forefront of safety innovation since 1914, protecting workers and facility infrastructure around the world across a broad range of diverse end markets while creating sustainable value for shareholders. With 2024 revenues of $1.8 billion, MSA Safety is headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania and employs a team of more than 5,000 associates across its more than 40 international locations. For more information, please visit www.MSASafety.com. SOURCE MSA Safety Charitable funds will be distributed to Amery and Clayton school districts MINNEAPOLIS, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- National Grid Renewables announced today their pledge to contribute $500,000 in charitable funding through its Apple River Solar (Apple River) Project located in Polk County, Wisconsin. The 100-megawatt (MW) project announced the start of onsite construction earlier this year and is anticipated to generate over $36 million in direct economic impact over the first 20 years of operations. "Our commitment to community runs deep," said Blake Nixon, President and CEO of National Grid Renewables. "We are proud to continue our longstanding tradition of charitable giving through the Apple River fund and look forward to seeing the impact of those contributions to residents in the local community." Apple River Solar will provide approximately $500,000 in charitable donations over the first twenty years of operations. Funds will be distributed directly to the Amery and Clayton school districts. "The funds provided by Apple River Solar will help to enhance learning opportunities, support innovative educational programs, and ensure that Clayton students have access to the resources they need," said Patrick Sturzl, District Administrator for Clayton School District. "We're thankful that our partnership with National Grid Renewables will deliver meaningful benefits for our students and staff." National Grid Renewables initiates charitable funds for each owned and operated large-scale renewable energy project. The philanthropic funds aim to engage with and contribute money to charitable and community activities and organizations within the project communities. To learn more about their commitment to communities, visit www.nationalgridrenewables.com/communities. About National Grid Renewables National Grid Renewables develops, owns and operates large-scale renewable energy assets across the United States, including solar, wind, and energy storage. As a farmer-founded and community-focused business, National Grid Renewables repowers America's electricity grid by reigniting local economies and reinvesting in a sustainable, clean energy future. National Grid Renewables supports National Grid's vision of being at the heart of a clean, fair, and affordable energy future for all. To learn more about National Grid Renewables, visit www.nationalgridrenewables.com or follow the company on LinkedIn. Media Inquiries Contact: Emily Morissette Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications National Grid Renewables [email protected] 612-504-4839 SOURCE National Grid Renewables MIAMI, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NDAY Security "NDAY()", led by former Big Four, Trustwave SpiderLabs, and Secureworks offensive experts, is revolutionizing the cybersecurity industry with groundbreaking enhancements to its flagship platform, AttackN. Designed to democratize ethical hacking for security teams, AttackN now introduces AI-driven auto-exploitation, an AI-hacking agent, exposure management, and Deepfake Assessments. The platform's reporting is now available in 43 languages, positioning AttackN as the global communication hub for understanding attackers. NDAY Ethical hackers use AI agents and the ATTACKN platform to identify exploitable risks in seconds, just like attackers. Post this AI Hacking Example Key updates to AttackN include: AI-Powered Auto-Exploitation Platform : At the request of customers, AttackN autonomously and transparently identifies and exploits vulnerabilities, providing real-time insights into risk landscapes. This automation enables businesses to proactively address security risks with data-driven decisions. : At the request of customers, AttackN autonomously and transparently identifies and exploits vulnerabilities, providing real-time insights into risk landscapes. This automation enables businesses to proactively address security risks with data-driven decisions. Ethical AI-Hacking Agent : Using advanced machine learning, AttackN's AI agent safely and continuously simulates sophisticated cyber-attacks, detecting potential vulnerabilities before real adversaries can exploit them. : Using advanced machine learning, AttackN's AI agent safely and continuously simulates sophisticated cyber-attacks, detecting potential vulnerabilities before real adversaries can exploit them. Exposure Management via DiscoverN : AttackN uncovers hidden risks such as tech debt, third-party vulnerabilities, and unknown threats, allowing organizations to address gaps and prioritize actions that matter. : AttackN uncovers hidden risks such as tech debt, third-party vulnerabilities, and unknown threats, allowing organizations to address gaps and prioritize actions that matter. Global Reach with 43 Languages: Security teams worldwide can access consultative style penetration testing exploitability reports in their native languages, ensuring clear, effective mitigation strategies. These innovations, combined with AttackN's one-touch reporting, social engineering assessment tools, and breachability report card, redefine how businesses approach cybersecurity. By shifting from reactive defense to continuous, automated offensive security, with point-in-time options for compliance, organizations gain a strategic advantage over emerging threats. "We enable organizations worldwide to stay ahead of nation-states, cybercriminals, and organized crime by making their attack methods accessible and understandable, regardless of language," said Mark Whitehead, CEO of NDAY. "What NDAY has created is exactly what used to keep me up at night. Making this available to organizations at lightning speed and safely gives them the same purview our adversaries have. What is truly game-changing is that this cutting-edge technology is available at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions." Jack Johnson Jr., First Chief Security Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. NDAY's partner first strategy has allowed them to continue down the path to democratize offensive security for all. For more information about AttackN and NDAY, visit NDAY Security's official website . SOURCE NDay Security, Inc. Alum and First Woman to Lead the Massachusetts Appeals Court Will Address Friends, Alumni, Faculty, and Staff at April 11 Event BOSTON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- New England Law | Boston will hold its annual Law Day Banquet and Barrister's Ball on Friday, April 11, 2025, at the Westin Copley Place in Boston. The yearly Law Day commemoration is held nationally to celebrate the rule of law and cultivate a deeper understanding of the legal system. Friends of New England Law will join students, alumni, faculty, and staff for the event, which will feature the Honorable Amy Lyn Blake '92, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, as honored guest and keynote speaker. Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court Amy Lyn Blake "The annual Law Day Banquet is a unique opportunity for our entire communityfrom students, faculty, and staff to alumni and distinguished gueststo gather as one and reflect upon our shared responsibilities under the Constitution," said James H. Kennedy III, CEO and Dean of New England Law. "This year we have the honor of welcoming Chief Justice Amy Blake, who is not only one of the region's most accomplished jurists, but also a New England Law alum and former adjunct faculty member, making this a truly special and proud moment for our institution." Chief Justice Blake was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Appeals Court by Governor Deval Patrick in 2014 and was elevated to Chief Justice by Governor Maura Healey in 2024, making her the first woman to lead the court. Chief Justice Blake earned her JD at New England Law, where she graduated cum laude and received the Amos L. Taylor Award for Excellence in Achievement. Chief Justice Blake is the District One Director of the National Association of Women Judges, a fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and an associate editor of the Massachusetts Law Review. Chief Justice Blake has previously been named Jurist of the Year by the Middlesex County Bar Association, and Lawyer of the Year by the North Shore Women Lawyers' Association. She has also received the Distinguished Jurist Award from the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers. Law Day was established in 1958 by proclamation of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Celebrated annually by the nation's legal community and the general public, it promotes awareness of our country's laws and justice system and the role they play in maintaining the freedoms we enjoy. Nationwide, Law Day celebrations include events at law schools, court houses, bar associations, secondary schools, and community centers. For 2025, the Law Day theme is "The Constitution's Promise: Out of Many, One." The Constitution enshrines our collective responsibility to one another, and the 2025 Law Day theme urges us to take pride in a Constitution that bridges our differences to bring us together as a united nation. Past New England Law | Boston Law Day speakers include John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States; Joseph P. Kennedy III, U.S. House of Representatives, Massachusetts; and Kimberly S. Budd, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. ABOUT NEW ENGLAND LAW | BOSTON New England Law | Boston was founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, the first and only law school established exclusively for the education of women. Today, New England Law offers its co-educational student body flexible, convenient programs that combine rigorous academics, dynamic community, and early access to practical experience, as well as a diverse, global alumni network spanning 29 countries, 50 states, and all areas of practice. For more information, visit www.nesl.edu. SOURCE New England Law | Boston LONDON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Four leading Nord Anglia Education schools have once again secured their place amongst the world's best private schools, as recognised by the prestigious 2025 Spear's Schools Index. The index, often regarded as the definitive guide to the world's 100 leading private schools, acknowledges excellence in education, innovation, and student success. It has been drawn up annually since 2020 by Spear's, their partners at Thuso, and a panel of independent educationalists from around the world. In this year's index, three schools were once again recognised in the "Top 100": College Alpin Beau Soleil and College Champittet in Switzerland, along with Swiss International Scientific School Dubai. Nord Anglia International School Dubai also features in the Spear's Schools Index as a "Recommended" school. Stuart White, Principal at College Alpin Beau Soleil, said: "Our students and colleagues are at the heart of what makes Beau Soleil such a wonderful international community in the Swiss mountains, and I am delighted they have been recognised by Spear's once again. Our focus on a unique blend of academic and alpine education continues to allow students to develop as tomorrow's global leaders." Philippe de Korodi, Principal of College Champittet, said: "College Champittet is dedicated to shaping future leaders who are compassionate, open-minded, and independent thinkers. Our inclusion in the Spear's Index is once more a recognition of our school community's emphasis on values, engagement, and commitment to academic excellence." Ruth Burke, Principal of Swiss International Scientific School Dubai, said: "This accolade inspires us to continue striving for excellence in all aspects of learning and school life, preparing our students to succeed in a rapidly changing world. As a unique bilingual day and boarding school, it is wonderful to be recognised. Thank you to everyone who plays a part in making our school such an exceptional place to learn and grow." About Nord Anglia's featured schools: College Alpin Beau Soleil : A leading private boarding school in Villars-sur-Ollon in the Swiss Alps. It is home to a thriving international community of students aged 11 to 18. : A leading private boarding school in Villars-sur-Ollon in the Swiss Alps. It is home to a thriving international community of students aged 11 to 18. College Champittet: A world-class day and boarding international school in Lausanne, Switzerland , offering an outstanding education that instils lifelong values and inspires academic excellence. , offering an outstanding education that instils lifelong values and inspires academic excellence. Swiss International Scientific School Dubai : A co-educational, IB day and boarding school for students aged 3 to 18 in Dubai , with English only, English-French, and English-German bilingual programmes. : A co-educational, IB day and boarding school for students aged 3 to 18 in , with English only, English-French, and English-German bilingual programmes. Nord Anglia International School Dubai : An outstanding British curriculum school where children are inspired to achieve more than they ever thought possible. About Nord Anglia Education: As a leading international schools organisation, we're shaping a generation of creative and resilient global citizens who graduate from our schools with everything they need for success, whatever they choose to be or do in life. Our strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with cutting-edge technology and facilities, creating learning experiences like no other. Inside and outside of the classroom, we inspire our students to achieve more than they ever thought possible. No two children learn the same way, which is why our schools around the world personalise learning to what works best for every student. Inspired by our high-quality teachers, our students achieve outstanding academic results and go on to study at the world's top universities. Our Nord Anglia global family includes 80+ day and boarding schools in 33 countries, teaching over 90,000 students from ages 3 to 18. To learn more or apply for a place for your child at one of our schools, go to nordangliaeducation.com. For media enquiries: David Bates Communications Manager M +44 (0) 7787 135223 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1503193/5215363/Nord_Anglia_Education_Logo.jpg SOURCE Nord Anglia Education BOULDER, Colo., March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- North Boulder Dental is thrilled to announce the launch of its newly designed website, which is now live at https://www.boulderdental.com . The revamped site offers an improved user experience, making it easier for patients to access information about the practice and the comprehensive dental services provided. For over 30 years, North Boulder Dental has been a trusted provider of dental care for families in Boulder, Colorado. Established in 1983, the practice has cultivated a reputation for delivering high-quality, compassionate dentistry with a focus on education and preventive care. Their mission goes beyond routine check-upsNorth Boulder Dental aims to partner with patients to promote optimal oral health and wellness for life. "I am excited to introduce our new website, which reflects our commitment to providing our patients with both outstanding dental care and convenient access to important information," said Dr. Paul A. Sica III, D.M.D. "We've worked hard to create a site that aligns with our philosophy of compassionate and patient-centered care." North Boulder Dental's team is led by Dr. Paul Sica, who specializes in delivering personalized care tailored to each patient's unique needs. The practice is supported by Dr. Kristy Dhaliwal, Dr. David Welden, and Dr. Stephanie Nielsen, who each bring years of experience and dedication to guiding patients through their oral health journeys. Together, they ensure that every patient receives exceptional care in a friendly and welcoming environment. North Boulder Dental provides the following services: General Dentistry Cosmetic Dentistry Teeth Whitening Dental Implants Porcelain Veneers Crowns and Bridges Emergency Dentistry Comprehensive Oral Exams Pediatric Dentistry About North Boulder Dental Located at 1001 North Street, Boulder, CO 80304, North Boulder Dental has set the standard in family dentistry for over three decades. Offering a full range of preventive, restorative, and cosmetic dental services, the practice is renowned for its compassionate care and commitment to patient education. For more information, visit https://www.boulderdental.com or call (303) 447-1042. Prospective patients are encouraged to contact the practice to schedule an appointment and experience the difference firsthand. SOURCE North Boulder Dental WASHINGTON, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), one of five awardees of the EPA's Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, is aware of the latest public statement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and has received EPA's attempted cancellation notice. This arbitrary action by the EPA impacts the planned announcement of over $228 million in initial awards to 26 organizations that would have financed housing, distributed energy, and transportation infrastructure projects in more than 30 states, and created an estimated 5,000 jobs in communities across America. However, the EPA has arbitrarily sought to cancel obligated fundsawarded through a rigorous, competitive, and transparent processbased on inaccurate and politicized claims. These claims are baseless and undermine a critical effort to drive American energy independence, local resilience, and job creation in communities. OFN has repeatedly attempted to engage with the EPA in good faith to discuss OFN's workplan, expertise, and faithful execution of the agreement. OFN welcomes program oversight and continues to fully cooperate with all inquiries. Over the past 40 years, OFN has been a responsible steward of government funding to catalyze private investment in American communities. These efforts have resulted in OFN successfully managing over $1 billion in total assets from public, private, and philanthropic partners. OFN is exploring all options to ensure we can continue to drive economic opportunity in communities across the country and remains committed to defending the integrity of our work, standing up for millions of Americans in urban, rural, and tribal communities who deserve access to opportunity. Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the nation's leading network and intermediary focused on community development investment, managing over $1 billion in total assets and a membership of more than 470 community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which includes community development loan funds, credit unions, green banks, banks, minority depository institutions, and venture capital funds. Our network of CDFIs works to ensure communities underserved by mainstream finance have access to affordable, responsible financial products and services, with a deep focus on serving rural, urban, and Native communities across the United States. OFN is a trusted investment partner to the public, private, and philanthropic sectors foundations, corporations, banks, government agencies, and others and, for 40 years, has helped partners invest in communities to catalyze change and create economic opportunities for all. Since its founding in 1986, OFN members have originated over $110 billion in financing, helping to create or maintain more than three million jobs, start or expand more than 850,000 businesses and microenterprises, and support the development or rehabilitation of nearly 2.4 million housing units and more than 14,000 community facility projects. SOURCE Opportunity Finance Network AI Security Services Also Recognized as Top AI Offering DENVER, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Optiv, the cyber advisory and solutions leader, today announced the 2025 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards recognized CEO Kevin Lynch and CISO Max Shier as CEO of the Year and CISO of the Year, reflecting the exceptional leadership and expertise within Optiv. Optiv CEO Kevin Lynch Optiv CISO Max Shier Serving as Optiv's chief executive officer since 2020, Lynch has spearheaded the company's vision to challenge the status quo by delivering innovative cybersecurity solutions that create simplicity and confidence for clients around the world. Additionally, he has created a culture that believes in the power of the people at Optiv, which has made the company a premier destination for cybersecurity talent. He was recently named a Top Consulting Firm CEO of 2024 by The Consulting Report. "This latest recognition underscores the trust clients put in us to safeguard their most valuable assets from emerging threats in today's complex security environment," said Lynch. "I accept this acknowledgement on behalf of our entire organization, whose relentless drive, innovation and dedication fuel our success." Shier joined Optiv in 2022 as vice president and chief information security officer. Among other achievements, his work on technology rationalization and the implementation of a request-for-proposals process allowed Optiv to streamline the procurement process. Shier has significantly impacted the cybersecurity community by serving as a thought leader, mentoring and cultivating cybersecurity talent, and supporting military veterans through various initiatives and mentoring. "Being acknowledged in this way is a testament to the collaborative spirit and tireless dedication of our employees who protect our clients from sophisticated threats," said Shier. "It inspires us to continue pushing the boundaries of cybersecurity, ensuring our clients' safety in an ever-evolving digital landscape. I'm grateful to represent our dedicated professionals, whose expertise and vigilance make our programs effective." Beyond individual achievements, Optiv's AI Security Services offering was recognized as a winner in the AI Security Solution category for its innovative approach to securing AI implementations. In today's rapidly evolving technological environment, the increasing adoption of AI brings new security challenges. Optiv's AI Security Services enables organizations to leverage the benefits of AI while mitigating associated risks. Learn more about Optiv's AI Security Services here: https://www.optiv.com/solutions/artificial-intelligence "As we celebrate 10 years of recognizing excellence in cybersecurity, [Optiv's] innovation, commitment and leadership set a powerful example for the entire industry," said Holger Schulze, founder of Cybersecurity Insiders and organizer of the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards. For the latest news and updates from Optiv, visit https://www.optiv.com/company/optiv-newsroom. Follow Optiv LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/optiv-inc Facebook: www.facebook.com/optivinc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OptivInc Blog: https://www.optiv.com/explore-optiv-insights/blog Optiv Security: Secure greatness. Optiv is the cyber advisory and solutions leader, delivering strategic and technical expertise to nearly 6,000 companies across every major industry. We partner with organizations to advise, deploy and operate complete cybersecurity programs from strategy and managed security services to risk, integration and technology solutions. With clients at the center of our unmatched ecosystem of people, products, partners and programs, we accelerate business progress like no other company can. At Optiv, we manage cyber risk so you can secure your full potential. For more information, visit www.optiv.com. SOURCE Optiv Security Inc. SANTA ANA, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Paslay Group, the nation's premier airport consultancy, is pleased to announce an expanded engagement at John Wayne Airport (JWA), Orange County. The engagement will assist airport and county leaders in delivering JWA's multi-year Capital Improvement Program and other programs. Paslay Group is assisting in delivering the $610 million John Wayne Airport, Orange County, Capital Improvement Program. Post this John Wayne Airport, Orange County The latest approved JWA Airport CIP is valued at an estimated $610 million with projects scheduled through mid-year 2031, including but not limited to replacement of the baggage handling systems, elevators, escalators, security systems, lighting, and signage; improvements to the parking structures, runways and taxiways, stormwater collection/treatment systems, and electrical infrastructure capacity improvements at the Central Utility Plant and Terminals. Late last month, the Orange County Board of Supervisors amended its 2024 contract with Paslay Group to support setting up a newly formed Planning and Development Division for the airport and implementing a Coordination and Logistics Management, or CALM, team for delivering the Airport's CIP. The CALM program enables efficient coordination of facility impacts across all construction projects occurring on airport property. "JWA is a critically important economic engine for Orange County and serves destinations nationwide," said Paul Blue, Paslay Group partner and president of PG Executive Program Management. "Our firm is privileged to support JWA in helping the airport plan its facility updates in an organized way to ensure it can maintain its high customer service ratings and continue to thrive ." John Wayne Airport became a publicly owned facility in 1939 and currently serves about 11. 3 million passengers a year. December 2024 's total passengers were up 7 percent over December 2023. The Airport is 35 miles south of Los Angeles and reaches more than 40 non-stop destinations in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. In 2024, J.D. Power honored JWA with its No. 1 ranking in Customer Satisfaction among large airports. Increasing passenger volumes mean the airport is approaching its capacity, driving the need for facility improvements. "John Wayne Airport is one of our region 's critical assets, and we are carefully crafting plans to meet increasing passenger demand over the next decade while remaining a good neighbor to our surrounding communities,'' said Charlene Reynolds, Airport Director. "We remain focused on our guest experience, ensuring that our facilities support quality service at the highest possible level." PG EPM's onsite team includes Kris Vogt, PG EPM's director of operations, and Dave Salela, an aviation and transportation industry leader supporting the day-to-day delivery of the capital program. In addition to supporting the establishment of the Airport's Planning and Development Division, the team is conducting a comprehensive evaluation of JWA's CIP, assisting airport leaders in establishing priorities for multiple projects and collaborating with airport staff members in identifying alternative methods for program execution. Furthermore, at the County's recent direction, PG EPM is establishing a Coordination and Logistics Management (CALM) program at JWA to coordinate facility impacts for all construction occurring on airport property and minimize construction-related impacts on passengers and tenants while maintaining a positive guest experience. The effort is led by Don Chinery, Paslay Group 's CALM subject matter expert, who led the CALM team at Ontario International Airport (ONT) for two years and supported the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) CALM team for 13 years. He is a recognized expert and published author in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Media Contact: Kristin Sullivan, Marketing & Communications Director, [email protected], cell 817-706-9811 Paslay Group, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is the premiere, full-service airport consultancy providing Executive Program Management, Advisory, and Development services for a wide array of airports implementing capital development programs. Founded in 2006 by former airport executives, PG has successfully assisted owners in delivering airport projects valued at over $24 billion and is managing an additional $19 billion in programs. Visit paslaygroup.com or contact us at [email protected] to learn more. SOURCE PASLAY GROUP Synergies Between Health Care and Insurance Drive Scalable Growth AI Innovations Fuel Continued Success SHANGHAI and HONG KONG, March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited ("Ping An Good Doctor", "Ping An Health" or "the Company", Stock Code: 1833.HK) announced its 2024 annual results. With a strategic focus on its two core service hubs - family doctors and senior care concierges - Ping An Health has developed into a leading health and senior care service provider in China. During the reporting period, the Company recorded revenue of RMB4.81 billion and an adjusted net profit of RMB158 million. Notably, revenue from integrated finance business ("F-end") and corporate clients ("B-end") increased by 17.2% year-on-year, and revenue from home-based senior care services increased by 413.5% year-on-year. The number of B-end paying users was approximately 5.81 million, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 13.0%. Innovation and Upgrades in Synergies Between Health Care and Insurance. Scaling Effects of F-end and B-end Businesses Stand Out Under Ping An Group's ("the Group") "integrated finance + health and senior care" strategy, Ping An Health has fostered closer collaboration with the Group's integrated financial business through models including "insurance + health care" and " "insurance + senior care." During the reporting period, the Company gradually established three major models: "insurance + health and senior care membership," "collaboration between health care and claim settlement," and "medical and health benefit services." These models have supported the Group's integrated finance business with customer acquisition, retention, conversion and repeat purchases. During the reporting period, the Company achieved steady growth in its F-end business, with revenue exceeding RMB2.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. As of the end of September 2024, Ping An Group's retail integrated financial customers using services from its health and senior care ecosystem had 1.6 times more contracts and 3.9 times higher AUM per capita than the non-users of these services. At the same time, as one of the core drivers of the Company's medium- to long-term growth, the corporate health management business demonstrated robust development. In 2024, the Company continuously improved its capabilities in product design, customer acquisition, and user engagement, fully upgrading the "Ping An Corporate Health Protection Plan" product system for enterprises and their employees. The solutions include health entrusted management, membership-based health management services, and "insurance +" offerings, meeting the diversified scenario needs of different enterprises with a more competitive and differentiated product matrix. During the reporting period, revenue from B-end business exceeded RMB1.4 billion, an increase of 32.7% year-on-year. The number of B-end enterprises cumulatively served reached 2,049, an increase of 35.9% year-on-year. Further Strengthening Two Service Hubs and Expanded Service Scenarios and Product Empowerment In 2024, a series of favorable national policies injected strong momentum into the development of the healthcare industry. These policies encouraged the development of innovative medical service models, actively addressed population aging, and improved the senior care service system. Seizing these policy opportunities, Ping An Health leveraged its advantages to further strengthen its two core service hubs family doctor and senior care concierges driving rapid growth in the synergies between health care and insurance businesses. During the reporting period, the Company comprehensively upgraded "Ping An Family Doctor", its family doctor membership service brand, and established its "1-1-3-12" one-stop, proactive health management service system. Its family doctor team was certified by Peking University International Hospital and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Additionally, its service standards and telemedicine management were certified by the General Practice Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, respectively. These advancements further enabled the Company to provide customers with collaboration between health care and claim settlement, end-to-end critical illness case management, and home-based senior care and healthcare services, enhancing the Group's integrated financial business with differentiated competitiveness. During the reporting period, family doctor services under the collaboration between health care and claim settlement served over 2 million customers. With the integration of service scenarios and improvements in service capabilities, the Company had over 14 million users with access to family doctor service benefits. Meanwhile, Ping An Health actively expanded its home-based senior care business and further developed its "insurance + home-based senior care" model. The Company continued to develop a comprehensive "3-in-1" senior care concierge system integrating smart concierges, daily life concierges, and doctor concierges, while collaborating with various parties to establish standardized service systems. During the reporting period, the Company constructed a multi-modal senior care service system of "home-based senior care + sojourn-based senior care + senior care institutions," providing personalized services for silver-haired population across different ages with different senior care needs, such as smart age-friendly home modifications, emergency rescue services, and professional medical care. During the reporting period, home-based senior care benefits were available in 75 cities across China, recording a year-on-year revenue increase of 413.5%. AI Empowerment Achieves Breakthrough Growth. Integrating and Upgrading the "Online, In-store, Home and Company-delivered" Service Network In serious medical scenarios, the Company continues to strengthen its AI-powered healthcare foundation, enhance its O2O service network, and improve refined user operations. Leveraging Ping An's five industry-leading medical databases and 1.44 billion online consultations, Ping An Health has created the "Ping An Medical Master" multi-modal medical AI model and the " Ping An Doctor's HomeTM" doctor's workbench, and deployed, applied and validated DeepSeek's large model. Through AI empowerment, significant improvements were achieved in efficiency and quality metrics across all aspects of medical services during the reporting period. Specifically, AI-powered health checkup interpretation reached an accuracy rate of 98%, AI-assisted diagnosis accuracy over 95%, intelligent recommendation accuracy achieved 99%, and chronic disease management improvement rates reached 90%. Additionally, the efficiency of family doctor services, specialist doctor services and health managers services improved by approximately 62%, 42%, and 55%, respectively. Furthermore, the Company launched the "Ping An Xin Yi" service, fully opening up AI-assisted expert 24/7 health consultation services. In the future, the Company will continue to promote health care service coverage and health record establishment for Ping An Group's 240 million retail financial customers, and fully utilize its unique advantages such as the closed-loop medical insurance data, self-developed medical large language model, and vertical domain model trained and adapted to medical scenarios to accelerate the application of AI large language models in multidisciplinary consultations and other scenarios for complex diseases. Focused on medical, health, and senior care service scenarios, the Company has upgraded its O2O service network to the "online, in-store, home, and company-delivered" service network. At the same time, leveraging its platform-based and scaled bargaining advantages, the Company continued to improve service cost-effectiveness and service experience, launching innovative products and service commitments including "Ping An worry-free care," "specialist doctor consultation in as fast as three hours," and "refund the price if the medicine is more expensive or delivery is slow, and replace expired medicines." As of the end of 2024, the Company has established a team of approximately 50,000 internal and external doctors covering 29 departments, signed contracts with over 2,900 specialist doctors, including expert doctors from Fudan's Top 100 Hospitals, partnered with nearly 4,000 hospitals, approximately 105,000 cooperative health service providers, nearly 2,600 physical examination providers, 235,000 pharmacies, and over 150 senior care service providers. Contributing to sustainable development, the Company achieved remarkable results in ESG. During the reporting period, its MSCI ESG rating was upgraded from A to AA for the first time, becoming the first in the healthcare equipment industry in the Hang Seng Index. The Company joined hands with various parties to launch the " Healthy Steps" National Health Literacy Improvement Campaign, aiming to enhance public health management awareness and literacy, and promote the development of national health. 2025 marks the final year of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the year for planning and laying out the "15th Five-Year Plan." With the continued improvement of the macroeconomy and the continued release of policy benefits in health care and senior care, Ping An Health will continue adhering to the value proposition of "worry-free, time-saving and money-saving", focusing on the operating principle of "deep empowerment, word-of-mouth service, and innovative growth," promoting the "integrated finance + health and senior care" strategy, constructing a collaborative model of health and senior care services and financial payers, creating long-term value for users, shareholders, and society, and contributing to the solid implementation of the Digital China and Healthy China strategies. SOURCE Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited Zelenskyy listens to report of Ukrainian delegation on negotiations in Saudi Arabia Photo: https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has heard a report from the Ukrainian delegation on the meeting with US representatives in Saudi Arabia, in particular the progress of negotiations and key aspects. It is good that the conversation was entirely constructive. Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward peace, and we are prepared to do our part in creating all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace. I thank our teams for the fact that military aid and intelligence sharing resumed, Zelenskyy said on X Thursday. According to the president, representatives of Ukraine informed the American side of Ukraines fundamental positions. Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire, but the US proposed extending it to land. Ukraine welcomes this proposal. The control of such a ceasefire remains an important issue, and we appreciate the United States' willingness to organize the technical aspects of such control, Zelenskyy noted. In addition, the participants of the report discussed the need to ensure security, interaction with European partners and further joint steps. Zelenskyy noted that for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made. This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that U.S. pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war, the President stressed. who seek to help bring peace closer. Zelenskyy thanked Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud for organizing a platform for the delegations to work. PLANO, Texas, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Crowder Law Firm is honored to announce that Associate Attorney Tyler Richied has officially joined its team of legal professionals. Tyler brings an impressive knowledge of the law, a focus on exceptional client relations, and a passion for legal advocacy to the firm. The Crowder Law Firm is thrilled to welcome Mr. Richied to the team. Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Tyler Richied Tyler Richied is an experienced trial lawyer who has represented clients in both federal and state courts. While he has received extensive training in murder cases, Mr. Richied will represent clients in a wide range of criminal defense cases, including charges of drunk driving, theft, sexual assault of a child, drug crimes, and complex homicide charges. Before joining the Crowder Law Firm, Attorney Richied practiced as a felony prosecutor at the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. He earned his law degree from Southern Methodist Dedman School of Law after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. About the Crowder Law Firm The Crowder Law Firm opened over 20 years ago and has devoted its services to advocating for criminal defendants throughout North Texas. In the last two decades, Darlina Crowder and her staff have obtained more than 300 non-guilty verdicts and acquittals in cases involving some of the most serious criminal offenses. The Collin County criminal defense firm represents people facing charges related to crimes against children, drug offenses, DWI, sex crimes, property crimes, white collar crimes, and more. Visit https://www.crowdercriminalfirm.com/ to learn more about the Crowder Law Firm. To schedule a free consultation, call 469-546-7481. SOURCE The Crowder Law Firm, P.C. "With these stamps, the Postal Service celebrates the beauty and ingenuity behind some of America's most successful lures," said John DiPeri, USPS Western Region vice president. "As our design team would tell you, fitting subjects in such a tiny frame is no small feat. However, with their miniature size and design flourishes, fishing lures make ideal stamp subjects. Fish find each of these designs irresistible ... and we think you will too." DiPeri was joined by representatives from the Johnny Morris Foundation, Bass Pro Shops and the fishing and conservation communities. "We are truly honored to host this special stamp dedication at Wonders of Wildlife, celebrating the timeless tradition of fishing and the artistry behind these iconic lures," said Misty Mitchell, director of conservation education at the Johnny Morris Foundation. "This event with the USPS is a wonderful way to showcase the legacy of angling to enthusiasts of all ages." "Fishing lures are more than just tools they represent tradition, innovation, and a deep connection to the great outdoors," said Lee Beasley, campus director at Bass Pro Shops. "We're thrilled to share this moment with anglers and outdoor enthusiasts across the country." The lures "symbolize craftsmanship and sportsmanship values we strive to instill in the next generation of anglers," said JP Sell, director of the National Youth Fishing Association. "I am so excited that the most participated in sport in America is getting a stamp," said fishing guide Mike Webb, owner of Webb's Guide Service. Crankbaits, or plugs, are popular among anglers because they are relatively easy to use. They attract a variety of fish, including bass, walleye and pike. Their unique swimming action is generated by a plastic lip and curved body, which make the lures dive and wiggle just by reeling them in. Anglers tend to run these lures along the bottom, bouncing them off rocks, logs or other submerged structures. An in-line spinner lure is made to mimic the movement of a swimming baitfish, attracting predator fish with a spinning blade and a weighted body that create vibration in the water. They often have tails dressed with feathers, animal hair or rubber skirting to attract bass, trout, pike and other species in shallow streams, deeper rivers and lakes. Spoon lures have been around since the 1800s and are named for their concave shape. It is believed that a blacksmith in Vermont created the first spoon lure by sawing off the handle of a spoon and attaching a hook. Spoons have remained popular because their unique movement and glimmer under water are so effective at catching fish, especially bass, pike and trout. Topwater lures are extremely popular and are designed to be fished on the surface of the water: Wakebaits use metal or plastic wings to create a commotion like the wake of a boat as they skim the surface. A popper has a concave face that creates a popping sound when it is pulled across the water. Given the many choices open to anglers, there is truly a fishing lure for any occasion. Whether in lakes, streams or rivers, an angler can catch just about any fish if they have the right tools. Every freshwater fishing lure has a unique history, and each has played a significant role in the evolution of fishing as a sport. From the earliest handmade wooden lures to swimbaits made of modern materials, there are countless freshwater lures available, each designed to meet the specific needs of the angler. Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps using original photographs by Sarah Cramer Shields. The Freshwater Fishing Lures stamps come in panes of 20. As Forever stamps, they will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1ounce price. News of the stamps are being shared with the hashtag #FishingLuresStamps. Postal Products Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide. For officially licensed stamp products, shop the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon. Additional information on stamps, First Day of Issue Ceremonies and stamp inspired products can be found at StampsForever.com. Please Note: The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to 169 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America, to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America's most valued and trusted brands. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. For USPS media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter; Instagram; Pinterest; Threads and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube Channel and like us on Facebook. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com. Contact: Jim McKean [email protected] usps.com/news Local: Tara Jarrett [email protected] usps.com/news SOURCE U.S. Postal Service DUBAI, UAE, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In alignment with the visionary leadership of the United Arab Emirates under the national initiative "Year of Community," the Qalby Etmaan program announces the launch of its 'Clay Donation Boxes' initiative for its eighth season. The initiative aims to distribute these boxes across the UAE at no cost. The Clay Donation Boxes are a purely Emirati product, made by local potters and artisans. Even the packaging of these boxes is environmentally friendly, wrapped in burlap and recycled paper, and packed by humanitarian institutions and volunteers, such as the UAE Red Crescent, Zayed Foundation for Charitable and Humanitarian Works, and Khalifa Foundation for Charitable and Humanitarian Works, reinforcing the spirit of giving and community solidarity. 'The Clay Donation Box (PRNewsfoto/Ghaith Platform) This initiative is designed to tap into the innate goodness of our hearts and instil the concept of "goodness within everyone's reach," simplifying charitable acts and emphasizing the importance of everyone's contribution to the community, while highlighting the profound impact their donations can have on the lives of orphaned children and those in need. The 'Clay Donation Boxes' also seek to revive the concept of returning to tradition in the age of digitization, especially with the decline in the use of cash, thus promoting a culture of saving and giving in a simple and effective way. Funds collected from these Clay Donation Boxes will be used to plant 100,000 date palms, with date sales directly supporting orphaned children in Gaza. This long-term initiative ensures sustained aid. The boxes will be broken open on March 25, coinciding with the 25th day of Ramadan, and the contents will be used in agriculture by mixing it with the soil, as clay has great benefits in improving soil quality and fertility, reinforcing the environmental sustainability aspect of the initiative. Over 5,000 Clay Donation Boxes will be distributed, with 10 special boxes containing free tickets for winners to attend the filming of the next season of the Qalby Etmaan program, adding an element of excitement and active engagement for the public. The Clay Donation Boxes will be available at multiple distribution points, including the Qalby Etmaan online store, Hamad Store, ADNOC fuel stations, and UAE Red Crescent kiosks in shopping malls, ensuring that everyone has easy access to participate in this unique humanitarian initiative. To contribute to the Qalby Etmaan projects and initiatives, please visit the Ghaith platform: https://www.emiratesrc.ae/Ghaith/Home.aspx The Qalby Etmaan program is available on the program's YouTube channel, Abu Dhabi TV, and the Abu Dhabi TV app at the following times: 7:00 PM UAE Time 6:00 PM KSA Time Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2641305/Qalby_Etmaan.jpg SOURCE Ghaith Platform Multi-Unit Franchise Groups Fuel Expansion with 33+ New Restaurants Planned and More Growth Ahead SAN DIEGO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- QDOBA, America's #2 restaurant brand in the Mexican fast-casual category, continues its impressive franchise expansion with major agreements to bring more than 33 new locations to key markets across the country. Alongside its growing network of traditional franchise restaurants, QDOBA is also accelerating non-traditional development, with new locations opening in airports, universities, and military bases. With these agreements and additional deals in the pipeline, QDOBA now surpasses 500 development commitments, reinforcing its strong appeal among multi-unit operators and solidifying its position as a leader in the fast-casual space. "QDOBA's momentum continues to accelerate, driven by strong franchise partnerships and a commitment to quality," said Jeremy Vitaro, Chief Development Officer at QDOBA. "We're excited to welcome new franchisees who bring industry expertise and a shared passion for bold flavors. As we surpass 500 development commitments, we're reinforcing our position as a premier fast-casual brand poised for long-term success." QDOBA celebrates several franchise groups spearheading major market developments, including PFGS, LLC, Empire Inc., Roaring Forks, LLC, Holy Guacamole, and Dhote & Turner, LLC. In the Northeast, PFGS, LLC is set to develop 15 restaurants across the Springfield, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut markets. The group is also a multi-unit franchise owner, operating multiple KFC and Dunkin' locations. Notably, Johnny Muhammad, former head of company operations for KFC U.S., is fulfilling a personal dream of becoming a franchise owneran aspiration inspired by his father. His transition from corporate leadership to ownership represents a compelling story of entrepreneurship and vision. Empire Inc. has committed to developing 10 locations in the greater Columbus, Ohio, market. The group brings extensive franchise and restaurant experience as multi-unit franchisees of Subway, Dunkin', and Wing Snobs, managing more than 100 restaurants across multiple states. The Midwest continues to see expected growth with new developments and agreements, as the second largest QDOBA franchisee in the system is expanding. Roaring Forks, LLC will add to their portfolio of more than 60 locations, planning three more restaurants in Rockford, Illinois. Meanwhile, Holy Guacamole signed on to develop a restaurant in Jamestown, North Dakota. With previous ownership experience at Dairy Queen and Quiznos, the Holy Guacamole group also brings restaurant experience and acumen to QDOBA. In the Pacific Northwest, Dhote & Turner, LLC signed to develop four locations, adding to QDOBA's expanding presence in the area. The group is a family of entrepreneurs and friends with extensive experience in foodservice, retail, and commercial development. Non-traditional growth is also expanding for QDOBA, underscoring the brand's growing appeal across the nation. The Gideon Toal Management Group recently opened a new non-traditional QDOBA location in Terminal A at the Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York . . This spring, QDOBA will open at Colorado State University-Pueblo in partnership with Aladdin Campus Dining, marking the first collaboration between the two companies. in partnership with Aladdin Campus Dining, marking the first collaboration between the two companies. In January, one of the largest franchisee groups in the QDOBA system, TIG, opened a second restaurant on the Rutgers University campus. The addition builds upon their portfolio of more than 30 restaurants. While franchise growth increases, so does brand momentum. QDOBA achieved a 6.1% comp sales growth in fiscal year 2023, followed by 7.7% comp sales growth in fiscal year 2024. According to Black Box Intelligence, the brand outpaced the fast casual restaurant category in both years. QDOBA continues to seek experienced multi-unit franchisees to develop key markets, including Atlanta, Orlando, Nashville, and Tampa, while also expanding in non-traditional venues such as airports, universities, military bases, and casinos. For additional information about the QDOBA franchise opportunity and available territories, prospective franchisees can visit www.qdobafranchise.com. *Franchise sales are subject to applicable laws and regulations. This release is not an offering nor a claim about financial performance of past or potential future financial performance. About QDOBA Mexican Eats QDOBA is a fast-casual Mexican restaurant with approximately 800 locations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Committed to bringing flavor to people's lives, QDOBA uses ingredients freshly prepared in-house by hand throughout the day to create a variety of flavorful menu options. Guests can experience QDOBA's delicious offerings by customizing their own burritos, bowls, tacos, quesadillas, nachos and salads to suit their personal tastes and cravings. Premium toppings can always be added to entrees at no extra charge, including signature 3-cheese queso and hand-crafted guacamole. For six years running, QDOBA has been voted the "Best Fast Casual Restaurant" as part of the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Guests can order ahead for pick-up, delivery or catering at QDOBA.com or on the QDOBA app, which is available for download on the iTunes App Store or Google Play. Fans can also connect with QDOBA on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. CONTACT: Megan Carthel, [email protected] Fish Consulting (954) 893-9150 SOURCE QDOBA NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the directors and officers of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) in connection with a report of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice into UnitedHealth's billing practices. If you currently own shares of UnitedHealth stock, please visit the firm's website at https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=25195 for more information. You may also contact Phillip Kim of Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via email at [email protected]. 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/. 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 achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A. SAN JOSE, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, March 13, city workers represented by San Jose labor unions IFPTE Local 21, MEF-AFSCME Local 101, and San Jose Firefighters IAFF Local 230 rallied to defend public services, in response to the City Manager's hiring freeze, proposed budget cuts, and needless threat of layoffs. Hundreds of city workers ended their action in united chants, with a commitment to continue organizing around the budget. On Tuesday, March 18, workers plan to address Mayor Matt Mahan's March Budget Message. "City workers are prepared to stand up for our libraries, our community centers, our parks, and the residents we serve. Our city budget is a reflection of our values, and we need the City Administration and Mayor to invest in city workers and the services we provide. Despite being a wealthy city, we do not have the proper resources and staffing levels to provide San Jose residents with the highest quality public services possible, which remains a top priority for us," said Nara Baker, Assistant Arborist for the Department of Transportation and IFPTE Local 21 Member. "When San Jose only has 7 city workers for every 1,000 residents, that lack of staffing should concern everyone. Any cuts to services puts our libraries, the airport, and fire stations at risk, and will continue to negatively impact emergency response times," said Jerry May, Fire Captain and President of San Jose Firefighters IAFF Local 230. "The City has enough money to invest in a San Jose that works for all of us. Our residents deserve better." Over the past decade, every year that the City of San Jose projected a budget deficit, the City ended the fiscal year with surplus money in the General Fund, averaging $32.2 million annually. According to data obtained from the City, there may also be up to $80.6 million in vacancy savings in the City's General Fund. Workers call on the City Administration to balance a budget that invests in city workers and vital services, not one that jeopardizes residents and the city's future with short-sighted cuts to services or jobs. "Cuts to public services don't just mean fewer resources in the here and now, they also severely impact what can be done in the future," said Marcell Leath, Data Analyst in the Housing Department and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 member. "It's time for a San Jose that works for all of us." SOURCE IFPTE Local 21 The authority on the "Howey Test" and investment contracts hosting Summit to reveal and educate with newfound data and information obtained in Howey-in-the-Hills last weekend. HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla., March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SECwhistleblown.com and TheWhistleIsBlown.com announced today the second Freeing Howey Investment Contract Summit will be held in Miami this weekend and will feature newfound documents dating back nearly 100 years. The documents to be revealed further solidify the abandonment of what was known as the "Howey Test" as related to securities laws. Watch two minute compelling video with J.K. the whistleblower, an epic and remarkable true story. Visit www.SECwhistleblown.com The "Howey Test" (HT) and the investment contract debacle carried on by the SEC that for the last decade has plagued the crypto industry, its companies, and millions of Americans who hold digital assets, began in little known Howey-in-the-Hills, FL in 1946. Incredibly, in an epic true story, last weekend the saga came full circle and to an abrupt end some 80 years later in that same big mansion in that same little town where the conflict began. SEC whistleblower Justin W. Keener, who from the beginning of the crypto litigation was skeptical and suspicious of the HT, the investment contract claims, and unregistered securities dealers and unregistered crypto dealer claims, organized and funded a massive research undertaking to destroy those theories and cases. Sharing the data, information, results, and analysis with his small select group last weekend, the HT was "immediately done, over, and deemed completely invalid. The Howey name was cleared and the failed 'test' set up for re-naming for the purpose of learning from our past, what not to do, and to never allow to happen again," stated Keener. It is noted that over the course of 80 years, the HT is believed to have been cited in more than 1,000 federal court cases across the nation, and another 300 state cases. With the HT deemed invalid, interested parties have much to ponder regarding those 1,300 cases. "This is a true testament to demonstrate the importance of 'getting it right.' Every important court case must be taken seriously and thoroughly evaluated. This shows that there can be far reaching and long-lasting consequences to 'getting it wrong' in a debacle like this," Keener added. The group suggests that until the "test's" new name is chosen it is simply called the HT, such that the Howey family name should no longer be used in that disrespectful manner. The second Freeing Howey Investment Contract Summit will be held this weekend in Miami on Friday and Saturday (March 14 and 15) at undisclosed locations. To attend the Summit either day, or both, interested parties should email a request to [email protected] or [email protected]. Unique to this Summit will be the reveal of newfound data and information from documents obtained during last weekend's Summit at Howey-in-the-Hills. "One never knows when or where a 100 year old set of documents may pop upthat was just the case last weekend, it's very exciting," Keener concluded. The newfound documents fill in and solidify a piece of the puzzle, and they will be shared with attendees. Justin Keener President InvestmentContracts.com [email protected] This release was issued through WebWire. For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com. SOURCE InvestmentContracts.com Healthcare payment integrity executives will explore how using AI to "shift further left" than even prepay will simultaneously reduce costs and strengthen provider relationships ATLANTA, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AI for PI Community, the premier group of healthcare payment integrity professionals seeking to learn about and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve healthcare payment accuracy, today announced it will host its second annual AI Summit on June 2-3, 2025. The in-person event will be held at the Atlanta Renaissance Airport Gateway Hotel. Second Annual AI for Payment Integrity Summit The AI Summit, themed "Charting a New Course in Payment Integrity: Harnessing AI for Early Intervention to Strengthen Provider Relationships and Maximize Savings," will bring together healthcare payer executives to discuss the industry's urgent need to 'shift further left' than even prepay to AI-driven early intervention - a transformation that simultaneously reduces provider abrasion while maximizing cost savings. Healthcare executives will gain actionable insights on: Implementing AI at critical upstream decision points to prevent payment issues before they occur Creating transparent provider partnerships that eliminate the traditional friction of claims denials and recovery Real-world case studies showing dramatic reductions in costs while strengthening provider relationships The industry keynote address will be delivered by U.S. Representative Jay Obernolte of California's 23rd District. As a co-chair of the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Congressman Obernolte's unique background as both a computer scientist and AI policy leader enables him to discuss how emerging AI frameworks can support the industry's shift from post-payment recovery to pre-payment accuracy while addressing broader healthcare cost challenges. His keynote will focus on: AI policy frameworks supporting payment transformation Innovation strategies for operational efficiency Balancing technological advancement with implementation challenges Future outlook for AI-enabled healthcare cost containment The opening session will be given by Musheer Ahmed, PhD, the founder of the AI for PI Community. He will share how the AI for PI Community has grown from a vision to a movement of forward-thinking healthcare leaders united in their mission to transform healthcare payment integrity through AI-driven early intervention. Drawing from real implementations and community success stories, Dr. Ahmed will explore: The industry's urgent need to shift from reactive to proactive approaches How early adopters are achieving breakthrough results The critical role of provider collaboration in successful transformation Emerging trends and opportunities in AI-driven payment integrity "The AI for PI Community brings together payment integrity leaders, innovators, and policymakers who are shaping the future of healthcaremaking it smarter, more efficient, and more affordable," stated Dr. Musheer Ahmed, Founder of the AI for PI Community and CEO of Codoxo. "Strengthening provider partnerships and cutting down on administrative burdens have never been more important. This year's AI Summit will spark meaningful conversations on AI's role in driving tangible, meaningful change in healthcare payment integrity." For information and to register for the 2025 AI Summit, visit https://aiforpaymentintegrity.com . Payment integrity professionals and industry stakeholders are encouraged to join the private AI for PI LinkedIn Group and follow the public AI for PI Community LinkedInPage . About the AI for PI Community At the intersection of healthcare payment integrity innovation and artificial intelligence, the AI for PI Community brings together forward-thinking healthcare professionals passionate about transforming payment integrity. By learning about and accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies and solutions, the AI for PI Community focuses on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and practical innovation to collectively and actionably reduce the rising cost of care, moving towards an affordable U.S. healthcare system. SOURCE AI for PI Community FREDERICK, Md., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SilverVox.org, a newly launched nonprofit dedicated to supporting artists and fostering creative expression, is bringing an exciting new vision to Frederickone that transforms local venues into a thriving hub for film, music, and live performance. With the launch of weekly live music and film events and a bold expansion of the 72 Film Fest, SilverVox is bringing together artists, businesses, and the local community to create a sustainable arts movementone that ensures creators have the stage, the voice, and the financial support they deserve. SilverVox "This is what I've always wanted to do in this spaceto create a true home for artists and a gathering place for the community," said Carrie Delente, Board Chair of SilverVox and Owner of The Ordinary Hen, where SilverVox is based. "Creators are facing challenges, and we want to support them. SilverVox was built to ensure the arts don't just survive but truly thrive. Our goal is to expand 72 Film Fest and build it into a premier, multi-venue festival that makes Frederick a true destination for film, music, and live performanceone that brings together artists, businesses, and audiences from across the country to celebrate the power of storytelling and the performing arts." A SPACE BUILT FOR COMMUNITY, ARTISTS & STORYTELLERS SilverVox has transformed the second floor and basement into two dynamic spaces for live performances and film screenings: The Vox House A cozy, indie-style film screening room that hosts Thursday Night Movie Nights and plays a central role in the 20th year of 72 Film Fest with retrospective screenings consisting of many of the fantastic teams that have participated over the years. The Vox Lounge A speakeasy-inspired music venue featuring: LIVE! at The Vox Lounge (Friday night concerts featuring top local and regional musicians) (Friday night concerts featuring top local and regional musicians) Ordinary Comedy Nights on Saturdays (open mic stand-up) (open mic stand-up) Sessions at The Vox Lounge (Sunday songwriter open mic nights, a space dedicated to original music and storytelling) In addition to hosting weekly events, SilverVox is expanding the 72 Film Fest nationally, launching an online festival for remote filmmakers while growing the in-person event in Frederick. "This year, we're expanding 72 Film Fest beyond Frederick, allowing filmmakers from across the country to compete and screen their films alongside our local teams. We want to turn Frederick into a hub for indie film, music, and live performance." said Clark Kline, Festival Director of 72 Film Fest and SilverVox co-founder. A COMMITMENT TO THE ARTISTS 100% OF PUBLIC DONATIONS SUPPORT CREATORS At SilverVox, we believe that the arts shouldn't just be supportedthey should be sustained. That's why we've made a bold commitment: 100% of public donations go directly to paying artists, funding performances, and supporting creative work. SilverVox funds its operations separately through grants, sponsorships, memberships and partnerships, ensuring that every dollar donated goes straight to the artists who make these events possible. "The arts have always brought people togetherthis is about building a real, lasting community," said Delente. "Every donation, every ticket, every membership fuels an artist's ability to create. That's what SilverVox is all about." GET INVOLVED Attend a SilverVox event Enjoy live music, film screenings, and performances every week at The Vox House and The Vox Lounge . Enjoy live music, film screenings, and performances every week at . Become a SilverVox Member Memberships help sustain performances while offering exclusive perks and event discounts . Memberships help sustain performances while offering . Donate 100% of public donations go directly to supporting artists. Donate at SilverVox.org. go directly to supporting artists. Donate at SilverVox.org. Spread the Word Follow SilverVox on social media and invite friends to experience the arts in Frederick like never before. Follow SilverVox on social media and invite friends to experience the arts in like never before. Partner with Us SilverVox is actively seeking partnerships with local businesses, venues, and arts organizations to help build something extraordinary together. This is more than just a series of eventsit's a movement. Join us, fuel the arts, and be part of SilverVox. SOURCE SilverVox SARASOTA, Fla., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Spectrum Dynamic Medical, a leading innovator in diagnostic imaging solutions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Tomer Gabay as the company's new Chief Executive Officer, effective March 10, 2025. We thank Gilad Yoeli for his significant accomplishments, leadership and dedication during his tenure as CEO and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Tomer Gabay CEO Spectrum Dynamics Medical Tomer brings a wealth of experience in the field of medical imaging, as well as a proven track record of driving growth at Spectrum Dynamics for the last nine years while serving as the company's CFO. With a passion for improving patient outcomes, we are confident that Tomer will lead Spectrum Dynamics to newer and greater heights as we build on our legacy of excellence and continue to serve as a global leader in cutting-edge medical imaging technology. "Over the last nine years, Tomer has exhibited unparalleled dedication to the company," said Tang Ke, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "His deep knowledge and understanding of the company and industry render him the right choice to lead the company in this next chapter." "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the team into this next chapter of growth as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our company," said Tomer. "We recently concluded a successful round of fundraising and I am now particularly eager to build upon Spectrum Dynamics Medical's history of innovation and the opportunities to continue to innovate in the Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging space." Spectrum Dynamics Medical remains committed to its customers and partners and is excited for the future and the opportunities ahead under Mr. Gabay's leadership. Media Contacts Johann Fernando, Ph.D. Executive Vice President, Global Marketing Spectrum Dynamics Medical 301 N. Cattlemen Road, Suite 301 Sarasota, Florida 34232 [email protected] http://www.spectrum-dynamics.com SOURCE Spectrum Dynamics Medical, Inc Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua Ukrainian defenders have repelled five attacks by Russian troops since the beginning of the day as of 16:00 Thursday, and four more clashes are ongoing, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Facebook. In addition, the enemy carried out 18 air strikes, dropping 27 guided bombs, and carried out 106 artillery attacks, including one from multiple launch rocket systems. On all fronts since the beginning of the day, the enemy has attacked the positions of the Defense Forces 84 times, most actively operating in Pokrovsk and Toretsk directions, where there were 32 and 11 clashes, respectively, of which seven and three, respectively, are still ongoing, the rest have been repelled. Enemy aircraft carried out airstrikes with cluster bombs on Pokrovsk, as well as on many populated areas in Huliai-Pole and Orikhove directions in Zaporizhia region, in particular on Huliai-Pole. Recognition underscores Startek's commitment to CX innovation and digital transformation DENVER, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Startek a digital-first global customer experience (CX) solutions provider, has been honored with a Bronze Stevie Award at the 2025 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. This recognition highlights the company's commitment to delivering exceptional customer experience and innovation-driven service excellence. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top honors for customer service, contact center, business development and sales professionals. The Stevie Awards organizes nine of the world's leading business awards programs, also including the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards. Abhinandan Jain, Chief Growth Officer at Startek, said, "Technology is revolutionizing CX by equipping associates with real-time insights and automation while enabling brands to deliver hyper-personalized interactions at scale. This award reinforces our commitment to leveraging AI and digital solutions to enhance agent performance, optimize operations and help brands create seamless, personalized customer experiences. Startek continues to push the boundaries of CX innovation to shape the future of customer engagement." With a relentless focus on innovation, Startek is helping organizations redefine how they connect with their customers, driving meaningful interactions that enhance loyalty and business growth. About The Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, and the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories. More than 1,000 professionals around the world participate in the Stevie Awards judging process each year. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com. About Startek Startek is a global leader in customer experience management, delivering comprehensive digital transformation and CX solutions. With over 35 years of expertise, Startek empowers businesses across diverse industries to create memorable, personalized customer interactions. Operating in 12 countries with a team of 38,000 associates, Startek is committed to connecting brands with their customers through innovation, empathy, and operational excellence. To learn more, visit www.startek.com and follow us on LinkedIn@Startek. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2222919/4299556/Startek_Logo.jpg SOURCE Startek STEQEYMA , one of the first-wave biosimilars to STELARA , is now available in the U.S. Approved for the same indications as the reference product, STEQEYMA will be priced with a wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) list price at an 85% discount to the current WAC list price of STELARA to help improve patient access to high-quality biologic treatments [1] With the launch of STEQEYMA, Celltrion expands its immunology portfolio beyond tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitors, to include interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23 inhibitors, broadening treatment options for multiple immune-mediated diseases Celltrion has nine biosimilars and five immunology biologics granted marketing authorization in the U.S. JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Celltrion today announced the U.S. launch of STEQEYMA (ustekinumab-stba), a biosimilar to STELARA (ustekinumab), following approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2024. STEQEYMA is approved for the same indications as STELARA, providing consistency in treatment for patients and healthcare providers.[1] STEQEYMA is indicated for the treatment of plaque psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in adult and pediatric patients, as well as Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in adult patients. It is available in both subcutaneous injection and intravenous infusion.[1] "Chronic inflammatory diseases such as plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis place significant burden on patients," said Mark G. Lebwohl*, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. "Biosimilars increase access to essential therapies, while maintaining the same high standards as the reference product. The availability of STEQEYMA provides patients and healthcare providers a cost-effective alternative to manage chronic inflammatory diseases." STEQEYMA will be priced with a WAC list price at an 85% discount to the current WAC list price of STELARA to help improve patient access to high-quality biologic treatments. The FDA approval of STEQEYMA was based on the totality of evidence, including the results from a Phase III study in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, in which the primary endpoint was the rate of change in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) for skin symptoms. The clinical results demonstrated that STEQEYMA and its reference product, ustekinumab, are highly similar, and have no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety and efficacy. [2],[3] "The introduction of STEQEYMA in the U.S., as one of the first-wave biosimilars to STELARA, marks an important step in our ongoing efforts to expand patient access to high-quality biologic treatments," said Thomas Nusbickel, Chief Commercial Officer at Celltrion USA. "With this launch, we are expanding our immunology portfolio beyond TNF-alpha to include IL-12/23 inhibitors, offering more options for multiple immune-mediated diseases. To further enhance accessibility, Celltrion is actively collaborating with key pharmacy benefit managers to secure broader formulary coverage for STEQEYMA." STEQEYMA is supported by Celltrion's comprehensive patient and practice support programs, designed to assist patients throughout their treatment journey. Celltrion offers a suite of resources, including Celltrion CONNECT Patient Support Program and Celltrion CARES Co-pay Assistance Program, benefits verification, prior authorization assistance, and co-pay assistance. Eligible patients with private or commercial insurance may pay as little as $0 out of pocket per dose. Patients who are uninsured may be eligible to receive STEQEYMA through the Celltrion CONNECT Patient Assistance Program (PAP). Additionally, nurses will be available to answer patient questions and provide injection support. Visit www.CelltrionConnect.com to learn more. Celltrion has nine biosimilars approved by the FDA, demonstrating its established leadership in the biosimilar development space and its commitment to advancing high-quality treatments. STEQEYMA has also received approval in key global markets, including the European Union, Canada and Australia. Notes to Editors: *Dr. Mark Lebwohl is a paid consultant for Celltrion. About STEQEYMA (ustekinumab-stba) STEQEYMA, formerly known as CT-P43, is a human IL-12 and -23 antagonist indicated for multiple immune-mediated diseases. It encompasses all indications approved for the STELARA reference product, including psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) in adults, and PsO and PsA in pediatric patients 6 years of age and older. STEQEYMA is available in both subcutaneous and intravenous formulations. The subcutaneous injection comes in two strengths: 45mg/0.5 mL or 90mg/1 mL solution in a single-dose, prefilled syringe. The intravenous infusion is provided as a 130mg/26 mL (5mg/mL) solution in a single-dose vial. INDICATIONS STEQEYMA (ustekinumab-stba) is indicated for the treatment of: Plaque Psoriasis (PsO) in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy. Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with active psoriatic arthritis. Crohn's Disease (CD) in adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease. Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION STEQEYMA is contraindicated in patients with clinically significant hypersensitivity to ustekinumab products or to any of the excipients in STEQEYM A . Serious infections have occurred. Avoid starting STEQEYMA during any clinically important active infection. If a serious or clinically significant infection develop, discontinue STEQEYMA until the infection resolves. Serious infections from mycobacteria, salmonella, and BCG vaccinations have been reported in patients genetically deficient in IL-12/IL-23. Consider diagnostic tests for these infections as dictated by clinical circumstances. Evaluate patients for TB prior to starting STEQEYMA. Initiate treatment of latent TB before administering STEQEYMA. Ustekinumab products may increase risk of malignancy. The safety of ustekinumab products in patients with a history of or a known malignancy has not been evaluated. Monitor all patients receiving STEQEYMA for signs of malignancies. If an anaphylactic or other clinically significant hypersensitivity reaction occurs, institute appropriate therapy and discontinue STEQEYMA. If Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) is suspected, treat promptly, and discontinue STEQEYMA. Avoid use of live vaccines in patients during treatment with STEQEYMA. Non-live vaccinations received during STEQEYMA treatment may not elicit enough immune response to prevent disease. If diagnosis of noninfectious pneumonia is confirmed, discontinue STEQEYMA and institute appropriate treatment. The most common adverse reactions (3%) reported in patients receiving ustekinumab were: Psoriasis: nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and fatigue. CD: vomiting, nasopharyngitis, injection site erythema, vulvovaginal candidiasis/mycotic infection, bronchitis, pruritus, urinary tract infection, and sinusitis. UC: nasopharyngitis, nasopharyngitis, headache, abdominal pain, influenza, fever, diarrhea, sinusitis, fatigue, and nausea. For more information, see Full Prescribing Information. About Celltrion Celltrion is a leading biopharmaceutical company that specializes in researching, developing, manufacturing, marketing and sales of innovative therapeutics that improve people's lives worldwide. Celltrion is a pioneer in the biosimilar space, having launched the world's first monoclonal antibody biosimilar. Our global pharmaceutical portfolio addresses a range of therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, hematology, ophthalmology and endocrinology. Beyond biosimilar products, we are committed to advancing our pipeline with novel drugs to push the boundaries of scientific innovation and deliver quality medicines. For more information, please visit our website www.celltrion.com/en-us. and stay updated with our latest news and events on our social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook. About Celltrion USA Celltrion USA is Celltrion's U.S. subsidiary established in 2018. Headquartered in New Jersey, Celltrion USA is committed to expanding access to innovative biologics to improve care for U.S. patients. Celltrion currently has nine biosimilars approved by the U.S. FDA: INFLECTRA (infliximab-dyyb), TRUXIMA (rituximab-abbs), HERZUMA (trastuzumab-pkrb), VEGZELMA (bevacizumab-adcd), YUFLYMA(adalimumab-aaty), STEQEYMA (ustekinumab-stba), AVTOZMA (tocilizumab-anoh), OSENVELT/ STOBOCLO (denosumab-bmwo), and OMLYCLO (omalizumab-igec), as well as a novel biologic ZYMFENTRA (infliximab-dyyb). Celltrion USA will continue to leverage Celltrion's unique heritage in biotechnology, supply chain excellence and best-in-class sales capabilities to improve access to high-quality biopharmaceuticals for U.S. patients. For more information, please visit www.celltrionusa.com and stay updated with our latest news and events on our social media: LinkedIn. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT Certain information set forth in this press release contains statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Celltrion, Inc. and its subsidiaries that may constitute forward-looking statements, under pertinent securities laws. This press release contains forward looking statements. These statements may be also identified by words such as "prepares," "hopes to," "upcoming," "plans to," "aims to," "to be launched," "is preparing," "once gained," "could," "with the aim of," "may," "once identified," "will," "working towards," "is due," "become available," "has potential to," the negative of these words or such other variations thereon or comparable terminology. In addition, our representatives may make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Celltrion, Inc. and its subsidiaries' management, of which many are beyond its control. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business, including the risk factors disclosed in its Annual Report and/or Quarterly Reports, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such statements. Celltrion, Inc. and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. Trademarks STELARA is a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson. STEQEYMA is a registered trademark of Celltrion, Inc., used under license. References [1] STEQEYMA U.S. prescribing information (2024) [2] Papp KA et al., Efficacy and Safety of Candidate Biosimilar CT-P43 Versus Originator Ustekinumab in Moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis: 28-Week Results of a Randomised, Active-Controlled, Double-Blind, Phase III study. BioDrugs. 2023; Online ahead of print. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40259-023-00630-5#article-info [Last accessed February 2025] [3] Papp K et al., Efficacy and Safety after Switch from Reference Ustekinumab to Ustekinumab Biosimilar (CT-P43) in comparison with the Maintenance Group (CTP43 or Reference Ustekinumab) in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis: 1-Year Result. [EADV 2023, Abstract #4035]. Available at: https://eadv.org/wp-content/uploads/scientific-abstracts/EADV-congress-2023/Biologics-immunotherapy-targeted-therapy.pdf [Last accessed February 2025] For further information please contact: Andria Arena [email protected] +1 516-578-0057 SOURCE Celltrion Tampa General to provide strategic, operational and administrative support to Lakeside Medical Center. TAMPA, Fla., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County reached an agreement earlier this year for Tampa General to provide administrative leadership, operational management and strategic support for Lakeside Medical Center, the Health Care District's public teaching hospital in Belle Glade, Florida. Together, the two organizations will work to enhance quality and increase access to care in the rural areas of Palm Beach County. Tampa General's work with Lakeside Medical Center marks an expansion of Tampa General's existing network of providers and services in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, which already includes primary care, cancer care, digestive health, kidney care, radiation, oncology and general surgery. "With this agreement, we're extending the strategic, operational and clinical expertise we offer at Tampa General to support the leadership, providers and teams at Lakeside Medical Center and expand access to world-class care in the Glades," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. "It's the best of both worlds high quality care close to home." Through a Management and Administrative Services Agreement with the Health District of Palm Beach County effective February 1, Tampa General will provide administrative management support for Lakeside Medical Center. The objectives of the agreement are to: Enhance quality of care; Strengthen clinical training, recruitment and retention; and Improve financial status. "This strategic partnership combines the strengths of both organizations to advance access to high-quality health care for underserved populations," said Darcy J. Davis, Health Care District of Palm Beach County President and CEO. "By joining forces with Tampa General, the health and wellness of our Glades communities will prosper for generations." Tampa General appointed Ron Doncaster vice president of business operations and integration at Lakeside Medical Center. In this role, Doncaster will oversee operations, facilitate service integration, supervise personnel and offer recommendations for innovative programming and expansion opportunities. Doncaster takes on this role with decades of experience in health care leadership and administration, having managed operations at some of the nation's most prestigious health care systems, including Mass General Brigham. Most recently, he served as Interim Chief Operating Officer at Tampa General, overseeing all clinical and operational strategies and managing partnerships with key constituents. "Our number one goal is to meet the needs of the community," said Doncaster. "With improved delivery models and expanded access to specialists, we can elevate the level of care available in the community without losing the personal service only a local hospital can provide." Under the agreement, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County maintains ownership of the hospital and its assets. The agreement does not impact the rights or obligations of Health Care District employees assigned to Lakeside Medical Center. Tampa General is one of the largest and most innovative academic health systems in the nation. The system features more than 150 care locations across the Sunshine State. TGH is ranked #2 in Florida and a top 50 hospital nationally by U.S. News & World Report. In fiscal year 2022, Tampa General provided a net community benefit of $240.3 million in health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to Tampa Bay community health organizations. ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL Tampa General Hospital, a 981-bed, not-for-profit, academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2024-2025 Best Hospitals, with two medical specialties ranking among the top 20 in the nation and eight medical specialties ranking among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings in the top 100 nationally in the 2024 America's Best Large Employers, the top 50 in Florida in the 2024 America's Best Employers by State and the 2023 America's Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2022, provided a net community benefit of approximately $240.3 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It was the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant center in 2024 and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Muma Children's Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes TGH North, which is comprised of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties, 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, two TGH Outpatient Centers, TGH Virtual Health, and 20 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by the Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org. ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE DISTRICT OF PALM BEACH COUNTY The Health Care District of Palm Beach County is an independent special taxing district that has served as a healthcare safety net for 36 years to fill in gaps in access to healthcare services. This unique healthcare system covers the entire county and provides diverse services such as nine community health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers) which serve everyone regardless of ability to pay; school health teams in 172 public schools; a Trauma Hawk aeromedical helicopter program; a rural, public teaching hospital, Lakeside Medical Center; a skilled nursing center; a ground ambulance program for Health Care District patients needing a higher level of care and the county's Trauma Agency, which ensures quality outcomes within the county's trauma system and leads initiatives to prevent traumatic injury. Media Contact: Amanda Bevis (202) 680-9262 (cell) [email protected] SOURCE Tampa General Hospital KANSAS CITY, Mo. and CHICAGO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Tension Packaging & Automation will showcase its comprehensive portfolio of automation systems during ProMat 2025 in Chicago, March 1720, 2025. fitPACK500 Right-sized Packaging System from Tension Packaging & Automation At the premier trade show, which includes the world's leading manufacturing and supply chain solution providers, Tension will feature the company's products, the fitPACK500, HPS300, SLAM, Z-Sort, MAX-PRO 24 and TensionCONNECT workflow integration software. These products offer solutions for optimizing packaging and automation while addressing some of the biggest challenges in fulfillment, such as rising labor and shipping costs. Tension will feature a live look at their innovative fitPACK500, a right-sized packaging system engineered for speed, cost savings and versatility, all within a small footprint. It automatically adjusts package dimensions length, width and height and provides a more customized fit without compromising throughput. The Tension team looks forward to fitPACK500's launch at ProMat 2025. "The fitPACK500 is a versatile and compact system, designed to take the guesswork out of packaging by creating true right-size packages on demand," said James Herbert, vice president and general manager of Tension Packaging & Automation. "With its small footprint, the fitPACK500 maximizes floor space efficiency while its optimized packaging minimizes shipping costs. Additionally, its intuitive controls make operation seamless, ensuring the best shipping rates and delivering operational efficiencies through its impressive versatility to create custom package lengths, widths and heights." ProMat 2025 attendees can experience a live demonstration of the fitPACK500 from Tension's booth at the exhibition. Advanced reservations for the live demo are encouraged. In addition, Tension Packaging & Automation Senior Marketing Manager Erin Moloney will also speak at the "Latest & Greatest Advances @ ProMat 2025 in 45 Minutes" ProMat 2025 session on March 17 at 11 a.m. Central, in the MHI Industry Groups Theater. On March 19 at 10:30 a.m. Central, Tension Packaging & Automation Senior National Accounts Manager Herman Kuhlendahl will speak at the "Seamless SLAM Automation: Things You May Not Be Thinking About Automation that Improves Order Flow from Pick to Ship" in the MHI Industry Groups Theater. At ProMat 2025, Tension will exhibit in the South Building, booth S3853, at McCormick Place in Chicago, March 1720, 2025. For more information on ProMat 2025 and how to attend the session "Latest & Greatest Advances @ ProMat 2025 in 45 Minutes," or the session on "Seamless SLAM Automation: Things You May Not Be Thinking About Automation that Improves Order Flow From Pick to Ship," visit https://www.promatshow.com. About Tension Packaging & Automation Tension Packaging & Automation is an industry leader in comprehensive packaging and automation solutions. With a team of dedicated experts, we design, engineer and build scalable automation systems with intuitive, integrated end-to-end software tailored for the pharmacy and eCommerce order fulfillment sectors. As specialists in system integration, we provide extensive expertise across manufacturing, installation, equipment, robotics, software engineering, and ongoing support for both standard and custom automation needs. Learn more at https://tensionautomation.com/. Tension Packaging & Automation's parent company, Tension Corporation, was founded in 1886 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri. PRESS INQUIRIES Erin Moloney, Senior Marketing Manager Tension Packaging & Automation (816) 283-1463 [email protected] SOURCE Tension Packaging & Automation FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Discover how one organization is bridging global medical education standards to ensure quality healthcare in the United States and around the world. Intealth, through its divisions ECFMG and FAIMER, is featured in a compelling segment of Empowered with Meg Ryan, illuminating the critical role of international medical graduates (IMGs) in the U.S. healthcare system. This segment explores how Intealth facilitates the entry of skilled physicians from other countries and international medical schools, ensuring they meet rigorous U.S. standards and contribute to patient care in the United States, particularly in underserved communities. Viewers will gain insight into the structured pathways that bring diverse medical talent to our nation, ensuring a rigorous and equitable process that supports a strong healthcare infrastructure. Eric Holmboe, M.D., Intealth's President and CEO, recently shared, "At Intealth, we are committed to strengthening healthcare worldwide by supporting the education, training, and well-being of physicians. Through our work, we help ensure that healthcare systems are equipped with skilled, dedicated professionals who can deliver high-quality, safe, and responsive care to the communities they serve." In this segment, Intealth's dedication to advancing medical education and strengthening global healthcare takes center stage. It explores Intealth's efforts to develop innovative programs and assessment methods that help evaluate core clinical skills and preparedness for U.S. training, ensuring physicians are ready for the evolving demands of the U.S. healthcare system. The vital role of the J-1 visa program for physicians, administered by Intealth, in enriching U.S. graduate medical education by bringing diverse IMGs into training programs is also highlighted. The segment further showcases Intealth's commitment to holistic support through initiatives like the Well-being Grant Opportunity. Through global collaboration and a focus on excellence in medical education, Intealth continues to shape the future of healthcare worldwide. About Empowered with Meg Ryan: "Empowered with Meg Ryan" is an educational program broadcast on Public Television, dedicated to exploring stories of innovation and impact across various sectors. The program aims to inspire and inform viewers about the positive changes shaping our world. Visit https://www.empoweredprogram.com/ to learn more. About Intealth: Intealth is a private, nonprofit organization that brings together the expertise and resources for advancing quality in healthcare education worldwide in order to improve healthcare for all. Through strategic integration of its divisions, ECFMG and FAIMER, Intealth offers a flexible and multilayered portfolio of services. These services enhance and support the education and training of healthcare professionals, verify their qualifications required to practice, and inform the development of health workforce policies around the world. By leveraging these combined competencies, Intealth powers innovation in areas critical to the health professions. Learn more at www.intealth.org. SOURCE Empowered Produced by BreakThrough News and Grammy Award-Winning Artist Macklemore, The Film Will Have Its World Premiere At The Prestigious CPH:DOX Film Festival Listen to Mahmoud Khalil's Story In His Own Words In This Post CHICAGO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Watermelon Pictures today announced the completion of THE ENCAMPMENTS, a groundbreaking documentary that chronicles the Columbia University Gaza Solidarity Encampment and the international wave of student activism it ignited. Produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Macklemore, the film is directed by Kei Pritsker, a journalist and producer at BreakThrough News, and award-winning filmmaker Michael T Workman (Meantime). THE ENCAMPMENTS will be seen for the first time at the CPH:DOX Film Festival in Copenhagen on March 25, 2025. The film will see a nationwide theatrical release later this year. Through exclusive footage and intimate interviews, THE ENCAMPMENTS provides an unprecedented look at one of the most significant student movements in modern history. The film captures the passion, resilience, and challenges faced by students who risked everything to demand justice. THE ENCAMPMENTS examines why universities responded with mass arrests and force rather than engagement and dialogue, and it sheds light on the institutions' efforts to suppress student activism. In doing so, it offers a deeper understanding of both the power and the costs of grassroots movements. Macklemore, who has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, has used his platform in recent months to call for a ceasefire and raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, aligning his advocacy with the core message of the film. THE ENCAMPMENTS is a BreakThrough News production in conjunction with Watermelon Pictures and Macklemore. Producers on the film include Kei Pritsker, Michael T Workman, Matthew Belen, and Munir Atalla with Benjamin Becker serving as Executive Producer. The Columbia encampment began in April 2024 when nearly 50 students pitched tents on university grounds, beginning an occupation that would grow into a nationwide protest movement. The documentary follows the dramatic escalation, from Columbia's administration banning student organizations for Palestine to the mass arrests that broke a 50-year police ban on campus. As students faced police raids, media attacks, and institutional repression, their movement spread to universities across the country and beyond, making history in real time. The documentary includes access to the student organizers at several encampments, and also a whistleblower from high-up in the administration of an ivy league university who shares exclusive insights into what was taking place within the halls of the ivory tower as students protested down below. "THE ENCAMPMENTS is a testament to the courage of young people to not only imagine a better world but to fight for it in the face of violence and repression," said Directors Kei Pritsker and Michael T Workman in a joint statement. "This film challenges the dominant media narrative by revealing the true spirit of the encampmentswhat it felt like to be there, the emotions that fueled the students, and what motivated their drastic action. THE ENCAMPMENTS is an exploration of what drives a generation to stand up and fight for change." "This is more than a student protestit's a generational struggle for justice," said Macklemore. Students have always led the charge for justice, from the sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement to the campus protests against South African apartheid. They've never been on the wrong side of history. The encampments that started at Columbia are part of that legacy, inspiring millions of people around the world. The film ensures the students in U.S and Gaza are heard, their actions are remembered, and the fight for Palestinian liberation continues." Hamza Ali, Founder and Co-CEO of Watermelon Pictures, emphasized the significance of the film's release, "THE ENCAMPMENTS is not just a documentaryit's a crucial record of history unfolding before our eyes. We at Watermelon Pictures are honored to bring this story to the world and hope it inspires future generations to continue the fight for justice." Produced by BreakThrough News, a leading independent media platform with over 1.85 million followers, THE ENCAMPMENTS continues the outlet's commitment to amplifying stories that challenge mainstream narratives and center the voices of those fighting for change. About Watermelon Pictures: www.watermelonpictures.com Press Inquiries: Marjan Manafi, [email protected] SOURCE Watermelon Pictures WALNUT CREEK, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Karen B. Fleming, PhD is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Professional Member Inner Circle of Excellence for her contributions to Pioneering Legal Consultant in Jury Selection and Witness Preparation. Dr. Karen B. Fleming, a highly regarded figure in legal consulting, continues to lead the way in jury selection and witness preparation through her firm, Verdix Jury Consulting. Founded in 1997, Verdix Jury Consulting has become a trusted partner for law firms and clients, offering tailored strategies to strengthen trial outcomes. Dr. Fleming's career spans over three decades, during which she has honed her expertise in understanding human behavior and its impact on legal proceedings. With a PhD in Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, a Bachelor's degree in Communications, and two Master's degrees in Psychology, she brings a unique blend of academic excellence and practical experience to the courtroom. A member of the American Society of Trial Consultants, Dr. Fleming has earned widespread recognition for her contributions to the field. Her work has been featured on various television programs, highlighting her innovative approach to jury consulting and witness preparation. Clients commend her for her strong work ethic, commitment to core values, and results-driven strategies that consistently deliver success in high-stakes trials. Based in Walnut Creek, California, Verdix Jury Consulting has built a reputation for excellence in the legal consulting industry. The firm focuses on providing insights into jury behavior, crafting persuasive narratives, and equipping witnesses with the skills to testify confidently. Dr. Fleming's background in psychology allows her to offer a nuanced understanding of interpersonal dynamics, making her an invaluable asset to trial teams. Looking ahead, Dr. Fleming envisions continued growth and success for Verdix Jury Consulting. As a woman-owned business, she is committed to maintaining the firm's status as a leader in its niche. Contact: Katherine Green 516-825-5634 [email protected] SOURCE The Inner Circle Local Event and Online Series Offers Photo Digitizing Assistance to Help Families Preserve What's Priceless and Support Wildfire Relief Efforts LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires, the community has been reminded of the importance of recognizing and valuing what's truly priceless memories. Underscoring the urgency of digitizing irreplaceable memories and photographs, The Photo Managers, Picturli and Epson have united to support LA Strong Scan Your Photos running March 21 23 at the Picturli headquarters in Playa Vista. The LA Strong Scan Your Photos is a community-focused effort to help Los Angeles-area families start the daunting project of digitizing their memories to preserve what's priceless and prepare for unpredictable circumstances. The Photo Managers, Picturli and Epson Host Los Angeles Scanning Drive and Virtual Series to Promote Photo Preservation Post this The LA Strong Scan Your Photos event is a community focused effort to help Los Angeles-area families start digitizing their memories to preserve whats priceless and prepare for unpredictable circumstances. "As a member of the L.A. community, I've seen first-hand the devastation these fires have caused, and I've witnessed the countless acts of service our local firefighters have endured to save beloved photo albums from evacuated homes," shared Haleh Shoa, CEO and founder, Picturli. "Picturli is founded on the passion of bringing joy to others through the curation and preservation of their memories. We hope to help families who lost everything with the preservation of any photos they saved, as well as inspire others to hold on to what they have and what matters most." With the goal of preserving up to 250,000 photos for attendees throughout the event, volunteers at the LA Strong Scan Your Photos event will provide hands-on support to participants to scan up to 500 photos using Epson FastFoto scanners. All participants will have a 20-minute scanning session where all photos scanned will be uploaded to a provided USB drive1 for safekeeping and sharing. "The loss and devastation of the Los Angeles fires goes far beyond material things it's the memories, the moments, and the history that can never be replaced," said Cathi Nelson, CEO, The Photo Managers. "While we can't bring back what's been lost, we want to help protect what remains. We are hoping to educate and inspire families both at the LA Strong event and through our Save Your Photos Week series on the best practices to safeguard cherished memories and build an organized system to future-proof family history for generations to come." To support the local Los Angeles community and others worldwide preserve memories and create organized photo systems, The Photo Managers is also hosting Save Your Photos Week from March 21 - 27, offering a range of educational photo-saving tips and resources: Webinars: Free sessions with experts sharing simple, effective ways to preserve photos Free sessions with experts sharing simple, effective ways to preserve photos Step-by-Step Guides : Organize, back-up, and safeguard digital and printed photos : Organize, back-up, and safeguard digital and printed photos YouTube Live Events : Daily conversations and tips on disaster proofing, backing up, and preserving memories ahead of unforeseen circumstances : Daily conversations and tips on disaster proofing, backing up, and preserving memories ahead of unforeseen circumstances Community and Support: Connect with others who want to protect their family stories. "Epson's headquarters is in the greater Los Angeles area and the L.A. fires hit close to home; they affected our families, friends, and colleagues, some of whom lost everything," said Dan McMillen, group product manager, retail photo scanners, Epson America Inc. "The loss is a reminder of the importance of preserving what matters priceless photographs, important documents and beloved family recipes many of these are shared through generations and cannot be replicated. There are resources and tools available that can help families back up these precious memories, taking one worry away during unforeseen times, and we hope the LA Strong Scan Your Photos encourages the larger community to safeguard what matters most." To learn more, view pricing2 and reserve a spot at the LA-Strong Scan Your Photos Event visit, https://www.picturli.com/scan-your-photos-drive. To register The Photo Managers' Save Your Photos Week virtual classes visit, https://thephotomanagers.com/save-your-photos-month/. About The Photo Managers The Photo Managers is the global leader in training and supporting professionals dedicated to helping individuals, families, and businesses organize, preserve, and share their most cherished memories. Committed to empowering its members, The Photo Managers supports member businesses by providing the tools and education to help deliver expert services customized to meet clients' unique needs, including photo organizing, digitization, archiving, and storytelling. The Photo Manager certified members offer clients peace of mind, knowing their priceless photos and videos are securely organized, to create meaningful gifts or legacy projects, and to simplify managing digital and physical photo collections. To learn more, visit https://thephotomanagers.com. About Picturli Picturli is a premier photo organization, curation, and design studio based in Los Angeles, dedicated to helping families and organizations worldwide preserve their most treasured memories. With meticulous attention to detail, Picturli specializes in organizing, curating, and digitizing analog collections, transforming scattered photos and videos into beautifully preserved archives. Beyond analog preservation, Picturli also tackles the overwhelming digital mess accumulated over the last three decades. Their expertise in digital photo and video organization ensures clients have structured, easily accessible digital libraries, streamlined collections, and foolproof backup systems to safeguard their memories for generations to come. Renowned for its exquisite luxury photo books and captivating gallery wall installations, Picturli brings over three decades of experience, combining unparalleled craftsmanship with a deep passion for memory preservation. To learn more, visit https://www.picturli.com. About Epson Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson's goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than JPY 1 trillion. global.epson.com/ Epson America, Inc., based in Los Alamitos, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), X (x.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/epsonamerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica). 1.FastFoto can also scan directly to an active Dropbox or Google Drive account. Internet connection and active Dropbox or Google Drive account required for this FastFoto feature. LA Strong Scan Your Photos Event will not be leveraging this feature. 2.Event participation requires a registration fee of $20.25 to verify participant addresses and check-in identification. While registration is required, the fee will be refunded to fire victims after their photos have been scanned onsite. All event proceeds will be donated to fire relief efforts. EPSON and FastFoto are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. SOURCE Epson; The Photo Managers; Picturli LOS ANGELES, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Thrive Scholars proudly welcomes George Spencer to its leadership team as Chief Impact Officer. A visionary strategist and dynamic leader in education, philanthropy, and institutional growth, Spencer brings a proven track record of transformative impact to his new role. Spencer will lead efforts to build brand equity, drive growth strategies through innovation, strengthen strategic partnerships, and enhance organizational efficiencies, ensuring Thrive Scholars continues to expand its mission and impact. THRIVE SCHOLARS ANNOUNCES GEORGE SPENCER AS CHIEF IMPACT OFFICER "As Chief Impact Officer, my goal is to drive measurable, lasting change by ensuring we continue to provide our Scholars with the tools, resources, and opportunities they need to succeed in high-impact careers," said Spencer. "I'm committed to strengthening our efforts and collaborating with our dedicated team, corporate partners, and supporters to drive sustainable change and lasting outcomes." Spencer joins Thrive Scholars from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), where he held several key leadership positions, including Chief Innovation and Growth Officer and most recently, Senior Advisor to the President and CEO. During his tenure at TMCF, the nation's only organization providing comprehensive support to 55 public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Historically Black Community Colleges (HBCCs), he spearheaded groundbreaking revenue and programmatic strategies that reshaped opportunities for students and institutions alike. "George brings exceptional strategic vision, an innovative mindset, and technological expertise, coupled with a strong record of driving innovation and impact," said Drew Martin, Thrive Scholars CEO. "As we reimagine the future of Thrive Scholars, his unique ability to architect forward-thinking solutions will be instrumental in our growth and success." A driving force behind TMCF's unprecedented growth, Spencer played a pivotal role in architecting revenue strategies and leading dynamic programming that contributed to over $500 million in educational assistance, programmatic support, and institutional development. His leadership was instrumental in scaling TMCF to one of its most profitable years, surpassing $100 million in revenue, significantly expanding resources for historically underfunded institutions and the students they serve. Beyond the nonprofit sector, Spencer's impressive career includes leadership roles in both corporate and philanthropic spaces. He has held key positions at Allianz, Interactive Corp (IAC), LendingTree.com, and spent eight years at Bank of America, where he engineered strategic release management systems for government and commercial clients. His governance experience includes his recent appointment to the Board of Chapin Hall, founding membership on NYU's Metropolitan Center for Urban Education Executive Council, and current board service with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation and The Center of the Future Academy, Inc. Spencer holds an MBA from Queens University of Charlotte's McColl School of Business, a B.S. in Computer Science from Norfolk State University, and Executive Certification in International Business Management from Georgetown University. About Thrive Scholars Thrive Scholars is a leading national nonprofit dedicated to empowering high-achieving students from under-resourced communities to excel at top colleges and pursue meaningful careers. For over 20 years, Thrive has utilized data-driven programming to ensure Scholar success through comprehensive academic preparation, mentorship, and career counseling, helping to bridge opportunity gaps and unlock students' full potential. Visit the website , LinkedIn , Instagram , or X to learn more about Thrive Scholars. SOURCE Thrive Scholars New facility strengthens supply chain support for semiconductor and data server industries NEWPORT, Wales, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- TransPak, a global leader in crating, packaging, and logistics solutions, proudly unveils its new facility in Wales. This strategic expansion reinforces TransPak's dedication to delivering world-class service to key tech industries while driving local job growth and deepening its commitment to a family-driven business culture. The 44,000-square-foot TransPak Wales facility strategically positions the company to support the growing needs of its customers in Europe, particularly within the semiconductor and data server industries. Established in response to increasing demand from key partners, the expansion strengthens TransPak's ability to deliver seamless, end-to-end solutions. As a one-stop shop for logistics, crating, and packaging solutions, the facility enhances operational efficiency and ensures customers receive tailored support for their most critical shipments. "Following our customers and adapting to their evolving needs has always been central to TransPak's growth strategy," said Bert Inch, CEO of TransPak. "Establishing a presence in Wales not only strengthens our global network but also brings valuable jobs and economic opportunities to the South Wales region." Regulated and Secure Logistics Capabilities The Wales facility is equipped with advanced crating and warehousing capabilities, including secure storage solutions. As a regulated agent under the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) , TransPak ensures compliance with strict security standards, allowing it to hold airline cargo on-site. This designation enhances TransPak's service offerings and provides a strategic advantage for their customers who require high-compliance logistics solutions . A Family-Driven Business Culture Many of the employees at the Wales facility come from family-owned businesses, including General Manager Bianca Parry and lead crater and packer Corey Wigmore. They bring generations of expertise in packaging, logistics, and manufacturing. TransPak's success is deeply rooted in its family-oriented business model. The company has long prided itself on building lasting relationshipswith customers, employees, and the communities it serves. The Wales facility embodies this spirit, fostering a work environment that values experience, expertise, and a commitment to quality service. "TransPak is more than just a packaging and logistics companyit's a family," emphasized Bianca Parry, General Manager of the Wales facility. "From leadership to frontline operations, we are a close-knit team that supports each other and takes pride in our collective success. That culture is what makes us different and drives our continued growth." With a legacy built on trust, expertise, and customer commitment, TransPak's expansion into Wales signals the company's continued investment in global growth while staying true to its core values. By fostering strong partnerships, creating jobs, and maintaining industry-leading service, TransPak is well-positioned to support its customers' evolving needs now and in the future. About TransPak Headquartered in Silicon Valley, TransPak has been providing innovative and cost-effective design, crating, packaging and global logistics for over 70 years. As a customer-obsessed, women- and family-owned company, TransPak combines the agility of a small business with the reliability of a global powerhouse. TransPak lives by the slogan, "We make it happen," ensuring that high-value, fragile, and oversized goods reach their destinations safely and efficiently. Learn more at www.transpak.com . SOURCE TransPak, Inc Photo: https://x.com/PlJonson Sweden has announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine, which will include artillery systems and radars, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said. Sweden can today present an artillery package worth approximately $300 million to Ukraine through package 18. Sweden will procure and donate 18 additional archer artillery systems and 5 ARTHUR (artillery hunting radar) systems to Ukraine, he said on X. According to him, Sweden has previously donated eight Archer systems to Ukraine. They are appreciated by Ukraine and have done a good job at the front in delivering damage to the Russian occupiers. With a combination of speed, precision and mobility, Archers are a formidable weapon in Ukraine, the minister said. Jonson said that the Arthur system had previously been donated to Ukraine by Sweden and the United Kingdom. According to him, these systems help detect artillery shells and calculate their place of origin. Open sources suggest that Russia has lost over 437 towed artillery pieces, 869 self-propelled systems, and 451 multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS). This Swedish artillery package will hopefully boost those numbers further, the minister noted. Sweden will also enter the artillery coalition to coordinate and supply Ukraine's defence forces with modern artillery systems, ammunition, and training. The long-term goal is to strengthen Ukraine's artillery capability and increase interoperability with NATO, Johnson added. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hadley and Delaney Robertson, co-hosts of Twice As Good, were honored with a Taste Award for Best Kids Program, Film, or Documentary at the 16th Annual Taste Awards in Beverly Hills, California, on March 10, 2025. This marks the Robertson sisters' seventh Taste Award. Hadley and Delaney have co-hosted Twice As Good, a travel and cooking show on PBS, for 10 seasons. In addition to their seven Taste Awards, the duo are two-time Emmy winners, four-time Emmy nominees, and have earned 30 Telly Awards. The Taste Awards recognize excellence in Food, Fashion, and Lifestyle programming across Television, Film, Podcasts, and Radio. About the Twice As Good Show Twice As Good ( twiceasgoodshow.com ) is a travel and cooking show airing on PBS stations across the United States. Each episode features a different city, showcasing renowned local chefs preparing signature regional recipes while introducing viewers to educational and cultural landmarks. Now in its tenth and final season, Twice As Good is distributed to PBS stations by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) and is produced in association with New Hampshire Public Television. SOURCE Twice As Good MCLEAN, Va., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ValidaTek, Inc announces the launch of its ValidaTek Solutions Engineering and Transformation (vSET) Team, a strategic initiative designed to enhance government contract support through innovative problem-solving, technical excellence, and process optimization. The vSET Team comprises senior subject matter experts across a wide variety of disciplines including Cybersecurity, Network Engineering, and Software Development. By providing technical oversight, driving innovation, and streamlining processes, the team helps government agencies reduce costs, improve efficiency, and achieve mission success. "Our vSET Team is focused on delivering cutting-edge solutions while driving measurable efficiencies and cost savings for our government partners," said Andrew Jones, Vice President at ValidaTek. "By leveraging expertise across multiple disciplines, we ensure our programs provide maximum value while maintaining the highest standards of performance and security." Current vSET initiatives include: AI-Driven Network Optimization : Developing an AI Ops Roadmap to enhance network performance through proactive incident response and self-healing capabilities. : Developing an AI Ops Roadmap to enhance network performance through proactive incident response and self-healing capabilities. Digital Transformation for Queue Management Services: Modernizing a queue management system with a zero-trust, cloud-based platform that improves efficiency, cybersecurity compliance, and AI readiness. Through these efforts, the vSET Team works closely with government agencies and ValidaTek's program teams to optimize performance, reduce costs, and enhance mission outcomes. About ValidaTek ValidaTek is a premier government IT consulting firm based in the Washington DC area that drives technology transformation and secures mission-critical systems for our federal partners. Our passion for process and continuous improvement based on quantitative measurements ensures our delivery of results-based IT modernization with quality, integrity, and excellence. We develop, advise, and deliver optimized and secure IT solutions in cybersecurity, software engineering, cloud computing, unified communications, mobility and desktop, and infrastructure. For more information, visit www.validatek.com, LinkedIn: /validatek-inc, Instagram: @validatekinc, Facebook: /validatek. Contact: [email protected] SOURCE ValidaTek, Inc. CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- WB Engineers+Consultants was proud to support the critical facilities industry as a sponsor and speaker at the 7x24 Exchange Carolinas Chapter Winter Meeting on March 6-7, 2025, in Charlotte, NC. This event brought together industry leaders to discuss the evolving landscape of data center design, sustainability, and AI. The 7x24 Exchange is a leading forum for data center professionals, providing a platform for thought leaders to share insights, discuss trends, and collaborate on industry solutions. This year's discussions focused on how rapid technological advancements are reshaping data centers and design trends. "For me, the conference reinforced that sustainable practices in data centers need to be a priority," said WB Team Leader Drew Zahradka. At the event, WB Principal and Managing Director of their Washington, DC Office, Bart Stewart, participated in the "Design and Construction Trends" panel, where he led the conversation on "Energy Efficiency and Water Consumption." His main point was data centers must carefully balance energy and water usage, especially as AI-driven workloads increase power density and cooling demands. The presentation explored the trade-offs between evaporative cooling, liquid cooling, and air-based systems. It emphasized the need for sustainable, high-performance infrastructure that aligns with regulatory pressures (i.e., energy efficiency mandates) and environmental constraints (i.e., land-use restriction). Bart also participated in the discussion, "The Nexus of Artificial Intelligence and Liquid Cooling," which focused on the departure from traditional CPU-based IT computing and new paradigms around data center power. WB Engineers+Consultants values opportunities to speak at industry conferences like the 7x24 Exchange, where they can shed light on trends and critical, yet often misunderstood, topics. Despite the essential role data centers play in everyday life, a CyrusOne poll found only about half of Americans can accurately define a data center. WB aims to bridge that knowledge gap and raise awareness of the industry's impact by engaging in these discussions. "As engineers, our purpose is to address real-world issues," said Jimmy Sneed, Managing Principal and Managing Director of Critical Facilities at WB Engineers+Consultants. "By creating awareness and staying ahead of industry trends, our goal is to prepare companies and businesses for what's next." Media Contact: Julie Pampuch 6467785644 [email protected] SOURCE WB Engineers+Consultants NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Window World has long been conscious of its responsibility to respect and acknowledge the sacrifice of this nation's heroes. For that reason, Window World is partnering with Folds of Honor Foundation, an organization that provides life-changing scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen or disabled US service members and first responders. As part of this partnership, Window World has pledged $100,000 over the next four years to support a meaningful cause. This commitment has already led to the awarding of five scholarships to Gold Star children in North Carolina. Building on this success, we are excited to introduce this partnership to all of our franchises, encouraging them not only to participate in scholarship programs but also to engage with local Folds of Honor chapters. This initiative perfectly aligns with our Window World Military Initiative, further solidifying our dedication to honoring and supporting the families of fallen heroes. "We are deeply honored to partner with Folds of Honor, an organization that shares our commitment to supporting the families of American heroes," said Tammy Whitworth, CEO of Window World. "This partnership not only reflects our company's values but also amplifies our impact through the Window World Military Initiative. We look forward to expanding this initiative across our franchises, fostering a broader network of support for Gold Star families." "As a member of the Window World Board of Directors, I am proud to see our company take this significant step in supporting the families of fallen or disabled service members and first responders," said Jamie McBride. "Our partnership with Folds of Honor is a testament to our dedication to honoring their sacrifices and empowering their loved ones through education. We believe this collaboration will have a lasting impact on the lives of these deserving families." "Folds of Honor is proud to team up with Window World," said Folds of Honor CEO and founder, Lt Col Dan Rooney. "The patriots at Window World understand the importance of an education and are doing something about it. This partnership will increase scholarship funding to the families of American military and first responder heroes. Together we will meet sacrifice with hope." Folds of Honor Foundation was founded by Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, a decorated F-16 Viper Fighter Pilot. From its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 62,000 scholarships totaling about $290 million. Minority recipients represent 45% of all scholarships awarded. In 2022, the organization expanded its mission to America's first responders, including police, fire, EMTs, and paramedics. Our impact is greater together. Helping the dependents of American heroes pursue their educational dreams is possible only with the generosity of everyday citizens. If you would like to join Window World in supporting our nation's military and first responder families, you can become a Folds of Honor Squadron member by joining thousands of committed American patriots who pledge $13 every month. Visit Folds of Honor website for more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship. ABOUT WINDOW WORLD INC. Window World, headquartered in North Wilkesboro, N.C., is America's largest replacement window and exterior remodeling company, with more than 220 locally owned franchises nationwide. Founded in 1995, the company sells and installs windows, siding, doors, and other exterior products, with over 24 million windows sold to date. Window World is an ENERGY STAR partner and its windows, vinyl siding and Therma-Tru doors have all earned the Good Housekeeping Seal. Through its charitable foundation, Window World Cares, Window World and its franchisees provide funding for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, the foundation has raised over $17 million for St. Jude. Window World also supports veterans through its Window World Military Initiative (WWMI). WWMI defines Window World's commitment to honor and serve America's veterans, active military, and military families across the entire franchise system by focusing on three pillars: Careers, Community Outreach and Partnerships. The Veterans Airlift Command has been a partner since 2008. During that time, Window World has contributed over $2.5 million in flights and donations to the organization. For more information, visit WindowWorld.com or call 1-800 WINDOWWORLD. For home improvement and energy efficiency tips, decor ideas, and more, follow Window World on Facebook and X. ABOUT FOLDS OF HONOR Folds of Honor is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of US military service members and first responders who have fallen or been disabled while serving our country and communities. Our educational scholarships support private school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12, tuition for college, technical or trade school and post-graduate work, including a master's degree, doctorate, or professional program. Funds for a second bachelor's degree or trade/technical program certification are also available. Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 62,000 scholarships totaling about $290 million in all 50 states. Among the students served, 45 percent are minorities. A total of 91 percent of every dollar raised directly funds scholarships. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum on Candid. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, the only-ever F-16 fighter pilot (with three combat tours in Iraq) and PGA Professional. He is currently stationed at Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. For more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship visit foldsofhonor.org Jennifer Pinto Director of Window World Military Initiative [email protected] SOURCE Window World MARRAKESH, Morocco, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Xlence, a leading international CFD broker, introduces Islamic/Swap-Free Accounts for traders who follow Islamic finance principles. This new account option ensures a trading experience that is in line with Sharia law, so clients can trade without dealing with transactions based on interest. For the purpose of maintaining a trading environment that is fair and in accordance with the moral and ethical framework of the Islamic religion, Swap-Free Accounts are offered. About Xlence Swap-Free Accounts: Trading that is 100% Sharia-compliant: Traders can trade with confidence knowing that their transactions are in accordance with Islamic financial principles. Traders can trade with confidence knowing that their transactions are in accordance with Islamic financial principles. Competitive Spreads : The EUR/USD pair on the Xlence Essential account has low spreads (1.1/1.4 pips), and the Xlence Ultimate account spreads of 0.4/0.7 pips. : The EUR/USD pair on the Xlence Essential account has low spreads (1.1/1.4 pips), and the Xlence Ultimate account spreads of 0.4/0.7 pips. Swap-Free Access to All Available Instruments : Trade in forex, commodities, stocks, and other markets without paying overnight interest. : Trade in forex, commodities, stocks, and other markets without paying overnight interest. Transparent and equitable terms: Traders are provided with a seamless initiation period, as there are no concealed fees and a grace period during which no holding fees will be incurred. Traders are provided with a seamless initiation period, as there are no concealed fees and a grace period during which no holding fees will be incurred. Dedicated Arabic Customer Support: Sellers in the MENA region can receive assistance with account setup, platform navigation, and trading strategies from individuals who are proficient in the Arabic language. It is possible to engage in trading that is both open and ethical, without the use of swaps, and in a manner that is congruent with your principles. If you sign up for Xlence right now, you will have access to a trading environment that ensures compliance with Sharia law and is designed to assist you -. About Xlence Xlence is an international CFD exchange that aims to provide a complete trading experience by being open, coming up with new ideas, and giving traders access to markets worldwide. It has a significant presence in Asia, the Middle Eastand it tries to meet the different needs of modern traders while maintaining the best standards of ethics. Join the Xlence group right now. For more information, visit www.xlence.com and open your Swap-Free Account today. Trade with Xlence, Excel in Trading Media Contact Details: Name: Nicolas Georgiou Email: [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2606624/Xlence_Dark_Logo.jpg SOURCE Xlence SAO PAULO, March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- XTransfer, the world-leading and China's No.1 B2B Cross-Border Trade Payment Platform, and Ouribank, one of Brazil's leading foreign exchange banks, have entered into a comprehensive partnership. This collaboration aims to reduce the cost and processing time of cross-border payments for XTransfer's clients, particularly benefiting Chinese and global traders with significant markets in Latin America. XTransfer Partners with Ouribank XTransfer is dedicated to providing foreign trade companies with secure, compliant, fast, convenient and low-cost cross-border payment and fund collection solutions, significantly reducing the cost of global expansion and enhancing global competitiveness. With more than 600,000 enterprise clients, XTransfer has become the industry No.1 in China. Four decades of experience have made Ouribank a benchmark in the foreign exchange market. It is one of the pioneers of eFX technology and has worked with some of the largest foreign exchange fintechs in Brazil with FxaaS solutions since 2019. The two parties work together in payment and foreign exchange services. By integrating Ouribank's infrastructure, XTransfer can now provide clients with a broader range of local payment and fund collection options. Global foreign trade companies with an XTransfer account can now receive payments in Brazilian Real (BRL) from their Brazilian buyers. Buyers in Brazil and Latin America can now pay Chinese and global suppliers in BRL via PIX without the foreign exchange complexities. In addition to traditional trade clients, XTransfer has established relationships with major e-commerce platforms in Latin America. For e-commerce clients, XTransfer's partnership with Ouribank allows them to receive payments from Brazil through the XTransfer account, especially for Chinese clients, who can easily transfer the received funds to their domestic accounts through XTransfer. According to data, China has been Brazil's most important trading partner since 2009 and is one of the country's primary sources of foreign investment. Brazil was the first Latin American country to exceed $100 billion in exports to China and is China's largest trading partner in Latin America. In 2024, China's bilateral trade with Brazil grew by 3.5% year-on-year to reach around USD 188 billion. When businesses engage in cross-border payments, they often encounter challenges such as lengthy remittance times, high costs, and exchange rate losses. The new partnership between XTransfer and Ouribank benefits not only global foreign trade companies engaged in Latin American markets but also Brazilian businesses working with international suppliers, especially those in China. This collaboration helps simplify and promote Brazil's cross-border trade transactions. Bill Deng, Founder and CEO of XTransfer, remarked on the partnership, stating, "Partnering with Ouribank marks a major milestone in our expansion across Brazil and Latin American markets. This collaboration not only drives XTransfer's global growth but also transforms the trade experience for Latin American SMEs. We look forward to the long-term success of this alliance." Bruno Luigi Foresti, Director of Ouribank, said, "In the foreign exchange and payments segment, we serve businesses of all sizes, from small entrepreneurs to large corporations, including international financial institutions offering payment services in Brazil. With the Hub, we are advancing in the payments technology sector, delivering solutions that reduce friction in international transactions without compromising the tradition and expertise we have built over more than four decades. We are confident that our partnership with XTransfer will bring significant value to markets throughout Latin America." About XTransfer XTransfer, the world-leading and China's No.1 B2B Cross-Border Trade Payment Platform, is dedicated to providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with secure, compliant, fast, convenient and low-cost foreign trade payment and fund collection solutions, significantly reducing the cost of global expansion and enhancing global competitiveness. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in Shanghai and has branches in Hong Kong SAR, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, the UAE, and Nigeria. XTransfer has obtained local payment licences in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia. With more than 600,000 enterprise clients, XTransfer has become the industry No.1 in China. By cooperating with well-known multinational banks and financial institutions, XTransfer has built a unified global multi-currency clearing network and built a data-based, automated, internet-based and intelligent anti-money laundering risk control infrastructure centred on SMEs. XTransfer uses technology as a bridge to link large financial institutions and SMEs around the world, allowing SMEs to enjoy the same level of cross-border financial services as large multinational corporations. XTransfer completed its Series D financing in September 2021 and achieved unicorn status. The Company possesses a diverse composition of international investors, including D1 Capital Partners LP, Telstra Ventures, China Merchants Venture, eWTP Capital, Yunqi Capital, Gaorong Capital, 01VC, MindWorks and Lavender Hill Capital Partners. For more information, please visit: https://www.xtransfer.com/ About Ouribank Ouribank is your go-to partner to expand boundaries in Brazil. With over 40 years of experience, it has already served more than 500,000 clients and carried out over 1 million foreign exchange transactions. In 2024 alone, it transacted more than 29 billion dollars. These figures highlight our commitment to transparency, integrity, and innovation, ensuring excellence in personalized service and efficiency at every stage. Today, Ouribank is divided into two business units: the Bank, which is a reference in specialized foreign exchange services, and the Solutions Hub, which offers a broad range of digital financial products. Within the Hub, we highlight the FX & Payments unit, featuring increasingly efficient, integrated, and automated digital journeys. This initiative utilizes cutting-edge technology to digitize and simplify the process of international payments and transfers, connecting our clients to the global market. Ouribank's history is marked by a constant drive to innovate, enhance efficiency, and exceed the expectations of those who trust in our services. SOURCE XTransfer President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law on the purchase of equipment for units No. 3 and 4 of Khmelnytsky NPP in Bulgaria (bill No. 11392), according to data on the website of the Verkhovna Rada. According to them, the law was returned to the parliament for the signature of the head of state on March 13. As reported during the adoption of bill No. 11392 on February 11, the term of the Bulgarian parliament's permission to sell reactor vessels to Ukraine expires on March 11. In a blitz interview with Interfax-Ukraine on February 4, Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko said Bulgaria is unlikely to extend Ukraine's permit to purchase reactor units if the law is not voted on, because there is "pro-Russian history" in the coalition there. MP Andriy Zhupanyn, commenting on Facebook on the adoption of the law, drew attention to the fact that the document only approves the purchase of reactors, which limits the cost of the project to $600 million at this time. "The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will prepare a new bill on the completion of Khmelnytsky NPP, to which it must provide an updated feasibility study and information on the sources of financing for the entire project," he said. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Kinshasa, March 13 : Angola said it is trying to broker direct talks between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebel group in the coming days. The announcement, made by Angola's Presidency on Tuesday, came after a visit by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi to Luanda earlier in the day, raising hopes that the fighting in the eastern parts of the DRC might ease and not descend into a wider regional war, Xinhua news agency reported. Kinshasa has so far refused to talk directly with the M23, which the United Nations say is supported by neighbouring Rwanda, an assertion Kigali denies adamantly. Pending decisions remain decisive for revived peace mechanisms that are currently stuck in an impasse and differences among regional blocs. In Luanda, Tshisekedi met with his Angolan counterpart, Joao Lourenco, a key player in the Luanda Process, a peace mechanism backed by the African Union (AU) that aims to calm tensions between Rwanda and the DRC. The DRC government has consistently considered it a red line to sit at the same negotiation table with the M23, which has seized large chunks of land in the eastern North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. In these provinces, the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a politico-military group allied to the M23, has established a parallel provincial administration. "Never, ever, as long as I am president of the DRC, will I have in front of me the delegation of the M23 or the AFC there... to negotiate," Tshisekedi said in an interview back in August 2024. Responding to Angola's latest announcement, Tshisekedi's spokesperson Tina Salama described it as "an approach by Angolan mediation," saying Kinshasa is "waiting to see the implementation." The Luanda Process has been in limbo since last December, when an Angola-brokered summit in Luanda between Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame was called off at the last minute. Kagame did not show up, and Kigali put the blame on the DRC's refusal to have "direct dialogue with the M23." Meanwhile, the DRC has signaled its intent to revive the Nairobi Process, a peace initiative led by the East African Community (EAC) and facilitated by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, providing Kinshasa with a platform to engage with various armed groups active in the country, including the M23. However, Kenyatta's spokesperson Kanze Dena said in early February that the Nairobi Process has reached an "impasse." The DRC government kicked the M23 out of the process because it views the rebellion as a proxy for foreign interests, particularly Rwanda. The conflict between the M23 and the DRC government traces back to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against Tutsi and ongoing ethnic tensions, particularly between the Tutsi and Hutu populations. The DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23, while Rwanda says the DRC's military has allied with the Rwandan rebel group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which is accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide. The fighting raging on multiple fronts of the DRC, fueled by the M23's continued offensive, threatens to spiral into a wider regional conflict. "If it continues like this, war risks becoming widespread in the region," Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye warned in early February. African regional blocs are still prioritising African solutions to African problems, though Kinshasa and its regional partners are not 100 per cent on the same page regarding the future trajectory of the Nairobi and Luanda processes. Several African leaders agreed to merge the two processes into one, at a joint summit in February hosted by the EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the Tanzanian port city of Dar es Salaam. Weeks later, the EAC and SADC announced that they had designated Kenyatta, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn as the facilitators of their joint "Luanda/Nairobi Process." Kinshasa, however, called for an "alignment" so that the two mutually reinforcing processes, which are quite complementary to each other, are raised to the same organisational level. "Obviously, the two processes have completely different targets, different stakeholders," said Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC state minister for foreign affairs, in early March, noting that the Nairobi Process should also be under the aegis of the AU. "We are talking more about aligning the two processes so that the Nairobi process is also under the umbrella of the AU and no longer under the umbrella of the EAC alone. And so, we have both the processes at the same level," said Wagner. In another related development, the SADC announced that it will hold an extraordinary summit of heads of state and government on Thursday to discuss the security situation in the DRC, where the regional bloc may address the withdrawal of its military presence in eastern DRC. As part of the SADC Mission in the DRC deployed in December 2023, a SADC regional force from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania has been working with the DRC military in fighting armed groups operating in the eastern DRC. Tehran, March 13 : Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi received a letter from US President Donald Trump on nuclear negotiations, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. The letter, which reportedly calls for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program, was handed over to Araghchi by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the presence of some other Iranian officials, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Fars. According to a report by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Araghchi said earlier on Wednesday that Iran had always been ready to hold negotiations over its nuclear issue on equal terms. Iran previously held talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, and is continuing dialogue in that regard, Araghchi said, noting that it is the US that withdrew from the deal. Iran is holding talks with France, Britain and Germany on a number of issues, including the nuclear one, and a new round of talks will start soon, he said, adding that the country is holding negotiations with other international stakeholders concurrently. Araghchi said that Iran's nuclear program operates within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and that it is completely dynamic and making progress. In an interview with Fox Business Network on Friday, Trump said he wanted to negotiate with Iran on the nuclear issue and had sent a letter to the country's leadership. Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the US -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. However, during Trump's first term of office, the US withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the nuclear deal have not achieved substantial progress. Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that the country would not negotiate with the US under pressure and sanctions. Aden, March 13 : UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg emphasised the necessity of coordinating regional and international efforts to decrease tensions and advance an inclusive political process in Yemen. Grundberg made the remarks during a visit to Saudi capital Riyadh, where he met with Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber, UAE Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Zaabi, ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council, and other senior officials, the UN envoy's office said in a statement posted on social media platform X. "Discussions focused on Yemen and regional developments, including key political dynamics," the statement said. "He stressed the importance of unity and collective action in achieving a sustainable and peaceful resolution to the conflict," it added. Yemen has been mired in a devastating military conflict between the Houthi group and the internationally recognised government for more than a decade, Xinhua news agency reported. Despite numerous diplomatic initiatives, international and regional efforts have failed to end the country's protracted conflict, which has created what the United Nations describes as "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." The situation in Yemen has grown increasingly complex following the Houthis' maritime and cross-border attacks. On Tuesday, the Houthi group announced the resumption of their ban on Israeli ships in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. The development followed the expiration of a four-day deadline set by the group's leader on March 7, which was prompted by Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Since November 2023, the Houthi group has launched extensive maritime attacks against vessels they claim are Israeli or affiliated with Israel in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. These operations were temporarily halted after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip in January. Beirut, March 13 : Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji reaffirmed the urgent need for Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701. During a meeting with US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria engagement in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Natasha Franceschi, on Wednesday accompanied by US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, Rajji emphasised that Israel's continued occupation remains a key issue, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the official National News Agency. Rajji thanked the US for its mediation efforts in securing the release of Lebanese detainees from Israel and for its ongoing support of the Lebanese army. Rajji also met with Niels Annen, Parliamentary State Secretary at Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, alongside German Ambassador to Lebanon Kurt Georg Stoeckl-Stillfried. He reiterated that Israel's immediate and unconditional withdrawal is essential for regional stability and called on Germany to exert pressure for its implementation. He praised the Lebanese army's role in southern Lebanon within the framework of Resolution 1701, asserting Lebanon's ability to maintain security along its borders. Regarding Syrian refugees, Rajji underscored the importance of economic development in Syria and lifting sanctions to facilitate their return. He urged European nations to reconsider their approach and expedite repatriation efforts. Annen, for his part, stressed that Israel must respect Lebanon's sovereignty, warning that the failure to withdraw could negatively impact Lebanon's stability and hinder the government's efforts. He also reaffirmed Germany's support for Lebanon's reform agenda, highlighting the importance of economic and administrative reforms to restore international confidence and attract foreign investment. United Nations, March 13 : The United Nations and partners have mobilised relief efforts to help residents in Syria's western Latakia Governorate recover from recent violence, UN humanitarians said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said power outages continue in several regions, including the governorate's capital city of Latakia. Water distribution is affected by the outages, mainly in rural areas, Xinhua news agency reported. Schools in Latakia and Tartous have been suspended. Bakeries are operational, and shops are reopening, though essential materials and fuel remain scarce. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) supplied 38 tonnes of water treatment supplies to Latakia's water authority, covering more than two months of needs. The agency also provided five water tanks to Jableh National Hospital in Latakia to replace damaged ones. UNICEF and its partners are helping maintain the Al Sin Spring generator in Tartous to ensure a drinking water supply for the population. Health partners delivered emergency supplies, including 64 trauma and emergency surgical kits and non-communicable disease treatments to Tartous and Latakia. OCHA said cross-border assistance from Turkey into northwest Syria continues with 31 trucks from the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency crossing at Bab al-Hawa to deliver over 600 tonnes of aid supplies, including food, shelter repair and hygiene kits. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), based in Britain, reported that nearly 1,500 people, including more than 1,000 civilians, have been killed in the violent escalation in the costal region since last week. Rome, March 13 : Italian agricultural products will be hit harder than those from any other European countries if threatened US tariffs go into effect next month, a study reported. The Confederation of Italian Farmers, best known as CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, said Wednesday that Italian agriculture sector exports to the US were higher than those from other European countries, Xinhua news agency reported. CIA-Agricoltori Italiani said that Italy exported 7.8 billion euros ($8.5 billion) last year, accounting for around 12 per cent of Italy's total agricultural sector exports. That is more than the 6.7 per cent of France's US agricultural exports, or the 4.7 per cent from Spain and the 2.5 per cent from Germany. Italy reported an overall trade surplus with the US last year of 39 billion euros. The US is by far the top non-EU destination for Italian products and the second overall behind Germany. Cristiano Fini, CIA-Agricoltori Italiani's national president, called for diplomatic efforts aimed at avoiding the implementation of the threatened US tariffs, which could enter into force on April 2. "Strong diplomatic action is needed to find a solution," Fini said in a statement. "Italy can and must be a leader in Europe in the opening of a negotiation with (US President Donald) Trump since we have the most to lose." The CIA-Agricoltori Italiani said the Italian regions of Tuscany and Sardinia would feel the biggest impact of the levies, with high-end wine, pecorino cheese, and olive oil among the exports that could suffer the most. In Kyiv, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, leader of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, and a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, discussed steps to achieve a just and lasting peace in Europe and to involve Ukraines European partners in this process. I met with Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, leader of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy and a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, Zelenskyy said on X Thursday. According to him, the steps toward achieving a just and lasting peace were discussed. Our European partners, all those who have stood with us since the beginning of the invasion, must be involved in future peace initiatives. In this context, I shared the outcomes of the meeting between the Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Saudi Arabia. Our state has supported the U.S. proposal for a 30-day full interim ceasefire. Now, Russia must demonstrate its willingness to end the war, the President of Ukraine said. We also talked about the supply of F-16 fighter jets, drones, and ammunition, as well as investments in the development of Ukraines defense industry. We appreciate the support from the Dutch government, parliament, and people. I am grateful for strengthening our defense capabilities, Zelenskyy added. As the press service of the Presidents Office noted, the Head of State also highlighted Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegeriuss efforts during her tenure as Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands, particularly in assisting Ukrainian citizens forced to flee due to Russian aggression and in holding Russia accountable, including the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. The leader of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy reaffirmed full support for Ukraine and praised the resilience of all Ukrainians who are defending European values in the fight against the aggressor. "You are fighting not only for your own freedom and peace but also for the rest of Europe, including the Netherlands," said Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius. Khartoum, March 13 : At least 10 people were killed and 23 others injured in shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on residential neighbourhoods and a shelter center in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said. "In a new escalation of their crimes against civilians, the rebel militia shelled neighborhoods in El Fasher city and a shelter center with 37 120-mm artillery shells," the SAF's 6th Infantry Division said in a statement. "This attack led to the death of 10 civilians, including a 3-year-old girl, and left 23 others injured, some with serious wounds, who were transferred to medical facilities for treatment," the statement added. The RSF also launched drones targeting key sites within El Fasher, but the army's air defence successfully shot them down, the SAF said. There was no immediate comment from the RSF regarding the attack in El Fasher, Xinhua news agency reported. El Fasher has been the site of fierce clashes between the SAF and the RSF since May 10 last year. Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which has claimed at least 29,683 lives, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a crisis monitoring group cited by the United Nations. The conflict has also displaced over 15 million people, both inside and outside Sudan, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration. New Delhi, March 13 : The renowned Hydraulic Holi will be celebrated on Thursday, at the Shri Priyakant Ju Mandir in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. Preparations for the Holi festival are already underway, with a series of colourful and vibrant events planned throughout the day. Various forms of Holi will be played, including Laddu-Jalebi Holi, Rasiya Holi, Lathmar Holi, Chhaddimar Holi, and Gulal Holi. The festival will be filled with laughter, joy, and playful exchanges as devotees come together to celebrate the spirit of Holi. Devkinandan Maharaj, a prominent religious leader, will be showering the devotees with colours using a hydraulic pichkari, a special feature that has become the hallmark of the Holi celebration at this temple. The temple authorities have also announced that the colours for the event will be prepared from natural Tesu flowers, ensuring an eco-friendly celebration. The Holi festival at the Shri Priyakant Ju Temple began with a World Peace Prayer and the commencement of the Shrimad Bhagwat Katha. The first day of the event saw the participation of prominent spiritual leaders, including Mahant Raju Das Maharaj from Hanuman Garhi and Satyamitranand Maharaj, who performed the Vyaspith Poojan and addressed the devotees. In his discourse, Devkinandan Maharaj highlighted the importance of listening to the Shrimad Bhagwat Katha with sincerity, stressing that it should not be seen merely as a pastime, but as a spiritually enriching experience. Vijay Sharma, the temple secretary, shared that on Thursday, Holika Dahan day, visitors will experience a variety of traditional Holi celebrations, offering them a glimpse of the complete Holi traditions from Braj. The celebration is expected to be a unique blend of devotion, fun, and community spirit, as devotees participate in the joyous festivities. This yearas Holi at Shri Priyakant Ju Temple promises to be an unforgettable experience for all who attend, combining spiritual rituals with the vibrancy of one of Indiaas most beloved festivals. New Delhi, March 13 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will visit Gorakhpur on Thursday to participate in the vibrant Holi celebrations, joining in the Holika Dahan, which will begin from Pandeyhata in the evening. He will also take part in the colourful Lord Narasimha Shobha Yatra, which will start from Ghantaghar, infusing the celebrations with the spirit of unity and harmony. Gorakhpur, the sacred seat of Guru Gorakhnath, celebrates Holi with immense enthusiasm, where the social fabric of the city comes alive with the colours of harmony. The two major processions, Holika Dahan and the Lord Narasimha Shobha Yatra, are a significant part of the cityas Holi festivities and have become an attraction for people across the state. These processions are symbolic of the deep spiritual and social values upheld by the region. The involvement of the Gorakhnath Peeth adds a unique flavour to the celebrations, making Gorakhpur's Holi distinct and special. Even after becoming the Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, as the head of the Gorakhnath Peeth, continues to participate in these processions despite his busy schedule. The Holi festivities at Gorakhnath Temple begin traditionally with Holika Dahan, a ritual where the ashes from the bonfire are used for a sacred tilak ceremony. The Chief Minister, along with other devotees, will perform this ritual, which marks the beginning of the Holi celebrations. The ashes of Holika Dahan symbolise the merging of devotion and social unity, emphasising the importance of both spiritual strength and community harmony. The Lord Narasimha procession was first initiated in 1944 by Nanaji Deshmukh, a preacher of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), during his time in Gorakhpur. However, the tradition of celebrating Holi with the ashes of Holika Dahan at Gorakhnath Temple dates back even further. Lucknow, March 13 : With Holi and the second Friday of Ramzan coinciding this year, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali, a senior Sunni cleric, has issued an advisory urging communal harmony and peaceful celebrations. The overlap of the festival and the Jumma prayers on March 14 has led to political tensions, prompting discussions on adjusting prayer and celebration timings to ensure order. In several areas, local communities have taken initiatives to modify the schedule. Some mosques have decided to extend their prayer timings, while in certain places, Holi processions have been rescheduled or shortened. Addressing the situation in a video message, Maulana Khalid Rasheed said, "The Islam Centre of India has issued an advisory to extend the timing of mosques, and our Hindu brothers have also adjusted Holi processions at many places." He further urged people to remain vigilant against misinformation. "We hope that both communities will celebrate this day according to their religion and faith. There should be no confusion or rumours, and everyone should ignore any misinformation. This day should be observed in a peaceful atmosphere, setting an example of religious harmony for the world," he added. The advisory comes amid heightened security in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, where mosques are being covered with tarpaulin sheets as a precautionary measure. This step follows last year's violent protests triggered by a court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid, which some believe stands on the site of a demolished Vishnu temple. The incident led to clashes and fatalities, prompting local authorities to ensure no disruption during the upcoming festivals. Meanwhile, Holi celebrations in Sambhal began with the Rangbhari Ekadashi festivities, a five-day event leading up to the main celebrations on Friday. Authorities are closely monitoring the developments, emphasising the need for cooperation to maintain peace and order. New Delhi, March 13 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked the people and the Mauritius government for the warmth he received during his two-day visit to the country. PM Modi returned to Delhi on Thursday after concluding his State Visit to Mauritius. He took to social media to express his gratitude. "I thank PM Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the people and Government of Mauritius for the warmth," PM Modi posted on his X handle. He also shared the video highlights from the second day of his Mauritius visit. PM Modi was the Chief Guest at Mauritius' National Day for the second time, the first was in 2015. During the celebrations, President of the Republic of Mauritius Dharambeer Gokhool conferred the 'Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean' (G.C.S.K) award, the highest civilian award of Mauritius, on Prime Minister Modi. This is the first time that an Indian leader has received this honour. Prime Minister Modi dedicated this award to the "special friendship between India and Mauritius and to the 1.4 billion people of India and their 1.3 million brothers and sisters in Mauritius". During the National Day celebrations, an Indian Navy marching contingent participated in the parade. An Indian Naval Ship also made a Port Call to coincide with the National Day celebrations. In a special gesture, PM Modi was seen off by Mauritius PM Ramgoolam at the airport. "A milestone in India-Mauritius bilateral relations a" our Enhanced Strategic Partnership will be a force of strength in the region. PM Narendra Modi departs from Mauritius after a very fruitful and memorable visit. In a warm gesture, PM was seen off by PM Ramgoolam at the airport," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) posted on X. PM Ramgoolam had also warmly received Prime Minister Modi at the airport as he arrived in the Indian Ocean archipelago at the crack of dawn on Tuesday. Just before leaving the Mauritian shores, PM Modi visited Ganga Talao, offered prayers and also immersed the holy water from the Triveni Sangam at the sacred site in Mauritius on Wednesday. The Prime Minister's gesture of bringing the holy water from the revered Maha Kumbh Mela to Ganga Talao signifies not only the spiritual unity between the two nations but also their commitment to preserve and nurture the rich traditions that form the foundation of their shared cultural ties. "It was a very emotional feeling to return to Ganga Talao in Mauritius. Standing by its sacred waters, one could feel the deep spiritual connection that transcends borders, binding generations of people to their roots," said PM Modi. Brasilia, March 13 : Brazil is facing criticism over large-scale deforestation in the Amazon rainforest to build a highway for the upcoming COP30 climate summit, raising questions about the country's commitment to environmental conservation. The road, designed to accommodate tens of thousands of delegates attending the UN climate conference in November, has sparked accusations of hypocrisy, according to media reports. The Amazon rainforest, often referred to as the "lungs of the Earth," plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon and maintaining global biodiversity. However, locals have expressed concerns that the new road is destroying their livelihoods, while conservationists warn it could severely impact wildlife movement, The Telegraph reported. The four-lane highway is expected to ease traffic congestion in the host city, which will welcome over 50,000 attendees, including world leaders, according to a BBC report. While the state government has promoted the project's "sustainable" credentials, environmentalists argue that clearing vast sections of the rainforest contradicts the very essence of a climate-focused summit. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Environment Minister Marina Silva have defended the initiative, emphasising that this summit is historic because it is "a COP in the Amazon, not just about the Amazon." The President stated that the conference would highlight the region's needs, offer a global perspective on the rainforest's significance, and showcase the federal government's efforts in protecting it. Despite the government's assurances, the project has fueled a debate over Brazil's environmental policies, with critics arguing that deforestation for infrastructure projects undermines the nation's role as a leader in climate action. As preparations for COP30 continue, the controversy surrounding the road's impact on the Amazon adds another layer of complexity to the global climate discourse. Vatican City, March 13 : Thursday marked the 12th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics and there was some good news for his followers as his health showed improvement. Vatican City, March 13 (IANS) Thursday marked the 12th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the leader of the worldas 1.4 billion Catholics and there was some good news for his followers as his health showed improvement. The 88-year-old Pope who is revered by the 2.4 billion Christians of the world, will mark his anniversary as election as the 266th Pope, from Romeas Gemelli hospital where he has been treated for double pneumonia for almost a month. The Holy See hasn't said how the anniversary, a public holiday in the Vatican, might be commemorated. However, there was good news regarding the health of the Holy Father as a latest bulletin from the Vatican, that was released on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, said that his condition was improving and he was no longer in immediate danger. Pope Francis' recovery from double pneumonia continued on Wednesday as a chest X-ray confirmed improvement, two days after doctors declared that he is no longer in imminent danger of death. However, there was no news of when the Pope would be discharged from hospital and even though the medical bulletin said his condition was stable now it gave a complex picture regarding his overall fragile health condition. Media reports said that on Wednesday Pope Francis followed its spiritual retreat remotely, and resumed physical and respiratory therapy after a quiet night of rest at the hospital. On Friday Pope Francis will mark four weeks of hospitalization as he continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day, and a non-invasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night. The Popeas weekly Wednesday general audience was canceled since the Vatican hierarchy is on retreat this week as part of the Lenten spiritual exercises that have been a mainstay of the Jesuit pope's pontificate. Seoul, March 13 : Mercedes-Benz Korea, Volkswagen Group Korea, Toyota Motor Korea and two other carmakers will voluntarily recall over 15,000 vehicles due to faulty components, the transport ministry here said on Thursday. The five companies, including Stellantis Korea and Ford Sales & Service Korea, are recalling a combined 15,671 units of 11 different models, the ministry said. Mercedes-Benz will recall 4,289 units of two models, including the S580 4MATIC, due to a software error in the engine control unit, reports Yonhap news agency. Volkswagen found a brake control system software issue affecting 4,226 units of the Audi Q4 40 e-tron and another model, while 2,722 units of Toyota's Sienna Hybrid were found to have improper fastening of third-row seat belts. In the case of Stellantis, 1,731 units of the Chrysler 300C were found to have insufficient durability in their fuel pump components, and Ford reported a door control module software error in 1,535 units of the Nautilus. Meanwhile, Kia, BMW Korea and three other carmakers last month voluntarily recalled more than 76,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said. The five companies, including Renault Korea Motors Co., Tesla Korea and Jaguar Land Rover Korea, recalled a combined 76,382 units of 37 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a press release. The problems that prompted the recall include a faulty air bag system in Kia's Niro electric vehicle (EV), problems in the cooling pump wire connector of BMW's 528i sedan and transformer software problems in Renault Korea's Arkana sport utility vehicle (SUV), according to the ministry. Tesla recalled a faulty electric power assisted steering (EPAS) system in the Model Y SUV, it said. Vehicle owners can check the government's homepage at www.car.go.kr or call 080-357-2500 to see if their vehicles are subject to the recall, the ministry said. a"IANS na/ New Delhi, March 13 : The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police is investigating a major financial fraud involving the New India Cooperative Bank, which has reportedly seen a Rs 122 crore embezzlement. The investigation has revealed that former bank president Hiren Bhanu, who is wanted in the case, along with his wife Gauri Bhanu, the bankas current acting president, and vice president, have purchased multiple properties between 2019 and 2024. A police official stated that during this period, Rs 122 crore was embezzled from the bank, raising suspicions that the properties acquired by the Bhanu couple may be proceeds of crime. The EOW is now focussing on investigating these properties as part of their probe into the financial scam. The police are exploring the use of new provisions under the BNSS (Bureau of Non-Specific Financial Crime) Act to seize the assets of the fugitives, as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) cannot be applied in this case. The official further elaborated, "We are examining how these properties can be seized, considering that MCOCA does not apply. We are also exploring if the MCOCA provisions can be added to the FIR." According to the investigation, just before the scam came to light, the couple fled the country, and in the period between 2019 and 2024, Hiren Bhanu reportedly acquired assets worth Rs 10-12 crore in Mumbai and its outskirts. The EOW has been closely monitoring these properties, which are now under scrutiny to assess whether they were purchased with the stolen funds. The police are considering invoking BNSS Section 107 (related to property attachment, confiscation, or restoration) to seize the assets, as this provision gives law enforcement the authority to confiscate properties when specific Acts like MCOCA cannot be applied. This investigation is ongoing, and the EOW is working to ensure that the proceeds of the crime are properly recovered, while also ensuring accountability for the Bhanu coupleas actions in the ongoing Rs 122 crore bank scam. Seoul, March 13 : Seoul will come up with a response strategy before the end of this month to deal with the United States' 25 per cent tariff on all steel imports and protect the Korean steel industry, the industry minister said on Thursday. Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun offered the timeline at a meeting with officials from major steelmakers, including POSCO Group and Hyundai Steel Co., saying the government will "sternly respond to any attempts of unfair trade activities." "The government is working to bolster trade safeguard measures, including strengthening monitoring on imported goods and circumvention dumping on unfairly imported products," he said, reports Yonhap news agency. The Donald Trump administration imposed 25 percent duties on all steel imports, including those from South Korea, starting Wednesday. The Trump administration also levied tariffs on 87 steel and aluminum derivative products, and lifted duty-free quotas for steel imports from South Korea and other countries. In 2018, the first Trump administration had waived tariffs on South Korean steel products in exchange for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons, which accounted for around 70 percent of Korea's average export volume between 2015 and 2017. In the meeting, Ahn told the steel companies the government will work to enhance support measures for the industry and put in all-out efforts to negotiate with the U.S. on the matter. "I ask the companies to consider heightened uncertainties as a constant variable and proactively review investment and export strategies focused on high-value products," Ahn said. Meanwhile, recent deregulatory moves in the property market and easing of banks' lending rules could stoke household debts, making it necessary for authorities to consider additional measures to ensure financial stability, the central bank said on Thursday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) made the suggestion in its latest biannual monetary policy report, as government data showed household loans extended by banks rose for the first time in three months in February. "Uncertainties remain high regarding the trend of household debts given the current housing market situation and other factors," the report read. a"IANS na/ British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Ukraine needs additional security guarantees because of Vladimir Putin's ambitions, the Guardian reported on Thursday. In comments for the News Agents podcast posted on social media, Starmer said pressure on Moscow needed to be increased to ensure lasting peace in Ukraine. He said he is aware that Putin has ambitions that are barely disguised, adding that if the agreement is not protected by security guarantees, Putin will violate it. According to the Prime Minister, the UK is focused on a lasting and secure peace in Ukraine, which is what all want. Starmer also said that he was not at all surprised that Russia takes this position as it had made it clear several times. I think progress was made on Tuesday, and I always felt that and hoped that out of Tuesday that would put the ball in the Russian court, if you like, where the pressure would come on Russia. That has now happened. That is a good thing, because Russia is the aggressor. Russia is the country that where there had been previous deals and agreements, [it] has not honoured those, he said. The head of the British government stated the need for further cooperation with the United States and Ukraine. Ive got this meeting in on Saturday to bring a number of leaders together to see what further progress that we can make, but lasting secure peace with the sovereignty and security of Ukraine. But it has to be a peace where the deal is defended, because weve had a deal before, and its not been maintained, because Russia just breaches the line, Starmer said. He also noted that Russia's resistance to proposals to provide Ukraine with additional security guarantees indicates that if the peace agreement is not protected by security guarantees, it will be violated by the Russian side. If you dont intend to breach the deal, you wouldnt have too many problems with guarantees for the deal. And we know that in the past, hes [Putin] breached the deal, Starmer said. Los Angeles, March 13 : Hollywood star Gal Gadot, who has four daughters Alma, Maya, Daniella and Ori, believes the ever-increasing dependence on social media platforms is actually unhealthy for the minds of young women. The "Wonder Woman" star, who has been married to businessman Jaron Varsano since 2008, told DuJour magazine: "I always tell my kids that for me, growing up was so much easier than it is for you. They grew up with all these filters. With curated postings." "They think it's real, not knowing that it's been totally filtered and retouched.I tell them, 'Whatever you see out there, it's false, not true.' It's a very confusing world for a girl." Gadot's family home was "very, very quiet" during her own childhood. However, she quipped that her home life is now "mayhem", reports femalefirst.co.uk. She said: "I wanted to have a messy home with mayhem and all that." The actress actually relishes the noise and energy created by her children. She said: "If you come to my house, they laugh, they fight, they cry. It's a whole range of emotions, and I love it. Yes, it's a lot. I juggle. I do my best and we have help and my husband does the best job as a dad. I don't sleep a lot." Gadot previously admitted that it's not easy to balance her acting career with her family life. The star told Glamour magazine in 2020: "You have to balance between having a career and having a family. It's something that is always a handful and my career takes a lot." Earlier the actress had revealed that she was "scared to death" after a blood clot was discovered in her brain in February 2024, right before she gave birth to her daughter Ori. She said on 'The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon: "I had a huge scare. All of a sudden, I realised what it means to be scared to death." Gadot suffered from headaches for weeks before the issue was correctly diagnosed, reports femalefirst.co.uk. The actress was also "very pregnant" when her symptoms began. Gadot shared: "I had major headaches for three weeks and I was seeing doctors and different neurologists." Initially, doctors blamed the actress' headaches on migraines and hormones. But the actress' mother convinced the actress to seek an MRI scan. She added: "They found out this horrible thing and we were rushed to the hospital. And they got the baby out immediately. I went through a thrombectomy." -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Port Louis, March 13 : While we have often seen crowds thronging the streets for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, what was seen in Mauritius during his two-day visit was a reminder of the deep ties between the two nations. People lined up the roads for kilometres as PM Modi went to the Ganga Talao in Mauritius -- considered the most sacred Hindu pilgrimage site in the Indian Ocean archipelago -- to catch a glimpse of him. People stood on both sides of the road, waving the Mauritian flag and the Indian Tricolour, eagerly awaiting the Prime Minister's arrival. Many had their phones raised, capturing the historic moment as PM Modi made his way to the revered site. Upon reaching Ganga Talao, PM Modi offered prayers and holy water that he had brought from the Triveni Sangam during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. The crowds surged forward, eager to witness the moment, while PM Modi acknowledged them with a wave, further energising the enthusiastic gathering. "I was deeply moved to visit the sacred Ganga Talao in Mauritius. The spiritual bond between the two countries can be easily felt along its sacred waters. It transcends borders and connects many of our generations to their roots," he shared on X, reflecting on the deep cultural ties between India and Mauritius. Ganga Talao, also known as Grand Basin, is a crater lake situated about 550 metres above sea level in the mountainous southwest district of Savanne. The site is home to a temple and several small shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva and other Hindu deities. According to local belief, a Hindu priest discovered the site in 1897, and in the 1970s, another priest from India brought sacred water from the Ganga river, poured it into the lake and named it 'Ganga Talao.' Mauritius, where most citizens trace their ancestry to India, has a significant Indian diaspora, particularly from Bihar. Addressing a community event in Port Louis, PM Modi highlighted these deep-rooted connections, stating, "Our forefathers were brought here from various regions of India. When we consider the diversity in language, dialects, and eating habits, this place truly represents a mini-Hindustan, a miniature India!" His arrival in Port Louis on Tuesday was marked by a vibrant performance of 'Geet Gawai,' a traditional Bhojpuri musical ensemble. Rooted in the Bhojpuri-speaking regions of India, this musical tradition holds immense cultural significance for the Indian-origin community in Mauritius. Traditionally performed by women, it remains an integral part of the country's heritage. As PM Modi stepped onto Mauritian soil, the excitement among the Indian diaspora was palpable. Many saw this as a moment of pride, reinforcing the unbreakable historical, cultural, and emotional ties between India and Mauritius. Sonipat, March 13 : O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has achieved a historic milestone in the prestigious QS Subject Rankings 2025, reaffirming its position as a global leader in higher education. In a groundbreaking performance, JGU has not only retained its long-standing dominance in Law but has also secured top rankings in multiple new disciplines, marking a remarkable expansion of its academic excellence and global influence. JGU's stellar performance in the QS Subject Rankings 2025 reflects its unwavering commitment to academic excellence, research innovation, and global collaboration. This year's recognition across a broad range of disciplines underscores JGU's growing status as a multidisciplinary powerhouse and a beacon of higher education in India and the world. Historic Performance in QS Subject Rankings 2025 The QS Subject Rankings evaluate university performance based on rigorous indicators, including academic reputation, employer reputation, research impact (citations and H-index), and international collaborations. QS analysed over 5,200 institutions and, of these, ranked 1,747 universities across 55 narrow subjects and 5 broad faculty areas. QS Subject Rankings evaluate university performance at two levels: Broad Subject Rankings reflect a university's overall strength in major faculty areas: Arts & Humanities; Engineering & Technology; Life Sciences & Medicine; Natural Sciences; and Social Sciences & Management. Narrow Subject Rankings provide a more detailed assessment of 50+ specific disciplines within the 5 broad areas, such as Law, Politics, and Business. JGU offers more than 40+ Degree programmes. These programmes fall under two of QS's five broad faculty areas: JGU has been ranked #1 private university in India and 360th in the world for Arts & Humanities. The recognition reflects JGU's commitment to fostering creativity, critical thinking, and intellectual exploration in literature, philosophy, history, and the arts. In our first-ever ranking in Social Sciences & Management, JGU has been recognized as the #3 private university in India and 274th in the world. This ranking underscores JGU's dynamic and forward-thinking approach to studying social systems, human behavior, and management sciences. Under the Social Sciences & Management broad faculty area, there are 16 Narrow Subjects that QS ranks. Based on the programmes offered and research output, JGU is eligible to participate in 4 Narrow Subjects. For the sixth consecutive year, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) has been ranked as the #1 Law School in India and top 100 in the world (78th in the world) Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) continues to lead legal education in India and remains a global powerhouse for jurisprudence and legal studies. JGLS offers nine undergraduate and postgraduate programs in law, delivered through a cutting-edge curriculum and global partnerships. For the first time ever, JGU has been ranked as the #1 private university in India for Politics & International Studies and placed in the 201-250 category in the world. This ranking is a clear recognition of Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP), & Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JSLH) as schools that are shaping global policy discourse, governance, and diplomacy. For the first time, Economics & Econometrics at JGU has been ranked #2 among private universities in India and within the 551-700 category in the world. JSGP and Jindal School of Banking and Finance (JSBF) have established JGU as a leader in economic research, policy analysis, and financial studies. Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) continues to excel in business education, securing #6th position among private business schools in India and being placed in the 451-500 category in the world. Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) continues to excel in business education with a focus on industry-oriented curriculum and global partnerships. Global Recognition and Strategic Impact Reflecting on this extraordinary achievement, Naveen Jindal, Chancellor of JGU, expressed his immense pride: "The recognition of JGU in the QS Subject Rankings 2025 across multiple disciplines is a testament to the dedication and excellence of our faculty, students, and staff. It is heartening to see our university being acknowledged for its commitment to academic rigor, research, and global engagement. The continued success of JGLS as India's No. 1 law school for six consecutive years reaffirms our commitment to providing world-class legal education. Furthermore, our ranking as the No. 1 private university in India for Arts & Humanities and Politics & International Studies reflects our expanding influence in shaping the intellectual landscape of the country." Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of JGU, added: "JGU's consistent success in the QS Subject Rankings reflects our strategic focus on academic innovation, global partnerships, and impactful research. Our entry into the global rankings in Politics, Economics, and Business underscores our expanding influence beyond law and legal studies. This recognition is a clear affirmation of JGU's emergence as a global leader in higher education." Professor Padmanabha Ramanujam, Dean of Academic Governance at JGU, highlighted the strategic importance of these rankings: "Achieving these rankings reinforces JGU's position as a global leader in higher education. Our focus on fostering a multidisciplinary learning environment, strengthening research, and enhancing global partnerships has been instrumental in securing this recognition. This success will further motivate us to drive innovation and excellence in academia." Paris, March 13 : Defence Ministers from Europe's top five military powers, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Poland, met in Paris and voiced support for the Ukrainian army. In a joint declaration published after the meeting, the ministers agreed to strengthen European support for peace in Ukraine, including accelerating defence industrial cooperation projects with Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported. Speaking at a joint press conference, French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu told reporters that the defence capacity of the Ukrainian army would be "one of the first security guarantees" for Kyiv. According to Lecornu, "the true guarantee of long-term security will be the capacities that we can provide to the Ukrainian army." Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said that there would be no future for Ukraine "without the ability to defend itself." The ministers also agreed to consolidate their common approach to European defense within the frameworks of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). They said in the joint declaration that they would maintain a "strong" transatlantic bond while significantly increasing Europe's contribution to the continent's deterrence and defence. When asked if the ministers discussed how to develop an independent European defence system in case of the US withdrawal, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said that it was a topic that has already "preoccupied" Europe for a while. He proposed that Europe should work on administrative simplifications both at national and European levels to standardise weapon systems in different European countries. For him, European countries need to work together on European security. Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to a US proposal for an "immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire" following talks with a US delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to a joint statement. The talks, notably held without European participation, resulted in the statement that Ukraine would receive renewed US security assistance and America got preliminary approval for access to Ukraine's mineral resources. Despite being left out of negotiations, European leaders welcomed the progress made between the US and Ukraine while continuing efforts to strengthen the continent's defense capabilities. Patna, March 13 : An Assistant Sub-Inspector was killed in a clash with criminals in Bihar's Araria district after his team arrested an accused. The deceased was identified as Rajiv Ranjan Mall, an ASI posted at Fulkaha police station in Araria for the last two years. Mal hailed from Janakinagar village, under Nayanagar police station, Munger district. Mal had gone with his team to arrest accused Anmol Yadav on Wednesday. The police team faced fierce resistance from the accused's aide, leading to a scuffle. During the clash, Mal fell and sustained serious injuries. He was rushed to Araria Sadar Hospital where he succumbed due to injuries. Following the incident, the police force has been deployed at Araria Sadar Hospital to prevent further tension. According to the police, Yadav was arrested but his associates gathered and launched an attack, leaving Mal critically injured. During the scuffle, Mal fell unconscious, and the mob freed the accused. The injured officer was rushed to Araria Sadar Hospital. "Our team had caught Anmol Yadav, but his associates overpowered the police and freed him. ASI Rajiv Ranjan Mal collapsed during the scuffle and was taken to the hospital where doctors declared him dead," said Anjani Kumar, SP of Araria. "Mal was not lynched by villagers. He fell during the scuffle and sustained serious injuries. A heavy police force is stationed in Araria to maintain order," Kumar said. "We have launched a manhunt to re-arrest Yadav and identify the attackers," Kumar said. The incident has shocked the Police Department. "We will take strict action against those involved in the attack?" he said. The situation remains tense in Araria. The leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has been attacking the Nitish government over the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state. The state government responds to Tejashwi's criticism by highlighting the changed security scenario in the state and comparing it to the "jungle raj" of his parents Lalu and Rabri. New Delhi, March 13 : A teenage boy was killed, and another sustained serious injuries after being stabbed by a group of boys in New Delhi's Sagarpur area, police said on Thursday. The police have identified three suspects, and a case has been registered in connection with the incident. According to the information, the victims were rushed to Bhagat Chandra Hospital in Janakpuri D Block following the attack. The hospital staff alerted the police about the incident, prompting an immediate response. According to the police, a PCR call was received around 5:30 pm on Tuesday from the Bhagat Hospital, informing them that two injured boys -- aged about 15 years and 17 years -- had been brought in with serious stabbing wounds. The victims were identified as Lucky, a resident of Indra Park, Sagarpur, and Ajay. Lucky, who was in critical condition, was later shifted to Safdarjung Hospital, while the doctors declared Ajay dead upon arrival at Bhagat Hospital. Preliminary inquiries revealed that a quarrel had broken out between the victims and 2-3 other boys, leading to the fatal attack. This incident occurred in Indira Park Colony, Sagarpur, South West Delhi. Two minors were standing in the street near their home when three young men approached and began fighting. As the altercation intensified, one of the assailants pulled out a knife and attacked both boys. After the attack, all three assailants fled the scene. An alleged CCTV footage of the incident shows that after the attack, one of the injured boys repeatedly asked for help from nearby bystanders, but no one helped him. The police have identified three suspects, and an investigation is currently underway. Further details are awaited. This incident has raised concerns about the law and order situation in the national capital. Bengaluru, March 13 : Locals took to the streets and blocked the arterial road in the Chamarajpet locality of Bengaluru on Thursday after the death of a woman due to electrocution while switching on a motor to draw water. The deceased, identified as Selvi, was electrocuted at around 5.30 a.m. Despite the area being located close to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) headquarters, houses do not have direct water connections. Instead, pipes are connected to the main water supply line, and motors are installed to pump water. Residents must manually switch on the motor to access water. Outraged by the incident, locals claimed that repeated requests to authorities to resolve the water crisis have gone unheard. They alleged that this was the fifth electrocution case in the area, yet authorities have failed to take action despite a series of such deaths. Thousands of residents gathered on the streets and blocked Mysuru Road, causing heavy traffic congestion during morning peak hours. The Assistant Police Commissioner rushed to the spot and attempted to pacify the protesters, but they refused to disperse. Considering the sensitivity of the situation, two platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) were deployed to prevent any untoward incidents. The protesters demanded that local MLA and Minister for Waqf and Housing, Zameer Ahmad Khan, visit the spot and provide a concrete assurance that their water crisis would be resolved. They insisted that they would not withdraw the roadblock until the Minister addressed their concerns. BBMP and Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) officials appeared unaware of the residents' alternative water arrangements. Protesters questioned why they had to resort to such measures if proper water connections had been provided. They also alleged that whenever they demanded water, the police would file FIRs against them. The residents stated that the water crisis had persisted for years without any intervention and accused the Minister of only visiting the area when he needed votes. They emphasized that lives were at risk due to the lack of water, causing severe inconvenience to families, women, and children. They demanded justice for Selvi. Authorities have yet to issue an official statement regarding the water supply situation. The Chamarajpet police are investigating the case. New Delhi, March 13 : Expanding its global footprint, Tata Motors on Thursday announced the launch of its all-new passenger and electric vehicle (EV) portfolio in Sri Lanka. India's leading automobile manufacturer, along with its partner DIMO launched the new range of passenger vehicles and EVs in the neighbouring country. The launch event saw introduction of Tata Motors' widely successful range of SUVs the Tata Punch, Tata Nexon, and the Tata Curvv. In addition to this, Tata Motors has also launched its popular electric hatchback, the Tiago.ev. "We are excited to be here in Sri Lanka, marking a new chapter in our international business strategy. Tata Motors has undergone significant transformation over the years, and there is no better way to mark our return than with a new, game-changing product portfolio," said Yash Khandelwal, Head International Business, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility. "Our offerings are designed to not only captivate the Sri Lankan market but to set new standards combining bold design, cutting-edge features, top-tier safety, and unmatched after-sales support," he added. Tiago.ev has already made waves in India, Nepal, and Bhutan by making electric mobility both accessible and aspirational. According to Rajeev Pandithage, Executive Director of DIMO, they are thrilled to continue their partnership with Tata Motors as they become the first passenger vehicle brand to enter Sri Lanka post market reopening. "The brand-new ICE and Electric Vehicle range sets new standards in the automobile sector, embodying innovation, safety, and sustainability at a very affordable price point," he mentioned. All passenger cars from Tata Motors will come with a manufacturer's warranty of three-years or 100,000 km, while electric cars will come with a manufacturer's warranty of three-years or 125,000 km. Furthermore, the high-voltage battery and the motor in the EV is protected with a warranty of eight years or 165,000 km, said the company. IANS na/ Jaipur, March 13 : Jaipur's historic Govind Devji Temple has announced special guidelines for Holi celebrations, restricting video-making, reels, and the use of colours inside the temple premises. Devotees will only be allowed to have darshan of Thakurji on Holi and on Dhulandi on March 14, with strict crowd management measures in place. The temple administration and police have prohibited the use of any kind of colour, including gulal, watercolors, or color cylinders. Pushp Holi (flower Holi) will be allowed only during the Rajbhog tableau. Additionally, devotees will not be permitted to stop inside the temple premises, dance, or create reels. To streamline movement, there will be no arrangements for shoe removal inside the temple, and the free shoe house will remain closed. Devotees are advised to remove their footwear in advance before visiting the temple. To ensure a smooth darshan experience and prevent overcrowding, devotees must keep moving and will not be allowed to stand still inside the temple. The administration aims to prevent incidents similar to those reported at large religious gatherings, such as the Prayagraj Kumbh, where overcrowding led to a tragic stampede. On Wednesday, DCP North Rashi Dogra and other officials inspected the temple premises and reviewed security arrangements. According to police officials, on the day of Holi, many young devotees gather in the temple to make reels on mobile phones, leading to congestion and causing inconvenience to elderly visitors and women. To avoid such situations, the administration has enforced a strict ban on standing inside the temple and making videos. Manas Goswami, the service officer of Govind Devji Temple, has urged devotees to celebrate Holi with flower petals instead of colours and gulal, as the latter creates discomfort and chaos in the temple premises. The new regulations have been implemented to ensure a hassle-free darshan experience for all visitors. The traditional Holika Dahan at Govind Devji Temple will take place at 11:31 pm with cow dung as per rituals. The ceremony will be conducted in the presence of sants and mahants, under the guidance of temple Mahant Anjan Kumar Goswami. According to Seva Adhikari Manas Goswami, the temple rituals will commence at 11:00 pm, with worship of all deities, including Lord Ganpati, followed by a ahavana. The Holika Dahan will be performed precisely at 11:31 pm. As per tradition, after the temple ceremony, the common people will celebrate Holi and perform the ceremony of Holika Dahan at their respective localities. Devotees will also be able to worship Holi at the temple from 10:00 am onwards. For the past seven days, the temple has been celebrating Fagotsav, featuring performances by artists from across the country. Shekhawati artists have been entertaining devotees with Chang and Dhol beats, while the Holi with flowers remains the central attraction. In a grand spectacle, Radha-Krishna forms and their companions played Holi with five quintals of flower petals, creating a mesmerising and divine ambience inside the temple. The temple administration encourages devotees to celebrate Holi with enthusiasm while respecting the new guidelines, ensuring a peaceful and spiritual experience for all. New Delhi, March 13 : Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta celebrated Holi with the children of Rohini's Asha Kiran Shelter Home on Thursday, spreading festive cheer and extending greetings to the residents. Amid joyous celebrations, CM Gupta applied gulal and interacted with the children. Speaking to reporters, she expressed her delight, stating, "Today, I celebrated Holi with the children of Asha Kiran, and it felt wonderful. The children were very happy." During her visit, the Chief Minister also took stock of the living conditions at the shelter home. "I wanted to understand how they are living here and identify any shortcomings in the system. I have noted the areas that need improvement and have informed the concerned authorities to address them," she said. Emphasising her commitment to welfare, she added, "While today's visit was planned, next time, I will come unannounced, and I expect things to remain as well-maintained as they appeared today." CM Gupta personally interacted with the children and observed their well-being. "Although they were not in a position to share much about themselves, I could still see a sense of peace on their faces. I will continue to keep this under observation and make regular visits," she stated. She also directed authorities to provide special care arrangements for the specially-abled children, including improvements in park facilities. Additionally, she instructed officials to increase the shelter home's occupancy to accommodate more children in need. Extending her Holi greetings to Delhiites, CM Gupta urged citizens to celebrate responsibly. "I extend my heartfelt Holi greetings to all Delhi residents. May this Holi be safe, and let's avoid wasting water by playing with natural colours. Keeping Delhi beautiful and clean is our shared responsibility. I believe we should celebrate Holi safely while conserving water and using natural colours," she said. Russia's strategy to be aimed at blaming Ukraine for their own violations - Center for Countering Disinformation in response to Putin's statements about ceasefire The Russian Federation's reaction to the proposal for a ceasefire is typical and in the future we should expect violations of the ceasefire from the Russian side and accusations from the Ukrainian side of this, as was done previously, notes the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), Andriy Kovalenko. "Typical behavior of Russia in international politics: we are ready to cease fire, but there are nuances. It is important to understand that Russia's information strategy will be aimed in any case at accusing Ukraine of their own violations, putting forward strange demands, and doing everything the same way as it was during Minsk," Kovalenko wrote on Telegram on Thursday evening. He noted that this is and will be the Russian Federations tactic: to lie and accuse. Vladimir Putin has reportedly expressed support for a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but said that it would raise questions about the situation in various areas of combat contact. "We are for it, but there are nuances," he said on Thursday. Putin claims that Russian troops are "advancing in almost all areas of combat contact" and has stated the need for "control and verification" of what will happen in Ukraine during the ceasefire. New Delhi, March 13 : Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, arrived in Jodhpur on Thursday and met with the general public at his residence, extending his Holi greetings. While interacting with the media, he remarked, "This Holi, my wish is that we all move forward with new energy, dedicating ourselves to making India a 'Viksit Bharat', in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, and celebrating the colourful spirit in this 'Amrit Kaal'." Shekhawat emphasised the significance of festivals in binding the diverse fabric of India together. Speaking about the importance of Holi, he said, "India is a land of festivals, enthusiasm, and diverse traditions, and our festivals play a vital role in uniting the people of this country. Holi is one of the major festivals and is particularly special because it sends a message of social harmony. On this festival, people set aside their grievances, apply colours on each other, and strive to unite in a spirit of oneness." He highlighted the essence of Holi as a festival that brings people together across different cultures and backgrounds. "Through the colours of Holi, we aim to celebrate the unity and diversity of our society. The festival encourages people to embrace each other, forgetting differences and creating a sense of togetherness," Shekhawat added. Regarding the public meeting at his residence Shekhawat remarked, "Every festival and occasion brings both joy and challenges. During these times, we meet the public, listen to their concerns, and work to resolve them. While we spread happiness, we also address issues. "After today's visit to my residence, preparations are underway for tomorrow, as many people and workers are expected to gather. Since the summer season has started, we have made arrangements to ensure that no one faces inconvenience, as we do every year." The Union Minister urged the citizens to work together for the nationas progress. Holi, with its vibrant celebrations, continues to foster unity and harmony among people, as the festival has already begun. Hyderabad, March 13 : Telangana Police in Hyderabad and Cyberabad have imposed certain restrictions in connection with the celebrations of Holi to maintain peace and order, but this has evoked a strong reaction from the BJP, which alleged that the Congress government is trying to impose curbs on the celebration of the Hindu festival. The police prohibited "throwing colours or coloured water on unwilling persons, places and vehicles or smearing unwilling people with colour on public roads and public places in Hyderabad". Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand and Cyberabad Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty issued separate notifications in this regard in exercise of the powers vested in them under the Hyderabad City Police Act. The Police Commissioners have also prohibited the movement of two-wheelers and other vehicles in groups on streets and public places, disturbing peace and order and or causing inconvenience, annoyance or danger to the public. The order will be in force from 6 p.m. on March 13 to 6 a.m. on March 15 in Hyderabad, while the order will be in force in Cyberabad from 6 a.m. on March 14 to 6 a.m. on March 15. The Police Commissioners said any person violating the order would be liable for prosecution for violation under section 76 of the Hyderabad City Police Act. The BJP has criticized the Congress government in Telangana for the prohibitory orders issued by the Hyderabad and Cyberabad Police Commissioners. BJP MLA Raja Singh termed Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy as '9th Nizam'. "Are you going to tell us how we should celebrate Holi?" asked Raja Singh. The MLA from Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad said the government was not imposing any restrictions on activities during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan. The MLA alleged that the Congress government was imposing curbs only on the celebration of Hindu festivals. The BJP leader asked why the Congress government has not issued a notification directing Muslims to offer prayers at home and not to come out on roads. Patna, March 13 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inspected the under-construction terminal building at Jayprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna on Thursday morning. Bihar Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena, Patna District Magistrate Dr Chandrashekhar Singh, and other senior officials from the Bihar government and airport authorities accompanied him. During the inspection, CM Kumar reviewed the progress of the new terminal building, approach roads, and passenger amenities. He directed officials to expedite the remaining work, while airport authorities assured him that the project would be completed as per schedule. "Once completed, the new terminal will provide better facilities for passengers," CM Nitish Kumar said while speaking to the media. Officials informed the Chief Minister that construction is advancing rapidly and is expected to finish on time. The new terminal aims to enhance the passenger experience and modernise Patnaas air connectivity infrastructure. In recent months, CM Nitish Kumar has prioritised aviation and urban infrastructure development across Bihar. Besides Patna, he has also inspected Bihta Airport on the city's outskirts. Land for the airport's expansion and development has already been transferred to the Airport Authority of India (AAI). Patna Airport handles the highest passenger traffic in Bihar, offering flights to major Indian cities and international connections to Kathmandu. Additionally, Gaya Airport facilitates international travel, especially for Buddhist pilgrims, while Darbhanga Airport is emerging as a key hub for North Bihar's regional air connectivity. The Bihar government, in collaboration with the Centre, is focusing on strengthening regional air links. In the Union Budget 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman sanctioned three new greenfield airports in Bihar. Construction of Purnea Airport is already underway, for which the land acquisition has been completed. CM Nitish Kumar remains actively engaged in monitoring major infrastructure projects, ensuring improved connectivity, urban development, and regional air travel expansion across the state. Mumbai, March 13 : 'Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile' actress Ayushi Khurana is all set to celebrate her first Holi with her husband, Suraj Kakkar. The actress recently opened up about the special plans she has for this vibrant festival with her in-laws. Reflecting on her cherished memories of Holi, Ayushi shared, "Holi has always been a festival close to my heart because it's all about spreading happiness and bonding with loved ones. One of my favorite childhood memories is waking up early and helping my mother prepare homemade sweets like gujiya and malpua before running off to play with friends." She added, "This year is even more special for Suraj and me as it will be our first Holi after marriage, and I'm excited to celebrate it with my husband and in-laws. I've heard so many stories about how they celebrate Holi, from playing dhol to organizing a grand family gathering, and I can't wait to be a part of it. One tradition I always follow is starting the day by applying a tilak of gulal to my parents' foreheads as a sign of love and respect, and this time, I will also be doing the same with my in-laws. Wishing everyone a joyful and colorful Holi." Ayushi went on to state, "This year is even more special for Suraj and me as it will be our first Holi after marriage." Ayushi Khurana married her longtime boyfriend Suraj Kakkar on December 6, 2024, on the auspicious day of Vivah Panchami. Work-wise, Ayushi is currently starring in the lead role in "Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile," where she is paired opposite Bharat Ahlawat. The daily soap airing on Zee TV tells the story of Reet, a smart journalist, and Raghav, a temperamental man, who marry under the traditional Aata Sata custom. Their union is driven by their deep love and commitment to their siblings. Meanwhile, her husband, Suraj, has showcased his talent in popular shows like "Piyaa Albela," "Pandya Store," and more. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed New Delhi, March 13 : BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Thursday hosted a Holi Milan ceremony at his official residence on Thursday, where several prominent BJP leaders gathered to celebrate the festival. Tiwari remarked that this Holi is special, as Delhi is celebrating victory after a long time. Speaking to IANS Tiwari said, "This Holi is truly special for Delhi. After a long time, Delhi is celebrating the Holi of victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are all celebrating this moment with great enthusiasm." Tiwari extended his warm Holi wishes to the people of India, emphasising the importance of unity and harmony during the festival. "I wish all the countrymen a very happy Holi. We should all live together in harmony. Holi is a festival of great joy and brotherhood," he said. In response to the ongoing protests by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Tiwari criticised their approach, stating, "Their only job is to protest. They haven't done anything till now. But we are giving free cylinders to women who need them. The criteria have been set, and slowly, all the work will be done." The AAP has been protesting, alleging that the new BJP government in Delhi has failed to fulfil its promises. The BJP had promised to distribute free cylinders during Holi and Diwali, but the AAP claims these promises were nothing more than election gimmicks. On the issue of covering mosques during Holi celebrations, Tiwari emphasised the need for unity, saying, "Everyone should live together in harmony. The festival of Holi should be celebrated together by all." To further add to the celebratory spirit, Manoj Tiwari also sang a popular Holi song, "Holi Khele Raghubira Awadh Mein," filling the atmosphere with festive cheer. New Delhi, March 13 : The procurement of Tur (Arhar) from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the Centre has picked up momentum with a total quantity of 1.31 lakh metric tonnes procured in major producing states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana till March 11, benefiting as many as 89,219 farmers in these states, the Agriculture Ministry announced on Thursday. Under the Price Support Scheme of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), the procurement of the notified pulses, oilseeds and copra conforming to the prescribed Fair Average Quality is undertaken by the Central Nodal Agencies at the MSP directly from the pre-registered farmers through the state-level agencies. The Government of India approved the continuation of the integrated PM-AASHA Scheme during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle up to 2025-26. The integrated PM-AASHA Scheme is administered to bring-in more effectiveness in the implementation of procurement operations that not only helps in providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce but also control the price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers, the official statement said. In order to incentivise the farmers contributing for the enhancement of domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports, the government has approved the procurement of the entire production of Tur, Urad and Masur under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) for the procurement year 2024-25. The government has also made an announcement in Budget 2025-26 that the procurement of Tur (Arhar), Urad and Masur would be undertaken for 100 per cent of the production of the state for another four years up to 2028-29 through Central Nodal Agencies to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses in the country. Accordingly, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmersa Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) Masur and Urad to the extent of 13.22 LMT, 9.40 LMT and 1.35 LMT respectively. He approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh under Price Support Scheme for the Kharif 2024-25 season for a total quantity of 13.22 LMT. Tur procurement is also done from pre-registered farmers on eSamridhi portal of NAFED and aSamyukti portal of NCCF. The Centre is committed to procure 100 per cent of Tur from the farmers through central nodal agencies NAFED and NCCF. Bengaluru, March 13 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday launched an investigation into the sensational gold smuggling case involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of Karnataka DGP K. Ramachandra Rao. Sources confirmed that the ED has conducted searches and raids at eight locations in Bengaluru and other places. More details are yet to emerge in this regard. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was also conducting raids at nine locations across Bengaluru, targeting the flats and properties of Ranya Rao's husband, Jatin Vijaykumar Hukkeri. On Tuesday, Jatin obtained an interim order from the High Court restraining the DRI from arresting him. Sources revealed that investigations have found that Ranya Rao had booked round-trip tickets from Bengaluru to Dubai using Jatin Hukkeri's credit card, raising suspicions about his involvement in the gold smuggling case. Meanwhile, Home Minister G. Parameshwara, speaking to the media in Bengaluru, defended the state government's decision to withdraw the probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into police involvement in the gold smuggling case within 24 hours of ordering it. "I had ordered the CID to investigate the case. However, at the same time, the Chief Minister had directed the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) to conduct an investigation, as DGP K. Ramachandra Rao, Ranya Rao's stepfather, is an IPS officer. Since two parallel investigations were not necessary, we decided to withdraw the CID probe," Parameshwara stated. When questioned about a recently surfaced photograph showing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and himself attending Ranya Rao's wedding, Parameshwara reacted angrily, saying he had attended thousands of weddings, including this one. Sources confirmed that based on a complaint by the DRI, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters in Delhi has officially registered an FIR in the gold smuggling case and has intensified its probe. Commenting on the decision to withdraw the CID probe, senior BJP MLA from Bengaluru S.R. Vishwanath suggested that the government might be afraid that if the CID investigation continued, the involvement of politicians and prominent individuals would be exposed, leading to embarrassment. "As soon as the government realized that the probe could cause embarrassment, they withdrew the order," he alleged. However, he added that investigations by the CBI and other central agencies would continue, ensuring that the truth comes to light. "The CID would have had to present the facts of the case, which would have put the state government under scrutiny. Now that the ED, IT, and CBI have launched investigations, I am sure influential figures will be caught in the scam," Vishwanath stated. The DRI investigation revealed that Ranya Rao claimed she received calls from unknown numbers instructing her to smuggle the gold. She also stated that she learned how to conceal gold by watching YouTube videos. Ranya Rao further claimed that she was instructed to collect the gold from Gate A of Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport, where a tall man in a gown handed it over to her. She insisted that this was her first attempt and that she had never been involved in gold smuggling before. She reportedly told investigators that she hid the gold in her jeans and shoes, attached some to her thighs, and wrapped them with scrap bandages in the airport restroom. She was instructed to hand over the smuggled gold to an unknown person waiting in an auto-rickshaw on the service road near Bengaluru International Airport, sources said. However, DRI sleuths have concluded that Ranya Rao is evading questions and withholding crucial information. Sources pointed out that if she had been threatened into smuggling gold, she could have sought help from her stepfather, a senior DGP-rank IPS officer, or approached the local police. Ranya Rao was arrested last Monday by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials for smuggling gold upon her arrival at Bengaluru International Airport. Under pressure, the state government had ordered two separate investigations into the case to determine the role of Ranya Rao's father, DGP K. Ramachandra Rao, in granting her protocol privileges and police escorts. However, later, the government withdrew the CID probe within 24 hours, stirring a controversy. The Central agencies, the CBI and the DRI, are also probing the case. The actress was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths at the airport. Bengaluru, March 13 : The Codava National Council (CNC) approached the National Women's Commission (NCW) on Thursday demanding action against the Congress MLA Ravikumar Ganiga for controversial statements on popular actress Rashmika Mandanna. Council President N.U. Nachappa has written a letter regarding this matter to NCW Chairperson Vijaya K Rahatkar. Earlier, Nachappa had written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara. "The Council urges the NCW to take stringent action against Ganiga for his atrocious behaviour towards actress Rashmika Mandanna," the letter read. "MLA Ganiga has been targeting Rashmika, who belongs to the minuscule Micro Kodava tribal community, using Kannada language chauvinism and ethnic hegemony to create unrest and further terrorise her," said Nachappa. "On March 7, the council, being the torchbearer movement of indigenous Kodavas, wrote to the Union Home Minister and Karnataka Home Minister seeking security for Rashmika. However, Ganiga has responded with vengeful anger and intimidation," he stated. The council views this as an act of terrorism and a blatant violation of the democratic principles enshrined in India's Constitution, he said. The council urges the NCW to register a suo moto case against Ganiga for bullying Rashmika and take necessary action to ensure a safe and fair environment for her and other women, the letter read. This incident highlights the urgent need for protection and support for women, particularly those from marginalised communities, against harassment and intimidation, he further stated. "It is worth noting that the CNC is a socio-political and cultural organization advocating for the rights and interests of the Kodava community. The organisation has been striving for geopolitical autonomy and the recognition of the Kodava people's unique cultural heritage," he stated. Following backlash from Kannada organisations and activists in Karnataka over the alleged disrespect shown by popular actress Rashmika Mandanna toward the state, the Kodava National Council has sought protection for her. Rashmika Mandanna hails from the Kodava community and the Kodagu region of the state. Congress MLA Ganiga had criticised the actress, alleging that she declined the invitation to the International Film Festival organised by the Karnataka government. He further accused her of claiming that she lives in Hyderabad and does not know where Karnataka is. Following these developments, many Kannada organisations and activists have criticised Rashmika and demanded an apology from her. The letter to Union Home Minister Shah stated that Rashmika, who belongs to the Kodava community, has carved a niche for herself in the Indian film industry through hard work and dedication. However, some individuals are unnecessarily criticising her without acknowledging her perseverance and talent. Subjecting her to mental harassment is equivalent to issuing a threat, the letter added. The statement further emphasised that Rashmika is a great actress and her choices and personal liberties should be respected. She cannot be forced to act according to others' directives. If such coercion occurs, it should be considered "Kodava phobia" and recognised as an attack on the community through Rashmika. The letter also expressed disappointment over the criticism from an MLA representing Mandya, a region where people worship the Cauvery River. It pointed out that Rashmika, who hails from Kodagu - the birthplace of the Cauvery River - is metaphorically the "daughter of Goddess Cauvery." It is unfortunate that an elected representative, who has taken an oath to uphold constitutional values and serve the aspirations of the people, is targeting Rashmika in such a distasteful manner, the letter concluded. On March 3, Ganiga, a staunch supporter of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, criticised Rashmika for allegedly showing arrogance and disregard for the Kannada film industry. Ganiga also said, "Rashmika entered the film industry and started her career through the Kannada movie 'Kirik Party'. She was invited last year to the international film festival. Rashmika claimed that she is living in Hyderabad and she doesn't know where Karnataka is. Rashmika further said that she doesn't have time to attend the film festival." "One of our (Congress) MLAs went to her (Rashmika's) house and requested her to attend the fest. Despite it, Rashmika, who made her career through Kannada movies, puts up with such arrogance, shouldn't people like her be taught a lesson?" he added. Jammu, March 13 : The Jammu and Kashmir government told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that 52 non-locals have secured domicile rights through marriage in the Budgam district. Replying to a question by National Conference (NC) MLA from Beerwah constituency Dr Mohammad Shafi Wani, Sakina Itoo, the Minister for Health & Medical Education, said that 52 non-locals obtained domicile rights through marriage in Beerwah Tehsil of Budgam district. The Minister said no non-local was issued a domicile certificate in the neighbouring Magan and Narbal tehsils of the same district. Giving an overall figure, the Minister revealed that in Magam tehsil, 26,277 and in Narbal tehsil 18,921 domicile certificates have been issued to locals. "Beerwah tehsil has the highest number of domicile certificates granted with a total of 62,343 issued to residents," Sakina Itoo said. It must be recalled that before the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, the state subject certificate granting the right to own land and apply for government jobs remained the exclusive right of the locals only. After the abrogation of Article 35A, any citizen of the country can own land in J&K and also apply for a government job. Certain conditions to obtain the domicile certificates were, however, made including obtention of such a certificate through marriage either by a man or a woman and in other cases, after having lived or served in J&K for 15 years or having studied here for seven years and passed Class 10th and 12th class examination from a local educational institution. There has been a demand by local leaders that job protection should be given to locals, and these should be made available to the locals only in order to address the huge problem of unemployment faced by educated and trained youth in the union territory. It just be mentioned that the permanent residents status to locals of J&K was not enshrined in Article 370 as is often believed. The permanent residents' right was enacted by virtue of a separate order issued by the erstwhile Maharaja, Hari Singh, in 1912. This right to buy land and own property was protected by Article 35A, which was abrogated along with Article 370 by Parliament on August 5, 2019. Mumbai, March 13 : After Hollywood action director J.J. Perry dubbed Toxic a "banger," actor Yash took to social media to share his thoughts on the compliment. The actor expressed his excitement and gratitude in response to the recognition from the renowned director. Taking to his X handle, Perry posted a photo wherein he is seen posing alongside Yash and captioned it, "Was a pleasure working with my friend @thenameisyash on the film #Toxic! Had a great run in India, got to work with a lot of my dear friends from all over Europe :-) can't wait for everybody to see this one. It's a banger! So proud of what we did." The 'KGF' actor was quick to take note of the stunt director's sweet compliment as he took to the comments section to react. Yash commented, "My friend, working with you was straight up, raw power." Yash and J.J. Perry have collaborated together for the upcoming action thriller "Toxic." The movie, helmed by Geetu Mohandas, is poised to make a groundbreaking impact on Indian cinema as the first major Indian film to be conceptualized, written, and filmed in both English and Kannada. It will be dubbed in several languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. "Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-ups" is jointly produced by Venkat K. Narayana and Yash under KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations. Speaking about the film, director Geetu Mohandas had earlier stated that the vision was to craft a narrative that resonates with audiences both in "India and globally." He shared, "Our vision for 'Toxic' was to craft a narrative that resonates authentically with audiences both in India and globally. We've strived to capture the nuances of the story in both Kannada and English, ensuring an authentic experience for viewers across different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It's a journey that transcends borders, languages, and cultural confines, designed to connect with hearts and minds worldwide." -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/ Ukrainian troops are surrendering control of Sudzha district of Kursk region to the Russian Federation, which they captured seven months ago, almost without a fight, which may indicate that this was a prerequisite for US-mediated ceasefire talks with the Russian Federation, Le Monde wrote on Thursday evening. "For several days, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been gradually withdrawing from the pocket in Kursk region they took control of seven months ago. Already under pressure from a Russian military force six times their size, they were dealt a serious blow by the US decision on March 5 to no longer provide them with military intelligence. The lack of images of groups of prisoners of war or significant seizures of abandoned Ukrainian weapons suggests that the fighting was not intense. During three years of war, Ukrainian troops almost always put up a fierce resistance in a defensive position, which was clearly not the case now," the message reads. Chennai, March 13 : Cops investigating the death of a doctor, his wife and two sons have revealed that he had incurred losses to the tune of Rs 5 crore in his diagnostic scan business. It may be recalled that the prominent doctor, his lawyer wife and their two sons were found hanging from the ceiling of their home in Anna Nagar West, Chennai on Thursday morning. According to police reports, the deceased have been identified as Dr. Balamurugan, his wife Sumathi, and their two children, Dasvanth (17) and Lingesh (15). Initial investigations suggest that financial distress may have driven them to take their own lives. Dr. Balamurugan, who owned a diagnostic scan centre, had reportedly suffered heavy financial losses, leading to significant debts. His wife, Sumathi, was a practicing lawyer in the city court. Their elder son, Dasvanth, was preparing for his Class XII Board exams, while the younger son, Lingesh, was studying in Class X. The tragic discovery was made on Thursday morning when their driver arrived at their residence. After receiving no response from the family, he alerted the neighbours. When they peered through the windows, they saw the family members hanging. Dr. Balamurugan and Sumathi were found in one room, while their sons were in another. Upon receiving the information, the city police rushed to the scene and recovered the bodies. The remains were later sent to Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital for post-mortem examination. Suicide remains a major public health issue in India. Data from 2022-23 show that Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides in the country (22,746), followed by Tamil Nadu (19,834) and Madhya Pradesh (15,386). Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and West Bengal together accounted for nearly half of the total suicides reported nationwide. Meanwhile, Nagaland recorded the lowest number, with only 41 cases. Psychologist and social worker Dr. Suchitra V. Menon, speaking to IANS, emphasised the importance of mental health awareness. "Many individuals who take their own lives keep their struggles to themselves. If they had shared their problems with friends or family, solutions might have been found. "More awareness is needed to help people understand that suicide is not the answer," she said. She also highlighted that Tamil Nadu remains among the top four states with the highest suicide rates and called for more awareness campaigns to address the issue. Bengaluru, March 13 : Technology companies are finding it difficult to retain employees globally, as many professionals are switching jobs for better pay, career growth, and more engaging work, a new report said on Thursday. A new report by ISACA, a global professional association, which gathered responses from 7,726 tech professionals worldwide, found that one-third of respondents had changed jobs in the past two years. Younger employees were the most likely to switch, with 42 per cent of professionals under 35 seeking new opportunities. Despite these trends, only 27 per cent of companies regularly engage with their employees to address retention concerns. Work-life balance plays a crucial role in job satisfaction. While only 18 per cent of professionals initially entered the field for this reason, 41 per cent cited it as the main factor keeping them in their jobs. Other key reasons for staying include hybrid or remote work options, interesting job duties, and competitive pay, the report said. Many employees enter the tech industry because they enjoy problem-solving, continuous learning, and the job security it offers. The report also found that nearly 70 per cent of professionals received a salary increase or promotion in the past two years, despite only 36 per cent actively asking for one. However, breaking into and advancing in the industry remains challenging. Many professionals struggle with gaining technical knowledge, keeping up with evolving technology, and meeting specialised skill requirements. Even after securing a job, career growth is not always straightforward. Employees cited a lack of clear career paths, limited opportunities, and a shortage of mentors as major hurdles. Mentorship is widely valued, with 83 per cent of respondents recognising its importance, but only 22 per cent currently have a mentor. The survey also found that women are more likely to seek mentorship, while men are more likely to serve as mentors. Job stress is another significant factor leading to turnover. Heavy workloads, long hours, tight deadlines, and a lack of resources contribute to employee dissatisfaction. Many professionals also feel unsupported by their management teams. Only 21 per cent of respondents said they did not experience work-related stress. "India's IT industry has been a global leader for decades, but the speed of technological change and changing employee aspirations are redefining workforce dynamics across the world," said Kannammal Gopalakrishnan of ISACA emerging trends working group. He added that firms worldwide, including in India, need to invest in flexible work, upskilling programmes, and a robust culture of mentorship to hold on to their best talent. Patna, March 13 : Bihar Congress President Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Thursday slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, alleging a complete breakdown of law and order in the state. After the Araria violence in which an Assistant Sub Inspector died on Wednesday night, Singh said: "Bihar is at the mercy of God. The law and order are out of control, and the government has failed to control the situation in Bihar. The Araria incident proves how unsafe even police officers are." Singh's comments came after ASI Rajiv Ranjan Mal was killed in a clash with criminals and villagers during the raid in Araria. He said that Chief Minister Nitish has become a "puppet" of the BJP and "failed" to control law and order in the state. "Nitish Kumar is roaming here and there but is controlled by the BJP. If the government had been functioning properly, incidents like Araria wouldn't have happened. Nitish Kumar's condition is not good. He should decide on his own to step down from the post of Chief Minister," Singh said. Earlier on Wednesday, opposition leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi, have also targeted Nitish Kumar, questioning his leadership and mental fitness. They have demanded his resignation. On the Sambhal incident (Uttar Pradesh), Singh said, "It is an agenda of BJP. It is deliberately creating communal disturbances in Sambhal." Reacting to CM Nitish-Rabri clash in Bihar Legislative Council, Singh said, "I won't comment personally on the Chief Minister, but everyone knows his condition. He should resign from his post." Singh also shared his view of the Congress Yatra in Bihar and confirmed that his party will organise more Yatras and political activities in Bihar. "These movements are beneficial for both the public and the party," he said. Singh expressed confidence that Congress would fight and win the Assembly elections through hard work. Bhopal, March 13 : As envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make India achieve the milestone of becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047, the Madhya Pradesh government is seeking public suggestions to chart the future of the state. Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav has launched a digital survey, 'Citizen Survey', an integral part of the ambitious 'Vision 2047' initiative, designed to engage the public in the state's endeavour. It would be a pivotal stride in formulating a comprehensive plan for the state's development. The state's NITI Aayog is playing a key role in readying a blueprint for Vision 2047. Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Jagdish Devda mentioned in his budget speech on Wednesday that the state is poised to become a Rs 250 lakh crore economy by 2047. The per capita income, the Minister said, would reach Rs 22.35 lakh. "This survey seeks to capture the aspirations and opinions of the public, ensuring their invaluable participation in shaping the future of the state," Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav said in a programme while launching the 'vision document' for 2047. To facilitate wide access, a dedicated website and a QR code have been introduced, enabling citizens to contribute their ideas and perspectives. Besides, the state government will organise essay competitions to inspire students at various schools to articulate their visions for a "Developed Madhya Pradesh @ 2047". Furthermore, dialogues at the grassroots level, spanning district forums and Gram Panchayats, have already begun involving over 2.5 lakh citizens through 'Jan Samvad' programmes. The Citizen Survey, launched recently, aspires to expand this inclusive effort. Dr Yadav expressed his firm belief in the citizens' enthusiastic participation, envisioning a state which is progressive, self-reliant, and cohesive. The Madhya Pradesh State NITI Aayog has taken on a pivotal role in readying the vision document for "Developed Madhya Pradesh @2047". Citizens are encouraged to actively participate in this transformative journey by visiting the Commission's website at https://mprna.mp.gov.in/vision, or by using the QR code provided for easy access. Mumbai, March 13 : Following his much-discussed reunion with Kareena Kapoor, actor Shahid Kapoor was spotted having an unexpected encounter with a familiar 'saheli' on set. On Wednesday, the 'Kabir Singh' actor took to his Instagram handle and shared photos with his brother Ishaan Khatter. Recently, Shahid made a surprise visit to Ishaan's workplace and shared some candid moments on social media. He also expressed that Ishaan is not just his brother but one of his closest friends. The first picture captures Shahid holding his brother's hand while engaging in a conversation. In the caption, he playfully wrote, "Bumping into brother at work and behaving like sahelis." In another heartwarming photo, the Udta Punjab actor could be lovingly pinching Ishaan's cheeks. Sharing the photo with the monochrome effect, Shahid added a red heart emoji to the image. Meanwhile, Shahid Kapoor recently grabbed all the attention at IIFA 2025, with the highlight of the award ceremony being his reunion with his former girlfriend, Kareena Kapoor. During a press conference, Shahid and Kareena were spotted sharing a warm hug and engaging in a conversation. This marked the first time the duo appeared comfortable together and were seen chatting openly, after previously avoiding each other at public gatherings. Earlier, in February 2024, both Shahid and Kareena attended the Dadasaheb Phalke International Awards in Mumbai. On the red carpet, Shahid was seen standing with filmmakers Raj and DK when Bebo walked past him. She briefly spoke to his companions while Shahid stood there, wearing an awkward smile. Shahid and Kareena parted ways in 2007 after dating for several years. During their relationship, the two starred together in several films, including "Fida," "Chup Chup Ke," "36 China Town," "Milenge Milenge," and "Jab We Met," directed by Imtiaz Ali. A few years later, Kareena married actor Saif Ali Khan, and the couple has two sons together. Meanwhile, Shahid tied the knot with Mira Rajput, with whom he has a son and a daughter. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Dhaka, March 13 : The 8-year-old rape victim passed away on Thursday at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Bangladesh's capital city, Dhaka, after fighting for her life for a week, according to local media reports. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced that she died at the CMH around 1:00 pm, reports the leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star. She had suffered several cardiac arrests as of Thursday morning while on life support at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of CMH, according to the office of the interim government's Chief Advisor. On Thursday morning, the victim suffered two more cardiac arrests after already experiencing four on Wednesday. The Bangladesh Army issued a statement on social media on Wednesday and stated that the condition of the 8-year-old remains critical and her blood pressure and oxygen levels are dangerously low. The army urged people to pray for her, however, the child succumbed to her injuries. The incident occurred when the victim was raped by her sister's father-in-law in Magura last week. The victim, who sustained critical injuries, was initially treated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital before being transferred to CMH Hospital for advanced care. In recent days several students and teachers from different universities across the country, including Dhaka University, North South University, Independent University, Bangladesh, and Rajshahi University, demonstrated against the rising rape incidents, including that of the eight-year-old child in Magura, and demanded exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the crime. Outraged over the rising incidents of gender-based violence across Bangladesh, the 'University Teachers' Network' also held a gathering last week at Dhaka University's Aparajeyo Bangla, where teachers and students of six universities nationwide participated. The protestors condemned ongoing violence against women, discussed its root causes, and criticised government failures. Dhaka University Professor Tasneem Siraj Mahboob called for the dismissal of the Home Affairs Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, instead of his resignation, emphasising that she had demanded this months ago. "Resignation is an honourable exit. He doesn't deserve that honour," leading Bangladeshi daily The Dhaka Tribune quoted her as saying. The statistics on violence against women in Bangladesh have exposed the grim reality in the country under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim regime. Addressing the situation of violence against women in Bangladesh that remained troubling in 2025, with shocking numbers reported in the first two months, Fauzia Moslem, President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, speaking to The Daily Star, said, "Society is descending into chaos, where lawlessness and criminal impunity are growing. The failure of law enforcement, compromises, and lack of accountability are empowering criminals." Several cases of violence against women have been reported from across Bangladesh since the Yunus-led interim government came to power in August 2024. The incompetence of the interim government in curbing gender-based violence sparked public outrage, with many demanding the resignation of Home Affairs Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and holding the interim government led by Yunus accountable for degrading the law and order situation across the nation. Hyderabad, March 13 : Telangana Chief Minister, A. Revanth Reddy, on Thursday said that delimitation is going to be a limitation for the South. He also alleged that the Centre was conspiring against South Indian states in the name of delimitation. He said the Congress party has in principle decided to attend the meeting of political parties called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M.K. Stalin in Chennai on March 22 to discuss the impact of the proposed delimitation on the Southern states. Revanth Reddy, who is one of the seven chief ministers invited by CM Stalin for the meeting, said he would attend the meeting after taking permission from the Congress high command. The Chief Minister was talking to media persons in Delhi after a delegation of DMK leaders headed by Tamil Nadu Minister, T.K. Nehru, called on him to extend the invitation for the March 22 meeting. CM Reddy alleged that the Centre was conspiring against the South. "Delimitation is going to be a limitation for the South. This is not delimitation. This is a limitation for the South," he said while making it clear that the southern states would not accept that 'limitation' at any cost "We are paying more tax than North India. We have more entrepreneurs. We are contributing everything for the nation," he said. The Congress leader claimed that the BJP wanted to settle scores with people of South India because they never allowed the party to grow in the region. "People defeated the BJP in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and even in Karnataka. They don't have any representation in Andhra Pradesh. That's why they want to settle scores," he said while terming this as a political vendetta. The Chief Minister said he welcomed the initiative taken by CM Stalin. "He has initiated a discussion and he is organising the meeting against these conspiracies. The Congress party in principle has agreed to attend this meeting. I have to take permission from the high command and then definitely I will attend the meeting," he added. New Delhi, March 13 : The Indian automobile industry registered record passenger vehicles sales, which includes cars and SUVs, in February this year along with a strong growth in the three-wheeler segment, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released on Thursday. However, the figures also show that there was a decline in two-wheeler sales during February which was more pronounced in the motorcycle segment while the scooter segment remained more or less flat. Passenger vehicle sales stood at 3,77,689 units in February this year, which represents a 1.9 per cent increase compared with 3,70,786 units in February 2024. This is the highest-ever sales figure recorded for the month of February. The data does not include sales figures from luxury car manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volvo Auto, SIAM said. "The passenger vehicles segment remained resilient and posted its highest-ever February sales in 2025, reaching 3.78 lakh units," SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon said. Passenger vehicle sales for the first 11 months of the current financial year now stand at an impressive 6,92,311 units, which represents a 13.6 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of 6,09,505 for the same period of 2023-24. The three-wheeler segment recorded a 4.7 per cent year-on-year growth during the month to 57,788 units, up from 55,175 units in the same month last year. Passenger carriers emerged as leaders in the segment with a 6.8 per cent rise, while goods carriers recorded a 5.9 per cent increase. The two-wheeler segment witnessed a sharp decline, with sales declining 9 per cent to 13,84,605 units. Motorcycles saw a 13.1 per cent decline, scooters recorded a marginal 0.5 per cent dip, and mopeds registered the steepest fall of 18.2 per cent. However, despite the slowdown in the two-wheeler segment, SIAM is optimistic about sales picking up in March, the last month of the current financial year. aUpcoming festivities of Holi and Ugadi in March are likely to continue to drive demand, thereby closing FY 2024-25 on a reasonably positive note," Menon said. Two-wheeler sales for April-February of the current financial year now stand at 38.3 lakh which reflects a robust 22.4 per cent rise over the same period of 2023-24. Manila, March 13 : The International Criminal Court (ICC) has stated that the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte "means a lot" for the victims of his "war on drugs," according to media reports. "The fact that the ICC arrest warrant has been carried out is important to victims. It means a lot, I think, to victims," ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said on Wednesday. "Many say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that. But as I also repeatedly emphasise, international law is not as weak as some may think," added Khan. "The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) welcomes the arrest and transfer of the suspect Rodrigo Duterte, former President of the Philippines, on 11 March 2025 by the authorities of the Philippines. Duterte has been arrested in the context of the Office's ongoing investigation into the situation in the Philippines," ICC Office of the Prosecutor issued a statement on Wednesday. The statement read that on the basis of ICC's independent and impartial investigations, it is confirmed that Duterte, as founder and head of the Davao Death Squad, then-Mayor of Davao City, and subsequently as the President of the Philippines, is "criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of murder committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019." The prosecutor's office said that Duterte has committed the crimes as "part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population." The statement further added that in the warrant of arrest issued on March 7=, it was determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte bears "criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of murder." It was also noted that the case against Duterte falls within the jurisdiction of the Court as the alleged crimes occurred during the period when the Philippines was a State Party to the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty. Duterte is currently in the custody of the ICC at The Hague, Netherlands. His custody was turned over by his accompanying Philippine law enforcement authorities to officials of the Judicial Cooperation Unit of the ICC Office of Registry. The Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands said that Duterte was provided with a counsel who has been granted permission to visit the former President on Thursday at the ICC Detention Center in Scheveningen, The Hague, state-run Philippine News Agency reported. Malacanang, Office of the President of the Philippines, on Wednesday, said that former President Duterte could face a prison sentence of up to 30 years or even life imprisonment if convicted of crimes against humanity by the ICC in connection with his "war on drugs." Duterte was arrested under a warrant issued on orders of the ICC at Manila airport on Tuesday morning upon his arrival from Hong Kong. He is facing charges before the ICC for his role in alleged extrajudicial killings committed during his administration's "war on drugs." Human rights groups estimate that more than 30,000 people were killed during the drug war, and many of them were accused without evidence and executed without trial. New Delhi, March 13 : A 24-year-old man was stabbed to death in New Delhi area by his friend, a Swiggy delivery worker, who was trying to flee to Goa but was arrested within four hours of the blind murder, the Delhi Police said on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Devesh Kumar Mahla, told IANS that Rohit, 24, a vagabond who used to stay near Hanuman Mandir, was stabbed by Sher alias Kabir, 28, a resident of a slum in Bhalswa, and left to bleed near Mathura Road-Purana Quila intersection in Tilak Marg police station area on Wednesday afternoon. "Rohit died on way to hospital. We constituted 6-7 teams which, under Additional DCP-I Sumit Jha and Additional DCP-II Anand Mishra, worked out the blind murder within four hours and collected all the crucial evidence," Mahla told IANS. The DCP appealed to the public to help victims of accidents and crimes found abandoned on roads. "It is our social appeal that people should inform police and try to intervene and stop quarrels that they see unfolding in public places," he said, adding that in this case also many passersby ignored the bleeding victim. Mahla said Rohit was reluctantly accompanying Sher to Nizamuddin to help resolve a dispute and the two had a fight midway, resulting in the murder around 2 p.m. He said using technical as well as human Intelligence, an e-bike that the two were riding before the incident was located in Chirag Dilli, South Delhi. "The team followed the route and apprehended Sher while he was preparing to escape to Goa. The weapon of offence used in the crime, blood-stained clothes and the vehicle were recovered," he said. A murder case under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against Sher at Tilak Marg police station. Europe must be present at the peace negotiating table, Ukraine informed key European partners about the results of the talks in Jeddah, said Deputy Head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva. "European partners should already be at the current stage [of the negotiation process]. We, of course, after our talks in Jeddah informed our key European partners about the results. I mean countries such as Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy. All our partners in the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries have been informed," Zhovkva said in an exclusive interview for the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday evening. He stressed the importance of having a European representative identified and taking an active part in these negotiations. Ahmedabad, March 13 : Narcotics, including hybrid ganja, MD drugs, and charas valued at Rs 3.45 crore, were seized from Ahmedabad, police said on Thursday. The narcotics were illegally imported from the US, Canada, and Thailand, disguised as toys and food items shipped via online platforms to evade detection. Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, shared details of the operation through a post on social media platform X. "Ahmedabad Crime Branch takes decisive action to dismantle a major drug smuggling operation. This is a warning to those involved in such illegal activities that strict action will be taken to protect the public," Sanghavi stated. The successful operation has not only exposed the international supply chain but also intensified the crackdown on local handlers and distributors. The Crime Branch has assured that further investigations are underway to trace all individuals involved in the racket. In the past two years, Gujarat's state agencies have seized narcotic drugs worth Rs 4,058.01 crore and liquor valued at Rs 211.86 crore, leading to the arrest of over 3 lakh individuals involved in these illegal activities. Vadodara district reported the highest seizures, totalling Rs 1,620.7 crore, followed by Bharuch with Rs 1,389.91 crore, and Kutch with Rs 1,040.57 crore. Between 2021 and June 2024, authorities confiscated over 87,000 kilograms of narcotics, estimated at Rs 9,600 crore, resulting in the arrest of approximately 2,600 individuals. The Gujarat government has launched an anti-drugs campaign, involving awareness programmes in schools, colleges, and religious places, and plans to establish additional rehabilitation centres in collaboration with the Health Department. Mumbai, March 13 : A day ahead of Holi, actor Chandan Roy Sanyal revealed how he celebrates the festival of colors. In a conversation with IANS, Chandan said, "I generally wake up in the morning and play some nice nostalgic Holi music. I wear a nice white kurta. I also get a lot of gujiya to give to people. I love eating sweets when I move from one place to another." He reminisced about Holika Dahan, which is celebrated on the night before Holi, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. It is celebrated by lighting a bonfire, representing the burning of the demoness Holika, who was destroyed by divine intervention while trying to harm Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu. "While I was growing up in Delhi, Holi Dahan was a big thing. I remember growing up in Delhi, in my galli (alley), where there would be so many Holika Dahans happening, and we used to throw stuff into it, mostly puffed rice and makka everything," he said. Recalling a memorable Holi celebration, Chandan said, "One peaceful memory of Holi, I think, was on a beach, and the whole beach was empty, and I was lying there with some gulal on myself." Talking about his love for food, he said, "I love Bengali cuisine, and my favorite food, which I can have every day, is nice egg curry and rice." On the work front, Chandan was recently seen in the latest season of "Aashram." In a conversation with IANS on March 4, he had addressed the controversy surrounding the show and its portrayal of religious figures. He told IANS, "Backlash is inevitable, but love always outweighs criticism. On social media, I see that about 98 percent of people appreciate the show, while a small percentage express anger." "However, if the show had only received criticism, it wouldn't have lasted for five years. The overwhelming support from viewers, especially women and younger audiences, has made Aashram a success." In "Aashram Season 3," Chandan's character dethrones Baba Nirala. The plot of the show follows a manipulative and sinister Baba Nirala, who exploits the young women in his ashram. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text World Kidney Day: Crucial to raise awareness on early detection, says JP Nadda. Image Source: IANS New Delhi, March 13 : It is critical is raise awareness on kidney health and prevention of kidney-related diseases, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said on Thursday. The 'World Kidney Day' is observed annually on March 13 to raise awareness on kidney health, preventive measures and risk factors. While stressing the need for early detection, the minister informed how the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP) is providing life-saving treatment to millions of people in the country. "As we observe #WorldKidneyDay, it is a crucial time to raise awareness about the importance of kidney health and the need for early detection and prevention of kidney-related diseases," Nadda said in a post on social media platform X. "In a significant step towards improving healthcare access, our government, under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, launched the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Program (PMNDP). Through this transformative initiative, thousands of dialysis centres are now providing life-saving treatment to millions across India," he added. "Let us join hands to spread awareness and ensure that kidney health remains a priority for all," the Minster said. Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a progressive condition where the kidneys gradually lose their ability to filter waste and excess fluids from the blood It is a growing public health crisis in India, affecting a significant percentage of the population and causing over 100,000 new cases of kidney failure annually. Although it affects one in 10 adults, early detection remains low, often leading to severe complications like hyperkalemia (high potassium levels), which increases the risk of heart failure. This is majorly because of the minimal symptoms in early stages that are often go unnoticed. As per recent research published in the Nephrology journal there has been an alarming rise in CKD cases across India. Analysing data from 2011 to 2023, the study found that CKD prevalence among individuals aged 15 and above increased from 11.2 per cent (2011-2017) to 16.38 per cent (2018-2023). The findings also highlighted a significant rural-urban disparity, with CKD affecting 15.34 per cent of the rural population compared to 10.65 per cent in urban areas. Notably, kidney health is closely linked to conditions like diabetes and obesity -- one of the leading causes of CKD. As CKD often progresses silently, millions are at risk of severe complications, reduced quality of life, and increased healthcare burdens. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health stressed the need to "prioritise kidney health." In an infographic posted on X, the ministry suggested following five simple steps to ensure your kidneys stay strong and healthy. They are exercising regularly, drinking plenty of fluids, controlling blood sugar, limiting salt intake, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol. Early detection, proactive management, and access to effective treatments can be important in curbing the growing public health challenge. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, March 13 : Lieutenant Rangaswamy Madhawan Pillai, a 99-year-old veteran of the Indian National Army (INA), marked his 100th birthday on Thursday by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial and the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Kartavya Path. The Indian Army organised a special event at the Kartavya Path on this occasion, which was attended by senior Armed Forces Personnel and the public. The ceremony stood as a powerful reminder of India's enduring legacy of sacrifice and patriotism. The Army official said that the wreath-laying ceremony not only honours the sacrifices of the brave men and women who fought for India's freedom but also serves as a poignant reminder of the nation's ongoing journey to break free from colonial legacies while upholding the spirit of their sacrifice. On January 23, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had felicitated Lieutenant Rangaswamy on the occasion of the Parakram Diwas celebrations at the Red Fort. Lieutenant Rangaswamy Madhawan Pillai was born on March 13, 1926, in the Swryan Township of Rangoon District in Burma (now Myanmar). His father hailed from the Sivagangai District in Tamil Nadu. He initially joined the Indian Independence League as a civilian in 1942 under Rash Behari Bose. When Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore, Lt. Madhawan formally enlisted in the INA on November 1, 1943, at the age of 18. After receiving his commission from the Officers Training School in Burma, he served as a recruitment and fundraising officer. Later, he served in the Administrative Branch at the INA Headquarters in Rangoon under Major General K.P. Thimayya (elder brother of General K.S. Thimayya). According to the Army official, he was officially recognised as a freedom fighter by the Government of India on August 1, 1980. The Azad Hind Fauj was first formed by Mohan Singh in 1942 and later revived by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on October 21, 1943. United by the powerful war cry of "Chalo Delhi", the INA aimed to secure India's complete Independence from British rule. Soldiers, volunteers, and overseas Indians -- from regions as far as Malaya and Burma -- joined this extraordinary force. Communal barriers faded in the face of a larger cause; women, too, found a powerful platform in the Rani of Jhansi Brigade, reflecting the INA's vision for inclusivity and empowerment. Lieutenant Madhawan's life story embodies the courage and unity that defined the Indian National Army. Decades ago, he braved the unforgiving terrain of the Northeast, carrying the aspirations of millions who longed for a free India. Now, at the threshold of his centenary, his act of remembrance stands as a powerful testament to the unwavering resolve that fuelled India's struggle for Independence. Mumbai, March 13 : Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai recently appeared on the popular podcast "Game Changers", hosted by trade analyst Komal Nahta. During the show, the director talked about the pivotal role played by music in his films. Known for his string of musical hits, Ghai shared his unique perspective on how he approached music in his movies, revealing how he treated it as an integral part of storytelling. Nahta asked Ghai, "Music was a very important part of your films. You gave one superhit song after another. But was there a different way of creating your music? How did you work on it?" To this, Ghai who has always been reflective about his craft, responded, "In our time, when we had even bigger musical hits, there was only one difference: I considered music as poetry. For me, Anand Bakshi was even greater than Laxmikant Pyarelal and Rahman. I used to write the spoken dialogues in the movie, and you [Anand Bakshi] were writing the singing dialogues. And when we wrote the 'antara' (stanza), it felt like he knew my story better than I did." The 'Taal' director further emphasized the deep connection between music and narrative in his films, acknowledging the profound influence of lyricist Anand Bakshi in transforming the essence of his stories into timeless songs. During the podcast, Ghai further declined to take credit for making stars out of Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, and Meenakshi Seshadri. The 'Karz" maker stated that all of these actors were destined to become stars, it is just that destiny brought them together and allowed them to get the best out of each other. When Nahta asked about his process of transforming these actors into stars, Ghai revealed, "I didn't make them stars, their destiny did. Destiny brought us together, and I found them good, honest, like students, eager to learn. They didn't seem fake, artificial, or cosmetic. That's why I asked them to work together, whether it was Jackie, Madhuri, Anil, Sanju, whoever". -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, March 13 : Amid its spat with the Centre over the National Education Policy (NEP) and other issues, the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has decided to remove the official rupee symbol from the state's Budget 2025-26, replacing it with the Tamil script equivalent. This marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu will present the 2025-26 Budget on Friday. Tamil Nadu has consistently refused to implement key aspects of NEP 2020, particularly the three-language formula. As a result, the Central government has withheld a573 crore in education assistance under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). According to policy guidelines, states must comply with NEP provisions to receive SSA funding, with the Centre covering 60 per cent of the allocation for states like Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin recently led a statewide protest against the Union government on March 11, condemning both the NEP and the proposed delimitation exercise, which he described as a threat to South India. Addressing a public rally, Stalin said: "We oppose NEP because it will completely destroy Tamil Naduas education system. The policy disregards reservation, which is the foundation of social justice. It denies financial assistance to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)." Tamil Nadu has long viewed the three-language formula as an attempt to impose Hindi. Stalin accused the Centre of using funding as leverage against states that refused to implement central policies. "Is there a greater example of anarchy than saying, 'If you do not adopt Hindi, we will not provide funds'?" he asked. He reaffirmed that Tamil Nadu would continue its two-language policy (Tamil and English), which has been in place since 1968. Criticising the Union governmentas approach, Stalin urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to focus on the countryas development rather than promoting Hindi. He questioned the financial investments in Sanskrit, a language he claimed had limited speakers, while Tamil, a language spoken globally, was being sidelined. Stalinas comments came after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the DMK of using the language issue to revive its political standing. Pradhan called the DMKas stance on NEPas three-language formula "hypocritical" and a "mere political strategy". Responding to Pradhanas remarks, Stalin asserted that "the Tamil people do not need a lecture on democracy from him". Los Angeles, March 13 : Hollywood star Brad Pitt is in a great place, and is looking forward to his life after his divorce from Angelina Jolie was finalised. Their divorce was finalised in December 2024 following an eight-year legal battle, reports 'People' magazine. "Brad Pitt is happy that the divorce is behind him," a source told 'People'. "Things are low-key for the family". "Theyare in a great place," the source added. As per 'People', the insider added that Brad Pitt is "happy" in his relationship with jewelry designer Ines de Ramon, whom he has been dating since late 2022. Brad Pitt is also focused on his career as he prepares for the June 27 release of 'F1'. The source continued, "Lifeas good, no complaints". Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt on September 19, 2016, after two years of marriage. Shortly after their divorce was finalised, her divorce attorney, James Simon of Hersh Mannis, told 'People' that Jolie was "exhausted" but "relieved" that it was over. "More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Brad Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Brad Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family", Simon said at the time. "This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over". Although their split is official, Angelina and Brad are still in a bitter battle over the French winery Chateau Miraval, which they used to own together. Brad Pitt first sued Jolie in 2022 for selling her stake in the business to Tenute del Mondo, the wine division of the Stoli Group. The actress previously claimed she wanted to sell her stake to Brad. However, he demanded she sign a restrictive non-disclosure agreement, which would have prevented her from speaking out about his alleged abuse during their relationship. Brad Pitt has denied being abusive to Jolie or their children. The former spouses share six children, Maddox Chivan, 23, Pax Thien, 21, Zahara Marley, 20, Shiloh Nouvel, 18, and twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, 16. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Mumbai, March 13 : In a surprising turn of events, actress Parineeti Chopra shared her "CCTV footage," leaving everyone intrigued. On Thursday, the 'Kesari' actress took to her Instagram stories to repost a hilarious video of a little child dancing with excitement when his online order arrives. Sharing the clip, Parineeti wrote, "CCTV footage of me." The video, captioned "When your online orders arrive," shows the child beaming with joy as a truck full of orders stops at his doorstep. A few days ago, the 'Ishaqzaade' actress shared her admiration for her husband and politician, Raghav Chadha, calling him an "inspiring human." She reshared a video of Raghav on her Instagram stories with the caption, "Crushing on this inspiring human," accompanied by a red heart emoji. In the video, Raghav was heard sharing his excitement about receiving an invitation to join the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Executive Education Program. The AAP Rajya Sabha MP stated, "I am super excited to be back at school. I am honored to be handpicked for this prestigious program and deeply grateful to the Harvard as well as the World Economic Forum for this opportunity. This is a unique opportunity to enhance my learning in global leadership and acquire a skill set in policy-making while engaging with some of the brightest minds in governance, public affairs, and public policy. It's truly a 'back to school' moment for me, and I look forward to gaining new insights that will contribute to India's policymaking landscape." Meanwhile, on the professional front, Chopra has begun shooting for her highly anticipated series OTT debut with a Netflix project. Announcing her OTT debut, she shared a note that read, "Some mysteries don't just unfold - they pull you in, keep you guessing, and refuse to let go". A new mystery thriller series is in the making! Can't wait for you all to see this labour of love from Team Netflix and us, when it's ready! Shooting had begun .. Marking my OTT series debut!" The upcoming show also features Tahir Raj Bhasin, Anup Soni, Jennifer Winget, Chaitannya Choudhry, Harleen Sethi, and Soni Razdan. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Kolkata, March 13 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a communication to the West Bengal government informing the latter about the rampant encroachment on the land owned by the chit fund entity Rose Valley Group, which had been confiscated by the agency. Since the process of returning money to the depositors of the Rose Valley Group has already started through the auctioning of the confiscated property of the Ponzi entity, the asset disposal committee constituted for that purpose is also a co-signatory to the communique sent to the state government in the matter. In the communique to the state government, the Central agency and the asset disposal committee requested the state administration to initiate freeing the confiscated property of the encroachments already done. However, sources aware of the development said West Bengal is not the only state whose administration had been sent such a communique. A similar communique, sources added, has been forwarded to some other state governments, namely in Odisha, Bihar, Tripura and Jharkhand, among others, where similar instances of encroachment on the confiscated land of Rose Valley Group have come to the notice of the Central agency. Last month, the ED informed that a fresh disbursal of Rs 2.29 crore (Rs 2,29,63,264) as a refund to 3,652 depositors in the Ponzi schemes of Rose Valley Group has been completed in the last and fifth phase by the asset disposal committee headed by the Justice Dilip Kumar Seth (retired) and comprising officials of ED. With this latest disbursal, the total refund to as many as 32,319 depositors in Rose Valley schemes touched Rs 21.98 crore (Rs. 21,98,26,744), the Central agency officials claimed in a statement issued last month. The ED also claimed that further restitution processes are expected to continue over the coming months as more claims are scrutinized and validated by the ADC. In the statement, the ED also claimed that the agency officials have successfully attached movable properties worth Rs 494 crore and immovable properties valued at Rs 1,069 crore, spread across West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, with West Bengal alone accounting for Rs 1,184 crore in attached assets. Mumbai, March 13 : Maharashtra Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abu Azmi on Thursday called for harmony and mutual respect as Holi and the Ramzan Friday prayers coincide on March 14, urging people to celebrate with peace. The overlap of the Hindu festival and the special Friday prayers of Ramzan has led to political debates, with discussions on adjusting schedules to maintain order. In several areas, local communities have voluntarily modified timings to avoid conflicts. Some mosques have extended prayer hours, while Holi processions in certain places have been shortened or rescheduled. Speaking to IANS, Azmi emphasised the importance of India's "Ganga Jamuni" culture, where different communities coexist harmoniously. "Holi is here, and so is the Jumma prayer of Ramzan. Everyone has the right to celebrate their own festivals. In this country, we live like brothers," he said. Addressing potential conflicts, he urged people to act with restraint. He said that the Jumma Namaz during Ramzan was very important for the Muslims. "Jumma Namaz during Ramzan is not offered in small mosques but in large ones. In such situations, no one should forcibly put colours on others to provoke or create disputes. I also urge my Muslim brothers that even if someone throws colour on you, let it go and move on," he said. Meanwhile, Azmi remains embroiled in legal trouble over his remarks defending Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, for which multiple FIRs have been registered against him. He filed an anticipatory bail plea in Mumbai Sessions Court, which granted him conditional relief. As per the court's order, he must appear before the investigating officer and refrain from tampering with evidence. On Thursday, he arrived at the Marine Drive police station to comply with the investigation. Speaking on the case, he stated, "I only have to mark my attendance for three days. As for the evidence, how can I tamper with something already recorded on video? My statement is the evidence, and it's all documented on video, so how can anyone manipulate it?" If Russia doesn't agree to peace deal, it will be very disappointing for the world Trump Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/ Ukraine and the United States have discussed many details of the draft peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, and now it is up to Russia to join it, said US President Donald Trump. "A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now we're going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world," Trump said at a joint briefing with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday. He said that he would discuss with Rutte what is happening in relation to Ukraine and the Russian Federation. He said he has people talking in Russia right now. According to him, America have representatives: Steve Witkoff and others, and they are having very serious discussions. He expressed hope that Russia will agree to the complete ceasefire as Ukraine did. He noted that thousands of people are dying in the war and "we want it to stop." Bengaluru, March 13 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President, D.K. Shivakumar, will attend the meeting called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on March 22 in Chennai to oppose the proposed delimitation exercise. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote a letter in this regard to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking support for opposing delimitation. Responding to the letter by CM Stalin, CM Siddaramaiah replied on Thursday that he was unable to attend the meeting, however, considering its importance he has requested Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to participate in the deliberations. The letter by CM Siddaramaiah addressing his Tamil Nadu counterpart read, "I have received the letter which raises very important issues of autonomy of states which have serious implications on the principles governing our polity. "Particularly the issues of delimitation of the Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies. "Although I would like to take part in the meeting, due to my prior commitments, I am unable to do so." In his letter, CM Stalin had said that he was reaching out to CM Siddaramaiah with two specific requests. "Your formal consent to join a Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the South to West Bengal and Odisha to Punjab in the North," CM Stalin added. He has also sought nomination of one senior representative from the Congress party who can serve on the JAC and help coordinate a unified strategy. In his letter CM Stalin also said, "As an initial step towards unified action, I propose an inaugural meeting in Chennai on March 22, to chart our collective course forward. This moment demands leadership and collaboration, rising above political differences and standing up for our collective good." CM Stalin, in the beginning of the letter, said, "The essence of India's democracy rests on its federal character. Today, I write with urgency at this balance faces a profound threat that could permanently diminish the influence of states like ours in shaping our nation's future." "With the 2021 Census delayed, the delimitation exercise -- originally expected after the 2031 Census -- could now take place much earlier than anticipated. "This acceleration gives us very little time to protect our interests. The question is no longer if delimitation will happen, but when and whether it will honour the contributions of states that have advanced our national priorities," he added. "Post 2026, the situation may become drastically skewed if the exercise is conducted as per the next Census population. Those states which controlled population and achieved superior governance indicators will face an unjust punishment -- reduced representation in the very forum where national policies are determined," he said. "Once implemented, this democratic imbalance could persist for decades, leaving our states with diminished capacity to advocate our people's interests, secure rightful resources and influence critical national decisions. For the record, we are not against delimitation itself. What we oppose is its weaponisation against states that fulfilled their national duties, thus punishing progress," CM Stalin added. India conducted delimitation exercises in 1952, 1963, and 1973. However, in 1976, the process was frozen through the 42nd Amendment until the first Census after 2000, to encourage population control. As population disparities continued to persist, the 84th Constitutional Amendment further extended the freeze until the first Census after 2026, CM Stalin said. "The delimitation math is simple and sobering. Reports suggest that the delimitation exercise is being considered based on population, with two potential approaches. "In the first case, the existing 553 seats could be redistributed among the states, and in the second case, the total number of seats could be increased beyond 800. "In both scenarios, all the states that have successfully implemented population control measures stand to lose significantly if the exercise is based on post-2026 population. "We should not be penalised for effectively controlling population growth and upholding national development goals," CM Stalin added. Jaipur, March 13 : In a major anti-smuggling operation, the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered a packet of heroin worth approximately Rs 5 crore near the India-Pakistan border in the Gajsinghpur police station area of Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district. The heroin was allegedly dropped by Pakistani smugglers using a drone. The operation was launched late Wednesday night after local villagers spotted a drone flying in from Pakistan and promptly alerted security agencies. Acting on the tip-off, a joint team comprising BSF G Branch Officer Devi Lal and CID Officer Hanuman Singh conducted a search operation and located the packet about 2.5 kilometers inside Indian territory. By morning, Gajsinghpur police reached the site and took possession of the packet. The joint teams of BSF and CID initiated a thorough search operation from 6 a.m. on Thursday. After scouring the barley fields, they recovered a suspicious packet around 10 a.m. near the 4 FD checkpoint, located close to pillar number 333/1S. Upon inspection, it was confirmed to contain 1.116 kg of heroin. According to preliminary investigations, the heroin was likely smuggled from Pakistan via drone. Security agencies suspect the possibility of more heroin packets being hidden in nearby fields. The BSF, CID, and Gajsinghpur police have intensified search operations in the area, with police setting up blockades and conducting extensive patrols. This operation marks a significant success in preventing drug smuggling attempts from across the border, highlighting the vigilance and swift action of the Border Security Force and local authorities. Recently, in Punjab, the police uncovered a gang involved in smuggling drugs from Pakistan using drones and distributing them across the state. Three adults were arrested, and one minor was apprehended in the case The Punjab and Haryana High Court has expressed grave concern over the rising instances of drug smuggling into India through drones from across the Pakistan border. It observed that the increasing instances of drug smuggling into India through drones from across the Pakistan border pose a grave threat to national security and public health New Delhi, March 13 : With the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) giving the green light for Holi celebrations at the non-resident students' club (NRSC) on March 13 and 14, following increasing pressure, BJP MP and Waqf Bill Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Jagdambika Pal stepped in to voice support for cultural unity. Talking to IANS, Jagdambika Pal said: "Look, whether it's AMU or the Parliament, we celebrated Holi there as well yesterday. If someone wants to play Holi in their own space, they should be free to do so. Similarly, if anyone wishes to offer Namaaz, they should also be allowed. This is the culture of India." He further addressed the unique confluence of Holi and Ramazan 'Jumma' this year, noting that the Uttar Pradesh (UP) administration has made provisions to cover ten mosques in Sambhal on Friday, March 14, a rare event where the festival of colours coincides with the holy Friday prayer. "In Sambhal, Muslim leaders have requested that Jumme ki Namaaz be offered after 2 p.m., as the administration encourages people to celebrate Holi until then. Holi is a festival of joy, colours, and togetherness. Whether in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, or any other state, people are appealing to maintain this harmony. After 2 p.m., Jumme ki Namaaz will be observed, and the rest of the day will be filled with the vibrant spirit of Holi," Pal said. Pal went on to emphasise the inclusivity of the festival: "Holi is a celebration where there's no animosity - no distinctions between the young and the old, the rich and the poor. It's a time for everyone to come together, hug, and share moments of happiness. Holi is not just a festival of colours; it's a festival of unity, joy, and love." Holi, one of the most celebrated festivals in India, is celebrated in almost every part of the country. It is also sometimes called the "festival of love" as on this day people get to unite together forgetting all resentments and all types of bad feelings towards each other. Bareilly, March 13 : Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, the National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, said on Thursday that in line with the advisory for Holi celebrations in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, all mosques in the city have been told to hold Jummah Namaz at 2:30 p.m. instead of the usual 12 noon. Speaking to the media, Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi said that the decision to defer the namaz timings from 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, the day witnessing a rare co-incidence of Holi and Ramzan Jummah, was taken after holding consultations with various Muslim clerics and imams. He added that a decision was taken to this effect to ensure communal harmony and bonhomie even as two communities celebrate their respective festivals and also stymie any attempts by the miscreants to stir trouble during the celebrations. He also expressed optimism that both Holi and Jummah Namaz will be celebrated in a peaceful and happy atmosphere. Earlier on Wednesday, Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid announced that Friday prayers on March 14 have been shifted to 2:30 p.m. due to Holi celebrations. The announcement was made by Jama Masjid President Zafar Ali. The Barelvi cleric further also made an appeal to the Muslim community to avoid unnecessary 'outings' during Holi celebrations and also advised them to exercise caution when stepping out for essential tasks. Speaking on the issue of holding namaz inside the houses, he said that such arrangements wouldn't befit the Islamic traditions. "Holding prayers inside the house is not permitted in Islam, particularly during Jummah. It is essential that Muslims maintain their presence in the mosque while offering Jummah prayers," he added. He also urged the community to celebrate the holy month of Ramzan with patience and discipline, suggesting that all festivals should be celebrated with harmony and mutual respect. Mumbai, March 13 : Actor Sonu Sood has once again captured hearts with a heartfelt appeal aimed at raising awareness for an elderly woman, Kamaljeet, who sells ber fruit (jujube) by the roadside. In a video shared on his Instagram handle, the Fateh actor expressed his admiration for Kamaljeet's hard work and shared a deeply personal message concerning her family situation. Sonu visited Kamaljeet's stall, where he highlighted the struggles she faces while working tirelessly to make a living. In the video, the actor said, "Today, we are at Kamaljeet's stall, where she sells ber fruit. How much are you selling this for? One and a quarter kilos for 100 rupees, and the same price for a full kilo. She is working very hard." Sonu shared that Kamaljeet has lost one son and that her other son is unable to visit her due to the restrictions imposed by his wife. He added, "If her son is watching this video, I want to say that Kamaljeet's one son is no more, and her other son cannot come to his mother because the daughter-in-law doesn't let him." The 'Dabangg' actor then made a direct appeal to the daughter-in-law, urging her to allow her husband to visit his mother. "Daughter-in-law, I humbly request you to let your son meet his mother. Your mother is selling ber, and one day, if something like this happens to you, your daughter-in-law might not let your son meet you either. Every child should support their parents. Please don't keep children away from their mothers," Sonu emotionally stated. Sharing this video, Sood wrote in the caption, "Ma #supportsmallbusiness." Meanwhile, the 51-year-old actor had previously visited a coconut water stall in Chennai and urged his followers to support local businesses in India. Sharing the video, Sonu emphasized the significance of supporting local businesses in India's unorganized sector, stressing that it is the responsibility of every Indian to care for their fellow countrymen and assist them in any way possible. On the work front, he was last seen in the action thriller "Fateh," which also marked his directorial debut. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, March 13 : BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya has accused Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of playing politics over the three-language formula under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Malviya claimed that despite the DMK government's public opposition to the policy, Tamil Nadu ministers had urged the Centre to release funds under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, which is linked to the implementation of educational reforms. "On July 23, 2024, in New Delhi, Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, along with DMK Parliamentary Group Leader and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi and other Tamil Nadu Parliamentarians, met Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They urged him to promptly release the pending funds for Tamil Nadu under the aSamagra Shikshaa scheme, emphasizing the importance of these funds for the educational welfare of students. Is this true or not?" Malviya posted on X on Thursday attaching the picture of the meeting. He further demanded that Chief Minister Stalin clarify his stance on the issue and accused the DMK of spreading misinformation. "CM Stalin must explain the politicking around the NEP and the three-language policy, which allows for any Indian language -- such as Kannada, Telugu, or Malayalam -- and does not mandate Hindi. Is this opposition driven by the fear of losing in 2026?" he asked. Adding to the criticism, Tamil Nadu BJP leader C.R. Kesavan also took to X, questioning the DMK's perceived inconsistency. "Why did the DMK government accept, and why did CM Stalin personally receive, the centenary commemorative coin of M. Karunanidhi with our national currency symbol from Union Defence Minister in August 2024? DMKas irrational drama, while absurd, exposes their anti-federal mindset!" The exchange of barbs comes amid a heated war of words between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the BJP-led Central government over the NEP. The policy, introduced in 2020, aims to overhaul the countryas education system and includes a recommendation for a three-language model. While the policy does not mandate any particular language, it suggests that at least two of the three languages should be "native to India." Chief Minister Stalin has been a vocal critic of the NEP, particularly the three-language formula. He has argued that it is an attempt by the Centre to impose Hindi on non-Hindi-speaking states, a claim the Union government has repeatedly denied. Stalin has cited multiple reasons for rejecting the policy, including concerns over federal over-reach and the potential dilution of Tamil language and culture. Ahmedabad, March 13 : In a gesture aimed at strengthening educational infrastructure in tribal regions, renowned spiritual leader Morari Bapu has announced a donation of Rs 1 lakh for every newly established school in the Songadh area of Gujarat. This initiative is seen as a move to counter the growing trend of religious conversions occurring under the guise of free education in these underdeveloped regions. The announcement was made during Morari Bapu's ongoing Ram Katha in Songadh, where a concerned listener raised the issue of how the absence of adequate educational facilities was leading to conversions. The listener urged Bapu to advocate for the construction of more schools to provide quality education to tribal children and curb such activities. Responding to this, Morari Bapu assured the audience that he would personally reach out to industrialists and philanthropists to support the establishment of schools in the region. Moreover, he pledged that his charitable trust, Shri Chitrakoot Dham Talgajarda, would donate Rs 1 lakh to each newly constructed school as an incentive to promote education. Morari Bapu is an exponent of the Ramayana. Born in Talgajarda, a village in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district, Morari Bapu has dedicated his life to spreading the message of love, compassion, and unity through his discourses on the Ram Charit Manas. His sermons, popularly known as "Ram Kathas", attract massive audiences not just in India but across the world. With a career spanning over six decades, Morari Bapu has conducted over 900 Ram Kathas globally, promoting communal harmony and spiritual enlightenment. The tribal regions of Gujarat, including Songadh, have long struggled with limited access to quality education. This lack of infrastructure has allowed certain groups to influence local communities through free education initiatives, leading to religious conversions. By stepping forward with financial support for new schools, Morari Bapu aims to empower the local population with knowledge and protect their cultural heritage. Gujaratas Minister of State for Home Affairs, Harsh Sanghvi, who was present during the event, praised Morari Bapu's noble gesture and assured the stateas cooperation in enhancing educational opportunities in the region. Port Louis, March 13 : Mauritius Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful on Thursday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, crediting him for India's rapid rise enroute to becoming the world's third-largest economy in the near future. "India is on track to become the third-largest global economy and this is largely thanks to PM Narendra Modi's leadership. India is not only emerging as an economic powerhouse but also as a superpower. In the coming years, all eyes will be on India, and we are deeply honoured to have such a privileged relationship with the country," Ramful told IANS in an exclusive interview in Port Louis. PM Modi returned to New Delhi early Thursday after concluding a landmark State Visit to Mauritius during which he attended the National Day celebrations of the Indian Ocean nation as the Chief Guest for the second time, an honour he first received in 2015. During the celebrations, Mauritius President Dharambeer Gokhool also conferred the 'Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean' (GCSK) award, the highest civilian award of Mauritius, on Prime Minister Modi, the first time that an Indian leader has received the honour. Ramful also highlighted the growing partnership between India and Mauritius, noting the deep-rooted civilizational connect between the two countries. "India has always been the first responder in many of our projects. The need for a new Parliament in Mauritius is high on our agenda, and India has been instrumental in supporting us," he said. Praising PM Modi's 'Viksit Bharat' vision, Ramful said, "PM Modi has introduced several successful initiatives during his tenure, and I'm confident that his 'Viksit Bharat' vision will be just as successful." He also spoke on China's expanding influence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). "China is primarily an economic partner, but we've always relied on India for security in the Indian Ocean. Recently, we signed an MOU with India to share maritime information, further strengthening our partnership. I don't believe China will have any significant influence over the strong relationship we share with India," said the Mauritian Foreign Minister. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi and Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam had expressed satisfaction over their comprehensive discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations and agreed that their special and close bilateral partnership has acquired significant strategic depth after being raised to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership. The 'India-Mauritius Joint Vision for an Enhanced Strategic Partnership' released on the second and final day of PM Modi's landmark State Visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago highlighted the special and unique relationship between the two countries that remains unparalleled, given the shared bonds of history, language, culture, heritage, kinship, and values. During his visit, PM Modi engaged in extensive discussions with the Mauritian leadership to strengthen bilateral ties with talks focusing on enhancing collaboration in key sectors, including infrastructure, housing, digital technology, healthcare, AI and more. Thiruvananthapuram, March 13 : A day after RSS and BJP activists protested against Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi in Neyyattinkara, Kerala, the Congress party strongly defended him. Thiruvananthapuram, March 13 (IANS) A day after RSS and BJP activists protested against Mahatma Gandhias great-grandson Tushar Gandhi in Neyyattinkara, Kerala, the Congress party strongly defended him. Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan condemned the incident, calling it "highly deplorable" that someone with Gandhi's lineage was treated in such a manner. "Tushar Gandhi was stopped and abused by fascist forces. The Kerala government must take action because our state has always taken a firm stand against fascism," Satheesan said. Tushar Gandhi was in Neyyattinkara to unveil a statue of the late Gopinathan Nair, a respected Gandhian, at an event organised by Nair's trust. The protest erupted after Gandhi, in his speech, accused the Sangh Parivar of spreading a "cancer" that had crippled the country's soul. Angered by these remarks, RSS and BJP workers shouted slogans and blocked his car, causing tension in the area. Unfazed, Tushar Gandhi responded with pro-Gandhi slogans before leaving the venue. "I have done no wrong. I am not scared of these people," he said on Thursday. State BJP leader S. Suresh dismissed Tushar Gandhi as an "urban Marxist" who "has given his tongue on rent." Satheesan hit back, asserting that the Congress would continue to invite Tushar Gandhi to Kerala. "What he said is the truth, and we will keep saying the same," he said. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam also condemned the protest, stating, "This is what the Sangh Parivar does best, and it is unacceptable." While Tushar Gandhi has chosen not to file a complaint, Congress workers have registered one at the local police station. Tushar Gandhi's visit was part of the centenary celebrations of the historic meeting between Mahatma Gandhi and Sree Narayana Guru at Sivagiri Mutt in Varkala, which took place on March 12, 1925. Seoul, March 13 : Two South Korean Air Force fighter jet pilots were booked on Thursday for charges related to last week's accidental bombing of a village after pilot error was found to be the cause of the accident, the Defence Ministry said. Last Thursday, two KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometres north of Seoul, during live-fire drills, injuring 38 people, including 24 civilians. "The Criminal Investigation Command has confirmed in the probe to date that the pilots' erroneous entry of target coordinates was the direct cause of the accident," the Defence Ministry said in a notice to reporters. The pilots, booked as of Thursday, have been charged with professional negligence resulting in injury, according to the ministry, Yonhap news agency reported. They were also charged for damaging military facilities, including a church, the ministry said. In an interim probe released Monday, the Air Force pointed to pilot error for the accidental bombing, saying the pilots had at least three opportunities to catch their mistake after entering the wrong target coordinates prior to takeoff. The Air Force also attributed the accident to inadequate management and inspection procedures and dismissed two unit commanders over their failure to give specific instructions to their subordinates. Meanwhile, the pilots were found to have manually adjusted the altitude of the target coordinates by 1,500 feet on the day of the accident, according to the Air Force. The computer system automatically calculated a new altitude after the pilots wrongly entered the target's latitude coordinates, but the pilots fixed them in accordance with the training plan. Had the pilots not adjusted the altitude manually, the bombs could have fallen on a block of military residential buildings, possibly leading to more casualties. The Air Force said adjusting the altitude in accordance with the training plan is customary but said details of the action should be further probed, without confirming whether altering the altitude by 1,500 feet is usual. Separately, the Air Force plans to hold a meeting next week to deliberate on whether the two pilots will be qualified to continue to operate aircraft. Is the war ending? On Monday, March 17, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a discussion entitled "Is the war ending?". Participants include political expert Kostiantyn Matviyenko; political scientist, co-founder of the National Platform for Resilience and Cohesion Oleh Saakian; journalist Oleksiy Kibkalo (8/5a Reitarska Street). The event will be streamed on the Interfax-Ukraine YouTube channel. Admission requires registration on the spot with press ID cards. Kabul, March 13 : The World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that thousands of trucks remain stranded at the Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan which remains closed since February 21 after several violent clashes that have resulted in the death of many armed forces personnel and civilians on both sides. The trucks are carrying critical food supplies and other commercial and humanitarian cargo for the vulnerable communities in Afghanistan. The WFP estimates that 22.9 million Afghans require humanitarian assistance in 2025, with 14.8 million facing acute food insecurity. As humanitarian organisations struggle with logistical challenges and growing displacement, the delay at the Torkham border is yet another setback in efforts to provide essential aid to the people of Afghanistan. "Hundreds of cargo trucks are stuck here, including transit goods. Some of these items have already perished, causing financial losses for traders. The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan must find a solution to this problem," Mohammad Gul, a driver on the Torkham route, told leading Afghan media outlet TOLOnews. Meanwhile, talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan aimed at resolving the 19-day Torkham border dispute broke down after the Afghan delegation walked out, accusing Pakistan of not taking the negotiations seriously. The volatile border, one of the most important crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan, handles the largest volume of trade and movement between the two countries. The current situation has inflicted a massive blow to the traders on both sides of the border who have lost millions of dollars due to the standoff. Pakistan shut down the Torkham crossing last month after Afghan forces were engaged in construction activities on their side. "Whenever we build facilities, they close the route. We tell them, if you don't allow us to construct facilities, then you shouldn't build them either," said Abdul Jabbar Hikmat, Afghanistan's Torkham Commissioner. Meanwhile, several drivers and passengers expressed frustration over the closure, stating that it has caused serious hardships for people. "One of our patients is here, and we are not allowed to take him to Peshawar for treatment. Another patient has passed away on the other side and Pakistan is not permitting us to bring back the body because the gate has been closed since," said Noor-ul-Haq, who was accompanying a patient at Torkham. Imphal, March 13 : Six Naga community MLAs of different political parties on Thursday assured Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla of cooperation at every step to ensure peace and also exuded confidence that the state would definitely return to peace and normalcy under his leadership, officials said. An official said that six MLAs, during their meeting with the Governor, apprised Bhalla on various issues faced by the common people. aThey assured that they would extend their cooperation at every step to ensure peace and also exuded confidence that the state would definitely return to peace and normalcy under the leadership of the Governor," the Raj Bhavan official said. The six Naga community MLAs include Awangbow Newmai, former Water Resources Minister in ex-Chief Minister N. Biren Singh led government and Naga People Front's (NPF) Manipur unit President, Khashim Vashum, Losii Dikho, Leishiyo Keishing (all NPF), Janghemlung Panmei, who belongs to National Peopleas Party (NPP), and J. Kumo Sha (independent). Of the 16 districts in Manipur, the Naga community-inhabited districts are Tamenglong, Chandel, Ukhrul, Kamjong, Noney and Senapati, which are along the Nagaland and Myanmar borders. In the over 22-month-long ethnic violence between the Valley-based non-tribal Meitei community and the hills-based tribal Kuki-Zo community, the Naga-dominated areas remained more or less peaceful. The NPF, which has five MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, has been supporting the BJP government since the party came to power for the first time in 2017 defeating the Congress, which was in power for three consecutive terms (2002-2017). Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley comprising five to six districts. Tribals - Nagas and Kuki-Zo-Hmar and others constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts, which occupy around 90 per cent of the stateas total geographical areas. Karachi, March 13 : Pakistan's financial capital Karachi continues to witness a surge in crime rate as armed robbers looted Rs 1.15 million in cash from the staff of the Peoples' Bus Service in Gulshan-e-Hadeed late Wednesday night. They later escaped with the cash, weapons and mobile phones. According to the driver, the robbery took place at the last stop of the bus service, where the staff was resting. Elaborating on the incident, the driver of the bus said six assailants arrived in a vehicle, and four armed men forced them inside the bus at gunpoint before looting Rs 1.15 million in cash, local media reported. Last week, three armed robbers stormed a shop and looted mobile phones, cash, and other valuables in Karachi. Despite the presence of several people at the shop, the robbers managed to escape without facing any resistance, Pakistan's Express Tribune reported. 2025 is turning out to be no different than 2024 for residents of Karachi in terms of rampant street crime incidents, which have resulted in the death of at least 19 people since January in the provincial capital. According to a Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) report, citizens of Karachi reported theft of 3,773 motorcycles and 195 cars across the metropolis in February. Noting that 36 people were killed in separate incidents, the report said that as many as 1,402 mobile phones were snatched in Karachi last month, reported Geo News. According to the data released by the Pakistani Police last year, more than 250 people in Karachi were shot dead and 1,052 others were wounded by street criminals between 2022 and 2024. Several analysts had expressed deep concern over Karachi sliding towards lawlessness as robbers killed over 250 citizens in three years. Karachi's Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon stated last year that incidents of street crime in Karachi and kidnapping for ransom cases in the riverine area of Sindh created a "perception" that the law enforcement agency was failing to maintain law and order. Many families in Karachi have lost their loved ones to street crimes, while others continue to live in fear of being the next victims. Most citizens claim that no street in the metropolis is safe, as they remain vulnerable to street criminals even amid bustling markets and broad daylight, Geo News reported. Bhopal, March 13 : Even with a heavy police presence in the violence-hit town of Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, unidentified men set ablaze a warehouse in the Koyla Bakhal area during the early hours of Thursday, officials said. The facility, belonging to businessman Sandeep Chauhan, reportedly housed stocks of pan masala and cosmetic goods. Authorities are actively investigating the incident. Speaking to IANS, Deputy Inspector General (Indore) Nimish Agrawal, confirmed the late-night incident and said that no accused would be spared. However, he said that police would investigate and determine the nature of materials stored in the warehouse. Sandeep revealed that goods worth millions of rupees were destroyed. He also said that the warehouse had no power connection for last several years, ruling out the possibility of an electrical short circuit. In the wake of recent riots-like incidents, which occurred on Sunday, nearly 1,000 police officers, including members of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), have been deployed to maintain law and order in the town, the top police officer said. As of now, 14 individuals have been arrested in connection with Sunday's violent clashes. The top police officer assured the people that comprehensive precautions have been implemented to ensure peace during the Holi celebrations from March 13-15, with reports indicating "Holika Dahan" rituals will be held at 20 different locations. Drones are being used to monitor sensitive areas, the officer said. The unrest initially erupted on Sunday night when a celebratory rally, following India's victory in the Champions Trophy, encountered stone pelting near Jama Masjid, escalating into communal violence. On Wednesday evening, police conducted a flag march through key areas, including Mhow, Patti Bazar, and Kotwali, as part of their strategy to deter further disturbances, the officer added. Additional search operations and security checkpoints were also established in high-risk zones. Meanwhile, local MLA Usha Thakur demanded that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav hold the vandals accountable for the damage caused on Sunday, including the destruction of more than 10 vehicles and the burning of four shops. She urged the district administration to recover compensation from the arrested individuals and provide it to those affected. Thakur described the incidents as part of a premeditated conspiracy. Mhow, also known as Ambedkar Nagar, is nearly 25 km from Indore. Bhopal, March 13 : Following a disturbing incident - in which a dog was spotted carrying the lifeless body of a newborn in its jaws in Rewa town, the police authorities have zeroed-in on their investigation into the Beehar river cremation area, a site where infants and newborns are often buried. Bhopal, March 13 (IANS) Following a disturbing incident a" in which a dog was spotted carrying the lifeless body of a newborn in its jaws in Rewa town, the police authorities have zeroed-in on their investigation into the Beehar river cremation area, a site where infants and newborns are often buried. However, clarity on the case awaits the post-mortem report, a senior police officer in Rewa told IANS. The officer noted that the exact age and gender of the infant remain undetermined, as the lower limbs below the torso were missing. Due to the Holi holiday, the post-mortem might be delayed by two days. The police will thoroughly examine the case to rule out the possibility of foeticide. The unsettling incident in Rewa has drawn the attention of many. A video of the incident, reportedly from Tuesday night in Kabadi Mohalla under the Civil Line Police Station, has surfaced and went viral on social media. Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage from the area and questioning residents nearby. Within a 2-km radius of the incident, there are four private nursing homes, all of which are under scrutiny, the police officer said. The police are also tracking the dog's movements. The newborn's body has been sent to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Eyewitnesses reported that the dog, after scratching the body, appeared to be searching for a place to consume it. Locals chased the animal, forcing it to abandon the body near Jai Stambh intersection before fleeing. The police were alerted and recovered the remains late at night. This incident echoes similar tragedies in the area. On February 20, half of a newborn girl's body, mauled by dogs, was discovered in Kulaura village under Semaria Police Station of Rewa. Part of her leg was missing. Just days later, on February 25, another newborn's body was found at the new bus stand in Rewa. Earlier, a newborn girl's body was similarly attacked by dogs at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. Investigations into these cases are still going on. Chennai, March 13 : AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, has accused the state government of using its official Budget logo for 2025-26 and the early release of the 2024-25 Economic Survey as a "diversion tactic" to hide its administrative failures. In a social media post, Palaniswami criticised Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, calling the initiatives mere "publicity stunts". He also said that the ruling DMK's "empty advertisement campaign" would not address the real needs and aspirations of the people. He also alleged that CM Stalin was engaging in political gimmicks by delivering scripted dialogues written by others. Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai also criticised the state government's move. In a post on X, he accused the DMK government of removing the Indian Rupee (a) symbol from the state's 2025-26 Budget logo, replacing it with Tamil script. He said that the rupee symbol was designed by Thiru Udaya Kumar, a Tamilian and the son of a former DMK MLA. Mocking the DMK's decision, BJP leader Annamalai questioned CM Stalin's judgment. He also shared the 2024-25 Budget logo, which had the Indian rupee symbol, highlighting the contrast. The controversy comes amid an ongoing language dispute between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre, with the state accusing the Union government of imposing Hindi -- an allegation the Centre has denied. The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government's decision to remove the rupee symbol from its Budget marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol. This move is seen as part of the state's broader opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Tamil Nadu has consistently refused to implement key aspects of the NEP, particularly the three-language formula. Chief Minister Stalin has also alleged that the Centre withheld Rs 573 crore in education assistance under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) because Tamil Nadu refused to adopt the NEP. As per policy guidelines, states must comply with NEP provisions to receive SSA funding, with the Centre covering 60 per cent of the allocation for states like Tamil Nadu. On March 11, Stalin led a statewide protest against both the NEP and the proposed delimitation exercise, calling the latter a threat to South India. Addressing a public rally, the Chief Minister said, "We oppose NEP because it will completely destroy Tamil Nadu's education system. The policy disregards reservation, which is the foundation of social justice. It denies financial assistance to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)." The controversy continues to intensify as the state government and opposition leaders clash over the Budget presentation and broader governance issues. New Delhi, March 13 : In a fresh trouble for former Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, facing allegations of wrongdoings in connection with Education and PWD departments, the Ministry of Home Affairs has given its approval to proceed against them in corruption cases. Interestingly, the prosecution request of Delhi government's Vigilance Department approved by the MHA dated back to 2021. The prosecution approval was sought by the vigilance directorate under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act). The Section 17A mandates prior approval from a competent authority before a police officer can conduct any enquiry, inquiry, or investigation into an alleged offence committed by a public servant under the PC Act. The MHA's consent has now been sent to the Secretariat of Lt Governor V.K. Saxena, paving the way for questioning of both Sisodia and Jain a" who both spent over 17 months each behind bars in connection with various corruption and money laundering cases linked to the excise policy and floating of shell companies. Both former ministers are currently out on bail. The two AAP leaders lost the Assembly elections held last month. After the BJP's massive victory in the polls, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had promised to probe all cases of alleged corruption during the previous AAP government. In 2020, the Vigilance wing alleged "glaring irregularities" by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in the construction of 2,405 classrooms in 193 government schools. The vigilance directorate had recommended "fixing responsibilities" of the officials concerned of the Education Department and PWD who were involved in the "bungling" to the tune of nearly Rs 1,300 crore. Apart from several procedural lapses and violation of rules, the Vigilance directorate had alleged tampering with the tender process. In April 2015, then Chief Minister Kejriwal directed the construction of additional classrooms in Delhi government schools. The PWD was entrusted the task of constructing 2,405 classrooms in 193 schools. It carried out a survey to find out the requirement of the classrooms and based on the survey, projected a total requirement of 7,180 equivalent classrooms (ECR) in 194 schools, almost three times the requirement of 2,405 classrooms, according to a report in NDTV. The Vigilance wing received a complaint on August 25, 2019, regarding irregularities and cost overrun in the construction of classrooms. The construction cost escalated by up to 90 per cent in the name of "richer specifications" without issuing a tender. The Delhi government sanctioned cost escalation of Rs 500 crore without tender. According to a Vigilance investigation, tenders were floated for the works originally proposed and approved, but later, awarded contract value varied from 17 per cent to 90 per cent on account of "richer specifications". Ahmedabad, March 13 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah extended Holi 2025 greetings while inaugurating and laying the foundation for three crucial projects. These include a Rs 60 crore, 1 km long railway over-bridge on the Ahmedabad-Viramgam railway track at Sanand-Chekla-Kadi Road. HM Shah emphasised that the project would greatly enhance the daily commute for local residents once completed. In addition, HM Shah announced the construction of a four-lane bridge on National Highway 147 over the Narmada Canal, costing Rs 36.30 crore, and a Rs 45 crore flyover bridge on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar (SG) Highway at Chharodi. According to him, these projects will serve as new landmarks in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituencyas four assembly segments. In a move to enhance healthcare accessibility, HM Shah revealed that the Central government will establish a 500-bed modern hospital in Sanand, which will operate round the clock for residents of Sanand and Bavla talukas. Additionally, a 300-bed government hospital is under construction in Kalol taluka. HM Shah assured that these hospitals will provide advanced healthcare facilities close to home once operational. Praising Gujarat's development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, HM Shah pointed to the world's largest green energy park in Kutch, Asia's biggest green city in Dholera, and the Surat-Chennai Expressway, India's second-longest highway. He also cited the establishment of the GIFT City financial hub and the launch of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train and rapid rail service from Bhuj to Ahmedabad as milestones in Gujarat's progress. HM Shah highlighted that during PM Modi's tenure, India has achieved the world's second-largest road network, the third-largest metro rail network, and the fourth-largest railway network. With 136 Vande Bharat trains and 97 per cent electrification of broad gauge networks, the nation is rapidly advancing. He also noted that highways are being built at a rate of 36.5 km per day, and the country now boasts 157 operational airports. New Delhi, March 13 : President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended their warm wishes to the citizens on the occasion of Holi. President Murmu, on the eve of Holi, conveyed her heartfelt greetings, emphasising the festival's spirit of unity and brotherhood. In her message, she said: "This festival nurtures the spirit of unity and brotherhood in our lives. The diverse colours of Holi reflect the values of unity in diversity. This festival also symbolises the triumph of good over evil. It teaches us to spread love and positivity around us." She also extended her warm greetings and best wishes to all Indians, both in India and abroad, adding, "May this festival of colours fill your lives with joy and prosperity." Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to social media platform X to send his greetings. He wrote, "Many wishes to all of you on Holi. May this festival infuse new enthusiasm and energy in everyone's life and also deepen the colour of unity among the countrymen." Holi, which is celebrated with great enthusiasm both in India and abroad, will be observed on Friday. The festival is preceded by the ritual of lighting bonfires, known as Holika Dahan, symbolising the burning of the demoness Holika. On a separate note, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited the Asha Kiran shelter home in Rohini on Thursday to celebrate Holi with the children. She emphasised that since these children do not have parents, the government, as their guardian, would ensure they receive proper care and facilities. Accompanied by Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Singh Indraj, CM Gupta distributed sweets and chocolates to the children. New Delhi, March 13 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Thursday complained to the apex child rights panel against Chief Minister Rekha Gupta for allegedly disclosing the identity of juvenile inmates during a visit to a shelter home. In a letter addressed to chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Oberoi alleged that CM Gupta, during a visit to Asha Kiran shelter home for the mentally challenged, blatantly breached the provisions aimed at protecting the identity of children, especially those in need of care and protection. Training her guns on CM Gupta, Oberoi wrote: "Given the gravity of this violation and its potential repercussions on the affected children, I urge you to take immediate and stringent action against Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and any other accomplices involved in this breach." Citing a video news report on the CM's interaction with children at the shelter home, the AAP leader asked the panel to, "investigate the circumstances under which this violation occurred; assess the impact of this exposure on the affected children and provide them with the necessary support and interventions and implement stricter controls and oversight mechanisms to prevent such violations in the future". The CM's action not only undermines the legal safeguards placed by the Juvenile Justice Act but also potentially exposes these children to stigma, discrimination, and harm, undermining their rehabilitation and social integration efforts, wrote Oberoi. The AAP leader wrote: "During her visit to the Asha Kiran Shelter Home, Delhi CM disclosed the identities of several juveniles who are not only in need of care and protection but are also mentally ill or physically and mentally challenged." She claimed the alleged disclosure was a direct contravention of the Juvenile Justice Act, which strictly prohibits revealing the identification of such children. "The video footage makes it evident that Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta failed to adhere to these legal obligations, thus compromising the privacy and safety of the vulnerable children," she wrote. The monitoring mission of the Information and Analytical Center of the International Society for Human Rights (IAC ISHR) has prepared the final report for 2024 Observance of the right to a fair trial in Ukraine. This was announced by the coordinator of the IAC ISHR monitoring mission, Anastasia Alekseeva, during the VII International Criminal Law Forum, which took place on February 11 in Kyiv. With this document, the organization resumed the annual monitoring report on the observance of the right to a fair trial in Ukraine, which it has been doing since 2017 and which was suspended in 2022 due to full-scale hostilities. The conclusions of human rights defenders are based on the results of monitoring 90 court hearings in 2024, in which 193 human rights violations were recorded. Traditionally, the report consists of three parts: the first part - a review of negative trends identified in the field of justice, the second part - an analysis of the collected statistical data and the third part - reports on monitoring court hearings, which became the source of the preparation of the report itself. MAIN CHALLENGES: JUSTICE UNDER PRESSURE The judicial system is an instrument that should protect human rights. However, this year, experts from the IAC ISHR monitoring mission identified alarming trends, including: violations of the right to defense, failure to comply with the principle of equality and adversarial proceedings, bias of judges, violations of the right to access to justice, etc. Positive trends were also identified - cases of incorrect use and/or ignoring the practice of the ECHR, inclusion of doubtful evidence in the evidence base have significantly decreased. In 11% of hearings, no violations were identified. This indicates the potential for change that should be developed. STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHT TO DEFENSE The most worrying violation of the right to defense remains, which IAC ISHR observers recorded in 43% of hearings. Particularly noticeable is the practice of judges interpreting the submission of inconvenient procedural documents as an abuse of the right to defense, appointing lawyers from the free legal aid center against the wishes of the suspect or accused, etc. Also of concern are the automatic extension of detention and the justification of pre-trial detention (in 28% of hearings). With the same frequency, the monitoring mission experts mentioned violations of the equality of parties in the trial and adversarial nature (in 28% of hearings). The experts also highlighted the bias of the court (in 13% of hearings) and access to the court (in 12% of hearings). Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment were also recorded in 11% of hearings. Three violations of reasonable deadlines were recorded with the same frequency. In the report, experts from the IAC ISHR monitoring mission compared the indicators of violations in the courts studied in 2020 and concluded that in general, all courts showed an increase in the average number of violations per session. However, in the situation with the High Anti-Corruption Court and, especially, with the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, this increase is relatively insignificant. This may indicate a certain stability of this indicator in the two courts, the report states. If in 2020 an average of 1.5 violations per session was detected in the work of the High Anti-Corruption Court, then in 2024 the indicator became 1.9. Accordingly, the Kyiv Court of Appeal changed the indicator from 0.5 violations to 2.8 in 4 years; the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv - from 1.4 to 2.6 violations; Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv - from 0.9 to 1 violation. Interestingly, the results of monitoring the observance of the right to a fair trial indicate that the situation in the High Anti-Corruption Court does not differ much (for better or worse) from courts of general jurisdiction. Human rights defenders who participated in the study paid special attention to the fact that the most common violations recorded during the monitoring of the HACC were violations of the right to defense and failure to observe the principle of equality of arms. These same violations were among the three negative trends that IAC ISHR observers encountered in general during the monitoring of court hearings in 2024. This confirms the fact that the creation of a specialized court in itself does not guarantee an improvement in the quality of justice. A vivid example of this is the appointment of lawyers from the Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid against the wishes of the suspect/accused, which may pose a threat to the creation of an illusory (from the point of view of the practice of the ECHR) observance of the right to a fair trial. However, in fact, it can be used to legitimize the process in terms of formally ensuring the right to defense in the event that the lawyer under the contract disagrees with the court's position. Such cases occurred, in particular, in the case of the former Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. The automatic extension of detention is manifested in the formal attitude to the assessment of risks that justify the use of detention or its extension. The template copying by the prosecution of such risks at various stages of the pre-trial investigation remains without proper verification by the court. Cases of such repeated violations by judges of the Pechersksky District Court of Kyiv and the Kyiv Court of Appeal were recorded, in particular, in the case of a former People's Deputy of Ukraine. The 2024 report also paid special attention to the violation of the principle of equality and adversarial proceedings, which was recorded in various cases considered, in particular, by judges of the HACC. For example, in the case of the ex-chairman of PrivatBank, the former Head of the Supreme Court, etc. Thus, in the case of the ex-chairman of PrivatBank, the judges recognized the defense's application to disqualify the panel of judges as an abuse of procedural rights. The reason for the recusal was that when making a procedural decision, the judges referred to documents that, according to the defense, were not even examined in the court session. In addition, IAC ISHR observers noted that judges are increasingly recognizing the submission of inconvenient procedural documents as an abuse of their rights by lawyers, as, for example, in the case of a judge of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv, when the submission of motions by the lawyer became the basis for filing a disciplinary complaint against him. And this formulation of abuse has become a certain trend. Another example of a violation of the right to defense was holding a hearing in the absence of defense lawyers, as, for example, in the case of the former heads of PrivatBank. This, as human rights activists note, contradicts the spirit of the European Convention because it can put suspects/accused at a disadvantage, limiting the opportunity to implement their defense. Also, in the case of the former Head of the Supreme Court, the HACC judges granted the prosecution permission to use as evidence documents generated after the indictment was submitted to the court. Such actions effectively create unequal opportunities for the parties to the proceedings, calling into question the principle of impartiality of the court. JUSTICE AS A HOPE FOR CHANGE Experts of the IAC ISHR monitoring mission also pointed out the issue of bias of judges. The report states that doubts about the impartiality of judges are a fairly widespread problem that undermines trust in the judiciary and creates the basis for further human rights violations. For example, experts of the IAC ISHR monitoring mission recorded the fact of bias of judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal during the consideration of the appeal of a former People's Deputy of Ukraine, which was manifested in making a decision without examining key, in the opinion of the defense, evidence. Bias was repeatedly recorded in the activities of HACC judges. Thus, in the case of accusations of a number of individuals of embezzlement of funds of the State Enterprise Energoatom, the judges demonstrated a clear disinterest in the process. This was manifested in the distraction of judges who looked out the window and used their phones. Such behavior may indicate bias on the part of the judges and raises concerns that the decision has already been made in advance. Manifestations of bias were also recorded in the case of the former heads of PrivatBank. This concerns a potential conflict of interest of the presiding judge. 3 The video recording of the court session shows that the defense lawyers challenged the presiding judge, since he is the brother of one of the leaders of the law firm representing the victim in this case. The position in the law firm, which the presiding judge's sister holds, involves her in the management of the firm, the development of business activities and the distribution of profits. Accordingly, she has an interest in this case. This, as the defense argued, creates a potential conflict of interest between the private interest and the official powers of the presiding judge. According to the position of the ECHR, the very fact of the existence of close family ties can be regarded as a factor that raises reasonable doubts about the impartiality of the court. According to the established practice of the European Court, any judge in respect of whom there are legitimate grounds for fearing a lack of impartiality must recuse himself. However, in the case of the ex-chairman of PrivatBank, the presiding judge did not recuse himself, and the panel of judges refused to recuse him upon the application of the defense. The problem of access to court also remains important, which manifests itself in the failure to ensure the right to a hearing within a reasonable time. A vivid example is the ineffectiveness of appeals, repeatedly recorded by IAC ISHR observers, since appeals are considered after the expiration of the term of the appealed decisions. This is due to the unstable situation in the country, the lack of judges and excessive workload. However, as human rights activists argue, even such objective obstacles should not burden individuals whose rights are at risk of violation. The Information and Analytical Center of the International Society for Human Rights is a division of an international non-governmental human rights organization, uniting about 30,000 members in 38 countries around the world. The organization has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, the Council of Europe, and observer status with the Organization of African States. Washington, March 13 : A top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected the US plan of ceasefire in the war against Ukraine even as US President Donald Trump's top negotiator landed in Moscow for talks. Yuri Ushakov, who is also on the Russian team for negotiations with the US, said on Russia's state television that the 30-day cease-fire would allow Ukraine's forces time to regroup. "This is nothing other than a temporary time-out for Ukrainian soldiers, nothing more. Our goal is a long-term peaceful resolution," he said, adding, "Steps that imitate peaceful actions are not needed". Ushakov said he had conveyed Moscow's opposition to the temporary ceasefire to the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on a phone call on Wednesday. Steve Witkoff, a longtime friend of the US President and his top negotiator, arrived in Moscow for talks on the ceasefire plan. But the senior Kremlin aide qualified his remarks saying he had "stated my point of view" and that President Putin could make "more specific and meaningful assessments" later in the day. In an unmistakable political message, President Putin turned up in the region of Kursk in military camouflage earlier in the day to mark advances by his military in the region. The US ceasefire plan pauses hostilities for 30 days and paves the way for a peace agreement. Ukraine accepted it during talks between the two sides in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, leaving the fate of the place in the hands of Russia. "Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking, and now it will be up to them to say yes or no," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters after the meeting with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, referring to Russia. "I hope they're going to say yes, and if they do, then I think we've made great progress. If they say no, then we will, unfortunately, know what the impediment is to peace here." There has been no response from the White House to the Kremlin aide's remarks. Guwahati, March 13 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday that the state government will distribute at least Rs 342 crore to provide one-time assistance to tea workers as a mark of recognition towards their tireless efforts in making tea industry a backbone of the state. Taking to social media platform X, the CM wrote, "An ode to the industry which was Assam's stepping stone to industrialisation. In #AssamBudget2025, we have sanctioned Rs 342 crore to provide a one-time Samman Rashi of Rs 5,000 to each of the 6.2 lakh Cha Shramiks in Assam as a mark of recognition for their tireless records." In the recent state Budget, the state Finance Minister Ajanta Neog announced that Assam will have its own satellite system. To bolster technological advancement and scientific research in the state, Minister Neog recently announced the state's ambitious plan to launch its own satellite, ASSAMSAT. This groundbreaking initiative aims to improve communication networks, enhance disaster management capabilities, and support various developmental projects across Assam, the Minister said. During her Budget presentation, Minister Neog emphasised that ASSAMSAT would be a crucial step towards strengthening the state's digital infrastructure. The satellite is expected to facilitate improved connectivity in remote areas, enabling better access to telecommunication services, e-governance platforms, and educational resources. Minister Neog mentioned that the state government will collaborate with prominent space research institutions, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to develop and launch the satellite. The project aligns with India's growing focus on regional satellites aimed at empowering states with customised data for development planning. By venturing into space technology, Assam is positioning itself as a forward-looking state with aspirations to harness scientific advancements for socio-economic growth. The ASSAMSAT initiative reflects the government's commitment to leveraging modern technology for the benefit of its citizens. The Chief Minister on Thursday asserted that Assam will have at least four to five satellites to cover the entire state. According to CM Sarma, the satellites will be low earth orbiting satellites and each of them will focus on different regions. The Chief Minister said that the array of own satellite system in the state -- ASSAMSAT will have command and control centre in Guwahati. He added that the ASSAMSAT will be controlled from Guwahati and the centre here will operate Assam's own constellation of satellites. Tokyo, March 13 : Millions of people in Japan are reported to be addicted to online gambling, with the amount of money spent on illegal gambling reaching 1.2 trillion yen annually, a police survey revealed on Thursday. According to the report of Japan's National Police Agency, about 3.37 million people in Japan are estimated to have used overseas online casinos despite the ban in the country. The findings of its first study are released following recent cases involving athletes and celebrities, amid a lack of public awareness about its illegality, local media reported Some 40 per cent of the users were unaware online casinos are illegal, the survey by the National Police Agency showed. "There is a possibility that a lack of awareness about illegality encourages people to use online casinos," an NPA official said, leading Japanese daily, The Japan Times reported The survey, commissioned by police and conducted by a research firm, covered around 27,145 people aged 15 to 79 nationwide between July and January. It found that 3.5 percent of respondents had gambled at virtual casinos. The 3.5 percent equates to about 3.37 million people nationwide, with an estimated 1.97 million still gambling online illegally, the survey said, Japanese media outlet Kyodo News reported The average amount bet monthly by 500 people who gambled online was 52,000 yen, or about 350 dollars. The total amount bet annually by users nationwide was estimated to be about 1.24 trillion yen, or about 8.4 billion dollars. A separate NPA survey of 40 overseas online casino sites believed to target Japanese users, conducted between August last year and January this year, showed that only two of them clearly state that participation from Japan is prohibited. Eight sites were available only in Japanese. Among the 40 sites, the NPA found that for 20 sites, over 90 per cent of users accessing them were in Japan. "They are clearly targeting people in Japan," Japan Times quoted a senior NPA official as saying. Japan is known for its workaholic people, but a section of the population is becoming addicted to gambling. In 2024, Japanese police accused 279 people of using online casinos, with many unaware that internet gambling is illegal. Thiruvananthapuram, March 13 : A Lithuanian man, wanted in the US for a crypto currency fraud and arrested in Kerala this week, will soon be taken to Delhi to be produced before a court there, a state police official said on Thursday. A police official, attached to the Varkala Police station which effected the arrest of Aleksej Besciokov, told IANS that he is presently in judicial custody. "It was earlier planned to take him to Delhi by train on Thursday. But while probing the case, it seems this is a grave matter and hence the top police officials are working out a proper plan on how to go forward. Once it happens, Besciokov will then be taken to Delhi," the official said. Besciokov, who had US sanctions against him from 2022, had arrived with his family at the tourist location at Varkala, located about 50 km from Thiruvananthapuram, recently. He, along with his family was staying at a homestay when the Kerala Police, acting on a directive from the Patiala House Court in New Delhi, reached there and took him into custody on Tuesday. Besciokov had set up a crypto currency exchange 'Garantex', and according to the US Secret Service documents, he is alleged to facilitated money laundering to the tune of at least $96 billion (over Rs 8 lakh crore) in crypto currency transactions by transnational criminal organisations (including terrorist organisations) and violated sanctions. The sudden action that led to his arrest arose after the Ministry of External Affairs received a provisional arrest warrant at the request of US officials. With the gravity of the crime now coming out, the Kerala Police is unlikely to take Besciokov to Delhi by train and he is likely to be flown to the national capital. Once in Delhi, after the necessary legal procedures, he will be then handed over to US officials for extradition. Jaipur, March 13 : The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) will become cheaper by Rs 2.12 in Rajasthan, which will come into effect from 12 a.m. on Friday, officials said. Rajasthan State Gas Limited Chairman T. Ravikant said: "After the new revised VAT rate, VAT on CNG and PNG will be charged at the rate of 7.5 per cent instead of 10 per cent." Rajasthan State Gas Limited Managing Director Ranveer Singh said: "Due to a reduction of 2.5 per cent in VAT, the general public will get CNG at the CNG stations of Rajasthan State Gas Ltd. in the state at the rate of Rs 91.09 per kg instead of Rs 93.21 per kg." Similarly, PNG will be available at the rate of Rs 49.35 instead of Rs 50.5. For commercial use, PNG will be made available at the rate of Rs 64.50 with a relief of Rs 1.50, and for industrial sector PNG will be made available at the rate of Rs 60.59 with a relief of Rs 1.41. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma has announced a reduction in the VAT rates on CNG and PNG in the Assembly on Wednesday. Making a first-of-its-kind announcement for introducing the Poverty-Free Village Scheme to uplift below poverty line (BPL) families in Rajasthan, CM Sharma, while addressing the Assembly on Wednesday, announced that 26,000 government posts will be filled in the next financial year. These include vacancies for teachers, police personnel, forest department staff, and other government employees. Along with these announcements, the Assembly has passed the Budget presented on February 19. The Chief Minister said that the state government will introduce the Poverty-Free Village Scheme to uplift BPL families. "In the first phase, Rs 350 crore will be allocated to bring 5,000 villages out of poverty. Furthermore, educated unemployed youth will have the option to receive Rs 6,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Internship Yojana instead of an unemployment allowance," he said. Chief Minister Sharma also added that next year, 10,000 school teachers will be recruited, along with 4,000 Patwaris and 1,750 employees in the Forest Department. Additionally, 10,000 positions will be filled in the Police department, he said. The Chief Minister also announced the launch of the Chief Minister Youth Employment Promotion Scheme, under which unemployed youth will receive a one-time financial assistance of Rs 10,000. He also announced a high-level committee which will be formed to investigate major urban development projects carried out during Congress leader Shanti Dhariwal's term as the Urban Development Minister, including the Kota Riverfront project. Sambhal, March 13 : The police administration in Sambhal is fully on alert for the upcoming Holi festival to be celebrated on Friday. The administration is ensuring strict security measures to prevent any untoward incidents. Over 250 CCTV cameras and drones are reportedly being used to monitor every activity in the city, with senior police officers overseeing the entire operation. Authorities have made it clear that any suspicious activity or attempts to cause unrest will be immediately investigated and dealt with. In preparation for the Holi processions, the administration has made special security arrangements along the routes. Several mosques have been covered with tarpaulins to avoid any potential disputes. Moreover, Quick Response Teams (QRT) have been deployed across the city to conduct continuous patrols in various areas. To further bolster security, Sambhal has been divided into six zones and 29 sectors, each monitored by a magistrate-level officer to maintain law and order, say reports. Along with the police personnel, six companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and two companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed, especially in sensitive areas, to respond swiftly in case of any incidents. If any disturbance or conflict arises, these teams will immediately reach the location to control the situation. The police have made it clear that any mischievous elements attempting to disrupt peace will face strict legal action. Authorities have urged residents to celebrate Holi in a peaceful and harmonious manner. The administration has also advised citizens not to pay attention to rumours and to report any suspicious activities to the police immediately. In past years, similar stringent security measures have been implemented during festivals, ensuring the safety of the public. This year, the administration is working diligently to ensure that the festivities are celebrated peacefully and without incident. Hyderabad, March 13 : Tollywood actors-turned-politicians Vijayashanthi and Naga Babu were among 10 candidates elected unopposed as Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. Vijayashanthi, a Congress leader and former MP, was among five candidates unanimously elected to the Telangana Assembly from MLAs' quota. Addanki Dayakar and Shankar Naik of the Congress party, Nellikanti Satyam of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Dasoju Sravan Kumar of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) were the others elected to Telangana Council without a contest. Congress party, which has 65 members in 119-member Assembly, had left one seat for its ally CPI, which has one MLA. Only five nominations were received for the elections scheduled to be held on March 20. The Election Commission announced their unanimous elections after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Thursday. Vijayashanthi, a veteran actor, quit the BJP to join the Congress party a few days before the Assembly elections in 2023. She began her political career in 1997 with the BJP and later floated Talli Telangana in 2005 to fight for separate statehood for Telangana. She later merged Talli Telangana with TRS (now BRS) and was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Medak constituency in 2009. She joined the Congress party in 2014 and returned to the BJP in 2020. Vijayashanthi, whose film career spans nearly four decades, has acted in more than 180 films in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. In Andhra Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister and popular actor Pawan Kalyan's brother Nagendra Rao Konidela, also known as Naga Babu, was among five candidates of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) elected unopposed to the Council. Naga Babu was elected as the candidate of Jana Sena, which is headed by his younger brother Pawan Kalyan. Kavali Greeshma Prasad, B. Tirumala Naidu and Beeda Ravichandra of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Somu Veerraju of the BJP have also been elected without contest. The TDP, which is heading the ruling coalition, had left a seat each for its allies. As only five nominations were received for the five seats, the Election Commission declared them elected. Naga Babu's election to the Upper House will facilitate his entry into the State Cabinet. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced in December that Naga Babu would be inducted into the Cabinet. Actor and producer Naga Babu is the General Secretary of Jana Sena. He actively campaigned in the last year's elections. He has been working with Pawan Kalyan ever since the latter floated Jana Sena in 2014. Both had earlier actively worked for Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) floated by their eldest brother and superstar Chiranjeevi in 2008. However, the party came a cropper in 2009 polls and two years later Chiranjeevi had merged it with the Congress party. Kolkata, March 13 : A motion moved by Trinamool Congress condemning a recent comment made by the leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari was passed on the floor of the Assembly through voice-vote. Earlier this week, Adhikari, who is currently suspended from the house for a month, made some comments regarding the minority MLAs of Trinamool Congress while speaking to the media persons. As the video footage of the comments went viral, Trinamool Congress launched a scathing attack against the leader of the opposition. On Thursday, the treasury bench moved a resolution on the floor of the house condemning the statements by Adhikari. In the resolution, the ruling party claimed that the comments by Adhiakri had not only demeaned the gravity of the leader of the oppositionas chair but also against the basic principle of the Indian constitution. Later the matter was passed on the floor of the House in voice vote. During the discussion on the matter on the floor of the house, the issue of Trinamool Congress MLA from Bharatpur in Murshidabad district Humayun Kabir making similar objectionable comments about the leader of the opposition was also raised. The chief whip of Trinamool Congress Nirmal Ghosh informed the house that the video footage relating to Kabiras comment is being examined and any decision in the matter will be taken after that. Trinamool Congress insiders said that the partyas internal disciplinary committee had issued a show-cause notice to Kabir and asked him why internal disciplinary action would not be taken against him for making such objectionable comments. Kabir had a long ill-reputation of posing embarrassment for his party leadership through his loose comments. He was censored by the party last year for his comments where he claimed that the Hindus residing in minority-dominated Murshidabad district would be cut and thrown in the Bhagirathi River. Chennai, March 13 : Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai on Thursday accused Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of attempting to divert public attention from the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), the state's Excise Minister V. Senthil Balaji, and liquor-supplying companies. In a post on social media platform X, Annamalai said, "The ED has uncovered documents from distilleries linked to the generation of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1,000 crore, which was paid as kickbacks. The DMK has been exploiting common man to fill its party coffers by manipulating the system, and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is duty-bound to answer who received these kickbacks." With the ED alleging financial irregularities of Rs 1,000 crore in the state-run TASMAC, the State BJP President questioned CM Stalin's moral right to continue in office. He insisted that the Chief Minister must respond to the allegations and take responsibility for the corruption within TASMAC. Annamalai, a former IPS officer-turned-politician, urged the people of Tamil Nadu to join the BJP's movement against what he described as the "corrupt DMK government". The Tamil Nadu BJP has also announced a protest outside the TASMAC headquarters in Chennai on March 17. The BJP leader had earlier alleged that the liquor scam, which had previously led to government changes in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, had now rocked Tamil Nadu following the ED's raids at TASMAC headquarters. He claimed that the DMK government, through a flawed procurement policy, siphoned off at least Rs 1,000 crore and redirected the funds for election expenditures in 2024 and 2026. On Thursday, the ED released a statement detailing its findings from the March 6 raids conducted at TASMAC offices, employees' residences, and corporate distilleries. The central agency revealed that multiple irregularities were detected in TASMAC's operations, including tender manipulation and unaccounted cash transactions worth Rs 1,000 crore through distillery companies. The ED said that its investigation provided concrete evidence of corrupt practices within TASMAC, confirming that kickbacks were involved in liquor dealings in Tamil Nadu. Since TASMAC holds a monopoly over liquor sales in the state, the ED's findings have raised serious concerns about financial mismanagement and corruption within the Tamil Nadu government. As the political battle intensifies, the BJP is set to escalate its protests, demanding transparency and accountability from the ruling DMK. Guwahati, March 13 : The CBI has given fresh documentary evidence to the court against controversial Assamese actress Sumi Borah and other co-accused in the muti-crore online trading scam that rocked the state previous year. A senior police official said that the central probe agency has submitted sufficient new documentary evidences against actress Borah, her husband Tarkik Borah and kingpin of the scam, Bishal Phukan. According to the official, the accused trio has not gotten bail in the trading scam case yet and it might be very difficult for them to walk out of the jail. To recall, an online trading scam amounting to Rs 2,200 crore was busted in Assam in September after a kingpin of this fraud, Bishal Phukan was arrested from his Dibrugarh residence. Sumi Borah and her husband Tarkik Borah, accused in a trading scam, surrendered before the police later. The couple was arrested after they surrendered in Dibrugarh. Notably, the duo was on the run since the huge scam surfaced and it was revealed that Borah was well connected with Bishal Phukan in this scam. Before the arrest, Sumi Borah circulated a video in social media claiming that she has not fled but she has been hiding due to a propaganda being run against her. She alleged that plenty of misinformation was being spread and her family has been suffering a lot due to it. Sumi Borah and two other key accused were quizzed by CBI officials multiple times. The state government handed over the 41 cases related to the online trading scam to the central agency. Earlier, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the CBI would be investigating 41 cases pertaining to the multi crore online trading scam. "We have filed 41 cases against the online trading fraudsters. The state government decided to hand over all of these cases to the CBI. I spoke with Union Home Minister Amit Shah about this, and he agreed to let the CBI probe the scam. I went to Delhi to apprise him about the latest development", he had said. Sarma also warned that nobody will be spared who have been involved with the online trading scam. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, are launching a four-year advisory project to enhance access to finance for agricultural producers in Azerbaijan, Trend reports via the IFC. IFCs Crop and Warehouse Receipts Project seeks to address the critical financial barriers faced by farmers and agribusinesses, thereby boosting productivity. Agriculture is a vital sector in Azerbaijan, employing 37 percent of the population and contributing only 5.5 percent to the GDP. One of the primary challenges for sectors growth and higher quality jobs is limited access to finance, caused by lack of collateral and the perceived high risk associated with agricultural lending. To address these challenges, IFCs Crop and Warehouse Receipts Project will introduce innovative financial instruments designed to improve access to both pre- and post-harvest finance. These new instruments will support the risk profile of agricultural sector and enable financial institutions increase their lending to farmers and agribusinesses. Specifically, Crop receipts allow farmers to use pre-harvested crops as collateral, facilitating access to capital for purchasing high-quality seeds, fertilizers, and other inputs. This not only boosts productivity but also expands the customer base for creditors. Warehouse receipts, on the other hand, enable farmers to use stored goods as collateral for loans or receive payment upon delivery to a warehouse, providing a post-harvest financing solution. Digital crop and warehouse receipts have the potential to enhance financial inclusion and sustainability but require supportive regulatory frameworks to scale. IFCs engagement will include introduction of legislative, regulatory, and policy framework for these new financial instruments, including their digitization. Once the necessary legislation and regulations are in place, the initiative will focus on building the capacities of the financial sector and farmers. This includes developing business models that leverage crop and warehouse receipts for value chain finance. Public awareness campaigns will also be conducted to promote crop and warehouse receipts as viable financial tools. Azerbaijan became a member of IFC in 1995. Since then, IFC has invested approximately $900 million in the country, financing nearly 60 projects across financial services, infrastructure, and manufacturing. We have also advised on enhancing the business environment, developing the financial sector, improving corporate governance, and strengthening small and medium enterprises as well as the agribusiness sector. Mumbai, March 13 : Hayley Matthews followed up her knock of 77 by picking 3-31 as Mumbai Indians set up a title clash in Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 with the Delhi Capitals after beating Gujarat Giants by 47 runs in the Eliminator at the Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday. After knocks of 77 from Hayley and Nat Sciver-Brunt, along with a breathtaking 36 from captain Harmanpreet Kaur, took MI to a massive 213/4, the West Indies captain shone with her off-spin bowling to pick three wickets, as GG were bowled out for 166 in 19.2 overs. She also got good support from Amelia Kerr, who picked two wickets, while Nat and Shabnim Ismail were also among the wickets as they sealed MIas place in playing the summit clash against DC at the same venue on Saturday. Shabnim struck for Mumbai when Beth Mooneyas outside edge was pouched by Hayley, moving to her right at first slip. Harleen Deol and Danielle Gibson hit five boundaries between themselves before the former was run out by an accurate throw from Sanskriti Gupta and Yastika Bhatia, dislodging the stumps in time. Hayley made a massive dent into GGas already behind-going chase by castling Asheigh Gardner for eight. Despite Danielle and Phoebe Litchfield dealing with boundaries, it couldnat help in bringing the required run rate down to a manageable one for GG. A powerful throw by Amanjot Kaur from deep mid-wicket resulted in Danielle being run out for 34, while Phoebe missed a googly from Amelia and was stumped for 31. After a mix-up resulted in Kashvee Gautamas run out, Bharti Fulmali and Simran Shaikh tried delaying the inevitable with a flurry of boundaries before the formeras off-stump was knocked down by Hayley. From there, Amelia, Nat and Hayley took a wicket each to ensure MI made it to their second WPL final and keep their clean slate against GG intact in front of their home crowd comprising their team owners and IPL team counterparts. Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 213/4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 77, Hayley Matthews 77; Danielle Gibson 2-40, Kashvee Gautam 1-30) beat Gujarat Giants 166 in 19.2 overs (Danielle Gibson 34, Phoebe Litchfield 31; Hayley Matthews 3-31, Amelia Kerr 2-28) by 47 runs Aizawl, March 13 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP's national president J.P. Nadda on Thursday expressed gratitude to the people of Mizoram for giving the BJP a "resounding mandate" in the Village Council election under the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC). The BJP, which is now in power in the politically important CADC in southern Mizoram's Lawngtlai district, on Thursday swept the Village Council (VC) polls, securing a majority in 64 out of 88 VCs. Out of the 64 VCs where the BJP got majority, the party managed majority in nine VCs without any contest earlier. Polling for the Village Councils, which are equivalent to Gram Panchayats outside the tribal autonomous district council, in the CADC was held on Wednesday. According to the results announced by the State Election Commission (SEC), Mizoram's ruling Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), stood second, winning a majority in 12 VCs, while the main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) managed a majority in eight VCs. The Congress, which governed the state for many years, however, failed to secure a majority in any of the 88 VCs. As per the results of the SEC, there was no clear majority in two VCs while independent candidates secured majority in two others VCs. Out of the 516 seats in 88 VCs, including 88 reserved for women, the BJP secured 366 seats, the ZPM got 81 seats, MNF 45, Congress two and 22 independent candidates were also declared elected. Home Minister Shah, in his post on X, said: "My heartfelt gratitude to the people of Mizoram for giving the BJP a resounding mandate in the Village Council Election in the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC). It is people's affection for Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, who has always bolstered the development of Mizoram. Heartiest congratulations to the Karyakartas of the Mizoram BJP." J.P. Nadda said on X: "Gratitude to the people of Mizoram for blessing the BJP with a decisive victory in the 2025 Village Council General Election in the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC). This thumping mandate stands as a testament to the people's trust in Hon. PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji's vision and commitment to development." "I congratulate and applaud the BJP Mizoram karyakartas for their relentless dedication and hard work in securing this win," Nadda said. BJP's northeast in-charge Sambit Patra also congratulated the BJP's Mizoram unit for their success in the VC polls. He said in a post on the X: "People in the northeast continue to place their trust in the BJP and the visionary leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji. The BJP's strong victory in Mizoram's Village Council elections is a testament to the unwavering efforts of BJP President Shri J P Nadda Ji and Mizoram BJP President Shri Vanlalhmuaka Ji in strengthening the party's presence in the region." Chennai, March 13 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's decision to remove the rupee symbol (a) from the logo of the state's 2025-26 Budget, which will be presented in the Assembly on Friday, has sparked widespread criticism. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is among the latest to condemn the move. Taking to social media platform X, she criticised the DMK government, calling it "a completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism". She also said that the decision reflects a dangerous mindset that undermines India's unity. Union Minister Sitharaman questioned the DMK's opposition to the rupee symbol, pointing out that it was officially adopted in 2010 under the Congress-led UPA government, during which the DMK was part of the ruling alliance at the Centre. "This is more than mere symbolism -- it signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism," she wrote. She also reminded elected representatives of their constitutional duty to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, adding that removing a national symbol from state Budget documents contradicts that commitment. Union Minister Sitharaman also highlighted the irony behind the decision, pointing out that the rupee symbol was designed by D. Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. "By erasing it now, the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth," she said. BJP IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya also criticised the move, emphasising that Udaya Kumar, who designed the symbol in Devanagari script, is the son of a former DMK MLA. "Chief Minister Stalin is insulting Tamilians by dropping the Indian rupee (a) sign from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 document," he wrote on X. Meanwhile AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami also condemned the DMK government's move, calling it a publicity stunt to divert attention from administrative failures. In a social media post, he accused Chief Minister Stalin of engaging in "empty advertisement campaigns" that do not address the people's real needs. He also criticised CM Stalin for delivering "scripted dialogues written by others", dismissing the move as a political gimmick. Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai joined the chorus of criticism, questioning Stalin's decision to replace the rupee symbol with the Tamil letter "Ru" from "Rubaai", the Tamil word for rupee. "The DMK government's state Budget for 2025-26 replaces the rupee symbol, which was designed by a Tamilian and adopted by the entire nation. How stupid can you become, Thiru @mkstalin?" he wrote. The controversy comes amid an ongoing dispute between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre over language policies, with the DMK-led administration repeatedly accusing the Union government of imposing Hindi. The removal of the rupee symbol is seen as part of this broader opposition, escalating Tamil Nadu's resistance to the National Education Policy. The Tamil Nadu government defended its decision, stating that the Budget logo, released on Thursday, now carries the Tamil letter "Ru" from "Rubaai" to reflect the state's linguistic identity. The logo also includes the caption "Everything for All", which the DMK claims represents its inclusive governance model. This marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol, intensifying debates on regional identity versus national unity. Bhubaneswar, March 13 : The Odisha Higher Education department will soon introduce the Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP) in the eight teacher training institutes (B.Ed. colleges) of the state. The teacher training institutes on Thursday signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with their nearest Government Degree colleges for the implementation of the ITEP in future. As per a statement issued by the Higher Education department, the ITEP will be introduced in these eight teacher training institutions in accordance with the regulations of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in near future. The department also expressed the hope that this initiative will enable teacher training institutes to adopt a multidisciplinary approach. "With the implementation of ITEP, students can complete their B.Ed. degree in a four-year course after Class 12. Previously, students had to complete a three-year undergraduate degree followed by a two-year B.Ed. program, requiring a total of five years. However, with ITEP, students can directly enroll in the integrated program and complete the course in four years. This initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and aims to strengthen the education system in the state," informed the department. This apart, the Higher Education Department has also allocated Rs 168 crore to enhance the infrastructure of 189 private degree colleges in the state. This financial support will be used for the construction of additional classrooms, laboratories, canteens, libraries, common rooms, multipurpose halls, administrative and academic buildings. Speaking on the occasion, the higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj said, "Our goal is to strengthen the foundation and infrastructure of the colleges and to provide quality education to the students. The ITEP will allow students to complete their B.Ed. course within four years after Class 12. Additionally, the financial allocation of Rs 168 crore will significantly contribute to the overall development of private colleges and ensure quality education for the students." ISLAMABAD, April 7, 2018 (Xinhua) -- A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft is seen after landing at New Islamabad International Airport during a test flight in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on April 7, 2018. The test flight of Pakistan International Airlines on Saturday landed at the New Islamabad International Airport, which is expected to be officially inaugurated on April 20. (Xinhua/IANS). Image Source: IANS News Lahore, March 13 : Pakistan's flag carrier airline PIA (Pakistan International Airline) domestic flight landed in Lahore on Thursday without one of its wheels, leaving authorities shocked on what seemed like a major blunder on part of the flight management. PIA flight PK306 had left from Karachi enroute to Lahore. Upon landing at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, it was discovered that the one of the tyres of the plane was missing. "The issue was discovered during an inspection following the flight's landing at the airport," said a PIA spokesperson. The interesting part of the whole episode is that despite the fact that more than 14 hours have passed since the flight landed in Lahore, there is no trace of the missing tyre as it has not been found yet. Authorities at the Karachi International Airport have confirmed that the tyre was present when the plane took off from Karachi. It was also maintained that the plane made a normal landing at the Lahore airport. An investigation has been launched into the incident as authorities probe into how the tyre went missing. Initial findings have revealed that the tyre shaft was found at the Karachi airport, after Lahore's Air Traffic Control (ATC) sent out a notification on the matter. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) maintains that preliminary observations indicate towards a possible external object strike on the plane's tyre at the runway of the Karachi airport. "While the final report will reveal the cause of the incident, initial findings indicate that the wheel might have been impacted due to a fault on the runway of some other external factor," said the PIA spokesperson, adding that an immediate investigation has been launched by the PIA Safety Department and the CAA. New Delhi, March 14 : The Ministry of Mines, in partnership with the Goa government, jointly launched India's inaugural Exploration Licence (EL) auction -- a transformative step aimed at unlocking critical and deep-seated mineral reserves across the country. Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant shared the dias to make the event also showcase a "Roadshow" for the fifth tranche of critical mineral blocks auction and inaugurated the AI (artificial intelligence) Hackathon 2025 under the theme "Mineral Targeting using Artificial Intelligence". The AI Hackathon 2025 aims to leverage cutting-edge datasets to identify hidden mineral deposits and drive innovation in sustainable mining practices. Chaired by G. Kishan Reddy, the session brought together prominent officials from state and central administrations to deliberate on a variety of key issues. Highlighting the significance of this moment, Union Minister Kishan Reddy said, "For the first time, India is opening up systematic early-stage exploration through a structured and transparent auction process. This reform will accelerate the discovery of critical and deep-seated minerals, boost investor confidence, and pave the way for a self-reliant, future-ready mineral ecosystem aligned with India's clean energy and industrial ambitions." The discussions addressed essential topics, such as strategies for auctioning untapped mining blocks in Goa, plans to rejuvenate dormant mines, and solutions for managing expired and lapsed leases in compliance with Section 10A(2) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. CM Sawant, lauded the Union government's reformative steps, stating, "Goa has a rich mining legacy, and we are committed to responsible, technology-driven mineral development. These reforms will not only unlock India's mineral potential but also create new opportunities for sustainable mining." Progress updates on the operationalisation of auctioned mining blocks and ongoing exploration projects were shared, with special emphasis on the contributions of organisations like the Geological Survey of India and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Ltd. The CM laid his emphasis on the economic impact of reviving mining operations in Goa, highlighting their role in bolstering the state's economy and contributing to the Gross State Domestic Product. CM Sawant lauded Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their steadfast support in these initiatives. The event culminated in the auction of 13 exploration license blocks covering critical minerals such as Rare Earth Elements (REEs), zinc, diamonds, copper, and Platinum Group Elements. The transparent bidding process is set to advance mineral exploration, boost private sector involvement, and strengthen India's technological and energy independence. Imphal, March 14 : Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) North East Advisor A.K. Mishra during his series of meetings with various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Manipur indicated that the Centre has prepared a roadmap to restore peace and normalcy in ethnic strife-hit Manipur, officials and CSO leaders separately said on Thursday. According to a Manipur government official, Mishra held a series of separate meetings with various CSOs belonging to Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities during the past three days. Federation of Civil Societies (FOCS) Spokesman Ngangbam Chamchan Singh said that Mishra told them that the first phase of the roadmap for peace in Manipur is being implemented. "Responding to an invitation, a FOCS delegation met Mishra and other officials on Wednesday. During the meeting Mishra informed them that the Centre has prepared a roadmap to end the ongoing conflict in the state and it would be implemented in phases," Singh told the media on Thursday. Quoting Mishra, he said that the roadmap includes surrender of looted and illegal arms and ammunition, reopening of vehicular movements and curbing violent activities of various armed groups. Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla's February 20 appeal to surrender looted and illegal is a part of the initial phase of the roadmap, Singh said referring to Mishra. The MHA advisor accompanied by other officials held discussions with Kuki-Zo community leaders in Churachandpur district on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, the MHA representatives also met with Meitei civil society groups in Imphal, including the All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO), and the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI). Discussions centered on the ongoing unrest and the Centre's efforts to bring stability to the region. Regarding the suspension of operations (SOO) agreement between the Centre and Kuki armed groups, Mishra clarified that while the agreement has lapsed, it has not been abrogated. Mishra assured that the pact would be modified and revised in due course as part of the Centre's broader strategy to address the ongoing tensions and find a sustainable resolution, an AMUCO leader said. Meanwhile, due to the initiative of Mishra the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), the apex body of the tribals in Manipur, on Thursday, announced the lifting of the indefinite shutdown it had called to protest the resumption of the bus services between the state capital Imphal and the hill districts and the police action in the tribal areas on March 8. Bhopal, March 14 : Responding to the debate on Motion of Thanks to Governor's speech on the Budget session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Thursday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that women beneficiaries under the Ladli Behna scheme, if engaged in textile or readymade garment industry will receive Rs 5,000 monthly wage incentive. The Chief Minister claimed that the state is marching ahead on growth trajectory to meet the target of Rs 28 lakh crore Budget size by 2047. The wage incentive or assistance was included in Central government's Textile Policy, 2024. CM Yadav pointed out about recently declared new tiger reserve -- Madhav National Park, Kuno National Park and the top position the state has achieved on health index. The Chief Minister remarked that should members of the Congress wish to encounter a leopard, they need only journey to Sheopur, where arrangements could be made. He also alleged that the tigers of Madhav National Park, a sanctuary established in 1919, had been consumed metaphorically by Congress while under his government, however, the majestic tigers have been reintroduced to their rightful domain. He noted with pride the transformation in forest tourism, which has burgeoned from a modest 64 lakh visitors in 2003 to an impressive 13 crore today. CM Yadav extolled the virtues of Gandhiji's vision, Ambedkar's philosophy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental ethos, all of which, he asserted, were reflected in the Governor's address. He unveiled an ambitious blueprint to elevate the state's Budget to a staggering Rs 28 lakh crore by the year 2047. The Chief Minister also lauded Madhya Pradesh's ascendancy to the pinnacle of the nation's health index, as recognized by Niti Aayog, which has designated the state as a performer. The Ladli Behan Yojana has been a flagship scheme of the Madhya Pradesh government through which it provides Rs 1,250 every month to its beneficiaries, with a promise from the government to gradually raise this amount to Rs 3,000. Recently, the State Finance Minister Jagdish Devda shared plans in his recently tabled annual Budget 2025-26 to integrate this initiative with the Atal Pension Yojana, aimed at providing pension benefits under various schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana to ensuring a secure financial future for women. The number of registered women under the scheme is 1.27 crore. The State Finance Minister earmarked a fund of Rs 18,669 crore for the scheme. In addition, the scheme will now link beneficiaries to the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, the Minister had said while presenting the state Budget. These connections will extend essential life and accident insurance coverage, adding a layer of financial protection for the women involved. The discussion over the Motion of Thanks lasted more than 11 and a half hours deliberating on the Governor's address. This detailed discourse highlighted its importance before the Assembly shifted its focus to the equally critical discussion of the Budget from March 17 after Holi vacations. Its no overstatement to say that Suzanne Collinss Sunrise on the Reaping, her latest return to the Hunger Games universe, is one of the most highly anticipated childrens book releases this year. Set to release on March 18, the novel takes readers back in time to the 50th annual Hunger Games and into the mind of fan favorite Haymitch Abernathy as he tries to survive his own trials. The Hunger Games trilogy has become a modern phenomenon of YA literature. The first book, released in 2008, a dystopian tale about Katniss, a young woman whose sacrifice to protect her sister by entering a deadly competition marks the first traces of revolution, has connected with readers since its beginnings almost 20 years ago. Its release was met with acclaim from both the literary communityit was named Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal Best Book of 2008, and a Booklist Editors Choice, among many other accoladesand became an instant bestseller. Foreign rights for the Hunger Games books have been sold in 55 languages to date. The books have also become a beloved film series for Lionsgate, collectively grossing more than $3.3 billion worldwide. The most recent film, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, an adaptation of the 2020 prequel novel, was released in 2023 and made more than $300 million worldwide. Sunrise on the Reaping also marks the fifth Hunger Games book to hit the big screen; it is already slated for a film adaptation under Lionsgate, scheduled for release in 2026. And Lionsgate announced last month that the Hunger Games stage show is coming to the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London on October 20. As the series launches into a new era, Collinss publisher Scholastic has plenty of plans to ensure that the rollout satisfies fans. It truly is a gift to be able to work on a book series that you yourself are just as excited to read as the fans, and that energy comes through in the campaign elements, Rachel Coun, Scholastics VP of global marketing, told PW. Seizing the Moment Following the book announcement in June of last year, fans got their first taste of what was to come with the cover reveal on the Today Show in October. Scholastic also distributed bookmarks featuring a teaser quote at major literary events such as New York Comic Con, YALLFest, and at indie bookstores to invite all kinds of readers into the Hunger Games fold. The Hunger Games series has a true crossover audience of teen and adult readers around the world, Coun said. A priority of the campaign is to excite all those existing Hunger Games book and movie fans, while also bringing in a new audience. In this age, social media is crucial to keeping an audience engaged, and Scholastic has its own official Hunger Games social accounts for sharing social content. And to keep engaged with international fans (The online community worldwide is just infectious!, Coun said), Scholastic has collaborated with its publishing partners in Scholastic Australia, Canada, and the U.K., as well as with Lionsgate, the movie studio behind the Hunger Games films, for major posts. For publication day, Collins will mark the occasion by kicking off a global social campaign, featuring the author reading an excerpt from the first chapter of Sunrise on the Reaping on the Hunger Games Books social media channels in partnership with Lionsgate. Social media influencers across the globe, including Elizabeth Sagan from Romania and Rodrigo Paniagua from Spain, will follow up with a reading of the same excerpt in their native languages. Fans can also get an early listen with an exclusive recording from the author that released today. Release parties have also become a staple for major releases, and for readers in search of one, several will be taking place across the country. Scholastic has made them easy to find with its Hunger Games event tracker, with more than 1,000 events have already registered. Coun is particularly thrilled that readers will be able to gather and celebrate this new release, considering that the pandemic kept audiences at home for the previous installment, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Retail partners will be showing their Panem pride, decked out with custom displays and signage window clings, as well as book displays in bookstores across the country. Many events will feature Sunrise on the Reaping photo-op standees for guests, and Scholastic has provided 2,500 event kits which include a poster, an event guide, a trivia booklet with two packs of 25 Sunrise on the Reaping buttons, fan postcards, and more. The Union Square location of Barnes & Noble in New York City will have a special guest at its midnight release party, David Levithan, Scholastic SVP, publisher and editorial director; Levithan edited Sunrise on the Reaping along with Kate Egan. Normally, the expectations would make me nervous, Levithan said of the massive buzz surrounding the book. But honestly? In terms of this Haymitch story living up to everything else we know about him, Im not nervous at all. Despite her massive success, Collins is notably elusive when it comes to publicity (the author herself is not on social media). While she will not be heading on tour for the book, Coun noted that the most important marketing element for any campaign is the book itself. Though the fanbase is voracious for any new details, Scholastic is keeping everything about the new book under wraps. An ARC of a book with such prominence would have been the ultimate status symbol, but Sunrise on the Reaping is under strict embargo, with the books availability starting at midnight East Coast time on March 18 (a boon for West Coast readers). Books bring people together, Coun said of the significant anticipation. And I cannot wait to hear the reactions from readers around the globe once they read it! Grace Hagen has been appointed as the new executive director of the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA). Hagen, who has served as operations manager since May 2024, was named interim executive director in November, after Carrie Obry unexpectedly stepped down from the position she had held for 15 years. Hagen, a professionally certified social justice educator with nine years of experience, previously worked for two years as director of operations and inclusion at the Novel Neighbor bookstore in St. Louis from 2022 to 2024. There, per a MIBA release, she supervised a staff of 17 booksellers, led customer service and retail operations, and developed new organizational partnerships. In announcing Hagen's promotion, the MIBA board said she stood out not only "for her commitment to our organization and its vision and mission, but also for her people-centered, genuine enthusiasm for the bookselling community." MIBA, founded in 1981 in the Twin Cities as the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association, represents indie booksellers in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The organization has for more than a decade held its annual fall trade show, Heartland Fall Forum, in partnership with the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. GLIBA executive director Larry Law told PW that he is "so happy and excited that MIBA has hired Grace Hagen. We had the pleasure of working through our first Heartland together last year and it was fun and motivating. Grace is kind, enthusiastic, innovative and has that Midwest hustle we admire. I am looking forward to the great things Grace will bring to MIBA, as well as getting to work more closely with her on Heartland 2025 and future endeavors." Melissa McAllister, the owner of Dungeons Gate in Des Moines and new president of MIBA's board of directors, told PW that while Hagen lives in St. Louis, the organization's official headquarters will remain in the Twin Cities. Moving MIBA's headquarters according to where its executive director resides "is not something currently under consideration," McAllister said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan and North Macedonia possess vast potential for expanded cooperation, the political analyst Azer Garayev said in an interview with Trend. "Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and North Macedonia were established in June 1995. Over the years, political dialogue has developed consistently, and an environment of cooperation based on mutual trust has been formed. The Republic of North Macedonia supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty. After the Second Karabakh War in 2020, North Macedonia has been one of the European countries that clearly supported Azerbaijans position. Both countries continue to support each other in international organizations. Azerbaijan and North Macedonia effectively collaborate within organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)," he said. According to Garayev, in recent years, the bilateral political dialogue has entered a new phase. Official visits and political consultations indicate an intensification of activities in this direction. The official visit of North Macedonias President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, to Azerbaijan in the coming days is proof of this. As President Ilham Aliyev noted during his statement with President Siljanovska-Davkova to the press, both countries are working actively to enhance bilateral relations. "I am glad that the political dialogue between our countries is assuming a dynamic nature. Our second meeting with Madam President in a short period of time is clear evidence of that," said the President of Azerbaijan. As Garayev explains, additional measures should be taken to develop our political relations. Relevant state institutions should be in close contact, of course. At the same time, opportunities in the economic sphere and in the field of investment should be explored. Siljanovska-Davkova, in turn, expressed hope that the two countries could achieve stronger cooperation in the coming years. These statements further prove that the leadership of both countries is deeply interested in expanding cooperation, and there are ample opportunities for doing so. The political analyst noted that there is untapped potential for economic cooperation. "Economic relations between Azerbaijan and North Macedonia have not yet reached their full potential, but significant opportunities exist for further development. Trade turnover between the two countries is growing. There are interesting opportunities for Azerbaijani companies in the North Macedonian market, and there are also similar opportunities for North Macedonian businesses in Azerbaijan. At the end of last year, the two countries began cooperation in the energy sector, and Azerbaijan has started supplying gas to North Macedonia. As the President of our country mentioned, Azerbaijan will regularly supply natural gas to the North Macedonian market this year. There are even plans to increase the volume of gas supply in the future," he added. Garayev highlighted Azerbaijan's strategic role in European energy security: "Through the Southern Gas Corridor and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, Azerbaijani natural gas is transported to Europe, contributing to the diversification of energy sources and routes. Azerbaijan's gas exports stabilize the energy supply to Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and other countries. With North Macedonia now included among the countries receiving Azerbaijani gas, Azerbaijans contribution to ensuring energy security in Europe naturally encourages other countries to cooperate with Azerbaijan in this area. As President Ilham Aliyev has emphasized, Europe needs Azerbaijani gas," the political analyst said. Garayev also noted that transportation projects involving Azerbaijan in the region, such as the Middle Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, provide new opportunities for North Macedonia. "North Macedonia is interested in integrating into transport hubs connecting Europe and Asia. In this regard, Baku can serve as a strategic partner. Azerbaijans location at the intersection of East-West and North-South transport corridors facilitates North Macedonias access to the South Caucasus region and Central Asia. This will strengthen the logistics links between the two countries and allow for an increase in trade volume," he added. The expert emphasized that deepening cooperation in the energy sector, increasing trade turnover, exploring investment opportunities, and collaboration in education and culture would serve the interests of both countries. "Relations between Azerbaijan and North Macedonia are developing in a friendly and strategic cooperation environment. In the context of Europes energy security and ensuring stability in the region, the Baku-Skopje line holds special significance. Projects in energy, trade, transportation, and other fields will not only serve the mutual interests of both countries but will also contribute to sustainable development in the region as a whole," he concluded. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Among the buzzy books going into this year's London Book Fair was Anne Meredith's Jaded, the debut novel by the WGA Awardwinning screenwriter behind such films as Bastard Out of Carolina and Losing Chase, with Judy Clain at Summit preempting world rights and foreign language rights selling in French, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Billed as "Donna Tartt meets E.L. James on a college campus" in the 1980s, the book follows two long-married professors, who lure a student into their lives each yearuntil they choose precisely the wrong young woman. PW talked with Meredith ahead of the London Book Fair about We talked with Meredith about making her literary debut after 40, what screenwriting taught her about fiction, and more. Youve been a screenwriter for more than three decades. What inspired you to write your first novel? It was the summer of 2020, the pandemic was raging, and I had been out of work for a few years. Id just moved permanently from L.A. to the Hudson Valley, and in the isolation, I looked for a way to entertain myself. The #MeToo Movement was still buzzingmen in power continued to abuse that power, but they werent doing it in a vacuum. Who were the people complicit in that abuse of power? What if it was a married couple, professors? What if they were undone not by the powers that be, but by the students they had used instead? Did screenwriting prepare, or perhaps inform, you when it came to writing your first book? What lessons did you take with you from the screen to the page? Screenwriting definitely informed the writing of my first book. A good screenplay grabs the reader and holds them for 110 pages. How do you do that? Understand when to enter and exit a scene; how to bridge those scenes, when to accelerate the action, when to hold back and let the story breathe. What does the reader need to know, what can you hideand for how long? Pacing, focus, brevity. Screenplays and novels are very different: a screenplay is an architectural rendition of a structure other people will build, while a novel is building the house by yourself. But either way the goal is the samehave a strong voice with a distinct point of view, tell a compelling story with memorable characters, and have them speak dialogue that rings true. Jaded has already gotten lots of international buzz, with foreign rights sold in a handful of languages. What aspects of the novel do you think might appeal universally, to readers across cultures? Human behavior is universal; it doesnt need language. Weve all experienced the unfairness of power dynamics at work, and out in the world. We feel frustration and rage at bad behavior going unpunished, and satisfaction when justice is finally served. We all, at some point, discover our sexual identity. We share the experience of sex, in and of itself, and sensualityin nature, in food, in art, in bed. Jaded is part of a long lineage of what are often called campus novels. Where do you see it fitting in, or perhaps pushing the bounds of, that genre? As you say, Jaded joins a long list of campus novels. I think what sets this book slightly apart is the subversion of power (the students have it, not the professors) and the explicit raunchiness of the sex. You join the ranks of many accomplished women novelists who published their debuts past the age of 40, including Marilyn French, Bonnie Garmus, Toni Morrison, and Elizabeth Strout. Can you talk a bit about your experience of becoming a debut author later in life? What have been the best, hardest, and most surprising parts? What an honor to join the ranks of those great writers debuting their work over 40. Its funnyas an older woman, I aged out of Hollywood. That was hard. In the past, if an idea came into my head, I would write a spec script. But by 2020, agents and producers had fallen away, and I knew if I wrote Jaded as a screenplay, no one would read it, let alone make it. The most surprising thing is that Jaded exists at all; the best thing is that Ive been given the opportunity to share it with the world. Global turmoil permeated the London Book Fair this week, but was mostly muted by the overall enthusiasm of the crowds thronging packed aisles, panels, and staircases at the London Olympia. "I've run a lot of trade shows in a lot of industries. I have never seen a show fill up so fast in my whole life," Adam Ridgway, director of the London Book Fair, told PW. "The thing that caught me out was that by 9:30 Tuesday morning we were full. It really was like someone hit the accelerator, and it just kept going. I've never seen a show take off like that before." Ridgway has had no shortage of challenges to contend with in his first year as show director, not the least of which is the relatively limited space offered by the Olympia as it continues to undergo renovations, leading to a number of prosaic concerns. Attendees often joined long lines to enter panels that were themselves often shoehorned into too-small rooms, only to ultimately be refused entry. An overly aggressive air conditioning unit in one part of the International Rights Center sent literary agents running back to their hotel rooms to get their coats. More dramatically, a small portion of the roof collapsed onto an empty chair in the same part of the IRC, surprising the surrounding fairgoers. "It is a beautiful venue, and we really do the best we can with it," Ridgway said. "We know there are issues, but we are always trying to improve where we can." He noted that this year, the fair opted not to recruit celebrities to present talks at the fairunlike last year, when Steven Bartlett, the podcaster and author of The Diary of a CEO, drew legions of fans and members of the public to his talk in lieu of the hoped-for industry professionals. "We're always striving to make the event more accessible to those who want to come," Ridgway explained, "but the focus is always on those in the industry." While official attendance numbers will not be available for some days, Ridgway shared that fair organizers were "delighted with the event that we've seen so far," suggesting that numbers would be in line with previous years, which hovered around 30,000 attendees in all. "I can tell you that the number of American publishers is up by 5% this year compared to last year," Ridgway saidmarking the second year running with a more pronounced American presence at the fair. "When you remember the show isn't really much biggerwe haven't got much more spacewe are getting more American attendance now than we've seen for a while." Among the new American publishers at the fair was Greg Shaw, founding editor of 8080 Books, an imprint of Microsoft, who found the opportunity for in-person connection invaluable. "It is a very fragmented industry, and it's hard to understand how the different pieces and parts add up, who does what, and where the handoffs are," he said. "I've ended up learning a lot: there's so much I didn't know that I didn't know. I also love the passion I see herethough there isn't always a lot of profit, there is a lot of passion." Veteran fairgoers also noted a robust American presence and a strong market for book deals. "There were a lot of Americans, which felt so fresh," said Elyse Cheney, of the eponymous literary agency. She added that she was encouraged by "how dynamic the U.K. publishing programs are for serious nonfiction" and that "at least one very large corporate publisher is committed to supporting work by investigative reporters" in a time otherwise characterized by some in the industry as dominated by self-help books. "There seems to be a real appetite for sophisticated books on sociology, on politics, on current affairs, with widespread interest and an orientation toward risk," Cheney said. Acknowledging the previously reported softness in the nonfiction market, she added: "I was hearing from the top executives that they're really encouraging people to keep feeling positively about nonfiction, because these trends are always cyclical." David Steinberger, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media, said that "the level of activity here is tremendous. It feels busier than ever to meand for us." Pointing to Open Roads Ignition program, which creates marketing campaigns for backlist e-books, he added: "Publishers from all over the world are seeing the benefit of having backlist and world recognition, and they're excited about doing more with us." Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK CEO David Shelley, one of the fairs keynote speakers, also pointed to an increase in business at the fair. "Our rights teams are really busy, our export sales teams are really busy," he said. "Lots of deals done in the run up to the fair. Lots of deals being done at the fair. Although I don't think any market is standing out, I do think it's a pretty solid time for all international markets." Despite existential anxiety over the state of the world, publishers of all stripes were pleased with the overall buzz at the fair. "There's been really good energy," said Rachel Goldstein, EVP of Penguin Random House Publisher Services. Her colleague, PRH executive director of business development Scott Gould, added: "Everyone's keeping busy. When the world's on fire, all we can do is focus on making good books." Dan Simon, publisher of Seven Stories Press, concurred. "In the years after Covid, it felt like people came to the fair but were kind faking it," he said. "Though there hasn't been any really big news this year, it feels like people are actually back, that they are fully present. And it's times like these when publishers play their most important role in society: educating people and providing them with truth. In times like these, publishing and reading can truly be revolutionary acts." Trump Puts Many On Edge The second ascendency of President Donald Trump to the White House has left many in the publishing business uncertain about how to proceed with plans they may have for the U.S. market. "Many of our members are focused on what Trump is doing and are waiting to see what comes next," said James Taylor, director of communications and the freedom to publish for the International Publishers Association. One constituency that is particularly frustrated with the actions of the Trump administration is the group of Canadian publishers exhibiting at this year's fair. Livres Canada Booksthe Ottawa-based organization that promotes exports of Canadian titles, produces a foreign rights guide, and manages the stands at various book fairsis watching the situation closely and meeting with publisher associations, government partners, and publishers who use their services to assess what they can do to help. Canadian publishers were sensitive to tasteless jokes from some Americans at the fair referring to the Trump's characterization of America's northern neighbor as "the 51st state," and there has been chatter among some publishers about developing a campaign to "buy Canadian" and advocating for a boycott of American books. Another boycott impacting this years fair may have been invisible to many visitors. The national stand of Georgia was noticeably different this year; the country has been grappling with political instability for several years, and the recent election of a right-wing, Russia-leaning government has led to months of nightly protests. In response, the majority of the Georgian literary community boycotted the national stand, which is sponsored by the Writers House of Georgia, an organization aligned with the Georgian ministry of culture. As a result, the stand at this year's LBF displayed few contemporary titles by living authors published by Georgian presses, instead offering little more than classics. Gvantsa Jobava, international relations manager for Intelekti Publishing in Tbilisi and current president of the International Publishers Association, was keen to point out to international colleagues that the boycott was part of an ongoing protest publishers are holding against the Georgian governmentone that has been building for years. "Every day you have to prove to your people that you are keeping strong," Jobava said. "People don't follow those who are weak or wishy-washy. You have to lose so much. You can lose all you have built for many yearsyour freedom, your life, your character." The message, she added, felt especially appropriate to share with Americans this year. Geopolitical Turmoil Looms Large The ongoing conflict in the Middle East was also a prominent topic at the fair. English PEN was instrumental in bringing Palestinian bookseller Mahmoud Muna, co-owner of Jerusalems Educational Bookshop and the Bookshop at the American Colony Hotel, to the fair to talk about the February 9 raid on his store by Israeli police, which resulted in the confiscation of more than 250 books and his arrest for violating public order. He was released after two days and kept under house arrest for another week. Muna, who spoke on a panel called "Publishing Responsibly in Times of Conflict," nearly missed the fair after the Israeli police raided his store a second time and detained his brother on March 11the same day he was flying to the U.K. Olivia Snaije, a journalist who interviewed Muna in a public program offsite on Wednesday night, criticized what she felt was a clear attempt to interfere with Munas appearance in London. "The first raid was foolish because they didn't quite know how central to the cultural life of the city it was. As a result, Muna got incredible international support," Snaije told PW. "It's a place where diplomats, journalists, students, and Jewish Israelis all go. It's a meeting point. The second raid was even more ridiculous. All the books that are sold at the store come through Israeli ports and are already vetted by Israeli customs officials." Another conflict that has been front and center at the London Book Fair in the past two years is Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasionbut this year, discussion of the topic was more subdued, although several exhibitors and participants from Ukraine attended this year's fair. One Ukrainian publisher, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she felt some discomfort at the fair because she "wasn't used to being around so many men," since most of the men at home were conscripted in the fight against Russia. Several of her colleagues at her publishing house, she noted, had gone off to fight in the war: "When they come home, I am so happy to see them, but I see how the war has warped their minds." She added: "I haven't had a good night's sleep in three years." Most prominently, HarperCollins hosted a small celebration to mark the publication of Looking at Women Looking at War by the late journalist Victoria Amelina, who participated in the 2023 edition of the fair just a few months before she was killed in a rocket attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Olha Mukha, a reporter for Ukrainian publishing news service Chytomo and a friend of Amelinas, attended the celebration. Pointing to the recent public spat between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump, as well as the latter's apparent disregard for the sovereignty of Ukraine, Mukha said: "We have fought off invaders for hundreds of years. What is happening is not right, but it is also not new. We are professional survivors." After a beat, she added: "Isn't that a perfect phrase for what those of us in publishing really are? Professional survivors?" This article has been updated for clarity. The Severn Valley Railway has announced that 6880 Betton Grange will be visiting them for their Spring Steam Gala. Taking place between the 18th and 21st of April 2025, the gala will see an intensive timetable in operation. Whilst trains will run to Hampton Loade only due to the landslip, Bridgnorth will play its part with 7714 in steam, offering footplate rides for an extra charge. 7802 Bradley Manor should be in service for the gala, alongside 7812 Erlestoke Manor, 75069 and already announced 45596 Bahamas. President Trump returned to office facing a weakened defense industrial base, strained by the Ukraine war and threatened by Chinas grip on critical inputs. Dependence on competitors like China for materials that power essential commercial and military technologies such as electric batteries, drones, and specialized alloys is an acute weakness for American manufacturing. With two impositions of 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports, President Trump has taken multiple steps towards decreasing the United States reliance on Chinese imports. Chinas Ministry of Commerce responded with mineral export bans, which could expand soon. Trumps China policy is a part of his larger domestic reindustrialization efforts. In a number of areas, this strategy could prove to be successful. But to fortify Americas critical mineral supply chains, the Trump administration will need to work with allies abroad. Saudi Arabia is especially well-situated to work with America to jointly secure mineral access and finance new processors. This is a relationship that President Trump will be uniquely positioned to capitalize on, given the strong bilateral ties that characterized his first term. In the first weeks of his administration, President Trumps Middle East policy appears focused on commercial development and collaboration especially with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is positioning itself to become a key player in global mineral supply. Its untapped mineral resources were recently estimated at $2.5 trillion, although the bulk of the deposits are in gold, phosphate, copper, and zinc. Abroad, the kingdoms critical mineral investments in recent years have increased in scale and frequency. Shortly before President Trump took office, the kingdom unveiled $100 billion in mining commitments. Cooperation with the United States to reroute mineral supply chains would advance Saudi Arabias economic diversification plan known as Saudi Vision 2030. Seeking to reduce reliance on oil exports, the kingdom aims to grow its advanced manufacturing capabilities, among other economic developments. Critical mineral security is a Saudi vulnerability too; their burgeoning industrial sector would be highly reliant on foreign supplies of raw inputs, a fact thats clear to Saudi leaders. Similarly, if America faces difficulty securing the raw materials necessary to supply its defense industrial base, Saudi Arabia, which imports 80 percent of its weapons from the United States, faces an even greater threat. Any collaboration with the United States should aim to leverage each countrys unique advantages and needs. This could come in two forms: joint purchases of mineral deposits abroad and the establishment of new mineral refineries in Saudi Arabia. U.S.-Saudi joint financing is not a new idea, but the Trump administration has the opportunity to turn existing talks into action. According to reporting in September by the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia were in talks to cooperatively finance mineral procurement. The potential arrangement would make use of Saudi Arabias wider latitude to invest in countries with problematic business environments while still allowing the U.S. to exert greater control over its critical supply chains. But in the past, American companies have largely ceded bidding to Chinese investors. In 2016 and 2020, American mining company Freeport-McMoRan Inc. sold two major cobalt mining sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo to China Molybdenum Company Limited. For both sales, the only competitive bids came from Chinese companies. A joint U.S.-Saudi venture would disrupt China's near-monopoly over the bidding process for critical mineral sites. Cooperation with Saudi Arabia could be mutually beneficial if it leads to greater mineral refining capabilities in the kingdom. While establishing new mineral refineries would incur substantial upfront costs, there are several reasons to believe that Saudi Arabia has a comparative advantage here. Because of its extensive oil production, costs of the energy-intensive process of mineral refining would likely be uniquely low. Beyond this, the kingdoms leaders have demonstrated a willingness to make substantial long-term investments as part of their diversification strategy. Swings in the prices of lithium, cobalt, copper, and graphite have threatened the operations of some American producers and stopped others. By cooperating with Saudi Arabia to establish new mineral refineries in the kingdom, America could benefit greatly from the Saudis long-term economic planning. Saudi Arabia is also strategically positioned to receive raw materials from Africa, where Manara Minerals aims to invest $15 billion more in mineral assets globally in the coming years. Transport to Saudi Arabia, likely by the Persian Gulf or Red Sea, could be faster and cheaper than sending a ship to China through the Strait of Malacca. Both countries can capitalize off of this growing mineral security alignment. Joint financing of mineral access and investment in refineries would strengthen Americas defense industrial base while creating a new center of gravity for critical minerals on the Arabian Peninsula. Farrell Gregory is chief editor at the Oxford Emerging Threats Journal and a research assistant at the Yorktown Institute. He is currently a visiting student at Mansfield College, Oxford, studying politics, philosophy, and economics. You read more of his work @efarrellgregory on Twitter. At RECOIL, were all about top-tier firearms, gear, and accessories, and when it comes to weaponlights, SureFire is the undisputed king. Thats why weve teamed up with SureFire to give one lucky winner a brand-new SureFire XC3 weaponlighta compact, rugged, and high-performance illumination tool designed for both concealed carry and duty use. Whats Up for Grabs? The SureFire XC3 is a powerhouse in a streamlined package. It delivers: 550 lumens of intense white light 7,200 candela for balanced brightness & throw Hybrid beam pattern for perfect situational awareness Tough aerospace-grade aluminum construction Mil-Spec hard anodizing for extreme durability Easy attachment to Universal or Picatinny rails Quick front-loading battery swapno removal required Whether youre a concealed carrier, law enforcement officer, or serious shooting enthusiast, the XC3 is built to perform when it matters most. How to Enter Getting your shot at winning is simple: Enter with your email (and get subscribed to RECOIL & SureFire newsletters) Earn bonus entries by following SureFire & RECOIL on social media Refer your friends for even more chances to win Contest Details Starts: March 10th, 2025 Ends: March 19th, 2025 Who can enter? Anyone 18+ and a legal resident of the U.S. Winner: One lucky entrant will take home the SureFire XC3 weaponlight! Why You Should Enter The SureFire XC3 isnt just another weaponlightits engineered for serious shooters who demand reliability in real-world conditions. Whether youre looking for a duty-grade tool or an elite concealed carry upgrade, this giveaway is your chance to score one for free. Dont waitenter now and claim your chance to win! BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. It is crucial to strive for strengthening trust between countries, Charles Michel, the former Prime Minister of Belgium and Honorary President of the European Council, told reporters on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "Building trust and confidence in each other is essential. The world is facing serious challenges todayclimate change, rising inequality, wars, and conflicts. We also see that the principles and norms of multilateral cooperation are under pressure," Michel stated. He emphasized the importance of taking the opportunity to listen to one another, engage in dialogue, and find the best ways to make joint decisions and set priorities. "Each of us has our own history, cultural traits, and traditions, but I truly believe that international relations require wisdom, greater political will, and perhaps more courage to make the right choices," Charles Michel added. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel When Clay Vaughan, a member of the University of Georgias chapter of the Chi Psi fraternity, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in January 2025, his fraternity rallied to support him. So far, the GoFundMe created in support of Vaughan by Chi Psi President Cameron Hewatt, a junior political science major, has raised over $25,000. Federal pauses on funding related to electric vehicle infrastructure has halted progress towards Athens Clarke-Countys proposed Project FAST (Fueling Athens Sustainable Transportation), which intended to update the area through the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant. While funding for the project was awarded, it now awaits further review before the project can continue, according to the federal grant pause for review status report. Since India relies heavily on specialised imported fasteners for critical applications in industries, such as automobiles, aerospace, electronics, and defence, their sudden unavailability will jeopardise production. IMAGE: A steel processing production line at a factory in Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab. Photograph: Priyanshu Singh/Reuters India faces the risk of widespread shutdowns of small manufacturing firms and job losses, as import of steel fasteners, including nuts, bolts, screws, may come to a halt due to the implementation of quality control orders (QCOs) from next week, a Delhi-based think-tank said on Wednesday. Steel fasteners are crucial for stability, durability, and safety across various industrial sectors, such as automobile, construction, electronics, machinery and equipment manufacturing, railways, military, among others. According to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), from March 20, import of steel fasteners will stop as no foreign manufacturers have been approved under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification process. This will create uncertainty and supply chain bottlenecks. 'The cumbersome BIS approval process discourages foreign manufacturers from registering due to complex procedures and low trade volumes, leading to critical shortages,' GTRI noted. 'Additionally, customs clearance delays caused by confusion over HS Code classifications will add to costs and inefficiencies, impacting businesses already struggling with supply chain disruptions,' the GTRI report said, adding that the QCO risks widespread shutdowns of small manufacturing firms that may find it difficult to obtain certification, leading to job losses and industrial stagnation. Since India relies heavily on specialised imported fasteners for critical applications in industries, such as automobiles, aerospace, electronics, and defence, their sudden unavailability will jeopardise production. QCOs are government orders to ensure the quality of products, protection of human, animal, and plant health, and prevention of deceptive practices. They are notified by government departments in consultation with the BIS and are compulsory in nature for a foreign as well as a local manufacturer. This means that manufacturers and importers need to adhere to certain standards and obtain BIS certification to ensure compliance with standards. In this case, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had issued the QCO in September last and will be implemented in a phased manner. To begin with, from March 20, it will be implemented for all imports and large firms. For small and micro firms, the order will come into effect from June 20 and September 20, respectively. India produces standard fasteners, but relies on imports for high-end fasteners, which will now be unavailable. During 2024, India's global imports of steel fasteners amounted to $1.1 billion, according to data compiled by GTRI. Of the total imports of such products, the lion's share came in from China at $306 million, followed by Japan at $127 million, South Korea at $111 million, Germany at $107 million, United States at $104 million, Thailand at $78 million and Singapore at $63 million. GTRI suggested that the government should reconsider the QCO and instead adopt a more pragmatic approach, such as mutual recognition of international certifications or phased regulatory adjustments, to balance quality control with industry needs. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'Binary fission will happen -- startups will lead to more startups.' Nandan Nilekani's 8 recommendations for India's economy to hit the $8 trillion mark by 2035. Peerzada Abrar listens in. IMAGE: Nandan Nilekani, cofounder, Infosys. Photograph: ANI Photo India is ready to become the most preferred initial public offering (IPO) market globally by 2035, according to Nandan Nilekani, cofounder of Infosys, who spearheaded the country's massive unique identification project. India already has the largest number of IPOs, Nilekani pointed out, but their value is lower compared to the US. However, companies want to return and list in India. Nilekani spoke about the necessary "key unlocks" required to accelerate the country's growth rate from 6 to 8 per cent and achieve an $8 trillion economy by 2035. These include technology, capital, entrepreneurship, and formalisation. "Ghar wapsi is happening. Companies that were incorporated in Singapore or the US are flipping back, paying a tonne of taxes so that they can list in India," said Nilekani at the Arkam Annual Meet 2025, organised by venture capital firm Arkam Ventures. "I remember seven to eight years ago, we had to persuade companies to come back and list here. Now, they are returning on their own and paying premium taxes." He cited examples of companies such as PhonePe, Razorpay, Pine Labs, and Zepto that have made such a move. "That only shows that the Indian capital market will be the most attractive place for IPOs in the next 10 years. "So, it's a perfect environment where you have all the capital to go from seed to IPO, and then you have a willing market to absorb it," said Nilekani. Nilekani also predicted a surge in startups across India. "We expect 1 million startups by 2035. In 2016, we may have had a few thousand startups, of which about 1,000 were funded. "Today, we have 150,000 startups. We expect that the number will grow at a 20 per cent compound annual growth rate. "In other words, when the economy grows at 8 per cent, startups will grow at 20 per cent, reaching 1 million by 2035. "Binary fission will happen -- startups will lead to more startups," said Nilekani. Nilekani said this is a phenomenon that has not been seen before. "So, we don't know what it means if a million companies are all roaming around trying to fix problems. And I think that's the exciting thing that is going to happen by 2035. "Interestingly, more and more startups are emerging outside the metros, solving different issues," he said. The power of 8 Nilekani gave eight recommendations for India's economy to hit the $8 trillion mark by 2035. These include artificial intelligence (AI) for a billion Indians, focusing on Indian languages, last-mile consumers, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as emphasising agriculture, health, and education. "There are many other uses of AI. I'm just saying that if you want to change the trajectory of growth, this is what you have to do," said Nilekani. To accelerate capital, he suggested maximising AI penetration and leveraging land monetisation using 'finternet' architecture, which refers to the convergence of finance and the Internet, where financial services are seamlessly integrated into digital platforms. "This will unlock even more capital and provide further momentum on the capital side," said Nilekani. To boost entrepreneurship, he recommended increasing funding outside the metros. "If we want to reduce spatial inequality, we need entrepreneurs in small towns, villages, and rural areas. That has to be done very proactively. "And, of course, we must ensure that those 10 million MSMEs striving to modernise have access to technology, markets, credit, and other resources," said Nilekani who also advocated accelerating formalisation, emphasising its transformational potential. He highlighted the importance of creating a truly national market for trustworthy credentials, allowing individuals to showcase them anywhere and secure a job. He also stressed the need for a genuine national market for benefits, enabling people to carry their benefits wherever they go. He called for deregulation, simplifying laws and compliances, and decriminalisation, noting that such changes would unlock opportunities. Nilekani said that entrepreneurs will come, raise funds, and go public, ultimately generating value for everyone. However, he said that if friction is not reduced for them, they will seek opportunities elsewhere. He believes that by addressing these issues through eight specific recommendations, growth of 6 to 8 per cent is achievable. Murthy Warns: Don't Hype AI, Think Big Jaden Mathew Paul IMAGE: Co-Founder and Infosys Chairman N R Narayana Murthy. Photograph: ANI Photo Infosys Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday cautioned against what he called "exaggerated" claims surrounding artificial intelligence in India, while asserting that poverty can be tackled by innovation and job creation and not by freebies. Murthy pointed out that many systems labelled as AI are just conventional programmes. "I find that most of the so-called AI, I see, is silly and old programming," he said while speaking at TiEcon Mumbai 2025. "It has become a fashion in India to talk of AI in everything. Ordinary programmes are touted as AI," he said, adding that true AI involves two fundamental principles: Machine learning, which enables large-scale correlation for predictive analysis, and deep learning, which mimics human brain functions to handle unsupervised algorithms. "Unsupervised algorithms which use deep learning and neural networks are the ones that have much greater potential to do things that will mimic human beings better and better," he said. Murthy highlighted that with every technological advancement, certain jobs may be eliminated, but if implemented in an assistive manner, it can drive economic growth. "In each tech, certain jobs will be eliminated, but if used in an assisted manner, we can grow the economy," he said. Drawing parallels with AI, he explained that while automation may replace certain roles, it also has the potential to create new industries and employment opportunities. "AI for example, if you use it in autonomous vehicles for transport, hospital care, it will lead to expansion of those companies and create jobs," he said. He urged startups to benchmark themselves against the best global standards. "In the beginning, it looks impossible, but the moment the mind-set has been created, you'll start making progress," he said. He also stressed the need to hire talent that is "smarter than you" and to foster a workplace that is open to new ideas. "That's how you solve the problem, and not with freebies. Our poverty will vanish like dew on a sunny morning," he added. "Every startup that failed did not follow this," said Murthy. An advocate of compassionate capitalism, Murthy took a critical stance on government freebies, arguing that subsidies should be tied to measurable outcomes. "What you can do is, when subsidies are provided, you can ask for something in return. "If you give free electricity for the first six months, at the end of it, we'll find out if children are reading more and if their performance is better in school," he added. Offering guidance to entrepreneurs, Murthy emphasised the importance of earning respect from all stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, and regulators. "If you think in terms of doing good to society, you'll get repeat business, employees will join and investors, vendors will put up with you in difficult times, politicians will want you to succeed," he said. Mohandas Pai: India Needs Frugal AI Innovation Ajinkya Kawale IMAGE: Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai. Photograph: ANI Photo India cannot afford to put billions of dollars annually into AI research and development (R&D) and it should rather focus on cost-effective ways to scale AI advancements, former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai said while citing the example of China's DeepSeek. Pai, chairman at Aarin Capital, was speaking at the TiEcon Mumbai 2025 event. "We can't put billions of dollars in R&D every single year because we don't have that kind of money. "What DeepSeek did is very unique. They brought down the computing requirement by 75 per cent," he added. Pai highlighted that Indian companies should focus on developing vertical large language models (LLMs) for domains like financial services, healthcare, and high-tech manufacturing, rather than competing with general-purpose horizontal LLMs like ChatGPT or DeepSeek. He believes this approach could position India as a dominant digital power in the coming decade. As AI takes over routine tasks and streamlines workflows, innovation cycles will accelerate, Pai noted. "Greater discoveries and innovation will happen faster. "Innovation cycles will come down because innovation includes search, reasoning, and the creation of models, which can be done by AI," he explained. Pai suggested that India prioritise five to six areas of technology including artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, hyper quantum computing, biogenomics and biotechnology, and high-tech manufacturing. "We've got to pick these five areas and invest in them through public money, put a billion dollars a year in each one of them, get a coalition of hundreds of our best engineering schools, get a coalition of industry working with them and join together to accelerate the process of innovation," he said. Pai also added that India needs to have better methods for the ease of doing business in the country highlighting the need to attract foreign capital. "The problem in India is the detail. We talk about ease of business, but what is it? What are the things you must do? "I would urge startups and make a document on what law, regulation has to be carved out and given an exemption," Pai said. Pai added there was a need to ease the process to attract capital referring to the extensive bureaucracy required to enable foreign investments in the country. "The Chinese got all the money in and they grew the country. We don't allow money to come in...we harass them. "For all the things that the Reserve Bank of India did the last two years, FDI has become negative. "Foreign capital is not coming in and they're getting harassed. I think we've got to clean this up," he said. Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in India -- inflows minus outflows -- declined to $1.18 billion during April-December 2024 from $7.84 billion in the same period in 2023 due to a rise in repatriation and overseas investments by Indian firms. Gross inward FDI during April-November 2024 increased by 20.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to $62.5 billion from $51.8 billion a year ago, according to the RBI's data (February 2025 bulletin). Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com 'She feels it will send her to jail.' IMAGE: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati with her nephew Akash Anand, who she declared twice as her successor and then sacked from the party. Photograph: ANI Photo Last week Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati sacked her nephew Akash Anand, who was perceived as her heir-apparent, from the party. 'As long as I am alive there will be no heir to the party,' Mayawati told supporters after sacking Anand. Akash Anand's speeches reportedly struck a chord with BSP cadres who felt enthused that Mayawati had found a successor to lead the party which her late mentor Kanshi Ram founded in 1984. Under her leadership the BSP reached its pinnacle when it formed the government in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 on its own, surprising political pundits. Since 2012, after the loss of electoral power to the Samajwadi Party, it has been a downhill trajectory for the BSP. Today the party has just one MLA in the state assembly. So what has gone wrong for the BSP? Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com asked Sudha Pai, retired professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. "This downfall of the BSP was coming for a long time, but Mayawati made it worse by her own actions," says Pai, arguably the foremost authority on the BSP and the author of Dalits in the New Millenium and co-author of Politics of Representation: Historically Disadvantaged Groups in India's Democracy. Mayawati recently sacked her nephew from the BSP for the second time. What is going on in her mind? Mayawati has become very temperamental and part of it is that she is afraid of the Bharatiya Janata Party as she feels it will send her to jail (in corruption cases). They are putting pressure on her. When Akash was first appointed he made a lot of speeches about the BJP and Yogi Adityanath, that he was running a bulldozer government, after which Mayawati removed Akash from the BSP. Many people say there was pressure from the BJP against Akash and that is why she removed him. People said she did so because the BJP was gunning for her over her unaccounted assets. This could be the reason why she sacked him at that point of time, but once the results of the 2024 general elections came out and the BSP did badly, she brought him back to the forefront. Does Akash have the potential to become a successful leader? It looks like that. He is young. He is learning fast and BSP cadres seem to like him. Many people feel he could be the alternative to Chandra Shekhar Azad who is a young Dalit leader and from the Jatav caste. Mayawati is saying now that Akash's father-in-law (Ashok Siddharth) worked against her. She feels that Akash and his father-in-law will remove her and take charge of the BSP. Mayawati has become very suspicious of people. She has always been like that. She wants control of the party for as long as she is alive. She is apprehensive that she might lose control of the party. Does Mayawati not realise that the BSP has been reduced to one MLA in UP, a state it ruled once? I think she realises it, but she is not doing anything about it. If you see, from 2012 onwards the BSP has been unravelling. It is doing very badly. In 2019, very briefly, the BSP got 10 members of Parliament, but that was more due to the mahagathbandhan (with the Samajwadi Party). Otherwise the BSP is doing very badly in UP. She probably thinks she has nothing to lose as the party is losing ground right now and she wants to buy time to make a comeback, which seems impossible now. IMAGE: Azad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram President Chandra Shekhar Azad addresses a samadhan rally in Patna, December 8, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Is she not destroying the BSP then? Mayawati destroyed the BSP in a number of ways if you look carefully at her actions in the past few years. In 2012 the organisational structure of the BSP deteriorated largely because she got rid of a large number of people who were very useful to her. Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Baba Kushwaha, young leaders like Shrawan Kumar Nirala from Gorakhpur who was very close to her, she got rid of all of them. In the 2022 elections Nirala wanted to contest elections from the BSP but she did not give him a ticket. He then quit the party and started an Ambedkarite organisation in Gorakhpur. Mayawati's action led to the fragmentation of the party. This happened across regions of UP and many of her supporters went to the BJP. As a result we have a series of Ambedkarite organisations within the BJP, BSP and outside both the parties. How different is she from Kanshi Ram? Kanshi Ram prepared a second line leadership. When he appointed Mayawati as his successor there was a lot of differences within the party. For example, (Union Minister Of State) Anupriya Patel's father Sone Lal Patel in eastern UP, he quit the BSP to form his own party, the Apna Dal-Sonelal. Many BSP leaders left at that time and the disintegration of BSP begins from early 2000. 2007 was a bit of a fluke for the party as it formed the government on its own strength in Uttar Pradesh. She did a lot of work as chief minister of UP from 2007 to 2012. Somehow Dalits felt they will do very well (economically) after the BSP came to power. But that is not possible as Brahmins (in UP) have always been the elite class. They have always controlled everything and if you control the economy you control everything. And post 2014, the rise of Narendra Modi and the rise of the Right changed things for her. Whenever an upper caste political party does well in UP, the BSP does not do well. This happened during the Congress' time too and now it is happening during the BJP's time. This downfall of the BSP was coming for a long time, but Mayawati made it worse by her own actions and her own doings. She is 69 years old and the BSP has no other face. Does she not feel that the party is going nowhere? If she saw it like that she would have allowed Akash Anand to continue or designated someone else. There are younger leaders in the BSP but Mayawati is so suspicious of people. When I interviewed Chandra Shekhar Azad for my book he told me that he tried many times to meet Mayawati and join hands with her at the time he formed the Bhim Army. However, Mayawati was very suspicious of Chandra Shekhar Azad and told him to stay away from her. In places like Saharanpur, BSP cadres too were told to stay away from Chandra Shekhar Azad; in spite of all that he won the Nagina Lok Sabha constituency. Will going back to caste politics and raising slogans against upper castes work again considering the Hindutva wave has become so strong in the country? Ideologically, the BSP is a spent force. Once she shifted from Bahujan Samaj (the Dalit community) to Sarvajan Samaj (universal community) and even before that in the latter part of the 1990s she gave a lot of tickets to upper castes and OBCs. This step made the smaller Dalit communities like Passis and Kushwahas feel that they have been neglected. And once the party became an election fighting machine in the second half of 2000s there was no downward democratisation within the BSP as far as eastern UP is concerned. The mobilisation of anti-upper castes ended by the second half of 1990s. They tried the Samajwadi Party alliance earlier (in 1993) and with the Congress (in 1996), so this led to a shift from a (political) movement to a party. This destroyed the BSP because there was too much of shift. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi washes a sanitation worker's feet during a Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar event in Prayagraj, February 24, 2019. Photograph: Kind courtesy @BJP4India/Twitter Why did she never become a part of the INDIA group? I think the BJP has a role to play in this because she is afraid of going to jail. When we did field work and asked Dalits what would happen if Mayawati is sent to jail, they told us that they will hit the streets to protest. They said she should go to jail because we respect Behenji (Mayawati). 'When atrocities are done on Dalits we call Dalit leader Chandra Shekhar Azad for help and we do not call her because Mayawati never hits the road to help us.' 'Hum BJP ko vote isiliye daal rahey hain kyon ki Behenji baahar uttarti nahi hai (we vote for the BJP because Mayawati never steps out of her house).' She also changed some of her candidates in the 2024 parliamentary elections as I think she is afraid of the BJP and at their behest she made this move. She does not want to go to jail. Are these charges of corruption very serious? Is there concrete proof? There are charges against her which will stand up. All the assets she has were accumulated when she was (heading) the party. And you never know, the BJP will put you in jail without having too much (proof) against you. They have done this to so many people (in the Opposition). With the BJP you don't need a strong reason to put the Opposition in jail. Today the Dalit movement in UP is in a post-BSP phase. By the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, UP's experience of globalisation was very late and there was a shift from identity politics and desire for social justice to economic development. Therefore, you will that see poorer Dalits who had no attachment to Mayawati went over to PM Modi's party. PM Modi spoke about 'achche din' and employment. Also, they have been on a long phase of Hinduisation, like the Valmikis and the Passi caste. Do these Dalits then get due respect under the UP government? They are not getting respect, but getting welfare. The smaller Dalits are very poor and they have nobody to turn to. They do not want to vote for the Samajwadi Party because Yadavs are their oppressors in the countryside. They do not want to support the BSP because it is nowhere. The BJP gives them welfare, that is food. If you do field work, the younger poorer Dalits will tell you that at least they are able to feed their parents and children under the BJP's rule. They feel extremely humiliated to take this food, but have no option. Therefore, in 2024, it was not only 'Samvidhan khatrey mein hai (the Constitution is in danger) that worked for the Opposition but also sheer economic distress post-Covid pushed Dalits towards the INDIA bloc in the general elections. It was Akhilesh Yadav in alliance with the Congress, whom they used to vote once, and found them an alternative. In a significant step towards restoring peace in Manipur, Imphal West has surrendered the highest number of weapons in response to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla's appeal to turn in looted illegal arms. IMAGE: ecurity personnel deployed after clashes break out between Kuki protesters and security forces, in Kangpokpi, Manipur, March 8, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo According to a senior officer, during the two-week deadline for surrender of arms and ammunition, a total of 990 arms were surrendered with 11,526 ammunition. As many as 366 hand grenades, 230 bombs, and 10 improvised explosive devices have been recovered between February 16 and March 6 in 11 districts. The state has been plagued by ethnic violence since May 2023, and this development is seen as a positive move towards disarmament. The highest number of arms were surrendered in Imphal West district, with 349 and 5,764 ammunition surrendered in Imphal East. In Imphal West, 115 grenades were surrendered, the highest in number, and one IED has been recovered. The weapons and ammunition were surrendered in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Jiribam, Kakching, Kangpokpi, Pherzwal, Tengnoupal and Tamenglong districts. The officer said that the figure would go up as more and more people were coming to surrender the looted weapons. The weapons surrendered include handguns, machine guns, grenades, and INSAS and AK-56 rifles. "We are in the process of identification of weapons and matching the details of arms that were looted," the officer said. Governor Bhalla on February 20 had initially set a seven-day deadline for the surrender of looted and illegal arms, which was later extended to March 6. The government is now in the process of identifying the surrendered weapons and matching them with the details of arms that were looted He urged warring groups to surrender voluntarily weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held arms and extended the deadline till 4 PM on March 6, following demands by people from both hill and valley areas for additional time. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday assured Parliament that the government will provide all necessary assistance to support Manipur's economic recovery. A supplementary demand for grants worth Rs 1,861 crore has been placed on the table to aid the state's rebuilding efforts. "We are providing all the potential assistance to support a faster recovery of the (Manipur) economy. For Manipur, I (would) like to put for consideration for all members we will continuously support so that the recovery is faster," she told Lok Sabha, responding to the discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2024-25, Demands for Additional Grants for the year 2021-22 and Budget of Manipur for the year 2025-26. (ANI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta called on Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Kishenchand Advani at his residence in New Delhi. She also called on founding BJP member Vijay Kumar Malhotra and received his blessings. IMAGE: Lalji blesses Rekha Gupta. IMAGE: The CM presents a bouquet to the former deputy PM. Photographs: ANI Photo IMAGE: 'I met BJP's founding member, senior leader, renowned educationist and social worker Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra and received his blessings,' the CM tweeted. IMAGE: The CM with Professor Malhotra's family. 'His guidance and experience have always been valuable for society and politics. On this occasion, meaningful discussions were held on important topics like the development of the state, education and youth empowerment.' IMAGE: Rekha Gupta with Krishna Malhotra, Professor Malhotra's wife. Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com A British woman was allegedly raped and molested by two men at a hotel in in Delhi's Mahipalpur area, an official said on Thursday. Image used only for representation. Photograph: StockSnap/Pixabay.com Police have arrested two people in connection with the incident which occurred on Tuesday, and informed the British High Commission about the incident, he said. The British national was befriended by one of the accused on a social media platform. The woman had allegedly travelled from Goa to Delhi to meet the 24-year-old from east Delhi, the official said. She was allegedly first molested by a housekeeping staff in the hotel's lift, a senior official said. Later, she was allegedly raped in a hotel room by the man she knew from previous social media interactions. The woman first spoke to the accused on a social media platform a month and a half earlier and after that they would talk frequently, the police official said. Kailash, a resident of east Delhi, struggled to speak English and used some translation application to communicate with her, police said. When the British woman came to India, she and the accused made plans to meet each other in Delhi, he added. The victim travelled from Goa to Delhi and booked a room in Mahipalpur's hotel. When the accused came to meet her, she alleged that she was raped by him, the official said. Police teams are checking CCTV footage of the hotel to know the sequence of the events. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. From March 13 to 15, Baku will once again take center stage as a hub for global dialogue, hosting the 12th Global Baku Forum. Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the forum has steadily grown into one of the worlds key platforms for international discourse, attracting high-profile participants, including presidents, prime ministers, ministers, and senior representatives of global organizations. This years forum will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities", reflecting the urgent need for fresh approaches to global governance, diplomacy, and cooperation. Against the backdrop of shifting geopolitical alliances, economic uncertainty, and unresolved conflicts, the discussions at the forum are expected to focus on the role of multilateralism, the future of the United Nations, post-conflict recovery efforts, and the influence of middle powers in shaping the new world order. The increasing prominence of the Global Baku Forum is closely tied to Azerbaijans emergence as a key player in regional and global affairs. Over the years, the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, which organizes the event, has evolved into a respected international institution, fostering dialogue on pressing global challenges and promoting understanding among nations. The growing number of participants each year underscores Azerbaijans expanding diplomatic reach and its commitment to multilateral engagement. President Ilham Aliyev has often emphasized the importance of the forum in shaping global discussions. Speaking at last years event, he noted that the Global Baku Forum now stands alongside leading international gatherings such as the Davos World Economic Forum and the Munich Security Conference. "With respect to the potential of Nizami Ganjavi International Center and the list of participants, we really see that the discussions held annually here in Baku contribute to a better understanding or different important international issues," President Ilham Aliyev remarked. This recognition reflects Azerbaijans broader foreign policy strategy - one that balances national interests with a commitment to global dialogue and conflict resolution. As a country that has successfully navigated complex regional dynamics while fostering economic growth and political stability, Azerbaijan is increasingly seen as a bridge between different geopolitical blocs. This years forum is set to gather around 400 influential figures, including more than 50 current and former heads of state and government, alongside Nobel laureates, UN officials, scholars, and policymakers. The discussions will span a wide array of critical global issues, including: geopolitical shifts and responsible partnership, multilateralism in a multipolar world, post-conflict recovery and regional stability, the future of the United Nations, as well as climate change and sustainable development with a special focus on the results of COP29 As global instability continues to challenge traditional diplomatic frameworks, platforms like the Global Baku Forum are becoming increasingly essential. By bringing together diverse voices from across the world, the forum offers a unique opportunity to explore common solutions to shared challenges. The events growing influence is also a testament to Azerbaijans role as a trusted mediator and reliable partner in global affairs. Its ability to convene high-level discussions reflects not only its geopolitical significance but also the countrys commitment to fostering peace and stability on the international stage. At a time when international tensions run high, the Global Baku Forum serves as a reminder that dialogue remains the most effective tool for conflict resolution, economic cooperation, and sustainable development. By hosting this forum, Azerbaijan continues to reinforce its position as a key player in shaping the global conversation - one that prioritizes diplomacy, multilateralism, and shared progress. Donald Trump busts on sale at the San Ysidro border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. IMAGE: Trump among the chimps. All photographs: Aimee Melo/Reuters IMAGE: How much would you pay for the most disliked man in Mexico? IMAGE: Trump -- ahem... the busts -- watch people queue to cross into San Diego, California. IMAGE: Sonic, Yoda join Trump. IMAGE: How much did you pay for Trump? Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com The Bombay high court has refused any relief to a Dalit PhD student suspended by the Tata Institute of Social Science for alleged anti-national activities, noting that TISS felt his participation in a protest brought disrepute to the institution. IMAGE: Students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) hold placards and shout slogans during a protest. Image used only for representation. Photograph: ANI Photo A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and M M Sathaye on Wednesday dismissed the plea filed by the student, Ramadas K S, against the institute's April 2024 decision of suspending him for two years. "The order suspending the petitioner (Ramadas) does not suffer from any illegality or perversity. We find that this is not a fit case to interfere. There is no merit in the petition and the same is dismissed," the HC said. Ramadas was accused of participating in a protest march in New Delhi against the central government's 'anti-student policies' and for urging people to watch 'Ram Ke Naam' documentary during the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony. In its order, the court said it was 'clear as sunshine that the march (in which Ramadas participated) was politically motivated'. No fault can be found with the institute's order that Ramadas created an impression in general public that the politically-motivated protest and views were the views of the institution -- TISS, the HC said. The court noted Ramadas had participated in the protest under the banner of TISS' student organisation. "This has brought disrepute to the institute in its view," the high court said. Ramadas can have any political view of his choice, but so does the institute. The petitioner has full freedom of expressing his political view; but to do so under the banner of the respondent institute is what is objected to by the institute, the HC said. Ramadas, in his plea, said pursuant to the suspension order, his scholarship had been stopped due to which he was facing difficulties. The student claimed he was 'unlawfully, arbitrarily and unfairly suspended by the institute'. TISS had opposed the plea, stating Ramadas had an alternate remedy and could appeal against the suspension order before a committee set up within the institute. Ramadas, however, said he may not get an independent hearing from the institute. IMAGE: Students of Patna Women's College applying colours ahead of Holi. All photographs: ANI Photo Ahead of Holi, controversial statements by leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Janata Dal-United in Bihar have heated up politics in the state which goes to the polls this winter. On Monday, BJP MLA Haribhushan Singh Thakur Bachaul asked Muslims to stay indoors on Holi on March 14, which coincides with Friday prayers (jumma namaaz) during the month of Ramzan, to give Hindus the freedom to celebrate the festival of colours. On Wednesday, Darbhanga Mayor Anjum Ara, who is a JD-U leader, appealed to people to stop playing Holi from 12.30 pm to 2 pm to allow Muslims to offer Friday prayers without hindrance. This triggered an angry response from BJP leaders. JD-U leaders also reacted against Ara for making such a statement in public. IMAGE: BJP MLA Haribhushan Singh Thakur Bachaul. Bihar Minister Ashok Choudhary, a senior JD-U leader who is considered close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, demanded the Darbhanga mayor's removal from the party for her statement. "It was a wrong statement contrary to our leader Nitish Kumar's stand to strengthen communal harmony. Such people should be removed from the party," Choudhary said. Two other senior JD-U leaders, Sharvan Kumar and Madan Sahni, both Bihar ministers, also questioned Ara's statement, stating it was in bad taste and that she should not have made such a remark on Holi. Most senior JD-U leaders had, however, kept mum after Bachaul's statement that Muslims should stay indoors on Holi. "Who is Bachaul to issue such an appeal to Muslims to stay indoors on Holi?" asked Tejashwi Yadav, leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly. "Who has given him the power? Where is the chief minister to take cognisance of his ally who plays divisive politics?" IMAGE: Darbhanga Mayor Anjum Ara. PTI adds: Ara's remarks drew an angry response from Bachaul, the BJP MLA from the adjoining district of Madhubani. Speaking to reporters on the state assembly premises, he asked, "Where are the self-proclaimed secularists who were attacking me? The mayor of Darbhanga has virtually called for 'Ghazwa-e-Hind', to convert India into an Islamic caliphate." "The administration is not supposed to tell the people when and how to celebrate a festival," state Minister Shravan Kumar said, adding, "These decisions are best left to society and the administration must always concentrate on maintaining the rule of law." Kumar also disapproved of Bachaul's remarks, saying, "Elected representatives must never use language that hurts a section of society." Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com Hyderabad police have imposed certain restrictions in connection with Holi celebrations, prohibiting movement of vehicles in groups and throwing colours on unwilling persons, drawing an angry response from Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Raja Singh on Thursday. Image used only for representation. Photograph: ANI Photo Slamming the police notification, Goshamahal MLA described it as a 'Tughlaq farman' (Tughlaq order). The police in a notification prohibited the movement of two wheelers and other vehicles in groups on streets and public places disturbing peace and order or causing inconvenience or danger to the public. As per notification, throwing colours or coloured water on unwilling persons, places and vehicles or smearing unwilling people with colour on public roads and public places, causing annoyance, is also prohibited. The order will be in force from 6 pm on March 13 to 6 am on March 15. Police issued a separate notification directing closure of wine/toddy shops and bars attached to restaurants (excluding bars in star hotels and registered clubs) from 6 am to 6 pm on March 14. Raja Singh claimed the police issued the notification under the directions of the Congress government. "I want to ask the chief minister and the police officials. During the 30 days of Ramzan, how people move on bikes and in groups during nights, is this not visible to the Telangana' ninth Nizam Revanth Reddy and the police officials? How much nuisance happens in Hyderabad during these 30 days?," he said. Did they not get any idea to issue such a 'farman' against those who do it, he asked. The Congress is a 'slave' to a particular community and it is anti-Hindu, he alleged. Revanth Reddy is behaving like 'ninth Nizam' because his predecessor K Chandrasekhar Rao was 'eighth Nizam', Singh said. Charging that Nizam used to trouble Hindus during his era, he said Revanth Reddy is behaving like a 'copy' of Nizam. He observed that the Congress government could have given a different type of notification appealing to Muslims to cooperate with the Hindu brothers for a day during Holi by not coming out on roads. However, the government chose to take action against Hindus by imposing restrictions, he said and asked the chief minister to change such a policy. The Karnataka government has withdrawn its order directing the Criminal Investigation Department to probe possible lapses and dereliction of duty by police officers at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru in connection with actor Ranya Rao's gold smuggling case. Photograph: Courtesy Ranya Rao on Facebook The CID probe order was issued on Monday night. A subsequent order on Wednesday withdrawing the CID investigation stated that Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta is already probing the possible role of Ranya's stepfather, K Ramachandra Rao, a DGP-rank officer, in the case. Ramachandra Rao is currently serving as the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation. Gupta's inquiry will focus on the facts and circumstances leading to the misuse of protocol-related facilities and Rao's involvement in the case. Recently, gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from Ranya at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. The next day, officials said, searches were conducted at her residence where gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash were recovered. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX on Wednesday scrubbed the launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station due to a 'hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A' at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IMAGE: NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Barry Wilmore, and Donald Pettit unbox Thanksgiving meals, from the International Space Station (ISS), in this screen grab taken from a handout video, released on November 26, 2024. Photograph: NASA/Handout via Reuters The next available launch opportunity is no earlier than 7:26 pm EDT on Thursday, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy pending review of the issue, according to the statement released by NASA. Launch coverage will start at 3:25 pm (local time) on NASA+. and docking is targeted at 11:30 pm (local time) on Friday. A crew of four will head to the ISS onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for a six-month stay. The mission is being launched to bring back Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita Williams, Fox News report. 'With a March 13 Crew-10 launch, the Crew-9 mission with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, would depart the space station no earlier than 9:05 a.m. Monday, March 17, pending weather at the splashdown locations off the coast of Florida,' the NASA said in a statement. 'Crew-10 is the 10th crew rotation mission of SpaceX's human space transportation system and its 11th flight with crew aboard, including the Demo-2 test flight, to the space station through NASA's Commercial Crew Program,' it added. Ahead of the scheduled launch on Wednesday, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth shared a video message to express support for NASA's SpaceX Crew-10, Fox News reported. In a video posted on X, Hegseth stated, "I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you." He added, "We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon." "President Trump said to Elon Musk, 'get the astronauts home and do it now' -- and they're responding," Hegseth said. "And they're bringing NASA astronauts, [who] also happen to be retired US Navy Capt Butch Wilmore and retired US Navy Capt Suni Williams, home," he added, according to the Fox News report. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been stranded on the ISS for nine months after reaching there in June last year. They were supposed to stay there for about a week. The astronauts were transported from Earth to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. However, the spacecraft came back to Earth unmanned in September. This came after Starliner faced 'helium leaks' and 'issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters' while docking with the ISS. The launch was scheduled for Wednesday after US President Donald Trump urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to rescue the stranded astronauts sooner than NASA had planned. He has repeatedly accused former US President Joe Biden of abandoning them in space. On March 7, Trump said that he has authorised Elon Musk to bring back American astronauts -- Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stranded at the International Space station since June last year. A stray dog was found carrying a dead newborn child in its mouth in a bustling area of Rewa city in Madhya Pradesh, prompting the police to launch a probe to find out those who dumped the baby, an official said on Thursday. IMAGE: People protest against the stray dogs menace, in Bhopal. Image used only for representation. Photograph: ANI Photo A video of the dog running around through allies at night with a newborn baby's body in its mouth has gone viral on social media. The video was shot near Kabaddi Mohalla at Jaystambh Chowk under the Civil Lines police station limits in the city. This is the third incident in Rewa in the last one-and-a-half months in which a newborn baby was found dumped, police said, adding that the latest incident is the second case in which a canine was found carrying the body of a dead baby in its mouth. "A video has surfaced in which a dog holding a dead newborn baby in its mouth was seen wandering around two days ago (Tuesday)," Rewa Superintendent of Police Vivek Singh told PTI. "It was a very disturbing scene. After being informed, the Civil Lines police were immediately sent to the spot. The newborn child's body was later recovered as the dog dropped it after being chased away. The body has been kept in the mortuary," he said. Singh said the police were analysing the video footage and questioning those who captured the visuals. "We are making all-out efforts to zero in on the person who indulged in such a diabolical act (of dumping the newborn baby). We have already asked people to come forward and pass on the information related to the case and their names will be kept secret," Singh said. Asked about the two earlier incidents of the newborn babies being dumped, the SP said the previous case of the dog carrying the child's body was from the (government) medical college, in which action has been taken. US authorities have identified a 24-year-old man as person of interest in the case of a 20-year-old Indian student who went missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic. Photograph: Courtesy, Sudiksha Konanki on Facebook Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town. She went missing while on vacation in the Dominican Republic and US federal law enforcement agencies are working with authorities in the Caribbean country in the probe into her disappearance. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Konanki's hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with Sudiksha at a resort before she went missing, spokesperson Chad Quinn told USA Today. Though Konanki's father has asked local authorities to broaden the investigation, Quinn said the case is not a criminal investigation, so Riibe is not considered a suspect in Konanki's disappearance. "This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest," Quinn was quoted as saying by the USA Today. Quinn confirmed Riibe was a person of interest in the case, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions, the New York Post reported. "This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect," Quinn said. "It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group travelling with the missing person." A student at the University of Pittsburgh, Konanki was vacationing with five female college friends at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when she went missing on March 6, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Monday. In a previous statement, the police said surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach at about 6 am on March 6. Konanki apparently stayed behind with a man, and surveillance video shows him leaving the beach area hours later without her, the report said. Quinn said Riibe was not part of the group that Konanki travelled to the island with and is believed to have met them in the resort town of Punta Cana. Riibe is originally from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and has been a student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota since 2023, according to university spokesperson Zach Dwyer. Meanwhile, Family members of Konanki, a native of India, live in a Washington, DC, suburb, and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is assisting the FBI and local law enforcement in the investigation. "A number of people have been interviewed by the Dominican National Police with the assistance of the FBI," Quinn said. Father of Sudiksha, Subbarayudu Konanki, told WTOP-FM radio station that he wants authorities to pivot from the assumption that his daughter drowned and consider "multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction." The radio station reported that a complaint seeking to broaden the investigation was filed on Sunday. "Her belongings, including personal items like her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her," the record of the complaint obtained by WTOP-FM stated. The Dominican Republic National Police said Tuesday it has worked with multiple US agencies to establish a "high-level commission" to oversee the investigation and will be reinterviewing "targeted individuals" who were seen near or with Konanki at the time of her disappearance. President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said. IMAGE: AAP leader Satyendar Jain (middle) addresses the media on his release from Tihar jail, as Manish Sisodia looks on, in New Delhi. Photograph: ANI Photo In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary. The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said. The Central Vigilance Commission, in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department. The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties". Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals. The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement. The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said. In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam. According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government. The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms. The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet. The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said. The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said. Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said. The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said. Hours after the Tamil Nadu government released a new rupee logo for the state budget, IIT Guwahati Professor D Udaya Kumar, who had designed the Indian rupee symbol, on Thursday, refused to be drawn into the controversy over language and said it is a mere coincidence that his father was a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLA. IMAGE: IIT Guwahati Professor D Udaya Kumar, who had designed the Indian rupee symbol. Photograph: Courtesy Facebook The DMK government in the southern state has replaced the Devanagari rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its logo for the budget 2025-26, which will be tabled in the assembly on Friday. While the move drew the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party wondered if any rule barred such a depiction. "I don't have any reaction. It's the government which suddenly felt that there was a need for a change and they wanted to implement their own script. This is up to the state government. So, I don't have anything to say about that. It's entirely up to the government," Kumar told PTI. Kumar's father N Dharmalingam was an MLA from the Rishivandiyam constituency in 1971 from the DMK party, which is in power in Tamil Nadu presently. "My father was an MLA even before I was born. Now, he is old and living in our village, leading his life peacefully. It just happened to be a coincidence, probably I could have been somebody else as well," the professor said. "It's just that he happened to be a DMK MLA and the DMK government changed the design. I do not see anything else beyond it as a pure coincidence which has happened," he said. The logo for the state budget, released by the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday, carried ru, the first letter of the Tamil word Rubaai which denotes the Indian currency in the vernacular language. The logo also had the caption "everything for all," indicating what the ruling DMK claims is its inclusive governance model. Recollecting his experience while designing the Indian rupee symbol, Kumar said, "The design I created was based on certain requirements that the government had asked for. It was a competition by the Government of India. I participated and my design got selected as the winner of the competition, and it was implemented then." The Tamil Nadu government probably thought that it was the right time for them to change it with their own design, "and I don't have much to say on this", Kumar said. According to the government portal 'www.knowindia.india.gov.in', the rupee symbol is an amalgam of Devanagari Ra and the Roman Capital "R" with two parallel horizontal stripes running at the top representing the national flag and also the "equal to" sign. "The Indian Rupee sign was adopted by the government of India on July 15 2010," it added. Udaya Kumar is a post-graduate in design from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The Global Baku Forum is attracting more and more attention amid global instability, said Tarja Halonen, the former President of Finland, told Trend on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum. "This forum has gathered many participants over the years. This time, I believe, we have a record number of attendees. I think people have become more active as the global situation remains unpredictable. Therefore, we continue to strive to maintain this dialogue and hold such meetings," Halonen noted. She also emphasized that Finland maintains good relations with all countries seeking cooperation and remains an active member of the United Nations (UN). The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Holi celebrations have begun. Glimpses from Agra, Varanasi, New Delhi and Patna... Agra IMAGE: Holi on the roof against the backdrop of the Taj Mahal, here and below. Photograph: ANI Photo Photograph: ANI Photo Varanasi IMAGE: Muslim Mahila Foundation members smear colours on a woman ahead of Holi in Varanasi. Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Muslim Mahila Foundation members celebrate Holi with flowers. Photograph: ANI Photo New Delhi IMAGE: Vidya Bal Bhawan students play Holi in New Delhi, here and below. Photograph: ANI Photo Photograph: ANI Photo Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Women smear colour on each other during a Holi Milan programme, here and below. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo Going Home For Holi New Delhi IMAGE: Passengers wait in a queue outside New Delhi railway station to board their train ahead of Holi, here and below. Photograph: ANI Photo Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Passengers go through the security check outside New Delhi railway station, here and below. Photograph: ANI Photo Photograph: ANI Photo Patna IMAGE: Passengers travel on an over-crowded train amid the heavy rush ahead of Holi at the Patna railway station. Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Passengers wait for a train at Patna railway station. Photograph: ANI Photo Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com Standing beside the new Little Free Library at Central Elementary School in October 2024 are, from left: Rick Schuhmann, director of maintenance; Kerry Kennedy, CES principal; Elizabeth Anderson, library creator/builder; and Laurie Bolotin, CES teacher. An approximately $67.7 million budget will now go to voters at the Windham Southeast School District's annual meeting March 18, with a capital plan that includes improvements to the Tenney Field grandstand. Aimee Parnell has been on the job at the Waypoint Center for about a month, and her enthusiasm as the new executive director of the Great Fall SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. (AND NO SPAM!) Just click here. Some staff at USAID were ordered to destroy classified documents and personnel records, according to a memo from a top official, a move that prompted fresh legal challenges but that an administration official later described as routine. "Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break," says the memo, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News. It was signed by USAID Acting Executive Secretary Erica Carr. On Tuesday evening, the White House said that the memo was sent to "roughly three dozen employees" and was related to the decision to turn over USAID's Washington offices soon to US Customs and Border Protection. "The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly wrote on X. "More fake news hysteria!" The State Department, which oversees USAID, didn't respond to a request for comment earlier on Tuesday. How Trump's USAID Dismantling Will Affect Foreign Aid: QuickTake In response to the directive being made public, two separate legal challenges were filed seeking to stop destruction of the documents. Lawyers representing USAID contractors in an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration filed an emergency request for a court order forcing the government "to preserve all documents with any possible relevance to pending litigation." In the filing, the lawyers said they'd already asked a Justice Department lawyer for an explanation but hadn't yet received one. Plaintiffs in another lawsuit against USAID also sought a temporary restraining order on Tuesday, alleging the government issued "a broad, short-fused directive to shred and burn documents immediately - today - that concern the structure, function, and activities of USAID." In an update to the court later on Tuesday, lawyers for both sides conferred and administration lawyers said they hadn't destroyed personnel records and "will not destroy additional documents stored in the USAID offices" without notifying the court. They agreed to provide an update by 4 p.m. on Wednesday describing what documents had been destroyed, the update said. Democratic staff on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee had also reached out to the State Department and USAID for details on compliance with federal record keeping, according to a congressional aide. Carr issued the order on shredding Monday, the same day that Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially canceled the vast majority of USAID contracts and put the remainder under the purview of the State Department. That move essentially eliminates USAID as a standalone entity. It follows the Trump administration's broader efforts to curtail US foreign aid spending and terminate most of the aid agency's 10,000 employees, with thousands fired or placed on leave. "There's no reason for USAID to be destroying records," said Lauren Harper at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. "As USAID's successor agency, the State Department is supposed to take control of USAID's records." The American Foreign Service Association, a group that represents State Department and USAID employees and is involved in one of the legal actions against the Trump administration, said in a statement that it's alarmed by the directive. It said the documents "may be relevant to ongoing litigation regarding the termination of USAID employees and the cessation of USAID grants." "Federal law is clear: the preservation of government records is essential to transparency, accountability and the integrity of the legal process," the group said. Federal law prohibits agencies from destroying or disposing of records "without specific authorization from the Archivist of the United States." Agencies have to go through a multistep process and obtain approval from the National Archives and Records Administration before purging records. In its emergency motion, lawyers for the foreign service association argued that destroying classified files and personnel records could prevent USAID from resuming normal operations and make it impossible to "recreate and rebuild agency programming" in the future. At the same time, Harper of the Freedom of the Press Association said the matter is complicated because Rubio is technically in charge of three separate agencies. In addition to leading the State Department, he's been named acting administrator for both USAID and the National Archives and Records Administration, which is "supposed to step in and investigate when federal records are being destroyed," Harper said. (COMMENT, BELOW) BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The Black Sea energy cable project not only plays a crucial role in the development of regional infrastructure but also highlights Azerbaijans global significance as a country contributing to economic development and security beyond its own region, Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Eka Tkeshelashvili told Trend in an exclusive interview. According to her, the global information agenda is often focused on major geopolitical players such as the US, Europe, or China, as well as on events related to conflicts and wars. However, in practice, real solutions to global challenges require collective action, involving countries with vision and leadership qualities capable of contributing to overall development. The Black Sea energy cable project underscores that, beyond global powers, countries with strategic thinking and a willingness to participate in creating new solutions also play a vital role. Azerbaijan is already recognized as a country that has not only achieved significant domestic development but has also become a net contributor to global economic growth and security. This project confirms not only Azerbaijans potential but also the results already achieved, which drive development far beyond the region, Eka Tkeshelashvili noted. She also emphasized that the partnership between Azerbaijan and Georgia cannot be reduced to a single project, as it has been built over decades and represents a strategic alliance that has withstood complex historical challenges. One project cannot define the partnership between Azerbaijan and Georgia. We are strategic allies and brotherly nations throughout history. In modern history, we remain among the closest friends and partners not only in the region but on a broader scale. We see that the strategic wisdom and determination of political leaders have laid the foundation for the most stable strategic connection in the region, which has helped us overcome difficult times and direct our joint efforts toward ensuring common security, prosperity, and economic development, she said. According to her, in the context of global logistics transformation triggered by the war in Ukraine and sanctions, the need for alternative routes, including the Middle Corridor, has become even more pressing. The war in Ukraine has fundamentally altered the traditional trade route system. For a long time, Russia played a key role in logistics, particularly through northern routes. However, the war has undermined trust in this direction. The imposition of sanctions has made it even more complicated for many countries, increasing the demand for alternative opportunities, not only in trade but also in energy transit and renewable resources. In this context, the role of Azerbaijan and the Caspian region as a whole is becoming crucial, Eka Tkeshelashvili noted. She emphasized that even if previous routes through Russia are restored in the future, interest in alternative pathways will persist, and projects such as the Black Sea Cable will remain essential elements of the new global infrastructure. Eka Tkeshelashvili also highlighted the role of the Baku Global Forum as an important platform for discussing global issues and developing solutions. The Baku Global Forum is itself a remarkable outcome, as its entire purpose is to bring together the most distinguished experts and representatives from various countries around the world in one space. It is rare to see such diversity and level of representation. The depth of discussions taking place at the Baku Global Forum is truly unprecedented in many ways. We hope that by the end of the forum, we will have a clearer understanding of the profound transformational shift we are facing in the global order and what realistic and feasible solutions can be implemented to contribute to this change through our collective efforts, she emphasized. Nearly half of New Zealands channel partners feel they lack the technical skills to meet customer needs, according to new research by Westcon-Comstor. Ninety-one per cent of New Zealand-based respondents see developing a cloud practice as a priority, the second highest proportion of any country behind the UK (93%) and set against an international average of 85%. Westcon-Comstor surveyed almost 900 partners across eight countries for its Mastering the Maze report, which also found partners concern over their own cloud technical skills was strongest in New Zealand, where 49% flagged this as a challenge. Sixty-nine per cent of New Zealand-based partners said their customers were looking for specialised cloud skills, but only 51 per cent were confident of fulfilling this demand, with the remaining 49 per cent describing skill shortages as a challenge. A lack of technical skills and financial operations expertise, along with hurdles around hiring and talent, emerged as another major obstacle facing partners as they strive to meet end-users cloud requirements. While cloud provider programmes help, leveraging them to full effect was another challenge, with 49% of New Zealand respondents highlighting this as one of the biggest barriers they face when advising their customers on cloud cost optimisation. However, that was below the global average of 58%. Conversely, a record high 73% of partners in New Zealand, compared with an international average of 65%, pointed to issues around understanding cloud pricing models, the complexity of which made it hard to give customers certainty over costs. Other barriers to cloud success included meeting customers cloud security needs and fending off fierce market competition. Forty-five per cent of New Zealand partners highlighted the pressure to outperform rivals by delivering better, faster solutions compared with an international average of 40%. Armenia and Azerbaijan, have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s, have finalized the text of a long-awaited peace agreement aimed at establishing formal relations, marking a significant step toward ending decades of hostilities. Armenias Foreign Ministry confirmed on March 13 that Yerevan has accepted Azerbaijans proposals on two remaining uncoordinated articles of the agreement, effectively concluding negotiations on the text. It has proposed consultations with Azerbaijan on a signing date and venue. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian told journalists in Yerevan shortly after the ministry's announcement that the draft peace treaty is a compromise and that his country is ready to start consultations on the timing of signing the treaty. "We have no secrets from our society in that text which, in fact, article by article was published separately. I dont think it can be said that the society is not familiar with the content," Pashinian said, stressing that Armenia and Azerbaijan will not deploy foreign forces along the border after signing the treaty. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov told reporters on March 13 that "the negotiation process over the peace treaty text has officially concluded," adding that "the last two unresolved clauses have been addressed, with Armenia accepting Azerbaijans proposals." Despite the breakthrough, Azerbaijan maintains that the treaty cannot be signed until Armenia revises its constitution and legal framework to remove any references to territorial claims over regions inside Azerbaijan, a reference mainly to Nagorno-Karabakh. "This is a necessary precondition for signing the peace agreement," Bayramov said. Years Of Negotiation The latest development follows years of negotiations over a lasting peace deal. Nagorno-Karabakh, home to a significant Armenian population, had been under the control of ethnic Armenian authorities since the early 1990s following a devastating war between the two neighbors after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After a brief but intense Azerbaijani military offensive in September 2023, the separatist leadership surrendered and the region, now officially called Karabakh, was reintegrated into Azerbaijan. The war led to the mass exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from the region, effectively ending decades of separatist rule. In the wake of the latest war over the region, Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed negotiations on a peace treaty to formally recognize each others territorial integrity and establish diplomatic relations. One of the key stumbling blocks in the negotiations has been Armenias legal position regarding Nagorno-Karabakh's status as an Azerbaijani territory. Baku has long argued that Armenias constitution includes implicit territorial claims over Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijani officials insist that this must be amended before the treaty can be signed. The much-anticipated parliamentary elections in Greenland on March 11 delivered a surprise winner and two clear messages: a pushback against US President Donald Trumps interest in the Arctic territory and a signal that independence from Denmark may come -- but at a slower pace. The opposition Democrats, a liberal pro-business party, finished on top with nearly 30 percent of the vote, ahead of the staunchly pro-independence Point of Orientation party, which got 24 percent. Surprisingly, the governing coalition of sitting Prime Minister Mute Egedes Community of the People party and the Forward party -- both of which favor independence but at a slower pace than Point of Orientation -- finished a disappointing third and fourth, respectively, leaving them with no chance of continuing to rule in this constellation. The likely new premier will now be the leader of the Democrats, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who has been the one of the most outspoken Greenlandic critics of Trumps desire to make the worlds largest island American. Ever since entering the White House, the US president has expressed an interest in taking control of the strategically located and resource-rich territory -- sparking unease, particularly notably in NATO ally Denmark. A Slow Breakup With Copenhagen The Democrats were previously skeptical about severing ties with Copenhagen, which still controls Greenlands foreign and monetary policy. In recent years, however, they have shifted their stance, viewing independence as a long-term goal, provided that the island becomes more economically self-sufficient. Currently, nearly half the population works in the public sector, which is largely funded by Danish grants. To achieve this, Nielsen hopes to reverse political decisions that restricted oil and gas exploration and banned uranium mining in Greenland. However, this also complicates coalition negotiations. The most likely governing partner, the Community of the People party, is strongly environmentalist and firmly opposed to such moves, having made this a hallmark of its platform in recent years. Still, with a narrow majority in the 31-seat parliament, the two parties are expected to agree on keeping Washington at arms length while maintaining closer ties with Denmark -- at least for now. While the world has been watching talks aimed at ending Russias three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, two Central Asian countries have been quietly working to consign a long and sometimes bloody border dispute to the past. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistans agreement over their roughly 1,000-kilometer frontier seems to deserve the historic billing given to it by both countries' presidents -- and not just because the disagreement dates back to early Soviet times, when the two countries were ultimately Moscow-controlled entities. Instead, the scale of the achievement lies in the fact that just under half of the frontier was disputed as recently as three years ago, with the worst clashes between the two countries happening in 2021 and 2022, leaving scores dead on both sides and a lasting mark on the national psyches. Weeks after the second conflict, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Kyrgyz counterpart, Sadyr Japarov, did not even shake hands at a meeting mediated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seemed barely interested. But on March 12, there was both a long handshake and three hugs between the two men after Rahmon touched down in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, where he was greeted by traditional dancers and musicians, as well as a billboard bearing his image and welcoming his excellency in the warmest terms. The two leaders signed the agreement the following day, as two border crossings connecting the countries were reopened for the first time in nearly four years. With ratification expected to be a formality in both parliaments, despite signs of unease in Kyrgyzstan, it is now a question of how life changes on the ground for long-suffering communities in a water-scarce, densely populated stretch of the region. Bridging The Gaps Prior to 2021, incidents at the border were mostly low-level conflicts. They occasionally blew up between the Kyrgyz and Tajik communities over perceived trespassing and access to water resources, drawing the young border guards of the two countries into hostile engagements. But incidents before 2021 were mere shoot-outs. The use of heavy artillery and then foreign-made drones -- Kyrgyzstan boasted of its acquisition of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2, for instance -- in the 2021 and 2022 conflicts raised both the stakes of the dispute and its death toll. In a review of the four-day conflict in 2022 that saw over 100,000 people displaced in Kyrgyzstan alone, the New York-based Human Rights Watch cited serious violations of the laws of war by both sides. Incidents highlighted in the report included attacks on civilian vehicles and ambulances, the indiscriminate use of explosives, extrajudicial killings by military forces, and arson attacks on homes and civilian infrastructure, culminating in dozens of civilian deaths. The growing devastation, allied with the prospect of a mini-arms race with no decisive victory in sight for either party, might have given added impetus to talks between the regions two poorest countries. But that does not make them easy, especially given the hazy nature of frontiers between republics that the Kremlin never intended to become independent. So far, the information on the agreement has come from Kyrgyzstan, where officials tend to say more. In a detailed rundown in parliament last month, Kyrgyz national-security chief Kamchybek Tashiev said that talks building up to the February 21 protocol that he signed with opposite number Saimuddin Yatimov had been very difficult. The amount of pasture land to allocate to Tajikistan in the surroundings of the Vorukh -- a chunk of Tajikistan de facto surrounded by Kyrgyz territory -- had been one sticking point, he said. Another was the status of a strategic bridge just 20 meters in length, which allows for unimpeded movement between two districts in Kyrgyzstans southwestern region of Batken. That took fully six months to resolve in Kyrgyzstans favor, Tashiev revealed. A Village Called 'Friendship Kyrgyzstan was also able to persuade Tajikistan not to use maps from the 1920s -- when Stalinist border-drawing in Central Asia was at its peak -- as a negotiating position, Tashiev said. But Bishkek has made some pretty big concessions at the same time. The village of Dostuk, translating as "friendship" is a case in point. Under the agreement, this Kyrgyz village has been completely transferred to the Tajik side. In the Kyrgyz parliament, lawmaker Sultanbay Aizhigitov said the transfer would bring Tajikistan a step closer to its long-held goal of joining troublesome Vorukh -- a territory which Tajik authorities never considered to be an "exclave" -- with Tajikistan proper. If it was only the road that was neutral, with the land remaining ours, that would be one thing, said Aizhigitov, homing in on another concession that he said had benefited Vorukh and its population of some 40,000 people. But [under the agreement] the road will be neutral and the land will be neutral. And neutral land can be taken by whoever is stronger, he warned. Aizhigitov was subsequently expelled from his pro-government party, Yiman Nuru, whose leader Dinara Ashimova said his comments were not her partys line. President Japarov accused Aizhigitov of demagoguery in remarks to state media. But what of the roughly 70 households that lived in Dostuk? In the 2021 conflict, about a dozen houses in the village were destroyed before being rebuilt. In 2022, the village was hit even worse. Both the houses and vital social infrastructure, however, were rebuilt again. Talks between residents and Batken governor Aibek Shamenov proved to be tense, especially after Shamenov responded irately to a request for more land per household in Buzhum, the village where Dostuk residents are getting relocated to. Japarov has since reprimanded the governor, and Shamenov has apologized, pledging that Dostuk residents will get extra land. Sharing Water, Boosting Trade Ensuring that any dissatisfaction over the agreement is contained will be a key priority of the Kyrgyz government ahead of ratification. But it has had some practice on this front. In 2022, opposition to a theoretically less contentious border deal with Uzbekistan marked the first real challenge to Japarovs regime, which took a decidedly authoritarian turn thereafter. Dozens were arrested in that crackdown, demonstrating a new red line for political opposition. In Tajikistan, a challenge to the ruling Rahmon family over something like a border agreement seems almost impossible. Over the last decade, political opposition there has been completely wiped out. But if deepening authoritarianism is one trend in Central Asia, an increasing emphasis on cooperation between the regions countries is a more positive one, generally occurring without any outside assistance. Along with neutral roads in no-mans-land, the Kyrgyz-Tajik border agreement has created a framework for sharing water from the Golovnoi intake facility that draws water from a river known as Ak-Suu by Kyrgyzstan and Isfara by Tajikistan. Tajiks and Kyrgyz already share water from the sluice, but it was another site of contention, most notably during the three-day border war of 2021. Under the new agreement, each side will have a gate each at the intake and split the third one. How these and other shared infrastructure are managed in practice remains to be seen. But the intent is there, and the two countries transition from foes to friends is likely to be further cemented at an unprecedented trilateral summit with Uzbekistan in the Tajik city of Khujand on March 31. For both countries, Uzbekistan was once a nightmare neighbor. That has completely changed ever since President Shavkat Mirziyoev replaced the late Islam Karimov as leader of the regions most populous country, viewing the neighborhood through the prism of opportunities, rather than threats, and moving quickly to end his own countrys border disputes. Calling the summit an important step in strengthening regional cooperation at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov paid tribute to a historic triumph of diplomatic and political will on the part of his country and Tajikistan. For once, in regional diplomatic speak, that doesn't seem like an exaggeration. The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has reopened for the first time in nearly four years after a historic frontier delimitation agreement was signed by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on March 13. Territorial disputes have fueled violent border clashes in the region since the fall of the Soviet Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agrees in principle with the US proposal for a temporary cease-fire with Ukraine, but added that "there are nuances," such as Western weapons deliveries to Kyiv, that he wants addressed first. The Russian leader also said any agreement should lead to long-term peace that address the "root" reasons for the war, a likely reference to NATO expansion. "We agree with the proposal to stop the fighting. But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Putin said in his first public comments about how he assessed the US proposal for a cease-fire. "We are for [a cease-fire], but there are nuances," Putin added during a March 13 press conference in Moscow with Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko. Putin is facing a dilemma after delegations from Kyiv and Washington agreed earlier this week at a meeting in Saudi Arabia to a 30-day cease-fire proposed by US President Donald Trump, putting the onus for peace in Moscow's lap. "I think the Russians are keen not to be seen as the intransigent party as that could lead to consequences from Trump, such as sanctions. So that informed Putin's comments today," John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, told RFE/RL. Putin was set to meet Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to discuss the cease-fire proposal. Following Putin's comments, Trump said he hoped Russia would "do the right thing" and agree to the deal. He described Putin's comments as "promising" but incomplete. Trump on March 13 said during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte that Witkoff was engaged in "very serious discussions" in Moscow. The president added he "getting word of things going OK in Russia." Witkoff's exact scheduled was not disclosed. In his daily nighttime address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin is preparing to reject the cease-fire proposal but is scared to say this directly to Trump. Trump has made ending Russia's more than three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, and is wielding US leverage to get both Kyiv and Moscow to the table. The US president on March 12 threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia if it did not agree to the cease-fire. However, Trump did not give a time frame for Putin to agree to his proposal or say whether he would be willing to negotiate with Putin on the "nuances." The Russian leader said there were several unanswered questions in the proposal, such as what to do about Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region. "If we have a cease-fire, does that mean that everyone there would leave?" Putin said. "Should we release them [Ukrainian troops] after they committed crimes against the population? Or would they surrender?" Ukraine denies committing such crimes, saying it abides by humanitarian law and does not target civilians. Kyiv seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August, a move seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks. That strategy is now failing as Russian forces supported by North Korean troops push the Ukrainians out of Kursk. Russia has regained more than half the territory in Kursk initially captured by Ukraine. Putin, who visited Kursk yesterday for the first time since the August push, said the situation in the region is now "totally under our control." He said the Ukrainians escape route is completely under Russian fire and that if his forces are able to physically block the route, Ukrainian troops in Kursk will only have two options: surrender or be killed. Among the other concerns the Russian leader voiced about the cease-fire proposal is whether Ukraine would use the 30-day period to mobilize and train forces or rearm with the help of the West. He also raised the question of how the nearly 2,000-kilometer front would be monitored. "Who will determine where and who violated the possible cease-fire agreement?" he said. Experts had warned that Putin would likely seek to drag out cease-fire talks because his forces have the upper hand on the battlefield. Aside from the advances in Kursk, Russia is gaining territory in eastern Ukraine -- albeit at high human and material costs -- due to its significant manpower advantage. Russia is seeking to capture at a minimum the entirety of the four regions of Ukraine it claims to have annexed in November 2022: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson. A cease-fire now would leave them short of that goal. "One way the Russians could slow down this process without coming out directly and saying 'no', is by dragging out those technical discussions on monitoring" the cease-fire, Hardie said. "That could also give them ways to try to pin the blame back on Ukraine, by insisting on certain technical matters that Ukraine might find objectionable," he said. Hardie said Trump could increase pressure on Putin by sanctioning more Russian oil tankers, commonly called the "shadow fleet." Oil exports accounts for about a third of Russia's federal budget revenue. On March 13, US administration heightened pressure on Russia by increasing restrictions on the country's oil, gas, and banking sectors. Among the measures, the Treasury Department was letting expire a 60-day exemption put in place in January by the Biden administration that allowed some energy transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks to continue. The latest move would make it more difficult for other nations to buy Russian oil. Another option would be threatening secondary sanctions on countries like India, China, and Turkey that buy Russian oil above the price cap the West imposed on Russia oil of $60 a barrel. "If Trump really wants to squeeze the Russian revenue, he could do it that way," Hardie said. Russian forces are scrambling to build on their rapid advance in retaking areas of the Kursk region, claiming control of the town of Sudzha on March 12, and President Vladimir Putin has met with commanders, urging them to push on. Their goal is to cross our border and move as deep as they can to gain a foothold on our territory, expanding the zone of active combat, Andriy Demchenko, a spokesperson for the Ukraine Border Guard Service told RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service. Meanwhile, with Russia seemingly tentatively agreeing to a cease-fire proposal pushed by the United States and Ukraine, areas of Kursk seized by Ukrainian forces last summer have shrunk to a fraction of what they were months ago, according to the Deep State mapping organization. However, the capture of Sudzha by Russian forces would be a Pyrrhic victory, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleksiy Yizhak. Sudzha has been destroyed, he said. It no longer exists, like many Ukrainian settlements captured by Russia. There's actually very little left to capture. Thats whats happening in the Kursk region. Yizhak added that Russia has found itself controlling piles of rubble regularly in its war on Ukraine. Russia is ruining the settlements where Ukrainian troops were deployed. You can say that they don't exist anymore, and that's why Russia controls them. Russian drone attacks continue to hit several Ukrainian cities, including Sumy, not far from the Kursk area border, along with Kyiv, Odesa, and Kryviy Rih. Ukraine has also continued airstrikes, hitting Moscow on March 11 with the heaviest drone strike the city has seen since the start of the war on Ukraine in 2022. Three were killed and the Russian capital's four airports were shut down, Russian officials said. A total of 343 drones were downed over Russia, including 91 over the Moscow region, they said. U.S. officials were seeking the Kremlin's response on March 13 to the proposed 30-day cease-fire agreed to in a meeting in Saudi Arabian between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a delegation representing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russian officials have said they are interested only in a comprehensive peace deal, not a temporary cease-fire. Kursk regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said more than 120 people have been evacuated from Sudzha. For the first time since US President Donald Trump started his second term in January and launched a push to end Russias war against Ukraine, it is Moscow -- not Kyiv -- that is under greater pressure from the United States to show that it is committed to seeking peace. US officials were headed to Moscow on March 12, Trump said, after Ukraine agreed to a US plan for an immediate, extendable 30-day cease-fire at a meeting in Saudi Arabia a day earlier. Will Russia accept the proposal? A flat-out nyet is a possibility, but its far from a foregone conclusion. [W]hile the smart money is clearly on Russia declining the offer of a cease-fire, I wouldn't be so quick to rule it out entirely, Russia analyst Sam Greene wrote in a blog post. Depending on how Moscow sees the trajectory of European policy, it may come to the conclusion that a ceasefire is in its interests. Here are three possibilities. Outright Rejection If Russias actions follow its public words, rejection is the most likely scenario by a long shot. Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly said that what Moscow wants is not a cease-fire but a comprehensive peace deal that addresses what it claims to see as the root causes of the war. Putin launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022 in a bid to subjugate Ukraine, and those remarks suggest Russia might not be prepared to stop fighting unless and until theres a deal in place that would tick the Kremlins boxes -- providing, among other things, for Ukrainian neutrality, a shrunken Ukrainian military, and a change of government in Kyiv, or at least a clear pathway to the departure of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia also wants a deal that goes beyond Ukraine, reducing NATOs clout in Eastern Europe and handing Moscow greater influence in security decisions affecting the entire continent -- goals that are far outside the bounds of a temporary truce. And with Russian forces slowly but persistently gaining ground in eastern Ukraine, and Kyivs forces on the retreat in Russias Kursk region, Putin may see little reason to cease fire now. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russias upper [parliament chamber, alluded unsubtly to this on March 12, saying Washington should understand that real agreements are still being writtenon the front line. Additionally, an outright rejection would please pro-war Russian bloggers -- not to mention hawkish members of Putins circle --who would be likely to see agreeing to the cease-fire proposal as caving by the Kremlin. Unconditional Acceptance Those factors indicate that unconditional Russian acceptance of the cease-fire proposal is highly unlikely. Another factor: If it is considering accepting a temporary truce, the Kremlin may want to put its stamp on the deal. "Any agreementswill be on our terms, not American [terms]," Kosachev wrote on Telegram. 'Yes, But' While unconditional acceptance seems out of the question, Russia may come to the conclusion that a cease-fire is in its interests, Greene, a professor at the King's Russia Institute and director of democratic resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis, wrote in a blog post. He suggested that Putin could take the bait if he sees it as a good way to get closer to his goals. Moscows overriding objective is dominion over Ukraine. In the absence of an opportunity to achieve that on the battlefield, Russia may be happy -- temporarily or otherwise -- to exercise control through the threat of renewed aggression, he wrote. A cease-fire may allow Russia the degree of control over Ukraine it seeks, provided the terms do not create genuine deterrence against renewed aggression. Rumblings about deployment of a European force in Ukraine could figure into Moscows calculus, Greene wrote: If Moscow thinks Europe is serious about boots on the ground, it might move for a cease-fire before Europe can get organized -- and then make the absence of troops the condition for maintaining the cease-fire. Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert and an honorary professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, suggested that Putin faces a difficult choice. The hawks are already claiming that this would mean squandering Russias current momentum on the battlefield, he wrote in The Spectator. At the same time, to refuse would be to waste the extraordinary opportunity Trump has given them to consolidate their gains, with a fifth of Ukraine in their hands, and at least partly normalize relations with the US. Putin may calculate that agreeing to a cease-fire could help reduce Western sanctions against Russia, Galeotti wrote, and he also might worry that rejecting it, on the contrary, could prompt Trump to take a substantially tougher position toward Moscow. On March 12, Trump said the United States could impose additional sanctions on Russia if it is recalcitrant, but added, I hope we wont need to. Like other analysts, though, Galeotti predicted that Moscow will place conditions on any cease-fire agreement, such as a Ukrainian withdrawal from Russias Kursk region, where Kyivs forces have held territory since a surprise invasion last August that has embarrassed Putin. It may be that Putin will try to square the circle by agreeing to the cease-fire on condition that Ukraines forces in the Kursk salient, already being pushed back, withdraw fully from Russian territory, he wrote. Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said that another possible condition could be the suspension of Western military aid to Kyiv during the cease-fire. Russias answer to the cease-fire proposal might be not No but Yes, but, Markov wrote on Telegram. That is, agree to the proposal for a 30-day truce on condition that an embargo on supplies of weapons to Ukraine is in place for that whole period. On March 12, Trump reiterated his hopes for swift progress on ending the war, saying, We don't want to waste time, people are dying. But a definitive Russian response to the cease-fire proposal may not come as soon as the United States and Ukraine would like. Putin is likely to try to drag out the timeline for agreeing to any halt to fighting in Ukraine to make sure the most favorable terms possible are secured for Moscow, Bloomberg News reported on March 12, citing what it said were several people with knowledge of the situation. The Kremlin has given no indication that it is interested in a cease-fire, and indeed plenty of indication that it is not, Greene wrote on X. While all that may be bluster, they are likely to try to make Washington squirm, both on the speed and the contours of a deal. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the patronage of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the 12th Global Baku Forum, themed Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities, began at the Gulustan Palace in Baku on March 13, Trend reports. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony of the Forum. The family photo was taken first. The head of state delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Speech by President Ilham Aliyev - Ladies and gentlemen, Good morning, welcome to Baku. I greet all our guests at the annual Global Baku Forum. First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to you for being with us. I'd also like to congratulate the Nizami Ganjavi International Center on its extraordinary activity throughout all these years and also for organizing this important international event. We are very proud that the Global Baku Forum has become one of the leading international platforms for addressing important issues of global agenda. Yesterday, I met with the board members. Today, I'd like to say that we are really very grateful to all the members of the center, its board, and the co-chairs - Madam Freiberga and Mr. Serageldin - for their contribution to really magnificent transformation of the center and worldwide activity. I'd also like to say that we were very happy to see members of the NGIC actively participating in COP29, which was held last November in Azerbaijan. Several members of the center were among the Advisory Committee. The center held 16 panel discussionsactually hosted them and organized themand participated in even more panel discussions with its pavilion. It was a big contribution to the success of COP29. That was the main international event last year in Azerbaijan. We were really very proud to have been selected by the unanimous decision of almost 200 countries. That was a sign of respect for us, trust in us, and also an appreciation of our activity on the green transition. Although we are rich in fossil fuels, but our agenda is to concentrate on renewables. Today, it is already fully decided that in the coming years, Azerbaijan's renewable energy capacity will be almost equal to its power generation from fossil fuels. Today, installed power generation capacity in Azerbaijan is 8 gigawatt. By 2030, we will have 6.5 gigawatt of additional installed energy capacity from renewables - primarily sun and wind, as well as hydro, mainly in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. So, we will almost double our today's potential. That will allow us to be an exporter of not only oil and gas but also of green energy. These figures are absolutely realistic. They're based on already signed contracts and MOUs. We already see the implementation of these projects. So the decision to organize COP29 in Azerbaijan, I think, was also driven by this very responsible approach of Azerbaijan towards its energy resources. Again, I'd like to underline that the country is not in shortage of energy supply. On the contrary, today Azerbaijan is providing energy security for more than a dozen countries. Twelve of them are recipients of Azerbaijani natural gas. Ten out of twelve are European countries. So, it's not by chance that the European Commission has called Azerbaijan a reliable partner and also a pan-European energy supplier. Today, oil and gas from Azerbaijan are really making a big change in energy security and actually strengthening the energy security of many countries. When we add to that our green energy sources along with a new energy cable that will stretch from Azerbaijan to Europe, partly on the Black Sea, that will be another demonstration of our responsibility and close partnership with many countries. Because it's not enough to have only energy resources; you must have good relations with your neighbors and the neighbors of your neighbors to be able to deliver the projects of energy, security, connectivity. Talking about connectivity, I'd like to say that due to recent geopolitical changes, the volume of cargo transportation through Azerbaijan has grown dramatically. We are well prepared for that because we have already done our homework. Now we just need to expand the capacity of our seaport, railroad infrastructure to be able to receive all the cargo, which has been diverted to Azerbaijan in recent years. So this, of course, adds to the geopolitical importance of our region, the region of the South Caucasus, where we are still working to achieve peace. What else can I say about COP? First, it was very challenging because we had to organize this event in less than one year. Usually, countries are given two years to prepare. That was successfully done based on a unanimous opinion. Second, we had to deliver results. And here, our diversified foreign policy helped us. Because for four years, we chaired the Non-Aligned Movement, the institution of 120 countries, and actively supported member states in different situations, including during the COVID time, providing humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 80 countries. At the same time, through active communication with European actors, we have seen our role as a kind of bridge builder between the Global South and the Global North. I think we achieved success because it was not easy to agree on many substantial issues during COP29. One of the milestones, one of the achievements, was consensus on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which was a stumbling block for more than 10 years. So, for more than 10 years, parties could not agree on that. But here, we managed to achieve consensus and make the carbon market functional. This is instrumental for the future development of the process. Another important achievement was that at COP29 in Baku, we managed to increase the funding for renewable energy projects from the original 100 to 300 billion US dollars. Yes, we know that some countries were not fully satisfied with that. They expected an even bigger increase. I think what we managed to do is to triple the financing, which should be properly appreciated. Therefore, COP29 in Baku is called the Baku Breakthrough, and that's an important legacy. I'd like to say that, unfortunately, this global international event was accompanied by a campaign in some Western media, which President Trump calls fake newsand I fully agree with him a campaign to discredit Azerbaijan, blackmail us, and spread rumors and different disinformation. We've been accused that we are a country with oil and gas production. But before us, there have been several countries, including European, which also have oil and gas. But it was okay for this so-called media to ignore that. Azerbaijans oil production is 10 times less than production of Canada, just for instance. Our contribution to global gas emissions is only 0.1%. We know who the biggest contributors to global gas emissions are. Nevertheless, on a regular basis, sometimes more than a dozen articles daily were aimed at presenting Azerbaijan as a petrol state and as a country, we do not deserve to host a global event. All that was generated from several centers, actually two: one in the US State Department. The fake news outlets like the Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Newsweek, and the Associated Press were just implementing the instructions of the US State Department. The second source was the office of the President of France, Mr. Macron, through their fake news media like Le Monde, Figaro, and others. So, it was a coordinated campaign of blackmail and slander aimed at boycotting COP29. There can be different reasons. But one of them was that they could not impose their will on us. They could not change our policy aimed at the full restoration of our sovereignty and territorial integrity. They could not absorb the fact that here in the Caucasus, there is a country, which follows its own national interests and does not say Yes, sir to so-called big bosses. Unfortunately, the government of France even went further, advocating for many countries to boycott COP29. We have credible information from the world leaders who attended COP29 and informed us about that, and from those who did not come but conveyed the message that, personally, the President of France was campaigning against COP29. This is a kind of politics, which does not give credit to anyone. But regardless, we had big representation. There have been 77,000 registered participants, including 70 heads of state and government from 197 countries. The only country, which boycotted COP29 was Armenia. On the Armenia-Azerbaijan process, we cannot and we will not forget the years of occupation and the suffering of the Azerbaijani people, which was caused by Armenian occupation and aggression. Those who visit the liberated territories can see the level of barbarism. So all our cities are in ruins. Now we are rebuilding them. But everything was leveled to the ground, and that was a deliberate urbicide against our villages, cities, against our religious and historical heritage. So, 65 mosques were demolished, and in those mosques, which were half demolished, they kept pigs and cows in order to insult the feelings of not only Azerbaijanis but all Muslims in the world. We will not forget that. We will not forget the genocide of Khojaly, when Armenians killed 613 innocent people, more than 60 children, and more than 100 women. But at the same time, we need to look to the future, and we need to have peace in the Southern Caucasus, and that's why Azerbaijan was the initiator of the peace process. Actually, Azerbaijan was even the author of the draft peace agreement, which today is being discussed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and largely agreed. So, most of the paragraphs have been agreed. Our fight was a fight for justice, for international law, for our dignity. We implemented the UN Security Council resolutions, which remained on paper for 27 years and would have remained for 27 years more, if we did not liberate our land by force. Here we come to a very important factor that sometimes you have to use force to achieve peace and to restore justice. Today we see it. We see how the European Union is trying to change its policy towards building strong military potential. We see other countries concentrating their resources on building military potential and infrastructure. We've been doing that for at least 20 years since 2005, and have created a strong army, which liberated our territory and put an end to separatism and separatists. Today, the full restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty is a demonstration, of not only the strong will of the Azerbaijani people, but also international justice. At the same time, of course, we, as I said, have a good memory. We all remember how the current Armenian government behaved prior to the Second Karabakh War. We all remember statements by the Armenian leader who said that Karabakh is Armenia, and that was said in Khankendi. We all remember how he behaved in the occupied city of Shusha. You can find it on the internet. It's a very interesting video. Today, some European bureaucrats try to present Armenia as a dove of peace, but they forget what this current government was doing. They forget that during the Second Karabakh War, they were shelling our cities and villages. We lost more than 100 civilians because of their missiles, including Iskander-M, which was actually forbidden for export. We still have not received an answer to How did the Armenian army take possession of Iskander-M? Because this missile is forbidden in Russia for export. Those who do not believe what I say can just take a drive, maybe 5-10 minutes from here to our Military Trophy Park and see the Iskander-M missile, which we found in Shusha. We found it already in spring 2021, because it was covered by snow. It was launched to Shusha when we liberated the city. So, that was done by order of the Armenian Prime Minister. Ganja, Tartar, Barda, Mingachevir, Agjabadi etc., and many other cities were just under regular shell attacks from Armenia. We didn't do it; we were fighting against the Armenian army, the occupying Armenian army. They were fighting with civilians. This is the difference, and the same was in the First Karabakh War, when they created the so-called Buffer Zone, but actually, they called it like that. But that was occupied territories. They expelled hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and conducted ethnic cleansing. We will never forget it. I can tell you one more thing that the level of trust to Armenia is close to zero. So, we do not trust any of their words. Because they are not the people who we can trust, including todays government. Again, all that they say, for us, has zero meaning. We need documents; we need papers. We need their constitution to be free of territorial claims against Azerbaijan. It still contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. We need the OSCE Minsk Group to be dissolved. We convey this message to Armenia, saying that there is no logic in keeping the Minsk Group. It was created to address the issue of Karabakh. Now Karabakh is done. Armenia recognizes Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. Why dont you join us in a joint application to the OSCE to dissolve it? They dont want. So, they want to keep a part of their feet on the ground, on our territory, now virtually, of course. Their military build-up - what does it demonstrate? It demonstrates that they are preparing for a new war. Who is pushing them to war again? France and its President. Deadly weapons, which they supplied to Armenia, are aimed at us. Caesar howitzers, which today maybe be needed in other places, are being sent to Armenia. The so-called European monitoring mission, which is actually a reconnaissance mission of the European Union, is spying day and night on our border, looking just for places where they can penetrate. And we have enough intelligence information on this so-called monitoring mission. The European Peace Facility is providing millions of dollars to Armenia to weaponize it. Yes, they say they provide this money for non-lethal military installations. But first, who can check this? And second, you give them 10 million, and then another 10 million is planned to be given. So, that actually allows Armenia to save money to buy weapons. Not only France is supplying deadly weapons. Why are they doing it? For what are they preparing? If they want peace, there is no need for that. Many times we have raised this issue with Armenian representatives and with their new bosses in Brussels. Because now they have changed the big brother; and today it's Brussels. Until President Trump won, it was the State Department, it was USAID. It was corrupt American politicians like Menendez, who are now facing serious problems. But Menendez should not be the last one. As they say, one swallow does not make a summer. There are many more who put Armenian money in their pockets. I can name them. Their names are known: Mr. Adam Schiff, Mr. Frank Pallone, Madam Nancy Pelosi, and many others, who for decades were receiving money from Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States to attack Azerbaijan and discredit it. So, we wish President Trump success in draining the swamp. It's not easy, but it must be done. We are ready to share information with American authorities about the illegal activity of USAID in Azerbaijan: how they bribed people, channeled financing illegally, violated Azerbaijani laws and regulations. Now it's time to be responsible for it. We are ready to provide all the information in our possession. Definitely, at the forum, the new geopolitical situation will be discussed. As you can imagine from my comments, we are very enthusiastic with respect to what is happening now in America. Why? It's very simple. Because the policy of Mr. Antony Blinken towards Azerbaijan actually ruined US-Azerbaijani relations, which we had been building for 30 years. We have always been a very reliable partner and friend to the United States. When they needed us, we were with them. When they needed us in Iraq, we were in Iraq with our troops. When they needed us in Afghanistan, we were one of the first non-NATO countries to join operations in Afghanistan in 2001. And we were among the last to leave. After we left, they imposed sanctions on us. I remember it was a big frustration in Azerbaijan. I told some of their representatives, How can we trust you? So, when you need us, you waive the sanctions. When you don't need us any longer, you re-impose the sanctions. How can we build long-term relations with you? So we are very enthusiastic. First, because we in Azerbaijan managed to save US-Azerbaijan relations from total collapse, despite all the efforts of the US State Department. And secondly, we hope that with the new administration, we will rebuild our strong partnership, which has always been important for the South Caucasus, for peace, security, anti-terror operations, the modern development of our region. Definitely, it will be very interesting to listen to speakers today throughout the forum. As always, I'm sure the forum and its members will generate ideas and approaches, especially now when the forum takes place after this dramatic geopolitical change. Once again, thank you for being with us. Thank you for accepting our invitation, and I wish the forum success. x x x Addressing the event, Bajram Begaj, President of the Republic of Albania, said: - Thank you. Good morning. Dear Mr. President Aliyev, let me start by expressing my gratitude for the invitation and thank you for your warm hospitality. I can assure you that COP29 was a great success for your country. Honorable President Aliyev, esteemed Excellencies, distinguished friends, and guests, It's truly an honor to be among you today as we reaffirm the importance of multilateral dialogue as an inclusive mechanism. Nowadays, the motto "turning challenges into opportunities" is not just a goal but a necessity. The Nizami Ganjavi Global Baku Forum is an important forum that delivers messages of hope in a world of increasing uncertainty a world that we once recognized before the pandemic. Before the onset of armed conflicts in some parts of the globe, the world was no longer the same, leading us toward the unknown. Crises have increased, and the foundation of global stability seems to be increasingly fragile. Conflicts in various forms and regions continue, while the shadows of the past seem to dominate the present. The world today is facing not just a political crisis or an economic downturn. Today, the world stands at a crossroads in defending the values we cherish. Freedom, democracy, human dignity, justice, and security are being tested. They are being tested by conflicts, hybrid threats, organized crime, immigration, misinformation, and the temptation to impose force and instill fear. When fear prevails over courage, when division replaces unity, and when the use of force attempts to obstruct justice, civilization and society fail. But moments of crisis often bring both challenges and new opportunities. The challenges to the international order, the attack on Ukraine, and other conflicts have significantly undermined security. In a war defined by continental and global interaction, the need to restore peace is essential. But more important is safeguarding borders and preserving state sovereignty. National challenges for addressing organized crime and hybrid threats are difficult to overcome when no active and continuous regional and international cooperation exists. The wave of illegal immigration toward Europe has highlighted that border control is no longer sufficient if the cause is not addressed, and the entire mechanism is not prevented. The experience of managing the COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the most effective solution remains a unified response mechanism, as well as long-term investment in science and technology. We must embrace, support, and promote technological development and artificial intelligence. Those innovations are tools for empowering individuals, communities, and nations, not for hindering their development. Despite the rapid technological development that has already permeated every tale of our lives, we must remain true to our values. Today's world, the most technologically advanced and interconnected in history, was not built in easy times. It was shaped through challenges. We need courage and a clear vision to ensure peace, security, economic growth, and implement policies that truly change the lives of our citizens. We need a global order where economies are sustainable, where conflicts are resolved rather than left unresolved, where societies are strengthened not by division, but by our solidarity, and where peace is built and consolidated on the solid foundation of trust and cooperation. To ensure a livable world tomorrow, we need sustainability in the present. Ladies and gentlemen, the experience of my country is proof of a difficult and challenging journey. Albania has gone through itfrom totalitarianism to democracy, from insecurity to NATO membership, from a closed economy to a free-market economy, and from an isolated country to a country with 10 million tourists per year, and now a country that is an inspiring candidate to become a member of the European Union. Albania has chosen democracy and strongly believes in its values. Albania has embraced a partnership with the United States of America because it strongly believes in Euro-Atlantic values. It has chosen the European Union and believes in this significant initiative for ensuring peace, security, and prosperity. Contemporary Albania has managed to unite the energy of Albanians, both within and outside the country, to transform challenges into opportunities, their ideas, aspirations, and ambitions. The younger generation has been and remains crucial for their realization. Distinguished participants, dear friends, and guests, Albania strongly believes in the power of cooperation and dialogue, recognizing the new opportunities they bring. We believe that nothing can be achieved without peace and security. Therefore, we are committed to ensuring dialogue and democratic stability within our region and beyond. In closing my speech, I would like to mention the friendship between Albania and Azerbaijan. Our long-standing friendship is reflected in our mutual cooperation, particularly in the economy and infrastructure. I remain committed to continuing and strengthening this friendly relationship for the benefit of our people, enabling us to build the future together with our citizens, with our neighbors, with our partners, regardless of geographical proximity. I thank this forum for being an excellent platform for dialogue centered on peace, security, and development. Wishing you all productive discussions and great success. Thank you so much. x x x Addressing the event, Zeljka Cvijanovic, Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said: - Thank you. Good morning, Mr. President. Dear participants, Thank you for the invitation to participate in this important discussion today. I will start by saying that there are many troubled areas in the world and many negative developments. It is logical to assess whether these challenges can be turned into opportunities for us. I come from a country that, unfortunately, is going through its biggest political and constitutional crisis in its 30 years of existence. And I have to admit that I have a very bad feeling about the consequences that we might see. But generally speaking, in relation to this topic, everybody is waiting to see what international relations will look like now that the Trump administration is in place. I would say that the American deep state, globalists, and bureaucratic elites in Europe have used Bosnia and Herzegovina as an experiment for radical nation-building in order to create a centralized state, very different from the one envisaged and created by the Dayton Agreement, which was a decentralized state. The fact is that this experiment, after three decades, has only produced a failing state and has also failed to impose a common national identity that would turn Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks into one nation. Their main tool has been a weaponized judicial system, where, in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Constitutional Court, with three foreign judges siding with two Bosnian judges, ousts Serb and Croat judges in all decisions, effectively changing the Dayton Peace Agreement and our constitution to illegally create a unitary nation-state. This Constitutional Court acts by changing our constitution instead of protecting the existing one. Another example of this weaponized judiciary is the BiH court, which, by the way, was not envisaged by the Dayton Agreement, where a political trial has come to its inglorious end, resulting in a verdict that could throw Bosnia and Herzegovina into the pit of violence and dissolution. The legally elected President of the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been tried for fulfilling his constitutional duties by signing laws passed by the Republic of Srpska National Assembly. I would like to underscore this: by doing his constitutional duty to sign legislation passed in the National Assembly, the first-instance verdict reads one year of imprisonment and a six-year ban from running for president or any other political office. This all happened because a foreigner named Christian Schmidt, who claims to have been hired by a representative of a German pretender to absolute power, in violation of international law, the Dayton Agreement, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Constitution of the Republic of Srpska, imposed a revision to the Criminal Code, making it a crime for anyone to refuse to abide by his illegal and autocratic decisions. So, there is an individual, a non-elected foreigner, who, contrary to our Constitution and the legislation we have in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decided to change our criminal code to impose punishment on elected officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This trial is a glaring example of warfare, which is a typical abuse of the legal system, where the legal system is weaponized to target and dismantle political opposition under the guise of justice. In this case, it is being carried out by an unelected foreign official who represents nobody in the country where he acts. What we are witnessing is a calculated effort to undermine a democratically elected leader for standing up for his people's sovereignty and traditional values. I'm convinced that Bosnia and Herzegovina must move away from these politically motivated actions and focus on building a truly democratic system where elected leaders can determine policy, the judiciary is not used as a tool of political warfare, and the law serves the people, not the interests of a few unelected officials who do not represent a single voter in the land where they impose their will. The abuse of the judicial system forces the legal and legitimate institutions and elected officials of the Republic of Srpska to fight an existential battle to preserve the Dayton Agreement and the constitutional autonomy and powers granted to our republic and people, as well as to other people who live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In all likelihood, the response from Germany would be an emperor-like figure, and the weaponized judiciary would be one of repression, threats of violence, retribution, and further political warfare. What I'm trying to explain here is that when we speak about democracy, a new order, and true mechanisms to protect the rights of our people, this is what we face in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a colony, sadly speaking, the only one currently existing. And nobody wants to speak about Bosnia and Herzegovina using the right words or trying to understand whats happening there. Many of the wrongdoings of foreigners who acted there are being hidden from the international public, and I think this is a good opportunity for me, whenever I participate in such forums, to speak about these injustices and wrongdoings committed by outsiders. So, I truly believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina can move forward only if we have internal dialogue. Having internal dialogue means that all three constituent peoples and their representatives should sit together and decide what they can do with their own country, because that country belongs to us. It doesn't belong to Christian Schmidt, the EU, the USA, or anyone else. That would be the recipe I could offer. That is the only recipe that could enable us to live together in the future as well. Thank you for your attention, and thank you, Mr. President, for giving us the opportunity to share all these stories here with you. x x x Addressing the event Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, President of the Republic of North Macedonia, said: - Distinguished President Aliyev, esteemed Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our wonderful host, the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, for their invitation to participate in this 12th Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan. Despite the geographical distance, our two friendly countries are bound by deeply rooted ties. These countries are civilizational crossroads with a long history of multi-ethnic and multi-religious coexistence. Both regained independence in 1991 and are committed to multilateralism and cooperation within the framework of the UN. However, there is yet another thing that connects us. Azerbaijan is the land of fire, and I, on the other hand, come from the land of the sun. As one of our Macedonian poets said, the sun is the oldest fire one can warm themselves by. I have experienced this warmth over the past few days during my official visit to the friendly Republic of Azerbaijan. Thank you once again, President Aliyev, for your warm hospitality. Azerbaijani hospitality is also gaining an international dimension through the Global Baku Forum, which has grown into one of the most significant international platforms in recent years. Drawing on the experience and wisdom of several generations of leaders, the Global Baku Forum addresses the most important regional and global issues. Esteemed Excellencies, this is especially important in the year 2025, which some expect to be a turning point. Day by day, more and more questions arise, and fewer and fewer answers emerge. The world is becoming a very different place. Multilateralism is giving way to multipolarity. The growing geopolitical rivalry is weakening the system of collective security. The United Nations has become marginalized when we need it most. The post-World War II consensus is being called into question. How can we live in the dawn of a new era in which the rules-based international system is being undermined? Not long ago, German President Steinmeier declared at the Munich Security Conference that the absence of rules must not become the guiding principle of the new world order, because that would mean abandoning our most important civilizational achievement, set out 80 years ago in the Charter of the United Nations. The question is not whether we will have rules, but what kind of rules they will be, and what they will be based onwhether on the principle of Pacta Sunt Servanda or the principle of power. Is there a clash of values and realities in addition to the clash of interests? Can we resolve the greatest crises and challenges of our time without shared rules? What kind of world will we leave for our youth and future generations? These are just some of the questions we will be considering at this year's Global Baku Forum. I am honored to share my insights with you at the third panel, dedicated to the United Nations Pact for the Future. Dear friends, 80 years ago, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull for his role in founding the United Nations. In his address, he recalled that the key issue for people and nations is whether they have suffered enough and learned enough to cast aside suspicion, prejudice, short-term and narrow interests, and unite in the advancement of their greatest common interest. That overshadowing common interest is lasting peace, within which the newly discovered powers of mankinds science and technology can be harnessed to improve the well-being of mankind to unprecedented heights. I deeply believe that the Global Baku Forum can offer us fresh perspectives on how to continue working toward achieving and preserving that supreme common interest. x x x The former President of Latvia, Vaira-Vike Freiberga, said in her remarks that the 12th Global Baku Forum had brought together people representing a diversity of views in a neutral and friendly environment. Indicating that the Forum was an excellent opportunity for an exchange of views on the worlds global challenges, the former President said, It will be best if I begin my speech on behalf of the Advisory Board of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and my colleague Ismail Serageldin with words of special gratitude to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, for his support in both launching this initiative and its continued development. Mr. President has supported and opened the doors for a very neutral and friendly environment for the growing number of leaders from different countries of the world and people with different views to come together. x x x In his remarks, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, thanked Azerbaijan for hosting such an important international event as COP29. He said, I came here a few months ago for COP29, and today I would like to congratulate President Aliyev for hosting such a well-organized event after such a short time. Your Excellency, most importantly, I congratulate you on the significant results you have achieved. We all know that the negotiations were not easy, but as a result important commitments were made for climate finance, mitigation and adaptation measures. In short, this is multilateralism. States came together to find common solutions to common problems. x x x The High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Angel Moratinos, described the 12th Global Baku Forum as an important platform for the discussion and solution of problems threatening the world order. He said, It is always a great pleasure to come to Baku again, and I am thankful to the Nizami Ganjavi International Center for this opportunity. I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to His Excellency President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for receiving me yesterday and for the constructive discussion of many important issues. Your Excellency, despite the short-term nature of my visit to Baku this time, I would like to thank you for finding the time in your busy schedule to receive me. x x x The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebeca Grynspan, drew attention to the uneven distribution of artificial intelligence and new innovations that have been rapidly developing in recent times. She also expressed her gratitude for the support the Government of Azerbaijan has provided for dialogue in this direction. She said: Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, Mr. President, I would like to thank you for organizing such a Forum. Mr. President, we are thankful to you for being here with us today. We have actually felt your personal and your governments strong support. We have also jointly considered taking some steps in the area of trade. We think that it would be important to take steps in this direction, both in terms of eliminating problems in general and in trade specifically. For this, we are grateful to you and very pleased to be here. x x x The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, said that the 12th Global Baku Forum was an important event for ensuring international peace and security. She noted, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to His Excellency President Aliyev for the hospitality shown to us and for his support in the establishment of this dialogue platform for global changes. We are pleased to be visiting the beautiful city of Baku. I am also grateful to the Nizami Ganjavi International Center for organizing the 12th Global Baku Forum. As we know, this event is held every year. x x x The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, drew attention to the issues of energy security and climate change in his remarks and described Azerbaijan as a reliable partner in addressing the energy crisis of Europe, as well as other countries. He said, Many countries have once again realized during the energy crisis that Azerbaijan is a reliable and trustworthy partner. This has been proven yet again. I do hope that gas exports from Azerbaijan to Europe will increase in the future. I also hope that Azerbaijan's green corridor agenda, a project of an electric power cable running across the Black Sea to Europe, will be successful. x x x Speaking at the end of the forum, the Co-Chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Ismail Serageldin, stated that the 12th Baku Global Forum was an important platform that brought together world leaders, representatives of international organizations and scientists for an open and meaningful discussion. We have heard and will hear different opinions on a wide range of topics here. The presence of valuable participants here will provide us with the opportunity to build bridges and analyze these issues. Of course, the traditional Global Baku Forum has always been distinguished by a diversity of opinions, including the presentation of rational arguments, Ismail Serageldin concluded. Dozens, possibly scores, of Russian soldiers, some wearing oxygen masks, shuffled secretly through water and methane fumes for days, moving kilometers through an unused underground gas pipeline into Sudzha, a town in Russia's southern Kursk region. Kursk was invaded last August by Ukrainian forces, embarrassing the Kremlin. Struggling to uproot them, Russian commanders enlisted thousands of North Korean soldiers to throw into the fight. Sometime around March 8, an unknown number of Russian soldiers emerged from the pipeline somewhere on Sudzhas outskirts and were engaged by Ukrainian troops -- possibly by surprise. Ukrainian command confirmed an attempted incursion but claimed it had been thwarted. In the days that followed, Ukrainian troops lost substantial territory in Kursk, in some places a sudden withdrawal. On March 13, Russias Defense Ministry claimed control of Sudzha. The exact details of the pipeline operation -- and whether it triggered Ukraines abrupt shift in fortunes in Kursk -- remain unclear. But if confirmed, the operation would be the second time in just over a year that Russia has pulled off this sort of cunning ambush to undermine Ukrainian positions. They 'Drove A Wedge Into Our Formations' News of the pipeline incident first emerged from both Ukrainian and Russian bloggers, as well as official Ukrainian sources, on March 8. The Russians used a gas pipeline to move an assault company, undetected by drones, and drove a wedge into our formations, Yuriy Butusov, a prominent Ukrainian war journalist with connections to the Ukrainian military, said in a Telegram post. While Russian TV channels claimed 800 Russian troops were involved, the newspaper Ukrainska Pravdaand other outlets said there were just 100 Russians and claimed that Ukrainian commanders had anticipated the effort. Both Russian and Ukrainian media pointed to a branch of an underground pipeline that had ceased operation on January 1 and may have been as narrow as 1.4 meters in width in places. One expletive-filled video posted on a Russian war bloggers Telegram channel on March 9 showed a group of Russian soldiers seated, smoking cigarettes, in what appeared to be a pipeline. They complained about being in the pipe and said the group had already walked several kilometers toward Sudzha. The video could not be independently verified. Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, also posted a video on March 12 appearing to show a unit of Russian and Chechen soldiers inside a pipeline. He said the group had walked as many as 15 kilometers underground. Another widely read Russian war blogger suggested that the operation may not have gone as planned, saying that the unit had oxygen tanks, water, food, and radio -- but that some of the soldiers may have suffocated. 'Wholly Plausible' Ukraines General Staff said on March 8 that the operation had been thwarted. The enemy forces were detected in time by the aerial reconnaissance units of the Airborne Assault Forces,it said. Ukrainian commentators said it was wholly plausible that Russian planners had identified the gas pipeline as a weakness. If the Russian Federation finds engineering structures in locations where combat operations are taking place, it will use them 100 percent, Ivan Stupak, a Ukrainian military analyst, told RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service. Of course, we can use it too. However, we need to have access to maps and technical documentation, Stupak added. I am sure that the Russian Federation is currently using Soviet archives for such operations. The last time Russian troops are known to have pulled off such a feat occurred more than a year ago, during the battle for the Donetsk region city of Avdiyivka in eastern Ukraine. Russian troops had spent months trying to outflank Ukrainian defenses. Sometime in early January 2024, Russian sappers and other troops used a partially flooded water outflow tunnel to creep into a wooded southeastern corner of the city, where a tourist site used to sit. Ukrainian forces were ambushed and struggled to repel the attack. About six weeks after the reported pipeline incursion, on February 17, 2024, Ukrainian commanders announced a retreat from the city to avoid encirclement. As with Sudzha, it was unclear how much of a role last years ambush played in undermining Ukraines defenses in Avdiyivka. It certainly didnt help. While they are more than 1,600 kilometers apart and vastly different in size, Kosovo and Ukraine share a common struggle over sovereignty -- one still reeling from war 26 years ago, the other fighting to preserve its territorial integrity against Russia. As discussions continue about what a peacekeeping force might look like in Ukraine, Kosovos quarter-century of experience with international peacekeepers could provide valuable insights -- should a cease-fire be reached in the full-scale war Russia launched in 2022. Ivan Vejvoda, a senior fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, said that any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine must involve all parties. All stakeholders should be on board, of course, the aggressor, Russia, the country that was invaded, Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, NATO," Vejvoda told RFE/RL. "So, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle for a successful peacekeeping mission. What can be learned is the need to strengthen the foundations of peace and show political willingness. But, of course, on fair terms -- especially for Ukraine, a sovereign European country that was invaded for no reason by its nuclear-armed neighbor, Russia, Vejvoda said. Keeping The Peace In Kosovo NATOs peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, known as KFOR, was deployed in June 1999 under NATO's command, following the alliance's bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. NATO launched the military campaign to end the humanitarian crisis and ethnic cleansing of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population by Yugoslav forces led by authoritarian leader Slobodan Milosevic. In the wake of the bombing campaign and years of fighting between the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) and Serbian security forces, the peacekeeping missions objectives were to maintain security, ensure freedom of movement, and support the establishment of a stable, democratic, and multiethnic Kosovo. KFOR operates under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which authorized an international military presence in Kosovo after Serbian forces withdrew in 1999. While NATO initially deployed around 50,000 troops to Kosovo, the current force is significantly smaller, with approximately 4,600 personnel from 27 contributing countries. Italy currently provides the most troops, with 1,258. What Could A Peacekeeping Force In Ukraine Look Like? European military chiefs are currently meeting in Paris to discuss what a potential deployment could look like. While the United States is at the forefront of efforts to end the conflict, Washington has consistently maintained that US troops will not be deployed on the ground. The United Kingdom and France have expressed a willingness to contribute troops but have stressed the need for US guarantees before proceeding. Such a "backstop" could mean military support without sending troops, or economic and logistical support. Russia, however, has rejected the idea of peacekeepers from European or NATO countries. Several media outlets, including The New York Times, have reported on a 31-page proposal drafted by the Geneva Center for Security Policy, outlining what a cease-fire in Ukraine might look like. The plan suggests establishing a 10-kilometer-wide buffer zone between the two armies, with 5,000 civilians and police officers patrolling the area. According to the proposal, which was drafted in consultation with international cease-fire and mediation experts, around 10,000 foreign troops would be required to ensure security. In January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that. if a cease-fire deal were reached with Russia, at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would need to be deployed in Ukraine to prevent further Russian attacks. "Otherwise," Zelenskyy said, "its pointless." What Were KFOR's Main Challenges? In 1999, Kosovo was not an independent state and lacked its own army. As Vejvoda said, a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo was then absolutely crucial because "things were not settled." As a result, tensions often reached a breaking point -- such as during the 2004 riots, the largest ethnic clashes since the Kosovo War ended in 1999. The violence was sparked by false rumors that three ethnic Albanian children had drowned as a result of Serb actions. The riots led to 19 deaths, including 11 Albanians and eight Serbs. KFOR was considered to have failed to prevent and halt the large-scale violence. It was not widely publicized, but NATO troops were shooting at Albanians who were desecrating Serbian houses and churches, Vejvoda recalls. General Holdger Kammerhoff, who served as the commander of KFOR, said at that time that ''proportionate force'' would be used to ensure the troops' safety. As Vejvoda said, this was a major learning experience for KFOR and its commanders, who realized that the challenges were far greater than they had initially anticipated when they arrived in Kosovo in 1999. I think they certainly rethought their strategy for maintaining peace and order, Vejvoda said. NATO troops also suffered badly in clashes that took place in May 2023 in Zvecan, a town in northern Kosovo. Tens of KFOR personnel were injured, some critically, in battles with Serbian protesters. On a trip to Kosovo on March 11, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte emphasized the alliances enduring commitment to its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He also urged leaders in Belgrade and Pristina to accelerate their dialogue, resolving outstanding issues and laying the groundwork for a lasting peace. Speaking about a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Rutte said that "One way to do that would be European troops in Ukraine. But there could be also other ways to do this." "I think [US] President [Donald] Trump is right: before you can keep a peace, you need to have the peace. And the peace is not yet there," he added. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by 104 UN member states. After meeting with Rutte, the Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani said that the peacekeeping mission "demonstrates the triumph of democratic and peace-loving states when they stand united around the values of freedom and human dignity." As Russia concentrates troops and firepower on retaking the areas of the Kursk region still occupied by Ukraine, its troops say they have captured the town of Sudzha, but it's mostly a pile of ruins, say analysts. Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the Kursk region, encouraging his forces to move rapidly to completely regain control of the area seized by Ukraine last summer. A senior aide to President Vladimir Putin has rejected any temporary cease-fire with Ukraine just hours before a US delegation arrived in Russia for talks with Moscow where they will urge the Kremlin to agree to a 30-day cease-fire proposal or face sanctions. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said in an interview broadcast on state television on March 13 that U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed cease-fire, which Kyiv has agreed to, would only give Ukraine time to recover from pressure Russia has been exerting on its troops. "I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more," said Ushakov, Ushakov, who has more than half a century of involvement in diplomacy and is considered to be the Kremlin's chief foreign policy adviser. He added that he had laid out Moscow's position in a phone call to US national-security adviser Mike Waltz a day earlier. "It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation," he said, noting that Russia wants a long-term settlement that addresses its interests and concerns into account. During a March 12 White House meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Trump expressed confidence about securing a cease-fire for Ukraine and said that U.S. negotiators were traveling to Russia right now, as we speak. On March 13, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the US team reportedly headed up by Trump's special envoy. The state news agency TASS later reported that the envoy, Steve Witkoff, had arrived in Moscow. Trump had earlier told reporters that Russia "has no way out but cease-fire. If needed, we will sanction it, but I hope we won't need to." The US President has made ending Russia's more than three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, quickly dispatching his top officials to Moscow and Kyiv to prepare the groundwork for peace talks. His latest comments on the war come after Kyiv agreed to the temporary cease-fire plan following nine hours of talks with Trump administration officials in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, it is unclear how interested Russia is in the idea, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to speak on Ukraine on March 13 after talks with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. "Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X on March 13. "This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that U.S. pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war," he added. Putin Visits Kursk As Trump spoke at the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin was donning combat fatigues for a visit to troops in Russia's Kursk region, where fierce fighting is currently taking place and Moscow's forces are advancing. Ukraine seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August, a move seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks. That strategy is now at risk of failing as Russian forces slowly push the Ukrainians out of Kursk, having retaken more than half the territory initially captured by Ukraine. During his visit to Kursk -- his only visit since the incursion began -- Putin urged his troops to retake the region in its entirety "as soon as possible." He also said that captured Ukrainian soldiers would be treated as "terrorists." In an interview with Current Time, the editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta Evropa, Kirill Martynov, said that the US proposal of a cease-fire free of additional conditions had angered pro-war elements in Russian society, including so called Z-Channels on Telegram. Putins appearance in military garb was a response, said Martynov, and a way of showing this more aggressive group of citizens that everything is under control, and he continues to wage war. Absolutely in his style, after the situation has improved [in the Kursk region], he appears and takes credit for what is happening, Martynov said. Unconfirmed reports on March 12 indicated that Ukraine has begun to draw back units as Russian officials claimed their troops had captured more settlements, including Sudzha, the largest settlement that Ukraine had taken in the offensive. Ukraine's top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said that fighting continued in and around Sudzha. "Despite increased pressure from the Russian and North Korean forces, we will maintain the defense of the Kursk region as long as it is appropriate and necessary," Syrskiy wrote on Telegram. In a Facebook post, Syrskiy said that saving soldiers lives is a priority and that Ukrainian troops would "maneuver to more favorable positions, if necessary," wording often used to describe a retreat. Concessions? Trump has so far used Washington's significant leverage over Ukraine -- namely military aid and intelligence sharing -- to get Kyiv to agree to the cease-fire proposal, which, if implemented, would leave almost 20 percent of the country in Russia's hands for the time being at least. The United States announced after the talks in Saudi Arabia that it would immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and restore military aid to Ukraine, which could be a boost to Ukrainian forces, whose battlefield positions have been under heavy pressure, particularly in Kursk. Trump lacks that kind of leverage with Russia, which has navigated sweeping US and European sanctions placed on its economy following the invasion much better than most experts forecasted. Putin may seek to drag out talks with Washington over a cease-fire to improve Russia's position on the battlefield, experts say, and hence at the negotiating table when and if Moscow and Kyiv hammer out a peace deal. Trump has also hinted that Ukraine would have to make concessions on land, something more and more experts say is inevitable given Russia's momentum on the battlefield. "When we talk cease-fire [with Ukraine], we talked land, who's withdrawing -- we discussed a lot of things [with Ukraine]," Trump said. "We don't want to waste time, people are dying. Russia is not in the best situation now. I hope [Putin] gets a cease-fire." Trump has said fresh sanctions could do "very unpleasant, very bad things, devastating for Russia," but has offered few details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the cease-fire proposal and said he hoped it would be used as a draft for a lasting peace deal that included security guarantees for Ukraine. "It's now up to Russia what is next," he said at a March 12 press conference, and whether "it wants to continue its aggression against Ukraine or not." Moscow has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the proposal for the 30-day cease-fire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was "carefully studying" the joint US-Ukraine statement issued following the Jeddah talks and will wait to comment until Russian negotiators receive more detailed information from Washington. Reaction on the streets of Moscow, however, was mixed, with one man saying that "agreeing to a truce now, when the enemy is weakened, is completely inappropriate and wrong." But others welcomed the news. "We just want this to end as soon as possible so that people stop dying," said one woman in the Russian capital. "So many have already perished." Meanwhile, on the streets of Kyiv, some Ukrainians told RFE/RL's Current Time that they doubted whether Russia would sign on to, and adhere to, a cease-fire deal. "I'm not sure what to say, but it all seems implausible, frankly speaking," said one Kyiv man, while a woman in the capital said the cease-fire talks were "meaningless without Russia taking part." BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. I'd like to congratulate the Nizami Ganjavi International Center on its extraordinary activity throughout all these years and also for organizing this important international event, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. Speech by President Ilham Aliyev - Ladies and gentlemen, Good morning, welcome to Baku. I greet all our guests at the annual Global Baku Forum. First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to you for being with us. I'd also like to congratulate the Nizami Ganjavi International Center on its extraordinary activity throughout all these years and also for organizing this important international event. We are very proud that the Global Baku Forum has become one of the leading international platforms for addressing important issues of global agenda. Yesterday, I met with the board members. Today, I'd like to say that we are really very grateful to all the members of the center, its board, and the co-chairs - Madam Freiberga and Mr. Serageldin - for their contribution to really magnificent transformation of the center and worldwide activity. I'd also like to say that we were very happy to see members of the NGIC actively participating in COP29, which was held last November in Azerbaijan. Several members of the center were among the Advisory Committee. The center held 16 panel discussionsactually hosted them and organized themand participated in even more panel discussions with its pavilion. It was a big contribution to the success of COP29. That was the main international event last year in Azerbaijan. We were really very proud to have been selected by the unanimous decision of almost 200 countries. That was a sign of respect for us, trust in us, and also an appreciation of our activity on the green transition. Although we are rich in fossil fuels, but our agenda is to concentrate on renewables. Today, it is already fully decided that in the coming years, Azerbaijan's renewable energy capacity will be almost equal to its power generation from fossil fuels. Today, installed power generation capacity in Azerbaijan is 8 gigawatt. By 2030, we will have 6.5 gigawatt of additional installed energy capacity from renewables - primarily sun and wind, as well as hydro, mainly in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. So, we will almost double our today's potential. That will allow us to be an exporter of not only oil and gas but also of green energy. These figures are absolutely realistic. They're based on already signed contracts and MOUs. We already see the implementation of these projects. So the decision to organize COP29 in Azerbaijan, I think, was also driven by this very responsible approach of Azerbaijan towards its energy resources. Again, I'd like to underline that the country is not in shortage of energy supply. On the contrary, today Azerbaijan is providing energy security for more than a dozen countries. Twelve of them are recipients of Azerbaijani natural gas. Ten out of twelve are European countries. So, it's not by chance that the European Commission has called Azerbaijan a reliable partner and also a pan-European energy supplier. Today, oil and gas from Azerbaijan are really making a big change in energy security and actually strengthening the energy security of many countries. When we add to that our green energy sources along with a new energy cable that will stretch from Azerbaijan to Europe, partly on the Black Sea, that will be another demonstration of our responsibility and close partnership with many countries. Because it's not enough to have only energy resources; you must have good relations with your neighbors and the neighbors of your neighbors to be able to deliver the projects of energy, security, connectivity. Talking about connectivity, I'd like to say that due to recent geopolitical changes, the volume of cargo transportation through Azerbaijan has grown dramatically. We are well prepared for that because we have already done our homework. Now we just need to expand the capacity of our seaport, railroad infrastructure to be able to receive all the cargo, which has been diverted to Azerbaijan in recent years. So this, of course, adds to the geopolitical importance of our region, the region of the South Caucasus, where we are still working to achieve peace. What else can I say about COP? First, it was very challenging because we had to organize this event in less than one year. Usually, countries are given two years to prepare. That was successfully done based on a unanimous opinion. Second, we had to deliver results. And here, our diversified foreign policy helped us. Because for four years, we chaired the Non-Aligned Movement, the institution of 120 countries, and actively supported member states in different situations, including during the COVID time, providing humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 80 countries. At the same time, through active communication with European actors, we have seen our role as a kind of bridge builder between the Global South and the Global North. I think we achieved success because it was not easy to agree on many substantial issues during COP29. One of the milestones, one of the achievements, was consensus on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which was a stumbling block for more than 10 years. So, for more than 10 years, parties could not agree on that. But here, we managed to achieve consensus and make the carbon market functional. This is instrumental for the future development of the process. Another important achievement was that at COP29 in Baku, we managed to increase the funding for renewable energy projects from the original 100 to 300 billion US dollars. Yes, we know that some countries were not fully satisfied with that. They expected an even bigger increase. I think what we managed to do is to triple the financing, which should be properly appreciated. Therefore, COP29 in Baku is called the Baku Breakthrough, and that's an important legacy. I'd like to say that, unfortunately, this global international event was accompanied by a campaign in some Western media, which President Trump calls fake newsand I fully agree with him a campaign to discredit Azerbaijan, blackmail us, and spread rumors and different disinformation. We've been accused that we are a country with oil and gas production. But before us, there have been several countries, including European, which also have oil and gas. But it was okay for this so-called media to ignore that. Azerbaijans oil production is 10 times less than production of Canada, just for instance. Our contribution to global gas emissions is only 0.1%. We know who the biggest contributors to global gas emissions are. Nevertheless, on a regular basis, sometimes more than a dozen articles daily were aimed at presenting Azerbaijan as a petrol state and as a country, we do not deserve to host a global event. All that was generated from several centers, actually two: one in the US State Department. The fake news outlets like the Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Newsweek, and the Associated Press were just implementing the instructions of the US State Department. The second source was the office of the President of France, Mr. Macron, through their fake news media like Le Monde, Figaro, and others. So, it was a coordinated campaign of blackmail and slander aimed at boycotting COP29. There can be different reasons. But one of them was that they could not impose their will on us. They could not change our policy aimed at the full restoration of our sovereignty and territorial integrity. They could not absorb the fact that here in the Caucasus, there is a country, which follows its own national interests and does not say Yes, sir to so-called big bosses. Unfortunately, the government of France even went further, advocating for many countries to boycott COP29. We have credible information from the world leaders who attended COP29 and informed us about that, and from those who did not come but conveyed the message that, personally, the President of France was campaigning against COP29. This is a kind of politics, which does not give credit to anyone. But regardless, we had big representation. There have been 77,000 registered participants, including 70 heads of state and government from 197 countries. The only country, which boycotted COP29 was Armenia. On the Armenia-Azerbaijan process, we cannot and we will not forget the years of occupation and the suffering of the Azerbaijani people, which was caused by Armenian occupation and aggression. Those who visit the liberated territories can see the level of barbarism. So all our cities are in ruins. Now we are rebuilding them. But everything was leveled to the ground, and that was a deliberate urbicide against our villages, cities, against our religious and historical heritage. So, 65 mosques were demolished, and in those mosques, which were half demolished, they kept pigs and cows in order to insult the feelings of not only Azerbaijanis but all Muslims in the world. We will not forget that. We will not forget the genocide of Khojaly, when Armenians killed 613 innocent people, more than 60 children, and more than 100 women. But at the same time, we need to look to the future, and we need to have peace in the Southern Caucasus, and that's why Azerbaijan was the initiator of the peace process. Actually, Azerbaijan was even the author of the draft peace agreement, which today is being discussed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and largely agreed. So, most of the paragraphs have been agreed. Our fight was a fight for justice, for international law, for our dignity. We implemented the UN Security Council resolutions, which remained on paper for 27 years and would have remained for 27 years more, if we did not liberate our land by force. Here we come to a very important factor that sometimes you have to use force to achieve peace and to restore justice. Today we see it. We see how the European Union is trying to change its policy towards building strong military potential. We see other countries concentrating their resources on building military potential and infrastructure. We've been doing that for at least 20 years since 2005, and have created a strong army, which liberated our territory and put an end to separatism and separatists. Today, the full restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty is a demonstration, of not only the strong will of the Azerbaijani people, but also international justice. At the same time, of course, we, as I said, have a good memory. We all remember how the current Armenian government behaved prior to the Second Karabakh War. We all remember statements by the Armenian leader who said that Karabakh is Armenia, and that was said in Khankendi. We all remember how he behaved in the occupied city of Shusha. You can find it on the internet. It's a very interesting video. Today, some European bureaucrats try to present Armenia as a dove of peace, but they forget what this current government was doing. They forget that during the Second Karabakh War, they were shelling our cities and villages. We lost more than 100 civilians because of their missiles, including Iskander-M, which was actually forbidden for export. We still have not received an answer to How did the Armenian army take possession of Iskander-M? Because this missile is forbidden in Russia for export. Those who do not believe what I say can just take a drive, maybe 5-10 minutes from here to our Military Trophy Park and see the Iskander-M missile, which we found in Shusha. We found it already in spring 2021, because it was covered by snow. It was launched to Shusha when we liberated the city. So, that was done by order of the Armenian Prime Minister. Ganja, Tartar, Barda, Mingachevir, Agjabadi etc., and many other cities were just under regular shell attacks from Armenia. We didn't do it; we were fighting against the Armenian army, the occupying Armenian army. They were fighting with civilians. This is the difference, and the same was in the First Karabakh War, when they created the so-called Buffer Zone, but actually, they called it like that. But that was occupied territories. They expelled hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and conducted ethnic cleansing. We will never forget it. I can tell you one more thing that the level of trust to Armenia is close to zero. So, we do not trust any of their words. Because they are not the people who we can trust, including todays government. Again, all that they say, for us, has zero meaning. We need documents; we need papers. We need their constitution to be free of territorial claims against Azerbaijan. It still contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. We need the OSCE Minsk Group to be dissolved. We convey this message to Armenia, saying that there is no logic in keeping the Minsk Group. It was created to address the issue of Karabakh. Now Karabakh is done. Armenia recognizes Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. Why dont you join us in a joint application to the OSCE to dissolve it? They dont want. So, they want to keep a part of their feet on the ground, on our territory, now virtually, of course. Their military build-up - what does it demonstrate? It demonstrates that they are preparing for a new war. Who is pushing them to war again? France and its President. Deadly weapons, which they supplied to Armenia, are aimed at us. Caesar howitzers, which today maybe be needed in other places, are being sent to Armenia. The so-called European monitoring mission, which is actually a reconnaissance mission of the European Union, is spying day and night on our border, looking just for places where they can penetrate. And we have enough intelligence information on this so-called monitoring mission. The European Peace Facility is providing millions of dollars to Armenia to weaponize it. Yes, they say they provide this money for non-lethal military installations. But first, who can check this? And second, you give them 10 million, and then another 10 million is planned to be given. So, that actually allows Armenia to save money to buy weapons. Not only France is supplying deadly weapons. Why are they doing it? For what are they preparing? If they want peace, there is no need for that. Many times we have raised this issue with Armenian representatives and with their new bosses in Brussels. Because now they have changed the big brother; and today it's Brussels. Until President Trump won, it was the State Department, it was USAID. It was corrupt American politicians like Menendez, who are now facing serious problems. But Menendez should not be the last one. As they say, one swallow does not make a summer. There are many more who put Armenian money in their pockets. I can name them. Their names are known: Mr. Adam Schiff, Mr. Frank Pallone, Madam Nancy Pelosi, and many others, who for decades were receiving money from Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States to attack Azerbaijan and discredit it. So, we wish President Trump success in draining the swamp. It's not easy, but it must be done. We are ready to share information with American authorities about the illegal activity of USAID in Azerbaijan: how they bribed people, channeled financing illegally, violated Azerbaijani laws and regulations. Now it's time to be responsible for it. We are ready to provide all the information in our possession. Definitely, at the forum, the new geopolitical situation will be discussed. As you can imagine from my comments, we are very enthusiastic with respect to what is happening now in America. Why? It's very simple. Because the policy of Mr. Antony Blinken towards Azerbaijan actually ruined US-Azerbaijani relations, which we had been building for 30 years. We have always been a very reliable partner and friend to the United States. When they needed us, we were with them. When they needed us in Iraq, we were in Iraq with our troops. When they needed us in Afghanistan, we were one of the first non-NATO countries to join operations in Afghanistan in 2001. And we were among the last to leave. After we left, they imposed sanctions on us. I remember it was a big frustration in Azerbaijan. I told some of their representatives, How can we trust you? So, when you need us, you waive the sanctions. When you don't need us any longer, you re-impose the sanctions. How can we build long-term relations with you? So we are very enthusiastic. First, because we in Azerbaijan managed to save US-Azerbaijan relations from total collapse, despite all the efforts of the US State Department. And secondly, we hope that with the new administration, we will rebuild our strong partnership, which has always been important for the South Caucasus, for peace, security, anti-terror operations, the modern development of our region. Definitely, it will be very interesting to listen to speakers today throughout the forum. As always, I'm sure the forum and its members will generate ideas and approaches, especially now when the forum takes place after this dramatic geopolitical change. Once again, thank you for being with us. Thank you for accepting our invitation, and I wish the forum success. Eimear Dodd A man who targeted a vulnerable young woman, controlling her movements for two hours and forcing her to give him money and a phone, has been jailed for four years. Sinore Iosca (25) of Sheephill Green, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to false imprisonment on May 14th, 2018. He has no previous convictions. Detective Garda Cathal Feeney gave evidence on Wednesday that the then 23-year-old woman, who has Down syndrome, encountered Iosca (then 18) on Aungier Street on the afternoon of May 14, 2018. He told her he'd been robbed and had no money. He walked her to a nearby ATM where she withdrew 20 and gave it to him. Iosca then walked her to another ATM, where she withdrew 400, which she also gave to him. He then took the woman and led her onto a bus before they got off at College Green. He then took her to the CompuB store, where she purchased an iPhone X, costing around 1,349. Iosca then brought the victim to Weirs on Grafton Street, where they looked at Rolex watches. Iosca and the woman left the store. The victim returned a short time later, after which her mother and gardai were alerted. Grainne O'Neill BL, prosecuting, told the court the State's case is that the woman was targeted, directed, and controlled by Iosca and she was unable to use her free will from the moment she encountered him during her ordeal, which lasted for around two hours. An extract from the woman's interview with specialist gardai was played to the court during the sentence hearing. During this clip, the victim said Iosca told her he'd been robbed, but she noticed his coat pockets were full. CCTV stills were handed to the court. Iosca was identified from this footage and arrested a few days later. The victim's parents and sibling were in court. A victim impact statement prepared by the woman's parents was read to the court by her father. He said their cherished and beautiful daughter had suffered deep and distressing psychological injuries as a result of this incident and is now fearful for her safety. He said the family alongside other services had worked hard to help the woman enjoy as much independence as possible, but these efforts were undermined and negated by this targeted and predatory attack. He said his daughter has withdrawn socially, become isolated and has trust issues. The woman's father noted that she had been a victim of a serious crime years before this incident, and that trauma had resurfaced for her and her family. He said the family are fearful for her and her future. He added that the woman was not safe that day in the city and it saddens the family that this cruelty was inflicted on the woman while she was walking the streets in daylight. When interviewed, Iosca denied stealing from the woman, saying that she gave him the money and the phone as presents. Iosca identified himself on CCTV and told gardai that he didn't notice the woman had Down syndrome and she looked beautiful and normal to him. He said he didn't force her or tell her to buy anything, and she wanted to buy it to help him. A property was searched and the phone was recovered, where Iosca said it would be found. Michael Hourigan SC, defending, noted this was a distressing and mean incident, for which his client is apologetic. Imposing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said We Irish think we live in civilised society, but one burden of any court system is to protect the vulnerable. He said the woman was minding her own business when Iosca took advantage of her. Judge Nolan said the court had to infer Iosca did this to gain materially. He said the court regarded this as serious wrongdoing and people are entitled to enjoy their liberty and freedom. Judge Nolan said he was satisfied Iosca knew the difference between right and wrong. Having considered Iosca's personal circumstances and the mitigation, Judge Nolan handed him a four-year prison sentence, backdated to October 9th last when he went into custody. The judge said the court's view is that compensation was not appropriate in this case. Addressing the woman's family, he said this was a sad situation, which must have been devastating for them and wished her well for the future. By David Young, PA, in Washington, DC A meeting between Irish officials and Jewish leaders in Washington DC has not been called off, the Taoiseach has insisted. There had been media reports that a planned meeting between Mr Martin and Jewish leaders on Friday was no longer going ahead. However, the Taoiseach told reporters on Thursday: It is my understanding the meeting is going ahead. No, there are some indications about some organisations may or may not attend. Mr Martin said the meeting was scheduled following contact from representatives of the Jewish community in the US. He said: Were very open to meeting with as broad a range of representative organisations of the Jewish community in America to engage with them in a respectful way, in respect of our perspective on the Middle East and the conflict and the war in Gaza. Weve been very, very consistent in terms of condemning the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7, we call for the unconditional release of hostage from the very, very beginning, an end to the war and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. He added: Were open, and hopefully the meetings will go ahead, but well get clarification on that later. Asked about groups pulling out of the meeting, Mr Martin said: Thats not a matter for me. Were open and that still is the case. We were approached, and we responded in the right way. And you know, Ive had good communications with the Jewish community in Ireland, and Ive had meetings and engagement with representatives there. AI intend to continue that to make sure that theres not a misrepresentation of Irelands position on this or any deliberate distortions of Irelands position, particularly in relation to allegations of antisemitism and so forth. Mr Martin said he signed the IHRA guidelines on antisemitism and had visited Kibbutz Beeri after the October 7 attack. Senior figures in Israels government have accused leaders in the Irish coalition of encouraging antisemitism, with the Israeli embassy in Dublin also announcing last year that it would close. Israeli politicians have also criticised Irelands decision to intervene in South Africas case against Israel, with Dublin asking the International Court of Justice to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes genocide. In addition, Israel foreign minister Gideon Saar called Mr Martins predecessor, Simon Harris, antisemitic. Mr Harris, who now serves as deputy premier as part of coalition arrangements with Mr Martin, has rejected the characterisation. By David Young, PA, in Washington, DC The penny has dropped over the need for a reduction in EU regulations, the Taoiseach has said. Micheal Martin said the winds of change were blowing towards innovation and reduction of regulation. Theres a move within the European Union now to simplify regulation. I think the penny has dropped. The message has got home. He made the comments as he attended an event at the US Chamber of Commerce on the penultimate day of his week of engagements in the US. Mr Martin, who told the event that France was his favourite European country, added: [French President] Emmanuel Macron held a very good AI action summit in Paris about a month ago and [US] vice president JD Vance was there, he gave a very strong message. A hard message, but he gave it very clear that the US were going to go innovation, innovation, innovation. Emmanuel Macron and [European Commission President Ursula] von der Leyen was saying Europe has to become more innovation-focused. Mr Martin said Ireland was committed to working with the D9+ group of countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) to advocate for the simplification of regulations in the EU. Its not been satisfactory. We in Ireland understand that, because a lot of the companies are located in Ireland. He said there was growing recognition across Europe for the need for a reduction in regulations, but added: That has to be matched by action and real concrete development. Mr Martin said it is inarguable that European defence spending will increase. French President Emmanuel Macron (Toby Melville/PA) He said it is very clear that Ireland will have to play its role in European security, while taking its traditional military neutrality into account. I can predict that the next multi-financial framework, which is the European Union budget, which will come for the Irish presidency, will involve a significant increase in European Union spending on defence capability, which will be focused on increasing opportunities and capacities from member states to increase their expenditure. The Taoiseach added that Ireland will become a net contributor to defence capability across Europe through a collective debt instrument. He added: But Ireland in itself will have to increase, and we are doubling our defence coming from a very low base defence expenditure. But again, we have to do it in a targeted way. Cyber security, sub-sea cables, maritime security those are probably the most immediate vulnerabilities. Mr Martin heard that the US Chamber is committed to the trade relationship with Ireland. Its chief executive and president Suzanne Clark told the Taoiseach: Were such firm believers in the indivisible connection between our countries. Micheal Martin talking to US Chamber of Commerce chief Suzanne Clark (Niall Carson/PA) Mr Martin said the relationship between Ireland and the US is an enduring partnership. He added: We do genuinely see this as a two-way street. Ireland is a small, open economy, we depend on trade. We would argue that free trade has lifted prosperity in the world, the era of free trade greater than any other era. Mr Martin was asked what more the US could do to bring more Irish investment. In general, he said the feedback about the US was very positive but the issue of visas between the two countries can be particularly problematic. However, he revealed he found ways around it during his time as minister for enterprise. Mr Martin said: Flexibility around inward movement of people into the United States is problematic, it is a very restrictive environment in terms of a mobility of visas that are granted from one company to another. Taoiseach Micheal Martin during a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump (Niall Carson/PA) He said flexibility would benefit the US as it would allow qualified people to work for its companies. He added: We should be imaginative and weve tried this on a number of occasions that wed be creating a legal channel between America and Ireland, that Americans can come to Ireland through us offering visas to Americans to reside and work in Ireland. And when I was in Enterprise a long time ago, it used to always pain me, but I did find ways around it. When Americans fell in love in Ireland, we had to find they developed specialties in certain areas of work and got work permits, and they were happily married ever after. But, I mean, you know, there was too much to navigate in all of that. Mr Martin said President Donald Trump was very well disposed to such a mechanism. 'Perusu' Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update News Fans of comedy cinema can eagerly wait for its release for a fun movie experience. 'Perusu' Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update News: 'Perusu' is a most awaited Tamil film which is ready to hit the theaters on 14 March 2025 after a long wait. Made under the banner of Stone Bench Films, this film will attract the audience with its humor and charm. The trailer of the film has received a lot of love from the people, while the film is also expected to get love. About Film: Perusu is an upcoming Tamil comedy film directed by Ilango Ram, who is famous for his light-hearted story and charming acting. The film stars Vaibhav Reddy and Sunil Reddy in the lead roles, whose excellent comedy timing is attracting people. The music composed by Arun Raj promises to give the audience a memorable experience. The editing work is done by Soorya Kumaraguru, ensuring ease and harmony in the story. The cinematography of the film is done by Satya Thilagam, who gives an attractive look to the story. Advertisement Story: After learning of their father's death, two brothers are stunned to discover that something is still alive within them. What begins as a day of mourning soon turns into chaos as they struggle to secretly perform the funeral rites. In the process, they are forced to confront their broken relationship and face their father's presence. 'Perusu' Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update Perusu is releasing in theaters on March 14, 2025. Fans of comedy cinema can eagerly wait for its release for a fun movie experience. At the same time, those who are not able to go to watch the film in theaters for some reason will wait for the OTT release of this film and would like to know the complete update. Advertisement Let us tell you that reports suggest that the filmmakers have not yet made any official confirmation regarding the release of this film on the OTT platform. However, it is expected that it will be announced soon. Richard Anthony Lord of the Sea Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update News Richard Anthony: Lord of the Sea Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update Richard Anthony Lord of the Sea Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update News 'Richard Anthony - Lord of the Sea' is a most awaited Kannada film which is ready to hit the theaters on 14 March 2025 after a long wait. The trailer of the film has received a lot of love from the people, while the film is also expected to get love. About Film: Richard Anthony - Lord of the Sea is a thriller drama film directed by Rakshit Shetty. Rakshit Shetty also plays the lead role in the film. The music of the film is given by B Ajaneesh Loknath while the cinematography is done by Karma Chawla. The film is produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the banner of Hombale Films. Advertisement Richard Anthony: Lord of the Sea Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update Richard Anthony - Lord of the Sea (Richard Anthony: Lord of the Sea Movie OTT Release update) is going to be released in theaters on March 14, 2025. At the same time, those who are not able to go to watch the film in theaters for some reason will wait for the OTT release of this film and would like to know the complete update. Let us tell you that reports show that the filmmakers have not yet made any official confirmation regarding the release of this film on the OTT platform. However, it is expected that it will be announced soon. Advertisement (For More News Apart Richard Anthony Lord of the Sea Movie OTT Release Date & Platform Update stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman) BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The decision to organize COP29 in Azerbaijan, I think, was driven by very responsible approach of Azerbaijan towards its energy resources, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. The head of state pointed out, I'd like to underline that our country is not in shortage of energy supply. On the contrary, today Azerbaijan is providing energy security for more than a dozen countries. Twelve of them are recipients of Azerbaijani natural gas. Ten out of twelve are European countries. So, it's not by chance that the European Commission has called Azerbaijan a reliable partner and also a pan-European energy supplier. US President Donald Trump Explains 'Gaza Plan': No One Will Be Expelled Prime Minister Martin urged more aid to Gaza, a ceasefire, and freeing of hostages taken by Hamas since October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. US President Donald Trump Explains 'Gaza Plan': No One Will Be Expelled latest news: In the midst of controversy surrounding his 'Gaza Plan,' US President Donald Trump said no one would be expelled from Gaza. He made this declaration prior to the meeting of Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House on Wednesday. Trump stressed, "No one is expelling anyone from Gaza." At the meeting, Trump called US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "a Palestinian," saying, "He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian." The remark echoed a similar one Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, in February. Advertisement Prime Minister Martin urged more aid to Gaza, a ceasefire, and freeing of hostages taken by Hamas since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel declared in December that it was closing its embassy in Ireland due to the nation's "anti-Israel policies." This move was after Ireland favored South Africa's move against Israel at the International Court of Justice, charging Israel with genocide. Trump's latest comments on Gaza come after his February announcement, when he suggested that the US assume control of the Gaza Strip, destroy hazardous weapons, clear destroyed structures, and develop the area economically. In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump declared, Advertisement "The US will inherit the Gaza Strip and we will do something with it. We'll own it and be in charge of demolishing all of the hazardous unexploded bombs and other ordnance on the property and removing the wrecked buildings. Build an economic development that will provide unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the area people." In the meantime, Arab foreign ministers decided to keep negotiating and coordinate with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff on the Gaza reconstruction plan put forward by Egypt in a meeting in Doha. The joint statement highlighted that consultations would be ongoing on the plan as a foundation for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. (For More News Apart US President Donald Trump Explains 'Gaza Plan': No One Will Be Expelled Editorial: Balochistan Train Hijacking They blew up part of railway track and then opened fire, killing some members of train crew, including the engine driver. Editorial: The extent to which terrorism has become a major headache for Pakistan can be gauged from the incident of Baloch rebels hijacking a train carrying around 500 passengers in the province of Balochistan. On Tuesday, Baloch rebels hijacked the Quetta-Peshawar-bound Jafar Express in the Bolan Pass area near the border of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. They stopped the train in one of the seven tunnels (Mushqaf Tunnel) on this five hundred kilometer long rail route. To stop the train, they blew up a part of the railway track and then opened fire, killing some members of the train crew, including the engine driver. Advertisement Train traffic on the route on which the train was travelling had been suspended for a month and a half due to fears of terror attacks. This traffic was restored a few days ago after a search operation by security agencies. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), considered the most powerful and deadly of the Baloch insurgent groups, has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. According to Pakistani government figures, the BLA was the second-highest killer in 2024 after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). While the TTP claimed 300 lives, the BLA killed 224. These figures are included in the Pakistan Security Report, 2024. Non-governmental organizations put the death toll in Pashtun and Baloch insurgent activities at a higher level. They say the Pakistani government has been describing many terror incidents as routine crimes to hide its incompetence. Pakistani intelligence agencies have been sowing discord between the Baloch and Pashtuns for more than five decades. The policy of settling Pashtuns in Baloch areas was an important part of the above campaign. Advertisement But for the last five years, TTP has maintained close and coordinated relations with BLA and another Baloch rebel group-Balochistan Nationalist Army (BNA). Thanks to this coordination, these organizations were able to neutralize the Pakistani army's campaign 'Azam-e-Istiqama' to eliminate terrorists. The goals of TTP and Baloch rebel groups are different. TTP has been fighting for the unification of Pashtun areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is why it has been receiving direct and indirect support from the Afghan Taliban. Its bases are also on the Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border. The goal of Baloch rebels is not fundamentally separatist. They have been fighting to protect the rights of the Baloch in Balochistan. They have been emphasizing on demands like stopping the plundering of the mineral wealth of Baloch land, spending the provincial financial resources on the people of the province and giving the province semi-autonomy. They also have bases on Afghan soil, but the number of their supporters and helpers in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran is not less. Some incidents of train hijacking by terrorists took place in Africa and southern Europe, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan during the twentieth century. Some films (The Taking of Pelham, Under Siege 2, Death Train etc.) have also been made in Hollywood about such incidents. But this is the first time that terrorists have done such an act in Pakistan. In such cases, the innocent often bear the brunt. Advertisement That is why such violence should be condemned. The Pakistani Interior Ministry has claimed that more than 27 terrorists have been killed. Since the military operation was not completed till Wednesday night, there is speculation about the number of deaths and injuries. The Interior Ministry says that the kidnappers' demand for the release of all Baloch political prisoners imprisoned in Pakistani jails has not been accepted. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also claims that the government has not bowed to blackmail. Such determination is justified in its place, but the reality is that the demands of the Baloch rebels are not unreasonable either. Although the manner of their struggle is misleading and wrong, the struggle itself is not wrong. March 13, 2025 UPDATE 1 The latest news from RRI Newsflash Newsroom, 13.03.2025, 18:03 Candidacy The leader of the populist, ultranationalist opposition party S.O.S. Romania, Diana Sosoaca, on Thursday submitted her candidacy for the May presidential election to the Central Electoral Bureau. Also on Thursday, the president of the pro-Western opposition party Save Romania Union (USR), Elena Lasconi, will also submit her candidacy. Sosoaca also ran in last years presidential race, but the Constitutional Court (CCR) rejected her candidacy. Elena Lasconi qualified for the final round of the presidential race, along with the pro-Russian extremist Calin Georgescu, but the CCR cancelled the vote due to the flaws in the electoral process which favored Georgescu. The Court definitively rejected Georgescus candidacy for the upcoming election. Following this decision, the leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, and the leader of the Party of Young People (POT), Ana Maria Gavrila, populist ultranationalists who supported Georgescu, announced that they would submit their candidacies, with one of them withdrawing after their validation. The former Social Democratic (PSD) leader and Prime Minister Victor Ponta also entered the competition. Following this move, the PSD leadership excluded him from the party. The government coalition (PSD PNL UDMR) has a common candidate, the former liberal leader Crin Antonescu. He and the current Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, are the only political competitors accepted, so far, by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) and validated by the CCR. The deadline for registering candidacies at the Central Electoral Bureau is March 15. Deficit Romanias trade deficit increased by 38% in January, compared to the same period last year, data from the National Institute of Statistics shows. In 2024, Romania exported goods worth 6.5 billion Euros and imported goods worth 11.4 billion Euros. Romania continues to have a major deficit, especially in relations with China, Germany and Poland, while recording surpluses with the UK, the Republic of Moldova and the US, although at smaller volumes. A vulnerable sector remains trade in agricultural and food products, where Romania mainly exports raw materials and imports finished products. To reduce the trade deficit, of about 5 billion Euros, experts recommend a strategy focused on the export of value-added products and more efficient use of statistical data for better-founded economic decisions. Pensions Pensioners in Romania whose pension incomes do not exceed 2,574 lei (517 Euros) will receive financial support of 800 lei (160 Euros). The decision, approved on Thursday by the Romanian Government, stipulates that the amount will be granted in two equal instalments of 400 lei (80 Euros) in April and December respectively. In the case of people whose pension rights are established after April 1, the financial aid will be granted in December and will amount to 400 lei (80 Euros). The support targets Romanian pensioners residing in the country or abroad. According to official data, almost 2.7 million pensioners have incomes lower than or equal to 2,574 lei (517 Euros), and of these, over 86,000 are in the diaspora. Also on Thursday, the executive amended, by emergency ordinance, the Statute of Forestry Personnel. Thus, the bonuses equivalent to at least 5 salaries for the last month of activity were eliminated, which, in the case of the heads of the National Forestry Agency, amounted to 10 salaries. Romsilva employees are contesting the changes adopted by the Government. Trade union representatives criticize a 25% reduction in foresters income and announce a protest in Bucharest next week. (LS) March 13, 2025 UPDATE 2 Click here for the latest news from RRI Newsflash Newsroom, 13.03.2025, 20:01 Support Romanias Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu reiterated, at a working meeting with EU ambassadors in Bucharest, Romanias support for the neighboring Ukraine and for the consolidation of the European Unions security and defense policy. At the same time, Hurezeanu emphasized the importance of a solid transatlantic partnership, vital for European security and prosperity. The meeting in Bucharest was held in the context of Poland holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Candidacy The president of the opposition, pro-European party Save Romania Union (USR), Elena Lasconi, has submitted her application to run in the May presidential election. Also on Thursday, the leader of the populist, ultranationalist opposition party S.O.S. Romania, Diana Sosoaca, registered in the May presidential race. Sosoaca also ran in last years presidential race, but the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) rejected her candidacy. Elena Lasconi qualified for the final round of the presidential race, along with the pro-Russian extremist Calin Georgescu, but the CCR cancelled the vote due to the flaws in the electoral process which favored Georgescu. The Court definitively rejected Georgescus candidacy for the upcoming election. Following this decision, the leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, and the leader of the populist ultranationalist Party of Young People (POT), Ana Maria Gavrila, who supported Georgescu, announced that they would submit their candidacies, with one of them withdrawing after their validation. The former Social Democratic (PSD) leader and former Prime Minister Victor Ponta also entered the competition. Following this move, the PSD leadership excluded him from the party. The government coalition (PSD PNL UDMR) has a common candidate, the former liberal leader Crin Antonescu. He and the current Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, are the only political competitors accepted, so far, by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) and validated by the CCR. The deadline for registering candidacies at the Central Electoral Bureau is March 15. ID The first Romanian electronic identity cards will be issued in a week in Cluj County (northwest), and in the next two months, this type of document will be available throughout the country, the Interior Ministry (MAI) announced. The electronic identity card will have a standard size, similar to bank cards. In printed format, it will contain the name, surname, citizenship, date of birth, gender, a photo and the personal identification number (CNP), as well as the handwritten signature. The electronic format will also include other information, such as the parents first names, domicile, the prints of two fingers of the ID holder and digital certificates for authentication or electronic signature. According to the MAI, the electronic identity card will contain advanced security elements which ensure protection against forgery and identity theft. In Romania, the electronic identity card is not mandatory, and those who do not want it, can request simple identity cards, without a microchip. Deficit Romanias trade deficit increased by 38% in January, compared to the same period last year, data from the National Institute of Statistics shows. In 2024, Romania exported goods worth 6.5 billion Euros and imported goods worth 11.4 billion Euros. Romania continues to have a major deficit, especially in relations with China, Germany and Poland, while recording surpluses with the UK, the Republic of Moldova and the US, although at smaller volumes. A vulnerable sector remains trade in agricultural and food products, where Romania mainly exports raw materials and imports finished products. To reduce the trade deficit, of about 5 billion Euros, experts recommend a strategy focused on the export of value-added products and more efficient use of statistical data for better-founded economic decisions. Pensions Pensioners in Romania whose pension incomes do not exceed 2,574 lei (517 Euros) will receive financial support of 800 lei (160 Euros). The decision, approved on Thursday by the Romanian Government, stipulates that the amount will be granted in two equal installments of 400 lei (80 Euros) in April and December respectively. In the case of people whose pension rights are established after April 1, the financial aid will be granted in December and will amount to 400 lei (80 Euros). The support targets Romanian pensioners residing in the country or abroad. According to official data, almost 2.7 million pensioners have incomes lower than or equal to 2,574 lei (517 Euros), and of these, over 86,000 are in the Diaspora. Also on Thursday, the executive amended, by emergency ordinance, the Statute of Forestry Personnel. Thus, the bonuses equivalent to at least 5 salaries for the last month of activity were eliminated, which, in the case of the heads of the National Forestry Agency, amounted to 10 salaries. Romsilva employees are contesting the changes adopted by the Government. Trade union representatives criticize a 25% reduction in foresters income and announce a protest in Bucharest next week. (LS) Romania continues to support Ukraine Upon meeting with EU ambassadors to Bucharest, Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu reiterated Romanias support for neighboring Ukraine Minister Emil Hurezeanu meeting with EU ambassadors / Credits: mae.ro Daniela Budu, 13.03.2025, 13:50 On Wednesday, Romanias Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu attended a working meeting of EU ambassadors accredited to Bucharest. According to a Foreign Ministry press release, in the context of the war in neighboring Ukraine and the decisions of EU political leaders during the latest meetings, Emil Hurezeanu highlighted Romanias support for strengthening the EUs security and defense policy. Such steps need to be carried out in cooperation with NATO, Minister Hurezeanu argued, reiterating the importance of a robust trans-Atlantic partnership, which, the official says, is key for European security and prosperity. According to the Foreign Ministry, Minister Hurezeanu emphasized Romanias support for continuing multilateral support for neighboring Ukraine. At the same time, Emil Hurezeanu highlighted Bucharests contribution to achieving a just and lasting peace, in accordance with the principles of international law. On the other hand, Emil Hurezeanu reiterated Romanias support for the continuation of the EU enlargement process and stressed the importance of the EU accession of both the Eastern and Western Balkan partners, based on their own merits. As for the neighboring Republic of Moldova, Emil Hurezeanu referred to the EU integration efforts undertaken by this state and highlighted the need for continued support from the EU and Member States for Chisinaus efforts in that direction. The Romanian Foreign Minister also hailed the latest developments at the level of the European Parliament regarding the approval of the Facility for the Republic of Moldova. On the other hand, on the sidelines of his meeting with EU ambssadors, Emil Hurezeanu stressed the importance of the objective of developing European economic competitiveness by consolidating the single market, promoting innovation and connectivity. Minister Hurezeanu highlighted the need for the future EU Multiannual Financial Framework to respond to the priorities set at EU level in the 2024-2029 Strategic Agenda. In this context, the Romanian official underlined the important role of the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy, which he regards as essential instruments for creating a solid basis for implementing competitiveness policies and for achieving convergence at European level. Last month, interim president Ilie Bolojan also told ambassadors accredited toBucharest that the main directions of Romanian foreign policy remain unchanged. He recalled Romanias strategic partnership with the United States of America, but also the countrys NATO and EU membership. We remain a country that firmly believes in the future of the European Union. We remain pro-Atlantic and a responsible allied state, Ilie Bolojan gave assurances. (VP) Bridgepoint Group plc (BPT.L) reported Thursday that its fiscal 2024 profit before tax, excluding unrealised FX losses, was 93.0 million pounds, higher than 88.4 million pounds last year. Profit after tax was 69.1 million pounds, down from 70.7 million pounds a year ago, including ECP transaction costs in both years. Basic earnings per share dropped to 8.0 pence from 8.7 pence in the prior year. Including ECP for 12 months in 2024, pro forma underlying profit before tax was 237.5 million pounds, giving pro forma underlying basic earnings per share of 25.7 pence. Pro forma underlying profit before tax, excluding unrealised FX losses, was 249.8 million pounds. Pro forma underlying total operating income was 542.5 million pounds. Assets under management or AUM was $75.6 billion, 69 percent increase from $44.7 billion last year. Fee Paying AUM was 38.7 billion euros, up 49 percent from 26.0 billion euros. These were driven by robust organic growth and the completion of the ECP transaction in August 2024. Further, the company proposed final dividend of 4.6 pence per share, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting. The record date is April 25 and the payment date is May 22. In London, Bridgepoint shares were gaining around 3 percent to trade at 358.00 pence. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News European stocks were mixed on Thursday as concerns persisted about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war and its potential impact on global growth. The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally lower at 540.94 after climbing 0.8 percent in the previous session. The German DAX dropped 0.6 percent as the outgoing parliament convenes in a special session to discuss reforming the country's debt brake. France's CAC 40 shed 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent. Telefonica shares advanced 1.7 percent as the Spanish telecommunications company announced its decision to sell its in Colombia to Millicom Spain in a deal valued at $400 million. Hugo Boss lost 4 percent. The German fashion group said subdued consumer sentiment and muted store traffic have hurt its performance in the year so far. Hannover rose about 1 percent after delivering a significant improvement in profitability within its P&C reinsurance portfolio. Wind farm operator Energiekontor AG jumped 2 percent after raising its core earnings guidance for 2024 above market expectations. British meal delivery company Deliveroo slumped 7 percent after the company signaled a more extended timeline for achieving its key profitability targets. IG Group Holdings rallied 4.2 percent. The electronics trading major reported a 12 percent year-on-year rise in revenue in Q3 FY25. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Demand for residential property declined to the lowest since 2023 and agreed sales turned negative and house prices logged a subdued growth in February as the stamp duty deadline approaches, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, or RICS, said on Thursday. Buyer demand weakened in February with the balance falling to -14 percent from -1 percent in January. This was the weakest result since November 2023. The survey respondents cited that the oncoming changes to Stamp Duty starting April 1, where the threshold will reduce to GBP 125,000 from GBP 250,000, is expected to weaken market activity. This is increasingly influencing the slowdown as deadline approaches, RICS said. Moreover, geopolitical and global economic uncertainties are also less favorable for the housing sector, the agency added. However, house prices continued to increase in February. The net balance of respondents reporting rise in house prices came in at +11 percent, but down from 21 percent in January. Respondents viewed that there is an appetite for the Bank of England to cut rates further. In February, the BoE had reduced its benchmark bank rate by a quarter point to 4.50 percent. Most respondents expect house prices to rise over the coming twelve months in February. The year-ahead price expectations series stood at +47 percent. "A key support for the market continues to be the increased flow of existing stock becoming available, giving buyers a greater choice of options," RICS Chief Economist Simon Rubinson said. "However, leading indicators around new build remain subdued for now, highlighting the significance of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill introduced to Parliament this week," Rubinson added. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We are demonstrating our commitment to multilateral dialogue, said Albania's President Bajram Begaj during his speech at the opening of the 12th Global Baku Forum today, Trend reports. He emphasized that political conflicts around the world have already reshaped the global landscape, replacing certainty with uncertainty: "Our world today is facing not only political crises but also economic downturns. We are in a transitional period, where concepts like freedom, democracy, human rights, justice, and security are being tested. Cyber threats, organized crime, and fake news are trying to dominate. What we need now is unity and courage. These challenges are shaping the new world order. We must advocate for peace. We must protect borders and state sovereignty. Regional and international cooperation is essential," he said. He also noted that the flow of illegal migrants into Europe highlights the insufficiency of border control. "The management of the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that the most effective solution is a unified response. To achieve this, we must support technological development and advance artificial intelligence. We must stay true to our values. We need a world where economic stability is achieved, conflicts are resolved, societies are strengthened, and fragmentation is avoided." The President also spoke about Azerbaijan-Albania relations: "Our long-standing friendship is reflected in our mutual cooperation, especially in the areas of economy and infrastructure projects. I am committed to this cooperation and its continued development, even though we are not geographically close." The United States has imposed sanctions on the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based transnational criminal organization that has trafficked illicit drugs and carried out attacks on Israelis and Jews in Europe, along with its fugitive leader Rawa Majid. The Foxtrot Network is one of the most notorious criminal gangs based in Sweden, and is involved in arms trafficking and contributes to rising violence in Northern Europe, including shootings, contract killings, and assaults. It routinely uses teenagers to conduct attacks, such as in the killing of a rival gang leader's mother. The U.S. Department of State said the Iranian regime leveraged the Foxtrot Network to carry out attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe, including the Israeli Embassy in Swedish capital Stockholm in January 2024. Majid has cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and is also the subject of numerous Swedish charges related to narcotics and firearms. "Iran's brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime's attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, has reported a dramatic fall in the flow of illegal aliens into the country. U.S. Border Patrol's nationwide apprehensions averaged approximately 330 per day in February, the first full month since President Donald Trump issued new executive orders to secure the border. This is the lowest nationwide average apprehensions in CBP history. Southwest border apprehensions plunged to less than 300 per day, CBP says in its operational statistics for February. "The men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection continue to aggressively implement the President's Executive Orders to secure our borders, and as a result of this leadership, we have achieved historic lows in border apprehensions," said Pete Flores, Acting Commissioner. In February, the Border Patrol security officials arrested 8,347 illegal aliens crossing the southwest border between ports of entry. This constitutes a 71 percent decrease from January, when USBP apprehended 29,101 aliens, and a 94 percent decrease from February 2024 when USBP apprehended 140,641 aliens. "President Trump and Secretary Noem have sent a clear message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported without an opportunity to try another day, or in a few hours. As a result, CBP encounters with illegal aliens have decreased dramatically," the agency said in a press release. CBP said that with support from the Department of Defense, it has dramatically increased active patrols of international borders. CBP's Office of Field Operations encountered 3,362 inadmissible aliens at ports of entry along the southwest border in February. That constitutes a 90 percent decrease from January 2025 when OFO encountered 32,346 inadmissible aliens, and a 93 percent decrease from February 2024 when OFO encountered 49,272 inadmissible aliens. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Specialty pharmaceutical companies Mallinckrodt plc and Endo, Inc. announced Thursday that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a stock and cash transaction. Under the deal terms, Endo shareholders will receive a total of $80 million in cash, and they will own 49.9% of the combined company on a pro forma basis. After cash consideration, Mallinckrodt shareholders will own 50.1% of the combined company on a pro forma basis, for an implied pro forma enterprise value of $6.7 billion. Following the deal, Mallinckrodt will continue as the holding company for the combined , and Endo will become its subsidiary. The deal has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. The combination is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to approval by shareholders of both companies, regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The combined company is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, subject to approval of its Board of Directors. Mallinckrodt's headquarters in Dublin, Ireland will be its global headquarters following the deal closure, while the firm will announce the location of the combined company's U.S. headquarters, as well as the corporate name, in due course. Under the deal, both companies plan to combine their generic pharmaceuticals businesses and Endo's sterile injectables business after the close of the transaction and intend to separate that business from the combined company at a later date. A separation like this would be subject to approval by the combined company's Board of Directors and other conditions, the companies noted. Mallinckrodt and Endo will finance the transaction, including the contemplated refinancing, with cash on hand and $900 million of committed financing provided to Endo by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC. The combined company's brands portfolio will comprise pharmaceutical brands across a range of therapeutic areas, and it will have 17 manufacturing facilities, 30 distribution centers and around 5,700 employees at closing. The combined company is expected to generate pro forma 2025 revenue of $3.6 billion and pro forma 2025 Adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion. Upon closing the deal, Siggi Olafsson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mallinckrodt will become President, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of the combined company. Paul Efron, a member of the Endo Board of Directors, will serve as Board Chair. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The United States responded to the European Union's countermeasures against US tariff on steel and aluminum by saying that EU's trade and economic policies are "out of step with reality". "If the EU acted as quickly to address global excess capacity as it does to punish the United States, we likely would be in a different situation today. The EU's punitive action completely disregards the national security imperatives of the United States - and indeed international security - and is yet another indicator that the EU's trade and economic policies are out of step with reality," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement regarding the European Union's retaliatory tariffs on the United States. He accused the European Union of opposing the United States' efforts to re-industrialize for years. He alleged that "the EU has rejected attempts under successive U.S. administrations to cooperate effectively on dealing with global excess capacity on steel, aluminum, and other sectors, employing measures that are too little and too late". In response to the United States imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the European Union, the 27-nation bloc announced a series of countermeasures to protect European businesses, workers and consumers from the impact of those trade restrictions. The European Commission retaliated with the re-imposition of the suspended 2018 and 2020 re-balancing measures and the imposition of a new package of additional measures. On April 1, the 2018 and 2020 re-balancing measures will automatically be reinstated. Tariffs will be applied on products ranging from boats to bourbon to motorbikes. The Commission said the process to impose additional countermeasures on the U.S. will target approximately EUR18 billion worth of goods. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The US spirits industry says the European Union's decision to increase import tariffs on American whiskey to 50 percent is "deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild US spirits exports in EU countries." "Reimposing these debilitating tariffs at a time when the spirits industry continues to face a slowdown in US marketplace will further curtail growth and negatively impact distillers and farmers in states across the country," Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a statement after the European bloc announced the steep hike in tariffs. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States is a national trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the country. In response to the United States imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the European Union, the 28-nation bloc announced a series of countermeasures to protect European businesses, workers and consumers from the impact of those trade restrictions. The European Commission retaliated with the re-imposition of the suspended 2018 and 2020 re-balancing measures and the imposition of a new package of additional measures. On April 1, the 2018 and 2020 re-balancing measures will automatically be reinstated. Tariffs will be applied on products ranging from boats to bourbon to motorbikes. The Commission said the process to impose additional countermeasures on the U.S. will target approximately EUR18 billion worth of goods. Swonger called on the U.S. government and the European Commission to "come to a resolution that gets our spirits industry back to zero-for-zero tariffs." Due to the imposition of the EU's retaliatory tariff in 2018, American Whiskey exports to the EU plunged 20 percent, from $552 million to $440 million, according to the council's data. The EU's 25 percent tariff on American Whiskey had been suspended for the past three years, helping to surge American Whiskey exports to the EU by nearly 60 percent. Swonger said the tariffs were doubled at a time U.S. distillers were working hard to regain solid footing in the European Union, their largest export market. He pointed out that many spirits products are recognized as "distinctive products" by the U.S. and EU and can only be made in their designated countries. As a result, the production of these spirits products, including Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, Cognac and Irish Whiskey, cannot simply be moved to another country or region. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The UK has revoked the accreditation for a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in retaliation for Russia's expulsion of a British diplomat and the spouse of another diplomat earlier this week. A government grants accreditation in recognition of a foreign diplomat's status. The British officials were expelled from Russia on Monday accusing them of spying. The UK Foreign Office denied the accusation, saying that it is "entirely false, fabricated in order to justify their increasing harassment of UK diplomats." It alleged that the Russian government is actively seeking to drive the British Embassy in Moscow towards closure. In protest against Russia's campaign of harassment against British diplomats, a senior Foreign Office official summoned Russia's ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin, and made clear that the UK will not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families. The official warned that any further action taken by Russia will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly. "The depths to which Russia sinks can only be met through strength," says a statement by the UK Foreign Office. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 8th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 220,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 222,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 221,000 originally reported for the previous week. Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 226,000, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 224,500. The Labor Department also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 27,000 to 1.870 million in the week ended March 1st. The four-week moving average of continuing claims still rose to 1,872,250, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 1,866,000. A more closely watched report released by the Labor Department last Friday showed employment in the U.S. increased by slightly less than expected in the month of February. The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 151,000 jobs in February after rising by a downwardly revised 125,000 jobs in January. Economists had expected employment to grow by 160,000 jobs compared to the addition of 143,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The Labor Department also said the unemployment crept up to 4.1 percent in February from 4.1 percent in January, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Oil prices fell on Thursday amid prospects of excess supply in the market, and on concerns about the outlook for demand. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned of bigger-than-anticipated supply surplus if OPEC+ raises output beyond April. The agency said global oil supply could exceed demand by around 600,000 barrels per day this year. Markets also weighed tight U.S. fuel supplies against global economic risks. Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased 1.4 million barrels last week, while analysts had expected a 2.1-million-barrels build. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.13 or about 1.7% at $66.55 a barrel. Brent crude futures dropped to $69.89 a barrel, losing $1.06 or about 1.5%. A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said global oil demand this year will be accompanied by rising deliveries, adding that its outlook is clouded by the trade war. The IEA said it expects oil demand will likely rise by 1 million barrels per day in 2025, up from 0.83 million barrels per day in 2024. The agency said it expects supply to outpace demand by 0.6 million barrels per day this year. "The macroeconomic conditions that underpin our oil demand projections deteriorated over the past month as trade tensions escalated between the United States and several other countries. New US tariffs, combined with escalating retaliatory measures, tilted macro risks to the downside," the IEA noted. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Professor Siphokazi Magadla Associate Professor in Political and International Studies at Rhodes University, Siphokazi Magadla has been named a joint winner of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Humanities Book Award in the Established Scholar category, marking the fourth accolade for her acclaimed book, Guerrillas and Combative Mothers: Women and the Armed Struggle in South Africa. This recognition follows a Vice-Chancellors Book Award, a National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NHISS) Humanities and Social Sciences Award, and a place on the University of Johannesburg Prize shortlist for South African Writing in English all within a year. Prof Magadla's award-winning book, published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press and Routledge, has been recognised for its depth, originality, and impact in re-examining the roles of women in South Africas liberation movements. Her most recent ASSAf Humanities Book Award honours works that develop new understandings of significant topics in the field. According to ASSAf, the prize is awarded to books that are noteworthy in their contribution to developing new understanding and insight of a topic in the Humanities. In Guerrillas and Combative Mothers, Prof Magadla brings to the fore the often-overlooked narratives of women who participated in South Africas armed struggle between 1961 and 1994. Her research explores the experiences of 40 women combatantsfrom those who received formal guerrilla training in uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) to those involved in Pan Africanist Congresss (PAC) armed wing, APLA and township-based self-defence units. The book challenges longstanding narratives of militarism and gender, illustrating how these women transformed and democratised South Africas liberation movements. Prof Magadla highlights how their contributions were not only about national freedom but also about gender justice, laying the foundation for womens rights in post-Apartheid South Africa. Reflecting on the books widespread recognition, Prof Magadla expressed her gratitude, stating: The ways in which this book has travelled since its publication in February of 2023 have affirmed my view of intellectual work as village work. This is because the making of the book was nourished by the sustained and joyful engagement by a community of women scholars and activists across Africa and the diaspora. Upon its publication, they created spaces for it in their communities to be discussed and reviewed. One of the stories I will never forget is how a friend transported the book through her sons schoolbag, who then gave it to the child of the producer of Bongiwe Zwanes SAFM Weekend View, and that is how I ended up doing an hour-long interview with Bongiwe. This ASSAf award, too, is testament of interdisciplinary community building. The book was nominated by Professor Sioux Mckenna of the Rhodes University Centre for Postgraduate Studies. Prof Magadlas research continues to resonate beyond academia, shedding light on critical issues of gender, militarism, and social justice. Her work stands as a powerful historical record and a call to action in the ongoing fight for equality. To find out more about the books other commendations, please visit: BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We will not forget the genocide of Khojaly, when Armenians killed 613 innocent people, more than 60 children, and more than 100 women. But at the same time, we need to look to the future, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. We need to have peace in the South Caucasus, and that's why Azerbaijan was the initiator of the peace process. Actually, Azerbaijan was even the author of the draft peace agreement, which today is being discussed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and largely agreed, the Azerbaijani leader added. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Deadly weapons, which they supplied to Armenia, are aimed at us. They maybe be needed in other places, are being sent to Armenia, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. The so-called European monitoring mission, which is actually a reconnaissance mission of the European Union, is spying day and night on our border, looking just for places where they can penetrate. We have enough intelligence information on this so-called monitoring mission, the Azerbaijani leader pointed out. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan has supported and created a neutral, welcoming environment to bring together leaders with diverse viewpoints from around the world, opening its doors to such dialogue, said Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the 6th President of Latvia and co-chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, during her speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. She highlighted that we are living in a world flooded with information: "This information has been weaponized and is being used for manipulation. Trust and confidence are eroding. We are in the midst of a serious crisis. Politicians from major countries are lying to people without a second thought". The president stressed that we are witnessing many things unfolding in the opposite direction. "Just three years ago, the U.S. began the war in Ukraine, and Russia was seen as its enemy. Now, however, Russia has aligned itself with Belarus and North Korea on the opposing side. This is a very confusing world. People around the globe are feeling lost. Rational thinking and respect for others should be the focus of today's discussions," she concluded. Searching for land refugia becomes imperative for human survival during the hypothetical sixth mass extinction. Studying past comparable crises can offer insights, but there is no fossil evidence of diverse megafloral ecosystems surviving the most severe biotic crisis in the past 540 million years the end-Permian mass extinction. In new research, paleontologists investigated plant and tetrapod fossils and various microfossils from the Permian-Triassic South Taodonggou section in Xinjiang, China. Their fossil records reveal the presence of vibrant regional gymnospermous forests and fern fields, while marine organisms experienced mass extinction. The end-Permian mass extinction, which occurred approximately 252 million years ago, is widely recognized as the most severe among the five major Phanerozoic extinctions. This catastrophic event resulted in the extinction of approximately 80% of known species, a fact well-supported by marine fossil records. Some scientists suggest that volcanic eruptions in Siberia triggered widespread terrestrial devastation through wildfires, acid rain, and toxic gases. Evidence for this includes the successive extinction of characteristic Gigantopteris flora in South China and typical Glossopteris flora across Gondwanaland around the end-Permian mass extinction. However, other scientists argue that these catastrophic effects were limited by latitude and atmospheric circulation. Some fossil discoveries even suggest that certain Mesozoic plants existed before the extinction event, pointing to uninterrupted evolution. The newly-discovered fossils from the South Taodonggou section, located in the Turpan-Hami Basin of Xinjiang province, northwestern China, offer a unique perspective. The presence of intact tree trunks and fern stems further confirms that these microfossils represent local vegetation, not transported remnants, said Professor Mingli Wan, a researcher with the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Although some plant species disappeared locally, the researchers found that the overall extinction rate of spore and pollen species in the South Taodonggou section was possibly only about 21% far lower than the marine extinction rate during the same period. This conclusion was based on the discovery of many missing species in Early Triassic layers elsewhere, indicating temporary migration rather than permanent extinction. This stable vegetation base was crucial for the rapid recovery of the local ecosystem. Fossil evidence shows that within just 75,000 years after the extinction ended, the area supported diverse tetrapods, including herbivorous Lystrosaurus and carnivorous chroniosuchians, demonstrating a quick return to a complex food web. This discovery contrasts with the previous understanding that ecosystem recovery after the end-Permian extinction took over a million years. The new evidence suggests local ecological diversity in this area recovered more than ten times faster than in other regions. The scientists cited the regions stable, semi-humid climate as crucial to its biological resilience. According to analysis of paleosol matrices, the region consistently received about 1,000 mm of rainfall per year during this time. Due to its consistent precipitation, South Taodonggou offered more abundant vegetation and a more habitable environment than other regions following the end-Permian mass extinction, providing vital support for migrating animals. Despite its proximity to the volcanic activity that triggered the end-Permian extinction, the Turpan-Hami Basin provided a safe haven for terrestrial life, demonstrating that even seemingly dangerous locations can harbor crucial biodiversity. This suggests that local climate and geographic factors can create surprising pockets of resilience, offering hope for conservation efforts in the face of global environmental change, said Professor Feng Liu, also from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In light of current concerns about a potential sixth mass extinction driven by human activity, the discovery of this Life Oasis highlights the importance of identifying and protecting such natural refugia. The study was published in the journal Science Advances. _____ Huiping Peng et al. 2025. Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction. Science Advances 11 (11); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads5614 Tracking targeted drug delivery is often a challenge due to limitations in the current imaging techniques. A recent study by Tokyo's Waseda University, reports a breakthrough imaging technique that allows direct and highly sensitive tracking of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) inside the body. This novel technique, which uses neutron activation of gold, could revolutionize cancer drug delivery by enabling real-time visualization of the gold nanoparticles without external tracers. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are tiny gold particles of 1-100 nanometers and have unique chemical and biological properties. Due to their potential to accumulate in tumors, these nanoparticles have emerged as promising drug carriers for cancer therapy and targeted drug delivery. However, tracking the movement of these nanoparticles in the body has been a major challenge. Traditional imaging methods often involve tracers like fluorescent dyes and radioisotopes, which give limited visualization and inaccurate results due to detachment from AuNPs. In a step to advance the imaging of AuNPs, researchers from Waseda University introduced a new imaging technique that uses neutron activation to transform stable gold into a radioisotope of gold and enables long-term tracking of the AuNPs within the body. The study was led by Nanase Koshikawa, a PhD student in the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering at Waseda University, and Jun Kataoka, a Professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Waseda University, in collaboration with Osaka University and Kyoto University. The findings of this study were published in Applied Physics Letters on March 12, 2025. "Traditional imaging methods involve external tracers, which may detach during circulation," explains Koshikawa. "To overcome this limitation, we directly altered the AuNPs, making them detectable via X-rays and gamma rays without the use of external tracers." For activation of the AuNPs, the researchers irradiated the stable gold nanoparticles with neutrons, converting the stable (197Au) to radioactive (198Au). The radioactive 198Au emits gamma rays, which are detectable from outside the body. Prof. Kataoka explains neutron activation, stating, "Activation of atoms through particle irradiation is a technique that directly alters the material. The altered elements are sometimes unstable and emit X-rays and gamma rays that make the material visible from outside the body. This does not change the atomic number, and thus the chemical properties of the element are preserved." The researchers further confirmed the tracking of these radioactive AuNPs by injecting them into tumor-bearing mice and visualizing them using a special imaging system. Additionally, the study demonstrated this imaging technique for drug delivery of 211At, a radio-therapeutic drug used in targeted cancer therapy. The 211At emits alpha particles and X-rays, which are detectable for a shorter duration due to a shorter half-life. The researchers labeled the 211At with the radioactive AuNPs, forming 211At-labeled (198Au) AuNPs. This approach provided long-term imaging of the drug due to the longer half-life (2.7 days) of 198Au, overcoming the limitations of the short half-life of 211At. "211At has a half-life of only 7.2 hours, and hence its emitted X-rays disappear within 2 days, but with the (198Au) AuNPs labeling, we were able to track the drug's distribution for up to 5 days using gamma rays from ??Au, which has a longer half-life of 2.7 days," says co-author Atsushi Toyoshima from the Institute for Radiation Sciences, Osaka University. This study represents a breakthrough in the field of targeted drug delivery and could lead to major advancements in drug delivery systems. The direct tracking of AuNPs inside the body could pave the way for more effective cancer treatments with precise monitoring of drug distribution. The study could also open new possibilities for real-time pharmacokinetic studies, ensuring improved drug safety and efficacy. "AuNPs are being actively researched for medical applications," explains co-author Hiroki Kato from the Institute for Radiation Sciences, Osaka University. "We developed a simple and scalable technique for tracking AuNPs that could significantly advance nanomedicine while driving the optimization of gold-based nanomaterials." Reflecting on their plans, co-author Yuichiro Kadonaga, an Assistant Professor from the Institute for Radiation Sciences, Osaka University, shares his perspective, saying, "We plan to enhance the imaging resolution and extend this technique to various nanoparticle-based systems. By further refining neutron activation imaging, we aim to make drug monitoring a clinical reality, potentially revolutionizing the field of imaging technologies." For years, cities have been taking on efforts to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet little has been done to verify if such work has the intended outcome. New research from the University of Kansas found that completing a greenhouse gas emission inventory indeed moves the needle toward mitigation. "Sustainability" can refer to any number of efforts a municipality can employ, but research has found that when American cities conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, they reduce their CO2 emissions significantly more than they would have otherwise. "We found evidence that the construction and development of a GHG (green house gas) emissions inventory was causally linked to fewer fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions," said Rachel Krause, professor of public affairs and administration at KU and the study's lead author. "Inventories reflect considerable investigation into the source and amount of local emissions, and we hypothesize that this information increases ability to manage efforts and allowed for change." Completing such an inventory, as well as employing sustainability directors or professionals in city government, are two of the most common methods cities have used to boost sustainability and reduce emissions, and researchers wanted to examine the understudied area of how effective those efforts are. Researchers gathered data from cities across the United States identifying whether they had an emissions inventory and/or sustainability staff in place in both 2010 and 2015. Because the goal was to determine the difference that these investments generate, only those without them in place in 2010 were included in the analysis. This yielded a sample of 702 municipalities to examine the emissions inventory and 484 for the sustainability staff. The research team then used satellite-gathered emissions data to calculate emissions released within the cities' boundaries and compared the differences in emissions from the two points in time for groups of cities that did and did not make these investments. "The estimation method we used controlled for over time and between city differences and indicates a statistically significant link back to this treatment," Krause said of the emissions inventory. "Looking at fossil fuel-based CO2 from on-site residential emissions is a small piece of the overall pie, but the fact that there is evidence of real impact is relevant." Researchers examined emissions from on-site residential settings and on-road traffic. The results showed that conducting an emissions inventory results in about 22 fewer pounds of emissions per capita. The reduction appeared primarily via residential emissions. The addition of sustainability staff, however, did not show a statistically significant reduction. The study was co-written with Angela Park of the KDI School of Public Policy and Management in South Korea, who is also a public affairs alumna of KU; Christopher Hawkins of the University of Central Florida; and Aote Xin of Claremont Graduate University. It was published in the journal Cities. Krause reiterated that the findings do not mean that employing sustainability staff is not a worthwhile investment for cities. Sustainability can mean many things and just because the study did not find that the addition of staff results in fewer emissions does not mean they have not influenced important improvements in other areas. "Because greenhouse gas emissions are influenced by many factors -- including climate, macroeconomics and higher-level policy -- some people argue that local efforts aren't large enough to matter," Krause said. "The causal reduction shown following an emissions inventory is meaningful and adds to an area of research that was lacking. "It's not going to solve the issue, but is there evidence that these accounting and planning efforts are moving the needle in the right direction? We are finding that the answer is yes, they are. I posit that means something." As national and international political and policy priorities change, cities will continue to be among the most active in addressing greenhouse gas emissions, she added. Data is now beginning to show that investments and action taken by municipalities can move the needle. As many as half of nursing home residents are cognitively impaired and may be unable to communicate symptoms such as pain or anxiety to the staff and clinicians caring for them. Therefore, information needed for the evaluation of symptoms and subsequent treatment decisions typically does not reliably exist in nursing home electronic health records (EHRs). A new paper reports on the novel adaptation of a commonly used symptom assessment instrument to more comprehensively acquire this difficult-to-obtain data with the ultimate goal of enabling knowledge-based expansion of palliative care services in nursing homes to address residents' symptoms. In the paper, part of the large, multi-state, multi-facility UPLIFT-AD study -- short for Utilizing Palliative Leaders in Facilities to Transform care for people with Alzheimer's Disease -- researchers, including Regenstrief Institute, the Indiana University School of Medicine and the University of Maryland School of Social Work faculty, describe how they revamped and subsequently validated a symptom assessment tool used worldwide. The UPLIFT-AD researchers modified the instrument, originally designed for reporting by family members of individuals with dementia following their death, to enable reporting on the symptoms of current residents living with moderate to severe dementia by nursing home staff as well as family. Led by Kathleen T. Unroe, M.D., MHA, M.S., and John G. Cagle, PhD, the UPLIFT-AD team reports in the peer-reviewed paper that the tool they enhanced reliably addressed physical and emotional distress as well as well-being and symptoms that are precursors to end of life. This validation was critical as the researchers develop guidance for expansion of symptom recognition and management in any nursing home. Employing instruments used in other studies helps researchers to directly compare findings. Dr. Unroe, Dr. Cagle and colleagues, including Wanzhu Tu, PhD, of the Regenstrief Institute and the IU School of Medicine, are in the late stages of the UPLIFT-AD clinical trial to enhance quality of care individuals with dementia by building capacity for palliative care within nursing homes. "People receive care in nursing homes because they have significant needs -- support for activities of daily living -- as well as for complex, serious and multiple chronic conditions. But measuring symptoms of residents, especially those who are cognitively impaired, to address these needs is challenging," said paper senior author Dr. Unroe, a Regenstrief Institute research scientist and an IU School of Medicine professor of medicine. "In my two decades of working as a clinician in nursing homes as well as a researcher, I have seen that often the information on symptoms that we want isn't available consistently in the data that's already collected or it isn't collected at the frequency that we need to measure the impact of programs and approaches. And the gold standard for knowing if someone has a symptom, for example, if someone has pain or anxiety, to ask that person directly to assess the symptom, isn't always possible for cognitively impaired residents. That's why we took steps to validate a commonly used instrument in a wider population -- individuals currently living with cognitive impairment -- and added additional needed data points. "While hospice care is typically available, there is widespread recognition that broader palliative care is needed in nursing homes. But there is no roadmap for how to provide it well. We hope that when we have our final results in 2026, UPLIFT-AD will prove to be a replicable model for implementing this much needed type of care." Body mass index (BMI) was almost three times more likely to classify children as overweight than waist circumference-to-height ratio, according to a new study. Published in Obesity and Endocrinology, the study was based on collaboration between the University of Eastern Finland and the Universities of Bristol and Exeter in the UK. BMI and weight-to-height indices are universally employed as markers of childhood obesity. However, BMI does not distinguish muscle mass from fat mass, and may misclassify children as overweight. With regard to adult obesity, the Lancet Commission on Obesity and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) have recently recommended that obesity in adults should not be diagnosed with BMI alone but confirmed with another measure, such as waist-to-height ratio. The UK National Institute for Health Care and Excellence has also recommended waist-to-height ratio as a tool to predict health risks associated with central adiposity in children. The present study is the largest follow-up pediatric study comparing BMI and waist-to-height ratio in the world. The study included 7,600 children drawn from the University of Bristol's Children of the 90s cohort who were followed up from ages 9 until 24 years. Of the 1,431 children classified as BMI-overweight at age 9 years, 25% had waist-to-height ratio high fat, 11% had waist-to-height ratio excess fat, and 64% had waist-to-height ratio normal fat according to the cutpoints used in the study. However, of the 517 children classified as having waist-to-height ratio high fat, 70% were BMI-overweight, 24% had BMI-obesity, and only 6% had normal BMI. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is considered the gold-standard for accurate body fat measure; however, this expensive device is not universally available in primary health care. It was previously reported from the same data that waist-to-height ratio can assess body fat to a maximum of 85% accuracy compared to DEXA results. The waist-to-height ratio cutpoints for high, excess and normal body fat used in this study were developed from earlier results in the same children and adolescents. In the present study, these waist-to-height ratio cutpoints were also externally validated for type 2 diabetes prediction in 3,329 US adults. Waist-to-height ratio high fat was associated with higher odds of prediabetes, while waist-to-height ratio excess fat predicted higher odds of type 2 diabetes. "Waist-to-height ratio is an affordable and universally accessible, accurate and precise tool for detecting high and excess fat in children and adolescents," says Andrew Agbaje, who is a physician and associate professor (docent) of Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health at the University of Eastern Finland. His earlier research has also shown that waist-to-height ratio predicts both total body adiposity and central adiposity. "Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents should not be diagnosed with BMI alone but could be confirmed with waist-to-height ratio where a DEXA scan is lacking," Agbaje concludes. Agbaje's research is supported by research grants from Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation Central Fund, the Finnish Cultural Foundation North Savo Regional Fund, the Orion Research Foundation, the Aarne Koskelo Foundation, the Antti and Tyyne Soininen Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, the Yrjo Jahnsson Foundation, the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Ida Montin Foundation, Eino Rasanen Fund, Matti and Vappu Maukonen Fund, Foundation for Pediatric Research, Alfred Kordelin Foundation, and Novo Nordisk Foundation. In a scene toward the end of the 2006 film, "X-Men: The Last Stand," a character claps and sends a shock wave that knocks out an opposing army. Sunny Jung, professor of biological and environmental engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was intrigued. "It made me curious about how the wave propagates when we clap our hands," Jung said. Jung is senior author of a study, published March 11 in Physical Review Research, that elucidates the complex physical mechanisms and fluid dynamics involved in a handclap, with potential applications in bioacoustics and personal identification, whereby a handclap could be used to identify someone. "Clapping hands is a daily, human activity and form of communication," Jung said. "We use it in religious rituals, or to express appreciation: to resonate ourselves and excite ourselves. We wanted to explore how we generate the sound depending on how we clap our hands." The researchers used high-speed cameras to track the hand motion, air flow and sound of 10 volunteers clapping, measuring the different frequencies when the size and shape of the cavity between hands changes: when clapping with cupped hands, flat hands or fingers to palm. They found the larger the cavity between palms, the lower the frequency of the clap, with the hands acting as a resonator -- whereby the sound comes from the force of air through the hand's cavity and the opening between the thumb and index finger. "It's the air column pushed by this jet flow of air coming out of the hand cavity that causes the disturbance in the air, and that's the sound we hear," said first author Yicong Fu, doctoral student in the field of mechanical engineering. The researchers compared the human data to that produced with simplified replicas, as well as theoretical projections of how air would move through a traditional resonator, called a Helmholtz resonator. "We confirmed both experimentally and computationally that the Helmholtz resonator can predict the frequency of the human handclap," Fu said. "It's a confirmation of this unifying principle that may be helpful in other fields, especially bioacoustics, because that principle may help explain all kinds of bioacoustics phenomena, especially those involving soft material collision and jet flow." "This is also a fundamental principle of the musical instrument," Jung said, "that depending on the size of the cavity and the length of the neck opening, you create a different sound -- we showed that this also applies to handclapping." Additionally, the researchers studied why claps are so short, compared to sound made through a traditional resonator, finding that the softness of the hands plays a role: the soft tissues of the hands vibrate after impact, absorbing energy and dampening the sound. "When there's more vibration in the material, the sound attenuates much more quickly," Fu said. "So, if you want to get the attention of another person very far from you, and you want the sound to last longer, you might want to choose a certain type of handclapping shape that makes your hand more rigid." The research further opens the door to the idea of using a handclap as a personal identifier or signature; another of Jung's students is testing whether a handclap could be used to take attendance in a class, for example. "The handclap is actually a very characteristic thing, because we have different sizes of hand, techniques, different skin textures and softness -- that all results in different sound performances," Fu said. "Now that we understand the physics of it, we can use the sound to identify the person." Previous studies have investigated either the simplified theoretical mechanics behind the handclap or statistical analysis using human subjects, but the connection between the two is new. With an experimental setup that assessed sound and air flow; the size, shape and texture of the hand; and the force, speed and pressure of the clap, the researchers were able to capture multiple variables that incorporated materials science, fluid mechanics and acoustics. "This is the most thorough study on this topic," Fu said. "The way we set it up helped visualize the phenomena, and because it's so comprehensive, we're able to generate more knowledge from it." For Jung, the study also satisfies a curiosity. "This started as wanting to understand something I saw and something we do every day," he said. "When I see something, I try to question why it happens." Co-authors include Akihito Kiyama, former postdoctoral researcher and now assistant professor at Saitama University in Japan; and Guoqin Liu and Likun Zhang at the University of Mississippi's National Center for Physics and Astronomy. The study was supported in part with funding from the National Science Foundation. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The hosting of the COP29 event was a major success for Azerbaijan. At this forum, we reaffirm the importance of multilateral dialogue as an inclusive mechanism. Turning challenges into opportunities is not just a goal, but a necessity, said the President of the Republic of Albania, Bajram Begaj, Trend reports. In his speech at the opening ceremony of the XII Global Baku Forum, the Albanian President emphasized that the Global Baku Forum, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), is an important platform for delivering messages of hope amid rising uncertainty. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. President Ilham Aliyev, during his speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, spoke about corrupt politicians who have been supporting the Armenian diaspora for decades, Trend reports. The head of state pointed out, We have raised this issue with Armenian representatives and with their new bosses in Brussels. Because now they have changed, the big brother today is Brussels. Until President Trump won, it was the State Department, it was USAID. It was corrupt American politicians like Menendez, who are now facing serious problems. But Menendez should not be the last one. As they say, one swallow does not make a summer. There are many more who put Armenian money in their pockets. I can name them. Their names are known: Mr. Adam Schiff, Mr. Frank Pallone, Madam Nancy Pelosi, and many others, who for decades were receiving money from Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States to attack Azerbaijan and discredit it. The News in Brief Thursday, March 13, 2025 Businessman Giorgi Chikvaidze has announced the start of a hunger strike in protest against what he describes as systemic oppression. His brother, Dimitri Chikvaidze, shared Giorgi's statement on social media, in which he expressed his defiance against the authorities and vowed to stand by his principles, even at the cost of his life."I will not tolerate oppression by this system! From today, I am going on a full hunger strike. This time too, I will stand out in my principles, even if it costs me my life, I will do this for the love of my country. The responsibility for what happened will fall on the Russian regime, Russian agent Bidzina Ivanishvili, and the corrupt Giorgi Gabitashvili. I would also like to appeal to our family's relatives and acquaintances, all of whom are silent, are participants in this process. Friends, do not stop, the fight continues until victory," Chikvaidze wrote.On March 11, Tbilisi City Court Judge ruled to replace Giorgi Chikvaidze's preventive detention with bail. The judge also upheld the bail conditions for his business partner, Irakli Papiashvili. The Prosecutor's Office had sought to have both men imprisoned while awaiting trial.Chikvaidze and Papiashvili are facing charges under Article 182 of the Georgian Criminal Code, which pertains to the misappropriation of a large sum of money through abuse of an official position with prior group coordination. According to prosecutors, their alleged actions resulted in financial damages amounting to 1,155,019 GEL.Archil Gorduladze, Chairman of the Legal Issues Committee in Georgia's Parliament, has accused U.S. senators of using the MEGOBARI Act as a tool of political coercion, dismissing it as irrelevant and harmful to Georgia's interests.Speaking to journalists, Gorduladze accused the act's initiators of hostility toward Georgia, claiming that it was designed to interfere in the country's internal affairs."The MEGOBARI Act means nothing. Even if they call it an act of brotherhood, kinship, sisterhood, and reconciliation, such an act was initiated by people like Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, who hate our country," Gorduladze alleged.He further accused the act's backers of attempting to weaken Georgia's sovereignty and supporting what he called "foreign-backed spy networks.""Against this backdrop of hatred, they initiate various acts and support the spies and agencies operating in our country, so that they can then talk about this act again as if something is happening and there are catastrophic events. This means nothing," he claimed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We live in an interconnected world facing global crises that demand collective solutions, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said in his speech at the opening of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "A few months ago, I visited Baku to participate in COP29. Shortly after, I extend my congratulations to President Ilham Aliyev for hosting such a well-organized event in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, I commend each of you for the significant outcomes achieved at COP29. We all know the negotiations were challenging, but in the end, crucial commitments were made regarding climate finance," he said. Ghebreyesus further highlighted the importance of collective action, mentioning that many countries came together to find shared solutions to global challenges. This is not easy, but it is worth it. In fact, this is the only way forward. We live in a time when such agreements are more important than ever. We do not live in a world where problems can be solved only on a national or bilateral basis. We live in a world of interconnected global crises. These require joint solutions. Wars, conflicts, the spread of viruses, poverty, food shortages, inequality, and the major threats and challenges posed by climate change are all present. For each of these issues, collective efforts must be made, the Director-General concluded. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Antony Blinkens policy towards Azerbaijan ruined US-Azerbaijani relations, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. The policy of Mr. Antony Blinken towards Azerbaijan actually ruined US-Azerbaijani relations, which we had been building for 30 years. We have always been a very reliable partner and friend to the United States. When they needed us, we were with them. When they needed us in Iraq, we were in Iraq with our troops. When they needed us in Afghanistan, we were one of the first non-NATO countries to join operations in Afghanistan in 2001. And we were among the last to leave. But after we left, they imposed sanctions on us. I remember it was a big frustration in Azerbaijan, the head of state noted. Andrea Brickey, (PhD MinE 99) has been immersed in both mining and education for her entire life. With a father who worked as a coal miner and a mother who was a teacher, its no surprise that she found a path combining both fields. For more than 30 years, Brickey has played a vital role in the mining industry while also shaping the next generation of engineers. Mining just feels natural to me. I love that we are providing the materials needed for society, Brickey said. What we do is important, and we are always working to improveensuring we not only meet societys needs but do so in a sustainable way. Brickey grew up in a family where you were either a farmer or a miner. If I wasnt in mining, I would probably be a farmer, raising sheep or goats, she laughed. However, the two industries are not that different. There is just something about where things come from, and the work and challenges involved in getting those raw materials that inspires me, she said. That passion for resource-driven industries and sharing it with others has defined her career. Brickey, a professor of mining engineering and management at South Dakota Mines, was recently honored with the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Explorations (SME) Ivan B. Rahn Education Award for her dedication to educating the next generation of mineral engineers. Established in 1995, the Ivan B. Rahn Education Award honors SME members for significant, long-term contributions to education in ABET, formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, student affairs, continuing education, professional registration, and the Council of Education. The last Mines professor to receive the Ivan B. Rahn Education award was Dr. Arden Davis (PhD GeolE 83) in 2014. I had no idea I was even nominated. It was a big surprise, said Brickey of the award. While Brickey is honored to have received the SME award, she prefers to shine the spotlight on others. There was a great group of people that received awards during the conference including my favorite professor, John Grubb, and a former student, she said. One of Brickeys former doctorate students, Amy McBrayer (PhD GGM 23), a teaching professor at West Virginia University, was also awarded The Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award for her paper on A Review of Current Scheduling and Design Practices in the Powder River Basin published in Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration. It was a paper McBrayer wrote with Brickey while at Mines. That is the coolest part as an educator there is nothing more rewarding than to see your students successes. That is why we do what we do, she said. In addition, Brickey became an SME Fellow, a designation honoring members who have demonstrated significant and sustained contributions to the minerals industry and to SME. I did not feel like I was worthy, Brickey said of being added to the 2025 class of Fellows. We had the former CEO of Newmont Mining, and distinguished Mines alums that were part of this group. Mines alumni Dennis Bryan (GeolE 70), David Hammond (GeolE 69) and James Gebhardt (MetE 77) were also honored as 2025 SME Fellows. After earning her degree from South Dakota Mines in 1999, Brickey spent 15 years working in the mining industry, focusing on operations and consulting projects across Africa, North America, and South America. Her work spanned the extraction of copper, gold, silver, nickel, phosphate, and coal. In 2015, she returned to Mines with a new missionto educate and inspire the next generation of mineral engineers. She emphasizes that the mining industry requires expertise across a wide range of disciplines. The skill sets needed in mining are everythingengineering, geology, metallurgy, mineral processing, accounting, legal, data science, robotics, AIit involves all disciplines, she said. As the industry evolves, Brickey remains dedicated to preparing future professionals, showcasing the diverse opportunities in mining, and encouraging more people to explore careers that drive innovation and sustainability in the field. Oakland County has launched a new initiative to bolster its tourism economy and enhance business attraction and retention efforts. A public survey has recently opened as project stakeholders seek community input to inform the nascent Tourism & Attraction Strategic Plan.The Oakland County Economic Development Department is developing a countywide Tourism & Attraction Strategic Plan, providing data and analysis regarding the economic impact and value of tourism countywide. The initiative will develop strategies to grow the tourism sector, enhance visitor experiences, and attract and retain businesses.This strategic plan will help us build on our countys strengths and ensure Oakland County remains an inviting destination for visitors, said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. It also gives us a chance to support and promote our local businesses, cultural institutions and outdoor recreation.In crafting the strategic plan, project stakeholders now turn to the public as they seek insight from residents and visitors alike. A community survey is available online until Friday, April 18, which seeks opinions about Oakland County downtowns and attractions.Local business leaders, government representatives, and venue operators make up the initiatives steering committee, while additional community outreach efforts will include interviews, focus groups, public meetings, and more.As one of Michigans largest paid family attractions, the Detroit Zoo is pleased to work with the county on its tourism strategic plan, says Randi Hamilton, chief experience officer of the Detroit Zoological Society. The Zoo is deeply committed to the community, and we are thrilled to collaborate with neighboring downtowns and other attractions to create unforgettable experiences both for local guests and visitors far and wide.Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We can build a more effective, inclusive, and responsible system through global efforts, Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, said in her speech at the opening of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "Remarkable changes are unfolding across the globe. A portion of our 2030 goals remains unmet, necessitating millions of dollars to address. In response to the ongoing crises, the UN is providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. I call for a discussion on the issues impacting the world order during this forum. Together, we can build a more effective, inclusive, and responsible global system," she said. Valovaya also expressed her satisfaction with being in Baku. "I would like to thank President Ilham Aliyev for his warm hospitality, unwavering support, and for organizing the Global Baku Forum," she added The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Deliveroo hailed its first ever year of profit and positive free cash flow on Thursday as it expanded its grocery and retail offering, but the shares tumbled as it highlighted an "uncertain" consumer environment. In the year to the end of December 2024, Deliveroo made a profit of 2.9m, versus a loss of 31.8m a year earlier, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 52% to 129.6m. Free cash flow came in at 85.5m, compared to negative free cash flow of 38.4m in 2023. Gross transaction value rose 6% and revenue was up 3% at constant currency - 5% and 2%, respectively, in reported currency - with orders up 2% and marking a return to growth. For 2025, Deliveroo expects GTV to be high-single digits percentage growth at constant currency, while adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between 170m and 190m, as it makes targeted investments "to capture future growth opportunities". Founder and chief executive Will Shu said: "Over the past year, we have been relentlessly focused on making the Deliveroo experience even better. The robust results we've announced today, with our first full year profit and positive free cash flow as well as GTV growth across our verticals, demonstrate that our strategy is working. "We continued to deliver value to consumers by incentivising partners to reduce mark-ups and by significantly enhancing our loyalty programme. Our dedication to making every order perfect is having a meaningful impact on consumer satisfaction, as reflected in our net promoter score. "Whilst the consumer environment remains uncertain, I am confident that we can continue to deliver growth by focusing on the levers in our control: supporting our restaurant partners to meet untapped consumer demand around new occasions, expanding our grocery and retail offering, and continuously improving our CVP." At 0940 GMT, the shares were down 9% at 113.40p. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Deliveroos results are like receiving a takeaway order with free prawn crackers but missing the fried rice. The company reporting its full year of profit along with positive free cash flow is a big milestone, but it is spoilt by a bleak assessment of the outlook. "Deliveroo references an uncertain consumer environment - for people to splash out regularly on takeaways, they need to have a decent amount of disposable income and feel confident about their finances. "Moving into groceries may help at the margin but it is unlikely to be enough to mitigate a major decline in takeaway volumes. "These results come hot on the heels of Deliveroo announcing its exit from the Hong Kong market. The takeaways space is cutthroat and if you are sub-scale, it is hard to make it pay, so ultimately this was probably the right decision. "However, it doesnt exactly present a picture of a business which is on the front foot and the recent bid for Just Eat Takeaway by well-resourced tech investor Prosus means an already competitive landscape arguably just got even trickier." The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has tripled profits to 126m but workers at the staff-owned retail group have missed out on a bonus for a third year in a row. The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) said sales rose 3% to 12.8bn in the 12 months to 25 January 2025, as underlying profit rose from 42m. However, the company said it was prioritising investment over the bonus with plans to spend 600m on transforming the business. Guardian Two British taxi companies have launched a crowdfunding drive for the last leg of a lengthy legal battle with Uber that could result in higher cab fares. Uber will seek, at a supreme court hearing in July, a ruling on contractual models that affect whether VAT applies to private-hire companies outside London, which it has argued would level the playing field across the UK. Guardian More retired baby boomers are paying income tax than Gen Z workers in a dramatic reversal of the pre-lockdown trend, official figures show. Data published by the taxman show 5.45m Britons aged over 70 paid income tax in the 2022-23 financial year, compared with 5.23m Britons aged under 30. It comes as the triple lock drags more pensioners into the tax bracket while a rise in youth worklessness leaves more young people on the sidelines of the jobs market. Telegraph Sir Jim Ratcliffes car company has been forced to recall SUVs in the US after customers complained that doors were flying open while driving. Ineos Automotive has confirmed plans to replace door button parts on 7,000 Grenadier cars, dealing a fresh blow to the billionaires business. According to documents filed to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ineos said the relevant parts had been assembled without enough grease being applied. Telegraph Independent auditors have been called in at Telegraph Media Group to look into concerns about the accuracy of the circulation figures it recorded. Protiviti, a consultancy firm, is conducting a review after Cathy Southgate, the groups acting chief financial officer, reported concerns about how the business recorded newspaper circulation figures and certain revenue between at least 2020 and 2023. The Times BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. On March 13, Riina Solman, Chair of the Estonia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), visited Victory Park in Baku as part of her official visit to Azerbaijan, Trend reports. The Chair laid flowers at the Victory Monument. The guest was briefed on Victory Park, which was built to honor the unparalleled valor of the Azerbaijani people during the Patriotic War, commemorate the historic Victory, and pay tribute to the sacred memory of Azerbaijani martyrs. It was noted that the Victory Arch, symbolizing the 44-day Patriotic War, stands 44 meters high, 22 meters wide, and is adorned with 44 columns at the parks entrance. The park was inaugurated on November 8, 2024, by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. NYPD Detectives Rodney Andrews, left, and James Nemorin were killed in the line of duty in Tompkinsville on March 10, 2003. (Courtesy of NYPD) NYPD STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Monday marked 22 years since two of New Yorks Finest died in the line of duty while attempting to conduct an undercover illegal gun buy-and-bust on Staten Island. It was March 10, 2003, when NYPD Detectives James Nemorin, 36, of Baldwin, L.I., and Rodney Andrews, 34, of Brooklyn, were in Tompkinsville to meet with Stapleton gang member Ronell Wilson, in the hopes of purchasing a TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol. Wilson, who was seated in the back of the detectives black Nissan Maxima asked to stop at an apartment to pick up the weapon, forcing backup officers to keep driving to avoid being spotted. Moments later, Wilson fired upon both men at point-blank range with a .44-caliber revolver, according to Advance/SILive.com archives. Heavily armed police search the Staten Isalnd ferry terminal for a suspect in the Tompkinsville killing of the two undercover detectives. (Staten Island Advance) Staten Island Advance The then 19-year-old gunman fled the scene in the car, leaving the officers bodies near the corner of St. Pauls Avenue and Hannah Street in Tompkinsville. EMTs who arrived on the scene recalled the efforts to aid the fatally-wounded detectives: Nothing else could have been done, said EMT Bill Amaniera. From the scene to the hospital, everyone was doing what they were trained to do. Everyone was communicating. Everything that could have been done was done. Nemorin and Andrews both died shortly after arriving at St. Vincents Hospital in West Brighton, the site of what is now Richmond University Medical Center. Both had been with the NYPD for seven years at the time of their deaths. An interstate manhunt ensued in search of Wilson and Omar Green, who arranged the gun deal. Green would be nabbed the day following the shooting aboard the Gov. Herbert H. Lehman ferry after a civilian, Candice Negron, recognized the man sitting across from her, who was dressed as a woman with red lipstick, blonde wig and tight-fitting black dress, as a wanted suspect in the deaths of the detectives, she told PIX11 in 2023. This 2003 photo shows the memorial in Tompkinsville where Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin were killed on March 10, 2003. (Staten Island Advance) Staten Island Advance Said Negron, who would later go on to become an NYPD sergeant: I recall high heels passing me, and knees knocking together. And the person sat across from me, and I looked up, and I saw the face that was in the paper. And it was a man dressed as a woman. Im looking at the paper, Im looking at him, and Im saying, This is the guy in the papers. After evading law enforcement for nearly two days, Wilson was caught after hopping in a livery cab in Brooklyn. He was convicted in December of 2006, and sentenced to death twice. First in January of 2007 and again in 2013. However, in March of 2016, District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, of Brooklyn federal court, vacated the 2013 death sentence, ruling that the U.S. Constitution forbids the execution of intellectually disabled persons. Wilson would be sentenced to life behind bars. In this March 2003 file photo, detectives from the 120th Precinct in St. George escort Ronell Wilson from the stationhouse to his arraignment. (Staten Island Advance) staten island advance Green pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison in 2019. Detectives Nemorin and Andrews are remembered each year since that fateful night in 2003 for their sacrifice as a reminder to New Yorkers of the daily risks faced by those who bravely decide to put on the badge. The NYPD posted to its X, formerly Twitter, account on Monday: 22 years ago, Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews made the ultimate sacrifice while working undercover to stop illegal gun trafficking. Their heroic efforts were instrumental in saving countless lives and keeping this city safe. We will #NeverForget. The three individuals allegedly broke into three Queens businesses and removed money and cigarettes before fleeing in a black Mercedes Benz GLE model with New Jersey license plates, police said. (Photo courtesy of NYPD) NYPD The NYPD is asking for the publics assistance in identifying and locating three individuals wanted for questioning in connection to a series of commercial burglaries in Queens. All three incidents occurred on Sunday, March 2, police said. According to police, at around 2 a.m., the three allegedly struck a commercial establishment located at 42-01 Queens Blvd. by forcing their way through the rear entrance, damaging an ATM and removing over $12,000 and cigarettes before fleeing the location in a black Mercedes Benz GLE model with New Jersey license plates. The three individuals allegedly broke into three Queens businesses and removed money and cigarettes before fleeing in a black Mercedes Benz GLE model with New Jersey license plates, police said. (Courtesy of NYPD) NYPD The group then allegedly forcibly entered another business, located at 42-11 Queens Blvd., damaging an ATM and removing over $3,900, according to a statement released by the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The trio allegedly hit a third business, located at 42-09 Queens Blvd., by forcibly entering through the basement door and removing over $5,000, police said. The three individuals allegedly broke into three Queens businesses and removed money and cigarettes before fleeing in a black Mercedes Benz GLE model with New Jersey license plates, police said. (Courtesy of NYPD) NYPD The NYPD released images of two of the sought individuals and their alleged vehicle. Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crimestoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential. A middle school student and a teacher were injured during a fire in a cooking class in Middlesex County on Wednesday, authorities said. The fire broke out in a classroom at the Monroe Middle School when the girl came into contact with an open flame and her clothing caught fire at about 10:25 a.m., township police said. As the teacher tried to smother the flames, another student used a fire extinguisher to knock down the blaze, authorities said. The student was flown to a burn center, officials said. The teacher had minor injuries. School officials temporarily evacuated the building but classes later resumed. Additional information wasnt immediately provided. Laura Lucchesi and her 97-year-old mother Bianca Lucchesi wait for answers about a funeral prepayment to A. Azzara Funeral Home, as a lawsuit accuses one of the business owners of using prepayments for his own personal use. March 10, 2025. Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A bombshell lawsuit filed in late 2024 by one of the owners of A. Azzara Funeral Home alleges his partner stole corporation funds, forged a signature, operated funerals without a license and other shocking allegations, the Advance/SILive.com has learned. According to the lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court, St. George, Ryan Sheehan, who is a partial owner of A. Azzara Funeral Home, is alleging Steven Cognata, his partner in the business, performed wrongful acts dating back several years. The 39-page affidavit , filed in November 2024, also seeks dissolution of A. Azzara Funeral Home. As the suit winds its way through court, a judge in February barred Cognata from doing business at the site and ordered a notice be posted to the front door of the funeral home to alert potential customers. Steven A. Cognata and his respective agents, employees and other persons acting on behalf of or in concert with him are hereby enjoined and restrained from transacting any business or expending any funds or exercising any corporate powers on behalf of A. Azzara Funeral Home, Inc. pending the outcome of this action, the court order reads. The judge's order is posted on A. Azzara Funeral Home. March 10, 2025. Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance This week, the notice was still posted on the locked business. It sits alongside hand-written letters taped to the business, addressed to Steven or Steve, from Staten Islanders who are demanding answers about services they say they havent received. The last obituary published on the funeral homes website is from December 2024. Court documents detail disturbing allegations against Cognata, which Sheehans attorneys argue are grounds for dissolving the business. According to the court documents, no opposition was presented at a Jan. 3 hearing, leading to the judges order temporarily barring Cognata from the business. I learned that Cognata had taken funds from the corporation, which belonged to Azzara and deposited them into his personal account, Sheehans affidavit states, referring to an alleged confrontation between him and Cognata in 2020. It continues, I learned at that time that Cognata had taken monies belonging to the corporation and used them to pay credit card bills, which were not incurred on account of Azzaras business. At that time, Cognata gave up some of the operations at the funeral home that he oversaw, according to the lawsuit, and admitted his wrongdoing to Sheehan, who said he desired to move forward in a constructive manner. However, in fall of 2023 I became aware that Cognata had wrongfully taken monies which should have been paid towards prepaid funerals for Azzaras customers and had converted those monies for his own use, the lawsuit alleges, as well as using monies meant for headstones for his personal use and used cash and checks meant for the business for his own personal use. Several families have spoken with the Advance/SILive.com about their concern that money they prepaid for funerals has not been produced. Not getting the money back [is] not an option for us, said Laura Lucchesi, the daughter of Bianca Lucchesi, a 97-year-old Grasmere resident. We need that money back. Bianca Lucchesi said she prepaid for her funeral in the amount of $15,050 more than 10 years ago, but decided late in 2024 that she wanted to move her funds to a different funeral home. However, she and Rocco Paccione, owner of Martin Hughes Funeral Home where she hopes to move her prepayment agreement said that after multiple calls and a certified letter to A. Azzara, the funds have not been transferred. Bianca Lucchesi said she and her late husband Matteo saved the money over the years after immigrating to Staten Island from Italy. Matteo died in 2015 and his funeral was provided by A. Azzara Funeral Home. I would see [Cognata] at church, he would donate services to people in need in the community, I considered him a friend, but I feel so betrayed, Laura Lucchesi said. And he took care of my fathers funeral so well, so I have no complaints about that, but wheres the money for my mother? Cognata has been honored by Staten Island organizations and religious groups, including the Knights of Columbus and Holy Rosary R.C. Church, and engaged in community events over the years, according to Advance/SILive.com archives. Repeated calls to Cognata for comment were not returned. However, the November filing is not the first piece of litigation between the owners of A. Azzara, and in response to initial allegations filed in June 2024, Cognatas attorney responded in a court filing that Cognata denies each and every allegation on count after count of wrongdoing. Filed in August 2024, the court document also claims that in 2020 Cognata transferred shares of stock to Sheehan under threats and under duress. Steven Cognata of A. Azzara Funeral Home, pictured in June 2007 while being interviewed and photographed for an Advance/SILive.com story about cremains being held at the funeral home for decades. Staten Island Advance File Photo Lawsuit: Operating without a license According to the lawsuit, Cognatas funeral directors license has been suspended, and a spokesperson for the state Department of Health, which oversees the Bureau of Funeral Directing, told the Advance/SILive.com that Cognata is not currently licensed as a funeral director. The registration for his funeral director license, which was due by June 30, 2024 was never received by the department, the spokesperson said. The lawsuit alleges that Cognata has not only committed illegal acts against A. Azzara Funeral Home, but against Sheehan most recently by forging Sheehans name on automobile lease agreements. I additionally learned that Cognata had forged my name onto certain lease agreements for automobiles and had further registered those automobiles in the name of unrelated family members, the lawsuit states. This came to light when he defaulted on payment of the lease due, it continues. According to the lawsuit, Sheehan and Cognata havent spoken in months, and they are unable to maintain civil relations in the business at the same time. It also states Sheehan and Cognata cannot agree on the financial management of the corporation; there is no insurance in place on Azzaras business premises, having been cancelled for non-payment; there is no workers compensation insurance; and Azzara owes approximately $100,000 in unpaid bills. A. Azzara Funeral Home on Sand Lane. March 10, 2025. Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance Lawsuit seeks to dissolve A. Azzara Funeral Home The shareholders are so divided that the orderly operation of the corporation has become impossible such that dissolution would be beneficial to the shareholders, the lawsuit states. Sheehan is being represented by Crawford & DeSantis, LLP. Neither he nor his attorneys returned multiple requests for comment by the time of publication. The lawsuit states Sheehan owns 60%, or 120 shares of stock, and Cognata owns 20%, or 40 shares of stock in A. Azzara Funeral Home. Alphonse Trapani is also listed as owing 40 shares of stock, or 20%, in the company, but is not named in the lawsuit. The Advance/SILive.com was unable to reach Trapani for comment. A. Azzara Funeral Home and its corporation are in immediate danger of irreparable impairment because of continuing and illegal conduct in which money and profits were taken from A. Azzara Funeral Home by Cognata, the lawsuit alleges. The state Department of Health spokesperson told the Advance/SILive.com the agency was made aware of the litigation by the court. The spokesperson said the department cannot comment on ongoing litigation. The lawsuit further says that Cognata filed criminal assault charges against Sheehan that were dismissed, but that an order of protection continues to bar Sheehan from visiting and conducting business at the funeral home. Complaints filed against Azzara over prepaid funds Following the experience of the Lucchesi family, who have been unable to get their prepaid funds transferred, complaints have been filed with multiple agencies alleging that Cognata, on behalf of A. Azzara Funeral Home, is not following state laws regarding prepaid funeral funds. Paccione filed complaints with the New York State Attorney Generals office, Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahons office, and the state Bureau of Funeral Directors, against A. Azzara. Some prepayments are considered irrevocable meaning it cannot be refunded however, even for irrevocable payments, state law allows the transfer of funds to another funeral home and gives the funeral home where the prepayment contract was made 10 days from the request of transfer. According to a spokesperson for the state Department of Health, money prepaid to a funeral home must, by law, be held in an interest-bearing Pre-Plan Funeral Trust account in the name of the client or be held as a government-backed investment, such as U.S. Treasury bills. Bianca Lucchesi said she wasnt made aware of this when she signed the contract. Once monies are placed into a trust, the owner of the account would receive a yearly 1099 tax form outlining interest accrued on the account, according to the state Department of Health. Bianca Lucchesi said she has never received a 1099 or any account information. Concord resident Ralph Barone, 94, said he also prepaid for his funeral in 1994 at A. Azzara Funeral Home and says he has never received a yearly 1099 from the IRS. The District Attorneys office and the Bureau of Funeral Directors acknowledged the complaints, but both agencies said they would not comment on investigative matters. The attorney generals office also confirmed they received the complaint and a spokesperson said they are looking into it. Assemblyman Charles Fall honored Black law enforcement officers during Black History Month celebration. (Courtesy of the office of Assemblyman Charles D. Fall) Courtesy of Fall's office STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In recognition of Black History Month, Assemblyman Charles D. Fall (D-North Shore) hosted a special event on Staten Island to honor Black law enforcement officers. Fall recognized officers from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), Port Authority Police Department, New York State Police, and MTA Police Department for their dedication, sacrifice and service to public safety. Fall presented awards to officers who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to their profession and communities. It is an honor to recognize these men and women who serve with distinction and selflessness, said Fall. Their work is not just about enforcing the law it is about building trust, keeping our communities safe, and inspiring the next generation to serve. Assemblyman Charles D. Fall honored Black law enforcement officers during a Black History Month celebration. (Courtesy of the office of Assemblyman Charles D. Fall) NYPD Borough Commander Assistant Chief Melissa Eger recognized the importance of honoring law enforcement officers and the significance of Black History Month, stating: As members of the NYPD, we take immense pride in serving and protecting the people of Staten Island. Every day, our officers put their lives on the line to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities. Today, we pause to recognize their dedication, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to public service. Assemblyman Charles D. Fall honored Black law enforcement officers during a Black History Month celebration. (Courtesy of the office of Assemblyman Charles D. Fall) New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a special video message congratulating all the honorees and reaffirming her administrations commitment to continuing to support law enforcement. She also commended Fall for advocating for Staten Island and constantly working to strengthen public safety and community partnerships. The event featured remarks from law enforcement officials, community leaders and honored guests, all highlighting the importance of diversity, representation, and leadership in policing. In this file photo, signs along Midtown Manhattans Second Avenue, between 61st and 62nd streets, warn of the Congestion Relief Zone. NYC congestion pricing involves using electronic tolling to charge vehicles for entering the zone. (Staten Island Advance/Steve Zaffarano) Steve Zaffarano STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New Yorks pushback on the March 21 federal deadline to end congestion pricing is leaving both supporters and opponents waiting to see whats next for the tolling program. Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Transportation telling New York to turn off its congestion pricing cameras by March 21. Hochul refused to budge on congestion pricing, telling the MTA board [w]e will not be steamrolled, before pledging she is in the fight to keep the toll program as long as it takes. This matched the similarly defiant tone Hochul struck the week prior, when she said that the cameras are staying on after the administration of President Donald Trump pulled federal approval for congestion pricing. The scene is set for a legal showdown to determine the future of congestion pricing, and the MTA has already filed paperwork in federal court to keep congestion pricing in place, setting up a legal battle. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber added he is confident the plan will hold up in court, having already survived several legal challenges. In response to Hochul digging in her heels, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) a vocal critic of the congestion pricing plan said that Hochul and New York must comply with the federal directive and end the program. The cash grab is over. Governor Hochul needs to follow the law and turn the congestion pricing cameras off, Malliotakis said in a statement. Now that President Trumps administration rescinded the approval, there is no question that these cameras are operating in violation of the law. Turn them off, she continued. Congestion pricing involves using electronic tolling to charge vehicles for entering Manhattans Congestion Relief Zone to reduce traffic and raise money for public transportation upgrades. Recently, some Staten Islanders have said theyve been seeing less traffic during their morning commute since the start of congestion pricing. At the end of January, the MTA released numbers that continue to show an improvement in traffic since the beginning of congestion pricing. According to the agency, around 1 million fewer vehicles have entered the Congestion Relief Zone when compared to pre-congestion pricing numbers. By the MTAs count, this has led to travel time improvements ranging from 10% to 30% on average at river crossings into Manhattan. New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) AP Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia University. The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who carried banners and wore red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel, chanted Bring Mahmoud home now! After warning the protesters to leave the Fifth Avenue building or face arrest, police put at least 65 of them in zip ties and loaded them into a police van and city bus about an hour into the demonstration. Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasnt been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalils arrest was the first of many to come and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. Among the protesters was actor Debra Winger, who has discussed her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years. Winger accused the Trump administration of having no interest in Jewish safety and co-opting antisemitism. Im just standing up for my rights, and Im standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location, she told The Associated Press. Does that sound like America to you? Protester Sophie Edelhart, who studies Yiddish at a school in Canada, said she took part in the demonstration because she didnt want to cede ground to Trump and fascism. She said the building, with its golden elescalator that Trump rode before announcing his 2016 presidential run, was a symbolic target. Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) AP Khalils supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case. Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The buildings main entrance opens to a multi-story atrium that is open to the public and connects visitors to stores and eateries such as the Trump Grill. Khalil, 30, was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup. Columbia was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests. Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia masters degree in December. Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing. In this Aug. 18, 2010 file photo, U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Ollis, right, of Staten Island, N.Y., and Sgt. Christopher Wilson, of Monticello, Indiana, ride inside an armored vehicle, during a joint mission with Afghan Army soldiers near Forward Operating Base Howz-e-Madad, in southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) AP STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Former Staten Island Borough President James Oddo posted a clip from a new documentary dedicated to the only Staten Islander to lose their life in the War on Terror: SSG Michael Ollis. The film entitled Teddy Bear for Michael was recorded by Polish filmmakers and premiered earlier this month at St. Casimir Church in Newark, New Jersey, according to Oddos posts to X. Please join me in continuing to tell the heroic story of SSG Michael Ollis, who gave his life in protecting a Polish soldier he didnt know, Oddo wrote. Michaels parents, Linda and Bob Ollis, continue to demonstrate a truly incredible amount of grace, empathy and compassion. It is no wonder Michael Ollis became the man and human being he was. The 24-year-old Staten Islander selflessly sacrificed his life shielding an injured Polish lieutenant, Karol Cierpica, from a suicide bomber in an Afghanistan warzone on Aug. 28, 2013. In the clip Oddo posted, viewers can see Cierpica and Ollis father, Robert Ollis, talking about when Cierpica returned home from the war. Please join me in continuing to tell the heroic story of SSG Michael Ollis, who gave his life in protecting a Polish soldier he didn't know. In "Teddy Bear for Michael," Polish filmmakers capture this remarkably poignant story. pic.twitter.com/8sFIGEGDp5 Jimmy Oddo (@HeyNowJO) March 11, 2025 One of the reporters asked me, Youre going to meet the lieutenant. What are you going to say to him? And I says, Im gonna hug him. Kiss him. And Im going to thank him for his service, Ollis father said. The reporter was just in shock. The video flips to an interview of Robert talking to a reporter before shifting its focus to Cierpica. I remember Robert hugged me. He said to me, Welcome to the family. He said to me, Welcome, our new friend. He said, Thank you for your service, Cierpica recalled. At that moment, I thought, and still think, for what service was he thanking me? Me? Youre thanking me for my service? But I failed. Your child should be here. In 2015, Cierpica welcomed his son into the world, naming him Michael in honor of the Staten Island man who saved his life. Robert told the Advance/SILive.com in 2015 that he thinks of the baby as a grandson. The films title references a teddy bear made out of the fallen heros army fatigues that the Ollis family sent Cierpica and his wife when their son was born. The roughly hourlong documentary film is expected to be made publicly available on YouTube, according to the former borough president, though its unclear when that will happen. When I receive the Youtube link to this emotionally-stirring 57-minute documentary, I will post it. Respectfully, I ask you all to share it across your various social media platforms, Oddo wrote. Watch Sesame Street come to life at St. George Theatre this weekend as Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, and the gang say hello! (Alexa Viggiano for the Staten Island Advance) (Alexa Viggiano for the Staten Island Advance) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - From Spring-inspired art to Irish cultural celebrations and a Sesame Street extravaganza, theres something for everyone to enjoy this weekend! Saturday Spring Mud Painting Masterpieces / March 15, 1-2:30 p.m. Celebrate Spring with the Urban Park Rangers! Create a nature-inspired masterpiece using local dirt and clay. All materials provided. Admission cost: Free Location: Visitor Center - Satterlee St. and Hylan Blvd. in Conference House Park Neath the Celtic Moon / March 15, 2-5 p.m. Join the Staten Island Childrens Museum and the Noble Maritime Collection this Saturday for a celebration of Irish arts and culture! From 2 to 4 p.m. at the Noble Maritime Collection, enjoy a book signing for Ginger Sea Neath the Celtic Moon with author Bob Wright, live music and artist Keri Sheheens discussion of her illustrations. Then, head to the Staten Island Childrens Museum to watch former North American Irish Dance Champion Dawn Daniels perform traditional reels, demonstrate musical instruments, then join in for a jig lesson and end with an Irish dance party! Admission cost: Pay what you wish Location: The Noble Maritime Collection Sesame Street Live! Say Hello / March 15, 2 p.m. (doors 1 p.m.) Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, and the gang are coming to town to say hello. Sing, dance, and play with your favorite furry friends as you join Elmos puppy, Tango, in a fun game of hide and seek. So put on your dancing shoes and make your way to where the air is sweet for this all-new celebration on Sesame Street! Snag your ticket here. Admission cost: $39$69 Location: St. George Theatre Sunday Story Time and Craft: Get Ready for Spring! / March 16, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Let your imagination soar with spring-themed stories, then create your own craft! Reserve your spot here. Admission cost: Free Location: Greenbelt Nature Center, 700 Rockland Ave BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. I would like to thank President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan for organizing the XII Global Baku Forum, said President of North Macedonia Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, Trend reports. "I thank President Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijan for providing the opportunity to gather here, as well as for organizing this important forum, where we can discuss issues of peace, as well as the wars we faceboth the war with nature and the wars between nations. This forum is a chance to take the first step toward solving global problems," she told reporters on the sidelines of the forum. The President emphasized that the world is on the brink of catastrophe. "What is happening in the world and within the United Nations not only sparks great interest but also serious concern. I dont know how many times humanity has said, 'Never again war,' and yet we keep breaking that promise," she stated. Siljanovska-Davkova highlighted that the forum offers an opportunity to address many pressing issues, including the status of the United Nations. "I will participate in a panel on the future agenda. We need to consider what the future will look like if we continue on our current path. Energy issues, competition, and partnership will also be central topics. It is partnership that can save humanity; otherwise, we are headed down a dangerous path toward further division," the president concluded. White House border czar Tom Homan joined Republican lawmakers in Albany on Wednesday to rally against New York's immigration policies. (Associated Press/Evan Vucci) AP STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A Staten Island state legislator has joined forces with President Donald Trumps border czar to blast New Yorks sanctuary policies. Tom Homan, executive associate director for enforcement and removal operations for the Trump Administration, attended a press conference in Albany to criticize the states sanctuary policies and advocate for legislation intended to strengthen immigration enforcement efforts. New York state, you gotta change the sanctuary status, he said. If you dont, get out of the way. Because were going to do our job." Homan said New York City could see an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents if the state doesnt change its existing policies and start cooperating with the federal government. Sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they dont want: more ICE agents in your community, Homan said. Well double the manforce if we have to. A representative for Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Homan of misrepresenting state policies and said the governor will not be bullied into further cooperating with deportation efforts. Governor Hochul has been clear with New Yorkers: She supports secure borders and deporting violent criminals, but wont let New York help the Trump Administration tear babies away from their parents, a Hochul spokesperson said in a statement to Politico. This isnt the first time Trump Administration officials have lied about our policies and it probably wont be the last but Governor Hochul is staying focused on keeping New Yorkers safe. Homan was joined by many of the states Republican elected officials, including Assembly member Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn), who chastised his Democratic colleagues, claiming they have prioritized the needs of migrants over New Yorkers. Corrupt Albany Democrats welcomed over 200,000 illegal migrants to New York City at the expense of hard-working taxpayers the most historic number of illegal entries ever seen before, said Tannousis. We fed, housed and flew them, yet neglected our veterans, seniors and homeless. Families struggle to afford gas, groceries and their electricity bills, yet illegal migrants sleep comfortably in their five-star hotels. The Republican lawmakers called to repeal the states Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses and prohibits federal authorities from accessing the state Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) database. They also advocated for a state-level version of the Laken Riley Act, which would require New York law enforcement and courts to notify ICE when an arrested person or defendant is not a U.S. citizen. Democrats turned their backs when Laken Riley, who had bigger dreams and aspirations in life, was brutally murdered by a violent illegal migrant who had a criminal history, Tannousis said. This is the reality of their disastrous open border and soft-on-crime policies. Our streets are less safe. Fentanyl has crossed the open border, killing our loved ones. My colleagues and I did not join together today as a scare tactic, but to speak on the reality of the issue. Its not often that you hear the name of President James Knox Polk in modern political discourse. But the 11th presidents name is back out there, thanks to the admiration of the 47th president: Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump recently hung a portrait of Polk in the Oval Office. Some horse-trading was required to get the painting. Trump offered House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) an Oval Office portrait of President Thomas Jefferson in exchange for a Polk painting that was hanging in the U.S. Capitol. The Polk painting took its place in the Oval Office in late February, the Journal reported. Democrat Polk served just a single term in the White House, from 1845 to 1849, but in that time oversaw the largest expansion of U.S. territory in history. President Donald Trump has hung a portrait of President James Knox Polk in the Oval Office. Polk, the 11th president, oversaw the largest expansion of American territory in history. Advance archive photo Victory in the Mexican War extended Americas boundaries to the Pacific Ocean under Polk, and the 1849 gold rush spurred expansion westward. Under Polk, three new states joined the Union: Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Oregon Territory, California and much of the American Southwest were also acquired during Polks tenure. All in all, Polk doubled the size of the United States during his term. It was one of the largest land grabs in world history, said historian Hampton Sides, who wrote about Polk in his book Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West. He wanted it all, and he got it all in one term, which was kind of extraordinary if you think about it. The Journal said that Trump has told White House visitors that he admires Polk, known for his championing of Americas manifest destiny, the belief that it was Americas God-given right to expand the country westward. He got a lot of land, Trump told visitors shortly after the Polk portrait was hung in the Oval Office. Trump has also looked to expand the U.S., including making Canada the 51st state and taking control of the Panama Canal. Trump has also talked about buying Greenland from Denmark and taking over the Gaza Strip and turning it into a Riviera of the Middle East. Trumps admiration of Polk could be an indication that the president is serious about his own expansionist plans. Unlike the blustery Trump, Polk was a morose, dark kind of guy, Sides said. Trivia: Polk, from North Carolina, was the first elected president not to seek re-election. Bottles Champagne are for sale at a wine dealer shop as President Donald Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey, Thursday, March 13, 2025 in Ville d'Avray, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) AP French champagne, Italian wine and German beer might be pricier the next time you head to the liquor store. Early Thursday morning, President Donald Trump announced his intent to slap the European Union with a 200% tariff on alcohol from the union after they placed a 50% tariff on American whiskey. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote the following: The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. The European Union is made up of 27 countries, which includes a variety of Americas traditional allies. The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, is expected to go into effect on April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU. We dont like tariffs because we think tariffs are taxes and they are bad for business and they are bad for consumers, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday. We have always said at the same time that we will defend our interests. Weve said it, and weve shown it, but at the same time I also want to emphasize that we are open for negotiations. Tariffs are paid by the importing country meaning, if Trump were to enact a 200% tariff on European Union alcohol, American importers would pay that tariff. Associated Press reporting contributed to this piece. Support the Peninsulas only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe! Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions. Premium Subscription As low as $8.25 per week Premium Includes: -- Access to the Daily Journals e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads. You can download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading. You can also clip & download articles or images from the e-edition to share with others The most recent 90 issues are available at any given time. -- Unlimited access to our award-winning online content -- Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community -- NEW! Access to our online-only digital crossword puzzle. A new puzzle every day, seven days a week! BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. There is no need for the Minsk Group today, nor can there be, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration told reporters at the opening of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "Considering Armenia's claims against Azerbaijan, it is evident that Armenia, with the backing of certain supporters, is making efforts to preserve the Minsk Groupa relic of the past, now obsolete and functionlessby any means. Today, there is no need for the Minsk Group, and there can be no place for it. Any attempt to revive it is nothing more than a utopian notion," he said. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:176 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x563dd718df30)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x563de1ce8a78)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x563dd718df30)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x563de1ce8a78)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 176 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x563de1042570)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x563de1ce8a78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x563de1ce8a78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x563dd70a64d8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x563de14d5070)') called at (eval 1338) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x563de14d5070)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Stonebridge agents Max Warren, Dylan Kilner and Chao Zhang have the listing. Also on the market is The Hardiman Hotel at 521 Macaulay Road, Kensington. It has a fresh 10-year lease and returns $475,000 a year in income. JLLs Will Connolly, Stuart Taylor and Tom Noon are running the campaign and expect more than $8.6 million for the pub. Out of town, the Morwell Hotel, leased to the countrys biggest pub operator, ALH, is also up for sale. Morwell Hotel, Morwell ALH has a 25-year lease on the property with four 10-year options out to 2068 and pays $173,235 a year in rent. It has 14 gaming machines and is on a large 1.82 hectare piece of land at 311-327 Princes Drive. Its going to auction on March 26 as part of Burgess Rawsons portfolio auction. Agents Raoul Holderhead and Romanor Falconer are taking enquiries with Stockdale & Leggos Jim Demetrios. Build-to-rent tower Lowy-family backed Assembly Funds Management is looking to off-load the build-to-rent tower in Parkville which it bought 2.5 years ago. Assembly paid the Victoria government $65 million for the Evo apartment block in 2022 which looks like a savvy investment. JLL agents Josh Rutman and Jack Bergin have the listing and are expecting around $100 million. Barely 10 years old, the building at 109 Manningham Street has already had a long history. It was built by Pace Development Group in 2014, but was purchased by the Napthine government for around $90 million because it stood next to a proposed off-ramp for the since-aborted East-West Link. EVO Apartments in Parkville is close to the hospital precinct. The Andrews government made a vain attempt to sell it in 2017 before the building was pulled from the market after it was found to be covered in flammable cladding. New home Furniture retailer Stylecraft has found a new CBD home after its showroom on Flinders Lane was sold to make was for a new Dior boutique. Stylecraft is going into the ground and first floor of Riverlees office tower at 379 Collins Street. The retailer has taken a 12-year lease on the space where it will create a 1000 sq m showroom. Its a big move, taking Stylecraft from the east end where it has traded for 20 years down to mid-town. Stylecrafts existing four-level building, at 145-149 Flinders Lane, was bought by LVMH, owner of French fashion house Christian Dior, for $39 million for the property in 2023. Its across the road from Chanels multi-storey boutique, bought later the same year, for a staggering $75 million. Stylecrafts new showroom is on the corner of Queen Street. Its sharing the location with Bang & Olufsen, which has also shifted to midtown from the east end. Dior has bought 145149 Flinders Lane. Ainsworth Propertys Zelman Ainsworth did the deal. Stylecraft is making the move in spring. Toorak Village A former family office on Carters Avenue in Toorak Village has hit the market just as the $67 million sale of its neighbour across the street, the old Mercedes Benz car yard, settled. Loading The double-storey office building is on 400 sq m parcel of land at 20 Carters Avenue and comes with a redevelopment permit. The vendors, Toorak luxury home builder Craig Easton and Alla Geiro, wife of laser eye surgery pioneer Mark Medownick, bought the property in 2017 for $4 million. Land rates in Toorak are fetching between $20,000-25,000 a sq m which should put its sale price at around $8-10 million. Toorak Village has shrugged off its daggy image after Bill McNees St Germain building on Toorak Road transformed the strip. One of developer Orchard Pipers luxury projects is under way while a second, a joint venture with James Packers NPACT on the car yard site, has just received approval. CBRE agents David Minty, Nathan Mufale, Trent Hobart and Jing Jun Heng are handling the campaign, along with locals Kay & Burtons Andrew Sahhar and Danielle Horne. 20 Carters Avenue, Toorak Bunnings shed Newly established property player, the Kinglake Group, has made its biggest purchase to date, snapping up the Sunbury Showrooms. Records show the investor paid $19.58 million for the former Bunnings shed, reflecting a 6 per cent yield. The 5554 sq m property at 85 Vineyard Road is fully leased to The Good Guys, Repco, Total Tools, Petstock and Worklocker. Troon, a previous owner, converted the Bunnings shed in 2014 and sold it to an off-shore Chinese investor for $14.88 million in 2017. Kinglake Group director Jamie Allen said it was the companys third acquisition. The off-market deal was negotiated by Burgess Rawsons Zomart He. Post office auction Eight bidders competed for the Glenroy Post Office last week, making 128 bids in 30 minutes, pushing the price up to $3 million. A local owner-occupier came out ahead, paying 36 per cent above the $2.2 million reserve to the vendor, Australia Post. The vacant 448 sq m property is on a 978 sq m of land at 9-11 Post Office Place. Colliers Travis Keenan and James Bui, managed the auction. Maurice said the two-hatted institution lives by the creed of old-school hospitality: What happens at the Ice stays at the Ice. Its my favourite restaurant in the whole world, TV chef Nigella Lawson said of Icebergs Dining Room in 2019 . Paris Hilton partied there through the New Year 12 years earlier. Leonardo DiCaprio went for lunch in 2012, as did Oprah Winfrey in 2015. In Bondi, the Terzinis rule from the beachs southern cliff. Maurice, the culture whisperer, is as known for his $400-a-head New Years Day parties that fuse food, fashion and celebrity as for his trend-defying Italo-Australian cuisine. But for years, one of the most powerful figures in hospitality has also been protecting his son, Sylvester Terzini, who has been accused of carving a trail of destruction by allegedly sexually assaulting women, threatening co-workers and shattering decades-old relationships in the tight-knit restaurant industry, a months-long investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal. The King of Bondi, the Lazarus of Australian dining, Maurice Terzini has spent decades putting his Italian brutalist stamp on dozens of restaurants, from Bondis iconic Icebergs Dining Room and Bar to the Melbourne Wine Room. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Australias giants of the hospitality industry are in the spotlight across a series of investigations by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Good Food and 60 Minutes. Former close professional and personal contacts of the Terzinis claim Maurice knew of Sylvesters violent behaviour and responded by shifting him between venues in the two cities. Text messages show Maurice was aware of claims of sexual assault and violence against Sylvester even acknowledging his son was dangerous to those in his personal life but continued to employ him in restaurants he owned as his empire expanded from Bondi to Melbourne. Sylvester has also been accused of violent rages, including pulling out a knife in front of colleagues at Icebergs Dining Room and Restaurant Hubert. Two women allege they were attacked by the 32-year-old while sleeping. Another person claims Sylvester sexually assaulted them in the bathroom of a popular Sydney nightclub. They are among the dozen personal and professional sources close to the Terzinis who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of safety fears. I dont go to Bondi, said one woman who claims she was choked and attacked by Sylvester in 2020. Thats how much it f---ed me. I cant look at the beach and not think about it. But multiple women and business associates say the global acclaim masks a darker side, tinged with drugs, threats and violence, that has left them shattered and scared. The alleged attacks have destroyed relationships in the industry, with several alleged victims having close ties to the family that redefined modern Italian dining in Australia. Our client has no criminal history for violence or sexual misconduct. We do not intend to address all of the allegations raised by your email. However, we advise that our client denies any sexual misconduct and the allegations of violence. The email contains a number of allegations, misrepresentations and false statements, his lawyer said in a statement. Sylvester declined to answer a series of specific questions from this masthead but broadly denied the allegations. As far as our client is aware, our clients businesses have no record of any allegation of sexual misconduct having been made against any of its employees or managers arising out of its venues, his lawyers said. Through his lawyers, Maurice denied he had engaged in any inappropriate conduct by employing his son at his venues. It was just very much: youre a woman in my bed. I own you. You will do what I want because you cant stand up for yourself. I would wake up in the middle of the night to him doing things to me that, looking back on, Im just like, what the absolute f---, the woman said. Another woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by Sylvester while she was sleeping in 2018. It was incredibly violent, she said. It was at that moment that I knew that he was telling me, without using any words, that I was at his mercy to do basically anything. In 2016, one woman claimed she was threatened and attacked by Sylvester in Sydney. Sylvester and Maurice Terzini at their former venue, Snack Kitchen. None of the alleged sexual incidents occurred inside Maurices venues, but multiple of his alleged victims first met Sylvester at one of the hospitality veterans restaurants or connected businesses. In the morning, I woke up because I couldnt breathe. I came to and realised that he was on me, I was being strangled, and he was masturbating. I was actually pretty f---ing sure when I woke up that I was about to die. I went there and I felt safe, and everything was fine. We were hanging out. I actually had my period, so I wasnt up to do anything, she said. When Sylvester returned to Sydney from a stint in Melbourne, the pair met up for drinks, talked about his two-year plan to move to Italy and then watched a movie at his apartment in Potts Point. In 2020, a childhood friend who first met Sylvester at one of Maurices restaurants pressed charges after allegedly being choked by him while she was sleeping. I dont want this to happen to another girl, she said. The woman said she was speaking out now because others had come forward. Caught between surviving and the chokehold around her neck, the woman said she pretended she enjoyed it. I put my hand between his elbow and my neck so that I could breathe, and then I just started stroking it for a moment, she said. After Sylvester finished, the woman took a shower and then told him she loved him and had to leave. She then bought new clothes in the CBD because she felt gross. The way I reacted, I think its the smartest thing Ive ever done, she said. But because of how I reacted and [because] we were flirting [in messages before the incident] when it went to court it was just nothing. Sylvester and Maurice Terzini also worked together at Jacksons on George. Credit: Steven Siewert The charges of choking and sexual touching without consent were dismissed in May 2021. Our client was acquitted of sexual touching after a contested hearing, Sylvesters lawyers said. Court records show Sylvester did not show up to a court appearance and pleaded guilty to failing to appear in court. In messages with Maurice in 2020, the woman described feeling torn about making a police report because of her relationship with the Terzini family and the impact it would have on their reputation. Maurice said it was getting serious and would be happy to sort a time to talk with both legal parties to put this to bed. I really just wanted to say, as a family, we are devastated that we find ourselves in this position coming up to Xmas, it has been incredibly hard and emotional, Maurice said to the woman. Loading The woman said it took her years to understand the impact of the alleged incident. The 32-year-old said she was studying to become a lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before the alleged incident. Its all just crumbled, she said. I didnt realise how it was going to affect me. I started seeing his face whenever my partner would try to kiss me. I wasnt able to sleep. I was paranoid anytime a man would touch me. Another alleged victim said they also raised concerns with Maurice about Sylvesters violent behaviour. He has just these crazy outbursts of absolute f---ing rage, said one woman. It was always just a blind eye, said another. During a reprieve from COVID lockdowns, Sylvester allegedly sexually assaulted an 18-year-old in the toilets of a popular Sydney nightclub. The alleged victim claimed, he pushed me onto the floor and wrapped his hands around my hair before they were sexually assaulted. He says to me, if you want me to be your boyfriend, Im not your f---ing sugar daddy, they said. Then he pushed me onto the brick wall, grabbed me and told me to lick the dirt. Former colleagues say the warning signs came early. As a teenager, Sylvester was fired from Icebergs Dining Room for stealing alcohol. In 2008, Sylvester went to Melbourne to work at Maurices restaurant Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons. My son, Sylvester, whos 15, will start in the kitchen and work his way around the restaurant, Maurice said. Hes on a fairly disciplined program to learn the business. Maurice said his businesses taught his children the need for discretion. Icebergs lives by the rules of the old school world of service: we serve and by default, we hear, but we never really hear anything, he told Forbes Australia in 2022. What happens at the Ice stays at the Ice. Maurice Terzini has been accused of turning a blind eye to his sons troubling behaviour. Credit: Louie Douvis When Sylvester returned to Maurices Bondi flagship from 2013 to 2015, he allegedly pointed a knife at a co-worker. After returning empty plates to the dish pit, Sylvester got into an argument with the dish hand and allegedly picked up a steak knife. Staff rushed over to pull him away. Maurice denies there was any violent behaviour by Sylvester at his venues. Icebergs Dining Room and Bar shares a building with Bondi Icebergs Club and the swimming club, which are unrelated to Terzinis top-floor venue. Icebergs Dining Rooms investors, hoteliers Damien Reed and Deke Miskin, distanced themselves from the Terzinis after being made aware of the allegations this week. They said Sylvester had not been employed at Icebergs Dining Room since 2019. Reed and Miskin took over as directors of the investment company 1 Notts Avenue in 2022. Our clients are not aware of any sexual misconduct or harassment claims having ever been made by any staff member of the company in the 10 years that they have been a shareholder of the company, their lawyers said. The relationship between Mr Maurice Terzini and his son and the conduct of Mr Terzinis son are private matters that have no connection whatsoever with the company or its businesses. Sylvester has also been accused of violence at another venue with links to the Terzinis, allegedly pulling a knife on a colleague when working at the Swillhouse-run Restaurant Hubert in January 2017. Anton Forte, Swillhouses managing director and owner of Restaurant Hubert, has long been close to Maurice. A Swillhouse spokesperson said management immediately sent him home. The staff member was counselled and left the business the following day, the spokesperson said. Sylvester Terzini allegedly pulled a knife out in front of a colleague at Restaurant Hubert. Terzini pulled out of Swillhouses inaugural festival, Swillfest, in August after this masthead published an investigation that revealed accusations that the major Sydney hospitality group failed to support staff who reported multiple alleged sexual assaults. Its imperative that we do what is best for the industry we love, Terzini said. But Maurice has continued to support Sylvester despite multiple allegations against him, employing him in at least seven of his more than two dozen restaurants, including The Dolphin Hotel, Bistro George and CicciaBella. By 2018, when Sylvester was sentenced to a two-year conditional release order without conviction after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine, his bad temper and drug use were an open industry secret. An associate of the Terzinis said he has witnessed Sylvester get quite inebriated and then make moves on women with his liquid courage. He doesnt really take no for an answer, they said. It seems to be an open secret that hes a bit of a sexual predator, but because of his fathers position and the familys power, its really hard. Thats just working in this industry. Loading After Sylvester was charged with choking and sexual touching without consent in 2020, he moved from Sydney to Melbourne and continued to work in his fathers venues. This masthead has seen evidence that in 2021, as Sylvesters choking charge proceeded through the courts, Maurice admitted he had lost close friends to support his son and his alleged sexual assaults. Maurice also expressed distress at the fallout from removing Sylvester from one of his restaurants. During his stint in Melbourne, Sylvester worked at the neighbourhood wine bar Napier Quarter, as well as restaurants Bar Rosella and Cucina Povera Vino Vero, which Maurice co-owned. Bar Rosellas owner, Rocco Esposito, said Sylvester worked at his best, and he was sad to see him go. I always make sure that all my employees work in a safe environment, he said in an email. Another personal associate of Sylvesters warned Maurice of Sylvesters continued violence and heavy substance use in Melbourne, fearing he was repeating his troubling behaviour from Sydney. In the lead-up to the June 2022 opening of the much-hyped Italian restaurant Cucina Povera Vino Vero, which Maurice co-owned, Sylvester was embroiled in further chaos. Cucina Povera Vino Vero closed suddenly in 2022. Credit: Good Food He was set to join Maurices first Melbourne restaurant in more than a decade when he allegedly became involved in a violent incident outside Angel Music Bar on Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD. Sylvester was removed from Cucina Povera before the short-lived restaurant opened. A sign posted on its door blamed a severe staff shortage for the restaurants sudden closure. Maurice chose not to involve Sylvester in any more Melbourne businesses after growing frustrated from bailing him out of several incidents. But he gave him another fresh start in Sydney at his venue, Bistro George, a year later at the revamped Jacksons on George, one of Maurices most ambitious openings since he started Icebergs Dining Room and Bar more than two decades ago. Few former business partners, colleagues and personal connections were willing to speak openly about Maurice or his son, citing the restaurateurs power and influence in the industry and the fear of retribution from a man who has run at least 25 establishments in the past three decades. Maurice Terzini at the site of his formerly owned restaurant Otto in the early 2000s Credit: Jennifer Soo I feel like Sydney is really good at gatekeeping all this information and keeping people away from it to save their businesses, said one woman. Sylvesters alleged victims have been reluctant to go to the police after the 2021 case was dismissed. They also cited fears for their safety and their careers. A spokeswoman for NSW Police said the police force recognised the trauma that victims of sexual violence experience. There are a number of reporting options available to victims of sexual assault, some of which involve making a report to police but not necessarily pursuing an investigation, the spokesperson said, referring to the anonymous online Sexual Assault Reporting Option. Police will always encourage victims to engage with support services even if they dont want a legal outcome. Maurice Terzini (second right) opened Icebergs Harbour Bar in Crown Sydney at Barangaroo in November. Credit: Louise Kennerley In November, Maurice launched the Icebergs Harbour Bar at Crown Sydney at Barangaroo. Maurices latest venture, Billy the Pig, opened in Bondi Junction this week. Today, diners at Icebergs Dining Room one of Australias only truly iconic establishments see the fine dining restaurant and think of the ocean, sand and sky. But the alleged victims think of attacks, violence and a powerful duo holding on to their secrets. They say they can no longer look at Icebergs and the turquoise pool flowing over Bondi. There is just too much collateral damage now, said one alleged victim. [Sylvester] really damaged me for a long time, said another. Im just continuously amazed at the lack of repercussions and the lack of accountability. There is a lot of justice that needs to be met. Sylvester Terzini running service at Snack Kitchen. Credit: Brook Mitchell In January last year, Maurice and Sylvester opened Snack Kitchen, a minimalist diner on Macleay Street for the after-work crowd in Potts Point. The restaurant was billed as the culmination of decades of work by the Terzinis: tomato carpaccio, mortadella and aperitivi served by waiters in white aprons and black ties. Sylvester lauded Maurices beautiful attention to detail. After all these years of working together, we have finally opened a place that we can genuinely call ours!! Maurice wrote on Instagram. Despite strong reviews, Snack Kitchen closed less than six months later. Asked by Good Food why they didnt call it Terzini & Son? That one still might come, Sylvester said. The victims of his alleged carnage hope it does not. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. On Tuesday, we wrote that the release of a new book by former High Court judge Dyson Heydon, found by an independent court inquiry to have sexually harassed six female associates, posed an important litmus test for how the legal community viewed such matters. Now, the results are in. Heydon on Contract was launched quietly at an invitation-only event on Wednesday night, attended by a whos who of Australias most eminent jurists. Federal Court judge Michael Lee became prominent thanks to the Bruce Lehrmann case. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos Among them was Federal Court justice Michael Lee, who became a media celebrity and favourite of the progressive writers festival set after presiding over Bruce Lehrmanns failed defamation case against Network 10. Lees scathing judgment, which found, on the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann had raped his former colleague Brittany Higgins, won plaudits from womens advocates. And a book version of the 324-page judgment, released by Melbourne University Publishing and not authorised by the court, featured a foreword by consent activist Chanel Contos. Were not sure how new fans of Lord Lee (as hes now being called in judicial circles) feel about all this. At 92 years of age, Ellen Burstyn could be forgiven for wanting to stay home in her native New York, but instead, the Oscar winner has touched down in Australia to shoot the new movie Place to Be, alongside Taika Waititi. Filming began in Sydney this week at Disney Studios in Moore Park, with five-time Cannes laureate winner Kornel Mundruczo directing. The drama documents the unlikely friendship of an elderly woman (Burstyn) and a middle-aged man (Waititi) as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a racing pigeon to its home. Ellen Burstyn and director Kornel Mundruczo as the cameras roll at Disney Studios in Moore Park. Credit: Simon Harsent For Burstyn, a long-time critic of US President Donald Trump, the film not only provided an opportunity to revisit Australia (she made her Australian stage debut in the play 33 Variations in 2019) but also a timely escape from the presidents second term. Oh, I cant tell you how wonderful it is to be away from whats happening in my country right now, there is no better time to escape America, says Burstyn, whose film credits include The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Interstellar. As recovery efforts continue after Australias most recent flood catastrophe, leaders of the worlds oil and gas industry are gathered for CERAweek, the sectors annual knees-up in Houston, Texas. The mood is buoyant, going by speeches and public commentary so far. As Cyclone Alfred, seen here from space, bore down on Australia, oil executives gathered in Houston, Texas. We can all feel the winds of history in our industrys sails again, said Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the worlds largest oil company. There was a time, not that long ago, when the world seemed determined to tackle climate change, and the oil companies played along. They rebranded themselves as integrated energy companies and responded to shareholder demands for climate action by setting ambitious net zero targets. Update 6.45pm: Sydney Trains has confirmed the T4 Line is also experiencing delays - it was the only line not affected at one stage earlier today. Australian Financial Review journalist Zoe Samios just sent in this snap from Martin Place just after 6pm. Passengers at Martin Place on the T4 Line to Bondi Junction wait for delayed trains. Credit: Zoe Samios A spokesperson confirmed the T4 delays began in the past half hour, with services running 15 to 25 minutes late due to a lack of staff being available to man the trains. This shortage is due to delays on other lines making it hard for them to get to Martin Place. There remains no ETA on when the fault will be ameliorated and services on other lines will be restored. Earlier: Its not just commuters returning from the working day feeling the pain there are also NRL fans travelling this evening from all over Sydney to CommBank Stadium in Parramatta for the big Panthers v Roosters clash. That game kicks off at 8pm, and you can follow the action here. Heres the latest for train lines covering Parramatta (T5 functioning normally). Earlier, Sydney Trains was advertising trains as the best way to make it to the A-League Womens match in Gosford between the Central Coast Mariners and Perth Glory, but I cant find that tweet any more. A prominent Sydney law firm with close links to the NRL and A-League has been targeted by foreign cyber-attackers who are now extorting the business over hundreds of gigabytes of confidential documents. Brydens Lawyers, whose name sat on the front of Wests Tigers jersey for a decade, was hit by a cyberattack around February 20. Brydens Lawyers is led by former Wests Tigers chairman and lawyer Lee Hagipantelis. Credit: James Brickwood The hackers stole more than 600 gigabytes of data related to the firm, its clients and cases, and even staff. The firms principal, Bandeli Lee Hagipantelis, warned employees the threat against the integrity of the firms internal systems was discovered and confirmed less than a week ago. Brisbanes rough sleepers will be given 24 hours to move on, with empty tents removed from parks, under a crackdown from the city council. Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the state government had advised virtually every rough sleeper in Brisbane was offered secure accommodation before Tropical Cyclone Alfred, but shockingly the vast majority refused. We wont let Brisbane turn into the San Francisco Bay Area, where encampments have grown out of control and become magnets for crime, violence and illegal drugs, he said. Our parks and playgrounds should be safe spaces for everyone to enjoy. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. I experienced warm hospitality during my official visit to friendly Azerbaijan, said Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, President of North Macedonia, as she addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. There is yet another thing that connects our countries. Azerbaijan is the land of fire. I, on the other hand, come from the land of the sun. And the sun, as one of our Macedonian poets said, is the oldest fire one can get warm off. I experienced this warmth in the past few days during my official visit to the friendly Republic of Azerbaijan. Thank you once again, President Aliyev, for your warm hospitality, she added. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Hes a seasoned ocean sailor, but when the multimillion-dollar yacht Alive approached Bolte Bridge on Thursday, skipper Duncan Hine was feeling the fear. The sleek racing craft is taller than the famous Docklands bridge and had to be tilted to the side to sail under it. Dont sweat it: the yacht Alive tilts under Bolte Bridge at Docklands. Credit: Eddie Jim The Age was there to capture the heart-stopping feat, believed to have last happened in Melbourne 19 years ago. Its scary enough, said Hine, who has helmed Alive to win, on handicap, two Sydney to Hobart yacht races and is due to sail it in the 10,000km Melbourne Osaka Cup yacht race later this month. Detectives have named a suspect in a cold case murder investigation which has spanned almost five decades, thanks to DNA evidence uploaded to a public database. Kerryn Mary Tate was murdered in 1979, found dead in dense Karragullen bushland. WA Police have made a breakthrough in the cold case murder of Kerryn Tate, with DNA evidence linking Terence Fisher (left) to the case as a suspect. Credit: WA Police She was last seen alive in Mount Lawley at 11am on December 29 that year, after spending time with friends in Cottesloe and Swanbourne the night prior. The following morning her body was located in the Canning Dam catchment area approximately 800 metres south of Brookton Highway. A severe thunderstorm has left 11,400 homes and businesses in the metropolitan area including Midland, Swan View, Gooseberry Hill, Kalamunda, Maida Vale without power. We understand the inconvenience the outage is causing residents and are communicating with customers/residents directly impacted via SMS, a Western Power spokesperson said. The damaging and destructive winds associated with the storm front have thrown debris, including tree branches, into the network damaging equipment and bringing down powerlines. Emergency response crews were responding to more than 40 hazards, which was the priority. Due to storm conditions and the resulting high level of fault activity some customers may be without power for an extended period, particularly where equipment such as elevated work platforms are required, they said. Canadas incoming prime minister, Mark Carney, had good reason to go hard against Donald Trump this week when he spoke to supporters after winning the vote to replace Justin Trudeau as his countrys leader. The new leader kept up his predecessors line against the United States president but added some sharp language of his own. Carney needed to use fighting words considering Trump has been targeting Canada so bizarrely, given the two countries are strategic allies and share the longest undefended border in the world. Trump claims Canada should be a US state, blames it for drug imports and slugs it with tariffs. Illustration by Simon Letch The way Trump has turned on Canada makes his treatment of Australia look benign unless it is also a sign of the trouble to come for us. America is not Canada, Carney told the crowd of party allies on Monday. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form. We didnt ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So Americans should make no mistake: in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win. Australias security blanket, which used to keep us safe from nightmares, has morphed into the nightmare itself. The security blanket, or Binky as I like to call it, is made up of Australias intelligence sharing and security agreements with the United States. Like a patchwork quilt, Binky has been stitched together and added to over the years. Significant pieces of Binkys fabric include the ANZUS treaty (a commitment to protect the security of the Pacific, which was signed in 1951), the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which Australia joined in 1956 (with New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom), and AUKUS, a security partnership between Australia, the UK and the US formed in 2021. This comforting blanket of treaties and alliances was all created during an era when Australia was utterly certain that the US shared our belief in upholding Western democratic values. In the Trump 2.0 era, we can no longer be sure that this is the case. In the past few weeks alone, we witnessed the US forming a bloc with Russia, North Korea and Belarus to vote against a UN resolution condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine. Three days after that came the Trump/Vance smackdown of Zelensky in the Oval Office, followed by the pause in US military aid and intelligence-sharing to Ukraine. Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton should get together and work out how Australia will manage security in this new era of Donald Trump. Credit: Marija Ercogovac As leverage in Trumps tariff war, the US is also reportedly threatening to kick Canada out of Five Eyes, the worlds oldest and arguably most significant global intelligence alliance. Leaving aside the comedy gold of a deadly serious intelligence organisation potentially being renamed Four Eyes, the fact remains that we are dealing with a US government willing to use access to Five Eyes as a weapon against an ally to achieve its domestic economic goals. Red flags (possibly emblazoned with a hammer and sickle) have also been raised by Trumps choices for significant security and intelligence posts. Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, is so pro-Russia that Russian state media has variously referred to her as a superwoman and our girlfriend. Shes also unqualified; the law that created her position requires the nominee to have extensive national security experience. Before her appointment as DNI, Gabbard had no official record of intelligence experience. She was appointed anyway, and three weeks later, US offensive cyber operations against Russia stopped. Australias farmers are next in line to be turned into red meat for Donald Trumps supporters, with the US president promising to protect American agriculture with tariffs on agriculture imports within weeks. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced the Trump administrations decision not to spare Australia from his 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Together, Australian exports to the US of these materials are worth a collective $1 billion. Tom Bull on his Kinross property in Holbrook, in the NSW Riverina. But that would be chicken feed compared to the impact of extra charges that could be levied on lamb and beef businesses, 90 per cent of which are family-owned. The US is their biggest market and they collectively sell more than $5 billion of goods to the US, five times the value of Australian steel and aluminium. To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States. Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun! Trump wrote on social media earlier this month. NSW Premier Chris Minns says his government will look closely at paying $5 billion for Rosehill Racecourse to develop a new mini-city, despite serious doubts among senior officials at the Australian Turf Club over the lands value. The ATC has presented a last-ditch proposal to its members in a bid to convince them to support the sale of the sprawling western Sydney racecourse, which would also salvage the Minns governments hopes that much-needed housing could be developed on the site. The new plan, which will go to a vote of 11,000 ATC members on April 3, is a major shift from the potential deal announced by the government with much fanfare in December 2023, under which Rosehill was to be sold to private developers to build 25,000 homes as part of a new mini-city. Royal Randwick would undergo major renovations, using the proceeds of the sale of Rosehill Racecourse. However, the ATCs proposal to sell Rosehill has received significant pushback from some sections of the clubs membership since it was announced, high-profile members such as champion trainers Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller being publicly opposed to the deal. Glen Thompson says co-trainer Michael Moroney always believed Coeur Volante was a group 1 horse in the making. Now Thompson is hoping the four-year-old mare can handle the trip to Sydney and deliver, with jockey Kerrin McEvoy, what would be a fitting farewell for Moroney in the $1 million Coolmore Classic at Rosehill on Saturday. Trainer Mike Moroney gives the thumbs up after Coeur Volantes victory in the Mannerism Stakes at Caulfield on February 22. Credit: Getty Images Moroney died on February 27 at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer, and the popular Melbourne-based New Zealand trainer has been fondly remembered by the racing community, including in a farewell service at Flemington on Tuesday. It was done really well, and it was a good send-off, said Thompson, who had been co-trainer with Moroney since last year. We are heading to the US and Canada. Do I tip everyone and how much? Last time we were in the US we were chased by the concierge because we didnt tip for storing our luggage. What about Canada? A. Llewellyn-Evans, Moss Vale NSW Tipping in the US: not optional. Credit: iStock As youve discovered, tipping is not optional in the US in most service-related industries. Even when buying a take-away coffee, a tip is customary. As a guide, in restaurants tip 15-20 per cent of the pre-tax bill, even if the service is ordinary, as much as 25 per cent for going above and beyond. In taxis and rideshares such as Uber, 10-20 per cent of the fare. For bartenders, one or two dollars (US) per drink. In hotels, $US2-4 per bag for the porter, $US10-20 for the concierge for special service and for housekeeping $US2-5 a night. Canadas tipping culture is only slightly behind that of the US. Deduct about 5 per cent from the figures for the US, and pray it doesnt become common practice here. After spending most of September in the UK visiting family, my wife and I plan to visit Athens, Crete and Cyprus for three to four weeks. Our interests are history, food and wine rather than beach activities, and we were thinking of basing ourselves in small villas or apartments. Is this feasible, how should we best allocate our time and what would be the best routing? K. Hawke, Annandale, NSW London: Winston Churchills grandson has voiced his dismay at Donald Trumps apparent sympathies towards Russia, accusing the United States of a deep and profound misunderstanding of the truth in its foreign policy approach. Nicholas Soames, a member of the House of Lords, was scathing of the US presidents recent actions at the United Nations, particularly two votes where America sided with Russia. Nicholas Soames at Windsor Castle for the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan in 2018. Credit: PA He said it was impossible to take the president seriously. How is it possible that America could have voted at the UN alongside Russia, Syria, the Central African Republic, North Korea and Belarus? How is that possible? Soames asked Jennifer Ewing, representing Republicans Overseas UK, at a hearing of the UK parliaments international relations and defence committee. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13.The XII Global Baku Forum, held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, continues its work with panel sessions on the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities," Trend reports. During the panel session titled "Geopolitical Changes: Responsible Partnership versus Competition," moderated by Eka Tkeshelashvili, former Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia, speeches will be delivered by Charles Michel, former Prime Minister of Belgium and former President of the European Council. The session will also feature speeches by former President of Latvia and Co-Chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Vaira Vike-Freiberga; Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs at the Presidential Administration; Mevlut Cavusoglu, Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye and former Foreign Minister of Turkiye; Wu Hongbo, former Special Representative of the Chinese Government for European Affairs and former UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Shafik Gabr, Chairman and CEO of ARTOC Investment and Development Group; and Dimitris Avramopoulos, former Greek Foreign Minister and former European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia supports a United States proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine in principle, but has sought a number of clarifications and conditions that appear to rule out a quick end to the fighting. Putins heavily qualified support for the plan looked designed to signal goodwill to Washington and open the door to further talks with US President Donald Trump. But Putin said many crucial details needed to be sorted out and any agreement must address the root causes of the conflict. So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. Russian President Vladimir Putin says any ceasefire needs to remove the root causes of the crisis. Credit: AP He noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, was whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to rearm. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Public meeting on March 13, 2025. The public meeting which was adjourned on February 17, 2025 at agenda point 3 will be reconvened on Thursday at 11.30 hrs. in the Legislative Hall at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport will be in attendance. The agenda point is: 3. Ontwerplandsverordening houdende regels inzake het hoger onderwijs en onderzoek (Landsverordening hoger onderwijs) (IS/431/2022-2023 d.d. 8 februari 2023) (Zittingsjaar 2022-2023-165) Draft National Ordinance containing rules on higher education and research (National Ordinance on higher education) (IS/431/2022-2023 dated 8 February 2023) (Parliamentary year 2022-2023-165) Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, Soualiga Headlines, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet, www.youtube.com/c/SintMaartenParliament and www.pearlfmradio.sx Meta tests 'Community Notes' to replace fact-checkers San Francisco, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Social media giant Meta on Thursday announced it would begin testing its new "Community Notes" feature across its platforms on March 18, as it shifts away from third-party fact-checking toward a crowd-sourced approach to content moderation. Meta's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the new system in January as he appeared to align himself with the incoming Trump administration, including naming a Republican as the company's head of public policy. The change of system came after years of criticism from supporters of US President Donald Trump, among others, that conservative voices were being censored or stifled under the guise of fighting misinformation, a claim professional fact-checkers vehemently reject. Meta has also scaled back its diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram, particularly regarding certain forms of hostile speech. AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook's fact-checking scheme. The initiative, similar to the system already implemented by X (formerly Twitter), will allow users of Facebook, Instagram and Threads to write and rate contextual notes on various content. Meta said approximately 200,000 potential contributors in the United States have already signed up across the three platforms. The new approach requires contributors to be over 18 with accounts more than six months old that are in good standing. During the testing period, notes will not immediately appear on content and the company will gradually admit people from the waitlist and thoroughly test the system before public implementation. Meta emphasized that the notes will only be published when contributors with differing viewpoints agree on their helpfulness. "This isn't majority rules," the company said. Moreover, unlike fact-checked posts that often had reduced distribution, flagged content with Community Notes will not face distribution penalties. Notes will be limited to 500 characters, must include supporting links and will initially support six languages commonly used in the United States: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, and Portuguese. "Our intention is ultimately to roll out this new approach to our users all over the world, but we won't be doing that immediately," the company said. "Until Community Notes are launched in other countries, the third party fact checking program will remain in place for them," it added. Meta said that it would not be "reinventing the wheel" and will use X's open-source algorithm as the basis of its system. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month warned that the rollbacks to fact-checking and moderation safeguards were "reopening the floodgates" of hate and violence online. arp/aha Meta BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. EU supports more inclusive and fair global governance, Charles Michel, the former Prime Minister of Belgium and Honorary President of the European Council, said at the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "We must be realists about the challenges we face. Over the last five years, the world has experienced crises, tensions, and changes in the global order. Initially, some EU countries believed they could handle the crisis on their own, but it quickly became clear that this wouldn't work," noted Michel. According to him, it's necessary to uphold a rules-based system, but the existing order does not reflect the realities of the modern world. "Therefore, we fully support the idea of creating a more inclusive and fair global governance, and the EU is ready to be at the forefront of defending these principles," he mentioned. Michel also emphasized that for the European Union, attention to its actions is a kind of opportunity. "We cannot simply stand aside. We must make decisions and become masters of our own fate in order to strengthen the multilateral system in support of a multipolar world," he added. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Calls for defence spending spree raise hackles in Spain Madrid, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Spain's leftist government, proportionally NATO's smallest spender on defence, faces political and popular resistance as it aims to meet European calls to ramp up its military budget. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing fears that President Donald Trump will withdraw US security guarantees that have protected Europe for decades have sent shockwaves through the continent. Spain dedicated 1.28 percent of its annual economic output to defence in 2024, according to NATO figures, well short of the alliance's longstanding two-percent benchmark and less than all other members. And in the new geopolitical scenario, with the European Commission looking to turbocharge defence spending to achieve greater security independence, the two-percent target agreed by NATO members in 2014 may prove insufficient. Trump has repeatedly demanded other NATO countries bear a greater burden for Europe's defence and has floated the idea of raising the spending target to five percent of GDP. For Felix Arteaga, senior researcher in security and defence at the Elcano Royal Institute, a consistent pattern in Spanish budgets explains why the country invests "little in defence". "When the economy does well, the defence budget increases, but less than the other budgets. And when it does badly, it (the defence budget) is cut more than the others," he told AFP. - 'Licking US boots' - Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reaffirmed his pledge to hit the two-percent mark during a visit to Finland on Wednesday and has mentioned the possibility of bringing forwards a 2029 target date. But his coalition government faces an uphill battle as it lacks a majority in parliament and relies on an array of separatist and fringe parties to pass legislation. Pro-independence Catalan and Basque formations are unwilling to bolster military spending and the Spanish army, while far-left groups are traditionally hostile to NATO and US policy. Ione Belarra, spokeswoman for the hard-left Podemos party, said on Wednesday that they would not help the Socialists continue "licking the boots of the United States". Even Yolanda Diaz -- a deputy prime minister from the Socialists' far-left coalition partner Sumar -- opposes boosting defence spending. After Sanchez and Diaz met this week to discuss the thorny topic, a Socialist spokeswoman tried to assuage concerns, saying that "the welfare state will not be eroded" to stump up more money for the armed forces. - Defence spending 'viewed differently' - The 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco long shaped perceptions of the military, but public opinion improved after the return of democracy, with the army participating in international peacekeeping missions and domestic emergencies. But that has not translated into full support for more military spending. In a November survey by national polling institute CIS, only 14.2 percent of participants backed raising the military budget "a lot more", with health and education emerging as the main priorities. Spain stayed out of both World Wars and remained relatively isolated during the Cold War, which "has inspired our collective culture and led to defence spending being viewed differently", Arteaga wrote in an article. Sanchez has steadfastly backed Ukraine, making several visits and welcoming 200,000 Ukrainian refugees to Spain. Last month he pledged one billion euros ($1.1 bn) in fresh military aid for 2025. Spain earned a place at recent summits on the war in Paris and London involving a select group of European leaders, but maintaining that influence could depend on keeping up with allies on defence spending, Arteaga said. If Spain "does not stand with the rest", the country will "lose influence in the decisions relating to defence and security", he added. German MPs to begin debating Merz's spending plans Berlin, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Germany's likely next leader Friedrich Merz is set Thursday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defence and infrastructure spending in parliament as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his centre-right CDU/CSU bloc and the centre-left SPD -- in talks to form a coalition after February's elections -- would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under President Donald Trump have fuelled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly boost military funding, while infrastructure spending is seen as a route to pull Europe's top economy out of stagnation. Vowing to do "whatever it takes", Merz has proposed exempting defence spending from the country's strict debt rules when it exceeds one percent of GDP and setting up a 500-billion-euro ($545-billion) fund for infrastructure investments. While the plans have won praise from German allies abroad, who grew weary of inaction under outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Merz faces a desperate scramble to push them through parliament. As the measures involve a change to the constitutionally enshrined "debt brake", which limits government borrowing, they require a two-thirds majority in parliament. This means that the CDU/CSU and SPD want to get them passed before a new parliament convenes later this month in which far-right and far-left parties, who have expressed scepticism about extra defence spending, will be in a position to block the measures. - Greens unhappy - Debates begin in the Bundestag Thursday, with a vote on the proposals due on Tuesday next week. But Merz's task got trickier after the Green party, whose votes are needed to reach the two-thirds mark, threatened to torpedo the plans. Although the Greens were in favour of a reform of the "debt brake", the changes proposed by Merz were not the ones needed, Green leader in the Bundestag, Katharina Droege, told reporters on Monday. Merz and his partners from the SPD were creating a "treasure chest" to fund their political priorities, including tax cuts, Droege said. "Whoever wants our approval for more investment must also show that it is really about more investment in climate protection, more investment in the economy in this country." The CDU has sought to appease the Greens, saying their concerns are "completely legitimate", and the two sides have been holding talks this week. Merz's plans also face another threat with both the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the far-left Die Linke party having filed legal challenges at the constitutional court, arguing there will be insufficient time for consultations. The AfD won its best ever showing at last month's election, coming second with almost 21 percent of the vote, while Die Linke are set to enter the next parliament after a surprisingly good result. - Calls for swift action - If Merz fails to get his plans through, observers fear he would lose momentum and his future government could face the same paralysis that beset Scholz's ill-fated, three-party coalition, whose November collapse precipitated last month's vote. The pressure has only increased on Merz in recent weeks as Trump has become increasingly hostile towards Ukraine and made overtures to Russia. The incoming government would still have options to boost spending if current parliament fails to pass the plans next week, analysts said. Once Merz becomes chancellor -- which could be in late April -- he could suspend the debt brake by invoking an emergency, as the previous government did during the pandemic, according to Berenberg bank economist Holger Schmieding. While it would only be a stopgap, "it would give a new German government time to temporarily raise defence and infrastructure spending while trying to garner a two-thirds majority for a permanent change to the debt brake," he said. More kit, better barracks: Germany's military in need of overhaul Frankfurt, Germany, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 After decades of low spending, Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz hopes to splurge billions of extra euros on rearmament by largely exempting defence from constitutional debt limits. It comes as US President Donald Trump's increasingly hostile stance towards traditional European allies has shaken faith in US commitment to the continent's security. Here's what Germany's armed forces -- the Bundeswehr -- are thought to need, and how they might get it: - What is the state of the Bundeswehr? - Germany cashed in a so-called "peace dividend" after the Cold War. Like other Western countries, it reduced the size of its armed forces and directed more spending to areas like welfare. This however left it heavily dependent on the protection of the United States under the NATO security umbrella, and it took the shock of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 for the situation to begin changing. Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a 100-billion-euro ($109-billion) fund to boost the under-resourced military, and there is now sufficient supply of basic equipment such as helmets and bullet-proof jackets. But over 80 percent of that money has now been spent, and Eva Hoegl, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, told reporters on Tuesday that the military still has "too little of everything". The German military is still lacking equipment such as tanks, armoured vehicles and ammunition. Basic infrastructure is often not up to scratch, with Hoegl saying barracks are "largely dilapidated," and recruitment targets are not being met. - Do they have the right tech? - Apart from armour and munitions, the Bundeswehr needs technology such as satellites and air defence systems as well as capabilities that integrate artificial intelligence. "The Ukrainian battlefield showed how a tank worth 25 million euros can be destroyed by a drone costing 5,000 euros," head of the IfW Kiel think tank Moritz Schularick said in an interview with Der Spiegel news outlet. "The wars of the future will be fought with autonomous weapons systems supported by networked drones controlled by artificial intelligence." He said there was now an opportunity for the Bundeswehr to plan for the future and invest in next-generation technologies. Another priority will be reducing dependence on US technology. Given the shift in Washington, some have asked whether Germany should cancel orders it has made for 35 F-35 fighter jets with US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. - How to secure long-term funding? - Like many militaries, Germany suffers from complex procurement procedures that can often delay projects. Systems are not seamless and digital enough while bureaucracy is "overwhelming", Hoegl said. Stable budgets guaranteed over the long term -- not one-off special funds -- will also be necessary to develop the industrial base needed to actually make military kit at scale, according to experts. "This is the only way for the state to negotiate contracts with better terms and conditions," security policy expert Claudia Major said in a recent media interview. "Complex projects take years to reach the armed forces." Costs can also be shared when Germany cooperates on projects with other European countries, as it is doing on developing a jet fighter and a tank. - Could Germany acquire its own nuclear weapons? - It is highly unlikely. Germany is restricted from acquiring such weapons due to international treaties it has signed, and the idea remains unpopular in a country still haunted by its Nazi past. Merz has, however, raised the idea of Germany working with Western Europe's nuclear powers, France and Britain, on a shared nuclear deterrent in the continent, after Trump's upending of the transatlantic alliance. Still, there have been calls in some quarters, including from far-right politicians, for Germany to acquire its own nuclear arms. A poll published this week suggested a slight increase in support for Germany developing nuclear weapons, with 31 percent in favour, although 64 percent remained opposed. Taiwan plans to reinstate military judges for China spy cases Taipei, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Taiwan plans to reinstate military judges to hear Chinese espionage cases involving Taiwanese service members, President Lai Ching-te said Thursday. The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has soared, with retired and serving members of Taiwan's military the main targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, official figures show. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. Taiwan says China also uses "grey zone" tactics, including espionage, cyberattacks and disinformation, to weaken its defences. Lai said that there would a review and an amendment to the law "to reinstate the military trial system", he told reporters after a national security meeting. "Military judges will return to the front line," Lai said. He said military judges would work "alongside prosecutorial and judicial agencies to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel accused of treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty, insubordination, and other military offences". Taiwan's intelligence agency has said previously that 64 people were prosecuted for Chinese espionage in 2024, compared with 48 in 2023, and 10 in 2022. Retired and serving members of the military were the main targets of China's infiltration efforts, Taiwan's National Security Bureau said. Taiwan disbanded the military court system after the death of a young corporal in 2013. Hung Chung-chiu died of heatstroke apparently after being forced to exercise excessively as punishment for taking a smartphone onto his base -- just days before the end of his compulsory year-long military service. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been spying on each other for decades. But analysts have warned that espionage is a bigger problem for Taiwan, which faces the existential threat of a Chinese invasion. In recent years, China has ramped the deployment of fighter jets and warships around the island, and sought to erase Taiwan from the international stage by poaching its diplomatic allies and blocking it from global forums. China urges 'diplomatic' Iran nuclear solution ahead of Beijing talks Beijing, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 China called on Thursday for a "diplomatic" resolution to the Iran nuclear issue as it prepared to host diplomats from Tehran and Moscow for talks in Beijing. "In the current situation, we believe that all parties should maintain calm and restraint to avoid escalating the Iran nuclear situation, or even walking towards confrontation and conflict," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing. Beijing will host Russia and Iran for trilateral talks on Tehran's nuclear programme on Friday. The meeting will be attended by China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi. The United States withdrew from a landmark deal that had imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief during President Donald Trump's first term, which ended in 2021. Tehran adhered to the 2015 deal for a year after Washington's withdrawal but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the pact have since faltered. However, Beijing said the talks would aim to "strengthen communication and coordination, to resume dialogue and negotiation at an early time". "China sincerely hopes that all parties can work together, continuously increase mutual trust and dispel misgivings, and turn the momentum of restarting dialogue and negotiation into reality at an early date," Mao said. Iraq repatriates more families from IS-linked Syria camp Baghdad, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Iraq has repatriated more than 150 additional families from Al-Hol camp in neighbouring Syria, an Iraqi security official said on Thursday, the latest such transfer from the camp where many have alleged jihadist links. Kurdish-run camps and prisons in northeastern Syria still hold about 56,000 people from dozens of countries, many of them the family members of Islamic State group (IS) suspects, more than five years after the jihadists' territorial defeat in Syria. While many Western countries refuse to take back their nationals, Baghdad has taken the lead by accelerating repatriations and urging others to follow suit. The latest group of 505 people is the sixth since the beginning of the year to be repatriated. They left the camp on Wednesday, said Jihan Hanan, Al-Hol's director. About "153 families arrived yesterday" in Iraq, the Iraqi security official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to AFP. IS captured nearly a third of Iraq before local forces backed by a US-led coalition defeated them in Iraq in 2017. In Syria, US-backed Kurdish forces dislodged IS from the last of its Syrian-held territory in 2019. Al-Hol is located in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Syria. Iraq has intensified its efforts to bring back its nationals amid concerns about the security situation in Syria following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP last week. International aid organisations provide services for residents of the Syrian camps, and projects in Iraq have also depended on hundreds of millions of dollars in US assistance in recent years, according to official figures. Araji said US President Donald Trump's decision to cut foreign aid hinders Baghdad's repatriation efforts. Al-Hol still holds about 37,000 people, including 14,500 Iraqis, Hanan said. "More than 4,000 people were repatriated to Iraq since the start of the year," she said. "Under an agreement we reached with the Iraqi government there will be two trip to Iraq each month." Delaying German defence spending boost would be 'irresponsible': Merz Berlin, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that failing to quickly approve extra spending to bolster the country's military would be irresponsible given the turbulent international context. Speaking at the beginning of a key parliamentary debate to discuss the plans, which need a two-thirds majority to pass, Merz said "any further delay" in lifting defence spending "would be irresponsible". "We must now take action to significantly increase our defence capabilities, and we must do so quickly," he said. Pointing to the United States' deteriorating ties with Ukraine and its European allies, Merz said "we could be standing before a decision with deep consequences for our country's history". Merz and his centre-right CDU/CSU alliance are currently in talks with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on a possible coalition government after last month's general election. Last week the two parties jointly presented plans for big spending packages, including exempting defence spending from Germany's constitutionally enshrined debt brake when it exceeds one percent of GDP, as well as on boosting infrastructure. A vote on the plans is scheduled for Tuesday and Merz wants them to be approved quickly before the new parliament is convened. In the new parliament, the far right and far left will together be able to block the plans. SPD parliamentary leader Lars Klingbeil also urged MPs to back the government-in-waiting's plans: "When history knocks at our door, then we must open it, we don't know if we will have a second chance". Israel defence minister confirms air strike in Damascus Jerusalem, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the Israeli Air Force conducted an air strike in Damascus on Thursday, following reports from a war monitor that an Israeli raid had killed one person in Syria's capital. In a separate statement, Israel's military said it had targeted a "terrorist command centre" in Damascus belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which fought alongside Hamas in Gaza against Israel. "There will be no immunity for Islamic terrorism against Israel -- whether in Damascus or anywhere else. We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the state of Israel," Katz said in a statement. Syrian state media said that Israel had struck a building in Damascus. Israel's military said, "The command centre was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against the state of Israel." It said the military "will not allow terrorist organisations to entrench themselves in Syrian territory and operate against the state of Israel, and will respond forcefully to any such entrenchment." A source in the Islamic Jihad said a building belonging to the group had been hit by Israeli jets, adding there were "martyrs and wounded" in the strike. "Israeli aircraft targeted a building with two missiles in... Damascus, killing at least one person," the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. On Tuesday Israel's military said warplanes struck southern Syria, targeting air defence systems and other military sites, "to eliminate future threats". - Hundreds of air strikes - Since the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria and deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that his government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Islamist-led government near its territory. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has also repeatedly warned that world leaders should be wary of the new leadership in Syria, warning that a "jihadist group" was now ruling the country. Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the toppling of Assad, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda. It is still listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and other governments HTS has sought to moderate its image in recent years. After years of diplomatic isolation under Assad, diplomats from the West and Syria's neighbours have reached out to Syria's new rulers. Saying they want to help the war-battered country rebuild, Canada and the European Union have eased sanctions that were imposed on Assad's government. Even before Assad's fall, during Syria's civil war which broke out in 2011, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes in the neighbouring country, mainly on government forces and Iranian-linked targets. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We must show our full support for a multipolar world, Charles Michel, the former Prime Minister of Belgium and Honorary President of the European Council, said at the panel discussion on "Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry" within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "We must pay attention to the challenges at first glance. The first five years of my tenure coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to various difficulties. Decision-making was not easy at that time. In those years, we were trying to deliver vaccines on time. Then the Russia-Ukraine war began. First, we tried to help Ukraine. Europeans must exhibit heightened confidence. Our strength is amplified via unity, as our future is contingent upon it," he added. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Germany's Merz urges MPs to back spending bonanza in fiery debate Berlin, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Germany's likely next leader Friedrich Merz said Thursday urgent action was needed to boost the country's under-resourced military and ailing economy, as he defended plans for a spending bonanza during a fiery parliamentary debate. Merz's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) -- in talks to form a coalition after February's general election -- unveiled the plans for vast extra outlays last week, and are now racing to push them through the current legislature. "In view of the alarming security situation in Europe in every respect and the growing economic challenges in our country, far-reaching decisions... cannot be postponed any longer," Merz told lawmakers at the start of the debate. When it came to the armed forces in particular, "any further delay" in boosting spending "would be irresponsible", he said. "We must now take action to significantly increase our defence capabilities, and we must do so quickly." Fraying Europe-US ties under President Donald Trump have fuelled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly boost military funding, while infrastructure spending is seen as a route to pull Europe's top economy out of stagnation. Merz's plans envisage exempting defence spending from the country's strict debt rules when it exceeds one percent of GDP and setting up a 500-billion-euro ($545-billion) fund for infrastructure investments. While the plans have won praise from German allies abroad, who grew weary of inaction under outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Merz faces a desperate scramble to push them through parliament. - 'History is knocking' - As the measures involve a change to the constitutionally enshrined "debt brake", which limits government borrowing, they require a two-thirds majority in parliament. This means that Merz's CDU/CSU bloc and SPD want to get them passed before a new parliament convenes later this month in which far-right and far-left parties, who have expressed scepticism about extra defence spending, will be in a position to block the measures. Stressing that action needed to be taken quickly, SPD parliamentary leader Lars Klingbeil told MPs: "When history knocks at our door, then we must open it -- we don't know if we will have a second chance". But there are hurdles ahead, particularly after the Greens -- whose votes are needed to reach the two-thirds mark -- threatened to torpedo the plans, complaining they were rushed and did not do enough for climate protection. Green lawmaker Irene Mihalic criticised the attempt to force through major changes to the constitution "with the old majorities" in parliament, rather than waiting for the new parliament to convene. Such a manoeuvre "shows complete ignorance of the reality in our country and of this parliament, and I fear it damages trust in politics as a whole," she said during the debate. - Legal challenges - Parliament is convening for two special sessions to debate the measures, on Thursday and also next Tuesday -- when a vote on the proposals is also to take place. Merz's plans also face another threat with both the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) -- which came second in the election -- and the far-left Die Linke party having filed legal challenges at the constitutional court, arguing there will be insufficient time for consultations. If Merz fails to get his plans through, observers fear he would lose momentum and his future government could face the same paralysis that beset Scholz's ill-fated, three-party coalition, whose November collapse precipitated last month's election. The pressure has only increased on him in recent weeks as Trump has become increasingly hostile towards Ukraine and made overtures to Russia. Still, the incoming government would have options to boost spending if the current parliament fails to pass the plans next week, analysts said. Once Merz becomes chancellor -- likely in late April -- he could suspend the debt brake by invoking an emergency, as the previous government did during the pandemic, although this would only be a stopgap. Merz's conservative bloc and the SPD are also due to begin full-fledged negotiations on forming a coalition Thursday after concluding exploratory talks at the weekend. The fate of the spending plans could have a bearing on these talks, noted Der Spiegel news outlet. A failure to push them through parliament "would possibly also put an end to the coalition negotiations", it said. NATO's 'Trump whisperer' heads to White House for tough talks Washington, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visits the White House Thursday seeking to convince President Donald Trump to maintain US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and to Ukraine. Dubbed the "Trump whisperer" for his ability to manage the mercurial US leader, the former Dutch prime minister will face a tough job of convincing Trump that NATO allies are paying enough for their own defense. Trump has repeatedly called into question whether the United States would defend allies who do not boost their defense spending, causing major jitters as Europe faces an increasingly aggressive Russia on its doorstep. Rutte will also be trying to smooth over recent tensions between Trump and Ukraine, as a top US negotiator arrived in Moscow to deliver a ceasefire proposal following a swift pivot by Trump towards Russia. "I expect key messages will be around how much Europe is stepping up on spending, how we all need to do more on defense production, and welcoming progress in pursuit of peace for Ukraine," Rutte's spokeswoman said. Trump will host Rutte in the Oval Office before the pair have lunch at the White House. The NATO chief will also meet senior Trump administration officials and members of the US Congress. The visit is Rutte's first meeting with Trump since the US president began his second term on January 20, and comes at a critical time. Trump is famously skeptical about whether the United States -- by far the biggest military in the transatlantic alliance and ultimate guarantor of Europe's security since World War II -- should continue in that role. - Defense spending - The US president's sudden decision to start talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in February on the Ukraine war further stunned and worried US allies about his commitment. He has continued to sow doubts in recent days, saying of allies a week ago that "if they don't pay, I'm not going to defend them." Trump has previously called for allies to lift annual defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current two-percent target, which NATO expected only 23 of 32 members to meet last year. He has also questioned whether allies would defend the United States -- despite the fact that the only time NATO has invoked its Article 5 collective defense measure was after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001. NATO allies will be looking to Rutte, a veteran of European diplomacy, to convince Trump that the alliance is worth sticking by. Rutte is widely credited with rescuing a 2018 NATO summit by talking Trump around on defense spending during his first term. He also showed typical Dutch directness by brazenly contradicting the president in a previous visit to the Oval Office that same year. In an exchange that later went viral, Trump claimed it would be "positive" whether or not the EU and the United States managed to clinch a trade deal. The visiting Rutte scoffed out loud and interjected: "No! It's not positive. We have to work something out." Iran summons European diplomats over 'provocative' UN meeting Tehran, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Iran summoned diplomats representing the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday in protest over a UN Security Council meeting on Tehran's nuclear programme, a foreign ministry statement said. There was "no technical or legal justification" for the meeting, the statement said, calling it "provocative and political, in line with the unilateral and nervous approach of the United States". The meeting on Iran's programme on Wednesday saw the US mission accuse Iran of "brazen behaviour" related to its nuclear programme. Several Council members had requested the meeting over the latest report from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. The report said Iran had significantly increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to 60 percent purity -- close to the 90 percent needed for an atomic bomb. The three diplomatic representatives "were summoned to the foreign ministry in protest over their complicity with the United States and for holding a meeting behind closed doors on Iran's peaceful nuclear programme", the Iranian foreign ministry added. In 2015, Iran reached a landmark deal on its nuclear programme with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, which led to a lessening of sanctions targeting Tehran in exchange for curbs on its programme. But in 2018, during his first White House term, Trump withdrew from the deal and reimposed heavy sanctions. Since his return to the White House in January, the Republican president has called for a new nuclear deal with Iran, but Tehran says no such agreement is possible as long as punishing sanctions remain in place. China said Wednesday it would host three-way nuclear talks with Russia and Iran later this week. Polish president urges US to transfer nuclear weapons to Poland Warsaw, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Polish President Andrzej Duda called on the United States to transfer its nuclear weapons to Poland, urging an eastward "shift of the NATO infrastructure" in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday. Poland, a staunch ally of Ukraine, has been ramping up its defence as it aims to deter a potential threat from neighbouring Russia. "The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east. For me this is obvious," Duda was quoted as saying by the FT. "I think it's not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here," he added. In April, Duda -- a conservative ally of the right-wing Polish opposition -- said his country was ready to host NATO's nuclear arms. Moscow in response warned it would take steps to "ensure its security". Duda said in Thursday's interview: "Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus." "They didn't ask anyone's permission," he told FT. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier that Poland in arming itself must reach for the most modern options, "also related to nuclear weapons". On Thursday he told reporters he appreciated "president Duda's efforts" to strengthen the security of his country. He added, however, that it was "preferable to deal with this type of issue discreetly and not through interviews with the press". Poland's foreign ministry's spokesman told AFP Duda's comments had not been made in consultation with the government. Tusk last week hailed France's offer to discuss extending its nuclear umbrella to other European nations as "very promising". Poland is already far ahead of its allies in terms of military expenditure, aiming to allocate 4.7 percent of its output to defence spending. Israel defence minister confirms air strike in Damascus Jerusalem, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the Israeli Air Force conducted an air strike in Damascus on Thursday, with the military saying it had struck a "command centre" of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. A war monitor reported one person killed. Islamic Jihad fought alongside Hamas against Israel in Gaza before a fragile truce began in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that such strikes would be carried out in the region against "whoever attacks us". Syrian state media said Israel had struck a building in Damascus. "There will be no immunity for Islamic terrorism against Israel," Katz said in a statement. "We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the state of Israel." Israel's military said the "command centre was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad" against Israel. A source in the Islamic Jihad said a building belonging to the group had been hit by Israeli jets, adding there were "martyrs and wounded" in the strike. Ismail Sindawi, Islamic Jihad's representative in Syria, told AFP the targeted building has been "closed for five years and nobody from the movement frequented it". Israel was just sending a message, Sindawi said. Syria's official news agency SANA reported that three civilians were wounded, including one woman in a critical condition. It said the strike targeted an office that had been "abandoned since the liberation of Damascus", when Islamist-led rebels in December toppled president Bashar al-Assad. An AFP photographer saw the facade of the three-storey building completely destroyed and flames coming out from a balcony. Netanyahu vowed to carry out more such strikes if needed, not just in Syria but also in Lebanon. "We attacked an Islamic Jihad headquarters in the heart of Damascus. We did this because we have a clear policy: Whoever attacks us or plans to attack us -- we strike them," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "And this applies not only in Syria but everywhere, including Lebanon," where Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah reached a ceasefire in November after more than a year of conflict. - Hundreds of air strikes - On Tuesday Israel's military said warplanes struck southern Syria, targeting air defence systems and other military sites, "to eliminate future threats". Since Assad's overthrow, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria and deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights. Netanyahu has previously said southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that his government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Islamist-led government near its territory. The strike in Damascus came just before Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa hailed the start of a "new history" for his country. He signed into force a constitutional declaration regulating a five-year transitional period and laying out rights for women and freedom of expression. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has repeatedly warned that world leaders should be wary of the new leadership in Syria, warning that a "jihadist group" was now ruling the country. Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the toppling of Assad, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda. It is still listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and other governments After years of diplomatic isolation under Assad, diplomats from the West and Syria's neighbours have reached out to Syria's new rulers. Saying they want to help the war-battered country rebuild, Canada and the European Union have eased sanctions that were imposed on Assad's government. Even before Assad's fall, during Syria's civil war which broke out in 2011, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes in the neighbouring country, mainly on government forces and Iranian-linked targets. UN atomic chief visits uranium-mining Niger Niamey, Niger, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 International Atomic Energy Agency Director General (IAEA) Rafael Grossi on Thursday urged greater cooperation with Niger while on a visit to the junta-led Sahel nation, a leading source of uranium. "Niger is one of the biggest producers in the world of uranium. With important political changes in the country, it was very important to ensure the continuity of the presence of IAEA," Grossi said in a statement on X. Since taking power in a 2023 coup Niger's military rulers have sought to assert greater control of the country's natural resources, especially of its uranium. Those moves have strained ties with Niger's former imperial master France, with the junta locked in a standoff with the Paris-based Orano nuclear group over its mining presence in the country. On Thursday Grossi met Niger's junta-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, along with the mining, foreign and energy ministers to explore "deepening cooperation". "Nuclear science and tech offer real solutions for development, and Niger can count on our continued support," the United Nations' nuclear watchdog chief added. The day before Grossi paid a visit to the Somair uranium mine in northern Niger, which is the subject of an arm wrestle between the military authorities and Orano. Orano holds a more than 60 percent stake in three Nigerien subsidiaries -- Somair, Cominak and Imouraren. Niger has revoked Orano's operating licence at Imouraren, while the French group has claimed it has lost control over Somair as a result of "interference by by the authorities". Cominak has been shut since 2021. Niger is the world's seventh-largest producer of uranium, accounting for around five percent of global supply. Since the coup Niger's junta has steered the country away from France, instead forging new partnerships with Russia and Iran. However, in 2024 Prime Minister Zeine insisted that "nothing" had been signed with Iran with regards to uranium. Tehran, which is speculated to have ambitions of developing an atomic weapon, is subject to sanctions over its nuclear programme. bh/sbk/cw Lebanon appoints new army chief Beirut, Lebanon, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Lebanon named a new head of the armed forces Thursday to succeed Joseph Aoun, who was appointed president earlier this year. "Brigadier General Rodolphe Haykal was named commander in chief of the armed forces," Minister of Information Paul Morcos said after a cabinet meeting, also confirming a number of other security appointments. Haykal, 56, was made the army's chief of operations last June, having previously served as the commander of the army sector south of the Litani River, according to the army's website. That area bore the brunt of Israeli strikes during more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that ended with a November 27 ceasefire. Haykal is expected to play a key role in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, a security source told AFP, adding that he was Aoun's favoured candidate for the post. According to multi-confessional Lebanon's power-sharing system, the army chief must be a Maronite Christian. The November ceasefire required Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. Israel was meant to withdraw completely from Lebanese territory by February 18, but it has kept troops at five locations it deems strategic. Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was greatly weakened by the war, did not object to Haykal's nomination, the source said. Morcos on Thursday also announced the appointment of the heads of the internal security, general security and state security apparatuses. He also announced the approval of the defence ministry's request to recruit 4,500 soldiers to reinforce troops in the south, where the army is deploying alongside UN peacekeepers as part of the ceasefire agreement. Burkina army 'tortured and massacred' civilians: local source, NGO Abidjan, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Burkina Faso's army and allied volunteer militias "tortured and massacred" civilians in a revenge attack in the west of the country this week, an NGO official and a local source told AFP on Thursday. "Whole families of Fulani shepherds were killed in the bushes of Solenzo, in the Bema and Ban areas," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity, giving a toll of "several dozen deaths". Primarily nomadic herders, the Fulani people are often stigmatised across the wider Sahel, accused of collaborating with the jihadists who stalk the region and providing the bulk of their recruits. Since Wednesday, videos of dozens of bloodied bodies strewn across the ground, with no apparent sign of life and hands and feet bound, have spread across social media. Most of the victims appear to be women, children or elderly. In one video men armed with assault rifles and blood-stained knives, wearing T-shirts appearing to mark them out as members of local self-defence groups, are seen straddling the corpses on the ground, hurling insults at them. "No filming," a voice orders the person behind the camera, who immediately complies. In another video, the same armed men drive a three-wheeled vehicle loaded with lifeless bodies towards an unknown destination. - 'Military strategy' - The local source said that the bloodshed followed an attack at the beginning of March in the area. "They accused the Fulani people of having sheltered the terrorists who committed the attack. Locals asked the Fulani to leave the area to avoid reprisals," they added. "While leaving Solenzo they were caught up with by soldiers from the 18th rapid intervention brigade and some volunteers. They were tortured and massacred," the source said. A human rights group official, who verified the authenticity of the grim videos, told AFP "this sort of operation tallies with the strategy of the military in Burkina Faso, targeting Fulani civilians in retaliation". In the past decade Burkina Faso has been caught up in a spiral of jihadist violence spilling over from neighbouring Mali and Niger, which has since spread far beyond the three countries' borders. All three have experienced coups in recent years by military rulers who have pledged to turn the tables on the Islamist groups. Since 2015 the unrest has killed more than 26,000 people, both civilians and soldiers, across Burkina Faso, according to conflict monitor ACLED. That tally included more than 13,500 victims who have died following the September 2022 coup which brought the military to power. Between January and July 2024 the Burkinabe army and its auxiliaries killed "at least a thousand civilians", according to Human Rights Watch. Iran says response to Trump's letter under 'assessment' Tehran, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Iran will conduct a "thorough assessment" before responding to US President Donald Trump's letter urging nuclear talks and warning of possible military action if Tehran refuses, the foreign ministry said Thursday. "The letter was received last night and is currently being reviewed," ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told the official IRNA news agency, adding: "A decision on how to respond will be made after a thorough assessment." The letter -- which Trump said was addressed to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- was delivered to Tehran by senior United Arab Emirates diplomat Anwar Gargash. It was not immediately clear if Khamenei, who has the final say in matters of state, had personally received the letter. On Wednesday, Khamenei said the US invitation to talks was aimed at "deceiving" world public opinion by portraying the United States as ready to negotiate and Iran as unwilling. He said the proposed negotiations "will not lift sanctions" but will instead "make the sanctions knot tighter". He described the US threat of possible military action as "unwise", saying that Iran "was not seeking war, but if someone takes action, our response will be decisive and certain". Trump, who returned to the White House for a second term in January, has reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy of sanctions against Iran, mirroring his approach during his first term. Then Trump unilaterally withdrew from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions. Tehran adhered to the 2015 deal for a year after Washington's withdrawal, but then began rolling back its own commitments. There were brief efforts to revive the deal under the Joe Biden administration but they went nowhere. Trump has called for new negotiations with Iran but Tehran has ruled out direct talks while US sanctions remain in place. "Ultimately, the United States should lift the sanctions," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview published Thursday by the government's official newspaper Iran. "We will enter into direct negotiations when we are on an equal footing, free from pressure and threats, and are confident that the national interests of the people will be guaranteed." Calls for defence spending spree raise hackles in Spain Madrid, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Spain's leftist government, proportionally NATO's smallest spender on defence, faces political and popular resistance as it aims to meet European calls to ramp up its military budget. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing fears that President Donald Trump will withdraw US security guarantees that have protected Europe for decades have forced the continent to confront tough choices on defence. Spain dedicated 1.28 percent of its annual economic output to defence last year, according to NATO figures, well short of the alliance's longstanding two-percent benchmark and less than all other members. And in the new geopolitical scenario, with the European Commission looking to turbocharge defence spending to achieve greater security independence, the two-percent target agreed by NATO members in 2014 may prove insufficient. Trump has repeatedly demanded that other NATO countries bear a greater burden for Europe's defence, and floated the idea of raising the spending target to five percent of GDP. For Felix Arteaga, senior researcher in security and defence at the Elcano Royal Institute think-tank, a consistent pattern in Spanish budgets explains why the country invests "little in defence". "When the economy does well, the defence budget increases, but less than the other budgets. And when it does badly, it is cut more than the others," he told AFP. - 'Licking US boots' - Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a press conference on Thursday that he was prepared to bring forward a 2029 target date to hit the two-percent mark. But his minority coalition government faces an uphill battle as it relies on an array of separatist and fringe parties to pass legislation. Pro-independence Catalan and Basque formations are unwilling to bolster the Spanish army, while far-left groups traditionally hostile to NATO and US policy fear increased military spending will slash funds for social programmes. Ione Belarra, spokeswoman for the hard-left Podemos party, said Wednesday that her party would not help the Socialists continue "licking the boots of the United States". Sanchez on Thursday hosted talks with leaders and senior figures from opposition parties, except the far-right Vox, at his official Madrid residence in a bid to find a consensus. Trying to assuage the concerns of his left-wing allies, he said "not a cent" would be cut from social policies. "We will not enter an arms race and I will not participate in a war-mongering discourse," he added. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the conservative Popular Party, the main opposition group, described his meeting as an "informal conversation" that shed no light on how Sanchez intended to open the spending taps. - Defence spending 'viewed differently' - The 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco long shaped Spanish perceptions of the military, but public opinion towards it improved after the return of democracy, with the army participating in international peacekeeping missions and domestic emergencies. But that has not translated into full support for more military spending. In a November survey by national polling institute CIS, only 14.2 percent of participants backed raising the military budget "a lot more", with health and education emerging as the main priorities. Spain stayed out of both World Wars and remained relatively isolated during the Cold War, which "has inspired our collective culture and led to defence spending being viewed differently", Arteaga wrote in an article. Spain earned a place at recent summits on the Ukraine war in Paris and London involving a select group of European leaders. But if Spain "does not stand with the rest" on spending, the country will "lose influence in the decisions relating to defence and security", Arteaga said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The Global Baku Forum holds special significance today, said Albanian President Bajram Begaj in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "I'm happy to be in Baku again. The Global Baku Forum is an important event, especially now, as it brings hope in these challenging times. The forum's motto, 'Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities,' is especially meaningful, and Im confident that all participants will be able to share their ideas and express their views on the current global situation," said Bajram Begaj. The XII Global Baku Forum will take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will focus on the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities." The event will cover key global issues, such as geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery, regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum will bring together over 300 global leaders from more than 60 countries, including over 25 former presidents, more than 15 former prime ministers, around 10 heads of UN and international agencies, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. NATO's 'Trump whisperer' treads carefully on Greenland and defense Washington, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 He's been dubbed the "Trump whisperer," but NATO chief Mark Rutte struggled to get a word in Thursday as the US president mused about annexing Greenland and criticized allies over defense spending. The former Dutch prime minister visited the White House seeking to convince a skeptical Donald Trump to maintain US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and to Ukraine. Trump opened by praising Rutte -- who has gained a reputation for being able to manage the mercurial president -- for doing a "fantastic job" in the new role he took on just a few months ago. But Trump was soon on a favorite topic about allies failing to meet spending targets. He then embarked on a new one -- his plan to absorb Greenland, an autonomous territory of founding NATO member Denmark. "I think it will happen," Trump said, before gesturing towards Rutte with his thumb and adding: "I didn't give it much thought before but I'm sitting with a man that could be very instrumental" in the move. Trump then added: "You know Mark, we need that for international security... we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful," he said, referring to rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region. The NATO chief flashed an embarrassed grin and sat back in his armchair, legs crossed, as he said that he wanted to remain "outside this discussion" of Greenland joining the United States or not. "I don't want to drag NATO in that," he said. But the ever diplomatic Rutte then backed up Trump's point about Russian and Chinese interest in the Arctic region. - 'NATO is stepping up' - A veteran of European Union politics as the bloc dealt with Trump's first term, Rutte now faces a difficult balancing act keeping Trump onside when it comes to NATO in his second. The US president has repeatedly called into question whether Washington would defend allies who do not boost their defense spending, causing major jitters in Europe. Trump has previously called for allies to lift annual defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current two-percent target, which NATO expected only 23 of 32 members to meet last year. Trump reiterated his criticisms on Thursday but seemed more keen to talk about how, in his account, he managed to get NATO countries to pay more during his first presidency. "When I first went to NATO ... I noticed that very few people were paying," he said. "I was able to raise hundreds of billions of dollars... the money started pouring in and NATO became much stronger because of my actions." He also praised Rutte, adding: "NATO is stepping up. This man is a man that only knows how to step up." In 2018, the plain-speaking Rutte went viral after loudly saying "no" and contradicting Trump in the Oval Office when they were talking about an EU trade deal -- but this time he was more diplomatic. He stressed how core NATO nations including Britain and Germany were now committing to increase defense spending. The NATO boss also supported Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, saying: "Breaking the deadlock, it was crucial." There was no mention however of Rutte's own role in recent weeks after he helped resolve a blazing row in the Oval between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month. Trump and Rutte's next meeting could come when the Netherlands hosts the 2025 NATO summit later this year. "The Hague is my home town," said Rutte. "I would love to host you there in the summer and work together to make sure that it will be a splash -- a real success projecting American power on the world stage." BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. After resolving issues related to Armenias constitution, better conditions for a peace agenda could be formed, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs at the Presidential Administration, told reporters, Trend reports. During his remarks to journalists, Hajiyev pointed out that looking at Armenia's claims against Azerbaijan, it is clear that with the support of some of its patrons, Armenia is still attempting to preserve the Minsk Group, which is a tool of the past with no functional role. "When we examine Armenia's claims against Azerbaijan, it becomes clear that, with the backing of some of its supporters, they are making efforts to maintain the Minsk Group, a relic of the past with no functional purpose, at all costs. There is no need for the Minsk Group today, nor can there be. Any attempt to revive it can only be seen as utopian ideas," he said. Hajiyev explained that when the Minsk Group was established, its foundation was based on resolving the conflict. "There is no conflict now. In the context of the ongoing normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian side continues to demonstrate a lack of sincerity by trying to preserve a useless tool like the Minsk Group," he added. The presidential aide underscored Azerbaijan's unwavering commitment to this issue. "We believe that after addressing issues related to Armenia's constitution, better conditions for a peace agenda in the region can emerge," he concluded. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Where to live Golden Visas: the four European countries where you can still get citizenship by buying property Four European countries still offering golden visas to property buyers It is not clear what exactly Moscow included on its list or whether it is willing to engage in peace talks with Kyiv prior to their acceptance. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan seeks to contribute to the formation of new realities in the region, said Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, Trend reports. Speaking during a panel discussion on "Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry" at the XII Global Baku Forum, Hajiyev highlighted the concept of "middle power," noting that there are multiple definitions of this term. "Azerbaijan strives to contribute to shaping new boundaries and realities both in the region and beyond. From Azerbaijans perspective, the status of a middle power is not necessarily defined by military strength, economic potential, or population size. It involves networks of interaction, partnerships, cooperation, and the vulnerabilities of states," he said. According to him, Azerbaijan conducts an active and globally oriented foreign policy. "In the context of the return of great power competition to the international stage, we are convinced that the time has come for middle powers, regional players, and key states utilizing various technologies," Hajiyev added. Hajiyev also emphasized that the South Caucasus is viewed as a frontline of progress and an important geopolitical and economic region. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The Better Together campaign which was ultimately successful in pushing for Scotland to remain in the UK was run by Blair McDougall, who went on to become a Labour MP at last years election, and fronted by former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, with heavy involvement from Labour, the Tories and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The Russian leader said the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, but at a press conference in Moscow he added that there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. And Sir Roger Gale, another Conservative MP who came out to support the farmers, said: The farmers provide the food that we put on our tables and if we dont have them then we become immediately dependent on imported food, very often over thousands of miles from other countries and it puts our whole food security at risk. It is a tradition celebrated across the Indian subcontinent by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and nonbelievers alike, and is held annually to mark the start of spring and celebrate life. For Hindus, its a time to celebrate the love of Radha Krishna and the triumph of good over evil with events that begin with a ritual evening bonfire, followed by coloured paint flinging, music, and feasting the following day. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Turkiye's efforts to end the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine did not get the support of the West, Turkiye's MP, the head of the country's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the panel discussion on "Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry" within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "We did everything possible to bring together our Russian and Ukrainian colleagues. Our President also made a speech to put an end to this war at its early stage. Unfortunately, we did not receive enough support from some Western countries and the US. Obviously, they preferred that the war continue, and their position was solely to support Ukraine. Turkiye is also committed to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and we immediately activated the Montreux Convention. In addition, we persuaded the Russian Federation not to send military ships into the Black Sea, which had the right to pass through the Bosporus," he said. Cavusoglu noted that the Montreux Convention contains clear provisions, and Turkiye has taken steps to support Ukraine. "At the same time, we used our relationship with Russia to try to bring the parties to the negotiating table," he added. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. New centers of power are emerging in a fragmented world, Turkiye's MP, the head of the country's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the panel discussion on "Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry" within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "We are living at a turning point in world history and are witnessing the change of the international system. This shift has not only theoretical significanceit is happening right before our eyes. China is strengthening its global influence. At the same time, the new US administration is taking steps that question the norms and values of the international order created by the US itself. Russia's actions, both within the country and in the region, are changing the architecture of European security. Against the backdrop of these processes, the European Union is striving to develop a strategy for autonomy, adapting to global changes," he said. He observed that in a disaggregated global landscape, novel loci of authority are surfacing. "We are talking about the Global Southcountries and players who seek to take a more significant role in shaping the new world order, based on justice and clear principles. And it is important for the Global West to also recognize this new reality," Cavusoglu emphasized. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Governance must globally change, China's former Special Representative for European Affairs Wu Hongbo said at the panel discussion on "Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry" within the framework of XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "We are talking about a multipolar world right now. We are currently facing confusion or chaos among the multipolar worlds. The UN will soon celebrate its 80th anniversary. Everyone should look to history to see how to build the future. Should the UN continue or stop? We should not reinvent the wheel. I believe that we should preserve the effectiveness of the UN. A multipolar world is not someone's idea or fantasy. China believes that it can be both a friend and a partner with the United States. It's just that great powers should behave like great powers. We must restore historical justice, especially towards African countries," the former special representative noted. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. I have maintained friendly relations with this region, particularly with Azerbaijan, since the Soviet era, Andris Berzins, former President of Latvia, said in an exclusive interview with Trend. Speaking on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum in Baku, Berzins recalled his good relations with Azerbaijan during his time in office. "Throughout my presidency, we kept robust relations with this region, particularly with Azerbaijan. I have endeavored to organize numerous practical activities similar to this one, and I am once again engaged in such an event today. The next generation may not completely comprehend historical events; however, we are currently addressing significant global concerns," he said. Emphasizing Azerbaijan's dynamic engagement in the renewable energy sector, Berzins articulated a keen interest in Azerbaijan's advancements within the domain of neutrino energy technology. "I would be pleased to see progress in this field, especially for those who are highly active in it. Neutrino energy could potentially become one of the main sources of energy in the next 10 to 20 years. Currently, Europe and other developed countries offer more opportunities for its development," he added. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The 'Piros Orr' Clown Doctors Foundation from Hungary and the Nas Rosu (Red Nose) Association launched the Clown Doctors project in the city of Targu Mures, intended to help children cope with medical procedures and make them forget their fear of doctors. The first medical facilities visited by the project team were the Targu Mures County Clinical Emergency Hospital, the Mures County Clinical Hospital, as well as the headquarters of the Alpha Transilvana Foundation. "The event marks a new beginning: we plan to bring the Piros Orr (Red Nose) Clown Doctors to Romanian hospitals, focusing for now on Transylvania. We have already taken the first steps, through visits to the County Emergency Hospital in Targu Mures and a workshop organized at the Alpha Transilvana Foundation's headquarters. This way, they saw what the clown doctors actually do. The hospitalized children were thrilled," said president of the Nas Rosu Association in Targu Mures, Csatlos Karoly, noting that despite a certain reluctance at first, the medical staff were also very excited and got into this game. "The idea of the workshops is for doctors and nurses to know that although it seems that the clown doctors are just joking and doing shenanigans, everything is precisely calculated," Csatlos Karoly told a press conference. He explained that the Clown Doctors have been working in Hungary for 27 years now, have studies and experience and have come to the conclusion that "some children even don't need to be given painkillers anymore, because the clown doctors calm them down so much and lure their attention elsewhere." "The focus shifts elsewhere and they are no longer scared, they are no longer afraid of an IV needle. When a child comes for surgery, the clown doctors wait for them in front of the door and accompany them throughout the hospital all day, until they enter the operating room. This has a calming impact and the child forgets their fear," said Csatlos Karoly. This year, the Clown Doctors will return to Targu Mures three times, and if they manage to secure additional financial resources and new partnerships with other hospitals, the program could expand in 2026. "Our goal is to make this program as broadly known as possible and to create opportunities to reach even more hospitals, more children in need. But for this, we need the support of the community and sponsors, and we are counting on the help of the media to spread the news about the initiative to as many people as possible," said Mattyasovszky Zsolnay Bencze, executive director of the Piros Orr Clown Doctors Foundation in Hungary. "One of the child's most important form of manifestation is play, and their entire mental activity is shaped, developed and restructured under the influence of play. Through play, children are goaded into paying more attention and participating in communication. All children understand the language of play. Humor is another way of establishing a spontaneous, warm relationship with the patient, which appeases fear and anxiety about the unknown. This is what the clown doctors from Hungary did these days, with the support of the Red Nose Association in Targu Mures - they brought games, humor and smiles on the faces of the little patients in the Pediatrics ward of the Targu Mures County Emergency Hospital, thus contributing to an important positive experience for both children and their parents. We thank the representatives of the Nas Rosu Association in Targu Mures for choosing the Targu Mures County Emergency Clinical Hospital for this and we assure them of all our support in the future, the common goal being to bring joy and smiles to the faces of hospitalized children and their parents, apart from providing medical care," spokesperson of the Targu Mures Hospital Mariana Negoita told the press conference. Personnel training workshops were also held to help the medics better interact with the young patients. "It helps us a lot, the workshops were attended by both primary care physicians and residents and some students along with medical staff, to see how this can help us in our daily work. A big thank you for this initiative," said Dr. Zsuzsanna Gall, pediatrics primary care physician at the Mures County Emergency Hospital. The representative of the Alpha Transilvana Foundation, Dr. Alexandru Lupsa, emphasized the importance of communicating with child patients and their families, pointing out that the Clown Doctors' approach requires special skills. The Clown Doctors also intend to visit nursing homes, and next year they want to organize workshops for artists from Mures County and Transylvania for them to become clown doctors too. "Becoming clown doctors is a little more complicated, for this requires about 300 hours of workshops. And even after completing this stint, they have to accompany a more experienced clown doctor for one year on visits to hospitals. The clown doctors also have their psychologists, because you realize what suffering and what saddening stories they see in hospitals, in oncology or surgery departments, and to relieve their soul they also need a psychologist, because they also carry a burden on their shoulders. So yes, we want to do workshops for clown doctors here and find artists who are fluent in both Romanian and Hungarian, so that we can go to hospitals," concluded Csatlos Karoly. The Clown Doctors concept was developed by the Piros Orr Foundation, which has been active in Hungary since 1996. AGERPRES At a sitting today, the government will approve one-off aid for pensioners on small pensions, RON 800 in two equal instalments of RON 400 lei each, in April and December, respectively. The government is also expected to approve a draft emergency ordinance (OUG) to amend OUG 59/2000 on the status of forestry personnel, as amended and supplemented under Law 427/2001. The draft establishes that "the forestry personnel provided for in Article 4 (1) has the right to receive, annually, free of charge, 6 cubic metres of firewood if the net monthly salary income in the month prior to its granting is lower than the average gross salary." Another draft emergency will be considered to amend Law 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code. "Provisions of the Fiscal Code regarding the calculation of the tax on pension income and its payment term to bring them in line with Ruling 724/2024 of the Constitutional Court of Romania. The method of establishing the tax is the one prior to the amendments being ruled unconstitutional, by waiving the progressive tax and re-establishing the single tax rate of 10%, as well as by regulating the same non-taxable ceiling for all income of this nature, namely the monthly ceiling of RON 3,000 in accordance with the reasons retained by the Constitutional Court. At the same time, the mechanism of calculation, withholding and payment of the tax on pension income by the payers of pension income is maintained, as well as the deadline for payment of the withheld tax, that is throughout the 25th day of the month following the one for which the pension payment is made," according to the justification note of the draft. Another emergency ordinance will approve the amendment and completion of Law 129/2019 for preventing and combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for amending and supplementing certain pieces of legislation. By a decision, Decision 717/2009 approving rules for the implementation of the "New House" programme will be amended. The draft proposes "the allocation for 2025 of a guarantee ceiling of RON 500 million to issue guarantees according to Article 1(6) of OUG 60/2009, approved by Law 368/2009, as subsequently amended and supplemented in compliance with the regulations on confidentiality and data protection". A preventive action plan on measures to guarantee the security of natural gas supply in Romania will be approved by decision. The government will also approve a decision on the organisation and operation of the Institute of Education Sciences. The government's analysis will also include a draft decision approving the maximum average number of personnel for 2025 for business operators in the national defence industry. The executive will also look at a draft emergency ordinance establishing a legal framework for granting state aid to the Valea Jiului Energy Complex - S.A. for the closure and safety of the uncompetitive coal mines Lonea, Lupeni, Livezeni and Vulcan. Romania reaffirms its strong commitment to democracy, its values and key alliances, says Interim President Ilie Bolojan, who emphasizes that efforts to consolidate institutions and ensure free, transparent and fair elections will be continued. ''Romania reaffirms its strong commitment to democracy, its values, and its key alliances. We will continue our work to strengthen our institutions, build on the lessons learned, and ensure free, transparent, and fair elections that also reflect our vibrant political debate and commitment to free speech. Our focus is both on the practical aspects of securing the electoral process and on reinforcing collective trust in our democracy,'' Bolojan wrote on X platform on Thursday. AGERPRES A delegation of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) visited Romania in preparation for the presidential election to be repeated on May 4, and issued recommendations in this regard, according to the report of the visit published by the OSCE. During this visit, which was conducted at the invitation of the Romanian authorities and took place between March 3 and 5, meetings were held with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP), as well as with representatives of political parties and civil society organizations. All interlocutors with whom the ODIHR delegation spoke stressed the need for long-term election monitoring by the institution, as a way to increase confidence in the electoral process and ensure an independent and impartial assessment, the report says. Representatives of state institutions and political parties also highlighted the added value of ODIHR's electoral recommendations in improving the framework and practices of the electoral process. In addition to the views conveyed during the 2024 assessment process, interlocutors focused on monitoring the pre-election period, underlining the need for comprehensive campaign assessment and monitoring, especially with regard to the regulation and financing of online campaigns and their oversight. Interlocutors also noted specific issues that would require further assessment, such as the recently revised legal framework, including the emergency ordinance on the organization of the 2025 presidential elections and its implementation, the work of the electoral administration at all levels, and the effectiveness and promptness of the resolution of electoral disputes. While some interlocutors expressed concerns about the transparency of the vote count in certain localities, as well as the quality of training of polling station officials, most appreciated that there is a long tradition of efficient organization of elections and expressed confidence in the electoral procedures in place and in the voting process as a whole, without anticipating systemic deficiencies. However, several interlocutors with whom the ODIHR delegation spoke expressed concerns about the lack of public debate prior to the adoption of the emergency ordinance on the organization of these repeat elections following the annulment of the elections held last year, and suggested that certain provisions of this normative act are too vague and could restrict freedom of expression online. In response to these concerns, the AEP issued implementing regulations aimed at clarifying the procedures for posting and marking electoral materials and informed the ODIHR delegation that the emergency ordinance does not apply to persons who are not candidates. The AEP also highlighted the challenges of regulating an electoral campaign in a rapidly evolving online environment. All interlocutors agreed on the need for comprehensive electoral reform after these presidential elections, including ensuring voters' access to information that is not manipulated. Based on these considerations, the ODIHR reiterates its recommendation issued in September 2024 to deploy a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM) for the presidential elections to be held in May. In addition to the team of experts that will assess the elections, the ODIHR delegation recommends that the participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) appoint 24 observers to monitor the electoral process at the national level throughout the election. According to the standard ODIHR methodology, a Limited Election Observation Mission also includes a media monitoring element. AGERPRES Romania is a key partner for the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, as financing provided in 2024 by the lending institution for the Romanian economy amounts to EUR 2.49 billion, EIB Vice-President Ioannis Tsakiris on Thursday told a press briefing at the Finance Ministry in Bucharest. Romania is a key partner for the European Investment Bank Group. Our commitment to the country's sustainable growth and development has never been stronger, this is the message I want to convey to our partners, markets and the public, particularly in these difficult times. As you well know, 2023 was a record year for the EIB Group in Romania. Achieving this success was a challenge, but in 2024 we built on this momentum and achieved remarkable results: new financing worth EUR 2.49 billion, which led to the unlocking of total investments worth EUR 5.27 billion, boosting Romania's economy by around 1.5% of GDP, Tsakiris said. According to him, the bank's partnership with the Romanian authorities remains dynamic. Ioannis Tsakiris mentioned that he met on Thursday with Finance Minister Tanczos Barna to present him the institution's results and discuss the next steps. He is also scheduled to meet with governor of the National Bank of Romania Mugur Isarescu, and on Friday he is set to sit down with representatives of the Romanian Private Equity Association (ROPEA) to explore new business growth opportunities and get an insight of their perspectives. Sustainable mobility is another top priority, Tsakiris said, announcing two major railway modernization projects worth EUR 600 million, which will improve travel times, safety and connectivity across Romania. The projects are co-financed through the EU's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. EIB Group is also expanding its advisory support with an agreement that will be signed on March 14 with the municipality of Ploiesti to help develop sustainable transport projects. "EIB Advisory continues to help cities develop financially viable projects that attract investment," said Tsakiris. The EIB official said that a major milestone in 2024 was the Nokian factory in Oradea, the world's first net-zero tire factory which represents a benchmark for Romania, demonstrating how innovation and sustainability can drive economic growth. We recently announced an EIB equity co-investment alongside the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners - CIP for the Pestera II onshore wind farm project, which is included in the 2024 results. This project strengthens Romania's position in renewable energy. At the meeting with Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja, we will discuss how the EIB Group can further support Romania's energy targets. We are proud of our 2024 commitment - over EUR 780 million in financing for sustainable energy and natural resources. Beyond the numbers, our impact is real. From modernised public transport to greener energy, grid modernisation and digital transformation, EIB financing is making a real difference to people's lives. Minister Bolos recently announced that Romania has received over EUR 100 billion in transformative EU funding, said Ioannis Tsakiris. He remarked that ever since 1991, the EIB has played a key role in Romania, committing over EUR 21 billion in financing, with more than two-thirds of this amount being directed towards transport, credit lines, energy, health and industry. Looking ahead, our support will continue. The first agreements for 2025 are already underway, focusing on railway lines, municipal support and new consultancy services. I would like to thank our partners - the Romanian Government, the private sector and local authorities - for their trust. The EIB Group is here to support Romania's ambitions. Together, we are building a greener, stronger and more competitive Romania, concluded the EIB Vice-President. The press statements were attended by Secretary of State with the Finance Ministry Alin Marius Andries. AGERPRES The first contingent of Romanian troops from the Intermediate Reserve Force arrived at Sarajevo Airport on Wednesday, as part of the mission to strengthen the EUFOR ALTHEA presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), informs the Ministry of National Defense. The activation of the Intermediate Reserve Force was carried out at the request of the Commander of Operation EUFOR ALTHEA, with additional forces being sent from the Czech Republic and Italy, alongside the contingent provided by the Romanian Army. The Deputy Commander of EUFOR, Brigadier General Lorenzo Dal Maso, welcomed the Romanian servicemen upon landing at the airport and stressed the importance of Romania's contribution to maintaining a safe and stable environment in the region. In the coming days, the reserve forces will continue to reinforce the EUFOR ALTHEA troops deployed on the ground. The European Union's EUFOR ALTHEA operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was launched in December 2004, with the main objectives of supporting the European Union's integrated strategy for BiH and ensuring a secure and stable environment. In the last decade of January, Major General Florin Barbu took over command of the mission, marking an important milestone for Romania, which is simultaneously commanding two operations under the aegis of the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy. With approximately 600 troops deployed in the theatre of operations, Romania remains one of the main contributors to this mission, reaffirming its commitment to regional security. To further support the EUFOR ALTHEA operation, the Romanian Armed Forces have deployed, starting with January 8, the "Dacian Pumas" detachment, consisting of approximately 100 military staff and four IAR-330 helicopters, which carry out transport, research and medical evacuation missions. Romania is leading this operation for a period of one year, coordinating the activities of over a thousand soldiers from 24 contributing states, thus consolidating its position as a strategic partner in maintaining stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. AGERPRES BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We have witnessed about 3,200 trade-damaging restrictions over the past years, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebeca Grynspan said at the panel discussion on "Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry" within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. As per her analysis, a staggering 95 percent of the alerts processed by UNCTAD in the fiscal year 2024 pertained to trade-restrictive measures that adversely impact market dynamics. In discussing the climate emergency, the secretary-general articulated that without a substantial allocation of resourcesspecifically, an 80 percent investment in renewable energy and the energy transitionit will be unfeasible to effectively tackle the climate crisis. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Russian ambassador in Bucharest Vladimir Lipayev on Thursday termed as an "aberration" allegations that Russia was behind the campaign of ultra-nationalist Calin Georgescu, who was barred from running for Romania's president this May, and that it has financed his campaign in November last year. The diplomat argued that such statements have a negative impact on Russian-Romanian relations, the official Russian news agency TASS reports on Thursday. The problem is that there is an active attempt to involve Russia in the internal political struggle, and the situation is presented in such a way as to make it seem that Russia is behind Georgescu and the forces that support him, with claims that Russia financed his campaign and that everything is a Russian special operation that failed only thanks to the brave Romanian special services. Obviously, everything is nothing but an absolute aberration," Ambassador Lipayev declared in an intervention on the Rossia-24 television channel. According to him, such statements should not be taken seriously, but unfortunately this has an impact both on the bilateral relations between Russia and Romania, and, to a certain extent, on the situation in the country. AGERPRES Artist Amela Cikota only spent one year in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she was born. Her family escaped the war-torn city in 1992 and fled to Frankfort, Germany. They stayed for five years before immigrating to the United States. They settled in St. Louis, joining other family members who had come before them. Art helped Cikota manage the transition and remains an anchor in her life to this day. Although she didnt know the language when she arrived, she could always communicate through her art. When I moved to America in 1997 I started first grade right away, she says. Throughout elementary school, my art teacher always gave me praise. Anytime we had art shows, she used my art, Cikota says. She continued to take art classes throughout middle school. At Mehlville High School, she expanded her art to include ceramics, sculpture and photography. I knew then I wanted a job where I could do something creative and also make enough money to support myself. I knew it was possible to be an artist full time, but its very difficult, so I wanted a traditional job where I went to work every day, she says. She decided to become an architect and started down that path at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. I really liked like drawing floor plans and blueprints by hand and then I learned to do it on AutoCAD. I transferred to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and spent a year there studying architecture. Once I realized everything was going to be on the computer all the time, I fell out of love with architecture. I wanted to create art with my hands, she says. She returned to St. Louis and enrolled at UMSL to study art education. The move opened up all these art classes to take and I truly, truly fell in love with art and art education, she says. She picked up painting and never looked back. I really enjoy painting because once youre in the zone, you can just freely let the paintbrush go. Its so fun to paint. When I paint my abstract landscapes, I dont have many restrictions, I paint what I want, she says. She doesnt plan out her paintings ahead; the work flows from her direct application of paint. She sometimes includes bits and elements from nature or small bits picked up in her studio to create texture; the process joyful and spontaneous. However, she approaches her collages with preplanning, sketching; mixing papers, paint and layers to great effect. In addition to her college classes, Cikota immersed herself in a part-time job as an assistant to artist Alicia LaChance. The experience taught her about the business of art, working with LaChance expanded her concepts of what makes a painting. Alicia had told me to always keep a lookout for nontraditional art material, something you wouldnt normally use, especially when you go to antique stores or garage sales, she says. When I came across a few rolls of paper for a player piano I knew I was totally going to buy them, even though I had no idea what I was going to do with them. She ended up marrying art with technology by using this 1890s high-tech perforated paper, incorporating it into her paintings and collages. Since that first aha! moment, shes uncovered troves of papers that run the patterns on jacquard weaving looms, punch cards from the early days of computers and a wide range of textured papers from the world over. In an inspired twist, Cikota has incorporated her analog tech hand-drawn floor plans from her days studying architecture into some of her work. No doubt she will find other ways to combine more technologies in her art. In 2015 she devised a series of paintings combined with collage she calls Nest Invasion, which may be viewed in its entirety on her website. The series isnt based on a time when the political became most personal in her first year of life. Instead, Cikota depicts the universal pain and destruction of wars that crop up in all countries. Theres war all the time; maybe not always in the same place. It constantly destroys humanity and all life connected to it. I was just a 1-year-old baby, and it affected my entire life. My family had to leave our home and move to another country because of it, she says. What war does to us as humans and to our world is so destructive. Art has proved its ability to save people in difficult situations over centuries. Cikota invests her teaching with its power. Her infectious enthusiasm for art carries over into her classroom work today in the Mehlville School District. Shes taught students from kindergarten through high school in the district. Through her strong presence, she schools her students in unspoken lessons about the resilience of the spirit and healing power of art. Amela Cikota Age: 33 Family: Cikota and her fiance share their home with Ganon, a cairn terrier they adopted through the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. Home: Skinker DeBaliviere What she makes: Cikota produces original abstract paintings and collages using various processes and materials. She considers her paintings as colorful nonrepresentational landscapes. She also views her collages as landscapes embedded with technology. Where to buy: Find her work online through her website, amelacikota.com, or visit the Soulard Art Gallery to view her collections in person. How much: Cikota offers both originals and prints of her paintings and collages. Print prices start at $30. Her original works range $25 to $900. Tony Messenger | Post-Dispatch Metro columnist Follow Tony Messenger | Post-Dispatch Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today PIKE COUNTY After her sons body was found last month in a pond in rural Pike County, Tammy Mueller suspected a crime had been committed. Nathaniel Mueller, 23, had been missing since Dec. 21, 2024. He was last been seen in Quincy, Ill. I want everyone to know that there was foul play when it comes to my sons death, Tammy Mueller wrote on Facebook. What she didnt know is that law enforcement officers might have played a role in covering up that foul play. Thats the allegation being made by the police chief in a nearby city, Bowling Green. The chief, Col. Ty Bounds, says one Pike County sheriffs deputy was close to a person involved in Muellers death. And he has come to the conclusion that the deputy along with other deputies helped cover up the crime. Bounds is going public now, he says, because hes frustrated that local authorities didnt act on his findings. Hes worried about what will happen to evidence in the case. And hes worried about potential retaliation. His concerns have drawn the attention of at least one important party. The Missouri Highway Patrol recently stepped in to take over the case. This is about making sure the right people know what happened, Bounds said. The chief stumbled on the evidence while conducting a separate investigation into a robbery in Bowling Green, which is in Pike County, about 90 miles northwest of St. Louis. Bowling Green has its own police force, separate from the county sheriffs department. Bounds has been chief in Bowling Green since October 2024. The robbery investigation started in mid-January. As he was reviewing phone records in that case, Bounds found several messages between one suspect and a sheriffs deputy about an earlier incident: Muellers disappearance. One Pike County Sheriffs deputy had close, intimate ties with a suspect in the robbery and (the Mueller) investigation, which involved the same group of individuals, Bounds told me this week in an interview. He also said phone records implicated more than one Pike County Sheriffs deputy in covering up the Mueller case. Bounds believes the deputies knew where Muellers body was and might have been involved in moving it there after he died. Bounds declined to name any of the people in his investigation or how many deputies he believes are involved. What we know from court records is that the robbery investigation led to a grand jury indictment, issued Feb. 7 by Pike County Prosecuting Attorney Alex Ellison. Emalee Calvin, 18, of Frankford, Mo., was charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and kidnapping for an incident on Jan. 11. Also charged in the robbery were Tyrese Beaty, 22, and Landon Washington, 19, both of Louisiana, Mo. Mueller went missing on Dec. 21. His vehicle and wallet were found that day in Pike County. His body was discovered more than two months later, on Feb. 28, in a pond near Frankford. A cause of death has not been publicly released. Bounds says he went through the proper legal channels with his allegations and no official action was taken. He says hes also concerned that deputies might have an opportunity to contaminate evidence. Bounds and a detective in the Pike County Sheriffs Office who worked with him, Steve Kolthoff, have retained an attorney, Chris Lozano. Lozano wrote a letter to the sheriff and prosecutor advising them that his clients are protected under the states whistleblower law relating to the death investigation of Nathaniel Mueller. That means they should be protected from retaliation. Bounds says that since his investigation began, there have been several attempts to discredit me and other members of the Bowling Green Police Department. The investigation into Muellers death, which was originally handled by the sheriffs department, is now being led by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, according to Ellison, the prosecuting attorney. He confirmed receipt of Lozanos whistleblower letter but declined to discuss it. Pike County Sheriff Stephen Korte said the Mueller investigation is ongoing and involves multiple entities. I have no knowledge of who Ty Bounds and my detective have spoken to, he said. Mueller lived in Hannibal with his mother and his 3-year-old daughter, Athena. He worked at the General Mills plant in Hannibal, which is about 30 miles north of Bowling Green. Athena asks every day for her father, said Rachel Mayfield, the girls grandmother. He was a big part of her life. Mayfield and her husband, Melvin, are caring for Athena. For weeks after Muellers disappearance, family members flooded Facebook and other social media sites with messages seeking information. Im praying my son will just walk through the door, his mother posted the day after his disappearance. The police are giving up looking for my baby boy, she wrote the next day. The pain is too hard, I cant do this, she wrote on New Years Day. Mueller wouldnt be found until nearly two months later. But at least one person at the sheriffs department knew where his body was for much of that time, Bounds alleges. That helps explain why hes going public. This is so the family knows that instead of nearly 70 days of waiting for closure, it could have happened much earlier, Bounds told me. He also believes hes done his part: he turned over to outside law enforcement officials the evidence he collected and the draft of a probable cause statement seeking the arrest of at least one Pike County deputy. Bounds also plans a news conference Friday at noon at the Pike County Courthouse. On Thursday afternoon, Bounds met with Muellers family members and updated them on his findings. They were shocked to learn that law enforcement officers might be involved. It hurts, said Melvin Mayfield, Athenas grandfather. But its actually a little bit comforting that somebody is on our side, and theyre not giving up. FRANKLIN COUNTY Two people have now been charged in connection to a fatal hit-and-run crash that knocked a motorcyclist off a Gray Summit overpass, where he was then struck by another vehicle. Prosecutors on Wednesday named Vung Mann, 59, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the driver who struck Nathan Rankins, 45, of Pacific, off of his 1990 Yamaha dirt bike, sending his body over the guardrail and into the Interstate 44 traffic below. Officials previously charged Shawn Leach, of Rolla, with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of stealing a firearm in late January for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 18 crash. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that Rankins was riding his dirt bike on Highway 100 near Gray Summit about 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2025. Gray Summit is an unincorporated community in Franklin County along Interstate 44, about 40 miles west of St. Louis. In court records released Wednesday, an eyewitness told investigators that they saw Rankins riding his dirt bike without its lights on. The witness saw a white vehicle traveling eastbound on Highway 100, pausing to make a left turn onto the westbound I-44, before striking the side of Rankins dirt bike. The vehicle later identified to be a Toyota Venza belonging to Mann left the scene. Officials were later able to match debris found at the scene to Manns vehicle. The witness provided dashboard camera video footage to investigators that corroborated the sequence of events, according to court documents. Officers also reviewed store surveillance video from a gas station at Gray Summit. The video showed a man and woman exit the parking lot in a white SUV, with the woman driving the vehicle. Investigators were also able to match the license plate of that vehicle to the partial license plate description provided by the eyewitness video. When questioned by authorities in Oklahoma, Mann told them that she and her husband had stopped in Gray Summit on their way home from a conference in southeastern Iowa. When they were leaving the gas station, Mann said she struck what she believed to be a motorcyclist, but that she couldnt see the driver or the motorcycle because of its lack of lights. She knew it was a motorcycle that she hit because she could hear the loud revving of the motorcycle engine, according to court documents. Mann admitted that she did not stop at the crash scene because she thought the motorcyclist had also kept driving. Leachs vehicle hit Rankins body as it fell from the overpass and then collided with a concrete median barrier before fleeing the scene. A witness followed Leach, and reported his location to authorities. When officers arrived at Leachs location, they found suspected narcotics in his jacket and two guns in his vehicle. A warrant has been issued for Manns arrest. She remains in Oklahoma and is not in police custody. Leach is in custody and appeared in a Franklin County Courtroom to waive his formal arraignment. A new court date has not been scheduled in his case. ST. LOUIS A Hazelwood father is challenging the behemoth videosharing app TikTok in a new federal lawsuit accusing the company of collecting and selling his childrens data without his consent. Michael White is seeking class-action status for his two children and potentially millions of other minors whose data was taken. He seeks an unspecified amount of damages. Defendants have unjustly received and retained monetary benefits from Plaintiffs minor children, says the lawsuit, filed by Ryan Mayfield of the Gori Law Firm in Edwardsville. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The suit marks the latest controversy involving TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, which is facing a threat of being banned by the federal government over national security concerns. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice sued TikToks predecessor, Musical.ly, for violating a federal childrens privacy law that requires parental consent before using the personal information of children under the age of 13. But even after that agreement was made, the company has continued to flout the law, a Federal Trade Commission investigation found last year. The app requires new users to provide their birthday before they can download the app. If they are 13 or older, they are provided with a regular TikTok account. If theyre younger than 13, they are provided with a Kids Mode account with more restrictions on commenting, posting, direct messaging and the types of videos that users are allowed to see. Whites lawsuit calls those protections totally insufficient, arguing its easy to get around the Kids Mode feature by lying about birthdays or using another account, like Google or Instagram, to log in to TikTok. Beyond that, the suit says, the app is still collecting information without parental consent on Kids Mode. A hearing has not yet been set in the case. JEFFERSON CITY Missouri consumers could see higher power bills under legislation heading to Gov. Mike Kehoes desk. The House approved the massive package Thursday on a 96-44 vote, with both Democratic and Republican support. While the measure struggled through contentious hearings and hours of floor debate from a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate, it faced less resistance in the House. Members spent nearly two hours debating the legislation Thursday after an easygoing House hearing Monday. The proposal sets out to give the Public Service Commission control over new ways utility companies can ramp up generation as the state faces upcoming energy shortfalls. But, according to a Consumers Council of Missouri report, Missourians with Ameren electric, Spire gas, and Missouri American Water service potentially face an increase of at least $1,100 annually to their utility bills if Kehoe signs the bill. I cant, in good conscience, go back to my district and say I contributed to raising their utility bills, Rep. Ray Reed, D-Brentwood, said. They (utility companies) wouldnt have a squadron full of folks up here trying to convince us to vote for this if there wasnt a profit motive, Rep. Don Mayhew, R-Crocker, added, arguing there wasnt enough oversight in the legislation. While energy load and demand have remained flat for the last decade, its projected to ramp up with an influx of advanced manufacturing and data centers hitting the grid. The electric grid operators covering Missouri forecast load growth of about 45% over the next 20 years. Rep. Josh Hurlbert, R-Smithville, the House sponsor, said the legislation wouldnt have been needed five years ago amidst stagnation in energy consumption but is now necessary for Missouri to compete economically. Its time for us to modernize our utility policies to build more generation if Missouri is going to be competitive in landing (high energy) projects, Hurlbert said. When we try to recruit people to come to the Kansas City region to open any type of business that uses a lot of electricity, its Can you guarantee us the kilowatt hours? And unfortunately, we cannot, said Shannon Cooper of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce during an earlier hearing on the bill. The major component of the legislation is construction work in progress (CWIP), which allows utility companies to charge ratepayers while a plant is being built instead of once its completed, which is the current practice. This will allow utility companies to have more tools to meet rising energy demands and potentially save ratepayers money, Hurlbert said. Detractors, including consumer groups, assert CWIP will raise rates and line the pockets of monopoly utilities. CWIP has been outlawed in Missouri since 1976, when voters overwhelmingly banned it from use. Rep. Bob Bromley, R-Carl Junction, the chair of the House Utilities Committee, said CWIP was questionable in his mind, but the measure won his support because of added consumer protections and commission oversight. In earlier versions of the legislation, the commission had no say whether CWIP could be used on gas generation, now they have to approve it for a utility to use it. Consumers can also get their money back if there are cost overruns on a construction project if regulators find a utility company spent imprudently". Shifting the risk of power plant construction from monopoly utility shareholders to captive customers in order to pay for power plants that will mostly serve data centers is not clever economic development, its corporate welfare on the backs of hard-working Missourians and its wrong, said Jenn DeRose, a senior field organizer in Missouri for the Sierra Club. The Missouri Office of Public Counsel, which defends ratepayers, also will receive a funding bump under the proposal. Currently, when utility companies ask for rate increases, companies base the request on what they spent in prior years. The legislation will allow gas, water, and sewer utilities to base their rate requests on projected expenses instead of historical costs. Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lees Summit, said future test year would create a more robust process before utility companies undergo construction instead of litigating the justification of costs after the fact. If someone tells you that future test year is going to lower rates they are gaslighting you, said John Coffman, the Consumer Councils utility consumer counsel. Future test year ties into a larger thread of the legislation empowering regulators and Office of Public Counsel to meet Missouris power needs while constructively working with utility companies. Under the policy, regulators would approve future plans for utility companies. Several consumer-focused additions were included in the package including a pathway to help low-income households pay for utilities. Republicans were pleased with a provision allowing customers to opt out of having a smart meter. ST. LOUIS Amid declining birth rates and a continued outflow of residents, immigrants last year kept the St. Louis regions population growing, albeit slowly, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Though St. Louis population growth is slower than almost all of its big-city peers, the metropolitan area grew more between 2023 and 2024 than it has in years, adding 6,420 residents to reach 2,811,927 and retain its position as the 23rd largest metro area in the country. But 2024 may be the last year St. Louis sees much, if any population growth for some time. The one growing number among the regions population statistics international immigration, which area leaders have bet on as an antidote to St. Louis declining population seems destined to fall as President Donald Trumps administration curtails refugee and other immigration programs. Its an interesting time for the region, said Ness Sandoval, a St. Louis University sociology professor who studies the regions demographics. It did find some success in its efforts to reach out to immigrant populations through the International Institute, the Mosaic Project. These are going to be difficult trends to continue in an era that, at the national level, is going to see fewer and fewer immigrants coming into the country. Without immigrants, the St. Louis region would have shrunk last year and the year before that. More people are dying than being born here. And more people are leaving than moving here from elsewhere in the country. Though the St. Louis region grew last year, its 0.2% population growth ranked 306th out of 387 metro areas in the country. Among big cities, only the Memphis, New Orleans and Pittsburgh metro areas grew more slowly. Theres not a path to growing the population without immigration, said Blake Hamilton, interim president and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis. The 6,420 residents the St. Louis region added were due to the 12,375 immigrants that came to the region, offsetting the net loss of more than 3,700 people who moved out and the natural decline from an aging population about 2,200 more people died than were born in the St. Louis metro area last year. The natural growth numbers are not getting any better and we dont expect these to get any better, Sandoval said. The region has lost its ability to grow naturally. Amid that worrying trend, the immigration growth was a welcome bright spot for an aging, post-industrial city. St. Louis positive growth in immigrants was foreshadowed late last year, when another census data survey found St. Louis foreign-born population grew by 30,000 people a jump that exceeded far larger cities such as Seattle, Phoenix, Boston and Detroit. That figure includes foreign-born people moving here from elsewhere in the U.S. In the current environment, where there are so few levers that we can pull to increase net migration, these are established programs that have a proven track record of success, Hamilton said. I think we have an opportunity to mitigate against some of the national policies that are inevitably going to restrict our ability to attract international immigration through the same routes that we have in the past. The census figures released Thursday also updated last years numbers to estimate a small, 2,100 metro-wide population increase in 2023 rather than 3,250 resident decline it estimated last year, when Orlando and Charlotte surpassed St. Louis in overall population. Since 2020, the metro area has lost an estimated 8,900 residents. That the region saw a year-over-year growth in population, however modest, is certainly welcome news after years of decline and stagnation, said Dustin Allison, interim CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., the regions main business lobby. While there was an increase, the trends in the region remained largely the same this year. The city of St. Louis lost about 3,000 people, falling to just under 280,000 residents. It was a smaller decline than past years, but not by much. The census noted it was the second largest decline among all counties in the country, behind only Shelby County, Tennessee, where Memphis is located. Since 2020, St. Louis has lost an estimated 20,000 people. St. Charles County notched the largest increase, growing by nearly 5,800 people to almost 424,000, or around 17,000 people since 2020. St. Louis County, which has long recorded a slowly declining population, recorded a 2,000 person increase. But that was due to immigrants; 620 more people died than were born in St. Louis County. St. Charles County and the city each had small natural population increases. The Metro East and its 670,000 residents also continued to shed population. All but one of the Illinois counties in the St. Louis metro Clinton County on the eastern outskirts of the region recorded small population declines, and the Metro East as a whole lost 1,700 residents. All but one had more deaths than births. If the region hopes to draw more residents from elsewhere in the country, and capture shares of immigrants moving out of Texas, Florida or other states that have grown rapidly in recent years, St. Louis needs to build more housing to attract younger families, Sandoval said. But the region has largely not woken up to the worrying future of population decline, he said, and continues to put up barriers to home and apartment construction by placating Not In My Backyard opposition to new construction, or NIMBYism, at its more than 100 city councils and zoning commissions. Theres a lot of NIMBYism in the region, Sandoval said. And theres not one part of the region that you can point to, its Webster Groves, its Kirkwood, its Chesterfield, its St Charles, its St. Louis city. There is this complacent attitude that things are going fine. Theres no need to change. 2024 COUNTY POPULATION ESTIMATES COUNTY 2023 2024 Change Bond County, Ill. 16,637 16,576 -0.37% Calhoun County, Ill. 4,293 4,224 -1.61% Clinton County, Ill. 36,886 37,087 0.54% Franklin County, Mo. 106,444 107,256 0.76% Jefferson County, Mo. 231,155 231,888 0.32% Jersey County, Ill. 21,158 21,150 -0.04% Lincoln County, Mo. 64,707 65,888 1.83% Macoupin County, Ill. 44,127 43,895 -0.53% Madison County, Ill. 263,442 263,017 -0.16% Monroe County, Ill. 35,144 34,969 -0.50% St. Charles County, Mo. 417,958 423,726 1.38% St. Clair County, Ill. 252,094 251,149 -0.37% St. Louis City, Mo. 282,772 279,695 -1.09% St. Louis County, Mo. 990,875 992,929 0.21% Warren County, Mo. 37,815 38,478 1.75% St. Louis MSA 2,805,507 2,811,927 0.23% BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Armenia has agreed to Azerbaijan's proposals on the two remaining clauses of the peace agreement, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Trend reports. "We had previously mentioned that two clauses were still pending, and in recent days, the Armenian side has informed us through communication channels that they have accepted Azerbaijan's proposals on these two open issues," he said during an interview with journalists on the sidelines at the XII Global Baku Forum. There is plenty about the modern world that poses threats to children. Books, of all things, generally arent among them. Yet our new state librarian one of the hats worn by the Missouri secretary of state is following in the performative footsteps of his predecessor by targeting books as a supposed danger to minors. Its more of the same culture-war tripe that has made Missouri one of the most hostile states in America toward books. The books in this case are ebooks. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins on Monday announced his office is suspending state funding to the digital platform OverDrive, which runs apps that allow people to download ebooks to be read on smartphones and other computers. Getting kids to read actual books here in the internet age is challenging enough. The ebook format presumably can overcome that challenge for some kids, if only because they can be read on the screens that already command an outsized portion of young peoples attention. Its certainly preferable to just bumping around online obsessing over TikTok or who knows what else. Yet Hoskins essentially is rubber-stamping some recent right-wing hysteria in the Legislature, which is nervous about what kinds of ebooks kids might access on the platform. As if young people with easy smartphone access to the endless realms of sex and violence that permeate the internet are going to secretly troll for digital copies of Lady Chatterleys Lover. We expect Overdrive to clarify its policies and demonstrate how it is ensuring appropriate access to content, says Hoskins short written announcement. He offers no examples of instances in which kids have laid their hands on inappropriate content through the platform let alone how appropriateness would even be defined. Though we know from recent experience that to todays culture warriors, it often includes classic works of literature, anything touching on race or gender and anything woke. Meaning, whatever they dont like. The funding at issue is miniscule as the Post-Dispatchs Kurt Erickson reports, the digital platform company has received less than $12,000 in state funding since 2022 but thats not the point. Hoskins here echoes his fellow Republican and predecessor, former Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who unilaterally forced libraries across Missouri to clear their shelving decisions with his office, based on exactly nothing except Ashcrofts need for some cultural red meat in his failed gubernatorial campaign. Like Ashcrofts stunt, theres no reason to believe Hoskins attack on ebooks will make Missouris kids any safer or better educated. If hes truly interested in that, he should encourage his supermajority party in the Legislature to stop barreling toward irresponsible tax cuts and instead properly fund education. We wont hold our breath. Lithuanian land forces commander Brig. Gen. Arturas Radvilas, left, and 7th Army Training Command leader Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter speak about exercise Allied Spirit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) HOHENFELS, Germany Lithuanian and British troops helped lead the fight at the U.S. Armys Bavarian training grounds this week, practicing how they would counter drone and helicopter attacks in battle. During this years annual Allied Spirit exercise, the decision to put allies in front coincides with a Pentagon push to have European countries play a larger security role on the continent. The Armys Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels is hosting the exercise, which runs through March 24, bringing together nearly 3,000 service members from the U.S. and 12 NATO and partner nations. The exercise has featured drones, attack helicopters, simulated artillery, medical and psychological operations and civil affairs units, all competing against the training areas resident opposition force, the black-uniformed 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. A Lithuanian soldier stands outside an M577 armored personnel carrier March 12, 2025, during exercise Allied Spirit in Hohenfels, Germany. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) A Lithuanian soldier sits in the turret of an M577 armored personnel carrier during exercise Allied Spirit in Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025. Lithuanian forces are joining service members from 12 other countries in the exercise. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) A French attack helicopter takes flight during exercise Allied Spirit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025. France is among the 13 countries taking part in this years exercise. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) Lithuanias armed forces took a leading role during exercise Allied Spirit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) Lithuania, a Baltic country considered a front-line state in the defense of NATOs eastern flank, is leading this years Allied Spirit, which is focused on preparing a multinational brigade to deter Russian aggression. On Wednesday, Senior Pvt. Kestas Dziugas, a drone operator from the Lithuanian armys Motorized Infantry Griffin Brigade, launched a small, off-the-shelf model for reconnaissance from atop a hill near the units mobile headquarters. Maj. Avoldis Juskevateus, who works in operations, watched from outside an infantry fighting vehicle. Juskevateus has been working with American counterparts from the 28th Infantry Division, 173rd Airborne Brigade and 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. A soldier from the United Kingdoms 88th Gun Battery posts security outside his units command and control center during exercise Allied Spirit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) We feel safe with the U.S.A. guy standing next to us, so I believe everything is all right, Juskevateus said. We tested our procedures, improved our understanding of each other. A lot of lessons that we learned in this. U.S. forces provide a lot of assets that we dont have, he said, citing the aviation brigades capabilities as an example. Nearby, the British 88th Gun Battery hid artillery pieces under trees and camouflage netting. Gunner (Pvt.) Keelan Horton said they had successfully dodged both helicopters and drones trying to find them. Were winning so far, added Gunner (Pvt.) Travis Gaskin, who said European-led training is important under the current circumstances. If it comes to a real-time situation, then weve got a better idea of what were doing instead of just going in blind, he said. A British soldier from the 88th Gun Battery patrols around the units command and control center during exercise Allied Spirit in Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025. Personnel from 13 countries have gathered for the exercise, which is focused on incorporating tactics gleaned from the Russian-Ukraine war. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) A soldier from the United Kingdoms 88th Gun Battery sits with her squad during exercise Allied Spirit on March 12, 2025, at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) A soldier from the United Kingdoms 88th Gun Battery stands at his units command and control center during exercise Allied Spirit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025. The monthlong exercise involves 3,000 service members from 13 countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter, head of the 7th Army Training Command, surveyed the action alongside Lithuanian land forces commander Brig. Gen. Arturas Radvilas. Carpenter took questions during a press conference that delved into uncertainties over NATOs future, as the White House and the Pentagon review the U.S. global force posture. Whats not uncertain is the fact that the United States believes that a strong (American) presence, a strong NATO presence is not just a deterrent in Europe, its a deterrent globally, because all of these conflicts are interconnected, he said. Earlier this week, an alliance spokesman said that all 32 allies, including the U.S., are continuing to plan and execute exercises together, following a Swedish newspaper report saying that U.S. would no longer take part in them. Radvilas said that Allied Spirit was proceeding as it normally would. We dont know maybe what we can expect in the future, he said. Up to now, we dont see any changes at all. (Andy Dunaway/Stars and Stripes) Chorwon Valley, South Korea, Sept. 29, 2001: Private First Class Richard Houser, driver with the 6th Battalion, 37th Artillery Regiment at Camp Stanley, looks back to check if the pod area has completed its rotation after upload of live pods onto the (MLRS) multiple launch rocket system vehicle. The battalion spent several days practicing firing rockets with the flat-topped, tanklike mobile rocket launchers. MLRS batteries did such damage to Iraqi forces in the Gulf War that Iraqi troops referred to the rocket strikes as steel rain. Want to know what goes into firing the MLRS? Check out the original article here. The port of Luanda, Angola, as seen in 2015. (Joshua Davies/U.S. Navy) STUTTGART, Germany Chinas growing network of ports in Africa could serve as a precursor to the creation of more military bases, according to a new report by a Pentagon-affiliated think tank. Chinese firms, many of which are state-owned, are now either active stakeholders or present at 231 ports there, making the continent Beijings largest maritime hub in the world, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies said in a report Monday. Years of Chinese economic investment in Africa could be paving the way for a more robust military presence by Beijing, the report said. A concern of Chinas expansive port development in Africa is the possibility of repurposing commercial ports for military activities, wrote Paul Nantulya, a researcher at the center. U.S. military officials in recent years have warned about Chinas potential military expansion in Africa. In 2021, former U.S. Africa Command leader Gen. Stephen Townsend said China had its eye on a number of locations in western Africa that could serve as an Atlantic port for its warships. They are working aggressively to get that, but we have not seen any of that come to fruition yet, Townsend said at the time. And it is my No. 1 global power competition concern. In 2017, Beijing opened its first overseas military base just miles away from AFRICOMs hub at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. In the run-up to the opening of that base, China marketed its involvement at the Port of Doraleh as commercial in nature. But two months after the port went into operation, the site became the first Chinese military base overseas, the think tanks report said. There is widespread speculation that China could replicate this model for future basing arrangements elsewhere on the continent, the report said. Among the ports where China is active, several stand out as locations for military use, given their respective design specifications, the report said, listing facilities in Angola, Nigeria, Kenya and Namibia as possible candidates. Another country that has been mentioned as a potential site for a new Chinese naval base is Equatorial Guinea. However, the centers report downplayed the idea, saying a variety of technical factors make that country less suitable. Numerous ports stretching from Tanzania on the Indian Ocean to Nigeria on the Atlantic Ocean have already served as staging grounds for Chinese military exercises and navy port calls, the report said. The growing militarization of Chinas Africa policy is stoking concerns about the implications of more foreign bases in Africa, the report said. Marine amphibious tractors burn after being hit by Japanese mortar shells during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. (U.S. Marine Corps) The vast number of graves he saw on Iwo Jima remains a lasting memory for Robert Bergen, a former Navy corpsman and one of the few remaining survivors of the battle fought there 80 years ago. Troops dug three massive cemeteries for American and Japanese forces killed in the fighting on the island now called Iwo To in February and March 1945. Bergen, 99, served aboard the USS Cecil, a Bayfield-class attack transport that landed troops, vehicles and cargo, and evacuated casualties during the battle. His 10 days at Iwo Jima were a terrible, terrible experience with dead people everywhere, he told Stars and Stripes in a recent phone interview ahead of this months 80th Reunion of Honor on the island. The annual event is scheduled for March 29, Lt. Col. Joseph Lee, the U.S. Marine Corps attache to Japan, said by email Wednesday. It is a bilateral ceremony attended by the U.S. and Japan commemorating the Battle of Iwo Jima, he said. Robert Bergen attends a 2017 reunion for Battle of Iwo Jima veterans in San Diego. The event was hosted by Operation Meatball, a nonprofit dedicated to honoring veterans and connecting them with young people. (Operation Meatball) A Marine calls out instructions after spotting a Japanese machine gun nest during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. (U.S. Marine Corps) In years past, Japanese and U.S. veterans and their families, along with service members from both nations, have attended the event. During the war, Bergen was working at a San Diego aircraft factory building B-29 Superfortress bombers when he was kidnapped by the Navy at age 17, he recalled. A recruiter asked me to sit in the back of his car, he said. He drove me to a naval training center where they cut my hair and gave me a box of clothes. Robert Bergen said he was kidnapped by a recruiter at age 17 and found himself in the Battle of Iwo Jima as a Navy corpsman in February 1945. (Daryl Bergen) In February 1945, Bergen watched from the deck as battleships bombarded Japanese defenders on Iwo Jima. I had never seen a battleship, he said. When they fire their guns, the whole ship rolls, but the guns stay right on the target. Marines launched their amphibious assault on Feb. 19, 1945. The Japanese had dug a vast defensive network of tunnels into the islands volcanic rock. Of the 70,000 Marines who fought there, more than 6,800 were killed and 19,000 were wounded. Marines and their equipment are dwarfed by Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. (U.S. Marine Corps) Bergen returned to Iwo Jima for the 10th and 15th anniversaries of the battle and explored caves and tunnels where Japanese defenders had sheltered. About 18,000 Japanese troops died in the battle, with only 216 taken prisoner. The island was declared secure on March 26, 1945. The flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi, captured by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, became an iconic symbol of American sacrifice and courage. The remains of U.S. service members who died on Iwo Jima were repatriated after the war, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. These days, Bergen uses a wheelchair to get around and doesnt plan to return for this months Reunion of Honor. Im very proud of the United States Marine Corps, he said. U.S. service members and their families gather at Camp Humphreys' downtown plaza after a ruck march in South Korea, Dec. 6, 2024. (Michelle Lessard/U.S. Army) CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea A Pentagon policy extending two-year tours for troops who bring their families to South Korea will improve quality of life and enhance security on the Korean Peninsula, according to senior military officials. Announced last month, the change extends accompanied tours by one year and is expected to be fully implemented by October 2027. The current two-year tour is out of step with conditions on the peninsula, Air Force Col. William Parker, director of personnel for U.S. Forces Korea, told Stars and Stripes on Feb. 28 at USFKs headquarters on Camp Humphreys. Accompanied troops make up nearly one-fourth of the roughly 28,500 U.S. service members in South Korea, he said. USFK approves about two-thirds of requests for family accompaniment, depending on available space and resources. The U.S. militarys presence in South Korea changed significantly in 2018 when most troops began relocating from Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to Humphreys, a 3,600-acre base in Pyeongtaek, about 40 miles south of the capital. We were in Yongsan, and Camp Humphreys was just a major construction zone, Parker said. Since then, weve moved much of our forces down here. The quality of life for our service members has improved significantly. The mission has evolved tremendously, and we have not changed our tour policies in conjunction with that. An additional year in South Korea helps address challenges military families face, such as spouses finding employment on base and frequent relocations, he added. Army Col. Arron Lummer, of Eighth Armys personnel department, said the extension may seem minor but can provide stability for families. That one year really can make a big difference in adding that little bit of stability, to give that family the opportunity to put down a little bit more roots and grow to discover themselves here with the Korean culture, he said at USFK headquarters. I think it could potentially have a profound impact on quality of life. Extending tours also reduces turnover among experienced personnel and strengthens the militarys deterrence mission against North Korea, Parker said. A lot of the folks are filling positions or in key leadership positions, and having that continuity of mission is critical, he said. We see that at all levels here and across all components. Parker also noted that family stability plays a role in deterrence efforts. By striking a balance and keeping some families here, to keep some of that continuity of mission, we improve our deterrent effect, he said. During the Cold War, U.S. troops were stationed in Germany with their families, he added. While the policy change may save millions of dollars in relocation costs, Parker said financial considerations were not the driving factor. This does not require any additional investment in terms of infrastructure, Lummer said. Its about the families who are already here and those to come in the future, affording them the opportunity to stabilize in one location for up to three years to become increasingly vested in the mission. The command is also reviewing potential changes to the tour length for unaccompanied troops, who typically serve one-year tours in South Korea, but no immediate changes are planned, Parker said. People carrying Ukraine flags sing at a rally in support of Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images/TNS) (Tribune News Service) The U.K. and France are scrambling to bolster Ukraines negotiating position as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to force through a settlement in its war with Russia. Europes only two nuclear powers are trying to pull together a plan to help guarantee security for Kyiv with Moscow demanding that Ukraines military be massively scaled back as part of any settlement. Defense ministers of Europes five main military powers held talks in Paris on Wednesday to coordinate on support for Ukraine amid American pullback. A broad consensus is emerging that the first security guarantee for Ukraine is the Ukrainian army itself, its capacities, its armament, its training, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday, alongside defense chiefs from Poland, Germany, Italy and the U.K. Long-lasting security guarantees will depend on the capacities well be able to provide Ukraine, Lecornu said. Lecornu warned that Europe needed to move fast on space technology and reduce its reliance on Starlink. Step in rapidly German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius welcomed the U.S. announcement to continue military support for Ukraine but added that Europe is able to replace or substitute certain U.S. aid and services including Starlink. We can step in rapidly for example with ammunition but also with satellite communication if this should be needed, Pistorius told reporters. The defense ministers will meet again next week to continue discussions on military planning if theres a settlement, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said Wednesday. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are leading discussions between 37 countries to form a coalition of the willing in Ukraine if a peace settlement is agreed. It would see nations across Europe, the Commonwealth and Asia contribute either funding, troops, aircraft or naval vessels to help protect Ukraine from the prospect of further Russian aggression. In a separate meeting Tuesday, non-NATO allies including Australia, Japan and New Zealand joined talks with military chiefs from dozens of European countries as well as Canada in Paris, according to people familiar with the matter. Security guarantees The proposed reassurance force they aim to bring together is an essential security guarantee for Ukraine and any effort by Russia to block NATO countries from its membership would be a deliberate attempt to derail prospects of a lasting peace, British officials told Bloomberg. Each country was asked what theyd be willing to provide to the coalition, and those that ruled out sending troops to Ukraine have been asked if theyre willing for land forces to be stationed in its neighboring European countries and what other contributions they could make, including sending minehunters, ships, aircraft, tanks and providing intelligence, the people said. Defense officials believe stationing European troops inside Ukraine is an integral part of a durable, lasting peace solution. Still, Russia has been clear that it wont accept the presence of troops from NATO countries in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that the presence of NATO troops in any capacity on Ukrainian soil is a threat to Russia, according to Tass. Military chiefs will present Starmer and Macron with more detailed options for a peacekeeping force in the coming days, to be discussed with other leaders on a virtual call this weekend, the people said. They will then present them to Trump, who they hope will be persuaded to commit U.S. security guarantees in the form of airpower, intelligence and border surveillance without having to lend American troops to the peacekeeping force, they said. If the U.S. chose not to participate, then the force would have much less intelligence and much less protection against ballistic missiles, said Ben Barry, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Thats because U.S. intelligence, particularly from space, as well as its ability to shoot down ballistic missiles and rapidly deploy forces, dwarfs European capabilities, he said. Britain and France also dont want the U.S. to concede to Putins demands to demilitarize Ukraine and force President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold elections before a permanent peace deal is agreed. Starmer said Wednesday that the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia must also be dealt with at part of a settlement. Officials believe a U.S.-Ukraine accord for a 30-day halt in the conflict, coupled with developing plans for the peacekeeping force have increased pressure on Russia to make its own concessions. Still, there are strong concerns that Russia will reject a peace settlement and use the ceasefire period to re-arm and launch further attacks on Ukraine, the people cautioned. With assistance from Michael Nienaber and Donato Paolo Mancini. 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The elimination of the Minsk Group and its other facilities is an important factor, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "In addition, disbandment of the Minsk Group and ancillary frameworks, vestiges of the historical conflict, constitutes a pivotal element," he said. At the same time, Bayramov said that the Azerbaijani side expects the next step after the conclusion of the negotiation process on the text of the peace agreement to be the elimination of the remaining claims to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan in the Armenian constitution and other normative legal acts through its constitutional amendments. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Demonstrators rally in support of federal workers outside of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington on Feb. 14, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) WASHINGTON A federal judge in California ordered the immediate rehiring of thousands of probationary workers fired from their jobs at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Interior, Energy, Treasury and Agriculture. Judge William Alsup ruled the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, acted unlawfully when they ordered mass job terminations of the new workers, according to a statement from the workers unions that challenged the firings. OPM serves as the federal governments human resources agency. The workers were terminated as part of President Donald Trumps executive order to shrink the size of the federal workforce. The federal government employs more than 2 million people. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, along with other labor unions, had filed a lawsuit in the District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the mass firings by the Office of Personnel Management. Other plaintiffs in the case include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Coalition to Protect Americas National Parks, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, American Public Health Association and American Geophysical Union. The lawsuit provided background on how the mass firings were carried out at the direction of OPM. Agencies were told to use a template email to inform workers of their dismissal and state their job performance was the reason for the firing, according to the complaint. The judge found the Office of Personnel Management lacked the authority to direct the six federal agencies to fire their new employees. Alsup said the six agencies from which approximately 30,000 workers were fired in mid-February must provide a compliance report to the court for rehiring the workers and halt plans for additional firings of probationary workers, effective immediately. The Trump administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday, according to The Associated Press. Alsup rejected arguments from the Justice Department that Ezell was only offering advice to the federal agencies and did not direct the firings when he sent a written memo and made a phone call to department leaders about firing new workers with less than a year or two of employment. Ezell sent directions in a memo to agencies that included language for dismissing the new workers for performance reasons. According to a sworn written statement to the court last week, Ezell said the directions were offered as guidance only. The memo provided language for the firings that stated: The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest. Ezell submitted a sworn written statement to the court Feb. 26 that outlined his actions. But the Justice Department refused to make Ezell available to testify Thursday, after the judge requested his appearance. The court finds that Office of Personnel Management did direct all agencies to terminate probationary employees with the exception of mission critical employees, Alsup said at the end of the two-hour hearing, CNN reported. The decision was made from the bench with a written order to follow this week or early next week. It is a sad, sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie. That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to avoid statutory requirements, Alsup said, according to multiple news outlets. The judge also ordered any future terminations must be conducted by the agencies themselves and follow regulations outlined in the Civil Service Reform Action and Reduction in Force Act. Danielle Leonard, an attorney representing the fired workers, described the ruling as an important first step in holding the Trump administration accountable for these unlawful acts. In the judges ruling, he forbade the Office of Personnel Management from giving future guidance to federal agencies about which employees should be terminated. AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back, said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. Senior Airman Nelson Salguero works on his biceps at Dover Air Force Base, Del., in February 2025. (Andrew Alvarado/U.S. Air Force) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ordered a rapid services-wide review of existing standards for physical fitness, body composition and grooming, according to a Pentagon news release. In a memo, Hegseth directed the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to gather the existing standards. Darin Selnick is performing those duties. While described as rapid, the memo does not provide a timeline for the review. We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the worlds most lethal and effective fighting force, Hegseth wrote in the release. This review will illuminate how the Department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards, he said. The review of grooming standards will also include the wearing of beards, according to the memo. The Army, Air Force and Navy all offer shaving waivers to service members diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae that allow them to forgo shaving. The condition, which manifests in painful razor bumps, disproportionately affects Black men. 1st Lt. Jean Paul Stassi Jr. shaves in the field before training at Camp Shelby, Miss., in July 2024. (Jaccob Hearn/U.S. Army National Guard) Hegseth has long been a critic of physical fitness standards in the armed forces, in particular saying that the inclusion of women in combat has led to lowered standards. The ban on women serving in combat roles was lifted in 2013 by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and women were fully integrated into those roles by 2016. The review will look at how standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015. The review will also provide insight on why those standards changed and the impact of those changes, the memo states. Hegseth wrote in his most recent book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, published last year, that women are not fit for combat because they cannot physically meet the same standards as men. During a Feb. 7 town hall meeting at the Pentagon, Hegseth described soldiers as standard bearers. What are the standards? he said. I mean, and it starts with the basic stuff, right? Its grooming standards and uniform standards and training standards, fitness standards. Hegseth compared lax standards to the broken windows theory of policing, in which unpunished small misdemeanors embolden greater lawbreaking. [I]f you violate the small stuff, and you allow it to happen, the big stuff, it creates a culture where big stuff youre not held accountable for, he said. I think the same thing exists inside our services. In recent years, some services have loosened regulations around hair styles and tattoos. The changes have come as troops pressed for grooming standards that match the current era. Some service branches see the changes as essential to successful recruiting for Americas all-volunteer armed forces. Not all services see it that way. In January, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told a group of reporters that the service would not allow beards. Were Marines, and were different, he said. We dont have beards. The Marine Corps is meeting its recruiting goals, and what we dont want to do is tinker with the ethos of the service, he said. Services approach physical fitness in varying ways. The Army in 2022 launched its Army Combat Fitness Test, which is designed to better prepare troops for what they would experience in combat as compared to the previous test. The test focuses on measuring a wide range of physical capabilities strength, agility, reaction time and endurance. The Space Force is experimenting with doing away with fitness tests entirely. Thousands of guardians have participated in a two-year study ending this year that tracks routine workouts in lieu of using fitness tests to gauge capability. The Trump administration has removed all the migrants who were still being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba and flown them back to the United States, a Defense Department official said Wednesday. (U.S. Navy) The Trump administration has removed all the migrants who were still being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba and flown them back to the United States, a Defense Department official said Wednesday. The 40 men have been transported to Louisiana, where there is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alexandria. It comes just two weeks after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent another group of 48 migrants back to the same city from Guantanamo. It is unclear why DHS routed the group of migrants back to the United States after the costly flights to the military base on Cuba. The agency did not immediately respond to a request about the latest transfer. The defense official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. Both of the transfers back were on ICE Air, a less expensive option compared to the 17 military flights that have transported migrants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since the Trump administrations migrant operation began more than a month ago. A nonmilitary flight departed Guantanamo on Tuesday afternoon bound for Alexandria, according to flight trackers. Nearly 300 migrants have been detained in Guantanamo since President Donald Trump took office and quickly ordered the U.S. government to begin holding detainees at the naval station as part of its plan to carry out the largest number of deportations in U.S. history. On Feb. 20, the Trump administration deported a group of 177 Venezuelan men the highest number of migrants detained in Guantanamo under the Trump administration at one time back to their homeland. That was the first time it cleared out its migrant detainee population. During those first weeks of the Guantanamo operation, DHS sent one migrant back to El Paso. Two Democratic members of Congress who toured Guantanamo last week said officials told them that they had asked that migrants with medical conditions and behavioral issues not be sent to Guantanamo. As of Monday, 23 of the 40 migrants being held in Guantanamo were considered high threat and held in the Cuba-based naval stations military detention facility, while 17 others were detained in a separate space known as the Migrant Operations Center, according to a Pentagon official. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights and other organizations have filed two separate lawsuits requesting that 13 migrants in U.S. detention be blocked from transfer to Guantanamo. A judge granted a temporary restraining order halting three of the migrants named in the first lawsuit from being sent to the naval station. The men were later deported to Venezuela. On Friday, a D.C. federal court will hear arguments for two lawsuits by civil rights organizations against the Trump administrations Guantanamo migrant operation: A Feb. 12 lawsuit over the lack of legal access to migrants at the base and a March 1 suit that requests to block the transfer of 10 migrants detained in the United States to Guantanamo. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., speaks Jan. 28, 2025, during a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes) WASHINGTON The Republican chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee said he plans to introduce legislation to require congressional oversight and input from veterans groups before the Department of Veterans Affairs fires more workers, which is expected to reach 80,000 by September. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said he plans to submit legislation that would place guardrails on VA job terminations that have been ordered by President Donald Trumps administration as part of a larger downsizing of federal government. The bill would represent the first effort by a GOP lawmaker to place limits on a directive by Trump to significantly decrease federal jobs and programs as part of a cost-cutting campaign. Moran said he wants to be certain that efforts to right size the VA are done responsibly and with transparency. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, does not plan to introduce similar legislation at this time, his office said Wednesday. Moran plans to introduce his bill after the Senate returns from spring recess, according to his office. Many lawmakers return to their home districts for town hall meetings and to meet with constituents during the break, which is from March 17 through March 23. Morans office said Wednesday that the senator wants to meet with veterans organizations, individual veterans and other stakeholders before formalizing the legislation. The VA must work closely with Congress and veterans service organizations when it plans to undertake staffing cuts, Moran said Tuesday at a Senate VA committee hearing on bill introductions. Congress must play a significant role in strategically shaping VA workforce decisions to achieve the right outcomes for veterans and their families. Morans legislation will compete with bills by Democratic lawmakers to reinstate veterans to their federal jobs. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has scheduled a news conference Thursday with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a committee member, to discuss the Putting Veterans First Act, which would restore jobs and protect veterans, their spouses and survivors from future jobs cuts. A leaked internal VA memo sent by the chief of staff to other agency leaders stated the VA plans to fire 80,000 employees by August. The terminations would follow the layoffs last month of about 2,400 VA jobs. But Moran said at the Senate hearing Tuesday that additional workforce reductions must be thoughtful, transparent and carried out in close coordination with lawmakers, veterans and other stakeholders. Veterans make up about 30% of the federal workforce, which numbers more than 2 million. Veterans receive preference for federal employment over other job applicants. A total of 6,000 veterans have lost jobs in the mass firings across federal agencies, according to lawmakers. Republican lawmakers so far have not signed on to bills led by Democrats to protect veterans from job cuts, including legislation by Blumenthal and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq War veteran and member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The two senators have held news conferences to condemn the firings and a hiring freeze at the VA. They have accused the Trump administration of hampering the agency, which is already struggling with not enough doctors and nurses due to a national shortage of medical personnel. Blumenthal warned the terminations will roll back gains made under the PACT Act of 2022, which resulted in an additional 740,000 veterans receiving VA health coverage for illnesses connected to toxic exposure during military service. The PACT Act is a linchpin of modern-day protections for veterans. Veterans are asking whether benefits will still be available to them, Blumenthal said because of the job cuts. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Phone talks will take place between Azerbaijani and Syrian foreign ministers, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "The Azerbaijani Embassy in Syria has resumed its activities after a 12-year hiatus. This is because there was once an Azerbaijani embassy in Syria. However, later, due to unfriendly actions taken by the former Assad regime against Azerbaijan, the activities of our embassy were suspended. We immediately established communication with the new government, taking into account the new situation and realities. Before the resumption of the embassys activities, an Azerbaijani delegation had visited Syria and held meetings. Our contacts continue. Already, the first humanitarian aid from our country has been provided to Syria. Also, just a few days ago, a decision was made at the Ministerial Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah to restore Syrias activities in the OIC. Azerbaijan also supported that decision. In the near future, a phone conversation with Syria's Foreign Minister is planned, and we will discuss a number of issues," he added. According to him, Azerbaijan supports Syria's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its development. "From now on, the Azerbaijani state will continue to support humanitarian projects. At the same time, both bilaterally and within the framework of international organizations, our country will provide every possible support for Syria to become a fully-fledged actor in the international relations system," Bayramov concluded. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The group, who are members of the Roma community, had been found in contempt of court and directed by a judge to be imprisoned Families leaving the High Court after the case relating to squatters at No.9 Belvedere Place in Dublin 1. Photo: Collins Courts A group of people who had squatted for months in a dangerous and fire-risk flats complex, had disappeared last night when gardai called to arrest 27 of them. This came after the group, who are members of the Roma community, had been found in contempt of court orders to get out and directed by a judge to be imprisoned. Barrister Johnnie Mc Coy, who appeared with Greg Ryan Solicitors in the Circuit Civil Court today for retired solicitor and landlord, Mel Kilrane, told Judge Roderick Maguire that all of them had abandoned the property overnight. It appears now it will not be necessary for anything further to happen and we feel the matter should be put back for a week for mention, Mr McCoy said. Judge Maguire said that after attaching and committing the offending defendants to prison he had ordered all of them to be brought before the court today but none had turned up. Garda Sergeant Patrick Martin, Mountjoy Garda Station, told the court that when gardai turned up at the property at 9 Belvedere Place, Dublin, last night they found that all of the defendants had gone and the property was in the hands of a private security company. Judge Maguire said that in the circumstances the orders against all of the 27 defendants were now spent and adjourned the proceedings for mention next week. Mr McCoy said he had received instructions from the landlord to specifically thank Garda George Magdelena, who had acted as interpreter on several occasions for the court and Garda Michael McGrath for their assistance in dealing with the case. Judge Maguire also added his thanks to members of the Gardai who had assisted the court on Wednesday when he had made his committal orders. Earlier the court had been told by barrister Joe Jackson, also acting for the landlord, that the group including many children, had been squatting in a dangerous building which was a serious fire risk. Mr Kilrane had been fined in the District Court for breaching fire regulations. He said workmen for Mr Kilrane had attempted to enter the property to carry out repairs and renovations but had been faced by angry squatters, some producing knives. Mr Jackson had told other Circuit Civil Court judges that there were many children among the squatters who claimed they could not afford legal representation. He said there was an ongoing health hazard as the squatters were living in atrocious squalor and in the middle of their own faeces. At earlier hearings judges had expressed concern for the rehousing of the squatters, many of whom had children at local schools. Stuart Everett, 67, was bludgeoned in the head then sawn into 27 pieces with a hacksaw Blood from a pensioner who was murdered and dismembered was found in the bedroom of the alleged killer, a jury heard. Stuart Everett, 67, was bludgeoned in the head then sawn into 27 pieces with a hacksaw, then his body parts were taken in bags on bus journeys to various deposition sites Manchester Crown Court has heard. A forensic examination found blood on the carpet, wall and chest of drawers in the bedroom of the accused, Marcin Majerkiewicz. Majerkiewicz, 42, denies the manslaughter and murder of Mr Everett, between March 27 and 28, last year. Mr Everett, originally from Derby and born Roman Ziemacki to Polish parents, and Majerkiewicz, from Poland, lived together with another Polish man, food-processing factory worker Michal Polchowski, in a terrace house in Winton, Salford, Greater Manchester. A murder investigation was launched after the discovery of a human torso in Kersal Dale nature reserve, Salford, on April 4 last year. Police traced and arrested Majerkiewicz, who was caught on CCTV carrying a heavy bag and allegedly depositing the torso at Kersal Dale. They then found one of the three men who lived at the house, Mr Everett, matched the body part discovered. Jurors heard on Thursday about what police found when they examined the house they shared. Forensic scientist Simon Telford said the only site of substantial blood-staining at the house was on the carpet in the middle bedroom, belonging to Majerkiewicz. In the room, a rectangular piece of carpet, measuring 91cm by 21cm, had been cut out and replaced with another piece of carpet. Diluted blood samples were found in this area, with some visible areas of blood staining, but more widespread when treated with chemicals used to detect blood. Under the carpet the floorboards were examined, and detectives found a significant source of wet blood had been present in the area, which matched Mr Everetts blood. Jason Pitter KC, prosecuting, asked what conclusions could be drawn. Mr Telford replied: So, having a bleeding or blood-stained individual on the floor in that room, could explain those findings. The original piece of carpet was found by police in a skip outside the house. This was found to have widespread blood staining, matching Mr Everetts DNA on it, and looked as though someone had tried to clean the carpet, the court heard. Spots of blood were also found on the wall and a chest of drawers. Mr Telford said the blood on the wall matched Mr Everetts DNA but he could not say if it was present either by a force acting on wet blood and becoming airborne before landing, or cast-off blood present on something, such as a weapon, that is flung off as the object moves. Mr Telford added: An event or events have occurred in that middle bedroom that resulted in heavy blood being deposited on the carpet that could relate to an assault or dismemberment. I cant say specifically what led to the heavy bleeding being deposited on the carpet. Peter Wright KC, defending, put it to Mr Telford that the scientific analysis report concluded the science does not help to address whether the defendant has assaulted Mr Everett, as alleged, or whether Mr Everett has been in his room with an injury that the accused has then tried to clean-up. Mr Wright continued: In other words, those propositions are equally likely. He may be the perpetrator. Equally, he may not? Yes, replied Mr Telford. Jurors have been told only about one third of Mr Everetts body has been recovered. The trial was adjourned until Friday. Christopher McCormack, (65), pleaded guilty, before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, to assaulting Craig McMahon, (33), causing him harm A man who previously received a suspended sentence after shooting three men, killing one, after they called to his house issuing threats, has received another suspended sentence after he admitted assaulting a man in a pub in Limerick. Christopher McCormack, (65), Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick, pleaded guilty, before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, to assaulting Craig McMahon, (33), causing him harm at Gerry Powers pub, William Street, Limerick, on August 25th, 2019. In 2004, McCormack was given a suspended three-year sentence after admitting he shot and injured David Noonan, outside his then home address, at Byrne Avenue, Prospect, on June 19th, 2000. McCormack also shot and injured a second man Derek Hayes, and he also shot and killed a third man Billy Power, in the same incident. The DPP instructed no charges be brought against McCormack in respect of Mr Power and Mr Hayes. McCormack told gardai he was protecting himself and his family when the three men called to his home armed with a knife, a stick and a hammer. McCormack also believed the men were armed with a handgun. McCormack told Gardai the three men went to his home looking for his son Damian, and that they said they were going to kill him. McCormack said he was threatened by the men and that he fired shots at them from his legally held shotgun, and told gardai: I had to protect my family, I did what I had to do. In respect of the assault at Gerry Powers pub in 2019, McCormack told gardai he punched Craig McMahon several times in the face. In 2022, another man, Paul Mason, (57), Maple Court, Kennedy Park, received a fully suspended two-year sentence after he admitted punching Mr McMahon during the same attack. Mr McMahon also sustained stab wounds to his chest and neck, but gardai said they could not ascertain who was responsible for causing these injuries and no weapon was recovered. Prosecuting barrister, John OSullivan, told the court that, immediately following the assault, Mr McMahon stumbled out of Gerry Powers pub and collapsed on William Street. There was a trail of blood spatters on William Street that led back to Gerry Powers bar. He (Mr McMahon) suffered a sizable wound to his left anterior abdominal wall and neck, he was prescribed antibiotics, and he has decided not to make a victim impact statement to the court. Mr OSullivan said a number of people who were in the pub at the time of the attack refused to make statements to Gardai, bar one man, who identified McCormack and Mason as the assailants however this man proved very difficult to locate afterwards, said Mr OSullivan. Mr OSullivan said Mr McMahon gave a brief statement to Gardai, but he did not identify his assailants, even though they were known to him. Mr OSullivan said the State welcomed McCormacks guilty plea, as it would have proved a difficult case to bring to trial because of difficulties securing the attendance of several civilian witnesses. including Mr McMahon...for a period it looked like we would have Hamlet without the prince, so it was a most welcome plea. The court heard McCormack had serious health issues and he requires a lung transplant. The father-of-five sat in court wearing a nasal face mask attached to an oxygen tank. McCormacks barrister Eimear Carey, asked the court not to jail McCormack, and told the court: He apologises for his actions, he regrets getting involved in what was a nasty incident. Hes a different man to what he was then, he is working all his life, he has complex medical needs, added Ms Carey. Imposing a fully suspended two-year jail sentence Judge Colin Daly said McCormacks previous conviction for the shooting in 2000 was a relevant and aggravating factor, but he said, as it was 19 years prior to the assault, McCormack should not experience a significant loss of mitigation. David Amusan (20) was caught with the drugs twice in the space of a month David Amusan outside Blanchardstown District Court. He was found with cannabis and deal bags A business student twice caught with more than 1,000 worth of cannabis was hanging around with the wrong crowd at the time, a court heard. David Amusan (20) was caught with the drugs twice in the space of a month. Judge David McHugh imposed a four-month sentence, which he suspended for a period of one year. The defendant, with an address at The Boulevard, Mount Eustace, Tyrrelstown Dublin, admitted counts of possession of cannabis as well as having the drug for sale or supply. Garda Joseph Rogers told Blanchardstown District Court that gardai seized cannabis, with a street value of 1,160, at Parnell Green in Parslickstown on June 29, 2024. A second quantity of cannabis, worth 1,430, was seized on July 24, 2024. Gda Rogers said that deal bags were also seized. The court heard that Amusan had no previous convictions, and had not been in trouble before or since these incidents. Defence solicitor Eoghan OSullivan said Amusan lived with his mother, who was taking this matter extremely seriously. Mr OSullivan said the defendant was studying e-commerce in TUD, and had a bright future ahead of him. Mr OSullivan said Amusan was hanging around with the wrong people at the time, and realised he had made a serious error of judgment. The solicitor asked Judge McHugh to be as lenient as possible, saying Amusan was holding his hands up and admitting his mistake. Joseph ODonovan (49), who was formerly known as Gary OFlynn, appeared before Cork District Court Joseph O'Donovan, who changed his name from Gary Flynn. Photo: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Cork Courts Ltd A former Cork City Council member has pleaded guilty to the harassment of a woman three years ago. Joseph ODonovan (49), who was formerly known as Gary OFlynn, appeared before Cork District Court having previously been charged with one count of harassment. The offence occurred on three dates between July 30 and August 6, 2022. O'Donovan of Melvindale House, Coolowen, Blarney, Co Cork, faced a single charge of harassment contrary to Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. The charge specified an address in Cork city. However, specific details of the location involved and case background are not being published to protect the identity of the woman. Cork District Court was previously told that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had consented to summary disposal of the matter. Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer told Judge Aine Clancy that his client was entering a plea of guilty. The court was told that the matter would have to be adjourned to allow for the preparation of a victim impact statement. Mr Buttimer also indicated that specialist reports would be prepared to assist the court with sentencing. The reports will include medical submissions on the defendant's behalf. Judge Clancy adjourned the matter to May 28 next. O'Donovan is the son of former Fianna Fail TD for Cork North Central, Noel OFlynn. Mr O'Flynn served in the constituency of Cork North Central from 1997 until his retirement before the 2011 General Election. He recently returned to Cork City Council where he took the seat vacated by his other son, Ken, on his election to the Dail at last November's General Election. Joseph ODonovan, when he was known as Gary OFlynn, served as a Fianna Fail Cork City Council member from 2003 to 2008. He took his fathers old seat on the council in 2003 when the dual mandate ban came into force. He ended his political career five years later with his City Hall seat then going to his brother, Ken. Ken was elected to the Dail last year for Independent Ireland after Cork North Central returned to being a five seat constituency. Daniel Byrne (26) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court A man who extorted over 22,000 out of former classmate after the victim contacted him to buy a small amount of cannabis has been jailed for five and half years. Daniel Byrne (26) of Pike Inn Apartments, Camolin, Gorey, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making threats to cause serious harm, making unwarranted demands for cash and handling the proceeds of crime on dates between February 2, 2024 and June 6, 2024. He has a previous conviction for money laundering and was given a suspended sentence for this in January 2023. He was on this suspended sentence when he began to threaten this man. His other convictions include possession of drugs, obstruction and threatening and abusive behaviour. An investigating garda told John Gallagher BL, prosecuting, that a former school friend contacted Byrne to see if he could source cannabis for him for his own use but it did not go as planned. He said very shortly afterwards the man received a threat from Byrne, via Facebook messenger asking the man who the fuck do you think you are? and I kill people for a living. He then threatened to harm both the man and his family if he didnt Revolut him 700. He said if he got the money we will let this slide. The garda told the court that Byrne implied that he was doing this at the behest of others and that he had a connection to others involved in organised crime. Byrne continued to threaten the man and met him on multiple occasions demanding cash. At one point, he collected 15,000 from the man having met him in four different locations over a number of days. Byrne then began to threaten the mans father, indicating that he knew where this man worked. He also began to contact the victim at his own workplace. The victim contacted gardai in April 2024 after he confided in his father that he was in trouble and subject to threat. A short time after this, Byrne threatened to cut him up if he didnt hand over 5,000. The garda confirmed that ultimately Byrne managed to get 22,750. A victim impact statement was handed into court but not read out. Byrne was arrested and his devices were seized which linked him to the threats and ten transfers from the victim into his Revolut account. The garda agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that the victim had initiated contact with Byrne looking to buy cannabis. He acknowledged that Byrne had previously been bundled into a car himself and spent some time in a wheelchair following a fall from a high height. Mr Spencer said his client instructs that he was under significant pressure from others at the time to ask for the cash and he is under protection in custody for his own safety. He said Byrne's grandfather, who had acted like a father to him, died in 2012 and this significant trauma led him into cannabis and cocaine addiction. Mr Spencer said Byrnes partner of three years has a sobering influence on him and they have a six-week old baby. He is deeply distraught that he was in custody for the birth of his child he has vowed to put things right in that regard, Mr Spencer said. Judge Martin Nolan said that Byrne has made enemies that he has to avoid and acknowledged that his time in prison will be difficult for him. However, he said these were serious threats that caused total upset to the peace of mind of the victim and their family. He set a headline sentence of seven and half years before he reduced this to five and half years taking into account mitigating features in the case including Byrnes pleas of guilty. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We'll continue our work to return the last Azerbaijani citizen who is in difficult situations to the country, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters within the framework of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "There is a constantly operating interagency commission on citizens of Azerbaijan who are in difficult situations in Syria, Iraq, and other conflict areas. There are people who went there on time, but their family members still remain in those areas. In addition to the Foreign Ministry, representatives of more than 10 state agencies are participating there. Working together with other colleagues and partner states, these works continue regularly both in Syria and Iraq. During this period, hundreds of women and children have been found and returned to our country," the minister noted. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Jordan Davis was shot to death by a lone gunman while pushing his four-month-old son in a pram "Tick lists" found at two addresses linked to drug dealer Robert Redmond contained the name "Jordo" - the same nickname as a young father shot dead six years ago - while 70,000 was written beside one entry with the words "not yet" in capital letters, a detective has told the Central Criminal Court. The prosecution contend that Robert Redmond is the older brother of accused woman Rachel Redmond (34), who the State alleges drove the alleged shooter - her then partner Wayne Cooney - away from the scene and later checked him into a hotel in an effort to help him evade prosecution. Robert Redmond It is the State's case that Robert Redmond was engaged "in some acrimony" with 22-year-old drug dealer Jordan Davis, who was shot to death by a lone gunman on a distinctive orange bike while pushing his four-month-old son in a pram through a lane in Darndale on Dublin's northside. Detective Garda Alan Roche today told Seoirse O Dunlaing SC, prosecuting, that he was engaged in a search of a house in Kinsealy on November 19 2018, where he found "a tick list", a small amount of cannabis and cash. The detective explained to the jury that a "tick list" is an account outlining monies owed for drugs by people. He said on the top left hand corner of one page was the nickname 'Jordo' owing 153,000. Rachel Redmond The witness said there was a list of dates in chronological order and the last figure showed 95,100. Detective Garda Brian Healy later gave evidence that the house in Kinsealy had belonged to the sister of Robert Redmond's ex-partner. The statement of Mr Davis' mother Sandra Davis has been read into the record, where she said her son Jordan started to "hang around" with a "fella called Roo" but later "things changed". She said she knew her son was selling drugs. She asked him to stop and kept telling him that his luck was going to run out. She said she and everyone else had called her son 'Jordo'. Det Gda Roche said Robert Redmond was present when his home at Woodview Close in Donaghmede was searched on January 30, 2019. Another "tick list" from a copybook was found and on it was the name "Jordo" with 70,000 written beside it and the words "not yet" in capitals. Wayne Cooney Other items found at Woodview Close, the court heard, included luxury handbags, sunglasses and 8,000 in cash which were in 50 notes. Sergeant Shane Behan said he had observed three males walking into 'Brown Thomas' on Grafton Street on August 28, 2018. Two of the males were Jordan Davis and Robert Redmond. The witness noted a smell of cannabis off the men when he approached them, explaining to them he had a suspicion they may be in possession of cannabis. When Sgt Behan asked whether any of them had cannabis on them Mr Davis took two small bags of cannabis from his pocket and handed them over. The three men were taken to Pearse Street Garda Station under the provision of the Misuse of Drugs Act for a more comprehensive search but no further drugs were found, he said. The court heard that in May 2013, Robert Redmond pleaded guilty to the possession of heroin worth almost 37,000 and was jailed for five years. Detective Sergeant Eoin Colbert also identified Rachel Redmond as the woman in the lobby of the Clayton Hotel near Dublin Airport after midnight in the early hours of May 23, 2019. Ms Redmond from Coolock but with an address at Cliftonville Road, Cliftonville Avenue, North Belfast, Antrim is charged on two counts that on or about May 22 2019, in the county of the City of Dublin, did knowingly or believing that another person, namely Wayne Cooney, committed an arrestable offence, to wit murder, without reasonable excuse did an act with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution. Ms Redmond has pleaded not guilty to the two counts. The jury have been told that the prosecution have to establish that Ms Redmond, who was in a relationship with Mr Cooney at the time, knew or believed he had committed the murder. The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul Burns and a jury of three men and nine women. Dermot McElduff (80), a father-of-three from Gracepark Heights, Drumcondra, Dublin pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman at a clinic in the city. AN elderly man grossly abused a massage therapist by groping her following a session at a Dublin clinic. After the victim refused Dermot McElduffs request to rub his groin, he licked her face and touched her bottom and breast, leaving her traumatised. Judge Michele Finan told the accused to offer 5,000 as a token of his remorse to the victim and adjourned sentencing at Dublin District Court. McElduff (80), a father-of-three from Gracepark Heights, Drumcondra, Dublin pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman at a clinic in the city. Detective Garda Sarah McArdle said the accused made an appointment to have a massage in May, 2023. When he arrived, he was brought into a room by the victim. In the course of the massage, he put his hand under the towel and while the injured party could not see what he was doing, she was aware of what he was doing, Det Gda McArdle said. He made comments asking the victim to rub him on his groin and that and she explained she could not. She left the room while he got his clothes back on and when she returned, he touched her on the bum, leaned in to kiss her and licked the side of her face. McElduff also touched the victims left breast and all the contact was outside her clothes. The accused had no previous convictions. His guilty plea was quite valuable to the prosecution, defence solicitor Peter Connolly said. McElduff had a lot on his plate with family commitments, the court heard. He had worked for many years in the retail sector for one of the big multiples and had been quite successful before going into business on his own, Mr Connolly said. He had not worked for 10 years now. Judge Finan read a victim impact statement that was handed in and said it was measured and speaks volumes to the court. This woman is traumatised, she was trying to provide therapeutic intervention for your client who grossly abused her, she told Mr Connolly. She said the accused should offer reasonable compensation and asked the garda to explain to the victim that there was no obligation on her to accept money from the accused and that it was a token of his remorse. The court is horrified that this happened to her, she said. Mr Connolly said he did not anticipate that the compensation would be a problem. The accused was remanded on continuing bail to appear in court again in June. Lewis Oliver Rowland suffered catastrophic brain injuries A man found guilty of murdering his infant son who suffered catastrophic brain injuries has been jailed for at least 20 years. Craig Rowland had denied killing his son Lewis Oliver Rowland in 2018. However, last October a jury, by a majority of 11 to one, found him guilty. This afternoon the 29-year-old, of Millington Park in Portadown, was told he will spend 20 years in prison. Convicted baby killer Craig Rowland at Belfast Crown Court (Credit: Alan Lewis) Rowland, who appeared in the dock of Belfast Crown Court dressed in a grey polo t-shirt and grey tracksuit trousers, stared at the floor but showed no emotion when the sentence was handed down. The childs mother, Laura Graham (32), from Edward Street in Lurgan, who appeared in the dock next to Rowland, had been found guilty of wilfully neglecting her son. She was sentenced to three years probation and 100 hours of community service. My serious concern is Rowland's reluctance to admit responsibility and his feelings that blame has been put on him Graham, dressed in a black puffer coat and grey trousers, rocked back and forth during the sentence hearing, and broke down in tears when informed she would not be sent to prison. She replied: Yes when asked by Mr Justice OHara if she understood the order. Handing down the sentence, Mr Justice OHara said Lewis was left permanently and severely disabled due to his injuries. My serious concern is Rowland's reluctance to admit responsibility and his feelings that blame has been put on him, he said, explaining Rowland has attempted to blame medical staff for his sons death. Baby Lewis sustained life-changing brain injuries in November 2015, when he was just 13 weeks old following a shaking episode. Laura Graham at a previous hearing. He died in October 2018, aged three, in his foster mothers arms from complications arising from surgery. During the trial, Rowland appeared alongside the childs mother Graham, with both admitting a charge of wilfully neglecting their son on November 20, 2015, by failing to obtain timely medical treatment. During the four week trial last year, it was heard the former couple brought their baby son to Craigavon Area Hospital on November 20, 2015. When the pair arrived at the hospital at around 1.30pm, they told medics that the evening before Lewis had been unsettled and unwell. They also said they had put Lewis in his buggy and walked three miles from their home in Portadown to the hospital, which took around an hour, and didn't call an ambulance as they had no phone. The gravely ill baby underwent a CT scan that revealed he had serious brain injuries which resulted in a permanent and severe disability. Craig Rowland gave the middle finger to the press throughout the trial (Credit: Alan Lewis) Further examinations of Lewis on that date revealed he also had a spinal injury, a healing rib fracture and multiple bruises on his neck, head and chest. Due to the severity of his injuries, Lewis was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast that afternoon suffering from a bleed to his brain. When released from hospital, the child was placed into foster care - it was also heard he could not see, walk or talk, and had to be fed through a nasal tube. In the early hours of October 20 2018, he developed breathing difficulties and a chest X-ray indicated he had pneumonia and died later that day, at 1.30pm, aged three. More to follow. Officers believe former Canadian snowboarder Ryan Wedding is on the run and hiding in Sinaloa, Mexico. A key player in a billion dollar cocaine trafficking ring headed up by an ex-Canadian snowboarder has links to the Kinahan Cartel and did business with them in Dubai, a US prosecutor has said. Officers believe former Olympic star Ryan Wedding is on the run and in hiding in Sinaloa, Mexico. He has also been placed on the FBIs most wanted list. Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about a fascinating story which has seen the Kinahan mob named as customers of the notorious Mexican Cartel. MORE EPISODES A group of asylum seekers housed inside a former army barracks were subjected to outrageous abuse indicative of a trend where some sections of society were opting to go down internet rabbit holes, a court has heard. Darren Farrell, 16 Grange Meadows, Mullingar, Westmeath; Alan Kevin, 146 Abbeylands, Mullingar and Sean Cox, 36 Grange Crescent, Mullingar, Westmeath appeared at a sitting of Mullingar District Court charged with public order related offences arising out of an incident on March 24 and during the early hours of March 25, 2023 at Columb Army Barracks, Ashe Road, Mullingar, Westmeath. The court was told of how gardai had been called to the former military facility at around 1:30pm to oversee a demonstration which had seen a crowd of around 50 protestors assemble outside its front entrance. Garda Gary Power said when he arrived, a number of those present had placed a chain across its gates preventing a bus containing several International Protection (IP) applicants from accessing the barracks. Darren Farrell leaving Mullingar Courthouse. He told the court that as he went over towards the gate, he was shoved from behind with force, causing him to immediately turn around and find Darren Farrell standing in front of him. That incident culminated in Farrell being charged with using, or engaging in, threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, a charge he together with his two co-accused denied. CCTV footage showing the incident was also played in court, appearing to show a figure wearing a cream fleeced jacked, hat and sunglasses coming into shot and confront Garda Power. I turned to face him and he immediately began to shout at me: I am f****** standing here, you can f*** off right into my face, he told the court. Garda Power went on to detail how Farrell had followed one of the International Protection applicants who ventured out from behind the gates of the barracks to verbally abuse him. As he walked out through the gates a number of persons did follow him and Darren Farrell was one of those persons. He got into the applicants face and shouted at him: Go back f****** home and get the f*** back inside those gates, you rapists. Defence barrister Andrea Callan BL, said under Article 40.6 of the Irish Constitution, her client was simply exercising his right to protest in a peaceful manner. In her cross-examination of Garda Power, she put it to the Mullingar-based officer that while there may have been jostling there was no definitive evidence to suggest Farrell had forcible shoved him. It was an assertion Garda Power flatly denied, however. No other person shoved me, he replied. I was shoved with enough force to make me aware of him being behind me and his language to me afterwards was disgraceful. Garda Keith Geraghty, meanwhile, gave evidence of how he too arrived outside Columb Barracks at around 1:30pm before returning later in the day due to the fraught and dynamic circumstances that was unfolding in front of him and his colleagues. Alan Kevin was ordered to return to court in June with a 300 charitable donation while Sean Cox was handed a three month suspended prison sentence. He said it was later that evening and close to midnight when he first encountered Farrells co-accused Sean Cox shortly after gardai were forced to call in members from the forces National Public Order Unit for assistance. Sean Cox (was) standing on the Ashe Road staring at me and he shouted at me: Dirty f***** boy, fat b****** and rat c****, he told the court. Ms Callan, in her cross examination, said given the lateness and tense situation that was evolving in front of him, there was a possibility Garda Geraghty could have been mistaken the father of three was shouting directly at him. Garda Geraghty played down that suggestion as he told of how Cox was standing no more than two to three metres away from him before making eye contact with him in order to hurl the incendiary remarks. The court also heard evidence from local woman Ann Ward who detailed how protests at the barracks had, in fact, commenced earlier that month, adding there had been no flashpoints of note in the weeks leading up to the incident. There was a big crowd there, she said. Most of the women were saying the Rosary and there were others just standing around. That prompted Judge John Brennan to interject and ask: Did you see Mr Cox saying the Rosary? Ms Ward, amid muffled laugher towards the rear of the courtroom replied: I cant say that I did. In giving evidence of his arrest of Alan Kevin, Inspector Paul Buckley said he came across the accused becoming increasingly agitated and aggressive towards gardai while drinking cans of beer. Those actions, it was revealed, had culminated in Kevin being similarly charged like his two co-accused with public order, in addition to a charge of public intoxication. Sean Cox outside Mullingar Courthouse. He said it was at that stage Kevin repeatedly called him a w***** and gardai pirates while telling his colleague Garda Mervyn Henson to come on and arrest me. Inspector Buckley said the escalating unease brought about by a number of those present resulted in two units from the Dublin Metropolitan Region attending the scene, bringing the overall number of officers in situ to 18 along with one inspector, three sergeants and 12 to 13 local gardai. Ms Callan, in her submission to the court, said there was no concrete evidence to confirm her client was intoxicated, saying there was an equal level of doubt over whether the term pirate could be construed as coming within the parameters of section 6 of the Public Order Act. She added there were similar question marks as to whether any of the alleged remarks made by Kevin were uttered in the direction of gardai or Inspector Buckey. Judge Brennan, in giving his ruling, dismissed the public intoxication charge levelled against Kevin on the grounds there was no specific evidence of a manifestation of intoxication brought before the court. Given Kevins lack of any previous convictions, Judge Brennan said the court was willing to afford him a chance of avoiding a criminal conviction by directing him to make a 300 contribution to the Garda Benevolent Fund. In doing so, he gave Kevin until June 12 to come up with the funds or run the risk of a 500 fine. In convicting Farrell, Judge Brennan was told the scaffolder had 19 previous convictions to his name, but had not come to garda attention since June 2016. Judge Brennan said there was no denying the nasty element gardai had encountered on the day in question, something which had also, at times left them outnumbered. He said had Farrell more recent convictions to his name, the court would be minded to consider a custodial prison term as he fined him 400, giving him four months to pay. Judge Brennan, however, opted to hand Cox a three-month sentence, suspending its duration for a period of 18 months upon learning of his 47 previous convictions. He said the outrageous abuse levelled at gardai and the appalling treatment meted out to International Protection applicants on the day was indicative of a certain trend in which some sections of society were opting to go down internet rabbit holes with aggressive situations being more often than not, the end result. A fourth man, Shane Gavin, of 7 Grange Lawns, Mullingar, Westmeath is due to appear at a sitting of Mullingar District Court on Thursday charged with a section 6 public order alleged offence on the same day. The man involved in a high-profile sectarian clash at a north coast yacht club has admitted disorderly behaviour and common assault. Alan McKendry, from Strawbridge Park in Portballintrae, will be sentenced after co-accused Stephen Cross goes on trial on March 20. Cross is charged with two counts of common assault, theft of a mobile phone and using disorderly behaviour The contest involving the 63-year-old, from Castlecat Road in Bushmills, will be held at Coleraine Magistrates Court. Freeing McKendry on bail last Friday, a judge told him: Its good sentencing practice to have all matters dealt with together at the same time. Although none of the facts surrounding the case were opened in court, the matter revolves around a clash on a boat moored in Portballintrae harbour last June. The skipper and crew of Amaranthe claimed to have been attacked for flying of an Irish tricolour from the mast. The boat was later set on fire and damaged in what the PSNI described as a sectarian attack. Prior to this, a man was taken to hospital and treated for facial injuries after a fight on the pier. Amaranthe skipper Conor Costello shows his facial injuries The boat, skippered by Conor Costello, had left Derry earlier that day and was sailing to the Isle of Man to watch the TT. Crew member Gary Parke told a newspaper the trouble began after the vessel docked in Portballintrae for repairs. He explained how he saw several dozen men gathered on the pier with their faces covered. He said: I realised right away they were loyalists. Police arrived at the scene to prevent the crowd from gaining access to the boat. It was then the clashes started. With all the commotion, my phone had fallen into the water. I couldnt even ring someone to come to collect me, said a terrified Parke. The police advised me to get out of the area as soon as possible. I was even taking the boat on my own, but the police advised against it as by that time the tide had really dropped to a dangerously low level. Later that night, while anchored in Portballintrae harbour, the boat was set ablaze. Amaranthe owner Costello (30) was last month charged with offences arising from the incident. He is accused of assaulting Derek McKendry, using disorderly behaviour at Portballintrae Boat Club and possessing class C drug bromazolam on June 3, 2024. Costello, from Lawrence Hill in Derry, is also charged with the improper use of a telecommunication network to send a menacing message on June 4 last year. Many bartenders across the pond will refuse to make the drink, and will likely get upset with anybody who orders it Americans have been advised to be wary of ordering an 'Irish Car Bomb' cocktail over the St Patricks Day celebrations. As one of the most popular holidays in the US, everyone gets into the lively spirit of the Irish, Delish.com reports, from cooking up corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread to whipping up a vibrant shamrock shake. And for those who enjoy what they describe as a drinking holiday there is green beer and Irish slammers. However, there is one drink commonly known as the Irish Car Bomb that you might want to think twice before placing an order. The infamous beverage features a shot glass with equal parts Jameson Irish Whiskey and Baileys Irish cream, which is then dropped into a pint of Guinness. The "bomb" refers to the bubbles and splashes when the shot glass is dropped into the pint. According to Delish.com, despite the name, the drink didnt originate in Ireland, but in America where it was first served in 1979 at Wilsons Saloon in Norwich, a city in New London County, Connecticut. But the name also refers to an element of the decades-long period of violence in Northern Ireland, known here as the Troubles. The next 30 years were filled with sectarian violence, with the paramilitary group IRA regularly using car bombs as weapons, Deligh.com reports. One day in 1972, known as Bloody Friday, involved the detonation of over 20 car bombs in Belfast. The events of that day, which killed nine people and left 130 people injured, remain a dark and painful moment in the regions history. Now, after the cocktail became a household name in the 1980s and '90s after Guinness launched a widespread advertising campaign, revellers across the States order the drink every St Patrick's Day. But, you wont find this drink in Ireland and England, Delish.com reveals, as many bartenders across the pond will refuse to make the drink, and will likely get upset with anybody who orders it. In fact, the owner of Wilson's Saloon, Charles Burke Cronin Oat, who invented the drink, apologised and expressed regret for the name after public pushback from IRA victim-support groups. Asked if its okay to order one, says Darby Reagan, an Irish American researcher and restaurant industry veteran, said: It depends on what Irish person you ask. If they weren't old enough to be alive during the Troubles, it's not unreasonable at all to assume they had family that were impacted by it, Reagan says. Apparently some bars and publications have renamed the drink to avoid offense and is instead called the Dublin Drop, Irish Shot, and the Irish Slammer. The piece refers to a Diageo spokeswoman who told the Guardian: We have a stringent marketing code which ensures that we promote only the responsible consumption of our brands. As such, we do not seek to support drinks such as the Irish Car Bomb. "There are better drinks that won't offend the heritage you are celebrating," Reagan adds. "If you want the Guinness, grab a pint. If you want the whiskey, grab a Jameson. If you want the sweetness and a shot that doesn't breathe fire down your neck, a baby Guinness shot is a sweet alternative that won't offend." Delish.com also advises that if you really need to chug a glass of stout and curdled Baileys, you should probably just make the recipe at home. Defendants who were found with quantities of cannabis were ordered to pay money to Cashel District Court poor box (stock image). A serial shoplifter who stole a circular saw while her two children sat in a car outside almost felt removed from herself on the day, a court heard. Margaret Joyce (47) was identified as the culprit from CCTV footage, a sergeant said. Judge Dermot Dempsey imposed a six-month prison sentence, and disqualified her from driving for 12 months. The defendant, of The Wotton, The Ward, Ashbourne, Co Meath, admitted stealing a Black & Decker circular saw worth 93 from Woodies in Swords on March 21, 2023. Sgt Shane Griffin told Swords District Court Joyce was seen on CCTV taking the saw, which was not recovered. She almost felt removed from herself at the time He said Joyce made her escape in a car, with her two children in the back. The sergeant asked Judge Dempsey to consider a driving ban, as the car was used in committing the theft. The court heard Joyce had 35 previous convictions, most theft-related. Defence lawyer Annette Kealy said Joyce had been a single parent for over a decade and had been finding it difficult to make ends meet. Ms Kealy said Joyce lived with her mother, who had health problems, and she helped to care for her. The defendant also had health difficulties, and was on medication for severe anxiety, Ms Kealy said. In relation to this incident, Joyce almost felt removed from herself at the time, the court heard. Imposing a six-month sentence, Judge Dempsey said Joyce was a serial offender. Des Hurley (29) from Kinsale, Co Cork suffered fatal injuries in the accommodation deck of a family-owned fishing vessel, Breizh Arvor II, on December 14, 2023 A young fisherman from Cork was killed on board a trawler 15 months ago after suffering a very unfortunate common slip or fall, according to an official inquiry by marine investigators. Des Hurley (29) from Kinsale, Co Cork suffered fatal injuries in the accommodation deck of a family-owned fishing vessel, Breizh Arvor II, on December 14, 2023. The incident occurred on the third day of an intended 10-13 days fishing trip while the 22.5-metre trawler was fishing for prawns in the Porcupine Basin around 100 nautical miles off the Blasket Islands, Co Kerry. A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board said circumstantial evidence indicated Mr Hurley may have missed a step or slipped before hitting his head off a hard surface. Alternatively, the MCIB said he may have misjudged the height of the sleeping area and hit his head before falling to the floor. It said loose footwear and the rolling movement of the vessel may also have contributed to what happened. MCIB investigators observed that there was a fresh Force 5 breeze at the time with moderate to rough seas with the vessel rolling moderately. Mr Hurley who was not identified in the MCIB report was found by other crew members lying unresponsive on the deck in the sleeping area. Efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful and the vessel, which is owned by James Hurley Fisheries, returned to its home port of Castletownbere, Co Cork. The report noted that the deceased had worked on Breizh Arvor II for seven years and had 13 years experience of working at sea. It said the fatal incident occurred after Mr Hurley had stopped working in order to go to the wheelhouse to relieve his brother, Michael the vessels skipper on watch, while the other five crew members remained on deck. The report said the deceased had taken off his oilskins and wellington boots and put on a pair of Crocs and went below to the accommodation deck to change his jumper. It observed that he appeared to use the Crocs as a pair of slip-ons without using their ankle straps. Mr Hurley was discovered in an unresponsive state on his back on the cabin floor next to his bunk about ten minutes later when the skipper went to check why he was late taking over his watch. The skipper told MCIB that he called other crew members after finding no sign of life in his brother before CPR was commenced on the victim. Efforts to revive Mr Hurley continued for about half an hour without success. The MCIB report noted that it could not be determined exactly what happened the casualty. It also observed the shipping regulations stipulate that sleeping rooms on fishing vessels should have clear headroom of at least 2 metres whenever possible, although the standard is not compulsory. The sleeping area on Breizh Arvor II had a deck to ceiling height of 1.68m, while the deceased was 1.88 metres tall. The report postulated that he might have missed one of the two steps down from his berth while moving forward in a crouched position or slipped as he stepped on the ladder to go back up on deck. The MCIB said it was also possible that the Crocs caused the deceased to slip. An investigating garda considered that the floor material was slippery, although an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority concluded that there were no issues with the flooring. The report noted that a Garda gave evidence at Mr Hurleys inquest that he considered it possible that the deceased had hit his head off the door frame of the room. A postmortem showed he suffered a fracture of the neck as well as bruising to the front of his head. The coroner observed that there was strong circumstantial evidence that Mr Hurley lost his footing on the ladder, sustained a neck injury and suffered cardiorespiratory failure as a result of extremely bad luck. The coroner, Frank OConnell, said it was a case of lightning striking which had led to a one-in-a-million death. The MCIB issued a number of recommendations including that a marine notice should be issued by the Minister of Transport to highlight the importance of wearing secure footwear at all times on board fishing vessels. It advised that the notice should also alert owners of the dangers of restricted headroom and recommended there should be suitable warning signage at the entrance to such spaces. Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid Last Saturday, Ellerslie racecourse in the City of Sails hosted the wealthiest thoroughbred race meeting ever held in the country. Almost $9 million in stake money was on offer, headlined by the inaugural Kiwi, worth a staggering $3.5m. On Saturday, I cast my memory back over a decade when I again dipped my toe back into racehorse ownership. The thoroughbred racing industry was in disarray with little prospect of a sustainable future. One local trainer told me he was his stables lowest hourly remunerated person. Race meetings were a rumour mill of pessimism, with tales of owners and trainers on the verge of shutting up shop. In 2018, Racing Minister Winston Peters commissioned Australian breeder and administrator John Messara to review and make recommendations for thoroughbred racing in New Zealand. Messara returned with a report that had found serious malaise in the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, which required major reforms. Three of the most contentious issues were the closing of racecourses, selling the wagering platform of the TAB and winter racing surfaces. So began the revival of thoroughbred racing in the country, culminating in the full house at Ellerslie racecourse last weekend. The closing of (mainly rural) racecourses drove a storm of protest in communities such as Dargaville, Wairoa, Stratford, Blenheim and Reefton. Hokitika, Waimate and Wyndham were vehemently opposed to shutting down racing in their districts. I fully understood the passion as a voluntary Wairoa Racing Club committee member in the 1980s. The biggest money-maker in Wairoa each year was the three-day racing carnival, which hit town each February and brought visitors for an entire week. Legislation culled the countrys racetracks from around 50 to some 28 courses today. Three all-weather tracks were added at Cambridge, Awapuni in Palmerston North and Riccarton Park in the South Island on existing courses. Adding the three artificial surfaces shifted much of the winter racing away from grass to give courses time to revitalise during a winter break. The sale of the TAB to an international betting conglomerate provided the biggest boost to reinvigorating horse racing in the country. A higher guaranteed wagering income gave a big boost to the level of stake money, which is the lifeblood of the sport. Prize money went from a minimum of $7000 per race a decade before to todays minimum of $17,000. Just as crucial as the increases were the distribution of stake money back to 10th place, which spread the prize money back to more participants. This summer, crowds have returned to the track in their thousands, reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s, when local races were the Big Day Out for many people. Proof of the success of the $9 Million Day at Ellerslie was the pursuit of the big dollars on offer by horses from some of the biggest stables in Australia. However, words of wisdom suggest that racing administrators keep their eye on the ball and remember when the racing bubble burst after the share market crash 1987. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. A criminal case has been initiated by the State Security Service regarding a fire incident that occurred at the SOCAR (State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic) Oil Refinery in the Nizami district of Baku on March 5, 2025, the service told Trend. The service indicated that collaborative measures were executed with the pertinent state authorities subsequent to the event. Initial investigations indicated that the necessary safety standards were not followed during the preparation of the N-21/1 pump system in primary processing unit No. 21 for repair, as outlined in the work plan, within the second production area of the SOCAR Oil Refinery. Notwithstanding a direct written warning during the shift handover regarding the persistent fuel oil flow in the pump, the shift crew, on March 4-5, 2025, transferred the unit to the repair and restoration team without adequately verifying its readiness for repair or confirming that the pipe had been completely cleaned with heavy diesel and emptied. As a result, while the pump system was being detached for repair, highly flammable fuel leaked under pressure from the pipes, igniting a fire that spread across a wide area. This posed significant risks to human life and health, led to the shutdown of the initial processing unit, caused the destruction of surrounding structures, damaged other technical equipment, and disrupted the fuel production process, leading to material losses. Furthermore, on March 8, 2025, during efforts to eliminate the fire's aftermath and prepare the unit for repairs, safety rules were again violated by the same shift team. Diesel fuel from the pipes and equipment was improperly discharged onto the land surrounding the refinery, which, despite ongoing welding work in the area, created a risk of secondary fire and further disruption to the operations, resulting in additional damage. Sadig Garayev, the shift leader and principal operator, was apprehended and indicted under Article 223.2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan (violation of safety regulations in explosive-risk areas). The investigation into the matter is currently in progress. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Erica Stanford and David Seymour have met to talk about the school lunches programme. The Education Minister and her associate were set for one of their regular meetings last Tuesday amid heavy criticism of the performance of the free lunch programme Seymour is in charge of. However, he did not show up to that meeting and the pair struggled to reschedule until Wednesday morning. He told reporters on Wednesday afternoon the meeting covered "all sorts of things, mainly education, but it was a fantastic meeting as we always have". "We discussed a whole range of issues around the school lunch programme and how it's getting better, and what our plan to do that is," Seymour said. Stanford characterised the meeting this morning as "really productive". "We went through some of the complex and challenging issues, and I offered David my full support: anything he needed from my office, we would be providing it," she said. The meeting comes a day after Libelle Group, which was subcontracted by the main contractor Compass to provide 124,000 of the 242,000 lunches a day, went into liquidation. Associate Health Minister David Seymour. Seymour earlier told Midday Report he had been aware for "weeks" there were issues with Libelle, but the government was not aware the company might fold in the way it has. Receiver Deloitte yesterday told Checkpoint the company had been struggling for months and still owed money to multiple suppliers and staff. Seymour has consistently refused to discuss the details of Libelle's struggles, saying that they were commercially sensitive and a matter for Compass to handle with Libelle. Asked why the government had not contracted Libelle directly, given it was providing more than half the lunches across the country, Seymour said it could be argued either way. "It's simpler for us to have one line of accountability - one contract, one price - and let them manage the complexity of other relationships I would have thought. "It's an interesting hypothetical but look at the outcome. The outcome is there's been a problem with Libelle - that problem's been resolved. Yesterday they went into liquidation and we delivered 99.96 percent of meals on time. So if people want to talk about the outcome and should we have structured it differently, actually the way we've structured it has allowed a really good outcome." Stanford said questions about why Seymour did not pass that on that Libelle was in trouble was a question for him. She said she was not at all annoyed he did not tell her. Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford is celebrating a win for the community; subject to some considerations being met, Tauranga City Council says it is likely one of the ramp connections at the Papamoa East Interchange will open nearly a year early. Rutherford first contacted the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi in December 2024 to inquire about the possibility of opening the eastbound off-ramp and on-ramp on the Tauranga Eastern Link before the full completion of the interchange, scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. He also wrote to the Minister of Transport Chris Bishop on February 12, advocating for the early opening of the ramps, which would help alleviate traffic congestion for Papamoa, Taurangas largest and fastest-growing suburb, now boasting a population of 37,800. I have engaged with our local community on this issue, including Tauranga City Council, residents and local businesses. There is strong support across all these groups for an early opening of these specific ramps, recognising the significant benefits this would bring to our community including reduced travel times and improved safety by redirecting traffic away from the already congested Domain Road exit. Rutherford emphasised the challenges faced by the community, including increased pressure on local roads, longer travel times and added congestion. He also highlighted the environmental impact of unnecessary detours. The ramps are nearly finished, and I would love to see them open ahead of schedule, perhaps a year or so before the full interchange is completed, Rutherford said. This would ease the pressure on Domain Road and provide a much-needed route for those living in Papamoa East. It would also offer a more direct entry point for people travelling from Mount Maunganui or other areas to the Tauranga Eastern Link, as well as an easier exit to head toward Whakatane. NZTA is currently in discussion with Tauranga City Council on the possible options for early opening of entry and/or exit ramps at the Papamoa East Interchange, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi system design regional manager Susan Collins said. We agree it would be positive for everyone if a pragmatic way forward could be found and fully appreciate the pressures on the local network. As a priority, we are working our way through requirements around signage and tolling to ensure that the decision ultimately made is efficient, safe and fair for everyone using the TEL. We will continue to keep TCC fully informed as we move through that process, Collins said. The Papamoa East Interchange development. Image / Tauranga City Council Council is actively exploring and assessing options with our contractor and other project partners to open the northern (eastbound) exit/entry ramps connecting to the Papamoa East area in advance of completing the full interchange, Tauranga City Council major projects director Chris Barton said. Barton said considerations the council was working through with project partners and stakeholders include ensuring the safety of road users and construction staff; confirming all construction activities on or near the ramps are completed prior to ramp opening; assessing potential impacts or complications to ongoing construction to complete the interchange (construction efficiency, time, or cost implications); and the potential complications in connecting traffic to the Tauranga Eastern Link (SH2) early. Subject to addressing the considerations outlined above, it is likely we will be able to open one of the interchange ramp connections in the second half of 2025, Barton said. This is great news for our community, Rutherford said. Getting even one of these ramps open this year will help ease the daily commute for thousands of Papamoa families. Im really pleased to see the council working on practical solutions that deliver results sooner. Its exactly what our growing suburb needs right now. As Papamoa continues to expand, these interchange connections are essential for managing traffic flow and improving residents' day-to-day lives." Video of a fireball streaking across the Bay of Plenty night sky has surfaced online. A post on Fireballs Aotearoa Facebook page said that team member David Greig captured the fireball on one of his Tapo security cameras (Tapo C325WB) from rural Opotiki at 10.49pm on Wednesday. The sky and the foreground looks very bright (like daytime) due to the bright moonlight and the very sensitive camera, reads the post on Facebook. If the sky had been dark, the fireball would have looked even brighter. A fireball is a bright meteor that could result in a meteorite falling to the ground. A meteor is a streak in the sky caused by a meteoroid entering Earths atmosphere, usually at more than 70,000km/h. Meteors are sometimes colloquially called shooting stars. Speaking to SunLive today, Greig said meteors are very common with their cameras recording several thousand events over New Zealand every month, however very bright fireball meteors are less common. Our growing network of Meteor Cameras throughout New Zealand is helping to give us a better idea of the frequency of such events. There are now 154 cameras on our network throughout New Zealand and we are always looking for people to host new cameras. Greig said there were 10,785 meteors detected over New Zealand for the month of February 2025. Fireballs Aotearoa Meteor Map February 2025. Image / David Greig It is interesting to note that our cameras can only detect these meteors during the darkness of night, and only when the sky is clear (or partially clear). I would estimate that the true number per month is approximately triple the count shown. He said the vast majority of these meteors burn up in the upper atmosphere (between 70 - 100 km up). " The very few meteors that do make it to the ground are then called meteorites. Our aim is to try to recover these meteorites." You can read more about the Fireballs Aotearoa network of cameras here: https://fireballs.nz/science/ Please also check out the other tabs including the Get Involved and About tab." Greig said there is a very interesting story on the landing page about our first recovered meteorite (almost one year to the day) on March 13, 2024. Did you see this fireball meteor last night? If you did, Greig asks people to consider submitting a report here. Bupa Villages and Aged Care has announced a $17 million redevelopment of Te Puke Care Home. Bupa Te Puke will soon see construction crews and machinery on site as it undergoes a transformation. Bupas property director Richard Stephenson said the investment in Bupa Te Puke strengthens its presence in the community and will provide residents with a modern and comfortable home that matches the standard of care delivered by Bupas people. We have strong roots in Te Puke and are committed to continue providing care and retirement services to the local community with a $17m investment in the site. The redevelopment will modernise the facility, providing a new, higher standard of accommodation not currently available in Te Puke. The first phase of the project will focus on a major overhaul of the hospital-level care facility with Bupa planning to deliver 36 new premium care rooms. The new swing rooms will be able to provide rest home and hospital-level care. This means residents will no longer need to move when their care needs change. Alongside the care home redevelopment, Bupa will build 11 new villas on the site of the old motel and create an upgraded village common area to enhance the overall experience for residents. The new dedicated space for our village community reflects the evolving needs of our residents. Te Puke Retirement Village and Care Home general manager Tracey Alderton said shes excited about the sites future. It is a big project and the end result will be a contemporary village and care home that offers current and new residents a great place to live and be cared for here in the heart of Te Puke. Alderton said there will be disruption to residents and her team as work commences on the site, but everyone had taken the news well and the focus is on supporting rest home residents who must move because of the works. The current rest home community resides in the old motel, but it was never intended to be an aged-care facility. Due to structural limitations and the age of the building, weve made the tough decision to demolish the building and focus all our care offering into one building. Its sad to see the old motel go, but the reality is that while it had performed well up to now, in the long term its not of a standard we want for our current and future residents. You never like to disrupt the lives of residents or our people, but we believe the new facilities we are building will serve the long-term needs of the local community and region. News of Bupas plans had got around the local community with some wondering whether the company was shifting sites or moving to Tauranga. People have asked us are you staying in Te Puke? The answer is resoundingly yes. We love it here, the local community is great and there is strong demand for aged care services here and across the region, said Alderton. The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce is proud to support the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce in shaping policies that strengthen businesses, drive economic growth, and improve the overall business climate in our state. Through active engagement in the Nebraska Legislature, we advocate for pro-business policies, tax reforms, workforce development initiatives, and infrastructure improvements. Here's a closer look at the key legislative efforts we are championing this year. Property Tax Relief One of our top legislative priorities is securing property tax relief for businesses and residents alike... SIDNEY- On March 6, 2025, in two separate case, two defendants who were found guilty of drug-related crimes were sentenced to jail by the Honorable Derek C. Weimer in the District Court of Cheyenne County, Nebraska. Justin Kettle was sentenced to 12 months incarceration in the Cheyenne County Jail. He was convicted of two charges, the first being Criminal Attempt-Aiding the Consumption of a Felony, and the second being Criminal Attempt-Possession of Controlled Substance. Kettle was sentenced to twelve months incarceration on each count, to be served concurrently, with credit for 11 days previo... Lincoln, Nebraska, March 4, 2025 The latest agricultural land management and leasing considerations, including newly published Nebraska cash rent averages, will be covered during two virtual landlord/tenant cash rent workshops hosted by the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on March 25 and 27. The workshops are part of the centers Big Questions and Innovative Solutions in Land Management series, which was presented at locations across the state during the winter. The virtual workshops will cover Nebraska land industry topics for farms and ranches,... SIDNEY--On Monday, March 3, 2025, the Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting. Among the agenda items discussed were a Suicide Awareness Mural and a grant procured for the All is Bright Christmas Tour. After approving the minutes from the previous meeting, the commissioners were addressed by Donovan Borgmann, a 13-year-old Cheyenne County resident. Borgmann requested a mural be painted on the side of the Probation Office Building in Sidney, facing Hickory Square. Borgmann detailed the importance of a mural of this type, saying that one in three people has been affe... Sandra Larrea Cook, D.D.S., mother of three, died peacefully at her home on February 28, 2025. Doctor Cook excelled in academics throughout her many years of education, graduating salutatorian of her high school class in Sidney, Nebraska, then magna cum laude from the University of Colorado where she majored in anthropology. Sandra enjoyed being a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority and fondly remained close to her sorority sisters over the years. Subsequently, Sandra was one of the few female students attending the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry, where she again distinguished herself academically and was remembered as the quiet girl in the back who knit through all her classes. She then completed a two-year residency in endodontics at the University of Iowa, ultimately gaining board certification as one of the first female endodontists in the country. Doctor Cook practiced endodontics in Phoenix for many years, and served as president of the Arizona Dental Association, before retiring due to the onset of a chronic illness. Retirement brought her to Tucson where she could reside near her children and grandchildren and read, knit, bake and watch the clouds go by in the home lovingly designed for her by her son, Wil. Sandra's final years were spent in the saguaro forest of western Tucson where she could enjoy Arizona's magnificent sunsets and observe the wildlife which she so loved. An avid birder and nature lover, Sandra very much enjoyed her time volunteering at Tucson Audubon Society and as a Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist. Sandra is survived and dearly missed by her three children: Whitney Peterson, Ph.D. of Phoenix; Wilson Peterson, M. Arch. (Valerie) of Tucson; and Hilary Van Alsburg, J.D. (Michael) of Tucson; her adored seven grandchildren and great-granddaughter; as well as an older sister, Susan Cook Oliver (Bill) of Kodiak, Alaska; and a younger brother, Cactus Cook (Laurel) of Bellingham, Washington, and many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider making a gift in her honor to Old Pueblo Knitters Guild, Tucson Audubon Society, or Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists. Purim is March 13, 2025. It is a joyous day in Israel. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have come into agreement that involves the United States of America in solving problems faced in Gaza (Judea and Samaria). Jesus declares the latter days are like the days of Noah. The Ark landed on Mount Cudi (Judi) in the mountains of Ararat, defined as "reverse the curse". Noah plants a vineyard, gets drunk. Being exposed by his son, Ham, Noah cannot curse Ham for his action because he is blessed by God after the flood. So, Noah curses Ham's son, Canaan. The curse returned! To reverse this cu... BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The Global Baku Forum plays an essential role in shaping the vision for the future, Garry Jacobs, President and CEO of the World Academy of Art and Science, told Trend on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum. "The issues discussed at the forum are critical for the global community. Outstanding experts are gathered here to share their thoughts and proposals. This is my sixth visit to the Baku Forum, and it plays an important role in shaping our vision for the future," he said. Jacobs underscored that the forum is convening at a critical juncture in the annals of history. "People here are trying to understand what needs to be done to seize the emerging opportunities and address the challenges. When changes occur too rapidly, instability arisesthe so-called turbulence," he added. The CEO remarked that the pace of change is outpacing the capacity of institutions and ideas to keep up with the times. This is the time to turn over a new leaf in all aspectsforeign policy, international organizations, and the tangled web of economic, political, and environmental relations. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel SUR in English Fuengirola Thursday, 13 March 2025, 18:22 Compartir The renowned Dr Nebro Eye Clinic is built not only on the extensive knowledge and experience of its medical professionals, but also its ongoing commitment to innovation and the adoption of new systems and treatments that enhance ophthalmic care for its patients. Another defining feature is the breadth and diversity of its treatments, covering the wide range of specialties that make up ophthalmology and visual surgery. Today, we speak with Dr Carmen Reino Perez, an ophthalmologist specialising in paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, to gain a deeper insight into her field. Dr Carmen Reino Perez, an ophthalmologist specialising in paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus. Why should children visit an ophthalmologist for routine check-ups? Routine paediatric eye check-ups are recommended to detect any issues early that could negatively affect children's eye health. These check-ups can identify conditions such as amblyopia (also known as "lazy eye"), strabismus, refractive errors like myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism, as well as significant differences in prescription between both eyes that might otherwise go unnoticed. What are the most commonly detected conditions in these check-ups? One of the most frequently detected issues in these consultations is myopia. In recent years, myopia cases have been rising exponentially worldwide, with estimates suggesting that by 2050, 50 per cent of the global population will be short-sighted. Why is short-sightedness so common worldwide? Although myopia is linked to genetic and anatomical factors, the rising number of cases seems to be related to lifestyle changes over the years. It's important to highlight that myopia is not just an eye condition that can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. People with myopia have a larger eyeball, and those with high myopia (over 6 dioptres) are more likely to develop serious eye problems such as retinal and macular issues or high eye pressure. Studies show that the earlier myopia appears, the higher the risk of experiencing these complications. Zoom How can we slow myopia down in children diagnosed at an early stage? In our field, slowing the progression of myopia from an early age is considered essential. There are preventable factors that can help reduce its progression, such as increasing the time children spend outdoors and reducing screen exposure. What types of treatments are recommended to slow down childhood myopia? If your child has myopia, the Dr Salvador Nebro Coboss eye clinic can help slow its progression, reducing its severity in adulthood. This can be achieved through various treatments, such as atropine eye drops at night, multifocal lenses during the day and a technique called orthokeratology. This involves wearing rigid contact lenses overnight to improve daytime vision while also helping to slow down myopia progression in the long term. Besides myopia, what other common eye conditions have you detected in young children? Another common finding in our ophthalmology consultations is strabismus or eye misalignment in children. In many cases, the condition can be fully corrected with glasses, eye patches or vision therapy. In a small percentage of cases, surgery may be required to correct strabismus. These procedures are available to all children who visit the clinic, where we assess each case individually and aim to provide the most effective treatment for their needs. For more information: Address: C/ Marbella, n 6, 2 4 y 2 1 y local n 4. Fuengirola (Malaga), CP 29640. Phone: 952478342. Website: https://clinicaoftalmologicanebro.com/ Eugenio Cabezas Malaga Thursday, 13 March 2025, 11:40 Compartir The regional government of Andalucia has temporarily banned clam (Chamelea gallina) fishing. The measure will be in force from 4 March to 1 July due to Andalusian ports already having reached the maximum quota of 25 tonnes for the molluscs. The decree was published in Wednesday's BOJA (the official gazette of the Junta). The measure is in compliance with an order from 24 March 2014, subsequently amended in 2017, 2019 and 2024, which determines the biological reference points for the exploitation of the main species caught in the Mediterranean. Any specimens of this species caught accidentally shall be returned immediately to the sea. According to the order, the Chamelea gallina will be considered "within safe biological limits and can, therefore, be exploited in a sustainable manner, when the total catch does not exceed 25 tonnes per annual fishing season". Once this figure is reached, catching must cease. Electronic system After analysing the catches recorded in the electronic system, it was verified that the sales recorded during the 2024-2025 fishing year exceeded 25 tonnes, which requires the immediate closure of the fishing grounds for Chamelea gallina. The measure will be effective until 1 July 2025. It bans the catch and subsequent keeping on board, tranship, land and market the clam specimens from the Mediterranean fishing grounds. Any specimens of this species caught accidentally must be returned immediately to the sea. Failure to comply with this resolution will be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of Law 1/2002 of 4 April, and/or Law 3/2001 of 26 March. This is not the first time the measure has been adopted, as it also occurred in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Trawling The measure affects the shellfish sector and comes on top of the cuts in fishing days that the trawling sector is also suffering from. Trawling, with 42 boats in the province, half of which are in the port of Caleta de Velez, is not going through its best period. Around 200 fishermen who work on these vessels are facing a very dark future, following a EU fishing agreement, which reduces the number of fishing days allowed per year by 79%, from 130 to 27. The only way to increase them is to replace the nets with larger nets and fishing gear in 2025, as a compensatory measure. Faced with these complex conditions, the Spanish trawling sector agreed to a one-week strike against the agreement at the beginning of January. 'We are going through the worst time in our history. They have prioritised the species and not the fishermen.' "We are going through the worst time in our history. They have prioritised the species and not the fishermen. With 27 days of fishing a year, we can't make ends meet. A boat is a business. If we apply the compensation measures that have been agreed, such as changing the nets and using fishing doors, we could reach 130 days, but compared to the 155 we had in 2024, this would mean a reduction of 25%," explained Mari Carmen Navas, patron of the Caleta de Velez fishermen's guild. According to her, the EU cuts will result in "a drop in trawl catches of between 30 and 40% for each boat". Authorities have stated that, according to scientific studies, it would only result in a 13% decrease, considering that the rest of the species have no commercial value. "We don't see it viable - without guaranteeing the same fishing days as in 2024 and changing the meshes, we don't know how the sector is going to move forward," Mari Carmen Navas said. Syracuse, N.Y. Onondaga Countys population rose in 2024 for the first time in several years, according to new data from the Census Bureau. The countys population increased by 586 people last year, a rise of about 0.12%. That ranked the county in the middle of the pack by percentage change statewide at No. 30. Last year was the first time since the 2020 census that the bureaus annual population estimate for Onondaga County was higher than the year before. The countys population remains lower than where it was in 2020 by 0.93% or about 4,400 people. Among the four major Upstate New York counties, Onondaga fared the worst last year. Albany, Erie and Monroe counties all had bigger population increases than Onondaga County in 2024. Albanys population grew the fastest at 0.62%, No. 14 statewide. A total of 37 of New Yorks 62 counties had population increases in 2024 while the rest saw declines, according to the Census Bureau, which released 2024 population estimates Thursday. The numbers all reflect census estimates as of July 1 each year. New Yorks total population increased 0.66% last year to about 19.87 million. It was the second year in a row the states population grew. The states population is still down about 1.18% from 2020. Thats over 237,000 people. Franklin County in the Adirondacks saw the biggest percentage increase in population in New York last year at 1.75%, according to the census data. New York County (Manhattan) was No. 2, with a jump of 1.68%. Schuyler County had the biggest decline in population among New York counties last year at 1.86%. You can see details of population changes for every New York county in the table below. If you cant see the table, click here to open it in a new window. You can search by entering a full or partial county name in the search box. You can also sort each column by clicking on the headers. Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Anastasia Urtz, an administrator at Onondaga Community College, will serve as president of SUNY Adirondack. Courtesy of the State University of New York The State University of New York tapped an Onondaga County Community College official to lead one of its upstate New York campuses. Anastasia L. Urtz, the provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs at OCC, will take over as president of SUNY Adirondack starting this summer. Urtz will replace Kristine D. Duffy, the current president, who is retiring at the end of this year, according to a press release from SUNY. Urtz has been at OCC for 14 years and served as the campuss provost for the past four. As provost, Urtz has helped establish more than 20 new programs at OCC and worked to encourage more high school students and adult learners to attend college, the press release says. We are thrilled to welcome Anastasia Urtz to SUNY Adirondack, said Amie Gonzales, chair of SUNY Adirondacks board of trustees, in the release. Her dedication to student success, institutional growth and community engagement makes her the right leader at the right time for SUNY Adirondack. Before coming to OCC, Urtz was executive director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Onondaga County, a nonprofit organization in East Syracuse that provides support for the surrounding community. She also held several positions at Syracuse University. I am honored to lead this important institution during a time of change in higher education and look forward to collaborating with campus and community leaders to expand educational opportunities for local residents, Urtz said in the release. Maggie Hicks covers education, including the Syracuse City School District and Syracuse University. She can be reached at mhicks@syracuse.com or follow her on X @maggie_hickss. The Salina Street Bridge crossing the Erie Canal near Hanover Square, 1855. The bridge was often the site of the effigies of St. Patrick, hung to insult the Irish celebration. Courtesy of the Onondaga Historical Association Nativism, xenophobia and the villainization of immigrants is alive and well in the United States in 2025. Sadly, this unfortunate reality is no surprise to anyone familiar with the history of this country. Fear mongering and scapegoating of the millions of peoples from across the world who have come here over the last 250 years is a constant. This weekend, the streets of downtown Syracuse will be filled with revelers dressed in green taking in the citys St. Patricks Day Parade. Based on the fervor, the enthusiasm, and the size of the crowds, it seems as if the day provides a small respite from the atomization and polarization that characterizes so much of American life today. This common heritage somehow bridges the divide, if for just one day. The fact that everyone seems to have a little Irish in them on St. Patricks Day is a testament to how far the Irish have come in America. Locally, the first Irish settler in the area, Patrick Riley, arrived in Salt Point (Salina) in the spring of 1793, a year before Onondaga County was even formed. Like the thousands that would follow over the next century, Riley boiled salt. Later, they came as laborers to build the Erie and Oswego Canals. The success of the canals brought more Irish immigrants to the region, and many of them found work in the booming salt industry as coopers, rakers, and boilers. The "Erie Canal can't be made navigable without Irish bone and muscle" was written in the May 29, 1856 Syracuse Standard. Courtesy of the Onondaga Historical Association Irish immigration to the country and the region exploded after the Great Potato Famine, which ravaged Ireland from 1845 to 1852. Though the catalyst for the famine was a fungus that decimated the potato crop on which so many Irish depended, the scope of the tragedy was a byproduct of more than a century of draconian British colonial polices against the Irish people. This combination of economic opportunity and the hope of freedom led nearly 1.5 million Irish to emigrate to America between 1845 and 1855 alone. They brought a deep pride for their aggrieved homeland with them. By the early 1840s, parades and banquets honoring St. Patrick were a regular part of the Salt Citys civic and social calendar. By 1855, March 17 had been a day of celebration and good cheer for thousands of Syracusans of Irish descent for well over three decades. Patrick Agan. Born in Watertown in 1817, Agan came to Liverpool in 1837. He served as editor of the Syracuse Standard for over 20 years. His paper was a consistent voice of progressive and reformist political ideas during his time as editor. He died in 1897 and was buried in Oneida Castle, NY. Courtesy of the Onondaga Historical Association Yet, as Syracuses sizable and ever-expanding Irish population set to prepare for their annual celebration in 1855, Patrick H. Agan, the editor of the Syracuse Standard, a newspaper owned by Moses Summers, an Irish immigrant himself who settled in Syracuse in 1841, found it necessary to offer his readers a timely tale and exhortation. After a concise history of the origins of the holiday (the celebration of St. Patricks birthday, March 17, 387 C.E.), Agan offered an insightful description of the citys rancorous political climate, which he feared might warrant a cancellation of the annual festivities. By way of contrast, Mr. Agan noted that although technically a religious holiday for Catholics celebrating Irelands patron saint, St. Patricks Day, especially in the United States, had come to be celebrated by even Protestant Irish as a national festival, without any reference to its religious character. Considering the sordid and bloody history between these groups, Agan saw this as a welcome, if unexpected, development capable of happening only America. Much of that ethnic pride and camaraderie amongst the many exiles of Erin, as Agan referred to his fellow Irishmen in America, sprang from the long struggle against England to forge an independent Irish Republic, much like their American cousins had done decades earlier. The nationalist sentiments many brought with them to the United States were strengthened by their shared experiences as immigrants and the challenges they faced. Like nearly every other immigrant group that has come to the United States, the Irish in the first half of the 19th century faced widespread prejudice and discrimination. Echoing these sentiments in 1852, three years before Agans editorial, Robert McCarthy, son of Thomas McCarthy, one of Onondaga Countys pioneer Irish settlers, and brother of Dennis McCarthy, a future U.S. Congressman, reminded a large crowd assembled at Syracuses Globe Hotel, Irishmen were present at the signing of the declaration, and their names are theron recorded. They were in our battle fields and their bones whiten on our plains. Yet, these historical realities did little to dampen the growing nativist sentiments developing in 1850s America, as millions fled Europe seeking refuge across the Atlantic. These Irish immigrants found a country, and a region, coming apart at the seams over slavery. Characterized by extreme polarization, violence, and rising nativist sentiments, the tempestuous nature of American politics proved to be challenging environment for these new arrivals as both sides of the widening divide looked to use them to further their own political ends. Clipping from the New York Tribune, February 14, 1855. Courtesy of the Onondaga Historical Association In this crucible of conflict and vitriol, the situation for many Irish immigrants across the country and here in Central New York became increasingly dangerous. Following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, the countrys two major parties, the Democrats and the Whigs, began to factionalize. The political fallout was felt as far away as Onondaga County, where an Anti-Nebraska convention met in August. In January 1855, hordes of pro-slavery border ruffians were spilling into Kansas, laying the groundwork for a violent confrontation that erupted in 1856 known as Bleeding Kansas. This fractionalization ultimately led to the creation of the new Republican Party, a motley coalition made up of free-soilers, anti-slavery advocates, anti-Catholic and nativist voters. By the time Patrick Agan penned his editorial lamenting the excited state of public feeling at the present time that he presumed would cause the celebration to be omitted this year, Central New York, long a hive of political activity and frequent host of state-wide political party conventions, had become a fertile ground for the young American Party. Started as a secret society in 1849 dedicated to anti-immigration and anti-Catholicism, members denied the groups existence. The Know-Nothings, became the first electorally successful third-party in the United States making a case that immigration was bad for native-born American laborers and for American democracy. This message found a receptive audience in Central New York. On February 13, 1855, just about a month before St. Patricks Day, 1,700 delegates to the New York State Council of Know Nothings convened in Syracuses Corinthian Hall. Among their policy proposals was a constitutional amendment to ban anyone from voting unless he be by birth a citizen of the United States. A few weeks later, the Know-Nothings in Syracuse suffered a stinging electoral defeat that fed their conspiratorial ideas about election tampering, though it was much welcomed by Patick Agan. Such was the excited state of public feeling he referred to. In this climate, he believed that the usual public procession or evening banquet did not seem safe. Americans, he continued, who in former years, were eager to sing the praises of Erins Isle and make public demonstrations of sympathy for her exiled sons and daughtersare now as eager to join the fanatical cry of down with the Irish, and proscription to Catholics. Agan concluded his sorrowful epistle with a message as instructive to his contemporaries as it is to posterity, The excitement will soon calm down and pass off to the region of bigotry and intolerance where it originated. It is probable that effigies of St. Patrick, with the usual ornaments of codfish and potatoes, will be found suspended in various parts of the city, and perhaps even the liberty pole will be prostituted to this insult upon Irish citizens - We advise Irishmen to pay no attention to such insults. Let the effigies hang until they are taken down by Americans in shame. As it turned out, in a situation relatable to current inhabitants of Syracuse, the weather was gloomy and the streets not overcrowded with people or teams. That did not stop what Agan reported was the lamentable sight of several short-haired exiles of Erin who had undergone the pickling process, in one citys many whiskey mills from staggering around the streets. 170 years later, bigotry and intolerance have yet to pass off to the region where they originated. Agans final sentence echoed more high-minded sentiments that have also failed to materialize. And above all, let every Irishman refrain from intoxicating drinks, which have done more to debase and degrade the Irish people than all the persecution of England, or the Know-Nothingism of America. Robert Searings weekly articles are supported by the William G. Pomeroy Public History Media Series. To learn more about the William G. Pomeroy Foundations work to promote public history, visit wgpfoundation.org. Syracuse, N.Y. If theres one thing Mayor Ben Walsh knows how to dobesides running the cityits leading a parade in style. This is going to be a lot of fun, he declared Saturday before the 20th annual Shamrock Run. Ive really been looking forward to it. He better. Hes the grand marshal for the 2025 parade, now in its 43rd year. The parade remains one of the biggest downtown events of the year. Its right up there with Taste of Syracuse and Jazz Fest. If youre headed downtown on Saturday for the St. Patricks Parade, heres what you need to know. The Route The parade starts at noon on Saturday in downtowns Clinton Square. As of Wednesday, 136 groups had signed up to march about a half-mile south on Salina Street, finishing at West Onondaga Street near Seymour Street. Leading the charge is St. Patrick himself, followed by the Syracuse Kiltie Pipe Band, the parade committee, and the Syracuse police and fire departments. Expect to see a dozen bands, at least 10 dance groups, politicians, volunteer firefighters, media and local businesspeople marching through town. The grand marshal, Mayor Walsh, will appear at the end of the second flight of marchers. Each year, the parade committee picks an Irish-American who has made a significant contribution to the entire community to serve as grand marshal. Walsh is the sixth Syracuse mayor to serve as grand marshal and the first-ever third-generation grand marshal. Syracuse mayor Ben Walsh was named grand marshal of the 2025 St. Patrick's Parade. Meg O'Connell was named the parade's gael. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) The Gael of the Year, the parades second-highest honor, is Margaret (Meg) OConnell, the executive director of the Allyn Family Foundation. In 2019, she led the creation of the Salt City Market, a 78,000-square-foot multi-purpose building of eateries, apartments and offices that has revitalized its end of South Salina St. This years theme is Irish in the 315. It commemorates 315 Day, a holiday Mayor Walsh established in 2022 that celebrates local pride. Parking Salina Street will be blocked off at Herald Place hours before the parade. Your best bet is to park east of Salina Street. Most parking garages and lots will be open and charging for spots. Some garages are offering prepaid parking options, so plan ahead. Pre-Parade Mass Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at Columbus Circle. Where to Eat & Drink Downtowns restaurants and bars will be swamped Saturday. Be prepared. Salt City Market will hand out St. Patricks swag while vendors offer themed food and drink specials. The parade party is free, and there are plenty of restrooms. Kitty Hoynes will serve its traditional parade day breakfast, but only in the dining room. The bar will focus on drinks, including its famous Irish coffee. The only food available at the bar? Corned beef sandwiches. (And, really, what more do you need?) The true heroes at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub on Parade Day. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) Kittys will feature live music throughout the day, with performances by local favorite Shawn Halloran and Neil Emberg of the Celtic party band Hadrians Wall. Afterparty The Syracuse Marriott Downtown, right at the end of the parade route, hosts the Grand Marshal Gala on Friday night at 6 p.m. and the official afterparty on parade day. The Parade Ends Here party kicks off at 11:30 a.m. General admission is $15. The Sky Armory is hosting its annual parade party from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering live music, Irish dancers, a free coat and bag check, plus food and drinks. The best part? Plentiful bathrooms. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and available in advance. Weather This year looks promising. Forecasters predict a spectacular day with a high of 67 degrees. Only a 7% chance of rain. Thats practically tropical for mid-March in Syracuse. Live Broadcast Not a fan of the crowds? No problem. NewsChannel 9 will broadcast the parade live from noon until 3 p.m., with Ted and Amy from 93Q emceeing from the grandstand. Party Away from the Parade Tipperary Hill is the obvious post-parade destination for those looking to keep the party going. With seven mostly Irish pubs within a few blocks, you can create your own pub crawl with plenty of good food along the way. Thousands braved the weather to celebrate Green Beer Sunday on Syracuse's Tipperary Hill. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) A shuttle will run from downtown to Tipp Hill, starting at 2 p.m. at 250 S. Clinton St. Stops include McAvans, Colemans, Emerald Cocktail Kitchen, Blarney Stone, Steves and Nibsys. The shuttle runs until 7 p.m. and will also operate on Monday, St. Patricks Day, from 1 to 7 p.m. Colemans Authentic Irish Pub, home of Green Beer Sunday, opens at 11 a.m. and serves food until 9 p.m. (Drinks? Until 2 a.m.) Live music includes Mere Mortals at 3:30 p.m. in the upper parking lot, with DJ Chris Reiners at 7 p.m. in the lower lot. Superseed plays at 9 p.m. inside. **** Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drinks and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here. Syracuse, N.Y. No country is more important to New York growers and manufacturers than Canada. Our northern neighbor is the No. 1 export market for New York. Just over half of the states exported agricultural products head north. More than $1 of every $8 of goods New York exports goes to Canada. Exports to Canada are double that of New Yorks next-biggest trading partner. In this 2015 file photo, young archers compete in the annual National Archery in the Schools Program state tournament. On March 14, 558 archers from 39 schools will fire arrows in the tournament at the Center of Progress building. Hundreds of young archers will try their best to hit bullseyes on Friday, March 14, during the annual National Archery in the Schools Program Bullseye tournament at the New York State Fairgrounds. This year 558 archers from 39 schools are registered for the tournament at the Center of Progress building. Theyre from every corner of the state, said Kate Ritzko, environmental program specialist for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. From western New York all the way down to Staten Island. There will be six flights featuring archers in three divisions: high school, middle school, and elementary school. Each flight lasts one hour and 15 minutes. The first flight begins at 9 a.m. The last arrow will likely fly around 4:30 p.m. Each archer gets three practice arrows to start, Ritzko said. Then theyll shoot three arrows from both 10 and 15 meters for a recorded score. The maximum score is 300. Instructors and participants in the National Archery in the Schools Program at Onondaga High School, shown here in 2014. DEC The NASP Bullseye tournament is the culminating event where these young Robin Hoods can show off all their hard work in front of family, parents, and friends. Its open to all schools in the state that participate in NASP. In 2008, New York became the 44th state to participate in NASP, which now operates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Its definitely growing in New York, Ritzko said. Out of all of the states, New York came in ninth for student participation numbers. The gender differential is split evenly among boys and girls who participate in the program, and a 2023 survey showed that 66% were first-time archers. Awards Each top male and female at the state NASP Bullseye tournament will receive a trophy, a Genesis bow and bow case, a Morrell target, and other prizes as available. Awards are also given out in each of the three divisions for first through fifth place. Trophies and prizes are given out to first through third place teams in each of the three divisions. Students that place in the top 10 in each of the three divisions, by gender, qualify to represent New York at the National NASP Tournament held in Louisville, Kentucky, May 8-10, 2025. Schools to watch: Here are the top-ranked New York schools in the 10/15-meter event according to NASP, out of a total of 1,025 schools: St. Joseph by the Sea High School (129) Norwich High School (575) Arkport Central School (605) Notre Dame Academy High School (605) The Michael J. Petrides School P80 (614) St. Joseph Hill Academy (828) Thomas Edison C&TE High School (922) Mohawk Valley Christian Academy (929) Carthage Central High School (957) Waverly Central School District (969) For more information on NASP, contact the state program coordinator for NY-NASP at 1-888-486-8332. Sign up for the CNY Outdoors Newsletter Enter your email address to get weekly updates on CNY outdoors news delivered to your inbox: Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors. President Donald Trump suffered another defeat in court earlier this week. Trump is seen outside at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Alex Brandon | AP Photo) Alex Brandon | AP Photo A federal judge handed President Donald Trump another loss in court this week in a ruling on a case involving a fired member of a board that supervises labor disputes. U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ordered the reinstatement on Wednesday of Susan Grundmann to her post on the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The group oversees disputes between the federal government and federal employee unions, according to Politico. At a stop in Albany on Wednesday, Donald Trumps border czar, Tom Homan, threatened to double the number of immigration agents in New York state if Gov. Kathy Hochul did not cooperate with the administrations immigration enforcement efforts. New York state, you gotta change the sanctuary status. If you dont, get out of the way. Because were going to do our job Homan said, according to Politico. Homan appeared with Republican state lawmakers at the state Capitol to push for the repeal of New Yorks Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses and blocks federal immigration enforcement from accessing DMV data, and to drum up support for Lakens Law, which would require courts to notify ICE when a non-citizen is arrested. Homan an Upstate New York native who was once a police officer in his North Country hometown of West Carthage took aim at sanctuary cities and said he would work to keep the countrys northern border secure. Sanctuary cities will get exactly what they dont want: more agents in the community and more collateral arrests, because you have forced us in the community because you failed to let us into the jail, Homan said, according to the New York Daily News. Homan said that well double the man-force if we have to. Rather than one officer arresting a bad guy, now I have to send a whole team, the New York Post reported. Hochul was in Harlem attending funeral services for former NAACP New York President Hazel Dukes, but spokesperson Avi Small issued a statement. Governor Hochul has been clear with New Yorkers: she supports secure borders and deporting violent criminals, but wont let New York help the Trump Administration tear babies away from their parents, Small said, according to Politico. This isnt the first time Trump Administration officials have lied about our policies and it probably wont be the last but Governor Hochul is staying focused on keeping New Yorkers safe. The Galleries of Syracuse office complex at 441 South Salina St. houses local offices for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com President Donald Trumps administration wants to cancel the lease for a U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Syracuse where dozens of scientists and other experts work to help farmers across New York state. The USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Syracuse is among the agencys 34 regional offices targeted for lease terminations, according to information posted online by the federal Department of Government Efficiency. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. On March 13, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Trend reports. President Ilham Aliyev awarded the "Dostlug" (Friendship) Order to Fatih Birol in recognition of his support for Azerbaijans presidency at COP29, his promotion of global climate change initiatives, as well as his effective cooperation. President Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude to Fatih Birol for his cooperation with Azerbaijan, and support provided during COP29. In response, Fatih Birol expressed great pride in receiving the "Dostlug" Order and emphasized Azerbaijan's pivotal role in Europes energy security as a reliable partner. He congratulated Azerbaijan on the successes achieved at COP29, noting that despite the difficult and complex negotiations, significant progress was made on the climate agenda. In brief: Rechargeable batteries are so ubiquitous that passenger airplanes usually carry hundreds per flight, but recent incidents have highlighted the danger they can present when exposed to extreme conditions. Airlines have begun taking more precautions but haven't agreed on common standards, creating a potentially confusing situation for frequent international fliers. Airlines in multiple Asian countries recently introduced new rules regarding rechargeable batteries after a fire destroyed an aircraft in South Korea. Each airline responded differently, highlighting the absence of shared standards. Since March 1, all South Korean airlines have required passengers to keep power banks and e-cigarettes with them and not in overhead compartments. Furthermore, passengers can't charge batteries on board, must carry them in clear plastic bags, are limited to five 100Wh batteries, and cannot bring batteries exceeding 160Wh. The changes are meant to allay public concerns following a January incident in which a fire engulfed an Air Busan plane at Incheon International Airport. All 170 passengers safely evacuated the flight, but the aircraft was totaled. While no evidence definitively links the fire to a battery, an investigation indicated that it started in an overhead compartment. Flights often contain hundreds of rechargeable batteries because most travelers carry at least one electronic device containing them. Just one battery suffering from a defect or being crushed can cause smoke or a fire, endangering the entire flight. Although passengers can evacuate a plane on the ground, crews must usually respond to in-flight incidents by extinguishing fires, spraying liquid on batteries, and storing them in containers. On the same day the new South Korean regulations went into force, Taiwanese airlines EVA Air and China Airlines banned power banks on their planes, but both still permit batteries in overhead compartments. Thai Airways will also ban power banks starting March 15. Important Announcement | Thai Airways Following incidents of in-flight fires on international airlines, suspected to be linked to power bank usage, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited has introduced new safety measures. Starting March 15, 2025, the use of power pic.twitter.com/O8YlhjtS8N Thai Airways (@ThaiAirways) March 7, 2025 Although rechargeable batteries have been common on airplanes for years, incidents involving them have become more frequent. Last July, a laptop caused a fire aboard an American Airlines flight in San Francisco, forcing passengers to evacuate and causing injuries. Laptops on planes are already restricted to hand luggage only and can't have batteries exceeding 100Wh, which has impacted manufacturing trends. Lithium-ion batteries have also long been banned from passenger plane cargo holds and must remain below 30 percent charge on cargo planes. What just happened? The first step in Meta's attempts to have a tell-all book by a former employee blocked has succeeded. An arbitrator has decided in favor of the company, ruling that Sarah Wynn-Williams is prohibited from promoting Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Wynn-Williams' book includes several damning revelations and allegations against Meta. There are further details about the concessions the company offered to the Chinese government in the hope of launching a censored version of the platform in the country. The book also includes claims of sexual harassment by chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan while he was a vice president for global public policy and Wynn-Williams' boss. Further allegations include Facebook ignoring internal warnings about its potential damage to human rights and democracy. The book also alleges that Chinese president Xi Jinping once used a human wall of security personnel to block any potential eye contact between himself and Mark Zuckerberg. Yesterday, Meta won an emergency arbitration ruling to temporarily stop promotion of the book. The arbitrator, Nicholas Gowen, said Meta would suffer "immediate and irreparable loss" in the absence of emergency relief. Sarah Wynn-Williams pictured with Mark Zuckerberg and Joel Kaplan Gowen said that Wynn-Williams must stop making disparaging, critical, or otherwise detrimental remarks against Meta and its employees and retract all such previous comments from all forums, including online, where they appear to the extent she can control. Furthermore, Wynn-Williams cannot promote the book via a book tour or other means, or further publish or distribute it. Again, the order comes with the "to the extent she can control" caveat. Meta alleges that Wynn-Williams violated the non-disparagement terms of her September 2017 severance agreement. Book publisher Macmillan argues it was not bound by this agreement. It's unclear if the arbitrator can stop the book from being published. It remains on sale at retailers such as Amazon, where it is the number one best-seller in its category. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the ruling confirms that Wynn-Williams' "false and defamatory book" should never have been published. "This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry's standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years," Stone said. Meta previously said that Wynn-Williams' comments were out-of-date and that she was fired in 2017 for poor performance and toxic behavior. The international lawyer and a former New Zealand diplomat joined Facebook in 2011 and eventually became its director of global public policy. The big picture: Europe's digital economy has been governed by the Digital Markets Act since November 2022. This law requires major mobile ecosystems to implement a browser ballot, a change that Mozilla believes will enhance user choice and promote market competition. The browser choice screens enforced by the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) are having a noticeable impact on Firefox's ability to compete in the internet browser sector. According to a recent Mozilla post, the new regulatory framework helped the open-source browser increase its daily active users in two of Europe's biggest countries. The DMA covers several digital services, including browsers. Mozilla feels that the most empowering aspect of the DMA is the control it gives European users. Instead of being forced into a default engine, they can choose their desired browser. Mozilla Foundation researchers discovered that browser choice screens are powerful tools when well-designed and fully implemented. People prefer choices in any market. Mozilla found this especially true for personal devices like smartphones or other mobile gadgets. After the first DMA-derived browser choice screens started rolling out in 2024 for the iOS ecosystem, Firefox's daily active users increased in Germany and France by 99 percent and 111 percent, respectively. Mozilla noted that browser selection screens currently available on iOS and Android are a much-improved feature for mobile users. Starting in March 2024, new and existing Android users started getting prompts asking if they would like to stay with the factory default (Chrome) or switch to an alternative. More recently, new and existing iOS users with Safari as their default browser got similar choice dialogs after upgrading to iOS 18.2. It's worth mentioning that Apple had implemented a browser default prompt with iOS 17.4. However, it was poorly designed. Of course, mobile and PC users outside the EU haven't received such features and likely won't anytime soon. Mozilla also said that Firefox was able to win new users thanks to some of its advanced features, which include enhanced privacy controls, performance gain, and new productivity tools. Mozilla warned that Big Tech gatekeepers could hinder the DMA's ability to reach its full potential because some companies still lack proper compliance plans. However, despite its imperfect state, the new digital market regulations gave Firefox's European userbase a noticeable boost in just one year. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Multilateralism plays a crucial role in solving global problems, despite the challenges that exist, Tarja Halonen, the former President of Finland, said at a panel discussion on "Reimagining Multilateralism for a Multipolar World" at the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "When I arrived here, I was asked about my expectations from this forum. I replied that I hope for frank discussions and at least a small hope for the future. We have just begun, and I hope that moving forward, we will have more opportunities for positive conversations," she said. Halonen expressed confidence in the importance of updating the system of international relations, including the UN. She emphasized that despite difficulties, the UN remains a central element of multilateral diplomacy. "The UN model needs updating. For example, it is important to make the Security Council more representative by adding two seats for Africa and one for Asia. We should also discuss abolishing the veto power for individual countries," Halonen stated. She also highlighted the critical role of specialized UN agencies, such as UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO), in addressing current global challenges. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel In a significant move within the gaming industry, Niantic, the developer behind the popular augmented reality game Pokemon GO, officially announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its gaming division to Scopely, a company owned by Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund (PIF), for $3.5 billion. Further, Niantic is distributing an additional $350 million of cash as part of the deal, yielding approximately $3.85 billion for Niantic equity holders. Details Of The Acquisition The transaction encompasses Niantics entire game development teams and beloved games, including the critically acclaimed Pokemon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now. Additionally, real-world community-building apps and services like Campfire and Wayfarer are part of the deal, as is the global roster of community gatherings that support these games, including Pokemon GO live events. This acquisition is set to bolster Scopelys reach, expanding its audience to over 500 million players globally. Scopelys Expansion and Saudi Arabias Gaming Ambitions Scopely, one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in mobile games, is known for popular titles like MONOPOLY GO! and MARVEL Strike Force. In 2023, the Saudi PIF-backed Savvy Games Group acquired Scopely. This latest acquisition by Scopely aligns with Saudi Arabias broader strategy to become a global gaming hub. Scopely has always been focused on cultivating meaningful communities through a shared love of play, and the Niantic games organization is one of the best in the world at this endeavor. We are extremely inspired by what the team has built over the last decade, delivering innovative experiences that captivate a vast, enduring global audience and get people out in the real world. We look forward to further accelerating the teams creativity through our partnership, Tim OBrien, Chief Revenue Officer and Board Member of Scopely, said in a statement. Scopely said the Niantic games business had over 30 million monthly active players (MAU) and earned more than $1 billion in revenue in 2024. With Pokemon GO ranking as a top 10 mobile game every year since its launch nearly a decade ago, it continues to be a global sensation with over 100 million unique players in 2024. Niantics Strategic Shift Meanwhile, following the sale, Niantic plans to shift its focus towards geospatial artificial intelligence (AI) by spinning off its pioneering geospatial AI business into a new entity named Niantic Spatial Inc. to be led by the current CEO John Hanke. This latest venture aims to build spatial intelligence to help people understand better, navigate, and engage with the physical world, thereby marking a strategic shift from game development to technological innovation. Impact On Pokemon GO And Niantics Team With more than 20 million weekly active players, Pokemon GO has remained a top 10 mobile title every year since its launch in 2016. It attracted over 500 million players in its first year and generated approximately $7.9 billion in revenue since its release. Niantic games have always been a bridge to connect people and inspire exploration, and I am confident they will continue to do both as part of Scopely, John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic said in a news release. Scopely shares our focus on building and operating incredible live services, has exceptional experience working with the worlds biggest and most beloved intellectual properties, and cares deeply about its player communities and game-making teams. I firmly believe this partnership is great for our players and is the best way to ensure that our games have the long-term support and investment needed to be forever games that will endure for future generations. Future Prospects The acquisition is currently awaiting regulatory approval. This marks a strategic shift toward geospatial AI for Niantic, while Scopelys expanded portfolio highlights its commitment to providing immersive mobile gaming experiences. Milei pledges funds for deluge-stricken Argentine city Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 12 (AFP) Mar 12, 2025 Argentine President Javier Milei promised some $185 million Wednesday for the reconstruction of the city of Bahia Blanca as the search continued for two little girls and others missing after flash floods last week killed at least 16 people. Budget-slashing Milei visited the city Wednesday, five days after the floods that mayor Federico Susbielles said have caused severe damage affecting most people in the city. Susbielles, who has estimated at least $400 million would be needed for reconstruction, said the president had assured him that "he won't abandon Bahia Blanca." In a statement on X, the president's office said the government money allocated for rehabilitation would be disbursed "without intermediaries." The city of 350,000 people was hit Friday by torrential rains that in just a few hours doubled the annual average. Rescuers are still searching for two sisters, aged one and five, swept away by the current along with their mother and a man who had tried to save them. The girls' mother survived, but the man's body was found on Sunday. "There are likely to be more deaths," Bahia Blanca's chief prosecutor, Juan Pablo Fernandez, told Radio Mitre on Tuesday. He said police had received dozens of reports of thefts, looting of businesses, and burglaries of vacant homes, and 17 people have been arrested. Tons of donated food, clothing and hygiene products arrived in the city by train Wednesday, with contributions collected at different stops along the 600 kilometers (370 miles) it had travelled from Buenos Aires. Some 4,000 volunteers were helping distribute aid and taking part in clean up efforts. Schools remained closed, with many reporting flood damage. The deluge also flooded the main hospital, tore down bridges, damaged roads and houses and swept away pretty much everything in its path. Thousands of people were evacuated, of whom about 370 remained in shelters Wednesday, according to authorities. The government had ordered three days of national mourning over Bahia Blanca's worst disaster in decades. Captain of cargo ship in North Sea crash is Russian Grimsby, United Kingdom, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 The detained captain of a cargo ship which struck a tanker chartered by the US military is a Russian national, the owners of the container vessel said on Wednesday, as investigators sought to determine why the North Sea crash happened. Monday's collision triggered huge fires aboard the two ships, which required a massive high-seas firefighting effort to bring under control. The blaze on the tanker had been extinguished by Wednesday, according to its US-based operator, while the flames on the cargo ship had been greatly reduced, the coast guard said. Investigations are ongoing into how the Portuguese-flagged Solong cargo ship ran into the US-flagged Stena Immaculate, which was anchored about 13 miles (20 kilometres) off the coast of the northeastern UK port of Hull. UK police on Tuesday arrested the captain of the Solong, owned by German company Ernst Russ, on suspicion of manslaughter after the crash left one crew member missing, presumed dead. "Ernst Russ confirms that the master is a Russian national," the Germany-based company said in a statement to AFP. "The rest of the crew are a mix of Russian and Filipino nationals." The detained 59-year-old "remains in our custody having been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter", Humberside police said. Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid tribute to the rescue services in parliament on Wednesday, hailing "the bravery and dedication of all those responding to the ship collision off the East Yorkshire coast". - Deficient equipment - Last year, Irish officials had found the Solong's emergency steering compass was deficient during a routine safety check, documents from the port authorities revealed. It was one of 10 issues noted in the inspection carried out when the ship visited Dublin in July 2024. Ernst Russ told AFP on Wednesday that all of the detected deficiencies "were promptly rectified". Something went "terribly wrong" for the crash to happen but there was "no evidence" of foul play, UK under-secretary for transport Mike Kane told MPs on Tuesday. At least one tank containing some of the 220,000 barrels of jet fuel on board the Stena Immaculate was "ruptured", according to the tanker's US-based operator Crowley. But there were "no further reports of pollution to the sea" following the "initial incident", said Virginia McVea, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Environmental campaign group Greenpeace, which had raised the alarm at the potential fallout in the wildlife-rich Humber estuary, said an "environmental disaster may have been narrowly averted". "Though an incident of this scale is rare, any such accident has the potential to become an environmental disaster," said Paul Johnston from the Greenpeace Research Laboratories. Crowley said Wednesday the Stena Immaculate was "stable" and being monitored, and that salvage operations would begin "as soon as safety and weather allow". Until then, the operator said, it was not possible to determine how much fuel may have been released. - Concerns for wildlife - Ana Cowie, marine advocacy manager at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, told AFP they were still waiting to see what the environmental impact would be. "Because the oil (jet fuel) is lighter than water, it will create a film on the top and there is a risk of wildlife like birds, like porpoise, like dolphins ingesting that," she said. There were also concerns that any oil could coat the wildlife's feathers and fur which would mean they were not able to fly, or feed themselves properly. Aerial AFP images on Tuesday showed a gaping gash in the middle of the 140-metre-long (460-foot) tanker, and smoke billowing from the Solong, which was reduced to an almost burnt-out wreck. Ernst Russ said Wednesday that "the vessel continues to emit smoke with occasional reports of flames" and it was working with the investigators "to more fully understand these events". Maritime expert Abdul Khalique told AFP such a collision between an anchored ship and another on a "routine" journey was "very rare". "It's still not known why MV Solong was unable to take action to avoid collision," said Khalique, head of the Maritime Centre at Liverpool John Moores University. The vessel missed "multiple opportunities" to change course, he said, adding the full reasons for the crash would only emerge after the investigation. The Stena Immaculate was on a short-term US military charter with Military Sealift Command, according to a spokesperson for the command, which operates civilian-crewed ships for the US defence department. According to data collected by VesselFinder, the impact of the crash was so severe that it displaced the tanker by "more than 400 metres". BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan and Italy maintain high-level relations, Jeyhun Bayramov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said in response to a question from the audience at a panel discussion on "Reimagining Multilateralism for a Multipolar World" at the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "Italy is Azerbaijan's largest trade partner. We have long-standing relations in various fields, and politically, our cooperation is at a very good level. We regularly engage in high-level dialogue we have a dialogue at the level of Presidents. Recently, in September last year, a meeting took place between President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Azerbaijan was very pleased to host her excellency during COP29," Bayramov said. Bayramov further highlighted that for many years, Azerbaijan has been a reliable partner for Italy in supplying oil and gas. He also mentioned the anticipated opening of the Italy-Azerbaijan University building, noting that the two countries share strong cultural ties. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel London trial on 2015 Brazil mine disaster wraps up London, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 A trial on whether Australian mining giant BHP is liable for one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters concludes Thursday in London, with hundreds of thousands of victims demanding billions in compensation. The 2015 dam collapse killed 19 people and unleashed a deluge of thick toxic mud into villages, fields, rainforest, rivers and the ocean. The Fundao tailings dam at an iron ore mine in the mountains of Minas Gerais state was managed by Samarco, co-owned by BHP and Brazilian miner Vale. The London High Court hearing that began in October heard evidence on behalf of BHP and hundreds of thousands of claimants in relation to the dam collapse that may trigger a payout worth billions of pounds (dollars). Should the court later this year rule that BHP is liable, a further trial would be held to determine the amount of compensation. At the time of the disaster, BHP had global headquarters in Britain and Australia. A separate case in Brazil has seen Vale and BHP offer to pay around $30 billion in compensation. This was increased around the start of the London trial from almost $25 billion. "We are extremely confident of succeeding in this trial," Tom Goodhead, of law firm Pogust Goodhead which brought the case, told AFP as the preliminary hearing prepared to conclude. More than 620,000 complainants, including 46 Brazilian municipalities, companies and indigenous peoples, are seeking an estimated pound36 billion ($47 billion) in damages in the civil trial. BHP has argued that it cannot be deemed to be the "direct polluter" as the dam was managed by Samarco. "The Samarco Fundao dam failure in 2015 was a tragedy, and our sympathies will always be with the impacted families and communities," a BHP spokesperson said in a statement to AFP ahead of Thursday's conclusion. "We are confident in our legal position in the UK and the evidence submitted, which shows we prioritised safety and acted responsibly. "We will continue to defend our case while respecting the UK legal process," they added. - 'Hopeful of justice' - The tragedy in the town of Mariana unleashed almost 45 million cubic metres (1,590 million cubic feet) of highly toxic mining waste sludge, flooding 39 towns and leaving more than 600 people homeless. "BHP needs to be held accountable and pay for all the damage and suffering it has caused us all this time," Monica dos Santos, who lost her home, said in a statement. "I have a lot of faith in British justice to deliver the justice we've been waiting for years. It is our only hope." According to the victims' lawyers, BHP was aware that an accumulation of toxic sludge, estimated at 1.3 million tonnes per year, far exceeded the annual limit set -- a build-up which they say contributed to the disaster. BHP and Vale estimate that more than 430,000 complainants have already received compensation, including more than 200,000 party to the London case. BHP added that the Renova Foundation, which manages compensation and rehabilitation programmes, has already paid out more than $7.9 billion in emergency aid. The Australian mining giant has also said that the quality of river water contaminated by the fallout has returned to pre-disaster levels. burs-ode/bcp/jkb/rmb Quake damages buildings, sparks panic in Italy's Naples Rome, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the volcanic area around Naples overnight, causing several light injuries, damaging buildings and sending terrified residents into the streets, officials said Thursday. The quake, which was followed by several much smaller tremors, was the biggest to hit the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) area in southern Italy for 10 months. It occurred around 1:25 am (0025 GMT) at a depth of 2.5 kilometres, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), and raised residents from their beds. "We can't go on like this, we can't sleep. We're scared," one man told the Local Team news service in the middle of night in Bagnoli, a seaside district in western Naples. Images broadcast by Italian media showed car windows smashed by falling masonry and damage to a church in Bagnoli, where schools were closed on Thursday. One women was hurt when her ceiling collapsed, while two or three other people went to hospital with cuts caused by shards of broken glass, according to Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi. A total of 11 people went to emergency rooms of local hospitals but several "were cases of panic", he told reporters. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was constantly monitoring the situation and was in contact with the relevant officials. Seismic activity is nothing new in the area, which is an active caldera -- the hollow left after an eruption -- the largest in Europe. It stretches from the outskirts of Naples into the sea, measuring some 12 by 15 kilometres (7.4 by 9.3 miles). But many of the 500,000 inhabitants living in the danger zone had already been spooked by a 4.4-magnitude quake in May 2024, which was the biggest for 40 years. At that time, there were no injuries or any major structural damage. - 'Particularly intense' - Naples mayor Manfredi told RTL radio that Thursday's quake was a "particularly intense tremor", similar to that of last year but "with an epicentre closer to the city of Naples, so it was felt more in the city". He said a group of people tried to enter the closed former NATO base in Bagnoli, presumably for protection. "There was a moment of panic... but then everything calmed down," he said, adding: "Obviously these are moments in which people are afraid." Manfredi said the situation was "under control". The eruption of Campi Flegrei 40,000 years ago was the most powerful in the Mediterranean. A resurgence of seismic activity in the early 1980s led to a mass evacuation which reduced the nearby city of Pozzuoli to a ghost town. Specialists, however, say a full-blown eruption in the near future remains unlikely. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan sign border deal to boost regional stability Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed on Thursday a border agreement seen as key for the stability of Central Asia, a move that follows three decades of conflict between the two former Soviet republics over water resources and land. The deal -- signed in Bishek by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon -- is a sign of how relations between the two allies of Russia have improved since their last clash in autumn 2022. "From now and forever, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will be the border of eternal friendship," Japarov said. Japarov's office said the accord would contribute to "strengthening security, stability and sustainable development in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and in the whole of Central Asia". The two leaders said direct air links would resume and the border, closed nearly four years ago in May 2021, would reopen. The deal involves an exchange of territory. Kyrgyzstan will receive about 25 square kilometres (nearly 10 square miles) from Tajikistan in exchange for about the same amount of land or for better access to shared water resources, Kyrgyz authorities said. The accord stipulates that certain roads will be designated as neutral, and that neither side may hinder the use of agricultural or energy facilities in border regions. Rakhmon hailed the "historic" agreement, which was concluded 33 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Recent years have seen an improvement in relations between the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. One by one, they have clinched border agreements designed to ease trade and enhance stability in the region, which is important for its resources and strategic location. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) -- which comprises China, most Central Asia coutries, Iran, India and Russia -- welcomed the Kyrgyz-Tajik treaty. China, which has borders with both countries, has become a key player in Central Asia. It is financing a colossal infrastructure scheme it calls the New Silk Roads, which aims to open up access to the mountainous region and facilitate trade with Europe. BP says gas leak stopped off coast of Senegal, Mauritania Dakar, March 13 (AFP) Mar 13, 2025 A natural gas leak that was ongoing for three weeks at a new field off the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania has been stopped, its operator BP said Thursday. One of four wells at the GTA field was found leaking near an area Greenpeace Africa said was "home to the largest deep-water coral reef, a unique ecosystem in the world". On Wednesday "the tree cap was installed, and we can confirm that the bubble release was visually observed to stop," the British energy giant said in a statement. Production at the GTA field began on December 31 and the leak was discovered on February 19, drawing anger from NGOs including Greenpeace, which accused BP of a "total lack of transparency". An association of fishermen in the Senegalese town of Saint-Louis, near the field, also expressed alarm about a "covert form of pollution whose impacts could be irreversible". But BP said that "considering the low rate of release and the observed properties of the gas and condensate, the environmental impact of the release is currently assessed as negligible." It pledged to continue testing and inspections of the site "for a period of time, to ensure no further release occurs". The company aims for the field to produce around 2.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year. els/js/rlp BP 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 Danny Dyer has revealed how he truly felt about his daughters Love Island romance with Jack Fincham. The EastEnders actor, 47, was the last to be told about his then 22-year-old daughter Dani appearing on the reality dating show in 2018 as he disapproved of the career move. Dyer admitted Fincham, who fell for and went on to win the competition with Dani, behaved very differently on screen compared to in real life. Speaking on Jessie and Lennie Wares Table Manners podcast, he said: I didnt want her to go on Love IslandYou know, they encouraged them to go into a room and have a roll about and stuff. Shes entitled to have sex and have amazing times, he added. But I dont want to watch that on the telly. So, I had a bit of that going on, and then she didnt tell me. The soap actor explained: I was the last one to be told. And then she got in the car and just left. And then you just become a viewer. You dont get no contact from no producers or anything like that. Dani, who had been working in a pub prior to Love Island, garnered millions of fans while appearing on the reality dating show, with A-listers including Margot Robbie and Eddie Redmayne showing support for her in interviews. After winning the show, she moved immediately out of her family home and into a penthouse in Canary Wharf. open image in gallery Danny Dyer has revealed how he felt about daughter Danis Love Island romance ( Getty/ITV ) Dyer admitted he cried every single night watching his daughter in the competition. I couldnt have wrote a better script for her, he said. She was just herself and normal and sort of, quite vulnerable. However, despite being crowned Love Island winners, Dani and Fincham split under a year after leaving the competition. In January, he was released on bail after being jailed for dangerous dog offences. Dyer said of Fincham: I didn't really meet him. To be honest with you, it turned out he wasn't what he was on the telly. If you think about you in a villa, it's a structured show. There's no phones, there's no distractions. How real can you be? It's only when you get out. And so look, they made a go of it. It didn't work out. open image in gallery Dani won the reality dating show alongside Jack Fincham in 2018 Elsewhere in the interview, Dyer revealed he was fuming after Love Island producers made Dani think Fincham was cheating on her during the shows Casa Amor segment. Dyers daughter was left distraught after being sent a video postcard showing Fincham speaking with his ex-girlfriend Ellie Jones, implying something had happened between them when it hadnt. Love Island fans criticised the cruel production technique with 2,525 viewers complaining to Ofcom a figure that broke the then-record for the highest number of complaints in the shows history. open image in gallery The couple split just months after the show aired ( PA ) They sort of made it look like he was cheating on her, Dyer reflected. I was fuming. I was like I want numbers, I want f***ing numbers. They pretended he was sleeping outside on a bed, and she was crying her eyes out, and I knew this was gonna happen to me. How could you do it to this poor child? So, yeah, really hard to watch, but she came out, he added. She really just went with it. She got a clothing range. She's such a beautiful kid. I'm so proud. I'm proud of all my babies. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. UN multilateral instruments can no longer meet modern challenges, the President of North Macedonia Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said at the 12th Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "It's almost impossible to imagine the establishment of the UN in 2025 with such ambitious goals as in 1945. The UN was established for an era that has long passed, with less complexity and greater predictability in international relations. Since then, the world has undergone significant geopolitical, geoeconomic, scientific, technological, and industrial transformations. The number of member states and the world population have increased. Globalization has deepened, and challenges have multiplied. However, the competencies, structures, and procedures of the UN have remained largely frozen since its founding. Many opportunities for necessary reforms have been missed. The outdated multilateral tools of the UN can no longer address contemporary geopolitical, economic, environmental, demographic, and technological challenges," she said. According to her, the UN is more necessary than ever today. "However, the UN has rarely been as politically marginalized as it is today," the president pointed out. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel When Lysanne Currie was establishing her content agency Meet The Leader back in 2017, she knew she didnt want to adopt a typical nine-to-five working day. Over the decades, while working in the publishing industry, shed seen many brilliant people fall by the wayside because they simply couldnt fit their complex lives around sitting in an office for eight hours a day. Surely, she thought, there had to be a model that would enable her fledgling business to optimise productivity, while allowing its employees to do what they needed to do outside work: drop children off at school and collect them, or fulfil other caring obligations perhaps even take a moment to exercise or do something they enjoyed. The solution she came up with was a six-hour day. It allows these really talented people to work around their other commitments without feeling stressed about how theyre supposed to cram it all in, she says. For many of us, clocking off after working just six hours is the stuff of fantasy. In reality, even the concept of nine to five seems laughably outdated in 2025. New research from recruitment firm Reed reveals that 42 per cent of British employees work beyond their contracted hours, equating to 14 million people working an entire extra day per week. Forty per cent say their workloads exceed the time available, leaving them overwhelmed. But calls for a sea change in the structure of our working lives are growing. Labour MPs, including Peter Dowd, are currently pushing for legislation to implement the four-day week across Britain. Dowd, who has drafted a proposed amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, says it is needed because as artificial intelligence grows increasingly prevalent, it will inevitably reduce employment. According to the 4 Day Week Foundation, 200 companies across the UK, representing 5,000 workers, have already permanently reduced workers hours to 32 or less per week. But with the government focusing on trying to grow the stagnant economy, it seems unlikely well see this model being widely adopted anytime soon. And theres another group of workplace forecasters who believe the four-day week isnt the answer that a better solution, not just to our work-life balance, stress levels and broken childcare system, but to maximising our overall output, lies in the six-hour day. During the industrial revolution, when factories needed to run 24/7, 12-hour days were common, but in the early 20th century, the Ford Motor Company cut hours to eight while doubling wages, amazing everyone by increasing productivity. Now, however, research shows that maintaining peak productivity for an entire eight-hour workday is unrealistic for most people. Weve all experienced whats known as Parkinsons law: the phenomenon that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. But it isnt just down to procrastination; our brains arent wired to concentrate fully for long periods of time. In fact, studies show that we only get around three to four hours of real focus out of any eight-hour period. open image in gallery Work-related stress and poor mental health is costing the UK economy an estimated 28bn a year ( Getty/iStock ) In 2014, a landmark study from Stanford University demonstrated that any link between hours worked and productivity is weak. The research found a non-linear relationship between hours worked and output: results start to slide dramatically around the 50-hours-per-week mark. Too much work, it found, can damage productivity. By contrast, a series of pilot schemes in which six-hour days have been trialled (while keeping pay at 100 per cent) indicate that a shorter working day has multiple benefits. One of the most famous, which took place over the course of two years at the Svartedalens retirement home in Sweden and was funded by the Swedish government, showed that 68 nurses who worked six-hour days took half as much sick time as those who worked standard longer shifts. The nurses were also 20 per cent happier and had more energy at work and in their spare time. This also contributed to greater productivity, as they recorded performing 64 per cent more therapeutic activities with elderly residents, such as games and outdoor walks. The policy was adopted in other Swedish industries, including at the Toyota plant in Gothenburg, which switched to a six-hour day as long ago as 2003. Since then, it has recorded a 25 per cent profit gain, as well as increases in employee health. So should we be considering adopting the model here in Britain? According to Christine Armstrong, a speaker and researcher on the future of work, the answer is a resounding yes. Im a big fan of the six-hour day, and all my research suggests its potentially a better model than the four-day week, she says. open image in gallery More than 40 per cent of Brits are regularly working beyond their contracted hours ( Getty/iStock ) Its a cliche, but based on interviewing people, men tend to be more enthusiastic about working four days, because they use the fifth to do something they really enjoy. When I speak to women, they say they end up working longer hours during those four days, and then on the fifth, they end up doing domestic admin. And, most importantly, the four-day week doesnt help with the school day, while the six-hour day does. In an antiquated working world designed for one breadwinner to go off to an office while the other parent maintained the domestic sphere, its no surprise that parents are struggling now both have to work, while somehow simultaneously juggling pick-ups and drop-offs. The mismatch between school hours and the working day, combined with extortionate childcare costs, has contributed to the number of women leaving the workforce increasing for the first time in decades depriving the economy of their skills, experience and income tax. As a result, says Armstrong, It makes great sense to me to offer a shorter working day, especially given that our current research shows the constant distractions we all live with now from all our tech mean a lot of people say they barely get two hours of focused work done in a long day. The rise of AI is predicted to transform our working lives in the coming years. If Goldman Sachs chilling forecast comes true, 300 million jobs, including highly skilled and highly paid jobs such as law, finance and medicine, could be lost. In an antiquated working world designed for one breadwinner to go off to an office while the other parent maintained the domestic sphere, its no surprise that parents are struggling now both have to work A more positive vision of the future could see us all working fewer hours as automation increases. There could be an opportunity to improve job quality, if some of the more routine tasks are taken away, says Claire McCartney, policy and practice manager at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development. Its possible people could work a shorter day and focus on more interesting work during that period. Working fewer hours is also strongly linked to a reduction in stress and burnout, with studies showing that employees who work less tend to be happier and more engaged when theyre at their jobs all of which has a major impact on productivity. Bex Spiller, a workplace wellbeing consultant and founder of the Anti-Burnout Club, also believes the six-hour day would have a hugely positive impact on work-related stress. The latter costs our economy an estimated 28bn per year, primarily through lost working days caused by poor mental health, so measures to boost workers wellbeing arent merely nice-to-haves, theyre essential. Paul Corcoran, founder of Liverpool and Manchester-based Agent Marketing, has seen the rewards from reducing the hours worked by his staff. Until the pandemic, the company worked a hybrid week, working normal office hours for three days and six-hour days for two. open image in gallery Companies in Sweden have seen a successful rollout of the six-hour work day ( Getty ) He found that efficiency improved every bit as much as wellbeing. What I learned is that when you give adults the opportunity to think about how best to deliver their work in the time they have, without compromising on quality, then theyre brilliant at finding the answer, he says. Theyll say, Well, I dont really need to be in that meeting. Or, Does that meeting really need to be an hour and a half, or could it be 20 minutes? It enables people to think about how theyre most productive, rather than just how theyre going to make it through the hours they have to sit there. It hasnt affected us from a profitability perspective, and its also been a very attractive part of what we offer when were bringing in new talent. Three years ago, the agency changed to a four-day week, which Corcoran finds works better for his business: They take a Monday or a Friday off, but theres always a team there to deliver what our clients need, he says. For us, the six hours were too rigid it was difficult when, say, a client wanted to come in for a meeting at 4pm. His experience of the six-hour day has changed forever his views on working hours, though. Taking the chance to really think about how to have valuable time at work, rather than presenteeism, is so worthwhile, he says. Its about trusting your staff to use their time effectively and them really engaging with it, because theyre seeing the benefits. For Currie, the six-hour day is proving hugely beneficial for both work-life balance and productivity at her company, which helps business leaders tell their stories. Her team are given the choice of when to work their six hours: They can start when they want and finish when they want, and for seven years, its worked really well. It fits around the teams schedules: most people keep their six hours within the working day, but some will do three hours in the morning, then three in the evening, so it gives them flexibility. They can be extremely productive in that time, and manage their lives, too so everyone wins. Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A Bristol father-of-three has spoken about finally feeling "complete" after getting a realistic 3D nipple tattoo following a mastectomy. Dave Talbot, 67, an IT consultant and retired police officer, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after finding a lump while showering. Following his diagnosis - which affects about 400 men in the UK annually - Talbot underwent a mastectomy to remove his right breast, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy and in 2017, he was declared cancer-free. However, the removal of his nipple left him feeling that "something was missing." He even jokingly told his grandchildren hed been "attacked by a crocodile." This year, Talbot was given the opportunity to have a 3D nipple tattoo, a procedure that has helped him regain a sense of wholeness. Thanks to award-winning medical tattoo artist Lucy Thompson, Dave has recently undergone his first session, describing the results as astonishing, and wants to encourage other men to ask for this service. open image in gallery This October will mark 10 years since Dave was diagnosed ( Collect/PA Real Life ) Dave told PA Real Life: Its the 10th anniversary this year of me having breast cancer. The tattoo almost completes the circle because it was something I was concerned about. Its just nice having matching nipples again after all these years. Dave, who lives with his 62-year-old partner Pamela MacLeod, explained that he had not suffered from any major medical issues until his diagnosis in 2015. He discovered a boil-sized lump in his right breast while showering on holiday and, given he had lost his brother to leukaemia and his mother to ovarian cancer, he knew he needed to take prompt action. I was blessed with an absolutely superb GP, so I went and saw her, and she said, Well, its probably fatty tissue given your age, but Ill send you off to be checked for breast cancer, Dave said. Following an ultrasound and biopsy at hospital, it was confirmed Dave had aggressive breast cancer in October 2015. open image in gallery Dave pictured straight after the first nipple tattoo session ( Collect/PA Real Life ) His breast cancer surgeon said the cancer had been caught early thanks to Daves swift visit to the GP, but added that a matter of weeks would have made a difference. Your first thought is, How long have I got?, because your attitude to cancer is, cancer is a death sentence, Dave said. Then frustration and anger were the other responses but since it had been detected early, I knew it was treatable. He had a mastectomy and his lymph nodes removed, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy, and then took part in the MoonWalk, a fundraising walk organised by breast cancer charity Walk the Walk, in May 2016. After this, he had radiotherapy, completing his treatment in June 2016, and said he felt absolutely huge relief at being cancer free and looked forward to being normal again. open image in gallery Dave in hospital ( Collect/PA Real Life ) Reflecting on his mastectomy, he said: Interestingly enough, when my breast cancer surgeon said, Were going to have to give you a mastectomy, the one thing I said to him was, Can I keep my right nipple? He said, Well, you can, but I wouldnt recommend it, so I went away and had a conversation with my wife and I emailed him back and said, Fine, take it away, but it did bother me. The option of having a nipple tattoo, I think even for women in those days, was fairly unheard of, so I never really gave it much thought. Following his diagnosis, Dave became a crusader in encouraging men to get checked and has spoken publicly at a Police Federation conference and universities and worked with various charities. The Mens VMU (Virtual Meet-Up) a male-dedicated support group for men diagnosed with breast cancer has offered loads of support and this is how Dave came across nipple tattooing. open image in gallery A close-up of Dave's nipple tattoo ( Collect/PA Real Life ) Dr Kerry Quincey, senior lecturer in psychology at De Montfort University in Leicester and co-founder of the Mens VMU, said: Unfortunately, men typically have fewer post-mastectomy options available to them than women. Affording men the opportunity to undergo nipple tattooing irrespective of whether they choose to have a tattoo or not is therefore critical for improved breast cancer equality and inclusive aftercare. Dave stepped forward to be inked by Lucy Thompson, 35, founder of the Nipple Innovation Project (NiP), which has recently partnered with Bradford Teaching Hospital, and received the tattoo on February 21. Dave said the 25-minute session was virtually painless and he will visit Lucy again in Bradford, West Yorkshire, for a touch-up in the coming weeks as the skin is very delicate. Lucy, who has completed more than 1,000 nipple tattoos, said she feels very lucky to be trusted with something so important. We understand that talking about your nipples is very personal and its not often discussed, and this is why were keen to do collaborations and raise awareness, she said. At the end of the day, its a natural body part that we shouldnt feel shame over talking about and these tattoos can help people reclaim their bodies after cancer. To be able to see the transformation before my eyes its something truly special. open image in gallery Dave was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 ( Collect/PA Real Life ) Ross McLean, consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, added: Breast cancer does not discriminate based on gender, yet male patients often face stigma and a lack of tailored support. Projects like the Nipple Innovation Project (NiP) challenge societal perceptions and create opportunities to address these disparities. With the NHS struggling to deliver capacity for this valuable procedure, this partnership between NiP and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust represents an important milestone and demonstrates a model to expand this procedure to all breast cancer survivors, regardless of gender. With the 10th anniversary of his diagnosis approaching in October, Dave feels he has now come full circle after having the tattoo. He wants to continue raising awareness of male breast cancer and hopes he can encourage other men to ask for paramedical tattoos without feeling embarrassed. Men like to be stoic but, if something changes in your body or you dont feel right and it does not improve within a couple of weeks, get it checked, he said. I feel complete now and Ive got my body back looking the way it used to look. To find out more about the Mens VMU, visit: themensvmu.org or about the NiP, visit: nipcharity.org. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that the only thing saving him from financial ruin at his new pub is selling his own Hawkstone beer and cider. The former Top Gear presenter paid less than 1m for the pub, formerly known as The Windmill, in Asthall, near Burford in Oxfordshire. He opened the new venture last summer following the success of his Diddy Squat farm and accompanying farm shop, which are at the centre of his Amazon farming series Clarksons Farm. Clarkson has previously revealed fears over making profit at the farm, and also faced backlash for the prices of food and drink available at the pub, with mains ranging from 15 to 19 and pints for 5.50. But Clarkson has revealed in a new Instagram post that the only thing saving him from financial ruin is serving his own beer and cider, from his brewery Hawkstone. Welcome to The Farmers Dog, its a pub Ive had for about six months now, and Ive worked out it is a brilliant way of turning 100 into about 94 using nothing but costings, he told followers. The only thing that is saving me from financial ruin is the fact that we serve Hawkstone lager and Hawkstone cider. He then cheekily offered for other pubs to start stocking Hawkstone, by offering 1000 free kegs of beers to any pub landlords who get in touch with him. open image in gallery Jeremy Clarkson is giving away 1,000 free kegs to fellow publicans ( Instagram via @Hawkestone ) If youve got a pub and if you want to see if this strategy works for you as well, get in touch with us at our website, and if we like the sound of your pub, if it is the kind of place we want to be in, well send you a free keg, he said. 88 pints of Hawkstone lager or cider for nothing. Clarkson has been no stranger to voicing the financial hardship that farming and brewery businesses face, since he delved into the world of hospitality and agriculture when he took over the Diddly Squat farm in 2019. open image in gallery Queues for the opening day of The Farmers Dog pub last summer ( PA Wire ) Clarkson launched his brewery company Hawkstone Lager in 2021 so opening seemed like the natural next move. Despite being warned about the high number of pub closures in the UK, how hard it would be to make money by having only a British food menu and finding staff post-Brexit, he believed itd all be fine. However, Clarkson admitted in a column published in The Times was hit with a different reality owning a pub required hiring a whole kitchen of workers, serving staff and dealing with an accident one costumer had in the It is galling to see how much effort is required to make so little money on the farm, he said. Its worse at the pub. The customers are coming. Theres no problem there. But turning their visits into a profit is nigh-on impossible. Last year, the presenter described the whole process of becoming a pub landlord as terribly stressful and said there are many inconveniences that you dont think about. 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 When Kim Kardashian traveled with her sister Khloe to India last July for the wedding of Anat Ambani, shed assumed the experience would remind her of Disneys Aladdin but to her surprise, it didnt. In the most recent episode of The Kardashians on Hulu, cameras followed Kim and Khloe as they set off to Mumbai, India, on a quick 48-hour trip to celebrate the son of Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest man in Asia, getting married to Radhika Merchant. The two Los Angeles-based reality stars arrived in India for the first time at midnight. Before they went to sleep, Kim and Khloe did a fitting for their ceremonial looks, hoping to make the most of their short time overseas. Were only here for 48 hours, and we do have a schedule, Khloe explained in her confessional with the shows producers. Were planning to go to some of the local markets before we have to go to the wedding so we can enjoy as much of India as possible. open image in gallery Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian traveled to India for 48 hours to celebrate the wedding of Anat Ambani, the son of the wealthiest man in Asia, back in July 2024 ( Instagram/Kim Kardashian ) The 44-year-old Skims co-founder seconded her sisters statement, noting how she wanted to explore the city too. The pair would be disappointed though, as, according to Kim, they thought the markets they were visiting would be similar to those seen in the 1992 Disney animation, which is set in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Agrabah, not India. I thought it was going to be like the marketplace, Kim said. This is like the streets. What you see Aladdin going through and stealing some bread from. This is where I thought we were going, she added. It wasnt the only shock they were in for. The duo, who are used to being driven around L.A., were told they would be walking to the street sellers rather than being escorted by car or rickshaw. The walk was less than pleasant for Kim, who was startled by everything around her, from the car horns to a stray dog. open image in gallery Kim assumed her experience in Mumbai would be similar to what she saw in the 1992 Disney film Aladdin ( Hulu ) Oh! I dont do random dogs! she exclaimed, to which Khloe quipped: At least theres a Starbucks here. In her confessional, Khloe joked: Were not in Calabasas anymore. Theres rickshaws going by, everyone was so surprised, like: What the f*** are these people doing here? she added. Kim described the setting of the street vendors as mayhem. Online, viewers were appalled by Kims unrealistic expectations for what her time in India would look like, especially because the Disney picture is trying to depict an entirely different culture. One commenter wrote: Agrabah and Aladdin isnt even based in India, its supposed to be the Middle East and is a fictionalized portrayal of Middle Eastern culture (or at least an attempt). They should have tried the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Spoiler: it wasnt a magic carpet ride! Guess she was expecting more, a second joked on X/Twitter. 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 Nancy French wasnt too pleased with a McDonalds branch after seeing how they had modernized the childrens play area. The upset mom shared a photo of the section at a new McDonalds in Franklin, Tennessee, on X, writing: Im so disappointed. The bare play area simply includes two chairs facing two tablets on the wall in the corner of the restaurant. In a follow-up video posted on her account, French moved back to show the full floor of the kids area, including a large device, similar to a dance machine but without a screen. I went back in to make sure I didnt miss something, her caption read. There was this column thing that might be for getting kids to exercise. But I dont think this is temporary. I think this is it. Nancy French expresses her frustrations over a modernized play area at her local McDonald's ( X/@NancyAFrench ) This is the totality of the play area, French said, focusing her camera on the playground safety rules. She then poked fun at one rule urging kids to wear socks at all times, questioning why that would be the case if there was only really a tablet to play with. Frenchs post on X prompted widespread debate, with many parents questioning whether the previous play areas complete with plastic ball pits and winding tube slides should be restored. One mom supported the return of the McDonalds playground, urging the franchise to bring back huge play gyms. I remember taking my boys to the plastic ball pits which they loved. Of course, it's also a pit of germs but they made it through childhood just fine, another agreed. A third said: This would not gather the smallest inkling of a kid's attention. McDonalds is not a childcare facility. They are there to eat, one X user argued, while another noted: The playgrounds of the past were a liability nightmare, so there's no way they're coming back. In a statement sent to the Post, a representative for McDonalds said: McDonalds and our franchisees are proud to provide family-friendly spaces across many of our US restaurants. While this restaurant has a few interactive features for younger guests, it does not represent the full PlayPlace design and experience, they continued. The Independent has reached out to McDonalds for a comment. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Millie Bobby Brown is continuing to address the ongoing criticism about her looks. The 21-year-old actor complained about being scrutinized by the tabloids during Tuesdays episode of Alex Coopers Call Her Daddy podcast. When Cooper asked her what she wished more people knew about her, Brown targeted the way the press has gone in on her about specific things. I know that obviously people say that I look a lot older. Thats a thing that I get a lot. Its like Oh my god she looks like 40! And Im like yeah, you did meet when I was 10, she explained, referring to how she rose to stardom when she was only a young teen on Stranger Things. She pointed out that everyone tends to age over time, and hit back at the criticism directed at her, continuing: Now Im 21, its been 10 years. She grows. My face grew. What do you want me to do about that? But Brown insisted it doesnt really get to her, even as people pick on things that she says and does, like the changes in her British accent. Obviously, I dont want that for any persona growing up in the industry, she said, referring to all the criticism she has received. But it really, actually doesnt bother me. I wish I could be like, You know what, it does get to me. It used to get to me, it did And I remember trying to change myself to please the masses. Earlier this month, Millie Bobby Brown posted a video of her reading out headlines that criticized her appearance. ( Getty Images for Netflix ) She added: Actually now, Im in a place where, yeah, my accent does change. My face does grow. I do wear a lot of makeup. Its just the kind of person I am. I like that. Its fun for me. Youre not going to tell me how to be a girl. But earlier this month, Brown attacked the recent disturbing press coverage of her physical appearance, slamming tabloids for bullying her. In a video on her Instagram, she cited headlines from stories criticizing her face, hair, and body, and called out the writers by name. I want to take a moment to address something that I think is bigger than just me, something that affects every young woman who grows up under public scrutiny, her post began. She noted she grew up in the industry ... in front of the world, and for some reason, people cant seem to grow with me. Instead, they act like Im supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on Stranger Things Season 1. And because I dont, Im now a target, said Brown. She accused her attackers in the tabloids of being so desperate to tear young women down. This isn't journalism. This is bullying, the Enola Holmes star continued. The fact that adult writers are spending their time dissecting my face, my body, my choices is disturbing. And the fact that some of these articles are written by women makes it even worse ... Disillusioned people can't handle seeing a girl become a woman on her terms, not their own. Brown asked: Why is it the knee-jerk reaction to say something horrible rather than just say something nice? She urged: Let's do better, not just for me, but for every young girl who deserves to grow up without the fear of being torn apart for simply existing. Brown first clapped back two months ago at trolls who claimed she looked like a 40-year-old Jersey housewife. She snapped: Women grow!! Not sorry about it. 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 Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger plan to argue at his trial that the evidence against him could have been planted at the crime scene by the real killer who slaughtered the four University of Idaho students two years ago, prosecutors wrote in a new court filing. Kohberger, 30, is accused of fatally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. His trial is slated to start in August. He faces the death penalty if convicted. Key evidence in the case is the DNA recovered on the button of the knife sheath that was found near one of the victims, which ultimately led authorities to Kohberger in the weeks following the murders. In a motion filed this week, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson made the new claim that Kohbergers defense team will try to pin the slayings on someone else. open image in gallery Kohbergers lead attorney Anne Taylor (pictured) has fought to have the IGG thrown out. Her request was denied last month ( AP ) Instead of challenging the conclusion that the DNA on the knife sheath belonged to Defendant, the defense's expert disclosures reveal that the defense plans to argue the DNA on the knife sheath does not prove Defendant was ever at the crime scene and the knife sheath itself could have been planted by the real perpetrator, Thompson wrote. Many of the court documents detailing both sides plans for expert witnesses have been sealed, so its not currently possible to compare Thompsons characterization of the defense plans against the defense teams own court filings. Prosecutors have said the use of investigative genetic genealogy has matched DNA from the knife sheath to Kohbergers DNA. Yet, Kohbergers lead attorney Anne Taylor has fought to have the IGG thrown out. Her request was denied last month. Still, prosecutors say they dont intend to refer to the IGG evidence during the trial and will instead tell jurors that a tip led them to Kohberger as a suspect. The latest filing on the defenses potential strategy comes a week after a slew of motions were filed by Kohbergers team, which included a motion to take the death penalty off the table citing Kohbergers autism spectrum disorder and a motion to exclude the terms psychopath or sociopath from the trial. open image in gallery From left: Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke ( Instagram ) Court documents were also released that revealed what the two surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, texted each other on the night of the murders after Mortensen thought she saw a masked man in the house. The two texted that they were freaking out when they couldnt get in touch with the other four roommates in the house. They ended up in the same bedroom and fell asleep until the next day when their roommates slain bodies were found. A transcript of the 911 call was also included in the documents. Both surviving roommates are expected to testify at Kohbergers trial, which is scheduled to begin on August 11 and is expected to last more than three months. 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 Florida man has been accused of setting fire to a strip club and throwing a urine-filled bottle at a cop. Tampa Police said that the gunman fired his weapon multiple times inside the empty Pink Pony Showgirls strip club in Tampa at around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, and intentionally set it on fire. Cops responded within minutes and apprehended the suspect as he was dragging brush into the burning structure, a Tampa Police spokesperson said. Pictures from the scene showed smoke billowing out of the building. Officers say they retrieved a handgun from the suspect they named as Arvin Solimanpoor, 29, after he was taken into custody. open image in gallery Tampa Police officers arrived within minutes and apprehended Solimanpoor as he was dragging brush into the burning structure ( Tampa Fire Rescue ) Tampa Police say that when he was in custody Solimanpoor complained he was thirsty and was given a water bottle by officers. It is alleged he damaged a camera inside the police holding area, urinated in the empty bottle and threw it at an officer. Solimanpoor is now facing charges of arson with injury, shooting within a building, weapon possession during a felony, battery on an officer, and criminal mischief. He was taken to Orient Road Jail. open image in gallery The 29-year-old is being held at the Orient Road Jail in Tampa ( Tampa PD ) Fire crews shut down traffic around the venue during the blaze at the strip club and advised residents to avoid the area. One firefighter was injured during the incident. While battling the fire, a Tampa Fire Rescue Firefighter was injured and transported to a local hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and has since been released, a statement from Tampa Police said. Police said the investigation remains active. 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 Idahos governor signed into law a bill Wednesday making the firing squad the states primary method of execution. Joan Varsek, a spokesperson for Republican Governor Brad Little, confirmed the news to The Independent. I have long made clear my support of capital punishment. My signing of House Bill 37 is consistent with my support of the Idaho Legislatures actions in setting the policies around methods of execution in the state of Idaho, Little said in a written statement. As governor, my job is to follow the law and ensure that lawful criminal sentences are carried out as ordered by the courts. Idaho will become the first state with such a policy once the law goes into effect on July 1, 2026. Four other states Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Mississippi allow firing squad executions. None of the others, however, use firing squads as a primary execution method. Only four people have been put to death via firing squad in the U.S. in the last half century. Idaho passed a bill in 2023 cementing firing squads as a backup method if lethal injection is not feasible. According to House Bill 37, lethal injection will become the alternative method once the firing squad law goes into effect. Idaho currently has nine people one woman and eight men on death row. One of the men is Chad Daybell, who was sentenced to death in June for killing his first wife, and the two children of his second wife, Lori Vallow. The state hasnt executed anyone since 2012, when Richard Albert Leavitt was put to death by lethal injection. Last year, Idaho attempted to execute 74-year-old Thomas Creech, a serial killer convicted of murdering five people. That attempt failed because executioners were unable to establish an intravenous line after trying eight times. Creechs veins kept collapsing, department officials said. Obtaining lethal injection drugs has become extremely difficult in recent years. In 2011, the European Union banned the export of drugs for executions. Its also difficult to recruit physicians to administer the fatal dose in executions. The front of Idaho's F block. The state is considering spending $1.2 million to retrofit the facility to accommodate firing squad executions ( Idaho Department of Corrections ) Its not yet known if firing squads will make the process easier. The Independent recently reported that Idaho Department of Correction officials are struggling to contract designers to build or renovate their execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution to accommodate firing squads. Estimates for the project have reached $1.2 million. But just last week, South Carolina officials managed to put 67-year-old Brad Sigmon to death via firing squad, the first execution of its kind in the nation in 15 years. A three-person team of volunteer Corrections Department employees fired .308 Winchester TAP URBAN bullets aimed at Sigmons heart. A physician confirmed his death three minutes after shots were fired. Sigmon had told his spiritual advisor, Reverend Hillary Taylor, he didnt want to be a guinea pig for the states problematic lethal injection procedures. Six states Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana and North Carolina have a de facto moratorium on executions due to challenges with lethal injections. Pro-death penalty states without moratoriums face lengthy legal battles as inmates fight the constitutionality of lethal injection. As a result, old and new methods, like the firing squad, are popping up across the country. In January of last year, Alabama became the first state in the country to execute a death-row inmate using nitrogen hypoxia. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have also adopted the method, but havent used it. During public comments regarding the Idaho legislation, several residents voiced their support for the bill. Daniel Murphy, of Boise, suggested Idaho residents might even donate bullets needed for executions. Take six rounds of [5.56x45mm] and eight rifles ... The job is complete, Murphy flatly stated. Meanwhile, Kate Lopez, a Twin Falls resident, questioned how firing squad executions would work. As I understand it, death by firing squad requires a hood over the head, restraints on the limbs, targets to the heart, she said, unknowingly describing Sigmons execution. In a letter to Little and other state officials, Andrew C. Erstad, chair of the Idaho Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, told the governor: What is lawful and what is ethical are two separate inquiries; acting lawfully may not equate to acting ethically. He informed the Department of Correction that members of his group would not be participating in the design or construction of the firing squad facility. 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 Pennsylvania lawyer representing Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is seeking to dismiss the criminal charges he faces in the state. The Ivy League graduate is accused of gunning down Thompson near a Midtown Manhattan hotel on December 4. Authorities believe he then escaped the crime scene by foot, bike, cab, and bus to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested nearly a week later, concluding a manhunt that gripped the nation. Police violated the law during its stop, arrest, and seizure of Mangione in December at a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9, 2024, his lawyer Thomas Dickey argued in a motion Monday. The charges he faces in the state were based on evidence received as a fruit of an illegal stop, seizure, detention, and/or arrest, the filing stated. Mangione has not yet made a plea in Pennsylvania. Mangione is seeking to dismiss numerous state charges: forgery, firearms not to be carried without a license, tampering records, possessing an instrument of a crime, and false identification to law enforcement. Hes also asking the court to suppress evidence, search warrants, statements made at his arraignment, as well as the reference to his so-called manifesto. This label was improper and was done solely for the purpose to prejudice the Defendant and put him in a negative light before the public, Dickey argued. The Altoona Police Department lacked reasonable suspicion to arrest and detain Mangione at that time, the attorney said. open image in gallery Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is now seeking to drop the charges he faces in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested in December. ( AP ) Before the McDonalds employee made the 911 call that led to Mangiones arrest, the police had no paperwork, photograph, warrant, communication, or other information in its possession corroborating the speculation that Defendant was in fact the person being sought in New York, the filing says. They also lacked probable cause to conduct a Terry frisk, since it was done despite no factual basis to form a reasonable belief that Mangione may be armed and dangerous. Police officers blocked him from leaving the fast food restaurant; he didnt know that he was free to go, the lawyer argued. The unlawful detention spanned about 20 minutes while police tried to identify Mangione as the suspect wanted in New York. Although officers also sent a photo of the defendant to agents at the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and FBI. No official identification of the Defendant, as being the suspect from New York, was ever made by any law enforcement personnel from the State of New York; the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, or the FBI, Dickey argued. The purported identification as the wanted person in New York was speculative and based on a hunch. Mangione was also not given any information as to why he was being held, the filing says. open image in gallery Magnione was identified at a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania by an employee of the fast food chain ( AP ) After 15 minutes of unlawful detention, he was told he was officially under a police investigation but was not immediately read his Miranda rights. Police also searched his belongings, including his backpack, without a valid warrant to search these items, the lawyer argued. They discover a 9mm handgun, a mechanized upper receiver, a suspected 3D-printed suppressor, some handwritten notes and a red notebook, dubbed by police as a "manifesto." Any and all items obtained from Magnione on December 9, 2024 should be suppressed, the lawyer argued. This filing comes weeks after Karen Friedman Agnifilo, the attorney representing him in his New York state case, told the court during a pretrial hearing that she believes there were search and seizure violations during his Pennsylvania arrest. She argued that he was treated differently than other defendants," since he was being held in federal custody despite the state case proceedings coming first. He faces 11 criminal counts in New York, including murder as an act of terrorism, in connection with the December 4 killing; he has pleaded not guilty. He also faces murder and stalking charges at the federal level. He has yet to make a plea in this venue. Mangione is due back in federal court in New York on March 19. A GiveSendGo legal fund, created by the December 4 Legal Committee, has garnered more than $720,000 as of Thursday. Mangiones defense team last month said he would be accepting the funds. "Luigi is aware of the fund and very much appreciates the outpouring of support. My client plans on utilizing it to fight all three of the unprecedented cases against him, Agnifilo said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "We also reiterate the long-lasting and principled position of Azerbaijan that the amendment to Armenias constitution to eliminate the claims against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is a prerequisite to allow the signing of the negotiated text. Furthermore, we emphasize the necessity to formally abolish the obsolete and dysfunctional Minsk Group and related structures of the OSCE. We are ready to continue the bilateral dialogue on these and other issues related to the normalization process between the two countries," the statement reads. 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 For nearly three decades, the brutal murder of Gerthie Carolina remained a mystery. The 81-year-old widow was hacked to death at her home on August 11, 1997, just four months after she finalized her trust and will, The Oklahoman reported. Carolina, who was known as Granny in her small town of Sasakwa, Oklahoma, had been repeatedly stabbed and possibly attacked with an ax when she was found dead on her kitchen floor. Over 27 years no suspects were arrested and her case grew cold. But agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) in 2023 revisited the investigation, and reexamined evidence, including a critically important bloodstain on the side of a shoe left behind and collected at the crime scene after the murder. It was the breakthrough investigators needed to arrest two suspects two of Carolinas own relatives. Carolyn Foreman, 81, the victims niece, and Dakota Davis, 45, Carolinas grand-niece, were arrested on March 5, and were both charged last Friday with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the killing. The motive Seminole County District Attorney Erik Johnson said in a statement this week that the motive of the murder was to obtain quick money and to collect an inheritance from the victim. The year before she was killed Carolina bought a $40,000 certificate of deposit. The following year the CD was transferred to a living trust with Foreman named as the beneficiary. Carolina also signed her will that year, again naming Foreman as her heir, noting she had no children, the OSBI said. Carolina left her estate to Foreman, who would then be responsible for dividing the estate up among the family, the OSBI reported in court affidavits. Just days after Carolinas murder, her $40,000 CD was cashed out by Foreman. open image in gallery Carolyn Foreman, 81, the victims niece, has been charged with murder in the cold case killing of Gerthie Carolina in 1997 ( Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation ) The murder The day of the murder, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office responded to Carolinas home in Sasakwa to find the widow dead in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Her niece and her grand-niece, who were 53 and 17 at the time, claimed to have discovered her body when they arrived around 3:15 p.m. that day to take her to a doctor because she wasnt feeling well, according to the affidavits obtained by The Oklahoman. An autopsy revealed that Carolina's cause of death was multiple stab, incised wounds and blunt force injury, the OSBI reported. OSBI agents said they were later told that Davis had admitted to the murder over the years, and in some accounts, she reportedly said she used a machete, while in another, she allegedly used an ax. Foreman had a gun, but Dakota had an ax. When they arrived [at Carolinas home], Dakota threw ammonia on Carolinas face. Dakota then began hitting Carolina with the ax, court documents said. open image in gallery A break in the case came in 2024 when an OSBI criminalist found a bloodstain on Davis shoe that was collected from the crime scene in 1997 ( Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation ) Davis father told agents that she told him in 2001 that she had chopped up the victim while Foreman was telling her to hit her again, hit her again, according to the affidavits. He said Carolina had been upset because Foreman was taking money from her bank account to pay bills. Initially there were few leads in the case until agents took another careful look two years ago. A break in the case A break in the case came in 2024 when an OSBI criminalist found a bloodstain on the side of Davis shoe, which had been collected from the crime scene in 1997, which was tested and proved to be the victims blood. Based on the bloodstain evidence and information from interviews the OSBI conducted with several witnesses between 1997 and 2005, an arrest warrant was issued by the Seminole County District Court. Foreman was arrested in Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Davis was arrested in Sacramento, California. Both women now face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Foreman had previously been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old in 1999. That charge was dismissed later that year. Her son, Billy Earl Parker, who was also accused of the same murder, was found guilty in 2007 of first-degree murder, and is serving life in prison. This case is a testament to the relentless dedication of these investigators and our unwavering pursuit of justice, even decades after a crime is committed, prosecutors said. We hope this brings some measure of peace to Gerthie Carolina's family after all these years. 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 founder of a Texas megachurch and former Trump ally has been indicted on charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child - which allegedly happened in the 1980s. Robert Morris, 63, resigned last year from the Gateway Church in the Dallas suburb of Southlake as senior pastor after the allegations surfaced. He is charged with five criminal counts of lewd or indecent acts involving a child, who was 12 at the time, the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office said in a statement Wednesday. Morris, who was a member of President Donald Trumps evangelical advisory committee during his first term, stepped down last June after admitting to having inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in the 1980s, after a woman accused him of molesting her when she was 12-years-old. Cindy Cemishire went public with the accusation last summer. She claimed Morris told her: Never tell anyone about this. It will ruin everything. Prosecutors said the abuse occurred while Morris was a traveling evangelist visiting Hominy, Oklahoma, with the family of the alleged victim. The indictment alleges the abuse started around Christmas of 1982 and carried on for the next four years. open image in gallery Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris has been indicted on five charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child. He was once a member of Donald Trumps evangelical advisory committee ( AP ) There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done. Cemishire told NBC News that she was grateful to the authorities for pursuing the case. After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable, she told the outlet. Morris previously claimed that Cemishires family forgave him and he repented. open image in gallery Morris characterized the alleged abuse as kissing and petting and not intercourse. He also said that the victims family had forgiven him ( WFAA / YouTube ) When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong, he said. In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of. I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and the young ladys father. I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me. Clemishire told WFAA last year that though her family never supported the disgraced Pastors return to the ministry. I think leaders can get caught up and think its our responsibility to protect God and its not. Our responsibility is to protect the people, she said. God is bigger than all of that. When the allegations came to light, Trumps campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump had not been aware of the allegations, according to NBC News. If found guilty, Morris faces up to 20 years in prison. CCTV: We noticed that a series of major foreign investment projects have been launched in China this year, with a total investment volume of US$33 billion. Commentators say foreign companies are increasing their investment in the Chinese market with concrete actions. However, some say statistics show that foreign investment in China has dropped in recent years, indicating a trend of foreign capital leaving China. Whats your comment on this? Mao Ning: We have received similar questions from other journalists recently. Here I would like to share some of the latest statistics from authorities with you. By the end of last year, nearly 1.24 million foreign-funded companies have been established in China, with paid-in foreign capital reaching RMB 20.6 trillion. Last year, some 60,000 foreign-invested companies were newly established in China, up by 9.9 percent year-on-year. In the past five years, the rate of return on FDI in China is nearly 9 percent, ranking among the top across the globe. Statistics show that China remains an ideal destination for foreign investment and many foreign companies are optimistic about Chinas growth prospects. Last month, China issued the 2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment, putting forward 20 new measures on expanding self-initiated opening-up in an orderly manner and boosting foreign investment. It is put forward clearly in this years government work report that we will ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises in fields such as access to production factors, license application, standards setting, and government procurement, thus enabling foreign-funded enterprises to achieve even greater business success in China. Partnering with China will bring more opportunities. No matter how the external environment may evolve, China remains firmly committed to high-standard opening up and always welcomes companies from all countries to keep investing in China and explore the Chinese market to enjoy benefits and development together. DPA: According to German media report, the German foreign intelligence service concluded based on their evidence that the outbreak of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in 2020 could well have been triggered by an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Whats your comment? Whats Chinas position on the COVID pandemic? Mao Ning: We have stated Chinas position on this issue for many times. We believe the COVID-19 origins-tracing is a matter of science, and the judgement should be made by scientists and the science-based spirit should be upheld. It is extremely unlikely that the pandemic was caused by a lab leakthis is the authoritative conclusion reached by the experts of the WHO-China joint mission based on science following their field trips to the lab in Wuhan and in-depth communication with researchers. The conclusion has been widely acknowledged by the international community, including the science community. On the COVID-19 origins-tracing, we firmly oppose all forms of political manipulation. Beijing Youth Daily: The Report on the Work of the Government noted that China offered unilateral visa waivers to more countries in 2024, thus bringing about a sustained surge in inbound tourism. Foreign Minister Wang Yi also pointed out when he met the press during the two sessions that more countries may join our visa-free circle of friends, sustaining the popularity of China Travel around the world. Can you give us more details on that? Mao Ning: So far, China has granted unilateral visa-free entry to 38 countries and extended the transit visa-free period to 240 hours for 54 countries. In 2024, over 20 million foreign travelers entered China visa-free, up by 112 percent year-on-year. Among them, over 3.39 million came to China under the unilateral visa-free policy, up by 1200 percent year-on-year. Having been to China, many foreigners who thought of China as mysterious now find the country fascinating. We will take more steps to make it easier to visit China and make foreign visitors feel more at home during their stay here. Some policies have been put in place. For example, Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide no longer require online appointment for visa application and now provide walk-in visa application services instead. Many cities are now piloting the policy of Buy Now, Refund Now for efficient departure tax refunds and provide easier payment access which allows foreign users to link their international credit cards to Chinese digital payment platforms. Spring is a perfect time to visit China as it brings warmth and blossom of flowers. We welcome foreign friends to come and visit China and get a first-hand experience of this beautiful and open country as it is. AFP: China will hold the Beijing meeting between China, Russia and Iran on the Iranian nuclear issue tomorrow. Can you brief us on Chinas expectation on the meeting? Is the meeting open to foreign media? If not, why? Mao Ning: As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), China calls for an appropriate resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through political and diplomatic means, and efforts of safeguarding the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. The Beijing meeting will be Chinas latest diplomatic effort with the aim of enhancing communication and coordination and creating conditions for resuming dialogue and negotiation at an early date. Under current circumstances, we believe that relevant parties need to remain calm, exercise restraint, and prevent the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear issue from escalating or even descending to confrontation and conflict. China sincerely hopes that all parties can work in the same direction, continue to build trust and clear up misgivings, and turn the momentum of resuming dialogue and negotiation into reality at an early date. On whether the meeting will be open to media, let me check and get back to you later. Reuters: Taiwan president Lai Ching-te said today that China has deepened its influence campaign and infiltration against the island. He also said that China has used Taiwans democracy to absorb various members of society. How does the Ministry respond to this? Mao Ning: Taiwan is part of China. There is no so-called president in Taiwan. What you mentioned is not a question on foreign affairs. What I can tell you is that no matter what they say, the DPP authorities cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, and the trend that China must achieve reunification. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan is a crucial country in terms of ensuring Europe's energy independence and energy security, Deputy Marshal of Poland's Senate Michal Kaminski told Trend on the sidelines of the 12th Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan. He recalled that many European countries are already receiving significant amounts of energy resources from Azerbaijan. "This shows that Azerbaijan can easily be a very safe and reliable partner for Europe from a strategic point of view," the MP said. He also shared his impressions of the 12th Global Baku Forum. "The 12th Global Baku Forum reflects Azerbaijan's growing importance and influence in the world, and I am pleased to note this, because I am a permanent participant of the Global Baku Forum. The Global Baku Forum has become one of the most important platforms for exchanging ideas not only in the region but also in Europe, and I would say, in the entire world. This fact itself shows us how important Azerbaijan is as a meeting point for different perspectives, geostrategic strategies, viewpoints, and positions. All parties have the opportunity to come to Azerbaijan, share their thoughts, and engage in a very honest discussion to achieve a better world because this is something we all need," Kaminski underscored. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Reaching agreement on the UN Pact for the Future was in itself a significant success in the current geopolitical situation, but real results will only be achieved with its full implementation, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the UN Guy Ryder said at a panel discussion on the theme of "The UN Pact for the Future: Building a New Global Consensus" being held as part of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "We need to move forward and take advantage of the opportunities that have opened up at all levels. The pact is aimed at strengthening global governance in the 21st century so that international institutions can function effectively in a changed world. It includes important provisions such as the reform of the UN Security Council, which for the first time since 1963 includes the principle of correcting historical injustice toward Africa, as well as the need to make the council more representative," Ryder mentioned. According to him, the document also paints a picture of reshaping the global financial landscape to ensure that the needs of developing countries are not left out in the cold. It includes a global digital pact that will ensure fair access to advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and for the first time involves developing countries in the process of regulating the digital sphere. The pact also, for the first time, lays down the law that states must keep an eye on the long-term fallout of their decisions for the generations yet to come. The Under-Secretary-General is counting on member states to keep the ball rolling with the momentum generated by the pact, pushing forward reforms through crucial international processes. In particular, the IV Financing for Development Conference, which will be held in June 2025 in Spain, will create opportunities for modernizing the international financial system. The Second World Social Summit, which will take place in November 2025 in Qatar, will be an important platform for discussing regional initiatives. "Furthermore, the pact envisions deepening the cooperation of the UN with regional organizations such as the African Union, the European Union, and others, to strengthen international security, protect human rights, and promote sustainable development," he noted. Ryder emphasized that the successful implementation of the pact requires the participation of a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, local authorities, national parliaments, the scientific community, and others. "I call on you to examine the commitments outlined in the pact, identify those most significant for your country, and create partnerships to ensure they lead to real change," he concluded. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Attorneys for the state and for death row inmate Jessie Hoffman Jr. agreed Thursday to unseal a redacted version of Louisiana's new protocol for using nitrogen gas in executions, shedding public light on how the state plans to put him to death on March 18. Louisiana voters have become accustomed to being asked to make tweaks to the state's governing document. Saturday will be no different, with four proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. Here are our recommendations. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Current conflicts demonstrate the fragility of the world order, the Chief Adviser on National Security and Foreign Policy to the President of Turkiye Akif Cagatay Klc said at a panel discussion on the theme of "The UN Pact for the Future: Building a New Global Consensus" being held as part of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "Recent and ongoing conflictsthe war in Gaza, the armed conflict in Ukraine, crises in West Africa and South Asiademonstrate the fragility of the current world order. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia lasted for over 30 years. We shouted as loud as we could that there was a problem, that injustice had occurred, but those who were supposed to act correctly preferred to remain silent," he said. Klc pointed out that faith in the world and the framework established after World War II have gone up in smoke. "Respect for the values that were established is being eroded and questioned because those who shaped the world order after World War II themselves failed to demonstrate respect for others," he added. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Junior doctors have won a landmark $175 million settlement with the Victorian government over unpaid overtime while working at public hospitals. The agreement will benefit up to 15,000 staff who worked across 36 Victorian health services between January 2015 and now, who did not log unscheduled overtime because they were unaware of their entitlements or feared it would negatively impact their career. Michael Hand hopes the case will help stop junior doctors burning out. Credit: Penny Stephens The in-principle deal, between the hospital doctors union and Allan government, was struck after the government lost an appeal against a landmark wage theft case involving a young doctor at Frankston Hospital, awarded more than $8000 for unpaid overtime. Her case paved the way for a class action against other health services. Junior doctors who have worked in the Victorian public hospital system since 2015 are being urged to register to become part of the group. New tree canopy targets for Melbourne will be impossible to achieve without huge funding to rip up asphalt on public streets, as councils and experts warn the Victorian governments goals are in conflict with its own new rules for apartment developments. The Allan governments 30-year development blueprint, Plan For Victoria, calls for 30 per cent tree canopy cover in urban areas, but councils say this target labelled meaningless by one mayor is contradicted by new state planning rules introduced for low-rise apartment and townhouse developments. David Morrison, president of the Blackburn and District Tree Preservation Society, in front of Blackburn trees. Credit: Paul Jeffers The new code, which will be enforced from March 31, introduces standards allowing a three-storey building to be automatically approved without giving neighbours the right to appeal. Under the new rules, planning applications will be deemed to comply if they provide a minimum of 10 per cent tree canopy cover on sites up to 1000 square metres, and 20 per cent for larger sites. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been on Radio 6PR. I had the opportunity when I arrived here to go see Roger Cook, to congratulate him on what was a thumping victory, he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with WA Premier Roger Cook. Credit: Colin Murty Its quite an extraordinary result for a third-term government. Labor is a good brand here in WA ... theyll get about 46 maybe even a bit more seats in a 59 seat parliament. Cook on Sunday said he was excited about the next four years and his government would get back to work. But hes in a holding pattern waiting for the WA electoral commission to finalise the count before his new cabinet can sworn in, which is likely to be late next week. The commission has been under fire over ballot paper shortages and some voters being turned away from polling booths, with others forced to queue for hours to cast their ballot. AAP At face value, these are episodes of the pernicious rise in Islamophobia, as documented in the latest Islamophobia in Australia report. The fifth annual report, released today, found that Islamophobic attacks in Australia are, by and large, attacks on women and girls. Between the start of 2023 and the end of 2024, 675 reports were made in total, with Muslim women and girls the victims in 75 per cent of these reported Islamophobic incidents. This gendered element to victimisation is not a recent aberration; a decades worth of reporting shows that it is baked in. Muslim women and girls constitute 95 per cent of the victims of reported Islamophobic incidents on public transport, 74 per cent of incidents at shops, and 100 per cent of spitting incidents. They reported more than three times the number of incidents at workplaces than men, made up 79 per cent of verbal abuse victims, and 60 per cent of the victims of physical abuse. Men and boys were reported to be the perpetrators of three-quarters of these attacks against Muslim women. Compared to general crime, where Australian males are nearly twice as likely as females to be physically assaulted by strangers, and more likely to be threatened by a stranger, it is significant that female Muslims are much more likely to be assaulted and threatened by strangers than Muslim men. Overall crime statistics show both threats and assaults by strangers have decreased in Australia generally since 2008, helped in part by the campaign rebranding the king hit as the cowards punch and tighter sentencing. This suggests well-resourced public campaigns to change community sentiment and tougher consequences can make a difference. While the visibility of Muslim women (many of whom wear religious clothing) plays a role in their targeting, that doesnt tell the whole story. Muslim men also reported Islamophobic abuse about their robes, prayer caps, and beards. Muslim women and girls, stereotyped in Western society as oppressed, submissive, and voiceless, are perhaps targeted because these stereotypes make them seem an easy, passive target. Ironically then, Islamophobic stereotypes may facilitate more attacks against Muslim women. The private recruitment agency hired to recruit, onboard and deploy staff at Saturdays state election has sought to dispel commentary that the polling was outsourced to them. Singaporean-headquartered PersolKelly won an $86 million contract from the WA Electoral Commission in December 2023 to run the 2025 and 2029 elections. The execution of the WA election has come under fire. Credit: WA Electoral Commission In a brief statement released yesterday evening, a PersolKelly spokesman said the company recruited and deployed about 7000 personnel and was responsible for onboarding successful candidates. Previous state and federal elections have appointed recruitment companies as suppliers to supply staff in a similar way, the statement read. Washington: US President Donald Trump has told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that American control of Greenland is necessary to enhance international security, escalating his campaign to annex the strategic Arctic island. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security international we have a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful, Trump told Rutte as they sat side-by-side in the White House Oval Office for talks. Well be talking to you. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte meet in the Oval Office. Credit: AP Asked directly about the prospect of annexation, Trump said: I think that will happen. Trump has made annexation of Greenland a major talking point since he took office on January 20. His latest comments suggested he might want NATO involved in his attempt to take over the island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. WASHINGTON, March 13, 2025 -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced the winners of its 2025 TOP SAFETY PICK and TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards and Mazda is proud to receive eight TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards, more of the absolute highest award in vehicle safety than any other brand. The awarded vehicles include the 2025 model year Mazda3 Sedan, Mazda3 Hatchback, CX-30, CX-50 including CX-50 Hybrid, CX-70, CX-70 PHEV, CX-90 and CX-90 PHEV. To earn these esteemed awards, vehicles must achieve top ratings in IIHS's front and side crash tests, pedestrian front crash prevention assessments and come with standard acceptable- or good-rated headlights. With each year IIHS strengthens the award criteria, making the 2025 awards program the toughest yet. "The success of our awards program depends on automakers' commitment to safety," IIHS President David Harkey said. "Kudos to Mazda for meeting this challenge with eight TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners, the most of any brand." Mazda has risen to the top through outstanding performance in IIHS's newest crash test that requires heightened rear seat occupant protection, with all tested models earning a top, Good rating. It was accomplished through the addition of rear seat belt pretensioners and load limiters and advanced airbags to our already robust structures, which Mazda proudly offers as standard equipment across all models. For Mazda, making safer cars is about more than just protecting the people riding in them. In our approach to advanced crash avoidance technologies, Mazda has also ensured that our crash avoidance systems are tuned to consider pedestrians in a variety of lighting conditions. "Mazda's dedication to keeping our customers and their passengers safe in the pursuit of eliminating traffic fatalities is evidenced in these latest awards from IIHS," said MNAO President and CEO Tom Donnelly. "We deeply appreciate IIHS continually challenging the industry with ever moving targets with their rigorous crash testing that reflect real-world crash scenarios." To learn more about advanced safety at Mazda, please visit the MazdaUSA.com website - https://www.mazdausa.com/why-mazda/safety. The IIHS is an independent, non-governmental safety-testing organization, funded by the insurance industry. For more information, visit https://www.iihs.org/ratings/top-safety-picks. About Mazda North American Operations Proudly founded in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda has a history of sophisticated craftsmanship and innovation, and a purpose to enrich life-in-motion for those it serves. By putting humans at the center of everything it does, Mazda aspires to create uplifting experiences with our vehicles and for people. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Colombia through approximately 795 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario; operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and operations in Colombia are managed by Mazda de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at news.mazdausa.com. SOURCE Mazda North American Operations BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Global digital opportunities must be available to all, the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Tomas Lamanauskas said at a panel discussion on the theme of "The UN Pact for the Future: Building a New Global Consensus" being held as part of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. Lamanauskas made it clear that the aim of rolling out digital tools under the Pact isnt about reinventing the wheel, but rather about spotting the holes in the current setup and figuring out how to fill them. The ITU representative articulated that the overarching global digital initiative is strategically designed to mitigate the digital divide, given that approximately 2.6 billion individuals globally remain devoid of internet connectivity. Lamanauskas emphasized the critical integration of cutting-edge technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, while underscoring the necessity of strategically navigating the inherent risks linked to their deployment. "Digital opportunities must be available to everyone, and it is important to properly manage the risks associated with technological development, including artificial intelligence," he mentioned. He also emphasized the importance of the work of the UN's digital technology group, which brings together more than 40 agencies to ensure cooperation and the implementation of key initiatives in the areas of digitization and innovative technologies. "We are proud that the UN has been actively involved in this process from the very beginning and is ready to offer solutions that will help integrate new technologies on a global scale," Lamanauskas added. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel 2025 IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6, Kona , Tucson and Santa Fe each receive TSP+ awards IIHS TSP/TSP+ awards now require more stringent testing criteria for second-row occupants Parent Company Hyundai Motor Group also leads industry with 12 new 2025 IIHS TSP/TSP+ awards FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., March 13, 2025 -- Hyundai has been awarded five vehicles with TOP SAFETY PICK+ designations by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). The 2025 IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6, Kona (not EV), Tucson/Tucson Hybrid and Santa Fe/Santa Fe Hybrid (built after Nov., 2024) have each received the highest-safety rating, TSP+ by IIHS. The TOP SAFETY PICK and TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards identify the best vehicle choices for safety within their vehicle categories by IIHS. The 2025 IIHS test criteria now has more stringent requirements for second-row occupant safety. Vehicles must earn an acceptable rating in the updated test to qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK, and a good rating is required for the TOP SAFETY PICK+. "Hyundai recognizes the importance in keeping all passengers safe with technology advancements throughout the vehicle," said Cole Stutz, chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor North America. "With our suite of SmartSense advanced safety and connectivity features, we recognized the added benefit of incorporating advanced seat belt technology and other safety innovations, such as rear occupant alert and additional side airbags for back seat occupants as well." Back seat safety is emphasized in the Institute's updated moderate overlap front test which adds a second dummy seated behind the driver. The original test has been phased out completely. "We're once again challenging automakers to make their new models even safer than those they were building a year ago," IIHS President David Harkey said. "Every vehicle that earns a 2025 award offers a high level of safety in both the front seat and the second row." To earn a TSP/TSP+ award, vehicles must also earn good ratings in the small overlap front and updated side tests as well as an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation, which gauges performance in both daytime and nighttime conditions. All trims must be equipped with acceptable- or good-rated headlights. For more information on the changes to the award criteria, visit IIHS.org. Hyundai Motor America Hyundai Motor America offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles, while supporting Hyundai Motor Company's Progress for Humanity vision. Hyundai has significant operations in the U.S., including its North American headquarters in California, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama assembly plant, the all-new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, and several cutting-edge R&D facilities. These operations, combined with those of Hyundai's 835 independent dealers, contribute $20.1 billion annually and 190,000 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to a recent economic impact report. For more information, visit www.hyundainews.com. SOURCE Hyundai Motor America BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. IAEA is committed to implementing the UN Pact for Future, the Deputy Director General of the IAEA Najat Mokhtar said at a panel discussion on the theme of "The UN Pact for the Future: Building a New Global Consensus" being held as part of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "Ensuring equal access to advanced technologies and eliminating scientific inequality are key conditions for the successful implementation of the Pact for the Future. The IAEA is committed to fulfilling it by focusing on science, innovation, and cooperation with all member states," she explained. According to Mokhtar, one of the key areas of the IAEA's work is developing scientific and technological potential, as well as introducing advanced solutions for healthcare. "Specifically, we are working on improving the qualifications of medical professionals to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Today, 70 percent of Africa's population lacks access to oncology care. This means that a person's place of birth often determines their chances of survival, and such a situation is unacceptable. I hope that the Pact for the Future will change this state of affairs," she also said. The deputy director-general noted that the IAEA is exploring mechanisms for blended financing to support countries, strengthen their medical infrastructure, and ensure that everyone has access to the necessary treatment, including oncology care. "One example of innovation implementation is the use of artificial intelligence to accelerate the preparation of cancer treatment protocols. Under standard conditions, this process takes months, but with AI, it is reduced to just a few hours, and what does this mean in practice? More lives saved. The faster the protocol is developed, the more patients receive timely treatment," Mokhtar added. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Gold smuggling case reached Ktaka CMs doorstep NEW DELHI : Amit Malviya shares Ranyas picture with Siddaramaiah BHARATIYA Janata Party leader Amit Malviya on Wednesday shared a picture of actress Ranya Rao, who is accused in an alleged gold smuggling case, with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and said that this case has now reached the CMs doorstep. In a post on X, Amit Malviya with the hashtag Congress Gold Field said, The Ranya Rao gold smuggling case in Karnataka has now reached the doorstep of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. This dated photo also features the current Home Minister, G Parmeshwara. Ironically, the man dismissing any political links is none other than Congresss CM-in-waiting, DK Shivakumar. Earlier on Tuesday, Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad asserted that no one from State is involved in criminal activity. He said that the smuggling case is being investigated by the CBI, which comes under the Central Government. Holika Dahan at 999 places in city Security arrangements n 2,000 police personnel on bandobast 1,300 Home Guards and State Reserve Police Force teams to assist cops 100 fixed security points have been set up Police blockades to be in place at key locations Patrolling at religious places to maintain peace during Rangpanchami Drunk drivers to be detained immediately, and their vehicles seized Strict action against those found throwing balloons, harassing women Staff Reporter : The city is gearing up for Holi and Rangpanchami to be celebrated on Thursday and Friday respectively. The celebrations will begin with Holika Dahan at 999 locations across the city. The City police have cast a strict security blanket with 2,000 additional personnel deployed across Nagpur to ensure peace during the festivity. Last year, Holi was celebrated at 921 places, but this year, the number has increased. Commissioner of Police Dr Ravinder Kumar Singal has directed the Zonal DCPs to take all preventive measures during the festival. So far, preventive action has been taken against 1,400 criminals, and the police are closely monitoring activities of 26 criminal gangs under MCOCA. During Rangpanchami, some people throw water balloons and trouble women. The police have issued strict orders to detain anyone caught harassing women. Damini squads will patrol areas near womens hostels for safety. If citizens face any trouble, they can contact the Police Control Room by dialing 112 or 1091. The Commissioner of Police has urged citizens to celebrate Holi with traditional fervour and maintain law and order. BoM employees hold Dharna, threaten nation-wide strike on March 20 Business Reporter : THE employees of Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) under the guidance of S P Tiwari, General Secretary, All India Bank of Maharashtra Employees Federation (AIBMEF) staged a Dharna and registered their protest against the management of the bank in front of Bank of Maharashtra, Mahabank Building, Sitabuldi, Nagpur on Wednesday. More than 35 bankers were present in the Dharna from 10 am to 2.30 pm. The bankers also threatened to hold one-day nation-wide strike if their demands were not met on March 20. Lalit Kolte, Secretary of AIBMEF, Nagpur elaborated that the bank employees are demanding recruitment of employees at all levels. In 2021, the bank abolished post of sweeper and outsourced the work. These workers are not even paid the minimum wage. The bank has not appointed regular sub-staff employees in over 700 branches. There are 318 branches where not a single clerk has been appointed. In 1,290 branches, there is only one clerk who works at the cash counter. The work-life balance is disrupted, and employees are constantly under stress, leading to health issues. This also affects customer service, Kolte added. Jaiwant Gurway, Chairman EMBEA, Chendil Iyer of UCO Bank, Vijay Thakur of Indian Bank and others were present. General insurance workers stage demonstration, demand wage revision Business Reporter : Public Sector General Insurance (PSGI) employees at Nagpur held a lunch hour demonstration in front of Regional Office of Oriental Insurance Co Ltd located at Nelson Square on March 11, 2025. The demonstration was held on the appeal of Joint Forum of Trade Unions (JFTU) and associations in PSGI companies. The workers demanded wage revision which is still pending since August 1, 2022, among other long pending demands. The aggrieved employees shouted slogans of their demand. After the demonstrations a gate meeting was organised in which Vishnu Agrawal, General Secretary, Oriental Insurance Officers Association, Anil Sakharkar of GIBCEWA and Prashant Dixit, General Secretary of General Insurance Employees Union, Western Zone addressed the gathering. Holi Milan celebrations at BHEL Ladies Club Staff Reporter : A grand Holi Milan function was organised at BHEL Ladies Club on Wednesday with great enthusiasm. The event was graced by the President of the Ladies Club, Sangeeta Ramanathan, who attended the programme as the chief guest and wished everyone a Happy Holi. Along with Ramanathan, the Vice-President Manita Chandra, Secretary Swati Baghel, Treasurer Vrishali Paradkar, Manju Shauri, and executives from all centers were also present, along with all the members of the club. The programme featured a traditional Radha Krishna dance along with various colourful performances. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant celebration, playing Holi with herbal gulaal and flowers, making it a memorable festival filled with love and colours. In pain, Pili river turns pale By Kaushik Bhattacharya : Pili river, which flows through the northern part of Nagpur and is a left bank tributary of Naag river, is struggling to survive as sewage, garbage, industrial waste, and what not are polluting the water body. The 16.7-km-long river originates in Lava-Dhaba village in Nagpur West and feeds Kanhan-Pench river system. It meets the Naag river in Bharatwada near Pardi in Nagpur East. From its originating site to its meeting point with Naag river at Bharatwada, the river traverses through the most densely populated parts of the city. The river accepts all dirt and filth of North and East Nagpur silently during its journey from one corner of the city to another. Pili river has become an open drainage system of the city. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) conducts desilting and cleaning campaigns for Pili river every year before monsoon. But, the annual exercise has failed to change the fate of the river. Government of India, Government of Maharashtra and NMC came forward to rejuvenate the river with the help of Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) recently along with Naag river. However, there are many issues which need to be addressed when it comes to rejuvenation and cleaning of the river. The Hitavada, recently, followed the Pili river and found the major sources directly responsible for contamination of the water body. After Gorewada, the river flows through Mankapur, Nara, Automotive Square, Itabhatti Chowk, Kalamna, Pardi and Bharatwada. Mankapur ghat, located over the Pili River, generates solid waste, which is dumped in the river. Along with this, meat shops near the river, discharge waste water directly into the water body through nullahs. These shops do not have arrangement for the treatment of waste water. All the waste flowing through the nullah adds to further contamination of the river. Also, various major industrial units located in the catchment area of the river within the city and outside the city limits discharge waste water into the river. Instead of releasing waste water, these industries should have provided their own Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for treatment of industrial effluent. Dumping of solid waste is a major issue as residents dump garbage directly in the river and the Itabhatti Chowk is the biggest example of human apathy and ignorance towards the environment. JICA is conducting a study to implement the rejuvenation and cleaning of Pili River along with Naag River. We are tackling the issue of sewage throughout the city, including all the three rivers, but it will take time to get results, Dr Shweta Banerjee, Superintending Engineer, Environment Department, NMC told The Hitavada. We have received fund of Rs 1,926.99 crore from the Central Government to implement the rejuvenation project of Naag River and Pili River. The survey is underway and this year, at many places on Pili and Naag rivers, work will start, Dr Banerjee added. While visiting various stretches of Pili River, a stretch near Itabhatti Chowk came across as a danger zone for commuters, with missing retaining walls and poorly lit road exposing motorists to a fatal plunge into the river in case of an accident. Absence of barriers is also leading to reckless garbage dumping from unchecked encroachments along this crucial road. To clean the Pili River, a multi-pronged approach is needed, including laying sewage lines, constructing new Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), and also the citizens should be sensitised to keep their water bodies clean and usable. The administration and citizens both should work together to ensure cleanliness of the citys rivers. India, Mauritius ink 8 pacts PORT LOUIS : INDIA and Mauritius on Wednesday elevated their ties to an enhanced strategic partnership and inked eight pacts to boost cooperation in several sectors including trade and maritime security even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled an ambitious vision for the development of the Global South. The agreements inked will provide for promoting the use of national currencies for cross-border transactions, sharing of maritime data, joint work in combating money laundering and enhancing cooperation in the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector. On the second and final day of his two-day trip to Port Louis, Modi attended the national day celebrations of Mauritius as the chief guest. A contingent of Indian armed forces also participated in the celebrations along with a warship of the Indian Navy and the Akash Ganga skydiving team of the Indian Air Force. Following talks with his Mauritian counterpart Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Modi announced Indias new vision for Global South and named it MAHASAGAR or Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions, a policy approach that came against the backdrop of Chinas relentless attempts to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean. Modi said a free, open, secure, and safe Indian Ocean is the common priority of India and Mauritius and that he and Ramgoolam agreed that defence cooperation and maritime security are an important part of the strategic partnership between the two countries. We are committed to extend full cooperation in the security of Mauritius Exclusive Economic Zone, the Prime Minister said in his media statement. The unveiling of the new vision came 10 years after the Prime Minister announced during his visit to Mauritius in 2015 New Delhis SAGAR or Security and Growth for All in the Region policy that formed the bedrock for Indias engagement with the Indian Ocean Region. We have taken the SAGAR vision forward for the stability and prosperity of this entire region. Today, taking it forward, I would like to say that our vision for the Global South will be, beyond SAGAR -- (it will be) MAHASAGAR that is Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions, he said in a media statement. Modi said the new approach will focus on the spirit of trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, and mutual security for a shared future. Under this, cooperation will be ensured through technology sharing, concessional loans and grants. The Indian Prime Minister also said New Delhi will cooperate in building the new Parliament building in Mauritius and it will be a gift to the island nation from the Mother of Democracy. Delving into strategic cooperation between the two nations, Modi said every possible help will be provided to Mauritius to help it meet the needs of its Coast Guard and that New Delhi will assist in the establishment of a police academy and national maritime information sharing centre in the country. Cooperation on white shipping, blue economy and hydrography will be strengthened. We fully respect Mauritius sovereignty in the context of Chagos, he said. India has been supporting the island nation in its efforts to reach a mutually beneficial deal with the UK over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. In October last year, the UK announced its decision to hand over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after more than half a century under a historic agreement. Under the deal, sealed during the tenure of previous Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth, the UK would give up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands but would maintain a 99-year lease over the UK-US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia. However, the new Mauritius Government led by Ramgoolam demanded the reopening of talks with the UK over the Chagos Islands as it sought a relook at the deal. In his remarks, Modi said he and Ramgoolam decided to give the status of Enhanced Strategic Partnership to the India-Mauritius ties. We are each others partners on the path of economic and social progress. Be it a natural disaster or the COVID disaster, we have always supported each other. Be it defence or education, health or space, we are walking shoulder to shoulder in every field, he said. In the last 10 years, we have added many new dimensions to our relations. We have set new records in development cooperation and capacity building, Modi said. The Prime Minister also announced several development projects to be implemented in Mauritius with Indias assistance. Work will be done to modernise the 100-kilometres-long water pipeline, he said. In the second phase of community development projects, new projects worth 500 million Mauritian rupees would be started, he added. We have also agreed to settle mutual trade in local currencies, Modi said. The Prime Minister also mentioned various India-assisted projects in the island nation that included metro express for speed in Mauritius, supreme court building for justice, social housing for comfortable stay, ENT hospital for good health, UPI and Rupay Card to promote business and tourism. Modi and Ramgoolam also dedicated to Mauritius the Atal Behari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation. The Prime Minister also touched upon the people-to-people connection between the two nations. We will work together for the use of AI (artificial intelligence) and DPI, which is digital public infrastructure in human development, Modi said. For the people of Mauritius, facilities will be provided for Char Dham Yatra and Ramayana trail in India. India has close and long-standing relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean. A key reason for the special ties is the fact that Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island nations population of 1.2 million. Since 2005, India has been among the largest trading partners of Mauritius. PM Modi receives Mauritius highest award PORT LOUIS, Mar 12 (PTI) PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday received Mauritius highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, calling it a tribute to the centuries-old cultural and historical bonds of kinship between the two nations. Modi, who is on a two-day state visit here, was conferred with the award by President of Mauritius Dharam Gokhool at the island nations 57th National Day celebrations. Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian leader to receive this prestigious award, which recognises his contributions to strengthening ties between India and Mauritius. I express my heartfelt gratitude for being conferred the Highest National Award of Mauritius. This is not just my honour. It is the honour of 1.4 billion Indians. It is a tribute to the centuries-old cultural and historical bonds of kinship between India and Mauritius, Modi said. Through their hard work, these people wrote a golden chapter in the development of Mauritius and contributed to its vibrant diversity, he said. I accept this award with full humility and gratitude. I dedicate it to your ancestors who came from India to Mauritius centuries ago, and to all their generations, he said. The award is an acknowledgement of our shared commitment to regional peace, progress, security and sustainable development. It is a symbol of the shared hope and aspiration of the Global South, he said. I also embrace this honour as a responsibility. I reaffirm our commitment that we will continue to make every effort to enhance India-Mauritius strategic partnership to greater heights, he said. During the National Day celebrations, an Indian Navy marching contingent participated in the parade. An Indian Naval Ship also made a port call to coincide with the National Day celebrations. Honoured to attend the National Day celebrations of Mauritius! Wishing the people of Mauritius continued prosperity and success as we also strengthen the deep-rooted ties between our countries, Modi posted on X. Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam on Tuesday announced that Modi will be conferred with the nations highest honour. Modi is the fifth foreign national to receive this distinguished recognition. This marks the 21st international award conferred upon Prime Minister Modi by a foreign nation. Prime Minister Modi along with Ramgoolam on Wednesday jointly inaugurated the Atal Behari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation in Mauritius. It will serve as a hub for learning, research and public service. Committed partners in education & capacity building. PM @narendramodi & PM @Ramgoolam_Dr jointly inaugurated the India-assisted Civil Service College in Reduit, Mauritius. As a tribute to his legacy & efforts to strengthen India-Mauritius relations, the institute has been named after former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X. The institute is a Centre of Excellence for enhancing training opportunities for Mauritian civil servants. The PM also engaged with ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme) & GoI scholarship alumni, whose contributions continue to strengthen the India-Mauritius partnership, he said. Funded through a grant of USD 4.74 million under a 2017 MoU, the state-of-the-art institute will cater to the training needs of Mauritian civil servants across ministries, public offices, parastatal bodies, and Government enterprises. Beyond training, the institute would serve as a centre of excellence in public administration, fostering research, governance studies, and institutional linkages with India, Press Information Bureau said in a statement. These capacity building exchanges have added depth to the strong people-to-people ties between the two nations, it said. Aligned with Indias commitment to the Global South, the institute reflects Indias role as a trusted partner in the Indian Ocean Region and its unwavering commitment to strengthening the comprehensive India-Mauritius partnership, it added. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan avails vast natural resources to offer the world, Charge d'Affaires of the Colombian Embassy, Consul Andres Felipe Giraldo Lopez told Trend on the sidelines of the 12th Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan. According to him, the 12th Global Baku Forum will introduce significant scenarios for deliberating the new world order. "This is because the world is changing very quickly. Everywhere in the world, we see many people fighting for ideas, territories, and many other things. Therefore, I think it is very important and necessary to have such a forum where everyone can discuss these issues and work toward creating a peaceful new world. Former presidents and leaders from the Azerbaijani government are engaging in dialogue here. This is an excellent venue for addressing these concerns. Azerbaijan is a great country to look at the world from at this moment. Because it has many advantages compared to other countries. Its geographical location, being between Europe and Asia, gives this country strategic importance, and it has truly significant natural resources that it can offer to the world," the diplomat added. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Pak train op ends: 21 passengers, 4 soldiers killed, 33 militants neutralised KARACHI/ISLAMABAD : TWENTY-one passengers and four paramilitary soldiers were killed by militants holding hostages after seizing control of a train in Balochistan, an army general said on Wednesday. Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif told Dunya News TV that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene. The armed forces successfully concluded the operation in the (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely, Lt Gen Sharif said. He said that 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists when they attacked the train on Tuesday. He added that four paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers were also killed in the incident. The forces killed all 33 terrorists and secured the release of hostages, he said. The Jaffar Express, carrying some 400 passengers in nine coaches, was going from Quetta to Peshawar when militants derailed it using explosives and hijacked it near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel 160 kilometres from Quetta. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday when they said they killed six soldiers. Police conduct Mock Drill for law, order for upcoming festivals Staff Reporter : Ahead of the upcoming festivals, including Holika Dahan, Rang Panchami, Chaitra Navratri, Ramadan, and Eid-ul-Fitr, a mock drill was conducted at the Police Line, Nehru Nagar, to ensure peace, security, and law enforcement during the celebrations. The drill was organised under the guidance of senior officers, with the participation of approximately 450 officers and staff, including Rakhit Center personnel, Crime Branch, traffic police, and other police station teams. Before the drill, Inspector Jai Singh Tomar briefed the police personnel about the significance of the drill and provided practical guidance on handling various weapons, such as tear gas, and the precautions to take during law and order situations. The officers were also instructed on how to manage challenging situations and the responsibilities of the police force in such circumstances. The drill simulated a scenario where a large crowd, protesting over various demands, turned violent and began throwing stones at the police. The police initially attempted to calm the protesters but resorted to using tear gas and eventually baton charges when the situation escalated. In the final phase of the drill, under the magistrates orders, the police fired shots to control the crowd, leading to injuries among both protesters and police officers. The injured were quickly attended to and sent to the hospital via ambulances. The main objective of the mock drill was to train police personnel to maintain law and order during protests and adverse situations. It aimed to prepare them for handling crowd control and ensuring public safety while performing their duties effectively. These types of drills help the force to assess its capabilities and ensure that they are ready for any challenges during major public events or law enforcement duties. The Baloch Boil FOR Pakistan, the Balochistan problem is going to be a point of implosion -- internal explosion. The freedom movement the Baloch people are carrying on for years now has come to a boil -- with the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) striking symbols of Pakistani power every now and then. The latest in that series of Baloch strikes is the reported and claimed attack on Jaffar Express. The BLA has claimed that it has killed many Pakistani Army personnel and have taken over a 100 hostages from among passengers. A news item also appeared in the media that Pakistani forces have abducted 3 persons from Balochistan from Barkhan district. Obviously, the hostilities between the Pakistani forces and Baloch freedom fighters have reached a new level. And for Pakistani authorities, to contain this increasing trouble may not be possible. There are reasons to expect a Pakistani implosion -- triggered by Baloch freedom struggle -- in the next some time. For Pakistani authorities, the moment of implosion would be the one that they would not know how to control and contain. And in every likelihood, other regions in Pakistan, too, may pick up threads of revolt from the Baloch people and may launch their own struggles for independence from Pakistan. For a terribly weakened Government in Pakistan, controlling this new wave of Baloch hostilities would mean employing resources that would far beyond their means -- political and financial. More importantly, Pakistan has no international support since the Baloch people have made it amply clear to the world that their struggle has every justification possible. Before the partition of India in 1947, Balochistan was a free country with no commitment or allegiance to any other country. But as it did with parts of Kashmir, Pakistan took more or less the same steps to annex Balochistan. In Kashmir, they did not succeed -- but did slice off some parts of the region. In Balochistan, they annexed the whole country. Since that moment 75-plus years ago, the Baloch people never accepted their annexation by Pakistan. Their initial freedom struggle was rather slow and sedate. But in the past some years, the Baloch freedom fighters are adopting harder lines and are not in a mood to accept any cessation of armed fighting. The Pakistanis just do not know how to counter this Baloch threat and thrust -- politically or militarily. Over time, the leaders of Baloch freedom struggle have been successful in weaving a whole range of philosophies, practices and protocols of fighting the Pakistanis. They are moving around the world in a systematic manner to bring to fore the highlights of their struggle. Overall, the world appears to support them. And that has become the very big problem for Pakistan whose leadership does not know how to counter the Baloch thrust. In the current episode of claimed hijack of the Jaffar Express by Baloch freedom fighters, what is of importance is that even the Pakistani media appears shell-shocked -- with many describing the development as a film-style action that shows the Baloch preparedness and willingness to go to what extent. More details are, of course, awaited and would bring a clearer picture to fore. No matter those details, it is obvious that the Pakistani authorities are up in arms against a tough challenge by the BLA in particular and Baloch freedom struggle in general. If this challenge takes Pakistan down into a dump, then Pakistan itself will be owner of the blame. Frankly, Pakistan has no moral or legal reason to hold Balochistan in its grip. Freedom is the right of the Baloch people and they must get to exercise it and marshal their own resources for their growth and development in freedom. Trigonometric Survey Museum to come up near Zero Mile Stone A meeting of HCC about Zero Mile Stone conservation. Staff Reporter : HCC allows NMC to carry out beautification, development works Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) will establish the Great Trigonometric Survey Museum adjoining Zero Mile Stone as part of is beautification and development project. The Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC), during its meeting held on Wednesday, gave the green signal to the civic body for carrying out the ambitious development work that would further enhance beauty of the heritage site. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is providing funds from its CSR Head to NMC for the necessary work at Zero Mile Stone. A meeting of HCC was held at NMC Headquarters in Civil Lines under Chairmanship of Anoop Kumar. Municipal Commissioner Dr Abhijeet Chaudhari and others were present. NMC has roped in Architect Paramjit Singh Ahuja for overseeing the beautification and development work from conservation point of view. Ar Ahuja gave a presentation to the HCC meeting about the proposed plan and how post completion, it will add to charm of the heritage Stone. The Zero Mile Stone is testament to Great Trigonometric survey undertaken during British rule to measure the distance of major cities from Nagpur. The survey started in year 1907 and the stone in city indicates distance of nine major cities of country, which incidentally are equidistant. In the past, some citizens worried about dilapidated state of the Zero Mile Stone had suggested setting up the Trigonometric Survey Museum. This, they said, will add to the prestige of the hestoric site and ensure good footfall. Further, as per the plan, parking facility will also be created so that people do not face trouble while visiting Zero Mile Stone. Also Ar Ahuja has conceptualised setting up an amphitheatre and a food court to ensure that visitors can have a quality time at the Zero Mile Stone. The amphitheatre can screen documentary on Great Trigonometric Survey. Post finalisation of the plan, the same will be presented to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, stated Municipal Commissioner at the meeting. Leena Upadhaye, Member Secretary; Anand Bang, advisor to CM joined via video link. Vijay Shende, Joint Director, Town Planning; Satish Mallick, Superintendent, Archaeological Survey of India; Mayuresh Khandagale, Assistant Director, Department of Archaeology; Dr Madhura Rathod, Dr Shubha Johri, Bhupendra Parmar, Survey of India office; Kiran Raut, Deputy Director, Town Planning, NMC; Manoj Talewar, Superintending Engineer, PWD, NMC; Ruturaj Jadhav, Assistant Director, Town Planning, were also present in the meeting. Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire (L to R) US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukrainian Head of Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov pose after meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. (AP/PTI) JEDDAH : UKRAINE signalled its readiness to accept a US proposal for an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire following talks with a US delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to a joint statement. The statement, issued after hours of consultations between senior officials from the two countries, said the truce could be extended by mutual agreement, adding that the United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace. Washington has agreed to immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine, the statement said, adding that both sides discussed the importance of humanitarian relief efforts, particularly during the ceasefire period, Xinhua news agency reported. Negotiators also agreed to appoint teams to begin talks aimed at reaching a lasting peace. The US reaffirmed its commitment to engaging with Russian representatives, while Ukraine emphasised the need for European partners to be involved in the process, the statement said. Additionally, both nations leaders agreed to finalise as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraines critical mineral resources to expand Ukraines economy, it added. The announcement followed a high-level meeting attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. The Ukrainian delegation included President Volodymyr Zelenskys Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and others. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and National Security Advisor Musaed bin Muhammad Al-Aiban also took part in the discussions. Trump says it is up to Russia to accept ceasefire deal in war with Ukraine: PRESIDENT Donald Trump said he is hopeful that Russia will agree to a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine even as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday termed it as a positive step and said it is up to the US to convince Russia to accept it. Senior officials from the US and Ukraine held talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday focusing on ending the over three year war between Moscow and Kyiv, which gave an indication to accept a 30-day ceasefire. A while ago, Ukraine has agreed to the ceasefire. Now we go to Russia and hopefully President Putin will agree to it also, Trump said here soon after the Jeddah announcement. If we get Russia to do it, that will be great. If we cant, we keep going on and on and people are going to get killed, he said in another video posted on his TruthSocial account. He also spoke about meetings with Russia soon, in an apparent reference to Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, who is likely to visit Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Zelenskyy said the American side understands his countrys arguments and considers their proposals and added that he is grateful to President Trump for the constructive conversation between our teams. Ukraine is ready to accept this proposalwe see it as a positive step and are ready to take it. Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same. If Russia agrees, the ceasefire will take effect immediately, Zelenskyy said hours after the announcement came from Jeddah. During todays talks, the US side proposed taking an even bigger first stepa 30-day full interim ceasefire, not only stopping missile, drone, and bomb attacks, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line, the Ukrainian President said in a video, text for which was posted on his official X handle too. Asserting that Ukraines position remains absolutely clear, he said, Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war, and we want to do everything to achieve it as soon as possible and in a reliable wayso that war does not return. Zelenskyy also talked about the three key points that his team proposed during the meeting with the Americans in Jeddah: silence in the skiesstopping missile strikes, bombs, and long-range drone attacks; silence at sea; real confidence-building measures in this whole situation, in which diplomacy is ongoing, which primarily means the release of prisoners of war and detaineesboth military and civilianand the return of Ukrainian children who were forcibly transferred to Russia. There has been no official reaction from Russia as yet. Meanwhile, soon after the announcement coming in from Jeddah, the Trump Government lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, measures that were imposed a week ago in an apparent effort to push Zelenskyy for talks about ending the war. Russian missiles kill 5 in Ukraine KYIV, Mar 12 (AP) RUSSIAN ballistic missiles killed at least five civilians in Ukraine, officials said on Wednesday, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyivs fight against Russias invasion and Ukrainian officials signalled they were open to a 30-day ceasefire. The Kremlin didnt comment on the agreement announced on Tuesday between the US and Ukraine on the provision of further military support, including intelligence sharing, and the possibility of a ceasefire that Washington backs. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that its important not to get ahead of the question of responding to the 30-day ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting detailed information about it from the US and suggested Russia must get that before it can take a position. The Russian missiles killed four Syrian men between the ages of 18 and 24 on a ship docked at the southern port of Odesa late Tuesday, where it was loading Ukrainian wheat for Algeria, Infrastructure Minister Oleksii Kuleba said. Another missile killed a woman in Kryvih Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyys hometown in central Ukraine, authorities said. The American help is vital for Ukraines short-handed and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russias bigger military force at bay. But for Moscow, more American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving its war aims and likely will be a tough sell in Moscow for Washingtons peace efforts. Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics centre, the foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced Wednesday. The deliveries go through a NATO and US hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow thats has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighbouring Ukraine about 70 kilometres away. US President Donald Trump wants to end the three-year war and pressured Zelenskyy to enter talks. The suspension of US assistance came days after Zelenskyy and Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation to Tuesdays talks in Saudi Arabia, said that Washington would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin, which has so far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict and hasnt accepted any concessions. Were going to tell (the Russians) this is whats on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now itll be up to them to say yes or no, Rubio told reporters after the talks. If they say no, then well unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here. Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorised to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change. French President Emmanuel Macron welcome the US-Ukraine agreement and said on X that the ball is now clearly in Russias court. Russian officials are wary about the US-Ukraine talks Russian lawmakers signalled wariness about the prospect of a ceasefire. Russia is advancing (on the battlefield), so it will be different with Russia, senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev noted in a post on the messaging app Telegram. Any agreements (with the understanding of the need for compromise) should be on our terms, not American, Kosachev wrote. Lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet told the state news agency Tass that Russia is not interested in continuing the war but at the same time Moscow will not tolerate begin strung along. The outcome of the Saudi Arabia talks puts the ball back in Russias court and places the onus on Washington to persuade Moscow to accept and implement the ceasefire, John Hardie, a defence analyst and deputy director of the Russia Programme at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute. Moscow will present itself as cooperative, but may push for agreement on basic principles for a final peace deal before agreeing to a ceasefire, he said. Russia may also insist on barring Western military aid to Ukraine during the ceasefire and on Ukraine holding elections ahead of a long-term peace agreement. Russias foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, reported Wednesday morning that the services chief, Sergei Naryshkin, spoke on the phone with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Tuesday. The two discussed cooperation in areas of common interest and the resolution of crisis situations, according to a statement by the SVR. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The world observes weakening of international norms, Secretary-General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Asad Majid Khan said at a panel discussion on the theme of "The UN Pact for the Future: Building a New Global Consensus" being held as part of the XII Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "Given the situation and the challenges we facea stagnant WTO, a paralyzed Security Council, dysfunctional trade and financial systems, weakened international norms, and the failure of international financial institutions to actagainst this backdrop, the fact that the future is coming is in itself a great achievement," he mentioned. Majid Khan noted that today there is a desire to regain those positions and bases that countries voluntarily gave up in order to participate in the process of globalization, and this tendency seems to be only growing. "It's extremely important for us to understand what exactly gives rise to such a desire," added the secretary-general. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Dimitris Avramopoulos, Member of the Hellenic Parliament, on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. The meeting focused on bilateral and multilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Greece, as well as key regional and international security issues. Both sides highlighted the significance of the Global Baku Forum as a platform for addressing global challenges. Minister Bayramov expressed satisfaction with Greeces high-level participation at COP29, noting that the presence of the Greek Prime Minister at the conference underscored the importance of continued high-level dialogue between the two countries. Discussions also covered prospects for cooperation in various sectors, including economics, trade, energy security, tourism, and humanitarian initiatives. The pivotal role of Azerbaijan in ensuring Europes energy security was emphasized, with a particular focus on the significance of the Southern Gas Corridor in advancing energy cooperation. Additionally, both parties exchanged views on other matters of mutual interest. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The letter of the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the UN, addressed to the UN Secretary-General on the 33rd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, has been published as a document of the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN wrote on its X page, Trend reports. "The overall assessment of the causes and consequences of the aggression and the available evidence clearly show that the crimes committed in Khojaly were not isolated or accidental but were part of a broad and systematic policy and practice of atrocities committed on the basis of ethnic and religious hatred and intolerance. Accountability for egregious offenses is unequivocal and must be inescapable. Azerbaijan will never forget the atrocities committed against its civilians," the mission's X publication said. On the night of February 2526, 1992, the Khojaly genocideone of the most horrific crimes against humanity in the past centurywas carried out by Armenia with extreme brutality against Azerbaijani civilians. On this solemn anniversary, the Azerbaijani people remember with deep sorrow the 613 victims of this atrocity, including 106 women, 70 elderly people, and 63 children, whose lives were taken in a single night. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the former special representative of China for European affairs in Azerbaijan Wu Hongbo at the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. In the course of the meeting, issues arising from the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and China, as well as regional and international developments, were discussed. It was noted that the Global Baku Forum is an important platform for addressing issues of concern to all of humanity, as well as for creating a more inclusive world order. The Chinese side expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for organizing the forum at a high level. Bayramov emphasized that the official establishment of the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and China last year was a particularly significant event in the history of bilateral and multilateral relations. He highlighted the need to maintain the current dynamics and expand cooperation, as well as the importance of utilizing the mechanism of political consultations for these purposes. It was discussed that Azerbaijan and China consistently support each other on issues of territorial integrity and sovereignty. The importance of continuing mutual support and solidarity within regional and international organizations was stressed. Particular attention was given to the participation and contribution of the Chinese side in the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which took place in Azerbaijan last year. During the meeting, the parties also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel By Nazrin Abdul Chairman of the Board of Directors of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) CJSC, Rauf Valiyev, met with a delegation led by Bekzod Kholmatov, Director of the Center for the Study of Transport and Logistics Development under the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, who is visiting Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the company. The delegation, which included employees from the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan Railways, was given detailed information about important events in Azerbaijan related to transport and logistics, as well as the activities of ASCO. The meeting focused on the importance and relevance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (Middle Corridor). Discussions also addressed the expansion of Uzbek-Azerbaijani transport relations in the Caspian Sea, including new challenges in the ferry transportation segment. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Rebecca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. The meeting focused on various aspects and prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN, including opportunities for collaboration in mine clearance, as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest. Minister Bayramov highlighted Azerbaijans presidency of COP29 and its close cooperation with the UN in organizing the event, emphasizing the importance of maintaining this momentum in the future. He also provided an overview of Azerbaijans international aid initiatives as a donor country, particularly its support for developing nations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion also covered key achievements of COP29, including the establishment of a new collective quantitative target for climate finance, the agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement regulating carbon markets, and the implementation of several significant initiatives. Additionally, both sides exchanged views on other topics of mutual interest. Yes Significant efforts are being made No Much more needs to be done Some progress But there are still critical gaps Vote View Results BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met with former President of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The parties discussed various aspects and prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN, opportunities for collaboration in the fight against mine threats, as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest. Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan's chairmanship at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) and cooperation with the UN in organizing this event were exemplary. He emphasized the importance of maintaining this momentum in the future. The minister also provided a detailed overview of Azerbaijans international humanitarian initiatives as a donor country, particularly in the context of assisting developing countries in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting them in the post-pandemic period. Grynspan was thoroughly informed about the achievements under COP29, including the development of a new collective, quantitatively expressed climate finance goal, the agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement regulating carbon markets, and several other ongoing initiatives. The parties exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. The XII Global Baku Forum has started on March 13 and will continue until March 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum has brought together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Wu Hongbo, former representative of the Chinese government for European affairs, on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. The meeting focused on the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and China, as well as regional and international developments. Both sides emphasized the significance of the Global Baku Forum as a key platform for addressing global challenges and fostering a more inclusive world order. The Azerbaijani side was commended for the high level of organization of the event. Minister Bayramov highlighted that the past year was particularly notable in strengthening strategic ties between Azerbaijan and China. He underscored the importance of maintaining this momentum, expanding cooperation, and utilizing political consultations to further enhance bilateral relations. Both parties reaffirmed their mutual support for each others territorial integrity and sovereignty, expressing gratitude for this unwavering commitment. They also emphasized the need to continue solidarity within regional and international organizations. The contribution of the Chinese side to COP29, which was held in Azerbaijan last year, was particularly acknowledged. Additionally, the meeting included an exchange of views on other issues of mutual interest. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Court hearings on the criminal case against citizens of the Republic of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, Davit Babayan, Lyova Mnatsakanyan and others, who are accused of committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including the preparation and conduct of a war of aggression, acts of genocide, violation of the laws and customs of warfare, as well as terrorism, financing of terrorism, forcible seizure of power, forcible retention of power and numerous other crimes as a result of Armenia's military aggression, were continued on March 13, Trend reports. The hearings held at the Baku Military Court were presided over by Judge Zeynal Aghayev and a panel consisting of Jamal Ramazanov and Anar Rzayev (reserve judge Gunel Samadova). Each of the accused was provided with an interpreter into the language of their choice, as well as defense attorneys. Present at the review hearings were the accused and their defense attorneys, some of the victims, their legal successors and representatives, as well as prosecutors in charge of public prosecution. The hearings continued with the questioning of the accused Davit Babayan. While answering questions from the defense attorneys of the other accused and representatives of the victims, he said that he knew the accused Bako Sahakyan as the two had worked together. The accused Davit Manukyan, who was born and registered in the Republic of Armenia, is an Armenian citizen, was a serviceman of the Armenian Armed Forces serving in the military rank of Major General, while answering the questions of Nasir Bayramov, the Head of the Department of Public Prosecution of the Prosecutor General's Office, said that he had no knowledge of Miatsum. He acknowledged that the commander of the Shushi special military battalion that fought against the Azerbaijani state in Karabakh was Jirayr Sefilyan. After that, the prosecutors in charge of public prosecution, the defense attorneys of the accused and representatives of the victims asked David Manukyan, Lyova Mnaksakanyan, Melikset Pashayan and Madat Babayan questions about the leaders and participants of the illegal armed formations, which constituted the core of the criminal organization created by Armenia on the territory of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and in Karabakh, an integral part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, their relations with Armenia, its leadership and high-ranking officials, their activities, their participation in the activities of these formations, as well as the criminal ideology of a Great Armenia, the goals and objectives of the Miatsum and Karabakh movements, the persons in charge of those movements and their relations with the accused, whether the accused had participated in the illegal rallies held in Karabakh, who spoke at those illegal rallies, who was involved in them and how. In response to questions, David Manukyan stated that he was unaware of the fact that Jirayr Sefilyan was born in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. He said, He came from Western Armenia, but was a citizen of Armenia. The accused then stated that the so-called Dashnak battalion that fought against Azerbaijan in Karabakh consisted of various groups. There were people from Karabakh and citizens of Armenia in the groups, he said. David Manukyan also admitted that the activities of military groups in Karabakh in 1992 were not regulated by any regulatory acts. He said, In 1992, the activities of those groups were regulated by human laws. He then answered questions of the defense and the victims. The accused Levon Mnatsakanyan stated, while answering questions, that he had not participated in the illegal rallies in Yerevan in 1988 because he was a student at the time. In response to public prosecutor Tarana Mammadova's questions, the accused Melikset Pashayan said that he had participated in illegal rallies held in Karabakh. He noted that he had served in the Soviet army in 1989-1990, while in 1993 he had joined the Asgaran Regiment established in Karabakh. After that, the accused Madat Babayan, in response to questions, stated that he was part of an armed group in Aghdara, that the weapons given to them had been brought by the leader of the group from Khankendi and Armenia, adding that the leader of the armed group was a certain Vanik Petrosyan. Then the accused were asked questions about their functions and positions within the criminal entity, the forcible seizure of power in Karabakh, which was occupied by Armenia, including the administrative territorial division in the self-styled entity that operated under the leadership and control of Armenia, the appointments and dismissals to and from various positions, the currency in circulation, foreign and domestic banking operations, import and export of various goods, the name of which country was indicated as a place of production of goods manufactured as a result of the illegal economic activities of the self-styled entity, matters related to customs, the issuance of permits or visas to persons traveling to the territories where the so-called regime operated, what citizenship Armenian residents had, which institution issued their identity documents, the procedure for collecting funds for the budget, as well as the role and participation of the Armenian state, its state institutions, armed forces, and high-ranking officials in the aforementioned processes. Arkady Ghukasyan noted that during his government, a process of illegal settlement had been carried out in Lachin and Kalbajar. In response to questions from prosecutors Vusal Aliyev, Tugay Rahimli and Nasir Bayramov, who are responsible for public prosecution, he admitted that the self-proclaimed regime's budget was formed by Armenia. He stated that the funds allocated by Armenia to the regime's budget were registered as loans, but those loans were interest-free and issued for an indefinite period of time. At that time, they were called interest-free loans. That is, there was no question of repaying the loans in the near future. In addition, customs matters related to the products exported and imported to and from Karabakh were dealt with in Armenia. The funds collected in the State Customs Service of the Republic of Armenia in connection with imports and exports in Karabakh were also included in the interest-free loans, he added. The accused said that the income from the sale of Karabakh products abroad through Armenia was less than the funds allocated by Armenia to the self-styled regimes budget under the guise of loans. He said that he was unaware of the inscriptions indicating which country they belonged to on the Karabakh products exported to foreign countries through Armenian customs. In addition, Arkady Ghukasyan also admitted that the Armenian dram was in circulation in the territory of the self-proclaimed regime. He said, That is why we were trying to have a single economic space. Also, salaries were paid in Armenian drams. He also acknowledged that the appointments to the positions of defense minister and commander-in-chief of the army in the so-called regime were agreed upon with the military-political leadership of Armenia and that ranks higher than major general were awarded in Armenia. He said, All security issues were dealt with jointly with the Armenian leadership. I am talking about the time period from 1997 to 2007 and do not know what the situation was like afterwards. Arkady Ghukasyan said that information about the shootings and incidents on the line of contact during the occupation was first provided to the Armenian Ministry of Defense. He said, Then we were also informed so that we would have information too. He said that Armenian residents living in the self-proclaimed entity were given Armenian passports. Since Nagorno-Karabakh was not recognized by any country, the Republic of Armenia was stated in our passports. However, the specific address varied depending on whether a person lived in Khankendi, Aghdara, etc. These passports allowed people the opportunity to travel to Russia, Europe and other places. Therefore, the decision was made that Armenia should provide their passports. The passports used by Armenian citizens and Armenian residents living in Karabakh were identical in appearance. The only difference was the serial number. Armenia had a separate serial number for Armenian residents living in Karabakh. Stating that Armenian citizens visiting Karabakh did not undergo any registration, Arkady Ghukasyan noted, Armenian citizens were not registered when they arrived in Karabakh and Armenian residents of Karabakh were not registered when they left Armenia. Foreign citizens were registered when traveling from Armenia to Karabakh and returning. They were coming from many countries. Those in power can answer these questions. Many people deputies, senators, congressmen and others were coming. He also noted that he was awarded the Order of Gregory the Enlightener by the Armenian leadership and that after leaving his post as president of the so-called regime, he had served as Armenias ambassador for special assignments for nine years. Then the examination of documents related to the indictment's section on the forcible seizure of power began. The next court hearing is scheduled for March 14. The hearing will continue with questions to be asked of the accused. We recall that a total of 15 Armenian nationals have been charged with numerous crimes involving direct leadership and participation of the Armenian state, its state bodies, military forces and illegal armed formations, verbal and written instructions, orders and assignments, provision of material and technical support, central governance, as well as the exercise of rigorous control, with the aim of committing military aggression and acts of terror against the Republic of Azerbaijan in the territory of Azerbaijan in violation of domestic and international law, and involving Robert Sedraki Kocharyan, Serzh Azati Sargsyan, Vazgen Mikaeli Manukyan, Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan, Samvel Andraniki Babayan, Vitali Mikaeli Balasanyan, Zori Hayki Balayan, Seyran Mushegi Ohanyan, Arshavir Surenovich Garamyan, Monte Charles Melkonyan and others, including criminal acts committed during the course of the war of aggression waged by the aforementioned criminal group. The said persons, i.e. Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan, Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan, Bako Sahaki Sahakyan, Davit Rubeni Ishkhanyan, David Azatini Manukyan, Davit Klimi Babayan, Levon Henrikovich Mnatsakanyan, Vasili Ivani Beglaryan, Erik Roberti Ghazaryan, Davit Nelsoni Allahverdiyan, Gurgen Homeri Stepanyan, Levon Romiki Balayan, Madat Arakelovich Babayan, Garik Grigori Martirosyan, Melikset Vladimiri Pashayan, are being charged under Articles 100 (planning, preparing, initiating and waging a war of aggression), 102 (attacking persons or organizations enjoying international protection), 103 (genocide), 105 (extermination of the population), 106 (enslaving), 107 (deportation or forced displacement of the population), 109 (persecution), 110 (enforced disappearance of people), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114 (mercenary service), 115 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare), 116 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict), 118 (military robbery), 120 (intentional murder), 192 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing terrorism), 218 (creation of a criminal association (organization)), 228 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation and possession of weapons, their components, ammunition, explosives and devices), 270-1 (acts threatening aviation security), 277 (assassination of a state official or public figure), 278 (forcible seizure and retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state), 279 (creation of armed formations and groups not provided for by law) and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The pace of session continues to pick up and important deadlines are around the corner. Committee hearings, voting, and debating on the Senate Floor take up most of my days. Only a little over 80 days left! Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Bill filing deadline approaching Friday, March 14 is the sixtieth day of session and marks the bill filing deadline for the 89th Legislative Session. After Friday, only local bills and emergency item bills are allowed to be filed. At this time, over 2,500 bills and joint resolutions have been filed in the Senate and almost 5,000 have been filed in the House. By the end of the day Friday, there may be even more bills filed. From this point forward, the pace of session accelerates and the days get longer. As always, if there are bills of interest, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office. 2. Senate Committee on Transportation holds first hearing This week, the Senate Committee on Transportation, which I chair, held our first hearing. We heard testimony on 9 bills and 1 concurrent resolution from several different members. I authored Senate Bill 1555 which was heard in committee. SB 1555 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 25, by Senator Alvarado, stem from a tragic incident in Houston last December. Sergio Ivan Rodriguez was on his way to school and tragically lost his life while crossing a set of train tracks near Milby High School. Senate Bill 1555 would create a grant program through the Texas Department of Transportation to award grants for railroad grade separation projects. The grants would go to political subdivisions for rail-roadway projects, which could include a pedestrian bridge. Relatedly, SCR 25 is a resolution urging the City of Houston to construct a pedestrian bridge over the rail crossing near Milby High School to ensure students can get to school safely. Further, the Legislature would ask the City name the bridge in honor of Sergio Rodriguez. 3. Senate Bill 16 filed Senator Bryan Hughes filed Senate Bill 16 this week to further secure our elections by ensuring that only legal citizens vote in Texas elections. The bill would require anyone registering to vote to supply proof of citizenship at that time. That proof could include a passport, birth certificate, citizenship papers, or other identification issued by the United States. If citizenship cannot be verified, the person would be registered to vote only for federal elections, not state elections. It also creates a mechanism for registrars to verify the citizenship of existing registered voters. Protecting our elections from non-citizens who are not eligible to vote is the next step in ensuring our elections are free, fair, and secure. 4. Bills expanding FCIC authority pass committee This week, the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, chaired by Sen. Pete Flores, heard testimony on three bills I filed related to the Financial Crimes Intelligence Center (FCIC). FCIC was created in 2021 by the Legislature initially to combat card skimming devices at motor fuel terminals, especially at gas stations. Today, the FCIC is the statewide fusion center that coordinates investigations for various types of organized financial crime. One of the bills I authored would expand the Centers statutory authority to include all kinds of payment fraud. Senate Bill 1499 changes statute to reflect FCIC growing role in combating financial crime. As evidence of the value FCIC brings the state, this week two people were arrested in the Dallas area for their role in a multi-million dollar credit card fraud scheme. FCIC played a central role in investigating the case in coordination with local police departments, US Customs and Border Protection, and Texas DPS. The operation is estimated to have prevented more than $5.2 million in potential losses to victims. Authorities seized a fully operational card skimmer factory which was designed to affix skimmers to ATMs. They also discovered hundreds of altered credit cards, $16,000 in cash, and other card skimming tools and equipment. 5. UT System approves new ag and forestry building at SFA Late last month, the University of Texas System Board of Regents approved an additional $5 million for the construction of a new forestry and agriculture building at Stephen F. Austin State University. The additional funding will support an Agricultural Engineering and Technology Building. The project will be funded in part by the Permanent University Fund, a fund exclusively benefiting UT System and A&M System schools. SFA joined the UT System officially in 2023 after extensive community input. ### Time to say No to separatist agenda | It is a historical fact and an undeniable reality, even if some people dont want to accept it, that Manipur has always been a multi-ethnic state. Manipur has been a common home to diverse ethnic groups since ages, though of late, this pluralistic identity and ethos are being challenged by a particular community. Although this challenge to the integrity and the multi-ethnic identity of Manipur became a visible threat after May 3, 2023, the conspiracy to disintegrate Manipur was there since many decades back. As pointed out several times earlier in this column, the massive, unprecedented violence which erupted on May 3, 2023 was not any sudden or spontaneous outburst of anger and grievances. It was a premeditated and well calculated military campaign designed to achieve the political goal of dismembering the age-old geopolitical entity called Manipur. The coordinated aggression which targeted unsuspecting and unarmed Meitei people was a violent manifestation of the decades old conspiracy to create an ethno-exclusive political unit at the cost of Manipurs integrity. Soon after Meiteis were driven out of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Moreh, Kuki-Chin militant groups and their frontal organisations wasted no time to claim that demographic separation of Meiteis and Kukis was complete, and Kukis must have an exclusive homeland which should be administered separately outside the purview of the government of Manipur. Just a week or so after the violence erupted, Chin-Kuki-Zo-Hmar Members of Manipur Legislative Assembly started a vigorous campaign for Chin-Kuki separate administration. All these manoeuvres pointed unmistakably to the fact that the May 3 violence was not any sporadic violence but a pre-planned and premeditated aggression in pursuit of a separatist agenda. It was this separatist agenda which drove out Meiteis from Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Moreh and all other Kuki dominated areas. How security forces acted as mute bystanders when innocent citizens were slaughtered and tens of thousands of houses razed will not fade away from public memory anytime soon. It was this abject failure of the state which compelled a large number of youngsters to take up arms to defend themselves and their villages. The state is partially responsible, if not fully, for infiltration of weapons among the civilian population. If one juxtaposes the facts that central security forces numbering 50,000 to 60,000 could not contain the violence for more than 20 months and the booming guns suddenly went silent after the imposition of the Presidents Rule, one cannot help questioning the dubious role of the central government. No doubt, disarmament is a prerequisite to bring the violence to an end. All kinds of weapons in the possession of civilians must be recovered/seized. Then what about the weapons in the possession of militants under Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement? Given the fact that SoO militants were/are directly or indirectly involved in the planned aggression, it is equally important to disarm all these militants. Disarmament should apply to both the Meiteis and the Kukis uniformly. However, so far there is very little seizure/recovery of weapons and the number of weapons surrendered in the hills is even smaller as compared to the valley. The state and its law enforcing agencies must take this into account. Disarming the valley youth only while keeping the Kuki-Chin militants and youth armed to the teeth would be nothing short of abetting genocide. With the imposition of the Presidents Rule, the violence has subsided considerably and the Union Home Minister has instructed top civil and military officers to open all national highways and roads in Manipur but to no avail so far. Kukis are still blocking Imphal-Dimapur highway at Kangpokpi and the government of India has been watching silently as if it is totally helpless. How can the government of India watch silently when the Kukis are keeping the national highway on ransom in pursuit of their separatist agenda? By silently enduring the crippling impacts for the highway blockade for almost two years now, the people have made it clear that the highway may never open but it should not be allowed to be used as a bargaining chip for the illegitimate demand of separate administration. At the same time, New Delhi should not take undue advantage of the absence of a popular government in Manipur. Conceding to any Kuki demand without consulting other communities will have serious implications and repercussions. Its time to say No to the Kuki separatist agenda, and stop appeasing its proponents. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. During the ongoing trial at the Baku Military Court on March 13, defendant Arkadi Ghukasyan admitted that Armenian passports were issued to Armenian residents living under the so-called regime, Trend reports. He stated that these passports bore the inscription "Republic of Armenia" but specified the place of residence: if it was in Khankendi, it would say Khankendi; if in Aghdara, it would say Aghdara. These passports allowed people to travel to Russia, Europe, and other places. Therefore, it was decided that the passports should be obtained in Armenia. The passports used by Armenian citizens and Armenian residents living in Karabakh were identical in appearance. The only difference was in the serial numbers. A separate serial number was issued by Armenia for the Armenian residents living in Karabakh. Ghukasyan noted that no registration was conducted for Armenian citizens traveling to Karabakh: There was no registration of Armenian citizens when they came to Karabakh or when Armenian residents of Karabakh went to Armenia. However, when foreign citizens came from Armenia to Karabakh and returned, their registration was conducted. Many people from different countries visited. The authorities from some time ago can answer these questions. Many individuals, including deputies, senators, congressmen, and others, were visiting. The trial of Armenian citizens accused of committing numerous crimes, including crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, preparation and conduct of aggressive war, genocide, violation of the laws and customs of war, as well as terrorism, financing of terrorism, violent seizure of power, its retention by force, and other serious offenses resulting from Armenia's military aggression, will continue on March 14. Azerbaijan is well known for its wines and unique grape varieties, but not everyone knows that the countrys winemaking industry owes much of its development to German settlers from the Kingdom of Wurttemberg (now Baden-Wurttemberg). What is now the city of Goygol was originally founded as Helenendorf by German immigrants who fled to the Caucasus in the early 19th century to escape the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars. The first group of 1,400 settlers arrived in Azerbaijan in 1817, traveling from Cologne to the village of Khanlar (now Goygol). Within a year, they established the town of Helenendorf, where they began planting vineyards. By the early 1860s, one of these settlers, Christoph Vohrer, founded Azerbaijans first commercial winemaking company, marking the birth of the countrys wine industry. By the 1870s, Azerbaijans share of wine exports from the Caucasus began to grow, with vineyard areas expanding in the Elisabethpol Governorate. In the early 1890s, Elisabethpol (now Ganja) was the regions leading wine producer, followed by the Helenendorf community. Over time, winemaking became concentrated in the hands of major entrepreneurs, including prominent German businessmen Christoph Vohrer and Christian Hummel. Their companies, Vohrer Brothers and Hummel Brothers, became known for producing high-quality wines with distinctive branding and packaging, competing with leading international brands. The Vohrer and Hummel families played a key role in transforming Azerbaijani winemaking into a large-scale industry, introducing the most advanced techniques of the time. Helenendorf and other German communities became major wine production hubs, not just for Azerbaijan but for the entire Caucasus. By the early 20th century, wines from the Vohrer and Hummel firms, as well as the Concordia winemakers association, were sold across Russia and internationally. This success can be traced back to 1847, when Vohrer planted the first vineyard in Helenendorf. By 1860, he had fully dedicated himself to viticulture and winemaking, steadily expanding his landholdings. Originally from Wurttemberg, a region known for its red wines since the 8th century, the Vohrer family brought winemaking expertise that complemented Azerbaijans long tradition of favoring red grape varieties. This fusion of German techniques and Azerbaijani traditions proved highly successful, and the Vohrer winery remains in operation to this day. By 1909, Vohrer was exporting more than 250,000 buckets of wine beyond the Caucasusalmost as much as the entire Elisabethpol Governorate. By 1913, the Vohrer and Hummel companies had exported 761,000 buckets of wine. The Hummel brothers also expanded into brandy production, building a distillery in Helenendorf in 1895 and establishing the Hummel Brothers Trading House in 1900. Other cooperative ventures followed, including a winemakers' association in Annenfeld (now Shamkir) in 1907. At the 1893 World Exhibition, Elisabethpols brandies won a bronze medal and a certificate of honor. In 1899, the Vohrer brothers received gold medals for their wines and tobacco at an agricultural exhibition in Baku. Following Azerbaijans Sovietization, all major wineries were nationalized. The Azerwine state trust was created in 1922, taking control of all vineyards and winemaking enterprises. Only the Concordia cooperative survived, maintaining 6% of Azerbaijans vineyards and producing 42% of the countrys grapes in 1926. The cooperative continued expanding, building new distilleries and brandy factories in the 1920s. German entrepreneurs were known for their strong organizational and managerial skills. The businesses they built operated with remarkable efficiency, and although the German population was forcibly deported from the USSR in 1941, the winemaking traditions they established continue to this day. Today, the Goygol Wine Plant, founded by the Vohrer family in 1860, remains one of the oldest wineries in the South Caucasus. During the Soviet era, Concordia operated 183 stores across the USSR. In the 1980s, the plant ranked third in the Soviet Union for brandy and wine production. Goygol wines have won numerous international awards, with three of its brandiesBaku, Azerbaijan, and Goygolearning gold medals at competitions in Tbilisi, Budapest, Ljubljana, and Yalta between 1968 and 1982. Today, the Goygol Wine Plant continues to build on its legacy, proving that success and quality are rooted in strong traditions. Leading mobile operator hosts a literary discussion to celebrate International Women's Day As part of its ongoing "Book Club" initiative aimed at fostering a culture of reading, Azercell held a special literary event on the eve of International Women's Day. Organized in collaboration with Correctional Facility No. 4 and the "Womens Helpline Service," the event highlighted the role of literature in socio-cultural integration, personal development, and the enrichment of society. Renowned actor, director, and screenwriter Alikhan Rajabov was the events special guest. Mr. Rajabov talked about the representation of women in Azerbaijani literature across different eras, from classical works to contemporary narratives. He also highlighted the importance of film adaptations in making literary works more accessible and engaging for a wider audience. During the event, participants read poetry and excerpts from literary works, engaging in insightful discussions about the influence of literature on individual growth and social progress. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday virtually inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for several development projects worth Rs 146 crore in Ahmedabad. One of the key projects is the construction of a railway overbridge, about 1 km long, on the Ahmedabad-Viramgam railway track at Sanand-Chekhla-Kadi Road, with an investment of Rs 60 crore. Advertisement The minister emphasised that once the overbridge is completed, it will significantly enhance convenience for local residents in their daily commute. Advertisement He said the foundation stone has also been laid for the construction of a 4-lane bridge over the Narmada Canal on National Highway No. 147 at a cost of Rs. 36.30 crore, and a flyover bridge on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar (SG) Highway at Chharodi at a cost of Rs 45 crore. He stated that all these development works will set new milestones of development in the four assembly constituencies of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Mr Shah said the state government has completed several development projects worth thousands of crores in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. In terms of infrastructure, Gujarat is currently in the first position across India. He said that these infrastructure projects will enhance the convenience of local residents, improve connectivity, and provide a fresh boost to employment, industry, and business. Mr Shah said the Government of India is going to build a state-of-the-art 500-bed hospital in Sanand. He mentioned that the Government of India has decided that this hospital will remain open 24 hours a day for all the citizens of Sanand and Bavla talukas. He also said that several trust-run hospitals are being built in this area. Additionally, the Government of India is constructing a 300-bed government hospital in Kalol Taluka. Mr Shah said that once all these hospitals are completed, every person will be able to access state-of-the-art healthcare facilities near his/her home. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The next trial session regarding the criminal case of Martin Ryan and Azad Mammadli, who are arrested on charges of spying for France, has begun in a criminal case led by the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports. The hearing presided over by Judge Elmin Rustamov, took place at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes. During the session, Martin Ryan gave his testimony. When asked about his first visit to Azerbaijan, Ryan stated that he came to the country to establish a business. "I met a person named Emin Suleymanov, and we kept regular contact. Later, I lost contact with him. He was organizing meetings between French and Azerbaijani companies. He needed someone in Azerbaijan, and I was offered the position. Though I was unemployed at the time, I had money, and I saw it as an opportunity, so I accepted the job," Ryan explained. When the public prosecutor asked Martin Ryan, "Why did you reach out to the French Embassy?" he explained that his situation necessitated the contact. "My connection with the French Embassy staff began in 2015. I was looking to establish a business in Azerbaijan, and for that, I needed reliable connections. I met Ramin Mammadov, and together, we launched a business focused on attracting French companies to Azerbaijan. Our venture was progressing well. Later, I encountered Frederik Devos, who mentioned that he was involved in two key projects. He was conducting geostrategic analyses, primarily focused on Iran. Another matter he raised was the security of the French nationals living in Azerbaijan.This struck me as suspicious, as protecting the security of French citizens in Azerbaijan is the embassy's responsibility. During our meeting, he pulled out a photo and told me that the person in it was a Russian citizen. He had been expelled from France and had also been in Kazakhstan. He suggested that this individual could be in Azerbaijan. He also mentioned that both Iranian and Russian companies posed a threat. He discussed suspicious activities involving Iran and Russia, advising me to exercise caution. Additionally, he instructed me to report any suspicious occurrences to him and requested that I introduce Azerbaijani citizens I knew to him," Ryan added. The accused stated that Devos had asked him to discuss conflicting issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia: "On October 4, 2020, diplomatic relations between France and Azerbaijan became tense. He asked me questions about the power differences during the war, weapons, and the state of the country, Turkiye and Pakistan, and asked me to share videos with him if I had them. I understood that these were to pour grist for the Armenian mill. Imagine that he asked so many questions about Turkiye and Pakistan, wanted to get information, but he did not ask so many questions about Armenia, Iran, and Russia. The attention was focused on countries that supported Azerbaijan. I was suspicious of this. I was also busy with my own work for him. I went to pavilions and tried to establish contacts with foreign companies. We were interested in Iranian companies, and we have established relations with many Iranian companies," he said. To the prosecutions question, "Did you introduce Azerbaijani people to him?" the accused responded that he introduced Zaur Mustafayev to Frederic Devos. "Later, Azad Mammadli began to do these things. He was very good at this job. Because he had certain goals. Later, he wanted to meet a businessman named Ilgar. Ilgar's wife knew Devos's husband well. Both ladies worked at the 'Bakou Francophones' Association. I also knew Ilgar very well. I taught French in Azerbaijan. I know Ilgar from here too. She was my listener," he said. Defendant Martin Ryan shared that a woman named Olga had approached him for French lessons. "This appeal seemed suspicious to me. Why would an embassy employee want to keep her diplomatic job and learn French and work in the tourism sector? After 2-3 lessons, Olga did not come to class. I reported this to the course administration. He did not know either. All the events that happened raised reasonable suspicions in me. Soon after, Frederick also left. A person named Laurent Ledi contacted me and said that he was a follower of Frederick Devos. However, when he contacted me, Frederick was in Azerbaijan. Laurent Ledi also wanted what Frederick wanted from me and said that the meetings would take place frequently. I do not know where he knew him from, but Laurent Ledi knew Azad Mammadli as well as me. At that time, I felt that I was under Laurent Ledi's control. Of course, I told Azad Mammadli that we were under the control of the French special services and that we should act carefully. After some time, Laurent Lody disappeared. I contacted his assistant. I learned that his assistant did not know about him either. Later, in August, I met a man named Jerome. We were in contact with him on WhatsApp. He suggested that I meet him near the mud volcanoes because it is a secluded place. I apologized directly and refused to meet. But we met him at events. Our topic was usually about Iran. He told me about work that there was a demand for soft drinks in Azerbaijan. He advised me to bring more soft drinks into the country," he said. When asked by the state prosecutor, "Why did you carry out these tasks for the embassy?" Martin Ryan replied that he did not expect financial compensation but only sought to complete the work. "It was important for me to establish contact with the embassy. This was both a step I took to protect my security, and I knew where the relations between the two countries stood. I did not receive any financial income from these works, but my relationship with the embassy was strengthened," he explained. The trial will continue on April 14. To note, Martin Ryan and others were arrested on December 4, 2023. Martin Rian, CEO of Mercorama LLC, was charged with espionage. According to the indictment, Martin Ryan was used as a spy agent by employees of the French DGSE (General Directorate of External Security), who involved him in secret cooperation and were subsequently expelled from Baku as a "persona non grata." Along with Martin Ryan, Azad Mammadli, a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, will stand trial in this criminal case on charges of "high treason." As is known, on December 20, 2023, Bernard Emy, the chief of the French Directorate General of External Security (DGSE), was fired from his position following the revelation of a significant espionage network and operational deficiencies. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel 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. 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. The monk who saved Ladakh and revived Buddhism, from establishing the demand for the Union Territory status for Ladakh, to supporting the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K... Kushok Bakula Rinpoche was an important figure in Indian history. Rinpoche was born to a royal family in the Matho region of Ladakh in 1917. At the age of four, he was recognised as 19th reincarnation of Arhat Bakula (one of the 16 Arhats in Buddhism, considered a close disciple of the Buddha Shakyamuni). When he was 10, Rinpoche was sent to Pethub Monastery in Leh which became his home for the rest of his life. During the 1948 Pakistan invasion, it was under Rinpoches leadership that the locals rallied behind India and helped the army to convert an open plot of land in Leh near his Pethub monastery into a makeshift landing strip. The incident secured Indias borders with Pakistan and saved Ladakh. Presenting my film on Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, the renowned Buddhist monk, and India's ambassador to Mongolia for a decade, at The Bodhipath Film Festival organised by @IbcWorldOrg March 11 at Seminar Hall I & II, India International Centre from 10:20 am to 1:00 pm. All welcome. pic.twitter.com/qaemQKmeER HindolSengupta (@HindolSengupta) March 8, 2025 Had things gone otherwise, Indias political map would have been drawn differently and Ladakh would have been part of Pakistan and its Buddhist civilisation would have been subsumed by a hostile ideology, former Deputy Secretary General of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP), Sonam Wangchuk Shakspo writes in an International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) newsletter. The monk diplomat was a close friend of the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and on the prime ministers advice, Rinpoche joined politics. In his movie, Kushok Bakula Rinpoche: The Extraordinary Story of An Extraordinary Monk, director Hindol Sengupta has documented Kushok Bakulas legacyincluding the monks diplomatic as well as spiritual achievements. The documentary features prominent names like Nambaryn Enkhbayar (former Mongolian President), veteran politician Karan Singh, Dr Dhammapiya (former Secretary General of the International Buddhist Confederation), and Sonam Wangchuk Shakspo himself, among others. Kushok Bakula Rinpoche is one of the most important characters of contemporary history in India and it is tragic that only a few people know about him, said Sengupta. When he walked the streets of Mongolia, people gathered to touch his feet and place babies in his hand for blessings. Sengupta tells Rinpoches story through his film so that his efforts are known to a larger audience. Rinpoche served as the Indian ambassador to Mongolia for 10 years from 1990 to 2000. In one of the scenes, former Mongolian president Nambaryn Enkhbayar refers to Rinpoche, saying, He was a good model of a real Buddhist monk, a good ambassador, and a good envoy of the Indians. So, all these things combined earned him love and respect from the Mongolians. This helped immensely in the revival of Buddhism. The former Secretary General of the International Buddhist Confederation, Dr. Dhammapiya says that when Buddhism was declining in Russia and Mongolia, it was Kushok Bakula who helped restore the religion in both countries. Rinpoche is remembered as the Elchin Bagsh or Ambassador Teacher (in Mongolian) by the people of Mongolia. Senguptas film was screened at The Bodhipath Film Festival at India International Centre in New Delhi on Tuesday. Bangladesh has strongly refuted reports in the Indian media of a recent coup attempt by a Lieutenant General-ranked officer of the Bangladesh army. A top official of the Indian security establishment also agreed with Dhakas assertion. The reports appearing in the Indian media are grossly wrong, a top source in the Indian security establishment told THE WEEK. A release issued by the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate of the Bangladesh Ministry of Defence titled Response to False Reports on Bangladesh Army by Certain Media Outlets From India has termed the reports of a possibility of a coup and a breakdown in the command chain as baseless and unfounded. These reports are entirely false and appear to be part of a deliberate disinformation campaign aimed at undermining the stability and reputation of Bangladesh and its armed forces, the rejoinder stated. Naming two Indian media outlets, it said: Any allegations of disunity or disloyalty within the ranks are entirely fabricated and malicious... they appear to be acting as tools for spreading misinformation and creating distrust between the Bangladesh army and the people of Bangladesh. It was reported in the Indian media that Lt Gen Faizur Rahman, Quarter Master General (QMG), with alleged close ties to Pakistan had been put under surveillance for allegedly making moves to stage a coup in the Army. In a sudden development on August 5, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted after mass public protests in Dhaka. She was whisked to a waiting military helicopter to fly her across the Indian border to Agartala, where a Bangladesh Air Force C 130 transport aircraft was parked to ferry her to Hindon air base on the outskirts of Delhi. Three days earlier, on August 2, Bangladeshs Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman had to face irate young officers who demonstrated their angst at the state of affairs when the Army had to be deployed to control the escalating situation sparked by the month-long student-led protest. Gen Zaman had called for a meeting to address his officers regarding the ongoing situation in Bangladesh. Gen Zaman is an appointee of Hasina and is related to the former PM by marriage. Hasina is widely believed to be safely ensconced in a safe house in Delhi. Since Hasinas ouster, an Interim Government led by famed economist Muhammad Yunus had taken charge of the government in Dhaka. On August 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated Muhammad Yunus on his assumption of office. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called for tougher measures to counter increased Chinese attempts at infiltration, spying and other attempts to weaken Taiwan's defences. News agency AP reported that Lai cited a series of incidents involving China in recent times that fall into the gray area of psychological warfare and said Beijing's efforts to subvert, obtain secrets, lure members of the armed forces and influence public opinion to lose confidence in Taiwan's national defence necessitates that the island nation steps up legal safeguards to prevent and detect such incidents. "They (China) are carrying out activities such as division, destruction, and subversion from within us," Reuters quoted him as saying. ALSO READ: IAF chief calls for joint military strategy to tackle new-age warfare "Many are worried that our country, hard-earned freedom and democracy and prosperity will be lost bit by bit due to these influence campaigns and manipulation," he added. Lai proposed 17 legal and economic countermeasures, including the strict review of visits of Chinese citizens to Taiwan and their residence applications to counter China. China regularly sends ships and planes into airspace and waters near the island in an effort to intimidate the people and wear down the morale of the armed forces as part of its attempts to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty. The keel laying ceremony of the second of the five fleet support ships (FSS) of the Indian Navy was held on Wednesday at the L&T Shipyard in Kattupalli of Tamil Nadu. In 2023, the Indian Navy signed a contract with Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) for the acquisition of five FSS, to be delivered starting from mid-2027. Following this, HSL contracted the construction of two FSS to L&T to leverage the latter's shipbuilding capacities and meet stringent timelines for delivery. On induction, the FSS will bolster the blue water capabilities of the Indian Navy through replenishment of the fleet ships at sea. These ships, with a displacement capacity of more than 40,000 tonnes, will carry fuel, water, ammunition and stores, enabling prolonged operations at sea, thus enhancing the fleets reach and mobility. ALSO READ: Indian Air Force gains a lethal edge as ASTRA missile aces LCA Tejas test-firing In their secondary role, the FSS will be equipped for humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) operations for evacuation of personnel and expeditious delivery of relief material during natural calamities, the defence ministry stated in a release. With a completely indigenous design and sourcing of the majority of the equipment from indigenous manufacturers, this project will boost the Indian shipbuilding industry and is in consonance with the government of India's initiatives of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Make for the World, the statement from the ministry read. The keel laying ceremony was conducted in the presence of Vice Admiral Rajaram Swaminathan, Controller, Warship Production & Acquisition, and senior officials from the Indian Navy, Hindustan Shipyard Limited and L&T. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday lashed out at the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu for replacing the rupee symbol with Tamil letter Ru in its logo for the state budget 2025-26. Terming it as a dangerous mindset, Sitharaman said such moves could promote secessionist sentiments. Also read Tamil pride or political gimmick? TN CM Stalin ditching rupee symbol in budget logo set to escalate language row Earlier in the day, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin revealed the new logo on X, stirring up a political storm. The move comes amid a raging showdown between the state and central governments over the three-language proposal included in the National Education Policy (NEP). The Tamil Nadu government and the ruling DMK have been maintaining that the central government was trying to impose Hindi in the state. The new logo of the budget carried 'Ru'the first letter of the Tamil word 'Rubaai' which denotes the Indian currency in the vernacular language. In a long post on X, Sitharaman asked if the DMK had any problem with the rupee symbol (), why the party didnt protest back in 2010 when the Congress-led UPA government, which the DMK was also a part of, officially adopted it. The DMK government has reportedly removed the official Rupee symbol from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented tomorrow. If the DMK (@arivalayam) has a problem with , why didnt it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 13, 2025 Noting that the rupee symbol was designed by D Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam, the finance minister alleged that the DMK was now not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth. Moreover, the Tamil word Rupaai itself has deep roots in the Sanskrit word Rupya, meaning wrought silver or a worked silver coin. This term has resonated across centuries in Tamil trade and literature, and even today, Rupaai remains the currency name in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, she said. The minister also noted that several countries, including Indonesia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, officially use Rupee or its 'equivalent/derivatives' as their currency name. At a time when India is pushing for cross-border payments using UPI, should we really be undermining our own national currency symbol?, she asked. Sitharaman further claimed that removing a national symbol like '' from the state budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity. This is more than mere symbolismit signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism, she said. The Aam Aadmi Party protested in Delhi on Thursday, condemning the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the national capital for not implementing its poll promise of providing free LPG cylinders from Holi. The opposition AAP charged BJP is a jhumla party making false promises to the public. AAP workers protested in various places in Delhi demanding the Delhi government to implement the free LPG cylinder scheme as promised. AAP cadres protested holding LPG cylinders and placards in the shape of LPG cylinders. Opposition leader Atishi tweeted, People of Delhi are asking: Holi has come, When will the free cylinder arrive? Atishi on Wednesday told ANI, The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave several promises to the people of Delhi. The promise of Rs 2,500 turned out to be 'Jhumla'. Women of Delhi were supposed to get a free cylinder during Holi, only two days are left and women of Delhi are waiting for the free cylinder. At different parts of Delhi, women are protesting with empty cylinders against BJP and their fake promises. However, the Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva dismissed AAPs charges and said the poll promise would be fulfilled. Atishi and AAP do the politics of lie, arrogance and confrontation. They always made false promises. Earlier, they used to protest over our promise of providing Rs 2,500 to women. Now, they are worrying about cylinders. I want to tell them that the BJP will fulfil all the promises that it has made in Sankalp Patra. Some budgetary rules needs to be followed. The people have rejected them, and soon AAP will face worse conditions than Congress," ANI reported quoting the BJP leader. The AAP conducted statewide protests in Delhi earlier condemning the BJP for delaying the implementation of Rs 2,500 monthly assistance scheme for women. The Delhi cabinet later approved the scheme on March 8, International Womens Day. The Delhi police have nabbed two men for allegedly raping a British national at a hotel in the national capital. The British High Commission has been alerted by police and further probe is underway. According to Delhi police, the British national, who came to India on vacation, befriended Kailash, a youth from East Delhis Vasundhara area via social media. Reportedly, Kailash was a social media influencer and the victim was impressed by his reels. A man was arrested on charges of rape with a British woman in a Mahipalpur hotel in Delhi. His accomplice was arrested on charges of molestation. The woman who was friends with the man through social media had come to Delhi from the UK to meet him. The information about the ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025 The victim, who was on a trip to Maharashtra and Goa, invited Kailash to meet her, police said. However, when Kailash conveyed his inability to travel, the British citizen travelled to Delhi to meet him. Police said the victim reached Delhi on Tuesday and checked in at a hotel in Mahipalpur, Delhi. On her invitation, Kailash, along with his friend Wasim, visited the hotel and had dinner together, police said. Delhi police said the trio consumed alcohol before heading to their hotel room. Once they entered the room, Kailash allegedly forced himself on the British national, police said. Reportedly, Kailash called Wasim into the room when she cried out and created a commotion. A senior Delhi police official said, A man was arrested on charges of raping a British woman in a Mahipalpur hotel in Delhi. His accomplice was arrested on charges of molestation, ANI reported. Police added, The information about the incident has also been given to the British High Commission. The Delhi incident comes days after a foreigner was allegedly gang-raped by a trio in Karnatakas Hampi. The Israeli national, and the owner of the homestay she was staying, were raped by the gang after they allegedly refused to give them money. Karnataka police have arrested all accused in the case. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced his support for Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalins stand against delimitation and charged the Bharatiya Janata Party is punishing the southern states. Addressing presspersons in Delhi, Reddy said, The Union government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party is conspiring against the southern states. This is not a delimitation but a 'limitation' for southern states. We won't accept this at any cost. #WATCH | Delhi | Telangana CM Revanth Reddy says, "Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin sent a delegation to me, inviting me to join the meeting concerning the delimitation. The central govt led by BJP-NDA is conspiring against the Southern states. This is not a delimitation but a pic.twitter.com/qZocJgNaaS ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025 A delegation of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders led by MP Kanimozhi met Reddy in Delhi and handed over an invitation from Stalin to join the meeting against delimitation. Reddy said he welcomes the Tamil Nadu chief ministers stand. Attacking the BJP, Reddy said, BJP is doing all this to settle scores with the people of southern states because they there never allowed the BJP to grow (in the south). BJP is doing vendetta politics. Reddy said he has agreed with Tamil Nadus demand in principle and will attend the meeting after seeking permission from Congress's high command. On Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah extended support to Stalin. We condemn without hesitation all the actions of the central government that are against the interests of Karnataka, weaken democracy, and go against the federal principle of the Constitution," Siddaramaiah had said. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has staunchly opposed the new delimitation exercise for determining Lok Sabha seats. The key opposition leader expressed concern that the exercise would significantly reduce the representation of southern states in the Parliament due to the successful implementation of population control measures in these states. Earlier, Stalin conducted an all-party meeting in Tamil Nadu. Stalin said though the Centre says the seats of southern states will not be reduced, the Union government is refusing to comment anything regarding the increase of seats in northern states. Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka have extended their support to the DMK government in Tamil Nadu over its opposition to the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said he would attend the meeting called by Stalin in Chennai on the issue after taking permission from the high command. "I welcome Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's stand. I have to get permission from the (Congress) high command to attend the meeting. In principle, I have agreed to attend," Reddy told reporters in Delhi. Earlier in the day, a DMK delegation led by Tamil Nadu minister T.K. Nehru met Reddy in the national capital to invite him for the meeting. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also extended support to the DMK move and requested his deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, to attend the meeting in Chennai to discuss the issue. "Although I would like to participate in the meeting, due to my prior commitments, I am unable to do so," Siddaramaiah said in a letter to Stalin. The Karnataka CM noted that his Tamil Nadu counterpart in his letter to him had raised crucial issues regarding the autonomy of states, with serious implications for the principles governing our polity. The issue of delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on new population benchmarks needs to be discussed at length by like-minded states, he further said. Tamil Nadu minister K. Ponmudy and Rajya Sabha MP Mohammed Abdullah Ismail met Siddaramaiah at his residence in Bengaluru on Wednesday to invite him to the meeting. Stalin has written to chief ministers of seven states to form a joint action committee against the delimitation exercise. Besides Karnataka and Telangana CMs, those who got Stalin's invitation for the meeting included Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), N. Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Bhagwant Mann (Punjab) and Mohan Majhi (Odisha). The opposition parties are claiming that the delimitation, if done based on population, will reduce the number of Lok Sabha seats from the southern states, and thus their representation in parliament. The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), an organisation representing non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits, has urged the administration to officially designate March 14 as Martyrs Day in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the KPSS, the demand aims to commemorate the victims of violence, beginning with the tragic killing of Prabhawati on 14 March 1989, which marked the onset of a series of violent events leading to the mass exodus of the community in 1990. The KPSS president, Sanjay Tickoo, in a statement, said the call for recognition is rooted in denial of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide by sections of the society. The tragic history of the Kashmiri Pandits is a deep scar on the conscience of the nation. Even after decades, a significant section of the majority community remains in denial, attempting to erase or distort history to evade accountability, Tickoo said. He said the KPSS has highlighted that the violence against Kashmiri Pandits peaked in 1990, leading to their migration from Kashmir. The KPSS has cited documented records showing that 258 members of the community were killed between May and June 1990. The targeting of Kashmiri Pandits led to mass killings and the destruction of temples, homes and cultural heritage. Tickoo said generations have grown up away from their ancestral homeland, putting their cultural identity at risk of being erased. The KPSS asserts that declaring 14 March as Martyrs Day is a step towards recognising this historical injustice. This is not just about commemoration, but about reclaiming history and ensuring such tragedies are never forgotten, the statement added. The organisation has made a strong appeal to both the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the central government to officially acknowledge March 14 as Martyrs Day in the Union Territory. The wounds of insurgency remain fresh, and the struggle for justice continues, Tickoo said.By officially commemorating this day, we can ensure that the sacrifices of the Kashmiri Pandits are never forgotten and that their pain is acknowledged with the dignity and solemnity it deserves. umbh is held in Ujjain, it is called the Simhasta. It will be held between April 9 and May 8, 2028. As per Vedic astrology when Jupiter enters the Leo sign and the Sun transits into Aries, the amrit from the Samudra Manthan is present in the Kshipra River in Ujjain, and thus the Kumbh is celebrated there. As per Hindu mythology, the intense battle between the Gods and the demons to capture amrit(elixir) led to the spilling of it at four places: Prayagraj, Ujjain, Haridwar and Nashik. These four cities are believed to have received the divine effect and the power of the amrit. In Sanatan belief, the Kumbh is not only an opportunity for believers to express their gratitude to the supreme powers for bestowing life to them, it also gives them the divine blessings of the elixir. Anuj Lahoriya, a Prayagraj-based astrology consultant, said, It is this amrit that keeps the world in perfect symphony with good winning over evil for the greater benefit of mankind. The belief is that the power of prayers during this pious period has a significant impact in cleansing the impure and evil from the universe to maintain the balance of life. Yadav has directed that all work related to the Simhasta be completed by June 2027, and that monthly reviews be held. This includes widening the roads and lanes of Ujjain which has seen a rising influx of devotees since the establishment of the Shri Mahakal Lok. The chief minister also stressed that walking distances should be minimised and e-vehicles be deployed. Disaster and fire management are to be top priorities. Seven major routes leading to Ujjain city have been approved to be developed as four lanes and one major route as a six lane road. The CM has directed that work on these be expedited. These efforts tie into the state governments aim of developing Ujjain as a major destination for global religious tourism. In 2016, during the last Simhastha, 75 million people had been part of the month-long gathering. There is a special emphasis on keeping the waters of the Kshipra River clean and turning it into a perennial, holy stream. A number of projects that include the construction of barrages and stop-dams are already underway to ensure that. The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday revealed that it had discovered a large-scale scam in Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) and its associated entities. The agency has seized several incriminating documents during the recent search operation carried out at various premises in the offices of TASMAC, distilleries and breweries across Tamil Nadu for various offences related to misappropriation of funds. The search operations have revealed that black money racket to the tune of over 1,000 crore. In a press statement released on Thursday, the ED said that it initiated an investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. ED, Chennai has conducted search operations at various premises across many districts of Tamil Nadu on 06.03.2025 under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for various offences related to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) and its associated entities/persons. ED (@dir_ed) March 13, 2025 These FIRs were registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption in Tamil Nadu under categories like the TASMAC shops collecting excess amount than the actual MRP, distillery companies offering kickbacks to the officials of TASMAC for supply orders, senior officials of TASMAC indulging in collection of bribes from the retail TASMAC shops and for transfer and posting of TASMAC staff, TASMAC offices. The FIRs were taken after raids, which ran continuously for five days from March 6 to March 10. During the search action, according to the ED, incriminating data related to transfer and postings in the state-owned TASMAC, transport tender, Bar Licence Tender, indent orders favouring few distillery companies, an excess charge of 10 to 30 per bottle by the TASMAC outlets involving the officials of TASMAC were recovered. The release also said that it had found evidence of manipulation in TASMAC's transport tender allocations. A glaring issue is the mismatch between the KYC details of the applicant and the Demand Draft (DD), suggesting that the final successful bidder did not even obtain the requisite DD before the application deadline. Additionally, tenders were awarded despite having only a single applicant in the final bid. TASMAC paid over 100 crore annually to transporters. The ED also said that it had tumbled upon evidence related to the manipulation of tender conditions in the allocation of bar license tenders by TASMAC. Applicants without any GST/PAN numbers and without any proper KYC documentation were allotted the final tenders, ED said in the press statement. The third evidence revealed by ED is the undue favours by TASMAC higher officials to the distillery companies by way of direct communication between distillery companies and higher TASMAC officials. The above findings establish the occurrence of various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and generate Proceeds of Crime (POC) as defined under the provisions of PMLA, 2002. Searches revealed large-scale financial fraud involving distillery companiesSNJ, Kals, Accord, SAIFL, and Shiva Distilleryalong with bottling entities such as Devi Bottles, Crystal Bottles, and GLR Holding, exposing a well-orchestrated scheme of unaccounted cash generation and illicit payments. Investigations reveal that distilleries systematically inflated expenses and fabricated bogus purchases, particularly through bottle-making companies, to siphon off over Rs.1,000 Crore in unaccounted cash. These funds were then used for kickbacks to secure increased supply orders from TASMAC, the press note reveals. The bottling companies, according to the ED, played a critical role in the fraudulent scheme by inflating sales figures, by way of allowing distilleries to route excess payments, which were later withdrawn in cash and returned after deducting commissions. This collusion between distilleries and bottling companies was done through manipulation of financial records, concealed cash flows, and systematic evasion. The findings confirm a network where unaccounted cash was deliberately generated through inflated and bogus expenses and subsequently utilised for purposes leading to huge profits. Further, the role of employees/associates related to TASMAC, Distillery and Bottle-making companies along with other key associates in the illicit affairs related to TASMAC are being examined or probed, the ED said. The agency is also pursuing further investigation in the case and associates the incriminating evidence with a larger scam. Political fallout Incidentally, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai said that the liquor scam will rattle the state. He said like in Chattisgarh and Delhi, the liquor scam will topple the government and pave the way for the BJP rule. The DMK got benefits of 1,000 crore through this scam, and they have hoarded the money in all districts to use ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. We will only focus on this scam for the next year and not on other issues, Annamalai said, even before the ED could officially announce the enormity of the scam. Incidentally, in Tamil Nadu, Annamalai is considered the 'bete noire' of prohibition and excise minister V. Senthil Balaji, who made him lose two elections in a row from Aravakurichi in Karur district and from the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency. Balaji is the district election in charge of the DMK in Coimbatore while he is the DMK partys district secretary in Karur. Annamalai, even before the 2021 elections said that he would break the teeth of Balaji. And later, in 2023, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls Annamalai said that the ED would arrest Balaji. Following his statement ED conducted raids at Balajis residence and he was arrested subsequently. Though Balaji is out on bail now, the Supreme Court will soon hear EDs petition to cancel his bail. Balaji is considered to be the DMK strongman in West Tamil Nadu who can help the DMK win more than 30 MLAs from this region. West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government for allegedly banning the celebration of Holi at Sonajuri Haat in Santiniketan, stating the state police was playing "appeasement politics". The West Bengal government imposed restrictions citing concerns over potential damage to the area's greenery in the popular marketplace located near Visva Bharati University's Santiniketan campus, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Bolpur division forest officer Rahul Kumar said there is a ban on the parking of vehicles and the celebration of the Holi festival in the Haat. The DFO added that the gathering can cause irreparable damage to the vegetation due to the splashing of coloured water. Opposition leader Adhikari decried the "ban", stating this was the first time that such a thing was happening in West Bengal. "The police, administration and the state government are doing divisive politics and politics of appeasement," he said, adding that the Additional SP of Birbhum said that the Dol festival in Santiniketan must be over by 10 am. "This kind of political division is going on in Bengal," he said. #WATCH | Kolkata | West Bengal's MoS for Forest and MoS for Consumer Affairs Birbaha Hansda says, "We have not banned Holi (in Santiniketan); we had requested the people to secure the environment. When people play Holi - it contains chemicals that may harm trees... I would pic.twitter.com/W6A8bEJ3Es ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025 However, after the decision stoked controversy, MoS for Consumer Affairs Birbaha Hansda said there was no such ban. "Instead, she specified that it is merely a request for people to help protect the environment," she added. "We have not banned Holi (in Santiniketan); we had requested the people to secure the environment. When people play Holi - it contains chemicals that may harm trees... I would request all those who are doing politics over the issue, the situation of every place is different," Hansda said. Earlier, the Visva-Bharati University said Holi celebrations cannot be allowed on the campus, a UNESCO heritage site. This is the first time the forest department has imposed such restrictions on Sonajhuri Haat, which has become the hub of the Dol festival since 2019, after the Visva-Bharati authorities stopped the 'Spring Festival'. A scientist working with the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali (IISER) was beaten to death by his neighbour following a parking-related brawl on Wednesday. Footage of the incident showing Dr Abhishek Swarnkar pinned to the ground before being punched and kicked in the chest has gone viral. The incident happened in Mohali's Sector 67 on Wednesday night. Dr Swarnkar, the 40-year-old researcher, lived with his parents. The video shows some local people, including the accused Monty, standing near a two-wheeler. Swarnkar is seen walking to the two-wheeler and tries to remove it. However, the duo enters into an altercation following which Monty pushes Swarnkar to the ground. He proceeds to stamp him on his chest and stomach before others intervene and pull Monty away. Though the people, including Monty, rushes him to the nearby hospital in an SUV, he is declared dead on arrival. Swarnkar, who had earlier worked in Switzerland, had recently returned to India to join IISET as a project scientist. His works have been featured in multiple international journals. Swarnkar also reportedly underwent a kidney transplant and the organ was donated by his sister. He was also reportedly on dialysis. Police said a case has been registered on the complaint of the deceased's father. He is survived by his elderly parents and two sisters. "The post-mortem will be conducted on Thursday," Phase 11 SHO Gagandeep Singh told reporters. A United Nations report has accused Israel security forces of committing "genocidal acts" against Palestinians in Gaza. However, Israel has dismissed the report as "unfounded, biased and lacking credibility". The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory alleged that Israel destroyed the reproductive capacity of Palestinians by preventing births. This is considered a genocidal act under the Rome Statute, which covers genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression as well as the Genocide Convention, an international treaty that criminalises genocide. BREAKING: A UN probe finds Israel carried out genocidal acts by destroying Gazas fertility centre, imposing a siege, and blocking aid. Israel rejects the claims. pic.twitter.com/ABvr7H0byQ Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 13, 2025 The report claimed that Israel intentionally destroyed Gaza's main fertility centre besides denying medications for safe pregnancies and childbirth as well as proper care for newborns. It also alleged that Israel security forces forced women to publicly strip and sexually assaulted them during the war triggered by Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. However, Israel has slammed the UN panel, accusing it as a "shameless attempt" to slander its military. "The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has concrete directives and policies which unequivocally prohibit such misconduct, said Tel Aviv's permanent mission to the UN in Geneva in response to the commission. On the other hand, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said last year that the Hamas militants had allegedly raped Israelis during the October 7 attack. It alleged that victims were subjected to other form of sexual violence as well. One of the Israeli hostages freed by Hamas has revealed that the militants raped her multiple times during captivity. By Nazrin Abdul Unless renewable energy spending reaches 80%, the climate crisis will continue. Azernews reports that this was stated by Rebecca Grynspan, former Second Vice President of Costa Rica, during her speech at the XII Global Baku Forum. "We are witnessing rapid changes in transportation. The rapid development of information technologies is incredible. Artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and innovations are advancing daily. We must keep up with these changes in a fast-paced world. In doing so, we can ensure development both within countries and globally," she said. According to Grynspan, today there is a $55 trillion gap in purchasing power parity. "This gap must be filled within the next five years. Forty trillion of it, or 70%, comes from the Global South. Multipolarity is not an option, but a fact. It must be ensured in other parts of the world as well. Geopolitics and national security are intertwined in many countries, influencing trade and determining its purpose. If spending on renewable energy does not increase to at least 80%, we will not be able to address the climate crisis, and problems will persist," she stated. It should be noted that the XII Global Baku Forum is taking place from March 13-15. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the theme "Rethinking the World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities." Global geopolitical changes, a multilateral approach, the global health crisis, recovery, regional stability, COP29, and other important global issues will be discussed at the event. The forum will bring together more than 300 world leaders from over 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, more than 15 former prime ministers, about 10 heads of UN and international agencies, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Bulgaria plans to invest $1.8 billion in railway network as part of Azerbaijan-led Middle Corridor, said former Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev in an exclusive interview with Trend. "We are making this investment to link the highly modern Baku port with Europe. Cargo from China will arrive in Baku, travel via the Baku-Kars railway, pass through Turkiye, and then move from the Turkish border to Serbia via Bulgaria. We are building high-speed rail, ensuring that in a few years, there will be a modern railway connection from Baku to the heart of Europe along the Middle Corridor," Plevneliev said. He emphasized Azerbaijans commitment to new strategic projects that will yield significant results. "The Southern Gas Corridor is already expanding and will supply even more gas to Europe and Bulgaria. Bulgaria will serve as a hub for new gas interconnectors with Romania, Serbia, and Greece, allowing Azerbaijani gas to reach Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine. We have a clear agreement on this," he added. Plevneliev also highlighted Bulgarias role in the emerging green energy corridor, which will connect the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan with Europe. "This project will attract billions in investment and boost trade. Countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Georgia see this green energy corridor as just as important as the Southern Gas Corridor. In the coming days, our ministers will be working to achieve concrete results," he noted. He also praised the Global Baku Forum as a key platform for international cooperation and sustainable development. "The forum will bring together a large number of current and former heads of state and government from around the world, representing nearly every continent. Its an inclusive platform where all key players - China, Europe, the U.S., Central Asia, Africa - will have a voice. We will listen, exchange ideas, and seek long-term, sustainable solutions. This is possible thanks to the legacy of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center," he said. Plevneliev added that the forum will build on the outcomes of COP29, where he was part of the Advisory Council under Azerbaijans chairmanship. "I saw firsthand how complex the negotiations were, but we achieved results of historic significance. Now, we must move forward toward COP30. The forum will also focus on new technologies, AI regulation, and the role of young leaders in tackling global challenges. We will hear fresh perspectives on shaping the future and discuss concrete steps for advancing technology and AI governance. It promises to be a fascinating event," he concluded. As Pakistan claims it has successfully ended the hijack of the Quetta-Peshawar Jaffar Express wiping out 33 armed rebels, a minister took time to lash out at Indian media, alleging it was spreading a coordinated narrative regarding the attack. The minister's response comes amid reports, attributed to multiple sources, claiming that the Pakistan Army had sent 200 coffins from Quetta Railway Station to Bolan in Balochistan, where the attack happened. Both Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and Information Minister Atta Tarar took time off their busy day to slam Indian media, alleging that they were engaging in "propaganda" and "spreading a coordinated narrative regarding the attack" with the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and political enemy PTI. Pakistan Army Ends Train Hijacking, 21 Hostages Killed 33 militants were killed. Pakistani forces ended a militant attack after BLA fighters hijacked the Jaffar Express in Balochistan. The operation left 21 hostages and four soldiers dead.#TRAIN #TrainHijack pic.twitter.com/couswaH17i Eye On News (@EyeOnNews24) March 13, 2025 Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif told reporters that the "flow of misinformation" online and on social media from India "openly displayed the nexus between the terrorists and their masters to the whole world." He also used the opportunity to accuse the PTI of partaking in such activities enthusiastically rather than standing with Pakistan. "Sadly, some elements are sacrificing the national interest due to their lust for political power," he said. Though the Pakistan ruling class rushed to issue an emergency statement slamming Indian social media, they did not specify the total number of hostages that had been rescued. They also did not address rumours regarding the '200 coffins' that did rounds on Wednesday. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar also criticised the Indian media for "distorting facts" and "pushing a pre-planned narrative to mislead the public." Meanwhile, a senior security official told Dawn that the rescue was carried out in phases. While over a hundred were freed in the first phase, 80 hostages were rescued in the second phase. Around a dozen passengers, including two railway policemen, also managed to escape their captors and made it safely back to Quetta. Barely three months into 2025, the geopolitical and economic landscape of the world order as we knew it, is hardly recognisable, thanks largely to the new Trump administration whose policies range from quirky to pure disruptive. The United States has taken an aggressive stance to impose peace on Palestine and ceasefire on Ukraine, while imposing tariffs on friends and foes alike, potentially triggering a global trade war. Some argue, this inward-looking stance of US will create power vacuums in global security architecture. If this argument is accurate, it opens an opportunity for India to reassert itself as the net security provider of South Asia. While the world focuses on Ukraine and sometimes on Palestine, the latest flare-up in Pakistan has only garnered limited attention globally. The struggle of the Baloch people against an alleged oppressive and occupying state run from Islamabad had taken a violent turn since the independence of Pakistan, with violence levels following a sine wave pattern. The recent escalations were the gunning down of former-ISI aide Mufti Shah Mir on March 9 followed by the hijacking of a passenger train on March 11. These incidents signal an unprecedented escalation in the conflict between Pakistani forces and Balochi fighters. Elected representatives in Pakistan have admitted that certain regions of Balochistan are already beyond Islamabad or Quettas control. Strategic commentators and experts have started voicing concerns of Pakistans territorial integrity. While conciliation between the opposing forces remains a distant dream, the fact the world cannot ignore is the potential of a civil war within a nuclear power. The situation is even more alarming considering that Pakistan has allegedly stored nuclear assets in Balochistan, and continuing instability in the region runs the risk of these weapons landing with non-state actors. Any question of unauthorised access to nuclear weapons is of global concern, and even more terrifying for the region. As such, India needs to take a proactive approach to ensure that the region doesnt descend into further chaos. In this regard, India is uniquely placed to take up leadership responsibility in the region. However, to do so, India needs to de-hyphenate its domestic and foreign policies. Since January 2025, India has taken steps to improve its relationships in the region. India and Iran carried out a comprehensive review of their ties, including the development of the Chabahar port located in the Sistan-Balochistan province. India has also restarted diplomatic communication with the Taliban as it continues to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Both Iran and Afghanistan share a border with Baloch province, and Indias initiatives in the region together with Indias record of providing humanitarian aid globally may be leveraged to enable diplomatic and mediating channels between the warring parties. For this to succeed though, there is no other alternative but to engage Pakistan in dialogue. With enough political capital in the bag, the ceasefire in IB-LoC holding strong and the situation in the Valley vastly improved, this is a moment the Prime Minister would be well-advised to seize and reinitiate the charm offensive of his first term in office vis-a-vis Pakistan. By taking proactive responsibility, India could also secure some of its own strategic goals. There are three tangible benefits for India if New Delhi takes this path. Firstly, India gets to reassert its regional hegemony in the face of an aggressive China. This, on the back of recent improvement of ties with Maldives and a successful engagement with Mauritius, could be an ideal moment for the Prime Minister to achieve one of the most elusive goals of Indias strategic policy, peace with Pakistan. India at this point holds both the proverbial carrot and the stick, given the recent developments within Pakistans internal security matrix. Secondly, India may then leverage this goodwill to secure investment opportunities and access to key minerals that are found in Balochistan. This will open up new opportunities for both India and regional powers like Iran while also having multi-layered benefits for Pakistan. Finally, if such a deal, though far-fetched, is achieved, this will be a major blow for Indias primary adversary across the northern borders. While Quetta could be easier to convince, it will depend on New Delhis strategic community mandarins to woo Islamabad to follow suit. Abhijan Das is a strategic consulting and national security expert. He is a governing body member of Society to Harmonise Aspirations for Responsible Engagement (SHARE). The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK. With Baloch separatists hijacking a train in Pakistan and held hundreds of passengers hostages for three days, the weakness of Pakistani military infrastructure has been exposed. The Pakistani army has declared that the they have killed all the 33 militants and rescued the hostages. But why are the Baloch people fighting for their independence? Who are the BLA? The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is a militant group advocating for the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan. However, these militants are not Islamist unlike other terror groups in Pakistan. BLA is a secular Baloch nationalist outfit seeking to free the region from Pakistan. BLA already controls certain parts of Balochistan with government having no authority in those regions. The BLA has in the past attacked infrastructure and security personnel, and often targeting workers from China. Pakistani security forces stormed a hijacked train in Pakistans Balochistan and killed 33 attackers, securing hundreds of hostages https://t.co/mbpqRMKZZg pic.twitter.com/MyIFGTuiEa Reuters (@Reuters) March 13, 2025 In November 2024, BLA bombed Quetta railway station, killing dozens of people. They also carried out blasts targeting Chinese citizens near Karachi airport. In 2022, schoolteacher Shari Baloch killed three Chinese teachers, another person and herself in suicide bombing. In the past the BLA have also targeted Chinese engineers and labourers working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in shootouts, explosions and ambushes. In 2020, they attacked the Karachi Stock Exchange, which is partially owned by a Chinese consortium. There was also a BLA attack on the Chinese diplomatic mission in Karachi in 2018. How did Pakistan stake claim over Balochistan? Balochistan's independence struggle began in 1947 following the Partition of India. While the Kharan, Makaran and Las Bela princely states in Balochistan merged with Pakistan, Kalat wanted to remain independent. However, eventually Muhammad Ali Jinnah forced the Khan of Kalat to sign the instrument of accession on March 26, 1948. This sparked rebellion with the Khan's brother Prince Abdul Karim leading the first insurgency against Pakistan. Six years later, Pakistan reorganised its provinces and reduced the autonomy of Balochistan. In 1958, Nawab Nauroz Khan, the Khan of Kalat, declared independence and waged guerilla warfare against Pakistan. A year later, the Khan was promised amnesty if he surrendered. But when he did, they arrested him and his sons. Many of his family members were executed while the Khan died in captivity. With Bangladesh gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971, the Baloch people too began demanding autonomy but they were suppressed by then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk, the western Russian region, on Wednesday for the first time since Ukrainian forces partially occupied it. His visit comes as Russia is on the verge of driving Kyiv's troops out of Kursk. In the footage aired by the Russian state television, Putin was seen in military fatigues inside a control centre. "Indeed, in the shortest possible time is to finally defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region and still BREAKING: Vladimir Putin from Kursk: "Russia will treat Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk region as terrorists" He also said "Foreign mercenaries are not covered by the Geneva Convention" (which means they are going to be eliminated on the appt) pic.twitter.com/EBJWkwMXUI Megatron (@Megatron_ron) March 12, 2025 conducting defensive actions here," Putin told Russia's top military brass. Valery Gerasimov, head of the Russian General Staff, was heard telling Putin that Ukrainian troops were now surrounded and were being "systematically destroyed". To this, Putin urges Russian forces to completely liberate the region from the Ukrainian troops as soon as possible. Interestingly, the visit comes as the US officials are headed to Russia to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. Steve Witkoff will be travelling to Moscow later this week to deliver the US ceasefire proposal for the Ukraine conflict, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. "We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan. This is the closest we have been to peace in this war," Leavitt said. Putin's visit to Kursk has also raised concern in Ukraine with Kyiv's analysts stating it was an "attempt to raise the stakes before talks with the United States." Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation (run by Ukraines National Security and Defense Council), wrote on Telegram: "Putin decided to issue threats, put on a military uniform and talk about a buffer zone because Kursk Oblast represents a personal humiliation for him." Putin's visit comes as Kremlin said it was reviewing details from Washington about a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine before responding. His presence, with Gerasimov's statement of Russian advances, also eliminates any possibility of Ukraine ever using Kursk as a bargaining chip in any peace talks with Moscow. The Russian President's much-choreographed visit is also a response to the ceasefire talks and Ukraine's expectations of Russian compromise. The fact that Putin barely mentioned anything about Kursk until now suggests that the leader isn't favouring the ceasefire idea. Though his senior aides had dismissed any suggestion of a ceasefire, Putin had not commented on it until he decided to appear in Kursk in military uniform. His statement of finally defeating the enemy" in an address to troops also hints at how Russia wants things on its terms. After a top Kremlin aide slammed the US's 30-day ceasefire proposal to pause the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Vladimir Putin of "seeking to prolong the war". "This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war," he said. We must move toward peace, toward security guarantees, and we need to free our people. We are determined to work as quickly as possible with our partners. The key factor is our partners ability to ensure Russias readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war. Because pic.twitter.com/VUkrTS1VyF Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) March 12, 2025 Zelenskyy also urged the US to compel Moscow to end the war. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington, told the state television that he had spoken to US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on the US's proposal. "This is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more," Ushakov was quoted by Reuters. He added that Russia is looking for a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of Moscow. Russia has rejected the 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by the US. Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy advisor, says this would be nothing other than a temporary breather for Ukrainian troops. pic.twitter.com/fbrwJf82bE max seddon (@maxseddon) March 13, 2025 The document, it seems to me, has a hasty character... It will be necessary to work, think and take into account our position too. It outlines only the Ukrainian approach, RIA cited Ushakov as saying. The US has been making efforts to end the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine by striking a peace deal. US President Donald Trump urged both nation leaders to sit together and negotiate the terms to end the war. Recently, US officials held peace talks with Ukraine's Zelenskyy in Saudi in the second round of talks. Last month, US officials held discussions with Russian representatives in Riyadh on striking a peace deal to end the war. Meanwhile, Trump on Wednesday said that he hoped Russia would agree to his proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Since 2012, Ushakov has served alongside Putin. UK PM Keir Starmer has slammed Russia's rejection of the US ceasefire proposal. He said that he was not "entirely surprised". "It doesnt entirely surprise me that Russia is taking this stance. Theyve made it pretty clear. They put it in lights a number of times over...We know that Putin has ambitions that are barely disguised," said Starmer. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants on Thursday said that the Pakistani army spokesperson was lying about the ending of Jaffar Express train hijacking. The battle is still continuing, BLA added. The ground reality is that the battle continues on multiple fronts, and the enemy (Pakistani military) is suffering heavy casualties and military losses, the BLA said in a statement. The rebel group said the individuals the Pakistani army claimed to have "recovered" were in fact released by the Baloch Liberation Army under its war ethics and international norms. "The battle is ongoing with intensity and freedom fighters are forcing the enemy to retreat on all fronts," the statement read. Pakistan Army on Wednesday claimed that all 33 Baloch insurgents, who hijacked a passenger train carrying over 400 passengers, were killed. However, the BLA said: "The occupying army has neither achieved victory on the battlefield nor managed to save its hostage personnel." On Wednesday, Pakistan Army spokesperson said that the operation to rescue hostages from a train hijacked by the Baloch insurgents had ended. The spokesperson also added that four of its army personnel were killed in the operation. The armed forces successfully concluded the operation on (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely, Lt. Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said. Today we freed a large number of people, including women and children. The final operation was carried out with great care, he added. The insurgents, on Tuesday, opened fire on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express train, coming from Quetta in Balochistan province, carrying 425 passengers in nine bogies while it was passing through a tunnel. Russia has send a list of demands to the US for a ceasefire deal to end the war against Ukraine, according to a report. This comes amid face-to-face talks and virtual discussions between Russian and American officials, Reuters quoted sources as saying. Though the Reuters report could not confirm if Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to talk to Ukraine for the peace talks, other reports have suggested that Moscow is willing to negotiate a deal. What are Russia's ceasefire demands? Russia is said to have raised demands that are similar to the previous conditions it presented to the NATO as well as the Ukrainians and the Americans. These include not letting Ukraine join the NATO, one of the main reasons for Russia's invasion of its neigbour. Moscow sees Kyiv as part of the Russosphere, which mainly comprises the former Soviet Union states that come under its sphere of influence. The expansion of NATO into these countries is seen as a threat by Russia. Some of the former Soviet Union states like Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are already NATO members. Another Russian demand is that there should be no deployment of foreign military in Ukraine after the war. BREAKING: Zelensky addresses the world and suggests peace remains impossible as long as Russia is emboldened to lie and continue to bomb Ukraine. What does that mean? As long as Trump serves his master Putin, Putin has zero incentive to stop the war. pic.twitter.com/pfpXWk7Vx9 CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) March 12, 2025 Putin has also been demanding international recognition for Crimea and the territories it annexed in the Donbas region as part of Russia, including the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces. This comes two days after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his willingness to negotiate a 30-day ceasefire deal. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Putin has put forth three demands, asking Kyiv to formally commit to neutrality, abandon NATO aspirations and recognise Russia's claims over annexed territories. It added that Moscow does not was peacekeepers send by the European Union on Ukrainian territories. Before the Ukraine conflict that began in February 2022, Putin had demanded the NATO to stop its military operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Joe Biden administration had rejected most of his demands, documents accessed by Reuters have revealed. In a surprise move, the White House on Thursday withdrew its nomination of David Weldon, from Florida, to head the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Weldon's nomination hearing was cancelled by the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee following the withdrawal. Also read | Why Trump naming David Weldon as CDC chief worries public health experts? United States President Donald Trump named former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon in November last year. Weldon has long questioned the safety of vaccines and has been part of anti-vaccine campaigns as well. Trump's pick for CDC chief had raised many eyebrows and it was criticised by many health experts. Reportedly, the US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had raised concerns about Trump's CDC director pick. Apparently, Weldon lacked the votes needed for Senate confirmation. It is the first time the Trump administration has withdrawn a nominee from consideration this term. The White House withdrawal comes as the US is staring at rising measles cases, bird flu and widening outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico. Weldon, 71, was the founding member of the Congressional Autism caucus and as a representative to the US House from 1995 to 2009, he introduced two bills raising the safety related to childhood vaccines. Health experts worried that his appointment as CDC chief would jeopardise the whole process of tackling vaccine-preventable diseases. "It is a shock, but, you know, in some ways, it's a relief," Weldon said. "Government jobs demand a lot of you, and if God doesn't want me in it, I'm fine with that," Weldon was quoted by the New York Times. CDC is in charge of vaccine recommendations and keeps track of the domestic and foreign threats to public health. Photo: Official information source of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 13. Kazakhstan will launch the "AI-Sana" business acceleration program for startups, said Kazakhstan's Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek at a Government meeting, Trend reports. Nurbek stated that the "AI-Sana" program is being developed in Kazakhstan to provide business acceleration for startups interested in the application of artificial intelligence. According to the minister, the program will provide business acceleration for startups interested in implementing artificial intelligence in various fields. Leading universities from across the country will serve as the primary source of intellectual capital. "This year, 650,000 students will take special courses in artificial intelligence, and in the second phase, 100,000 students will complete courses prepared jointly with the Chief Technical Officer of Stanford Graduate School of Education, Paul Kim. By the end of the year, we plan to form 1,000 to 1,500 AI startup teams," he added. Today, Kazakhstan holds a Government meeting in Astana. The agenda includes the development and digitalization of science. Twenty years before the Titanic changed maritime history, another ship touted as the next great technological feat set sail on the Great Lakes. The Western Reserve was one of the first all-steel cargo ships to traverse the lakes. Built to break speed records, the 300-foot (91-meter) freighter dubbed the inland greyhound by newspapers was supposed to be one of the safest ships afloat. Owner Peter Minch was so proud of her that he brought his wife and young children aboard for a summer joyride in August 1892. As the ship entered Lake Superiors Whitefish Bay between Michigan and Canada on Aug. 30, a gale came up. With no cargo, the ship was floating high in the water. The storm battered it until it cracked in half. Twenty-seven people perished, including the Minch family. The only survivor was wheelsman Harry W. Stewart, who swam a mile (1.6 kilometers) to shore after his lifeboat capsized. For almost 132 years, the lake hid the wreckage. In July, explorers from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society pinpointed the Western Reserve off Michigans Upper Peninsula. The society announced the discovery Saturday at the annual Ghost Ships Festival in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Theres a number of concurrent stories that make this important, the societys executive director, Bruce Lynn, said in a telephone interview. Most ships were still wooden. It was a technologically advanced ship. They were kind of a famous family at the time. You have this new ship, considered one of the safest on the lake, new tech, a big, big ship. (The discovery) is another way for us to keep this history alive. Search lasted more than two years Darryl Ertel, the societys marine operations director, and his brother, Dan Ertel, spent more than two years looking for the Western Reserve. On July 22, they set out on the David Boyd, the societys research vessel. Heavy ship traffic that day forced them to alter their course, though, and search an area adjacent to their original search grid, Lynn said. The brothers towed a side-scanning sonar array behind their ship. Side sonar scans starboard and port, providing a more expansive picture of the bottom than sonar mounted beneath a ship. About 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Whitefish Point on the Upper Peninsula, they picked up a line with a shadow behind it in 600 feet (182 meters) of water. They dialed up the resolution and spotted a large ship broken in two with the bow resting on the stern. Confirmation day Eight days later, the brothers returned to the site along with Lynn and other researchers. They deployed a submersible drone that returned clear images of a portside running light that matched a Western Reserves starboard running light that had washed ashore in Canada after the ship went down. That light was the only artifact recovered from the ship. That was confirmation day, said Lynn, the societys executive director. Darryl Ertel said that discovery gave him chills and not in a good way. Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made a uneasy feeling in the back of my neck, he said in a society news release. A squall can come up unexpectedlyanywhere, and anytime. Lynn said that the ship was pretty torn up but the wreckage appeared well-preserved in the frigid fresh water. The Great Lakes can be more dangerous than the oceans The Great Lakes have claimed thousands of ships since the 1700s. Perhaps the most famous is the Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore carrier that got caught in a storm in November 1975 and went down off Whitefish Point within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the Western Reserve. All hands were killed. Assistant Wisconsin State Climatologist Ed Hopkins said that storm season on the lakes begins in November, when warm water meets cold air and winds blow unimpeded across open water, generating waves as high as 30 feet (9 meters). The lakes at that time can be more dangerous than the oceans because theyre smaller, making it harder for ships to out-maneuver the storms, he said. Brittle steel may have played a role in sinking But its rare to see such gales form in August, Hopkins said. A National Weather Service report called the storm that sank the Western Reserve a relatively minor gale, he noted. A Wisconsin Marine Historical Society summary of the Western Reserve sinking noted that the maritime steel age had just begun and the Western Reserves hull might have been weak and couldnt handle the bending and twisting in the storm. The steel also becomes brittle in low temperatures like those of Great Lakes waters. The average water temperature in Lake Superior in late August is about 60 degrees (16 degrees Celsius), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The summary notes the Titanic used the same type of steel as the Western Reserve and that it may have played a role in speeding up the luxury liners sinking. (AP) Four people have been charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was incinerated inside a pressurized oxygen chamber that exploded at a suburban Detroit medical facility, Michigans attorney general said Tuesday. Thomas Cooper from Royal Oak, Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene Jan. 31 at the Oxford Center in Troy. His mother suffered burn wounds while trying to save her boy. A single spark it appears ignited into a fully involved fire that claimed Thomass life within seconds, Attorney General Dana Nessel said, adding many safeguards have been developed since every such fire is almost certainly fatal. The centers founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson, 58, is charged with second-degree murder. Facility manager Gary Marken, 65, and safety manager Gary Mosteller, 64, are charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. The operator of the chamber when it exploded, Aleta Moffitt, 60, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart. Each was arrested Monday. Handcuffed at their waists, they entered not guilty pleas Tuesday before Troy District Court Magistrate Elizabeth Chiappelli. Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel said during Petersons arraignment that there was concern Peterson could flee and that she has access to a considerable sum of money. Petersons lawyer Gerald Gleeson II had asked for a reasonable bond. Chiappelli set bond at $2 million for Peterson, $250,000 each for Marken and Mosteller, and $100,000 for Moffitt. NBC News reported the familys attorney said the boy received multiple sessions for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These conditions arent among those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for marketing of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment a fact reiterated by Nessel, who described the boys treatment as unsupported by medical science. Because these treatments were so medically unsound, patient insurance policies would not cover the use of these chambers to treat these conditions, Nessel said. This business was a pure cash-flow, for-profit business. Mosteller requested a court-appointed lawyer at arraignment. Gleeson declined to comment. Both Markens attorney, Raymond Cassar, and Moffitts lawyer Ellen Michaels, said they were surprised by the high bonds set. The charge was second-degree murder but this is not the type of murder case that would require this type of bond, Cassar later told reporters. Earlier, Cassar told The Associated Press the second-degree murder charge against Marken came as a total shock. For fairness, he is presumed innocent, Cassar said. This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and our prayers go out to the family of this little boy. I want to remind everyone that this was an accident, not an intentional act. Michaels also extended prayers and sympathy to the boys family, while asking for patience and fairness as this process unfolds. This event has had a profound impact on so many, including my client, the community, and the first responders, Michaels said in a statement. I pray for healing for all those affected. Aleta Moffitt is a dedicated professional with many years of experience in the healthcare industry. She has always been a committed and hardworking individual, adhering to all corporate policies and procedures while prioritizing the well-being of her patients. The AP also sought comments Tuesday from attorneys for the Oxford Center and emailed the familys lawyers for comment. The Oxford Center said shortly after the explosion that the safety and wellbeing of the children we serve is our highest priority. Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy. We do not know why or how this happened and will participate in all of the investigations that now need to take place, its statement said. Hyperbaric therapy delivers pure oxygen to a persons body at about five times the amount of oxygen in a normal room. The FDA has cleared it to be marketed as safe and effective for 13 listed disorders including severe burns, decompression sickness and non-healing wounds. The list doesnt include many additional disorders advertised by the Oxford Center. Nessel suggested the boys death could have been avoided if safety measures had been followed. She said a maintenance check had not been performed that day, no medical doctor was on-site and the treatment was not performed by a licensed technician. Experts consulted by investigators reached horrifying conclusions, Nessel said: The Oxford Center routinely operated sensitive and lethally dangerous hyperbaric chambers beyond their expected service lifetime and in complete disregard of vital safety measures. The FDA recommends only using hyperbaric centers inspected and accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. The Oxford Center doesnt appear on the societys February 2025 list of accredited facilities. (AP) Polands President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow. Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022. Dudas adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Dudas appeal with an interview on Polands RMF FM radio Thursday morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliances eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Dudas, said last week that Poland was in talks with France concerning Presidents Emmanuel Macrons proposal to use Frances nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats. Moscow called that idea extremely confrontational. Tusk made his comment to parliament after Macron said he has decided to open a strategic debate on using Frances nuclear deterrent to protect European allies amid concerns over potential U.S. disengagement. The French president described Moscow as a threat to France and Europe in a televised address to the nation. France is the only nuclear power in the European Union. (AP) In a fiery and impromptu exchange with reporters from the Oval Office on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying he isnt Jewish anymore and has become a Palestinian. The stunning remarks came during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland, when Trump, known for his unfiltered rhetoric, veered off-topic while answering questions about tax policy. Pressed by a reporter on whether he planned to lower corporate taxes, Trump initially confirmed his intent to do sobefore launching into a scathing tirade against Democrats, whom he accused of indifference toward crime and suffering. They have no clue, Trump fumed, referencing a recent address in which he highlighted victims of violent crime and illness. Two young women were slaughtered by illegal aliens. One young man has very serious cancer. And the Democrats? They just sat there, stone-faced. No clapping. Nothing. These people are sick. Theres something wrong with them. Trump went on to mock Senator Elizabeth Warren, reviving his Pocahontas nickname for her, and claimed Democrats were more enthused by conflict in Ukraine than by the plight of American families. But it was his comments about Schumer that ignited controversy. Youre going to have some very bad things happen, and people are going to blame the Democrats, Trump declared. And Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as Im concerned. You know, hes become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. Hes not Jewish anymore. Hes a Palestinian. Okay? Within minutes, reaction poured in from across the political spectrum. This is vile and outrageous, said a spokesperson for Schumers office. Senator Schumers Jewish identity is not up for debate, least of all by Donald Trump, who has repeatedly trafficked in dangerous rhetoric. Your browser does not support the video tag. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) For 505 days, Omer Wenkert endured captivity in the tunnels of Gaza, held hostage by Hamas terrorists who cut him off from the world. He had no access to news or updates, yet he always knew when ceasefire negotiations had collapsed or when an Israeli strike had targeted Hamas leadersbecause his captors made sure he felt it. Every deal that fell through would bring up a lot of frustration, rage, and anger, Wenkert said in his first interview since his February 22 release, speaking to Channel 12 News. Not to mention when one of their fathers was killed, or their families, or when their senior officials were assassinated. You feel it. You know exactly what happened. The consequences were immediate and brutal. Hamas militants would respond with beatings, spitting, and forcing him into strenuous physical exercises, despite his severely weakened state. The goal was humiliation, he said. Yet, through it all, Wenkert refused to break. Even when Hamas staged a propaganda video before his release, attempting to showcase him as a defeated captive, he found his own form of defiance. It was victory for me, he said. I fought, fought, fought, fought, and won. Wenkert had traveled with his best friend, Kim Damti, to the Nova music festival. When it came under attack as rockets were fired and gunmen opened fire on attendees, Wenkert and Damti ran to a bomb shelter. I thought there was a group of three or four terrorists, he recalled. In a moment, the IDF will come and take them out. Terrorists threw grenades into the shelter, setting it on fire. Wenkert described the growing smoke and panic among those inside. Before that, there was hysteria, people were yelling, he said. But once they began burning us, it got quiet. Amid the chaos, he saw Damti struggling to breathe. He later learned that she did not survive. Some people attempted to leave the shelter, believing that Israeli forces had arrived to rescue them, but they were shot by the attackers. At that moment, Wenkert made the decision to leave. I came to terms with death, he said. I was ready for it. I walked out toward what I considered a sure death. Instead of being killed, Wenkert was taken hostage. Within ten minutes, he was in Gaza, bound and transported in a pickup truck through the streets, where he said bystanders, including children, hit him as he passed. He was then taken underground, where he would remain for more than 500 days, often alone, surviving on limited food and water. For much of his captivity, Wenkert was kept in near-total darkness. He recalled how his captors reacted to events outside the tunnelsparticularly IDF operations or the deaths of Hamas leaders. Every deal that fell through would bring up a lot of frustration, rage, and anger, he said. Not to mention when one of their fathers was killed, or their families, or when their senior officials were assassinated. You feel it. You know exactly what happened. On his birthday, he recalled being woken up by a violent beating. I saw the date and realized it was my birthday, he said. That was the day I took a rod to the head. Eventually, Wenkert was joined by three other hostages: Tal Shoham, Evyatar David, and Guy Gilboa-Delal. The four men divided tasks among themselves to maintain a sense of order and survival. Gilboa-Delal managed food rations, David focused on hygiene, and Shoham took on a guiding role, helping to keep morale intact. Shoham was released alongside Wenkert in February, but David and Gilboa-Delal remained behind. Wenkert last saw them inside a Hamas van, watching as he was freed. They smiled at me, he said. That little smile they sent me before I went home that was the most moving thing I got from that ceremony. Now back in Israel, Wenkert says his focus remains on the hostages still in captivity. I dont think about [my captors] at all, he said. In the end, they will remain trapped in their own evil and we will go back to living our lives. And that will be the victory. His next goal, he said, is to help ensure the remaining hostages return home. I wont rest for a moment until they return, he said. Beyond that, he has one personal hope for the future: I want to be a father. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Hundreds of mispallelim, accompanied by the IDF, entered Kever Yosef in Shechem on Wednesday night, ahead of Taanis Esther and Purim, as part of the regular visits arranged by the Shomron Regional Council and approved by the IDF. Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron Council, called for the restoration of full Israeli control over Kever Yosef. There is no real reason to continue this absurdity, that a site that is supposed to be under full Israeli control, even according to the cursed Oslo Accords, has remained abandoned for over 24 years one of the most kodesh places for the Jewish nation, he said. I call on the government to act to restore the permanent presence at the site, to correct the disgrace and allow every Jew to daven in this kodesh place without fear. We must have a and fully return to Kever Yosef. Israel abandoned Kever Yosef, handing it over to the Palestinian Authority, after an Arab mob targeted the site, setting it on fire and causing rampant destruction during the early days of the Second Intifada in 2000. Hours after the IDF evacuated the area, a mob set the kever on fire and destroyed the entire site until it was nothing but rubble. For three years, no Jews were permitted to visit the site. In 2003, permission was granted to Jews to daven at the site but only on pre-approved visits in the middle of the night under heavy military protection. Your browser does not support the video tag. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The Israeli Air Force attacked an Islamic Jihad terror command center in Damascus at noon on Thursday. The target of the attack were Islamic Jihad commanders who were planning attacks against IDF forces on the northern border and in the buffer zone. Defense Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed the attack. There will be no immunity for Islamic terror against Israel, not in Damascus and not anywhere else, he said. Wherever terrorist activity is organized against Israel, the leader of radical Islam, Al-Julani, will find the Air Force planes hovering over him and attacking terrorist targets. We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the State of Israel. Your browser does not support the video tag. Your browser does not support the video tag. Your browser does not support the video tag. This past Monday, Air Force fighter jets attacked dozens of military targets from the Assad regime in southern Syria. According to the IDF Spokespersons announcement, the targets included radars and intelligence means, headquarters and storage sites for weapons and military equipment. The attack was carried out by 22 fighter jets that launched over 60 munitions. The attacks this week follow a series of IDF attacks in Syria since the overthrow of the Assad regime last December. The IDF targeted the Assad regimes military assets, partially to prevent the establishment of Palestinian terrorist elements in the country under the new jihadi regime. According to a Ynet report, the IDF has also carried out attacks in recent weeks on several weapons warehouses belonging to Palestinian terror elements. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) President Donald Trumps hostage envoy Adam Boehler has been removed from talks regarding the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, The Jewish Insider reported. The report cited Republican sources who said that some are demanding that he be removed entirely from the Trump administration. Its like hes in Never Never Land, one senator said. Boehler faced a strong backlash following his interviews with CNN and other US and Israeli media outlets on Sunday, during which he defended his direct talks with the Hamas terror group. Boehler not only spoke directly with Hamas but made extremely controversial statements, saying that the Hamas terrorists he met dont have horns growing out of their head. Theyre actually guys like us. Theyre pretty nice guys. He added he doesnt care what the Israelis think and that the US is not an agent of Israel. He also referred to Palestinian prisoners as hostages. Boehler was ordered by the White House to clarify his remarks after Israel sent sharply worded messages to the US regarding his controversial statements. He posted a clarification on social media, stating: I want to be CRYSTAL CLEAR as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are BY DEFINITION BAD people. And as President Trump has said, not a single Hamas member will be safe if Hamas doesnt RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES IMMEDIATELY. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The World Bank, just a block from the White House, found it had an unexpected ally during Donald Trumps first term. Instead of facing the usual battle for funding on Capitol Hill, the path was smoothed by first daughter Ivanka who was a star attraction on womens issues at the development banks annual meetings and was even touted, by her father, as a future president. Among the most far-reaching actions of the Donald Trump presidency, as it seeks to end US government largesse, has been to cancel funding for USAID. Less noticed was its decision to order a review of the World Bank. America is the biggest shareholder, with a 16 per cent stake giving it a veto over stuff it doesnt like. The Bank is headed by former Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga who was drafted in by Joe Biden after Republican predecessor David Malpass was ambushed by Democrat climate change zealots John Kerry and Al Gore. Trump is set on erasing almost everything Biden touched, so that places the World Bank, headed by an American since its creation in 1944, in a vulnerable place. Insider: Ivanka Trump (pictured) has been a star attraction on womens issues at the World Banks annual meetings and was even touted, by her father, as a future president The International Development Association (IDA) arm, which provides concessional assistance to the worlds poorest nations such as Ethiopia and Bangladesh, might be in danger. It is seeking a $24billion (18.5billion) funding package. Biden signed up to $4billion (3.1billion) before leaving office. The impact of Keir Starmers cuts on the UKs contributions to IDA is also a known unknown. Britain is committed to spend 1.98billion over the next three years in an organisation where it has been a dominant voice. Whether that can be maintained when it comes to the 2028 funding round is unclear. Bangas emphasis since taking the controls has been on efficiency. Not quite Elon Musks DOGE but the same kind of thing. In making the case for continued White House support the Bank can also point to this and its Triple A rating for the capital it raises to support $33.5billion (25.8billion) of lending to middle-income nations. However, the Banks emphasis in recent times on climate change projects will not find much sympathy in a drill, baby drill US administration. Ivanka, an absentee voice in Trumps second coming, could be the World Banks ace card should rationality fail. Legal defence The Trump effect has arrived at Britains biggest asset manager, Legal and General. Under the previous stewardship of Nigel Wilson, all the talk was of using invested funds to boost UK infrastructure such as university facilities and housing. Wilsons successor, Antonio Simoes, is now making the case for diverting money into defence as Britain and Europe seek to fill the chasm opened by the US coolness to Nato. Simoes rightly insists that defence companies, such as BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, are investable despite the environmental, social and governance rules, which have frozen them out. Since taking charge he has focused on simplifying the enterprise, pulling out of housebuilding and selling its US protection arm. Focus continues to be on continuing to agglomerate a portfolio of pension fund buyouts. This year L&G has completed 1.2billion of deals, is aiming for 17billion by the end of 2025 and has a further 27billion in the pipeline. Simoes believes it is in a strong position to speedily vacuum up closed legacy pension funds on both sides of the Atlantic. But there are more players in the space, and it is not a growth enterprise. Asset management is equally difficult, especially for highly regulated firms with limited capacity to invest in alternative assets. L&G is keeping investors happy by throwing off the cash with a bigger-than-expected share buyback of 500million, and 1.2billion in the stars for 2026. Exciting, it is not. Wrong call Transparency is at the core of good regulation. So it is a pity that the Financial Conduct Authority has been coerced into dropping its name and shame proposals for firms under investigation. Embarrassing maybe for targets, such as trusts in Neil Woodfords collapsed empire, but consumers would welcome red flags. An unmitigated triumph for providers of financial services over the customer. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 13. Kyrgyzstan's largest domestic gold mining company, Kyrgyzaltyn, plans to launch two industrial projects in 2025, Trend reports via the company. "Currently, a gold extraction plant is being built at the Solton Sary deposit in Naryn region in partnership with Indian collaborators. Once operational, the facility will create at least 400 new jobs," the company's statement said. Additionally, Kyrgyzaltyn is planning to open a transport and logistics center based on its branch of the motor transport company in the town of Balykchy. The center will offer space for freight forwarding and transport companies, as well as parking for trucks. It will also provide vehicle repair services, customs, brokerage, and other related services. As was noted, for the first time, Kyrgyzaltyn has started conducting geological exploration on its own, from designing to establishing the reserves of a deposit. The company is currently carrying out geological exploration at the Chakush deposit in the Batken region, with plans to complete the work by the end of 2025. Kyrgyzaltyn reported a profit of 17.2 billion soms ($196.6 million) in 2024, which is an increase of 36 percent compared to 2023. The boss of Britains biggest asset manager yesterday insisted that putting money into defence firms can be responsible amid a growing backlash against woke investing. Legal and General chief executive Antonio Simoes made the remarks as City firms are being urged to back the sector amid threats to UK and European security intensifying. We have investments in most global stocks including those of defence companies, Simoes said as L&G published its annual results for 2024. There is no reason in principle why investing in defence companies cannot be in line with responsible investing. Countries may need to defend themselves... UK defence companies can be invested in. His comments came after banks and fund managers have been urged to scrap the restrictions that exclude defence investments as unethical, due to concerns that woke investing is holding back Britains military spending and national security. On target: Defence shares including London-listed giants BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce have soared in recent weeks Defence shares including London-listed giants BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce have soared in recent weeks. Stocks were boosted after UK and European leaders committed to spending more on defence after US President Donald Trumps intervention in Russias war on Ukraine. But there are concerns that environmental, social and governance (ESG) rules have squeezed funding to arms firms. Many pension firms limit or block investment in defence companies due to ESG rules, which also exclude controversial sectors such as oil and gas, and tobacco. Supporters of the industry have argued that investment in arms firms is ethical and essential to support Ukraine and defend freedom in Europe. Responsible: Legal and General chief exec Antonio Simoes (pictured) said UK defence companies can be invested in A group of 100 MPs and peers last week called on fund managers to include arms company stocks in ESG funds. L&G, which provides life assurance and retirement savings, does not invest in businesses that produce controversial weapons, such as landmines, cluster bombs and chemical weapons. And it will not fund conventional defence companies that provide arms to high-risk countries. The company refused to provide details on which nations were deemed to be high-risk. Around 4.6billion of L&Gs assets under management are in funds where clients have specifically asked for all defence stocks to be excluded. The company has around 1.1trillion of assets under management in total. It does not have a blanket ESG policy that excludes arms stocks. The group yesterday unveiled a 500million share buyback as part of its plans to hand more than 5billion back to investors within three years after reporting higher earnings for 2024. Pre-tax profits more than doubled from 195million in 2023 to 542millon. Simoes, who took over as chief executive at the start of last year, has slimmed down the business by selling its housebuilding division Cala for 1.35billion and its US protection arm for 1.8billion. It is now focused on three core units: institutional retirement, asset management, and UK retail pensions and protection. The group has also created a corporate investments division which houses parts of the business earmarked for offloading. We now have a plan in place for the disposal of each of the remaining assets in our corporate investments portfolio as we continue to simplify our business and unlock value to redeploy into our strategic businesses, the group said. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said that the profits were lower than expected. L&G shares slipped 2.3 per cent, or 5.6p, to 239.3p. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 13. Kazakhstans President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met with the Chairman of the Board of PresightAI, Thomas Pramotedham, Trend reports. Throughout the meeting, issues related to further strengthening cooperation in the fields of high-performance computing, digital transformation, and the introduction of advanced technologies in Kazakhstan were discussed. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev brought attention to the importance of developing digital infrastructure and emphasized the strategic significance of creating a supercomputer cluster in the country. Thomas Pramotedham informed President Tokayev about the progress of this project. Moreover, special emphasis was placed on the localization of technologies and the involvement of Kazakhstani companies in joint projects. The CEO of PresightAI expressed great appreciation for the competence level of local IT companies and confirmed the intention to build long-term partnerships with them. The gathering also addressed the prospects of the Smart City project in partnership with the Akimat of Astana. Tokayev expressed support for the implementation of AI solutions for managing urban infrastructure. Specifically, the creation of a situational center based on the International Artificial Intelligence Center AlemAI was mentioned, which will help improve the efficiency of urban services. President Tokayev emphasized the importance of continuing cooperation within the framework of key initiatives aimed at the digital transformation and technological development of Kazakhstan. Presight AI is a leading big data analytics company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), specializing in harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to address real-world challenges across various sectors. As a subsidiary of G42, a prominent Abu Dhabi-based technology company, Presight AI focuses on delivering AI-driven solutions that foster societal advancement and digital transformation. Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said that the oppositions criticism to his comment on housing in the White House was over the top. During a meeting between Mr Martin and Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the US president was asked about Irelands housing crisis. Mr Trump replied that the housing crisis was because Ireland is doing so well. They cant produce houses fast enough. Thats a good problem, not a bad problem, he added. Leaning back in his chair and laughing, Mr Martin said: Thats a very good answer, president. Asked about the comments on Thursday, Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said people had said they felt insulted by the Taoiseach. Its not a good look for the Taoiseach to be laughing about a housing crisis when we have record numbers of homelessness, including child homelessness, when we have such a scandal that hasnt transpired because of the booming economy, it has transpired because the government has deliberately decided not to build houses during much part of the previous decade. Mr Martin said on Thursday that during the Oval Office press conference, he was also asked what he would wish for Ireland. He said: I equally said in the press conference, very emphatically, when I was asked What was the number one issue or what would I really wish for Ireland, and I said The number one issue in Ireland is housing, and we need to build as many houses as we can, as quickly as we can, for young people in Ireland to be able to afford to buy or affordable rent. Its classic (for the) opposition to do that, and I think that was an over the top reaction. Whilst we doubt or fear that the place was ever like the Perfect Village version of Cheers . . . Here's the word from a suburban worker who seems a bit melancholy after the recent shutdown . . . It was so unexpected, he said of the situation for the Prairie Village restaurant workers. Then they also didnt get paid. You know when I was talking to former staff, they didnt get paid, so were hoping that a lot of the regulars, if we can get the word out on social media that other regulars that came here, weekly, daily, will reach out to the GoFundMe page and help bridge the gap a little bit for these people that lost their jobs. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 13. Aydyn Akan, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC "NC QazaqGaz," and Trygve Randen, Senior Vice President of Digital Products and Solutions at SLB (Schlumberger), signed an agreement to create a joint Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI Lab), Trend reports. The agreement was formalized at the 2025 CERAWeek International Energy Conference. In the course of the signing, the potential for partnership between the two companies was highlighted. The parties also noted that the new laboratory will serve as a platform for implementing AI solutions capable of improving resource management efficiency, optimizing processes, and reducing costs. "We are confident that combining the advanced technologies and expertise of QazaqGaz and Schlumberger will open new horizons for the development of the gas industry in Kazakhstan. The AI Lab will become a key tool for enhancing competitiveness and introducing global standards in the gas sector," said Aydyn Akan. During the convening, the stakeholders emphasized their objective to engineer and operationalize cutting-edge AI-driven solutions at the QazaqGaz scientific and technical hub. SLB (formerly known as Schlumberger) is a leading global provider of technology, services, and solutions to the energy industry. They specialize in areas such as oilfield services, digital technology, and energy transition solutions. SLB offers a wide range of services related to exploration, production, and reservoir management for the oil and gas sector, along with advancements in digital and sustainability solutions. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel If youre thinking Borough Market isnt what it used to be, help is at hand. A new online guide lists four tasty alternatives, where you can be sure of getting some great street food without breaking the bank. (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - March 13th, 2025 - Tired of tussling with tourists and dismayed at how expensive some of Borough Markets food stalls have become? The good news is that a brand new online guide to four of Londons best alternative food hotspots has just been released. University Rooms travel expert Lily Smith says: Our new online guide reveals our Fab Four most mouthwatering areas of London for everyone in search of great grub on a budget. Camden Market: A cornerstone of counterculture since the 70s, Camden Market is still the go-to hub for street food enthusiasts, where noodles are served with oodles of atmosphere. At the dedicated food stands in the heart of The West Yard there are plenty of plant-based delights to be discovered, along with Persian food, Portuguese pastries, pitta breads and Venezuelan hot pockets, while the gooey Cheese Wheel and sugary treats at Churros London are firm favourites on Instagram. Market Halls, Victoria: Victoriawas once a no mans land for Londons foodies but its now home to Market Halls. Since opening in 2018 in the former Edwardian ticket hall in Victoria Station, Market Halls has been bringing together some of Londons best independent street food traders under one roof (and one roof terrace) with a mix of exciting global cuisine enjoyed in a lively atmosphere on communal tables. Right opposite the bus station, try Gopals Malaysian Street Food, but the bao buns and Mexican tacos arent too shabby either. Mercato Mayfair: Fancy combining grand architecture with gourmet fare? Mercato Mayfair in the Dover Street area offers a refined take on street food. This luxurious street food haven is set inside the beautifully restored Grade I-listed St. Marks Church. More than just your typical street food market, this is a one-stop shop culinary mecca, offering some of the best artisanal food and drinks in the city. Hoxton: If youre looking to dive into Londons street food culture, theres no better place to be than Hoxton. This lively neighbourhood is encircled by some of the city's most exciting markets, artisan eats and food tours, with plenty of vintage shopping on the side. Spitalfields Market, which dates back to 1638, is an essential stop. This market has transformed into a hotspot for independent traders and fab food stalls and the markets covered setting makes it perfect for a visit come rain or shine. Finally, for a full-blown street food adventure, head over to Brick Lane and the Truman Brewery markets. Stay near the snacks: For an affordable, comfortable stay within walking distance of all central Londons foodie highlights, Astor College is an ideal choice. Rooms are available from 94 a night from early June. Find out more in the online guide at https://www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/travel-inspiration/stay-for-the-street-eats-exploring-londons-top-4-food-markets ### Chhaava, Aurangzeb and Communal Historiography The film Chhaava selectively picks up few incidents from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharajs life and projects the cruel and anti Hindu nature of Aurangzeb Thursday March 13, 2025 11:56 PM , Ram Puniyani As Communal hate is on the rise through the use of History on political battle grounds, new dimensions are being added up to this during the last few years. Apart from the propaganda and indoctrination through RSS Shakha, social media, IT cell of the BJP, the mainstream media, particularly many TV channels, and now many films have been added up to the prevailing misconceptions among the society. Propaganda Movies In the recent past Kerala Story , Kashmir files have gripped the society in the mania of hate. There have been other not so successful films like Swatantraveer Savarkar, 72 Hurain, Samrat Prithviraj to name a few. Now, Maharashtra in particular and country as a whole, film called Chhava running packed houses, is taking the hate a few notches up. This film is not a historical film. It is based on the novel Chhava by Shivaji Samant. Already, the filmmakers has to apologise for inaccuracies in the film. The film Chhaava selectively picks up few incidents from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharajs life and projects the cruel and anti Hindu nature of Aurangzeb. In the 126 Minute film; good 40 Minutes are devoted to the torture of Sambahji Maharaj, this part is where the filmmaker may have taken a lot of liberty of a fiction writer. The whole narrative is set in the presentation of medieval history as noble Hindu Kings versus the evil Muslim kings. About Sambhaji Maharaj Sambhaji Maharaj was the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. As Shivaji set up his kingdom, he had his officers who were Muslims also. Maulana Haider Ali was his confidential secretary and there were 12 Generals in his army who were Muslims, Siddi Sambal, Ibrahim Gardi, and Daulat Khan to name the few. When he confronted Afzal Khan, he was advised to carry iron claws, which were given to him by his subordinate Rutom-E-Zamaan. After Killing Afzal Khan, the latters secretary Krishnanji Bhaskar Kulkarni tried to attack Shivaji. From Aurangzebs side Raja Jaisingh led the army to attack Shivaji. Shivaji was made to appear in Aurangzebs Court and later imprisoned. The person who helped him escape was a Muslim Prince, Madari Mehtar. The Hindutva progenitors Savarkar and Golwalkar, raise questions about Sambhajis character, wine and women. For this, he was imprisoned by Shivaji in Panhala Forte. Later, Sambhaji did ally with Aurangzeb in his battle against Shivaji. Sambhaji also allied with Aurangzeb in his battle against Aadil Shah of Bijapur. In the battle of succession after Shivaji, Sambhajis half brother Rajaram (son of Shivajis another wife Soyrabai) tried to poison him. As the conspiracy was unearthed, Sambhaji got many Hindu officers killed. In the battle against Sambhaji, Aurangzeb had sent his general Rathod to fight against him. Once Sambhaji was captured he was humiliated and subjected to torture, which has been presented in a blown up fashion. Battle of Kingdoms On the pretext of this film, many understandings against Aurangzeb have been projected still further. He is shown to be very cruel as he dealt with his opponents. It is not a question of whataboutary but an attempt to understand the pattern of Kingdoms. Many Kings inflicted cruelties on enemies with gay abandon. Historian Ruchika Sharma tells us that when Chola Kings defeated Chalukyas army, they beheaded Chalukyas General Samudraraj and cut the nose of his beautiful daughter. Ashoks Kalinga battle is known for the worst type of brutalities. The ways of Kings against their enemies was atrocious and cannot be judged by todays standards. As such what will we say when bulldozers raze to ground the houses of those who happen to be Muslims for the crimes not tried in Court of law? What will we say that one Hindu king had a fort on the top of a hill, where those conspiring against the King were thrown deep down in the deep valley with his feet and hands tied? Bal Samant in his book describes the atrocities done by Shivajis army while plundering Surat. Army and atrocities were closely associated; cruelty against enemies is condemnable but was not unusual. When Sambhajis Marathas attacked Goa, a Portuguese account (cited by historian Jadunath Sarkar) says, up to now nowhere else in India has such barbarity been seen While such atrocity narratives have to be treated carefully, what it shows is that violence was pervasive, even if its degrees varied. Was Aurangzeb anti Hindu? One can say that Aurangzeb was neither Akbar nor Dara Shukoh. He was orthodox and did not welcome Hindus and Non Sunni sects of Islam at one level. At another level, he was a master of alliances as he had a number Hindu officers in his administration. As Prof Athar Ali points out Aurangzeb had the highest number of Hindu officers in his administration (33%). He did destroy some temples to be sure, but he also gave donations to many temples, like Kamakhya Devi (Guwahati), Mahakaleshar (Ujjain), Chitrkut Balaji and Lord Krishna in Vrindavan. Even Shivaj used to give donations to a Sufi dargah of Hazrat baba Bahut thorwale. To humiliate the enemy victor kings used to destroy the particular place of worship associated with that king. Richard Eaton (Frontline December- January 1996). Now the communal historians are making merry by selectively picking up temple destruction by Muslim Kings and hiding the donations to Hindu temples by them. Aurangzeb did impose Jazia after 22 years of his rule; it was exempted for Brahmins, disabled and women. It was not a means of conversion as it was a property like tax and was 1.25% while Zakat which was paid by Muslims was 2.5%. As far as torture of Sikh Gurus, it was wrong, but the underlying reason was the power struggle between Sikh Gurus and Mughal Administration. The communal historians are working overtime to dig the sources and pick up the incidents without referring to the overall context of the period of Kingdoms. In the account of Kings, they did use religion to inspire their armies to fight the enemy. Hindu Rajas used Dharmayuddh and Muslim kings used Jihad. The right wing historians selective sources may be apt but their framework is restricted by the communal narrative, which sees kings in the light of their religion and not that Kings were ruling for power and wealth. Religion was incidental if at all in their goal of expansion of their kingdoms/empires. These are giving a good booster to divisive politics, the major threat to the Indian Constitution. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Ex-Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte taken to ICC dentention centre Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, has been taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention centre in The Hague following his arrest and extradition Wednesday Friday March 14, 2025 1:16 AM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies The Hague/Manila: Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, has been taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention centre in The Hague following his arrest and extradition Wednesday. The ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdalah confirmed that Rodrigo Duterte is inside the Scheveningen detention facility and was admitted after completing medical checks. "Bring him back" Rodrigo Dutertes supporters gathered outside the ICC detention centre waving national flags and shouting, "Bring him back!" as a vehicle thought to be carrying the former Philippines President was driven through the imposing iron gates at speed, according to BBC. "They handed our president to foreigners. They brought shame to our (country)", a protester, Janet Suliman, said. Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines on March 11 in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I for charges of murder as a crime against humanity, the ICC said. On Wednesday March 12, he was taken into the ICC custody and later flown from Manila to The Netherlands. The ICC had issued on February 10, 2025 the arrest warrant against Duterte for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape during, what the world knows, Philippines against drug dealers. Duterte defends war on drugs Shortly before he landed in the Netherlands, the 79-year-old former president defended his bloody "war on drugs" for which the ICC says there are "reasonable grounds" to charge him with murder as a crime against humanity. Small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial on his watch as mayor and, later, as president. The official toll stands at 6,000, though activists believe the real figure could run into the tens of thousands, according to BBC. "Big Moment for ICC" Lawyers and academics said the arrest and transfer were a big moment for the ICC, which is targeted by U.S. sanctions and does not have any police of its own to arrest people, news agency Reuters reported. "This is an opportunity for the court to show that it can deal with a big case and can have arrests," said Iva Vukusic, an assistant professor of international history at Utrecht University. Meanwhile, China warns the International Criminal Court (ICC) against "politicisation" and "double standards", after Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manila by police acting on a warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Nobody is expelling Palestinians from Gaza: Trump In a complete shift from his earlier stance to takeover Gaza and forcibly displace Palestinians from there, U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday March 13, 2025 said Palestinians will not be expelled from the enclave Thursday March 13, 2025 8:06 PM , ummid.com News Network [Prime Minister of Ireland, Micheal Martin with U.S. President Donald Trump in White House Thursday March 13, 2025.] Washington: In a complete shift from his earlier stance to takeover Gaza and forcibly displace Palestinians from there, U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday March 13, 2025 said Palestinians will not be expelled from the enclave. Nobody is expelling Palestinians from Gaza, Trump said in Oval Office, White House while talking to the media with Prime Minister of Ireland, Micheal Martin. Soon after taking charge as the 47th U.S. President on January 20, 2025, Trump had vowed to takeover Gaza simultaneously asking Egypt and Jordan to open doors for Palestinians. He later also said he will own Gaza and make it Riviera of the Middle East for the world people. Trump later "tweaked" his stance, saying he will "recommend and not impose his Gaza takeover plan. Two days after this statement, Trump released an AI genrated video to showcase his "vision of Gaza". Ttump's Gaza plan was rejected by th Arab States that in turn accepted another plan to re-build Gaza proposed by Egypt. The Palestinians on their part rejected the Trump's plan while a group of Palestinians released their own AI video to showcase their vision of Gaza. Amidst all this Trump once again changed his stance on Gaza. It was when a reporter asked the visiting Prime Minister of Ireland if he would discuss with Trump about his Gaza plan. Before Micheal Martin could reply, Trump jumped in, responding with a denial. Nobodys expelling any Palestinians, he said. Trump's sinister Gaza plan came for discussion in the meeting for the second time when a journalist confronted Trump about some notable absences from this years St Patricks Day festivities. Irish parties like Sinn Fein had announced last month that they would boycott the events in Washington, DC, over Trumps stance on Gaza. What are they boycotting? Trump asked. When the journalist explained, Trump shrugged it off. I havent heard that. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Reliance Jio to share Starlink Satellite Internet Service with AirTel In another major development for the Indian Telecom Industry, Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Wednesday announced it has struck a deal with Elon Musk owned SpaceX to provide Starlink Satellite Internet Service in India Thursday March 13, 2025 10:47 AM , ummid.com News Network Mumbai: In another major development for the Indian Telecom Industry, Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Wednesday announced it has struck a deal with Elon Musk owned SpaceX to provide Starlink Satellite Internet Service in India. The Reliance announcement came a day after Bharti AirTel announced similar deal with SpaceX. The Jio-SpaceX collaboration will enable Starlinks satellite connectivity to complement Jios existing broadband offerings, including JioAirFiber and JioFiber, extending high-speed internet access to locations where traditional fiber networks are difficult to deploy, Reliance said in a statement. Ensuring that every Indian, no matter where they live, has access to affordable and high-speed broadband remains Jios top priority," Mathew Oommen, Group CEO, Reliance Jio, said in a statement. "Our collaboration with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India strengthens our commitment and marks a transformative step toward seamless broadband connectivity for all. We will be expanding our reach and enhancing the reliability and accessibility of high speed broadband in this AI-driven era, empowering communities and businesses across the country by integrating Starlink into Jios broadband ecosystem, he said. SpaceX all Praise for Reliance Jio We applaud Jios commitment to advancing Indias connectivity said Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. We are looking forward to working with Jio and receiving authorisation from the Government of India to provide more people, organisations and businesses with access to Starlinks high-speed internet services, he said. Gwynne Shotwell had similarly praised Bharti AirTel Tuesday when it announced its partnership with SpaceX. The deals between AirTel and Jio with SpaceX will require necessary approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs before it can commence operations in India. Sources said the Starlink Satellite Internet Service could soon be launched in India in the ongoing year 2025 subject to the necessary approval by the government. India's broadband market is currently dominated by Reliance Jio with more than 14 million wired subscribers as against 300 million broadband subscribers of Airtel. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 13. The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met with the European Commissioner for International Partnership, Jozef Sikela, Trend reports. Welcoming the high-ranking representative of the European Union, Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan places a high priority on the development of comprehensive cooperation with the EU, which is an important foreign economic and investment partner for Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan remains a key partner of the European Union in Central Asia, and the Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation provides a solid foundation for deepening our multifaceted interaction, said Tokayev. In turn, Sikela thanked the President for the opportunity to meet and noted that the EU pays great attention to the region. This is my first significant mission as the Commissioner for International Partnership. It is no coincidence that I have decided to visit all five Central Asian countries. This clearly demonstrates the European Unions intention to ensure deeper and more sustainable engagement with Kazakhstan and other countries in the region, said the European Commissioner. The interlocutors discussed a number of practical issues on the bilateral agenda, focusing on the implementation of existing and new economic projects related to the development of transport corridors, logistics infrastructure, sustainable energy, and digital solutions. There was also an exchange of views on current regional and global issues. Both sides confirmed their mutual readiness to further coordinate their approaches on the international stage, including within the "Central Asia-European Union" framework. The European Commissioner for International Partnership is responsible for shaping and implementing the European Union's foreign policy in the areas of international cooperation and development. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Small-business owners can learn how to create and have an incident response plan in place so that their organizations know how to respond to cyberattacks Thursday, March 20. Paul Johnson, Marree Reed, Izabella Carbert, Ian Moon and Kaeden Adams will lead a Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network webinar titled Youve Been Hacked! Now What?: Cybersecurity Incident Response Workshop from noon-12:30 p.m. To register, go here. The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by the University of Wyoming with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The webinar will present various scenarios of cyberattacks, response strategies, likely outcomes and tips for ongoing maintenance plans to keep businesses cyber ready. Johnson is manager of the Wyoming SBDC Networks Cybersecurity Program. Reed is a cybersecurity program assistant in UWs Cybersecurity Education and Research Center and a part-time employee with Institutional Marketing. Carbert, a UW student from Ranchester, is a cybersecurity program assistant in UWs Cybersecurity Education and Research Center and a part-time employee with the Wyoming SBDC Network. Moon, a UW student from Fort Collins, Colo., and Adams, a UW student from Cheyenne, are both cybersecurity program assistants with the Wyoming SBDC Networks Cybersecurity Program. For more information, call Tyler Schanck, marketing, communications and database manager for the Wyoming SBDC Network, at (307) 343-0925 or email tschanck@uwyo.edu. Two University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences administrators have been invited to join the Ivinson Memorial Hospital (IMH) Board of Directors. After a final approval process, each will serve a three-year term, with the possibility of reappointment. Sherrill Smith, dean and professor of the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, and Kem Krueger, dean and professor of the School of Pharmacy, will join the 14-member board that includes representatives of the fields of education and medicine, and city and community leaders. Krueger has experience in hospital pharmacy, independent pharmacy and chain pharmacy settings. He also worked for the U.S. Public Health Service and for Marion Merrell Dow Inc., in the Health Economic and the Global Scientific Competitive Intelligence departments. He has been at UW since 2005 and is the past president of the IMH Foundation Board of Directors. I am honored to join the IMH Board of Directors and contribute to the vital connection between health care education and patient care, Krueger says. This partnership presents an incredible opportunity to enhance collaboration between the university and IMH, and to advance patient care in our community. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues on the board to support the hospitals mission and drive innovation in patient-centered care. Smith joined UWs School of Nursing in 2019 and has extensive experience in public health nursing and nurse education, as well as the military. She also is a member of several regional, national and international nursing organizations, including the Wyoming Governors Health Care Task Force and the Western Institute of Nursing. I am honored to have been asked to serve on the Ivinson Hospital Board of Directors, Smith says. I hope that my service can be part of giving back to an organization that serves our community in so many ways. Smith and Krueger began their service on the IMH board March 3. Like other board members, they were chosen based on a set of criteria that will aid in the hospitals ability to make educated and timely decisions as health care continues to grow and change. We are thrilled to welcome Sherrill Smith and Kem Krueger to the IMH Board of Directors, says Gary Crum, the boards chair. Their leadership, expertise and commitment to advancing health care education and patient care complement the strengths of our current board members and will help us navigate the evolving health care landscape and ensure that our institution remains at the forefront of innovation and excellence in patient-centered care. Patrick Hardigan, dean of the College of Health Sciences, points to the importance of the relationships between academic health education and real-world applications of administering health care, such as through community hospitals. I am pleased to recognize the outstanding leadership of Dr. Sherrill Smith and Dr. Kem Krueger, Hardigan says. Both have shown a strong commitment to advancing health care education, research and practice. Their collaborative efforts and dedication to building partnerships between academia and health care institutions have significantly benefited our students and the wider community. I am confident that their ongoing leadership will further strengthen the important relationship between the University of Wyoming and enhance the success of Ivinson Memorial Hospital. IMH was established in Laramie in 1917. The hospital is a 99-bed facility with emergency room and critical care services; treatment centers for behavioral health, cancer and rehabilitation; and a wide range of patient information services. About the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences UWs College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne. With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations. By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan National Art Museum has opened an exhibition, which showcases paintings and graphic works from the collection of the Belarus National Art Museum, Azernews reports. A total of 61 paintings and graphic works created in the late 19th mid-20th centuries are on display as part of the project. The exhibition demonstrates the artistic heritage of outstanding Belarusian artists Yuri Pen (18541937) and Yakov Kruger (18691940), as well as a whole galaxy of their students. Among them are world-famous Marc Chagall and Mikhail Kikoin, People's Artist of the BSSR Ivan Akhremchik, as well as Soviet and Belarusian painters and graphic artists: Lev Zevin, Mikhail Kunin, Lev Leitman, Lazar Ran, Efim Poyak, Vyacheslav Rutsay, Mikhail Stanyut, Solomon Yudovin, Pyotr Yavich and others. Their work reflects the diversity of artistic trends that form the "portrait" of the Belarusian National School of Art. The exhibition dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the birth of Yuri Pen and the 155th anniversary of Yakov Kruger became a bright event in the cultural life of the Republic of Belarus in 2024. Graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, artist-teachers who stood at the origins of professional art education in modern Belarus, Yuri Pen and Yakov Kruger became the founders of private schools of drawing and painting in Vitebsk and Minsk. For many of their students, they were the first and most important mentors, playing a key role in their formation and development. In an interview with journalists, the director of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus Anna Kononova emphasized the significance of this event: "We are very glad that this project took place - this is a real event," said Anna Kononova. - Just recently, in 2024, we signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Azerbaijan National Art Museum. We immediately planned a number of exchange events and exhibition projects, and today we are already starting to implement our ideas. According to Kononova, in April-May, a return exhibition of the National Art Museum will be presented at the Belarus National Art Museum. "Today we are witnessing a major event, because this project is of serious international significance. For the first time, we are presenting in Azerbaijan the rarest collection of our museum, including first-tier works, many of which are on permanent display," the museum director emphasized. Founded in 1937, Azerbaijan National Art Museum offers art connoisseurs some of the best examples of decorative-applied arts of Western Europe. Over 3,000 items in 60 rooms are on permanent display at the museum, and around 12,000 items are kept in storage. Here, you can see masterpieces of the Italian, French, German, and Polish masters of brush. The museum has successfully organized and hosted numerous high-level international exhibitions, showcasing the works of renowned artists. These exhibitions have not only attracted art enthusiasts but have also contributed to the cultural exchange between Azerbaijan and other countries. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Azerbaijan's Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov met with Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Asad Majeed Khan, Trend reports. The Azerbaijani Minister shared this in a post on his official X page. "At the meeting with the Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Asad Majeed Khan, we discussed energy cooperation within the organization, the activities of the Eco-UNIDO Clean Energy Center, and regional energy projects. We agreed to accelerate the necessary processes for the official opening of the Clean Energy Center in Baku and contribute to the development of energy partnerships through joint events," the post reads. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), of which Azerbaijan has been a member since 1992, is an Eurasian political and economic intergovernmental entity established in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkiye. It offers a forum to explore methods for enhancing growth and fostering trade and investment prospects. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Show more Show less The significant legal and economic obstacles standing in the way of press freedom for journalists in the Pacific Islands. Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story is just ahead, but first, making headlines: Families of drug war victims in the Philippines attended a burial ceremony after the International Criminal Court arrested former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte in Manila on charges related to his deadly anti-drug crackdown that killed thousands. They say his arrest helps them heal. The justice that we want for those who have died is slowly moving forward. Duterte says he was "responsible" and pledged to protect police and the military, as he arrived in the Netherlands to face the International Criminal Court case. He made the statement in a video posted on a close advisors social media account Wednesday. Police arrested protesters outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on Monday during the 66th Tibetan National Uprising Day. Activists waved banners and Tibetan flags before being detained. The 1959 uprising led to the Dalai Lama's exile in India. China says it will take all necessary measures to protect its rights and interests after U.S. President Donald Trumps 25 percent tariffs on all metal and aluminum imports into the U.S. took effect. Trump emphasized that the tariffs must be reciprocal. North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea after South Korea began joint military drills with the U.S., the first major combined training of U.S. President Donald Trumps second term. A South Korean military official said this marks North Koreas fifth missile launch of the year. Across Pacific Island nations, journalists are pushing back on draconian laws and defamation cases and weighing the cost of Chinese economic help against true editorial freedom. VOAs Jessica Stone has the story. Celebration in December 2022. After more than a decade under a restrictive media law, a vote for change in the Pacific island of Fiji. Newly elected Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka: "Id like to thank the people of Fiji and congratulate them. The Rabuka government repealed a law that allowed the fining and jailing of journalists for up to two years for publishing stories considered against the national interest. The prime minister and the ministers, more or less, do not have any issues with answering questions. Regional journalists rated Fijis press freedoms in the top five of 14 nations surveyed for the first-ever Pacific Islands Media Freedom Index. This is just the first step for a better media for our Pacific people. The island nation of Palau took the top spot in the index. Leilani Reklai is vice president of the Pacific Islands News Association and publisher of the Island Times. The journalists are protected specifically under the Constitution. And we also have laws that are in place to support the media. But those protections are being tested. Reklai is named in a defamation lawsuit brought by a company owned by the father of Palaus president for what the company says are false and unsubstantiated allegations" about tax payments. Reklai believes the lawsuit is sending a message beyond the Island Times. It serves to have the journalists think twice before they print anything or [before] they express what they feel is the story that's going on. Defamation lawsuits are also prevalent in the Pacific island of Tonga. Melino Maka, a commentator at the Tonga Independent, knows of many journalists entangled in them. Maka says these lawsuits exploit another vulnerability of the media here: a lack of funding. He says outlets sometimes resort to asking the Tongan or even the Chinese government for financial help, risking their editorial independence. Chinese pressure is always there behind the scenes. Singh says the challenge now is ending the medias tendency to self-censor after almost 20 years of little to no accountability reporting in Fiji. Jessica Stone, VOA News. Visit voanews.com for the most up-to-date stories. Im Chris Casquejo. And finally, a modern take on traditional Korean pottery. The Denver Art Museum partnered with the National Museum of Korea to showcase the iconic 17th-century Korean moon jar. Some artists present traditional ceramics with a 21st-century twist, drawing inspiration from the jars' mysterious forms and imperfections. Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly. The son of imprisoned pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai this week brought the campaign to secure his fathers release to the Trump administration in Washington. Nearly two months into President Donald Trumps second term, Lais son Sebastien and their international legal team were in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and lawmakers in hopes that the United States can help push for Lais release. Lai, a businessman and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, stands accused of collusion with foreign forces and sedition under a Beijing-imposed national security law. He rejects the charges, but if convicted in an ongoing trial, he could face life in prison. "We were incredibly grateful that President Trump said that he will help release my father. Its given us as a family a lot of hope," the younger Lai said at a Wednesday event at the Cato Institute think tank in Washington. In October 2024, Trump said he would "100%" be able to secure Lais release if he were reelected. "Ill get him out. Hell be easy to get out. But we dont have people that even talk about it," Trump said in an interview with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt. The White House did not reply to VOAs email requesting comment on whether the Trump administration had any specific plans to help secure Lais release. But a State Department spokesperson reaffirmed that the United States calls for Lais immediate release. "Lais lengthy trial and unjust detention are an example of how China uses vague national security laws to suppress fundamental freedoms and political discourse," the spokesperson added in a statement emailed to VOA on Wednesday. Lai, a 77-year-old British national, has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong since late 2020. His trial, which was originally estimated to last about 80 days, has been ongoing since December 2023 and is widely viewed as politically motivated. Hong Kong authorities have rejected accusations that Lais trial is unfair and maintain that press freedom and the rule of law are intact. Speaking at the Cato Institute event, Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, suggested that the U.S. government should use sanctions against Hong Kong officials as a way to push for Lais release. Clifford, who previously served on the board of Apple Dailys parent company, also suggested the United States could shutter the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco. "Theres a pretty good tool kit that the administration has," Clifford said. Even though the government-appointed judges are likely to find Lai guilty, Mark Simon, who worked with Lai for decades in Hong Kong, argued that releasing Lai may be in Beijings interest. "Your influence as a dissident is at the height when youre in prison. The world is campaigning for you. If youre China and you release him, his influence goes down," Simon said at the Cato Institute. "If he dies in prison, then you dont control anything." Jimmy Lais international legal team has expressed concern about the conditions in which the publisher is being held, including prolonged solitary confinement and no access to specialized medical care for diabetes. Hong Kong authorities have rejected those claims. "Everybody realizes that the clock is ticking, and time is running out for my father," Sebastien Lai said. But even though his fathers physical health has become fragile, Sebastien Lai said his mind has stayed strong. "Hes still strong mentally, and hes still fighting," the younger Lai said. "Thats something that should inspire all of us." Before concluding his cross-examination in Lais national security trial last week, Hong Kong prosecutor Anthony Chau read out the charges, alleged conspiracies and co-conspirators, and asked the elder Lai if he agreed with them. "Of course I disagree. Totally rubbish," Lai said. After 52 days in the witness box, Lai completed his testimony in the trial last week. Lawyers from both sides arent expected to return to court to deliver their closing statements until August, marking the trials latest months-long delay. Lais plight has received bipartisan support in Washington, according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher, the attorney leading Lais international legal team. She told VOA she hopes the United States and the United Kingdom can coordinate their efforts and work together to secure Lais release. "Were extremely worried for his health and well-being, and indeed, his life," Gallagher said. "Its in no ones interest for this brilliant man to die in prison." The Afghan Taliban have rejected Pakistan's allegation that Tuesday's deadly hostage-taking of a train was planned and directed from Afghan soil. Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Pakistan's assertions "baseless," in a statement Thursday. "We categorically reject baseless allegations by Pakistani army spokesperson linking attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan," foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement posted on X. Militants linked with the banned Baloch Liberation Army attacked a passenger train Tuesday near Sibi, Balochistan, taking hundreds hostage. At least 21 passengers and four paramilitary troops died in the attack. The military claimed the killing of 33 terrorists. During a visit to Quetta for a high-level security meeting Thursday, Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told media 339 passengers were rescued. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of the Pakistani military's media wing Inter Services Public Relations, had earlier said attackers collaborated with partners in Afghanistan. "During the operation, these terrorists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan via satellite phone," Chaudhry told a private news channel as he declared the clearance operation over Wednesday night. Later, the military's media wing reiterated the assertion. "Intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ringleaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with terrorists throughout the incident," a statement from the ISPR said. Rebutting the claim, Balkhi said Islamabad must address internal issues. "[We] urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks," the Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson said. Tuesday's attack marked a dramatic escalation in the separatist insurgency that has ravaged Balochistan for nearly two decades. The militants blew up tracks, bringing the train with nearly 450 passengers to a halt in a tunnel, where they stormed it. Survivors told VOA the attackers singled out security personnel and ethnic Punjabi passengers, shooting many. "Pakistan expects the Interim Afghan Government to uphold its responsibilities and deny use of its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan," the military said in written comments to the media Wednesday, repeating an increasingly frequent demand. On Thursday, the spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, repeated Islamabad's stance. "We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers, of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice," Khan told media at the weekly briefing. Balkhi rejected the allegation that Baloch separatists have put down roots across the border. "No members of Balouch opposition have presence in Afghanistan, nor have they ever had or have any links with the Islamic Emirate," Balkhi said in his post on X. The Taliban refer to their government as the Islamic Emirate. Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in terrorism in the last year, with deaths rising by nearly 45% in 2024 from the year before. The country now ranks second on the Global Terrorism Watchlist with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an ideological offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, and the separatist Baloch Liberation Army emerging as the deadliest outfits. Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan this week, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said Kabul was failing to rein in Baloch separatists. "The Kabul authorities have failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as al Qaida, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA and the Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan," the Pakistani envoy said Monday. The head of the U.N. childrens program, UNICEF, said Thursday that 16 million children in Sudan are suffering horribly from the countrys civil war, with many facing daily threats of violence, starvation, disease and sexual assault. "The fighting is happening right at their doorsteps, around their homes, their schools and hospitals, and across many of Sudans cities, towns, and villages, Catherine Russell, UNICEFs executive director, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. She said children under the age of five are particularly at risk, with more than 1.3 million living in five famine hotspots in the country, and another 3 million at risk of diseases including cholera, malaria and dengue due to the failing health system. At least 16.5 million young people are out of school. Russell said there were 221 cases of rape against children reported in nine of Sudans 18 states last year. She said two-thirds were girls. "In 16 of the recorded cases, the children were under the age of five. Four were babies under the age of one, she said. While she demanded an end to the hostilities, she said it would not erase the pain those children have endured. "The trauma these children experience and the deep scars it leaves behind do not end with the signing of a ceasefire or a peace agreement, she said. They will need ongoing care and support to heal and rebuild their lives. The head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) told the council that his teams in Sudan have also seen evidence of sexual violence, having treated 385 survivors last year. The vast majority including some younger than five had been raped, often by armed men, said Secretary General Christopher Lockyear. Nearly half were assaulted while working in the fields. Women and girls are not merely unprotected, they are being brutally targeted. The children are caught up in a power struggle between two rival generals that began in the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023, but has since spread to large parts of the country, including the Darfur region. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces, and the United Nations says both sides have committed grave human rights abuses. The head of MSF told the council that he was in Sudan six weeks ago and witnessed a scene of utter carnage at one of their partner hospitals in Omdurman, near the capital. I witnessed the lives of men, women, and children being torn apart in front of me, Lockyear said. He told the 15-nation Security Council that their repeated calls on the parties to end the war have gone unanswered. While statements are made in this chamber, civilians remain unseen, unprotected, bombed, besieged, raped, displaced, deprived of food, of medical care, of dignity, Lockyear said. He later told reporters that the situation in Sudan is so catastrophic for millions of people, it should be something that is on all of our consciences on a daily basis. The UNICEF director said the agency needs a billion dollars this year to provide critical support to 8.7 million children in Sudan, including nutrition, water and sanitation, protection, health, and education. She and Lockyear both urged the council to press the warring parties to remove obstacles to the delivery of aid. China's embassy in New Zealand on Thursday accused Wellington's top spy of lying after the intelligence chief warned of security risks posed by Beijing's growing influence in the Pacific. In a speech in Wellington last week, New Zealand's Security Intelligence Service Director-General Andrew Hampton said the focus of Pacific nations on economic and transnational crime issues had opened the door for China to sign strategic deals with them that linked economic and security cooperation. "The relevant remarks are totally baseless, all fabrication, and amount to spreading false information," the Chinese Embassy in Wellington said. "For someone holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail." In recent years, Beijing has struck deals with a number of Pacific nations, worrying New Zealand, a member of the Five Eye intelligence alliance along with Britain, the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Hampton said last week that China wanted to create competing regional architectures, and expand its influence with Pacific Island countries, which posed foreign interference and espionage risks. The Cook Islands, a self-governing Pacific nation in free-association with New Zealand, is at the heart of recent tensions between China and New Zealand. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown travelled to China in February, signing a comprehensive strategic partnership deal with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. That angered Wellington, which complained about the lack of consultation and transparency around Brown's visit. Relevant cooperation documents have been made public, the Chinese statement said, adding that there is no "secret agenda" in China's relations with the Cook Islands. China's embassy in Wellington also handles the country's diplomatic relations with the island nations of Niue and the Cook Islands. Russian aerial attacks overnight killed at least two people in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, officials said Thursday. Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram his region came under attack by Russian drones and shelling, and that one other person was injured. In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said at least three people were hospitalized after a Russian attack hit the city of Dnipro. Lysak said on Telegram the attack damaged multiple apartment buildings, including blowing out windows. Officials in the Sumy region reported Thursday that Russian drones fell on a set of garages, setting about 20 of them on fire. Ukraines military said Thursday it shot down 74 of the 117 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said. Russias Defense Ministry said it shot down 77 Ukrainian drones, most of them in regions located along the Russia-Ukraine border. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, said the attacks injured one person and damaged an industrial building, a communication tower and a power line. The Russia military said it destroyed 30 of the drones over Bryansk, while officials in the region reported no damage or casualties. Russian air defense also shot down drones over Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, the military said. The daily aerial attacks continue amid a U.S. push to secure a cease-fire in the conflict. The U.S. has proposed a 30-day halt in fighting, which Ukraine has said it would accept. U.S. officials are expected to discuss the plan with Russian officials in the coming days. The latest fighting came as Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to troops in Russias western Kursk region Wednesday, ordering soldiers to swiftly retake the region from Ukrainian forces. Dressed in military fatigues, Putin told the troops he was considering setting up a new buffer zone inside Ukraines Sumy region, adjacent to Kursk, to prevent any future Ukrainian incursions. "Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region and still fighting here, to completely liberate the territory of the Kursk region, and to restore the situation along the line of the state border," Putin said. "And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border." Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Pope Francis marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future. The 88-year-old was, for a time, critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on Feb. 14. The Argentine's situation has markedly improved since then, with the Vatican confirming his condition as stable on Wednesday evening, and talk is now turning to when he might go home. But his hospitalization, the longest and most fraught of his papacy, has raised serious doubts about his ability to lead the world's nearly 1.4 billion Catholics. Slowing down Francis had before now refused to make any concessions to his age or increasingly fragile health, which saw him begin using a wheelchair three years ago. He maintained a packed daily schedule interspersed with frequent overseas trips, notably a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region in September, when he presided over huge open-air masses. But experts say his recovery could take weeks given his age and recurring health issues, not helped by having part of one lung removed as a young man. "The rest of his pontificate remains a question mark for the moment, including for Francis himself," said Father Michel Kubler, a Vatican expert and former editor in chief of the French religious newspaper La Croix. "He doesn't know what his life will be like once he returns to the Vatican and so, no doubt, reserves the option of resigning if he can no longer cope," he told AFP. Francis has always left the door open to resigning were his health to deteriorate, following the example of Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step down. But the Jesuit has distanced himself from the idea more recently, insisting the job is for life. While in hospital, Francis has delegated masses to senior cardinals but has kept working on and off, including signing decrees and receiving close colleagues. But he has missed a month of events for the 2025 Jubilee, a holy year organized by the pope that is predicted to draw an additional 30 million pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican. And it is hard to imagine he will be well enough to lead a full program of events for Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar that is less than six weeks away. Many believe that Francis, who has not been seen in public since he was hospitalized, has to change course. "This is the end of the pontificate as we have known it, until now," Kubler said. Unfinished reforms Francis struck a sharp contrast to his cerebral predecessor when he took office, eschewing the trappings of office and reaching out to the most disadvantaged in society with a message that the Church was for everyone. A former archbishop of Buenos Aires more at home with his flock than the cardinals of the Roman Curia, Francis introduced sweeping reforms across the Vatican and beyond. Some of the changes, from reorganizing the Vatican's finances to increasing the role of women and opening the Church to divorced and LGBTQ members, have been laid down in official texts. But a wide-ranging discussion on the future of the Church, known as a Synod, is not yet finished. And there are many who would happily see his work undone. Traditionalists have strongly resisted his approach, and an outcry in Africa caused the Vatican to clarify its authorization of non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples in 2023. "Whether we like him or not, he has shifted the dial, but many things are still pending," a Vatican source said. On Feb. 24, the Moroccan counterterror agency broke up a terrorist cell calling itself "the Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al Aqsa." Authorities said the group was making remote-controlled bombs to carry out attacks in the North African country. In November, a similar terrorist cell was dismantled in the Spanish cities of Seville and Ceuta. The connection? Both Moroccan and Spanish authorities said the groups were aligned with Islamic State in The Sahel. The group is best known for wreaking a devastating wave of violence across Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, plunging these countries into chaos and fueling a spiraling humanitarian crisis. But analysts say the foiled terror cells farther afield are a worrying sign. "Because the counterinsurgency infrastructure in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has been compromised, then it allows them to make inroads into other countries that they perceive to be vulnerable," said Beverly Ochieng, a senior analyst at geopolitical risk consultancy Control Risks. Ochieng said IS Sahels strategy appears increasingly focused on exploiting security gaps beyond their core Sahelian strongholds. "IS Sahel has seen that its expansion could be directed much further West and much further North, and Morocco would be one place which would be of strategic interest to it," she said. Andrew Lebovich of the Dutch international affairs think tank Clingendael said these disrupted plots are indicative of IS Sahel's broader ambitions. "It does suggest an ongoing effort to increase operations in different ways in other countries, he said, adding that Algeria is facing an increasing threat. And its not just North Africa that's at risk. Ochieng warns that countries traditionally seen as stable, such as Guinea or even Senegal, could become future targets for IS Sahel militants too. In March, the Global Terrorism Index named the Sahel the epicenter of global terrorism for the second year running. Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of a Columbia University activist who helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel's war in Gaza. The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who wore red shirts reading "Jews say stop arming Israel" and carried banners reading "Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition" and "Fight Nazis not students," chanted "Bring Mahmoud home now!" Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn't been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalil's arrest was the first "of many to come" and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity." Police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave. Among the protesters was actor Debra Winger, who has discussed her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years. Winger accused the Trump administration of having "no interest in Jewish safety" and "co-opting antisemitism." Khalil's supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case. Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The building's main entrance opens to a multi-story atrium that is open to the public and connects visitors to stores and eateries such as the Trump Grill. Khalil, 30, was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup. Columbia was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests. Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia master's degree in December. Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing. A California federal judge on Thursday ordered six U.S. agencies to reinstate thousands of recently hired employees who were fired as part of President Donald Trump's purge of the federal workforce. The ruling made by U.S. District Judge William Alsup during a hearing in San Francisco applies to the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and the Treasury Department. Alsup last month temporarily blocked the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human resources department for federal agencies, from ordering agencies to fire probationary employees, but he declined at the time to require that fired workers get their jobs back. Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, although some are longtime federal employees. They have fewer job protections than other government workers but, in general, can be fired only for performance issues. Alsup said on Thursday that OPM has no power to order firings, and there was evidence that it had improperly directed the termination of workers at the six agencies. He did not order the 16 other agencies named in the lawsuit by unions and nonprofit groups to reinstate workers. It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie, Alsup said. The potential scale of Trump's efforts to shrink the U.S. federal government could become clearer on Thursday, the deadline for government agencies to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and to slash their budgets. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. We openly state that Turkiye will always stand by Azerbaijan, Akif Cagatay Klc, the Chief Advisor to the President of Turkiye, told reporters at the XII Global Baku Forum, Trend reports. "We have always voiced the necessity of sustainable, truth-based, and just peace, as well as coexistence in the region. We have previously highlighted that Armenia's occupation of Karabakh was a major obstacle to peace, and Turkiye has firmly expressed its stance on this issue. We also want to make it clear that Azerbaijan will always stand by us in this regard. Turkiye is committed to supporting regional peace during the process of Azerbaijans complete liberation of its lands following the Second Karabakh War. As Turkiye, we stand in favor of a just and long-lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia," Klc said. The XII Global Baku Forum is scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15, 2025. The forum is organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and will be held under the theme "Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities". Discussions will focus on key global issues, including geopolitical shifts, multilateralism, the global health crisis, recovery and regional stability, COP29, and more. The forum is expected to bring together over 300 world leaders from more than 60 countries, including more than 25 former presidents, over 15 former prime ministers, around 10 UN and international agency heads, and over 25 former ministers and deputy ministers. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel President Vladimir Putin donned military fatigues for a surprise visit to troops in Russia's western Kursk region on Wednesday, where he ordered them to press their lightning advance and swiftly retake the rest of the area from Ukrainian forces. Putin made his visit after Washington asked him to consider a 30-day ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine, and after Russian forces retook a swath of territory in Kursk, forcing Ukrainian troops to fall back and cede control of the town of Sudzha. Ukraine sprang one of the biggest shocks of the war on Aug. 6, 2024, by storming across the border and grabbing a chunk of land inside Russia, boosting citizens' morale and gaining a potential bargaining chip. But after clinging for more than seven months to a gradually shrinking area, Ukraine has seen its position worsen sharply in Kursk in the past week after its main supply lines were severed. Putin made it clear he was considering setting up a new buffer zone inside Ukraine's Sumy region, which is adjacent to Kursk, to guard against any future Ukrainian incursions. He also said foreign citizens fighting with Ukrainian forces captured in Kursk were not entitled to enjoy the protection of the Geneva Conventions, and that Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk should be treated as terrorists. "Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region and still fighting here, to completely liberate the territory of the Kursk region, and to restore the situation along the line of the state border," Putin said. "And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border." Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia's General Staff, was shown telling Putin that Russian forces had pushed Ukrainian forces out of more than 86% of the territory they had once held in Kursk, the equivalent of 1,100 square kilometers of land. Ukraine's plans to use Kursk as a bargaining chip in possible future negotiations with Russia had failed, he added. Kyiv's gambit that its Kursk operation would force Russia to divert troops from its advance in eastern Ukraine also had not worked. Gerasimov said Russian forces had retaken 24 settlements and 259 square kilometers from Ukrainian forces in the last five days, along with more than 400 prisoners. Russian units also had crossed into Ukraine's Sumy region, where he said they were expanding "a security zone." Reuters could not independently verify his assertions. Reuters was, however, able to verify video published by Russian bloggers and state media showing troops standing with a Russian tricolor flag on a square in the center of Sudzha, a town near the Ukrainian border on a highway used by Ukraine as a supply route. Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian site that charts the front lines of the war, updated its battlefield map to show Ukrainian forces were no longer in control of Sudzha. However, it said fighting was continuing on the outskirts. Ukraine's top army commander said Wednesday that Kyiv's troops would keep operating in Russia's Kursk region as long as needed and that fighting continued in and around Sudzha. President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia agreed in principle with U.S. proposals for a ceasefire in Ukraine, but crucial details need to be sorted out and any truce would have to deal with the root causes of the conflict. Putin said he may call President Donald Trump to discuss the issue, which the U.S. president said hed be open to. Trump said he sees good signals coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putins statement. We spoke with Jennifer Kavanagh is a senior fellow & director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Syria's interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule for five years during a transitional phase. The country's interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of the country since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning insurgency that overthrew former leader Bashar al-Assad in December. Former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now the country's interim president a decision that was announced after a meeting of the armed groups that took part in the offensive against Assad. At the same meeting, the groups agreed to repeal the country's old constitution and said a new one would be drafted. While many were happy to see an end to the Assad family's dictatorial rule of over 50 years in the war-torn country, religious and ethnic minorities have been skeptical of the new Islamist leaders and reluctant to allow Damascus under its new authorities to assert control of their areas. Abdulhamid al-Awak, one of the seven members of the committee al-Sharaa tasked to draft the temporary constitution, told a press conference Thursday that it will maintain some provisions from the previous one, including the stipulation that the head of state must be a Muslim and Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence. However, al-Awak, a constitutional law expert who teaches at the Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey, also said the temporary constitution includes provisions that enshrine freedom of expression and the press. The constitution will "balance between social security and freedom" during Syria's shaky political situation, he said. A new committee to draft a permanent constitution will be formed, but it is unclear if it will be more inclusive of Syria's political, religious and ethnic groups. Al-Sharaa on Monday reached a landmark pact with the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria, including a ceasefire and a merging of their armed forces with the central government's security agencies. The deal came after government forces and allied groups crushed an insurgency launched last week by gunmen loyal to Assad. Rights groups say that hundreds of civilians mostly from the Alawite minority sect to which Assad belongs were killed in retaliatory attacks by factions in the counteroffensive. A key goal of the interim constitution was to give a timeline for the country's political transition out of its interim phase. In December, al-Sharaa said it could take up to three years to rewrite Syria's constitution and up to five years to organize and hold elections. Al-Sharaa appointed a committee to draft the new constitution after Syria held a national dialogue conference last month, which called for announcing a temporary constitution and holding interim parliamentary elections. Critics said the hastily organized conference was not inclusive of Syria's different ethnic and sectarian groups or civil society. The United States and Europe have been hesitant to lift harsh sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad's rule until they are convinced that the new leaders will create an inclusive political system and protect minorities. Al-Sharaa and regional governments have been urging them to reconsider, fearing that the country's crumbling economy could bring further instability. A total lunar eclipse will be visible in the Western Hemisphere overnight Thursday, with the best views in North America and South America. Skywatchers in Africa and parts of Europe may also be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the celestial spectacle. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth, the moon and the sun line up and the Earths shadow blocks, or eclipses, the moon. The moon will look like a coppery red ball in the sky, a phenomenon known as the blood moon. The moons color is the result of stray bits of sunlight filtering through Earth's atmosphere. Skywatchers wont need any special equipment, glasses or gadgets to see the eclipse, although binoculars or a telescope could provide a better view. "As long as the sky is clear, you should be able to see it," Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, told The Associated Press. In North America, peak viewing time will be at 2:59 a.m. EDT (6:59 GMT) March 14. Thats when the Earths deepest, darkest shadow the umbra will cover the moon. The moon is expected to be totally obscured for 65 minutes, although the eclipse will last for about six hours in its entirety. Check here for where and when the blood moon will be visible in different parts of the hemisphere. The last total lunar eclipse occurred in 2022, but the world wont have to wait long for the next one. A total lunar eclipse will happen overnight this September 7 and 8 and will be visible across Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. A partial eclipse will occur later this month, on March 29. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. Donald Trump took the fight over his attempt to restrict automatic U.S. birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court on Thursday as the Republican president's administration asked the justices to narrow a judicial block imposed on this key element of his hardline approach toward immigration. The Justice Department made the request challenging the scope of three nationwide injunctions issued against Trump's order by federal courts in Washington state, Massachusetts and Maryland. The administration said the injunctions should be scaled back from applying universally and limited to just the plaintiffs that brought the cases and are "actually within the courts' power." "Universal injunctions have reached epidemic proportions since the start of the current administration," the Justice Department said in the filing. "This court should declare that enough is enough before district courts' burgeoning reliance on universal injunctions becomes further entrenched." Trump's order, signed on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of U.S.-born children who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident. The order was intended to apply starting Feb. 19 but has been blocked nationwide by multiple federal judges. Trump's action has drawn a series of lawsuits from plaintiffs, including 22 Democratic state attorneys general, immigrant rights advocates and expectant mothers. They argue among other things that Trump's order violates a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that provides that anyone born in the United States is a citizen. The 14th Amendment's citizenship clause states that all "persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." The administration contends that the 14th Amendment, long understood to confer citizenship to virtually anyone born in the United States, does not extend to immigrants who are in the country illegally or even to immigrants whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as university students or those on work visas. Its request to the justices marks its latest trip to the top U.S. judicial body to defend Trump's actions. The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term as president. Trump's push to restrict birthright citizenship is part of a broader immigration and border crackdown that includes tasking the U.S. military with aiding border security and issuing a broad ban on asylum. The judges who ruled against Trump's order faulted it as conflicting with the Constitution. An 1898 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case called United States v. Wong Kim Ark long has been interpreted as guaranteeing that children born in the United States to noncitizen parents are entitled to American citizenship. Trump's Justice Department has argued that the court's ruling in that case was narrower, applying to children whose parents had a "permanent domicile and residence in the United States." U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened the European Union with 200% tariffs on wine, champagne and other spirits produced in the 27-nation bloc after the EU levied what he said was a nasty 50% tariff on American-distilled whiskey. Trump contended in a post on his Truth Social media platform that the EU is one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World. He said it was formed in 1993 for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States economically. Later, asked by a reporter at the White House whether he might back off his heightened tariff threats against Americas geopolitical allies, Trump said, "We've been ripped off for years, and we're not going to be ripped off anymore. No, I'm not going to bend at all aluminum or steel or cars." In the past month, Trump has been waging a tit-for-tat tariff fight with the United States' biggest trading partners Mexico, Canada, China and the EU in what he says is an effort to stanch the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl, into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, and to persuade manufacturers to close their operations overseas and move them to the U.S. to create more American jobs. On Wednesday, Trump levied 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. from 35 countries, including the EU bloc. Europe quickly retaliated with its own tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. exports to countries that have long had close relations with the U.S., while Canada imposed new tariffs on $20.7 billion worth of U.S. exports to its northern neighbor. Canada also requested World Trade Organization dispute consultations with the U.S. over its imposition of import duties on certain steel and aluminum products from Canada, the trade body said Thursday. The new EU measures will apply not only to steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans also will be hit, as they were during Trump's first term that ran from 2017 to 2021. The EU duties aimed for political pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have said its tariffs, which are paid by importing companies and the cost of which is then mostly passed on to consumers, are targeting products from states dominated by Republicans like Trump, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska, wood products from Alabama and Georgia, and liquor from Kentucky and Tennessee. Spirits producers have become collateral damage in the steel and aluminum dispute. Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called the EU move to tax U.S.-produced spirits "deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries. The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports surging 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended. On Thursday, Swonger said in a statement, The U.S.-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997. He urged the end to a tariff fight over spirits between the U.S. and Europe, saying, We want toasts not tariffs. Trump's tariff wars have led to a broad Wall Street stock selloff, with the three major U.S. stock indexes plunging in recent days. The S&P 500 finished Thursday more than 10% below its record high reached last month. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC he was not worried. We're focused on the real economy, he said. I'm not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks. I can't tell you the market is going to go up today, tomorrow, next week. He dismissed concerns about Trumps threat to impose bigger tariffs on European spirits. "One or two items with one trading bloc I'm not sure why that's a big deal for the markets," he said. Trump said in his social media post that if Europe follows through on its 50% tariff on U.S.-distilled whiskey, he will impose the 200% tariff on all wines, champagne & alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Trump also attacked The Wall Street Journal newspaper, the countrys leading business publication, for refusing to support his tariff plans. A Journal editorial said this week that most Americans understand that tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses. The U.S. leader said the newspaper has no idea what they are doing or saying. They are owned by the polluted thinking of the European Union. He said the newspapers thinking is antiquated and weak, and very bad for the USA. Tensions are rising between Turkey and Iran, with Ankara warning Tehran not to undermine efforts to end its war with a Kurdish rebel group, the PKK. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, a peace deal with the Kurdish rebels would be a boost for Turkey in its race to gain influence in Syria. Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations gathered Thursday in Charlevoix, Quebec, as host country Canada outlined its top agenda, focusing on achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and strengthening security and defense partnerships as the G7 marks 50 years. During the opening remarks, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, Peace and stability is on the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we can continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia's illegal aggression. Joly also emphasized the importance of addressing maritime security challenges, citing threats such as growing the use of growing shadow fleets, dark vessels and sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he hopes a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could take place within days if the Kremlin agrees. He also plans to urge G7 foreign ministers to focus on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. The G7 talks in Quebec follow U.S.-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it is ready to accept a U.S. proposal for "an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire." "Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward peace, and we are prepared to do our part in creating all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Wednesday in a post on social media platform X. He added that "Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire," and "welcomed" the U.S. proposal to extend it to land. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia supports the U.S. ceasefire proposal in principle, but key details still need to be worked out. Ceasefire, they can't be coming with conditions, because all these conditions just blur the picture. Either you want to end this war, or you don't want to end this war, so we need to be very firm, said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during an interview with CNN International. What we need to keep in mind is that Russia has invested, like over 9% of its GDP on the military, so they would want to use it, Kallas said, adding the European nations are massively increasing their defense investments. The G7 talks bring together ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Rubio has underscored the need for monitors if a ceasefire is implemented. He told reporters on Wednesday that one of the things we'll have to determine is who do both sides trust to be on the ground to sort of monitor some of the small arms fire and exchanges that could happen. Beyond Ukraine, G7 foreign ministers also discussed Chinas role in global security, Indo-Pacific stability, and maritime security behind closed doors. Rubio is expected to have a pull-aside meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Thursday. The recent arrest of Palestinian activist and U.S. legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil, who played a prominent role in last year's Columbia University protests over the war in Gaza, has prompted questions about the limits of a green card. A green card holder since 2024, Khalil was granted lawful permanent residency status in the U.S. But green card holders can lose their status and face deportation if they violate immigration law. A federal judge on Wednesday extended efforts to halt Khalils deportation, and the New York resident remains in detention in Louisiana although he has not been charged with any crime. It is not a criminal offense to disagree, even openly, with the U.S. government's policy or actions, and the Bill of Rights protects free speech and the right to assemble. The why Green cards can be revoked, New York-based immigration lawyer Linda Dakin-Grimm told VOA. Its not that common, but it also isnt rare. People lose their green cards most often when theyre convicted of crimes. A green card is not citizenship. Its seen as a privilege that you earn, but you can also lose it if you engage in conduct that is contrary to the conditions that green card holders live under, she said. Examples of crimes that can cause a green card holder can lose their status include aggravated felonies, drug offenses, fraud, or national security concerns such as ties to a terrorist group. Green card holders can also lose their status and lawful permanent residency status for being deemed a threat to national security. If a green card holder is accused of a crime, their criminal case will go through the justice system. But the process to revoke their permanent status takes place in immigration court, where officials must present evidence to justify revoking a green card. The how Revoking a green card is a legal process that starts when the U.S. government determines that an individual has violated immigration laws. The case can come to the governments attention in different ways, either through a routine immigration check, law enforcement investigation, or whistleblower. It could theoretically be a whistleblower. Someone who has some information. Could they call the State Department? Maybe. Could they call the ICE hotline? Maybe, Dakin-Grimm said. The Department of Homeland Security usually initiates the process. The green card holder will receive a document known as a Notice to Appear in immigration court or, in serious cases, they may be arrested and detained. White House officials said Wednesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority to revoke a green card or any visa if an individuals activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences to the country. Rubio has said that Khalils case is not about free speech. No one has a right to a green card, by the way. If you told us thats what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in, Rubio said on Wednesday. If you do it once you get in, were going to revoke it and kick you out. The authority for the secretary of state to intervene in a case like Khalils stems from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. A provision in the law allows the secretary of state to deem a non-citizen deportable if their presence or activities are believed to significantly harm U.S. foreign policy interests. According to Khalils NTA, Rubio has made that determination. Khalil has been ordered to appear in front of an immigration judge on March 27 at the Lasalle Detention Facility in Louisiana. The court In immigration court, the burden of proof is on the government; it must show the person violated immigration laws. In a case like Khalils, ICE attorneys will ask for deportation, but they will have to prove he is a threat to national security. The green card holder can also present a defense. In the criminal justice system, if a person cannot afford an attorney, the government must provide a public defender. In immigration court, however, immigrants have the right to their own attorney, but the government does not have to provide one. If immigrants cannot afford an attorney or cannot find one to represent them pro bono, they do will not have access to legal representation. Dakin-Grimm says the process can sometimes go fast, but it is also complex. In the immigration court system, the decision to revoke a green card is an administrative procedure conducted by the Department of Justice, under an office known as the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Its kind of like the government is prosecuting a case, and the judge is also the government, Dakin-Grimm said. The outcome If the immigration judge rules against the green card holder, they can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). And if the BIA agrees with the government, the green card holder can appeal to a Federal Court of Appeals. Although the case can end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, Dakin-Grimm says that rarely happens, mostly because the Supreme Court has complete discretion over the cases it chooses. Most people cant afford to do this kind of legal work themselves. Its just very, very expensive you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars to take a case from the trial court level all the way to the Supreme Court, she said. But in the immigration space, you tend to see nonprofit agencies, law school clinics, working pro bono, working for free in significant cases like this. A final decision If the green card is revoked and all appeals fail, the person is usually deported from the U.S. If the appeal is successful, the person keeps their green card and is allowed to stay in the country. Dakin-Grimm said many green card holders think because it is called permanent residency, the status is actually permanent. But its only permanent as long as you follow the rules, she said. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report. The United States warned Wednesday that it will continue to exert maximum pressure on Iran in order to prevent it from achieving a nuclear weapon, as Tehran rejected its offer for new nuclear talks amid growing concerns about its stockpile of enriched uranium. As reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] Director General, Tehran continues to rapidly accelerate its production of highly enriched uranium, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said in a statement. It is also the only country in the world without nuclear weapons producing highly enriched uranium, for which it has no credible peaceful purpose. The United States said Iran is flagrantly defying the U.N. Security Council and ignoring the clear and consistent concerns" of both the council and the international community. The Council must be clear and united in addressing and condemning this brazen behavior, the U.S. statement said. Iran has denied for years that its nuclear pursuits are for military purposes. But starting in May 2019, it gradually stopped implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which provided Tehran with sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. In February 2021, it stopped implementing its commitments altogether. As a result, the IAEA no longer conducts verification and monitoring activities related to the deal, and that has raised many questions about what Iran is doing. The United States, along with Britain and France, which remain parties to the JCPOA, which the first Trump administration pulled out of, called a private meeting Wednesday of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Irans proliferation efforts. Council members Greece, Panama and South Korea also supported the call. We're seriously concerned about the latest IAEA report about Iran's production of highly enriched uranium, British Deputy U.N. Ambassador James Kariuki told reporters. The director general reported last month that Iran has now produced 275 kilos of uranium enriched to 60% that's way beyond anything needed for civilian use and no other non-nuclear state has anything like that amount, he said. Kariuki said Britain will take any diplomatic measures necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including reimposing U.N. sanctions a process known as snapback. Under the terms of the deal, previous U.N. sanctions can snap back if Tehran does not live up to its commitments. The JCPOA is due to expire in October, which means the window could soon be closing for substantive negotiations. Irans U.N. ambassador participated in the meeting, but his U.N. mission criticized it, saying on the social media platform X that Washington openly seeks to weaponize the UNSC to escalate economic warfare against Iran. This dangerous abuse must be rejected to protect the Councils credibility. UNSC is shorthand for the U.N. Security Council. Russia and China, who also are JCPOA signatories, are allies of Tehran. Chinas U.N. ambassador told reporters that the nuclear issue is being dealt with in Vienna at the IAEA and that Beijing was not supportive of Wednesdays council meeting. Fu Cong blamed the Trump administration for disrupting the JCPOA in the first place by withdrawing in 2017, but at the same time he said China hopes there can be a new deal before Octobers expiration. Putting maximum pressure on a certain country is not going to achieve the goal, he added. Fu noted that China will convene a meeting in Beijing with Iran and Russia on Friday, to try to facilitate a possible deal to stabilize the situation. It will be chaired by Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi are expected to attend. Photo: Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 13. OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann will visit Kazakhstan for the first time in May 2025 to attend the Astana International Forum, Trend reports. This was announced by William Thompson, Head of the OECD's Eurasia Division, during a meeting with Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin. The discussions focused on expanding cooperation and key economic initiatives. Zhumangarin highlighted the OECDs role in supporting Kazakhstan's economic reforms and public policy improvements, noting the countrys adoption of OECD standards since 2008. A key topic was the potential establishment of an OECD regional office in Astana. Kazakhstan is the only partner supporting the Eurasian Competitiveness Program, which aids regional reforms. The final decision on the office will be made after the OECD completes its strategy for establishing foreign representations. Thompson emphasized Kazakhstan's leadership in the region and plans to update the OECD-Kazakhstan Action Plan to outline future cooperation priorities. U.S. lawmakers are running out of time to pass a short-term continuing resolution, or CR, that will fund the government past a March 14 deadline. "Democrats need to decide if they're going to support funding legislation that came over from the House, or if they're going to shut down the government. So far, it's looking like they plan to shut it down," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor Thursday. Appropriations bills require a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate, which means Republicans need to secure at least eight Democratic votes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for the Senate to pass an earlier version of the CR that Democrats were involved in negotiating. "Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input, from congressional Democrats," Schumer said on the Senate floor late Wednesday. Democratic senators say they are concerned about easing the way for the Trump administration to continue large-scale changes to the federal government and social safety net programs. "I don't want a government shutdown," Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement Thursday. "And that's why I'd like to vote on a bill to keep the government open for 30 days while we have a bipartisan negotiation. But I will not support this Republican House bill that simply gives Elon Musk more fuel and more tools to dismantle big parts of the federal government in order to rig it for people like himself and the very rich." "Voting against the CR will hurt the American people and kill the incredible momentum that President [Donald] Trump has built over the past 51 days," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier this week. The Republican-majority House of Representatives passed a short-term spending measure Tuesday by a vote of 217-213. The House went out of session for the rest of the week starting Tuesday afternoon, putting pressure on senators to pass its version of the CR. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson quelled dissent from within his Republican party to pass the spending measure. He told reporters Tuesday the seven-month continuing resolution was an important step toward implementing Trump's agenda of rooting out government waste and abuse through the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. "It allows us to move forward with changing the size and scope of the federal government. There is a seismic shift going on in Washington right now. This is a different moment than we have ever been in. The DOGE work is finding massive amounts of fraud, waste and abuse," Johnson said. "We have a White House that is actually dedicated to getting us back onto a fiscally responsible track." Independent watchdogs and analysts, however, say DOGE is using overly broad claims of fraud to generate support for large-scale cuts to federal programs and offices. Representative Thomas Massie was the lone Republican holdout, despite Trump's post Monday night on Truth Social calling for Massie to lose his seat if he voted against the spending measure. The continuing resolution buys lawmakers time to reach a compromise on Senate and House versions of government spending, a key tool for implementing Trump's domestic policy agenda. At question is how and when to enact a proposed extension of the 2017 tax cuts and how to pay down the U.S. deficit without cutting key safety net programs that help American voters. Senate leadership has proposed passing the tax cuts in a separate bill later this year. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russias war with Ukraine for 30 days, but he stressed that many details would have to be worked out and that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin told reporters Thursday in Moscow. He went on to list several issues he said needed clarifying. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Putins comments were very manipulative and that he thought Putins qualified support for the U.S. plan was an effort to ultimately lay the groundwork for rejecting it, according to Agence France-Presse. He is in fact preparing a rejection at present, because Putin is of course scared to tell President [Donald] Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians, Zelenskyy said in his evening address, according to Reuters. At the White House, Trump said it would be very disappointing if Russia rejected U.S. efforts to end the fighting. We would like to see a ceasefire from Russia, Trump told reporters. A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now we're going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world." Earlier, Putins top foreign policy aide dismissed the United States 30-day ceasefire proposal, saying it would merely provide Ukraines military with a temporary respite from fighting. His comments came after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with Russian officials on the ceasefire proposal. In his comments, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed he has been in regular contact with U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz and said they agreed these contacts would remain confidential. U.S. officials met earlier this week with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia to present the ceasefire plan. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. effort, saying Wednesday that Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire for 30 days as proposed by the American side. Zelenskyy said the halt in fighting could be used to create a broader peace deal for the conflict, which began with Russias February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would provide time to prepare answers to all questions regarding long-term security and a real, reliable peace and put on the table a plan to end the war. Zelenskyys chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, meanwhile, said on Thursday that Ukraine would not agree to a frozen conflict with Russia. We said very clearly that we will never agree to a frozen conflict, Yermak said on television, according to Reuters, referring to discussions between Ukraine and the United States in Jeddah. He added that the U.S. was also against a frozen conflict. The talks in Moscow between the U.S. and Russia come as the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces had retaken control of Sudzha, a major town in Russia's western Kursk region, from Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian forces took the town during a surprise attack on the Kursk region bordering Ukraine last August and had been struggling to hold it ever since. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Iranian security forces have arrested four female Kurdish activists in Kurdistan province following International Womens Day celebrations on March 8. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network confirmed the arrests. Rights groups and activists believe these arrests are part of a wider crackdown on Kurdish women. Click here for the full story in Kurdish. The agreement between the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, and the interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was welcomed by the Kurds and their political parties, including the Kurdish National Council in Syria. The Alawite community, which came under heavy attack a few days ago, also welcomed the agreement, hoping that it will stop sectarian killings in Syria. Click here for the full story in Kurdish. About 12.2 million college graduates are expected to enter Chinas shrinking labor market this summer, Wang Xiaoping, minister of the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry told the country's National People's Congress Sunday. It is believed that the Chinese government will encourage young people to accept gig work or vocational trainings so as not to hike up the youth unemployment rate. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. VOA has learned that a prisoner with cancer who was denied medical care by the authorities of Ghezel Hesar Prison on the pretext of "lack of funds" has died after being transferred to the hospital late. Click here for the full story in Persian. A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Wednesday adjourned the case of a journalist arrested over his interviews with a war veteran-turned-politician who criticized the country's president. Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with NewsDay and Heart and Soul Television, has been in custody since Feb. 24 over accusations of incitement. Lawyers for the journalist had requested that he be bailed out, but at a hearing in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Justice Gibson Mandaza requested more time to examine the case. Chris Mhike, who represents Mhlanga, told VOA he was waiting for the High Court to announce when the case would resume. Mhike said it would be "improper" to go into the arguments because the case was active but said the judge "indicated that it was necessary for him to consider the issues that are at stake." Speaking ahead of Wednesday's hearing, Mhike said the arrest of Mhlanga sent a chilling message. The arrest is related to his interviews with war veteran and politician Blessed Geza in November and January, in which Geza said that he would mobilize public protests to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa out of office, citing economic issues and what he called the president's failure to govern. On Friday, Geza was expelled from the Zanu PF party for what the party described as violating regulations in public comments about the president. Mhike said he believed his client's arrest served as a warning to others to refrain from discussing political topics, such as whether Mnangagwa should seek a third term. Zimbabwean presidents serve five-year terms, which are renewable once. Mhlanga's arrest "has had a chilling effect on the practice of journalism, as is always the case when journalists are either harassed, or put through the legal process, really for activities that are directly linked to their work," Mhike told VOA. It is "worrisome to many in the journalistic fraternity," he added. "This has been the impact, and this has been my client's position: that he is being tormented purely on grounds of him carrying out his work as a journalist." Mhlanga, who faces two charges relating to "transmitting of data messages inciting violence or damage to property," denies the charges against him. Mhike said his client's arrest also could be unconstitutional. Zimbabwe's Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information, and entitles citizens to freedom of the press. Farai Marapira, the Zanu PF information director, said he expected courts to preside fairly over the case. "I believe people should allow the court process to pursue this matter as it is designed to find out what are the material facts of the matter, and I'm sure the courts will deal fairly with this issue," Marapira said. Marapira also said Mhlanga's arrest was not a reflection of the state of press freedom in the country. "People write about Zanu PF every day people write positively, people write negatively, some even write and insult Zanu PF," he said. Marapira then rhetorically asked aloud: "Who is dead? No one is dead. So, what are they fearing for their lives from? Where is the example? Where are the examples of killed journalists? So, like I said, this is all overexcitement." The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that conditions for journalists have improved since the end of longtime leader Robert Mugabe's rule. But, it noted in its press freedom index, media have faced greater persecution since the 2023 election. In the past two years, journalists have been blocked or harassed while covering events and briefly detained and assaulted, media groups said. Mhlanga himself has had a previous brush with the law. In 2022, he and his colleague Chengeto Chidi were arrested for taking photos of the police during the arrest of an opposition lawmaker. In his latest case, international and local media rights organizations have condemned Mhlanga's arrest and urged the Zimbabwean government to drop all charges against him. Tobias Mudzingwa contributed to this report. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russias war with Ukraine but stressed that details would have to be worked out. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin told reporters Thursday in Moscow. Maybe I should call President [Donald] Trump and have a discussion with him, he said. At the White House, Trump said it would be very disappointing if Russia rejected U.S. efforts to end the fighting. We would like to see a ceasefire from Russia, Trump told reporters. A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now we're going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world." Earlier, Putins top foreign policy aide dismissed the United States 30-day ceasefire proposal, saying it would merely provide Ukraines military with a temporary respite from fighting. His comments came after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with Russian officials on the ceasefire proposal. In his comments, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed he has been in regular contact with U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz and said they agreed these contacts would remain confidential. U.S. officials met earlier this week with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia to present the ceasefire plan. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. effort, saying Wednesday that Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire for 30 days as proposed by the American side. Zelenskyy said the halt in fighting could be used to create a broader peace deal for the conflict, which began with Russias February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The talks in Moscow come as the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday its forces have retaken control of Sudzha, a major town in Russia's western Kursk region, from Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian forces had taken the town during a surprise attack on the Kursk region bordering Ukraine last August and had been struggling to hold it ever since. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Wednesday adjourned the case of a journalist arrested over his interviews with a war veteran-turned-politician who criticized the country's president. Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with NewsDay and Heart and Soul Television, has been in custody since Feb. 24 over accusations of incitement. Lawyers for the journalist had requested that he be bailed out, but at a hearing in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Justice Gibson Mandaza requested more time to examine the case. Chris Mhike, who represents Mhlanga, told VOA he was waiting for the High Court to announce when the case would resume. Mhike said it would be "improper" to go into the arguments because the case was active but said the judge "indicated that it was necessary for him to consider the issues that are at stake." Speaking ahead of Wednesday's hearing, Mhike said the arrest of Mhlanga sent a chilling message. The arrest is related to his interviews with war veteran and politician Blessed Geza in November and January, in which Geza said that he would mobilize public protests to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa out of office, citing economic issues and what he called the president's failure to govern. On Friday, Geza was expelled from the Zanu PF party for what the party described as violating regulations in public comments about the president. Mhike said he believed his client's arrest served as a warning to others to refrain from discussing political topics, such as whether Mnangagwa should seek a third term. Zimbabwean presidents serve five-year terms, which are renewable once. Mhlanga's arrest "has had a chilling effect on the practice of journalism, as is always the case when journalists are either harassed, or put through the legal process, really for activities that are directly linked to their work," Mhike told VOA. It is "worrisome to many in the journalistic fraternity," he added. "This has been the impact, and this has been my client's position: that he is being tormented purely on grounds of him carrying out his work as a journalist." Mhlanga, who faces two charges relating to "transmitting of data messages inciting violence or damage to property," denies the charges against him. Mhike said his client's arrest also could be unconstitutional. Zimbabwe's Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information, and entitles citizens to freedom of the press. Farai Marapira, the Zanu PF information director, said he expected courts to preside fairly over the case. "I believe people should allow the court process to pursue this matter as it is designed to find out what are the material facts of the matter, and I'm sure the courts will deal fairly with this issue," Marapira said. Marapira also said Mhlanga's arrest was not a reflection of the state of press freedom in the country. "People write about Zanu PF every day people write positively, people write negatively, some even write and insult Zanu PF," he said. Marapira then rhetorically asked aloud: "Who is dead? No one is dead. So, what are they fearing for their lives from? Where is the example? Where are the examples of killed journalists? So, like I said, this is all overexcitement." The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that conditions for journalists have improved since the end of longtime leader Robert Mugabe's rule. But, it noted in its press freedom index, media have faced greater persecution since the 2023 election. In the past two years, journalists have been blocked or harassed while covering events and briefly detained and assaulted, media groups said. Mhlanga himself has had a previous brush with the law. In 2022, he and his colleague Chengeto Chidi were arrested for taking photos of the police during the arrest of an opposition lawmaker. In his latest case, international and local media rights organizations have condemned Mhlanga's arrest and urged the Zimbabwean government to drop all charges against him. By Stephen Beech Paralyzed spinal injury patients have been offered fresh hope - thanks to ground-breaking advances in robot technology. A combination of robotics and spinal stimulation has restored some movement in paralysis for the first time, say scientists. In a proof-of-concept study involving five spinal cord injury patients, an innovative combination of robotics and electrical epidural stimulation resulted in "immediate and sustained" muscle activation. Not only did participants regain the ability to engage muscles during robotic-assisted therapy, but some also improved their voluntary movements even after the stimulation was turned off. The research team explained that spinal cord injuries often leave people with severe mobility impairments. But while rehabilitation robotics - devices that guide movement during therapy - have improved training for those with such devastating injuries, their effectiveness remains limited. Without active muscle engagement, scientists say robotic-assisted movement alone doesn't sufficiently retrain the nervous system. Now a team at the NeuroRestore clinic in Switzerland, led by neuroscientists Professor Gregoire Courtine and Professor Jocelyne Bloch, has developed a system that "seamlessly" integrates an implanted spinal cord neuroprosthesis with rehabilitation robotics. They explained that their device delivers well-timed electrical pulses to stimulate muscles in harmony with robotic movements, resulting in "natural and coordinated" muscle activity during therapy. The team says the breakthrough not only enhances immediate mobility but also helps long-term recovery. Courtine said: The seamless integration of spinal cord stimulation with rehabilitation or recreational robotics will accelerate the deployment of this therapy into the standard of care and the community of people with spinal cord injury. "This adaptability ensures that rehabilitation professionals can incorporate this technology into existing rehabilitation protocols worldwide." He added: "Combining therapies also presents significant challenges, as each requires precise synchronization. "Spinal cord stimulation strategies must be modulated in both space and time to match the patients movement, and integrating them with widely used robotic rehabilitation systems requires a flexible and adaptable framework." The research team explained that the technology relies on a fully implanted spinal cord stimulator that delivers biomimetic electrical epidural stimulation. But unlike traditional functional electrical stimulation, the new method activates motor neurons more efficiently by mimicking natural nerve signals. The researchers integrated electrical epidural stimulation with various robotic rehab devices - including treadmills, exoskeletons, and stationary bikes - ensuring that stimulation is precisely timed with each phase of the movement. The system uses wireless sensors to detect limb motion and automatically adjust stimulation in real-time, which the research team says allows for a seamless user experience. The research team also worked with rehab facilities to test how well the stimulation system integrated with widely used robotic devices. NeuroRestore researcher Nicolas Hankov, the studys co-first author, said: We visited multiple rehabilitation centers to test our simulation technology with the robotic systems they routinely use, and it was incredibly rewarding to witness their enthusiasm. He added: Seeing first-hand how seamlessly our approach integrates with existing rehabilitation protocols reinforces its potential to transform care for people with spinal cord injury by providing a technological framework that is easy to adopt and deploy across multiple rehabilitation environments. The study, published in the journal Science Robotics, also showed the potential of the new approach beyond clinical settings, as participants used the system to walk with a rollator and cycle outdoors. Courtine said: "This innovative technology offers new hope for individuals with spinal cord injuries, presenting a more effective rehabilitation approach than robotics alone. "By making rehabilitation more dynamic and engaging, it has the potential to significantly enhance recovery outcomes." He added: "Future clinical trials will be needed to establish long-term benefits, but the initial results suggest that integrating neuroprosthetics with rehabilitation robotics could redefine mobility restoration after paralysis." ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 13. The Mejlis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan has given the green light to a resolution that will see 65 hectares of land make the leap from Ashgabat to the administrative territory of Arkadag city, Trend reports. This strategic initiative is designed to catalyze the urban economic ecosystem, optimize governance frameworks, and augment the citys infrastructural capacity. This aligns with the statutory framework established by the legislative provisions governing the administrative-territorial delineation within the jurisdiction of Turkmenistan. In alignment with the strategic resolution, the Ministry of Agriculture, in conjunction with the municipal authorities of Arkadag, has been mandated to execute the requisite protocols to delineate the newly established administrative perimeters. Founded on June 29, 2023, Arkadag city has emerged as Turkmenistan's inaugural smart city, garnering global acclaim for its cutting-edge urban design, sustainable ecological frameworks, and advanced digital infrastructures. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Not that Im complaining, but from the science fair to the winter concert, this season has been filled to the brim with kid-centric installments showcasing the adorable talent that makes up the elementary part of Abbott Elementary. Tonight is a welcome respite as the bleak reality of our piss-poor public-education system often accompanies the school-heavy episodes. Our teachers deserve to let their hair down every once in a while, and this time, its Barbara who organizes a karaoke outing for the staff to do just that. Of course, Abbotts queen of vocals would choose this as the off-the-clock activity for the crew, and thank goodness she did because the episode is packed with hilarious performances and plenty of after-hours behavior. Music has always been an important element Abbott uses to set the mood and establish the specific corner of culture that the show honors, with the soundtrack boasting artists like Missy Elliott, Boyz II Men (gotta have Motownphilly!), Cardi B, the Jackson 5, and Jazmine Sullivan. Whether it be Ava queening out to Back That Azz Up, the students calling Lil Waynes A Milli an oldie, or the staff bonding during the Wild Wild West line dance in that now iconic cold open, Abbotts music selection has almost become a tertiary character of the show. The karaoke-club outing takes Abbotts love for using music to tell a story to the next level, with their song choices injecting ample comedy (Mr. Johnson needs to release a full version of Its Hard Out Here for a Pimp) and sentimentality as the crew deals with their various relationship issues. No kids means the adults no longer have the responsibility of being the ones holding everything together, so the episodes without the students tend to showcase the more vulnerable side of the characters. For Ava, whose armor often comes in the form of her fortress of an office and the knowledge that shes the commander-in-chief, this manifests in her first date with OShon. After a season-long slow burn, the couple finally makes it out to dinner, but once outside of the school, their chemistry flatlines as Avas constant defensiveness erects a wall between them. At the restaurant, she swerves his attempts at connecting with constant sarcasm and cynicism, keeping things coolly surface-level if not slightly hostile (telling a guy he giggles a lot for a man isnt exactly flirty). OShon, a man who is clearly sure of himself and his desires, asks for the bill, cutting the date short, saying he doesnt want to waste her time. Shocked, Ava tries to cover her tracks, saying she thought snarky rapport was their thing, but OShon expresses his desire for a deeper connection. As they wait for her ride on the curb, Ava takes a stab at letting her walls down, restarting one of the conversations OShon tried to start earlier by mentioning how her father used to take her to chain restaurants as a kid. Although these outings were once a fond memory, after her dad started a second family with one of the waitresses, Ava became resentful well, thats the mature interpretation of her words; she merely says, Queso dips are very triggering for me now. This display of vulnerability pulls OShon back in, who tells her, I dont really like queso dip anyways, so it wont be hard to avoid on our next date. Finally, Ava properly gets into the flirty energy, offering that technically their date doesnt have to end yet, inviting him to karaoke but not before making fun of his car, asking what divorced lesbian he got his Subaru from. Ava and OShon take a second stab at their first date by heading to the club, where the rest of the teachers have been holding it down, getting increasingly inebriated while dealing with adult drama of their own. Although Janines ecstatic about her duet with Gregory theyre going to sing Always on Time, and shes been practicing her Ja Rule voice all week she does her best to play the role of the supportive partner when hes unable to make it until after logging a few hours as a rideshare driver. She spends most of the evening anxiously awaiting his arrival and moving their name further down the queue the longer it takes for them to get there. But, like the driven girl we know, Janine is emphatically optimistic and tries to make the most of the evening, even pushing Jacob to strike up a conversation with a cutie at the club named Elijah, played by comedian Jaboukie Young-White. Following his breakup with Zach and the short-lived relationship with paramedic Avi, romance has been on the back burner for Jacob and its not until he runs into his ex at the karaoke club that he realizes how much hes neglected his personal life. We havent seen Zach since the aftermath of their messy breakup, so when Jacob spots him at the club, hysterically laughing with a new love interest, he tries to avoid the inevitably awkward interaction. But after some encouragement from Melissa and Barbara, he summons the courage to talk to Zach, who reveals that not only does he have a new man and moved to his dream neighborhood, but hes also there to celebrate the opening night of his one-man show Got Out (which is actually funnier than the original title that we got the PG version of last season, a.k.a. Fleabag With an F). When Jacob has nothing else to contribute to this catch-up than Melissa got a guinea pig, he starts questioning his own decisions, falling into a self-pitying spiral. Through gritted teeth, he assures his co-workers hes fine before snatching the mic and bursting into a rendition of Papa Roachs Last Resort that should honestly win Chris Perfetti an Emmy and definitely changed my rating from four stars to five. The rage-filled performance pushes Barbara and Melissa to ask him why hes so triggered. Jacob describes his feelings of envy towards the amount of things Zac has accomplished since the breakup, saying it makes him feel stuck. He lists some of his achievements, like helping RJ and getting the school a consulate, but Barbara points out that while those are amazing professional wins, theres more to life than work. Invigorated by this advice, he courageously approaches Elijah, cleverly getting his number in a corny way that Jacob pulls off adorably. While the partys flowing at the karaoke club, Gregory moonlights as a rideshare driver in a characteristically meticulous way, with a carefully practiced welcoming speech, snacks, phone chargers, and Gregorys Goofy Games to entertain the slew of eccentric riders he picks up along the way. But once Friday night surge prices spike to unprecedented highs and hes tasked between accepting more rides or hurrying over to the club for his duet with Janine, hes caught between his trademark pragmatism and his newfound romance. He calls Janine, gauging how upset shed be if he ditched karaoke, but even as she tries her best to remain unaffected, encouraging him to take the rides, he can hear the disappointment in her voice. As the ride fare continues to rise incrementally, the always idealistic Janine determinedly tries to sing both parts of Always on Time, saying she has lots of practice as a very lonely High School Musical fan. But right as Janine takes a breath, preparing her diaphragm for a lengthy Ja Rule verse, Gregory bursts through the door, grabbing a mic and backing his lady up. Then, Ava and OShon arrive at the club, and the group bestows them with the privilege of choosing the very last song. Together, they pick What Would You Do by City High, with everyone joining in, validating Gregorys decision to spend time with the chosen family we all love to watch. Teachers Notes My favorite moment, perhaps of the whole season, was Ava meeting Zachs new boyfriend. The interaction references Avas surprise at Jacob having a Black boyfriend, a moment that bred one of Abbotts most famous jokes (Actually, its pronounced Zach.) Instead of exclaiming Black?! like she did when she first met Zach, this time she blurts out White?!, to which the new boyfriend responds, Its actually pronounced Wyatt. I love Abbotts side characters, Erika and Simon perfectly played that one toxic couple everyone knows. Also crossing my fingers for more Jaboukie! Finally, here are the funniest lines of the episode: Ava and Barbara on Janines friend Erika coming to karaoke: Ava: I cant believe youre forcing your friend to throw it back on a district employee just so you can get back in their good graces. Barbara: Shes welcome to come as long as she does not throw it back, forward, or to the side. Jacob on why Zac turned down his mic: He said my voice only worked in theory. Erika shit-talking Gregory: You ask a lot of questions about me and my man, but what about yours? He still built like a Lego? Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Pascal Le Segretain, Marc Piasecki) Elon Musk already has a lot of enemies did he really need the country of Ireland coming after him too? Princess of Ireland Ayo Edebiri has posted that she received death threats in 2024 after Musk quoted a false news story claiming Disney was considering Edebiri to replace Johnny Depp in an upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Just remembering when I got some of the most insane death threats and racial slurs of my life (idk if its the #1 moment, but for sure top 3) for a fake reboot of a movie I had never even heard of because of this man, Edebiri wrote over a screenshot of Musks post from February 7, 2024. LMAO. So not only is he double s**g h**l-ing fascist, hes an idiot but anyway. Musks quote-tweet read, Disney sucks. Edebiris post follows claims by Musk that hes getting a lot of flak, including death threats, since speaking at Donald Trumps first Cabinet meeting on February 26. Earlier, Edebiri posted a screenshot of Bill Burrs comments about Musk on NPRs Fresh Air. Im trying to get regular people to stop yelling at each other and realize that its a select few group of nerds eating raw almonds and doing their stupid workouts and competing with each other to have the biggest infinity pool and the rest of us are getting pushed down, Burr says in the screenshot. Theyve politicized the whole stupid thing and were falling for it. Edebiri then posted a screenshot of a friend telling her she would eat a Pirates update up a lil bit, which is true. Finally, Edebiri requested that news outlets stop making my IG stories news because Im just tryna have a silly goofy time. Ozick at home in 2016. Photo: Sasha Rudensky Fame is pursued, Cynthia Ozick says. Recognition accrues. Recognition comes with being read, and for much of her writing life, Ozick, who turns 97 in April, maintained that she wasnt. Never mind that David Foster Wallace, who selected her work for The Best American Essays 2007, also put her on his list of best living fiction writers. Never mind that Saul Bellow, asked whether he preferred her fiction or her nonfiction, waved the question away: Shes triple-threat. (Ozick has also written a play.) Never mind that Fran Lebowitz, when I call her after learning that shes an Ozick admirer, replies, As are all sane people. With the publication of In a Yellow Wood, a 712-page collection of Ozicks stories and essays, Everymans Library has ruled in favor of the people. Though nowhere near all of her books are represented shes published more than 20, including the novels The Messiah of Stockholm, The Cannibal Galaxy, and The Puttermesser Papers most of the celebrated Ozicks at some point turn up: memoirist (A Drug Store Eden is a gorgeous remembrance of her northeast Bronx backyard), fabulist, feminist, observant Jew, unabashed belletrist. She thinks densely and she writes densely, says Lebowitz, whos been reading Ozick since the 70s. Susan Sontag once said to me, You know, shes really smart. Ozick is also really mischievous: Anyone who has enjoyed a YouTube snippet of her 1971 demolition job on Norman Mailer in the documentary Town Bloody Hall will find the same impishness in her prose. She is, among other things, the absolute monarch of the sly adverb. Who else, in denouncing the term writers writer, would refer to its piously diminishing apostrophe? The earliest work in the new collection dates from more than half a century ago, when Ozick was still smarting from the years when no one would publish her. A hundred periodicals, both renowned and little, sent me packing, she has written. An editor who later went to Hollywood to write Superman led me into his Esquire cubicle to turn back a piece of fiction with the hard-hearted charm of indifference Another day I stood on the threshold of the office of The New York Review of Books, a diffident inquirer of thirty-five, and was shooed away by a word thrown out from a distant desk; I had come to ask for a review to write. (In 2008, the Reviews Robert Silvers told me that hed advised Ozick to send along her work she has no memory of this and noted that the paper later published an essay of hers on Henry James, a writer shes worshiped since she was an adolescent. It did 19 years after her visit.) It was also an era when even the highest praise for literary women was often laced with chauvinism. As Cynthia Ozicks ill-fed, unkempt, rumpled and generally undusted husband, Bernard Hallote wrote to Time in 1966, I deny your characterization of herin your otherwise shining review of Trustas a housewife. That, God knows, she is not. In other ways, the common culture of 50 or 60 years ago doesnt look too bad. Envision, for instance, an issue of People in which James Salter interviews Vladimir Nabokov: It appeared in 1975. Ozick regards interviews, profiles, and book tours warily, even more than most serious writers do. In An (Unfortunate) Interview with Henry James, she imagines the novelist interrogating his interrogator: After you have heard Adelina Patti sing, why should you care to hear the small private voice of the woman? Though Ozick insists that writers are least themselves when theyre chatting industriously on demand, over the years shes been a good sport in ways shes come to regret. When she was 76 and promoting her novel Heir to the Glimmering World, a library director pressed her to dream up, on the spot, an adventure tale. (Readings, he complained, were dull.) Obligingly, though at the time I couldnt so much as drive a car, she tells me, I invented a cross-country trip in a Cessna two-seater. A pilot in the audience called her out; Ozick wrote an essay for The Guardian about her humiliation. In a 2011 profile, a journalist who had missed the confession gave the lie new life: Ozick is intrepid; when she was in her sixties she made a solo flight across the U.S. Letters, on the other hand, are hotly alive, the real right thing. When The Paris Review invited her to participate in its Writers at Work series, she insisted on an unusual approach: Her interlocutor sat at one end of a table, asking questions, while she sat at the other, typing replies. Reading the results, I wondered whether such spontaneous eloquence was possible. Had Ozick wrought much of the magic in subsequent edits? Well, Ive been back and forth with her in email for weeks, and night after night she puts on an airshow in prose loops, spins, hammerheads. Her response to my lament that Bernard Malamud has disappeared from bookstores is no less virtuosic than In a Yellow Woods essay about him: For Malamud, tragedy, unembellished by irony, is true; suffering is real; speech is visceral, and lives closer to the lining of the lung than to the darting tongue. If he is not read today not read enough, I later emphasize this may be the cause: we who mock everything, who dismiss raw feeling in favor of the gibe, who value wit over hurt and find the absurd in every sentiment can it be that we have lost the capacity to know, hence to name, what we see? At one point I joke that Ozicks emails are too good, not unaware that Henry James was once told the same of his dispatches for the New York Tribune. (I am honestly afraid that they are the poorest I can do, James wrote. Especially for the money.) I ask her about the hand-me-down Sears, Roebuck childs desk where shes said she wrote virtually everything, and she volunteers this verbal tour of the house in southern Westchester where shes lived for more than six decades. This is an unused bedroom, with two dressers, and three walls with bookshelves up to the ceiling. The two dressers have piles of books. The table has piles of books. The bed is clear. The living room: another wall of books, and at the side of the piano, where you cant see it from the chairs, a heap of books. The dining room: under the sideboard boxes of books, only partly hidden. Its all a wilderness, completely out of control. Her computer where the main action is rests on her parents old kitchen table, which is covered with a flannel sheet. As I picture Ozick at home, it helps that I know her voice warm, sweet, shockingly girlish. The first time we met, decades ago, I was seated between her and her husband at a PEN dinner. (Hallote, who died in 2017, was an attorney. Ozick is a mother of one their daughter is an archeologist and a grandmother of two.) Somebodys plus-one guest and too shy to speak to her, I was relieved when Hallote, who had winningly old-fashioned manners, drew me out. Then he introduced me to Ozick, who gave me the rest of the evening, asking which writers I loved, telling me whom I must read. First on her list was William H. Gass, and its Gass I turn to when I think of the calm intensity of her gaze: Honesty, concentration, unity of being: these allow, in the artist, the world to be seenan unimaginable thing to most of usto fully take in a tree, a tower, a hill, a graceful arm. If youve ever had an artists eyes fall on you, you know what I mean. I hadnt; now I did. But if her eyes were searching, Ozicks manner was ungrand, joyful, confiding. All literary talk ceased while we took in dessert. She leaned across me to make sure that Bernie too was digging in. The next day Ozick sent me a parcel with a note in the tiniest handwriting: Herewith, some copies of Southwest Review and Salmagundi: fine periodicals that remain dedicated to writing (as opposed to the widespread scorn for the worthy). (Worthy as a pejorative! A summary of the present culture.) It was the 1990s, and the culture was becoming steadily less literary while continuing to slag her off. Onstage with her at a New Yorker event Book Publishing: Dead or Alive? Leonard Riggio, then-CEO of Barnes & Noble, announced how few copies of The Shawl, her masterpiece about the Holocaust, his stores had sold in the last year. There were also more personal slights: I once watched Christopher Hitchens smirk his way through a Bellow panel on which she was the other headliner, and Silvers and The New York Review ignored book after book of hers, including Quarrel & Quandary (2000), an essay collection that won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Ozick in New York on May 30, 1966. Photo: The Estate of David Gahr/Getty Images Now celebrations of her excellence seem to be cropping up everywhere (including The New York Review, where Cathleen Schine recently declared The Puttermesser Papers possibly the best book about the city since Robert Caros The Power Broker). These days, Ozick comes in for a different kind of condescension: How can anyone so old be so sublime? I am murderously ferocious on this matter, she told the Los Angeles Times shortly before her 92nd birthday. Of a recent New York Times subhead about Anne Tyler While many of her contemporaries are playing canasta, shes releasing her 25th book Ozick says, So now the longevity police are going after the kids! (Tyler is 83.) Though Id promised not to ask her the secret to writing well as she closes in on her centennial, I do, as it turns out, have longevity questions for her. In Nearing Ninety, which Ozick selected for The Best American Essays 1998, William Maxwell notes that as a reader hes grown harder to please. Has she? One summer a few years ago I was determined to read all of Henry Jamess short stories. Whether I was able to excavate everything I cant guarantee, but certainly there were very many. And what I discovered was this: Henry James, who, after all, wrote for a living, was a hack! A formula writer, she means plots all built on the same premise and design and trajectory, seemingly fresh if taken one by one but not when experienced as a flow. Im curious, too, about how she views an essay from middle age about her resentment at not being published young. Is my plaint of four decades ago still in force? she asks. It ought not to be. I have since published enough for what can be deemed visceral sustenance The nonagenarian writer should speak only of gratitude and then shut up. Not yet. I want to know how Ozick is feeling about a different sort of longevity. Writing about herself in the third person, she once despaired of seeing with a perilous clarity that she will not survive even as minor. She was in her 60s at the time. What about now? When the sun burns out (old writers reflect), even Shakespeare, even Tolstoy, will be void. She beats me to the follow-up: Is this horridly bleak? No, because in the meantime theres the meantime. The profound jubilation of writing itself when youre carried away by unexpected forces. And yes, the jubilation of being read: Discovering that there are readers, however few, is always a genuine astonishment. And more than enough to count as recognition Three or four is as good, and as gratifying, as a flock. On behalf of the flock, I could ask what shes working on, but most writers resist that question. Instead I turn to a phrase shed used to describe herself to me: still striving. Whats the nature of her aspiration? Most immediately, to finish the short story thats begun (and is stuck because its premise is preposterous), she says. And then to write another. Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Vox Media Lisa Barlow, the tequila connoisseur in a land of soda pops, has been spotted in a completely different state during the filming of the upcoming season of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Whats going on? Is Barlow trading being a housewife for Ben Affleck movie promo? Why did the rumors start? At first, it looked like Barlow skipping out on big group trips on the show. Mary Cosby, Angie Katsanevas, Meredith Marks, Heather Gay, Whitney Rose, and Bronwyn Newport were spotted filming at hot springs in Utah over the weekend without Barlow. It didnt seem to ring any alarm bells until people began speculating on Barlows absence. On March 11, RHOSLC fan pages started claiming that Barlow removed the shows name from her Instagram bio. Then, a parody page posted a fake statement from Barlow that read: It was a long run! When life gives you real problems this reality shit doesnt make sense. Peace out Im out. Barlow herself has been keeping quiet on the rumors. Shes been at SXSW for the past week, making herself royalty at another arts festival. Podcaster Up and Adam! claims that Barlow is holding out for a hiring paycheck from Bravo; he alleges Barlow is looking for a $1 million salary for this season. So, is Lisa Barlow coming back? It seems like she is. She was spotted filming with her husband by a fan in Salt Lake City on the same day the rumors were spreading. It looks like the queen of Sundance is here to stay and possibly got a pay bump. Sorry, Whitney and the other housewives Barlow feuds with the rumors couldnt even last a fourth night. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. This episode opens with Reacher face-to-face at last with Xavier Quinn. Hes now going by Julius McCabe, but hes still the same sick fuck who tortured and killed Reachers protege, Sergeant First Class Dominique Kohl, back in 2012, then miraculously survived Reachers good-faith effort to murder him. Surprise! The dude has no idea who Reacher is. Evidently, the amnesia he claimed to suffer after Reacher shot him in the face 13 years ago was legit. Quinn/McCabe whom Ill just call Quinn for the remainder of this briefing even interrupts his own reprimand of Beck for hiring an ATF agent as his housekeeper to praise him for bringing on the tall and equally wide drink of water standing next to him. He doesnt even notice that Reacher is holding a pistol behind his back. Quinn makes it clear to Beck and Reacher and to Duffy and Villanueva, listening in via the super-secure government-issue cell phone Reacher is no longer even bothering to conceal in his shoe that hes been keeping Duffys informant Teresa Daniel alive because the client has a thing for redheads. Quinn deals weapons for profit but dabbles in human trafficking for free. He really is a far more despicable shit heel than his puppet Zachary Beck is. But he still needs Zachary alive to complete this big, pending sale, he says, because the client expects to close the deal with Zachary. Meanwhile, a Russian mobster shows up to collect a debt from Quinn. Quinn evidently knows enough Russian to translate his lenders reply to his request for more time as Give a man a fingernail and hell take the whole arm. This guy must be really bad news if Quinn is afraid of him. Driving Pa Beck back to his mansion, Reacher takes an odd swerve into family counselor mode, telling the gunrunner that his son deserves to know that the reason hes been made to suffer these last five years is because, welp, his old man is a gunrunner. Sure, Zachary Beck has had his business absorbed into that of a more violent and ruthless arms merchant, but his sins are far worse than just bribing customs officials to avoid import duties on rugs or whatever. Hes put weapons into the hands of killers. It doesnt make much sense that Beck knows all about the deal Quinn made with the Russian mob when Quinn treats him as a lackey rather than a partner, but the writers need to shovel this exposition into our mouths somehow. Reachers experimentation with human empathy continues as he finds Richard gazing at the sea and intuits the kid must be contemplating suicide. Richard doesnt even deny it. Reacher suggests they head into town to find some glue to repair the vintage toy pistol Richard bought as a gift for Zacharys imminent 50th birthday party, which was damaged by a trio of 35-year-old bullies before Reacher beat them in episode three. Surely theres a tube of glue somewhere in this massive house, but this is about the outing, not its ostensible purpose. Reacher, we learn, has suggested this so he can rendezvous with Duffy and return her badge. In what one really cannot call a rare breach of discipline, Duffy is so grateful that Reacher didnt just kill Quinn when he had the chance, which wouldve doomed their chances of rescuing Teresa, that she plants a kiss on him. Her reaction to her own indiscretion What the shit!? actually made me laugh. Reacher is alarmed when Villanueva shows up, not because the old timer is cockblockin, but because he fears Richard will recognize Villy as the plainclothes cop that Reacher killed in the first episode. Sure enough, when Richard finds his way into that alley mere seconds later, the jig is like a beloved 2009 Pixar film: up. Reacher waits until hes alone in the car with Richard to come clean: Hes infiltrated Zacharys home and business to rescue Teresa and kill Quinn. The kid points out that the best case here is that his dad goes to prison. Hes already in prison, Reacher says. So are you. Zachary Beck is doing some serious hand-biting in this episode, expressing his envy for the way Richard looks up to Reacher. When Reacher points out that hes protecting both Becks, Zachary tells him, People with that job description are prone to catching bullets. I wonder when yours is coming? Zacharys anger and jealousy towards Reacher is misplaced but like so vanishingly few elements of Reacher plausible and convincing. It isnt Richard who ultimately blows Reachers cover. Its the fact that Quinn learns from some identified source that Warrant Officer Powell at the 110th Special Investigations Unit ran his license plate and that Reachers friend and frequent partner-in-vigilante-justice Frances Neagley, formerly of the 110th, pulled the military dossiers on Angel Doll, Winston Duke, and Paulie Van Hoven not long after that. Powell, that Warrant Officer who was so chuffed to be speaking to the legendary Major Jack Reacher back in episode one, proves hes no clay-footed fanboy, absorbing a brutal beating while refusing to give up Reachers name. (He did already name Reacher to Duffy after she threatened to charge him with obstruction of justice, which is how Duffy roped Reacher into her reckless undercover operation in the first place.) Convinced Powell wont talk, Quinn orders the torturers to gut him from tongue to taint and let him bleed out. What a jerk! Neagley fares better, dispatching two button men sent to kill her in her Windy City high-rise office. Evidently, shes the only person present not just on this floor but in the whole damn building because the dozens of unsilenced gunshots she and the two hitmen exchange bring no response until Neagley herself dials 911. Piss-poor security for what weve been told is an elite private-investigation firm! When one of Neagleys assailants, bleeding out from the abdomen, asks the woman he just tried to kill to call him an ambulance, Neagley replies, Youre an ambulance. The dad jokes, more than any other single element, are what keep me watching Reacher. More! Of! These! Anyway, the fact that both of the parties checking up on Quinn and his associates are current or former members of the 110th makes it a cinch for even a dummy like Beck to figure out that Reacher, who used his reputation as the founder of that unit to persuade Beck to hire him, is a traitor. Quinn orders Paulie upstairs to go shoot the (smaller) big man, but Reacher is already running for the garage. Hes smart enough to shoot out the tires of the other vehicles on his way to stealing the snowplow-equipped pickup truck to smash through the front gate. Even that big, belt-fed machine gun in the guardhouse cant stop him from making good his escape, though it does enough damage to the truck to force Reacher to dump it. He calls Duffy for help, but not before several ATV-riding henchmen pursue him into the woods. What begins as yet another gunfight morphs into a horror-movie scenario: Reacher covers his face in mud like Arnold at the end of Predator and kills the last of his assailants by strangling him using a winch mounted on one of the ATVs. MacGyver would never! At the Beck house, Quinn muses that nothing beats a serrated knife while displaying some truly amateurish kitchen-knife handling skills. He proceeds to torture both Becks by making Zachary watch as he forces Richard to play Russian Roulette. Richards odds are lousier than Reachers were when Beck forced Reacher to play because this revolver is a five-shot model instead of a six-shooter. (Also, Richard doesnt have a notch cut into the cylinder to help him see which chamber the bullet is in like Reacher did.) When Richard survives, Quinn demands a matching set. Hes got a fever, and the only prescription is more ear-severing. You mightve thought Reacher was too overcome with grief, confusion, physical pain, or some miserable cocktail of all those things while carrying out poor Annettes corpse off for disposal last episode to pay attention while Harley yammered on about how this unplanned killing had shipwrecked his weekend plans. But no! Reacher heard Harley brag about his boat, the Sweet Marie, because in a flash of insight, Reacher now tells Duffy that the boat is where Teresa is being held. They swim out to investigate, finding evidence that Teresa was indeed kept there under sedation. Theyre still aboard when Harley shows up. Convinced hes telling the truth when he tells them he doesnt know where Quinn moved the hostage, they leave him pinned to the deck of the Sweet Marie, which caught fire after he tried to shoot Duffy. Rather than attempt to extinguish the flames, Reacher tosses in more fuel. And thats an explosive wrap for Harley, the loathsome little weasel. Reacher chides Duffy for stealing looks at his presumably Reacher-size junk while they change out of their wetsuits, but shes more upset about the fact their last lead for finding Teresa just blew up. But Reacher has another idea. Pack your sunscreen, he says. Were going to Los Angeles. I wonder what Canadian metropolis will play the City of Angels. In an Investigation, Details Matter When Neagley kills the two hitters who attack her in her office, shes wearing a T-shirt promoting Siren Records of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The Margaret Lee Van Buren Center for Creation and Activity is a fictional Doylestown landmark, but Siren Records is real! Ive been waiting for three episodes now for Reachers daylight beatdown of Richards bullies in downtown Abbottsville to produce some consequences. Reachers strained relations with inept and/or corrupt local law enforcement is a recurring feature of Lee Childs Reacher novels and their screen adaptations, but it appears there is no local law enforcement in Abbottsville. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 13. Turkmenistan's Ambassador to Belarus, Nazarguly Shagulyyev, participated in a business event organized in Minsk for heads of foreign diplomatic missions to enhance the economic dialogue between countries, Trend reports. The forum featured Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhankov, officials from essential legal and investment departments, and leaders of over 40 diplomatic missions accredited in Belarus, underscoring the international community's significant interest in the nation's economic potential. Particular emphasis was placed on financing alternatives for investment projects, investment infrastructure, advantageous conditions for foreign investors, and the legal dimensions of investment operations. During the event, Ambassador Nazarguly Shagulyyev met with the Director of the National Marketing Center, Nikolai Borisovich, who provided detailed information about the center's activities, emphasizing its key role as one of Belarus' leading national export support institutions. The center offers a full range of services for developing foreign economic activity, with a team of over 120 highly qualified specialists. It was noted that the National Marketing Center actively supports the implementation of Belarus trade and economic policy and has cooperation agreements with more than 70 foreign countries. The forum highlighted the growing interest in strengthening economic ties between Turkmenistan and Belarus, with both countries expressing a clear commitment to expanding cooperation and exploring new opportunities for joint projects. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Mickey 17 marks another entry in the actors pantheon of particular accents, which includes The Lighthouse and The Boy and the Heron. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Everett Collection (Eric Chakeen/A24, Warner Bros.), GKIDS What is Mickey Barnes supposed to sound like? Hes part New Yorker, maybe, part beleaguered high-school nerd, part cat trying to get into a room its not supposed to be in. The latter comparison feels apt given that Robert Pattinson based the voice of the titular Mickey 17 character in part on Stimpy, the cat from the Ren & Stimpy cartoon. Mickey 17 is Pattinsons latest vocal experiment and yet another opportunity for the actor to throw himself far from the heartthrob hes known to be and into territory much weirder and more interesting than his looks alone could ever convince you he is. Pattinson infuses Mickey 17s nervous disposition with a voice that wobbles and groans with abject misery, pitching his tone upward so it sounds like a door creaking on its hinges. While many British actors approach the American accent as a sweeping attempt to hit all 50 states, Pattinson goes for region (like his Hahvahd Yahdlite New England drawl in The Lighthouse) and specificity (that native New York bite in Good Time), hitting a tone or pitch that echoes a characters, well, character. Hes gone up higher for other roles before, like his shrill turn as a rotten southern preacher in The Devil All the Time and his sassy French accent in The King. Hes gone lower when playing Batman and for his California drawl in Map to the Stars. Hes put himself through the accent wringer so many times that when he actually does play English as he did in Tenet and The Lost City of Z theres a novelty to his posh affectation, as if perhaps he was making that up the whole time, too. There are lots of strange actors currently who contort and modulate their bodies and looks by appealing to their distinctive features. Barry Keoghan can change the tenor of a scene just by shifting his shoulders; Rami Malek has built a career on showing up and blinking either too much or too little. Weve seen physical chameleons gaining and losing weight or piling on a bunch of prosthetics. There are endless ways to change your appearance onscreen, but its rarer for a guy to use his own body like a ventriloquists dummy. While Pattinson has long worked to shed the pretty-boy type he played in the Twilight films, he has rarely altered his look; sometimes he dyes his hair or has a beard, but you always know when youre looking at Robert Pattinson. Part of what makes him such an undeniable movie star is that the audience sees him through his characters, whether or not theyre able to hear him. As with Christian Bale, yet another Batman, its difficult to remember what hes actually supposed to sound like, his voice now distorted and amplified across a number of bizarre characters. In interviews, its hard to take Pattinsons real voice seriously: Is that really what hes supposed to sound like? Or is this just another put-on? Pattinsons best and weirdest voice appears in a film in which hes never physically present onscreen. In the English dub of Hayao Miyazakis The Boy and the Heron, Pattinson lends the heron an unsavory croak. He is as unrecognizable as an actor could be, disappearing so thoroughly into the part that its easy to question if its really Pattinson down in that strange bird. The animation puts Pattinsons physical twitchiness and good looks at a remove; he contorts all that is magnetic about himself as a performer and spits it out through the characters beak. In conversation with Bong Joon Ho in GQ, Pattinson told his Mickey 17 director that if he feels hes repeating himself, he worries a director might find him fake. That same approach, perhaps, explains why Pattinson pushes himself to sound different from role to role. After playing the same character for five Twilight movies in a row, he never wants anyone to know what theyll see or hear next when they look at him on the big screen. That constant state of surprise makes it all the way into the text of Mickey 17. In the near(ish) future of the film, scientists have created a 3-D printer that can make multiple copies of living humans in order to kill and remake and re-kill the same person with the same biology over and over like a guinea pig. Though each Mickey is Mickey, the dynamic that emerges between Mickey 17 and his double, Mickey 18, is that of beta and alpha. If 17s voice is Stimpys, 18s is more like Ren, as Pattinson told Empire. The actor lowers his voice slightly, granting the newer Mickey a more confident, brusque personality. The doubles may look and move the same, but when Mickey 17 looks at Mickey 18, hes flooded with terror. Its not that hes afraid of what he sees but of what he hears. He may know very well what his multiple looks like, but Mickey 17 never knows what the man who looks like him is going to say. The good news is that due to one of those cockamamie streaming-service release schedules, the first three episodes of The Wheel of Times third season have all dropped at once. Chances are, therefore, that you didnt have to wait much longer than an hour and ten minutes in real time between starting the premiere and arriving at the deliciously nasty opening scene of episode two. The bad news is that you probably shouldnt have had to wait even that long. I get that the battle with the Black Ajah in the heart of the White Tower is probably the necessary starting point for this segment of the WoT saga, but 15 minutes of characters whose names you only sort of remember shooting digital fingertip fire at each other can be a little off-putting as a welcome back. A brand-new evil-queen character, played by Olivia Williams, with a Robespierre-type Red Ajah Aes Sedai adviser, played by Shohreh Aghdashloo, executing a bunch of rival nobles even after they literally bend the knee? Brother, Ill take all of that ya got. Director Katherine B. McKenna understands the assignment, in the parlance of our times. Like Williams as the Aes Sedaitrained Queen Morgaise of House Tarkand and Aghdashloo as Elaida, her right-hand woman, McKenna treats this scene as high camp as much as high fantasy. It works marvelously well, especially once you get a chance to compare and contrast the perkily vicious Morgaise with her daughter, whom weve come to know and love as Elayne. Indeed, the entire purpose of the sequence, set 40 years before the present day, is to set up Morgaise for the present-day plotline: Despite the fact that shes secretly much friendlier with Siuan than either of them can let on in public for political reasons, she comes to the White Tower to take Elayne home. And being a queen, she rolls deep. Elaida is with her, of course, and as a former rival of the Aes Sedais current honcho, Siuan, for the Amyrlin Seat, her presence is fraught. Shes also brought her hunky sons, the insufferable Prince Galad (Callum Kerr) and and the comparatively charming Prince Gawyn (Luke Fetherston), whose display of shirtless swordplay in the White Towers courtyard leaves not a dry seat in the house. Its the brothers who tip Elayne off that the true purpose of their visit is to bring her with them when they return. It falls to Lord Gaebril (Nuno Lopes), the queens consort, to tell her why. Note that Gaebrils presence in the retinue seems to surprise almost everyone who meets him, giving the impression he was probably just some rando who got lucky in love rather than the result of Morgaise forming a strategic romantic alliance with a preexisting power player; maybe this is why he and the relatively down-to-earth Princess Elayne are so comfortable with each other. Gaebril tells Elayne that things are going poorly for Queen Morgaise back home. Its not the other noble houses that are giving her trouble following her dismissal of a popular general, though its the people and the military themselves, which is even worse. Morgaise has already made clear her displeasure at finding out Elayne had been kidnapped by Liandrin, head of the Black Ajah; with the royal family itself now in jeopardy, they cant afford to lose the heir to the throne. Elayne listens to all this with an open mind. But she still chooses to stay in the White Tower and even convinces her imperious mother of its wisdom. Siuan has called upon Elayne and Nynaeve to be her hounds, rooting out any remaining Black Ajah presence within the White Tower; since Liandrin kidnaped them, sold into slavery, and ultimately aided the Dragon Reborn, the Amyrlin knows she can trust them like no one else. Having already fought a Forsaken, Elayne knows the Last Battle is coming, and her homelands as much at risk in that conflict as anyplace else. Heres her chance to make a difference. But its not only a desire to see the job done that motivates Elayne. She feels that if shes to hold the kingdom of Andors Lion Throne, she has to earn the job like her mom did, not just have it handed to her. Her next stop will be the Arches so she can take the final test and become Accepted like Egwene and Nynaeve before her. Persuaded by the wisdom of all this, Queen Morgaise relents with a smile but also leaves Elaida at the White Tower to monitor the situation. (Hopefully while delivering quite a bit of dialogue with one of the best voices in Hollywood.) The whole royal visit cramps Mat Cauthons style. As a male guest in the women-only White Tower and the owner of a magical, ahem, horn you can blow, hes the toast of the novices until the sexy princes arrive, at which point his social life dries up and theirs is splash waterfalls. It may be for the best, though as the Amyrlin explains to him the way youd talk to a truculent ten-year-old, hes the only person who can blow the Horn of Valere unless someone kills him, at which point its up for grabs. Going around showing it off so a bunch of 19-year-olds will fuck you is, therefore, stupid on an almost cosmic scale. Chastened, Mat gives her the horn, although given the White Towers recent track record with magic-artifact security, Im not sure shed have been my first choice. In the midst of all this is Min, the gangs psychic on-again off-again acquaintance bartender, psychic, occasional rat for the Forsaken Ishamael since he promised to silence the telepathic voices in her head. She apologizes to Mat for having sold him out back in season two, and shes trying to make up for it by secretly working for Siuan, posing as a White Tower servant while actually gathering intel on the Aes Sedai and their future. That future looks bleak: Yet another deadly battle within the towers walls is coming, she says, though she cant say when or why or with whom. Meanwhile, the two breakaway groups who split up from the White Tower gang head for their destinations across sweeping natural vistas that merit comparison to Peter Jacksons similar wide shots in The Lord of the Rings. Perrin, his Ogier companion Loial, and his Aiel spear-maidens Chiad and Bain arrive at his hometown, the Two Rivers, only to be quickly rushed into hiding by Egwenes mother, Marin (Rina Mahoney). The town, she explains, has been suffering from sporadic raids by isolated pairs or trios of the monstrous Trollocs, the orc-like foot soldiers of the Dark One. Theyve now been scared off by an invading force of the Children of the Light, a.k.a. the Whitecloaks, religious radicals who aim to exterminate all magic-wielders, from the evil Forsaken to the mighty Aes Sedai to humble wolf-men like Perrin. Indeed, Perrin is their actual target in the town. Hes wanted for the killing of their commander, Geofram Bornhald (Stuart Graham), during the massive battle that ended season two. Hes willing to surrender himself to spare the townsfolk further suffering. But he and his companions arent the only supernaturally supercharged people Mrs. alVere is hiding in her attic. (A pointed metaphor, that.) To Perrins surprise, Alanna (Priyanka Bose), one of the Aes Sedai allies of our main character Moiraine, and Maksim (Taylor Napier), the surviving member of Alannas Warder throuple, are squirreled away there too, recovering from wounds they say were inflicted by the Trollocs. Its weird, though: Tracks from the nearest Waygate basically the Warp Zones from Super Mario Bros., but theyre ornate doors instead of sewer pipes indicate they traveled through that extradimensional portal without an Ogier guide, something only the evil dark friends do. Perhaps they fled the battle under duress, but by now theyve been missing a long time. What have they been up to? Halfway across the world, the other group marches on. Rand althor, the Dragon Reborn, and his posse Moiraine; Lan, her Warder; Egwene, Rands girlfriend and a powerful magician in her own right; and Aviendha, their Aiel spear-maiden guide head through the crags and hills to the Aiel waste. But along with Renna, her Seanchan torturer, whos a recurring presence in her nightmares, and Lanfear, who can control the dream world and make Egwenes nightmares even worse than they already are, theres another interloper inside Egwenes head. Bair (Nukaka Coster-Waldau), an Aiel seer of some kind, infiltrates Egwenes dreams and learns of her squads plans, intercepting them when they arrive at the Waste with the help of a huge Aiel dude named Rhuarc (Bjorn Landberg) and a whole platoon of warriors. They welcome Rand as the prophesied figure who will save them and destroy them in the process. Indeed, the idea that no homecoming is truly possible for these characters is a running theme, and has been ever since Moiraine told Rand this in so many words during the premiere. Elayne cant return to her mothers troubled kingdom without risking the larger mission against the Black Ajah and their master. Perrin cant go back to his hometown without running afoul of the radicals whove already tortured him once before, back in season one. Aviendha has brought her messiah back to the Three-fold Land, as the Aiel name their own country, but does so knowing it means that countrys downfall. Its like Elayne tells her royal mother: Theres no going back to a cloistered life Far too much is at stake. Safety is a luxury the world no longer affords us. Someone please call Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and the administration of Columbia University they need to hear this! But its the little things that make this episode superior to its predecessor. Costume designer Sharon Gilham, for example, is clearly having a whale of a time, from Queen Morgaises Lewis Carroll finery to Moiraines Radagast hat. The glory shots of the big country between the various realms as our heroes traverse it go a long way in selling the sheer scale of the epic fantasy genre. Williams and Aghdashloo class up the proceedings by their mere presence alone; Williams in particular is a hoot as her much younger, somewhat sociopathic self in the cold open. Donal Finn, the most unpredictable actor in the core cast, does delightful comic work as Mat, especially in his awkward meeting with Siuan. Elaynes boozy chat with her stepdad, Gaebril, feels realistic and warm. Add up enough of these small victories and you can defeat the Dark One of mediocrity hands down. - A Memorandum of Cooperation in Export between the Export Agency of the Government of Tajikistan and the State Institution "Center for the Development and Promotion of Exports" Kyrgyz Export; - A Memorandum of Cooperation in Veterinary Affairs between the Food Safety Committee of Tajikistan and the Veterinary Service of Kyrgyzstan; - A Protocol between the Customs Service of Tajikistan and the State Customs Service of Kyrgyzstan on mutual exchange of information on goods and vehicles moved between the two countries; - A Cooperation Program between the districts of Lakhsh (Tajikistan) and Chon-Alai (Kyrgyzstan) for 2025-2027 in trade, economic, and cultural spheres; - A Cooperation Program between the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan and the Osh Region of Kyrgyzstan for 2025-2030 in trade, economic, and cultural spheres; - An Agreement on establishing sister city ties between the capitals of the two countries Dushanbe and Bishkek; - Cooperation programs in physical culture, youth policy, and architecture; - Memoranda of Understanding in various sectors, including industry, agriculture, and construction. Naples lies in the shadow of Vesuvius and next to Campi Flegrei. Mount Vesuvius, the volcano responsible for the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD, remains one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Situated less than 10 km from the southern Italian city of Naples, a densely populated metropolitan area home to more than three million people, Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe. The volcano is currently in a phase of active rest, according to the Vesuvius National Park, and it is constantly monitored to detect any significant variation in its activity. Part of a large volcanic area that formed almost two million years ago, Vesuvius is a composite stratovolcano, meaning it has the potential for explosive, high-energy eruptions. Unlike shield volcanoes, which produce slow-moving lava flows, stratovolcanoes like Vesuvius can generate violent explosions, launching ash, gas and molten rock into the sky. Eruption of Mount Vesuvius The next eruption of Vesuvius would most likely be an "explosive eruption of medium-low energy", according to Italy's civil protection department. The most recent eruption, marked by low-energy effusive and explosive activity, was in 1944, killing 21 people dead and partially destroying the towns of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio and Massa di Somma. While this event was significant, it was relatively minor compared to earlier eruptions - particularly the catastrophic 1631 eruption, which covered Naples in ash and led to thousands of deaths. The Vesuvius Observatory, Italys oldest volcano monitoring institution, tracks, gas emissions and ground deformation. However, while modern technology can detect warning signs, the task of predicting the exact timing and scale of an eruption remains a challenge. The immediate impact of a Vesuvius eruption If Vesuvius were to erupt today, the scale of devastation would depend on several factors, including the size of the eruption, the wind direction and the response time of emergency services. Even a moderate eruption could significantly impact Naples and its surroundings, while a large-scale eruption could have consequences reaching across Europe and beyond. While the most likely type of explosive eruption at Vesuvius will be of medium-low energy, as a safety measure the civil protection department's emergency plans refer to a medium energy eruption scenario. This includes: An eruptive column made of gas, burning lava clots and ash several kilometres high The fall of volcanic material, both large ("lava bomb" rocks) in the area nearest the volcano and smaller particles (ashes and lapilli) which are blown by the wind and can be deposited tens of kilometres away Pyroclastic flows , which are superheated avalanches of gas, ash and volcanic fragments that flow at high speed for several kilometres down the slopes of the volcano. , which are superheated avalanches of gas, ash and volcanic fragments that flow at high speed for several kilometres down the slopes of the volcano. Seismic activity may occur before the eruption and accompany its different stages, damaging buildings already hit by falling ash and lapilli. Ashfall over Naples and beyond Even if pyroclastic flows remain limited to the immediate area, volcanic ash could spread across southern Italy and beyond, depending on the wind direction. The effects of heavy ashfall would include: Roof collapses and structural damage due to the weight of accumulated ash. Severe disruptions to air travel , with airports like Naples International Airport shutting down for days or even weeks. , with airports like Naples International Airport shutting down for days or even weeks. Health hazards caused by fine ash particles, which can lead to respiratory problems and eye irritation. Water contamination, as volcanic ash can infiltrate reservoirs and drinking water supplies. Tsunami risk Another dangerous possible consequence of a major eruption is a tsunami in the Bay of Naples. This has happened in past eruptions and could threaten coastal cities and towns, including Sorrento, Amalfi and Positano, as well as maritime infrastructure, disrupting ports and sea routes in the Mediterranean. Campi Flegrei Vesuvius is not the only volcanic threat to Naples. Just west of the city lies Campi Flegrei, a highly seismic area with the potential for an even greater disaster. Unlike Vesuvius, which is a single peak, Campi Flegrei is a giant volcanic system, made up of 24 craters and several active fumaroles. Why is Campi Flegrei so dangerous? The largest active urbanised caldera in the heart of the European continent, Campi Flegrei last erupted in 1538, creating Monte Nuovo, according to Italys National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) which monitors the caldera closely. Experts believe the recent spike in seismic activity at Campi Flegrei is linked to bradyseism, a phenomenon that involves the gradual uplift or descent of part of the earth's surface, caused by the filling or emptying of underground magma chambers or hydrothermal activity. Campi Flegrei In response to a "sensational" documentary in 2024 that represented a doomsday scenario for Campi Flegrei, followed by "alarmist" media reports, the INGV said that, based on the scientific data available at the time, there was "no evidence of the imminence of a volcanic eruption, much less of large proportions". The two most devastating eruptions in Campi Flegrei occurred about 40,000 years ago and about 15,000 years ago, when tens to hundreds of cubic km of magma erupted in a single event. INGV experts stressed that none of the 70 eruptions that have occurred in the area in the last 15,000 years come "even remotely close" to such devastating events as outlined in the documentary. The INGV said that the probability that the next eruption will be of a similar force as the one 15,000 years ago is "very low" and that in order for such an large-scale eruption to occur, it would require an enormous amount of magma whose entry into the system would be detected by the monitoring system. What would happen if Campi Flegrei erupted? A major Campi Flegrei eruption could cover Naples and surrounding areas in ash, trigger earthquakes and landslides throughout southern Italy as well as cause widespread air pollution and acid rain. Following the 4.4-magnitude earthquake in Campi Flegrei on 13 March 2025, Francesca Bianco, director of the Vesuvius Observatory, the Naples branch of the INGV, said: "For the moment we are at another step of intensification of the bradyseismic process, like what happened in August 2023 and May 2024, but for now no type of process that gives us a sign of imminent eruption, for this to happen magma must rise to the surface and this is not happening. Is Italy prepared? Italy has emergency plans, including for the mass evacuation of people living in the areas of Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei, particularly residents in the high-risk red zones. Italy's public warning system IT-alert broadcasts useful information to cell phones in a given geographical area in the event of imminent or ongoing serious emergencies or disasters, including an upcoming eruption at Vesuvius or Campi Flegrei. Both Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei are monitored very closely, however Naples remains one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to volcanic disaster. Anniversary comes amid speculation over the future of his papacy. Pope Francis on Thursday marks 12 years at the helm of the Catholic Church as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia after almost four weeks in hospital. The 88-year-old pontiff's clinical condition continues to improve and he is no longer in "imminent danger", the Vatican said on Monday, two weeks after doctors at Rome's Gemelli Hospital described his situation as "critical". Although no official Vatican celebrations are planned, a number of Catholic institutions in Rome will mark the milestone, including the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross which will have a Mass in the Basilica of S. Apollinare at 12.45. Despite his ongoing progress, medics warn that the pope's condition remains "complex" and that he will be required to stay in hospital for a further unspecified period of time. There is no clear timeframe for when Francis might be allowed to leave hospital and experts say his recovery could take weeks. The pope's extended hospitalisation, combined with his advanced age and recurring health problems, have sparked questions about the future of his papacy and his ability to lead the world's 1.3 billion Catholics. Francis was elected on 13 March 2013 following the shock resignation of his predecessor Benedict XVI, who became the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. In 2022 Francis said that if he were ever to resign from the papacy he would be the "bishop emeritus of Rome and he would live in the Italian capital, ruling out a return to his native Argentina or staying in the Vatican. However since then he has ruled out the prospect of resigning several times, describing it last year as a distant hypothesis. In its latest health bulletin on Thursday morning, the Vatican said "the night passed peacefully" as, despite persistent rumours, it appears that Francis has no plans to resign any time soon. Photo credit: Riccardo De Luca - Update / Shutterstock.com. Caravaggio 2025 show at Rome's Palazzo Barberini until 20 July. A blockbuster exhibition devoted to Baroque master Caravaggio is being held at Palazzo Barberini in Rome to coincide with the Vatican's Jubilee Year. The 24 works on display include loans from important national and international collections as well as two rediscovered masterpieces exhibited for the first time. Exhibited paintings include Ecce Homo, rediscovered in Spain in 2021 and returning to Rome for the first time in four centuries, and the Portrait of Maffeo Barberini rediscovered 60 years ago. Highlights include Martha and Mary Magdalene; The Taking of Christ, Saint Catherine of Alexandria; and Caravaggios last painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula. The Caravaggio 2025 show charts the evolution of the artist's style and examines how he shaped the artistic, religious and social landscape of his era. Due to phenomenal public demand, exhibition organisers have extended the show until 20 July with the following opening hours: Monday to Wednesday 09.00 to 22.00 and Thursday to Sunday 09.00 until midnight. For a feature article on the exhibition see our News section, for ticket details see Palazzo Barberini website. Image: Caravaggio, I Bari, c. 1595, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (USA). Photo Wanted in Rome. Exploring Temple University Romes Pre-College Workshops: A Gateway to Global Learning Temple Rome is offering two weekends (March 22 & 23, March 29 & 30) of free workshops (students need only pay a 15 Euro course registration fee) for all high school students in Rome. For high school students eager to expand their horizons, Temple University Rome offers an exciting opportunity through its Pre-College Workshops. Designed to introduce students to university-level learning while immersing them in Romes rich cultural and historical landscape. What Are the Pre-College Workshops? Temple University Romes Pre-College Workshops are intensive, hands-on programs that allow high school students to explore various subjects while experiencing life in one of the worlds most historically significant cities. These workshops cater to students interested in fields such as art, history, architecture, international affairs, and Italian culture. Each program is structured to offer a combination of classroom learning and on-site experiences, making use of Rome itself as an extended classroom. From studying Renaissance art in the Vatican Museums to exploring the modern urban landscape, students gain firsthand knowledge in ways that go beyond traditional learning environments. Who Can Apply? The workshops are open to motivated high school students who are looking for a challenging and enriching pre-college experience. Whether considering a future in the humanities, social sciences, or the arts, students will benefit from engaging coursework taught by university faculty and experts in their respective fields. Why Choose Temple University Rome? Academic Excellence : Temple University is a globally recognized institution, and its Rome campus has been a center for international education for over 50 years. : Temple University is a globally recognized institution, and its Rome campus has been a center for international education for over 50 years. Cultural Immersion : Students dont just learn about Romethey live it. Walking through ancient ruins, visiting renowned museums, and engaging with local culture provide a deep and meaningful educational experience. : Students dont just learn about Romethey live it. Walking through ancient ruins, visiting renowned museums, and engaging with local culture provide a deep and meaningful educational experience. College Readiness: Participating in a pre-college program can give students a head start in their academic careers, helping them build skills that will be valuable in university settings. A Stepping Stone to the Future For students considering studying abroad in college or pursuing international careers, Temple University Romes Pre-College Workshops provide an excellent foundation. They offer an unforgettable learning experience, blending academic rigor with the excitement of exploring one of the worlds most fascinating cities. Whether aspiring to be an artist, historian, or global leader, this program is an ideal way for students to challenge themselves, gain new perspectives, and take a step toward their future. For more details on program dates, application requirements, and course offerings, visit the official Temple University Rome website. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 13. The OPEC Fund for International Development has announced a $35 million loan to Uzbekistans Asaka Bank to enhance food security and support climate action projects in the Central Asian region, the Fund told Trend. This funding is set to open the floodgates for agricultural financing and bolster the banks climate finance portfolio, ensuring it stands on solid ground. "Our collaboration with Asaka Bank addresses two critical priorities for Uzbekistan: ensuring food security and tackling climate change. Agriculture plays a vital role in the countrys economy, and targeted investments in sustainable practices will help smallholder farmers build resilience and boost productivity. This financing reflects our commitment to fostering economic growth while advancing climate action," OPEC Fund President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa emphasized. Asaka Bank will distribute the OPEC Fund loan to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and agribusinesses, enabling them to access vital financing for expansion. This initiative will lend a helping hand to farmers and rural businesses, enabling them to get their ducks in a row with essential services, embrace the latest technology, and open doors to market accessultimately bolstering productivity and resilience across the board. The OPEC Fund has been a long-standing partner to Uzbekistan for over 25 years, contributing to nearly 30 public and private sector projects with a total loan volume of $800 million. A Country Partnership Framework, signed in 2024, allocates $500 million in new financing from the OPEC Fund to advance Uzbekistans sustainable development agenda through 2029. Tirlan, the farmer-owned Co-operative, has launched a TB Support Programme to assist its milk suppliers who are impacted by an outbreak of Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) in their herds. Tirlan has put in place a 5 million fund to support the programme, which will offer an optional advance on future milk payments of 750 per cow to milk suppliers that lose over 5% of their herd to a TB outbreak. This pre-payment will be available for herds impacted in 2025 and 2026 and will be deducted from actual milk payments to the supplier in year two and year three after drawdown. In the case of new entrants to dairy farming, the programme will be available regardless of the number of animals impacted. Tirlan Chairperson John Murphy said that Bovine TB outbreaks create significant financial and emotional stress for affected farm families. Given the challenges being experienced by a significant number of our farmers, the Board felt that it was appropriate for Tirlan to offer immediate and practical support to our impacted farm families. "This voluntary programme will provide interest-free cashflow support to those adversely affected by a TB outbreak and will supplement payments available from the State-funded Bovine TB Eradication Scheme. "Once an outbreak is confirmed, we want our farmers to know that Tirlan will support them through the challenge, he added. Sean Molloy, Tirlan Chief Executive Officer, said that there has been an increase nationally in the number of herds affected by TB and Tirlan is taking a proactive approach to the challenge. In addition to our TB Support Programme, we will engage with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other stakeholders to optimise the effectiveness of the TB Eradication Programme. Following feedback from members of our Council, we will also be offering technical support and advice to our farmers to help reduce the risk of a TB outbreak on their farm. The TB Support Programme will open for applications in late March. The programme is open to herds with a TB-breakdown between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2026, in cases where 5% or more of their cows are reactors. The 5% threshold will be calculated on the basis of total dairy cows and in-calf heifers. The 5% threshold will not apply to New Entrants to milk production, who are eligible to apply to the programme regardless of the proportion of their herd impacted. A popular local takeaway on the Waterford border has been hit by a closure order. Bombay Kebab House based on Bridge Street in Carrick-on-Suir has been shuttered by the Health Service Executive after an inspection found evidence of the kitchen being in an "unclean condition". The popular takeaway was found to be in breach of the European Union Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation Regulations of 2020. A letter seen by the Waterford News & Star, which was sent to Bombay Kebab House by the HSE, found the takeaway to be in breach of the requirement to keep food premises "clean and maintained in good repair and condition", with the inspector saying the "premises was in an unclean condition overall". The inspector further noted that "poor hygiene practices" were observed during the inspection, such as "poor cleaning; instances of poor temperature control; inadequate personal hygiene". The inspector noted that there was an "absence of temperature monitoring" and that there was an absence of allergen information, which it said was indicative of a lack of effective training for food handlers. Bombay Kebab House, the HSE letter said, showed "no evidence of any documented food safety management system based on the HACCP principles" and "potentially high-risk, ready-to-eat foods (and other cooked foods) were found at potentially unsafe temperatures". These included "cooked chicken pieces at 10.4 C in the countertop refrigerator in the pizza preparation area"; "cut lettuce at 15.6 C in the kebab preparation area", and "garlic sauce at 18.2 C". The takeaway was also found to be in breach of the article requiring, "all articles, fittings and equipment with which food comes into contact are to be effectively cleaned and, where necessary, disinfected. Cleaning and disinfection are to take place at a frequency sufficient to avoid any risk of contamination". The letter from the HSE said the "business has a long history of non-compliance with food safety regulatory requirements" and "demonstrates a clear lack of management commitment to ensuring compliance with relevant regulatory requirements". The closure order for the business operated by IAF Restaurant Ltd was lifted at the start of March. Dunmore East harbour will be modernized and enhanced with allocated funding of over 2 million. Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley, TD, this week announced the allocation of 27.75 million for capital projects in Irelands publicly owned harbours. 2,195,000 of this funding will benefit Dunmore East. The funds will go towards enhancing disability access, safety and maintenance, replacement of the weighbridge, workshop and accommodation buildings, a new retaining wall along the cliff, workshops and accommodation buildings, Island Road steps, refurbishment of a vacated property, improvement to skids and improvements to the area adjacent to the harbours Syncrolift. Emphasising the importance of the investment, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, TD, said: The projects in the 2025 Fishery Harbour Centre and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme will enhance the essential economic contributions of Irelands fishing sector and play a significant role in sustaining the vibrancy of these coastal communities. This is great news for these important communities, and I am delighted to show that we are delivering on the Programme for Government 2025 action to maintain support for the fishing sector, aquaculture as well investing in our State Fishery Harbour Centres and public marine infrastructure. Eva Osborne On Wednesday morning, gardai seized cocaine and cannabis with an estimated potential street value of 1.94 million between two premises in Drogheda and Dublin. Officers from the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau supported by the Louth South Divisional Drugs Unit had intercepted a vehicle in the Drogheda area of Co Louth. Simultaneous searches commenced of a business premises in Drogheda and two residential premises in Drogheda and North Dublin. Two males, aged 30s and 40s, were arrested pursuant to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, on suspicion of facilitating and enhancing drug trafficking for a criminal organisation, and are currently detained, pursuant to the provisions of Section 50 of Criminal Justice Act, 2007, at a Louth Garda Station. This operation is a result of ongoing investigations and collaboration between the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, targeting organised crime activity impacting both jurisdictions, under the cross border Joint Agency Task Force (JATF). Following the operation, the head of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland said: "An Garda Siochana are committed, along with our partners in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to prioritise the joint targeting of criminal organisations that attempt to exploit our land border, for serious criminal activity. "Drug traffickers, and those that facilitate and enhance this activity, remain priority targets for our investigations, due to the destruction, violence and intimidation they cause in our communities. "I encourage everyone to play their part, help us and report all information confidentially to the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111. Sonya McLean A man who extorted over 22,000 out of former classmate after the victim contacted him to buy a small amount of cannabis has been jailed for five and half years. Daniel Byrne (26) of Pike Inn Apartments, Camolin, Gorey, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making threats to cause serious harm, making unwarranted demands for cash and handling the proceeds of crime on dates between February 2nd, 2024 and June 6th, 2024. He has a previous conviction for money laundering and was given a suspended sentence for this in January 2023. He was on this suspended sentence when he began to threaten this man. His other convictions include possession of drugs, obstruction and threatening and abusive behaviour. An investigating garda told John Gallagher BL, prosecuting, that a former school friend contacted Byrne to see if he could source cannabis for him for his own use but it did not go as planned. He said very shortly afterwards the man received a threat from Byrne, via Facebook messenger asking the man who the fuck do you think you are? and I kill people for a living. He then threatened to harm both the man and his family if he didnt Revolut him 700. He said if he got the money we will let this slide. The garda told the court that Byrne implied that he was doing this at the behest of others and that he had a connection to others involved in organised crime. Byrne continued to threaten the man and met him on multiple occasions demanding cash. At one point, he collected 15,000 from the man having met him in four different locations over a number of days. Byrne then began to threaten the mans father, indicating that he knew where this man worked. He also began to contact the victim at his own workplace. The victim contacted gardai in April 2024 after he confided in his father that he was in trouble and subject to threat. A short time after this, Byrne threatened to cut him up if he didnt hand over 5,000. The garda confirmed that ultimately Byrne managed to get 22,750. A victim impact statement was handed into court but not read out. Byrne was arrested and his devices were seized, which linked him to the threats and 10 transfers from the victim into his Revolut account. The garda agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that the victim had initiated contact with Byrne looking to buy cannabis. He acknowledged that Byrne had previously been bundled into a car himself and spent some time in a wheelchair following a fall from a high height. Mr Spencer said his client instructs that he was under significant pressure from others at the time to ask for the cash and he is under protection in custody for his own safety. Judge Martin Nolan said that Byrne has made enemies that he has to avoid and acknowledged that his time in prison will be difficult for him. However, he said these were serious threats that caused total upset to the peace of mind of the victim and their family. He set a headline sentence of seven and half years before he reduced this to five and half years taking into account mitigating features in the case including Byrnes pleas of guilty. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Michael Lucas, creator of the ABCs hit drama The Newsreader, which has just finished its award-winning three-season run on the ABC, speaks with TV Editor Louise Rugendyke about the series. Michael, when I interviewed you for season two in 2023, I predicted Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) would end up in Berlin. I was right! Did I give you the idea? Sam Reid and I were talking about that at the end of shooting season one! Im sorry [laughing], but you can take credit for being something of a Nostradamus. It [the fall of the Berlin Wall] is the last big event of the 80s. I remember we were talking about a kind of environment thatd be good to leave Dale in, and I was sending Sam all these pictures of East Berlin, and we both felt like that would just convey freedom and new beginnings. Damn. Where did you find the Berlin Wall in Melbourne? There is an amazing wall of graffiti thats on the side of West Richmond train station. But then our magnificent digital team sort of added in the rest. It sounded ridiculous to say we were looking for East Berlin in Melbourne, but we found it. Why did you want to end the show after three seasons? It was driven by Helen (Anna Torv) and Dale. The whole newsroom setting could go indefinitely, but in terms of Helen and Dale, early on, we saw it as three acts. She wanted to be in control and have some sort of respect and agency, and he wanted to be famous and loved. So it definitely felt to us like youd watch two seasons of them getting to that position, and then the third and final season would be how they cope with it and what it does to them. And, obviously, she ended up thriving, and [fame] was not a good choice for him, he fell apart. So once wed written those stories out and delivered them to the endpoint, our instinct was, Thats a complete story. And what we wouldnt want to do is then just bring them back and engineer lesser dramas. Loading Theres a great scene in the final episode of season three where Helen is sitting at the head of the boardroom table, surrounded by all these men, and shes in charge. It sums up her arc so perfectly. So much credit to, firstly, [director] Emma Freeman, who really wanted to see that table of men. In the first draft of the script, there were just four or five men, and she was like, No, Im sitting [Helen] on a full board table. But also to Anna, because we had always thought Helens reached the point where she knows she holds power, and she can find calm, even in the storm. Anna suggested we go all the way and that she just say one word, which was No. And that was such a brilliant suggestion. Advertisement One of my favourite things about Helen is she is such a ferocious driver. Im glad you noticed that because [its one of my favourite things] too. Really early on, we discovered that. There was a scene at the start of season two on election night when Anna had to frantically drive to Parliament House and no one changes gears like Anna Torv. She makes strong decisions as a driver, and shes got absolute pinpoint precision. Im very happy to showcase it on screen [laughing]. The original News at Six newsreaders, Helen Norville (Anna Torv) and Geoff Walters (Robert Taylor), in The Newsreader. Ive been turning this one over: The show is called The Newsreader, but there are three newsreaders Helen, Dale and Geoff Walters (Robert Taylor). Who is the newsreader the show title refers to? I looked at it as its the position of the newsreader and what that means to people. So, for Dale, he thinks, If I am the newsreader, everyone will love me and respect me. Ill be complete for once in my life. And for Helen, the newsreader is a role she feels conflicted about, but its a bit of a means to an end, and then she wants to do good journalism. But, ultimately, it was a false goal for Dale, and it almost destroyed him. Whereas Helen grew into it she was able to stop trying to be the perfect person and admit her struggles. So she emerges as the one thats reconciled her relationship with being a newsreader and an on-camera person, so she takes the title. Behind the scenes on The Newsreader: (from left) producer Joanna Werner, star Anna Torv, creator Michael Lucas and director Emma Freeman. Where did the idea come from in the final episode, where Dale has a complete breakdown at the news desk? Its extraordinary. The initial idea for it came from when Mike Willesee once went on air, sort of drunk [in 1989 when Willesee was the fill-in host for A Current Affair]. I read his autobiography, and he was actually trying to detox, but it went wrong, and then he started spinning out. So the initial conception was closer to that, but then Sam this is whats so great about him he was so ambitious for the character and for the actor that he was like, Yes, alcoholism is a part of this, but can we take Dale to a full breakdown? Hes been putting on this fake mask for so long, and hes going to crack at one point. That [performance] is the first take. Anna Torv and Sam Reid in the final episode of The Newsreader, in which no goldfish were harmed. Dales breakdown was so difficult to watch, but in a good way. It was incredible, and it was terrifying. For me, it worked as a bit of a metaphor, especially if youre queer. You spend so much time imagining if people find out, its the worst thing that could happen. But then when it happens, you realise, oh, well, Im still breathing, and Im still here, and there are people that care about me. So with Dale, I thought he needs to have the worst thing happen, but Helen is there for him. The way the whole series starts is that she has a breakdown, and he scoops her up, saves her and brings her to the house. And I always felt like in the ending, it should be him that falls apart, and the only person who is there for him by that stage is her. She saves him and then sort of gives him this pathway forward. Advertisement What about those poor goldfish that Dale vomited on? Tell me theyre OK! Emma Freeman and the first AD [assistant director] Todd Embling went to the catering truck and got carrots and carved goldfish shapes, so theyre what Sam is vomiting on. And I always feel like youre very lucky if youre working with a director who is that willing to be hands-on and make a scene work. William McInnes as the blustering boss Lindsay Cunningham in The Newsreader. The final episode is where news boss Lindsay Cunningham (William McInnes) finally gets some sort of punishment. Were you ever tempted to just kill him off? We discussed the potential of him just dropping dead. There was a discussion about should he even get a comeuppance because, in reality, these guys steamed on for decades after that. It was actually my research contact, who worked in the industry at the time, who said the one thing that could really get someone booted is if he offended another man. And then he quickly added, Oh, Id love it if some of the women could execute that. Once that idea was on the table, we knew we had to get Marg Downey in there, and the beautiful Caroline Lee, who played Jean the secretary. That idea for us was more exciting than a heart attack, the notion that these women hes dismissed so much, very elegantly and cleverly, could do something so simple that just ruins it. From the beginning of season one to the end of season three, Helen and Dale (Anna Torv and Sam Reid) were there to catch one another. If you could write a postscript for Helen and Dale, where would you like them to end up? Helen would suit being one of those 60 Minutes reporters of the 90s that flew to various parts of the world. Shes definitely not going to get married, and shes not going to have children. I want Dale to end up in Europe and have a place in London. He could be a decent journalist if he got that obsession with being famous out of his system. And when Helen gets flown over to do anything, even if her network will put her up in a fancy hotel, she just goes and stays with him. And she puts on his T-shirts as theyve been doing the whole series and they hang together and theres still these two workaholics that love chatting to each other. The Newsreader is on ABC iview. NSW Premier Chris Minns is facing a crossbench revolt and aggrieved Labor MPs when parliament resumes next week after the Australian Federal Police revealed a caravan filled with explosives, which was initially attributed to terrorism and linked to antisemitism, was a con job carried out by crime lords. Minns on Thursday revealed he was informed of the organised crime suspicions in the the earliest stages of the investigation but insisted the revelation was immaterial given the series of antisemitic attacks in Sydney. NSW Premier Chris Minns skipped a multicultural event on Wednesday night as pressure over the con job caravan continues to grow. Credit: Steven Siewert Hate speech laws rammed through the parliament in the early hours of February 21 were now being considered under new light given the revelations, said Labor MPs and the crossbench who have demanded additional information from the premier. The fabricated plot meant the bills were passed under a false pretence, said Libertarian MP John Ruddick, who will seek to repeal the legislation next week. Photo: Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron held a state reception in honor of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the Elysee Palace, Trend reports. The reception was attended by official delegations of the two countries, members of the Cabinet of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, famous figures of culture, art and science, representatives of business circles and the public. Addressing Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and emphasized the historical significance of the talks held today, as a result of which relations between the two countries reached the level of strategic partnership. In his speech, the French leader welcomed the results of the talks held today and the agreements signed. "Over several years, we have managed to establish long-term cooperation in such important areas as energy, water management, utilities, transport, and sustainable tourism. As evidence, I can cite the fact that with the support of the French government and the French Development Agency, companies in our country invest in Uzbekistan, added value and jobs are created in the regions, young people learn professions and find their place in life," Macron said. During the event, the parties expressed their determination to further strengthen Uzbek-French cooperation. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 13. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the Speaker of the French National Assembly, Yael Braun-Pivet, in Paris, France, Trend reports. The parties engaged in a dialogue to explore avenues for amplifying interparliamentary synergies between Uzbekistan and France. Both sides pulled out all the stops to highlight the historic significance of the visit, which has paved the way for a strategic partnership between the two countries. Discussions also covered the creation of an Uzbek-French Interparliamentary Forum and the resumption of friendship groups based on a "roadmap" for cooperation. Additionally, the President of Uzbekistan invited the Speaker of the French National Assembly to visit Uzbekistan to attend the 150th Anniversary Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Tashkent this April. Uzbekistan and France have strengthened their bilateral ties in recent years, focusing on political, economic, and cultural cooperation. France is a key European partner for Uzbekistan, with growing bilateral trade and an expanding presence of French businesses. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Joint efforts to boost growth of commercial space sector 08:32, March 13, 2025 By Zhao Lei ( China Daily The central government, trade unions and enterprises should work together to make a comprehensive development road map to facilitate the sustainable growth of China's commercial space sector, said an industry insider. Wang Runfu, a senior researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology, said that the commercial space sector is on the rise in China because it fits in well with the nation's overall development strategy, providing an example of high-quality development, new quality productive forces, advanced science and technology, and high-end manufacturing capability. "In 2024, the commercial space sector was listed in the Government Work Report as one of the 'new engines of economic growth', marking the first time that the industry appeared in such an important government document. It was mentioned twice in this year's Government Work Report, as the government vows to promote the secure and sound development of several 'emerging sectors' such as commercial space and low-altitude aviation," he said. Wang, who is also a national political adviser, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with China Daily on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which concluded in Beijing on Monday. "Considering its strategic significance, relevant central departments should cooperate with trade unions and enterprises in the space community to make a comprehensive development road map to better regulate this sector, determine its directions, coordinate and integrate efforts from all aspects, foster cross-industry collaboration and specify support policies and measures from governments," Wang said. The making of such a road map is necessary and meaningful because most of the existing policies and rules were made before the commercial space sector was born and developed, and they are more suitable for State-owned companies and government-funded programs, the researcher said. "For instance, there are multiple companies in China striving to build their massive space-based internet networks, and each of their networks, according to their plans, will have hundreds or even thousands of satellites," he said. "On the one hand, this will create a tremendously big market with enormous business potential. On the other hand, realizing their ambitious plans requires government guidance, huge investment in infrastructure, business profitability and a solid foundation of satellite design and manufacturing capacity." The researcher said there are still some shortcomings in the industry chain that will require persistent, joint efforts by the government and the entire space community to resolve, and he suggested that the central government establish a set of national-level mechanisms to help commercial space enterprises develop new technologies and techniques. Sector's voices Yang Yiqiang, a senior rocket scientist and founder of CAS Space, a Beijing-based rocket company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the commercial space sector represents a natural progression in China's space industry development. "To strengthen the nation's space capabilities, it is imperative to create an integrated development framework that deeply combines advantages of State-funded contractors and commercial sector forces," he said, adding that to develop a commercial space industry with Chinese characteristics, three fundamental principles must be observed. "First, commercial space businesses should be done in accordance with China's actual conditions. I mean that though the nation has possessed a certain level of scientific and technological capabilities, there remains a significant gap compared with the United States in terms of spacefaring power. Chinese commercial space enterprises should adhere to objective, reasonable development strategies and avoid unrealistic, overambitious projects. "Second, domestic enterprises face greater financing challenges than their American counterparts such as SpaceX, with many investors demonstrating impatience and unwillingness to grant domestic commercial space enterprises room for trial and error. It is important that more 'patient capital' comes to this sphere and plays a major role. At the same time, the government must ensure greater stability and continuity in policies pertaining to the space industry to let investors rest assured that its support for the commercial space sector is long-lasting and stable," Yang said. Third, the industry must maintain close alignment with national strategies and precisely target market demands, he said. "The current priority for commercial players should be providing low-cost and reliable launch solutions to support the in-orbit construction of China's multiple mega internet networks," Yang said. Meanwhile, relevant government authorities should methodically advance the commercialization of China's space industry by fully opening low-orbit launch services to fair competition between State-owned contractors and private enterprises. This market-oriented approach could later expand to include high-orbit launch operations and encourage government-backed programs to incorporate qualified private players. "Such phased measures would align with national priorities while leveraging market forces to strengthen China's comprehensive space capabilities," he added. Xu Ming, chairman and CEO of GalaxySpace, a leading private satellite maker in Beijing, underscored the sector's push to align with national goals, saying the commercial space sector has gained prominence in China's innovation-driven economic roadmap. He said that the mention of the commercial space sector in the 2025 Government Work Report has "greatly galvanized the resolve of commercial space enterprises to accelerate sci-tech innovation at the global forefront". "With growing confidence in the prospects of this sector, we are more determined than ever to contribute to building China into a space power," he added. Future growth will rely on stronger policy coordination, improved industrial regulations and legal safeguards, such as a national space law, to ensure private entities' participation in space-based infrastructure projects, he said. Xu called for fair competition and more opportunities for private players, adding that more tolerance should be given to trial and error by enterprises to encourage innovation and new businesses. Zhang Changwu, founder and CEO of LandSpace, a private rocket maker in Beijing, said that China's commercial space industry has achieved remarkable progress in recent years, but there remains much room for improvement. "Currently, China still needs to accelerate efforts to catch up with the United States when it comes to technological capability and the industry's maturity and share in the global market," Zhang said. "To match world-class standards, China must expedite breakthroughs in reusable rocket technology, reduce launch costs, and carry out more launches," he added. "Relevant authorities must optimize their launch approval procedures and relax requirements on companies wishing to enter the satellite internet field, to allow qualified participants to engage in network construction." (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) The other day, at a meeting of the Turkish government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "We want our European friends to understand the role of the new Turkiye in a changed world and define their strategies accordingly." The Turkish leader noted that the global system based on rules and laws has entered a phase of collapse, mainly due to the fault of its founders themselves. According to Erdogan, the European Union is currently trying to cope with one of the most serious challenges to its security, and in such a situation, Europeans should understand that "Turkiye is the last exit before the bridge." The European Union must realize Turkiye's role in a changed world and determine its strategy accordingly, Erdogan said. Do European countries agree to reconsider their attitude towards Turkiye? No statements on this matter are being made by the EU. However, the fact that Turkiye was invited to a meeting on Ukraine organized in London by the British side suggests that the role of this country in Europe is recognized, although they try not to talk about it out loud. Turkiye was represented at the meeting by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan. After the meeting, the press service of the Turkish Foreign Ministry disseminated his words that meetings of European leaders on Ukraine and European security issues would be held more often. The leaders of the states have authorized their technical groups to seek solutions to the problem. "We will all see together whether there will be a peace agreement on Ukraine, whether Europe will have a new security architecture in this context," Fidan said. As you know, amid the negotiations initiated by Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, concern about the European security system is growing in Europe. The new White House administration has expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that American taxpayers are being spent on European security, while the EU countries themselves are not making much effort to do so. Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States is not going to continue to sponsor NATO partners who do not spend enough money on their own defense. "The only thing that puts NATO at risk is the fact that we have allies who barely have armed forces or whose military is not very effective because they have spent 40 years without spending any money on it," he said. Not only such economically disadvantaged and dependent countries as the former Soviet Baltic States, but also the rich states of Finland, Sweden and others do not make much effort. The latter two have recently come under the NATO umbrella, counting on guarantees of their security from the United States in the event of a hypothetical Russian threat. It is possible that if Trump were in power, he would block this process. It should be recalled that the accession of Finland and Sweden was blocked for a long time by Turkiye, which subsequently agreed in exchange for Sweden's promise to promote Ankara's rapprochement with the European Union. The head of the White House believes that most European countries do not allocate sufficient funds for the maintenance of a combat-ready army. And now, terrified by his statements, the EU countries are rushing to come to their senses and hastily create their own European security system. On March 6, an EU summit was held in Brussels, at which the European Commission's ReArm EU rearmament plan was adopted. However, there is a question of its credit financing in the amount of 800 billion. The euro for the period up to 2029 has been postponed. The unanimously approved plan provides for the formation of an 800 billion package. The euro is intended to strengthen the defense, improve the armed forces and develop the military industry of the EU countries. The largest army in Europe will be the German Armed Forces. Today, the German army has 180,000 personnel, while the French army has 200,000 troops. It is difficult to say how much this plan will help solve the problem. The main issue is that the financing has not yet been settled. Besides, the development of the armed forces is not a matter of three or four years. And most importantly, the army becomes the guarantor of security not by the number of personnel, but by its combat capability. This quality has been created over the years, but it is tested in real combat. France, which currently has the largest army in Europe, has not yet been able to demonstrate its combat capability, although this country has repeatedly been highlighted in attempts to use military force in different parts of the world. As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after the summit, his country has nothing to fear when its allies are countries such as the United States and Turkiye. And the Hungarian Prime Minister is absolutely right, because the Turkish army is the only combat-ready army in Europe. Turks are historically inclined to martial arts, many traditions of modern armies were adopted from the Ottomans, including military marches. The Turks know how to fight, which they have proven more than once. This country understands the importance of the army, and even in difficult times, defense and security issues have never been overlooked. In 2024, Turkiye rose in the ranking of the world's strongest armies according to Global Fire Power, leaving France and Germany behind. The second NATO army, numbering about 400,000 personnel, rose from 11th to 8th place. Turkiye's military-industrial complex is ready to contribute to strengthening the EU's defense industry and European security, President Erdogan said during a videoconference organized by the head of the European Council with EU partner countries. "We believe that it would be in our common interests to plan all steps to ensure European security together with Turkiye. In all these efforts, it is undoubtedly important to preserve transatlantic ties to the maximum extent possible and to receive the strong support of our ally, America. Our defense industry, with its advanced technologies, is ready to contribute to the strengthening of Europe's defense sector," the Turkish leader said. Erdogan believes that the programs of the European defense industry within the EU should be open to all European allies. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also believes that Turkiye can become a protective barrier to Europe, and called on the EU leadership to cooperate with Ankara in the field of defense industry. The fact that Turkiye has been invited to discussions on EU security, and EU representatives have visited Ankara more often, shows that the European Union is also aware of this. But will this help Turkey move towards European integration? Ankara does not hide that it is ready to become a security umbrella for Europe, not for beautiful eyes, but in exchange for intensifying the process of its membership in the European Union. As Erdogan said, Turkiye expects its European partners "to realize this reality and approach the process of its full EU membership with a far-sighted perspective." Meanwhile, Turkiye already has competitors. According to Ukrainian experts, Ukraine can claim to be a guarantor of European security to a greater extent. No matter how strong the Turkish army is, it "will not play a major role in the defense of Europe, in particular in the formation of a new military alliance - Ukraine will take this place," experts say, believing that all the resources and training of the Turkish army "are not enough to independently wage war against the aggressor." Meanwhile, President Volodimir Zelensky said that Ukraine sees Turkiye among its security guarantors. He said this at a press conference after a February meeting with President Erdogan in Ankara, where he went amid talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Riyadh. "I do not know at what point, in what format, in what role, but Erdogan knows that we see him among the important guarantors of security for us. I talked about this with Erdogan. I think Europe needs to look at Turkiye. Because there are two armies in Europe - the Ukrainian and the Turkish. These are the two largest armies," Zelensky said. Time will tell how events will develop on the continent. It all depends on whether Trump stops scaring the Europeans. It is possible that after reaching an agreement with Moscow and Kiev on a ceasefire, the topic of European security will again be shelved. The fact is that the American view of the world for Ukraine lies through the transfer of rare earth resources of this country to the United States. If Kiev agrees, the United States will not remove its security umbrella, but, on the contrary, will increase it even more, since they themselves will need it to protect their assets. The assets and interests of the United States in Ukraine will be a barrier to a hypothetical Russian threat to Europe, and Brussels will try to distance itself from Ankara again. International politics, it's like that. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit A Kimball man, Eldon Lewis, 27, was found guilty and sentenced by District Judge Derek Weimer to serve 24 months in a Nebraska Department of Corrections facilty. A month earlier, Lewis entered a plea of no contest on one charge of Intentional Cruelty to an Animal. That is a Class IIIA felony with incarceration time of 0-3 years. A second count was dismissed. The sentencing stems from an incident in October 2024, when Kimball police executed a search warrant at 404 Myrtle St. in Kimball in reference to a possible animal cruelty case. The police affidavit said that Lewis was being investigated... After months of reviewing, studying and comparing dozens of elementary math curriculums, the staff at Mary Lynch Elementary zeroed in on the Math Expression curriculum. On Monday evening, the Kimball School Board approved the new five-year curriculum program. Members of the Mary Lynch teaching staff presented the benefits of Math Expressions, including its alignment with their vision and the use of online and hands-on methods to participate. The new curriculum was purchased from Heinemann for $51,489.01. Other action items included approval of the 2025-26 calendar, with school starting on Mond... BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Iran views the closed meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council regarding the country's increased uranium enrichment as unjustified interference in its negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the countrys Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, Trend reports. Speaking at a closed session of the Security Council, Iravani explained that the sole purpose of the closed session was to continue maximum pressure on Iran. Tehran firmly rejects the allegations raised against it. Iravani further emphasized that Iran appreciates the stance of some Security Council members who have taken a neutral and principled position based on reality. These members have opposed any intervention for political purposes and officially recognize diplomacy as the only acceptable avenue for resolving issues in cooperation with the IAEA. The ambassador added that the matters raised during the meeting were purely technical issues under the authority of the IAEA. These were discussed last week at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna. Therefore, there is no legal basis for the Security Councils involvement in this matter. To note, the UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Iran's increase in highly enriched uranium on March 12. France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, the UK, and the US have requested this meeting. On March 3, Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the IAEA, mentioned during the IAEA Board of Governors' meeting that Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity by 93 kilograms, from 182 kilograms to 275 kilograms compared to the previous quarter. Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to this level, raising significant concerns. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel PUBLIC NOTICE Kimball PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION The Board of Education of Kimball Public Schools will meet in special session on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in the Kimball County Transit Service Meeting Room, 233 South Chestnut Street, Kimball, Nebraska. At the meeting, a personnel hearing will be held and the Board will take action to cancel, continue or take other action it deems appropriate on the employment contract of Justin Mohr. An agenda for the meeting, which shall be kept continually current, is readily available for public inspection at the Superintendents office during normal business hours. #105163 March 13, 2025 ZNEZ By Grainne Ni Aodha, PA A Sinn Fein TD has said Donald Trumps claim that he was not aware of the partys White House boycott over Gaza should be taken with a pinch of salt. The US president said he had not heard that some Northern Ireland political parties had decided to boycott St Patricks Day celebrations in Washington DC over his administrations stance on Gaza. Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance had ruled out attending such events. Asked about the boycotts while meeting Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr Trump told reporters: I havent heard that, I really havent heard that. Asked about the comments, Mr Doherty said: We made our decision clear in relation to the White House, and given what Donald Trump has argued for, particularly in terms of Gaza and the displacement of people in Gaza and to turn it into some type of fanciful resort. I heard his comments yesterday. I heard his comments last week as well, when he wasnt aware that he called Zelensky a dictator. So we take what Trump says with a pinch of salt. But look, the reality is that the issues of Gaza and Palestine probably didnt get the airing that they should have got yesterday. I think that Micheal Martin should have asserted the Irish position in a far clearer way. Unfortunately, it appears that the media part of it, or the public part of it, was the main part of the visit. The private part seemed to be curtailed. So I think that that was a missed opportunity for the Taoiseach to assert Irelands position in relation to what is happening in Palestine and indeed the occupied territories. At an Entrance Scholars Ceremony held in University College Dublin recently, Ultan Tuffy and Eoghan Durkan were acknowledged for being the Leaving Certificate entrants with the highest points score from St Muredach's College, Ballina. A commemorative plaque was presented to the school also on the night. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Iran has not been the party to violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concerning its nuclear program, said Amir Saeed Iravani, Irans Ambassador to the United Nations, Trend reports. Speaking at a closed session of the UN Security Council, Iravani noted that Iran's nuclear activities are entirely peaceful in nature. He emphasized that Iran has not violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has fulfilled its monitoring obligations. He accused those claiming otherwise of distorting the facts. The ambassador added that the NPT does not impose any restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment levels, describing this as an undeniable fact. "The only limitation in this area is the one specified under the JCPOA. The United States deliberately weakened and undermined the agreement," Iravani said. He also noted that despite the suspension of certain provisions of the JCPOA, Irans nuclear program remains under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In fact, according to the IAEA, Irans nuclear program is one of the most closely monitored programs in the world, with no other country accepting this level of control and transparency. However, Iravani pointed out that this issue is still being raised in the UN Security Council, despite having no legal or technical basis. On January 16, 2016, the JCPOA came into force between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) regarding Irans nuclear program. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions on Iran starting from November 2018. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Iran has no intention of changing its defense doctrine concerning its nuclear issue, said the countrys Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeed Iravani, Trend reports. In his address during a closed session of the UN Security Council, Iravani emphasized that Irans nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and will remain so. Iran firmly rejects the development of any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, considering them a real threat to international security. Iravani further noted that Iran is resolute in its use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. He stated that no country can deny Iran its undeniable and natural right to use nuclear technology for peaceful aims. The Iranian diplomat also mentioned that, for resolving the nuclear issue and the matters raised against Iran, Iran has always considered diplomacy and discussions as the most reliable direction and has remained committed to this principle. Unfortunately, he said, some countries continue to rely on threats, coercion, and economic pressure in an attempt to force Iran into submission. To note, the UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Iran's increase in highly enriched uranium on March 12. France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, the UK, and the US have requested this meeting. On March 3, Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the IAEA, mentioned during the IAEA Board of Governors' meeting that Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity by 93 kilograms, from 182 kilograms to 275 kilograms compared to the previous quarter. Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to this level, raising significant concerns. By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Iran has made it clear that it will not engage in negotiations under pressure, said the countrys Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, Trend reports. Speaking during a closed session of the UN Security Council, Iravani emphasized that Iran will not accept any dictates, nor will it submit to threats. He stated that attempts to force Iran into an unfair agreement will not succeed, stressing that diplomacy should be based on mutual respect. Iravani added that Iran would continue to defend its rights, citing ongoing negotiations with three European countries (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany) over its nuclear program. Additionally, on March 14, a meeting will take place in Beijing involving the foreign ministers' deputies of Iran, Russia, and China regarding Irans nuclear program. The permanent representative of Iran to the UN further stated that the responsibility for the current situation lies with those who violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and UN Security Council Resolution 2231. He insisted that any steps forward should begin with accountability and that those who halted their commitments and imposed sanctions contrary to Resolution 2231 must be held responsible. To note, the UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Iran's increase in highly enriched uranium on March 12. France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, the UK, and the US have requested this meeting. On March 3, Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the IAEA, mentioned during the IAEA Board of Governors' meeting that Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity by 93 kilograms, from 182 kilograms to 275 kilograms compared to the previous quarter. Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to this level, raising significant concerns. By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction. On November 29, 2024, the first round of dialogue between the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and three European countries (UK, France, and Germany) was held in Geneva. The second round of this dialogue was continued on January 13-14 in Geneva, where negotiations were held mainly on Iran's nuclear program. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. Iran has protested the actions of three European countries the UK, France, and Germany in response to their call for a closed-door session at the UN Security Council concerning Iran's nuclear program, Trend reports citing the Iranian Foreign Ministry. According to the Ministry, the ambassadors of the three European countries were summoned to express Iran's strong objections and communicate several points. Iran emphasized that its peaceful nuclear program is entirely in accordance with its rights under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and its monitoring obligations. It was further stated that Iran's nuclear activities have never gone beyond the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which allows Iran to halt its obligations in case the other parties fail to uphold their commitments. Iran also made clear that there is no technical or legal basis for holding a closed-door session at the UN Security Council regarding Iran's nuclear program, labeling the move as a step in line with US objectives. The Ministry conveyed that the European ambassadors support for the US request to hold a session at the Security Council is seen as aligning with actions taken by the US after its withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018, violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and leading to subsequent processes that contradict the agreement. The Ministry also pointed out that the recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, where countries voiced their positions on Irans nuclear issue, makes the call for a Security Council session an unwarranted interference in the IAEAs technical responsibilities. Such actions, Iran argued, harm the normal cooperation between Iran and the Agency. On January 16, 2016, the JCPOA came into force between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) regarding Irans nuclear program. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions on Iran starting from November 2018. By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction. On February 14, the IAEA Director General Grossi reported that Iran is increasing the amount of uranium enriched to 60 percent by nearly seven times. In the coming weeks, Irans stock of 60 percent enriched uranium is expected to reach around 250 kilograms. Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to this level, a development that has raised international concerns. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel He rarely smiles no more than a fleeting sketch. He even seems somewhat sullen. Perhaps its the weight of taciturn bile, lingering insomnia, or the awareness of being outmatched or maybe simply the feeling of being misunderstood amid compliments and congratulations. At times, he is seen in a trench coat, a relic of the post-war era, with his civil servant-like glasses, blending into his drab existence. He is usually pictured in a classic pose, standing beside the famous Ottoman bridge over the Drina River the setting of his most renowned novel, The Bridge on the Drina. In other photographs, he appears with his hands tucked into the pockets of his overcoat. He strolls through the fallen leaves of Belgrades parks or sits on a bench beneath the soft sunlight. His portrait is printed on banknotes, and statues immortalize him in public spaces. Graffiti and mural profiles of his face are also abundant, especially in Visegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina once again, the setting of the bridge, the Drina, and the novel that transformed this small town into both a literary landmark and a place of quiet oppression. This is Ivo Andric (18921975), the Yugoslav diplomat, writer, and 1961 Nobel Prize laureate. March 13 marks the 50th anniversary of his death in Belgrade. He was the greatest author in the shared yet diverse language of the South Slavs a literary embodiment of that construct, now irreversibly dissolved, known as Yugoslavia, the country that no longer exists. The Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric receives the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. Keystone Press /Alamy Stock Photo Of Bosnian-Croatian descent (his parents lived in Sarajevo), Ivo Andric was born by chance on October 9, 1892, in a remote village called Dolac, near Travnik, Bosnia. It was the poor Catholic suburb frequently mentioned in Bosnian Chronicle, one of his great novels, set in the Ottoman era amidst the echoes and gunpowder fumes of the Napoleonic Wars. Here, the confluence of dates is striking. This year marks not only the 50th anniversary of Andrics death but also the 80th anniversary of the publication of Bosnian Chronicle (1945), The Bridge on the Drina, and The Woman from Sarajevo. He had written them in a single stretch under the shadow of the Nazi occupation of Belgrade, the terrifying bombings, and his confinement to an apartment on Prizenska Street. Another twist of fate brings us to the tragic. In 2025, we also mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the Bosnian War (1992-1995). As fate would have it, the centenary of the writers birth aligned with the start of the shooting and the long siege of Sarajevo one of the most atrocious episodes of the war took place, literally, on the parapet of the bridge over the Drina in Visegrad. The jury that awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature did so the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from his countrys history. Claudio Magris, in his brilliant reflections on Utopia and Disenchantment, articulates this similarly, but in a more poetic and expansive manner. He suggests that Andric is a writer who delves into the depths of time, managing to connect the ancient past reflecting Ottoman Bosnia, a melting pot of East and West with the sudden modernity thrust upon him during the darkest hours of the 20th century. Mural dedicated to Ivo Andric in Visegrad, in an image provided by the author of the article. The figure of Andric, portrayed by Serbian actor Tihomir Stanic, was recently adapted into a television series, Nobelovac, broadcast on Serbias public channel. One might wonder if Andrics character, almost inarticulate in his actions yet efficient, upright, and discreet, makes for a fitting hero in dark times, with two world wars behind him and the creation of Titos Yugoslavia following the monarchy (Andric had served in several diplomatic missions for his government, including one in Madrid on Calle Velazquez, where he remained from 1928 to 1929). Today, 50 years after his death, Andric stands as the Nobel Prize winner of paradox and nonexistence. His country, Yugoslavia, no longer exists. A Yugoslavist by conviction, he never paid attention to national particularism as a claim whether Bosnian by birth, Croat by family, or Serbian by personal choice. Settling in Belgrade in 1941, he believed Serbia was the closest embodiment of the idea of a Balkan Piedmont (the simile is Claudio Magriss). In his view, Serbia represented the spearhead of a country built on brotherhood and unity, where Bosnia itself was another Yugoslavia, albeit in miniature. Nationalism, before, during, and after the war, sometimes repudiated Andrics view (no longer today), and at other times manipulated and exalted it for convenience. If Andric wrote in a language that no one is willing to acknowledge today, it is a language that invites nuances. Writers and translators such as Marc Casals, Miguel Roan, and Christian Marti-Menzel agree that Serbo-Croatian (srpsko-hrvatski) is now nothing more than a relic. It even struggled to be recognized as a common and official language within Yugoslavia itself. It was always spoken differently according to region, with dialectical variations ijekavica more common among Croats and, to some extent, Bosnians, and ikavica more among Serbs. A mural dedicated to Ivo Andric in Visegrad, in an image provided by the author of the article. Since 2017, most post-Yugoslav authors have endorsed the so-called Declaration on a Common Language, which asserts that Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, and Montenegrins share a common standard language of a polycentric type. In professional translation, as Marc Casals notes, the politically correct term now used is BCMS (Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian). A polyglot fluent in eight European languages, Andric himself a Bosnian-Croat ended up writing in Cyrillic and in the Serbian variant. Reading the Yugoslavian Nobel Prize winner Andrics canonical works, historically translated by Tihomir Pistelek and Luisa Fernanda Garrido, include Bosnian Chronicle, A Bridge on the Drina (a historical, oral, and legendary fable spanning the 16th century to 1914), and The Woman from Sarajevo (in which the protagonist is both a heroine and a usurer). These novels depict how history and the passage of time float through fiction, altering the cycle of human experience and giving rise to the conflict between the old and the new, progress and natural stagnation. The Bosnian identity in the atmosphere permeates the landscapes and stealthily penetrates the bloodstream and minds of its people. Andric was a master at crafting human types. The essence of his characters is revealed not only through their physical features but also through the kindness or mistreatment of their internal organs. His novellas, such as The Viziers Elephant and The Cursed Courtyard, illustrate this depth. Javier Gonzalez-Cotta is a journalist and writer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition An exhibitor attends London Book Fair in London, Britain, March 11, 2025. [Xinhua/Li Ying] The Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who lost his life supporting China's war against Japanese aggression, was launched on Wednesday. LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, Chinese and British publishers hosted a series of events to pay tribute to the victory at the ongoing London Book Fair. On Wednesday, a launch event was held for the Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who gave his life to support China's war against Japanese aggression decades ago. The book, which includes Hogg's letters and journalistic works, offers a fuller picture of his early life and his journey as a reporter in China, documenting both the war and social life. It also highlights his efforts to support the Chinese people during the war, particularly his role in founding a school for war orphans in Shaanxi. Mark Aylwin Thomas, author of the book and nephew of the late Hogg, said at the launch that the translated edition gives Chinese readers the opportunity to learn more about the "extraordinary person" who "loved and respected his fellow human beings regardless of race, belief or cultural differences, striving selflessly with compassion for a common positive goal." This photo taken on March 11, 2025 shows a view of London Book Fair in London, Britain. [Xinhua/Li Ying] Chen Guangyao from People's Publishing House, the book's publisher, said that Hogg's story serves as a historical testament to the friendship between China and Britain. He expressed hope that the Chinese edition will further strengthen this friendship and contribute to promoting world peace and development. Along with the book, five other publications themed around the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression were also unveiled on Wednesday during the three-day book fair. Speaking with Xinhua after a seminar where Chinese and British writers and scholars shared stories and insights on the bonds forged between the two countries during the war, Hugo de Burgh, director of China Media Centre at the University of Westminster, emphasized the importance of helping younger generations "understand the dangers and the terrible suffering caused by conflict and war." He added that "responsible publishers" play a crucial role in reminding people of the "positive aspects of our relationships" that emerged from the shared experiences of war and hardship. In addition, a special screening of "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru" was held during the book fair. The documentary is about the heroic rescue of British prisoners of war by Chinese fishermen during World War II. A man reads at a booth displaying China-themed books at London Book Fair in London, Britain, March 12, 2025. [Xinhua/Li Ying] (Source: Xinhua) Editor: Wang Shasha When the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro deploys the classic leftist narrative about the existence of global corporations tributaries of imperialism that exploit peoples resources the verbal artillery is often reserved for a single oil company: ExxonMobil. The energy multinational the largest in the world had a bitter, consequential confrontation with the Venezuelan government more than 10 years ago. The enmity still resonates today. In October 2014 when Rafael Ramirez was president of PDVSA, Venezuelas state-owned oil company the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a body within the World Bank, ruled in favor of Exxon in a lawsuit against the Maduro government. The ruling required the Venezuelan state to pay $1.6 billion in compensation to this corporate giant for having nationalized its assets within the country. Emboldened by high oil prices and the multibillion-dollar national revenues during the 2006-2012 term, former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who was elected in 1999 and governed until his death in 2013, when he was succeeded by Maduro sought to shape his political project. With his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) still the ruling party today he carried out an aggressive wave of nationalizations of the countrys productive structure. These expropriations had serious consequences for the national economy and a significant impact on the energy sector. The new legal framework for oil created by Chavez in 2005 established the transition of existing operating agreements to the state-controlled joint venture model, guaranteeing PDVSA a majority stake in all activities related to the oil sector. Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez holds a press conference following the ruling in favor of Exxon Mobil regarding the nationalization of one of the firms Venezuelan oil projects, in October of 2014, in Caracas. Ariana Cubillos (AP) PDVSA took control of the oil well operations and immediately experienced strong tensions with Exxon, which unlike other companies did not accept the new policy. Exxon claimed breach of contract. At that time, in 2012 with the price of crude oil soaring to $100 a barrel and national revenue from oil revenues in the billions PDVSA was still a powerful and operational company, despite its administrative turmoil. After the euphoria of the Chavista nationalizations, Venezuela has had to face costly lawsuits in international courts involving cases similar to the ones filed by Exxons. These are companies demanding compensation for the seizure of their assets, which were confiscated in the name of national sovereignty by Hugo Chavez and his ministers between 2007 and 2013. Beginning in 2006, the Bolivarian Revolution repealed the structure of the Oil Opening Policy, which was designed during the late-1990s. This exploitation model encouraged massive investments by foreign companies such as Chevron, Exxon, BP and Mitsubishi that would operate alongside PDVSA (with very low royalties) for the first time since the nationalization of oil in 1976. This project significantly increased the production and export of Venezuelan crude oil and its derivatives. However, the Chavez administration considered the setup to be detrimental to national sovereignty. In 2007, when the break with Exxon was finalized and the lawsuit in international courts ensued, the Venezuelan government launched an aggressive campaign against Exxon in the country. Billboards and television spots accused the conglomerate of being an enemy of national sovereignty, portraying it with all the trappings of classic Latin American leftist discourse. Hugo Chavez visits oil workers on an Orinoco oil platform in August 2006. Anonymous (ASSOCIATED PRESS) ExxonMobil is a company thats an enemy of Venezuela [...] and of the Venezuelan people, Nicolas Maduro recently declared. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has accused the company of instigating the territorial conflict with Guyana and undermining the nations rights to the oil-rich Essequibo region, which Caracas now claims. Maduro asserted that Exxon is acting out of revenge against the country, while pushing a persecution and extermination agenda against Chevron, the U.S. multinational allied with the Venezuelan government. After breaking with Venezuela, Exxon began business dealings with neighboring Guyana, a nation that has discovered significant offshore oil fields in areas it legally controls, but which Venezuela claims as its own. Theyre part of the Essequibo region, a territory that belonged to Venezuela and was colonized by the U.K. in the 19th century. Today, its part of the jurisdiction of the modern-day Republic of Guyana. As Venezuela sank into political unrest, economic chaos, legal uncertainty and corruption causing its crude production to decline dramatically in recent years Guyana worked rapidly with Exxon. Along with other corporations, the firm has brought the Starboek Block 120 miles offshore Guyana into production very quickly, boosting Guyanese output. The country continues to attract capital to exploit these highly-endowed offshore wells. After holding a referendum on Venezuelan rights in the Essequibo region at the end of 2023, the Maduro administration has toughened its stance regarding this territory, even threatening prison sentences for anyone who questions Venezuelan rights to it. The Essequibo region comprises three-quarters of present-day Guyana. A man dressed as Uncle Sam holds an Exxon sign during a protest in favor of annexing the Essequibo region, in September 2023, in Caracas. Ariana Cubillos (AP) With the rise in diplomatic tensions between Venezuela and Guyana, accusations from Caracas against Exxon have proliferated. The government claims that the conglomerate has been conspiring against Venezuelas interests and colluding with Guyana in the territorial dispute. It was Exxon that moved to sanction Chevron, thats clear. Thats how corporate pressures, lobbying, work, Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello stated this past week, supporting the statements of Nicolas Maduro and Delcy Rodriguez. After the Guyanese government publicly denounced the entry of a Venezuelan vessel into territorial waters it controls although Venezuela claims it as its own Cabello called a press conference and announced before the National Electoral Council that the local population will elect eight representatives from Guyana Essequibo in the upcoming Venezuela legislative elections in May. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition What to know about the most common heart condition Scott Peterson injured after interaction with another person at prison, officials say Bottles of French wine are displayed for sale in a liquor store. President Donald Trump on March 13 threatened to impose a massive tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Unions retaliation against his steel and aluminum tariffs a tit-for-tat escalation of a trade war that could easily get out of hand. Ukraine loses grip on key Russian territory, as Trump says peace is up to Russia now An honor guard greets Russian President Vladimir Putin on his way to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin. For the first time, Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed openness to the 30-day ceasefire proposal agreed upon by the United States and Ukraine. We are supportive, but there are nuances, he said Thursday in Moscow during a joint appearance with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. We agree with the proposal to stop the fighting. But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis. However, for Putin, the proposed ceasefire raises many questions, and his final decision will depend on the evolving situation on the battlefield: Based on how the situation on the ground develops, we will agree on the next steps in ending the conflict and reaching agreements acceptable to all. Putin spoke broadly about a truce, though Ukraines proposal specifically focuses on air and sea space, as well as energy infrastructure. The idea [of a cease-fire] itself is correct, and we certainly support it. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners, said Putin, adding that he may need to have a phone call with President Trump. From Washington, the U.S. president seized the opportunity during a visit from NATOs Secretary General to send a message to Putin. Donald Trump confirmed that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, began negotiations in Moscow with Russian representatives on Thursday regarding a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. Hopefully theyll do the right thing, Trump said, referring to the Russian authorities. In his press conference on Thursday, Putin raised several concerns: So what would happen during those 30 days? Would that allow Ukraine to continue a forced mobilization, a supply of arms to Ukraine, so that the newly mobilized units can be trained, or will that not be done? Putin also questioned whether he would order his troops to halt. The Russian troops are advancing practically in every sector of the contact line, and all the conditions are there for us to besiege fairly large units. So what would happen during those 30 days? he added. The Russian leader also voiced skepticism about a potential international mission to monitor the contact line between the two armies. Who will determine where and who violated a potential ceasefire agreement over 2,000 kilometers? he asked. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has repeatedly insisted that Moscow will not accept the deployment of Western troops under any flag. The Russian president also boasted of major territorial gains, particularly in the Kursk region, where the Defense Ministry announced on Thursday the complete capture of Sudzha, the main town Kyiv had seized during its offensive in August 2024. What will we do with this area in the Kursk region if we stop military actions for 30 days, does this mean that everyone who is there will leave without a fight? Should we release them from there after they have committed a lot of crimes against civilians? he asked. All these issues need to be carefully, painstakingly studied by both sides, Putin concluded, using his speech to thank not only Trump for his diplomatic efforts but also the leaders of China, Xi Jinping; India, Narendra Modi; and Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Moscows demands The Russian governments demands for a ceasefire include a complete Western withdrawal from Ukraine, Kyivs disarmament, and international recognition of the four occupied provinces Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia as Russian territory, in addition to Crimea. Some Russian analysts suggest that Moscow remains uncertain about ending the war and is focused on securing as many concessions as possible at this early stage of negotiations. Facts, facts not declarations and promises, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said, criticizing Washingtons approach to the talks with Putin. Acting as an informal advisor to the Russian leader, Lukashenko warned him that the U.S. could not be trusted. I can say with absolute certainty that Americans have no plan for the conflict in Ukraine. Absolutely not. What they are doing is testing the waters, said the Belarusian leader, who has ruled his country with an iron grip for 37 years. Meanwhile, Putin reiterated his interest in maintaining economic ties with the U.S., a strategy aimed at keeping Trump engaged. The return of some of our Western partners to our market may benefit operations of their companies and our companies, he said, though he made it clear that no foreign company would receive special treatment. Before the meeting between Putin and Lukashenko, Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov, a deputy leader in the Russian delegation negotiating with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia, dismissed Washington and Kyivs proposed ceasefire as a temporary respite for the Ukrainian army, nothing more. We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement. That is what we are striving for, Ushakov said. The veteran diplomat, a former Russian ambassador to the U.S., argued that no one needs measures that merely imitate peacemaking. However, he later downplayed his remarks, calling them his personal opinion that he had already shared them with U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz in a phone call the day before. Ushakovs bluntness stood in contrast to the Kremlins previous caution on the ceasefire proposal. Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, urged patience, stating that Ushakov would brief the Russian leader on negotiations in Moscow. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had only said that any decision on a truce would be made by Russia alone, not by third countries. The U.S. proposal has strained the relatively positive tone between Washington and Moscow in recent weeks. Ushakov even appeared to dismiss Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, as irrelevant. The United States has identified a mediator in negotiations with Russia, and this is not Steve Witkoff, he remarked, without specifying who he was referring to. Another high-ranking Russian official, Ambassador to the U.K. Andrei Kelin, reinforced Moscows firm stance. We will only stop military operations when we have a full, comprehensive agreement, he told The Wall Street Journal, stressing that We are approaching this [the cease-fire proposal] with a lot of caution. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Welsh universities are cutting hundreds of jobs, including 400 redundancies and the closure of courses at Cardiff University. This slash-and-burn campaign takes place with the direct collaboration of the Welsh government led by the Labour Party. More than half of the universities across Britain have announced thousands of job cuts. Higher education workers have begun to resist, with three weeks of strikes having begun at Dundee University against 200-500 jobs cuts, and workers at Newcastle University and Brunel University striking during March/April against hundreds of cuts. The Ewing Building, in the city campus of the University of Dundee, Scotland. [Photo by Otsima / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 4.0 Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the University of East Anglia have voted by 82 percent to strike, and a ballot is open at the University of Sheffield where as many as 1,000 staff face redundancy. Ballots are also going ahead at Durham University over plans to cut 20 million from the universitys staffing budget and Keele University over 2.25 million in cuts involving job losses in its School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Business School. Stopping the destruction of large parts of higher education will require workers to confront the Labour Party and its partners in the trade union bureaucracy. Any notion that Labour can be pressured to defend education is refuted by the experience of the cuts at Cardiff. Cardiff plans to shut down its courses in nursingamid an NHS staffing crisismusic, modern languages and ancient history. Some staff have reportedly been told that if they want to keep their jobs they should prepare to teach at the universitys campus in Kazakhstan! Staff cuts mean increases in class sizes. It is already common in UK universities that students cannot fit in lecture rooms and have to watch on a screen from another room, or lecturers have to give the same lecture twice to different groups. The vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia told THE (formerly, Times Higher Education) that increasing class sizes is one of the easiest ways to improve efficiency and boost productivity. There is mass public opposition. Almost 20,000 people have signed a petition to save Cardiffs School of Nursing, and a petition for the School of Music has over 25,000 signatures. Cardiffs is one of only two scholarly music studies courses in Wales. The department, Professor Ian Pace told THE, is home to arguably the UKs leading scholars of Liszt, Stravinsky and Janacek, not to mention pioneering, world-leading scholars of Mendelssohn, historical performance, music in Vienna, and both 19th- and 20th-century French music and opera. Around half the job cuts will come from the merger and reshaping of other departments, including the School of Mathematics, which will become part of the new School of Data Science, Mathematics and Computing. This is despite the fact that universities tend to make a profit on maths students, who need little beyond a blackboard and a mathematician to learn. Such cuts to pure and exploratory science will be driven by the calculation that courses based on AI and data science can take more of the lucrative market for one-year masters, charging enormous fees to international students. More than 3,000 scientists and mathematicians, including two Nobel prize-winners in physics and 17 Fields medallists (a mathematics prize as prestigious as the Nobel) signed an open letter warning the cuts could be the beginning of the end of pure and applied mathematics research and teaching. The letter notes, Mathematics is the foundation and fuel of AI Separating mathematical scientists in the proposed new structure is a short-sighted move that will put Cardiff on the back foot in this rapidly developing field. As well as the 400 cuts at Waless only Russell Group university (a leading public research institution) in Cardiff, another 200 cuts are planned at Bangor University. Aberystwyth Universitys recent financial report noted increased use of a revolving credit facility. The University of Wales Trinity Saint David will stop offering undergraduate degrees at its historic campus in Lampeterthe first higher education institution in Walesand older than every English university apart from Oxford and Cambridge. The UCU has a track record of collaborating with management in job losses, provided they can proceed on a voluntary not compulsory basis. Many thousands of jobs have already been cut in the last 15 years in this way. The union refuses to organise any nationally co-ordinated industrial action to fight the jobs cullin which over 10,000 of its members jobs are on the chopping blockinstead launching a feeble Stop the Cuts initiative last week. The campaigns main purpose is to divert members anger into bankrupt appeals to the pro-big business Labour government of Sir Keir Starmer. Opposed to industrial action with the potential to bring university sector to a standstill, the UCU instead proposes a March 18 rally and parliamentary lobby, and for a national demonstration in London, even later and virtually as term ends, on May 10. Its goals are to demonstrate the current dire conditions in UK universities and the consequences of government inactionas if everyone is not already awareand that the UCU will put pressure on the UK government to change their current position and invest and intervene to alleviate the crisis in higher education. But Starmers right-wing government has made clear it will not prevent widespread destruction of jobs in higher education. Minister for Skills Baroness Jacqui Smith pledged that there will not be a major reform of the way in which we fund higher education. The new chair of the universities regulator Office for Students (OfS), Edward Peck, told MPs last week that bailing out universities in financial difficulties would create a moral hazard and risk universities and colleges and other providers becoming public sector organisations, which I think we want to avoid. Labours response to the crisis in Welsh universities has been a mixture of denial, token measures and attempts to exclusively blame Cardiff Universitys leadership. Vikki Howells, the Minister for Further and Higher Education in the Welsh government, announced 18.5 million in additional funding, but not to save jobs. The funding is earmarked to be spent on estates maintenance and digital projects to reduce operating costs, which only means it will free up more money to be used on paying redundancy costs and other measures to cut the staffing bill. Much has been made of plans to change Competition and Marketing Authority rules on collaboration between universities, which can only mean sharing services to cut administrative jobs. In a Senedd debate on February 5, Howells denied that there was even a crisis, declaring Our universities in Wales are not underfunded. OECD data suggests that universities in the UK are some of the best funded in the world. Claiming restricting social spending was the only option, she said even if we were to cut grants for students or divert funding away from the NHS, schools or local government to increase funding for our universities, as some Members opposite would have us do, universities would still need to change in response to external challenges. The military budget, being increased by at least 6 billion a year from 2027, was not mentioned by a single member as an alternative source of funds. For its part, Plaid Cymru, the nationalist Party of Wales, suggested that more funding could be taken out of students pockets by recaptur[ing] around 34 million from maintenance grants that currently go to the 40 percent of Welsh students who study outside Wales. The official response of the Starmer Labour government to the fifth anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic confirmed the ruling elites determination to carry on with policies that led to mass death. The UK-wide COVID-19 Day of Reflection was the second such event after the outgoing Conservative government organised the first last Marchas recommended by the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration. An ongoing public inquiry is designed to ensure that those responsible for over 200,000 deaths and over a million people suffering with Long COVID evade justice. The only national event organised was a procession along the National Covid Memorial Wall in London, a minutes silence and flowers being cast from nearby Lambeth Bridge. A minutes silence was also observed at midday at Euston, one of the largest rail stations in London. The wall, which faces Parliament along its entire 550-metre length, features over 200,000 painted hearts added by bereaved relatives, and is a searing reminder of the vast loss of human life overseen by the Conservatives that continues under Labour. Commenting on the fact that no senior government figures in Westminster took part in any of the proceedings, the National Covid Memorial Wall organisation tweeted on its X account, It is indeed the duty of our ministers as leaders and public servants to mark the Covid-19 Day of Reflection on Sunday. Sadly, the silence is deafening. DIY commemoration it is then. A few hundred participated, with many bringing photos of their loved ones which they added to the wall. Flowers being placed behind a photograph of a loved one at the National Covid Memorial Wall, March 9, 2025 Only a few minutes were allocated for speeches, featuring representatives of the Labour Party, which runs the borough of Lambeth within which the Memorial Wall is located. Local MP Florence Eshalomi, council leader Claire Holland and Mayor of Lambeth Councillor John-Paul Ennis did not raise a single political criticism of Boris Johnsons criminal Let it rip pandemic policy. Eshalomi made a single mention of Johnson, but only in reference to how staff at the nearby St. Thomass Hospital had saved his life when he fell ill with COVID. No Labourite could denounce the Tories for ending all mitigations given that Labour had the same policy. Almost 250,000 people have now died in Britain over these five years, but one would never know given the statements of the government. The Tories policy of mass infection and indifference to mass death was summed up when Johnson blurted out in October 2020, No more fucking lockdowns. Let the bodies pile high in their thousands. The stone-cold heart of the British capitalist class was again in evidence a few months later with Johnsons statement that the COVID virus was just natures way of dealing with old people. But the Tories were only able to enforce their ending of lockdowns and reopening the economy due to the total support they secured first from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and then his replacement Sir Keir Starmer. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson walk to the House of Lords to hear the Queen's Speech in May 2022 [Photo by Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/Flickr / CC BY-NC 4.0 In the March 25, 2020 parliamentary debate on the pandemic, his last as party leader, Corbyn said of Labours approach, Our immediate task as the Opposition is to help arrest the spread of the coronavirus, support the governments public health efforts while being constructively critical where we feel it is necessary to improve the official response. Starmer was the driving force in demanding that schools be reopened, a policy that allowed a devastating further mass spread of the disease and which was enforced through Labours partners in the trade union bureaucracy. He posted on X on August 16, 2020 only five months after WHO declared a global pandemic, My message to the Prime Minister: I dont just want all children back at school next month, I expect them back at school. No ifs, no buts. Writing on the Canary website when Labour announced the second Day of Reflection in December, Sam Williams, a Long COVID sufferer noted, What about marking the day of reflection by reading the names of all of the people who have died of Covid since Labour took power? At the date of writing [December 18, 2024], thats 4,655 people. Thats an average of over 200 people a week. Its really upsetting me how the Labour government has gone out of their way to bury (pun intended) the Covid deaths. Over one person has died of Covid every hour since Keir Starmer was elected PM. *** The COVID-19 Day of Reflection event in Sheffield, South Yorkshire heard a recorded message from Fran, a Long COVID sufferer who was unable to attend for COVID-related health reasons. She was the only person to raise the ongoing risks from COVID and the concerted campaign by those in power to bury the lessons of the pandemic. Her message explained that she was a fit and healthy veterinary surgeon who after a single COVID infection in 2022, has suffered relentless and torturous symptoms. She has been unable to leave her bed and now suffers from severe ME/chronic fatigue syndrome, POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), migraines and other health problems, and is completely reliant on others. Fran is part of a network of sufferers, some with even more severe symptoms. There are some so sick, they cannot eat and are being tube fed, some have died, some have committed suicide or requested assisted suicide, she explained. The common reaction has been to mock victims and claim it is all psychosomatic. There are virtually no services. I am lucky as I have support and funds and have got private treatment which has helped. Long COVID sufferers are just gaslighted by politicians and others. Fran reviewed some of the statistics: There has been a 15-fold increase in those who have ME. One in 10 people who get COVID, get Long COVID. Your chances of getting Long COVID increases with every infection. There is next to no health support. You are put on cognitive behavioural therapy courses, which makes your symptoms worse. COVID is not over, it is still killing people. In the US, [President Donald] Trump abolished the COVID Advisory Committee. They want to disappear the statistics. There has been no shielding for five years. Basic medical precautions must be available. Air filters should be placed in public spaces, masking must continue to protect those who are vulnerable. We must bring back community care. No government rhetoric will change the fact that there are risks. Fiona, another Long COVID sufferer, had suggested to the organisers that Frans message should be heard. She told WSWS reporters, I organised for some of the people who cant be here due to Long COVID to contribute messages that have been written on leaves, hanging on the tree. I thought it is important that patients and sufferers have a voice. Long COVID clinics are closing or services are being reduced and less is offered. They say its because fewer people are getting referred but we dont know how much Long COVID there is as no-one is testing. Diane has ME and was very aware of the dangers of post-viral infections and how one COVID infection could ruin someones life. Fiona, right with black mask, and Diane at the event in Sheffield I am really disgusted by the fact that the government and public health has abandoned mitigations and public health measures that could protect people. This is going to lead to an absolute crisis in health care, which we are already seeing and that is only going to continue. I wanted to be here, wearing a mask to represent the point of view of the reality that COVID isnt over, and we still need to mask up and protect ourselves and each other. I know Fran. I thought her speech was extremely powerful and represents those who tell the truth that the pandemic is ongoing and can be devastating for people with Long COVID. I am a member of a COVID-conscious community called Breathe Easy Sheffield. We have events where everyone is masked to support each other. Sadly, people are being gaslighted and told they have anxiety, not Long COVID and the narrative must change. In the fall of 2023 more than half a million Quebec public sector workers participated in strike action, in one of largest strike movements in Canada in decades. Pictured above, striking educators and school support staff at a rally in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil, on the first day of a three-day province-wide strike in November 2023. Jean Boulet, the labour minister in the right-wing, chauvinist Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government, tabled a bill in Quebecs National Assembly last month that eviscerates workers rights to strike and to collectively determine their work contracts. Bill 89 bears the Orwellian title An Act to give greater consideration to the needs of the population in the event of a strike or lockout. In reality, the only purpose of the legislative changes it outlines is to further legally shackle workers and strengthen and embolden big business. It is part of a rapidly expanding assault on working peoples basic democratic and social rights, being mounted by the capitalist oligarchy in Canada and around the world. Bill 89 would introduce into the Quebec Labour Code two new mechanisms to further limit the right to strike. Although supposedly guaranteed under the Canadian constitutions Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the right of workers to collectively withhold their labour-power has been under systematic attack for decades. Federal and provincial governments of every stripe, from the Liberals, Conservatives and Parti Quebecois to the social-democratic NDP, have repeatedly adopted emergency back-to-work laws, criminalizing worker job action. And in the last six months of 2024, the Justin Trudeau-led federal Liberal government repeatedly used a newly cooked-up reinterpretation of Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to arbitrarily rob workers of their right to strike. Under Bill 89, the Quebec government is giving itself the power to order the Tribunal administratif du travail (TATQuebec Labour Court) to determine whether services ensuring the well-being of the population should be maintained during a strike or lockout. Hitherto, so-called essential service restrictions on the right to strike have been limited to ensuring the health and safety of the public. This has resulted in sweeping restrictions on many workers right to strike, especially in the health care sectorrestrictions the TAT has rigorously enforced. But now the CAQ government is expanding the definition of essential services to make it a veritable catch-all. One that will be used to arbitrarily strip large sections of workers of the legal right-to-strike, and thereby render strikes completely ineffectual. According to the provisions of Bill 89, should TAT determine that a strike or lockout could cause irreparable harm to the social, economic or environmental security of the population, the employer and the workers trade-union bargaining agent will have 15 days to determine what levels of service need to be maintained to ensure the populations well-being. Should they fail to agree, the TAT will itself determine what levels of service must be maintained, and it can suspend workers right to strike altogether pending that determination. The second new anti-strike mechanism is, if anything, even more sweeping and arbitrary. Once Bill 89 becomes law, Quebecs Labour Minister will have the dictatorial power to order an immediate end to virtually all strikes falling under the jurisdiction of provincial labour law. Whenever the minister deems that a strike or lockout threatens to cause serious or irreparable harm to the public, the Minister will be able to illegalize any ongoing or future job action and empower an arbitrator to dictate the workers collective agreement. Canada Post workers picketing a facility at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, during their four-week strike last fall, which was broken by the Trudeau government using a cooked-up "reinterpretation" of Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. Boulet's statements and the examples he has given of situations where his new powers could have been applied to end a labour dispute, demonstrate that the notion of serious and irreparable harm to the population will be interpreted very liberally, and that Bill 89 will be used to vastly curtail, if not for all intents and purposes abolish, the right to strike in Quebec. Provocatively, Boulet identified the strikes that have taken place in recent years at Montreal and Quebec City-area schools, childcare centers, Montreals Notre-Dame cemetery, pork and chicken slaughterhouses, and ferry services as examples of strikes in which the population was taken hostage by workers. From this long list, it is clear that the employers economic interests will be systematically equated with serious and irreparable harm. Whenever a company or group of companies complains that a strike is causing them significant financial losses, the Minister will intervene to put an end to it and impose contract rollbacks via an arbitrator. Employers are almost always more than happy to have state-imposed binding arbitration, because they know that the supposedly neutral Labour Ministry-appointed arbitrators all agree that workers job, wages, and working conditions should be conditional on bumper profits for the bosses and investors. Under Bill 89, only the public and para-public sectors will be excluded from the application of the governments new power to impose binding arbitration. Boulet declared that it would not be acceptable for a third party to determine how public funds are to be used. With the complicity of the unions, Quebec governments have on numerous occasions imposed by government decree concessionary contracts on public sector workers that slashed wages and increased workloads, thereby adversely impacting on services to the population. If the government fears that a pro-big business arbitrator might impose contract terms more favourable to the workers than it is ready to accept, this is only an indication of the scope of the austerity offensive it is now preparing. However, Bill 89 does give the government the power to lock out workers in the public and para-public sectors, a practice up till now prohibited. Demonstrating that the entire ruling class is behind this frontal attack on workers basic rights, the Parti Liberal du Quebec (PLQ) and the Parti Quebecois (PQ), the two traditional governing parties now in opposition, have expressed their support for the bill. Echoing the Conseil du Patronats (Employers Council) declaration that Bill 89 is good news and a pragmatic solution, PLQ leader Marc Tanguay declared that the CAQs proposed changes to the Quebec Labour Code would strike a fair balance. More cautiously, the PQ declared that it was open to discussion and that the bill deserves very careful study. Only Quebec Solidaire (QS), the pseudo-left party that occasionally claims to speak on workers behalf, has opposed Bill 89, while expressing its true orientation, which is suppressing the class struggle, and promoting the interests of the nationalist, pro-capitalist union bureaucracy and the affluent middle classes. QS legislator and former Quebec Federation of Labour official Alexandre Leduc declared that the bill risked breaking the union instrument and that with the end of strikes it would not be pretty for the middle class. QS has pleaded to Legault and Boulet to withdraw their sweeping anti-strike bill. As for the unions, they dismissed out of hand any action to mobilize their more than 1 million members in Quebec, let alone workers across Canada, to oppose what CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux) President Caroline Senneville described as a declaration of war. Instead, they begged Prime Minister Legault, known for his ultra-right-wing, anti-worker stance, to back down. And if Legault doesnt budge, a certainty given the CAQs parliamentary majority and the big business full-throated support, the unions plan to challenge the law in courta process that will take years and, whatever the legal outcome, will not end the ruling classs drive to abolish the right to strike and criminalize social opposition. The use of increasingly authoritarian methods such as those envisaged in Bill 89 to repress the class struggle reflects an objective process of intensifying class tensions in Quebec and Canada, at a time when income inequality is at its highest level ever measured by Statistics Canada. Just as in the United States, where Donald Trumps second term as president expresses a violent realignment of the political system with a socio-economic order dominated by an oligarchy hostile to any semblance of democratic limitations on its power, the Canadian ruling class is increasingly resorting to dictatorial methods to pursue its predatory class interests. These developments underline that workers, in Quebec as elsewhere in Canada and internationally, face a political struggle. This struggle must be waged through the mass industrial and political mobilization of the working class against a ruling class determined to use its economic power and control of governments to eviscerate democratic rights, wage imperialist war and drastically reduce the social position of working people. The main obstacle to such a struggle remains the unions, which act as junior partners of employers and the state to impose concessions-laden contracts and keep workers trapped within the state-regulated, pro-employer labour relations and collective bargaining system. Workers must break out of the stultifying confines of the corporatist trade unions by building new organs of strugglerank-and-file committees politically and organizationally independent of the union apparatusesthat can mobilize the social power of the working class to defend jobs, wages and workers democratic rights. This must be combined with a political struggle against the profit system, which is the source of imperialist war, social inequality and the resurgence of fascism. As a dust storm hits the area, firefighters spray water on a fire at the maintenance facilities of the public transportation service Sun Metro in El Paso, Texas. [AP Photo/Andres Leighton] On Tuesday, March 4, much of Texas was hit with a large dust storm caused by high winds. Gusts of up to 60 miles per hour were recorded in some areas. A massive dust wall, towering thousands of feet and spanning a 1,000-mile front, swept across the American Southwest, causing haze over the large population centers of DallasFort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. California saw a similar storm last November, while Texas experienced an earlier one in 2023. The cities of Amarillo and Lubbock experienced brownouts, in which visibility was less than one mile at times. The storm, a phenomenon known as a haboobmore familiar in the arid regions of North Africa and the Middle Eastis now an increasingly common occurrence in North America due to climate change. Scientists have attributed the intensity of the storm to the prolonged drought conditions in West Texas, much as was the case in 2023. US and world capitalism have made no meaningful effort to stop or reverse the increasingly disastrous effects of climate change, with their own limited emission reduction pledgesif they even meet themprojected to result in more disastrous global warming. Haboobs form as a result of winds moving in a direction opposite to that of a thunderstorms path. Precipitation causes wind direction to reverse and blow most strongly in the direction the storm is heading, picking up dust and debris that can travel long distances. The haboob struck New Mexico and northern Mexico on Monday after moving through Arizona over the weekend, prompting officials to issue shelter-in-place orders. Visibility during the height of the storm was near zero. Multiple auto accidents were reported in the affected area, including one west of Phoenix, Arizona, in which four people died. Haboobs move quickly, making for dangerous driving conditions, with drivers advised to pull over and not attempt to outrun the storm. From 2007 to 2017, an estimated 232 people died in the US as a result of dust storm-related traffic accidents. No federal effort to quantify deaths beyond this period has been identified. The winds, along with dry conditions caused by an ongoing drought, created extreme fire danger in parts of the state. There were multiple house fires in San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon as wind-driven blazes broke out, forcing evacuations. The National Weather Service warned that extreme conditionshigh winds, low humidity, and warm temperaturesin West Texas would contribute to a high fire danger. In central Texas, there was an extreme risk of wildfires, and several fires broke out within the boundaries of Hays County, part of which lies in the Austin metro area. The winds knocked down power lines throughout the region. In Austin alone, over 31,000 customers lost power, highlighting the sorry state of the electrical infrastructure in the Texas capitala city dominated by the Democratsas well as in the state more generally. In 2021, the state grid went dark during Winter Storm Uri as a result of what a lawsuit alleges was market manipulation by gas companies, leading to 700 deaths. In the Dallas area in north Texas, small aircraft parked on the ground were flipped over. Over 500 flights were canceled at airports in the storms path. Ground stopsair traffic control orders requiring all aircraft to remain on the groundwere issued at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Visibility in downtown Dallas was reduced to two miles, with the city covered in an apocalyptic red fog. In Austin, the storm arrived just as the evening rush hour began, giving the sky an orange tint. Neither public officials nor the corporate media warned of possible health risks, which were downplayed and said to be of concern only for vulnerable populations or sensitive groups. These statements are made to give the false impression that the vast majority of people do not have to worry about the effects or take additional safety measures, which is not the case at all. In San Antonio, the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 110a level deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA establishes an AQI for five major pollutants, all of which are known to cause long-term, serious health conditions if present in significant concentrations. These five major pollutants are calculated individually to produce an index for each respective pollutant. The highest value among these five indexed values is then taken, and this becomes the AQI. In this case, PM2.5 had the highest value, so it determined the reported AQI. PM2.5dust particles of a size of 2.5 micrometerscan cause premature death in people with heart or lung disease, which includes 129 million Americans, or about two out of every five people in the country. Long-term exposure can cause or contribute to diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Young children, the elderly, the poor, and those with asthma are at elevated risk of illness and even death from poor air quality. As one 2018 study noted, Recent scientific studies have demonstrated that dust transmits measles virus, influenza virus, and Coccidioides immitis [the fungus that causes Valley fever], and that mortality in the United States increases following dust storms with 2-3-day lag periods. In Kansas in 1935, at the height of the Dust Bowl, one of the most severe measles outbreaks up to that point occurred, with more than 40,000 cases and 145 deaths in just over five months. Given the decreasing vaccination rates in Texas and other states, it cannot be ruled out that the dust storm contributed to the growing measles outbreak, which has infected hundreds and killed two people to date. In the Sahel region of West Africaa region also known as the meningitis belt, where half of all global meningitis cases occursevere bacterial meningitis epidemics from Streptococcus pneumoniae (the bacteria that causes strep throat and pneumococcal pneumonia) were found to be linked to dust storms as well as exposure to high temperatures. As the United Nations notes, sand and dust storms can cause respiratory diseases, heart disorders, and eye and skin irritation and can also spread other diseases, such as meningitis. With environmental conditions in Texas and other states in the Southwest becoming more and more like the Sahel, it is not unreasonable to expect that such effects will follow. A topic equally important to the health risks is the preventive measures that can be used to address themmeasures that were not even mentioned by authorities. It is necessary to go into some detail on this latter point, given the lack of information provided by the state or federal governments. N95 respirators are rated to filter out 95 percent of airborne PM2.5 (hence the name) and are an effective measure to mitigate inhaled dust and airborne pathogens such as those previously mentioned, if worn properly. Lower-quality masks such as KN95s, while still useful, are not nearly as effectiveeither because they provide a lower-quality seal on the face, meaning more unfiltered air infiltrates around the mask without passing through the filter media, or, as in the case of surgical and cloth masks, because of inferior filter media and an even poorer seal. When indoors, the use of MERV 13 or higher filters in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems can significantly reduce inhaled dust. The MERV 13 rating removes 85 percent of particles sized PM1 to PM3. However, some older HVAC units are unable to use these filters. High-Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) filters are rated to remove 99.97 percent of dust particles of size 0.3 microns and are available in standalone filters for indoor use. HEPA cabin air filters are also typically available for automobiles and can be found for under $20. Despite these widely available technical means to dramatically decrease or virtually eliminate the incidence of illness and death from dust and airborne diseases, barely any attempt was made at all by government agenciesor by either the Democrats or Republicansto inform the public of the dangers of the dust storms or the measures that could be taken to mitigate their effects, let alone to provide such technical means. The treatment of the health dangers posed by dust storms is very much in line with the treatment by the ruling class of the COVID-19 pandemic, measles epidemic, and bird flu. Attend the IYSSEs public meetings this week, Free Mahmoud Khalil!: Friday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at The Center (208 W 13th St., Room 310, New York City) and online Saturday with the Educators Rank-and-File Committee. Click here to register for the online meeting. A section of the protest in Foley Square New York City, March 12, 2025 Over 1,000 people gathered outside a New York City court to protest the kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident of the United States who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this past Saturday on orders from the Trump White House. Khalil, a 30-year-old graduate student at Columbia University, has not been charged with a crime, yet he is currently incarcerated in a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, over 1,000 miles from his home and pregnant wife, who is an American citizen. His kidnapping has provoked mass anger and protests throughout the United States and internationally. On Wednesday, reporters with the World Socialist Web Site spoke to several residents, students and educators in Foley Square in New York where a court hearing concerning Khalils arrest took place. John, a worker, came to the rally to defend democratic rights and protest against the fascist and lawless Trump administration. He noted that while a lot of things Trump says are stupid, workers needed to understand this guy is dangerous and everything he does and doesnt do is dangerous, with COVID, how he handled it, it is just we have to take him and what he does seriously. Rejecting Trumps attacks on immigrants, John noted, Trump and a lot of other people use fear and lies to manipulate. He observed, every one of us is an immigrant. If you are not a Native American, you are an immigrant. Your family came here for the same reason they are coming here right now. Instead of making it harder for them, we should find ways to make it easier for them to come instead of making it seem like theyre the problem. John said it was important to protest, but noted that protests have been going on for over a year with Gaza and the Palestinians and nothings happened. They are now not getting any food at all. We have to pay attention, he said. You know, our strongest documents as Americans say, We the people. And that should tell you everything we need to know, that we control this government. Even though Khalils arrest was ordered by the Trump White House, John noted that there were many reasons why the Democratic Party was also at fault. They dont respond to Trump, he said. A lot of them just act like theres no problem, and on top of that [the Democrats] are not really doing anything [for] us not helping us, you know, with the minimum wage or anything like that. A social justice worker at the rally with her friend told WSWS reporters, All of us are entitled to free speech. What they have done to Mahmoud Khalil shows they can do that to anyone right now. He deserves all of our support. It is ridiculous the reasons they use to kidnap and detain him. You are allowed to speak out. A critique of Israel is not a critique of Jews or the Jewish religion. It is a critique of the state of Israel. This is not antisemitism in the least. They are also trying to equate all Palestinians with Hamas. They are not all Hamas. We are not all Democrats or Republicans in this country. It is a false equivalency. [Israel] is being allowed to continue the attacks in Gaza. It is genocide in Gaza, and America is complicit. The American government is complicit. Biden did the same thing. It feels like the American government is delaying so Israel can clear out Gaza. It is wrong. It is all wrong. A young aspiring New York firefighter told the WSWS he stopped by the protest because, I have been supporting the movement and I have a lot of friends who really do support the Palestine movement. He admitted, I couldnt tell you the straight up definition of fascism, but what I will tell you is that coming from the point of view of a kid that lives in the Bronx, who is a first generation immigrant, who doesnt have that much money, I feel like theres definitely an imbalance of where the money that our country makes goes and it definitely shouldnt be going to the people who already have money. It shouldnt be being fed straight to them, you know? Another local resident said she came to the courthouse, because I believe in free speech. It doesnt matter whether or not you agree with whats being said, there has to be free speech in this country. Its a First Amendment right. She warned, Dont be complacent. Dont fool yourself. Its happening. This is what happened in Nazi Germany. Little by little. Little by little. Another protester told the WSWS, As my sign says, we are all Mahmoud. They are trying to take away our rights to protest. And if they get away with this, its going to be a symbol of their power. And they dont have it unless we cede it to them. A protester holds a sign in Foley Square that reads, "We are all Mahmoud." Asked to comment on the role of the Democratic Party, she responded, Im disgusted. At a separate rally in defense of Khalil on Monday, WSWS reporters spoke with a professor who teaches at the City University of New York (CUNY). She said, It is ridiculous what happened with Khalil. It is an illegal kidnapping of a former Columbia student. There are more protests happening because the institutions are not serving us. They are serving the oligarchy. I am disappointed with the unions and the Democrats over genocide. They are part of the oligarchy. My students, many who are immigrants, are coming to class, but in education, in CUNY, we are always having to fight against an austerity budget. Schools like mine are understaffed. All oppressive political systems attack education, whether banning books or discrimination and segregation in education. Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters [AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki] Oklahoma is moving to deny public education to undocumented children as part of the US ruling classs escalating attack on the working class. Last month, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters wrote to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond asking to clarify whether President Trumps executive order banning the use of federal funds to benefit undocumented immigrants, meant that undocumented immigrant children would be prohibited from going to public schools. Walters wrote that [t]axpayer dollars should be used to support the education of American students, not to subsidize or create a magnet for illegal immigration. Walters was asking a question he had already answered. He wants the go-ahead from the attorney general to overturn the precedent set down in the 1982 US Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe. That landmark case guaranteed access to and equal protection for undocumented children in public schooling. The facts of Plyler underscore that this is another effort to enshrine xenophobic reaction into law. In 1975, Texas revised its education code to bar local school districts from using state funds to educate children who were not legally admitted into the United States. The state denied such children enrollment in public schools. Texas argued that providing undocumented children a free public education was an incentive to illegal immigration and that spending public funds on undocumented children drained funds from the education of native-born children. The case made it to the Supreme Court after the district court ruled against Texas. The Supreme Court ruled that because undocumented children are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, they are afforded 14th Amendment equal protection rights. The Court concluded that by stripping undocumented children, an overwhelmingly poverty-stricken group, of access to free public education, the state would be condemning them to the status of a permanent underclass. The Court upheld democratic traditions that were secured through blood and sacrifice in the Civil War that overthrew the slave power and ended slavery. These rights, codified in the post-Civil War 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, are under attack by the Trump administration. Most pertinent to the Plyler ruling and Oklahomas attempt to overturn it is the 14th Amendment, which enshrined birthright citizenship, due process and equal protection under the law. In the Plyler case, Texas attempted to argue that because undocumented persons are here contrary to the law, they cannot avail themselves of the laws protection. The Supreme Court instead noted that many of Texass objections had been raised in congressional debate surrounding the post-Civil War amendments and were rejected. Persons... subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, the Court ruled, included any person, alien or not, who is present within the United States and subject to its lawsotherwise stated, anyone who is not under a diplomatic mission. While the Court upheld these democratic traditions, it declined to recognize education as a fundamental right. Nevertheless, public education has deep roots running through the founding of the United States. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was deeply involved in the creation of public education in the fledgling nation. His vision of education was secular and free from religious indoctrination. After the Civil War, Jeffersons vision evolved into the idea of free public education for all children as a way to promote participation in the newly expanded democracy. The Oklahoma advisory question is a direct attack on the rights upheld in Plyler. It recalls the fight against California Ballot Proposition 187 (Prop 187), which sought to stop the use of state services by any undocumented person. That would have stripped undocumented children of access to free public education by forcing them to pay tuition. Prop 187 passed by nearly 60 percent under a barrage of racist propaganda. As the dust settled, the federal courts struck it down and a Democratic governor, Gray Davis, was elected who chose to let the case die rather than defend it. This allowed the Democrats to falsely posture as defenders of immigrants. The defense of public education and the rights of immigrants cannot be left to the feckless Democrats. As the Obama era showed, Democrats, with the complicity of the trade union bureaucracies, have collaborated in the privatization of public education. The only social force capable of defending and expanding these basic social rights is the working class. The organization of independent rank-and-file committees in workplaces, schools and neighborhoods is an urgent and necessary step to wage this most essential struggle. Attend the IYSSEs public meetings this week, Free Mahmoud Khalil!: Friday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at The Center (208 W 13th St., Room 310, New York City) and online Saturday with the Educators Rank-and-File Committee. Click here to register for the online meeting. A crowd gathers in Foley Square, outside the Manhattan federal court, in support of Mahmoud Khalil, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in New York [AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah] As a federal judge held the first court hearing Wednesday on the arrest and detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, the Trump administration effectively admitted that Khalil had committed no crime and was being targeted for detention and deportation solely because of his expressed opposition to US foreign policy in relation to the Israeli war in Gaza. A statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited his authority under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act (also known as the McCarran-Walter Act, a notorious piece of McCarthyite legislation), to order the revocation of a legal US residents green card if that persons continued presence in the country would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. Khalil entered the US legally in 2022 on a student visa, taking classes as a graduate student at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs. A Palestinian born in a refugee camp in Syria, who now holds Algerian citizenship, Khalil subsequently married a US citizen and received a green card, making him a permanent legal resident. He completed his work on his masters degree in December and expected to graduate in May. At the hearing Wednesday, while over a thousand supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse in support of Khalil, Federal District Judge Jesse Furman offered to allow Khalils attorneys to argue the merits of their habeas corpus request immediately, but they declined because the immigration authorities have refused to allow them to consult privately with their client. Attorney Ramzi Kassem argued in court that Khalil was targeted for his advocacy for Palestinian rights. Removing him to Louisiana and monitoring his phone calls impedes our ability to defend him, he said. Authorities at the private prison, run by GEO Corp., said that a private phone call to Khalil would not be available until March 20, nearly two weeks after his arrest. Judge Furman ordered that Khalils attorneys be given private access to him both Wednesday and Thursday, and set Friday for a further hearing on the schedule for dealing with the major constitutional and legal issues posed in the case. The judge previously ordered the government not to deport Khalil pending the resolution of the case before him. Assistant US attorney Brandon Waterman, representing the Trump administration, conceded that Khalil could not be deported until after the federal case was decided. But he argued for a change of venue to a federal court either in New Jersey, where Khalil was first taken after his arrest, or in Louisiana, where he is now being held, in a transparent effort to separate him from the community in and around Columbia University, where his wife and supporters live. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicated it was going ahead with a deportation hearing before an immigration judge, separate from the federal habeas corpus proceeding. The deportation hearing is now set for March 27. At a news conference after the brief court hearing, Kassem declared: What happened to Mahmoud Khalil is nothing short of extraordinary and shocking and outrageous He was taken by US government agents in retaliation, essentially, for exercising his first amendment rights, for speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, for being critical of the US government and of the Israeli government. Khalils removal to Louisiana was further retaliation, the attorney added. Khalil played a prominent role in anti-genocide protests at Columbia last April, but was never arrested or charged with any crime. He served as an interlocutor between the students who set up a tent encampment on the campus and the university authorities. The blatantly political character of his arrest has provoked widespread condemnation from civil liberties and immigrants rights groups. Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement: The arrest, detention, and attempted deportation of a prominent Palestinian human rights activist for his constitutionally protected activity that the administration disagrees with is not only patently unlawful, it is a further dangerous step into modern-day McCarthyist repression. The courts must stop this lawlessness before this chilling form of repression expands further. The brazen attack on free speech has produced two different reactions within the Democratic Partyor rather, a division of labor among the Democrats as they seek to head off the threat of mass protests developing in the direction of an outright revolt against ICE, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Trump administration as a whole. A relative handful of congressional Democrats, including Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, have issued denunciations of the arrest of Khalil as a threat to the democratic rights of all Americans. Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, issued a letter of protest calling the arrest a attempt to criminalize political protest and a direct assault on freedom of speech. But this was co-signed by only 13 other representatives out of the 215 in the Democratic caucus. The congressional Democratic leadership, headed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both from New York, issued mealy-mouthed statements that began with denunciations of the campus protests against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, and of Khalils political views. Schumer wrote on social media Tuesday that, while he may abhor many of the opinions and policies that Mahmoud Khalil holds and supports, his arrest and detention might not be justified. If the administration cannot prove he has violated any criminal law to justify taking this severe action and is doing it for the opinions he has expressed, then that is wrong, he wrote. Jeffries suggested that Columbia University, rather than immigration authorities, should carry out the repression of Khalil. To the extent his actions were inconsistent with Columbia University policy and created an unacceptable hostile academic environment for Jewish students and others, there is a serious university disciplinary process that can handle the matter, he said. Unless the DHS could produce facts and evidence of criminal activity, the arrest was wildly inconsistent with the United States Constitution. The front-runner for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, former governor Andrew Cuomo, issued a vitriolic denunciation of the campus protests as antisemitism, adding that I unequivocally condemn it. He would only advise that the Trump administration move cautiously: The rule of law matters and we must never forget that regardless of the political view expressed, however abhorrent. The viciously right-wing character of the Democratic Party response only underscores that American society has reached a turning point. As the World Socialist Web Site editorial board warned after Khalils arrest: No one should underestimate the scale of this assault on democratic rights. This is the rule of the oligarchy in action. The greatest mistake would be to place any faith in the Democratic Party or the trade union apparatus. The fight to free Mahmoud Khalil is an inseparable part of the broader struggle against the dictatorship of the financial oligarchy. The working class must intervene with its own independent strength to defend democratic rights and oppose the turn to war and dictatorship. No one in Russia expected two months ago that Donald Trump would announce so many concessions to the Kremlin and humiliate Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskiy on live television. But the perfect idyll between the U.S. president and Vladimir Putin has suddenly been shattered with Washingtons proposal of a 30-day truce and a re-armed Kyiv. Many Russians are now once again convinced that the reviled United States remains the same enemy as ever. The Kremlin will take its time to respond. But it will be difficult to simultaneously please Trump, who urgently wants to put the Ukraine issue behind him, and the hundreds of thousands of Russians who have sacrificed their lives for Putins crusade in Ukraine. We are open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration regarding the Ukrainian conflict. The most important thing is to address the root causes of this crisis. We will fight for the interests of Russia, of the Russian people; this is the goal and meaning of the special military operation, the president said on February 23, the day before the third anniversary of the war. We will not give up what is ours, Putin promised the widows and mothers of his soldiers again last week. The president made a surprise visit to a command center for his forces in the Kursk region on Wednesday. He did so dressed in a military uniform, an unusual sight for the president, just as the offer of a ceasefire is on the table. There, he ordered his army to crush what remains of the Ukrainian forces that invaded Kursk in August, according to the news agency Efe, and where Russia claims to have regained control of 86% of the occupied territory. Russian authorities and their propaganda have cautiously taken up the gauntlet thrown down by Washington. Only a few politicians have dared to point out that Trumps proposal contradicts, a priori, the Kremlins rhetoric of recent months in favor of achieving each and every one of its objectives in Ukraine. Any agreement will be on our terms, not American ones, emphasized Konstantin Kosachev, Vice-President of the Federation Council and Senate, before arguing that Russian troops hold the initiative on the battlefield. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hinted that Moscow will decide what is appropriate without taking into account the other parties in the conflict. Russias position is not formed abroad through agreements or efforts by other parties. Russias position is formed within the Russian Federation, she said in an interview. Russian government sources cited by Reuters and Bloomberg believe it is unlikely that Putin will accept a ceasefire that would benefit Ukraine more than Russia. Putin is in a strong position because Russia is on the offensive, said one of Reuters contacts. They have disguised the resumption of rearmament as an offer of a ceasefire, added another source. Putin long ago prepared his economy for a long war. Political scientist Ivan Preobrazhensky believes the Kremlin is seeking concessions in this phase of negotiations, such as hampering Ukraines defensive capabilities or getting Kyiv to recognize the occupied territories, but it will not give up on its ultimate goal of having Ukraine within its sphere of influence. I think Putin hasnt yet decided whether he will initiate full-fledged peace negotiations. Hes probably unsure whether to end the war, the analyst told this newspaper last week. Yes, but Russias response to the ceasefire proposal should not be no, but yes, but, former Putin adviser Dmitry Markov wrote on his Telegram channel. That is, accepting the 30-day ceasefire on the condition that an embargo on arms supplies to Ukraine is introduced for the same period, the expert explains. Markov remains undecided on which choice the Russian president will make. The expert emphasizes that several factors are working against a ceasefire. Among them, Russias advances on the front, there is no trust in the West, and Putin and all Russian leaders have said many times that Russia needs a lasting peace, not a truce. In favor of a ceasefire, according to the analyst, would be the lifting of sanctions and the fact that Trump wants peace and deals can be made with him. The Russian president has always spoken abstractly about the objectives of his special military operation so that he can justify his victory in the future, regardless of its scope. His major 2022 offensive threatened Kyiv, Odessa, and Kharkiv before its failure. Today, his troops are dislodging Ukrainian forces from Kursk, Russian territory, while the campaign in eastern Ukraine has stalled for months and has not reached Pokrovsk. In any case, Putin has hinted that he wants the total demilitarization of Ukraine and a Kremlin-friendly governmentwhat he calls denazification, despite considering the elections won by Petro Poroshenko in 2014 and Zelenskiy in 2019 legitimate. The issue for the Kremlin is that with Trump, it suddenly has at the helm of the White House a politician who, to some extent, shares his 19th-century worldview: great powers treat other countries as if they were pieces on a chessboard, not sovereign states. Ukraine, like Greenland, Panama, the Arctic, or Eastern Europe, is part of the Great Game, the expression Rudyard Kipling used to define the contest between the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom to colonize Central Asia. The Kremlin doesnt want to anger Trump. And the negotiations have been divided between discussions about the future of Ukraine, on the one hand, and Russian-U.S. relations, on the other. The U.S. president announced this Wednesday that a delegation was heading to Moscow. Six members of the Russian government told the independent newspaper The Moscow Times that Russia wants to arrange a personal meeting between Trump and Putin in a third country in April or May. Washington could lose motivation [toward Moscow]. Opponents of rapprochement with us have become more active in the White House, and the Europeans are trying to dissuade Trump, one of the sources told the newspaper. However, the United States remains the enemy Putin has blamed so far for the war unleashed against Ukraine. Rhetoric against Washington, Russias return to the status of a nuclear power that challenges the Americans head-on, has been the leitmotif of unity around Putin. A new betrayal by Trump after making concessions would greatly damage the Russian leaders image among nationalists. Its worth remembering that Trump was hailed by the Kremlin in 2016 and later reviled for tightening sanctions. A couple of months ago, the Kremlin instructed its propaganda outlets to applaud the new U.S. administrations approach, according to several employees who spoke to the independent outlet Viortska. However, the U.S. ceasefire proposal has proved too much for nationalism, and Z channels, Russian bloggers, and war correspondents have fiercely criticized the idea. Shove your peace initiatives up your ass now. Last year, the conditions for a ceasefire were met, and you responded with an invasion, Kyiv correspondent Alexander Kots told his half-million followers. Later, well say we were tricked, added another war correspondent, Boris Rozhin. Washington is resuming its military support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In other words, it is once again directly declaring its participation in the war against Russia, noted pro-war blogger Alexei Zhivov. Other influential channels called the truce a strategic mistake because it would do nothing to benefit the Russian military and would allow Ukraine to strengthen its presence in the Donbas. Beyond the weapons issue, some Russian military analysts fear that a truce will allow Ukraine to rebuild its personnel. The White House wants to give the Ukrainian Armed Forces time to recover their losses and have the opportunity to attack again, the Archangel Spetsnaz channel warns its 1.1 million followers, adding: They have suffered losses in both Donbas and the Kursk region. How can Zelenskiy demand peace on his own terms when the initiative has long been in our hands? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Join the upcoming online meeting of the Educators Rank-and-File Committee (US), Free Mahmoud Khalil! Mobilize the working class against Trumps dictatorship! Defend the right to public education! on Saturday, March 15, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti and other school board members on March 11, 2025 [Photo: DPSCD] The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) held its monthly board of education meeting Tuesday night as the Trump administration ramped up its dictatorial assault on free speech and the right to public education. The meeting took place as Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil continued to be held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana after being snatched from his New York home Saturday. Threatening mass arrests against all those opposing the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, Trump took credit for the seizure of the legal permanent resident, saying, This is the first arrest of many to come. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our countrynever to return. Shortly after the school board meeting began, news emerged that the federal Department of Education (ED) would be closed Wednesday for security reasons, and 1,314 employees would be fired. In a Fox News interview Tuesday evening, Education Secretary Linda McMahon acknowledged that the job cutswhich, combined with previous forced buyouts, would cut the ED workforce by halfwere part of plans to shut the nearly half-century-old federal department. The presidents directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know well have to work with Congress to get that accomplished, she said. According to a letter DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti sent to school employees last week, budget cuts being proposed by the Republican-controlled Congress would slash federal K-12 school funding by 25 percent. This includes cuts to Title 1 (students from low-income families), the possible elimination of Title 2 (professional development) and reductions in Title 3 (English-language learners) and Title 4 (incentives for student attendance, STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] and school support). Other cuts would hit free and reduced-price meals, and career, technical and early childhood programs, along with Pell Grants and other financial assistance for college students. The 50,000-student Detroit school district, which is already chronically underfunded and understaffed, could lose $30-$80 million a year as a result, Vitti said in his letter. A representative from the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) at the school board meeting said that up to $200 million could be cut, or 18 percent of the districts annual budget. Vitti announced at the meeting that the school boards finance committee was already reviewing potential cuts due the budget resolution in Congress. He said that a government shutdown, which could begin midnight Friday, would mean there would be no flow of dollars and the district would quickly exhaust whatever it had in its fund balance just to operate the district at the beginning of the next school year. I dont believe right now were looking at things like closing schools, he said, but there will be scenarios with maybe accelerating the phase out of schools, closing smaller high schools, and possibly looking at layoffs. In the 2023-24 school year, the board carried out $300 million in budget cuts, eliminating 300 jobs, including college transition advisers, school culture facilitators, and kindergarten paraeducators. Like school districts across the country, Detroit was hard hit by Bidens cut-off of federal COVID-19 school funds under Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER). During the public participation portion of the meeting, Jerry White, speaking on behalf of the Socialist Equality Party and the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Committee, addressed the audience and drew the connection between the illegal detention of Mahmoud Khalil and Trumps plans to destroy public education. White called the government abduction of Khalil a chilling attack on democratic rights that educators and all workers and young people must oppose. He added that Khalils shipment to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center 1,300 miles away and denial of any contact with family and legal representatives were the actions of a dictatorship, plain and simple. He continued: If the president can do this to a student for exercising free speech, why not to striking workers who are fighting job cuts, or to teachers and parents and students resisting the destruction of public education? White pointed to the mass firing of federal Department of Education employees and the severe cuts to schools, along with the funneling of billions to the privatization of schools. This means the destruction of public education, he said. In the face of this, he explained, the Democrats, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) were rolling over and collaborating in the cuts. But educators, parents and young people had to fight. We have to defend the right of our children to public education, White said to applause. We have to stop the looting of societys resources to fund more tax cuts to the rich and more wars. He concluded by urging workers to attend the online meeting this Saturday sponsored by the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Committee and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) to mobilize the working class to fight for Khalils release and the defense of public education and all social and democratic rights. In opposition to the do-nothing union bureaucracies, White said, rank-and-file committees are fighting to unite educators with autoworkers and every other section of the working class to fight for our rights. In her comments, DFT President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins said the slashing of funding for our children, our families in poverty, students with special needs, and youth seeking post-secondary training to benefit billionaires is unacceptable. But despite her claim that the AFT and DFT never roll over, Lumpkin could propose nothing other than making calls to the fascist in the White House and the social arsonists in Congress and the Michigan state legislature. Let your hurt, anger, frustration and feelings of betrayal be heard, she said. They work for us. She concluded by thanking Vitti and the other Democrats on the school board for supporting the DFTs toothless March4Education stunts last week, which involved wearing red shirts and urging parents to appeal to Congress. Such advice is worse that useless. Both the Republicans and the Democrats work for the corporate oligarchy, not the working class. Both parties have been waging a bipartisan war against public education for decades, including Obamas slashing of Title 1 funding, promotion of for-profit charter schools and attacks on teachers. Supporters of the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Committee distributed the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board statement demanding Mahmoud Khalils release and information about Saturdays online meeting. Tina, a veteran educator, told WSWS reporters that Trump was trying to run a dictatorship here in the US, and that many immigrant families were afraid of sending their children to school. She denounced the detention of Khalil and said: We were brought up to speak our mind, and its a free country, or at least we thought so. Im trying to teach my grandchildren to speak their minds, you know, living in the world today, its just hard. She continued, The only way to do this is to unite, adding that the billionaires are going to have a fight on their hands because were not going to let them take it. A handful of people hoarding the millions, billions of dollars in the world. Its not helping us, its not helping our children and future generations. She added that she and her husband, who is also a teacher, are out spending our hard-earned dollars, buying things for classrooms. If they funnel money into school vouchers for private education, she concluded, Where does that leave the poor kids, the ones who cant afford the rest of the tuition? It leaves us in a predicament where our kids dont get educated, and thats exactly what they want. They dont want us to have an education. Join the upcoming online meeting of the Educators Rank-and-File Committee (US), Free Mahmoud Khalil! Mobilize the working class against Trumps dictatorship! Defend the right to public education! on Saturday, March 15, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. Campus rally against job cuts at UTS, March 12, 2025 Approximately 200 people, mostly University of Technology Sydney (UTS) staff, joined a campus rally on Wednesday to fight threatened job cuts, including a delegation of about 50 staff from the nearby University of Sydney. UTS management wants to slash $100 million from the budget by 2027, mostly through staff cuts. That would require that close to 600 jobs be destroyed, about 20 percent of the workforce. The rally was told that management also wants to cancel any unit of study with less than 80 students enrolled. However, the speakers at the rally, called by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) UTS branch committee, covered up the causes of this assault, which is part of the destruction of over 2,000 jobs at Australian universities, especially in the humanities and arts. This includes up to 650 jobs at the Australian National University (ANU), 200 at the University of Canberra, at least 150 at the University of Wollongong and many more at other universities, such as Federation, James Cook, Southern Queensland, Griffith, La Trobe, Tasmania and Swinburne. That is a direct result of the Albanese Labor governments reactionary cuts to Chinese and other international student enrolments, on top of Labors deepening of the decades-long chronic under-funding of tertiary education. Acting in concert with the Liberal-National Coalition, the Labor government is slashing enrolments by up to 50,000 a year. Yet the Labor governments role was buried by the speakers at the UTS rally. NTEU Branch President Sarah Attfield, who chaired the rally, said: We dont know why the uni wants the cuts. NTEU UTS Branch President Sarah Attfield Attfield and the other NTEU representatives did not actually oppose the budget cuts. One speaker, James Goodman, stated: Our priority is to put up the alternatives. That is, not to oppose budget cuts, but to work with management to implement them. This was in line with the NTEUs email call for the rally, which blamed the cuts on mistakes by the University Leadership Team. It urged the vice-chancellor to share the financial details that would help staff understand how we got into this predicament, and let us co-develop plans to get us out. Another speaker, Paddy Gibson, a member of the pseudo-left Solidarity group and the NTEU branch committee, was equally silent on Labors cuts. He said that when management cut staff at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic it cost them money because they ended up hiring new staff to replace them. If they [management] are going to grow the uni, they need us, he said. UTS Student Association President Mia Campbell said the cuts were a management choice. She demanded that the UTS management engage in consultation before making any changes. Yasmin Johnson, from the pseudo-left Socialist Alternative student club, said the fact that international students were used as cash cows was partly the responsibility of university management and the government, but did not name Labor. A casual academic who led the chants at the rally called for staff to join the NTEU and prepare to strike, but said strikes would only be legal at the end of the year when the next enterprise bargaining period began. A University Academic Programs Office (UAPO) ex-staff member reported that her unit had been destroyed and replaced with AI, with six staff made redundant and two redeployed. Attfield called for staff to sign a petition to support the UAPO, even though the unit had already been dissolved. Far from any call for a unified fight across the country against Labors cuts, the rally concluded with Attfield asking: What next? Its all about you. She said staff members could do many things, such as wave a flag, put up a poster, have a conversation. The rally provided a warning of the role being played by the NTEU apparatus and its pseudo-left partners around the country in diverting and suppressing the opposition of university workers to Labors offensive. This is creating the conditions for university managements to proceed, including by using misnamed voluntary redundancy schemes to eliminate hundreds of jobs, with the help of the NTEU and the other main campus union, the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU). The ANU in Canberra has now opened such a scheme, with the intent of cutting $100 million from its staffing costs over the next 12 months, the equivalent of about 650 jobs. This is in addition to cutting operating costs by $150 million over the same period. Similarly, the University of Canberra (UC) plans to cut 120 professional staff jobs as well as 71 academic jobsalmost 200 in totalciting a $30 million deficit for the calendar year 2024. This is particularly revealing because UCs newly appointed vice-chancellor is ex-Labor leader and cabinet member Bill Shorten. Shorten boasted to the media last week that he was confident of turning around UCs financial difficulties by implementing the job cuts. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): That process started before I got here but we are determined to make sure that we have to do that sort of difficult stuff once and then we can just talk about growth. Shorten said he could not rule out more job cuts, but he did not want to see any more forced redundancies. That is a recipe for working with the union leaders to smother opposition by axing jobs via voluntary redundanciesa method repeatedly employed by the union bureaucrats, including Shorten himself, an ex-Australian Workers Union boss. Shorten was a key minister in the same Labor government that is responsible for the university sectors financial woes. He also served as a senior minister during the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments of 2007 to 2013, which imposed huge cuts to tertiary education funding as part of their education revolution. The University of Wollongong (UoW) management was one of the first to announce large job cuts flowing from Labors international student caps, also employing voluntary redundancies. In an interview with the ABC, Associate Professor Shoshana Dreyfus from UoW said: There is almost nothing about this that is voluntary. We are not waiting around to leave the university. The experience is pretty awful. Im now calling it forced voluntary redundancy. Entire teaching disciplines at UoW are being abolished or drastically reduced, including in languages, science and technology and cultural studies. Linguistics had two-thirds of its jobs cut, and Mathematics and Statistics lost 40 percent of its associate professor and professor roles. The university is cutting more than 90 academic positions, including via forced redundancies. In a further phase this month, professional staff positions will be cut. At Sydneys Macquarie University, a similar assault has been foreshadowed. At a meeting with staff, the vice-chancellor announced a process of repositioning and refocusing its workforce. Courses and programs of study that were deemed less attractive to students are under threat, as are the staff who teach in those programs. Universities Australia, the employers group, reported last year that funding for universities had fallen in real terms by $2 billion since 2020. The Labor government is using this financial squeeze to enforce its Universities Accord, which demands that universities subordinate both their teaching and research to the interests of big business and preparations for war, such as the AUKUS military pact. Nationally, the NTEU is trying to shield the Labor government by claiming that the avalanche of job cuts is due to mismanagement and excessive executive salaries. NTEU National President Alison Barnes said, for example: Whats unfolding at ANU is a direct result of a national university governance crisis, which allows unaccountable vice-chancellors on a million dollars a year to wreak havoc on our public institutions. A historic assault is also underway on free speech, with management at the University of Sydney and others moving to prohibit any form of political dissent on campus, particularly against the continuing US-backed Israeli atrocities in the Middle East. At Macquarie University, Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, a well-known sociologist, has become a prominent victim of an escalating witch hunt by the federal and state governments, corporate media and Zionist lobby groups against educators who oppose the genocide in Palestine. Opposition exists throughout the universities to the job destruction, course closures, pro-corporate restructuring and suppression of dissent. But the NTEU and CPSU leaders have for years opposed any unified fight by university staff and students. That is why we are calling for the formation of rank-and-file committees (RFCs) at every university. University staff, along with students, need to form their own organisations of struggle to develop and fight for demands based on the educational and financial needs of students and staff. To discuss these issues and how to form RFCs, please contact the Committee for Public Education (CFPE), the rank-and-file educators network: Contact the CFPE: Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/commforpubliceducation Twitter: CFPE_Australia Facebook: facebook.com/groups/opposeaeusellout The Trump administrations declaration that it will press ahead with a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminium from Australia has triggered panic and alarm in the political establishment. US President Donald Trump, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese [AP Photo/Brandon Bell, Mark Baker] For the first time since Trumps election in November and his inauguration in January, there is a clear rift between the Australian Labor government and the US administration, and open discussion in ruling circles over the viability of the American-Australian alliance. Australia is not unique, with the tariffs applying across the board. Numerous other US allies have thus also received a snub. The immediate economic hit is relatively limited, with Australian steel and aluminium exports to the US worth a modest $1 billion or so per year. However, the slap-down has vast political implications. Few imperialist powers in the world have tied their cart as closely to the American state as has the Australian ruling elite. For more than 80 years, the US has been Australias chief geopolitical ally. Its own predatory operations, particularly in the South Pacific, have been underwritten by the alliance and security guarantees ratified in instruments such as the ANZUS treaty. In recent years, the partnership has been taken to new heights, with Australia going all in with its support for the escalating US war drive against China. That has included a vast expansion of US basing and the increasing integration of the two countries armed forces, such that the American military-intelligence apparatus is a major presence both in Australian politics and on its soil. Under those conditions, the rejection of Australias request for an exemption and the manner in which it was delivered were clearly intended as a message that nothing could be taken for granted, and the new Trump administration would do things differently. During his first term in office, Trump had granted such an exemption to Australia in 2018, but no longer. When the tariffs were first unveiled in early February, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had a phone call with Trump in which the US leader agreed to give consideration to Australias exemption request. Albanese and other Labor ministers had noted the major US trade surplus with Australia, the deep-going security ties, the small scale of its exports to the US and the fact that one of its few steel manufacturers, BlueScope, has also developed operations in America. They talked up the prospects even as, on the very same day of the phone call, the proclamation of the tariffs was released, including a denunciation of Australian dumping of aluminium in the US market. In the lead-up to the finalisation of the tariffs yesterday, Albanese sought another phone call with Trump, but was rejected. He appears to have found out that there would be no exemption in the same way as everyone else, through a US media briefing. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the assembled press that Trump had considered the request and considered against it. There will be no exemptions. In the political equivalent of a middle-finger salute, she added: American-first steel. And if they want to be exempted, they should consider moving steel manufacturing here. Albanese has for weeks pledged to work as closely with Trump as possible, above all in the confrontation with China. He has refrained from criticising the fascist American leader on any issue, including his blatantly illegal declarations for ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the seizure of Canada and Greenland and sweeping attacks on democratic rights domestically. On this occasion, though, Albanese clearly had no choice. He described the tariffs as entirely unjustified and not a friendly act. They were, he said, against the spirit of our two nations enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefit of our economic partnership that has delivered over more than 70 years. Albanese has ruled out retaliatory measures. Striking a highly nationalistic and rather pathetic note, he called on citizens to purchase Australian rather than American soft drinks the next time they visited a supermarket. The muted response clearly expresses fears of a spiralling rift with Trump, if there were a stronger Australian reaction. As is often the case, junior representatives of the government were deployed to send a blunter message, with Industry Minister Ed Husic accusing Trump of having perpetrated a dog act. The most immediate consequence of the US rejection is that the questions of foreign policy and relations with the Trump administration have become an election issue. Labor, together with the Liberal-National Coalition opposition, had intended to avoid them in the official campaign. With an election due in May, both are in a major crisis, with neither likely to be able to form a majority government. They had hoped to exclude the issues of foreign policy from the poll, because their policies, including support for the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza and a massive increase in military spending, are deeply unpopular. Neither party, moreover, has been able to formulate any coherent response to the destabilising consequences of Trumps America First program, except to pledge to hew as closely as possible to the US president. Coalition leader Peter Dutton has sought to make political capital out of the US rejection, accusing Albanese of being weak with Trump and denouncing his failure to seek an in-person meeting with the US president. Dutton has claimed that he would be able to secure an exemption, but as various media commentators have noted, literally no world leader has achieved such an accomplishment. The somewhat confused and agitated political jockeying is only a surface reflection of far deeper currents that are raising existential questions for Australian imperialism and its representatives. Having based their operations entirely on the stability and seeming permanence of the US-Australia alliance, there is a sense that the ground is giving way beneath them. The question of whether the Australian ruling class can rely on Washington, as it has for decades, is being widely discussed. An article by the Sydney Morning Heralds international editor Peter Hartcher summed up the moods. Hartcher, an anti-China hawk with close ties to the military-intelligence establishment in both Australia and the US, has been a devoted promoter of the alliance, but perhaps no longer. Australia, he wrote, must reassess its relationship with the US. Hartcher added: Trump has given Australia a timely reminder of the advice of the 19th century British prime minister Lord Palmerstonnations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests. He then declared that Trumps geopolitical gyrations, including the shift away from the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, had gone further than Palmerstons aphorism, indicating that the US may not even have permanent interests. A particular cause of concern is the AUKUS pact with the US and the UK. It is a cockpit for planning war with China and for a vast militarisation throughout the Indo-Pacific, including Australia. Under AUKUS, Australia is to acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the US, and then to jointly build craft with Britain, at a cost of $368 billion. As part of the pact, Australia has agreed to fund the US shipbuilding industry to the tune of $US3 billion. Defence Minister Richard Marles handed over $500 million to the US, as the first installment, only weeks before the tariff slap-down. In comments to the Herald, Admiral Chris Barrie, former head of the Australian Defence Force, said that the US had become an unreliable ally. Barrie recalled Britain having sold dreadnought battleships to the Ottoman Empire, before forcefully repossessing them when World War I began. The US could do the same. It is important for us to develop a plan B because of the real possibility the US will never give us the submarines because they need them for themselves, he stated. The issue goes beyond AUKUS. As a middle-order imperialist power, the Australian state has always advanced its own interests under the umbrella of the dominant power of the day. First, Britain and then, amid its decline, a Labor government shifted primary allegiance to the US in 1941 during World War II. Now, however, with the US alliance potentially shaky, there is no obvious replacement. Britain, whatever its aspirations, is economically and militarily incapable of playing a dominant world role. The European powers, such as Germany and France, while rapidly remilitarising and pushing their interests, including in opposition to Trump, have a negligible presence in the Indo-Pacific. Based on its whole history and its position in the global economy, China, despite its massive economic growth, is not an imperialist power. It is locked out of control of the imperialist institutions of finance capital, still dominated by the US and to a lesser extent Europe. In addition to the strategic uncertainty, Australias economy is extremely vulnerable to the global shocks. After decades of the destruction of manufacturing and industry, it is largely an extractive and service economy. Some 32 percent of all Australian exports went to China in 2023. But China is the central target of the US trade war, raising the prospects of a reduction in demand. On the other hand, the US is the largest source of direct foreign investment in Australia, accounting for roughly a quarter of the total. The economic and trade relations will inevitably be impacted by the geopolitical and economic upheavals that are underway. The contradiction between Australias trade dependency on China and its commitment to Washingtons confrontation with Beijing will only become more acute. Australias integration into those war plans, including the stationing of US strike assets on the continent, is so far advanced as to be potentially irreversible. The ruling elite and its political representatives have no clear answer to the fundamental dilemmas they face. But they do have a program. The discussion over the US alliance has included an insistence in the financial press that the uncertainties require a massive productivity drivei.e., an increase in the exploitation of the working class, as well as budget repair, through sweeping cuts to social spending. At the same time, they have insisted that in this situation, military spending, already at record levels, must be increased by tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. Elevenlabs AudioNative Player Join the upcoming online meeting of the Educators Rank-and-File Committee (US), Free Mahmoud Khalil! Mobilize the working class against Trumps dictatorship! Defend the right to public education! on Saturday, March 15, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. Teachers and school workers with the Los Angeles Unified School District rally in downtown Los Angeles, May 7, 2024. The World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party urge teachers and workers across the United States to prepare mass actions, up to and including coordinated strikes at school districts across the country and in other industries, to stop Trumps plans to dismantle the Education Department (ED) and all other federal social programs. This must be prepared from below through the formation of rank-and-file strike committees independent of the sellout union apparatus, which is attempting to limit workers to pointless letter-writing campaigns. On Tuesday, the Department of Education announced it would eliminate nearly half its workforce, laying off roughly 1,950 employees. This is part of Trumps broader effort to illegally dismantle the department, circumventing the federal laws that established it. The immediate consequence of the cuts will be devastating. The employees being eliminated play different roles, with many concentrated in the distribution of federal loans to students and grants to the states. These layoffs are only part of a massive assault on education as a whole, including hundreds of billions in cuts to aid low-income families and other support programs as part of the budget currently working its way through Congress. In tandem with the attacks on the ED, the US Department of Agriculture announced it is slashing funding for free school lunch programs for impoverished students. The attack on the ED is part of a broader strategy to privatize education through school vouchers and charter schools. Essential social programs relied on by tens of millions of people are being gutted overnight. The House funding bill proposes devastating cuts, including $880 billion from Medicare and Medicaid and $230 billion from food stamps and other vital social programs. Billionaire fascist Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is also taking aim at Social Security. With consummate hypocrisy, this crypto swindler and stock market speculator has attacked the program as the biggest ponzi scheme ever. The attack on public education marks the Trump White House as a government of, by and for the corporate oligarchy. Through savage spending cuts it is seeking to reduce the government to the bodies of armed men and prisons of all kinds described by Friedrich Engels as the essence of the capitalist state. Trillions of dollars are being redirected from the working class to prop up Wall Street and to prepare for war. This is bound up with Trumps attack on democratic rights, including the arrest and planned deportation of Mahmoud Khalil for participating in anti-genocide demonstrations at Columbia University. Trump is establishing the framework for a dictatorship to crush all resistance from below. Thomas Jefferson described an educated and informed populace as a bulwark against tyranny. This is precisely why the new tyrants are trying to dismantle public eduation. Trump and the oligarchy are determined to tear up 250 years of progressincluding the expansion of education after the Civil War to educate freed slaves and its further expansion as a result of the struggles of the working class. The fight against Trumps bid for dictatorship must be combined with a fight to free the working class from the grip of corrupt union officials and the Democratic Party, who are complicit in Trumps attacks on the working class. The SEP and the WSWS call for rank-and-file committees of educators, students and working class parents to organize nationwide action. They must not wait for permission from abovewhich will never cometo begin such a life-and-death struggle. The Democratic Partys contrived cowardice, including the pitiful display of sign-waving during Trumps joint address to Congress, is designed to distract from the fact that it supports the aims of his domestic policies. Last year, President Biden allowed $190 billion in supplemental COVID-19 funding to lapse, creating fiscal cliffs in all major school districts leading directly to school closures. Moreover, the Democrats are continuing to work with the Republicans, including genuine antisemites, to crush campus protests against the Gaza genocide and slander them as antisemitic. The erosion of public education in Detroit, Chicago and other major cities has taken place primarily under the watch of the Democratic Party. At the national level, the attack on public education under Biden was preceded by Obamas Race to the Top program, which involved the elimination of hundreds of thousands of teachers jobs. The Democrats agree on the need to reduce the federal debt and free up resources for war at the expense of the working class. This is why they suddenly find their voice when it comes to continuing the proxy war in Ukraine. The only major disagreements they have with the Republicans relate to the geopolitical strategy of US imperialismover which regions of the world to conquer first. They are prepared to give Trump everything else. The role of the union bureaucracy is marked by the same contrived cowardice. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have issued hand-wringing statements, yet they merely urge workers to write letters to Congress. What they will not doand what they act far more decisively and ruthlessly to try to preventis a nationwide strike by millions of educators and the more than 14 million union members across the country. The bureaucracy, which long ago abandoned even limited opposition to exploitation, draws six-figure salaries in exchange for enforcing labor peace. To defend their interests, which are totally opposed to those of the workers they claim to represent, many union bureaucrats are openly embracing Trump and fascism. In a recent editorial on MSNBCs website, AFT President Randi Weingarten postured as an opponent of the Education Department cuts, even as she declared her willingness to work with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a billionaire who was appointed for the sole purpose of abolishing the department she now leads. Weingarten presented cuts to education as a national security issue, implicitly lining up with Trumps trade wars by arguing that the cuts will weaken Americas ability to compete against its adversaries. Weingarten is a highly placed political operative, traveling from Israel to Ukraine in support of US militarism. She worked 15 hours a day forcing the reopening of schools, against overwhelming opposition from teachers and parents, during the height of the pandemic. This brought her into contact with open anti-vaxxers now in and around the Trump administration. The working class must intervene! Trumps social counter-revolution and dictatorial measures are provoking and will provoke mass opposition. The conditions exist to unite educators with federal workers, healthcare workers confronting the destruction of public health, manufacturing workers being hit by tariffs and job cuts, and students opposing war and the attack on democratic rights. Major struggles by educators are pending in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and other cities as the Democrats implement these cuts on the local level. The development of rank-and-file committees, independent of the trade union apparatus, will unite teachers, students, parents, federal workers, healthcare workers, autoworkers, and every other section of the working class in a coordinated struggle against Trumps mass layoffs, the destruction of social programs, and the privatization of public education. Rank-and-file committees will serve as the means by which workers can exchange information, organize across workplaces and regions, and prepare for powerful, collective action, including nationwide strikes. These committees must also unite the fight to defend public education with the struggles of immigrant workers facing deportation, industrial workers fighting layoffs and unsafe conditions, and healthcare workers opposing attacks on Medicaid and Medicare. Trumps apparent strength comes from the character of his official opponents. But the working class, the most powerful social force in history, can sweep away this filth once it recognizes its strength and knows how to use it. This requires that workers understand they are in a fight not just against Trump, but against the entire capitalist profit system that has produced him, and which is incompatible with the most basic interests of the vast majority of the population. Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi [Photo: Dr Jay Ramasubramanyam] In a blatant attack on free speech and due process rights, Yale University suspended international law scholar and pro-Palestinian activist Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi on Tuesday, based on a smear campaign launched by an artificial intelligence-powered Zionist news website called Jewish Onliner. Doutaghi, an Iranian-born academic who became Deputy Director of the Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project at Yale in 2023 and also held the position of Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School (YLS), was notified on March 3 of a post on Jewish Onliner that claimed she was a terrorist. YLS did not defend her but proceeded within 24 hours to place Doutaghi on administrative leave, revoked her access to email and banned her from Yales campus. The university administration gave her only a few hours notice to attend an interrogation based on the far-right Al-generated allegations against her. She was then subject to a barrage of harassment, death threats and online attacks by right-wing supporters of Zionism and the Gaza genocide. As Doutaghi explained in a post on X on Tuesday afternoon, I endured all of this while fasting, and my request for religious accommodations during Ramadan was dismissed. I was afforded no due process and no reasonable time to consult with my attorney. Rather than investigate the source of these allegations first, the nations top law school accepted them at face value and shifted the burden of proof from the accuser to the accused, treating me, prima facie, as guilty until proven otherwise. Whether Yale Law Schools attorneys knowingly relied on AI-fabricated claims or simply chose willful ignorance remains unanswered. The individual selected by Yale Law School to interrogate Doutaghi was David Ring of the law firm Wiggin and Dana, a known supporter of Zionism, a US State Department appointee and advocate for defense contractors that have profited from war crimes against Palestinians. As Doutaghi explained, When I raised my concerns about the potential conflict of interests posed by his participation in this process, YLS dismissed them, stating there was no concern with his ability to conduct a fair interview. It is reprehensible that YLS would appoint a counsel who profits from the machinery of Palestinian death to interview an employee about their public anti-genocide and pro-Palestine positions. Doutaghi wrote that YLSs primary concern with maintaining the approval of the Zionist backers who bankroll their complicity in genocide led the organization to pressure me into an interrogation that I had every reason to believe was designed not to uncover the truth, but to justify a predetermined outcome. According to a report in the New York Times, the official reason Yale has given for the attacks on Doutaghis rights is that she was tied to entities subject to U.S. sanctions. The Times report said this was an apparent reference to Samidoun, a pro-Palestinian group placed on the US sanctions list last year, after the Treasury Department designated it a sham charity raising money for a terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. However, no opportunity to refute the allegations made by Jewish Onlinerwhich accused Doutaghi of being a member of a terrorist organizationwas afforded before the Yale administration took punitive actions against her. The attack on Doutaghi, 30, is among the latest in the offensive launched by fascist President Donald Trump against student and faculty activists on university campuses across the country aimed at intimidating and silencing opposition to the US-backed genocide in Gaza. It comes within days of the kidnapping and illegal detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident of the United States, who was an activist in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University during the previous academic year. Khalil was seized on Saturday night in the lobby of his residential building by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents and transported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Louisiana. On Monday, the US Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 colleges and universities, warning that they are under investigation for alleged violations related to antisemitic harassment and discrimination. Meanwhile, the lie that pro-Palestinian protesters are antisemitic is being supported by the entire US political establishment and repeated endlessly by the corporate media without substantiation. It is within this atmosphere of hysteria and lies that the fascist Trump White House is blatantly violating the fundamental democratic rights of those who are being accused of breaking the law. Among the techniques being used is the so-called Catch and Revoke initiative of the US State Department, which employs artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor and revoke visas of foreign nationals, particularly student visa holders, who are accused of being members or supporters of designated terrorist organizations. In a statement on March 6, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spelled out the administrations attack on basic rights contained in the Catch and Revoke program, Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security. The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists. Violators of US lawincluding international studentsface visa denial or revocation, and deportation. In other words, once someone has been labeled as such by the White Houseregardless of facts, evidence or proofthey will be fired, kidnapped, detained and/or deported by the US government against their rights. As Doutaghi explained in her post: It should cause profound concern to all defenders of free speech that those infamous words, Are you now or have you ever been a member of ... are once again becoming a common refrain. We are entering an era of Zionist McCarthyisma time when dissent is invariably met with crackdown, careers are destroyed for speaking the truth, and the mere act of standing in solidarity with Palestine liberation is treated as a crime. Just as McCarthyism sought to crush anti-imperialist resistance through fear and repression, this new iteration aims to silence, intimidate, and purge those who challenge Zionist settler-colonialism and U.S. imperialism. It is the method of the political witch hunt that is being revived by the Trump administration, which is aimed at suppressing all opposition to the fascist program being pursued both within the US and internationally. These measures are being taken amidst a deepening economic and political crisis as well as growing mass opposition, as Doutaghi wrote in her concluding comment, This is not a display of strength; it is the last refuge of a crumbling orderan empire in decline, resorting to brute repression to stifle and crush those who expose its unraveling hegemony. Eric Lee, the attorney who also represented Will Lehman in his challenge to the 2022 UAW election, is representing Doutaghi. Lee issued a statement on Tuesday which explained the sequence of events that clearly violate the law scholars rights: I was retained by Dr. Doutaghi in the late morning of March 3. At roughly 2:30 pm that afternoon, I received an email from Yales office of general counsel linking to the Jewish Onliner article and indicating that Dr. Doutaghi was being investigated as a result of that article. I was then contacted by Yales outside counsel who insisted that Dr. Doutaghi agree to an interview that same afternoon. I asked for a discussion with outside counsel, and we spoke at 4 pm. I inquired as to what procedures would be in place for the interview and explained that due to previously planned meetings, I would not be able to participate in an interview that same afternoon. Outside counsel asked me to send an email proposing next steps, which I did at 5:30, roughly one hour after our phone call ended. In that email I indicated that we were requesting a brief religious accommodation due to the fact that Dr. Doutaghi had been fasting for Ramadan while enduring intense harassment and violence online and would be better prepared to discuss next steps the following day after Dr. Doutaghi received a good nights sleep. At the same time, I sent this email, I received an email from Yales office of general counsel indicating Dr. Doutaghi was placed on administrative leave for allegedly failing to respond to the interview request. Lees preliminary investigation showed that Jewish Onliner had been exposed by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in January 2025 to be a type of AI-generated bot that spreads misinformation to counter pro-Palestinian speech online, and that it may have ties to the Israeli government and military. Lee wrote to Yale on March 4, asking (1) whether they were aware of the illegitimacy of the source, (2) if not, whether they had taken any steps to determine the legitimacy of the source before rushing to judgment against Dr. Doutaghi, and (3) whether the rush to force Dr. Doutaghi into an immediate interview was aimed at preventing us from having time to investigate the legitimacy of the source. Yale declined to answer these questions. Lee concluded his statement with an explanation for why both Yale and the Trump administration are carrying out the attack on democratic rights and then issued a call to action against it: Yale is bending the knee to Trumps effort to suppress free speech, crush academic freedom and establish a dictatorship. Whether he succeeds will depend entirely on the response of the population. We urge everyone to stand up and come to the defense of Dr. Doutaghi and the democratic principles of free speech and due process which are fundamental to us all. We repeat our demand that Yale reinstate Dr. Doutaghi, give her access to campus and email, and take public action to restore her credibility and reputation. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to establish a Chilcot-style inquiry into the UKs involvement in Israels assault on Gaza. Corbyns letter to Starmer on March 3, (published on his X account), cites the human cost of Israels military onslaught, including an estimated 61,000 Palestinians dead, pointing out that top Israeli officials are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He wrote to Starmer: Britain has played a highly influential role in Israels military operations, citing the use of RAF bases in Cyprus and the supply of weapons and intelligence. Corbyns letter draws a direct connection between Britains role in Gaza and its support in 2003 for the illegal invasion of Iraq, both carried out in defiance of mass popular opposition: In the aftermath of the Iraq War, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of British military operations. The then government resisted these attempts, but could not prevent the publication of a wide-ranging report led by Sir John Chilcot. Published in 2016, the report found serious failings within the British government, which ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war. History is repeating itself. He concludes: Our concerns have routinely been met with evasion and silence. We need a full, public, independent inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth. Corbyn is acting, as he did in relation to the Iraq War, to conceal every fundamental lesson that must be drawn by the working class from British imperialisms naked support for genocide, collective punishment, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. In both instances he has sought to protect the Labour Party by offering a political safety valve. His cowardly letter refrains from naming Tony Blairs Labour government (referring only to the then government) that co-authored the illegal invasion of Iraq alongside the United States and then stonewalled demands for an inquiry for six years. Corbyn has stepped forward with his proposal for a Chilcot-style inquiry at a critical juncture, marked by a new stage of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from Gaza, enforced through a total blockade of food, water, fuel and electricity, and escalating military bombardment of the West Bank. This barbaric denouement, backed by the Starmer Labour government, has underscored the abject failure of the political strategy insisted on by Corbyn and the leadership of the Stop the War Coalition: that mass protests can pressure Labour to oppose Israels military onslaught. While Corbyn holds out a Chilcot-style inquiry as a political beacon, what are its lessons? What would a repeat of the Chilcot Inquiry mean for the struggle against genocide, militarism and war? The Chilcot Inquiry was finally agreed by Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009. Seven years later, long after the fall of Browns government to the Tories, its findings exposed that UK government officials led by Prime Minister Blair manufactured claims about Iraqs Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) to make the case for war. Blairs liesdescribed euphemistically by Chilcot as flawed intelligencewere used to stampede Britain behind a US-led invasion that led to the deaths of one million Iraqis, six million displaced, and the virtual destruction of Iraqi society. Screenshot from video of Tony Blair responding to the Chilcot Inquiry report [Photo: Sky News/YouTube] But Chilcots inquiry was engineered to protect the guilty. It had no legal powers, gave amnesty to those testifying, and its terms of reference precluded any findings on the legality of the invasion. Documents later obtained under Freedom of Information and analysed by the World Socialist Web Site showed how the inquiry was the tame offspring of the very state agencies which plotted Britains illegal war. Sir John Chilcots appointment to head the inquiry spoke for itself. He was a trusted civil servant who served as Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland Office (1990-1997). He later worked as staff counsellor to MI5 and MI6 and was appointed to the Privy Council in 2004. He had served on the Butler Review into the use of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq War, which exonerated MI5 and MI6 of any wrongdoing. Documents obtained under FOI showed that Sir John Scarlett, chief of Britains Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 2004 to 2009, was involved in setting up Chilcots inquiry. Scarlett was the nominal author of a September 16, 2002 dossier alleging Iraqs possession and imminent use of WMD. This is the reality behind the Chilcot-style public inquiry now advocated by Corbyn. Those such as Corbyn who promoted Chilcots seven-year impartial inquiry gave the British state ample time to plot and execute new wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen. Britains military aggression against Russia was expanded, helping trigger Russias invasion of Ukraine, the latter serving as NATOs proxy. The only people charged over US-British war crimes in Iraq were those like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who fought to expose them. Corbyn knows this. But he is happy in his allotted role as patron saint for lost causes and political defeats. His pious demeanour conceals a ruthless determination to block any challenge by the working class to British capitalism and its chief political prop, the Labour Party. His letter to Starmer calls for the publication of legal advice behind the governments (currently unknown) definition of genocide, complaining that our requests have been met with evasion, obstruction and silence, leaving the public in the dark over the ways in which the responsibilities of government have been discharged. Who is Corbyn kidding? In October 2023, Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry each received notice from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians of its intent to prosecute them for supporting war crimes. Starmer and Thornberryboth former lawyershad publicly defended Israels collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Jeremy Corbyn (left) and Sir Keir Starmer at an event during the 2019 General Election when Corbyn was party leader and Starmer his Shadow Brexit Secretary [AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File] In air-brushing Labours support for genocide (he does not use the word once in relation to Israels or Britains actions) Corbyn is blinding workers and young people to the grave dangers they confront, and the lessons which must be acted on. Starmers announcement last week of a new Coalition of the Willing, led this time by the UK against Russia, including boots on the ground and planes in the air, risks a head-on military confrontation with a nuclear-armed state sparking World War III. Corbyns response in the House of Commons debate on March 3 was to ask whether Starmer would give MPs the right to vote on the deployment of troops. This same request by Corbyn in 2003 was granted by Blair, with Britains parliament voting by 412 to 149 to approve the invasion of Iraq. Two decades later, any vote by MPs on sending troops to Ukraine or the Middle East will produce a pro-war stampede, led by a Labour government groomed for office through a ruthless purge of any party member expressing support for the Palestinian people or opposition to militarism and war. The claim promoted by Corbyn and his supporters that Labour could be reformed or even transformed into a vehicle for 21st century socialism reached its highwater mark when he became party leader. But between 2015 and 2020, he refused to mobilise his supporters to break the grip of the right-wing, insisting that the party must remain a broad church. Labours right-wing extended no similar mercies toward their left-wing opponents, and Corbyn offered no resistance as he and his supporters were framed-up as antisemites and witch-hunted from the party. Corbyns letter to Starmer is silent on all that has followed, including Labours crackdown on democratic rights, mass arrests and raids against peaceful protesters, and a fascistic campaign targeting asylum seekers. Even in the face of its support for genocide, Corbyn is resolutely opposed to the formation of a mass socialist party to challenge Labour. It is high time that workers and young people draw political lessons from Corbyns role. The fight against war cannot proceed without a complete political break from the Labour Party and the mobilisation of the working class against the economic and social order that produces war, oppression and genocide: the capitalist system. Production of the Ford Fiesta in Cologne [Photo by GillyBerlin / flickr / CC BY 2.0 The Chairman of the General Works Council of Ford in Germany, Benjamin Gruschka, has warned of the insolvency of Fords German subsidiary and is thus preparing the workforce for the gradual closure of the main plant in Cologne, costing the jobs of almost 13,000 workers. The background to the warning by Gruschka and the IG Metall union is the cancellation of an agreement with the US parent company that had been in place since 2006 to compensate for losses incurred by its subsidiary in Europe. Instead, the company headquarters has announced a final financial support for Ford Europe totalling 4.4 billion. John Lawler, Vice Chairman of Ford Motor Company, explained that Ford would use the new capital to promote the transformation of its business in Europe and strengthen its competitiveness with a new product range. However, he did not announce new models, but rather new attacks: To be successful in Europe in the long term, we must continue to simplify our structures, reduce costs and increase efficiency. In an interview with the Financial Times, he called on the European Union and the German government to do more to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and reduce costs in order to compete with Chinese rivals. In the same breath, he announced further tough decisions. The works council and IG Metall will support the tough decisions, as they did with the closure of the Ford plant in Saarlouis and enforce them against the workforce. The works council is currently negotiating with the company on the conclusion of a so-called social collective agreement, i.e. the closure of the plant. Ford plans to cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2027, with 2,900 of them at the Cologne plant alone. According to broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk, the model for this social collective agreement is likely to be the plant closure in Saarlouis, where the last car will roll off the production line at the end of the year and it was possible to negotiate high severance payments for some of the employees. The Ford workforce in Cologne should be alarmed. The start of negotiations on a social collective agreement in Saarlouis signalled the final end for the plant. The broadcaster says that there are no signs of hope that production will continue in Cologne. Only marginal numbers of the current expensive and large electric cars are being sold. A smaller, better-selling car is not in sight. So what exactly is the works council in Cologne currently negotiating? David Ludke, head of the shop stewards committee at the Ford plant in Niehl, called the cancellation of the letter of intent a very dirty trick. The plan was to put pressure on the works council in the worst possible way to get them to agree to the planned change in operations. What does he mean by that? There is much to suggest that the IG Metall and its works council reps are already negotiating the closure or at least partial closure of the Cologne plant. The works council will claim that the operational change concerns the 2,900 jobs that will be cut in Cologne. But is this the operational change that Ludke is talking about? Industrial relations law describes various measures that, individually or in combination, count as a change in operations: the reduction and closure [or relocation] of the entire operation or significant parts of the operation, the merger with other operations or the splitting of operations, fundamental changes to the organisation of the operation, the purpose of the operation or the operating facilities and the introduction of fundamentally new working methods and production processes. In any caseas can be seen from the statements made by the union representativesFord wants to end the exclusion of compulsory redundancies, which contractually applies until 2032. In order to achieve this goal, the company would now expose the Cologne site to an acute risk of insolvency, according to the union, says Westdeutscher Rundfunk. The exclusion of compulsory redundancies is being used by IG Metall to push through the biggest attacks. At VW, the union used this argument to agree the destruction of 35,000 jobsmore than one in fourand a reduction in real wages of up to 20 percent. Gruschka also hints at similar and even greater attacks. In an interview with industry weekly Automobilwoche, he says that the withdrawal of the letter of intent means that the Ford Motor Company is withdrawing the insolvency protection of its German subsidiary from the parent company. He told the press that in view of the low sales figures for electric cars produced in Cologne, the question was on the table as to how bills would be paid in future if the US parent company did not guarantee them. In the worst-case scenario, insolvency and the loss of more than ten thousand jobs would be imminent. The works council planned to inform the workforce at a factory meeting Wednesday and has called for a protest meeting outside the Ford premises on Saturday. The works council is just as unwilling to defend jobs in Cologne as it is in Saarlouis. It sees its role as implementing the attacks demanded by the company. The IG Metall representatives around Gruschka are already positioning themselves to prevent effective resistance, which can only be successful if conducted internationally. The closure of the plant in Saarlouis was achieved not least by pitting workers there against those in Almussafes (Valencia) in Spain. As a result of the closure in Saarlouis, 9,000 jobs at Ford and its suppliers have been destroyed; in Almussafes, fewer than 3,000 jobs remain out of more than 9,300. In November last year, we wrote: While the IG Metall was organising the closure of the Ford plant in Saarlouis, it kept the workforce in Cologne quiet with the promise that the investment of two billion euros in the Cologne plant and the switch to pure e-car production would secure their future. Now that the plant in Saarlouis has largely been shut down, its Colognes turn. This is why the head of the General Works Council, Gruschka, is now trying to divide Ford employees in Germany from the European workforce. It is a disadvantage for the German Ford-Werke GmbH that the weak sales of all Ford passenger cars in Europe are booked via its balance sheet, while the profitable commercial vehicle businessFord has been the market leader in Europe here for yearsis handled via the books of Fords British subsidiary. Automobilwoche, with which Gruschka spoke, likens the German Ford plants in this constellation to a bad bank. The end of the comprehensive guarantee for the German Ford organisation could lead to a concentration of Fords loss-making activities in Europe in German Ford Werke GmbH. This would be similar to the concept of a bad bank, in which all the risky and poorly performing business units are bundled together in one company in order to protect the entire group from the insolvency risk of a subsidiary. By lining up American and European, German and British, Romanian or Turkish workers against each other, Ford hopes to be able to impose the consequences of trade war on the workforce. The all-out economic war that President Donald Trump is escalating is leading to huge attacks on workers all over the world, including Europe and in the US itself. It is being fought on the backs of workers. Trade war will inevitably lead to a shooting war if the international working class does not intervene. That is why the next German government is preparing an armaments programme costing billions. IG Metall and its works council reps are lining up behind their government as well as their corporations on this issue. War and massive job destruction are directly linked. In order to actively oppose this, it is necessary to organise independentlyfrom IG Metall and its works councils as well as from all capitalist parties and their appendages that in one way or another support the insane policy of rearmament and war. From the outset, the Ford Action Committee, which was formed against the bidding war between Saarlouis and Almussafes on the initiative of the WSWS, has opposed the conspiracy of the works council, the trade unions and top management. It has insisted that a new political orientation is needed to resist the blackmail of management and the works council, a perspective based on the common interests of all workers, opposed to the logic of the capitalist profit system that union officials defend tooth and nail. Send a Whatsapp message to the following number: +491633378340 and fill in the form below to take action now. By Akbar Novruz A delegation led by Riina Solman, Chair of the Estonia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), visited the Alley of Honors to pay tribute to National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the architect and founder of modern, independent Azerbaijan, and laid flowers at his grave. As part of their visit, the delegation also honored the memory of outstanding Azerbaijani scientist and ophthalmologist Zarifa Aliyeva by placing flowers at her grave. The Estonian parliamentary delegation later proceeded to the Alley of Martyrs, where they paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijans independence and territorial integrity. They laid wreaths and flowers at the Eternal Flame memorial, expressing respect for the martyrs. Magdaleno Perez Santes, in an undated photograph. CORTESIA Mexico is experiencing a seemingly endless chain of tragedies. On Wednesday, in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, collectives made up of families of missing people reported the death of Magdaleno Perez Santes. He was the father of Diana Paloma Perez Vargas, a high school student who disappeared in November 2019 while on her way to school. Maleno as his family and friends refer to him was detained on Monday by municipal police in Poza Rica, a city about 12 miles from his home in the town of Tres Cruces. According to civil society organizations, Magdaleno was detained in Poza Rica and brutally beaten, before being released a few hours later. Back home on Tuesday, he told his family that he was feeling ill. A while later, he died. Perez Santes was a member of the Maria Herrera Search Collective, the same group that includes another father of a missing child, Hector Aparicio. He was reported missing on January 26 and nothing has been heard from him since. Like hundreds of thousands of other people who have given up everything to search for their missing relatives in Mexico given the lack of progress in the investigations conducted by the authorities Magdaleno Perez began the search for his daughter after the 16-year-old girl boarded a shared taxi to go to school on November 22, 2019. The car which was supposed to take her from her home to her high school in Poza Rica was never found. Nor was the driver. Diana Paloma disappeared and was never heard from again. Maricel Torres the leader of the Maria Herrera collective in Veracruz has chosen not to make a formal statement yet regarding Magdalenos death. However, she confirmed that an investigation is already underway. This is one of the reasons why they dont want to issue a statement, so as not to hinder the process. [Magdaleno] was a great person, a tireless fighter searching for his daughter. The commitment we have left is to continue fighting in his honor. He was always very active... these are very difficult times, Torres lamented, in a telephone conversation with EL PAIS. The Veracruz State Citizens Council was one of the first organizations to announce Perez Santes death, issuing a statement accusing the Poza Rica police of torture and detaining the father for reasons that are still unclear. However, a few minutes later, the message was deleted from their social media accounts. The group later shared the condolences posted on the collectives website: Dear brother, we will miss you very much. You leave a great void in our hearts, our great warrior. Your family will continue to grieve with you and search for your daughter, Diana Paola. We inform you that, at the familys request and out of respect for their grief the collective will issue a statement regarding the death and its demand for justice until tomorrow, Thursday, after [Perez Santes] burial. Later, Pedro Lobato the current coordinator of the Council said that he was in communication with other members of the group and that it would be a joint decision to publish a statement due to the recent events and the potential risk. Were deeply saddened that Magdaleno was taken from us, without us having been able to find Diana Paolas whereabouts, Lobato added. Maleno was a hardworking and optimistic man. This, despite the despair of not finding his daughter, after a search that has gone on for more than five years. According to some close friends, the father washed cars as a means of supporting himself and his family. He has been widely-described as an honest, noble and caring person. Local media outlets have confirmed that a warrant has been issued by the Attorney Generals Office, which notes that Maleno was allegedly beaten on several parts of his body. It was also reported on Wednesday morning that municipal police officers and the regional prosecutor arrived at the home of the deceased father, where his fellow members of the Maria Herrera Search Collective were already present. The Veracruz Attorney Generals Office led by Veronica Hernandez Giadans received a recommendation from the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico (CNDH) on Tuesday, March 11, after refusing to accept a previous recommendation issued by the State Human Rights Commission for the deficient investigation into the disappearance of a person that occurred in January 2011. This is the third time since February that the Veracruz Attorney Generals Office has been reprimanded for failing to properly carry out judicial processes concerning various cases across the state. The security assessment prepared in 2024 by the Movement for Our Disappeared Ones in Mexico records that, between 2011 and 2024, 22 relatives of missing persons were murdered. Additionally, since 2018, nine individuals who have been searching for their disappeared family members have been forcibly disappeared: five have been found dead and three alive, while Lorenza Cano is still missing. The mother who was searching for her disappeared brother was abducted from her home by armed men in Salamanca in January 2023. She has still not been found. In addition to Perez Santes, since Tuesday, his fellow member of the collective Hector Aparicio has been missing. Since February 5, 2017, hes been searching for his 17-year-old son, Jose Alfredo. In January of that year, he disappeared in Tihuatlan, northern Veracruz. Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Antonio Alcami shuddered when he saw that a new plague which had already caused the death of hundreds of millions of birds around the world was leaping to the Americas and sweeping relentlessly from north to south, on its way to Antarctica, killing tens of thousands of marine mammals in its path. Few people were as uniquely prepared as he was a virologist specializing in lethal viruses, already hardened by the treacherous polar terrain so he proposed setting up a laboratory at the Spanish Armys Gabriel de Castilla Antarctic Base. On February 24, 2024, Alcami and his colleague Angela Vazquez confirmed for the first time the presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Antarctica. He immediately had a bold idea: he would set up a floating laboratory aboard a sailboat, allowing him to navigate through penguin colonies and find out what was happening. Two journalists from EL PAIS joined him for a day, documenting his odyssey as he followed the trail of the plague. The expedition, backed by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), set sail on January 14 from southern Argentina aboard a chartered Australian sailboat, the Australis. Just 23 meters long, the vessel was packed with eight scientists and three crew members. Their makeshift diagnostic laboratory occupied a tiny storage room wedged between sacks of potatoes and onions. The researchers slept in claustrophobic bunk cabins. It was an unprecedented and revolutionary approach to conducting cutting-edge science in Antarctica. Alcami, 64, is well aware of the threat of lethal pathogens. He works with the World Health Organization as an advisor on smallpox, a virus that killed 300 million people in the 20th century until, thanks to vaccination, it became the first disease eradicated from the planet. Alcami and his colleagues take extreme precautions when disembarking at the penguin colonies, braving harsh, almost unbearable conditions. They suit up in full waterproof gear blizzard goggles, gloves, and masks shielding themselves against temperatures that often plunge to -15C and hurricane-force winds. On February 22, at a penguin colony on Livingston Island, the acrid stench of guano saturates the air, while the deafening squawks of thousands of tightly packed birds reverberate in their heads. Un miembro de la expedicion, con dos cadaveres de pinguinos en Punta Hannah (isla Livingston, Antartida). Luis Manuel Rivas The floating laboratory has been cruising the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula the portion of the continent closest to South America for six weeks. The virus now appears to be everywhere. The team has detected it in 24 of the 27 sites visited, in nine bird species (cormorants, kelp gulls, Antarctic pigeons, southern fulmars, skuas, giant petrels, and three types of penguins) and four mammal species (fur seals and leopard, crabeater, and Weddell seals). Of the nearly 750 animals tested, one in four tested positive. After detecting the first case in Antarctica a year ago in skuas seabirds similar to seagulls Alcami feared a catastrophic outbreak in penguin colonies, where hundreds of thousands of the species can crowd together. The reality is that this hasnt happened. Weve found some infected animals and little mortality, which suggests that penguins are more resistant to this disease than we thought. This is very good news, says Alcami, a virologist from the Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biology, a joint institute of the CSIC and the Autonomous University of Madrid. Other Antarctic species are more vulnerable. Although we havent seen a devastating effect on penguins, we are beginning to see a significant impact on many birds and, especially, marine mammals. My concern is that in the medium term this will become one of the most significant infections of the last century in Antarctica, warns Alcami. Just because we dont see marine mammal carcasses doesnt mean they arent dying, because they are possibly dying at sea, where we dont see them. Biologist Antonio Alcami, on the bow of the sailing ship 'Australis', in Livingston Island (Antarctica). Luis Manuel Rivas Veterinarian Ralph Vanstreels is participating in the expedition. Standing in a penguin colony, covered in guano and feathers under icy rain, his voice cracks as he recalls what he witnessed in October 2023 on Argentinas Punta Delgada beach a shoreline buried under a carpet of elephant seal carcasses. His team estimated that the virus killed around 17,000 seals in this part of Patagonia, wiping out 97% of the young. The beach was covered with dying or dead animals, and it was difficult to walk. It was the most devastating scene Ive seen in my career, says Vanstreels, from the University of California at Davis in the United States. It was the same virus that has now reached Antarctica. The precursor to the current pathogen was first detected in 1996 on a goose farm in Sanshui, southern China, a humid, densely populated region filled with poultry farms. Its the ideal breeding ground for new viruses. Several human influenza pandemics have originated there, including, most likely, the 1918 flu pandemic, which infected a third of humanity and killed 50 million people three times as many as the simultaneous First World War. In 2020, a new version of that goose virus, dubbed 2.3.4.4b, emerged with unprecedented lethality, jumping to wild birds in North America late the following year. The current avian flu crisis, the worst ever recorded, has killed hundreds of millions of poultry and an unknown number of millions of wild animals. It is nothing short of a plague. The skua is one of the species hardest hit by avian influenza in Antarctica. Luis Manuel Rivas The avian flu were seeing has acquired the ability to infect the brain. And thats what makes it unique. Thats what makes it so deadly, explains Alcami. Infected animals succumb amid tremors and convulsions. While veterinarians dissect penguin carcasses on land, looking for symptoms in the brain and lungs, the virologist returns to the sailboat. His final report from the expedition warns that the virus has been identified in half of the carcasses analyzed, often with extremely high viral loads, suggesting that avian flu is causing significant mortality in various species, such as skuas. Sometimes weve found 40 or 60 carcasses of these birds. Theyre very susceptible. The virus is having a tremendous effect on their population, says Alcami. We must remember that penguins arent the only representatives of Antarctica. This continent is home to many unique species, and they all must be preserved. Their colleagues Begona Aguado, Angela Vazquez, and Rafael Gonzalez proudly showcase the sailboats unusual high-tech laboratory, where they work from sunrise to sunset in cramped, spartan conditions. The deafening hum of the electric generator is a constant backdrop, and the temperature rarely rises above freezing. Some scientists have expressed skepticism about the high number of positive cases, citing concerns over potential sample contamination. But Alcamis team stands firm, insisting they have rigorously verified their findings. The first season of the expedition, conducted a year ago, made the cover of the prestigious journal Nature Microbiology. The new mission has been made possible thanks to a 300,000 ($325,000) donation from the Spanish Union of Insurers and Reinsurers, along with logistical support from the Juan Carlos I Antarctic Base a cutting-edge CSIC research facility funded by the Ministry of Science on the remote Livingston Island. Brazilian veterinarian Joana Ikeda, one of the 11 members of the expedition, with a pole to take samples from the elephant seals' noses. Luis Manuel Rivas The continent of Antarctica is bigger than Europe, but is largely uninhabited due to its extreme hostility. Each southern summer, fewer than 5,000 scientists and technicians briefly travel to study various phenomena, from global warming to meteorites. Under typical circumstances, no human let alone a virologist ever visits the penguin colonies. Biologists Michelle Wille and Meagan Dewar, who manage the avian flu database for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the international body overseeing Antarctic science, both recognize the enormity of the task at hand in trying to understand whats happening. One of the main challenges for monitoring in Antarctica is that there are relatively few scientists on the ground collecting samples. In the case of the Alcami expedition, they analyzed their samples and published the results in real time, which is an incredible benefit to the entire community, says Wille, from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Her colleague Meagan Dewar is skeptical of the apparent calm observed in the penguin colonies. There are few reports of penguins with symptoms or dying from the virus. However, we dont have estimates of how many have died at sea, and it could take years to know if there have been large-scale impacts, by which time we can detect changes in populations, argues Dewar, from Federation University Australia. Sampling of a giant petrel chick at Hannah Point Penguin Colony (Antarctica). Luis Manuel Rivas Virtually all of the confirmed cases in Antarctica this year originate from the Alcami sailboat, but results are still pending from important national organizations, such as the Chilean Antarctic Institute, which installed two laboratories at its bases this year. Its very likely that the virus will remain in Antarctica, warns biologist Marcelo Gonzalez, head of the Chilean initiative. He notes that migratory birds arriving from Alaska and Antarctica often coexist in the southern parts of Chile. There are scavenger species, such as petrels and skuas, that are carrying the viruses back and forth. Its difficult to stop this, he reflects. The plague wont easily disappear from the continent. A whale spouts off the starboard side, very close to the sailboat, but Alcami barely flinches, already accustomed to the sights after weeks at sea in the Antarctic Ocean. He remains pensive. Hes concerned about the increasing flow of tourists and scientists around the penguin colonies. His team and other colleagues at the CSIC have developed devices capable of detecting the virus in the air. In colonies affected by the plague, the pathogen literally floats in the atmosphere. This avian flu virus sometimes has a mortality rate of up to 50%, or even higher. If it were to cross into humans and kill 50% of those infected, it would be a disaster. The healthcare system would collapse in weeks, warns Alcami. While the virus has sporadically spread to humans on other continents usually with mild symptoms two patients in the United States who had contact with infected birds have recently been hospitalized. I think this virus has a good chance of being the next pandemic, he warns. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The study of dreams is often an imprecise and unpredictable field. What lies within the realm of dreams is deeply personal and difficult to verify scientifically. Compounding this is the fact that dream memory is fragmented, incomplete, and often shaped by emotions, recent experiences, health, and even stress levels. The question of where consciousness travels during sleep and what happens to it remains, for now, a mystery. However, one aspect can be examined through the lens of the scientific method: why some people are able to remember their dreams more than others. A study recently published in Communications Psychology explores the factors that influence the ability to recall dreams upon waking, and highlights which individual traits and patterns shape this phenomenon. To gather data, scientists conducted a study involving 217 men and women, aged 18 to 70, from 2020 to 2024. Participants kept dream logs and completed psychometric, cognitive, and electroencephalographic assessments. Devices were also used to monitor sleep patterns. Valentina Elce, a doctor in neuroscience at the IMT School of Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy, and one of the authors of the new study, says that despite their omnipresence, the mechanisms through which the brain generates dream experiences remain largely unknown. She adds: This makes the study of dreams and consciousness one of the most fascinating frontiers in neuroscience. Although the scientific debate is ongoing, the new study provides some curious and revealing data, says Francisco Segarra, a psychologist and member of the insomnia working group of the Spanish Sleep Society, who was not involved in the research. One key finding is that the ability to recall dreams is, according to the study, linked to a persons vulnerability to cognitive interference. Elce explains: If we imagine the process of waking up and recalling our dreams, we realize how difficult it can be to ignore the outside world bombarding us with different stimuli, such as turning off the alarm, checking the time, or rushing because were late for work. All of these distractions represent the cognitive interference the study describes and make remembering a dream challenging. Its like being in a room full of people shouting while trying to hear a friend whispering something in the corner and then trying to remember what they said, the specialist explains. The study concludes that people with a greater ability to ignore distracting factors recall the content of their dreams more frequently. But thats not all. The research also found that people who attach meaning to their dreams who are curious about the act of dreaming, its nature, characteristics, and meaning tend to recall them more frequently. In fact, a prior interest in dreams can lead a person to implement strategies to improve dream recall, such as keeping a journal, Elce explains. The scientists observed that the tendency towards mind wandering emerges in our study as another robust positive predictor of dream recall. In other words, those who are prone to drifting into internal reflections are more likely to remember what they dreamed the night before. People who are more interested in the meaning of their dreams have a more reflective personality pattern, and that could explain why they are more attentive to them, says Segarra. Age and seasons There are times when dreaming is almost like watching a movie. Various sleep studies have shown that these vivid, more memorable images largely appear during REM sleep, a time when brain activity is at its peak. Waking up during this phase is usually associated with a greater likelihood of dream recall. However, we now know that we dream throughout most of the night, not just during REM sleep, Elce points out. On the other hand, less deep sleep is associated with greater dream recall, as deep sleep is dominated by slow-wave brain activity, which can interfere with memory encoding and reduce awareness of the dream experience. Elce explains: In the case of dreams, the brain needs to record them before waking up. However, sleep disrupts memory processes, and if a dream is not encoded correctly due to deep sleep, distractions upon waking, or a lack of attention to the dream, it can be quickly forgotten. Other relevant findings relate to time. The study indicates that, although aging does not reduce the ability to dream, it does make dream recall less frequent. Younger people generally have better memories and greater concentration skills, which help them retain dream experiences. As we age, these abilities naturally decline, making dream recall more difficult, Elce notes. And regarding seasons, the study found that dream recall was lower in winter compared to spring and fall, suggesting a seasonal influence on dream recall frequency. Further research is needed to understand this phenomenon. A 2024 study found that shorter days in winter can lead to deeper, more uninterrupted sleep, which may reduce the likelihood of waking up during REM sleep when dreams are typically easier to recall. A mental rehearsal Its still unclear whether humans are biologically designed to remember their dreams or if this ability offers some evolutionary advantage. However, remembering certain dreams can be beneficial, particularly for emotional processing, memory, and problem-solving. The Italian researcher summarizes it this way: Dreams often help us cope with emotions, fears, and anxieties, and remembering them can facilitate learning from past experiences and improve emotional regulation. The researchers also suggest that, since some dreams reflect real-life concerns or challenges, recalling them might help develop solutions or anticipate dangers, providing a potential adaptive advantage. They are not alone in this belief. Some researchers argue that dreaming allows the brain to simulate threats and rehearse potential responses in a safe environment. Elce concludes: However, the deeper question of why we dream, both from a biological perspective and in relation to its impact on cognition and well-being, remains open. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Julian Assange and his wife Stella Harris, last October upon their arrival at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. A new legal battle has begun for David Morales, a former Spanish military man who spied on Julian Assange for the CIA during the latters time at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Madrid Court No. 43 is officially investigating Morales who is the owner of UC Global S.L., the company that was in charge of security at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for allegedly falsifying official documents and committing procedural fraud. Judge Fernando Fernandez Olmedo has summoned Morales to testify as a suspect, according to court documents obtained by EL PAIS. The former marine allegedly forged official documents and evidence to defend himself before National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz, who is investigating him in a separate case for other crimes, including recording the WikiLeaks founders conversations with his lawyers inside the diplomatic mission in violation of attorney-client privilege. The spying took place as the Australians legal team was designing its defense strategy against the U.S. extradition request. The opening of new proceedings at a Madrid courthouse comes after Judge Pedraz recused himself and asked the Madrid courts to investigate Morales for alleged forgery of official documents and procedural fraud. Court No. 43 has accepted Pedrazs recusal and opened proceedings against Morales. Since his arrest in September 2019, Morales has denied any involvement in the wiretaps against Assange, but months later, he reversed his statements and told Judge Jose de la Mata (the first judge to oversee the case at the National Court) that it was the former Ecuadorian ambassador to London, Carlos Abad, who had ordered him to record the conversations of the Australian cyberactivist. This confession came a few weeks after the diplomats death. Microphones To bolster his testimony, the former military officer presented as evidence, among others, an alleged email from former ambassador Abad, dated January 27, 2018, in which he asked Morales to place a microphone in the Embassy meeting room. Morales asserted that the device was only placed for testing and then removed. This version of events was called into question when police reports and expert reports presented by Assanges lawyers showed that the alleged emails and other official documents submitted to the case by the former military officers defense were forgeries. A police report confirmed that the emails allegedly exchanged between former ambassador Abad and Morales were not in the latters email inbox. Morales computer was seized following his arrest a few weeks after an EL PAIS investigation revealed the secret audio and video recordings of Assange at the embassy. In his defense, Morales also presented an alleged document from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which seven Ecuadorian officials at the time, including two former ministers, have described as fake. Background and complaint There are precedents for other falsifications by Morales. In 2018, Abad filed a complaint against the former military officer and his lawyer for falsifying his emails and signature in the context of a labor law trial in Spain against a UC Global S.L. employee. The diplomat reproached Morales for his actions with a message: I take this opportunity to tell you that in 27 years I had never seen something so poorly done; even amateur hackers are better at phishing [sending emails impersonating someones identity]. Once again, Mr. David, I fail to understand what you are trying to achieve with such crude and nefarious falsifications as those you or your employees are carrying out. Among those who were spied on by the audio and video cameras installed by Moraless workers at the embassy was the former ambassador himself, who according to Morales false email was the one who ordered him to record the conversations. The diplomat was dismissed by the government of Lenin Moreno and later died of lung cancer in Quito. Since his arrest in 2019, Morales has been released pending trial and is being investigated by the Audiencia Nacional for alleged crimes against privacy, violation of attorney-client privilege, misappropriation, bribery and money laundering. Following his expulsion from the Ecuadorian embassy and imprisonment, Assange, 52, was released on June 25 of this year after reaching a deal with the United States Department of Justice in which he pleaded guilty to a violation of the Espionage Act and accepted a five-year prison sentence that he had already served in Londons Belmarsh prison. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Immigration is not only a fundamental part of American history; it is an inherent part of the social and economic fabric of the United States and is key to the countrys future. Changing this fabric through the largest deportation in history will have two costs: the price of carrying out the operation of mass detentions and expulsions, and the consequences of having done so. This is revealed by Census figures, which indicate that this population is essential to the countrys bottom line. In 2023, according to the American Immigration Council (AIC), immigrants paid a total of $651.9 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. As for federal taxes, they accounted for approximately 19.25% of the total tax revenue that year and just over a quarter of a trillion dollars of the revenue collected for Social Security and Medicare. Of the total tax amount, $89.9 billion (2.6% of federal revenue) was paid by undocumented immigrants, who represent almost 25% of all immigrants. Undocumented immigrants not only pay taxeswith an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), not a Social Security numberbut they also lack access to many deductions and most of the services they fund. For example, they are barred from the EITC, the earned income tax refund for low-income families. The EITC is considered one of the most effective fiscal tools in the fight against poverty. Immigrants contributions are much greater than the cost of the public services they use, the AIC explains. What's more, according to calculations by Americans for Tax Fairness, undocumented immigrants paid a higher effective state and local tax rate in 40 of the 50 states than the top 1% of households with the highest incomes, who pay about 7.2% of their income on average. Undocumented immigrants pay 10.1%. In the case of federal taxes in 2022, and based on data provided by ProPublica on corporate taxation, undocumented immigrants paid an effective federal tax rate of 5.27% in 2022, higher than that of 55 large Fortune 500 companies in the country. Exxon Mobil and AT&T, for example, had effective tax rates of 2.5% and 3.1%, according to this data. Immigration is therefore a firm pillar of many states finances. In New York, some $74.8 billion was raised from an immigrant population that makes up 23.1% of the total and had a purchasing power of $160.5 billion. In New Jersey, immigrants make up 24.2% of the population and contributed nearly $40 billion in taxes and more than $94.5 billion in spending power two years ago. In California, they are even more so, accounting for 27.3% of the population, and paid just over $168 billion to the public treasury. Virginia, Maryland, Washington, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont are some of the states where this population contributes the most taxes. The deportations sought by the Trump administration will not only separate families (4.1 million children who are American citizens live with undocumented parents), but also, given the numbers, will take a bitter toll on federal and local economies. Immigrants help increase the wealth and prosperity of all Americans. And yet, both the White House and Congress are considering increasing ICEs budget by billions to detain and deport people while simultaneously cutting essential social services like Medicaid and food assistance, says Nan Wu, research director at the AIC. The irony that immigrants have paid taxes that will be used to penalize all Americans with a massive, cruel, and wasteful deportation plan is not lost on Wu. Immigrants, both legal and undocumented, inject trillions of dollars into the economy, according to Census figures tabulated by the AIC. Specifically, they have an income of $2.4 trillion and a purchasing power of $1.7 trillion. Furthermore, the vast majority dont rely on states or public entities to provide housing, but they are still investing in homes to revitalize neighborhoods. In 2023, they paid $167 billion in housing and held $6.6 trillion in real estate-based wealth. Population increase Since 2023, immigration has been crucial to demographics and, consequently, to the labor and business markets at a time of declining birth rates in the country. In the midst of a demographic slowdown, immigration was responsible for the entire US population growth between 2022 and 2023. This is the first time this has happened since 1850, as verified by the Migration Policy Institute. Currently, the migrant population is at its highest level in absolute numbers, at nearly 47.8 million people (which includes three-quarters of them legally as naturalized citizens, permanent residents, or with temporary visas, among other possibilities), but not in percentage terms, since at 14.3% it is still below the situation in 1910. Beyond their role as taxpayers and consumers, Steve Hubbard, senior data analyst at AIC, explained to EL PAIS in a telephone conversation that not only is the tax base being lost, but we must not forget the important role of immigration in the workforce. Some 30.7 million migrants are part of a workforce from which baby boomers are retiring. They represent almost 18% of the workforce with a mixed educational and professional background, many with higher education, others without, which helps close labor gaps on both sides of the skills spectrum. We're in a position where the country needs more workers, explains Hubbard, who points out that 26.1% of agriculture relies on migrant labor, 25.7% of construction, and even STEM professions (science and engineering). This data analyst explains that sectors like healthcare are critical, particularly nursing and home health care, but also medical care. We have states that are losing population, communities with jobs that lack workers, especially in rural areas, he explains. Hubbard points out that the immigration debate at the national level is very different from the one at the local level. Many of the immigration laws we have are from the 1960s and reflect the dynamics and careers of a world that no longer exists. There are more conversations to be had about immigrants, and one of them is how necessary they are for the economy to move forward. Risk-takers One of the most deeply rooted myths in the narrative of many companies is the story of the person working out of their garage where the seeds of a business giant were planted. Reality is always somewhat more complex than this story of ingenuity and perseverance, but reality also points to one indisputable fact: 230 Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants. And this isn't just a moment in history. According to AIC's 2023 Census figures, there are nearly 3.9 million immigrant entrepreneurs. In fact, more than one in five entrepreneurs are immigrants, and they manage an annual revenue of $116.2 billion between them while creating jobs in the country. "The risk they take by emigrating is very similar to the risk you have to take when starting a business," explains AIC senior analyst Steve Hubbard. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Credit: Randy Holmes/Disney Jimmy Kimmel compared Donald Trumps long-running feud with comedian Rosie ODonnell to his own (fake) beef with Matt Damon. On the most recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host quipped that this feud with Rosies been going longer than me and Matt Damon now. Kimmels comment was in reference to Trumps meeting with Irish prime minister Micheal Martin yesterday at the White House. During the meeting, boyfriend of Marjorie Taylor Greene and reporter Brian Glenn asked Martin, Ireland is known for very happy, fun-loving people with great attitudes Why in the world would you let Rosie ODonnell move to Ireland? I think shes going to lower your happiness level. More from Rolling Stone Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats true, Trump said in response. Thank you, I like that question. The president then asked Martin if he knew ODonnell was in the country or if he knew who she was, adding, Youre better off not knowing. Listen, Kimmel responded after playing footage of the meeting. What a great question. This is the kind of energy you bring when your girlfriend keeps beating you at arm wrestling at home. You know, if theyre going to allow stupid questions to be asked at the White House I would like them to invite me to ask some stupid questions. He added, Mr. President, Im with ABC, when youre on the toilet do you ever look down and cry?' Earlier this week, ODonnell shared with fans that she relocated to Ireland shortly before Trumps inauguration. In a video on TikTok, the comedian confirmed that she is in the process of getting her Irish citizenship, noting that, When it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, thats when we will consider coming back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and ODonnell have had a contentious relationship for years, dating back to 2007 when she called him a snake-oil salesman on The View (he later threatened to sue and called her a loser). Theyve since regularly argued on social media and in 2021 ODonnell said that she prays to God that Trump ends up in prison. Kimmels feud with Damon, meanwhile, is an ongoing joke that began when Jimmy Kimmel Live was in its early years. The host ended several episodes by saying, I want to apologize to Matt Damon, we ran out of time. The gag has lasted for years, with both Kimmel and Damon getting in on the fun. When Kimmel hosted the Oscars in 2023, he quipped, Im thrilled that [Damon] wont show. I hope he never gets nominated again. Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Each year, hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America or Mexico, then migrate north to the Southern U.S. as spring begins and travel farther north in the U.S. later in the spring. The first arrivals of hummingbirds in spring are typically males, however, some do not migrate, in regions such as California, the upper Pacific coast, the Southern regions of states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and some areas along the Southern Atlantic coast, says Hummingbird Central. In relation to this, Hummingbird Central has released a "2025 Hummingbird Spring Migration Map" that tracks the spring migration of hummingbirds from late-January all the way into May. Spring 2025 hummingbird sightings Hummingbird Central's 2025 Hummingbird Spring Migration Map is based on people's submissions of hummingbird sightings in their area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So far, hummingbirds have predominantly been sighted in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Spring 2025 hummingbird sightings in Louisiana Zunzuncito hummingbirds (Mellisuga helenae) feed at the Hummingbird's House, on July 5, 2024, in Palpite village, Cienaga de Zapata, Matanzas province, Cuba. The wings of the world's tiniest birds are a near-invisible blur as they whizz around tourists visiting a private Cuban garden that has become a haven for the declining species. The bee hummingbird, which measures five or six centimeters (two inches), is only found in Cuba. Still, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says it has disappeared from many areas due to forest loss. In Louisiana, hummingbirds have mainly been seen in the Southern region of the state, however, there have been a few sightings in the Northern and Central region of the state as far north as Shreveport and Arcadia. So far, the Ruby-throated hummingbird is the main type of hummingbird seen in Louisiana, however, there are several other types of hummingbirds that can be found in Louisiana. Other types of hummingbirds in Louisiana include Anna's hummingbird, Buff-bellied hummingbird, Blue-throated mountaingem, Rufous hummingbird, Broad-tailed hummingbird, Allen's hummingbird, Lucifer sheartail, Black-chinned hummingbird, Calliope hummingbird, Broad-billed hummingbird and Rivoli's hummingbird. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for Gannett/USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: When will hummingbirds arrive in Louisiana? How to care for them While most in New England may be anticipating March 17, Saint Patrick's Day, there's another amore mathematical holiday to celebrate first. Pi Day is celebrated annually on March 14, because its numerical date aligns with the first three digits of the mathematical constant , 3.14. And in some places, particularly Massachusetts colleges, the celebrations of Pi Day are a little nerdy. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a tradition where the school will usually release decisions on college admission on Pi Day, according to their website, in keeping with their characteristics as a STEM-focused school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two departments at a Harvard University college once celebrated Pi Day by sharing and eating a selection of homemade pies. Here's what you should know about Pi Day and why its celebrated. Is Pi Day a national holiday? Yes, Pi Day is a national holiday, as it was made so by the U.S. House of Representatives when the governing body passed a 2009 resolution that recognized March 14 as National Pi Day. Who started Pi day? The late physicist Larry Shaw started celebrating Pi Day to bring his coworkers together and have fun in 1988 while working at the San Francisco science museum, the Exploratorium, according to the museum's website. He created cute traditions like bringing in a table of fruit pies and having boombox parades while reciting the digits of Pi and singing "Happy Birthday" to Albert Einstein, who was born on March 14. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement " Day became an annual Exploratorium tradition for staff and the public, and the idea snowballed into something much bigger," the website said. "Now its celebrated by math lovers and educators worldwide." Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: What is Pi Day? How the nerdy holiday got its start Tourism transformed Pigeon Forge from a speck of an outpost to a travel destination. Dollywood which celebrates its 40th season this year cinched the deal, but a series of other theme parks paved the way first. Before there was Dollywood, Pigeon Forge visitors got their fix of themed attractions and old time crafts and traditions from the park's predecessors, places such as Goldrush Junction and Silver Dollar City. The themes of those parks ushered in many contemporary Dollywood favorites live performances, Southern comfort food and train rides through the foothills of the Smokies. Those early parks might not have become the institution that Dollywood is today, but they were beloved just the same, and many still have fond memories of visits to Dollywood's predecessors in the days when they were more than just traces left behind. Rebel Railroad started it all Grover Robbins Jr., who operated the Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, announced plans for a new, similar attraction in not-yet-incorporated Pigeon Forge in November 1960, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ride, called Rebel Railroad, was to include a 3.25-mile scenic route by train with a replica 19th-century town near the station. Several locomotives were transported to Pigeon Forge from Alaska, including Klondike Kate. Klondike Kate, now called Klondike Katie, remains at Dollywood today as one of the engines for the Dollywood Express. By July 1961, Rebel Railroad was open, according to a News Sentinel article that month. In all, the project cost around $1.5 million. "Rebeltown" by the station included a blacksmith shop, saloon, newspaper office (with "ye editor") and post office. A News Sentinel article from August 1961 described how the ride had become a favorite of many children, who were given toy rifles and pistols, taught the Rebel yell and charged with delivering supplies to fellow soldiers while fighting off Yankee troops along the route. Goldrush Junction comes on the scene In 1964, Rebel Railroad changed its name to Goldrush Junction. Additional track was added, and the town was updated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Five years later, the Cleveland Browns purchased the park. A May 1969 ad in the News Sentinel touted the Log Flume and Lady Gay Saloon, and promised visitors a free photo of their favorite Cleveland Browns player and experiences participating in shootouts with outlaws or "fighting off" Native Americans from the train. In December of that year, Browns leaders announced they would change the park to have "an authentic mountain village" theme. By April 1970, it had completed a half-million-dollar expansion that included a sawmill, trailer park, picnic grounds, two pools and a trail named in honor of News Sentinel columnist Bert Vincent. Silver Dollar City In 1976, the owners of Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, bought Goldrush Junction. When it opened for a new season a few months later, over $300,000 had been spent to revamp the park, the News Sentinel reported in June of that year. Updates focused on landscaping, making buildings look more antique to match its theme and adding craft demonstrations. Toward the end of 1976, the News Sentinel reported the park would share the name of its owners' sister park in Missouri: Silver Dollar City. The Pigeon Forge park opened for its second season in 1977 with a new flooded mine ride. The president of Silver Dollar City Inc. had a $9 million, five-year expansion plan that would continue to improve the park. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the park's prime, rides included the Cloud Grabber, the Inventor's Mansion, Blazing Fury and the Rainmaker. Parton entered a partnership with Silver Dollar City in 1985 to turn the existing park into Dollywood, and Dollywood opened in May 1986. Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe. The Blazing Fury ride was built in-house by Silver Dollar City Tennessee in 1978, prior to the park becoming Dollywood. Though it closed for maintenance last season, the historic ride is scheduled to reopen for Dollywood's 40th season. Roger Dillard shows his son, Roger Jr., the finer points of tomahawk-throwing at Silver Dollar City in 1981. Dillard taught tomahawk- and knife-throwing and long-bow shooting to visitors at the Pigeon Forge attraction, the predecessor of Dollywood. Charlie Fuller, the resident blacksmith at Silver Dollar City in 1978, was so popular with visitors that the park had to put up barriers around his work area to keep people from crowding too close, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported. Goldrush Junction announced plans to change from an Old West-themed attraction to "an authentic mountain village" - plus adding a swimming pool and trailer park - The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported Dec. 2, 1969. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coal-burning train engine Klondike Kate was being shipped from Alaska to Tennessee for "a new tourist attraction near Gatlinburg, Tenn.," a Dec. 17, 1960 wire story in The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported. Originally part of Rebel Railroad in Pigeon Forge, the engine is featured at Dollywood today. Plans for the Rebel Railroad attraction - "a scenic railroad and a mid-1800-era town" - were announced on the front page of The Knoxville News-Sentinel on Nov. 17, 1960. Silver Dollar City announces new additions and improvements ahead of the park's May 5 opening, The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported Feb. 25, 1979. A sawmill at Goldrush Junction in 1976. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Goldrush Junction in 1972. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Before Dollywood, Pigeon Forge had Rebel Railroad, Goldrush Junction While Royal Caribbean's (RCL) name laves no doubt as to which part of the world most of its cruises sail to, the cruising giant also has itineraries that go around Alaska, the Mediterranean and Central and South America. Leaving from both Florida and California, popular itineraries through the latter pass through countries like Mexico and Panama on the way to more southern ports like Cartagena, Colombia. Don't miss the move: SIGN UP for TheStreet's FREE Daily newsletter Royal Caribbean says it is 'excited to bring back' two popular ports While the latter city has been a popular Royal Caribbean stop for years, the cruise ship company is preparing to start its first cruises from there in 2026. The new homeport is, alongside Panama's Colon, being brought back following an eight-year gap after Royal Caribbean canceled Rhapsody of the Seas itineraries departing from there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are excited to bring back the best vacation experience to the Latin American market with adventures to the Southern Caribbean departing from the region," Itzel Valdes, associate vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean for Royal Caribbean International, said in a statement. Related: U.S. adds new travel warning for popular Caribbean cruise port The two itineraries, which are set to start sailing between April 2026 and 2027, will take place on Royal Caribbean International's Jewel of the Seas. The 2,702-passenger vessel has been sailing since 2004 and is currently on a 10-night Caribbean tour that departed from Galveston. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cruises from both Cartagena and Colon will each take seven days and tour northward through the Southern Caribbean with stops in ports such as Aruba's Oranjestad, Bonaire's Kralendijk and Willemstad in Curacao. The Panamanian port of Colon has many relics from the Spanish colonial era.Shutterstock Cruises from Cartagena and Colon will stop in Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire While both the Colombian and Panamanian ports are very popular tourist destinations for their beaches and unique colourful architecture, the cruises are also tailored for the Latin rather than just U.S. market in particular, South Americans who are looking for a nearer port from which to depart on a cruising voyage. "During this season and its itineraries from Colombia and Panama, the Jewel will celebrate the richness of Latin culture with flavors, music and activities that highlight our identity," Valdes said further. While the exact details of the stops and what will be available at the ports will be announced closet to the start date, the time slots are already available to book on Royal Caribbean's website. More on travel: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At present, Royal Caribbean is also working to build a new cruise ship port in the small Italian village of Isola Sacra sitting on the country's Lazio region 20 miles from Rome. Royal Caribbean bought the land on the Tyrrhenian Sea with the goal of opening it up to more routes across the Mediterranean but has recently started seeing significant local pushback due to the disruption such a large project would cause to local residents. While the French city of Nice has more than a hundred times the population, it has still banned large cruise ships wit more than 900 passengers ahead of the upcoming summer season. Overcrowding and pollution from having many large cruise ships in the Nice port were primary considerations that swayed local lawmakers toward passing the ban; Royal Caribbean has repeatedly pushed back against it to no avail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Agents from multiple agencies searched two locations in southwest Oklahoma City for illegal marijuana on Wednesday. Its part of an ongoing investigation across multiple agencies. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said the raids were separate, but the cases are connected. Del City PD seeks help to identify man in theft investigation One raid was in a building of what Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents called a stash location for the black market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Essentially just a warehouse where marijuana would be brought in and and stored until other people as tied to these criminal groups would come and get their portions of these shipments, said Mark Woodward, with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. That warehouse has an address online for a place called Twice Baked Edibles. The second raid was nearby at Green Plus Dispensary on S Western. Our partners at the Attorney Generals Office and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority were simultaneously serving a warrant at the dispensary location thats located right next to the property, said Woodward. OBN agents found about 1,000 pounds of marijuana inside the warehouse. Wednesdays search is part of an ongoing investigation between the OAG, OMMA, OBN, and OKCPD. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oklahoma City Police seize 3 pounds of fentanyl Agents said the search has been going on for months and theres still more to be done. What we want to continue to do is find out who are all the people that are involved, what are all the farms that are growing marijuana and having it brought to this location for sale on the black market? said Woodward. Woodward also said the warehouse they raided was a Chinese-run organization. About 85% of our criminal growers are linked back to organized crime linked to the Chinese because of their involvement in black market marijuana distribution here in the United States. So these are very complex to try to shut down the entire organization, not just one location, whether thats a farm dispensary or a stash location, said Woodward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time as Wednesdays raid, agents with the Attorney Generals Office searched a medical marijuana waste disposal in Logan County. As of right now, there have been no arrests and the investigation is still ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A long-term drug investigation ended with a large drug bust on Wednesday. The Montgomery County R.A.N.G.E. Task Force served a search warrant in the 3100 block of Benchwood Road in Butler Township on Wednesday, March 15. The warrant stemmed from a long-term drug trafficking investigation. Miamisburg manhunt ends after 13 hours: what to know Task Force members, alongside Butler Township police officers, recovered a large quantity of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana. Law enforcement also seized a large amount of U.S. currency and three firearms from the residence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities say one person was arrested and booked into the Montgomery County Jail on possession of drug charges. Investigation is ongoing. Additional charges will be reviewed with the Montgomery County Prosecutors Office. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. The threats made by Donald Trump and a Congress subservient to his wishes are affecting the nations capital as a city that welcomes migrants regardless of their status. District of Columbia authorities no longer want Washington to be defined as a sanctuary city that does not cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in detaining undocumented immigrants for deportation. Evidence of this is the fact that the DC government website has removed a webpage where Mayor Muriel Bowser had reaffirmed DCs sanctuary city status. In a since-deleted statement, dated November 2016, after Trump won his first election, Bowser maintained: The values, laws, and policies of Washington, D.C., did not change on Election Day. We celebrate our diversity and respect all D.C. residents regardless of immigration status. We are a sanctuary city because we know our neighborhoods are safer and stronger when no one is afraid to ask the government for help. In 2019, in a message on Twitter (now X), she reiterated that Washington, DC, remained a proud sanctuary city, committed to protecting the rights of all immigrant families in the face of troubling threats. The mayor then promised that she would redouble efforts to officially make DC a sanctuary city, which she achieved with the passage of a law in 2020. This time, the U.S. president is the same, but the mayors rhetoric has changed. Last month, at a press conference, Bowser admitted that she no longer uses the term sanctuary city to define DC because its misleading to suggest to anyone that if youre violating immigration laws, that this is a place where you can violate immigration laws. You are vulnerable to federal immigration enforcement. Bowsers shift appears to be driven by the pressure Trump has exerted on the district, which he has repeatedly stated he wants to take control of. Furthermore, at stake is the budget cut being approved in Congress, which would reduce DCs allocation by $1 billion. The federal governments attacks have already occurred. The reality is that the mayor is being very smart by not challenging the administration and trying to work with them as best she can without affecting the services this city can provide or the authority it currently has, said Abel Nunez, president of CARECEN (Central American Resource Center), an organization that helps migrants integrate into society, speaking from Washington. Nunez says his organization has already felt the effects of the federal spending cuts ordered by Trump and driven by the now powerful head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk. Not only are they attacking vulnerable communities, like immigrants and poor people, but they are also attacking organizations that work to serve communities and ensure they can participate in the life of the city, says Nunez, who admits that we are also adopting a non-confrontational language with this Administration. We have lost funding from the federal government, and we want to ensure that CARECEN will survive. The controversial term sanctuary is another word the government wants to delete from public administration vocabulary. This month, The New York Times published a long list of terms agencies have been told they should avoid, including racism, Hispanic minority, social justice, and vulnerable populations. Several states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington, as well as more than 100 other jurisdictions, are considered sanctuaries. These include the cities of Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which have laws prohibiting the use of local resources, such as transportation or personnel, to enforce federal immigration regulations. The Democratic mayors of four of the largest U.S. citiesChicago, Denver, Boston and New Yorkdefended their sanctuary city policies in Congress last week, denying that this poses a security risk as Republicans claim. Trump, unhappy with the pace of deportations of undocumented immigrants, which is going slower than he expected, has lashed out at sanctuary cities, warning that he will cut off their federal funding if they dont cooperate with arrests. The Department of Justice has sued New York and Chicago for interfering with his anti-immigration campaign. For ICE, the easiest way to carry out deportations is to go to local jails and take undocumented immigrants detained for other crimes, mostly minor offenses such as traffic violations. However, this requires the cooperation of local authorities, which is not allowed in sanctuary cities. The administrations pressure against them has been ongoing since Trump won the election. Bowser was one of the elected officials who, days before Trumps inauguration, received a letter from America First Legal, led by Stephen Miller, one of his policy and security advisers, warning that they would face legal consequences for interfering with or impeding the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Bowser, who is serving her third term as city mayor, has shown signs of softening her confrontational attitude towards Trump. Most recently, she bowed to Trumps wishes by ordering the removal of a mural from Black Lives Matter Plaza, very near the White House, after Republicans in Congress threatened to withhold funding for the district if it remained in place. Bowser led the push to build Black Lives Matter Plaza in 2020 after federal agents fired tear gas at protesters following the killing of George Floyd. When asked why she had bowed to pressure, Bowser responded that she had bigger fish to catch. At stake is the government's budget, which the Republican-led Congress controls. Such cuts could effectively eliminate programs that benefit immigrants, such as education and healthcare, regardless of their immigration status, in addition to slashing the security budget. The District of Columbia was established in 1790 to serve as the nation's capital from lands formerly belonging to the states of Virginia and Maryland. Unlike the states, it has no representative in the Senate, and its delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, does not have a vote in the House of Representatives. DCs vulnerability has prompted proposals like that put forward by U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin, who represents the Maryland suburbs of DC, who suggested a return to the past on the City Cast DC podcast. If you want to think about coming back to Maryland for this period this time, youll definitely be safer in the Free State than under the brutal thumb of MAGA colonialism, he said. According to Axios, a majority of Maryland residents oppose DCs incorporation into their state. In any case, its an unlikely option because it would have to be approved by Congress. Meanwhile, Bowser is seeking a balance to avoid losing her authority or her budget. The sanctuary name isn't really what matters. What matters is that the funds are there to support the community. For some people, it does, because it sends a message, but I don't think a message at this point is appropriate, Nunez admits. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) A crash in St. James Parish Wednesday night left a Donaldsonville man dead and a juvenile injured. Louisiana State Police identified the crash victim as Demaricus Kensie, 37. Investigators said Kensie was driving east on LA 70 when his 2019 Jeep Wrangler went to the right and overturned after exiting the road around 8 p.m. Kensie was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A juvenile was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Investigators said a standard toxicology sample will be taken for analysis. The investigation into this deadly crash remains ongoing. Baton Rouge house fire leaves one dead Thursday morning, officials say Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) A police chase from St. Gabriel ended in a fatal crash Wednesday evening on Bluebonnet Boulevard near Nicholson Drive in Baton Rouge. According to officials, emergency crews were dispatched around 7 p.m. One vehicle was engulfed in flames, while another required extrication. Louisiana State Police confirmed that two people were killed. The victims have been identified as Jeremiah Downing, 24, and Hunter LaGrange, 22, both of Hahnville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to troopers, a chase started after St. Gabriel police officers initiated a traffic stop on a car driven by Downing for speeding on LA 30. Downing reportedly refused to stop and kept traveling west on LA 30 at high speeds. Investigators said Downing drove through an intersection with a red light and collided with another car head-on. Downing was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, where he died. According to LSP, LaGrange, who was a passenger in Downings car, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other car involved in the crash was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators said standard toxicology samples were taken for analysis. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. Louisiana First News has contacted the St. Gabriel Police Department for more information. This is a developing story. New Orleans man killed in early Thursday morning crash in Ascension Parish Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. DENVER (KDVR) One person died and one person is in custody following a multi-vehicle crash that closed Interstate 70 in Wheat Ridge for several hours. At about 5:40 a.m. on Thursday, Jeffcom 911 posted on X that eastbound I-70 was closed between 32nd Avenue and Kipling Street. See the latest traffic conditions in Denver on FOX31 Wheat Ridge police told FOX31 that two cars were involved in the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said one person was pronounced dead. A toddler was taken to a local hospital, but they are expected to be OK. FOX31s Jim Hooley learned that the toddler was in the car with the victim. A suspected DUI driver is in custody after allegedly driving west on the eastbound, Wheat Ridge police said. Police arrested Jian Bin Chen, 34, and recommended charges of negligent manslaughter, vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving a vehicle on the wrong side of a divided highway and failure to present evidence of insurance. Chen was treated at a hospital for his injuries before being taken into police custody. Wheat Ridge police told FOX31s Nate Belt that the person killed in the crash was the driver of the other vehicle, and the toddler transported to the hospital was her child. DUIs are entirely preventable and were a jurisdiction that dealt with a 62% increase in DUI crashes last year in 2024, Wheat Ridge Public Information Officer Alex Rose told Belt. We can control the enforcement, it continues to be frustrating that we cant control the behavior of people behind the wheel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At 10:45 a.m., over five hours later, I-70 was reopened to traffic. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A man has died following an overnight crash. Multiple agencies were called to the 400 block of Wellington Lane for a crash just after 11 p.m. Wednesday, March 12. The unidentified man was the only person in the vehicle. Authorities reported that the driver struck an electric pole and rolled a number of times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Traffic was rerouted due to live wires from the downed poles. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. Close Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. HONOLULU (KHON2) On Sunday, March 9, the United States was placed on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist. This is an international list that keeps track of international states who actively seek to violate human and civil rights. This is the first time the U.S. has ever been placed on this list. 10 facts about Obamas $18M Hawaii beachfront mansion Now, while many do not care, Hawaii is not in a position not to care. Why? Because our economy nearly solely relies on tourism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This means that many people with disposable income will probably avoid a place where they will need to fear for their human and civil rights. But what does it mean to placed on this list? KHON2.com did a bit of investigating, and this is what we found: Inclusion on watchlist: The U.S. joins countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist. Our inclusion indicates there are significant concerns about the state of civic freedoms in many places across the U.S. Reasons for inclusion: CIVICUS cites actions by the Trump administration that threaten democratic norms. These include the dismissal of federal employees, appointment of loyalists to key positions, withdrawal from international organizations, restriction of media access and suppression of protests. Potential regression in civic space: The U.S., previously rated as having a narrowed civic space, risks regressing to an obstructed status if current trends continue. Global implications: CIVICUS warns that the U.S.s decline in civic freedoms could embolden authoritarian regimes worldwide, and this will undermine global democratic standards like dominos. This is much like the U.S. foreign policy theory on anti-democratic maneuvers by the Soviet Union in which they compared the fall of democracies to that of falling dominos. Executive actions of concern: The administrations executive orders aim to dismantle democratic institutions, challenge the rule of law and reduce global cooperation. These maneuvers raise alarms amongst civil society organizations since they are the steps a government system take to move a system away from standards of democracy. Impact on civil society organizations: There have been significant funding cuts to organizations supporting vulnerable populations that hinder efforts toward justice, inclusion and diversity. Suppression of dissent: Incidents such as the arrest of activists and increased enforcement measures against protests highlight a crackdown on dissenting voices. Media freedom under threat: The administrations actions include restricting media access and revoking security clearances of journalists in a move to pose significant threats to press freedom. International criticism: The U.S.s addition to the watchlist has drawn international criticism, with concerns that it undermines the countrys historical role as a proponent of democratic values. Call for action: Civil society organizations are urging the U.S. government to reverse these trends, restore democratic norms and protect civic freedoms to maintain its standing in the international community. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Potential impact on Hawaiis tourism Hawaiis tourism industry is a vital component of our states economy. It contributes significantly to employment and state revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, the inclusion of the U.S. on the CIVICUS Watchlist could have several implications for Hawaiis tourism sector: Perception of safety and stability : International tourists may perceive the U.S., including Hawaii, as less stable or welcoming which could lead to potential declines in visitor numbers, overall. Travel advisories : Some countries might issue travel advisories cautioning their citizens about visiting the U.S., which could deter potential tourists from traveling to the U.S. state of Hawaii. Economic impacts : A decline in tourism could affect Hawaiis economy and lead to reduced revenues for businesses reliant on tourists and potential job losses in the hospitality and service industries across the state. Cultural sensitivities: The spotlight on human rights issues might amplify existing concerns about the negative impacts of tourism on Native Hawaiian culture and the environment. This could lead to increased calls for sustainable tourism practices. You can click here to read more about our inclusion on the list. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHONs morning podcast, every morning at 8 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Being placed on this list isnt a permanent situation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. Christian Hanley, chairman of the state Board of Educations Instructional Material Review Committee, and attorney John Tyler during a committee meeting Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Screenshot/Instructional Materials Review Committee livestream) COLUMBIA Ten more books are slated for removal from South Carolinas K-12 public school libraries, despite protests from the books authors and school librarians. Librarians have already been required to remove 11 books from shelves since a regulation went into effect last June barring students from accessing books containing sexual conduct while at school. Another six books have been allowed to stay, one with the stipulation that parents must give approval before their child can check it out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The full State Board of Education will make the final decision on whether to keep or retain the books at its April 1 meeting. All are available in at least one high school in the state but not taught in classrooms. Books recommended for removal Thursday Source: Instructional Materials Review Committee Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of the 10 books the five-member committee voted Thursday to recommend removing tell stories about abuse and persecution, speakers said in asking the committee to keep the books on shelves. At least three of the books Collateral, Identical and Tricks were written to reflect true stories of rape and human trafficking in an effort to encourage teenagers experiencing similar abuse to get help and raise attention for people who know little about it, Ellen Hopkins, the author of those three, told the committee. Identical, for example, reflected the experiences of four of Hopkins friends who were molested by male relatives, she said. Readers, many of them teenagers, have written Hopkins letters thanking her for writing a book so similar to their own experiences, she said. Not every kids life is ideal, Hopkins said. Who will speak for them? Somebody has to speak for them, including in school libraries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In November, the committee decided another book by Hopkins, Crank about a woman addicted to meth can be checked out of school libraries only with parents permission. Ivie Szalai, who brought the challenges to the state level, said she has read and enjoyed several of Hopkins books. But she doesnt believe they belong in school libraries, she told board members in the virtual meeting. I stand by my stance that I dont feel that they are appropriate for minor children, said the Beaufort County parent. Others, such as Half of a Yellow Sun and Last Night at the Telegraph Club, tell the stories of historical events. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, tells the story of three people during the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960s. Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo, follows a 17-year-old Chinese American girl as she discovers her sexuality in 1950s San Francisco. Author Ellen Hopkins watches a meeting of the Instructional Materials Review Committee on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Screenshot/Instructional Materials Review Committee livestream) I am a Chinese American lesbian myself, and when I was a teen growing up in the 1980s and 90s, I often felt alone and confused, Lo wrote in a letter to the committee. I didnt have access to books like this that would have helped me to better understand who I was. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats why I write books about LGBTQ+ and Asian American characters, Los letter continued. Im writing the books I needed as a teen. Whether the books are important is not what the committee considers. Board members decisions must be based solely on whether the books contain sexual content, said Robert Cathcart, attorney for the state Department of Education. And in the case of the 10 books committee members considered Thursday, they did, he said. While this material likely does contain many important themes and considerations, what this board and the committee is charged with considering is whether or not its age and developmentally appropriate, Cathcart said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Removing books from libraries takes away chances teenagers might have to find a book that interests them during a time when fewer children are reading for fun, two librarians and a teacher told the committee. Students who enjoy stories by Sarah J. Maas or Colleen Hoover, two popular authors whose books the committee voted Thursday to remove from shelves, might discover a lifelong love of reading that helps them in other parts of their lives, librarians said. I want books in my library that people want to read, said Laura Haverkamp, a former high school librarian of 24 years in Columbia. Those students have plenty of other options, Szalai said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hope that in the future that authors, if their target audience is children in high school, lets say 14 to 18, that they might consider removing that (sexual) material, Szalai said. The books heard Thursday all came from Szalai, who said she has children attending Beaufort County public schools. Szalai was also responsible for four previous challenges, which she brought after her local school board decided the books could stay on high school shelves. Those decisions came before the regulation went into effect. JESUP, Ga. (WSAV) The 11-year-old convicted of killing 8-year-old Noah Bush has been released from the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), after serving less than a year in the center. Noah was found dead in a borrow pit in May of 2024. His death was initially ruled accidental, but months later a 10 and 11-year-old were charged. The 11-year-old was charged with involuntary manslaughter, concealing the death of another, simple battery and criminal trespass. The 10-year-old was charged with death concealment and trespassing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 11-year-old pleaded guilty to all charges in August 2024 and received a two-year confinement, the maximum penalty under law. The 10-year-old was also sentenced to a two-year confinement at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Detention Center. Wayne County Sheriff Robert Moseley confirmed to WSAV that the 11-year-old has been released. This means that he only served seven months out of the 24 months sentence in the DJJ Detention Center. Sheriff Moseley told WSAV that his office was not notified that the child had been released, and they found out after a Wayne County deputy saw the child in town. Moseley said the sheriffs office and district attorneys office are receiving criticism from people in the community since the child was free, but its out of his hands once the case was given to the DJJ. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month and health experts are emphasizing the importance of early screenings. A larger-than-life reminder made a stop at the YMCA on Habersham Street in Savannah. A 13-foot-high, 10-foot-long inflatable colon was on display, giving visitors a walk-through look at what happens inside the body. The interactive exhibit featured polyps and cancerous growths which demonstrated why early detection is critical. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Experts said the screening guidelines have changed and they recommend people start getting checked earlier than before. I find that a lot of my patients think about the colon and the anus and the rectum as this big black box thats kind of a scary thing to investigate because its something that polite people dont talk about, its something that can be really embarrassing if you have symptoms there and so by bringing this big float here I think it helps to normalize talking about these things, Correctional Surgeon at Memorial Health Dr. Elizabeth McKeown said. Health officials encouraged everyone to talk with their doctor about when to schedule their screening. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. Phoenix police rescued 14 dogs from a boarded-up apartment and took a woman into custody, two days after a fire broke out there. Police and firefighters went to an apartment near Banff Lane and Black Canyon Highway after receiving calls of a fire around 6:15 p.m. on Sunday. The fire was extinguished, and no residents were displaced or in need of medical attention. Phoenix police stated the fire was non-criminal and possibly electrical, but the cause was not determined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two days later, officers were called back to the apartment after receiving a call that stated the apartment was boarded up, but the caller could hear animals inside. At the location, officers met with 62-year-old Janet Schwarz. After opening the apartment door and seeing the inhumane conditions inside, police secured a search warrant for Schwarz's home. Authorities rescued 14 dogs from the apartment. They were split up and sent to different veterinary clinics. "Phoenix police seized more than a dozen dogs from this residence on the evening of March 11 who are now in AHS' care," said Kelsey Dickerson with the Arizona Humane Society. "Since this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to share any additional information at this time." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three dogs could not be rescued due to the severity of the conditions in the apartment, according to Phoenix police. An officer suffered a minor injury after being bitten by a dog. Phoenix police confirmed Schwarz was arrested and booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of 15 counts of animal cruelty. (This story has been updated to add more information.) This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 14 dogs rescued from boarded up Phoenix apartment TOKYO - Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the operator of Circle K convenience stores, said Thursday that its discussions with Seven & i Holdings Co. to acquire the Japanese rival have been "friendly" and that it is not considering a hostile takeover. At a press conference, the first held in Japan by the company since the buyout talks surfaced last year, Couche-Tard founder and Chairman Alain Bouchard said the two companies' operations combined would create strong synergy. "Japanese operations are truly worldclass. For a long time, we have a belief there is a unique strategic fit" between the two retailer's convenience store brands, he said. But he also said he was "disappointed" that Seven & i has only been focusing on regulatory issues in the United States related to antitrust concerns generated by the potential deal. The Canadian company sees "a clear path" to regulatory approval given that it has completed many acquisitions in the world's biggest economy, CEO Alex Miller said at the press conference, while Bouchard said the company will continue to pursue the deal even if it takes time. Amid growing concerns among 7-Eleven store owners in Japan about the potential change of hands, the company said it will invest in the country and create jobs and has no plan to close stores or fire employees. "We deeply respect the role Seven & i plays in the nation," Bouchard said, referring to how the convenience store operator has grown to be part of the social infrastructure. The comments came as the companies remain embroiled in an increasingly acrimonious dispute, following Couche-Tard's takeover proposal for the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores. Seven & i said Monday it had called on the Canadian company to sell all of its stores in the United States to address antitrust concerns. Earlier this month, the Japanese company appointed a new CEO and unveiled a series of measures, including a massive share buyback and the sale of its supermarket subsidiary to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, as it seeks to enhance its corporate value and fend off the proposed acquisition. The Japanese company's founding family sought to take the firm private but recently gave up on the plan after facing difficulty in securing funding. The envisaged deal, costing around 9 trillion yen ($61 billion), would have been the biggest management buyout in Japan, according to Recof Data. Seven & i said in August last year that it had received a takeover proposal from Couche-Tard, estimated at over 7 trillion yen. Seven & i operates more than 80,000 convenience stores around the world. The Canadian company, which also runs the Couche-Tard brand convenience store chain, has about 17,000 stores in over 30 countries and regions. Related coverage: Seven & i appoints new CEO, hopes to fend off takeover bid Seven & i founders withdraw buyout, give life to Canadian takeover Japan trader Itochu not to join Seven & i management buyout plan OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. We remember and honor those 168 who lost their lives on April 19, 1995, when a bomb went off in front of the Murrah building in downtown Oklahoma City. 168 Days to remember those lost in the OKC bombing: Sonja Lynn Sanders. Image courtesy Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum. We want to remember Sonja Lynn Sanders, while honoring those who survived and thanking those changed forever. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. LIBERTY, Ky. (FOX 56) A 17-year-old has been charged in connection with a reported attack Wednesday morning at Goose Creek Candles in Liberty. Liberty police said that, around 10 a.m., the teenager attacked an employee, allegedly slicing their throat. The employee was flown to the University of Kentucky Hospital and is said to be in stable condition. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 17-year-old is facing an attempted murder charge for whats being described as an unprovoked attack, according to the police. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. A teen and two of his family members are now behind bars in connection to in an armed robbery of a U.S. postal worker. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On Nov. 13, the U.S. Postal Service said one of its mail carriers was robbed on Jonathan Circle in Augusta, Georgia. Officials said the 24-year-old postal carrier was passing out mail just before 5 p.m. when he was stopped by a suspect wearing all black and a face mask who ran up and grabbed his right arm and held it in place. The sheriffs office said another suspect, wearing a gray hoodie, pushed a pistol into his chest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The robbers then took two items from him and ran toward Marvin Griffin Road. The report redacted the descriptions of the two stolen items. USPS was paying up to $150,000 to track the suspects down. TRENDING STORIES: On Wednesday, the Richmond County Sheriffs office announced the arrest of 17-year-old Darrion Antwon Williams in connection to the robbery. Williams was arrested on a grand jury arrest warrant for armed robbery and weapon possession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The RCSO also arrested two others in connection with the investigation. Chavonne Thomas, 35, the mother of Williams, was charged with giving false statements and writings. Carl Gant, 32, Williamss uncle, was charged with harboring or concealing a fugitive. Richmond County Sheriff Eugene Brantley says everyone must work together in addressing violent crime in the community. Parents, teachers, preachers, and family members often know when someone is heading down the wrong path, and we all need to step up to guide them toward better decisions. Additionally, after bad decisions are made, there will be consequences. Some parents and others may think they are helping by covering for their loved ones, but in reality, they are enabling themoften leading to additional charges and further harm, Brantley said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] A high schooler, Matteo Paz, won $250,000 for discovering 1.5 million new space objects with AI. Paz built an AI algorithm to search data from a NASA space telescope for objects such as black holes. His discoveries could help solve one of the universe's biggest mysteries. When Matteo Paz scored a high school internship at the California Institute of Technology, the scientists there gave him the daunting task of manually sorting reams of data from a NASA mission. It was "classic intern work," Paz, an 18-year-old from Pasadena, California, told Business Insider. "The very menial, tedious, dirty tasks that require a lot of time." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of manually sifting through the data, Paz built an AI algorithm to do it for him. Ultimately, he discovered 1.5 million new objects in space, including supernovae and supermassive black holes. On Tuesday, he won $250,000 in the Regeneron Science Talent Search for his efforts. Every year the competition casts a net across the nation for high schoolers doing the type of research you may expect from graduate students. This year Paz snagged first place out of nearly 2,500 entrants. "Surprised isn't a strong enough word," Paz said shortly after the award ceremony. "I didn't even give a thought to what I'd say to people if I'd won." Paz, in the back row, looking shocked after learning he'd won first place. Chris Ayers Photography/Licensed by Society for Science The objects in Paz's catalog aren't just plain old stars or planets. They're all variable objects, meaning they change dramatically, violently, and often unpredictably. A black hole, for example, can emit powerful jets that vary in brightness depending on how much material it's gobbling up or how fast it's spinning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That makes these objects a wealth of information about some of the universe's most befuddling mysteries. For example, they can be used to measure how quickly the universe is expanding from the Big Bang a puzzle scientists are still trying to solve, which could rewrite physics. Most of the objects Paz discovered are "candidates," meaning further study is required for scientists to confirm what Paz's analysis suggests they are. Luckily, astronomers are already digging into his catalog. Building an AI to scan the sky Paz needed his machine-learning algorithm to comb through nearly 200 terabytes of data from a 10-year infrared survey of the entire sky by NASA's NEOWISE space telescope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Looking in the infrared wavelengths invisible to the human eye the NEOWISE mission searched for asteroids and comets near Earth. Infrared wavelengths, however, can also show objects deep in space that are shrouded in interstellar dust. Even though NEOWISE wasn't designed to look for such objects, Paz thought he could tease them out of the data with his AI algorithm. "Prior to Matteo's work, no one had tried to use the entire (200-billion-row) table to identify and classify all of the significant variability that was there," Davy Kirkpatrick, who was Paz's mentor at Caltech, told BI in an email. Other surveys had tried to comb through NEOWISE data for specific types of variable objects, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the end of the summer program, "we were so impressed with his results that we hired him part-time at Caltech to finish the catalog," Kirkpatrick said. Paz said a lot of that work was him "in a dark room, eye bags heavy, looking at my computer, trying to solve a bug." Sometimes he worked out math problems on a whiteboard at Caltech. He also consulted a variety of astrophysicists and astronomers. Once the algorithm was ready though, it blew him away. Making 1.5 million new discoveries In order to analyze all 200 terabytes of data, Paz divided up the data into 13,000 equal parts. The algorithm analyzed minuscule changes in infrared radiation to identify variable space objects and sort them into different classes, such as black holes or double-star systems. In some constellations, the algorithm was discovering more objects than anticipated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "That was where I first started to see a lot of promise in the project," Paz said. In the end, he surveyed more than 450 million objects in the sky and identified 1.9 million that may be variable objects such as black holes or supernovae. Of those, 1.5 million had never been cataloged before they were new discoveries. "It's very beautiful. Not just that number it's a big number that obviously makes you proud but when you visualize the data," Paz said. Here's that visualization, plotting all the candidate objects he discovered: A projection of the sky with all 1.9 million objects in the catalog plotted onto it. Matteo Paz "You can see the Milky Way, you can see satellite galaxies, you can see Andromeda, you can see star-forming regions," Paz said. "Even though it's a very one-dimensional view of the universe, just plotting a point at every discovery we've made, we can really see the intricacies and the glory of the night sky." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now an infrared research group at Caltech is already using his catalog, called VarWISE, to study dual-star systems in the distant universe. They've already found dozens of star systems in VarWISE that weren't previously detected, Kirkpatrick said. He added that the research was helping them calculate the mass of distant alien planets. Paz is submitting the catalog for publication in the Astrophysical Journal later this year. The catalog has not yet gone through the peer-review process, but the algorithm itself was peer-reviewed and published in the Astronomical Journal in November. "The variable candidates that he's uncovered will be widely studied and illustrate the enduring value of astronomical surveys," Amy Mainzer, a scientist who led the NEOWISE mission, told BI in an email. "It's clear that he is simply a unique talent smart, hardworking, and with a crazy ability to assimilate newfound knowledge into new ideas for studying the universe," Kirkpatrick said. From LA fires to the Big Bang As for Paz and his $250,000, the next frontier is college. He said he'd been accepted at Stanford University and was keeping his mind open about career paths. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just weeks before flying to Washington, DC for the awards ceremony, Paz woke up in his Pasadena home to see flames outside the window. The Eaton fire traveled so quickly that he'd received no official warning. After evacuations and several days of fire, his family's home was spared. "It really gives you a new perspective," he said. "I have a new appreciation for the problems that I have the privilege not to worry about." Now he's pondering the possibility of putting an infrared telescope into Earth orbit this time to monitor Earth itself for emerging fires. More immediately, though, Paz wants to use his NEOWISE findings to study the elusive expansion rate of the universe, starting from the Big Bang, and hopefully help scientists solve the biggest mystery in cosmology. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It will either contribute to the resolution of a very contentious topic in current research, or it's going to reveal something truly foundational about the origins of the universe," Paz said. Read the original article on Business Insider When a 19-year-old Army Reserve soldier didnt return home, his family was left with a chilling gut feeling that something terrible happened. Unfortunately, their suspicions were true and now, police are on the hunt for the soldiers killer. The family of Pfc. Bryon Gettis Jr. says he served in the United States Army Reserve for only one year before he suddenly vanished, according to 5 On Your Side (KSDK). On Friday, March 7, Gettis mother tells reporters her son left the house but never made it to his army drill scheduled for the weekend. By Sunday, he still didnt return home and she told reporters she became suspicious. I didnt see his location anymore. Thats when I knew something was wrong. That was like a red flag for me. I think it was the mothers intuition, said Gettis mother, Latricia, via KSDK. I kept calling the phone and it kept going to voicemail. Thats when I knew something was wrong. I felt it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report says that day, she filed a missing persons report which triggered a police investigation. By that evening, police confirmed her worst fear: Gettis was dead. After receiving a report of human remains, Illinois State Police say they found Gettis body in an alley by the 1700 block of Gay Avenue. An anonymous neighbor told KSDK they saw him wrapped in a tarp. Authorities say he was shot to death. The St. Clair County coroner determined he was shot an hour before he was found. I have no clue why or where did he come from, or why was he there. Its a tragedy what happened. When I was cleaning up the yard, I noticed what appeared to be a body, which I thought was a log at first, said Solomon Lewis, the neighbor who found Gettis Jr.s body near his backyard, via FOX 2 Now. Before being slain, Byron was known as a hardworking, ambitious teen having picked up two jobs in addition to school, the report says. His family also told local reporters he loved putting on his uniform and looked forward to his deployment to Kuwait scheduled for the end of March as well as a long career in the U.S. Army. He was also known as the beloved son of former MLB legend Byron Gettis Sr. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said because the investigation is still in its infancy stages, they have no more information to share. However, anyone with information related to the incident is encouraged to contact Illinois State Police. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. WEST JORDAN, Utah (ABC4) A 19-year-old man has been charged with first-degree felony aggravated murder after allegedly shooting and killing another 19-year-old on Sunday morning. Sgt. Andrew Hercules with the West Jordan Police Department said the suspect, identified as Tayden Huntsman, got into a verbal dispute with the victim at a party prior to the shooting. Huntsman then allegedly attempted to influence witnesses after the shooting. By the time officers arrived on scene, they found the victim, identified as Hugo Lucero, dead with a gunshot wound. During their investigation, Hunstman allegedly admitted to shooting Lucero. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Huntsman was then charged with aggravated murder as well as third-degree felony discharge of a firearm, third-degree felony witness tampering, and second-degree felony obstruction of justice. Sgt. Hercules said Huntsman had recently been connected to gang activity and became a documented gang member as of Feb. 2, 2025. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the community members who came forward with information and support during this investigation, Hercules said on behalf of West Jordan PD. Your cooperation and courage play a vital role in enhancing the safety of our community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Teenager Edward Coristine, a member of the DOGE team, is now a senior adviser in several federal departments thanks to Elon Musk. Coristine was previously fired from an internship for reportedly leaking information to competitors. He also worked briefly at Musks brain-implant company Neuralink. Thanks to Elon Musk, a teenager with a rocky track record now wields significant influence in the federal government as a senior advisor in multiple departments. Edward Coristine, 19, was most recently a freshman mechanical engineering and physics major at Bostons Northeastern University until joining Elon Musks cost-cutting team at DOGE. The department has been busy in recent weeks conducting mass layoffs and scaling back federal spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now Coristine is reportedly a senior advisor at both the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security as part of DOGEs department overlapping cost-cutting efforts, the Washington Post reported. Coristine is also listed as one of several experts at the Office of Personnel Management, the governments HR department, Wired reported. Coristine is the son of Charles Coristine, the CEO of organic-snack company LesserEvil; Charles Coristine bought the company in 2011 after quitting his job at Morgan Stanley. The company has been profitable since 2021, CNBC reported. The younger Coristine took a leap into government after he previously interned at technology security company Path Network and worked briefly at Musks brain-implant company Neuralink, according to Bloomberg. Coristine was reportedly fired from his internship at Path Network after he allegedly leaked information to competitors, Bloomberg reported. Coristine later posted on instant-messaging platform Discord that he did nothing contractually wrong while working at Path Network, according to Bloomberg. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coristine did not return messages seeking comment. DOGE and the White House did not respond to a request for comment. At the State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, Coristine potentially has access to sensitive information, according to Bloomberg. Democratic senators, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), have already spoken out with concern about DOGEs considerable reach and its cost-cutting mission. Giving Elon Musk's goon squad access to systems that control payments to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other key federal programs is a national security nightmare," Wyden told Bloomberg. The Washington Post identified at least six engineers under the age of 25 working for Musks DOGE. One of the engineers, 25-year-old Marko Elez, resigned after the Wall Street Journal reported on alleged past posts that were racist in nature. Musk said later in a post on X he would rehire Elez, because to err is human, to forgive divine. Elez has been reportedly reinstated at the Social Security Administration, according to Bloomberg. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coristine also has a history of controversial and offensive posts, according to Substack newsletter MuskWatch, which tracks the activities of Elon Musk. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com AUSTIN (KXAN) The Texas A&M Forest Service announced that on March 5, it awarded $2.1 million in grants to rural volunteer fire departments (VFDs) across the state, per a news release from the agency. The big boost in funding, as part of the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program, will help VFDs buy lifesaving items such as training aids, dry hydrants, as well as fire and rescue equipment, according to a news release. Through the Rural VFD Assistance Program, we do everything we can to ensure that their firefighting capacity is strong by helping them purchase necessary equipment, said Jason Keiningham, the Texas A&M Forest Service Capacity Building Department Head. This increases the ability of fire departments across the state to fight wildland fires, cooperate on different types of incidents and aid other states in times of need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Texas A&M Forest Service awarded a total of 94 grants to various rural VFDs, including some here in Central Texas, per the release. Central Texas volunteer fire departments receiving funding boost: Bertram Volunteer Fire Department: $25,000 for fire and rescue equipment Burnet Volunteer Fire Department: $10,000 for training aids Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department: $25,000 for personal protective equipment City of Milano Volunteer Fire Department: $25,000 for personal protective equipment Over the past 24 years, the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program has awarded volunteer fire departments across the state more than $380 million. The next funding meeting for the program is set for Aug. 6. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Mar. 13SUPERIOR Councilors in the even-numbered districts are up for reelection on April 1. Councilors Jack Sweeney in the 4th District, Mike Herrick in the 8th and Lindsey Graskey in the 10th are running unopposed. Voters in the 2nd and 6th districts will choose from two candidates who want to represent them for the next two years. In the 2nd District Itasca, Allouez and East End voters will decide between incumbent Jenny Van Sickle and Sarah Anderson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the 6th District, which encompasses neighborhoods around the central business district and down Belknap Street to Catlin Avenue, incumbent Tylor Elm is facing a challenge from Randal Wuorinen. Van Sickle joined the City Council in 2017. "I care about my neighborhood," Van Sickle said of her decision to seek reelection. "My neighbors know that I stay informed, engaged, and take the responsibility of service seriously. They know I always put them first. That often means challenging the status quo, which isn't easy and takes experience." Hard work and persistence have gotten results for the district, Van Sickle said. Those results included launching "Kids Don't Float" life jacket stations at many water landings; working with Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway to restore reimbursements to tackle taconite dust in the vicinity of the facility in Allouez; returning sacred grounds on the Nemadji River and Wisconsin Point to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; rebuilding Carl Gullo Park; improving and protecting Wisconsin Point; fighting against a natural gas power plant on the Nemadji River bank; and pushing a plan to reconstruct East Fifth Street this summer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Van Sickle said they were all achieved while improving the city's financial stability. "We went from tearing down buildings to investing in housing," she said. "We've created more spaces for families to enjoy the outdoors, like the trail to Wisconsin Point, Woodstock Bay Park and the recently acquired Bungee dock on Allouez Bay." Anderson, who has lived in Superior since 2007, said she decided to run because she believes it's time for a fresh perspective within the city's leadership. "The city needs someone that can relate to many of its people, and I'm not afraid of challenging the status quo," Anderson said. "I have a genuine passion for collaborating and learning with others, and I know that no matter if we agree or not, there is always a way we can work together with respect to get the job done." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anderson said there were years when she was proud of the direction the city was moving, but now it seems that there has been a lack of transparency and respect within the council. "There has not been a clear understanding for the residents, especially over some of the major topics that have been under a spotlight," Anderson said. "Instead of having full information for the residents so that everyone can make an informed choice, the council has become largely one-sided with a lack of respect for the many of the agencies involved in various issues." She said it has added to continual conflict and is causing anxiety for residents. Both candidates agree the city needs to take a closer look at reclaiming its water utility from Superior Water, Light & Power because city residents face some of the highest costs in the state under a privately owned utility company. Superior is the only community in Wisconsin that doesn't have a municipal-run public water utility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Publicly owned utilities have much lower rates," Van Sickle said. "Defenders of SWL&P keep telling us it will be too expensive to buy the infrastructure, but we're already covering every cost to not only operate the water utility but to also pay out profits to their shareholders. We have to do something; the longer we wait to act, the longer our residents keep paying higher and higher water rates, and we're expecting another double-digit rate increase next year." However, Anderson said she needs more information before making a decision. "I wonder how the city is going to afford to buy this utility; what is the plan to replace the expertise of SWL&P's union employees ... and is the city going to be able to add this to the other large projects, such as broadband and extensive street repairs?" Anderson said. While she understands the desire to control costs, she is concerned the idea of buying the utility isn't coming from the right reason to do so. The candidates differ over the city's creation of a new broadband utility known as ConnectSuperior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Superior needs affordable, reliable internet options, Van Sickle said. "Charter keeps raising our rate without any meaningful improvement in service," Van Sickle said. "Municipal broadband networks are lowering prices and generating revenue across the country." Anderson said city officials should focus time and funding on other priorities. "As a resident, it is hard for me to spend this kind of money on this project as I know there are other ways we could use it, but hopefully, in the end, it will benefit," Anderson said. Elm lost his first election in 2017 by one vote, but took the oath of office in June of that year after he was appointed to fill a council vacancy. Voters returned him to office in 2018 and he's held the seat ever since. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wuorinen is a first-time candidate. "Seeing how the city council has been operating recently was a major motivating factor for me," Wuorinen said. "There seems to be a majority that consistently votes together, either for or against items. ... I believe decisions should not be made this way. Every council member should independently think through and carefully consider each issue before casting their vote." Wuorinen said he believes the city is heading in the right direction overall but could benefit from a change in representation. "I believe I can bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the council," Wuorinen said. "I'm a fast learner and will work hard to ensure the voices of District 6 residents are heard." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Elm said he decided to run again because he believes in Superior and its potential. "Over the years, I have had the privilege of serving the residents of our city and working to create policies that support economic growth, expand housing, strengthen public services and improve our infrastructure," Elm said. "We have made great strides in ensuring a strong and resilient future, but challenges remain." In addition to his work on ConnectSuperior, Elm said he continues to leverage his background in information technology to enhance how residents interact with local government. "Superior has made significant progress over the past several years, and I am proud of what we have accomplished as a community," Elm said. "We have invested in our infrastructure, supported business growth, and taken steps to modernize city services. The creation of an open access municipal broadband utility, investments in roads, parks, public safety, housing, businesses, nonprofits, utilities and responsible financial planning have all positioned our city for continued success." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both candidates agree they are open to the idea of reclaiming the water utility, but more information is needed before making a decision. "I am actively researching this issue," Wuorinen said. "If reclaiming the water utility is feasible and results in lower rates for our citizens, I would fully support it." "I don't take major decisions or changes lightly without significant research," Elm said. "Reclaiming the water utility is a complex issue that requires a thorough cost-benefit analysis and careful planning." He said he would like to see detailed financial projections, service impact assessment and a clear transition plan. Elm and Wuorinen also agree ConnectSuperior could benefit Superior residents; Elm advocated for the open access broadband utility from the beginning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I support any initiative that could help save money for our residents," Wuorinen said. "I know the broadband utility has been in the works for some time, but as of yet, no new service has been made available. I am eager to see it come to fruition if it proves to be beneficial for the people of Superior." Elm said fiber is the best choice for consistent, high-performance internet, and ConnectSuperior is a forward-thinking investment in the city's future. "Currently, direct fiber-to-the-premise connections is rarely available or cost prohibitive within the city, despite being the best option for internet connectivity," Elm said. "Fiber transmits data through light signals in glass strands, making it immune to electrical interference, weather conditions and network congestion that affect copper-based and wireless connections. It also has lower latency and fewer outages." Over the years, Elm said he has worked hard to ensure the city remains financially stable while making investments in infrastructure, the economy and quality of life. "I have a track record of working collaboratively with residents, businesses and fellow council members to develop policies that make a tangible difference in people's lives," Elm said. "True leadership is about making difficult decisions and guiding the community through both challenges and opportunities. ... I am committed to ensuring Superior continues on a path of progress, being mindful of the financial realities we face." Wuorinen said he offers voters an independent voice. "I'm not affiliated with any current members or voting blocs," Wuorinen said. "My decisions will be made based on facts and what is best for my constituents, not influenced by a group or political alignment. I will always listen to the concerns and ideas of the people I represent with an open mind." BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Two Birmingham men were arrested Tuesday in connection to a vehicle being shot into. According to Officer Truman Fitzgerald with the Birmingham Police Department, officers responded around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday to a call of a shooting into an unoccupied vehicle that happened Monday night in the 800 block of 44th Place North, where a city housing community is located. Patrol officers took in information and found out about the suspects possible location. They gave the information to discharging unit detectives. The discharging unit and the HICOPP Unit, which is assigned to all Birmingham housing communities, arrived at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Suspect claiming self-defense in Alabama Bar & Lounge deadly shooting Officers then took 19-year-old Quintez Whisenant and Marquariius Washington, 22, into custody at the housing community fewer than three hours after patrol officers came to the scene. The suspects were taken to BPD Headquarters, and discharging unit detectives interviewed them. They were then transported to the Birmingham City Jail. After assessing case information, the Jefferson County Magistrates Office issued arrest warrants on Whisenant and Washington. The warrants issued for Whisenant were discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle, third-degree criminal mischief and tampering with physical evidence. Washing was issued warrants for discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle and third-degree criminal mischief. Fitzgerald stated Wednesday evening the suspects will be in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail. Fitzgerald asserted the BPD is emphasizing on the fast capture of suspects for discharging offenses as part of Birmingham Interim Police Chief Michael Picketts eight-point plan to fight violent crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. SYDNEY - A Maritime Self-Defense Force frigate has made a port call in Western Australia as Japan bids for a contract to build Australia's new fleet of general-purpose frigates. The Mogami-class frigate Noshiro arrived at the HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth on Australia's west coast earlier this week, the Australian Defense Department confirmed Thursday. The vessel made a port call at Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, from Feb. 28 to March 3, according to the MSDF. In November last year, the Australian government shortlisted the Mogami-class frigate and Germany's MEKO A200 frigate as candidates to replace its navy's Anzac-class frigates, in a program worth up to AU$10 billion ($6.3 billion) over the next decade. According to sources familiar with the matter, the MSDF invited Australian military officials aboard the Noshiro at the HMAS Stirling naval base. It is believed that MSDF officials explained the advantages of the frigate's high-stealth performance due to the few surface irregularities in the Mogami-type hull, and the advantage of being able to operate with a smaller crew compared to the German MEKO A200 vessels, according to the sources. The frigate produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. can be operated by a crew of around 90, half as many as similar vessels. The Australian government is planning a large-scale increase of its navy's combatant fleet in the next decade, amid China's increased military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Related coverage: Japan MSDF destroyer sailed Taiwan Strait in Feb., 1st since Sept. Japan defense force ship sails through Taiwan Strait for 1st time ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) A 2-month-old child was injured during a disturbance at a south Abilene apartment complex Thursday morning. Police were called to the scene of the disturbance at an apartment complex on the 2800 block of S 25th Street around 11:00 a.m. Officers told KTAB and KRBC the 2-month-old child sustained undisclosed injuries during a family disturbance. The baby was hospitalized with what police say are non-life-threatening injured and one person has been detained in connection to the incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No further information is available at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. Police are searching for two men wanted in connection with a vehicle theft in Orange County. The pair allegedly stole a blue Jeep Gladiator truck from the 1000 block of Elements Way in Irvine back in February, according to the Irvine Police Department. The stolen car was later found in Hollywood by Los Angeles police officers. Police are searching for two men wanted for allegedly stealing a Jeep Gladiator truck in Irvine in February 2025. (Irvine Police Department) Police are searching for two men wanted for allegedly stealing a Jeep Gladiator truck in Irvine in February 2025. (Irvine Police Department) The suspects were captured on surveillance cameras leaving what appears to be a parking area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone who recognizes the suspects or has information on the theft is asked to email amena@cityofirvine.org. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Get out your green clothing, four-leaf clover and claddagh ring! The annual St. Patricks Day Parade in South Boston is Sunday. The parade will kick off at Broadway Station at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and end in Andrew Square. Boston has just been ranked the best city for St. Patricks Day celebrations in 2025, according to a new WalletHub report. Up to 1 million people are expected to attend this years festivities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For decades, the historic parade has drawn tens of thousands of people to South Boston to celebrate St. Patricks Day and Irish heritage, as well as military service and the commemoration of Evacuation Day at Dorchester Heights, known for the evacuation of British troops from Boston on March 17, 1776, according to the parades website. Each year, the parade occurs on the Sunday closest to March 17th, with a commitment to keeping alive the tradition of honoring heritage and service, the website states. Bostonians were the first to celebrate St. Patricks Day in North America, the website states. On March 17, 1737, Bostons Irish community joined together to celebrate their homeland and to honor the memory of the Patron Saint of Ireland. Bostons early St. Patricks Day Parades happened downtown. In 1901, the parade moved to South Boston, a neighborhood with a robust Irish community. Since 1948, the parade has been organized by the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, a nonprofit group of individuals elected from various South Boston veterans groups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Below is information from the parades website on directions to the parade, the parade route, and the best places to watch the parade: DIRECTIONS If youre traveling to South Boston for the parade, public transportation is your best bet. The parade begins at Broadway Station and ends at Andrew Station, both of which are on the Red Line. On the day of the parade, the MBTA typically runs rush hour service for the Red Line, with trains at least every 5 minutes, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The MBTA advises attendees that trains may bypass Broadway and/or Andrew Station if crowds there grow too large. Attendees are also advised to double-check the parade route prior to the parade to ensure the route hasnt changed due to uncooperative weather conditions. Buses will also cease stopping at Broadway or Andrew Stations at 9:45 a.m., in anticipation of the crowds. Routes 9, 10, 11, 16, and 47 will be detoured around the parade area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A free shuttle will run between the Summer Street side of South Station and East 1st Street in South Boston. Weekend commuter rail passes are also available for passengers who plan to use those trains. Please visit MBTA.com for additional details. Driving to the South Boston St. Patricks Day / Evacuation Day Parade is not recommended, as parking will be limited due to the influx of people coming to South Boston for the event, in addition to street closures. PARADE ROUTE The parade will start at Broadway Station, go up West Broadway, continue onto East Broadway, take a right on P Street, then right onto East 4th Street. The parade will then turn left on K Street, and then right onto East 5th Street, where it will continue and turn left onto G Street. The parade will stay to the left of South Boston High School onto Thomas Park, and then take a left onto Telegraph Street. The parade will go down Telegraph Street, turn left onto Dorchester Street and follow that road and then end at Andrew Square. BEST PLACES TO WATCH THE PARADE It depends on what type of experience you are looking for. If you are looking to take in the parade from one of the many restaurants along the route, or are looking to take in the parade with the masses, Broadway, especially between Broadway Station and L Street, is a great place to be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you are looking to avoid the crowds, great options include taking in the parade from Medal of Honor Park or Thomas Park, as well as a street on the route other than Broadway. INFORMATION FOR MBTA RIDERS The MBTA is implementing several measures to accommodate the increased ridership for the event, MBTA officials said in a statement. MBTA officials are stressing the importance of celebrating responsibly on public transit. Officials said vandalism and disorderly conduct can create safety hazards, delays, and additional cleaning costswhich can divert valuable resources away from essential maintenance services and improvements that benefit all riders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the parade, the MBTA Transit Police Department, will significantly increase uniformed officer presence throughout the system to deter crime and to respond swiftly to any incidents, officials said. The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority, Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt said in a statement. We encourage everyone to celebrate the holiday responsibly and remain vigilantif you see something, say something, she said. We want everyone to enjoy the Saint Patricks Day festivities while being mindful of fellow travelers and lending a helping hand to those needing directions or assistance. BOSTON, MA - MARCH 20: Paradegoers watch as the annual South Boston St. Patrick's Parade passes on March 20, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. According to parade organizers, the South Boston St. Patrick's Parade is listed as the second longest parade in the country. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) The MBTA urges riders to celebrate responsibly, leave their vehicles at home, take public transportation to festivities, and follow these safety tips: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alcohol consumption and/or unruly behavior will not be tolerated on the MBTA. Secure personal belongings, especially in crowded areas. If wearing a backpack, remove it and hold it at your side or set it between your feet. Leave large items like coolers at home. Let riders off the trains before you board. Travel on the T without bikes. Bikes (including folding bikes) are not allowed on the MBTA at any time on the day of the parade. Report any suspicious activity or individuals in distress to the nearest police officer, call the Transit Police at 617-222-1212, or dial 911. Download the MBTA See Say App to quickly and discreetly report suspicious activity to Transit Police. Using this app, riders can send Transit Police pictures, text messages, and locations of suspicious activity. Follow the instructions of MBTA Transit Police officers and staff who are there to ensure everyones safety. Take care of yourself and others. Seek medical attention when necessary. The MBTA is making changes including: Shuttle Bus: The MBTA will provide free shuttle bus service from South Station to South Boston between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day of the parade. Red Line: The Red Line will operate rush hour service from 10 AM to 6 PM. Trains may bypass Broadway during certain times due to heavy crowds. Bus Detours: Routes 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, and 47 will be detoured around the parade area. Buses will not stop at Broadway beginning at 9:45 AM or Andrew beginning at 10:15 AM. Commuter Rail: Commuter Rail trains will run with additional cars to accommodate parade attendees. Additional customer service and management staff will be available at South Station to answer any questions and assist customers. $10 Weekend Passes are valid for unlimited travel on all Commuter Rail lines in all zones on Saturday and Sunday. Riders are encouraged to buy them in advance with the mTicket app. For more information and a full guide to the MBTA on parade day, visit the link here. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW ALBERTVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) A gas station shooting has left a 29-year-old man facing an attempted murder charge in Albertville. Albertville Police, and Fire Departments responded to a reported shooting at an Exxon gas station located at 5743 US Highway 431 around 9:46 a.m. Wednesday. Upon arrival, officers found an adult male victim with a gunshot wound to his lower body. Albertville Police identified the male victim as Khirellah Musa Gelan, 28, of Decatur. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gelan was transported to Marshall Medical Center South, he was later transported to Huntsville Hospital and has since been released. Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox. Upon further investigation, officers learned that an altercation between two adult male family members led to the shooting. APD told News 19 that Saleh Mohammed Munassar, 29, of Owens Crossroads, was taken into custody at the scene and was booked into jail for attempted murder. He is currently being held at the Albertville City Jail while charges are being formalized. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to police, an initial appearance will be conducted in the next 48 hours and Munassar will be transported to the Marshall County Jail. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) Four men have been arrested for the murder of a 7-year-old boy who was shot and killed in Jacksonville in January. On Jan. 24, Broen Allen, 7, and Lafayette Mango Jr., 21, were leaving a home on the Westside of Jacksonville when multiple people approached in a dark vehicle and began shooting, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said. Credit: Jacksonville Sheriffs Office Both were rushed to the hospital, where Broen died from his injuries. Lafayette was seriously injured. Credit: Jacksonville Sheriffs Office Left to right: Dannel Larkins, Zharod Sykes, Keith Fields, Keith Johnson JSO said Lafayette is a known gang associate and deputies believed the shooting was gang-related. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keith Fields, 18, Dannel Larkins, 20, Keith Johnson, 21, and Zharod Sykes, 24 were arrested and are facing the following charges: Second-degree murder Conspiracy to commit murder Attempted first-degree murder Fields, Larkins, and Sykes are all documented gang members, and Johnson is a documented gang associate, JSO said. This is the first round of arrests we will make in bringing Broens family the justice they deserve. There are other individuals who planned and participated in this heinous act, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post. JSO is asking anyone with information regarding this shooting, to call First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-8477. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) Five children were killed after a dam collapsed in eastern Zimbabwe, and rescuers were searching for two others who were reported missing, the countrys disaster management agency said Thursday. An influx of water following continuous rains in recent weeks breached the walls of the dam at a farm in Chipinge, a remote district in the east of the country, on Sunday. Authorities initially said a four-year-old girl doing laundry with her mother and a 30-year-old man died. The girls mother survived. However, with some children unaccounted for in the area, a frantic search and rescue mission kicked off and resulted in the recovery of four more bodies of children this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The southern African nations disaster management agency, the Civil Protection Unit, said the search is continuing for two more children, ages eight and four, who are still missing. The agency said gushes of water flooded downstream villages, catching the children who were fishing or doing laundry on a nearby river by surprise and also destroying agricultural equipment and killing livestock. A team from the Civil Protection Unit, the police and community members were combing the area to locate the missing children. Zimbabwe, fresh from the most severe drought in four decades, has seen incessant rains in many parts of the country in recent weeks. Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least five civilians and injured at least 28 over the past day, regional authorities reported on March 13. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 74 of the 117 drones launched by Russia overnight over 11 regions, the Air Force reported. Thirty-eight decoy drones disappeared from radars without causing damage, according to the statement. Russia also launched one Iskander-M ballistic missile from Kursk Oblast, the Air Force said without commenting on the consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four people were injured in Russian attacks against Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. A drone attack against Dnipro, the regional center, set fire to an infrastructure facility and damaged residential buildings. The victims included three women aged 52, 56, and 82, according to the statement. A 64-year-old woman was also injured during the Russian attacks against the Nikopol district. Three people were killed and 14 injured during Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported. This included two people killed and one injured in Myrnohrad, one killed and another injured in Pokrovsk, eight injured in Kostiantynivka, two injured in Druzhkivka, and two others injured in Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, according to the statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A 60-year-old man was injured during a Russian attack against the town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Russian strikes killed one person and injured six in Kherson Oblast, said the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Two apartment buildings and 20 houses were damaged. In Sumy Oblast, one civilian was killed in the Seredyna-Buda community when attempting to handle a Russian drone, which subsequently exploded. Two more people were injured during Russian attacks against the Khotin community, the regional military administration reported. An overnight drone strike against the Okhtyrka community also set ablaze multiple garages, though no casualties were reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a 50-year-old man was injured during a Russian strike against the Vasylivka district, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. Read also: Ukraine struggles to hold on in Kursk Oblast as Russia strikes back before peace talks Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Day of the Dead may be Mexicos most famous festival, but its just one of 5,000 that take place in the country each year. These celebrations blend the culture of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica with rituals brought by their Catholic colonisers: some are devoted to God, others to the devil; some celebrate life, others death. Processions form to mark everything from saints to particular professions, and no event is too small even a girls quinceanera, or 15th birthday party, might turn a town on its head. Heres our pick of the festivals worth travelling for. 1. Dia de los Muertos, Oaxaca de Juarez For weeks leading up to Day of the Dead, traditionally celebrated on 1 and 2 November, the walls of Oaxaca are flushed bright orange with freshly cut marigolds fixed to doors, hung in garlands or, in some cases, cloaking entire buildings. According to legend, the flowers act as guides to souls revisiting the land of the living, where theyre greeted by raucous street parties, decorated ofrenda (altars), painted faces and skeletal puppet parades. Join in by adding a picture of a lost loved one to a communal ofrenda and, typically, a sweet treat or drink they can enjoy on their journey home. Half an hour south of the state capital, youll find the candlelit cemeteries of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan one of several surrounding settlements that hosts its own festivities. 2. Fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe, Morelia Celebrations of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexicos patron saint as she appeared to Juan Diego, the first Indigenous person of the Americas to be canonised begin on 12 December. Across the country, crowds carry flower-wrapped representations of the Holy Virgin and worshippers don colourful headdresses to perform the Dance of the Matachines in her honour, with live music and fireworks to follow. Morelia, the capital of the central state of Michoacan, has the most fervent festivities each year, around 150,000 pilgrims take part in a procession towards the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, its interior gleaming with gold. The Guelaguetza celebrations in Oaxaca include offerings to the Zapotec goddess of agriculture. Photograph by Gabriel Perez, Getty Images 3. Guelaguetza, Oaxaca de Juarez Guelaguetza (meaning offering) is a 3,000-year-old festival that traditionally honoured the Zapotec goddess of agriculture but now serves as a celebration of the states dazzlingly diverse Indigenous culture. Oaxacas 16 Indigenous groups are represented, with dancers, musicians and costumed carousers from each group travelling to the state capital for the last two Mondays of July. Their processions mainly take place in an open-air amphitheatre built into the Cerro del Fortin hilltop, for which tickets are required but the festive spirit tends to spill over into city streets. 4. Fiesta Grande de Chiapa, Chiapa de Corzo This annual festival, held in January, is inscribed on UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage List and is the chief claim to fame of this Chiapas highlands town. Honouring three Catholic saints (Saint Anthony Abbot, Our Lord of Esquipulas and Saint Sebastian), it sees parachico dancers wearing painted masks spinning amid crowds donned in folkloric costumes. Participants wear designs specific to their place of origin, with men parading in neon-woven serapes (traditional shawls) and women in meticulously embroidered pluming skirts. Soundtracked by beating drums and childrens chattering maracas, the procession makes its way towards the grand doors of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de Guzman for a dedicated mass. Lighting a candle in honour of the Catholic Saints is a fundamental activity during festivities. Photograph by Gabriel Perez, Getty Images 5. Carnaval, Mazatlan This Pacific Coast citys multi-day Carnaval celebrations, held in the lead-up to Lent, has the same roots as its famous counterparts in Brazil and the Caribbean but today, Mazatlans iteration is mostly an excuse for a city-wide party. Neon lights shine from the sides of grand parade floats and dancers wearing bedazzled bikinis and feathered headdresses twirl to pounding tunes late into the night. The daytime procession tends to be calmer and more family-friendly, with fairground rides and the coronation of the Carnaval King and Queen. 6. Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato Among the few festivals tagged neither to pre-Hispanic ritual nor the Catholic calendar, this celebration of Spanish-language arts takes place in the central Mexican city of Guanajuato each autumn. Named after the Spaniard Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, its packed programme of live events includes performances of traditional Mexican folkloric ballet in the central hub Plaza de la Paz, music in repurposed baroque churches and pop-up nightclubs in subterranean catacombs. To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only). A majority of voters are against President Trumps plans to close the Education Department, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University. The survey released Thursday found 60 percent of voters oppose such plans, while 33 percent support the presidents goal of abolishing the federal agency. Democrats strongly oppose the dismantling of the department, with 98 percent against the idea; among independents, 64 percent oppose the initiative, while 31 percent support it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, among Republicans, 67 percent are in favor of nixing the department and 18 percent oppose. Men are more in favor of the abolishment than women, but a majority of both genders are against the idea. The disapproval comes as the Trump administration has begun downsizing the Department of Education, cutting its workforce in half this week. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said those layoffs were the first step towards a total shutdown of the agency. Actually, it is, because that was the presidents mandate, McMahon told Fox Newss Laura Ingraham on Tuesday. His directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know well have to work with Congress, you know, to get that accomplished. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what we did today was to take the first step of eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat, and thats not to say that a lot of the folks you know, its a humanitarian thing to a lot of the folks that are there. Theyre out of a job, she added. A group of Democratic states have already sued the department over the layoffs. Congress would have to pass a law to completely eliminate the department, which is unlikely given the 60-vote filibuster threshold Republicans would need to overcome in the Senate. But Trump allies are urging the department to become as small as it can and to move Congress-mandated programs to other federal agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The poll was conducted between March 6 to 10 and surveyed 1,198 self-identified registered voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TOKYO - More than 3 million people in Japan are estimated to have gambled at online casinos, with around 1.24 trillion yen ($8.4 billion) being spent annually, even though the practice is illegal, a police survey showed Thursday. The National Police Agency released the findings of its first study on virtual casino use following recent cases involving athletes and celebrities, amid a lack of public awareness about its illegality. Online casinos are legally operated in some countries but are not authorized in Japan, which has stricter regulations. Accessing those sites and placing bets from Japan can result in fines of up to 500,000 yen. Habitual gamblers may face up to three years in prison under the country's Penal Code. The survey, commissioned by police and conducted by a research firm, covered around 27,145 people aged 15 to 79 nationwide between July and January. It found that 3.5 percent of respondents had gambled at virtual casinos. The 3.5 percent equates to about 3.37 million people nationwide, with an estimated 1.97 million still gambling online illegally, the survey said. "We take the widespread practice of illegal online gambling very seriously," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference, vowing to promote effective countermeasures. Of the 500 gamblers and 6,500 nongamblers selected from the respondents, 3,044 people, or 43.5 percent, said they were unaware that online casino gambling is illegal in Japan. Sixty percent of the 500 gamblers acknowledged having a gambling addiction, and 46 percent said they had fallen into debt at least once due to online casinos, the survey found. About 23 percent of the 500 gamblers said they started betting at online casinos due to the influence of well-known figures, such as professional athletes and other celebrities, who are sometimes featured in advertisements. The survey also revealed that only two online casino sites out of 40 selected sites with Japanese instructions showed that access from Japan is illegal. In Japan, lotteries and betting on public races, such as horse, bicycle, boat and motorcycle racing, are legal. Related coverage: Ex-head of Japan hospital suspected of covering up murder in hospital Record number of online casino users detected by Japan police in 2024 Racing circuit, resort ideas eyed for Osaka Expo site development DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) March is Womens History Month, and one local establishment is marking one year of both honoring womens history while shaping the current community. The 6888 Kitchen Incubator was named in honor of the pioneering Black women who served in the U.S. Army in 1945, and decades later, the kitchen incubator is furthering that legacy of service to the community. Housed in the Dayton Arcade, the incubator has helped their members make over $300,000 in combined revenue in the past year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This year has been amazing, its been a whirlwind. It went by so fast, but its been great, said Dabriah Rice, 6888 Kitchen Incubator manager. After six years of planning, envisioning and now one year of operation, the incubator is not only up and running but also thriving. Im just excited for the growth and everybody that has come and supported the kitchen in the first year, said Rice. The kitchen incubator started with a vision shared by three food entrepreneurs Charlynda Scales, Jamiaca White and Dabriah Rice. While focusing on food, they wanted to also honor the legacy of the Six Triple Eight Army Battalion, ran by the first African American woman to become an officer in the Womens Army Corp, Charity Adams Earley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To be able to carry on the legacy of those women, to be able to highlight and showcase what theyve done and to educate. It just feels amazing just to carry on that legacy, said Rice. The 6888 Kitchen Incubator opened its doors in 2024, with the mission to help small businesses in the commercial food space. One small business theyve helped promote is Taste T Baby Food. Theyve been very flexible and their goal really is to help small businesses, said Kourtney Terry, Taste T Baby Food owner. Terry has been using the kitchen for six months, saying that they have been instrumental in helping her provide baby food to child care centers in the Miami Valley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont think that I would be sustainable in the current time that we are in, if it wasnt for the kitchen, said Terry. The incubator has helped 20 members generate more than $300,000 in revenue so far. The space is equipped with baking pods, industrial refrigerators, overs and more to help businesses succeed. And as they wrap up their first year, they are headed toward phase two, hoping to add a classroom kitchen, catering kitchen, small pods for large to midsize businesses and expand their retail space. We know that we are doing something thats impactful to the community, said Rice. Were just excited to be able to showcase that and just to carry on that legacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 6888 Kitchen Incubator is located in the Dayton Arcade on South Ludlow Street. To learn more, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) On Wednesday, the Bernalillo County District Attorneys Office said it was forced to dismiss seven additional pending DWI cases related to New Mexico State Police Sgt. Toby Lafave and Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office deputy Jeffery Hammerel after the two lost credibility in court and prosecutors were not able to call them as witnesses. Lafave was placed on administrative leave and Hammerel pled guilty to charges in connection with the DWI Unit Scandal. Related Coverage: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The total number of dismissed cases in Bernalillo County due to officers losing credibility is now up to 269. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. HONOLULU (KHON2) Since the beginning of time, humans have looked up at the stars and dreamed of exploring the universe. This dream is becoming more of a reality with each passing year and as scientists hone their skills. One exciting project currently happening is NASAs Lucy mission, which is on a quest to learn more about asteroids orbiting near Jupiter known as Trojans. These asteroids are thought to be ancient remnants from the early solar system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And the University of Hawaii has been selected to be a part of this history making adventure. Here are some facts to know: 1. Emily Costello joins the team: Emily Costello who is a planetary scientist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is one of eight scientists who have been selected to help NASA study these asteroids. Her work focuses on understanding how meteor impacts have shaped the surfaces of these ancient space rocks. She is joining seven other scientists affiliated with universities and research companies from around the world. Impacts are a pervasive geological process on small bodies, so it is critical that we accurately decipher how these impacts shape the formation and evolution of the asteroids, said Costello, who is a researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2. Trojan asteroids: The Jupiter Trojan asteroids are a group of small bodies that share an orbit with Jupiter around the Sun. These asteroids are important because they may hold clues about the early days of our solar system. The newly selected scientists will work closely with NASA and other mission team members to study the L4 Trojans during key flybys in 2027 and 2028. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You 3. The role of impacts: Meteor impacts have changed the surface of these asteroids over billions of years. Costello will help NASA understand how these impacts mix up the surface layers and influence these asteroids evolution. The history written and rewritten by impacts will influence the interpretation of all observations by the Lucy missions scientific instruments that view Trojan surfaces, Costello said. So, its thrilling to be able to help interpret the first ever close-up look at these likely ancient asteroids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 4. A 12-year mission: The Lucy spacecraft is on its way to study the L4 Trojan swarm. Launched in 2021, it will spend 12 years exploring the Trojan asteroids and other nearby space rocks. It will be the first mission to visit this group of asteroids and will help scientists gather valuable data about the formation of our solar system. Along the way, it will use gravity from Earth to help speed up its journey! 5. Named after a fossil: The mission is named after Lucy, the famous Ethiopian fossil of an early human ancestor, which helped scientists learn more about human evolution. Just like the fossil, the Lucy mission will help us understand the history of our solar system. 6. Groundbreaking mission: This group of scientists is the first selection of participating scientists for the Lucy mission, and theyll help guide the spacecrafts investigations over the next decade. 7. Joint endeavor: The Lucy mission is managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, and Lockheed Martin Space built and operates the spacecraft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NASAs Lucy mission is a groundbreaking journey, and the L4 Trojans Participating Scientist Program plays a big role in answering the many questions scientists have about these mysterious space rocks. This mission is truly a team effort, with scientists from around the world working together to answer some of spaces most pressing questions! You can click here, here and here to learn more. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHONs morning podcast, every morning at 8 Their research will help uncover important information about the history and formation of our solar system. They will stay involved until 2030 and will continue to analyze the data Lucy sends back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. NEW LONDON, Conn. (WTNH) Seven new sexual assault complaints have been filed against the United States Coast Guard, according to attorneys at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight on Thursday. These new filings join 22 similar Federal Tort Claims Act complaints filed last fall, all from former Academy cadets who say they survived sexual assault while they were cadets or prospective cadets of the Academy in New London. Blumenthal releases report on Operation Fouled Anchor, Coast Guard coverup Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The alleged victims are represented in part by attorney Christine Dunn, who said additional sexual assault survivors continue to reach out to her. Ive heard story after story of the sexual violence they endured at the Academy and how the Academy turned a blind eye, Dunn said in a statement. The Coast Guard can no longer be allowed to sweep sexual assault under the rug. My clients are standing together and demanding that the Coast Guard be held accountable for allowing a culture to flourish at the Academy where sexual assault was condoned, Dunn continued. Coast Guard whistleblowers testify at Connecticut hearing about sexual assault coverup Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The filings claim the Coast Guard failed to implement adequate policies and practices and instead allowed sexual violence to go unchecked, condoned and actively concealed the behavior, and knowingly placed the victims and other cadets in danger. Some of the complaints detail alleged assaults in their dorm rooms, by classmates who entered without permission, which attorneys said was enabled by a policy preventing cadets from locking their doors. According to attorneys, one complaint said they woke up on several occasions during their time at the Academy to find a drunk, naked male classmate lying on top of them, sexually assaulting them. Another alleged victim said they were drugged while attending a party and let fellow cadets drive them home, but woke up the next morning having been raped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First female Coast Guard commandant ousted over leadership deficiencies, operational failures They said another complaint described being repeatedly sexually assaulted in one night while staying with fellow cadets at an Academy Lieutenants house. In January, Admiral Linda Fagan, the former Commandant of the Coast Guard, was ousted by the Trump administration because of her leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard. The move was in part because of her role in the continued cover up of Operation Fouled Anchor, a secret internal Coast Guard investigation that looked into the mishandling of dozens of sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy over decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bipartisan bill called the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2025 was introduced in Congress this February. It proposed new regulations relating to cadet safety, including mandating the Academy install electronic locking mechanisms to secure rooms. A spokesperson for the Coast Guard told News 8 in a statement, The Coast Guard has not yet received these additional claims, and federal law prevents us from discussing the details. The Coast Guard will resolve these claims in accordance with the Federal Tort Claims Act and any other applicable law. Sexual assault and sexual harassment have no place in our Service, the statement continued. The Coast Guard is committed to protecting our workforce and ensuring a safe environment that eliminates sexual assault and sexual harassment, and has devoted significant resources to improving prevention, victim support, and accountability. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. A great-grandmother in Colorado is calling her great-grandson her "hero" after the 3-year-old braved the darkness to retrieve her phone after she fell in her backyard. "I call him my hero and he says, 'No G.G. [short for great-grandmother], I'm Bridger,' so he doesn't get it but he really is a hero to me," Sharon Lewis told "Good Morning America." 4-year-old being called a hero for calling 911 and saving her mom's life Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lewis told "GMA" she and her great-grandson Bridger were walking toward her house one evening in late February when she tripped and fell, hitting her head on a cement step. "When I hit my head, the first thing Bridger said was, 'Are you OK, G.G.?' And I said, 'Yes, I'm OK.' And he said, 'There's a lot of [blood].' And then we started hollering for the neighbor but that didn't work," Lewis recalled. PHOTO: Sharon Lewis is calling her great-grandson Bridger, 3, her hero, after he came to her aid after she fell outside and hit her head on a cement step. (Stephanie Peabody) Lewis said she realized her only hope would be to call 911 but her phone was in her car in the driveway and sunlight was fading. "I said, 'So Bridger, you're going to have to be a big boy and go out to the car and get G.G.'s phone,' And he said, 'It's really dark, G.G.,'" Lewis recounted. "I said, 'It'll be OK. Jesus will help you. Don't be afraid.'" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 7-year-old credited with saving toddler from bottom of swimming pool Lewis' home security camera footage caught Bridger on his mission, saying out loud, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid," as he made his way to the car and opened the driver side door. "I went out -- right there and I was so scared!" Bridger said in a video message shared with "GMA." After Bridger retrieved his great-grandmother's phone and returned to her side, Lewis said she was able to phone her daughter, who contacted a neighbor and called 911. First responders later rushed Lewis to a local hospital where she received treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lewis said if Bridger hadn't been with her at the time, it could have been a "very different outcome." "I couldn't get up and I couldn't crawl anywhere. I couldn't do anything," the 77-year-old said. "And if he hadn't been there, I probably would have just laid there for a very long time." 77-year-old calls great-grandson her 'hero' after he rushed to help after fall originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com HONOLULU (KHON2) A 7-year-old girl who was injured in an e-bike crash two weeks ago has died, according to the Honolulu Police Department (HPD). Hawaiian Humane Society opening opportunities for teens The child was riding her e-bike near her Ewa Beach home when the accident occurred. Her mother spoke with reporters last week, recounting that she had been spending time in their garage after school before deciding to ride down the street. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The crash happened approximately 10 minutes later. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HPD confirmed that the child was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The death has renewed calls from traffic safety advocates for more awareness and precautions regarding e-bike use. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. Mar. 12WILKES-BARRE As the weather warms up, residents are making more use of the city's walkways. While moving about, they might notice a blue and yellow Pennsylvania Historical Marker, of which there are 23 within the city's limits. Of those 23 aluminum plaques, eight are absent from their posts. They've been taken in by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PMHC), the marker program's administrators, for maintenance. The process is routine, and local officials are aware of the markers' status. When the markers are taken in, a yellow tag is placed on the post left behind by the maintenance contractor. "The marker plate is then taken to the shop to be sandblasted, primed and repainted," according to a blog post shared by Alli Davis, PMHC's historical marker coordinator. "The contractor performs additional repairs such as straightening bent plates, welding cracked plates and re-tapping set screws for remounting on a repainted post." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Davis' direct line is the number listed as the contact on the yellow tags. Bill Lewis, a commissioner of the PMHC, said that the process of refurbishing the markers depends on the damage they've been dealt, but the typical timeline of restoration falls within one to two months. Road salt getting kicked up, according to Lewis, is one of the main culprits of the markers losing their structural integrity, though the restorative process is active throughout the year. The eight markers in Wilkes-Barre being maintained are: Amedeo Obici (1877-1947), the co-founder of Planters Peanut Company, located at 632 S. Main St. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fort Durkee, the first fort built by Connecticut settlers of the region, located at River Street near South Street. Fort Wyoming, a fort seized by Connecticut settlers and destroyed in 1784, located at River Street near South Street. Fred Morgan Kirby (1861-1940), the 5 & 10 cent store pioneer, located at 202 S. River St. (Kirby Hall). George Catlin, a painter of Native American tribes and landscapes, located at River and South streets. Jesse Fell (1751-1830), a judge who jump-started the local anthracite industry, located at the corner of East Northampton and South Washington streets. Lyman H. Howe (1858-1923), an innovator at the dawn of motion pictures, located at South River and South streets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rev. Joseph Murgas, a scientist and pastor who experimented with wireless telegraphy, located at Sacred Heart Church, 601 N. Main St. Lewis projected that the eight markers will return to their posts shortly. To be recognized with a Pennsylvania Historical Marker, the subject whether it be a place, a person, or an event should be relevant on the national or international level, though concurrent contributions to enriching the culture or history of the commonwealth is factored into the selection process. Nominations for marker status were shut down for years after the COVID-19 pandemic, but is active once more. Information on the nomination process is available on the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office's website. In Luzerne County, there are 71 Pennsylvania Historical Markers. The first three markers were dedicated on January 1, 1929, with each of them recognizing General John Sullivan's 1779 expedition against the Iroquois tribe. The Sullivan markers are actually plaques unlike the more contemporary blue and yellow marker designs and are located in Wilkes-Barre, Exeter, and Bear Creek Township. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Brace yourselves, high winds and blowing dust are set to make a comeback Thursday afternoon through Friday. The National Weather Service has issued three warnings for El Paso starting as early as noon on Thursday. A high wind warning, a blowing dust advisory and a red flag warning. On Thursday, well see a high near 75 and a low near 42. Winds will blow from the southwest at 25-30 mph during the day, with gusts near 40 mph. Overnight, winds will increase to 45-50 mph, gusts can reach speeds near 65 mph. If the winds werent enough, there is also an 80 percent chance of precipitation just before 3 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Warnings and advisories expire by Friday afternoon, but strong winds still remain. With a high around 56 and a low around 39, mostly sunny skies will be present, but conditions will be hazy with blowing dust. Winds will start near 45-50 mph in the morning and decrease to 30-35 mph by the afternoon, with gusts still potentially reaching speeds of 65 mph in some areas. Saturday is just as active with a slight chance of rain and snow showers just before noon. Blowing dust in some areas is possible after noon time. Winds will be near 25-30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. The high will be below average near 58 and low around 38. Relief from the strong winds come Sunday, breezy conditions will be present along with a high near 66 and a low around 43. For Monday, St. Patricks Day, were looking at a high near 80 with a low around 50. Conditions should be calm with light winds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tuesday will be windy again with a high in the upper 70s and low near 50. Wednesday and Thursday will be cooler with a high in the mid-60s, and lows in the lower 40s. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) Police reports out of Memphis dont typically make Huntsville headlines, but as the search for Ronald Dumas Jr. continues, the community is desperately seeking answers. A body found by a utility worker in Memphis on Tuesday prompted what Dumas family representative Troy Styles described as over 100 social media messages to his office, all wondering if the remains were Ronalds. Huntsville Police say one injured in Rime Village shooting Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Styles said the family does not believe the body is connected due to clothing and other indicators. Memphis Police has not yet identified the body. Wednesday marks 90 days since the disappearance of Ronald Dumas Jr. He was last seen leaving a liquor store off of University Drive on December 15. His car was found abandoned on I-40 near Camden, Tennessee, on December 16, and his phone pinged heading towards Memphis hours later. Police say they are looking for five people in connection to Ronalds abduction, including four from Memphis. HPD said authorities were last searching for Dumas in a 450-acre area south of Memphis. Styles said this is not the first time the family has been contacted about such a grim finding, noting Memphis and Nashville authorities are aware of Ronalds case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox. Any time that these cases happen where decedents are found, without identification or they havent been identified yet, and it does make it to the news, it certainly does create a sense of panic for the families who are looking for their loved ones so desperately without answers, Styles said. Styles stressed the communication gap between the family and HPD, saying they have not received many updates from police in the last several weeks. He added that a Dumas family member requested an Internal Affairs Investigation within HPD because of that lack of information. HPD last updated the community on the case on February 7. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. Mar. 12A 98-year-old Moscow, Idaho, man died after he drove off U.S. Highway 95 and crashed into a telephone pole Tuesday south of Moscow, according to Idaho State Police. The man, whose identity was not released, was driving a light green Honda CR-V at 4:15 p.m. north on the highway when he drove off the right side of the road and into a ditch before crashing into the pole, police said in a news release. The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The highway was shut down for 30 minutes before one lane reopened to allow alternating directions of traffic to pass. Both lanes reopened after another 30 minutes. LA MALBAIE, Canada - The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies gathered Wednesday in a small Canadian resort to discuss major global affairs, ranging from efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine to how to deal with China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. The diplomats from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union, will formally begin talks in Quebec's La Malbaie on Thursday, just two days after the United States agreed to resume its military aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine after a relative thaw in relations. On the eve of the G7 talks, almost all participants came together for a welcoming reception in the town. They are meeting for what officials call "full-fledged" discussions for the first time since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office on Jan. 20. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled from Saudi Arabia, where senior Ukrainian officials said they are ready to accept the Trump administration's proposal for an immediate 30-day cease-fire in the fight against Russia's invasion, launched in February 2022. The agreements between the United States and Ukraine following hours of talks on Tuesday have been welcomed by other G7 countries and brought new momentum to the nascent peace process that had faltered nearly two weeks earlier when Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed at the White House in front of media. The proposed cease-fire now needs agreement from Russia, with Trump and administration officials saying it is up to the Kremlin to demonstrate it wants to move in the same direction. Rubio told reporters before arriving in Canada that the Russians were "probably processing the news the same as the rest of the world and so we hope to have a positive answer from them. The ball is truly in their court." On Thursday, the ministers are set to hold sessions on topics including the future of Ukraine and Europe, China and the Indo-Pacific, maritime security and the group's role in the Middle East, according to G7 officials. Before departing from Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he will do his best to "ensure the unity and cooperation of the G7." Iwaya stressed that the group has long shared universal values such as democracy and the common goal of realizing a free and open international order, and that they cannot afford a rift to form at a time when the international situation is in flux. Given that Japan is the only participating country from Asia, Iwaya also said it would be crucial for him to provide the Indo-Pacific perspective. On Friday, before concluding their meeting, the ministers are due to exchange views on the challenges posed by such countries as China, Iran and North Korea, as well as cooperation on peace in Africa, according to the officials. They are aiming to issue a joint statement that would highlight their support for the ongoing U.S.-led efforts to halt the war in Ukraine and their commitment to a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific, while voicing opposition to any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in that region and elsewhere, the officials said. "The perfect statement would be that the United States has done a good thing for the world in bringing this process forward, and now we all eagerly await...the Russian response and urge them strongly to consider ending all hostilities so people will stop dying, so bullets will stop flying, and so a process can begin to find a permanent peace," Rubio said. Related coverage: G7 members discussing leaders' statement over Ukraine after summit Japan urges G7 unity over Ukraine to avoid "wrong lesson" Dr. Pauli Murray (Photo: Carolina Digital Library and Archives/ (CC BY-SA 2.0)) If theres anything more absurd than the Trump administrations cheerleading for hateful policies on matters of race and gender, its the ineptitude behind it. The people implementing these policies are so mean-spirited and clueless that, as Associated Press reported last week, theyre erasing thousands of images from Defense Department websites that honored heroes who were people of color and LGBTQ+. The purge is so crude and just plain dumb, that it targeted the crewmen of the Enola Gay the iconic World War II bomber that helped end the war. Apparently, even the name Gay is now forbidden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In another ridiculous move, the National Park Service removed a webpage honoring a human rights leader who grew up in Durham and who was the first Black person to earn a doctorate from Yale Law School the Rev. Pauli Murray because, perish the thought, Murray was trans. The bottom line: Its hard to know whats more embarrassing for the nation, the cruel ignorance of the Trump administrations actions or its pathetic incompetence in carrying them out. For NC Newsline, Im Rob Schofield. As President Donald Trumps executive orders pave the way for the government to crack down on campus activism, including an order to deport international students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, Madalin, an international doctoral student at Northwestern University said shes keeping a watchful eye on the horrors being enacted by the administration. Madalin spoke to the Tribune on the condition that it would not disclose her full name as she wrestles with the fear of deportation. It took me some time to realize the (implications), she said. Soon I started to sit with the idea that this could actually be a very substantial material problem for me. I have a partner here; I have a life here. Madalin, originally from Italy, was hesitant to divulge the extent of her role in last years pro-Palestinian protests at Northwestern, one of 60 universities under federal scrutiny for what the Trump administration calls antisemitic discrimination and harassment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Recent events have reinforced her sense of caution. On Saturday, federal immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who was a prominent leader in Columbia Universitys student protests against Israel, the first publicly known deportation effort under an executive order that pledges to detain and deport international students who joined such demonstrations on college campuses. Khalil, who completed work on his masters degree at Columbia, now faces possible deportation despite facing no criminal charges, though court documents show a federal judge has blocked the removal of Khalil from the country while weighing a petition challenging his arrest. As Khalils arrest in New York casts confusion and unease, educators and international students in the Chicago area and beyond are sounding the alarm and bracing for unprecedented intellectual repression. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of these universities have turned into collaborators in deporting their own students, censoring their scholarly communities and ultimately defunding their own institutions, Madalin said, noting that Khalil is a green card holder and a legal resident of the U.S, and his pregnant wife is an American citizen. If this campaign of fear (from the Trump administration) were to work, I do wonder whos going to be left to defend critical thinking in American academia. Madalin said there are murmurs in smaller circles across the Evanston campus about how Trumps executive orders could affect Northwestern. We will say things like at least its a liberal university; maybe they will manage not to give names to ICE, Madalin said. But if it comes to that if they are pressured I wouldnt be shocked if they did. I dont believe in the benevolence of this institution. Jacqueline Stevens, a political science professor at Northwestern University and director of the Deportation Research Clinic at the universitys Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, said Northwestern could and should challenge the Trump administrations edicts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Northwestern had any kind of reservations about implementing a policy that violated students and faculty, that violated the communitys rights to express our perspectives on lets say U.S. foreign policy on Israel they should go to court, Stevens said. They should say that the executive order violates the First Amendment and that as a private institution, they want the court to issue an injunctive order to prohibit these kinds of protocols from being enforced by the Trump administration. Hundreds protest arrest of Palestinian green card holder who helped lead Columbia encampment Stevens recently co-authored an op-ed in the Daily Northwestern and a petition criticizing Northwesterns deference to Trumps executive order on Title VI, including its position on international students who participated in protests against Israels attacks in Gaza. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. Theres a real big disconnect between Northwesterns stated commitment in their public mission statement to diversity on the one hand, and then complacency when the government says that they want to deport people based on viewpoint, Stevens said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Genevieve Lakier, a University of Chicago professor specializing in freedom of speech and American constitutional law principles, the executive orders violate the First Amendment. If youre deporting people because you dont like the protests that they engage in, that is classic viewpoint discrimination, Lakier said. Lakier said Trumps orders are designed to instill fear and pressure universities to suppress student protests. Despite the lack of direct orders to universities, she added, private groups are influencing school administrators to fall in line, creating a chilling effect on campus freedoms. Although a government criminalizing speech based on viewpoint is against constitutional law, Lakier explained that the United States plenary power doctrine has doctrinal difficulties. According to Lakier, the doctrine allows the government absolute authority over a specific area, often commerce and immigration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It makes everything more worrisome for international students, Lakier said, noting that critics of the plenary power doctrine argue that it has been used to oppress groups based on race, ethnicity, national origin and culture. We have no idea where were headed, but its possible to imagine a world in which maybe very few students actually are deported, but theres a lot of publicity around the few who are or whose visa status is challenged, Lakier said. That instills fear in everybody else. I think its important to not only think about how many people are kicked out of the country, but the clear aim to affect what happens inside the country in an ongoing way. On Jan. 30, the White House announced the presidents steps to combat antisemitism, referring to student protesters as Hamas sympathizers and warnings that officials will find you, and we will deport you. Lakier said the meaning of Hamas sympathizer is ill-defined and leaves many students at risk as they also weigh the potential repercussions of speaking up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A recent University of Chicago graduate from India who is now pursuing a postdoctoral opportunity in another state spoke to the Tribune on condition of anonymity because she is worried identifying herself will impact her visa renewal status. The student with Optional Practical Training work authorization will soon be applying to renew her F-1 student visa. The OPT, a benefit for F-1 visa holders, allows international students temporary employment directly related to their area of study. For the UChicago grad, if approved, the renewal will allow her an additional three years in the U.S. because of her type of degree. While at UChicago, the student participated in pro-Palestinian protests and supported the encampment at the Hyde Park campus. My cousin back home sent me the news (of threats to deport international students) with a bunch of question marks, and I did have to do a bit of an assessment of are there things we should actually be doing to protect ourselves or just fine to kind of ignore it, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She started switching her public social media accounts to private, while some in her network hurriedly spoke to legal experts about what to expect. The student said the news lately makes her feel like shes living in a fascist regime. Axios reported last week that the U.S. State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke the visas of international students who appear to be pro-Hamas. On Friday, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education announced the government would be revoking $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to the schools continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment. A few days earlier, Trump announced he would cut the federal funding of colleges that allow what he called illegal protests, though he didnt define what constitutes an illegal protest. On Monday, Trump boasted about Khalils arrest on social media, saying, This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. Louise Cainkar, a social and cultural science professor at Marquette University, said the rhetoric used by the Trump administration is dangerous and might, in fact, boomerang into dividing Jewish communities who are historically very pro-civil liberties and beacons of social justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proportion of the U.S. population that is aware of the Palestinian situation has significantly increased, Cainkar said. These Trump efforts are bound to fail in their objectives, and in my view they are an insult to the Jewish people. At Northwestern, Madalin and Stevens said the school is requiring its students and staff this year to complete mandatory antisemitism training. Stevens said the training further perpetuates the mischaracterization that criticizing Israel is antisemitic because the training modules were created in response to protests. Madalin agreed. In an email, Northwestern spokesperson Jon Yates said the school began new, yearly mandatory training for students this year covering antisemitism as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab discrimination. Discrimination and intimidation have no place at Northwestern and these trainings are critical tools as we strive for a campus where all members of the community feel welcomed, Yates said. Yates did not comment on inquiries about Northwesterns position as a private institution with international students or the concerns raised by Madalin or Stevens. Madalin, who spent many years studying in the U.S. with hopes of cultivating a career in academia, said shes now having second thoughts about her future. I dont understand anymore what I would be doing in a university its fully emptied out, she said. A lot of us are considering changing jobs because this is not the job we signed up for. Im a political philosopher or a critic of society. This is supposed to be what Im doing. But at the moment, as an international student, I cannot even talk freely without worrying what could happen. (NewsNation) Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio calls the detention of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil deeply troubling. Khalil is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody as federal attorneys argue for his deportation. Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who holds a green card, was part of pro-Palestinian rallies on the schools campus last year. The government has accused Khalil of engaging in pro-Hamas activities. De Blasio joined NewsNation to discuss the case, which the ACLU has called one of the biggest threats to free speech in 50 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump threatens 200% tariff on European wine after proposed whiskey tariff I have heard allegations that this was someone who passed out pro-Hamas leaflets, except, how come we havent seen any pictures of these leaflets? How come we havent seen any evidence? de Blasio asked. Is the next step going to be American citizens start to get arrested on hearsay because of something they said? Thats a dangerous, dangerous precedent. De Blasio said he supports Israel but also believes people have a right to disagree with the policies of Israel and nobody should be arrested for exercising free speech and disagreeing with a governments policies. Ive not seen any evidence of him being pro-Hamas. Ive seen evidence that he wanted to see a different outcome in Gaza, de Blasio told NewsNation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Secretary of State Marco Rubio has argued that Khalils detention isnt a free speech issue, saying that nobody has a right to a student visa or a green card and that America would not let someone in who intended to engage in protests. Trump set to meet with NATO chief Mark Rutte De Blasio said Rubio is incorrect. The Supreme Court has said if you have a green card, youre on the path to citizenship. You have the rights of an American, he said. You dont get arrested for disagreeing with the U.S. government. With no evidence that Khalil was encouraging specific acts of violence, de Blasio said Americans on both sides of the aisle should be worried about what the case means for free speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was working with the Columbia administration, trying to come up with some kind of agreement to end the protest. How does someone like that end up in jail with no freedom and charges against him when he has a green card? de Blasio said. We should really be concerned about this one. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. NEW YORK Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil and seven of his fellow students sued the school and Congress on Thursday for handing over thousands of disciplinary records to the federal government as President Donald Trump threatens to crack down on student protesters. Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce subpoenaed Columbia for students records, then directed the university again in February to cough up more information. Through the lawsuit, Khalil and anonymous students at Columbia and its affiliated womens school, Barnard College, will ask a Manhattan federal judge to stop the House committee from compelling Columbia to provide records and the university from complying plus seek monetary compensation for the documents that have already been forked over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their legal team suggested the records have set the stage for the Trump administration to move to deport Khalil and could threaten other Columbia students. Theres a groundwork thats been laid over the past year, Gadeir Abbas, senior litigation attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said at a press conference in Midtown Manhattan. Theyve been gathering disciplinary records from all across the country, and so the ingredients are in place for a real, unprecedented campaign. Or, if there is a precedent, youd have the McCarthy hearings in the 50s. Kendall Easley, a Columbia spokeswoman, said the university would not comment on pending litigation. The House committee did not immediately return a request for comment. Khalil, 30, a green card holder, was arrested Saturday night by federal immigration agents as he returned home to his Columbia-owned apartment with his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant. Khalil was an international affairs graduate student and a lead negotiator during campus protests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal government has accused Khalil of leading activities aligned with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Currently being detained in Louisiana, Khalil has not been charged with a crime, but was present at antiwar protests. His detention has sparked widespread criticism and protests over its implications for free speech even from Democratic lawmakers who have condemned Khalils political views. In a post Monday on Truth Social, Trump warned that Khalils detention was the first arrest of many to come. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country never to return again, he wrote. The attorneys said Trumps threats have already had a chilling effect, with international students unsure about what their immigration status could mean for their ability to engage in activism and feeling too afraid to leave their house. Columbia has confirmed reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the streets around campus. (Students) feel like theyve been betrayed by their institution, that they chose to go to because of its activist history, said Amy Greer, an attorney at Dratel & Lewis, who is representing Khalil in a separate legal matter to demand his release. For many of them, it is their own people who are being harmed. It is people who look like them who are being harmed, people who practice the same religion that they do who are being harmed. _____ Mar. 12The man who admitted to pulling the trigger in at least two shootings on the homes of elected officials told jurors Wednesday that he "hated" Solomon Pena, who prosecutors allege orchestrated the attacks. Demetrio Trujillo, 42, continued his testimony Wednesday in Pena's trial on federal charges alleging he instigated the shootings at the homes of four Democratic elected officials in December 2022 and January 2023. Trujillo told jurors on Wednesday that Pena exploited his son, Jose Trujillo, 24, and that the elder Trujillo took actions to protect his son from Pena's influence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He was just using my son," Trujillo said of Pena. "He didn't care. He was just using Jose." Pena gave money to Jose Trujillo's mother and began frequenting the trailer where she and Jose Trujillo lived, he testified. Pena became a regular visitor to the trailer in the months before the November 2022 election. "I hated that my son started hanging around him more," Demetrio Trujillo said of Pena. "He didn't give a s--- about my son and I hate him for that." Trujillo, who remains in federal custody, testified in shackles and handcuffs for a second day Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trial is scheduled to continue through March 21 before U.S. District Judge Kea W. Riggs. Prosecutors allege Pena conspired with the Trujillos to target the homes of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, former commissioner Debbie O'Malley and two Democratic lawmakers, House Speaker Javier Martinez and state Sen. Linda Lopez. Pena was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2023, alleging "Pena organized a shooting spree that targeted the homes of four elected officials and their families." Federal prosecutors allege that Pena was motivated by his November 2022 election loss to incumbent Democratic Rep. Miguel P. Garcia and his belief that Democratic officials had "rigged" the election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He faces of total of 13 federal charges. Among them are multiple felony counts of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, including one count alleging he used and discharged a machine gun. Pena faces a possible sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges. Demetrio Trujillo testified Tuesday that Pena paid him a total of $1,400 to fire gunshots at the homes of Barboa and Martinez. Pena's attorneys told jurors in opening statements that Demetrio and Jose Trujillo were solely responsible for the shootings at the homes of the four Democratic officials. Jose Trujillo is expected to testify later in the trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pena "had nothing whatsoever to do" with the shootings, defense attorney Nicholas Hart said in opening statements. Defense attorneys also contend that the Trujillos obtained favorable plea agreements in exchange for their testimony. Both of the Trujillos pleaded guilty earlier this year to multiple federal charges and face sentences of up to life in prison. Neither man has been scheduled for a sentencing hearing. Under questioning by Pena's attorney Carter Harrison, Trujillo acknowledged that he could be sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in prison under his plea agreement. Harrison also questioned Trujillo about his alleged affiliation with the prison gang Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico, or SNM. Harrison said FBI agents questioned Trujillo in 2022 about SNM's "motives and capabilities" to carry out assassinations of federal agents and judges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Pena objected that the insertion of SNM is "highly inflammatory." The judge allowed limited questioning but warned Harrison to avoid "theatrics." With the jury absent from the courtroom, Trujillo said he had only limited association with the notorious prison gang and was punished for failing to carry out a killing at the request of SNM leaders. "SNM is trying to kill me because I refused to carry out a hit," he said. "So they green-lighted me." Trujillo also said he has no interest in politics and knows nothing about plans to kill government officials. Trujillo has also testified that he didn't know the names or political status of the people whose homes he shot at in December 2022 and January 2023. Jonah Bevin, who was 5 when Matt and Glenna Bevin adopted him in Ethiopia, is asking for a voice in the former governor's divorce case in Jefferson Family Court. (Photo provided) Jonah Bevin, the adopted son of former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and his wife, Glenna, has filed a legal action asking to intervene in their pending divorce case, which the couple told the court this week they are ready to settle. Now 18, Jonah who alleges he was abandoned at age 17 by the Bevins at a brutally abusive youth facility in Jamaica is asking for a voice in the divorce case in Jefferson Family Court he said could impact him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At present, no one who has Jonahs interest is involved in the litigation, said the motion filed Wednesday by Louisville lawyers John Helmers Jr. and Melina Hettiaratchi. Jonahs best guess is that his parents never revealed their abuse and neglect of him to this court, including their failure to meet his basic needs and to provide a safe home and a complete education as required by law. The Bevins did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dawn J. Post, a New York lawyer and child advocate also representing Jonah, said he has been denied the basic support and recognition owed to him and seeks to ensure some provision is made for his welfare as part of the divorce settlement the couple has asked the court to keep confidential. Then-Gov. Matt Bevin in 2016. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Matt Bevin is a business entrepreneur whose wealth was estimated in millions of dollars when he ran for governor in 2015. Glenna Bevin does not work outside the home, according to court records. The couple has owned several homes in Louisville, each valued at more than $1 million, according to property tax records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Post said Jonah should be considered in any settlement. While they attempt to divide their assets, Jonah has been left to fend for himself in abusive programs and was abandoned in Jamaica during the pendency of the divorce when he was a minor under the courts jurisdiction, she said. No parent should be allowed to abandon their child without consequence, Post added. Jonahs motion is the latest twist in a flurry of legal activity since he went public about his experiences in a Feb. 28 story in the Kentucky Lantern. On March 7, Jonah who has been living on his own since he turned 18 obtained an emergency protective order against Matt Bevin, alleging he experienced neglect, physical abuse and threats after he was adopted at age 5 by the couple. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he was first sent to a series of out-of-state residential facilities at age 13. After he returned from Jamaica, he was placed in a residential facility until he turned 18 last year. Since then, Jonah said he has been living out of state, with no permanent home, working part-time construction jobs to support himself He also has filed a report with Louisville Metro Police, alleging the Bevins abandoned him at age 17 at the facility closed last year by Jamaican authorities. The Bevins declined to respond to authorities seeking to return him to the United States, he said. Jonah is one of four children adopted from Ethiopia by the Bevins, who as governor and first lady, promoted adoption and child welfare as their priorities. The couple also have five biological children; all but one are adults. Then-Gov. Matt Bevin and his now estranged wife Glenna Bevin talk on KET in 2017 about their experiences with adoption. (Screenshot) Matt Bevin, a one-term Republican governor and conservative Christian, campaigned on reforming the states adoption and foster care system, which he said obstructed the Bevins effort to adopt a child in Kentucky, prompting them to adopt from overseas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jonahs motion filed Wednesday alleges that the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which investigates child abuse and neglect, currently is conducting an active investigation involving child welfare. As a candidate for governor, Bevin, in a 2015 interview, denounced the cabinet as a convoluted, backward broken machine and blamed one of its employees someone with a clipboard and a notebook for rejecting the Bevins as adoptive parents because they already had five children. Jonahs motion follows the Bevins report to the court on March 11 that they had reached a marital settlement agreement in the divorce action initiated by Glenna Bevin in May 2023 and asking that the court keep it confidential. Allowing the media and public to access the parties personal financial information and terms of settlement would be contrary to this goal and detrimental to the Bevin family, it said. Further, making the settlement public would only serve idle curiosity and gossip and not legitimate public interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Jonahs pleading argues that he should be allowed to intervene in the case and have access to the information to protect his interests as well as those of a minor child still with the Bevins. The current parties, Jonahs parents, have repeatedly shown they have little interest in protecting him and his rights to a safe home and a complete education, it said. In fact, their interests may be diametrically opposed to Jonahs. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Jewish and Muslim advocacy groups condemned President Trump for calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) a Palestinian, arguing he used it as a slur against the long-time lawmaker. During a meeting at the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Trump hammered Democratic Party lawmakers for the response to his March 6 speech to a joint session of Congress. He then went after Schumer, who previously served the Senate majority leader, becoming the highest-ranking Jewish elected official. Schumer is a Palestinian as far as Im concerned, Trump said Wednesday. Hes become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. Hes not Jewish anymore. Hes a Palestinian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The comments about the New York lawmaker immediately drew condemnations from both Muslim and Jewish civil rights groups. Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement that Trumps use of the term Palestinian as a racial slur is offensive and beneath the dignity of his office and called on the president to apologize to Palestinians and Americans. It is the continuing dehumanization of the Palestinian people that has resulted in horrific hate crimes against Palestinian-Americans, the U.S.-enabled genocide in Gaza, and decades of denial of Palestinian human rights by successive presidential administrations, Awad said Wednesday. The Anti-Defamation League, a group that works to combat antisemitism, said the president has many powers, but none of them include deciding who is and isnt Jewish. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doing so, and using Palestinian as a slur, are both beneath any @POTUS. Instead of weaponizing peoples identity, use the power of the bully pulpit to bring the American people together, the group wrote Wednesday. Halie Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said Trump doesnt get to decide who is Jewish and emphasized that Palestinian should not be used as an insult. These comments are abhorrent but revealing of why the vast majority of Jewish voters have not and will never support Donald Trump, Soifer wrote Wednesday in a post on the social platform X. Since taking office, hes elevated antisemitic conspiracy theorists & attacked our democracy. His rhetoric, agenda, and alignment with right-wing extremists are endangering American Jews. Trump has gone after Schumer with similar rhetoric before, slamming him for his criticism of Israels handling of the war in Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They dont have the backing. Even Schumer, hes become like a Palestinian. Chuck Schumer. Jewish. Always strong for Israel. Hes become like a Palestinian, Trump said in early June last year. Schumer is the author of a forthcoming book titled Antisemitism in America: A Warning thats slated to come out next week. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. "We must first pay attention to the challenges. The beginning of the first five years of my tenure coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to various difficulties. During those years, we have worked to ensure the timely delivery of vaccines. First, the Russia-Ukraine war began. Initially, we tried to assist Ukraine. Azernews reports via Azertag that Charles Michel, former President of the European Council, said this in his address at the panel session on Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry held on the margins of the 12th Global Baku Forum. We must fully support a multipolar world. Europeans should approach themselves with confidence like never before. We are strong when we unite as this concerns our future, he added. TOKYO - A man has been arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit version of a newly issued banknote, police said Thursday, in the first arrest of its kind involving a renewed bill touted as having improved security features. Mizuki Saito, 27, is suspected of using a counterfeit 10,000 yen ($68) bill on Feb. 10 to purchase coffee and cigarettes at a convenience store in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. The police said Saito has admitted to the allegation. According to the police, Saito appears to have produced bills with a home-use printer. Along with the printer, more than 50 fake 10,000 and 5,000 yen notes were confiscated from his residence in Tokyo, the police said. A store employee called police after noticing the bill was missing a watermark and its hologram did not reflect light, according to the police. Japan issued new versions of its 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 yen banknotes in July, in the first revamp for two decades. The new bills have improved anti-counterfeit technology including three-dimensional holograms of the historical figures printed on them. The police are also investigating Saito's possible connection to counterfeit bills used for payment at other convenience stores and in taxis in the capital since February. The police said fake bills with matching serial numbers to the one used in the Feb. 10 incident have been found. Related coverage: Japan's new banknotes debut in 1st design change in 20 years Japan unveils new passport with plastic photo page to prevent forgery Father cleared of aiding daughter in Sapporo beheading murder COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) Advocates gathered in Columbia on Thursday as part of an ongoing push to encourage lawmakers to strengthen gun laws in South Carolina. Members of Moms Demand Action and the South Carolina chapter of Students Demand Action held a noon rally on the State House steps, renewing calls for a measure to close the so-called Charleston Loophole. The Charleston Loophole is a gap in the federal system that allows gun sales to proceed after three business days, even if the background check has not yet been completed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dylann Roof, the Emanuel AME Church shooter, was able to purchase a gun even though his background check had not cleared. June will mark the 10th anniversary of the attack that left nine Black parishoners dead. Advocates argued that closing the loophole is a common sense step that would help keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals and domestic abusers. With the ten-year mark of the worst mass shooting in South Carolinas history only a few months away, were here to make it especially loud and clear that the time is long overdue that our lawmakers close the Charleston Loophole, said Kristen Moldenhauer, a Moms Demand Action volunteer. We can all agree that if you cant pass a background check, you shouldnt be able to access a gun regardless of whether it takes longer than three days. SC Senate revisits bill to penalize smoking with kids in cars Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Governor Henry McMaster signed a permitless carry bill into law last year that allows anyone over 18 who can legally own a gun to carry the weapon openly and without a permit or training. South Carolina has the 12th-highest rate of gun deaths in the United States, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Gun violence is the number one killer of young people in South Carolina, and my generation refuses to go on like this, said Piper Kennedy, a volunteer leader with the Beaufort High School Students Demand Action chapter. We refuse to become another statistic. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) Attorney General Russell Coleman praised members of Kentuckys General Assembly after the Senate unanimously passed legislation to strengthen Kentuckys domestic violence laws. AG Colemans office says HB 38, introduced by Representative James Tipton with a floor amendment from Senate Judiciary Chair Brandon Storm, makes repeated violations of protective orders a felony offense. The legislation will now go back to the Kentucky House of Representatives, which unanimously passed a previous version. AG Coleman, others call on EPA to not let CA regulate pesticides Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the statewide voice on ending intimate partner violence, we are grateful for this additional tool that will help our legal system protect survivors of domestic violence and their children. By making it clear that the courts will not abide repeated violations of protective orders, we can keep more Kentucky families safe, said Angela Yannelli, ZeroV Chief Executive Officer. We are thankful to Attorney General Russell Coleman, Sen. Brandon Storm, Rep. James Tipton and all of our elected leaders who have made it a priority to listen to survivors and respond to their needs. If anyone has been a victim of a crime, they are asked to contact the Attorney Generals Victim Resource and Referral Line at (800) 372-2551. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Mar. 12New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against an Albuquerque contractor, accusing the firm of defrauding hundreds of customers by taking money for home remodeling work that was never completed. The attorney general accused Flawless Results LLC and its three listed operators John Steven Georges Sr., Robert Dean "Bobby" Murphy Jr. and Jacob Chalmer Tryon, as well as a New Jersey-based bank of defrauding customers of more than $700,000, according to the complaint filed in 2nd Judicial District Court. "Flawless Results took money from hardworking New Mexico families with promises of service that were never fulfilled," Torrez said in a news release. "This lawsuit is about more than just accountability it's about ensuring that deceptive business practices are addressed and that every consumer who was misled receives the justice they deserve." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attorney general is asking a judge to permanently ban Flawless Results from operating in New Mexico, void contracts and require full refunds to affected consumers, hold Cross River Bank accountable for issuing loans without proper legal disclosures and impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. A news release also asked anyone affected by the situation to contact the state Department of Justice. Flawless Results did not respond to the Journal's inquiries, and no attorney was listed for the firm or the defendants in court filings. New Mexico secretary of state records indicate that Georges formed Flawless Results in December 2021. The company operated out of New Mexico with locations in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit alleges Flawless Results collected large down payments from consumers and failed to complete the work they paid for. When customers couldn't afford the large down payments, the company would pressure them into taking out loans with New Jersey-based Cross River Bank. According to the lawsuit, Cross River Bank lacked required consumer protection disclosures, which is considered a best practice. In one example outlined in the lawsuit, Flawless Results agreed to replace a customer's siding and window and door trim in their home. The consumer paid Flawless Results more than $15,000 to start the work. "Flawless began removing the consumer's siding at the end of October 2024 and twelve days later stopped work and stopped all communication with the consumer," the lawsuit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That same month, according to the complaint, Flawless Results fired its employees, closed its storefronts and stopped answering calls. "Consumers with pending contracts with Flawless were given no warning and no refunds of their down payments," the lawsuit said. Other lawsuits filed in 2nd Judicial District Court, all from customers in 2024, allege that Flawless Results agreed to do work on their homes but never did. One of the claims totaled over $31,000, but most were in the $10,000 to $14,000 range. Colorado court records indicate that a supplier is suing Flawless Results for over $100,000. Local aid groups say that because of federal funding cuts, theyre having to lay off staff and are now struggling in their work to help legal refugees in the metro Atlanta area. Channel 2s Linda Stouffer spoke to advocates in Clarkston, who shared the impacts theyre facing now that federal funding appears to be on hold. It means everything to them, a translator said about a family of refugees. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] A translator helped us speak with a family from Rwanda. Atlanta area aid groups and faith-based volunteers are helping them transition to life in America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For them to help them, it means a lot to them, the translator said. John Moeller, the CEO of Inspiritus, told Channel 2 Action News that his aid group helps new, legal, arrivals through the Office of Refugee Resettlement. TRENDING STORIES: This program is a life changer, not only for the refugees themselves but for the communities that we operate in, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But now, Inspiritus is laying off 75 workers. The refugee program is on pause from the federal government and all funding for this program has stopped from the federal level, Moeller said. We dont know whats next, essentially were waiting on guidance from Washington. All Saints Refugee Ministries also provides help, such as enrolling refugees in classes to learn English and access assistance programs. We help enroll them in English classes, help with food stamps and Medicaid applications. The traditional services have either been dramatically reduced, or erased, Louisa Merchant, director of All Saints Refugee Ministries, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aid workers say that more than 1,000 legal refugees have arrived in Georgia since November. Theyre hoping volunteers and contributors will be able to help pick up more essential needs. She came here for a better life, the translator said of the woman from Rwanda. Shes just scared right now. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] When people are willing to pay, business will thrive. That's exactly why the illegal wildlife trade is still afloat. What's happening? On February 18, officers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia stopped two women before they could board a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. The New Straits Times said that when their seven bags were checked, 4,386 pig-nosed turtles were found crammed into small plastic containers. Advertisement Advertisement The women didn't have the permits needed to transport the turtles, so officials stepped in and took them. Altogether, the animals were worth about RM 1.75 million (USD$370,000). Now, investigators are trying to determine if this was a one-time attempt or part of a larger smuggling operation. Pig-nosed turtles, which are native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea, are already disappearing due to habitat destruction and illegal poaching. Traffickers target them because they're rare and in high demand, especially in the exotic pet trade. Why is wildlife trafficking a problem? Taking a species out of its habitat throws everything off balance in sometimes irreversible ways. Pig-nosed turtles, for example, help keep freshwater ecosystems in check by feeding on certain plants and insects. Without them, algae can grow out of control, water quality can drop, and other animals will feel the impact. People who rely on natural resources for fishing, farming, or clean water often end up dealing with the fallout just as much as the animals and other wildlife. Advertisement Advertisement Wildlife smuggling is a huge business, and airports have become a hotspot for trafficking. If authorities are uncovering this many smuggling attempts, it's almost certain that others are getting through unnoticed. Tighter airport security, instating harsher penalties, and better tracking of trafficking networks can help track operations. But the root of the problem is demand, so as long as people are willing to pay huge sums for rare animals, smugglers will find ways to get them across borders. What's being done about wildlife smuggling? Groups like the Wildlife Justice Commission and TRAFFIC are working to take down the criminal networks behind the illegal wildlife trade, while programs like the Global Environment Facility help fund efforts to protect endangered species. In Kenya, the Big Life Foundation works with Maasai communities to help stop poaching and create other job options so people don't have to rely on illegal hunting. Meanwhile, in Colombia, jaguar protection corridors give locals and farmers ways to protect their land while raising livestock more sustainably. Advertisement Advertisement People want these animals, and as long as that demand exists, smugglers will find ways to meet it. Not buying exotic pets, speaking up about illegal sales, and backing conservation efforts are great ways to make a difference. When fewer people buy, the trade starts to collapse, and there's less reason to keep taking animals from the wild. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Rising construction costs have created a challenge for regional airports in Rapid City and Sioux Falls to fund projects on their own. Senate Bill 127 would have taken some of the burden off. The bill would have allocated money to help fund projects like Sioux Falls Regional Airports concourse expansion and Rapid City Regional Airports terminal expansion. We felt that was a good fit and responsible for the state to participate as well to some extent, Sioux Falls Regional Airport executive director Dan Letellier said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill failed on the House floor Monday with 37 yeas, 32 nays and one legislator excused. The legislation required a two-thirds majority vote to pass. Body found near Hill City is missing woman Its left airport officials with some tough decisions to make. Sioux Falls Regional Airport was hoping to move ahead with its $120 million plan to design a new concourse. It would add gates and ensure airfares dont go up. That was certainly a key component of our funding plan. And so, we have to decide do we try to take on more of that project ourselves with additional debt? Letellier said. Rapid City is in the middle of its $222 million terminal expansion project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a disappointment, Rapid City Regional Airport executive director Patrick Dames said. This definitely is going to slow our project down going forward into the future. Were in a position where we have to move forward. South Dakota airports are public entities, but are limited in what funding they can receive and what they can charge. Airports are kind of like the mall, Dames said. Basically, we are the infrastructure. The airlines are your anchor stores that come and operate in there. So, when it comes to what it is that we as an airport can charge, were really limited in what we can charge. The outcome is also disappointing to some travelers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive traveled a lot of places, and I would travel a lot out of Sioux Falls, so I consider it a real asset to the city. I believe it would be even more of an asset with the appropriate funding, Julie Deans said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. AUSTIN (KXAN) A fifth grade teacher at Baranoff Elementary School was arrested after he was accused of possessing child pornography, the schools principal confirmed in a letter to families. The Texas Department of Public Safety alerted the Austin Independent School District Police Department Tuesday that Carl Innmon was being investigated on the possession of child pornography charge, which is a first degree felony, according to AISD. Innmon was not listed in Travis County court records as of Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement District officials immediately placed Innmon on administrative leave, the letter said. This was Innmons first year of teaching at the elementary school and was last seen on the campus Monday, according to the district. We know this is a troubling situation and want you to know we are here to support, the letter said. The campus will host a meeting for families Thursday at 8 a.m. in the library to listen, share counseling resources, and assess the need for additional support, the letter said. There will also be counselors during the day to support students as needed. The case remained under investigation, and no other details were available from the district Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. The Alaska State Capitol is seen in partial morning sun on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon) The state of Alaska is still facing a significant budget deficit despite a revised state revenue forecast published Wednesday by the Alaska Department of Revenue. Oil revenue makes up about 40% of Alaskas general-purpose revenue, leaving state finances unstable and dependent upon estimated oil prices. The Department of Revenue updates its outlook twice per year, and its changes can radically alter the states budget process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the 2025 fiscal year, which ends June 30, the department is estimating $6.23 billion in general-purpose revenue, formally known as undesignated general funds. This amount doesnt include federal funding and revenue designated for specific purposes, like university tuition. The undesignated general fund estimate is about $30 million less than a prior forecast from the fall, and as a result, the state is looking at a $200 million deficit in the current fiscal year under spending previously proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Lawmakers are expected to edit the governors spending plan before adjourning the current legislative session, but it isnt clear how that deficit will be resolved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the 2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1, the Department of Revenue is expecting $6.13 billion in general-purpose revenue. Thats down $70 million from the $6.2 billion forecast in the fall. Under Dunleavys proposed FY26 budget, the new forecast results in a $1.64 billion deficit. Legislators are examining alternatives to the governors budget, with multiple different scenarios floated in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the Alaska House voted in favor of a $275 million public school funding increase. In a budget scenario with that increase and an estimated $1,420 Permanent Fund dividend per recipient, the FY26 deficit is near $532 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Erasing that deficit through Permanent Fund dividend cuts alone would reduce the dividend to about $600 per recipient, a step that no legislator has proposed. One potential source for closing short-term deficits is to draw from a state savings account, the Constitutional Budget Reserve, which held $2.82 billion on Jan. 31. But drawing from the CBR requires three-quarters of both the Senate and House to agree, and the leaders of the Alaska Senate have said they will not vote to spend from the CBR. Legislative hearings on the revised forecast are scheduled for Thursday in both the House Finance Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Alaska's Mount Spurr, an active volcano near the most populated region in the state, is getting even closer to an eruption, according to volcanologists. Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory measured "significantly elevated" emissions of volcanic gas coming from Mount Spurr, located in the Aleutian Arc in southern Alaska about 75 miles west of Anchorage, according to a statement released Wednesday. In addition, elevated earthquake activity, ground deformations and newly activated fumaroles -- or gas vents -- at the volcano's Crater Peak have been recorded, indicating that the probability of eruption has increased, researchers at the observatory said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Uptick in earthquakes could signal possible eruption at Alaska's Mount Spurr volcano Small earthquakes have been occurring above ground at Mount Spurr since April, Matthew Haney, scientist in charge of the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage, told ABC News last month. An overflight on March 7 measured about 450 metric tons per day of sulfur dioxide from Mount Spurr's summit vent -- an increase from less than 50 metric tons in December, according to the observatory. Over the last month, more than 100 earthquakes per week have been occurring at the site as well. Ground deformation and collapse of snow and ice into the summit crater lake that formed during the unrest also continues, scientists said. PHOTO: Aerial view of Mt Spurr along the western edge of Cook Inlet between Anchorage, Alaska. (Don Grall/Getty Images) An increase in gas emissions confirms that new magma has entered the Earths crust beneath the volcano, indicating that an eruption is likely in the next weeks or months, according to the observatory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While an eruption is "not certain," it is the most likely outcome of the current unrest, according to the observatory. If the magma stalls and does not reach the surface, the unrest could instead decrease over the next weeks and months, similar to events from 2004 to 2006, researchers said. Eruptions that occurred in 1953 and 1992 were explosive -- lasting a few hours and producing ash clouds that were carried downwind for hundreds of miles, according to the observatory. The August 1992 eruption caused the Anchorage airport to close for 20 hours due to the wind and ash event that accompanied the eruption. MORE: Mile-deep underwater volcano could erupt off West Coast this year, scientists say There is little geological evidence to suggest other past eruptions in the last 5,000 years, according to the observatory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The volcano alert level for Mount Spurr as of Thursday was at "yellow" or "advisory," indicating that the volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level Mount Spurr is monitored constantly due to its proximity to Anchorage, the most populated city in Alaska, Haney said. There are 11 remote seismic stations situated around Mount Spurr. MORE: This is how heat from a volcano can be used to power an entire town Primary hazards to south-central Alaska communities during eruptions at Mount Spurr include far-traveled airborne ash clouds and ashfall, according to the observatory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Volcanologists will be monitoring for further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating to indicate that an eruption is imminent, according to the observatory. The detection of volcanic tremor -- a continuous shaking that can last for several minutes rather than short, small earthquakes -- would like prompt the level to raise, Haney said. Should monitoring data suggest that an eruption is likely within hours or days, the observatory will raise its alert level to orange or red. Alaska's Mount Spurr getting even closer to eruption as unrest escalates, volcanologists say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com TIRANA (Reuters) - TikTok users in Albania are experiencing difficulties accessing the popular short video app after a one-year government ban took effect on Thursday, prompted by concerns that social media is fuelling youth violence in and outside school. Albania's move follows bans or partial bans in at least 20 other countries amid worries about improper videos or security concerns linked to TikTok owner ByteDance and its proximity to the Chinese government. Some users in Albania said they were unable to access the platform via web browsers after midday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I can see that TikTok is no longer accessible on the web but the app is still working, for now," said Ermal Hoxha, 28, from Tirana. Each time he tried to access the site, he received an error message: "This site can't be reached. Check if there is a typo in www.tiktok.com." Similar issues were reported by other users and a government official told Reuters that after web browsers the ban will be extended to include the app too. Albania's National Authority for Cybersecurity (AKSK) has ordered all internet providers in the country to submit written confirmation that TikTok will be turned off by Thursday. The decision to ban TikTok was made last December, a month after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil following arguments on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok had said it was seeking further clarification from the Albanian government since their findings allegedly showed that the "videos leading up to this incident (the stabbing) were being posted on another platform, not TikTok". CENSORSHIP? Isa Myzyraj, the head of the Association of Journalists in Albania (AJA), said the group would take the case to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the ban restricts freedom of expression and constitutes censorship. "We fear that, in the same way, the government may also shut down other social networks and one day even ban the internet entirely," Myzyraj said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of seeking to silence dissent by shutting down a platform often used to voice criticism, especially when - in their view - the government is increasing its control of mainstream media. Rama's government denies this accusation. The Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, has called for a protest on Saturday in front of the government offices to oppose the TikTok ban. Rama has accused the app of showing videos outside China of "only scum and scoundrels". (Reporting by Florion Goga and Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Gareth Jones) TOKYO - The young woman who was killed while livestreaming on a street in downtown Tokyo was stabbed more than 30 times, police said Wednesday, suggesting the alleged assailant held a strong grudge against her. The police said the 42-year-old suspect, Kenichi Takano, told them that he used up his savings and took out loans to lend millions of yen to the woman. They are believed to have been embroiled in a financial dispute. On Tuesday morning, Airi Sato, 22, was suddenly assaulted by Takano while walking alone in a residential area of Shinjuku, one of Tokyo's busiest wards, the police said. She sustained wounds to her neck and chest. Takano said he purchased the survival knife used in the incident by mail order two to three months ago and he brought it from his home in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, to the Takadanobaba district, the police said. He was quoted by the police as saying that he tracked down her location by watching her stream before the incident on Tuesday. He told police that he "couldn't accept" that she was "making money from streaming while owing me money." According to the police, Takano first learned of Sato through her streams in February 2021. Around August 2022, he began frequenting an eatery where she worked and later started lending her money as she claimed she was struggling to pay living expenses. Takano sued Sato in 2023 over unreturned funds, with case records showing that he argued he had lent her a total of some 2.54 million yen ($17,000) over 10 occasions from September to November 2022. The ruling ordered her to pay 2.5 million yen to Takano. In January 2024, however, he consulted police in Tochigi Prefecture, saying Sato had gone missing following the ruling, a source close to him said. Related coverage: Woman fatally stabbed in Tokyo while livestreaming Japanese woman found dead in Hungary had sought embassy help over DV 18-yr-old man arrested over killing of woman in southwestern Japan (NewsNation) Under a 200% proposed tariff on imported alcoholic beverages, many summer favorite cocktails could become significantly more expensive. The 200% tariff could more than double the cost of European wine and other alcohol for U.S. distributors, which would almost assuredly trickle down to U.S. bars and restaurants and eventually to American consumers, Michael Bilello, the executive vice president of strategic communications for Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of America, told NewsNation. If the intention of tariffs is to impose some discomfort on other countries, what we respectfully ask the administration to consider is that these will likely become burdens on U.S. businesses and U.S. consumers, Bilello said. Prosecco, champagne and other European wines One of the hardest hit beverages would be wine imported from Europe, particularly the selections that cannot be made in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecco, a sparkling white wine that comes from nine Italian provinces, overtook champagne as the top-selling wine in the U.S. Champagne, which can only be produced in the Champagne region of France, is routinely used for U.S. celebrations, which helps to drive U.S. sales. The Associated Press reported that with the 200% tariff, a previously untariffed $15 bottle of Prosecco would jump to $45 should the 200% tariff be imposed. Additionally, Bordeaux, a popular red wine produced in southwest France, also falls into the single-origin category that could dramatically hit U.S. businesses should the tariff be imposed. Bilello says that 35% of American wine and spirit sales are generated by products imported from Europe. Close-up of hands toasting champagne flutes during dinner party at home Does Canada really have tariffs above 200% on US dairy products? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want toasts not tariffs, Chris Swonger, Distilled Spirits Council president and CEO, said in a statement issued by the organization. Cognac, Aperol and other spirits Cognac, a variety of brandy named after a commune in Cognac, France, and Aperol, the Italian base for a popular summertime cocktail, are among the products that would be included in the tariff against European countries. Although spirits sales may not be as affected as the wine industry, Trumps actions against other countries have already impacted American drinkers. Could Guinness cost more this St. Patricks Day? Beer sales, which grow significantly around St. Patricks Day, could also be hit. Although Guinness is brewed domestically in Baltimore, other brews, including those from companies in Germany, could be hit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Trump previously imposed tariffs during his first presidency, the steep nature of the tariff he suggested against E.U.-represented countries would not only be disruptive but economically devastating to U.S. companies. Tequila already affected by Mexico tariffs Trump previously announced a 25% tariff on products coming from Mexico, which would directly impact tequila, which can only be legally produced in specific regions of Mexico. Tequila remains the base for the margarita, the No. 1-ordered alcohol beverage in America, Bilello said. Alcoholic Lime Margarita with Tequila and Sea Salt (Getty Images Can the US make some of these spirits and wines? Although some U.S. states produce alcoholic beverages like California, Washington and Oregon wines or Champagne-produced products that would be otherwise directly affected by the tariffs, Bilello said there is not enough production happening to fill the gap that would be created. Some U.S. manufacturers have begun making agave-produced spirits to replicate the plant (tor pina) that serves as the base of tequila. However, agave plants need 7 to 9 years to mature, Bilello said, again making the U.S. reliant on foreign producers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Importers and wholesalers will be incapable of absorbing a 200% tariff on these products, Bilello told NewsNation. Theres little doubt, theres zero debate on this. This is going to be more expensive for consumers and American businesses, he added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Welcome to The Scoop the ultimate back-to-the-office water cooler cheat sheet, your go-to source for all things everyone really wants to know! Get the latest on everything from the political swamp maneuvering in D.C. and Hollywood drama to jaw-dropping small-town shenanigans from Paula Froelich. Subscribe to her newsletter here. (NewsNation) Its hard to pay the bills these days especially if you have seven children under the age of 12. Eyebrows were raised last week when it was announced that Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, were hosting the Planet Hollywood reopening in Times Square a gig Im told earned him a minimum appearance/hosting fee of $500,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alec Baldwins show The Baldwins fails to attract audience It was just odd, my insider said. Alec Baldwin? He would never do that before (the Rust shooting). He was an A-List Hollywood actor. But since the Rust incident, where he accidentally shot and killed videographer Halyna Hutchins, things have changed. NEW YORK, NEW YORK JUNE 22: Alec Baldwin, Hilaria Baldwin, and their kids attend as DreamWorks Animation presents The Boss Baby: Family Business World Premiere at SVA Theatre on June 22, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Universal Pictures) NEW YORK, NEW YORK NOVEMBER 11: (L-R) Alec Baldwin, Hilaria Baldwin and family attend the Spellbound Premiere on November 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Netflix) SNL50: THE RED CARPET Pictured: (l-r) Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin on Sunday, February 16, 2025 (Photo by NBC/Noam Galai/NBC via Getty Images) NEW YORK, NEW YORK FEBRUARY 14: (L-R) Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin attend SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall on February 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NEW YORK MARCH 11: Hilaria Baldwin and Alec Baldwin pose at the grand Opening of the new Planet Hollywood NYC at Planet Hollywood New York City on March 11, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images) Legal fees drained Alec Baldwins coffers While all charges were eventually dropped against Baldwin, years of legal fees drained his coffers, and acting jobs dried up. [He currently has only four proposed jobs listed on IMDB, three of which are in preproduction]. And although Alec and Hilaria have the TLC reality show, The Baldwins, it has suffered from dwindling ratings and major criticism from critics and audiences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is Hilaria Baldwin taking her shot at stardom? So when Planet Hollywood owner Robert Earl came knocking, Alec and his wife answered. One event organizer who organizes major events for large companies told me, For someone of Alecs caliber, it would cost a minimum of $500,000 for him to host, but possibly even more as he hosted it and therefore would have had to stay all night. Theyre horsetrading on his name, so theyd have to pay big money. At the same event, Boy George was billed as the DJ and 50 Cent as the special guest my source said they also would have gotten similar money. And while Pete Davidson also showed, my source said he likely got a fee as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beyonces fans are starting to get angry, revolt Nobody does an event like that for free, the event manager said. They all get an appearance fee. One man who did show for free? New York City Mayor Eric Adams who was promptly booed by the crowd on arrival. Reps for Baldwin didnt return emails. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones blamed globalists after one of his writers was killed during a car burglary earlier this week. Jamie White, a 36-year-old writer for Jones conspiracy network, Infowars, was fatally shot Monday in an Austin, Texas, parking lot, police said. At around midnight, Austin Police Department officers located White lying on the ground in the parking lot with apparent trauma to his body, according to a city press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The initial investigation shows that White was shot and killed in the parking lot of the apartment complex in which he lived, the statement said. The suspects then fled the scene. Detectives believe the suspects were possibly burglarizing Whites vehicle, when he interrupted them. The killing prompted Jones best known for the lies he spread about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting to spread conspiracy theories. To the globalists ... you murdered Jamie White, Jones said on Infowars Monday. You opened the door, you created the climate, you created the conditions on purpose. George Soros, you murdered Jamie White. Joe Biden, you murdered Jamie White. And in an interview with conservative YouTuber Benny Johnson on Tuesday, Jones speculated that the killing couldve been a hit orchestrated by Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What are the chances in a town of over 2 million people that an Infowars lead reporter gets butchered? Jones said on the program. Austins population is less than 1 million people. White, who started working for Infowars around 2021, wrote stories praising President Donald Trump and attacking Democrats. EPIC Breaking Video! reads the headline from one of Whites pieces published last week. Trump Calls Out The Democrat Death Cult To Their Faces. Whites sister, Kelly Kneale, told The Independent she doesnt believe theres a larger conspiracy behind her brothers killing. I dont believe it was targeted, she told the publication. He was shot by a person or persons trying to break into his car for the second time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Austin Police Department is asking for the publics help in identifying the suspects in Whites killing. Anyone with information should contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS, the department said in a statement. On his program Monday, Jones said White was an amazing person and a good man. Everybody needs to start carrying guns, Jones added. Related... The Trump administration is free to use a wartime powers law to speed up deportations after a Supreme Court ruling on Monday. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 which Trump used last month to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador gives the president broad authority to remove undocumented immigrants, but it had previously only ever been invoked during actual wartime. Venezuelan organized crime group Tren de Aragua, which is present in the U.S. and other countries, is the top target for deportation under the law, the White House said last month. Trump instructed his administration to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization, and they claim theyre using the law to remove its members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies, the invocation on the White House site states. The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times throughout history (Getty) The law is intended to be invoked when the country is at war or if a foreign nation has invaded the U.S. or has issued threats that they will. While the administration has pointed to threats from gangs and cartels, legal experts have noted that it would be challenging for the administration to use the law when the U.S. isnt being actively attacked by a foreign government. The deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members was temporarily blocked by a lower court last month after it ruled that the Trump administrations actions under the act required further scrutiny. Trump has claimed that the migrants were members of the Tren de Aragua and that they were conducting irregular warfare against the U.S. and could therefore be removed under the act. At least 137 people have recently been deported under the act, with some relatives of the deported migrants claiming that they were wrongly detained and not affiliated with any gangs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Supreme Court justices said that deportees must be given the chance to challenge their removal, saying in an unsigned decision on Monday that the notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs. "The only question is which court will resolve that challenge," they added. The ruling on Monday stated that the challenge, which was put forward by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of five migrants, was incorrectly raised in a court in Washington, D.C., instead of in Texas, where the migrants are held. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by Trump during his first term, joined the liberal justices in dissenting from the majority ruling. They wrote that the administrations conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, meanwhile, said the ruling was a great day for justice in America. The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself, he said in a post on Truth Social. ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in a statement: We are disappointed that we will need to start the court process over again in a different venue, but the critical point is that the Supreme Court said individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. Mondays ruling by the Supreme Court vacates a previous ruling by federal Judge James Boasberg, who had temporarily blocked the use of the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Alien Enemies Act has been used three times throughout history, the Brennan Center, a non-partisan law and policy institute, states. It was used during World War I and World War II to detain and remove thousands of German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Japanese immigrants, as well as during the War of 1812 against Britain. Under the law, the president can detain and deport natives and citizens of a combatant nation even without a hearing. It was meant to prevent espionage and sabotage during war, but it has also been used to target immigrants who havent broken any laws, havent shown indications of disloyalty, and whose status in the U.S. is legal, according to the Brennan Center. It is an overbroad authority that may violate constitutional rights in wartime and is subject to abuse in peacetime, the center states. Harry Truman (1884-1972), the 33rd President of the USA, addresses media in 1945 in Washington, D.C. His administration used the Alien Enemies Act until 1951 (AFP via Getty Images) While the president may invoke the law during wartime, the Constitution hands Congress the power to declare war, meaning that the president must wait for Congress to act to invoke the Alien Enemies Act. However, the president need not wait for Congress to invoke the law based on a threatened or ongoing invasion or predatory incursion, according to the Brennan Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump White House chose not to wait for Congress to act, invoking the law last month. While some anti-immigration politicians view the law as an authority to be used to deport unlawful immigrants, the Brennan Center argues that invoking it in peacetime to bypass conventional immigration law would be a staggering abuse. Both Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman continued to use the legislation even after the end of the fighting in the world wars. While World War I ended in 1918, German and Austro-Hungarian immigrants were interned until 1920. Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Truman administration used the law to intern and deport people until 1951. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beatriz Lopez, the co-executive director of the Immigration Hub, said in a statement before the White House invocation that Trump is unearthing one of Americas darkest laws to launch a deportation dragnet unlike anything in modern history. The Alien Enemies Act will make it easier for ICE to identify, arrest, and deport taxpaying, long-settled immigrants who have built lives, families, and businesses here, she added. Especially with access to personal data through the IRS, families across the country will be at risk of deportation even if they arrived in the U.S. lawfully. Katherine Yon Ebright, a counsel at the Brennan Center, said on X last month that Obviously this is an illegal invocation of a wartime authority for peacetime immigration enforcement. The administration is invoking the Alien Enemies Act to effect summary deportations of Venezuelans who it *claims* are members of Tren de Aragua, she added. They are hoping that the wartime law will allow them to evade judicial review and get away with making baseless accusations. (FOX40.COM) Three people were arrested after allegedly burglarizing a cell phone store early Thursday morning, the Woodland Police Department said. According to police, around 3:30 a.m., officers responded to a burglary in progress at a cell phone store on East Main Street. Video Above: Property Crime Statistics Police said the officers set up a perimeter and arrested two suspects as they exited the back door with merchandise in a large bag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to police, officers also saw a vehicle parked nearby with no license plates. Inside was a third suspect. A search of the vehicle turned up drug paraphernalia, burglary tools, electronic items, and an open phone application with directions on a phone to another mobile carrier store. U-Haul used to steal flatbed in homes 2nd burglary in a day in Yolo County The three suspects, all Sacramento residents, were booked into Yolo County Jail for burglary, and conspiracy. One suspect also had a felony warrant for his arrest related to a separate burglary charge. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A 57-year-old Utah man prosecutors are calling an alleged serial bank robber will now face six felony charges in a federal court. Dennis L. Dyches of Salt Lake County allegedly robbed multiple credit unions throughout the greater Salt Lake City area including robbing one of the credit unions twice between October 2024 and February 2025. Dyches is accused of going into the credit unions and handing the tellers a note, telling them This is a robbery. The notes allegedly demanded the tellers to give him all the money in their drawer and instructed them to not talk to anyone or hit the alarm. The credit unions ranged from stand-alone buildings to branches located in grocery stores. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tremonton fire chief and Box Elder judge linked in child abuse case, documents say According to Acting U.S. Attorney of the District of Utah Felice John Viti, Dyches was finally caught after a surveillance video showed him walking into an underground parking lot after an alleged robbery and leaving in a black Jeep Cherokee. Investigators reportedly tracked the Jeep to one of Dyches family members. Prosecutors say clothing and accessories matching the descriptions of the suspected robber were found in the Jeep. Dyches was safely taken into custody without any further incident and was later indicted by a federal grand jury. He will make his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 13. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. UTAH COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) Alpine School District is being split into three districts, and their proposed boundaries were publicly released on Wednesday exactly two weeks before the final vote. Utah County Commissioners released the proposed maps ahead of their possible adoption on March 26, providing a space for the public to react and respond before a decision is finalized. RELATED: Students, families report overcrowded school buses in Alpine School District Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This comes after Utah County voters approved the proposition to split the largest school district in the state during the 2024 November election. The boundaries were then drawn by three committees, all chaired by Mac Sims, which met several times during the month of February. Each district will have seven school board members with the newly released maps illustrating how each area section of the district will be represented. The proposed boundaries are as follows: The Alpine School District is being split into three new districts. The West District encompasses the cities of Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, Cedar Fort, and Fairfield. (Credit: Utah County government) The Alpine School District is being split into three new districts. The Central District encompasses the cities of Lehi, American Fork, Highland, Cedar Hills, Alpine, and Draper. (Credit: Utah County government) The Alpine School District is being split into three new districts. The South District encompasses the cities of Orem, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, and Vineyard.(Credit: Utah County government) Sims presented the proposed boundaries before the Utah County Commissioners on Wednesday, March 12, explaining that the committees worked to make each district approximately equal in population, contiguous, and compact. Committee members sought to follow city lines where possible and combine communities with similar economic, cultural, and geographic interests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sims said they also considered school, geographic, and structural boundaries when drawing up the boundaries, working to keep neighborhoods and communities available and account for future population growth. According to the most recent population data, the West District encompasses a population of nearly 110,000 with the South and Central Districts covering larger populations between 162,000 and 173,000. Sims said the West District has several areas in particular where potential population growth is anticipated. While each redistricting committee unanimously agreed on the proposed boundaries, county officials are opening it up to public feedback before voting on the maps on March 26. Residents who wish to comment should take this two-question online survey. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) Reliance Bank announced it will be donating $100,000 to Center City Church, just months after donating its former headquarters to the ministry. In December, the bank donated its headquarters on 12th Street in Altoona to Center City Church so it could expand its ministries, Arrows Christain Academy, and service to the community. Reliance Bank relocated its corporate headquarters to 2424 8th Avenue, with its other office at 1300 11th Avenue. That was Reliance Banks home for 70+ years, Reliance Bank President and CEO, Phil Freeman said. Its important to us that it continues to be a resource to the community and with this donation, we hope to continue to support the redevelopment of downtown Altoona. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mark Mielnik Jr., Senior Pastor at Center City Church, added that the support from Reliance Bank allows for the church to provide vital resources that strengthen and equip parents and their children to flourish. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Over 3 million people gamble online despite ban in Japan: police TOKYO - More than 3 million people in Japan are estimated to have gambled at online casinos, with around 1.24 trillion yen ($8.4 billion) being spent annually, even though the practice is illegal, a police survey showed Thursday. The National Police Agency released the findings of its first study on virtual casino use following recent cases involving athletes and celebrities, amid a lack of public awareness about its illegality. ---------- Couche-Tard not considering hostile takeover of Seven & i: chairman TOKYO - Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the operator of Circle K convenience stores, said Thursday that its discussions with Seven & i Holdings Co. to acquire the Japanese rival have been "friendly" and that it is not considering a hostile takeover. At a press conference, the first held in Japan by the company since the buyout talks surfaced last year, Couche-Tard founder and Chairman Alain Bouchard said the two companies' operations combined would create strong synergy. ---------- Ticket presales, pavilion completion slow 1 month before Osaka Expo OSAKA - With just one month to go until the World Exposition in Osaka opens, predictions of a nearly 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) economic impact are looking shaky as advance ticket sales remain slow and pavilions face delays in completion. A visitor target of 28.2 million for the April 13-Oct. 13 event on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay is the basis for the government's estimate of an economic impact worth 2.92 trillion yen across the country. ---------- Man arrested in Japan's 1st new yen bill forgery case TOKYO - A man has been arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit version of a newly issued banknote, police said Thursday, in the first arrest of its kind involving a renewed bill touted as having improved security features. Mizuki Saito, 27, is suspected of using a counterfeit 10,000 yen ($68) bill on Feb. 10 to purchase coffee and cigarettes at a convenience store in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. The police said Saito has admitted to the allegation. ---------- Japanese conveyer-belt sushi chain building strong following in China BEIJING - Japanese conveyor-belt sushi chain Sushiro has been building a strong following in China despite Beijing's total ban on Japanese seafood imports, with its affordable prices appealing to belt-tightening consumers amid an economic slump and some queuing for hours to enter an outlet. When its first store in Beijing opened last August, some customers waited for more than 10 hours to eat sushi items priced at a minimum 10 yuan ($1.4) per dish. On recent weekends, people still had to wait for as long as eight hours, according to the chain operator. ---------- Japan MSDF frigate makes port call in Australia amid contract bid SYDNEY - A Maritime Self-Defense Force frigate has made a port call in Western Australia as Japan bids for a contract to build Australia's new fleet of general-purpose frigates. The Mogami-class frigate Noshiro arrived at the HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth on Australia's west coast earlier this week, the Australian Defense Department confirmed Thursday. The vessel made a port call at Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, from Feb. 28 to March 3, according to the MSDF. ---------- Baseball: Dodgers, Cubs arrive in Tokyo for MLB opening series TOKYO, March 13 Kyodo - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs have landed in Japan from their spring training homes in Arizona for Major League Baseball's season-opening series beginning Tuesday. When the World Series champion Dodgers landed Thursday, the arrival lobby of Tokyo's Haneda airport was packed with fans trying to get a glimpse of superstars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. ---------- Sumo: Chiyoshoma stuns yokozuna Hoshoryu on Day 5 in Osaka OSAKA - Newly minted yokozuna Hoshoryu suffered another upset loss Thursday at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, succumbing to a force out against rank-and-file opponent Chiyoshoma. The Mongolian grand champion squandered a chance to grab a share of the lead after the joint overnight leaders, No. 9 maegashira Endo and No. 12 maegashira Onokatsu (4-1), took their first losses on Day 5 at Edion Arena Osaka. Video: One-month countdown to 2025 World Exposition in Osaka LAWRENCE COUNTY Ala. (WHNT) Kevin Deshaunn Deloney walked away a free man Wednesday after a Lawrence County jury announced he was not guilty of capital murder charges. Its been more than seven, long years since Kevin Deloney has been able to hug and see his family face to face. Jury finds man not guilty in 2017 North Courtland shooting Wednesday marked the final day of Deloneys capital murder trial and he walked out of the Lawrence County Courthouse one last time, as a free man. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im feeling great, he said. Im just glad I got justice, just glad justice was served, its bittersweet. Deloneys mother, Verenda Morris, tells me that feeling she had the moment a juror read the verdict. It was surreal, it was just surreal, Morris said. Jury finds man not guilty in 2017 North Courtland shooting Deloney says after sitting in a jail cell for almost eight years, he is ready to be home. Im tired, Im ready to go lay down and go to sleep, Deloney said. Morris says, Wednesdays result was a day she had hoped and prayed for, the last seven years, and shes ready to have her son back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I just want to get him home safe and just love on him until I cant love on him anymore, Morris said. Deloney tells News 19, that while he feels the Alabama Justice system failed him, he wants to go into law now that he is a free man. I just want to help people that, you know, are facing injustice and in situations like mine, you know, its kind of eye-opening, Deloney said. Deloney said after an eight-day trial and seven years behind bars, its his faith and family support that helped him get through it. I couldnt have done without them, they kept my confidence high, my spirit high, Im ready to go home, Deloney said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Morris said the family has also planned legal action against the Alabama justice system, for the years her son will never get back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. When a 29-year-old American woman was told by her closest colleague at work that he was off to vote with my Maga hat and my big old flag, she initially thought it was a joke. Weve gone out with our other coworkers for happy hour, I invited him to my wedding next year, he confided in me about his mothers health and overall weve built a great rapport. So I thought we saw eye-to-eye on everything, she wrote on an internet forum. Once she realised he was serious, she wasnt sure how to continue the working relationship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I wont be able to look past his political leaning. I feel uncomfortable and Im not sure how to talk to him going forward. Its a conundrum felt by many American workers. Donald Trumps return to the White House has increased polarisation in US workplaces - Cornell Watson/Bloomberg According to a poll of 1,000 US workers by software company Resume-Now, 91pc have witnessed or experienced political clashes in the workplace and 81pc of respondents said that workplace tensions have risen since Donald Trump was elected. Half of those polled said they now avoid collaborating with colleagues who hold opposing views. In recent months the workplace has seen rising tensions, largely stemming from political divisions, says Keith Spencer, a career expert at Resume-Now. He thinks increased polarisation, 24/7 access to news and social media and economic uncertainty are all fuelling the problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He points to some extreme examples of workplace politics affecting bosses behaviour last month an employee at the Federal Emergency Management Agency was fired after allegedly telling a disaster relief team working in Florida after Hurricane Milton to avoid homes displaying election campaign signs supporting Trump. The conflict turned into open division where workers felt forced to pick sides based on political affiliation, impacting their ability to do their jobs effectively, adds Spencer. There are also fears that Trumps anti-immigration stance has emboldened extremists, heightening tensions at work. A real estate agent was sacked last week after writing on a bill for a waiter at a Mexican restaurant in Ohio: I hope Trump deports you!!! A GoFundMe fundraiser for the waiter had raised more than $22,000 (17,000) at the time of writing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spencer believes workplace conflict will only deepen. This issue has gotten worse in recent weeks, and its reasonable to assume that it could continue to worsen as more changes are made and new executive orders are issued, he says. It was the tech billionaires who joined the battle first, after Elon Musk and some of his allies endorsed Trump during the presidential race in defiance of the industrys wider liberal leanings. As Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, told The New York Times last summer: Until a year or two ago, there was something like an omerta in Silicon Valley. People had fights all the time and leaders would disagree, but you wouldnt disagree in public. Elon Musk, pictured brandishing a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, is one of several tech bosses to back Trump - Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Bickering in public has continued since, trickling through to the wider workforce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tell him you vehemently disagree with his support for Trump, one person advises the 29-year-old who feels awkward that her colleague backs Trump. Teachers have taken to social media to discuss tension in the staff room, saying that they are avoiding Trump-supporting colleagues or feeling shocked that some such as the very nice art teacher who plays guitar pulled out a teachers for Trump T-shirt. Staff on both sides of the political divide describe feeling sidelined at work. As one person writes on Reddit: I have a boss who sends me pro-Trump videos via group text. My office work environment is Maga. I gave my opinion recently how I wasnt pro-Maga. Now I feel they are treating me differently. Yet experiences can vary hugely from industry to industry. Many confess to living in a liberal bubble. Large American banks are not natural Trump supporters, says one bank executive. A science researcher and an artist agree. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no political tension because they work in an echo chamber. Others say that in an environment of fear, things are kept deliberately apolitical. A government employee says everyone is just scared for their jobs and so they keep the conversation civil. The war in Gaza has also been a source of deepening tensions between employees - Mahmoud Hamda/Anadolu via Getty Images Attempts to censor conversation at work are not new. Politics has been an issue inside Americas offices for years, although efforts from businesses to ban political chat has previously backfired. About a third of staff at American software company Basecamp resigned after it announced a ban on talking politics at work in 2021, mirroring the reaction from some workers at cryptocurrency start-up Coinbase when it unveiled a similar ban a year earlier. The war in Gaza also led to deepening tensions between employees, forcing Google to change its internal message board Memegen last year after discussions grew so tense that people felt they were being bullied. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Silicon Valley, young adults facing rising anti-Semitism at work last year started meeting up with other professionals to discuss how to navigate hostile colleagues. American giants such as Google once urged staff to bring their whole selves to work. Now, bosses who fear they have a divided workforce are hoping that staff might keep a little more to themselves. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. An American tourist who triggered outrage by posting a video of herself carrying a baby wombat away from its mother left Australia after officials threatened to cancel her visa. Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Thursday that his office was determining whether Sam Jones a self-described outdoor enthusiast & hunter from Montana with more than 91,000 followers on Instagram had breached any conditions of her stay. I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, Burke said in a statement to Yahoo News Australia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, Burke's office confirmed that Jones had left the country voluntarily. Theres never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia, Burke said in a statement. The viral video In a since-deleted video posted to her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Jones is seen running down the road toward a parked vehicle with the animal as it hisses and screeches. I caught a baby wombat! Jones says to the camera as she is being filmed by an unidentified man who can be heard laughing in the background. Look at the mother, it's like chasing after her," the man says as Jones runs toward the car clutching the baby wombat, known in Australia as a joey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OK, mommas right there and she is pissed, Jones says before placing the distressed juvenile by the side of the road. Its unclear when or where the footage was shot. Her Instagram account has since been set to private. And her TikTok account appears to have been deleted. The backlash online The video was met with immediate condemnation, with commenters saying they planned to report the incident to authorities, and others calling for Jones to be deported. According to the Daily Mail, Jones initially defended her actions in the comments section. "For everyone that's worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum, she wrote. They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed. I didn't think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added: I don't ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so. The laws protecting wombats A young wombat lingers in its enclosure next to its mother. (Julian Stratenschulte/Picture Alliance via Getty Images) Wombats are a protected species in Australia, and some are considered threatened. The species caught by Jones was identified as a bare-nosed wombat, which is not threatened, but its illegal to catch wildlife without a license. And people found guilty of harming wildlife face penalties of up to $330,000. In a statement posted to Facebook, the Wombat Protection Society of Australia expressed shock and concern over Jones's actions. The individual, who appeared to have no understanding of wombat behaviour or the severe stress caused by human interference and separation from its mother, then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill, the group said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, a Change.org petition demanding that Jones be immediately deported and barred from returning to Australia has generated more than 27,000 signatures. An outcry from officials Top Australian officials have expressed anger over the video. It looked pretty dreadful, didnt it, Penny Wong, Australias foreign minister, told Channel 7. I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, Leave the baby wombat alone. Leave it with its mum. Even Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese weighed in on the incident late Thursday. To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage, Albanese told reporters. I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals, he added. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. During a meeting on Wednesday with Ireland's leader Michel Martin, President Trump made an offhand remark that was quickly picked up in the Middle East as a major change in his stance on the war-torn Gaza Strip and its roughly 2 million Palestinian inhabitants. "Nobody is expelling any Palestinians," Mr. Trump told reporters. That came after he repeatedly said that under his own proposal to rebuild Gaza, all of its residents would be moved out, while the U.S. moved in to "take over" the coastal territory to turn it into a luxury real estate development. Just a month ago, Mr. Trump was clear that, in his mind, not only would Palestinians need to leave Gaza, they would not be permitted to return. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That plan was roundly and clearly rejected by Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan, which Mr. Trump had said would take in the displaced masses. Egypt, which has led efforts to present an alternative plan for Gaza that does not involve displacing Palestinians, welcomed the change in tone by Mr. Trump. "Egypt expresses its appreciation for the statements made by U.S. President, Donald Trump regarding the non-displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. "Egypt affirms that this position reflects an understanding of the importance of avoiding further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Strip and the necessity of working towards finding just and sustainable solutions to the Palestinian cause." A boy looks over a newly established tent camp for displaced Palestinians whose homes were damaged by Israeli army strikes in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday, March 7, 2025. / Credit: Jehad Alshrafi / AP Hamas, the U.S. and Israeli designated terrorist organization that sparked the war in Gaza with its brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, also cautiously welcomed the shift in Mr. Trump's rhetoric. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If Trump's statements represent a retreat from the idea of Palestinian displacement, then they are welcomed," a statement from the group's spokesperson said. Mr. Trump's remarks came Wednesday after his senior envoy Steve Witkoff met with the foreign ministers of five Arab nations in Qatar to discuss Gaza's post-war future. That future, regardless of what reconstruction plan is eventually implemented, can only start taking shape once there is an official end to the war, however. A fragile truce between Israel and Hamas has largely kept the peace since January 19, but the two sides have not yet agreed on whether to extend the first phase of the agreement, or to move onto a second phase as originally envisioned. The dialogue in Doha, Qatar, involving delegations from the host-nation as well as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and the U.S. is aimed at pushing the process forward and keeping the guns silent in Gaza. The five Arab nations involved have pushed the Egyptian-crafted alternative to Mr. Trump's "Riviera of the Mideast" proposal in their talks with American officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Arab plan, the rough outline of which officials shared with CBS News earlier this month, carries a price tag of $53 billion and envisions all of the enclave's residents remaining in Gaza throughout the years-long reconstruction. The Trump administration initially rejected the plan, with U.S. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes issuing a statement saying it failed to " address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance." "President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas," Hughes said at the time, adding: "We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region." It appeared on Wednesday, with Mr. Trump's remarks at the White House, that those further talks with America's regional partners may have convinced the White House that displacing the entire population of Gaza was not a tenable proposition. "The Arab foreign ministers presented the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was approved at the Arab Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025," the five Arab nations that met in Doha said in a joint statement shared Wednesday. "They also agreed with the U.S. envoy to continue consultations and coordination on this plan as a basis for the reconstruction efforts in the sector." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That Egyptian plan has been adopted by the broad Muslim solidarity group of 57 countries known as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It envisions the Gaza Strip eventually being run by the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, not by Hamas. That will likely prove an ongoing point of contention as the PA holds little support among Palestinians and has been dismissed as a potential future Gaza administrator by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, showing there's still much negotiation ahead if Mr. Trump is to make good on his vows to end the crisis in the heart of the Middle East. Trump reacts to European Union slapping tariffs on U.S. goods Kentucky bourbon maker says Trump tariffs immediately impacted his business Woman charged after allegedly holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years One company wants you to know that they still allow free baggage: Amtrak. This week, Southwest Airlines (LUV) reversed a decades-old policy of allowing customers to check their luggage for free. This provided an opening for Amtrak to troll the airline, with a one-sentence post on Threads: guess were the only ones doing free baggage now In a follow-up post, Amtrak noted: each passenger may bring 1 personal + 2 carry-on items free. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Quartz that he cant speculate on whether Southwests new policy will increase the number of travelers taking to the rails. The rail service has no intention of changing its own approach. No changes planned at this time, Magliari says of Amtraks baggage policy. Amtrak can afford to be cheeky, as it is coming off its busiest year ever with 32.8 million customers riding Amtrak in 2024. The government-supported rail service also announced $4.5 billion in upgrades. Amtrak passengers are allowed to bring one personal item on trains, weighing less than 25 pounds and measuring no more than 14x11x7 inches. Passengers are also permitted to carry on two pieces of luggage weighing no more than 50 pounds and measuring no more than 28x22x14 inches. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Southwests policy change, which goes into effect on May 28, wont impact all travelers. The Dallas-based budget airline is making an exception for its A-List Preferred frequent fliers and Southwest credit card holders. These groups will still each get one checked bag. Prior to the change, Southwest allowed passengers up to two checked bags weighing 50 pounds or less and a personal carry-on bag free of charge. The move comes a few months after the seventh-largest airline in the world by revenue announced the end of its other most recognizable perk: open seating. That policy is set to end in the first half of 2026. Industry analysts predict Southwest could see a decline in customer satisfaction following the policy shift. Adopting a baggage fee has profound effects on consumers satisfaction with an air carrier, says Michael Taylor, senior managing director of travel, hospitality, retail and customer Service for J.D. Power. Not surprisingly, flyers do not look favorably on baggage fees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, Taylor says the economics will override the customer grumbling and that Amtrak probably wont see a big bump in tickets. Southwest flies to many more destinations than Amtrak offers, Taylor says. Available destinations are the main drivers in choosing air travel over rail journeys. Ben Kesslen contributed to this article. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We've reached the midpoint of President Donald Trump's first 100 days in the Oval Office. That's also the midpoint for Rachel Maddow's return to a Monday through Friday schedule on MSNBC. In that time, Maddow has given MSNBC a ratings boost, fueling the network to double-digit growth in primetime and total day. MSNBC suffered a sharp ratings decline after the conclusion of the 2024 presidential election, which saw Trump return to the White House for a second term. The networks primetime ratings fall by 57% between Election Day and December 31, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MSNBC averaged 660,000 primetime viewers and 55,000 A25-54 viewers during that period. That was a steep decline from December 2023 when it averaged 1.3 million total viewers and 114,000 demo viewers. In January, The Rachel Maddow Show averaged 1.711 million total viewers and 137,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo during primetime. Those numbers rose significantly during February to 1.945 million total viewers and 181,000 A25-54 viewers-a month-to-month improvement of +53% and +76%, respectively. The Rachel Maddow Show continued that strong performance during the first week of March, drawing 1.917 million total viewers and 167,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime. It also ranked as the only cable news program outside of the Fox News universe to finish among the Top 15 shows in both measured categories. Additionally, Maddow's presence on the schedule has lifted surrounding MSNBC programs. All In with Chris Hayes and The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell have regularly topped over a million total viewers since her return. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Having Maddow on each night of the week has certainly benefited MSNBC. The question is: Will that momentum continue when she returns to a Monday-only schedule in May? MSNBC declined to comment when TVNewser reached out about their post-100 days programming plan. However, a source at the network notes that Maddow's current schedule was always intended to be temporary. This data shows the importance of Maddow to MSNBC's recent ratings performance. She is a viewer favorite and has a loyal audience who enjoy watching her takes on the current political situation. The network is trending in the right direction with its core audience of progressive viewers seeking the latest news and commentary about the second Trump administration. Incoming MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler recently unveiled a new program lineup set to take effect in April. Maddow will return to her once-a-week schedule, with Jen Psaki becoming the face of the 9 p.m. time slot on Tuesdays through Fridays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Psaki may face a similar challenge as her predecessor, Alex Wagner. While Alex Wagner Tonight consistently finished in second place during the 9 p.m. time period in both measured categories, the show's numbers came nowhere close to The Rachel Maddow Show. Between Nov. 15, 2024 and Jan. 16, 2025, Alex Wagner Tonight averaged 679,458 total viewers and 66,208 A25-54 viewers. Meanwhile, Psakis Sunday and Monday shows this year have a combined average of 777,684 total viewers and 70,658 demo viewers. Wagner is currently traveling the country covering the impact of Trumps first 100 days and will transition to MSNBC's senior political analyst as part of the larger programming overhaul. Back at home, Kutler is in the midst of a rebuild as MSNBC will soon be separating from NBCUniversal News Group to join the spin-off company SpinCo. The network will continue to be based in New York following the split and has announced plans to hire over 100 journalists to build up its newsgathering operations. But with Maddow returning to a once-a-week schedule, MSNBC also faces losing a consistent performer on its primetime schedule. With the cable news industry at large facing challenges as a result of changing viewership habits, the presence of familiar faces in familiar time slots is one proven way to retain existing audiences. ANDERSON, S.C. (WSPA) An Anderson man was arrested on Thursday and was charged with seven counts of tax evasion, according to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. John B. Rutledge, 60, had altered his W-2 forms, failed to report additional income, and created false on his state Individual Income Tax returns during the 2016 through 2022 tax years, according to the arrest warrants. The SCDOR said that Rutledge had underreported his income by more than $170,000, evading $34,000 in taxes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rutledge is being held at the Anderson County Detention Center and is waiting for his bond hearing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. VIENTIANE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Lao officials gathered to review and discuss the progress of major development projects focused on infrastructure development and boosting agricultural production in the rural areas of northern Laos, with the aim of gradually alleviating poverty. The meeting on Wednesday reviewed the progress of the Sustainable Rural Infrastructure and Watershed Management Sector Project, and the Partnerships for Irrigation and Commercialization of Smallholder Agriculture Project in 2024, while also outlining the direction for the 2025 plan. The two projects have been implemented in four northern provinces, including Luang Prabang, Xayaboury, Houaphanh, and Xieng Khouang, according to a report from the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on Thursday. These projects have supported the government's poverty reduction efforts by aligning with key programs in the agricultural, forestry, and rural development plan. The goal is to improve living standards, promote diverse agricultural production, and increase farmers' income, contributing to long-term poverty alleviation. During the meeting, officials discussed the progress and challenges faced by the projects, including agricultural production, ecosystem protection in watersheds, irrigation system improvements, and better nutrition and sanitation. They also reviewed the 2025 plan and strategies for the future. Speaking at the meeting, Lao Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Linkham Douangsavanh encouraged local participation and collaboration to ensure strong and sustainable results. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is hoping to secure up to 300 million in government funding for a new freight hub in St Helens which could pave the way for Manchester United to press ahead with their ambitious new stadium plans. Burnham has accelerated talks with ministers about his request for funds to relocate the freight terminals in the shadow of Uniteds existing Old Trafford home to a new logistics hub 25 miles away in St Helens, Merseyside. The move would clear land for the regeneration project and have the additional benefit of freeing up passenger rail capacity in Manchester. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burnham who has stressed there will be no public money for the stadium itself, which United expect to cost around 2 billion said he was confident of a quick answer from the government. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has thrown her support behind the wider Old Trafford regeneration project, is due to outline the governments public expenditure plans for the rest of the parliament on June 11. On Tuesday, United unveiled their plans for a new 100,000 capacity stadium that they hope to be able to build in time for the 2030-31 season. The firm principle on which we will be progressing is there wont be public money for this stadium Manchester United will be solely responsible for the building of their new home, Burnham said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where we might be able to help is in relocating the freight terminals that are currently behind the existing Old Trafford and taking those terminals to new growth projects elsewhere in the North West. So if there is public money to be spent, its likely to be off this site and creating new growth projects elsewhere. Burnham said the figure of up to 300 million was a fraction of the cost of a 1 billion plan proposed a few years ago to build more train platforms and rail lines in Manchester. I think the relocation of that freight would be between 200 million and 300 million but what that would have the effect of doing is relocating freight trains from Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road which make passengers here very frustrated when they see those trains trundling through the city centre, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There was a plan a few years ago to put in more platforms and more lines and that would have cost 1 billion. So moving the freight trains out completely, which has been catalysed by this project, is actually a much more cost-effective way of doing that and would bring benefits to passengers right across the North. In January, Reeves announced she would be championing the project around Old Trafford, which is forecast to generate 7.3 billion annually for the UK economy, create 92,000 jobs nationally, more than 17,000 new homes and drive an additional 1.8 million visitors a year. Talks about Freightliner, the UKs largest maritime intermodal logistics operator, relocating to IPL North, a proposed new logistics base in St Helens, have been ongoing for some time. Relocation would free up vital land for the stadium and wider redevelopment project and transform the public transport provision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burnham was speaking at the MIPIM conference in Cannes, where Uniteds chief operating officer Collette Roche has been pitching to the global property industry as they bid to drum up investment opportunities. Lord Coe, the chairman of the Old Trafford regeneration task force, has also been part of the delegation. Roche told the Financial Times that the club were getting a lot of interest from people who are willing to back us, even though the plans remained at the very early stages. Burnham added: This is one of those rare examples of a scheme that just stacks up in every way and brings huge benefits for everybody really in this area. I think when people hear a clear statement from me of no public money for the stadium, I hope support will rise if people had doubts about that. Im making it unequivocally clear no public money for the stadium. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Animal Wellness Action is a non-profit conducting their own investigation into cockfighting in Oklahoma, Texas, and beyond. Theyre trying to hurt animals just for human amusement and illegal gambling. The whole apparatus is a criminal enterprise, said Wayne Pacelle, the President of Animal Wellness Action. Map courtesy of Animal Wellness Action Pacelle said Leflore County, Bryant County, Adair County, Sequoyah County, Murray County, and Oklahoma County are some of the places where the illegal activity is happening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Voters approved to make cockfighting illegal in Oklahoma. Its considered a felony with up to 10 years in prison and at most, a $25K fine. Oklahoma lawmakers push to eradicate invasive red cedar trees amid fire danger The organization shared drone video with News 4, showing a late night cockfighting gathering in Stanton, Texas, across state lines. Another video shows a gathering in Sulphur at the beginning of this month. Youre seeing a number of small trailers and those are being used as cock houses. So, you know, when they bring the birds in, they want them to settle down and, you know, kind of prepare them for the fight, said Steve Hindi, President of SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hindi said they reached out to local authorities but nothing was done. Republican House Representative JJ Humphrey (R-Lane) introduced a bill a few years ago that would reduce the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor. It did not move forward. Rep. Humphrey said, I believe that Im less worried about a guy fighting chickens than somebody assaulting his wife or somebody assaulting the police, said Rep. Humphrey. We ought not to put those people in prison. What we ought to be doing is ban them, Rep. Humphrey said. However, those against cockfighting say in reality, no one is going to prison and punishment of any kind is rare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I mean, the laws only matter if theyre actively enforced, said Pacelle. Pacelle also said, The cockfighters, they think theyre above the law. They are openly operating on a vast scale and they think theyre going to get away with it. If you see a cockfight happening, Pacelle said to send them a tip. You can call their tip line at 800-722-3998 or you can email OKcrueltytips@animalwellnessaction.org. If it leads to an arrest, they offer cash rewards up to $2,500. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) They called it the monkey trial. It was supposed to be a publicity stunt. A hundred years later, it is remembered as far more. In March 1925, Tennessee became the first state in the country to ban the teaching of evolution in public school classrooms. Strong reactions rippled across the United States. The eventual upshot: a legal battle that became one of the most renowned in the nation's history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historians say the trial started as a tourism gambit on behalf of the small town of Dayton, Tennessee where the landmark case unfolded. The town's leaders were eager for an economic boost and encouraged a local teacher to challenge the law. They wanted the debate over the controversial anti-evolution mandate to take place in their own backyard while the rest of the country eagerly followed along. But amid the spectacle, the arguments and tensions raised during the eight-day trial persist. The rift over evolution and creationism particularly in classrooms has never fully been put to rest, and questions over how students should be taught about life's origins still spark debate among educators, lawmakers, and the public. Here's a look at what you need to know about the Scopes trial: Wait, so this was a trial about monkeys? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No. In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Darwin's theory was seen as a direct challenge to the biblical story of creation by many fundamentalist Christians at the time. That contention came to a head in the 1920s when state lawmakers began considering outlawing the teaching of evolution in public schools. Tennessee lawmakers were the first to take the step, passing the Butler Act on March 13, 1925, banning the teaching of any theory saying humanity descended from a lower order of animal in contradiction to the biblical teaching of divine creation. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union put out an ad offering to defend and finance the legal bills for any teacher willing to be a defendant in a test case challenging the evolution ban. According to the Tennessee State Library, Dayton community leaders found 24-year-old John T. Scopes, who had just finished his first year of teaching, willing to take up the test case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scopes was arrested on May 9 and the trial started July 10. A blockbuster case The Scopes trial became sensational largely because it brought together two long-time adversaries and powerful speakers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Bryan, a former secretary of state who ran for president three times and served in Congress, lent star power to the prosecution. Meanwhile, Darrow one of the foremost defense attorneys of his time agreed to represent Scopes after concluding a separate high-profile case where he saved child-killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb from the death penalty. Together, the two faced off in a contest not only between creationism and evolution, but also religion and science. Bryan, a fundamentalist Christian, was a leading champion of the anti-evolution movement in the early 1900s. Darrow was an agnostic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the ACLU, roughly 1,000 people and reporters from more than 100 newspapers attended each day of the trial. Many tried to capitalize off the case by playing off the popular misconception that Darwin's theory says man descended from apes. The actual theory says man and apes have a common ancestor, but local businesses nevertheless began selling primate-themed souvenirs and novelty dollars. The Dayton Hotel installed a gorilla display in its lobby and a trained chimpanzee named Joe Mendi was brought in to entertain spectators. Bryan himself took the stand to defend the biblical account of creation. Under withering questioning from Darrow, he conceded some biblical passages should be understood illustratively rather than literally. With as much ink and attention given to the Scopes trial, the case itself only lasted eight days and the jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for less than 10 minutes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scopes was fined $100 for violating the Butler Act, a punishment that was eventually overturned on a technicality by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Who won? Depends who you ask, but the impact remains While the jury sided with the prosecution, the case generated more attention and interest in the theory of evolution. More than 20 anti-evolution theory bills were defeated in statehouses across the U.S. shortly after the Scopes trial. But the debate didn't end there. It would take another four decades before Tennessee lawmakers agreed to repeal the Butler Act, nearly around the same time the ACLU found another case to challenge anti-evolution laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the 1960s, the ACLU filed an amicus brief on behalf of a zoology teacher in Arkansas, challenging a state law that banned teaching that mankind ascended or descended from a lower order of animals. Unlike the Tennessee case, the Arkansas legal battle went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where justices declared the anti-evolution law a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. A federal judge ruled in 2005 that a Pennsylvania public school district could not teach intelligent design the idea life is too complex to have arisen by natural causes because it is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory. Today, the central themes surrounding the trial continue to pop up. Currently, conservative lawmakers across the country are pushing to introduce more Christianity in public school classrooms. Last year, West Virginia enacted a law permitting public school teachers to answer student questions about scientific theories of how the universe and/or life came to exist" that supporters said was needed to foster discussions beyond evolution. And in Texas, new state curriculum has sparked criticism due to its inclusion of biblical references, a lesson that asks students to repeat the phrase that starts the creation story in the Book of Genesis and an activity requesting that children remember the order in which the Bible says God created the universe. DES MOINES, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa House unanimously passed legislation Tuesday offering legal protections against lawsuits filed to limit freedom of speech and press, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. House File 472 is the latest attempt to enact an anti-SLAPP law in Iowa. SLAPP refers to strategic lawsuits against public participation, civil lawsuits filed without an expectation of winning in court, but as an attempt to intimidate a person or news organization from exercising First Amendment rights like freedom of speech and press by threatening a lengthy, expensive legal battle. Iowa schools eligible for $1,000 match on local food purchases Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said this measure was first brought forward in the wake of a 2018 lawsuit against the Carroll Times Herald filed by a Carroll police officer, who sued the newspaper after it reported that he had sexual relationships with teenagers, which the officer admitted to. Even though the newspaper won the lawsuit, it cost them $100,000 almost put them out of business, Holt said. The bill would hinder SLAPP lawsuits by allowing expedited relief in court for actions related to First Amendment rights, like freedom of speech and press, as well as freedoms to assemble, petition and of association. As of January 2025, 35 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place that provide ways to quickly dismiss SLAPP cases. Iowa House lawmakers have passed anti-SLAPP bills with bipartisan support in several previous sessions, but the bills have failed to gain traction in the Iowa Senate. Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, urged support for the measure in floor debate Tuesday, saying she hopes the Senate will move on the bill this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive only had three opportunities to vote for this bill, and Ill do it again today, and I hope that I dont get a fourth chance, and that our colleagues across the (rotunda) will pick this up, Srinivas said. Holt said he is optimistic about the bills chances in the Senate this year. The Senate version of the bill, Senate File 47, was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. Gov. Kim Reynolds says economy may be bumpy under Trump policies, but projects long-term benefits I am proud that, in a bipartisan way, this chamber has been anti-SLAPP before anti-SLAPP was cool, Holt said. It appears that its now cool in the Senate, and actually is going to pass this session. Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter. This story was republished under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. CALHOUN COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) A German man who killed his wife in Blountstown, put her body in the car trunk, and drove around with it for several hours, will remain in prison. The 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee has denied his motion for a new trial. In 2018, Judith Belc left her husband, Dan Belc, in Germany and came home to Blountstown. That July, Dan Belc followed his estranged wife, hoping to reconcile. Walton County to charge admission at Morrison Springs to reduce crowds Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But when she refused, he shot her several times, put her body in the trunk, then drove around before finally surrendering to sheriffs deputies. In 2022, a jury found Dan Belc guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated assault, and the judge sentenced him to life in prison. But Belc claims prosecutors improperly cross-examined him about pre-trial statements he made and that the court denied his motion for a mistrial based on those statements. He also claims the court should not have denied his motion to suppress statements he made to investigators that led them to a secondary crime scene. Appellate judges denied Belcs appeal, saying his attorney did not object to the questions, nor did they move for a mistrial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. Nevada State High School is a tuition-free charter school, all dual enrollment for eleventh and twelfth graders, where students can take real college classes from real college professors on real college campuses. They are now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year. Melissa McCormick, Support Services Director, tells us more about the program. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Mar. 12GRAND FORKS Area school districts and UND say they have little to go on as the Trump administration moves to halve the U.S. Department of Education's staff. Department officials announced plans Tuesday to cut more than 1,300 employees, raising questions about the agency's ability to continue administering federal programs like school Title funds, Pell Grants and special education funding. "I can't tell you (and) I don't think anyone can tell you how it's going to affect things," said Kevin Grover, superintendent of East Grand Forks Public Schools. "We're just holding our breath." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 10% of the district's funding comes from federal funds, Grover said. Grand Forks Public Schools also receives a comparable percentage of its annual funding from federal sources. Business Manager Brandon Baumbach told the Herald in a text message that state Department of Public Instruction officials have told the district to continue operating as normal. He said he's also heard from Defense Department officials who administer the federal impact aid that funds Nathan Twining Elementary and Middle School's daily operations as well as the subagency supporting construction of the new Twining building. North Dakota DPI administers federal Title funds and special education funding to public schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DPI spokesperson Dale Wetzel said the state agency is still evaluating the situation following Tuesday's announcement and did not have comment as of Wednesday afternoon. Dismantling the Education Department, as President Donald Trump has indicated he plans to do, would not eliminate the special education or Title programs, which were created by congressional orders in 1975 and 1965, respectively. ProPublica reported Wednesday that seven of the 12 regional offices for the department's Office of Civil Rights, which investigates civil rights complaints, are set to close. That includes the agency's Chicago field office, which included North Dakota under its purview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The civil rights division, which employs 550, has been disproportionately affected by the cuts, according to the investigative nonprofit. UND spokesperson Meloney Linder said the university is continuing to monitor changes to the Education Department as they play out in real time. "We're also awaiting any new information or guidance about potential impacts to UND, if any," Linder wrote in an email. "When we know more, we will be better able (to) react to and comment on those potential impacts." Derek Sporbert, who directs UND's federally funded TRIO programs for low-income and first-generation students, called the staff cuts a "dagger" for many Education Department programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Many people think the Department is in charge of curriculum, but in reality the majority of what they do is provide educational access and opportunity to students in their individual states," he wrote in a text message. Sporbert said the cuts are not expected to affect oversight of the TRIO programs. News of the staff cuts came during spring break for both UND and Grand Forks Public Schools. The Education Department also closed its Washington headquarters and regional offices on Wednesday for unspecified "security reasons," with plans to reopen Thursday. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A student from the West Liberty-Salem Local School District was reportedly injured during recess. According to Kraig Hissong, superintendent of West Liberty-Salem Local School District, a student sustained an injury Wednesday during recess. As a precaution, the student was taken by a medical helicopter for medical evaluation. Our staff responded swiftly and professionally, ensuring the student received immediate care while also minimizing the impact on other students, said Hissong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hissong said the district prioritizes the safety and well-being of all students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GENEVA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A UN fact-finding mission has accused Israel of deliberately targeting and destroying sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. The report, released Thursday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, concluded that these actions constitute acts of genocide. The commission found that Israel had systematically dismantled Gaza's sexual and reproductive healthcare system, including maternity hospitals, maternity wards of hospitals and Gaza's main in-vitro fertility (IVF) clinic. According to the report, the Basma IVF Clinic, Gaza's main fertility center, was intentionally attacked and destroyed by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF). The ISF also eliminated all stored reproductive materials for the future conception of Palestinians. The commission stated that there was no credible evidence indicating that the clinic was a legitimate military target at the time of the attack. Furthermore, the report highlighted that Israel had imposed a siege on Gaza and blocked large-scale humanitarian aid, including essential medications and equipment needed for safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care. It also noted that Israeli authorities had systematically denied permission for patients to leave Gaza for medical treatment, including women suffering from gynecological cancer. The commission concluded that Israel had partially destroyed the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza, including by imposing measures aimed at preventing birth acts that fall under the categories of genocide as defined by the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention. Israel swiftly rejected the findings, issuing a statement that categorically rejected the report's conclusions and dismissed the allegations as "unfounded." Alysa Horton Cronkite News PHOENIX Arizona national parks and forests are already feeling a strain on resources after President Donald Trumps executive order for a federal hiring freeze and extensive firings. Grand Canyon National Park, one of the states 22 national park sites, reported wait times being twice as long as usual just a week after the National Park Service and National Forest Service fired thousands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The park lost four toll operators, according to the Washington Post, despite being the second most visited park in the country. The park service fired an estimated 1,000 employees. The Trump administrations Department of Government Efficiency has tried to slash numerous areas of federal funding, including for national parks and forests. A federal hiring freeze went into effect Jan. 20, but the park service has since been cleared to fill thousands of seasonal positions. While national parks are part of the Department of the Interior, national forests are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which defended Trumps decision to cut positions. As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service. To be clear, none of these individuals were operational firefighters, a USDA spokesperson wrote. Its unfortunate that the Biden administration hired thousands of people with no plan in place to pay them long term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though USDA officials say 2,000 employees were let go, a union says the number is closer to 3,400 workers. Others have been less enthusiastic about the decision to release so many positions. Matthew Nelson, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association, said the decision is most likely to affect residents of the Valley who travel around the state to access natural lands. Most of the public lands that we love and enjoy so these are national forests, Bureau of Land Management lands, national parks theyre all managed by federal agencies, and right now, those systems are being completely dismantled, Nelson said. In 2023, outdoor recreation added over $14 billion to the Arizona gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beyond just the economic value of outdoor recreation, what it provides in terms of healthy living, I think it really, for me, defines what it means to be an Arizonan, Nelson said. Thats why I live here, and why Ive pursued the job and the lifestyle that I have. If that were to ever change, it would completely transform how I see Arizona and America. Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, said though the Valentines Day massacre of firings wasnt a complete surprise, the extent wasnt anticipated. Thats kind of using the broad sword rather than the scalpel, Wade said. Wade said those affected received an email at 4 p.m. Feb. 14 and were given an hour and a half to return any government equipment. The National Park Service maintains it will continue hiring seasonal staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management, a spokesperson wrote. We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks. In a social media post about the Grand Canyon, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said the Trump administrations removal of essential workers undermines our economy and ability to showcase one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. Hobbs said despite the challenges at the Grand Canyon, she would not use state resources to aid the park, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. Volunteers and employees of the park service around the state have said Arizonans and tourists will likely feel the fallout of fewer resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When this workforce continues to be diminished, itll also affect our ability to maintain trails, Nelson said. We also need our partners at the Forest Service and the BLM and the National Park Service to be engaged in that process. Otherwise, everything falls apart. Cronkite News reporter Emily Fox-Million contributed to this article. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) A newly filed bill in the Arkansas legislature would allow for the display of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms. Senate Bill 433, sponsored by Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R-Heber Springs), would allow for a copy of the Ten Commandments to be posted in visible places in classrooms alongside copies of the national motto, In God We Trust. Current Arkansas Code 1-4-133 allows for the In God We Trust to be posted to be displayed if funds are available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bill to eliminate daylight savings time in Arkansas fails in committee The copies or posters authorized under this section shall either be donated or shall be purchased solely with funds made available through voluntary contributions to the local school boards, local building governing entity, or the Building Authority Division, Arkansas code says. The bill says the Ten Commandments must be on a durable poster or framed copy and at least 16 by 20. It continues, saying that if a copy of the Ten Commandments does not follow the requirements, an institution can replace it with one that does meet the criteria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill has been referred to the State Agencies and Govermental Affairs Committee in the Senate. Arkansas legislature bills filed Tuesday include changes to the Arkansas Constitution, water bonds, human trafficking, more Similar bills have been filed in Oklahoma and Louisiana in recent years. Sen. Jim Olsen (R-Roland) has filed two bills in the last two legislative sessions that would require the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma classrooms. His 2024 version made it to the Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee but wasnt picked up on the agenda and was effectively killed by former committee chair Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore), according to Nexstars KFOR. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 2025 version has had no updates in the Oklahoma legislature since Feb. 4. In Louisiana, a law that would have required the displaying of the Ten Commandments in classrooms was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge in November 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. From left: Pediatrician Dr. Meghan Repp and Rep. Zack Gramlich, R-Fort Smith, present legislation they say will protect children's privacy and mental health from online threats before the Arkansas House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, and Legislative Affairs on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas House committee approved two bills Wednesday that mimic stalled federal legislation aimed at regulating companies online interactions with children. House Bill 1717 and House Bill 1726 passed the House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, and Legislative Affairs with no audible dissent and will go to the full House next. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HB 1717 is the Arkansas Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, and HB 1726 is the Arkansas Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Both have bipartisan sponsorship. KOSAs provisions include: Putting social media accounts default settings at the most protective level for minor users Allowing parents to monitor their childrens account settings Restricting minors ability to make financial transactions online Prohibiting companies from advertising drugs, alcohol, tobacco or gambling to minors Requiring social media algorithms to be transparent, meaning users would be able to know why they are receiving the content in front of them If an online platform is found to have violated KOSA, it will have 90 days after receiving notice from the state to resolve the problem without facing legal action from the Arkansas attorney general, according to HB 1726. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Zack Gramlich, a Fort Smith Republican and the bills lead sponsor, said KOSA should protect minors from online content that contributes to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use and suicidal behaviors. Software on mobile devices is designed to keep people using them as much as possible, Gramlich said. Im an adult and I choose to interact with that, he said. A 13- or 14-[year-old], et cetera, does not have the cognitive and developmental ability to really understand how this is not good for their development and how these companies are using them for money. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HB 1717 follows the lead of U.S. Congress attempt to expand on the existing federal Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which applies to children under 13. The expanded legislation is nicknamed COPPA 2.0 and would apply to children ages 13 to 17. The bill would ban technology companies from collecting data from Arkansas minors except under specific circumstances, such as for financial transactions. They would also be barred from retaining that data and disclosing it to third parties that use the information in advertising targeted to children. Companies would be required to provide notice and obtain consent if they are collecting minors data under permissible circumstances, HB 1717 states. Parents would be able to report to the state attorney general if websites that their children use do not follow the regulations laid out in HB 1717, and the AG could bring a civil lawsuit seeking damages, Gramlich said. He also said Attorney General Tim Griffins office does not have any problems with the bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State agencies are exempt from HB 1717 so they can reach children online, Gramlich said, such as state-funded higher education institutions advertising their academic programs or the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission advertising its services. Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said one of her priorities is reducing minors access to cellphones and social media. In February, she signed bipartisan legislation to ban students access to cellphones and personal electronic devices during the school day. Children as young as two years old use mobile devices daily, and 97% of teenagers use the internet daily, said Dr. Meghan Repp, a Bryant pediatrician expressing support for both bills on behalf of the Arkansas chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Repp said social media has its benefits for teenagers, such as social connection, civic engagement and creative expression, but it also poses the risks of hate speech, predation and disinformation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the things that we see very frequently in our office is children who are searching for information about something [such as] how to eat healthy, and then over time it becomes the platforms introducing more and more information about how to become anorexic, Repp said. Other legislation Gramlich initially introduced both bills in January and amended them six times each before withdrawing them from consideration and reintroducing the amended versions Monday. Sen. Justin Boyd, also a Fort Smith Republican, is the bills Senate sponsor. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, said in December that he would sponsor KOSA during this years legislative session. Collins is among three Democratic co-sponsors of HB 1717 and HB 1726 along with Rep. Joy Springer and Sen. Clarke Tucker, also of Little Rock. Gramlich said both bills are proactive measures in case the federal bills they are based on move slowly through Congress or do not become law at all. The federal versions of KOSA and COPPA 2.0 passed the U.S. Senate last year but died in the U.S. House. Repp said HB 1726 goes above and beyond the federal KOSA because it would create a Kids Online Safety Council of nine people appointed by the Arkansas Secretary of Commerce. The panel would be responsible for identifying emerging or current risks of harms to minors associated with online platforms and recommending research and prevention methods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The council would be required to include parents, youth, educators, privacy experts, mental health experts, state executive branch officials, representatives of online platforms covered by the bill and representatives of communities of socially disadvantaged individuals as defined in federal law, including racial minorities. HB 1717 would complement the Social Media Safety Act of 2023, a Republican-led and Sanders-supported law that would have been the first in the nation to require minors to receive parental permission before signing up for a social media account. A federal judge blocked the law in August 2023 before it was set to take effect. Sanders said in January, during her State of the State address, that the Legislature should amend the Social Media Safety Act so that its no longer held up in court and can begin to be enforced. Gramlich said in an interview that he is not aware of current legislative efforts to do so. Rep. Randy Torres, R-Siloam Springs (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Questions Rep. Randy Torres, R-Siloam Springs, asked how social media companies know when users are minors if there is no age verification requirement. Repp said no social media company would be able to argue that they did not know if a user was a minor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These companies 100% know when its a minor to the point that they can almost pinpoint the exact age of a child, she said. They can pinpoint the age of a child, they can pinpoint whether its a male or a female, they can pinpoint a lot of other very specific characteristics of this child. Rep. Matt Duffield, R-Russellville, asked Gramlich how parents can currently know if their childrens data is being stolen. Gramlich said this is only possible if parents are actively engaged with their childrens online activity. Rep. Dolly Henley, R-Washington, asked why the bills do not have emergency clauses, which would allow them to go into effect immediately upon Sanders signature. Both bills effective date is July 1, 2026. Gramlich said giving technology companies some time to make substantive changes to how they operate is one reason those companies are not fighting against the legislation. Rep. Jessie McGruder, D-Marion (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Besides Repp, the only person to speak on either bill was Sara Davis, representing Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America. Davis said she supported HB 1717 but wondered if it applied to online chat mechanisms powered by artificial intelligence that could collect minors data and provide them with harmful content. Gramlich said these entities might be covered by the bill, but if not, he expects them to be covered by future legislation he plans to introduce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Jessie McGruder, D-Marion, said he fully supported the legislation as a father of six. One way I figured out our data was being compromised was when my son started getting information in the mail, McGruder said. As proactive parents, we started telling them to stay off [certain] websites and stop putting things in. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Courtney Hudson (middle) chats with Chief Justice Karen Baker before an address from the governor on Jan. 14, 2025. Associate Justice Rhonda Wood sits to the left of Hudson. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) Editors note: This story was updated at 4:25 p.m. on March 13, 2025, to clarify whose emails Justice Hudson filed into evidence in a 2024 lawsuit, and again at 5:05 p.m. to include the Supreme Courts latest per curiam order and Tom Mars motion for Justice Wood to recuse herself from ongoing litigation. A report made public Thursday asserts that Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker harassed judiciary employees on Dec. 4-5, 2024, after she was elected but before she was sworn in as the first elected female chief justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Justice Baker intimidated staff, appears to have targeted female employees of color, indicated an intention to retaliate based on her perception of how employees voted, and indicated an intention to retaliate based on her perception of whether employees were cooperating with Judicial Discipline and Disability Commissions investigation into her colleagues conduct, the report from the Administrative Office of the Courts human resources department states. Bakers behavior violated the AOCs anti-harassment policy, according to the Jan. 10 report. The policy states in part: Harassment undermines the integrity of the judiciary and violates the standard professional working environment to which employees are entitled In particular, discrimination based on disability, color, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sex is strictly prohibited. AOC Director Marty Sullivan asked Baker on Jan. 13 to stay away from the agencys offices and not to communicate with his staff, pending the conclusion of a Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission (JDDC) review against her. This disciplinary action is outlined in the reports conclusion. If the perpetrator was under the authority of the AOC, HR would likely recommend termination or other serious disciplinary measures, the report states. Nevertheless, the AOC has an obligation to protect employees from further harassment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baker HR report The filing of the report is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between Baker and most of her colleagues since she became chief justice Jan. 1. Previously, five of the other six justices blocked Bakers attempts to fire 10 judiciary employees, including Sullivan, and appoint three new judges to the JDDC within three days of taking the oath of office. The JDDC investigates complaints about the conduct of judges and the justices. The five justices stated in their per curiam orders that Baker was acting beyond the scope of her new authority. Baker has repeatedly maintained that state law and the state Constitution give the chief justice the authority to act unilaterally in personnel and appointment matters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Associate Justice Courtney Hudson did not participate in the orders blocking Bakers actions. She and Baker also did not participate in a March 6 order requiring Baker to file the HR report with the court by Tuesday nor in a Thursday morning order that allowed the release of a redacted version of the HR report. Associate Justice Cody Hiland also did not participate in Thursdays initial order or the following per curiam order reiterating the courts stance that the HR report should be made public with redactions. The March 6 order as well as Thursdays resulted from an administrative civil appeal Baker filed Jan. 23 against Sullivan. In that filing, her attorney, Tom Mars, asked the high court to dismiss Sullivans findings and recommendations from the human resources investigation. Five justices said in the March 6 order that Bakers claim of visiting the Justice Building for completely legitimate reasons in December was impossible to verify without the HR report. The report submitted Monday was initially sealed because it pertained to allegations that the high court had not ruled on, Supreme Court Clerk Kyle Burton said Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attorney General Tim Griffins office, representing Sullivan, asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to deny Bakers request to keep the document sealed. Mondays submission included additional factual allegations or characterizations related to the AOC investigation and report that did not belong in the filing, according to Griffins office. Baker motion to withdraw Mars filed a motion on Wednesday to withdraw Bakers initial petition to the court. The motion alleges that Sullivan decided to invent AOCs anti-harassment policy out of whole cloth shortly before completing the human resources report. Sullivan declined to comment on the report, and Mars did not comment Thursday afternoon before publication. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later Thursday afternoon, Mars filed a motion urging Associate Justice Rhonda Wood to recuse herself from the case. He cited Woods statement that Marty Sullivan is the most amazing man on Earth and that Baker should apologize to Sullivan during a rare public Supreme Court business meeting on Jan. 23, in which Wood and other justices were critical of Bakers actions since becoming chief justice. Mars said this indicated bias on Woods part, in addition to the fact that Wood was Bakers opponent for the chief justice position in last years election that went to a runoff. Human nature being what it is, it would be surprising if Justice Wood did not hold at least somewhat of a grudge, Mars wrote. The allegations The human resources document corroborates reports that Baker entered Sullivans office on Dec. 4 when he was not present. She was observed looking throughout Mr. Sullivans office, including the area behind his desk and later returned with two other people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their names are redacted in the document, but surveillance footage obtained via the states public records law and reported in December by Arkansas Business showed that Bakers former law clerk, Department of Commerce Chief of Staff Allison Hatfield, and Hudson were the chief justice-elects two companions. A court employee who saw the trio at Sullivans office Dec. 4 had the distinct impression that the two [others] were purposefully distracting the employee and blocking the view, the report states. Baker then visited AOCs Court Information Systems Division, where she told an employee who didnt recognize her that the individual must not have voted for her, or voted at all, in November, the report states. The individual was one of two employees who reported feeling harassed by Baker approaching them, and witnesses corroborated their accounts, according to the HR report. The employees realized that Justice Baker had spoken only with employees of color and skipped the many white employees, the report states. The employees reported feeling targeted by Justice Baker because of the employees race. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baker also asked another Court Information Systems Division employee for information that the employee did not provide, responding with Thats all I need to know when the person hesitated, according to the report. Justice Baker intimidated staff... and indicated an intention to retaliate based on her perception of whether employees were cooperating with Judicial Discipline and Disability Commissions investigation into her colleagues conduct. A report from the Administrative Office of the Courts human resources department Court Information Systems Division director Tim Holthoff and deputy director Cecil Davis were among the 10 judiciary employees Baker attempted to fire in January. So was Pete Hollingsworth, chief of the Supreme Court Police Department, which received a complaint from a court employee who saw Baker, Hudson and Hatfield in AOCs administrative suite, according to the report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the Jan. 3 order blocking the firings, Baker and Hudsons colleagues called the firings retaliatory. On Jan. 2, Baker confronted Sullivan and Hollingsworth about their responses to Freedom of Information Act requests involving her, according to the order. The Court Information Systems Division is also involved in AOCs responses to FOIA requests. Baker returned to AOCs administrative suite Dec. 5 and tried to order one of the employees she approached the previous day to let her into Sullivans locked office. The employee was visibly shaken and appeared to feel humiliated by Justice Bakers actions toward her, the report states. Upon learning another employee had been instructed not to unlock Sullivans office, Baker said things would be changing come January. Disputes over JDDC On Jan. 8, Baker issued an opinion declaring invalid her colleagues orders blocking her attempted AOC firings and JDDC appointments. The other justices, with the exception of Hudson, issued a statement saying Bakers later-filed dissent from their two orders has no legal effect beyond that of a dissenting opinion. Baker spent more than an hour fielding questions from the other justices about her behavior in the Jan. 23 Supreme Court business meeting, the same day she filed the civil appeal against Sullivan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Associate Justice Shawn Womack said at the meeting that the court attempted to make new appointments to JDDC late last year, but the effort was delayed, including by Baker. Womack asked Baker if she intentionally tried to get control of the commission that was investigating her as soon as she became chief justice. Baker said she was not the only justice under investigation and did not respond further to the question. Circuit Judge H.G. Foster of Conway, the judge who swore in Baker as chief justice at midnight on Jan. 1, was one of the three blocked JDDC appointees. Before 12:30 a.m., Baker drew up the appointment orders for Foster and two other judges, one of whom had just retired from the bench. JDDC members are required to be sitting judges. The human resources report specifies that Baker indicated an intention to retaliate against court employees based on whether they were cooperating with a JDDC investigation into her colleagues conduct. Five justices referred Hudson to the disciplinary panel in September 2024 for flagrant breaches of confidentiality after she filed former Chief Justice John Dan Kemps emails into evidence in her attempt to block the release of emails between her, Hatfield and others in response to a FOIA request from Arkansas Business. Kemp, Bakers predecessor, did not run for reelection last year. Baker wrote in her dissent that the majority had a fundamental misunderstanding of the FOIA and had damaged the Supreme Courts credibility. She made transparency a focus of her successful runoff campaign against Wood. The JDDC gave notice last week that it will hold a special meeting Friday at 10:30 a.m. Two males, an adult and a juvenile, were arrested earlier this week at a high school in Riverside County after authorities received reports of an armed robbery. The March 11 incident unfolded at around 5:10 p.m. in the 23000 block of Cougar Canyon Road in Moreno Valley, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriffs Department. While investigators did not specifically identify Canyon Springs High School in the news release, the campus is the only high school located in that portion of Cougar Canyon Road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said that the schools resource deputy immediately launched an investigation into the armed robbery allegations and identified two suspects, now identified as 18-year-old Moreno Valley resident Noah Arias and a juvenile. Campus of Canyon Springs High School seen in this undated Google Maps image. It is unclear if either of the two suspects attend the school. The firearm used in the incident was located in a vehicle parked on campus, the release noted. Man wanted in gruesome Christmas day sea lion decapitation on California beach Both suspects were taken into custody, with the minor booked at juvenile hall for possession of a firearm and ammunition on a school campus and Arias booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center for the same charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of 9 p.m., KTLA had been unable to reach school officials for comment, but authorities said administrators at the school district fully cooperated with the investigation. Anyone with information about this investigation is urged to contact Deputy N. Ramirez at the Moreno Valley Sheriffs Station by calling 951-486-6700. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. By Felix Light and Nailia Bagirova TBILISI/BAKU (Reuters) -Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said on Thursday that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end nearly four decades of conflict between the South Caucasus countries, a sudden breakthrough in a fitful and often bitter peace process. The two post-Soviet countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Armenia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that a draft peace agreement with Azerbaijan had been finalised from its side. "The peace agreement is ready for signing. The Republic of Armenia is ready to start consultations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on the date and place of signing the agreement." In its statement, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said: "We note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded." However, the timeline for signing the deal is uncertain as Azerbaijan has said a prerequisite for its signature is a change to Armenia's constitution, which it says makes implicit claims to its territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Armenia denies such claims, but Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said repeatedly in recent months that the country's founding document needs to be replaced and has called for a referendum to do so. No date has been set. Russia's TASS state news agency cited Pashinyan as telling journalists on Thursday that the agreement would prevent personnel from third countries deploying along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. That provision would likely cover a European Union civilian monitoring mission that Baku has criticised, as well as Russian border guards who police parts of Armenia's frontiers. The outbreak of hostilities in the late 1980s prompted mass expulsions of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Azeris from Armenia and Armenians, who are majority Christian, from Azerbaijan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peace talks began after Azerbaijan retook Karabakh by force in September 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia. Most now live in Armenia as refugees. Both sides had said they wanted to sign a treaty to end the long-running conflict, but progress has been slow and relations tense. Their 1000 km (621 miles) shared border is closed and heavily militarised. In January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia of posing a "fascist" threat that needed to be destroyed, in comments that Armenia's leader called a possible attempt to justify fresh conflict. (Reporting by Felix Light and Nailia BagirovaEditing by Sharon Singleton and Philippa Fletcher) WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) The Wichita Police Department says a suspect is in custody in connection to a 2021 homicide. On May 29, 2021, officers were called to a local hospital shortly after 1:40 a.m., where Abram Galvan, 21, had walked in with a gunshot wound. He later died of his injuries. Police soon learned that the shooting scene was at 19th and Jackson, where a shots fired call had been reported. Galvan had been a passenger in a truck that was shot at in an apparent road rage incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 17-year-old charged in acid attack on Wichita woman, DA says Wichita police say that earlier this year, investigators received new information that led to identifying a potential suspect. With assistance from the U.S. Marshals Office, a 31-year-old man was taken into custody. This arrest is a testament to the unwavering dedication of our Homicide Section, says WPD Chief Joe Sullivan in a news release. It also underscores the power of community cooperation in bringing justice to grieving families. We remain committed to holding those responsible for violence in our community accountable. Formal charges against the man are pending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. At least eight agencies are investigating a recent fire at a Bayer executives New Jersey home as a possible arson, authorities said. The fire happened around 7:30 a.m. March 4 at an occupied residence on East Lane in Madison, the Morris County Prosecutors Office told CNN on Thursday. The fire was quickly extinguished by the Madison Fire Department. The structure sustained no significant damage and there were no reported injuries. The victim will not be identified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bayer confirmed an incident happened at the private home of one of Bayers U.S. executives, the global pharmaceutical company said in a statement to CNN. The family is safe and unharmed. The safety and security of our employees are of utmost importance to Bayer. The incident is under active investigation. The company is cooperating fully with the investigation. We appreciate the quick response of local law enforcement. The prosecutors office said the case is an active and ongoing arson investigation by the Morris County Prosecutors Office Arson/Environmental Crimes Unit, Madison Police, Morris County Sheriffs Office CSI Unit, New Jersey State Fire Marshals Office K-9 Unit, NJ Transit Police, MTA Police Department, NYPD, and FBI. The fire happened three months after United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down on his way to an investors conference in Manhattan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since then, many companies have ramped up security for their executives. Bayer, a biomedical and pharmaceutical behemoth, makes drugs such as aspirin, Claritin and Aleve. In recent years, the company has come under heightened scrutiny after it acquired agrochemical giant Monsanto in 2018. Monsanto is the maker of Roundup, a popular herbicide used by homeowners and farmers alike. Thousands of cancer patients or their estates have sued, saying Roundup gave them non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In 2020, Bayer settled lawsuits from cancer patients in a $10 billion agreement. Bayer said the settlement agreements contain no admission of liability or wrongdoing. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com ASHLAND One man is dead and another is charged with murder after an early-morning shooting at the Bluegrass Inn on Wednesday turned fatal. According to a social media post from Ashland Police Department, Christopher Frederick Charles Hammond, 30, of Ashland, is accused of shooting Barry Justin Burton, 30, of Ashland, around 3 a.m. after an alleged verbal altercation. Officers arrived at the Bluegrass Inn to find Burton in the parking lot with a gunshot wound before Boyd County EMS were able to stabilize him for airlift transport to a nearby trauma center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, APD stated Burton later died from his injuries. It is unclear how the investigation led to the arrest of Hammond based on information provided by APD, however the department reported available evidence suggested the shooting was an isolated incident between the two men and there was no ongoing threat to the community. Hammond is booked in the Boyd County Detention Center on charges of murder and using restricted ammo. He is held without bond. The Boyd County Coroners Office released Burtons identity on Wednesday afternoon. Coroner Mark Hammond said Burton will be transported to Frankfort today (Thursday) for autopsy and toxicology examination. A federal court in Manhattan heard arguments Wednesday in a case challenging the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who has been targeted for deportation by the Trump administration over his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. Khalil, 30, was arrested by immigration agents on Saturday, March 8, at the Manhattan apartment that he shares with his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant. He was reportedly taken to New Jersey and then to an ICE detention facility in Jena, La., where he is currently being held. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman issued an order halting Khalils deportation while the court considers a legal challenge brought by his attorneys, who argue that he is being illegally detained for engaging in protected speech. At a hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday, Furman ordered Khalil to remain in detention in Louisiana, declining to rule on a request by his lawyers to have him relocated closer to his home in New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil, who completed his masters degree from Columbia in December 2024, has said that he was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. He has not been charged with any crime. However, in a post to social media on Monday, President Trump confirmed that Khalils arrest and attempted deportation are part of his administrations effort to crack down on students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. This is the first arrest of many to come, Trump warned. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the administration was seeking to deport Khalil under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the secretary of state power to deport a noncitizen if the government has reasonable ground to believe the persons presence could have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. To better understand this complex case, Yahoo News spoke to immigration lawyer Michael Foote. His answers to our questions, which have been lightly edited for clarity, are below. Yahoo News: What are the most important details everyone should know about this case? Michael Foote: The primary issue when youre looking at this case is theres a lot of noise surrounding it, theres a lot of buzzy headlines. But what it really comes down to is due process rights of people who are not U.S. citizens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The core of what were talking about is, what parts of the Constitution apply to people who are not citizens of the U.S.? That is really the primary issue that were dealing with here: What does the Constitution afford migrants, people who are not natural U.S. citizens? Some outlets refer to Khalil as a 'legal permanent resident' while others say he has a green card. Is there a difference between these two things? Its pretty much the same thing, its a synonym. A legal permanent residence is the type of status you receive and with that immigration status, you receive whats called a green card a literal green card. So people who are legal permanent residents or LPR individuals are green card holders. LPRs are, for all intents and purposes, one of the highest and most protected classes of migrants in the U.S. Are legal permanent residents protected by the First Amendment? Absolutely. Everyone, regardless of immigration background, is given some sort of protection under the First Amendment here in the U.S. People will migrate to the U.S. and claim asylum because they dont have First Amendment rights in their home country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you are speaking out against a cause that you believe in, no one checks your passport before you do it. It's just a basic constitutional right here in the U.S. It's the right to protest and the right to free speech, regardless of your immigration status. Is it possible to be deported once you have obtained a green card? What does it take to have your green card revoked? There are very limited situations where you can be deported as an LPR green card holder. The really, really big one is if youve committed a violent crime that constitutes as a felony. In these cases, Foote explained, a person must first be charged with a crime, brought to trial, found guilty and then, if the crime is serious enough, they will be placed in removal proceedings a multiyear process in which they are allowed to mount a legal defense before facing deportation. We can't just pull someone over who has a green card and say, Oh, you have a green card, your taillight was out and then you're home in Guatemala the next day. Thats not how it works. Was Khalils arrest part of the Trumps administrations crackdown on illegal immigration? The Trump administration is creating a very subversive campaign to ensure that the migrant community remains afraid and does not attempt to cross the border. [Theyre] trying to create very splashy headlines around immigration to scare migrants who have rightful claims to immigration status here in the U.S. Whats the difference between ICE detention and jail? What do people need to know about the ICE detention facility in Jena, La., where Khalil is being held? ICE detention centers are for people from all sorts of different backgrounds sometimes there are people who are coming into the U.S. who are seeking asylum so it includes people who are yet to have status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And [its also where] people who are leaving under a deportation order are oftentimes held. But just because someone is being held at a detention center does not mean that they are imminently going to be deported. Whereas, a jail is completely independent and separate from the immigration process. Its the first place you go if youve committed a crime, before your arraignment. There has been so much backlash to Khalils arrest, particularly from free speech advocates. What are people so concerned about? This country was founded on the concept of protest the Boston Tea Party, for example and by literal revolutionaries people who were free thinkers who wanted to leave Europe. The founding documents, the Founding Fathers, the Constitution [are] steeped in free speech. Dissent is so important to who we are as Americans. Its one of the greatest separators of our country from oppressive regimes around the world. I was born in the U.S. Why should Khalils case matter to me? A nonmigrant should care about this case for two reasons: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One, we should care because migrants are the literal founders of this country. Unless you are a Native American, you are a migrant, period. You should care how we treat migrants because if we [always] treated them so poorly, you wouldnt be here. The second point is that our rights are really only powerful if we protect them as a country. Our freedom of speech is here because we fought for it. Its very much worth protecting and I think its probably one of the most important amendments we have. Immigration is never really about one persons story. Its about groups of people, its about our identity as a country. Do we want to be a country that doesnt tolerate free speech? MANILA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is still a candidate for mayor of Davao City in the 2025 midterm elections despite his current detention in The Hague in the Netherlands, a chief of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) has said. "As far as the Comelec is concerned, he (Duterte) is still a candidate. His name is on the ballot, and voters can vote for him," George Garcia told reporters on Wednesday. Garcia said, "The arrest of a person accused of a crime, even in our own country, is not a sign to remove the candidate's name (from the ballot), disqualify him, or deprive him of his civil or political rights." On May 12, Filipinos will vote in the midterm elections to elect 12 senators, new members of the House of Representatives, and local leaders. Duterte, 79, had served as mayor of Davao, a southern metropolis, for 22 years before he became Philippine president in 2016. Duterte was detained on Tuesday morning upon his return to Manila from abroad, following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his "war on drugs" campaign, a move he has questioned. He left Manila for The Hague, home to the ICC, on Tuesday night. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A Richmond, Missouri man is being charged after being accused of stabbing someone in a road rage incident at an Excelsior Springs Price Chopper on Tuesday, March 11. Court records in Clay County say Jeremy Daigle is being charged with second-degree assault and armed criminal action. Missing father Jordan Yust reportedly seen as early as Friday: deputies Those documents reveal that on March 11, officers were dispatched to the Price Chopper parking lot on Kearney Road on reports of a stabbing. Those officers found Daigle in his vehicle on Highway 10 after dispatch put out a license plate number. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon searching the vehicle, the officers found a knife. Those officers then detained Daigle, according to records, and admitted that he was driving when the victim flipped him off while driving. Thats when they both pulled into the Price Chopper parking lot, leading to a confrontation that left the man stabbed. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android Witnesses claimed to have seen Daigle spit on and stab the victim before speeding off. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) Twenty-two Angelo State University faculty members have had their promotions approved effective Sept. 1, according to ASU. The university stated that the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents finalized the faculty members ranks during its recent regular meeting in Lubbock. The following faculty members were promoted from associate professor to professor, as per ASU: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Susan Abernathy Department of Mathematics Dr. Jordan Daniel Department of Kinesiology Dr. Eddie Holik III Department of Physics and Geosciences Dr. Heather Lehto Department of Physics and Geosciences Dr. Kristi Moore Department of Psychology Dr. Satvir Singh Department of Management and Marketing Dr. Ben Skipper Department of Biology Dr. Veronica Snow Department of Kinesiology Dr. Jesse Taylor Department of Mathematics The university stated that promotion from associate professor to professor requires at least four years in rank and a record of continued distinguished teaching, research and service. Candidates credentials are reviewed by committees from their respective academic departments and colleges, as well as their department chair and dean, the provost and the president. ASU anonymously gifted $750K for Free Market Institute Thirteen faculty members were promoted from assistant professor to associate professor and granted tenure. These professors are as follows, according to ASU: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Benjamin Brojakowski Department of Communication and Mass Media Dr. Roya Choupani Department of Computer Science Dr. Emerson Crabill Department of Biology Dr. Brook Dickison Department of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Ellada Gamreklidze Department of Communication and Mass Media Dr. Regina Heep Department of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Audrey Heron Department of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Michael Holcomb Department of Physics and Geosciences Dr. Elizabeth Koeman-Shields Department of Physics and Geosciences Dr. Marta Lukacovic Department of Communication and Mass Media Dr. Kristen Lyons Department of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Rebecca McMillan Dr. Arnoldo De Leon Department of History Dr. Christopher Shar Department of Social Work and Sociology ASU said that the review process for being promoted from assistant professor to associate professor is identical to the process for promotion from associate professor to professor. These professors represent the best in their profession and are outstanding in the three main areas of faculty performance: teaching, research and service, Dr. Don Topliff, ASU provost and vice president for academic affairs, said. They have all proven their commitment to delivering quality academic programs in Angelo States values-focused and student-centered teaching and learning environment, and we are fortunate and proud to have these stellar faculty to mold current and future generations of the Ram Family. All ASU faculty members are evaluated annually by a committee from their academic department, their department chair, the dean of their college, the provost and the president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com. AUSTIN (KXAN) One person is dead after a two-vehicle crash that happened in east Austin Wednesday, according to the Austin Police Department. Around 6 p.m., officers responded to the crash in the 6800 block of East U.S. Highway 290 eastbound for the crash. Austin-Travis County EMS also responded to the scene. The driver of the first vehicle was pronounced dead on the scene, and the second driver suffered minor injuries, APD said in a news release Thursday. ATCEMS Medics said Wednesday the second person was transported to Dell Seton Medical Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is now being investigated as Austins 14th fatal crash of 2025, according to police. The crash remained under investigation Thursday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. (WNCT) With the summer months approaching and tourists filling the North Carolina beaches, more safety precautions will be necessary. During the offseason, the Atlantic Beach Fire Department has been training the water rescue team. We do have a water rescue team. We do try and train on that year-round. We are always training to work here in the county, weather events or flooding, Atlantic Beach Fire Deputy Chief Casey Arthur said. Obviously, we get hurricanes and there is an opportunity or chance there that we might have to help folks right here in our home county. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They train year-round due to the influx of calls during the tourist, summer season. Atlantic Beach goes from a population of just over 1,300 to sometimes up around 40,000-50,000 in the summer especially when we get to July 4th, Deputy Chief Arthur said. So, we have a lot of seasonal work we have to do when it comes to taking care of our taxpayers and our visitors. Depending on where and what the call for help is, the Atlantic Beach Fire Department has boats and jet skis ready for rescue in the ocean. Its very scenario-dependent or call-driven, so depending on what the call is, at our disposal we have a couple jet skis we can use, we use those mostly in the ocean, Deputy Chief Arthur said. We also have a small boat we can use and we have a larger vessel behind me we can use. Most of the time, the larger vessel will be operating in Bogue Sound and surrounding areas in case they need us, and the smaller vessel will be operating in the inland waters and creeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starting Memorial Day weekend, the Atlantic Beach Fire Department will also staff lifeguards. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. (FOX40.COM) The Grass Valley Police Department responded to an attempted bank robbery on Sutton Way on Tuesday afternoon. GVPD said that the suspect fled the bank as officers were responding to the scene. Video above: What happens when you call 9-1-1? There were no injuries to the bank staff, said GVPD. After officers arrived on scene they began to interview and review camera footage from the bank and throughout the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ten minutes after the first bank robbery, officers were called to respond to the 200 block of East Main Street for another report of robbery, according to GVPD. After an investigation, officers found that the two incidents were linked and described the person as a 26-year-old man from Nevada County. Solo vehicle crash in East Sacramento claims one life Authorities said that with the assistance of the Nevada County Sheriffs Office, they arrested the suspect at his residence near Allison Ranch Road around 8 p.m. At this time, this remains to be an active investigation as officers and detectives continue their work into the night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) A detainee and a Massachusetts attorney separately admitted to smuggling contraband into the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, according to acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. On Wednesday, detainee Matthew Pizarro, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and drug-related charges, admitting that he conspired with others, including a former correctional officer, to distribute Suboxone and marijuana inside the Central Falls facility. BACKGROUND: Wyatt correctional officer, former detainee charged in drug-smuggling scheme Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said Pizarro worked with then-correctional officer Kaii Almeida-Falcones, 31, of Smithfield, who smuggled in the drugs. Surveillance footage from Feb. 14, 2021, showed Almeida-Falcones briefly visiting Pizarros cell before Pizarro entered another detainees cell. The next day, a strip search of that detainee, Edward Nolasco, 38, revealed a package containing 201 strips of Suboxone. Wyatt staff also searched Pizzaros cell to find a plastic bottle with 4.5 grams of marijuana inside his pillowcase. Almeida-Falcones was sentenced in November to six months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Nolasco was sentenced to four years behind bars with three years of supervised release. In a separate case, attorney Theresa Marie DiJoseph, 51, admitted to using her legal access to smuggle papers soaked with synthetic marijuana to a Wyatt detainee with whom she had a personal relationship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Attorney charged with smuggling contraband into Wyatt Detention Facility Theresa M. DiJoseph captured on Wyatt Detention Facility surveillance cameras bringing in laced papers (Courtesy: Rhode Island U.S. District Court) Theresa M. DiJoseph captured on Wyatt Detention Facility surveillance cameras bringing in laced papers (Courtesy: Rhode Island U.S. District Court) Theresa M. DiJoseph captured on Wyatt Detention Facility surveillance cameras bringing in laced papers (Courtesy: Rhode Island U.S. District Court) She pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance analogue, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and providing a prohibited object to an inmate. According to prosecutors, DiJoseph met with detainee Shawn D. Hart, 47, multiple times in a visitation room designated for attorneys, claiming she was conducting probate work for him. During a 2023 visit, Wyatt correctional officers confiscated 10 discolored sheets of paper she brought into the facility. FBI lab tests later confirmed the papers were laced with K2, a synthetic marijuana. DiJoseph also admitted in court that she later lied to the FBI about the source of the contraband. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Pizarro and DiJoseph are scheduled to be sentenced in June. NEXT: Providence woman sentenced for role in Wyatt Detention Center smuggling scheme 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. Facebook posts attributed to a state-employed public defender, Jennifer Miralles, led to condemnations from a state lawmaker in 2024. Miralles' Iowa law license was recently suspended due to a third-offense drunken driving conviction. (Main photo by Getty Images) Due to a felony drunken driving conviction, the Iowa Supreme Court has suspended the license of an attorney who last year expressed disappointment that President Donald Trumps would-be assassin had missed. The attorney, Jennifer Miralles, is a former employee of the Iowa Office of State Public Defender and also served as lead attorney for a Nebraska state agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a sworn statement filed with the Iowa Supreme Court by Miralles, she has worked as an attorney in Nebraska since 2003. In September 2017 and April 2021, she was convicted of drunken driving, and in November 2022 she was charged with third-offense driving under the influence of alcohol, a felony. In her statement, Miralles explained that for several months before her 2022 arrest she had been sober, but the night before her arrest she drank alcohol to quell anxiety associated with new job duties. Early the next morning, while running an errand, she attempted to send a text message to her daughter and struck a utility pole, she said. Immediately after her arrest, she informed the Nebraska Supreme Courts counsel for discipline of the incident. In June 2023, with the criminal case against her still pending, Miralles was admitted to practice law in Iowa. In August 2023, she pleaded no contest to third-offense DUI, and in December 2023, a conviction was entered in the case. She was then sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to serve three years of probation. After serving her jail sentence, she informed Iowas Attorney Disciplinary Board of the case for the first time, and began working in Council Bluffs as a public defender. As a result of her arrest and conviction, the state of Nebraska sanctioned Miralles with a private reprimand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In her sworn statement, Miralles said she was unaware of the need to inform Iowas disciplinary board of the 2022 arrest prior to the conviction being entered. Court opts for a three-month suspension Miralles recently consented to an Iowa law license suspension of up to six months but argued for a 30-day suspension. She noted that at the time of the 2022 arrest, she had been the lead attorney for the Nebraska Division of Public Health and was focused on my Nebraska license. The Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board recommended a three-month license suspension, arguing her failure to update Iowa regulators with news of her arrest was dishonest by omission since she had actual knowledge of both her requirement to update (regulators) and of her arrest and charge of DUI. The board noted that Nebraska had imposed only a private reprimand for the felony conviction and did not impose any sanctions for Miralles first two drunken-driving convictions. The Iowa Supreme Court recently agreed with the boards recommendation and suspended Miralles Iowa law license for three months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In her sworn statement, Miralles stated she had turned to alcohol as a result of domestic violence she had suffered. Being a prosecuting attorney at the time this had occurred, she stated, I didnt want anyone to know, and it was humiliating to me and so I suffered internally and ultimately with alcohol, as opposed to seeking proper help. Miralles also stated that in working as a public defender and more recently as a court-appointed attorney for the indigent, she has dealt with individuals who have drug or alcohol issues and is grateful I have the opportunity to give back. Dammit they missed! Neither the Attorney Disciplinary Board filings nor the Iowa Supreme Court decision make any reference to an incident last summer that occurred while Miralles was still working for the Office of the State Public Defender. In July 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to shoot the then-presumptive Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump, at a campaign appearance in Butler, Pennsylvania. According to social media posts captured and reposted by others, Miralles posted the comments, Dammit, and, they missed! in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Those comments generated online objections from Trump supporters, to which Miralles responded, put it this way, Im Glad Hitler is dead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the time, Iowa Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican state lawmaker, questioned whether Miralles should be working for the Office of State Public Defender. Holt wrote on Facebook: I am seeing what appear to be reliable posts that a member of the State Public Defenders Office in Iowa made statements on social media declaring that she was sorry the shooter missed in the Trump assassination attempt. An investigation is ongoing. Any such rhetoric is unacceptable. In the aftermath of Miralles posts, a Facebook post attributed to State Public Defender Jeff Wright stated, This reprehensible statement does not in any way reflect the position of the Office of the State Public Defender. This type of rhetoric should not be condoned or tolerated. State records suggest Miralles employment with the Office of State Public Defender ended sometime in 2024, but no one at that office could be reached Thursday for the specifics of her employment history. State records show Miralles annual salary in 2024 was $104,062. Project Summary: This story is part of KXANs Preventing Disaster investigation, which initially published on May 15, 2024. The project follows a fatal car crash into an Austin hospitals emergency room earlier that year. Our team took a broader look at safety concerns with that crash and hundreds of others across the nation including whether medical sites had security barriers known as bollards at their entrances. Experts say those could stop crashes from happening. AUSTIN (KXAN) Despite the hum of new construction, the full impact of Austins new hospital safety law is likely years away. Three months ago this week, Austin passed an ordinance requiring vertical barriers, called bollards, to improve security at new hospitals. While some facilities are already making updates, without a state-level change, a KXAN investigation found the new safety mandate could take months, if not years, to be felt. New builds, old plans In a city used to new construction, health care is booming. A future state-of-the-art hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center, for instance, are coming to the University of Texas at Austin. Since those projects are still in the early stages, they will have to install crash-rated bollards under the new city rule. New Ascension Seton hospital construction on 34th Street and Medical Parkway in Austin. (KXAN Photo/Chris Nelson) But KXAN found millions of dollars of ongoing medical facility expansions at St. Davids and Ascension Seton, among others exempt from doing the same. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both hospital systems did not respond to KXANs request for comment regarding whether bollards will voluntarily be added. St. Davids, however, previously said it had installed bollards at all of its locations. St. Davids HealthCare installed bollards at all of our hospitals prior to the Austin City Council approving the ordinance, the hospital system previously told KXAN. [A]nd we will work with policymakers to ensure compliance with any new legal or regulatory requirement. Under the ordinance, which unanimously passed on Dec. 12 and took effect Dec. 23, new Austin hospitals and existing ones that expand have to install crash-rated bollards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a direct response to KXANs investigation into the deadly crash at St. Davids North Austin Medical Center more than a year ago. Our reporting previously revealed more than 400 similar crashes across the country over the past decade. New construction at St. David's North Austin Medical Center. (KXAN Photo/Chris Nelson) Immediately following the vote to pass the ordinance, its author, former Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, said the measure will absolutely save lives. KXAN wanted to see how the new hospital security law is working. Digging through city building permits, we found at least nine applications listed on the citys portal as being filed since the ordinance took effect but that bollard requirement doesnt apply to any of them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats because bollard installation compliance is actually triggered by the Site Plan application, not the Building Permit, according to Austin Transportation and Public Works spokesman Brad Cesak. Bollards are reviewed and approved as part of the site, Cesak said, and that is where they are inspected for compliance. Hospital safety bill gets bipartisan support a year after deadly St. Davids crash Any site plan submitted on [Dec. 23] or after will have to comply, he added. Hospitals put on notice KXAN found nearly 50 building permits issued after the ordinance took effect but with site plans filed before that date. Some, like St. Davids new Mental Health and Wellness Center behavioral hospital, were filed years ago. In that case, in 2022. So, the new rule doesnt apply. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We did not find any site plans filed after the ordinance took effect. There are currently no site plans that have been submitted that fall under the new ordinance, Cesak also confirmed. New ARC hospital construction on Ben White Boulevard. (KXAN Photo/Chris Nelson) To me, what kicks these things off is a side show to: Why wouldnt people put them in anyway? asked Rob Reiter, a bollard expert and co-founder of the non-profit Storefront Safety Council, which tracks vehicle crashes. Reiter said even if hospitals dont yet have to install bollards, they should. From a liability standpoint, if theres a vehicle incursion at that location, and they come back with the defense of, Well, they werent required, theyve been put on notice, Reiter said. Theres been plenty of notice, plenty of publicity. And, they would have to argue in court that it was a decision that they made and not a requirement. And, so, safety becomes secondary to hiding behind the rules and juries dont like that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement EXPLORE: KXAN Preventing Disaster investigations found 400+ crashes at medical centers Voluntary compliance Since the ordinance went into effect, many hospitals in the city are already coming into voluntary compliance, Cesak said. Austin Regional Clinic told KXAN its new 63,000 square foot Surgery Center South on Ben White Boulevard, which is currently under construction and set to open early next year, will have bollards with lights for the entrance in compliance with the Ordinance. After KXAN reached out, ARC said even though the ordinance only specifies bollards for new medical facilities, it will review its other locations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have not yet added bollards to the existing entrances at ARC South 1st or ARC South 1st Specialty, the existing clinics adjacent to the new facility, as the Ordinance specifies the addition for new medical facilities, urgent care clinics, and stand-alone emergency rooms, which these clinics are not, said ARC Chief Administrative Officer Katherine Flynn Henry. ARC plans to review other existing Austin locations for potential safety issues and will address those in the most appropriate way, including the addition of bollards, Henry added in a statement. ARC does not have any Site Plan applications in the City of Austin in the near future, but bollards will be included with all future sites. Austin city staff are providing construction and placement standards to applicants so they understand the bollard requirements, Cesak said, adding the city is also available to offer support. We also plan to reach out to existing facilities to make them aware of the new ordinance and provide permitting guidance should they wish to voluntarily comply, Cesak said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bill filed this legislative session, and gaining bipartisan support, would require crash-tested bollards at most existing and future hospitals across the state. Safety has always been the standard of care, said Reiter, who wants to see hospital safety improved to prevent future disasters. Why wouldnt you want to make it safe? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. A bill that would make the Texas Department of Safety the primary law enforcement agency along Congress Avenue downtown is facing staunch opposition from the Austin Police Department. House Bill 470, filed by Lubbock Republican Rep. Carl Tepper, would give DPS principal jurisdiction over the 18 blocks on each side of Congress between 10th Street, near the Capitol, and Lady Bird Lake. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis was the first to testify against the bill at a hearing on Wednesday, telling members of the House State Affairs Committee that the legislation would undermine her department's budget and her staff's morale two of her biggest priorities since taking office six months ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Money's already been removed from the Austin Police Department," Davis said, referring to the reductions made by the Austin City Council in 2020. As written, the bill would allow the state comptroller's office to withhold some municipal sales taxes from the city of Austin to pay for DPS operations in the 18-block area. Davis said the total amount would be "in the millions" and noted that APD is currently allowed to request assistance from DPS at any time at no additional cost. The Capitol Mall on August 1, 2024. The state office complex and pedestrian park north of the capitol, which had been planned for 60 years, was completed in 2023. The bill's author, Lubbock Republican Rep. Carl Tepper, on Wednesday urged the committee to consider the bill because of a spike in Austin's post-pandemic crime rate in 2022 an increase that Davis said has since subsided. In an interview with the American-Statesman, Tepper said that he was particularly concerned about the amount of people experiencing homelessness on Congress and surrounding streets and the occasional threats they have made to legislative staff. If the bill passes, he said he would like to see DPS use "more seriousness and more aggression" in patrols. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But he emphasized that the bill was "not an attack on the APD." Rather, he described it as "a referendum on the competency of the leadership of the city of Austin." "I have no confidence in them, and they don't need to be playing any tricks with their budget to defund APD or to manipulate their agreements with their police association and their contracts," he said. Davis dismissed Tepper's claims about a rise in crime at the hearing, saying that crime has since dropped with a 15% year-to-date decrease in violent crime downtown and a 30% year-to-date decrease in homicides citywide. "This narrative that Austin is dangerous is not accurate," Davis said. "I was brought here to address morale, retention and recruitment. If this happens, you're going to see morale go down for these officers." Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis speaks at a press conference on the recent changes and safety measures in Austin's Sixth Street Historic District during a press conference at Parkside, Jan. 15, 2025. Davis said she's increased APD's presence in downtown Austin by 40% since she took the job, with the creation of a "downtown Austin response team." She also told the committee there have been no issues with the reopening of East Sixth Street on weekends to car traffic or during South by Southwest, which is ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DPS representatives were not present at the hearing and did not testify before the committee. In an email to the American-Statesman on Thursday, DPS spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said the department "does not discuss pending legislation." Former Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia, who now oversees APD as an assistant city manager, also testified against the bill, saying it would create confusion over who's in charge in downtown Austin. Austin Police Department officer Miguel Campos watches vehicle traffic on 6th Street on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 in Downtown Austin. "We believe HB 470 undermines our progress, creates confusion," Garcia said. "Who's in charge? Who responds? Our officers are working hard, and we're seeing results. Our men and women need support. They've been through a lot, they've been vilified, they've not felt supported. And this isn't support." Garcia said discussions between APD and DPS regarding HB 470 only began on Tuesday, a day before the committee hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association, took a neutral position on the bill in his Wednesday testimony. He reminded the committee that the Austin City Council had previously agreed to pull significant funding from APD in 2020, and expressed concern that this bill would again put the department in a financially precarious position. "Poor decisions have been made by councils in the past, and we can't always guarantee what is going to happen in the future, and that is a concern that is top of mind for a lot of officers," Bullock said. "If a bill were to come, a financial impact were to come to the city, then ultimately the department would be the ones that are expected to foot that bill, which would result in a reduction of services rather than an increase." Rep. Richard Pena Raymond, a Democrat from Laredo who serves on the committee, said he would support the bill, with the caveat that no funds should be withdrawn from APD's budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'll support this bill, but what I would like to see is that we don't take money from you," Raymond told Davis. "We've got plenty of money in our state budget, I believe, to cover this without taking money from the city." HB 470 was left pending at the end of the committee hearing. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: APD opposing bill to give DPS control of Congress Avenue downtown MANILA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been in the Netherlands, said on Thursday that he will take responsibility for everything during his presidency. In a video posted on the Rody Duterte Facebook page, the former president said he expected a long legal proceeding, and that he will continue to serve his country. "To my countrymen, just to give you the current situation, I am about to land in The Hague after a stopover in Dubai. It's a long-haul flight. I'm ok. Do not worry," Duterte said in the video. "And I think this has something to do with the law and order back then, and I told the police and military to just do their job and I will take responsibility. So here it is," he said. "For all of the whatever happened in the past, I am the one who stood in front of our law enforcers and the military. I told them that I will protect you...I will take responsibility for everything," the former president said. "This will be a long legal proceeding but I say to you I will continue to serve my country. So be it if that is my destiny," Duterte continued. The video, taken inside the chartered plane carrying Duterte to The Hague, was posted before his plane landed at Rotterdam The Hague Airport in the Netherlands. Duterte, who is turning 80 on March 28, was detained on Tuesday morning upon his return to Manila from abroad, following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his "war on drugs" campaign, a move he has questioned. He left Manila for The Hague, home to the ICC, on Tuesday night. Credit: @Samstrays_somewhere An American influencer who was filmed snatching a baby wombat from its mother has fled Australia after officials threatened to cancel her visa. In a video shared with her 90,000 followers on Instagram, Sam Jones was seen picking up the animal, a protected species, before running with it towards a waiting car while its mother chased after them. The wombat joey repeatedly squealed as Ms Jones, 24, held it up for the camera before placing it down on the road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The footage outraged Australians and led to condemnation from high-profile figures including Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, who invited the visiting so-called influencer to next time try take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage, Mr Albanese said. Ms Jones appeared to return to social media on Friday, addressing the criticism with a post saying you guys are insane and that people had made death threats. The account could not be immediately verified. You have all gone crazy, read the post attributed to Ms Jones, who also goes by the name Samantha Strable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hate is currently too much for me to handle. She added: Imagine someone just goes up to your child and curses at them? Lets have some respect. Tony Burke, the Immigration Minister, celebrated the news Ms Jones had left the country on Friday. There has never been a better time to be a baby wombat, Mr Burke said. Earlier, more than 24,000 people had signed a petition to have the Montana-born influencer deported. Mr Burke confirmed on Thursday that his department was reviewing Ms Joness immigration status. Given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I dont expect she will return. Penny Wong, Australias foreign minister, also criticised the influencer during an interview with the broadcaster Channel Seven. She said: It looked pretty dreadful, didnt it? Really, leave the wombat alone. TikTok apology Photographs previously shared on social media showed Ms Jones, who describes herself as an outdoor enthusiast and hunter, posing with dead animals. Another photo of her time in Australia showed her holding up an echidna, which is also a protected species. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was not known where the video of her with the wombat was filmed but it appeared to have been shot in southeastern Australia where the species, identified as the common wombat, is most often found. In it, Ms Jones could be seen running with the baby wombat in her hands while a man off-camera could be heard laughing and saying: Look at the mother, its chasing after her. It was deleted from Instagram but not before it was widely shared with wildlife experts and government officials. The Wombat Protection Society of Australia also said in a statement: We are expressing shock and concern over the actions of a tourist who mishandled a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for social media likes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ms Jones later issued an apology on TikTok, the video-sharing platform. She told viewers: Guys Im really sorry about the wombat incident. It was a mistake. Im professional and all the people hating, its enough. I learnt my lesson. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Wildlife encounters are not uncommon, but in North Bergen, New Jersey, a surge in aggressive raccoon incidents had local officials urging residents to be extra cautious. What's happening? North Bergen officials issued a public warning following multiple raccoon attacks on residents in the space of a few weeks. According to ABC 7 and the North Bergen township's website, at least six people were bitten by raccoons in various locations, with some attacks occurring before nightfall an unusual time for these typically nocturnal creatures to be active. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In one incident, a woman was attacked outside a daycare at 51st and Columbia Avenue. "While North Bergen is home to various forms of wildlife, these recent attacks are concerning," said health director Robert Morano. Why is this concerning? Beyond the immediate risk of injury and potential disease transmission, such unusual aggression in raccoons could signal larger environmental issues. Habitat destruction, human expansion, and resource shortages have increasingly pushed wildlife into suburban and urban areas. As natural food sources dwindle, animals may become more desperate and emboldened, leading to more frequent and potentially dangerous human-wildlife interactions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moreover, climate shifts may be altering raccoon behavior. Warmer winters and food scarcity due to disrupted ecosystems could be influencing their activity patterns, making them more aggressive as they struggle to survive. What's being done about it? The increase in aggressive behavior prompted the North Bergen Health Department and Animal Control to set up traps in key areas in an attempt to control the situation. Officials also advised residents to avoid contact with wildlife, secure trash bins, and refrain from leaving food outside. Meanwhile, pet owners were asked to keep their animals on a leash or under supervision. If a raccoon appears aggressive or is acting unusually, residents should contact the North Bergen Health Department immediately at (201) 392-2084. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On a broader scale, protecting natural habitats and promoting conservation efforts can reduce these encounters. Organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Humane Society work to address human-wildlife conflicts by advocating for sustainable land use, wildlife corridors, and responsible waste management practices. While raccoon attacks are usually rare, staying informed and taking proactive steps can help prevent future incidents. Coexisting with wildlife responsibly is key to ensuring both human safety and the well-being of our ecosystems. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department responded to Loma Linda University Childrens Hospital Wednesday evening following reports of a possible shooter. By 8 p.m., the massive law enforcement presence that swarmed on the hospital was beginning to pack up and leave as the facility was being cleared and no threat was immediately discovered. Law enforcement is actively clearing Loma Linda Hospital, the Sheriffs Department wrote on social media. At this time, no shots have been heard, and no one has been injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials later said the initial reports of an active shooter stemmed from a swatting call, a dangerous and illegal prank in which a caller claims there is a life-threatening emergency at a specific location, leading to a large police response. Earlier Wednesday night, the Sheriffs Department released a statement via social media around 6:35 p.m. in which it said it was aware of reports of a possible armed individual. Loma Linda University Health later confirmed that authorities had responded to the hospital as part of an active investigation. A massive law enforcement presence surrounds Loma Linda hospital following reports of an armed shooter on March 12, 2025. (KTLA) A massive law enforcement presence surrounds Loma Linda hospital following reports of an armed shooter on March 12, 2025. (KTLA) A massive law enforcement presence surrounds Loma Linda hospital following reports of an armed shooter on March 12, 2025. (KTLA) Hundreds of law enforcement officers from the Sheriffs Department and surrounding areas responded to the scene to assist with evacuations and clearing the large facility room by room. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Videos from Sky5 showed the vast law enforcement presence with dozens of police cruisers, multiple armed vehicles and heavily armed officers wearing tactical gear. Law enforcement helicopters were also flying over the active scene. Around 7:45 p.m., many of those who had been evacuated for their safety were being allowed to return. But the Sheriffs Department urged the public to avoid the area if possible, as the investigation was still ongoing even with a reduced law enforcement presence still on scene. The area, officials said, would be reopening later Wednesday evening. Potential patients were encouraged to visit other medical centers in the area, including Redlands Community Hospital in Redlands and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The penalty for those caught orchestrating a swatting prank can range from misdemeanor or felony charges, jail time and heavy fines. That investigation remains ongoing. Loma Linda is located about six miles south of San Bernardino and about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The U.S. Air Forces goal has been to finish re-engining the last of its fleet of 76 B-52 bombers by 2035, but this schedule might now slip to the following year. This would extend the total time between the original Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) contract award and the completion of the upgrade work to around 15 years. Delays and cost growth have already beset the CERP effort. At the same time, we are getting new information as to what will be included in one of the re-engining kits. In 2021, the Air Force announced it had selected the F130 as the winner of a competition to re-engine its remaining operational B-52Hs, something that had been a topic of on again-off again discussions for decades at that point. The B-52s original manufacturer, Boeing, is the prime contractor for the actual integration work, which requires a host of additional modifications to the aircraft. The resulting bombers, which will also get an array of other upgrades and are currently expected to serve into the 2050s, will be redesignated as B-52Js. The B-52Hs were the last of these bombers produced and the final example rolled off the Boeing production line in 1962. The aircraft have received various improvements and updates already since then. The B-52J CERP production phase includes procurement and/or production of aircraft components to support installation of new engines and associated sub-systems onto the B-52 aircraft. (engines will be provided separately by the Government), according to a recent Air Force contracting notice. Building, storing, and delivering aircraft modification kits to Tinker AFB [Air Force Base] or other designated locations, if required, on an as needed basis through the production phase for up to 76 B-52H aircraft including additional spare parts, production tooling and support equipment to support installations in a five-to-eight-year period, starting FY28 [Fiscal Year 2028]. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An eight-year period starting in Fiscal Year 2028 would wrap up in Fiscal Year 2036. The 2036 fiscal cycle will start on Oct. 1, 2035 and end on Sept. 30, 2036. As of 2023, the Air Force said it was looking to complete the CERP effort by 2035. The contracting notice does say that the Air Forces goal remains to have its first two B-52s with the new engines by 2028, which will be used for ground and flight testing purposes. Prior to the B-52J production phase, the Boeing Company will develop aircraft modification installation drawings [and] select aircraft modification component suppliers, it adds. Details about the anticipated contents of the B-52J CERP modification kits are also included in the notice and are as follows: Engine Struts (OEM Spirit Aero) Integrated Drive Generators (OEM Collins) Hydraulic pumps (OEM Parker) Engine nacelles and fairings (OEM Spirit Aero) Generator Control Units (OEM Collins) Hydraulic reservoirs Engine throttle controls Power distribution boxes (OEM Boeing) Power wiring Engine start switches Air starter auxiliary unit (OEM Honeywell) Control wiring Engine instrument display (OEM L3 Collins) Air starter auxiliary unit controller Attachment hardware Engine data concentrator units (OEM Boeing) Hydraulics panel in cockpit Pneumatic pre-coolers Electrical panel in cockpit Pneumatic components and ducting Anti-ice systems (OEM Liebherr) Air Data System Probes (OEM Collins Rosemont) True Air Temp Sensors (OEM Collins Rosemont) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CERP program centers on a one-for-one replacement of the eight TF33 engines that currently power the B-52, a decision made to try to reduce the cost and complexity of the upgrade effort. However, the list above underscores that the work entails much more than just installing the new F130s under the wings of the bombers. The re-engining effort is set to give the bombers substantially better fuel economy and reduce maintenance demands, which, in turn, are expected to cut sustainment costs and provide operational benefits, including extended range, as you can learn more about here. The TF33 is a 1950s-era design that has been out of production since 1985 and is now very costly to operate and maintain. Members of the US Air Force work on a TF33 engine on a B-52H. USAF Though a possible slip in the completion timeline for the CERP program from 2035 to 2036 isnt great, it does speak to the larger issues the effort has already faced to date. Those difficulties could, in turn, eat into the benefits that re-engining the B-52s is supposed to provide. Last year, it emerged that the Air Force might not even start flying operational missions with B-52Js until 2033, three years later than expected and 12 years after the initial CERP contract was signed. It is also possible that steps the Air Force and Boeing are taking now, including starting the search for possible vendors to help put the modification kits together, could help mitigate existing delays. On the other hand, the program is still quite young and additional delays could spring up as a result of production and flight testing. Boeing as a whole has seen serious turmoil across its defense and commercial sectors in recent years, including with regard to new Air Force One jets for the Air Force and other high-profile U.S. military programs, leading to billions of dollars in financial losses. How much the CERP program is expected to cost in total at this point is unclear, but there are indications that it may have already grown from around $8 billion to roughly $9 billion. Boeing was supposed to provide the Air Force with an updated cost estimate by the end of last year, but it is unclear whether or not that occured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CERP is also just one of a number of modernization efforts the Air Force is pursuing to help ensure its B-52s remain operationally relevant for decades to come. This includes a major Radar Modernization Program (RMP), which has also struggled with delays and cost growth in recent years. Replacing the B-52s existing mechanically-scanned AN/APQ-166 radar with a new active electronically-scanned array (AESA) type derived from Raytheons popular AN/APG-79 is seen as a particularly critical upgrade. The new radars will offer greater range and fidelity, along with improved situational awareness and resistance to countermeasures. All of this could help with target acquisition and identification, including of potentially hostile aircraft, as well as help expand the aircrafts ability to employ networked munitions at long distances. The radars will also have secondary ground moving target indicator (GMTI) and synthetic aperture radar surveillance capabilities, and could have additional functionality, including electronic warfare and communications support. A rendering of what the final B-52J configuration might look like with the new F130 engines and other upgrades. Boeing via Air & Space Forces Magazine The Air Force otherwise sees the B-52 as a key element of its nuclear and conventional long-range strike capabilities through at least 2050, including in a potential high-end fight against China in the Pacific. In addition to the on-aircraft upgrades, the bombers are set to receive new weapons to support those missions, including the nuclear-tipped AGM-181A Long Range Stand Off (LRSO) cruise missile and future conventionally-armed hypersonic weapons. Regardless, the re-engining program remains arguably the most important upgrade effort for the B-52 in decades, but it may ultimately take at least 15 years total to complete the work. Contact the author: joe@twz.com ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) After a seven-month closure, a beloved Abilene restaurant is back in business. Farolito Restaurant has reopened its doors after owner Mark Herrera suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident. With Herrera being the only one who knew the restaurants cherished family recipes, the closure was unavoidable but now, with his recovery, Farolito is once again serving up its famous flavors. Abilene restaurant temporarily closes as owner recovers from motorcycle crash Farolito Restaurant has been in business since 1936, and its recipes have been passed down through the family lineage. Mark Herrera, the current owner of the Abilene icon, suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident in August 2024. Because Herrera was the only person who knew all the restaurant recipes, they were forced to close until he recovered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since then, Herrera has improved and reopened the doors to Farolito. Kendra Gutierrez, the restaurant manager, expressed joy about being back in business. Were happy. I mean, everywhere weve all been, you always run into someone, When are yall going to open? When are you all going to open? So, its refreshing to be back, Gutierrez shared. When reopening the restaurant, it was decided that some prep work needed to be done to address the issue of closing due to a lack of knowledge regarding the famous family recipes. We all started coming in last week to get everything ready, and he kind of showed us how to cook everything just in case anything happened, Gutierrez explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Dixie Pig and Farolito: Abilenes legacy eateries With the restaurant officially back open, many in the community are returning to one of their favorite spots. Dedra Terry and her friends were just some of the many patrons eager to sample Farolitos cuisine once again. Weve been coming here for several years, every Wednesday. We prayed for him, and we helped when they had a fundraiser. We helped with the GoFundMe as well, Terry said. Management for Farolito Restaurant went on to outline how the communitys contributions and support were a big factor in helping the owner heal and get this legacy restaurant back on its feet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. Mar. 13A Republican who firmly opposes Maine's efforts to develop offshore wind power is finding political allies among those who back it. Their common ground: keep Sears Island out of it. About a dozen people who support efforts to launch an offshore wind industry testified Wednesday in favor of two bills against developing a wind port on Sears Island, urging lawmakers on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee to consider building a terminal to assemble and store wind turbines at Mack Point instead, saying that the nearby location is already an industrial site being used by an energy and port services company. "I'm not in opposition to wind power," Nancy Galland, of Rockland, told the committee. "I wish it were more than a concept. It's got a long way to go, but we need all the help we can get." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dianne Kopec, a University of Maine research biologist, said she favors offshore wind development to help boost economic growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "I am also strongly opposed to sacrificing the undeveloped coastal forest of Sears Island ... to achieve this goal, especially when Mack Point, which is paved industrial land, sits less than a mile away and can be redeveloped from its current use as an oil terminal," she said. The Republican-backed legislation faces an uphill climb in the Democratic-controlled Legislature and opposition from Gov. Janet Mills, who announced with some fanfare the state's preference for Sears Island last year. The two bills would block development by extending a conservation easement to include the entire island and halt state efforts to seek building permits, among other measures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, asked Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport, the bills' sponsor, her views about developing offshore wind. She said she doesn't support it. "I've never been shy about that," she said. Paul said she's not against developing a port at Mack Point. "I don't think the industry is going to survive so I think the way I'm looking at it is if they build a port we can use it for other uses besides offshore wind." "Sears Island should never be industrialized for any reason. That's my stance," Paul said. The Mills administration has pushed back against the legislation, defending Sears Island as its preferred site. Matthew Burns at the Maine Department of Transportation said the proposed legislation to create an offshore wind port on Sears Island would restrict development to a 100-acre parcel of state-owned land. A survey has found no archaeological or historic sites in the vicinity of the proposed terminal, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency released a report in October explaining why it considers Sears Island the best of 23 possible locations for the wind port. Opponents of the two bills said Maine must build out an offshore wind industry to help achieve greenhouse gas reduction targets and boost manufacturing and construction jobs. "If there's a state that should not limit its economic opportunities, it's Maine," said Grant Provost, a business agent for Iron Workers Local 7. The future of wind power in Maine and elsewhere is in doubt given opposition by President Donald Trump, who is ending federal financing. Francis Eanes, executive director of the Maine Labor Climate Council, alluded to the shift in federal policy that supported offshore wind in the administration of President Joe Biden. He said a "clear majority" of Mainers supports development of Sears Island "and these bills would short-circuit that process, notwithstanding the uncertainty the federal government has put us all in." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maine's efforts to launch an offshore wind industry faces other obstacles. In October two weeks before Trump was elected the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected Maine's application for $456 million to build the offshore wind port at Sears Island. Copy the Story Link German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock highlighted the importance of Western unity, despite tensions with the US over its approach to Russia, at a Group of Seven (G7) meeting of foreign ministers in eastern Canada on Thursday. Speaking in Charlevoix, in the province of Quebec, Baerbock said the G7 had become "a key forum for safeguarding peace in Europe." Addressing anticipated disagreements with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over strategies for engaging Moscow in potential ceasefire talks, Baerbock said the atmosphere of the first short meetings on Wednesday evening had not matched the cold weather outside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to participants, however, Rubio skipped the reception. Rubio had recently been in Saudi Arabia for talks with a Ukrainian delegation on potential peace negotiations with Russia before heading to Canada. In addition to Canada and the US, Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Japan are also G7 members. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock highlighted the importance of Western unity, despite tensions with the United States over its approach to Russia, at a Group of Seven (G7) meeting of foreign ministers in eastern Canada on Thursday. Speaking in Charlevoix, in the Canadian province of Quebec, Baerbock said the G7 had become "a key forum for safeguarding peace in Europe." Addressing anticipated disagreements with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over strategies for engaging Moscow in potential ceasefire talks, Baerbock said the atmosphere of the first short meetings on Wednesday evening had not matched the cold weather outside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to participants, however, Rubio skipped the reception. Rubio has recently been to Saudi Arabia for talks with a Ukrainian delegation on potential peace negotiations with Russia before heading to Canada. In addition to Canada and the US, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan are also G7 members. Canada minister urges 'justpeace' for Ukraine Speaking at the meeting in Charlevoix, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly called on the world's leading industrialized democracies to aim for a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine. Despite serious differences with Washington over the course of the war in Ukraine, the host said at the start of the two-day confab that such major challenges must be overcome together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement G7 foreign ministers must "meet the moment," Joly added. The meeting - the first of its kind since US President Donald Trump took office in January - focused on current crises and conflicts. Alongside the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the trade war started by Trump with punitive tariffs is likely to be a key topic of discussion. In the 50th year of the G7's existence, Joly cited the group's main achievements in the pas, including containing the coronavirus pandemic, the resolute support for Ukraine and the fight against foreign interference in the affairs of sovereign states. Rep. David Hale amended his bill to ban Kentucky Medicaid from paying for some gender-affirming care. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. An advancing bill seeking to cancel Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears restrictions on conversion therapy would now also prohibit Medicaid from paying for some forms of gender-affirming medical care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lobbyist for a conservative policy group argued the additions to House Bill 495 were to ensure the government isnt paying for elective care for transgender people. A coalition of advocates representing the LGBTQ community and professional associations for social workers and psychologists denounced the additions as attacks on health care for transgender Kentuckians. HB 495 sponsor Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, agreed to changes in the bill by the Senate Health Services Committee that restrict the Department for Medicaid Services and Medicaid managed care organizations from issuing payments for: Cross-sex hormones in amounts greater than would normally be produced endogenously in a healthy person of the same age and sex. Gender reassignment surgery to alter or remove physical or anatomical characteristics or features that are typical for and characteristic of a persons biological sex. Almost 1 in 3 Kentuckians are covered by the federal-state Medicaid program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bills original provisions remained in the legislation, seeking to cancel an executive order issued by Beshear last year restricting the controversial practice of conversion therapy. Hale on the House floor had previously said he believed Beshears executive order infringed on the First Amendment rights of parents to seek whatever therapy they felt appropriate for their children. The amended HB 495 advanced from the Senate committee by a 6-3 vote with Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, joining the two Democrats on the committee in opposition. The amended bill still needs passage by the Senate. The House would need to concur with the changes before it would be sent to Beshears desk for his consideration. Hale didnt address the additions in the bill in testimony before the committee. Nick Spencer, the director of policy at the conservative group The Family Foundation, told lawmakers when asked about the provisions that the government has no business spending tax dollars on elective surgeries and elective procedures for people with transgender feelings. There are many medical procedures that the government does not cover, and the government has no business covering those services, Spencer said. Now, if someone who is an adult wants to pursue that course of treatment on their own dime, I would disagree with that course of action, but that is their right to do so. Advocates denounce additions to bill A coalition of advocates representing the Kentucky Psychological Association, the Kentucky chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the LGBTQ rights advocacy group The Fairness Campaign all spoke strongly against the new provisions in the bill. The groups were also opposed to the original version of HB 495, a bill thats changed twice moving through the legislature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Language is being inserted into this bill denying health care to transgender people. Its hard for me to put into words how much access to hormone therapy has helped me, said Serenity Johnson, a transgender Kentuckian living in Hardin County. Johnson said the prohibition on Medicaid paying gender-affirming hormonal therapy or surgery wouldnt directly impact her because she has insurance through her employment. But for Kentuckians with Medicaid seeking such treatment, she said, refusing them necessary health care is a cruel denial. Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) Chris Hartman, the executive director of the Fairness Campaign, condemned the additions to the bill as a sneak attack on our transgender community. Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, at one point during Hartmans testimony threatened to have Hartman removed from the testimony table for inflammatory remarks directed at the committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a disrespectful subversion of the legislative process, Hartman said. You will cost lives. Gender-affirming care covered by Medicaid varies from state to state, according to a survey published in 2022 by the health policy nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. A Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokesperson Kendra Steele in an email said Kentucky Medicaid covers services that are deemed medically necessary for a person by a provider unless specifically prohibited by law. Steele referenced current state law that bans gender-affirming care for minors. Very, very, dangerous Other advocates spoke out against other provisions of HB 495 seeking to cancel Beshears executive order restricting conversion therapy. Conversion therapy attempts to alter a young persons gender expression or sexual attractions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is among the medical and psychological organizations that have condemned conversion therapy. AACAP has stated conversion therapies lack scientific credibility and clinical utility and that there is evidence that such interventions are harmful. The American Psychological Association has stated people who have undergone sexual orientation change efforts are significantly more likely to be depressed and suicidal. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. Former Republican State Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr told lawmakers she considered conversion therapy to be not only ineffective but very, very dangerous. She spoke to lawmakers while her son, who she said was gay, sat in the audience. Thats not just my opinion as a mother. Thats the overwhelming consensus of medical experts, mental health professionals and those who have survived the trauma of conversion therapy or torture, as I call it. The science is clear, Kerr said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spencer, the policy director for the conservative group, told lawmakers counselors who physically abuse or expose sexually explicit material to minors should be held accountable. But he considered talk therapy to be morally permissible. From my perspective, those who counsel against homosexual and transgender feelings are expressing love for an individual, Spencer said. Democrats on the committee in voting against the legislation echoed concerns from the groups who spoke against the bill. Berg, speaking to Hale, said she appreciated the lengths the bill sponsor has gone to work on the original provisions of the bill. But she took issue with the new additions. You added the second part of this bill where literally adults who know who they are, whose medical treatment contrary to your lobbyist back there almost exclusively, is either a shot or a pill, and were going to deny them that, Berg said. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) A man was killed in a house fire early Thursday morning in Baton Rouge. The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroners Office identified the victim as Charles Davis, Jr., 75. The Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to a home in the 2500 block of Bunker Hill Drive around 6:20 a.m. Firefighters extinguished the flames just after 7 a.m. BRFD said the fire started in the back of the home in the carport. The roof in that area collapsed and firefighters had to approach it in a different direction. Flames extended to the attic and caused significant damage to the rest of the home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fire department said Davis was found in a hallway near the rear of the home. Authorities and officials, including the Baton Rouge Police Department, Entergy, and emergency medical services, were on the scene. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. The incident remains under investigation. This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available. Employee accused of stealing beloved parrot from Louisiana nature preserve Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. Editor's note: China is evolving into a consumption-driven economy. As it strives to revitalize consumption, the focus has shifted beyond price competition to tailored innovation, where personalized demand fuels premium-quality supply and shapes new consumption landscapes. At this key juncture, Xinhua presents three stories that explore China's "new consumption trends" and their role in driving sustained growth. The second instalment in this series explores how mass-market products have pivoted to niche audiences and transformed into stylish brands. SHANGHAI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- From neck-worn electric breast pumps to camellia oil-infused diapers, Chinese small-scale manufacturers have reinvented themselves as pioneering brands, driving innovation to fuel new momentum for high-quality growth. They have moved away from cutthroat price competition and copying popular designs for cheap alternatives, instead focusing on meeting consumers' increasing demand for uniqueness and personalization. "China's consumer market is undergoing tremendous transformation," said Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Consumer Council. "Future growth will stem from product excellence, emotional connection and cultural significance, fostering a unique Chinese consumption ecosystem." BRAND TRANSFORMATION A neck-worn electric breast pump, designed to resemble stylish earphones, has rapidly gained popularity in the online market since its debut in April last year. Produced by the Shanghai-based maternity brand SnowBear, the product's silent, hands-free pumping mode has addressed nursing mothers' increasing demand for privacy, comfort and style. Many online buyers have hailed it as a "gangxu" or a must-have during their breastfeeding period. Sales of this niche brand have skyrocketed since the product's debut on Pinduoduo, a leading Chinese e-commerce platform, generating a total revenue of 84 million yuan (about 11.6 million U.S. dollars) by the end of 2024. Yin Zhifeng, SnowBear's vice president, attributed the brand's success to its deep resonance with Gen-Z Chinese mothers, who prioritize products that blend tech-driven functionality, stylish design and emotional value. Yiying, a diaper maker based in Quanzhou, a prominent diaper manufacturing hub in east China's Fujian Province, is another example of how local small and medium-sized enterprises are breaking through market competition by innovating new products to expand their profit margins. Last August, Yiying rolled out a new product that drew on local wisdom by infusing camellia oil, traditionally used to soothe diaper rash. Sales soared, reaching one million units within a month of its launch. This personalized innovation has pushed per-unit diaper prices beyond 1 yuan, with some selling for as much as 1.6 yuan per piece, a price tier previously unattainable for domestic diaper brands. FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION Amid the rising popularity of traditional Chinese attire, the "Mamianqun," a long pleated skirt crafted by clothing workshops in Caoxian County in east China's Shandong Province, is experiencing robust sales. This commercial success didn't stem from the factory owners' newfound business acumen but was driven by the smart production capabilities of COSMOPlat, an industrial IoT platform developed by China's home appliance giant Haier, headquartered in Qingdao. Initially, small manufacturers in Caoxian hesitated to scale up mass production due to concerns over the risks of rapid style obsolescence in the fast-paced e-commerce market. During a visit to a garment workshop in Qingdao, a delegation from Caoxian was impressed by COSMOPlat's flexible production line, which enabled small-batch, rapid-response manufacturing -- a stark contrast to traditional rigid assembly systems. This innovation allowed multiple styles to be produced on a single line, cutting the production cycle from 20 days to just seven. Finally, a full-process digital Mamianqun factory was inaugurated last March in Caoxian through the partnership with COSMOPlat. Efficiencies in order management, data-driven production decision-making and AI-optimized warehouse operations have significantly improved, driving daily output from just hundreds to over 10,000 pieces. Like Caoxian's cloth-makers, a growing number of Chinese upstream manufacturers are also exploring ways to map out granular, precise and forward-looking consumer profiles to cater to personalized tastes. In Wenzhou, one of China's key shoe manufacturing hubs, Kangnai is revolutionizing footwear design with its groundbreaking "foot arch database." With a repository of over three million digital footprints, this cutting-edge system connects customer needs with factory designs, rendering a seamless pathway to high-end custom shoes that perfectly match individual foot shapes. Combining digital technology with manufacturing and market accessibility has been highlighted in this year's government work report. "The wide use of 5G, AI and IoT technologies have supported new consumption patterns," said Wang Wei, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council. "They've broken traditional consumption barriers, created smart consumption scenarios, and enabled diverse new products," Wang added. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) The Baton Rouge Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred Wednesday afternoon in the 2800 block of Dayton Street. Around 4:49 p.m., an adult male was shot multiple times while sitting in the drivers seat of his vehicle. Police said the victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and underwent immediate surgery. As of now, he is still alive, but no further updates on his condition have been provided. There is currently no suspect or known motive for the shooting. The investigation remains ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information about this incident should contact the Baton Rouge Police Department by calling 225-389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867. Louisiana troopers urge road safety after overnight, morning deadly crashes Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness has sharply criticized billionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk. "He's not quite right in the head," Hoeness told the Maischberger talk show on Wednesday evening. Musk has become a close ally of US President Donald Trump during the presidential election campaign. Following the election victory, Trump appointed Musk as a cost-cutter for the US government, granting him broad powers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, the billionaire entrepreneur is working with the White House-affiliated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to restructure the state apparatus, including mass lay-offs. "I'm very afraid. If a man like that is supposed to decide the fate of employees, workers, the unemployed, then I have to say, if it stays that way in America, then good night America," Hoeness said. With regard to Germany, Hoeness expressed great hopes for a coalition between the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc and the centre-left SPD party. You have to give this new government a chance. If this goes wrong, then in a new election in four years, the (far-right) AfD, for example, may get votes that they don't deserve and that they are not capable of. And then comes the time of the incompetent and we all don't want that, he warned. CANNONSBURG Authorities arrested a 26-year-old Ashland man suspected in a reported bank robbery at First National Bank on Tuesday afternoon. As of this writing, Kurt Gilliam is in the Boyd County Detention Center on a $20,000 bond facing a sole count of first-degree robbery for allegedly handing a note to a bank teller instructing her to hand over all the money you have on you around 2 p.m. Tuesday. The note also warned the worker I have a gun, per court records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Gilliams arrest citation, Boyd County Sheriffs deputies responded to a 911 dispatch to the banks location off U.S. 60 where witnesses described a man wearing a dark hoodie with a black surgical mask who had already fled on foot. The reporting deputy and press release from Boyd County Sheriff Jamie Reihs stated patrol units located Gilliam, who matched the witnesss description, in the vicinity of the nearby Walmart. Authorities also located ditched clothing on the ground in the 1600 block of Cannonsburg Road, including a black hoodie containing a little more than $4,000, matching the amount the teller reported turning over to the suspect. Gilliam was transported to the sheriffs department and requested an attorney before questioned by investigators. First-degree robbery is a Class B felony in Kentucky and carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison, if convicted. Location: Southwest corner of Indian School and Osborn roads, directly south of a neighborhood that includes residents from both Avondale and Litchfield Park. Description: Extra Space Storage is building a new 564-unit storage facility atop a 2.3-acre site that has been undeveloped for nearly 30 years. About 110,000 square feet of the facility will be used for storage space, while another 900 feet will go toward office space. History: The Avondale City Council approved a conditional use permit for the project in 2021 after city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval. However, that permit expired after the development didnt proceed within two years, so the company was required to apply for a new one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A year ago last month, the Planning and Zoning Commission deadlocked in a 2-2 vote on whether to approve the new permit, which essentially meant it was denied. Extra Space Storage appealed the issue to city leaders, who unanimously approved the permit in August. When will the work be done? According to Adam Baugh, an attorney with Whitney Morris Baugh, which represented Extra Space Storage, the project is expected to be completed by the end of June. Like this story? Get more West Valley news straight into your email inbox by signing up for our free weekly West Valley Newsletter, which comes out on Tuesdays. Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Extra Space Storage opening in Avondale in June Belgian authorities have accused the Chinese technology giant Huawei of illicitly influencing political decision-making processes in the European Parliament. Around 100 police officers were deployed for 21 house searches in Belgium and Portugal as part of investigations into active bribery and forgery, the Belgian Public Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday. Several individuals were temporarily detained and are now being questioned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Furthermore, the investigating judge has reportedly requested the sealing of offices in the European Parliament belonging to two parliamentary assistants believed to have been involved in the bribery. A spokeswoman for the European Parliament confirmed to dpa the request from the Belgian authorities to support the investigations, saying that the parliament would cooperate. Chinese technology in Western mobile communications has been a hot topic of discussion for years. Critics of Huawei fear that China could gain access to mobile networks through the company. The corporation initially did not respond to a request for comment. BRUSSELS (AP) Belgian federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament and the Chinese company Huawei, which is suspected of bribing EU lawmakers. The arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media said lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant were suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the companys commercial policies in Europe. The prosecutor's office confirmed in a statement that the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal. The investigating magistrate in charge of the case also asked for seals to be placed on offices inside the EU Parliament allocated to two parliamentary assistants allegedly involved. Prosecutors said one person was arrested in France. The suspects would be questioned over alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries, prosecutors said. The offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organization. The company said in a statement that Huawei takes these allegations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to further understand the situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Huawei has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times, it added. The European Parliament said only that the assembly takes note of the information" and "always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities. Huawei, which makes cellphones and is the biggest maker of networking gear for phone and internet carriers, has been caught in tensions between the United States and China over technology and trade. Some European nations have followed Washingtons lead and banned Huaweis equipment from next-generation mobile networks over allegations that it poses a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese spying. The company has repeatedly denied this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the EUs executive branch had no comment regarding the investigation but underlined the commission's security concerns about Huawei and Europes fifth-generation mobile phone networks. The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy, Regnier told reporters. Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers. EU member states should swiftly "adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks, Regnier said. A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk. The prosecutor's office said it believes there was corruption from 2021 to the present day" in various forms, "such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors also believe payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. They said they would also look to "detect any evidence of money laundering. Police seized several documents and objects during the searches. Staff at Huaweis offices in Brussels declined to comment and turned the lights off inside to avoid photographs taken through the window. This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was shaken by a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labor rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The scandal scarred the reputation of the EUs only institution comprised of officials elected directly in the 27 member countries. It undermined the assemblys claim to the moral high ground in its own investigations, such as into allegations of corruption in member country Hungary. EU Greens lawmaker Daniel Freund who supervised the work of the assemblys ethics body during the scandal, dubbed Qatargate said Thursday the parliaments reputation is again under threat. The risk of corruption in Brussels is high because the EU is so influential," he said. "We need a complete investigation quickly, and finally reforms that will make the Parliament more resistant to corruption. According to Follow The Money, an investigative journalism platform, one of the main suspects in the probe is 41-year-old Valerio Ottati, a Belgian-Italian lobbyist who joined Huawei in 2019. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before becoming Huaweis EU public affairs director, Ottati was an assistant to two Italian MEPs who were both members of a European Parliament group dealing with China policy, Follow the Money reported. ___ Petrequin reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report. Belgian Ambassador to Ukraine Luc Jacobs has stated that Belgium's stance on deploying a military mission to Ukraine is overall "positive" but remains "cautious". Source: Jacobs in an interview with the Ukrinform news agency, as reported by European Pravda Details: Jacobs noted that Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has expressed to the media that while the country views the idea positively, it remains careful at this stage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ambassador also stated that any such deployment would require meeting specific conditions, including a "fair peace agreement, a solid mandate and circumstances that such [military] presence on the ground would indeed serve its purpose". "Belgium is certainly willing, as our prime minister has stated, to join the peace process alongside our European partners," Jacobs added. Background: Bloomberg reported that France and the UK are leading discussions among 37 countries to form a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in the event of a peace settlement. Defence ministers from five major European nations met in Paris on Wednesday 12 March to coordinate support for Ukraine and plan further military measures should peace negotiations progress. They are set to meet again next week. Additionally, German defence contractor Rheinmetall has expressed readiness to supply weapons for a potential international peacekeeping mission in Ukraine after the war. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! PIATT COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) One man died on Tuesday due to injuries he sustained in a two-motorcycle accident that involved two drivers from Bement. On Monday at approximately 5:02 p.m., the Piatt County Sheriffs Office was dispatched to the area of County Highway 7 and 600 East Road for an accident involving two motorcycles. The initial investigation shows that both motorcycles were heading eastbound on County Highway 7 when the motorcycle driven by 41-year-old Morgan Brittenham struck the rear of the motorcycle driven by 64-year-old Thomas Brittenham. Child hospitalized after crash on Route 47 in Champaign Co. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Morgan was then transported to Carle Hospital by Kirby Ambulance Service, while Thomas was airlifted to Carle Hospital in Urbana. Thomas subsequently died at Carle Hospital on March 11 at 4:01 a.m. as a result of his injuries. Additionally, Morgan was issued a ticket for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and expired registration. The Piatt County Sheriffs Office and the Champaign County Coroners Office are currently investigating this incident. Anyone who has information regarding this situation is urged to contact the Sheriffs Office at 217-762-5761. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. As Germanys politicians struggle to cobble together a new government, the problems of the countrys film industry arent at the top of their minds. The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), winners of last months federal elections, under Chancellor designate Friedrich Merz are more focused on sorting out Berlins public finances, and sealing a coalition deal with their left-of-center rivals the Social Democrats (SPD), to worry about Germanys production business. The local industry didnt get a single shout out in Thursdays parliamentary debate, which saw Merz, trying, ahead of forming a new government, to push through a change in Germanys constitution that will give him some financial wiggle room when he does take over. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a worrying sign for German producers, who have had a rough year. Theater admissions fell 5.8 percent to 90.1 million in 2024, a much sharper drop than in most Western European countries, and domestic titles took just 20.6 percent of the market, a 3.7 percent drop. Television revenue is also sliding as commercial advertising dries up. A recent survey of the 375 companies in the German Production Alliance, an association of film and TV producers, found 80 percent of their members were struggling financially. Producers got a lifeline late last year when the outgoing government approved a new version of the countrys film funding law, keeping in place state subsidies for local productions, without which German film production would grind to a halt. But in concessions to Merzs Conservatives, the version of the law that passed excised a clause that would have required all German film productions to meet specific diversity, gender equality, inclusion and anti-discrimination standards. More pressing for the industry is a proposed new tax incentive that would make Germany more competitive with its European neighbors and draw in visiting productions from abroad. Rising production costs in the U.S. have sent studios and indie producers to Europe and Australasia in search of lower-cost locations with appealing tax breaks. Compared with incentive models in place in Spain, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic, Germany is no longer competitive. Weve spoken to the studios, they want to bring productions here but they need the tax incentive to do so, noted the head of one of Germanys biggest backlots. If things dont change soon, they will go elsewhere. The damage will be irreversible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another piece of legislation proposed but never brought to a vote in parliament under the last government is a law that would require streaming platforms operating in Germany to invest in local productions. Given the growing strength of Netflix and Amazon in Germany, the law could be a boon to German producers. However, the proposal is on hold until Germany forms a new government. When exactly that will be is still an open question. The newly elected Bundestag, Germanys parliament members are scheduled to convene for their first session on March 25. Since no one won a majority of seats in the election, Merzs Conservatives are in talks with the Social Democrats trying to hammer out an agreement to form a coalition government. They are trying to find common ground on contentious issues, including immigration policy (the conservatives want to crack down on illegal migration, tightening Germanys borders, the SPD are focused on better integration of migrants already in the country) and economic policy (the CDU wants to slash corporate tax and jobless benefits, the Social Democrats favor shoring up pensions and extending rent controls). Germanys far-right party, the AfD, which got some very public backing from Elon Musk during the campaign, saw a surge of support, winning 21 percent of the vote (Merzs CDU took 29 percent). But Merz and the rest of Germanys mainstream parties refuse to work with AfD, so they will not be part of the new German government. What both the CDU and SPD agree on is the country needs more money, which is why parliament is debating a change to Germanys so-called debt brake, a constitutional amendment, first enacted in 2009, that restricts the amount Berlin can borrow to finance government programs, including tax breaks. To change the law, Merz requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, something he wont have when the new parliament takes over in two weeks. So before then, the CDU, with the help of the outgoing government the SPD and their coalition partners, the progressive Green Party is trying to change the German constitution to make it easier to take the foot off the debt brake. The CDU and SPD have proposed borrowing heavily to facilitate major new investments in the military to counter Trumps pull-back from Ukraine and in infrastructure. The Greens arent so sure, worried that the new cash will be used mainly to pay for tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For German film and TV producers, the fact that Berlin wants to spend money is a good sign. They are talking tax breaks for this, tax breaks for that, so tax breaks for films look possible too, noted one veteran filmmaker. But for the beleaguered local industry, time is of the essence. Every week without a new tax incentive means another German project going abroad or a studio film shooting in Prague instead of Berlin. The international competitiveness of Germany as a film location depends on a competitive tax incentive model, said Bjorn Bohning, CEO of the German Production Alliance in Berlin, on Feb. 13. The new federal government must continue the reforms it has begun. Otherwise, there is a risk of a rollback instead of progress. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. HARARE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President and Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday stressed the need for collaborative strategies to attain peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He made the remarks while addressing the regional bloc's virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on the security situation in eastern DRC, where fighting between the DRC government forces and the March 23 Movement (M23) armed group has been raging. Mnangagwa said SADC welcomes efforts by the international community to end the conflict, particularly the United Nations Security Council resolution adopted last month, which called on the M23 rebels to stop all offensives in the North Kivu Province and South Kivu Province of the DRC and for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. According to Mnangagwa, the implementation of resolutions of the Joint SADC-East African Community Summit, held in Tanzania in February, is now underway, and the SADC is committed to achieving lasting peace and stability in the DRC. "In this regard, an inclusive and comprehensive dialogue process is essential to strengthen security mechanisms that safeguard the human rights and dignity of the affected communities," he added. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the Trump administration is more focused on long-term economic gains than short-term market volatility, as the markets continue to fluctuate widely in response to President Donald Trumps trade wars. Trump threw markets into chaos last month after announcing and repeatedly changing plans to tariff key American trading partners. Stocks plummeted last week after Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico before the president granted reprieves on specific goods, which contributed to the market uncertainty. But the administration has repeatedly tried to brush off concerns that American consumers would take hits amid the sweeping changes despite Trump refusing last weekend to rule out a recession this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We're focused on the real economy can we create an environment where there are long-term gains in the market and long-term gains for the American people, Bessent told CNBC Thursday, adding that hes not concerned about a little bit of volatility over 3 weeks because the reason stocks are a safe and great investment is because you're looking over the long-term. The Treasury secretary had previously warned of a detox period as the Trump administration looks to slash government jobs and spending, which he clarified Thursday doesnt have to be a euphemism for recession, depending on how quickly the baton gets handed off between the Biden and Trump administrations economic policies. Trump has brushed off any sign of economic weakness as residual effects from the Biden administration, saying Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control, and promising to get it back down. The price of eggs which skyrocketed in recent weeks has been a sore point for the president, who made the promise of lowering grocery costs for Americans a key campaign talking point. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trumps approach to the economy isnt going over well with Americans. Fifty-six percent of American adults disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy, according to new polling released Wednesday a marked shift from their positive outlook at the close of his first term, when 53 percent of respondents approved of his approach. Still, Trump has stayed firm on his pro-tariff stance, telling reporters Thursday "I'm not going to bend at all." New imagery has appeared of one of Chinas new invasion barges, which involves a temporary pier that can be connected to other vessels via a barge, or series of barges, with jack-up supports for more stability. The development of jack-up barges is widely seen as part of preparations for a possible invasion of Taiwan by the Peoples Republic of China. At the same time, they also reflect the growing use of ostensibly non-military maritime assets to support amphibious operations by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). A new video showing three of the jack-up barges deployed in tandem on a still-unidentified beach began to circulate recently on social media channels. Fleet Of Special Barges Suitable For Taiwan Landings via WeChat Channels@ https://t.co/BFjuxQjG5R pic.twitter.com/3evM4JhHFv (@lfx160219) March 13, 2025 What seems to be the first look on the ground at the special barges built by GSI in Guangzhou. These designs are tied to amphibious operations in support of a notional invasion of Taiwan. Screenshots from footage shared by @lfx160219 on Twitter. Alex Luck (@alxluck.bsky.social) 2025-03-13T08:26:30.865Z Meanwhile, recent satellite imagery from Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) on Longxue Island, just southeast of the city of Guangzhou, confirms that three of the jack-up barges that were seen under construction there have departed. This development was identified by Tom Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank. In this 9 March image, we can see that three of the LPTs have left (numbers 6, 2, and 1 from the previous thread). As such, one 4-, one 6-, and one 8-pillar LPT have departed, with one of each still under construction. pic.twitter.com/fXFOOBu302 Tom Shugart (@tshugart3) March 13, 2025 Shugart refers to the barges as T-LPTs, for civilian-crewed auxiliary landing platform transfer. According to his analysis, the three barges in question left Longxue Island sometime after March 9. Another three are still under construction at the GSI facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After seeing the departure of these vessels, I went back and observed AIS data to see if the vessels were using AIS, Shugart wrote on X, in reference to the automatic identification system that uses transceivers on ships to monitor their movements. What I saw was indications of tugs getting these ships underway, but no AIS from the ships themselves, unlike other commercial vessels. Clearly, China either doesnt want these vessels to be tracked or they are actually PLAN vessels. There is a precedent for the former, with dual-purpose ferries that take part in Chinese military exercises also not using AIS. Most interesting, perhaps, is the way that the jack-up barges are deployed. Initially, analysts predicted that the three different-sized barges would likely be used independently, creating different-size mobile causeways leading to the beachhead. In the latest imagery, the three barges are coupled together to create one long causeway. Shugart calculates that this should be around 850 meters (930 yards) long. Images from Chinese social media show newly constructed invasion barges operating at a beach in the South China Sea, SAR imagery helps pin point the location & the ongoing amphibious landing exercise ! read more about the barges here https://t.co/NjHVzZUohnpic.twitter.com/JfGH5lV2Kn Damien Symon (@detresfa_) March 13, 2025 Having much longer reach means that the causeway can be extended farther out to sea and into deeper water, where loads can be transferred onto them off of larger displacement vessels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The latest development follows a previous image that appeared in January, showing a Chinese commercial roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) ferry linked to a temporary pier via a different type of barge, with at least two and possibly more jack-up legs. TWZ provided an analysis of this earlier image at the time. An illustration of the approach for PLA over the beach-landing tests and training. The vessel connecting the ferry to the pontoons is not one of the recently revealed new designs, but obviously related in overall concept. Via /Wb. pic.twitter.com/Ni0PQAr5lF Alex Luck (@AlexLuck9) January 14, 2025 Before that, satellite imagery had emerged, showing multiple jack-up barges in various stages of construction at the GSI shipyard. Analysis of GEOINT on 08 January 2025 shows new possible amphibious operations support vessels at the Guangzhou shipyard in China. https://t.co/epfzHD3Daa Spotlight Report Critical intelligence delivered to your inbox. https://t.co/n0XDPQMZj2#GEOINT #China #Guangzhou pic.twitter.com/EElgZv2rM2 AllSource Analysis (@AllSourceA) January 10, 2025 As we have noted in the past, there is a precedent for these kinds of temporary piers or causeways in a military context. Only recently, the U.S. military made brief use of a temporary pier system to help increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. However, a squall broke apart that pier, putting it out of action for a while and demonstrating the potential vulnerability of such structures to severe weather. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where the Chinese system differs, however, is in its use of struts, which literally jack the barge up, making it more stable and resilient to bad weather and able to remain in action in heavier sea states. This should also result in a much higher throughput of cargo, vehicles, and personnel. On the other hand, the construction also makes for a notably large target and very static high-value target, suggesting that it would be most relevant after an initial landing, supporting the arrival of mass follow-on forces and supplies after a degree of tactical stability has been established. As can be seen in the new video, the barge closest to the beach has four prominent jack-up legs, the second barge has six, and the third and final one appears to have eight. A still from the video provides a full view of the interconnected jack-up barges extending to the beach at an unidentified location. via X At the same time, jack-up barges are not new, with perhaps the best-known military example being the employment of so-called Mulberry harbors by Allied forces following the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, during World War II. China, meanwhile, has at least a decade of experience using both semi-submersible and jack-up barges to connect ships, including ostensibly commercial RO/RO ferries, and temporary piers/causeways. By now, theres little doubt about the size and scope of the PLANs amphibious warfare aspirations and the fact that it expects to rely on commercial capabilities as well as distinctly military vessels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Having access to this kind of additional capacity is widely seen in the context of supporting an invasion of Taiwan, although it has relevance in many other potential scenarios. The advantages of a hybrid military/civilian amphibious force could be leveraged for future military operations elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, as well as for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance activities. The importance of civilian vessels to Chinas expanding amphibious capabilities is also underlined in the Pentagons most recent annual report on Chinese military developments, released in December last year. This states: Although the PLAN has not invested in the large number of landing ships and medium landing craft that analysts believe the PLA would need for a large-scale assault on Taiwan, it is possible the PLA assesses it has sufficient amphibious capacity and has mitigated shortfalls through investment in other operational capabilities, such as civilian lift vessels and rotary-wing assets to address this gap. The PLA may have confidence in the PRCs shipbuilding industrys massive capacity to produce the necessary ship-to-shore connectors relatively quickly. The value of temporary piers in this context has also not gone unnoticed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An over-the-shore capability like the floating causeway will be a critical capability in a Taiwan invasion, giving the PLA the capability to bypass damaged or sabotaged ports and harbors with an independent, relocatable off-shore loading and unloading capability, a report from the independent China Maritime Studies Institute published last year explains. At least through 2030, the PLAs reserve civilian merchant fleet is probably unable to provide significant amphibious landing capabilities or the maritime logistics in austere or challenging environments necessary to support a large-scale, cross-strait invasion of Taiwan. That said, if current trends in training and exercises continue, the PLA may be able to effectively leverage civil maritime shipping on a large enough scale to support a major amphibious operation by the mid-2030s. Why a Chinese Mulberry concept makes sense, if they are serious about preparing for a possible invasion of Taiwan. Worth saying again that a full scale invasion would be the most complex operation in history, especially against the spectre of US and poss Japanese intervention. Thord Are Iversen (@thelookout.bsky.social) 2025-03-13T09:47:57.647Z An invasion or some other kind of military intervention against Taiwan on this kind of timeline is something that U.S. military officials have warned about for some time now. In the past, it had been suggested that Beijing might be able to launch such an operation by 2027, if not before, although U.S. officials have since stepped back somewhat from this more pessimistic analysis. Nevertheless, the broad consensus in U.S. military circles is that Beijing remains committed to unifying Taiwan with the mainland and that the Chinese military is working toward achieving the capabilities required to do this, however long that might take. The continued development of jack-up barges suggests that these as well as RO/RO ferries will likely have an important role to play in any future Taiwan intervention. On the other hand, they are also relevant for a host of other potential applications as the PLAN continues to rely on commercial capabilities to boost its amphibious capacity. Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com First responders who discovered Gene Hackman and his late wife, Betsy Arakawa, dead in their New Mexico home last month say one of the couples two surviving dogs aided paramedics in locating the late actors body. Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found in a state of decomposition in their Santa Fe home, but the medical examiner determined the late couple had died a week apart, from different diseases. One of the couples dogs, a 12-year-old Australian Kelpie mix named Zinna, was also found dead, locked inside a crate at the home. Veterinarian Robert Gruda told USA Today that Arakawa had taken Zinna for a major surgery in January, and had been told to keep the dog confined to a crate while she recovered. Gruda said his veterinary practice knew something was wrong when Arakawa didnt come in to pick up Zinnas prescription food on time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was an excellent dog owner, excellent caretaker to those dogs, Gruda said. She really doted on them. Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, pictured here in 1993, were both found dead in their New Mexico home in late February. via Associated Press The couples other two dogs, Bear and Nikita, survived and were found roaming around freely. First responders located Arakawa quickly, but were searching the house for nearly half an hour to see if anyone else was in the home, Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya told the outlet. One of the two surviving dogs ran up to them, and paramedics first thought the canine wanted to play, as it was barking and running off. Then it dawned on them that the dog was trying to tell them something. They realized (the dog) was trying to say, Hey, come over here! Come over here!, Moya told the outlet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The dog led first responders to the mudroom, where Hackmans body was found on the floor, with signs of decomposition, Moya said. According to the medical examiner, Arakawa died on or around Feb. 11 from pulmonary syndrome caused by hantavirus, a disease commonly transmitted from rodents to humans via the feces of an infected animal. Hackman is believed to have died on or around Feb. 18 of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; Alzheimers disease was noted as a contributing factor. Joey Padilla, owner of Santa Fe Tails dog day care, said earlier this month that Bear and Nikita were healthy and in the care of his facility while he waited to hear from Arakawas lawyers about her wishes for the dogs. He also remembered the bond she had with Zinna, whom she had adopted from an animal shelter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was always attached to Betsy at the hip and it was a beautiful relationship to watch flourish over the years, he said. Zinna went from being a returned shelter dog to this incredible companion under Betsys hand. Related... A group of Westchester residents say they are freaked out as someone keeps shooting crows in a neighborhood elm tree. Dozens have died, and they fear that if the crow killer isn't stopped, a person or pet could end up harmed. On Saturday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of animal cruelty in the 8300 block of Chase Avenue in Westchester and found multiple dead birds, according a department spokesperson. Residents living nearby say these killings have been going on for several years and believe the perpetrator is using an Airsoft or pellet gun. LAPD officers did not find evidence of shots fired when they responded to the call at 7 a.m. Saturday, the spokesperson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In the beginning, the shootings were months apart, but recently it has escalated," said resident Brenna Lenoir. "It always follows the same pattern: You hear pop, pop, pop or you hear a gun fire, a crow gets hit, and then you just hear the crows go wild." Lenoir estimates that as many as 100 birds have been killed, including at least two hawks. Killing a hawk is a federal crime punishable by a fine of up to $15,000. "Everyone hates it," she said. "It's awful to see these animals gunned down." The persistent killings have put those living nearby on edge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's not like it's an active shooter with a gun that's shooting people, but it still makes me scared," said resident Diana George. "I've been walking my dog, and I'll hear a bullet go whiz right by my head, and I duck and I'm scared it's going to hit me in the head." George said the incidents have affected the quality of life in the neighborhood, which is otherwise a safe and close-knit community where children love to play in the street. "You don't know when he's going to strike," she said of the shooter. "It's terrifying." Resident Marco Vidalis is also concerned about the neighborhood kids and said the perpetrator once interrupted a children's birthday party, causing birds to fall from the sky while the children were playing in the front yard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: CarMax vehicle rampage left one paralyzed, records say. Company outlines chilling event "It's beyond creepy," he said. "We've got a lot of young boys and girls on our street, and I worry that, God forbid, something might ricochet and hit them, or one of us, or one of our dogs." Lenoir said that one of the crows targeted in the most recent rampage was injured but not killed. She transported the bird to the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas, where she hopes it will make a full recovery. "I love crows. I think they are such smart animals," she said. "I'm dying to know if that sweet little crow made it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All three neighbors said they were thankful that the LAPD responded to the incident over the weekend. They are working with a group of concerned residents to install cameras that will monitor the area around the tree. "I think the neighborhood is starting to rally together to see what we can do to help apprehend this person," said George. "We want to band together and eliminate this as soon as possible." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) St. Petersburg police say they have found a bicycle belonging to a missing teenager who went missing on March 1. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is asking the public for help in locating Allister Nasr, a missing 17-year-old from St. Petersburg. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News Allister was reported missing after leaving his home on March 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Surveillance footage showed Allister riding his bike on 62nd Avenue Northeast near Mangrove Bay Middle School, NCMEC said. The bicycle was found Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the area of 94th Avenue North and San Martin Boulevard Northeast, south of Gandy Boulevard. Allister was last seen wearing blue shorts, a gray sweatshirt, white shoes, and a red backpack riding a tan Beach Cruiser bike. Courtesy of Allisters family Since he was reported missing, family members have been searching for any sign of Allister. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His brother, Aviceene spent Tuesday hanging flyers and canvassing neighborhoods. Were looking for dash camera footage, ring camera footage, anything. We want people to check their cameras and see if theyve seen them anywhere around St. Pete because at this point hes been gone for 10 days now and can be anywhere around the town, said Avicenne Nasr. Courtesy of NCMEC Courtesy of NCMEC Allisters family found a note from him that raised concerns about his safety and the St. Petersburg police are now considering him endangered. Along with his family, St. Petersburg police, and NCMEC, the nonprofit We Are The Essentials is assisting in the search. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Nasr family provided NCMEC with a message they hope will reach Allister: If you see this, please know how much we love and miss you. You have always been the heart of our family, bringing kindness, compassion, and joy to our lives. It breaks our hearts not to share everyday moments with youmeals, laughs, or even just a simple good morning. Your grandparents, brothers, relatives, and friends are all praying for your safe return. If youre not ready to reach out directly, please just let someone know youre safe. Avi especially misses huggy and tuck in. No matter what, we are here, ready to welcome you back with open arms. NCMEC said to bring more attention to Allisters case, his poster is being featured on the Rings Neighbor App as part of a partnership with NCMEC and Ring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities believe Aliister may stay in the local area, or he may travel to the Fort Myers or Kissimmee, Florida, areas, NCMEC said. A reward of $20,000 is being offered for Allisters return. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. On President Joe Biden's way out the door, officials in his administration were busynot just packing up their offices, but shoveling as much money as possible before incoming President Donald Trump could get his hands on it. Per the U.S. Department of Energy's website, its Loan Programs Office (LPO) provides "clean energy and advanced transportation technologies.with access to needed loans and loan guarantees when private lenders cannot or will not." As of August 2022, the LPO had loaned out only $32.7 billion, but Biden-era spending bills supercharged the office, increasing its loan authority for infrastructure projects to $400 billion. Of that total, though, $290 billion would expire in September 2026, with another $50 billion expiring in 2028. Besides, Trump is famously skeptical of green energy projects and would be unlikely to use the cash on projects favored by progressives. So in the roughly two months between Trump's election and inauguration, Biden administration officials worked diligently to approve as many projectsand spend as much taxpayer moneyas possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In November 2024, just weeks after the election, the LPO announced "a direct loan of up to $6.57 billion" that would allow Rivian, a luxury electric vehicle (E.V.) manufacturer, to finish construction on its new factory in Georgiaeven though that state's government previously awarded the company tax credits and incentives worth as much as $1.5 billion. Also in November, the LPO announced a loan guarantee of up to $4.9 billion for the Grain Belt Express Phase 1, a high-capacity network of power lines running from Kansas to Missouri. In a single week in December, the LPO announced a $9.63 billion loan for BlueOval SK to build three Ford Motor Co. E.V. and E.V. battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky; a $1.25 billion loan for EVgo to expand its network of public E.V. chargers; a $1.45 billion loan to Qcells, a South Korean manufacturer building a solar panel factory in Georgia; a $7.54 billion loan to a subsidiary of Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) building an E.V. battery factory in Indiana; a $2.5 billion loan guarantee to We Energies in Wisconsin for "a portfolio of individual projects"; and a loan guarantee of up to $15 billion to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), the utility that provides gas and electricity to much of California, to modernize the state's power grid. The LPO originally planned on $30 billion for PG&E, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time, but "the amount was cut in half, in part because of PG&E concerns about the hefty upfront payments such a large loan would have required." The Journal also noted that the LPO was racing to close the loan before Trump's inauguration over "fear [that] Trump officials could curtail loans from the office." "Under President Biden, the office has announced roughly $54 billion in loans or loan guarantees," The New York Times wrote on December 6, 2024. "Of that, $19 billion was announced in the weeks after the election"and several of the loans listed above were announced after the Times' article went to press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spending taxpayer money to boost, prop up, or bail out private businesses is bad enough. But the accelerated timeline also increases the likelihood that some of these deals, perhaps undertaken in haste, will prove poor investments. This was already a concern before the election, with the fund's looming expiration in 2026 and beyond. "The pressure to beat these deadlines introduces the risk that the LPO will enter into loans it otherwise would not.because of insufficient time to conduct rigorous due diligence, to negotiate terms that could effectively mitigate the risks identified during the due diligence, and to consider alternative projects that might offer a more favorable risk profile," according to a November 2024 report from the Department of Energy Office of the Inspector General. Regardless of the efficacy of using public money to issue or guarantee loans to private companies, it's alarming for a presidential administration to spend its final days rushing to approve new spending just so the incoming president can't. It signals an all-too-common attitude in government that taxed money is better spent than returned to the taxpayers who provided it. The post Biden Rushed Out Billions for Green Energy Projects Before Trump Took Office appeared first on Reason.com. Mar. 13A local nonprofit's annual dinner has grown so popular over the years that it is moving to a new venue and awarding more scholarships to students. The Breakthrough Project of Lodi is hosting its third Cesar Chavez Scholarship Dinner on Saturday, March 22 at 5:30 p.m at the Japanese Community Hall, 210 E. Elm St. Event organizer Maria Elena Serna said the dinner was moved from its previous location St. Paul's Lutheran Church because there was not enough space in its dining hall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It started to get extremely crowded," she said. "The hall was great, it just wasn't accommodating. People were coming in at the last minute, even when no tickets were being sold, and they would have to stand. We decided we had to have a larger place." Selecting the Japanese Community Hall for this year's dinner was symbolic in a way, she said, as it is in close proximity to Hale Park, which Cesar Chavez had visited in 1971. This year's keynote speaker will be United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, who Serna has known for about 20 years. Romero is only the union's third president in its nearly six decades of history. She's also the first woman to lead the organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're thrilled to have her," Serna said. "She's the right person to be president because she's calm and a good listener. Teresa has really been at the forefront of so many things that the farm workers have been able to achieve. Her leadership has been really appreciated by the younger farmers." Romero received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden last year. Her honor follows in the footsteps of Chavez, who was awarded the medal posthumously in 1994. This will not be her first visit to Lodi, as she and hundreds of UFW members stopped at Hale Park in 2022 during the annual March for Justice from Delano to Sacramento, Serna said. In addition, to having the UFW president speak, the Breakthrough Project will also be awarding five scholarships to local high school students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three of the scholarships will be for $1,000 and the other two will be worth $500. "It was really hard to decide (who to award)," Serna said. "They all had high GPAs. Cesar was a strong proponent of education. He didn't have a formal education, because he didn't have that opportunity. But he was a big proponent of it." The evening will also include presentations from Joe Serna Charter School students, as well as Folklorico dancers and Mariachi performances. Tickets are $40 for general admission, and sponsorships are available for $100 for one ticket or $500 for five tickets. You can also purchase a $1,000 sponsorship for 10 tickets and a table. For tickets or more information, call 209-329-8123 or email breakthroughprojectlodi@gmail.com. Residents along Glencannon Drive in Pico Rivera were expecting rain. But instead they got a tornado Thursday morning that downed trees and damaged several homes. The tornado uprooted multiple trees along its path, sending some crashing into vehicles and homes. A brick wall collapsed in Edgar Reynoso's backyard, but the rest of his home was relatively untouched by the strong winds. "I heard like a big old bomb," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When he looked outside his window around 3:15 a.m., he saw lightning strike across the sky. Then he heard the winds gusting through his street. "It's my first tornado," he said looking at his collapsed wall. "It's my first time living through it and it was ... it was pretty scary." Read more: L.A.'s big winter storm brings evacuation warnings, rescues and a tornado The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in Pico Rivera early Thursday with wind gusts up to 85 mph. The tornado formed around 3:15 a.m. and traveled roughly a mile. Meteorologist Ariel Cohen with the National Weather Service walked the path of the tornado. The tornado uprooted multiple trees along its path in Pico Rivera, sending some crashing into vehicles and homes. (Ringo Chiu / For The Times) The tornado measured as an EF0, the lowest rating on a scale of 0 to 5 and measured about 80 yards wide. The tornado is on the upper end of the lowest rating of the EF scale, according to Cohen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The damage pattern of the tornado is consistent with "a small, weak, brief tornado," Cohen said. "While brief, it was still damaging," Cohen said. Cuba Garcia woke up because he thought somebody was hitting the side of his home. But when he looked at his home's security camera, he realized that a strong wind had yanked out a metal canopy in his front yard and flipped it onto his roof. "He was stuttering, trying to explain to me what happened," his mother, Dalia Garcia, said. "It was unlike anything I had ever seen before," Cuba Garcia said. The home was relatively unscathed, but several tarps and canopies were blown into the family's backyard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several hours later, Dalia Garcia walked down the street to ask a crew of city workers if they could help her remove the canopy from her roof. A worker explained that they couldn't help, because it was a piece of her own property that flew onto the roof. Cuba Garcia said he would probably have to recruit some friends to climb up on the roof with him and break apart the structure, which now resembled an upside down turtle. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the Pico Rivera tornado, while brief, "was still damaging." (Ringo Chiu / For The Times) "Earthquakes we can go through in our daily lives and be fine, but a tornado ... tornadoes are just something totally different," he said. A large branch fell on top of Jesus Velazquez's bright orange 1972 El Camino. City workers helped push his car out of the way as they trimmed the pine tree that damaged it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Velazquez wants the tree gone. "I'm just glad that we're safe, but I have to go complain to City Hall about this," he said. Carlos Aguilar's dog woke him up when the wind was howling outside. He heard a loud thump and looked out his window to find a 75-foot pine tree had crashed into his yard, narrowly missing his front door. His 2018 Hyundai Elantra was not so lucky and was stuck under the tree for hours Thursday morning. "I've never seen anything like this," Aguilar said. Steve Carmona, Pico Rivera city manager, said there were no injuries reported in the city and the majority of the property damage was focused on Glencannon Drive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There's a lot of water saturation and we're definitely going throughout the area and identifying any trees that may be at risk and removing them," Carmona said. Andre Garcia watched as city crews cleared downed trees from outside his home on Glencannon Drive. "I pretty much heard loud noises, like it was a train passing by and then there was lightning," he said. "Honestly, the damage was pretty crazy considering it was a low-grade tornado." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A lobbyist for Big Tech companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Target and General Motors personally visited the New Mexico Legislature this session to lobby lawmakers on at least one data privacy bill being debated. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Two competing data privacy bills pending at the New Mexico Legislature appear aimed at protecting residents information online. Both bills, if passed and signed into law, would protect New Mexicans personal data from disclosure without their consent, including information such as religious faith, consumer spending, health care and citizenship status. Both bills would also designate the New Mexico Department of Justice to write the rules to implement the law and take legal action to enforce it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But only one would protect tech companies from being sued directly by consumers for breaking the law. With less than two weeks left in the session, two camps have emerged around the proposals: local community groups advocate for one bill, while the states attorney general and lobbyists for big technology companies back the other. National Big Tech watchdogs also warn that the bill backed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has some red flags. Community groups back Senate bill Sen. Katy Duhigg (D-Albuquerque) introduced Senate Bill 420 on Feb. 17. The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee on Feb. 27 passed the bill in a 5-4 party-line vote, with Republicans in opposition. It heads next to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Numerous community groups turned out at the bills first hearing in support, including Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, Somos un Pueblo Unido, Bold Futures New Mexico, Conservation Voters New Mexico, the Center for Civic Policy and the National Organization for Women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representatives of these groups told the committee they back this bill because, for example, it would protect patients seeking abortion services from harassment or criminal prosecution where its illegal, and would protect immigrants from being targeted for deportation or criminalization. Opponents included the New Mexico and Albuquerque Hispano chambers of commerce; TechNet, a trade association whose members include Apple, Google, Samsung and HP; and another trade group called the Consumer Data Industry Association. My understanding is there is a bill out there that all the tech guys want, and that I think that might have sign-on from the attorney general, Duhigg told the committee. I dont think that is a bill that is going to protect New Mexicans. That is primarily for the benefit of the tech companies, not New Mexicans. In an emailed statement to Source NM on Wednesday, Duhigg confirmed she was referring to House Bill 410, a second data privacy bill being carried by Rep. Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe). House bill comes from the consumer protector-in-chief On March 3, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez posted a video to Instagram in which he talked about HB410, and another bill that would change his agencys enforcement power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the video, Torrez said HB410 would give consumers the right to delete information they send to tech companies; request sharing information; and prohibit the federal government from unlawfully sharing their personal data. He described the two bills as essential to protect consumers and everyday citizens. In an interview with Source NM on Wednesday, sponsor Serrato said HB410 is Torrezs brainchild, and they started working together on it early in the session. Serrato, who has been in the House of Representatives since 2020, carried the reproductive and gender affirming health care bill in 2023 ensuring New Mexicans cant be prosecuted for the health care decisions they make. That year, she also co-sponsored an expansion of the states Human Rights Act that closed loopholes in state law that allowed for discrimination against transgender people. Ive been pretty clear on my stances on protecting citizens and noncitizens, you know, folks in New Mexico, she told Source NM. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an emailed statement to Source NM on Thursday, Department of Justice Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez said Torrez supports Serratos bill rather than Duhiggs because it puts New Mexicans in control of their personal data. The bill not only gives consumers a right to opt out of any data collection practices in the marketplace, but it is also the only bill in the United States to specifically protect citizens against the unlawful disclosure of sensitive data held by the federal government, she said. Part of HB410 specifically empowers New Mexicans to take legal action if their information is unlawfully transferred to third parties by the likes of Elon Musk and his DOGE employees, she said. Big tech likes Serratos bill too. Big Tech visits New Mexico Andrew Kingman, legal counsel for the State Privacy and Security Coalition, gave public comment via Zoom on Feb. 26 in support of HB410 before the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The State Privacy and Security Coalitions partners include Amazon, Google, Meta, Target and General Motors. We work on these types of bills nationally, Kingman told the committee. An emailed request for comment from Kingman sent to the Coalition was not returned as of publication. Kingmans lobbying work has resulted in many states passing data-privacy laws that are relatively friendly to business, according to POLITICO. The news organization found the State Privacy and Security Coalition has lobbied in at least 32 states looking to pass data privacy regulations. Kingman told the committee our only major issue with the version of HB410 being debated at the time was a provision titled Section 13, which would have required companies to create at least two ways for consumers to ask for copies of or to delete their data. He said that part was redundant with other parts of the bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he would love to work with the sponsor on moving this bill forward, but without Section 13. Then on March 3, House Commerce held another hearing on HB410, during which Serrato introduced a substitute version. The biggest change was that the Section 13 that gave folks a lot of concerns after many discussions, we entirely removed Section 13, she told the committee. After hearing testimony in support of HB410 from Kingman and some of the same groups who opposed SB420, the committee voted unanimously to pass HB410. It awaits a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. The version passed by House Commerce still allows consumers to request copies or deletion of their data, but no longer contains the provision requiring companies to create at least two user-friendly ways to do that. It allows companies to create a secure and reliable means of submitting a data request, and requires them to explain it to consumers in their privacy notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Serrato told Source NM that she met with Kingman in-person at the Roundhouse after the House Commerce committee passed her bill. She said while Kingman told her he agreed with the decision to remove Section 13, conversations with various businesses, not just him, led to the change. He was one of the conversations, I wouldnt say he was the crux, Serrato said. Rodriguez, the AGs chief of staff, did not respond to Source NMs questions about Kingmans lobbying efforts in New Mexico, including whether anyone from NMDOJ met with him while he was visiting, or whether the State Privacy and Security Coalition had any role in drafting HB410. Should consumers be allowed to sue? A key difference between the two bills is that Duhiggs would allow a consumer to hold companies liable for violating the law and recover damages in court through whats called a private right of action, while Serratos would not. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement POLITICO found that all of the state laws Kingman has influenced keep citizens from directly suing companies for data privacy violations. Serrato told Source NM her bill places enforcement entirely with the attorney general, without giving people the option to hire a lawyer and take the companies to civil court themselves. She said Torrez told her that he feels that consumer protection enforcement is part of his job and his office could handle the workload. We treat him whether its unfair practices laws or what have you as the consumer protector-in-chief, thats how we look at him, Serrato told Source NM. He is the person, literally, who is equipped the best to take on a major company and actually win. But consumer privacy advocates caution against passing state laws that dont allow people to directly sue corporations that run afoul of the law. Hayley Tsukayama, associate director of legislative activism at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Source NM that her organization has supported more narrow legislation that doesnt allow consumers to sue, but when it comes to big comprehensive consumer data privacy bills, EFF wont support a bill that doesnt have a strong private right of action. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If companies are violating the law, you should be able to sue them, Tsukayama said. People should be empowered to be their own privacy enforcers. They have a sense of what the costs are to them and their privacy the best. We believe that truly strong consumer privacy bills and honestly, most strong consumer bills, have a private right of action, because at the end of the day, its about whats happened to the consumer, and they are the best person to judge that. She added that most states that limit consumer data privacy enforcement to state attorneys general often only have two or three attorneys responsible for an entire state, and we just have not seen that much enforcement. Even in states that have fairly strong laws, people have only taken a couple of actions on some of those laws in a couple years, she said. It takes a very long time to pull together those actions. It takes a lot of investigation. In terms of where that rubber actually hits the road and people actually get taken to task for what theyve done, it can be really hard. It could be very few, and often only the worst companies. The House Commerce panel on March 3 also heard opposition to HB410 from Catrina Fitzgerald, deputy director of the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center. She said part of the problem with existing state data privacy laws is that theyre heavily influenced by big tech, and they dont do enough to protect people online. They do little to change the status quo of companies being able to collect and use personal data however they like, as long as they tell us what theyre doing in a privacy policy that no one reads, she said. Fitzgerald said Serratos bill appears to be largely modeled on Connecticuts data privacy law, which doesnt allow consumers to sue. She pointed the committee to a report published in January by her group and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group that scored state privacy laws. They gave Connecticuts law a D grade, and described it as a favored piece of template legislation for lobbyists, particularly in bluer states. Fitzgerald told the committee her group would have much preferred the identical House version of Duhiggs bill, which Fitzgerald called a much more pro-consumer bill. Sponsor Rep. Pamelya Herndon, another Albuquerque Democrat, pulled HB307 and is a co-sponsor on Duhiggs legislation. Herndon has not responded to requests for comment on this story. HB410 also contains a grace period for companies that violate the law, giving them 30 days to fix it after prosecutors notify them. Tsukayama, with EFF, said these 30-day cure periods have two problems: One, they dont really result in repercussions for not complying with the law, and two, if youre sharing information or not deleting it, the damage is done and the consumer cant actually fix it. California actually eliminated its right to cure because, if you take all the time to pull together a case, and then you notify them, and theyre like, Oh yeah, we fixed it, then you dont move forward, she said. So what weve heard from other attorneys is, its a deterrent to enforcers to bring cases. Duhigg told Source NM in a written statement that the differences between her and Serratos bills amount to a fundamental difference in priorities. Big tech companies want business as usual because their primary concern is protecting profits and maintaining data access, she said. Our concern is protecting New Mexicans. Were focused on the safety and privacy of our communities at a time when digital exploitation has reached unprecedented levels. Tech lobbyists are worried about quarterly earnings, while were worried about our neighbors, our families, and our childrens future, Duhigg continued. This isnt about industry convenienceits about community protection when New Mexicans need it most. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Boiling Springs, discusses a bill to combat sex crimes in South Carolina on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream) COLUMBIA A sexual predator who nefariously develops a bond with a child to lure the juvenile into prostitution could be sentenced to five years in a South Carolina prison under legislation advancing in the Senate. Advocates say the bill approved unanimously this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee is part of the states continued push to curb human trafficking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It amends the states anti-prostitution law to specifically include sexual grooming, defined as establishing an emotional connection to push a child into sexual activities. Existing state law does not explicitly prohibit that. It also increases penalties for those involved in sex-for-hire schemes: Anyone who recruits, grooms or coerces people into prostitution; anyone who sets up or advertises the location; as well as those paying for sex could be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Were trying to provide justice for those that are forced into this lifestyle, said Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Boiling Springs, the lead sponsor. The legislation would align with a law signed last July that prevents trafficking victims from being prosecuted for misdemeanor or minor felony offenses they were forced to do to survive, such as prostitution or drug possession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last year, the State Law Enforcement Division investigated 285 human trafficking tips across 40 counties, with 94% of them involving sex trafficking. Of the 392 total victims, at least 80% of them were minors. Thats down from 357 cases opened in 2023 involving 498 total victims, according to the 2023 and 2024 annual reports of the states Human Trafficking Task Force, which launched in 2014. The numbers are staggering. Its shockingly high and were just trying to get those numbers down, Kimbrell said. These folks are victims and shouldnt have to try to clear their names. Over the last 12 months, more than 15,000 people in and around Charlotte, North Carolina, and its suburbs in York and Lancaster counties, have been advertised online as sex for sale, according to statistics from Freedom Signal, an online platform designed to help advocates get in touch with victims of sex trafficking. The platform, which finds victims through automated searches of websites, shows potential victims across South Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the Columbia area, there have been online ads for 7,535 people over the last year. The North Charleston area shows 5,633; Greenville and Spartanburg: 3,848, and Myrtle Beach: 1,520, according to the Freedom Signal numbers Kimbrell shared with the SC Daily Gazette. This legislation is necessary because of the state of the world we live in, said Sen. Matt Leber, R-Johns Island, a co-sponsor. People who testified in support of the bill include a trafficking survivor. Heather Pagan told senators she was first forced into prostitution at 14 years old by someone she thought would love and protect her. She was trafficked for 18 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It took an arrest, which resulted in a two-year stint in prison, to escape. Despite being 17 years removed from sex work, she still copes with the trauma constantly. The psychological scars dont just disappear, Pagan, the survivor support director for the nonprofit Lighthouse for Life, said at a Feb. 26 hearing. The bill was sent to the Senate floor days after Attorney General Alan Wilson, chairman of the state Human Trafficking Task Force, announced a partnership with the Safe House Project, a national nonprofit that provides certification, survivor support and safe housing options to victims of trafficking. The partnership will see up to 20 programs in South Carolina receive Safe House Project certifications each year, according to a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kimbrell pointed to North Carolina as another reason the law is needed. Solicitation of a prostitution increased from a misdemeanor to a felony in that state on Dec. 1. He said he worries the stronger penalties north of the Palmetto States border will bring criminals to South Carolina. We have to do this or were going to have all these people flooding here, he said. The numbers would go way up. MEXICO CITY, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Mexico will decide by April 2 whether to impose reciprocal tariffs, after the United States raised duties on all steel and aluminum imports to 25 percent, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday. "We hope reciprocal tariffs won't be necessary, given our trade agreement," Sheinbaum said, emphasizing ongoing negotiations under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Mexico maintains close dialogue with domestic steel and aluminum producers ahead of the April decision, the president added. Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard is also discussing the issue with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on March 4 the imposition of a broad 25 percent tariff on Mexico, which took effect on the same day. He later adjusted the tariff measures on March 6, exempting goods that meet the USMCA preferential conditions from the tariffs, effective until April 2. Senate Bill 261, known as the Energy Security and Affordability Act, passed its second and third readings in the Senate Thursday and will head to the House for further discussion. PAST COVERAGE: Legislation to alter NC climate goals progresses in state Senate The bill, which was introduced Monday, would remove the states mandate for Duke Energy to reduce its carbon emissions by 70% by 2030, a goal set with bipartisan support in 2021. The utility is still required to operate with carbon neutrality by 2050. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the bills primary sponsors, Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton (R-Cabarrus), also a former Duke Energy executive, introduced the bill to the floor. He argued that models run by North Carolinas Public Staff, which represents ratepayer interests, show removing the 2030 goal would save North Carolinians $13 billion. One in three low-income households struggle to pay their electricity bill each year, Sen. Newton said. The North Carolina Justice Center reports that 1.4 million residents are energy cost burdened. Why would we keep the interim goal? Senator Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) expressed doubt about the purported savings to ratepayers. She said while thats an admirable goal, shes wondering what assumptions were made in the Public Staffs modeling that achieved the $13 billion savings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If this bill allows, for instance, the construction of more gas plants, what does that mean for the cost to customers? she said. If the cost of natural gas skyrockets, as it has done multiple times over the last few decades. What does that mean? She also expressed confusion over the purpose of removing the 2030 target entirely, as the North Carolina Utilities Commission has already approved a plan that allows Duke Energy to miss that target by about five years. Sen. Newton responded that the 2030 goal requires the commission to think more about the short-term rather than allow for longer-term solutions that could provide more cost savings for customers. If you look to 2050 then the least cost option for low income may be to build a nuclear plant that may not be on the grid for another 10 years, but its much less expensive for everyone in North Carolina than jamming in near term, more intermittent resources that are forcing the rates higher today than they otherwise would be, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The focus on building nuclear has drawn critics to another section of the bill, which would make it easier to raise electricity rates to fund projects under construction before theyre completed, if the utilities commission believes this will save ratepayers money in the long run. Groups, including the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and the North Carolina Justice Center, expressed concern that this could mean ratepayers would be on the hook for risky, expensive projects, particularly as nuclear energy projects have historically faced cancellations during construction or run behind schedule and over budget. In a statement, the N.C. Justice Center said the bill reminded them of the legislation that led to the scandal at South Carolinas VC Summer plant. When South Carolina had a similar policy in place 10 years ago, ratepayers paid billions of dollars to fund the construction of a nuclear power plant that never produced a single unit of power, said Claire Williamson, the N.C. Justice Centers Senior Energy Policy Advocate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Newton said the provision in the bill requiring the overall cost-savings would offer regulatory protection for customers. Mark Nichol, the executive director of new nuclear for the Nuclear Energy Institute, said several states allow utilities to finance massive construction projects like this. He said, if a public utility commission does its job in weighing the financial risks, financing projects with ratepayer dollars earlier in the construction process should mean lower overall costs because the utility would be paying off the project loans sooner. As long as that process is is working, then the projects that are, you know have will be completed, are on track to be completed, will proceed, and then those projects that are of undue risk to the financial risk would not be able to proceed, he said. In a statement, Duke Energy expressed a similar sentiment claiming this model for annual rate increases would insulate customers from sudden price spikes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Policies that enable more timely recovery of investments in modern infrastructure like always-on nuclear power plants help keep overall costs down for customers and result in more predictable energy prices, Spokesman Garrett Poorman said. The bill passed its second reading 31 to 12, and immediately after, it passed its third reading with a voice vote. VIDEO: Legislation to alter NC climate goals progresses in state Senate Mar. 12A bill introducing a new financial tool to fund the possible redevelopment of the State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque has passed its first committee. The legislation sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, passed through the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee on a 6-3 vote Tuesday and is now slated to go in front of the Senate Finance Committee. The bill, Senate Bill 481, would establish the current fairgrounds location just off Albuquerque's Central Avenue and any additional land nearby the state acquires as the "State Fairgrounds District Fund." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The State Fair has taken place at Expo New Mexico since 1938, but in December, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a plan to flip the fairgrounds into a mixed-use development. "This has the potential to really change a section of our city, very close to my district, that's been troubled for a long time," Sen. Natalie Figueroa, D-Albuquerque, said Tuesday during committee. Figueroa was joined by the other four committee Democrats present Tuesday Sen. Debbie O'Malley, D-Albuquerque, was not in attendance and Sen. Gabriel Ramos, R-Silver City, in voting in favor of advancing the bill. The tax committee's other three Republicans Sens. Nicholas Paul of Alamogordo, Joshua Sanchez of Bosque and William Sharer of Farmington opposed the bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to classifying the area as a state district fund, the bill also creates a board to make financial decisions, including the ability to issue revenue bonds of up to $1 billion. But Sharer said the bill does not provide enough oversight for financial decisions. "If we're looking for fraud, waste and abuse, this is where I would start looking," Sharer said. The bill passes at a time when another proposed tool to fund the redevelopment of the fairgrounds is in limbo. Bernalillo County commissioners at the request of the state voted back in January to pass a resolution to establish a Tax Increment Development District, or TIDD, at the site of the fairgrounds and take a vote on it Tuesday the same day the proposed legislation went in front of lawmakers in Santa Fe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But a contentious public meeting followed that resolution in February, where residents expressed opposition to moving the State Fair, and county leadership pointed the finger at the state for canceling a $500,000 request for proposal to redevelop the area hours before the meeting. On Friday, Bernalillo County announced it would not be taking a vote to establish a TIDD on Tuesday after all. "The county awaits a master plan from the State of New Mexico for public infrastructure for the 236-acre State Fairgrounds before proceeding," county spokesperson Randy Harrison said in a statement. "Once the master plan is completed, the Board of County Commissioners retains the option to present and approve a TIDD." Harrison also said that the state would no longer pursue Senate Bill 482, a bill that would've created the joint TIDD between the county and state that could've authorized up to $1 billion in bonds. Protestors wave the flags of Mexico and Guatemala as a large crowd gathers in front of the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 3 to protest deportations and immigration enforcement in schools. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY House lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure along partisan lines that would create a new felony for being in the country illegally, despite critics calling it un-American and saying it would create unnecessary fear. House Bill 1362 would allow an individual to be arrested and charged with a new felony punishable by five years in prison if they are apprehended for a violation of Oklahomas criminal law and are determined to be an undocumented immigrant. But in lieu of imprisonment, they could agree to be returned to their country of origin by federal immigration enforcement if they have no other felony charges or previous convictions for a violent offense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement America was built by immigrants coming in, but legally, said Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell, the bills author. And everybody is welcome into this country as long as theyre legal, thats the end of the story. So all this bill does is it gives us a mechanism to align with the Trump administration. The effort would repeal a controversial law signed by the governor in 2024, House Bill 4156, that created the crime of impermissible occupation and is in limbo following court challenges. Hardins legislation comes as immigration and the push for mass deportations remain a priority of Oklahomas Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration. The bill, which passed along party lines, leaves determining a persons immigration status up to the discretion of law enforcement, Hardin repeatedly said, but the officer must be sure and without a doubt when detaining someone for being undocumented. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to questions about how this bill could lead to racial profiling, Hardin said that is not the intent of his legislation and that law enforcement goes through training to prevent this. Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Operation Guardian in November to deport undocumented immigrants held in Oklahomas correctional facilities and recently said the deportation of these 525 incarcerated people will be weighed against the severity of the crime committed and the amount of the sentence served. The Republican governor also signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to grant three state law enforcement agencies the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. This agreement gives specially trained officers from each agency the power to interrogate people over immigration status, serve and execute arrest warrants for immigration violations. Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, called the bill un-Oklahoman and un-American. He said being in the U.S. illegally is a civil violation, so escalating the penalty to a felony with a minimum cost of $35,000 to bond out of jail is a big jump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I wish that the United States had an immigration system that actually works, but the reality is that thats not the case right now. Our immigration system is broken, he said. But the bill itself is just flawed in so many different ways. Its unconstitutional, and each one of us swore an oath to the Constitution. Alonso-Sandoval said undocumented immigrants pay $227 million in taxes to Oklahoma alone and work essential jobs. Other critics of the bill questioned if it would hold up in court since the earlier measure is on hold by the courts. Another lawmaker asked why the Legislature would align with a presidential administration, rather than laws passed by Congress. Resources for enforcing the bill also came into question as Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said funding and staff for law enforcement is already strained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hardin said while he hadnt discussed this bill with any law enforcement officials, this is not a mandate. Each department can choose whether to enforce it. The bill passed with a 73-16 vote after moving through the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee on March 3. It is eligible to be heard in the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Arkansas legislators debated the impact of no longer adhering to daylight saving time on Wednesday. The bill failed but after much debate between legislators in a House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on how it could impact things like our health or farming. Daylight saving time 2025: These states are trying to lock the clocks Rep. Stephen Meeks (R-Greenbrier) sponsored a bill to eliminate daylight saving time in Arkansas and keep the state on standard time year-round. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What daylight-saving time does is force us to get up an hour early each day, but we all dont go to bed an hour early every night, so weve got an already sleep-deprived society and were making ourselves even more sleep-deprived, Meeks said. He said there are health effects on our bodies when the clock springs forward. Studies after studies have shown that by staying on daylight saving time, its like being jet-lagged all the time, we never fully get used to it, because that daylight sun in the evening is always trying to drag our bodies back to standard time, Meeks said. Permanent daylight saving time? Where efforts to lock the clocks stand Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said there are negative health, work productivity and economic impacts to daylight saving time. Rep. Mark McElroy, who represents areas near the Mississippi border, told the committee it might be confusing for people in that area when the time changes as they cross a state line. We have some cross, and you touched on it, and a lot of them work in Mississippi and Memphis, and they go back and forth, McElroy said. Its really going to cause confusion in Helena with people working back and forth. McElroy and other legislators said this would be handled better at the federal level so that it is done across the county all at once. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arkansas lawmakers say push for permanent Daylight-Saving Time bill is bipartisan Meeks said he has no plans to try again because he is term-limited. I do have colleagues in the chamber who have expressed continued support for this and so my hope is the next generation of lawmakers will pick up the mantle and continue to work forward on this issue, Meeks said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. As Republicans take a victory lap following Wednesdays passage of a sweeping public safety bill, more safety-related legislation is passing through the Missouri Legislature. Freshly-passed Senate Bill 71 would create a scholarship program for existing first responders. The bills sponsor, Sen. David Gregory, R-St. Louis County, said theres a public safety crisis already underway: there arent as many people who want to be a police officer or firefighter as there were a decade ago. We constantly have a problem with recruiting and retaining police and firefighters, Gregory said in an interview with Nexstar Media. Its a big problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gregory believes his proposal is a solid first step in addressing the retention and recruitment issues plaguing ambulance districts, sheriffs departments and even state law enforcement. Were going to provide college tuition, free college tuition for all of our police officers, firefighters and paramedics as well as their dependents, the freshman senator said. Thats really exciting. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Gregory says his bill isnt about politics, but rather its designed to protect all Missourians by incentivizing the men and women who put their lives on the line to serve their communities. He believes retaining Missouris first responders is a bipartisan issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were seeing a burnout rate with these (first responders), Gregory said. And theyre leaving. The Senate-approved bill would grant free scholarships to state colleges and universities for any qualifying first responder or dependent. The bill states that qualified recipients can get up to 100 percent of their tuition toward a degree related to their field of work. After six years of service, they would qualify for free tuition themselves, then after 10 years of service, their dependents and their children will qualify for free college tuition in a state school here in Missouri, Gregory said in an interview in his Capitol office. The bill quickly moved through the Senate legislative process and was fully voted out of the upper chamber Thursday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was one of several measures that passed out of the House and Senate this week. Gregorys bill will now head to the House for their consideration. The senator says he has been impressed by the Legislature and the governors commitment to public safety. Police chief says deputy conspired in death cover up Our governor made it clear (public safety) is his top priority, the Republican lawmaker said. Cracking down on crime, making things safe in our communities is a number one priority that weve all been talking about. The efficiency from both chambers has been noticeable as the Legislature heads to its one-week spring recess. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To see these things coming through, to see them happening as quickly as they are, is just proof, Gregory said. Its proof that we are committed to it and were going to get it done. A news conference with Gov. Mike Kehoe and other GOP leaders is set to be held Thursday afternoon outside on the Capitol steps. FOX 2 News will have complete coverage of Kehoes address as well as more in Gregorys bill tonight. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Two members of Alabamas congressional delegation are working to protect Civil Rights landmarks. This comes after the Trump Administration put the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station on a list of properties for sale. Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Congressman Shomari Figures introduced the Civil Rights Landmarks Protection Act in the U.S. House Wednesday. Ex-Texas megachurch pastor indicted in Oklahoma on child sex abuse charges Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The act prohibits the sale of all federally owned landmarks listed on the national register of historic places. We passed this with a specific focus on civil rights landmarks given the fact that we just had to fight a battle with the Trump administration, said Rep. Figures. Senator Katie Britt also spoke about the listing in a statement: I have been in communication with the administration and this has been resolved. The Montgomery bus station and Freedom Rides Museum will not be on GSAs non-core list. Congressman Figures believes the decision to sell the landmark should never have been up for debate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of these monuments have a painful story to tell, but its still a story thats very worthwhile and very critical, instrumental to what ultimately came out of the Civil Rights Movement, said Figures. The Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium is using this opportunity to teach those stories through a new virtual reality experience through an app called 20 World Changing Sites. You have the opportunity to actually go and visit these sites from your phone or from your computer. Its not a substitute from actually coming to Birmingham and Selma and Montgomery because thats essential but we see it as a virtual appetizer, said Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium Executive Director Rev. Lukata Mjumbe. The experience, titled Three Cities: One Movement shares information about Alabama historic places throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this moment theres an opportunity for us to use technology, theres an opportunity to reach people in ways that we havent reached them before, said Rev. Mjumbe. The virtual experience app is available to download for free for Iphone and Android. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. NEW MEXICO (KRQE) A bill protecting Indigenous students right to wear tribal regalia is heading to the governors desk. Native American students in New Mexico are one step closer to freely expressing their cultural heritage at graduation ceremonies. New Mexico lawmakers push for anonymity in Safe Haven Baby Box cases After a high school graduate in Farmington had to remove their cap adorned with native American beads, state lawmakers say they never want it to happen again. SB 163 unanimously cleared the Senate and House, drawing praise from tribal leaders and legislators across the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the legislation, New Mexico school boards and charter school policies cannot prevent Indigenous students from wearing tribal regalia. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Businessman and philanthropist Bill Pulte, who founded the Detroit Blight Authority and whose family has long been connected with southeast Michigan, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency for the Trump administration. Pulte was confirmed on a 56-43 vote, which saw three Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan, vote with Republicans in favor of the nomination. Pulte, who lives in Florida but has long-standing ties with metro Detroit, was nominated to the position by President Donald Trump in January. Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, of Michigan, voted against the nomination, though he voted earlier in the day on a procedural vote to advance the nomination. Other Democrats voting for Pulte's confirmation were Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, of Maryland, and Ruben Gallego, of Arizona. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, did not vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Pulte will help oversee the government-charted system created to help support home ownership. The FHFA has authority over the Federal National Mortgage Association, otherwise known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, otherwise known as Freddie Mac, which buy and sell mortgages to provide additional funding to loan originators and for community investment. FHFA also oversees 11 federal home loan banks. Following the vote, Pulte provided the Detroit Free Press with a statement, saying, "A special thank you to President Trump and to the United States Senate for confirming me to lead Federal Housing FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. In these hyper partisan times, I also genuinely appreciate Michigan US Senator Elissa Slotkin voting in the AFFIRMATIVE, because we love Michigan and have done so much charitably and with Pulte Homes in this great state! More: Bill Pulte's nomination to head FHFA moves forward More: Trump nominates Bill Pulte, who has family ties to Michigan, for housing role Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pulte is the grandson of the late William Pulte, who founded Pulte Homes in Detroit in the 1950s. During his career, Pulte has worked closely with that company, as well as in private equity and philanthropy. He founded and chaired the Detroit Blight Authority, a nonprofit organization that has played a significant role in helping to get rid of abandoned and dilapidated buildings in the city as a way to stabilize neighborhoods. Last week, Pulte's nomination easily passed a vote in the Senate Banking Committee on a 15-9 vote. At a hearing the week before, Pulte said there needs to be more housing and lower housing costs in the U.S., adding, "It is time to begin building again in America. FHFA plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and soundness of Americas housing finance system." Pulte also testified to the committee that he sees a "tremendous opportunity" to help get more Americans into manufactured homes as a way to reduce costs and increase homeownership. He also said that while he believes the federal government's conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "should not be indefinite," any effort to divest the government of the entities has to be done in such a way as to not threaten the housing market or increase mortgage rates. Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bill Pulte confirmed by Senate as new FHFA director With concerns that the country is going up in flames, Americans are looking for strong leaders to stand up to President Donald Trump and call him out on his BS. Now, it seems folks have gotten their wish in the form of Minn. Gov. Tim Walz. The governor announced hes going on tour, and not just any ol tour. Walz has is launching a national town hall tour with specific stops in republican districts. If you know anything about the 2024 vice presidential candidate, you know this is exactly what he loves to do, and Americans are here for it! Im hitting the road, traveling to red states across the country to lend a megaphone to the people, Walz announced on X. Your congressman may not want to listen, but theyre going to hear from us anyway. @LucasSa56947288 responded calling Walz the best Governor ever. Another user, @natashasweeting, tweeted YASSSSSS!!!! Youre the best Governor ever. Lucas Sanders (@LucasSa56947288) March 13, 2025 Unlike other democrats, who many Americans are calling mousy and passive, Walz is strapping up his boots and doing the work, and people are paying attention. On X, @ninaturner tweeted Thank you for the honesty, Governor. For many, Walz pulling up to republican cities to confront key issues on DEI, immigration, education, and the ongoing trade war is more than what the public has seen from other democrats since Trump took office. On TikTok, @ipostnow said I think that Tim Walz would be a great president and I think that democrats should hold town halls in republican held districts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement tiktok-7478034527940513066 The governor is already making his media rounds, appearing on MSNBC and SXSW, to gear up for the tour. Im going to go use the platform that I have and hand them the megaphone to talk about this, Walz said to MSNBC. Your own Republican rep wont talk to you? Ill go do it. Tiktoker @stevozone4_ told his followers he admired Walz for getting out and talking to Trump supporters, just to hear what they are saying and feeling right now. Him being a governor and embracing this nationalist approach, especially coming for the Democratic party, I think it would be beneficial just because of the position the Democrats are in currently, he said, adding But if this was a normal politics, I would say what is a governor doing traveling around the country to hear people out... The long-time advocate of education and farmers rights has expressed his frustration with the current administration, and hes got Black Americans on his side. According to CNN, Walz is scheduled to start in Iowa this Friday (March 14) in the district represented by Rep. Zach Nunn. Next, hell be headed to Nebraska, for the district represented by Rep. Don Bacon. Future stops in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio are already on the books and more tour dates can be expected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After a devastating loss in 2024, many expected Walz to go back to Minnesota and continue business as usual, but according to the former educator, he felt obligated to step up. Its unclear is the scheduled tour is also part of a plan to get Walz to return to the democratic ticket come 2028, but he sure has folks talking, which is more than many of his Democrat constituents can say. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Black policing in Miami was not always as integrated as it is today. Black officers were once marginalized. The Black Police Precinct & Courthouse Museum proposes to tell the story and imprint it into collective memory through its various exhibits, such as the recent This Womans Work: The Power of A Womans Touch, an exhibition honoring Black women in the judiciary and law enforcement in South Florida. Scheduled to open on Friday, March 14 in the midst of Womens History Month, the exhibit features an array of plates crafted from glass, mixed media print, and fabric, each representing the profound impact of the women being honored. Set to debut on Friday, March 14, 2025, the new exhibition consists of 100 plates using glass, mixed media print, and fabric to showcase the profound impact of the first Black female police officers and justices in Miami. Curated by Chief Anita Najiy, the exhibit reflects the idea that the contributions and influence of women, especially Black women, are essential in shaping systems of justice, law enforcement, and the world at large. It symbolizes the nurturing, transformative, and often overlooked work of women in leadership and change-making roles. It emphasizes the subtle yet profound impact they have in their respective fields, she says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The exhibition is designed to be both educational and immersive. Each plate tells a story, capturing the struggles and triumphs of Black women in policing and justice who have broken barriers in their careers. This exhibition is about more than just history, says Najiy. Its about ensuring that young Black girls can see themselves in these roles and understand the power of their presence in the legal system. This Womans Work: The Power of a Womans Touch will be on display at the Black Police Precinct & Courthouse Museum through Friday, April 4. The museum is housed in a historic building that once served as both a police precinct and a courthouse exclusively for Black officers and citizens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Built in 1950, during the Jim Crow era, the precinct, located in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami, was a direct response to the segregation that prohibited Black officers from working alongside their white counterparts. It remained operational until 1963, just before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated greater integration. The City of Miami dissolved the precinct in 1963 sending its 79 Black officers to work at the main police headquarters. After its closure, says Terrance Cribbs-Lorrant, director of the museum, the building housed a few random tenants but soon became dormant, desolate, and a dilapidated eyesore for a generation of community members who were unaware of its history. The building was set for demolition, but an early 2000s effort by retired City of Miami police officers, led by Dr. Robert Ingram and Chief Clarence Dicksonthe citys first Black police chiefsuccessfully preserved it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Cribbs-Lorrant, the effort to preserve the building as a museum began when Lt. Otis Davis, inspired by visits to several museums and a growing passion for history, recommended to the Miami-Dade County Commission that the facility be designated as a cultural institution preserving collective memory. Today, the museum stands as a testament to the past, preserving history and sharing the stories of yesteryears in a way that deepens visitors connection to this important institution. Guests to the museum can explore original holding cells, courtrooms, and historical artifacts that depict the realities of policing and justice in segregated Miami. The museum also features a replica of the bicycles that Black officers were given; they were not initially provided with police carscars were not available to them until several years later. The curatorial idea emerged as a profound initiative by Chief Anita Najiy, the inaugural female Assistant Chief of the City of Miami Police Department, left. At right is Terrance Cribbs-Lorrant, the director of the museum. It is my desire that visitors will be able to see themselves in the officers and within the communities that these patrolmen were deputized to serve, says Cribbs-Lorrant. The answer to many of our current challenges when it comes to law enforcement can be easily answered just by looking at how this Precinct and Courthouse navigated the community. This Precinct and Courthouse is a pioneering example of what we now know today as community policing practices. The Black Police Precinct & Courthouse Museum tells the story of the first Black police officers in Miami but also the first Black judges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The precinct housed a courtroom where Black judges presided over cases involving Black defendants. Judge Lawson E. Thomas was the first Black attorney to present a case in Miamis municipal court before a white judge, a groundbreaking moment in a time when this was prohibited, recalls Cribbs-Lorrant. He also became the first Black judge in the post-Reconstruction South, presiding over what was described as the countrys only court established purely along racial lines. Following a brief recess, the courthouse welcomed its second Black judge, John Johnson, whose family was among Miamis earliest Bahamian settlers. On a given day, these judges could hear up to 80 cases, serving a vital function in the community, says the museum director. Dedicated to preserving the history of Miamis first Black police officers and judges, the Black Police Precinct & Courthouse Museum has maintained an active role in educating the public through rotating exhibitions with the long-term goal to inspired change, according to Cribbs-Lorant. On Sept. 1, 1944, history was made when five African-American men were sworn in as the first Black police officers in the City of Miami. These pioneering officers were Ralph White, Moody Hall, Clyde Lee, Edward Kimball, and John Milledge. Previous exhibitions, such as Grief Not Guilty: Reclaiming Our Time, have drawn attention to contemporary justice issues while tying them to the history of segregation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This museum exists because peopleBlack and whitebelieved in creating something better than the realities of segregation. Their efforts remind us that change is possible when communities come together with a shared vision for justice and equality. If you go: WHAT: This Womans Work: The Power of A Womans Touch WHERE: The Black Precinct & Courthouse Museum, 480 NW 11th St, Miami WHEN: Exhibit debuts with a luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday, March 14 featuring speakers including Trina Harris, CEO of Touching Miami with Love; Stephanie Daniels, former director of the Miami-Dade County Police Department; and Sybrina Fulton, founder of the Trayvon Martin Foundation. The museums regular hours are 10 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement COST: $25 luncheon includes exhibition, otherwise general admission is $10, $5 for students and seniors (ages 65 and older), children (ages 6 and younger) admitted free. INFORMATION: (305) 329-2513 or historicalblackprecinct.org ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Dont miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com. "Taking advantage of the opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to Azerbaijan for its warm hospitality. I also appreciate the invitation to participate in this forum, extended by the Nizami Ganjavi Center. Despite the geographical distance, our two friendly countries share deep ties. These two nations are situated at the crossroads of humanity, where people from various ethnicities and languages coexist," Azernews reports, citing Azertag that the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, said this during her speech at the XII Global Baku Forum. "Both countries gained independence in 1991, and we have chosen values such as multilateralism and cooperation as our guiding principles. There is another common aspect between our countries. Azerbaijan is the land of fire, and I represent the land of the sun. As our Macedonian poets have said, the sun is one of the oldest fires. During my official visit to Azerbaijan over the past few days, we have had extensive discussions. I thank President Ilham Aliyev for his hospitality. Azerbaijans hospitality is becoming increasingly recognized globally through the Global Baku Forum. Over the years, this Forum has evolved into one of the leading platforms in the world. It serves as a venue for generations of leaders to share their wisdom and ideas. The Forum addresses regional and international issues. These issues will be especially significant in 2025, a year that is regarded as one of transition and change. Day by day, new questions arise, many of which remain unanswered. The world is transforming into a different space multilateralism is giving way to polarization and political struggles. This undermines the collective security system. The UN has become a polarized organization, failing to deliver results when needed. Consensus is now in question. How should we live in this new phase? The decision-making system based on international frameworks is collapsing. In general, we must address the pressing question: Can we overcome this crisis together? What can we do for younger and future generations?" the North Macedonian President added. VIENTIANE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A seminar has been held in northern Laos to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), reflecting on its 70 years of leadership and highlighting its significant contributions to the nation's revolutionary achievements and development, local media reported Thursday. The seminar, held on Wednesday in northern Laos' Xieng Khuang province, was attended by key leaders and guests from the northern provinces of Xaysomboun, Xieng Khuang, and Huaphan, the Pasaxon newspaper reported. In his speech at the seminar, Chansamone Chanyalath, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the LPRP and Lao deputy prime minister, emphasized the significance of the seminar in marking the party's leadership in the nation's revolutionary successes, national defense, and socio-economic development. He also reflected on the party's role in shaping Laos' diplomatic relations, noting that Laos now maintains ties with 149 countries and has established strong international partnerships. The seminar covered several important topics, including the party's leadership in national liberation, national economic development, and fostering social and cultural progress. It underscored the party's commitment to peace, security, and the strengthening of diplomatic relations globally. The LPRP was established on March 22, 1955. Blacksburg, Va. (WFXR) After serving the community for 30 years, the Blacksburg Chief of Police, Todd Brewster, has announced he will be retiring in July. I want to thank Chief Brewster for his more than 30 years of dedicated service to the Town of Blacksburg and its citizens, said Town Manager Marc Verniel. His love for this community is evident in every interaction he has. It has been an honor to work alongside him as both a colleague and a friend. I wish Todd and his family all the best as they begin this new chapter in retirement. A native of Tazewell, Virginia, Todd Brewster is a Radford University graduate and started his career as a volunteer firefighter with the Blacksburg Fire Department in 1995. He has served in many different departments, including Blacksburg Transit, as a Communications Officer in 1997, and became a Blacksburg Police Officer in 1999. In 2020, Brewster was promoted to Police Services Captain, where he was responsible for criminal investigations and community outreach, and then in 2022, he was appointed as the Chief of Police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Superintendent with Giles County Public School announces retirement for 2025 Brewster continued to excel as a leader. In 2023, he was appointed to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management 9-1-1 Services Board by Governor Glen Youngkin, as well as being the PSAP Grant Committee chairman. He also led the department through the COVID-19 pandemic, graduated from the FBI National Academy, and received the Virginia Police Chiefs Foundations Lifesaving Award. I moved to Blacksburg in 1994 to attend Radford University and fell in love with the area, said Brewster. I came from a small town, and Blacksburg had everything I was looking for. I have served the citizens of this town for over 30 years, and I have enjoyed every second of it. There have been challenging times, but through it all, I have felt such support from the Town of Blacksburg and our community. To the Town Council, Town Manager Marc Verniel, and the citizens of Blacksburg, I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve this community. Chief Brewster said he plans on moving back to Tazewell and spending time lost with his wife and son and other relatives. I have thoroughly enjoyed my career in Blacksburg, but time goes by quickly, said Brewster. Ive been away from my family for the past 30 years, and I look forward to making up for lost time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recruitment process for the next Blacksburg Chief of Police is underway. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv. Originally appeared on E! Online Blake Lively has had a small legal win amid her ongoing litigation with Justin Baldoni. After the Gossip Girl actress and husband Ryan Reynolds had applied for a protective order earlier this month to keep sensitive information from circulating in the public realm, judge Lewis J. Liman has approved a modified version. In legal filings viewed by E! News, the judge noted that couples initial filing had been granted in part and denied in part, and its stipulations will cover both Lively and Baldonis parties in the ongoing litigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legal filing has granted the order with a partial attorneys eyes only, which is the highest level of confidentiality in legal proceedings, as well as certain other modified language, per the court order obtained by E! News. According to the adjusted protective order, categories protected by attorneys eyes only include trade secrets, or confidential business plans, as well as other strategies that are unrelated to the ongoing legal proceedings between Lively, Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios, as well as other members of their respective parties. More from E! Online Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other information in the attorneys eyes only stipulation includes any security measures taken by either party, medical information, or anything that is considered highly personal and intimate information about either party, other than what is directly relevant to the case, per the signed court order obtained by E! News. Limans modified approval of Lively and Reynolds request for protection comes after Baldonis lawyer Bryan Freedman told E! News in a statement that their protective requests were overboard and unnecessary. As the lawyer noted in his statement, We shouldn't be put in a position where we are the ones that have to run to court every single time just given attorney's eyes only protection. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; James Devaney/GC Images And while their request was slightly modified by the judge, Livelys legal team expressed gratitude over the ruling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, the Court rejected the Wayfarer Parties' objections and entered the protections needed to ensure the free flow of discovery material without any risk of witness intimidation or harm to any individuals security, Livelys legal team said in a statement to E! News following the modified protective order being issued. With this order in place, Ms. Lively will move forward in the discovery process to obtain even more of the evidence that will prove her claims in Court. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures Meanwhile, Baldonis attorney applauded the judges decision to decline to grant Lively the full scope of her request. "We are fully in agreement with the Courts decision to provide a narrow scope of protections to categories such as private mental health records and personal security measures that have never been of interest to us, as opposed to Ms. Livelys exceedingly overbroad demand for documents for a 2.5-year period of time, which the court rightly quashed. Freedman said in a statement to E! News. We remain focused on the necessary communications that will directly contradict Ms. Livelys unfounded accusations." Keep reading to untangle all of the proceedings in the court battle between Lively and Baldoni Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dec. 20, 2024: Blake Lively Files CRD Complaint Against Justin Baldoni and His Wayfarer Associates Four months after the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's book It Ends With Us debuted in theaters, Blake Lively filed a California Civil Rights Department (CRD) complaint against her costar Justin Baldoni and his associates on Dec. 20, according to The New York Times. In the complaint obtained by E! News, Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios (Wayfarer), its CEO Jamey Heath, its cofounder Steve Sarowitz, Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel, her company RWA Communications, crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, her company The Agency Group PR LLC (TAG), contractor Jed Wallace and his company Street Relations Inc. were listed as defendants. Lively alleged in her complaint that Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates "embarked on a sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation" for her voicing her concerns about purported misconduct on setwith her saying she and other cast and crew members "experienced invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior" by Baldoni and Heath. The actress added the alleged campaign against her caused "substantial harm" to her personally and professionally. The accusations listed in the complaint include sexual harassment; retaliation; failure to investigate, prevent and/or remedy harassment; aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation; breach of contract; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligence; false light invasion of privacy and interference with prospective economic advantage. Dec. 21, 2024: The New York Times Publishes Report About the Alleged Smear Campaign Against Lively The next day, The New York Times published a report about a retaliatory smear campaign Baldoni and his associates allegedly waged against Livelyciting her CRD complaint. In its article, the outlet quoted messages sent from Baldoni and his teamincluding publicist Abel and crisis communications specialist Nathanthat were part of her complaint. Readers could also scroll through the court documents on The New York Times' website. I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct," Lively told the outlet, "and helps protect others who may be targeted. Dec. 21, 2024: Baldoni and Wayfarers Attorney Responds to Livelys CRD Complaint After news of Livelys complaint broke, Bryan Freedmanthe attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer and its representativesslammed Livelys allegations. It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to fix her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions, he said in a statement on The New York Times website. These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media. Freedman also defended Wayfarers decision to hire a crisis manager, saying this was done before the marketing campaign of the movie. "The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity, he later added. What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals. Dec. 21, 2024: Baldoni Is Dropped by Talent Agency Talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) dropped Baldoni after The New York Times article was published on Dec. 21, Ari Emanuel, CEO of the agencys parent company Endeavor, confirmed to the outlet. However, WME denied that Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds was to blame for the agency's parting of ways with Baldoni, which the It Ends With Us director later allege in his lawsuit filed against The New York Times (more on that below). "In Baldonis filing there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldonis agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. This is not true, WMEwhich also represents Reynolds and Livelysaid in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 1. "Baldonis former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dec. 21, 2024: It Ends With Us Cast Members and More Stars React to Livelys Allegations Against Baldoni In the days following Lively's CRD filing and The New York Times article, several famous figures shared their reactions to her allegations against Baldoniincluding It Ends With Us author Hoover. "@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met," she wrote on Instagram Stories Dec. 21, linking out to The New York Times. "Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt." Jenny Slate, who played the sister of Baldoni's character Ryle, also noted she stood with Lively. As Blake Livelys castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation, Slate said in a Dec. 23 statement to Today. Blake is a leader, loyal friend and a trusted source of emotional support for me and so many who know and love her. What has been revealed about the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening," she added. "I commend my friend, I admire her bravery, and I stand by her side. In addition, Brandon Sklenara love interest for Lively's character Lily Bloomshared a screenshot of the complaint published to The New York Times' website and linked out to the outlet writing, "For the love of God read this." Plus, Lively's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn wrote they "stand with her in solidarity." Dec. 23, 2024: Baldoni and Heath's Cohost on The Man Enough Podcast Leaves Show Liz Plank also announced her departure from The Man Enough Podcast, which she cohosted with Baldoni and Heath, on Dec. 23. "I'm writing to you today to let you know that I have had my representatives inform Wayfarer that I will no longer be co-hosting The Man Enough podcast," she wrote on Instagram at the time. "Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and stories, for holding space for mine, and for making this show what it was. I will miss you, the listeners, so much. I love what this community created together with every fiber of my being, and that's because of you." While Plank did not give a reason for her exit from the podcast, it came days after Lively's complaint against Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates. "As this chapter closed for me, I remain committed to the values we've built together," the author continued in her message to her followers. "Thank you for being here, for trusting me, and for being by my side for the last four years. We all deserve better, and I know that together, we can create it." She added, "I will have more to share soon as I continue to process everything that has happened. In the meantime, I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable." Dec. 24, 2024: Baldoni's Former Publicist Sues Him, Abel, Nathan and Wayfarer Baldoni's former publicist Stephanie Jones and her agency Jonesworks LLC filed a lawsuit against him, his company Wayfarer, his current publicist Abel and crisis communications specialist Nathan in New York Dec. 24. "Defendants Abel and Nathan secretly conspired for months to publicly and privately attack Jones and Jonesworks, to breach multiple contracts and induce contractual breaches, and to steal clients and business prospects," the lawsuit obtained by NBC New reads. "Behind Joness back, they secretly coordinated with Baldoni and Wayfarer to implement an aggressive media smear campaign against Baldonis film co-star, and then used the crisis as an opportunity to drive a wedge between Jones and Baldoni, and to publicly pin blame for this smear campaign on Joneswhen Jones had no knowledge or involvement in it." Per Abel's LinkedIn profile, she worked at Jonesworks until last summer. The lawsuit alleges Abel and Nathan "continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their own misconduct is coming to light," and "defame and attack" her in the industry. As for Baldoni and Wayfarer, who are no longer Jonesworks clients, the suit alleges they "repudiated their contractual obligations with Jonesworks and rebuffed Joness efforts to settle this dispute privately in arbitration." E! News reached out to the defendants for comment. Lively's attorneys told Variety in a Dec. 23 piece that they obtained the texts featured in The New York Times article via a subpoena to Jonesworks. Freedmanwho represents Nathan and Abel in addition to Baldoni and his Wayfarer associatesadded to the outlet none of his clients were subpoenaed over this topic and that he intends to sue Jones for releasing messages from Abels phone to Livelys attorneys. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dec. 31, 2024: Baldoni, Wayfarer & Others Sue The New York Times Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, TAG, Abel, RWA Communications, Wallace and Street Relations filed a lawsuit against The New York Times Dec. 31. In the lawsuit obtained by E! News, The New York Times is accused of libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract for its article about a retaliatory smear campaign the plaintiffs allegedly conducted against Lively after she voiced concerns about purported misconduct on set. Saying the report was "false" and based on Livelys CRD complaint, the plaintiffs denied the accusations and alleged messages cited in the article and complaint were taken out of context. Despite its claim to have 'reviewed these along with other documents[,]' the Times relied almost entirely on Livelys unverified and self-serving narrative," the lawsuit says, "lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives." They also allege "it was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign." She has denied this. The New York Times said it plans to "vigorously defend against the lawsuit." The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead, it stated to E!. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article." Dec. 31, 2024: Lively Files Lawsuit Against Baldoni and Wayfarer Associates That same day, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, production entity It Ends With Us Movie LLC, Nathan, Nathan's company TAG and Abel in New York. According to the court documents obtained by E! News, she is suing the defendants for sexual harassment; retaliation; failure to investigate, prevent and/or remedy harassment; aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation; breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence infliction of emotional distress and false light invasion of privacy. The allegations in the lawsuit were first detailed in the CRD complaint Lively filed earlier that month. In response to the lawsuit Baldoni and his associates filed against The New York Timeswhich does not list Lively as a defendanther attorneys noted in a statement to E! that "nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims" in her CRD and federal complaints. "This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Livelys administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice 'not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,' and that 'litigation was never her ultimate goal,'" they continued. "As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false." Jan. 2, 2025: Baldoni's Lawyer Expresses Intent to Sue Lively In Baldoni and his associates' lawsuit against The New York Times, the plaintiffs expressed that they are not done. "There are other bad actors involved," the court documents state, "and make no mistakethis will not be the last lawsuit." In a Jan. 2 interview with NBC News, Baldoni and Wayfarer's attorney Freedman said they "absolutely" plan to sue Lively. Jan. 7, 2025: Baldoni's Lawyer Calls Out Deadpool & Wolverine The headlines about Baldoni and Lively haven't stopped there. For instance, social media users have speculated that her husband Reynolds trolled Baldoni in his movie Deadpool & Wolverine through the character Nicepool. Reynolds has not publicly commented on the rumors; however, Baldoni's lawyer Freedman shared his reaction. "What I make of that is that if your wife is sexually harassed, you don't make fun of Justin Baldoni," Freedman said during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show posted to YouTube Jan 7. "You don't make fun of the situation. You take it very seriously. You file HR complaints. You raise the issue and you follow a legal process. What you don't do is mock the person and turn it into a joke." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Lively's attorneys say there have been more "attacks" against her since her lawsuit. "Ms. Livelys federal litigation before the Southern District of New York involves serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, backed by concrete facts," her lawyers said in a Jan. 7 statement to E! News. "This is not a 'feud' arising from 'creative differences' or a 'he said/she said' situation. As alleged in Ms. Livelys complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing." "While we go through the legal process, we urge everyone to remember that sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry," they added. "A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to 'blame the victim' by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied. Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim." Lively's lawyers said "these concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct." They also noted "media statements are not a defense" to her claims and that they'll prosecute her claims in court. In response, Baldoni's lawyer Freedman told E!, "It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of weaponizing the media when her own team orchestrated this vicious attack by sending the New York Times grossly edited documents prior to even filing the complaint." "We are releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie," he added. "None of this will come as a surprise because consistent with her past behavior Blake Lively used other people to communicate those threats and bully her way to get whatever she wanted. We have all the receipts and more." (E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family). Jan. 16, 2025: Baldoni, Wayfarer, Nathan & Abel File Lawsuit Against Lively, Reynolds & Others Baldoni, Heath, Wayfarer, publicist Abel, crisis communication specialist Nathan and production entity It Ends With Us Movie LLC filed a lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, her publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's firm Vision PR in New York Jan. 16. According to the suit obtained by E! News, the plaintiffs accused all the defendants of civil extortion, defamation and false light invasion of privacy. As for Lively and Reynolds specifically, she is accused of breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and they're both accused of intentional interference with contractual relations and economic advantage as well as negligent interference with prospective economic advantage. In the suit, the plaintiffs denied Lively's allegations of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign against her. They also accused her of seizing control of It Ends With Us and working with Reynolds, Sloane, Jones and others to "tar and feather Plaintiffs in the press" after she received backlash for her marketing of the film. (Lively said in her filings she promoted the movie in accordance with Sony's marketing plan.) Plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit the defendants worked with The New York Times "to put out a blockbuster news report as devastating as it was false. The outlet stands by its report. In part of a statement to E!, Freedman said, "Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth." Jan. 16, 2025: Lively's Lawyers Slam Baldoni's "Desperate" Lawsuit Lively's legal team called his lawsuit "another chapter in the abuser playbook," saying in a statement to E! News, "This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender. " She further accused him of retaliating once she made allegations against him, saying Baldoni is trying to shift the narrative that Lively "seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni." "The evidence will show," it continued, "that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sonys cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success." Her team went on to slam Baldoni's reaction to her allegations of harassment. "Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, its her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing," her lawyers added. "In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Livelys complaint, and it will fail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jan. 21, 2025: Behind-the-Scenes Footage of It Ends With Us Released Baldoni's legal counsel released behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of It Ends With Us, saying that the actor's actions in the video "clearly refute Ms. Livelys characterization" of him. "The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another," Baldoni's attorneys said in a statement. "Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism." However, Lively's legal team believes the video "corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described" in her lawsuit and that "every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance." "The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk," they told E! News in a statement. "Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Livelys discomfort." Jan. 22, 2025: Lively and Reynolds Seek Gag Order on Baldoni's Lawyer The couple issued a letter to the judge overseeing their case, requesting that Freedmanthe head of Baldoni's counselbe placed under a gag order amid their legal proceedings to "avoid improper conduct." Jan. 27, 2025: Baldoni's 2 AM Voice Memo to Lively Revealed A seven-minute voice memo Baldoni allegedly sent to Lively during It Ends With Us' production was published online. In it, the director appeared to reference the movie's rooftop scene Lively had rewrote and how the changes were presented to him during an alleged meeting with Reynolds and their pal Taylor Swift. "We should all have friends like that aside from the fact that they're two of the most creative people on the planet," he told Lively. "The three of you guys together, it's unbelievable." In the recording, Baldoni also seemingly apologized to the actress for his lukewarm reception to her script, saying, "I f--ked up. One thing you should know about me is that I will admit and apologize when I fail." Jan. 27, 2025: Lively vs. Baldoni Trial Set One month after Lively filed a formal lawsuit against Baldoni, a court date was set for March 9, 2026. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jan. 31, 2025: Baldoni Adds The New York Times to $400 Million Lawsuit Baldonis team amended his Jan. 16 counterclaim to the U.S. District Court against Lively, Reynolds and Sloane to include The New York Times, according to documents obtained by E! News. In the amended document, Baldoni accused Lively and her team of spending months colluding and feeding falsehoods to the New York Times. The filingwhich is separate from the $250 million lawsuit against the NYTalleged that the newspaper cherry picked and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead. Feb. 2, 2025: Baldonis Team Launches a Website Baldoni created a website with information regarding his lawsuit against Lively containing the first amended complaint filed Jan. 31 by Baldonis team and a timeline of relevant events. Among the information in the latter document was alleged screenshots of texts exchanged between Lively, Reynolds and Baldoni. The websites launch came one month after Freedman said his team planned to release every single text message between the two. "We want the truth to be out there," Baldonis attorney told NBC News in a Jan. 2 interview. "We want the documents to be out there. We want people to make their determination based on receipts." Feb. 18, 2025: Lively Files Her Own Amended Complaint Livelys attorneys filed an amended complaint claiming that two other women who worked on It End had come forward feeling uncomfortable by Baldonis behavior on set. Ms. Lively was not alone in complaining about Mr. Baldoni, the complaint, obtained by E! News, claimed. The experiences of Ms. Lively and others were documented at the time they occurred starting in May of 2023. Importantly, and contrary to the entire narrative Defendants have invented, Mr. Baldoni acknowledged the complaints in writing at the time. He knew that women other than Ms. Lively also were uncomfortable and had complained about his behavior. The amended complaint did not name the two witnesses, whom Lively said would testify, due to the dangerous climate of threats, harassment, and intimidation fueled by the Defendants retaliation campaign. In a statement to E!, Freedman accused the complaint of being filled with unsubstantial hearsay and alleged that the unidentified persons were "clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims. Feb. 20, 2025: Lively and Reynolds Publicist Asks to Be Dropped From Lawsuit After Baldoni accused Sloane of propagating malicious stories that portrayed him as a sexual predator as well as orchestrating a smear campaign under Livelys direction, Sloan filed a motional of dismissal from the lawsuit. In the documents obtained by E! News, Sloanes attorney alleged that there was no basis for the accusations made against their client and that she was simply dragged into the lawsuit as a smoke and mirrors exercise to distract from" Lively's accusations. For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App Is a lunar eclipse, or Blood Moon, a sign of good luck or bad? It depends who you ask. The Inca believed a jaguar was attacking the moon goddess, while Wiccans see it as a time for growth and manifestation. Christians, however, might view it as a warning of the end times. Throughout history, different cultures and religions have attached various meanings to the celestial event, shaping how people react when it lights up the sky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres a quick dive into its history, along with a list of things to avoid and pursue just in case you want to harness some positive energy. More: What time is the lunar eclipse tonight? See full timeline, peak viewing time in Texas Is a lunar eclipse good luck or bad luck? The Blood Moon holds different meanings across various religions and cultures. Some view it as a sign of good luck, while others see it as an omen of bad luck. Inca Civilization : The Inca interpreted the deep red color of a lunar eclipse, or "blood moon," as a jaguar attacking and devouring the moon, according to Independent UK. Fearing the jaguar might turn its attention to Earth, the people would shout, shake their spears, and make their dogs bark and howl, hoping to drive the creature away. Ancient Mesopotamia : A lunar eclipse was seen as a direct assault on the king. Due to their ability to predict eclipses, they would appoint a proxy king for the duration. This expendable individual would act as the monarch while the real king hid. After the eclipse passed, the proxy would disappear, and the true king would return to the throne. Hindu Folklore : The demon Rahu drank the elixir of immortality, and the sun and moon deities decapitated him. However, his head remained immortal. Seeking revenge, Rahus head chases the sun and moon to devour them. If he catches them, an eclipse occurs as Rahu swallows the moon, which reappears from his severed neck. Many Hindus now observe the event by praying, taking ritual baths, and refraining from eating. Christianity: In the Bible, the Blood Moon is often linked to the end times and the wrath of God. Some interpretations also associate lunar eclipses with the crucifixion of Jesus. Paganism & Wicca: It is believed that the veil between the earthly and spiritual realms is thinnest during a Blood Moon, making it a powerful time for spiritual practices. Indigenous beliefs: Some Native American tribes see the Blood Moon as a time for reflection, renewal, and storytelling. Others believe that a red moon signifies the moon is deprived of love and care, interpreting it as a celestial call for affection. Islam: Muslims may observe the event with special prayers, known as Salat al-Khusuf (Eclipse Prayer). 5 things to avoid or pursue during the lunar eclipse Many cultures and traditions hold specific beliefs about what should or shouldnt be done during a lunar eclipse. Here are some common practices: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Protect food and water In Hindu tradition, food and water are often covered, and cleansing rituals are performed, according to India Times. Tulsi leaves are added to food and water to ward off negative energy and ensure food remains pure. Some also fast for the duration. Avoid working if pregnant: Those pregnant are advised to rest and refrain from household work to protect their unborn child. Collecting eclipse water Some believe that water gathered during the eclipse carries unique energy, making it useful for spiritual or cleansing purposes. Meditation and reflection The eclipse is considered a powerful time for introspection, making it an ideal moment for meditation, setting intentions, or letting go of negative energy. Charging crystals Many spiritual practitioners place their crystals under the moonlight during an eclipse to cleanse and recharge them. Taking a lunar eclipse bath A ritual bath infused with herbs, salts or essential oils is thought to purify the body and spirit, helping individuals align with the transformative energy of the eclipse. How to collect eclipse water Choose a clear container with a lid This helps keep the water pure and uncontaminated. Fill the container with fresh water and secure the lid tightly. Place it outside at the start of the eclipse Position it where it will be directly exposed to the moonlight. Set an intention While the water absorbs the energy of the eclipse, focus on what you hope to manifest or release. Retrieve the water after the eclipse ends Store it in a cool, dark place for later use. Eclipse water can be used for drinking, watering plants, or offering to pets when a boost of positive energy is needed. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Is the lunar eclipse good luck or bad? Superstitions, myths and rituals UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are leading talks among 37 countries to form a coalition of the willing for Ukraine in the event of a peaceful settlement. Source: European Pravda with reference to Bloomberg Details: The article states that the UK and France are trying to strengthen Ukraine's position in the negotiations, while US President Donald Trump is seeking to achieve a settlement in the war with Russia. Europe's only two nuclear powers are trying to work out a plan to help ensure Kyiv's security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency reports that the coalition of the willing, which London and Paris are working to assemble, may include countries from Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and Asia. The plan is to provide financial assistance, troops, aircraft or naval vessels to help defend Ukraine from new Russian aggression. In a separate meeting in Paris on Tuesday, non-NATO countries, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, joined talks with military leaders from dozens of European countries as well as Canada, said people familiar with the talks. The proposal will then be presented to Trump, who they hope can be persuaded to provide US security guarantees in the form of air power, intelligence and border surveillance without having to include US troops in the peacekeeping force, the sources said. The UK and France also don't want the US to give in to Putin's demands to demilitarise Ukraine and force President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold elections before a permanent peace deal is agreed. On Wednesday, Starmer said that Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children should also be taken into consideration in a settlement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials believe that the US-Ukraine agreement on a 30-day ceasefire and the development of plans for a peacekeeping force have increased pressure on Russia to make concessions. However, there are serious fears that Russia will use the ceasefire to rearm and continue to attack Ukraine. Meanwhile, the defence ministers of five leading European powers held talks in Paris on Wednesday to coordinate support for Ukraine. They will meet again next week to continue discussing "military planning" in the event of a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! BOCA RATON Need to get to the beach in Boca Raton? BocaConnect, the citys eco-friendly downtown shuttle, has expanded its service to include a portion of the citys barrier island. The expansion is part of a yearlong pilot program that started in June to enhance Boca's mobility. Its new service area includes the barrier island, from Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to the Boca Raton Inlet. After the 12-month pilot program concludes, city staff will review data to determine future service locations. These could include the Tri-Rail Station, the Spanish River Library or Florida Atlantic University, according to the city. The BocaConnect shuttle is used for rides within downtown Boca Raton. The service, which launched in June 2024, will run for 12 months as a pilot program. What is BocaConnect? The service uses a quiet, all-electric fleet to provide residents and visitors with sustainable and convenient transportation. The BocaConnect shuttle, which is used for rides within downtown Boca Raton, seats six people, including the driver. Two electric Kia sedans and one Ford electric van operate rides outside the downtown area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The updated BocaConnect service area includes: South of Glades Road, east of I-95 North of the Hillsboro Canal West of NE 5th Way/SE 5th Avenue/Royal Palm Way The Barrier Island from Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to the Boca Raton Inlet How much does it cost to ride with BocaConnect? Rides that begin and end in the red service area are free on BocaConnect. Rides that begin or end in the blue service area will be $2 per rider with $1 for each additional rider, capped at $5 per ride for a one-way trip. BOCA RATON NEWS: Homes, retail, restaurants and gym coming to Boca Raton's former Office Depot headquarters Rides to and from the city's downtown are free. But if a ride starts or ends outside of the downtown area, it costs $2 per rider with $1 for each additional rider. Rides are capped at $5 per one-way trip. The downtown area, according to the city, is defined as the CRA boundaries, plus the downtown library, the Brightline station, Wildflower Park and Silver Palm Park. The base service area, or the service area outside the city's downtown, is defined as the area between Glades Road and the southern city limit from east of I-95 to Fifth Avenue/Royal Palm Way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement BOCA RATON NEWS: After a four-year hiatus, Royal Palm Place Farmers Market returns to downtown Boca Raton Rides that begin and end in the red service area on the Base Service Area Map are free. Rides that begin or end in the blue service area on the Base Service Area Map start at $2 per rider. How to request a BocaConnect ride Like Uber and Lyft, BocaConnect rides can be requested easily through the Ride Circuit app. It's available on iOS and Android platforms, and operated by Circuit Transit, the company behind the new shuttle service. Jasmine Fernandez is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Raton shuttle service expands to include beach SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A woman missing since August 2024 has been identified as the human remains found March 4 in Pennington County, the county sheriffs office said on Wednesday. Sahela Sangrait, 21, of Box Elder, was reported missing on Aug. 10, 2024. Her death is being investigated as a homicide, the news release said. Heated discussion at Oldham-Ramona-Rutland meeting Authorities said they were working with a forensic dentist and had conducted an autopsy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sangraits decomposed body was found south of Hill City by a hiker. The sheriffs office is investigating with the Rapid City Police and other local, state and federal law enforcement that includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit. If anyone has information, they are asked to call the Pennington County Sheriffs office at 605-394-2151. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. Mar. 13A body washed up on shore near the Portland Head Light Thursday afternoon. Details on the individual, including their possible cause of death or any identifiers, have not been released. Police received a report about a deceased person in the water just before 1:30 p.m., according to a news release from the Cape Elizabeth Police Department. Officers arrived to find the body on the rocks by the Cliff Walk at Fort Williams Park, said fire Chief Steve Young. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cape Elizabeth police did not say if the death appears suspicious and said more information would be released by Maine State Police. Spokesperson Shannon Moss said Friday that the medical examiner's office was conducting an autopsy and more information would be released later. Young said he could not provide any further details about the body or how long it had been there. The park remained open as police blocked off an area of the Cliff Walk with cruisers and police tape. A handful of people were there when authorities carried what appeared to be a body bag out of the area around 4 p.m. About a half-dozen people carried the bag up the rocky promontory and onto the cliff walk just north of the lighthouse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Photographer Brianna Soukup and Staff Writer Daniel Kool contributed to this report. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less ISTANBUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police, in a wide-range operation on Thursday, detained four suspects for allegedly providing funds to the Islamic State (IS) group, authorities announced. The operation, covering four provinces, was part of an investigation by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Izmir, western Turkiye. The office stated that detention orders were issued for five individuals after suspicious money transfers labeled "charitable donations" were detected in their bank account activities. Following the orders, anti-terrorist units carried out simultaneous raids at various locations in Izmir, Antalya, Sivas, and Sirnak provinces. During the operation, four suspects were taken into custody, with efforts continuing to apprehend the remaining one. Turkiye, which designated IS as a terrorist organization in 2013, has faced multiple attacks by the group in recent years. In response, Turkish security forces have intensified counter-terrorism operations domestically and abroad, targeting suspected members and supporters. Strong winds and dry weather together could bring extreme fire danger to a wide swath of Kansas on Friday. The National Weather Service in Wichita issued a fire weather watch effective for much of the day Friday. The watch covers central, south central and southeast Kansas. During this time, fires that develop will likely spread rapidly and become difficult to control, an advisory said. Outdoor burning is not recommended. Very strong winds will elevate the fire danger to very high and extreme across south central and eastern Kansas. Any fire that starts on Fri afternoon or early evening will be difficult to control. In addition, winds gusting 45-55 mph may cause some minor property damage #kswx pic.twitter.com/qUFWZHFW3x NWS Wichita (@NWSWichita) March 12, 2025 Wichita can expect sun, 70 degrees, wind speeds of 35 mph and wind gusts of up to 50 mph Friday, a detailed NWS forecast shows. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The strong winds are part of a cross-country storm that could bring a multitude of weather hazards to other parts of the country, including thunderstorms, soaking rain, snow, floods and hurricane-like winds. Meteorologists call it a bomb cyclone, formally known as bombogenesis. This weather phenomenon is a fast developing storm that occurs when atmospheric pressure drops at least 24 millibars over a 24-hour period, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. As far as severe weather, tornadoes, hail and that sort of thing, a lot of that is going to be situated much further east through the Mississippi Valley, NWS Wichita meteorologist Ali Davis said in a phone call. Davis added: We wont have the severe and winter weather, but we will have the wind and fire threat associated with the system. Path of the storm The storm entered California and the west coast Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and mudslides that prompted evacuations in Los Angeles, according to CNN. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It will then move into the central and eastern states later this week. Going into Friday, the storm will affect areas along the Mississippi Valley with the threat of intense damaging winds gusts, large hail and tornadoes. States in the Mississippi Valley include Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa. Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi. Saturday it will continue east, affecting Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and the western Florida panhandle. Threats include damaging wind gusts, large hail, heavy rain, flash flooding and tornadoes. Sunday will see the last leg of the storm impact Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. For this area, damaging wind gusts are the primary concern, but an isolated tornado is possible. Localized flash flooding could also occur in spots, a forecast said. Jeffrey Klungness, 14, disappeared after his mother was killed in 1996. Almost three decades later, the Pierce County Sheriffs Office has concluded he, too, was killed. Susan Klungness was killed in her Bonney Lake home in March 1996 while her husband, Ronald Klungness, was at work. She died from several blunt-force injuries to her head and body, according to The Pierce County Sheriffs Office in a Wednesday news release. Martin Malcolm was the Klungness handyman and would assist around the household. He eventually became a strong person of interest in Susan Klungness killing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Martin was known to assist around the Klungness household as well as hang around the house, eating meals, playing board games with Jeffrey, and taking Jeffrey to school, the release said. Susan Klungness reportedly felt Malcolm was overstaying his welcome, and she became uncomfortable with his relationship with her son, the release said. The release said that Malcolm had previously served 12 years in prison for fatally stabbing his wife in 1980. He also stabbed two of his wifes friends. Malcolm was released in 1992. On the day of Susans murder, Malcolm was reportedly at their home and was seen driving her vehicle later with Jeffrey Klungness in the passenger seat, the release said. He took Jeffrey Klungness to get a haircut. Video footage also showed Malcolm withdrawing money from a bank. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jeffrey Klungness was not seen or heard from again. In October 2017, a skull fragment was found in the Greenwater area of unincorporated Pierce County by mushroom pickers. A search of the nearby area was conducted, but nothing further was located, the release said. The Pierce County Medical Examiner and a forensic anthropologist from the King County Medical Examiners Office examined the skull fragment, the release said. The fragment was later sent to the FBI Laboratory for possible DNA extraction. It was determined the damage on the fragment may have come from blunt-force trauma, the release said. It likely came from a teenage boy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A search of PCSO cold cases revealed the Klungness case and the missing teenager, Jeffrey Klungness, the release said. Mitochondrial DNA comparisons between the skull fragment and Jeffrey Klungness half-sister were a match in August 2020, the release said. Investigators did another search in a slightly different area, but still nearby, in September 2020 and found a fibula bone as well as some clothing items. The partial cranium and fibula were sent to Bode Technology for DNA processing. In April 2021, Bode Technology identified both as belonging to the same individual, the release said. Results of the examination were later sent to the University of North Texas which, in November 2021, confirmed the DNA and remains originated from a biological child of Ronald and Susan Klungness as well as being related to his maternal half-sibling. The release said that investigators concluded that they had located and identified Jeffrey Klungness remains. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A warrant was issued for Malcolms arrest and investigators learned he died in Thurston County from natural causes in August 2022 at 67 years old. In March 2025, investigators received the Postmortem Examination Report from the Pierce County Medical Examiners Office for Jeffrey Klungness, the release said. It concluded that the recovered skull and fibula were positively identified as those of Jeffrey Klungness. The cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force injuries of the head, and the manner of death was listed as homicide. If he had not been dead, the Pierce County Prosecutors Office said that Malcolm would have been charged, the release said. The Sheriffs Office is finalizing parts of the investigation, the release said. Since Malcolm is dead and unable to be charged, the case is considered closed. Tech giant Meta hopes to take control of a new damning narrative about the company after a former employee published a career memoir about the social media giant. The company formerly known as Facebook is pursuing a legal case against Sarah Wynn-Williams, who has written a tell-all book that shares anecdotes about top executives and alleges corporate misconduct. On Wednesday, an arbitrator based in Chicago sided with Meta as it sought to block Wynn-Williams from promoting the book while it pursues a legal case against her. The company alleges she broke a non-disparagement clause in her severance contract. Wynn-Williams, who worked at Meta from 2011 to 2017 and rose to the level of global director for public policy, is now barred from discussing her bombshell memoir, titled Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. She has also been ordered to halt publication of the book in any format to the extent that is within her control, according to a legal filing posted by the company. Inspired by Gatsby As of this writing, Careless People is still listed for sale on several online sites, and numerous media reports about its contents are available. The memoir was published on March 11, immediately attracting a favorable review by the New York Times, which called the book darkly funny and genuinely shocking: an ugly, detailed portrait of one of the most powerful companies in the world, while applauding the authors storytelling chops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The books title is a reference to Tom and Daisy Buchanan, fictional characters in F. Scott Fitzgeralds classic novel The Great Gatsby, who are featured in the memoirs epigraph: They were careless people, Tom and Daisythey smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. Wynn-Williams recounts several alleged ethical breaches at the company during her six-year tenure. For example, she claims that CEO Mark Zuckerberg looked for a strategy that would allow the company to operate in China even if it meant allowing Beijing to censor content on the site, and that managers ignored her complaints about sexual harassment by Joel Kaplan, a high-profile leader and current chief global affairs officer. It also details alleged abusive and bizarre behavior by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg. Several media outlets covered the books most eyebrow-raising anecdotes leading up to the memoirs publication date on Tuesday, March 11. By the end of the next day, however, Meta had succeeded in convincing emergency arbitrator Nicolas Gowen that it had a valid case against Wynn-Williams. In the wake of that victory, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted the arbitrators order and a company statement on Threads: This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams false and defamatory book should never have been published. This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industrys standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years. Asked to comment on the arbitration, Meta sent the same statement to Fortune. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Macmillan, the books publisher, is pushing back against those allegations and standing by the memoir. In a statement to Fortune, the company says the book went through a thorough editing and vetting process. It also emphasized that it will absolutely continue to support and promote the book. Macmillan and Flatiron Books, the imprint behind Careless People, were named in Metas arbitration request. But the publisher claimed that it should not have been pulled in the dispute since it was not party to Wynn-Williams employment contract. The arbitration order has no impact on Macmillan, the company wrote in a statement (emphasis in the original). However, we are appalled by Meta's tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement. To be clear, the arbitrator's order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People, the statement also said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fortune was not able to immediately reach Wynn-Williams for comment. Echos of recent complaints Meta has faced many serious accusations over the years from ex-employees. Most famously, Frances Haugan, who worked as a product manager on the Facebook civic integrity team, leaked thousands of documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the media. Haugan claimed in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee that the files showed the company amplified hate speech and misinformation and that it was aware of the negative impact it had on young users, but did not take measures to protect them. The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook. And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money, Haugen also told CBS News in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company pushed back against Haugens claims at the time, with Zuckerberg asserting in a Facebook post they dont make sense. Wynn-Williams allegations of gender discrimination and sexual harassment also resemble recent allegations made against the company. In one case filed this year, Kelly Stonelake, a former Facebook marketing director who worked at the company for 15 years, accused her ex-employer of dismissing her claims of bias and allowing a culture of silencing women who raise red flags about safety and misconduct, according to a complaint she filed in a Washington court. Meta declined to comment on that case citing ongoing litigation. In an interview with Fortune, Stonelake said she has since heard from several women who said her allegations resonated with them. Meta, she also said, was an organization where you cant sustain a career at any level as a woman when youre bringing bad news to men. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Many have been shocked by JD Vances conduct since he became the US vice-president in January. In particular, his belligerent address to Nato in Munich last month and his hostility towards Volodymyr Zelensky during the Ukrainian presidents disastrous visit to the White House. At Munich, Vance told a stunned audience of European leaders that Trump was the new sheriff in town and accused them of having failed to heed their voters on migration and free speech. If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor for that matter is there anything you can do for the American people, he said, articulating how America First might look in diplomatic terms. In the Oval Office days later, Vance dressed down Zelensky for being disrespectful and ungrateful for US support. He has written angry, sometimes sarcastic social media posts in which he engages directly with his critics, including the historian Sir Niall Ferguson. If you have not paid attention to Vances rise, it is startling to see a man inhabit the vice presidency, often thought of as a toothless role, so vigorously. JD Vance, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky during their confrontational meeting in the Oval Office last month - Getty Those who have read Vances 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, may be less surprised. Before Vance became Trumps gimlet-eyed enforcer, he was a bestselling author. The book is an account of his difficult rust-belt upbringing in Ohio, and the rural Kentucky Appalachian hillbilly values he inherited from his family against a backdrop of industrial decline and social fragmentation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vance grew up with what he calls the Appalachian honour code, a set of rules about keeping your pride intact and defending your familys honour. Fighting was part of life, especially if someone insulted your mother. [O]ur unspoken honour code made it easy to fight, even when youre not defending yourself, he writes. Sometimes its just the right thing to do. One night Vance heard his new stepbrother calling his mother a b****. I made it abundantly clear that I meant to beat my new stepbrother to within an inch of his life, he writes, adding I wasnt even particularly angry. My desire to fight arose more out of a sense of duty. Zelensky might argue that Vance sees his new mothers as Donald Trump and the United States. Subtitled A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis and popularised by an interview the future vice-president gave in magazine The American Conservative, the book reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Four years later, it was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The book paints a vivid and often depressing picture of a corner of American society that feels forsaken, condemned to unemployment, crime, and opioid dependency while the coastal elites grow richer than ever. Vances politics make more sense in the light of the book. He believes stable families are important because he has seen first-hand the effects of unstable ones. He is indifferent to Europe because why should America look after the world when it cannot even look after Americans? Owen Asztalos as JD Vance and Glenn Close as Mamaw in the 2020 film adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy - Netflix When Trump won his first presidential election five months after its publication, critics offered it up as testimony about the kinds of people who were voting for him. The New York Times called the book a compassionate, discerning sociological analysis of the white underclass that has helped drive the politics of rebellion. Few readers suspected the book would end up becoming a handbook for American government, but in Hillbilly Elegys celebration of self-reliance, family values and social mobility are the inklings of the defiantly bold politics of Trumps White House. If Barack Obamas memoir Dreams from my Father presented a hopeful liberal vision of American mobility, Hillbilly Elegy is its bleaker cousin, less about the audacity of hope than the reality of hopelessness. One recent reader is Jeremy Hunt, the former UK chancellor. Lots of people were very offended by the exchange between Vance and Zelensky, he says. I think we need to understand this person better, because he is going to wield a lot of power. Not just in the next four years, but because hes the likely Maga successor to Trump, potentially for a lot longer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you read Hillbilly Elegy, you get a real insight as to where Vance is coming from, and I think in particular the anger that comes from the extraordinarily poor background and that feeling of being left behind, he adds. I found it very insightful and I came away, perhaps to my surprise, with a lot of respect for him. The book begins with an apology of sorts. Vance (then 31 years old) explains that he has not done anything especially noteworthy. But given his upbringing, his degree from Yale Law School and job in venture capital mark him out as exceptional. I didnt write this book because Ive accomplished something extraordinary, he writes. I wrote this book because Ive achieved something quite ordinary, which doesnt happen to most kids who grow up like me. At heart, he is a Scots-Irish hillbilly, a pessimistic bunch for whom poverty is the family tradition. It was not enough to blame the alienation of the white working class on the declining industrial sector; Vance had also grown up in a culture that increasingly encourages social decay instead of counteracting it, where people were conditioned to blame the government or society for their problems rather than their own decisions. He took umbrage at what he saw as a growing Right-wing orthodoxy that discouraged self-reliance. What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives. Yet the message of the right is increasingly: Its not your fault that youre a loser; its the governments fault. Although Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, he thought of his great-grandmothers house in Jackson, a tiny coal-mining town in Kentucky, as home. The people around him were proud and loyal but prone to violence, infidelity, substance abuse and idleness. His parents divorced when he was very young; his mother, Bev, struggled with drug abuse. Vance and his sister were mostly raised by his maternal grandparents, Bonnie and Jim, known as Mamaw and Papaw. They ran away from Jackson to Middletown when Bonnie fell pregnant at just 13, fearing reprisals from her family. Jim was a violent drunk, Bonnie a violent non-drunk. He credits this move to the city with changing the familys trajectory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mamaw always had two gods: Jesus Christ and the United States of America, he writes. I was no different, and neither was anyone else I knew. Christianity was not merely a matter of faith, it was a proxy for wider success: Religious folks are much happier. Regular church attendees commit fewer crimes, are in better health, live longer, make more money, drop out of high school less frequently, and finish college more frequently than those who dont attend church at all. (He converted to Catholicism later.) Against the odds, he writes, he acquired the self-discipline and determination to make something of himself. despite all the environmental pressures from my neighbourhood and community, I received a different message at home. Vance joined the Marines in 2003 on the advice of a cousin, who said the training would whip [his] ass into shape. Besides, he adds, I reminded myself that my country needed me, and that Id always regret not participating in Americas newest war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the Marines, he worked as a military journalist and served on a tour of Iraq. Although he does not express a view on the justness or otherwise of that war, he says his colleagues espoused the full spectrum of opinion. By the time Vance left the military, he knew exactly what I wanted out of my life and how to get there. College followed, at Ohio State and Yale Law School, where he met his wife, Usha, a lawyer, with whom he has three children. One of JD and Ushas teachers was Amy Chua, an academic who had a bestseller of her own, 2011s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. In these new rarefied surroundings, Vance was made aware of the gulf in social capital between him and some of his peers. In one memorable scene, he calls Usha from the bathroom at a dinner to ask how to navigate the unfamiliar array of cutlery. [Reading that passage] you realise that someone who went to one of the top universities in the world came from a background that was about as alien as possible to that gilded life, says Hunt. You begin to see why he has a very different perspective to normal politicians. Vance is the likely Maga successor to Trump, potentially for a lot longer - The Washington Post At Yale, Vance met the billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel when he came to give a talk. Thiel got Vance a job in venture capital, the role he had when Hillbilly Elegy was published. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If some of Vances preoccupations as vice-president are sketched out in Hillbilly Elegy, his persona in the book is more liberal and considered than the figure who supported a nationwide abortion ban, spread nonsensical rumours about immigrants eating pets, and dressed down Zelensky so brusquely in the Oval Office. His political evolution has been notable. In 2016, Vance described himself as a never-Trump guy, and even said he could be Americas Hitler. In one interview he said: I cant stomach Trump. I think that hes noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place. Vance had changed his tune by 2022, when he ran to be a Republican senator in Ohio. Realising the power of Trumps endorsement, he praised his presidency and deleted critical social media posts. It worked. Trump endorsed him, he won, and since then, he has been a staunch supporter; loyalty that was rewarded when Trump picked him as his running mate. In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance refers to an academic study from 2000 on hillbillies, which suggests that hillbillies learn from an early age to deal with uncomfortable truths by avoiding them, or by pretending better truths exist. This tendency might make for psychological resilience, but it also makes it hard for Appalachians to look at themselves honestly. As the shocked Nato top brass in Munich, Zelensky, Democrats, Sir Niall and millions of voters will attest, Vance has learned not to shirk uncomfortable truths. In doing so, he has become the obvious heir to Trumps Maga faction. Hillbilly Elegy could be required reading for many years to come. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) Bay County Emergency Services wants to make sure everyone stays safe while enjoying their vacation. On Wednesday morning, Surf Rescue teams passed out 500 double-red shoreline flags to beach vendors. When someone gets ready to take a step into the water, theyre going to be able to see these flags and know that you know, the gulf is closed, Bay County Commissioner Clair Pease said. Two cold stunned sea turtles released at Salinas Park Wednesday Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They drove from St. Andrews Park to the Walton County line, asking vendors how many flags they needed. Vendors say they work to educate visitors on the flag system. We definitely make sure everybodys informed. You know, educate everybody on the flag system. That, you know, that if you do go out in this red flags, that you are putting other people in danger, not just yourself, Happy Days Beach Service Owner Rich Johnson said. The flags are made out of PVC poles with signage informing people the water is closed because of rip currents. When beach conditions change, vendors place the flags right at the edge of the water, so you cant miss them. Every single area that they have a booth set up, they take the flags in at night, secure them for us, and then the next day, if they need to put them out, they put them out, Pease said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paying attention to the warning flags ensures everyones safety. We appreciate the first responders, the lifeguards, but we dont want them to have to be out here in this double red flag. You know, its not safe for them, and its not fair, so just just pay attention to the flags, Johnson said. Okaloosa County resident arrested for child molestation Violators can face $500 fines and even jail time. This is the third year that Bay County Emergency Services has distributed the double-red shoreline flags. Vendors say the system has been effective. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) Pres. Donald Trumps border czar Tom Homan made his first official trip to Albany on Wednesday, joining state republicans in advocating for stronger immigration policies while criticizing the states sanctuary stance. Homan visited the New York State Capitol to advocate for Lakens Law as well as repealing New Yorks Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to get a drivers license. Lakens Law would require law enforcement to collaborate with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) officials, which goes against New Yorks current sanctuary policies. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sanctuary cities are gonna get exactly what they dont want more agents in the community and more collateral arrests because you have forced us into the community because you have failed to let us in the jail, he said. His speech was met with fierce opposition from protestors, who were stopped by New York State Police as Homan made his way out of the Capitol. They yelled at him as he walked by: You are not welcome in New York! You stay away from immigration! Stay away from our community! Stay out of New York! Democratic lawmakers and immigrant advocate groups also spoke at the Capitol on Wednesday. They said Homan is using scare tactics to villainize migrants. They also called for the passage of new bills that would expand immigrant protections in New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are gonna bring people together. We know that people need help, and we are here to provide it, NYS Sen. Michael Gianaris (D, Queens) said. And we are certainly not going to demonize the immigrant community in New York State, or anywhere in this country, who have contributed so much. New York has been and will always be a sanctuary for those seeking a better life, Task Force on New Americans Committee Chair Phara Souffrant Forrest said. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against New York State in February over the Green Light Law. Federal officials claim it violates the Constitution and puts state laws over federal laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the first 50 days of the Trump administration, more than 32,000 migrants, who are accused of being in the United States illegally, have been arrested by ICE, according to a senior ICE official. The official also stated ICE has maxed out its space in detention facilities. Homans visit comes as a new Emerson College Poll revealed that 48 percent of nationwide voters approve of Trumps handling of immigration policies. Pollsters said voters who took part were the most supportive of this policy compared to others such as the economy. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. A brawl broke out in an Argentinian parliament session during a crypto scandal debate on Wednesday, 12 March. The fight occurred after lawmakers decided to debate an investigation into a $LIBRA cryptocurrency scandal linked to Javier Milei. The president promoted the cryptocurrency in an X post on 14 February. Its value surged but quickly collapsed, leaving investors with a loss of around $250m. Two legislators from opposing parties, Oscar Zago from Movimiento de Integracion y Desarrollo and Lisandro Almiron from LLA, began to push and scream at each other. The altercation was broken up by other politicians and Martin Menem, the president of the chamber of deputies, was forced to end the session prematurely. The News Brazil cut through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest to build a new four-lane highway for this years UN climate conference. Conservationists expressed outrage at the projects environmental impact, with some questioning the governments green credentials, the BBC reported. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made protecting the Amazon a key pledge of his campaign to oust his right-wing predecessor, under whom deforestation soared, with the upcoming COP30 summit in Belem intended to showcase the governments efforts. However despite a recent fall in deforestation, 6,000 km2 were estimated to have been cut down last year. SAO PAULO (Reuters) -A panel of five judges on Brazil's Supreme Court will gather on March 25 to decide whether they will accept or deny charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for an alleged coup attempt, the court said on Thursday. Last month, prosecutor General Paulo Gonet charged the far-right firebrand with leading a plot to overthrow the government and undermine the country's democracy after his 2022 election loss. If the charges are accepted, Bolsonaro will then become a defendant and face a trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Apart from Bolsonaro, Supreme Court will also weigh on March 25 accepting charges against some of his allies, including former ministers of his government. Bolsonaro and his lawyers have said he never supported any movement aimed at dismantling Brazil's democratic rule of law or the institutions that uphold it. (Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle) BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- As a crucial platform for the government to promote high-level opening-up, China's pilot free trade zones (FTZs) have introduced pioneering reforms to create a first-class business environment characterized by market-oriented practices, rule of law and internationalization, providing robust support for foreign enterprises operating in China, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. In terms of market access, the pilot FTZs have introduced a negative list for foreign investment and a negative list for cross-border service trade, while further opening-up arrangements have been made in sectors such as value-added telecommunications, commercial services, finance and culture, the spokesperson said. To align with international high-standard economic and trade rules, the ministry has introduced over 110 pilot measures and supported eligible FTZs and the Hainan Free Trade Port to engage with frameworks such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, the spokesperson said. In 2024, the 22 FTZs attracted 28.25 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment in actual use, accounting for 24.3 percent of the country's total, the spokesperson said. China established its first pilot FTZ in Shanghai in 2013, with the major mission of trialing transformative reforms in government functions, the country's financial system, trade services, foreign investment and taxation, as well as pilot policies that could later be applied across the country. Russia is ready to agree to the U.S.-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 13. Speaking at a press conference with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said that the end of hostilities should "address the original causes of the crisis," parroting the Kremlin's long-standing narrative about its all-out war against Ukraine. His remarks could suggest Russia's maximalist demands towards Kyiv, including territorial concession and Ukraine's neutrality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington during the talks in Jeddah on March 11, provided that Russia did as well. The talks in Saudi Arabia also led to the U.S. restarting key military and intelligence support for Ukraine, which had been halted last week. "The idea itself is good, and we support it, but there are a number of issues that need to be discussed," Putin said. According to Putin, the proposed temporary truce must be designed in a way that it can lead to long-term peace. He said that Russia wants guarantees that Ukraine will not mobilize or train soldiers, nor receive weapons during the 30-day ceasefire. Putin also mentioned Russia's breakthrough in Kursk Oblast, claiming that the ceasefire would be beneficial for Ukraine. Moscow claimed on March 12 to have retaken over 86% of seized territories in the region, including a key town of Sudzha, captured by Ukrainian troops at the start of the Kursk incursion in August 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the "difficult situation" in the region but said that Ukraine will hold the defenses "as long as reasonable and necessary." Putin said that preparations for the ceasefire require further talks, including a conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump said that Putin's statement was "very promising" but "wasnt complete," adding he is willing to meet with the Russian president. Later in the day, Putin is expected to meet with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier on March 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is trying to delay peace for as long as possible, given the lack of its clear position on the proposed truce. Read also: Kyiv sees no surprises as Russia signals its rejection of US-backed ceasefire proposal Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Doves were released at a memorial service Thursday night at Rosa Parks Circle to honor Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police five years ago in Louisville. The dove release and family-friendly event was meant to spark conversations between the community and law enforcement regarding future policy and practices, said Dee Dee Taylor, Breonna Taylors older sister. When I first began this journey, I had two options: Either I get through the normal way, which is rioting and anger and all the crazy things that were happening around it as far as protesting, she said. Or I could use all that pain and create purpose. And thats what I chose to do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Breonna Taylors sister: Former officers conviction sparks hope for continued change Breonna Taylor, a Grand Rapids native, died during a botched police raid in Louisville, Kentucky in 2020. Police were executing a no-knock search warrant when her boyfriend shot at police, thinking they were intruders. Officers fired back and stuck Breonna Taylor multiple times. No, thats not possible. Were too young. We have a lot of life to live. This is not true, were just some of the thoughts going through Dee Dee Taylors head when she got the call about her sisters death. When it first began, we werent sure if anyone would be held accountable for this because it took such a long time for those law enforcers to be fired, Dee Dee Taylor said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Five years later, one of the officers involved in the shooting is scheduled to be sentenced next month. Additionally, Louisville has banned the use of no-knock warrants and Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom has pledged they wont be used in Grand Rapids. Justice is accountability to me, Dee Dee Taylor said. I dont want a person to suffer or rot or be mistreated inside of jail. But I do want a person to understand that theres consequences to their actions, in whatever way that looks like. Former Kentucky officer convicted for using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during deadly raid Since her sisters death, Dee Dee Taylor has founded the nonprofit Taylor Made Re-Entry, a nonpartisan operation that works to bridge the gap between community, police departments and those recently released from prison and jail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are inside jails and prisons and juvenile detention centers six months to a year before an individual is released to [teach] hard skills, soft skills, mental health skills, she said. The organization also participates in police training and higher-level education that influences future policy. Thursdays memorial was open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Briar Cliff University held the inauguration for their 13th president on Wednesday. Last June, Briar Cliff University announced that they had chosen Dr. Matthew Draud as their 13th president. Draud was chosen for the position on June 11, 2024, and has been handling presidential responsibilities since July 1, 2024. South Sioux City School Board approves special election on $127M school bond Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Briar Cliff University says that Dr. Draud brings 20 years of administrative experience with him. As we look ahead to our centennial in 2030, I commit to building a Briar CLiff University that is stronger, more innovative, and more impactful than ever before, Draud said. I commit to education as a force for good in the world. The work ahead will not always be easy, but neither was it for our founding Sisters. Like them, we will move forward with courage, with creativity, and with an unwavering commitment to our mission. As St. Francis calls us, we must start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly we will be doing the impossible. Briar Cliff University said that they are looking forward to Dr. Drauds leadership and what the new era will bring. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart gave her last State of the City address on Wednesday. Stewart announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election for mayor. On Wednesday, she talked about what she has been able to accomplish during her time in office and is calling for the community to come together and have their voices heard when the new mayor takes office. Stewart said that shes exploring a run for governor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) Brookhaven Elementary School rolled out the red carpet on Wednesday for its third Evening of the Arts, an exciting community celebration that showcased the power of creativity and artistic expression. This free event invited families, students, and neighbors to come together for a night full of inspiring visual and performing arts. Were working on a giant Brook Trout sculpture/painting that is going to be about 16 feet long, Brookhaven Elementary School Art Teacher Jason Jaros said. It will be something that these kids can look at and remember this experience for a long time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Morrisey announces creation of Tourism Works program Attendees had the chance to leave their mark on a collaborative community art project, which will serve as a lasting tribute to the events spirit of creativity and connection. This unique piece of art will be proudly displayed in the Brookhaven Cafeteria later this spring, offering a visual reminder of the shared artistic journey. I think that the arts isis crucial for a well-rounded education. These kids have a chance to come in here and, you know, look at problems and things that have more than one right answer. So, it gives them a chance to express themselves, Jaros said. Students at Brookhaven Elementary have raised rainbow trout from eggs as part of the Trout in the Classroom project, a collaboration with WVU and Trout Unlimited. The trout eggs were supplied by the fish hatchery in Bowden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guests were also treated to a diverse array of performances, interactive art exhibits, and hands-on workshops for all ages. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. NEW YORK Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are looking to extradite six men arrested in Colombia for a scheme to smuggle tons of cocaine using semi-submersible narco sub vessels. The six suspects, who were indicted in November, were all arrested in Colombia on Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced. The suspects led an international crew of drug smugglers who specialized in building self-propelled submersible vessels in remote parts of Colombia and South America, according to the feds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They sought investors to finance multi-ton smuggling expeditions, hired workers and engineers to build their vessels, and scouted out routes in advance by sending out fishing boats to keep an eye out for authorities, the feds allege. The drugs came from Colombia, and the vessels traveled to Central America and parts of Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, the feds allege. The cocaines ultimate destination was the U.S., prosecutors allege. Investigators working for federal and international task forces caught wind of the plan through intercepted phone calls and other intel, and seized two vessels one with more than 2,300 kilos, or 5,070 pounds, of cocaine on June 27, 2023, and the other with about 3,300 kilos, or about 7,275 pounds, on Oct. 7, 2023, the feds said. The Colombian Navy announced last year it had seized 24 narco subs in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With todays arrests, the defendants conspiracy has been torpedoed. The United States will not tolerate the export and distribution of dangerous drugs into our homeland, U.S. Attorney John Durham said Thursday. The suspects face Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and international cocaine distribution conspiracy charges, and face a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars, and a maximum of life if theyre convicted. The Brooklyn U.S. attorneys office has handled several high-profile international drug smuggling and cartel cases in recent years, winning guilty verdicts against Joaquin El Chapo Guzman in 2019 and Genaro Garcia Luna, Mexicos former top cop, in a 2023 corruption trial. _____ Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are looking to extradite six men arrested in Colombia for a scheme to smuggle tons of cocaine using semi-submersible narco sub vessels. The six suspects, who were indicted in November, were all arrested in Colombia on Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced. The suspects led an international crew of drug smugglers who specialized in building self-propelled submersible vessels in remote parts of Colombia and South America, according to the feds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They sought investors to finance multi-ton smuggling expeditions, hired workers and engineers to build their vessels, and scouted out routes in advance by sending out fishing boats to keep an eye out for authorities, the feds allege. The drugs came from Colombia, and the vessels traveled to Central America and parts of Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, the feds allege. The cocaines ultimate destination was the U.S., prosecutors allege. Investigators working for federal and international task forces caught wind of the plan through intercepted phone calls and other intel, and seized two vessels one with more than 2,300 kilos of cocaine on June 27, 2023, and the other with about 3,300 kilos on Oct. 7, 2023, the feds said. The Colombian Navy announced last year it had seized 24 narco subs in 2023. Authorities in Colombia said theyd Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With todays arrests, the defendants conspiracy has been torpedoed. The United States will not tolerate the export and distribution of dangerous drugs into our homeland, U.S. Attorney John Durham said Thursday. The suspects face Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and international cocaine distribution conspiracy charges, and face a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars, and a maximum of life if theyre convicted. The Brooklyn U.S. attorneys office has handled several high-profile international drug smuggling and cartel cases in recent years, winning guilty verdicts against Joaquin El Chapo Guzman in 2019 and Genaro Garcia Luna, Mexicos former top cop, in a 2023 corruption trial. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn perform onstage at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas. - Credit: Gilbert Flores/Billboard Brooks & Dunn has postponed a concert at the United Supermarkets Arena following an explosion at Texas Tech University. On Thursday, the band reposted a Texas Tech statement confirming that their Thursday show would be postponed to March 20 after the campus was on alert the night prior. Brooks & Dunns performance at United Supermarkets Arena originally scheduled for tonight, March 13, has been rescheduled for Thursday, March 20, due to the events on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, on Wednesday, March 12, read the statement. More from Rolling Stone Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the post, fans who had previously purchased tickets to see Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn will be able to use them on the new date. Fans were also allowed to request refunds at the point of purchase if unable to attend, while new tickets were also made available. Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec sent an email to students and their families Wednesday night confirming that a manhole tunnel explosion caused a fire to spread on the campus, leading to outages in different areas of the school. Electricity and gas were shut down across both the Texas Tech and Health Sciences Center campuses in Lubbock to keep the fire from spreading further, read the Wednesday statement. The fire was successfully extinguished Wednesday evening. Brooks & Dunn is scheduled to perform at Austins Moody Center on Friday and Corpus Christis American Bank Center on Saturday before returning to Lubbock next week. The group is set to continue their Neon Moon Tours first leg through late April. The tour is named after their 1992 hit of the same name. Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School students got a glimpse into their futures during the Career Exploration Extravaganza, an event designed to help students explore potential career paths. While most middle school students are unsure of their future career plans, events like this provide valuable insights into different professions. Organized by the schools career class, the event featured more than 30 local businesses and organizations, each setting up booths to explain their respective industries and career opportunities. We want to give these kids lots of different options so they can start thinking about their paths and getting the education they need to pursue their goals, said Samantha Leput, Principal of Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School. Whether theyre interested in the military, technical education, college, or going straight into the workforce, we want to prepare them as best as we can. At this stage, they may not know what they want to do, but were here to help guide them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cicadas returning to West Virginia in 2025: What counties will see them? Among the vendors at the event were local law enforcement, homeland security, NASA, a locksmith, and WBOY 12 News, offering students a broad range of career possibilities to consider. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. by Fayez Elzaki KHARTOUM, March 13 (Xinhua) -- In front of his small store in the Um Dawanban area, east of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Mubarak Abdul-Salam has put up simple decorations -- colorful, illuminated crescents and moons -- to mark the arrival of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Forced to flee his home in Ed Hussein, southern Khartoum, Abdul-Salam resettled in Um Dawanban, where he opened a small grocery store. Yet in this new place, the scars of war are still everywhere: Charred buildings, bullet-riddled walls and rubble-strewn streets stand as stark reminders of the recent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). "Even though sadness weighs heavily on us, we try to bring some joy and remind people of the spiritual significance of Ramadan," said Abdul-Salam, his voice tinged with sorrow as he sorted goods on the shelves. Customers are scarce, scared by the war as well as soaring prices. According to Abdul-Salam, a sack of millet now costs 200,000 Sudanese pounds (roughly 80 U.S. dollars on the parallel market), up from 40,000 before the war erupted in mid-April 2023. The price of a sack of maize has soared from 30,000 pounds in 2023 to 150,000 pounds, while sugar now costs 2,500 pounds per kg, up from 600. Cooking oil has also skyrocketed to 5,000 pounds per liter from just 1,200. The sharp depreciation of the Sudanese pound has further worsened living conditions. One U.S. dollar now trades for 2,500 pounds on the black market, compared to around 580 pounds before the conflict began. With Ramadan underway, markets in Port Sudan, now the country's commercial hub, remain subdued, with fewer shops offering traditional products. Time-honored Ramadan traditions have all but disappeared. The usual processions, storefront decorations, and the "El Mesaharaty" -- drummers waking people for the pre-dawn meal -- are absent due to security concerns and curfews. "The atmosphere of Ramadan here is completely different from what we were used to in Khartoum," said 35-year-old Khalid Hassan, attributing the change to war, insecurity and economic hardship. "I feel deeply saddened by our economic situation, which has prevented us from preparing for Ramadan as we once did. It is part of our traditions and values," said 50-year-old Faiza Al-Nour, who was displaced from southern Khartoum in June 2023 and now resides in a shelter in south Port Sudan. "I'm roasting one kilogram of coffee beans because I couldn't afford more," she said, sitting on a wooden stool as she stirred the roasting beans. In November 2024, Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission reported that 28.9 million people in Sudan needed humanitarian assistance due to the ongoing war. By January 2025, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had raised that figure to 30.4 million. Sudan's economy has been in freefall. The Ministry of Finance said in May 2024 that key productive sectors were paralyzed, exports had halted, the national currency devalued, and government revenues plunged by 80 percent. Since then, no further updates have been provided on the full extent of the war's economic toll. The conflict has not only disrupted the flow of imported goods but also hindered the transportation of local agricultural products, exacerbating food insecurity. "During last year's mango harvest season, crops were damaged in several areas because producers could not get their products to the main markets," said Abdul-Qadir Abdoun, a member of the Northern Sudan Farmers' Union. "There are increasing difficulties due to the war, particularly the separation of production areas from major markets because of insecurity, road closures and high transportation costs," he explained. According to Abdoun, northern Sudanese farmers suffered heavy losses earlier this year when they couldn't transport their potato harvest to major markets due to soaring transportation costs. As a result, they could only sell their crops locally at prices too low to cover production costs. ROME (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 hit near the southern Italian city of Naples early on Thursday, damaging buildings and causing locals to flee into the streets. The earthquake occurred at 1:25 a.m. (0025 GMT) with its epicentre near the coastal town of Pozzuoli, located west of Naples, according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). The temblor, of the same magnitude as one that occurred last May, was the strongest since the early 1980s, when a long string of seismic events sowed damage and panic in the same area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although small earthquakes are frequent in the densely populated area situated close to the Campi Flegrei super volcano, locals confirmed that this was one of the most severe in recent years. "I was sleeping, and suddenly I heard a terrible bang, I had never heard one so loud," said Raffaele Cipollano. "It was a very bad moment. Then of course when I got up I turned on the lights and saw that my house is full of cracks, there are cracks everywhere," he added. Emergency teams rescued one person from the rubble of a partially collapsed house, authorities confirmed. Several minor aftershocks were felt in the region, intensifying concerns among residents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some people forced open a gate at a former NATO base in Bagnoli in order to seek refuge. Power outages were reported in parts of Naples, and many families chose to remain outdoors or in their vehicles overnight, fearing further tremors. Earthquakes are fairly frequent in Italy. In the region comprising Naples, the most serious in recent times was one of magnitude 6.9 that occurred in November 1980 in the Irpinia area, killing some 2,734 people, injuring more than 8,800 and destroying more than 300 municipalities. (Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise Armellini) (Bloomberg) -- Bulgarias government has a razor-thin majority after a court-mandated recount of Octobers election results added another party to an already fragmented parliament. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Balkan country has long been locked in a political crisis, which seven elections in four years have failed to resolve. The newly-appointed cabinet, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissovs Gerb party, now relies on 121 votes in the 240-member assembly, down from 126. Weakening the governing coalition could push Bulgaria closer toward yet another vote and undermine public faith in the electoral process. That risks dashing hopes for political stability in the EUs poorest member, as well as potentially its aspirations for joining the euro area. If a government is only focused on its survival, it wont achieve anything, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev told reporters in Sofia on Thursday. Borissov, who lost his political dominance after more than a decade following mass anti-graft protests in 2021, won Octobers snap vote by a large margin, but fell short of securing a majority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several parties appealed the result, and the Constitutional Court ordered a re-calculation at the national level last month after discovering multiple violations and discrepancies between electoral reports and the number of ballots counted in a sample of polling stations. That led to a shift in the parties share of seats in parliament, resulting in the dismissal of 16 lawmakers from across the political spectrum. The court ruled that Greatness a small anti-establishment nationalist party that missed the threshold in October by just 21 votes will have 10 seats in parliament. The new layout could make it hard for Borissovs cabinet to pass any reforms. It could also hinder Bulgarias efforts to adopt the euro early next year a goal for multiple governments that has faced setbacks for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Borissov said that joining the euro area was his single strategic goal for Bulgaria. His opponents aimed to disrupt his efforts by bringing chaos through questioning Octobers election results, he told reporters on Thursday before the courts decision. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man is accused of breaking into several auto parts stores over several weeks and stealing carts full of batteries. Fred Taylor, 41, was arrested Wednesday and charged with three counts of Burglary to a Business, Theft of Property $2,500 to $10,000, Evading Arrest in a Vehicle, and Reckless Driving. His bond has not been set. His court date has not been scheduled. Fred Taylor_Mugshot (MPD) According to police, Taylor was wearing a blue mechanic jacket and pants, a reflective undershirt, boots, and a black face mask when he broke into the business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Memphis shelter deals with second outbreak of canine distemper On Mar. 11, at 12:57 a.m., officers responded to a business burglary at OReilly Auto Parts at 1049 Frayser Boulevard. Police were told that the suspect entered the business by prying open a rear door. He stole 10 batteries worth over $2,000. On Feb. 12, at 2:10 a.m., police responded to a business burglary at OReilly Auto Parts at 1049 Frayser Boulevard. Officers were told that a male suspect forced entry through the same rear door as before and stole 11 batteries valued at over $2,000. On Feb. 28, at 12:34 a.m., officers responded to a business burglary at AutoZone at 4394 Summer Avenue. They were told a rear door was pried open, and 13 batteries were stolen from the business. The value of the batteries was almost $4,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TN farmers, local food bank brace for $1B in federal cuts Police said that video surveillance in the area captured Taylors vehicle, a silver Infiniti M35 with a mismatched front passenger door and a distinct deformity to the rear passenger fender. According to reports, while police made the scene of the burglary, the Austin Peay Task Force observed a vehicle matching the description of the car caught on camera traveling south on Overton Crossing. MPD said that they initiated a traffic stop, but the car refused to stop and evaded at a high rate of speed, running a red light. Officers did not pursue the Infiniti. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Worker dead after apparent fall at Arlington warehouse Reports say the Tennessee Highway Patrol Aviation Unit helped track the vehicle as it fled. The car stopped in the 700 block of Persons, and police attempted to detain the male. The male re-entered his vehicle and fled. THP aviation continued to track the vehicle until it stopped in the 2200 block of East Holmes, where the suspect was taken into custody without incident. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) Sevier County, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Pittman Center, and Sevierville have issued a burn ban until further notice. The burn ban was issued Thursday afternoon, amid dry conditions, exceptionally low relative humidity, forecasted high winds and very high fire danger, Sevier County EMA reported. The Great Smoky Mountains, including a portion of Sevier County, will be under a high wind watch, with winds between 25 to 40 miles per hour and gusts of up to 80 miles per hour possible, from 8 p.m. Friday through 2 a.m. Saturday. Sevier County residents hail firefighters who quickly contained 67-acre blaze Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the burn ban, all outdoor burning is prohibited, including burning in barrels, outdoor wood-burning fire pits, and charcoal grills. Gas grills and gas fire pits are still permitted, a Sevier County Government spokesperson said. With leaves, limbs, and other debris having a tendency to pile up during the winter and fall, please take this time to prepare your homes and properties by removing this debris from around your house, Gatlinburg Fire Chief Charlie Cole said. Sevier County residents and visitors are also encouraged to sign up for CodeRED safety alerts at https://sevierema.org/ or by downloading the CodeRED Mobile Alert app. Crews fought 200-acre wildfire in Caryville Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The burn ban comes just a day after firefighters contained a 67-acre fire in a grassy area just east of Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. Residents who lived near the fire praised firefighters for their quick response, who quickly contained the fire. A fire ban was also implemented in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Thursday, with the park saying the ban would be in place until further notice. As conditions continue to develop, find the latest forecast on the Storm Team 6 Weather Blog, and the latest weather alerts on the WATE Weather Alerts page. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. Business leaders in Annapolis said a proposed tax on services makes the state less business-friendly. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.) Business owners gathered in Annapolis on Wednesday said they are tired of being villainized by the same lawmakers who view them as a source of easy money. For the second consecutive year, business owners arrived at the state capitol to oppose a proposal to impose a sales tax on services. The late-filed, pared down proposal would raise as much at $940 million next year and $1.4 billion by fiscal 2030 by imposing a 2.5% sales tax on services provided by a specific set of businesses to other businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They aired their grievances over the course of a day that began with a late-morning news conference followed by hours of testimony before House and Senate committees where more than 400 businesses signed up in opposition. One of the most frustrating aspects of this debate is hearing legislators refer to businesses as bad actors, or stating that theyre not paying their fair share, said Kimberly Prescott, founder and president of Columbia-based Prescott HR, at the morning event. Let me be clear: The businesses that I work with are not bad actors, she said. Theyre hard-working employers that do the right thing for their employees and their communities. This kind of rhetoric discourages business owners from staying in Maryland, let alone expanding here. Prescott HR founder Kimberly Prescott said lawmakers calling small business owners bad actors makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to want to stay and grow in Maryland. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters) Prescott and others said businesses are at a breaking point. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In recent years, theyve weathered a pandemic. The state has increased the minimum wage and imposed mandates for paid leave and other programs. Many of those mandates require professional services to ensure compliance the same services targeted by the proposed tax, said Rebekah Olson, CEO of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants. This bill is a tax on compliance itself, Olson said. Hiring a CPA to ensure youre meeting your tax obligation? Now taxed. Paying for payroll services to ensure your employees are paid appropriately and on time? Taxed. Bringing in a consultant and new software to actually implement this very bill? Now taxed. Mary D. Kane, president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, said the bill is yet another hurdle thrown up by lawmakers. Instead of creating opportunities for businesses to recover and grow, the state is continually using them as their ATM machine, Kane said. This is our moment because weve been taxed enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Department of Legislative Services analysis released Tuesday said that House Bill 1554, sponsored by Del. David Moon (D-Montgomery), and the identical Senate Bill 1045, sponsored by Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), highlighted 12 services that would be hit by the new tax, raising $940 million in fiscal 2026. Tech services and consulting account for 66% of the total in the first year, the analysis said. Both the House and Senate hearings Wednesday featured moments of tension and drama. Moon said the bill is one option to address the states ballooning budget deficits: The state faces a projected $3 billion gap for fiscal 2026, which doubles to more than $6 billion in fiscal 2030. And those estimates came before President Donald Trumps administration began its sustained, rapid-fire series of cuts of federal spending and employment. Maryland stands to lose more than any other state as a result of Trump administration cuts, Moodys Ratings reported this week. Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said those cuts could spark a Maryland recession. Rebekah Olson, a certified public accountant and CEO of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters) Lawmakers have less than four weeks to craft a state spending plan, even as they brace for more federal budget and a potential shutdown. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This sucks, right? said Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Were here in this position not because of what were doing but rather because of the consequences of an administration in D.C. The crowd objected, with many speaking over Vogel, saying No and preventing him from finishing the sentence. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard) gaveled the session back to order, calling for attendees to restrain themselves or be removed. Moon, while testifying on his bill, turned at one point to speak to an audience filled with business owners, many of whom clearly favored a budget solution involving cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To the folks that were just groaning: I feel that groaning I totally get it, Moon said. Atterbeary asked him to not address the crowd, but Moon continued, saying that lawmakers are also making billions in cuts. I promise you we are doing billions in cuts. I promise it. Theyre slowing the Blueprint [education reform plan]. Theres billions in cuts. More are coming. We have to make a decision with what to do with whats left, he said. The unemployment rolls are doubling by the moment. Its going to be folks employees and contractors coming through the system. We know that for a fact. The $280 $350 million [revenue reduction] that was announced by the Board or Revenue Estimates was a floor. Its a floor. It was not factoring in whatsoever any private sector cuts, Moon said. Big cuts are coming to Maryland, rest assured. In the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, Vice Chair Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince Georges and Anne Arundel) sparked a tense exchange with the owner of a small IT business when, after hearing from a panel of opponents, he asked for suggestions to balance the budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we dont do this [service tax], we need to come up with about $1 billion in cuts beyond what the governor has proposed or other revenue, Rosapepe said. So, Id appreciate to know what billion-dollar revenue source would you suggest we substitute for or what billion dollars of cuts youd suggest. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Darren Clark, owner of Clark Computer Services, said the sales tax proposal would stifle small businesses. Youre doing a transaction versus thinking long term, Clark said. With all due respect, we are thinking long term, Rosapepe replied. Rosapepe later said he would not ask again, but left the question open for opponents to answer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im asking all the witnesses if they dont want this I personally would like specific suggestions of alternative revenue sources or cuts, Rosapepe said. I think if you were sitting in my business with 40 employees you might have to start letting go, youd think a lot differently, Clark said. But youre sitting up on your perch and youre thinking this is easy. Most of us are operating on thin margins already. Youre going to make it worse. It was at that point, Senate Budget and Taxation Chair Sen. Guy Guzzone (D-Howard) ended the exchange. Were going to move on, Guzzone said. Pete Buttigieg is expected to announce Thursday he will not run for Michigans open Senate seat, according to a person briefed on his decision, clearing a path for a potential presidential campaign instead. His decision was framed by several allies and people in his inner circle as putting him in the strongest possible position to seek the presidency, and based on a belief it would be exceedingly difficult to run successive campaigns in 2026 and 2028. The former Transportation secretary acknowledged recently he had been looking at a Senate campaign, including meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss the possibility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats are scrambling to hold onto the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters in a crucial swing state. Republicans see it as a top pickup opportunity after coming close to flipping the states other Senate seat last cycle. Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020, moved back to Traverse City, Michigan, with his young family, after four years of working in former President Joe Biden's Cabinet. The workload of Cabinet-related travel and the prospect of starting a campaign soon after weighed in his calculus, people close to him said. Before opting out of a Senate run, Buttigieg also ruled out a run for Michigan governor. Polling indicated that had he run, he wouldve started in a dominant position in a primary. The hardest decision in politics is to pass on a race you have a very good chance to win, said David Axelrod, the longtime Democratic operative who helped lead Barack Obamas presidential campaigns, and a mentor to Buttigieg who spoke with him Wednesday. Pete was an A-list recruit and would have been a formidable candidate for the Senate had he chosen to run. But had he won in '26, it would almost certainly have taken him out of the conversation for '28. This certainly keeps that option open. Beyond that, I have a sense that he wanted to spend more time with his family, and with people in communities like his, where the conversations and concerns are so different than the ones you hear in the echo chamber of Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Buttigieg's decision reshapes the Senate primary for a seat Democrats are desperate to hold after President Donald Trump won Michigan in November. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow told fellow Michigan Democrats she will run for the seat. And Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) has taken steps toward a Senate run, including hiring staff. He wanted to decide quickly enough to give other folks a chance to mobilize if they wanted to run, said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who talked with Buttigieg several times as he made up his mind. He handled it responsibly. Hes a rising star in the Democratic Party. Now Buttigieg is eyeing another presidential run in 2028, a contest that sees him polling behind only his partys most recent standard bearer, former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is weighing a potential gubernatorial bid in California. He also has maintained a robust fundraising network in the party, having raised more than $15 million for the Harris-Walz campaign last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If he runs for president, Buttigieg could be hampered by his involvement in an unpopular Biden administration. But there are other factors in the post-2024 landscape that could favor him. At a time when the Democratic Party is searching for new ways and places to reach voters, Buttigieg has long made those efforts central to his political project. As he considers a run, hes started to become more visible in recent days, something a person familiar with his strategy said will continue. In the last week alone, he joined "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," hosted a Bluesky ask-me-anything and an Instagram chat with Paul Rieckhoff, an independent veteran advocate and host of a weekly news show. The two talked about Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiencys cuts to the Department of Veteran Affairs. We need you now more than ever, Rieckhoff, who spoke about Buttigieg running for president, told Buttigieg. Nicholas Wu contributed to this report. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) Illinois House of Representatives Assistant Minority Leader John Cabello is speaking out against a bill that would allow a person who attacks a police officer to claim mental health as a defense. The House bill hopes to amend the Criminal Code of 2012. The proposal would allow people to say they were having a mental health episode as a defense for aggravated battery of an officer. The defense would be used if an officer responded to an incident in which the officer interacted with a person whom an officer could believe was having a mental health episode and the person has a documented mental illness and acted abruptly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cabello said the bill undermines officers and supports criminals. Time and time again, we see Democrats claim they support law enforcement, while their policies tell a different story, said Rep. Cabello. Instead of giving police the tools they need to fight crime, they push laws that make their jobs harder and put criminals first. Cabello explained he feels using mental health as a defense for violent behavior undermines mental health issues as a whole. Let me be clear: Excusing bad and violent behavior under the guise of mental health is totally inappropriate, said Cabello. This idea puts officers at greater risk, dismisses the seriousness of mental health, and makes law enforcements job even tougher Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representatives Kelly Cassidy and Marcus Evans Jr. were added as co-sponsors to the bill on March 4th. Representative Lisa Davis proposed the bill on February 7th. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. California on Thursday joined a multistate coalition of Democrat-led states in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its sweeping layoffs across the Education Department. The coalition argues that the Trump administration cannot abolish the Department of Education and cannot disrupt or override through the mass firings of employees or otherwise the statutory functions and programs that fall under its purview. The suit also states that only Congress has the power to close the department or dismantle its core work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement California, other states sue Trump administration over key federal research funds The Trump Administration ignores the invaluable role the Department of Education plays in ensuring the health, safety, and education of our children administering programs that assist children from low-income families, providing vocational training, and enforcing anti-discrimination laws, among countless other responsibilities fundamental to our educational system, Attorney General Bonta said in a statement. Dismantling the Department of Education from within would have catastrophic consequences and like many of the Trump Administrations actions since taking office, is blatantly illegal. The federal suit was filed in a federal district court in Massachusetts. California is joined by 19 other states, including Arizona, Colorado and New York, in filing the lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his time on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly said he wanted to shut the department down, calling it wasteful and overly influenced by liberal thinking. This week, the Trump Administration began dismantling the Department of Education, laying off about half of the agencys workforce. The suit asks a judge to order a stop to the layoffs, which are to take effect March 21. The staff reduction would leave 2,183 workers at the department, down from 4,133 in January. California receives an estimated $16.3 billion annually in federal funding for K-12 school students or about $2,750 per student; however, not all funds come from the Department of Education, according to the Los Angeles Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Newsom administration moves to extend emergency restrictions on hemp products with THC In higher education, the Education Department also handles student loans for 43 million borrowers who owe the government more than $1.5 trillion. Due to the layoffs, the departments Office for Civil Rights regional branch in San Francisco is closing. Other regional branches in New York, Boston, Dallas and Cleveland are also slated for closure. California is also suing the Trump administration over the mass firings of probationary federal workers, birthright citizenship and other issues. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. A California condor hatched and raised at the Los Angeles Zoo has died from lead poisoning just months after being released into the wild, a Northern California native tribe has announced. The young bird, known as Pey-noh-pey-o-wok (Spirit Bird), was part of the Yurok Tribes Northern California Condor Restoration Program and had been flying free in the wild for just over three months before its death in January. At only 18 months old, Pey-noh-pey-o-wok was the youngest condor in the Northern California flock and one of 18 birds reintroduced to Yurok ancestral lands since 2022. Pey-noh-pey-o-wok, a condor reintroduced into Northern California as part of a conservation program, is shown in this undated photo from the Yurok Tribe. The condor died in January 2025 from lead poisoning, officials said. The NCCRP delayed announcing the condors death until an official pathology report confirmed lead poisoning as the cause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A natural death would have been less painful for us, the humans watching as he started to flourish in the wild, said Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen. That his was human-caused and preventable is devastating. Lead poisoning remains the No. 1 cause of death for wild condors, accounting for nearly half of all known fatalities. Almost all cases stem from the ingestion of carrion (animal carcasses) contaminated by lead ammunition used for hunting game, livestock and vermin. A tiny lead bullet fragment is enough to kill not only a condor but also vultures and eagles, the Yurok Tribe wrote on social media. These important scavengers remove carcasses from the landscape and are critical in reducing the spread of disease in many game species. Pey-noh-pey-o-wok, or B7, a condor reintroduced into Northern California as part of a conservation program, is shown in this September 2024 photo from the Yurok Tribe. The condor was one of 18 free-flying condors released as part of the NCCRP program, a collaborative effort led by the Yurok Tribe in partnership with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The birds have been seen exploring large swaths of their historic range, from the Eel River in the south to the Smith River in the north, officials said. Despite the human-caused death of this bird, the Tribe continues to push forward with the goal of restoring condors to Northern California for the first time in more than a century. Death is part of work with wild animals, but his was hard as our first loss, said Chris West, program manager and Yurok Tribe senior biologist. Thankfully, we have 17 other amazing birds in our flock carrying our hopes. The Yurok Tribe is the largest federally recognized Indigenous group in California with ancestral land in Northern California, in parts of Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more information about the Northern California Condor Restoration Program and the Yurok Tribes conservation efforts for the species, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Passengers rescued by security forces arrive at a railway station in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. The Jaffar Express train, traveling from Balochistan's Quetta to northwest Peshawar city, was attacked on Tuesday by terrorists near Sibbi district, the ISPR said, adding that the terrorists, after blowing up the railway track, took control of the train and held the passengers hostage including women and children, using them as human shields. The ISPR said that security forces immediately responded to the situation, successfully eliminated all 33 terrorists including suicide bombers, while rescuing the hostages in a phased manner. However, during the stage of intense standoff, the terrorists took the lives of 21 innocent passengers before the commencement of clearance operation, said the ISPR, adding that four soldiers also lost their lives during the operation against the terrorists. A clearance operation is being conducted in the area and the "abettors of the cowardly and heinous act" will be brought to justice, said the ISPR. The ISPR said that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with the terrorists throughout the incident. "We expect the Afghan interim government to uphold its responsibilities and deny use of its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan," said the statement. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, and expressed their heartfelt grief and sorrow over the loss of civilians and security personnel, according to the statements from two leaders. The proscribed terrorist outfit Balochistan Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the attack. People are seen at a railway station in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) A security personnel stands guard on a road near a railway station in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) Passengers rescued by security forces arrive at a railway station in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) A security personnel stands guard on a road near a railway station in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) An injured passenger receives medical treatment at a hospital in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) An injured passenger receives medical treatment at a hospital in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) Paramedics transfer an injured passenger at a hospital in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Str/Xinhua) People attend a funeral for victims killed in a train attack in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) Ambulances carrying victims of a train attack arrive for a funeral in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) People attend a funeral for victims killed in a train attack in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) People attend a funeral for a victim killed in a train attack in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 13, 2025. Twenty-one passengers, four soldiers and 33 terrorists were killed after heavily armed terrorists attacked a passenger train and held scores hostage in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Wednesday night. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) SACRAMENTO, California California Democrats have a new approach to resisting President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, beyond sanctuary cities and thwarting ICE raids: data protection. State lawmakers fear, shared by civil liberties groups, is that the Trump administration could leverage massive caches of location data and other online personal information gathered by advertisers, mobile apps and data brokers to aid mass deportations or target people seeking gender-affirming care. Theyve authored a slate of bills this session to bolster the Golden States already robust privacy laws, hoping to keep Trump at bay and closing any loopholes that could let sensitive information fall into his administrations hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve seen how location and digital data can be weaponized to target immigrant communities, protesters, and others whose identities or actions run counter to certain political agendas, Assemblymember Chris Ward, a San Diego Democrat, told POLITICOs California Decoded newsletter in a statement. California Attorney General Rob Bonta who has emerged as a major player across blue states Trump resistance just this week announced his office is investigating businesses that appear to be breaking Californias rules for protecting location data, citing concerns about federal immigration policies. This location data is deeply personal, Bonta said in a statement Monday. Given the federal assaults on immigrant communities, as well as gender-affirming healthcare and abortion, businesses must take the responsibility to protect location data seriously. Bonta has vowed to defend Californias policies protecting undocumented immigrants from Trumps actions. And the president has already put California in his crosshairs: In January, he ordered his administration to cut off all federal money to immigration sanctuaries to the extent it legally can, which could yank billions of dollars away from some of the states largest cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement California immigrant rights groups have expressed similar concerns that data brokers sell personal information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement without asking for user consent, citing past reports that ICE has extensive purchasing contracts with data analytics firms like LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters. It really does seem like looking at technology and the use of information has been this sort of second frontier in terms of immigration enforcement, said Shiu-Ming Cheer, deputy director of immigrant and racial justice at the California Immigrant Policy Center. ICE earlier this week made its first arrest in a wider investigation aimed at identifying and deporting foreign students who appear to be pro-Hamas an effort the State Department has said will involve tracing attendance at anti-war protests, like the ones across California campuses. ICE did not respond to requests for comment. A State Department spokesperson said they use all available technology in visa screening and vetting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's really easy to see how all-powerful tech tools and data collection by private businesses could be weaponized by a government who is willing to go that far in targeting American citizens, Jonathan Mehta Stein, chair of the nonprofit California Initiative for Technology & Democracy, said in an interview. However, most people dont realize their devices and apps are sharing information about their precise location with third parties, state Sen. Josh Becker told POLITICO. Theyre establishing a vast surveillance network, Becker, a forceful advocate for data privacy in the Legislature, said of the Trump administration. Certainly I think theyre looking at all kinds of data sources. Data brokers could be one of them, and its a source that people dont know. The Menlo Park Democrat is carrying a bill this year that would require data brokers to publicly disclose whether they collect and sell sensitive information like immigration status, sexual orientation, union membership and government ID numbers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Becker has previously said his measure is "especially necessary now as we see the reality of mass deportations of immigrants and the targeting of the transgender community. Another bill by Ward would outright prohibit companies from selling location information to any third party, including federal agencies. Ward said that Trumps deportation plans were not the primary reason for introducing his bill but added that location data should never be sold to the highest bidder, especially when it can be used to surveil, intimidate, or punish people. Stein called Wards measure a really powerful solution for protecting data from government overreach. Meanwhile, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan is still finalizing a placeholder bill that promises to beef up privacy protections for patients seeking an abortion. Her measure includes a ban on geofencing, a device location tracking technology used by some data brokers that can identify when people enter and exit abortion clinics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bauer-Kahan didnt respond to a request for comment. She told POLITICO late last year that California needed more privacy safeguards for abortion patients in case Trump or Republicans in Congress passed laws restricting interstate abortion access. Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICOs California Decoded newsletter. SACRAMENTO, California Efforts to help struggling renters in Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires are hitting strong resistance and dividing California Democrats. An ambitious proposal to freeze rents in Los Angeles County is facing considerable skepticism in Sacramento. And the LA City Council already rejected a separate proposal for a citywide freeze amid concerns that it would devastate mom and pop landlords. I dont think that a rent freeze is the answer here, said Assemblymember Diane Papan, a moderate Bay Area Democrat, during a recent committee hearing on the new legislative proposal, which is still pending at the Capitol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The effort to tame rising rents is playing out in an area with some of the most expensive real estate in America and comes after similar standoffs between the powerful landlord lobby and tenants rights activists during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, renters, homeowners and business groups are all jockeying for resources in the wake of the fires, which burned tens of thousands of structures throughout Los Angeles County, straining the already-tight rental market. But renters advocates are quickly finding that the more expansive the proposal, the more politically fraught it becomes even in blue California, after entire neighborhoods were leveled by one of the costliest natural disasters in the nations history. Sometimes the path forward for bills, specifically for renters, has been narrow, said Assemblymember Matt Haney, a San Francisco Democrat who leads the legislative renters caucus. But it's there, and especially in this moment, when the concerns for vulnerable renters and homeowners post-fires and in the midst of a terrible housing squeeze are really top of mind. Haney added that the Legislature must directly address rents and home prices as part of its broader focus on affordability particularly now, in the fire-ravaged city. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Progressive City Council members in Los Angeles where 65 percent of residents are tenants couldnt get eviction safeguards or a rent freeze across the finish line, even after trying to narrow their proposal. The California Apartment Association, which has condemned illegally hiking rents after the disaster, pointed to the citys decision as it urged the state to follow suit. Why would you do this when the city said no? asked Debra Carlton of the Apartment Association in an interview. The city should know best. After council members rejected those proposals, they did temporarily ban landlords from evicting tenants while they complete renovations an effort dating back to last fall. Los Angeles County supervisors were able to pass a more limited set of fire-related renter policies, approving six months of eviction protections for low- and middle-income tenants whose livelihoods were affected by the disaster. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who wrote the policy, said she accepted some compromises to get it through enacting it for six months instead of a year and pledging to send rent relief dollars from a proposed fund directly to landlords instead of tenants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Horvath said it was shocking the City Council didnt pass its own set of policies to help renters after the fires. I understand that there are concerns because of fears from Covid, Horvath said. But you're leaving more than half of your population at risk if you don't do something. Average rent in Los Angeles County was more than $2,800 as of Jan. 31, according to Zillow more than $900 higher than the national average. The extent to which landlords have used the wildfire-impacted rental market to dramatically raise housing prices remains subject to debate. The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and other outlets reported spiking prices. Bryans bill analysis cites the Posts reporting, which says rents shot up by 20 percent in the county. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles refuted the publications analysis, saying instances of rent gouging are overblown. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tenant policy has been a thorny political challenge in California, where voters rejected a rent control expansion for the third time in November. Isaac Bryan, a state lawmaker representing Los Angeles, last week had to defend his Los Angeles County rent-freeze proposal from fellow Democrats critiques. They questioned whether it would disproportionately affect small landlords and if its enforcement mechanism a civil court process would be effective. The move, he argues, is necessary to prevent price-gouging in a housing market thrown into turmoil by the loss of more than 16,000 structures. We're talking about massive, unprecedented displacement, Bryan said in an interview. If the market had responded with open arms and opportunity, I think there'd be a different reaction. But instead, folks took crisis and then tried to squeeze people who have been experiencing this crisis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The California Legislature, which has historically included a sizable share of landlords, now has a renters caucus that has grown from three members to 11 since Bryan helped establish it in 2022. But, as Assembly Judiciary Chair Ash Kalra noted, lawmakers are still typically more receptive to bills addressing the needs of property owners, who tend to be more affluent and more likely to vote. A separate committee discussion on a mortgage forbearance proposal for fire-affected homeowners received far less resistance than the rent-freeze bill. Banking and real estate groups registered concern, but they didnt outright oppose the policy, and lawmakers expressed gratitude for the legislation. Fueling the opposition to new tenant laws is a set of programs Democrats enacted statewide and in Los Angeles to help renters during the Covid pandemic, including eviction protections for tenants paying at least 25 percent of their rent. Carlton said some small operators did not receive rent for years, and the state lost housing when they decided not to rent anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For years, landlords have blamed such policies for making it more cumbersome and less profitable to do business. In Los Angeles, some property owners were subject to a pandemic-era rent freeze that lasted until early 2024, which they said prevented them from being able to keep up with rising expenses. The Apartment Association and real estate interest groups have used those arguments as well as playing up the impact of statewide policies on non-corporate landlords to persuade Democratic leaders to avoid a repeat of the Covid-era experiment. Bryans rent freeze bill is running up against those concerns, which are colliding with rising insurance premiums and other cost pressures on landlords after the fires. That makes it a heavier legislative lift especially because it will require a two-thirds vote to take effect this year, requiring the vast majority of Democrats to get on board. Bryan will likely need to make significant concessions for his proposal to have a real chance of becoming law. There is this tension right now around who should bear that cost, said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a Bay Area Democrat, in committee. And it isnt clear to me that it should be a mom-and-pop landlord. Papan, another Democrat, floated a 5 percent rent cap as an alternative, which would still allow landlords to increase prices. California on Thursday joined Democratic-led states in suing the Trump administration, seeking to halt massive layoffs at the federal Department of Education, alleging the cuts amount to an illegal shutdown of its work to administer student loans, protect civil rights and help educate students from low-income families and students with disabilities. In the suit, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta alleged that staff reductions announced this week by Education Secretary Linda McMahon are a "reckless" attempt to follow through on President Trump's pledge to close the department by making it unable to carry out duties mandated by Congress. Bonta joined attorneys general representing 19 Democratic states and the District of Columbia in the complaint, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts. The Trump administration ordered layoffs that would leave the agency at about half the size it was before the president's inauguration. McMahon has called the reductions the "first step" in the department's "final mission" eliminating the agency. Trump has tasked McMahon with putting herself "out of a job," but faces challenges because he cannot formally shut down the department without congressional approval. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The layoffs, which are to take effect March 21, would leave 2,183 workers at the department, down from 4,133 in January. About 600 employees previously left after accepting voluntary resignation offers. Read more: Trump guts the Education Department with massive layoffs; shock waves reach California The suit accused the administration of violating the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, which regulates executive branch rulemaking. In a statement Thursday, an Education Department spokeswoman said the cuts were legally made, "internal-facing" and would not "directly" hit students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states. The Department of Educations reduction in force was implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws," said Madi Biedermann, the department's deputy assistant secretary for communications. "They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families." Biedermann said no employees working in these units were laid off: FAFSA the Free Application for Federal Student Aid student loan servicing; Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title funds, which aid disadvantaged students; the Office of Special Education Programs; or the Rehabilitation Services Administration, which serves children with disabilities. StudentAid.gov, which houses the FAFSA form, was down for several hours Wednesday, and the Associated Press reported that cuts included developers and IT support staff charged with maintaining the aid application. A department spokesperson reiterated the assertion that no employees working on FAFSA or loan servicing were laid off, but is was not clear if that included technical support. The Office for Civil Rights, which ensures that schools follow federal antidiscrimination law, was significantly hit by layoffs, including all staff at the San Francisco regional office that had about 50 employees working civil rights cases across California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regional civil rights offices in Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, New York and Philadelphia are also closing. Those in Seattle, Denver, Kansas City and Washington will remain open. Biedermann said the civil rights division "will continue to investigate complaints and vigorously enforce federal civil rights laws." Bonta filed the lawsuit with attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia. "It is a bedrock constitutional principle that the president and his agencies cannot make law. Rather, they can only and indeed, they must implement the laws enacted by Congress, including those statutes that create federal agencies and dictate their duties," the lawsuit said. "The executive thus can neither outright abolish an agency nor incapacitate it by cutting away the personnel required to implement the agencys statutorily-mandated duties." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During a Wednesday meeting with the Irish prime minister, Trump accused Education Department employees of not doing their jobs: "Department of Education, department of big buildings ... and by the way, they're empty," he said. "Nobody shows up to work." In an apparent reference to the layoffs, he added: "I think Linda did a very good job." Bonta joined Thursday by his counterparts from Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York accused Trump of having an "anti-education agenda." "In 2022, out of 37 developed nations, American students ranked 28th in math and 12th in science. Those numbers don't stand a chance without the invaluable programs the Department of Education provides, including assistance to children from low-income families, vocational training, enforcement of antidiscrimination laws, alongside countless other responsibilities fundamental to our educational system," Bonta said, citing data from the Program for International Student Assessment. Trump has called the department "a big con job," citing the low performance by U.S. students as a reason to dismantle the agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hawaii Atty. Gen. Anne Lopez said Trump's vow to return education to the states was an "empty talking point" because states already have policymaking authority and provide the majority of funding. "Our kids should not be political pawns," said Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Andrea Campbell. "We can address bloated bureaucracies lawfully and effectively, and the recent actions by the federal administration does not." California receives billions in federal funding from the Education Department for K-12 and higher-education students and programs. That includes $16.3 billion annually in federal funding for K-12 school students, or about $2,750 per student. The Los Angeles Unified School District the nations second-largest school system puts its annual federal support at $1.26 billion. Not all of those dollars go through the Department of Education. Significant federal funding for early-childhood education comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, and the student meal program is funded by the Department of Agriculture. L.A. Unified estimates that it receives $363 million to feed students from low-income families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Judge blocks Trump order canceling teacher training grants after California, others sue About 80% of L.A. Unified students qualify for Title I-funded services, including tutoring, smaller classes, after-school programs, teacher training, counseling and family engagement. Another major funding area aids students with disabilities. In higher education, the Education Department handles student loans for 43 million borrowers who owe the government more than $1.5 trillion. About half of Cal State University students receive student loans, a portfolio of more than $1 billion. The Pell Grant program, which awards more than $120 billion to 13 million students each year to help pay for higher education, is also managed by the department. About $1.5 billion per year is set aside in Pell Grants for California students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Monday's suit is one of several that Bonta and other Democratic state attorneys general have filed against the Trump administration. On March 6, California joined seven other states suing the Trump administration over cancellation of $250 million grants to them $600 million nationwide for teacher training programs funded through the Education Department. The administration said the programs promote inappropriate and "divisive ideologies" linked to diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI. A federal judge on Monday ordered the programs reinstated while he reviewed the case. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Californias Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) recovered a whopping $13.5 million in stolen retail goods throughout the whole of 2024, according to Governor Gavin Newsom. Led by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), the statewide squad comprised of both state and local law enforcement groups conducted a record 879 investigations last year, leading to the arrest of 1,707 suspects and the recovery of 676,227 pilfered products. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ORCTF is continuing that momentum in 2025; during January and February, the task force conducted 136 investigations related to retail theft, leading to 209 arrests and the recovery of 24,510 stolen items worth an estimated nearly $2.2 million. With a notable escalation in retail theft and organized retail crime in recent years, the issue continues to threaten community safety as well as businesses, according to CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. We are committed to identifying and dismantling these criminal networks, enhancing partnerships with retailers throughout the state, and deploying every available resource to prevent these crimes from happening, he said. One recent operation conducted in January through ORCTFs Golden Gate Division led to the recovery of 1,619 items valued at $183,000 from a residence. After the seizure of stolen assets and collecting of evidence, the merchandise was returned to the retailers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Newsoms office, more than 3,600 investigations have been facilitated by CHP since the task force was established in 2019. In total, over 4,000 suspects have been apprehended and over 1.3 million stolen goods reclaimeda recovery of almost $54 million in merchandise. The escalation in organized retail theft enforcement has been bolstered by a massive grant program signed into law by the governor in 2023, which allowed $267 million to be funneled into 55 local law enforcement agencies throughout the following year for the funding of local task forces. Local agencies have hired more officers, invested in technology like cameras and drones, and strengthened collaboration with local prosecutors using the money. Within six months of the grant cycles, recipient agencies reported over 6,900 arrests for retail, motor vehicle and cargo theft. Adding to the 2025 tally of arrests and recoveries was an operation conducted by CHPs Golden Gate Division in late February, in which stolen merchandise worth over $779,000 was discovered by officers investigating a suspected organized retail theft ring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The culmination of an investigation launched last summer, the Feb. 27 bust took place at a home in Oakland as well as two nearby storage facilitiesthe second search at those locations in a six-month period. Police had long suspected a criminal network of targeting a number of businesses throughout the Bay Area and fencing the goods from the Oakland location. Stolen merchandise recovered from a fence operation in Oakland, Calif. Investigators arrested one suspect in conjunction with the crimes, charging her with Organized Retail Crime, Possession of Stolen Property, and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime. Retail personnel helped officers identify and inventory the recovered merchandise, and the products were returned. CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Don Goodbrand commended the officers involved as well as the retailers for their cooperation. This achievement would not have been possible without the invaluable support of our retail industry partners, whose collaboration remains essential in protecting businesses and our communities from the impact of retail crime, he said. A massive ORCTF investigation led by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department in February led officers to recover $4 million in stolen merchandise from retailers like Target, Nordstrom, Macys and TJ Maxx. In an announcement last week, LASD said a total of 17 retail locations were impacted, and those stores cooperated in the investigation that eventually led to the discovery of an illicit fencing business run out of a retail establishment. ARLINGTON, Va. (DC News Now) First responders who worked the initial response to the Jan. 29 midair collision at Reagan National Airport (DCA) were honored during an event in Prince Georges County on Thursday. Dozens of agencies showed up to answer the call on that tragic, cold January night, including Prince Georges County Police Departments (PGPD) marine, aviation and underwater rescue teams. PGPD Chief Malik Aziz awarded them for their courage and bravery Thursday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NTSB calls for changes to helicopter operations around DCA following deadly midair collision They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and we call them heroes, said Aziz. Six weeks after the crash, the horrific scene and early-morning phone calls are still fresh in the mind of Katina Gomez, the departments deputy chief of its Bureau of Homeland Security. Theyre like, Chief, at this point, there are no survivors, Gomez recalled of her conversations that night. PGPD officers were among the crews who quickly realized that all 67 people on board the American Airlines jet and the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter had been killed in the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was surreal, it doesnt feel real. I cant even put into words the things that I saw, said Gomez. It was a rescue effort that quickly turned into a recovery operation in an icy Potomac River, surrounded by swirls of jet fuel and fumes. We never felt the cold. We never felt the wet. We didnt say much to each other. We just got the job done, said Lt. Charles Perry, commander of the PGPDs marine and underwater rescue team. Legacy on Ice skating benefit raises over $1M for families, first responders impacted by deadly midair collision near DCA Cpl. Jeramie Jordan was tasked with an incredibly difficult job that night: bringing the victims back to shore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was about 14 hours that we were out on the water, from 9 oclock that night until the next morning, said Jordan. The events that we went through that day still live in my mind every day. He and other officers from that response are coping with very real, raw emotions, but Jordan says hes grateful through it all. Were better people because of it. Im just happy that we were able to bring closure to the families, said Jordan. PGPD has also offered its officers mental health help and support in the wake of the crash. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. The great and powerful Oz, as Donald Trump models himself, never warned Americans that the road to his promised Golden Age would be full of speed bumps, stops and starts and big tolls in the form of higher shopping bills and reduced retirement accounts. Candidate Trump also didnt caution voters that theyd have to be patient. No, he would work his magic on Day 1, he promised constantly, mainly with his beautiful tariffs on imports from other nations. He even took credit for stock market gains before he was back in the Oval Office. But now hes there, and market losses have wiped away all those gains, consumer confidence has taken a dive and private-sector hiring is below expectations . Blame Joe Biden, Trump says, for leaving him a horrible economy, which the former president most certainly did not . Just about every other market-watcher, here and abroad, including the Wall Street Journal editorial board , faults the current presidents all but irrational fixation with tariffs, his erratic on-off-on-again imposition of them, and the resulting uncertainty that is paralyzing small and large businesses alike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As is often the case in Trump times, a headline this week from the Onion was closer to truth than satire: Trump Says Recession Unfortunate But Necessary Step To Get To Depression. Read more: Calmes: President Trump brags about American power and respect while he trades it away That was hardly any more ridiculous than Trumps nonsensical talking points of late, not least his remarks Sunday on Fox News in which he declined to rule out a recession on the way to the promised land. It takes a little time, he said. Meanwhile, you cant really watch the stock market, said the man who obsessively watches the stock market. For a real-news headline, heres the Wall Street Journal late Monday, after the market slide Trump sparked: Wall Street Fears Trump Will Wreck the Soft Landing. Both JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs had elevated the risk of recession because of what Chase called extreme U.S. policies. As one investor told the Journal: This is very much a man-made situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He didnt have to name the Man, of course. But neither should the situation have come as a surprise to the corporate titans, lobbyists, agribusiness execs and other Republicans who are reportedly imploring White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other Trump aides to help the boss get a grip. Tariff tumult has discombobulated them only because they didnt take Trump seriously when he fantasized at campaign rally after rally about tariffing the heck out of foreign imports. As recently as January, the Associated Press quoted an economist who said the economic fallout likely would be enough of a deterrent that Trump will not end up implementing these higher tariffs. Read more: Column: The Homer Simpson gloss on President Trump's tariff philosophy The presidents enablers voted for him not because they believed his claims that tariffs wouldnt raise prices and cost jobs (despite all economic evidence to the contrary, including the record of Trumps first-term tariffs ). They simply figured he wasnt serious, wishfully thinking that he would be talked out of the dumb idea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But by whom? In economic policy as in so much else, the adults have left the room for Trump 2.0. That too was predictable given candidate Trumps frequent talk of turning to yes-sayers in a second term. Missing are the moderating likes of Gary Cohn, Trumps chief economic advisor in the first term, who resigned in March 2018 after failing to dissuade the president from slapping high tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. Days earlier, Trump had tweeted : Trade wars are good, and easy to win. He still thinks so, even as he wobbles, delays, follows through, then retreats and grants import exemptions in response to the outcry at home. The same sorts of metals tariffs that proved the final straw for Cohn seven years ago took effect at midnight Tuesday, at a 25% rate for products worldwide. The European Union predictably retaliated with tariffs starting April 1 on iconic U.S. goods including Harley-Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and blue jeans. That now makes for a multifront trade war, including battles against China, Canada and Mexico, Americas three largest trading partners. All have counterattacked; on Monday, China imposed tariffs on U.S. farm products, thus hitting Trumps rural base. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Calmes: It's a 'break-glass' moment in Washington, but then what? And with the latest volleys, finally business-world Trump apologists are fessing up to their blinkered belief preelection that promised tax cuts and deregulation wouldnt come with a big helping of tariffs. People could only see the good side of what Trump was promising to do, economist Dario Perkins told the Journal. That has basically evaporated, and now, were back to recession watch. CEOs in the Business Roundtable thronged to a meeting with Trump on Tuesday. They didnt get what they came for less unpredictability, in the words of one anonymous attendee to the Washington Post. He added: How do you do that with this president? Trump variously claims tariffs will force foreign companies to build businesses here and U.S. companies to expand at home; that theyll raise needed revenues or that theyre righteous penalties for countries that are sources of drugs or migrants. It doesnt add up, and Americans are paying a price. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Within the Trump administration, cracks are forming . Publicly, however, the gaslighting continues. It is not chaotic, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick insisted to CBS News on Tuesday. And the only one who thinks its chaotic is someone whos being silly. Silly us. @jackiekcalmes Get the latest from Jackie Calmes Commentary on politics and more from award-winning opinion columnist. Sign me up. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. EBENSBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) A familiar name will soon take the helm at Cambria County Prison as Capt. Kurt Wolford has been selected as the facilitys next warden, following in the footsteps of his father. According to our media partners at The Tribune-Democrat, the Cambria County Prison Board recommended Wolford for the role during a public meeting Wednesday at the prison, located at 425 Manor Drive in Ebensburg. His appointment comes after a months-long search for a replacement following the retirement of former Warden Christian Smith in January. Wolfords connection to the role runs deep. His father, William Wolford, served as warden of the countys former jail and oversaw the construction of the current facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thirty years ago, this May 23, my father, who was warden at the countys old jail in downtown Ebensburg, broke ground on the prison I work in today the prison I will be warden of so its more than just a job: its carrying on a legacy, Wolford said. Wolford said he is eager to address challenges at the facility and help shape the future of corrections in the county. Get the latest news, weather forecasts and sports stories delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for our newsletters. The recommendation now moves forward as the county finalizes Wolfords appointment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) - The Canadian government on Wednesday announced plans to ease sanctions on Syria during what it called a period of transition. Many Western nations, including Canada, had put a range of sanctions against Syria under its ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled late last year by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The Canadian government issued a statement announcing the steps that it said displayed Ottawa's "commitment to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and to support a transition to an inclusive and peaceful future." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Canadian government said it is providing C$84 million in new funding for humanitarian assistance to Syria. "Canada is also taking steps to ease existing sanctions for a period of 6 months, to support democratization, stabilization, and the delivery of aid to and within Syria during this period of transition," the Canadian government said in its statement. Canadas ambassador to Lebanon, Stefanie McCollum, was nominated to serve concurrently as non-resident ambassador to Syria, Ottawa added. Canada added it was issuing a general permit, valid for a period of 6 months, that allows Canadians to carry out financial transactions and services, that are otherwise prohibited, when supporting democratization, stabilization and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It said it will be easing sanctions to allow funds to be sent through certain banks in the country, such as Syrias Central Bank. Syria's new rulers are Islamists who had links to extremist group al Qaeda until their leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, cut ties in 2016. Pressure has been growing on Syria's Islamist-led government to investigate reports by witnesses and a war monitor of the killing of hundreds of civilians in villages where the majority of the population are members of Assad's Alawite sect. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry) Canadian power provide B.C. Hydro is striking back against President Trumps wealthiest surrogate Elon Musk by making Tesla chargers ineligible for EV rebates in British Columbia. Citizens in the province who purchase electric vehicle chargers for their homes are eligible for a $350 rebate unless those units were made by Musks company, B.C. Hydro announced on its website. The government-affiliated service stated that its working to include more Canadian goods in its rebate programs, while shutting out American products when possible. Tesla energy storage batteries and inverters are also affected by B.C. Hydros decision. The power company provides most of the provinces electricity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parliament member Jagmeet Singh suggested last month that his party would impose a 100% tax on all Tesla products if the New Democratic Party comes to power in the next election. A vote will take place no later than Oct. 20. British Columbian citizens are eligible for $4,000 rebates on electric vehicles under the provinces Clean BC Go Electric initiative. Its unclear if province will withdraw that offer to Tesla buyers. Musks car company has seen blowback in the U.S. and abroad as his political reach grows. The 53-year-old entrepreneur has become involved in championing right-wing political movements including MAGA and Germanys Alternative for Germany party. He twice made a hand gesture many compared to a Nazi salute at a Trump inauguration celebration in January. Posters of Musk in that pose have popped up in England where Teslas are being called Swasticars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tesla dealerships and charging stations have become targets for vandals and protesters. Many Tesla owners have gotten rid of their cars due to either fear or shame. Others have tried altering their automobiles to appear as though its another brand. President Trump gave the billionaire right-wing activist a great deal of leverage to reshape government after Musk donated nearly $300 million to help reelect Trump. The Trump Administration has since behaved aggressively toward friendly nations like Canada by imposing stiff trade tariffs and expressing interest in the countrys precious mineral supply. Trump has also suggested the U.S. might annex its neighbor to the north and dismissively called its Prime Minister a governor. On Tuesday, the President hosted an event outside the White House to help Musk sell cars as Tesla stocks struggled. He also promised anyone caught committing crimes against Musks companies would go through Hell. TOKYO (AP) Canadas Alimentation Couche-Tard reaffirmed Thursday that it is determined to acquire Seven & i Holdings, although the operator of Japans top convenience store chain has rejected its offer. We are continuing to pursue a friendly, mutually agreeable transaction, the chairman and founder of Alimentation Couche-Tard, Alain Bouchard, told reporters in Tokyo. Bouchard stressed that his company was pursuing a friendly transaction, not a hostile takeover. He reiterated his promise to retain local management, saying the merger would be good for 7-Elevens business. The chain has more than 20,000 stores nationwide and more than 80,000 outlets around the world, serving an estimated 63 million customers a day, according to Tokyo-based Seven & i Holdings Co. In rejecting the Canadian companys offer, Seven & i Holdings said it intends to boost its own corporate value. It also has raised antitrust concerns that it says will come up in the U.S. Seven & i appointed a new chief executive this month and announced a share buyback and said it will sell its supermarket subsidiary to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, to help boost its value and fend off the acquisition. Last year, Couche-Tard, which operates Circle K stores, proposed acquiring all of Seven & i Holdings shares for $14.86 per share in cash. Media reports now say the offer is for $18.19 per share, or about 7 trillion yen ($47 billion). Seven & i has made public a letter that Stephen Dacus, its new chief executive, sent to Bouchard in September, explaining why it was rejecting the Canadian company's offer. The proposal is not in the best interest of 7&i shareholders and other stakeholders. We are open to engaging in sincere discussions should you put forth a proposal that fully recognizes our standalone intrinsic value, Dacus wrote. Convenience stores, known as conbini in Japan, are popular, offering various services such as paying utility bills and selling concert tickets, while selling various everyday goods. Seven & i announced a restructuring plan last year to strengthen its U.S. business and streamline operations, closing some Ito-Yokado supermarkets in Japan. In 2023, Seven & i sold its Sogo & Seibu department stores in Japan to Fortress Investment Group, a U.S. fund, for $1.5 billion. Couche-Tard, founded in 1980 in Quebec, offers coffee, beer, snacks, fuel and lottery tickets. It runs more than 16,800 stores worldwide, including in the U.S., Europe and Asia. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR Thongsavanh Phomvihane in Beijing, capital of China, March 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR Thongsavanh Phomvihane in Beijing on Thursday, with both pledging to push forward the building of a China-Laos community with a shared future. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that over the past 64 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two parties of China and Laos and the two nations have stood together through challenges and provided mutual support. The comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has become ever more robust and resilient. China firmly supports Laos in strengthening the leadership of its party and expresses the willingness to enhance strategic mutual trust, strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and promote the building of a China-Laos community with a shared future, Wang said. China's "two sessions" have just concluded successfully, setting a GDP growth target of around 5 percent for 2025. As comrades and brothers, China welcomes Laos to seize the new opportunities of China's development and join hands to march toward modernization, Wang noted. Wang stressed that China is ready to work with Laos to adhere to the strategic guidance by the leadership of the two parties and nations, strengthen exchanges between the two parties and countries at all levels, deepen and expand practical cooperation, strengthen bilateral and multilateral law enforcement cooperation, and jointly safeguard regional peace, stability, development and revitalization. Thongsavanh congratulated China on the successful convening of the "two sessions" and the significant outcomes, and praised China's leapfrog development amid a complex external environment. He said that Laos firmly adheres to the one-China policy and stands ready to work with China to make greater progress in building a Laos-China community with a shared future. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR Thongsavanh Phomvihane in Beijing, capital of China, March 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) A Canadian businesswoman who was arrested in the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents over an incomplete visa is being held in inhumane conditions in an Arizona detention center, according to her family, who have now gone public in an attempt to secure her release. Jasmine Mooney, 35, co-founder of the Holy! Water health drink brand, was detained after crossing the San Ysidro border between Mexico and San Diego on March 3. She was carrying an incomplete application for a new Trade NAFTA (TN) work visa after her first was unexpectedly revoked, according to her mother, Alexis Eagles. Eagles said her daughter was subsequently held for three nights at the border before being transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Centre in San Diego for three more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An online tracking system then indicated Mooney had been released, only for it to emerge that she had been transferred to the San Luis Detention Center in Arizona. Mooney, speaking to ABCs 10 News San Diego from the latter facility, said: Every single guard that sees me is like What are you doing here? I dont understand youre Canadian. How are you here? U.S. Marines pictured along the U.S.-Mexico border near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, where Mooney was first detained, in San Diego with Tijuana, Mexico, in the background (AP) She said of her time at the Otay Mesa facility: I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days. Mooney said that she and 30 other women were then relocated to Arizona in the middle of the night, adding: We were up for 24 hours wrapped in chains. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane, she said of conditions in the San Luis center. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has so far declined to say on what precise grounds Mooney was detained, citing privacy restrictions, according to 10 News. However, they did say the agency routinely prevents travelers from entering the country on 60 different grounds, adding that it treats all travelers with integrity, respect and professionalism. Mooney is understood to have moved to Los Angeles, California, in the summer 2024 to work on her water venture on a three-year TN work visa. However, her authorization was revoked by a customs officer at Vancouver airport in November when she attempted to return to L.A. after visiting her family in British Columbia. They told me I was unprofessional because I didnt have a proper letterhead on my paperwork, she explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eagles said her daughter had entered the U.S. via Mexico when she was granted her first visa and had been attempting to do the same this time. We have no issue with her being denied entry, we have no issue with her initially being detained, she said. But we have a huge issue with the inhumane treatment she is receiving and that she knows nothing, has not been charged and has not been able to speak with us directly. Mooney said that her visa was revoked because of a simple admin error (EPA) Mooneys Chicago-based business partner BJ McCaslin told Postmedia News: It seems like a nightmare and living hell. I dont know how someone in her position can be subject to this, and not released immediately once they found out the circumstances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McCaslin added: Shes definitely not a criminal. She [was] coming to a health-food product exposition [in Anaheim]. Shes an upstanding person who is very well-respected in our industry. I fully support the American government, but Im very fearful for my friend. Brittany Kors, Mooneys best friend, told 10 News: I just feel really helpless We dont know what the next steps are. We dont even know the reason why they are holding her there. Global Affairs Canada has said it is aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen in Arizona. Consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and to provide consular assistance. Every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The government of Canada cannot intervene on behalf of Canadian citizens with regard to the entry and exit requirements of another country. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday called on the world's leading industrialized democracies to aim for a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine. Despite serious differences with Washington over the course of the war in Ukraine, the host said at the start of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading nations in eastern Canada that such major challenges must be overcome together. G7 foreign ministers must "meet the moment," she said in Charlevoix. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The meeting - the first of its kind since US President Donald Trump took office in January - will focus on current crises and conflicts. Alongside the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the trade war started by Trump with punitive tariffs is likely to be a key topic of discussion. In the 50th year of the G7's existence, Joly cited the group's main achievements in the past as including the containment of the coronavirus pandemic, resolute support for Ukraine and the fight against foreign interference in the affairs of sovereign states. The stance taken by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Charlevoix meeting will be particularly carefully watched for signs that he may put further diplomatic distance between himself and the other Western allies. In addition to Canada and the US, Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Japan are also G7 members. DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) A marijuana dispensary with a pickup window will soon join the growing list of cannabis businesses in Delaware. The citys planning commission approved a conditional use permit on March 5 for Nar Reserve, a Michigan-based recreational and medical marijuana shop. The company is aiming to open a Delaware location inside a recently constructed shopping center at 60 Coughlin Lane and plans to use the buildings pick-up window for preplaced orders. Intel is unlikely to fulfill all the promises it made Ohio, chip industry analyst says Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a pickup window, theyd have to place a preorder online. Its not your typical fast-food drive-thru where theres a board and you can order, explained Ali Bazzi, a Nar Reserve managing partner and representative of the shops parent company, Hempnotize. Hypothetically, you order in the morning, you say Im gonna be there between [noon] and 12:30. So, youd pull up, your order would be ready, thered be no ordering at the window. The Delaware dispensary will mark the brands second central Ohio location after the first opened in downtown Columbus at 350 E. Long St. in summer 2023. The Columbus shop began as a medical cannabis storefront but pivoted to also offer recreational after Ohio voters legalized adult-use later in 2023. Hempnotizes Delaware application said the Nar Reserve storefront will provide high-quality cannabis products and services to eligible patients and customers while adhering to all applicable local and state guidelines. The brand also operates two locations in Michigan and one in Mississippi, and it projects the Delaware shop will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Yemeni coffee shop expands in Ohio with Columbus-area location Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bazzi said the companys lease at the Coughlin Lane site started in November. Now that the planning commission has approved their conditional use permit, city council will also review the use permit as Hempnotizes completes its layout plans for the shop. Delaware officials will then green light those designs before construction can begin. Once completed, Nar Reserve will join the exclusive group of Delaware County dispensaries, like Bear River Dispensaries, which is currently located at 26 Moore St. but is planning to move to vacant retail space at 222 E. William St. Bear Rivers relocation plan came after Delaware City Council passed an ordinance last year that bans establishments whose business is the sale of tobacco or related products, vapor or vapor products, or cannabis from being located within 500 feet of a school, church, library, playground or park. Reschs Bakery pushes back Gahanna opening Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another dispensary, Ascend Cannabis, received approval in January from Orange Township officials to open a new Delaware County location at 3812 E. Powell Road, a former Prep Academy Schools and Turkey Daycare. However, Polaris Fashion Places developer spoke against the proposal, arguing the plan isnt consistent with a first-class development. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Capitol Hill businesses say they are feeling the impact of the mass federal layoffs. Business owners say fewer federal workers means fewer customers. Some restaurants said they are already seeing fewer customers and drops in revenue. More than 50 Capitol Hill restaurant owners are meeting Wednesday to brainstorm what they can do together to stay afloat. DC Capitol Square Bar and Grill co-owner Lorenzo Miller says the drinks used to be flowing with customers pouring in during lunch hour. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a pretty steady crowd, said Miller. But now that the layoffs, you know, kind of slowed down. [Were] probably getting 1 or 2 people and now. DC expected to lose over $300 million due to federal job cuts As a business owner, this is very worrisome because when revenues tank, it means I cannot pay my employees and that cannot let them work, said DC Capitol Square Bar and Grill co-owner Tecla Towonezvi. Towonezvi said she has seen a 30% drop in business from lost catering contacts with the federal government to lost revenue. Its all related, said Tony Tomelden. Its not just customers coming in and out. Its also just the mood. Everybodys tense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tomelden owns The Pug Bar down the street and runs the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals. They are now joining with other Capitol Hill restaurants to see what they can do to come together and keep their businesses going. We definitely have to keep it afloat, said Towonezvi. We cannot afford to close our doors. We still need to serve our community. The restaurants owners are working to put together a future event called Taste of Capitol Hill to encourage customers to support their local restaurants. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. BRANSON, Mo. Three men charged in the duck boat tragedy make a court appearance on Wednesday after the captain of the boat asked a judge to dismiss the case. The duck boat ride sank in Table Rock Lake, killing 17 people on board in July 2018. Captain Kenneth McKee, Charles Baltzell and Curtis Lanham each face 17 counts of involuntary manslaughter relating to the incident. Duck boat manslaughter case can move forward after appeals court ruling Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors argue the three men operated on the lake knowing severe weather was in the area. McKees attorney James Hobbs argues the employees on the boat did not know the extent of the winds associated with the storm. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. ST. LOUIS Cara Spencer is a Ward 8 St. Louis Alderwoman and a candidate for St. Louis Mayor in the April 2025 municipal election. Spencer and incumbent mayor Tishuara Jones, the two remaining candidates for the seat, are set for a live, televised debate Thursday evening at the FOX 2 news studio. In the March 4, 2025 primary municipal election, Spencer led all St. Louis mayoral candidates with a 68.11% approval percentage, while Jones finished second with a 33.19% approval percentage, according to St. Louis election results. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jones and Spencer were also the two final candidates in the April 2021 St. Louis mayoral race to replace Lyda Krewson. Jones emerged victorious with 51.7% of the vote compared to Spencers 47.75% in an election with more than 58,000 ballots cast. Tishaura Jones: What to know as St. Louis mayor runs for reelection Spencer, who fell short in her first bid for mayor, has served with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen since 2015, representing Ward 20 until 2023 and now serving Ward 8. During her time in office, Spencer has been the primary sponsor of key legislation, including tougher air pollution standards and the creation of the first municipal good Samaritan law in the United States, which grants immunity for drug possession to individuals seeking help during an overdose. More recently, she has led bills to curb reckless driving and prohibit the open carrying of firearms in the City of St. Louis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last year, Spencer expressed concern over a Wall Street Journal article that labeled downtown St. Louis real estate scene as a nightmare. She called it devastating to the citys brand and identity, also emphasizing the need for serious investment to revitalize key downtown buildings. According to her campaign website, Spencer is running on visions of transparency, safer communities, educational investment, and support for thriving businesses. Following her primary victory last week, Spencer told FOX 2, I think people are ready for change. We have heard overwhelmingly from voters across the city that we want the basic services that a city really needs to deliver to its residents if we want to keep them happy and we want to keep them living in the city. How to watch the St. Louis mayoral debate on FOX 2 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spencer has also served as a chair of St. Louis aldermanic health and human services committee. Before she became an elected official, Spencer worked as a mathematical modeler for more than 12 years with an emphasis in international business. Spencer grew up in south St. Louis City and St. Louis County. She has a Bachelors of Science degree in mathematics from Truman State University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FAIRMONT As warmer weather approaches, so does the annual rite of passage for graduating college students. The mad dash to find a job. To that end, Fairmont State University held its annual career fair at the Falcon Center on Wednesday. Over 170 industries and fields from around the state were present, offering anything from internships to entry-level positions to students who are eager for opportunities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its important for this to be on campus, because it makes it so much easier for students to directly contact face to face internship opportunities, freshman Liam Savage said. Any personal relationship makes it easier to develop interpersonal relationships with potential employers. Although Savage is not graduating soon, he found it useful to begin networking with potential job opportunities this early in his college career. Savage is double majoring in national security and intelligence as well as political science. Law enforcement had a large presence at the fair, and Savage spoke to a few agencies about a potential future. However, his sights are set farther than West Virginia, and he expressed interest in national opportunities. University President Mike Davis said this year was the best attended in a few years. I think people have to remember this career fair two or three years ago had 75 employers at it and about 50 students, he said. And now, weve tripled each of those numbers. I think next year well probably have to be in all three gyms because were getting more and more interest from employers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Davis said Susan Rodriguez, director of career services and civic engagement, did a lot of work to increase participation of both students and employers at the fair. Rodriguez worked the alumni networks to get employers to come and participate in the fair. Another challenge was overcoming the social hesitancy left over from the pandemic days, when young people had to socialize via digital means only. Davis said the school prepared students well in advance of the fair to ensure they were ready to meet employers. They go and work in our career center, they work with a program called Hiration, which helps them do practice interviews, Davis said. Our career services folks look at their resumes. We have a career closet, so students who dont have clothes for the interview process can borrow clothes from that. Theres lots of pieces leading up to this day to get our students ready. Theyre not just showing up. One alumni who has firsthand experience with Fairmont States career fair is City of Fairmont Communications Manager David Kirk. The city is hiring one full time position and one internship. City police and firemen were also present. The city is closing its employment gap as far as police goes, with only two slots left to fill before Fairmont Police Department is back to full strength. Kirk said he hopes some students at Wednesdays career fair will fill the spots the city has to offer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We figured itd be a good idea to offer these kinds of positions that are good entry level positions into the world of municipal work, Kirk said. And also, blue collar work. This position we have specifically will pay for someones CDL certification, and we have certification pay on top of that. Thats a really good starting point if someones trying to get into that line of work. The city has an equipment operator position open and the internship is for a summer spot in the planning department. The internship is so popular, a stack of informational packets was mostly gone by noon. Kirk said a couple years ago, he was one of the students walking through Fairmont States career fair. He said the career fairs are a great way to start a network. Joby Chadwell represented Equitable Advisors, a financial services company, which has been in Fairmont since 1990. The turnout at her table was great, and the nice weather was probably helping push people to the fair. Students typically asked Chadwell what a financial advisor was, or how they could tailor their majors to the opportunities offered by her company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A career fair gives students a broader idea of what the real world actually has to offer. I was a criminal justice major, Chadwell said. So, Im not doing anything in my actual field of study. So, I think its good for students to talk to people in their field, get an idea of what the real day-to-day is like. Maybe get some ideas of other opportunities they didnt think existed. EBENSBURG, Pa. Cambria County Prison Capt. Kurt Wolford is set to become the prisons new warden, following in the footsteps of his father, William Wolford, who was warden of the old Cambria County Jail and oversaw the construction of the current prison. The Cambria County Prison Board recommended Wolford to serve as warden during a public meeting Wednesday at the prison, 425 Manor Drive, Ebensburg. Thirty years ago, this May 23, my father, who was warden at the countys old jail in downtown Ebensburg, broke ground on the prison I work in today the prison I will be warden of so its more than just a job: its carrying on a legacy, Wolford said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its building something special within this county. I always thought this prison was special in regard to other county prisons. And I want to work to fix some of the problems we have and take us into the next generation of leadership in corrections. Im excited, to say the least. The recommendation to hire Wolford caps the prison boards search to find a replacement for former Warden Christian Smith, who retired in January. Wolford was unanimously recommended by all prison board members, including all three county commissioners Scott Hunt, Thomas Chernisky and Keith Rager as well as Sheriff Don Robertson, District Attorney Greg Neugebauer, President Judge Linda Fleming and County Controller Ed Cernic Jr. Rager, Hunt and Chernisky are scheduled to officially adopt the recommendation Thursday during a 10 a.m. public meeting of the commissioners at Mount Aloysius College, where they will vote to transfer Wolford from full-time captain to full-time warden at an annual salary of $83,183, effective April 12. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputy Warden Craig Descavish has been serving temporarily as warden since the search for a full-time replacement for Smith began. With the county commissioners set to approve the prison boards recommendation Thursday, Wolford would be slated to officially begin work as warden when Descavish retires in April. He earned it, Chernisky said. I know he will have full support of the prison board and commissioners. Its cool that his dad was also a warden. Im sure hes looking down on him and is proud of him. William Wolford died in 2015. He was warden from 1989 to 1996 and was succeeded by wardens Marty Kovacs, John Prebish and then Smith. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I still remember when I was a kid, probably 9 or 10 years old, he took me over to his office at the old jail and was telling me how important it was to work hard for the people who are under you, to make their lives a little bit better and the importance of dedicating yourself to public service, Wolford said. I remember it like it was yesterday. Wolford, 39, has worked at the prison since 2008, starting as a per-diem officer and rising through the ranks to security captain. He keeps memorabilia from his fathers time as warden in his office. I have the Bible that was given to him, inscribed with Warden Wolford, he said. It was given to him on my first birthday when he was warden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres a lot of tradition that was very meaningful to him, and he was very very dedicated to his staff. Before he left, he got an award for service and dedication to his staff, which is not something that normally happens. Wolford said he plans to bring the same dedication to the prisons staff members that his father had. Employee retention has been a challenge for the prison since the COVID-19 pandemic. We have some of the youngest staff weve ever had here because of the turnover, so to me, focusing on training and building them up as leaders in corrections and in their community is a huge deal for me, Wolford said. We have a lot of good staff members here. I think through the years, Cambria County has set itself a step above when it comes to corrections, and I want to continue that and make it better. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wolford rose to the top of a group of nine candidates who applied for the position. John Prebish, former Cambria County Prison warden from 2004 until becoming a magisterial district judge in 2016, served as a consultant for the prison board during interviews of the candidates. I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the place, and I want to see it do well, he said. Prebish was at the Wednesday prison board meeting to congratulate Wolford. It was a full circle moment for both of them. Prebish was hired by William Wolford in 1990 and remembers Kurt when he was a small child. Decades later as warden, Prebish again met Kurt, standing at 6-feet-7-inches tall and applying for a corrections officer job. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prebish hired him and said he quickly became one of his best employees. Its bittersweet to see things come full circle, Prebish said. He has a lot of his dads drive. His dad was stoic but would give you the shirt off his back; Kurt would do the same thing, but hes jovial. With his personality, I think he will shine. He cares about people. Kurt really wants to make it the best facility around. I think hes the right person for this job. He has good core values, and he wants to be there for staff, which is a big thing. The prison has had a tough time keeping employees since COVID. Hes a good administrator, and he will do well with that. Don Robertson, Prison Board chairman, said Wolford has worked up through the ranks from corrections officer to frontline supervisor to captain and to security captain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes passionate about corrections and goes in there with a smile on his face every day, Robertson said. Hes a very enthusiastic individual. I think he is going to be an excellent warden. Wolford said hes looked for statistics on how many father-son warden duos theres ever been and has found no other examples. Its humbling is to carry on the legacy that my dad has, Wolford said. That means everything to me. Russ OReilly is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @RussellOReilly. Texas congressional Democrats are calling on the federal government to release the money it has withheld from the organization that is in charge of distributing reimbursements to the states refugee service providers. In a Thursday letter to the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. representatives including Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett of Austin demanded that the administrations Office of Refugee Resettlement immediately release contractually obligated funding to the nonprofit Texas Office for Refugees. If funding is not restored immediately, hundreds of thousands of refugees across the state could be permanently left without crucial medical services, basic shelter, and legal support, according to the letter, which also was signed by Democratic Reps. Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch; Al Green of Houston; Veronica Escobar of El Paso; Sylvia Garcia of Houston; Lizzie Fletcher of Houston; Joaquin Castro of San Antonio; and Jasmine Crockett of Dallas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Previously: Refugees in Austin, across Texas, still struggling amid mysterious pause in federal funding The letter comes after numerous American-Statesman reports that revealed the ongoing funding freeze, its dire impact on the states service providers and refugee community; and a lawsuit that the Texas Office for Refugees filed against the U.S. health department to force release of $42 million. Venezuelan refugees Anthony Guanipa and his wife, Adriani Garcia, get ready for the day in the kitchen at their North Austin apartment. They have been deprived of help because of the refugee funding freeze. The office, which is run by Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, oversees federally sponsored refugee services in Texas. (The state withdrew from the federal refugee resettlement program in 2016.) Thursdays letter warned that the office might be forced to close by March 15 if the funds remain unfrozen. The letter comes the day after a preliminary hearing in the refugee offices federal lawsuit, where a lawyer for the health department promised that funds would be released in a matter of days but did not provide a firm timeline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit alleges that Texas is the only state where federal reimbursement has not resumed since Feb. 3 when the health department issued a directive pausing funds to states refugee service programs. Alexa Hernandez, left, who was furloughed as a client service coordinator at Global Impact Initiative amid the funding freeze, continues to work as a volunteer there. On Wednesday, the health department released a declaration at the request of U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan confirming that Texas was indeed the only state where the freeze is effectively still in place. Agency lawyers also made it clear that it was intentional. In other court filings, the health department pointed to a Florida grand jury report on fraud and waste in that states unaccompanied minors reception program as reason for the ongoing pause in Texas refugee payments. That program is unrelated to refugee service programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At Wednesdays hearing, government lawyer Joseph F. Carilli, Jr. argued that the pause was under the governments purview, and that forcing the state to release the funds would take away the authority of the federal government to review any of its contracts before completion. The review of the Texas Office for Refugees is still ongoing, Carilli said. They cant provide at this point in time anything certain as to when it would conclude. AliKhan has not yet issued a ruling. Late last month, she ruled against the Trump administration in withholding billions in foreign aid payments, which fund refugee resettlement programs in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with her ruling last week. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Democrats demand release of $42M in federal refugee funds ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Its been three and a half years since a drive-by shooting in southeast Albuquerque killed a 16-year-old boy. Now, the murder case against one of those suspected shooters is moving forward. Elton Gastelum is one of six teens police identified in connection to that shooting in August 2021 near Wyoming Blvd. and Copper Ave. when the group opened fire on an apartment, killing 16-year-old Gabriel Garcia Zimmerman, who investigators believe was not their intended target. Around 200 casings were recovered from the scene and investigators say the group joked about the killing later in a group text. NMSP arrests woman accused of murder in Guadalupe County The states case against Gastelum was on hold while he was being prosecuted in federal court for an unrelated incident. In that case, he was transporting undocumented immigrants near Deming, when he fled from a Border Patrol checkpoint and crashed, killing two of the people he was transporting. Gastelum took a plea deal in that case, and is now serving a ten-year sentence in federal prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Gastelum was back in state district court for a hearing on Thursday, as the state resumes its case against him for the party shooting. Two of the other defendants, Santos Veronica and Johnny Lopez, pled guilty to murder charges and are awaiting sentencing. Three others are still awaiting trial. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. SYDNEY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A new report published on Thursday highlighted the growing struggles of young Australians, who are facing mounting financial stress, worsening mental health, and declining confidence in political institutions. The cost of living has now surpassed all other concerns, becoming their top priority, according to the study conducted by researchers from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University. The study's report, which surveyed Australians aged 14 to 25, sheds light on their biggest challenges and the changes they want to see. Alongside economic hardship, mental health, and education reform, the report also emphasizes their role in driving social change, particularly in addressing discrimination, racism, and gender inequality. Report co-author Prof. Astghik Mavisakalyan called for policy changes to better support young people, who are grappling with financial uncertainty and increasing mental health struggles. Alarmingly, three in ten young women experience high psychological distress, twice the rate of their male peers, while social isolation remains a serious issue despite widespread social media use, Mavisakalyan said. The financial strain is particularly acute, with one-third of young Australians citing cost of living as a personal burden and 56 percent identifying it as one of the country's most pressing issues. The report also raises concerns about social media's impact on mental health, with frequent users more likely to experience anxiety and stress. While the government's proposed national social media ban aims to curb these negative effects, experts caution that unintended consequences could arise, particularly for vulnerable groups. Australia's higher education system also came under scrutiny, with young people frustrated by the increasing financial burden of student loans and the Job-ready Graduates Package, which have strayed from their original purpose of providing fair access to education, instead leaving graduates with heavy debt, lower disposable income, and heightened financial insecurity, said co-author Prof. Mike Dockery from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will be ending Marylands unique hospital-rate setting program at the end of the year, a change that was not unexpected but that still has state officials on edge nonetheless. (Photo by Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters) The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will be ending Marylands unique hospital-rate setting program at the end of the year, a change that was not unexpected but that still has state officials on edge nonetheless. State health officials had planned to wind down the current Total Cost of Care program to transition into a new federal version of the program at the start of 2026. But amid a deluge of rapid federal decisions, the notice has legislative leadership nervous that Marylands hospital system, which relies on federal funding to operate, could be at risk under the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unlike any other state that (funding) upholds our entire hospital system across the state of Maryland. Its in jeopardy, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said in testimony Wednesday to the Budget and Taxation Committee. His remarks were sparked by a statement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Wednesday, announcing that the agencys Innovation Center plans to test, and then scale up, innovation payment models that reduce spending while improving quality of care. Marylands Total Cost of Care model, which sets hospital rates in the state, was one of the programs targeted by CMS to end in December while moving forward with the states transition into the Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development or AHEAD model, which is a federal version of Marylands system. Gene Ransom, CEO for MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society, noted that the timeline for Marylands plan to end the state system and transition into the federal plan has not actually changed, despite the agencys claim that it has decided to end the state program early. We expected Total Cost of Care to end. Thats why we entered into the agreement as a state to go to AHEAD, Ransom said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the state should continue to work with federal officials to keep the transition going forward, but notes that the Trump administration could be setting new expectations for what the AHEAD model will look like when it does take effect. Its one of those things that, as change occurs, it could be very nerve-wracking, Ransom said. We need to all pay attention to the details and try to do everything we can to protect the interesting system that we built in Maryland. Under the current model, a state board sets annual hospital payments in advance, but includes patient outcome goals reducing readmissions, for example as incentives. The states model sets a global budget for hospitals across the state, which is the total amount of revenue each hospital can earn in a year. The goal is lower cost burdens on patients and improving quality of care while disincentivizing profit-based motives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2023, the Biden administration announced the creation of the AHEAD model, which takes a cue from Maryland and other states with similar systems by helping states transition into a Total Cost of Care model. Maryland officials were informed that they would need to join the AHEAD model in order to keep some of the funding and program flexibility currently available to the state under Total Cost of Care. On Nov. 1, Gov. Wes Moore celebrated an agreement signed between CMS and the state to begin the transition officially with an 18-month transition process, with the states Total Cost of Care model ending in December 2025 and the changeover finishing by January 2026. But under the Trump Administration, CMS said it was cutting certain programs early to save money. The announcement also targets two primary care programs and a program to encourage more home dialysis as well as kidney transplants for people with end-stage renal disease. They would be closed by the end of the year. CMS estimates that cutting these programs early, including Marylands Total Cost of Care program, will yield $750 million in savings nationwide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CMS Innovation Center will continue providing transparency about important changes to advance its mission to lower costs and improve quality of care, the statement said. The Center looks forward to sharing information about next steps, including its new strategic vision, modifications to models to improve their potential for certification and expansion and new models that empower Americans to live healthier lives while protecting taxpayers. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Michigan Supreme Court Justice Megan Cavanagh at the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force meeting in Flint, July 26, 2019 | Andrew Roth With Elizabeth Clement, chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, set to step down no later than April 30, members of the court have named Justice Megan K. Cavanagh as her successor. In a statement Thursday, Cavanagh said her colleagues had unanimously elected her as the next chief justice upon Clements departure in order to ensure a smooth transition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While I love the case work that is central to serving as a Justice, I am ready to tackle the administrative responsibilities that come with the role of Chief Justice. From continuing the build out of the statewide case management system to the expansion of e-filing, technology implementation will remain central to our efforts to help our court system be more efficient and better able to meet the needs of the people we serve, Cavanagh said. My focus will be on strengthening collaborative efforts like the Michigan Judicial Council in which justice system stakeholders come together to weave a shared agenda that combines the best ideas and experiences. I believe strongly that collaboration and cooperation are the keys to building public trust in our branch of government, she said. Cavanagh was first elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2018 after being nominated by the Democratic Party. She serves as the courts liaison on child welfare issues, tribal courts and as chair of the Commission on Well-Being in the Law among her other administrative responsibilities. She previously served as co-lead on the Child Protective Legal Representation Task Force. Clement was first appointed by GOP Gov. Rick Snyder in 2017, and was elected to serve a full-term in 2018, receiving the Republican nomination. She was unanimously elected to her role as chief justice in November 2022, and was reelected in January 2023, and again this previous January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She is leaving the states highest court no later than April 30, plans to take on the role as president of the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit that provides assistance and resources to courts both nationally and around the world. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on 12 March that a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could begin within days if Russia agrees to the proposal. Source: European Pravda with reference to The New York Times Details: Rubio said that if Russia rejects the proposal for a month-long ceasefire, it would be deeply disappointing and "it'd make their intentions clear". "Here's what we'd like the world to look like in a few days: Neither side is shooting at each other not rockets, not missiles, not bullets, nothing, not artillery," Rubio told journalists during a refuelling stop in Ireland, en route from Saudi Arabia to Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The shooting stops, the fighting stops, and the talking starts," he added. Rubio also noted that when he and the US delegation met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia last month, the Russians seemed open to the idea of resolving the war. "They expressed a willingness under the right circumstances, which they did not define, to bring an end to this conflict," he explained. Background: Following the talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine said it is willing to implement a 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia also adheres to it. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington will submit a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine to Russia and said he hopes Russia will accept it. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! HONOLULU (KHON2) With Saint Patricks Day coming up, celebrations will be going on all weekend at the Irish corner in Chinatown. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You WakeUp2Days Chris Latronic went live at the Black Shamrock Tavern with to learn more. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news He met up with owner of the Black Shamrock Tavern, JJ Niehbur to get a preview of this weekends festivities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Census data shows Greater Rochester area counties saw significant population growth in 2024, after experiencing declines throughout 2020 and 2023. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Monroe, Wayne, and Ontario are included in the 65.3% of U.S. counties that showed population growth. This was evaluated by the Bureaus Population Estimate Program, which evaluates data such as migration, births, and deaths to track the changes of an area. The reported annual estimates of New York residents focused on the specific trends of counties in a period between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2024. 2020 through 2023 saw national declines, a shift that is attributed to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Monroe saw a population estimate of a reported 759,348 on April 1, 2020, suffer a consistent decline to 750,901 in 2023. Wayne, also declined during this period from 91,293 to 90,671 residents. Ontario saw various rates of growth and loss, as populations decreased from a reported base of 112,465 to 112,350 in 2020 before increasing to 112,648 in 2021. It proceeded to decline in 2022 to 112,509 with another increase in 2023 to 112,605. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With Rochesters growth, Visit Rochester President and CEO Don Jeffries said more people in the city and is a great economic impact. One of the things we talk about all the time is Rochester and Monroe County is a great place to visit, but its a great place to live. And people come here, they see all the things that we have, and they say, Hey, this is a great spot. Im going to move here,' Jeffries said. Following the pandemic in 2023 to 2024, larger counties and metropolitan areas across the United States experienced the most growth. According to the report, reasoning largely stemmed from international migration, as natural decrease (more deaths than births) remained prevalent in most of the country. The three counties performed differently in growth compared to the national numerical average. The reported 2024 average national average indicates a 1,051-population change. Falling under this average, Wayne only saw growth by 86 to 90,757. Ontario while seeing a larger increase than Wayne, did not meet the average as it saw a 407 population change increase to 113,012. A surge of 1,301 residents to Monroe County, however, exceeded the nations average, resulting in a population estimate of 752,202 as of July 1, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jeffries explained how he feels the numbers will look for the city in future years with more people in Rochester. I think that people, as they discover what a neat place it is to live and visit that youre going to see the numbers keep going up, and its great to see the turnaround, because for three years, they were going down. And I think after COVID, people want to move downtown. They want to be part of the action, Jeffries said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) A Central Falls man has been convicted in Superior Court of murdering 22-year-old Joel Rosario in Pawtucket back in 2020. The Rhode Island Attorney Generals office said a jury found 26-year-old Jairo Esdel Galva guilty on one count of second-degree murder and one count of committing a drive-by-shooting, among other firearms-related charges. ALSO READ: Police say employee stole safe from Cumberland business Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Halloween in 2020, Galva was reportedly in a Jeep Cherokee following the Toyota Corolla that Rosario was a passenger in. The pair was said to have a contentious relationship. At a traffic light on Lonsdale Avenue, Rosario got out of the car to confront Galva. During the argument, Galva fired a single shot through the Jeeps open window, hitting Rosario in the chest and killing him. Several witnesses were able to identify Galva as the perpetrator. He did not have a license to posses a firearm. This case is another tragic example of a petty argument that turned deadly because the defendant chose to settle a score with a gun, Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Galva was previously convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2022, but the Rhode Island Supreme Court vacated that ruling and ordered a new trial on the charge of second-degree murder and the lesser offense of manslaughter. Galva is being held at the ACI. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 21. 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. The Centralia Police Department is issuing a warning to the public after someone pretended to be a credit union employee to steal thousands of dollars. The incident was reported on March 10. Police say the person posed as an employee of Twin Star Credit Union and convinced someone to take out $25,000 from her account and deposit the money into a Bitcoin machine at a local business. Officers applied for, and were granted, a search warrant to recover the money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The money was subsequently placed into evidence as the case is still under investigation. Always verify the validity of the person or company trying to get funds from you, the department said. You can ask for phone numbers, request to speak to a manager, or contact the company the person alleges they work for before sending any money. The department says legitimate businesses or government agencies will never ask someone to convert money into Bitcoin or ask someone to purchase gift cards for them. This is an ongoing investigation, and no further information is being released currently. Iraq War veteran Allison Jaslow announced Thursday that she will step down from her role as CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America later this spring, prompting a search for the next leader of the veterans organization. The group founded in 2004 has been a prominent and sometimes controversial voice in the veterans community over the last two decades, focused largely on issues impacting the youngest generation of American veterans. Unlike most of the legacy veterans organizations, which have leadership changes annually, Jaslow is only the third CEO in the organizations history. She is the groups first female leader and its first openly gay chief executive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her departure comes after two years in the CEO role and more than nine years of work with the organization, including spearheading the organizations She Who Borne the Battle campaign, which highlighted the contributions and needs of women veterans. Jalsow said in recent years the organization has focused more on developing leadership training programs to elevate the voices of post-9/11 veterans and the challenges facing them. Its a very rewarding thing to be able to bring veterans to Washington, D.C., invest in them, to train them, and give them the tools not just to advocate for our priorities but also themselves, she said. And those are tools that they take home to their communities where they can help other veterans advocate too. Jaslow served two combat tours in Iraq with the Army. She has also worked in multiple Capitol Hill posts and recently served as an adjunct professor at Duke Universitys Sanford School of Public Policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement VA secretary insists massive staff cuts needed to refocus department In testimony before Congress on March 4, she delivered a blistering rebuke of lawmakers from both parties, saying that partisan fighting has blocked sensible compromises that can benefit veterans and all Americans. If you really want to get the backs of Post-9/11 generation veterans, how about you stop asking us and our fellow Americans to keep soldiering on when none of us is satisfied with the leadership we have in this country right now? she said. How about you follow my generation of veterans lead and make sacrifices on behalf of our country that prove that youre worthy of the office that you hold? Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars era now make up about 30% of the nations veteran population, the second-largest segment behind the Vietnam War era. But they also make up about half of all veterans in the civilian workforce, a percentage that is expected to grow in coming years. JAKARTA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government is seeking to enhance its cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the fields of higher education, science, and technology. During a meeting on Wednesday between Indonesia's Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology Brian Yuliarto, and Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Indonesia, Faisal Abdullah H. Amodi, Yuliarto outlined a proposed cooperation plan. The plan encompasses various initiatives, including inter-academic collaboration and mutually beneficial research projects. "We are committed to expanding cooperation between universities in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, with a focus on deeper collaboration," Yuliarto stated in a statement on Thursday. Yuliarto also shared his personal experience as a researcher, highlighting his established partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), one of Saudi Arabia's leading educational institutions. "We hope that more professors in Indonesia can collaborate with professors at leading universities in Saudi Arabia, as well as engage in more joint research programs or projects," he added. Ambassador Amodi welcomed the Indonesian government's initiative, noting the significant potential for collaboration between the two countries in these sectors. "Many Indonesian students study in Saudi Arabia," he said. Amodi expressed his hope that more Indonesian universities would gain accreditation from Saudi Arabia, which could encourage more Saudi Arabian students to study in Indonesia. He also anticipated increased collaborations between leading universities in both countries. The two sides plan to meet again after the Eid Al Fitr holiday to further refine and concretize the cooperation plan. CHICAGO A man is recovering on Thursday afternoon after they were shot while boarding a CTA bus on the South Side, fire officials said. The incident unfolded around 1 p.m. near East 79th Street and South Drexel Avenue in Chatham. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines According to an official from the Chicago Fire Department, the victim was boarding a CTA bus in the area when he was shot in the back by an unknown individual. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An official from the Chicago Transit Authority said a preliminary report indicates that the shooting did not unfold on the bus, but just outside as the victim prepared to board. SkyCam9 was over the scene around 2:15 p.m. when caution tape blocked off the north end of the intersection and the adjacent bus stop as several officers surveyed the scene nearby. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Marcus Robinson, who lives nearby, said he was shocked by the incident. That scares people to want to get on public transportation, simply, its sad, Marcus Robinson, who lives nearby, said Robinson is encouraging anyone who may be struggling or involved in conflicts to look into resources in their communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Currently, it is unclear what led to the shooting and authorities have not provided details on the victims condition. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) Suicide is something that impacts the lives of thousands every year, with more than 49,000 Americans taking their lives in 2023. At a local level, efforts are being done to prevent suicide in Chemung County with the 20th annual Walk a Mile in My Shoes event. The Chemung County Suicide Prevention Committee will hold a Champions and Team Captains breakfast at the end of March to kick off registration for the Walk a Mile in My Shoes event. The breakfast will be held on March 27, at 9 a.m. and is a way for captains to connect and learn about what is happening locally for suicide prevention, and what new things will be taking place at the 2025 walk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Big Flats farmers actions save property from brush fire The Champions Breakfast will be at the Meals on Wheels location in Elmira at 409 Williams St. Registration to the breakfast is open and can be found here. The 2025 Walk a Mile in My Shoes event will be on May 3 at Eldridge Park in Elmira. The walk can be done either solo or as part of a team. Registration for the walk is available now online, or walkers can register the day of the event. Those who register the day of the event can go to the registration table in the Whip Building starting at 9 a.m. with lunch tickets and t-shirts available on a first-come, first-served basis, those items are given out at $15 per person. Checks can be made out to Community Foundation Suicide Prevention Fund. Any additional donations are asked to be brought between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. the day of the walk. Donations are encouraged but not mandatory to participate in the walk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People who pre-register for the event by April 24 can pick up their shirts and lunch tickets at the Elmira Elks Club at 300 E. Gray Street in Elmira on Thursday, May 1, pickup hours are to be announced. The walk is expected to begin around 11 a.m. on May 3. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. This weekend, the Miami Valley could deal with its first weather chance of the spring season. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Storm Center 7 is tracking the system and will have the new timing and impacts during News Center 7 at 5:00 and 6:00. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two rounds of storms are possible on Saturday. One round is expected in the early morning hours of Saturday morning and then another round, which could be more intense is expected to hit Saturday evening into the overnight hours. Early Saturday morning, a line of thunderstorms moves into the Miami Valley. The time frame of these storms is roughly 3 AM - 8 AM. Heavy rain, occasional cloud-to-ground lightning, and gusty winds look to be the main issues. An isolated storm may have damaging winds. Hail and tornadoes are unlikely during the morning round. During the daytime hours on Saturday, partly cloudy, warm, and breezy. Isolated thunderstorms may develop. The chance of rain during the day is quite low at 20-30%, but any storm that develops during the day may be strong to severe. Damaging winds, isolated hail, or isolated tornado threats are possible during this window. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overnight Saturday into Sunday morning, these storms are roughly 7 PM - 3 AM. Another widespread round of rain and storms is expected. Heavy rain and damaging wind gusts will be the main concerns here. Hail is unlikely during this timeframe. An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. Multiple rounds of heavy rainfall may lead to flash flooding. This is most likely late Saturday into early Sunday where we may pick up 2 of rain in a 6-hour period. It will be windy from Friday evening through Sunday morning. Wind gusts not associated with thunderstorms may exceed 45MPH at times. Prolonged strong wind gusts may eventually lead to downed trees and spotty power outages. Due to the extended stretch of inconvenient weather Friday night through Sunday morning, weve put out a STORM TRACKING ALERT for Saturday. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Sunday will bring cooler temperatures with lingering showers. There is no threat for severe weather behind the front, and highs will be in the lower 50s. Drier weather returns for St. Patricks Day with highs in the lower 50s. CHANDLER, Texas (KETK) A family in Chandler has been forced to temporarily move out of their home after they say it was flooded with sewage water. Longview officer injured in weekend shooting released from hospital, recovering at home The Britt family moved into their house on Haley Lane around eight years ago. Now, theyve been forced to leave their home after sewage from a clogged city line backed up on to their property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mother of the Britt family, Darla, spoke about how she discovered unsanitary water coming out of her toilets and bathtubs. We checked both toilets, and then we noticed what was coming up in the bathtubs and the toilet, and it was dirty water, Britt said. East Texas native DeMarvion Overshown honored with Ed Block Courage Award The smelly and dirty water started overflowing and flooding into her bathroom. So, we started grabbing towels and mopping them up, Britt said. We used all 18 towels just to mop them up, and we turned the water off in both bathrooms. It was only after the water stopped flowing that they found out it was actually waste from a sewer line. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They got out, I think about 25 gallons worth of water out of my bathroom, Britt said. A police report provided by the mayor reveals city workers discovered water backed up in the main line up the street. The main sewer line that runs that serves this area is right here by Mrs. Britts home. It got clogged, and it caused it to back up into this home, Chandler Mayor Cy Ditzler said. The mayor said he is doing what he can to get this problem resolved for them and other properties affected. The first thing you do is protect your citizens, Ditzler said. Thats what my job as the mayor of Chandler is: to answer all calls from our citizens, no matter who they are or where they are and to protect them by being their voice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Britt said her family took their issue to Tuesdays city council meeting where the council decided to table the issue until insurance information is secured. The mayor was tasked with spearheading community funding in the meantime. They do have a GoFundMe page and I hope that everybody that hears this interview reaches out and finds out how to help, Ditzler said. The line has been cleared of debris, according to the mayor, but unless something changes soon, it could happen again. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) Late bill changes sparked an outcry from Kentuckys LGBTQ community on Wednesday. Lawmakers are moving ahead on a bill not only repealing a conversion therapy ban, but it could now impact transgender people on Medicaid. You will cost lives. This was not the original intent of this bill at all, The Fairness Campaign executive director Chris Hartman told lawmakers in a meeting of the Senate Health Services Committee on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nicholasville man allegedly uploaded child porn onto social media, told police it was stupid There are many medical procedures that the government does not cover, and the government has no business covering those services, The Family Foundation policy director Nick Spencer told lawmakers later in that same meeting. House Bill 495 has taken on many forms this session. The bill originally began as a proposal to protect counselors from government discrimination, countering an executive order last fall by Governor Andy Beshear to ban conversion therapy. In the House, lawmakers rewrote the bill with an amendment to simply repeal the executive order. It passed 77-18 last week. On Wednesday, the Senate Health Services Committee added language, taking the bill further. In addition to repealing the executive order, it would now also ban any Medicaid coverage for cross-sex hormones or gender reassignment surgery. Executive director of The Fairness Campaign Chris Hartman was almost removed from the room over the late change. How dare you? Hartman exclaimed before being ordered to stand down by committee chairman Sen. Steve Meredith, who threatened to remove Hartman if he continued to raise his voice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These people were prepared to testify on House Bill 495 on conversion therapy. What you have allowed, Mr. Chairman, is a sneak attack on our transgender community without public input, Hartman said. The Family Foundation policy director Nick Spencer supports the bill. He said he believes the governors executive order limits free speech to only counsel one way on LGBTQ issues, and people should be able to choose the counseling that fits them. Democrats questioned how that logic fits with the bills changes. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: You need to explain to me how you reconcile that with the addition to this bill banning Medicaid from covering transgender treatment for adults, Sen. Karen Berg (D-Louisville) asked. My justification is that the government has no business spending tax dollars on elective surgeries and elective procedures for people with transgender feelings, Spencer responded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HB 495 passed around 11 p.m. on Friday, and will be sent next to the governors desk. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. ST. LOUIS Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe is expected to soon sign into law a bill transferring control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a state-appointed board. The legislation, which includes an emergency clause, will take effect immediately upon the governors signature. Under the new structure, the St. Louis mayor will occupy one of six board seats. Board members appointed by the governor must have been living in the City of St. Louis for at least two years leading up to their appointments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The appointments will also require approval from the Missouri Senate. This shift to a state-appointed board of police commissioners comes as crime statistics indicate a decrease in violent crime in the city of St. Louis. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones reacted to the vote on Wednesday, stating that her administrations efforts have led to that reduction in crime. She also said Kansas Citys mayor has faced frustrations with a state-appointed board overseeing that citys police department. Hes been over here to see what weve been able to do focusing on prevention, intervention, and enforcement, our alternative response models, and hasnt been able to implement most of what weve been able to do in Kansas City, Jones said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Representative Steve Butz, a St. Louis Democrat, supports the transition to a state-appointed board. He cited a recent Fox Files report, detailing a police department firing range in dire need of upgrades, as an example of mismanagement that necessitates change. Butz said he was led to support the bill in large part because of feedback from constituents and officers. The number of officers that are going to stay because this passed today is going to be dramatic, he said. Police unions have responded similarly. The St. Louis Police Officers Association released a statement expressing excitement over the passage of HB495, which restores the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a governor-appointed board of police commissioners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The statement emphasized that for over a decade, ineffective management has hindered officers ability to fulfill their duties. With this change, St. Louis will begin to realize the vision of Governor Kehoe for a safer St. Louis for its citizens, a better environment for businesses to flourish, and a more supportive administration for the officers who serve the citizens of this great city, the statement read. The Ethical Society of Police (ESOP) also released a statement welcoming the decision. They described the move back to state control as a win for all city officers, stating that it will provide them with much-needed support in their efforts to deter crime and protect citizens. The St. Louis mayoral debate moments everyone is talking about Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ESOP, which represents over 200 members primarily from minority backgrounds, emphasized the importance of improving morale, investing in officer training and addressing staffing shortages. This bill is also a win for citizens, especially with the additional policy changes that were packaged with it, the statement noted, highlighting initiatives such as the new Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Task Force and new penalties for organized theft rings. The statement indicated the organization has opposed local control since 2010, when it was first proposed. But having worked under both systems, were confident that this is the start of the path to much-needed improvements that will benefit law enforcement, civilian workers, and the citizens of our great city, the statement concluded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Thursday that lawmakers will face headwinds negotiating a new farm bill due to the Trump administration's overhaul of the Agriculture Department and other policy fights. Still, she remained optimistic it could be done this year. Hopefully we'll have some good news on a farm bill, but with all of the chaos chaos up, corruption up, costs up I think it does create headwinds that make it very hard to work on a farm bill, said Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, at POLITICO Playbooks First 100 Days breakfast series. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added that if Democratic priorities like funding for nutrition and conservation programs arent included, Republicans wont be able to get enough votes to pass the bill the same disagreements that doomed negotiations last year. Lawmakers are under intense pressure from constituents and agriculture groups to hammer out a new farm bill deal before the midterm elections. The massive $1.5 trillion legislative package, which is supposed to be revamped every five years, has not been updated since 2018. A GOP-led bill passed out of the House Agriculture Committee in May 2024 but never received a floor vote. Now, Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress; that could boost their ability to drive a new farm bill through, though itll need some Democratic support to get across the finish line. Lawmakers are hoping that Klobuchar and Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) will be able to bridge that divide to find a new deal. I hope that theyre able to work together, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) also said at Thursday's breakfast event. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Jackson County Prosecutors Office has filed charges related to a shooting where the victim was found outside of a Quik Trip at 31st and Southwest Boulevard last July 4th. Orlando D. Smith, 22, has been charged with second-degree murder in the deadly shooting of Tykeedra Henderson. Henderson, who was also 22 years old, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of July 4th. FOX4 spoke with her family a week after she was killed, their interview is in the video at the top of the page. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Download WDAF+ for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV According to a probable cause statement, Smith was urinating outside of that QuikTrip just after 1 a.m. when he told investigators a homeless man asked him for a shell, a cigar used to smoke marijuana. Court documents say surveillance footage showed Smith turn around and shoot at the man. Smith says he thought he shot twice into the ground. In an interview with KCPD detectives on March 11, Smith told them that he was the only person who shot a gun. He was told that he did not just shoot the ground but that he had shot and killed Henderson, who was an innocent bystander. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On July 11, Hendersons family held a balloon release at the QuikTrip where he was shot and killed. All they were doing was going and getting gas, Hendersons grandmother Faye Alford said that night to FOX4s Shannon Rousseau. Who wouldve thought? KCPD looking for suspect who shot at police, prosecutor files charges A spokeswoman for Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson says Smith was taken into custody on March 11, the same day he was interviewed by detectives. That would be more than eight months after the shooting. There is no set timeline on how long locating a subject of interest will take, KCPD Officer Alayna Gonzalez said when asked about the length of the investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each case has a unique set of facts and circumstance that play a role in the investigative timeliness. It is not uncommon that certain cases will require additional time to complete investigative measures based on investigative findings, community assistance, processing of evidence, etc. Smith is in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center. Hes being held without bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Mar. 12ROCHESTER A Rochester man is facing two felony assault charges related to a March 10 stabbing , according to new court documents filed Wednesday, March 12. Eric Dewayne Fields Jr., 25, of Rochester, was charged in Olmsted County District Court with one count of first-degree assault that inflicted great bodily harm and one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, both felonies. The charges come two days after he was arrested in the Olmsted County Government Center parking lot for his alleged involvement in the stabbing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his first appearance in court on Wednesday, Fields was placed on $100,000 bail with conditions. His next hearing is scheduled for March 26. According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to a report of a stabbing around 9:40 a.m. on March 10. When officers arrived at the apartment building located on the 3400 block of Kenosha Drive Northwest, a witness led them to the second floor where they saw a 31-year-old man lying on the floor of the hallway. The man told police he was stabbed by his brother. The complaint said the man was stabbed to the left side of his sternum, and blood was continuing to flow out of the wound. The man was transported to St. Marys Hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While in the hospital, the man said that his half-brother, Fields, slept in his home that night. The complaint said the man woke up the next morning to see that Fields was in his room "sneaking around, looking for something." After the man asked Fields what he was doing, Fields took the covers off of the man. The man rolled over on the bed, and then Fields stabbed him, the complaint alleges. The two wrestled, and the knife fell to the floor. The man attempted to get to the front door, but got tired and slid to the floor. According to the complaint, the apartment's surveillance footage showed the man leaving his apartment before collapsing in the hallway. Minutes later, Fields was seen exiting the apartment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Law enforcement determined that Fields went to the HyVee on West Circle Drive Northwest, made a phone call and was picked up by a silver Toyota Camry. Officers located the Camry parked at the Olmsted County Government Center with Fields inside. Fields was placed under arrest. When Fields spoke to police, he said he slept near the old Kmart building in southeast Rochester, denied being on the northwest side of the city at all and described the man as a "friend" rather than brother. "After being confronted by Det. Kusick with these untruths," the complaint said, "Fields claimed the incident was self-defense, while being evasive and confused about the details." If you recently purchased a bottle of sparkling water from Trader Joe's, then it's time to inspect your fridge or pantry. On Wednesday March 13, Trader Joe's issued a recall for specific lot numbers of Gerolsteiner Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, which the company said "may have the potential for cracked or damaged bottles." According to a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the recall applies to the 750 mL bottles of Gerolsteiner Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, and includes about 61,500 bottles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recall was initiated after the supplier of the German-manufactured water informed Trader Joe's that certain lot codes contain bottles that may be damaged or can crack. Only two lot codes are affected, numbers 2024/28/11 24 2027/19/12 and 2024/271/11 24 2027/18/12. Consumers can find these printed on the side of the label on a bottle, to verify whether they need to discard their purchase. While it may seem silly to recall water bottles based on the potential for cracking, these bottles are made from glass, which presents a notable safety hazard if they should break open. United States Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalled glass bottles could possibly crack. Recalled glass bottles could possibly crack. Trader Joe's reports that the bottles were sold between December 27, 2024, and January 28, 2025. They were available for sale in 12 states Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas and were sold for about $3 per bottle, per the CPSC. "There have been no customer reports of injury or damaged bottles," Trader Joe's notes thus far. "The issue was identified by research related to bottle breakage during production and potentially affects 1% of bottles in the lot codes above." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Experts Warn of Public Health Risks as the Trump Administration Eliminates 2 Critical Food Safety Committees The grocery chain adds that if you have one or more of these bottles with an affected lot code printed on the side, to "please" not consume or keep it. Instead, you should dispose of it carefully or head to any Trader Joe's for a full refund. The CPSC further clarifies that, "Consumers will not be asked for proof of purchase but will need to return the recalled bottle to receive a refund (in the form of cash or credit)." So if you want a refund, it's best to bring the water with you to TJ's just use caution while en route then maybe grab a snack while you're there. Trader Joe's Sparkling Water Recall Product recalled: Gerolsteiner Sparkling Natural Mineral Water 750mL Reason for recall: Glass bottles that may be damaged or potentially crack Number of bottles: About 61,500 bottles States affected: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas Lot codes: 2024/28/11 24 2027/19/12 and 2024/271/11 24 2027/18/12 Read the original article on Food & Wine BRASILIA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's government on Wednesday called the U.S. decision to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 25 percent an "unjustified and mistaken" move. "These measures will significantly impact Brazilian steel and aluminum exports to the United States, which totaled around 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2024," Brazil's Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade said in a joint statement. Officials called the decision unjustified given the "historic cooperation and economic integration between the two nations," noting that Brazil is the third-largest importer of U.S. steelmaking coal and the largest exporter of semifinished steel to the United States. The United States maintains a long-standing trade surplus with Brazil, which in 2024 amounted to roughly 7 billion dollars in goods alone, the government added. Officials said Brazil will explore all possible trade responses in the coming weeks, aiming "to counteract the harmful effects of the U.S. measures and protect legitimate national interests." PRICHARD, Ala. (WKRG) Officials with the Chickasaw Police Department have confirmed that a shooting in the Alabama Village area caused the elementary school to go into lockdown. Mobile woman accused of making threat at Trinity Gardens Heritage Parade Police Chief Eugene Parker said Chickasaw Elementary School first went into lockdown around 2:35 p.m. when they heard shots fired in the area. Police were sent to investigate and found that the shots originated from the Alabama Village area in Prichard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawsuit targets ex-Mobile Police chief, detectives, alleging wrongful death Chief Parker said they could not find any threat or perpetrators, so school officials lifted the lockdown. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A 2-year-old child was treated at Akron Childrens Hospital following a cat attack in Warren. According to a police report, the child was attacked by a cat known to the neighborhood at about 7 p.m. Monday in the area of Berkshire Drive SE. The childs father told police that the cat had a collar and belonged to someone in the complex near where the attack happened, the report stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The child was at first treated at home for injuries to her hand; however, as the injury began to swell and get worse, the mother took the child to a local emergency room. After what reports say was a 3-hour wait and not being seen, she left and went to an urgent care where she was advised to take the child to Akron Childrens Hospital where the child was admitted. Police were able to locate the alleged owner of the cat, however, the owner would not participate in the investigation, wanting proof that it was their cat that caused the childs injury. The condition of the child was unknown at the time of the police report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Range anxietythe fear that an electric vehicle wont have enough battery power to reach its destinationremains one of the biggest obstacles to widespread EV adoption. A poll conducted last year by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about half of U.S. drivers cited this fear of being stranded on empty as a major reason for not purchasing an EV. But new research out of China suggests that the solution to easing these concerns might actually have more to do with trains than cars. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania recently analyzed Chinas decade-long push for electric vehicle (EV) adoption and found that it coincided with the countrys expansion of high-speed rail. Regions with the fastest and most accessible rail networks also saw the highest increases in EV adoption. Overall, they note, high-speed rail boosted EV sales volume by an average of 91 percent. Unlike in the U.S., range anxiety is far less of a concern in China because most residents dont rely on EVs for long or even medium-distance travel. Instead, they primarily use them for local commuting. The researchers conclude that this strategy of complementary infrastructure is more effective than EV subsidies or mandates alone. The findings are part of a working paper published last month on the Penn Institute for Economic Research. Where trains go, EVs follow Few countries have adopted EV as readily as China. As of the end of 2024, EVs accounted for 45 percent of new vehicle purchases in the country. Thats compared to just 25 percent and 11 percent for the European Union and US respectively. And while the Chinese government has played an active role in encouraging EVs through subsidies and other advantages for manufacturers, the same could be said of many governments elsewhere. In the US, Tesla alone has reportedly benefited from as much as $38 billion in government funding over the past two decades. Other countries like Norway and Britain have even laid out plans to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles altogether. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When researchers analyzed monthly vehicle registration data from 328 Chinese cities between 2010 and 2023, they noticed a recurring variable that kept popping up: the presence of newer high-speed rail. Over the past several decades, China has developed the worlds largest high-speed rail network. Today, it spans a combined 45,000 kilometers and connects 96 percent of Chinese cities with populations over 500,000. For perspective, the researchers note that Chinas rail system alone accounts for roughly 70 percent of the worlds total high-speed rail. The parallel development of high-speed rail and new EVs allows many Chinese residents to transition away from gas-powered cars without worrying about their vehicles ability to handle long journeys. This reduced need for extended-range EVs has also enabled Chinese automakers to focus on producing smaller, less battery-intensive vehicles. As a result, Chinese EVs tend to be more affordable than many of those found in other markets. If there are other ways to travel long distancesay you take one hour to go by high-speed railthen you dont worry about using your electric vehicle for that kind of travel, lead researcher Hanming Fang said in a statement. Its worth noting though that this complementary infrastructure, might actually look more planned out in hindsight. Fang says the mutual benefit of EVs and HSR in China was more likely a happy coincidence. Still that doesnt necessarily stop others from learning for that result and applying it themselves. In the US, for example, lawmakers have tried to address EV range anxiety by spending billions to build up a comprehensive, nation-wide EV charging network. It isnt going great. Analyst estimates show the majority of US EV owners also have another gas powered car kept in case of longer journeys. That system of using two different cars is inherently limited to people in higher income brackets. Its also potentially at odds with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning away from gas powered cars. More high-speed rail could help solve both of those issues. Americas troubled relationship with trains That goal, of course, is easier said than done. Lobbying groups representing car manufacturers and fossil fuel companies have long worked to slow efforts to expand rail. A deeply ingrained car culture also leaves some Americans less receptive to commuter trains than residents of other countries. The current U.S. president has also repeatedly criticized rail projects. But maybe most importantly, the researchers note, the U.S. lacks the ability to build infrastructure at the same speed as China due to its decentralized government structure. Related: [US finally breaks ground on its first-ever high-speed rail] And yet, some inroads are being made. In 2023, private rail company Brightland completed a 170-mile high speed rail line connecting Orlando to South Florida, a first of its kind for the state. Building is also already underway on a $12 billion train that may zoom travellers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in under two hours by the end of the decade. Even Texas, which has a long, complicated history of failed rail projects, is reportedly making inroads on a train that could one day connect Houston and Dallas. If those efforts are successful, its possible more EVs might follow closely behind. Fears of a Starlink shut-off at the front line have racked Ukraine. European satellite internet firms took the opportunity to step forward as replacements but even collectively, they are unlikely to fill the void in coverage that Starlink's shut off would leave. Today, Starlink satellite internet service dominates both worldwide and at Ukraines front lines. Moreover, Chinese rather than European competitors are building equivalent satellite constellations. If Ukraine is left waiting on an ally to provide an alternative to Starlink, Russia will likely get one from China first. The U.S. paused weapons aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine last week, though that aid resumed after ceasefire talks in Jeddah. Ukrainians had feared Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and semi-official but eminently visible member of President Donald Trumps team would cut Starlink access in Ukraine. Musk has tweeted, however, that he would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nobody knows right now if hell cut it off, Colonel Pavlo Khazan, an electronic warfare expert within Ukraine's military, tells the Kyiv Independent. But this would be a very serious problem. There are a handful of alternative satellite internet providers, but on the ground, Starlink still provides several hundred times more bandwidth than the nearest second while also being much cheaper and easier to use. Starlink has proved remarkably resistant to Russian electronic interference. There would probably be some kind of catastrophe, a head of intelligence for a unit near Pokrovsk told the Kyiv Independent, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, because right now, everyone is still on Starlinks. There are no real alternatives, a cybersecurity specialist with Ukraines Foreign Ministry who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak publicly told the Kyiv Independent. But I hardly think theyre going to turn it off. It would be bad for business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The character of Ukraines defense would fundamentally change without Starlink. The front would not necessarily collapse, but it would certainly go much darker. The European replacements European satellite internet firms are looking to fill in for Starlink at the same time that the European Union is broadly looking to take up the mantle of protection that Trump is keenly throwing away. But while they are eagerly presenting themselves as alternatives, they ultimately fall down on numbers. Among major proposed alternatives are providers like Luxembourgs SES and the French Eutelsat Group, which includes the British firm OneWeb. Of all 10,000-plus man-made satellites in orbit around the earth, over two-thirds are Starlinks. They are, moreover, the best of their kind. No one had really built industrial-level laser comms terminals before at this massive scale, and so Starlink just did it, says Blaine Curcio, a space and satcom consultant who publishes the China Space Monitor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starlink has been shut off on the Russian side of the line since the start of the war. That made Kursk the largest test bed for a Starlink-free Ukrainian military. Reports have found OneWeb provided Ukrainian soldiers with satellite internet in Kursk Oblast during their seven-month occupation of the Russian region. Starlinks nearest functional competitor, OneWeb has 648 satellites in orbit. OneWeb has not launched a new satellite since completing its fleet in March 2023. The fleet only has one satellite over Ukraine. OneWebs satellites each provide a bandwidth of 7.2 gigabits per second, adding up to a network with a cumulative usable capacity of 1.1 terabits per second. Starlinks current V2 satellites offer 96 Gbps, and SpaceX claims that its V3 satellite under development will hit 1 Tbps per unit. As of the end of 2024, Starlinks total capacity was roughly 350 Tbps. A Terabit is 125,000 megabytes. Streaming a high-definition movie requires around 10 megabytes per second, meaning only 12,500 people worldwide could watch a movie at the same time on OneWeb. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Curcio sees EutelStats claims of stepping up in Ukraine as a way of patching up a long-tarnished reputation. They have been beaten down pretty badly because everyone thinks its a complete cash sink, said Curcio. In addition to saying, Hey, we care about the Ukrainians, theyre trying to show people that OneWeb is something that can actually work, because thats been a big challenge for them. OneWeb has been around for almost as long as Starlink but has not had an illustrious track record. EutelSat Group, formed following a merger with OneWeb near the end of 2023, has seen its share price collapse in the intervening years. It went up over 600% following comments by Eva Berneke that they are looking at replacing Starlink in Ukraine. A medic from Ukraine's 43rd Brigade stands next to a Starlink terminal at a base in Bakhmut District on April 19, 2023, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Ed Ram/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) Starlink currently boasts 5 million users globally and over 42,000 terminals in Ukraine. Representatives for OneWeb declined to comment on their ability to replicate that scale but wrote in a statement to the Kyiv Independent that OneWeb solutions can provide an alternative for certain government and defense applications. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OneWeb representatives would also not answer as to where to buy its terminals in Ukraine. On outside markets, they run upwards of $10,000. New Starlinks, for comparison, sell on Ukrainian online electronics stores for just over $400, compared to roughly $549 on U.S. Amazon. The numbers for other would-be EU competitors to Starlink are even grimmer. SES has a total of 70 satellites. Canadian firm Telesat is currently trying to get 198 satellites into orbit. They face remarkably slow launch times. These EU telecoms are unlikely to be able to expand coverage rapidly to cover Ukraine in the near term. It's not feasible because there's not enough spare satellites, says Curcio. There are other constellations in development that will be bigger in terms of mass, but OneWeb is the one that has actually achieved its fleet, says Juliana Suess, an associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, whereas Project Kuiper, IRIS, etc., they haven't got satellites up yet. So they're not really an alternative for now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The California-based Astranis is one firm that Curcio points to as more likely to be able to send a handful of satellites to Ukraine in the near future, largely because they do launches for relatively high-risk customers like the Peruvian satellite communications company Andesat, some of whom go broke and can no longer pay for Astranis service. Another military comms service called TooWay is a joint project between EutelSat and Viasat dating back to 2007 that Ukraine was already using before Russias full-scale invasion. With TooWay, the speed of transfer of this data and internet connection is very small. That is, youll end up downloading one video for half a day, Volodymyr Tekhnar, a battalion commander for the 28th Mechanized Brigade who declined to provide his last name for security reasons, told the Kyiv Independent. A Starlink terminal gives connection to live drone images and information as the 59th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fires grad missiles on Russian positions on Dec. 30, 2022 in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images) Russia hacked and brought down Tooway an hour before attacking on Feb. 24, 2022, ultimately pushing Ukraines Armed Forces onto Starlink in the first place. Despite being a consumer technology, Starlink has also remained remarkably resistant to Russian electronic warfare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result, Ukraine today remains quite dependent on Starlink, said Suess. In the absence of Starlink, alternatives would, in effect, take Ukraines front-line forces back in time from broadband to dial-up internet. The Russian compensation Its not likely to destroy the Ukrainian line overnight. But Ukrainian soldiers would shortly face communications issues similar to those of their Russian counterparts, shrouding them in a thicker fog of war. We are prepared for the event that the Starlink network goes down. We may not have super speeds, but let's just say that we will be able to watch online as time goes on, said Tekhnar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starlink has been geofenced to skirt the Russian line since before the outset of the full-scale war. Russian acquisition of limited access hastened advances like that on Vuhledar this past fall. Conversely, the Ukrainian advance near the end of 2022 slowed as Ukrainian forces pushed forward faster than Starlink was restoring coverage to areas previously blocked as being under Russian occupation. Much of the souring of the relationship between Ukraine and Musk began with Musk refusing a Ukrainian request to turn on Starlink to allow a military operation in Crimea. Ukraine on its own has a handful of satellites in orbit, mostly of a tiny experimental variety. As of the end of 2024, Russian state-owned space firm RosKosmos tallied 288 satellites in orbit. Suess noted that most Russian satellites dont look like they're suitable for tactical communications. Some of the communication satellites that Russia has that were used by the intelligence service, for example, were purely mailbox satellites, she explained. So you send up a signal or a message, and then you have to wait for that satellite to just come back around to the ground station in however many hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like Russia, Ukraine without Starlink will have to depend more on data streams that are narrower and more vulnerable to interference, including frequency bands of cell service reserved for military and greater reliance on on-the-ground radio comms like walkie talkies, as well as civilian cell towers that often behave erratically at the front. Streaming and sharing high-resolution footage of drone attacks would become a largely untenable luxury. The Chinese future Further into the future, however, the most likely alternative to Starlink for both Russia and Ukraine is not European but Chinese. The most rapid launches other than SpaceX are coming from G60 Starlink, also known as the Thousand Sails, a network of satellites from the Chinese company SpaceSail. The most relevant company by far is SpaceSail, said Curcio. In the last year and a bit, they've now launched 72 satellites, and I guess more importantly, they've entered a handful of forward markets in different ways. After years of Chinese state projects falling short of launch goals, the government gave the green flag for somewhat private investment into the telecom industry at the end of 2023, Curcio said. SpaceSail was the primary beneficiary. The firm is, however, barred from providing services within China and has a strictly international aim. Give them 18 months and SpaceSail will probably be able to get a couple tens of gigabits per second, maybe, of capacity over that general part of the world at any given time maybe more. Maybe a hundred, said Curcio of Ukraine. This is, however, not likely to benefit Ukraine in the long term. Ukrainian government agencies have in recent years purged Chinese telecoms equipment like Huawei from their networks since the start of the war. Chinese companies routinely provide Russia with high-tech services and equipment that the U.S. and EU ban. In January, SpaceSail set up a subsidiary in Kazakhstan, a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and a long-time eager intermediary for Russian sanctions evasion. SpaceSails ongoing launches are consequently more likely to give Russian soldiers in Ukraine internet services that Ukrainian soldiers have long enjoyed than they are to help Ukraine move beyond Starlink. Francis Farrell contributed reporting to this article. Read also: Losing foothold in Kursk Oblast would be politically significant, experts say Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. China on Thursday urged caution and political restraint in the wake of reports that Germany's BND intelligence agency gathered plausible evidence that the coronavirus pandemic originated with a laboratory leak in the Chinese city of Wuhan. "On the issue of the coronavirus, China firmly rejects any form of political posturing," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing. She said any discussion of the scientific issues surrounding Covid-19 should be left to scientists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mao also noted that an international team led by the World Health Organization had visited the Wuhan lab as part of their investigation into the origins of the pandemic. The team largely dismissed the so-called "lab leak" theory in 2021. Still, the WHO has emphasized that all hypotheses regarding the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus remain on the table. As recently as December the UN agency called on Beijing to provide more pandemic-related data. The reports published in the three newspapers on Wednesday - Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Suddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit - said that the BND and Germany's Chancellery had asked scientists to examine the evidence in regards to the lab leak theory. It posits that the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease, originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which conducted research on coronaviruses, and began spreading through some sort of accident or failure at the lab. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The findings by the German intelligence community have not been made public. The Neue Zurcher Zeitung reported that while the BND had plausible evidence to support the theory, not all the researchers on the panel were convinced. The other major theory for the pandemic's origin is that the virus had a purely natural origin, just like the SARS outbreak in 2002-3. Two days out from a government shutdown, Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats find themselves in a serious jam. But some of them are starting to hint at how they might get out of it. Publicly, the Senate minority leader and many of his fellow Democrats are vowing they wont provide the votes to allow a House GOP funding bill to pass, while demanding a vote on a Plan B. Privately, though, Senate Democrats appear to be moving toward that potential offramp: Securing a vote on their preferred 30-day stopgap bill in exchange for helping the House bill, which funds government through September, clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle even if they ultimately oppose it on final passage. The emerging strategy comes as Schumer has convened his caucus for a string of meetings that have grown so boisterous at times that they've been overheard outside the room where Senate Democrats have huddled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a significant moment for Schumer: Hes trying to bridge disagreement within his caucus over how hard to fight amid fears from some of his members that a shutdown would only empower President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Meanwhile, outside groups and even their Democratic colleagues across the Capitol are pressuring them to reject the House GOP funding bill even if it means shuttering the government. Where Democrats end up will say a lot about how they intend to navigate the weak position in which they find themselves, with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency. Theyre under immense pressure from the left to use the scant leverage they have to slow down Trumps early-term blitzkrieg. But the party is wary of a shutdown that could be pinned on them and exacerbate their political woes. The first test for Schumer and Senate Democrats will come on Friday, when Republicans have teed up the first vote on advancing the House GOP bill. Democrats will need to either back up their statement that the House GOP bill cant get the 60 votes needed to advance or Senate leaders will need to reach an agreement that Democrats can live with. Publicly and privately on Wednesday, Schumer sought to unify his caucus with a demand for a short-term spending patch, while pulverizing the House GOP bill. After giving his members the same message at a Democratic caucus lunch, Schumer took to the Senate floor and declared that Republicans do not currently have the 60 votes needed to advance the House GOP bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday, Schumer said from the Senate floor after his caucus meeting. But behind the scenes, after days of listening to the disparate voices in his ranks, Schumer appears to be ready to help steer his caucus away from unilateral shutdown brinkmanship. Instead, hes making a demand that will let his members take a unified vote and, they hope, peel off a few Republicans unhappy with a seven-month stopgap. Its all a sign that even as Democrats are enjoying their first instance of potential legislative leverage in the Trump era, they might not all be willing to live with the political consequences of playing hardball. [Our] strategy kind of emerged after he heard everybody out yesterday, said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) of Schumer. He said that Schumer started the closed-door meeting on Wednesday by saying, I listened to yall yesterday and that he believed the emerging strategy would seem to unify a lot of us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And I think it was a productive discussion. I think it was a good idea, Kaine continued, adding that Schumer has been good at letting the caucus air their opinions and not starting to put his thumb on the scale. Nothing is finalized. Schumer notably did not say publicly that, if Republicans give them a vote on the 30-day stopgap, Democrats would help get the House bill to the finish line. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters he did not believe Senate Democrats had made an offer, though he said were open to those conversations and discussions. But Kaine spelled out the strategy after the closed-door Senate Democratic lunch. And Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) added that his understanding was that the vote on a short-term funding extension would be taken as an amendment to the underlying bill. I think we would have 60 votes for advancing the House GOP bill, Blumenthal said, if Republicans agreed to give Democrats a vote on their alternative as an amendment. The maneuvering came amid clear misgivings about the damage a government closure could do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you shut down the government, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) told reporters, [Trump] will decide, without any safeguards, what gets reopened, what doesn't. Who knows how long he'll want to keep the government shut down so that he has total control. The president gets immensely more authority. Added Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.): Especially in this environment when we have an unelected billionaire that's already shutting down parts of the government, the president could certainly give him the authority where Elon Musk gets to decide what gets opened back up. But Kelly, Hickenlooper and a handful of their other colleagues who have warned that they could unintentionally empower Musk or Trump are being met with growing pressure from progressives. They include House Democrats across the Capitol who almost unilaterally opposed the House Republican bill. Democratic leaders hoped that would give senators political cover to oppose the legislation, too. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), vice chair of the House Democratic caucus, said whoever votes to fund the government owns whatever bad things come next from Trump and Musk, so were asking Senate Democrats to vote no. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We're standing on the side of working families, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said. That's why our message to the Senate is also stand with us on that side. Katherine Tully-McManus, Jennifer Scholtes, Nicholas Wu and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report. The red-eyed menace known as the periodical cicada has local scientists confidently predicting that the flying insects will definitely appear in Maryland this year. And that they definitely wont. But, if the flying insect does venture into the Free State in 2025, scientists believe it will be confined to the westernmost portions of Maryland bordering Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Or, the bugs will pop up in your Baltimore backyard. OK, but those 17-year cicadas if there are any will be part of Brood XIV. Or possibly stragglers from Brood X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The experts disagree. And the bugs themselves arent granting interviews. They all look the same, and unfortunately they dont put numbers on their wings, cicada expert Gene Kritsky said cheerfully. Cicadas are complicated. Its how I got tenure. Kritsky and Mike Raupp, a.k.a. The Bug Guy and a professor emeritus of entomology from the University of Maryland, suspect that Brood XIV will likely surface in Garrett and Allegany counties, with possibly a few sightings in Prince Georges County. But they arent certain. Well have to wait and see, said Kritsky, professor emeritus of biology at Mount Saint Joseph University in Cincinnati, and who has studied cicadas for 42 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historically, there have been Brood XIV cicadas in all of these places, he said. One of the things were interested in doing this year is attempting to verify what is really going on. Gaye Williams, an entomologist with the Maryland Department of Agriculture, is confident that the Brood XIV bugs will bypass Maryland this year. The closest they will be found, she said, is in portions of central Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The three experts all know and respect one another. Williams chalked up the discrepancy to different ways of interpreting the data and added: There are different definitions of stragglers. Some people think that three or four cicadas count. But, I think there has to be a critical mass. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. Department of Agriculture records provided by Kritsky appear to confirm that Brood XIV hasnt been spotted in Maryland since 1940. That was 85 years ago. That just means that Brood XIV cicadas havent been counted since then, he said. That doesnt mean the cicadas arent there. In 2021, I discovered a brood in Ohio that had been missed for two centuries. And yet, its also not unheard of for even previously well-established cicada populations to disappear, vanquished by deforestation and habitat destruction. In 1954, Kritsky said, all of Brood XI went extinct. Complicating matters, scientists suspect that climate change is accelerating what has long been a 17-year-cycle. Cicadas are exceedingly sensitive to temperature, Kritsky said, appearing as soon as the soil has warmed to 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit, and typically after a soaking rain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And it has been known for a long time that a small amount of brood stragglers may pop up four years after the main event, like revelers arriving late to a party. So, its possible that any cicadas found inside state borders wont be representatives of Brood XIV but laggards from Brood X, which descended on Maryland en masse in 2021. They wont be as widespread as they were in 2021, Kritsky said. He predicted that the largest concentrations will be found in northwestern Maryland, but wouldnt rule out the bugs occasionally startling pedestrians in the Baltimore region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kritsky is urging Marylanders who spot a red-eyed cicada to snap a photo of the bug and to upload it to Cicada Safari, the free app hes developed. Kritsky said he received more than 500,000 photographs nationwide in 2021, creating a goldmine of useful data. Even if the cicadas dont appear anywhere in Maryland, thats important information for us to know, he said. Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704. A long-struggling Cincinnati charter school is selling its buildings in a deal that will keep the doors open until the end of this school year but leave some of its at-need students without somewhere to attend this fall. Dohn Community High School serves mostly Black students who have behavioral problems who were expelled from other public schools or who are otherwise on their last chance to get a high school diploma. Its board agreed during an emergency meeting March 7 to sell its two buildings to Performance Academies, a Columbus-based charter school with a location in Mount Healthy, according Dohn's lawyer, Adam Brown. Performance Academies only offers schooling for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, meaning Dohn's 1,600 students will need to find somewhere else to enroll before this fall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sale is a shift from a previous announcement to parents and staff, who were told in February the East McMillan Street building would be sold to Oakmont Academies, which operates several drop-out recovery high schools across Ohio, including one in Hamilton. Performance Academies will buy Dohn's main campus building off East McMillan Street for $1.07 million and its fitness center building off Reading Road for $730,000, Brown said. A portion of the funds from the sale will be given to Dohn in advance so it can continue operating through the end of the school year, Brown said. The money will cover payroll for staff as well as other expenses ahead of the closure. "We are currently working with Performance Academies to explore potential opportunities for both our students and staff, but at this time, we do not have any additional information to share," Dohn CEO Bill Geraghty told The Enquirer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: 'No other school in the city wants them.' Cincinnati school for at-risk students to close Geraghty said Dohn is organizing an open house event with other local schools, offering students and their families an opportunity to discuss options for next year. Dohn's other locations off West North Bend Road, Gilbert Avenue and West Fourth Street in Downtown are leased by the school and not a part of the sale, but will close as the rest of the school's operations wind down at the end of June. Dohn started this school year in turmoil, will close at year's end The sale comes as Dohn has faced several problems in recent months, including an ongoing Ohio auditor's office investigation, a fired superintendent and more than $2 million in debt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Charter schools like Dohn are tuition-free and publicly funded but run separately from traditional school districts and are often managed by private management companies or nonprofits. In Dohn's case, the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation has sponsored the school and began to ask questions last fall after reviewing its comprehensive education plan, which the foundation said was submitted late and lacked substance. Dohn students head home after dismissal Feb. 25. The foundation, concerned about the outstanding debt and delayed payments, put the school on hold in September until classes officially started in mid-October. There were two rounds of layoffs in the fall, and then the school closed two of its campuses with little warning around Thanksgiving break. About 100 students were affected and rerouted to other Dohn buildings across town. Still, Dohn serves a community of students without many options. In an email to a foundation leader The Enquirer obtained through a public records request, Geraghty was clear about the implications of closing even for a few weeks. "For many students, Dohn is not just a school; its a sanctuary that provides essential resources, emotional support, and a safe environment where they can thrive," Geraghty wrote at the time. "For many of these students, Dohn is the only chance they have to finish their education because no other school in the city wants them." This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio charter school for at-risk students selling its buildings PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) During Tuesdays city council meeting, the Peoria Fire Department was honored with a plaque for its 150th anniversary. In 1875, the city of Peoria voted to have a paid fire department, which has expanded from one fire station to now 12 stations across the city. Peoria Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger thanked city council members for the recognition and also credited the firefighters and other staff members under his leadership, saying the department is only as good as the staff they have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have very well-educated, trained, professional firefighters that provide a level of service on a daily basis. I want to say thank you from fire management, our fire suppression personnel, and from our administrative staff as well, he said. Sollberger brought along Division Chief Lore Baxter, Assistant Chief Tony Cummings, Peoria Firefighters Local 50 President Kyle Field, and firefighters from station one to join in the celebration. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. PARIS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Defense ministers from Europe's top five military powers, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Poland, met on Wednesday in Paris and voiced support for the Ukrainian army. In a joint declaration published after the meeting, the ministers agreed to strengthen European support for peace in Ukraine, including accelerating defense industrial cooperation projects with Ukraine. Speaking at a joint press conference, French defense minister Sebastien Lecornu told reporters that the defense capacity of the Ukrainian army would be "one of the first security guarantees" for Kiev. According to Lecornu, "the true guarantee of long-term security will be the capacities that we can provide to the Ukrainian army." Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto said that there would be no future for Ukraine "without the ability to defend itself." The ministers also agreed to consolidate their common approach to European defense within the frameworks of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). They said in the joint declaration that they would maintain a "strong" transatlantic bond while significantly increasing Europe's contribution to the continent's deterrence and defense. When asked if the ministers discussed how to develop an independent European defense system in case of the U.S. withdrawal, German defense minister Boris Pistorius said that it was a topic that has already "preoccupied" Europe for a while. He proposed that Europe should work on administrative simplifications both at national and European levels to standardize weapon systems in different European countries. For him, European countries need to work together on European security. Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to a U.S. proposal for an "immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire" following talks with a U.S. delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to a joint statement. The talks, notably held without European participation, resulted in the statement that Ukraine would receive renewed U.S. security assistance and America got preliminary approval for access to Ukraine's mineral resources. Despite being left out of negotiations, European leaders welcomed the progress made between the United States and Ukraine while continuing efforts to strengthen the continent's defense capabilities. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A former Clackamas County jail deputy was sentenced on Wednesday after punching an inmate repeatedly in the face in 2023. JeanaMarie K. Fisher, 45, pleaded guilty to second-degree misconduct and received a sentence that included one-year bench probation, 40 hours of community service and surrendering her law enforcement certification. As part of a plea agreement, first-degree official misconduct and harassment charges were dropped, the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office said. Stretch of Columbia River Hwy closed indefinitely Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said surveillance video from July 27, 2023, showed a Clackamas County jail inmate asleep in their holding cell. Fisher entered the cell, attempted to wake up the inmate by shaking them, and then pulled up the outer shirt of the inmate, who was wearing multiple layers. The inmate took off a shirt and tossed it to the floor. Fisher stepped forward as the inmate threw another article of clothing underhand which landed on her. Fisher began punching the victim in the face, striking him six times in four seconds, the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office said. Fisher had been placed on administrative leave since Aug. 3, 2023. After a review by the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office, the case was independently investigated by the Oregon State Police. After serving with the sheriffs office since 2015, Fisher was officially discharged from her role on Feb. 7, 2025, officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Mar. 13A Claremont man one half of a couple charged with defrauding New Hampshire Medicaid out of more than $40,000 has been sentenced to prison time for his role in the scheme, he Attorney General's Office said Thursday. Joseph Bye, 32, was sentenced in Merrimack County Superior Court to 1 1/2 to 3 years in state prison on a Medicaid fraud (false claims) charge followed by a consecutive 3- to 6-year state prison sentence, fully suspended for 10 years, on a theft by deception charge. Bye was also ordered to pay restitution of $21,771.38, and is prohibited from participating in the Family and Friends Mileage Reimbursement Program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between July 2020 and July 2022, Bye, 31, and Sara Lapointe, 29, stole a combined $41,606.62 from the New Hampshire Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims for mileage reimbursement as part of the Family and Friends Mileage Reimbursement Program. Bye claimed he was traveling to health care appointments in Concord from Danville, a distance of approximately 40 miles, according to the Attorney General's Office. Lapointe claimed she was traveling to health care appointments at the same facility in Concord from Cornish, a distance of approximately 65 miles, according to prosecutors. But during that period of time, Bye and Lapointe were living together in Concord, less than 1.5 miles away from the facility, prosecutors said. Lapointe, 29, was previously sentenced in Merrimack County Superior Court to serve 12 months in the Merrimack County House of Corrections on the Medicaid fraud charge, followed by a consecutive 5- to 10-year state prison sentence, fully suspended for 10 years, on the theft by deception charge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was also ordered to pay $19,835.24 in restitution to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, and barred from participating in the Family and Friends Mileage Reimbursement Program. pfeely@unionleader.com DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Clark County will host a job fair for previously incarcerated people looking for work. The Fair Chance job fair will be held Wednesday, March 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Recovery X Gym on High Street in Springfield. Both the Clark County Reentry Coalition and the Clark County Department of Reentry are hosting the event. People looking for a fresh start have the opportunity to connect with over 20 employers. There will also be a resource fair with information on health, finances, education, social security and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For attending, Parolees will receive $20 off their monthly supervision fee. To learn more about the Reentry Coalition call 937-398-9393. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) Two classic Disney movies will celebrated this spring at the Peoria Riverfront Museum Cinderella and Peter Pan. The exhibit, Cinderella and Peter Pan: The Classic Disney Collection of Steve Spain, opens Saturday, March 15 and highlights a rare selection of 30 key-matched backgrounds and cels, watercolors, porcelains, and sketches, the museum says. New museum exhibit to feature one-of-a-kind cars Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The exhibition includes a career-spanning selection of classic Walt Disney ephemera and a newly acquired work from Brave Little Tailor (1938), recently added to the Steve Spain Collection. It offers a compelling behind-the-scenes look at the two films and provides insights into their conception and production, the museum further states. Both movies were made in the early 1950s and are among the most loved films produced by the Walt Disney Company. John Morris, the museums president and CEO, said, with the help of the extraordinary collection of Steve Spain, the Peoria Riverfront Museum has become one of the great museums in the nation for celebrating the creative genius of the Illinois-born Walt Disney, particularly from the classic era. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, Melody Konrad, a museum spokeswoman, said the exhibit will last through May and coincide with the museums annual Disney Fest. utilizing the largest film society screen in the nation. The event has attracted personalities, such as Disney author J.B. Kaufman, documentarian Ted Thomas, the son of Disney animator Frank Thomas, and writer, producer and director Jeffrey Sherman, the son of Robert B. Sherman and nephew of Richard M. Sherman, the legendary Sherman Brothers Disney songwriting duo, the Award-winning Disney author Mindy Johnson returns to the museum later this spring for a special presentation. The museum plans to host community favorites such as Disney Trivia, Dinner and a Movie, a speaker series, and more. The exhibit is sponsored by Visionary Society, Friends of Art, IL Arts Council. Visit www.peoriariverfrontmuseum.org for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. The Clayton County Sheriffs Office has two people in custody after a chase involving a moped. According to the Georgia State Patrol, deputies were pursuing a blue moped on Lake Mirror Road near Royal Drive. GSP said the sheriffs office patrol vehicle had all of its emergency lights on and sirens activated while trying to box the moped in. Eventually, the patrol car hit the moped from behind, causing the driver to lose control. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then the two people on the moped tried to run away. After brief foot pursuit both occupants of the moped were taken into custody, GSP said. When they caught them, the moped driver said his name was Calvin Smith, but no records were found for his name through state system searches. The woman with him on the moped also gave information that was unable to be verified. Both were taken into custody by deputies when an investigating state trooper arrived. GSP said the patrol vehicle was not damaged and the moped only took minor damage. Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the Clayton County Sheriffs Office for more information and is waiting for their response. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen speaks at a press conference about federal funding coming to Colorado for abandoned mine land reclamation efforts on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023 in Lakewood. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline) Colorado Democrats in Congress wrote to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management asking for more information on how the firing, layoffs and resignations of federal government workers affect the state. U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat whose district includes the Denver Federal Center, the largest concentration of federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C., led the letter alongside U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. More than 6,000 people work at the Denver Federal Center, and more than 57,000 federal employees live and work across Colorado. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are deeply concerned about the Trump Administration and Elon Musks efforts to indiscriminately cut the workforce in our state, the letter says. The consequences of mass firings of our federal employees will undermine the mission and services provided by each agency serving our state, harm the economy, and threaten our Colorado way of life. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, the administration has fired thousands of federal employees in an attempt to shrink the federal government under billionaire White House adviser Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education became subject to the latest round of cuts through a federal reduction in force process. The letter highlighted Colorados year-round wildfire season, and said losing wildland firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service threaten life-saving wildfire mitigation efforts, undercut our wildfire prevention and recovery efforts, and impede our robust outdoor recreation industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, Assistant House Minority Leader Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Centennial Democrat, also signed the letter. The letter asks OPM how many probationary and non-probationary employees in Colorado have been fired in which agency, county, and congressional district, as well as their level of employment, veterans status, disability status, and average length of service. It also asks how downsizing will affect federal land management and military readiness at Colorado locations including Peterson Air Force Base, Buckley Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, the United States Air Force Academy, and others. The lawmakers also asked if essential services like Social Security will be disrupted by downsizing, and what employee-related data DOGE is collecting. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Former ACLU President Nadine Strossen joins NewsNation to discuss the case of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist and former Columbia graduate student who will remain in ICE custody in Louisiana as a federal judge reviews the Trump administrations efforts to deport him. Authorities accuse Khalil, a leader in campus protests over the war in Gaza, of antisemitism. Strossen says that the only thing that is not protected is intentional incitement of imminent violence. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. By Akbar Novruz Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the patronage of President Ilham Aliyev, the 12th Global Baku Forum, themed Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities, continues with its panel sessions. Charles Michel, President Emeritus of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Belgium, will address the panel session on Geopolitical Shifts: Responsible Partnerships versus Rivalry, moderated by Eka Tkeshelashvili, former Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia. Speeches will also be delivered by: SINGAPORE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Singapore continues to see a higher proportion of men in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related occupations, Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang said on Wednesday, urging industries to promote gender equality. Speaking at the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association's Women's Forum 2025, Gan noted that while the share of women in STEM jobs has risen from 29 percent in 2014 to 35 percent in 2024, "women continue to lag behind men" in several aspects. Women often shoulder a larger share of caregiving responsibilities at home, which can impact their work experience, career progression, and wage, she said. To encourage more women to pursue careers in STEM fields, including the semiconductor industry, Gan proposed three strategies: fostering early interest among students, creating workplaces that support caregivers, and strengthening mentorship opportunities. As an example, she highlighted government efforts to encourage fathers to take on more caregiving duties. Starting April 1, the current two weeks of voluntary government-paid paternity leave will become mandatory, increasing to four weeks for eligible working fathers. Additionally, a new shared parental leave scheme will provide parents with six extra weeks of paid leave, supplementing existing maternity and paternity leave provisions. Gan also addressed workplace discrimination, which she said can "inhibit women's entry into and progression in their careers, especially in male-dominated industries like the semiconductor sector." She noted that the Workplace Fairness Act, passed in January, reinforces protections against discrimination based on sex, caregiving responsibilities, and pregnancy. Last year, I was a student at Columbia University, where I covered tense campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war for the college newspaper and for POLITICO. So Im familiar with Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student who Ive chatted with in the past and appears to be the first target of the Trump administrations effort to crack down on student protesters. Despite being a permanent resident with a green card, Khalil was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday for leading activities aligned to Hamas. The arrest has prompted outrage from fellow activists, free speech groups and several Democrats. For now, a judge has halted the deportation of the Palestinian activist, but much about his fate is uncertain. Here is what we do know about Khalil, student protesters and the vibe at Columbia. 1 What was Mahmoud Khalils role in Columbias student protests? And do you know what his immigration status was during the protests? Khalil was a lead negotiator representing the student protesters to the Columbia administration during the schools Gaza Solidarity Encampment last spring. The student group behind the encampment Columbia University Apartheid Divest, or CUAD had two main demands: that Columbia cut all its ties to Israel, including divesting and halting plans to build a global center in Tel Aviv, and that the protesters themselves receive amnesty for their actions. During the whole political firestorm, Khalil and administrators, including at least two deans, were literally at the negotiating table day and night, though they never came to an agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil is Palestinian and was born and raised in Syria. At the time of protests in April 2024, he was in the U.S. on an F-1 student visa as a graduate student at Columbias School of International and Public Affairs, according to Al Jazeera. He took on a role as a negotiator representing CUAD, which also made him relatively public compared with many of the other protesters who were conscious about obscuring their appearances. In May, he told Al Jazeera he was concerned that if he faced disciplinary action by the university, he could lose his student visa. 2 Was deportation a widespread concern among immigrant students participating in the protests? Absolutely. During the encampment, two friends who were international students told me they wished they could be there but couldnt risk losing their visas. There was a similar fear among low-income students, who didnt want to risk their scholarships or lose on-campus housing. Many chose to participate in other ways, like sharing pro-Palestinian content on social media or bringing food and supplies to the encampment. At Barnard specifically, students who were suspended for protesting were evicted from their dorms almost immediately. That was also a major fear: Theres a big difference between someone who lives near New York or has a robust support system in the U.S., and a student who would be left on the streets of Manhattan because their family lives in another country. After the first mass arrests, the New York Post ran a front-page article about how student protesters arrested by the NYPD mostly came from privileged backgrounds. Part of that is just Columbia, where the annual cost of attendance is over $93,000 and only about 50 percent of undergraduates qualify for need-based financial aid. But another part of it was self-selection: Students in more precarious situations the most precarious being the very real risk of deportation chose to modulate their speech in order to protect themselves. 3 Has there been a vibe shift on campus since Trumps election? I graduated in May and moved to Washington to work at POLITICO full-time, but based on my conversations with people who are still there, the answer is that the vibes have shifted less than one might think. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbia is surely one of the most progressive college campuses in the country. We call it the activist Ivy for a reason, and it has a long history of which it is quite proud of political protest dating back to 1968, when anti-war demonstrators occupied Hamilton Hall for about a week. (Columbias former President Minouche Shafik waited less than 24 hours before calling on the NYPD to drag out protesters who had taken over the same building in April.) I wouldnt expect the gains President Donald Trump made among younger voters to be evident at Columbia and, realistically, even if they do exist, conservative students tend to keep those views to themselves. Among the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which is extremely active, there was also always a sense that whether it was Donald Trump or Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they all were part of the same oppressive framework. At the end of the day, the people leading these protests believe the system needs to be completely reset for many of them, it doesnt stop with a ceasefire. They see the U.S. as the belly of the beast, the beast being colonialism, capitalism and essentially all other forces of oppression. I think wed see similar activity, and a similar vibe, even if Harris had won the election. 4 How had student protesters tried to protect themselves from retaliation until now? Before now, the biggest fear among most of the protesters was doxxing. Theres a website called Canary Mission that posts the names and images of anyone seen as anti-Israel including student journalists whose coverage the Canary moderators dont like. There was also a doxxing truck circling Columbia and other campuses with the names and faces of students deemed the schools leading antisemites. To avoid the threat of doxxing, many of the protesters conceal their appearances, covering their heads in keffiyehs and faces with surgical masks. These head and face coverings arent what most people expect Ivy League students to look like, and I think theres certainly some xenophobia (and Islamophobia) that contributes to the sense of fear about the protesters, who have been largely non-violent. 5 Has the debate surrounding student protests changed at all since 2024? Could Khalils arrest change it in any way? As I wrote Tuesday, many Republicans have hated universities for years (just look at Vice President JD Vances 2021 speech The Universities are the Enemy). The anti-war protests gave them a reason to punish these institutions for, they say, failing to protect Jewish students. Its also difficult for Democrats to push back, since it can be politically challenging to differentiate antisemitism from anti-Zionism, the ideology the protesters some of whom are Jewish say they have. Plus, pro-Israel forces in the U.S. are extremely powerful. The case of former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who supported the protesters at Columbia and was later primaried by an AIPAC-backed candidate, is enough to chill many other Democrats from speaking out. But the Khalil case may offer a way in for the party. Trumps decision to deport a legal immigrant and a potentially sympathetic one at that, considering he has a pregnant American wife is unprecedented and obviously deeply concerning for many supporters of the First Amendment. Democrats and Republicans alike have already commented on Khalils attempted deportation as a free speech issue, and if Trump does the same thing to more pro-Palestinian student activists, as he has promised, hes likely to garner more pushback. NEW YORK (AP) Columbia University has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring and temporarily revoked the diplomas of others who have since graduated, officials said Thursday. The university said in a campus-wide email that a judicial board brought a range of sanctions against students who occupied Hamilton Hall last spring to protest the war in Gaza. Columbia did not provide a breakdown of how many students were expelled, were suspended or had their degrees revoked, but it said the outcomes were based on an evaluation of the severity of behaviors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The culmination of the monthslong investigative process comes as the university is reeling from the arrest of a well-known Palestinian campus activist, Mahmoud Khalil, by federal immigration authorities last Saturday. President Donald Trump has said the arrest would be the first of many such detentions. At the same time, the Trump administration has stripped the university of more than $400 million in federal funds over what it calls a failure to combat campus antisemitism. Congressional Republicans have pointed specifically to a failure to discipline students involved in the Hamilton Hall seizure as proof of inaction by the university. The building occupation followed a tent encampment that inspired a wave of similar demonstrations at college campuses across the country. On April 30, 2024, a smaller group of students and their allies barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall with furniture and padlocks in a major escalation of campus protests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the request of university leaders, hundreds of New York police stormed onto campus the following night, arresting dozens of people involved in both the occupation and the encampment. At a court hearing in June, the Manhattan district attorneys office said it would not pursue criminal charges for 31 of the 46 people initially arrested on trespassing charges inside the administration building. But the students still faced disciplinary hearings and possible expulsion from the university. The final sanctions announced Thursday followed a lengthy process that involved hearings for each student led by the long-running University Judicial Board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some students who joined the encampment but did not participate in the building takeover learned that they would not face further discipline beyond their previous suspensions. With respect to other events taking place last spring, the UJBs determinations recognized previously imposed disciplinary action, the university said in a statement. The disciplinary process drew scrutiny from House Republicans, who demanded university administrators turn over disciplinary records of students involved in campus protests or risk billions of dollars in federal funding. On Thursday, Khalil and seven students identified by pseudonyms filed a lawsuit seeking to block a Congressional committee from obtaining such records for students at Columbia and Barnard College, a women's institution affiliated with Columbia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Filed in federal court in Manhattan against the two schools; the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce; and its chairman, Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan; the lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring Congress from forcing the schools to provide the records and the universities from complying. Last month the committee sent a letter demanding that Columbia and Barnard provide the records or risk federal funding. The plaintiffs argue in the complaint that the committee is abusing its power in an attempt to chill and suppress speech and association based on the viewpoint expressed and the investigation threatens to significantly infringe on First Amendment rights. In a statement emailed by a committee spokesperson, Walberg said, This lawsuit changes nothing. The information requested is critical to its consideration of legislation on this issue and necessary to hold schools accountable for their failures to address rampant antisemitism on our college campuses, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barnard spokespeople did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment, and Columbia declined to discuss the pending litigation. Separately, a newly-created disciplinary board has brought a flurry of new cases against students including Khalil who have expressed criticism of Israel, triggering alarm among free speech advocates. Khalil was not among the protesters accused of seizing Hamilton Hall. The expulsion announcement drew praise from some faculty members, including Gil Zussman, chair of the electrical engineering department and member of Columbias Task Force on Antisemitism. Finally demonstrating that breaking university rules has consequences is an important first step towards going back to the core missions of research and teaching, he said in a post on the social platform X. Columbia University said students who occupied the campus' Hamilton Hall during pro-Palestinian protests last spring have been expelled, suspended for several years or had their degrees temporarily revoked. The sanctions were issued by the Columbia University Judicial Board on Thursday, the school said. "The outcomes issued by the UJB are based on its evaluation of the severity of behaviors at these events and prior disciplinary actions," the university said in a statement sent to the school community. "These outcomes are the result of following the thorough and rigorous processes laid out in the Rules of University Conduct in our statutes, which include investigations, hearings and deliberations." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: How pro-Palestinian protests unfolded on college campuses across the US: A timeline The university did not say how many students were impacted by the sanctions. "We will continue to work to support our community, including protecting the privacy of our students, during this challenging time and we remain steadfastly committed to our values and our mission," the school said. PHOTO: In this April 29, 2024, file photo, demonstrators from the pro-Palestine encampment on Columbia's Campus show a banner as they barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, in New York. (Alex Kent/Getty Images, FILE) In late April 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Hamilton Hall hours after defying the order to disperse. Barricades were set up by protesters outside the occupied building. NYPD officers raided the hall and arrested dozens of protesters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a letter authorizing the NYPD to enter the Columbia University campus and break up the protest, an individual "hid in the building" at Hamilton Hall until it was closed and let others in. The group's purpose was "occupying the building," the letter read. Two security guards were inside the building at the time, and the university said in the letter to the NYPD they were able to "secure their release." "We believe that while the group who broke into the building includes students, it is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University," the letter read. "The individuals who have occupied Hamilton Hall have vandalized University property and are trespassing." PHOTO: In this April 30, 2024, file photo, New York Police Department officers detain dozens of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University, in New York. (Anadolu via Getty Images, FILE) In June 2024, the Manhattan district attorney's office moved to dismiss the charges against most of the protesters arrested at Columbia University but said that prosecutors were moving forward with cases against a handful of protesters who allegedly assaulted police officers at Columbia as well as City College. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said at the time that they were hamstrung by "extremely limited video or surveillance footage of what occurred inside Hamilton Hall" since most cameras were covered by the protesters. Charges against 31 people were dropped, though they still were subject to discipline by Columbia University. MORE: Columbia University student shares account of police raids on campus The protest movement connected to the Israel-Hamas war began in April at Columbia and swept across college campuses nationwide. Hundreds of protesters were arrested at campuses across the country, while encampments were torn down and events canceled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned in August 2024 following backlash over the institution's handling of the protests. The findings of the monthslong disciplinary investigation into the Hamilton Hall occupation comes days after Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a leader in Columbia's encampment movement, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the campus, despite possessing a green card. President Donald Trump has alleged that the recent graduate student was a supporter of Hamas -- a claim Khalil's attorney called "false and preposterous -- and said his arrest would be the first of "many to come." Columbia students who occupied Hamilton Hall in pro-Palestinian protest expelled, suspended originally appeared on abcnews.go.com DENVER (KDVR) The February death of a woman who was shot during the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting has been classified as a homicide. Anne Marie Hochhalter, 43, who suffered two gunshot wounds during the massacre, died on Feb. 16 at her home, according to her former principal, Frank DeAngelis. The Jefferson County Coroners Office released a copy of her autopsy report on Wednesday. The report stated that two gunshot wounds Hochhalter suffered in 1999, resulting in her use of a wheelchair in the 25 years since, likely turned into further issues and led to her death. The report said that Hochhalter died of sepsis due to Streptococcus pyogenes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Complications of paraplegia due to two remote gunshot wounds are a significant contributing factor, the report stated. The manner of death is best classified as homicide. Columbine High School shooting survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter reacts during a vigil remembering the 25th anniversary of the mass shooting, April 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File) Hochhalters family previously said they suspected she died of natural causes stemming from her injuries from the massacre, where two seniors shot and killed 12 students and one teacher, then killed themselves. Another 21 people were injured by the gunfire. Hochhalter spoke out in 2016 in support of the mother of one of the shooters who released a book reflecting on the mass shooting, especially concerning her relationship with grief and battles with shame. Hochhalter wrote at the time in a lengthy Facebook post that she wasnt sure she would ever read the book but said she had forgiven the mass murderers mother. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2012, Hochhalter also spoke publicly in support of the families and survivors of the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I really hope the good stories will come out and show a community can come together just like Littleton did after Columbine, Hochhalter said. I feel kind of helpless when I hear about these things and I want to help, I just dont really know how. Thank God somebody reported: Parents react to Ponderosa High School bomb threat The Associated Press reported that Hochhalter struggled with intense pain from her gunshot wounds over the past 25 years. Yet her brother said she was tireless in her drive to help others from people with disabilities to rescue dogs and members of her family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was helpful to a great many people. She was really a good human being and sister, her brother, Nathan Hochhalter, told The Associated Press. Hochhalter attended the 25th-anniversary vigil in April with her brother, who was trapped in a classroom during the shooting. She had not attended the 20th-anniversary event because of post-traumatic stress disorder, she said in a social media post last year. Ive truly been able to heal my soul since that awful day in 1999, she wrote. Others killed in the Columbine mass shooting were Rachel Scott, 17; Daniel Rohrbough, 15; William David Sanders, 47; Kyle Velasquez, 16; Steven Crunow, 14; Cassie Bernall, 17; Isaiah Shoels, 18; Matthew Kchter, 16; Lauren Townsend, 18; John Tomlin, 16; Kelly Fleming, 16; Daniel Mauser, 15, and Corey DePooter, 17. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. COLUMBUS,Ga. (WRBL) The Columbus Chapter of the NAACP and the Interdenominational Ministries Alliance voiced their disapproval of the events that occurred at Tuesdays City Council meeting. Tuesdays City Council meeting did not end without council voting for someone to fill the unexpired term of Judy Thomas of District 9. Thomas resigned in a letter earlier in the meeting due to health issues. City council voted to appoint John Anker, a man who lost the mayoral race in 2022 and the city council race in 2024 to Travis Chambers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement City Councilor Byron Hickey made the motion to proceed with Tuesdays vote believing Anker is qualified for the seat despite losing all his races for city government positions. This vote and arguments during the meeting about city manager Isaiah Hugley resulted in the NAACP and the Interdenominational Ministries Alliance holding a news conference on the steps of the City Services Center in opposition to both the appointment and allegations made against the city manager. Click the video player below to watch the full NAACP news conference. Statements made at the conference were described as strongly convicted as the mic was passed around for those in attendance to speak their minds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some statements made are as follows: They have two of our city council members, theyre in house negroes, they carry the bucket and water. Theyve sold their souls, theyve sold their souls, and we have to make sure that when they come up to be voted on, that we vote them out. Rev. Johnny Flakes III, President of the Interdenominational Ministries Alliances The problems that our city is going through has everything to do with malfeasance on the council. There are certain persons on this council who are not out for the benefit or the good of the whole community, but there are some who are in the pocket of others. Marcus Gibson, Member of the Interdenominational Ministries Alliance and NAACP The lack of respect that we have in our government and in our community is so visibleI believe my former council members are turning over their graves. I wonder how both councilor John House and Judy Thomas are feeling today. Knowing how both councilor Thomas and House felt about procedures and consistency. Last nights action to appoint someone from the audience to fill council member Thomas seat without giving any citizens or the community the availability to make a recommendation for someone to fill her seat. This was disrespectful to councilor Thomas, to our government and our community. Evelyn Mimi Woodson, Former Columbus City Council Member How dare seven city council members subvert the will of the voters who chose the person who shouldve been in place. Those city council members who participated in this should answer to the people. Either theyll answer at the ballot box and hope this community give consideration to some of them being recalled. When you subvert the will of the people, the power of the people should stand up to you. Ed Dubose, National NAACP Member Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think last night was disgraceful. I think it was an insult to our intelligence. For us to think it was not a planned attack on our community says to me that they are trying to piss on our back and tell us that its raining. Were not outnumbered; were simply out organized. Marquise Averett, Organizing Director for the partnership for Southern Equity The group agrees with Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson that the council shouldve waited to vote to allow for more people to be recommended for the seat. Those in attendance say for the council to have voted and disregarded the Mayors suggestion to delay the vote was disrespectful. Now, those in attendance will work to organize to create change in the city. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL. Comcast chief Brian Roberts has donated $125 million to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia to build a new patient tower and refurbish existing facilities. The gift unveiled Thursday is the largest single donation made in the 170-year history of the hospital that was the first in the nation to focus on pediatric health. The donation from Roberts and his wife, Aileen Roberts, establishes Roberts Childrens Health, a 20-story inpatient tower that is expected to open in 2028. Comcast has deep roots in Philadelphia and the Roberts family has been a supporter of Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for decades. The announcement comes on what would have been the 105th birthday of Comcast founder and patriarch Ralph Roberts, who died in 2015 at age 95. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our lives have been touched by Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia in countless ways, and with this gift, we hope to deliver on Madelines vision for the future of pediatrics and inspire others to support this life-changing work happening right here in our backyard, said Aileen and Brian Roberts said in a statement. CHOP is already the worlds leading childrens hospital, where the best doctors, technology, and patient care come together to serve families. Were honored and humbled to help ensure CHOP remains a magnet for the greatest medical talent, a refuge for those facing the most complex cases, an incubator for breakthrough treatments, a beacon of hope, and the pride of Philadelphia for decades to come. Robert Childrens Health include state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment facilities and what the hospital describes as a reimagined and personalized patient experience. It also promises to add more support and recreational services for patients and their families. At CHOP, were focused on finding answers to the toughest medical challenges so that every child has the chance for a healthier future. We wanted to create a space that could accommodate the needs of children now and for years to come, said Madeline Bell, CHOP president and CEO. Roberts Childrens Health will greatly enhance the hospital experience for our patients and their families, equip our staff with the latest innovations, and revolutionize how we provide care, all while continuing our long legacy of breakthroughs. Donations from the Roberts family previously helped establish the hospitals Roberts Center for Pediatric Research, which opened in 2017, and the Roberts Collaborative for Genetics and Individualized Medicine at CHOP. That program is described as a multidisciplinary approach to diagnostics, clinical management, consulting, therapeutics and research driven by the power of genetics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are extremely grateful for the continued generosity of the Roberts family. They have helped propel us to the forefront of pediatric genetics research, Bell said. Now, well be able to translate that research into extraordinary care more quickly and help more children live healthier lives. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As if President Donald Trump isnt busy enough taking a woodchipper to the federal bureaucracy, threatening to wage economic war in North America, putting the screws on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to pressure him into peace talks with Russia and giving impromptu interviews in the Oval Office every other day, he has added another weighty item to his to-do list: negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran. During an interview with Fox News, Trump let it be known that he sent a letter to Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to begin a line of communication. The gist of the missive was clear enough: Im interested in striking a deal with you on Tehrans nuclear program, but if you refuse to come to the table, there will be trouble. Something is going to happen one way or the other, Trump said after revealing news of the letter. I hope that Iran, and Ive written them a letter, saying I hope youre going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, its going to be a terrible thing for them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This isnt the first time Trump has openly expressed his desire to engage in diplomacy with Iran. Even during his first term, when his administration enacted a yearslong maximum pressure campaign that drove Irans crude oil exports down by 75%, Trump flirted with the prospect of negotiations. In September 2019, on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting, Trump was waiting for Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president at the time, to pick up the phone, much as Rouhani did with Barack Obama six years earlier. The conversation with Trump, however, never occurred; Rouhani wasnt keen on becoming Irans version of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who sat with Trump for two summits with nothing to show for it. In the days since Trump sent his letter, not much has changed in Irans outlook. Khamenei, the man who will decide whether or not Tehran re-enters a diplomatic track with Washington, told the Americans to shove it. The Supreme Leader clearly has 2018 stuck in the back of his mind, the year when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Barack Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (colloquially referred to as the Iran nuclear deal) and re-imposed the very sanctions Washington lifted a few years prior. As the old saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This isnt the answer Trump wants to hear, but he cant be surprised by it either. One of the Trump administrations first foreign policy acts upon reentering the White House on Jan. 20 was an executive order reinstituting the maximum pressure policy in the hope of driving Tehrans oil exports to zero (the definition of an impossible task). The Treasury Department has announced several sanctions on Iran since early February. In fact, the second Trump administration is going further on the sanctions front than it did during the first; the previous U.S. waivers permitting Iraq to pay Iran for electricity supplies are no longer available. Trump officials are also currently deliberating over a policy that would enlist other countries in an effort to stop Iran from exporting its crude at sea by seizing ships carrying Iranian barrels. The Iranians obviously wont take kindly to any of these moves. Although the Trump administration and Iran hawks in Congress consistently make the point that the stick is the only thing that will drive Tehran to the negotiating table, history doesnt support this common talking point. In reality, the more pressure the U.S. brings to bear on Iran economically, politically and militarily, the more likely Iran will escalate rather than submit. We need to look no further than Trump 1.0. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. at the time assumed that if the Iranian government suffered enough financial strain, Khamenei would have only one option if he wanted to save his regime: crawl back to the negotiating table and give the Americans everything they asked for. Washington was so confident the Iranians would eventually cave that then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined a series of demands about as idealistic as they were preposterous no more enrichment at any level, an end to missile production, the withdrawal of all support to Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the demobilization of Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq and a cutoff of military support to the Houthis in Yemen. Needless to say, Khamenei rejected this proposal about as quickly as an 8-year old rejects broccoli. Iran used Trumps destruction of the JCPOA as an opportunity to boost enrichment to new heights and install more advanced centrifuges. International inspectors, who once had the power to monitor Irans nuclear fuel production cycle from its very inception, were now forced to make do with far less access. When the International Atomic Energy Agency censured Iran for stonewalling its investigation, Iran retaliated yet again by removing the cameras and barring some of the most qualified IAEA technicians from entering the country. Irans nuclear work only accelerated during Joe Bidens term, partly as a consequence of his administration dropping formal nuclear talks after the Iranians cracked down on domestic protests. The result: Iran now has enough nuclear fuel to make six bombs if it chooses to do so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the problem Trump inherits. I think his interest in diplomacy with Iran is sincere. But in the grand scheme, thats far less important than whether Trump has the political will to offer the concessions required to get to an agreement and whether he can settle for anything less than the ideal. Dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good. _____ Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune. _____ SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Attorneys for three South Dakota men accused of murdering someone who was a current or former romantic partner have taken similar steps in recent days: the defense in the three cases has sought a mental health evaluation to examine if the defendant was insane or lacking reason when they committed their alleged crime. The court documents highlight similarities in how the murder cases against John Mitchell of Sioux Falls, Craig Nichols Jr. of Yankton and Tyson Christians of Sioux Falls are proceeding. Per court papers, Mitchell beat his girlfriend so badly in October 2024 that she was hospitalized. She eventually died of her injuries. Mitchells attorney requested a mental health evaluation for his client in a document filed on March 3 to find out if Mitchell was insane or temporarily or partially deprived of reason when the alleged crime took place. Major change coming to Sioux Falls restaurants Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Craig Nichols Jr. stands accused of killing his girlfriend in January when the alleged victims headless body was found at a Yankton apartment. In a motion filed on March 10, Nichols lawyer is asking for a mental health evaluation that can establish if his client suffered from a substantial psychiatric disorder of thought, mood, or behavior when Nichols allegedly committed the crime. Finally, Tyson Christians stands accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in February, with the alleged victim discovered in the trunk of a car at the Empire Mall parking lot in Sioux Falls. Christians attorney asked for a mental health evaluation on March 3; this was granted the same day. Eventual verdicts of guilty but mentally ill or not guilty by reason of insanity are possible. But South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says seeing one of these verdicts as the eventual outcome is not at all common. I would say theyre very rare, Jackley said Wednesday. More often, though, it might occur in a plea agreement that is reached. But typically, theyre not very often given by a jury, but again, you will see them in South Dakota from time to time, fairly rare, but from time to time on a plea agreement reached. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jackley also says the prosecution or defense might seek a mental health evaluation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. CHIPLEY, Fla. (WMBB) Washington County celebrated a milestone on Wednesday, March 12th, the countys bicentennial. Community leaders and residents gathered at the Washington County Agricultural Center for the celebration. From 10 a.m. to noon, they enjoyed live music, learned about the countys rich history, and even took photos in 19th-century attire. Mexico Beach takes steps to protect beach dunes and wildlife Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement County officials unveiled the new bicentennial emblem, which will be hung at the county courthouse this year. Organizers were with the communitys reception Our community embraces everything in our culture, all of our heritage, said Washington County Tourist Development Council Director Heather Lopez. To have this event today, to have everybody come out and really embrace our bicentennial was just amazing. This is the first of a number of events this year celebrating the countys 200th birthday. The Heritage Festival is in Vernon on April 4th and 5th. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Dr. Victoria Heimer McGinn, a neuroscientist and president of Brain Waves Rhode Island, joined 12 News at 4 Wednesday to discuss how her organization advocates for brain health and research. Watch the full interview in the video above. 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. FARAH, Afghanistan, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A clash between two families over heritage in the western Afghanistan's Farah province claimed three lives and injured another on Wednesday, a police official said on Thursday. The cousins who disputed over the heritage left over from their grandfather in the provincial capital with the same name Farah city finally resorted to gunfire, killing three people including two women. Another person was badly injured, provincial police spokesman Mawlawi Mohammad Nasim Badri said. The police have launched operations to bring the perpetrators to justice, the official added. A similar incident over ownership of pastures between nomads and locals claimed the lives of two brothers and injured their father in Sayedabad district of the eastern Wardak province on Tuesday. OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) An aerospace company that has done business in Utah for several decades is planning to add more than 300 jobs in Ogden after the city granted it a tax incentive. Williams International a company that develops gas turbine engines for jets, uncrewed aircraft, and cruise missiles is seeking to increase its more than 900 employees in Ogden by a third, opening the doors for hundreds of new high-paying positions. The business is also expected to invest more than $1 billion in its Utah operations over the next several years, according to a city press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ogden City Mayor Ben Nadolski called the company an anchor employer in the community, saying it provides high-quality, family-supporting jobs for our residents. This expansion embodies The Ogden Way of creating economic opportunity and building a community where all can thrive, Nadolski said. The announcement comes after the Ogden City Redevelopment Agency Board (RDA) approved a Tax Increment Financing incentive to assist in the companys expansion. The board approved up to $22 million for the financing incentive, with as much as $17 million used to fund electrical infrastructure projects that will allow for Williams International, and other local businesses, to expand their capacities. The board also committed to invest $5.5 million for a new waterline at the Ogden-Hinckley airport. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This incentive will be funded by the companys future property taxes following its expansion, city authorities say. The use of TIF for Williams expansion aligns with the Airport Community Reinvestment Area goals of generating new employment, growing the property tax base, providing public infrastructure, and encouraging the development of vacant land, the citys press release reads. The timeline of the companys expansion, and when jobs might open for applications, is not immediately clear at this time. However, the companys website currently lists more than 40 openings. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. THE MOST PRESCIENT AND POINTED WARNING about Donald Trump may have been raised by a Harrahs executive. In 2016. Phil Satre wasnt a celebrity, but he stood out in at least two ways: He was Trumps partner on an Atlantic City casino project in the 1980s. And he was willing to stick his neck out and write about it in the Reno Gazette Journal. The column Satre wrote was so spot-on that in my role then as commentary editor of USA Today, I republished it in our newspaper in hopes it would influence voters throughout the land. That was back when the extent of the Teflon Don syndrome had not fully penetrated our brainswhen we still thought, or hoped, that reason and facts could make a difference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres just one paragraph of Satres column: In 1985 I filed an affidavit with the court over Trumps claims of mismanagement: Referring to Trump I said, His written response to my letter of May 10 is characteristic of the bluster, threats, intemperance and unsupported and unsupportable falsehoods that have permeated the correspondence we have received from him and his key management employees almost since the beginning of our partnership. My opinion of Donald Trump from the 1980s has not changed. The negative publicity about Donald Trump during this campaignhis conduct toward women, his business failures and his explosive temperamentmatches my dealings with him. As we know, reason and facts did not prevail. Satres words, so blunt and vivid, probably had the most impact inside my own brain. They have come to mind repeatedly during the first two months of Trumps return to office. Call it the boomerang presidency. Or the whiplash or rug-pull presidency. The bottom line is the same, whether were talking about tariffs, Ukraine, Social Security, immigration, or anything else: You cannot count on Trump. You cannot trust him. Also, he knows nothing about the economy. I dont have a changed view of him, Satre told me in a phone call this weekthe first time wed ever talked. His whole approach during the periods that I was involved with him in a partnership were examples of somebody who talked a lot about himself with a great deal of bombast. And there was no regard to accuracy of what he said or truthfulness. And as a consequence, ultimately, our company could not coexist with him as a partner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keep up with all our articles, newsletters, podcasts, and livestreams: Negotiating with Trump then sounds a lot like negotiating with him now. What was negotiated in those days was his name and how valuable his name was. We had lots of disagreements about that, Satre said, deadpan, and we both chuckled. Were they resolved? No, they werent, he said. In a way, though, they were. Satre and the rest of the Harrahs team decided to sell their half-interest in the project back to Trump. They didnt lose any money in the transaction, Satre said, but Trump nevertheless claimed it was a great deal for him. Harrahs went back to operating its very successful Marina District casino in Atlantic City, which had opened in 1980. And Trump went back to doing what he does best, or worst. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump Plaza, as Trump called it after the partnership ended, filed for bankruptcy in 1992. It closed in 2014 after additional bankruptcies, Satre wrote in 2016. And lest youre inclined to blame economic conditions, he made a point of noting that in contrast, Harrahs flourished during this same period, and I retired as Chairman in 2005. And furthermore, he wrote: I am convinced he simply does not have the temperament to be president, or more importantly, commander in chief: His hair-trigger temper, bluster, racial rhetoric and divisive domestic and international views will endanger our democracy and risk permanent damage to our society. Not surprisingly, both Satre and I thought immediately of his long-ago op-ed after the volcanic Oval Office meeting between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. When Satre read about it and watched clips, he had flashbacks to some of his sessions with Trump. We had several of those just really angry outbursts, he told me. Satre did not write anything about Trump last year. I didnt feel like I could say anything different than what I said then. I actually was quite shocked in 2024, shocked by the outcome, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Join now The enduring mystery, for Satre and so many of us, is why Trumps skills at selling and marketing himself have worked so well and for so long. They werent in evidence, nor was there any hint he had a political future, at the time Satre was trying to work with him. That came later, he says, when Trump was riding high with The Apprentice: He had become a media personality more than a developer personality, and he started talking about running for president and all that. I began to run into people who said we should elect him president. I said Really? The Apprentice. People were attracted to that. Satre, now the non-executive chairman of the board of Wynn Resorts, has had a long and respected career in the gaming industry. But like millions of Americans, maybe tens of millions, he has failed at one big thing: Turning the electorate away from Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Years ago, when he and other Harrahs executives contemplated a continued future with Trump, We made the decision that wed be well served by terminating our relationship with him, he said during our call. We decided to do it and we were very happy. If only Republicans could find the courage and will to do the same. If I were a betting woman, Id say they, and their country, would be very happy. Send this article aroundto friends or followers or family. Share Mar. 13New Hampshire's House and Senate approved competing bills Thursday to eventually allow parents of any income level to receive state-funded Education Freedom Account grants. Both bills go far beyond what Gov. Kelly Ayotte has requested of lawmakers. The House bill (HB 115) that won initial approval Thursday would raise the income limit next school year to 400% of the federal poverty level before eliminating the income limit entirely in 2026-27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the current 350% limit, a family can earn up to $103,600; the 400% limit would raise it to $128,600. The House vote was 198-180 with only 10 House Republicans joining all House Democrats in opposition. A few hours later Thursday, the Senate passed its own bill (SB 295), offered by first-term Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester. Her bill, as amended, would eliminate the income limit but cap at 10,000 the number of grants awarded every year. Currently just over 5,200 families make use of the EFA grants, which can be used toward tuition or expenses for private, religious, alternative public or home school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The average EFA is worth about $5,100. The Senate endorsed its bill, 16-8, with all Republicans in support and all eight Democrats against it. "The voters of this state overwhelmingly support the principle of school choice," Sullivan said. Yet Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said residents who signed up online to comment opposed the measure by nearly a 10-1 margin. "This program is in no way wildly popular," Altschiller said. Both bills went to their respective finance committees to be studied further. In her state budget message last month, Ayotte called for more modest legislation that would permit a family of any income to get an EFA grant, but only if their child was currently enrolled in a public school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Studies have confirmed that relatively few EFA grants have gone to families who used the money to take their child out of a public school. Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton, said House Democrats would oppose any expansion of the program even though the cost of Ayotte's proposal would likely be minimal. Luneau contended the House-passed bill could cost up to $60 million more a year once it's fully implemented. House Education Funding Committee Chairman Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill, the architect of the House plan, insisted it would cost $11 million more in 2027. Rep. Daniel LeClerc, D-Amherst, pointed out that the conservative Granite State Taxpayers Association had opposed the House bill, adding that such a hefty expense "at a time of budget deficit" would be inappropriate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Let's not risk a good thing by spending money that we don't have," LeClerc argued. Rep. Victoria McDonnell, R-Salem, said all families should have access to the grants. "I look forward to the day when children will not be turned away from their school choice based on their ZIP code or their family's ability to pay," McDonnell said. During Senate debate, Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Portsmouth reminded colleagues that a superior court judge has already ruled that state support of public schools is $540 million less a year than it should be. "Our property taxpayers will have to foot the bill if we pass this," Perkins Kwoka said. "We should be focused on adequately funding our neighborhood public schools." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attorneys for the state have asked the state Supreme Court to overturn that decision; a ruling is expected later this year. What's Next: The House and Senate finance committees will continue work and report back to their chambers next month. Prospects: Something is likely to pass but details are unclear. The solution may become part of a final state budget compromise that lawmakers take up at the end of the legislative session. klandrigan@unionleader.com Mar. 12GRAND FORKS Negotiations will continue between Grand Forks County and the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but concerns among county commissioners remain. The commission met for a special meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the county leasing space to the state to house prisoners at the Grand Forks Correctional Center. The negotiations have been ongoing since the beginning of the year and the commission discussed the details of the negotiations during an executive session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Commissioner Bob Rost said he's concerned about the county running into future space issues. "I think (the state is) trying to find an out for expanding the penitentiary and I think we will find ourselves in a bind going down the road where we're not going to be able to take our own prisoners," Rost said. County Chairwoman Kimberly Hagen echoed those sentiments. "Those are the same concerns that I have, that maybe we're going to be spending money to ship people to other places because we don't have enough space," Hagen told the Herald. "So we're trying to come to the table, the state and the county, to work together to figure out a creative solution to this problem because everyone's having it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Correctional space in North Dakota is in short supply. The expansion in Grand Forks has been designed to add 72 beds, and the commission has approved a plan to modify facility plans to use bunkbeds bringing the total to 82 beds when the expansion opens later this year. Grand Forks County has known for years that its facility is over capacity and North Dakota announced in October that its system had exceeded capacity and began prioritizing who gets a bed, adding stress to the system. Leasing space could potentially have a fiscal gain for the county. The $38 million correctional expansion, along with other projects like the courthouse dome, have meant that the county is near its limit for capital projects. The county is also nearing a point where it can no longer buy down the property tax levy with cash on hand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once that point is reached, the county would be near its total cap for what it's able to levy. When the 2025 budget was passed, commissioners at the time said the county should look to diversify the revenue streams of the county and not be so reliant on property taxes. The commission will be revisiting the topic at its next meeting, on March 18. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) Knock down your house or elevate it off the ground. Several homeowners hit hard by the storms are still making that difficult decision to comply with federal mandates in order to rebuild. It could be a couple years: Treasure Island welcomes spring break crowds amid hurricane recovery This week, the Florida Department of Emergency Management is hosting a series of meetings about the new Elevate Florida program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If approved, homeowners could receive about 75% of the project cost. However, critics worry the $400 million dollar allocation from the state may not have enough dollars to meet the demand. Its confusing, said Derek Brunney, a homeowner in Pinellas County. You dont get the answers. They dont have the answers. They cant even answer if its funded or how much is funded, or how many homes theyre going to be able to do. Many walked away from the meeting with disappointment. It was information I was already able to get from the website through the application process, a homeowner stated. 4 Tampa restaurants added to Michelin Guide Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representatives from the Elevate Florida program declined the opportunity to answer questions from 8 On Your Side. I was expecting a Q&A session rather than just reading from the documents that are already available, said another homeowner. The Florida Department of Emergency Management is hosting additional meetings this week: Thursday, March 13 from 10 a.m. 7 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Sunshine Center, 330 5th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Friday, March 14 from 10 a.m. 7 p.m. at the Clearwater Ross Norton Recreation Center Multipurpose Room, 1426 S MLK Jr. Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33756. *Full presentation at noon and 5 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between the flooding and the cleanup, those who endured Hurricanes Helene and Milton have faced many hurdles. Now, a federal regulation might cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. The FEMA 50% rule is catching some homeowners who are affected by flooding and damage off guard. The mandate is a complex regulation that can cost homeowners a small fortune. Essentially, those in a flood zone who have substantial damage might not be allowed to just do simple repairs. They may be forced to tear down their home and completely rebuild at a higher elevation. Elevate Florida is a new state program thats helping homeowners cover the cost to elevate their home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last years hurricane season took a devastating toll on homes across Tampa Bay. Now, with a new hurricane season fast approaching, homeowners are making difficult and costly decisions when storm proofing their homes. Elevate Florida is the first elevation mitigation program in the state. According to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the goal of Elevate Florida is to enhance community resilience by mitigating private residences against natural hazards. Officials say mitigation reconstruction is the alternative to structure elevation when the structure is not sound enough to elevate, as determined during application review. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eligible projects include: Structure elevation Mitigation reconstruction Acquisition/demolition Wind mitigation For more information about the program or to apply for assistance, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. KINSHASA (Reuters) -Democratic Republic of Congo is considering sending representatives to peace talks with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group that Angola plans to host next week, two government sources said on Thursday, as the rebels listed demands to the mediation team. Angola has been trying to mediate a lasting ceasefire and reduce tensions between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda, which has been accused of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebels. Rwanda denies those allegations. On Wednesday, Angola's presidency announced direct talks between Congo and M23 would begin in Luanda on Tuesday. The dialogue would mark Congo's first direct negotiations with M23. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Felix Tshisekedi has until now rejected direct talks with M23 and the government has not officially confirmed its participation. The talks show "Angola's desire to help our region find a way out of the crisis," Tshisekedi said in a Congo presidency post on X. "It is crucial that the decisions taken on this occasion are rapidly translated into concrete action on the ground." Two government sources told Reuters on Thursday that the latest Angolan proposal was being seriously considered. "This is a process that is beginning. Kinshasa wants it to be short but it could be long, and it will be up to the head of state to decide on the people who will represent the government side," one of the sources said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Even if there is direct contact with M23, this will not exclude Kigali's responsibility," another source said. M23 welcomed Angola's initiative but asked Tshisekedi to publicly express his commitment to directly negotiating with the group. In a statement on Thursday, the rebels also demanded a mediation team and clarity on how resolutions adopted at a joint summit of Eastern and Southern African blocs last month would be implemented. "Only direct negotiations can pave the way for a lasting solution to the ongoing crisis," the statement said. ALLIES WITHDRAW The news came as the Southern African Development Community said a summit of regional heads of state had terminated the mandate of its troop deployment in Congo, known as SAMIDRC, and decided on a phased withdrawal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The announcement is a potential further blow to Tshisekedi, who has faced criticism of his handling of M23's latest advance. SADC deployed its mission in Congo, a major producer of cobalt and copper, in December 2023 with a one-year mandate that was renewed last year. It was helping Congo's government fight rebel groups. But a document seen by Reuters in February said the status of the bloc's mission to Congo needed to be discussed with parties to the conflict. The M23 rebels have seized east Congo's two biggest cities since January in an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into Congo of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of Congo's vast mineral resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alphamin Resources said on Thursday it had temporarily halted its tin mine in Congo's volatile eastern region as rebels advance toward the operations. (Reporting by Ange Adihe Kasongo and Sonia Rolley; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Sofia Christensen; Editing by Angus MacSwan) As Donald Trump and Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) make sweeping cuts to the federal bureaucracy and congressional Republicans are thought to be sharpening the knives for Medicaid, California will be forced to borrow almost $3.5 billion to cover a budget gap in its own medical care program. The figure given in a letter sent by Governor Gavin Newsoms administration and seen by Politico represents the total amount the blue state can borrow and would only be sufficient to pay off bills for Medi-Cal, its version of the national health care program, until the end of the month, according to state Department of Finance spokesperson HD Palmer. The situation is likely to throw increased scrutiny on the Golden States policy of providing health insurance to undocumented migrants, which it originally estimated would cost $3 billion but which is proving more expensive than anticipated in practice, one year into its implementation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rising cost of drugs and an increased number of senior citizens eligible for the program are two reasons given for the added expense. Newsoms current budget proposal estimates the state will spend $8.4 billion on providing Medi-Cal cover to undocumented immigrants in the 2024/25 financial year and then $7.4 billion in 2025/26. The rising cost of drugs and an increased number of senior citizens eligible for the program are two reasons given for the added expense (AP) With the prospect of capping enrollments to the policy or limiting the benefits it makes available looming, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas has said he is proud of what it has achieved so far. There are tough choices ahead, and Assembly Democrats will closely examine any proposal from the governor, Rivas said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But lets be clear: We will not roll over and leave our immigrants behind. In a joint statement of their own, California Senate Leader Mike McGuire, Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez and Budget Chair Scott Wiener said they would work with the Assembly and with Newsom on responsible and long-term solutions to the problem. Here in the Golden State, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring millions of Californians have the healthcare coverage they need to thrive, they said. That access to healthcare is being threatened by skyrocketing healthcare costs across the nation, and even more by the dangerous cuts threatened by President Trump and Congressional Republicans that will impact the lives of tens of millions across this country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Medi-Cal care was first extended to the children of undocumented migrants in 2016 and has since been gradually expanded, first to young adults, then to the elderly and then made available to all last year, but has long been unpopular with state Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones and Assemblymember Carl DeMaio in particular have lashed out at the policys inflated price tag, with the former taking to X to demand a hearing, accusing Newsoms administration of being secretive about the rising costs. Typical of the secretive Newsom Administration, they just quietly dropped a damning notification that they are taking a $3.44 BILLION loan to fund free healthcare for illegal immigrants, Jones wrote. The loan is being taken from tax dollars meant for healthcare providers. Rising Medicaid costs are a national challenge, affecting both red and blue states alike, said Newsoms spokesperson Izzy Gardon. This is not unique to California. HARTFORD, Conn (WTNH) The Keney Park Nature Trail was recently spruced up and reopened, thanks to teachers and students at a nearby independent school. These kids have been picking up and throwing out debris at Hartfords Keney Park. New program at High Hopes helps Parkinsons patients with mobility & mental health What we did today was try to prepare it for spring and for those that are going to be walking the trails, said Ronald Campbell, the assistant principal at nearby Community First School where the trail is very important to students and teachers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We wanted to be outside as much as possible as part of our learning experience. And we started noticing this trail that was somewhat available but also clogged with brush and shrubs, Principal and Co-founder Tim Goodwin said. So they started working on the trail, clearing branches and exposing the path. Goodwin said other organizations in the area- such as Hartford HealthCare and the Rise Up Group heard about the effort and helped out. The Chilly Mermaids raise awareness for Down syndrome by swimming in freezing water Over about four years, we opened the entire trail. It was originally designed in the 70s. We reopened this year with 40 nature stations and 10 art stations, Goodwin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Folks can now scan a QR code with their phones and learn interesting facts about nature. The whole experience was empowering for students. For the kids to know, to realize that even at their age, they could impact the community this way, Campbell said. I keep trying to let them know, You have power to create change.' The children love observing and learning in this lovely oasis. Its like a beautiful forest, 5-year-old Yukiko Duroche said. Canton mom launches bread business after traumas shift life focus Math and reading and learning everything, added 6-year-old Kalonji Matthews. Weve seen grasshoppers, preying mantis and all types of bugs, said 10-year-old Edwin Martinez. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre looking forward to more outdoor adventures on this 1.5 mile trail where they feel a real connection to the land. The best part about having this trail open is that our students get to experience it. They can come back with their children someday. Its all about building children from the inside out, Goodwin said. The students go out into the park every Thursday as part of their curriculum. The public is invited to utilize the park and the nature stations as well. The Keney Park Nature Trail begins and ends at the Pond House. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. A Connecticut father is being reunited with his daughter, who was kidnapped by his ex-wife and taken to Mexico in 1999. It was a moment of joy, Carlos Reyes-Couvertier said at a Wednesday press conference in New Haven when asked how he felt after authorities told him theyd located Andrea Michelle Reyes after more than 25 years. He last saw the little girl as she was nearing her second birthday. According to Reyes-Couvertier, he and his daughter havent communicated in person, though they have spoken by phone. A private, in-person reunion is anticipated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reyes was taken from her fathers life in October 1999 when the toddlers mom, Rosa Tenorio, abducted the child from his New Haven home and took her to Puebla, roughly 70 miles southeast of Mexico City. He and Tenorio were separated at the time and she did not have legal custody of their daughter, according to authorities. Reyes, now 27, has reportedly lived in Mexico ever since. Reyes-Couvertier, a second-grade school teacher in New Haven, said he traveled to Mexico multiple times to try to locate his daughter, but was unsuccessful. She was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, but the case eventually went cold. In 2023, the case was reopened by New Haven police and with the help of the FBI, they were able to track down Reyes through interviews, search warrants and social media. Her identity was confirmed through a DNA test. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI had issued an arrest warrant for Tenorio, which is still active but only valid in the U.S., according to New Haven police. Shes believed to still be in Mexico. We have some sense of happiness, but the chapter is not closed yet, Reyes-Couvertier told reporters. ________ Connecticut woman accused of holding stepson captive for over 20 years WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) A woman has been arrested in Waterbury after allegedly kidnapping a man and holding him captive for over 20 years, according to police. On Feb. 17, crews responded to a fire at a home on Blake Street in Waterbury. Two people, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan and a 32-year-old man were inside the home at the time. Sullivan was able to evacuate safely and the man was helped out by firefighters. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While being evaluated by EMS for smoke inhalation, the victim allegedly disclosed to first responders that he intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room by using a lighter, hand sanitizer and paper because he wanted his freedom. He continued by alleging that he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was 11 years old. The victim was transported to the hospital, where his condition worsened and he was stated in critical condition due to smoke inhalation. After an extensive investigation, detectives determined that the victim had been held captive for over 20 years, enduring abuse, starvation, severe neglect and inhumane treatment. He was found in a severely emaciated condition and had not received any medical or dental care during his time in captivity and was given minimal amounts of food and water. Detectives questioned Sullivan, who was in a car with her daughter and the daughters boyfriend, at the scene of the fire. According to an affidavit, Sullivan stated that she had taken the victim to a psychiatrist in the past and that he was not locked in his room. During the investigation, the detective found that the door to the victims room had a slide lock on the outside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detectives attempted to reach out to Sullivan during early parts of the investigation, to which she allegedly refused and stated that she spoke with an attorney and would not be speaking with police. Kimberly Sullivan. During interviewing, the victim detailed a life of abuse, saying that at first, he started being locked in his room only at night. He recalled drinking water from the toilet due to the fact that he only received two glasses of water per day. He said that he was pulled out of school after the school called the Department of Children and Families (DCF) twice due to the victim constantly asking students for their food during lunch time because he was allegedly being starved at home, the affidavit said. According to the affidavit, the room that the victim was living in was eight by nine feet and was a back storage area in the home. He claimed that the room had no air conditioning in the summer and no heating in the winter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said that eventually, he was only let out of the room for around one to two hours per day, usually to do chores. He claimed that he had no toilet access after a time and was left to urinate in bottles and defecate onto a paper and dispose of it in the garbage when he was let out to do chores. The affidavit states that his only connection to the outside world was a radio kept outside his bedroom, where he would listen to local radio stations and use that as a way to keep track of the date and year. He educated himself by using a dictionary and reading the three books per year he was permitted to have. On the day he set the fire, the victim claimed that Sullivan told him to wash his face so that firefighters would not see his appearance and yelled for others to help her get the locks off the door. Sullivan was arrested on Wednesday and charged with: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Assault in the First Degree Kidnapping in the Second Degree Unlawful Restraint in the First Degree Cruelty to Persons Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree Sullivans lawyer says that this isnt the full story. He was not locked in the room, she did not restrain him in any way, she provided food, she provided shelter, Ioannis Kaloidis, a Waterbury attorney, said. She is blown away by these allegations. Kaloidis said that the mans biological father lived there until recently. He was the biological father, he was the one who dictated how his son would be raised, we think as the evidence comes out, you will see that she is not the villain shes made out to be, Kaloidis said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sullivan was arraigned in court and her bond was set at $300,000. She will be held in custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. VIENTIANE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- To mark the 60th anniversary of National Postal and Telecommunications Day, Lao Minister of Technology and Communications Boviengkham Vongdara delivered a speech emphasizing the transformative impact of digital technologies on the country's socio-economic development. The Lao National Postal and Telecommunications Day, marked on Thursday under the theme "Building Resilient and Sustainable Digital Infrastructure of Laos," reflected on the nation's advancements in postal and telecommunications services while looking ahead to future goals in digital transformation. This year's celebration commemorates six decades of advancements in the sector, highlighting the rapid evolution of postal and telecommunications services driven by cutting-edge technologies such as e-commerce, modern logistics systems, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), among others. In his address, Boviengkham emphasized the role of digital technologies in enhancing e-commerce, supporting SMEs, advancing distance education, promoting telemedicine, and driving digital industrial production. These efforts align with national policies, including the digital transformation plan, which focuses on digital governance, economy, and society. He urged all stakeholders to embrace digital technologies and improve service quality while stressing the need for vigilance against scams and deceptive practices. Boviengkham also highlighted the importance of digital transformation in achieving the goals set by the Party and government. The editors of the National Review did not hold back in their latest editorial, which condemned President Donald Trumps escalating attacks on Americas northern neighbor and warned how they may go awry for him and the GOP. In an essay titled Trumps Reckless War on Canada, the conservative magazine criticized Trumps threats, tariffs, and contradictory stance toward the country, warning that none of this is good for U.S. business. The magazine also sounded the alarm over Trumps talk of turning Canada into the 51st state, cautioning that it now seems to be more than trolling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Trump is serious, it is unfathomable that we are threatening the sovereignty of a fellow NATO country, a friend that has repeatedly fought and bled alongside us, they said. Even if such an outcome were somehow possible, they warned, the result could be disastrous: It would create a restive, resentful region of the United States where there presumably wouldnt be a lot of Trump voters. Read the full editorial at The National Review. Related... Well I did warn you. In December I wrote of possible Tory defections to Reform, that the obstacle now isnt so much policy... but rather a sense that Reform is still fragile, not fully organised, vulnerable to leading figures leaving or to simple infighting and chaos. And so it has proved. So, what are the implications of this weeks row for politics on the Right? Reform first. Like many Tories, I speak to lots of Reform members and supporters. This clearly isnt about, or not only about, the personality clash between Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe and the unedifying trading of accusations on social media. More important are the underlying disagreements about policy and tone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reform have attracted not just mainstream conservatives despairing of the Tory Party, but also a different and often younger group, the very online Right, as some call them. This group seems ready to flirt with policy ideas which are not really in the mainstream of British politics for example deportation of non-dual national British citizens, or of those who are guilty of nothing more than a family relationship or association with people involved in the rape gangs. There is also sometimes even an element of ethno-nationalism, echoed in the weird discussion of whether Rishi Sunak could call himself English, but also seen in criticism of Farage for pointing out Reform cant be at war with Islam, or in the anti-Muslim tone of some of the sniping at the party chair Zia Yusuf. Even if Rupert Lowe doesnt endorse all these views and I dont believe he would his campaigning certainly seems to be aimed at this group. Happily for the country, but problematically for Reform, its a tiny group, not one you can build an electoral majority on. Moreover, appealing to it often seems to entail a particular political tone at best that of pub ranting, at worst a whiff of street politics Tommy Robinson style. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Farage can see that these ideas mean death to Reforms efforts to go mainstream. If you doubt it, look at the rest of Europe, where those populist parties that havent extirpated such thinking persistently underperform on the day in elections. However angry people are and I agree they really are Brits wont vote in any numbers for this. I wouldnt either. You dont have to think Nigel Farage is perfect to see that the Farage/Yusuf axis, the plan to keep Reform on the robust but mainstream Right and to organise it into a force capable of getting out the vote, is surely the only possible way of putting it durably on the political scene. If they are serious about doing so, then for sure Nigel Farage is going to have to work with a broader team, if he can find one. But does that mean that he needs to work with Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib specifically? I dont think so. Now what does this mean for Conservatives? Many will see the Reform row as good news though lets wait and see what the impact on the polls actually is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Certainly it may buy some time for Kemi Badenoch by relieving the pressure to match Reform quickly on policy and by scaring off any defections. But whats good news for the Conservative Party is not always, or even necessarily, good news for conservatism. To put it bluntly if the Reform Party did not exist, how conservative do you really think the Conservative Party would be? As I have said repeatedly over the last couple of years, there are tremendous reserves of bluster and complacency within what is left of the Party. Without some real world pressure, this could easily come to dominate. We heard it from some in the leadership campaign: Labour will mess it up, Reform will blow up, lets just wait for our voters to return and well soon be back in our ministerial cars. It could still happen. But what is the point of the Conservative Party being in power in 2029 if we arent going to do things that fix the countrys problems? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yes, there is lots of outrage about Labour now. But if the Conservative Party comes back by default in four years time, then unless it is burning with anger and driven by a clear conservative determination to change the country, the temptation will be to drift and to accommodate whats been done. Thats where Reform is so important to conservatism. It gives genuine conservative voters a choice. It forces the Tory Party to engage with and advocate actual conservative ideas and to develop policy accordingly. It removes the temptation to go Lib Dem and stops conservative voters being taken for granted. Lets hope thats what happens. For sure, we dont want a split vote on the Right in 2029. But conservatives also believe in competition. For now, Reform creates a competition to be the best opposition and to provide the best policy mix. For those of us who are concerned about getting the policy right, about seizing what may be the last opportunity to get the country onto a more conservative path, that is what really matters. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. New imaging from NASA provides a better understanding of the slow, mysterious Palos Verdes landslide. It shows the direction of the earthy movement west, toward the coast as well as the velocity, as much as 4 inches per week. The analysis confirms what those of us who grew up on the superficially quiet Palos Verdes Peninsula have always known: Its only a matter of time until the turbulent hillside crumbles into the ocean. But its happening faster than I ever expected. It was just last year when the sanctuary where my mothers funeral was held, on a remarkably foggy June day in 2015, was dismantled. Piece by piece, the glass-and-wood Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright was taken apart so that it might be saved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Disasters like the Rolling Hills landslide are foreseeable. The warnings are all around us Across the road from the holy houses bare foundation, a onetime home of the writer Joan Didion is, given its location, probably in similar danger of falling into the Pacific Ocean. Didion, who died in 2021, was a Sacramento native who wrote about Palos Verdes with reverence. In the 1960s, when Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, lived on the peninsula in a Spanish-style gatehouse , Didion observed the slump of the hill making its strange descent into the ocean. Later, in her 2005 memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, about the aftermath of Dunnes death, Didion returned to Palos Verdes in memory. The books final paragraph is about Abalone Cove, the watery destination of the continuing landslide. Didion and Dunne had swum there, and Didion wrote of the swell of clear water, the way it changed, the swiftness and power it gained as it narrowed through the rocks at the base of the point. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Year of Magical Thinking stands out as a paragon of unreliable narration. Didions grief ripples backward and forward as she struggles to make sense of time. But over the course of her inquisition into the events surrounding her late husbands heart attack, her prose becomes sharper, more concise. Didion emerges from the fog of mourning and arrives, with clarity, in Palos Verdes and the memory of Abalone Cove. The landscape serves as a static yet dynamic vessel for her grief. Read more: The flames erased lives, homes and the still-to-be-told stories of Los Angeles I ask myself what the coast, with its chaparral, eucalyptus, wide-mawed canyons and thick seasonal fogs, will look like when I return. I also ask myself how I can mourn my parents, both of whom died in Palos Verdes, without the landscape where we created shared memories. These questions apply more broadly and acutely to Southern Californians after the fires that took 29 lives and displaced more than 13,000 households . For many, the prospect of returning is not financially feasible; for those who are able to come back home, familiar landmarks and much more are gone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So what to make of this information of communities irrevocably lost to the fires, of NASAs confirmation that the hillside will be folding in on itself soon? After fires ravaged Malibu in 1978, Didion wrote in The White Album, that she drove to a nursery on the coast near Topanga Canyon. She found charred bushes, shards of glass and melted metal where once there were orchids. I lost three years, the owner told Didion. And for an instant, she writes, I thought we would both cry. With that final gesture, Didion experienced the catastrophe with her fellow Angeleno. A memory that no longer has a landscape to live in can be called up by sharing it with someone else. Without the places to return to Moonshadows in Malibu, the Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, our own homes it is more important than ever to talk about what was lost. That is how we keep it alive. Ryan Nourai is a writer working on a memoir about his late mothers shooting. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) Kansas firefighters face enough risk dealing with grass and wildfires during dry, windy conditions. They do not want the added risk of fires reigniting, but it has been happening around the state. On Wednesday, fire officials warned people of fires that restarted weeks after they were thought to be out. (Courtesy Fowler Fire Department) One of the fires was a controlled burn from almost a month ago in Meade County. The Fowler Fire Department said it relit Wednesday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, if youve burned anything since January 1 of 2025, please go check it out, the Fowler Fire Department said in a Facebook video. The Kansas Fire Marshals Office also posted about an old fire that reignited at a burn pit in Rawlins County. The burn pit had not been used in over a week. The property owner checked the pit the weekend before the second fire and saw no signs of smoldering. Tree trimming mishap leads to local man stuck 35-feet up a tree This is a friendly reminder that burn pits can smolder for days or weeks, even after the fire appears to be out. One tip is to keep up on property maintenance by keeping vegetation mowed down and away from any structures, the fire marshal posted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The post included pictures of the aftermath of the grass fire that started when the burn pit reignited. (Courtesy Kansas Fire Marshal) (Courtesy Kansas Fire Marshal) Investigators said the debris can smolder under the ash, get fanned by the wind, reignite, and spread. It does not take long for dry material to go up in flames, the fire marshal said. Two Thomas County Deputies who were alerted to the fire in the neighboring county responded and observed a group of trees/bushes near a shed ignite. One deputy stated, It was a big flash and the bushes were gone.' The Scott County Department of Emergency Management shared the fire marshals post, saying, This is why we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to check and recheck controlled burns leading up to the next wind event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. Cryptocurrency mining is booming, but not all mining operations are booming in the same way. A controversial crypto-mining facility near Seneca Lake, New York, is still running despite state regulators repeatedly denying its air permit. The plant's operators keep fighting to stay open even as experts warn of its climate impact. What's happening? Greenidge has been using legal appeals to continue operating its crypto-mining facility after New York state denied approval of its air permit, reported the Ithaca Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An air permit authorizes how much air pollution a facility can release. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation originally denied Greenidge's air permit renewal in 2022, but Greenidge appealed the decision not once, but multiple times. The DEC has maintained its stance with each appeal, noting that the company doesn't comply with the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. CLCPA targets reducing polluting gases by 85% of 1990 levels by 2050. Greenidge's reasons for appealing are two-fold. According to the Ithaca Times article, the company insists that its investments in carbon reduction projects offset the carbon pollution it produces. Greenidge also believes that CLCPA guidelines shouldn't be able to dictate the DEC's permit decisions. Those fighting to shut down the plant, however, essentially maintain that such efforts shouldn't distract from the fact that there is a high-polluting plant right in their own community that does not directly serve many of their residents. "This is like being in purgatory," said Seneca Lake Guardian co-founder Yvonne Taylor. "We keep winning, but Greenidge keeps finding ways to fight dirty and prolong the process." Why is this concerning? Crypto mining eats up as much as 2.3% of U.S. energy consumption, although there are many mitigating factors at play such as the fact that many mining operations run on excess power that would otherwise be wasted, something Greenidge does not do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many crypto companies also produce their own renewable energy, a smart investment since it drives down costs over the longer term. That said, research from the International Monetary Fund found that crypto mining could produce 0.7% of global carbon pollution by 2027. The DEC has continuously denied Greenidge's appeals for good reason: The facility doesn't align with the state's anti-pollution agenda. Despite its efforts to offset that critics say largely amount to greenwashing, Greenidge produced about the same amount of pollution as 84,000 vehicles in 2023 alone, according to New York assemblymember Anna Kelles. The problem is that the facility can legally continue to operate through the appeals process and contribute to the harmful effects of crypto mining. "Greenidge is trying to gut New York's climate law" by continuing to appeal, warned Taylor. Kelles added that Greenidge has intentionally used its appeals to "drag out" the process and continue to profit while placing the environment on the back burner. What's being done to rein in crypto mining's pollution? Many states have proposed climate regulations similar to New York's that impact the crypto-mining industry. For example, an Arkansas bill aims to reduce the amount of water and electricity crypto-mining facilities use. Texas requires crypto-mining facilities to register with the state grid operator if they use more than 75 megawatts of power, according to an article from the Texas Tribune. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While these efforts signal progress, environmental advocates are calling for stronger regulations and tighter loopholes to prevent crypto mining from roadblocking climate goals. Incentivizing sustainable crypto-mining companies could also reduce the industry's impact on the environment. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. A controversial overhaul to Delaware's corporate code passed through the state Senate on Thursday. The legislation would amend Delaware's corporate laws, which govern the management of most of the nation's top corporations, to insulate controlling stockholders from lawsuits filed by shareholders claiming a conflict of interest or insider dealing. The overhaul has been one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in this year's General Assembly session with critics calling it the result of a "shakedown" by powerful, often billionaire, controlling stockholders and arguing it would give such powerful individuals greater leverage to extract value from corporations at the expense of pensioners, retirees and ordinary investors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Proponents, including Gov. Matt Meyer, say the legislation is merely a "course correction" aimed at giving corporations' most powerful managers more predictability and consistency as they consider mergers, compensation plans and other business transactions that may involve a conflict of interest. Matt Meyer, then-Democratic candidate for governor, discusses issues at The News Journal on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. Both sides of the debate have argued it will have implications for Delawares status as the nations premier state for business incorporation a status that underpins the relatively low tax bills paid by individuals in the state. What the bill does Delaware is the legal home to some 2 million corporations, about 60% of those in the Fortune 500. And so, the corporate laws on the states books govern, among other things, the rules by which controlling stockholders cut deals. When shareholders feel they've been taken advantage of, they take those claims to the Delaware Chancery Court, which serves as a check on mismanagement. Its speed and expertise in evaluating such claims is said to be one reason Delaware is the primary place in the country to charter a business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The more controversial aspects of the legislation deal with how the law governs transactions that involve a potential conflict of interest by a controlling stockholder. The Debate: Controversial Delaware corporate law changes head to state Senate for vote The changes amend how a controlling stockholder is defined, lower the hurdles they must jump through to execute a potentially conflicted transaction, and curtail information available in so-called "books and records" requests. Such requests are used by aggrieved shareholders to obtain documents, files, meeting minutes and communications to investigate their claims. Why is this happening Attorneys involved in drafting the legislation say over the years, the legal definitions of controlling stockholders, what books and records are, and other concepts affected by the legislation have been expanded by Chancery Court rulings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This has caused uncertainty within boardrooms by managers evaluating potential company transactions. This uncertainty has caused frustration and caused influential companies to question their future with Delaware as their company's legal home, said Amy Simmerman, a Wilmington attorney who testified as an expert called by the bill's sponsor at a Senate committee hearing earlier this week. Amy L. Simmerman, Partner at Wilson Sonsini, listens as lawmakers in Delaware's Senate Judiciary Committee debate changes to Delaware's corporate law at Legislative Hall in Dover, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. The Delaware's corporate law is the code that sets corporate governance for many of the nation's largest companies. The legislation will provide more predictability and balance and will continue to empower the courts as a check, proponents said. The backdrop of this legislation has been Elon Musk's bluster campaign against the Delaware courts after the Chancery Court invalidated his $56 billion Tesla pay package, ruling it was the result of a corrupted process. That ruling is now on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court. Simmerman said Musk has acted as a "megaphone effect," leading others to consider a future elsewhere. Proponents of the legislation have emphasized it would not bear on his pending Supreme Court appeal and that the legislation addresses concerns and frustrations expressed by others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February, news leaked that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, as well as some other companies, were considering leaving Delaware, prompting legislators and officials in Meyer's office to meet and investigate solutions. This led to the legislation, said the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Bryan Townsend, at Thursday's hearing. Delaware Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, and Vice Chair of Delaware's Senate Judiciary Committee, listens as the committee's lawmakers debate changes to Delaware's corporate law at Legislative Hall in Dover, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. The Delaware's corporate law is the code that sets corporate governance for many of the nation's largest companies. Critics of the legislation say reports of companies considering leaving amount to a scare campaign to justify legislation that would give billionaires greater leverage to unfairly loot companies' value at the expense of other shareholders. They point to public data showing Delaware's incorporation industry has remained strong in recent years. They argue that the rule changes would curtail the ability of Chancery Court to serve as a check on abusive management and set a bad precedent: that disgruntled litigants and their legal representatives can end-run the court by simply going to the General Assembly to change the law. This will cut at the reputation and perceived fairness of the court in a way that will hurt Delaware's corporate brand, critics of the bill have argued. What happens next Despite a high-profile debate over the legislation on newspaper opinion pages, legal blogs and road signs sprinkled across Wilmington, Delaware's Senate passed the bill without any opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill will now move to the Delaware House of Representatives for consideration in the coming weeks. Debate on the bill Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Controversial corporate law overhaul heads to Delaware House FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) After a debate during Wednesdays legislative session, a bill dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices in Kentucky higher education will move to the governors desk after a 32 to 6 vote. House Bill 4 would reportedly ban Kentucky colleges from considering race, national origin, sex, or religion in hiring, admissions, and scholarships. Late change to bill ending Kentucky conversion therapy ban will now disqualify Medicaid-covered transgender care Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, who proposed the bill, argued the legislature provides equal protection by removing discriminatory policy from colleges. Our low-income minorities are not on our campuses to the extent they were before all this started. Whats to blame? I dont know. This hasnt helped. And if I were an advocate for the minority community, which I am, this is damaging to the minority community, Rep. Decker told FOX 56. Kentucky Senate Democrats said that if HB 4 became law, the Commonwealth would become less attractive to employers across the nation, ultimately hindering Kentuckys economic growth. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This bill sends a message of You are not welcome, Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, said. Lets make no mistake: This bill is about race, about gender, about exclusion, and about restricting opportunities for marginalized communities. We have seen this before, and we cannot sit idly by. After passing on Wednesday, HB 4 will now move to Gov. Beshears desk to be signed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheens (D) Senate seat as lean Democrat following the senators announcement she would not seek reelection in 2026. While the seat may lean toward Democrats, Republicans have expressed optimism they can flip the seat. Last month, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) named New Hampshire as one of the committees six battleground states, along with Georgia, Michigan, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio. Shaheens retirement follows Minnesota Sen. Tina Smiths (D) announcement last month that she would not seek reelection and a retirement announcement in January from Michigan Sen. Gary Peters (D). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scott celebrated news of the Democratic retirement in a statement Thursday. Another one! Shaheens retirement is welcome news for Granite Staters eager for new leadership, Scott said. New Hampshire has a proud tradition of electing common-sense Republicansand will do so again in 2026! Republicans are hoping to recruit former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) to run for the seat. Brown was spotted at the Capitol Tuesday afternoon visiting with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The former Massachusetts senator, who unsuccessfully challenged Shaheen for her Senate seat in 2014, told The Hill that hes thinking about running again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brown said in a post on social platform X that its time to have someone in the states delegation that supports President Trump. I appreciate [Shaheen]s service to our state and for her support and vote for me as NHs Ambassador to NZ and Samoa. Now its time for New Hampshire to have someone in the delegation who fights for our priorities and stands with, not against, the Trump agenda, Brown said in the post. Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has also been a target of Republican recruiting efforts and has said he does not have interest in running for Senate. However, he told The Washington Times this week he hasnt ruled it out completely. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Mid-March is upon us once again, and with it comes the annual St. Patricks Day celebrations in Detroits Corktown neighborhood. The party starts on Sunday, March 16, at 1 p.m., when the beloved Detroit St. Patricks Parade will begin proceeding down Michigan Avenue between 6th and 14th Streets. The parade is expected to draw between 80,000-100,000 revelers. Businesses throughout Corktown will host special events, live music, and Irish-inspired menus. We are excited to welcome thousands to Corktown for the St. Patricks Parade, said former Detroit City Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel. This parade is a testament to the strength and spirit of our city. Detroit has long been a hub for major events that bring people together, celebrate our diverse heritage, and showcase the vibrant small businesses that make Corktown and our entire city so special. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bob Roberts, owner of McShanes and president of the Corktown Business Association, emphasized the economic importance of the parade for local businesses. Were still feeling the effects of the pandemic, Roberts said, and events like the St. Patricks Parade bring a much-needed boost to our restaurants, bars and shops. Its not just a celebration its a lifeline for Corktowns small business community. At the heart of this Mondays festivities will be Corktowns Most Holy Trinity Church, celebrating its 190th observance of the holiday. Most Holy Trinity Church is the oldest Irish church in the Midwest United States, founded in 1834 to serve the Irish population in Detroit, said the churchs pastor, Monsignor Chuck Kosanke, a Detroit native. In 1954, it started a fundraiser called Sharin of the Green to raise money for its programs and outreach. Its the largest Irish gathering in the state of Michigan on St. Patricks Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The day kicks off with a noon mass that draws about 800 worshippers annually to Most Holy Trinity Church (1050 Porter St.). Doors open at 11 a.m. for the free, first-come-first-seated event. See also: Legendary Alvin Ailey dance troupe returns to Detroit with world premiere performances See also: Detroit Jazz Festival announces 2025 artist in residence: Details From 1:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. Monday, the Taste of Corktown will be held at the Peter and Connie Cracchiolo Community Center at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Academy (1229 Labrosse St.), featuring live music, food from restaurants throughout Corktown, craft beer and Irish whiskey. Tickets are $50 for the cocktail party-style event, and attendance is capped at 250 attendees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This years Taste of Corktown honorary chairman is Sean Maloney, said Kosanke. You cant really get more Irish than that! Sean is the CFO of Auto Club Group. On St. Patricks Day, there are two groups of people Irish, and honorary Irish. Its a fabulous event, and your support for the event helps people in need. We have a food and clothing pantry thats open two days a week, for emergency help. And some people cant afford the funeral costs to bury loved ones. We cant pay for the whole thing, but we help with that. Information about mass and Taste of Corktown can be found at Most Holy Trinity Churchs website, mhtdetroit.org, and info on the parade at detroitstpatricksparade.com. Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Corktown's annual St. Patrick's celebrations to return this weekend CHIPPEWA FALLS A Cornell man who didnt take an injured eight-year-old child to a hospital after a fall has been charged with multiple felonies. Jacob D. Imm, 32, 121 N. 4th St., was charged in Chippewa County Court with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and child abuse-recklessly causing harm which are both felonies and a misdemeanor charge of neglecting a child. Imm was released on a signature bond and will return to court Tuesday. According to the criminal complaint, Imm and the child were locked out of an apartment on Feb. 3. Imm decided to have the eight-year-old girl climb through the ceiling to get in, but the ceiling collapsed and she fell roughly 10 to 12 feet to the floor and was injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Imm did not bring the girl to a hospital, so a neighbor did. The doctor said the girl suffered a fracture to the humerus in her growth plate, and was concerned it could affect her growth. The doctor expressed concern of neglect due to the neighbor having to bring (the child) to the hospital, the criminal complaint reads. Police interviewed the neighbor who said when she saw the girl, she was clutching her arm, which was red and starting to swell. The neighbor then called the girls mother. Imm is not the father of the victim. Police interviewed Imm, who admitted he wasnt thinking and acknowledged he did not call 911. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When police went to arrest Imm, he initially resisted being put in handcuffs; he was not charged with resisting arrest. As terms of his release, Imm cannot have any unsupervised contact with the victim and cannot discuss the case with the child. Online court records show Imm has no prior criminal record in Wisconsin. ULAN BATOR, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has imported a total of 26,506 cars in the first two months of 2025, up 6.5 percent year-on-year, local media reported Thursday, citing data from the Mongolian Customs General Administration. Meanwhile, the Asian country has imported 4,365 trucks so far this year, an increase of 0.4 percent compared to the same period last year, the data showed. According to experts, the growth in imports of cars from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea is directly related to the increase of population in Ulan Bator. Khishgee Nyambaatar, mayor of Mongolia's capital, said that Ulan Bator is home to over half of the country's 3.5 million population, who are facing such issues as traffic jams, air pollution and housing. In view of this, the authorities of the Mongolian capital are working to solve Ulan Bator's pressing issues, including reducing air pollution and traffic congestion, he said. In 2024, a total of 798,000 foreign vehicles were registered in Ulan Bator, according to the country's traffic police department. MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCBD) The Berkeley County Coroners Office has identified the victim who was killed after a vehicle collided with a train in Moncks Corner. Mr. William Jeffrey Foster, 59, of Moncks Corner was pronounced deceased at the scene, according to the coroners office. The passenger in the vehicle was transported to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. The collision occurred on Altman Street around 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said it is currently unclear whether the train arms were down at the time of the collision. Law enforcement plans to use surveillance video from nearby businesses to uncover exactly what happened. The Amtrak was traveling from Florence to Charleston. The Berkeley County School District is providing buses to take the Amtrak passengers to their destination. Moncks Corner PD says the railroad crossing at Altman Street and E Railroad Ave will be closed until further notice. Drivers should use E Railroad Ave to E Main Street or Gulledge Street to E Main Street. Moncks Corner City Police, Moncks Corner City Fire Dept, Central Berkeley Fire and Rescue, Moncks Corner Rural Fire & Rescue, Berkeley County Sherriffs Office, SCDOT, Amtrak authorities, CSX authorities, Berkeley County Emergency Management and Berkeley County EMS all responded to this incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Moncks Corner Police Department and the Berkeley County Coroners Office are investigating. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. The Hamilton County Coroner's Office has identified a man who was found dead in a dumpster behind a fast food restaurant in Camp Washington. No foul play is suspected in the death of Jammie Blevins, 37, of East Walnut Hills, although investigators have yet to determine his cause of death, according to the coroner's office. The dumpster behind a Wendys restaurant on Hopple Street in Camp Washington. Officers responded to Wendys on Hopple Street shortly before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and found Blevins dead inside a dumpster, police told Enquirer media partner Fox19, adding that the death appears to be accidental. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Enquirer has requested records from the Cincinnati Police Department about this investigation. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Coroner IDs man found dead in Wendy's dumpster in Camp Washington DENVER (KDVR) The death toll for the Columbine High School mass shooting in 1999 has risen by one. Anne Marie Hochhalter, a survivor of the Columbine High School mass shooting, died on Feb. 16 at her home, according to her former principal, Frank DeAngelis. Hochhalter, 43, suffered two gunshot wounds during the massacre, where two seniors shot and killed 12 students and one teacher, then killed themselves. Another 21 people were injured by the gunfire. Father shares impact of Thornton traveling nurses death in Montana river Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Jefferson County Coroners Office released a copy of her autopsy report on Wednesday. The report stated that two gunshot wounds Hochhalter suffered in 1999, resulting in her use of a wheelchair in the 25 years since, likely turned into further issues and led to her death. The report said that Hochhalter died of sepsis due to Streptococcus pyogenes. Complications of paraplegia due to two remote gunshot wounds are a significant contributing factor, the report stated. The manner of death is best classified as homicide. Hochhalters family previously said that they suspected she died of natural causes stemming from her injuries in the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hochhalter spoke out in 2016 in support of the mother of one of the shooters who released a book reflecting on the mass shooting, especially concerning her relationship with grief and battles with shame. Hochhalter wrote at the time in a lengthy Facebook post that she wasnt sure she would ever read the book, but said she had forgiven the mass murderers mother. In 2012, Hochhalter also spoke publicly in support of the families and survivors of the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I really hope the good stories will come out and show a community can come together just like Littleton did after Columbine, Hochhalter said. I feel kind of helpless when I hear about these things and I want to help, I just dont really know how. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thank God somebody reported: Parents react to Ponderosa High School bomb threat The Associated Press reported that Hochhalter struggled with intense pain from her gunshot wounds over the past 25 years. Yet her brother said she was tireless in her drive to help others from people with disabilities to rescue dogs and members of her family. She was helpful to a great many people. She was really a good human being and sister, her brother, Nathan Hochhalter, said to The Associated Press. Hochhalter attended the 25th anniversary vigil in April with her brother, who was trapped in a classroom during the shooting. She had not attended the 20th anniversary event because of post-traumatic stress disorder, she said in a social media post last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive truly been able to heal my soul since that awful day in 1999, she wrote. Others killed in the Columbine mass shooting were Rachel Scott, 17; Daniel Rohrbough, 15; William David Sanders, 47; Kyle Velasquez, 16; Steven Crunow, 14; Cassie Bernall, 17; Isaiah Shoels, 18; Matthew Kchter, 16; Lauren Townsend, 18; John Tomlin, 16; Kelly Fleming, 16; Daniel Mauser, 15; Corey DePooter, 17. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Gov. JB Pritzker proposed a $330-million budget cut last month to scale back an expansion of healthcare coverage for undocumented adult immigrants in Illinois, where a state audit found that services for certain age groups exceeded cost estimates by more than 280%. California Democrats are facing the same financial pressure to reduce coverage during a budget crunch. California became the first state in the nation to offer healthcare to all income-eligible immigrants one year ago, which gave Gov. Gavin Newsom another liberal achievement to tout when lauding the Golden State as a national trailblazer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the $9.5-billion price tag of California's program is already more than $3 billion above the budget estimate from last summer and is expected to grow even higher. We should not bear these costs. Period. But especially in a budget crisis, said Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego). Californias expansion of healthcare coverage for all residents, regardless of immigration status, has made the state a ripe target for conservatives as President Trump pushes a nationalist agenda in Washington, which includes his aggressive push for deportations. Billionaire Elon Musk, a top Trump confidant, has also weighed in, alleging to Fox that healthcare is a mechanism by which the Democrats attract and retain illegal immigrants by essentially paying them to come here and then turning them into voters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats are pushing hard to maximize payments to illegals, e.g. free luxury hotels in New York and free medical care for illegals in California, as that is their current and future voter base, Musk said on his social media platform X. Its illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote in California, but the Republican attacks on free state-sponsored healthcare has morphed a policy conversation about medical care into a highly politicized talking point about immigrant rights. An exhausted family ends a hike of nine-plus hours over Mt. Cuchoma on a fire road near Campo Road after crossing the U.S./Mexico border in search of asylum. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) The potential for cuts to Medicaid, the federal government's health insurance for low-income residents, could also leave Democrats at the state Capitol forced to decide whether they should maintain coverage for immigrants if services for legal residents must be significantly reduced. The scale of the funding reduction to Medicaid is still unknown and it's impossible to project the severity of the cuts for California with any certainty. Republicans in the House have suggested cutting $880 billion across the federal government, a significant portion of which would have to come from Medicaid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you pull $10 billion out of California healthcare annually, thats a lot of dough and thats going to have very serious impacts that would ripple across every sector of the healthcare delivery system from hospitals, physicians, home care, nursing homes and to services that millions depend on, said David Panush, a healthcare policy consultant who worked in the state Capitol for decades, about potential federal cuts. Healthcare advocacy groups are banding together to campaign against Medicaid cuts in Washington, arguing that seniors and disabled people stand to lose the most if Medi-Cal, the state version of Medicaid, is gutted. Absent federal cuts, Californias financial footing already was so shaky that Newsom proposed taking $7.1 billion from the state's rainy day fund, which acts like a savings account to buffer the budget during an economic crisis, to cover the cost of state programs next year. DeMaio has argued the state wouldn't need to break open its piggy bank if Democrats cut healthcare for undocumented immigrants. The California Department of Finance said $8.4 billion of the funding to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants is paid by state taxpayers through the state's general fund. The remaining $1.1 billion pays for emergency room visits and pregnancy care, which the federal government covers under a federal law that requires hospitals to stabilize and treat uninsured patients in emergency departments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: If Trump cuts Medicaid, this California Republican's House seat would be imperiled The governors advisors have warned lawmakers the state has a lot to lose if federal funding is slashed by the Trump administration. Federal funds typically make up about one-third of the state budget. Medi-Cal relies on $107.5 billion in federal funds in the current budget year, nearly two-thirds of all federal dollars received by the state. Roughly 15 million Californians, a third of the state, are on Medi-Cal and more than half of the children in California receive healthcare coverage through the program. "The possibility of a dramatic decrease in the federal workforce, or a decrease, pause, or termination of funding, would have a detrimental impact on Californias ability to provide services that its residents rely upon, such as Medi-Cal or highway safety," said Mary Halterman, who works for a unit within the California Department of Finance that tracks federal funding to the state, during a recent budget hearing. "California does not have sufficient resources to backfill the gaps in programs that California residents rely upon that would be created by the withdrawal or reduction of federal funds." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the current political polarization, support for state-subsidized healthcare for immigrants hasn't always been divided by party lines in California. In 1988, a bill authored by then-state Senate Minority Leader Ken Maddy (R-Fresno) and signed by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian provided prenatal care for undocumented pregnant women and nursing home care for severely disabled immigrants. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's failed push for universal healthcare, which started in 2007, included state-subsidized coverage for all children regardless of legal residency status. Daniel Zingale, a former advisor to Schwarzenegger who worked closely on the proposal, said Democrats didn't like the plan because it forced Californians to buy health insurance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It was controversial," Zingale said. "I remember at the time there was Republican resistance to covering anyone who was undocumented, including children, which was among the reasons that we drew Republican opposition." Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed a bill in 2015 that offered Medi-Cal coverage to all children under age 19. Newsom grew the Medi-Cal coverage pool to include all income-eligible immigrants in Californian,under a multiyear expansion by age categories that began in 2020 and concluded in 2024. Read more: Medi-Cal will soon be open to all, 'papers or no papers.' She wants her neighbors to know Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the program has been plagued by cost overruns since it started. The cost estimate to provide coverage to all-income eligible undocumented immigrants was $6.4 billion in the 2024-25 state budget approved last summer, which marked an increase from earlier projections. In February, the Newsom administration told lawmakers at a budget hearing at the state Capitol that the cost of expanding coverage to all immigrants for the current year had ballooned again from $6.4 billion to $9.5 billion. The California Department of Finance attributed the increase to "higher-than-anticipated enrollment, and higher pharmacy costs." On Wednesday, the finance department sent a letter informing leaders of the budget and appropriations committees in the Legislature that the state took out a $3.4-billion loan to cover Medi-Cal expenditures through the end of March. Democrats are expected to need additional funding, beyond the loan, to get through the fiscal year that ends in June. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor, said Newsom's January budget proposal outlined the need for more funding to support Medi-Cal. "Rising Medicaid costs are a national challenge, affecting both red and blue states alike," Gardon said. "This is not unique to California. Pennsylvania, Colorado and Indiana are among other states that have experienced an increase in the cost of providing state-sponsored healthcare coverage. The governor's office attributed the cost increase in California's program to higher-than-expected enrollment, an aging population and rising healthcare costs across Medi-Cal, not just for the undocumented community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But that didn't stop Republicans from criticizing Newsom for overspending. "Newsom has literally become that degenerate brother-in-law who squanders his money and then comes back asking for a loan," said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) on the social media site X. In a statement, state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) and Budget Chair Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said they will be working with the Assembly and Newsom's office to "develop commonsense, responsible, and long-term solutions to deliver both a balanced budget in the months to come, and the best possible care for every Californian. "Here in the Golden State, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring millions of Californians have the healthcare coverage they need to thrive," they said. "That access to healthcare is being threatened by skyrocketing healthcare costs across the nation, and even more by the dangerous cuts threatened by President Trump and Congressional Republicans that will impact the lives of tens of millions across this country." Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) suggested hes waiting for Newsom to propose solutions. There are tough choices ahead, and Assembly Democrats will closely examine any proposal from the governor, he said in a statement. But lets be clear: We will not roll over and leave our immigrants behind. Among the more traditional routes to cut Medi-Cal is by reducing eligibility or rates, establishing enrollment caps, or adding co-pays, though there are other options. Carlos Alarcon, a health and public policy analyst with the California Immigrant Policy Center, said all of those options eliminate access to healthcare to immigrants that need coverage. Expanding access to care improves the entire public health system, he said, and reduces strain on emergency rooms all over the state. "The Medi-Cal expansion is something that Gov. Newsom has really been proud of, has really campaigned on over the years, and it would be a shame to see such a triumph of the governor and of the community really be taken away from us, especially given all of the fear, all the grief, that members of our immigrant undocumented community are experiencing with the Trump administration," Alarcon said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Some users of the Central Ohio Transit Authoritys program for residents with disabilities have criticized the service, including a man who said he was stuck in freezing temperatures after his scheduled vehicle did not arrive on time. In 1978, COTA launched Project Mainstream, a mobility service for residents with disabilities. The shared-ride service is available to customers who qualify under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Residents must complete an application process to qualify for the service, then are able to reserve rides within COTAs service area by phone or through an online booking system. COTA Mainstream tickets typically cost $3.50 per one-way trip, or $105 for a monthly pass. The transit authority is funded by local sales tax, state and federal grants, and fare revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nick Hubner, 45, is a COTA Mainstream customer who uses a power chair and relies on the service to get around. On March 1, Hubner had a reservation for the service to pick him up Downtown between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. after a Columbus Blue Jackets game. Hubner said the scheduled vehicle never showed up and he never received a call to alert him of any issues with his ride, despite the service having his phone number. It was below freezing on Saturday night and I had no place to stay warm as I waited for the bus, Hubner said. This is not the first time that they just havent shown up, but this time it was very dangerous with the temperature below freezing. Storm Team 4 reported temperatures reached a low of 18 degrees the evening of March 1. Hubner said his stepbrother and a few others waited with him, before they lifted his 450-pound power chair into the back of his trunk and drove him home when the scheduled vehicle did not show up on time. He has a brand new car, and I hated for him to try it for fear he would damage his car, Hubner said. The chair does not collapse, so I really dont know how he made it work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jeff Pullin, COTAs director of public and media relations, confirmed the agency received a complaint about the incident from a family member of Hubner on March 5. According to our Mainstream team, the vehicle scheduled to pick up Mr. Hubner was stuck in heavy traffic due to the Columbus Blue Jackets stadium match at Ohio Stadium on March 1, Pullin said in a statement. COTA Mainstream should have contacted Mr. Hubner the moment it was apparent the vehicle would be late. This would have assured him we would be there, and he could have waited without worry. Just like any vehicle during a big game day, delays are inevitable, and we try to caution our customers about that when they book their trip. Pullin said while the vehicle did eventually arrive at the pickup location, at that point Hubner had already found alternative transportation. COTAs director of mobility services called Hubner and apologized for the mistake on March 7 and provided him with additional contact information in case he experiences another delay with a scheduled pickup. This is a rare occurrence for COTA Mainstream, as the service has a nearly 96% on-time performance for picking up customers, Pullin said. However, one incident like this is too many, so we will continue to work and serve our customers better. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another frequent COTA Mainstream customer, Joseph Metzger, 37, also said he has been stranded a handful of times after his scheduled ride was late or did not show up. He did, however, say COTA Mainstream is reliable for the most part and is a great service for the community. Other posts and reviews online echo similar sentiments, with multiple people saying their scheduled rides are consistently late or do not show up, and others praising the service for making the city more accessible to them. Costumers also complained about the programs unreliable service to NBC4 in 2018. COTA Mainstream provided NBC4 with complaints from over the past seven years from customers who said a ride was either late or did not show. Pullin noted these are complaints and not resolutions, meaning they could have been resolved by sending another vehicle to pick the customers up or assuring them their ride was on the way. The most recent data shows out of the 346,429 rides the service completed in 2024, COTA Mainstream received 32 documented complaints of a vehicle running late and 13 complaints regarding a vehicle not showing up. These complaints account for 0.01% of the trips the service provided. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of complaints accounted for less than 0.1% of rides every year since 2018, according to the data provided by COTA. The full data set can be viewed below. Hubner said he hopes COTA Mainstream will make improvements to prevent similar incidents in the future. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) kicked off an open race for her Senate seat with her announcement Wednesday that she would not seek another term in office. Shaheens announcement makes her the third Senate Democrat to announce their retirement for the upcoming cycle, after Michigan Sen. Gary Peters and Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith. With her retirement, Republicans are eying the seat as a potential pickup opportunity to expand their 53-seat majority. Shaheens retirement is welcome news for Granite Staters eager for new leadership. New Hampshire has a proud tradition of electing common-sense Republicansand will do so again in 2026! Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chair of Senate Republicans campaign arm, said on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even before Shaheens announcement, some rumored candidates were floated on both sides of the aisle, and the speculation will only increase now that her decision is official. On the Democratic side, the most obvious choice is Rep. Chris Pappas, who has represented New Hampshires 1st Congressional District in the House since 2019. A source familiar with Pappass thinking told The Hill that the congressman is strongly considering a Senate run. Pappas previously served in the state House and on the New Hampshire Executive Council, which administers the state along with the governor. He is the first openly gay man to represent New Hampshire in Congress and would be the first openly gay U.S. senator from the state. If Pappas chooses not to run, his former fellow Democratic New Hampshire Congress member, Annie Kuster, may go for it, telling Axios she will take a serious look if Pappas passes. Kuster represented New Hampshires 2nd Congressional District from 2013 until she retired from office in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Kusters successor, would be another possible choice, though her House career just started this year. Her husband is former national security adviser Jake Sullivan. For the GOP, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown had expressed some interest in possibly running for the seat before Shaheens announcement. He would bring a reputation as a more moderate Republican in a state also known for backing moderate candidates on both sides of the aisle. Brown won a special election to succeed the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy (D) in a stunning upset in 2010, serving the remainder of Kennedys term. But he lost the 2012 election for a full term to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D). Brown then moved to the Granite State and challenged Shaheen as she sought a second term in 2014, but he narrowly lost to her. He eventually served as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2017 to 2020 during the first Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told The Hill, Yeah, of course, when asked if he was considering a run as he was seen visiting Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday. If elected, he would be one of just a couple people to represent two different states in the Senate. Another possible contender is former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), even though he seemed to rule out a run last year after wrapping up his eighth year as a popular governor. Also previously serving on the New Hampshire Executive Council, Sununu established a reputation as a moderate governor who was willing to buck President Trump. He ultimately voted for the president after being an outspoken supporter of GOP primary rival Nikki Haley. Sununu told The Washington Times on Tuesday that he hasnt ruled out running for the seat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have not ruled it out completely, but folks in Washington have asked me to think about it and to consider it, and that is just kind of where I am, he said. Caroline Vakil contributed reporting Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) Baton Rouge has been grieving the tragic loss of several young lives this past week. The most recent tragedy involves 17-year-old Anthony Robinson, who was fatally shot on Bradfield Avenue on Monday. According to Baton Rouge Police Department detectives, Robinson, who attended Scotlandville Magnet High School, was shot by a 16-year-old male juvenile as he was getting off the bus near his home. District 2 Councilman Anthony Kenney emphasized the sadness of the shooting, especially as a Scotlandville Magnet alumnus. Being an alumnus of Scotlandville Magnet High School, I used to ride the bus a lot, and so I can only imagine a mother getting a call saying their child was shot, getting off the bus right in front of his home. And so its very disappointing, said Kenney. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 16-year-old suspect is currently being held at the East Baton Rouge Juvenile Detention Center and faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and illegal use of weapons. BRPD believes the shooting may have stemmed from a prior argument between the suspect and Robinson. Kenney emphasized the need to address the rise in the constant youth violence. Theres a lot of conversations we need to have, not just on a local level, but with our state and local officials with Baton Rouge Police Department, all of our local agencies, he said. We need to make sure we are addressing the root issues of why our youth are resorting to crime. You know, as far as conflict resolution just in general. And so we need to make sure those conversations happen throughout the community over the next couple of weeks. Community advocates, such as Gerald Haynes from the BR Street Team, are also calling for change and unity in the face of this issue, especially when it comes to the younger generation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Be more engaged with them, understand that they look at their life from a different lens that we may be looking at it from. Try to understand how to break their barrier down, to be able to explain to them and show them it is a better way, he said. The BR Street Team is actively working on mentorship programs to reduce youth violence. Additionally, Councilman Kenney is addressing the issue through a series of community listening sessions that will begin next Monday, he encourages all residents to participate. Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. For nearly a week, Ukraine was left in the dark by its once-close ally, deprived of American intelligence as Russia advanced. Civilians suffered missile and drone attacks, while the military faced Russian offensives. All of this was aimed at forcing Ukraine into a "peace" agreement. "(With U.S. President Donald Trump), there is a swing that goes back and forth. To be honest, I don't know what will happen next,"said Maksym*, a Ukrainian soldier working with intelligence. After a weeklong pause, U.S. intelligence sharing resumed during talks between the U.S. and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on March 11. During the hiatus, Ukraines position weakened as Russian forces captured more territory and launched terror attacks on civilians. On March 8, for example, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Odesa, hitting the port and civilian targets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This pause demonstrated that the U.S. was willing to cut its partner off from vital intelligence, even as Ukraine faced escalating threats. This is not Mean Girls. This is not some episode of some television show. This is very serious, said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announcing the resumption of intelligence sharing. Someone should remind him that it was his administrations actions that put peoples lives in danger due to a political dispute. Trust is hard to build and easy to lose. Ukraine will never fully trust the Trump administration again, and every day will bring new worries about whether another slip of the tongue could lead to another suspension of support. This isnt "deal-making" as the Trump White House might frame it. Its hostage-taking, the worst kind: preventing long-time allies from defending themselves against a deadly foe. "Of course, we were upset. That goes without saying. The lack of intelligence sharing brings a lot of problems," Maksym told The Counteroffensive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before the war, Maksym worked in IT, with no military background. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he woke to a strange sound: "Who sets off fireworks at five in the morning?" It didnt take long to realize that those werent fireworks. Worried that Russian forces might invade his home region of Rivne, bordering Belarus, Maksym left Kyiv to join Ukraine's territorial defense. Over the past three years, hes taken on multiple roles: training troops on drone operations, becoming an air defense specialist, and eventually working in intelligence. He now focuses on open-source intelligence and automating processes within Ukraines military. While the exact sources of Ukraine's intelligence are unclear, Politico estimates that 80% of it comes from foreign sources, with the majority provided by the U.S. Specifically, the U.S. supplies Ukraine with radar data, satellite imagery, and alerts about Russian aircraft or missile launches. Thankfully, no one interviewed by The Counteroffensive considered the suspension of U.S. intelligence to be an irreversible catastrophe. Although this pause significantly hampered Ukrainian operations, Kyiv could still gather intelligence from its own drones, radio interceptions, and by working with other countries. However, U.S. intelligence had never been fully comprehensive. Washington shared only a portion of its data with Ukraine and sometimes did so with delays. Ukrainian military personnel operate a mortar near Russian positions in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine, on March 9, 2025, amid Russia's war against Ukraine. (Diego Fedele/Getty Images) The U.S. advantage is its unrivaled dominance in military satellite reconnaissance. With nearly 250 military satellites, the U.S. conducts near real-time surveillance. NATO countries combined have just about 50. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Ukraine, the suspension of satellite imagery from U.S.-based Maxar was particularly critical. Though Ukraine could purchase satellite imagery on its own, the cost was high. Maxar provides 90% of U.S. geospatial intelligence and can capture key locations every 3-4 hours with high resolution capabilities few others can match. "We could see, for example, a Russian convoy moving toward a certain location, allowing us to prepare in advance. But now, our troops are somewhat 'blind,'" Maksym said before U.S. intelligence sharing resumed. Ukraine still had two satellites of its own and one provided by Germany, but Maxars contributions were far more comprehensive. During the pause, France offered some assistance, though its capabilities were far more limited. French satellites specialize in electromagnetic spectrum monitoring, which can detect Russian activity. Additionally, suspending intelligence sharing complicated the use of U.S. weapons like the HIMARS precision-guided missile system, which relies heavily on American intelligence. Ukrainian forces have used HIMARS to disrupt Russian supply routes and destroy ammunition depots. However, without U.S. data, Ukrainian troops had to rely on their own drones for targeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Oleksii Teplukhin, CEO of the Ukrainian AI startup Griselda, intelligence pauses like this severely hinder Ukraines ability to plan deep strikes inside Russia. "To take out an (Russian) oil depot, you dont just need to know where its located. You need more detailed intelligence what was there last week, the exact position of the rectification column [a technological apparatus used for separating mixtures], and so on," Oleksii told The Counteroffensive. But the suspension didnt just impact the military. Civilians paid the price too. "Im glad U.S. support has been restored. At the very least, it will help our air defense because, over the past few days, both drones and missiles have heavily terrorized cities like Dnipro and Odesa," Maksym said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the setbacks, Maksym doesnt consider Americans enemies. Hes puzzled by the motivations behind the White Houses decisions. Going forward, though, he believes Ukraine will take steps to reduce its reliance on the U.S. and look more toward European allies, such as NATO, for intelligence. Ukraine has learned a vital lesson: it cant rely solely on others for its survival. Just as Kyiv developed its own long-range weapons when Western allies hesitated, its likely to seek independent solutions for intelligence. "The U.S. is a huge country, and any mistakes or inaccuracies on its part affect the entire world. Its like a voodoo doll for the whole planet," Maksym said. The name of the military service member has been changed for security reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Editors Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak on March 13, 2025, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here. The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Submit an Opinion Read also: Putin has likely rejected Trumps ceasefire proposal what now? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Johnson County Commissioners Court instituted a burn ban on Monday, which takes effect Friday through June 12 unless otherwise rescinded. The order prohibits the burning, dispensing, emitting, exploding, detonating, throwing off or otherwise delivering any spark or fire in the area of any combustible materials. That includes but is not limited to any trash, debris, agriculture products, leaves or paper unless such material is wholly enclosed in a receptacle adequate to contain all such flames and/or sparks, the order reads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several exemptions to outdoor burning activities exist. Among other exemptions, they include: firefighter training, public utility, natural gas pipeline or mining operations or the planting and harvesting of agriculture crops. Commissioners in recent weeks considered but held off on the burn ban because of rain and snow events including rain the weekend before Mondays meeting. Weve always had precipitation right beforehand lately anytime weve discussed fire restrictions, Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore said. But this time I think its going to be a little bit different. Moore cited a recent Killeen grass fire that destroyed an apartment complex and several storage buildings as well as straight-line winds that caused significant damage last weekend in Johnson County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve received moisture but were talking one hour fuels that literally dry out within an hour, Moore said. Were looking at 80-degree days coupled with low humidity and then Friday theres prediction of extreme high winds again all day of 40 mph or more so were looking at increased grass fire dangers. State firefighting resources, should mutual aid be needed, are committed to other areas of the state right now and stretched thin as well, Moore said. A lot of firefighting resources we would depend on if we were to have a large grass fire across the county, whether thats aircraft or fire engines are committed right now to other locations, Moore said. Not that we dont have any resources available, its just theyre more limited now than they would be in other times. Commissioners agreed and unanimously voted for the ban. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were also at the point where well hit green up soon and have moisture in the ground, Moore said. But for now were in that interim period where were not quite there. Commissioner Larry Woolley talked of the countys ongoing efforts to regulate biosolids and PFAS chemicals as they relate to fertilizer and land application uses. Biosolids often contain PFAS chemicals, also known as per-and polyflouroalkyl substances, which are man made chemicals used in the manufacture of and/or present in numerous household and industrial products. Many such chemicals did not exist in 1993 when the EPA instituted rules regulating the application of biosolids to land. PFAS are also known as forever chemicals and all are toxic. Exposure to such chemicals has been tied to cancer and other diseases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The countys issue involves sludge or waste removed from wastewater treatment plants then sold and applied to farmland as fertilizer. Such land applications have occurred within the county since 2001 if not earlier, Woolley said.Multiple properties and thousands of acres have been applied, some of them year after year, Woolley said. Youre going to hear the word bio-accumulation. These chemicals dont break down and dont go away. They just build up and get more and more concentrated whether it be in the soil, water, plants, livestock organs and so on. Commissioners last year approved testing for the presence of PFAS chemicals and found large amounts in areas around Grandview. Commissioners subsequently sued the EPA calling for stronger regulation of biosolids and PFAS chemicals and have called upon Gov. Greg Abbotts help in assisting Johnson County to address the threat of PFAS biosolid contamination. State Rep. Helen Kerwin, R-Granbury, and other state officials have introduced bills addressing the situation and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in December filed suit against 3M, DuPont and other manufacturers of PFAS chemicals alleging negligence, deception and other claims. This does not call for the banning of biosolids, Woolley said. It calls for testing of PFAS chemicals in biosolids to determine if theyre going to be at harmful levels or not. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson Countys leadership on the matter has inspired a number of other counties and states to look into and address the situation as well, Woolley said. Quite a few states have seen what took place in Johnson County and acted on it, Woolley said. This would not be happening nationwide otherwise. Were the only county in the state of Texas that stepped out of the bo to do testing. Ive said multiple times and I think we all agree that that was money well spent in order to determine what was happening out there. Mirbek Tlobek checks communication devices on a helicopter at a general aviation company in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 4, 2025. Mirbek Tlobek, 23, was born in a herdsman family of Kazakh ethnic group in northwest China's Xinjiang. Since childhood, he had dreamed of becoming a pilot. After graduating in 2023, he had the opportunity to intern at a general aviation company, and then successfully obtained private and commercial helicopter pilot licenses. Today, Mirbek Tlobek is a professional helicopter pilot at a general aviation company in Narat, a scenic spot that has gained popularity in recent years. Tourists flock there to experience helicopter rides and enjoy the beautiful aerial views. During flights, Mirbek Tlobek introduces to passengers the amazing mountains and rivers in Xinjiang. He also shares with them warm stories in which people of various ethnic groups getting together, and his personal story of becoming a helicopter pilot. Since obtaining his licenses, Mirbek Tlobek has flown for over 430 hours. "In the future, I hope to get the instructor license so I can train apprentices and help people like me to fulfill their dreams," said Mirbek Tlobek. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek (2nd L) and his colleagues clean the airfield at a general aviation company in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek poses for a photo after flight training at a general aviation company in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek (1st R) talks with tourists at the Narat scenic spot in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 10, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek (R) and a colleague check devices at a general aviation company in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek does flight training over Narat scenic spot in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek (L) and his instructor Qu Jingwei do flight training over the Narat scenic spot in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek rides a horse during work break at the Narat scenic spot in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 10, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek (L) and his instructor Qu Jingwei discuss during breakfast in Xinyuan County, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek does flight training over the Narat scenic spot in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek maintains the helicopter at a general aviation company in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 4, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Mirbek Tlobek (R) and his colleague check before a flight at a general aviation company in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) ANDERSON The first step toward formation of a utility district to remedy an environmental issue in Monroe Township has been delayed. The Madison County Council Tuesday voted to table a request for the council to support a resolution for the formation of a regional utility district. A revised resolution in support of the district is expected to be considered at the councils April 8 meeting. In 2023, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management fined Madison County $1,700 over raw sewage flowing into Pipe Creek. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The county entered into an agreement order with the state agency to remedy the problem in the Scotts Addition. The order states that IDEM did an inspection on Sept. 21, 2022, and staff found a concrete storm sewer pipe was broken. The water flowing in the pipe was black and septic with an odor of raw sewage, an inspection report reads. The pipe was traced to an unnamed tributary where it discharged from a concrete outfall. Madison County Engineer Jessica Bastin said Tuesday that the project has been in the making for three years. She said the council had previously approved American Rescue Plan funds for master planning of infrastructure in unincorporated areas of the county. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bastin said the study identified where there are sewage problems in the county. She said an IDEM survey found raw sewage from the Scotts Addition was flowing into groundwater. Bastin said IDEM wants the county to correct the problem. She said it was the recommendation of the state agency and consultants to form a regional utility district, which can have access to state grant funds. Councilwoman Bethany Keller raised concerns about the process, including if property owners would be required to tap into a sewer line and the makeup of the proposed board. The board will consist of five members with the commissioners, the Madison County Council, the Alexandria mayor, the county health department and Monroe Township trustee each making appointments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were appointing people that arent elected, Keller said. We need to protect property rights. Keller said the Monroe Township trustee has not been informed of the project, except for a mention in The Herald Bulletin. She asked if Alexandria Mayor Todd Naselroad has been involved in the process. Bastin said both government entities will be involved. She said the council was being asked to support the concept and that there will be a public hearing before the county petitions IDEM. Bastin said if the petition is accepted by IDEM, there would be another 180-day period for public comment. Kellers motion to table the request was approved by the council. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The longer we delay, it could put into question available funding for the project, Bastin said. She said all funding would have to be approved by the council. Bastin said creating a regional utility district could address sewage problems in other areas of the county. The regional utility district will allow the county to maintain control of the project, she said. If not, the county will have to pay for a project created by IDEM. The county has already approved $3.5 million for the project from American Rescue Plan funds. Bastin said many subdivisions were built in the county decades ago, and since that time the wastewater regulations have changed. Residential property owners in Lackawanna County will soon receive new property valuations calculated as part of the countys ongoing reassessment project valuations theyll have a chance to appeal before they take effect next year. Its the latest step in the yearslong and overdue process of updating assessed values for all 103,000-plus parcels countywide in the interest of tax fairness. Tyler Technologies, the firm the county hired in 2022 to conduct and complete the first comprehensive reassessment since 1968, recently completed tentative valuations for residential parcels. Officials plan to mail about 50,000 of those new valuations Friday and another 50,000 on March 21, county assessment Director Patrick Tobin said in a news release. The tentative valuations are not tax bills, have no bearing on 2025 property taxes and arent necessarily set in stone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What theyre meant to reflect is the market value of a property based on current conditions, as the goal of reassessment is to restore tax fairness by bringing assessed property values used to calculate municipal, school and county real estate taxes in line with current market values. Its necessary because the countys present system became skewed over the 57 years since the last reassessment, with many property owners paying far more than their fair share of taxes and others paying far less. The tentative valuation notices property owners will soon receive will include instructions for those who choose to appeal their new valuations, a two-part process that begins with an informal review. Assessors will explain during the informal review period how they arrived at a property owners new value. Those who still disagree with the new valuation may file a formal appeal. All formal appeals must be filed by Aug. 1, and will be heard in August, September and October, Tobin said last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anticipating a large number of appeals, the county will establish four three-member auxiliary appeals boards to hear cases. The boards will complement the permanent appeals board already in place. Auxiliary boards will hear cases five days a week during the three-month appeals window. Board members will be paid $24,000 each. People interested in serving on the auxiliary boards can send an application with accompanying qualifications to the Lackawanna County Assessors Office, Lackawanna County Government Center, 123 Wyoming Ave., 2nd Floor, Scranton, PA 18503. The offices phone number is 570-963-6728. Its email address is assessor@lackawannacounty.org. An application form for county boards and authorities is available on the countys website, lackawannacounty.org, by clicking the Boards & Authorities link under the government tab at the top of the site. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prospective applicants with Certified Pennsylvania Evaluator status are automatically eligible to serve on the auxiliary appeals boards. Other applicants must take a six-hour online training course. Final valuations used to calculate 2026 municipal, school and county taxes must be established by Nov. 15. The Boone County Council on Tuesday approved $25,000 spent to jail a minor. Boone County Sheriff Tony Harris at first asked the council for $45,000 to house the minor in an out-of-county detention center at $350 per day. The court recently moved the minor to electronically monitored house arrest, which reduced Harris request to the amount already spent, which is $25,000. Harris asked the council to budget money into a fund for safe-care housing of inmates, juvenile or adult, next year, although none has been needed for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The boy, who is charged with an adult crime, turns 18 next month and may then be housed in the Boone County Jail, if needed, while he awaits trial. The current jail has no unit that meets state criteria to house minors, and they must be housed in other counties for a fee. The new Boone County Justice Center, which is near completion, is an expansion of the jail that includes a unit for long-term juvenile detention away from adult inmates. But Harris said he will seek guidance from the Indiana Department of Correction before housing a juvenile overnight in the new facility. It sounded good when they were planning it, Harris said. But its one thing to build it and another to operate it. Im going to do my due diligence and let the state say if it meets the criteria and if we can or cannot keep juveniles in it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boone County saved about $300,000 in 2024 by placing juveniles on house arrest instead of detention facilities, Boone County Community Corrections Executive Director Michael Nance told the council. Offenders serving house arrest must pay fees to cover the privilege, as opposed to the county paying for their incarceration. Home detention for adults saved the county another $1.7 million last year, Nance said. Gov. Greg Gianforte claps before signing five abortion laws on May 3, 2023. (Photo by Nicole Girten/Daily Montanan) A state district court judge has ruled that two bills which would make abortions more complicated or illegal in Montana are unconstitutional and has ordered them stricken from the books. The bills were both passed by the Montana Legislature in 2023, which had a supermajority of Republican lawmakers. The bills were signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte and touted as a part of protecting families and uplifting pro-life policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Planned Parenthood of Montana challenged the two bills, led by attorney Raph Graybill. House Bill 575 would have forced physicians or physician assistants to make a determination of viability in writing, and would have required an ultrasound before any abortion procedure. House Bill 721 would have prohibited surgical abortion which includes the dilation and evacuation procedure except in cases of medical emergency. Currently, providers in the state offer this option through 21 weeks and six days. No Montana provider currently offers third-trimester abortions, and the procedure is allowed in the state until the point of fetal viability except in cases where its medically necessary or to protect the life of the mother. Even though Montana voters overwhelmingly approved protecting the right to access abortion by passing Constitutional Amendment 118 in November, Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan said that well established case law in Montana has consistently reaffirmed this fundamental right to access abortion care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quoting from the landmark 1999 case, Armstrong vs. State of Montana, Menahan said, The Legislature may only restrict the right of choice in making personal healthcare decisions and in exercising personal autonomy to preserve the safety, health and welfare of a particular class of patients or the general public from a medically acknowledged bona fide health risk. The state justified the law by arguing requiring an additional ultrasound to the procedure placed a minimal burden on pregnant women because ultrasound technology is so common. Menahan rejected that argument, saying the process wasnt medically justified or, in many cases, is not practical. This argument does not overcome plaintiffs contention the statute creates an additionally medically unnecessary barrier to abortion care, the court ruling said. Meanwhile, Menahan said there are plenty of reasons that Planned Parenthood presented as to why the new regulations, including in-person visits or other health concerns, could block access as well as put the patients life at risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plaintiffs have also provided evidence of patients unable to attend in-person appointments for other reasons including financial circumstances, disabilities or the risk experiencing intimate partner violence, Menahan said. Even though the state argued that such new restrictions, like an in-person visit, are minimal, the court viewed the additional requirements differently. It is not enough for the state to argue the restriction is a minor one, the order said. Under a strict-scrutiny analysis, the state must demonstrate HB 575 is narrowly tailored to address a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk, clearly and convincingly demonstrated. Additional concerns about HB 721 Menahan raised additional concerns about HB 721 because it bans the dilation-and-evacuation method of abortion unless it is being used for an emergency medical situation. That would mean that abortion through medication would be the only allowable method, but HB 721 would create a pre-viability loophole in state law. Current Montana law, which has been in place since at least the Armstrong ruling, said the state cannot restrict the practice up to the point of fetal viability, usually considered around 22 weeks. However, since medication abortions can only be done up to 15 weeks after the womans last menstrual cycle, HB 721 would effectively create a ban on abortions between 15 and 22 weeks when the procedure is done surgically. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HB 721 would also impose felony criminal penalties, including a fine or imprisonment of as long as 10 years. The state argues HB 721s ban on D&E procedures is necessary to prevent psychological risks to the pregnant woman because D&E has been shown to lead to serious mental health issues, the court said. However, the states argument in support of HB 721s ban on D&E procedures is fatally flawed because the states purported evidence is largely unrelated to D&E procedures specifically. Menahan said that the research the state cited as evidence doesnt show the procedure has greater negative psychological outcomes than the other methods. Politicians have been desperate in their attempts to ban abortion, and while Montana has strong legal protections, their attempts cause confuse and chaos for patients, said Martha Fuller, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Montana. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2020 Two police officers on ATVs patrol Waikiki Beach which was mostly deserted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City Council unanimously voted to authorize and resolve temporary hazard pay for affected employees and members of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and United Public Workers of Hawaii, who performed essential government functions during the pandemic. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2020 Two police officers on ATVs patrol Waikiki Beach which was mostly deserted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City Council unanimously voted to authorize and resolve temporary hazard pay for affected employees and members of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and United Public Workers of Hawaii, who performed essential government functions during the pandemic. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardis administration and two major city unions have finalized multimillion-dollar settlements involving dangerous COVID-19-era work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At a special meeting Wednesday, the City Council unanimously voted to authorize and resolve temporary hazard pay, or THP, claims for affected employees and members of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and United Public Workers of Hawaii, who performed essential government functions during the pandemic. Both claimsestimated to cost the city roughly $76 millioncover the period March 5, 2020, through March 5, 2022, the city said. Before the Council vote, city Corporation Counsel Dana Viola verbally requested the panels approval of hazard pay agreements for the two unions. Likewise, some on the Council expressed satisfaction over the citys latest pacts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thank you to the administration for negotiating with SHOPO and UPW to get to this stage, said Esther Kia aina. Im looking forward to your completion of negotiations with HGEA. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. She added as a matter of equity, even if its not in their contracts, I support hazard pay for the Teamsters as well as for HFD firefighters union. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Andria Tupola said she previously introduced a resolution advocating for hazard pay for our bus drivers too. It was such an unfortunate circumstance there were a lot of (bus drivers ) that were exposed. Many of them faced medical symptoms because of what they did to put their lives on the front lines, she added. So Im excited that this is the first part of the negotiations and, of course, we support the administration moving forward to complete the rest of them. In a written statement, Council Chair Tommy Waters echoed similar sentiments. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our citys frontline employees and first responders ensured that public safety, essential services, and critical infrastructure remained operational despite the risks to themselves and their families, Waters said. Todays hazard pay settlement is more than just compensationit is a recognition of their sacrifices and reaffirming our commitment to fairness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Public workers are the backbone of our communities, he added, and the Council will continue to honor their contributions and ensure they receive the respect and compensation they deserve. Neither SHOPO nor UPW could be immediately reached for comment over final approval of their respective hazard pay claims. But in late February, SHOPO overwhelmingly voted to accept a COVID-19 hazard pay settlement worth approximately $45 millionbased on membership and including consideration of overtime hours, according to the citywith initial payouts of $20, 000 or more by June 30. City officials set aside about $115 million to settle hazard pay claims and grievances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SHOPOs temporary negotiated settlement agreement covers eligible Tier 1 employees at 15 % of the officers base pay and will pay 80 % by June 30. The remaining 20 % of the payout will be converted to vacation hours. In 2022, SHOPO asked for 25 % hazard pay for officers in all counties statewide. UPW, which represents about 3, 000 blue-collar workers in the city including its waste haulers, will see a payment plan for a 15 % pay increase for non-leave hours worked, with overtime hours figured at base pay rate, the city said. Active duty employees can receive 90 % cash and 10 % vacation credit converted to vacation hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Optionally, UPW workers can receive a 50 % cash-out at the settlements one-year anniversary of its effective date, or March 12, 2026 ; or a 50 % or remainder cash-out at the settlements two-year anniversary, or March 12, 2027, the city said. Based on membership and overtime hours, UPWs payment plan is estimated to cost the city approximately $31 million, the Mayors Office indicated. This week, city Managing Director Mike Formby told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the city is in the process of computing THP by worker on a case-to-case basis and will remit THP to the citys essential workers, who we sincerely thank for their dedication and service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Formby also noted talks over hazard pay agreements with other unionized city workers are ongoing, notably with the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And he asserted consideration of temporary hazard pay for the city firefighters and employees of Oahu Transit ServicesTheBus and TheHandi-Vanrequires THP appropriations in the citys fiscal year 2026 budget, which is now under Council consideration for possible approval by June. As far as having a deadline to forge any new union agreements, he said for HGEA, as soon as an agreement is reached. For firefighters and Oahu Transit Services employees, within a reasonable time after a THP appropriation is received, Formby added. Meanwhile, the Councils vote came after months of both the city administration and Council pledging to repay eligible, unionized city workers employed during the pandemic temporary hazard pay in order to avoid legal entanglements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hawaiis government worker unions, including HGEA, UPW and SHOPO, pressured the state and its four major counties to pay back their respective memberships for pandemic-era work. In 2024, UPW Local 646among other city unionsworked to gain COVID-19-related hazard pay from the city for its membership via arbitration. On July 30 arbitrator and former Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Simeon R. Acoba Jr. issued a decision on UPWs hazard pay grievance against the city. According to UPW documents filed in August with the 1st Circuit Court, the award is for a hazard pay differential of 15 % for the designated two-year period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Individual employee payments shall be adjusted for changes in working conditions and employee duties during the (grievance period ), the filings state. The UPW and the city shall act in cooperation and consultation with each other in administering the individual employee payments. Originally, UPW sought a 25 % pay differential based on individual workers minimum pay grades, UPW spokesperson Maleko McDonnell previously told the Star-Advertiser. HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) The Covington Drive wildfire in Carolina Forest has reached 65% containment, thanks in part to substantial ran earlier in the week, state forestry commission officials said Wednesday. Another day of productive work around the fire area. The firetrack, helicopters and water from the structural firefighters hose lays and sprinkler systems delivered additional moisture to remaining hotspots, the agency said in a Facebook post. Earlier Wednesday, officials said the northeastern portion of the 2,059-acre blaze received the most precipitation up to 2.25 inches in some areas, reducing fire activity and pockets of underground heat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, hotspots were still observed in the western area of the fire, requiring continued work from firefighting personnel, the commission said. An infrared flight was slated for Wednesday night to re-evaluate containment percentage, and Georgia National Guard aircraft were brought in for aerial scouting. Firefighters in the Walkers Woods community and around the northwestern perimeter are continuing to build up soil moisture to cool ground heat and reduce the chances of another ignition. * * * Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. The Chicago Police Department on Thursday opened an internal investigation after an officers gun was found unattended in a bathroom of the Leighton Criminal Court Building. The firearm was discovered around 10:20 a.m. Thursday in a bathroom on the courthouses sixth floor, officials said. The Cook County sheriffs office, which provides courthouse security, was notified and determined that the gun belonged to a CPD officer, according to sheriffs office spokesperson Matt Walberg. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sheriffs office then notified CPD and the gun was returned to the officer while they were still in the courthouse, Walberg added. A CPD spokesperson said the department had opened an internal affairs investigation to determine how the weapon was left unattended. The officers name and current assignment within CPD were not known Thursday. Key Takeaways On February 21, the FDA initiated a recall of oyster crackers after stainless steel wire was found in the product. The oyster crackers were sold at Walmart, Target, and Giant Eagles stores across 24 states. The FDA recently labeled the recall a Class II threat, the second-most severe risk level. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a recall of over 15,000 cases of oyster crackers sold at Walmart, Target, and Giant Eagle due to the discovery of foreign material in the product. Why the Crackers Were Recalled The affected products were distributed by Shearers Foods, LLC, which is headquartered in Massillon, Ohio. The recall was initiated on February 21 after stainless steel wire was found in the product. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On March 11, the agency labeled the recall a Class II threat, the second-most severe risk level. Per the FDA, a Class II recall is "a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote." Related: Cat Food Recalled Due to Possible Bird Flu ContaminationHere's What You Need to Know Where the Crackers Were Distributed The crackers were distributed to Walmart, Target, and Giant Eagle in the following states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. How to Identify the Crackers The products were sold under various brand names, including Market Pantry Soup & Oyster Crackers at Target, Great Value Soup & Oyster Crackers at Walmart, and Giant Eagle Oyster Crackers. Vista Soup & Oyster Crackers are also included in the recall but aren't available for purchase in retail stores. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recalled crackers can be identified by the following information: Market Pantry Soup & Oyster Crackers: UPC 085239114933, sell-by date May 23, 2025; code date May 23, 2025 BC06 Great Value Soup & Oyster Crackers: UPC 078742085494; sell-by date May 23, 2025; code date May 23, 2025 ABO6, May 23, 2025 BBO6, May 23, 2025 CBO6 Giant Eagle Oyster Crackers: UPC: 030034915087; best-by date May 24, 2025; code date May 24, 2025 AB06 Vista Soup & Oyster Crackers: UPC 045100008006; best-by date May 24, 2025; code date May 24, 2025 AB06 20-Pound Bulk Oyster Crackers: UPC 10045100400203; best-by date May 24, 2025; code date May 24, 2025 AB06, May 24, 2025 BB06 If you have the recalled product in your pantry, throw it away or return it to the place of purchase for a refund. Read the original article on Martha Stewart CONCORD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) Crews responded to a vehicle crash along Interstate 90 in Lake County on Wednesday evening. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, the eastbound lanes of I-90 were closed beyond state Route 44 due to a crash. The roadway has since been cleared. I-Team: New move to help Browns get state money for dome ODOT cameras from the scene showed first responders on the scene and what appeared to be flames shooting up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear if there were any injuries. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. The attorney for a man whose criminal case has been heavily featured in attack ads against Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate and liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford has asked that she recuse herself. Right-wing media has sensationalized and taken out of context the case of Curtis O'Brien in an effort to portray Crawford as being lenient on child sex offenders, his attorney Anthony Jurek wrote in a court filing this week. "The unfortunate result is that Judge Crawford is in a position where any further action in this case would have the appearance of partiality: If she decides for the Defendant, she will be further attacked as enabling child sex offenders, and if she decides against the Defendant, she will be attacked as self-serving," he wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement O'Brien has received death threats as a result of the attention on the case, he wrote. Jurek asked that Crawford recuse herself from deciding a motion to appeal the case that Jurek is planning to file this week. In a statement, Crawford's campaign spokesman Derrick Honeyman said judicial rules and ethics would make it inappropriate for the campaign to comment on the motion. "Judge Crawford has always been a fair and impartial judge and is committed to upholding the law and our Constitution," he said. The post-conviction filing will come just days after Crawford was asked about the sentence she handed down in O'Brien's case during a televised debate ahead of the April 1 election. Crawford is running against conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in the heated race for ideological control for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the debate, Schimel brought up the case in which O'Brien was convicted by a jury of repeated sexual assault of the same child. Schimel slammed Crawford on the $500 signature bond she ultimately granted and the sentence she handed down, saying it represented a "dangerous flaw in my opponent's judgment." At his initial appearance in May 2018, O'Brien's bail was set at $10,000, according to online court records. After more than two years and extensive back and forth over O'Brien's competency, Crawford granted the $500 signature bond over the prosecutor's objection. A signature bond is a promise to appear for future court dates with a monetary penalty in this case $500 if someone fails to do so. At sentencing in October 2022, Crawford noted the aggravated nature of the sexual assaults O'Brien committed, the lasting impact on the victim, his past criminal cases and his cognitive limitations. The professionals who examined him were split on whether he was competent to stand trial, she said, adding that she still believed it was a "close question." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A final factor at sentencing, she said, was the need to protect the public. She sentenced O'Brien to four years in prison followed by six years of extended supervision, though she noted he would receive credit for 777 days already served in jail. The sentence, Crawford said, would provide an opportunity for O'Brien to receive rehabilitative services and for the Department of Corrections to conduct its psychological evaluation of him. Finally, she said, it would prepare O'Brien "for the ultimate continuation of his life in the community." Lifetime registration as a sex offender would also add a "layer of protection to the public," she said. He was ordered to have no contact with minors without the approval of his correctional agent and, even then, that contact must be supervised by an approved, responsible adult. In the debate, Crawford said she would stand by her cases and hit back at Schimel's record. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Between him and Elon Musk, they have focused on two cases out of thousands that I have handled where I sentenced people to prison and then followed that with several years of extended supervision," she said. "Those two people are still on supervision. They have not committed any new crimes, and they will be on the sex offender registry for the rest of their lives." Crawford said she did not regret sentencing O'Brien to four years in prison after the prosecutor requested 10 years. "I don't regret that sentence because I followed the law in that case, as I always do," she said. "I applied the law, which says that judges have to consider every relevant factor in sentencing." Those include the aggravating and mitigating factors, and the minimum amount of prison time the judge believes is necessary to protect the public, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "My goal is always to keep the community safe," she said. "Those have been sentences that have been successful. They have kept the community safe." Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Crawford asked to recuse from sex offender case from Supreme Court ads HARBIN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The market size of the ice and snow economy in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China, reached 266.17 billion yuan (about 37.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, of which the output of ice and snow tourism was 182.33 billion yuan, said the provincial bureau of statistics. During the 2024-2025 winter season, Heilongjiang received 135 million domestic and overseas tourists, up 18.5 percent compared with last year's winter season. Tourist spending also increased by 30.7 percent. Heilongjiang has taken the lead nationally in establishing a statistical monitoring system for the ice and snow economy this year. Over the past few months, the provincial bureau of statistics collected and sorted data related to the sector with the coordination of departments in taxation, cultural tourism, sports, transportation, agriculture and rural areas and industry and information. The bureau also carried out a survey on more than 200 key tourism projects in seven categories in the province, including major scenic spots, shopping districts, ice and snow amusement parks, ski resorts, museums, cultural and art galleries, morning and night markets, involving nearly 40,000 business entities. "The data fully reflected the development results of Heilongjiang as the place to practice the idea that 'ice and snow are also are invaluable assets'," said Yan Huijun, deputy head of the bureau. The purpose of establishing the statistical monitoring system in the province is to better provide decision-making reference points for promoting the development of the ice and snow economy, Yan said. With its abundant ice and snow resources, Heilongjiang has successfully cultivated well-known ice and snow tourism brands such as Harbin Ice-Snow World and "Snow Town" in recent years. China has unveiled an ambitious plan to develop its ice and snow economy as a new economic driver, targeting a total market size of 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, according to a guideline released by the State Council in 2024. CARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) The Caryville Fire Department responded to a wildfire on Wednesday around 1 p.m. according to Campbell County dispatch. The fire was near Old Highway 63. CFD requested help from the Tennessee Division of Forestry who showed up to assist, dispatch reported. Sevier County residents hail firefighters who quickly contained 67-acre blaze This is a developing story. Download the WATE 6 News app or sign up for our email alerts for updates. Courtesy: WLAF (Photo by the Caryville Fire Department) (Photo by the Caryville Fire Department) Courtesy: WLAF (Photo by the Caryville Fire Department) (Photo by the Caryville Fire Department) The fire was 200 acres and 50% contained as of 8:05 a.m. Thursday, according to the Division of Forestry website. This was a brush fire in the grass next to the road, the incident report stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Emergency crews have responded to a school bus crash in eastern Sioux Falls Thursday afternoon. Dark money group attacks South Dakota Senator The crash happened at the intersection of 49th Street and Sycamore Avenue. According to Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Sam Clemens, the bus stopped at the stop sign and went east through the intersection when it hit a Ford Edge that was going north on Sycamore Ave. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clemens said an officer is still working on the scene, but there have been no injuries reported. Clemens said the bus had five kids and the Ford Edge had one person. Police were responding to the scene of the crash. KELOLAND News has reached out to the Sioux Falls Police Department and Sioux Falls School District for more information. This is a developing story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KRON) A fire that broke out at a multi-family home in San Leandro Thursday morning killed three people and injured multiple others, according to officials. Firefighters responded at 5:26 a.m. to the 2000 block of Altamont Road for a fire at a two-story, multi-family residence. The house was fully engulfed in flames as crews arrived. Some of the nine total residents who were inside had self-evacuated, officials said. Two adults who were not breathing and in critical condition were among those transported to the hospital, Alameda County Fire Chief Willie McDonald said in an update just before 10 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials have not released the ages or identities of any of the victims. One of the people hospitalized remains in critical condition, AlCo Fire spokesperson Cheryl Hurd said in an update at noon. Fire officials initially reported early Thursday that a 6-year-old child was killed in the fire, and five other victims were transported to an area hospital with injuries before rescinding that information shortly after. (KRON4) (KRON4) Two people died at the hospital from their injuries. Using a cadaver dog, investigators later located another body inside the home. Cadaver dogs were brought in to search for a missing juvenile, Alameda County Fire said Thursday night. Later in the afternoon, the Alameda County Coroner recovered a body believed to be the missing individual. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cause of the fire has not been determined and is under investigation, according to officials. According to Hurd, the fire started from within the home. Surrounding houses were not damaged in the fire. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. A Kentucky State Police officer removed a protester who was part of a group shouting from the gallery as the House debated overriding Gov. Andy Beshears veto of anti-trans Senate Bill 150, March 29, 2023. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Mariah Kendell) FRANKFORT A bill to make interfering with legislative proceedings a crime in Kentucky is close to becoming a law. The Senate voted 30-7 on party lines to approve House Bill 399 Thursday morning. The Republican-backed bill passed the House last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sponsored by former state trooper Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, the bill would create the crime of interrupting a legislative proceeding at the Capitol, classified as a Class A misdemeanor or, on a third or subsequent offense, a Class D felony. A person would be guilty by causing an interruption with the intent to disrupt, impede, or prevent the General Assembly from conducting business. Blanton filed the bill last session as a response to more than a dozen protestors arrested and removed from the House gallery while lawmakers debated a veto override of an anti-transgender bill in 2023. This session, Democrats have railed against the measure. During Thursdays Senate debate, Democrats argued the bill could stifle Kentuckians who want to make their opposition to legislation known in Frankfort. Sen. Robin Webb, of Grayson, who has been in the legislature for nearly three decades, said she could recall only a couple of incidents that were egregious enough to justify creating a new crime when existing laws already provide adequate penalties. We have a system of laws now that cover conduct, regardless of where you are in the commonwealth, and we have some of the best security detail in the world here. I feel pretty safe, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Republicans argued that protestors can sometimes interrupt proceedings to the point that conducting business becomes difficult. Sen. Phillip Wheeler, of Pikeville, said the bill has absolutely nothing to do with protest, adding people can still protest all you want in this building or outside or on any government grounds. Were all sitting down here to do a job, he said, adding that often in the final days of session, time is precious and minutes count when taking votes and debating bills. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear could veto the bill as soon as Saturday, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly can easily override him. Riza Izetov, a Crimean Tatar human rights activist sentenced by a Russian court to 19 years in prison, has reported harsh detention conditions in the Yakutsk penal colony, where he has experienced repeated disciplinary sanctions. Source: Crimean Solidarity, a Ukrainian non-governmental organisation Details: Izetov told Crimean Solidarity about the poor conditions in Yakutsk Penal Colony No. 1, stating that he is "constantly" subjected to disciplinary measures and placed in solitary confinement, including for uniform violations and for falling asleep during the day due to a hypertension attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Having seen me on camera, [the warders] organised a commission and punished me. I'd like to leave this place as soon as possible," Crimean Solidarity quoted Izetov as saying. He also reported that prison staff exert psychological and moral pressure on him. Izetov noted that three Crimean Tatars are being held in the institution where he is imprisoned. About 15 people are serving sentences for terrorism-related offences, all of whom are either in solitary confinement or in transit and transfer cells. Crimean Solidarity reported that Izetov is expected to be transferred to a high-security prison, likely in Russia's Far East, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, either in Minusinsk or Yenisei. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The human rights defender also stated that he has no right to receive calls and expressed doubts about the possibility of meeting with his family. Despite having the right to long visits, the administration may deny these meetings due to his disciplinary sanctions. Izetov also mentioned that the cell had terrible lighting. It used to be cold, but now the heating has been turned on. The prisoners are forced to drink water directly from the tap. A court sentenced Riza to 19 years in prison, of which the first 5 years he must serve in a high-security prison and the rest in a strict regime colony. Izetov was accused of organising the activities of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia but operates legally in Ukraine and other countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: In March 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced five Crimean Solidarity activists detained in connection with the "second Simferopol group" of Hizb ut-Tahrir to prison terms ranging from 15 to 19 years. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Rustem Virati, a 60-year-old Crimean Tatar who was imprisoned by the Russians for eight years, has died in a penal colony in the city of Dmitrovgrad, Russias Ulyanovsk Oblast. Source: Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, on Telegram; Crimean Tatar Resource Centre Details: The report says that Rustem Virati is a resident of the Henichesk district of Kherson Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia, who was detained by the Russians in the spring of 2023 after numerous searches in his house. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He was accused of assisting the economic blockade of Crimea, which began in 2015, and of participating in the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan," Chubarov wrote. Chubarov said that after his arrest, Rustem Virati was subjected to numerous tortures and severely beaten. All court hearings were held in closed session. After the sentence of eight years of strict regime, Virati was first taken to Ufa and then to the penal colony in the city of Dmitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Oblast, from where the news of his death came. The family members learned of Rustem Virati's death on 10 February 2025, but the exact date and cause of death have not yet been established. Rustem Virati is survived by his wife and three adult children. The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people expressed their sincere condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: Earlier, the Crimean Solidarity NGO reported that Crimean Tatar human rights activist Riza Izetov, sentenced to 19 years, complained about the harsh conditions of detention in the Yakutsk colony, where he was repeatedly punished with disciplinary punishments. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) Tariffs on some steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. kicked in on Wednesday. The tariffs may affect small businesses in Kansas, including those supplying large industries like aviation. Masud Chand, a professor of international business at Wichita State University, says Kansas is one of the most trade-dependent states in the country. With retaliatory tariffs being placed on U.S. exports, he says our exports will become more expensive, leading to foreign countries buying less. That will affect large industries like aviation and agriculture, which export significantly in Kansas. He feels that could lead to job losses in the long run. One out of six of all jobs in Kansas are indirectly based on international trade. So this is critical for us, and its not just large companies. Over 3,000 Kansas companies actually export. More than 80% are small to medium enterprises, Chand said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Are there benefits to Trumps tariffs? Professor Chand also says that two things are happening here. The first is that the costs of imported aluminum and steel to Kansas are increasing. The second is that exports heading out of the U.S. may decline. Both of those things can have a broader effect on the economy. He says this could lead to many businesses making tough decisions, and some may not be able to sustain themselves. Exporting, importing is not just for larger companies. The vast majority of companies that import and export are smaller companies that are highly vulnerable to fluctuations in the trade environment, he said. Professor Chand says the intent of putting tariffs on imports into our country is to bring back manufacturing work to the U.S. He says that may be possible with time but will be difficult for small companies, as they may not have the resources to pursue that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the United States Trade Representative, in 2024, Kansas exported a record $14.4 billion of goods to the world. Most exports went to Mexico, Canada, Japan, and China. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. ALBANY, New York As governor, Andrew Cuomo used his considerable power to such expansive effect he once blocked his nemesis then-Mayor Bill de Blasio from euthanizing a loose deer in Harlem. The standoff, which resulted in the bucks stress-induced death, illustrates a fundamental and abiding truth about power in the Empire State: Albany can overrule City Hall on practically anything. That dynamic stands to haunt the former governor as he runs to become the next mayor of New York City, a job with far less authority than hes used to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not only is a mayor largely captive to leaders in Albany think Tin Cup Day, when municipal executives beg state lawmakers for cash each February the city job is met with balance-of-power checks everywhere a mayor turns. Mayors have less control over their budgets than governors do. They have to contend with more institutional checks on their power, like a Department of Investigation that works with state and federal prosecutors on municipal probes. They routinely face an aggressive press corps that is larger than its state capitol counterpart. The citys legislative body can more easily override a veto, both structurally and politically, than the states. And New York City government, with some 330,000 employees, has been historically harder for a politician to wrangle. Cuomos time as governor was defined by his aura of being New Yorks ringmaster: His control was so absolute he once created a wide-reaching commission to police state government, only to block it from probing his allies. And with such consolidation of power, supporters and critics alike bought into the idea that state government did nothing without his say so. As a result, few decided to risk his vengeance. If elected mayor, his penchant for power grabs, tendency to stoke fear in foes and intricate knowledge of how to use the levers of government will be tested in ways they never have been in his long political career. And it will force him into a role reversal of epic proportions with Albany lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have lost a bet with a lot of people since last year, said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a dedicated Cuomo foe who wagered the former governor wouldnt run. The reason is that I could not imagine any single opportunity where he would ask Kathy Hochul for anything. The former governors team contends the adjustment wouldnt present a problem for Cuomo, and that the transition would even play to his strengths. This is the same guy who built the Second Avenue subway, the Moynihan Train Hall and the new LaGuardia and JFK Airports, Cuomos campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said. Hes a manager, and the bottom line is that the city is in crisis and needs to be managed. Rivera disagreed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mayor is considered a creature of the state, he added. And [Cuomo] knows better than anybody how that can be abused by a governor. Indeed, perhaps the biggest check on Cuomo a Democrat leading polls ahead of the June 24 primary would be his own detailed playbook on how to make life miserable for the occupant of Gracie Mansion. The owner of an alleged dartboard with de Blasios face on it, Cuomo rarely missed an opportunity to belittle his city counterpart. Its hard for me to work with an administration that is hyper-political and is not competent, he said when summing up de Blasios tenure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He routinely cut de Blasio out of major decisions, once giving the mayors team just 15 minutes notice before telling the public he would shut down the subways in advance of a 2015 blizzard. The next month, he blocked the citys plan to redevelop a railyard after de Blasio attempted to repay the favor by giving minimal warning. In the 2018 budget alone, Cuomo mandated the city find $418 million to contribute to the subways, gave the state the power to use eminent domain to develop the neighborhood around Penn Station and required that the city obtain state approval for its plans to address homelessness. Covid-19 only exacerbated that dynamic. In April 2020, when the mayor decreed city schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year, Cuomo brushed it off as merely the the mayors position. The governor didnt declare that schools were closed for another three weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats his opinion, Cuomo said. Its my legal authority in this situation. He wasnt technically wrong. Underpinning the former governors actions was an enormous structural advantage: Governors have the power to remove mayors, something Cuomo reminded the public of that same year. In Hochul, Cuomo would have a more mild-mannered state leader than he was for de Blasio. But while her style doesnt match his, shell still hold more cards. During Cuomos 11 years at New Yorks helm, nothing empowered him more than the states budget process, which greatly favors the executive branch and allows governors to push major legislation not explicitly tied to fiscal matters. His spending plans contained an overhaul of New Yorks bail laws, increases to the minimum wage, congestion pricing, a plastic bag ban and an attempt to destroy the progressive Working Families Party. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Compare that to some of de Blasios signature accomplishments. He ran on a promise to tax the rich to fund an expanded pre-kindergarten program, a version of which was eventually enacted and serves as the legacy-defining achievement of a mixed tenure. But Cuomo did not embrace the wealth tax, instead passing pre-k as part of the state budget. The election-year shift allowed Cuomo to dictate details and claim credit. Even when it came to something as administerial as a mayors control over the city school system or changing the municipal speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 25, de Blasio and mayors before and after him needed Albanys approval. The power imbalance extends to groveling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A key step to securing state funding is the mayors appearance every year for Tin Cup Day in Albany, where they endure hours of questions from rank-and-file legislators about their budget priorities something Cuomo was unwilling to do when his office was one floor below the legislative chambers. Now, in what would be a karmic twist, the former governor would likely have to spend time in the hot seat, a prospect many state lawmakers would undoubtedly relish. It would probably be the best-attended local government hearing in history, Assemblymember Ed Ra, a Republican, said of the possibility. There would be a lot of legislators who would welcome the opportunity to question him in a public setting. Cuomos first list of mayoral policy proposals underscores this power differential. In a campaign guidebook on his affordability plans, 15 of the 26 ideas hes floating might need approval from the state. Andrew Cuomos plan calls for increasing the threshold of the Mansion Tax to $2.5 million, his website says. It isnt the first time the idea has been floated de Blasio wanted to raise the threshold to $2 million in 2017. It never went anywhere in January and it hasnt gone anywhere since, Cuomo said while pooh-poohing the idea later that year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The only meaningful check on the actions of a politician who bent state government to his will came in the form of 11 accusations of sexual misconduct accusations Cuomo vehemently denies. Attorney General Letitia James detailed them in a 2021 report. Even then, James could only conduct her probe when Cuomo gave her the power to do so. He wound up resigning before the Legislature followed through on plans to impeach him. Prior to that, the former governor was virtually untouchable. He sidelined the state inspector generals office for the duration of his tenure. He also stripped Comptroller Tom DiNapolis office of the power to probe many state contracts. In his first year in office, Cuomo pushed the Legislature to approve an oversight body called the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Known commonly as JCOPE, the entity was widely perceived as being controlled by the governor; Cuomos appointees were able to block investigations into his administration, and the first three executive directors were alums of his team. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2013, Cuomo created a separate body called the Moreland Commission and tasked it with investigating ethics in state government. Cuomo blocked the entity from investigating his allies and agreed to dissolve it in exchange for the Legislatures approval of minor campaign finance reforms actions that led to a federal probe, though investigators were unable to make a case that Cuomo had acted illegally. Its my commission. My subpoena power, my Moreland Commission. I can appoint it, I can disband it. I appoint you, I can un-appoint you tomorrow, he said of his ability to meddle with the commissions work. I cant 'interfere' with it because it is mine. It is controlled by me. A Mayor Cuomo would have to contend with many more eyes on City Hall as well. The citys Department of Investigation commissioner stood beside federal prosecutors as they indicted Mayor Eric Adams last year. Leaders of the agency are appointed by mayors, but have historically operated with a wide berth. The Conflicts of Interest Board admonished de Blasio over his fundraising practices for a nonprofit that promoted his agenda. The Civilian Complaint Review Board hears cases of alleged police misconduct, though Adams, a former NYPD captain, pushed out a board chair who had been critical of his administration and has largely ignored the bodys recommendations. City Council members haul commissioners into oversight hearings far more often than their state counterparts. City comptrollers who unlike their state equivalent are term limited and tend to run for mayor train a team of auditors on the administration. And while mayors enjoy immense control over the city budget, local bean counters must adhere to stricter accounting practices compared to the state and are monitored by the Financial Control Board, a vestige of the 1970s fiscal crisis that Cuomo mused about employing during the pandemic. The Independent Budget Office and several other fiscal watchdogs also keep tabs on the citys spending. Mayors are under far more scrutiny from the New York City press corps, too. Cuomo repeatedly disappeared from public view for long stretches when the going got tough an act thats harder to pull off in the more cramped confines of City Hall. The City Council can create challenges Cuomo never had to deal with in Albany. Mayoral vetoes are occasionally overridden by the unicameral body, but only two governors have had vetoes overridden since 1873 by the more politically diverse state Assembly and Senate. And at a basic level, the sheer complexity of city government makes it less conducive to central management. There are, of course, many ways Cuomo could exercise power. Mayors have a prominent bully pulpit and vast control over their agencies, the budget process and contracting. And they appoint a majority of members to ostensibly independent bodies like the Rent Guidelines and Campaign Finance boards. While many of these entities have remained largely independent, some observers fear a strong executive could chip away at that. Head of government ethics group Reinvent Albany John Kaehny predicted a shift under a Cuomo mayoralty, saying, The idea that these norms of civilized, above-board behavior are going to keep the COIB, the CFB and DOI safe its hard to see that. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Hundreds of students, parents and advocates held recess as the Senate Hart Building on Thursday, urging senators to vote against a spending bill that would significantly impact the Districts local budget. We have people out right now on every floor of every Senate office building talking to every single senator making sure they know the cuts they are considering would be devastating for D.C. communities, said Alex Dodds, co-founder of Free DC. The spending plan, which was already approved by the House, is a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open for the next six months at 2024 spending levels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Proposed federal bill would cut DC budget by roughly $1 billion, city officials say Unlike in previous continuing resolutions, however, this CR treats the District as a federal agency, forcing the city to also spend at 2024 levels, despite already operating under its Congressionally-approved 2025 budget. Should the CR be passed by the Senate, D.C. would need to make an immediate $1 billion cut to its local budget, which is funded by local tax dollars, not federal dollars. [The CR] would not save the federal government any money, said Dodds. Cuts would span across all District agencies, including public safety and education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DMV senators have expressed opposition to the CR, including Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen. Government shutdown deadline is approaching Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks also filed an amendment Wednesday evening that would allow D.C. to continue operating as is. Its unclear when that will be discussed. The idea that halfway through the school year they have to fire all of the teachers, its just abhorrent. Why would anyone let that happen? said Lindsey Jones-Renaud, who was at the Hart Building for the rally. Jones-Renaud has two children in school, one in a D.C. public school and another in a D.C. charter school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What worries me is the first group that would be cut would probably be special education teachers. I have two kids who are on an IEP, she said. Kids in D.C. are still struggling to catch up after the pandemic. We need extra resources in our schools, not to be taken away. Advocates express concern to lawmakers over proposed $1 billion cuts to DC budget Kids colored pictures and signs expressing love for their teachers and schools. They carried those signs to various office buildings on Thursday. I love how there are so many competitions like Battle of the Books, thats fun. And I was recently in a math bowl, said Magnolia, a fifth grader at Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shes worried about what would happen if the spending bill is passed. Its going to cut our education. If you cut us off from when were 3 through 12, youre hurting the world, she said. If you cut us off, youre cutting off our future. Its unclear when the Senate will vote on the CR, but Congress has until midnight Friday to pass a spending plan and prevent a government shutdown. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. A series of Tesla Cybertrucks in Lynnwood were vandalized at a Tesla Service Station this week. The vehicles had graffiti and swastikas painted on their exteriors. Were stronger than this as a society, says Roro, the owner of one of the vandalized vehicles. In 2025 to have swastikas on your car in Lynnwood, Washington, you know, as a gay Jewish person, I was kind of taken aback. But I didnt take it personally, because, obviously, I believe they were just targeting Tesla and Elon and the dealership itself. On Wednesday, anti-Tesla protesters gathered outside the Tesla dealership in Seattle with signs and chants criticizing Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Some of the protestors tell KIRO 7 that they plan to gather in peace, and that they dont condone the recent violence against local Tesla drivers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vandalism in Lynnwood comes as Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations across the country have become recent targets for criminal activity. This week, President Trump, called the recent incidents attacks that should be considered domestic terrorism. And let me tell you, you do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, were gonna catch you and youre gonna, youre gonna go through hell, said President Trump on the White House lawn, Tuesday. When asked whether Roro considers the graffiti on his car as domestic terrorism, he responded One hundred percent. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What do the experts say? KIRO 7 spoke with Brian Levin, who founded the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Indeed, in the very technical notion of what constitutes terrorism targeting Tesla dealerships or infrastructure to make a social or political statement would be a terrorist act. The problem is, we dont have a domestic terrorism statute here in the United States, says Levin. Levin says while some states do have a criminal statute involving domestic terrorism, theyre rarely used. However, he states that the Tesla vandalism in Lynnwood could be seen as more than vandalism. It could be charged as a hate crime, depending on the prosecutors. Washington state has one of the most broadly applicable hate crime laws in the United States, says Levin. The bottom line is, I wouldnt be committing a lot of crimes in Washington state, and certainly nothing like this. SHANGHAI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- As DADA -- the world's biggest LEGO Minifigure at a height of 26 meters and weighing 136 tonnes -- has been installed, construction on the LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort has entered its sprint stage, the resort said on Thursday. Located in Shanghai's Jinshan District, the 318,000-square-meter resort is a LEGO theme park and hotel destination for children aged 2 to 12 and their families. With over 75 interactive rides, shows and attractions, as well as thousands of LEGO models across eight immersive "lands," the resort is set to hold its grand opening this summer. Ride installation and testing are in full swing, with 80 percent of installations completed at present. In a world-first for LEGOLAND Parks, the BIG LEGO Coaster and LEGO Monkie Kid Flower Fruit Mountain Adventure have been installed and are now in the ride-commissioning stage. The park has completed 85 percent of its building facades, and exterior decoration and interior installation work on its LEGOLAND Hotel has entered its final stage, after which it will enter its indoor decoration phase. The resort plans to plant a total of 3,161 trees of over 200 species, with approximately 50 percent of these trees planted so far. The site will include 2,889 LEGO models made using over 85 million LEGO bricks, 97 percent of which have been delivered and are being assembled on-site. WASHINGTON School was out on Thursday, so D.C. parents decided it was time for a field trip to Capitol Hill. There, they lobbied against Congress' temporary government funding bill that could slash the city's budget by more than $1 billion and leave public schools vulnerable to cuts. Parents mobilized one another to call members of Congress, show up at senators' offices and lobby Senate staffers who have children in D.C. public schools. They coordinated their actions through PTAs, group chats and email listservs, while also urging family members outside of the district to contact their members of Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Follow live politics coverage here One text in a group chat of D.C. parents noted that a Senate Republican staffer had children at their school, adding that there was a movement to corner her. Another parent told NBC News that parents have been working to figure out which Capitol Hill staffers with children in public schools could be reached. Some parents have been leveraging relationships with people who may hold sway on the Hill. "Parents have described staffers who they are either personal friends with or former colleagues that they have reached out to personally," Emma Kelly, a D.C. public schools parent, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The citys fiscal year 2025 budget was approved last year, increasing the budget by more than $1 billion. But the funding bill being considered by Congress would force the city to revert back to fiscal 2024 budget levels, reducing the citys spending by $1.1 billion in six months, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said this week. Previous temporary government funding bills, known as continuing resolutions, have had provisions allowing D.C. to continue spending funds in line with the citys current fiscal year budget, rather than the previous one. Such a provision was excluded from this weeks bill. As parents protested at her colleagues' offices, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters that she would speak with Bowser on Thursday. "I do not support this restriction on the District of Columbia's ability to use its own funding," said Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. She added, however, that she still plans to vote for the bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents have been focusing on outreach to Republicans and moderate Democrats, emphasizing to members of Congress that their staffers are often D.C. residents whose kids may attend the city's public schools. Multiple parents told NBC News that their lobbying of other parents took place privately through text messages and interactions in schools and neighborhoods, nervous that their employers would look negatively on activism during a new presidential administration. One woman who has a child in D.C. public schools told NBC News that she had spoken with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Wednesday about the bill's impact on D.C.'s budget. Murkowski seemed receptive and said that her staffers remind her frequently that they are all D.C. residents, the woman said. D.C. does not have voting members of Congress, so parents and children roamed the floors of the Hart Senate office building on Thursday, urging Senate staffers to protect the city's funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was important for me to go to Senate Hart, largely because Ive been watching the educators around me continue to give their all to raising future generations," said 16-year-old Erica Floyd, who attends a D.C. public high school and visited a Senate office building to try to talk to senators. "Their perseverance, dedication and support for students and their education inspired me to do my part and advocate for my peers education and my own." Sixth graders Leo Benevelli, Jake Kaplan and Jake Zelin visited Sen. Jon Ossoff's office with their moms after he said he was assessing the bill. Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, is up for re-election in 2026. I really dont think this is what the Founding Fathers of our country would have wanted, and our country is built by teachers and schools, Benevelli said. Several of the advocates who visited Capitol Hill on Thursday invoked their upbringing as they brought their cases to Senate staffers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Douglas McRae was born and raised in Mississippi and now lives in D.C. with his 4-year-old son, Luca, who is in the city's pre-K program. The two visited Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's office on Thursday with other advocates, urging the staff for the Mississippi Republican to ensure that the city's budget remained in tact. McRae has asked his parents and Luca's aunt and uncles in Mississippi to contact their members of Congress. "I've told them to reach out and call as well to make sure that people in Mississippi are not OK with this," he said. It's a tactic used by other D.C. families, too, who worry that their voices won't be heard without a voting member of Congress. The city has a delegate and two shadow senators, but they cannot vote on legislation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I've asked my family and my friends who live in states with voting senators to please advocate on our behalf," said Caitlin Rogger, whose 8- and 10-year-old children are in D.C. elementary schools. "The Senate can turn this around, but D.C. doesn't have a senator who can vote, so there's no one beholden to my neighbors and me for this decision." Marina Zhavoronkova and her 4-year-old son participated in protests Thursday in Washington. Ashley Smith Thomson visited senators offices Thursday, one day after her latest chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. She is on medical leave, which is putting a strain on her finances and has her worried about what potential spending cuts could mean for child care in D.C. "If it goes away, I don't know what I'm going to do with my daughter while I'm recovering from a double mastectomy," said Smith Thomson, whose child is in first grade. Its unclear exactly what programs would face funding cuts if the bill goes through, but the mayor has laid out that some of the top areas that the city spends money on are public education, public safety and Health and Human Services. Steph Tatham with her daughters, who are in second grade and kindergarten, attended the Recess at the Capitol protests. Theres no way to cut that kind of money in the time that we would have in this fiscal year not to affect police or not to affect teachers and not to affect some of the basic government services that allow us to keep our city clean, safe and beautiful, Bowser told reporters Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the mayor said that her office is "hopeful that our partners in Congress will get it fixed this week." A spokesperson for Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who chairs the Appropriations Committee and introduced the bill this month, did not respond to a request for comment about the bill's impact on D.C.'s funding. The House voted on Tuesday to pass a six-month funding bill that mostly maintains similar funding levels from 2024. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill, but Democrats have said they will reject it. The government faces a Friday night deadline to avoid a shutdown. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com DENVER (KDVR) A juvenile is now officially facing charges for allegedly bringing an improvised explosive device to Ponderosa High School on March 4, prompting an evacuation of the school building. The boy allegedly brought a suspicious device to the school and was arrested later in the day. The Douglas County Sheriffs Office credited a Safe2Tell report as first bringing the device at the school to its attention. Police find purse belonging to CU Boulder student found dead in Boulder Canyon Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, official charges of attempted murder after deliberation, attempted first-degree assault with extreme indifference, manufacture explosive or incendiary device, possession of explosive or incendiary device and interference with school activities. The office also filed two sentence enhancement charges of aggravated juvenile offender and violent juvenile offender. Colorado 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler weighed in on the charges on Wednesday after they were officially filed. He said that hes faced with the question of whether to ask the court to try the 15-year-old male suspect as an adult, or proceed in juvenile court. He said that if the suspect were 16 or older, hed be able to file the charges directly into adult court. Because the student charged is younger, there would be a transfer hearing to present evidence before a judge who would then determine if the charges should be in adult or juvenile court. Brauchler said that if the suspect is charged as an adult, the boys identity will become public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Very serious accusations, you can tell by the charge of the manufacture and possession of an incendiary device: Were talking about bomb making and bomb possessing, Brauchler said. He explained that the outcome of the charges filed against the juvenile depends on if the case is prosecuted in adult or juvenile court. He said out-of-home placement for the juvenile could be a possible sentence if the case is prosecuted in juvenile court. Man killed in Aurora after online marketplace transaction meetup You know, anytime you have an allegation of any type of potential violence or injury taking place at a public school, and folks should know: My kids go to a public high school in this county, so this is not a small matter for me, Brauchler said. Its serious, and it needs to be taken seriously. And trying to get to justice here, we also have to be open to the idea that there are things you can do as a school district, and Im not in charge of them, that can make us better prepared to deal with or head this off, weve gotta do that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brauchler added that the 23rd Judicial District is focused on holding people responsible for their actions. Were not looking to return kids to the classroom, were not looking to find a way to make excuses for what they did, were looking to find the truth of the matter, address it and never, ever, ever have this happen again, Brauchler said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Authorities are searching for the man who broke into a Los Angeles-area house and gunned down a father while his wife and son were home, officials said. The 61-year-old victim was attacked at about 6:26 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Arcadia, about 8 miles east of Pasadena, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said. The 13-year-old son and his mother were pulling into their driveway when the intruder "approached them and forced them into the home" where there was a "confrontation" between the intruder and the father, sheriffs Lt. Steven De Jong told Los Angeles ABC station KABC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: InfoWars reporter shot dead after interrupting burglars, suspects at large: Police It's not clear if the boy and his mom witnessed the shooting, but De Jong called it a "very frightening situation for the entire family." The 13-year-old son called 911 to report that his dad was shot by an intruder, De Jong said. PHOTO: A man was shot and killed by an intruder at his home in Arcadia, California, on March 11, 2025. (KABC) A motive is not known, but De Jong said "it appears that this is possibly personally motivated, from my preliminary inspection of the crime scene." "This individual that made entry into the house engaged the male victim," he explained. "So it appears that maybe he was the intended target." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Suspected arson at Bayer executive's home being investigated by FBI: Sources A "couple" weapons were recovered at the house, but it's not clear if they belonged to the suspect or the family, he said. It's possible the dad "armed himself and attempted to defend himself," De Jong said. No arrests have been made, according to the sheriff's office. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's homicide bureau at 323-890-5500. Dad gunned down in Southern California home invasion, 13-year-old son calls 911 originally appeared on abcnews.go.com GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Thursday on the Daily 8, were looking at an update to the body found in Byron Township, how you can help the dwindling butterfly population, Pete Buttigiegs plans for Michigans Senate seat and more. You can watch the full Daily 8 for March 13, 2025, in the video player above or check out any of the stories mentioned below: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each weekday, the Daily 8 brings you the top eight stories we are keeping an eye on in and around West Michigan. Join us again on Friday for the Daily 8. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. There could be no better poster boy than Mel Gibson for the wisdom of "red flag" laws, which allow the state to remove guns from people in a mental health crisis or who are an active threat to the community. To be clear, the actor lost his gun rights due to a 1996 federal law that strips gun rights away from people convicted of domestic violence. Gibson was convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in 2011 after pleading "no contest" to accusations of punching his girlfriend while she held a baby. Yet Donald Trump's administration reportedly forced out a pardon attorney for the Justice Department because she refused to restore Gibson's gun rights. "This is dangerous. This isnt political this is a safety issue," Elizabeth Oyer told the New York Times, which first reported on her Friday firing. Liz Oyer says she was fired as the pardon attorney at the Justice Department within hours of saying she couldnt add Mel Gibson to a list of individuals she recommended should have their gun rights restored. Within hours of my decision not to do that, I was escorted out of my pic.twitter.com/6A2Yd28rEI Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 12, 2025 She's right. A history of domestic violence is a strong predictor of a man's overall tendencies towards violence, a fact so well-known that even the far-right Supreme Court balked last year at ending the law prohibiting domestic abusers from having guns. Eighty-two percent of Americans agree that wife-beaters should not have guns, including even 81% of Republicans. Gibson's story illustrates why this is such a big deal. While Gibson downplayed the attack against his then-girlfriend as a "slap," prosecutors said he punched her hard enough to bust her teeth. But what's telling is how remorseless Gibson has been. During the attack itself, he screamed that she "deserved it" while calling her names, outraged she refused to "smile, and blow me." In official court documents, he continued to insist his violence was merely "an attempt to bring her back to reality." Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only. Trump has a long history of rewarding men accused of violence against women with praise, cushy jobs and legal interference to protect them. He clearly feels a kinship with them, as someone who was found liable by a civil jury of sexual assault, in an attack that sounded very much like what he bragged about doing routinely on the infamous "Access Holllywood" tape. Trump and his allies often spin the issue as a "woke" assault on men. Recently, Vice President JD Vance complained, "our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge." He pretended that it's about telling men they can't "tell a joke," when the real problem is men punching women in the face and sexually assaulting them in department store dressing rooms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The battle over Gibson's gun rights underscores how this is not, as MAGA likes to pretend, a matter of feminist joykills complaining about a few off-color jokes. Gibson's legal right to tell jokes, no matter how tasteless, is not in dispute. The issue is letting him have weapons designed to kill people with ease. The research on this is crystal clear: Domestic abuse is far more likely to turn deadly when a gun is involved. But not only does Trump not care, it seems very much like the threat of violence is part of the allure. Trump's toxic brand of "masculinity" valorizes violence and abuse, especially against people who are smaller or less powerful. That's why his administration appears to have intervened in the prosecution of Andrew Tate, a misogynist "influencer" who was charged in Britain and Romania for rape and sex trafficking. In 2013, the American Psychological Association (APA) released a report about the psychological causes of gun violence, and found that what is commonly known as toxic masculinity is a major factor. "Adherence to stereotypic masculinity" is associated with "stress and conflict, poor health, poor coping and relationship quality, and violence." When men who are invested in this view of manhood feel their masculinity is threatened, they tend to lash out even more violently, especially against women. Despite all the tough guy talk, men who are invested in stereotypical masculinity tend to be especially insecure and even prone to mental health issues. Subsequently, they are at a high risk of suicide. It wasn't too long ago that Republicans reacted to these realities not by calling for stricter gun control, but by claiming that they wanted more focus on "mental health." But that was always a bad faith argument, because the GOP has never shown any real interest in improving access to mental health care. Still, it was enough to get some states to pass "red flag" laws that at least allowed family members and law enforcement the ability to remove guns, at least temporarily, from people who are exhibiting signs of mental health breakdowns. These laws are often passed in reaction to mass shootings, which they do help prevent. But there's robust evidence that they are especially effective at preventing suicide and domestic homicide, as well. Unfortunately, the "red flag" behaviors that indicate that someone poses an imminent threat of killing others or themselves are often indistinguishable from the toxic masculinity that Trump promotes. Making threats, throwing tantrums, escalating violence against women or less powerful people? That's what makes you a "man" in the eyes of Trump and his MAGA movement. So it's unsurprising that there's a growing push in MAGA leadership to strip away protections aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of the most violent men. Mel Gibson is the most showy example, but even scarier is what is happening in Florida, where the Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is trying to repeal the red flag law that was passed by a Republican-controlled state legislature, no less in the aftermath of the infamous Parkland school shooting in 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Luis Valdes, the Florida director of Gun Owners of America, backed DeSantis, telling the Miami Herald, "Red flag laws are a political Band-Aid that swept the issue under the rug," and that the "issue is that theres a mental health issue in Florida." This gambit reveals the total bad faith operating here. If someone is having a mental health crisis, the solution is not to allow them to access guns until they've sought and completed treatment. Taking the guns away is how law enforcement and family members can keep the person from hurting themselves or others until they are well again. But there's reason to doubt that the Trump-led GOP wants people, especially men, to be stable and mentally healthy. As the APA report noted, happy, healthy men are less likely to be "aggressive, coercive, or violent." Aggressive, coercive, and violent is what Trump wants from men even if it means sacrificing mental health. Paul Krugman wrote in a recent newsletter, "I dont see how you can look at recent statements by Donald Trump and Elon Musk without concluding that both men have lost their grip on reality." He extensively quotes both men's social media posts to "get a full sense of the madness," arguing they're both being consumed by their tendencies "to grandiosity, vindictiveness and paranoia." He's not wrong, but what reasonable people see as full-blown nuttiness reads to Trump and the MAGA faithful as the truest essence of masculinity and they don't care how destructive or violent it gets for the rest of us. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation is launching a new initiative to provide weekly meals to low and moderate-income families living in the District 9 area of Birmingham. Daniels Meal Subscription Service will kick off on Saturday, April 5. Meals will be provided through the service every week for 12 months. Food for the meals will be sourced from the foundations local partners in Greater Birmingham. Volunteers will prepare and package the meals at the Daniel Payne Community Plaza for families to pick up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Daniel Payne Legacy Foundation says that around 32-36 meals/ servings per month will be provided to each household participating in the program. Jefferson County EMA encourages planning ahead for severe weather conditions The first 100 families in the program will be selected through a raffling system to receive free weekly meals. After the first 100 households are selected, families can sign up for the subscription program for $125 a month. Applications for Daniels Meal Subscription Service will be available on the foundations website starting on March 15. The foundation can also be directly contacted Tuesday- Friday at 205-201-4498 from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. According to the Daniel Payne Legacy Village foundation, this initiative was made possible by a $255,000 grant from the City of Birmingham. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More information about the Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation, including the services they provide to the community, can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. A Danville man pleaded guilty to Armed Robbery and was sentenced to 13 years in prison recently. Lamar Robinson, age 32, was sentenced to 13 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the offense of Armed Robbery, a class X felony. Following his release from prison, Robinson will serve 18 months mandatory supervised release. Judge Mark S. Goodwin presided over the plea and sentencing. The People presented evidence that on Jan. 14, 2021, an officer with the Danville Police Department was flagged down by a citizen who informed him that a business on East Main Street was being robbed. As the officer approached, a male fled from the business with money in his possession, and a foot chase ensued. The suspect was apprehended and identified as Robinson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon further investigation, the police said the victim, an employee of the business, informed police that Robinson had entered the store and asked about sleep medicine. During their conversation, Robinson produced a knife and threatened the victim. Robinson then went to the register, put the knife down and grabbed money out of the register with both hands. The victim attempted to reach for the knife, but Robinson grabbed it first and stabbed the victim. The entire crime was caught on video surveillance. States Attorney Jacqueline Lacy expressed her appreciation to the Danville Police for their quick response in apprehending the armed robber. She also acknowledged the bravery of the witness who flagged down an officer, playing a crucial role in preventing the suspect from escaping. Dr. Dave Weldon, a former Florida congressman and physician, is set to appear at a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday for his nomination to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unknown to many in the general public, hes well known in anti-vaccine circles. As director, experts say Weldon, 71, could serve as a key ally to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC and appears to share similar views, particularly on vaccines. On Thursday, Weldon is expected to face questions from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about how he would manage an agency with a $9 billion budget and a staff of over 13,000, before the Trump administration job cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon served 14 years in the House until 2009, largely staying out of the public spotlight. During this time, however, he attracted the attention of anti-vaccine groups due to his criticisms of the CDC and questions about vaccine safety. Like Kennedy, Weldon has promoted the false claim linking vaccines to autism a matter that the CDC will re-examine under Kennedy, despite decades of research failing to find evidence of a link. He introduced a bill in 2007 to transfer responsibility for vaccine safety from the public health agency to an independent agency within HHS an idea not entirely opposed by some vaccine experts but would significantly reduce the CDCs role. Within the CDCs vaccine safety program, it tracks reported side effects. The bill never made it past committees. Dr. Dave Weldon, who served in Congress from 1995 to 2009, at a gathering for Donald Trump in Melbourne, Fla., last year. According to an account in the 2004 book Evidence of Harm by journalist David Kirby, Weldon actively intervened to help anti-vaccine researchers Dr. Mark Geier and his son David access the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a CDC-housed dataset containing patient health records. This raw data is available to researchers, but it isnt public because of concerns over privacy, misrepresentation of data, and manpower. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a 2015 interview with Childrens Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded, Kennedy suggested Weldon supports his view that the CDC has too cozy of a relationship with vaccine-makers. What would Weldon accomplish at CDC? The CDC, in fact, is historically regarded as the gold standard in public health. It does wield significant influence over vaccine recommendations through its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, an independent advisory panel made up of pediatricians, epidemiologists and public health experts. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are required to cover vaccines recommended by ACIP. The CDCs responsibilities go far beyond vaccines. It tracks the flu in the U.S. and warns about infectious disease outbreaks around the world, including Ebola, mpox and tuberculosis. The CDC was instrumental in alerting about infections and deaths linked to recalled contaminated eye drops in 2023. It investigated the health effects of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio; reported on fungal infections spreading in nursing homes; and has called attention to the alarming rise in rates of teen despair and suicide. It monitors obesity in the U.S. and rates of heart disease and diabetes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics that almost a decade ago helped raise awareness that fentanyl was increasingly a cause of drug deaths in the U.S. While Weldon is a medical doctor, its unclear what his views or general understanding of these other areas are, said Dr. Sean OLeary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. While in Congress, Weldon advocated for limits on abortion. The director of CDC is a very important position and has a lot of responsibilities over a lot of aspects of public health, OLeary said. Historically, it has had people who have a lot of experience in general, in public health and/or infectious diseases and/or chronic disease prevention. Its probably the worlds largest public health agency. Weldon did not respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon would serve as a key official in addressing multiple ongoing health threats, including the H5N1 bird flu and the measles outbreak in West Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Amid the measles outbreak which has led to more than 200 cases and two deaths Kennedy has downplayed the significance of vaccinations, instead doubling down on supplements like vitamin A and cod liver oil, which do not prevent infection. Experts werent so sure Weldon who has previously questioned vaccine safety would do much to help matters there. Id love to understand why hes qualified to do the job, Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said of Weldon. What does he bring to the table that is so compelling based on his experiences, and other than being opposed to the way that we protect millions of Americans through vaccines? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its possible that committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., could ask Weldon to make commitments similar to those he asked of Kennedy, said Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy researcher at the University of California Law San Francisco although its unclear how effective that might be. In a February speech supporting Kennedys HHS nomination, Cassidy said Kennedy had promised to give the Senate notice before making changes to certain vaccine programs and that he would maintain ACIP without change. Since Kennedys confirmation, however, HHS has overseen several changes, including canceling or postponing two major vaccine advisory committee meetings. The CDC also launched a database listing information about current or former members of ACIP, including what it describes as conflicts of interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kennedy has been at the very least violating the spirit, probably even the language, of the commitments, Reiss said. Neither Cassidy nor Kennedy has responded to multiple previous requests for comment. The nomination comes as childhood vaccination rates are falling. Fewer than 93% of kindergarteners had received all of their state-required vaccinations in the 2023-2024 school year, compared with 95% in the 2019-2020 school year, according to KFF, a nonprofit group that researches health policy issues. Even in 2017, during the first Trump administration, anti-vaccine activists were floating his name as potential for CDC director, Reiss said. At the time, the role went to Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who resigned in 2018 after reports disclosed she had bought stocks in tobacco companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OLeary worries about the implications of having a CDC director who may not fully support vaccines and promotes false claims, such as a link between vaccines and autism. The science there is very clear and has been for decades, OLeary said. To look into that again, seems like a big waste of resources. Creech said physicians continue to see vaccine-preventable diseases. And were about to see, in our opinion, were going to see larger waves of these communicable diseases, and its going to be really frustrating for us who care for these kids in a hospital, Creech said. Its going to be even worse for the families that care for them. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The owner of a convenience store near Dawson Park who was arrested last week for alleged drug trafficking charges appeared in court Wednesday after being indicted by a grand jury. Donald Sharma, the 43-year-old Beaverton resident who owns the Stop N Go Mini Mart in North Portland, was out of jail following his arrest after posting $20,000 of his $200,000 bail as part of a security release agreement, court records show. Milwaukie PD: Man rammed stolen truck into patrol car Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an indictment filed Tuesday, a Multnomah County grand jury accused Sharma of a number of felony drug trafficking charges related to the possession and distribution of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. Sharma said, Someone must have been snitching, during his arrest on March 3, according to a police detectives account on a probable cause document. Portland police seized guns and drugs from the Stop N Go Mini Mart across from Dawson Park in North Portland. March 7, 2025 (courtesy Portland Police Bureau). Portland police seized guns and drugs from the Stop N Go Mini Mart across from Dawson Park in North Portland. March 7, 2025 (courtesy Portland Police Bureau). Portland police seized guns and drugs from the Stop N Go Mini Mart across from Dawson Park in North Portland. March 7, 2025 (courtesy Portland Police Bureau) Portland police seized guns and drugs from the Stop N Go Mini Mart across from Dawson Park in North Portland. March 7, 2025 (courtesy Portland Police Bureau). Portland police seized guns and drugs from the Stop N Go Mini Mart across from Dawson Park in North Portland. March 7, 2025 (courtesy Portland Police Bureau). On Friday of last week, Portland police and other city officials held a press conference about the arrest, saying they hope it will have a long-lasting impact on the local community. Dawson Park, located in the historic and cultural center of Portlands Black community, has been a hotspot for gun violence and other crimes in recent years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wyden wants to see more Epstein docs. Heres why President of the NAACP Portland Chapter James Posey said the community had been raising concerns about the shop, which is suspected of being a key hub for the open air drug market in the area. Weve known that this store has been a problem. We should have taken care of this business before now, Posey said. We have to be more intentional about how we structure this community, so everybody can benefit from the economic capacity of this town Otherwise, well probably be back here again with another situation. During the execution of a search warrant at the store, the Portland Police Bureau said they seized a significant amount of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, two guns (one stolen), multiple replica firearms, $6,600 in cash, several digital scales covered in suspected drug residue and a box of razor blades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oregons gun control law deemed constitutional The indictment accuses Sharma of seven felony charges related to drug trafficking or drug possession, in total, including second-degree trademark counterfeiting for selling or attempting to sell counterfeit M30 oxycodone pills. Sharmas next court appearance is set for April 30. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. DAMASCUS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa ratified a new constitutional declaration on Thursday, laying the legal foundation for a five-year transitional phase aimed at rebuilding political and legal structures. Drafted by a specialized constitutional committee, the declaration underscores the aspiration for a "new Syria" while maintaining the official state name of "Syrian Arab Republic." It specifies that the president must be Muslim, and Islamic jurisprudence remains a primary source of legislation. The constitutional document emphasizes the protection of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, opinion, press, media, and publication. It also explicitly guarantees property rights and women's rights to participate fully in education and employment. Politically, the declaration grants the parliament expanded authority, including the power to summon and question ministers, as well as the capacity to impeach or limit presidential powers. Additionally, the declaration calls for dissolving the existing constitutional court and courts established for addressing terrorism cases, with provisions for establishing new legal structures during the transitional period. This constitutional declaration marks a significant step toward political transition and structural reform in Syria, addressing long-standing calls for enhanced legislative oversight and greater protection of civil liberties after the recent political upheaval in the country. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A Dayton woman is facing several charges in Georgia. According to the Troup County Sheriffs Office in Georgia, officials were sent March 12 around 4:50 a.m. to the 4000 block of New Franklin Road for a reported home invasion and structure fire. The sheriffs office said first responders saw a small building in the front of a residence on fire. Two people were found inside of the home with injuries, which the sheriffs office alleges is what appeared to be stab wounds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Desjavae Conway, 34, of Dayton, is believed by the sheriffs office to have allegedly set fire to the building, entered the home of the two individuals and stabbed them multiple times with scissors. She is then accused of taking a vehicle and leaving that location. Conway was located a short time later and placed in custody, said the sheriffs office. It is not believed that Conway knew the victims nor what her motive was at this time. Conway is in the Troup County Jail in Georgia on the following charges: Home invasion Arson Armed Robbery 2 counts of aggravated assault The investigation remains ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The search continues for a suspect in a fatal shooting that happened at Union Station last month, with police releasing new surveillance footage on Thursday afternoon. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said the shooting happened at around 4:37 p.m. on Feb. 10, near the bus waiting area at Union Station. Amtrak Police heard gunshots and found 18-year-old Wayne McDaniel of Northwest D.C. unconscious and not breathing. At the time, he was near the escalators to the parking garage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 18-year-old killed in Union Station shooting during rush hour, police search for suspect First responders pronounced McDaniel dead at the scene. Newly released security camera footage shows the suspect interacting briefly with McDaniel at the scene before the suspect shot at him as he ran away. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department) Anyone who has information is asked to contact MPD at (202) 727-9099 or text the departments tip line at 50411. A reward of up to $25,000 is offered to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is searching for a man who allegedly punched a police officer in Southeast D.C. on Tuesday. Just before 4 p.m. on March 11, officers arrested a person who was using marijuana in the 2600 block of Birney Place. During the arrest, several people got involved and officers were punched and hit while trying to take them into custody. According to the police report obtained by DC News Now, when officers arrested the person, a second person slapped one police officer and threw a drink at another. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Man charged with abduction after trying to sexually assault woman in Fairfax County, police say Police then tried to take the second person into custody and they began resisting, MPD said. The report noted that a third person interfered and punched the arresting officer. The police report stated that another person then started repeatedly punching the officer in the face. As a result of the incident, four people were arrested. Three people were taken to a hospital after complaining of pain. MPD was still searching for a fifth man who was allegedly involved in the incident. (Photo Courtesy: MPD) Anyone who can identify him or knows his whereabouts is asked to call 202-727-9099 or text MPD at 50411. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MPD is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the suspect. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. For the record: 11:45 a.m. March 14, 2025: A previous version of this article incorrectly said staff with the Marine Mammal Care Center performed a dolphin necropsy. It was Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance staff. Someone cut off the head of a sea lion in Northern California and rode off with it in a bag and authorities are now offering $20,000 for information that helps find the perpetrator. The body of the mutilated animal was found at Doran Regional Park in Bodega Bay on Christmas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A member of the parks staff initially found the deceased animal and left it alone, per park policy, Sonoma County Regional Parks spokesperson Sarah Campbell said. The body was left "for nature to take its course," Campbell said, while the staffer went back to Doran's main office to retrieve gear to document the sea lion and send that information to San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. But when the staffer returned 15 minutes later, according to Campbell, the carcass had been decapitated. A witness account said the individual appeared to be a man between 30 and 40 years old wearing all black and riding a black fat-tire e-bike, according to NOAA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency's office of law enforcement is investigating the death. NOAA is asking anyone with information to call its enforcement hotline at (800) 853-1964. The suspect was seen using a 8-inch black knife to remove the sea lions head, placing it in a plastic bag and riding off, according to NOAA. John Warner, chief executive of the San Pedro-based Marine Mammal Care Center, said aside from the "cruelty and weirdness" of the decapitation, the act of removing the head was not safe for the perpetrator and society in general. "We live in a world where avian flu is a concern and other zoonotic diseases can easily transfer to humans," Warner said. "You're taking a knife and likely not wearing PPE and you're putting your health and that of others in jeopardy." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From a legal standpoint, the Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the harassment, hunting, capturing or killing of sea lions and other marine mammals. Harassment includes harming an animal's body after death with limited exceptions, including for educational and scientific purposes, NOAA officials said. Incidents of sea mammal cruelty are not rare in California, nor is the discovery of a headless sea mammal unique. On Tuesday, the severed head of a dolphin surfaced at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach, according to the Long Beach Post. The animal had earlier washed ashore, was dissected during a necropsy by staff at the Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance and buried in the sand, but later re-emerged. Earlier this month on Ventura Beach, a man was arrested after a sea lion suffering from domoic acid poisoning was beaten. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An unknown individual also shot and killed a 2-year-old sea lion at Bolsa Chica State Beach on Aug. 7. Read more: Beyond creepy: Someone in Westchester is killing dozens of crows, neighbors say Warner said that more animals were brought to the Marine Mammal Care Center in 2024 for gunshot wounds than any in other year he's aware of. "Cruelty to animals is unfortunately alive and well," he said. He said he was unaware of any bogus claims of medicinal value for sea lion body parts, as is sometimes noted for rhino horns or donkey skins. "Thank God there have been no links to sea lions, otherwise I fear this wouldnt be shocking or abnormal, if that was the case," Warner said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The public is asked to report a dead, injured or stranded marine mammal to the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network at (866) 767-6114. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) NBC4 Investigates has heard from people all across Franklin County who are struggling to stay in their homes as rising property taxes drive long-time residents away. There is a chance for relief, but residents need to take action. NBC4 Investigates got to see how appraisers reassess destroyed and damaged properties, and it gave insight into how mass reappraisal works. Every six years, by law, a county will reassess a homes value. The last one was in 2023 and central Ohio saw a historic increase. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine gives 2025 State of the State address A home is evaluated on improvements, recent sales around it and neighborhood appeal. Owners pay real estate taxes on the assessed value: 35% of the propertys value. The rest of the tax bill comes from levies. However, residents can appeal the part that comes from the propertys value. On a cold February day, two appraisers showed NBC4 Investigates how properties are assessed. The application mentioned that the property experienced some fire damage, Deputy Appraisal Director Demarcus Parker said about one property. That home in north Columbus is now gone, which means the owners dont have to pay as much in property taxes Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If there is a damaged or destroyed property, we strongly encourage those property owners to contact us; Ohio law allows us to update the value, Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano said. Intel stock up 12% after announcing new familiar CEO The appraisers take a look, make sure the information matches the application and then, in this particular case, remove a big chunk of the overall property value. We want to make sure that that property owner isnt being charged at a value for the property that they arent maximizing, it isnt getting its highest and best use, Stinziano said. On the opposite side, value can be added when a home is rebuilt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They go out into the field and check on new constructions or any renovations, whatever those permits that were submitted by those municipalities to our office, Parker said. Its a quick visit, and shows how this process relies in large part on information from the homeowner. The goal of the office is always have a fair and equitable valuation, Stinziano said. Its the same for the mass reappraisal that resulted in the current property values. Property valuation is not property tax, but recognize it is the one place within Ohio law that a part of the formula a property owner can seek adjustments and change, Stinziano said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What to know about Fridays lunar eclipse in Ohio, and when to watch it The auditors office said this is where owners can have a say. Take a look at the property on the auditors website: do the number of bedrooms match? The bathrooms? Were really focused on do you feel the valuation is what you would maybe list it if you were going to put it for sale today? Stinziano said. If not, thats where the Board of Revision comes into play. If you feel its too high or too low, thats who would be the best candidate for a successful board of revision filing, Stinziano said. You can find how to appeal on the auditors website, click the board of revision, then filing instructions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Property owners do play an important role, even if theres not a valuation concern, making sure the information on the property card, the record that the office kind of uses as the foundation for the valuation is accurate if there are changes, Stinziano said. Recent sales and a third-party appraisal are things that will sway the board, which is also made up of the county treasurer and the board of commissioners. The auditors office has events to help people who want to appeal their property value. There are three more events before the deadline at the end of this month. The BOR is accepting tax year 2024 complaints until March 31, 2025. More information about those can be found here and a step-by-step guide to the process can be found here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) New details about the death of Dane Paulsen are coming to light two days after his remains were discovered in the Siletz River. The Lincoln County Sheriffs Office held a press conference Thursday with more information on how they found the 2-year-olds body as well as information from the autopsy report. Tigard Tesla dealership shot for second time in a week According to the medical examiner, Danes autopsy confirmed that he had died by drowning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dane was last seen in the yard of his Siletz home on March 1 around 4:30 p.m. On Tuesday, the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office confirmed that his body was found approximately three miles downstream from the house. Its just a terrible tragedy that happened, said Buster Lane, a Siletz local. I feel really sad for the family, I feel real bad for them. The childs body was discovered by Juan Heredia with Angels Recovery Dive Team while he joined a volunteer search effort on behalf of the family. I guess the good thing out of it is that they did find his body so they have closure, Lane said. Kids like that, they go to heaven and they have a chance to see him again, his friends, his family. Undated photo of Dane Paulsen, who went missing in Siletz, Ore. on Mar. 1, 2025. (Lincoln County Sheriffs Office) Diver Juan Heredia found the body of 2-year-old Dane Paulsen in the Siletz River, March 11, 2025 (KOIN) A boat searches the Siletz River for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen. (Lincoln County Sheriffs Office) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 5, 2025 (KOIN) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 5, 2025 (KOIN) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 5, 2025 (KOIN) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 5, 2025 (KOIN) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 5, 2025 (KOIN) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 5, 2025 (KOIN) Lincoln County searchers on the Siletz River looking for 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 4, 2025 (Lincoln County Sheriffs Office) Lincoln County searchers on the Siletz River looking for 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 4, 2025 (Lincoln County Sheriffs Office) An aerial view of the area where searchers are looking for 2-year-old Dane Paulsen of Siletz, March 3, 2025 (Lincoln County Sheriffs Office) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 3, 2025 (KOIN) Searchers checked the Siletz River looking for missing 2-year-old Dane Paulsen, March 3, 2025 (KOIN) Before finding Dane, search and rescue efforts covered hundreds of miles on the ground and in the air eventually shifting their focus to the Siletz River. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As search efforts intensified, law enforcement said there was no evidence to suggest criminal actions are involved. Rather, evidence indicated that Dane had been at the Siletz Rivers edge before he vanished, according to investigators. The Lincoln County Sheriffs Office previously described Dane as comfortable around strangers and water, but added that he cannot swim. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. A judge has ended a prolonged and intensive scrutiny of Oklahomas foster care system designed to improve conditions for children in the states care. (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.) OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahomas foster care system is no longer under federal oversight for the first time in 13 years, officials announced Thursday. A federal judge on Thursday ended the case, halting a prolonged and intensive scrutiny of Oklahomas foster care system designed to improve conditions for children in the states care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dubbed the Pinnacle Plan, the state agreed to meet certain performance measures to resolve a class action suit filed on behalf of children in state custody. Weve made huge investments into our child welfare system and have made the well-being of our states children a top priority, Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement. The conclusion of the Pinnacle Plan highlights that our state is on the right trajectory. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services had not provided the costs associated with the lawsuit as of publication. In 2012, the state entered into an agreement to settle a federal class action court case, D.G. vs. Yarbrough, which alleged the state was not providing adequate care for foster children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state agreed to address the abuse and neglect of children in state custody, increase the number of foster homes, reduce the number of children in shelters, address the caseloads for child welfare workers and find more youth permanent placements. Three people, called co-neutrals, were tapped to monitor progress. In March 2023, the state was released from a significant portion of the consent decree, but was required to continue working on seven aspects. The Court ordered Consent Decree, with the exceptional work of the co-neutrals, successfully transformed Oklahomas foster care system from a system failing to meet minimum constitutional standards to a nationally recognized performer, said Fred Dorwart, a Tulsa attorney who represented the children in the lawsuit. (The lawsuit) evidences the effectiveness of litigation as a tool for agency reform and improvement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said all of the money spent on the attorneys and litigation can now be spent on taking care of children. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said just because the Pinnacle Plan was ending doesnt mean the state can take its foot off of the gas. Challenges still remain, he said. The state has reduced the number of children in foster care to 5,800 in March from more than 11,000 in 2014, according to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Oklahoma has since entered into an unrelated consent decree to resolve a federal class action lawsuit over mental health competency restoration services for defendants awaiting trial. Nuria Martinez-Keel contributed to this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The Russians are actively pressing from the east and north in the Russian city of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast, using all the resources gathered over time to drive out the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Source: DeepState military monitoring project Quote: "After the update, reports are spreading via Telegram channels about the complete withdrawal from the city of Sudzha, which is not true, because people who spread such statements should look more closely at the map and see the grey zone." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: According to DeepState analysts, despite the Russians posting photos and videos on social media claiming to have supposedly completely recaptured Sudzha, fighting continues on the northern and western outskirts of the city. The Ukrainian military is trying to prevent the Russians from advancing through Kursk Oblast. DeepState stressed that the situation for the Ukrainian defence forces remains complicated. Read more: Six months in Kursk: the problems facing Ukraine's defence forces Background: On 7 March, it became known that the Russians had broken through the Ukrainian defence line south of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast. The defence forces tried to stabilise the situation. On 11 March, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War reported that the Russians were preparing for an offensive on Sudzha. On 12 March, Suspilne journalists reported that Russian troops had entered the town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast and that fighting was ongoing. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Editors note: This article has been updated to correct a quote attribution. In the days after the devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires, and as questions mounted about the Los Angeles Fire Department, the mayor, and how the city handled the unprecedented firestorm, this text was sent to then-LAFD chief Kristin Crowley: Hello Chief. This is Chief Deputy City Attorney Denise Mills. We are asking the Mayor and ITA to temporarily shut off G-chat until at least Friday. Will this create any disastrous effects with respect to your departments operations (i.e. do you rely on G-chat for emergency communications? Please let me know ASAP. Thank you. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Six minutes later, the fire chief replies, Hi, please give me a call. The text from January 13 was one of more than 300 pages of documents obtained by KTLA last month that we reviewed amid new reporting by the Los Angeles Times that Mayor Karen Bass is deleting her text messages, raising eyebrows and questions. In KTLAs reporting last month, we questioned where all the Bass communications with the Chief were. One thing that is not part of the textsany meaningful conversations between the Mayor and Crowley. If they were communicating regularly, it was with a different method of communicationperhaps disappearing Google Chats Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Basss counsel told the L.A. Times that the mayors phone is set not to save text messages, and there is no requirement that a city official or employee do so something that seems to contradict the citys own document retention policies. By January 15, KTLA had already submitted a records request for any digital communications to or from Chief Kristin Crowley. The Times reports their request to the city for the mayors communications came on January 10. As we now know, the note from the city that it was considering shutting down Google Chats came January 13, after the city would have already known media outlets were reaching out to obtain those communications and after the Times reported last December about an internal review of Google Chats use by city officials. A text message sent from the L.A. City Attorney to then-LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley on Jan. 13, 2025. When asked Monday why the city wanted to shut down Google Chat, the city told KTLA: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to user requests related to the citywide emergency, the City Attorney wanted to ensure that all official communications were retained. One way to do so would be to eliminate Google Chat, thereby requiring all employees to use email (all of which are retained) to communicate. The other option was to enable Google Chat history so all chats are retained. To better inform the Citys decision, our office inquired with both LAPD and LAFD to determine if terminating the Chat function would cause problems with operations. This email reflects our inquiry to LAFD. Chief Assistant City Attorney Mills never reached out to the Mayors office. Ultimately, the Google team enabled Google Chat History effective January 14, 2025. As a result, all 1-on-1 and group messages in Google Chat are saved in the chat history. The city says to their knowledge, Google Chat was never shut off, but it also says in the same statement that chat history was only enabled on January 14 days after the Palisades Fire scorched thousands of acres and flattened entire neighborhoods and after media requests for communications were submitted. In the weeks following the Palisades Fire, KTLA received parts of some public records requests and not others. Some were heavily redacted. We saw only two text messages from Mayor Karen Bass to the LAFD chief: one from January 10 and the other from January 22. One had to do with a meeting being scheduled. The other concerned missing a phone call. These were regular text messages. Its unclear if other messages existand if they doif they were redacted, automatically deleted, or resided on Google Chat which didnt have chat history enabled until January 14. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement KTLA legal analyst Alison Triessl says, when it comes to the conduct of elected officials, transparency is expected. The mayor and the fire chief are public servants. As a result, they are employed by the citizens of Los Angeles. We must trust that civil servants are working in our best interest, said Triessl. The best way to build trust is to have full transparency in our government. Conversely, the quickest way to erode that public trust is for our public officials to work in secrecy, hiding behind disappearing text messages. At a news conference Monday, the mayor didnt specifically address Google Chat or if her office used that chat service, but she did say her phone automatically deletes messages after 30 days, that they (the city) have been swamped with public records requests, and theyre looking now to see if there is a way to retrieve those messages so stay tuned. A text message exchange between L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and then-LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley on Jan. 10, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Democratic attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and 20 states sued Thursday over the Trump administrations efforts to lay off nearly half of the Education Department workforce. Earlier this week, more than 1,300 staffers received notification they are being let go, which comes on the heels of hundreds at the department already being placed on leave or taking a buyout. The department had more than 4,000 employees at the start of President Trumps second term. This massive reduction in force (RIF) is equivalent to incapacitating key, statutorily-mandated functions of the Department, causing immense damage to Plaintiff States and their educational systems, the lawsuit states, an assertion department officials have rejected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attorneys general emphasized that Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have plainly and repeatedly stated a desire to eliminate the Education Department, insisting the recent layoffs are part of a broader, illegal plan. Trump has held firm that he believes states should run education, not the federal government. This massive RIF is not supported by any actual reasoning or specific determinations about how to eliminate purported waste in the Departmentrather, the RIF is part and parcel of President Trumps and Secretary McMahons opposition to the Department of Educations entire existence, the lawsuit states. Filed in federal court in Massachusetts, the suit claims the plan usurps Congresss authority and violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it is contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious. President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states. The Department of Educations reduction in force (RIF) was implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws. They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families, Madi Biedermann, the departments deputy assistant secretary for communications, said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the lawsuit is the first to specifically challenge the Education Departments recent reductions, it adds to a growing number of legal challenges to the Trump administrations efforts to rapidly shape the federal bureaucracy. Multiple cases are proceeding challenging the administrations efforts to mass terminate federal employees still in their probationary period, including one that is set for an evidentiary hearing in San Francisco later Thursday. The Education Department also faces existing lawsuits over its warning to schools they could lose federal funding if they persist with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. And last week, a group of eight Democratic state attorneys general sued over the department freezing some of its grant payments. Updated at 12:21 p.m. EDT Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. JAKARTA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- An explosion involving a tugboat and a fuel-carrying tanker near Lamongan, a coastal town in the north of East Java province, Indonesia, erupted into flames on Thursday, killing two people and injuring 15 others, according to local police. A preliminary report indicates that the incident occurred at around 6 a.m. local time while the tanker was transferring diesel fuel to the tugboat. Ipda M. Hamzaid, a spokesperson for the Lamongan Police, told local media that all individuals on board had been evacuated, with the two fatalities sent to a nearby hospital for further identification. "As of now, the cause of the explosion is still under investigation. We are working to determine the triggering factors and the impacts of the incident," he said. PROVIDENCE The Rhode Island Foundation awarded nearly $87 million in grants to more than 2,500 nonprofit organizations last year, with some of the money helping young people get into college and train for jobs. Demand for our help did not diminish last year. The pandemic is behind us in many ways, but its impact on student success, health and the economy lingered, David N. Cicilline, the foundations president and CEO, said in announcing the grants. We are grateful for the generosity of Rhode Islanders who trust us to guide their philanthropy and the dedication of our nonprofit partners that enabled us to take on the challenge. The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Last year's was its third-highest annual award total in its 109-year history. Helping first-generation students get into college College Visions received $94,000 to help high school students from economically disadvantaged households get into college and succeed while there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lamont Gordon, College Visions' executive director, said, "Rhode Island has significant gaps in educational attainment by race and income at every stage from high school completion to college enrollment and college completion. We work to remove the barriers that prevent young people from accessing and completing education." College Visions volunteer Nhu Dang from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University works with Cranston High School East senior Karinne Marte on her college essay last year. Marte is now a first-year student at the University of Rhode Island. College Visions works with about 500 first-generation students annually and has helped them get into community colleges as well as four-year colleges, including Brown University, Providence College and the University of Rhode Island, according to Gordon. "We have a student at Stanford right now, which is amazing," Gordon said. The Rhode Island Foundation is one of College Visions' major supporters and has been helping the organization for a decade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement College Visions helps high school students explore college options, apply and enroll. It also has an intensive five-week college and career summer program. And it provides ongoing support for students after they enroll in college. Its advisers meet with students one-on-one each week and "work hard to make the students feel comfortable," Gordon said. The advisers are "all 'first-gen' themselves, so their background and experience help them build a level of comfort and trust that is essential for our students to thrive and succeed," Gordon said. Training people for jobs in construction Building Futures trains young people, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people for jobs in the construction industry. It's also trying to get more women into the industry, according to Andrew Cortes, president and CEO of Building Futures. "I think people need economic opportunity, and the construction industry has it," Cortes said, noting that starting wages average $22 per hour but quickly increase to $40 per hour with an additional $25 per hour in benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The demand for training is high, as is the need for workers, according to Cortes. The organization received $150,000 to expand its workforce development programs. Building Futures instructor Kevin Grattan demonstrates how to install a sill on a foundation as students Jeff Perry and Levert Brown look on. Jobs are key for keeping people from returning to prison, according to Cortes. "Formerly incarcerated individuals face substantial barriers to gaining family-sustaining employment post release and joblessness is a top predictor of recidivism," he said. Many former inmates who can't get jobs return to crime "just to get by financially," he said. "With our help, people reentering the community are supported, trained, placed and retained in construction careers. Return on investment is exceptional, and the program currently enjoys 0% recidivism, compared to the 44% average," Cortes said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The organization will expand its reentry program, Building Futures Inside, and launch training at a medium-security facility at the Adult Correctional Institutions. Bringing art to the community and students Another recipient is FirstWorks, which received $85,000 to support its work staging festivals, workshops, lectures and performances such as PVDFest and the Summer Beats Concert Series. Andrea Piallini of eVenti Verticali mixes with the crowd at the FirstWorks Spectacle Stage in Kennedy Plaza at the 2024 PVDFest. Kathleen Pletcher, executive artistic director of FirstWorks, said, Our live performances connect the arts and audiences in a way that shines a light on Rhode Island's stellar arts community. The organization also offers arts education workshops to 2,000 students annually. Eighty percent of those students live below the poverty line. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Research shows that low-income students that are highly engaged in the arts are more than twice as likely to earn a bachelor's degree and have better employment prospects, higher volunteerism, and greater civic participation," Pletcher said. Other recipients Other groups receiving grants included the Equity Action Fund, the Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund and the Newport County Fund, Riverzedge Arts in Woonsocket, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport, the WARM Center in Westerly, House of Hope in Warwick and the East Bay Community Action Program in East Providence. About 75% of the grants were directed by the foundations donors; only about a quarter of the grants could be made at the sole discretion of the foundation. About half of the nearly $87 million went to organizations that received both donor-directed and foundation-directed grants. At the end of 2024, the Rhode Island Foundation's total assets were about $1.5 billion. Total fund investment return for the year was 10.5%. The foundation also raised $59 million in gifts. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Foundation gave grants to more than 2,500 nonprofits last year Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., has died, his office confirmed Tuesday. Grijalva had served in the House since 2003 and was a former co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus. He also led the House Natural Resources Committee for Democrats from 2015 until 2025, including four years as chairman. PHOTO: House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva speaks at a news conference Mar. 28, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Cal via Getty Images) "Serving Southern Arizona was the honor of Raul M. Grijalva's life," his office said in a statement confirming his death. "Having represented our communities for over 50 years was a privilege. We thank all of you for the trust, support, and the partnership that you gave to Rep. Grijalva over the years. We are especially grateful to Rep. Grijalva's family for their friendship and keeping it 'all about the love.'" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His death creates a new vacancy in the House, leaving Democrats with 213 members and Republicans with 218. The simple majority is now 216. Grijalva is the second House Democrat in the last eight days who has died. Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, died on Wednesday, March 5, the morning after President Donald Trump's address to Congress. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the country and Congress lost a "giant" and "mentor" with the death of Grijalva. "Congressman Grijalva represented his community fiercely, keeping his constituents and the climate at the center of everything he did," Jeffries said in a statement. "He was a mentor to many and a friend to all, and we will miss his principled presence and wisdom greatly in the Congress." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., now has a two-vote cushion for his majority. "House members are saddened to hear of the passing of Congressman Raul Grijalva, who served his constituents faithfully in Congress for more than two decades," Johnson posted on X. "Our prayers are with Raul's wife, Ramona, his three children, and the people of Arizona's 7th district." Arizona will now hold a special election to determine who will fill his seat in Congress for the remainder of his term. According to Arizona state law, if a seat in Arizona's U.S. House delegation is vacated more than six months out to the general election, then within 72 hours of the vacancy occurring, the governor of Arizona must set dates for a special primary election and a special general election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State law also indicates the special primary election must be between 120 to 130 days after the vacancy occurs and that the special general election must be between 70 and 80 days after the special primary. ABC News' Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report. Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva dies after battle with cancer originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Donald Trump will become a king in the event of a looming government shutdown, Democrats fear. Democrat senators believe that they could inadvertently help the US presidents attempts to gut the federal workforce if they do not pass a Republican-led Bill to maintain funding to government agencies. They are also wary of taking the blame for the potential shutdown, which would see millions of federal workers furloughed, tax returns delayed, and government programmes shuttered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, said on Thursday that he would vote for the Bill a day after vowing to oppose it, which almost certainly signals a shutdown will not take place. In a speech on the chamber floor, he criticised the deeply partisan legislation and said he had been faced with Hobsons choice, but eventually decided that allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option. If Congress fails to pass a funding resolution, the Trump administration will be able to choose which civil servants are deemed essential and will continue working, and those who are non-essential, meaning they will be furloughed and will not be paid until they return to work. Democrats fear that Mr Trump and Elon Musk, who is searching for $1 trillion in savings as the governments efficiency tsar, would exploit the shutdown to close a broad swathe of agencies and send their workers home. Giving the president more power John Hickenlooper, the Democrat senator for Colorado, claimed the vote had left Democrats with two terrible choices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we shut the government down, in a funny way, youre giving the president even more power, he said. So whether he keeps this part of [the] government open, closes this part, how that money gets spent, he has absolute control like a king. John Hickenlooper in the Senate subway of the US Capitol on Tuesday - Al Drago/Blomberg One White House official told Politico that Mr Musk would be giddy and beside himself with joy if he was given carte blanche to furlough government workers. The administration is playing its cards close to its chest on which parts of the government will shut down, having removed guidance dating from Joe Bidens term as US president from its website this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Schumer is under pressure to pass the temporary funding Bill that would keep federal agencies open until September, boost military spending by $6 billion and non-defence expenditure by $13 billion. It also allocates additional money for border enforcement and an extra $500 million to help women and children buy groceries. On Wednesday, Mr Schumer said he would seek to block the resolution, blaming Republicans for their partisan Bill and suggesting a short-term solution to keep the government open for a month, before caving in a day later. The row has prompted disagreement among Senate Democrats, with shouting heard at a fractious meeting between members of the caucus on Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump blames Democrats On Thursday, Mr Trump attempted to pin the blame for a potential shutdown on Democrats and suggested that their opposition would derail the administrations plans to extend tax cuts from his first term in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If theres a shutdown its only going to be on the Democrats, he told reporters in the Oval Office. He added: That might lead to very, very high taxes because were talking about getting to work immediately on the greatest tax Bill ever passed. John Fetterman, the Democrat senator for Pennsylvania, said he would back the Republicans funding Bill, warning that a shutdown could damage the economy at a time when stocks are tumbling. I refuse to burn the village down and to claim to save it, he said. Government agencies will shut down at 12.01am on Saturday if Congress does not pass the Bill. It has already made its way through the House of Representatives, but requires 60 votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster by Democrats and be signed into law by Mr Trump. Rand Paul to vote against funding resolution Rand Paul, the Republican senator for Kentucky, has said he will vote against the funding resolution adding some $300 billion to the federal deficit, meaning it will need the support of at least eight Democrats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senior White House officials are increasingly confident Mr Schumer will give the green light for enough senators to keep the government open, according to Politico. Theyre 100 per cent gonna swallow it, one White House official claimed. Theyre totally screwed. Administration figures are reportedly confident that Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown, even though Republicans control both Houses of Congress and JD Vance, the vice-president, warned GOP colleagues this week that they would bear the brunt of public anger. Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, said on Fox News on Thursday that Mr Schumer would either cast a vote to keep the government open or be blamed for shutting it down. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Washington Democrats finally have a first point of leverage against President Donald Trump but it comes with a dilemma that could leave them looking even more hapless than they have so far in his second term. The pressure point arises over a temporary government funding bill that could provide cover for the presidents anti-government purge and as Democratic voters pine for their lawmakers to show some fight. Ahead of a critical Senate vote, Democratic leaders face a paradoxical choice: Should they shut down the government to try to save it? That gamble could come with a significant downside, as shuttered agencies and thousands of furloughed federal workers could be left even more vulnerable to the metaphorical chainsaw wielded by Elon Musk. Elon Musk delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting held by President Donald Trump at the White House on February 26, 2025, in Washington, DC. - Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Democrats choices will play out against a backdrop of mounting frustration from progressives, whose despair after the 2024 election has turned to horror as Trump has turned Washington upside down in his first 50 days in office and set about fracturing the liberal world order that has prevailed for 80 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats were widely mocked for their ineffectual protests that underscored their impotence during Trumps joint address to Congress earlier this month, when some wore color-coordinated dress and others held up paddles bearing anti-Trump slogans. Pennsylvania Democratic volunteer Bobbi Erickson wants her partys leaders to be far more aggressive in taking on Trump. We are watching the Constitution burn. We are watching the country that we love be systematically dismantled, Erickson told CNNs Eva McKend, whose recent trip to the commonwealth revealed extreme impatience among grassroots Democrats. Brockway Area Elementary School cook Bobbi Jo Erickson. - CNN Back in Washington, party leaders have a chance to show some steel. History shows that Republicans usually get the blame for the kind of partial government shutdown that will begin at midnight Friday unless the Senate approves new spending to keep it open. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trump and Musk, with their stunning moves to shred the federal machine, have scrambled political logic, leaving both parties gaming out novel calculations that have changed the politics of shutdown dramas. The House of Representatives set up the one-two GOP punch by passing a bill to freeze spending at current levels until the end of September while adjusting where money is allocated to prioritize Trumps priorities, such as border enforcement. The House then promptly left town, leaving the mess for the Senate to sort out. DOGE may win whatever happens Democrats fear this stopgap bill will simply provide another six months for Trump and Musk to widen the Department of Government Efficiencys plan to fire thousands of workers and close entire federal departments. But in theory, they can block it by refusing to give the GOP probably eight votes needed to reach a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The need for 60-vote thresholds for most bills is the only lever the Democrats can pull in the capital to slow or moderate Trumps actions. Im going to vote against what came over from the House Republicans to the Senate last night because I dont want to give my vote to support what Trump and Musk are doing, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons told CNN News Central Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if Democrats take this path, theyll be closing down the government at the very time Trump is trying to destroy it. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, told CNNs Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday that hed not yet decided how to vote. But he sees downsides to a shutdown that go beyond inflicting even more hardship on federal workers. If it shuts down, what is Elon Musk going to allow to open back up? Thats a big concern of mine, Kelly said. How many more veterans is Elon, and this administration, going to fire? So, theres not a good option here. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sought to break Democrats out of their unenviable political box on Wednesday, warning that the 60 votes needed to pass the funding bill do not yet exist. He called for a separate one-month extension with identical spending allocations as those currently in force to allow for bipartisan negotiations. We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday, Schumer said on Wednesday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on the Senate floor on Wednesday. - Senate TV But theres no chance the GOP, basking in its monopoly on Washington power, will join with the minority party. So, its fair to ask whether Schumer is taking a stand for effect in the expectation that enough of his members will eventually vote to keep the government open while allowing the bulk of his party to cast a symbolic but politically useful vote against Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans are relishing the spectacle after setting their trap. Chuck Schumer has a big decision to make. Is he going to pass the bill to keep the government open? Or is he going to be blamed for shutting it down, House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Wednesday. The Louisiana Republican held his tiny majority together to pass the stopgap bill in a feat that demonstrated Trumps huge influence. Johnson is obviously enjoying flinging exactly the same lines at Democrats as he and his GOP colleagues have faced for years in shutdown sagas. I hate the bill The next two days will be deeply painful experience for Democrats. I hate the House bill, Sen. John Hickenlooper told CNNs Manu Raju. But the Colorado Democrat was leaning toward voting for the measure despite warning that it would give Trump more time to jam through the sweeping government cuts that are exactly what weve been fighting against. However, on Wednesday evening, he said in a video on X he had decided to vote against the Republicans short-term funding extension, arguing it would give Trump more power to undermine spending authority granted to Congress by the Constitution. Sen. John Hickenlooper speaks with CNN's Manu Raju on Wednesday, March 12. - CNN The arguments for mounting a Senate blockade even at the risk of a government shutdown are mostly rooted in the opportunity for Democrats to show some resistance to the most disruptive first 100 days in modern presidential history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A vote to stall the bill in the full knowledge that the government would be shuttered would represent a bet that despite their bullishness, Republicans would still pay a political price for a shutdown as vital workers toil without pay, thousands more are furloughed and critical services such as airport security and public health risk being disrupted. If they frustrate the Republican plan, the Democrats will at least be doing something that they can show their restless voters. Democrats would also be hoping to put pressure on Johnson and to make him face a backlash for sending his members home. Theyd hope either to gain some concessions that could slow the Trump juggernaut or to open fissures in the tiny GOP House majority that could be important in later, more critical fights. As well as the possibility that theyd be inadvertently putting some government departments at risk, the party would be complicit in causing pain to the very federal workers it is trying to protect. A shutdown could be yet another shock to an economy that is already showing signs of distress, as consumer demand ebbs and trauma widens over Trumps trade wars. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is one of the few Democrats to openly argue for passing the stopgap bill after previously irking some grassroots members of his party by accommodating some of Trumps policies and nominees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you shut it down, you will impact and hurt millions and millions and millions of Americans, and you run the risk of slipping us into a recession or even all kinds of other things, Fetterman told CNNs Manu Raju on Wednesday. Remember what you were voting for. You were voting to shut the government down, and that will absolutely punish millions, millions of Americans, Fetterman said. Sen. John Fetterman speaks with members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 12, 2025. - Nathan Howard/Reuters Fettermans attitude will look like an abdication to many Democrats who have been demanding tougher action from their representatives in Washington. But it also underscores one unpalatable fact the party is constantly forced to face: It lacks the power to make a real impact. The earliest that can change is the midterm elections in 2026, when Democrats hope historical precedents will hold firm and theyll recapture the House and the power to check the incumbent president. But their odds of overturning the GOPs current 53-47 edge in the Senate are problematic, with only two Republican-held seats, in Maine and North Carolina, sure bets to be competitive, and with several incumbent Democrats looking vulnerable. The equation became even more daunting Wednesday when Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire a state that only narrowly went to Democrats in the 2024 presidential election announced she will not run for reelection, opening a competitive race for her seat. This story has been updated with additional developments. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com LEESBURG, Va. House Democrats on Thursday rejected Republican criticism that theyve been slacking in their standards of decorum. We will not take a lecture on decorum from a party that incited an insurrection, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) said at a press conference during an annual retreat outside of Washington for House Democrats. Several Democratic lawmakers protested during President Donald Trumps speech at the Capitol last week and have used profanity on multiple other occasions recently, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to chide them earlier this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre in a panic mode right now, and so you see them lashing out. You see increasing profanity, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. Many of you have written about this new track theyve taken, the new strategy where they just scream and shout and curse at everyone. Ten Democrats joined all Republicans last week in voting to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for disrupting Trumps speech. Green stood and pointed his cane at the president, saying he had no mandate to cut Medicaid, until Johnson ordered him escorted out of the chamber. It was the first time a lawmaker got thrown out of a presidential address and indeed the worst breach of decorum in the Capitol since a pro-Trump mob stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to stop lawmakers from certifying Trumps loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the No. 2 Democrat in the House, was asked Thursday if she would speak to her Republican counterparts about decorum in the House in response to the Green censure as well as Republicans describing McBride, a transgender woman, as a man. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their focus on our decorum or our behavior while they are burning down things for people at home just makes me livid, Clark said. If they want to focus on acting like children and misgendering Sarah, like what are we doing? Because they are systematically taking apart our country. The Trump administration has empowered billionaire Elon Musk to tear through federal agencies in search of efficiency, an effort that has precipitated mass layoffs, contract cancellations and chaos across the federal government. The administration has sought to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development as well as the Department of Education, even though both were created by laws passed by Congress. Musks downsizing efforts have been Democrats chief complaint in a government funding battle that could lead to a government shutdown Friday if Senate Democrats refuse to vote for a stopgap funding bill. McBride said she believed she lived rent free inside Republicans heads and said they are obsessed with culture wars. I wish that they would spend even a fraction of the time that they spend thinking about me thinking about how to lower the costs for American families. I wish they would spend a fraction of the time that they spend thinking about me figuring out how to make government actually work better rather than making it work worse in order to prove that government cant work. Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, was among Senate Democrats passing on a bill meant to provide Kentucky health care providers with more clarity regarding the state's laws on abortion. (LRC Public Information) In response to what one Republican called a desperate need for clarity in Kentucky abortion law, the General Assembly has approved language detailing the bans life of the mother exception and specifying some situations when doctors may end complex pregnancies. Once a bill only to pave the way for freestanding birth centers in Kentucky, House Bill 90 now carries the abortion clarification language. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation can now go to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear for a signature or veto. He said he couldnt say what hell do when asked about it during a weekly news conference Thursday, but he does have questions. He pointed out that Kentuckys abortion ban still would have no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, exceptions he has openly supported. Even with this bill, it would be significantly less access than virtually every other state in the United States, Beshear said. He also said he has questions about whether the new language would clarify or confuse the legal picture for health care providers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We were told by those that passed the trigger law originally that it provided an exception for the life of the mother, and now this bill is saying that it needs to be passed through law, Beshear said. So one question Im going to have is: Is it more or less restrictive than the current understanding in the medical community that we have right now? Doctors just need to be doctors All Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate passed on the vote Thursday morning, saying they hadnt had time to review the changes, which were first made public Wednesday, or to understand if the amendment would help or hurt pregnant women and medical providers. There is a desperate need for clarity on a lot of medical issues that come up during the course of a pregnancy, said Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville,who carried HB 90 in the Senate. There is a lot of misinformation out there in the medical community, and doctors just need to be doctors. And so this language thats before us today adds some much needed clarity for the medical community. The House, which voted to concur with the Senate a few hours later, was less united with two Republicans opposing the changes and one Democrat supporting it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Rachel Roarx, D-Louisville, said its currently terrifying to be someone who can become pregnant in the state and voted in favor of the bill because if it does grant a pregnant individual the opportunity to have lifeaving care, then we need to do that. Rep. Kim King, R-Harrodsburg, meanwhile, voted against the bill, saying the changes dont really expand or protect pro-life measures here in Kentucky. Health care professionals in Kentucky and beyond have long said the states abortion laws are too medically vague and inhibit their ability to properly treat miscarriages, hemorrhages and other emergencies. The clarification language was first added to a different bill Wednesday, but that bill House Bill 414 has yet to clear a chamber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The clarification still instructs health care providers to make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child. But it specifies that doctors can intervene to remove molar and ectopic pregnancies, manage miscarriages, treat sepsis and hemorrhage and more. It also leaves the determination of an emergency to the physicians reasonable medical judgment. In a statement after passage of HB 90, Amber Duke, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the changes demonstrate the Kentucky General Assembly recognizes that when people experience pregnancy complications that put their lives at risk, they should receive appropriate medical care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, this bill does nothing to restore the right to abortion in the Commonwealth, Duke said. We will continue to fight to ensure that all Kentuckians, regardless of their circumstances, will be able to receive the abortion care that they need. It cant be rushed Since the U.S. Supreme Court ushered in Kentuckys near-total abortion ban in 2022 by overturning the federal right to abortion, Republican legislative leaders have kept bills proposing exceptions to the ban bottled up until Wednesday when two committees approved what Republicans say is clarifying language. During the House debate, Rep. Matthew Lehman, D-Newport, said the proposed change was shoved in our face. This body is the reason these women are in danger, he said. We dont give credit to firemen when they put out a fire that they started. The terrible part of this bill is were expecting women to get sick or be on the brink of death before they are allowed to make choices on their body. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg, who sponsored HB 414, said that under no circumstances is this language expected or intended to be prescriptive. Within this language, it says that reasonable medical judgment means the range of conclusions or recommendations that licensed medical practitioners with similar sufficient training and experience may communicate to a patient based upon current and available medical evidence, Tate said. Theres also a clause within this language that says that in cases of emergencies, that the reasonable medical judgment can be used. That change, Tate said, will save lives. Rep. Sarah Stalker, D-Louisville, said she would have supported HB 90 if it was still just a freestanding birth center bill, but voted against it with the abortion edits, calling the changes false hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are seeing this happening at a national level, and its terrifying. You have to pay attention to the language and the words that are being used very intentionally in this legislation to avoid medically accurate terminology, to make it appear as if women still have protections, as if people still have choices in certain circumstances when they do not, she said. In the Senate, Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, said she would support anything that will save the lives of pregnant women in this state but she felt the language was rushed through the process. Chambers Armstrong said she hadnt received the bill substitute in time to understand it and consult with experts, slamming an intentional choice by the majority party in the way this legislation was moved to disenfranchise me and the people I represent on this very important issue. I really hope that this bill does take a step forward in terms of allowing doctors to provide lifesaving care. I truly hope that that is what this legislation does. However, I dont know that, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In committees Wednesday, Dr. Jeffrey M. Goldberg, the legislative advocacy chair for the Kentucky chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), said the language isnt perfect and will need more work. But, he said, physicians already work under such ambiguity that something has to be done. Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said the effort at clarity is still full of words that have no meaning to a physician. Its an excellent effort to fix a huge huge problem of our own making, said Berg, who is also a doctor. But it cant be rushed. It needs to be right. McKenna Horsley contributed to this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Democratic Party has been trying to paint negotiations as appeasement. During the 2024 elections, the Democratic platform condemned then-candidate Donald Trump's "fecklessness" on Iran and "love letters" to North Korea. When Trump argued that the U.S. should negotiate with countries like Iran and Russia over economic sanctions, Kamala Harris' campaign attacked his "weak" and "reckless foreign policy." But some Democrats seem to regret taking that line. "Being afraid to negotiate, to my mind, is the ultimate sign of weakness because it just proves that you think that if I get in a room, you're going to trick me and I'm going to do something stupid," Rep. Adam Smith (DWash.) said during a panel discussion Wednesday. Smith, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, was speaking to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an antiwar nonprofit where I worked as a researcher in 2020 and 2021. When asked by Quincy Institute Vice President Trita Parsi whether Democrats were seen as warmongers, Smith admitted that the party "walked into that problem." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The congressman argued that Democrats must "much more aggressively embrace diplomacy. I think we should have been much louder during the Biden administration." He claimed to have always believed "that the Biden administration should have directly talked to Russia," although not in a way that led to "shutting off Ukraine and leaving them completely vulnerable the way Trump just did." Smith concurred with Parsi's claim that Democrats could "reclaim the position as the party that actually promoted diplomacy, opposed stupid wars." Not all Democrats agree with Smith's criticism, of course. During confirmation hearings for Trump appointee Elbridge Colby last week, several Democratic senators doubled down on a hawkish line of attack, complaining about Trump's eagerness to talk to Russia. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (DIll.) put it the most bluntly: "Trump is in the middle of a capitulation, not a negotiation." At the Quincy Institute event, Smith blamed "pressure from the right and pressure from the left" for the Democrats' muddled stance. The Democratic Party is trying to balance between Republicans, who call Democrats weak in the face of adversaries, and leftists, who believe that Democrats are in bed with "neoconservative global dominance visions" and "jump all over us for anything we do," he argued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "My father used to have this expression that between two stools, you sit on the floor," Smith concluded. Smith isn't the first person to note the problem of the "defensive crouch" in Democratic foreign policy. By accepting hawks' "framing of the issues" and trying to win on those grounds, Democrats often "box themselves in to continuing policies that they have previously declared failures," journalist Daniel Larison wrote in 2021, several months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Rather than drumming up public support, Democrats' hawkish turn has hurt them politically. Americans disapproved of former President Joe Biden's handling of Russia and Ukraine by 22 percent in 2024, but a slim majority approved of Trump's handling of the issue by February 2025, polls showed. Trump's more hawkish proposalstaking over Gaza, Greenland, and Canadapoll very badly. A new poll released by CNN on Wednesday shows that a slim majority thinks that Trump is not "an effective world leader." It's not that Trump's foreign policy is particularly popular; it's that Democrats' hawkish approach has been particularly unpopular. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beyond criticizing the domestic politics of hawkishness, Smith acknowledged that it's "simply not possible to have that level of dominance" over the entire world that the U.S. had after World War II or the Cold War. "We're going to have to look for partnerships, alliances and a little bit more flexibility on the whole democracy, autocracy thing, in order to build that stable world that we envisioned," he said. The post Are Democrats Regretting Trying To Out-Hawk Trump? appeared first on Reason.com. For the second consecutive time, Democrat Stephen Miller-Pitts (right) is seeking to oust Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, in what used to be a safe Republican 75th House of Delegates District. But this year, Miller-Pitts is facing two primary challengers. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Miller-Pitts for Virginia) Stephen Miller-Pitts is making his second bid to unseat Republican Del. Carrie Coyner in the 75th House District, which includes parts of Chesterfield and Prince George counties and the city of Hopewell. The combat veteran, educator, service-disabled small business owner and community activist previously ran against Coyner in 2023, losing by just five percentage points. Now, he is one of three Democrats vying for his partys nomination, a testament to the growing Democratic enthusiasm in the district fueled by President Donald Trumps aggressive mass layoff policies, which have sent shockwaves through Virginias workforce and left many families in economic uncertainty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I built a lot of great momentum and community engagement with my first run, and I really wanted to build upon what we did two years ago when nobody really was looking at this seat, Miller-Pitts told The Mercury in a phone interview Wednesday. He emphasized that the district is peculiar, because its rural, urban and suburban all in one, and those are three different mindsets and constituent bases that need resources and individuals advocating for them at the General Assembly. And so thats why Im jumping back in the race again. Miller-Pitts decision to run again is emblematic of a broader surge in Democratic enthusiasm across Virginia. As Trump settles into his second term in the White House, Virginia Democrats are seizing the moment, launching campaigns in 92 of the 100 House of Delegates districts, a number that is set to grow in the coming weeks before the April 3 filing deadline for the June 17 statewide primary elections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ken Nunnenkamp, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia, pushed back against the idea that Democrats hold an enthusiasm advantage heading into the 2025 House elections. In a phone interview Wednesday, he dismissed the notion that a higher number of Democratic candidates signals greater energy within the party. Im not ready to say that theres an enthusiasm gap, Nunnenkamp said. The only thing we can say is that Democrats may have had more people file early, but I dont really think that means much. He argued that the number of contested Democratic primaries is not necessarily a sign of strength but rather a reflection of more candidates stepping forward. The number of people that are running in a Democratic primary doesnt tell me anything about their enthusiasm, at least not enthusiasm to beat Republicans, he said. It just tells me that two people want to run instead of one. Nunnenkamp maintained that Republicans remain well-positioned heading into the general election, despite the disparity in early candidate filings. The GOP is fielding candidates in just 63 districts and are only challenging Democrats in 13 of the 51 seats that Democrats currently hold. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This imbalance has sparked optimism among Democratic operatives and grassroots organizers who see 2025 as an opportunity to capitalize on anti-Trump fervor much like they did in 2017. That year, Democrats flipped 15 House seats, dismantled a Republican supermajority, and came within a single disputed ballot and a random drawing of achieving a 50-50 split in the chamber. Now, they hope to replicate that energy. In the 75th District, shifting political trends offer Democrats a glimmer of hope. In 2024, both then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine carried the district, signaling its leftward drift in a now politically diverse region that has increasingly become a battleground. Running against Lindsey Dougherty and Dustin Wade, Miller-Pitts faces a competitive primary, one of 13 Democratic nomination contests taking place across the state compared to just four Republican primaries. The crowded field underscores how Democrats are currently embracing intra-party competition as a sign of vitality, while Republicans appear to struggle to recruit candidates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Democratic Party is very data driven, Miller-Pitts said. And the data shows that because of the inroads that I believe I made two years ago, the shifting demographics and the diversity of the district, all of that is making it lean more blue. Coyner, the districts Republican incumbent, did not respond to requests for comment. Primaries as a weapon, not a weakness The growing number of contested Democratic primaries, rather than signaling division, is a sign of surging excitement among the partys base, said Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, the campaigns chair for the House Democratic Caucus. So much of this is organic and a reaction to Elon Musk and Donald Trump doing everything they can to destroy the lives and livelihoods of Virginians and bring the country down with them, Helmer said. And we are seeing the reaction to that in real time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rather than draining party resources ahead of the general election, Helmer argues that a competitive primary season will only strengthen Democratic chances in November. I think that there is just incredible Democratic enthusiasm right now, and these primaries are a reflection of that Democratic enthusiasm, he said. Primaries often make our candidates stronger, they get their names out there, and we think the enthusiasm that were seeing is reflected in the fact that there are primaries in districts against what were previously thought to be strong Republican candidates. Helmer noted that in recent months Democrats have aggressively expanded their footprint across Virginia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have mounted expansive recruiting efforts, he said. There are 59 House districts that were won by Kamala Harris, and were running candidates in districts that Trump won. We believe that because of the unwillingness of House Republicans to stand up and make sure that we protect Virginians, to not stand up for Virginia, there is going to be a significant political penalty and there ought to be. But Nunnenkamp dismissed the idea that Democratic primaries signal enthusiasm, arguing instead that they highlight deep divisions within the party. I do hear a lot of noise on social media, but I dont think were seeing nearly the level of Democrat enthusiasm that would be necessary for them to have a good year, he said. I think they have a serious problem in their own party, and theyre divided on a lot of things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nunnenkamp contended that Democrats have relied on opposing Trump for years but now struggle to define their platform. For eight years, Democrats have campaigned on one thing Trump bad, he said. And now that he has won, voters are going to get to look at what the actual Democrat platform is aside from just hating Trump. Rather than a show of strength, Nunnenkamp suggested that competitive Democratic primaries in key districts reveal ideological fractures. People just cant agree on things, he said. Instead of enthusiasm, we are actually going to see a lot of negativity and more infighting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He predicted Democrats would struggle to unite behind a clear message. I think were already seeing the beginnings of a massive fracture on the left, Nunnenkamp said. Voters are shrewd enough to understand that Trump is not on the ballot. Pushing Democrats to compete in every district But Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, also sees the surge of Democratic candidates in Virginias 2025 elections as part of a broader trend fueled by voter anger and dissatisfaction with the party in power. He notes that Virginia elections tend to follow a cycle where the party that loses the White House sees a surge in enthusiasm the following year. Virginia elections are all about angry voters, Farnsworth said. The party that loses the White House is energized for elections the following year in a way that the party that won the White House is not so energized. Democrats in 2017 had a recruitment bonanza with many motivated candidates requiring many primaries. It looks like 2025 is also going to be a peak year for Democrats running for office. Farnsworth also emphasized the strategic advantage of fielding candidates in as many districts as possible, even in traditionally Republican strongholds. He explained that running candidates in deep-red districts isnt just about flipping seats its about boosting turnout for statewide races. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its good for both parties to run candidates in as many districts as possible, because it helps the statewide candidates, he said. If you think about your partys voters in an area where your party is in a minority, having a candidate on a ballot can help the statewide candidate of that party, even if the local House delegate candidate loses. One of the leading advocates for that approach is Dr. Fergie Reid, Jr., a retired physician who has spent years urging Virginia Democrats to support candidates in deep-red districts that party leaders often dismiss as unwinnable. As the son of Dr. William Ferguson Reid, Sr. who in 1967 became the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly since Reconstruction Reid Jr. has dedicated himself to expanding Democratic outreach. Through the 90 for 90 Voter Registration Project, which he helped launch in 2015 to honor his fathers 90th birthday, Reid spends hours on the phone each day, recruiting candidates and organizing voter registration efforts. The initiatives mission is to field Democratic candidates in every legislative district, whether party officials deem them competitive or not. This long-term strategy has sometimes put Reid at odds with Democratic leadership, who prefer to concentrate resources on winnable races. But he remains steadfast in his belief that broad candidate recruitment is crucial to Democratic success, especially with a president in the White House who is deeply unpopular in Virginia. If there is a phrase in American politics that explains this, its an enthusiasm gap, he said of this years record recruitment among Democrats in red districts, for which he largely takes credit. This cycle, Democrats could pick up five or six seats in the House. And there are a dozen seats that Kamala Harris won last year that are currently held by Republicans those are the ones that the House caucus wants badly. If we get Democratic candidates running in all 100 districts, all the big-time, long-term Republicans with the big bank accounts are going to spend a lot of money on themselves instead of flipping it over to other competitive districts. Reid has long argued that Democratic party leaders have been slow to embrace the benefits of challenging Republicans everywhere. They didnt see over the horizon, which you kind of have to do in politics, he said. In 2017, they ran in 88 out of the 100 districts, and this year Democrats are already at 92. But Republicans are at 63 they are giving away 37 districts right now. Reid sees the current state of Virginia Republicans as further proof that the GOP is struggling to hold its ground, particularly in the gubernatorial race. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, despite Gov. Glenn Youngkins endorsement, is trailing in the polls in a head-to-head matchup with former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger. She also faces two potential primary challengers: former state Del. Dave LaRock and former state senator Amanda Chase. Republicans are in disarray, Reid said. They had their chosen candidate, the lieutenant governor, historically in Virginia the person who was going to rise to the governorship. But theyre having a primary because theyre not happy with Winsome Sears. Dave LaRock and Amanda Chase are getting in, running to Winsome Sears right, and thats pushing Republicans further to the right. A spokeswoman for Earle-Sears did not respond to emails seeking comment. While Virginia Democrats have already coalesced around Spanberger, their down-ballot races remain competitive, something Reid views as a sign of a vibrant party. Democrats have a seven-way primary for lieutenant governor and a two-way for attorney general, he noted. For Reid, the numbers tell the story. By fielding candidates in every district, he believes Democrats can force Republicans to spend more money defending their own incumbents, rather than targeting swing seats. And though his push for aggressive candidate recruitment has sometimes irritated party insiders, he remains convinced that the long-term benefits will be worth it. And for once, Susan Swecker, the outgoing chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, finds herself in agreement with Reid when it comes to the partys strategy of contesting as many districts as possible. Were proud that Democrats are running in 92 out of 100 districts as of today, and it proves what weve known all along Virginians are done with Donald Trumps disastrous policies and his attacks on our economy and workforce, Swecker said. She pointed to recent election trends as evidence that Democrats are well-positioned to make gains in November. We saw this same energy when Kamala Harris won 59 out of 100 of these districts, and its clear that Trumps toxic influence has left Republicans scrambling, unable to rally their base, she said. Swecker and other Democratic leaders and organizers believe that the GOPs internal divisions, coupled with a weakened national brand, will make it harder for Republicans to hold onto key districts. With an energized Democratic base and a broad slate of candidates, Swecker is confident her party will capitalize on the moment. Democrats are fired up and ready to fight for a future that works for all Virginians, she said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE JUBA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said violence in South Sudan's northern counties of Nasir and Ulang has escalated rapidly, forcing more than 10,000 people to flee to neighboring Ethiopia. As of Monday, over 10,000 people had crossed into Ethiopia's Gambella Region, up from 6,900 just days earlier on March 6, UNHCR said in a statement Wednesday evening. "The numbers are increasing at an alarming rate and local authorities are tracking and assisting the displaced individuals, as they are dispersed across various communities, especially in the Burbiey and Matar areas," the agency said. The fighting in Nasir, a strategic town, intensified after March 3, leading to the arrest of senior government and military officials from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition, led by First Vice President Riek Machar. More than 20 people have been reported killed, with several others injured on the outskirts of Nasir, near the South Sudan-Ethiopia border. On March 7, a general and dozens of soldiers from the South Sudan People's Defense Forces as well as one UN personnel, were killed when the White Army, a militia allied with the opposition, opened fire as they boarded a UN helicopter during an evacuation mission in Nasir. According to UNHCR, the violence since mid-February has displaced tens of thousands within South Sudan, with 50,000 people newly displaced in Nasir and 34,000 in Ulang. Most new arrivals in Ethiopia have entered via Wanthoa, moving through Burbiey to Matar. Many are seeking shelter within host communities, while others are staying in makeshift shelters using plastic sheeting, UNHCR said. Andrew Mbogori, UNHCR's country representative in Ethiopia, called for more resources to meet the growing needs of displaced populations. "The absorption capacity in the border areas is severely overstretched and local authorities are facing significant challenges in managing the crisis. The numbers are expected to continue rising, creating a more urgent need for assistance," Mbogori said. UNHCR said its teams have completed a risk analysis, considering different scenarios, and are implementing mitigation measures on the ground. (Bloomberg) -- Senate Democrats dug in Thursday in their standoff with Republicans over Elon Musks cost-cutting crusade as a Saturday US government shutdown neared with no resolution in sight. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several moderate Senate Democrats signaled on Thursday theyll vote to block the bill, preferring instead a four-week funding patch that would allow time for cross-party talks on language to rein in Musk and scrap a $1 billion cut to the District of Columbia budget. The two Democratic senators from the swing state of Arizona Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego as well as New Mexicos Ben Ray Lujan, New Jersey Andy Kim and Virginias Mark Warner support a blockade of the bill. Democrats most dedicated and active voters are clamoring for a confrontation to constrain President Donald Trump and Musks efforts to dismantle entire federal agencies. But many moderates had been wary of shutting down the government and risking being blamed for interrupting government services. Many of them prefer to join battle over protecting Medicaid or other broadly supported government benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the tone in the Senate, particularly among these key moderates, is becoming less conciliatory the closer the shutdown deadline comes. I know what Im doing, Gallego told reporters on Thursday afternoon. The statements came amid a heated Senate Democratic lunch on the topic where shouting was heard for the third day in a row. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer declared a day earlier his party would block a Republican spending bill to avert the impending shutdown and urged the GOP to accept a Democratic plan to provide funding through April 11 instead. Trump said Thursday afternoon he is open to direct negotiations with Schumer on the funding package. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If they need me, Im there, 100%, Trump told reporters at the White House. The Senate Republican leader, John Thune, told reporters earlier Thursday he was waiting for Democrats to offer a deal on amendment votes to avert a shutdown. Confident that it would fail, he said he is willing to allow a vote on the Democratic proposal if Democrats allow a vote on the House passed bill. Senate moderates continued to be coy about whether they would block the House bill if the shutdown deadline was imminent. Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Elissa Slotkin all demurred when asked. The stalemate heightens the risk of a shutdown at a time financial markets are hyper-sensitive to new disruption as US stocks have been whipsawed by Trumps on-again, off-again tariff threats. But traders Thursday morning were focused primarily on the latest turn in the trade conflict, which Trump threatened to escalate with a 200% tariff on European wine, rather than the shutdown drama. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear whether Schumer can muster support from moderate Democrats to carry out his threat, much less sustain a blockade over an extended shutdown which could cause political blowback and hurt already embattled federal workers. The legislation to fund the government is a rare moment of leverage for Democrats, who have lost the White House and dont control either chamber of Congress. But Republican leaders rebuffed Democrats efforts to include any constraints on Musks Department of Government Efficiency. House Republicans passed legislation on Tuesday to finance the government through Sept. 30, daring moderate Democrats in the Senate to block the measure over objections it fails to constrain Musk. House Republicans then left Washington for a two-week break. In the Senate, 60 votes are needed to cut off procedural obstacles and Republicans only have 53 senators in the chamber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thune told reporters Wednesday evening he is open to allowing Democrats a vote on a short-term spending bill if they give consent to all final votes on the House measure, known as a continuing resolution, before the deadline. In the end, we want to fund the government. Hopefully they do, too, Thune said. --With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Senate Minority Leader Schumer says Senate Democrats will reject the House-passed government funding bill as a shutdown looms. NBC News' Julie Tsirkin reports the latest from Capitol Hill. USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page joins Ana Cabrera to weigh in on the potential political impact for Democrats. FORT PIERCE A Colorado dentist who flew to West Palm Beach in hopes of having sex with a child will spend more than a decade in federal prison for the crime. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sentenced Jason James Atha to 15 years Tuesday for traveling with child pornography and attempted child enticement, charges to which Atha pleaded guilty in December. The penalty is five years more than Atha's lawyer asked for and five years fewer than prosecutors did. "It's not the sentence we hoped for, but it was fair," said defense attorney Anthony Solis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following his release from prison, Atha, 52, must register as a sex offender and will be subject to a lifetime of supervised release. That entails computer restrictions, no contact with children, unannounced searches of his home and required sex offender treatment. Atha's parents, aunts and uncles attended Tuesday's hearing in Fort Pierce but did not address the judge. Dentist chatted online with undercover officer, planned to molest her daughter Atha connected online with an undercover Homeland Security officer posing as the mother of an 8-year-old daughter in October 2023. In a series of texts and recorded phone calls, investigators say Atha hatched a plan to join the mother and daughter for a weekend in West Palm Beach, suggesting that he start "playing" with the child on the drive home from the airport. When asked by the undercover officer if he'd had sex with a mother-daughter duo before, the dentist said "unfortunately no." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I have had so many of what I thought were opportunities, only to get ghosted when it got down to it," he wrote. Go deeper: Dentist arrested at PBIA, accused of trying to have sex with undercover officer's child Atha flew to West Palm Beach from Denver on Aug. 9. Federal agents arrested him minutes after he arrived at Palm Beach International Airport and found child pornography and chocolate-flavored lubricant among his belongings. Atha told his arresting officers that he wanted to watch the mother and daughter have sex not join in but his text messages indicated that the opposite was true. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The woman asked Atha on numerous occasions if he was sure he wanted to have sex with her daughter. Each time, he said he was. In one conversation, he asked the mother to dress the child in a halter top with "short shorts," lipstick and eye shadow. In several others, he promised to wear a condom. When asked his age preference, Atha said 8 and up. Colorado dentist gave up license in wake of arrest Atha pleaded guilty to both charges against him in December, paving the way for a potential life sentence. Though he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, federal sentencing guidelines recommended a penalty between 17.5 years and about 21 years. Solis asked the judge to depart from the guidelines and sentence him to 10 years instead. In a 14-page motion, he maintained that Atha's crimes were "aberrational conduct" and said the collateral consequences he'd suffered were "arguably more devastating" than any prison sentence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These include estrangement from his ex-wife and daughters, as well as the loss of his dentistry license. "Mr. Atha has destroyed the 20-year career he built for himself a career that afforded him respect in his community and profession, that provided him and his family needed support, and for which he toiled for years to create," Solis wrote. He said Atha was "financially decimated" in the wake of his arrest and had lost his home, his car, a great deal of his savings and much of his personal property. "The community in Colorado that paid him so much respect was rife with media reports providing lurid details of the offense, culled from the criminal complaint in this matter," the attorney added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Atha did not deny those details when given the chance at his plea conference in December. Prior to his arrest, Atha's "about me" section on the website of Alpine Dentistry, the office in Colorado where he worked since 2001, said Atha traveled every summer to North Carolina to perform free dental work for children and adults who would otherwise go without. The page was removed shortly after his arrest. Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Colorado dentist Jason Atha sent to prison for attempted child sex COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The president of the Ohio Education Association called Wednesday a sad day for everyone in education after the U.S. Department of Education announced it will lay off more than 1,300 employees. This is the latest move by the Trump administration to cut government spending. Scott DiMauro, the president of the Ohio Education Association, said he fears this is going to have negative ripple effects on the states department of education. When you eliminate half the staff, its going to be very difficult for the department to do the job that it was authorized to do, DiMauro said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DiMauro said while the federal DOE does not set learning standards for curriculum, he said they are primarily responsible for school funding. He fears much of that will be lost. Im really concerned about ultimately the impact that this is going to have on exploding class sizes, a loss of civil rights, protections for students, and just a loss of overall support for public education here in Ohio, DiMauro said. Intel stock up 12% after announcing new familiar CEO A statement from the U.S. Department of Education said these cuts will not impact student aid, formula funding for states, operations for students with disabilities, and Pell grants. The department said it focused these layoffs on teams that were unnecessary. Republican strategist Matt Dole said he thinks bringing the responsibilities back to the states will be a good thing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think when they return to the states, the state should disseminate a lot of that responsibility to the school boards, which of course are the most local entities to their communities, and I think thats a positive, Dole said. It may mean more work, it may mean more work, but I think it will improve education the closer we get to the money and the regulation. However, DiMauro fears the states will not be able to keep up with these demands. Well, right now, the states already struggling to fulfill its own constitutional responsibility to fully and fairly fund our public schools, DiMauro said. We see right now across Ohio with pending state budget cuts on top of struggles to get levies passed at the local level. When you take away federal resources on top of that, and that just creates even more pressure. I dont know that the state has the capacity to fill in when federal programs just go away. President Trump has said several times that he has plans to get rid of the Department of Education altogether and leave it up to the states. That cannot happen without an act of Congress. A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce said they do not believe there will be any impact on local staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) Federal worker fallout is now hitting the education sector. School districts are concerned after 1,300 people at the U.S. Department of Education were fired Tuesday. That cut the DOEs workforce roughly in half. DC Council considers ways to build more resilient economy amid uncertainty from federal government Teachers are worried that students who need the most assistance wont get it, including low-income and special education students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My initial reaction is just being appalled, said David Walrod, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. Walrod said one of the key functions of DOE is oversight, making sure civil rights laws are followed. Fairfax County Public Schools during the pandemic was not providing the services they needed to our students with disabilities, Walrod said. The federal Department of Education were the one that stepped in and made sure that those families got what they needed. The DOEs civil rights branch is losing nearly half its staff, although officials insisted the cuts will not affect civil rights investigations. They described the reductions as strategic decisions. Right now, Secretary McMahon is trying to say that no functions are going to be dropped. Its going to be business as usual, Walrod said. But how in the world can business as usual maintain when you cut half of the folks that are doing the work? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Economics expert weighs in on how close we are to a recession On a statewide level, Sen. Stella Pekarsky says Virginia has invested record amounts in K-12 and higher education. $2.6 billion of federal funding represents about 11% of the budget, she said. The state cannot absorb that. That is not realistic, but we are going to do whatever we can to ensure that no child is left behind in Virginia, Pekarsky said. But this is going to have a massive impact on our ability to provide the best education to students at the end of the day. The Department of Educations D.C. headquarters and regional offices were closed Wednesday for security reasons. They will reopen on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advocates in Fairfax County said they will be watching closely to see what happens. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. I was working on the Hill In 1987, when Congressman Barney Frank courageously came out as gay, becoming one of the first out gay members of Congress. His revelation was met with a mix of support and blatant discrimination. Trust me, I had to hear all the gay jokes about Frank and laugh along with everyone else because I couldnt dare voice words of support for him that would have suggested that I was gay too. However, publicly, it seemed, most members of Congress didnt make a big fuss about it, at least that I can recall. I even remember the congressman I worked for, Austin Murphy , more or less just shrugging his shoulders. As an aside, when Murphy left office in 1995, Frank inherited our congressional office, 2210 Rayburn, and I recall Murphy telling me that he left a note on the desk for Frank that said something to the effect that I was going to leave you my little black book, but I figured youd have no use for it. Frank had a great sense of humor, so Im sure that elicited a laugh. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, there were some outliers. A glaring example of bigotry occurred in 1995 when then-House Majority Leader Dick Armey referred to Frank as "Barney Fag ." Armey later claimed it was a slip of the tongue, but Frank aptly retorted, "I turned to my own expert, my mother, who reports that in 59 years of marriage, no one ever introduced her as Elsie Fag." This incident highlighted the deep-seated homophobia within the political sphere at the time, yet Armey then issued an apology to Frank. Current House Republicans could take a lesson from that, but chances are they have no idea what the definition of remorse or, for that matter, respect is. The recent abhorrent historically abhorrent treatment of U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride , the first out transgender member of Congress, by House Republicans is not only a stark reminder of the persistent bigotry that continues to plague Republicans, but it also demonstrates that the days of a Republican apologizing for offending an LGBTQ+ person have been relegated to the dustbin of history. On Tuesday, during a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing, Republican Chairman Keith Self deliberately misgendered McBride by addressing McBride as "Mr." This intentional act of disrespect prompted McBride to respond with grace, thanking him by saying, "Thank you, Madam Chair." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The situation escalated when Democratic Rep. Bill Keating intervened, questioning Self's decency. Keating using that word was perhaps no accident. It was a poignant echo of the famous rebuke to Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Red Scare: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" That phrase, uttered by Joseph Welch , the special counsel for the U.S. Army, in response to an off-the-rails and offensive McCarthy question, has withstood the test of time. Whenever I utter, write, or read the word decency, I think of Welch, so when Keating repeated the same line Tuesday, it brought back the horrifically historical time of McCarthy, when his treatment of those targeted by his anti-communist crusade bordered on outright cruelty. On Tuesday, Self was taking a page from McCarthys brutality. Instead of correcting his misconduct and apologizing to McBride (Wait, apologize? Forget that), Self chose to adjourn the meeting abruptly, further showcasing his and others of his ilks blatant disrespect and intolerance. This incident is not isolated but part of a broader pattern of discriminatory actions targeting Congresswoman McBride. And I cannot think of a historical equal when one member of Congress was singled out so viciously and her perpetrators not reprimanded, censured, or fined , which is what used to happen when a member got out of line. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this year, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution aimed at banning transgender individuals from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity within the U.S. Capitol. Mace was explicitly targeting McBride, misgendering her in public statements and asserting that it was "offensive" for a trans woman to consider herself equal to cisgender women. Then there was the Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller, who called McBride a gentleman while speaking on the House floor. She later took to social media and bragged about it. The vitriol extends beyond legislative measures. Some House Republicans have taken to social media platforms, spewing atrocious comments and perpetuating harmful stereotypes about transgender people. That, of course, includes the hideous Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene who in January accused McBride of being a child predator . This is a deliberate and orchestrated campaign of hate and is reminiscent of the McCarthy era's tactics, when fearmongering and character assassination were tools to suppress dissent and diversity. However, in this case, the attacks are beyond personal. They are repugnant, and I use that word purposefully. McCarthy was the epitome of repugnant, and current House Republicans are echoing his disgusting behavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the assault on McBride and the transgender community by House Republicans surpasses even McCarthy's malice. The deliberate misgendering, the introduction of discriminatory bills, and the propagation of hate speech on social media are attacks on not just an individual but an entire group of people, fostering an environment of intolerance and exclusion. The targeted harassment of McBride only fuels the transphobia that still permeates our society. When loathsome Republicans perpetuate the hate, it cascades out and gives bigoted individuals a permission structure to pile on with their own hate. When I spoke to Democratic members of Congress recently, including House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi , Rep. Ro Khanna , Rep. Maxwell Frost , and Sen. Chris Murphy , they all said the same thing basically that this hate campaign against McBride and the trans community is going to come back to haunt Republicans. To a person, they all echoed the same sentiment that Americans are not inherently cruel, and they dont condone cruel treatment of fellow Americans, particularly those from marginalized communities. In the face of such adversity, McBride has demonstrated remarkable resilience and grace. Her commitment to serving her constituents and advocating for equality remains steadfast, embodying the true spirit of public service. Her behavior is more indicative of what I remember when I worked on the Hill. Yes, members of Congress arent angels, but there was a level of civility that doesnt exist today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the end, McBrides presence in Congress is still a victory for the transgender community; however, being a first comes with enormous pain for that person who steps forward. McBride is bearing the brunt right now, but history will treat her with reverence. Conversely, history will be downright cruel to the inhumanity and the indecency of todays House Republicans. GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) Deputies with the Greenville County Sheriffs Office are investigating a deadly stabbing that took place Wednesday night. Officials said they received a call around 10:14 p.m. regarding an assault that occurred on Church Street. Deputies said they received a call reported an assault at around 10:14 p.m. (WSPA Photo) Officials said that the potential suspect has been arrested. (WSPA Photo) Deputies found a man with at least one stab wound on Church Street. (WSPA Map) Deputies said a male victim was located with at least one stab wound. The victim later died on scene, according to deputies. The sheriffs office said a possible suspect has been detained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Greenville County Coroners Office has not yet shared the victims name. This is a developing story. 7NEWS will provide an update on the air and online once more information becomes available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) Gloucester County Sheriffs Office is looking to identify a suspect in a fraudulent bank interaction, deputies said. Courtesy: Gloucester County Sheriffs Office Courtesy: Gloucester County Sheriffs Office Courtesy: Gloucester County Sheriffs Office In late January, the pictured female suspect allegedly stole a Gloucester victims identity and deposited a fraudulent check in the victims bank account. The female, posing as the victim, then withdrew a sum of money from the account. The investigating deputy is attempting to positively identify the female in order to further the criminal investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Callers may be eligible for a cash reward if their information leads to an arrest. If you have any information about this case, you can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, downloading the P3 tips app to a mobile device, or visiting www.P3tips.com and submitting a tip. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. On March 13, 2013, Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope, choosing the papal name Francis. He was the first pontiff from the Americas, and the first from outside Europe since Pope Gregory IIIs death in the year 741. Why Francis? When Cardinal Bergoglio was elected pope, his name choice was designed to send a clear message that he would be a new kind of pontiff with his own ideas for the worlds 1.2 billion Catholics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Per Deseret News stories, the College of Cardinals, the body that elects one of its own as pope, held five rounds of voting over two days. When it reached the required two-thirds majority, a cardinal appeared on the balcony above St. Peters Square and proclaimed, Habemus Papam Franciscum. Pope Francis is seen through a 29-meter-tall Christmas tree as he appears at his studio's window in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, to bless the faithful and pilgrims gathered for the noon Angelus prayer. | Andrew Medichini The throngs below cheered, but were confused. They clearly heard the Latin form of Francis, but which Francis? There had never been a Francis before. Was the new pontiff taking the name of St. Francis de Sales, the 16th-century bishop of Geneva known for his spiritual writings? Or was he honoring St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits, the order of priests to which Pope Francis belongs? In fact, as the new pope revealed a few days later at a news conference with 5,000 journalists from around the world, he chose the name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century Italian nobleman who shunned his familys wealth and spent his life among the leprous and the poor, living even more simply than they did, in a rock hovel. He founded the Order of Friars Minor, also called the Franciscans. In the dozen years since, Pope Francis has proven popular with his legion of followers, has chosen to weigh in on all kinds of issues like climate change, peace in the Middle East, gender issues, etc. and had called out world leaders to protect the forgotten. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the most unique aspects of Francis 12-year tenure is that he followed Pope Benedict XVI, who retired for health reasons, becoming the first pope to step down in more than 600 years. Pope Francis even presided over Pope Benedicts funeral. The current pontiff, now 88, has suffered numerous health issues in the past year. After several scares earlier this month, Pope Francis appears to have grown stronger in recent days. What Utahns know about Pope Francis Catholics in Utah of course revere their spiritual leader, just as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold their leader, President Russell M. Nelson, in great esteem and reverence. In 2019, the two leaders met in Rome. The Deseret News was there to cover the proceedings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are stories from Deseret News archives about the 12 years under Pope Francis, his meeting with Latter-day Saint leaders in Rome and his impact on the world: Pope receives ashes in the hospital as Christians around the world enter season of Lent Pope Francis meets with President Nelson in the Vatican Argentine Jorge Bergoglio elected Pope Francis Pope Francis is known for simplicity and humility Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger, doctors say Pope Francis wades into crowds, shocks bystanders in Rome In this photo provided by the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis, left, and Pope emeritus Benedict XVI pray together in Castel Gandolfo Saturday, March 23, 2013. Pope Francis had traveled to Castel Gandolfo to have lunch with his predecessor. | Associated Press Pope Francis tells Benedict XVI: Were brothers Pope Francis named the internets most popular person Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How Pope encyclical could affect more than just Catholics In our opinion: Older world religious leaders inspire the younger generation Gators, crawfish and snakes: The Loopholes of Lent The former pope has been laid to rest The Global Baku Forum is an excellent opportunity to discuss important issues, Azernews reports, citing the President of the Republic of Albania, Bajram Begaj, as he said in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum. "I believe that, given the current global concerns and the many negative events taking place, we can use this Forum to discuss real opportunities to turn these challenges into possibilities. One of the most important aspects here is that each representative can talk about the problems they are facing in their own country. I wanted to share my thoughts on these issues first with President Ilham Aliyev, as well as with a number of Forum participants. This Forum provides a great opportunity to share both our experiences and our concerns," emphasized the President of Albania. Local farmers work for the China-Gambia agricultural technology cooperation project in Central River Division, Gambia, on March 13, 2025. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) BANJUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. Gambia's agricultural productivity has been steadily increasing, with rice production surpassing 48,000 tons in 2024, marking a historic high, Sabally said, highlighting that innovations in infrastructure and the introduction of high-yield agricultural technologies by Chinese teams have been instrumental in reaching this milestone. "Chinese technical teams have provided assistance in the Gambia by introducing various high-quality rice varieties, including high-yield and hybrid seeds, which are crucial for our agricultural development," Sabally said. The recent years have seen agricultural technology cooperation between the Gambia and China deepening significantly. On Feb. 24, 2023, the second phase of the China-Gambia agricultural technology cooperation project officially began. Currently, the project's second phase is progressing smoothly, with major achievements in high-yield technology demonstrations, variety selection and promotion, technical training, and infrastructure support. Gambian authorities have widely praised the initiative, particularly for its contributions to high-yield cultivation techniques, the mechanization of rice production, and support for local agricultural cooperatives. Sabally said that Chinese experts have helped address numerous challenges in Gambia's farming sector. "During both the first and second phases of cooperation, many Gambian agricultural officials were sent to China for training, while Chinese agricultural experts have been providing technical guidance to local officials and farmers in the Gambia," he said. "Thanks to these training programs, our agricultural production has achieved mechanization in land preparation, planting and transplanting, harvesting, and processing." With the promotion of high-yield cultivation techniques, large-scale farms in the Gambia have achieved a maximum hybrid rice yield of 10.8 tonnes per hectare, while farmer-managed plots have reached an average of about seven tons per hectare. Core demonstration areas have showcased over 20 high-yield rice varieties, covering all 11 mainstream conventional rice varieties of the Gambia and nine Chinese hybrid rice varieties. Sabally has visited China twice between 2023 and 2024, deeply impressed by the country's agricultural modernization and urban development. "We have also greatly benefited from China's development experience. Decades ago, China's economic situation was similar to that of the Gambia, but they achieved a great leap forward through efficient development strategies," he noted. During his visits, Sabally toured multiple rice-growing regions, where he observed China's highly efficient land planning, irrigation systems, and water resource management. "Our goal is to learn from China, achieve food security, and ultimately reduce reliance on imports. Gambia aims to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production by 2030," he said. Sabally stressed food security as a matter of national security, which remains a top priority for the Gambian government. "A country lacking food security cannot achieve stability and development. That is why we are investing significant resources in farmland development, agricultural mechanization, and talent cultivation while actively seeking cooperation with countries like China to learn from their successful experiences," he explained. Sabally concluded that Gambia will continue to send agricultural personnel to China for advanced training and looks forward to deeper cooperation in agricultural modernization, technological innovation, and talent development. Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally speaks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Banjul, Gambia, on March 12, 2025. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) Local farmers work for the China-Gambia agricultural technology cooperation project in Central River Division, Gambia, on March 13, 2025. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) An aerial drone photo taken on March 13, 2025 shows farmland of the China-Gambia agricultural technology cooperation project in Central River Division, Gambia. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) An aerial drone photo taken on March 13, 2025 shows farmland of the China-Gambia agricultural technology cooperation project in Central River Division, Gambia. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) Photo take on March 13, 2025 shows rice produced by local farmers using Chinese agricultural technology and rice varieties in Central River Division, Gambia. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) An aerial drone photo taken on March 13, 2025 shows farmland of the China-Gambia agricultural technology cooperation project in Central River Division, Gambia. China's support and technical assistance have played a crucial role in driving significant progress in Gambia's agricultural sector in recent years, Gambian Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Si Yuan) New information has revealed that other people were on the beach when US college student Sudiksha Konanki went missing in the Dominican Republic, law enforcement officials assisting with the investigation told CNN, as the search goes into its seventh day. The 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student vanished at the beach of the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana early on March 6, sparking a frantic search by air, sea and land, involving authorities from the United States, the Dominican Republic and India, where Konankis family is originally from. This is one of the largest operations we have carried out for the rescue of a person, Agustin Morillo Rodriguez, general commander of the Dominican Republic Navy, told CNN on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Video evidence points to additional people being on the beach around the time Konanki went missing, beyond a young man whod told police hed been with her there, the law enforcement officials assisting with the probe said. Investigators are trying to identify these people while asking that they come forward with any information about Konanki. CNN has not seen the footage. Sudiksha Konanki, 20. - Subbarayubu Konanki Because other people were around the beach early on March 6, without discovering a body authorities must allow for the possibility Konanki may have encountered one or more of them. Dominican officials had previously said they were investigating Konankis disappearance as a drowning. But the general prosecutors office said Wednesday officials are also investigating whether Konankis disappearance could extend beyond a possible accidental event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Konanki, who is from Loudoun County, Virginia, traveled to Punta Cana with five female friends from her school. The women had been drinking in the hotels lobby early on March 6 before surveillance cameras captured them entering the hotel beach along with two men around 4:15 a.m., according to a law enforcement source and police statements. Cameras later captured five women and one man leaving the beach around 4:55 a.m. but Konanki appears to have stayed behind with a man in his 20s, sources told CNN. The surveillance cameras recorded the man leaving the beach just before 9 a.m., but Konanki was nowhere to be seen. Konankis sarong-style cover-up was found on a lounge chair on the beach, but there were no signs of violence, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. The screenshot is believed to be from the last known video of missing college student Sudiksha Konanki. CNN blurred portions of this image. - EXCLUSIVE: Noticias SIN In his interviews with police, the young man, who is the last known person to have been with Konanki before she vanished, recalled going in the water, feeling ill, coming out of the water and lying down on the beach, while seeing Konanki still standing about ankle deep in the sea, multiple law enforcement officials assisting with the investigation told CNN. The mans next recollection was waking up and leaving the beach hours later, they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The man is cooperating with the investigation, and police are not considering him a suspect. The night Konanki disappeared, sea conditions were dangerous with high waves, Rodriguez said. Konankis disappearance comes nearly two months after four tourists drowned in Punta Cana at the same beach where Konanki was last seen, according to the Dominican Republics civil defense agency. Strong currents swept the tourists off the Arena Gorda beach, where the Riu Republica Hotel is located, the civil defense agency said on January 18 in a Facebook post. Civil defense boats search for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Monday, March. 10, 2025. - Francesco Spotorno/AP On Wednesday, the countrys general prosecutor, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, said investigators were applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables in Konankis disappearance, as with any disappearance under the circumstances of the case at hand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Dominican Republic Navy has deployed divers to search along the coast about 24 nautical miles from the hotel where Konanki was reported missing, Rodriguez said. Authorities are searching along the coast because they believe if the student drowned, her body would be pushed away from the sea into the coast or the coral reefs. The navy is deploying marines who are walking along the beaches and all nearby places searching for the missing young woman, Rodriguez said. Likewise, the air force is using two, and at times three, helicopters that are supporting the civil defense as well. The search and rescue operation could last anywhere from three to seven days, he said. Konankis family and Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman have urged authorities to consider all possible avenues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Konankis parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, returned to Virginia this week after flying to Punta Cana with two family friends, according to Chapman. Subbarayudu, Konankis father, has asked authorities to widen the investigation. The fathers formal request notes that the students belongings, including her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her, he wrote in the report, according to radio station WTOP, as reported by the AP. Its unclear where this information came from. Subbarayudu told CNN earlier he wants local authorities to also investigate other possibilities including whether this is a case of kidnapping or human trafficking. CNNs Chris Boyette and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Thursday morning, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation announced pianist, composer and artist Jason Moran as the Artist in Residence for the 2025 Detroit Jazz Festival, which will be held in downtown Detroit Aug. 29 - Sept. 1. The Artistic Director for Jazz at The Kennedy Center, Moran has racked up 18 solo releases on Blue Note and Yes Records and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022. Im honored, Moran shared with the Free Press. Ive been to the festival many times over the years, and Im always well aware that the Detroit Jazz Festival is one of the best in the world. It opens up the center of the city, by the water, by the border. On all that concrete, they bring all this music and they bring all these people together every year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think about all the great musicians that come from the city, and what they mean to the history of the music that I cherish so much. The people that emerge from the city are raised by an incredible community of musicians and citizens. So its an honor to be in this position and present a few concerts during the festival weekend. Moran teased a few early projects hes tinkering with for the festival. More: Michigan is home to one of the nation's best music festivals. Where to catch the beat More: Legendary Alvin Ailey dance troupe returns to Detroit with world premiere performances Ive spent the last year honoring Duke Ellingtons 125th birthday. I rarely work with big bands, but this past year, Ive been going around with different bands, bringing Ellingtons music and kind of reshaping it. Ellingtons music always needs another read-through, just like you would a novel or a poem; Ellington needs another read, another understanding of What does his music mean today? So I proposed to do something with musicians from Detroit and nearby, a big Ellington concert, which is always a lot of fun. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I love the city of Detroit so much, and also love the different Black music legacies that come from the city techno is a big one. One thing Ive not done is techno, and I would like to try something brand new in Detroit that also works with the Detroit techno legends in a duo setting, such as piano and machine. Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation CEO and artistic director Chris Collins had high praise for Moran. I have carefully followed Jasons artistic career and his thoughtfulness about art, in his position at Kennedy Center and other ways not just his raw artistry and the bands hes led and recorded with. He brings meaningful music and an extremely high degree of craftsmanship and creativity, and those are things we look for in our artists in residence, as well as someone that is a good communicator, who can be can serve as an ambassador for Detroit, for the festival, but also engage with other generations of musicians in our community in a way that lifts us all up. Jason fills all those bills. Weve talked about things for a couple years, as I do with most artists in residence, and this just felt like the right year to bring Jason into our community in a more significant way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the 2025 Artist in Residence, Moran will support Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation educational initiatives for students and community engagement activities across the region throughout the year. In addition, Moran will lead multiple diverse performances during the Festival, Labor Day weekend. He will also perform at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center on the campus of Wayne State University, on Tuesday, April 15, during the Detroit Jazz Festival Preview Event. It will be live-streamed for free on detroitjazzfest.org. Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Jazz Festival announces 2025 artist in residence: Details DIAMOND, Mo. The Diamond School District is searching for a new superintendent. This comes after the Camdenton School District announced earlier this month that Dr. Keith White will serve as its assistant superintendent of finance and operations for the 2025-2026 school year. White has served as Diamonds school superintendent since the fall of 2020. He has nearly 30 years of education experience. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. White says this move puts him much closer to home. The Diamond School District will open up the superintendent position and conduct a search to find a new one. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. UPDATE: The Diboll Police department has announced they have found Brynn Maxwell. DIBOLL, Texas (KETK) The Diboll Police Department is seeking help locating a missing woman who is believed to be in danger. Picture of Brynn Maxwell, courtesy of the Diboll Police Department. Brynn Maxwell was reported missing on March 7 and is believed to be with her boyfriend Anthony Cathcart, who police say had court orders to stay away from her. Brynn is believed to be in danger and we are actively trying to locate her to ensure she is okay, the police department said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Longview company lays off 68 employees due to extensive facility issues Anyone with any potential information regarding Maxwell is asked to contact Diboll PD and speak with either Lt. Reid or Assistant Chief Hopper at 936-829-5586. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. Thursdays disciplinary hearing for Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read murder case, has concluded. A panel of three commissioned officers will now deliberate, a Massachusetts State Police spokesperson told Boston 25 News just before 4:00 p.m. Thursday. Proctors appearance before a Massachusetts State Police Trial Board in Framingham is the third disciplinary hearing that he has faced. His second hearing ended without a conclusion last month. His first hearing was held in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was assigned to investigate the death of Reads Boston police officer boyfriend John OKeefe. He was relieved of his duty without pay this past summer after a mistrial was declared in Reads murder case and his last day with the Norfolk District Attorneys Office followed soon thereafter. The Trial Board is weighing whether or not Proctor is guilty of allegations of misconduct in the performances of his duties as a uniformed trooper. If Proctor is found guilty, the panel will recommend a punishment to Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble. Proctors wife Elizabeth confirmed to Boston 25 News Thursday that the family released a statement through a PR company but excluded Boston 25, due in part to Ted Daniels one-on-one interview with Karen Read last month. The Proctor family accuses Reads lawyers of maligning the state trooper to deflect attention from their client. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Proctor admitted on the stand in the first trial to sending crude text messages about Read on his personal phone. Proctor came under fire for a series of disparaging texts he sent about Read, which he read aloud in court during witness testimony at her first trial. Proctor admitted on the stand that the texts were unprofessional. He called Read things like a whack job and other derogatory words, he talked about her medical issues and wrote, No nudes so far, while going through her phone. As 25 investigates was first to report, a federal probe into the investigation led by Proctor has ended with no charges being filed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boston 25 News has offered to sit down with the Proctor family both in the past and again Thursday. The family, as well as special prosecutor Hank Brennan, have declined interview requests. Read is accused of hitting OKeefe with her Lexus SUV on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die after a night of drinking. The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying OKeefe was actually killed inside the Albert family home and then dragged outside and left for dead. Proctor also served as the lead investigator in the case against Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife Ana Walshe. Reads second trial is scheduled to get underway with jury selection on April 1. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) Firefighters say departments across the state are struggling to fill both volunteer and paid positions. The Illinois Fire Service Institute hosted an event on Wednesday to help with the shortage. There is a challenge right now in finding individuals that would choose to be firefighters. said IFSI Director Jim Keiken. Danville Fire Department pushing for smoke detector safety after another deadly fire Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keiken said this is a problem spanning across the state. Before the turn of the century, an open firefighting position would get 20 to 30 applicants. Now, he says departments are lucky to get one or two. Thats why the institute came up with the Discover IFSI program. On Wednesday, people who are interested in firefighting spent a couple of hours getting a taste of what its like. We got to hear some information from Joe Kraft, the director of public connections at IFSI, about just some information on how to get into the fire service, we got to tour the grounds, and we got to see the academy doing some hose stretching and we got to see the all the props. The Champaign Fire Department is out there training as well, said paid-on-call firefighter Toby Kraps. UIPD says new tech helped them identify, arrest man accused of sexual assault Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes trying to work his way into a full-time paid position and thinks this was a helpful step. Just looking up to those guys training and theyre doing like the same things that Ive been doing training at the at the institute, Kraps said. So it was really great to see that theyre still honing their skills in. And the director has a message for people who are curious about the profession. I can show up and make a difference, even a small difference, that there is no problem too big or too small for firefighters to solve is the value of that vocation, said Keiken. More than a dozen people came out but if you missed today I.F.S.I. has three more of these events scheduled. The next one is May 8th. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. Police are facing criticism for dropping an investigation into pro-Palestinian protesters who slashed and spray-painted a painting of Lord Balfour at the University of Cambridge. On Thursday, Cambridgeshire Constabulary said it had closed its investigation into the vandalism, which happened at Trinity College last March, without making any arrests. No one has been held to account for the damage, even though the activist responsible for the attack was caught on video. Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the vandalism at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lord Balfour, a former Conservative prime minister, was a leading supporter of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and in 1917, while serving as foreign secretary, signed the Balfour Declaration, which gave British backing to the movement. Lord Walney, sacked last month as the Governments extremism tsar, said the closure of the investigation sent a terrible message that criminal mobs can escape consequence if they break the law in the name of a cause. It is absurd that no one has come forward to identify the Balfour vandals, despite them being filmed in an open area of one of Cambridges most prestigious colleges, he said. The police need to explain this dismal decision, and the Government should act to stop groups like Palestine Action from fundraising and openly broadcasting their criminal mayhem. Cambridgeshire Constabulary said the investigation into the attack on the painting has now been filed pending any new information coming to light - Instagram The Balfour portrait was painted by Philip Alexius de Laszlo in 1914 and hung in Trinity, Balfours alma mater. It is still being restored more than a year after it was vandalised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, claimed the case was an example of two-tier justice, saying: If your cause is fashionable, it appears the law doesnt apply. The vandal was filmed in the act, and the group behind it claimed responsibility. It destroys confidence in our justice system that these people werent prosecuted. Roderick Balfour, the fifth Earl of Balfour and great-nephew of the former prime minister, said at the time of the incident that firm action was required to deter other acts of politically motivated vandalism. A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: A thorough investigation was carried out, but the investigation has now been filed pending any new information coming to light. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, Trinity College said: Trinity College will continue to co-operate with the police in the event further evidence becomes available so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice. Palestine Action was approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A study from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) says the United States could be tens of thousands of doctors short over the next ten years. The shortage could impact already growing wait times and delays in patient appointments. Here in Washington, we are seeing the impacts. John Bramhall is an anesthesiologist at Harborview Hospital, the President of the Washington State Medical Association, and a professor at the University of Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is a shortage of physicians nationally, in Washington state, Bramhall told KIRO 7. He said this has been an ongoing problem for at least five years. We hear it all the time, not only from patients but also from clinicians, Bramhall said. Its an issue that is expected to get worse. The AAMC projects a need for up to 86,000 doctors by 2036. He tells us the COVID-19 pandemic, retirements, an aging population, not enough medical school placements, higher demand, and available Medicaid funding are contributing to the delays. They find it takes months, not weeks but months, if at all to get connected with an appropriate physician, Bramhall said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We spoke with local hospitals to see if they are stretched thin. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and Providence Swedish Hospital told KIRO 7 they are feeling the impacts and are looking to fill many positions. Bramhall said Harborview and University of Washington medical groups could use more staff members but arent under water. Cassie Sauer, CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association, told us rural clinics are hurting the most, and that is creating bigger issues. If someone says I have been having this pain or issue, then if it lingers for six months, it can worsen, and you miss a chance for early intervention. It definitely has impacts on peoples health, Sauer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of the people in this story said that even as medical professionals, they are waiting months for appointments too, telling us this shortage cant and wont be fixed quickly. Kristy Carrington with Providence Swedish said working on using new technology to help offload paperwork and filter through messages for the doctors will help with burnout rates and appointment delays. Recruitment and retention is big here, she said. She told KIRO 7 that securing funding and positions available and thinking about new ways to provide care will start to shift the shortage issue. CAIRO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- At least eight persons were killed and 12 others wounded after a microbus was hit by a train in northeastern Egypt's Ismailia province on Thursday, according to a statement from the Health Ministry. It happened when the microbus attempted to cross quickly from an undesignated crossing, said the Egyptian National Railways in a separate statement. doctors A Marion County judge heard arguments Wednesday on whether to issue an injunction against release of terminated pregnancy reports. (Getty Images) The fight over whether terminated pregnancy reports (TPRs) filed with the state are public records took a new turn Wednesday as lawyers argued in a hearing on a preliminary injunction that the documents are used to harass doctors who perform abortions. The two doctors who are fighting to block TPR releases also testified they havent submitted the reports since Dec. 23 when a new federal rule on reproductive health care privacy went into effect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, Dr. Caitlin Bernard and Dr. Caroline Rouse both Indiana OB-GYNs said they have sent information on the abortions performed to the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) but havent filled out the full form upon advice of their hospitals counsel. Im concerned about my patients privacy and the release of my patients protected health information to the public for, as far as I can tell, no real good reason except to essentially make public citizens vigilantes, Bernard said. Bernard and Rouse sued in February to block releases after IDOH entered into a settlement agreement with Voices for Life, a South Bend group. That agreement came out of the anti-abortion organizations 2024 lawsuit against IDOH, filed when the agency stopped releasing the individual reports. Quarterly aggregated data is still made public. IDOH changed its practice following the implementation of Indianas near-total abortion ban. Abortions fell sharply, from hundreds of procedures each month to dozens, and agency officials said that put patient confidentiality at risk. The IDOH under former Gov. Eric Holcomb successfully argued that the TPRs are considered medical records that are exempt under the Access to Public Records Act. Voices for Life filed an appeal of that ruling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, in January, Gov. Mike Braun took office. IDOH settled with Voices for Life shortly after, agreeing to release the TPRs with redactions. Now, the department through the Indiana Attorney Generals Office is arguing the documents arent medical records. Marion County Superior Court Judge James Joven pointed out those differing positions. Your argument faces those difficult hurdles, he said. (The doctors) were on the department side when the department was trying to protect against disclosure of these, what the department then called a medical record, and now the department has flipped. The arguments Jefferson Garn, special counsel for the Indiana Attorney General, said these documents were released publicly for three decades and no one considered them medical records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He called it a simple reporting requirement about a procedure and added that the theory of the case is shifting into defamation. To earn a preliminary injunction, Rouse and Bernard must prove standing, irreparable harm and likelihood of success. Stephanie Toti, an attorney for the doctors, said the likelihood of success is strong because the TPRs fit the statutory definition of a medical record. A TPR includes details like age, address, education, gestational age of the fetus, type of procedure and previous pregnancy history. Doctors must also now include a diagnostic code allowing for the abortion under Indiana law, such as if there is a lethal fetal anomaly or the health risk to the mother. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The statute says a medical record means written or printed information possessed by a provider concerning any diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis of the patient. Toti said the doctors also have both a legal and ethical duty to protect the information of their patients. She noted Bernard was disciplined by the Indiana Medical Licensing Board for releasing just a fraction of what is on a TPR to a reporter. But Toti spent extra time focusing on how the disclosure of TPRs can lead to harassment or violence against the doctors or the patients. Caitlin Bernard (From IU Health) Toti pointed to the Voices for Life website, which lists various doctors who have performed abortions in Indiana and alleged violations the anti-abortion group has culled from previously released TPRs before the restrictive abortion ban. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joven noted that the TPRs dont specifically say the doctors violated law, though the website does. Instead, he said Voices for Life perceives them to be violations. Bernard testified about one example under her name: illegal use of mifepristone and misoprostol on an 18-week fetus. She acknowledged that early medication abortions are limited to 10 weeks under Indiana law. But the difference is mifepristone can be used to induce labor at any gestational age due to lethal fetal anomaly or health risks to the mother. This allows the fetus to be delivered and the mother to hold it and say goodbye. But Bernard said the TPR form doesnt have the option of an induction abortion so the medication box is checked instead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rouse testified that she is concerned the TPRs can be taken out of context by people that dont have the medical expertise to interpret the information provided. In the past, anti-abortion groups have filed complaints with the attorney general based on the TPRs, including if a doctor filed a report late. The aggregate data does not include the names of the doctors or dates of procedure and filings. Joven, the judge, extended the temporary restraining order he had previously issued on behalf of the doctors until March 24 and will rule soon on the preliminary injunction. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Doctors are fighting to save the legs of a woman who was trapped in her car for six days after crashing into a ditch in Indiana. Brieonna Cassell, 41, was stuck inside her Ford Taurus for six days after her car wrecked into the ditch off a rural road in Newton County, Indiana. After surviving the harrowing ordeal, the mother of three began treatment at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When she arrived at the hospital, she had compound fractures and infections in both of her legs and a compound fracture in one of her wrists. Cassell underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon. Doctors are waiting to see if her infections are going to heal before they continue with further treatment and surgeries. If the infections in her legs do not heal, then doctors may be forced to amputate them. Brieonna Cassell, the second from the right, with her family. Cassell was trapped in her car for six days after she wrecked into a ditch in Indiana (GoFundMe) Police believed she fell asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus and veered off the road while driving near the small town of Brook, approximately 80 miles south of Chicago. Cassell crashed into a very big, deep ditch that couldnt be seen from the road, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told ABC7 Chicago. He added that passersby couldnt hear her cries for help from their cars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn't see her from the road, her father said. The crash pinned her legs inside the vehicle and kept her from moving, but Cassell was resourceful and found a way to keep herself alive despite being immobilized. To avoid dying of dehydration, Cassell put her vehicle in neutral, allowing it to slide further into the ditch, where she could then whip her cardigan out of her window to soak in the muddy waters around her car. She then sucked the liquid from her garment. She put the car in reverse and let it roll back down the bank to the water, so she could reach out, Aaron Cassell, her husband, told WGN9. She could only reach out with one arm to reach the water and then let it soak up in there and pull up and suck the water out of the hood. Cassell was airlifted to Chicago Hospital Tuesday after being located, the Sheriff's Office said (x) After six days, an equipment operator named Johnny Martinez spotted Cassell's vehicle and reported it to his immediate supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also the volunteer fire chief of the nearby town, Morocco. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Martinez and Vanderwall investigated the vehicle and found Cassel conscious. They then called for medical assistance. First responders provided initial treatment at the scene and then handed Cassell off to a life-flight helicopter. Cassell's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the woman cover her medical bills. Lexie Cassell, Brieonna's 23-year-old daughter, said her mother does not have health insurance. The fundraiser has brought in $13,000 of its $25,000 goal. A document prepared for the Kremlin by a Moscow-based think tank states that a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine war cannot happen before 2026, according to The Washington Post. The document, drawn up in February, outlines the Russian plan to weaken the U.S. position on the Ukraine crisis by boosting tensions between the Trump White House and other nations as Russia moves ahead with its plans to pick apart the country. The document, obtained by a European intelligence agency and reviewed by The Post, argues that the current Ukrainian government needs to be fully dismantled. The current Kyiv regime cannot be changed from inside the country. Its complete dismantling is needed, the report states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The think tank behind the document has close connections to Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), which is in charge of Russian operations in the war-torn country, and pushes extreme demands for a peace deal, stating that President Donald Trumps plan to reach a peace agreement within 100 days is impossible. The plan also rejects any notion that peacekeepers be allowed in Ukraine, as several European leaders have suggested. In addition, the document insists on recognition of Russian sovereignty over the territory it has seized in Ukraine. The document calls for a buffer zone in northeast Ukraine on the border with the Russian regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, in addition to a demilitarized zone in southern Ukraine close to Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Vladimir Putin may not be interested in a peace deal with Ukraine any time soon, analysts say (AP) Following talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine has endorsed a proposal from the U.S. for a 30-day ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But analysts told The Post that Russia still has ways it can prolong the fighting, and that the path to a peace deal remains fraught with difficulty. Council on Foreign Relations fellow Thomas Graham, who was senior Russia director at the National Security Council during George W. Bushs administration, said Russia is not interested in an early resolution of the Ukraine crisis. He noted: They consistently talk about the root causes, which are about the domestic politics in Ukraine, and even more important than that, the European security architecture, which would be the role of NATO. A simple ceasefire which doesnt take that into account is of no interest to Russia. And Trump doesnt appear to understand. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper that the Russian government was not aware of such recommendations outlined in the document. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said they were extremely contradictory, and added: We are working with more-considered options. The document was put together ahead of talks on February 18 between Russia and the U.S. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A Russian academic with connections to top Russian diplomats told The Post that the recommendations in the document are an amalgamation of the consensus in the Russian capital. He noted that its unclear how much the Kremlin takes into account documents prepared for it. The document states that without official recognition of the territories seized by Russia, its likely that the fighting would begin again for example after the next change of administration in the U.S. (NewsNation) President Donald Trump has said that Canada has tariffs in place at above 200% on dairy products imported from the United States. While this is accurate, it is a bit more complicated than that. Trumps post on social media read, in part, Canada is cheating the United States Farmers on USMCA. In 2024, Canada retained Tariffs on various U.S. Goods, particularly in protected sectors like Dairy that are operated under a supply management system. Some examples of Canadian Tariffs on U.S. Dairy outside the limited quota include: Milk: Up to 243% . Butter: Up to 298% . Cheese: Up to 245%. Canadians face stiffer rules for extended US stays Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, those Canadian tariffs on U.S. dairy imports apply only after the country hits a level of tariff-free sales. This is from a deal Trump negotiated in 2018 during his first term in office. Is the United States close to exceeding the Canada dairy export quota? According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the U.S. has never gotten close to exceeding the dairy quotas in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Becky Rasdall Vargas, senior vice president of trade and workforce policy at IDFA, said: Frustratingly, the U.S. has never gotten close to exceeding our USMCA quotas because Canada has erected various protectionist measures that fly in the face of their trade obligations made under USMCA. China is taking issue with Trumps move to link tariffs to fentanyl Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vargas thanked the Trump administration for its efforts to hold Canada accountable on these protectionist measures. She did, however, say that a prolonged tariff war with our top trading partners will continue to create uncertainty and additional costs for American dairy farmers, processors, and our rural communities. CNN reports that in many categories, including milk, the U.S. is not even at half of the zero-tariff maximum. Trump says Canadian tariffs rose during Bidens presidency According to CNN, Trump claimed that Canadian dairy tariffs were well taken care of when his first presidency ended, but under Biden, they just kept raising it. However, Canada did not raise these tariffs during Bidens presidency, according to official Canadian documents obtained by CNN, as well as industry groups on each side of the border. Those tariffs were left in place after the USMCA deal made by Trump in 2018, which he has called the best trade deal ever made. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Al Mussell, an expert on Canadian agricultural trade, told CNN: The U.S. has precisely this same system for its dairy market. It has tariff-rate quotas, and beyond that volume, very stiff tariffs and almost no imports. Why is the US putting tariffs on Canada? Trump has given a variety of explanations for targeting Canada in recent weeks. He has said that his separate 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada, some of which are suspended for a month, are about fentanyl smuggling and objections to Canadas taxes on dairy imports that he says penalize U.S. farmers. Trump designee should reassure people about the economy: OReilly As a result of the tariffs, Canada originally placed a 25% tariff on electricity, affecting three U.S. states. However, that has since been suspended after a productive conversation with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps tax increases on imports have been followed by stock market losses and fears of a recession. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Weve seen one law enforcement officer after another admit to breaking the law in exchange for money, all part of a long-running DWI corruption scandal. Civil rights attorneys argue that changing policies wont be enough to regain public trust. KRQE Investigator Gabrielle Burkhart explains why theyre now calling for consequences at the highest level and how law enforcement leadership is responding. Latest from KRQE Investigates A now disgraced paralegal, Rick Mendez, was the first domino to fall in January. Later, his boss, former defense attorney, Thomas Clear III, admitted to leading the so-called DWI Enterprise since 1995, conspiring with law enforcement officers from Albuquerque Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office, and New Mexico State Police to get DWI cases dismissed in court in exchange for cash, extorting people arrested by the officers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a community, I think we just have to let this sink in, feel the gravity of what is happening, explained Leon Howard, Interim Executive Director of ACLU New Mexico. The gravity of whats happening includes officers admitting they profited by breaking laws they were entrusted to uphold. Their motive was not to keep the community safe, said Howard. Their motive was to make money. Officers now convicted criminals A growing list of officers who are now convicted criminals include former APD officers Honorio Alba Jr., Joshua Montano, Neill Elsman, and former BCSO deputy, Jeff Hammerel. All of them pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy, extortion, and bribery charges. APD Officer Honorio Alba Jr. started in the APD DWI Unit in 2017 and served in the unit until January 2024 when he was placed on administrative leave. | Courtesy of Albuquerque Police Department APD Officer Joshua Montano started in the APD DWI Unit in 2017 and served in the unit until January 2024 when he was placed on administrative leave. APD Officer Neill Elsman started in the APD DWI Unit in 2019 and served in the unit until 2024 when he was placed on administrative leave. | Courtesy of Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Jeff Hammerel joined BCSO in February 2010, and served in the DWI Unit from January 2013 to November 2024. He was placed on leave in January 2025. | Courtesy: Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office Medina has been a part of this police department for a long time, and if he didnt know, he should have known, Howard told KRQE. I just dont know of any position of leadership or something to this scale that can happen, and there not be consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller told KRQE he stands by APDs leadership. It takes a lot, I think, to be the team that cleans it up and owns it, said Keller. And thats what weve done. APD Chief Harold Medina argues hes been proactive and transparent when it comes to how his department is handling the scheme and weeding out corruption. Whos sitting here now, who has made sure that he has been as proactive as possible, started internal investigations like no other entity? Medina said. I have interviewed everybody we possibly can, said Medina. We have had several individuals quit. I dont know how much more proactive we could have been to address this issue. DWI Unit reforms In January, APD announced DWI unit reforms in response to the scheme, including entering missed court notices into APDs internal affairs intake system to determine why an officer missed court. Administrative changes include a new DWI Unit handbook, daily briefings, and a more reliable case tracking system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chief Medina also signed a Special Order officially capping gifts to officers at $50. The order also prohibits any gift from an attorney they regularly interact with in court. As for BCSO, Sheriff John Allen said hes hiring a compliance officer to monitor court cases with his deputies, and trusting the FBI to handle the criminal investigation. I want to find everybody in this agency, in law enforcement that is doing this nonsense, because it makes everybody around the nation look like crap, Sheriff Allen said during a news conference last month. Meanwhile, New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said hes doing an internal probe as one of his most prominent DWI Sergeants implicated in the scheme remains on leave. Well have to go through the whole process and see what turns out on the other side, Chief Weisler told KRQE during a February interview. But, you know, we will be working day in and day out to regain the trust of the community. Accountability at the top When it comes to accountability at the top, Chief Medina responded to claims that he should lose his job over this. I think that its pretty unfair, said Chief Medina. The Albuquerque Police Department has been the most proactive entity, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Has the bar come with any kind of recommendations, how theyre going to hold lawyers accountable? Medina said. Has the courts decided were going to have training, were going to keep statistics on this? Paralegals has anybody said, Hey, maybe we should have a process to vet paralegals? Mendez was a felon. Had drug arrests, and he became a paralegal with this confidential information, all the ripe background for corruption, Medina added. Chief Medina argues changes beyond law enforcement are also needed. I just wish the other parties involved in the criminal justice system did one thing to be proactive and ensure that theyre also doing their part because this was not orchestrated by law enforcement officers alone, said Medina. When asked if hes confident that a scheme like this cannot perpetuate moving forward, Howard replied, We cant say with a bit of confidence that this is the end of it, that nothing like this can happen again. Theres a culture of corruption in this police department. Its been going on for decades. While citizens have options when it comes to picking private attorneys, Howard argues the public just has to trust any law enforcement officer they may interact with on the street, during a reported crime, or on a traffic stop. Trust in the police is paramount. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We all implicitly want to trust officers, said Howard. They were lying and getting away with it. And so we all have to question ourselves and hold them accountable and not just take their word for everything they say. Each former officer faces lengthy prison time with their federal charges, but they will likely be given a break for their cooperation. At least two civil lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of the corruption scheme are also making their way through the courts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. (Bloomberg) -- Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency now has 10 staffers at the Social Security Administration as the Trump White House looks for evidence to support its claim that there could be millions of dead people receiving public benefits. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two sworn statements filed in federal court late Wednesday show that the SSA has staffed up in recent weeks to include four special government employees and six more DOGE staffers on loan from other departments. Their mission: detecting waste, fraud and abuse in the nations 90-year-old social insurance agency. Musk has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme, and suggested this week that there could be as much as $700 billion a year in entitlement fraud. Critics have said he is setting up a move to cut the popular program. Others are concerned about Musks team having access to Americans most sensitive data. From 2015 through 2022, Social Security estimated that it made almost $72 billion in improper payments less than 1% of benefits paid, according to an inspector general report last year. Not all of that amount was because of fraud, however, and all but $23 billion was able to be recovered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least seven DOGE staffers have been granted access to a database known as the Master File of Social Security Number Holders and SSN Applications, also known as Numident. They currently have read-only access as they try to connect the dots between Social Security numbers and possible fraudulent benefits. That database is often missing dates of death, a fact that President Donald Trump and Musk, his billionaire adviser, have used as the basis of claims that more than 20 million people over 100 are still on the Social Security rolls. And money is being paid to many of them, and were searching right now, Trump said in a speech to Congress last week. Leland Dudek, an anti-fraud expert who Trump promoted to acting Social Security Commissioner last month after Dudek was suspended for cooperating with DOGE, has pushed back on those claims. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just because a date of death is missing from Numident doesnt mean payments are being made, Dudek said in a statement. Those are managed in a separate database, the Master Beneficiary Record. We are steadfast in our commitment to root out fraud, waste, and abuse in our programs, and actively correcting the inconsistencies with missing dates of death, he said. Death Data Indeed, at least six DOGE staffers at the agency are working with death data. The Social Security Administration maintains a Master Death File of more than 94 million reported deaths collected from state records and funeral directors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other databases being used in the hunt are the Supplemental Security Record, which contains data on disability benefits and Treasury Department payment files. The benefits databases can also contain limited taxpayer information used to calculate eligibility for benefits. DOGE has access to copies of the databases, limiting the ability to make changes, the agencys chief technology officer, Michael Russo, said in a sworn statement. There are safeguards to ensure there are no private servers connected to SSA data, he said. Russos statement was included in a court filing late Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. The public employees union filed suit against DOGE and the Maryland-based Social Security Administration, trying to block what it calls an unprecedented data grab. The overall goal of the work performed by SSAs DOGE Team is to detect fraud, waste and abuse in SSA programs, Russo said. This level of access ensures these employees can review records needed to detect fraud but does not allow them the ability to make any changes to beneficiary data or payment files. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither Russo nor Deputy Commissioner Florence Felix-Lawson, who filed a separate sworn statement, would identify the DOGE staffers by name, to avoid exposing them to threats and harassment. But special government employees and DOGE detailees at the agency include former Tesla board member Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners; Scott Coulter, formerly of Lone Pine Capital; and Marko Elez, re-hired by DOGE and sent to Social Security after resigning from the Treasury Department over reports of racist social media posts. The Social Security Administration has emerged as a key outpost for DOGE, because it administers $1.6 trillion in annual benefits but also because of its unique position to access a wide range of government data. Indeed, DOGEs hunt for fraud in Social Security is also radiating out into other federal agencies. Two DOGE team members also have access to the National Directory of New Hires, a database kept by the Heath and Human Services Departments Office of Child Support Services to help states enforce child support orders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And one Social Security DOGE team member will soon be dispatched to the Small Business Administration. The court filing also shows how DOGE team members can move around from agency to agency. Six Social Security DOGE staffers are on loan from other agencies, including the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Labor Department and General Services Administration. And one comes from the US DOGE Service, the White House agency created by Trumps Inauguration Day executive order creating the cost-cutting initiative. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sparked a dispute after it tried to slash an apartment lease for Secret Service agents protecting Former President Joe Bidens daughter. DOGEs website showed that it ended a rental agreement for a 1,000 square-foot Philadelphia apartment where the Secret Service was residing. The apartment was one of 700 other leases that DOGE has attempted to cancel as part of its crusade to downsize the federal government. The unit, however, was around the corner from Bidens 43-year-old daughter Ashley, who is set to be protected until Julyand was the apparent resting place for her protection detail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden issued an executive memorandum that gave Ashley protection past his term. Ashley Biden is set to be protected by Secret Service until July. / Mike Segar / Mike Segar/REUTERS Trump also issued a similar order when he left office in 2021, extending protection for his four adult children and three Cabinet officials for six months. Typically, former presidents and first ladies are protected by Secret Service for life, but their children are not guaranteed protection after they turn 16. The Secret Service said Monday that they were not aware of any changes to the lease. They added that the apartment was critical for agents protecting Ashley and Jill Biden. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said Monday that the work site is essential to our operations and necessary to effectuate our protective functions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Daily Beast has reached out to the Trump administration and Biden family for comment. DOGE aims to downsize the federal government. / Kevin Lamarque / Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS The apartment in question isnt the only one potentially slashed by DOGE cuts. Leases for agencies like the FDA, IRS, Social Security Administration and more have also been axed nationwide. The website shows at least a half-dozen other canceled Secret Service leases. Musks DOGE even canceled three in Delaware, where other members of Bidens family livethough two of the three leases canceled had already been nixed in November as Biden ended his term. The General Services Administration (GSA) typically manages U.S. government leases, but said it plays no role in canceling those used by the Secret Service. None of the leases cited were flagged by GSA for termination, spokesperson Will Powell said. Both the Philadelphia and Wilmington leases are intact until the end of their term." Ashley is Former President Joe Biden's daughter. / Cheney Orr / Cheney Orr/REUTERS The apparent lease cancellation is just one part of DOGEs quest to downsize the federal government. The panel, ostensibly helmed by Musk, claims that it cut $500 million worth of leases in recent weeks. The apartment in Philadelphia cost taxpayers around $36,000 per year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This isnt the only time the Trump administration has sought to revoke Secret Service protection, either. The president canceled a security detail for his prior national security adviser John Bolton, who in recent weeks has become an anti-Trump pundit. Bolton was initially protected by the Secret Service because he received death threats from individuals in Iran. DOGE says it's saved the federal government $115 billion. However, the team's claims have consistently included inaccuracies and inflated numbers, stoking criticism for its chaotic approach and lack of government expertise. Elon Musk's cost-cutting DOGE wants to cut $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of the year. The team provided a fresh update on its progress toward this lofty goal on Wednesday. In an update to the "Savings" section of the team's official website, DOGE claimed to have saved an estimated $115 billion, up $10 billion from the week before. They say this equates to $714 saved per taxpayer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to DOGE's website, the savings are a combination of "asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud, and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions." A part of these savings are laid out in the team's "Wall of Receipts," which lists some canceled contracts, grants, and real estate. However, the team says the receipts provided on the website only represent approximately 30% of the full savings, making the top-line figure unverifiable. And even the selected savings provided by DOGE for public review have been unreliable. Harry Kraemer, an executive partner with Madison Dearborn Partners and a clinical professor of Leadership at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management, told Fortune that DOGE's figures could not be relied upon. He said in his view the total savings were overstated by up to 80%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Where they've claimed to have taken up to a billion dollars, some of the specific items are really like a couple hundred thousand or a couple million dollars. My guess would be from what they've said they've eliminated, no more than 10% to 20% of the numbers are actually important," he said. Even if DOGE's stated savings held up under the scrutiny, Kraemer noted that "the net savings in all of this is very, very small." DOGE's math problem DOGE has been under scrutiny for some of its savings claims, which have been drastically overstated in some instances. The team has deleted several contracts from its wall of receipts after media reports undermined their legitimacy. In one case, DOGE had to revise its largest contract down from $8 billion to $8 million after the contract's vendor explained that the $8 billion listed on its procurement record was likely a clerical error. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The savings on DOGE's updated wall of receipts still appear to be inflated or significantly rounded up. For example, the team claims to have saved approximately $20 billion from 5,356 contract terminations, but according to an analysis conducted by Fortune, the total savings listed on those contracts only add up to $17.97 billion, more than $2 billion short. On Wednesday, before the page was updated, DOGE was claiming it had saved approximately $15 billion in savings from 4,083 canceled contracts, but according to Fortune's analysis, the figure was more than $4 billion shy of that at $10.23 billion. The wall of receipts was also littered with at least 14 errors on Wednesday morning. Several savings totals appeared as $NaN, which stands for Not a Number and typically means a particular value of a numeric data has been undefined as a number. These issues had been resolved by Thursday. The team also claimed it had produced $17 billion in savings from 7,488 grant terminations, but the exact figure appears to be $16.62 billion. The savings from 793 lease terminations are also slightly inflated from $489 million to $500 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group may just be rounding up the figures, and they note that the totals are approximations. However, DOGE's calculations have been consistently found to be erroneousundermining the team's claim of "maximum transparency." The group has also obscured some of the details of the new claims it's made on the website, making it harder to fact-check the savings. When asked by the New York Times, a White House official said that identifying details about the cuts had been removed for security purposes. Some of the contracts DOGE is claiming credit for cutting have also been questioned. The largest saving listed on the wall of receipts is $1.9 billion, achieved from cancelling a contract in the Department of Treasury with software company Centennial Technologies. However, last month, the company told the New York Times that the contract was canceled under the Biden administration, not by DOGE. The team then deleted the charge, per ABC, but since then it has been re-added. (Centennial Technologies did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment by press time.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Times reported, citing federal data and interviews with the nonprofits whose grants were on the list, that at least five of the 20 largest savings in the updated claims appeared to be exaggerated. Earlier this month, the team also quietly removed over 1,000 contract cancellation claims from its "wall of receipts," reducing reported taxpayer savings by $4 billion. A chaotic approach DOGE's strategy has come under fire from legal and management experts. Kraemer, who was previously the CEO of health care company Baxter International, said the random way the cuts were being carried out didn't follow traditional business logic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The insanity of all this is, they basically said we're just going to start the cutting without any logic as to what they're cutting, no plan as to what they're cutting. And the reality is, it's complete bedlam," he said. "Every CEO in the United States would do a thorough analysis of: Where can we cut? How are we going to do it? What is the process? What's the plan? How do we treat people?" DOGE has said it wants to cut $1 trillion this year, but the team is also not currently addressing the government's big spending drivers. The majority of the $2.4 trillion that the U.S. government has already spent this fiscal year has been on programs like Social Security and Medicare, according to NPR. "DOGE has created this false perception that the entire budget deficit can be eliminated by going after waste, fraud, and abuse and without making the difficult decisions elsewhere in the budget," Jessica Riedl of the Manhattan Institute told NPR last week. "And this exaggeration is making it even harder to do the real hard things that are going to be needed to fix the deficit beyond waste." Musk's "undisciplined and reckless" followers Musk is holding a strange role in the Trump administration. Despite being the public face of DOGE, the billionaire is not legally leading or even an employee of the agency on paper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Michael Herz, a constitutional law professor from Cardozo School of Law, put it: "Musk is simultaneously in control of and had nothing to do with DOGE." This grants him a position of power within the administration that experts say may be inappropriate due to his lack of understanding of how the federal government works. While Kraemer noted that Musk was a "very bright guy," he also questioned how much the billionaire knew about the structurally complex federal government. "What training does he have to figure out what to cut, where to cut, how to cut? He has no knowledge about it at all. So it's just completely insane right now," he said. He's not the only one who's taken issue with Musk's role. Herz told Fortune that Musk was an "undisciplined and reckless leader who has hired a bunch of undisciplined and reckless followers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The whole thing is being done with an artificial but ferocious sense of urgency by people with no government experience. How could they not make mistakes?" he added. Herz said he expected that the way DOGE was terminating grants and refusing to spend congressionally appropriated funds would eventually be found to be illegal. "The constitutional point is that the President lacks the authority to impound funds. If Congress says 'spend this,' then the President, who is constitutionally obliged to ensure that the laws are 'faithfully executed,' must do so. He cant just say, I think this is a stupid idea so wont pursue it'; its Congresss call," Herz said. Kraemer also blames DOGE, in part, for the market chaos currently playing out under the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The level of uncertainty on every single topic right now is incredible," he said. Representatives for DOGE did not respond to a request for comment from Fortune, made outside normal working hours. Are you a government employee with information to share about DOGE? Contact this reporter at bea.nolan@fortune.com or securely via Signal at beatricenolan.08 from a non-work device. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com At least 10 people working with Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency are embedded within the Social Security Administration to bolster claims from Donald Trump and the worlds wealthiest man that millions of dead people are receiving benefits, according to court documents. Seven DOGE employees have been granted access to Americans Social Security data or personally identifiable information, government lawyers said. Their level of access provides no avenues to change beneficiary data or payments, but gives them the ability to review records needed to detect fraud, lawyers wrote in court filings March 12. Elon Musk has labeled Social Security a Ponzi scheme ripe for fraud (Reuters) The results of background checks for two of the 10 DOGE employees are still pending, they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk has baselessly labeled the nations retirement and disability agency a Ponzi scheme and claimed that as much as $700 billion in annual payments were fraudulent, raising concerns among DOGE opponents that he is laying the groundwork for dramatic cuts to the nations largest and most popular program. I dont want the system to collapse, Social Security Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek said in a closed-door meeting last week, according to a recording obtained by ProPublica. Allowing the DOGE kids to make sweeping changes like those at the U.S Agency for International Development and elsewhere across the federal government would be catastrophic for the people in our country, he said. The Independent has requested comment from the agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. DOGE Service team at Social Security includes four special government employees and six people detailed to the agency from other offices. Officials at the agency declined to name the employees to protect the privacy of these individuals, and to avoid exposing them to threats and harassment, according to a sworn statement from deputy commissioner Florence Felix-Lawson. A political appointee, a software engineer and experts are reviewing Social Securitys death master file to find payments to dead Americans, Felix-Lawson wrote. DOGE staff have attended in-person meetings or meetings through Microsoft Teams about ethics and privacy laws and information security, according to government lawyers. The overall goal of the DOGE team inside Social Security is to detect fraud, waste and abuse, according to a sworn statement from the agencys chief technology officer Michael Russo. This level of access ensures these employees can review records needed to detect fraud but does not allow them the ability to make any changes to beneficiary data or payment files. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of those DOGE staffers is reportedly Marko Elez, who resigned from the administration last month after The Wall Street Journal uncovered a history of now-deleted racist statements on X, including support for eugenic immigration policy and calls to normalize Indian hate. Elez, an engineer who previously worked Musks SpaceX and X, recently had an office at the Treasury Department and an email address with the agency, where he was mistakenly given read/write permissions to write over payment systems that disburse trillions of dollars, according to court documents. Protesters outside the U.S. Capitol on March 10 called for bipartisan cooperation to prevent DOGE from seizing and dismantling federal agencies (Getty Images) He then moved to Social Security, after Vice President JD Vance encouraged Musk to bring back Elez. Trump, when asked about Vances support, said he didnt know about that particular thing" but agreed with the vice president. If the vice president said that did you say that? Im with the vice president, Trump told reporters last month. Moments later, Musk wrote: He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The latest filings follow a lawsuit from federal workers unions calling on a judge to block what they have called DOGEs unprecedented data grab. Trump and administration officials have repeatedly suggested looming cuts to Social Security as well as federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid in an attempt to justify significant cuts to federal spending. The president and Musk have amplified baseless claims that tens of millions of dead Americans are collecting Social Security checks, which, according to Trump, if you take all of those numbers off, because theyre obviously fraudulent, or, incompetent, but if you take all of those millions of people off Social Security, all of a sudden we have a very powerful Social Security, he told supporters in Miami last month. Any meaningful reduction of government spending to cut the budget by trillions of dollars would require some combination of severe cuts to expensive but critical government programs like Social Security as well as the Department of Defense and tax increases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I work for the president. I need to do what the president tells me to do, Dudek said, according to the recording obtained by ProPublica. Ive had to make some tough choices, choices I didnt agree with, but the president wanted it and I did it The president has an agenda. Im a political appointee. I need to follow that agenda. Senate Budget Committee vice chair Patty Murray and fellow Senate Democrats have warned that Social Security benefits are not safe in the Trump administration (Getty Images) DOGE staffers now have access to a massive database that contains a master list of Social Security holders and applications, though the list does not include all death dates, a point which Trump and Musk have used as the basis of their claims to argue millions of dead people are still receiving checks. Money is being paid to many of them, Trump said in his remarks to Congress last week. There was roughly $72 billion in improper Social Security payments over a seven-year period from 2015 through 2022, though not all of that was fraud, according to an inspector generals report. That figure represents less than 1 per cent of all benefits paid, and all but $23 billion was recovered by the government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency has also abandoned plans to stop millions of people filing retirement and disability claims by phone, following reporting in The Washington Post. Blocking people from calling Social Security for their claims would have forced elderly Americans and people with disabilities to rely only on the internet and in-person appointments. Approximately 40 percent of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with someone calling [Social Security to change direct deposit bank information, the agencys press office said in a statement following the newspapers reporting. Current protocol of simply asking identifying questions by telephone is no longer enough to prevent fraud. A post from DOGEs X account called the report inaccurate and misleading and that DOGE is protecting our seniors by ensuring bank accounts arent changed with little to no authentication. DOGE said people could make payment changes online using two-factor authentication or in-person at a Social Security office. This is identical to the fraud protections at almost all major banks, where deposit changes are made either online or in person, the post said. All other [Social Security] phone services remain unchanged. HARARE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Thursday announced the termination of the mandate of its regional peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In a communique issued at the end of a virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government, the regional bloc directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) troops from the country. According to the communique, the summit reiterated the need for a political and diplomatic solution with all parties, including state, non-state parties, military and non-military in the eastern DRC, to restore peace, security, and tranquility. The SADC deployed its peacekeeping mission in December 2023, with the mandate extended by one year in November last year amid ongoing hostilities in the country's eastern region. In January, several peacekeepers deployed by SAMIDRC and the United Nations were killed during the clashes between the DRC government forces and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels. The communique noted that the SADC reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to continue supporting the DRC in its pursuit of safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, as well as sustainable peace, security and development. Noting the increasing humanitarian needs in the DRC, the summit called on the international community, including the United Nations and the African Union, to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of the DRC. DENVER (KDVR) Government agencies nationwide are experiencing spending cuts and layoffs with billionaire Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, and leases for property across Colorado are on the list. DOGE posted a Wall of Receipts on its website, listing contract, grant and lease cancellations. Over $9.4 million in leases are included, totaling 355,000 square feet. New information: When offices in Colorado could close from DOGE lease terminations Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FOX31 matched the list to the U.S. General Services Administrations inventory of federal government leases, which provided additional information, including addresses. Colorado leases on DOGEs Wall of Receipts Here are the lease terminations in Colorado listed by DOGE as of March 5, with details from the GSAs February 2025 lease inventory. The leases vary by location, according to the GSA inventory, with some covering buildings or a portion of buildings, parking and/or warehouse space. While DOGE hasnt released specific details on the cancellation process, it said that nationwide there have been 4,083 contract terminations totaling $15 billion in savings, 6,289 grant terminations totaling $15 billion in savings and 748 lease terminations, totaling 9,587,384 square feet and $468 million in lease savings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A judge in the nations capital declines to block DOGE from Treasury systems DOGE said its saving taxpayer money from the nationwide cuts, but people across the United States have met these cuts with complaints and protests from the recent government agency layoffs. In Colorado, people have protested by lining both sides of Broadway in Boulder, supporting hundreds of NOAA workers laid off nationwide. Earlier in February, protestors also rallied at the Colorado Capitol Building to protest President Donald Trumps enacted policies, as well as the influence of Musk. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Texas free newsletters here. What happened? The U.S. Justice Department withdrew from a lawsuit alleging that Texas legislative and congressional district maps drawn after the 2020 U.S. census discriminated against Latino and Black voters by denying them an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process. The department made the decision last week, according to court filings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its the latest in a series of moves by the Justice Department under President Donald Trump to retreat from voting rights cases initiated by the Biden administration. In January, the department withdrew from a voting rights case it had brought last year against Virginia over the removal of names from voter rolls, and last month it withdrew a request to participate in a redistricting case in Louisiana. Whats the dispute? The case involves Texas 2021 redrawing of political maps for congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 census. The updated maps were meant to reflect the states population growth, which, according to the census, was driven almost entirely by Texans of color. However, the Republican-drawn maps diluted their political power, splitting up areas that had high minority populations and giving white voters even greater control. That sparked complaints from the federal government and other groups that the maps discriminated against voters of color. Republican lawmakers and attorneys representing the state in court have denied that their work violated the Voting Rights Act or constitutional protections against discrimination. Who are the plaintiffs? The remaining plaintiffs in the case are coalitions of organizations representing Latino and Black Texans, such as the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas NAACP, and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, among others, as well as individual Texans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They had filed suits in 2021 arguing that the Texas Legislature discriminated against voters of color in the drawing of its political district maps. Their lawsuits were later consolidated. What are they asking for? The plaintiffs are calling for the court to rule that the maps are unconstitutional and unlawful, and to order that they be redrawn in a way that does not dilute the strength of Latino voters in Texas, court documents state. The maps have affected communities of Latino and Black voters in North Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, in the Rio Grande Valley, and in Central Texas, near one of the nations largest military communities in Killeen. Texas has been sued and found liable for violating the Voting Rights Act every previous redistricting cycle since 1973, said Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who represents the coalition of Latino organizations in the case and has represented plaintiffs against the state since the early 2000s. What happens now? Such complex, long-running cases require a lot of resources, which the Justice Department has, said Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Marymount University and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Departments civil rights division. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal governments withdrawal leaves the private plaintiffs to pursue the cases on their own. Perales said the Justice Departments decision does not affect the remaining parties' stance in the case. A trial has been set for May 21. Read more coverage of the case and the Justice Departments stance in voting rights cases: Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She is based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org. We cant wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. You don't need to venture far from the Oval Office to find critics of President Donald Trump's chaotic economic agenda. Many of the people put off by Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs are roaming the halls of the White House. That's the news from the Wall Street Journal, who spoke with insiders in Trump's White House and found that the volatile stock market and tariff-induced uncertainty have rattled senior officials like Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The tension has mounted as Trump underlings handle concerned calls from donors and business leaders about planned tariffs on Canada, Mexico and other prominent U.S. trade partners. Anonymous sources who spoke with the Journal said the executive branch's National Economic Council has tried to nudge Trump off his current path to no avail. In spite of the concerning news coming from inside the White House, officials are claiming the admin is of one mind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every member of the Trump administration is playing from the same playbookPresident Trumps playbookto enact an America First agenda of tariffs, tax cuts, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the Journal. The stock market slumps stemming from uncertainty around Trump tariffs have disrupted the lock-step of MAGA diehards on Capitol Hill. Republican legislators have begun speaking out about Trump's economic agenda, worrying that the confusion around trade could cause pain without a point. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told the Journal that he was "very frustrated" by the wishy-washy approach to duties by Trump. We dont know what this is gonna look like tomorrow, he told the outlet. The typically conservative Wall Street Journal has been a vocal critic of Trump's planned tariffs. The editorial board of the paper called Trump's idea "the dumbest trade war in history" in a fiery op-ed. Trump responded that the Journal was "always wrong" and promised the U.S. was "not going to be the 'Stupid Country' any longer." A Roxbury auto repair shop owner is determined to find his kitten after he says his pet was stolen by two girls on their way to school. Its a story youll see only on Boston 25 News. Surveillance video shows the girls entering N & K Auto Repair Shop on Blue Hill Ave Thursday around 8:22 a.m. Theyre seen leaving with the kitten in a book bag less than two minutes later. The owner said the girls asked to touch his pet kitten inside the shop shortly after he opened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was looking when they scooped up one of his two kittens but then briefly walked next door to deliver a key. His kitten named Maya was nowhere to be found when he returned moments later. Dont tell me these girls stole my cat!, said Harry Cartagena, owner of N & K Auto Repair. I looked at the cameras, and yes, they stole my cat. Cartagena said he couldnt believe his eyes when he saw the video. They look around. They dont see me. They open the bag and place the cat inside the bag and took off, he said. I was mad! Cartagena showed the footage to four nearby schools in hopes of identifying the girls, but none recognized them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He reached out to Boston 25 News to help find his stolen kitten. Its only been a couple of hours, and I miss my cat, he told Boston 25 News. He said he hasnt contacted police because hes hoping this can be resolved without law enforcement. I want them to learn their lesson. If the mom or dad sees the cat in the house, please return it back to me, he added. Its not right. Cartagena is asking anyone with information to call N & K Auto Repair at 617 212-6770. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Moviemakers are searching for new information about the death and life of Donald Goines, a novel writer who was killed more than a half-century ago, but whose case was never solved. And they are willing to pay up to $5,000 for it. The announcement Wednesday in a downtown Detroit hotel suite, is, by some accounts, a long-overdue plea for help to investigate a cold case. The film company, Detroit Son, is hoping to figure out why the prolific author was killed on Oct. 1, 1974. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Were trying to determine what really happened and who is responsible," Bill Proctor, a longtime broadcaster who was hired as an investigator by the film company, said. "It is a daunting task." Detroit Novelist Donald Goines, Goines became a best-selling author by writing about the arduous life he knew as a pimp, prisoner, con man, armed robber, heroin addict and ninth-grade dropout. Goines and his lover, Shirley Sailor, were raising their two small children in Highland Park when they were "brutally murdered," Proctor said. Over time, he added, police files have gone missing, detectives have retired or died and memories have faded. But, Proctor added, other cold cases have been solved and this one can be, too. Seeking justice While the motive for the slayings was unclear and a killer or killers was never arrested or prosecuted, some over the years have speculated that the deaths may have been connected to drugs, which Goines was using, and perhaps gambling debts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another theory is that Goines was killed to prevent whatever he was working on from being published. He drew his stories from real-life experiences and encounters with criminals. Perhaps one or more of them didn't want their deeds exposed. Goines and Sailor were shot five times each, according to reports. But one of the most tragic parts of the story is that the two children Goines' daughters, age 2 and 4 were left behind in the home, 232 Cortland, where they reportedly spent the night with their parent's dead bodies. The younger of the two children, Donna Sailor who is now 52 and briefly spoke at the news conference told the Free Press she didn't remember anything from that night or know much about her parents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And, she added, she hoped future film could help her family get answers and justice. Pop-culture star Goines who was described by retired Free Press editor Bill McGraw as a "pop-culture star" who was largely unknown in white America was a bestselling author who wrote about Detroit gangsters, drug addicts and prostitutes. Goines who grew up in a middle-class Catholic family in the Dequindre-Davison neighborhood in north central Detroit and at 15, Goines dropped out of Pershing High, faked a birth certificate, and joined the U.S. Air Force got his start writing while in prison. More: Donald Goines becomes a pop-culture star half a century after his violent death Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He wrote about police brutality, retribution and gangsters, in books set mainly in Detroit. He turned out a total of 16 books in four years. His works, McGraw wrote, are filled with flamboyant violence and unromantic sex and were printed on cheap paper and wound up for sale at bus stations and party stores because many bookstores wouldnt carry them. McGraw added that Goines wrote about the arduous life he knew as a pimp, prisoner, con man, armed robber, heroin addict, and ninth-grade dropout, telling vivid stories and describing life at the margins of Black America. Goines also was a drug user, who, in his own words, said he needed a fix to be able to write. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, over the last few decades, the novels Goines wrote were significant enough to be studied in university English classes and echoed in rap song lyrics. Rapper Tupac Shakur, for instance, called Goines his "father figure." Donald Goines Never Die Alone was turned into a 2004 film starring DMX and David Arquette. It was widely panned by critics. And in 2004, one of his books, "Never Die Alone," was turned into a film starring another rapper, DMX, and David Arquette, an actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler, who is probably best known for appearing in the slasher franchise, "Scream." Making a movie So far, the moviemakers said, they have a working title for the documentary, "Get Yours Before You Get Got: The Donald Goines Story," and already have budgeted about $500,000 to make it. They said they hope to film it in Highland Park and Detroit and release it in about a year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Craig Gore, an executive producer and screenwriter, said he hopes that the documentary can cover Goines life, legacy, and the investigation into his death; his status among rappers, like Tupac; and the literary impact of his work, especially among incarcerated readers. "Hopefully, someone will come out of the woodwork," he added. And Robert Bailey, one of the documentarys executive producers, said Goines works which he read while in prison inspired him to become an author and wanted "to be able to represent his story in a true manner." Bailey acknowledged that many people who might have known what happened to Goines in the early 70s are "dead and gone," but "its good to remain hopeful, and thats what we are." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, he added, even if they are unable to solve the homicide case or find justice for the dead, they still intend to produce a documentary, which could allow the family to emotionally address unresolved feelings, and to tell an important story. Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Documentary makers seek to solve Donald Goines murder case President Donald Trump is engaged in an all-out assault on speech rights aimed at forcing every sector of society to adopt his administrations viewpoint or risk discrimination, punishment, and, in some cases, jail, revocation of rights and deportation. This is the most concerted assault on free speech rights since the McCarthy Era, said David Cole, the former legal director of the ACLU and a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Here, too, you have a government targeting for retribution and for punishment [to] those with whom it disagrees and doing so across the board, Cole said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These attacks have largely come through a series of executive orders aimed at eliminating from American life Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; transgender people; support for undocumented immigrants; opposition to Israeli government policies; and, of course, anyone Trump perceives as his enemy. Still others have seen their speech rights assailed by the Trump administration for refusing to abide by an executive order purporting to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous lawsuits have been filed to challenge nearly every one of these orders. How far the administration is willing to go to assail the First Amendment became clear on Saturday evening when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested, detained and moved to deport Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant for his involvement in the anti-Gaza War protest movement on Columbia Universitys campus in 2024. Khalil is a Palestinian citizen and U.S. green card holder, which confers legal rights that foreign visa holders lack. President Donald Trump's executive orders seek to require nonprofits, universities, corporations, law firms, student loan holders and artists to adopt his administration's viewpoints or risk punishment and retaliation. ROBERTO SCHMIDT via Getty Images The Department of Homeland Security, however, labeled him a supporter of terrorism for activities aligned to Hamas and now claims to have revoked his green card. A federal judge ordered the administration on Monday that it cannot deport Khalil until courts rule on his case, but the move to deport Khalil is just the beginning of an effort to root out anti-American activity, as Trump noted on his social media site Monday. Khalils arrest is a dramatic escalation in the Trump administrations campaign to stamp out pro-Palestinian protests by seeking the deportation of student and faculty visa holders who participate or support them, according to Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is part of a broader pattern by this administration to target and retaliate against its political opponents based on speech and criticism they disagree with, Krishnan said. Trumps executive orders and actions take aim at decades of First Amendment precedents while attempting to silence the speech of his political opponents. Organizations are cowed by threats to cut off their funding if they speak or associate in terms deemed unfavorable by the administration. Students and university faculty on visas fear speaking or publishing on issues that are disfavored by the administration. A great chill is passing over the country. Nonprofit groups, universities and corporations have moved quickly to scuttle policies and eliminate wrong-thought from their websites and public facing materials amid threats to revoke federal funding and scare off clients. Many organizations and universities have already begun ending DEI programs or eliminating language related to DEI policies to seemingly comply with Trumps anti-DEI executive order. Others now either hide those policies or language supporting racial minorities, women, disabled and LGBTQ people by using different phrases on their public materials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These are profiles in self-censorship, Cole says, as neither the law nor the executive order require these organizations to either end or suppress mention of these programs. Trumps DEI order bans illegal DEI programs, which would require an offending DEI program to violate federal anti-discrimination law. No DEI program has ever been found to violate federal anti-discrimination law, Cole said. This overcompliance comes as the administration is already using other executive orders to punish universities by revoking federal funding. Under Trumps anti-semitism order, the administration purported to strip $400 million in grants to Columbia University for its alleged failure to combat anti-semitism on campus by allowing pro-Palestine protests in 2024. The Department of Education is now targeting 60 additional universities for similar investigation and possible action. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve seen all too many corporations suck up to the president and not stand for their rights, Cole said. Universities are running scared because they are so dependent on federal funding and much of that funding is discretionary, and theyre concerned if they speak out Trump will take their funding. And so, youre seeing very little vocal opposition to what happened to Columbia even though it was blatantly illegal. While the DEI order purports to ban illegal DEI, Trumps order banning gender ideology goes further by seeking to erase the existence of trans people, said John Peller, President and CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, which is party to a lawsuit against both the DEI and anti-trans executive orders. Protestors rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil in New York City after his arrest by immigration officials for participating in pro-Palestinian protests in 2024. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU via Getty Images The anti-trans executive order purports to define only two genders male and female while officially refusing to acknowledge the existence of transgender people. And it forbids any federal money to go to organizations that promote gender ideology. It does not define the word promote or the term gender ideology. We dont know whats allowed and we dont know whats forbidden, Peller said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The threat of funding loss puts Pellers organization, which receives millions in federal funding through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and other programs, on a knifes edge. The orders potentially threaten their ability to recognize and tailor their services to trans people with HIV/AIDS, and to tailor outreach and care to Black and Latino populations to address particular issues that they face. Were really in an incredibly tenuous situation, and we have over a 1,000 people living with HIV who are in housing programs that we fund, Peller said. We provide services to over 8,000 people per year through the Ryan White program who are living with HIV. The impact on those folks losing services potentially overnight really could be devastating. The lawsuit brought by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, alongside the National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Coalition, alleges the executive orders are both unconstitutionally vague and, particularly for the anti-trans order, constitute viewpoint discrimination by requiring organizations to adopt the governments opinions. Folks are going to overcompensate and change their behavior, said Jose Abrigo, a lawyer on the case from Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is exactly what is happening as a number of nonprofits, including the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network; Boys & Girls Club of America; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, deleted all mention of either LGBTQ or trans people from their websites. The changes to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Childrens website occurred after the Department of Justice threatened the organization with a loss of funds unless they complied, journalist Marisa Kabas reported. Other nonprofits addressing domestic abuse are similarly cowed, editing their sites to disappear language related to DEI and trans people, according to The 19th. The National Endowment for the Arts has also moved to restrict grants to artists who affirm the existence of transgender and nonbinary people. Cole represents four theater and arts organizations who have filed suit challenging NEAs actions as a violation of their First Amendment rights. This is plainly unconstitutional. You cannot use federal funding as a lever to try to control what a recipient of federal funds says outside of a federal program, Cole said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The White House did not answer questions about how the executive orders violate free speech rights, instead claiming that they are aimed at promoting merit. Protecting the civil rights and expanding opportunities for all Americans is a key priority of the Trump Administration, which is why he took decisive actions to terminate unlawful DEI preferences in the federal government, deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement. The Associated Press is suing the Trump administration for excluding its reporters from briefings and events for the organization's refusal to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Alex Wong via Getty Images Some of Trumps actions go far beyond threats and chilling speech to exact punishment for opposing the president. Two executive orders targeted law firms with punitive actions aimed at destroying their business for representing clients that Trump deems his enemies. Trump stripped lawyers for Covington & Burling who did pro bono work for special counsel Jack Smiths prosecution of Trump of their security clearances and banned the federal government from hiring the law firm. An action against Perkins Coie, which represented the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and won numerous lawsuits brought by Trump challenging the validity of the 2020 election, went much further by banning the law firms 1,200 lawyers from accessing federal buildings without government approval, obtaining government clients and requiring anyone who has hired the firm to disclose it to the government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This punitive action is an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice that violates the First Amendment and other constitutional provisions, a lawsuit filed by Perkins Coie on Tuesday says. A district court judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking key sections of the executive order on Wednesday. The White House also took punitive action against the press by denying access to Associated Press reporters because the organization refuses to identify the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and seizing control of the White House Correspondents Association to remove disfavored journalists. This included kicking HuffPost out of the press pool to cover the president. The Associated Press has sued the White House for violating its First Amendment rights. Trump is even trying to unilaterally gut the law that forgives student loans to graduates who go on to perform public service at nonprofits or other organizations by denying forgiveness to anyone who works in a field that promotes DEI, pro-Palestine positions, immigrant rights or acknowledges transgender people. All of these orders and the actions taken from chilling speech to trying to destroy Perkins Coie to jailing and threatening Khalil with the revocation of his rights and deportation are all part of the same story, Krishnan said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By targeting nonprofits, universities, law firms, professional associations, the press and protests, they show a clear pattern of seeking to neutralize civil society, according to Cole. These groups play a critical role in checking government abuse and standing up for our principles, Cole said. He is seeking to neutralize them, as have authoritarians in almost any other country where theyve come to power through elections, because thats where opposition comes from. This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. In 2023, Donald Trump posted that electric-car supporters should ROT IN HELL. Now he is showcasing Teslas on the White House lawn. Yesterday, the president stood with Elon Musk and oohed and ahhed at a lineup of the electric vehicles, saying that he hoped his purchase of one would help the carmakers stock, which had halved in value since mid-December thanks to a combination of customer backlash and general economic uncertainty. (The stock has rebounded by 7.6 percent since yesterday.) Trump does not own shares in Tesla, as far as we know. He has said that he is supporting the carmaker because protesters are harming a great American company, and has suggested that people who vandalize Tesla cars or protest the company should be labeled domestic terrorists. But he also seems interested in helping his friend, the special government employee Elon Musk, maintain his status as the wealthiest man in the world. Yesterdays White House spectacle was, my colleague Charlie Warzel wrote, a stilted, corrupt attempt to juice a friends stock, and certainly beneath the office of the presidency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If any other government official had similarly promoted a friends product (especially on hallowed White House grounds), they would have been in clear violation of the specific regulation restricting executive-branch employees from using their role to endorse commercial products or services, Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told me. But the president and the vice president are exempt from that regulation, as well as from some of the other ethics rules that govern federal officials. Norms, in this case, are the primary lever for holding the commander in chief accountable. Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his appetite for overturning norms and pushing ethical bounds, so his latest stunt as a Tesla salesman is not altogether shocking. When Trump learned in 2016 that U.S. presidents are exempt from the conflict-of-interest rules that restrict other government officials, he seemed delighted. The president cant have a conflict of interest, he told The New York Times then. Id assumed that youd have to set up some type of trust or whatever. Despite the lack of legal restriction, modern presidents have generally moved assets into blind trusts, which are controlled by independent managers, in order to diminish any perception that they are profiting from the office (or that they are making policy decisions to boost their own investment portfolios). Trump has shuffled around his assets since taking office but in general has chosen to put his family in charge of managing them. Trump recently said that hed transferred his shares of Truth Social into a trust controlled by his son Donald Trump Jr., a move that is irrelevant from an ethics point of view because the money could still flow to him, Clark told me. And with his own family controlling the trust, Trump likely knows exactly where his money is and can make decisions that would increase the value of his holdings. Presidential conflicts of interest, or even the appearance of them, can undermine public confidence (nearly two-thirds of Americans said they believe that all or most elected officials ran for office to make money, a 2023 Pew Research Center survey found). Trump may not be directly profiting off Tesla, but the problem with him hawking cars poses the same issue as other potential conflicts of interest: Whats good for Truth Social or Trumps meme coin or Tesla is not necessarily whats good for the country, and Trump has so far not inspired confidence that he will prioritize the latter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk, too, hasnt assuaged concerns that he will separate his business interests from his role in the Trump administration: Musks corporate empire relies on government contracts. And the federal firings he is overseeing through his DOGE initiative are already reshaping agencies that regulate his companies. After he sat in the Teslas and complimented them in front of cameras yesterday, Trump told the press that he would buy one of the vehicles and pay with a personal check. That relatively small financial commitment makes a big statement about the president and where his priorities lie: with the interests of his friend, the billionaire. Related: Here are three new stories from The Atlantic: Todays News In response to the Trump administrations tariffs, the European Union announced that it will impose tariffs on $28 billion in U.S. exports, and Canada added 25 percent tariffs on approximately $20.7 billion worth of U.S. goods. The Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, remains in ICE detention after his procedural hearing. He was arrested earlier this week in an effort to deport him over his role in protests against the war in Gaza. The Department of Education fired more than 1,300 employees yesterday, leaving the department with roughly half the workforce it had before Donald Trump took office. Evening Read The Man Who Owned 181 Renoirs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By Susan Tallman Of all the ways that todays plutocrats spend their billions, founding an art museum is one of the more benign, somewhere behind eradicating malaria but ahead of eradicating democracy. The art in these museums is almost always contemporary, reflecting the dearth of available old masters along with a global chattering-classes consensus that avant-garde art is socially, intellectually, and culturally important. Few of these tycoons, though, are likely to find the stakes as agonizingly high as Albert C. Barnes did. Read the full article. More From The Atlantic Culture Break Netflix / Everett Collection Watch. Theres nothing else like Mo, Hannah Giorgis writes. The Palestinian American sitcom (streaming on Netflix) is the first of its kindand takes its humor very seriously. Read. As much as I love the [sci-fi] genre, I always have this desire to betray it at the same time, Bong Joon Ho, the director of Mickey 17, told David Sims in an interview. Play our daily crossword. Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter. Explore all of our newsletters here. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic. Article originally published at The Atlantic DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Blood centers rely on drives at high schools and colleges for a large portion of their donations, so when schools are out such as for Spring Break theres a sharp decline. To encourage people to donate and alleviate the expected shortage, Versiti Blood Center of Ohio Dayton (formerly Solvita) is holding a Spring Pickleball promotion next week. Save a life by donating blood this March Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone who donates blood, platelets or plasma at the main Versiti Dayton Center, 349 S. Main St., from Monday, March 17, through Saturday, March 22, will receive a free pickleball paddle set while supplies last. Blood donations help everyone, from people needing medical care after traumatic accidents to people facing diseases like cancer. According to statistics by the American Red Cross, approximately 40 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood. However, only about 3 percent donate annually. It is estimated that if only 1 percent more donated, the blood supply shortage would be eliminated. To make an appointment call (937) 461-3220 or to register online click here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. "Rats truly are the most resilient, loving and smartest creatures, not to mention misunderstood," a post on a Bloomington small animal rescue's Facebook page reads. Staff and volunteers at the Pipsqueakery would know they recently took possession of 253 live rats found in unsafe conditions in a condemned home. Other animals, dead and alive, and unexplained human bones also were found at the property. Here's a look at what happened. Canton couple accused of keeping animals in 'deplorable conditions' A 41-year-old Canton, Ohio, woman was recently arrested and charged with domestic violence and taken to jail. Her partner, a 45-year-old man, went to the hospital for treatment at the time. An officer who responded to the call told others not to enter the house due to the conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both the man and woman have now been charged with seven counts of prohibitions concerning companion animals. Hundreds of rats, other animals found in home Last week, officials, law enforcement and animal welfare advocates converged on the rental home in the 1000 block of Wertz Ave. in Canton. A police complaint alleges the man knowingly caused serious physical harm to three dogs, two birds and two turtles "by confining the animals in deplorable conditions. The residence was filled with hundreds of rats, feces, urine, dirt, garbage, clutter, deceased animal remains, and other contamination." The police complaint against the female suspect was not immediately available Friday. Health department was monitoring Canton, Ohio, home. Now it's condemned Canton prosecutor Katie Erchick Gilbert said Canton City Public Health had been working with the residents of the home since February. She said the property was "one of the worst we've ever seen." A police report about a Jan. 10 visit to the house with the health agency said there was a "strong odor" coming from inside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I observed a large amount of rats running throughout the house, a large amount of clutter and feces on the floor," the officer's account said. He wrote that the male resident of the home said the rats belonged to his girlfriend. rat house A police report about the early March search said several dead rats were found in a fish tank in the living room. After the 45-year-old man was arrested, the prosecutor asked that he be kept at the Stark County (Ohio) Jail. She said it would not be appropriate for him to be released, "considering what has been found in the house, considering his mental state." "It is clear that there are severe mental health issues for both involved," Erchick Gilbert said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more news from Bloomington at HeraldTimesOnline.com. How did the Pipsqueakery in Bloomington help? The Pipsqueakery, an animal rescue organization in Bloomington, Indiana, took possession of 253 live rats, and more than 100 dead ones, during a search of the property. By the end of the week, according to a post on the organization's page on March 9, four more litters of rats were born, bringing the total to almost 300 rats. The Pipsqueakery plans to spay the animals, according to the post. "We are very grateful to Pipsqueakery," Erchick Gilbert said. "Without Pipsqueakery, I don't know what we would have done, honestly, with all of the rats." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Story continues below gallery. The 501(c)(3) organization in southern Indiana has rescued more than 12,000 animals in 11 years, according to information on its website. They accept donations through various services such as PayPal, Venmo and Facebook, and also accept donations of items needed to run the organization. The rescue's Facebook page lists many volunteering opportunities, which include animal care, fostering, maintenance and administrative work. Those interested can find out more by visiting thepipsqueakery.org. Are the rats rescued from Ohio adoptable? According to an email from a representative at the Pipsqueakery, the rescued rats are not yet available for adoption. They are beginning the process of spaying the female rats who are healthy enough to undergo surgery the rescue spays and neuters all animals before they can be adopted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pipsqueakery works with other organizations to coordinate adoption for animals in their care. The email said that some rats will go to the nonprofit Exotic Animal Rescue and Pet Sanctuary in Indianapolis. Where are the other animals now? The Stark County Humane Society in Ohio took the dogs and parakeets. The Herps Alive Foundation rescue group of South Euclid, Ohio, took the turtles. Erchick Gilbert said the Stark County Humane Society staff was "amazing." "They came, they suited up, they went into this place with these almost hazmat-looking suits and removed the animals that were alive and could be saved," Erchick Gilbert said. "The dogs are doing very well and so are the birds." Read the full story from our partners at the Canton Repository. Unexplained human bones found on property Human bones also found at the home Wednesday and they are being evaluated by the Stark County Coroner's Office. It is not known whether they are related to a crime. Erchick Gilbert said it is legal to own human bones in Ohio. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We don't know how they came to be in possession of them," Erchick Gilbert said. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rats from condemned home in Ohio make trip to southern Indiana ADDIS ABABA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China's commitment to promoting its inclusive initiatives and cultural diplomacy across Africa is bearing fruits, Ethiopian scholars have said. On Tuesday, a seminar named "China in Springtime: Sharing Opportunities with the World Global Dialogue" was launched in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. Scholars exchanged ideas on China's promotion of inclusivity and cultural diplomacy, with a particular focus on investments in education and human resource development across the African continent. "China's growing cooperation with African countries through promoting soft power initiatives including cultural exchanges is gaining momentum with the people of Africa, not by force but by attraction," said Balew Demissie, a researcher at the Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute and an associate professor with the Addis Ababa University. The researcher said that China's strategic partnership with Africa is gaining impetus, bringing prosperity to both sides, creating a fairer world and shaping the global governance system. Noting that China offers education, language and culture-related training as well as long-term scholarships for people in many African countries, Demissie said China's soft power policy is winning increasing recognition in Africa, making it a key player in promoting common humanity and shared future. China's cultural diplomacy via its Confucius Institutes and Luban Workshops, which are established in partnerships with higher learning institutions in different countries, is building the capacity of African youth through vocational and other forms of training programs, according to Demissie. China employs more cultural diplomacy to deepen its strategic economic, political and diplomatic relations with Africa, and these initiatives have won the acceptance of many African countries, said Melaku Mulualem, a senior international relations and diplomacy researcher at Ethiopia's Institute of Foreign Affairs. "China is deepening its multilateral, bilateral and regional economic cooperation with Africa based on a win-win approach," said Mulualem, noting that its economic growth has helped many African countries register better economic and social development. Noting that China's path of modernization is a viable alternative for Africa's development, Mulualem said China's commitment to boosting economic and diplomatic relations with Africa through developing infrastructure and promoting cultural diplomacy is "praiseworthy." Fekadu Tsega, director general of the Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute, said that China-Africa cooperation in technical and vocational education can equip Africa's youth with skills for modern industries, while academic exchanges and scholarships promote cross-cultural learning. "Strengthening China-Africa cooperation through multilateralism is essential for a fairer world order," Tsega said, adding that digital economy and technology cooperation between the two sides can accelerate Africa's transformation through China's expertise in 5G, e-commerce, financial technology, AI and automation. In the heart of Miami-Dade County, home to the largest Venezuelan-American community in the U.S., the city of Doral made a statement Wednesday by approving a resolution in support of the Venezuelan Adjustment Act, a congressional bill that seeks to provide permanent legal status for Venezuelan nationals who have sought refuge in the U.S. and would offer a lifeline to tens of thousands of people who have rebuilt their lives after fleeing the South American countrys ongoing humanitarian crisis. The resolution comes at a critical time for the Venezuelan community, which has been reeling from the Trump administrations unstinting stance on immigration. The administration has labeled Venezuelans in general as criminals, tying the community to dangerous gangs like Tren de Aragua, and made the controversial decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status, which provides protections from deportation. The Venezuelan Adjustment Act will offer stability and legal protections; we urge federal action, said Doral Councilman Rafael Pineyro, the only Venezuelan member of the council. Pineyro, the sponsor of the resolution, said it calls on lawmakers to champion policies that provide legal pathways to permanent residency for Venezuelan nationals, particularly in light of the suspension of TPS protections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Venezuelan Adjustment Act aims at granting permanent resident status to Venezuelan nationals who meet specific criteria, including having entered the U.S. on or before Dec. 31, 2021. First introduced in May 2022 by a group of Democratic lawmakers, the bill gained significant momentum in 2023 with bipartisan support from U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Miami, and Central Florida Democrat Darren Soto. The bill was reintroduced in the House in February, with 16 sponsors, including Salazar, Soto, Broward Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Miami Democrat Frederica Wilson. The Trump administrations decision revoking TPS is facing multiple federal court challenges, which claim that the termination of deportation protections for Venezuelans is unlawful, politically motivated, racially biased, and part of a broader pattern of discrimination against non-European, non-white immigrants. The first federal hearing is scheduled for March 24. We urged President Trump and his administration to find solutions for law-abiding Venezuelans, and now were seeking permanent residency for those who meet specific criteria, including entering the United States before or on December 31st, 2021, Pineyro added. The Doral City Council approved the resolution 5-0. Venezuelans have a strong presence in Doral. About 40% of the citys 84,000 residents are of Venezuelan descent. About 10,000 are U.S. citizens, representing a third of the citys voters and holding significant influence in local elections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement READ MORE: A delicate balance: Why Doral GOP pols fight for Venezuelans, but avoid clash with Trump Currently, over 600,000 Venezuelans benefit from TPS, but the fate of more than half a million Venezuelans hangs in the balance. Around 350,000 are at risk of losing their deportation protection by April, with another 257,000 facing the same threat by September. Lissie Albornoz, an advocate for the Venezuelan Adjustment Act, celebrated the Doral City Councils approval of a resolution in support of the bill. She shared her personal story as a representative of the thousands of Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. years ago, who despite their hard work, the absence of permanent legal status has left them in limbo Several Venezuelans gathered at the council meeting in strong support of the resolution. Lissie Albornoz said that the Venezuelan Adjustment Act represents more than just a piece of legislation. Its a pathway to stability and opportunity for those who have fled dictatorship, political persecution, and economic collapse, she said. Albornoz shared her personal story as an example of the thousands of Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. years ago, worked hard, built businesses, raised families and contributed to their communities. Despite their efforts, the lack of permanent legal status has kept them in limbo, unable to fully plan for their future, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While your support is a huge step, we still need help from higher levels our state leaders, congressional representatives, and national decision-makers. Thats why your voice matters. Resolutions like this demonstrate the unity and commitment of local governments in supporting immigrant communities, Albornoz said. However, with Congress currently under Republican control, the prospects of passing the Venezuelan Adjustment Act remain uncertain. We cannot lose hope that meaningful advocacy can still make a difference, said Doral Mayor Christi Fraga said. She reassured the community that her office and the city would continue to advocate for the protection of Venezuelans, pushing for the extension of TPS and a clear path to legal status. Despite the challenges, Mildred Rodriguez, CEO of My Voice Counts, a non-profit organization that has promoted the Venezuelan Adjustment Law, remains steadfast in trying to make the bill a congressional priority. She said the fight is about more than policy; its about securing stability for a community that has already endured immense hardship after fleeing a country devastated by political, economic and humanitarian crises. Advocates have already collected nearly 325,000 signatures in support of the bill, with plans to reach 500,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rodriguez estimated that up to 400,000 Venezuelans could benefit from the bill. Pineyro is also dedicated to raising public awareness about the dire conditions in Venezuela and the potential consequences of revoking TPS for Venezuelans across the U.S., particularly in Doral. The city could face a devastating economic collapse if the Trump administrations decision to revoke TPS is not reversed. Many members of the Venezuelan community are business owners or employed in various businesses throughout the city, playing a key role in sustaining the local economy. I want to make it clear that the City of Doral remains committed to advocating for the rights and well-being of our Venezuelan residents, Pineyro said. Thats why we urge our federal representatives to support the Venezuelan Adjustment Act and work toward alternative solutions for those affected by the TPS suspension, Los Angeles police have been responding to reports of crows being shot from trees in one of the citys affluent neighborhoods. On March 8, officers were notified of shots heard in Westchester. When they arrived on scene at Chase Avenue, neighbors told them theyd heard multiple shots and observed three crows dead and one wounded bird in a yard. Police observed the three dead birds during an initial visit but did not locate any dead animals or suspects in a second, a police spokesperson told The Independent. No bullet casings were located and there is no direct evidence of shots being fired. The witnesses did not see a firearm, police said, and there hasnt been a cause of death determined for the birds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers logged an animal cruelty report and animal regulations responded for a wounded bird. A resident transported the wounded animal to the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas for treatment. A group of neighborhood residents told the Los Angeles Times that dozens of birds in the area have been shot and they are concerned for the birds and their well-being. The slayings have occurred for several years, residents said. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said officials did not observe any dead animals during their response (Getty Images) The shootings are uncharacteristic for the neighborhood with a median home price of $1.7m. Westchester also has a lower crime rate compared to the rest of the city. Brenna Lenoir, who lives in the area, said the shootings initially began months apart but have become more frequent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It always follows the same pattern: You hear pop, pop, pop or you hear a gun fire, a crow gets hit, and then you just hear the crows go wild, she told The Times. She suspects 100 birds have been killed in the area. At least two of the birds were hawks, she said. Anyone found guilty of killing a hawk could be charged with a federal offense and hit with a $15,000 fine. Other residents described the mystery shooter as a menace to the community. One resident said hes worried for the local children. The shooter shot a bird during a birthday party once, causing birds to fall from the sky as children played in a front yard. Diana George told the paper: Its not like its an active shooter with a gun thats shooting people, but it still makes me scared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive been walking my dog, and Ill hear a bullet go whiz right by my head, and I duck and Im scared its going to hit me in the head. You dont know when hes going to strike. Its terrifying. The residents are now working together to install cameras in the area with the aim of catching the culprit. Editors Note: This story shares details of child sex abuse that may be disturbing for readers. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The Oregon Youth Authority is set to face a major lawsuit regarding the sexual abuse of at least 10 boys in juvenile detention, according to attorneys. The victims, now men, claim they were sexually abused as children while they were in custody of the State of Oregon at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. Their representatives claim the children between the ages of 12 and 16 were treated as throwaway kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OYA confirmed to KOIN 6 Thursday night that director Joe OLeary has been fired. Tigard Tesla dealership shot for second time in a week Attorneys Peter Janci of Crew Janci LLP and Paul Galm of Galm Law say the case involves a specific OYA staffer known as Dr. Edwards Gary Edwards. His abuse of boys at MacLaren was so prolific that he was known amongst boys and staff as Dr. Cold Fingers, Janci said. Edwards served as the primary medical provider at Maclaren from 1977 until at least 2008, and attorneys say he had private access to thousands of children during this time. This doctor was in charge of intake exams at MacLaren, which means that he had a reason to be alone with every single child that came through MacLaren during those 40+ years of service, Janci said. And at nearly 300 youth housed there at any given time, by 40 years, that means this doctor had an opportunity to abuse more than 10,000 children in Oregon custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the lawsuit, victims had reported their concerns about Edwards to other staffers and through the OYA abuse hotline. However, victims claim the staffers who had received those reports allegedly ignored them. Worse than that, we allege in this lawsuit that at times, the MacLaren staff weaponized Dr. Edwards abuse of youth, and by that we mean when one of our clients behavior wasnt to the staffs liking, they would threaten them that, Hey if you dont get in line, were going to send you to see Dr. Cold Fingers, Janci said. Attorneys also shared that the victims would seek treatment from Dr. Edwards and instead be sexually abused. One example shared by Janci involved a victim going to the staffer for a sore throat. For his sore throat, he had his genitals fondled by Dr. Edwards for minutes with ungloved hands, Janci said, adding that other victims reported similar experiences along with instances of ungloved masturbation and anal penetration with fingers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oregon gun reform advocates rejoicing but not slowing down after Measure 114 ruling The lawsuit claims that some of these men have grown up to avoid the doctors office, refuse to see a doctor who isnt female, and put off treatment while others face drug abuse and mental health. Galm shares that these responses come from a long-term trauma of sexual abuse while being in a correctional facility where they are stripped of their rights and do not have an authority figure to turn to. The worst part of it, too, is these kids are abused by staff and then they think to themselves that they cant really tell anybody, because nobody is going to believe them, Galm said. Both attorneys believe Edwards, who died in February 2025, may have had other victims during his time at MacLaren. The 10 victims involved in this lawsuit are seeking more than $50 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Galm said he believes this is the largest known lawsuit of its kind, and hes hoping to expose what he said is a systemic flaw that has been stripping incarcerated youth of their rights. We as a society have been told that OYA will rehabilitate them, will help them, support them, and get them to a better place when they leave, Galm said. But instead what happens is theyre abused and they leave in a worse position than when they went into OYA in the first place. This announcement comes one month after Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek placed the OYA director on leave. KOIN 6 News reached out to OYA for a statement, but they said they cannot comment on pending lawsuits. In a separate press release, OYA shared that it has made recent improvements to its Professional Standards Office to ensure youth reporting and investigation processes remain accessible, transparent, and thorough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The improvements follow a review made in January 2025 that identified concerns about how investigations within OYA have been conducted as well as the number of cases that are open or suspended. According to OYA, the Professional Standards Office reported the following numbers as of March 2025: 534 reports from 2018 to October 2024 require a deeper review (open or suspended) 165 reports since October 2024 also remain open or suspended 4,105 cases were closed by investigators between 2018 and the end of 2024. These cases then undergo a final review and sign-off by our chief investigator, and they have signed off on 724 since Jan. 21, 2025. Oregonians need OYA to have grievance and investigation processes that are accessible, transparent, and thorough, Acting Director Jana McLellan said. These elements are necessary to ensure youth and staff safety. We have work ahead of us, but Im confident were doing what we need to do to ensure trust in our systems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Watch the entire press conference in the video player below. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Dr Mehmet Oz significantly underpaid his taxes for some of the programs he intends to oversee, Democrats claimed ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing Friday. The TV doctor has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is expected to be grilled by Democrats during the hearing over his significant wealth and dubious past medical advice. A memo from Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee reportedly claims that Oz, 64, underpaid Medicare and Social Security taxes in 2022 and 2023, NBC News reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The memo, seen by the outlet, summarizes Ozs tax returns from 2021, 2022, and 2023 when he held an interest in Oz Property Holdings LLC. He avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes in the years reviewed, the memo reportedly said. Democrats allege that Oz did not pay any Medicare or Social Security tax in 2023 and paid negligible amounts in 2022. Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, pictured with Trump on the campaign trail last year, has been nominated to lead Medicare and Medicaid. According to Senate Democrats, he significantly underpaid his taxes for some of the programs he intends to oversee (AFP via Getty Images) Dr. Ozs position is counter to the position of the Department of Treasury and results in him not paying into Social Security and Medicare, the very healthcare program he hopes to manage, Democrats wrote in the memo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for Oz maintained he is in compliance with the law. The Office of Government Ethics has conducted an extensive review of Dr. Ozs finances as part of the regular vetting process, Christopher Krepioch told NBC News. OGE has transmitted to the Senate a letter indicating that any potential conflicts have been resolved and he is in compliance with the law. Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, added that Oz followed the law and provided significant amounts of documentation to substantiate his tax return positions as part of the committees rigorous vetting process. More than half the country relies on Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, which Oz will oversee if he is confirmed Friday. Oz will appear in front of the Senate Finance Committee Friday for his confirmation hearing. If confirmed, despite reportedly not paying his Medicare taxes, he will oversee health insurance programs that millions of Americans rely on (AFP via Getty Images) Medicaid provides nearly-free health care coverage to millions of the poorest children and adults in the U.S. while Medicare gives older Americans and the disabled access to health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is the Obama-era program that offers health insurance plans to millions of Americans who do not qualify for government-assisted health insurance, but do not get insurance through their employer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ozs tax returns are just one area Democrats will likely quiz him about. It emerged last month that his wealth has grown in part from for-profit health care companies over which he'd wield significant power if confirmed, according to a government ethics report, the Associated Press reported . In the filing, the former talk show host pledged to divest from those companies within three months of confirmation and said that until then, he wouldn't participate in any matter that could affect his investments. Oz's net worth is between $98 million and $332 million, according to an analysis of the disclosure, which lists asset values in ranges but does not give precise dollar figures. His most recent disclosure shows he also holds millions of dollars worth of shares in health insurance, fertility, pharmaceutical and vitamin companies. Oz said in the filing that he will sell off parts of his significant and diverse investment portfolio, which ranges from retail giants such as Walmart to tech companies such as Apple. A man charged with criminal vehicular homicide after fatally striking a woman who was in a crosswalk in St. Louis Park has died, prompting the dismissal of charges. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office moved to dismiss the charges against 38-year-old Jeremy Sherman last week, according to court records. No details have been provided regarding the circumstances of Sherman's death. Sherman was accused of being impaired when he struck 51-year-old Japs-Olson worker Manes Thach and her 60-year-old coworker at Excelsior Boulevard and Meadowbrook Lane on Dec. 30. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thach, who was due to celebrate her birthday the following day, died of her injuries, while her coworker suffered severe injuries. Related: Charges: St. Louis Park death crash driver didn't slow for crosswalk Prosecutors alleged that Sherman refused to take a breath test at the scene and denied being drunk, according to the criminal complaint. A witness told police at the scene that Sherman's vehicle was "traveling very fast" and didn't attempt to slow down or stop after hitting the two pedestrians. Court records show that the case was dismissed due to Sherman's death just a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest for allegedly violating a condition of his release relating to substance testing. Thach's daughter, Jennifer, said her mother immigrated to Minnesota from Vietnam in 1991 and raised two children as a single mother. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A person is dead after an early morning crash on I-70 Thursday. The Wayne County Sheriffs Office in Indiana reported deputies were sent around 4:25 a.m. to the eastbound lanes of I-70 near mile marker 134 for a reported crash. A sheriffs office preliminary investigation reportedly showed authorities that the driver of a 1996 Dodge Ram went off of the south side of I-70, through a ditch, struck a hump or ridge, and is believed to have caused the vehicle to overturn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver was reportedly ejected before the vehicle stopped, according to authorities. Officials do not believe the driver was wearing a seatbelt. First responders are said to have pronounced the individual dead at the scene. As of date, Wayne County officials dont believe anyone else was in the vehicle. The investigation into the crash remains ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) An drunk driver has pleaded guilty to charges related to a collision wherein an 8-year-old was killed in Hamburg last year, the Erie County District Attorneys Office said Thursday. Markus Genovese, 53 and of Angola, was driving under the influence on Lake Shore Road on the evening of June 8, 2024 when he rear-ended another vehicle stopped at an intersection making a turn onto Eckhardt Road. Genovese abandoned the vehicle, ran from the scene and was located in nearby woods a short time later. The child, identified as Thomas Ross, was sitting in the back seat of the car and died. A second child, a 4-year-old was injured. He was treated and released from Oishei Childrens Hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Blasdell neighborhood honors memory of 8-year-old killed by alleged drunk driver Genovese pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 12. He is being held without bail. Latest Local News Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar and neighboring Zabul province have set on fire and destroyed 10 tons of expired and low-quality food and medicine over the past two days, officials said Thursday. In the latest crackdown on expired medicine and foodstuff, the authorities collected 3 tons of outdated and low-quality food and medicine from Kandahar's provincial capital Kandahar city and adjoining districts and burned them publicly, provincial government spokesman Mawlawi Ezam said. Similarly, a day earlier on Wednesday, the provincial government authorities in Zabul province collected 7 tons of expired and low-quality medicine and food last week and set them on fire publicly in the provincial capital Qalat on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Zabihullah Jawhar confirmed. Authorities have also warned that legal action will be taken against anyone caught selling substandard goods. The action, according to the officials, is part of a broader effort by Afghan authorities to ensure the safety of medicines and food items. Similar burnings of outdated drugs and food have been conducted in other cities, including the capital Kabul in recent months. WARSAW, N.C. (WNCT) Additional charges have been filed by the Warsaw Police Department against a suspect arrested on Jan. 7, 2025. Following further investigation and forensic analysis, additional evidence of a large volume of child sexual abuse materials was found on the suspects cellphone. Darwin Solorzano Mauricio Donaire, 21, now faces the following charges: 13 felony counts of destruction of evidence 13 felony counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donaire remains in custody at the Duplin County Jail under a $250,000 secured bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. A former Durham University director snatched two women from their beds and sexually assaulted them. Andrew Harston, 39, plied his victims with drink and returned to their rooms when they were sleeping to carry out the attacks. The father-of-three was under police investigation for the first incident when he brazenly lifted the second woman from her bed while her partner slept. Teeside Crown Court heard he used his position at the university to gain the trust of the women and then intimidate them into silence for months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harston, from Durham, had denied four counts of sexual assault but has now been jailed for 14 years following his conviction. Passing sentence, Judge Jonathan Carroll said he had a dark side to the family man image he presented to the public. Harston was Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the university, where he was in charge of global fundraising and engagement with 185,000 alumni around the world. His attacks had catastrophic consequences on both women, it was heard. Changed the woman I am The first took place at a party in Teesside in 2020. The victim, who was with her partner, had been given so much alcohol by Harston that she felt sick and went upstairs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After she and her partner had gone to bed, Harston waited two hours until he was sure both were asleep before creeping into their room and carefully lifting the woman from the bed onto the floor. She came round during the sustained assault to find Harston with his hand clamped over her mouth, but he went on to commit further invasive sexual assaults upon her as she drifted in and out of intoxicated sleep. In her statement to the court, she said his attack had changed the woman I am. He has turned my life upside down and ruined my life through his actions, she said. I still have occasional flashbacks of him putting his hand over my mouth and telling me sshhh. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court heard he effectively poured drink down the throat of his second victim at a dinner in 2022 and later plucked her from the bed in which she was sleeping in the middle of the night. When she came round the following morning, she discovered she was in a different room in Harstons bed, and her underwear having been interfered with. Harston said to her: I bet you were confused waking up in (my) bed. Truly disturbing In her statement, the woman told the court she could not speak up against him because of his senior position at the university. How can he do this to women when he has two daughters, a good job, a family life and a religious faith? she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He looks like a genuine decent person, but he used this image to commit a sexual assault against me. I find it truly disturbing that he did this to me whilst already under police investigation. The court heard he has two daughters aged 15 and 12 and a son aged 10 months. Sentencing him, Judge Carroll said a significant level of planning had gone into both attacks. In the first, he turned out the lights so as not to wake his intended victim or her partner and invented a cover story about returning her phone if either of them woke up. In the second attack, he poured alcohol down her throat at a rate that beggars belief intending to reduce her to a state where he could sexually assault her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I accept there are two sides to your character, he said. There is the decent, hard working, conscientious man, the family man image that you present to the public, the charitable, religious role you present to the world. But there is also the other dark side of you, the sexual predator in you. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. MANILA, Philippines (AP) Ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened a police general with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague in a tense confrontation after his arrest in Manila that was ordered by the International Criminal Court, a Philippine police general said Thursday. Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre provided details for the first time of Tuesdays 12-hour standoff at a Philippine air base before he and other police officers managed to bring the 79-year-old former leader onto a government-chartered jet that took him to The Hague, Netherlands, where he was detained by the global court on charges of crimes against humanity. ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said Thursday in a text message to reporters that Duterte had arrived at the court's detention center near the Dutch North Sea coast after undergoing medical checks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court announced late Thursday that Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before ICC judges on Friday. At the hearing he will be informed of the charges against him, read his rights and a date will be set for a further pretrial hearing. Duterte's reversal of fortune Duterte was once feared for his brutal anti-crime crackdowns and reviled for his irreverence while in office he called Pope Francis a son of a bitch at one time and said that U.S. President Barack Obama could go to hell. Dutertes stunning reversal of fortune has been celebrated by human rights groups as a historic triumph against state impunity, while his supporters have slammed what they call the current governments surrendering of a rival to a court whose jurisdiction they dispute. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Duterte was arrested Tuesday after he arrived at Manilas Ninoy Aquino International Airport with his common-law wife, daughter and friends from Hong Kong. He was later taken under heavy police guard to a nearby presidential lounge at the Villamor Air Base to undergo booking for arrested criminal suspects, including fingerprinting, before being taken to a plane for the long flight to The Hague to be turned over to the ICC, Torre said. But Duterte, his family, lawyers and friends resisted and prevented the former leader from being brought to a Gulfstream G550 executive jet, according to Torre. A tense half-day impasse Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The standoff lasted for about 12 hours, Torre said. It was very tense, Torre told The Associated Press. One of my officers sustained a head injury after being hit hard with a cellphone by Dutertes common-law wife and his daughter was cursing me with expletives, but I kept my cool." The ex-president, who used to be a government prosecutor and congressman, refused to undergo the police booking procedure after his arrest, Torre said. "We wanted to have him fingerprinted, but he resisted, Torre said. In a separate interview, he said that he arrested and handcuffed the former presidents executive secretary for blocking Dutertes transfer to the plane. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Torre confirmed to the AP the authenticity of a video that has gone viral on social media showing Duterte surrounded by his family, lawyers and friends and asking Torre, who led the arresting officers, Are you going to bring me straight to the airplane?" "You have to kill me to bring me to The Hague, Torre quoted Duterte as saying. "Thats not our intention sir, Torre said as his men dragged away one of several men surrounding Duterte. Duterte's legal team challenges his arrest Dutertes lawyers said that Philippine authorities didn't show any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s administration allowed the global court to take custody of Duterte, although the Philippines was no longer a party to the ICC, the legal team said. "Our own government has surrendered a Filipino citizen even a former president at that to foreign powers, Vice President Sara Duterte, the ex-presidents daughter and a political rival of the current president, said Tuesday before her father was flown out of Manila. "This is a blatant affront to our sovereignty and an insult to every Filipino who believes in our nations independence, she said. This is not justice this is oppression and persecution, she said. Marcos appeared on nationwide television around midnight shortly after Duterte was flown out and denied the allegations of the vice president, who has had a bitter falling out with him after their whirlwind political alliance as running mates in the 2022 elections crumbled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Duterte predicts his fate In Hong Kong, Duterte told a gathering of flag-waving followers Sunday before he flew back to Manila that he was aware that an ICC warrant for his arrest has been issued and added he was ready to be locked up. If this is my fate in life, its OK, Ill accept it. I cant do anything if I get arrested and jailed, he said in an expletives-laced speech. Duterte carved a political name decades ago with his violent approach to criminality and his profanities, which became a trademark of his political persona especially when threatening to kill drugs dealers as part of his war on illegal drugs that left thousands dead in his long years in power. While president, Duterte got incensed when Obama criticized his bloody campaign against illegal drugs and told him in one speech to go to hell." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2015, he shocked the dominant Roman Catholic Church when he fired off an expletive while expressing his disgust over a monstrous traffic jam that trapped him while Francis was visiting Manila. I wanted to call. Pope, you son of a bitch, go home. Dont visit here anymore, he told a mob of supporters, some of whom laughed. He later apologized after Filipino bishops expressed shock and outrage. ___ Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila contributed to this report. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Dyess Air Force Base is relocating C-130J planes due to impending high winds in Abilene. Eleven 317th Airlift Wing C-130J Super Hercules will relocate from Dyess AFB to Kelly Field in San Antonio Thursday ahead of potentially damaging winds Friday. Dyess 39th Airlift Squadron returns home after six-month deployment Rapid aircraft relocations like this highlight the 317th AWs ability to adapt to unpredictable scenarios and preserve readiness in all conditions, Dyess AFB officials say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Average wind speeds are expected to reach well over 20 mph by the late morning hours Friday, with gusts of speeds up to 50+ mph. Get the latest information on the impending winds on the weather section of BigCountryHomepage.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. Panicked Naples residents spent the night on the streets after an earthquake injured several people and caused homes to partially collapse. The 4.4 magnitude quake, which struck at 1.25am and was followed by several smaller tremors, was the biggest to hit the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) region, in southern Italy, for 10 months. While the area is known for occasional tremors, Thursdays strong, shallow quake jolted many from their beds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Photographs of the aftermath showed damaged buildings and rubble strewn across cars, as worried locals huddled in the streets. Nearly a dozen people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. One woman was hurt when her ceiling collapsed, while several others suffered cuts caused by shards of broken glass, according to Gaetano Manfredi, the mayor of Naples. Several homes were strewn with debris - Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse Residents were seen huddling in the citys streets following the series of tremors - Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse In the Bagnoli neighbourhood, where most of the injuries were reported, dozens of residents flocked to the locked entrance of a sprawling former Nato base and demanded it be opened to shelter people. The crowd managed to force open a set of large metal gates before law enforcement officials stopped them and diffused tensions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tremors were felt across Naples, with power supplies disrupted in some neighbourhoods. It was similar in magnitude to an earthquake last May, which was the strongest to be recorded in the region over the past four decades. Mr Manfredi said: It was a particularly intense quake, similar to one awhile back but with an epicentre closer to the city of Naples, so it was felt more in the city. He said several schools had been forced to close, but added: The situation is under control. The mayor of Naples said the situation was under control despite the damage - Ivan Romano/Getty Images Europe Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, said she was monitoring the situation closely and was in constant contact with officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Francesca Bianco, director of the Vesuvius Observatory, which monitors seismic activity and active volcanoes in the Campania region, said there was no evidence to suggest an imminent eruption would take place. Volcanologists have been keeping a close eye on a recent uptick in seismic activity in the regions high-risk zone, where around 500,000 people live. However, experts say a full-blown eruption in the near future remains unlikely. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. An Ebensburg woman was charged with stealing $90,000 from the Pennsylvania Moose Association when she was secretary, authorities said. Cambria County Detective Bureau, charged Cindy Lou Schilling, 67, of the 400 block of West Horner Street, with theft by deception, receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, access device fraud and criminal use of a communication facility. According to a complaint affidavit, Schilling allegedly conducted an internet transfer in October 2022 of $50,000 from the Pennsylvania Moose Association business account to her personal account. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schilling allegedly conducted a second transfer in October 2022 of $20,000 which was later returned to the victims account. A third transfer was made in October 2022 from the associations savings account for $20,000, which also was returned, the affidavit said. The Department of Communications Moose International internet site shows Schilling was appointed to the Moose Charities Board of Directors in May 2014 and is a member of the Moose Nanty Glo Chapter 516. Schilling was arraigned Monday by District Judge David Beyer, of Ebensburg, and freed on $50,000 unsecured bond. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Just one month after opening, Rhode Islands first pallet shelter community is on track to reach maximum capacity by the end of the week. ECHO Village, located on Victor Street in Providence, opened on Feb. 11 after months of regulatory delays to install necessary utilities and bring the facility up to code. The community features 45 one-room units, each equipped with fire suppression systems, smoke and CO detectors, heating and cooling units, and fire-retardant paint. Officials said the shelters are designed to support those who have been historically difficult to place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement RELATED: Providence pallet shelters officially open Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said the facility has been carefully adding residents in phases, ensuring that services are available for those with medical complications. He also noted that while ECHO Village is nearly full, the facility has been operating smoothly with no complaints from neighbors or calls to police or EMS. It has been well run, Smiley told 12 News. Other than all of the attention that got when it opened, right now you wouldnt know that it was there. Smiley said ECHO Village currently houses dozens of individuals, many of whom were previously difficult to place. These residents often require a high level of care, with more than 33% of them being over the age of 55 and managing complex medical conditions such as chemotherapy, cancer treatments, or recovery from surgery, according to House of Hope executive director Laura Jaworski. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jaworski shared that guests often feel overwhelmed and exhausted when they first move in after being in survival mode. However, she said theyre finding excitement in being connected with case management services, challenging the misconception that unhoused people dont want help. She also highlighted ECHO Villages first success story: one guest has already moved into permanent supportive housing. In addition, four animalsthree dogs and a catin the community have received vaccinations through a partnership with the Potter League. NEXT: RI lawmakers seek solutions to growing homelessness crisis 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on March 13 that the Ukrainian government failed to prevent and adequately investigate deadly clashes between the EuroMaidan supporters and opponents in Odesa in May 2014. The ruling concerns seven applications filed by 28 individuals 25 relatives of the victims and three survivors between 2016 and 2018. Forty-eight people died in the violence that erupted between the two camps on May 2, 2014. A group of pro-Russian activists attacked a pro-EuroMaidan rally but retreated to the Trade Unions House after the ensuing violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Forty-two of the EuroMaidan opponents died after the building caught fire as the two groups began throwing petrol bombs. Two pro-Ukrainian activists were also killed after suffering gunshot wounds. The ruling noted "authorities failure to do everything that could reasonably be expected of them to prevent the violence in Odesa on 2 May 2014, to stop that violence after its outbreak, to ensure timely rescue measures for people trapped in the fire, and to institute and conduct an effective investigation into the events." The ECHR noted that Russian propaganda helped to instigate the clashes but acknowledged the applicants' complaints that Ukraine failed to prevent the violence and adequately investigate it. The Ukrainian state was ordered to pay out compensations. The plaintiffs included relatives of victims from both camps, all of whom accused the Ukrainian state of inaction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian propaganda has heavily employed the violent episode in Odesa to vilify the EuroMaidan Revolution and falsely paint the movement as pro-Nazi and extremist. The EuroMaidan Revolution began in November 2013 when people gathered at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv's central square, to protest pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the long-awaited Association Agreement with the European Union. Law enforcement officers, namely Berkut riot police, used violence to suppress the protests, including lethal force. More than 100 people were killed during the revolution, which culminated in Yanukovych fleeing to Russia. "The Court noted that distortion of the events in Odesa had eventually become a tool of Russian propaganda in respect of the war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine since February 2022," the ECHR's ruling said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Enhanced transparency in the related investigative work by the Ukrainian authorities might have helped to prevent or counteract that propaganda effectively." The court noted that the investigation should have been "carried out by an organ entirely independent from the police." At the same time, the ECHR dismissed allegations that the authorities were not impartial when investigating the deaths of EuroMaidan opponents and supporters. Read also: EuroMaidan Revolution Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Mar. 12The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees will meet for a workshop at 6 p.m. March 18 in the board room of the Administration Building, 802 N. Sam Houston Ave. An update on the Burleson Early Education Center and proposed 2025-26 prekindergarten boundaries is on the agenda. Burleson Elementary is being repurposed into an early education center for prekindergarten students. Tanya Galindo, currently the principal at Zavala Elementary School, will become the principal at Burleson EEC when it opens in August 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There will also be a joint public hearing with the District Continuous Improvement Team on the district annual performance report. A discussion on a revision to a local board policy and public comment are on the agenda as well. VIENTIANE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Laos organized the fifth Book Festival, themed "Reading for Development," to showcase the country's progress in education and the expansion of its reading culture. The festival, taking place in the Lao capital Vientiane from March 12 to March 16, also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lao National Radio reported on Thursday. The event highlights the nation's progress over the past five decades in education, printing, and the promotion of reading culture. Educators, authors, bookstore owners, and students are among those attending the fair. Key activities at the fair include an exhibition of significant historical Lao texts, panel discussions on the impact of reading on national development, and cultural performances celebrating the nation's heritage. Additionally, award-winning works from key periods of Laos' modernization will be showcased. Beyond commemorating Laos' 50th anniversary, the festival seeks to promote a culture of reading and lifelong learning, in line with Laos' Human Resources Development Strategy for 2025. The event encourages the Lao people to embrace reading as a means of fostering both personal and national growth. GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) ECU Health plans to begin seeing cardiology patients remotely as some people have to travel an hour or more for their appointments. So, our first pilot is going to be in Edenton and weve started our first few sessions where were actually able to communicate with the patients, Chief of the Division of Cardiology at ECU Health Dr. John Catanzaro said. And using technology such as Iron Bow, were actually able to not only communicate with the patients and talk to them but actually have a way to measure their heart rate and pulse. The care the patients receive will be coordinated from nurses at the ECU Health Chowan Hospital while a cardiologist meets with them virtually from Greenville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The whole realm of cardiology services that they would get just as if they were seeing the provider right in the clinic, Manager of Patient Care Services of the Outpatient Specialty Clinics at ECU Health Chowan Hospital Kelli Joco said. So, they get to see, you know, with heart monitors to where for several weeks, if thats needed, were able to get them and coordinate all the other care that they may need. Patients have enjoyed having new access to health care, and ECU Health is hoping to expand this program. Like I said, with our first clinic with three patients and weve had six clinics so far, Joco said. Weve seen a total of 30 patients and some of them have even been as early as we are in the program, have even been follow up visits, not just new patients that are being seen for the first time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. From reporter Laura Bischoffs point of view, you might say our special report on vicious dog attacks was 11 years in the making. Bischoff, then with the Dayton Daily News, was one of many Ohio journalists who wrote about the February 2014 dog mauling death of Klonda Richey. The attack did not come out of the blue Richey, fearing for her safety, had filed more than a dozen complaints with the Montgomery County dog warden about her neighbors two mixed-breed mastiffs before a passerby found her bloody body in the snow in front of her Dayton home. VICIOUS: An investigation into how Ohio laws fail thousands of dog attack victims Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bischoff also reported on the unsuccessful effort by state lawmakers in the years that followed to pass the Klonda Richey Act, an effort to bolster Ohios dog laws and increase the penalties for owners of vicious dogs. Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. Bischoff was the lead reporter in our investigation a joint effort by The Enquirer, the Columbus Dispatch, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Canton Repository which detailed dozens of cases that suggest Ohios laws remain woefully inadequate in bringing justice to victims of disfiguring and sometimes fatal dog attacks. Dog owners in these attacks are typically fined at levels comparable to a traffic ticket. Why are victims and their families left with little recourse? It's been a question on my mind for years, Bischoff said. Everyone seems to have a story about a dog bite. It is a common problem staring us right in the face. But no state lawmakers have taken a crack at it since 2019. Page 1A of the March 9 special report in The Enquirer. Days before our special report was published, a woman in Colerain Township was attacked by two dogs in her neighborhood. While township officials criticized animal control officers for not impounding the dogs, Hamilton Countys dog warden said they had no legal grounds to do so. And that illustrates the recurring theme of our investigation. Is it finally time for Ohio to pass tougher dog laws? State Rep. Kevin Miller thinks so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the wake of our investigation, Miller a former state trooper who lives in Newark, said he plans to introduce legislation that would require vicious dogs to be euthanized. This is consistent with recommendations of the Ohio County Dog Wardens Association, which seeks changes in state law to also clarify the police powers of dog wardens and increase the penalties for owners whose dogs cause serious injuries. Our investigation, nine months in the making, is a tough read. The videos are difficult to watch. The horrific experiences of the victims, told through interviews with dog attack survivors and the families of those who were killed, are heartbreaking. I want to thank these individuals for their bravery and willingness to participate in our investigation. The Enquirer along with our sister publications in the USA TODAY Network Ohio was honored to tell their stories. More than a dozen journalists a team that included reporters, editors, photographers, videographers and producers participated in the project. But credit goes to Bischoff, who covers state politics for our network, for suggesting it was time to revisit that question that has been on her mind since Klonda Richeys death. That curiosity, and a willingness to dig for answers, is what makes local journalism so powerful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Enquirer Executive Editor Beryl Love writes a biweekly column that takes you behind the scenes at The Enquirer. Occasionally, he shares his thoughts on local issues, particularly as they pertain to a free press and open government. Email him at blove@enquirer.com. He cant respond personally to every email, but he reads them all. Love also serves as regional editor for the USA TODAY Network Ohio. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Editor column on why Enquirer investigated visious dog attacks in Ohio (Bloomberg) -- The US Department of Educations sweeping cuts Tuesday included staff that oversee schools efforts to help millions of students learn English. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Employees from the Office of English Language Acquisition, or OELA, are being eliminated as part of the Education Departments reduction in force this week, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, the union representing the agencys employees. The wider Education Department cuts aim to eliminate half of its more than 4,000 employees. A spokesperson for the department said OELAs work will continue in another division. The Office of English Language Acquisition and management of ESEAs Title III will return to OESE, where it previously resided until December 2023, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said in an email, referring to another Department division the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Department is committed to fulfilling its statutory obligation to prepare English learners to attain English proficiency and develop high levels of academic achievement in English. At least a dozen OELA staff were cut including those who worked on the Title III program, which provides federal funding for states to improve education for students learning English, as well as the National Professional Development Program and the Native American and Alaska Native Children in School program, which train teachers to support those students, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named and a document seen by Bloomberg. The Title III funds are distributed to states using a calculation that factors in the number of immigrants and students learning English, according to OELAs website. There were 5 million students served under the program, according to a January fact sheet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beatriz Ceja, the deputy assistant secretary and director at OELA, declined to comment. Its unclear whether she still is employed by the Education Department. She took over leading the office after Trumps inauguration. The cuts at the education department, which also hit hundreds of staff from the Office of Civil Rights and the Federal Student Aid office, according to the document seen by Bloomberg, are part of a broader reduction in force of federal workers across agencies. Members of the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting crew directed by Elon Musk, have been embedded at the Education Department for more than a month now. Education saw the biggest department-level decrease in federal spending in February, down $6 billion or 41% from the same month last year, according to a Treasury financial statement released Wednesday. Most of that was in elementary and secondary education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month the Trump administration designated English as the sole official language to reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society. --With assistance from Gregory Korte. (Updates to include February department spending in ninth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. The Department of Education's far-reaching layoffs have decimated a small statistical agency considered to be the "authoritative and trusted source" of information on the education system in the United States, four former employees familiar with the situation told ABC News. Since the 1860s, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has collected and analyzed data on education across the country, which has been used by policymakers and the public to measure academic success, teacher productivity and crime and safety in schools, among other topics. It issues a congressionally mandated test called the National Assessment of Education Progress -- better known as the "Nation's Report Card" -- which, since 1969, has been considered the gold standard of testing to compare the academic performance and progress of students across all 50 states in math and reading across several grades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But as of this week, nearly all of the agency's 130 staffers have been fired, according to the former employees, gutting the agency and raising questions about how it can continue its work to measure the performance of the country's 18,000 school districts and efficacy of any policy changes. "We are baffled, because thought that we would be spared, that we would be moved, because our work is mandated by law," one statistician with more than a decade of experience at the agency told ABC News. "We thought any administration would want to measure how successful their policies are." MORE: New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US "How are we going to know if kids with school choice are doing better?," the employee told ABC News, referencing President Donald Trump's support for school choice programs that allow federal funds to be used at nonpublic school options. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Already, education researchers including the analyst who led the agency as a political appointee during Trump's first term, have warned that funding cuts could make it harder to improve the education system. The agency's "job is to monitor and report on the condition of education in the United States from learning in preschools to expenditures in K-12 education, to reporting on graduation rates and the performance of higher education institutions," Thomas Weko, an education policy expert at George Washington University and former NCES employee told ABC News. "It works across the learning life cycle to tell us what is happening. It does it in a neutral and nonpartisan way." It also coordinates the country's participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures the performance of American students against others around the world. The cancellation of agency contracts has also frozen essential data collection for the agency, former employees told ABC News. That, together with mass layoffs, could jeopardize the quality and value of future reports the agency -- in whatever shape it is left in -- is required by Congress to produce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds lowest in a decade, report finds Trying to collect and analyze the vast troves of data required to produce reports like the "Nation's Report Card" without a full staff "would be the equivalent of manning a 13-person sailboat with a 12-month-old," one employee who was fired this week told ABC News. "It's not possible." While it's not clear what will happen to the agency, former employees speculated that the Trump administration could follow the recommendations of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 proposal and merge NCES with the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. "If things get handed over, it won't be a great host," Weko said. "Do they have good statisticians and survey methodologists? Yes. Do they have a deep understanding of the policy and practice of education in the United States? No." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Education, which did not respond to a message seeking comments about cuts to NCES, has pointed to the agency's findings in recent weeks. On Jan. 29, shortly after the 2024 "Nation's Report Card" was released, the department highlighted the results for revealing "heartbreaking" learning gaps that still exist from the pandemic and committed to using the research to "[reorient] our education system." "Today's NAEP results reveal a heartbreaking reality for American students and confirm our worst fears: not only did most students not recover from pandemic-related learning loss, but those students who were the most behind and needed the most support have fallen even further behind," the department said in a statement. "We must do better for our students. The Trump Administration is committed to reorienting our education system to fully empower states, to prioritize meaningful learning, and provide universal access to high-quality instruction. Change must happen, and it must happen now," the department said. Education Department cuts agency that compiles 'Nation's Report Card' and measures student performance originally appeared on abcnews.go.com WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) President Donald Trump is defending mass layoffs at the Department of Education. The administration says its a step toward closing the department completely. Education Department officials this week announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees. That puts the agency at about half its size since President Trump took office. We want to cut the people that arent working or not doing a good job. Were keeping the best people, said Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump said Wednesday staffing cuts at the Department of Education are needed. Its part of his larger plans to shut down the agency and he says give more control to the states. So that the states, instead of bureaucrats working in Washington, so that the states can run education, said Trump. The Education Department distributes billions of federal dollars to schools every year. It also funds programs that support low-income schools and students with disabilities. Kim Anderson, with the National Education Association, says this is not the right approach to improving schools. We dont think we should dismantle public education to fix it. We think we need to commit to it, said Anderson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The administration says cuts wont impact key functions. Waste and fraud and abuse is being taken out, said Trump. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley says he hopes money is simply redirected to those who need it. Thats my message to the administration or the department, is hey, use this as an opportunity to move that funding to local school districts, said Hawley. Fully closing the Department of Education would likely require an act of Congress. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Massive layoffs initiated this week at the Education Department could hamstring the federal governments efforts to assist students with disabilities, former officials and education experts said, citing blows to the agencys civil rights and research divisions. On Tuesday, the department began laying off around 1,300 employees, cutting nearly half the staff in its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and over 100 from the Institute of Education Sciences, according to information released by American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, the union for department staff members. The cuts in those two divisions mean there will be far fewer staff members to finish the 12,000 pending federal investigations into allegations of civil rights violations at schools roughly half of which involve disability issues and fewer employees to review and distribute government-funded research into effective ways to educate children with autism or severe intellectual disabilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The layoffs are the first step toward dismantling the department, a goal espoused by President Donald Trump and his education secretary, Linda McMahon. Experts say they raise concerns about what the future will look like for civil rights enforcement as the Trump administration continues chipping away at federal oversight. Thats hundreds of investigators who no longer work for OCR and whose expertise that OCR has benefited from over all these years that the nation is now losing, said Catherine Lhamon, who led the Office for Civil Rights during the Obama and Biden administrations. Demonstrators have staged protests over layoffs and cuts at the Education Department. Brittany Coleman, a lawyer with the Office for Civil Rights based in Dallas who was laid off this week, said that with fewer staff members, students with disabilities fighting for accommodations for test-taking, for example, will have to wait longer for help from the department and it could arrive too late. What kind of harm does that mean for their grades, for their mental well-being, and how is that going to impact their educational outcomes, which are now not being tracked anymore? asked Coleman, who also was a shop steward, referring to layoffs at the Institute of Education Sciences. What is this is going to mean overall for our students who have disabilities as far as them growing up and achieving the same educational goals and dreams that we all have? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither the Education Department nor the White House have responded to requests for comment. In an interview Tuesday on Fox News, McMahon said that the department will still do what it is required to by law and that funding for schools to support students with special needs will still be provided. Trump defended the layoffs Wednesday, insisting to reporters, without evidence, that many of the terminated staff members were not working or were doing poor jobs. Were keeping the best people, he said. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has vowed to help President Trump dismantle the Education Department. The Office for Civil Rights lost at least 243 union-eligible staff members, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, and an unknown number of supervisors. The office historically had around 600 attorneys handling complaints alleging discrimination based on race, gender, disability and sexual orientation, and most already had caseloads of 50 or more. Schools can also call the Office for Civil Rights for technical assistance to prevent violating students rights, but that help could also become less readily available. The provision of education to students with disabilities is complex, said Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, which represents families of children with special needs in schools. They have to have an education with specialized instruction-related services, all the supports they need to learn and grow, and there has to be expert personnel to interpret and carry out the statutes requirements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 300 employees in the Federal Student Aid office were terminated, as well, according to the union, slashing more than a quarter of the division in charge of student loans and college tuition grants. It is going to be, I think, a horrific impact for students trying to get information about opportunities to go to college or trade school or just take classes and find out whatever Pell grant money ... that theyre eligible for, said a current department employee, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation. Conservatives have cheered the Trump administrations moves to disband the Education Department, frequently using the refrain that it is time to send education back to the states, which are already in charge of their schools curricula. There are 50 other departments of education in the United States of America, Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group, said in an interview last week. Every state has a department of education. Theres absolutely no reason that we need the bureaucracy, the red tape, the cost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Democratic governors vowed Wednesday to fight the layoffs and the broader plans to possibly shut down the entire agency while also signaling that they are scrambling to find ways to address funding and oversight shortfalls that could result from the cuts. The states cant totally backfill everything, certainly on education, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on a phone call with reporters. He later added that the need to accommodate children with disabilities and other populations expected to be most affected by a reshaped agency could eventually prompt tax increases. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, said on the call that his office was already working with the state attorney general to fight the layoffs with a lawsuit and that at some point in time, we will be going to court again. As part of the layoffs announced Tuesday, all employees working out of the departments regional offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Cleveland will be fired. That came as news to top officials in the governors offices and education agencies in many of those cities states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Wednesday afternoon, the Illinois State Board of Education had still not received any formal communication or guidance from leadership at the Education Department about the layoffs, a spokesperson said. Neither had Kentucky's education commissioner. In Montana, however, Susie Hedalen, a Republican who is the superintendent of public instruction, said her office had been receiving dispatches about the layoffs from department officials throughout Tuesday and Wednesday. The updates, Hedalen said, have aided her departments goal in preparing to take a stronger role in running some of programs that McMahon and Trump have said they want to move to the states. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Eight civilians, including a child, were injured in Russian attacks on the cities of Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast on 13 March. Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office Details: Russian forces delivered yet another strike on Kostiantynivka on 13 March, using Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems. This time, a house in a residential area was struck, injuring a 46-year-old man and his 49-year-old wife. Both sustained blast injuries, contusions and abrasions to their hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Russians also attacked Pokrovsk, hitting houses. A 40-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman were injured when their house collapsed due to a strike. Their 15-year-old son was also injured. All three were diagnosed with blast injuries, shrapnel wounds and contusions. Later, Russian forces attacked the frontline city once again, injuring three civilians. They were taken to hospital. The people a 50-year-old woman and two men aged 46 and 51 were in a commercial establishment at the time of the attack. They sustained blast injuries and shrapnel wounds to their arms, shoulders and necks. The type of weapon used by the Russians to strike Pokrovsk is being established. All the people injured in the attacks have been provided with medical aid. Residential buildings and a shop were damaged in Russian bombardments of these cities. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) An El Paso man was sentenced in federal court on Thursday, March 13, to nearly 22 years in prison for the production of a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to the United States Attorneys Office from the Western District of Texas. The U.S. Attorneys Office says the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information on a video depicting child sexual abuse material that had been uploaded to a Dropbox account. The account was traced to Jose Eduardo Larin, 36, and a review of the account also revealed additional child sexual abuse images and videos as well as documents displaying Larins name and photo, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A forensic review of Larins cellphone, obtained from a search warrant in August 2024, revealed 3,207 files containing child sexual abuse material. Of these, there were 31 images and 31 videos depicting the material that had been produced by Larin at his residence and involved a five-year-old child, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Larin was arrested on Aug. 13, 2024, and pleaded guilty in November 2024. Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Two elections bills, which would change some election day procedures and would create a unit to investigate election complaints, were approved by a Senate committee Wednesday morning in Frankfort. House Bill 455 and House Bill 684 were approved Wednesday by the Senate State and Local Government Committee. The bills will next go to the Senate floor for a vote. Both previously passed the House. House Bill 455 would create an Office of Election Investigations and Security within the Attorney Generals office. If approved, the Office would oversee the states voter fraud hotline, respond to complaints and conduct investigations into alleged violations of election law, and would report findings to the Attorney General for possible prosecution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency would also provide a report to lawmakers annually, detailing the number of complaints received and investigations opened. The sponsor, Rep. Patrick Flannery, an Olive Hill Republican, said of the bill: Hopefully, it will restore voter confidence and deter voter fraud. Of the bill, Flannery said: Mostly what it does is codify existing practice in the AGs office, to make sure this whole process is process-dependent and not people dependent. The AG and other branches of government are already doing some investigations into election complaints, but the would would put all of those duties in the AGs office, Flannery said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill would require additional funding to the Attorney Generals office, Flannery said. Leslie McCarty, Daviess county clerk, said the bill wouldnt be a change because those investigations are already being done on elections. Its still comforting to me that Kentucky has one of the safest and fairest election (systems), because we do have all of those things to protect against fraud, McCarty said. House Bill 684 contains a number of provisions, such as allowing county clerks offices to have fewer election workers in counties with consolidated precinct plans; requiring more notice for school districts if a clerks office plans to use school facilities as polling places on election day; and allowing caregivers of people who are voting in-person absentee due to age, disability or illness to also vote in-person absentee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One change in the bill would prevent voters from using a credit card or debit card as an alternate form of identification when going to a polling place to vote. The primary sponsor is Rep. Jennifer Decker, a Waddy Republican, but the credit card provision was added to the bill by Rep. Candy Massaroni, a Bardstown Republican. Massaroni said county elections officials requested the change. They had people coming with just a credit card or a debit card with no ID on it, wanting to use it as proof of identification, Massaroni said. Im really not comfortable allowing financial institutions to determine if a person is eligible to vote with no photo identification. Its just too open to fraud. McCarty said it is uncommon for a person to try to vote using a credit or debit card as proof of identification. I would say 99.8% of our check-ins are with a state-issued ID, McCarty said. MANILA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Philippine police on Thursday said they have been investigating the death of a female international tourist in Boracay, a world-famous resort in the central Philippines. Police Lieutenant Colonel Mar Joseph Ravelo, Malay town police chief, said a local villager found the body of the victim on Wednesday afternoon in an abandoned chapel on the island resort, one of the country's top tourist destinations. The location where she was found was about 1 km from her hotel accommodation. A poster of the missing tourist indicated that she was last seen by her friends on Monday afternoon. The victim reportedly arrived at the island on March 1 to attend the wedding of her friend. Police have yet to identify a person of interest. Area residents who were unable to complete their high school education are being offered a cost-free path forward at Danville Area Community College beginning later this month. Those who complete the new accelerated 12-week Elevate 2.0 program will receive a Illinois High School Diploma previously known as a GED and be enrolled in a career certificate program, starting in the fall of 2025. Students may choose to enroll in any of the following in-demand career certificate programs: Public Health Billing Management, CDL Truck Driving, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Welding, Maintenance Mechanic (Manufacturing), Auto Mechanic, Culinary Arts, Direct Service Professional (DSP), Phlebotomy, Pharmacy Technician, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), and the Child Development Associate (CDA credential). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In todays world, a high school diploma alone is no longer sufficient; higher education, whether through traditional routes or high-demand vocational careers, is essential for unlocking lasting success and opportunity, said Chantal Savage Bryant, director of adult education and literacy at DACC. The program was made possible thanks to a $225,000 Innovative Bridge Transitions Grant from the Illinois Community College Board, Bryant said. For those who were unable to complete a traditional K-12 educational track, there are several barriers to overcome when trying to build a career path, Bryant said. Aside from practical barriers like financial burdens and lack of childcare or transportation issues, some also deal with embarrassment. Students also worry about a public stigma against GED programs being somehow less legitimate than a high school diploma something Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker hoped to change in signing SB3792 into law in June 2022, which officially changed the term GED or equivalency certificate to an Illinois High School Diploma. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Elevate 2.0 is designed to help people move forward without shame, Bryant said. Were judgment free. When you walk in the door, we dont care why you didnt finish a traditional education. We are a safe space. We treat you with respect and we let you know that its just the beginning, Bryant said. Classes will begin March 31, and students will be able to participate in either a morning class, which will take place Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon, or an afternoon class, which will take place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. Danville resident Deonta Brooks will be instructing both classes. Brooks has a degree from Auburn University in Alabama. He has teaching experience in both the military and at North Ridge Middle School. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brooks said he agrees with Bryant about the importance of keeping the program judgment-free. Our traditional system doesnt quite work for everybody. People get derailed, things happen throughout your life, and you may have to get a job ... So we need alternate paths for people to be able to get their education and then through that they can improve their lives and their childrens lives, he said. Those who wish to participate in the program must be at least 16 years old without a high school diploma. They must also submit an application and take a placement test. Applicants will also take part in an in-person interview to demonstrate a minimum sixth grade reading proficiency and to help determine if they have a strong personal commitment to furthering their education, Bryant said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though there is no cost to participate, Bryant emphasized that the application process is lengthy and the work will be hard, so only serious students need apply. I say no-cost because they have to put a lot of effort in. They have to be dedicated, Bryant said. Those interested in participating should contact Steffanie Higgins at 217-443-8782 or via email at s.higgins@dacc.edu by Wednesday, March 26, to arrange for testing and an interview. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) If youve gone to the hospital recently, especially to the emergency room, you probably know theres often a long wait. A very long wait. On Wednesday, nurses and doctors at Oregon Health & Science University held a discussion about why thats happening with a warning that the system is in crisis. Graffiti out, ivy in to make Portland beautiful again They say the ER is operating at 100% capacity, and they are facing challenges with the amount of time it takes to handle an overflow of patients in the ER. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OHSU says patients coming in are often sicker than in the past. They need more time in the ER, and they cant get timely care in the community, like at their doctors office. The hospital says it has 31 adult beds and 10 for children in the ER. At times, they have up to 100 patients waiting for care. And they stack up even more when waiting to be admitted from the ER into the hospital for overnight stays. Dr. Mary Tanski, is the chair of the Emergency Medicine Department at OHSU. She said, Weve done a lot of things to try to make sure that we stay open and can care for patients. So weve converted an old auditorium into care spaces, basically putting beds around the perimeter. And theres still stadium seating in there. She also added, Weve taken over hallways and conference rooms, and were providing really high acuity, complex care in these areas, which would never happen under normal circumstances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wyden releases findings on financiers ties to Jeffrey Epstein, asks Trump admin for docs OHSU says it has had to transfer some patients to other hospitals even as far as California and Nevada due to space issues. The institution is in the process of trying to buy Legacys eight hospitals in the state, a move that has to get state approval. The medical staff at the roundtable agreed the Merger wont solve the capacity issue, but some OHSU doctors believe it will provide better coordination of care, say if someone goes to Legacy for primary care, but then needs specialized care only offered at OHSU. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. (NewsNation) Employee confidence dropped to a new record low last month, according to the lastest data from Glassdoor. According to the Glassdoors Employee Confidence Index, only 44.4% of employees reported having a positive six-month business outlook. Thats the lowest level on record since Glassdoor began recording this data in 2016. Over the last year, employee confidence declined by 7.3%. Rising economic uncertainty is tamping down employee sentiment and also stretching employees thin as workers are asked to do more with less amid tight budgets and pressure from leaders, Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, wrote in an article on the companys website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Does Canada really have tariffs above 200% on US dairy products? Mentions of layoffs in Glassdoor reviews rose slightly in February, 0.3% month-over-month, which is 5% more than February 2024. In reviews that mention layoffs, not only are employees worried about their own job security, but even employees who have survived layoffs are feeling stressed waiting for another layoff to come or overworked as they have to pick up the additional work on their now less-staffed teams, Zhao wrote. Firings of federal employees through President Donald Trumps Department of Government Efficiency have contributed to this uncertainty. DOGE has laid off people from the Department of Education, NASA and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cuts to the government workforce have thrown the future of the federal workforce into disarray, resulting in weakening sentiment, Zhao said. Another political aspect affecting workers outlooks are tariffs, which have introduced significant uncertainty for manufacturers, Zhao said. The United States and Canada have been going back and forth on tariffs, specifically ones on electricity, steel and aluminum. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. EMPORIA (KSNT) On Thursday, Jess Buckholtz and Casey Woods discussed the Tyson plant closure and upcoming St. Patricks Day events on the 27 News morning show. Woods said local businesses have been picking up employees laid off following the Tyson closure. Woods said some of those employees have gone on to start their own businesses. We mainly work with entrepreneurs and small businesses and its great to see people say, I want to take control ow my own life, my own situation and start something for myself, Woods said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Woods said that the Tyson plant closure has shined a light on the need for diversification within the community. Buckholtz said Emporia Main Street has a jobs board on its website for those whove been displaced. Midwest bomb cyclone could elevate fire risk in Kansas In other business, Emporia Main Street highlighted upcoming St. Patricks Day events in the city. Woods said the St. Patricks Day Committee will have a parade at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 15. He also highlighted a pub crawl that will start at 11 a.m. and run till midnight. Woods said the citys first open common consumption area will run from noon to midnight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres like 20 different events, theyre all rolled into one, you should come to downtown Emporia because its going to be a blast this Saturday, Woods said. Buckholtz also discussed the USA Today 10Best Readers Choice Awards. Emporia Main Street was selected as a contender for the best main street in America. For more weather, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch When was the last time I wrote about Democrats in this newsletter? The question occurred to me because, for once, the top news in politics today has to do with the out-party and I was struck by how rare thats been since January 20or even November 5. So I skimmed the archives. My last piece about the left was published on February 26. My last piece about congressional Democrats came alllllll the way back on January 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats because you have Trump Derangement Syndrome, a populist would say. Nuh uh. TDS no longer exists, assuming it ever did. Its because Republicans control the presidency and both houses of Congress, a more sensible reader would note. The only shred of federal power Democrats enjoy right now is the Senate filibuster, and even that carries exceptions for presidential nominees and legislation subject to budget reconciliation. If youre writing about national politics, how much is there to say about a faction that wields practically zero influence over national politics? I mean, I havent written about the Libertarian or Green Parties lately either. Whats the difference? Okay, fine: Theres a difference. Unlike the Libertarians and Greens, Democrats can shut down the government by filibustering the House funding bill thatll soon hit the Senate floor. And given how tough even the moderates in their conference are talking, it sounds like theyre ready to pull the trigger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a big risk! Its risky politically for them because theyre on the wrong side of a clean funding bill this time, the kind of no-frills legislation they normally demand of Republicans whenever the GOP starts agitating for spending cuts. Good luck convincing Americans that Trump is to blame for agencies shutting down when hes simply asking Democrats to extend Biden-era appropriations for another six months. A shutdown would also undercut left-wing attacks on DOGE: If keeping federal workers on the job is so important, why are liberals creating a situation that will require thousands of them to be furloughed? Its risky policy-wise too. Politico reported on Thursday that White House officials are relishing the idea that when coffers run dry, the Trump administrationspecifically [Russell] Vought, the longtime cost-cutting conservative now running OMBwould have unprecedented flexibility to choose which agencies get to stay open and which dont. Bureaus that are beloved by the left, like the Environmental Protection Agency, will presumably be the first to be shuttered. And many workers across the federal government who end up furloughed will probably not be invited back by Vought and Elon Musk when the standoff ends. Even the Democratic endgame is unclear. Unless the public reacts to a shutdown by siding decisively with them against Trump, the minority party will eventually be forced to capitulate by agreeing to the same sort of clean funding bill theyre preparing to filibuster right now. Theres very little upside to what Democrats are poised to do. So why do they sound gung ho to do it? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think theyre desperate to reassure themselves that American politics isnt, well, over. But it is, mostly. At least for the next few years. Two aces. To understand why the current moment differs from typical one-party rule in Washington, consider the pep talk House Republicans received this week from Vice President J.D. Vance. Normally, conservatives in the House despise clean funding bills. They dependably refuse to rubber-stamp new spending without concessions aimed at trimming current spending. Some (until this week) had never voted for a continuing resolution (CR) on principle, because they couldnt bear to carry forward the budgetary status quo even for a few months. All of which is to say that politics doesnt typically end just because one party controls the White House and Congress. Separation of powers compels the president to jockey with his own allies in the House and Senate for control over the direction of policy. Look no further than Donald Trumps first term for an example: The tax cuts that passed in 2017 resembled Paul Ryans and Mitch McConnells fantasy legislation a lot more than it did the average blue-collar populists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plenty of Republicans are, were, and will forever be leery of clean funding bills, and given how narrow the partys majority is in the House, they had the numbers to tank the Trump-approved CR that was offered to them this week. Thats what the vice president was up against when he met with the House conference on Tuesday. But he had an ace up his sleeve. Two aces, really. According to reporter Reese Gorman of NOTUS, Vances message to members on the clean funding bill was this: I want everyone to vote Yes. The President, under Section II, will ensure allocations from Congress are not spent on things that harm the taxpayer. Semafors Dave Weigel elaborated. The reason the CR dynamics shifted so muchwhy Rs are now happy to vote for it and Ds dont mind opposing itis the specter of impoundment, he wrote. Every Dem previously voted for Ed/USAID etc funding; every Dem watched Trump claw it back. They (predictably) got nowhere trying to Elon-proof new spending and ensure it would go out. Changed their incentives. If youre having trouble deciphering all of that, let me simplify. Vance told House Republicans that they should go ahead and keep current spending as-is because the president himself will make cuts by withholding money from recipients whom he, in his wisdom, deems unworthy. Thats impoundment, and if left unchecked by the courts itll effectively gut Congress power of the purse. After all, if the executive gets to decide which checks written by the legislature get cashed and which dont then it doesnt matter how exorbitantly Congress spends. It could pass a bill authorizing a gazillion dollars in outlays and simply leave it to Trump to choose which outlays should go out the door and which shouldnt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That pitch was enough to convince every House Republican except one to support a clean CRand every House Democrat except one to oppose it. As Weigel says, why should the out-party support a clean funding bill that isnt actually clean in practice? As long as Trump is asserting the power to impound funding and nuke disfavored agencies like USAID, a vote for the bill is little more than a vote to give him the final say over how federal money is and isnt spent. Hence Vances two aces. The first is the fearand not just electoral fearthat congressional Republicans feel at the thought of defying Trump in a big spot, like a vote to avert a government shutdown during his first 100 days in office. Theres no analogue in American history for a president encouraging the degree of cultish devotion among his base that Trump has and weaponizing that devotion against recalcitrant members of his own party to intimidate them into falling in line. Separation of powers doesnt work if one branch is afraid to separate from another. When Vance walked into the meeting with House Republicans this week, he knew that everyone there (save Thomas Massie) was desperate for an excuse to vote yes and spare themselves the venom theyd receive for joining with the enemy to force a shutdown on national savior Donald Trump. What were experiencing, in other words, is less one-party control of government than one-branch control, far more than even in 2017. With a lone possible exception, intraparty politics in the GOP is effectively over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Which brings us to Vances other ace. In this case, one-branch control means one-person control in practice. A simulacrum of normalcy. The vice presidents impoundment pitch to House Republicans was more than just a partisan request that they yield to Trumps wishes. It was a request that they cede their branchs constitutional power to him. It wasnt even a request. Vance informed the conference that the president intends to withhold some appropriations from whatever bill they might pass and hoped that the prospect of him doing so would suffice to scratch the eternal conservative itch for spending cuts. I cant imagine a more complete perversion of the Tea Party ethos that launched modern right-wing populism than that. Tea Partiers purported to be constitutional sticklers, obsessed with restraining a tyrannical president and bent on using Republican legislative leverage to impose discipline on the federal budget. Fifteen years later, their political descendants in Congress are tossing the power of the purse to the White House and encouraging it to do whatever it thinks is best. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres a lot in that vein happening in government right now. To a degree none of us have seen, Trump is normalizing consolidation of power in the presidency. Theres a simulacrum of politics as usual, like the House going through the motions to pass a clean funding bill, but beneath the surface, the president is setting all sorts of policy unilaterally. That new normal was the other ace up Vances sleeve. With Trump calling the shots regarding most other arms of federal authority, why shouldnt House Republicans also trust him to make the spending decisions that Congress traditionally would have made? Politics as weve known it is over. Might as well lean into it. Take tariffs. Theres a simulacrum of politics as usual there insofar as Trumps authority to impose and un-impose (and impose and un-impose) tariffs is almost certainly legal, gifted to the president by Congress in various statutes over the years that grant executive emergency power over tariffs. But the helter skelter of the last seven weeks is the opposite of normal politics: Trump is setting trade policy by himself and hes doing it as chaotically as possible, with only the barest pretense of an emergency to justify it. The Republican majorities in Congress could rescind his authority at any time but, for reasons I explained earlier, they dont dare. The president decides now which foreign countries are taxed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How about DOGE cuts? The White House plainly enjoys some power to reform federal agenciespolitics as usual!but effectively dismantling them, as Trump and Elon Musk have done in at least one case, is supposed to require buy-in from Congress. The president decides now which departments functionally exist and which dont. How about NATO? Under Trump, the United States remains a nominal member of the alliance and cant withdraw from it without Senate approval. Politics as usual! Except that hes switched sides in the Ukraine war, spooked European powers into considering nuclearization, and provided zero reason to believe hell honor the United States Article 5 obligations if Russia attacks a NATO member. The president decides now which treaties are followed and which arent. How about Cabinet nominations? Everything there was done by the book, with the Senate confirming all of the presidents nominees. Politics as usual! But the pressure tactics Trump used on them were unprecedented, demanding that Senate Republicans recess and forfeit their advice-and-consent power if they couldnt muster the votes to confirm his nominees. That left them with no political cover among the GOP base to reject anyone, with predictable results. And Trumps fondness for dubious acting appointees during his first term meant that we probably would have ended up with a clown leading the FBI even if Kash Patel had gone down in flames. The president decides now whether his nominees are fit to serve. Everything important thats happened over the past eight weeks has been superficially normal, but substantively irregular. Even the basic enforcement of federal criminal laws now depends on whether the president regards the defendant as a friend or enemy. If you dont think politics as weve known it is over, consider the grotesque spectacle of federal lawmakers, who are constitutionally in charge of spending, begging Elon Musk not to cut expenditures that might affect jobs in their district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its the end of politics. Democrats dont know what to do. Shutdown theater. That, I take it, is why support for a shutdown keeps trickling in even from swing-state Senate Dems. This is the first opportunity theyve had during Trumps presidency to exert any control whatsoever over our national freak show, and they might not have another until fall. American politics has ended, at least temporarily. The out-party has to do something to try to reverse that, no? Even if that something risks making it toxic to swing voters. One can make a case that no political party since the start of the Reagan Revolution has been as powerless as Democrats are right now. The only comparison is the bloody heap Republicans were left in after the Democratic sweep in 2008 that briefly gave liberals a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. But for all the right-wing panic at the time about Barack Obama changing the nature of America, his neoliberal project was far less revolutionary in its ambitions than the postliberal project on which Trump and his devotees have embarked. Republicans in 2009 had to worry about Democrats ramming through a bunch of expensive statist policies. Democrats in 2025 have to worry about Republicans rebalancing the constitutional order so heavily in favor of autocracy that the left will struggle to restrain Trump even if it regains a degree of federal power in 2026. The end of politics isnt a byproduct of postliberalism, its the point. Its the essence of knowing what time it is. If Democrats shut the government down, thatll be why. Theyve been rendered powerless, its uncertain ifnot even whenthat will change, so theyre going to exert what little power they have and let the chips fall where they may. As a strategic matter, I find the plan dubious. But as a psychological matter, its understandable. Remember, Democrats are also in the middle of a hellacious identity crisis triggered by Novembers catastrophe, one that gets weirder by the hour. And their anxiety about having no control over events is compounded by the fact that, increasingly, it feels like no one in the ruling party has control over events either. Theres a measles outbreak happening in America right now and this absolute lunatic is technically in charge of the federal response. If you had one chance to impose a degree of order on chaos as sinister as that, even if it were a longshot that required a shutdown, wouldnt you yearn to take it? We end with an easy prediction: If Democrats end up regaining the House majority in 2026, two years of frustration at being powerless to stop a cadre of proto-fascist crackpots from wrecking the government will manifest in a degree of bitter congressional obstructionism unlike anything weve ever seen. The out-party is always bitter when it returns to power after being shut out for a while, but a Democratic House confronting Trump in 2027 will be a different kind of beast. After watching the president run roughshod over limits on his power for two years with the full acquiescence of his party, the mandate for House Democrats will be simple and stark: Stop him at all costs. Stop the autocracy, stop the DOGE rampage, stop the bullying of American allies, stop the corruption and self-enrichment, stop the anti-vax witch-doctoring, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Hakeem Jeffries had better eat his Wheaties. But until then, shutdown theater is all he and his party have to interrupt the end of politics. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. RUTLEDGE, Tenn. (WATE) Two federal food assistance programs now canceled by the US Department of Agriculture are leaving school systems concerned for their school lunches. The Local Food for Schools and Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Programs helped food pantries and schools to buy fresh produce from nearby farms. A statement from the USDA to The Hill said the programs were canceled because they no longer effectuate the goals of the agency. USDA halts more than $1B in funding for local food banks, schools Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grainger County Schools is among the districts impacted by the cut. Nutrition supervisor Tammy Edde said they have more than one USDA assistance program at their schools. She said while they are still offering their Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP program, which gives students two free meals a day. Axing their local Food for Schools Program could impact CEP. Us being the agricultural community, we should be serving those Grainger County tomatoes in our schools, and this gave us the opportunity to do that, said Edde. With the rising cost of groceries, Edde said working with local farmers helped the school tremendously not only by providing students fresh produce but also keeping the cost for school lunches down. Its just the fact that we need the money. We need the money to pay for this food and give kids good quality meals, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Edde said they were awarded $75,000 in 2024 from the Local Food for Schools Program, and no longer receiving that money may put their CEP program in jeopardy. We were really counting on the food for farmers for next year because we were told at the beginning of the school year that it was still in place, they had the money budgeted for it. It was that was a shocker. I really, really hate it, she said. With the local food for schools cut coming as such a surprise, she said she is unsure where that leaves CEP. When we started that, our participation skyrocketed, she said, Thats going to be devastating if we have to go back where students have to pay for their lunch, thats going to be extremely devastating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the meantime, she said they will need to cut back on the fresh produce they offer in the cafeteria. See more top stories on WATE.com Its going to be tight, were going to have to cut down on the variety of what we serve, just pulling in the reins a little bit, said Edde. While the local food for schools program was yearly, the CEP program still has three years left in their contract. Edde said despite losing the federal funding, they still plan to work with local farmers for their school lunches. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantics archives to contextualize the present and surface delightful treasures. Sign up here. I was a walking pile of red flags when I started dating my now-husbandand I made sure to point out each and every one to him. Id just gotten out of a long-term relationship, and my ex was still sleeping on my couch. Id cheated before, on the ex, years ago. Also, I have a very messy relationship with my mother, which is not entirely my fault but seemed worth mentioning. Telling someone you like all the reasons to not date you might sound counterintuitive, but to me, it was rational: I was trying to control the narrative around any eventual demise. If the relationship went south, I thought, Id warned him; he would have only himself to blame. One could, I suppose, argue that this habit of mine is uniquely annoying, but the impulse to create a story out of a relationshipand ones role within itis not unusual. People write romance novels and breakup ballads. They publish short stories about when they first realized their marriage was doomed and poems highlighting the absurdity of being married to a psychoanalyst. Throughout The Atlantics history, writers have interrogated their marriages (and divorces), and by putting themselves in control of what others hear, they try to make meaning of the life theyve chosen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Being a wife in the Army, for instance, requires tying yourself to the travels of your husband, as Beatrice Ayer Patton wrote in 1941. She recalls a friend who, after announcing her engagement to an Army officer, was encouraged not to marry him because she would merely be the tail of the kite. But Patton, whose husband was General George S. Patton, argues that the Army wife is crucial to her husbands successes and failuresby providing key services such as tailoring, and by presenting a good face to all of his colleagues, whom she sees every day. Patton ends the essay with a response from her friends fiance: How high can a kite soar without its tail? In 1905, another woman, who goes unnamed, discovered that in middle age, her marriage had become dull and flat. She is shocked when she meets the new wife of a widower friend, who appears vibrant and youthful despite being about the same age as her. The writer laments: The first wife worked hard, went without things, saved every penny possible, and then died, and her husband was happier with a new wife, who reaped where the first had sown. Then the writer has a revelation: She just needs to reframe how she sees herselfand behave as if shes a second wife in a first-wife marriage. Nearly 20 years later, in an essay about becoming the breadwinner in her marriage, the writer Jane Littell mused on the importance of not depending on her husband at all. The wage-earning wife meets her husband on an equality basis. She is no longer a dependent. She is an equal partner, Littell wrote in 1924. The chances for domestic happiness seem greater than in the old-fashioned marriage where a woman could be nothing but what her husband made her. But the only thing more important than extolling ones good choices in a marriage is assigning blame when it ends. Often, in heterosexual marriages, the problem is considered to be both the institution and the men. In 1947, the writer David L. Cohn was frank in assessing the chief factor in the countrys appalling divorce rate: The United States is the only country where the husband often is notand does not want to bea man, but a Boy. He wants, poor thing, not to be wived but to be mothered. The idea that wives suffer has endured; writers in 1961 and in 2024 have likened marriage to a form of female captivity. Although any of those reasons for divorce may be true in the aggregate, diagnosing the issues of any one individual relationship will always be more complex. In a recent review of Haley Mloteks memoir, No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce, the writer Rachel Vorona Cote notes that Mlotek refuses to provide the details of her divorce because she rejects the notion that you can create a narrative around your life. Nobody, Mlotek argues, can fully know their own mind. Its a conclusion that the writer Burnham Hall might have found relatable in 1924. In an essay debating whether he should grant a divorce to his wife, who wishes to be with a lover, he writes: I doubt if anyone is ever completely honest with himself in such a situation; but one may keep on trying. Article originally published at The Atlantic Environmental groups seek to sue an an Iowa coal plant operator under the Clean Water Act, claiming it is discharging water contaminated by coal ash without a permit. (Stock photo by Monty Rakusen via Getty Images) Several environmental groups intend to sue Alliant Energys Iowa affiliate, claiming it is discharging polluted groundwater into waters upstream of Ottumwa without a permit. The Iowa Environmental Council, Sierra Club, and Environmental Law & Policy Center issued a letter of intent to sue, as mandated under the Clean Water Act, which gives the company 60 days to come into compliance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The threatened lawsuit deals with the Ottumwa Midland Landfill, a coal ash landfill that has been used by Interstate Power and Light Company, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, since 1995. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The landfill has a liner that separates coal ash, or waste material from burning coal, from the groundwater. Piping below the landfill removes the groundwater from underneath the lining and discharges it, at a rate of up to 84,000 gallons per day, to a wetland that flows into a tributary of the Des Moines River, according to the letter. This groundwater is not supposed to come into contact with any of the contaminants in the landfill above it, but the environmental groups pointed to IPL monitoring data that shows the discharge contains arsenic, barium, boron, calcium, cobalt, iron, lithium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, and other pollutants below reporting limits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thus, the underdrain water is contaminated and is not an allowed discharge under Stormwater General Permit 1, the letter said. These are some of the same contaminants noted in a study released by IEC and the Sierra Club in February that found coal ash landfills and ponds caused heightened levels of toxic heavy metals and pollutants in nearby groundwater. The study pulled from self-reported data at MidAmerican Energy Company plants, including the Ottumwa Generating Station which is owned by both MidAmerican and IPL. MidAmerican, however, disputed the findings of the study. The underdrain discharge from the Ottumwa landfill was covered by a stormwater discharge permit with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, but in 2023, DNR informed the company that the discharge did not meet the definition of uncontaminated groundwater covered by the permit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The letter said IPL did not apply for an additional permit for this discharge and therefore has been discharging, and continues to discharge, pollutants into waters of the United States without permit authorization. Melissa McCarville, a spokesperson for Alliant Energy said the company proactively reached out to DNR about the permit and has been actively communicating with the department while systematically working toward a solution for the groundwater discharge. Alliant Energy is dedicated to serving our customers and communities throughout the state, McCarville said in a statement. Driven by our mission and core values, we are steadfast in our commitment to environmental compliance including abiding by all regulated and required groundwater monitoring processes. Michael Schmidt, an attorney for Iowa Environmental Council, said it has been more than a year and half since DNR confirmed the permitting issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its that ongoing delay that we are concerned about, Schmidt said. We have these discharges of arsenic and other metals going into the water on a continuous basis without really any oversight from DNR, because there is no permit coverage. McCarville said there is no reason to believe the discharge interacted with the contents of the landfill. As designed and originally permitted, the system does not come into contact with the landfills content, McCarville said. In late 2024, the company announced a plan to reroute the discharge to the Des Moines River, to which IEC objected. McCarville said depending on reviews and approvals, construction on a new design for the discharge could begin this spring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a slew of plans Wednesday to roll back certain regulations on energy production and to change the definition of Waters of the United States, which are waters protected under the Clean Water Act. Schmidt said this would not affect the intent to sue because the discharge is occurring in waters that are clearly waters of the United States. The notice letter is about a foundational element of the Clean Water Act, requiring a permit for any discharge of pollutants, Schmidt said. Its another example of why the process that we have of burning coal to put pollutants into the air, and create the solid waste and have these water discharges, is a continuing problem. The more we do it, the more problems like this we create. This article has been updated to clarify the discovery of the permitting issue. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE by Nurul Fitri Ramadhani JAKARTA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- For 27-year-old Salsabila Effendi, this year marks her first time driving her Chinese-made electric car from Jakarta to her hometown in Yogyakarta to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with her family. The journey, spanning approximately 550 km, will also be the maiden long-distance trip for her Neta V electric car, a gift from her parents in late 2024. "This car has been my best companion in the past few months. It's very comfortable, and I can't wait to take it on a long trip," Effendi told Xinhua. Effendi is confident that driving an electric vehicle (EV) for a long road trip will be more comfortable than using a gasoline-powered car, as she won't have to endure long queues at fuel stations. "There will still be longer queues at gas stations than at EV charging stations. Moreover, charging an EV is cheaper than filling up with fuel," she said. Aditya Rachman, 43, shares Effendi's enthusiasm. This will be his second time driving his Wuling Binguo AirEV, another Chinese EV brand, from Bekasi in West Java to his hometown in Surabaya, East Java, for the Eid al-Fitr festivities. "Of course, I'll drive the EV again. It's very practical and efficient. I've also heard that the government plans to increase the number of EV charging stations, especially across Java. This is important as the number of EV users is growing, and more facilities are needed," Rachman said. The trend of EV adoption in Indonesia is on the rise. According to the state-owned electricity company PLN, the increase is evident from the growing number of requests for power upgrades to charge EVs. The company also reported a fivefold annual increase in transactions at EV charging stations. The surge in EV users in Indonesia is partly driven by the influx of Chinese EV brands into the country's automotive market, offering competitive and affordable prices. Edi Srimulyanti, director of retail and commerce at PLN, noted that the use of electric cars for homecoming trips this year is expected to increase by up to 500 percent. Last year, 4,314 EVs were used by people traveling to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, and this year, the number is projected to reach 21,570. During the 2024 Eid al-Fitr season, EV charging stations recorded 12,600 transactions, a number expected to rise to 64,600 this year. PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo emphasized that EVs are becoming an integral part of daily life in Indonesia. "EVs have proven to be increasingly popular among Indonesians, and PLN remains committed to supporting the development of the EV ecosystem," he said. In a recent official statement, Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia announced that 3,558 public EV charging stations have been set up along homecoming routes on Sumatra, Java, and Nusa Tenggara islands to ensure smooth travel for EV users. "With more people using electric cars, the government, through PLN, is providing one charging station every 22 km," he said. As EVs gain popularity in Indonesia, they are not only transforming the way people travel, but also contributing to a more sustainable future. Local environmentalists joined together Wednesday morning at the Milan Bottoms for the first of two scheduled roost-ins. I feel like weve done all the compromising, and (the City of Rock Island is) doing no compromising, and they are going full speed ahead, said Kelly McKay, a wildlife biologist. (Evan Denton, OurQuadCities.com) The roost-in was a meeting for environmentalists and Quad Cities residents to express their concerns over a proposed development that includes a truck stop and cannabis dispensary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city is completely ignoring this issue. Theyre going full speed ahead with the development, McKay said. (Milan Bottoms is) certainly the most important single piece of habitat for bald eagles in the entire Quad Cities region, and they are willing to put all of that in jeopardy for a pot shop and a truck stop. Thats what it boils down to. Previously, the city of Rock Island said it will use some of the revenue generated from the development to fund a wetland management plan. What good does it do to have a a wetland management plan if youve already seriously damaged the wetland? They didnt do any monitoring out here, they didnt do any surveys out here. It was all done on a desktop of people looking up databases, McKay said. Environmentalists argue that a truck stops noise and additional light could alter a bald eagles night roost area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you want to have a rich biodiversity in an area, you have to have some wild spots, McKay said. You have to have some areas that are set aside as refuges for some of these more sensitive species. The Milan Bottoms sits right next to the I-280 west highway. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, nearly 20,000 vehicles travel across the highway daily. We lose this site, we lose a lot of the biodiversity of the Quad Cities, McKay said. Local environmentalists plan to hold another roost-in on Monday, March 17, outside Rock Island City Hall from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a sweeping rollback of key environmental regulations, a move that has sparked strong opposition from environmental advocates and public health officials. The new changes loosen restrictions on pollution from coal plants, weaken vehicle emissions standards, and mark a significant shift in federal climate policy. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin praised the decision, calling it a step toward economic growth. Today, the Green New scam ends as the EPA does its part to usher in the golden age of American success, Zeldin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Supporters of the rollback, including West Virginia Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito, believe the changes will boost businesses while still maintaining environmental protections. We will be able to get to the core issues of clean water and air, Capito said. However, environmental groups and climate scientists warn that loosening these regulations could have serious consequences for public health. Joe Bonfiglio, Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Fund, emphasized the risks, particularly for vulnerable populations. For the longest time in this country, we were moving towards a future that was going to be a little cleaner, Bonfiglio said. Think about the kid you know that has asthma or the elderly parent that you may have that has problems breathing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moore Capito rejected claims that the rollbacks would lead to increased pollution and health risks. I reject the premise that were going to make water dirtier and air dirtier and people sicker, she said. Environmental organizations and several state governments are expected to challenge the new regulations in court, setting the stage for a legal battle over the future of U.S. environmental policy. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. You can view a press conferences with Meyers and Republican legislators from Thursday in the media player below. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) The Democratic Caucus of the Erie County Legislature is calling for answers about allegations against the Erie County Sheriff Departments chief of the Narcotics and Intelligence Unit. In a statement, Erie County Legislature Chairman Tim Meyers said members of the legislature were kept in the dark about serious allegations against Chief Daniel DJ Granville until seeing multiple reports by local news outlets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those reports outline alleged tens of thousands of dollars in damage caused after Granville crashed into several cars last April. A statement to WIVB News 4 from the Erie County Attorneys Office said its internal review of nearly $60,000 in property damage claims revealed Granville was on the clock when the crashes occurred. Meyers said the legislature did receive a letter about payments made about property damages, but the payments were not voted on beforehand. Documentation News 4 Investigates obtained by an open records request shows the crashes occurred on two streets on Buffalos West Side neighborhood. Meyers said Wednesday night there is a a lack of transparency from both the sheriffs office and the Buffalo Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont know if theres a policy that says we should be notified, but one would think, Meyers said while speaking to the media Thursday. You would think it would come up from somebody, how does something like this that allegedly happened and nobody knows about it until a year later. Republican legislators said Thursday it is expected there will be a bipartisan resolution to call for an investigation into the alleged incident. Legislator Lindsay Lorigo said that Meyers can use his power to call for a subpoena into the alleged incident. We need to have the answers because were responsible to the taxpayers and how that money is being spend, Lorigo said. We need to be able to provide those answers. At an unrelated press event Tuesday, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia was asked about the allegations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Buffalo PD is doing an internal affairs investigation, so until that concludes to me its a car accident, I havent heard otherwise and I think from day one my administration and myself have been transparent in every single case that has come before me and that wont change, that will continue, Garcia said. Latest Local News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. The estate of a 20-year-old Leominster stabbing victim is suing the apartment complex, property management and the security companies in connection with his 2024 homicide. Robert Wright-Day was found stabbed outside the Riverside Village Apartments complex on State Street just before 1 a.m. on May 7, 2024, prosecutors said. He was rushed to Leominster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Three people were later charged in connection with the deadly stabbing. Wright-Day was killed while attending a car meetup that he was invited to attend at the Riverside Village Apartments complex. According to his family and attorneys, the car meetup soon escalated into a large gathering of youths and 22 minutes after the meetup began, at 12:55 a.m., Wright-Day was suddenly and viciously stabbed in the torso resulting in his untimely death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit announced Thursday by Wright-Days family and his attorneys asserts the defendants failed to properly supervise the property, neglected to secure and staff the premises, were noncompliant with the States and City of Leominsters policies in the prevention and management of mass gatherings, and more, according to a statement released by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers. The Riverside Village Apartments, the lawsuit claims, has a history of resident complaints on youths gathering on property which led to the complexs management company, Schochet Riverside Manager LLC, contracting Archer Security a company absorbed by ISSM Protective Services Inc. to provide onsite and remote security monitoring including on-property guard staffing through 2:00 a.m. daily. The morning of Wright-Days homicide, the lawsuit alleges that no member of the security team was on the Riverside Village Apartments premises. The death of Mr. Wright-Day occurred steps from where the security team should have been stationed, his attorneys said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a direct result of recklessness, carelessness and negligence of the defendants, the lawsuit alleges, a beloved young mans life abruptly ended. In their statement, his family and attorneys described Wright-Day as a young, talented athlete known as a beacon of humility, love, thoughtfulness, and compassion. DA: 3 people facing charges in Leominster stabbing that left young man dead Days after the killing, Juan Diaz Contreras, 19, of Fitchburg, was charged with murder in the stabbing death of Wright-Day, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early said at the time. Two others, Edgar K. Perez-Tuero, 21, of Gardner, and Christian Joel Santiago, 19, of Leominster, were both charged with assault and battery, Early said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW By Aaron Ross and Giulia Paravicini NAIROBI (Reuters) - Longtime foes Ethiopia and Eritrea could be headed towards war, officials in a restive Ethiopian region at the centre of the tensions have warned, risking another humanitarian disaster in the Horn of Africa. Direct clashes between two of Africa's largest armies would signal the death blow for a historic rapprochement for which Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and could draw in other regional powers, analysts said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would also likely create another crisis in a region where aid cuts have complicated efforts to assist millions affected by internal conflicts in Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia. "At any moment war between Ethiopia and Eritrea could break out," General Tsadkan Gebretensae, a vice president in the interim administration in Ethiopia's Tigray region, wrote in Africa-focused magazine the Africa Report on Monday. A 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia's central government killed hundreds of thousands of people. Fears of a new conflict are linked to the TPLF's split last year into a faction that now administers Tigray with the blessing of Ethiopia's federal government and another that opposes it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, the dissident faction, which Tsadkan accused of seeking an alliance with Eritrea, seized control of the northern town of Adigrat. Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray's interim administration, in turn asked the government for support against the dissidents, who deny ties to Eritrea. "There is clear antagonism between Ethiopia and Eritrea," Getachew told a news conference on Monday. "What concerns me is that the Tigray people may once again become victims of a war they don't believe in." 'DRY TINDER WAITING FOR A MATCH' Ethiopia's federal government has not commented on the tensions. Eritrea's information minister dismissed Tsadkan's warnings as "war-mongering psychosis". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Eritrea ordered a nationwide military mobilisation in mid-February, according to UK-based Human Rights Concern - Eritrea. And Ethiopia deployed troops toward the Eritrean border this month, two diplomatic sources and two Tigrayan officials told Reuters, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. Reuters could not independently verify these developments. Eritrean and Ethiopian government spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. Payton Knopf and Alexander Rondos, the former U.S. and EU envoys to the region, say the prospects of a new war are real. "The deterioration of the political and security situation in Tigray is dry tinder waiting for a match," they wrote in an essay for U.S. publication Foreign Policy on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have long been fraught. Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year fight for independence. The neighbours then fought a 1998-2000 border war. They remained formally at war until 2018, when Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki agreed to normalise ties. Eritrean troops even supported Ethiopian federal forces against TPLF-led rebels during the Tigray civil war. But the exclusion of Eritrea from subsequent peace negotiations once again chilled relations. Eritrean officials have bristled at repeated public declarations by Abiy since 2023 that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to sea access, comments some analysts view as an implicit threat of military action against Eritrea, which lies on the Red Sea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last October, Eritrea, an authoritarian and insular state, signed a security pact with Egypt and Somalia that was widely seen as aimed at countering Ethiopia's potential expansionist ambitions. (Reporting by Aaron Ross and Giulia Paravicini; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly, Joe Bavier and Janet Lawrence) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday ruled that people do not need to provide proof of surgery to update or correct their gender identity in official records. The court was ruling on a case brought by an Iranian transgender man who was granted asylum in Hungary because of his transgender identity. According to the ECJ announcement, the man presented psychiatric and gynaecological certificates stating that he was born biologically female, but has a male gender identity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite this, authorities registered him as a woman and refused to allow him to change his gender information on the grounds that no gender reassignment surgery had taken place. The man took the case to a Hungarian court, which referred it to the ECJ. The Hungarian court pointed out that there is no national regulation for the recognition of transgender identity. However, the ECJ said this was no reason to deny the correction of incorrect personal data. EU lawmakers passed a wide-ranging joint declaration on March 12 condemning the U.S. for "blackmailing" Ukrainian leadership into capitulating to Russia. The declaration comes a day after Ukraine's Presidential Office announced it was ready to accept Washington's proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, so long as Russia also complies with the terms. When Kyiv agreed to the plan, Washington resumed previously suspended shipments of military aid. The joint statement "strongly deplores any attempts at blackmailing Ukraine's leadership into surrender to the Russian aggressor for the sole purpose of announcing a so-called 'peace deal.'" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin is now being "rewarded" for Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the resolution says. The declaration accuses the U.S. of trying "to negotiate a ceasefire and peace agreement with Russia over the heads of Ukraine and other European states." It also denounces the U.S. for being "counterproductive and dangerous." Support for Ukraine must be increased in the face of the foreign policy shift in Washington, the joint declaration says. The lawmakers proposed to further "increase the effectiveness and impact of sanctions on Russia in order to definitively undermine Russia's ability to continue waging its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and threatening the security of other European countries." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The resolution was passed by 440 lawmakers in the European Parliament, which consists of 720 seats. Signatories included members of many political parties, including Greens, Socialists & Democrats, Christian Democrats, and far-right conservatives. The U.S. has infuriated many lawmakers in Europe by repeatedly saying it will exclude the continent from potential Ukraine peace negotiations. Top European officials have decried the White House for pandering to Russia. Despite the condemnation from members of the European Parliament (MEPs), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on March 12 praised the outcome of Ukraine's recent talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed the EU's support for the embattled nation. Read also: Trump said Ukraine is more difficult to deal with than Russia that might be about to change Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- European Union member states agreed to extend sanctions on individual Russians, including a number of billionaires, after Hungary dropped its opposition. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deal, which will prolong the sanctions for six months, was agreed after three names were removed from the list as requested by Budapest, according to people familiar with the matter. Such extensions related to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have been largely routine for several years, but Hungary started to hold them up in the wake of US President Donald Trumps victory in November. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a pro-Russian who is also a close ally of Trump, created drama over an extension of the broader Russia sanctions regime earlier this year, before backing down at the last minute. This time around, Hungary had initially pushed for the delisting of eight names in return for backing the extension, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Luxembourg added some additional last-minute pressure after it pushed for the removal of tycoon Mikhail Fridman from the list, although he will remain sanctioned, the people said, on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Luxembourg spokesperson declined to comment. Fridman is one of Russias most prominent businessmen after making billions in banking, oil and retail. He and his business partner Petr Aven won surprise victories last April after the blocs General Court ruled none of the reasons set out by the EU to justify sanctions were sufficiently substantiated. Although the court ordered the EU to annul the restrictive measures, they were still covered by sanctions after their inclusion on an updated EU list. The EU has been pushing to tighten economic pressure on Russia, particularly through its sanctions regime. The blocs sanctions require the unanimous backing of the 27 member states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Andrea Palasciano and Ewa Krukowska. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- The European Union and South Africa took another step toward shoring up a shaky relationship in a world where both are currently the target of US President Donald Trumps unpredictable politics. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their first summit since 2018, held in Cape Town on Thursday, comes just weeks after the EUs top diplomat, Kaja Kallas lent support to South Africas presidency of the Group of 20 this year after US State and Treasury secretaries embarrassed the country by skipping G-20 gatherings last month. Trump has frozen aid to South Africa accusing it of seizing private land, something that hasnt happened since the end of White-minority rule in 1994. He has also hit the EU, along with other nations, with trade tariffs and stoked concern that Europe can no longer rely on Washington for military protection. That new reality, according to Western diplomats Bloomberg spoke to, is warming relations which had cooled between the two after South Africa failed to clearly condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine and moved closer to it and China as part of the BRICS alliance. Shared Belief Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a moment of increased global confrontation and competition, we must strengthen our partnership further, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the summit. We must work closely together, to ensure the future is built on our shared belief in cooperation and human dignity. The EU plans to mobilize 4.7 billion ($5.1 billion) for investment in South Africa that will include money for green energy as well as for the manufacture of vaccines in the country, she said in her opening remarks. It also plans to start talks with South Africa over a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership that could boost the production of metals needed for the energy transition and green hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel thats seen as possible alternative to natural gas in the future. In stable relations we stay together the course, Von der Leyen said. We give predictability and reliability. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is hosting the gathering, separately lauded the importance of the EU as a development, trade and investment partner for his country. This summit is taking place at a time of global uncertainty characterised by rising unilateralism, economic nationalism and a retreat from international law and human rights, he said. We welcome the European Unions support for multilateral institutions and the fundamental principles of the United Nations. The warm language contrasts with the previously ambivalent attitude of South African politicians toward the EU, which collectively is its second-biggest trade partner after China. European diplomats stationed in Pretoria, who had struggled to get the attention of South African ministers, said there has been a thawing in relations in recent months. They asked not to be identified as they arent permitted to discuss confidential government relations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Local politicians have previously accused Europe of using South Africa as a green transition guinea pig in a $9.3 billion climate-finance pact to wean the country off a reliance on coal. The US last month withdrew its pledge of $1 billion in loans toward the program. Whatever differences there were I feel that they are in the past, Kallas told reporters in Johannesburg on Feb. 20 when asked about frictions between the EU and South Africa. The summit is part of a strategic partnership agreed between South Africa and the EU in 2007, making the country the only one on the continent with a pact of this kind with the bloc. Summits were held every year between 2009 and 2013, but took a five-year break until 2018 during the tenure of South Africas then-president, Jacob Zuma, under whom South Africa joined BRICS and formed closer relations with Russia and China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter (Updates with Ursula von der Leyens remarks at summit in fifth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) A Eubank man has been accused of raping two young girls, one of whom was reported missing. The Pulaski County Sheriffs Office released the details of the January arrest on Wednesday. Authorities said the case began when they received reports of a missing 14-year-old girl just before midnight on Jan. 4. MISSING IN KENTUCKY Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As deputies searched for the missing girl, they came across a pickup truck in the Science Hill Church of Nazarene parking lot. Inside, they found 28-year-old Marion Pence with the missing teen. After being taken to an area hospital, the girl told the deputy shed met Pence the day before at a friends house. He allegedly let her charge his phone in her truck, and theyd exchanged Snapchat information to talk later. Court documents note that a Snapchat conversation detailed that Pence told the girl that he was 28 years old and theyd need to be careful due to her age, then proceeded to have sexual intercourse with the girl on two occasions. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout the investigation, the sheriffs office said it learned of another potential victim who was 11 years old at the time. In an interview with deputies, Pence said he didnt know if hed raped the girl because he was the victim. He faces first-degree rape of a victim under the age of 12 and third-degree rape charges. Pence is lodged in the Pulaski County detention center on a pair of $50,000 and $100,000 cash bonds, according to court records. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. SUVA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian has reaffirmed China's commitment to strengthening relations with Fiji and other Pacific island countries, pledging continued support for their development and climate resilience. Addressing a news briefing on Thursday in Suva, Zhou emphasized that China will continue to be a reliable partner and offer crucial assistance without political conditions to the island countries, despite global uncertainties. He also briefed the media on China's policy to Fiji, saying China will firmly deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development between the two sides. Zhou revealed that the two countries are enhancing communication on establishing direct flights and also advancing poverty alleviation cooperation. He said a group of Chinese experts will come to Fiji next month to assist the country in formulating tailored poverty reduction plans. The ambassador also reaffirmed China's commitment to climate change mitigation, a key concern for Pacific Island nations. He said China would continue to provide assistance to island nations in climate change response through the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Change Cooperation Center. "We stand ready to work with Fiji to strengthen cooperation in disaster prevention, clean energy, and green transition," Zhou said, adding that China's collaboration with Fiji is part of a broader effort to contribute to the global green transition. Russian restrictions and the seizure of dual-use goods have caused Europe-bound rail shipments from China via Russia to plunge, The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on March 11. Russian authorities in October banned the transit of dual-use military and civilian goods to Europe via its territory. The restrictions apply to a range of goods that could potentially aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia's full-scale war. Since the ban, rail cargo volumes through Russia from China have been declining for months as Chinese logistics companies lose confidence in the trade route, industry players told SCMP. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have not dared to ship (goods through Russian rail routes) since November," Andrew Jiang, general manager of Shanghai freight forwarding company Air Sea Transport, said. Russia's new restrictions have caused Chinese rail shipments to be sent to Europe via alternative routes that bypass Russia. These include routes through Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan. Many Chinese freight companies learned about the restrictions weeks after their implementation. This has caused thousands of containers to be seized by Russian authorities. Moscow's restrictions allow Russian authorities to seize and keep hard-to-get Western-sanctioned goods. These items can then be used to manufacture weapons for the war against Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian authorities have confiscated large amounts of equipment that on the surface appear to be harmless, such as welding materials, metal fasteners, and airplane parts, importers of Chinese goods in Russia told the Moscow Times. Russian importers now face difficulty obtaining goods from Chinese suppliers due to a lack of confidence in Russian freight routes. China has become Russia's key economic partner, supplying Moscow with critical dual-use goods as sanctions have increasingly isolated the country from the global market. Russia has come to rely heavily on China since the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Kyiv ready to fight in Kursk Oblast as long as necessary as Russia claims to retake over 86% of seized territories Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The News Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow is nominally in favor of a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but stressed there are serious issues still to be resolved before the Kremlin could agree to anything. We agree with the proposals to stop the hostilities, but we proceed from the fact that this cessation should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of the crisis, Putin said ahead of planned meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff Thursday evening. Russian officials have long argued that the war in Ukraine was caused by NATOs expansion and Western assertiveness, and have called for the alliance to rethink its presence in Eastern Europe as part of a peace deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin highlighted several issues that needed to be addressed, including resolving Ukraines incursion into Russias Kursk region, whether Ukraine would receive Western weapons during a ceasefire, and how a possible truce would be monitored. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said Putins statement was very manipulative. Putin, of course, is afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians, the Ukrainian leader said in a video statement. Know More Putins comments come as European leaders launched a fresh effort Thursday to unite the West amid a US-brokered push for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement G7 foreign ministers met in Quebec and NATOs secretary general was due to hold talks with US President Donald Trump, who has presided over wild policy whipsaws, swerving between calling Ukraines leader a dictator and throwing him out of the White House to then patching up relations and agreeing a truce proposal. Analysts are skeptical about whether Russia will ultimately agree to the proposal: An influential Russian think tank recently laid out a hard-line position with maximalist demands, The Washington Post reported, and even if a ceasefire were agreed, vexing questions are likely to make a lasting peace unlikely, the Financial Times warned. PARIS Defense ministers from Europes five biggest military spenders said theyll continue to support Ukraine in case of a ceasefire or peace deal with Russia, without going so far as to promise troops to secure an agreement, after meeting in Paris on Wednesday. The real negotiations are about to begin, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said at a press conference in the French capital, in response to a question whether the five countries plan to put boots on the ground in Ukraine. Its clear that media time moves faster than diplomatic and military time. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland and Italy met to discuss peace in Ukraine and the defense of Europe, as the United States looks ready to reduce its commitments to security on the continent. The five countries are Europes biggest defense spenders, with combined spending of an estimated $314 billion in 2024, based on NATO data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement US arms flow to Ukraine again as the Kremlin mulls ceasefire proposal The meeting comes after the U.S. and Ukraine endorsed a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire Tuesday, which now awaits Russias response. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the ceasefire would allow the sides to prepare for an actual end to the war that followed Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including security guarantees for his country. The agreement reached between the U.S. and Ukraine was a vital step, and now its up to Russian President Vladimir Putin to prove that he wants peace, U.K. Secretary for Defence John Healey said. The ball is in Putins court, German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius said. The European countries dont want a peace deal in Ukraine to resemble the Yalta Conference, in which Europe was carved up in spheres of influence, nor the Budapest Memorandum under which Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances, nor the Minsk agreements that resulted in ceasefires with no security guarantees, Lecornu said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lecornu said theres no question of demilitarization of Ukraine, and the countrys best security guarantee is its armed forces. Keeping Russia as far away as possible from our countries means supporting Ukraine, Polands Minister of Defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said. Lecornu said chiefs of staffs have started work on short- and medium-term scenarios that would allow policy makers to reflect on what a security architecture for Ukraine could look like. Topics that would need to be dealt with urgently are security in the Black Sea and the security of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, he said. The reality is that its a long-term affair that also allows us to think more globally about protection and Europes defense plan, Lecornu said. The security of Europe faces the Russian threat as well as the maybe unpredictable nature of the American ally, according to Lecornu. Americas pivot away from Europe was clear before the election of President Donald Trump, but the pace and extent to which that would happen remained uncertain, Pistorius said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Therefore, the challenge for us is not to adapt to this, but to pick up the pace, Pistorius said. He called for working on a road map with the U.S. to ensure the burden shifting is organized and done step by step, so that we do not run the risk of falling into dangerous capability gaps. A peaceful Europe and a strong NATO are in Americas interest, according to Healey. He said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made clear that the challenge to European nations to step up on defense doesnt mean the U.S. stepping away from Ukraine or European security. Priorities for Europe include air defense, both against high-end threats and drones. We need to completely rethink part of Europes ground-based air defense, according to Lecornu. He said the five ministers discussed speeding up existing capacity plans, which are taking too long and moving ahead too slowly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lecornu said he would like discussions about converging with Germanys European Sky Shield Initiative. France and Italy have so far remained outside of the plan, after Germany proposed the U.S.-made Patriot system instead of the French-Italian SAMP/T as the long-range component. Space is a second priority, with a tremendous risk of Europe falling behind, according to Lecornu. He cited dependence on Starlink, with the European alternative IRIS2 still appearing far away, and said the five ministers agreed on the need to accelerate on space questions. France has made proposals, together with Germany, to move forward on early warning systems to detect missile launches from Russian and Iran using satellite and radar, which Lecornu said is a formidable issue both in terms of technology as well as budget, but one of the topics on which we need to make progress. The ministers discussed bottlenecks in the European defense industry supply chain, and solutions such as bringing some production back to the continent. This relocalization agenda could be very expensive when done by individual countries, but can be more easily shared between nations, Lecornu said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scaling up European defense output will require investing in new production lines, which Lecornu described as a chicken-and-egg problem, as continuing to buy military equipment outside the continent means Europe wouldnt achieve the critical mass necessary to finance new manufacturing capacity. He said one option is more licensed production between European countries, which would provide local employment. European countries still have too many different large weapon systems, Pistorius said. He said the ministers have identified three steps to allow for faster and less bureaucratic joint procurement, including standardization of how governments formulate capability requests, more joint framework contracts and implementing uniform weapon-system certification across European countries. I am convinced that if we act now, if we choose security in Europe over the nitty-gritty of national interests, we will emerge from this situation strengthened, Pistorius said. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) An Evansville man was sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to distribute MDMA and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Authorities conducted a search at the home of Mikeal Luckett, 51, on June 13, 2023. During the search, law enforcement officers say they found a loaded 9mm handgun, approximately 26.2 grams of MDMA, approximately 6.4 grams of pure methamphetamine, digital scales and $10,286 in cash. Officers say they also found $1,530 in Lucketts pockets. Delphi murders: Full Bridge Guy video releases on Richard Allen innocence website Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Luckett was convicted of felony conspiracy to distribute cocaine in a federal court in Kentucky in 2012, and was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release. Officials say Luckett was also previously convicted of several violent offenses, including assault and aggravated assault. Luckett was sentenced to 211 months in prison for the latest offense, which will be followed by three years of supervised release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). A workshop aimed at preserving the history and cultural legacy of the Walnut Grove community will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 13, at Riversport Devon Boathouse, 608 Riversport Drive. The Walnut Grove Community Engagement Session is being hosted by the OKC Black Alumni Coalition, which hosts the River Bowl Classic, in partnership with Riversport. The classic is a celebration of Black community, school pride and access to rowing. Event organizers said Walnut Grove was once a thriving Black community along the North Canadian/Oklahoma River but was displaced due to redevelopment in the area. The River Bowl Classic brings members of the Black community back to the Walnut Grove site for a reunion-style event, alumni dragon boat races, alumni rowing races and youth kayaking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February 2024, organizers of the coming event began collecting oral histories of individuals with connections to Walnut Grove. Those interested in attending the March 13 community engagement session are encouraged to bring photos, stories and artifacts from Walnut Grove to help preserve its history. More: Remember Sand Town and other Black settlements along Canadian River? Share your memories The event is being held in partnership with the Metropolitan Library System, Riversport and the Institute for Quality Communities, a community engagement program in the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture. For more information, go to https://www.okcbac.com/. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Event focuses on history of once thriving Black community Walnut Grove The Everett Police Department says its grappling with staffing shortages. There are currently 195 officers, but they have about 221 positions, which means they have 24 positions they are looking to fill. KIRO 7 spoke to Lieutenant Gregory Sutherland with the Everett Police Department. He said in recent years, officers have seen dwindling pools to pull prospective officers from. Its been a struggle for years to fill positions that we have, Sutherland told KIRO 7. Its a great department to work for. Theres a lot of challenges, but like many places across the country, were struggling to fill out positions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since 2020, the department has hired 91 officers but has also lost some each year. Lt. Sutherland said that because of the empty positions, their response times are slower and they arent able to investigate crimes as quickly because they dont have enough detectives. We have really good people and do the best with what we have. Its not just a problem that Everett is facing its something agencies are experiencing statewide. According to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, Washington has had the lowest officer-to-resident ratio in the nation for 14 years in a row. As part of his Public Safety Plan, Governor Bob Ferguson has proposed a $100 million grant program for law enforcement agencies to help with hiring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If anyone is interested in law enforcement, Lt. Sutherland suggested that they reach out to the Everett police. We encourage people who are interested to come on a ride-along, meet an officer, and see what the department is like. For those who would like to apply, click here or contact the departments recruiting officer: drabelos@everettwa.gov. Everything's computer! But not at the IRS. "The upheaval at the IRS is already having real impacts," reports The Washington Post, referring to plans (already underway) to reduce the workforce by half. "Sources familiar with the agency report that its level of phone service is falling, in part because employees are spending their time waiting to use shared computers to respond to [the Department of Government Efficiency's] requests for weekly emails detailing their work. (Not all IRS employees are issued their own computers.) And they report that taxpayer behavior is already adjusting to the reality of a diminished IRS workforce: IRS receiptstaxes paid already and taxes the agency is scheduled to receive from those who have already filedare significantly lower than they were at this point last filing season." Wait, back up. They don't have their own computers? And they're sitting in a queue like schoolchildren in the library, waiting to use a single shared computer to respond to Musk's five-things-you-did-last-week emails? How long does it take to write those emails? And why don't they have computers? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Look, I'm worried by the slapdash approach Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has taken. But the continued federal employee freakout over being asked to justify their jobs by detailing what they've done at work makes no sense to me. I know a girl from college who is a "Work-Life Specialist and Mindfulness Facilitator" at the U.S. Department of Transportation. She leads yoga sessions and "meditation made simple" workshops for federal employees, per her LinkedIn. This is a job I don't want my taxpayer dollars funding. For Musk to apply scrutiny to this type of thing is a huge win for the American people. There are lots of legitimate criticisms to make about whether cuts in staffing will actually lead to a better IRS. Taxpayer services will surely suffer if there are fewer people available to answer phone calls and emails; refunds might be delayed, which comes at a real cost to people. Worse tax collection means less revenue for the government, and it's not like spending is under controlexpect the fiscal hole we're in to get worse if this continues. But "we just can't figure out how to ration computer use in the year 2025 to craft a bullet-pointed email" is an absurd line that elicits no sympathy, and just leaves me confused about what the hell they've been doing all this time. Everything's not, in fact, computer in the federal government. "Is any criticism of the government a deportable offense?" asks NPR's Michel Martin to Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar regarding Mahmoud Khalil. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "What is the specific conduct the government alleges that Mr. Khalil engaged in that merits removal from the United States?" asks Martin, to non-answers and equivocating from Edgar. "He has been promoting this anti-semitism activity at the university," Edgar responds, noting that Khalil's been supporting terrorist activity. "What specifically constitutes terrorist activity that he was supporting? What exactly do you say he did?" presses Martin. "I think you can see it on TV," says Edgar. "He is a legal permanent resident. So what is the standard [for deportation]?" asks Martin. "Is any criticism of the government a deportable offense?" she follows up, over and over. This is a really good example of a journalist actually doing their job and trying to get legitimate answers from the administration. Five-year anniversary of COVID-19 national emergency being declared: A dark day in our nation's history. How is Gavin Newsom commemorating it? When Charlie Kirk brings up the French Laundry incident, you can see Newsom's animal instinct for comms kick in 1) Jokes: "I can't help you with a reservation" 2) Concedes: "We couldn't have this conversation without that conversation" 3) Disarms: "Dumbest bonehead move of my pic.twitter.com/lRFlnmx1wO Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) March 12, 2025 Look, his political reflexes may be smoothand there's a lot of speculating about whether he's aiming to step into the Democratic Party breach and run for presidentbut the little weasel must be put in his place (and a more adept, ferocious interviewer than Charlie Kirk could have done so; I volunteer as tribute). His hypocrisy is no small matterand I say is because I'm not over it, and I don't think you should be either, and he's still actively in a position of power and probably seeking more of it. From a political standpoint, I don't think Newsom's shtick will play wellcities in his state have descended into crime and disorder; his COVID-19 record is abysmal; his taxes are insanefor the rest of the country. But, ugh, I guess, "watch this space," as they say. He's trying to transform himself into just a likable guy with a podcast. He's running. Anyway, if you want to go down the COVID remembrance rabbit hole, I highly recommend this National Review article by Jeffrey Blehar: "I cannot summon memories of that era without becoming furious at what I suffered through, without reliving the sense of utter betrayal from all authority we experienced during that period. I have never felt more despairingly abandoned, and in fact actively oppressed, by every level of government than in those dark years." Scenes from New York: How did pot legalization in New York go so terribly wrong? New documentary out, from me. QUICK HITS "Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said his party would block a Republican spending bill to avert a government shutdown on Saturday and urged the GOP to accept a Democratic plan to provide funding through April 11 instead," reports Bloomberg. "Schumer's declaration Wednesday raised the stakes in an ongoing game of chicken between congressional Republicans and Democrats and appeared to heighten the risk of a shutdown at a time financial markets are hyper-sensitive to new disruption." "A majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump is being too 'erratic' in his moves to shake up the U.S. economy, as his imposition of tariffs against some of the nation's top trading partners hammers stock markets," finds a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. "In last year's campaign Donald Trump and J.D. Vance rightly ran against the speech excesses of the Democratic Party, with Vance saying views on censorship constituted the "biggest difference" between Trump and Kamala Harris, and Trump upon inauguration naming censored figures like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to high office. The administration initially acted like it understood the gravity of the situation, with Vance confronting Europe over its civil liberties crackdowns. They seemed to know what they wanted to achieve on this issue," writes Matt Taibbi. "That operation is now hanging by a thread. Trump is suddenly blowing it on the speech in a big way, with two big categories of screw-ups: pandering to Israel, and reaching into the same emergency-power cookie jar that foreign counterpart-jackasses like Keir Starmer and Olaf Scholz and Thierry Breton have recently raided, in efforts to suppress populist movements like Trump's own. Once he jumps on this bandwagon, we're all screwed, because there's nowhere left to run." Full thing is worth a read. "The US Federal Trade Commission is moving ahead with a sprawling antitrust probe of Microsoft Corp. that was opened in the waning days of the Biden Administration, signaling that Donald Trump's new FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson is going to prioritize scrutiny of tech giants," reports Bloomberg. True: Catastrophic population collapse https://t.co/5d4R3noeHV Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2025 The post Everything's Computer appeared first on Reason.com. By Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) - The former head of Airbus has urged Europe to shift attention for now from major arms projects to nimble new technologies like robotic drones to demonstrate to Moscow and Washington that it can make a difference to its security by the end of the decade. Former CEO Tom Enders, who led Europe's top aerospace group through some of its biggest funding battles, said planned new warplanes would play a key role in coming decades but that the immediate lessons from Ukraine required greater agility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are told...that there is maybe a window of three to five years before Putin might test (NATO) Article 5 in the Baltic States or elsewhere. So we have a certain time pressure," Enders told Reuters in a rare interview since leaving Airbus in 2019. "We want to deter the enemy but what can we do to strengthen that in three to five years? It is certainly not by the FCAS (fighter) programme, not by developing a new Franco-German tank. That all comes too late. We need to reactivate or increase existing production lines and we need to introduce these new intelligent systems as the Ukraine war has been teaching us." He added: "First and foremost, we need to really maximize the value of robots on the battlefield, particularly drones." The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), also known by its French abbreviation SCAF, is an effort by France, Germany and Spain to replace Rafale and Eurofighter jets in the 2040s, with Airbus and Dassault Aviation heading the work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The war in Ukraine has been characterised by unprecedented deployments of thousands of drones, helping Kyiv to temper the numerical advantage of Russian forces that invaded in 2022 and giving a sharp boost to the country's own defence industry. "It's happening right now...on the Ukrainian battlefield. You can leapfrog these old systems if you focus on autonomous systems, robots, sensors and particularly drones," Enders said. EAST AND WEST Enders, who heads the German Council on Foreign Relations and is widely seen as a prominent Atlanticist in business, said the rift between Europe and Washington was the most serious since NATO was born in 1949 and should be a final wake-up call. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The U.S. voting with China and Russia against its long-term allies in the UN Security Council: what else does it take?" He said Europe had been wrong to consider Donald Trump's first presidency as an "aberration" in the long-standing transatlantic relationship, and that instead Joe Biden's single term seemed the exception to a shift of focus away from Europe. "Now we're facing a world where we have opponents as Europeans on two fronts in the East and in the West, and God knows how to classify China in this," Enders said. Enders said the European defence industry would in future be a mix between the big platform makers and risk-taking newcomers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His comments contrast with calls by some politicians to give more impetus to existing flagship projects like SCAF in response to the prospect that Washington will cancel security guarantees. The former Airbus CEO, who is also a board member of German technology startup Helsing, has co-authored a white paper calling for an immediate push into cutting-edge technology like robotics, AI and hypersonics, to be developed within Europe. Signatories to the 3-5 year view also include current Airbus Chairman Rene Obermann, taking part in a personal capacity. Enders said more money was now flowing into defence from the private sector after years in which many of Europe's banks and funds had shied away from defence for ethical investing reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Even big banks are now interested in investing in defence and that is necessary to speed up the effectiveness of our armed forces and our deterrence. I'm taking these three to five years very seriously. In this crazy world, anything can happen." (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Angus MacSwan) CLEVELAND (WJW) A local restaurateur who is accused of nearly $1 million in fraud appeared in court Thursday morning. Marcelo Neves, 59, faces 15 counts related to fraud, tampering and passing bad checks. Member of 90s girl group living in car for 3 years Marcelo Neves The former owner of Crop Bistro in Ohio City was arrested on March 11 in Westlake after he was indicted by a grand jury. Prosecutors said he applied for COVID relief funds, even though his business was closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 4th teen identified in deadly Cleveland crash According to prosecutors, Neves obtained $846,720 in Restaurant Revitalization funding to be used on Crop Bistro. Prosecutors said Neves used it for personal expenses, including the purchase of a restaurant in Olmsted Falls, and to pay off debts. Neves is accused of writing bad checks, some to employees, totaling over $140,000, in addition to the $846,720. Heres his full list of charges: One second-degree felony count of aggravated theft One second-degree felony count of telecommunications fraud One third-degree felony count of tampering with records Two fourth-degree felony counts of grand theft Six fourth-degree felony counts of passing bad checks Four fifth-degree felony counts of passing bad checks Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Local city with most roundabouts earns national recognition Prosecutors in court on Thursday morning argued Neves was a legitimate flight risk, because he has passports for multiple countries. His bond was set at $50,000, and he was declared indigent. He was appointed a public defender. Neves pretrial is set for March 19. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MOSCOW, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The 30-day ceasefire plan proposed by the United States and Ukraine is a "temporary respite" for Ukraine's military, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday. Ushakov said in a TV interview that Moscow is striving for a "long-term" peaceful settlement that takes into account Russia's legitimate interests. Noting that he talked over the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Wednesday, Ushakov said both Russia and the United States believe that Ukraine's potential NATO accession cannot be part of the peace settlement debate. Russian President Vladimir Putin may provide a more detailed assessment after talks with visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko later in the day, he added. Authors note: Information was added to clarify when Martinez left the Wichita County District Attorneys Office. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A former Wichita County District Attorney employee has been arrested in Ohio for child sex crimes and is going to be extradited to Wichita Falls, according to a source close to the matter. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Dan Martinez a former DA criminal investigator was arrested in Ohio for alleged child sexual assaults that happened in Wichita County. Martinez left the DAs office in 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to the charges, District Attorney John Gillespie released a statement Wednesday, March 12, that announced the DAs office retained a special prosecutor who worked for the Texas Attorney Generals Office. Lisa Tanner is a veteran prosecutor who has never worked with this suspect, Gillespie said. Lisa has my complete confidence that she will fairly and impartially evaluate the cases, make any presentations to the grand jury, and expertly handle any prosecutions that arise. Texomas Homepage is also told WFPD assisted in the investigation. Texomas Homepage is working to learn more about the exact charges against Martinez as well as find an identifying photograph of him. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Excelsior Springs Police Department says theyre investigating an incident that left two men dead from unnatural causes. Police say that on March 12, the police department conducted a welfare check at a home in the 200 block of Woods Avenue. Charges filed in deadly shooting outside Kansas City QuikTrip When officers arrived, they found the residence to be secure. However, upon entering the home, those officers found two adult men dead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police believe that the incident is isolated and there is no suspect currently. ESPD says that the investigation is now ongoing. This is an ongoing investigation, FOX4 will provide updates as theyre made available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. CVS Health has been named a menopause-friendly place to work for its over 300,000 employees. The Menopause Friendly Accreditation from MiDOViA, a program that launched in the U.K. to improve workplaces for women in midlife, announced today that CVS Health is the first U.S.-based company on the list and will join a cohort of over 100 companies declared menopause-friendly. The accreditation program launched in 2021 in the UK and last year in the U.S., encouraging companies to become members of the menopause friendly network to learn how to implement innovative changes to support women during midlife at work. After becoming a member, companies can apply for the accreditation, where an independent panel analyzes factors across a companys culture, environment, policies, trainings, and employee engagement, according to the programs website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the impact menopause has on womens health and well-being, many workplaces fall short when it comes to addressing it, Dr. Joanne Armstrong, vice president and chief medical officer of womens health and genomics at CVS Health, tells Fortune exclusively ahead of the announcement. As a result, many women face unnecessary challenges that affect their well-being and productivity. CVS Health is a founding member of the U.S. accreditation program. A spokesperson for the company told Fortune its top spot was "earned, not paid," noting that "theres an independent advisory panel that evaluates companies that apply for the accreditation." Women in perimenopause and menopause are one of the fastest growing demographics. More than one million women reach menopause each year in the U.S. For women, many of whom are at the pinnacle of their careers in their forties and fifties, managing menopause at work can be daunting. Despite the growing cultural conversation on menopause, the stigma still persists, especially at work. One executive sums it up simply in a viral LinkedIn post. As a woman, I didnt want to add another stereotype to the list or show vulnerability or weakness. Not on this and not now, after having worked so hard to progress my career, she wrote. Many workplaces do not recognize the need for innovative solutions to attract and retain a key cohort of employees. The Mayo Clinic estimated that menopausal symptoms cost $1.8 billion in lost productivity. Being menopause-friendly in the workplace starts with creating a supportive environment where employees experiencing menopause feel seen and heard, Armstrong says. Its about providing support that can help them thrive and be as healthy as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Only a third of women say they feel comfortable talking about menopause at work, with two out of five looking for or securing a new job because of menopause symptoms, according to a study from the Society for Womens Health Research (SWHR). Armstrong says that the Fortune 500 company, ranked No. 6, has an imperative to support their women employees as they age at work. For many, it's not an easy transition, she says, adding the company is also investing in menopause training for CVS Health clinicians and care managers. For employees, it has created peer support groups and are offering educational resources for women in midlife. Actress and advocate Halle Berry, who recently launched a menopause care platform, previously told Fortune that community is everything when it comes to feeling supported during this transition. Scientifically, we know that when people can talk to other like-minded people and connect, they have better health outcomes, she said. It will take time to see if other American companies follow suit and the longer-term impact of this investment. But for now, Armstrong says shes proud to help lead change and hope other companies see this accreditation as a call to action and take a close look at what they can do to support women during this stage in their lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more on women and midlife: This story was originally featured on Fortune.com By Gleb Stolyarov and Anastasia Lyrchikova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is asking companies to propose which sanctions Moscow should seek to have lifted ahead of talks with Washington, two Russian business people told Reuters, adding curbs that hamper cross-border payment flows are the most painful. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said it was Russia's turn to respond, after Washington agreed to resume sharing military aid and intelligence with Kyiv, which said it would accept a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened harsher sanctions on Moscow should it fail to negotiate, but sanctions relief if agrees to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Two Russian industry sources said the industry and trade ministry was asking companies to suggest which sanctions most urgently needed to be lifted. One person said the ministry was distributing a form for businesses to fill out, asking companies which sanctions had affected their business most and to identify the most sensitive restrictions. Reuters could not access a copy of the form. The industry ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In all, Reuters spoke to a dozen people - employees at major exporters, consultants, lawyers, economists and advisers. Most of them asked not to be named so they could speak freely. The people Reuters questioned said payment issues were the most onerous, although three of the sources also highlighted energy sanctions, particularly restrictions on Russia's oil tanker fleet. "Everything has become much more expensive given transaction costs and settlements through third currencies," one of them said. "So the most important, most dangerous, most painful is the restriction on settlements in dollars." Asked for details on which sanctions Russia wants eased, the Kremlin on Thursday said it believes all sanctions are illegal and should be lifted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "As for the details, these are already the subject of negotiations, and here I would like to again remind you of my words: 'let's not get ahead of ourselves'," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "And there is no point in announcing any specific segments before the negotiations." DOLLAR ACCESS Major Russian banks were blocked from using the SWIFT global payments network shortly after Moscow sent its army into Ukraine in February 2022. Without access to dollar and euro markets, Russian companies have been forced to find workarounds in other currencies and through third countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Removing those restrictions and sanctions on banks would be a huge boost for Russia, three of the sources said, although one noted it was unrealistic to hope for such a favourable outcome soon. Renaissance Capital analyst Andrei Melashchenko cited the likelihood Europe may not follow any U.S. move. "Lifting of U.S. sanctions would not automatically remove European sanctions or fully restore payment infrastructure, meaning the recovery of commission-based income from cross-border operations would remain limited," he said. Reduced enforcement of secondary sanctions that target companies in third countries, allowing Russia to circumvent restrictions, is the more likely near-term outcome, two of the sources said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lack of clarity over whether secondary sanctions will be enforced has meant few banks in China are willing to risk possible retribution, causing payment bottlenecks and increasingly complex steps to avoid delays. "Workarounds are expensive and slow," said one source. "We can get equipment and technologies through China or the Emirates, but how can we pay for them?" Another of the people said its business "really howled" when China tightened settlements in August last year. For Russian business as a whole, billions of dollars in revenue cannot be settled for goods already delivered, the person said. FROZEN ASSETS Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Easing the enforcement of secondary sanctions, which largely depends on the United States, could improve acceptance of Russia's Mir payment cards, Moscow's alternative to Visa and Mastercard. But most of the around $300 billion of Russia's sovereign assets frozen by the West are held in Europe, where leaders have maintained a tougher stance against Moscow than the United States. "The issue of European sanctions is going to be on the table, not to mention what happens with the frozen assets," Rubio said on Wednesday. "There's going to have to be some decision made by the Europeans about what they're going to do with these sanctions." An industrial sector source said finding ice-class tankers was another major issue hampered by the payment problems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another source said sanctions at the end of the Joe Biden administration that targeted vessels in Russia's shadow fleet, major oil exploration companies and the networks trading Russian oil had been very painful. Not everyone expected any relief. German Gref, CEO of Russia's largest lender Sberbank, said his bank worked under the assumption that sanctions, if anything, would be tightened. Eduard Gudkov, deputy chairman of liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Novatek's board said last month: "One should not think that as geopolitical tensions ease, it will somehow ease our situation." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ($1 = 86.2000 roubles) (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Darya Korsunskaya, Anastasia Lyrchikova, Oksana Kobzeva, Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow; additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Shannon, Ireland; editing by Barbara Lewis) By Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Russia castigated Syria's new leaders in a closed United Nations briefing this week, two sources briefed on the meeting told Reuters, warning against the rise of jihadists in Syria and comparing sectarian killings of Alawites to Rwanda's genocide. Moscow's private criticism of Syria's Islamist rulers comes despite Russian efforts to retain two key military bases in coastal Syria - the same region where hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were killed last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The violence was triggered on March 6 by an attack on new government security forces blamed on ex-army figures loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, who is Alawite. That attack unleashed widespread killings of Alawites across several provinces by groups accused of links to the new government. The Kremlin, which backed Assad before he was toppled and fled to Russia in December, called on Tuesday for Syria to remain united and said it was in contact with other countries on the issue. But its comments in the closed Security Council briefing on Monday, which it called for jointly with the United States, were much more scathing, shedding light on Moscow's strategy as it tries to reassert influence over Syria's course. They have not been previously reported. Two sources briefed on the meeting said Moscow's envoy Vassily Nebenzia compared the sectarian and ethnic killing to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists, led by the Rwandan army and a militia known as the Interahamwe. The sources cited Nebenzia as telling those gathered "no one" had stopped the killing in Syria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When asked whether he likened the violence in Syria to Rwanda's genocide, Nebenzia told Reuters: "I say what I want in the closed consultations, based on the premise that it is closed consultations and nothing comes out." Asked why Russia would be more critical in private than public statements, Anna Borshchevskaya, a Russia expert at the Washington Institute, said Moscow was hedging its bets. "They want to restore their influence in Syria and they're looking for a way in. If they start to criticize the government publicly, that doesn't get them anywhere," Borshchevskaya said. "Russia also wants to be seen as a great power, equal to the U.S. and resolving crises together with the U.S. So working privately with the U.S. in this case gives them added benefits," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 'IRAQ SCENARIO' The sources said Nebenzia criticised the new Islamist rulers' dissolution of Syria's army and massive cutting of the public workforce, warning that "the Iraq scenario" could play out again - a reference to the years of sectarian violence that followed the toppling of Saddam Hussein and dismantling of Iraq's state institutions. After ousting Assad in an offensive spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate, Syria's new Islamist rulers installed some foreign fighters within a new military infrastructure. Critics saw its public sector layoffs as aimed at excluding of Alawite workers and a national dialogue last month as insufficiently inclusive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa told Reuters in an interview this week that his administration did not want to distribute positions according to sect and that a broadened government set to be announced this week could include Alawites. He said he did not want to see "a rift between Syria and Russia," and that Damascus wanted to preserve its "deep strategic relations" with Moscow. At the closed briefing, Russia said the new rulers' moves created a "corrupt foundation" for the transition away from decades of Assad rule and worried that foreign "terrorist" fighters were playing a "destructive role," the sources said. Witness accounts from the mass killings in Syria's coast referred to non-Arabic speakers, indicating foreign fighters may have taken part in the violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The envoys of the United States, France and China also all stressed their worries over the presence of foreign fighters in Syria and the state of the country's political transition in the closed briefing. The 15-member Security Council is currently negotiating a statement that would condemn the violence, express concern over the impact on escalating tensions among Syria's communities and call on the interim authorities to protect all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religion. Such statements are agreed by consensus. Nebenzia told Reuters he hoped the Security Council would agree a statement on the situation soon. The international community has conditioned much of its re-engagement with Syria on the way the transition proceeds, including how inclusive it is of Syria's diverse religious and ethnic communities. (Reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Maya Gebeily and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Aidan Lewis) Growing occasionally emotional, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday testified during a bench trial that she was disturbed and traumatized by a profane and racist death threat sent to her in 2022 through a city feedback email system. Lightfoot, who served as Chicagos mayor from 2019 to 2023, took the stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to testify against William Kohles, a Michigan man who is charged with two felony counts of threatening a public official. Cook County prosecutors alleged during opening statements that Kohles emailed a threat that said he had a bullet with her name on it if crime and violence in Chicago didnt stop. His attorney, though, countered that Kohles was just spontaneously venting after watching a Fox News segment about violence, and did not have any real intent behind the missive. He also said Kohles has learning disabilities and has suffered brain swelling from meningitis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The case is being heard by Judge Nicholas Kantas, who will issue a ruling at a later date. The note, read out loud in court by the city worker who first saw the message, used racial slurs and contained a threat to shoot Lightfoot if she didnt reduce crime in the city. It was sent on Sept. 23, 2022. The content of this particular threat was especially disturbing to me, Lightfoot told the judge. The content was incredibly profane. The writer called me the N-word, which frankly directly hadnt happened in a very long time. Lightfoot said the threat was relayed to her by the commander of her security detail, who she said was nervous to tell her about it because of the content. They increased her security and made protocol changes as a result. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her voice shook slightly and she grabbed a tissue as she told the court about talking to her daughter about the threat. She said she feared for the safety of her wife and daughter. I was fearful of coming out of my house and being exposed to a potential sniper threat, she said. I live in a residential neighborhood. Though she has received threats before, she said the content of this one rattled her. Assistant States Attorney Elizabeth Dibler asked her if she is still fearful. Yes, Lightfoot said, then paused. I mean this experience is very traumatizing. I had to tell my daughter last night about this and discuss it with wife. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even as she appeared shaken by the threat, Lightfoots more familiar demeanor was on display moments later when she stiffened during cross-examination and took issue with some of the questions posed to her by Robert Fisher, who represents Kohles. I hate to play lawyer here, she said at one point in response to a question, telling Fisher that he misstated her testimony. Fisher asked her whether his client had actually addressed the threat to her specifically, or whether her name appeared in the threat. The name Lori Lightfoot didnt, she said, but you would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not know. A depleted New Mexico snowpack is causing concern because the region relies on it for an essential source of water when it eventually melts. What's happening? A hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, voiced his concern about a diminished snowpack he observed during the middle of winter. It's a time of the year when accumulating snow can hopefully fuel a growing snowpack in New Mexico. Some light snow during the middle of January didn't offer much hope for a snowpack recovery. "It cannot be stressed strongly enough that this little dusting of snow is not going to save us, in terms of water supply," said National Weather Service hydrologist Andrew Mangham, per Source NM. Mangham warned that if the current weather pattern doesn't change, "we could be looking at a particularly dangerous fire weather season." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report notes that drought conditions have expanded across New Mexico. Over 60% of the state is experiencing at least a moderate drought, an increase of more than 3% compared to last week's report. Almost a third of the state is now in an extreme to exceptional drought, levels four and five out of five, respectively. "February 1 snowpack conditions are far from optimistic for New Mexico's forecast basins, with persistent dry conditions pervading the state as we move deeper into the winter season," according to the latest Natural Resources Conservation Service's New Mexico Basin Water Supply Outlook report. "Extremely low to absent snow conditions dominated the state's major river catchments as of the end of January, with accumulated Snow Water Equivalent dropping to or below the record lows in many locations." Why is a depleted snowpack in New Mexico important? The implications of an ongoing drought and depleted snowpack in New Mexico are serious. An analysis by Climate Central concluded that mountain snowpack in the western U.S. declined by an average of 15-30% between 1955 and 2020. "Melting snowpack provides an essential water supply to rivers and reservoirs in the Western U.S. in their drier summer months," the analysis stated. In addition to threatening water supplies for millions of people, dry conditions mean more fuel for wildfires. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An overheating planet is driving extremes on both ends of the hydrological spectrum. The warming world is effectively supercharging thunderstorms, like the ones that produced extreme flooding in Roswell, New Mexico, last October that killed at least two people. Where it is dry, rising temperatures are contributing to deeper droughts. "We're seeing an acceleration," Mangham added. "Where it's getting hotter, faster, and you're seeing greater extremes." How often do you worry about the quality of your drinking water? Never Sometimes Often Always Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. What's being done about reductions in water supplies? New technology is offering hope. Researchers are developing new methods of desalination that have the potential to save millions of people. Last year, Spain used a 1,000-year-old technology to combat a historic drought. A startup is trying to revolutionize household water access with "water generators" that extract moisture from the air for drinking. It is essential to reduce the heat-trapping gases contributing to Earth's overheating. Supporting ethical brands whose mission includes fighting for a better future can help. Talking to family and friends about critical climate issues and advocating for change at work can also help. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. The detaining of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist who possessed a green card, has raised questions about the deportation risks faced by lawful permanent residents amid the Trump administration's escalating crackdown on immigration. President Donald Trump's administration, which has alleged that Khalil was a supporter of Hamas, has said it has the authority to deport Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act. "Secretary [Marco] Rubio reserves the right to revoke the visa of Mahmoud Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Activist Mahmoud Khalil asked Columbia University for legal support day before ICE arrest, his wife says Khalil, whose detention has sparked protests this week, is married to an American citizen who is eight months pregnant. He has not been charged with a crime, and some supporters have accused the government of abducting him. Under the Immigration Nationality Act, which experts say is rarely invoked, the government can charge a green card holder as being deportable without being convicted of a crime if there are reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in certain criminal or terrorist activities. But experts and immigration attorneys ABC News spoke with said the statute does not give the secretary of state the power to deport green card holders like Khalil without going through a procedure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The way the statute is constructed, it doesn't mean that Secretary Rubio can just say, 'Oh, I determined this, and therefore we're just going to deport you out of the country,'" said Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "You would still need to go through a process." PHOTO: Protestors rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil outside of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, during a hearing regarding Khalil's arrest, in New York City, Mar. 12, 2025. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) After the federal government invokes the statute, individuals like Khalil are entitled to argue their case before an immigration judge. Khalil is set to appear before an immigration judge later this month in Louisiana. "There are some due process and protective procedures that the person is entitled to," Chen said, "including being given a notice of the charges, and an opportunity to confront that evidence and to bring his or her own evidence in response." Chen told ABC News that typically it can take months or even years for immigration cases to "go from start to finish" -- but because of Khalil's "unique circumstances," a judge can prioritize a case and expedite the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Experts told ABC News there are a number of reasons why an individual could lose their green card, including marriage fraud, immigration fraud, violent crimes and other offenses. Andrew Nietor, an immigration attorney, told ABC News said that while there are cases where the government invokes the Immigration and Nationality Act for certain green card holders with criminal convictions, he said he has never seen a case like Khalil's. "I've never seen this ground of deportation invoked," Nietor said. "It's almost always a green card holder who is almost always in deportation proceedings because of some type of criminal conviction." Experts say Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, can't be deported without due process originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Donald Trump gave orders to release water from Northern California's two largest reservoirs, Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta, which are nearly full, putting spillways into action and concerning experts. The surplus of freshwater is due to an atmospheric storm that dumped heavy rainfall on the state. This came after a very dry January, so many welcomed the rain. However, the storm's impact wasn't all positive. Heavy rain in regions where the recent wildfires occurred could cause dangerous mudslides and flooding. This atmospheric river also indicates troubling environmental changes. ABC News explained that the dramatic weather is likely due to climate change and rising temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta both exceeded 80% capacity. This led Trump to order the release of billions of gallons of water that he intended to funnel toward the wildfire-ravaged areas of Los Angeles. But according to CNN, water experts say this move was misguided. Heather Cooley, director of research for California water policy organization the Pacific Institute, worried that this decision "puts agriculture at risk of insufficient water during the summer months." The intensified wet winter is a sign of environmental instability. Cooley explained, "They were holding extra water in those reservoirs because of the risk that it would be a dry summer." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Farmers rely on these water reserves for irrigation and crop success. If California's summer is dry, food supplies could be in danger. There could be shortages or price increases for consumers. But others argue the water release is essential to prevent flooding. Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, told SFGate, "With the recent rains and soils any additional rain will be converted over to runoff." Should the government be allowed to restrict how much water we use? Definitely Only during major droughts No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. According to SFist, Jeff Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California's Water Policy Center, told the Bay Area News Group he understands that "it's always troubling for people to see water let out." He continued, "You have to keep some space to catch floods, and then hope the melting snow in the spring fills the reservoir back to the top." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many feel that hoping snowmelt fills the reservoirs is too risky. Cooley told CNN that releasing the water, "[provides] zero benefit and [puts] California farmers at risk of water supply constraints in the coming months." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Microplastics tiny pieces of plastic that have been found in everything from bottled water to meat may be damaging our hearts, according to a new study. What's happening? A team of Italian researchers looked at how microplastics from polyethylene and polystyrene, plastics used in containers and food wrappers, affect human vascular smooth muscle cells. They found that microplastics damaged these cells, which help keep blood vessels healthy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The team also discovered that microplastics caused these cells to migrate, which could contribute to plaque buildup in the arteries, according to Eat This, Not That, which summarized the research. This process is linked to heart disease, strokes, and artery hardening, said Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician who was not affiliated with the study. "This study is a wake-up call," Mercola told the publication. "We've long worried about how microplastics affect digestion, but this research suggests they may be harming our cardiovascular system too." Why is this study important? Scientists have discovered microplastics throughout our bodies, including in the brain, kidneys, and liver. In fact, one recent study found concentrations in the brain equivalent to the size of an entire plastic spoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although the health impacts of microplastics are still being studied, they have been tied to potential health harms such as cancer, dementia, and impaired blood flow in the brain. What's being done about microplastics? Microplastics are created when larger plastics break down over time and are tied to the larger plastics problem. Globally, we produce more than 450 million tons of plastic per year, with much of it ending up in landfills. Do you ever put plastic containers in your microwave? No way Sometimes Yes I don't have a microwave Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. To help, companies such as Pepsi are testing reusable packaging to take the place of plastic bottles. Meanwhile, countries such as England and France have banned plastic cutlery for most fast food and takeout, while major cities such as Los Angeles have banned Styrofoam products. You can help by investing in items such as metal razors, reusable water bottles, and nonplastic sandwich bags. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. By Akbar Novruz The Presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, have signed an Agreement on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik Border in Bishkek. The agreement was signed following a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Administration "Yntymak Ordo", marking a significant step in resolving border issues between the two countries. As part of the agreement, Japarov and Rahmon launched the resumption of the Kyzyl-Bel and Kairagach border checkpoints, facilitating trade and movement across the border. "We held an online opening ceremony of two checkpoints. In the coming period, the necessary measures will be taken for the qualitative development of trade and economic cooperation through the effective use of the economic potential of the two countries in this area," Japarov stated. Additionally, two agreements were signed between the Foreign Ministries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, covering water and energy infrastructure, as well as road and transport infrastructure, further strengthening bilateral cooperation. Between 1991 and 2022, at least 150 clashes over disputed territory occurred between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Kaktus Media, September 20, 2022). Up until 2021, the majority of these conflicts were between regular citizens and took place over access to pastureland and shared use of water resources on the local level (Cabar.asia, March 18, 2021; see EDM, December 12, 2022). The border guards and local authorities from both sides usually played a mediator role in such conflicts, ensuring they did not spin out of control and spread to other regions (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 4, 2021). The situation went awry in April 2021, when a local conflict grew into an interstate military conflict, which left 55 dead and 300 wounded from both sides (Asia-Plus, December 2, 2021). In September 2022, a more deadly clash occurred as a local conflict grew into a military standoff. Attack drones, military helicopters, multiple rocket launch systems, tanks, and armored vehicles were used by the two states to batter each other, resulting in the death of military personnel and civilians alike (Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, September 17, 2022; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, September 18, 2022). Kyrgyzstans losses amounted to 59 dead and 198 wounded, the displacement of 136,770 people, and material damages worth $18.5 million (24.kg, September 19, 2022). Tajikistan reported 41 dead and 20 wounded (Radio Ozodi, September 19, 2022). The conflict ended with the borders closing and grim prospects of diplomatic engagement. MOSCOW, March 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. officials have landed in Moscow for talks over the Ukraine crisis, Russian media reported on Thursday. The team was headed by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to TASS news agency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Thursday that contacts had been planned with U.S. negotiators. Peskov said that Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz talked over the phone on Wednesday, adding that "certain information" was provided to Russia during the conversation. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have an international phone call on Thursday evening, and did not rule out the possibility of other contacts. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Moscow is closely watching the recent U.S.-Ukraine meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and has reviewed their joint statement. She added that Russia is ready to discuss the proposals with the United States, possibly as soon as Thursday. Ukraine on Tuesday signaled its readiness to accept a U.S. proposal for an "immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire" following talks with a U.S. delegation in Jeddah, according to their joint statement. The statement also said the truce could be extended by mutual agreement, adding that "the United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace." Almost 90 residents living at an assisted-living facility in Colorado have been left homeless after an explosion inside the building. On Wednesday, crews from the Denver Fire Department responded to reports of a structure fire at the Eastern Star Masonic Retirement Campus. However, the department later revealed that the incident had been a transformer fire caused by construction work and that an explosion had taken place inside the care home. The explosion sent eight people to the hospital. Two other residents were evaluated but cleared by emergency workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier today, during construction work at the facility, a power line was accidentally struck, which contributed to an explosion and subsequent transformer fire, Denver Fire wrote on X. @Denver_Fire responded quickly and worked tirelessly to mitigate the situation. We will ensure the safety of all. An explosion at an assisted-living facility in Colorado sent eight residents to the hospital and left almost 90 homeless on Wednesday (Denver Fire Department) The department stated that another 87 people had been displaced in the incident. Residents were transported to another, unspecified location and were not immediately allowed to go back inside. Denver fire spokesperson Luis Cedillo told Fox31, that the process of extracting residents from the building was made trickier by the fact that many had disabilities. One of the things that makes it really hard for us is we have to make sure that people are safe, especially when youre dealing with people with disabilities and they can no longer self-extricate, it takes us a little bit longer to assist them out of the building, Cedillo said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Resident Barbara Hinchey, who has lived at the retirement campus for two years, told Fox31 that the facility does emergency drills about once a month. There was an explosion and I felt it, but it didnt affect my room and the alarm went off, she told the outlet. The paramedic went back to get my medications, and I had to tell them there were four places, and he went and got them all. Eight people were taken to the hospital after the explosion. The extent of their injuries is unknown (Denver Fire Department) Hinchley will now stay with her daughter, Susan Johnson, who was one of many family members who came to collect their relatives in the aftermath of the explosion on Wednesday, and praised the response of authorities. They worked so hard and so fast, they got everybody out, Johnson said. I knew she was in really good hands and that she would be safe. But, its really scary. Im just so blessed that we live right down the street. The facility reportedly remained closed on Thursday. TWZs Jamie Hunter recently caught up with Robert Novotny, Boeings executive director for F-15EX business development, who provided the latest on the U.S. Air Forces newest fighter, the Eagle II, which was recently the subject of high praise in the latest annual report from the Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). Right now, Boeing is preparing to start to deliver Lot 2 of the Air Forces F-15EX order, and the first aircraft in this batch tail number 9 flew earlier this month. Meanwhile, delivery of the eight Lot 1A and 1B jets was completed in June 2024, with six of those aircraft going to developmental testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and two for the types first operational unit, the 142nd Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard in Portland, Oregon. As Novotny discusses in the video, some of those Eglin F-15EXs recently took part in the latest edition of the Bamboo Eagle exercise off the California coast, which you can read about here. The large-force exercise series has quickly become one of the most important for the U.S. military, as well as key allies, and has a clear eye on preparing for a future coalition fight in the Pacific with China a potential conflict in which the F-15EX would very likely play an important role. U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Mary Begy Novotny also alludes to teaming with unmanned aircraft and the F-15EXs ability to carry outsized weapons, which is something else that TWZ has looked at in detail in the past, as well as its current installation of the Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System, or EPAWSS, which you can read more about here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finally, there are some very interesting items on Novotnys wish list for future F-15EX capabilities, namely smart expendables, a towed decoy, and enhancements to the infrared search and track sensor available to it. The video below, shot at the Air Force Associations 2025 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, last week, gives us the full view on where the F-15EX program is at right now. Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com A Johnston County school board member is facing calls for her resignation over a Facebook page operating out of her home thats used to attack local elected officials and community members, including LGBTQ+ students. Since late January, the Ronald Johnsons Prison Cell Phone page, listed as a parody page on Facebook, has regularly posted barbed comments against people who helped convict Ronald Johnson, a former Johnston County school board member, on extortion and other charges earlier this year. After accusations of cyberstalking were made by several people, including another school board member, an investigation by the Johnston County Sheriffs Office determined the Facebook page belonged to the 21-year-old son of school board member Michelle Antoine. The investigation also determined the page was being operated at a residential IP address belonging to Michelle Antoine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither Antoine nor her son has been charged with a crime. At Tuesdays school board meeting, multiple speakers called on Michelle Antoine to resign or for the board to reprimand her. Im standing up to you and telling you today that defamatory action originating from your home cannot only have consequences for you but for the Board of Education, former Clayton High School Principal Bennett Jones said at the board meeting. As such, you should do whats pertinent and right and for once resign immediately from this board so that the district, its employees and students can move forward without the constant distractions your presence creates. A political parody page In a statement Wednesday to The News & Observer, Michelle Antoine said she had nothing to do with her sons political parody page. Antoine said her son, who is an adult, has many pages and groups he runs on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Sheriffs Office and District Attorney tried to extort and use the color of law to intimidate me into chilling the speech of my adult son when they called me in and told me to make the page go away and our names would not be released, Antoine said in her statement. I left the option of continuing the page up to my son, who made the decision that his protected speech should not be infringed.. Michelle Antoine is a Republican candidate running in the nonpartisan race for the Johnston County Board of Education. Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle and the Sheriffs Office did not return a request for comment Wednesday from The N&O about Antoines allegations. Insufficient evidence to prosecute case Police records show several people, including school board member Kevin Donovan, filed a report with the Johnston County Sheriffs Office alleging they were being cyberstalked. One of the definitions of cyberstalking in state law is electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Evidence received from Facebook legal processes indicate that a Facebook page belonging to (Michelle Antoines son) is operating the reported Facebook page from a residential IP Address belonging to Michelle Antoine, Detective B. Allen tells the complainants in an email. Allen said the evidence was turned over to Special Prosecutor Boz Zellinger, who was consulted at the request of the Johnston County District Attorneys Office. Zellinger prosecuted Johnsons criminal case. After review of the evidence provided to Mr. Zellinger, he advised that there is insufficient evidence to prove a violation of the cyberstalking statute, or any other North Carolina criminal statute beyond a reasonable doubt, due to First Amendment rights, Allen said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In her statement, Michelle Antoine said the District Attorneys Office and Sheriffs Office executed an unlawful search warrant where no crime existed. Political ally of convicted board member Antoine was first elected to the school board in 2022 and became its most conservative member. Antoine and Johnson were political allies who have campaigned for each other, including in last falls election when Johnson was re-elected while under criminal indictment. Antoine testified in Johnsons defense during the extortion trial. In January, Johnson was convicted of multiple charges, including threatening to release a damaging recording to blackmail a congressional candidate. Johnson was sentenced to 6 to 17 months in prison and removed from the school board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson is currently at the Craggy Correctional Institute near Asheville. Facebook page goes after Johnsons opponents A week after Johnsons conviction, the Ronald Johnsons Prison Cell Phone Facebook page was created and began posting content. Ronald Johnson, an embattled Johnston County school board member, right, is handcuffed and led from a courtroom by a bailiff after a jury found him guilty of extortion on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Johnson was sentenced to six to 17 months in prison on felony extortion charges. He also received a suspended sentence of 16 to 29 months for obstruction of justice and failure to discharge his duties. Two of the frequent targets of the page have been Doyle and Donovan, who both testified against Johnson. Doyle had referred Johnsons case to the state Attorney Generals Office for prosecution. In one poll, the Facebook account asks readers to respond to the question asking what Doyle and Donovan have in common. Choices included attacks on personal appearances. Donovan, who received an immunity deal for his testimony, did not respond to an email Wednesday from The N&O requesting comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Facebook pages posts include anti-LGBTQ+ statements and what appear to be derogatory private messages from Donovan. Other targets of the Facebook page have been school board chair Lyn Andrews, who testified against Johnson, and Jones, the former Clayton High School principal who also testified against Johnson. Andrews did not respond to an email Wednesday from The N&O requesting comment. Jones ended his speech at the school board meeting Tuesday by making fun of himself in response to how the Facebook account has frequently commented about his weight. The Facebook page responded with more comments about Jones physical appearance. Speakers call for Antoine to resign Some speakers told the school board on Tuesday that Antoine should face some consequences over the Facebook account. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I wont even repeat the vile, sexually inappropriate remarks you and whomever you associate with have made recently under a fake Facebook profile because my kindergartner is in the audience, said Erika Hall, a Johnston County parent. The fact that you sit behind this horseshoe using your position as a platform to spread hateful rhetoric is disgraceful. Hall said she hopes Antoine resigns before your words and actions cause irreparable harm. Christine Livingston brought up how Antoine was accused in 2023 by school board attorneys of violating board policy by making unsupported accusations that a teacher was called Ms. Drunky. The teacher Antoine accused was one of Johnsons former mistresses and the star prosecution witness in the criminal trial. Allowing such behavior to go unchecked sends a dangerous precedent and threatens the integrity of our educational environment, said Livingston, a frequent target of the Facebook account. We cannot afford to let the actions of one individual compromise the values that we hold dear as a community. I urge the board to take immediate action and investigate this matter thoroughly and hold Antoine accountable. Antoine promises lawsuit over release of names In her statement, Antoine accused the District Attorneys Office and Sheriffs Office of violating the 1st, 4th and 14th Amendment rights of her and her son by releasing their names. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Antoine said her son has been doxxed online with his work, school and home locations being released. Antoine said the unlawful release of my name led to a Sheriffs deputy escorting her to her vehicle due to the vitriolic and threatening crowd at Tuesdays school board meeting. The government does not have the right to infringe speech they dislike, Antoine said. They do not have the right to intimidate and use the threat of law to chill speech, or to take away anonymity in speech. This parody page is a highly protected form of political speech. The egregious actions by the Johnston County Sheriffs Department and local District Attorney leave question to their integrity and fairness for the average citizen, if they are so bold to do this to an elected official. A civil rights lawsuit is forthcoming, according to Antoine. She had sued the school board in 2023 to try to prevent the release of the report that had accused her of violating board policy. With less than a month until Election Day, the race that will determine the ideological control of Wisconsins Supreme Court is full speed ahead. Liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford and conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, who also served as state attorney general under former Gov. Scott Walker, are blasting each other on issues that are sure to ignite their bases, even though the contest is technically non-partisan. Crawfords allies have dogged Schimel on abortion, while Schimels have sought to paint Crawford as soft on crime. As of late, the accusations have also included the topic of school choice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a Feb. 6, 2025 post on X, Eliminate School Choice was one item on a bulleted list of what the Schimel campaign described as Crawfords radical and dangerous agenda. This wasnt the only time its come up. Schimels campaign Facebook page posted Jan. 26, If Susan Crawford wins, school choice doesnt stand a chance. (Center) Supreme Court candidate and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel is joined by (left) Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming and (right) Organizer for the Wisconsin GOP Hispanic Community Center Marty Calderon as he answers questions from the press after a roundtable discussion at the Wisconsin GOP Hispanic Community Center on Thursday February 27, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. Proponents of school choice generally support making public funds available for students to attend private schools. Wisconsin has four school voucher programs in Milwaukee, in Racine, a statewide program and a program for students with disabilities which use tax-funded vouchers to cover the cost of tuition for students at private schools. The students are typically from lower- and middle-income families. The number of Wisconsin students who are enrolled in voucher programs has been on the rise for years. Close to 55,000 were enrolled during the 2023-24 school year, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Public opinion polling on school choice is limited, but in a June 2024 Marquette University Law School poll, 42% of respondents nationwide said school choice as an education policy has been a complete success or mostly a success, while 25% said it was a complete failure or mostly a failure. Although school choice has historically been a thorny issue in Wisconsin, it hasnt been a key point in this race, and theres also not a case about it before the Supreme Court right now. That made us at PolitiFact Wisconsin wonder where the Schimel claim was coming from. Is eliminating school choice on Crawfords agenda if shes elected to the states highest court? Lets take a look at the facts. No available evidence that Crawford would attack school choice Schimels campaign pointed us to three pieces of evidence for the claim: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First, that Crawford is endorsed by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, which represents the states public school teachers and subsequently that WEAC supported a 2023 lawsuit funded by the liberal Minocqua Brewing Super PAC seeking to eliminate funding for Wisconsins taxpayer-funded school voucher programs and independent charter schools. Second, that she won a lawsuit in 2016 that protected the powers of the state superintendent of public instruction (which at the time was Tony Evers, who, of course, is now governor) and blocked then-Gov. Walker and the Legislature from having more of a say in education policy. Crawford was working as an attorney for Madison-based law firm Pines Bach at the time. And third, that Crawford has called current Supreme Court Justice Jill Karofsky a mentor, and Karofsky dissented on a 2020 court ruling that found Dane County health officials could not prohibit private schools from holding in-person classes during the pandemic. Supreme Court candidate and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford speaks with Derek Mosley, director of Marquette University Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education at Marquette University at Marquette University Lubar Center at Eckstein Hall in Milwaukee on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. The third point is a stretch no matter how you slice it. It doesnt include any actions or words from Crawford on schools. So well set that aside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other two are certainly indicators that Crawford is a supporter of public schools. Itd be hard to earn the WEAC endorsement without being one. (A WEAC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about whether the decision to endorse Crawford involved her personal views on school choice.) And in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story covering her successful 2016 lawsuit, Crawford is quoted as saying, This is an important victory for public education this (Walker) administration has clearly had a goal of privatizing education to a large degree and thats certainly run counter to the superintendents (Evers) mission. She also was among the attorneys who sued seeking to overturn the Walker-led Act 10, which effectively ended collective bargaining for Wisconsin public employee unions, including those of public school teachers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But litigating on behalf of public schools is not proof that Crawford plans to attack Wisconsins school choice program from the bench, nor that she has specified it as part of an agenda. The evidence Schimels team provided does not include any personal opinions Crawford has expressed or rulings she has made from the bench specifically about school choice. Searches of Crawfords past public statements and work in private practice and as a circuit court judge did not unearth anything specifically related to school choice. Crawford spokesperson Derrick Honeyman confirmed as much in a statement to PolitiFact Wisconsin: In her career, Judge Crawford has never taken any position on this issue or suggested the elimination of school choice programs. For what its worth, its not clear that Crawford would get the chance to weigh in on school choice if elected. In December 2023, the Supreme Court already liberal-controlled at the time unanimously declined to hear the Minocqua Brewing Super PAC lawsuit that sought to eliminate funding for voucher programs and charter schools. The suit could still be introduced in a lower court, but it hasnt been. Our ruling Schimels campaign said eliminate school choice is on Crawfords agenda. False At PolitiFact, the burden is on the speaker to prove that a claim is accurate. The evidence offered here does not do so, and outside evidence to support the claim was not found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We rate this claim False. Sources WisPolitics AdWatch, A Better Wisconsin Together ad calls Schimel an extremist on abortion, March 4, 2025 WisPolitics AdWatch, New spots knock Crawford as soft on crime, March 7, 2025 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Private school choice programs, accessed March 7, 2025 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Special needs scholarship program, accessed March 7, 2025 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Private school choice programs: Data and reports, accessed March 7, 2025 Marquette University Law School, Americans closely divided in terms of satisfaction with their local public schools, amid notable partisan gap, according to Marquette Law School Poll survey, Aug. 30, 2024 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wisconsin Education Association Council, News Release: WEAC Recommends Judge Susan Crawford for Supreme Court, Nov. 27, 2024 Wisconsin Education Association Council, WEAC Statement: Lawsuit Challenges School Vouchers, Oct. 16, 2023 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, What to know about a Minocqua brewery PACs lawsuit against Wisconsin's school vouchers, Oct. 16, 2023 Pines Bach, Crawford, Pines Win Public Education Case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, May 20, 2016 Isthmus, A long, hard battle, April 4, 2018 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Supreme Court says Dane County cannot stop private schools from holding in-person classes during pandemic, Sept. 10, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Appleton Post Crescent, Court upholds superintendent's independence, May 18, 2016 Wisconsin Watch, Did Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford try to overturn Act 10? Dec. 3, 2024 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Supreme Court rejects petition to directly hear lawsuit seeking to end voucher programs, Dec. 13, 2023 PolitiFact, The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter: PolitiFacts methodology for independent fact-checking, accessed March 7, 2025 This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: No evidence that Susan Crawford plans to eliminate school choice Claim: An image authentically shows a screenshot of tech billionaire Elon Musk posting on X, "Defund the poor." Rating: Rating: Fake Context: An unknown user altered a screenshot of one of Musk's authentic posts from Dec. 4, 2024, in which he had actually posted, "Defund the ACLU." A rumor shared online in the weeks and months following U.S. President Donald Trump's 2024 election victory claimed an image was an authentic screenshot of an X post by Trump adviser Elon Musk in which he supposedly wrote, "Defund the poor." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The image, shared on Threads and other social media platforms, displayed the time 8:09 a.m., the date Dec. 4, 2024, and 53 million views. For example, on Dec. 7, 2024, a Threads user posted (archived) the supposed screenshot with the caption, "I imagine this will be Elon's 'let them eat cake' moment." Similarly, earlier on the same day, another Threads user shared (archived) the text without the image, with the caption, "Elon Musk saying 'Defund the poor' is the modern version of Marie Antoinette saying, 'Let them eat cake,' and we all know how that turned out." A different person who responded to the post correctly noted, "First, [Musk] didn't actually say that. It was photoshopped. (But I'm sure he thinks that way.)" The response continued, addressing the quote often incorrectly attributed to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, "Second, Marie Antoinette didn't say that about cake. That was said quite a few years before she was alive. That said, we need a French Revolution here." Musk did not post "Defund the poor" on X. Had Musk actually made such a post and received 53 million views, news media outlets would have reported on it. However, no such reports existed. An unknown user altered a screenshot of Musk's authentic post from Dec. 4, 2024, at nine minutes after the hour, in which he wrote, "Defund the ACLU." In other words, a user created a digitally altered screenshot. Defund the ACLU Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2024 Searches for other users posting the rumor either in the form of a screenshot, text or other formats yielded numerous results on Bluesky, Facebook, Reddit, Threads, TikTok and X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some users who shared the fake quote attributed to Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla, included an image collage of a fire at a Tesla dealership in France. France24.com reported a prosecutor's office in the city of Toulouse opened an investigation into the incident, which occurred on the night of March 2. The fire left eight Tesla vehicles "burned out" and an additional four cars "badly damaged." Firefighters determined the cause of the fire to be criminal, according to the reporting, citing AFP. For further reading, another recent fact-check article examined whether or not Musk reposted a meme calling people who benefit from U.S. federal programs the "Parasite Class." Sources: "Did Marie-Antoinette Really Say 'Let Them Eat Cake'?" Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/story/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake. "Dozen Teslas Torched Outside French Dealership: Authorities." France24.com, AFP, 3 Mar. 2025, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250303-dozen-teslas-torched-outside-french-dealership-authorities. Claim: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum authentically said, I told President Trump the best way to make rapists and criminals feel unwelcome in the US, is for their citizens to stop electing them. Rating: Rating: Incorrect Attribution Since late 2024, internet users have shared a quote about how to keep "rapists and criminals" out of the United States, attributing the quote to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. In many posts, the quote appeared as part of a meme that purported to show a genuine exchange between Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump, which read as follows: Trump: "I just had a conversation with President Sheinbaum, of Mexico. She will stop rapists and criminals from coming here" Sheinbaum: "I told President Trump the best way to make rapists and criminals feel unwelcome in the U.S., is for their citizens to stop electing them" (Facebook user Talula Belle Tortie) Examples of the claim appeared on platforms including X (archived), Threads (archived) and Facebook (archived). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, there was no demonstrable evidence that Sheinbaum ever told Trump the U.S. should "stop electing" rapists and criminals. A Google search (archived) for the terms "Sheinbaum," "rapists" and "criminals" returned no credible news reports about the incendiary quote, which would have made headlines if Sheinbaum had really said it. Furthermore, in February 2025, representatives for Sheinbaum told Reuters that the Mexican president never said the quote. As a result, we've rated the quote's attribution to Sheinbaum incorrect. Sheinbaum's alleged quip appeared to pointedly reference real details about Trump, which may have led some internet users to believe the quote was genuine. For instance, in 2015, Trump genuinely said of Mexico, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending the best ... they're bringing crime. They're rapists." Additionally, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying records in 2024. He has also faced multiple high-profile rape allegations although at the time of this writing none of these had resulted in criminal convictions. Origin of the quote The earliest available online instance of the quote was a Nov. 29, 2024, post (archived) that appeared in a liberal-leaning Facebook group named Speak Up Boldly Group. (Facebook user Jim Coleman) The full text of the Nov. 29 post read: Trump "I had a great call with President Shinybum of Mexico. She will stop rapists and criminals from coming here!" President Sheinbaum "I informed Mr. Trump the best way to make rapists and criminals feel unwelcome in America, is for people to stop electing them." We've reached out to the post's author, and will update this story if and when we hear back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although some commenters on the original post appeared to believe the quote was an authentic transcript of an exchange that took place between Sheinbaum and Trump, some features of the post suggested its author may have intended it as satire, although the post included no explicit disclaimer. An example was Trump's alleged mispronunciation or misspelling of Sheinbaum's surname as "Shinybum," which also appeared in some subsequent social media posts featuring screenshots of the Nov. 29 post. Trump did speak with Sheinbaum on Nov. 27, 2024, two days before the earliest available instances of the quote investigated here appeared online. However, the president at the time was Joe Biden, not Trump. Trump's second term as president began on Jan. 20, 2025. At the time of this writing, neither Trump nor Sheinbaum had released a full transcript of the Nov. 27 call. However, in social media posts dated the same day, both leaders said the call went well: Sheinbaum called the conversation "excellent" in an X post (archived), and Trump called it "wonderful" in a Truth Social post (archived). Previously, we looked into whether Sheinbaum authentically stopped migrant caravans heading to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to Trump's threats of tariffs. Sources: "Donald Trump Announces Presidential Bid By Trashing Mexico, Mexicans." NBC News, 16 June 2015, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/donald-trump-announces-presidential-bid-trashing-mexico-mexicans-n376521. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Highlights from Donald Trump's Presidential Inauguration | Jan. 20, 2025." AP News, https://apnews.com/live/trump-inauguration-updates. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025. Izzo, Jack. "No, Mexican President Didn't Stop Migrant Caravans After Trump Threatened Tariffs." Snopes, 27 Nov. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/mexican-president-stopped-migrant-caravans/. Kasprak, Alex. "Unsubstantiated Trump Child Rape Allegations Originated with 'Jerry Springer' Producer." Snopes, 1 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/08/01/trump-child-rape-epstein/. Kasprak, Alex. "Was Trump 'Found Guilty' of Sexually Assaulting E. Jean Carroll?" Snopes, 9 May 2023, https://www.snopes.com//news/2023/05/09/trump-liable-sexual-abuse/. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Liles, Jordan, and Taija PerryCook. "Trump Convicted on All 34 Counts of Falsifying Records in Hush-Money Case." Snopes, 30 May 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/05/30/donald-trump-verdict/. Reuters Fact Check. "Fact Check: Sheinbaum Did Not Call Trump a Criminal, Contrary to Image Shared Online." Reuters, 17 Feb. 2025. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/sheinbaum-did-not-call-trump-criminal-contrary-image-shared-online-2025-02-17/. Romero, Simon. "Mexico's President and Trump Describe a Positive Talk but Differ on Migration Details." New York Times, 27 Nov. 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/us/politics/mexico-trump-tariff-tensions.html. Claim: In March 2025, France offered U.S. right-wing conspiracy theorist Candace Owens millions to stop spreading the rumor that France's first lady Brigitte Macron is trans. Rating: Rating: False Context: The rumor stemmed from a known purveyor of disinformation. In March 2025, a rumor began to spread that France had offered conservative commentator Candace Owens millions of dollars to stop spreading the rumor that France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, was a trans woman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For example, an Instagram user posted a video with the rumor that the European country would grant her $50,000 a month if she stopped (archived): https://www.instagram.com/syrx_stuff/reel/DHB2lKwCIbp/ BREAKING: FRANCE offered to pay CANDACE OWENS a one-time payment of $4 MILLION & $50K per-month for the rest of her life, if she STOPPED REPORTING on BRIGITTE MACRON. As of this writing, the post had received 1,636 likes and 248 comments. Some commenters seemed to take the claims at face value. "SO IT IS TRUE Brigitte is a man," one said. A Google search for the exact text revealed that those claims had appeared word for word on several other platforms, including X, Gab and Facebook. The first instance of this claim came from an account on X named "Legitimate Targets," manned by Jackson Hinkle (archived): BREAKING: FRANCE offered to pay CANDACE OWENS a one-time payment of $4 MILLION & $50K per-month for the rest of her life, if she STOPPED REPORTING on BRIGITTE MACRON. pic.twitter.com/1SkeYLs3hW Legitimate Targets (@LegitTargets) March 10, 2025 No Google search or Google News search showed that this information had been picked up by reputable news outlets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rumor that Macron is a trans woman is false, as Snopes has reported before. However, Owens has been spreading it since 2024, going so far as to help create and promote a podcast series about this rumor. In fact, Owens and Hinkle are both known purveyors of demonstrably false claims, often with an antisemitic and authoritarian slant. For example, fact-checking website PolitiFact has investigated supposed facts peddled by Owens since 2019, from the claim that George Soros was funding Black Lives Matter protests in Minnesota to an allegation that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was expanding eastward, rating them from false to mostly false. Hinkle, who used to support U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat from Vermont, became over time a vocal admirer of Russia President Vladimir Putin. Hinkle doesn't adhere wholly to one ideology, describing himself as "pro-family," "anti-woke," "pro-Palestine, Russia and China," but also as a "Marxist-Leninist" (archived): Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1720920615421444388 He also once praised Syria's former dictator Bashar al-Assad as a "hero" and voiced support for Iran's Islamist regime against Israel. Hinkle rose to prominence as the Israel-Gaza war started in 2023. For example, he often amplified miscaptioned images in support of Palestinians. He also made claims denying Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, actions, attributing them to national Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which swiftly refuted that they had made them. Before then, he had taken a position against Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in 2022. In fact, he was part of a mission to Donbas, the Ukrainian region occupied by Russian forces. Russia sponsored the mission. Hinkle has been identified both by the New York Times and by Conspiracy Watch, a fact-checking website based in France, as someone who has gained fame for spreading disinformation and Russian talking points. Hinkle has frequently expressed support for Owens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Based on the nature of the content Hinkle typically shares and on the fact that we could find no reputable source for it or evidence that it's true, we deemed the claim false. Sources: Fact-Checks | PolitiFact. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker=candace-owens. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025. Hsu, Tiffany, and Steven Lee Myers. 'Riding Rage Over Israel to Online Prominence'. The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/business/media/jackson-hinkle-israel-gaza-misinformation.html. https://archive.is/O7YnP. McCarthy, Bill. 'Fact-Checking Claims That NATO Broke Agreement on Expansion'. @politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/feb/28/candace-owens/fact-checking-claims-nato-us-broke-agreement-again/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Press Briefing: Dan Kovalik, Jackson Hinkle and Christopher Helali Following Their Recent Visit to Donbass and Moscow. 2024, https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k16/k163tkr87w. Rascouet-Paz, Anna. 'Breaking down False Rumor That France's First Lady Brigitte Macron Is Trans'. Snopes, 24 Feb. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/02/24/false-trans-rumor-brigitte-macron/. Rothschild, Mike. 'Jackson Hinkle: From Sanders Bro to Antisemitic Putin Worshiper'. Conspiracy Watch, 31 Oct. 2024, https://www.conspiracywatch.info/en/jackson-hinkle-from-sanders-bro-to-antisemitic-putin-worshiper/. Venezky, Emily. 'George Soros and His Foundations Don't Support Violence'. @politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/01/candace-owens/no-soros-and-foundation-do-not-pay-people-protest/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025. Claim: As of February 2025, the United States had given $350 billion in military aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia. Rating: Rating: False Context: It's possible to arrive at varying totals depending on how military aid is defined or by considering how much money was allocated as opposed to actually paid out by the U.S. government, but none of these totals amounts to $350 billion. In early 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that the United States had spent $350 billion in military aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Feb. 19, he wrote in a Truth Social post (archived) that Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "talked the United States into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won." (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social) Trump repeated the claim in a meeting with Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 (see C-Span video at the 45-minute mark) and in a March 4 speech to Congress (see YouTube video at the 1:27:25 mark). "We gave you $350 billion for military equipment," Trump said to Zelenskyy. Trump's claim is incorrect. While it is possible to arrive at varying totals using different ways to categorize or count the financial figures, none amounts to $350 billion. As of this writing, the United States had allocated nearly $183 billion for the response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to the U.S. government's inspector general overseeing the situation. That amount includes more than just what the U.S. government directly sent to Ukraine and only $83 billion had actually been paid out as of December 2024. Thus, we rate this claim false. Understanding what 'aid to Ukraine' actually means A U.S. inspector general report from late 2024 showed that the $183 billion included both funding spent in the United States and funding sent to countries aside from Ukraine (see pages 27 and 32 for full breakdowns). According to the Ukraine Oversight website, the vast majority of the money was allocated in four different areas: America's European military presence, economic support to Ukraine, replenishing Department of Defense equipment, direct security assistance to Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. European Command, which oversees military operations across Europe, and the European Deterrence Initiative, which bolsters American military presence in Europe for "deterrence of Russian aggression," have received $22.6 billion of $44.8 billion allocated specifically for America's European military presence, as of December 2024. The Economic Support Fund under the U.S. Agency for International Development was allocated another $34.1 billion, with $31.1 billion paid. Under U.S. law, the fund's money is "available for economic programs only and may not be used for military or paramilitary purposes." This shows how the phrase "military aid to Ukraine" can be a bit misleading: A large amount of American "aid" to Ukraine pays for activities related to the war but not necessarily paid to Ukraine directly. This includes, "United States training of Ukrainian forces, global humanitarian assistance, additional costs of U.S. surge forces in Europe, and intelligence support," according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a bipartisan research organization focused on national security. The center estimated that "90 percent of military aid [for Ukraine] is spent in the United States" to, for example, build up weapons systems that are then sent to Ukraine. Direct military aid to Ukraine As for direct military aid, within the $183 billion total, $45.8 billion in allocations (with $7 billion paid out) has gone to replenishing Defense Department's equipment "drawn down to deliver weapons and materiel to Ukraine." The United States also allocated $33.2 billion (with $11.2 billion paid out so far) to give military equipment and services to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Thus, the total money allocated in connection to Ukraine is about $183 billion, still far from the $350 billion figure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just adding up the amount to replenish the DOD's equipment and direct military assistance to Ukraine totals $79 billion in allocations, with $18.2 billion paid out, even further from Trump's claim that the U.S. government gave Ukraine "$350 billion for military equipment." Trump's own State Department contradicted him in a March 4 statement about freezing military aid to Ukraine. It is also important to note these official numbers are still up for debate: A March 6 analysis by Economists for Ukraine argued U.S. government estimates are not sound due to "inflated valuations of older weapons stockpiles and other contributing factors" and put the real value of military assistance to Ukraine at "about $18.3 billion." Sources: "22 USC CHAPTER 32, SUBCHAPTER II, Part IV: Economic Support Fund." House.gov, uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter32/subchapter2/part4&edition=prelim. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. "U.S. Security Cooperation with Ukraine - United States Department of State." United States Department of State, 10 Jan. 2025, www.state.gov/bureau-of-political-military-affairs/releases/2025/01/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cancian, Mark F. "Where Is the Missing $100 Billion in U.S. Aid for Ukraine?" Csis.org, 11 Feb. 2025, www.csis.org/analysis/where-missing-100-billion-us-aid-ukraine. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. EUROPEAN DETERRENCE INITIATIVE Department of Defense Budget Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. 2023, comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2024/FY2024_EDI_JBook.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Facilitation of Resources to Invest in Strengthening Ukraine Financial Intermediary Fund Operations Manual. 2024, thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/4c3d3f7ac3df64982048b3b9d2f65441-0080012024/original/F-O-R-T-I-S-Ukraine-FIF-Operations-Manual.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Fedyk, Anastassia, and James Hodson. "New Analysis from Economists for Ukraine: The Cost of US Aid to Ukraine Is Less than Half the Official Figures." CEPR, 6 Mar. 2025, cepr.org/voxeu/columns/new-analysis-economists-ukraine-cost-us-aid-ukraine-less-half-official-figures. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "OPERATION ATLANTIC RESOLVE INCLUDING U.S. GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES RELATED to UKRAINE." U.S. Department of Defense, media.defense.gov/2025/Feb/13/2003646507/-1/-1/1/OAR_Q1_DEC2024_FINAL_508_2.PDF#page=28. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. "Security Programs & Authorities." Ukraineoversight.gov, www.ukraineoversight.gov/Funding/Security-Programs-Authorities/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. "Treasury Department Announces Disbursement of $20 Billion Loan to Benefit Ukraine, to Be Repaid with Proceeds Earned from Immobilized Russian Sovereign Assets." U.S. Department of the Treasury, 10 Dec. 2024, home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2744. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Ukraine Oversight. "Funding." Ukraineoversight.gov, www.ukraineoversight.gov/Funding/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. "Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative | Defense Security Cooperation Agency." Dsca.mil, samm.dsca.mil/program/USAI. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. House Majority Leader William Lamberth, sponsor of a bill that would overturn a Supreme Court ruling that immigrant children illegally in the country are entitled to a public educationl. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) For those not on board with the right-wing theocracy that controls the Tennessee General Assembly, late winter brings on an all too familiar case of political car sickness. Democrats collectively cringe in the back seat for three months as Republican lawmakers drive cockamamie bills down a twisted road that runs from the town of pointless to the county of unhinged, with an occasional stop in cruelty city along the way. The GOPs annual legislative assault on decency and rationality is something Blue Tennessee is wearily accustomed to, though this years does feel more concussive than usual given the added psychic baggage of Trump 2.0 chaos bombs splattering all around us. Which has me thinking: what are they thinking? What is it that keeps Tennessee Republicans confident and comfortable advancing bills that are often so plainly out of step with realities of lived experience on the part of the humans who are most affected by their legislative adventures? I have a theory about this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My theory is that when it comes to some of their worst ideas, GOP lawmakers are seeking to govern a place that doesnt actually exist. I dont mean by this a place that used to exist. Cultural conservatism is often framed as political nostalgia for a bygone America for instance, restoring the traditional (read: sexist and racist) social structures and values of the mid-twentieth century. Thats not my angle. My theory is not that they covet return to an idealized past, but rather that they seek to impose direction over a nonexistent present. Its not about remaking the present in the mold of a beckoning yesteryear; its about navigating the future based on willful ignorance of the present. Lets illustrate with a couple of the current legislative sessions less stellar ideas. Cultural conservatism is often framed as nostalgia for a bygone America, but Tennessee lawmakers base their measures not on a desire for the past but on willful ignorance of the present. First is the controversial bill allowing public school districts to refuse enrollment to a child without legal immigration status unless the kids parents pay tuition. If you were starting a country from scratch with literally zero undocumented immigrants within your borders, and at that time of origin were setting rules for educational access, perhaps it wouldnt be absurd to put future immigrants considering relocating illegally on notice up front that their kids may not be entitled to free public education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But situated within the live real-world context of a sizable and economically significant undocumented population, this bill absurdly penalizes children for the actions of their parents, actively harms settled communities, and threatens the states economic stability. And by flaunting civil-rights-compliance conditions tied to federal education funding, the bill (per its fiscal note) may jeopardize north of a billion dollars in federal funding for public schools. Yet the bills proponents act as if none of these realities exist. Asked about consequences in a committee hearing on March 11, House sponsor Rep. William Lamberth, a Portland Republican, pulled his head out of the sand long enough to reject the premise entirely, declaring this bill is about one thing: allowing the locals to check immigration status. If there is a world where this bill could be imagined as a morally plausible consequence-free approach to immigration policy, its not the one we actually live in. Second, consider Rep. Gino Bulsos resolution teeing up an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution that would make it unlawful to compel any medical treatment, including vaccinations. As vaccine advocate Emily Delikat wrote , Bulsos brilliant idea risks transforming the state, once in the vanguard preventing disease through school and daycare vaccination requirements, into a leader in illness, impairment, and death. Given how current anti-science political winds are blowing, the vaccination angle is what stands out most in Bulsos amendment, but I wonder if the thing might have other pesky consequences. The text of the amendment defines the medical treatment that cannot ever be compelled to include any intervention intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or mitigate any physical or mental condition. This seems breathtakingly broad. If no test can ever be compelled to diagnose a physical or mental condition, then would it be unconstitutional to perform an assessment (as departments routinely do) to see if a police or firefighter trainee is physically or mentally fit for the role? Could a public hospital not insist that staff or visitors involved in direct patient contact be screened for an infectious disease amidst an outbreak or epidemic? The world Rep. Bulso apparently imagines is one where science gives up all ground to individual choice in any and every setting. The world we actually occupy is one where screening requirements in certain social contexts are basic and essential tools of public safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will grant that sorting out alternative theories of GOP folly at the state legislature is largely an unproductive enterprise. Are they cruel? Are they bigots? Is it a lack of compassion? Are they just plain stupid? Clearly all of these are operative at one time or another, often in combination. My point here is to add another layer of explanation that may explain some of the bills that are really out there: that Republicans on the Hill are willfully benighted living and governing in what the dictionary defines as a state of intellectual, moral, or social darkness. They legislate the unimaginable because they are unable to imagine what they are legislating. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX CHICAGO (WGN) Antioch police are searching for a woman who has been missing for nearly a month, the department said Thursday. According to Antioch police, family members last heard from Megan Bos on Monday, Feb. 17. Authorities described the 37-year-old as 5-foot-4 and 200 pounds, with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a birthmark below her left eye. Bos also has tattoos on her right bicep, her right thigh, and chest. Family members say Bos is known to visit the Waukegan, Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Anyone with information on Bos whereabouts should call (847) 270 -9111. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. PARIS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- France will retaliate if the United States follows through on a threat to impose a 200-percent tariff on all wines and spirits coming from France and other European Union (EU) countries, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Laurent Saint-Martin said on Thursday. On his X account, Saint-Martin accused U.S. President Donald Trump of "escalating the trade war." "France remains determined to respond with the European Commission and our partners," he said, emphasizing that France and the EU would not give in to threats. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine echoed the stance, saying that there would be an "immediate, firm, and appropriate" response if Washington implements the tariff. Trump's administration recently announced a 25-percent tariff on imports of steel, aluminum, and certain products containing steel and aluminum from the EU. In retaliation, the bloc announced a 50-percent tariff on American whisky on Wednesday. The EU's move has irritated the White House. In response, Trump threatened to put a 200-percent tariff on all wines, champagnes, and alcoholic products from France and other EU countries unless the whisky-targeted tariff is lifted immediately. HAYS, Kan. (KSNW) A 1972 Fort Hays State graduate recently made a significant gift to the university she sold the family farm and started a nursing scholarship with the proceeds. Last year, Roxy (Green) Tate sold her familys 160-acre homestead near Osborne. The land had been in her family since the 1880s. Bill and Minnie Bergsma (Courtesy: Fort Hays State University) Her grandfather, Nicholas Bergsma, came to the United States from Holland in the 1870s, landing in New York and eventually making his way to Kansas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wildfire disaster emergency issued for Kansas due to catastrophic threat Tate told the university that by creating a nursing scholarship at FHSU with the sale of the land, she would give back to rural Kansas and honor her familys legacy. She said she wanted to honor her parents with a lasting legacy. She established the William and Minnie (Bergsma) Green Nursing Scholarship at FHSU using some sales proceeds to support future Kansas nurses. Tate said it pleased her that the family scholarship supports nursing and healthcare in rural Kansas. Kansas is a homestead state, and this is largely forgotten, Roxy said in a statement. It was important for me to ensure that the Bergsma name is remembered as a part of that history and that my father is also honored. Dad was so proud to be a farmer and stockman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. A metro Atlanta family says they want a popular dog sitting company to make changes after their pet died while in the care of a dog sitter. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Ace was a two-year-old French bulldog, Henry Ikwuezunma says, who was inseparable from his daughter. He was a part of the family. She keeps asking about the dog, He said. Ikwuezunma told Channel 2s Ashli Lincoln that last September, they received the horrifying news Ace died while in the care of a dog sitter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She texted and said she found the dog, not breathing, he said. Ikwuezunma says they found the sitter on the popular app Rover to look over Ace while vacationing in Florida. But by the second day, the sitter messaged Ikwuezunma saying Ace was fine and happy before suddenly lying dead. After rushing back to Atlanta, Ikwuezunma says he contacted the University of Georgias veterinary laboratory. It conducted a necropsy and discovered Ace died from respiratory distress from being overheated. She left the dog outside for a lot longer than she should have, Ikwuezunma said. MORE STORIES FROM 2 INVESTIGATES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attorney Claudine Wilkins is representing Ikwuezunma. She says the sitter violated state law. When someone fails to provide shelter for the animals, that is absolutely a misdemeanor crime in the state of Georgia, said Wilkins. Wilkins says for months they been trying to get in contact with a representative with Rover after the company only offered the family $1,000 in damages for an animal. Ikwuezunma says they spent $12,000. Rover should not only vet their sitters; they need to find out a little more; they need to know if their sitters know how to handle certain breeds, Wilkins said. An attorney for Rover sent Ikwuezunmas attorney a letter blaming Aces passing on a breed-specific condition that obstructs the airways. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] A spokesperson for Rover told Channel 2 Action News it thoroughly reviewed this incident and the sitter no longer works for their platform. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, Rover said: We extend our deepest condolences to all who loved Ace and are committed to supporting his family. Our Trust and Safety team has thoroughly reviewed this incident, and the sitter involved can no longer offer services through our platform. We will continue to review any additional information if it is shared with us. Rover told Lincoln it puts special emphasis on summer safety, and it makes a number of summer-specific safety resources to sitters. The company says it sends tailored push notifications to sitters who have stays with certain breeds that may be susceptible to higher risk when the weather gets warm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every sitter who offers services on the platform must pass an enhanced background check, a safety quiz, and have their profile reviewed by a member of Rovers team. Pet parents can also read verified reviews from previous clients to learn more about the sitter and their care. Rover went on to say this is far from the typical experience of its platform. In the Atlanta area, 675,000 stays have been booked by pet parents, with 98% of reviewed stays receiving five stars. ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- On Wednesday, April Tomlinson unexpectedly lost her brother after he was struck by a driver on Interstate 20. Now Tomlinson is asking for some financial help to lay her brother to rest. Courtesy: April Tomlinson My brothers life was tragically taken by another person. He was shoved in front of a moving truck on I-20 after getting into an altercation with this grown man. Instead of letting him walk away, he continued to antagonize my brother, eventually leading to his death, Tomlinson said in a Gofundme. Funerals are very expensive, and I am a new mother who did not expect for herbrother to be tragically takenI am his only family. Investigators said 23-year-old Cody Wilkerson was killed in the early morning hours of March 12. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to an Odessa Police Department report, Wilkerson was riding in a vehicle with 47-year-old Jeffery Jerome Light when a verbal argument broke out as they were traveling near I-20 and FM 1936. The verbal argument escalated into a physical one and investigators said Light stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road and ordered Wilkerson to exit. Investigators said the argument continued onto the street and that Light recklessly pushed Wilkerson into the roadway and directly into the path of an eastbound vehicle; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of oncoming vehicle remained at the scene and cooperated with law enforcement and is not facing any charges. However, Light was arrested at the scene and has been charged with Manslaughter, a second-degree felony. He was booked into the Ector County Law Enforcement Center where he remained as of Thursday afternoon on a $35,000 bond. Tomlinson said she just wants to give her brother a proper burial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our family is no longer here, and I could really use the help for his funeral expenses and burial. Anything helps, including prayers, thank you all so muchI am forever grateful. RIP Cody Lane Wilkerson, you will be missed always! If youd like to help with Wilkersons burial expenses, youll find the fundraiser here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) The family of a Brooksville man who was shot and killed by a Hernando County Sheriffs Office deputy last month is demanding transparency in the investigation into his death. Since the shooting, the family of Michael OBanner has been calling for justice. Taken to the incinerator: St. Pete police say theyre unable to recover slain teens body On Thursday afternoon, they will hold a news conference, and they want answers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OBanner was killed in early February. He had his problems and things, but I would never expect my cousin to pass the way he passed, in such a violent way by the ones we expect to protect and serve us and to state you were gunned down, and unarmed, and running away from the deputy, said his cousin, Jamie OBanner-Henry. The family is requesting the body camera footage from that night from the Hernando County Sheriffs Office. Local community leaders said they want transparency from law enforcement. So that we can hold our law enforcement, everybody accountable, but most importantly, an opportunity to stand with the people, said Rev Dr. Ailes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issue was brought up at Wednesdays county commissioner meeting. An unarmed, African American resident whose life was taken after an officer involved altercation. His death has left a deep wound in the community and stirring up grief and an urgent call for accountability, Rev Dr. Ailes said. During the meeting, Rev Dr. Ailes, a pastor and Hernando NAACP Youth Council Advisor, called upon the sheriffs office to attend, as well as county commissioners. Elks Lodge, thank you so much, sir, I will plan to be there, said Brian Hawkins, Chair for County Commissioners. Right after the shooting happened, the sheriffs office said their deputy made a traffic stop, interacted with people in the car, someone took off, and a chase ensued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once the deputy caught up to the suspect, OBanner, the sheriff said a violent struggle happened. That struggle resulted in the deputy using his firearm, but not until he tried using his taser. The taser apparently did not have any effect on this individual, the deputy did sustain some injuries to include a bite mark on his neck, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said. Following the deputy involved shooting, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said they will leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the incident. 8 On Your Side reached out to the sheriffs office for a response to the news conference. The Sheriffs Office sent out a statement saying: This is still an active and open investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Based on the very comprehensive yet preliminary updates provided to the HCSO by the FDLE, however, no new information has to come to light that would change any of the information released by the Sheriff and the FDLE the night of the shooting. As with any investigation involving death, especially when a law enforcement officer is involved, it takes time for the investigating agency (FDLE in this case) to obtain all the test results necessary to issue a final and comprehensive report. Corporal Michael Terry, Deputy PIO for HCSO The family will be holding their news conference at 3 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) -The family of the man who was shot by police last month will hold a second press conference with the National Racial Justice Network to demand justice and accountability. The family of Robert Stanley Rose held a press conference last week to voice their concerns as to why a non-lethal force such as a taser was not used to subdue Rose. They say he was a veteran who suffered lingering effects from his time in combat. The press conference will be held at the North Charleston City Hall on Thursday from 12 2 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roses family, religious leaders, and National Racial Justice Network leaders will make statements. According to SLED, on February 28th Dorchester County deputies responded to a request for assistance regarding a mental health detention order at Waverly Place apartments off of Dorchester Road. Deputies found 35-year-old Robert Stanley Rose and they attempted to take the individual into custody. A fight later ensued and the subject assaulted a deputy with a hatchet, according to Sheriff Sam Richardson. The incident evolved into a barricaded suspect and deputies requested North Charleston officers to assist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A few hours later, the subject attempted to leave the residence through a window, armed with a hatchet in each hand. Officers commanded the subject to drop the weapons as they approached the outer perimeter, but the subject did not reply, according to North Charleston Police Chief Ron Camacho. Thats when an officer with the North Charleston Police Department fired and fatally shot Rose. Officials say authorities immediately rendered aid and Rose was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was requested to investigate the officer-involved shooting, per standard protocol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. Tourist who went missing in South Florida has been found SUNRISE, Fla. (WFLA) Brenda Surbey, the missing tourist from Indiana has been found safe. The family of a tourist from Indiana who went missing in Sunrise over a month ago is searching for answers. According to WTVJ, 60-year-old Brenda Surbey was last seen on Feb. 8 while visiting her parents in Weston. Her last known location was at a ballpark near the 6800 block of Sunset Strip. Surbeys father told police that she disappeared shortly after an argument that occurred on Feb. 6. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They said that Surbey, who is bipolar, is currently not taking her medication. This case is being investigated by the Broward County Sheriffs Office. The family has also hired a private investigator to locate Surbeys whereabouts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Over the last few days, I have spoken and written a great deal about the injustice done to Rupert Lowe and damage to Reform by Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf trumping up complaints against him. The magnitude of both cannot be underestimated. The myth of Nigel being the antidote to the countrys problems has been blown out of the water. Those of us close to the man have always known his faults, but the electorate was not aware. Ruperts poor treatment will slowly seep into the wider British political psyche. They will soon be aware and Nigels persona will be debunked. Those of us who know the man know Nigel is incapable of building the sort of breadth and depth of high calibre people required to form a transformational government. The United Kingdom is in deep trouble. If it is to be saved, it will not be good enough for the next government to comprise Nigel and a bunch of mediocre parliamentarians. It will require a team of proverbial Samsons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And thats the problem. Each such person would naturally be in the limelight. Nigel would not be able to bear it. His deep-seated narcissism prohibits him from working with serious talent. The minute Elon Musk endorsed Rupert and suggested he lead Reform, Farage would have been out to remove him. It was not rocket science to see this. I even warned Rupert though he was himself aware. The principal reason I fought so hard to democratise the party was not just to establish a mechanism to get change leaders but so that processes, checks and balances could be introduced. Thereby enabling others to join and function within the party without the risk of being turfed out on the whim of one man. Contrary to all his protestations, Nigel has not democratised the party. It remains in his control. This is tragic for the party and the country. Reform occupies the political space required to save the UK but is incapable of doing so under Farage. That should be clear for all to see with his treatment of Lowe. There was perhaps a small opportunity in which Farage could have preserved his persona by blaming Ruperts treatment on Zia Yusuf and sacking him. That moment has passed. Nigel has doubled down. There are no easy solutions from here. He has put himself with Yusuf, firmly on the wrong side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, what now? Under Farage no Samsons will join Reform. They will know what fate would await them.If you cannot attract serious talent, Reform will fail. Even if somehow it maintains its position in the polls and is part of some future government, it will have nothing but mediocrity to offer. It will not be able to restore the United Kingdom. There is only one way to salvage the position. It is this: Farage and Yusuf should resign and hand over to Lowe. Rupert knows exactly what needs to be done. He would quickly put in place the structure required to take Reform into government. He would have the best and most fearless minds in our movement alongside him. He would also have support from across the Atlantic, the importance of which should not be underestimated in the changing world of Trumps presidency. With this talent would come the policies and the ability to articulate and enact them. Will Nigel Farage step aside for him? No chance. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Canadian farmers have raised concerns about knock-on effects from drought conditions that have led to customers going bankrupt before making payments for produce. What's happening? Some farmers in Canada are facing the longest drought since the infamous Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Changing temperatures have caused stunted crops to grow since 2021 and low commodity prices, resulting in grain-buying firms going out of business and farmers unable to rely on insurance payments. While there is some financial protection from the federal Canadian Grain Commission, according to Insurance Journal, the CGC is allegedly not enforcing a crucial law: reporting unlicensed companies to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. By law, only licensed companies can buy crops directly from farmers, and some unlicensed companies have slipped through the cracks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CGC is also making it more difficult on farmers by requiring they post about non-payment within 90 days, and some have alleged that the organization has not consistently verified that licensed firms have proper security. According to Insurance Journal, "Discovering that some failing companies, such as Agfinity, are unlicensed, has alarmed farmers, as has finding out that some licensed companies are not fully insured." Agfinity allegedly delayed a $75,000 (Canadian) payment to at least one farmer, who had to keep "being a pain in the ass" until they finally paid the sum, with interest, before declaring bankruptcy, Insurance Journal reported. The CGC told The Cool Down that "If a company does not meet licensing requirements, the CGC will revoke or suspend their licence." And according to Insurance Journal, "the agency must complain to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which then decides whether to take action." Insurance Journal reported that the CGC hasn't made a complaint about unlicensed companies to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in a minimum of seven years, according to a CGC spokesperson Christianne Hacault which likely is due to most being licensed, but it also raises concern on the heels of reports that a company like Agfinity was operating while unlicensed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement to The Cool Down, the CGC also said that "licensed grain companies must provide payment security to the CGC to cover money owed to producers for grain deliveries" and that "the CGC audits licensees to monitor that the reports have been completed properly and determine if security is sufficient based on the assessed level of risk to producers." Why is protecting farmers important? Canada is the No. 1 and No. 3 producer of canola oil and wheat in the world, respectively. On top of changing temperatures and climate disasters, the country's farmers are also expecting tariffs to impact their sales. "Where do we cut our expenses? Or how do we get more revenue to do the things we need to do?" Canadian farmer Bill Prybylski told Insurance Journal. Prybylski is going to have to rely on a line of credit to keep his farm in Saskatchewan afloat until the next harvest in the autumn. Southern Saskatchewan farmer Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel also told Insurance Journal that the current situation "has fully exposed that we are not secure." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the lack of protections, lack of law enforcement, and low commodity prices, the farmers' risk of bankruptcy keeps rising. Do you think America is in a housing crisis? Definitely Not sure No way Only in some cities Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. What's being done about protecting farmers? The CGC is consulting with farmers to improve its protection systems and its bylaws. However, it would be further improved if Canadian farmers had other options like paid climate leave, snow-resistant solar panels, and extreme weather survivors groups to keep more businesses afloat despite impactful weather events. If you want to learn more about how climate issues are affecting where you live and how you can be a part of the solution, check out The Cool Down's guide. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. (FOX40.COM) A father was convicted of the second-degree murder of his 8-month-old daughter, according to the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office. The district attorneys office said the father took his daughter to Southern California while caring for her back on May 26, 2019. Video Above: What to do if you witness a crime There were multiple demands for him to return the child, but he refused. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 8-month-olds dead body was found abandoned a day later on May 27, 2019, in Southern California. Man arrested after pursuit, children in the vehicle, sheriffs office says An autopsy showed the cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head. The father ran away to Mexico but was later taken into U.S. custody and extradited to Sacramento County to face charges. He was convicted of second-degree murder and found guilty of assault on a child resulting in death. The district attorneys office said he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Sentencing is set for May 30, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The family of a 2-year-old who was shot and killed while staying with her father say they hope he feels as much pain as they have after the toddlers death. Khalise Brewer, 2, was fatally shot on Feb. 9, 2022 inside her fathers apartment in Wyoming. Authorities say the toddlers father, Seninta Parks, was the one who shot her. They say he also shot himself and was briefly hospitalized. Parks who was originally deemed incompetent for trial but was later found competent pleaded no contest to a second-degree murder charge and two weapons charges in January. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated the same as a guilty plea in court. Seninta Parks at his sentencing on March 13, 2025. Mom of 2-year-old killed in Wyoming: Why? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Thursday, a judge sentenced him to serve between 33 and 60 years for the second degree murder charge, plus two years for a felony firearm charge. He was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of two to five years for a felon in possession of a firearm charge, plus around $1,800 in court costs and other fees. While handing down the sentence, 17th Circuit Court Judge Clay West noted that Parks had two prior felonies and was on parole at the time of the shooting. Looking back to Feb. 9, 2022, you shot and killed your 2-year-old daughter, West said, noting that investigators found Parks shot Khalise in the head. You shot another bullet that went into the downstairs area and could have killed your neighbor. Luckily, it didnt. Prior to his sentencing, Parks attorney asked the judge to take his multiple mental health issues into consideration. Parks also offered a brief remark, apologizing to Khalises mother, Kambria Brewer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Id just like to say I sincerely apologize to Kambria and her family, to my family, to the courts, Parks said. Man charged with murder in shooting of 2-year-old daughter Brewer and Khalises aunt both said they have not forgiven Parks. Every night I pray to dream of her. Because that will be the closest I will ever get to be next to her again. And I hope that in my dream, her face is just as beautiful as it was when I dropped her off and not scarred from the shot you fired into her eye, the toddlers mother said. The only plausible punishment will be life: A life for a life. Every time I try to believe I have forgiven you, I am reminded of that fatal shot you fired into her beautiful face. An undated photo of Khalise Brewer. (Courtesy Lanae Brewer) An undated photo of Khalise Brewer. (Courtesy Lanae Brewer) She said Khalise was smart, loving and beautiful, with a smile that would brighten up the room. She wondered what impact the toddlers death would have on her younger sister. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (They) barely even had two weeks together, she said. Khalise meant the world to me, my first child, my first heart, my first everything. She was precious, goofy, giggly and bossy. Once she came into my life, everything change for the better. You took her away from me forever. Both she and the toddlers aunt said Parks should have served as Khalises protector. Khalise Brewers mother, Kambria Brewer, reads a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Seninta Parks on March 13, 2025. You were supposed to be her provider. You were supposed to protect her. You were supposed to love her instead, you are her killer, her aunt said prior to the sentencing. You should have been taking her to father-daughter dances, you should have been attending school conferences, you should be bringing her roses on special occasions. Instead, you brutally ended her life. This has been a never-ending nightmare for my family, she later added. I want nothing more for that smile to be wiped off your face and for you to feel even a portion of what weve felt since you took Khalises life. I know that feeling wont come from your own guilt or regret, but I hope you feel every bit of discomfort, fear and pain from everything the prison system has to offer killers like you who have brutally murdered their own children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. People watch a drum performance during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) Students visit the Chinese cultural booth during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) People watch a lion dance during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) Students visit the Chinese cultural booth during a multicultural event at the Paola Primary School in Paola, Malta, on March 12, 2025. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian) DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa Two central Iowa men have been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing an underage girl at a rural Dallas County residence. Evidence of the alleged sexual abuse was uncovered in 2024 while the Dallas County Sheriffs Office says it was assisting the Federal Bureau of Investigation with a case. After months of investigation, multiple search warrants, and analyzing digital evidence, two arrests were made. Cheyenne Bretsch and Ross Bretsch Cheyenne Bretsch, 27, of DeSoto, was arrested March 11th and is charged with four counts of third-degree sexual abuse. Ross Bretsch, 56, of Ankeny, was arrested on seven counts of sexual abuse on March 13th. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Material witness warrant issued in deadly Des Moines hit-and-run case Both men, who court documents identify as father and son, are being held in the Dallas County Jail. According to the DCSO, the men sexually abused the same victim during the summers of 2019 and 2020. A search warrant application filed in the case said the victim had originally been enrolled at an archery academy run by Ross Bretsch. She was 14 and 15 years old at the time of the abuse. An initial hearing for the men is scheduled for March 24th at the Dallas County Courthouse. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. By Francesca Landini and Tim Hepher BRINDISI, Italy (Reuters) -On a Saturday morning in May, 2020, Italian police officers caught two men pouring chemical waste into the sewers in the southern port city of Brindisi, near a small plane components factory. Five years on, that routine pollution case has spiralled into a wide-ranging judicial investigation into how thousands of flawed titanium and aluminium parts manufactured in Italy ended up in nearly 500 Boeing 787 jets still in use. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The probe focuses on how tiny aero-part-maker Manufacturing Process Specification (MPS) allegedly defrauded clients by using cheaper and weaker metals to make floor fittings and other plane parts. Company executives deny the charge. A preliminary hearing on the case was due to open in Italy on Thursday, but was postponed at the last minute until May 15. Boeing has repeatedly said that there is no immediate safety risk. U.S. regulators, meanwhile, are preparing technical guidance for airlines to detect and replace any bad parts, without opting for the emergency orders reserved for the most pressing cases. But the precarious chain of events that led detectives to the alleged scam, including the surprise pollution find, raises broader questions about the failure by the aerospace industry's own voluntary audit system to detect sub-standard components. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detectives were already investigating MPS' owners over the bankruptcy of their previous firm. But after catching two MPS workers dumping polluting liquids next to the factory, police broadened their enquiries to the Brindisi firm's raw material purchases, three investigative sources said. With the help of whistleblowers, police found that MPS and its predecessor company had bought very small quantities of the prescribed metals required for 787 jets, including a tough titanium alloy, switching instead to cheaper and less resilient pure titanium, they said. Prosecutors allege that for four years parts made with the wrong type of metal flowed into the aerospace supply chain via Italian group Leonardo, which builds two fuselage sections for the Boeing 787 at its nearby Grottaglie plant. The case comes as Boeing tries to move beyond a separate safety and quality crisis that triggered financial and management upheaval and layoffs. The rest of the industry is also grappling with sporadic issues with rogue parts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite using low-quality metals, the now defunct MPS passed audits by three different certification bodies or private auditors between 2017 and 2021, according to a Reuters review. None of these audits involved a physical check of the floor fittings, which are structural components of a jet, the news agency found. While news of the alleged metal switch at Boeing's Italian subcontractor made international headlines in October 2021, details of MPS' auditing process, as well as the number of weak floor fittings installed, have not been previously reported. For its review, Reuters consulted confidential Italian police and prosecutors' documents, judicial seizure decrees, copies of records from an aerospace supplier database and spoke to four people with direct knowledge of the investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Half a dozen investigators, lawyers and certification experts told Reuters the case raises doubts about whether controls, including third-party audits, are robust enough to ensure below-grade parts do not end up in commercial jets. "It is extremely worrying that there were no preventive checks on the type of material used to build these parts," said Danilo Recine, vice-president of Italy's ANPAC pilot union. INSPECTIONS The FAA has not grounded any 787 planes but issued a draft notice last year that, when finalised, will require airlines to inspect jets for flawed parts and replace them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its proposed notice potentially covers almost 500 jets but until the inspections are carried out it is impossible to know how many parts are on which jets, it said in the May 2024 draft. The FAA declined to elaborate. It noted only that a period for collecting comments from airlines had ended. Contacted by Reuters, Leonardo said in a statement that prosecutors are treating it as a victim in the case. Boeing, which has also been granted the status of victim, declined comment on specifics of the case but said it had a "comprehensive quality management system," which includes audits of suppliers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This complements additional audits by certification bodies, suppliers and others within the industry" it added. MPS, and its predecessor Processi Speciali, used to make several plane parts for Leonardo, including the fittings connecting the beams supporting the Boeing 787 cabin floor to the fuselage. It also supplied other aerospace firms. After performing material inspections on the components, investigators allege MPS manufactured 539 below-grade floors for Boeing that were supplied via Leonardo, according to a confidential document prepared by prosecutors. The faulty floor fittings ended up in as many as 477 jets still in service, the document said, a handful more than the potential population of affected jets cited by the FAA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the event of an emergency landing, the lower-quality floor fittings could lead to a collapse of the jet's floor, aerospace experts who tested the parts on behalf of prosecutors said in the document. The FAA has raised a similar worst-case scenario, adding it would need multiple adjacent parts to fail simultaneously. In their final report, Italian prosecutors accuse MPS' head of quality, the company's owner and three relatives of fraud and breach of airplane safety rules. Two other workers are accused of polluting soil and water. "(They) have put flight security in danger by producing and delivering to Leonardo ... structural aerospace parts made, not with contracted titanium alloy, but pure titanium which has structural strength that is largely lower to that of the prescribed alloy," the report says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In total, prosecutors have said MPS or its predecessor supplied around 6,000 parts using the wrong kind of metal, although the vast majority are not structural components. Francesca Conte, a lawyer for MPS' owner, said the supplier had worked in partnership with Leonardo and obtained all necessary certifications. "If there were any anomalies, they would have been immediately evident". Conte and the lawyers for the other defendants said there was evidence to be presented during the trial that would prove their clients were not responsible for the alleged crimes. WEAK CHECKS To become a Boeing or Airbus supplier, parts makers must be audited for their quality management systems under an aerospace chapter of the ISO global standards organisation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those involved in certain special processes like welding or electro-plating also need a U.S.-based approval called NADCAP. Industry records reviewed by Reuters show that MPS and its predecessor won approvals from three auditing bodies under the ISO-based aerospace standard for quality systems. The last certification was awarded in May 2021. Leonardo said in an emailed statement it had learnt about issues with MPS components at the end of 2020 from Boeing. Asked how it vetted contractors, Leonardo said that MPS first had to qualify to enter its and Boeing's suppliers' lists. The group said that it had also carried out subsequent checks of MPS using "documents made available by the supplier." The audits were conducted both independently and in joint teams with Boeing, the Italian company added. "Any fraudulent behaviour cannot be detected by these checks," Leonardo said. However, since last year, the company has begun doing extra tests on chemical and physical characteristics of "significant components", it added. The lack of spot physical checks baffled police, according to a source in the investigation. "The problem of faulty parts was found out in 2020," the source said. "If quality controls had worked, then it would not have been discovered so late." "NEED FOR A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK" Under the voluntary oversight system for quality management, private auditors known as certification bodies check whether an aerospace firm has the right processes, machines and skilled workers to carry out its tasks to the correct standards. Random physical tests are typically only included if a company needs a quality certificate for specific products. But Christopher Paris, founder of consultancy Oxebridge Quality Resources, said the MPS case demonstrated the need for tougher oversight of the pyramid of controls, including not only the independent auditors but accreditation bodies that vet them. "There is a need for a regulatory framework," he said. None of the auditors or various industry bodies is targeted by the Italian investigation. ACCREDIA, which is responsible for accrediting auditors in Italy, said existing rules were "robust and well-structured" and stressed that the job of the audits is not to root out crime. Sitting at the top of the system of voluntary controls is the Industry Aerospace Quality Group, a global body. IAQG President Eric Jefferies said in a statement to Reuters that it is actively working on updates to existing standards. "However, the outcomes of any quality management system implementation ultimately rest with the certified organization," he said. (Reporting by Francesca Landini and Tim Hepher; Additional reporting by Giulia Segreti and David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Jucca) The chair of the Federal Communications Commission has sent a letter to Google calling for a briefing by the company regarding concerns that YouTube TV discriminates against faith-based programming. Brendan Carr explained in a post on X that he had received complaints from broadcasters about the issue, adding: These concerning allegations come at a time when American public discourse has experienced an unprecedented and unacceptable surge in censorship. Im asking Google for answers, he added in the post, which included a copy of his letter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the letter, addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Carr points to a complaint by one broadcaster, Great American Media, which claims that YouTube TV refuses to carry one of its networks. Carr pointed out that the FCC currently has restricted authority over virtual multichannel video programming distributors such as YouTube TV, but that the agency is reviewing whether it should expand its regulations to include such distributors. The chairman notes that Google has benefited from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online platforms from accountability for what their users share on the sites. Carr added that he wants to limit tech company protections. In the case of YouTube TV, concerns have been raised alleging that your company has a policy (secret or otherwise) that discriminates against faith-based programming, Carr stated in the letter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As an example, Great American Media wrote a letter to me in which they claim that YouTube TV deliberately marginalizes faith-based and family-friendly content, he added. I have received complaints that Googles @YouTubeTV is discriminating against faith-based programming. These concerning allegations come at a time when American public discourse has experienced an unprecedentedand unacceptablesurge in censorship. Im asking Google for answers pic.twitter.com/jmFvMM3VS5 Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 7, 2025 Carr noted that, according to Great American Media, its Great American Family network is the second fastest-growing channel in cable television and, while they are carried on a range of cable and streaming services YouTube TV refuses to carry them. In too many cases, tech companies silenced individuals for doing nothing more than expressing themselves and in the digital town square, Carr claimed. Carr instructed Mohan and Pichai to brief the commission on the negotiations process regarding which networks are carried on YouTube TV, including the potential role of viewpoint-based discrimination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge in response to Carrs letter: We welcome the opportunity to brief the FCC on YouTube TVs subscription service and the strategic business decisions we make based on factors like user demand, operational cost and financial terms, and to reiterate that we do not have any policies that prohibit religious content. Great American Media already has a significant presence on YouTube with channels such as Pure Flix and Great American Family. Google has also been subpoenaed by Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, who has asked whether YouTube removed videos following entreaties from the Biden administration. (Bloomberg) -- The resignation of a top US Food and Drug Administration lawyer helped convince Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a member of a key US Senate panel, to advance the nomination of FDA commissioner nominee Marty Makary, he said at a Thursday hearing. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hawleys vote helped Makary, a Johns Hopkins Medicine surgeon, sail through the committee with a 14-9 vote. The nomination of National Institutes of Health director pick Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University health economist and doctor, also moved ahead after a 12-11 vote. Makarys support of former FDA Chief Counsel Hilary Perkins called into question to me Dr. Makarys judgement, said Hawley, who has criticized Perkinss work during the Biden administration. He said that Makary had withdrawn his support of Perkins, and that gives me some confidence. On that basis, I will vote yes. Hawley previously accused Makary of attempting to sneak a Biden abortion lawyer into top leadership at FDA. Before joining FDA, Perkins served in the Department of Justices consumer protection division, and Hawley expressed concerns about the lawyer defending Biden administration policies on abortion and Covid-19 vaccinations. Perkins resigned on Thursday, according to an FDA post on the social media site X. She left the position just two days after her appointment to be the FDAs top lawyer was announced. Perkins declined to comment about her resignation and Hawleys remarks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The votes by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions occurred later that morning. They signal that the nominees, who will next face votes before the full Senate, will likely be confirmed. Earlier on Thursday, the same committee canceled a hearing for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nominee Dave Weldon after the White House withdrew him. During confirmation hearings earlier this month, senators questioned Makary about a key public flu vaccine meeting that had been canceled. While Makary wouldnt commit to rescheduling, he did say hed have the FDAs advisory panel on vaccines continue meeting. The senators also pressed Bhattacharya about whether there would be continued cuts at the NIH, which he said he didnt plan to do. Bhattacharya also declined to weigh in on his intentions for another cost-cutting measure, a proposed cap on NIH payments for researchers administrative expenses that can include cleaning supplies and security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The directors of the FDA and NIH serve as the two top deputies for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed in mid-February. Kennedy has plans for a sweeping policy agenda called Make America Healthy Again. Mehmet Oz, Trumps pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will face a hearing this week. Trumps picks have by and large been confirmed by the Senate. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. The U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) chief counsel resigned two days after her appointment, according to a Thursday announcement from the agency. Hilary K. Perkins has resigned from her position as Chief Counsel of FDA, effectively immediately, the FDA wrote in a post on the social platform X. Prior to the selection, she worked in the Justice Departments consumer protection division. Perkins was handpicked to serve as the top legal aide by Martin Makary, President Trumps nominee for FDA commissioner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the days following his decision, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) criticized the move, referencing the attorney as a Biden abortion lawyer online. I cant understand why Marty Makary would want someone who used the government to IMPOSE vaccines on millions of Americans and served as a Biden abortion lawyer to be his chief counsel. It calls into question his judgment, Hawley wrote in a Wednesday post on X, citing Perkinss push for federal workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine and support for the abortion pill known as mifepristone as a disqualifying factor. These positions are obviously totally out of line with President Trump, he added. The Missouri senator later applauded Perkinss withdrawal from the role, while Makary awaits confirmation from the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although the president promised not to restrict mifepristone on a federal level, prescriptions remain illegal in multiple Republican states, including Hawleys. Both Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared plans to have the FDA review mifepristone data after usage spiked following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. In late February, rumors that the federal government was planning a massive immigration enforcement sweep in Los Angeles County swirled. And Travis Gemoets' phone was ringing off the hook. The attorney at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, a firm that represents hundreds of hotels across Southern California, said he received about a dozen calls from nervous hotel general managers who reported an unusual number of workers failing to show up for work. "There was more absenteeism than you would normally expect," Gemoets said. We have people who are afraid. That's unfortunate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although the big enforcement sweep never came, many hotel workers and businesses remain anxious about the potential disruption it could cause. The hospitality and tourism industry is a key contributor to L.A.'s economy, employing more than 540,000 people who work as room cleaners, dishwashers, restaurant servers and bellhops, among other jobs. The industry brings in more than $25 billion annually in visitor spending, according to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Hoteliers have been making contingency plans, consulting with lawyers, planning webinars and educating their managers on what to do in case immigration authorities knock on their doors. In preparation for a predicted increase in audits of Form I-9s, the documents used to verify whether an employee is eligible to work in the U.S., some employers have been conducting internal checks or hiring firms to conduct mock audits to ensure their paperwork is all in order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 10% of all workers in the hospitality industry including hotels and restaurants are unauthorized immigrants, said Michael Clemens, an economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Immigrant workers fill crucial roles; they are "key ingredients" without which other jobs in the industry would cease to exist, he said. "We have clear evidence that mass deportations will be generally disruptive to the economy and to the U.S. labor market and specifically hospitality will be hard hit," Clemens said. "Their labor is a crucial factor of production, and it's that production that generates other jobs in the sector. That's something I wish everyone understood." Clemens said that although businesses have not yet been hit with the workplace raids the federal government has threatened, it's clear the Trump administration is allocating a great number of resources to enforcement actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Anyone that declares [the Trump administration's] intentions are unfeasible or just bluster is fooling themselves," Clemens said. Some hotel workers are too fearful to show up for work, said Jacob Monty, an immigration and employment lawyer who advises chain restaurants. "The hysteria is worse than what's happening on the ground, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have an effect," Monty said. In late January, the labor union Unite Here Local 11 sent a letter backed by thousands of hotel workers urging hotel owners to provide additional protections for immigrant workers, asylum seekers and recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Current union contracts include provisions prohibiting employers from using E-Verify, a long-standing computer-based federal program that makes it easy for employers to spot and reject unauthorized immigrants seeking jobs. "Workers are making a pledge to themselves to stand up for immigrant families during this tough time," said Ada Briceno, co-president of Unite Here Local 11. "We need to tell employers that they've got to stand strong to protect the same people they've been leaning on to make a profit." A representative of the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles did not respond to a request for comment. The threat of workplace immigration raids has been a concern for hoteliers who worry they may disrupt staff and customers alike, said Ray Patel, president of the Northeast Los Angeles Hotel Owners Assn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The worry is having dozens of people in ICE jackets come into a hotel and spooking guests and workers," Patel said, referring Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. "We don't want that to happen." Dina Paredes, 57, a housekeeper at the Alsace Hotel, a boutique property in West Adams, said she and her husband are afraid to go outside, even though they have formal immigration status. They are either at work or at home, and rarely go elsewhere these days, Paredes said. We felt safe to go out before, but not anymore, Paredes said. Both are immigrants from El Salvador who have Temporary Protected Status, which allows people to stay in the U.S. and obtain work permits if they are from a country deemed too dangerous to return to because of violence, natural disasters or other unsafe conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 230,000 Salvadorans in the U.S. have this status, which the Biden administration extended by 18 months before Trump took office. But the Trump administration has now twice revoked extensions of Temporary Protected Status by the Biden administration, first for Venezuelans and then for Haitians. And in recent days, Trump said he is weighing whether to revoke status for about 240,000 Ukrainians who fled its conflict with Russia. Paredes worries that Salvadorans could be next. I feel like the clock just stopped, Paredes said. Not just for me, but for so many people who are immigrants. Emmanuel Cabrera, 28, who has been bellman at the Westin Bonaventure for about seven years and is a DACA recipient, said he's constantly monitoring social media for reports on ICE whereabouts. Misinformation and false reports are rampant, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "People are scared right now," Cabrera said. As an organizer for the union, Cabrera has been having conversations with his co-workers about their fears. He recently spoke to a woman who has about 100 days left on her work authorization and does not know what she will do after. "Many people are in limbo. I feel for them," he said. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. It was a surprise ceremony at the White House presided over by President Donald Trump to unveil a $100 billion investment from what he called the worlds most powerful company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). But nearly 8,000 miles away, the mood was far from celebratory. Instead, the shock announcement last week has reignited fears in Taiwan about losing its crown jewel, its world-beating semiconductor industry, to the US due to political pressure. The island democracys former President Ma Ying-jeou wasted no time in accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of selling TSMC to Trump as a protection fee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a major national security crisis, Ma, a member of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), wrote on his Facebook page on March 4, shortly after the White House signing ceremony. It will have a significant negative impact on peoples confidence, cross-strait relations and Taiwans future geopolitical position. To reassure the public, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te appeared alongside TSMC CEO CC Wei last week at Taipeis presidential office, saying the companys US investment would not undermine its commitment to and planned expansion in its home base. TSMC produces more than 90% of the worlds advanced microchips, which power everything from smartphones and artificial intelligence to weapons. Thats why many in Taiwan believe that global dependence on its semiconductors serves as a silicon shield, a deterrent against a potential Chinese invasion. Chinas ruling Communist Party claims Taiwan as part of its territory despite having never controlled it and has vowed to take control of the self-governing island, by force if necessary. Beijing has in recent years escalated its military activities around Taiwan, regularly flying fighter jets and conducting exercises in waters near the island. A screen in Beijing shows news footage of military drills conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army around Taiwan on October 14, 2024. - Tingshu Wang/Reuters Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow Taiwan relies on US military and political support. Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the US is legally obligated to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself against a possible attack by China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trumps recent rhetoric has cast uncertainty over the future of US-Taiwan relations. He has repeatedly accused Taiwan of stealing the US semiconductor industry, a claim that is widely disputed, while saying outright that Taiwan should pay the US for protection. For many on the self-governing island, the phrase Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow has increasingly resonated in recent weeks as they watch Trump upend longstanding US policy by playing up Kremlin rhetoric and warming to Moscow, while alienating traditional European allies and Kyiv. Taiwanese see parallels between their democracy and Ukraine, with both facing existential threats from aggressive, expansionist neighbors. Washington earlier this month abruptly suspended military aid to Ukraine following a heated exchange between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, just hours after the cheerful TSMC ceremony. It reinstated aid this week after Ukraine accepted a 30-day US-proposed ceasefire. The White House has also pressed Zelensky to sign a deal giving the US access to Kyivs untapped mineral riches. Tammy Chao, a retiree, expressed deep concern to CNN about Taiwans security after TSMCs announcement, likening Trumps approach to his handling of Ukraine. She described him as a dealer who might eventually treat Taiwan as a bargaining chip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taiwan, pretty soon just like [what] he said to Zelensky, you have no cards to play, and Taiwan is not gonna have cards to play, she said. TSMC was the best card. But others appear less concerned. Fred Lin, a finance industry professional, said he believed TSMC came to this decision prudently. Who doesnt pay protection fees to the US? No doubt It is a form of protection fee, that we can understand, but thats the reality of international politics, he said. TSMC headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 2024 - I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images Trump administration officials, however, have also said they need to dial down involvement in European security to focus on Asia and the threat from China. Prior to his election, Vance was explicit in his concerns that US support for Ukraine could hinder its ability to aid Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Researchers say there are limits to comparisons between Ukraine and Taiwans security circumstances and believe the islands security is influenced by multiple factors beyond its semiconductor industry, including Chinas broader geopolitical ambition and Taiwans strategic location. Whether China takes military action against Taiwan is ultimately driven by its core interests, which are not solely dependent on the islands role in global chip production, said Min-yen Chiang, a nonresident fellow at the Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology, a government-funded think tank in Taipei. He referenced the time in 1950 when the US sent its Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan Strait early on during the Korean War to deter China from invading Taiwan. The strategic move by then-President Harry Truman neutralized the Taiwan Strait and ensured the Korean War did not trigger a wider conflict, maintaining stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan then had no semiconductor industry at all, he said. Still committed Last week, President Lai said Taipei did not face any pressure from Washington in doing the TSMC deal, which the company said was the biggest such investment in the US ever made by a non-American firm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Standing next to him, Wei attributed the increased investment to strong demand from American customers such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and Broadcom that wanted to reduce potential supply chain risks by having chips made locally. He also added that TSMC was not afraid of Trump potentially scrapping the subsidies from the Chips Act, stressing that the companys decision to invest in the US was driven by customer needs. TSMC was awarded $6.5 billion in grants for its first three plants in Arizona under the bipartisan Chips Act, spearheaded by the Biden administration, which allocated $39 billion in federal funding to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. We are the best wherever we build our fabs, Wei added, referring to semiconductor fabrication plants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Along with the additional three manufacturing facilities, the new investment also promised two chip packaging plants and a research and development center to improve the production process technology. Wei clarified that the development of the cutting-edge next generation chipmaking technology would remain in Taiwan and would still be 10 times bigger than the US facilities. Semiconductor analysts applauded the company for making an agile decision. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo praised TSMC in an online analysis, calling it the most successful non-US company in negotiations with the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the $100 billion investment seems massive, the lack of details provides the flexibility for spending based on future conditions, softening the impact on profitability, Kuo wrote. TSMCs investment has mostly alleviated Trumps concerns, according to Eric Chen, an analyst at Digitimes Research, a market research firm. But of course, we have no way of knowing when Trump might change his stance hes notorious for making sudden U-turns, he said. An electronic wafer is displayed at the TSMC Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 2024. - I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images Weaponizing tariffs TSMCs $100 billion investment marks the latest in a wave of businesses committing massive sums to the US. But it stands out as one of the first major foreign firms to do so, and Trump claims more such investments are on the way. In contrast to his predecessor Bidens approach of incentivizing domestic investment through subsidies, Trump prefers to weaponize tariffs. So far, it has proven effective. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has previously threatened to impose 25% tariffs on semiconductors, along with automobiles and pharmaceuticals as early as next month. At the announcement of TSMCs investment, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the company chose to expand in the US due to the threat of tariffs, and were not given additional grants. In late February, Apple pledged $500 billion to expand facilities, manufacturing and projects across the US over the next four years. Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank announced in January that they would invest $500 billion to create a new company that would build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US. With TSMCs new investment in the US, Trump is expected to turn up the heat on other major companies, said Chang-Tai Hsieh, an economist at the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business. He said it puts added pressure on Samsung and Intel, the two other major producers of computing and AI chips in the world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Koreas SK Hynix, another key player in memory chips along with Samsung, are also expected to feel the squeeze. Samsung has previously pledged to invest $37 billion in Texas, while SK Hynix announced plans to build a $3.87 billion chip packaging plant in Indiana last year. Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment. Hsieh said it is obvious that companies like TSMC and others will have to do whatever they can to make Trump happy. But he also warned of the risks associated with such concessions. Once you agree to blackmail, then theres no end of it, he said. CNNs Simone McCarthy contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A woman holds a placard that says "Keep Families Together" during the rally in Pennsylvania last month. SOPA Images via Getty Images As President Donald Trump continues to tout his administrations sweeping immigration crackdown, fears in immigrant communities over ICE arrests and deportations are at an all-time high. So far, immigration officers are falling short of President Trumps expectation to enact the largest deportation push in American history, but elevated rhetoric from the White House (and the arrest of undocumented people without criminal backgrounds) has instilled fear in many immigrant communities. The administration has used its Instagram page to reinforce its aggressive immigration stance, posting insensitive memes about illegal alien ASMR and mocking Valentines Day cards about deportations: Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and well deport you, alongside photos President Trump and Tom Homan, the White House border czar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, both Homan and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller have openly said they are trying to make life difficult for immigrants so that they self-deport. Homan, in particular, has said he would not hesitate to deport parents who are in the country illegally, even if they have young U.S.-born children. Theres been alarming examples of that: Earlier this week, NBC News reported that a 10-year-old U.S. citizen was deported to Mexico with her undocumented parents last month despite being in the middle of brain cancer treatment. In January, the Trump administration rolled back Obama-era Department of Homeland Security reforms that protected sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, courthouses and places of worship from immigration enforcement. (In February, a federal judge blocked the policy of allowing arrests in churches for some religious groups.) The harsh messaging has had an effect: While theres yet to be a widespread effort to formally allow ICE in schools, school districts throughout the country have reported attendance dropping in the wake of highly publicized ICE raids, with some classrooms seeing as many as two-thirds of students absent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In cities like Portland, Oregon, and Washington D.C, lines for food pantries have shortened since Trump took office, a possible indication that immigrants in these sanctuary cities are afraid to leave their homes. Given all this, many Americans with protected status are wondering what they can do to help undocumented neighbors who are worried about being detained or deported. Teachers are trying to help ease fears among their students. Nicole, a public school teacher in Boston who asked to use her first name only to protect her privacy, has worked with undocumented families for 11 years. In January, she created a TikTok with advice for parents whose kids go to school with undocumented students and want to help. Im lucky to work in an area where my district and union has provided guidance to teachers and families on what we can do, but there are still things teachers can do on their own to help their students, Nicole told HuffPost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now, she said, there are heightened fears among school staff that students will return home from school and find no one there. So even just doing things like making sure every student in the classroom has memorized the phone numbers of trusted adults, and possibly someone that is not a parent, can help, she said. You dont need to ask specifically about documentation status for that. On Reddit, people have posted pocket-sized Know Your Rights red cards with bilingual information about how to handle encounters with federal immigration authorities. (The Los Angeles Unified School District has passed along similar cards to students.) Others have discussed jamming up the ICE tip hotline. On Instagram, people have been sharing real-time photos of ICE stops at certain intersections in their neighborhoods so that undocumented people can avoid the areas. While well-meaning, the latter effort may not be so helpful. So much of what the Trump administration is doing seems designed to create fear in the hope that people will self-deport and often, those posts arent verified or theyre off base. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sharing such unverified rumors on social media can create more panic and fear, said Kelly Morales, the co-director of Siembra NC, a grassroots organization defending the undocumented Latino community in North Carolina. Its not always easy to identify immigration agents, either. Sometimes, they use unmarked cars, and theyve been reported wearing vests that say police. Morales group verifiesimmigration agent sightings in her community, then sends out alerts on social media and via text to a list of over 20,000 subscribers if theyre legitimate. Groups that similarly verify ICE stops exist elsewhere: The Illinois Council on Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) in Chicago, for instance, or the LA Immigrant Assistance Hotline in Southern California. In the first week of the Trump administration, Siembra NCs hotline got about 600 calls, though most of them were false alarms. Morales said the group has confirmed a dozen ICE detentions in North Carolina in the last month, including three recently in Durham. ICE agents enter an apartment building during a multiagency raid in Chicago on Jan. 26, 2025. Bloomberg via Getty Images Instead of sharing sightings that may be misinformation, Morales suggests printing out sample flyers and palm cards in different languages or reposting videos that explain how to protect your Fourth Amendment rights if you come into contact with an immigration agent. Siembra NC also has a free downloadable community defense playbook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Obviously, though, dont go up to a neighbor you suspect is undocumented if you havent already built trust and a relationship with them. That will likely only add to their unease. Right now, its really difficult for undocumented people to know who they can trust, especially when it comes to white allies, said TJ, a resident of Salt Lake City who runs a social media channel that verifies ICE sightings in the area. (TJ asked to use their first name only to protect their privacy and job security.) I have had a dozen or more people reach out and genuinely want to help, but often theyre not at all connected to immigrant communities, TJ said. It can come in with a little bit of a white savior energy, with no established trust. Immigrants dont need saving; they need our government to stop violating their constitutional rights, TJ said. One of the best ways that you can be there for your neighbors is to actually know your own rights, said Alejandra Oliva, an author in Chicago whos written about ICE enforcement in her community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For instance, what is the difference between an administrative warrant that doesnt give ICE agents or police a right to enter your space and a judicial warrant that does? she said. After taking a local Know Your Rights training, Oliva learned what interactions are useful if you come into contact with ICE agents who are arresting people. (You can find a similar training from a reputable organization like the National Immigrant Justice Center and check out the National Immigration Law Centers guide for employers.) As a citizen, you can record video, get badge numbers if you can, ask where the people being arrested are taken and get in touch with a local immigration org to share your findings, Oliva said. Could you get in trouble legally for impeding ICE by handing out red cards or sharing information about Know Your Rights trainings? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a question that some may wonder about since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was called out by Homan for hosting a Know Your Rights webinar earlier this month. But its not illegal to tell someone what their rights are, said Catherine Seitz, the legal director at the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area. You cannot advise someone to break the law, but you can explain their rights such as the right to remain silent and the right to not open your door unless ICE has a judicial warrant, Seitz told HuffPost. Demonstrators in Waukegan, Illinois, protest a recent increase of ICE activity in the area on Feb. 1, 2025. Scott Olson via Getty Images Other ways to help? Theres an urgent need for more legal resources, so consider donating to organizations that work with low-cost or nonprofit immigrant lawyers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Talk to friends and family about whats going on, too, especially if you live in a predominantly white neighborhood. Thats what Brynden Wallin has been doing in rural Minnesota, where she lives. A lot of people you talk to believe it would only be dangerous criminals who would be affected by the threats made by this administration, she told HuffPost. I think theres currently some shock and disbelief that these are people we know in our communities who are being impacted, directly and indirectly, Wallin explained. I try to break these things down in personal terms when I can. Its important to remind people who seem to be in favor of harsh policies that these are our neighbors. Protests and getting vocal matter, too, said Kica Matos, the president of the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This administration needs to hear that Americans reject these inhumane policies, Matos said. The only way forward is together. Our strength lies in community, in looking out for our neighbors and in understanding that when one of us struggles, we all feel that struggle. Related... MOSCOW, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it had prevented sabotage and terrorist attacks targeting Russian servicemen and government officials involved in the Ukraine crisis. Authorities found five parcels containing explosive devices disguised as perfume gift sets during inspections at Chelyabinsk airport, the FSB said in a statement. A Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by Ukrainian intelligence, was detained, the FSB said, adding that the suspect attempted to send the parcels to military personnel and officials in four Russian regions, including Moscow. Additional hidden explosives were uncovered during further searches in Chelyabinsk. Investigators have initiated a criminal case related to the illegal acquisition, storage and transportation of explosives, according to the agency. BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was called before a Congressional panel to answer for her citys policies last week and now the U.S. Department of Justice says that it would like to have a word. Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell notified four Democrat mayors Thursday Michelle Wu of Boston, Eric Adams of New York, Karen Bass of Los Angeles and Brandon Johnson of Chicago that the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism wants to meet soon to discuss the mayors responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses in their cities over the last two years, the DOJ said. State commission holds meeting on Antisemitism Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The DOJ said that the task force was aware of allegations that the schools in their respective cities may have failed to protect Jewish students from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law and that Terrell plans for the task force to meet with city leaders, impacted students, local law enforcement, and community members as it considers whether federal intervention is warranted. Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of October 7, 2023, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. Actions have consequences inaction does, too. Wus office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. As part of a national wave of protests and subsequent student arrests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, a number of encampments cropped up last year on Boston campuses, including at Northeastern University and Emerson College. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Campus and State Police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northeastern following reports of antisemitic jeers, which led to nearly 100 arrests. And Wu said she made the decision with Police Commissioner Michael Cox to clear the encampment from a public alleyway at Emerson, a move that resulted in more than 100 arrests. The Task Force looks forward to meeting with the mayors and other municipal leaders in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston to quickly and effectively identify ways that, working together or apart, we return safety, civility, and sanity to our nations schools, Terrell said. These meetings, in conjunction with our visits to university campuses around the country, are just two of the many actions President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are taking to end this scourge of anti-Semitism. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. The future of several prominent federal buildings in California that provide resources for broad swaths of the states residents is in jeopardy, as the Trump administration seeks to reduce the national governments footprint across the country in a cost-cutting effort. Among hundreds of federal properties listed earlier this month as potentially on the chopping block for closure or sale, at least 16 were in California, notably the sprawling federal building in downtown Los Angeles. But nothing is certain given the chaotic pattern of the Trump administration announcing policy and then reversing course. Larger than 1 million square feet, its among the biggest federal buildings in the nation initially included in a list of properties designated for disposal that was published March 4 by the U.S. General Services Administration. Major tenants include U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal, according to a notice by the agency last week. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions. Hours after the list of properties was posted online, it was winnowed by more than 100 but still included 16 California properties. Then the list was removed from the GSAs website, with a note that the non-core property list would be Coming soon. Read more: Trump cuts chaotic path in first weeks, bucking laws and norms in pursuit of promised agenda A GSA spokesperson said that the initial list was published to meet President Trump's goals about federal workplaces and the need to derive "maximum value" for taxpayers from federal properties across the nation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "To be clear, just because an asset is on the list doesnt mean its immediately for sale. However, we will consider compelling offers," the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the list will be republished shortly once the agency evaluates the input it has received. "Since publishing the initial list on March 4, 2025, we have received an overwhelming amount of interest." As with many policies and pronouncements by the Trump administration, such as the recently enacted and then halted tariffs on some imports from Mexico and Canada, it's unclear what will ultimately happen. Read more: Trump has begun another trade war. Here's a timeline of how we got here Some conjecture in the nation's capital is that the White House wants to sell some of the properties and then lease back the space. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "People are confused about GSAs activities, and Congress has little visibility into what exactly GSA is doing. And I dont know if GSA knows what it is doing," Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) said during a congressional subcommittee hearing about this proposal last week. "My own staff is largely getting news of GSAs activities from the press, from a Reddit thread titled 'GSA RIF Megathread' you'll never hear me say that again and occasionally from ex-GSA employees." Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the potential closures would deeply affect the state's residents. From courthouses to congressional offices, there are 16 federal buildings in our state alone that Californians depend on for critical constituent services like updating your passport, accessing veteran assistance, Social Security benefits and so much more," he said. "The haphazard closure of federal buildings that constituents depend on is far from efficient and yet another example of the administrations incompetence in cutting now and thinking about the consequences later. Immigration, citizenship, tax and housing services are among the resources provided at the federal complex in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, at 300 N. Los Angeles St. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Downtown should be a place where people come to work, live and play," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who represents the area. "If the federal building does indeed close, it will be a hit to the heart of our city, but one that would be unsurprising given this federal administrations tendency to slash key services to score cheap political points. The Trump administration has sought to save taxpayer dollars by closing or selling federal buildings even as it required federal workers to resume working in the office. The proposed closure of landmarks in Washington, D.C., such as the FBI headquarters, the former site of Trumps hotel at the historic Old Post Office building and multiple agency headquarters, drew the most attention and headlines. But most of the 440 buildings that the administration initially targeted are outside of Washington, D.C., which makes sense given that 4 out of 5 of the nations 2.4 million federal workers dont work in the nations capital, according to the Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many facilities listed for closure were named after prominent elected officials, such as President John F. Kennedy Jr. in Boston; former Vice President Dick Cheney in Casper, Wyo.; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco; and Rep. Leo Ryan, a Californian who was killed while investigating Jim Jones cult in Guyana in 1978, in San Bruno. Others were named after civil rights icons, including Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Cesar E. Chavez in Denver and Rosa Parks in Detroit. Additional California properties listed for potential closure are in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Van Nuys, Huntington Park and Pasadena. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The union that represents many federal workers is arguing that a formal government shutdown would be better than allowing Elon Musk to continue his unilateral assault on its members. In a letter to senators, obtained by Talking Points Memo, the American Federation of Government Employees urged lawmakers to oppose a Republican plan that would keep the federal government open for another six months. That plan, a continuing resolution passed by the GOP-controlled House earlier this week, would avert a shutdown that is due to start Saturday. But passing the Republican proposal in in the Senate would mean lawmakers effectively surrendering their constitutional power to the executive branch, where Musk backed by President Donald Trump has claimed authority to slash congressionally-authorized appropriations. If the White House can disregard such appropriations, in defiance of the Constitution giving Congress sole discretion over spending, then passing a CR with no limits imposed on Musk or his Department of Government Efficiency would in effect be providing the Trump administration a pot of money to spend as it pleases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everett B. Kelly, national president of AFGE, argued that Congress, in the name of preventing a shutdown, would be cosigning an ongoing assault on the federal government, noting that the Trump administration recently announced its intent to "effectively destroy" the Department of Education without the consent of lawmakers. "With thousands of federal workers either fired, placed on administrative leave, or at immediate risk of losing their jobs, AFGE members have concluded that a widespread government shutdown has been underway since January 20 and will continue to spread whether senators vote yes or no on [the CR]," Kelly wrote. While a formal government shutdown would indeed deprive remaining workers of a paycheck, if Congress passes the CR then "AFGE knows that DOGE will dramatically expand its terminations of federal workers and double down on its campaign to make federal agencies fail." The letter comes amid mixed signals from Senate Democrats on whether they will block the Republican CR, with some members of the caucus expressing concern that they could be blamed for a shutdown. Elon Musk is trying to shut down the government," one Democratic senator told The Hill. "If we shut down the government, it takes the blame away from him and it puts the blame on us for chaos and confusion. President Donald Trumps attempt to reshape the federal government is hitting some serious legal roadblocks. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that thousands of federal employees fired by the Trump administration must be reinstated, calling their terminations unlawful. Now, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) which is essentially the governments HR department has just seven days to show it has rehired these workers across major agencies like Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs. Most of the dismissed employees were classified as probationary, meaning they were still in their one-year trial period. However, probationary status can also apply to workers recently promoted to a new position. The Trump administration had justified the cuts by citing performance reasons, yet many employees say they had received positive feedback from supervisors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that is a lie, Judge Alsup said right before issuing his ruling. The decision stems from a lawsuit brought by a coalition of unions and civic groups on behalf of the dismissed workers. In the courtroom, Judge Alsup fiercely challenged the governments argument that the OPM hadnt directly ordered the terminations but merely coordinated the process, leaving the final decision to individual agencies. And while he was at it, the judge didnt hold back on OPMs acting director, Charles Ezell, calling him out for failing to show up to the hearing at all. You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. Youre afraid to do so because you know cross-examination would reveal the truth, Alsup told OPMs legal team. Following the ruling, several plaintiffs praised the decision while condemning the layoffs. These mass-firings of federal workers were not just an attack on government agencies and their ability to function, they were also a direct assault on public lands, wildlife, and the rule of law, said Erik Molvar, executive director of the nonprofit Western Watersheds Project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, affected workers quietly celebrated the decision. Everyone on the group chat is celebrating, an unnamed former IRS employee told CNN, referring to a text thread with former colleagues. But the legal battle isnt over yet. The Trump administration has vowed to fight back, calling the ruling absurd and unconstitutional. That could mean more uncertainty ahead for the thousands of employees caught in the crossfire. For more on how federal workers have been affected by these terminations, dont miss our chat with a park ranger who was fired after 15 years: The post Federal Judge Orders Rehiring of Thousands of Fired Federal Workers appeared first on Katie Couric Media. A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. It Sends Little Chills Down My Spine In a closely watched emergency hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell quickly recognized the threat to the rule of law posed by President Donald Trumps executive order targeting Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie and moved immediately to issue an order blocking key portions of it. I am sure that many in the legal profession are watching in horror at what Perkins Coie is going through here, Howell said. The order casts a chilling harm of blizzard proportions across the legal profession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Howell is not alone. Duke law professor Samuel W. Buell, a former prosecutor, told the NYT: This is certainly the biggest affront to the legal profession in my lifetime. The executive order, among other things, sought to terminate government contracts with Perkins Coie or with entities that do business with Perkins Coie; denied Perkins Coie employees access to federal buildings and officials; and stripped them of security clearances. In an unusual twist and a possible sign that career DOJ lawyers want nothing to do with the case, the executive order was defended in court by Chad Mizelle, the Justice Departments chief of staff who is also serving as the DOJs acting No. 3. Mizelle struggled to allay Howells concerns about the constitutionality of the executive order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This may be amusing in Alice in Wonderland where the Queen of Hearts yells, Off with their heads! at annoying subjects and announces a sentence before a verdict, Howell said, but this cannot be the reality we are living under. Meanwhile, the NYT reported that other big law firms were hesitant to defend Perkins Coie, which was rebuffed by at least one firm before Williams & Connolly rose to the occasion. I have enormous respect for Williams & Connolly, Howell said in court, and enormous respect for them taking this case when not every law firm would. What We Dont Know About Ed Martins Shenanigans Acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin has been up to far more mischief than has been publicly revealed so far, the WaPo suggests (emphasis added): The letter is the latest among an estimated 20 inquiries that people close to Martin estimate he has sent since taking office Jan. 20 as the top federal prosecutor in the nations largest U.S. attorney office. Among those that have become public, Martin has demanded information from figures such as Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the legal disciplinary counsels office over the D.C. Bar and the dean of Georgetown Universitys law school. Chutkan Slams Govt Conduct In Crazy EPA Case The Trump administrations over-the-top effort to claw back Biden-era EPA grants was tested in open court for the first time, and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan was having none of it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To orient you a bit, this case is a civil lawsuit brought by one of the grant recipients seeking to unfreeze monies it was due, so the case doesnt directly touch on the Trump DOJs baseless effort to use the criminal process to freeze the funds and intimidate the bank holding them and the grant recipients. Those corrupt efforts by acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, youll recall, led to the forced resignation of a senior prosecutor who refused to go along with it. But even in the confines of the civil case, Chutkan said the government needed to provide some basis for freezing the funds: Can you proffer any evidence that [the grant] was illegal, or evidence of abuse or fraud or bribery that any of that was improperly or unlawfully done, other than the fact that Mr. Zeldin doesnt like it? Chutkan asked the DOJ lawyer, referring to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, who purported to terminate the entire $20 billion program the day before the hearing, the timing of which also chagrined Chutkan. Quote Of The Day My ethical duty as a Department of Justice employee and now a former one is to the laws of the United States and the people that I was entrusted to serve. It is not to the bullies who are currently running the Department of Justice.Elizabeth Oyer, the U.S. pardon attorney fired by the Trump DOJ after not agreeing to restore Mel Gibsons gun rights The Pattern Isnt Hard To Detect President Trump has pardoned a Republican former Tennessee state senator in prison for his conviction in a campaign finance scheme. Brian Kelsey, who at one point was represented by Trump White House Counsel David Warrington, was released from prison after serving two weeks of a 21-month sentence. DOGE Watch U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan became the first judge to order Elon Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to DOGEs slash-and-burn attack on the federal government. DOGE is making its latest errors harder to find. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), the chair of the House DOGE subcommittee, called for the Trump DOJ to investigate recent attacks on Tesla properties. The New Spoils System Don Moynihan: Trump and Musk are engaged in a broad-based downsizing of government, using that downsizing to selectively target their enemies, while expanding their political power by trading exceptions to the downsizing. Social Security Is Suffering Under Trump ProPublica: Recording Reveals Head Of Social Securitys Thoughts On DOGE And Trump WaPo: Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report The Purges FLRA : In a new ruling, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ordered the reinstatement of Susan Grundmann to her post on the Federal Labor Relations Authority. DoE : The Trump administration is gutting the Education Departments Office for Civil Rights. HHS: The workforce at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration could be slashed by as much as half as soon as this week. Corporate America Avoids Standing Up To Trump The WSJ has a very good anecdote on the gap between the private dismay corporate CEOs express over President Trumps economic policies, particularly tariffs, and what theyre willing to say publicly to his face. Senate Dems Getting Squeezed The House-passed continuing resolution has put Senate Democrats in a tough spot. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is trying to massage his way out of it with procedural and messaging maneuvering, TPMs Emine Emine Yucel reports: The short-term CR and the push for a bipartisan spending bill are believed to be part of a messaging effort by Democrats who want to be able to say they did not roll over and accept the MAGA funding bill that House Republicans and President Donald Trump are shoving down their throats. Punchbowl runs through the most likely scenarios. Khalil Still Detained In Louisiana In a brief hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of Manhattan did not immediately order the return of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from detention in Louisiana but did allow his lawyers to have access to him by telephone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the jurisdictional fight over whether Furman can hear the case, the government said for the first time that Khalil was already in New Jersey by the time his lawyers filed court papers in New York to secure his release. No ruling yet from Furman on jurisdiction. The government still hasnt provided in open court its legal basis for detaining Khalil, but the WaPo obtained the Notice to Appear given to Khalil and it cites only a unilateral decision by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Khalils presence in the United States could have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences. Meanwhile, the journalism school at Columbia, where Khalil led protests, warned its international students not to publish anything on Gaza, Ukraine, or the Khalil case. Nobody can protect you, Dean Jelani Cobb said. These are dangerous times. Trump EPA Rolls Back Environmental Regs EPA administrator Lee Zeldin declared that his agencys new mission is to lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business, making no mention of protecting the environment or public health, the NYT reports. RIP Mark Klein NEGATIVE# josephm 195627SLUGFI/MARKKLEINDATE-11/06/07 Washington Post buildingPHOTOGRAPHER-MARVIN JOSEPH/TWP Mark Klein is the whistleblower who revealed the NSA wiretapping story. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The The Washington Post via Getty Images) Mark Klein, the AT&T whistleblower who revealed the National Security Agencys bulk electronic surveillance during the presidency of George W. Bush, has reportedly died. Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know! WASHINGTON (AP) An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency. Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a group of people who handle colleges' financial aid awards, also received reports of users experiencing technical issues and having trouble completing the FAFSA. Weve been trying to get more clarity on why its down," said Allie Bidwell Arcese, a spokeswoman for NASFAA. The Education Department hadn't shared any information on the outage, she said. The maintenance and troubleshooting may be impacted by yesterdays layoffs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The developers and IT support staff who worked on the FAFSA form were hard hit in the Education Department's layoffs Tuesday, along with staff buyouts and the termination of probationary employees. In all, the Education Department has reduced its staff by half, to roughly 2,000, since Trump took office. A list of laid-off staff obtained and verified by AP shows more than 300 people cut from Federal Student Aid two dozen of them from Federal Student Aid's technology division. That included the entire team responsible for systems supporting the FAFSA form, a person with knowledge of the outage told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation. While laid-off staffers are still technically employed until March 21, they had limited access to their email, phones and computers, making a response to the outage difficult, the person said. At one point Wednesday, about 70 people had joined a Teams call to try to pinpoint the cause of the outage. The call continued for hours. By Wednesday evening, the website carried a banner claiming Planned Maintenance was underway, and login access was cut off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reports of outages died down by late Wednesday night. Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann said the layoffs didnt affect employees working on the FAFSA form or student loan servicing. They were implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws, Biedermann said in a statement. They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families, she said. Problems with the FAFSA had vexed the administration of former President Joe Biden, drawing rebuke from Republicans. The form was overhauled last year in an attempt to simplify it, but technical problems blocked students from submitting forms or bungled financial aid calculations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advocates had feared frustration would lead thousands of students to give up on going to college at all. But overall freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges increased over the previous year. ___ Editor's note: A previous version of this story said freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges had dropped in fall 2024. That data was corrected in January by the National Student Clearinghouse, which cited an error in its methodology. Freshman enrollment increased over the previous year. ___ The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism notified leaders of four major cities on Thursday that it wanted to meet to discuss their responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses since 2023. The cities are Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. According to the Department of Justice, Mayors Michelle Wu of Boston, Eric Adams of New York, Karen Bass of Los Angeles and Brandon Johnson of Chicago were informed by a leading member of the task force, Leo Terrell, that his team was aware of allegations of unlawful discrimination against Jewish students at schools and campuses in their respective cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Terrell said he intends to meet with leadership brass, impacted students, and local law enforcement to gather information about the alleged incidents. From there, he will determine whether or not federal intervention is warranted. Its unclear when the leaders will meet and what federal intervention will look like. The Task Force looks forward to meeting with the mayors and other municipal leaders in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston to quickly and effectively identify ways that, working together or apart, we return safety, civility, and sanity to our nations schools, said Terrell. Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of October 7, 2023, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. Actions have consequences inaction does, too. In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Wus office said they stand firmly against antisemitism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boston has one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in America, a source of pride and strength for our City and our region, and we stand firmly against antisemitism. We were made aware of this inquiry from media reports and will determine the right way to participate as we learn more and discuss with our Jewish community leaders and partners. On Monday, six Massachusetts colleges received letters from the Department of Education regarding investigations into antisemitic eruptions on campus. The DOE warned of potential enforcement actions if the colleges were found to not be in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. These actions come in response to President Donald Trumps Executive Order to combat antisemitism. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism was formed on February 3, 2025 as part of that executive order. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW All nine defendants have now admitted to being a part of a drug smuggling ring that mailed a record number of fentanyl pills from Arizona to the Twin Cities hidden in stuffed animals. On Wednesday, Phyu Win Jame, 28, of Minneapolis, became the last to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to conspiracy to distribute the drug from August 2022 to February 2023. The others, all from either St. Paul or Minneapolis, also were indicted on the same count following the seizure of 280,000 fentanyl pills that were sent in six packages through the U.S. Postal Service from Phoenix to the Twin Cities metro area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities called the fentanyl seizure, which amounted to 66 pounds with an estimated value of more than $2.2 million, the largest ever in Minnesota. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can kill a person, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Court documents say several of the co-defendants traveled to Phoenix to obtain fentanyl from suppliers, hid the pills inside stuffed animals and mailed them to addresses in and around the Twin Cities. The drug ring disguised the stuffed animals as birthday presents and lined them with dog treats in an attempt to prevent drug-sniffing dogs from alerting them. The investigation involved law enforcement from Washington, Dakota and Ramsey counties, along with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations. Cornell Montez Chandler Jr., of St. Paul, who authorities say was the ringleader of the group, was the first to admit to the charge and remains the lone co-defendant to be sentenced. In November, Chandler, 26, was given a term that topped 13 years in prison and will be followed by five years of post-incarceration supervised release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three others then pleaded guilty: Stardasha Christina Davenport-Mounger, 25, and DaShawn Natori Domena, 25, both of Minneapolis, and Robiel Lee Williams, 24, of St. Paul. Last month, prosecutors secured guilty pleas from Shardai Rayshell Allen, 25, of Minneapolis, and Quijuan Hosea Bankhead, 31, FoTre Devine White, 28, and Amaya Tiffany-Nicole Mims, 24, all of St. Paul. Sentencing dates have not been scheduled for the eight co-defendants. Related Articles WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) - A coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general on Thursday sued the Trump administration over its mass layoff in the Education Department, where more than 1,300 federal employees were fired earlier this week. The group, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, sued the Trump administration in a Massachusetts federal court, calling the action "outrageous," "reckless and illegal." "This administration may claim to be stopping waste and fraud, but it is clear that their only mission is to take away the necessary services, resources, and funding that students and their families need," said James in a statement. "Firing half of the Department of Education's workforce will hurt students throughout New York and the nation, especially low-income students and those with disabilities who rely on federal funding. This outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal," James said. According to U.S. media reports on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education would begin implementing a large-scale layoff plan that evening. The department had about 4,000 employees, and approximately 1,300 employees were expected to be laid off. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he intends to dismantle the Education Department and return its functions to the states. He also said that the primary responsibility of the new Secretary of Education is to dismantle the department. Previously, several policies of the Trump administration have already faced lawsuits, including the revocation of birthright citizenship, the acquisition of private information from the U.S. Treasury by Elon Musk and members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), withholding funding from the National Institutes of Health, and the dismissal of employees from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). New London The City Council on Monday will discuss and possibly approve membership fees for the new recreation/community center that will offer price breaks to residents and low-income families. The draft rates are broken down by resident and non-resident status, as well as by age. For example, a New London resident between the ages of 23-60 the demographic most expected to use the $40 million facility on the Fort Trumbull peninsula will pay $45 a month compared to a non-resident fee of $57. Other membership rates cover children younger than 18 ($20 for residents, $27 for non-resident); young adults ($25, $32); seniors ($40, $52); and a household package ($100, $125). City and school district employees would pay $36 a month under the proposal. Early enrollees will not be charged one-time initiation fees that range from $10 to $65, depending upon age and residency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fees were set by the Power Wellness firm, which was hired to oversee the center, after conversations with city recreation and other department heads, Felix Reyes, the citys director of planning and economic development, said Wednesday. Reyes said membership rates, which he said are about 20% lower than comparable offerings in the area, are largely based on two overriding concerns: Making the center self-sustaining ahead of its third year of operation and ensuring all residents regardless of their financial situation can use the facility. Price breaks Reyes said the decision to give residents a price break was done out of a sense of fairness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The taxpayers are already funding the centers construction, and we wanted to give them a favorable rate, he said. Our other intent was to prioritize access, especially for those families in financial hardship. The city will also create a scholarship fund, similar to one currently used to subsidize recreation department programming, that will cut membership rates in half for eligible families. How can we afford to do that? By appealing to corporations and small businesses for sponsorships, Reyes said, adding scholarship eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Recreation Director Joshua Posey said currently families who cant afford the full fee for recreation programming, such as summer camp, can fill out an assistance form similar to the one the new center will use. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We do ask for some forms of income, but those families can get up to 50% off the cost of a program, he said. And theres been times when thats still not enough and well work to give a bit more off. Posey said on average 60 families a year qualify for some level of financial assistance, with about 90% qualifying for the half-off fee. Id say the majority are single-parent households with two or more kids, he said. In Monday letter to the council, Reyes explained why New Londoners, as residents of a distressed city, arent getting free access. It is crucial to recognize that affordability does not mean the absence of a cost structure, he wrote. Community memberships are essential for maintaining our facility, enhancing financial sustainability and fostering engagement among residents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Membership goals and getting there Power Wellness has set a membership goal of signing up 1,400 non-discounted members before the center opens, with an estimated 5,000 total members needed to keep it financially stable. The center is expected to generate additional revenue by renting out conference rooms, its gym and other spaces, as well as by providing personal training, swim lessons and other programming. The facility, which will house a two-court gym, fitness center and eight-lane pool, along with office and community space, is scheduled to host an opening ceremony before July 4 and fully open to the public later that month. The citys recreation department will also have offices inside the new center and will run some of its programming from the site. The majority of construction is set to be complete in April, the same month Power Wellness is slated to roll out its on-line membership link. In-person enrollment will be available inside the Chamber of Commerces Regional Innovation Center on Eugene ONeill Drive in mid-April. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reyes said his office has worked out an agreement with the Southeastern Connecticut Transit District to add a new bus stop near the recreation center. He said the citys SmartRide system, a public ride-hailing option, is also available to visitors seeking to get to the center. Were also talking with the school administration about buses taking students to the center after school, he said. One of the biggest asks we get is about having a place for kids to go while their parents work. The recreation department plans to have after-school programming, including homework and mentorship areas and open play. The City Council will meet at 7 p.m., Monday at City Hall. j.penney@theday.com (KRON) A female victim died after a hit-and-run early Tuesday morning in Burlingame, the Burlingame Police Department (BPD) announced in a news release. The collision happened around 6:09 a.m. at the intersection of Trousdale Drive and El Camino Real. The victim, a female resident of Daly City, died at the scene after being struck by a vehicle, according to BPD. Police neither released her age nor identity. Upon investigation, police arrested a male suspect from Millbrae in connection to the hit-and-run. This is what will replace the longtime McDonalds at Stonestown in SF The Burlingame Police Department offers its heartfelt condolences to the victims family and remains dedicated to ensuring the safety of our community, the department wrote in the news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigation remains ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) says it has put a stop to a public school teacher assigning religious assignments to students in Kentuckys Russell County Schools system. FFRF says a community member informed a watchdog that a teacher at Salem Elementary School was infusing her own religious beliefs into the classroom. Students had been given overtly religious assignments as part of their class work. Reported examples of assignments included a worksheet headlined, God Made Me Special, with the following instructions: God created everyone! The Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13). That means you are very special because you were created on purpose by God! Instructions: Complete the drawing to look like YOU! Then write 3 things that make you unique. An assignment given by the teacher in question B-29 Doc History Restored Tour coming to Evansville Wartime Museum FFRF says another assignment was headlined Jesus is King! and required students to Cut and paste the letters to spell the Kings name: Draw a picture of baby Jesus in the manger. In a Facebook page belonging to the teacher, the FFRF says she posted photos of classroom activities, including building nativity puzzles and a read-aloud of the book The Christmas Story accompanied by a detailed bright red poster about the religious origins of Christmas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is well settled that public schools may not show favoritism toward or coerce belief or participation in religion, a spokesperson for the FFRF emphasized. The teacher continually crossed the constitutional line and abused her position to instruct students about her own religious beliefs, turning her public school classroom into a Sunday school. Parents, not public school teachers, have the constitutional right to determine their childrens religious or nonreligious upbringing. Florida remains identified as transgender Kentucky woman 36 years later Russell County Schools Superintendent Michael Ford responded, On March 4, 2025, I met with the teacher mentioned in the letter and the school principal. The situation has been resolved. The FFRF says it is a national nonprofit organization that says its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FFRF cited certain court cases it applied to this case, which can be viewed below. Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Fifth grade students at Bryant Elementary School received a piece of history on Wednesday. The Sioux City Noon Sertoma Club continued its tradition of donating hundreds of scrolls printed with the Declaration of Independence. Every spring, club members visit fifth grade classrooms in Sioux City and some surrounding districts, not only talking about the history of the declaration, but also about giving back with community service. Goodwill of the Great Plains showcases new Mission Services Center Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We hope we get to do it every single year. We look forward to it, club secretary Shayla Becker said. And it gives our crew something to look forward to, going out and showing the kids that we practice what we preach and that we honor what our country was based off of every single day. Its important to us, and we want to display that to the kids. Following a presentation, every student received a scroll. Over the last 10 years, the local Sertoma Club has handed out over 90,000 scrolls. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. TAYLOR COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Since 2019, the Regional Victim Crisis Center has been working with The Office of Texas Governor Greg Abbots Child Sex Trafficking Team to expand their staff and capabilities regarding sex trafficking of those 24 years and younger. All that work and training culminated in the announcement and signing of documents on Wednesday, March 12. 15 local and state entities are joining forces to improve each agencys ability to identify, bring justice, and care for victims of sex trafficking in the Big Country. It is a privilege to have the governors team behind this important workI always say weve been doing it forever. RVCC for 47 years. But weve never done it alone, said RVCC Executive Director Janey Wawerna. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Veronica Lowenberg, West Texas Regional Advisor for the Office of the Texas Governors Sex Trafficking Team, attended the signing and congratulated and thanked the Taylor County agencies involved. The Office of the Governors Sex Trafficking Team is pleased to celebrate the launch of Taylor Countys Coordinated Response to support children and youth who have been victimized by commercial sexual exploitation, Lowenberg said. Partnering agencies include: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While many of these entities have been working together for years in one form or another, the signing and announcement officially formalize this network. Taylor County Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy Craig Griffis explained how this network will benefit all involved agencies. Think of a puzzle. Each entity had pieces of that puzzle, and we didnt know that the other entities had pieces of our puzzle. Now, with care coordination, we can bring all of those puzzle pieces together into one place and assemble it to make the picture and hold the people who are responsible accountable, said Griffis. In addition to the local entities, Lowenberg said that Taylor County Care Coordination will include involvement from a multi-disciplinary team of service providers, investigators, and prosecutors working diligently with survivors on each child and youth sexual exploitation case in Taylor County and will be facilitated by Regional Victim Crisis Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. With Donald Trump back in the White House and the rise of European right-wing parties, some have been concerned about whether sustainable investments will stagnate or die out altogether. Concerns about this have only heightened with the Trump-appointed head of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, recently announcing plans to undo more than 30 anti-pollution regulations, with the goal of "driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion." However, despite the challenges sustainable investments are facing, asset managers are still optimistic about the future of sustainability and investment growth. During Trump's first term, his administration stopped a number of actions on sustainability, such as withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and rolling back about 100 environmental protections. His administration also exhibited general skepticism toward science related to the planet's overheating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rollbacks removing or lessening penalties for pollution affected the global markets for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investments, so people have raised concerns about what will happen this time around. So far, a month into his second term, Trump has taken aim at strengthening the fossil fuel industry in the United States with a declaration of a "national energy emergency." He claims doing this will cut energy costs in the U.S. by at least half. As Funds Society reported, David Lee and Greg Meier from Allianz Global Investors stated, "His actions will complicate the fight against climate change." However, though climate efforts and investments may slow in the United States, the global outlook for cleaner energy and investments should continue to grow as European countries and China pick up the slack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With or without the U.S., the world is continuing on its path toward a cleaner future, and that cleaner future will continue to offer massive investment and growth for not only investors but America as a whole. Investing in businesses focused on sustainability or those in the clean energy sector has proven time and time again to be financially wise, as these businesses outperform dirty energy companies when it comes to long-term growth. That means profit remains to be had in the clean energy and sustainability sectors for individual investors. Should the government continue to give tax incentives for energy-efficient home upgrades? Absolutely No Depends on the upgrade I don't know Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Despite talk of the ESG bubble popping because it proved to be designed around misguided strategies, data from 2023 showed these investment funds in Europe alone reached around 420 billion (about $458 billion USD). The long-term growth and momentum of the clean energy economy continue unabated. However, Funds Society reported the head of sustainable investment at Lombard Odier Private Bank recommended, "Investors will need to focus on sectors that are less exposed to policy risks and on those aligned with long-term demand for clean technologies, infrastructure, and climate resilience." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. WARSAW, Poland (AP) Finland on Thursday announced a new arms package for Ukraine amounting to around 200 million euros ($217 million) and pledged more defense cooperation with Kyiv. The aid package for Ukraine involves artillery ammunition, which is in great need right now, said Finland's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen as he signed a memorandum of understanding alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov. Finland's Defense Ministry said other contents of the aid package would not be divulged at this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hakkanen said that Finland remains committed to supporting Ukraine and shares Kyiv's view of the Russian threat in light of our historical experiences." The areas of closer cooperation include information exchange, research and innovation, ammunition production, and defense industry projects in Finland and Ukraine, the ministry said. The minister said that the relationship was not a one-way street. Three years of war against Russia have made Ukraines armed forces one of the strongest in Europe. At the same time, the country has accumulated extensive experience in defending itself against Russia. It is therefore clear that in developing our own defense, we should listen carefully to Ukraines teachings and utilize their experiences, Hakkanen said. The latest decisions would increase the total value of Finlands material aid to Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros (nearly $3.6 million), the ministry said. Finland has announced a new, 28th military aid package for Ukraine, worth about 200 million. Source: Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umierov Details: The package must be approved by the Finnish government and president. "As in the past, the content of the aid package is not disclosed in detail. However, we can say that this time it includes, among other things, artillery ammunition, which is in great demand," said Hakkanen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He noted that in Finland "there is broad political support and national unanimity on the issue of helping Ukraine". "It is also valuable that we have been able to combine support for Ukraine with strengthening domestic supply security through the industrial support programme," the Finnish minister added. During the meeting, Hakkanen and Umierov also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation between the two countries' defence ministries. The document aims to deepen defence cooperation. The areas of closer cooperation include defence materials, information exchange, research and innovation, ammunition production, etc. Background: In January, Finland announced its 27th military aid package worth almost 200 million. It was also reported that Finland is supporting the second phase (2025-2027) of the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU) with a contribution of 4.5 million. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Finland has announced its 28th military aid package for Ukraine, valued at approximately 200 million euros ($217.4 million), the Finnish Defense Ministry said on March 13. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen confirmed that the package includes artillery ammunition, citing Ukraine's urgent need for such supplies. "There is broad political support and national unanimity on the issue of assistance to Ukraine," Hakkanen said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump urges Europe to take greater responsibility for Ukraine's security while sending mixed signals on whether European allies should be involved in peace negotiations. During a meeting with Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Hakkanen signed a memorandum of understanding on deepening defense cooperation. The agreement covers defense materiel, intelligence sharing, research and innovation, and munitions production. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Finland has provided Ukraine with 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in defense aid. On Feb. 26, Helsinki pledged an additional 660 million euros ($691 million) in military assistance, including domestically produced equipment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Rheinmetall prepared to supply arms for possible Ukraine peacekeeping mission Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Description Bayside Historical Society is excited to have author Rebecca Bratspies return for an ongoing presentation about more of the intriguing individuals behind the names of New York City's most famous roads, bridges, neighborhoods, and institutions. From the Kosciuszko Bridge to the Outerbridge Crossing to Shirley Chisholm State Park, these names reflect the vibrant history of the city that never sleeps, though few are aware of their real stories. Join Rebecca Bratspies once again as she reveals the dynamic personalities behind the names that have become New York's urban shorthand for traffic jams, culture, and recreation. Cost is $10.00 for BHS members and $15.00 for non-members. Purchase tickets at www.baysidehistorical.org/events-1/author-talk-with-rebecca-bratspies-naming-gotham-part-ii. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Bratspies is a longtime resident of Astoria, Queens. She is a professor at CUNY School of Law. A scholar of environmental justice and human rights, Rebecca has written scores of law review articles; four other books, including Environmental Justice: Law Policy and Regulation; and three environmental justice comic books: Mayah's Lot, Binas Plant and Troop's Run (with Charlie LaGreca-Velasco). She serves on NYC's Environmental Justice Advisory Board, is a scholar with the Center for Progressive Reform, and is a member of the NYC Bar Environmental Committee. ABA-SEER honored her work with its Commitment to Diversity and Justice Award. The more than 2 million federal employees have legal rights as civil servants that are supposed to protect them from being fired unfairly, including for political reasons. But the Trump administration's mass firings have exposed a flaw that has left tens of thousands without protection just when they need it the most. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created an administrative agency inside the government to hear complaints from federal workers who say they have been wrongly demoted or discharged. And the Supreme Court said this agency provides the "exclusive forum" to decide those claims, not an independent federal court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Citing that procedural rule, four federal judges in recent weeks have tossed out large lawsuits brought by unions and others representing employees. Judges voiced regret but said they "lacked subject matter jurisdiction" to hear the complaints or to rule on the legality of the firings. "An onslaught of executive actions have caused, some say by design, disruption and even chaos in widespread quarters of American society," prompting many to seek emergency help in court, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee in Washington, wrote in dismissing a suit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union and four other groups. But judges are "duty-bound to decide legal issues based on even-handed application of law and precedent no matter the identity of the litigants or, regrettably at times, the consequences of their rulings for average people," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Thrust into unemployment, axed federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing Legal experts say the civil service system was not set up to deal with the sudden dismissal of thousands of workers. "There is no legal mechanism for stopping these firings," said Suzanne Summerlin, a Washington attorney who represents federal employees. "If you can't go to court, there's no way to stop them. You can bring an administrative complaint, but you have to go through the process until the end and that takes many years. The Merit Systems Protection Board still has cases from the first Trump administration." She said employees who are wrongly fired "can file a claim and seek retroactive relief. That could be back pay and benefits, which could result in a large award," she said. "But it will take years to win your case." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law allows the losing side to seek a review in a special federal appeals court, which affirms about 95% of the board's decisions. The civil service law "was designed for normal times, not this," said George Washington University Law professor Alan Morrison. "No one was expecting that someday, the president would want to fire 50,000 employees all at once. Some of these plaintiffs will be dead before the Merit Systems Protection Board finally decides their cases." White House advisor Elon Musk flashes a "DOGE" T-shirt, the acronym for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press) Led by White House advisor Elon Musk, the Trump administration has moved to shut down entire agencies and departments and drastically reduce their staffs. In response, dozens of lawsuits have been filed that assert Trump officials are violating the law, and most of the suits urge a judge to order a stop. This could be through a temporary restraining order or a more lasting injunction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democratic state attorneys and other plaintiffs have won rulings that blocked the administration's "freeze" on funding and its refusal to disburse money that was approved by Congress. But the civil service law has made it much harder to protect federal employees. Read more: Constitutional crisis or no? Fears of Trump overreach abound as cases proceed in court To get around the procedural barrier, Democratic attorneys from 20 states sued last week claiming the mass firings hurt their states through "decreased tax revenues and increased demands for social services." U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco granted a "limited injunction" in late February to stop firings at the National Park Service based on a suit from the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks and at a few other agencies that had organized advocates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking in his courtroom Thursday, Alsup went further and said he would order several federal departments, including Defense and the Treasury, to "immediately" rehire all the probationary workers who were dismissed. He said agencies had the authority to reduce their staffs, but said Trump's Office of Personal Management did not have the authority to order reductions across the government. He is likely to issue an opinion shortly that explains his order. So far, all of the judges, including Alsup, agreed they did not have authority under the civil service law to block the administration's decisions to suspend or dismiss employees. They cited the Supreme Court's decision in Elgin vs. Department of Treasury in 2012. In a 6-3 decision, the justices said a fired employee did not have a right to sue in federal court over his dismissal for failing to register for the Selective Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court said the law channels such claims to the administrative agency and "precludes district court jurisdiction" because Congress intended the MSPB would be "the exclusive avenue" for bringing such claims. All these suits are at preliminary stage, however. They have not been decided finally by a U.S. court of appeals. If the administration loses there, Trump's lawyers are almost certain to appeal to the Supreme Court. The outcome is not likely to turn on the decisions of an administrative agency. In 1978, Congress created two new agencies to hear and resolve claims from federal employees who said they had been mistreated, demoted or fired for improper reasons. One was the Merit Systems Protection Board, while the Federal Labor Relations Authority hears grievance claims from unionized employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each is supposed to be headed by a three-member board, but vacancies are common. Currently, the MSPB has one Republican who serves as the acting chair and one Democrat, Cathy Harris, whom Trump wants to fire. The president can also fill the vacant third seat with another Republican. The FLRA also has two members from opposite parties and one vacancy. Summerlin said she expected "these boards will not be functional during this administration. They would like to shut down these agencies, and they won't be bothered by backlogs." Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. SPRINGFIELD Twp., Ohio (WKBN) When the lights and sirens go on, thats when first responders get into the zone. Whenever the tones go off or the bells ring, you know that you have a job to do, Springfield Township Fire Department Chief Mike Wright said. Its when they return and hang up their gear that they start to unpack what really happened. After the call, we can go ahead and sit back and talk about what we just did. Debrief and decompress from there, Wright said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police and firefighters have a demanding job. As taxing as the work can be physical, its the mental toll that can really be the heavy lift. You get called in on somebodys worst day, so theres a lot of things that youre going to see that on a normal day-to-day life somebody wouldnt see, Wright said. Springfield Township firefighters were some of the first responders that arrived on the scene the night a car accident claimed the lives of Jason Daff and his Mother Angela Brown last week. The crash left 12-year-old Jayden injured in the hospital. Its scenes like this that really hit home in a small town. The outpouring of support that you see from the community when there is one of these bad calls is always very heartwarming, Wright said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That support helps them rally, just like it does for the rest of the community. There are resources available to address mental health. Chief Wright had additional assistance ready for firefighters if they needed someone to talk to, but frequently the biggest assets they have are each other. I talk to some of the older guys who have been here 20-30 years longer than I have, and theyre great resources to talk to and mentor the young guys, Wright said. Help them understand healthy ways to cope with their feelings. Its that brotherhood that helps ease the burden of tremendous lows and savor the happiness that comes with a good day. Its a pretty amazing thing to talk to someone whose heart wasnt beating at one point in time and know that you had a small part to play them being able to talk to you again, Wright said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) Firefighters rescued two dogs from a house fire Thursday afternoon near Conway, Horry County Fire Rescue said. No injuries were reported in the fire, which happened at about 2:40 p.m. in the 500 block of Old Pireway Road in Conway, HCFR said. The home sustained significant fire damage. Photo: Horry County Fire Rescue Photo: Horry County Fire Rescue Firefighters gave the two dogs oxygen after rescuing them, and they are expected to be OK, HCFR said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Any displaced residents will be offered assistance from the American Red Cross of South Carolina. No additional information was immediately available. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The Conway fire department assisted at the scene. * * * Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Infrastructure facilities in Russia's Voronezh and Rostov regions caught fire following multiple drone strikes, governors Alexander Gusev and Yuri Slyusar reported on March 12. In the Voronezh region, two unnamed infrastructure facilities were allegedly shelled, one of which caught fire. Russian air defenses reportedly shot down five drones in the Rostov region, with one falling on the territory of an industrial facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Local residents reported that the drones targeted gas infrastructure. No casualties were reported, according to the acting governors statements. The Kyiv Independent is unable to immediately verify the reports. The attack comes amid an uptick in Ukraines drone operations targeting Russian energy infrastructure. Kyiv has particularly taken aim at Russia's fossil fuel infrastructure as part of its strategy to undermine funding for the Kremlin's war operations. Both regions border Ukraine to the west. Voronezh is located around approximately 279 kilometers (173 miles) northeast of Kharkiv., and Rostov Oblast borders Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Ukraine destroys 2 diesel trains in Russia, military intelligence source says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. WELLFLEET, Mass. (WPRI) Researchers spotted an encouraging sign for a critically endangered species in Cape Cod Bay on Tuesday. The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) said its aerial observers saw a North Atlantic right whale calf with its mother about five miles west of Great Island in Wellfleet. This calf is the first baby right whale spotted in Massachusetts waters for the 2025 season. ALSO READ: Americas butterflies are disappearing at catastrophic rate Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The calfs mother was identified as a 31-year-old whale named Nauset. Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute first spotted Nauset with her newborn calf on Dec. 1 off the coast of Georgia during an aerial survey. North Atlantic right whales normally calve further south before migrating north to feeding grounds in New England and Canadian waters. According to the CCS, Cape Cod Bay is home to one of the largest feeding aggregations of right whales in the world. During right whale season, Massachusetts requires vessels to travel under 10 knots in certain areas. It is also illegal for boaters, kayakers, drone pilots and swimmers to approach a North Atlantic right within 500 yards without a federal research permit. This season, researchers have seen 80 individual right whales in the bay so far. There are only an estimated 372 individuals left. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first sighting of mother/calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay each season is always an exciting moment that brings hope for the species, CCS Whale Ecology Program Director Dr. Daniel Palacios said in a press release. Every birth is vital for population recovery. The long-term survival of the species depends on these calves. 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WBTW) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may lose about 10% of its employees after suggested cuts by the Trump Administrations Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. NOAA not only provides weather data across the country but also manages fisheries. The agency already presented its proposed cuts to the Department of Commerce, but potential impacted programs have not yet been announced. This leaves some Americans on edge as they await its decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While there may be challenges, you know, that need to be worked through, slashing government jobs is not going to always be productive, Sarah Poon, associate vice president of Resilient Fishing Solutions at the Environmental Defense Fund, said. DOGE announced it may close down 19 NOAA offices, some of which maintain radar operations and generate weather forecasts. The agencys fisheries service southeast regional office is based in Florida where it manages ecosystems and species like red snapper, grouper and endangered right whales. Poon says all Americans rely on NOAA. But specifically, shes worried the cuts could take away necessary data, fishery councils and agencies need to make important decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leaders have now fewer staff and shrinking funds to be able to, you know, think about, you know, how to build toward the future in terms of collaborative management of fisheries that works well for businesses and conservation, she said. For months, commercial fishing captains have told News13 they believe NOAA overregulates and mismanages some species like red snapper. Last year, News13 reported NOAA opened recreational red snapper fishing for one day only, but many didnt participate because the weather was too rough. NOAA fisheries could have rescheduled, but said no one in the entire organization has the authority to reopen it due to absent rulemaking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jason Burton, captain and owner of Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters, says hes open to DOGE looking into NOAA and potentially allowing the state to have a bigger say than the federal government. But were out there and we cant catch anything but red snappers, that data is showing us that they have fully recovered to where the guy, you know, pushing a pencil saying theyre overfished, maybe he should get on a boat, come out there and see how abundant they are and maybe itll help, he said. All agencies, including NOAA, must submit reduction in force plans by Thursday. * * * Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Five years after the start of the Covid pandemic that killed more than one million Americans and shut down the world, health experts are really ready to say that its over - at least, for now. After evolving through multiple variants, including omicron, the virus has become more consistent with an endemic disease, they say. This pandemic did what pandemics usually do settle into endemicity, which means constant vigilance on our part, requiring ongoing vaccination and surveillance to keep the virus under control, Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California at San Francisco, told The Washington Post on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The endemicity of Covid is largely agreed upon in the medical community, William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, told the publication. However, it is worth noting that there are multiple definitions of what endemic means. For example, an endemic disease outbreak occurs when a disease is consistently present but also at predictable and manageable levels, according to doctors at UCLA Health. The Columbia Mailman School of Public Health defines endemic as limited to a particular region, making its spread and infections predictable. Malaria is one example, which is most common in sub-Saharan Africa. Influenza is also a common endemic virus. Experts are finally ready to label Covid an endemic five years after the virus shut down most of normal life (AFP via Getty Images) Experts say that a de-escalation in terms to an endemic is partially due to the evolution of the virus to less deadly variants, that many of those most vulnerable had already been killed and from immunity acquired through infection and vaccination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The development of vaccines was a key step toward the pandemic transitioning into an endemic outbreak, the American Lung Association said. Its been two years since President Joe Biden ended the coronavirus national emergency and the World Health Organization declared an end to Covid as a public health emergency. The agency noted then that the risk still remained but said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for 12 months that has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew. Since then, some Americans have gotten booster shots of the vaccine but the publics response to the threat of infection has also been different. Fewer and fewer people wear masks in public spaces or isolate when they feel sick. Theres a waning interest in getting booster shots as well. Notably, death and hospitalization levels are not nearly as high as they once were. Flu deaths have surpassed Covid deaths this year. In 2023, Covid was projected to be the 10th leading cause of death, according to researchers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some people remain skeptical of whether Covid is an endemic. In a recent Axios and Ipsos survey, 46 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly disagreed that the pandemic was over. The virus is still out there, but rates of test positivity, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits are all down. Pictured: School lunch workers as class resumed in-person learning in 2021 (Getty Images) Weve decided, Well, the risk is OK. But nobody has defined risk, and nobody has defined OK, Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told The New York Times last year. The virus is still out there, but rates of test positivity, hospitalizations and emergency department visits are all down, according to the most recent CDC data. For some, Covid has been endemic for a while. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions former director Dr. Mandy Cohen called the disease endemic last August. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Endemic doesnt necessarily mean good, Bill Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said last year. Tuberculosis is endemic in some parts of the world, and malaria is endemic in some parts of the world. And neither of those are good things. Its also possible to move back to a pandemic phase, Dr. John OHoro, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist, explained in 2022. "This isn't a one-way door. Continued vigilance and vaccination will be required at some point in the future to prevent another pandemic from disrupting our lives the way that we've seen... he said. FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) The governor has ordered all flags to be lowered to half staff on Friday in honor of a soldier who died in active duty in February. According to a news release, U.S. Army Major Scott Swindell died on Feb. 17 in Landstuhl, Germany, while serving with the 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State leaders said graveside service arrangements for Maj. Swindell is set for 1 p.m. on Friday at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville. From sunrise to sunset on Friday, all flags at federal buildings and grounds in Kentucky will be lowered. To find more information, visit the state government website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. Mar. 12A Flock camera helped lead police to a suspect in the shooting of a 15-year-old in Dayton Tuesday afternoon. Around 3:30 p.m., Dayton police responded to a reported shooting at Washington Playground in the 3600 block of East Second Street. Officers arrived to find a 15-year-old boy who had been shot multiple times, said Dayton police Maj. Brian Johns. The teen was transported to the hospital in stable condition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An investigation determined the teen was shot on North Garland Avenue and he ran to the park, Johns said. A Flock camera in the area captured the suspect vehicle and police were able to broadcast the vehicle's information to other police departments. Kettering police found the suspect vehicle later Tuesday and arrested a male suspect. The suspect has not been formally charged as of Wednesday afternoon. Johns said the suspect had a 5.7 handgun. "It's kind of a rare handgun that you don't see very often," he said. "It was actually used in the shooting and death of (Dayton police Detective) Jorge Del Rio several years ago. It's a very dangerous weapon. It differs from a regular handgun and will defeat body armor." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A motive has not been determined in the shooting. Police are not looking for any additional suspects. Johns said the Flock camera played a big role in police quickly identifying a potential suspect. "Thanks to that Flock camera we were able to identify this vehicle within a matter of minutes," he said. "It gave us at least a lead to go on whereas without the Flock camera we would've had very little to go on." The major noted teen violence was an issue in the city last year and is something the department is working to curb. "Any shooting is bad, but last year we had an issue with youth violence," Johns said. "It's definitely up and it's something we're trying to address every day as a city and a police department." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He mentioned the city's peace campaign, which was unveiled at the end of January. Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said the campaign will try to identify the causes of violence while investing in youth development and creating safe spaces. Johns also praised bystanders at Washington Playground for helping the teen. "Anytime we have something like that it's so good to see citizens coming together to help out," he said. Staff writer Cornelius Frolik contributed to this report. Description Marc Camolettis Boeing Boeing Next Up in HTC's 40th Season The boisterous comedy Boeing Boeing will take off this spring as the latest production in the Hampton Theatre Companys landmark 40th season, with performances running from March 13 through March 30 at the Quogue Community Hall. The production will be the 135th in the history of the HTC, which has delivered a wide variety of acclaimed comedies, dramas and musicals to East End audiences since its founding in 1984. A madcap farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti and translated by Beverley Cross & Francis Evans, Boeing Boeings 60s-era sensibility centers on an inveterate bachelor and self-styled Lothario named Bernard, who lives in a Paris flat with his opinionated housekeeper Berthe. When first we meet Bernard, hes engaged to not one, not two, but three airline flight attendants at the same time. Life gets bumpy when Bernards longtime friend Robert comes to stay, and complications like weather delays and speedier jets threaten to disrupt Bernards carefully planned romantic schedule with his Italian (Gabriella), German (Gretchen) and American (Gloria) fiancees. Slamming doors, frantic entrances and exits, and a seemingly endless series of close calls and preposterous alibis highlight this raucous, fast-paced period play. The original London production of Boeing Boeing debuted in February 1962 and racked up more than 2,000 performances over seven years. A successful run on Broadway launched in February 1965, and a London revival was staged in 2007. A New York revival featuring Kathryn Hahn, Bradley Whitford, Mark Rylance and Gina Gershon won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. The many productions of Boeing Boeing on both sides of the Pond have won over both audiences and critics. The Daily Telegraph raved, This is, by many an airmile, the funniest show on the London stage, with Mail on Sunday chiming in, Fasten your seatbelts for the most deliriously funny flight of your life. In its review of the 2008 revival, the New York Times noted, This latest edition of a play named for an aircraft soars right out of its time zone and into some unpolluted stratosphere of classic physical comedy [it] may be earthy, but its seldom earthbound. In 1991, Boeing Boeing was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most-performed French play throughout the world. Born in Geneva, Marc Camoletti soared to the forefront of the French theater scene in 1958, when three of his plays were presented simultaneously in Paris. The first, La Bonne Anna, ran for 1,300 performances and was produced around the world. Boeing Boeing, written in 1960, was an even bigger success, and became Camolettis signature show. A later comedy, Pyjama Pour Six, was adapted for English-speaking audiences as Dont Dress for Dinner, which ran for six years in London and opened on Broadway in 2012. The Hampton Theatre Company mounted a production of Dont Dress for Dinner in its 2017-18 season. The cast of HTCs Boeing Boeing includes one HTC veteran, Molly Brennan (A Doll's House, Part 2) as Gabriella. Making their first appearances in an HTC production are Kevin Russo as Bernard, Jill Linden as Berthe, Jason Moreland as Robert, Samm Jenny as Gloria, and Emily Vaeth as Gretchen. The play is directed by Catherine Clyne, who is also making her HTC debut after helming numerous plays at Playcrafters Theatre Company in Bellport, including recent productions of The 39 Steps and The Tin Woman. George Loizides is the producer. Set design is by Joe Kenny; lighting design by Sebastian Paczynski; and costumes by Teresa Lebrun. Performances of Boeing Boeing" will run from March 13 through March 30 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7, and on Sundays at 2:30. An additional matinee performance will be offered on Saturday, March 29, at 2:30, prior to the regular 7 p.m. performance that evening. Two talkbacks with the cast will be offered to ticketholders immediately following the March 21 and March 28 Friday-evening performances. Tickets are $40 for adults, $36 for seniors (65+), $25 for students (25 and under), and $30 for veterans and Native Americans. Tickets are available at hamptontheatre.org or by calling 631-653-8955. Yet another storm has arrived in San Luis Obispo County as of Wednesday night, bringing with it the chance of rain, 55-mph winds, hail and even flooding. The storm is expected to drop up to 4 inches in some places across the Central Coast and into Southern California, according to the National Weather Service. The heaviest burst of rain is expected overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning as a strong and fast-moving cold front arrives in the area and ushers in a three-to-six hour period of very heavy rain, the Weather Service said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That could translate to rainfall rates of about a half inch per hour for upslope areas, with a minor chance of it reaching up to an inch per hour in some spots. This storm will pack quite a wallop despite its short duration, the agency said in its afternoon forecast. Theres also a risk of strong winds, thunderstorms and maybe even a waterspout or small tornado, the agency said. The storm is expected to die out Thursday evening, before another system moves through Friday into early Saturday. Rain falls past a streetlamp on Junipero Way in San Luis Obispo on March 12, 2025. Multiple car crashes reported as rain arrives Update, 9:10 p.m.: A number of traffic incidents were reported Wednesday evening as roads became more slick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the California Highway Patrol, one car spun out on southbound Highway 101 at the Shell Beach Road off-ramp around 8:35 p.m. The white Tesla was partially blocking the No. 1 lane as of 9:10 p.m., according to CHPs traffic incident report page. Then around 8:48 p.m., another vehicle hydroplaned on Highway 101 north of the Cuesta Grade and hit the center divider, according to CHPs traffic page. No injuries were reported in either crash. Flooding, hail, high winds alerts issued for SLO County Original story: The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory, as well as hail and high wind alerts, for San Luis Obispo County on Wednesday evening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the advisory, flooding caused by excessive rainfall was expected throughout a large portion of the county until 11 p.m. The National Weather Service has just issued a Flood Advisory today 3/12/25 from 6:23pm to 11:00pm for San Luis Obispo County. SLO County OES (@slocountyoes) March 13, 2025 The advisory warned of flooding in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Atascadero, Arroyo Grande, Nipomo, Cambria, Grover Beach, Highway 101 over Cuesta Grade, Santa Margarita, Baywood-Los Osos, Avila Beach, Shell Beach, Templeton, Cayucos, Lake Lopez, Diablo Canyon, Oceano and Black Mountain. Low-lying and poor-drainage areas, as well as roads, were expected to be the most impacted. Meanwhile, the agency also issued a special weather statement Wednesday evening, warning of the potential for winds of up to 55 mph and pea-sized hail across southern and central San Luis Obispo County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doppler radar has indicated weak rotation with this activity, and while unlikely, there is a small possibility for a brief, weak tornado to occur, the agency added. People were advised to seek shelter inside a building and avoid driving on flooded roadways. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) As more states follow in Floridas footsteps banning the use of cell phones in schools, state lawmakers in Tallahassee are continuing the conversation trying to take Floridas current ban one step further. Back in 2023, the legislature passed a bill that prohibited students from using cellphones at school during class time. That effort was spearheaded by State Senator Danny Burgess, (R-Zephyrhills), who now wants to examine the impact of phone-free school campuses on student behavior. Phones are distracting students. More states want schools to ban them Senate Bill 1296, aims to establish a pilot program in six Florida school districts that currently have or will be implementing a policy to prohibit the use of cell phones by students during the entire school day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats not the only effort at the statehouse being taken up on this issue. To further address distracted learning, lawmakers are pushing to ban students from using their cell phones from the start of the day until the end. Cell phones not only cause constant distractions to a students focus during the school day, which impedes their ability to learn, but it also has shown to increase bullying throughout the school day, said State Rep. Demi Busatta, (R-Coral Gables). Busatta wants to build off of current Florida law with House Bill 949. The bill prohibits students from using wireless communication devices during the school day, rather than just during instruction time. It also requires schools to designate locations within the school building where students can use their cell phones with permission of a school administrator, Busatta said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill, which just passed out of its first committee, has already rallied up support. In my district, weve had two schools who implemented on their own a no cell phone policy during the day and it has done remarkable, said State Rep. Susan Valdes, (R-Tampa). But even with the bill getting a green light, not everyone is sold. Things have changed because of school lockdowns and school shootings, I do have concerns if this ever were to go a step further in terms of the pouches where students wouldnt have access at all to their cell phones, said State Rep. Lavon Bracy Davis, (D-Ocoee). However, despite those concerns, both Republicans and Democrats voted in favor of the bill moving forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Representative Dianne Hart, (D-Tampa) shared with 8 On Your Side that she sees both sides of the argument and wants to go back to her district and speak with parents and constituents to hear their thoughts on the issue. It does frighten me that kids cannot have their phones, but I can tell you that these children are so distracted by these telephones and that concerns me, Hart said. That youre not learning because youre constantly playing with your phone. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. 11 Investigates has an update on our exclusive reporting on a school bus ticketing program in some local school districts, including Pittsburgh Public and Norwin. The same program operates in Miami-Dade County in Florida. The sheriff there says she ordered a review of the program and that she suspended the enforcement of some tickets. The tickets the Sheriff in Miami-Dade County is referencing have to do with drivers who are on the other side of a divided highway when they pass a stopped school bus with red lights activated and the stop arm out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 11 Investigates has received dozens of complaints from viewers who say they believe they were issued tickets in error. Some of those folks say they were on the other side of a divided highway when they passed a stopped school bus. Thats not illegal. However, if there is a break in the barrier, similar to what you might see at an intersection, you must stop for a school bus under the law. PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 11 Investigates viewer complaints about school bus cameras wrongly ticketing people BusPatrol, who installs and maintains the cameras, says they dont approve the tickets, law enforcement does, and the law is clear. In Miami, news outlets have falsely alleged ticketing occurred across medians without openings, citing specific examples in which there was a break in the median. This reporting was incorrect and misleading to viewers, a spokesperson for BusPatrol tells 11 Investigates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement BusPatrol added that the sheriff in Miami-Dade County made the decision to pause enforcement on any potential violations that occur around road medians whether an opening exists or not. The company says this is not unusual and programs routinely reevaluate enforcement decisions. This revised enforcement policy does not mean any previous ticket was issued in error, but rather a policy decision was made to utilize law enforcements discretion to modify local enforcement on a go forward basis. 11 Investigates reached out to Governor Shapiros office. They say, at this time, there are no changes to the enforcement of tickers or to any automatic school bus enforcement programs here in Pittsburgh. The Governors Office added that if there are concerns, the PA Attorney Generals Office will look into them. The full statement provided by BusPatrol is included below: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, in Miami there has been inaccurate news reporting that has caused confusion around public guidance for drivers on divided roadways who are driving on the opposite side of the road from a stopped school bus near an opening in the road median. Florida law is clear: When a School bus is stopped and displaying a stop signal and there is an opening in a road median, drivers on both sides of the road are required to stop. If there is no opening in the median drivers on the opposite side of the median are not required to stop. In Miami, news outlets have falsely alleged ticketing occurred across medians without openings citing specific examples in which there was a break in the median. This reporting was incorrect and misleading to viewers. In addition, local law enforcement always has the discretion to enforce state traffic laws as they see fit in their own community. Miami law enforcement has recently made the decision to pause enforcement on any potential violations that occur around road medians whether an opening exists or not. This revised enforcement policy does not mean any previous ticket was issued in error, but rather a policy decision was made to utilize law enforcements discretion to modify local enforcement on a go forward basis. We continue to support the Miami Sheriffs Office in however they decide is best to enforce violations and promote school bus and child safety in Miami-Dade. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW ORLANDO Fla. (BLOOM) More than 400 Florida high school students showcased their culinary and hospitality talents last weekend at the 24th annual ProStart Culinary Team Competition and the Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) Competition. The events, hosted by the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Educational Foundation (FRLAEF), awarded over $1.6 million in scholarships to students pursuing careers in the hospitality industry. Students from more than 40 high schools competed in various challenges, including culinary arts, restaurant management, edible centerpiece design, and the waiters relay. Top-performing teams earned scholarships from institutions such as the Culinary Institute of America, Florida International University, Keiser University, and the University of Central Floridas Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Culinary winners also received full scholarships to Hillsborough Culinary Academies at Erwin Technical College. We are incredibly proud of the talent and dedication shown by these students, said Laura Rumer, director of the FRLA Educational Foundation. These competitions highlight their skills and passion for the industry. Its inspiring to see so many receive scholarships and recognition for their hard work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first-place teams in both the culinary and management categories will advance to represent Florida at the national ProStart Invitational in Washington, D.C., this May. Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, emphasized the significance of investing in the next generation of hospitality leaders. Hospitality is at the heart of Floridas economy, and these students are its future, Dover said. We are thrilled to support their growth through programs like ProStart and HTM, which provide them with the skills and opportunities needed to succeed. Statewide ProStart and HTM Competition Results ProStart Culinary Competition Overall Winners: Martin County High School (Stuart) Strawberry Crest High School (Dover) Wekiva High School (Apopka) (Tie) South Lake High School (Groveland) & Fort Pierce Central High School (Fort Pierce) (Tie) George Jenkins High School (Lakeland) & Lyman High School (Longwood) UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management Competition: Wekiva High School (Apopka) Strawberry Crest High School (Dover) Martin County High School (Stuart) Edible Centerpiece Competition: Bryar Stoney, Martin County High School Marie Townsel, Strawberry Crest High School Steven Twiss, George Jenkins High School Waiters Relay Competition: Martin County High School (Stuart) Fort Pierce Central High School (Fort Pierce) South Lake High School (Groveland) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ProStart program is a national initiative that prepares nearly 150,000 high school students annually for careers in culinary arts and restaurant management. Floridas program is the largest in the country, with approximately 30,000 students enrolled each year. Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) Competition Results The HTM competition, now in its 21st year, featured categories including hotel operations, hospitality project management, and a knowledge bowl. Florida is the only state that hosts a statewide HTM contest. Overall HTM Competition Winners: Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland) Colonial High School (Orlando) Osceola High School (Kissimmee) Hotel Operations Competition: Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland) Olympia High School (Orlando) Colonial High School (Orlando) Knowledge Bowl Competition: Colonial High School (Orlando) Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland) Robert Morgan Educational Center (Miami) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These students have demonstrated an incredible depth of knowledge and leadership, said Rumer. Their passion for the industry gives us great confidence in the future of Floridas hospitality sector. The competitions were made possible through support from sponsors including Keiser University, Universal Orlando, Disney Culinary, Ecolab, and Florida Atlantic University. For more information on ProStart, HTM, or the FRLA Educational Foundation, visit www.FRLA.org. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Just hours before a planned confirmation hearing on Thursday, the White House scrapped the nomination of Dave Weldon, a former Florida congressman with a history of anti-vaccine rhetoric, to lead the nations leading public health agency. Weldon, a physician and Republican who represented the Brevard County area in Congress from 1995 to 2009, had been tapped by President Donald Trump in November to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which is at the forefront of any response to pandemics. The health news site Stat reported the administration had concerns about Weldons long history of vaccine criticism and pulled his nomination Thursday morning. Axios first reported his nomination had been scrapped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement to CBS News, Weldon said his nomination was pulled because of opposition from Republican U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bill Cassidy, R-La. He also blamed Big Pharma for his removal. Weldons medical office said he was not available for an interview Thursday. The decision to withdraw Weldons name came amid a growing measles outbreak in the U.S. that has already cost the lives of two people, as well as widespread bird flu infections in chickens and cattle. Trumps appointment of Weldon had been celebrated by activists opposed to most routine childhood vaccines, including measles and rubella. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is one of us!! wrote the co-director of the anti-vaccine group Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights on Facebook. Dream Come True. Weldon, a physician in Florida before his election to Congress in 1994 and who now has an internal medicine practice in Malabar, said in his statement he was not anti-vax. More than twenty years ago, while in Congress I raised some concerns about childhood vaccine safety, and for some reason Collins staff suddenly couldnt get over that, he wrote. Weldon, a co-founder of the Congressional Autism Caucus, introduced the Mercury-free Vaccines Act in 2007 to restrict the use of the preservative thiomersal in vaccines. The bill died in committee. Thiomersal was largely removed from vaccines by the early 2000s, though it is still used in some annual flu shots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CDC, currently led by acting director Susan Monarez, announced this month it would launch a further study of alleged ties to vaccines and autism, despite numerous studies failing to find any link. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, has an even more extensive anti-vaccine background. Kennedy believed Weldon wasnt ready to take on the duties of CDC director, Axios reported, though Weldon claimed that RFK was very upset at his removal. He said I was the perfect person for the job, Weldon wrote. Kennedy has given mixed messages about measles vaccines since his confirmation last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the shots not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity. But he also told Fox News that federal health officials should also look at our vaccine-injured kids and look them in the eye, and made dubious claims that the people most affected by measles dont have good nutrition or a good exercise regimen. _____ (Photo: Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom) A group of Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Thursday to block the dismissal of nearly half of the Department of Educations workforce by the Trump administration this week. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford joined 20 other Democratic Attorneys General to block the terminations, calling them illegal and dangerously reckless. The Department of Education on Tuesday announced nearly half of its 4,100-employee workforce would be fired, the latest move toward Donald Trumps goal of dismantling the department entirely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the departments core functions include administering college financial aid, enforcing civil rights laws at schools, providing federal funding for low-income school districts and guaranteeing a free public education for children with disabilities. The lawsuit alleges the layoffs are so severe the department can no longer function, and cannot comply with its statutory requirements. Cuts to the department will result in the loss or delay of federal money for public schools in Nevada, especially for students from low-income families and students with disabilities, Ford said in a press release. Gutting the Department of Education isnt just unlawful; its an attack on Nevadas students, especially those who rely on special education services or come from low-income families. You cant take a hatchet to half the workforce and expect the department to function, Ford said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You cant rip away resources and expect kids to succeed. And you certainly cant do those things without following the law. This plan is unconstitutional. Its illegal. Its dangerously reckless. And I will do everything in my power to stop it, Ford continued. Only Congress has the authority to close a cabinet-level agency or dismantle its core function, the lawsuit says. Any moves to single-handedly dismantle the department are unconstitutional and illegal because funding for the department is authorized by Congress. The president can neither outright abolish an agency nor incapacitate it by cutting away the personnel required to implement the agencys statutorily-mandated duties, the lawsuit argues. The sweeping cuts are part of a government-wide effort by Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to reduce the federal workforce in an effort to slash government spending and reduce what they see as waste. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has targeted the Education Department specifically in the spending cuts initiative, repeatedly pledging to shutter the 45-year-old agency in his quest to move education back to the states. The lawsuit cites an interview with the Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Fox News, where she said the presidents directive to her was to shut down the department, and the cuts were the first step of eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat. The other state attorneys general joining the lawsuit represent: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia. MALONE, NY (WVNY/WFFF) Earlier this week, the state made a final deal with striking corrections officers, leading to thousands going back to work in New York prisons. Corrections officers said working inside the states prisons is just too dangerous. At Upstate we had several exposures, said Deven Hooper, a former C.O. (corrections officer) at Upstate Correctional Facility, in Malone, New York. There had been several safety situations that had come up before that. We were trying to get peoples attention that there was something going on, that we needed help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the same period, The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner, Daniel Martuscello, sent out a memo advising that 70% staffing would become the new 100%. We had been running our facilities at 70 percent so well that it was going to become our new norm, our 100 percent, said Hooper. That is when thousands of corrections officers at 38 of New Yorks 42 prisons staged an unsanctioned strike. For 22 days officers, along with family, friends, and supporters stood outside their respective prisons demanding one major change. The only thing that we really wanted out of this was safety inside the facilities, for the corrections officers, for the guys that work down back and for the incarcerated individuals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state responded by issuing notices. During one of several online press conferences, Martuscello was joined by the commissioner for Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Jackie Bray. Yesterday, we began terminations of corrections officers. Today, we terminated health insurance for officers who have been AWOL, said Bray. Hooper is still trying to come to terms with losing his health insurance. I have 3 kids at home. I have a wife. I support all of them. To suddenly have my insurance cut off, said Hooper. We struggle, but we find ways to get around it. If she wants to cut off our insurance, so be it. Were better than that. We knew she was playing a game from the beginning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During all of this, mediations and negotiations took place. The state put out several officers, but the officers rejected them, saying that the safety issues were not corrected. It didnt address the safety situations. As for the HALT Act, it was only a 90 day stop on HALT, said Hooper. Its just a band-aid for the situation. The final offer from the state came out last Saturday. It was dependent on 85 percent of officers returning to work on Monday. Even though only 77 percent returned, leaving at least 2,000 officers behind, it was enough for the state to honor the deal anyway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I understand everybody has their own situations. Everybody has their own reasons for going back, said Hooper. But I, personally, couldnt cross the line, not for the deal that came down through the line, not for the lack of safety that came through. Those that did not return were sent termination letters from the state. Termination letters have been sent to over 2,000 people who have remained on strike, said Martuscello, at Mondays online press conference. Hooper, along with the remaining officers on strike at Upstate Correctional Facility, say despite being fired, theyre proud to stand up for what they know is right. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ill stand here until the very last day, said Hooper. Just a few days after the strike ended, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order banning those officers from working any state-related positions, including police forces. Considering the dire need for more corrections officers in the state, even before all this, its still unclear if some sort of reconciliation is likely or even possible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. A former daycare worker accused of molesting a child requested for a bond reduction Thursday. Christopher Titus, 46, of St. Charles is accused of sexually abusing a child under the age of 12 while working at Here We Grow Early Care and Education in Webster Groves. Records show the alleged abuse occurred between January 2023 and August 2024. Police say Titus admitted to the sex crimes during an interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He continued working at the daycare until at least October 2024, where he was still teaching young children. Authorities confirm that the daycare has been fully cooperating with the investigation, and parents have been notified about the allegations. At this time, police say there is no evidence of additional victims, but they are encouraging anyone with concerns to come forward. The St. Louis County Prosecutors Office says they are confident in securing a conviction and believe Titus should remain in jail. A bond reduction hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at the St. Louis County Circuit Court in Clayton. Titus did not appear in court until 11:25 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LIST: Enjoy these 314 Day deals and events in the St. Louis area He was representing himself, but has requested a public defender. He stated, Im 46. I was born and raised in St. Louis. I graduated high school in 1997. Worked his whole life since hes been old enough to work. Was a teacher for seven years. No previous convictions. Financial resources very limited. He didnt go into any of the details of the case. The victims mother gave a victim impact statement, and the judge said there would be no modifications in bond Thursday. The next court hearing is April 7 at 1:30 p.m. The mother called Titus a predator and danger to society, and an ongoing threat other children. And what Titus allegedly did to her child was the death of her innocence. Your Honor, I urge you to consider the weight of this crime, the impact on my daughter, on our family, and on the safety of our children will not be overstated. Justice must be served, not only for my daughter, but for every child who deserves to be safe. The prosecutor said there is a high probability more charges will be filed later. Five additional interviews are being conducted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. President Xi Jinping's high-profile meeting with technology business leaders last month significantly enhanced the confidence of Chinese companies, prompting Alibaba Group Holding to make substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI), according to company chairman and co-founder Joe Tsai during a conference in Singapore. "I wouldn't underestimate the importance of that event," Tsai said on Wednesday at a gathering hosted by US broadcaster CNBC. "The message is very, very clear that the government is looking to private enterprises to come back and boost the economy." Xi's business symposium in February - which included Alibaba founder Jack Ma and other executives from major Chinese tech companies such as Tencent Holdings, as well as start-ups like DeepSeek - further solidified Alibaba's confidence in its AI investment, according to Tsai. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. In a show of its commitment to AI, the company recently announced plans to invest at least 380 billion yuan (US$52 billion) in cloud computing and AI infrastructure over the next three years. This marks China's largest-ever computing project financed by a single private business. The planned outlay also exceeds Alibaba's total spending on AI infrastructure over the past decade and is equivalent to half of the initial US$100 billion investment in the Stargate AI initiative promoted by the US. Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, attends a symposium on private enterprises in Beijing on February 17. Photo: Xinhua alt=Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, attends a symposium on private enterprises in Beijing on February 17. Photo: Xinhua> Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Xi's meeting "gave us the confidence to put our earnings back into capital expenditures and investments, and also hire people", Tsai said. He noted that Alibaba was already well-positioned in the AI landscape, thanks to its leading cloud computing business, which provided the necessary resources for model training and inference. He also highlighted AI's potential to enhance advertising revenue across the company's e-commerce and other businesses. Tsai said he had no concerns about AI completely replacing human jobs, citing how the technology could help equity analysts in improving research quality and writing reports, while still allowing them to apply their judgment and make better recommendations. Mar. 12A former Dayton attorney of trying to groom a Nevada teen over two years by exchanging explicit images, discussing sexual fantasies and asking her for sex has pleaded guilty to more than three dozen charges. Chris Six, 25, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to 20 counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, 10 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, seven counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and two counts of importuning, according to the plea agreement filed Tuesday. As part of the deal, Six agreed to an indefinite prison term of two to six years, followed by five years of parole. He will also be found a Tier II sex offender, meaning he will have to register his address every 180 days for 25 years, and will be forbidden from contacting the victim or other minors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of the deal, 34 charges were dismissed. Six was not in the Montgomery County Jail at time of writing and is scheduled to be sentenced April 9. The investigation into Six started in March 2023 after the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force alerted Dayton police that he might have images of child sexual assault on his Snapchat account, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office. "After a thorough search of the defendant's electronics and online accounts, it was determined he had maintained contact with an underage minor in Nevada and had sent and requested nude images. Additionally, the defendant had chats with the minor and discussed his (sexual fantasies). The relationship continued until the defendant's Snapchat account was shut down by the company because of the child pornographic material his account contained," according to a statement from the prosecutor's office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to an amended indictment filed Oct. 18, the incidents allegedly started when the girl was 15, and happened between April 30, 2021 and April 25, 2023. "This defendant groomed the child and continually victimized her. Sexual predators who do these types of things need to be locked up in prison where they cannot victimize any other children," Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said. Six is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law who was admitted to the Ohio Bar in November 2021 as a transfer. His license to practice law was suspended Oct. 19, 2023. He was among 171 attorney sanctioned for failing to comply with continuing legal education requirements, and one of 16 suspended, according to the Ohio Supreme Court. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The new surveillance video showing missing 20-year-old Loudoun County woman Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic is drawing reaction from investigative experts. The footage shows Konanki walking with a group of friends, including a man believed to be designated a person of interest by the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office (LCSO). LCSO emphasizes it is still a missing person case and not a criminal investigation. Several agencies are involved in the search, including Dominican officials as well as FBI, LCSO, and other United States federal agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What I find interesting [in the footage], is what was somewhat expected the inability for her to balance, said Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI special agent. She was really, seemingly having issues walking. Coffindaffer told DC News Now it is standard to name a person of interest in a missing persons case. Oftentimes in missing persons cases where they are unsure whether criminal activity is afoot, they do name persons of interest, but they didnt go to the degree of saying a suspect, she said. Person of interest identified in case of missing Virginia woman Sudiksha Konanki The 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student has been missing for nearly a week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coffindaffer said there are questions the person of interest should be asked, including some that would be necessary to know if the two were on the beach. I would want to know exactly what happened on that beach, she said. If they did indeed swim probably the biggest thing I would ask is why in the world if you knew that she was struggling, swimming and a wave took her away, or words to this effect that youve stated, why didnt you call for help then? Dominican Republic officials released a statement on Wednesday. Translated, the statement said that the prosecution is conducting multiple investigative procedures that extend beyond a possible accidental event. Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso said, again translated, as with any disappearance that occurs under the circumstances of the case at hand, we are applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Greenpeace Senior Legal Adviser Deepa Padmanabha is pictured outside the Morton County Courthouse on March 3, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) A former executive director of Greenpeaces U.S. affiliate on Wednesday refuted accusations from the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline that the environmental group was a major force driving protests against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017. Energy Transfer has taken Greenpeace to trial over claims that the environmental group incited illegal acts by protesters in North Dakota that cost the company millions of dollars in alleged property damages and lost revenue. It also claims Greenpeace conspired to defame Energy Transfer in order to harm its relationship with banks financing the construction loan for the pipeline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Annie Leonard, who led Greenpeace USA from 2014 to 2023, told jurors that Greenpeace only got involved in the protests because the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked. Tribal citizens started the demonstrations against the pipeline out of concerns that it poses a pollution threat to the tribes drinking water. The tribe also sees the pipeline as an infringement on tribal sovereignty because it crosses unceded Sioux Nation land. Annie Leonard (Photo courtesy of Tim Aubrey/Greenpeace) Leonard said that at some point during the protests, a Navajo activist named Tom Goldtooth a longtime friend of hers asked if there was anything Greenpeace could do to help the cause. Leonard said that while Goldtooth was not a spokesperson for the protests, he helped relay messages from Standing Rock leaders. She said Goldtooth shared with her that the demonstration camps had nowhere for people to charge their phones. This made it difficult for organizers to communicate with one another and spread word about the protests, she said. According to Leonard, Goldtooth also said that Standing Rock wanted help keeping the protests peaceful. In response, Greenpeace sent a truck equipped with solar panels to the camps, Leonard said. It also set aside money to pay for Native organizers to go to the camps and teach people nonviolent protest strategies, including deescalation tactics, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Records shown in court on Wednesday indicated Greenpeaces U.S. affiliate approved a grant for roughly $20,000 to send trainers to North Dakota. Leonard privately fundraised another $90,000 in donations for the same purpose, the documents showed. Leonard said one reason she raised the money privately was because Greenpeace didnt have any enough funds to award another grant. She also said she wanted to help be a matchmaker to directly connect donors with Native organizations working at Standing Rock. Greenpeace never tried to make its involvement in the demonstrations secret, though it also didnt want to bring too much attention to itself, Leonard said. She said that since Greenpeace is a household name, it has the tendency to overshadow local organizers when it gets involved in a cause. We didnt want to make the story be about us, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trey Cox, an attorney representing Energy Transfer, asked whether her testimony conflicted with an internal email Leonard sent during the protests describing Greenpeaces support for Standing Rock as massive. Leonard on Wednesday said she had exaggerated. She said she had written the email out of exuberance for the amount of money and resources Greenpeace was able to contribute to the cause. She said that even though she went out of her way to help support Standing Rock activists, she spent most of her time focused on other tasks. It was not major compared to the universe of things I was doing for Greenpeace, Leonard said. She said she never went to the protests in person. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More Dakota Access Pipeline coverage Brent Maness, a former Greenpeace employee, also testified about Greenpeaces role in the protests on Wednesday. Maness never went to the protests, but was in charge of some employees Greenpeace sent to the camps. During his questioning of Maness, Cox displayed an agenda for one Greenpeace nonviolent direct action training that occurred in 2015. The agenda indicates that the training discussed the use of lockboxes and other technical blockades. Energy Transfer has repeatedly brought up lockboxes and blockades as evidence Greenpeace wanted protesters to obstruct work on the pipeline. Pipeline opponents used the lockboxes, also known as sleeping dragons, to attach themselves to construction equipment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One bullet point on the agenda also referenced shaming police. Maness said he didnt remember why that was listed on the program. He said that the trainings had a lot more content and context that is not in the agenda. I can tell you unequivocally Greenpeace doesnt teach people to shame police, he said. Maness also testified Wednesday that while Greenpeace provided funding to send trainers there, the organization did not control the trainers curriculum. Greenpeace witnesses have acknowledged they brought lockboxes to the protests but maintain that the trainers didnt encourage or instruct protesters to use them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leonard said that it was her understanding that Greenpeace provided the lockboxes because organizers on the ground at the protests had asked for the devices. Cox brought up a text message exchange between Leonard and Goldtooth in 2016 in which he sent a photo of a Dakota Access Pipeline protester using a lockbox on construction equipment. Leonard replied that the action ups the ante. Cox asked what she meant by this. Leonard said that lockboxes can be tools for nonviolent civil disobedience, which she views as a tried and true component of American protest movements. When Rosa Parks refused to leave that seat, that upped the ante, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cox said Parks wasnt a fair comparison because she wasnt trespassing on private land. She had permission to be on that bus, did she not? he asked Leonard. She didnt have permission to be on that seat, Leonard replied. Cox countered that Parks action did not disrupt business for Montgomerys public transit in the same way that the Dakota Access Pipeline protests disrupted construction. Leonard pointed out that Parks act of civil disobedience, and her subsequent arrest, was the catalyst for the Montgomery bus boycott which did disrupt profits for the bus system. That boycott led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation on public buses unconstitutional. Greenpeace attorneys said they anticipate wrapping up their case on Friday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX President Trump pardoned a former Tennessee Republican lawmaker who was two weeks into his 21-month prison sentence for a campaign finance scheme. Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey announced his pardon in a post online. God used @realDonaldTrump to save me from the weaponized Biden DOJ. Yesterday, I received a full and unconditional pardon from an act that even my chief accuser admitted I didnt commit, Kelsey said on the social platform X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thank you for all your prayers! May God bless America, despite the prosecutorial sins it committed against me, President Trump, and others over the past four years, he said. And God bless @POTUS Donald J. Trump for Making America Great Again! Kelsey had been ordered to report to a federal minimum security satellite camp in Ashland, Ky., on Feb. 24. After receiving Trumps pardon, authorities were ordered to release him immediately, The Associated Press reported. Kelsey pleaded guilty in November 2022 to charges related to trying to use campaign funds from his Tennessee state Senate campaign committee in a bid for the U.S. Congress. He was indicted in 2021, accused of transferring $91,000 of contributions made to a political party or PAC to a national organization that financed his 2016 House campaign advertisements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelsey said he welcomed the investigation and blamed the Biden administration for the prosecution. When his co-defendant pleaded guilty, Kelsey did too. He was later unsuccessful in rescinding his guilty plea in March 2023, citing an unsure heart and a confused mind. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw denied Kelseys previous attempts to change the charges as late as last month. The Associated Press contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) A former Lufkin ISD superintendent spoke against House Bill 3 during a House Committee meeting on Wednesday. Longview officer injured in weekend shooting released from hospital, recovering at home Roy Knight, who was in the education industry for over 40 years, testified against HB 3 that would use state funds to pay for private schools, homeschooling and other educational services. The bill would also create more flexibility for parents to choose their childs education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This bill is a skunk that were trying to pass off as a kitty cat, Knight said. The bill argues that directing funds toward private schools will enable competitive pay for public school teachers. However, Knight contends that Lufkin has remained competitive with other schools for years. He also stated that public school teachers are frustrated by the implication that they have not been working hard until private schools became more popular. Jacksonville PD promotes Steven Markasky to chief of police Knight said this bill wastes more government funds than any other bill that has come through. This bill provides the opportunity for most waste fraud and abuse than any bill thats ever come through, Knight said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas legislatures are still contemplating whether HB 3 should be passed. Gov. Greg Abbott recently named the issue an emergency item and put the bill atop of his legislative priorities. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. A former local mafia boss died Wednesday after he was shot in his car in the middle of a busy highway near the French city of Grenoble, local authorities and sources close to the case told French news agency AFP. Jean-Pierre Maldera, 71, died of his wounds after the shootout Wednesday morning, the civil defense and the regional prosecutor's office said. Maldera was one of the so-called godfathers of the Franco-Italian mafia that terrorized the southeastern city in the 1980s, along with his brother Robert, a source close to the case told AFP. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robert Maldera, nicknamed "Il pazzo" ("The madman" in Italian), had gone missing at the age of 55 in 2015, the source added. He vanished after attending a meeting on the outskirts of Grenoble, and his car was discovered two months later in a parking lot nearby, BBC News reported. A prosecutor at the time said there was good reason to believe he had been killed. Both brothers had been jailed in 2004 in a case of alleged extortion, money laundering and procuring sex workers, but were then released the following year due to a technical flaw that thwarted the case. According to another source following the investigation, Jean-Pierre Maldera was shot from another car that then drove off. The site where a burnt stolen car was found that was used to chase former local gangster Jean-Pierre Maldera, who was killed in an attack on the nearby A41 highway, is seen in Grenoble, France, March 12, 2025. / Credit: Olivier Chassignole/AFP via Getty Images Videos circulating online showed a white car stopped in the middle of the highway, its driver's window shattered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Le Dauphine Libere, a local newspaper, reported three to four gunmen riding in a stolen vehicle shot at him as he was driving, then gunned him down as he tried to escape his car on foot. The assailants allegedly used a military-grade weapon, such as a Kalashnikov rifle, to carry out the killing, BBC News reported. Their vehicle's scorched remains were found shortly afterward in a parking lot a few miles away, it said. An AFP photographer saw the blackened ground of the parking lot after police removed what was left of the vehicle. The so-called Maldera clan to which Jean-Pierre and Robert belonged was dismantled in 1984. At the time, their father was found to own around one million French francs (about $165,000) in treasury bonds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A source who had investigated the Maldera brothers told France 3 that Jean-Pierre had been the brain behind their operation, while Robert had been the brawn, according to BBC News. Trump reacts to European Union slapping tariffs on U.S. goods Kentucky bourbon maker says Trump tariffs immediately impacted his business Woman charged after allegedly holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A former captain with the Nye County Sheriffs Office pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud and violating the civil rights of a former CEO of a Pahrump-based utility cooperative, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. David Boruchowitz, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of wire fraud. According to court documents and statements made in court, in February 2019, Boruchowitz was a deputy sheriff with NCSO. While in that position, he arrested Angela Evans, the former CEO of Valley Electric Association (VEA), without probable cause on charges of embezzlement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In making the arrest, he willfully deprived Evans of her right under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to be free of unreasonable seizure without probable cause, the DOJ said. Nye County captain indicted on charges stemming from alleged false arrest of former CEO Boruchowitz also admitted that in February 2019, he devised a scheme to defraud the VEA Board of Directors of a seat on the board. Evans arrest was a part of the scheme and Boruchwitz posted a press release announcing the arrest of Evans to the NCSOs Facebook page. The DOJ said Boruchwitz knew the scheme would influence a member of the VEA Board of Directors to part with his or her position. Boruchowitz lied to obtain search warrants at the electric companys offices and then arrested Evans based on the false allegations that she embezzled, documents said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judge drops 4 charges against Nevada sheriffs deputy accused in false arrest scheme Last December, a federal judge dismissed several criminal counts against him. Boruchowitz originally faced charges of deprivation of rights under the color of law, wire fraud, and perjury, however, Judge Andrew Gordon dismissed the wire fraud charges, saying there was no evidence he intended to obtain money or property from the victims as set in case law. Boruchowitzs sentencing was scheduled for June 10. The maximum penalty he can face for all offenses is 21 years in prison, prosecutors said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. A school principal in Connecticut says he suspected that a woman who allegedly kept her adult stepson captive in her home for two decades had been mistreating the boy, but no one heeded his warnings. Last month, the stepson, a 32-year-old man, escaped from the house where he'd been held against his will for 20 years by starting a fire inside his room. Once in police custody, the man who weighed only 68 pounds told police that his stepmother, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, had kept him captive since he was 11 years old, authorities said. Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Don Therkildsen described the situation to the CT Post as something "out of a horror movie," and one former school principal said it was a tragedy that his school had tried to get the state to stop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. Thats the tragedy of the whole thing, Tom Pannone, the former principal of Barnard Elementary School in Waterbury, told NBC Connecticut. Pannone said the victim was in fourth grade the last time he saw him, but he'd always suspected that something was wrong, noting that the child was extremely thin and frail. The former principal said when he asked the boy about his condition, the child told him he wasn't always given food at home. Kimberly Sullivan, 56, is flanked by police during her arraignment on March 12, 2025, after she allegedly kept her stepson captive in his bedroom with little food or water for 20 years (Waterbury Police Department) He wasn't the only one who noticed. Teachers at the school brought in meals for the student after they noticed him stealing food and digging around in the garbage. "Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong, Pannone said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former principal said he and his staff called not only Sullivan the stepmother but also the state's Department of Children and Families at least 20 times. At some point during the boy's fifth grade year, he disappeared entirely. Pannone was told that the boy had been transferred to Wolcott Public Schools, but he tried to look for a record of the move and found no evidence of the boy's attendance. Later, he was told the boy was being homeschooled. In reality, the boy was being kept in an 8 foot by 9 foot room without heat or air conditioning, according to prosecutors. Police noted in Sullivan's arrest warrant that the room where the boy had been kept was outfitted with a sliding bolt lock on the outside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his 20 years in captivity, few people ever saw the victim. One neighbor, Paulina Depina, told NBC Connecticut that she saw "that guy three times outside." On February 17, the victim fought back and set fire to his home in hopes that it would provide a means of escape. A Waterbury police report detailing the evening of the fire notes that the victim told "first responders that he had intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room, stating 'I wanted my freedom.'" Sullivan was arrested on Wednesday, and is being charged with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, and first degree counts of cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment. [The victim] lit a fire with some hand sanitizer, some paper from a printer, and he lit that fire while he was locked in that room from the outside. He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years hed been trying to get out of that room, prosecutors said during Sullivan's arraignment on Wednesday, according to WFSB-TV 3. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sullivan's attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, said the charges against his client were "outlandish." She was blown away when she heard these allegations, the lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse on Wednesday. Shes adamant they are not true. This did not happen and we look forward to being able to vindicate her and show that shes done nothing wrong. Her bond was set at $300,000, and she was then turned over to the Connecticut Department of Corrections. Reporters from NBC Connecticut questioned the DCF about the school's multiple warnings, but the agency said it could not provide details about the situation due to confidentiality laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pannone said he was angry when he learned about the mistreatment the victim had to endure for two decades, and forlorn that despite the school's best efforts, they ultimately couldn't stop what happened to him. "I hope the student remembers the staff at Barnard School and how much they really loved him, Pannone said. Sorry we couldn't do more. Because you went through more than any of us ever will go through with our lives." Former Siloam Springs police officer has law enforcement certification revoked SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) A former Siloam Springs police officer who was investigated in 2023 for having credibility issues has been decertified. A spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training on March 12 voted 4-2 in favor of decertifying Michael Anderson. Michael Anderson was a member of the Siloam Springs Police Departments Street Crime Unit, which mainly works cases involving drugs and narcotics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former West Fork police officer acquitted for negligent homicide accepts decertification He was accused of having inappropriate contact with one of his informants, and accusations began to circulate on social media. The department previously told KNWA/FOX24 that Anderson resigned from his position in September 2023 after an investigation was launched. The news comes after another former Northwest Arkansas officer, Christopher Cordeiro, formerly with the West Fork Police Department, waived his decertification hearing. The commission also accepted the recommendations for six former Fort Smith police officers to have decertification hearings after the department recommended them to be decertified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. DALLAS (AP) A former pastor of a Texas megachurch who resigned after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s has been indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges, that state's attorney generals office said Wednesday. Robert Preston Morris, 63, has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family, according to the attorney generals office. The abuse allegedly continued for four years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cindy Clemishire, Morris accuser, said in a statement that she is very grateful to the authorities who have worked to make the indictment possible and is hopeful "justice will ultimately prevail. After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child," said Clemishire, now 55. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Clemishire said she would like her name included. Phone numbers associated with Morris were either disconnected or messages were not immediately returned Wednesday. It was unclear whether he has an attorney. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done. The Gateway Church, based in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, was founded by Morris in 2000. It said in a statement Wednesday that its members are praying for Clemishire and all of those impacted by this terrible situation. We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions, the statement said. Morris resigned last year from the church after allegations came to light on the religious watchdog blog The Wartburg Watch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clemishire told The Dallas Morning News last year that she met Morris in 1981, when he was a traveling preacher and began preaching at her familys church in Oklahoma. She said Morris and his wife and young son became close to her family. She said he was staying at her house in 1982 when the abuse began. The church has multiple locations in the area. It is among the largest in the United States, according to the attorney generals office. Morris was known to be politically active. The church hosted President Donald Trump on its Dallas campus in 2020 for a discussion on race relations and the economy. Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five charges, according to the attorney generals office. He was not in custody as of Wednesday. By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC+ has exported a record amount of refined products, blunting the impact of the group's crude output curbs, as members including Saudi Arabia, seek to boost their revenues and market share, according to industry data and analysts. Supply targets agreed by the OPEC+ grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, focus on unrefined crude production. This means individual members can increase exports of fuel products - if they have enough refinery capacity without violating pledges to the group. Seaborne fuel exports from Gulf OPEC+ members Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hit at an all-time high in 2024 of 5.51 million barrels per day (bpd) on average, data from Kpler and OilX show, more than 7% higher than the previous year. "A lot of countries just realise that you can make a lot more money by selling refined products ... rather than exporting crude," Kpler analyst Andon Pavlov said. There was no immediate comment from OPEC or relevant authorities in the five countries. The rise in supply of refined fuel means that the overall reduction in supply to global markets is smaller than the headline crude supply agreements indicate, reducing the impact of crude supply cuts, analysts say. "In other words, in equivalent crude terms, more oil is reaching the market than required," Rystad Energy analyst Mukesh Sahdev said. The increase in supply of refined products is among the factors that have weighed on prices over the last two years due to weak demand growth from China, analysts say. Oil prices have fallen to around $70 this month, below the level many OPEC members need to balance their budgets. REFINING INVESTMENT The Gulf OPEC+ producers have been able to refine more after they invested billions of dollars in their downstream oil industries over the last decade. Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE increased their domestic refining capacity to 9.1 million bpd in 2023 from 6.5 million bpd in 2009. OPEC forecasts additional global refining capacity growth of 6.3 million bpd by 2029 driven by the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. Seaborne crude exports from the five countries fell by 713,000 bpd to 14.54 million bpd in 2024 from the previous year, according to Kpler and Vortexa data. This was a result of the 2.2 million bpd output cut the nations and three other OPEC+ members made last year. Taking into account the 374,000 bpd rise in oil products exports and the 713,000 bpd drop in crude exports, actual oil shipments to the market from the five countries fell by 339,000 bpd last year according to Reuters calculations based on the Kpler and Vortexa data. Former North Texas-based pastor of Gateway Church, Robert Morris, has been indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a minor, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General's office. Last year, Morris resigned from his post after admitting to "inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady" 35 years ago. The church removed several of its elders following a law firm's independent investigation into the allegations in November. Here is what we know about the indictment. Former Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris accused of sexual misconduct with 12-year-old girl According to the Oklahoma Attorney General's office, in December 1982, Morris was a traveling evangelist visiting in Hominy, Oklahoma with the family of Cindy Clemishire, the alleged victim, who was 12 at the time. Morris was 21. The indictment alleges Morris sexual misconduct began that Christmas and continued over the next four years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clemishire detailed her abuse in The Wartburg Watch, a blog focusing on nefarious issues in Christian churches. The alleged abuse continued in Oklahoma and Texas until 1987, Clemishire said. "After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child," Clemishire said in a statement to the Oklahoman after the indictment was made public. What is the statute of limitations for Robert Morris' crimes in Oklahoma? According to RAINN.org, the statute of limitations for lewd or indecent acts to a child must be commenced by the 45th birthday of the alleged victim who was under 18 at the time the crime happened. However, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General's office, the statute of limitations doesn't apply here because Morris was never a resident nor lived in the state at any time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Morris' crimes should have been addressed long ago. "There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, Drummond said. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done. USA TODAY contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former Texas pastor Robert Morris indicted on child sex abuse charges Fayetteville, North Carolina For the second time in less than two years, the largest U.S. military base has a new name but the new name is also its old name. For more than a century, North Carolina's Fort Bragg honored Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. In 2023, it was changed to Fort Liberty by a congressionally mandated commission to rename nine bases that honored Confederate generals. After President Trump took office, the Pentagon changed the name back to Fort Bragg last month, but honoring a different Bragg than the original. The base now honors Army Pfc. Ronald L. Bragg, who was awarded a Silver Star for actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, according to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rebecca Amirpour and Jennifer Bell, Roland Bragg's granddaughters, are plenty proud of their grandpa. Though Amirpour initially thought the name change "was a joke," she feels like "using our grandfather's name is a way of bringing it back in a respectful way." Lt. Gen. Gregory Anderson, commanding general of Fort Bragg, says his message to those who find the Bragg name and what it represents to be painful is that "Roland L. Bragg is someone they can be proud of." But Fort Bragg wasn't the only name recently restored. Steve Moore's family is on the other end of the Army's renaming decisions. Two years ago, Fort Benning in Georgia was renamed to honor his parents Lt. Gen. Harold Moore, a highly decorated 32-year infantry commander, and his wife Julia by the Naming Commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moore says he was especially touched by the renaming because his mother was also honored, saying the Army was finally recognizing "the value of the military spouse." Under Hegseth's leadership, Fort Moore is now reverting back to Fort Benning not after the Confederate general it originally honored, but Cpl. Fred Benning who served with honor for a couple of years during World War I "When I compare his short service in World War I, to mom and dad's lifetime of service, and everything they did and influenced, I have to ask the question why?" Steve Moore said, calling the reversal "an absolute loophole." There's no answer that will satisfy the family of Hal and Julia Moore, whose lifetime of valor and service to the Army was lost out to a soldier who had one thing they did not: the right last name. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump reacts to European Union slapping tariffs on U.S. goods Judge blocks deportation of pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests House's short-term spending bill heads to Senate, passage needed by Friday to avoid shutdown Four men have been arrested in Florida in connection with the fatal shooting of a seven-year-old boy, authorities have announced. Keith Fields, 18, Dannel Larkins, 20, Keith Johnson, 21, and 24-year-old Zharod Sykes are facing various murder charges over the death of Breon Allen Jr. on January 24. Another man, 21-year-old Lafayette Mango, was also injured in the shooting. Fields, Larkins, and Sykes are all documented gang members, and Johnson is a documented gang associate, according to the Jacksonville County Sheriffs office. They face charges of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted first-degree murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At a press conference on Wednesday, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said that Allens death was a culmination of escalating violence between two rival street gangs or street groups. Keith Johnson, 21,(top left) Dannel Larkins, 20, (top right) Zharod Sykes, 24 (bottom left) and Keith Fields, 18, (bottom right) are facing various murder charges over the death of Breon Allen Jr. on January 24 (Jacksonville Police) "It was a targeted, planned act...one of the murderers clearly saw Breon walking innocently with the intended target, Lafayette Mango, he said, adding that Mango was also a known gang associate. The shooting happened just after 5 p.m. on January 24, in Jacksonvilles westside. Police said previously that multiple shooters ambushed Allen and Mango, firing gunshots and killing the child. The suspects had been taken into custody in January following the incident, but the charges had not been filed until now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said online that the four arrests were only the start of the process of getting justice for Allens family and that more arrests would follow. There are other individuals who planned and participated in this heinous act, the force said. Our investigators are working every hour to build a strong case against them. We will arrest them, and they will face the consequences of their actions. Authorities said that 7-year-old Breon Allen Jr. was caught in the shooting that was an ambush by gang members, intended to kill Lafayette Mango, 21 (Jacksonville Police) "We know who they are and our investigators are building strong evidentiary cases against those perpetrators," Waters added on Wednesday. "They will be arrested. They will face the justice system." Waters said the youngster would be remembered as a sweet young man, who had a very, very, very bright future. That's the best way that I can put it, I don't know if there's any way to really express the impact of such a loss, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Casheena Love, Allens mother, described losing her son as a "nightmare." I have never experienced nothing like this in my life and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," Love told First Coast News in January. I never, never thought I'd be burying one of my babies." In a statement shared with the outlet on Thursday, Jacksonville City Council member Tyrona Clark-Murray, said: "Words can not express the relief accompanied with knowing the assailants who committed the heinous act of taking Breon's life are incarcerated. Unfortunately, the relief is partnered with sadness that four African-American young men's lives are ruined by senseless violence." The investigation into the case remains ongoing, according to the Sheriffs Office. LAUREL, Miss. (WHLT) Laurel police arrested four teenagers accused of vandalizing the Susan B. Vincent Sportsplex. According to investigators, the teens caused more than $5,000 worth of damage to four buildings at the sportsplex on Wednesday, March 5. Authorities said urinals, mirrors and sinks in three restrooms were busted and television screens in the hospitality building were damaged. Investigators said the teens were identified as the suspects after one of them was captured on a security camera. A Youth Court judge will determine if they will face jail time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sex offender sentenced for statutory rape in Jones County Laurel Police Chief Tommy Cox said the damage would be a felony if the teens were adults. The sportsplex is known far and wide. I mean, many people call this a great facility. The Parks and Rec Department does a great job with it. I would put it up against a lot of other facilities, you know, in our state and in neighboring states. And its just disheartening, Cox said. Its a waste of taxpayers dollars. You know, obviously, we have a limited budget here. Stuff like that, we dont budget for it. But, you know, its just taxpayers have to pay for these additional costs of this inconvenience. When leagues come out and they try to utilize the facility and you walk in and you see this, you know, it causes a safety issue, said Elvin Ulmer, the director of Laurel Parks and Rec. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said this is the third the complex has been vandalized this year. Theres no trial date set for the suspects. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. A U.S. District Court judge ruled against a former Fox News producer's claim that the network ignored sexually inappropriate behavior by ex-anchor Ed Henry. Jennifer Eckhart, who worked as an associate producer on Fox News Media's Fox Business Network from 2013 to 2020, sued Henry for sexual assault. Fox News was named in the suit, as Eckhart claimed the network was aware that Henry was sexually harassing women and failed to take action. Judge Ronnie Abrams disagreed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Fox News can ... be held liable for Henrys actions only if its management or supervisors knew or should have known about that purported misconduct yet failed to prevent Henry from harming Eckhart," Abrams said in her ruling. "On this record, the Court agrees that no reasonable jury could make that finding." The court also rejected Eckhart's assertion that Fox News fired her because she complained about sexual harassment. Eckhart was terminated in 2020 after several poor performance reviews, according to court filings. Eckhart's suit said Henry, now 53, manipulated and groomed her when she was 24 by abusing his power over her and her career. The suit alleged that he asked her to be his sex slave and threatened punishment and retaliation if Eckhart did not comply with his sexual demands. According to evidence submitted in the case, Eckhart and Henry began a sexual relationship in 2014 when he was a White House correspondent for Fox News. She said their first sexual encounter, which occurred in Henry's room at a hotel, was not consensual. Henry said that it was. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eckhart who said she met with Henry at the hotel because she believed he could help her career told the court she did not say "no" or fight him off during the encounter because she "was afraid of what he would do if she protested." She met Henry again when he was in New York in September 2015. Evidence showed that he asked Eckhart to send her undergarments to him in an envelope. She complied, fearing "professional consequences" if she refused, she said. Eckhart then met Henry in a temporary office where she performed oral sex on him, according to court documents. Again, Henry said it was consensual while Eckhart said she complied because she feared retaliation. (Fox News testimony noted that the company was never aware of Eckhart's relationship with Henry until she filed her complaint. The two worked in different divisions at the company, and Henry never supervised Eckhart.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the months that followed, the two exchanged sexually explicit messages. They met again in 2017 when Henry was in New York to co-host "Fox & Friends." Eckhart alleged she was raped on that occasion, while Henry described the encounter as "rough sex." Eckhart said Fox News was aware that Henry's behavior with women was problematic because he was suspended for four months in 2016 for having an extramarital affair with a Las Vegas stripper. The company recommended that he enter a rehabilitation program for sex addiction, which he did, according to evidence in the case. Read more: How I survived Roger Ailes' wrath in 1988: 'He wanted to beat you up a little bit' When Henry returned, he was given a promotion to weekend co-host of "Fox & Friends." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Fox News executives were aware Henry was having extramarital affairs, the company had not received any harassment complaints against him before Eckhart filed one on June 25, 2020, shortly after she was fired. Henry was dismissed six days later after an investigation by outside counsel. Henry was co-anchor of the three-hour newscast Americas Newsroom at the time of his firing. He has since joined the smaller right-wing network Newsmax, which has hired former Fox News journalists and hosts who were jettisoned over sexual harassment allegations. "We are pleased with the court's decision, which speaks for itself," Fox News said in a statement released through a representative. "Discovery in this matter confirmed that Fox News was not aware of their relationship or of Ms. Eckhart's allegations until after she left the company. The only people who know what happened between Mr. Henry and Ms. Eckhart are the two of them." Eckhart's sexual assualt case against Henry is moving forward. She plans to appeal the ruling on removing Fox News from the case. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Fox News will not have to face a lawsuit brought by a former associate producer who accused the network of ignoring the risk that shed be raped by former White House chief correspondent Ed Henry. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams on Wednesday dismissed sexual assault, sex trafficking, revenge porn, harassment and retaliation claims from Jennifer Eckhart against the network while allowing the majority of her case against Henry to proceed to trial. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, a lawyer for Eckhart said the ruling will be appealed. We look forward to holding Mr. Henry accountable before a jury, the statement added. The lawsuit, filed in 2020 in New York federal court, involved allegations that Eckhart endured years of sexual harassment from Henry that culminated in him violently raping her in a hotel room. The alleged incident followed Henry coercing her into a sexual relationship by threatening her career and him assaulting her at the networks New York offices. Fox News maintained that it couldnt have known Henry would assault Eckhart, who joined the network in 2013 as an administrative assistant and was promoted to associate producer, because it didnt learn of his alleged misconduct until years later. It denied allegations of retaliation, saying that she never complained about sexual harassment before she was fired. Henry has said his relationship with Eckhart was consensual. In Wednesdays ruling, the court sided with the network that its management couldnt have failed to prevent Henry from assaulting Eckhart. There is no direct evidence that Fox News was aware of Henrys alleged harassment of Eckhart before it occurred, wrote Abrams, who noted that she acknowledged that she didnt tell anyone at the company about their relationship until after she was terminated in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On summary judgment, Eckhart argued that Fox News supervisors knew that Henry was harassing other women at the network. She pointed to the network directing him to receive sex rehabilitation treatment in 2016 after it was revealed that he was engaged in an extramarital affair. Still, the court said that Fox News did not know about many of them until after Eckhart and Henrys final sexual encounter in 2017. It added, Because there is no evidence that Fox News learned about these affairs until April 2017 or later, no reasonable jury could find that they put it on notice that Henry would assault her. Fox News wasnt on notice of Henrys alleged sexual misconduct until Eckhart first reported it to the network through her lawyers in 2020, the order stated. Once it learned of the allegations, the court said it investigated and terminated him six days later. We are pleased with the courts decision, a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Henry and Eckhart advanced clashing portrayals of the two meeting for a drink in 2014 at a New York hotel. By Henrys telling, she accepted an invitation to his room, where they had consensual sex. By Eckharts telling, he locked the door to the room, threw her against a wall and had sex with her. She claimed she couldnt reject his sexual advance because she feared consequences to her career, citing another incident in 2017 in which she said she was violently raped and beaten. Henry will face a trial scheduled to start in May over claims of assault, battery, sex trafficking and harassment. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. France has restarted negotiations toward defining its future relationship with New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the southwest Pacific that is home to about 293,000 people. The move ends nine months of political limbo following violent protests, including roadblocks and riots, that erupted across the territory in May 2024. The protests came in reaction to French President Emmanuel Macrons plan to add more than 25,000 people to the territorys electoral roll to reflect inhabitants who have arrived, mainly from mainland France, over the past two decades. The rolls had been restricted as part of an agreement ending an armed independence movement in New Caledonia in 1988. The largely pro-independence indigenous islanders, who comprise about 41 percent of the population, feared the change would have diluted their influence in future elections. During his visit to New Caledonia to announce the reopening of negotiations in late February, French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls referred to the protests, saying, There is a before and an after. He characterized negotiations as an opportunity and said it was his responsibility to find a way toward an agreement that satisfies everyone. But that wont be easy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The islands of New Caledonia were first colonized by France in the mid-19th century. After World War II, they were designated an overseas territory with greater citizenship rights. But entrenched poverty and disenfranchisement in Kanak communities ignited an armed rebellion against French rule in the 1980s. To get more in-depth news and expert analysis on global affairs from WPR, sign up for our free Daily Review newsletter. Subsequent talks between the French government and island leaders resulted in the 1988 Matignon Accord and the 1998 Noumea Accord, which together outlined provisions for greater autonomy for New Caledonia, recognition of indigenous rights and investment in rural development, while guaranteeing that three referendums on independence would be held. An additional measure meant to prevent Kanaks from being politically marginalized restricted the electoral roll for the referendums as well as local elections to indigenous voters and inhabitants residing in the territory prior to 1998. The accords led to some progress in bridging the development gap, but significant disparities between the Kanak and non-Kanak populations remain. New Caledonia has one of the highest GDP per capita in the region, at $33,516 in 2022, compared to $5,405 in Fiji, for instance. Yet at 38 percent, the unemployment rate among Kanaks is more than three times the rate of 11 percent for the general New Caledonian population. And according to a recent study in North Province and Loyalty Islands, where communities are mainly indigenous, 62 percent and 77 percent of people respectively have lower than average living standards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Political frustrations also increased in 2021, after the third and final referendum under the Noumea Accords resulted in another defeat for the pro-independence movement. The first two votes, in 2018 and 2020, had shown a narrowing margin of victory for the pro-France majority, at 57 percent and 53 percent respectively. But Kanaks sought to postpone the final referendum, as it was scheduled to take place during the pandemic at a time when their cultural mourning rites would prevent many who had lost family members from going to the polls. When the vote went ahead as planned, they boycotted, resulting in a 98 percent victory for the pro-France position. As a result, the pro-independence movement has refused to accept the referendums outcome, and many maintain calls for full self-determination. A major test will be when negotiations again broach the subject of electoral reforms, which French authorities have announced are back on the table. Two years later, Macrons proposed electoral reforms, on top of his refusal to countenance a rerun of the referendum, inflamed existing grievances, and when those reforms were passed by a parliamentary vote in 2024, large numbers of Kanak youth took to the streets. Yet while protesters achieved their goal of forcing the government to suspend the electoral changes, it came at a cost. The small Pacific islands society was left shattered, with its economy in ruins. Damages amounted to more than 2 billion euros, increasing poverty for those who lost homes and jobs, while the territorys political landscape has been starkly polarized. Now New Caledonias local congress has turned to the French government for assistance to rebuild, and Paris has agreed. In addition to its regular annual funding to the territory, which amounts to about 1.5 billion euros, or $1.6 billion, the central government will provide a further 130 million euros, or roughly $135 million, to ensure continuity of government services; 192 million euros, or roughly $199 million, for the reconstruction of schools and public buildings; and loans of up to 1 billion euros, or roughly $1.04 billion. But Paris has conditioned much of that additional funding on New Caledonia accepting government and fiscal reforms. There cannot be an economic recovery without a political compromise, just like there cannot be any lasting political solution without economic recovery, Valls declared on Feb. 12, while adding that France needs to be there so that the economic slump does not turn into a social disaster. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Discussions about the future relationship and governance arrangements between France and New Caledonia began in earnest after Valls arrived in New Caledonia for a week-long visit on Feb. 22. While there, Valls signaled a shift to a more balanced engagement with both sides of the political divide, acknowledging Kanak aspirations for decolonization and self-determination, and making gestures of reconciliation toward pro-independence supporters, including by traveling to rural provinces to pay respects to those who lost their lives during the 1980s uprising. To Kanak customary leaders, he said that nothing can happen in New Caledonia without a profound respect towards the Melanesian people, the Kanak people and the first people. And he emphasized the need for a new social contract to address the grievances of the territorys younger generation. Nevertheless, this did not prevent verbal clashes with the public on both sides of the independence issue during his stay. These developments will be welcomed by neighboring Pacific Island nations and the regional intergovernmental organization, the Pacific Islands Forum, which has long supported New Caledonias reinstatement on the United Nations Decolonization List. The new overtures were met with a conciliatory response from moderate pro-independence leaders, such as Jean-Pierre Djaiwe of the UNI-Palika Party, who publicly stated that the heart of these negotiations, for us, is to reformulate the relationship between New Caledonia and France. The time we have ahead of us is precious. We have to make the best of it to reach an agreement. As Denise Fisher noted for the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, Although the Independence parties are divided, they welcome Valls references to the Noumea Accord as the basis for the future, and his framing of sovereignty and the process of decolonization. The fact that Valls appears to have agreed that future discussions should take place in Noumea, not Paris, is another important symbolic gesture in response to their demands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, there is still deep polarization between the pro-independence and pro-France camps. Some supporters on both sides accept the need for compromise, but the hardline pro-independence FLNKS coalition, for instance, currently refuses to participate in discussions that include pro-France representatives, while some pro-France politicians reject any mention of full sovereignty. On the New Caledonian side, discussions are now in the hands of the newly elected pro-France regional president, Alcide Ponga. A Kanak leader of La Rassemblement, or The Rally, party, Ponga took office in January following the fall of the previous government led by the pro-independence former regional president, Louis Mapou. Both Valls and Ponga are emphasizing a focus on pragmatism, with their priorities being to fix the territorys broken economy and rebuild its inhabitants lives. Alongside this, both are calling for a reset of relations based on a middle path of political consensus that rejects radical positions on both sides. But that approach may have a short expiration date, according to Blake Johnson, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. These talks may ease the tension between groups for some time, Johnson told WPR, but unless real progress is made on the future of the territory, the risk of renewed instability and conflict remains. A major test will be when negotiations again broach the subject of electoral reforms, which French authorities have announced are back on the table. There is a risk that they could provoke anger once more, Johnson said. But Frances ambassador to the Pacific, Veronique Roger-Lacan, has argued that the reforms are necessary to align with citizenship rights, as all citizens who pay taxes in a democracy must have the right to vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The next few months ahead will be critical, as France has expressed its goal to have an amended electoral roll in place before the next provincial elections, which are due to be held in New Caledonia by the end of this year. Catherine Wilson is an Australia-based independent journalist and correspondent reporting on current affairs, global issues, political affairs and international development in the Pacific Islands region. The post Frances Reset With New Caledonia Could Hit Some Roadblocks appeared first on World Politics Review. PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the agreement of peace treaty terms between Armenia and Azerbaijan should open the way for a lasting peace deal in the region. "I welcome the announcement of the conclusion of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There are now no remaining obstacles to the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which should pave the way for a lasting peace in the South Caucasus," wrote Macron on X. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta) Pope Francis has marked the anniversary of his election as the head of the Catholic Church in hospital, a statement from the Vatican said on Thursday morning. Thursday marks 12 years since Francis was elected as the successor to the German pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger. The pope started his day after a "quiet" night in the hospital, the Vatican said. Following the unexpected resignation of Benedict XVI in 2013, then-Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the new pope on March 13 of that year during the fifth ballot of the conclave, the secret gathering of cardinals that chooses the pontiff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The anniversary of the election is a public holiday in the Vatican, but there are no special events planned. The 88-year-old Francis has been undergoing treatment for the past month at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. He is suffering from double pneumonia. Francis is on the path to slight improvement, though this is progressing slowly, the attending doctors have said. It remains unclear how much longer he will need to stay in hospital. Frankie Dettori is filing for bankruptcy following a long-running tax-avoidance case. Dettori, who has ridden more than 3,500 career winners, announced the move three months after losing a court bid to retain anonymity in a battle with HM Revenue & Customs. He said: For the last six-months, my advisors have been working with HMRC in an attempt to find a solution to my financial situation. Regretfully, I will be filing for bankruptcy. I am saddened and embarrassed by this outcome and would advise others to take a stronger rein over their financial matters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bankruptcy is a major decision and its consequences will affect me for many years. I am relieved to be drawing a line on this long-term matter, which enables me to reset and focus on my international riding career. In December, papers were republished by the upper tribunal of the Royal Courts of Justice naming Dettori after his attempts to secure anonymity in his battle with HMRC were thrown out. HMRC has said in a statement: We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and do everything we can to help those who engage with us to get out of debt, such as offering instalment plans. Soft-porn entrepreneurs tax avoidance scheme The alleged tax avoidance scheme was originally devised by Paul Baxendale-Walker, who is described by Tax Policy Associates as probably the UKs most notorious tax avoidance scheme promoter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baxendale-Walker became a soft-pornography entrepreneur after he was stuck off as a solicitor when a disciplinary tribunal ruled there was a conflict of interest in the advice he was offering clients regarding his own tax schemes. Baxendale-Walker subsequently acquired Bluebird TV, an adult film company, and began directing, as well as appearing in, a series of erotic films, as well as enjoying the company of a string of women he called his hunny bunnies. At one stage he also owned the lads mag Loaded and bought Paul Raymond Publications, including the mens magazines Mayfair and Men Only. Then, in 2012, he appeared to tire of his playboy-lifestyle and underwent several months of therapy for sex addiction. Dettori, 54, joined a string of high-profile names to face huge backdated bills over investments in companies that HMRC accuses of being deliberately set up for sheltering clients from tax. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dettori has generated almost 160 million in career earnings. He is placed in the top 50 highest-earning jockeys in the world. Upon his name being made public in December, he said in a statement shared with Telegraph Sport: A few years ago, I employed the services of professional specialist tax advisers to look after mine and my familys financial affairs. A structure was created and I was told that it had been approved by HMRC. Years later HMRC is now challenging that structure. My former advisers have since been dismissed. My new advisers and management team are working hard to unravel the mess that I have been put in. They are also working closely with HMRC to resolve the matter as swiftly as possible. Dettori famously rode a Magnificent Seven of all winners on the card at Ascot in September 1996 at odds of over 25,000-1. In 2023, he abandoned plans to retire, announcing he would continue his career in the United States. Dettori achieved immortality at Ascot in September 1996 - Getty Images Before moving to the US, he parted company with manager of 30 years Peter Burrell. It is not clear when Dettori was using the services of Baxendale-Walker, but HMRC welcomed the courts decision to lift Dettoris anonymity in the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dan Neidle, the founder of Tax Policy Associates Ltd, has been following the case closely. Amazing that Dettori/his advisers thought it was a good idea to buy a scheme from a struck-off solicitor and convicted fraudster who gave negligent advice and then went bankrupt. Thats Paul Baxendale-Walker. More on him here, Neidle posted on X as the jockeys anonymity in the case was lifted. Tax Policy Associates was among organisations to appeal for anonymity to be lifted in the case. An HMRC spokesperson said: We welcome this decision, which represents an important win for the principle of open justice. Were committed to ensuring everyone pays the right tax under the law, regardless of wealth or status. Dettori originally brought an appeal to the first-tier tribunal against HMRCs decision to deny him deductions on income tax. In 2019 he asked for his case to be paused and more than a year later asked not to be named and for his case to be heard in private. A judge in 2021 said that the preliminary matter could be heard in private, while a different judge in 2022 ruled that Dettori should be anonymised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HMRC brought a challenge and, in January last year, the more senior upper tribunal ruled there had been material errors of law, and overturned the decision to have some of the hearings in his case in private. Dettori then made a bid to continue his anonymity, telling the tribunal that he was withdrawing the initial legal challenge over the tax deductions. His lawyers argued that someone who has lost a bid to be kept anonymous should be able to withdraw their case without being named. The Press Association, The Times, The Sun and non-profit Tax Policy Associates, as well as HMRC, opposed the jockeys anonymity, saying that not being named should be the exception and only when justified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a judgment in November, Mr Justice Miles and Judge Thomas Scott ruled in favour of the media and HMRC, and on Monday, Dettori was named in the ruling. Dettori is the latest sports star to face financial ruin as part of what Telegraph Sport recently revealed had been a major increase in bankruptcy petitions lodged by HMRC against individuals since the coronavirus crisis. British Olympic great Sir Bradley Wiggins was declared bankrupt in June last year, while former England rugby star and A Question of Sport captain Ugo Monye was hit with a bankruptcy petition by HMRC in January. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A Massachusetts-based solar energy firm is merging with the community solar arm of a renewable energy group to create one of the country's largest pure-play community solar companies. Perch Energy, based in Boston, and Arcadialocated in Washington, D.C.on March 11 said they are joining to manage more than 3 GW of solar power capacity developed by more than 90 groups across 16 states. The companies on Tuesday said the new venture will create a major community solar acquisition and management servicing platform. The company will focus on scaling community solar adoption with strong financial backing, with a governing board that includes investors in both Arcadia and Perch. Bruce Stewart, president and CEO of Perch, will also serve as chief executive officer of the new venture. Stewart, who also will sit on the new company's board, told POWER, Community solar is unique. We can bring clean energy onto the grid quickly and directly deploy valuable energy savings to a broad range of commercial and residential customers. Were excited that the combination of Perch and Arcadias community solar businesses will expand our technology, platform and services capabilities further under this new venture. Kiran Bhatraju, Arcadias founder and CEO, also will be a board member of the new company, which will be majority-owned by Arcadia. Both Arcadia and Perch were early leaders in the community solar sector, with decades of experience in energy. The companies are known for working with solar power developers to serve a range of commercial, residential, and low-to-moderate income customers. The companies on Tuesday said the new venture will manage over 3 GW of solar capacity across 1,000 solar projects in 16 states, serving over 300,000 residential customer equivalents with proprietary software technology and automation. The groups said the joint venture will leverage the best of both companies, from Arcadias market-leading customer acquisition, billing, and utility data software, to Perchs historical strength serving commercial customers, Production-to-Payment reporting capabilities, and the combined teams management leadership and policy expertiseensuring a smooth transition for all customers. We believe this venture reflects the natural evolution and maturation of the community solar business, and are excited to merge two strong teams with such dynamic and complementary services and technology, said Stewart. This venture also speaks to the clear need weve heard from solar project developers and asset owner partners who want a financially strong and scalable partner that can reliably serve them for decades. A partner that can support them with their growth plans and meet customer demand, as residents, businesses and governments continue to embrace community solar across the U.S. Were thrilled to join forces with Perch and continue delivering millions of bill savings for residential and commercial customers, said Bhatraju, founder and CEO of Arcadia. Bruce and team share our values and belief in community solar as the best energy product in the market, and as an essential tool in the coming years to create resilient distribution grids. Arcadia is continuing to expand its operations as an energy solutions platform. The companys business-to-business software platform serves enterprise customers globally, providing utility data integrations, artificial intelligence-powered analytics, and comprehensive energy management solutions. The companies said that while the new venture will operate as an independently managed entity, Arcadias platform business will continue to leverage the scale of this expanded community solar presence in its Energy Procurement Advisory offering. Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER. France's National Assembly, the lower chamber of the country's parliament, passed a resolution calling for increased support for Ukraine and the seizure of frozen Russian assets, Le Figaro reported on March 13. The resolution, whose significance is largely symbolic, urges the European Union, NATO, and allied nations to boost political, economic, and military aid for Ukraine. It also calls for the EU to move forward with seizing Russia's frozen assets valued at approximately $300 billion, two-thirds of which are held in Europe to finance Ukraine's military needs and post-war reconstruction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kyiv has only received loans covered by interest earned from the frozen assets. Despite fierce debate, the resolution passed with 288 votes in its favor. Fifty-four lawmakers from the left-wing France Unbowed and the Communist Party opposed it, while the far-right National Rally abstained. French lawmakers also amended the resolution to push for "an independent European defense" and to explore the possibility of deploying a European peacekeeping force to Ukraine once hostilities end. The proposal aligns with efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to advance a European-led initiative to support Ukraine, particularly amid uncertainty from Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Macron has previously floated the idea of sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, a suggestion that sparked backlash from the Kremlin. A recent Elabe Institute poll cited by BFM TV on March 4 found that roughly two-thirds of the French public favor maintaining or increasing aid to Ukraine, as well as deploying peacekeepers after a ceasefire. France, one of Ukraine's most vocal backers, has taken a leading role alongside the U.K. in supporting Kyiv as U.S. President Donald Trump pressures European nations to increase their contributions. Trump has repeatedly criticized former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration's level of aid to Ukraine, insisting that European allies should bear more of the burden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Russia presents US with demands for possible Ukraine peace deal, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The French National Assembly has approved a resolution calling for increased assistance to Ukraine and the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to provide financial support to Kyiv. Source: European Pravda with reference to Le Figaro Details: Despite heated debates in parliament, the document was passed with 288 votes in favour. Another 54 MPs voted against these were representatives of the ultra-left La France Insoumise and communists. The far-right Rassemblement national (National Rally) abstained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The resolution is essentially symbolic, but MPs hope it will enable them to influence the government's stance, which is currently against seizing Russian assets. The resolution calls on the EU, NATO and "other allied countries to continue and increase their political, economic, and military support for Ukraine". French lawmakers also introduced an amendment to the text calling on the EU to "build independent European defence". The resolution text also "calls on the European Union and its member states to immediately begin seizing frozen Russian assets to fund military support for Ukraine in its resistance and reconstruction." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other points that sparked discussion were issues related to the import of Russian gas by EU countries, which the resolution calls to "end", and the presence of French soldiers on Ukrainian soil in the event of a peace agreement. The final text with amendments "encourages the French government and its European partners to explore the possibility of deploying European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine." Read also: Hungary defies sanctions: Trump ally moves to unfreeze billions in Russian assets Background: The idea of "using Russian assets right now" was also supported by Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Recently, dozens of European MPs urged Belgium to confiscate Russian assets frozen under its jurisdiction. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Rep. Suzanne Wikle, D-Lawrence, speaks during a March 11, 2025, debate in the Kansas House of Representatives. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) Suzanne Wikle, a Democratic representative from Lawrence, wonders when the Kansas Legislature will get serious about addressing the states cost-of-living crisis. I think one of the things thats been most frustrating for me, and perhaps most telling about priorities of Republican leadership, is that we havent really done anything this year on the floor that I feel like really helps bring down the cost of everyday life for most Kansans, she told me Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I certainly dont think that we can control how much eggs cost, right? But I do think we can do other things to take pressures off of other aspects of budgets. So those would be things like making health care more accessible and more affordable, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs. Obviously, Medicaid expansion is something I talk about a lot. We could do a lot more around affordability around child care and some of those early learning expenses. We could do a lot more around housing. Theres a minimum wage bill out there that hasnt been heard. Those in charge at the Statehouse have made other choices. Harmful ones. That makes Wikles job and the jobs of others like her even more challenging. They have to keep going, keep working for positive change, and keep working for constituents. Theres no other path forward. Ive been following Wikle during her first term as a Kansas lawmaker. We first checked in with her on Jan. 29, as she settled into her office and new role after a long career in advocacy. In the weeks since, she has navigated an intense calendar and a Republican supermajority concentrated on its own partisan agenda. Members have indulged in conspiracy theories, plotted power grabs and used private school kids as political props. Thats not much of a surprise, to either Wikle or me, but it can discourage nonetheless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I feel like any bill that is brought to the House floor its safe to say its going to pass, right? Wikle said during a conversation in late February. In my first stint in the Statehouse on the other side, that was not always the case. There were votes that were very close, and sometimes you didnt know if a bill was going to pass before final action was taken on it. And I just feel like thats very different now. In other words and this is just me speaking now the fix is in. Wikle told me that she had enjoyed robust feedback from her Lawrence constituents. I wondered if that had been prompted by the high political drama in Washington, D.C., but the representative said the calls and email messages focused on state issues. I have heard a lot about opposing the elimination of the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots, she said. Ive heard when we were were focused on Senate Bill 63, the anti-trans legislation. I heard a lot from constituents in Lawrence about opposing that. Ive heard a lot about opposing the changing how judicial selection happens. Ive heard a lot about school funding and special education funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Working as a state legislator may sound exciting. You do get a title, after all, and an opportunity to work in the soaring halls and chambers of the mighty Kansas Statehouse. But its hard work for those who take the job seriously, as Wikle does. When Ive talked to her for these stories, shes either finished with one hearing or another, heading home, or planning for the next day. The work doesnt stop at least until next month. As we careen through the second half of the session, I asked what Wikle was looking for as lawmakers wrapped up their work. Would everyone come to their senses? Or would the bad vibes persist through April? Im hoping that at the end of the day or end of the session, we are able to meet our like obligations as a state for school funding, she said. The budget right now does not have adequate funding for special education. I think thats a huge concern. And I hope that if there is a tax package that passes, that it doesnt put in jeopardy the state being able to meet our required obligations. Good luck, then. To the representative, to her colleagues and to all of us. Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here. FREEPORT, Ill. (WTVO) Stephenson County Court Services announced the renewal of the Youth Diversion Grants, which could provide local organizations with $8,000 more in funds. The Youth Diversion Grants are for local nonprofit organizations with programs that specifically target at-risk youths who are not currently in the legal system. Court services reported that 51 juveniles are on probation, and chairman Dale Diddens said the funding could help reduce those numbers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reducing crime affects everybody, Diddens said. If we can get to kids at a young age pointed in the right direction, its a win for everybody. It doesnt always work out, but its certainly a good start and its a worthwhile program. Diddens said the funding comes only from a $5 youth diversion fee that is paid by persons convicted of criminal or traffic cases. The Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of Freeport and Stevenson County has multiple after-school programs for children ages 6 through 17. Kids can spend time with art, music, computers and get one-on-one lessons with educators. Education Coordinator Becky Spindler said BGC wants to help children get off the streets and onto the right path for them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes all of us to work together, Spindler said. Community, school after-school programs, parents, grandparents. We all play a role in that childs life. James Rhyne is in his 30th year as executive director for BGC. Rhyne said the organization applied for and received the Youth Diversion grant in the past and is looking to apply again. Thats what I think local funding is truly for, is to provide for those gaps in programming, Rhyne said. Well take a look at our need and assess that, and that will determine if will apply this year. Spindler said after-school programs like BGCs are helping shape childrens futures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You want that child to be pleasant, you want that child to have the skills necessary to be able to do a job and to do it well and to be able to communicate whats needed, Spindler said. I think theyre our future. Applications will be open until April 1st at 6 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. By John Irish and Daphne Psaledakis LA MALBAIE, Canada (Reuters) -Diplomats from the G7 nations were set to negotiate late into the night over a joint statement to show a united front in Canada on Thursday after weeks of tension between U.S. allies and President Donald Trump over his upending of Western trade and security policy. The Group of Seven ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the European Union, convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills, for meetings on Thursday and Friday that in the past have been broadly consensual. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed his colleagues on talks on Tuesday with Ukraine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Kyiv said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire deal. But officials said ambiguous comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin left delegates unclear where things stood. In the run-up to the first G7 meeting of Canada's presidency, the crafting of an agreed all-encompassing final statement had been tough, but diplomats said the atmosphere since had been positive and candid. There was hope for an accord, something they said was vital to show unity. "If we can't reach agreement on the communique, then it shows the division. It's not in the interest of any of the members of the G7," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kallas said she was optimistic and that there was good wording on Ukraine so far that she hoped remained. A Japanese official echoed Kallas, saying failure to reach an agreement would only benefit China and Russia. A U.S. decision to impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports immediately drew reciprocal measures from Canada and the EU, underscoring the tensions. "Under @POTUS's leadership, we are going to use forums like the G7 to counter our adversaries and stand by our allies. America First!" Rubio said on X. Washington had sought to impose red lines on language around Ukraine and opposed a separate declaration on curbing Russia's so-called shadow fleet, a murky shipping network that eludes sanctions, while demanding more robust language on China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A draft communique seen by Reuters made no mention of possible new sanctions on Russia. However, it emphasised the need for robust and credible security guarantees so that a ceasefire would be respected and that Ukraine would be able to deter and defend itself against future aggression. The draft, substantially shorter than a statement in November that took aim at Russia, welcomed U.S. efforts in Jeddah and Ukraine's commitment to an immediate ceasefire. It urged Russia to follow "unconditionally." It also includes tougher language on China, as requested by Washington, and language on Taiwan that will likely be encouraging to Taipei. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since Trump's return to office on January 20 the United States has taken a less friendly stance with Ukraine and moved closer to Moscow, pushing for a quick deal to end the war and demanding European partners take on more of the burden without openly endorsing their role in future talks. Two diplomats said there was also wrangling over language regarding Gaza and the Middle East, notably the notion of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something the U.S. was resisting, and could ultimately stop an agreement. A G7 statement on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February made no mention of a two-state solution. Kallas said there could be a similar compromise. The draft also warned Syrian's transitional authorities that targeted measures could be taken if what it called "massacres" against civilians in the coastal areas did not end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TARIFFS TO 51ST STATE Trump has suggested the G8 might be revived with the return of Moscow 11 years after its membership in the group was suspended over its claimed annexation of Crimea. Even Japan, heavily reliant on American security guarantees, has found itself in Trump's firing line. "It's very difficult. Maybe we should wait for the G8," said one European diplomat ironically. Nowhere have the difficulties for U.S. allies been more apparent than in Canada. Relations between the United States and Canada are at an all-time low, thanks to Trump's threats to impose tariffs on all imports from Canada and his frequent musing about annexing the country to make it the 51st U.S. state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump issued a new tariff threat on Thursday, warning Europe that he could slap 200% tariffs on wine imports if it did not back down on measures against American whiskey. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Wednesday she would be on the offensive at the G7 and coordinate a response with the Europeans to put pressure on the U.S. (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Toby Chopra and Stephen Coates) RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Members of a North Carolina House committee approved to move a proposed bill forward that would support family members of fallen first responders. The Gabe Torres Act honors the life of Raleigh Police Officer Torres, one of five people killed in a mass shooting in October 2022 in the Hedingham neighborhood. Torres was shot in his vehicle while preparing to head to work. The House Bill would ultimately expand eligibility under the Public Safety Employees Death Benefits Act to include individuals killed on their way to or from work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Sarah Crawford (D-Wake) said she first introduced a similar bill two years ago when she learned about the officers death. I made a comment to another police officer about Officer Torres, and they informed me that because he was on his way to work, he would not be considered fallen in the line of duty. I just couldnt believe that, said Crawford. According to state law, families are currently unable to receive death benefits of responders killed on their way to or from duty. After a long process, Crawford said Torres family was eventually able to receive compensation. Jasmin, his wife, was just so grateful. She had been fighting to get him honored in that way going through multiple petitions and appeals, and every time she made it to the next round, she had to relive the trauma of that day, Crawford said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUSLY: Widow of Raleigh officer killed in Hedingham shooting to receive workers compensation While there was success, Crawford said their goal still hadnt been met. Between the House and the Senate, we were able to get that done for Officer Torres. Unfortunately, as the legislation got negotiated and a much large package of the budget, we were only able to get that done really to honor Officer Torres and not all of our law enforcement officers who make really challenging sacrifices every day, said Crawford. Its part of the reason the representative said she stood in front of members of a State House committee Wednesday morning, hoping to broaden the scope of the law and clarify its language. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tim Bradley, the Executive Director for the North Carolina State Fire Association, was also there to share his support for House Bill 137. In the past, the law covered to and from training it never covered to and from duty, Bradley said. Officer Torres loss of life brought forward a significant issue, and that is emergency first responders are often called back during storms, hurricanes, riots and its those times that are dangerous. Matt Cooper, the president for the Raleigh Police Protective Association, said the proposed bill adds a layer of comfort. Whether off or on duty, going to or from work, Cooper said when an incident arises, those first responders have a reassurance for the protection of their family. The Gabe Torres Act will now head to an appropriations committee, but Crawford is optimistic it will pass to the House Floor for a full vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. PLATTSBURGH The national average price of gasoline declined for a third week, down 0.6 cents to $3.03 per gallon, and in New York state it was down 3.2 cents at $3.09. According to GasBuddy data, the national average is down 8.9 cents compared to a month ago and 36.7cents lower than a year ago and in New York state, 6.6 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and 23.3 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. hasnt been this low in March since 2021, when the pandemic significantly reduced demand and kept prices suppressed. This time around, caution is also playing a role in keeping prices lower particularly uncertainty over tariffs, which is likely having a moderate impact, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Concerns about the direction of the economy could have a major influence on fuel prices in the months ahead, especially with the high level of uncertainty surrounding tariffs. Additionally, OPEC+ announced last week that it would gradually begin restoring oil production after nearly two years of cuts, adding further downward pressure on oil prices. As a result, the typical seasonal rise in gas prices has yet to materialize, and if and when it does, it may be considerably smaller than expected. The most common price per gallon encountered by motorists remains unchanged at $2.99. The top 10% of gas stations have a reported average of $4.47 per gallon, with the bottom averaging $2.46. California, Hawaii and Washington average the highest prices per gallon at $4.65, $4.57 and $4.03 respectively. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The states with the lowest average prices per gallon are Mississippi at $2.60, Tennessee at $2.64 and Louisiana at $2.65. LOCAL PRICES As of Tuesday, Mar 11 these are the reported prices per gallon from stations around the North Country. Plattsburgh: Sams Club (membership required) $2.81 Luckys (Irish Settlement Road) $2.89 Mobil (Rugar Street) $2.91 24 Hour Fuel (Archie Bordeau Road) $2.99 Mobil (NY22) $2.99 Champys Gas and Go (Boynton Avenue) $2.99 Sunoco (Margaret Street) $2.99 Mannys Sunoco (cash only) $3.05 Stewarts Shops (Rugar Street) $3.09 Maplefields (NY3) $3.09 Shell (NY3) $3.12 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement St. Armands $3.09 Stewarts Shops (4717 US9) $3.09 Champlain: Irving (Spiegel Drive) $3.29 Mobil (US11) $3.29 Valero (US11) $3.29 Ticonderoga: Stewarts Shops (Montcalm Street) $3.38 Mobil (NY9N) $3.39 Saranac Lake: Mobil (Broadway) $3.59 Stewarts Shops (Bloomingdale Avenue) $3.59 Lake Placid: Stewarts Shops (Saranac Avenue) $3.59 Ray Brook: Sunoco (cash only) $3.59 Rouses Point: Stewarts Shops $3.23 Chazy: Stewarts Shops (US9) $3.25 Keeseville: Sunoco (NY9N) $3.29 West Chazy: Mobil (Military Turnpike) $3.19 US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on Thursday morning to try to convince Russia to accept a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week in talks with the US, according to BBC. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks were planned with the US, but added: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we'll tell you about them later." The American visit comes as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured Sudzha - a key town in the Kursk region that Ukraine invaded last year in a surprise attack. President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk on Wednesday and met military commanders, who told him Russian troops had recaptured 86% of the area and were in the final stage of driving Ukrainian forces out. Yaorusheng/Getty Images Citi strategists advise taking profits in US stocks and buying China shares. America's economic edge has dulled under Trump, impacting consumer sentiment and stock performance. China's tech advances and favorable valuations make the country's stocks attractive despite tariff risks. A pause in US exceptionalism suggests now is the time to take profits in US stocks and buy shares of companies in China, Citi strategists said in a Monday note. The bank downgraded US stocks to "Neutral" and upgraded China stocks to "Overweight" on an idea sweeping Wall Street in recent weeks: America's economic edge has dulled in opening days of the second Trump administration. Tariff policies and sweeping layoffs of federal employees have dinged consumer sentiment to such a degree that management teams at economic bellwethers like Delta Air Lines have warned of an imminent growth slowdown. "This may be the last strong employment report, as DOGE cuts, voluntary resignations, and the weaker economy kick in," the strategists, led by Dirk Willer, said, referring to the February employment report published last Friday. Now, investors are pricing in rosier growth prospects for Europe and beyond, evidenced by their stock markets surging to record highs while the S&P 500 flounders. For Citi strategists, the near-10% decline in America's stock market is a good enough reason to start taking profits. "After entering bubble territory, we are more vigilant on protecting profits," Willer said. The recent downside violation of the S&P 500's 200-day moving average and the inability of the "Magnificent 7" stocks to catch a bid were two bearish signals that were too big for Willer to ignore. "When 4 out of 7 'generals' are fading, for at least 5 days, during bubbly periods, it is also a warning signal," Willer explained. Willer said the American AI trade should bounce back in the long term, but it will likely struggle for the next three to six months. "In the bigger picture, we doubt that the AI bubble is already fully played out, and we would expect for the US to remain one of the leaders, maybe jointly with China, while the AI theme is intact," Willer said. "But for the reasons mentioned above, we believe this is unlikely to be the right view for today, as we expect more negative US data prints." As to Willer's upgrade of China stocks, the strategist highlighted DeepSeek's technological breakthrough as proof that the country's technology "is at the Western technological frontier (or beyond)." Originally appeared on E! Online Gene Hackmans dogs were waiting for help. As first responders searched the French Connection actors home for his and wife Betsy Arakawa Feb. 26, their surviving dogs, Bear and Nikita, helped locate their bodies. Upon entering the couples Santa Fe, New Mexico, home, authorities quickly stumbled upon Betsy, dead and splayed on the bathroom floor, police told USA Today in an interview published March 9, as well as the couples third dog Zinna, who was dead in a locked crate in the bathroom closet. However, while searching for signs of Gene, Santa Fe Police Chief Brian Moya told the outlet that paramedics were bombarded by one of the surviving pups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They realized (the dog) was trying to say, Hey, come over here! Come over here! Moya explained to USA Today, before the dogs led the first responders to the mudroom where Gene had died. Moya added that the actors hands were blackened and showed signs of decomposition. While police initially hypothesized the couple had died from some type of gas leak in their home due to the mysterious nature of their deaths, there were ultimately no unusual levels in the home, authorities later said. More from E! Online Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the couples autopsies, it was found that Betsy had died due to hantavirus, a rare but often lethal, respiratory illness on Feb. 11. Gene, meanwhile, was suffering from an advanced stage of Alzheimers and had died a week later on Feb. 18 from heart complications exacerbated by his illness, according to an irregular heart rhythm detected by his pacemaker. As for Zinna, the dog had been left locked in his crate while recovering from a big surgery, and died. At a press conference where authorities confirmed the couples causes of death, a police sheriff noted that it was likely Gene was not aware his wife had died in the home a week before him due to the progression of his neurodegenerative disease. Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images In an interview with the New York Times published March 8, Genes friend Tim Allin emphasized how much Betsy did to care for her husband, noting that The Royal Tenenbaums actor would have died long ago, if not for her. As he put it, She just really looked after him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keep reading for more information on Betsy and Genes tragic deaths Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy Arakawa Found Dead Feb. 26, 2025 Gene Hackman and his wife of 33 years, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their Santa Fe, N.M., home on Feb. 26 by two maintenance workers who spied their bodies through a window from outside the house. According to authorities, they alerted the caretaker in the gated community where the couple lived and that person called 911. "No, they are not moving," the caller told 911, per an audio recording. "Please send someone out here quick." When Santa Fe County sheriffs deputies arrived, they found Arakawa, 65, on the floor of a bathroom to the left of the frontdoor. She was clad in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, according to a Feb. 27 search warrant affidavit obtained by E! News, and there was an open prescription pill bottle and loose pills scattered on the countertop. Hackman, 95, was on the floor in what deputies described as a mudroom near the kitchen, per the warrant. A walking cane and sunglasses near the body. One of the couple's three dogsinitially misidentified as their German shepherd Bear, it was actually their Australian Kelpie mix Zinnawas found dead in a closet of the bathroom, according to the warrant. Another healthy-looking dog was found near Arakawa's body and the other, also seemingly healthy, was running around outside. A search warrant was executed on the house at around 9:30 p.m. Feb. 26 and Hackman and Arakawa's bodies were removed the following morning. Gene Hackman Death Deemed "Suspicious Enough" to Conduct Investigation While the sheriff's office said Feb. 27 that there were no signs of foul play, investigators determined "the circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation," the warrant stated. The warrant noted there were no signs of obvious blunt-force trauma, carbon monoxide poisoning or forced entry into the home. Rather, deputies said they found the front door ajar. There were also signs that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for awhile: One deputy observed that her body was partially decomposed, with mummification around her hands and feet, according to the warrant, while Hackman's body showed "similar and consistent" signs of death. It was also noted that both looked as if they may have fallen to the ground suddenly. The worker who first saw the bodies told investigators he had last spoken with the couple about two weeks beforehand, per the warrant, and that he usually communicated with Arakawa over phone calls and texting. "All I can say is that were in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told the Santa Fe New Mexican. "I want to assure the community and neighborhood that theres no immediate danger to anyone." Items of Interest Found in Gene Hackman's Home Two cell phones, blood pressure and thyroid medications, Tylenol, medical records and a 2025 planner were among the items removed by investigators during the search, according to a warrant summary. A Timeline Slowly Comes Into Focus Sheriff Mendoza said at a Feb. 28 news conference that Hackman's pacemaker last recorded activity on Feb. 17, calling it "a very good assumption that it was his last day of life. They were continuing to analyze "cell phone data, phone calls, text messages, events, photos in the cell phone," Mendoza said, "to try to piece a timeline together." But it wasn't going to be easy. As the sheriff explained on TODAY, "We understand that is a challenge because they were very private individuals and a private family. We're trying to put all that information together right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gene Hackman's Family Speaks Out "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy," the actor's daughters Leslie and Elizabeth and granddaughter Annie said in a statement. "He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss." Leslie Anne Allenone of three children the actor shared with first wife Faye Maltesetold Fox News Digital that she hadn't seen her father for "a few years" because she lived in California and he no longer traveled much, but they had "been in touch over the last couple of months." I loved him dearly, she said. "He was a genuinely good-hearted person." And, Leslie said she knew him to be in good health, practicing yoga and pilates regularly. As days went by, family members said they were trying to tune out the noise about what might have happened while whey they waited for official answers. "Were waiting on toxicology," nephew Tim Hackman, whose dad was the actor's brother Richard Hackman, told Us Weekly in an interview published March 3. "That will tell us everything. Its hard to theorize. There are lots of theories out there and I dont want to speculate. Its easy to speculate negative theories. He added, "My uncle was 95 years old at an age where you think about, 'OK, its time.' But from the circumstances now things have changed a bit. Its a major change. Inside Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's Private Life in Santa Fe Hackman, whose last film credit was 2004's Welcome to Mooseport, had lived in Santa Fe with Arakawa since the late 1980s. A painter himself, he was active in the local arts scene and sat on the board of the Georgia O'Keefe Museum from 1997 until 2004. He was a pretty low-key individual even though he was someone who had amazing stories to tell about Hollywood and other celebrities, longtime friend and gallery owner Stuart Ashman told the Los Angeles Times. He was just a regular guy." Santa Fe film commissioner Jennifer LaBar-Tapia told reporters that both Hackman and Arakawa were "deeply woven into the fabric of Santa Fe." But sightings of Hackman had become increasingly rare, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Friend Daniel Lenihan told People the actorwho used to walk his dogs and ride his bicycle around their neighborhood and patronize local businesseshad been "essentially kind of home-bound" in recent months. His son Aaron Lenihan said Arakawa "was still trying to keep him as active and engaged and healthy as possible," but Daniel said Hackman was "really slipping." Daniel's wife Barbara Lenihan said Arakawa, a classical pianist, had been in "perfect health" and was "so fit." The last paparazzi shot of a frail-looking Hackman and Arakawa out in public together was published by Page Six in March 2024. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Gas Leak Ruled Out Tests on Hackman and Arakawa's bodies for signs of carbon monoxide poisoning came back negative, Sheriff Mendoza told reporters Feb. 28. But, he noted, complete autopsy and toxicology results could take "three months or longer." The New Mexico Gas Company stated March 4 that, while a "minuscule leak" was found in a stove burner, it didn't emit enough carbon monoxide to have proved fatal, nor did their investigation reveal any further leaks or gas line issues. Investigators said there were several other code violations in the home, but nothing having to do with gas or carbon monoxide. Cause of Death Determined for Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare respiratory infection caused by exposure to rodent feces, urine or saliva, New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said during a March 7 news conference. Hackman, meanwhile, "showed evidence of advanced Alzheimers disease, Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately thats what resulted in his death." Arakawa may have experienced flu-like symptoms before she died, the medical examiner said. New Mexico state public health veterinarian Erin Phipps said the couple were at "low risk" for exposure from their house but there were signs of rodents in other structures on the property. A total of 122 cases and 52 deaths from hantavirus were reported in New Mexico between 1993 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heartbreaking Death Timeline Revealed According to the coroner, it looked as if Arakawalast known to have run errands on Feb. 11had been dead for about a week before Hackman died, seemingly on Feb. 18 going by his last pacemaker activity (a day after originally noted by authorities). Their bodies weren't discovered for another eight days, so 15 days after Arakawa died. As far as authorities know, Hackman was alone in the house with his wife's body until he himself passed. Its quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Hackman didn't have food in his stomach when he died, she noted, but he was not dehydrated. Their dog Zinna had been in a crate in the bathroom and died of starvation and dehydration, according to state vet Phipps. Why Gene Hackman Couldn't Live Without His Wife At this point," Sheriff Mendoza said March 7, "theres no indication that there was a caretaker at the home." Arakawa had basically been managing her husband's life for years, scheduling his golf games and visits with friends, according to pal Tom Allin, who told the New York Times he knew Hackman for 20 years but it was always the actor's wife he spoke to on the phone. She was very protective of him," Allin said," and Hackman would have died "long ago" if not for her. All of us that knew him should have been checking on him," Hackman's friend Ashman told the Washington Post. "I had no idea...Its just really sad. And that she died a week before him. My God." On the apparent last day of Arakawa's life, she emailed her massage therapist in the morning, went to a grocery store in the afternoon and stopped at a pharmacy before going to a pet store. She was back home by around 5:15 p.m., according to authorities, and responded to no emails after Feb. 11. Sheriff Mendoza said he believed she wore a mask while running her errands, which friends said she regularly did for fear of bringing any illnesses home to her husband. For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App Gene Hackman's surviving dogs were an integral part in helping first responders find the legendary actor's deceased body. After a maintenance man who had worked on the couple's Santa Fe, New Mexico, home for years found the front door open and saw Hackman's longtime wife and caretaker, Betsy Arakawa, lying on the floor, first responders were called to the scene. SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox When it was determined that Arakawa had been deceased for some time, Fire Chief Brian Moya told USA Today that responders searched the house for 30 minutes without finding another person. As they continued to search the premises, Moya said that one of the couple's three dogs kept barking at them and running in the opposite direction. Moya told the outlet they thought the dog wanted to play at first; however, they soon realized the dog wanted them to follow it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They realized [the dog] was trying to say, Hey, come over here! Come over here! Moya recalled. The dog then led first responders to a back mudroom by the kitchen, where Hackman's body was found. Hackman and Arakawa were found deceased in their home on Feb. 26 at ages 95 and 65, respectively. One of their dogs, Zinna, was also found dead. On Friday, March 7, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office held a press conference to reveal new information about the investigation, including the cause of death for the couple, who wed in 1991. Dr. Heather Jarrell, who performed the autopsy on Hackman, confirmed that the actor's cause of death had been ruled as cardiovascular disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease being a "significant contributory factor." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arakawas cause of death was found to be hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hantavirus is spread through contact with an infected rodent and can cause serious illness, including death, according to the CDC. Related: Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy Arakawa Seen During Final Public Appearance Year Before Death One of Gene Hackmans two surviving dogs played a pivotal role in the discovery of his body, first responders have revealed. The Oscar-winning actor, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their Santa Fe home last month, along with one of their dogs, Zinna. The couples two other dogs, Bear and Nikkita, were found alive and running around the property. Upon entering the home, paramedics and the fire department first discovered Arakawas body lying on the bathroom floor, fire chief Brian Moya told USA Today. Zinna was found dead in a crate in a nearby closet, while a back door had been propped open, allowing the other two dogs to roam freely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the next 30 minutes, first responders continued their search of the four-bedroom house, looking for other people. But they found nobody, Moya said. Eventually, however, they realized that one of the dogs, who they assumed was running and barking for play, wanted to show them something. They realized (the dog) was trying to say, Hey, come over here! Come over here! Moya said. Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their Santa Fe home in February (AP) The dog then led them to a mudroom at the far end of the house, next to the kitchen, where Hackmans body was found. The actor appeared to have fallen, and his cane and sunglasses were found on the ground nearby. Moya said that Hackmans body shows signs of decomposition, including blackened hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arakawa, who died from hantavirus, also showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet, according to a search warrant. She is believed to have died around a week before Hackman, chief medical examiner Heather Jarrell said at a press conference last week. Jarrell added that its possible Hackman was unaware Arakawa had died due to his advanced Alzheimers. His cause of death was tied to heart disease, with Alzheimers disease contributing. The home where Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were found dead (AP) The dog who died, Zinna, had undergone major surgery, and Arakawa had been instructed by veterinary staff to keep it confined to a crate, the hospitals owner, Robert Gruda, told USA Today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [Arakawa] was an excellent dog owner, excellent caretaker to those dogs. She really doted on them, Gruda said, explaining that Arakawa was supposed to pick up food and medication for Zinna at the hospital. She was consistent, predictable, he added. We knew something was wrong when she didnt pick up the food on time. The two surviving dogs have since been taken to a local pet daycare facility. Betsy Arakawa was spotted out in town just hours before she's believed to have died at home. The wife and caretaker of actor Gene Hackman, who is believed to have died almost a week later, was seen on surveillance footage during a series of errands on Feb. 11. As reported by USA Today, the woman started her day, as far as could be traced, with emails exchanged with her massage therapist around 11:21 a.m. Later in the afternoon, she stopped by a Sprouts Farmer Market grocery store before visiting a CVS Pharmacy. Security footage captured her wearing a face mask, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza revealed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 5:15 p.m. local time, Arakawa arrived home, using a remote to automatically open the gate to her neighborhood. Within hours of returning home, investigators believe she died. Arakawa was determined to have died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, resulting from the hantavirus that is typically spread through contact with rodent urine, droppings, and saliva. According to the Mayo Clinic, the respiratory infection is very rare and early stages can mimic flu symptoms like fever and chills, muscle aches or pain, and headache. The later stage can cause damaged lung tissue, fluid build-up, and decreased heart and lung function. It's unclear if Arakawa knew what she was suffering from as there's no definitive treatment, but the clinic says that symptoms can quickly worsen and become life-threatening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also on Arakawa's to-do list was a stop by Gruda Veterinary Hospital, where medicine and prescription food were ready for pick-up for one of her three pupspresumably Zinna, who also died alongside the couple and recently underwent surgery at the facility. Staff told the publication that when they last saw Arakawa in January, when she picked Zinna up, she was her "typical, alert self." Meanwhile, her husband, who was discovered to have been suffering from cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's during his autopsy, is believed to have died on or around Feb. 17. Next: How Gene Hackmans Dogs Loyalty Was Critical in Helping First Responders GENEVA, Ill. (WGN) A Geneva man faces multiple felony charges following an alleged violent encounter that stemmed from what area police called a domestic dispute. Justin Gallo, 42, is accused of felony attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated domestic battery, unlawful restraint, and several misdemeanors after authorities responded to a residence in the 300 block of Division Street just before 12:30 a.m. Thursday. According to police, arriving officers found a woman walking outside the home with some difficulty. Police added that the victim reportedly suffered multiple abrasions and bruising on her face, as well as a laceration on her left arm. SEE ALSO | My daughter had just turned 14: Family outraged by lenient sentence following Back of the Yards deadly shooting Geneva police said the woman told officers that Gallo allegedly threw her on a bed several times and held her down against her will. After passing out, Gallo reportedly sat on her chest while covering her mouth and nose, police added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the victim, once she regained consciousness, Gallo allegedly continued his attack by covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming for help out a window. Gallo also allegedly stopped several escape attempts by the woman while also confiscating her cell phone. When the woman broke free and regained possession of her phone, she called 911, police said. Police said the woman suffered multiple broken bones. Paramedics transported the woman to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva for further medical treatment. Police note that Gallo spoke with officers at the scene. Following treatment for minor injuries at a nearby hospital, officers arrested Gallo following his release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines The Kane County States Attorneys Office approved the charges against Gallo. He is due to appear in court on Thursday. No booking photo was made available by police as of this writing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) Cattle farmers from across Georgia are coming together in Augusta to learn about current issues the industry faces. The Georgia Cattlemans Association is holding its 2025 convention. It gives farmers a chance to network and learn more about new programs that can help them. This is the groups 63rd annual convention. It features a trade show, cattlemans college sessions, and business meetings where they discuss the organizations future and allow members to give input. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To me, this conference brings people from all over different walks of life together, and ultimately, its a source of what feeds us. And beef feeds America, and its one of the largest products in the world, and we need to believe in that and have it for a sustainable future, said Caleb Duke, The Barn Group and Cattle Farmer. There are more than 15 thousand cattle producers in Georgia; this convention is where they can find new resources. Bryan McPhail, CEO of MB Enterprise, can show farmers his product, which helps keep fleas and flies off cattle. We get to learn all kinds of things in the cattle industry when we do things like this, said Bryan McPhail, CEO of MB Enterprise Lewis Cattle Oiler Company. Not only are cattle used for things like beef or dairy, but they also help the environment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Environmental benefits, maintaining open space, maintaining pretty scenery, said James Vaughn, President of Georgia Cattlemens Association. You know everybody likes to dive down the road and see a pretty cow pasture with some nice cattle out there. But were also sequestering carbon and all the environmental things that are becoming more important every day. Organizers think having something like this brings a sense of community to all who are apart. I think a lot of times farmers and folks in rural communities especially can feel very isolated and lonely, and they dont know that other people are going through the same struggles they are, said Caroline Waldrep, Events and Outreach Coordinator, Georgia Cattlemens Association. The convention is going from Wednesday, March 12, to Friday, March 14, at the Augusta Marriott Convention Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) The Marshall County Sheriffs Office says a Georgia man was arrested and charged for a scam that happened in July 2024. MCSO said on March 4, 28-year-old Marcus Cortez Brashear of Stone Mountain, Georgia was arrested and charged with first-degree theft of property by deception and impersonating a peace officer. Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to authorities, on July 30, 2024, a resident of Marshall County received a phone call from Brashear who claimed to be a deputy with MCSO. Brashear told her that she failed to appear in federal court. Brashear told her that if $5,000 wasnt paid, she could be arrested and would have to see the judge. The victim paid $3,500 to Brashear through the ZELLA banking app. Other options were Paypal and Apple Pay. MCSO said attempts to pay the remaining balance were unsuccessful on the other apps and the victim was disconnected from the call. The phone number Brashear used was spoofed to show MCSO on caller ID. When the victim called the sheriffs office, she learned the call was a scam. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brashear is in the county jail under a $50,000 property bond and a $5,000 cash bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. Georgia students living in poverty could get some extra money for their education if lawmakers decide to edit the state's nearly-40-year-old funding formula. Ariel Skelley/Getty Images For a long time, education advocates under the Gold Dome have lamented that Georgia is one of only six states that does not allocate specific state funds to help educate students living in poverty. That could soon be changing kind of. What those advocates want is a change to the Quality Basic Education formula that determines the state share of education funding distributed to local schools. The QBE formula provides weighted amounts of money per student based on things like their grade level and whether they qualify for programs like special education or gifted services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sending more dollars to children whose families are struggling with poverty, also known as a poverty weight, could help them chart a path toward a better life and help districts focus on teaching. Sen. Jason Esteves. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder What school districts have had to do is theyve had to create new schedules, theyve had to literally have health clinics in schools to provide health care. Theyve had to host job fairs for parents said Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat who previously served on the Atlanta Board of Education. Theyve had to do all of these things to try to play catch up for some of the issues that these parents and these families are experiencing in the community, and if we want our school systems to focus on the number one thing they should be focused on, which is educating students, then we have to do what we can to remove these barriers that poverty introduces. Speaking before a Senate committee Thursday, Georgia Department of Education Chief Financial Officer Rusk Roam said the department estimated a poverty weight would come with a price of about $300 million. The $37.7 billion budget that passed the House Tuesday includes $28 million in grants designated for school systems for targeted support to economically disadvantaged students, according to a document released by the House Budget and Research Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Education Committee Chair Chris Erwin, a Homer Republican, said he hopes the $28 million will open the door to a full poverty weight in the education formula. Rep. Chris Erwin. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder Currently this is a one-time grant, but I see were moving towards were one of six states that do not have some type of poverty weight within their formula, and this is our opportunity to look at the impact that that could have, so I would hope that we would continue to go down the road of understanding the importance of providing this to students that come in from a low wealth area, he said. This is something I wish we did 15 years ago, but we are beginning that process with this, and I think its going to end up to be very impactful for those students and for their lives going forward, he added. Esteves struck a similar tone. He said he thinks the 40-year-old QBE is in serious need of an update, but hes glad that the Legislature could be taking action to support kids living in poverty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fact that we are now including a little bit of money as a poverty weight is a big deal. Its a good first step, but theres a long way to go to actually meet the need that we have, he said. Experts say meeting that need will require a great deal of work taking into account issues like differing levels of poverty, differences between rural and urban school districts and what kind of reporting requirements there ought to be. Ashley Young, senior education analyst for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said shes grateful for the prospective new funds. $28 million is certainly going to be useful to help students who are low-income. I do think that it could have major changes for students who do not have their basic needs met and are coming to school in these circumstances, she said. And so having that additional money could be helpful. This is what we feel like is a good start, but a start nonetheless. And there does need to be a more comprehensive focus in our QBE funding to address this so that it is recurring, so that it has a specific line item or a specific weight that is present within the formula to ensure that students have what they need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The budget is now in the Senates hands, where it could undergo revisions. The chambers will need to agree on a final version before the legislative session ends April 4. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The latest unemployment numbers from the Georgia Department of Labor are in and theyre showing no real changes compared to December. The January unemployment rate in Georgia was 3.6%, the same as the month before and still just a hair lower than the national rate. GDOL officials said Georgias rate of unemployment was four-tenths lower than the United States average. Georgias economy is built for the future, but to maintain our competitive edge, we must remain committed to making Georgia the top choice for businesses and talent, GDOL Interim Commissioner Louis DeBroux said in a statement. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In terms of what that means for the state, GDOL reported a drop of 28,200 jobs over January, but still 17,800 more than the previous year. Georgia businesses in the manufacturing, state government and private education were among those with the biggest job gains, while transportation and warehousing and food services saw big decreases. Health care, social assistance, information and accommodation jobs also saw decreases in the past month, according to GDOL. Despite a decline in Januarys job numbers, our unemployment rate remains at 3.6%, four tenths below the national average. By continuing to invest in our people, expand opportunities, and drive innovation, we are ensuring Georgia remains the national leader in economic opportunity for all, DeBroux added. The number of unemployment claims in Georgia rose by 3,448 over January, though were down 2,837 compared to the previous year. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Sens. Jason Pizzo and Jim Boyd present Geraldine Thompson's family with a resolution honoring the late senator during a memorial service on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Sen. Geraldine Thompson was remembered by her colleagues Thursday as an advocate for equality, justice, Black history, and, as Senate President Ben Albritton put it, as a perfect blend of grace and strength. Senators sat together during the second week of session to remember Thompson, who died in office a month ago at the age of 76 following complications from knee surgery. Thompson was widely known for her commitment to African American history, serving as chair of the Florida Museum of Black History Task Force, campaigning to preserve the WellsBuilt Hotel in Orlando as a museum, and writing Black America: Orlando, Florida, a history of Orlandos Black community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Darryl Rouson recalled Thompson for her drive for equity. Sen. Thompson epitomized Black history, Rouson said. Throughout her life, she worked to make things easier, more equitable for all. While she was teaching our past and helping preserve the stories of Black history, she was brightening our future. It is not lost on me or others that God called her home untimely during Black History month. Sen. Geraldine Thompsons family sits at the late senators seat in the chamber during a memorial service March 13, 2025. (Photo Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Thompsons family, including her husband Emerson, were in the chamber for the service. Albritton noted he wore a purple tie Thursday to emphasize the blend between red and blue. She was the perfect blend of grace and strength, perfect blend, and knew how to use each of those to make better the lives of other people, Albritton said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Don Gaetz recalled the attire Thompson would wear in the chamber, taking on the personalities of notable people in history. When she donned a uniform and she took on the personality of a heroic African American historical figure, you believed that thats who it was, Gaetz said. You believed it. And I remember one time she took on the persona of an African American aviatress who made history, and whos one of the solo flyers. And I didnt know the story. I didnt know until she told it in the first person, I can tell you that I believe that Geraldine Thompson could fly, and I still do, Gaetz said. Rouson offered the idea of her meeting those figures she portrayed in the afterlife. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im confident in knowing that shes at peace with our God and has received her crown of glory, Rouson said. I imagine her communing with the spirits of those she studied so fervently and taught us about so passionately. Sen. Tracie Davis shares memories of the late Sen. Geraldine Thompson during a memorial service March 13, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Former President Barack Obama wrote a letter to the Thompson family. Geraldine was a model of the best kind of public service, the kind thats driven by a heart for justice that builds up communities, and that isnt swayed by flattery or the pursuit of power, Sen. Tracie Davis said, reading the letter. I have no doubt that Geraldines trailblazing legacy will live on through all those she impacted during her time on this earth. While there are no words that can ease your grief, I hope that the support of your friends and loved ones and the outpouring from your community brings you some comfort as you navigate the days ahead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith served with Thompson in the House and Senate. He recalled the late senator supporting diversity and inclusion. Personally, to me, like for so many of you, she was a friend, a friend who was there with her daughter Elizabeth for Jerick and my wedding; she was an ally who rode shotgun in a convertible with us in colorful attire during a recent Orlando Pride parade to show her support for diversity and inclusion, Smith said. Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith remarks on the life of the late Sen. Geraldine Thompson. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Sen. Jason Pizzo, whose desk in the chamber is next to Thompsons, recalled her ability to earn the respect of all people and the way she drew peoples attention. I remember talking to your wife, Pizzo said, addressing Emerson Thompson. We were halfway through a conversation about something. I said, Geraldine you could read me the nutritional facts off the side of a Cheerios box, and it just has that gravitas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Orlando lawmakers first legislative term was nearly 20 years ago, when she was elected to the House in 2006. Six years later, she was elected to the Senate. Following an unsuccessful congressional run in 2016, she returned to the House in 2018 and to the Senate in 2022. Thompson attended Miami-Dade Community College, the University of Miami, and Florida State University. She was a teacher in Orange County before starting a 24-year career as an administrator at Valencia Community College. Gov. Ron DeSantis directed flags to fly at half staff at the Capitol and in Orange County on Thursday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The company expands their dual-branded Applebees l IHOP restaurant concept into Costa Rica and opens first non-traditional restaurant in Mexico PASADENA, Calif., March 13, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dine Brands International an affiliate of Dine Brands Global, Inc., the parent company of Applebees Neighborhood Grill + Bar, IHOP, and Fuzzys Taco Shop restaurants is set to expand its dual-branded Applebees and IHOP concept in 2025. This expansion includes entering the Costa Rican market with franchisee BLT UK Holdings Limited, and opening the first non-traditional restaurants in Mexico with franchisees Grupo Shogua and ATH Group. The dual-branded format, combining Applebees and IHOP under one roof, has been a key part of Dine Brands international growth strategy. Currently, there are 18 dual-branded locations across seven markets: Mexico, Canada, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Honduras, and Peru. In 2025, the company aims to open 13 additional dual-branded restaurants in new international markets and complete 10 dual conversions, bringing the total number of dual-branded restaurants to 41. Franchisee BLT UK Holdings Limited opened the first dual-branded restaurant in Honduras in 2024 and plans to open a second location this year. They will also be opening the first dual-branded restaurant in Costa Rica this Summer in San Jose. Building on the success of 2024, where Dine Brands International and its franchisees opened 36 new restaurants and entered new markets like Honduras, the 2025 expansion will focus on both traditional and non-traditional growth opportunities. In addition to franchisee ATH Group opening the first non-traditional dual-branded restaurant at the Parador Pedro Escobedo travel center in Mexico, franchisee Grupo Shogua will also open an IHOP restaurant at Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) in Mexico City. "I am incredibly proud of the progress we are making to expand and grow with new and existing franchisees around the world," said Scott Gladstone, President, International and Corporate Development at Dine Brands Global. "Our expansion plans create opportunities to adapt to local customs, tastes, and traditions, as well as new formats and varying footprints. We are committed to creating compelling and profitable opportunities for franchisees and the company, and new and unique experiences for our guests." Dine Brands is seeking qualified Master Developers in selected territories in Mexico (Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Coahuila, Durango, Nayarit, Colima, Hidalgo, Guerrero, Oaxaca), selected territories in Canada, as well as Master Franchisees/Master Developers in selected markets in Europe and Asia, including South Korea, Japan, and Spain. For franchising opportunities, please visit https://franchise.ihop.com/en/applebees-co-branded-franchising. Germany's conservative bloc started coalition talks with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday evening. The 19 chief negotiators from the Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian counterparts (CSU) and the SPD met with the chairs of 16 working groups at the CDU headquarters in Berlin. The kick-off meeting lasted just half an hour. Now the working groups, each with 16 members, have until March 24 to draw up draft texts for the coalition agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The basis for this is an eleven-page paper that both sides agreed on in exploratory talks. Strict guidelines - no selfies The public is unlikely to hear much about the negotiations until a final deal is struck. Negotiators were given strict guidelines to follow for the duration of the talks which include "no statements, no press conferences, no communication of interim results, no selfies, etc." They have also banned leaks according to a leaked document first seen by online digital newspaper Politico, later seen by dpa. After securing a clear victory in February's parliamentary election, the CDU/CSU have agreed on a number of key points in exploratory talks with the SPD. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The working groups are scheduled to meet for 10 days, with a steering group taking care of the coordination. Their work is then to be passed to a negotiating group, which is to include the leaders of each party. An eventual draft coalition agreement would then be put to the three parties for their approval. SPD wants a party vote on the coalition deal The SPD has already declared that it would want to consult its members on a draft deal. Conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor, has said he aims to have the new government in place by Easter. Easter Sunday falls on April 20 this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The parties hoping to form the next German government are currently wrangling with lawmakers to pass a multibillion-euro financial package. If approved, it is meant to form the basis for the new coalition. The proposal includes an amendment to the Basic Law, Germany's de facto constitution, to allow for increased military spending as well as the creation of a special 500 billion ($545 billion) infrastructure fund. BERLIN (Reuters) - A senior Greens legislator said there would still be a sufficient, albeit different, majority to reform Germany's debt brake once the newly elected parliament had been seated, in an indication they might continue to block conservative chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz's plan for reform. Merz and the Social Democrats, who are in talks to form a coalition government, want the Greens to help them pass a constitutional amendment. In the old Bundestag, still in session, the three parties have the needed two thirds majority. Once new members are seated, a fourth party, the Left, will be needed. Irene Mihalic dismissed as hipocrisy calls by Merz and the Social Democrats for the Greens to live up to their constitutional responsibilities, saying Merz had refused to enable necessary reforms before the elections when he was in opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Instead of sitting down with the Greens and the Left, you are trying to do it with the old majority," she said. "Even though there will still be a majority for a debt brake reform in the new Bundestag." (Reporting by Thomas Escritt, Editing by Friederike Heine) Germany's outgoing parliament is set to meet on Thursday to discuss a constitutional amendment to enable a massive government spending package on defence and infrastructure, despite ongoing wrangling among lawmakers. The spending package was put together by the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), which together won February's parliamentary election, along with their likely coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). It includes the creation of a special 500 billion ($545 billion) infrastructure fund, as well as the loosening of Germany's strict debt rules, enshrined in the constitution, to allow for increased military spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But altering the debt rules would require changing the constitution, which needs a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament. Losses in the February election by the SPD in particular mean the CDU/CSU and the SPD would not reach this threshold once the newly elected lawmakers take up their seats in the Bundestag. For the necessary majority, they would have to rely on The Left, a hard-left Party that has long opposed higher military spending. The three parties are therefore proposing pushing the package through before the new Bundestag convenes. But to do this, they need the support of the Greens, which have so far refused to back the whole package. It is also unclear whether the outgoing Bundestag is allowed to make these far-reaching decisions. The Left and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have filed lawsuits at the Constitutional Court with the aim of preventing the special sessions this week and next. They argue that such steps would violate the rights of the incoming members of parliament. (Bloomberg) -- Germanys top court rejected a suit brought by the populist left-wing party BSW seeking a recount of the votes cast in last months national election. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suit isnt admissible because the party would have to file a complaint with parliament first, the Federal Constitutional Court said in emailed statement on Thursday. The court itself only hears appeals once the Bundestag has looked into such a challenge and decided on it. The ruling comes a day before lawmakers are scheduled to announce the official results of the Feb. 23 election. BSW, a group that split off from the Left Party, failed to win enough support to overcome the 5% threshold of the ballot needed to win any seats at all. It missed out by only a few thousand of the declared votes and alleged that counting mistakes may have cost its candidates being elected. The case is: BVerfG, 2 BvE 6/25 et al. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Somewhere in Pakistan a plane is preparing to carry Afghans to Germany. It is the third one to take off since the election, after a pause before Germans voted in February. Since the fall of Kabul in 2021, Germany has flown in 36,000 Afghan asylum seekers, with another 10,000 waiting to come, even though almost none of them had any connection to Germany. Some of them have even been arrested on arrival for using false papers. Heiko Teggatz, the chairman of the Federal Police union, has warned that NGOs are teaching Afghans how to deceive the authorities: dont mention if you have Taliban links; do claim you are persecuted. In one case NGO workers are said to have stated that an Afghan was at risk because he is gay, only for him to rage that he wasnt when officials asked him about his sexual orientation. The absurdity doesnt end there. In Munich, public officials are under investigation for giving immigration permits in return for cash, handbags, events and limousine rides. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unsurprisingly, the German public, following the infamous 2015 asylum crisis and years of expanding legal routes, want less immigration. Yet, despite the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)s win in last months elections, it seems like this sincere wish is about to be betrayed. Thats because the CDU has ruled out any deal with the hard-Right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), which means it has to go into coalition with the Left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) and form an Albania coalition (so-called because the colours of the two parties are black and red, like the Albanian flag). Without the possibility of accepting the votes of the AfD, the CDU has little leverage in the coalition negotiations. Thats why the SPD has felt confident to release a new immigration paper which calls for a move away from limiting to regulating immigration. While the CDU promised it will reduce immigration, this paper instead demands half a million immigrant workers every year; those who are in Germany illegally should, in most cases, be allowed to stay; deportation should become a last resort; foreign nationals should be allowed to vote in Germany so long as theyve lived there long enough; and anyone who lives in Germany for 25 years should get citizenship without any conditions, so presumably even if they cant speak the language. The SPD, formerly the party of the working class, seems to have decided that rather than trying to win back the voters it lost in the last election, it can instead introduce policies aimed at attracting an entirely different voting bloc. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Having slumped to one of its worst electoral performances, with working-class strongholds like Gelsenkirchen being won by the AfD on comfortable margins, it has ended up reliant on the immigrant vote: Die Linke, a hard-Left party born out of East German communism, won 29 per cent of the immigrant vote, while the SPD won 28 per cent. Both parties promised more liberal immigration laws and more generous welfare. Should this go ahead, Germany will find its already creaking infrastructure under even more pressure. The housing market is still struggling to keep up with the pace of current migration, while the construction industry has seen profits falling as the cost of building materials increased and regulations worsened. If the CDU accepts any points of the SPDs immigration working paper, it will betray its voters. Sixty-eight per cent of Germans want fewer asylum seekers and 57 per cent want asylum seekers who arrive illegally to be turned away at the border. A mere 3 per cent want more refugees. That the AfD won 20.8 per cent of the vote, double the result of the last election, should then come as no surprise. Those who worried about immigration but put their trust in the CDU one last time will have nowhere else to turn to in future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the election Friedrich Merz, leader of the CDU and likely the next chancellor, said that Left politics is over. But the many Germans who voted for a Right-wing Government seem to have yet again been given thoroughly Left-wing politics. By seeking a coalition with the SPD, and giving them the advantage by ruling out working with the AfD, Merz is in danger of disproving his own boast. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Germanys largest defense company, Rheinmetall, is now worth more than Europes largest company by revenue, Volkswagen, as the countrys industrial backbone undergoes a massive shift towards a war economy. Rheinmetall has tripled in value since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in November. Trump has increasingly distanced the U.S. from its role as the Wests peace broker, increasing investor expectations of a surge in defense spending among Europes NATO members. Rheinmetall has vowed to expand to meet European military demands. Volkswagens share price, meanwhile, has been largely stagnant as it tries to navigate billions of dollars in cost-cutting and uncertain consumer demand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In perhaps the most symbolic example of Germanys industrial base shifting from automotive to military, the two heavyweight manufacturers could be negotiating a deal over an unwanted Volkswagen plant. As part of its negotiations with its works council to reduce capacity, Volkswagen plans to halt production at its Osnabruek factory and sell it off to recoup costs. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said the Osnabruek plant would be very suitable and a good fit for the companys expansion, as moving into an existing site would be less costly than building a new factory. Papperger cautioned that while there was no concept for Rheinmetall to move onto Volkswagens turf, things could still move quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "One thing is clear: before I'll build a new tank factory in Germany, we'll of course take a look at it," he said. Reuters reported in January that Chinese EV companies had emerged as potential buyers of the plants unwanted factories, reflecting the countrys growing strength in the European automotive sector. A spokesperson for Volkswagen said: The goal must be to find a sustainable solution for the plants in Osnabruck and Dresden. We are open to sensible subsequent utilization of the two sites. Currently, there are no concrete plans for this." Speaking to German publication ZDF on Tuesday, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said there were potential options for collaboration with Rheinmetall. Germanys shifting industrial tide Volkswagen was Europes largest company by revenue in 2023, topping the latest Fortune 500 Europe list after turning over $348 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, as of Wednesday's close of markets, the group ranks as only the 46th most valuable company in Europe, with a market value of just $60 billion. Much of Germanys industrial might over the 21st century was built on its dominant automotive sector, which employed some 780,000 people as of 2023. Volkswagen, alongside German competitors BMW and Mercedes-Benz, are among the worlds largest automakers, while companies operating in their supply chain, like Bosch and Continental AG, employ hundreds of thousands more workers. However, Germanys carmakers have been left in a perfect storm of rising costs and falling demand following Russias invasion of Ukraine, competition from and declining consumer sentiment in China, and a slower-than-expected uptake of EVs from drivers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Volkswagen was locked in an intense battle with unions last year which resulted in sizeable cuts to its production capacity and a pledge to significantly trim its workforce. The forces driving Volkswagens decline are contributing to the resurgence of its defense industry. Indeed, Russias invasion, which pushed up costs for German carmakers, is now presenting as a business opportunity for the countrys arms manufacturers. Amid the backdrop of Trumps threats to withdraw all support for Ukraine and to pull the U.S. out of NATO, the EU mapped out a plan to spend up to 800 billion ($840 billion) on a Europe-wide rearmament program. Germanys likely new coalition government, meanwhile, is working on a plan to spend more than $500 billion on an infrastructure overhaul, aimed at yanking the country out of two successive years of negative economic growth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, the country is working on ironing out plans to amend its long-standing debt brake to exempt defense spending above 1% of GDP from factoring into the countrys strict debt limits. In total, Germanys spending package, which is being debated in parliament, could hit $1.3 trillion. An unprecedented level of commitment to defense spending in the EUs history has proved a boon for Europes defense firms. Rheinmetall, in addition to Thales and BAE, have all soared in value this year, with each group reporting swelling order books as Europe seeks to rearm. Clarification, March 14, 2025: This article has been updated to clarify that Germany has yet to form a new coalition government, and its infrastructure spending proposal and plan to exempt defense spending from the debt brake has not yet passed. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com The parties hoping to form the next German government - the conservative bloc and Social Democrats (SPD) - are making significant efforts in winning over the Greens, whose votes they need to pass a multibillion-euro financial package. Germany's parliament is meeting in Berlin on Thursday to discuss an amendment to the Basic Law, Germany's de facto constitution, to allow for increased military spending as well as the creation of a special 500 billion ($545 billion) infrastructure fund. Friedrich Merz, Germany's likely new chancellor and leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), proposed relaxing the debt rules, not only for defence spending but also for civil protection and intelligence services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, during the first reading on Thursday, Merz also proposed dedicating up to 50 billion of the special fund to a climate and transformation fund, arguing that this would help Germany advance both its defence capabilities and its economic and climate competitiveness, in a bid to secure the Green Party's backing. "What more do you want?" Merz asked, addressing the Greens. However, the Greens immediately rejected the offer. Katharina Droge, the leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, responded firmly, stating that if Merz was wondering why negotiations were stalling, the answer was clear: "Because we are not counting on your word." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During last month's election campaign Merz put himself at the centre of the political storm when he pushed through a non-binding motion with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) calling for a crackdown on migration, a hotly debated election topic. The move sparked nationwide protests, with demonstrators accusing him of tearing down the firewall agreed by all the other parties against working with the AfD. The Greens also want guarantees that the new funds will actually be used for additional investments, Droge added. "Anyone who expects us to agree to hundreds of billions for investment in this country must understand that we will ensure the money is spent on infrastructure, not on tax cuts," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The spending package was put together by the parties hoping to form the next German government, Merz's CDU, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) - which together won February's parliamentary election - along with their likely coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). Losses in the February election by the SPD in particular mean the CDU/CSU and the SPD would not have the required two-thirds majority to pass an amendment to the Basic Law once the newly elected lawmakers take up their seats in the Bundestag. For the necessary majority in the new Bundestag, they would have to rely on The Left, a hard-left party that has long opposed higher military spending. It is also unclear whether the outgoing Bundestag is allowed to make these far-reaching decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Left, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the upstart populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) party have filed lawsuits at the Constitutional Court with the aim of preventing the special sessions this week and next. They argue that such steps would violate the rights of the incoming members of parliament. Final committee consultations on the proposal are scheduled for Friday, with the second and third readings, followed by a roll-call vote in the Bundestag on Tuesday. Germany could take in 500,000 migrants per year on a special visa scheme and give voting rights to non-citizens. The new policies were drawn up by members of the Social Democratic (SPD) Party and could become a flashpoint in coalition talks with Friedrich Merzs Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which wants to significantly toughen immigration rules. The CDU, which comfortably won last months election, has pledged to introduce major reforms on migration, including turning away asylum seekers from Germanys land borders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But it first needs to agree on a common migration plan with the SPD as part of ongoing coalition talks, with a goal of forming a government by Easter. We demand a federal skilled worker programme to be introduced for 500,000 people per year to address democratic changes and meet the demands for skilled workers, stated an extract from the SPD report, which was leaked to German newspaper Die Welt. It continued: This programme can/should include refugees with qualifications, or those with a demonstrable potential to gain qualifications in Germany. The position paper was drawn up by the SPDs Migration and Diversity Working Group which lobbies the party leadership to adopt more liberal policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also called for non-citizens to be given voting rights and for deportations to be considered only as a last resort. Migrants are talked through the asylum process by an independent consultant ahead of the crackdown - Gregor Fischer/afp/getty Migrants who have lived in Germany for more than 25 years should be offered automatic citizenship and a ministry of social participation should be created to help foreigners integrate into German society, the paper added. The working group has asked that the policies be included in the next round of coalition talks between the leaders of the SPD and the CDU. It was unclear whether the paper envisaged taking in an additional 500,000 skilled workers, or whether that figure would be part of an overall migration target for the next government. Germany received 1.9 million migrants in 2023 according to Statista, a German database. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It comes after the CDU and SPD reached a provisional agreement on migration in which the new government would have powers to turn away asylum seekers in large numbers from Germanys land borders. However, the two parties remain at odds over whether Germany needs permission from a neighbouring country before rejecting a migrant or asylum seeker at their shared border. Jens Spahn, a senior CDU politician, claimed this week that the agreement allowed asylum seekers to be turned back without the consent of the other countries. But SPD officials said they could only support border rejections as part of an agreement with Germanys neighbouring countries, such as Austria and Poland. Debt brake reform On Thursday, the Bundestag, the German parliament, held its first debate on a major new reform by Mr Merz, the incoming Chancellor, that will scrap spending limits on major defence projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Merz wishes to reform the so-called debt brake in the German constitution so that defence projects which cost more than one per cent of GDP are exempt from spending limits. He also plans to set up a special fund to improve German infrastructure, as he says rearming the Bundeswehr, the Germany army, requires a stronger overall economy. Mr Merz announced the reforms in response to fears that Europe can no longer count on Donald Trump, the US president, for security guarantees. We have to do something to improve our defensive capabilities, and quickly the word deterrence must rapidly be given a credible military foundation, Mr Merz told MPs on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To amend the constitution Mr Merz would need a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, which would only be possible with support from the Greens, who have threatened to sink the Bill unless it is expanded to address climate change. The Greens said a counter-offer by Mr Merz, which would include intelligence, civil defence and climate protection projects in the special fund, did not go far enough. The reform is expected to be put to a vote on March 18 and talks on securing support from the Greens continue. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Germany's conservative bloc is set to begin coalition talks with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday, as it seeks to form the next government. After securing a clear victory in February's parliamentary election, the conservative alliance of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) have agreed on a number of key points in exploratory talks with the SPD. Now, 16 working groups, each consisting of 16 representatives from the CDU, CSU and SPD, are to conduct negotiations on the details of a joint government programme. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The working groups are scheduled to meet for 10 days, with a steering group taking care of the coordination. Their work is to then be passed to a negotiating group, which is to include the leaders of each party. An eventual draft coalition agreement would then be put to the three parties for their approval. The SPD has already declared that it would want to consult its members on a draft deal. CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor, has said he aims to have the new government in place by Easter in mid-April. The wife of Ghost Adventures star Aaron Goodwin was arrested on suspicion of solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy murder after police uncovered she had been involved in a murder for hire plot with her husband as the intended target. Victoria Goodwin was arrested last Thursday in Nevada, where the couple resides, publicly available inmate records show. She is being held on $100,000 bail after an initial court hearing that took place Tuesday, according to court records. A preliminary hearing is set for March 25. According to a copy of the police report obtained by CNN, investigators determined that Victoria Goodwin willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously plotted to commit the murder of her husband with an inmate in Florida who she had been communicating with. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CNN has reached out to representatives for both Victoria and Aaron Goodwin. Police uncovered text messages between Victoria Goodwin and the inmate that allegedly indicated she was conspiring and soliciting to murder Aaron Goodwin through a third party who the inmate was corresponding with. Their communications included plans for Victoria Goodwin to make an initial payment in the amount of $2,500, according to police. She was in love with the inmate, according to the police report, and felt her husband would not accept divorce. Victoria and Aaron Goodwin in Las Vegas in 2022. - Ethan Miller/Getty Images/File Excerpts of text messages included in the report show Goodwin allegedly giving the inmate information about her husbands whereabouts in connection with the plot and questioning if she was a bad person because she chose to end his existence instead of divorcing him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following her arrest, Goodwin told police that she initially began writing to the inmate after she became aware of him from a true crime documentary, according to the police report. They eventually began communicating via text message. Goodwin denied wanting her husband to be killed, according to the report, and described herself as daydreaming of being in a different situation, but she no longer felt that way. She also told police that she began talking to the inmate at a point in time when she and her husband were going through problems in their marriage and described feeling lonely. Aaron Goodwin is an actor and host, best known for starring alongside Zak Bagans on the Discovery+s Ghost Adventures. Aaron and Victoria Goodwin have been married since 2022, according to a post on her Instagram. Discovery+, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK (Reuters) -Hedge fund Anson Funds is gearing up for a boardroom fight at Match Group and plans to nominate several directors to the online dating company's 10-member board, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Anson, which owned roughly 0.6% of Match at the end of December according to a regulatory filing, has been pressing the parent of dating sites Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid for over a year to rethink capital allocation, cut costs, and consider a strategic review of its MG Asia business, the sources said. Additionally the investor has raised concerns about Match's governance and pushed for management to refine its corporate strategy, said the people who requested anonymity to speak about the private discussions. Only three of Match's 10 directors will stand for election this year, creating a flash point for many investors who generally want all board members to be up for election annually. Anson also highlighted tight business connections among a handful of Match directors and ties to former owner IAC/Interactive as worrisome and found the quick paced turnover in the executive suite where the company has had four chief executives in five years to be problematic, the sources said. A Match representative said the company's board was committed to "good corporate governance and to protecting the interests of its stockholders." "Under the leadership of our CEO Spencer Rascoff, appointed last month, Match Group is intensely focused on growing our business and generating shareholder value with the oversight of our skilled and experienced board," the representative said. A representative for Anson declined to comment. Over the last year, Anson and Match have held a dozen meetings and the company has made some changes, including holding an investor day and agreeing to return capital more aggressively, suggested by activist investors including Anson. For Sagar Gupta, who is leading the campaign after he joined Anson as a portfolio manager in 2023 to build the firm's activism practice, the pace of change remains too slow, the sources said. Gupta, who joined the board of U.S. call center software company Five9 in December, has a track record of investing in technology, media and telecommunications. He spearheaded many such investments at activist Legion Partners, where he worked before joining Anson. Match is valued at roughly $8 billion but has shrunk dramatically since the COVID pandemic when it was worth around $40 billion. Its stock price, which closed at $32.03 on Monday, has slipped nearly 2% this year but it has lost 67% in the last three years when the broader S&P 500 stock market index gained 41%. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A Girard man received an indefinite prison sentence of two to three years after pleading guilty to charges in a shots-fired case. Charles P. Liccardi, 24, pleaded guilty on Dec. 12, 2024, to an amended indictment charging him with felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation, both second-degree felonies; and a fourth-degree strangulation felony. The case involved a Sept. 2, 2024, incident investigated by Warren police officers who answered a shots fired call at a Vine Avenue NE address. The victim was a 21-year-old Girard woman, according to a news release from the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. The typically tranquil spring ritual of green-clad Girl Scouts selling Samoas and Thin Mints has been rocked by drama this year. Queens resident Amy Mayo filed a class action lawsuit in federal court this week claiming the three boxes of cookies she bought were contaminated with heavy metals that included aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. The lawsuit was based on research conducted by GMOScience and Moms Across America, which claims the testing was conducted on 13 different types of Girl Scout Cookies collected in the middle-to-latter portions of 2024 from California, Iowa, and Louisiana. The study which has not been peer reviewed, but gained attention on TikTok claimed 100% of the samples were positive for toxic metals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the fact-checking outlet Snopes, the heavy metals allegedly detected within the cookies were at levels well within guidelines set by U.S. regulators. The outlet, citing public health experts who examined the study, went on to say that a child would need to consume thousands upon thousands of cookies per day to get close to harmful levels. In a general post on environmental contaminants thats unrelated to the lawsuit, the FDA said it prioritizes arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury due to their potential to cause harm during times of active brain developmentin the womb through early childhood. These heavy metals can occur naturally in the environment and are often at higher levels from past industrial uses and pollution, the FDA wrote. Adding to the intrigue, Mayo quietly withdrew from her lawsuit this week. However, the case still remains active with other plaintiffs. Mayos lawyers did not respond to a Quartz request for comment as to why she withdrew. Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts of the USA have refuted the allegations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the lawsuit plays out, and in the spirit of the Spring cookie season, we are ranking our favorite Girl Scout cookies. Samoas Image: Girl Scouts of the USA Who can resist these cookies, which are described as crisp with caramel, coconut, and chocolaty stripes ? Apparently, no one at Quartz, because this by our informal newsroom poll is the lead cookie. In hindsight, maybe they also sport a pleasant metallic zing? Thin Mints Photo: Girl Scouts of the USA These iconic cookies scored high in the newsroom. These are crisp, chocolate cookies dipped in a delicious, mint-chocolaty coating. Quartz executive editor, Sarah Douglass, recommends storing them in the freezer. (Pro tip: Dont do what this writer did and store them on your kitchen window sill in the sun.) Trefoils Photo: Girl Scouts of the USA The voting gets a little murkier after the first two, but a timeless shortbread dubbed Trefoils appears to occupy a definite place of fondness among Quartz staffers and the American public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fun fact: In French, tre foils translates to three foils! Lemonades Photo: Girl Scouts of the USA These magnetic icing-topped round shortbread wonders also received a fair share of votes among Quartz staffers. Theyre a refreshing, magnetic cookie as warmer weather approaches. Do-si-dos Photo: Girls Scouts of the USA This oatmeal-peanut butter cookie didnt garner a ton of votes, but it has its devoted following. Tagalongs Photo: Girls Scouts of the USA This is a peanut-butter patty drenched in chocolate and drenched with fandom in the Quartz newsroom. This whole poll is given more credibility by the fact that one of our own reporter Madeline Fitzgerald was once a Girl Scout (once a scout, always a scout?) who says she always got the prize for selling the most cookies. She leavened her achievement with modesty: but it was primarily because when we sold them at the grocery store or whatever, Fitzgerald said. Adventurefuls Photo: Girl Scouts of America Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This peculiar treat garnered one lonely vote, but if more people tried it billed as an indulgent, brownie-inspired cookie topped with caramel-flavored creme with a hint of sea salt it might have gotten more votes! Smores Photo: Girls Scouts of the USA Rounding out the list, how can you go wrong with Smores? Lemon-Ups, Toast-Yays, Toffee-tastic, and Caramel Chocolate Chip you didnt make the cut, but perhaps Quartz reporters will indulge in some additional research to gauge whether those flavors are worthy of inclusion next time theres a lawsuit. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Last year saw an unexpected amount of sea level rise around the world, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Thursday. An analysis led by the agency found that the rate of rise was nearly a quarter of an inch per year, compared to an expected rate of 0.17 inches. Thats a concerning statistic considering the hazards rising sea levels bring, including sending potentially deadly storm surge farther inland, threatening urban infrastructure, eroding coastlines and disrupting ecosystems, and resulting in more frequent high-tide flooding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rise we saw in 2024 was higher than we expected, Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement. Every year is a little bit different, but whats clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster. NASA says last year saw an unexpected amount of sea level rise. Sea level rise is contributing to the frequency of high-tide flooding, eroding coastlines and threatening cities (AFP via Getty Images) NASA said the increase was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, as well as an influx of meltwater from glaciers and other land-based ice. As the Earth warms due to heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, more than 90 percent of that heat is absorbed by oceans. That causes ocean temperatures to rise and the water expands. Its a process known as thermal expansion that contributes to rising sea levels. The planets warming has caused roughly a third of the global sea level rise observed by satellite altimeters since 2004. While thermal expansion was the main cause and responsible for approximately two-thirds of sea level rise around a third also came from melting ice sheets and glaciers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Antarctica ice sheet is melting at an average rate of about 150 billion tons per year, and Greenlands is losing about 270 billion tons per year, both adding to sea level rise. The Greenland ice sheets loss is equivalent to the weight of 26,000 Eiffel Towers, according to Columbia Universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. If all glaciers and ice sheets melted, global sea level would rise by more than 195 feet, a height just over 10 feet taller than the Space Shuttle. A NASA graph shows global mean sea level (in blue) since 1993. The solid red line shows the trajectory of the increase and the dotted one projects future rise. The rate of annual sea level rise has more than doubled since that year (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Warming resulting in these processes has only gotten more severe in recent years. Last year was also determined to be the warmest year on record, with global temperatures 2.3 degrees above NASAs 20th-century average from 1951 to 1980. With 2024 as the warmest year on record, Earths expanding oceans are following suit, reaching their highest levels in three decades, Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, the head of physical oceanography programs and the Integrated Earth System Observatory at NASA Headquarters, said. Continual increases are likely to result in a worrying future without massive action to stop greenhouse gas emissions. The non-profit group Climate Central estimates than more than four million acres of U.S. properties are projected to be at least partly below tide lines by 2050. (Bloomberg) -- Unionized workers at General Motors Co. plants in South Korea have expressed concerns over President Donald Trumps mooted tariffs, worried they may lose their jobs if the factories they work at, which ship thousands of cars to the US, close or are impacted in some way. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leaders of GM Koreas labor union will depart the country on Saturday bound for Detroit where they plan to meet top GM officials, including, hopefully, GM International President Shilpan Amin, Ahn Kyu-baek, chairman of the local chapter of the Korean Metal Workers Union, said. Union leaders want to get more clarity around Trumps trade policies and GMs own plans for importing vehicles from its plants outside of the US, he said. Employees are anxious about speculation GM may consider an exit from Korea if Trump imposes tariffs on cars manufactured abroad, Ahn said. We want to know what management are going to do if tariffs are realized. Representatives for GM Korea declined to comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Korean union representatives are also scheduled to meet with Shawn Fain, president of United Auto Workers. UAW said in a statement earlier this month that its in active negotiations with the Trump administration to end the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class. Labor unions in Korea dont want to clash with UAW, merely discuss the situation, Ahn said. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump floated tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imported goods and levies of 60% or higher on shipments from China. Last week, the administration delayed new tariffs on automobiles imported from Mexico and Canada for one month. In February, GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said that if US tariffs become permanent, the automaker might have to consider moving some of its plants, but he said no decisions had been made. GM closed a manufacturing facility in Columbia in April 2024 and plans to shutter a facility in Ecuador. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement GM Korea shipped almost 500,000 vehicles from its South Korean factories last year, the most since 2017 and accounting for around 8% of GMs global sales. Around 80% of those vehicles were exported to the US as GM loses market share in South Korea to local incumbent Hyundai Motor Co. GM started business in Korea in 2002 and now employs about 10,000 staff across three plants. Its smaller sized sport utility vehicle, the Chevrolet Trax, was the most popular exported model from the country last year, Korean trade ministry data show. --With assistance from Tomoko Yamazaki. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Goodwill to open new store in El Pasos Lower Valley EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Goodwill Industries of El Paso will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of its newest location in the Lower Valley. The grand opening of the newest Goodwill thrift store will be at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19, at 700 N. Zaragoza. The opening of the new store is in conjunction with the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, according to the news release by Goodwill Industries of El Paso. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Goodwill Industries, the majority of funds gathered from the new store will go to programs that support its mission of employment training and opportunities to people with barriers to employment. The Employment Development Skills is a program that partners with local school districts to help graduate-ready students with barriers develop work skills. Goodwill student-operated opens at Canutillo High School In addition to the student program, the thrift store also offers computer centers, known as Goodwill El Paso Job-Link Centers, to provide anyone with job-searching skills, such as resume building, employment skills, interviewing skills, and the ability to search and apply to various positions, according to Goodwill Industries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Goodwill Industries said the newest Zaragoza location will have a Job-Link Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) uttered the truth that has mostly been squelched by President Donald Trump and co. that tariffs are basically a tax that U.S. shoppers will pay in the form of higher prices. (Watch the video below.) Mullens admission flies in the face of spin on Trumps trade wars, most notably White House press secretary Karoline Leavitts false insistence that tariffs result in a tax cut for Americans. Tariffs is a tax and it will be passed on to consumers, Mullin, a staunch Trump loyalist, told Kaitlan Collins on CNN Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Mullin defended Trumps erratic tariff binge as a potential vehicle for better trade arrangements with countries. Collins was eager to return to his surprising candor. What you just said is important: that a tariff is a tax that is passed on to consumers, she said. Of course it is, everybody knows that, Mullin replied. That is something the White House does not acknowledge, the host shot back. That is something the president, who is a businessperson, understands that completely, the senator said. Nobody understands the economy better than this president. There has never been a president that understands this economy better than this president. Collins: What you just said is important that a tariff is a tax and it is passed on to consumers. Mullin: Of course it is. Everybody knows it is. That is something the president understands completely pic.twitter.com/48ga6rQT4d Acyn (@Acyn) March 13, 2025 Trump himself has repeatedly spouted false claims that tariffs are paid by exporting countries when it is eventually American consumers who shell out for them. Related... A popular destination in the Olympic National Park has been closed for months, but help is on the way. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson announced on Thursday $623,000 in funding to repair the Hoh Rainforest access road. The road is the only way to access the Hoh Rainforest and its been closed since December due to heavy rains which washed away portions of the road. As a result, some visitors who had already made reservations for June have been told to cancel for a full refund. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Hoh Rain Forest is one of the crown jewels of Olympic National Park and Washingtons coastal communities, Governor Bob Ferguson said. It is also a critical driver of tourism on the Olympic Peninsula. We cannot allow access to remain closed during the peak visitor season, costing Washington businesses tourism dollars that rural communities rely on. My team is focused on finding solutions for Washingtonians, he said. The governor said $623,000 will be used from the Strategic Reserve funds as well as $27,000 in private donations as federal funds have not yet been granted. State Rep. Steve Tharinger said the Jefferson County Public Works Department will be able to open the road for the summer tourist season. According to the National Park Service, about 460,000 people visited the Hoh area of Olympic National Park last year. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Governor Josh Stein laid out his vision for North Carolinas future in his first State of the State address Wednesday night. Stein began with the impact of Hurricane Helene, the recovery thats happened since, and stressed that more work lies ahead. RELATED: Governor Josh Stein requests $1.07 billion in funding for Helene recovery in western NC Hurricane Helene and its horrific aftermath tested our state and our people in unprecedented ways, the governor said. The storm flooded western North Carolina stealing too many lives from us and devastating too many communities, but in the days, weeks, and months that followed, I have seenwe all have seenthe state of our state is strong, North Carolina strong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stein said hes seeking billions more in federal funding to help with recovery and called on the General Assembly to pass a $500 million Helene relief bill, which is being debated. The governor then focused on his goals for the states economy. No state will out work North Carolina as I am Governor, he said. Stein proposed free community college for students in high demand sectors, such advanced manufacturing and health care. He said hes creating a Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships to bring together community colleges, public schools, and local businesses to help people access good jobs. The governor wants to double the number of apprentices over the next four years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stein also laid out ideas for improving childcare access, saying targeted tax cuts for families will help make childcare more affordable. He also brought up the bipartisan Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, which he announced this week to find solutions to childcare challenges. When we [find solutions], it will be a win for our children, a win for our parents, it will be win for our businesses and economy, Stein said. Lets work together to expand access to quality, affordable child care here in North Carolina. The governor spoke about the need for investments in public schools, proposing a $4 billion public school bond. He also called for raising teacher salaries to make the starting salary for teachers in North Carolina the highest in the southeast. In the Republican response, State House Speaker Destin Hall began by saying the way congressional Democrats reacted to President Donald Trumps address was different than how his members reacted Wednesday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You saw a different tone from Republicans in the state legislature who refuse to let petty partisanship eclipse the moment, Hall said. The speaker said his party is focused on building our economy, rebuilding after Helene, investing in education, and working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Theres plenty more to do, from tackling crime in our state to making everyday life more affordable, eliminating DEI and state agencies, and taking the long hard work of rebuilding after Hurricane Helene, he said. Hall said he and the governor both recognize the need to set aside partisanship for the people of western North Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The full address can be viewed below: Some of the honored guests during the ceremony included: Ashley Cook & Freddy Carpenter of Avery County After Hurricane Helene, Ashley and Freddy hauled food, propane tanks, heaters, and anything else that their neighbors needed across Avery County. In the weeks and months since, Ashley has used her Facebook page to broadcast the needs she discovers and to connect people to resources. Matt & Michelle Banz of Rutherford County Owners of Chimney Rock Gemstone Mine, a business which has been a beloved tourist attraction and family outing destination for 21 years until Hurricane Helene caused the Rocky Broad River to flood their store. Haylee & Emily Orellana of Surry County Both participated in the nursing apprenticeship program at Northern Regional Hospital, an apprenticeship program headed by Crystal Folger-Hawks at Surry Community College . Emily began her pre-apprenticeship at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided both medical care and translation skills. Her younger sister Haylee is following in her footsteps and pursuing a pre-apprenticeship in the hospitals med-surg unit. Gov. Josh Stein in conversation with NC health leaders in a Charlotte meeting on March 7, 2025. (Courtesy NC Governors Office) Ali Setser of Pitt County The principal of Eastern Elementary School. All Pitt County Schools offer free meals for all students through participation in USDAs Community Eligibility Provision. Eastern Elementary School offers free meals to all students to improve their health, attendance, behavior, and learning. Teachers of the Year / Kimberly Jones of Orange County The 2023 Teacher of the Year, has taught 10th grade English at Chapel Hill High School since 2006 and was selected for fostering student agency and building authentic trust with students. Law enforcement officers / Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough of Forsyth County Kimbrough has served in law enforcement since 1984, including previously serving the United States Department of Justice as a Special Agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Debbie Dalton of Mecklenburg County A mother whose son Hunter tragically died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016. Since his death, Debbie has dedicated herself to trying to keep other parents from having to face the loss that she has. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. Gray Transportation, a Waterloo, Iowa-based carrier, is negotiating for a possible sale amid rumors the company is shutting down. Were working with our customers and the buyer. Were probably looking at a Friday deadline, Darrin Gray, company president, told FreightWaves in an interview when asked about the possible closing of the company. Family-owned Gray Transportation was founded in 1984 with one truck and a handful of employees. Today, the company has a fleet of over 160 trucks, 500 trailers and 100 drivers, offering over-the-road dry van solutions. Gray Transportation services the Midwest. The company also operates a brokerage called Hawkeye Logistics. This is a developing story that will be updated. The post Family-owned Iowa carrier looking into possible sale, official says appeared first on FreightWaves. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Governor Josh Stein laid out his vision for North Carolinas future in his first State of the State address Wednesday night. Stein began with the impact of Hurricane Helene, the recovery thats happened since, and stressed that more work lies ahead. RELATED: Governor Josh Stein requests $1.07 billion in funding for Helene recovery in western NC Hurricane Helene and its horrific aftermath tested our state and our people in unprecedented ways, the governor said. The storm flooded western North Carolina stealing too many lives from us and devastating too many communities, but in the days, weeks, and months that followed, I have seenwe all have seenthe state of our state is strong, North Carolina strong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stein said hes seeking billions more in federal funding to help with recovery and called on the General Assembly to pass a $500 million Helene relief bill, which is being debated. The governor then focused on his goals for the states economy. No state will out work North Carolina as I am Governor, he said. Stein proposed free community college for students in high demand sectors, such advanced manufacturing and health care. He said hes creating a Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships to bring together community colleges, public schools, and local businesses to help people access good jobs. The governor wants to double the number of apprentices over the next four years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stein also laid out ideas for improving childcare access, saying targeted tax cuts for families will help make childcare more affordable. He also brought up the bipartisan Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, which he announced this week to find solutions to childcare challenges. When we [find solutions], it will be a win for our children, a win for our parents, it will be win for our businesses and economy, Stein said. Lets work together to expand access to quality, affordable child care here in North Carolina. The governor spoke about the need for investments in public schools, proposing a $4 billion public school bond. He also called for raising teacher salaries to make the starting salary for teachers in North Carolina the highest in the southeast. In the Republican response, State House Speaker Destin Hall began by saying the way congressional Democrats reacted to President Donald Trumps address was different than how his members reacted Wednesday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You saw a different tone from Republicans in the state legislature who refuse to let petty partisanship eclipse the moment, Hall said. The speaker said his party is focused on building our economy, rebuilding after Helene, investing in education, and working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Theres plenty more to do, from tackling crime in our state to making everyday life more affordable, eliminating DEI and state agencies, and taking the long hard work of rebuilding after Hurricane Helene, he said. Hall said he and the governor both recognize the need to set aside partisanship for the people of western North Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The full address can be viewed below: Some of the honored guests during the ceremony included: Ashley Cook & Freddy Carpenter of Avery County After Hurricane Helene, Ashley and Freddy hauled food, propane tanks, heaters, and anything else that their neighbors needed across Avery County. In the weeks and months since, Ashley has used her Facebook page to broadcast the needs she discovers and to connect people to resources. Matt & Michelle Banz of Rutherford County Owners of Chimney Rock Gemstone Mine, a business which has been a beloved tourist attraction and family outing destination for 21 years until Hurricane Helene caused the Rocky Broad River to flood their store. Haylee & Emily Orellana of Surry County Both participated in the nursing apprenticeship program at Northern Regional Hospital, an apprenticeship program headed by Crystal Folger-Hawks at Surry Community College . Emily began her pre-apprenticeship at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided both medical care and translation skills. Her younger sister Haylee is following in her footsteps and pursuing a pre-apprenticeship in the hospitals med-surg unit. Gov. Josh Stein in conversation with NC health leaders in a Charlotte meeting on March 7, 2025. (Courtesy NC Governors Office) Ali Setser of Pitt County The principal of Eastern Elementary School. All Pitt County Schools offer free meals for all students through participation in USDAs Community Eligibility Provision. Eastern Elementary School offers free meals to all students to improve their health, attendance, behavior, and learning. Teachers of the Year / Kimberly Jones of Orange County The 2023 Teacher of the Year, has taught 10th grade English at Chapel Hill High School since 2006 and was selected for fostering student agency and building authentic trust with students. Law enforcement officers / Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough of Forsyth County Kimbrough has served in law enforcement since 1984, including previously serving the United States Department of Justice as a Special Agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Debbie Dalton of Mecklenburg County A mother whose son Hunter tragically died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016. Since his death, Debbie has dedicated herself to trying to keep other parents from having to face the loss that she has. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) When it comes to education, Gov. Kay Ivey wants to put an end to distraction in the classroom. She said the Focus Act will do just that. Today, Gov. Ivey told Montgomery business leaders at a Chamber of Commerce meeting she wants to ban cell phone use for Alabama students, K-12. The Focus Act states phones must be put in a locker, backpack, car, or similar storage location. But, it does allow students to use them in the event of an emergency. Now, dont get me wrong. Our phones and social media are fantastic tools, said Gov. Ivey. But, we have to know the time, place, and how to use them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The act requires students to learn how to use those tools. That means completing a social media safety course before entering eighth grade. Rep. Leigh Hulsey (R-Helena) said she brought the bill because, data shows that phones are increasing anxiety and stress. She explained some schools have already put a phone policy in place. When they put this policy in place, they said they started hearing laughter in their halls again, said Hulsey. Kids are high fiving each other, saying hey. Theyre meeting new people at lunch. And I think those are some things that were missing with this generation. Trussville City Council takes step toward enacting garbage collection fees Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile) believes phones should be put away. But, she said the exceptions made in the bill dont do enough to protect children if something happens at school. In the bill, theyre gonna be able to have them on campus, their lockers. Thats not a workable solution for me, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While some parents are also concerned, Hulsey assured that they will still be able to communicate with their kids. The priority here is really, keeping our kids safe while maintaining a focused learning environment. But, I want parents to know that I hear you, I understand your concern, and those concerns have been addressed in this legislation, said Hulsey. There is a House, and a Senate version of the bill moving through the legislature. They are heading to the floor in both chambers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) In an effort to bolster West Virginias tourism and hospitality industries, Gov. Patrick Morrisey has announced the creation of the new online education program Tourism Works. A release from Gov. Morriseys office detailed how the program will enhance hospitality skills and training among the states tourism workforce and everyday West Virginians. The program is a partnership between the West Virginia Department of Tourism and Blue Ridge Community and Technical College, and gives participants a chance to earn a free hour of college credit. While offering college credit, the program is also open to all West Virginians. The program is said to highlight the many regions, small businesses, history, and culture that makes our state home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cicadas returning to West Virginia in 2025: What counties will see them? Gov. Morrisey announced the creation of the program Tuesday alongside more than 200 tourism and hospitality industry professionals at the State Capitol for Tourism Day, which celebrated the industry as a whole as well as its record-setting $8.7 billion annual economic impact. The future of tourism has never looked brighter, West Virginia Department of Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said. This sector currently includes 70,000 hospitality and tourism jobs in West Virginia with an expected 21,000 job openings each year. The Tourism Works program is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to gain experience in a thriving industry. You can learn more about the course and sign up for it by clicking here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. PIERRE South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden shot down a bill which would have expanded the state's child care assistance program for certain child care employees. Rhoden vetoed an amended House Bill 1132, a proposed child care law that would have raised the federal poverty line for child care eligibility from 209% to 300% explicitly for people who work at least 30 hours per week at a licensed school daycare program, center or family home providing child care. The South Dakota governor wrote in a Wednesday statement provided by his office that his reasoning for torpedoing the legislation was because it would "shift South Dakota's child care assistance program away from its core mission." Governor Larry Rhoden vetoes amended House Bill 1132 on March 12, 2025 in Pierre, SD, a bill that would have extended child care assistance to certain daycare workers. Currently, the program is designed as a safety net to help low-income families cover child care costs while they work toward self-sufficiency," Rhoden stated. "This bill would give child care workers preferential treatment, by allowing them to receive this aid at a higher income level. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the first bill Rhoden has vetoed as governor of South Dakota. More: South Dakota House passes bill establishing child care assistance for daycare workers In a letter to Speaker Jon Hansen and House members, Rhoden critiqued the bill further, saying it would "transform" the state's child care program into a "long-term workforce subsidy." He also explained he killed the bill over its fiscal aspects, since it lacked an appropriation to cover the cost of the program's expansion. "If just 5% of South Dakota's current child care workforce applies, the program will require an additional $3.8 million in state general funds. If half of the current workforce applies, the program grows by $38 million," Rhoden wrote. "The lack of new funding creates a zero-sum game, and this expansion would force reductions in benefits or waiting lists for the low-income families the program was originally designed to support." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Others who voiced their opposition during this year's legislative session included Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, who stated during last months House hearing that HB 1132B would create winners and losers by giving special treatment to child care workers and not other areas such as health care, education and service industries, all of which are also experiencing workforce shortages. The South Dakota Department of Social Services also opposed the bill, with Deputy Secretary and Chief of Operations Brenda Tidball-Zeltinger stating that the current 209% South Dakota federal poverty level for child care assistance equals about $67,000 per year for a family of four and $44,000 for a family of two. If the federal poverty line is raised to 300%, a family of four can earn up to $93,000 per year and $61,000 per year for a family of two. The South Dakota Legislature funds the state's child care assistance program each year through DSS, Tidball-Zeltinger relayed. Part of the funding comes from a federal block grant, but that grant is capped. To receive federal funds, the state must also contribute matching funds from its own budget. One of the bill's prime sponsors, Democrat Rep. Erin Healy of Sioux Falls, criticized the governor's decision in an interview with the Argus Leader Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Healy, House Minority Leader, called Rhoden's argument that the state would have to increase its budget "premature," as the state does not have a waiting list for child care assistance. "This veto sends a clear message that we are willing to allow families to struggle, and that is unacceptable," Healy said in a phone call. "It's disappointing that these people who are taking care of children can't afford child care themselves. That's the true problem there." Healy has previously pointed to Kentucky, which passed a similar bill offering child care assistance to child care workers. This ultimately cost less than expected, she said, as many child care workers were already eligible but unaware of the assistance available. Rhoden also lauded the state Department of Social Services' ongoing work to address the child care shortage in the state by pointing to "industry standard" weekly payments for child care assistance, raised reimbursement rates for providers and the state's ChildCare605 Campaign, among other things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Healy contends the state hasn't done enough to address the child care shortage. More: 'We're in a crisis,' childcare leaders warn as options remain unaffordable for many "I'm looking at the solutions that they've addressed, and it's great that they're working on that, but it's not enough to address the child care shortage in South Dakota, specifically that child care is not accessible and businesses can not afford to keep their facilities open." Both Healy and Republican Sen. Tim Reed of Brookings are members of the South Dakota Child Care Task Force, which formed in 2023. A report was released in January, stating that South Dakotas child care model is unsustainable, with providers closing due to financial strain. HB 1132 was just one of many moving parts in addressing child care in the state, by allowing the workers behind the workers or those who are employed at early child care centers to be eligible for child care assistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Task force releases first look at the state of child care in South Dakota Child care costs range from $7,000 to $14,000 per year, making it unattainable for low-income families. Additionally, child care workers earn an average of $12.67 per hour far below the $19.58 living wage. This shortage further limits available child care spots, exacerbating the crisis. So how is somebody who is making that wage supposed to afford child care? These people are taking care of our children, but they can't even afford to have their children taken care of, Healy said during the House session last month. When that happens, Healy said, child care workers leave the industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation will now require a two-thirds majority in both the state's House and the Senate chambers to be overturned. HB 1132 was one of the first bills expanding the state's child care assistance program to pass the House and Senate in a decade. But the bill received less than two-thirds of votes from members of both chambers, which means it is unlikely the legislature will vote to overturn the governor's veto. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Gov. Rhoden vetoes bill expanding SD child care assistance threshold Gov. Tim Walz is planning stops at House districts around the United States represented by Republicans who have stopped holding town halls due to ongoing backlash to federal cuts by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. Walz announced the tour of red states on Wednesday, with the move a significant indicator that he intends to run for president in 2028, after his time as Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024. Walz is planning stops beginning on Friday in Iowa's 3rd District, which is represented by Rep. Zach Nunn, and will then head to Nebraska's 2nd District, home to Rep. Don Bacon, according to national media reports. His office also has stops planned in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio as well. Im hitting the road, traveling to red states across the country to lend a megaphone to the people. Your congressman may not want to listen, but theyre going to hear from us anyway.https://t.co/Xat0jYqHrc Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) March 13, 2025 "I'm going to go out there and make sure those folks down in Iowa know that their [Rep. Nunn] doesn't want to come talk to them but he voted for this stuff," Walz said during an appearance on MSNBC. "He voted to defund these things, he voted to make it impossible to talk to the VA and cut 70,000 people to care for our veterans. By the way, many of those 70,000 are veterans themselves." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "So I think again this is us going out and talking to people, making the case that people are absolutely clear that both parties are not the same: one stands with Elon Musk, the billionaires and the dismantling of America as we know it, and one that's going to be there for their families. And if we're not out there, Donald Trump, all the podcasts, all the money will fill that void ... I hope people show up at that town hall and say, 'look governor, what are you offering? Are you offering anything better?' That's fair. But to turn your back and not do it, it's dangerous." People want to make their voices heard, but their congressmen are hiding in Washington and refusing to do town halls. Im going to join Democrats across the country to show up where Republicans arent. pic.twitter.com/5nEzT0Ev2L Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) March 13, 2025 But Walz's announcement has drawn criticism from Republicans in Minnesota, with state Rep. Zach Duckworth accusing him of abandoning Minnesota at a time it is facing a $6 billion budget deficit by 2029. "All great selfless leaders leave their job during its most critical moments - like solving a $6 Billion deficit they created," he said. "Abandoning Minnesota mid session when the real work is about to begin is publicly admitting youre not needed and have no interest in actually governing." Walz aims to fill void after Republican advice on town halls It's been reported that Republicans representatives have been advised by NRCC chairperson Rep. Richard Hudson to not hold town halls going forward due to backlash over the Trump administration's policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It follows a series of high-profile confrontations at Republican town halls held across the U.S., which saw representatives assailed by local residents angry by the scale and severity of the cuts and layoffs being imposed by the administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk. Walz reacted to the NRCC's order on Twitter, suggesting that he would host an event in a district a Republican currently holds to gain more support for Democrats. "Thats a shame. If your Republican representative wont meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will," Walz said. "Hell, maybe I will. If your congressman refuses to meet, Ill come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat em." Related: Gov. Walz offers to step in and hold town halls if Republicans won't Walz later told CNN he had been overwhelmed by the response to that tweet, saying his staff has been sifting through "hundreds of invitations from local party leaders and candidates asking him to come." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Outside of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been holding events in Republican districts for the past several weeks, no other major Democratic leaders have done the same. Minnesota currently has four congressional districts controlled by Republicans: Rep. Brad Finstad in the 1st Congressional District; Rep. Tom Emmer in the 6th Congressional District; Rep. Michelle Fischbach in the 7th Congressional District; and Rep. Pete Stauber in the 8th Congressional District. It's unclear if Walz intends to visit any, some or all of these districts during his tour. The Minnesota governor told CNN he intends to tell voters that it "doesn't have to be this way," referencing this week's move by the administration to slash the U.S. Department of Education in half. Related: Walz slams Department of Education cuts, says it will undermine schools and children On Wednesday, Walz called out the Trump administration's firing of nearly half the Department of Education, saying it will have a "detrimental impact on children." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is undermining our economic wellbeing for the future, it's undermining our competitive advantage, and it's undermining the moral authority that every child truly matters. So what Donald Trump continues to do is the idiocy of whatever he thinks at the time is a good talking point," Walz said during a Democratic Governors call held on Wednesday. Democrats are peering into the abyss of forcing a government shutdown. They may be badly overestimating their leverage. The US government will run out of money soon without Congress passing a continuing resolution (CR) to fund its operations. Congress is supposed to pass an annual budget that prevents this sort of periodic crisis, but it hasnt done so in several years. So, here we go again. House Republicans did their part on Tuesday night, passing by a 217-213 vote a CR that would fund the government through September 30. One Republican voted no on principle against big government, and one red-district Democrat crossed the aisle to vote yes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its now up to the Senate, where Republicans have 53 votes, and 60 are needed. That requires the support of seven Democrats, but thus far only iconoclastic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman says he will not vote to shut down the government. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer says that there arent six more Democratic votes, so Republicans need to compromise or the government will shut down. In simple Washington math, Schumer holds the cards: without Senate Democratic votes, the CR wont pass. Democrats would prefer a 30-day CR, allowing them to extract concessions once every month to avoid shutdowns. But whether Schumer knows it or not, hes bluffing. What Democrats consider their leverage is actually a firecracker primed to go off in their own faces. Power in Washington isnt just who has the votes. Its also about who can move the public, who uses their most precious resources (time and public attention) to the greatest effect, and who gets the most out of the leverage they have. As far as moving the public, whats the Democrats message? Theyve spent most of the last 14 years arguing that Republicans were government-hating meanies who acted like terrorists by trying to shut it down. Theyve spent most of the past two months arguing to voters and courts that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) were doing incalculable damage by even temporary pauses in government payments. Abruptly deciding to become the you dont need the government for a while party will sound implausible coming from them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Besides the natural advantage of being the party of government, Democrats have usually had the upper hand in shifting the blame for shutdowns to the Republicans in the past because they had the White House. Its easier for one man to argue with a legislative caucus. But that dynamic is flipped when dealing with Trump, who is nothing if not able to draw attention to his own blunt message. Hed love to adopt the mantle of the guy who just wants to keep things open for business. Democrats, for their part, havent even begun the heavy work of explaining to voters succinctly what they are demanding as a condition of a deal. Then, consider the cost of picking this fight instead of other fights. One of the golden rules of politics, as in war, is Napoleons dictum: Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Trumps tariff battles with Canada, Mexico, China, and the EU have rattled markets and unsettled voters. Changing the subject and giving the president a convenient scapegoat for market fluctuations is a gift that Democrats would be fools to give him. This is why James Carville wrote in the New York Times that Democrats should roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight and make the American people miss us. Shutting down the government to extract diffuse and unspecified concessions is the opposite of that. If Democrats do it, it wont be a strategy but an attempt to mollify the angriest elements of their activist base. Doing so is exactly what got them kicked out of power in the first place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, theres what you do with the power you have. With Trump and Musk trying to seize more executive control of spending, Democrats should have a common interest with at least some Republicans in Congress in reasserting Congressional primacy over spending decisions. A big legal fight is brewing over impoundment, the practice of the executive refusing to spend Congressionally-appropriated funds when it thinks theyre being wasted. But the president is never on stronger ground over impoundment than when the government is running out of money and he has to pick priorities. A shutdown would empower the Office of Management and Budget, under spending hawk Russ Vought, to freeze every penny of disfavoured spending on the legitimate grounds that the government needs to husband its resources for essential functions. That almost certainly means that Democrats preferred spending priorities would go to the back of the line. If Democrats want to make a statement of how much they oppose Trump and the lengths they will go to in order to dramatise that, they should shut down the government. But if they actually want to win arguments with the voters, gain power, and use the power they have to advance their preferred ends, thats the last thing they should do. Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. PLATTSBURGH A day after declaring the three-week-old statewide correction officers strike over, the state barred any officer continuing to strike from any further state service. My top priority is the safety and well-being of all New Yorkers and I have been working around-the-clock to end this illegal work stoppage and restore safety in our correctional system, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday. We have taken unprecedented steps to protect public safety, and I am grateful to the National Guard and DOCCS (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) personnel who stayed on the job, going above and beyond to protect their fellow New Yorkers. Today, we can finally say this work stoppage is over and move forward towards making our prisons safer for all, supporting our correctional staff, and recruiting the correction officers of the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hochul said that any employee who did not report to work Monday would be terminated, and about 2,000 termination notices were sent out. HIRING BAN Hochul said she also signed an Executive Order establishing a policy barring the hiring into state service of individuals who are participating in the wildcat strike and recommending their removal from the Central Registry of Police and Peace Officers for cause, which would prevent them from being hired as a Police or Peace Officer in state and local jurisdictions. State Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake), a former correction officer himself, was not happy with the governors Executive Order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I strongly oppose the governors recent Executive Order declaring a state of emergency at correctional facilities and barring terminated New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision officers from future employment at other state, county or local government agencies, Jones said. This is an absolute ridiculous usurpation of local control and an overreach of executive power. The Executive Order is vindictive and must be reversed immediately. LONG STRIKE The strike began on Feb. 17 at prisons across the state. Correction officers have been protesting the lack of safety inside prisons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They have been asking for more staff, fewer double and triple shifts, better screening for packages and visitors to keep dangerous contraband out, and a repeal of the Humane Alternatives to Long Term Incarceration Act, which strictly limited which inmates and for how long they can be sent to Special Housing Units. Prisons have been guarded by those officers who continue to work and more than 6,000 members of the National Guard that Hochul deployed early on in the strike. After several negotiating sessions with and without representation from the officers union, the New York State Correction Officers Police Benevolent Association, a deal was finally reached this past weekend. The crux of the deal contained many of the items that had been agreed upon in the first three attempts to settle the strike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deal was contingent upon at least 85 percent of the officers returning to work by Monday, which did not happen. But the numbers were close as about 10,000 of 13,500 officers had returned to work as of Monday. As a result, the state said it would recognize components of the latest agreement as well as the March 6th agreement in full. Components of the agreements that the State will honor include: - Allowing the Commissioner of DOCCS to exercise his existing discretion under the HALT Act and continue the temporary suspension of the programming elements of the HALT Act for 90 days from the date of the MOA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement - Minimizing and working towards eliminating 24-hour mandatory overtime. - Establishing a committee to analyze each facilitys staffing and operational inefficiencies with the goal of providing more relief to existing staff. - DOCCS shall not issue notices of discipline under the collective bargaining agreement for an employee who engaged in the strike so long as the employee returned to work by the deadline. - Reiterating rescission of the 70/30 memo. - Immediately reinstating the health insurance of any returning employee. - Continue to pay the 2.5 times overtime rate originally established by mutual agreement on February 20, 2025, for 30 days from the date of the MOA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement - Allowing employees to purchase health insurance covering the full State share and employee share to the first day of AWOL/terminated health insurance. - Establishing a committee comprised of representatives of NYSCOP and DOCCS and other parties to present recommendations to the New York State Legislature regarding changes to the HALT Act. RECRUITMENT The state also said it would increase efforts to recruit and hire more correction officers. This includes: - Supporting correction officer trainees at New Yorks Correction Officer Academy - Introducing Article 7 language in this years Executive Budget to amend the public officers law, in relation to residency requirements for certain positions as a correction officer, allowing recruiting from other states which would greatly expand the number of potential applicants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement - DOCCS has contracted with OGS Media Services on a large-scale social media recruitment campaign that includes a multi-channel approach including social media, multicultural digital, streaming audio, video and static ads to better familiarize the public on DOCCS mission. The campaign went live in February 2025 targeting upstate NY community college campuses and military bases. - DOCCS Statewide Recruitment Unit has been running Recruitment Centers in various locations and currently is operating Recruitment Centers in the Destiny USA mall (Syracuse) and Champlain Centre mall (Plattsburgh). - DOCCS launched an advanced placement initiative to attract applicants with Correction Officer experience into our Correction Officer ranks at a pay rate commensurate to their experience. In February, the DOCCS Recruitment Unit collectively attended a total of 157 career fair and table events across colleges, high schools and community events, the state said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In July 2024, the Department launched CNY200, a regional hiring incentive promoting direct placement of Correction officer recruits to vacancies a program that has been expanded to eight counties. The DOCCS recruitment team launched a new initiative to increase DOCCS applications into the NYS HELPs program, by collecting electronic resumes at career and community events and disseminating them to the facilities in their regions. CANT WAIT State Sen. Dan Stec (R-Queensbury) who has seven prisons in his district, the most of any state legislator, urged Hochul in a letter to her to be flexible in dealing with the striking officers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the MOA was intended to resolve the wildcat correction officer strike, strict adherence to the 85-percent threshold should not outweigh safety concerns. The provisions laid out relating to staff relief, overtime reduction and facility safety measures are critical to restoring order and operational security, Stec said. Disrupting or rescinding these terms would undermine this ongoing, fraught process and exacerbate the current staffing shortage. Stec also asked Hochul to consider extending a final notice period that allows any remaining terminated employees the opportunity to return to work and have DOCCS rescind their terminations. Current recruitment classes average 50 trainees. Even if 15 officer classes were held a year, it would take three years to backfill those positions at that rate, Stec said. Considering that current officers are working 12-hour shifts, for five days a week, we simply cant wait that long. Stec also said under Hochuls leadership DOCCS is in shambles. The strong arm tactics to ignore sincere safety concerns and terminate over 2,000 officers of a department already woefully understaffed is unconscionable, he said. PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) South Dakotas new governor has issued his first-ever veto. And he did it with a branding iron. Gov. Larry Rhoden vetoed House Bill 1132, which sought to provide expanded eligibility for child-care workers to receive government assistance for care of their own children. Heated discussion at Oldham-Ramona-Rutland meeting The only opponent of the bill was the state Department of Social Services, which administers the federal-funded program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rhoden explained his decision in a letter to lawmakers. This bill would give child care workers preferential treatment, by allowing them to receive this aid at a higher income level, his letter stated. This would be the first time in South Dakota that our state safety net programs would give enhanced benefits to people working in one type of job or occupation, and it would transform this program into a long-term workforce subsidy rather than what its focus should be: temporary support for families in need. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCT) Governor Josh Stein addressed North Carolina Wednesday in his first State of the State Address. Much of Steins speech focused on Hurricane Helene relief, while also stating there is still work to be done. People need to get back in their homes. Roads and bridges need to be fixed. Businesses need to keep their doors open and their workers employed, communities need clean drinking water, Govern Stein said. Thats why Im working with President Trump, his cabinet, and our congressional delegation to seek billions more in federal funds. Thats why I urge you to pass the $500 million Western North Carolina Recovery Bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Governor Stein also addressed other topics like growing the states economy, making the price of goods more affordable for families, providing quality healthcare, teacher pay, and public safety. Stein also recognized Principal Ali Setser of Eastern Elementary School in Greenville. Fundamentally, our commitment to our people is that they have a real shot at success to get a good-paying job or start a small business, Stein said. Thats the promise of North Carolina that where you come from should never limit how far you can go. Delivering on that promise is what drives me as your Governor. After Steins speech, Republicans had time for a rebuttal. House Speaker Destin Hall was critical of the previous administrations Hurricane Helene response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings, testifies to the South Dakota Senate Local Government Committee on Jan. 22, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has vetoed a bill offering financial assistance to a broader swath of child care workers. Rhodens Wednesday veto of House Bill 1132 closes the book, for now, on all three child care bills drawn up by a task force convened to study ways out of the states affordability and access woes and the resultant difficulties for workplace recruiters. Lawmakers could override Rhodens action with a two-thirds vote of each chamber when they gather on March 31 to consider his vetoes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HB 1132 would open up child care tuition assistance to full-time child care workers if their household incomes are 300% of the federal poverty line or less. The subsidy is currently available to any households at 209% of the poverty level or below. In a letter to lawmakers explaining his veto, Rhoden said he didnt feel an expansion of the subsidy program was fair to all South Dakotans. This would be the first time in South Dakota that our state safety net programs would give enhanced benefits to people working one type of job or occupation, the governor wrote. He also cited the lack of an appropriation to cover additional costs for what would have been an expanded program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Supporters had urged their fellow lawmakers to think less in terms of fairness to all occupations and more about the practical impact of this particular flavor of preferential treatment: More day care openings for parents all across the state. Laws similar to HB 1132 have been used in states like Kentucky and North Dakota to help child caregivers afford their own child care, thereby allowing them to stay at work and care for the children of others. We had hoped that our state could think about things differently, said Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings, who carried HB 1132 in the Senate and was co-lead of the task force. Kayla Klein, of the nonprofit group Early Learner South Dakota, called HB 1132 a solution that had proven its worth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am disheartened by the decision, but want all of those providers, families and children out there to know that we will continue to search for solutions to make meaningful and impactful change, Klein said Wednesday. The Senates 20-14 passage of HB 1132 had stood as a bright spot for the advocates whove spent years looking for ways to open up more day care slots and hold the line on prices sometimes high enough to make staying home with kids a wiser financial move for parents than working. Klein said after the Senate vote she was thrilled that the legislative body has taken the child care crisis and words from their constituents to heart. This brings us one step closer to stabilizing the child care industry the workforce behind the workforce, Klein said at the time. Senate had sided with help for child care workers Reed had carried that message on the Senate floor, and the message carried the day in spite of opposition that sounded much like Rhodens reasoning for the veto. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton, argued that its unfair to give a carve out to day care workers and not workers in other fields. The one group that I think should be included in this are our teachers, he said, referring to K-12 teachers. Why dont our teachers get a break on their child care? Some lawmakers in the House had similar reservations. We in the Legislature, and most certainly those of us serving on appropriations, know full well that child care is not the only sector of our economy that is struggling to build and maintain the workforce, Rep. Jack Kolbeck, R-Sioux Falls, said on Feb. 19. Subsidy hike, grad student plans fail The other planks of advocates hoped-for child care platform had less success. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Feb. 20, the state Senates budget committee voted 5-3 against pitching in more state dollars to the subsidy program. The subsidy bill would have upped payments to families who get child care assistance. In South Dakota, the federal grant funds that support the subsidy pay up to 75% of the market rate cost a rate calculated biennially for child care. The task force had hoped to bump that up to 90% of the market rate, getting closer to covering the cost of care. If were going to provide assistance, we should do it at the market rate, Reed told the Senate Appropriations Committee. Theres a delicate dance to setting child care rates, according to Kerri Tietgen of EmBe, a nonprofit with two large centers in Sioux Falls. EmBe CEO Kerri Tietgen tesifies for changes to South Dakotas child care assistance subsidy rate on Feb. 20, 2025, at the state Capitol in Pierre. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) The true cost of child care continues to rise, driven by increasing wages for child care, teachers, higher food prices and the need to maintain a safe and enriching environment for children, she said. Our organization continuously looks for ways to offset costs, but like many providers, were stuck between rising expenses and the ceiling of affordable rates for families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But South Dakota cant afford to spend more on child care subsidies, said Jason Simmons of the state Department of Social Services. The state can only get $32 million in federal money for the subsidy, Simmons said, and already has to chip in an $800,000 match to receive that. Because of the cap on federal dollars, the state would need to come up with $8.25 million to cover everyone whos eligible at the higher rate. Since the state cant afford to make up the difference, Simmons said, the subsidy change would greatly reduce the number of people that are eligible for the program. South Dakota already does a better-than-average job with reimbursements, he said. Federal guidelines suggest that a state reimburse at 75% of the market rate, and South Dakota is one of just 17 states to reimburse that high. South Dakota isnt often mentioned as one of the top states in the nation for reimbursement rates, and we are in this area, Simmons said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Taffy Howard moved to defeat Reeds bill. The Rapid City Republican said shes suspicious of subsidies and questions whether the state ought to have a role in child care. We have to admit this is a welfare program, and our nation is broke, Howard said. No help for graduate students Before using his carve-outs argument on the Senate floor against HB 1132, Jensen voiced it during panel discussion of the proposal to extend child care help to graduate students, Senate Bill 118. Im concerned that its another carve out where we expect the entire state to pay for a few peoples needs, Jensen said Feb. 5, when the bill had a hearing with the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. SB 118 aimed to adjust an existing carve-out within the child care subsidy program. Undergraduate students who have children and fit income guidelines can access the subsidy under current law, regardless of how many hours they may work between classes. Income-eligible graduate students with kids cant, however, unless they work 80 hours or more a month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SB 118 would have changed that by opening the subsidy up to income-eligible grad students with a combined total of 80 monthly hours at work or in class. Sen. Sydney Davis, its prime sponsor, told the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 2 that the state ought to encourage grad students with kids to better themselves. People with masters degrees contribute to the states economy and fill important roles that South Dakotans with less education cannot, she said. But Department of Social Services Secretary Matt Althoff called SB 118 a boutique tweak to the law. He told the committee he understands that graduate student parents might have difficulties, but said theyre also in a more privileged position than undergraduates. But we do say no, an awful lot, and that is an ongoing thing in our stewardship of the safety net, Althoff said. We have set clear, bright lines. The committee sided with Althoff and defeated SB 112 on a 5-3 vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A former ByteDance executive has joined Shengshu AI as CEO, marking a significant hire by one of China's leading artificial intelligence (AI) video start-ups amid fierce competition for talent in the rapidly evolving industry. Luo Yihang - the former head of AI solutions at ByteDance's cloud unit, Volcano Engine - will oversee research and development, product management, commercialisation and team management at Shengshu, according to a company representative. Tang Jiayu, Shengshu's co-founder and former chief executive, would assume the role of president, responsible for core functional areas including strategic development, branding, human resources, administration, finance, legal affairs and intellectual property, the representative said on Wednesday. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Founded in early 2023 amid the surge of interest in generative AI following OpenAI's release of ChatGPT, Shengshu gained prominence in China last year with the launch of Vidu, a video-generation model seen as a competitor to OpenAI's Sora. Shengshu AI co-founder and president Tang Jiayu introduces the company's new video tool. Photo: Ben Jiang alt=Shengshu AI co-founder and president Tang Jiayu introduces the company's new video tool. Photo: Ben Jiang> Beijing-based Shengshu has strong ties to Tsinghua University, from which members of its core team graduated. They include president Tang, chief scientist and computer science professor Zhu Jun, and chief technology officer Bao Fan. The company has received investments from search giant Baidu and Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post. Luo, also a Tsinghua alumnus who earned his doctorate from the university's automation department in 2014, began his career as marketing director at Yunshan Networks, a strategic partner of Microsoft in China. His last public appearance representing ByteDance was in June, during an online webinar discussing how AI-generated content could drive marketing growth. He viewed AI as a collaborative partner rather than a replacement for human employees, adding that the technology "has the potential to gradually transform into digital employees". ByteDance's Volcano Engine provides corporate and developer clients with access to proprietary large language models, the type of technology underpinning generative AI services like ChatGPT. Its products include the Doubao foundation model and video generator Seaweed. Mar. 12GRAND FORKS Approximately 30 members of the local Women in Construction organization recently got a sneak peak at the Career Impact Academy under construction in northwest Grand Forks near the intersection of Gateway Drive and 42nd Street. As part of celebrating "Women in Construction Week," they toured the two-story, 50,000-square-foot building that is expected to reach "substantial completion" by May 1 and then be turned over to the owner, Grand Forks Public Schools, said Geoff Olson, project engineer with PCL/Community Contractors. The school district "will be making sure they have the staffing in place" before fall semester classes start, Olson said. "That's a pretty fast turnaround." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Construction of the building dubbed the "CIA" by its backers "is right on schedule," said Jared Kasper, who, as project manager with PCL/Community Contractors, has been overseeing the project for the past year. "We have about eight weeks left to get there." All programs housed here will be up and running when the 2025-26 school year starts in August, said Eric Ripley, executive director of career and technical education and technology with the school district. Ground was broken in October 2023. The Women in Construction members showed keen interest and asked questions as they toured the facility. "I love to see all the windows," said RuAnn Deschene, CEO of Community Contractors. "I can remember Red River High School (classrooms) with the narrow windows. All that sun coming through, it's going to be nice especially in the winter." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Built at an estimated cost of $30.5 million, the CIA will be a regional hub for career and technical education, serving area high schools and post-secondary schools, as well as private businesses. "More than 80 industry partners have supported this project" with their contributions, Ripley said, "and the capital campaign is ongoing." Near the building's south entry, a large donor wall will display the names of contributors who invested in this project. In 2023, more than $11 million was raised from private donations in 72 days to qualify for a $10 million match from the state. "This is going to be great for the community," said Darvin Ische, superintendent with PCL/Community Contractors. "It'll be good for parents, too, with kids who are not interested in college. This place may be bursting at the seams." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instruction in the new facility will also equip adults seeking to gain the knowledge and skills needed to enter the workforce and current industry employees seeking to enhance skills for career advancement. Programs to be offered include: building trades, culinary arts, precision technologies, automotive training, aviation and unmanned aerial systems, robotics, architectural design, engineering, computer science, and health careers such as occupational and physical therapy, certified nurse assistant and emergency medical technician. "Precision technologies" is an overarching term that applies to the newest advances in the agricultural field, Ripley said. The CIA will offer laboratory and classroom space for programs that are new to schools in this area, as well as those currently offered by Grand Forks Public Schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nine school districts are participating in the CIA programs, Ripley said. Academic training pathways will be available for students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Students will be able to complete their high school diplomas and obtain credentials or credits toward a college degree. The technical education facility will provide training in "programs that don't get highlighted as often as they should," Ripley said. It will also provide much-needed space for programs of study that are so popular the school district has been forced to turn students away due to space limitations, especially in the medical fields. In those fields, as well as in the building trades and aviation, interest is especially strong, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As an example, Ripley pointed to the CNA, or certified nurse assistant, training currently provided to high school students. "We have students start out as paid interns and work their way up," he said. "The question is, how do we get them into the pipeline at an earlier age?" In the CIA building, the area for CNA training has been designed and equipped to resemble what students will encounter in the real world, such as sinks and bathrooms to practice patient care skills. Space has also been designated as a lab to carry out certification testing. Another "real life" environment to enhance teaching is a simulated cafe setting for students in the culinary arts program. Leaders in the restaurant industry say it's important for students to learn "service and communicative skills," Ripley said. "It's those skills that sink restaurants, more than the chef or the food." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the tour, as he described the areas designated for building trades education and training, Ripley noted that there is "huge interest" in this field. "We'd love to get more females involved," he said. "I'd like to see more of a balance of males and females." Olson, with PCL/Community Contractors, said, "Fargo and Grand Forks are exploding right now," referring to the boom of activity in the business and industry sectors. In information technology, too, "there's a lot of interest and a lot of need," Ripley said. Rooms in the CIA have also been designed for traditional classroom instruction and are equipped for presentations. Dedicated spaces will give teachers who will teach online courses "a place to land," he said, and other areas are designated for students to study on their own. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The residential house-building project, which has been conducted by Grand Forks high school students for years, will take place near the CIA, where a former credit union building once stood. An adjacent lot has been secured for potential CIA expansion in the future, Ripley said. Also, the CIA will provide space for area private-sector employers to retrain, recertify or upskill current employees, as well as "some flexible space that can be used for more than one purpose," he said. Post-secondary educational institutions will be able to provide training pathways, certifications and degree programs for adult learners. In many cases, college instructors will also be able to provide training to high school learners. Beginning in May and through the summer months, the focus will be on helping teachers become familiar with the features of their new workspace, said Ripley, who will serve as building administrator when the structure is completed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among women, interest in the construction field has grown, industry leaders say. "There are no limits for women," Deschene said. "There are so many different aspects and roles in engineering." The tour was a valuable experience for the Women in Construction group because "it really built excitement about getting more kids involved with the trades and being able to highlight the important roles women play in the industry for future generations," said Erica LaMarca, executive administrator with Community Contractors. The local Women in Construction group was formed about a year ago to promote the role of women in many different aspects of the construction industry. Its members are working in areas such as commercial construction and the many trades, and as residential home builders and remodelers, architects, interior designers and bankers. The group's quarterly meetings allow women to showcase and tour local jobsites with projects under construction as well as the opportunity to connect with other women in the industry. New attendees are always welcome, organizers say. NEWARK, New Jersey (PIX11) The city of Newark continues to mourn the loss of Detective Joseph Azcona who was fatally shot on the job just days ago. Family, friends, and fellow officers gathered Wednesday to honor the life and service of the 26-year-old Newark police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty Friday night. A memorial of balloons and candles was growing near Carteret Street and Broadway where Azcona was gunned down. Iris Rodriguez came to pay her respects. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its very hard because my husband was a cop so, it hurts, Iris said. Today it could be him, tomorrow another one thats related to us. She added, We have a lot of officers that go to work like this gentleman and hes not going to go back home to his parents. The police SUV that rushed Azcona to the hospital sat near the memorial, adorned with a photo of the fallen officer. He was fatally shot by a 14-year-old boy during an illegal weapons investigation, according to police. The teen is charged with his murder. Now, as loved ones commemorate his legacy, Captain Gerardo Rodriguez remembers Azcona as a dedicated officer who put his life on the line to protect the city he served. He was such a great kid, said Gerardo. Such a great kid. Always willing to work. Very respectful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added, This is the worst thing that could happen. You leave your home thinking Im going to go to work and come back home later and this happens. Its a very dangerous job. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Azconas rise through the ranks was swift. He had five years with the Newark Police Division and was promoted to detective two years ago. Outside Newark City Hall, Azconas patrol car remains stationed, draped in a purple bunting, and covered in flowers and balloons. The city of Newark is remembering Azcona not as just a hero in uniform, but as a son, a friend, and a protector. Its a sad tragedy all the way around, Gerardo said. We lost one of our own. The way we lost him, it hurts and its very difficult. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Azconas body is currently being held at Buyus Funeral Home in Newark. His funeral service is scheduled for Friday morning at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart where loved ones will gather to honor his memory and say their final goodbyes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) If you spend any time in Nashville, youll know auto traffic can be a problem during rush hour. However, some Middle Tennessee residents skip commuting via car in favor of the WeGo Star. Mayor Freddie OConnell talks about Nashvilles transit plan The commuter train has been in service since 2006 and can take you all the way from Wilson County into the heart of downtown Nashville; WeGo Star has seven stops across 32 miles. See below for a full map provided by WeGo Public Transit: Move left Move right Move up Move down + Zoom in - Zoom out Home Jump left by 75% End Jump right by 75% Page Up Jump up by 75% Page Down Jump down by 75% Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To navigate, press the arrow keys. Use ctrl + scroll to zoom the map Map Terrain Satellite Labels Keyboard shortcuts Map Data Map data 2025 Google Map data 2025 Google 2 km Click to toggle between metric and imperial units Terms Report a map error For more than a decade, Sabrina Hooper has boarded the WeGo Star train to get to work each morning, bypassing lines of cars on the interstate. I take the Hermitage train station and its about two miles from my house, so, I go there and then I get on the train. It takes me downtown to First Street, Hooper told News 2. Its great. The train takes me out of the congestion of the traffic. Even when I bought my house, I made sure that it was still on the line of the train so that I could come in. Not only is the ride swift and congestion-free, the roughly half-hour commute from Hermitage into the city provides a space for productivity in the trains quiet cars. News 2 On Tour | Explore the communties that shape Middle Tennessee You cant have loud conversationsit gives you a time to get ready for the day, Hooper said. By the end of 2019, Donelson saw just under 23,000 riders; Hermitage saw nearly 48,000. After a drop in ridership thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership last year started to increase. WeGo officials said ridership is looking up. Really what were trying to do is get people into work because its primarily a commuter train right now. Three trips in the morning and three trips in the afternoon, said Eric Melcher, public information officer for WeGo. Its been tremendous growth in Donelson that weve noticed; retail and housing development, and also civic development like the new library, [have helped.] WeGo surveyed train riders two years ago to look for opportunities for improvement to the rail system. In the meantime, riders like Hooper tells News 2 WeGo star is already a positive that makes work and life just a little bit easier. I think its just helpful all around my quality of life has gone up and I just feel better being able to get on the train and come in, Hooper said. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com WeGo officials added theyre in the process of refurbishing another passenger rail car, which they expect to be in service this year. Its kind of neat that its all centered around the WeGo Star station in Donelson. Its really being perceived as kind of a hub and thats not by accident, Melcher added. People realize that people want to live and get to things easier with public transit. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will announce a cabinet reshuffle in the coming days, five government officials told Reuters on Thursday, as he seeks to shore up support following mass protests over a deadly 2023 train crash. Mitsotakis is expected to replace finance minister Kostis Hatzidakis, four of the officials said. Transport minister Christos Staikouras will also step down and a deputy minister is likely to be tasked with supervising reform of Greece's railways, one of the officials said. The reshuffle, which is expected by Saturday, comes weeks after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets demanding justice over Greece's worst ever rail disaster, in which 57 people died, most of them students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was Greece's biggest protest in years and has shaken Mitsotakis' centre-right government, which has slipped in the opinion polls. Last week the government survived a vote of no confidence over the issue. The government promised to reform the railways when it won re-election in 2023, after the crash, but progress has been slow. The safety gaps that caused the crash have not been filled two years on, a state inquiry found last month, and no one has been convicted over the accident. A separate judicial investigation is underway and is expected to conclude this year. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Edward McAllister and Gareth Jones) President Donald Trumps dream of U.S. control over Greenland may be on hold after this weeks election in the autonomous Danish territory. During a debate earlier this week, leaders of six parties were asked if they trust Trump. Five said no. The one yes, Karl Ingemann of the relatively new Qulleq party, didnt even win a seat in Parliament after his party flopped with just 1.1% of the vote. The biggest winner this week was the center-right Demokraatit Party, which took nearly 30% of the vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has been blunt in addressing Trumps ambitions for the territory, calling his rhetoric a threat to our political independence. The New York Times said the party was likely to enter a coalition with Inuit Ataqatigiit, a moderate party that came in third in this weeks election with 21.4% of the vote. Its leader is the current prime minister, Mute Egede, who has also dismissed joining the United States. I think in the future, we have a lot to offer to cooperate with, but we want to also be clear. We dont want to be Americans, we dont want to be a part of U.S., but we want a strong cooperation together with U.S., Egede told Fox News earlier this year. Both parties favor a gradual approach to the territorys independence from Denmark. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second-place party, Naleraq, won nearly a quarter of the vote. Its leader, Pele Broberg, wrote an editorial this week calling for a more rapid independence from Denmark and a pact with the United States but without becoming a U.S. territory. Trump has repeatedly said he wants Greenland to join the United States. We need [Greenland] really for international world security, and I think were going to get it, he said during last weeks address to Congress. One way or the other, were going to get it. Polls show its not a popular notion in Greenland, with 85% of respondents opposed in a January survey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump reportedly floated purchasing the island during his first term in office but didnt say much about it publicly. Then after he won a second term last year, he called control over the territory an absolute necessity and suggested taking it by force if needed. Trumps scheme isnt popular in Denmark, either, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen insisting that the territory is not for sale. Others have been more blunt, with Danish politician Anders Vistisen telling the president he can fuck off. STORY: :: jmlauro25 via Instagram :: March 10, 2025 :: Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts, spewing lava and smoke :: Experts have warned of ongoing risk, though the volcano has now settled down :: Acatenango, Guatemala :: The volcano is one of Central Americas most active, with a 2018 eruption killing over 190 people Reuters was able to verify the date and location of the video through the original file metadata. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By Wednesday (March 12), the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology of Guatemala reported that the volcano had concluded its eruptive phase and resumed its typical activity. This allowed for clear viewing of the crater, which was emitting a column of magmatic gases around 100 meters high. However, the institute did not dismiss the potential for weak to moderate explosions occurring throughout the day. The Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, is among the most active in Central America and has had a history of frequent eruptions over the last decade, including a devastating event in 2018 that resulted in over 190 fatalities. Due to its activity and close proximity to populated areas, Fuego is closely monitored by seismologists and volcanologists. The area around the volcano is a popular destination for tourists and hikers, although it can be dangerous due to the volcano's activity. PATTON, Pa. A Patton Borough man was taken into custody Tuesday after he barricaded himself inside his home, prompting an armed standoff with state police, authorities said. Troopers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Joseph Robert Rematt, 33, of the 1100 block of Fourth Avenue, when the man barricaded himself inside, Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said. The hours-long standoff ended when Rematt surrendered. No injuries were reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rematt is being held in Cambria County Prison in Ebensburg, Neugebauer said. State police in Ebensburg had been searching for Rematt since Saturday. He is accused of holding a woman captive inside the Fourth Avenue home. Troopers charged him with kidnap to inflict terror, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault, disorderly conduct, possessing an instrument of crime, terroristic threats and harassment. According to a complaint affidavit, troopers were called to a Fourth Avenue home at 5 p.m. Saturday after a man allegedly ran from the residence following a family dispute. The man and a woman were inside the home when Rematt allegedly entered the room with a flashlight, demanding to know where a picture that hung on the wall had gone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rematt allegedly assaulted the couple, forcing the man to run to a friends house and call police, the affidavit said. The woman alleged that Rematt locked her in the bathroom and would not let her leave. At one point, Rematt allegedly opened the bathroom door and had a long gun slung over his shoulder. The woman ran outside when police arrived. Criminal charges were filed before District Judge Michael Zungali, of Hastings. More charges are expected following Tuesdays standoff. The Department of Education announced on Tuesday that it would be culling over 1,300 employees, reducing its total workforce to about half of what it was when President Donald Trump took office. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Fox News that night that the mass layoffs were the first step toward fulfilling Trumps directive to shut down the Department of Education. Democratic attorneys general from 21 states sued over the plan today, calling it unconstitutional and laying out how the layoffs will impact nearly every aspect of K-12 education. New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement: Were not going to sit by while this administration attempts to leave tens of millions of students behind and strip away their access to a quality education. Employing just over 4,000 staff at the beginning of the year, the Department of Education was already among the smallest of all the Cabinet-level departments in the executive branch. Created under the presidency of Jimmy Carter, the department is tasked with overseeing funding for public schools, student loan programs, and Pell Grants, as well as overseeing civil rights enforcement and collecting education data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Trump claims that the goal of eliminating the department is to move education into the states, states and school districts already have control over their own curriculums and the management of education systems. The DOE manages billions in federal funds which the president is currently using as leverage against colleges and universities and oversees educational accreditation agencies. While states independently determine what students learn in their classrooms, the DOE supports critical programs such as Title I with funding that enables schools and districts to provide resources to low income and disabled students, hire social workers, and even hire additional teachers. In a time when we know the gaps are getting wider and not closing, at a time when our students need us more, we have an administration that is letting Elon Musk and his billionaire buddies raid the Department of Education and take away those much-needed funding from our kids so they can find tax cuts for billionaires, Rebecca Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said last week during a virtual press conference with prominent education advocates and lawmakers hosted by The Education Trust. I know that most people dont necessarily know what the Department of Education does, but theyre finding out, arent they, Pringle continued. Theyre finding out that the federal government has a role to play in the education of our students and the historic role of the federal government has been to help close those gaps for our most vulnerable students, our Black and brown and indigenous students, our students living in poverty, our students who who dont have housing security, our students whose parents are working four and five jobs, our students with disabilities. On the same call, former Education Secretary John King, who headed the department under former President Barack Obama, warned that dismantling the agency would mean longer wait times for families seeking support services for children with disabilities, fewer after-school programs and extracurriculars, less access to advanced placement programs for low-income students, and an erosion of anti-discrimination policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The history of the education department is as a civil rights agency, the place that ensures that students with disabilities get the services they need, and English learners get the help that they need, that women are protected against sexual assault and sexual harassment on campuses, King said. Thats where this happens, in the Office for Civil Rights at the department taking that away harms students and families. Keri Rodrigues, co-founder of the National Parents Union (NPU), noted that past efforts to eliminate federal education oversight had ended disastrously. In his 1982 State of the Union speech, former President Ronald Reagan called for the elimination of the department, then only a few years old. We tried it before under the Reagan administration, and it was a mess, and Ronald Reagan had to walk it back, Rodrigues said. Reagan slashed funding for the department and downsized it significantly, but ultimately failed to secure its wholesale demise. There is a reason why we created this agency, Rodrigues continued. Because 50 or 60 years ago, you had children who were blind, who were deaf, who had Down syndrome, who were denied access to classrooms. Trumps desire to eliminate the Department of Education goes all the way back to his first presidential campaign (at least). He did what he could to chip away at its integrity during his first administration, and is now truly moving to wipe it out to the extent allowable by law and perhaps even beyond that. In January, Trump signed an executive order endorsing the expansion of school choice vouchers to allow private and religious institutions to siphon education funds away from public schools. Over the past three decades, the charter school industry has grown exponentially across virtually all 50 states, but concerns have been raised that many of these schools which are exempt from many oversight requirements and regulations are riddled with fraud and mismanagement that ultimately harm students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was reported last week that Trump was ready to sign another order aiming to eliminate the Department of Education entirely, but the White House later said the story was fake news. Trump cannot legally dissolve the department, which was created by Congress, without Congress going along with him, but he can severely gut it, which is what he did this week by firing nearly half of its staff. Trump was asked on Wednesday what responsibility he felt to the civil servants in the department who have lost their jobs. He trashed them. I feel very badly, but many of them dont work at all, he said. Many of them never showed up to work. During her Fox News interview Tuesday, McMahon bemoaned the alleged waste she was now tasked with overseeing. At one point, host Laura Ingraham asked the education secretary to explain what the acronym IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act stood for. Well, do you know what? Im not sure I can tell you exactly what it stands for, she said. This is my fifth day on the job, and Im really trying to learn them very quickly. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Armed men set fire overnight to a building in Haiti's capital that had long served as headquarters for the nation's oldest radio station, as an alliance of gangs continues to grow its power despite efforts by local security forces. Videos shared on social media on Thursday showed the multi-story building in downtown Port-au-Prince charred after the attack. Radio Television Caraibes abandoned the building a year ago after gangs moved into the area. Frantz Duval, the editor-in-chief of Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's oldest newspaper, decried the arson in a post on X, saying it echoed an attack that cost the 126-year-old paper its own offices and printing press a year earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "More institutions are disappearing," he told local radio. "It is our history we are losing." Reporters Without Borders' Latin America office director, Artur Romeu said of the attack on the 76-year-old radio station: "It is yet another attempt to intimidate media workers through terror and destruction, aiming to silence one of the country's most influential outlets. This attack highlights the extreme precarity in which Haitian journalists work, risking their lives to report the news." Last December, two journalists were killed at a government press conference being held to announce the reopening of Haiti's largest public hospital, in downtown Port-au-Prince. Although the health minister never arrived, armed men shot at reporters who gathered for the event. Haiti's government, which has struggled to contain the advances of highly armed and well-funded gangs that now control nearly the entire capital, vowed the attack would not go unpunished. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Reinforced measures are being deployed to secure media outlets targeted by criminals and ensure the safety of the population," it said in a statement. The Viv Ansanm gang alliance has been escalating attacks since government security forces this month began attacking gang enclaves with explosive-packed drones, leading to rumors that gang leader Jimmy Cherizier had been killed. Cherizier, known as "Barbecue," later appeared in a video threatening retaliatory drone attacks. Over 42,000 people were forced to flee their homes between mid-February and early March alone, and the number of people internally displaced by the violence has now surpassed 1 million. (Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Leslie Adler) Reuters spoke to three executives and half a dozen former and current employees for this story on the depth of change at what used to be Russia's most valuable company. All requested anonymity, citing fear of professional repercussions. "Gazprom has been handed the social task of gasification and secure gas supply to the economy and the population at low regulated prices," he said. Alexei Grivach, from pro-Kremlin think tank the National Energy Security Fund, said Gazprom's less glamorous focus in the near future will be to bring gas to more Russian homes. With no European sales, the remaining workers are focused mainly on litigation with former EU buyers, the sources told Reuters. Gazprom Export is "just a shell," one of the sources said. Gazprom's media department and the Russian energy ministry did not respond to detailed requests for comment on the story's findings. That's down from 600 employees five years ago, at the peak of Russian exports to Europe. The possible sale of the building and cuts at the unit have not been previously reported. The number of staff at Gazprom Export, once the most prosperous unit of the company, overseeing Soviet and Russia's gas sales to Europe for over half a century, has shrunk to just a few dozen employees, the same two sources told Reuters. Gazprom is arguably the Russian business hardest hit by the international sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Although Russia's economy has been resilient, growing signs of strain have appeared in several industries. Reuters has previously reported that President Vladimir Putin is concerned as heavy military spending distorts the wider economy. Reeling under multi-billion-dollar losses and scrambling for savings, the company is now considering putting the palazzo up for sale along with other luxury properties it owns, according to a Gazprom executive and another source with knowledge of internal discussions at Gazprom. Instead, the opulent offices have come to symbolize Gazprom's rapid decline, dragged down by the almost total loss of European markets after the war in Ukraine ruptured Russia's ties with the West. "This is symbolic," he said, referring to the modern new offices in Russia's most European city. "Europe will increasingly need Russian gas." (Reuters) -When the CEO of Russian state gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, opened a lavish Italian palazzo-styled building in central St Petersburg to house the company's export arm 11 years ago, he augured a future funded by European sales. Story Continues WIDER CUTS Gazprom's problems extend well beyond the export unit, the conversations with the employees reveal. Two of the sources told Reuters that Miller has now approved plans to cut 1,500 jobs at the parent company's headquarters in Russia and Europe's tallest skyscraper, the British-designed Lakhta Centre, also in St Petersburg. The dismissals at Gazprom headquarters have yet to be announced but staff have been asked to prepare individual presentations about why they should keep their jobs, according to one of the sources, who said employees were told to write up a description of their job functions in case of overlaps. The source said the process was expected to be completed within a few weeks. The cuts add up to about 40% of the staff at Gazprom's headquarters, but a small fraction of its half million strong work force, spread across Russia. Management misjudged how resolute European capitals would be, according to one of the executives, who said the thinking inside the company was that Europe would quickly be back "begging" for Russian gas supplies to resume. Despite the economic pain of higher energy costs, the EU has not rolled back sanctions. "We proved to be wrong," the executive said. U.S. gas exporters quickly moved to replace Russian gas in Europe. The U.S. has become the biggest exporter of LNG to the continent, with supplies tripling since 2021. Europe still buys Russia's sea-borne liquefied natural gas (LNG), but mainly from Gazprom's rivals, Novatek's Yamal LNG plant. The European Union aims to end its use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027 and its overall gas consumption has decreased in part due to a shift to renewable energy sources. Last year, Gazprom posted a net loss of $7 billion for 2023, its first since 1999, the year Putin came to power. It posted another loss in the first 9 months of 2024, the latest period for which figures are available. Gazprom's share price fell in mid-December to its lowest since January 2009, touching 106.1 roubles, a decline of more than a third since the start of 2024. A few months after announcing the annual loss, Gazprom said last year it was selling a portfolio of high-end properties that include well-known luxury hotels in Moscow and in Armenia's Valley of Flowers. Gazprom has a long history of investing in luxury property, which it uses to reward employees with holidays, and to host conferences and events such as the 2014 Olympic Games. TRUMP TRADE The return of Donald Trump to the White House has helped Gazprom's share price recover to around 180 roubles on hopes a swift Ukrainian peace deal would lead to the restoration of exports to Europe, Alpha Bank said in a note last month. However, there are few signs the continent will rush to again tie itself to Russian gas, despite a Financial Times report that a long-time ally of Putin is lobbying the United States to allow investors to restart the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that carried gas from Russia via Germany. Germany says it will stick with its policy of independence from Russian energy. Even if there were appetite, Nord Stream is out of service and partly damaged. Cederic Cremers, executive vice president of integrated gas at Shell, said in late February at the International Energy week conference in London in response to whether Russian pipeline gas could return to Europe: "That depends on a lot of things." He cited multiple arbitration cases with Gazprom and asked "will customers and Europe still want the same dependence on Russian gas?" Gazprom's share in EU markets has shrunk to 7% from over 35% before EU sanctions, European Commission data shows. Its market capitalisation as of Wednesday stands at around $46 billion, down from the all-time high of $330.9 billion in 2007, according to the Moscow stock exchange, Gazprom and Reuters calculations. MILLER'S TIME As the company adjusts to its new role as a domestic gas supplier, the lofty ambitions of CEO Miller have been dashed. In 2007, Miller said the company would eventually have a market capitalisation of $1 trillion. At the time this seemed possible. Russia holds a fifth of the planet's gas resources, rendering Gazprom the world's largest natural gas company by reserves. At its height, Gazprom - formed in the Soviet Union from the Ministry of the Gas Industry - generated revenues that accounted for over 5 percent of Russia's $2 trillion annual gross domestic product. The company has been run by Miller, a close friend of Putin since the Russian president was mayor of St Petersburg in 1990s, for the past 24 years. Miller has been on the U.S. sanctions list since 2018, barring U.S. citizens and entities from any dealings with him. Gazprom controls entire towns in Siberia and the Arctic such as Nadym where tens of thousands of employees and their families depend on it as the sole employer. Yury Shafranik, Russian fuel and energy minister from 1993 to 1996, told Reuters in 2023 that Gazprom had been a "state within a state." The sources Reuters spoke to did not describe plans for job cuts or the closure of production assets in such company towns. A STEPPE TOO FAR? Putin's long-term promise to replace Europe's markets with exports to China look optimistic at best. Even the most ambitious projects currently being considered to pipe gas eastward would not amount to half of the previous annual peak exports of 180 billion cubic meters (bcm) Much of Russia's gas went through pipelines to Europe. When Germany and other European countries stopped buying it, there was nowhere else for the surplus to go. In contrast, Russia's oil exporters have been able to redirect tankers to refineries in Asian countries that have not imposed sanctions. Although gas production recovered slightly last year from a record low in 2023 on increased domestic demand and exports to China, there is little pipeline capacity to expand that trade. For now there is only one route for Russia to supply pipeline gas to China the Power of Siberia pipeline, which transports 38 bcm per year. A second smaller pipeline with a capacity of 10 bcm per year is under construction, set to connect the Pacific island of Sakhalin to China by 2027. Russia and China have been in talks for over a decade about building a third pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2, to carry 50 bcm and meet over a tenth of Chinese gas consumption. This plan would take years to fully develop and discussions have stalled due to price differences, according to media reports. In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia and China expected to a sign a contract "in the near future" on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline. Putin and China's President Xi Jinping discussed Power of Siberia-2 in January, news agency Interfax reported, but no agreement has been reached. China National Petroleum Corporation, which is dealing with Gazprom, declined to comment on the talks. The government of Russia did not respond to a request for comment. Even if the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline were completed quickly, volumes and pricing terms are likely to be much lower than past exports to Europe, analysts from the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. "By 2030, Russian gas export revenues might fall by 5580 percent compared to 2022, a year of record-high revenues for the Russian gas industry, at $165 billion," they said in a research note last year. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Simon Webb and Frank Jack Daniel) The New Hampshire House, shown here during convening day in January, earlier this month voted in favor of repealing the New Hampshire Vaccine Association. (Photo by Ethan DeWitt/New Hampshire Bulletin) Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had never heard of the nonprofit New Hampshire Vaccine Association, which was created by statute in 2002. But late last month, a commentary written by Dr. Patrick Ho, president of the New Hampshire Medical Society, landed in my inbox. On Feb. 27, the Bulletin published his piece: HB 524 would repeal the New Hampshire Vaccine Association. But what does the NHVA actually do? Dr. Ho wrote what I think is the best kind of commentary: clear, thoughtful, and illuminating. In just over 600 words, he shares the background of this entity that maybe voters or even lawmakers dont know much about the NHVA and explains what it does. The argument for or against its existence doesnt matter nearly as much as clarifying the purpose it serves (the purchase of vaccines at the lowest possible cost) and how it fits into our existing public health system (affordable preventative health care for children). Importantly, Dr. Ho underscores what it does not do: This NHVA does not set vaccine policies or recommendations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If were going to get rid of something, we should at the very least understand its purpose. Better still is knowing what were going to do instead of the thing were getting rid of, but that is absolutely not the forte of the party currently in power in Concord and Washington. Smaller government is their mantra, and private sector is their answer to nearly everything. But in practice, in the absence of a plan or even the concept of a plan, private sector sure feels like another way of saying dunno dont care. Toward the end Dr. Hos piece, the certain result of repeal the dunno vote is rendered in the clearest possible terms: Eliminating the NHVA would not eliminate vaccines, or even change policies relating to vaccines. This would, however, take the option out of the hands of lower-income families who would otherwise be able to vaccinate their children for free. So, to summarize: If you hate vaccines and very much want them to go away, this is not the bill for you. If, however, you merely hate the idea of families having access to vaccines regardless of their income, then, yes, House Bill 524 is right up your alley. As the Bulletin reported last week, House Republicans did indeed decide that the NHVA is providing entirely too much important health care access to Granite Staters and at no cost in state dollars, according to the bills fiscal note. But its really not fair to say House Republicans voted to eliminate the association, because while 188 of them backed repeal, 16 of them voted with Democrats. Among them was Rep. David Nagel, who is also a doctor. Heres what Nagel said when asked why he voted against the bill: I gotta live with myself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its demolition time in New Hampshire, and as any home-flipper will tell you demolition is a necessary stage of revitalization. But if you dont have a renovation plan, then all youre doing is wildly swinging away and breaking stuff you should have preserved. And thats what it feels like the House is doing. I began this piece with an admission that until very recently I was unfamiliar with the New Hampshire Vaccine Association. But I think theres a reason why I didnt know much about it: For more than two decades, it has served the families of the state quietly and well. Health care providers and insurers agree. And Dr. Nagel believes in the importance of the NHVA so deeply that he defied his own party and as a result lost his spot on the House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee. Past Republicans must have believed in it, too, because its survived a lot of Republican legislative majorities over 23 years including the slash-and-dash reign of House Speaker Bill OBrien in the early 2010s. What it may not be able to survive is this modern nonsense era, where a large chunk of the American political right is under the impression that having an opinion is the same thing as possessing experience, knowledge, and expertise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputy Speaker Steven Smith admitted as much, albeit backwardly, in defending Republican leaderships decision to remove Nagel from his committee. Our hope is that people think more and recognize that our opinion isnt always necessarily correct, Smith said. Rep. Nagel was unwilling to embrace that idea. First, arent the nondoctors who make up Republican House leadership the ones who dont understand that their low opinion of the NHVA shaped by what exactly? may not be correct? Second, I dont think were in a great place, democracy-wise, if opinions co-opted from fringe right-wing crusades carry the same weight as perspectives underpinned by a medical degree and decades of practice. But maybe thats just me. Within the confines of internal party politics, I do get where Smith is coming from. If you want to wield the power the election provided, youve got to keep the caucus in line. But it also speaks to the enormous, willful, and dangerous disconnect between politics and governing that is being inflicted on the nation right now. Eliminating the NHVA is not good governing; it is misguided retribution. The right has spent years creating new American boogeymen migrants, wokeness, science, education, public health, etc. and what were seeing nationally and in New Hampshire is the slipshod elimination of conjured enemies, damn the cost in dollars, degradation, and death. It is destruction for destructions sake, and the crushing price of that undertaking will be paid by all, in one way or another, now and for decades to come. Boston 25 News has learned the town of Hanson spent over $20,000 managing a political controversy last fall. A homeowner projected a huge Trump 2024 sign on a public water tower, prior to the presidential election. When the homeowner refused to turn the sign off, the town brought in a massive spotlight in an attempt to hide it. Records reveal the town spent nearly $11,000 in overtime, meals, and fuel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The largest expense that was incurred was overtime for our highway department crews in the amount of $10,000, a spokesperson for the Town of Hanson said. It was the highway departments responsibility to place floodlights on the water tower each evening and to turn them off each morning. Because this event went on for a protracted period of time and some of the functions were performed outside of the highway departments scheduled hours, we were required to pay overtime. Town leaders also paid a public relations firm nearly $10,000 to help them deal with media inquiries from all over the country. According to an invoice obtained by Boston 25 News, the town hired the firm for $9,600 on October 15 for a year-long contract. Of that $9,600, the public relations firm says $2,000 worth of services, including fielding national and international media inquiries and drafting statements, as well as attending meetings/zooms, were directed towards the water tower incident. Hanson can still use about 80% of the remaining contract worth of services until October 2025 and the public relations firm confirmed the town has used their services since then. In total, the Town of Hanson says it incurred about $10,000 in overtime costs, $2,000 in communications support, and just over $200 in legal fees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Addressing this unfortunate circumstance came with clearly anticipated costs, but it is important to note that all but $203 of the expenses related to this matter were paid for with our federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, a spokesperson for the town said. The Town of Hanson never sought to be at the center of this situation...while it is regrettable that any public or federal funds had to be spent to resolve a problem we did not create, we stand by our requirement to enforce municipal bylaws. Punisher skull logo with apparent Donald Trump hair projected on Hanson water tower Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW As Republicans brand the impending lapse in government funding the "Schumer Shutdown," hundreds of thousands of federal workers are on edge as the Senate struggles to reach a deal ahead of Friday night's looming deadline. If a deal is not reached by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 14, federal workers could get furloughed without pay, though many will still be required to show up to work. Federal contractors are not required to work but are also not guaranteed backpay for the duration of a shutdown. While the House voted on Tuesday to avert a shutdown, the bill passed was a unilateral GOP-led bill, with no Democratic support. The bill would need 60 votes to pass in the Senate, but with no Democratic input in the bill, it is unclear if there are enough votes to surpass the filibuster threshold. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor on Wednesday. PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer leaves the Democratic caucus lunch at the U.S. Capitol, Mar. 13, 2025 in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images) MORE: Schumer says Democrats will block GOP funding bill, heightening shutdown alert Still, President Donald Trump placed blame on Democrats Thursday morning, saying, "If it closes, it's purely on the Democrats." "If there's a shutdown, even the Democrats admit it will be their fault," Trump said in the Oval Office. "And I'm hearing a lot of Democrats are going to vote for it, and I hope they do." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats were tight-lipped after leaving their weekly caucus lunch Thursday afternoon. The shutdown would be the 21st federal government shutdown in U.S. history. The federal workforce has experienced massive cuts since President Donald Trump took office in January and tapped billionaire Elon Musk to slash agencies and employees via the Department of Government Efficiency, which has caused thousands of workers to be laid off already. With recent DOGE cuts causing layoffs across the federal workforce and among government contractors, it is unclear exactly how many people could be affected. PHOTO: A sign and a padlock on the door of the Ellipse VIsitor Center south of the White House explain that the facility and the National Christmas Tree site is closed due to the federal government shutdown, January 4, 2019. (Michael Candelori/NurPhoto via Getty Images) MORE: House GOP releases stopgap bill to avert shutdown Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the absence of guidance from the White House's Office of Management and Budget, it is unclear what parts of the government would close in the event of a shutdown. While the OMB has typically notified federal workers ahead of the funding deadline, it removed previous, Biden-era guidance on shutdown plans from its website. The last time the United States faced a government shutdown threat was in December 2024, but members of Congress passed a stopgap bill to fund the government through March 14. An OMB spokesperson has not responded to ABC News' request for comment. The good news is that because the deadline falls on a weekend, Congress has a couple extra days to strike a deal before most federal workers would be expected back at their desks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given the shutdown would begin on a Saturday, many would not really feel the impacts of a shutdown until Monday -- or even later, when the next payroll is disbursed. Some 'mandatory' programs will continue Because payments from Social Security and Medicare are considered "mandatory" spending, they will continue to reach mailboxes, although agencies warn services could slow down. PHOTO: Two people enter a Social Security Administration office in suburban Detroit. ( Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) MORE: Republicans use legislative sneak play to tie Democrats' hands on tariffs The U.S. Postal Service, which uses its own revenue stream, won't be affected either. How could the military be affected? About 1.3 million active-duty service members would still be required to work -- but without pay until a funding agreement is passed. Typically, half of the 700,000 civilians in the Department of Defense workforce would also be required to work without pay, though by law, all civilians will be paid retroactively. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Generally, military contractors are not required to work and lose paychecks for the duration of the shutdown. However, those who already have had their contracts paid out by the Pentagon would continue to be paid. Airport wait times could slow The Transportation Security Administration has not formally weighed in on a shutdown, but if funding does run out for an extended period, wait times at airports could be longer. PHOTO: People line up to enter TSA checkpoints in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Jan. 6, 2025. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: Vice President JD Vance urges GOP to fall in line as shutdown looms The shutdown would come as 173 million people in the U.S. are expected to fly in March and April as spring break travel ramps up and could lead to longer than usual wait times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There could also be an impact on hiring air traffic controllers. Impact on Washington, D.C., national parks, and other services By next week, trash could be piling up along the National Mall outside the White House as janitors working under contract are let go from the hourly jobs. The Smithsonian Institution's museums could also be affected, though it has not released whether it will close its museums if the government shuts down. Ahead of a possible shutdown in December, the Smithsonian Institution said it would keep its 21 museums and the National Zoological Park open until funding ran out, which was days after a shutdown deadline. PHOTO: A National Park Service sign hangs on a wall at the Exploration Center in Yosemite Valley, at Yosemite National Park, Calif. March 1, 2025. (Laure Andrillon/AFP via Getty Images) Typically, the National Park Service will release guidance ahead of a government shutdown but has not as of Thursday. In the past, if there is a funding lapse, all national parks have closed, and visitors should expect some services to be unavailable starting Monday, March 17. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ABC News' Molly Nagle, Luis Martinez and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report. What happens to Social Security, TSA and other programs if the federal government shuts down? originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Four law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, met with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and legislators Thursday in Annapolis, saying afterward that theyre continuing to fight back against both attempts to rewrite history and ongoing threats to themselves and their families. Every day that Donald Trump is in office, every day that MAGA Republicans exist as elected members of our government, my family is not safe, said Michael Fanone, one of the most outspoken former or current officers who responded to the attack. Trump, on the day he returned to the White House in January, issued a sweeping pardon of the rioters who tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Maintaining the false claim that widespread voter fraud tipped the election to Joe Biden, Trump said the people charged or convicted had been treated unfairly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Multiple people who assaulted Fanone causing traumatic brain injury and a heart attack and other officers were among those pardoned. Our law enforcement institutions, those that we have depended on for centuries to keep us safe, to hold accountable criminals, failed us, and they really failed us miserably, said Fanone. Now a former Metropolitan Police Department officer, Fanone said his family has been subjected to death threats, bomb threats, swatting incidents and physical confrontations since he testified and began speaking out about his experience. He said he would continue speaking out, even if hes lost much hope of his situation changing while Trump and his allies are in office. Harry Dunn who also joined the meetings at the State House is among the vocal former officers who have tried to make a mark on the Republican-controlled Congress directly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dunn left the Capitol Police force in late 2023 to run for a congressional seat covering most of Howard and Anne Arundel counties. He came in second in a crowded Democratic primary won by now-U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth. Calling Trump a wannabe dictator and House Speaker Mike Johnson an obstructionist on Thursday, Dunn railed against what he called attempts at revisionist history in recent months. He pointed to news reports that the U.S. Mint website temporarily removed information about Congressional Gold Medals awarded to officers who responded to the attack and about a plaque that was intended to be placed in the Capitol but that has not been put up yet. They are attempting to rewrite it, and as long as theyre continuing to do that, youre going to see us stubborn SOBs fighting back, Dunn said. Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Aquilino Gonell and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges joined Dunn and Fanone at the State House, which included a unanimously approved resolution in the state Senate that honored them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Cheryl Kagan, a Montgomery County Democrat, in an emotional moment introducing them in the Senate, described the brutality they faced and said their work had saved lives. Its because of heroes like these four and others, some of whom survived and some of whom did not, that our Capitol was mostly unscathed, Kagan said. _____ (Bloomberg) -- Its been less than two months since President Donald Trump assumed office and released a torrent of orders targeting elite higher education, and universities are already making clear theyre shifting course. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harvard University terminated a librarian this month who ripped down a poster of Israeli hostages at a pro-Palestine rally, while Yale Universitys law school placed a pro-Palestinian research scholar on leave over allegations that she has ties to a group subject to US sanctions. At Cornell University, a group called Students for Justice in Palestine faces suspension after disrupting a Pathways for Peace event on campus this week, and the University of California at Los Angeles - rocked last year by anti-Zionist rallies and accusations of mistreatment of Jewish students created a new initiative to combat antisemitism. Columbia University, the scene of some of the most dramatic protests against Israel, said it was punishing students who occupied a building almost a year ago and will transform its approach to managing demonstrations. The actions come more than a year after donors to universities, including billionaires Ken Griffin, Len Blavatnik and Leon Cooperman, vowed to pause their giving after slamming schools over their approach to a range of issues from tackling antisemitism to free speech and diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Their actions had limited impact on university policy. Demonstrations against Israel swept through US campuses last spring with tent encampments and acts of vandalism. Even as a Congressional investigation highlighted acts of antisemitism and breaches of university codes, few students or faculty were expelled or fired. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now universities are taking a harder line as the White House ramps up financial pressure against schools that fail to meet Trumps demands actions that risk alienating staff and students without necessarily going far enough to appease the White House, Congressional Republicans and powerful alumni. Federal action carries far greater weight than alumni pressure, both in immediate financial impact and in regulatory consequences, said Roni Braun, a Harvard alum and spokesperson for the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance. The scale simply isnt comparable, Braun said, adding that the changes are still underwhelming. A Harvard spokesperson said the school has taken many steps to discipline those whove violated policies long before the current administration took office and even before the November election. Those include law students and faculty banned from the library for silent protests last fall. While campaigning for President, Trump flagged that he wanted to punish elite colleges following the protests that roiled campuses after the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Jewish states ensuing retaliation in Gaza. Several university presidents were hauled before a Congressional committee, and the leaders of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia quit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since taking office, the White House has ordered $400 million of funding cuts to Columbia University and has put other schools on notice they could be next. The administration has targeted billions of dollars of research money that flows through programs including the National Institutes of Health, while the US Department of Education has also launched investigations into 60 schools to see if theyre violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect Jewish students. Republicans, meanwhile, are seeking to increase the tax rate on wealthy endowment, linking the effort to tackle antisemitism on college campuses as well as opposition to DEI policies. In response, schools including Harvard, Stanford and Penn have implemented hiring freezes and are reviewing spending, with Penn warning the scope and pace of the possible disruptions we face may make them more severe than those of previous challenges, such as the 2008 financial crisis or the Covid pandemic. After the Trump administration announced the funding cuts at Columbia, interim president Katrina Armstrong outlined changes, including strengthening its disciplinary process and stepping up efforts to combat antisemitism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbia is taking the governments action very seriously, Armstrong said in a statement. I want to assure the entire Columbia community that we are committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns. Last week, Columbia said four of its students had been suspended and restricted from campus after disruptions at Barnard College, an affiliated womens college. After the funding cuts to Columbia was announced, Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead anti-Israel protests at the school, was detained by immigration authorities, prompting protest marches in New York City and a petition that has been signed more than 2.6 million times. On Thursday, the university said it issued sanctions to students ranging from multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions related to the occupation of a building, Hamilton Hall, last spring. Despite recent measures, hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, who attended Columbia as a student, posted on X on Wednesday that regardless of his love for the institution and the role it played in his education, he would never recommend the school today. He slammed Armstrong and the board of trustees for the universitys failed state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the West Coast, UCLAs new chancellor, Julio Frenk, also launched an initiative to combat antisemitism. It is clear that while we have made progress in addressing antisemitism, we have more to do in our shared goal of eradicating it in its entirety, Frenk said in a statement. Over the past year, the University of California system has bolstered efforts to address and prevent antisemitism, including creating a new civil rights office, according to a spokesperson. Frenk issued suspensions to two pro-Palestinian groups last month over vandalism and harassment of a University of California regent at his home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harvard last week reportedly took action against librarian Jonathan Tuttle after he was filmed taking down a poster of Israeli children who were killed after they were taken hostage by Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US government. Sherri Ann Charleston, Harvards chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in a statement that vandalism and violations of the universitys rules are an affront to the principles of open and constructive expression and dialog that undergird our community. At Yale, Helyeh Doutaghi was placed on leave after reports alleging that she has links to Samidoun, a group that the Biden administration in October labeled a sham charity serving as a fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also considered a terrorist organization. Doutaghi, in a statement on X, said that Yales actions constitute a blatant act of retaliation against Palestinian solidarity and described the attacks as defamatory smears amplified by fascist trolls. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The school in a statement said it takes the allegations seriously and is undertaking a potential unlawful-conduct investigation. Such an action is never initiated based on a persons protected speech, said law school spokesperson Alden Ferro. Some of the moves to limit protests and target foreign students have raised concern on campuses. Professors at the University of Southern California signed a petition urging the school to protect students, staff and faculty in response to Trumps measures. This executive order has many alarming elements, including the exhortation to monitor for and report activities by alien students, according to the petition. It weaponizes antisemitism to attack intellectual and academic freedom as well as the university writ large. Moreover, it does not clearly distinguish between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, which will have a chilling effect on free speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Almost all the professors are either Jewish or work in the Jewish Studies department, according to USC professor of sociology Nina Eliasoph. Richard Thomas, a Harvard classics professor, also raised concerns over threats to free speech, especially after the arrest of Columbia activist Khalil, a green card holder. None of this has much to do with actual antisemitism, and a lot to do with silencing universities through fear of losing funding, and silencing students through fear of covert, extrajudicial policing, said Thomas. If we are seeing the political future, financial independence will be necessary for any possible future of healthy and independent higher education. (Updates with Columbia discipline in the third paragraph.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) A New Haven man pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine trafficking offense on Wednesday, according to the Department of Justice. Gregory Grant, 34, received approximately 79 packages from Georgia containing methamphetamine pills between January 2022 and March 2024. New Haven woman arrested for alleged drug sales, police say Authorities searched an intercepted parcel from Georgia in January 2023 and found bags with over four kilograms of pills containing methamphetamine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His alleged partner, 33-year-old Tyrone Brown, of Lithonia, Georgia has been charged by indictment and is sought by law enforcement currently. Grant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Sentencing is scheduled for June 11. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. HONOLULU (KHON2) The Hawaii Foodbank is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst if it takes a hit from federal budget cuts possibly affecting thousands of residents. What you need to know about volunteering at your local foodbank It may look like business as usual at the Hawaii Foodbank warehouse, but there is concern. We are continuing all of our work, were continuing to get food in communities, were continuing our purchasing, but we are being thoughtful to ensure were, every dollar that we spend is being used as efficiently as possible and making contingency plans for the future, said Amy Miller, Hawaii Foodbank President & CEO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A $1 billion cut in the USDA will likely cut $2.3 million in federal funding for the Hawaii Foodbank and thats just for now. Thats a program that this island, islands need, said Sen. Kurt Favella, (R) assistant minority floor leader. Foodbank going be losing these kinds of funding and opportunities to be able to get food, its gonna cause a big, big problem in rural and underprivileged areas. Officials said the foodbank receives about 20% of its budget from federal funds, receiving about $6.6 million worth of food from federal assistance last year. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The worst part is that the need is reaching critical levels. The foodbank services 170,000 people in the state per month, up about 13% from last year and more than double the amount pre-pandemic. State lawmakers are ready to help, but there is good and bad news. The good news there is a bill that would provide emergency funding for any non-profit, like the Hawaii Foodbank, to get state funds if their federal funds are cut. The bad news lawmakers expect a lot of groups will need help. We may not be able to help everybody, so were going to have to prioritize based on real needs, health and wellness, public safety, and things that are extreme critical importance, said Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, (D) Ways & Means committee chair. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The foodbank said it is fortunate the local community has always stepped up to help in times of need. But even it knows itll have to start doing more with less. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our number one commitment is to the folks that were serving, said Miller. We wanna be sure that nobody goes without and they know they can count on Hawaii Foodbank and our community to put food on the table at night. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. HONOLULU (KHON2) The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) is warning residents about potential listeria contamination in MYY Trade Co. enoki mushrooms sold locally. Black smoke billowing onto H-1 from under viaduct The affected mushrooms were sold at Palama Supermarket stores in 7.05-ounce plastic packages (UPC 8 809201 000039) with the lot code 136 printed near the barcode. The warning comes after routine testing by the DOHs Food and Drug Branch (FDB) found the presence of Listeria monocytogenes a bacteria that can cause serious illness, particularly in pregnant individuals, newborns, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While healthy individuals may experience fever, headaches, muscle aches, nausea, and diarrhea, for vulnerable groups, the infection can lead to miscarriages, stillbirths, or even death. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Though no illnesses have been reported in Hawaii, the DOH is advising consumers to check the lot number on any enoki mushrooms they may have purchased. If the product is part of the affected batch, it should be discarded immediately. The DOH also recommends thoroughly cooking enoki mushrooms before eating and avoiding their use in raw dishes or as garnishes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news For those who may have already consumed the contaminated mushrooms and are experiencing symptoms, the DOH urges them to contact a physician right away. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. HONOLULU (KHON2) Its never too late or too early to start volunteering. Many people associate the Hawaiian Humane Society with adoptions, but the organization also offers several education programs throughout the year to help promote responsible pet ownership and volunteer opportunities for youth. BBB: Scammers can crash your hopes for a budget-friendly Spring vacation Each year, the Hawaiian Humane Society hosts a number of education programs to inspire the next generation of animal welfare champions and build towards a more compassionate community here on Oahu, said HHS communications manager Brandy Shimabukuro. For example, were currently hosting our Mission PAWsible Art Contest, which encourages keiki in grades 6-12 to submit artwork about the importance of pet fostering for a chance to win incredible prizes, which we previewed last month. The deadline for Mission PAWsible is coming up on Monday, March 24, so you still have time to enter online at HawaiianHumane.org! Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Shimabukuro says there are also other opportunities throughout the year for Oahu youth to get involved with the Hawaiian Humane Society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were about to open up applications tomorrow for our Teens4Animals Council! Teens4Animals is an annual educational program with the Hawaiian Humane Society that invites high school students on Oahu to develop, promote, and lead school and community animal welfare initiatives over the course of a one-year term. During their year of service, they will do a deep dive into the many ways that the humane treatment of all animals affects all of us through invaluable opportunities like shadowing veterinary surgeries at Hawaiian Humanes shelter clinic, exploring ethical farming practices at Kualoa Ranch, studying Hawaiis native plants and animals at the Bishop Museum, and learning the importance of responsible fishing practices as well as how to protect local marine life and be steward of Hawaiis unique and at-risk marine ecosystems at Hanauma Bay. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news You or someone you know can apply online at HawaiianHumane.org/Teens4Animals-Council. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. By Marianna Parraga HOUSTON (Reuters) - Guyana is considering a plan to export crude oil to the United States for refining and to bring back fuel for domestic supply and possibly for sale to nearby countries, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said at a conference in Houston on Tuesday. Guyana has one of the world's fastest-growing economies thanks to rapidly rising oil output at the country's prolific offshore oilfields, which are operated by a consortium led by U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil. The government is entitled to a portion of output as profit oil, which it exports through trading firms that allocate cargoes in different markets, particularly Europe. Guyana does not have refineries, but is discussing projects with companies and the Dominican Republic to build a small refinery. Guyana would do anything to keep regional peace, Ali also said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, when asked about tension with Venezuela. The South American neighbors are involved in a long-running dispute about which country owns the 160,000-square-km (62,000-square-mile) Esequibo area, which is the subject of an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice "We just ask that Venezuela respect the ICJ and the rule of law," he said. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Simon Webb and Nia Williams) Officials at Hazelden Betty Ford announced Thursday that the foundation is opening its first clinic in Wisconsin. Hazelden Betty Ford, one of the nations premier nonprofit providers of addiction treatment, is opening a clinic in Hudson to meet the growing needs of the community, officials said. The clinic, which will be located at 900 Crest View Drive, Suite 120, will have a mental health first focus, and will offer expanded access to psychiatrists and therapists, as well as integrated care for co-occurring mental health and substance-use disorders, officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So often substance-use and mental-health issues such as anxiety, depression and trauma go hand-in-hand, said John Engebreth, executive director of Minnesota and Wisconsin outpatient service for Hazelden Betty Ford. We are opening this location to help residents of western Wisconsin manage these interrelated conditions all in one place, close to home. A number of area foundations and local philanthropists provided financial support for the clinic, including the Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation, Robert and Heidi Hubbard, the Hubbard Broadcasting Foundation, the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, Ruth and John Huss, the Ben and Mary Whitney Fund and the William H. Phipps Foundation. The clinic is slated to open April 7. Related Articles The incoming FCC head is demanding answers from Google about why a Christian broadcaster is not among its channel listings. Brandon Carr sent a letter to the streaming service, saying he wants to determine if it engages in a form of discrimination. Brendan Carr, Donald Trumps pick to head the Federal Communications Commission, is asking YouTube why it doesnt have more Christian programming on its streaming television service. In a letter dated March 7 that was sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Carr demanded answers about the channel lineup on YouTube TV. The inquiry was prompted following a complaint by Great American Media, which alleges the service refuses to carry its cable networks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While YouTube TV does not appear to have a public facing policy against [faith-based programming], I want to determine whether your company engages in this form of discrimination in practice, Carr wrote. These allegations of faith-based discrimination come at a time when American public discourse has experienced an unprecedented surge in censorship. In too many cases, tech companies silenced individuals for doing nothing more than expressing themselves online and in the digital town square. A YouTube spokesperson told Fortune, We welcome the opportunity to brief the FCC on YouTube TVs subscription service and the strategic business decisions we make based on factors like user demand, operational cost and financial terms, and to reiterate that we do not have any policies that prohibit religious content. While Great American Family is on several competing platforms, both traditional cable and streaming, networks and broadcasters regularly negotiate terms, sometimes resulting in channels being dropped or not carried. YouTube TV currently offers UP Faith & Family, a Christian network, on YouTube TV as an add-on network. Both of Great American Medias owners are avid supporters of Trump. Bill Abbot spoke at CPAC this year, while Tom Hicks son was the National Finance co-chairman for Trumps 2016 campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The note from Carr comes as the Justice Department has affirmed its still seeking to break up Google, a continuation of an antitrust case started under the Biden administration. Officials are attempting to force the company to sell its Chrome web browser, among other steps. Arguments for the penalty phase of that trial are scheduled for April. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com NATO chief Mark Rutte, who leads the worlds most powerful military alliance, is finding himself sitting in the backseat. France and the United Kingdom are going straight to President Donald Trump to make deals on defense. The two, along with Poland, Germany and Italy, are forming separate power blocs to tackle the United States dwindling support for Ukraine. This means that the former Dutch prime minister, who will meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday, must prove for the sake of the alliances future that he and the nearly eight-decade partnership are still relevant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The real challenge for him now is to become that Trump whisperer and make sure that President Trump and America stay involved in NATO, said Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chair of the National Security and Defense Committee in Lithuanias parliament and a former NATO official. Thats his key job now. In the Trump world order, money talks. NATO relies on its members for funding and weapons. European nations increasingly understand Trumps transactional approach and are sidestepping Rutte, once seen as a Trump charmer, and heading straight to the commander-in-chief. So now Rutte is too. The former head of government will meet with Trump as he struggles to ensure the alliance can function without Washington or work with an openly antagonistic administration more attuned to Moscow than Brussels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The alliance wont die, said a NATO official, it will just morph into something else. The official, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues about the alliance. Rutte, NATO and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. As Rutte huddles with Trump, diplomats and NATO generals are gathered in Paris this week for a series of emergency meetings on Ukraine held outside the formal structure of the alliance. And defense chiefs from the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Poland are meeting separately in what represents a powerful bloc that excludes the U.S. Its a harbinger of this new NATO, said Stefano Stefanini, a former Italian NATO ambassador. Mark Ruttes unenviable task, that none of his predecessors has faced, will be to pull it off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NATO has a history of transforming itself to fit the geopolitical moment. Western leaders questioned the alliances relevance after the Cold War. So NATO took on new missions by establishing no-fly zones in Bosnia and Libya, put its flag on the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, and started advising Iraqi forces in Baghdad. After the Russian invasion of Ukraines Crimea and Donbas regions in 2014, NATO pushed members toward spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. And when Russia launched its full-scale attack in 2022, NATO began developing plans to defend every region of Europe from a Moscow attack. But NATO has never encountered such an overhaul of global alliances. The Trump administration is very transactional, so were working on forging a relationship on those terms, said a defense official from a NATO country, who recently visited Washington to meet with counterparts. "We're staying in very close touch to ensure they know our plans and our needs and how this fits into the relationship." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The questions about Ruttes role come as the Pentagon reviews the global presence of U.S. troops, with Europe one place ripe for cuts. European officials, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have also hinted loudly at the potential for a nuclear shield on the continent that no longer includes the U.S. NATO has begun revising its defense plans to cut down on the U.S. military assets it will need to defend Europe. But without the presence of 84,000 U.S. troops in Europe a number that has ballooned since the Ukraine invasion the continent would struggle to defend itself against a Russian attack. The subgroup meetings in Paris, which dont include Rutte, are almost as important as the preparatory meetings for the creation of NATO in 1949, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. Even if it's not a question of recreating NATO, there are the seeds of a genuine change for the alliance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NATOs central nervous system for military operations hinges on U.S.-led commands at Mons, Belgium; Naples, Italy; and in Norfolk, Virginia, the worlds largest naval station. Those commands not only provide firepower, but the critical backbone in logistics and communications that the alliance depends on for large exercises or deployments. That reliance on the U.S. for even the most basic elements of Europes defense leaves Rutte in an awkward spot. He's in an unenviable position, said Giuseppe Spatafora, a former NATO official who is now a research analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies in Brussels. He needs to say that transatlantic relations are strong when they aren't. He probably needs to tell Trump that NATO is lost without him and keep him happy while also showing that allies are spending on defense and buying U.S. weapons. But some close to the alliance see a method to Ruttes fading into the background. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its in the DNA of the organization not to create waves, said one former NATO official. You kind of want an organization that doesnt become too loud or get involved in the day-to-day political whiplash. Laura Kayali contributed to this report. A deadly West Texas measles outbreak that has so far been linked to two fatalities and hundreds of sick patients could be much more widespread than originally feared, according to health experts. If that is the case, authorities would need to act quickly and decisively to halt its continuing spread, which could potentially prove fatal in additional largely unvaccinated communities. So far, 223 cases have been identified across the Lone Star State since late January, and 29 patients have been hospitalized. Last month, the Texas Department of State Health Services warned that an infected individual may have exposed people potentially hundreds of thousands while traveling between San Marcos and San Antonio before they knew they were infected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But its the deaths, in particular, that are concerning. The first fatality was reported in an unvaccinated child who had no underlying conditions and lived in the outbreak area. A second death was reported in New Mexicos nearby Lea County, also an unvaccinated patient. Their official cause of death remains under investigation, but the states Department of Health confirmed the presence of the measles virus. New Mexico has reported 33 cases. With this many deaths, experts wonder if there should be more cases. In the U.S., death from complications of the virus occur in one to three of every 1,000 cases, according to the University of Chicago Medical Center. Infection can also lead to brain inflammation that can result in permanent damage. Experts fear that the deadly measles outbreak in West Texas could be much larger than reported. Two people died this year following infections (AP) These two individuals could just be incredibly unlucky, epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina told STAT News on Wednesday. Its just surprising, particularly given how few deaths weve had over the past 10 years. My gut tells me there are cases that are unreported you dont have to come in and get tested for measles, Katherine Wells, the director of public health in Lubbock, told the outlet. Its going to be a long process to get everything measles-free again in this area, but I cant tell you if thats 500 cases or a thousand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas says that, due to the nature of the measles virus, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and surrounding communities. Several obstacles are getting in the way of capturing the full scale of the countrys largest outbreak in six years. Many of those in areas that could have exposures may not be cooperative or report infection. Its also possible that people dont know they are infected, especially in breakthrough cases. According to the Mayo Clinic, measles symptoms generally appear 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. Breakthrough infections in vaccinated people are linked to milder disease. Those cases are rare, but people near the outbreak are more susceptible. Measles is preventable thanks to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. It was declared to be eliminated in 2000. But, vaccine hesitancy this year has left communities exposed (Getty Images) However, what is known is that measles is preventable through vaccines, and the risk of infection is present, thanks to dipping vaccination rates. Childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic, and San Antonio-area schools are reportedly seeing more students opt out of vaccines, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not unexpected to see one or two cases in communities with high vaccine coverage. But Johns Hopkins Universitys Dr. Bill Moss cautions that another outbreak could occur if someone with measles goes to another community with a large population of unvaccinated individuals, which could leach into other areas. If your population around you has a measles vaccination rate of 95 percent or greater, that keeps the risk of an outbreak pretty low because even if one person had it, everybody else around that person is going to be vaccinated, Dr. Erica Kaufman West, director of infectious diseases in the department of science, medicine and public health at the American Medical Association, said. Once it drops under 95 percent though, thats where you start to see these pockets of outbreaks. (KRON) Prosecutors have agreed to not seek the death penalty against a man charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Kirsten Castle, and their unborn baby inside their San Mateo home. Andrew Coleman, 33, appeared in court Wednesday for the first day of his preliminary hearing. In the summer of 2024, Castle and her boyfriend lived together in a duplex at 1314 South B Street. Castle was eight months pregnant, and Coleman was the babys father, prosecutors said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Castle, 37, was also a mother of four from a previous marriage, according to a GoFundMe page. On the afternoon of August 4, 2024, her 10-year-old daughter was dropped off at the duplex. When the daughter walked inside, she found her mother dead on the floor of their living room. Prosecutors said Coleman had strangled Castle to death before fleeing to Southern California. After prosecutors outline their case during the preliminary hearing, a San Mateo County judge will decide if Coleman will stand trial for two counts of first-degree murder. Samurai sword killer sentenced for beheading ex-girlfriend Karina Castro Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coleman could face life in prison without possibility of parole if his is convicted by a jury, the district attorneys office said. Superior Court Judge Mark McCannon is presiding over the preliminary hearing, which began on Wednesday and will resume April 30. Coleman has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Kirsten Castle (Image courtesy GoFundMe) Coleman was remained in jail without bail ever since he was arrested in August 2024. Police found him in Southern California after he used the homicide victims car as a getaway vehicle, investigators said. Police were able to track his whereabouts using automatic license plate reading cameras, according to the DAs office. When police found him in West Covina and arrested him, officers allegedly found $37,000 of stolen cash in the trunk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. In a major and unprecedented shakeup to the U.S. militarys leadership, U.S. President Donald Trump removed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Brown in late February, while announcing his intention to replace Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the head of the U.S. Navy. The personnel changes have been framed as part of an effort to eradicate woke ideology from the U.S. military. It is not a coincidence, then, that Brown is Black and Franchetti is the first woman ever to command a U.S. military service branch. But the Trump administrations attack on efforts to address historical injustices for minorities and womenknown as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, initiativesgoes beyond purging people of color and high-ranking women officers from the chain of command. As part of this agenda, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has also proposed a radical departure from the U.S. militarys approach over the past decade. Though a slow-moving institution that is far from progressive, the Defense Department has undertaken a series of reforms to be more representative of the country it serves. That has included things like adopting a plan to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, updating its harassment policies and protecting its employees from discrimination. Since taking over as defense secretary in late January, Hegseth has articulated his commitment to restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence. Along those lines, he announced the creation of a Restoring Americas Fighting Force Task Force charged with overseeing the Departments efforts to abolish DEI offices and any vestiges of such offices that subvert meritocracy, perpetuate unconstitutional discrimination, and promote radical ideologies related to systemic racism and gender fluidity. This task force and other envisaged reforms are all aimed at eradicating wokeness from the U.S. military and Defense Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This agenda reflects Hegseths retrograde and patriarchal vision of the U.S. military. But his justifications for all of these measures are often invented or based on false premises. These misrepresentations are aimed at portraying the U.S. military as hamstrung by politically correct overreach. In both his public comments and his highly critical book about the U.S. military, Hegseth has castigated woke generals and policies that, he argues, undermine the militarys effectiveness. To get more in-depth news and expert analysis on global affairs from WPR, sign up for our free Daily Review newsletter. For example, during his Senate confirmation hearings in January, Hegseth cited personal interviews conducted while writing his book to assert that commanders are expected to meet quotas in order to increase the number of women in the ranks. That practice, he added, was one of many direct, indirect, overt and subtle ways that the U.S. military has changed its standards to accommodate women recruits. Hegseth had previously asserted that women should not be present in ground combat operations, stating in November, It hasnt made us more effective. Hasnt made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated. Hegseths statements make it seem as if women have been coddled by the military in order to goose their numbers, to the detriment of readiness. Hegseths remarks play well to Trumps base, but they arent just for public consumption. They have real implications for the well-being of U.S. servicewomen, as well as for women in countries where the U.S. military is active. On both counts, however, he is demonstrably wrong. As Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand pointed out during his confirmation hearing, there are no quotas for women in the infantry. That is a politically expedient lie for Hegseth and his allies. With regard to standards, for instance, retired Army Lt. Col. Ellen Haring told NPR, Not only have standards not been lowered, but when they first decided that they were going to open combat jobs to women, the services were given three years to actually set standards because up until that point in time, standards had been very loosely defined. In other words, the entry of women into combat roles resulted in standards being formalized, not lowered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Furthermore, Lory Manning, the director of government operations with the Service Womens Action Network, notes that the U.S. military abides by gender-neutral, position-specific standards. As she explained, The National Defense Authorization Act of 1994 established that [for] every occupation in the military there have to be standards. And theres a separate set of standards for each of those occupations, but they must be gender neutral. And they have been for more than 30 years. Hegseths claim that womens participation in combat roles undermines the U.S. militarys ability to achieve its objectives are equally off the mark. In Afghanistan, for example, the military relied on Female Engagement Teams to cultivate relationships with Afghan women who were otherwise off-limits to male troops due to the countrys gender norms. As a result, female troops were able to gather mission-critical intelligence and help cultivate a friendlier operating environment for U.S. forces overall. Hegseths remarks play well to Trumps base, but they arent just for public consumption. They have real implications for the well-being of U.S. servicewomen and U.S. women more generally, as well as for women in countries where the U.S. military is active. U.S. servicewomen are now likely to face even more skepticism about whether they belong in the military, particularly when they are involved in combat operations. Already, women in the military have to grapple with gender-specific challenges, like the threat of sexual harassment and assault at work. In 2023, nearly 7 percent of active-duty servicewomen experienced unwanted sexual contact at work compared with just 1.3 percent of servicemen. Making it harder to be a woman in the U.S. military isnt about meritocracyits about enforcing traditional gender roles in which men are celebrated as masculine protectors and women are confined to being grateful and vulnerable beneficiaries of that protection. Furthermore, revamping the U.S. military to be an organization of door-kickers could mean a broader militarization of U.S. culture. As noted feminist scholar Cynthia Enloe has argued, societal militarization often comes at the expense of womens well-being, as it not only empowers a narrow class of men, but also diverts scarce public resources to military operations and manufacturing at the cost of the very things that women depend on which are education, environment and social security. The United States already paltry investment in these sectors could be threatened by a cultural shift toward an aggressive military whose culture is imbued with toxic masculinity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finally, Hegseths worldview has troubling implications for the safety of women in the areas where the U.S. military operates. Hegseth has been up front about his frustration over the Pentagons interpretation of the laws of armed conflict, and he has advocated for loosening those restrictions. As a Fox News personality during Trumps first term, he publicly lobbied Trump to pardon several U.S. military officers who had been accused and even convicted of war crimes by U.S. courts martial, resulting in several of them escaping accountability. But in addition to undermining the rules-based order that the U.S. has championed since the end of World War II as well as being counterproductive in any war in which public support matters, loosening the U.S. militarys adherence to the laws of war would increase the vulnerabilities faced by women living in active conflict zones. For example, both International Humanitarian Law and international criminal law both prohibit the use of sexual violence in the course of war. For the U.S. military to thumb its nose at the idea of restraint in the conduct of war could give rise to a culture of acceptance of and impunity for such violations. Hegseths advocacy on behalf of war criminals and his public bristling against restrictions on the militarys use of violence spell out a future in which not just women, but all civilians in war zones are afforded few protections and little recourse when they are abused. His approach will undo the uneven and imperfect but nevertheless real progress the U.S. military made over the past decade on womens role in the armed forces and the value of avoiding civilian harm in conflict zones. The military culture Hegseth is advocating for is one of unmitigated aggression and impunity. He claims to want to increase the militarys lethality and readiness, but instead he will kneecap its reputation and professionalism. Hilary Matfess is an assistant professor at the University of Denvers Josef Korbel School of International Studies. She is also a Council on Foreign Relations term fellow, a research fellow at the Research on International Policy Implementation Lab and a nonresident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Africa Program. In Love and at War is her second book. The post Hegseths Patriarchal Vision Will Make the U.S. Military Less Effective appeared first on World Politics Review. GRAYSON The bottom line is this, people have to be alive to recover. Charlotte Wethington said this to attendees during a breakout session of Tuesdays Bridges Out of Addiction seminar at ACTC. Casey died and an advocate was born, and that is me, I am Caseys mother, Wethington said. The session taught about the law and how the law works. It is a tool that allows parents, relatives and/or friends to push for treatment for a person with substance use disorder, even those without criminal charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People who have the disease of addiction need and deserve treatment as much as anyone else who has a chronic, progressive, potentially fatal disease, Wethington said. Addiction is a brain disease, not a crime. We are still fighting that word. That is almost as dangerous as the drugs themselves, Wethington asked. Stigma is what keeps people in secret, it is what keeps us from talking about the fact it is a disease and treating it as such. Wethington was spurred to action after being unable to get treatment for her son and the difference her husband, who had a terminal disease, and her son got. Wethington said she hoped her son would have gotten in trouble with the law, but he never faced any major time. He was arrested with marijuana and paraphernalia, but his charges never got to court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He finally got a summons on the day of his funeral, Wethington said. Her son never had court-ordered treatment something she fought for so others have legal recourse to get treatment for their loved ones. With Caseys Law there are three requirements users must meet. They must suffer from substance use disorder, must be a danger to themselves or others, or likely be one in the near future, and they would benefit from treatment. It is a hopeful option, Joan Arlinghaus, advocate, said. It is not a guarantee, not a silver bullet. It gets them into treatment and hopefully gets them to realize it is working for them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wethington said the rights of those addicted are protected. Once the paperwork is filled out, the law requires two evaluations, one from a doctor and a second from a doctor or therapist. When filling out paperwork, those two evaluations need to be set up, Arlinghaus said. The person is then summoned with the dates and times to those appointments. Arlinghaus said the court summons ensures the user goes to the appointments. If you are filling this out on someone you should be willing to help them, get them to appointments. This is a civil case between the petitioner and the respondent, Arlinghaus said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said sometimes the respondent chooses not to have contact with the filer. The person has the right to ask for a jury or bench trial. They have always had the right to ask for those things, determine proof of probable cause, now it is beyond a reasonable doubt, the respondent is entitled to legal representation, Arlinghaus said. The paperwork asks what evidence the petitioner has about drug use. If necessary, attach additional pages, Arlinghaus said. All the information you have about their drug use, not just They are using drugs. The more information the better. The petition is provided to the professionals, to provide background information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They cant make an evaluation just on the petition, but it gives them things to question them about. Sometimes it encourages them to be much more forthcoming, she added. The petition can be made against those in treatment, but not in compliance, Arlinghaus explained. It is a great opportunity to file, they are not able to do this on their own, she added. While most of the filings are from parents for their children, Arlinghaus said they are seeing children filling on their parents as well as friends filling on friends. You have the right to know if they are in compliance or not, Arlinghaus said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The paperwork has a clause regarding guarantee of payment. Arlinghaus said that most of the people filled against qualify for low or no cost treatment. Usually before you file Caseys Law, the person has nothing left, Arlinghaus said. We have advocates if the county is not supportive, she added. Caseys Law works; if there are offices where people want it to work, it does. Kentucky is one of two states that has Caseys Law or something similar. Florida has a similar program that is working, Arlinghaus said. Ohio has Caseys Law, but it is not working, it is flat out not working, Arlinghaus said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A similar law was talked about in West Virginia but did not come to fruition. (It) always comes back to the persons rights, Arlinghaus said. We are trying to give the right to live, to be a parent. Peoples rights are protected in Caseys Law, Wethington stressed. Families dont just do this on a whim, Wethington said. Nobody who doesnt care about the person is going through the process. While it is not a difficult process, its a time-consuming one. This is a last resort, gives them hope that maybe this will be the thing that gets their loved one into recovery. We have over 4,000 who have been ordered into treatment because of Caseys Law, Arlinghaus said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is not a way to follow up on that, Arlinghaus said when asked about success rate of Caseys Law. She did share of a story where a couple met because of being ordered to treatment by Caseys Law and finding sobriety. The family can know even if their loved one doesnt survive, they have exhausted every possible way they have, Wethington said. I still feel guilty. I know I didnt cause it, I know I couldnt cure it, Wethington said. Acceptance is hard. For more information visit caseyslaw.org or find them on Facebook. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) The city of Henderson has announced that applications are now open for the 2025-2026 City Junior Ambassador Program. Officials say marking the third year of the program, this collaborative effort between the city of Henderson and Henderson County Schools seeks to offer high school students an in-depth, hands-on experience in municipal government. City officials explain the City Junior Ambassadors meet on the first Friday of each month from August to May to visit various city departments and local community partners. Through these meetings, students will gain a deeper understanding of how local government operates, while also learning to network with local leaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Henderson takes junior ambassadors to the Kentucky Capitol Officials say one of the programs highlights is a special trip to Frankfort, Kentucky, where participants will have the opportunity to tour the Kentucky State Capitol, meet with state leaders and visit other historic sites. This trip offers an opportunity for students to see how state government functions and learn about the broader political landscape of Kentucky. The City Junior Ambassador Program is an incredible opportunity for our students to connect with their local government, make a difference in their community, and gain real-world experience that will help them as future leaders, said City Public Relations Director, Holli Blanford. We are proud to continue this partnership with Henderson County Schools and look forward to another successful year of engaging and educating our youth. The city of Henderson says applications for the 2025-2026 City Junior Ambassador Program will be accepted until April 1. Interested students who will be a senior in high school during the 2025-2026 school year are encouraged to apply through the online application found here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Things were tense in the delivery room on Aug. 6, 1995, the day Rhode Molina was born. She wasn't breathing. When given the news, her mother, Carolyn Hall, did the only thing she knew to do. She prayed. Minutes went by. To Hall, it felt like hours. Rhode still hadn't taken her first breath yet. Doctors began scrambling. Suddenly, machines began to beep. Her daughter could be heard crying. Little Rhode was back from what would be her first brush with death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "She was a fighter from the time she got here," Hall said. "She willed herself back to life." Some 24 years later, on June 24, 2020, things turned out much differently. On that night, she didn't have much of a chance. Rhode Molina, 24, was in a vehicle that was struck by another motorist who drove the wrong way on I-43 on June 24, 2020. She and another woman died in the collision. Jerry Jay Anderson, of Milwaukee, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide. A Milwaukee County jury on Thursday found Jerry Jay Anderson Jr. guilty of two counts of second-degree reckless homicide and other charges stemming from the head-on crash on Interstate 43 that took Molina's life and the life of another woman. "It's been an emotional roller coaster," said Hall, 50. "This trial, it made all these feelings come back. I thought they were gone in a sense. But they're not. They'll never be gone." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anderson, 35, admitted to investigators he intentionally entered the often-busy highway through an onramp and drove head-long into oncoming traffic. He also told sheriff's deputies he was aware his driver's license was suspended at the time. That meant he had no business being behind the wheel of a car that night. But he did so out of fear, he told the court from the witness stand during his four-day-long trial this week. He was convinced an unknown motorist who had chased him and his two passengers around the streets of Milwaukee's south side was intent on killing them. Here's how prosecutors believe events surrounding Molina and Shelander's deaths unfolded According to a criminal complaint, Anderson told sheriff's detectives that earlier that night, he was in the area of South 11th and Rogers streets when a car he didn't recognize began tailgating him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told jurors he tried to take evasive action, but couldn't shake the other car. At some point, Anderson testified, the aggressive driver made contact with his Toyota and spun him around. Anderson was able to regain control of his vehicle and attempted to drive away. The pursuer kept coming, he said. Rather than call 911 or go to a police station or other safe place, Anderson said he went up on the freeway in the wrong direction, thinking his pursuer would not dare follow him into oncoming traffic. But they did. It was about 11:15 p.m. when Anderson's gold Toyota Camry was spotted on the interstate by Wisconsin Department of Transportation cameras. The vehicle was driving south in the northbound fast lane of I-43. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He didn't flash his lights or warn anyone," Assistant District Attorney Michael Lonski said. "It was like he was saying, 'Everyone else needs to get out of my way.'" Lisa Marie Shelander, 53, and another woman were passengers in the car driven by Anderson. Another car, a blue Chevy Cobalt, was headed north on the freeway at the same time. Inside were Molina and her boyfriend, who was driving. The Cobalt also was in the fast lane, on a collision course with Anderson. The two vehicles crashed head-on near Chase Avenue on I-43. Shelander and Molina, front passengers in their respective vehicles, were killed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second passenger in Anderson's car survived, but suffered serious injuries, including the loss of one of her eyes. Molina's boyfriend also lived through the collision. He and Anderson were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. "At the time, I was just concerned about getting away," Anderson said under questioning by Lonski. "I had fear in my heart." Rhode Molina, 24, was in a vehicle that was struck by another motorist who drove the wrong way on I-43 on June 24, 2020. She and another woman died in the collision. Jerry Jay Anderson, of Milwaukee, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide. More: Milwaukee teen pleads guilty to robbery that touched off I-43 police chase, shooting The second wrong-way driver walked up to the wreckage, didn't render aid The DOT video was played for jurors Tuesday. It showed Anderson was being followed, with that vehicle traveling slightly behind Anderson, but on the opposite shoulder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the crash, the driver who had been tailing Anderson is seen in the video making a U-turn, stopping in the median distress lane, then walking to the mangled Camry. The mystery driver stayed at the mangled vehicle for more than two minutes. The person is later seen going back to his car and driving away on northbound I-43 as emergency workers arrive at the scene. Anderson told the jury he was knocked unconscious by both the crash and the airbags that deployed on impact and claimed to have no memory of what happened after he began driving the wrong way on the freeway. Rhode Molina, right, poses with her mother, Carolyn Hall, in this undated photo. Molina, 24, was in a vehicle that was struck by another motorist who drove the wrong way on I-43 on June 24, 2020. Jerry Jay Anderson was charged with two counts of reckless homicide. Why did it take nearly five years to try this case? Anderson posted bail of $30,000 in December 2020, but was a no-show for his trial in February 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bench warrant was issued, and he was apprehended three years later, in February 2024, on Milwaukee's north side. Anderson has been in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail ever since. How often does wrong-way driving occur? Wrong-way driving is far from rare in the Milwaukee area, the confluence of three major interstates and several high-volume state highways. Three people died in a wrong-way crash on Feb. 1 when the rented Chevrolet Malibu they were riding in, along with a dark-colored SUV, entered I-43 northbound in a southbound direction at Plankinton Avenue. The SUV proceeded more slowly than the sedan and turned around, leaving the freeway before National Avenue, according to a Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Malibu continued to travel southbound and another vehicle, approaching northbound, swerved to avoid it. That vehicle struck another vehicle, and they came to rest together just north of National, according to the report. Two motorists were killed in a wrong-way collision in May 2022 in the southbound lanes of the interstate. The victims, a 27-year-old woman and 19-year-old man, each were alone in their vehicles. More: A 3rd person was killed in deadly wrong-way crash on I-43 Milwaukee County continues to wrestle with reckless driving Milwaukee and its surrounding suburbs have for years struggled to get the upper hand on reckless driving and speeding. This year has been no different. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least 11 people have died in crashes on Milwaukee County roads through March 9 of this year, the most updated figures provided by the transportation department. Last year, 94 road fatalities reported in the county, up from 92 in 2023. In 2020, the year Shelander and Molina were killed, 101 people were killed in crashes in Milwaukee County. So far in 2025, Milwaukee police have issued 909 citations for speeding, compared with 4,068 tickets in all of last year, city traffic data shows. A total of 6,518 speeding citations were issued in 2023. In all, roughly a third of the citations this year were handed out to drivers who were stopped for driving more than 20 mph over the posted speed limit. What's next for Jerry Anderson Jr.? The jury also convicted Anderson of second-degree reckless injury, two felony counts of driving while his license was suspended, causing death, and two felony counts of homicide by vehicle while using a controlled substance. Sentencing is scheduled for May 12. This story was updated to add new information. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man found guilty in deadly 2020 wrong-way crash on I-43 Wisconsin's April 1 election includes a high-stakes Supreme Court race and plenty of local offices, but a statewide referendum question on Wisconsin's voter ID law at the bottom of the ballot has received far less attention. For nearly a decade, Wisconsin has required voters to show photo identification at the polls or to vote absentee. The referendum isn't asking whether to get rid of or keep that law. It'll remain in place regardless of the referendum results. Instead, the question is whether Wisconsin should essentially make the voter ID law permanent by putting it in the state constitution. That would make it harder for a court to strike down the law or lawmakers to repeal it in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Studies and polls have found some voters are unsure whether the law is in effect in Wisconsin, or what types of ID are valid. "There's still a little uncertainty about that, and so to be voting on it (in April) could be additionally confusing to voters," University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said. The vast majority of states require voters to show identification, but only a few lay it out in their state constitution. It's a popular policy in Wisconsin and nationwide polls show up to 80% of voters support it. Wisconsin's version of the law is among the strictest in the country. Here's a guide to understanding the referendum, arguments for and against voter ID, why Republicans scheduled the question for the April election and what types of ID are acceptable in Wisconsin: What is the voter ID referendum question in the Wisconsin election? The following question will appear at the bottom of your ballot: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Photographic identification for voting. Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?" If a majority of voters choose "yes," the voter ID requirement will be added to the state constitution. If most voters choose "no," nothing would be added to the constitution, but the law itself would remain in effect. You can preview your ballot by visiting "What's on My Ballot" at myvote.wi.gov. More: What to know about referendums in Wisconsin, and why citizens can't petition for them Why do Republicans want to elevate voter ID to the Wisconsin constitution? The referendum question got on the ballot after it was passed twice, along party lines, by the state Legislature. The Republicans, who hold both the Senate and Assembly majority, choose which election to schedule the referendum, and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers can't veto it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, favor enshrining the law in the constitution to protect it from being overturned by the state Supreme Court. With one court seat open, the April election also will determine whether the court remains under liberal control or switches to conservative control. "I cannot say for certain how the Wisconsin Supreme Court would rule on voter ID laws, but I'm also not willing to risk the Wisconsin Supreme Court declaring voter ID laws unconstitutional," Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Republican from Racine, said at a previous hearing for the measure. The Supreme Court currently doesn't have a case about voter ID, but it has ruled on election policies like absentee ballot drop boxes. Republicans have criticized liberal candidate and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford for representing the League of Women Voters in challenging the law when she was a private attorney. Crawford has said she would look at the parties involved and the legal arguments they're making when deciding whether to recuse from a hypothetical voter ID case before the Supreme Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Bice: Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford is mum on voter ID. That wasn't always the case. Wisconsin's voter ID law was signed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 but didn't go into effect until 2016 due to lengthy legal challenges. A new lawsuit "would have to be a different kind of argument," Burden said. "It would have to be something that judges have not already dealt with." Rep. Pat Snyder, a Republican from Weston and a lead author of the constitutional amendment, noted that Republicans first passed it in late 2023 without knowing a justice would announce her retirement five months later, setting up the court race. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement April 1 is the last regular election of the year in Wisconsin. There's no November election. "We'd have to wait a whole year before another opportunity to be able to put it to the voters for their final say on the matter," Snyder said. Would the Wisconsin voter ID law go away if the referendum fails? No. Even if voters reject the referendum April 1, the law will remain in effect. That could be a source of confusion for voters, Burden said. Raising the law to the constitution would also make it difficult for Democrats to get rid of voter ID if they eventually gain a majority. They'd have to go through the amendment process again to take it back out of the constitution passing the change two sessions in a row, then putting it to voters. Do Wisconsin voters support the voter ID law? Polling shows the majority of voters like the law. In a Marquette University Law School poll from late February, 77% of registered voters in Wisconsin supported voter ID. That included 96% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 81% of independents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the same poll, 73% of the 864 voters surveyed said they favor adding voter ID to the constitution, so it's likely the referendum will pass April 1. That breaks down to 97% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 74% of independents. More: Robin Vos says voter ID law is supported by 70 to 80 percent of the public. Is that true? Burden said voter ID is a "long-simmering issue" in Wisconsin and voters likely already have strong opinions about it. That often wasn't the case for referendums in 2024, which asked more obscure questions like who should control federal funds in Wisconsin. What are the arguments for voter ID? Supporters of voter ID point to its popularity among voters and argue it increases confidence in elections. Asking a voter to prove their identity, especially before receiving a mail-in ballot, confirms they are who they say they are, Snyder said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Voters have to feel like their votes are counting and that everything's above-board or else we'll go crazy, like we did in 2020," he said. "I want to stay away from that." Supporters say showing photo identification is required in everyday situations, like checking into a hotel or buying alcohol. They also argue it's easy to obtain a free state ID card through the DMV that qualifies for voting. Snyder pushed back on the idea that voter ID suppresses the vote, because "voter turnout has been really high" in recent elections. Wisconsin had one of its highest turnouts in the 2024 presidential election. More: Audit concludes all votes cast in Wisconsin's 2024 presidential election were counted accurately What are the arguments against voter ID in Wisconsin? Opponents argue voter ID is a solution in search of a problem. Voting fraud is extremely rare in Wisconsin, and legitimate cases reported by the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2022 and 2023 didn't include any voter impersonation. The most common violation was voting both in-person and absentee in the same election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Presenting an ID is only a measure that would enhance integrity if there were a lot of impersonation of voters going around, which there's not," said Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The league joined a letter signed by about 20 liberal-leaning groups urging a "no" vote. Researchers disagree over the extent to which ID laws disenfranchise voters, Burden said. Overall, studies show voter ID is not the main factor driving turnout and it's easy for most people to present ID. But there are "pockets of the population that are really affected by the law," he added. For example, Cronmiller said several DMV locations in Wisconsin present accessibility concerns for voters with disabilities. Others may find it costly to get a copy of their birth certificate, or it may not exist in the first place. College voters from out of state might not have a driver's license from Wisconsin, and some campus IDs aren't accepted. A study of the 2016 election by former UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer found the law disproportionately affected Black and low-income voters. The study indicated voters lacked good information about the law and some mistakenly believed their ID wasn't valid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Wisconsin voter ID law still causing confusion, stifles turnout in Milwaukee, voting advocates say What photo ID can I use to vote in Wisconsin? These IDs are valid for voting, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The card doesn't need to have your current address, though you do need a document with your up-to-date address when registering to vote: Wisconsin driver's license or instructional permit State ID card issued by the DMV Military or veteran's ID card Tribal ID card U.S. passport Certificate of naturalization College ID card, if it includes date of issuance, student's signature and expires no later than two years after it's issued. Some universities issue separate ID cards that fit the requirements. The upcoming federal deadline to get a Real ID to fly doesn't affect voter ID. Voters won't need to have a driver's license with the star in the top right corner. Some absentee voters don't have to show ID, including those who are in the military, live permanently overseas or reside in a nursing home. There's also an exception for voters who have a sincere religious belief against being photographed, who can obtain a state ID card without a photo. If a voter shows up to the polls without an acceptable photo ID, they can still cast a provisional ballot. Their ballot will be counted if the voter provides identification to their clerk by 4 p.m. on the Friday after Election Day. If approved by voters April 1, the amendment would still allow legislators to make tweaks to the law, including acceptable forms of ID, rules for provisional ballots and any additional exceptions. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin election includes voter ID referendum: What to know about it Hesai Group's profit this year is poised for a 14-fold jump, as the world's most valuable producer of laser radars casts its sights on Europe to put its sensors on more self-driving electric vehicles (EV) to help them navigate. The Shanghai-based company, which sealed a deal on Tuesday to supply Mercedes-Benz with light detection and ranging sensors, or lidars, said it was in partnership talks with several global carmakers, which might generate "substantial" business in 2027. "International carmakers, particularly those in Europe, will use Hesai's products as they see lidar sensors as an important feature in their petrol and electric cars," the company's chief financial officer Andrew Fan said in an interview with the Post. "The supply contracts will eventually bring us a lot of revenue because the production volume of those marques is high." Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Hesai is following the path that had been blazed by Chinese EV assemblers - from BYD to Xpeng - as they look overseas to the export market to survive the brutal discount war at home. The global ambitions of the 10-year-old company belie its cost advantage and technological advancement forged from brutal competition. Hesai's long-range automotive lidar AT128. Photo: Hesai alt=Hesai's long-range automotive lidar AT128. Photo: Hesai> Hesai said this week that its advanced ultra-long-range automotive lidar would be used in the next-generation cars of a "leading European" assembler over the next decade, without divulging the brand. Reuters reported that the customer was Mercedes-Benz, the first time that a leading European carmaker picked a Chinese supplier for its worldwide product. "Hesai's products cannot be ignored by the assemblers due to our advanced technology," Fan said, without confirming or denying Reuters' report. "Geopolitical factors have limited impact on our drive to go global." Hesai's corporate headquarters in Shanghai on November 26, 2024. Photo: Reuters. alt=Hesai's corporate headquarters in Shanghai on November 26, 2024. Photo: Reuters.> Lidars use lasers to measure distances to objects. Smart cars, typically the new generation of EVs and ultra luxury marques, use this data to build highly accurate maps of their surroundings, a key feature in self-driving or assisted driving. Conflicts across the Texas Capitol rotunda are not rare, and legislative sessions are often marked by interchamber arguments. This session, a proposal to beef up the state's marketing of its cattle industry has sparked debate between the House and Senate over which cut of steak is worthy of officially representing Texas. Sen. Kevin Sparks of Midland and Rep. Ken King of Canadian, whose Panhandle districts encompass wide swaths of one of the top beef-producing regions in the world, each filed competing resolutions last week to name a cut of beef the "official State Steak of Texas." But the lawmakers' bids diverge on which cut should hold the honor. Sparks' proposal, Senate Concurrent Resolution 26, follows calls from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to rename the New York strip to the "Texas strip" and promote it as a Texas product. King's resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 101 is substantially similar, but would honor the tomahawk ribeye over the strip "an objectively inferior cut of meat," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patrick, the three-term Republican who presides over the Senate, vowed to rename the New York strip, sometimes called the Kansas City strip, after meeting with Texas cattle industry organizations last month. He outlined his plan to rename the steak Feb. 28 in a post on X, arguing that "Texas Strip" designation would honor the state's rich history of beef production. "I asked why we didnt call it a 'Texas Strip' because New York has mostly dairy cows," Patrick wrote of his renaming plan. "Just because a New York restaurant named Texas beef a New York Strip in the 19th century doesnt mean we need to keep doing that. Liberal New York shouldnt get the credit for our hard-working ranchers." Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called on the state Senate to rename the New York strip to the "Texas strip" and promote it as a Texas product. The New York strip is a typically tender cut from the short loin of a steer, and according to common lore, it got its name after gaining popularity at New York restaurants including Delmonico's, which dates back to 1837. "The New York strip steak is named for New York City, where it was popularized in local steak houses; however, many of the strip steaks enjoyed by diners, both historically and in the present day, came from cattle that were raised on the sprawling ranches of Texas and should, therefore, be recognized as products of the Lone Star State," the Senate resolution states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sparks' proposed resolution, which would urge Texas restaurants to adopt the new name and would direct the Texas Department of Agriculture to market it, takes Patrick's call a step further and would ordain the newly renamed "Texas strip" as the state's official steak. King, however, said his preferred choice of the tomahawk ribeye a steak cut from the beef rib with a long, protruding bone resembling a tomahawk is a more fitting cut of beef to represent Texas. "The Texas House is raising the steaks today, and we have a bone to pick with anyone who disputes that the tomahawk ribeye is the most premium cut in the Lone Star State," King said in a pun-heavy statement Tuesday. "While the Texas Senate butters up a lesser cut, we wont let them outflank our efforts to sear the tomahawks rightful place in Texas history." .@Bobs_SteakChop made Texas and world history tonight with a Texas Strip and shrimp from the Gulf of America.#txlege pic.twitter.com/Rom1J86aLO Office of the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (@LtGovTX) March 12, 2025 Patrick fired back on social media Wednesday, with a video from Bob's Steak and Chop House in Austin, where he showed off a menu featuring a $99 "Texas strip" with "shrimp from the Gulf of America." "So the House thought they were going to bust our chops over the 'Texas strip.' Let me just tell you, it's already on the menu," Patrick said. "Thank you Dustin; thank you Ken King. Good try, but you can't beat the Senate when it comes to steak." New York restaurant owner plans to sue over 'Texas strip' As Texas lawmakers debate the merits of various meats under the pink dome in Austin, a restauranteur in the shadow of another state Capitol more than 1,800 miles away is threatening to sue over Patrick's idea to rename the New York strip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Todd Shapiro, owner of the War Room Tavern in Albany, N.Y., could seek $1 million from Texas over what he called Patrick's "cheap publicity stunt," according to the Albany Times Union. Shapiro said his suit would "argue that such a rebranding infringes upon New Yorks cultural heritage and poses economic harm to businesses that rely on the recognition and popularity of the New York strip steak." Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, who supports King's proposal, weighed in Wednesday on X: "This lawsuit is ridiculous and should be put on the chopping block immediately." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: House, Senate serve up different cuts for 'State Steak of Texas' honor State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair. March 22, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN Abortion appears likely to be debated on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature again this year after a legislative committee advanced two related bills on Wednesday night. The Health and Human Services Committee voted 5-0 to advance Legislative Bill 632 from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair. That bill would require any health care facility performing and completing on-site elective abortions to dispose of the remains of the aborted fetus by cremation or burial, or, if not possible, in a manner directed by the State Board of Health. State Sen.-elect Dan Lonowski of Hastings, center. Dec. 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) The committee also voted 4-2 to advance LB 512 from State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, which would require doctors to screen pregnant women for ectopic pregnancies and schedule a follow-up appointment 3 to 28 days after prescribing abortion-inducing medications. Basic respect LB 632, from Hansen, is mirrored off of a Minnesota law adopted in 1987, which at least 15 other states also have adopted. The Minnesota law defines remains of a human fetus to mean a fetus that has reached a stage of development so that there are cartilaginous structures, fetal or skeletal parts after an abortion or miscarriage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hansens bill defines aborted unborn child as physical remains of an unborn child at any stage of gestation whose life has been terminated by an elective abortion. Hansen also noted that a Nebraska law from 2003 already requires licensed hospitals to have a written policy about the disposition of the remains of a child born dead at such hospital. LB 632 would not require health care facilities to notify women who receive an abortion of the method of disposition. State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, center. March 10, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) At his bills hearing last week, Hansen said LB 632 is about public health and human dignity. All of us understand the horror that is felt when a human body has been subjected to indignity, desecration or neglect, Hansen testified. Both reasons public and environmental health and the basic respect to the bodies of the dead are as applicable to the tissue and blood of children who have died by elective abortions as to babies who have died from natural causes. Simply a political statement Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood North Central States, blasted the bill as vague and unworkable and said it would effectively impose a funeral requirement at any stage of pregnancy. She called the requirements shortsighted and disrespectful and said the bill could impose religious or spiritual views. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It does nothing other than burden abortion providers and patients, shame and stigmatize care and further remove patients control over their own health, Curry Grubb testified. All of these issues highlight that this bill is unserious and simply a political statement. Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood North Central States. May 30, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, chair of the HHS Committee, and Curry Grubb disagreed over whether the bill addressed human remains or fetal tissue, and Hardin asked what Planned Parenthood currently does with the remains after an abortion. What we do currently is completely in line with what most other health care providers who manage fetal tissue do, she responded. Hansen responded that he had never seen a testifier grasp at so many straws. On her religion allegations, he said his bill had nothing to do with that whatsoever and that he wasnt seeking to restrict access to care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings chose Hansens bill as his 2025 priority, increasing the likelihood it will be scheduled for debate this year. Just to dispose of aborted remains in a haphazard way, I think it just lowers the dignity and the respect we should have for all human life, Lonowski said Thursday. Holdcroft seeks path forward Opponents of Holdcrofts bill related to chemical abortions said it could put reproductive care farther out of reach or push them to find the medications in less safe or regulated ways. State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, a Republican and former hospital administrator, opposed that bill. He said Wednesday that Holdcrofts bill wasnt about protection and was instead a blockade. State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston takes notes during a public listening forum on property taxes in Lincoln. July 22, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender countered that he viewed the bill as in the interests of womens health and that he would oppose the bill if it was a back-door attempt to ban access. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hansen noted Holdcrofts bill would not require women to show up for the follow-up appointment. State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha, the other no vote, said voters had already weighed in. State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island was the lone senator not to vote for or against the bill, saying he was waiting until he understood more how the bill would impact women. Quick and Fredrickson were present, not voting on Hansens bill. Holdcroft confirmed Thursday that his bill is unlikely to get a priority designation this year, but said he would still work to find a path forward for his measure he said was pro-womens health. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were going to just look for an opportunity on the floor to possibly amend it to a like bill and see what can be done there, Holdcroft said. Otherwise, well carry it over to next year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Mar. 13The Gifford Pinchot National Forest has announced plans for a temporary closure of the High Rock Trail No. 266 during the upcoming summer season. The closure is necessary to ensure public safety during the restoration of the historic High Rock Lookout, located at the end of the trail on the crest of Sawtooth Ridge, 10 miles north of Randle, according to a news release from the Sand Mountain Society. Built in 1930 and 1931 for the purpose of fire detection, the historic lookout is a reminder of the early years of the U.S. Forest Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Restoration efforts planned for the summer include the reconstruction of the lookout, which was carefully disassembled in 2021 to address structural deterioration. The project is a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, the White Pass Country Historical Society and the Sand Mountain Society, an Oregon-based nonprofit organization specializing in the preservation of historic lookouts. The High Rock Trail will be open to the public through the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and then closed to public access from July 7 to Sept. 15 while the restoration is in progress. Forest Service Road 8440, which provides access to the High Rock trailhead at Towhead Gap, will be closed to the public on July 7 and July 8 during helicopter operations. While these closures are in effect, hikers are encouraged to explore other nearby trails, including the Osborne Mountain Trail No. 250, Teeley Creek Trail No. 251 and Big Creek Trail No. 252, all in the vicinity of High Rock. For more information about the lookout restoration, including how to become a project supporter or volunteer, visit www.WhitePassCountryMuseum.org. CHICAGO (WGN) A new state proposal would require public libraries across Illinois to keep medications that can reverse an opioid overdose, such as Narcan, on hand in case of a medical emergency. Illinois Math and Science Academy senior Jordan Henry and Illinois State Rep. Anna Moeller worked together to draft the legislation. Both joined WGNs Evening News at 6 p.m. Wednesday to further detail their efforts. Henry said her advocacy stems from issues plaguing her community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oak Park posts kits with Narcan, the opioid overdose antidote, to seven locations around city What really got me into this was hearing so many stories, Henry told WGNs Ray Cortopassi. Saying how they had a loved one, or a friend, or a parent, who has had an opioid overdose and so many fatalities within my community. Addressing the push for Illinois libraries to carry Narcan, Rep. Moeller told WGN News that the bill awaits a Public Health Committee hearing. Moeller remains optimistic that the meeting will occur as early as next week. Were hopeful that well have bi-partisan support because we know that this epidemic affects all parts of the state, including rural and southern Illinois and could really benefit and save lives in those areas as well, Moeller said. Once the bill passes out of the House, we have a sponsor in the Senate, and then it would go on to the Governors Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Henry and Moeller said talks remain ongoing with several state agencies concerning the bill. More Coverage: WGNs Medical Watch Watch the entire interview in the video player above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. INDIANOLA, Iowa The Indianola Fire Department is warning residents after a controlled burn turned into a grass fire at a rural farm Wednesday afternoon. According to Indianola Fire Chief Aaron Hurt, after 3:30 p.m. fire crews were dispatched to a grass fire in the 9700 block of Nixon Street, southwest of Indianola. Due to possible danger to surrounding buildings, additional crews were called to assist. Saint Marys, New Virginia, and Carlisle were all called to the fire. UTVs were used to access hard to reach areas in the fields. Fire Chief Hurt says muddy, wet ground and high winds made it more difficult to fight the fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Adventureland Inn permanently shuttering its doors after 50 years Fire Chief Hurt spoke with the owner and found that the fire was intentionally started. So, the homeowner here did admit that he had set a debris pile on fire. And so thats that should determine the cause of this fire. It wasnt intentional. His intention was to burn the debris pile up, but it did spread due to the windy conditions and dry fuels, said Fire Chief Hurt. Chief Hurt says that even though Warren County, and other central Iowa counties, dont have a burn ban, people should hold off on controlled burns. Hurt says if you must burn make sure you are watching the fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I just encourage everybody when youre burning out, outdoors to have an extinguisher or some sort of water source nearby and to watch it until the fires completely out, said Hurt. Visit the Iowa State Fire Marshal website for updates on burning and fire conditions, you can also visit the county burn bans list here. Iowa News: Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. A 71-year-old woman who was forced to spend a night in the rugged Big Maria Mountains near the Colorado River was safely located Wednesday, authorities announced. Identified only as a resident of Trona, the 71-year-old, reportedly an experienced outdoorswoman had, fortunately, shared her planned route with a friend before taking off on the March 11 excursion. Some five hours after her scheduled return, the hikers concerned friend phoned authorities with the Riverside County Sheriffs Office for help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just before 9 p.m. that night, deputies from the Colorado River Sheriffs Station searched the area of Powerline and Midland roads in an unincorporated area near Blythe. Weather conditions would not allow the use of a helicopter and while deputies deployed a drone, they were unable to locate the woman. Big Maria Mountains in Riverside County seen in this Google Maps image. As nightfall approached, the hiker found herself low on water and still several hours from her vehicle, according to a RCSO news release. The following morning, March 12, members of the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit took up the search and located the woman just before 8 p.m. in good condition. Man wanted in gruesome sea lion decapitation on California beach Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She did not require medical attention and returned to her vehicle without assistance, the release noted. The hiker credited her preparedness for the successful outcome. She conserved water, did not hike after dark, and carried appropriate clothing and gear for an overnight stay. The Riverside County Sheriffs Office reminds outdoor enthusiasts to always: Inform someone of their planned route and expected return time. Carry sufficient water for the duration of the hike. Wear and pack appropriate clothing for changing conditions. Be prepared for unexpected situations, including overnight stays. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) A Hillsborough County father is accused of forcefully squeezing his 3-month-old, breaking the babys ribs. The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office said deputies were called to St. Josephs Hospital Main on Monday after a baby was reported having broken ribs. Investigators said they learned that the babys father, 20-year-old Balin Simmons, forcefully squeezed the baby during multiple feedings to stop the baby from crying. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Simmons was arrested and charged with seven counts of aggravated child abuse, deputies said. It is infuriating to think that someone could do this to a helpless, innocent baby, said Sheriff Chad Chronister. Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and loving environment. There are no excuses for such horrific behavior, only the certainty that our detectives will ensure this man faces the consequences of his actions. The case remains under investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF) announced that their CEO and president will step down in June 2025 after six years of leadership. HSF is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary of advocating for preserving the buildings, places and stories that define Savannahs past, present and future, the organization said. The Board of Trustees at Historic Savannah Foundation is deeply grateful for Sues leadership over the past six years, said HSF board chair Austin Hill. She was the right person at the right time for HSF and for the Savannah community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sue Adler, current CEO and president, joined HSF in 2019 as the Chief Mission Officer, but three months later she was named Interim CEO. In 2020, Adler was officially named the CEO and president. Historic Savannah Foundation is thriving and poised for continued innovation with new programs that further involve and educate the community about ways to preserve Savannahs treasured history, Adler said. Im proud of the work weve done and know that HSF board, staff and members will continue to honor the legacy of our seven original founders through ongoing advocacy for the Hostess Citys landmarks, endangered sites and history makers. HSF said they will be conducting a nationwide search for a new CEO and president who will lead the nonprofit organization. Youll likely still see Adler around town, since she still serves as the President of the Savannah Estate Planning Council, a board member for Visit Savannah and a representative on the City of Savannahs Tourism Advisory Council. She is also an active member of the Rotary Club of Savannah and the Chatham Commerce Club. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. (Bloomberg) -- Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks global trade. Sign up here. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Major US trading partners have offered a range of responses to President Donald Trumps 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which took effect Wednesday. Most opted against immediate retaliation and many sounded ready to talk instead. Others took a more confrontational approach. Heres how the USs main trading partners reacted initially to Trumps well-telegraphed trade barriers on the metals: Forceful European Union: Brussels had the most detailed and reciprocal response, saying it will impose duties on up to 26 billion ($28 billion) of politically sensitive American goods largely from Republican-led states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bloc will hit beef and poultry in states like Nebraska and Kansas as well as soybeans from Louisiana, the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson, according to a senior EU official. The EU will immediately begin consultations with member states over the tariff lists, which are due to take effect by mid-April, giving at least a few weeks of transatlantic negotiations to play out. Follow The Big Take DC podcast wherever you listen. The day after announcing its retaliation, the EU faced a new threat from Trump: 200% levies on US imports of European wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages. Talks between the two sides are expected soon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For many countries, the scale of the US market relative to their own economies mean it may not make much sense to retaliate with tariffs on American goods, said Maeva Cousin, chief trade economist with Bloomberg Economics. The EU stands out as the only one that may stand a chance in a one-on-one confrontation and even it would have about twice as much to lose as the US. Canada: Leading up to the Wednesday deadline, Canada staked out perhaps the toughest position against Trumps duties threats, which have extended beyond accusations of trade unfairness and into the realm of Trumps desire to annex the USs northern neighbor. Canada responded to Trumps import taxes with a series of retaliatory measures, including a 25% surcharge on electricity sent to Minnesota, New York, and Michigan from Ontario a fee that was withdrawn after Trump threatened to double the metals tariff on Canada to 50%. Mark Carney, the incoming prime minister, called the US a country we can no longer trust, and said his new government will keep its retaliatory tariffs in place until the Americans show us respect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an interview Thursday on Bloomberg Television, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Canadas response tone deaf while praising countries like Mexico and the UK that showed restraint and didnt retaliate. Surgical China: Fast but measured in responding to Trumps two previous moves to add 10% levies on all its shipments, Beijing didnt immediately comment on Wednesday to the latest volley. But China did summon Walmart Inc. executives over reports it asked suppliers to bear rising costs incurred by increased US tariffs. Beijing also hit back at US accusations that China wasnt doing enough to curb the fentanyl trade, saying that the US owes them a big thank you for their help so far, while calling for talks on duties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Cousins estimates, China has targeted a hike in tariff revenues on US goods of around $5 for each $100 increase in tariff revenues enacted by Washington on Chinese goods. Cautious Mexico: In contrast to Canadian politicians, President Claudia Sheinbaum and her trade team have responded to the Trump administration with more restraint. In particular, the US president has credited her governments crackdown on fentanyl flowing over the northern border. Mexico was measured in its retaliation threats and also took steps aimed at preventing a flood of Chinese imports. Shortly before Trumps 25% tariffs kicked in, Mexico announced it was launching an investigation into dumping by the Chinese and Vietnamese governments of one kind of imported steel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheinbaum herself characterized Mexicos responses as cool-headed. Non-Confrontational UK: Downing Street opted against an immediate retaliation and reaffirmed its commitment to talks. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the US decision to impose 25% levies on foreign metal products without exemptions disappointing. Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray told Times Radio: Were not going to retaliate immediately in that way. He added that Britain would reserve our right to retaliate in due course. Australia: Canberra opted against any immediate retaliation, too. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese complained about Trumps tariffs as entirely unjustified and an act of economic self-harm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said, friends need to act in a way that reinforces to our respective populations the fact that we are friends. This is not a friendly act. Trump had told the Australian leader during talks by telephone last month that he would consider an exemption. GLOBAL INSIGHT: Whos Vulnerable to Trumps Tariffs? Everyone South Korea: Shortly after the tariffs took effect, South Koreas Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun convened a meeting with business leaders and discussed ways to beef up their joint response. We will protect the interest of our industries as much as possible by further stepping up our response system before reciprocal tariffs take effect in early April, Ahn said. He urged companies to actively reach out to US stakeholders and share details of their discussions with the government in real-time, his office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But South Korea, a major metals producer in Asia, refrained from taking any immediate retaliation steps. Instead, Seoul sent its trade minister to Washington to accelerate negotiations with the Trump administration. Brazil: South Americas largest economy will be taking a reciprocal approach to the new US tariffs, only after attempting to negotiate an alternative with the Trump administration first, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters Wednesday. Brazil Politics: Lula Balances Talks, Reciprocity on US Tariffs We will deal with them based on reciprocity, but first, the table for negotiations with the American government is open, Haddad said after meeting with the head of the Brazilian Steel Institute, an industry group, in Brasilia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Japan: The USs fifth-largest partner in goods trade responded with regret that the additional tariffs have been imposed without an exemption for Japan, even when Japan has explained its concerns to the US at various levels regarding this latest measure, Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a regular press briefing held Wednesday. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Peter and Janelle Bohnel lost $30,000 of equity in their Otsego home over their HOA insurance claim. They returned to the home on Feb. 24, 2025, to get some of their belongings before it is sold. Photo by Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Reformer. Susheel Kesireddy was among the first people to move into a brand-new townhome community in Inver Grove Heights eight years ago. He figured his homeowners associations insurance would cover any needed repairs to the outside of his home, while his personal insurance covered the inside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So he was stunned when he received a $16,116 bill from his HOA in January for a roof replacement due to hail damage. The HOAs insurance policy was, in fact, covering the replacement, according to the letter Kesireddy received from the property manager. But the damage to the roofs was valued at around $1.7 million far less than policys deductible of $2.6 million so the owners of the 104 homes in the community would have to cover the bill. Some homeowners have insurance to cover their bills in these situations, under a policy called loss assessment coverage. But many residents are not covered, Kesireddy said; the Reformer interviewed two residents of the Blackstone Ponds neighborhood who say they have little or no loss assessment coverage. They asked not to be named for fear of retaliation by the HOA. If they cant pay, theyre likely to face late fees, liens and even foreclosure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kesireddy and homeowners across the state are confronting massive and unexpected bills due to severe weather, a collapsing homeowners insurance market, questionable HOA board decision-making, and apparent conflicts of interest between contractors and property managers. Kesireddy and his neighbors are also alarmed because the HOA board hired Gassen Construction and Maintenance to replace the roof, which is owned by the same company as their property manager, Gassen Property Management. The HOA boardwas not thinking in the favor of the residents, but thinking regarding the management company, Kesireddy said. The cost of replacing all of the roofs in the neighborhood $1.7 million wasnt determined by a competitive bidding process, which could theoretically lower the cost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Critics of homeowners associations say the boards are often filled by volunteers who defer to the advice of property managers, which promise to provide the expertise and man hours that HOA boards lack. HOA board members across the state describe the position as thankless; board seats often go unfilled, and homeowners rarely show up to meetings. Now state lawmakers want to intervene. Bipartisan legislation would require property managers and HOA board members to disclose conflicts of interest, create new transparency requirements and ensure homeowners can contest an HOA fine. In response to questions from the Reformer, Gassen Company CEO Ben Lampron said the firm takes direction from HOA boards when it comes to submitting insurance claims. The company also regularly reminds homeowners to get loss assessment coverage, Lampron said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gassen works very hard to make sure homeowners know how much insurance they need, Lampron said. A pattern of self-dealing The Reformer identified at least four communities managed by Gassen that faced big bills for exterior work covered by insurance, and where Gassen Construction and Maintenance was selected for the job. The Reformer previously reported on one of those instances, in which Otsego townhome owners paid more than $18,000 each to replace their roofs. When some homeowners couldnt pay the bill, they were slapped with late fees, attorneys bills and liens resulting in at least one foreclosure. The Insurance Federation of Minnesota has asked the attorney general to investigate the incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peter and Janelle Bohnel were living out-of-state while their son stayed in their Otsego townhome. As soon as the family received the letter notifying them of the upcoming $18,600 charge, they submitted the claim to their personal homeowners insurance. But there was an issue with their insurance their house was erroneously categorized as a single-family home, not a townhome and as Peter went back and forth with his insurance carrier, the late fees racked up. Then the HOA placed a lien on the home, and the couple received a foreclosure notice. A real estate firm stepped in, promising to help them sell the house to pay off the mortgage and the liens and maybe even recoup some of the Bohnels equity, Peter said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That didnt happen. The home sat on the market for a couple of months; eventually, the real estate firm said it would buy the house off of the Bohnels for a price that would pay off the mortgage and liens. As part of the deal, the HOA board agreed to reduce the liens on the house. The Bohnels lost the house and all of their equity. That was our retirement, Janelle said. Peter and Janelle Bohnel lost $30,000 of equity in their Otsego home over their HOA insurance claim. They returned to the home on Feb. 24, 2025, to get some of their belongings before it is sold. Photo by Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Reformer. At a townhome community in Big Lake, residents were charged $22,760 each in September 2024 to replace their roofs, siding and gutters due to damage from a summer hail storm. The storm did $1.5 million in damage to the community, according to the insurance adjuster. The HOAs insurance policy has a deductible of around $1.2 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One woman who owns a townhome in the neighborhood, and who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, received the letter informing her of the bill on Sept. 19, according to a copy provided to the Reformer. The payment was due around six weeks later, on Nov. 1. She had $10,000 in loss assessment coverage as part of her personal home insurance policy; she took out a personal loan from her retirement account to cover the remaining $12,760. The HOA also changed property management companies that fall; Sharper Management took over as the new management company on Oct. 1. In all of the cases, the HOAs insurance carrier found that there was damage to the buildings, necessitating the repairs. But the stories illustrate how homeowners, often unknowingly, cede control over important decisions when they purchase a home in an HOA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gassen Construction and Maintenance general manager Tony Christopherson said after a storm, GCM inspects properties managed by Gassen for damage, then advises the HOA board on whether a more thorough inspection is needed. If the HOA board approves a more in-depth inspection, GCM conducts it, then makes a recommendation to the board on whether to file an insurance claim. Lampron, the Gassen CEO, said if HOA boards dont address storm damage, they could be denied insurance coverage in the future. Some homeowners interviewed by the Reformer said GCM and Gassen have a conflict of interest, and that GCM has a financial interest in advising an HOA board to pursue an insurance claim. Many wondered why there was no bidding process to lower the cost of the repairs, particularly when the cost of the repairs is close to, or less than, the deductible. The Eden Prairie headquarters of Gassen HOA Management. Photo by Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Reformer. The price of the repairs is usually negotiated between the HOAs insurance carrier and a public adjuster, whose job is to represent the person, HOA board, or company that is insured and make sure they receive a fair payout. Public adjusters are paid based on a percentage of the insurance settlement, creating an incentive to drive up the valuation of the work to be done. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the case of Blackstone Ponds, where Kesireddy lives, GCM hired a public adjuster to try to get the insurance company to cover damaged buildings that were not covered in the insurance carriers initial decision, Lampron said. But because the communitys insurance deductible was far higher than the cost to replace the roofs, a bigger estimate was no help to homeowners. In fact, the higher the value went, the higher the bills for the homeowners. Lampron argued that a competitive bidding process wouldnt lower the price of the work. The only way to save homeowners money is for them to have the proper levels of loss assessment coverage, Lampron said. Gassen advises HOA boards to select a contractor they trust, said Christopherson, the Gassen Construction and Maintenance general manager. They often select GCM in part because of their relationship and trust with Gassen, and in part because they know if we dont do the job well, we will have to deal with it later, Christopherson said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Worsening insurance options leave homeowners on the hook Homeowners and their HOAs have faced rising insurance costs in recent years, driven by increased frequency of damaging weather events. Insurance premiums for homeowners associations the master policies that are supposed to cover damage to shared property, including roofs nearly doubled between 2022 and 2024, according to a survey of HOA board leaders. Between 2019 and 2023, insurance carriers lost money every year on homeowners insurance. (In 2024, they made a profit.) After years of losses, insurance carriers are opting to pull out of the home insurance market, particularly when it comes to covering HOAs, leading to less competition and thus higher prices or massive deductibles that render the policy almost worthless. What we see in a lot of these commercial entities is theyre taking on larger and larger deductibles to be able to bring down the cost of their premium, said Aaron Cocking, president of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota. According to loss assessment letters viewed by the Reformer, the deductibles are often so high that widespread damage like that caused by a hail storm is less than the deductible, or barely over it, meaning the insurance carrier pays out very little. Homeowners are instead on the hook for the repairs. Some homeowners believed they had loss assessment coverage in their homeowners insurance policy, only to later find out that they had a default policy, only covering $500 or $1,000. Unfortunately, even when a homeowner obtains loss assessment coverage, many policies are hard to interpret, and may give the impression that they cover more than they do, Lampron said. Nowhere to go When residents believe their homeowners association or property management company havent acted in their financial interest, they face few options. Kesireddy, reeling from the huge assessment and tight deadline, filed a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General, hoping for some kind of relief. A staff member from the office responded a couple of weeks later, and attached a series of handouts about condominium and townhome associations. The attorney generals office doesnt provide legal counsel to individuals. Kesireddy could hire a private lawyer at his own expense, the staffer wrote. It is possible, however, that the costs incurred by the board while defending a lawsuit initiated by its members may be assessed to the members, the letter warned. HOA boards managed by Gassen have a history of charging residents legal fees when they ask questions about loss assessments. The attorney general has no teeth we dont have any law whatsoever for them to step in and help these people, said Rep. Shane Mekeland, R-Clear Lake, in a Feb. 14 House housing committee meeting. Mekeland was a member of a working group that studied homeowners associations in Minnesota and made recommendations to the Legislature for reforms. Homeowners say they are slapped with attorneys fees when they try to contact the board members via Gassen with questions about insurance claims and bills. Gassen is responsible for responding to inquiries from homeowners, but if a homeowner becomes disrespectful or threatens legal action, the communitys lawyer takes over communications with that homeowner. The HOA is responsible for paying the lawyers bill, and the Board of Directors can then assess those legal fees back to the homeowner, Lampron said. Legislation that would transform Minnesota HOA laws will receive a hearing in the Senate housing committee Thursday afternoon. Gassen sent an email to HOA board members Monday urging them to call their lawmakers and oppose the bills. Chinese coffeehouse chain Luckin Coffee has won a trademark infringement case against Thailands Royal 50R Group. The Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court of Thailand ruled in favour of the Chinese coffee giant, awarding Bt46m ($1.3m) in damages and legal costs, as reported by Yicai Global, citing a statement from Luckin on Weibo. The courts decision, which also revokes Royal 50Rs registered Luckin Coffee trademarks, includes a permanent injunction preventing the Thai company from using Luckin Coffee's brand name in either English or Chinese, and banning the use of its deer-head logo. The ruling comes after a relaunch of the case following an initial loss for Luckin Coffee in December 2023. The trademark clash began in January 2022 when Luckin Coffee posted a video on social media saying that consumers had discovered outlets in Thailand mirroring the brand's identity. These stores allegedly featured similar logos, interior designs and even identical coffee cups and shopping bags. The only difference was a sideways flip of the brand's deer-shaped logo. In August of the same year, Luckin Coffee clarified that it had no official presence in Thailand and identified the stores in question as counterfeit. Its legal team then initiated actions to safeguard its intellectual property rights. Despite an initial setback in the courts, Luckin Coffee has succeeded with the support of Southeast Asian law firm Tilleke & Gibbins. The damages awarded are high for a Thai trademark dispute, according to Tilleke & Gibbins. "Luckin Coffee wins trademark lawsuit against Royal 50R in Thailand" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) Leaders behind the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp Thursday announced plans to renovate their Maryland location thanks to a $1 million donation. The Charles P. Ferro Foundations donation will support the organizations renovations of the camps new location on the eastern shore of Maryland, where plans are underway for a future infirmary. Hole in the Wall Gang Camp celebrates new opening after fire Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp was founded by Paul Newman in 1988. It provides a different kind of healing to thousands of children with serious and/or rare illnesses and their family members, for free. CEO of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp Jimmy Canton said the Ferro family has been longtime supporters of the camp. Their friendship has allowed us to dream big for our campers and their families, and this gift is no different. Because of them, our children will find a state-of-the-art, yet welcoming space, when receiving treatment at Camp, Canton said in a statement. Plans for the new infirmary in Maryland include three observation/overnight rooms, a reception area, a pharmacy and medical equipment. It will be located in the propertys former carriage houses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our family is all in on Camp, so when we heard about the second location, we immediately wanted to know how we could be involved and support it, said Bonnie Ferro, Hole in the Wall board member and co-executive director of the Ferro Foundation. Ferro said they hope their donation helps create a warm, welcoming and fun atmosphere in the infirmary. Since the infirmary is where everyone will come for treatment, it was important that the space did not appear overly clinical, and instead, put children at ease by reflecting the fun-loving spirit of Camp, Ferro said. Renovations are also planned for a family space, a barrier-free theater, temperature-controlled and accessible residential rooms, and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials hope to offer family programming at the new location in the spring on 2026. The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp provides multiple experiences throughout the year at their facility in Ashford. The organizations administrative offices are in New Haven. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) Improvements could soon be made to city streets in downtown Holyoke. Three arrested in Holyoke parking lot after crack-cocaine, heroin/fentanyl seized The city held an informational meeting at the Nueva Esperanza Mercado on Wednesday evening. City officials gave residents updates on the proposed improvements and received public feedback, which would be on Main Street between South Canal and Mosher Streets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Improvements would include rehabilitation of existing pavement, reconstruction of sidewalks, addition of bicycle accommodations, improved pedestrian crossings, and traffic signal upgrades. Director of Planning and Economic Development Aaron Vega told 22News, Public safety is really important, the existing conditions are rough. This is an area that hasnt had investment in it for a long time, so its very overdue. Its to be up to par with the new standards for what complete streets should be. The project has been submitted to MassDOT for inclusion in the states transportation improvement program. If approved, it could allow for full federal funding of the construction costs of the project. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. The Kansas House's budget committee is exploring a bill that would create a blue-ribbon commission to engage in a two-year study of options for creating efficiencies in public higher education, including the potential of merging six state universities with 19 community colleges, six technical colleges and one municipal university. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA A Kansas House committee is considering a bill that would create a 17-member blue-ribbon commission to study operations and priorities of public higher education institutions, including consolidation of state universities and community colleges or technical colleges. The bill was introduced in early March by state Reps. Ken Rahjes and Shannon Francis, both Republicans who serve western Kansas districts. The legislation would enable House and Senate Republican leadership to appoint 11 members of the commission while Democrats in the Legislature would have two appointments. The governor, Kansas Board of Regents, Kansas Association of Community Colleges and Kansas Association of Technical Colleges would have one appointment each. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation would charge the commission with exploring the higher education structure and financing issues in addition to potential consolidation among 32 public educational institutions in Kansas. Blake Flanders, president and chief executive officer of the state Board of Regents, said board members nearly 20 years ago explored opportunities for merging universities and colleges but that work was halted by the Legislature. The boards lesson has been that if we are to reimagine our delivery system, we must have your strong partnership and support on the front end, Flanders told the House Appropriations Committee. If you have interest in incentivizing mergers or affiliations of institutions, the board will need strong legislative collaboration. Flanders said many of the proposed commission study topics outlined in House Bill 2402 would align with the state Board of Regents strategic planning initiative known as Building a Future. It emphasized the role of public colleges and universities in advancing educational opportunities for families, enhancing prosperity in the state and supporting interests of business, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the study commission could have a positive influence on accessibility and affordability of higher education as well as streamlining the process of degree completion for students. We support efforts to strengthen our higher education system in Kansas, Flanders said. The Board of Regents is a higher education governing board with direct oversight of six state universities and a coordination role with the 19 community colleges, six technical colleges and one municipal university. The 26 institutions outside of the state universities have independent boards of trustees. Heather Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Association of Community Colleges, said the organization supported formation of the blue-ribbon commission. She said House Republican leaders approached community colleges with the task force idea early in the 2025 legislative session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the states community colleges had been working together for more than a year to identify operational efficiencies to reduce cost and promote student success. We look forward to sharing what we have learned, have implemented and believe could be beneficial to Kansas students, Morgan said. Under the bill, the commission would deliver to the Legislature a preliminary report in January 2026 and a final report in January 2027. Those reports would explore goals and priorities of higher education, student accessibility and affordability issues, strengths and weaknesses of postsecondary educational institutions and strategies for enrollment and degree completion. In addition to governing structures and consolidation of the state Board of Regents schools and community and technical colleges, the reports would delve into right-sizing and streamlining higher education with a student focus. (Bloomberg Government) -- The head of President Donald Trumps government efficiency effort, Elon Musk, is emerging as a messaging punching bag for Democrats as they pick up the pieces of their stinging defeat in last years elections and search for a winning message for 2026. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After seeing their anti-Trump arguments fail last year, Democrats are betting that targeting the less popular, controversial entrepreneur who holds no elected office or Senate confirmed post will play better with independent voters and energize their base. Criticism of Musk and how to counter his aggressive slashing of federal agencies has been a major topic as House Democrats assemble this week for a three-day retreat in Leesburg, Va. Left unsaid: Trump has benefited from Musk taking much of the heat for his directives to downsize government. More Americans view Musk unfavorably than either Trump or Vice President JD Vance, a recent CNN/SSRS poll found. Another recent AP poll found Americans largely disapprove of the presidents reliance on billionaires like Tesla-founder Musk for policy advice. And as Democrats work to convince voters that GOP policies will sell them out to benefit billionaires, they see a real-time example in Trumps recent Tesla car show outside the White House. Wheres Donald Trump? Hes outside turning the south lawn of the White House into a commercial for Tesla, Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Co-chair Maxwell Frost (Fla.) said at a Wednesday press conference. He cares more about corrupt billionaires like Elon than he does about the American people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Democrats have little legislative leverage with Republicans controlling the House, Senate and presidency. But New Democrat Coalition Chairman Brad Schneider (Ill.) said Democrats are counting on incremental messaging wins to stack up and help them win back the chamber in 2026. Republicans only narrowly hold the House, 218-214. Lincolns quote about public sentiment is everything, with it you can do anything, without it you can do nothing. The more we put the spotlight on Musk, and other aspects of the Trump administration, Schneider said, the more people understand the negative impacts of Trumps chaos, public sentiment is gonna swing and youre seeing that. Schneiders use of the Lincoln quote is notable as it has long been one cited by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), suggesting she still is playing a significant role in shaping the partys message. During Trumps first term, Pelosi was widely seen as the Democrats best Trump foil. Trump Defends Musk Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump sees Musk as an asset and has met frequently with him during the opening weeks of his second term, both publicly and privately. To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is putting it on the line in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! he said on Truth Social this week, before buying a Tesla as a show of confidence and support. The companys stock has been declining since December, amid backlash to his aggressive moves to restructure government. Congressional Republicans at least publicly have largely embraced Musks influence. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called his work heroic and vowed to investigate domestic terrorism against Tesla owners on X this week, amid reports of dealerships being damaged. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who helms House Democrats campaign arm, said Republicans reluctance to question Musk is unsettling to the voters who elected Trump, not his billionaire sidekick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans wont do anything to even bring him in and ask him a question about what hes doing accessing sensitive personal information from taxpayers, she said in an interview earlier this week with Bloomberg Government. Democrats are focusing on Musk as they have been unable to find a consistent message on economic issues that appeals to the entire party. They have also failed to unite around how forcefully to take on Trump. At the presidential address to Congress last week, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was led out of the chamber after trying to shout down the president over concerns about Medicaid cuts. Days later, Green was censured by the House with the support of 10 Democrats frustrated by the antics. There are times when the theatrics are important but they cant be the message, they cant be the focus. They have to be used very sparingly and very pointedly, said Schneider, who did not support censure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats also have sought to highlight the out-sized role Musk, the wealthiest individual in the world, has played in funding Trumps presidential campaign. He spent more than a quarter billion on the presidential campaign and recently announced he was donating $100 million to Trumps political operation. Elon Musk has clearly bought this administration and is here to stay, said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Reform DOGE subcommittee. And they need him because, frankly, what theyre doing is so unpopular, they need his money to provide cover. With assistance from Jonathan Tamari. To contact the reporters on this story: Maeve Sheehey in Washington at msheehey@bloombergindustry.com; Ken Tran in Washington at ktran3@bloombergindustry.com Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To contact the editors responsible for this story: George Cahlink at gcahlink@bloombergindustry.com; Bennett Roth at broth@bgov.com Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Mar. 13The sweeping bail reform bill sought by Gov. Kelly Ayotte cleared its first major legislative hurdle Thursday. The House of Representatives voted 205-170 to approve the measure after it rejected attempts by Democratic critics to water it down. "Today the House brought us one step closer to shutting the revolving door for violent criminals," Ayotte said in a statement after the vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The House took four votes on the measure, none by a recorded roll call, however. All four were by division under which the votes of individual legislators were not identified. The proportions of the vote roughly matched the ratio of Democrats and Republicans in the chamber Thursday. The House debated the measure as many law-enforcement professionals supporting the cause sat in the gallery. House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Chairman Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, said last year lawmakers made changes to a 2018 bail reform law, but Ayotte and GOP legislative leaders wanted to go further. "The bill last year was a good bill; it wasn't a Republican bill," Roy said. "We don't have to compromise; it is now a Republican majority, and we are going to pass a Republican bail bill. We don't have to be ashamed of that." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The most significant change would lower the standard of proof that prosecutors need to convince a judge that someone accused of a violent crime is dangerous enough to be held without bail. The current standard is "clear and convincing evidence" while this year's bill, which has Ayotte's backing, would lower it to "probable cause." Ayotte said higher standards have proven difficult for prosecutors to achieve in court. "You are really requiring them to hold a mini-trial to reach that kind of standard, which isn't fair," said Ayotte, a former attorney general. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Probable cause is a recognized standard that is used when someone in law enforcement seeks a warrant to search someone's private property. It is known and well understood in the criminal justice system." Critics: violent crime down Rep. Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth, was one of the chief architects of the 2018 law as an appellate law expert and professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Since then, Scherr said, the number of serious violent and property crimes has dropped from 19,000 in 2017 to just over 13,000 in 2024. "Despite the rhetoric, the bail reform law is working," Scherr said. "We don't need to fix bail reform." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said during her campaign for governor, Ayotte had made the issue a top priority, and the entire GOP leadership team backed that decision. "Upholding law and order and finishing our work to fix New Hampshire's bail system were a key part of the mandate which voters handed us when they sent a Republican trifecta to represent them in Concord," Osborne said. Court administrators have maintained the bill could increase taxpayer costs since it will likely lead to detaining more accused offenders in county jails while awaiting trials. Ayotte said the correctional system "has the capacity" to jail more offenders if that's necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Twenty-five to 30 percent of all people charged with crimes have their charges dismissed or are found not guilty," Scherr said. "We will be jailing pre-trial people who have not been found guilty and some of whom will never be found guilty." The legislation also would do away with three magistrates whose positions were created as part of a 2024 bail reform law. These magistrates are charged with conducting initial bail matters on nights or weekends when full-time judges are not working. Court officials said the three magistrates were named to five-year terms, and it would be appropriate for any change in law to phase them out of that judicial post over time. +++ What's Next: The bill now heads to the State Senate. Prospects: Excellent. Senate Republican leaders have already endorsed the measure. klandrigan@unionleader.com The amended version of the bill would eliminate the newly created magistrate system and lower the standards that must be met for people who are arrested for serious offenses to be held behind bars. (Getty Images) This story was updated on Thursday, March 13 at 6:19 p.m. to reflect that HB 592 is heading directly to the Senate. The New Hampshire House passed a bill to roll back large portions of the 2018 bail reform bill signed by then-Gov. Chris Sununu, in a victory on a key issue for Gov. Kelly Ayotte. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Bill 592 passed 204-175. The amended version of the bill would eliminate the newly created magistrate system and lower the standards that must be met for people who are arrested for serious offenses to be held behind bars. The bill heads to the Senate next, after House Finance Committee Chairman Ken Weyler waived a second review by his committee Thursday. The bill pares back much of what was passed in 2018, when civil rights advocates argued New Hampshires laws kept too many people in jail ahead of their trials solely because they could not afford bail. The 2018 law required that judges find there be clear and convincing evidence that a person is a danger to themselves or others in order for them to be held without bail. Since 2018, police departments in the state have raised concerns that the new laws tie the hands of courts and prosecutors and have resulted in people reoffending after being released on bail. Supporters of the bail reform law, meanwhile, note that the violent crime rate has dropped in New Hampshire since the law passed, and said the law provides important protections for the accused. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ayotte made crime a key part of her gubernatorial campaign, and argued as a candidate that the 2018 law should be largely repealed. Ahead of Thursdays vote, the governor held a press conference urging lawmakers to pass the bill, flanked by dozens of local police chiefs and officers. HB 592 would lower the standard for when a court could deny bail to someone who is accused of one of 12 serious offenses, ranging from homicide to kidnapping to possession of child sexual abuse imagery. Under the bill, a court would need to determine whether there is probable cause that the arrested person is a danger to themselves or whether they are not likely to appear at future court hearings a lower standard than the clear and convincing evidentiary standard currently in law. Sununu signed a compromise bill last year that was intended to be the final fix to the bail law. But Rep Terry Roy, a Deerfield Republican and the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, said the bill passed Thursday was more reflective of Republican priorities. The bill last year was a good bill, Roy said. It wasnt a Republican bill because we didnt have a (strong) Republican majority, so we compromised, and we came up with a good bill. We dont have to compromise. It is now a Republican majority, and were going to pass a Republican bail bill. We dont need to be ashamed of that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Buzz Scherr, a Portsmouth Democrat and University of New Hampshire law professor who helped draft the 2024 compromise bill, argued the current laws do not need a revision. It is working, Scherr said of the bail laws. The Legislature has done an excellent job at slowly and carefully adjusting bail reform issues when they come up, and its been done on a bipartisan basis. Lets continue with that. SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) An attempt to override Republican Gov. Larry Rhodens first veto failed Thursday in the South Dakota House of Representatives. A reconsideration of House Bill 1132 was debated after being vetoed by Rhoden on Wednesday. The bill failed to get through the House by a vote of 27-43, needing more than 46 votes to override Rhodens veto. KELOLAND penny collectors in a pinch following Trump order Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HB1132 would seek to provide expanded eligibility for child-care workers to receive government assistance for care of their own children. On Wednesday, Rhoden explained his decision in a letter to lawmakers. This bill would give child care workers preferential treatment, by allowing them to receive this aid at a higher income level, his letter stated. This would be the first time in South Dakota that our state safety net programs would give enhanced benefits to people working in one type of job or occupation, and it would transform this program into a long-term workforce subsidy rather than what its focus should be: temporary support for families in need. In news release Thursday, prime sponsor of the bill Democratic Rep. Erin Healy said the veto was a huge mistake that hurts South Dakota families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents are already struggling to find affordable daycare. But they are met with long waitlists and not enough spots. This bill would have helped to expand the child care workforce, but now, more parentsespecially momswill have to leave their jobs because they cant find care, Healy said in an emailed statement. Healy added on the House floor that child care is not a luxury, its a necessity for working families and for a strong economy. This veto sends a clear message that rather than taking meaningful action to address this crisis, South Dakota is willing to let families and businesses continue to struggle, and I think that is unacceptable, Healy said. Also speaking in favor of the bill was Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman, who said child care workers are not asking for special treatment, they are asking for fairness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They can barely cover their own basic needs, and if our safety net doesnt extend to them, we are not using it correctly, Wittman said. This bill was not about expanding government, it was about supporting the workforce that allows the rest of us to go to work because we know that our children are being taken care of in a safe and supportive environment. Opposition came in from Republican Rep. John Hughes, who said overturning the governors veto sets a dangerous precedent. I dont know how anybody can be a fiscal conservative and claim theyre protecting the taxpayers if theyre gonna redistribute income to a carve out, Hughes said. If we start carving out and subsidizing individual sectors of the economy, especially when the state has the lowest unemployment, we have one of the most robust economies in the United States. Republican Rep. Jack Kolbeck, cited issues with expanding the program, saying it jeopardizes funding commitments and would add cost to the program with no additional funding to support the program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is unclear how many of the estimated 6000 individuals in the South Dakota child care workforce might apply, even a small percentage of these families say 5%, would grow program spending by 3.8 million in the state general funds annually, Kolbeck said. During the governors press briefing, Rhoden also spoke on HB 1132, saying he thought the bill would have diluted the funds and changed the income threshold to 300% for child care workers with children rather than the current group that are affected by the program. Speaking for the Governor, Laura Ringling, Senior Policy Advisor at Office of the Governor, said the bill that came forward wasnt the right solution for South Dakota and they are open to continue looking for solutions while working with the stakeholder task force. That this year and well be looking for solutions that include economic development as well as solutions that involve the private sector coming to the table, Ringling said. They have a report out and thats really our starting point for the next round of conversations of what those solutions would be. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. In Kentucky, almost 20% of high school students use electronic cigarettes and 5% smoke, according to The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (Getty Images) FRANKFORT Kentucky is one step closer to licensing retailers who sell nicotine with the passage of Senate Bill 100 in the House Wednesday 82-11. It passed the Senate in late February. The House made some changes to the bill which the Senate will have to vote on but kept the licensing requirements laid out by Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, in place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under SB 100, Kentucky would license all retailers who sell tobacco and vape products, giving the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) inspection and enforcement powers over them, similar to those it exercises over alcohol retailers. It would also fine retailers who sell nicotine products to minors and give half the money collected in fines to a youth prevention program in a state where about 5% of high school students smoke and almost 20% use e-cigarettes, according to The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Smoking costs the state more than $2 billion every year in health complications, according to the campaign. The other half would go toward enforcement expenses. From left: Griffin Nemeth, a youth advisory board coordinator for the hashtag movement, #iCANendthetrend, Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, and Mallory Jones, a high school senior, testify in favor of licensing retailers of nicotine products, March 12, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death across the country, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. In Kentucky, smoking and lung cancer rates exceed those in the rest of the nation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee passed Higdons bill Wednesday morning and sent it to the House floor. In that meeting, Higdon reiterated he wants to go after bad actors who expose youth to nicotine. We have a lot of good retailers. In fact, probably 99.8% of the retailers in Kentucky run good businesses and follow the rules and would never sell to an underage person, Higdon said. This bill has teeth that ABC can enforce and get rid of bad actors. Mallory Jones, a high school senior, testified alongside Higdon that her generation is being strategically manipulated to purchase vapes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a youth advocate and heart survivor, Im concerned about what Im seeing in my school, among peers and in my community, said Jones, adding they get sucked in by intentionally flashy, colorful, fun, flavored products. Its time for us to put Kentucky kids ahead of tobacco, she said. Seven hours later, SB 100 cleared the House with bipartisan support. Several Republicans voted against it. State Rep. Jeffrey Thompson, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, presented the committee with his proposed property tax plan Wednesday. As the House considered Senate Bill 1, a property tax reform bill, Thompson decided to strip the bill and insert his 228-page House Bill 1402, which wasnt heard in committee in the first half of session. Thompson, R-Lizton, said the hallmark of House Bill 1402 is a 5-year phase-in of exemptions and deductions so that every parcel in the state hits the property tax cap. Thompsons plan calls for some deductions for homesteads to be replaced, lowering business personal property tax floors and shifting the authorization of local income taxes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The alternative is keep the system we got. If we like the system we got, then we get the results we should expect, Thompson said. Gov. Mike Braun, who campaigned on property tax reform, proposed a homestead standard deduction amount of 60% of the homesteads assessed value if the value is more than $125,000 or $48,000 plus 60% of the remaining assessed value if the homestead has an assessed value of $125,000 or less. That language was introduced in Senate Bill 1. Brauns plan would cut $4.1 billion across the state between 2026 and 2028, including $1.9 billion from schools, $254 million from libraries, $890 million from cities and towns, and $765 million from counties. The Senate amended Senate Bill 1 to remove Brauns language from the bill. The amended bill would shift the percentage cap used to determine the maximum levy growth quotient to 0% in 2026, 1% in 2027, and 2% in 2028; and allows a county fiscal body to establish a property tax payment deferral program, where up to $10,000 can be deferred and the deferment becomes a lien on the property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Bill 1 also offers relief to those 65 years old and older and those who are disabled. It also establishes a first-time home buyer tax credit. It allows for local governments to utilize a levy referendum during even-year general elections. The fiscal impact of the amended bill would cut $1.4 billion across the state between 2026 and 2025, including $370.9 million from schools, $67 million from libraries, $304.3 million from cities and towns, and $346.6 million from counties. Thompsons bill phases down the homestead standard deduction over 5 years to 0 beginning for taxes due and payable in 2031; phases in an increase in the supplemental homestead deduction over 5 years to two-thirds of the assessed value of the homestead; establishes a new local income tax expenditure tare for all counties to 2.9%; and phases in a total exemption for business personal property that is placed in service after Jan. 1, 2025. When it comes to deductions for those over 65 years old or military service members, Thompson said hed change relief proposals to credits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fiscal impact of Thompsons bill would cut $362.8 million across the state through 2028, including $76.7 million from counties, $147.2 million from cities and towns, $186.2 million from school corporations, and $2.1 million from libraries. Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, said the challenge with property tax reform is dealing with the fear of the unknown. This is not easy, Slager said. We need to be able to follow through exactly what these impacts are going to be. Rep. Jack Jordan, R-Bremen, said while it isnt easy, we can work together, roll up our sleeves, all of us, and try to improve this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, said Indiana should set a certain date to end property taxes and find other revenues to fund local governments. I think its possible to get us out of the property tax system completely and replace it with a better system, Prescott said. I dont think anybody in their right minds would look at the taxing structure that we have today and if you were to hit the reset button, rewrite it the same way. Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, said the legislature has taken on the responsibility of funding education but hasnt been properly funding education. That has resulted in schools relying on referendums, which increase property taxes, to fund their budgetary needs, she said. Its incumbent on us as a legislature to look at the fact that we have a surplus but were forcing communities to take these referendums out and to rely on the referendums and then we wonder why the property tax bills are so high for individuals, Pryor said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over a dozen people testified on the bill Wednesday, most sharing their concerns about its impact on local communities. Campbell Ricci, policy director for Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, said the organization has supported having local income tax decisions decided at the city and town level and not relying on the county for those decisions. AIM has concerns with the business personal property tax component because it could shift the fiscal responsibility to other taxpayers, Ricci said. Columbia City Mayor Ryan Daniel said city and town leaders have heartburn over the proposed phasing out of business personal property tax. Cities with a more industrialized base have a higher business personal property tax, while cities with fewer industrialized businesses have a lower business personal property tax, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Columbia City, 7% of its tax revenue comes from business personal property tax, while 13% of its countys tax revenue comes from business personal property tax, Daniel said. Use a scalpel rather than an axe, please, on the property tax issue. Cities and towns across the state continue to invest in quality-of-life amenities that our residents and businesses want, Daniel said. Ryan Huff, director of government relations for the Association of Indiana Counties, said the organization supports the proposed local income tax system because it would allow counties and cities to manage their own tax revenue environments without interfering in each others local income tax landscape. The House Ways and Means Committee will continue to discuss the bill. akukulka@post-trib.com A key to safety for many victims of domestic and intimate partner violence is emergency shelter, but in Milwaukee County, that can be in short supply. The demand far outpaces the bed capacity at Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee or any other local shelter, a new report found. Housing for us is the bedrock of safety, said Carmen Pitre, Sojourners president and chief executive, in an interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Studies from across the country have repeatedly found that domestic and intimate partner violence is a leading cause of women experiencing homelessness. Many of Sojourners clients struggle with transitional housing options after leaving emergency shelter, Pitre said, and two longstanding local options for that service have closed in recent years. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said the county has invested in affordable housing developments with the help of pandemic relief funds. But with federal dollars drying up, the county will rely more on partnerships to try to fulfill those needs, he said. We want to fill these gaps so people arent falling through the cracks and going right back into that cycle of violence or that cycle of homelessness, Crowley said. Antonia Drew Norton, founder of The Asha Project, speaks about housing insecurity for survivors of domestic violence during a panel Thursday at American Family Field. The report was based on data from Sojourner and interviews with survivors served by Sojourner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It did not include data from other advocacy organizations supporting survivors in the county, including the Milwaukee Women's Center and We Are Here MKE, a collective of culturally specific organizations. However, representatives from those organizations said Thursday the findings were similar to their clients' experiences. For many of them, theyre running again with the clothes on their back, said Antonia Drew Norton, founder of The Asha Project, which serves African American women and families in Milwaukee. And we want to be able to have the best place to reach that path toward healing, which is a journey not a destination, she added. The report was the subject of a community meeting Thursday at American Family Field. Here are key takeaways. Only 6% of hotline callers who requested emergency housing stayed at Sojourner's shelter Sojourner operates a 53-bed emergency shelter for survivors and their children. In 2023, the shelter served 141 adults and 181 children. The average stay for a family was about 50 nights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That same year, Sojourners hotline received 2,353 calls requesting shelter, meaning only 6% of those individuals ultimately stayed in the agency's shelter. SPECIAL REPORT: Domestic violence deaths are rising. Children are witnessing them. Inside the crisis facing Milwaukee County. After staying in shelter, many survivors used rental assistance Sojourner asked survivors where they were going after leaving the shelter. Of those who shared the information, about 31% said they were moving to a rental with some form of assistance to help with the cost, the report found. About a quarter reported moving in with family or friends, and another 17% reported moving to another emergency shelter in the area. On average, survivors had experienced homelessness six times in their lifetime Sojourner conducted interviews with 125 adult survivors served by their organization, many of whom had experienced poverty, the report noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roughly three-quarters of the survivors had been homeless at some point in their lives, and half of them said their children had experienced homelessness. On average, survivors had experienced six discrete incidences of homelessness in their lifetimes, the report found. ARCHIVE: Domestic violence victims in Milwaukee faced eviction for calling police in 2008-2009, study finds Children of survivors often had to move homes, but not schools Of the survivors who had minor children, about 62% reported that their children had to move homes because of the abusive situation. Only 16% reported that their children had to move schools. The report traces the difference to federal protections for homeless children, which allows students who become homeless during a school year to continue to attend the same school for the rest of the year, regardless of where the family is living. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law shows the potential of policy solutions to address homelessness among survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, the report says. FULL REPORT: Homelessness, Housing Instability & IntimatePartner Violence Recommendations call for more affordable housing, training for advocates The report offers several recommendations: Training advocacy staff in housing/rental knowledge for the local market and adding positions to address survivors' housing needs. Supporting projects that build or create more affordable housing units, expanding available emergency shelter and creating more transitional housing options. Train and support family and friends so they can support survivors, including in housing needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an interview, Pitre recommended friends and family of survivors call an advocacy organization for guidance on housing options and safety planning. Its emotionally difficult to support people who are in challenging circumstances, Pitre said. I would say, first, take care of yourself, as well as trying to take care of your loved one. Ashley Luthern is a reporter and deputy investigations editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at ashley.luthern@jrn.com. Where to find help for domestic violence Domestic violence advocates can help with safety planning. Calls to advocates are confidential and do not involve law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at 414-933-2722. The Milwaukee Women's Center offers a 24-hour crisis line at 414-671-6140. The Womens Center in Waukesha has a 24-hour hotline at 262-542-3828. We Are Here Milwaukee provides information on culturally specific organizations at weareheremke.org. The Asha Project, which provides culturally specific services for African American women and others in Milwaukee, provides a crisis line from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 414-252-0075. The UMOS Latina Resource Center in Milwaukee offers bilingual, bicultural domestic violence, sexual assault and anti-human trafficking supportive services and operates a 24-hour hotline at 414-389-6510. The Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center offers culturally sensitive, trauma-informed services for those who have experienced domestic or sexual violence and can be reached at 414-383-9526. Our Peaceful Home, which serves Muslim families and is a program of the Milwaukee Muslim Womens Coalition, operates a crisis line at 414-727-1090. The Hmong American Womens Association, which serves the Hmong and Southeast Asian community, has advocates available at 414-930-9352 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin has a statewide directory of resources at endabusewi.org/get-help. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee domestic violence victims struggle to find shelter, housing (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz said on Tuesday it has appointed Jason Hoff to the newly created role of North America CEO, effective May 1 as the German maker looks to strengthen its focus on the U.S., its second-largest market. Hoff, currently Head of Quality for Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans, will be responsible for the overall strategic direction of the German luxury carmaker in the U.S. The company, which exports high-end vehicles and sedans to the U.S. from Europe, said it is consolidating its research and development, sales and marketing activities in the U.S. under the new role. Mercedes, which operates a global SUV manufacturing hub in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, reported strong U.S. sales last year, with 324,500 passenger cars and 49,600 vans sold. "This new position will ensure continued growth and increased synergies in the U.S. by bundling our activities and subsidiaries under one roof," said Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes-Benz Group AG's CEO. Mercedes-Benz CFO Harald Wilhelm said last month the carmaker would localize more production at its Tuscaloosa plant to shield itself from potential tariffs. A company spokesperson declined to comment on how the company's U.S. operations would change under Hoff's leadership. (Reporting by Pretish M J in Bengaluru and Victoria Walderse in Berlin; Editing by Tasim Zahid) Good morning! If 2024 was all about discovering new talent, human resource leaders are using 2025 to focus on cultivating the employees they already have. Last year, the number one priority for top HR executives was recruiting, and figuring out ways to hire workers with in-demand skills like AI expertise, according to the 2025 State of the Workplace released by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). But this year, recruiting fell to seventh place, showing that CHRO priorities are changing drastically in 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, leadership and manager development took the top spot among focuses for HR professionals, according to separate study from SHRM, with 51% of CHROs saying it was their main concern. That was followed by organization design and change management at 30%, employee experience at 28%, talent management at 27% and learning and development at 24%. It's really about ensuring that the employees you have at your organization are working towards being productive, and that you can retain that talent, says James Atkinson, VP of thought leadership at SHRM. We're seeing a focus from recruiting outside the organization to really building up and developing talent within the organization itself. The new emphasis on existing employees comes as HR practitioners are forced to manage their organizations through particularly volatile times, according to Johnny C. Taylor, president and CEO of SHRM. As organizations continue to navigate talent shortages, economic fluctuations, and evolving workplace dynamics, HR leaders are shifting their focus to long-term workforce development and engagement strategies, he says. When it comes to exactly what qualities HR leaders want to encourage among their managers, around 40% of CHROs who named leadership development as a top priority said they were interested in teaching softer skills, like the ability to inspire workers and manage conflict, the second study found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Out of companies that ranked employee experience as a top concern, 40% said they were focused on improving employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity, as opposed to other issues like workplace culture (15%), and RTO strategy (5%). And overall, 59% of CHROs are planning to place more focus on employee well-being in 2025, according to the CHRO study. HR leaders have good reason to worry about their workers. Around 35% reported heavier workloads in 2024 due to unfilled roles, and 61% reported feelings of burnout, according to the state of the workplace study. There's going to be an emphasis on that human-centered leadership in 2025, says Atkinson. Leaders need to be equipped to lead change, but also equipped to engage with their employees as well. Brit Morse brit.morse@fortune.com This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Image via iStock / Getty Images Plus Seeing patients at the free clinic is not just a welcome reminder that I can start piecing different information together as a medical student. It is also a reminder of what happens outside the exam room. The patient who is coming in for follow-up for their diabetes and has signs of diabetic neuropathy may need to apply for financial assistance for their insulin. The patient with stroke symptoms who is afraid to go to the hospital because she is not sure how to cover costs of imaging may need assistance applying for Medicaid through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although free clinics are a wonderful resource for the uninsured, the reality is that it cannot fully offer services for everyone who may be lacking health coverage. The importance of that coverage highlights how critical programs like Medicaid/AHCCCS are for patients to receive the health care they need. More than 1 in every 5 Arizonans almost two million people gets health insurance through AHCCCS. That is the reason why it is important to be aware of a number of potential upcoming changes to Medicaid. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The recently passed U.S. House of Representatives budget resolution poses a huge threat to those two million Arizona patients. The proposal calls for $880 billion in cuts from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which would most almost certainly require significant cuts to Medicaid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If federal funding for Medicaid decreases, this has direct effects on AHCCCS and its patients. Arizona is one of nine states containing a trigger law that will end Medicaid expansion in the state if federal match funding were to fall below 80%. About 500,000 patients in Arizona are covered under Medicaid expansion. In Arizona, this Medicaid expansion covers childless adults and adults from 100% to 133% of the federal poverty line. If federal matching funds for Medicaid falls below 80%, per Arizona law, the state will no longer be able to collect a Hospital Assessment Fund, which currently collects certain fees from hospitals in order to fund the state portion of the Medicaid expansion. This would directly impact thousands of patients who may find themselves losing their health care coverage. That would be detrimental for any patient with a chronic condition where it is vital to go to follow-up appointments with their doctor and receive their medication. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, this is not the only potential change to Medicaid in Arizona. AHCCCS is also submitting a proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to receive a waiver to allow AHCCCS to establish work requirements as part of its eligibility criteria, institute a five-year lifetime limit to access Medicaid benefits in the state and institute cost-sharing for inappropriate use of emergency care and transport services. The details of this proposal and its implementation plan have yet to be fully determined by AHCCCS, but the mere existence of the proposal is alarming because we know what will happen if it is approved. In 2018, Arkansas was the first state to implement Medicaid work requirements. Two years later, many patients had lost their health coverage, experienced issues paying medical debt and faced delayed treatment. Their health was clearly negatively impacted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite arguments that work requirements would combat the idea of Medicaid as a source of free welfare, data often show that patients who are on Medicaid are either already working or face significant barriers to work. Many Medicaid patients were kicked off when work requirements were established because of confusing administrative hurdles such as not being aware of the new reporting rules, not being successfully contacted or missing a deadline to verify some personal information. Work requirements prevent people from obtaining coverage for health care they need. They also serve as barriers that make it more likely for people to not be able to find employment and stay in poverty. It is easy to forget that these policy changes and numbers are affecting real people. But I think about how patients have so much to worry about with their health. They shouldnt have to worry about where to access care and how to afford it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For patients who may already be working, looking for work or have a health condition that significantly impacts their quality of life, it is a huge burden to navigate a complex policy that has not been shown to work in the way proposed. The Medicaid system is already deeply confusing for patients who are proficient in English and literate, much less patients who may have reading or language barriers, and Arizona has a diverse patient population where many patients do not have English as their first language. The other proposed changes that Arizona is seeking in its Medicaid waiver are equally concerning in their harmful impacts on patients. What happens to patients who may need Medicaid for longer than five years? Or if patients are able to work and obtain health coverage but later need support for health care coverage again? While they normally would be able to apply for Medicaid, they would be unable to do so under this proposed change because they exceeded their five-year lifetime use of Medicaid. How will they receive care? It poses a lot of questions about potential disruptions in needed health care for patients and the administrative hurdles they would have to face to prove that they need care and to scramble to find access to coverage when their main focus could be on meeting with their doctor, getting their medications and necessary procedures, and maintaining their health. Similarly, the provision on adding cost-sharing to inappropriate use of the emergency department care and transport services seems like a punitive measure that does not provide nuanced support for patients. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many patients who frequent the emergency department often are derogatively referred to as frequent fliers, but this masks that many of these patients may have chronic conditions, are often unhoused, have substance use disorders or have mental health issues. They may be going to the emergency department precisely because they do not have the means to access other health care settings. Instead of focusing on limiting access to health care coverage, we should be spending time and resources on thinking through how to better meet the health care needs of this patient population. What can we do about all these changes that are being discussed to Medicaid? One concrete action suggested by the Arizona Public Health Association is to advocate for decoupling the Hospital Assessment from the requirement that federal funds for Medicaid to Arizona cannot fall below 80%. As mentioned earlier, the Hospital Assessment currently funds Arizonas Medicaid expansion and is at risk of being ended under the trigger provision on federal matching, which would effectively end the state Medicaid expansion. If this provision were to be removed, the Hospital Assessment could continue to be collected to help fund the expansion. Cuts to Medicaid will also spur discussion about the impact on the state budget and while there would be a need to allocate more funds, at least keeping the existing Hospital Assessment fund will ensure one source of funding so that patients currently eligible for Medicaid under the expansion do not suddenly find themselves without coverage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another action regarding the proposed AHCCCS waiver to CMS is to provide public comment. AHCCCS is hosting a number of upcoming public forums and the opportunity to email written comments as an individual or organization to waiverpublicinput@azahcccs.gov before March 20. After this, AHCCCS will be formally submitting the waiver to CMS. People with personal stories or thoughts on the impact of the proposed Medicaid changes should consider attending a forum and submitting a comment. It can be disheartening to think about the negative effects coming down the pipeline. It is easy to forget that these policy changes and numbers are affecting real people. But I think about how patients have so much to worry about with their health. They shouldnt have to worry about where to access care and how to afford it. That is why I care about the changes that may put Arizonas Medicaid program at stake, and why I believe you should care too. Arizona patients deserve better. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Sweetser staff participate in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of Darkness community walk in Bath, Maine in Sept. 2022. (Photo courtesy of Sweetser) While legislators from each political party have their own perspective on how the negotiations behind the faltering budget plan to address the imminent $118 million Medicaid funding shortfall have gone down, health care providers and those in the forest industry say they are not focused on the he said, she said. Not passing this bill now, by a two-thirds majority, will impact peoples lives, said John McAnuff, chief financial officer of Sweetser, a statewide behavioral health organization, referring to the vote total necessary to pass the measure as an emergency in order for funding to be immediately available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The clients that we serve are not numbers on a spreadsheet, McAnuff said. They are real people with real challenges, and disruptions in service will negatively impact their lives and the communities in which they live. Some disruptions are already happening because of the delay in passing an emergency supplemental budget. On Wednesday, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services started capping payments owed to health care providers in an attempt to ensure some level of funding is available for the duration of the current fiscal year. The department is only paying 70% of prospective interim payments to critical access hospitals and is withholding payments for all hospital claims greater than $50,000. All payments are being withheld to large retail pharmacies, large durable medical equipment providers and out-of-state providers of hospital, ambulance, pharmacy and durable medical equipment services. At this point, Sweetser and other health care providers are planning to exhaust their minimal cash reserves and then tap into lines of credit while waiting out for lawmakers to finally decide when the funding for MaineCare, the states Medicaid program, is going to be available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the main purpose of the supplemental budget is to shore up MaineCare funding, it also seeks to address other issues, such as provide funding to spray forests in northern Maine to protect against spruce budworm, a destructive insect that threatens Maines forests. It is crucial to have this funding in place in time for the narrow treatment window this spring, said Krysta West, deputy director of the Maine Forest Products Council. The plan is being taken back up in the Senate on Thursday. The negotiations are over, Daughtry told Maine Morning Star on Wednesday. Were talking about people who could potentially die from not being able to have access to health care, and we could literally have Aroostook County go up in flames. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, both chambers initially passed an amended version of the change package that included some of the minority partys key demands. However, when it came time for enactment votes, the bulk of Senate Republicans rejected the budget. The House enacted it with two-thirds support and later cast another vote insisting on passage of the amended version as an emergency. In a statement on Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills called the failure to enact the supplemental budget with two-thirds support in the Senate a grave disappointment. Senate Republicans turned away from bipartisan agreement unlike their House counterparts and are causing harm to Maine health care providers and patients, Mills said. This brinksmanship is senseless and counterproductive. Senate Republicans should honor the bipartisan agreement and pass this bill. Shortly after, the Senate GOP issued a statement explaining that the majority of their caucus wont back the emergency measure unless it reforms the MaineCare system, specifically by adding work requirements for childless, able-bodied adults. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have made it very clear to my Democrat colleagues that without substantive welfare reform, there would not be enough votes from my caucus to ensure two-thirds passage of the budget in the Senate, Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) said. One of the two Senate Republicans who supported the amended plan, Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, said he agrees that reform is needed. On some of the specific issues, I do think our Medicaid system in Maine is overextended, Bennett said in an interview. Weve got 400,000 people on MaineCare. Its not sustainable. The negotiations are over. We're talking about people who could potentially die from not being able to have access to health care, and we could literally have Aroostook County go up in flames. Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) One aspect of the amended proposal is to require a review of MaineCare for fraud, waste and abuse, which Bennett sees as a good start, particularly in light of likely reforms on the federal level under President Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As someone who has been critical of the Mills administration for late payments to health care providers in the past, Bennett said he supported the amendment because, I dont want to exacerbate the problem and become part of the problem. The weeks-long back-and-forth with floor votes the whiplash, as McAnuff put it has already caused strain for those creating contingency plans to provide health care and protect Maines forests in light of uncertainty. A party-line budget that would result in funding not being available for months would present even more dire consequences. Jeffrey Austin, vice president of government affairs for Maine Hospital Association, which represents 36 community-governed hospitals, said the delays in Medicaid funding will impact most of its membership. While the group doesnt have a survey of each hospitals cash on hand, Austin said he does know that many have very low cash reserves. Maine hospitals have some of the lowest operating margins in the country, Austin said. This means that the money that comes into hospitals goes right out to pay employee salaries, to pay for our vendors from the people who plow hospital parking lots, to food providers to professional services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Austin said the hospitals are committed to treating all patients regardless of ability to pay, an extended period of underpayment will create hardships. McAnuff estimates capped payments will result in Sweetser seeing about $750,000 less cash each month and said the nonprofit could last about three weeks on its cash reserves and then another three to four weeks if it then taps into its line of credit. We have a very short time frame, about a two month time frame, before we are out of cash, essentially, he said. An extended period with decreased pay from the state would likely mean having to cut programs, though that would be the nonprofits last resort, he said. Sweetser has four major program areas: community-based and outpatient care, residential care, a school, and crisis services. An aerial survey of a damaged spruce-fir forest in northwest Aroostook County in July 2024. (Photo via Maine Forest Service) More immediately, Sweetser would consider not filling vacant positions, which would lead to longer waitlists and more people receiving delayed care or none at all. Payments to vendors may have to be delayed, in turn eroding those relationships, or employees may face pay cuts, McAnuff said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If your caregiver is not at 100% when theyre delivering care to you, the service that youre receiving is going to be less than what we need it to be, so that is also a direct impact on client care, he said. Its really just a vicious cycle here. Up in the County, a spruce budworm outbreak has been building on roughly 300,000 acres of land. The supplemental budget would provide $2 million for the implementation of an early intervention strategy to stop that outbreak before it becomes unmanageable, said West from the Maine Forest Products Council. Without the support of two-thirds of the full Legislature, this funding will not be in place in time to treat the full acreage indicated as hot spots, West said, referring to monitoring conducted by the University of Maines Spruce Budworm Lab. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If left untreated, areas with quickly building spruce budworm populations have the potential to grow exponentially this summer. For context, female moths lay approximately 200 eggs each. Failure to treat an outbreak would also cause mass loss of spruce and fir tree leaves and eventually tree death. With a predominant spruce and fir composition, northern Maines forest provides critical wildlife habitat, clean air, clean water, carbon storage and sequestration, and abundant recreational opportunities while supplying the fiber needed to fuel our $8.1 billion industry, West said. For our industry, this is the most important bill that will be considered this session. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have completed the rescue of hundreds of wild horses facing starvation in the Murderers Creek area of Eastern Oregon. A plan was developed to rescue the horses in November of 2024, after the Rail Ridge Fire wiped out 175,000 acres of habitat, which feeds as many as 650 horses in the area. Security guard hurt in deadly Portland Airport Hotel shooting files $13M lawsuit Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley told KOIN 6 News that natural horse feed remains very limited in the area. People are calling in about injured, sick, and dying horses quite a bit now that theyre able to get in the area, but the horse herd looks very rough, McKinley told Elkhorn Media. Theyre starving. Im sure theyre going to find a lot of carcasses out there. You can definitely report those if you see them. Well let the Bureau of Land Management know. Wild horses captured during the rescue efforts. (USFS) USFS spokesperson for the Malheur National Forest Amy Franklin told KOIN that the horses that were removed from the Murderers Creek were in poor condition when captured scoring an average of 2.5 on the Henneke equine body condition scoring system. These conditions are exacerbated by the reduced forage available due to wildfire within their winter range, Franklin said. Of the 410 wild horses gathered, there were five deaths related to gather operations, and three additional animals were euthanized as an act of mercy for pre-existing or chronic conditions not directly related to gather operations, as is required by BLM and FS policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agencies announced the completion of the emergency wild horse gather on March 12. Forest Supervisor for the Malheur National Forest Ann Niesen said that the gather was essential to the survival of the wild horse herd and the critical habitat impacted by the Rail Ridge Fire. Tigard Tesla dealership shot for second time in a week The organizations trapped 410 horses during the three-month operation. Officials used bait and water methods to trap the animals. The gathered horses were taken to holding stables in Hines, Ore. and Alturas Calif., where they are receiving veterinary care. They receive daily high-quality feed, constant access to water, ample space, and veterinary care as needed, the agencies said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have not determined what they will do with the captured horses in the future. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW) Looking for a new job? The State of Kansas is rolling out the virtual welcome mat with nearly 500 job openings available at its upcoming Virtual State Agency Job Fair on Wednesday, March 19. KANSASWORKS is hosting the online event from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It offers job seekers the opportunity to apply, chat live, and interview on the spot for roles ranging from entry-level to senior positions across multiple state agencies. Department of Education lays off nearly half of workforce Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our state agencies have provided thousands of Kansans with fulfilling careers in public service, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said in a news release. For those beginning their professional journey or seeking a change, I encourage you to explore a purpose-driven role with the State of Kansas. The fair is accessible from any digital device, and accommodations for individuals with disabilities are available upon request by calling 877-509-6757. Registration is required. To register, click here. The site also has job seeker training videos and a list of participating agencies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. Hungary broke EU law by asking a transgender refugee for proof of gender reassignment surgery, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said on Thursday. The Iranian national, named only as VP, was born a woman but identifies as a man. Hungarian authorities recorded VP as female on their asylum register after granting refugee status in 2014. In 2022, VP used EU data protection rules to request the entry be changed to male in the Hungarian register. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities refused to change the personal data unless they were given proof of gender reassignment surgery. Judges at the EUs top court said the demand for proof broke the General Data Protection Regulation, which gives people the right to correct inaccurate information about themselves. In a rebuke to Hungary, the Luxembourg court said a member state may under no circumstances, by administrative practice, make the exercise of that right subject to the production of evidence of sex reassignment surgery. Hungary does not legally recognise transgender identity. In 2020, the government banned transgender people from legally changing their sex. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Viktor Orban, the nationalist prime minister, has been criticised for cracking down on LGBT+ rights and recently banned Budapests Pride march. The ECJ said EU law did not undermine the right of member states to draft their own laws on the legal recognition of gender. But national governments had to comply with EU law, including the data protection rules which gave the right for people to have incorrect information rectified. Essence of fundamental rights The ECJ said demanding proof of surgery undermined the essence of fundamental rights... in particular, the essence of the right to the integrity of the person and the right to respect for private life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It said gender identity was one of the most intimate aspects of a private life. It said transgender people have a right to personal development and to physical and moral integrity, as well as to respect for and recognition of their gender identity. The case was referred to EU judges by a Hungarian court for clarification on points of European law. Hungarian judges will have to take the decision into account when they make their final judgment on the case. The decision sets a precedent that will apply across all of the EUs 27 member states. The court has used initials for people involved in proceedings since 2018. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Hungary is pressuring European leaders to remove sanctions on a billionaire Russian oligarch who owns Holland & Barrett. Budapest wants EU sanctions on Mikhail Fridman to be lifted, the Financial Times reported. Mr Fridman, a Russian-Israeli citizen, owns significant assets in the UK including the health food chain and a 65m London mansion. The businessman has been under EU and UK sanctions since March 2022 following Russias invasion of Ukraine. He was sanctioned by the UK Government for obtaining a benefit from or supporting the government of Russia through his links to the countrys financial sector. Mr Fridman, who is valued at $13bn (10bn), co-owned Russias largest private bank, Alfa, until late last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hungary has demanded his removal from the EU list of sanctioned individuals in exchange for backing the renewal of sanctions on 2,000 other businesspeople and politicians tied to the Russian state, the FT said. Led by strongman Viktor Orban, Hungary is the most pro-Russian member of the EU and has repeatedly pushed back against the sanctions regime. Mr Orban has claimed sanctions have done 19bn (16bn) worth of damage to Hungarys economy. He told state radio in January: Now the issue of the rollover of the sanctions is on the agenda and I have pulled the brakes and asked EU leaders to understand this cannot continue. This is not good that we pay the price of helping Ukraine ... and they cause us problems. Victor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, claims sanctions have done 19bn worth of damage to his countrys economy - Bernadett Szabo/Reuters According to Radio Free Europe, a European news organisation, Hungary initially pushed for six business figures to be removed from the sanctions list, including metals oligarch Alisher Usmanov, before narrowing its demands down to Mr Fridman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Diplomats have been meeting over the past few days to discuss the sanctions, which are rolled over twice a year in mid-March and mid-September. The negotiations have become known as the sanctions dance by diplomats, because of the tit-for-tat negotiating between Hungary and the EU. Mr Fridman is the co-founder of Luxembourg-based conglomerate LetterOne, which owns stakes in a number of UK businesses including Holland & Barrett and is not currently sanctioned. Mr Fridman stepped down from the board of LetterOne after the invasion but he remains a shareholder. A LetterOne spokesman said the group was entirely separate from its sanctioned shareholders and had no comment. The UK National Crime Agency raided Mikhail Fridmans 65m north London home, known as Athlone House, in 2023 - Jamie Lorriman The oligarch has challenged the EU sanctions in court and won a partial victory against the EU sanctions last year after the European Court of Justice ruled that authorities had failed to provide enough evidence of his links to the Kremlin. However, he remains under sanctions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The billionaire has also filed a lawsuit against Luxembourg, where LetterOne is based, alleging $15.8bn of damages because of the sanctions. Luxembourg also supports his removal from the EU sanctions list. The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) raided Mr Fridmans 65m north London home, known as Athlone House, over suspected alleged evasion of sanctions in 2023, with more than 50 officers descending on the property The 59-year-old businessman was arrested and released on bail. He later challenged the search in courts before the NCA dropped its case. Mr Fridman was born in Lviv, Ukraine, but currently holds joint Russian and Israeli citizenship. He was a resident of Britain until 2023. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Hungary is demanding the removal of Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman from the EU sanctions list, threatening to block the extension of the European Union's sanctions against nearly 2,000 Russians if their demand is not met. Source: Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda Details: The travel bans and asset freezes imposed by the EU on politicians and businessmen who supported or contributed to Russia's war against Ukraine will expire on Saturday unless all 27 EU countries agree to extend them for another six months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four FT sources said that Hungary's ambassador to the EU has insisted that Fridman, who made his fortune in Russia before moving to London 10 years ago, be removed from the list as the price Budapest is demanding to allow the continuation of all other sanctions. EU ambassadors will meet in Brussels on Thursday after several days of negotiations that have so far failed to produce a compromise. Ukraine's most loyal allies, including the Baltic states, are opposed to any easing of EU sanctions against Moscow, especially before any negotiations for a ceasefire under US mediation are concluded. According to three officials, Luxembourg supports efforts to remove Fridman from the list. Last year, Fridman filed a lawsuit against Luxembourg, where he holds shares in the London-based investment firm LetterOne, demanding compensation for losses linked to sanctions amounting to US$15.8 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Initially, Hungary sought to remove eight names from the sanctions list, including other Russian billionaires such as Alisher Usmanov and Fridman's long-time partner Petr Aven. However, Budapest is now reportedly insisting on the removal of Fridman alone. Background: As previously reported by European Pravda, Brussels is informally preparing for the scenario in which Hungary will block the extension of anti-Russian sanctions, with the sanctions packages potentially ending on 16 March. Currently, European negotiators are looking to use all available methods to persuade Hungary and close the sanctions decision on time. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Hungarys ambassador to the EU demanded that Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman be removed from the sanctions list, threatening to block the extension of EU sanctions imposed on about 2,000 Russians otherwise, the Financial Times reported on March 13, citing four officials familiar with the matter. Hungarian leadership, broadly seen as the most Russian-friendly in the EU, has repeatedly obstructed and delayed the bloc's sanctions against Moscow and military aid for Ukraine. The travel restrictions and asset freezes on politicians and businessmen who supported Russia's war against Ukraine will expire on March 15, unless all EU member countries decide to extend them for another six months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bloc's ambassadors are meeting in Brussels on March 13 after several days of talks that failed to reach a compromise, according to the Financial Times (FT). Initially, Budapest sought a removal of eight names from the sanctions list, including Russian oligarchs Petr Aven and Alisher Usmanov, but finally focused on Fridman, the newspaper wrote. Fridman and Aven were sanctioned by the EU on Feb. 28, 2022, for their ties to the Kremlin and support for Moscow's all-out war against Ukraine. In April 2024, the EUs General Court lifted sanctions against the two, ruling that the EU had failed to demonstrate their role in undermining Ukraine. However, subsequent EU decisions kept them on the sanctions list under a different justification, classifying them as "leading businesspersons providing substantial revenue" to Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine's staunchest allies, such as the Baltic States, reportedly opposed any easing of EU sanctions against Moscow. Hungary's idea to remove Fridman from the sanctions list was backed by Luxembourg, three unnamed officials told FT. Last year, Fridman filed a lawsuit against Luxembourg, where his stake in the London-based investment company LetterOne is located. The oligarch claimed $15.8 billion in sanctions-related damages. Read also: Kyiv sees no surprises as Russia signals its rejection of US-backed ceasefire proposal Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. IATSE International president Matthew D. Loeb cautioned artists and producers against cancelling shows at the Kennedy Center, citing the impact on wages for behind-the-scenes workers. Loeb visited the Kennedy Center workforce, including stagehands, wardrobe professionals, makeup artists, scenic artists and ticket sellers, represented by the union this week. His visit and statement to artists and producers come after a number of upcoming engagements were canceled at the Kennedy Center after President Trump overhauled the board and became chair. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Behind-the-scenes workers need to feed our families and have neither participated in any decisions relating to booked content, nor have we considered social issues as a matter of whether we service a production in the history of our relationship at the Kennedy Center, Loeb said. We have a contract and fulfill our end of the deal. We are the best, safest, most experienced workforce available and weve worked in the building since it opened 53 years ago, throughout all the challenges and successes the institution has seen. It is our hope the Center can continue to offer the best to the public when it comes to promoting world-class productions, while protecting freedom of speech and expression, free of censorship in the spirit of foundational democratic values. A number of artists and producers have canceled their shows at the Kennedy Center, including Issa Rae, who said she was canceling due to an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, and Hamilton, with the producer citing the firings of the Kennedy Center president and the chairman of the board, as well as the cancellation of programming at the center, as reasons to call off the 2026 engagement. The Kennedy Center issued its own statement saying that any cancellations have been done by the artists themselves or were due to lack of sales or artist availability rather than any political or programming changes. IATSE urges artists and producers to consider the workers behind the scenes who make world class live performances at the Kennedy Center possible, the union said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When productions walk away, it leaves more than just an empty stage they leave behind critical opportunities for skilled middle-class workers to earn [a] living in the arts, and forego a chance to inspire American audiences at this historic institution. In total, more than 20 shows have been canceled at the Kennedy Center since Trump was named chair Feb. 12. Ric Grenell, Trumps former ambassador to Germany, has been named interim executive director and has said his goal is to make art great again. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. By Turgay Yerlikaya It is very clear that the call made after October 22nd pointed to two objectives that would shape Turkish political life. The first was for the terrorist organization's founding leader to respond to the call through an interlocutor, followed by the laying down of arms and the disbandment of the organization. The acceptance that the conditions that created the terrorist organization, both theoretically and practically, no longer exist and that the organization has trapped itself in a vicious cycle, thus leaving no option but dissolution, was an important step in the construction of a "terror-free Turkiye." At this stage, rather than focusing on the technical details of the process, it is crucial to highlight what kind of contributions will emerge in the medium to long term and how a pluralistic democratic foundation will be established in the second century of the Republic. These aspects are highly important for the success of the process. The second objective of the statements made after October 22nd was to build a terror-free region. Indeed, considering the PKKs influence in Iraq, Syria, and Iran through regional and global actors, it was clear that the problem was not limited to a projection confined to Turkiyes borders. Therefore, discussions about whether Ocalan's call would cover the PKK structure in northern Syria and how the future of the process in Syria would unfold were important at this point. From this perspective, after the Syrian People's Revolution, the removal of obstacles in the construction of a unified Syria, seen as a primary priority, is of great importance not only for Syria but also for Turkiye. For this reason, the agreement signed between SDG leader Mazlum Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed Shara, despite some reservations, serves the motivation of a unified Syria, and it appears that the Kurds see themselves as part of Syrias integrity. Motivation for a unified Syria The agreement signed between President Shara and the SDG guarantees the participation and representation rights of all Syrians in the political process, regardless of their religious and ethnic backgrounds, which is a significant step towards Syrias democratization. The steps to be taken regarding the legal recognition of the Kurds and the fulfillment of their demands are also an important indicator of integration. The most important aspect of the agreement is that it involves the transfer of all civil and military institutions, as well as oil fields, in northeastern Syria to the Syrian government. The implementation of this condition will also mean the abandonment of the de facto claim to autonomy in the region. According to the agreement, demographic engineering policies implemented by the PYD in the region will be abandoned, and displaced Syrians will return to their homes, which will increase the integration in Syria and remove artificial obstacles to a unified Syria. The emphasis on fighting together against any threats that may arise from the remnants of the Assad regime strengthens the belief in the Syrian People's Revolution of all peoples. In the agreement, references to the risks that Syrias partition may face in both discourse and action are made, and the insistence on unity demonstrates the sensitivity regarding this issue. Expanding consensus This declaration of will, which is not limited to the Kurds, expands to include all social groups, especially in the Suwayda region, which is highly important for a terror-free region. As local actors converge in a unified Syria environment, the possibility of regional and global actors sabotaging the process will be reduced. It is crucial to pay attention to provocations that could be created through ethnic, sectarian, or religious identities during this process. Rehabilitating a battlefield that has experienced over ten years of civil war, with regional actors and global players involved, will undoubtedly have limitations and challenges. However, the declaration of will by local actors to accompany the process and unite will be the most important way to neutralize sabotage efforts. At this point, the contribution of an actor like Turkiye in the construction of Syrias future will be significant. Turkiye, with strong intelligence regarding who is throwing stones at others' windows and what motivations drive these actions, will undoubtedly make major contributions to Syria's future, not only in military and intelligence but also in its democratic experience. Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) is exploring an entry into the rapidly growing European ETF market with its own in-house strategies, ETF Stream understands. MSIM, the asset management arm of Morgan Stanley, laid the foundation for an expansion into European ETFs in October 2024 when it registered the Morgan Stanley ETF ICAV with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). European ETF Expansion The first ETF to launch via the platform will be the Garnet US Treasury Bond 1-3 Year UCITS ETF (GUS1), a short-dated U.S. government bond fund that received the regulator's green light in February. According to a person familiar with the matter, GUS1 will launch in response to targeted client demand and is not part of the broader range of in-house strategies the firm is considering bringing to the European market. MSIM entered the US market in January 2023, and its 17-strong U.S. ETF range houses $4.8 billion in assets under management, according to data from Trackinsight. The suite encompasses fixed income, equity and option-based ETFsall managed by subsidiaries Calvert, Parametric and Eaton Vance. Not Too Late The firm has contemplated entering Europes ETF market on a number of occasions over the last two decades, but to-date, it has not used the ETF wrapper to deliver its own strategies. Deborah Fuhr, founder of ETFGI and former head of investment strategies at Morgan Stanley, previously said the firm was within touching distance of launching Europe's first ETFs in the year 2000. If Morgan Stanley had entered the ETF industry when I was still working therewhen they were thinking about it back in 2000with a family of real ETFs, we would have been the largest manager of ETFs in Europe, Fuhr told ETF Stream. We had a set of ETFs ready to go, a marketing campaign and regional products, which would have launched in the first round. We even had these little cardboard single-use cameras to give away, with instant exposure in a single clip as a campaign tag. Global ETF Platform in the Works However, a number of UCITS ETFs have come to market via the firms FundLogic platformpart of MSIM but distinct from its in-house productsincluding six smart beta ETFs, which closed last year, and a recently launched covered call strategy issued by Montrose, a subsidiary of Swedish financial services group Carnegie. The Montrose Global Monthly Dividend MSCI World UCITS ETF (MONTDIV) is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and Morgan Stanley serves as a market maker for the product, ETF Stream understands. A second Montrose ETF is expected to launch via the FundLogic platform as early as this month. SABINE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) An early morning traffic stop by Many Police Department resulted in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining alleged illegal immigrants working in the parish. According to the Many Police Department, nine immigrants who were working in Sabine Parish have been detained. Trumps mass deportation costs US billions; separating millions of families Many Police posted via social media at 6 p.m. on Wednesday that Three had been deported multiple times. None had valid paperwork. ICE Agents from Alexandria responded to a request for assistance in identification of the workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chief Cheryl Wooley said that during the traffic stop, only one person had a license; however, the license was suspended. Officers contacted ICE to process the drivers information, and the other passengers. (Many Police Department) The post had 112 shares and 243 reactions at the time of publication, but Chief Wooley stated the post was removed due to toxic comments being made online. She also mentioned that the individuals were traveling to Natchitoches, and that ICE likely took them to Alexandria for additional processing. When asked about the possibility of futured raids, Chief Wooley said there were no plans and that this was just an isolated incident. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained more than 43,759 people as of last week, leading to concerns over a lack of detention space. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said ICE doesnt have enough detention beds. There are not enough detention beds because President Trump is serious, Capito said. Homeland Security data shows that the average migrant arrested by ICE spends about 50 days in custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration has detained migrants in federal prisons and military bases, including Guantanamo Bay. Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas.) criticized the use of Guantanamo Bay. Im appalled by Guantanamo Bay. These are immigrants. Theyre not terrorists, Gonzalez said. You dont take those people and put them in a detention center where you normally house terrorists. Court filings this week revealed that 40 migrants were temporarily housed at Guantanamo Bay, but a defense official said that number has since dropped to zero. Congress recently passed the Laken Riley Act, necessitating the creation of 110,000 new detention beds, though Congress hasnt passed funding to make that happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were answering the presidents call for more ICE detention beds, Moore Capito said. Congress has allocated nearly $500 million for additional detention beds as part of a bill to keep the government funded. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Two months into President Donald Trumps second term, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot say how many undocumented immigrants it has arrested in southern Nevada. The president campaigned on sweeping immigration reform, including mass deportations of people living in the country illegally. Since the presidents inauguration, illegal border crossings have plummeted to their lowest levels in decades, statistics showed. Over the administrations first 50 days, ICE arrested nearly 33,000 undocumented immigrants, including 75% accused of or convicted of a crime, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. However, the department could not provide a specific number of arrests in southern Nevada when asked Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An ICE data dashboard shows the number of arrests through last September, which includes more than 15,000 arrests in several western states during the four years of the Biden administration. Federal court records the 8 News Now Investigators have reviewed since Jan. 20 show a handful of cases involving illegal immigration. However, no press release on the departments website about illegal immigration posted since Jan. 20 involves a person in Nevada or Las Vegas. Since Jan. 20, ICE has significantly increased its immigration enforcement activities with additional support from other federal law enforcement and DOD partners, a spokesperson said. In an effort to keep the American people informed about the results of our efforts with only the most accurate information, ICE is compiling and validating the data and is working toward publishing our enforcement statistics on a monthly basis. In one case filed in January, federal officials in Las Vegas arrested a man deported 14 times following his release from prison on sex charges. The arrest happened during the final days of the Biden administration though the criminal proceedings began under Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In another case, ICE arrested a man in southern Nevada described as a political refugee. Metro and Henderson police will alert ICE to a person in their jail facilities accused of certain crimes. Before Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act in late January, Metros policy was to alert ICE if an inmate was in custody for violent felonies, DUI, and domestic violence-related crimes, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. Metro updated its policy to add theft, larceny, shoplifting and assaulting a police officer to the list to align with the new federal law. Officials at ICE did not say how many of the nearly 33,000 ended up deported. The nearly 33,000 arrests during the first two months of the Trump administration amount to nearly all the arrests in 2024, the department said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McMahill and leaders at Henderson police previously told 8 News Now their departments would not help federal law enforcement in any immigration roundups. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. 27,523 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others? 27,523 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others? Idaho Gov. Brad Little gives his annual State of the State address on Jan. 6, 2025, on the House floor at the Statehouse in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Idaho will become the only state to fatally shoot death row inmates as its main execution method. Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday morning signed into law House Bill 37, which will make the firing squad the primary death penalty in Idaho. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both chambers of the Idaho Legislature widely approved the bill this year, with only three Republican state lawmakers joining all 15 Democratic lawmakers to oppose it. The Senate passed the bill on a 28-7 vote last week, a month after the House passed it on a 58-11 vote. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026. Nine people are on death row in Idaho, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. Only five states allow firing squads for executions. But the firing squad isnt the primary death penalty method in any of those states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 2023, Idaho has allowed firing squads as a backup execution method, behind lethal injection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill directs the Idaho Department of Correction director to develop firing squad procedures. Rep. Bruce D. Skaug, R, Nampa, at the Idaho Capitol on April 6, 2021. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) The bill was cosponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa; Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg; and over a dozen other House Republican lawmakers. Skaug has told lawmakers Idahos firing squad execution method would be mechanized. Idaho Department of Correction spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic told the Sun in February the agency is considering using a remote-operated weapons system alongside traditional firing squad methods. But the agency had not finalized its policies and procedures, she said. She told the Sun on Wednesday the agency didnt have updates to share on its method of carrying out firing squad executions. But the final policies and procedures will be publicly available, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Supporters of the bill say firing squad is humane execution method Supporters of the bill say the firing squad is a humane execution method. Using firing squads as the main execution method, supporters say, would avoid Idahos issues obtaining lethal injection chemicals and dealing with decades of legal appeals that have delayed executions. At first when you hear firing squad, if youre not familiar with the history, you think well that sounds barbaric is what Ive heard from some, Skaug told a House committee in February. It is certain. It is quick. And it brings justice for the victims and their families in a more expeditious manner than other types. In 2024, Idaho canceled its last scheduled execution attempt of death row inmate Thomas Creech after officials said they failed to establish an IV line to administer lethal injection chemicals, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some Idaho lawmakers recited a 2017 remark in a dissent from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, widely regarded as a liberal justice, who cast executions by firing squads as more humane. Idaho state Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, talks with a colleague before legislative action begins on the Senate floor on Jan. 7, 2025, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) In addition to being near instant, death by shooting may also be comparatively painless, Sotomayor wrote, according to the Associated Press. Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, a combat veteran and retired police officer, was the only Idaho Senate Republican to vote against the bill. The claims that its instantaneous. Well, yes sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. And if youve ever seen that, I think you would change your mind on how youre about to vote, he told Idaho senators in debate on the bill. Firing squad was already allowed in Idaho. Bill would make lethal injection the back-up execution method. In 2023, Idaho passed a law to allow firing squads for executions. But that law only allowed firing squads as a back-up execution method when lethal injection the primary execution method in Idaho law is unavailable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the new bill signed into law, lethal injection will become Idahos backup execution method. Only five states Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Mississippi allow firing squads for execution, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In the United States, 144 executions have been carried out by firing squads, according to a 2016 law review article. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US Since the death penalty became reinstated in the 1970s, Utah is the only state to have executed people by firing squad, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Utah has executed three prisoners by firing squad since 1977, with the most recent firing squad execution in 2010, the Associated Press reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But last week, Brad Sigmon became the first inmate in South Carolina executed by firing squad the first person executed by firing squad in the U.S. since 2010, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported. Sigmon requested he be killed by firing squad over concerns about whether lethal injection is truly a painless death, his attorney say. Renovating Idahos execution chamber to allow for firing squads will likely cost more than the $750,000 lawmakers previously appropriated, lawmakers say. But Skaug has said any extra funds would come from money already in the Department of Correction budget. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) An Illinois legislator has introduced a bill that allows an offender who attacks a police officer to claim a legal defense if they say they were suffering a mental health episode. House Bill 3458, introduced by Rep. Lisa Davis (D) would provide a defense to aggravated battery when the individual battered is a peace officer and the officer responded to an incident in which the officer interacted with a person whom a reasonable officer could believe was having a mental health episode and the person with whom the officer interacted has a documented mental illness and acted abruptly. Under current Illinois law, a person can be charged with aggravated battery if they attack a police officer, fireman, security officer, correctional officer, or Department of Human Services employee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Let me be clear: Excusing bad and violent behavior under the guise of mental health is totally inappropriate, said Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park), a former police officer. This idea puts officers at greater risk, dismisses the seriousness of mental health, and makes law enforcements job even tougher. Time and time again, we see Democrats claim they support law enforcement, while their policies tell a different story, said Cabello. Instead of giving police the tools they need to fight crime, they push laws that make their jobs harder and put criminals first. The bill has been referred to the Rules Committee for consideration. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) A new proposal in Springfield would change how Illinois funds its roads, by charging drivers by the mile instead of a gas tax. The proposal, filed by Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and Sen. Christopher Belt (D-East St. Louis), calls for starting a pilot program to study the effectiveness of charging drivers by the mile, something the state is considering due to the prevalence of more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles on Ilinois roadways. Since fuel-efficient cars use less gasoline, fewer tax dollars will be available for road infrastructure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Electric vehicle owners currently pay a $100 premium on their annual license plate sticker renewal, to offset losses to Illinois Motor Fuel Tax. Participants in the program would report their mileage to the Illinois Department of Transportation under the pilot program, either via a transponder on their car or by sending a photo of their odometer to IDOT. Oregon and Utah have already implemented similar programs, and five other states, including Pennsylvania and California, are considering it. Illinois residents currently pay the second-highest gas tax in the country besides California, at 66 cents per gallon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Progress on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam is once again at a stalemate, and several local lawmakers are calling on state officials in Illinois to help end delays for the project. Funding agreement finally reached for $1.1 billion invasive carp project The House Great Lakes Task Force issued a statement to that effect earlier this week. The task force is comprised of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Ypsilanti, and Bill Huizenga, R-Holland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Co-Chairs of the Great Lakes Task Force, we urge the state of Illinois to promptly sign the necessary documents and end further delays in the critical ecosystem protection construction at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, the statement reads. This project is essential to prevent the spread of invasive carp throughout the Great Lakes. Failing to do so puts the future of the Great Lakes ecosystem and the multi-trillion-dollar economy it supports at serious risk. The renovations at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam would prevent invasive carp from making their way from the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan. The project has been studied and discussed for more than a decade. Illinois, Michigan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally signed a financial agreement last July after years of negotiations. However, officials in Illinois have once again pressed pause over concerns that President Donald Trump will scale back federal funding. Beyond Brandon Road: Monitoring 18 other points invasive carp could enter Great Lakes Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told The Detroit News that the governor agrees this project is critical to the Great Lakes, but says he is concerned with the White Houses recent trend of slashing federal funding. Invasive carp are unloaded at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky., on Feb. 11, 2020. (AP file) Pritzker claims the White House has withheld $117 million in federal grants from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, forcing it to freeze contracts and put nearly 70 other projects on hold. Until then, Gov. Pritzker must protect Illinois taxpayers from burdening the liability of the federal government not following through on their promises, the spokesperson said. We cannot move forward until the Trump administration provides more certainty and clarity on whether they will follow the law and deliver infrastructure funds we were promised. First construction contract awarded on long-awaited $1.1 billion invasive carp project Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The project is expected to cost $1.14 billion. The USACE says it is expected to be responsible for $900 million of that, $274 million of which has already been appropriated. Michigan had agreed to contribute $64 million in funding and Illinois would provide $50 million. As costly as the project may be, the threat of invasive carp could cost even more. Invasive carp formerly known as Asian carp and also called copi are considered a major threat to the Great Lakes because they could upend the natural ecosystem. They are voracious eaters and would devour the food sources for several popular Great Lakes fish, including walleye and rainbow trout, key players in the regions fishing industry. Invasive carp were used as a tool in the 1970s, controlling algae, weed and parasite growth on aquatic farms. But the fish eventually made their way into the Mississippi River basin and now dominate that ecosystem. Illinois DNR announces new name for invasive carp Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked with environmental agencies for years to monitor the fish in the Mississippi River basin and ensure they dont make it to the Great Lakes. The two systems only have one permanent connection point the Chicago-Area Waterway System. There are already tools in place at upstream from the Brandon Road site to target invasive carp, including a federally-funded electric barrier at Romeoville, Illinois, that costs $15 million each year. *Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the location and funding source for the electric barrier in Romeoville and the USACEs total anticipated contribution to the Brandon Road project. We regret the errors, which have been fixed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Illinois lawmakers are making a push to combat fentanyl use in the state. Senate Republicans filed two bills, Senate Bill 1283 and Senate Bill 113, to reclassify a fentanyl overdose as a poisoning and to consider major fentanyl possessors a threat to public safety. Both bills have bipartisan support. A 2024 report from the Centers for Disease Control found fentanyl related overdoses in Illinois dropped for the first time since 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Greek lender Piraeus Bank has agreed to purchase a 90.01% stake in the parent company of compatriot Ethniki Insurance from CVC Capital Partners Fund VII (CVC). The deal, valued at 600m in cash, is contingent upon regulatory clearance. Last month, the bank entered exclusive talks with CVC. Ethniki Insurance holds a market share of approximately 14.5%, with more than 800m in gross written premiums registered in 2024. The acquisition is projected to diversify Piraeus Bank's revenue streams and complement its product suite spanning banking, protection and investment solutions. Piraeus Bank estimates the transaction will boost its earnings per share by 5% and increase its return over average tangible book value by one percentage point. Its proforma total capital position is expected to reach approximately 18.5% for 2025, with expectations it will grow to around 19.5% by 2027 and 20% by 2028. The bank also anticipates maintaining a comfortable Pillar 2 Guidance buffer and sustaining a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 13% or higher during this period. In pursuit of financial conglomerate status, Piraeus Bank intends to apply for the prudential treatment of its participation in Ethniki Insurance's share capital under CRR article 49, known as the Danish compromise. If finalised, this could further enhance the bank's CET1 ratio by 50 basis points. As of 2023, Ethniki Insurance reported total assets of 4bn and shareholders equity of 400m. In the same year, the company logged an adjusted profit before tax of approximately 100m. UBS Europe is the financial advisor to Piraeus Bank for the deal, with Milliman providing actuarial advice. Legal and competition counsel is being provided by Milbank, Moratis Passas Law Firm and Potamitis Vekris Law Firm. In 2022, CVC acquired a 90.01% stake in Ethniki Insurance from the National Bank of Greece. "Piraeus Bank seals deal to buy 90.01% Ethniki Insurance stake " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand. The Chicago metropolitan area and Cook County both saw slight increases in population according to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, as international immigration outpaced domestic departures in many big cities nationwide. The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area grew by 70,762 people less than 1% from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024. That was the ninth-largest numeric growth of any metropolitan area in the country. But the population of the metropolitan area was still lower than it was five years earlier because of declines during the COVID pandemic. The metro areas population stood at 9,408,576 in 2024, down from 9,454,363 in 2020. Cook County gained around 40,000 people between 2023 and 2024, or 0.8%, but its population remained 1.8% below its 2020 level. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration, said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureaus Population Division. While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas. More than 51,000 immigrants have come to Chicago since 2022, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants north to the city. The city has spent more than $600 million on housing and other services for the arrivals, prompting complaints from some residents who wanted to see the resources address chronic community problems. Cook County remained the second largest county in the union behind Los Angeles County, with just under 5.2 million people. The collar counties also saw modest growth between 2023 and 2024. DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will each gained slightly less than 1%. Fast-growing Kendall County gained 2.1%, and 8.6% since 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Statewide, the population has dropped 0.9% since 2020, driven mainly by losses of 2% to 5% in a number of western and southern counties. Champaign County was an exception, with a significant immigrant community that has helped drive an increase of nearly 6,000 people, or 2.9%, since 2020. The U.S. population grew by nearly 1% between 2023 and 2024, the fastest growth since 2001. That too was primarily due to immigration, which reached record highs in 2023, but has fallen to the lowest levels in 25 years amid a border crackdown and deportations ordered this year by President Donald Trump. Most of the fastest-growing counties in the country were in the South and West, continuing a long-term trend. Harris County in Texas, Miami-Dade County in Florida and Maricopa County in Arizona had the largest growth. Shelby County in Tennessee and the city of St. Louis, Missouri, lost the most people, at more than 3,000 each. The fastest-growing metro areas by percentage increase in the 2023-24 window were Ocala, Florida; Panama City, Florida; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Immigration is a big influence, but probably not the only factor at work, cautioned Christine Percheski, Northwestern University associate professor of sociology, and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. The domestic birth rate, which had been in long decline and dropped lower during COVID-19, increased slightly in 2024, both nationally and in Illinois, according to provisional numbers, Percheski said. Death rates also decreased from COVID highs, statistics showed. Historically, Chicago has really benefited from the talents and energy of immigrants coming to the city, but there have been times when there have been strains on resources if there arent ways for people to obtain legal employment and housing, she said. So there certainly are some challenges now, but Id hate to use too broad a brush to talk about immigrants as a whole. An asylum-seeker from Cuba, along with her young daughter, watches the sun rise while waiting to be being taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2021 in Yuma, Ariz. Immigration drove population growth in many booming Sun Belt counties and the agricultural Midwest, new U.S. Census Bureau estimates show. (John Moore/Getty Images) Immigration was the biggest factor in population growth for many booming Sun Belt counties as well as for the agricultural Midwest, according to a Stateline analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau county estimates. The analysis shows the significant impact immigration had between mid-2020 and mid-2024 in fast-growing states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas, as well as how it boosted growth or minimized population loss across the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The surge of newcomers to the United States was the primary driver in population changes for 38% of counties nationwide and for most counties in states across a large swath of the Midwest: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota. Immigration also was the largest growth factor in most counties in Louisiana and Massachusetts. In Iowa, immigration more than doubled population growth in the two counties that surround the state capital of Des Moines and Iowa City. Local advocates are planning to bolster services for new arrivals. The census estimates, to be released Thursday, March 13, are the first at the county level to use a new method that tries to count asylum-seekers and other immigrants based on government data on green cards, visas, international students, refugee admissions and border releases. Eric Jensen, a senior research scientist for the Census Bureau, said the new immigration estimates will be tweaked next year to better account for where asylum-seekers and refugees may have eventually settled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Texas, where Houstons Harris County saw the nations largest population growth, the immigration of more than 260,000 people accounted for the bulk of the roughly 278,000-person increase. The rest came largely from births. The new numbers have helped clarify how much of the states growth has come from immigration, said Texas state Demographer Lloyd Potter. Weve been saying for a while now, where are all these people coming over the border? Theyre not showing up in census data, Potter said. Floridas Miami-Dade County, home of Miami, had the states largest population growth since 2020. But the county would have shrunk without the immigration of almost 321,000 people to offset more than 205,000 people who moved away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Florida has complained for many years that new immigration was not reflected accurately enough in population estimates, said Richard Doty, a research demographer for the states Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. From a Florida perspective, the big news is the dramatic increase in their population estimates driven entirely by the Census Bureaus revised estimates of [immigration], Doty said. The change increased Florida and U S. population estimates not just for the current year but also for all years since 2020, he said. Immigration was the largest factor for five of the nations top 10 growth counties, which included Arizonas Maricopa County, home of Phoenix; Nevadas Clark County, home of Las Vegas; and Floridas Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located. Newcomers from around the country were the biggest factor in the other top 10 counties, including Collin, Denton, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties in Texas, as well as Floridas Polk County, south of Orlando. Those Texas counties are fast-growing exurbs of Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston with a lot of new housing developments, Potter said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That creates its own kind of issues. People are moving in, bringing a couple of cars, and theyre going to need retail and a whole range of infrastructure and transportation, Potter said. Nationwide, 278 counties in 42 states and the District of Columbia would have shrunk in population were it not for immigration. They include: Floridas Orange and Broward counties along with Miami-Dade; Washington states King County, where Seattle is located; Dallas County in Texas; Middlesex County in Massachusetts, near Boston; Ohios Franklin County, which includes Columbus; Salt Lake County in Utah; Middlesex County, New Jersey; and Sacramento County, California. Immigration also helped stem population losses in many counties that ended up shrinking anyway: Los Angeles County in California lost more than 260,000 people since 2020, but the losses would have been much larger without about 257,000 new immigrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Louisianas Jefferson Parish, in the New Orleans metro area, lost almost 14,000 people since 2020, but the loss would have been more than double if not for 16,000 new immigrants. Public schools there have been plagued by absences amid fears of immigration raids under the Trump administrations plans for mass deportation, according to press accounts. Immigration also minimized population loss in 958 counties in 47 states, including: Chicagos Cook County, Illinois; four New York City boroughs; Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; suburban Prince Georges County in Maryland; Detroits Wayne County, Michigan. Polk County, Iowa, which includes Des Moines, saw most of its growth of almost 24,000 people from new immigration. The county plans a welcoming center for immigrants in Des Moines, called Global Neighbors, but the county also has been roiled by mostly false rumors of immigration raids. Mak Suceska, who will direct operations for the center, is a refugee from Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia who arrived in the United States in 1993. At an event this week in Iowa City, he described the planned $4 million center as a space for refugees and immigrants to call home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iowa City in Johnson County, another area where immigration more than doubled population growth since 2020, is also interested in more immigrant services, said Peter Gerlach, executive director of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, speaking at the March 12 event. Its really important to learn from each other, from like-minded communities, about how we can support and create welcoming communities, Gerlach said, especially given the ways in which our refugees and immigrants are being targeted. Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE An asylum-seeker from Cuba, along with her young daughter, watches the sun rise while waiting to be being taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2021 in Yuma, Ariz. Immigration drove population growth in many booming Sun Belt counties and the agricultural Midwest, new U.S. Census Bureau estimates show. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) Immigration was the biggest factor in population growth for many booming Sun Belt counties as well as for the agricultural Midwest, according to a Stateline analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau county estimates. The analysis shows the significant impact immigration had between mid-2020 and mid-2024 in fast-growing states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas, as well as how it boosted growth or minimized population loss across the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The surge of newcomers to the United States was the primary driver in population changes for 38% of counties nationwide and for most counties in states across a large swath of the Midwest: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota. Immigration also was the largest growth factor in most counties in Louisiana and Massachusetts. In Iowa, immigration more than doubled population growth in the two counties that surround the state capital of Des Moines and Iowa City. Local advocates are planning to bolster services for new arrivals. The census estimates, to be released Thursday, March 13, are the first at the county level to use a new method that tries to count asylum-seekers and other immigrants based on government data on green cards, visas, international students, refugee admissions and border releases. Eric Jensen, a senior research scientist for the Census Bureau, said the new immigration estimates will be tweaked next year to better account for where asylum-seekers and refugees may have eventually settled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Texas, where Houstons Harris County saw the nations largest population growth, the immigration of more than 260,000 people accounted for the bulk of the roughly 278,000-person increase. The rest came largely from births. The new numbers have helped clarify how much of the states growth has come from immigration, said Texas state Demographer Lloyd Potter. Weve been saying for a while now, where are all these people coming over the border? Theyre not showing up in census data, Potter said. Floridas Miami-Dade County, home of Miami, had the states largest population growth since 2020. But the county would have shrunk without the immigration of almost 321,000 people to offset more than 205,000 people who moved away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Florida has complained for many years that new immigration was not reflected accurately enough in population estimates, said Richard Doty, a research demographer for the states Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. From a Florida perspective, the big news is the dramatic increase in their population estimates driven entirely by the Census Bureaus revised estimates of [immigration], Doty said. The change increased Florida and U S. population estimates not just for the current year but also for all years since 2020, he said. Immigration was the largest factor for five of the nations top 10 growth counties, which included Arizonas Maricopa County, home of Phoenix; Nevadas Clark County, home of Las Vegas; and Floridas Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located. Newcomers from around the country were the biggest factor in the other top 10 counties, including Collin, Denton, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties in Texas, as well as Floridas Polk County, south of Orlando. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those Texas counties are fast-growing exurbs of Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston with a lot of new housing developments, Potter said. That creates its own kind of issues. People are moving in, bringing a couple of cars, and theyre going to need retail and a whole range of infrastructure and transportation, Potter said. Nationwide, 278 counties in 42 states and the District of Columbia would have shrunk in population were it not for immigration. They include: Floridas Orange and Broward counties along with Miami-Dade; Washington states King County, where Seattle is located; Dallas County in Texas; Middlesex County in Massachusetts, near Boston; Ohios Franklin County, which includes Columbus; Salt Lake County in Utah; Middlesex County, New Jersey; and Sacramento County, California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Immigration also helped stem population losses in many counties that ended up shrinking anyway: Los Angeles County in California lost more than 260,000 people since 2020, but the losses would have been much larger without about 257,000 new immigrants. Louisianas Jefferson Parish, in the New Orleans metro area, lost almost 14,000 people since 2020, but the loss would have been more than double if not for 16,000 new immigrants. Public schools there have been plagued by absences amid fears of immigration raids under the Trump administrations plans for mass deportation, according to press accounts. Immigration also minimized population loss in 958 counties in 47 states, including: Chicagos Cook County, Illinois; four New York City boroughs; Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; suburban Prince Georges County in Maryland; Detroits Wayne County, Michigan. Polk County, Iowa, which includes Des Moines, saw most of its growth of almost 24,000 people from new immigration. The county plans a welcoming center for immigrants in Des Moines, called Global Neighbors, but the county also has been roiled by mostly false rumors of immigration raids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mak Suceska, who will direct operations for the center, is a refugee from Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia who arrived in the United States in 1993. At an event this week in Iowa City, he described the planned $4 million center as a space for refugees and immigrants to call home. Iowa City in Johnson County, another area where immigration more than doubled population growth since 2020, is also interested in more immigrant services, said Peter Gerlach, executive director of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, speaking at the March 12 event. Its really important to learn from each other, from like-minded communities, about how we can support and create welcoming communities, Gerlach said, especially given the ways in which our refugees and immigrants are being targeted. This article was first published by Stateline, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is making a bid to stake out the progressive lane in the six-person race for the Democratic nomination for governor. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) In a political landscape where jittery Democrats are moving to the right on immigration, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is staying to the left of the issue as he seeks the Democratic nomination for governor in June. Baraka has voiced support for an immigrant rights bill before the Legislature that some of his rivals have remained quiet on, vowed to engage in a legal fight with the Trump administration to halt the opening of a new immigrant jail in Newark, and offered a full-throated defense of the rights of immigrants facing potential deportation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barakas bid to stake out the progressive lane in the six-person Democratic race for governor was on display Tuesday when he appeared at a rally with more than 150 protestors to criticize the proposed opening of Delaney Hall, a facility near Essex County jail that a private prison firm wants to turn into a 1,000-bed immigrant detention center by this summer. The mass deportation effort launched by the Trump administration is not just a problem for immigrants, Baraka said. Everybody who loves democracy and freedom and justice this is everybodys problem, he said. And the reality is, I dont know if you can find anybody who cannot trace their roots back to immigrants in this country. After the rally, Baraka said the other Democrats running for governor should have been there with him, and suggested their pro-immigrant stances are just talk. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka joins protestors in front of Delaney Hall in Newark on March 11, 202, to oppose opening the facility as an immigrant jail. (Sophie Nieto-Munoz | New Jersey Monitor) I mean, it is a competition, so maybe they feel like coming here supports me, he said. I cant speak for them, but I would love to see them out here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other Democratic candidates in the gubernatorial race havent differentiated themselves on this issue in any aggressive way, said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, who said Baraka has taken a high-risk, high-reward stance on immigration that sets him apart from the pack. While one of Barakas opponents, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, has been supportive of laws to help migrants, Baraka appears less afraid to espouse opinions on the campaign trail that may be unpopular, Rasmussen said. My guess is that voters who are motivated by this issue are going to more appreciate the bolder, throw-caution-to-the-wind strategy that Baraka is advocating, he said. Hes got something to gain, but also hes risking it at the same time. He said Barakas stark stance on immigration could excite the Democratic base as they mull who should be their standard-bearer in November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rest of the field has been very, very cautious really trying to figure out the answer around the issue or be more calculating about it, Rasmussen said. I think that Baraka has said, Nope, youve got to do whats right. Youve got to stand for what you believe in. I will handle the criticism. I will own it. Carlos Castaneda, an organizer with immigrant-rights group Movimiento Cosecha, said he feels most of the Democrats running this year to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy have remained silent or been too ambiguous on immigration. Barakas rhetoric and actions are setting the expectations for what progressive voters want to see, Castaneda said. Baraka isnt just talking about the immigrant detention center, but hes also telling his party that hes not going to remain submissive and silent like the rest of the Democratic Party is doing, Castaneda said in an interview in Spanish. Barakas rivals Besides Baraka and Fulop, the other Democrats running for governor this year are Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mikie Sherill, teachers union chief Sean Spiller, and ex-state Sen. Steve Sweeney. The primary is June 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sherrill and Spiller have both said recently that they also oppose opening Delaney Hall as an immigrant jail. Sherrill in a social media post accused Trump of treating our broken immigration system as a piggy bank for their corporate donors, while Spiller told the New Jersey Monitor in a statement from his campaign that if elected governor he would fight back against attempts by ICE to intimidate New Jerseyans and separate families. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop told voters in Montclair on Monday that state and local officials have little power to stop a proposed immigrant jail in Newark. (Reena Rose Sibayan for New Jersey Monitor) Fulop who has also argued in favor of the proposed state immigrant rights bill, called the Immigrant Trust Act told a group of voters in Montclair Monday that while he feels state officials should not be inviting towards ICE and opposes Trumps immigration policy, he suggested anyone pushing to halt the opening of Delaney Hall is not being realistic. Theres limited ability of a state and local person to do that, Fulop said. Gottheimer and Sweeney have taken a different tack. Gottheimer signed a letter last year expressing opposition to the use of Delaney Hall as an immigrant jail. But he angered some immigrant advocates with his support for the federal Laken Riley Act, a law passed in January that expanded mandatory detention for undocumented citizens, including those accused of property crimes (Gottheimer was the only New Jersey Democrat to vote in favor of the bill). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sweeney in February said that while he opposes ICE raids if agents have no search warrant, he believes undocumented immigrants who commit crimes should be deported. He also said hed withdraw the attorney generals 2018 Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials. Trump and his supporters have said these kinds of directives hamper ICEs efforts to detain and deport criminals. The New Jersey Immigrant Trust Act would codify the attorney generals directive and limit where residents can be asked about their immigration status, which supporters say is crucial if the state wants to protect immigrants who fear deportation by the Trump administration. The bill has not received enough support in the Statehouse for a committee hearing, let alone a vote. We need to codify the law and make it so nobody asks anybody about their status, asking for their papers, Baraka said Tuesday. If theyre going to get health care or going to education or catching a taxi cab, nobody should ask them anything. Rasmussen said part of the reason why Baraka is motivated by this issue could be because hes long represented marginalized voters and communities. Baraka has been mayor of Newark since 2014 and before that served on the citys council and also served as a high school principal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im not going to sit here and say politics arent part of the consideration for him, but I think that what brings him to this issue is that he represents people who he feels are being hurt by these policies every day, Rasmussen added. Eye on November One potential danger in Barakas strategy is alienating less progressive voters if he ends up winning his partys nomination in June, according to Jeanette Hoffman, a GOP political strategist. Hoffman, who said shes not working with any of the Republicans running for their own partys gubernatorial nod in June, said taking a forceful stand on immigration could make it harder for Baraka to win over voters with a more moderate stance on the issue. Hes going to face a harsh reality if he gets to the general election, because the majority of New Jerseyans support keeping our community safe and immigration reform and closing the border, she added. Id say the majority of New Jerseyans support law enforcement and not criminal migrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its common for politicians to shift one way to win their partys nomination and then creep back to the center to win in November, but Rasmussen said he doesnt think Baraka will be that kind of candidate. Authenticity is something that people have been really impressed by with his candidacy, he said. Still, some progressives are waiting to throw their support to Baraka. Castaneda said activists recognize there could be some political opportunism behind Barakas actions on the campaign trail, adding that he wants to see more proposals from the mayor besides his opposition to Delaney Hall. Hes reacting to that, but we need something more proactive. What are the proposals hes putting on the table for the working immigrant community, which is one that receives the least funding or has been historically excluded? Castaneda said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE "Everyone is Welcome" is not a coded phrase for a select group. It's a straightforward declaration of inclusion, writes guest columnist Christina Bruce-Bennion. (Getty Images) The recent story of a West Ada School District teacher being required to remove a classroom poster that simply states Everyone is Welcome because it was deemed not content neutral, should give us all pause. At first glance, this might seem like a minor incident in a single classroom, but its implications are far-reaching. Everyone means everyone. It is a foundational principle of education that every student who enters a classroom should feel welcome because without that sense of belonging, meaningful learning cannot happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everyone is Welcome is not a coded phrase for a select group. It is a straightforward declaration of inclusion. If such a message is now considered unacceptable in our schools, we must ask: What is the alternative? History provides troubling answers. Our past is filled with exclusionary signs: Whites Only, No Japanese, Chinese Not Allowed, Muslim Ban, Men Only, No Catholics Permitted, Jews Out, and so many more. These words did not just reflect discrimination they helped to enforce and normalize it. Today, we have an opportunity to choose differently. Most faith traditions teach love and hospitality, and most families teach their children to be kind and play with all kids. Now is the time to lean into those values, not turn away from them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the Wassmuth Center, we teach about the Spiral of Injustice, a framework for understanding how communities can descend into discrimination and violence. The spiral begins with language because language shapes what we see as acceptable. Words either foster belonging and peace or lay the groundwork for avoidance, exclusion and harm. If we affirm that Everyone is Welcome, we set a standard: All students, employees, and community members deserve to feel seen, heard and safe. If we reject that message, we risk normalizing its opposite. Our democracy, though imperfect, has moved sometimes slowly, sometimes painfully toward greater inclusion. The idea that Everyone is Welcome remains aspirational, but it is one worth protecting, reinforcing and striving for in every space, including our classrooms. At the Wassmuth Center, we are committed to fostering communities where all belong. Join us in this work learn more and get involved at www.wassmuthcenter.org. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX An American flag flies behind a metal fence and barbed wire at Alabama's Holman Correctional Facility. (Brian Lyman) Indianas second-in-command has pushed prison authorities to ignore a court order compelling them to provide a transgender inmate with a transition-related surgery but legislative leaders on Thursday disagreed. Last week, a U.S. District Court Judge Judge Richard L. Young extended a September preliminary injunction blocking a state law prohibiting public spending on gender-affirming surgery for transgender inmates. He again ordered the Indiana Department of Correction to secure surgery for inmate Autumn Cordellione. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, was defiant online Wednesday. GOP Lt. Gen. Micah Beckwith, the states top official besides Gov. Mike Braun, went further. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency, Beckwith wrote Wednesday, needs to ignore this ruling. He went on to add that Taxpayer funds SHOULD NEVER be used to pay for a Dept of Corrections inmate to receive a sex change! The court got it wrong! I strongly urge the DOC to ignore this egregious ruling and to do what is RIGHT. Legislative leaders opposed the ruling but said the agency shouldnt go that far. House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, told reporters Thursday that hes not a fan of the opinion and disagree(s) wholeheartedly with it. But, he continued, I have every confidence that Attorney General Rokita will fight vigorously to overturn that decision. I think thats the most appropriate way. I dont think that we should just randomly ignore court orders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, also took a measured approach. I would hesitate to say that anybody should ignore a court case or a judges ruling, he told reporters. As a lawyer, I dont do that. I dont advise my clients to do that. The case still can still be appealed to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, or ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court. Cordellione has been serving a 55-year murder sentence since 2002, after she was convicted of lethally strangling her infant stepdaughter. She is currently being held at the all-male Branchville Correctional Facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2020, and was prescribed a female hormone and a testosterone blocker. Court documents have chronicled Cordelliones history of self-harm and suicide attempts, including attempts to remove her genitals. Now, she seeks an orchiectomy to remove the testes and a vaginoplasty to construct a vagina. Not providing such necessary medical care to address a serious medical need could be a violation of Cordelliones Eighth Amendment right protecting her from cruel or unusual punishment. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX There's an easy way to tell that Indiana lawmakers aren't serious about forcing term limits on members of Congress: They're not talking about doing it to themselves. The House is taking up Senate Joint Resolution 21, which seeks a convention to incorporate congressional term limits into the U.S. Constitution. Republicans are leading the charge, with some support from Democrats. Many high-profile Indiana Republicans, including Gov. Mike Braun and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, are outspoken proponents of term limits. It's unlikely to happen. Constitutional conventions are onerous by design. It takes two-thirds of states (34) to trigger a convention, which is why we haven't had one since the 1700s. Indiana is one of about a dozen states agitating for what's called an Article V convention, which isn't nearly enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Briggs: Hogsett could win a fourth term as Indy mayor. He shouldn't try. You know what would be easier? Enacting term limits for members of the Indiana General Assembly. It'd also make sense, because they're the ones saying they love term limits. Right now, Indiana House members serve two-year terms and Senate members serve four-year terms. Most Indiana legislators occupy safe seats and can win reelection forever if they want to. Why not root out the career politicians in our midst? They have the power to do it. Republicans hold supermajorities in the House and Senate. They could pass legislation to try and limit their own terms or, better yet, take a more ironclad approach and amend the state constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That's a heavy lift, too, but Indiana just finalized a constitutional amendment last year to alter the governor's line of succession. It can be done, and Republicans could start the process of term limiting themselves right now if they want to. Lawmakers gather inside the House chamber Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, for the 124th meeting of the Indiana General Assembly at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Spoiler: They don't want to. Support for term limits is, ironically, a rhetorical tool in the career politician's toolbox. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found 87% of adults support term limits for members of Congress. That's why you hear so much about it. Calling for congressional term limits offers politicians the rare combination of taking an extremely popular position on an issue that almost certainly can't go anywhere. It's a cost-free pander from people who plan to serve many, many terms in office before they retire including some who no doubt have their eyes on serving in Congress, where they can keep attacking career politicians. I wrote about this topic last year and made the case for career politicians. Research has found that state legislatures with term limits experience "high turnover and relative inexperience creates a steep learning curve for committee chairs and members, who are often less knowledgeable than their predecessors," which "can result in increased influence by staff, bureaucrats and lobbyists." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, term-limited politicians just run for other offices. It's good to have experienced, knowledgeable elected officials who understand how government works. Indiana's term limit advocates no doubt agree. That's why they're going to keep running for office. Contact James Briggs at 317-444-4732 or james.briggs@indystar.com. Follow him on X and Bluesky at @JamesEBriggs. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Constitutional amendment for term limits? Start in Indiana. | Opinion (Reuters) -The world's biggest iron ore producer Rio Tinto will raise $9 billion in U.S. investment-grade bonds as it seeks to fund its recently-closed buyout of Arcadium Lithium, the miner said on Wednesday. Rio is offering the fixed and floating rate debt in eight tranches with terms varying from two years to 40 years. The Anglo-Australian mining giant last week completed its $6.7 billion acquisition of the U.S.-based Arcadium Lithium, as it looks to diversify away from iron ore towards critical minerals and battery metals such as lithium. The miner intends to use proceeds from the bond offer for general corporate purposes, including repaying a bridge loan that it had incurred to fund its buyout of Arcadium. The bond offer was reported by Bloomberg News late on Tuesday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Rio had dropped plans to raise as much as $5 billion in a share sale following pushback from investors. (Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao and Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona) (Bloomberg) -- An Indonesian official declined to comment on news reports that President Prabowo Subianto is preparing another cabinet reshuffle that may include Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, saying only it was his right to do so if he chooses. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We dont have any response to that but just to remind, its the prerogative right of the president, spokesperson for the Presidential Communications Office, Philips J. Vermonte, told reporters during a briefing on Thursday when asked about the rumors. Speculation has been mounting across social media platforms in recent days amid local news reports the ex-general is planning his second cabinet shake-up in just five months since taking office. In February, he dismissed his minister for higher education. Indrawati declined to comment on Wednesday evening after she was asked by local media whether she would step down from her post. She held a one-on-one meeting with Prabowo at the Jakarta palace the same day, an event the Cabinet Secretariat described as a casual gathering on its social media account. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2025 Bloomberg L.P. A U.S. influencer has drawn criticism in Australia, including from the countrys prime minister, for filming herself snatching a baby wombat from its mother. Sam Jones, a self-described outdoor enthusiast from the U.S. with more than 91,000 followers on Instagram, posted a now-deleted video in which she can be seen taking a baby wombat from the side of an unidentified road and running toward a car as its mother chases after her. A man be heard laughing as the scene unfolds. Jones eventually released the distressed baby wombat, which hissed and screeched while in her arms, back onto the road, the video shows. But it was unclear whether the animal reunited with its mother. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jones action sparked outrage across Australia, especially among conservationists, with some calling for her deportation over her treatment of the wombat, an animal native to Australia that is legally protected in the country. They are gentle, lovely creatures, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters. To take a baby wombat from its mother and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage. I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals, he continued. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. More than 18,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that Jones be immediately deported and barred from returning to Australia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Messing with Australias beloved wildlife is not a joke, it says. Wombats, which have large, blunt heads with small eyes and muscular necks, can grow to about 50 inches in length and weigh up to nearly 80 pounds, eating grass and roots of shrubs and trees. It is an offense to harm a wombat without a license from the authorities, according to the Australian government. The Wombat Protection Society of Australia expressed shock and concern over the incident, stressing that the way Jones released the baby wombat put it at risk of becoming roadkill. A baby of this size is highly dependent on its mother, and prolonged separation could have fatal consequences, it said in a Facebook post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Suzanne Milthorpe, head of campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, said Jones appalling behavior might be illegal and called for maximum penalties if she is found to have broken the law. This is quite simply cruelty for the sake of cheap content, Milthorpe told the Australian program 10 News First. Jones said she carefully held the wombat for a minute in total before releasing it back to its mother, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed, she wrote in a comment under her now-deleted Instagram post. I dont ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so, said Jones, who made her Instagram account private after the backlash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said authorities were reviewing Jones visa and determining whether she breached immigration law. Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, he said in a statement. I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, he added. I dont expect she will return. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) If you receive an emergency alert on your phone or hear tornado sirens next Wednesday afternoon, Ingham County Emergency Management wants you to know it is just a test. Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties will send out a test cellphone alert next Wednesday at 12:59 p.m., just ahead of the voluntary statewide tornado drill at 1:00 p.m., to make sure the system is functioning properly. According to Ingham County Emergency Mangement, the message will read: TEST TEST TEST: This is a TEST of your phones Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties and the City of Lansing are sending this TEST as part of Michigans Severe Weather Awareness Week. You may also hear the outdoor warning (tornado) sirens activate as part of the Statewide Voluntary Tornado Drill. THIS IS ONLY A TEST! You can sign up for Ingham County alerts for free at this link. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ingham County Emergency Management encourages you to at least consider where you would shelter if a tornado was actually comingand potentially go to that safe place during the drill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News. A proposed California bill could increase pay for inmate firefighters housed in county jails and state prisons. Assembly Bill 247, if approved, would require jail inmates assigned to work active fire scenes to be paid $19 hourly. The bill also calls for the wage rate to be updated annually. According to the Los Angeles Times, over 1,100 California inmates helped battle the Palisades and Eaton fires. Currently, inmates working side-by-side with firefighters on the front lines earn $5.80 to $10.24 daily. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pro-Trump California sheriff weighs-in on new opponent in the governors race Everybody who helped save Los Angeles deserves our gratitude and to be compensated fairly for their life-saving work, Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan (D-Los Angeles), who introduced the bill, said on Instagram. Kim Kardashian is among the advocates who have called for higher pay for inmate firefighters on the front lines of wildfires. However, not everyone is on board with a potential pay raise. The California State Sheriffs Association opposes the bill, saying it could create significant fiscal pressure on counties that are required to pay the higher wage, according to the Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Individuals incarcerated in state prisons or county jails who fight fires can earn sentence reductions, receiving one or two days of credit for each day spent working or training. Newsom administration moves to extend emergency restrictions on hemp products with THC They participate in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations Conservation Fire Camps Program, which provides training and employment opportunities. Currently, 35 fire camps operate across the state. The bill passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee with bipartisan support. Its now headed to the Assemblys Appropriations Committee for consideration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. President Trumps threat to back a primary challenger against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is just the latest boiling point in their hot-and-cold relationship and the Kentuckian is brushing off the attacks. Its temporary, the Kentuckian told me after Trump threatened to end his political career over Massies no vote on a six-month continuing resolution, backed by the president, that would keep the government open through September. Massie was the only House Republican to vote against the legislation, which he argued does not set up Congress to make lasting cuts to government spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The libertarian congressman sees Trumps public attacks as a tactic to keep other people in line. The House GOP, after all, has a razor-thin majority and almost no room for error. Probably somebody had a strategy that said, We cant let any more horses out of the barn, so lets whack Massie and then the other horses will stay in the barn,' Massie said. Because nobody expected that to change me, right? What am I gonna say? Oh, I was so misguided for the last 12 years. I misdirected all of my efforts into fiscal conservatism. Massies no vote was hardly a surprise to Trump or other Republicans in Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Massie is often the sole GOP lawmaker voting against various measures. He was also the lone GOP vote against a budget resolution framework for Trumps ambitious legislative agenda. His problem on that measure was that it didnt cut spending enough. A number of Republicans are privately furious that Trump is trying to make an example out of Massie when they saw him as simply standing on principle. I think its a bunch of noise and distraction, one member told me of the threats, shaking their head when I asked if Trumps tactics would be effective in scaring Republicans from defecting. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who also has libertarian streak, said he was shocked by Trumps primary threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They have a love-hate relationship. I mean, the reality is a lot of the same people love them both, Davidson said. I think Donald Trump doesnt like not getting his way. Massie, though, said he thinks he and Trump can easily patch things up. After all, theyve had a lot of fights before and have generally made up. Lets just look at the last several years: March 2020: Massie tried to force a roll call vote on the CARES Act coronavirus stimulus bill. That forced lawmakers to scramble to get back to Washington to avoid a delay in passing the legislation. Trump was furious. He called Massie three times; Massie let it go to voicemail. Finally, Massie took Trumps call in the Speakers lobby. The president publicly called for Massie to be thrown out of the Republican Party. June 2020 : Massie easily defeated a 2020 primary challenger in Todd McMurtry , who initially drew support from then-House GOP conference Chair Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and other national-security focused Republicans, but lost that support after past racist social media material came to light. Trump and Massie did not speak for more than two years, until August 2022: Trump apparently having forgiven Massie endorsed the Kentucky congressman ahead of his primary, calling him a first-rate Defender of the Constitution. April 2023: Things soured again when Massie endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the presidential primary. March 2024: Massie blasted Trump for ridiculous bullying tactics after the presidential nominee called for a primary challenger to Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), who had also endorsed DeSantis but promptly endorsed Trump after the Florida governor ended his presidential campaign. October 2024: Massie gave his full endorsement to Trump in the days leading into the election, noting that he committed to freeing Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht (a promise Trump made good on in January). November 2024: Massie said he is ready and willing to accept a role concerning agriculture in President-elect Trumps administration, but shot down rumors he would be Agriculture secretary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Massie told me that things had been good with Trump in recent months: My last three phone calls with him have been great. That last call came about two weeks after the election. While Massie has long been known to make major unpopular moves due to his convictions, it is impossible to see his latest beef with Trump without thinking of the major shock to his personal life: His wife of 31 years and high school sweetheart died suddenly last year. If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now, Massie told The Wall Street Journal a few months ago. Massie had also won some public support from other conservatives at a time when few want to say anything negative about Trump. Commentator Matt Walsh, for instance, called the notion of ousting Massie asinine, adding he is by far and away one of our best congressmen. Further reading: Trump wants to end this GOP mavericks political career. Hes not too worried , via Ben Jacobs at Politico. Im Emily Brooks, House reporter at The Hill, here with a weekly look at the wider right-wing ecosystem, influences and debates in Washington, D.C. Let me know what youre about to launch, what is on your calendar, and who is making moves: ebrooks@thehill.com THE START OF A SHIFT ON ISRAEL AID? A new Heritage Foundation report released Wednesday is proposing that the U.S. wind down military aid to Israel as part of a strategy to re-orient its relationship with the country over the next two decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You read that right. That proposal comes from the Heritage Foundation. Its a notable stance for the prominent conservative think tank given the long and deep support for Israel among conservatives and Republicans. And release of the report was accompanied by some drama: Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter canceled a scheduled appearance at a Heritage Foundation event scheduled to promote the new report, as first reported by Jewish Insider. A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy said it greatly values its working relationship and friendship with the Heritage Foundation, attributing the cancellation to a miscommunication regarding the format for the event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And a Heritage spokesperson fired back at the Jewish Insider story in a statement to me: The report set to be unveiled at the event was grossly misrepresented as a hostile attempt to chop aid, by people who prefer to see Israel weak, vulnerable, and forever dependent on the United States. Heritage stands by its work as the report underscores the urgent need to strengthen and elevate bilateral ties between the U.S. and Israel. READ MORE: My colleague Laura Kelly and I wrote about the Heritage report here . ON MY CALENDAR NEXT WEEK: Breitbart News is hosting a policy event next Wednesday with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, partnering with CGCN and the ALFA Institute (the organization launched by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy). THREE MORE THINGS Citizens for Sanity, a nonprofit advocacy group with ties to the Stephen Miller-founded America First Legal, has a new digital ad campaign praising the bureaucracy-slashing efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Im told the digital ad buy is in the high five-figure range. Context: Elon Musk reportedly gave the group $50 million ahead of the 2022 midterms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One ad lists a number of the vilified programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) like DEI in Serbia, contrasting the funding totals with those allocated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for North Carolina flood recovery efforts. Another one spoofs greatest hit album ads while listing USAID grants. They both end with the tagline: Stop the insanity. Support DOGE. Steve Bannon was the latest guest on California Gov. Gavin Newsoms new podcast. Rather than sparring or getting deep, the brisk conversation was largely just Bannon sharing his perspective on news of the day and the Trump agenda, as he does on War Room. The governor found some common ground with Bannon on taxing corporations and said he appreciates the MAGA leader for sharing his perspective which, after listening to his first three podcasts, seems to be his favorite phrase when talking to ideological opponents. Write-up in NYT Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, the daughter-in-law of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a former CIA officer and now, the associate director for intelligence and international affairs at the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump administration. Trump wanted the now-CIA skeptic to serve as the agencys deputy director, but GOP lawmakers intervened. Philip Wegmann profiles AFK at RealClearPolitics . Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think: ebrooks@thehill.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Muslims around the world and right here in our region are observing the holy month of Ramadan and Wednesdaythe local Muslim community hosted a special interfaith iftar. The Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts opened its doors Wednesday night to people of all faiths in a powerful display of unity. Iftar is the meal that breaks the fast during this holy month, and Wednesday evening was about more than just breaking bread. The sound of the evening prayer means the days fast comes to an end, and with it begins the breaking of bread. But this particular iftar is special. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mohammad Dastigir told 22News, Now more than ever, when it feels like the world is burning around us, it is important that these kind of gatherings continue to happen as frequently as possible. This interfaith iftar is held each Ramadan in an annual tradition to bring together people of all different backgrounds to sit side by side and take part in this sacred act. Rev. Jason Seymour adds, We join you in reflection, in praying for peace and justice. Nearby and around the world, and in renewing our sense of mutual belonging. Faith leaders emphasizing the need for interfaith dialogue to build bridges, especially as the world feels more divided than ever. Regardless of the differences we might have, because that is the compassion that we see on our fasting, states Rabbi Jeremy Master. We see that compassion in god. As the conversations flowed and plates filled, the meaning of the interfaith iftar is clearFaith has the power to unite us all. This interfaith iftar is part of the many events happening locally in observation of Ramadan. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. An investigation into the death of a soldier at Fort Campbell is underway, as confirmed by base officials. Fort Campbell officials confirmed that Spc. Stephen Akinlotan, 21, of Dumfries, Virginia, died on Monday, March 10 in the base's garrison area. The incident and cause of death are under investigation by the 101st Airborne Division. Fort Campbell soldier Spc. Stephen Akinlotan. Akinlotan joined the Army in July 2021 and completed training at Fort Benning, Georgia, before arriving at Fort Campbell in January 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was an assigned to 3rd Mobile Brigade, Rakkasans, 101st Airborne Division Air Assault, said Fort Campbell director of Public Affairs LTC Marty Meiners. During his assignment, he completed a rotation in Estonia with then 3rd Brigade Combat Team. His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Air Assault Badge. "The death of Spc. Akinlotan is a tragic moment for every RAKKASAN Soldier past and present, and my heart aches for this young Soldiers family and friends," said Col. Rick Turner, commander, 3rd Mobile Brigade. "Stephen was a caring and beloved soldier who proudly served his nation at home and overseas. Our hearts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fellow soldiers in this difficult time." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turner said that Fort Campbell is committed to providing support, counseling and services, including chaplains, mental health and medical professionals to those affected by the death of Akinlotan. Kenya Anderson is a reporter for The Leaf-Chronicle. She can be contacted at kanderson@gannett.com or on X at kenyaanderson32. Sign up for the Leaf-Chronicle to support local journalism at www.theleafchronicle.com. This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Investigation of Fort Campbell soldier death underway, officials confirm An investigation is underway after one person has died after a house fire in New Hampshire early Thursday morning, state and local officials said. At 2:25 a.m. Thursday, firefighters responded to a report of a fire at a single-family home on Main Street in Rumney, State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said in a joint statement with Rumney Fire Chief Evan Hacker and Rumney Police Chief Gregory Patten. When initial crews arrived, firefighters saw widespread flames and tried to search the home but were pushed back by deteriorating conditions, Toomey said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Firefighters brought the fire under control hours later, at 5:09 a.m., Toomey said. No firefighters were injured. One unidentified person was found dead inside the home. An autopsy is scheduled to verify the persons identity and confirm the cause and manner of death, Toomey said. Toomeys office and the Rumney Fire Department are investigating the origin and cause of the fire. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is asked to contact the New Hampshire State Fire Marshals Office at 603-223-4289 or fmo@dos.nh.gov. Several communities responded to provide mutual aid, including Wentworth, Plymouth, Campton-Thornton, Ashland, New Hampton, Hebron, Canaan, Haverhill, Holderness, Waterville Valley, Center Harbor, Bridgewater, and Bristol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of the Rumney Police Department and Warren-Wentworth Ambulance also responded to the scene to assist. 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 FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (WKRN) An investigation has been launched after a 21-year-old soldier died at Fort Campbell earlier this week. According to a spokesperson for the 101st Airborne Division, 21-year-old Spc. Stephen Akinlotan died at Fort Campbell on Monday, March 10. Akinlotan was reportedly an Infantryman assigned to the 3rd Mobile Brigade, Rakkassans, 101st Airborne Division and was from Dumfries, Virginia. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts Spc. Stephen Akinlotan (Courtesy: 101st Airborne Division) He joined the Army in July 2021 and completed training at Fort Benning, Georgia before arriving to Fort Campbell January 2022. A commander called Akinloans death tragic, and described the 21-year-old as caring and beloved. The death of Spc. Akinlotan is a tragic moment for every RAKKASAN Soldier past and present, and my heart aches for this young Soldiers family and friends. Stephen was a caring and beloved Soldier who proudly served his nation at home and overseas. Our hearts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fellow Soldiers in this difficult time. We are fully committed to providing support, counseling, and services to anyone affected by this loss. Fort Campbell has a strong network of resources to include Chaplains, mental health, and medical professionals, and that network is actively working in support of our Soldiers Col. Rick Tuner, commander, 3rd Mobile Brigade Read todays top stories on wkrn.com A statement from the 101st Airborne Division added that Akinlotans awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Air Assault Badge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said the incident and cause of death are both under investigation. No additional details were released. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Early Thursday morning, firefighters in South Fulton worked to put out flames at a condo building that had caught fire. Channel 2 Action News took you there live as flames were doused from the ground and above. One man, who didnt want to be identified, shared photos of flames shooting from a building at the Camelot Club Condominiums on Old National Highway. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Channel 2s Bryan Mims spoke to the families who were rushed to safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fire officials said every one of the units there were either heavily damaged or destroyed. TRENDING STORIES: They said the fire started just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday night. A man who was a block away told Channel 2 Action News he could smell the smoke. I noticed there were fire trucks coming this way, he said. Crews battled the fire with a ladder truck well into daylight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Firefighters remained on the scene, looking out for hot spots. Now theyre looking for clues that could tell them what sparked the fire, while the families who live there get the help they need. Residents said neighbors were banging on doors to help each other escape the building as it burned. It was kind of intense, nobody got hurt, a neighbor said. Assistant Fire Chief Glenn Washington said about two dozen people were forced out due to the damage. It appears the fire started on the Alpha, Bravo Charlie side of the building and we began evacuations, Washington said. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie are designations used to refer to which side of a building is on fire. Typically the alpha side is the front of the building while bravo is the left, charlie is the back and delta is the right. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] By Vallari Srivastava (Reuters) -U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are poised to escalate costs for the oilfield service companies behind North America's vast energy industry, as their operations rely heavily on these metals. Steel is essential for everything from the drilling rigs and pipelines to refineries and storage tanks provided by companies such as ChampionX and Patterson-UTI that supply the equipment and services necessary for oil-and-gas producers. Any tariff hike is a potential hit to the operational and production costs of these businesses, half a dozen industry experts told Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump's increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports took effect earlier on Wednesday "with no exceptions or exemptions", escalating the global trade war. "About 14% of what we buy, it comes from countries that will be impacted by tariffs," said Patterson-UTI CEO Andy Hendricks. "If you layer on tariffs, it could affect us in the low single digits in terms of our costs going up for what we do," Peer ChampionX has also warned of equipment costs going up due to tariffs. A particular variety of steel, hot-rolled coil steel (HRC), is used to fashion oil country tubular goods (OCTG) - specialized pipes and tubes designed to endure high pressures, temperatures and corrosive environments. In 2024, the U.S. imported nearly 40% of its OCTG, according to Wood Mackenzie analyst Nathan Nemeth. By January 2025, Canada and Mexico accounted for 16% of OCTG imports, hinting at buyers stockpiling ahead of potential tariffs. Broadly, U.S. imports of steel products from Canada and Mexico in January rose more than 32% from the previous month to 1,017,644 metric tons, U.S. Census Bureau data showed. Rystad Energy expects tariffs to spike OCTG costs by 15% year-on-year. U.S. prices of HRC are estimated to ascend to $890 per short ton in 2025, marking a 15% increase from the previous year's average price, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights analyst Ali Oktay. "It's probably going to be harder for service companies in 2025 to maintain their activity levels and their pricing," said Mark Chapman, principal analyst for OFS Intelligence at Enverus. Shares of Patterson-UTI and ChampionX have dropped about 16% and 3.3%, respectively, since Trump on February 11 announced plans to hike duties on steel and metal imports. Chapman sees costs rising for Halliburton as well as firms like NOV and Tenaris, key providers of steel pipes to the petroleum industry. While Halliburton and NOV did not respond to requests for comment, Tenaris said it was monitoring the potential impact of tariffs. Terry Reams, a Mason City veteran, and his service dog, Lola, were introduced at the Iowa House of Representatives March 13, 2025 as lawmakers passed legislation on the misrepresentation of animals as service animals. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Iowa House lawmakers unanimously passed legislation Thursday changing how the crime of misrepresenting an animal as a service animal is charged. Intentional misrepresentation of an animal as a service animal or service animal in training is already a crime in Iowa, charged with a simple misdemeanor. However, there are some requirements in state law that an officer must meet before charging a person for this offense. The person must be given a written or verbal warning that misrepresenting an animal as a service animal is illegal, and the person must know that the animal in question is not actually a service animal or service animal in training. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House File 615 would strike these two provisions, allowing law enforcement to charge someone for misrepresenting an animal without having to give a prior warning and in cases where a person erroneously believed the animal in their possession was a service animal. Service animals are animals that perform specific tasks to help people with disabilities, like guide dogs, or dogs that can retrieve medication or provide seizure alerts. Emotional support animals, which do not require specific training, are not considered service animals. Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, thanked the disability community in Iowa for bringing the legislation to the forefront. He said the legislation will add clarity to better support people with legitimate service animals. Rep. Christian Hermanson, R-Mason City, introduced and thanked his constituent, Terry Reams, a veteran who came to the Iowa Statehouse Thursday with his service dog, Lola, to advocate for the measure. Hermanson said Reams came to him and Rep. Shannon Latham, R-Sheffield, to share the issues he and others face due to misrepresentation of service animals in our communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation passed by the House Thursday came from these discussions, Hermanson said, and will strengthen protections for people with legitimate service animals if enacted. I want to thank Terry and Lola for their tireless advocacy and for bringing this issue to our attention, and I want to thank this body for recognizing the important importance of the legislation passed today, Hermanson said. Terry is a relentless advocate, and Lola is, without a doubt, a very good girl. The legislation heads to the Senate, where the bills companion, Senate File 234, has already received approval by the Senate State Government Committee. Iowa State University students protested Thursday on campus for freedom of speech and the freedom of New York student activist Mahmoud Khalil. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Iowa State University students took to the campus library lawn Thursday to protest the immigration detainment of a New York student activist and to support freedom of speech, which some students say has been impeded by federal law. Binx Hilton, a freshman in the ISU College of Design, said he organized the event to call for Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalils freedom and for increased protections for international students at U.S. colleges and universities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They should have the same free speech rights as every other American, Hilton said. And we find that his sudden detainment is unlawful and unconstitutional, because he has not yet been tried, but is still being detained. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Kahlil, a lawful, permanent resident who completed his masters degree at Columbia and was involved in pro-Palestine protests on campus, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, March 8. He is currently being detained at an ICE facility in Louisiana after being moved from a detention center in New Jersey. In addition to chanting Whos next? and holding up signs saying that protest does not equal terrorism and ICE is not your weapon, Hilton also handed out information on protesters rights and what people should do if detained by police. He said President Donald Trumps comments about banning masking and deporting protesters have caused worries of more free speech violations to come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are also kind of protesting against that, to be able to have our right to free speech and still get our full and free education, Hilton said. ISU students Miranda Jackson and Mahri Vega both joined the protest after seeing it advertised on sidewalks with chalk, making signs at the event urging people to pay attention in history class and opposing censoring history. I just think its really important to show that we are opinionated and that we actually do care about these kinds of things, and were not just going to roll over and let these things happen, Vega said. Jackson said she feels like shes missing out on her history as a Black American as diversity, equity and inclusion-related curriculum and programs are being stripped away, while white students get to learn about whatever they want. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iowa State has a community full of a lot of people its diverse, Jackson said. Theres Black people, white people, international students, LGBTQ folks, and I want everybody to feel comfortable on campus its obvious that were not showing that inclusivity with whats going on in politics right now, the DEI that theyre taking away. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday summoned the envoys of Britain, France and Germany over what it called a "misuse of the U.N. Security Council to hold a closed-door meeting" over Tehran's nuclear programme, Iranian state media reported. Britain warned on Wednesday that it would trigger a return of U.N. sanctions on Iran, if needed, to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon as the Security Council met to discuss Tehran's expansion of its stock of uranium that is close to weapons grade. Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon and says its nuclear programme is peaceful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned that its production of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, has recently jumped. Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. The closed-door meeting at the U.N. was called by six of the Security Council's 15 members - the U.S., France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and Britain. The U.S. mission to the U.N. said in a statement after the Council meeting that Iran was "the only country in the world without nuclear weapons producing highly enriched uranium, for which it has no credible peaceful purpose." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to dismiss a U.S. proposal for negotiating over its nuclear programme. State-run media on Thursday quoted the foreign minister as not ruling out talks. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Aidan Lewis) Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency is shaking up the Internal Revenue Service, running into resistance from career staff as it seeks sensitive taxpayer information. The IRSs top lawyer, William Paul, was removed from his position Thursday despite only having the job for two months. Its part of DOGEs plans to cut nearly 20 percent of the tax agencys staff despite income taxes being due in less than a month. The acting IRS commissioner was told by DOGE to eliminate 18,141 jobs from the agency by May 15, according to The Washington Post. The largest cuts would come from the tax compliance department, which would lose 8,260 jobs, followed by taxpayer services with 3,247 cuts, followed by information technology. This would only be the first level of cuts, with DOGE signaling even more terminations to come. None of this would help with processing tax returns, but the Trump administration has other concerns: getting the addresses of undocumented immigrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Homeland Security wants the IRS to hand over the addresses of about 700,000 undocumented immigrants, which career employees believe is illegal. Along with Pauls departure, DOGEs ongoing purge of the federal workforce has left longtime IRS employees worried. One IRS veteran who had worked at the agency for decades, Doug ODonnell, left the agency last month. Musk and DOGE hope to use IRS records in their goal to go after fraud in spending on federal benefits, hoping to check those benefits against tax records. The agencys staff is concerned about legal protections against the use of such sensitive information, joining their counterparts in other agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. These moves could damage an important government agency, but that may be by design. Conservatives have long opposed the IRS, and Trump has claimed that his tariffs could supplant income tax revenue with his new External Revenue Service. It remains to be seen how the government will function with a severely weakened IRS. IRVINE, Ky. (FOX 56) An Irvine mom was charged in early March after allegedly strangling her toddler. According to an arrest citation, 23-year-old Amelia Thomas was seen on video putting her hand over her childs nose and mouth for roughly seven seconds. A DSS employee reportedly received the video and reported it to authorities. Kentucky State Police said Thomas admitted in an interview that she was tired and could not get her child to lay down or go to sleep. Thomas also claimed she was trying to keep the one-year-old child quiet for her sister. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court documents noted that Thomas also told police she knew what she did was wrong and gave a full confession. Investigators believe the toddler could have died or been injured, and the child was taken into protective custody, according to the citation. Read more of the latest Kentucky news Amelia Thomas, 23. (Madison County Detention Center) Arrest records show that Thomas was booked into the Madison County Detention Center on March 4 and was charged with first-degree strangulation (domestic violence-related). Shes being held on a $25,000 cash bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. Israel has been accused of genocidal attacks on Gazas reproductive centres, prompting a furious row with the UN. A UN special commission of inquiry report concluded the Jewish state had intentionally attacked and destroyed the enclaves main fertility centre, IVF clinic and other maternity facilities. It added that Israel blocked aid deliveries that included medication for ensuring safe pregnancies and neonatal care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The document also criticised what it called a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorise them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination. Both the Israeli government and civil groups have strongly rejected the findings. Babies in the newborn and intensive care unit of a Gaza City hospital, above and below, are suffering from a shortage of incubators because Israel has blocked vital supplies, it is claimed - Khalil Ramzi Alkahlut/Anadolu via Getty Images A staff member looks after a baby in a Gaza City hospital incubator Benjamin Netanyahu called the UN Human Rights Council, the organisation behind the report, an anti-Semitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting and irrelevant body. And the Israeli foreign ministry said the report was one of the worst cases of blood libel ever seen. Womens groups took particular aim at what they said appeared to be an attempt to draw a false comparison between Israel and Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is now extensively acknowledged that Hamas committed widespread sexual violence, including rape, during its massacre on Oct 7 2023, but the UN took weeks to acknowledge this. False historical narrative Cochav Elkayam-Levy, who heads the Civil Commission on Oct 7 Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, said: Sadly, this pattern has repeated itself across various UN bodies since Oct 7. This moral comparison is painful and wrong because its purpose is to establish false historical narratives, and inflicts irreparable harm both on the victims and on justice. The release of the report was accompanied by two days of public hearings in Geneva, during which testimony from alleged victims and witnesses of sexual violence was heard, as well as that of medical personnel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report criticised what it called the siege of Gaza since Oct 7, which had prevented the provision of necessary medication and equipment to ensure safe pregnancies, deliveries and postpartum and neonatal care. The Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City lies in ruins - Haitham Imad/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock It also found that the Israel Defence Forces had systematically destroyed sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities across Gaza. This, the authors said, violated the Palestinians right to self-determination. Israel says its offensive in Gaza is intended to wipe out Hamas as an effective terrorist group after it committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The extent to which Israel has allowed in humanitarian aid during the conflict has been a consistent source of controversy. It has denied targeting medical facilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report also focused on specific forms of gender-based violence, including in the West Bank. It described forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape as well as sexual assault, as part of the Israeli security forces standard operating procedures towards the Palestinians. The report also referred to violence to genitals, as well as a culture of impunity with regards to sexual and gender-based crimes committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank with the aim of instilling fear. Commission head is former ICC judge Navi Pillay, the chairman of the commission, is a South African jurist who formerly sat as a judge on the International Criminal Court, which currently has an arrest warrant out for Mr Nentanyahu. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said: The evidence collected by the commission reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence. There is no escape from the conclusion that Israel has employed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorise them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination. Hagit Peer, the president of Israeli womens rights group Naamat, said the outrageous report attempts to turn the victim into the aggressor. She accused international groups that campaign against sexual violence of ignoring Israeli and Jewish victims. This report reeks of blatant anti-Semitism. There is an effort here to create an alternative and inverted reality regarding the sexual massacre carried out by Hamas against Israeli women and men, while international institutions remain deafeningly silent, she added. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Israel carried out an airstrike on the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, targeting what the military said was a command centre belonging to Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Syria's state news agency said three civilians had been hurt, including a woman who was in critical condition, and that the building was at the edge of Damascus. A nine-second video released by the Israeli military, purportedly showing the airstrike, captured what appeared to be an explosion at the edge of a building followed by thick plumes of smoke. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The military said the command centre was used to plan and direct "terrorist activities" by Islamic Jihad against Israel. Islamic Jihad spokesperson Muhammad al-Haj Musa denied the targeted building was a command centre, writing on Telegram that it was an empty house. Two Syrian security sources, without providing details, told Reuters that the target was a Palestinian. (Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Khalil Ashawi, Alexander Cornwell, Tala Ramadan and Yomna Ehab, Editing by Bernadette Baum and Timothy Heritage) JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in its neighbour Syria over the past few weeks, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, in a further sign of backing for the minority group. Israel has been urging support for the Druze following the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December and his replacement by the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Following Assad's ouster, Israel carried out extensive airstrikes on Syrian military bases and moved forces into a U.N.-monitored demilitarised zone within Syria, in what it has said was a defensive and indefinite measure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In an operation conducted over the past few weeks, 10,000 packages of humanitarian aid were thus far delivered to the Druze community in the battle areas of Syria," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. The packages included basic goods including oil, flour, salt and sugar, and were mostly delivered to the southern province of Suwayda, the ministry added. Israel has expressed deep mistrust of the new Syrian government, describing Ahmed al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement as a jihadist group. HTS was affiliated with Al Qaeda but later renounced the connection. Four sources told Reuters last month Israel was lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralised, including by letting Russia keep its military bases there to counter Turkey's growing influence in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Europe must play a part in protecting Syria's minorities. It must remain watchful of Turkey's policies in the region and beyond," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a press conference alongside his Greek and Cypriote counterparts in Athens. This week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Syrian Druze would be allowed to enter and work in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war. A group of around 100 senior figures from Syria's Druze are expected to visit there on Friday. The Druze, an Arab minority present in Syria, Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Lebanon, practise a faith that originated in Islam but which has a distinct identity. In Israel, many Druze serve in the military, including in the war in Gaza, and some have reached senior ranks. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Andrew Heavens) By Ali Sawafta and Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh JULIS, Israel (Reuters) - The head of the Druze community in Israel on Thursday hailed plans for the first visit by a Druze religious delegation from Syria in five decades, despite escalating cross-border tensions underscored by an Israeli airstrike on Damascus. The Druze, an Arab minority who practise a religion originally derived from Islam, live in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, occupying a distinctive position in the region's mosaic of faiths and cultures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif said the visit by around 100 Syrian Druze religious elders on Friday would be the first to Israel in some 50 years, when a group came in the immediate aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel, Syria and Egypt. "All the Druze sect considers tomorrow an historic, festive day after a decades-long absence," he told Reuters at his home in Julis in northern Israel. The religious elders, mostly from a string of Druze villages on the slope of Mount Hermon in Syria, are expected to visit shrines including sites held to be the tomb of prophet Shuayb, west of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee. Friday's visit, which has not been officially confirmed, offers a further sign of Israel's efforts to show its support for Syria's Druze minority even as its suspicion of the new Islamist government in Damascus becomes increasingly evident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said this week that Druze workers from Syria would be allowed into Israel, in a move that would offer a limited opening in the border for the first time since before the Syrian civil war. Israel has also sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in Syria. TENSIONS WITH DAMASCUS Underlining the tensions with Damascus, Israeli jets struck targets in the Syrian capital on Thursday that the Israeli military described as a command centre for the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad movement. Israeli ministers have expressed deep mistrust of the new Syrian government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, describing his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement as a jihadist group. The group was formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda but later renounced any link. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel has moved troops into a number of positions in Syrian territory and warned that it would not accept Syrian troops south of Damascus. Following increased sectarian violence in Syria, Israel has even said it would be willing to defend the Druze communities in that country if they were attacked. However Tarif said he did not believe it would be necessary for Israel to intervene to defend the Druze in Syria. "The members of the Druze sect in Syria are Syrians and they are proud and I do not believe there is any need for protection," he said. Tarif said he hoped the new Syrian government would bring in minorities including Druze, Christians, Kurds, Bedouins, Yazidis and Alawites, "so that Syria will be for all its people and inhabitants". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is what we hope and wish for, we pray to God daily to achieve peace and to see the signs of peace over Lebanon, Syria, Israel, the whole region and the whole world," he said. (Additional reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Gareth Jones) Summary: Popular Direct Bank launched in 2016 as the online-only division of Popular Bank. The companys roots date back to 1893 with the founding of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR). Popular Direct accounts are FDIC-insured, with insurance applying to assets there and at Popular Bank. Popular Direct Bank product overview Popular Direct Bank offers two main products: savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). Heres a brief look at each product type and the features they provide. Popular Direct high-yield savings account This account offers a competitive yield on all savings balances. However, to open an account, you must deposit a minimum of $100. This shouldnt be a big hurdle for most customers, though many high-yield savings accounts dont have a minimum deposit requirement. Popular Direct operates exclusively online, so you must open a high-yield savings account on the banks website and link an external account to fund the new account. The banks policy will only allow you to transfer from that account for the first 70 days the account is open. Popular Direct CDs CDs are available in terms of three months to five years and require a minimum opening deposit of $10,000. Many customers will find this minimum too high and look at CDs at other banks. However, those with enough cash to meet the minimum may appreciate Popular Directs strong CD yields. Read more: These 8 banks offer CDs with no minimum deposit requirement This embedded content is not available in your region. Popular Direct Bank fees Popular Direct charges minimal fees, but there are some instances when you may be subject to fees as a customer. Popular Direct Bank pros and cons Consider these pros and cons before opening an account with Popular Direct Bank: Pros: Competitive yields on deposit accounts: Popular Direct offers competitive yields on savings and CDs, with every account earning 4% APY or higher. Traditional savings accounts and CDs typically have much lower yields. No monthly fees: Neither its savings accounts nor CDs charge monthly maintenance fees. There are no caveats, such as requiring a certain balance to avoid monthly fees. Variety of CD terms: Eight different CD terms are available, ranging from three months to five years. This allows you to open a CD that matches your financial goals. Cons: No checking accounts: Popular Direct Bank doesnt offer a checking account, requiring you to link an external account and fund your accounts with ACH transfers. High minimum deposit requirement for CDs: Both the savings accounts and CDs have minimum opening deposits. While the $100 minimum for savings isnt unreasonable, the CDs require at least $10,000, which will be too high for many customers. No physical branches: Online banks often have no physical branches, and Popular Direct Bank is no exception. This may be a drawback for those who prefer banking in person. Customer service and mobile banking experience For help with any concerns about your Popular Direct accounts, you can contact the bank via phone Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. ET and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. The contact number is 1-800-274-5696. Customer service is not available on Federal Reserve Bank holidays. Popular Direct Bank has an app on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile app has basic features like the the ability to check balances, deposit mobile checks, and see recent transactions. However, the app is poorly rated on both platforms, with a 1.4 on the App Store and a 1.3 on Google Play. Users say the app has limited functionality and mention various technical issues, such as trouble logging in and being forced to log in through a browser. Popular Direct Bank address and phone number The mailing address for Popular Direct Bank is: Popular Bank Attn: Popular Direct Products P.O. Box 4884 Miami Lakes, FL 33014 If you prefer to contact the banks customer care center via phone, the general contact number is 1-800-274-5696. Customer care is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. ET and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. Popular Direct FAQs Is Popular Direct Bank FDIC-insured? Yes. Popular Direct is a division of Popular Bank, an FDIC-insured financial institution. For the purposes of FDIC insurance, coverage applies to the sum of the assets you have within both Popular Bank and Popular Direct. What is Popular Direct Banks routing number? Popular Directs routing number is 113007835. Is Popular Direct a trustworthy bank? Yes, Popular Direct is a reputable online bank and FDIC-insured through its parent bank. The standard deposit insurance coverage limit is $250,000 per depositor, per institution, per ownership category. Is Popular Direct the same as Popular Bank? Popular Direct Bank is the online branch of Popular Bank. The banks roots date back to 1893 with the founding of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. How do you withdraw money from Popular Direct? You can withdraw money from your Popular Direct savings account by initiating a transfer of funds to a linked external account within online banking. If you must transfer funds within the first 70 days, you can only transfer funds to the external account you provided during the account opening process or by calling the Popular Direct Customer Care Center. How long has Popular Direct been in business? Popular Direct Bank was launched in 2016. However, it is the online-only division of Popular Bank, which has roots that date back to 1893. BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pay an official visit to Hungary in the next few weeks, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday, in defiance of an international arrest warrant for the Israeli leader. Orban invited Netanyahu to visit Hungary last November, saying he would guarantee that an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, issued a day earlier over Israel's alleged war crimes abuses in Gaza, would "not be observed". "According to current plans will arrive before Easter. Once the date of the visit is confirmed, we will, of course, announce it, taking into account the extremely important security considerations in this case," Gergely Gulyas told a news conference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Easter Sunday falls on April 20 this year. Several other European nations have said Netanyahu would be detained if he set foot on their soil. All European Union member states, including Hungary, are members of the ICC, which means they are required to enforce its warrants. Orban, a right-wing nationalist, has often been at odds with the EU over democratic standards and human rights in Hungary. The ICC issued arrest warrants on November 21, 2024 for Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as for Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hamas-led militants carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The raid triggered an Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The fighting in Gaza has been paused since January 19 under the first phase of a truce. Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. (Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Gareth Jones) ROME (Reuters) - Italy has installed Starlink antennas in four embassies around the world to test their functionality, but has not signed a national security contract with Elon Musk's company, a minister said on Thursday. Italy's right-wing administration is aiming to guarantee encrypted communications between the government, diplomats and defence officials operating in risky areas and Musk's Starlink is among the contenders to provide the system. But talks between the government and Starlink have sparked outrage among opposition politicians who question the wisdom of handing a national security contract to a foreign businessman and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Some experiments with Starlink satellite systems were started at diplomatic offices in Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Iran, which were therefore equipped with Starlink antennas, although none are active to date," Minister for parliamentary relations Luca Ciriani told the Senate. "The procedure is that the antennas are activated only to test their functioning and are then suspended with the aim of reactivating them only when necessary," Ciriani said. He told lawmakers the antennas would not be used to exchange classified information and were not deployed as part of a direct deal between Italy and Musk's SpaceX, of which Starlink is part, but through contracts stipulated by third companies. "There has been no entrustment of the country's critical infrastructure to Starlink," Ciriani added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starlink is a dominant force in the sector with 6,700 active satellites. Sources have told Reuters Rome is considering a five-year deal worth a total 1.5 billion euros ($1.63 billion). Rivals include the smaller Franco-British operator Eutelsat, which is also in talks with the government but manages a constellation of around 650 low earth orbit satellites. ($1 = 0.9206 euros) (Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Christina Fincher) SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) Attorney General Marty Jackley has announced the name of the individual who died in Scotland Tuesday afternoon. Heated discussion at Oldham-Ramona-Rutland meeting According to a press release from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation(DCI). 85-year-old George Verzani of Scotland has been identified as the person found deceased Tuesday afternoon in Scotland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An autopsy performed Wednesday morning indicates that the likely cause of death was exposure to sub-freezing temperatures, said Attorney General Jackley. The preliminary investigation shows no signs of foul play, and the public is not in danger. DCI reviewed videos from downtown Scotland sites that showed the deceased walking through that area early Tuesday morning. He was last seen on video in the Main Street area at 3:30 a.m. Temperatures at that time of the morning were between 25 and 30 degrees above zero. The body was discovered at about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon in an empty lot in downtown Scotland. A final autopsy report will be issued later. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. NEW YORK The unidentified woman who claimed Jay-Z raped her at a party in 2000 said a new recording released by the music moguls attorneys twisted her words, according to a report published Thursday. In the recording obtained by ABC News, the woman can be heard saying attorney Tony Buzbee kind of pushed her to include Jay-Z in her suit, which had initially only named Sean Diddy Combs. In another part of the audio, a private investigator working with Jay-Z states the rapper was at the party but didnt have anything to do with the any sexual acts towards you, to which the woman replies, Yeah. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, in court documents filed Thursday and obtained by TMZ, the woman claims, I never stated (whether once or 4 times) that Mr. Carter did not assault me, using Jay-Zs legal last name. She also disputed the statement that Buzbee pushed her to include Jay-Z in the suit an idea Buzbee similarly denied on Wednesday. As far as the suggestion that I pushed Jane Doe to bring a case against Jay-Z, that is a blatant lie that is directly contrary to all the documentary evidence, the controversial lawyer told ABC News. The woman initially hired Buzbee and filed a lawsuit claiming Jay-Z and Diddy raped her at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000, when she was just 13 years old. She later withdrew the suit, and Jay-Z has since countersued her and Buzbee for defamation. The recording and the womans response were filed in civil court in Alabama, where the woman lives. The abrupt cancellation last month of a search for a new operator of Jefferson Lab has raised questions about how it will stay open when the current operations contract ends in May and what future management will look like under the Trump administration. In February, prospective operators of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility expected to find out who among them had won a competitive contract through the US Department of Energy. It was expected to be the conclusion of a months-long procurement process, the end result of which would determine which bidder would have research access to the lab in Newport News. But thats not what happened. Instead, the Department of Energy issued a special notice: The solicitation for bids was canceled altogether. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cancellation is necessary because key elements of the solicitations statement of work and evaluation criteria do not adequately reflect or align with the priorities of the current Administration, as outlined in several Executive Orders issued by President Trump, the notice read. It did not elaborate on what specifically did not align with Trumps priorities. The Department of Energy intends to rebid the contract, but its unclear how quickly that could happen. Meanwhile, the current operators contract ends May 31. The lab is managed and operated by Jefferson Science Associates, a subsidiary of the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), through contract with the Department of Energy. SURA founded the lab, an international research center that uses high-energy electron beams to study the building blocks of matter, in 1984. The Department of Energy has not said whether it would extend SURAs contract while a solicitation for a new contract is rebid a process that could take months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both SURA and Jefferson Lab declined to comment for this article. In a statement, the Department of Energy made clear that its intention is not to close the lab, but it took issue with the existing pool of bids. Regarding the solicitation, the source selection authority did not believe that any of the bids would allow for the long-term success of Jefferson Lab, said Shannon Shea, a U.S. Department of Energy spokesperson. The current contract remains in effect. The Department will ensure the seamless continuation of operations while evaluating the best path forward, including a new solicitation process to secure strong leadership that aligns with our mission for maintaining Americas technological and scientific edge. The Department of Energy did not respond to follow-up questions about whether the current contract will be extended, whether the lab could stay open without an extension, what a new request for proposal aligned with the Trump administrations vision for the future of the lab would look like, and what sort of bids the agency is looking for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While we cannot share the details at this time, the path forward will be in the best interest of the government and the laboratory, Shea said. In 2023, then-president Joe Biden announced a recompete for the lab. That means instead of automatically renewing SURAs contract when it was up, the Department of Energy reopened the contract for competitive bidding. The cancellation of the contract solicitation caught the attention of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has long championed the lab. In a post on social media this week, Youngkin said he spoke with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and the search for a new contract was still happening. Great news! Youngkin wrote on X. The management contract will be recompeted with a new, clean (request for proposal) thats in line with the Trump Administrations vision for the future of this important institution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Youngkins spokesperson, Peter Finocchio, said there was no other information that is yet public. But with SURAs existing contract ending in less than 90 days, that gives the Department of Energy a short turnaround time to generate a new request for proposal and review bids. The last solicitation for bids kicked off a year ago and was intended to include a 90-day transition period after the winner was announced. Related Articles The Secretary of Energy has the option to extend SURAs contract, which has happened before. SURAs contract was initially awarded in 2006 and active through 2011; the contract was extended by three years and then by 12 months for a period of time not to exceed 20 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lab houses one of the most powerful microscopes in the world for studying subatomic particles, and more than 1,900 scientists use it. According to Jefferson Lab, a third of U.S. PhDs in nuclear physics are based on research carried out at the facility. It generates $217.6 million in economic activity for Hampton Roads. In 2023, the Department of Energy picked Jefferson Lab to lead a $300 million to $500 million computing and data infrastructure hub. The announcement was heralded as a major achievement by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, who traveled from across the state for the event. Sen. Mark Warner described the announcement at the time as the single biggest technology investment in Hampton Roads ever. Sen. Tim Kaine said Thursday that Jefferson Lab, research universities, local governments and chambers of commerce had worked hard to position the lab to receive the hub. We dont like the uncertainty, he said. The fact that that now at least has had kind of a question mark put next to it is not ideal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the operations contract search came to a sudden apparent end last month, it wasnt clear what that would mean for the thousands of researchers and scientists who use the lab. The lab employs around 1,000 people, but the facility has around 1,700 facility users, and 1,600 visiting scientists. William & Mary, as a longtime research collaborator with Jefferson Lab, is trying to understand the implications of this cancellation, the college posted on a webpage dedicated to answering questions about the impact of federal cuts. Were hopeful for a smooth management transition and continuity of operations. Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, kate.seltzer@virginiamedia.com TRENTON, N.J. (PIX11) When Krystal Cordero came home from an operation enduring freedom, PTSD followed her along with Military Sexual Trauma, or MST. They truly dont set you up for the violence that you see, the aftermath, the feeling of loneliness, the feeling when you transition out that you no longer have somebody to really talk to, said Cordero, an Army veteran of Totowa. I unfortunately had an officer who tried to take advantage of me. He did not succeed but nonetheless, I had to suffer the assault. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For years after coming home, she endured what many veterans have experienced: having to jump through hoops to get the prescription meds to treat their condition hoops like step therapy or needing prior authorization. Its almost like youre dangling a treat in front of them and youre saying, almost there, but not there yet, said Cordero. Were tired of chasing things. We need to be heard. Next week in Trenton, lawmakers will discuss a bill that will make it easier for patients with serious mental illnesses like PTSD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and others to get the medicine they need by requiring prescription drug coverage without prior authorization, or step therapy, a method of having patients try a less expensive drug first. Its long overdue that our policies protect access to critical prescription medications for folks suffering serious mental illnesses, and insurance companies through step therapy protocols have been blocking access to those critical, potentially lifesaving medications, said Sen. Raj Mukherji (D-NJ 32nd District), a sponsor of the bill. Its time we put an end to that practice today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State We want to make sure they receive the help that they need as immediately as we can get it to them, said Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-NJ 27th District), because loss of life is never an option. According to NAMI, the average delay between when symptoms first appear and intervention is around 11 years. You really dont want to add in another roadblock of I cant get the medication I need,' said Matt Camarda of NAMI New Jersey. It discourages the person. It breaks trust that theyre trying to build with the providers and also the family members that are probably saying, We want you to get help.' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill is set to be discussed in the Senate Budget and Appropriations meeting in Trenton on Monday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Whether its in the halls of power or out in the streets, Jewish Americans are uniting against the abduction of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and demanding the Trump administration stop its free speech crackdown under the guise of fighting antisemitism. A dozen Jewish organizations including some pro-Israel groups called Thursday for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to stop efforts to detain and deport those who are student visa holders or legal permanent residents without due process, according to a letter first obtained by HuffPost. In the past, laws and policies that limit the right to free speech have often been wielded against the Jewish community, and we are worried that we are seeing signs that they are being wielded against Muslim, Arab and other minority communities now, the letter said, particularly expressing concern for Khalil. Demonstrators with Jewish Voice for Peace protest inside Trump Tower to support Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil on March 13 in New York. Yuki Iwamura via Associated Press A green card holder himself, Khalil and his pregnant wife had just reached their university-owned apartment in New York City on Saturday when federal immigration agents took him without a warrant and sent him to a detention center in Louisiana. The Columbia University graduate was abducted for helping lead anti-war student protests last year on campus and has not been charged with a crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump is dressing up his assault on free speech and due process as if it was about fighting antisemitism. That is a lie, New Jewish Narrative President Hadar Susskind told HuffPost. Trump is exploiting very real concerns about rising antisemitism to mask his anti-democratic agenda. As a Jew, I am offended and worried. Hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers, including rabbis and activists, demonstrated on Thursday in support of Khalil and in opposition of the Trump administration weaponizing their Jewish identity to further crush free speech. The protesters wore red shirts saying, Not in Our Name while staging a sit-in at the Trump Towers lobby. About 100 protesters were arrested in the demonstration, according to Jewish Voice for Peace. NYPD officers arrest activists from the group Jewish Voice for Peace and other allies after they staged a sit-in inside Trump Tower in New York City to demand the immediate release of Khalil. Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images Khalils abduction is further proof that we are on the brink of a full takeover by an authoritarian regime, said Jane Hirschmann, whose grandfather and uncle were kidnapped by the Nazis during the Holocaust. As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control, she continued. This moment requires all people of conscience to take bold action to resist state violence and repression. Free Mahmoud now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalils lawyers attended a hearing on Wednesday to argue for bringing the activist back to New York. The judge did not decide on whether to bring him back from Louisiana, but maintained that he not be deported until his pending habeas petition is reviewed. Jewish leaders need to ask themselves if theyre willing to allow our community to be used in this way to dismantle democratic norms, said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of Truah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. If the answer is no, their condemnation of this arrest should be loud and swift. Immigration officials said that Khalils arrest was in line with President Donald Trumps executive order that is dressed as an effort to combat antisemitism on college campuses. In reality, the order is set up so that any constitutionally protected speech and protest that isnt approved by the president will be quashed making Khalils arrest a dangerous test. We will not take lectures on antisemitism from segregationists and neo-Nazis, Columbia professor Joseph Howley, who joined Khalil during last years protests, said at Wednesdays press conference. We will not allow a white supremacist president and his party to claim the mantle of Jewish safety as they shred the Constitution and spin outlandish legal theories to justify the suppression of dissent and the brutalization of those who oppose war and apartheid. Columbia University associate professor Joseph Howley speaks after attending a hearing in Manhattan federal court addressing the deportation case of his friend and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, on Wednesday, in New York. Stefan Jeremiah via Associated Press The 2024 student protests against Israels military campaign had already faced violence, harassment and academic consequences under the Biden administration, notably so in Columbia. But under Trump, the governments crackdown is in line with a far-right Zionist blueprint called Project Esther named after the heroic queen celebrated during the Jewish holiday of Purim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But despite the far-right coopting the story, some Jewish protesters tried to reclaim it on Thursday, the start of Purim. I mean, this is a story about scapegoating a minority of people and corralling those in power to kill them, and I think thats exactly what were seeing now, JVPs Liv Kunins-Berkowitz told HuffPost. Were seeing the regime, the Trump regime, scapegoat Palestinian people and trans people, and trying to get people to turn against them. So it has been just remarkable, because this is an ancient, ancient story that I grew up with. And it feels so resonant today, she continued. So I think it feels extra meaningful to be taking this action as we prepare to observe this holiday. While the Heritage-created strategy paper markets itself as a champion against antisemitism, the contents are largely fascist, xenophobic and racist, and seek to quash any kind of dissent, including among anti-Zionists and progressive Jewish Americans whom the blueprint says it sees as complacent. Trumps executive order that led to Khalils arrest can be traced back to the project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where exactly are we in the poem that begins, When they came for the communists, I did not speak out? Howley said. Well, theyve already come for the asylum-seekers. Theyve come for the migrant families. Now, theyve come for Mahmoud Khalil. Its not a very long poem so how far down the list do you think you are? Genealogists volunteering for the Looted Books Project recently returned a volume to a 103-year-old Holocaust survivor in Florida who was given the book in 1930 as a gift for her good performance in Hebrew school. Its rare that books the Nazis stole from Jews during World War II end up with their original owners. There arent many actual Holocaust survivors alive anymore. This is really special in 2025 to be able to do this, said Karen Franklin, director of outreach at JewishGen and director of family services at the Leo Baeck Institute, both in New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JewishGen is a website for Jews and others seeking out their ancestors, similar to FamilySearch or Ancestry. It started as a bulletin board in the 1990s before the internet. The Baeck Institute is a research library and archive focused on the history of German-speaking Jews. Karen Franklin, director of outreach at JewishGen and director of family services at the Leo Baeck Institute, sits for an interview with the Deseret News at their studio on Thursday, March 6, 2025. | Rachel Aston A sacred task Franklin and Avraham Groll, vice president and executive director of JewishGen at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, were in Salt Lake City last weekend for the RootsTech family history and technology conference, which drew 20,000 participants. While in Utah, Franklin and Groll met with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Family History Museum, FamilySearch and Ancestry to share the projects theyre working on. Franklins and Grolls passion for their work was evident in the meetings. Franklin also sat down for an interview as part of the Deseret News' Yellow Couch series. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For us, doing our research is not just about finding names on a page or on a tree but really recreating a line to the past that in many cases was severed during the Holocaust, said Franklin, a world-renowned expert on German Jewish genealogy. This is for us a sacred task, and also a very satisfying and rewarding one. Attendees walk around during the final day of RootsTech 2025 held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 8, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News That sense of satisfaction and reward came through with the return of the book to the 103-year-old Holocaust survivor. The genealogist who tracked her down had her great nephew present the book to her. Up to then, she had shared little with her family about her experiences. They did not know much, Franklin said. At that moment when she received the book from her great nephew, she told the family stories that they had never heard before, that they had never known. And now she has opened up after all these years. Tikkun olam - repairing the world The Looted Books Projects started about 30 years ago in Nuremberg, Germany, where 10,000 books were found in the library of Julius Streicher, a notorious Nazi who founded and published the virulently antisemitic newspaper Der Sturmer. Nazis mostly looted the books from Jewish homes. Streicher was convicted of war crimes and hanged in 1946. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 2,000 books contained the name of the original owners and half of them were returned to their families. More recently, genealogists at JewishGen and the Baeck Institute volunteered to help search for the descendants of the book owners. Theyve managed to return more than 100 books in the past few months. Their work helps correct an injustice. When they heard about this project, I believe they were all inspired by a concept called tikkun olam to repair the world. They all wanted to repair the world in their little way," Franklin said. This is really a wonderful way to use genealogy research in really helping others. Its not just Jewish genealogists volunteering with the project. Franklin spoke last year at a conference where afterward an evangelical Christian college student asked how she could get involved. She became an intern for the project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That was so meaningful because it showed to me the universality of the desire, that its not just within our own community, but others understand respect and feel the joy in participating, Franklin said. Connecting with the past Just last month, Amos Guiora, a University of Utah law professor, received four books that belonged to his grandfather, Shlomo Natan Goldberg, who died at Auschwitz in 1944. The leather-bound volumes that contain explanations and interpretations of Jewish law found in the Talmud were embossed with his grandfathers name in Hebrew. Amos Guiora poses for a portrait with books that were taken by Nazis from his Jewish grandfather during World War II at his home in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. The books were taken from his paternal grandfather, Shlomo Natan Goldberg, when he arrived in Auschwitz, and he later died there on May 26, 1944. The books were recently returned to Guiora by an organization in Germany. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Guiora, whose Hungarian parents survived the Holocaust but never talked about it, knows little of his grandfather and has never seen his picture. Receiving a tangible link to his ancestors left him overwhelmed and speechless. Franklin doesnt have to look too far to understand how a book recipient feels because she is the recipient of one herself. Several years ago in Nuremberg she received an Alfred Lord Tennyson book in German that belonged to a cousin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a wonderful feeling, she said. But Franklin adds that receiving a book often raises as many questions as it answers. What was my ancestor like? What were her interests? How did he get this book? How did it get from my ancestors hands to Streichers library? What was its journey? Who took it? How did it get saved? The genealogists recently came across a book with an inscription written by a young boy: This prayer book is 200 years old and sometimes I think about what its journey was for the last 200 years and where will it be 100 years from now. And 100 years from now, it was returned to his son in 2025, Franklin said. In your face Why the Streicher kept books belonging to Jews isnt clear, especially considering the Nazi campaign in the 1930s to burn books that opposed Nazism and later kill all the Jews in Europe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a way, theyre spoils of war, proof of the dirty deeds that they did, Franklin said, adding there is story that the Nazis wanted to build a museum of the extinct race to show what they accomplished How ironic it is that we have these books now as testimony to their dirty deeds and to the destruction that they wrought and that we can return them now. Franklin its not only a rewarding project but an in your face to those who sought to wipe out Jewish culture and heritage. To return these books is a way of defeating those who not only tried to take away lives but also to take away history and connection, she said. So were reversing that with the ability to restore all of these things to the descendants of those who perished. When you have delinquent taxes or certain other types of debt and youre owed a tax refund, you may find that the government has taken some or all of it. The Treasury Offset Program allows the Department of the Treasury to withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits to pay a debt. Sometimes, this is referred to as an administrative offset or simply as an offset. It typically occurs when you owe money to federal or state agencies and havent made on-time payments. How the tax refund offset program works If youre behind on payments to a state or federal agency, the agency will eventually send your name to the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). The Bureau of the Fiscal Service the agency responsible for issuing tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service is authorized by Congress to reduce your refund to help satisfy the debt. What happens when your refund is offset? When you file your tax return, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) will search the TOP database to see if your taxpayer identification information shows you have outstanding debt. If theres no match, youll receive your full income tax refund. But if the database reveals that you owe money, some or all of your refund could be withheld. Youll receive a letter from the BFS that includes: The amount of the original refund How much was offset The agency that will receive the payment The contact information for that agency Offset vs. garnishment vs. seizure A refund offset is one of several consequences that could result from delinquent payments to the government. Here are some other ways the government gets back its money: Refund offset: When you file your tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Treasurys Bureau of Fiscal Service can reduce your tax refund by the amount you owe to satisfy your debt. Garnishment: The IRS can garnish your wages to satisfy a tax debt. This is also known as a wage levy. Seizure: The IRS can take the money in your bank account if youre subject to a tax levy. It can also seize and sell assets like real estate and vehicles through a tax levy or place a tax lien against such assets. Read more: Here are 7 free tax filing options 5 reasons the IRS could seize your refund Here are some common reasons the IRS could garnish your federal income tax refund: You owe federal or state taxes The IRS can seize your refund if you owe state income tax or federal taxes or if you owe non-tax money to the federal government. Note: If you cant pay your taxes and youre enrolled in an IRS payment plan, the terms of your agreement state that you wont get a refund until youve paid your bill in full. But if youre making installment payments as agreed, youll avoid more severe consequences, like a tax levy. You owe your state unemployment agency Your refund can be garnished if you owe money to your states unemployment agency. Individual taxpayers could face an offset if they received an overpayment of unemployment benefits due to fraud or failure to report income. You have delinquent student loans For tax seasons 2020 to 2023, student loan borrowers who were delinquent on payments got a reprieve from tax refund offsets. Thats because the U.S. Department of Education suspended debt collection efforts during the 37 months when all federal student loans were automatically placed in forbearance. The Education Department further delayed collections through Sept. 30, 2024, as part of a temporary on-ramp program that was called the Fresh Start Program. Now that collections have resumed, its possible that your 2024 tax refund could be offset if you have delinquent federal student loans. There are two main ways to get out of default: Rehabilitating your loan: You enter into an agreement with your loan holder and make a specified number of on-time payments. The first step in the process is contacting your loan holder. Applying for a Direct Consolidation Loan: This option lets you consolidate multiple federal loans into a single loan with one monthly payment. Online applications are currently closed due to a court injunction that stops the Education Department from implementing the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and certain income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, but you can still submit a paper application. Read more: Will I be taxed on student loan forgiveness? You owe child support State agencies work with the federal government to submit information to the U.S. Treasury about parents who are behind on child support payments. If you have unpaid child support, your information will usually be submitted to TOP if: The custodial parent receives public assistance, and you owe more than $150, OR The custodial parent doesnt receive public assistance, and you owe more than $500. Tax refunds that are offset due to unpaid child support are used to repay any money owed to a state child support agency first. Any intercepted funds left over go to the childs custodial parent. Your spouse owes money If youre married and file a joint tax return, your tax refund could be garnished due to debts your spouse owes. In this situation, you can apply for injured spouse relief through the IRS to receive your portion of the refund, provided you werent responsible for the debt. Youll need to submit IRS Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation. Who else can garnish a refund? Only the federal government can offset a tax refund, and it will only do so if you owe a state or federal government agency money. Private creditors, like credit card issuers or a bank that gave you a personal loan, cant garnish a tax refund over delinquent debt. Note that you wont have your tax refund seized for delinquent private student loans, either. Even though a creditor cant garnish your tax refund, there are other serious consequences that can occur if you dont repay debt, including negative information on your credit report. Creditors can also sue you for money you owe. This embedded content is not available in your region. Tax refund offset FAQ Will I be notified if my debt is sent to the Treasury Offset Program? Yes. A government agency must notify you in writing at least 60 days before sending the debt to TOP. The letter must include the type of debt and amount owed, the referring agency, and the steps you can take to resolve the matter, including paying the debt, entering into a payment program, or disputing the amount owed. How do I dispute an offset? To dispute an offset, contact the agency listed on the offset notice you receive. You should only contact the IRS if the refund amount on your tax return is different from the amount shown on your offset notice. Can the IRS take my refund if my spouse owes? If youre married and file a joint return, the IRS could seize your refund if your spouse owes back taxes, owes money to a government agency, or has past-due child support. If youre not responsible for the debt, you can get your half of the joint refund you were otherwise owed if you file Form 8379. How can I stop my refund from being offset? You can contact the IRS to request an Offset Bypass Refund, which gives the IRS the discretion in some circumstances to hold off on reducing your refund. Youll need to show proof that youre experiencing financial hardship. If the IRS doesnt process your request in a timely manner, you can contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). NEW YORK (AP) Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia University. The demonstrators from Jewish Voice for Peace wore red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and held up banners as they chanted Bring Mahmoud home now!" on the lower level of the Fifth Avenue building's public atrium. After warning the protesters to leave, police said they arrested 98 people who stayed on various charges, including trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who has not been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment Saturday and faces deportation. He is being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana. President Donald Trump has said Khalils arrest was the first of many to come and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the Trump Tower demonstration. Among those who took part in Thursday's protest was actor Debra Winger, who was not arrested. She accused the Trump administration of having no interest in Jewish safety and co-opting antisemitism. Im just standing up for my rights, and Im standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location," Winger told The Associated Press, referring to how Khalil's attorney didn't know his whereabouts immediately following his arrest. "Does that sound like America to you? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Founded in 1996, Jewish Voice for Peace describes itself as a grassroots movement of American Jews seeking to end U.S. support for Israels oppression of Palestinians. It is one of a number of Jewish groups around the world advocating for the rights of Palestinians. Protester Sophie Edelhart, a Barnard graduate who studies Yiddish as part of a PhD program in Canada, said the building with its golden escalator that Trump rode before announcing his 2016 presidential run was a symbolic target. Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The multi-story atrium is accessible to the public and connects visitors to eateries including the Trump Grill. Khalils supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country, including outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbia University was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests. On Thursday the school announced that it expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring. The Trump administration has said it is revoking at least $400 million in funding from programs affiliated with Columbia, including medical research grants, as punishment for not doing enough to curtail protest activity that the president considers antisemitic. Also Thursday, lawyers for Khalil and other students identified by pseudonyms filed a lawsuit seeking to block a congressional committee from obtaining the disciplinary records of students at Columbia and Barnard College, a women's institution affiliated with Columbia. Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia masters degree in December. ___ Associated Press reporters Michael Hill in Albany and Michelle L. Price, Michael R. Sisak and Joseph B. Frederick contributed. Hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers and allies staged a sit-in at Trump Tower in support of Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestine activist and recent Columbia University graduate who was kidnapped by ICE agents last Saturday night. Over 300 protesters, many of them affiliated with anti-Zionist organizing group Jewish Voice for Peace, took over the tower around 11:30 a.m. They chanted, We want justice. You say, how? Bring Mahmoud home now! and Fight Nazis, not students. About 100 protesters were arrested, according to NBC News. My grandmother lost her cousins in the Holocaust. I grew up on these stories. We know what happens when authoritarian regimes begin targeting people, begin abducting them at night, separating their families and scapegoating, JVP spokesperson Sonya Meyerson-Knox told NBC. And we know that its one step from here to losing all right to protest and then further horrors happening, as we have seen too well in our history. Were calling on everyone to speak up today because otherwise we wont be able to tomorrow. BREAKING: Hundreds of Jews and allies have taken over Trump Tower chanting We want justice, you say how. Bring Mahmoud home now! and Fight Nazis, not students. The civil disobedience is spawned by the ICE arrest of Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil. pic.twitter.com/eQLLfhrfmU Talia Jane (@taliaotg) March 13, 2025 BREAKING: Jewish Voice for Peace is leading a sit-in in the lobby of Trump tower to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil. pic.twitter.com/8ZgZkeZdIp BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 13, 2025 At least 98 people were arrested Thursday at a protest in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan that called for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil -- the pro-Palestinian activist and green card holder arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week. Protesters are facing charges of trespass and resisting arrest, according to the New York Police Department. Hundreds of Jewish protesters wearing "Not in Our Name" t-shirts staged a sit-in in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Protesters entered the lobby in two groups, including many who entered the public lobby area in civilian clothes hiding their protest gear underneath, according to police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NYPD said it is familiar with this protest group and its tactics. As in other Trump Tower incidents, police were only called to the public lobby area once Trumps security deemed it necessary The protesters carried banners in support of Khalil, who was a leader of protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University, that said "Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine" and "Fight Nazis Not Students." "As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control. This moment requires all people of conscience to take bold action to resist state violence and repression. Free Mahmoud now," Jane Hirschmann, a Jewish New Yorker whose grandfather and uncle were abducted by the Nazis during Hitler's rise to power, said in a statement. MORE: Border czar calls detained Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil a 'national security threat' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Council on American-Islamic Relations also announced it is filing a federal lawsuit on behalf of Khalil and other students against Columbia University and the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce over the committee's request to disclose thousands of student records. PHOTO: New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, March 13, 2025, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP) PHOTO: Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, March 13, 2025, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP) Khalil, who has not been charged with a crime, is currently being held in Louisiana after being detained in New York earlier this week. His wife, who is 8 months pregnant, said the couple have been preparing for the arrival of their baby. "Mahmoud has been ripped away from me for no reason at all. I am pleading with the world to continue to speak up against his unjust and horrific detention by the Trump administration," she said in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Activist Mahmoud Khalil asked Columbia University for legal support day before ICE arrest, his wife says President Donald Trump's administration has alleged that Khalil -- who was a leader of the pro-Palestinian encampment protests on Columbia's campus -- was a supporter of Hamas. Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, called his client's alleged alignment with Hamas "false and preposterous." PHOTO: Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, March 13, 2025, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP) PHOTO: Police officers detain protesters during a rally against the ICE detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, at Trump Tower in New York, March 13, 2025. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) "Setting aside the false and preposterous premise that advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights and to plead with public officials to stop an ongoing genocide constitutes alignment with Hamas, his speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they're engaged in," Azmy told ABC News on Monday. The administration has not provided any evidence showing Khalil's alleged support for the militant group. 98 protesters arrested at Trump Tower sit-in for detained activist Mahmoud Khalil originally appeared on abcnews.go.com COLLEGE PARK, Md. (DC News Now) People packed the Hotel at the University of Maryland Wednesday, not looking for a place to stay, but rather a chance at a new career. Employ Prince Georges hosted the inaugural job fair for federal workers who lost their jobs as the federal government reduced its workforce. Its amazing. Ive had people walk up to me today and say they walked in with a heavy heart and no hope, and theyre leaving with opportunity, said CEO/President Walter Simmons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DC Council considers ways to build more resilient economy amid uncertainty from federal government The job fair drew more than 2,100 people and 80 vendors from the public and private sectors. This is really great. I think its very helpful, useful and encouraging, said Richard Yirenkya, who lost his job at the U.S. Department of Transportation in February. Maryland is doing its part to help those impacted by the mass layoffs, as there are lots of jobs to be found around the state, according to Marylands secretary of labor. Her agency is doing what it can to help federal workers. We have, for example, a workshop every Wednesday morning for three hours for transitioning feds and federal contractors, helping them rewrite their resumes, understand how to prepare for maybe a big shift in career, said Portia Wu. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass announces run for county executive Christian Lake, who worked as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health, said its been like starting over for him. Its a little sad, honestly, because theres a lot of people here that just probably have been in the federal government for 15 years, and then they finally say, Im looking for a job, he said. Another federal worker job fair will take place March 15 at the Suitland Community Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A person is dead after being struck by a vehicle while running on MacDill Air Force Base on Wednesday. The incident happened at 7:16 a.m. According to a release, first aid was administered at the scene until the person was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where they later died. The name of the victim has not been released. This is an ongoing investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Viktoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian captivity, was posthumously awarded the 2024 Homo Homini Human Rights Award by the Czech human rights organization People in Need on March 12. Sevgil Musayeva, the chief editor of the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, accepted the honor on Roshchyna's behalf at a ceremony in Prague, activist Maksym Butkevych announced on social media. Roshchyna shares the award with Nigerian journalist Philip Obaji. Roshchyna received the Homo Homini award for her "courage to tell the stories of Ukrainians in the Russian-occupied territories and for her long-term journalistic work dedicated to portraying issues threatening the democratic order of Ukraine, which she did not compromise on, even at the risk of her personal safety," the executive board of People in Need said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The journalist disappeared in August 2023 while reporting in Russian-occupied territory, with Moscow admitting her detention the following year. Previously, in March 2022, Roshchyna was detained for 10 days by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers while leaving Berdiansk in the direction of Mariupol. As a condition of her release, she was forced to record a video saying Russian forces had saved her life. Ukrainian officials confirmed Roshchyna's death on Oct. 10, 2024, but said that the circumstances were still under investigation. The Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian NGO, reported in October 2024 that Roshchyna had been held in at least two notorious Russian prisons: the penal colony n. 77 in Berdiansk in occupied Ukraine and the detention center n. 2 in Russia's Taganrog. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both facilities are known for the use of torture against prisoners. Roshchyna was taken out of Taganrog detention center sometime in September 2024. According to Russia, she died on Sept. 19. Ukrainian prosecutors have classified Roshchyna's death as a war crime and murder. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Kyiv ready to fight in Kursk Oblast as long as necessary as Russia claims to retake over 86% of seized territories Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A man has been arrested after attempting to sell counterfeit merchandise at the Shane Gillis comedy show this past Saturday. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The man, 41-year-old Arthur Gaffney, was identified by undercover officers who were trying to identify counterfeit merchandise to event attendees. After a verbal argument between Gaffney and the officers, he was told that he would be trespassed and arrested if he returned to the venue, Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. He was later trespassed after standing at the outskirts of the venue calling out to officers, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the completion of the show, Gaffney was again seen attempting to sell counterfeit merchandise to attendees upon their exit. When Gaffney saw officers, he began to shout at officers. As officers attempted to take Gaffney into custody, he began to flee the scene. After further investigation, officers discovered that Gaffney has had an active warrant since December 2024 for the charge of Failure to Appear-Vendors to be Licensed out of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Over 50 counterfeit shirts were confiscated by detectives. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) A Morgan County judge has denied a request by lawyers for Mac Marquette to delay his upcoming immunity hearing in his murder case. The ruling follows Marquettes filing with the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Friday, in which his lawyers argue Circuit Judge Charles Elliott should be removed from the case. Marquette, a former Decatur police officer, is charged with murder in the September 2023 on-duty shooting death of Stephen Perkins. Perkins was killed in his front yard during a botched repossession of his truck. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marquettes immunity hearing is set for March 25. The hearing will allow Marquettes defense team to argue he acted in self-defense in killing Perkins and that the murder charge should be dropped. Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox. Court records show the defense has filed two motions for Judge Elliott to recuse himself from the case, arguing he improperly discussed whether to grant the defenses request for the immunity hearing with a friend. The defense also argues that once the first recusal motion was filed the judge reached out to one of Marquettes lawyer which they contend was improper and raises questions about whether the judge is impartial. Elliott has denied any wrongdoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The defense asked Judge Elliott on Friday to stay the immunity hearing, while the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals considers the defense motion that seeks Elliotts removal from the case. That request was denied by Elliott today. Marquettes murder trial is currently set for April 7, but that schedule could be in doubt. If the immunity hearing takes place and Marquette prevails in arguing he acted in self-defense, the murder case is over. If the appeals court takes up the recusal motion filed by the defense, that could also lead to delays, and potentially require a new judge to hear the Marquettes case. Late Thursday afternoon Marquettes lawyers filed notice with the Court of Criminal Appeals telling it the circuit court had denied the immunity hearing stay request. The filing also includes a renewed request for stay in the case. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. A federal judge has ordered that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency turn over a wide array of records and answer questions about plans it crafted to downsize federal agencies, fire employees and suspend federal contracts. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkans order Wednesday is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkans decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGEs government activities altogether. Its the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy. Chutkan indicated her order was primarily aimed at identifying the DOGE officials Musk has embedded across the government and details about the parameters of DOGEs and Musks authority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama, gave Musk and DOGE three weeks to comply with the so-called discovery requests. She turned down the states request to force sworn testimony at this stage of the case. And she emphasized that Trump himself does not have to respond to the written questions or document demands. The Trump administration has tried to resist legal discovery concerning Musks activities by describing him as a senior White House adviser. Citing executive privilege, all recent administrations have resisted efforts to force the presidents closest advisers to testify or turn over evidence in connection with court proceedings. But Chutkan found that the document requests and written questions about Musks role were narrow and would not overly burden the executive branch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spokespeople for the White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judges order. Last month, another federal judge in Washington ordered DOGE and three federal agencies to produce officials to submit to questioning under oath about the cost-cutting operations access to data at federal agencies. But that judge did not order Musk to do anything, and he let the government decide which officials will appear. On Monday, yet another judge in D.C. ruled that DOGE will have to pore through thousands of pages of documents to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request from a liberal watchdog group. A federal judge in California on Thursday ordered that the departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Treasury reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were fired last month. The departments must offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees terminated on or about February 13, U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote, referring to the date when the Office of Personnel Management held a call with department and agency heads and directed them to fire probationary employees. Alsup said the office's directive to fire all probationary employees, in a written memo and the February phone call, was not legal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Follow live politics coverage here The office had provided departments and agencies with a template to use for firing the employees that said, "The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest." It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee, and say it was based on performance, when they know good and well, thats a lie, Alsup said. The judge added that there is nothing wrong with reductions in force if its done correctly under the law." The Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, filed a notice of appeal later in the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News: "A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the Presidents agenda." "If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves. The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order," she added. Plaintiffs' attorney Danielle Leonard argued the government knew what it was doing in going after probationary employees for removal, saying: This has been the plan since the very beginning. Fire them all because they cant appeal. Alsup expressed outrage at the beginning of the hearing, which had been scheduled to go over evidence, when the administration said the Office of Personnel Management's acting director, Charles Ezell, would not testify as the judge had ordered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Youre not helping me get at the truth, Alsup said, calling the information that the government did provide press releases and a sham. It upsets me, I want you to know that, he said. The judge also ordered that any further terminations of probationary employees must be made by the departments or agencies themselves, within the regulations outlined in the Civil Service Reform Act and the Reduction in Force Act. Alsup further asked for a list of all fired probationary employees and an explanation of what the departments and agencies were doing to comply with the order. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the plaintiffs in the case, praised the ruling, saying it will "immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were illegally fired from their jobs by an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alsup had previously found that he OPM directive was "illegal" and should be rescinded which it later was but had not previously directed the agencies to reinstate the workers. The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe, to hire and fire employees within another agency, he said last month. An attorney for the Justice Department suggested then that fired employees should have their cases heard by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board instead of a federal judge. Last week, that federal civil service board found that the firing of over 5,000 probationary employees from the Department of Agriculture may have been unlawful and directed that the employees be restored to their jobs for at least 45 days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In court Thursday, a lawyer for the plaintiffs told the judge that while those employees had been restored to the agency's payroll, they had not actually been put back to work. At a hearing in a separate case involving probationary workers in Maryland, a federal judge indicated he might sign an order that would put all of the fired probationary workers back to work. U.S. District Judge James Bredar made the comments after a hearing at which a coalition of states argued that the mass firings, allegedly for cause, were actually a "reduction in force" a mass firing that requires the government to follow certain procedures. The judge seemed sympathetic to that argument, saying: This case isnt about whether or not the government can terminate people. Its about if they decide to terminate people, how they must do it. He said he would issue a written ruling on the case "promptly." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary employees fired last month from a half dozen federal agencies. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration to reinstate employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and the Department of Treasury. PHOTO: In this Feb. 21, 2002, file photo, the US Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters building is seen in Washington, D.C. (Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images, FILE) He also prohibited the Office of Personnel Management from issuing any guidance about whether employees can be terminated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Judge to consider blocking mass firings of government employees after 20 states sue Alsup, a Clinton appointee, also ordered the immediate discovery and deposition of Office of Personnel Management senior adviser Noah Peters, who is aligned with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The judge slammed the attorney representing the Justice Department for refusing to make OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell available for cross-examination and for withdrawing his sworn declaration, which the judge called a "sham." "The government, I believe, has tried to frustrate the judge's ability to get at the truth of what happened here, and then set forth sham declarations," he said. "That's not the way it works in the U.S. District Court." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the judge in a statement Thursday afternoon vowing to "immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order." "If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves. The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order," she said in a statement. Justice Department lawyers filed a notice of appeal following the ruling, signaling their plan to challenge the order to reinstate employees. Lawyers representing a group of unions and interest groups asked Alsup to immediately reinstate thousands of probationary government employees who had been terminated allegedly at the direction of Ezell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There is a mountain of evidence before the court that OPM directed it. OPM's actions were unlawful. The plaintiffs have standing, and there is an irreparable harm that is occurring every minute, and it is snowballing," Danielle Leonard, the plaintiffs' attorney, said. PHOTO: President Donald Trump attends a St. Patrick's Day event in the East Room of the White House, Mar. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images) "You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You're afraid to do so, because, you know, cross-examination would reveal the truth. This is the U.S. District Court," he said. "I tend to doubt that you're telling me the truth." If the Trump administration wants to reduce the size of the federal government, it would need to follow the process established in federal law, Alsup said. "The words that I give you today should not be taken as some kind of wild and crazy judge in San Francisco has said that the administration cannot engage in a reduction-in-force," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The reason that OPM wanted to put this 'based on performance' was, at least in my judgment, a gimmick to avoid their Reduction in Force Act because the law always allows you to fire somebody for performance," Alsup said, adding that the employees terminated for "performance" can't even get unemployment insurance. The judge also criticized the government for submitting a declaration from Ezell he believed to be false, then withdrew it and made Ezell unavailable for testimony. MORE: 21 state attorneys general sue to block Department of Education's dismantling "You withdrew his declaration rather than do that. Come on, that's a sham. It upsets me. I want you to know that I've been practicing or serving in this court for over 50 years. And I know how that we get at the truth, and you're not helping me get to add to the truth. You're giving me press releases -- sham documents," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, praised the judge's decision. "We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back," he said in a statement. While the judge originally suggested the avenue to contest the firings could be administrative, he noted that the Trump administration is attempting to "decimate" and "cannibalize" the Merit Systems Protection Board by firing its head and special counsel Hampton Dellinger. "I got misled on something that there was no jurisdiction," Alsup said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge also ordered discovery, he said, "to get it at the truth because the government is saying one thing, and you're saying another." I just want to say it is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie, Alsup said. That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements. Judge orders thousands of federal workers reinstated; slams sham government declaration originally appeared on abcnews.go.com March 13 (UPI) -- U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate tens of thousands of illegally fired federal employees across six federal agencies. He barred the Office of Personnel Management from putting out guidance on whether employees can be fired. Alsup said just before issuing his ruling, "It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that is a lie. It was a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The probationary federal workers were fired en masse at the departments of Treasury, Energy, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Interior and Agriculture. Alsup's order came in a case brought by labor unions and other groups that alleged OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell directed the mass firings. U.S. District Judge William Alsup Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate tens of thousands of illegally fired federal employees across six federal agencies. He barred the Office of Personnel Management from putting out guidance on whether employees can be fired. Photo courtesy of U.S. District Court Northern District of California The judge blasted the Trump DOJ attorney for refusing to make Ezell available for cross-examination in the lawsuit. "The government, I believe, has tried to frustrate the judge's ability to get at the truth of what happened here, and then set forth sham declarations," Judge Alsup said. Alsup told DOJ attorney Kelsey Helland they were afraid to make Ezell available because, "you know cross-examination will reveal the truth." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helland responded, "I respectfully disagree that we have submitted false evidence." He added, "Decisions on these employment actions were made by these agencies and were fully endorsed by their political leadership." American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said in a statement, "AFGE is pleased with Judge Alsup's order to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were illegally fired from their jobs by an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public." A federal judge Thursday ordered White House officials to reinstate thousands of probationary workers who were dismissed in mass firings across multiple agencies, including nearly 8,000 individuals working at the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The ruling by U.S. District Judge William Alsup called for immediate offers of reinstatement because of improper procedures ahead of the dismissals. His decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organizations opposed to federal worker cuts proposed by President Donald Trump. Despite the judicial order, if or when the dismissed federal workers will get their jobs back remains unclear. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling and has already moved to delay or refuse other judicial orders contrary to its policy priorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Workers in the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury are also covered under the ruling. At least 2,400 probationary employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs were included in the initial attempts by Trump to downsize the federal workforce. Defense Department officials announced earlier this month plans to dismiss 5,400 probationary employees from its ranks, although leaders on Thursday did not say how many have been removed so far. VA officials had promised the dismissals would not impact patient care or benefits processing efforts within the department. However, Democratic lawmakers have called the worker cuts erratic and poorly executed, with little clear analysis of the potential impact. VA secretary insists massive staff cuts needed to refocus department Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least two support staffers at the Veterans Crisis Line which handles emergency calls from suicidal veterans were included in the initial staff cuts. Although only probationary employees were included in the groups dismissed, in several cases that included senior federal workers who had switched jobs within the past year, technically giving them new employee status despite years of government employment. Trump has promised even more federal staff cuts in coming months. VA officials have confirmed they are considering returning to fiscal 2019 staffing levels, which would mandate eliminating more than 80,000 jobs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, Defense Department leaders have called the dismissals of probationary workers the first step in broader workforce cuts. Those cuts will cover 5% to 8% of the Pentagons civilian workforce, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote in a February memo. Defense News Reporter Noah Robertson and The Associated Press contributed to this story. A federal judge has ruled that tens of thousands of employees summarily fired by the Trump administration must be rehired that is if they even want to return to their jobs. On Thursday, District Court for the Northern District of California Judge William Alsup ruled that the federal government had illegally fired thousands of probationary employees across six federal agencies in a sham operation to circumvent employment laws. The reason that [the Office of Personnel Management] wanted to put this based on performance was at least in part in my judgment a gimmick to avoid the Reductions in Force Act, Alsup said in court, noting that the law always allows you to fire somebody for performance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that is a lie, he added. It was a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements. Alsup ruled that the Departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and the Treasury needed to immediately offer the terminated employees their jobs back, and to follow proper procedure and legal requirements if they wanted to conduct a major workforce reduction. The judge further criticized Trumps attorneys for attempting to stonewall the courts efforts to get at the truth. In a statement released on social media, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that a single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the Presidents agenda. If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves. The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and Elon Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that has overseen the firings, have both suggested that the courts should not be able to restrict the presidents power to do what he wants. Trump has threatened to look at judges blocking DOGEs actions, and posted on social media: He who saves his country does not violate any law. The administration is expected to attempt an appeal against Alsups ruling, but for now thousands of federal workers summarily ousted from their positions can count a win in their column. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. WASHINGTON A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate tens of thousands of fired federal employees across six agencies, calling their terminations unlawful. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that the Trump administration must immediately reinstate all of the probationary employees it fired from the departments of Defense, Treasury, Agriculture, Energy, Interior and Veterans Affairs. The mass firings of federal workers were a sham effort by the Office of Personnel Management the human resources agency of the federal government to skirt laws in order to drastically reduce the size of the federal workforce, Alsup said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He noted that he might extend his order at a later time to cover even more fired probationary employees from other federal agencies. Probationary employees are people who generally have had their current jobs for a year or less. The court finds that Office of Personnel Management did direct all agencies to terminate probationary employees with the exception of mission critical employees, Alsup said, per CNN, rejecting claims by the Justice Department that OPM was simply offering guidance to agencies to carry out firings. Everett Kelley of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, hailed the judges decision. AFGE is pleased with Judge Alsups order to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were illegally fired from their jobs by an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public, Kelley said in a statement. AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats on Capitol Hill also celebrated the news, saying essential federal workers like nuclear researchers, park rangers and VA health care experts can now get back to work. This is a win for our democracy, the rule of law, and for the American people who are better served by having these federal workers on the job, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement. While Alsups decision is a win for fired federal workers getting their jobs back, it doesnt mean theyve got them back permanently. The White House has already signaled it will appeal the ruling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the Presidents agenda, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves, she said. The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order. Beyond that, the judge made clear that his decision is based on the fact that individual agencies, not OPM, have the authority to carry out reductions in force and that there are lawful ways to do so. Federal agencies are in the process of finalizing their plans, to submit to OPM, for cutting employees, as directed by President Donald Trump. The Trump administration's mass firings of federal employees are a "sham" effort to skirt the legal requirements for drastically reducing the size of the federal workforce, ruled U.S. District Judge William Alsup. MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images Nonetheless, the judges ruling is a setback for Trump as he aggressively tries to hollow out the federal government without following laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 5,000 probationary employees who were fired from the Department of Agriculture got their jobs back last week, after a government employee oversight board found they were illegally terminated. The decision by that panel, the Merit Systems Protection Board, came after it had restored the jobs of six federal employees at other agencies who had been similarly and haphazardly fired by the Trump administration. Both of those decisions came down after Alsup ruled earlier this month that OPM had no authority to direct federal agencies to fire their employees something it had been doing for weeks and that its actions likely were illegal. That ruling led to OPM abruptly walking back its directive to agencies to fire people, and instead contorting its previous guidance to suggest it had been up to agencies all along to fire people. In several instances, the president has scrambled to rehire federal employees he had just fired not because of a court order, but because it turns out we need experts on things like nuclear weapons, bird flu and park management. Last week, more than 180 probationary employees who were fired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were reinstated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an email with the subject line, Read this e-mail immediately, these dozens of previously fired CDC workers were told they could return to work after further review and consideration. We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused, read the email. The Mahnomen County Courthouse in 2023. (Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer) A Minnesota district court judge ruled that the state may prosecute Native Americans on most reservations for possessing large amounts of marijuana, allowing a felony case against a White Earth man to proceed. The ruling is the first though likely not the last to address state law enforcements jurisdiction over marijuana in Indian Country since Minnesota legalized its recreational use in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Todd Thompson, a White Earth citizen, faces a felony possession charge with a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for selling marijuana without a license from his tobacco store in Mahnomen on the White Earth reservation. Mahnomen County sheriffs deputies and White Earth tribal police raided his store on Aug. 2, 2023, a day after recreational cannabis became legal in Minnesota, and seized about 7.5 lbs of cannabis, 433 grams of marijuana wax and $2,748 in cash along with Thompsons cell phone and surveillance system. Thompson asked Mahnomen County District Judge Seamus Duffy to dismiss the charge, arguing that the state doesnt have the legal jurisdiction to prosecute him. Under whats called Public Law 280, Minnesota has the power to prosecute tribal members on certain reservations including White Earths for criminal acts but not civil or regulatory violations of state law. Thompson and his attorney, Claire Glenn, argued that after cannabis was legalized in Minnesota, possessing and selling the drug became a regulatory matter, not a criminal one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge, in a ruling issued earlier this month, disagreed. He wrote that the possession of non-personal, non-recreational amounts of marijuana in public is generally prohibited, and that just because the state may issue licenses to businesses to sell marijuana, doesnt mean its only a regulatory matter. He pointed to a case in which a White Earth man was convicted of possessing a pistol without a permit on tribal land. Thompson also argued that prosecuting him for possession of cannabis violated his rights under the United States 1855 Treaty with the Ojibwe, which guarantees the Ojibwe usufructuary rights to hunt, fish and gather on ceded lands. Again, the judge disagreed, pointing out that even Thompson acknowledged marijuana was not used in a ceremonial way in the 1800s, and that treaties guarantee rights to tribes, not individuals. Minnesotas law does not limit the White Earth Nations right to regulate marijuana on their land, the judge wrote. Thompson, through his attorney, said the ruling was disappointing, but not surprising. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Exercising my rights should not be controversial or complicated. But once again, the state has failed to respect our sovereignty, our constitution, our own rule of law that has existed since long before the state of Minnesota even existed, Thompson said. Thompsons attorney said they are considering their avenues for appeal. Complicating matters is the fact that criminal cases can typically only be appealed after a conviction, which means Thompson could be forced to go to prison before being able to appeal the judges ruling. The potential conviction of a Native American man for selling marijuana without a license would seem to cut against one of the central arguments Minnesota Democrats made in favor of legalization, which was to undo racial disparities in marijuana charges. State Democrats even mandated that a certain number of licenses be set aside for so-called social equity applicants who have been disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs. Even so, in the interest of public safety, state lawmakers maintained criminal penalties for possessing large amounts of cannabis or selling it without a license. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thompson flouted those requirements in a direct challenge to state and tribal regulations. Like many Native people, he says he doesnt believe Public Law 280 is legitimate. He also says the White Earth tribal council which voted just days before the state cannabis law took effect to legalize adult-use cannabis and sell it from a tribal-run dispensary overstepped its authority in establishing rules on cannabis sales. This isnt the first time Thompson has publicly taunted law enforcement in order to assert tribal sovereignty. In 2015, he was cited for illegally gillnetting on Gull Lake without a permit. Thompson fought the charges, which were ultimately dropped years later after a district court judge ruled that Thompson retained fishing rights on Gull Lake as a citizen of the White Earth Nation. Thompson also successfully fought a citation by the state Department of Natural Resources for illegally harvesting wild rice on Height of Land Lake in 2023. Prosecutors initially dropped that case in 2024 but refiled it last August, right before ricing season. Thompson argued the timing and delay was malicious, and on Wednesday, Becker County District Judge Michelle Lawson agreed. She dismissed the ricing case, ruling that prosecutors unnecessarily delayed bringing the case, which caused Thompson to miss two seasons of harvesting wild rice out of fear of further incidents with law enforcement. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt some of the penalties it levied on a law firm linked to Democratic causes that are unpopular with the president. Last week, Trump signed an executive order deeming the firm a national security risk. ASHTABULA Students from across the county attended Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohios eighth annual Titan Competition at Kent State University Ashtabula Wednesday. Students were divided into 13 teams and ran a fictional cell phone company, where they competed for money and other prizes. Participants came from A-Tech, SPIRE Academy and the Conneaut, Jefferson Area and Grand Valley school districts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JA of Eastern Ohio Development and Special Events Manager Kristen Taylor said the winning team has the chance to go to Georgia for a youth leadership conference. It focuses on team work, she said. It focuses on consensus building, and at the end of the day, they succeed or they fail together as a team. Teams from A-Tech won first and third place, and a team from Conneaut took second. Taylor said county students take pride in and practice before the competition. By the time they get here to the competition, they are a well-oiled machine, and they know how to use the simulation, and they know the basics of the game, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grand Valley High School Junior Anthony Eason said it was his first time participating in the competition. I wanted to learn more about running a business or running a company, seeing how it is, like the stuff behind the scenes that we dont really hear about, he said. JA board member and Conneaut Area City School Board President Chris Brecht was at the event, supporting the Conneaut teams. Im one of the team mentors, he said. Theyve been meeting for the last several weeks, leading up to this event to practice the simulation. Brecht enjoys seeing the students develop their skills at the competition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its fun to watch them start off, not quite sure what theyre doing, and then by the end of the day, getting very competitive, he said. Brecht said JA offers kids opportunities in exploring entrepreneurship. Its important to spark that in kids at a young age, to help them decide what they want to do when they grow up, he said. Brecht was involved in JA in high school, he said. It helped me decide to want to own a business, he said. I thought if I can help younger kids make those same decisions, I should do it. A break of about 5 inches was among the fractures of Amari Boones skull. Blood filled the 3-year-olds head, and his brain swelled. The left side of the organ expanded into the right. When he was called to the Cook Childrens Medical Center emergency room, Dr. Daniel Hansen, a pediatric neurosurgeon, quickly determined that surgical efforts would be futile. Amari was brain dead. Dr. Hansen concluded the boy had, a devastating, non-survivable, life-ending head injury. Amari, who was 41 inches tall and weighed 39.3 pounds, died two days later, on April 12, 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fort Worth police detectives began to work to determine in what way Amari came to suffer the injury. They started with Deondrick Foley and Joseph Delancy, boyfriends who were Amaris kinship guardians. The couple drove the unconscious boy from their Fort Worth apartment to the hospital. Amaris parents had relinquished custody of the child and his younger brother. After placements with two foster homes and two relatives, the boys went to live with Foley and Delancy. Foley had been Rodney Boones boss when Amaris father worked at a fast food restaurant. Delancy, the boys primary caregiver, told detectives he woke about 7:30 a.m. and found Amari unresponsive on the floor of a bedroom beneath a playpen. Delancy was accused in an indictment of intentionally or knowingly causing Amaris death by striking the child with his hand or by striking him with or against a hard object or surface. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After an eight-day trial in the 371st District Court in Tarrant County, a jury on Wednesday found Delancy not guilty of all counts, including capital murder of a person under 10 and felony murder. If he had been convicted, Delancy faced the prospect of life in prison without the possibility of parole, the punishment for capital murder prescribed in a Texas statute when the state has waived the death penalty. After the acquittal, rare in capital murder cases in Tarrant County, Delancy, who is 34, was to be released from jail on Wednesday evening. Amari Boone, 3, died from a head injury in April 2020 in Fort Worth. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes. Judge Ryan Hill presided at the trial. The Tarrant County District Attorneys Office presented no evidence whatsoever that Delancy caused Amaris death, defense attorney James Luster argued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joseph did not do this, Luster told the jury in his closing argument. The panel appears to have been persuaded by the arguments of appointed defense attorneys Luster and Pam Boggess that the boy may have been injured climbing into a playpen, at a daycare center or by Foley. Justice for Amari is not sending the wrong man to prison, Luster told the jury in the defense opening statement. In direct questioning of a defense radiology expert, Dr. Cynthia Day, Luster suggested that Amari may have suffered a head injury at the Arlington daycare, Amazing Kidz, where he spent the day before he was taken to the hospital. The defense called other witnesses who testified that two daycare employees had assaulted other children there, including a director who was employed at the business at the time Amari was enrolled. Amari Boone was in Cook Childrens hospital for two days before he died on Easter in 2020. Prosecutors Charlie Boulware and Sydney Brock had no eyewitness. For more than three hours in an interview with Detectives Brad Parker and Domingo Martinez that was shown to the jury, Delancy said that he did not know the source of Amaris injuries. Pressed for an explanation, he said the boy appeared to have fallen from a bathroom counter when the defendant stepped away while changing the boys clothing, but seemed to be fine. In a later interview Delancy said he was not certain on what day the fall occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three physicians testified for the state that Amaris skull fractures were inconsistent with a fall from a counter. Prosecutors suggested the boy was likely killed in in a flare of anger. Delancy was the only person present in the apartment, big enough, strong enough, angry enough to injure the boy, Brock told the jury. Among the trials most compelling witnesses was Jalah Lawrence, now the senior director of permanency at Our Community Our Kids, who tearfully recalled realizing how little she knew before his death about what she concluded was Amaris mistreatment. Lawrence suggested from the witness stand that she had been misled about injury reports and the length of time Amari had been in the custody of Foley and Delancy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do you feel like the system failed Amari Boone in this case? Assistant District Attorney Boulware asked. Yes, Lawrence said. The case resulted in several abuse reporting policy changes. Sheila Roberson, the Our Community Our Kids caseworker overseeing Amaris case, was fired. The private contractor on March 1, 2020, took over case management from Child Protective Services. Amaris grandmother testified that $6 million was distributed among Ariana George, who is Amaris mother, Rodney Boone and the parents attorneys to resolve a lawsuit filed in Dallas County in the case. In a question to the grandmother, defense attorney Boggess suggested that CPS and the state were the defendants. It appears ACH Child and Family Services, and Covenant Kids Inc. were among the defendants. This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts. Staff writer Shambhavi Rimal contributed to this report. A woman who sued a Fort Worth pastor accused of sexually assaulting her when she was a child was awarded over $120 million in damages by a Tarrant County jury on Wednesday. Jose Francisco Bernal, 60, of North Richland Hills, was a pastor at the Tabernaculo De Vida Pentecostal Church in Fort Worth when he was accused of numerous acts of sexual abuse of two victims. The North Texas women alleged the assaults occurred when they were girls living in Hurst between 2007 and 2013, the Star-Telegram previously reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bernal was arrested in 2017 and charged with two felony counts of continuous sexual assault of a child, but five years later a jury could not reach a decision and the criminal case was declared a mistrial in 2022. Prosecutors did not seek a new trial and dismissed the criminal charges, according to court records. One of the women filed a lawsuit against Bernal in 2019. Eleven of the 12 jurors in this weeks civil trial agreed that Bernal sexually abused the victim and intentionally caused her severe emotional distress. The jury reached a verdict to award the victim a total of $124 million, to be paid by Bernal. The total judgment amount includes $11 million for mental anguish sustained in the past, $20 million for the mental anguish that the victim might sustain in the future, and $93 million for exemplary damages, court records show. The victim had also sued the Tabernaculo De Vida Pentecostal Church, but the church reached a settlement to pay her $100,000 and sign over the deed for the church property on West Dickson Street to her, according to court documents. More top stories from our newsroom: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Large hail, damaging winds possible in North Texas Suspect told witnesses he blacked out and killed girlfriend Mom says Millsap ISD teachers abused her son who has autism [Get our breaking news alerts.] Attorney Brian Butcher from the Noteboom Law Firm represented the victim. Asked about the size of the judgment and how much money Bernal might actually be able to pay, Butcher told the Star-Telegram, We are going to do our very best to collect everything that can be collected to help our clients. Butcher said it was an extremely important case from the standpoint of two young girls who had been victimized by a pedophile operating under the license of biblical authority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he wants to send a message to the community to make sure that abuse like this doesnt happen again, to protect other children and to help restore trust in church institutions by holding somebody accountable for doing despicable things and using Gods name to do it. Churches above every other place in America should be places where children are nurtured and kept safe, Butcher said. There has been an epidemic of clerical abuse scandals that has deeply eroded the objectives that parents are trying to reach by taking their kids to church, which is to teach them about faith and to have them be a part of a supportive and loving community. MEKELE, Ethiopia (AP) As a displaced person in Ethiopias northern Tigray region, 76-year-old Haile Tsege is no stranger to hunger. During its war with Tigray fighters that devastated the region in 2020-2022, Ethiopian government restrictions on the rebellious region reduced aid flows to a trickle. Then in 2023, U.S. and U.N. aid distributions of grain were halted for months over a corruption scandal. Now the Trump administrations dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has again halted food deliveries to a sprawling camp of over 20,000 people outside Tigrays regional capital, Mekele. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We will just die in silence, said Tsege, one of the 2.4 million people in Tigray who depend on humanitarian grain, most of it provided by the U.S. Ethiopia with its over 125 million people had been the biggest beneficiary of U.S. aid in sub-Saharan Africa, receiving $1.8 billion in the 2023 financial year. In addition to life-saving food, the funds were spent on HIV medications, vaccines, literacy programs and jobs creation, as well as services for 1 million refugees hosted by Ethiopia. Most of these programs have been stopped. The USAID staffers who oversaw them have been placed on administrative leave and told not to work, as they face the threat of termination. The U.S. Embassy didn't respond to questions. Emergency food was exempted from President Donald Trumps executive order, signed on his first day in office, suspending foreign aid during a 90-day review amid the administration's allegations of waste. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aid agencies in Ethiopia had to apply to USAID for waivers to continue handing out U.S. grain. These have been secured, but USAIDs payments system is still not functioning. As a result, a consortium of aid agencies in Tigray has had to stop distributions to the over 1 million people it has been responsible for feeding with U.S.-provided grain. It has no money to pay for fuel, trucks and drivers to distribute existing food stockpiles. That includes 5,000 metric tons of sorghum enough to feed 300,000 people for a month stuck in a storage facility in Mekele that could rot before it reaches those in need. This is just one warehouse. There are several others across the region, said Teklewoini Assefa, head of the Relief Society of Tigray, part of the consortium. This will create malnutrition, disease. If this situation continues, what follows? Death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added: Everything boils down to the payment system. The effects of the aid cuts are widespread, with many USAID contracts terminated. Already, Ethiopia has been forced to lay off 5,000 local healthcare workers who were working on its HIV response. Tigray relied heavily on U.S. funds. More than two years after the war killed hundreds of thousands, full-scale recovery efforts are yet to start. The regions health system is in ruins and hundreds of schools remain closed. In 2024, child malnutrition stood at 21% in some areas, according to a survey reviewed by The Associated Press far above the World Health Organizations threshold of 15% at which a situation is classified as an emergency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, aid workers say many programs to improve nutrition have halted. Projects to deliver medicines and vaccines have stopped. Dozens of camps for displaced people have had water sources cut off. The impact has been huge, said Ashenafi Asmelash, executive director of Mums for Mums, which has had two USAID- funded programs terminated. One helped build long-term resilience among farmers. The other helped improve the nutrition of children and new mothers. Management Sciences for Health, another Tigray organization, has halted a project to combat tuberculosis and told its staff to expect mass layoffs in March, according to a senior executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Efforts to assist thousands of women who were raped during the war have been derailed, said Rigat Bishaw at Ayder Hospital, Tigrays biggest healthcare facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This includes counseling and physiotherapy sessions for survivors run by the U.S.-based Center for Victims of Torture, which received a stop-work order from the Trump administration in February and furloughed its staff. CVT also halted a program to train health workers to recognize sexual abuse cases and refer survivors to appropriate health services. This sudden disruption is having a huge impact on the healing of traumatized people, said Yohannes Fisseha, a CVT manager. Major projects to support people living with HIV, improve access to life-saving nutrition services and improve relations between war-affected communities have also been cut off, said Yirga Gebregziabher, the Tigray branch manager of an Ethiopian organization called OSSHD, which helped implement the projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The organization has been forced to fire dozens of expert staff. Our picture of America was as a protector of rights, a positive force in the world, Yigra said. That image has now been broken. If there was a process, maybe the shock would have been less. But there was no consultation, no engagement. ___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse Trying to plug leaks, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have succeeded in what can be shown to whom in their legal conflict with Justin Baldoni, at least for now. The parties have levelled accusations of theft of trade secrets and the disclosure of confidential sensitive information against one another, a pragmatic Judge Lewis J Liman noted in a ruling issued Thursday with some degree of understatement almost a year before the trial between the It Ends With Us begins in May 2026. More from Deadline Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Courts model protective order is not sufficient for the needs of these cases, the federal judge added, issuing most of the Attorneys Eyes Only protection that A-listers Lively and Reynolds sought for the discovery process. Unless youve been stuck in space with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams the past four months, youd know this has been a high-profile matter since Lively filed her sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios and others with Californias Civil Rights department on December 20. At a long March 6 hearing over what the scope of any protective order should be and who should be allowed to look at discovery evidence, Liman called the gist of this whole thing a feud between PR firms. Certainly, in what is now a multi-lawsuit battlefield with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in potential damages, reputations and careers, Team Blake and Team Baldoni have both weaponized the court of public opinion as much as the courts themselves to varying degrees. Now, thats to be expected in a case that features PR heavyweights such as Leslie Sloane (Team Blake, and a defendant) and Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel (Team Baldoni, and also defendants) in the mix, along with the New York Times. In her CRD complaint and New Years Eve suit against Baldoni and his inner circle, and in a subsequent amended complaint, Lively has insisted that an astroturfing smear campaign was activated against her last summer by Nathan and Abel as a measure to blunt any accusations of misconduct the Gossip Girl veteran could make public against the Jane the Virgin alum leading up to the It Ends With Us films August 2024 release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Late last year, as text messages between flacks indicate, Abel in a now deleted posting admitted a preemptive attack was considered and planned. However, the former Jonesworks staffer also admitted that such an attack never launched because the internet was doing the work for us against Lively. To that, with lawyers like Baldoni lead attorney Bryan Freedman becoming as much a player in the story as the IEWU co-stars, a week after the long NYC hearing on the scope of a protective order, Judge Liman summed up the reality of the situation today. He wrote: These cases involve both business competitors and allegations of sexual harm. Discovery will necessarily include confidential and sensitive business and personal information. The risk of disclosure is great. Both the Moving Parties and the Wayfarer Parties have accused opposing parties of providing private, sensitive, or confidential information to the media for their own business and personal advantage in ways that cannot easily be traced. Several individuals and corporations on each side are in the business of public relations or media and have easy access to the press. Leaving little ambiguity of what the rules of engagement will be going forward, Liman laid out that the following categories of information may be designated Attorneys Eyes Only: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement a. Trade secrets; confidential business plans, marketing plans, and strategies for clients other than the parties in this litigation; confidential business projects or leads on projects for clients other than the parties in this litigation; confidential creative projects or ideas other than those involved in this litigation; b. Security measures taken by parties or third parties; c. Medical information of parties or third parties; d. Highly personal and intimate information about third parties, and highly personal and intimate information about parties other than information directly relevant to the truth or falsity of any allegation in the complaints in this case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge concluded: The protections conferred by this Order cover not only Confidential and Attorneys Eyes Only Information but also any information copied or extracted therefrom, as well as all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations thereof. Not that Lively and Reynolds got everything they and their lawyers were looking for in the AEO. The Court has narrowed the provision to stated that information may be marked AEO only if its disclosure is highly likely to cause a significant business, commercial, financial, or privacy injury, Liman noted Thursday. (L-R) Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni in It Ends With Us In that context and terms that may be subjective in certain lights, as Sloane and her Vision PR filed more paperwork to get themselves dismissed from the case, both Team Blake and Team Baldoni are claiming a win as they often do in this tit for tat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, the Court rejected the Wayfarer Parties objections and entered the protections needed to ensure the free flow of discovery material without any risk of witness intimidation or harm to any individuals security, a spokesperson for Lively told Deadline after Judge Limans order hit the federal docket. With this order in place, Ms. Lively will move forward in the discovery process to obtain even more of the evidence that will prove her claims in Court. We are fully in agreement with the Courts decision to provide a narrow scope of protections to categories such as private mental health records and personal security measures that have never been of interest to us as opposed to Ms. Livelys exceedingly over broad demand for documents for a 2.5 year period of time which the court rightly quashed, attorney Freedman asserted for Team Baldoni. We remain focused on the necessary communications that will directly contradict Ms. Livelys unfounded accusations. We will oppose any efforts by Ms. Lively and her team to hamper our clients ability to defend against her attacks by incorrectly categorizing important information as trade secrets, especially considering there were no issues in providing these communications willingly to The New York Times. The NYT, who published the article We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine about Livelys allegations on December 21, are, like Sloane, attempting to extricate themselves from the legal clash. Liman was yet to rule or even schedule hearings on both the NYT and Sloanes efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What the judge did make clear in last weeks hearing was that he saw a lot of this debate over who sees what and when as moot in the big picture. Much of this information will become public as the case goes forward for example in motions for summary judgment, and of course at trial, he said near the end of the over one hour March 6 session. There is a public interest in how the courts are being used that the court has to respect. Outside of the main event of Lively vs. Baldoni, there is also self-described hired gun and alleged Nathan pal Jed Wallaces $7 million suit against Lively. Then there is the Quinn Emanuel-represented Stephanie Jones and her Jonesworks firm. In a separate case, filed just before Christmas, Jones has taken Baldoni, Wayfarer, execs, crisis PR boss Nathan and Abel to court for defamation and breach of contract. Abel was an employee of Jonesworks and Baldoni was a client until last year, when both bolted and Abel formed her own PR firm RWA Communications. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority will discuss possible service changes during a meeting Thursday. Service reductions may be necessary due to growing expenses and a lack of funding. KCUR first reported about the possible cuts and financial challenges on Wednesday, citing documents it obtained. Transit leaders discuss World Cup transportation plans According to the president of KCATA, despite financial difficulties, the organizations mission is still to support and organize transportation for regular bus passengers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The KCATA operates as many as 78 bus routes in seven counties on both sides of the state line. However, 150 union workers and up to 15 of those routes might be included in some upcoming budget cuts. The KCATA president claims that the organization is experiencing financial difficulties during this transitional period. The proposed service cuts that will be discussed at their public meetings are the consequence of rising public transportation costs in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic and the exhaustion of federal pandemic insurance. Local nonprofit still waiting for answers on federal grant money The Cares Act provided funding for the few years that bus service was free for passengers, but that funding is beginning to run out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The in-person meeting is Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the East Village Transit Center. If you cant make the in-person meeting, there is a virtual meeting on Friday from noon to 1 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) The Kansas Highway Patrol said a 44-year-old Moran, Kansas, man was killed when he was run over by an SUV after being ejected from his truck in a prior crash. It happened in the eastbound lanes of U.S. Highway 54 in Allen County around 8 p.m. Thursday. The Kansas Highway Patrol says an eastbound Ford F-250 was hauling a large hay bale, which was obstructing the pickups taillights. A Chevy Silverado behind the F-250 struck the back of it, causing it to overturn. The KHP said the hay truck driver, Scott R. Welch, wasnt wearing a seatbelt and was ejected into the westbound lanes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, a westbound Chevy Equinox hit Welch, killing him. My health is in jeopardy: Insurance denies Kansas nursing students prescription The 22-year-old driver of the Equinox and the 84-year-old driver of the Chevy Silverado were not hurt. For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. A dog keeps watch over an irrigated field in southwest Kansas, where farmers are facing increased pressure from state lawmakers to preserve groundwater in the quickly depleting Ogallala Aquifer. (Kevin Hardy/Stateline) TOPEKA A House bill would allocate an additional $20 million annually to the Kansas Water Plan fund to support projects for cities across the state. House Bill 2113 builds upon new funding from the 2023 session with House Bill 2302. It would increase the current annual allocation of $35 million to $55 million for the Kansas Water Plan, and from that amount an additional $2 million to the Technical Assistance Grant Fund and $6 million to the Water Projects Grants Fund. The money would come from the State General Fund. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The House passed the bill 106-15 on Feb. 20. The Senate Agriculture and National Resources Committee heard the bill Monday. House Bill 2302 made a huge difference. This bill basically builds off of house bill 2302, said Wendi Stark, a legislative liaison with the League of Kansas Municipalities, during Mondays hearing. Its helping to address our immediate needs. Proposed change in spending In millions of dollars In the past two years, Kansas communities have requested more than $600 million for water needs with almost 600 applications. Stark said that of the 219 municipalities who applied in 2024 or 2025, 45.7% were from towns with a population of fewer than 500 people. Current funding allowed for just 11% of requested funding to be approved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ogallala Aquifer, the water source much of western Kansas relies on, is drying fast. The Kansas Geological Survey found that parts of western Kansas have 25 years of water left. Sen. Ron Ryckman Sr., a Republican from Meade, said his southwest Kansas district is always hurtin for water. Rep. Jim Minnix, a Republican from Scott City, introduced the bill and testified at the Senate hearing. He said he gets questions about where the money is going, since the state cant make any water. Its a finite resource. What were trying to do is save it for future generations, Minnix said. When Gov. Laura Kelly took office in 2019, the state had not funded the water plan for a decade. Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed concerns over the states water supply issues Kellys proposed budget includes another $30 million per year for the water plan, while the Republican-crafted House budget would give $11.7 million to water projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dozens of individuals testified in support of the legislation in both the Senate and House, with no opposition or neutral testimony. At the House Water Committee hearing on Feb. 11, the public works director for the city of Edgerton, Dan Merkh, said the city had applied and been rejected for both the technical assistance and water project grants. Cities across Kansas face many unfunded state and federal mandates, Merkh wrote in testimony for the House hearing. The Technical Assistance (Grants) Fund and Water Project (Grants Fund) help cities like Edgerton address a variety of needs, from emergency connections to water-quality related problems to mitigating the risk of a sanitary sewer overflow. Hardy Howard, the city administrator for WaKeeney, said it seems deeply obvious that the water infrastructure around the state needs to be replaced. He said the city needs to replace an aging pipeline, which is the citys only way to get water distributed from the wells. Howard said there have been multiple breaks. HB 2113 supports a small increase in funding to assist communities with these critical needs, Howard said. Gov. Laura Kelly enters the House chamber to deliver her State of the State address on Jan. 15, 2025. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA All hail civil disobedience. Gov. Laura Kelly intervened Wednesday in satanists plans to conduct a black mass on March 28 at the Statehouse by declaring they would not be allowed inside. The satanists plan to defy her undivine wisdom. We will be showing up on the 28th, said Michael Stewart, founder and president of the Satanic Grotto, which organized the event. We will be entering the building and attempting to perform the mass, and if Capitol Police want to stop us, they will need to arrest us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Satanic Grottos plans to conduct a black mass in the Statehouse rotunda stimulated considerable attention online and outrage from the Catholic Church. In cheeky social media posts, Stewart describes satanists as the scariest thing in the dark. But in an interview, he said he was planning a safe event, with nothing to be afraid of. His said his group has about three dozen members, primarily from Kansas City and Wichita, and is nonviolent. The black mass is a satanic version of the Catholic mass, meant to reflect our own pain and anger of us being subjected to religion that we never gave consent to, Stewart said. It was imposed upon us. So the ritual is sort of you can think of it as therapeutic blasphemy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group describes itself on its website as an independent and nondenominational church whose members are feminist, LBGTQ+ allies, and anti-racist Nazi Satanists can f*** off. The Satanic Grottos event listing on Facebook shows 26 plan to attend and 116 are interested in the event. Chuck Weber, of Kansas Catholic Conference, said in a March 6 statement that such an explicit demonstration of anti-Catholic bigotry will be an insult to not only Catholics, but all people of good will. The Catholic Bishops of Kansas ask that first and foremost, we pray for the conversion of those taking part in this event, as well as each persons own conversion of heart during this scared Season of Lent, Weber said in the statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The governor entered the arena Wednesday, when she issued a statement declaring her concerns about the event. She said there are more constructive ways to protest and express disagreements without insulting or denigrating sacred religious symbols. She acknowledged the right to freedom of speech and expression regardless of how offensive or distasteful I might find the content to be and that she has limited authority to respond to the planned event. That said, it is important to keep the Statehouse open and accessible to the public while ensuring all necessary health and safety regulations are enforced, Kelly said in her statement. Therefore, all events planned for March 28 will be moved outdoors to the grounds surrounding the Statehouse. Again, no protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse on March 28. Stewart said the governors office didnt call him before issuing the public statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a Democrat governor bowing to religious and Republican pressure, Stewart said. There was enough outrage that she had to do something, but shes so chicken to actually stand up for anything, the best she could do was try to shuffle us outside and make it look like she has done something to save her own hide instead of standing up for religious and free speech. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Sen. Patrick Schmidt at a March 12, 2025, meeting of the Senate Committee on Government Efficiency, or COGE. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA Republican legislation to establish child support payments for pregnancy-related costs and, in turn, establish fetal personhood revealed tension among legislators as one Democratic senator inserted a bipartisan tax credit provision. Senate Democrats agreed that House Bill 2062, which requires courts to consider fetuses when determining child support judgments, risked providing legal precedent for treating fetuses as people. But with an amendment that expands eligibility for tax credits for families, Sen. Patrick Schmidt, D-Topeka, said he took an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons, while his Democratic colleagues disagreed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Republicans, initially hesitant, were in favor of Schmidts amendment Tuesday and approved it in a preliminary vote. On the Senate floor Wednesday, before legislators took final action on the bill, Schmidt said he had the most pro-choice legislator in the delegation. He ultimately voted against the bill along with the rest of the nine-member Democratic caucus. While fielding flack from Democrats and abortion rights advocates, Schmidt told Kansas Reflector he expects his amendment will either kill the bill because of its added nuance or give families tax credits, both of which he considers a win, especially for his constituents in central Topeka. The amendment created a child tax credit for all pregnant parents, not just those involved in child support judgments. Parents would be allowed to claim an unborn child on their tax returns, and a taxpayer identification number would be assigned to a fetus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a bad bill, with or without an amendment, Schmidt said. Melissa Stiehler, a spokesperson with Loud Light Civic Action, said Schmidt made serious mistakes in declining to consult fellow Democrats, advocates and policy experts before proposing the amendment. It is pretty disappointing to hear Senator Schmidt declare himself the most pro-choice lawmaker while simultaneously adding the most anti-abortion language Ive ever seen a democratic lawmaker intentionally amend into a bill, she wrote in a statement. Stiehler called the amendment bad economic policy, claiming Schmidts proposal was a regressive flat tax break. She said it was bad constitutional policy because it added more fetal personhood language to the bill. She said he utilized bad political strategy in trying to alter the bill without consulting experienced lawmakers and playing into anti-abortion efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He just gave it to them without a fight and now with bipartisan support, she said. Schmidt stuck by his strategy. If Democrats want to stop legislation they disagree with, they have to try something new, said Schmidt, who is serving his first year in the Legislature. The same tactics are not going to work in perpetuity, he said. They havent been working. Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, in an explanation of her no vote Wednesday, said the bill was disguised as a child support bill but was far more insidious. This bill grants legal recognition to a fetus as a separate person, even providing a state tax ID number, which would have sweeping consequences beyond financial support, Sykes said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of helping women, the bill makes reproductive rights vulnerable to attack, she said. The bill passed the Senate in a 30-9 vote, with all Democrats voting against it. It passed the House in February in an 85-34 vote, but House and Senate negotiators would have to work out differences in their versions of the bill before sending it to the governor. Anti-abortion organizations were the architects and primary proponents of the legislation during the bills hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committees chair, Sen. Kellie Warren, R-Leawood, said Tuesday on the Senate floor that the bill wouldnt change anything about how paternity is assessed or who is required to pay child support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It just adds it to the list of the other nine factors that a court shall consider when considering an order of child support, Warren said. Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, proposed an amendment to remove large portions of the bills text. Expanding child support obligations establishes legal personhood for fetuses, she said. That move is a foundational step to restricting access to forms of reproductive health care, Holscher said. Her amendment failed. Government agents interviewing your co-workers and friends, examining your phone data, rummaging through your trash, email history and transaction records if the Federal Bureau of Investigation deems you a threat to national security, its agents don't need a judge or a warrant to launch an intrusive investigation. Now these powers, abused by the FBI in the past, are in the hands of new bureau chief who has promised to "go after" the perceived enemies of President Donald Trump. Indeed, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino's loyalty to Trump and the technology at the modern FBI's disposal could make the bureau's surveillance regime even more of a threat to political dissidents and others deemed threats by this administration, experts and former agents told Salon. Nominally, the FBI is subject to oversight by the so-called Attorney General Guidelines upheld by the Department of Justice. But because those guidelines are indeed guidelines, not legally binding mandates, their effectiveness is almost wholly dependent on the FBI director to adhere to the rules and the good faith of the attorney general to follow her oversight responsibilities. Absent these conditions, Yale senior lecturer and former FBI agent Asha Rangappa said in an interview, the Trump administration could act on its "expansive view" of Article II of the Constitution, which vests the president with authority to take care that the laws be faithfully executed" and which some on the right have interpreted as license to govern more or less like a king. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Under the idea of unitary executive, the president could assert personal influence or control over the Justice Department and any federal investigations," Rangappa said. That's the same legal theory relied on by the President George W. Bush and his administration to circumvent normal administrative procedures to enact unpopular and perhaps unlawful policies, like detaining terrorist suspects without charge and subjecting them to torture. In a statement to Salon, an FBI spokesperson insisted that the administration will respect constitutional rights, saying the bureau will "focus on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security." "We can never open an investigation based solely on protected First Amendment activity and we do not conduct investigations based on a persons views," the spokesperson said. As it stands, however, the FBI can conduct preliminary investigations on the "on the basis of any allegation or information indicative of possible criminal or national security-threatening activity" without needing court approval, according to DOJ guidelines. While those investigations are time-limited, FBI agents can use the allotted time to practice techniques against targets, like recruiting informants and ferreting through their mail, financial transactions, phone data and abandoned trash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reason why there are any guardrails for the FBI in the first place or that people know about historical abuses at all is, in part, because eight Vietnam War protesters broke into an FBI field office in 1971 and stole hundreds of government documents. Those documents revealed a systematic campaign to target and harass political dissidents, shocking a nation and prompting a congressional investigation. Instead of placing the FBI under legislative charter or statutory control, however, the resulting reforms placed supervisory responsibility in the hands of the Justice Department, now run by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who like Patel has been criticized for politicizing her office and valuing loyalty to Trump above all else. "We don't need a crystal ball or to be clairvoyant about what could happen at the FBI. We can simply look back to FBI history and [its first director] J. Edgar Hoover, who planted evidence, used illegal wiretaps, had a Black Panthers leader killed and wrote a letter to MLK telling him to commit suicide," Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director, told Salon. "From the DOJ perspective, Hoover actually briefed attorneys general on what he was doing, and they were okay with it. People think we aren't facing that very same situation. Here, I say we are, and I say it could get worse." While the FBI has been accused of overstepping its authority multiple times between Hoover and Patel, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told Salon it has largely stayed within guidelines (or at least avoided the most egregious abuses) due to "layers and legal and supervisory review" that go all the way back to the DOJ. Now that the Trump administration has been firing high-ranking lawyers and administrations at the FBI, DOJ and other departments, Tobias thinks "a lot of this supervision will go away." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In pursuing a preliminary investigation, the FBI could operate under maximum secrecy with the goal of "fishing" out anything that could be used against a target. Alternatively, a person whom the FBI wanted to intimidate or harass might find black vans parked outside their home or hear of agents aggressively interviewing co-workers and friends, which also serves to create a cloud of suspicion around them. "What the Hoover years revealed is that people often don't know and can't prove that they're under investigation, so they wouldn't be able to go to court and try to enforce their civil liberties," Rangappa, the former FBI agent, said. "Eventually, there is a point were if the FBI chooses to charge someone or get a search warrant for your residence, then they would need to convince a grand jury that there's probable cause of a crime being committed. But there's a lot of what they call 'less intrusive' investigative techniques that's up to the discretion of the agency." The result of widespread and vaguely-defined surveillance, she continued, could have an "incredible chilling effect" on legitimate political opposition and efforts to seek accountability from the federal government, with the possibility that journalistic sources, for example, could "face retaliation from the FBI and other bodies of government." Electronic surveillance as part of full investigations concerning national security typically falls under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court, which consists of seven rotating federal judges picked by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. While on their tour of duty, the judges decide on FBI requests to wiretap alleged foreign spies. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. But those judges cannot necessarily be trusted to be partial, Figluizzi said, as the federal bench is full of Trump appointees who critics have accused of showing overt ideological bias and loyalty to Trump. The combination of a "MAGA director, MAGA attorney general and MAGA judges sitting in FISA and other courts" could result in some "really harmful things," he said. Moreover, legislation by a GOP-controlled Congress could change how judges are picked and give more decision-making power to Trump in particular, who might decide to select only those judges he believes he can count on. And less than two months into Trump's second term, Congress has been more than happy to meet Trump's legislative demands, often with substantial Democratic support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If there's almost no recourse at the federal level to curb an FBI run amok, state and local authorities could defy federal authorities by refusing to cooperate in joint task forces, such as those that might be re-directed to round up immigrants and deport them. This tactic was used before, such as when the San Francisco Police Department pulled out of a joint anti-terrorism effort in 2017 amid concerns that the Trump administration was trampling on local laws. State attorneys general could also sue the federal government over potential state law violations, assuming there's any awareness that the FBI is abusing its power. But according to Figliuzzi, those probably won't be enough to really make an impact participation in task forces offers grant money and prestige, while federal authorities more often win jurisdictional arguments in court than not. "I don't see a lot of people putting the skids on this, except lots of lawsuits that we're seeing and injunctions," he said. "The problem is that we may not hear about what the FBI is doing. In criminal cases, it ends up in court. But what about national security cases? That's what J. Edgar Hoover was saying, that MLK and Panthers were national security threats, therefore he could do whatever the hell he wanted, and it would never see the light of day. And it didn't see the light of day until the famous break in of a small FBI office in Pennsylvania, where the protesters grabbed the documents and showed them to reporters." Kate Middleton and Prince William have long been happily married, but once upon a time, the two went through a bit of a rocky periodwhich resulted in a brief yet dramatic breakup. The year was 2007, and the couple's split was the talk of London. Arriving at a book launch event with her sister, Pippa, the future Queen of England (who was, at that point, simply William's ex-girlfriend) came face-to-face with the royal gossip mill. "[We were] in a group with Sebag Montefiores sister-in-law, the TV presenter Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who sadly died a decade later at the age of 45," wrote Richard Eden, who described the events for the first time today in the Daily Mail. "Tara, typically, got straight down to what everyone really wanted to know about: Catherines break-up with William." Palmer-Tomkinson asked Middleton a fairly tame question: "How are you doing?" to which Middleton replied, "Fine." She then insisted, "'It must be so hard...'" Eden wrote, and Middleton put her foot down, saying, "'Really, it's fine.'" Dave M. Benett/Getty Images "She made clear with her body language that she didnt wish to discuss the subject, and the conversation moved swiftly on to happier and less fraught matters," Eden recalled. "[That] first encounter with her taught me that she was a tough cookie who wasnt going to be inveigled into saying something she didnt want to say by anyonenot even a close friend of the royals." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The actor then noted that, in retrospect, Middleton's reaction provided "a hint of that inner steel which has stood her so well in the years since." Max Mumby/Getty Images Middleton has had plenty of opportunity to tap into that "inner steal" in recent years, of course. Last spring, she endured months of speculation surrounding her health and whereabouts before finally revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Her and Prince William proceeded to have the "hardest year" of their lives, according to the heir, and through it all, Middleton remained resilient. I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done," William later said. "But, from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal. Read the original article on InStyle KANSAS CITY, Mo. A woman hurt in a dog mauling last year that took the life of a man is suing Kansas City Pet Project. KC Pet Project said it was her own dogs that had been terrorizing the neighborhood for two years before and after the attack. A FOX4 investigation reveals that dogs even posed a danger to law enforcement. The video of the attack by a gang of what police have described as pit bulls is hard to watch. The dogs belonged to John Thibeaux and killed 46-year-old Chris Culbertson. A woman named Holly Lane ran to help and, in the process, was bitten. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now Lane is suing KC Pet Project, saying in part in the lawsuit: Prior to November 2, 2024, KCPP had received multiple complaints from residents that various pit bull dogs in the neighborhood had escaped their enclosures. Salty Iguana customers claim employees werent paid last check Documentation dating back to January of 2023 shows otherwise. We can confirm that those dogs we were looking for in 2023 and were the subject of the directed patrol were German shepherds from the household of Holly Lane, said Katie Barnett, general counsel for KC Pet Project. The calls range from a woman who was scared after these dogs, living in Lanes home, roamed freely for months, even attacking her dogs, according to reports obtained by FOX4. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reports detail how the caller was scared for children getting off the bus after school. Even after the attack, the police were called again. The dogs were so aggressive that the police didnt feel comfortable getting out of their car. On that day, the person who responded to the police as the owner of the dogs was Holly Lane. Yes, we do believe these dogs should be taken off the streets for public safety. I mean, its clear that for two years these German shepherds have been terrorizing this neighborhood, Barnett said. FOX4 drove by Lanes home and saw one German shepherd. FOX4 found three citations, all for dogs in Lanes home. Due to an ordinance in Kansas City, KC Pet Project cant take the dogs unless they catch them roaming again or if they are voluntarily surrendered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the midst of this, with the council severing part of its partnership with KC Pet Project, the organization wants to set the record straight. In their view, they did their due diligence and will continue to support the community. 2 people dead after a house fire in Higginsville We are absolutely committed to the community. The residents, the people, and the pets of Kansas City have depended on us for over a decade, and we will absolutely continue to do our good work, Barnett said. To be clear, KC Pet Project says they have no record of any calls about loose pit bulls in this neighborhood. FOX4 reached Lanes attorney, Mike White, to share this information with him and to get a response for this story. He paused and then said, No comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department is looking for a suspect that investigators say shot at a police officer. KCPD says the incident occurred in the 3200 block of Brooklyn Avenue on February 27. Excelsior Springs police investigating after two men found dead The suspects identity has been revealed as 30-year-old Ashod Chavez. KCPD says hes been convicted of prior felonies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At around 4:30 p.m. on March 13, KCPD Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced charges against Chavez. Hes now facing unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm charges. Police also revealed that tactical response officers responded and searched the perimeter for the suspect. The suspect was not located, and investigators are now continuing to search. KCPD reports that no officers have been injured in the process. KCPD asks that if you have information on the suspect, contact the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. This is an ongoing investigation, FOX4 will provide updates as theyre made available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. ST. LOUIS Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe is expected to sign legislation that returns control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to the state in upcoming weeks. According to a spokesperson for Kehoe, the governor is anticipated to sign House Bill 495 into law on March 24. The bill, which passed the Missouri House of Representatives Wednesday 113-39, would establish a six-member board to oversee the police department. Five members will be appointed by the governor, and the St. Louis Mayor will also serve on the board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kehoe released on X, formerly known as Twitter, a post Wednesday that states, I appreciate members of the House and Senate for prioritizing public safety at the start of this session. This legislation gives law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on crime and illegal immigration and enacts a citizen board to oversee the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. I look forward to seeing this legislation on my desk. Many STL events cancelled due to unpredictable weather St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, who has publicly expressed opposition of the legislation, cited concern that the bills signing will lead to chaos. Democratic St. Louis Rep. Steve Butz, who supported the bill, believes it will dramatically boost morale. SLMPD was under state control from the Civil War until 2012, when a ballot measure shifted control to local authorities. This new legislation reverses that decision, returning oversight to the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both the St. Louis Police Officers Association and the Ethical Society of Police have expressed support for the state takeover, indicating a division in opinion among local leaders and organizations. All facts from this article were gathered by KTVI journalists. This article was converted into this format with assistance from artificial intelligence. It has been edited and approved by KTVI staff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LONDON (AP) Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has won praise for his efforts to marshal international support for Ukraine as President Donald Trumpseconomic and foreign policies roil the world. Now hes hoping to translate that into success on a troubled home front. Faced with a sluggish economy, Starmer announced plans on Thursday to shake up Britains civil service, government and health system to make the flabby British state more agile and efficient. That worries trade unions, and many of Starmers own lawmakers, who fear his aim of reshaping the state will bring job losses and spending cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starmer linked international and domestic policies national security and national renewal in a speech to workers at a pharmaceutical company in northern England on Thursday. The British state is weaker than its ever been overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly, unable to deliver the security that people need, he said. Starmers center-left party won a landslide election victory in July, ending 14 years of Conservative government. But polls suggest support for his Labour government has plummeted since then, as public services creak under record demand and economic growth remains stubbornly low. Last month, the government said it would boost defense spending from the current 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027, a move that will cost billions. That makes it likely the government will announce tax increases or spending cuts, or both, in its spring budget statement on March 26. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Part of the savings will come by trimming welfare benefits. The government says the changes, expected to be announced in detail next week, will help get more people back to work. But anti-poverty groups and advocates for the disabled worry they will cut support to some of societys most vulnerable people. Starmer also vowed to slash regulation and prune the thicket of red tape, which he said is blocking new homes and infrastructure, and to ramp up AI use so that one in 10 civil servants is in a tech or digital role within five years. In a surprise move, he abolished NHS England, the arm's-length public body that oversees the state-funded health system for Englands 56 million people. Starmer said that will cut bureaucracy and make the system more efficient. Its also likely to see thousands of jobs eliminated. The media have dubbed Starmers plans Project Chainsaw, a nickname that evokes Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Starmers office rejected what it called that juvenile characterization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, urged the government to avoid the incendiary rhetoric and tactics we are seeing in the United States, and to be clear that reforms are about enhancing and not undermining the civil service. Soon Starmer will return to the international realm amid deep uncertainty over Ukraines future as Washington pushes to end the war. Working alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Starmer is using careful diplomacy to assemble a coalition of the willing to secure a future ceasefire, while striving to persuade Trump to maintain support for Kyiv. Starmer will convene leaders from around 25 countries for a conference call on Saturday to flesh out plans. He also said on Thursday that the futures of Ukraine and Britain were intertwined. If we dont secure a just peace and a lasting peace, then that insecurity which weve already felt will continue (with) higher prices, higher bills, the cost of living crisis going on even longer, he said. FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Republican lawmakers inserted several medical exceptions into Kentucky's near-total abortion ban on Thursday, seeking to offer clarity to doctors fearful of breaking the law for terminating pregnancies while treating expectant mothers with grave complications. Delving into potential life-or-death situations, the bill provides clear guidelines for doctors in such emergencies while maintaining Kentucky's strict prohibitions against abortion, its GOP supporters said. It ensures women facing life-threatening situations receive timely, appropriate medical care, and gives providers the legal certainty they need to act decisively, said Republican state Rep. Jason Nemes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some abortion-rights supporters said the bill reflected fundamental flaws in the abortion laws and had not been fully vetted. They noted it cleared a committee and both legislative chambers in less than 24 hours. Kentuckys near-total abortion ban has been in place since a so-called trigger law took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Bluegrass State bans abortions except when carried out to save a mothers life. Efforts to add exceptions for cases of rape or incest or when pregnancies are nonviable have made no headway in Kentucky's Republican-supermajority legislature. We are in this mess ... because the current Kentucky state laws are so restrictive that we actually need clarity to save the life of a pregnant mother, said Democratic state Rep. Rachel Roarx. Thats where were at. And it is terrifying to be someone who can become pregnant in this state. With only a handful of days left in this year's 30-day legislative session, a Senate committee attached the abortion-related language to a bill dealing with birthing centers Wednesday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill cleared both the Senate and House on Thursday and now goes to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, an abortion-rights supporter who told reporters he had questions about its impact on one of the country's the most restrictive, draconian abortion laws." Is it more or less restrictive than the current understanding in the medical community that we have right now? said Beshear, who is seen as a potential contender for the White House in 2028. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce abortion bans, exceptions have been a legal and political battleground. The Texas Supreme Court last year rejected a challenge by a group of women who said that the states law was too vague regarding what medically necessary exceptions are allowed. But this year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the state should amend the ban to clarify that question. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Dakota lawmakers last year sought to clear up confusion surrounding emergency exceptions by approving a taxpayer-funded video explaining the law to physicians. But some doctors said it didnt help. In Kentucky, abortion law has created barriers to treating women faced with complicated pregnancies, a doctor told the Senate panel Wednesday evening. The new legislation deals with the most glaring barriers to care, said Jeffrey Goldberg, a gynecologic oncologist from Louisville. Were hopeful to get at least some initial changes ... that will remove the conflicts that physicians are facing between, on the one hand, trying to do what they know is right for their patient, based on what the medical evidence dictates, and at the same time their fear of being accused of a felony," he said. The bill says doctors exercising reasonable medical judgment may take action separating a pregnant woman from her unborn child in such cases as: lifesaving miscarriage management; emergency intervention for sepsis and hemorrhaging; procedures necessary to prevent the death or substantial risk of death of the pregnant woman; removal of an ectopic pregnancy; treatment of a molar pregnancy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not meant to be an exhaustive list but it is the most common issues that physicians and mothers, who are facing a crisis pregnancy, are facing, said Republican state Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser. Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, was among the bill's advocates, telling the Senate panel: This is medical care that needs to take place in the commonwealth. The abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates said lawmakers had snuck narrow and confusing exceptions into something that should be regarded as basic health care, all the while keeping Kentucky's existing abortion ban firmly in place. Rather than offering meaningful medical care to patients with fatal fetal diagnoses or life-threatening pregnancy complications, this language forces doctors to wait until patients are near death before intervening, said Tamarra Wieder, the group's Kentucky state director, in a statement Thursday. ___ Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, urged lawmakers to loosen a mine safety law "to aid and assist the small coal mines without putting people at risk." (LRC Public Information) The GOP-controlled Kentucky Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to give final passage to a bill weakening a safety protection for coal miners put in place after the death of a Harlan County miner. House Bill 196, sponsored by Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, would reduce the required number of trained and certified coal miners able to respond to medical emergencies, known as mine emergency technicians (METs), depending on how many miners were working a shift. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under Blantons bill, a shift with 10 or fewer miners would be required to have only one MET, down from the current requirement of two. METs are trained to provide emergency medical care and stabilize a miners condition. The free training required to receive a state certification to become a MET takes at least 40 hours and includes learning about cardiac emergencies, muscular and skeletal injuries and bleeding and shock. Blanton and other Republican proponents of the legislation say small coal-mining operators are being burdened by the requirement to have two METs on site for every shift, in some cases temporarily shutting down when only one MET is available. This really gives our small operators some room to breathe in this depressed environment, said Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, mentioning the coal industrys downturn in Eastern Kentucky. Its just about keeping these people who want jobs working. Opponents of the legislation have warned that ending the protection afforded by requiring two METs essentially having a backup if the other MET is unable to provide aid would endanger miner safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tony Oppegard, an attorney and former mine safety inspector who helped write a 2007 mine safety law that required two METs, has said the requirement was spurred by the 2005 death of a Harlan County miner, David Bud Morris. The then 29-year-old didnt receive proper first aid to stop bleeding after a loaded coal hauler nearly amputated both of his legs. The lone MET on site failed to give Morris necessary medical care. The Senate gave HB 196 final passage by a 30-7 vote after two Republicans had voted against the bill in committee and expressed concerns about how the bill could impact miner safety. Senate Majority Floor Leader Max Wise had suggested in the committee the bill could be changed. The widow of David, Stella Morris, testified against the bill in that committee. Morris son, who was a baby when Morris died, has also spoken out against the legislation. One of the two Republicans who voted against the bill in committee, Sen. Scott Maden, R-Pineville, voted for the bill on the floor. The minority of Democrats opposed the legislation. Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, who voted against the bill in the legislative committee, said he thought the bill was going to be improved after hearing some Republican concerns about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Are we doing something that benefits the industry, the corporation literally at the expense, health and wellness of the individual or we back the coal miners, the individuals, to make sure that they are safe? Yates said. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, called the death of Morris a horrific accident and said it would have been extremely hard, whether one person was there or three or four people were there to save Morris considering the seriousness of his injuries. This is cost prohibitive in some small operations, but there are still medically trained personnel on site, and this bill should pass to aid and assist the small coal mines without putting people at risk, Stivers said. Stella and Bud Morris in 2004, the Christmas before their son Landen was born. Bud bled to death in 2005 from injuries sustained while working in a Harlan County mine. (Morris family photo) Stella Morris, Bud Morris widow, dismissed any suggestion that her late husbands death wasnt preventable, pointing to a federal report after his death that quoted a paramedic as saying there would have been a very different outcome if Bud had received basic first aid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said she supports the coal mining industry in her Eastern Kentucky community but ultimately does not want another family to go through the loss of a loved one like her family did. I dont feel like they care about the miners, Morris told the Lantern. I feel like all they cared about today when they voted was the coal industry, but without the miners, you dont have a coal industry. Oppegard, the mine safety inspector who helped create the requirement for two METs, opposed HB 196 from its introduction. He said Republican lawmakers by lowering the requirement will risk the death of a coal miner while saving one of their coal operator buddies, according to his estimate, roughly $40 to $50 a week to pay a second MET on site. Lets be clear: Republican legislators dont care about the safety and health of miners, Oppegard said. Only the most callous people on the face of the earth think that way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We hope that Gov. Beshear vetoes this wrong-headed legislation. If the General Assembly overrides his veto, then they will have blood on their hands if the legislation ends up costing a miner his life. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear will now consider whether to sign the bill into law, let the bill become law without his signature or veto the legislation. The GOP supermajority in each legislative chamber can easily override any veto from Beshear. FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) Students may learn about state government through books or lectures, but seeing their state capitol and meeting legislators in-person is another story. Kentucky Electric Cooperatives once again hosted the Co-Ops at the Capitol event, where high school juniors from around the state came to the Capitol for a first-hand look at how government works. From Frankfurt, Germany, to Frankfort, Kentucky, Charlotte Hiller is a student at Metcalfe County High School in Edmonton and is originally from Germany. Shes joining other high school students across the state for the co-ops at the Capitol event. Controversial Kentucky DEI bill moves to Gov. Beshears desk after debate Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because Im not from here, I wanted to see as much as I can. I was like, Id love to go and would love to see more cities here in Kentucky, Hiller said. Getting to tour the Capitol is a first for some of these students, and the day also included meeting legislators and even taking professional photos. Jacob Edmonds and Katie Gilliam are juniors from Madison Southern High School and North Laurel High School, respectively. Ive never really experienced the Capitol and Ive never been around. Im kind of interested in government to see how it really works, Edmonds said. Im going to get to know more about Kentucky. My dad is from here, but I was born in Ecuador. He talked about how amazing Kentucky is, and this is an opportunity to learn more about my dads roots, Gilliam added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From touring the capitol to having students meet legislators, this event is also meant to show how Kentucky Electric Cooperatives is enriching their communities. Joe Arnold is vice president of strategic communications at Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. Its all about civic engagement. Its about understanding and making a connection between the people you might see on TV or the newspaper, and the people often doing the job in the state capitol, Arnold said. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Leaders like Kentucky Electric Cooperatives vice president of government affairs Chase Crigler said he hopes students take away the crucial value of communication, especially when it comes to those state leaders who are serving them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oftentimes, we find that students are our best advocates for things that electric cooperatives find important, so were very excited to teach them those skills, Crigler said. Some of the students at Thursdays event will go to Washington, D.C., in June for the Washington youth tour. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) Wasco and Lamont residents that have bulky waste will be able to take it to a designated dump area for free, thanks to Kern County Public Works. On Saturday, Lamont residents can take their unwanted items to the Lamont Branch Library at 8304 Segrue Road. The drop-off event will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., according to organizers. Never miss a story: Make KGET.com your homepage Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wasco drop-off event is scheduled for March 29, and is set to be held at Barker Park. The park is located at 1218 Poplar Avenue and officials say the event will run from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Organizers say bulky waste can include household appliances such as refrigerators and water heaters, mattresses, furniture, electronics, BBQ grills, and other large household items. Items not accepted include hazardous waste, commercial waste, demolition waste and green waste. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News. Protesters opposed to the detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil filled up Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday. The protesters, from the progressive, anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted bring Mahmoud home now while wearing red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and holding banners. Police warned the protesters to leave the building on Fifth Avenue or be arrested, and they then put them into zip ties and loaded them into police vans about an hour after the protest began, The Associated Press reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A statement from the group said more than 300 Jewish New Yorkers and allies, including rabbis, descendants of Holocaust survivors and celebrities, took part in the protest. It said the shirts also read Not in Our Name and the banners stated Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine and Fight Nazis Not Students. As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control. This moment requires all people of conscience to take bold action to resist state violence and repression. Free Mahmoud now, said Jane Hirschmann, a Jewish New Yorker whose grandfather and uncle were taken by the Nazis during the Holocaust, in the statement. Jewish Voice for Peace has been outspoken in support of Palestinian rights as well as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and sharply critical of U.S. aid for Israel. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. in the country on a green card, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration has moved to revoke Khalils green card on the basis of its accusations that he has advocated for Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. His detention has caused a significant uproar particularly on the left, with many progressive officials calling for his immediate release. Defenders of Khalil have argued that his arrest is a violation of civil rights and free speech. President Trump has said Khalil would be the first arrest of many to come and compared him and others to terrorist sympathizers. After Khalil was detained, a federal judge issued a motion to prevent him from being deported for now and held a hearing Wednesday to hear procedural arguments on the case. At the hearing, prosecutors argued for moving the case from New York to New Jersey or Louisiana, where Khalil has been held since being detained. Hundreds of protesters rallied against Khalils arrest outside the courthouse in Manhattan on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attendees at the Thursday protest included actress Debra Winger and New York City Council member Alexa Aviles. The Associated Press contributed. Updated at 1:54 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (The Hill) Protesters opposed to the detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil filled up Trump Tower in New York on Thursday. The protesters, from the progressive, anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted Bring Mahmoud home now while wearing red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and holding banners. Police warned the protesters to leave the building on Fifth Avenue or be arrested, and they then put them into zip ties and loaded them into police vans about an hour after the protest began, The Associated Press reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jewish Voice for Peace has been outspoken in support of Palestinian rights as well as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and sharply critical of U.S. aid for Israel. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. in the country on a green card, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since Saturday. Democrat: Trump supporters did not vote for this -storm The Trump administration has moved to revoke Khalils green card based on its accusations that he has advocated for Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. His detention has caused a significant uproar, particularly on the left, with many progressive officials calling for his immediate release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Defenders of Khalil have argued that his arrest is a violation of civil rights and free speech. President Donald Trump has said Khalil would be the first arrest of many to come and compared him and others to terrorist sympathizers. After Khalil was detained, a federal judge issued a motion to prevent him from being deported for now and held a hearing on Wednesday to hear procedural arguments on the case. At the hearing, prosecutors argued for moving the case from New York to New Jersey or Louisiana, where Khalil has been held since being detained. Hundreds of protesters rallied against Khalils arrest outside the courthouse in Manhattan on Wednesday. The Associated Press contributed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. The King County Auditors Office found the King County Sheriffs Office is lacking necessary transparency and accountability for the civil asset forfeiture program, according to an audit released on Tuesday. The auditors office conducted a review of the King County Sheriffs Office regarding record-keeping connected to seizures involving alleged drug crimes. The audit found that the sheriffs office had seized more than $9 million in cash and dozens of cars and houses since 2017. The sheriffs office can seize a persons property when an officer reasonably believes it was acquired, at least partially, from the sale of drugs, the King County Auditors website stated. Unless the person successfully challenges the seizure, the sheriffs office can legally keep most of the property for its own use. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency explained that challenges to seizures are decided by the sheriff unless the person opts for a full court trial. However, auditors said the notifications that a person has a right to challenge the seizure are English-only and use inaccurate and potentially confusing language. The auditors office also noted that the burden of proof to seize assets is lower than a criminal trial, and no arrests or criminal charges are required to seize such property. The auditors office makes recommendations The auditors office stated the sheriffs office records are primarily kept in case-specific paper folders, which require intensive research to determine basic facts about the scale or scope of the program as a whole. It then recommended that the sheriffs office switch to digital record keeping instead of its current paper folder system. Why does the King County audit matter? On the auditors office website, the agency explained that being transparent and taking accountability are vital to counteract an abuse of power, especially with the civil asset forfeiture program, where an agency benefits financially. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The auditors office also noted that the sheriffs office is already working to update its system. The sheriffs office is already taking steps to strengthen the controls on their civil asset forfeiture process in response to our audit, King County Auditor Kymber Waltmunson stated via a news release. It is encouraging that they are taking improvements to this sensitive, high-dollar practice seriously. King County Sheriffs Office responds The sheriffs office echoed the sentiment made by Waltmunson in a statement to MyNorthwest: We are pleased to note that the auditor recognizes the King County Sheriffs Office as a leader in this field and an example used for best practices and training for other law enforcement agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The principle recommendation is to move from a paper-based record system to a centralized digital databank, as well as regular bank-balance reconciliations and providing notices of rights in more accessible language. The audit also emphasized several positive aspects of KCSOs work. Those include: While Washington State Law allows broad authority for law enforcement in seizing private property, the sheriffs office is known for a conservation and restrained approach. The sheriffs offices threshold for asset forfeiture is high-level conspiracy cases instead of minor drug offenses. In most cases, detectives investigating a case conducted the seizures themselves, where they could provide insight and oversight. The sheriffs office employs a dedicated and specialized staff who are adept at navigating this often nuanced and complex work. The audit found no complaints about an abuse of authority or officers working outside the parameters of Washington State Law. Again, the findings in this report focus on improving recordkeeping for overall program management and reducing barriers for claimants. We have already taken steps to address some of the issues identified. A regional public transit agency with a $4 billion-plus budget appears on the verge of naming its next leader, winding down a confidential search marked by the controversial inclusion of a finalist with deep ties to King County. Sound Transit, which constructs and operates transit service throughout Pierce, King and Snohomish counties, has been seeking a new CEO following former top executive Julie Timms announcement in December 2023 that she would be leaving after just over a year at the helm. The roles publicly advertised salary range is $450,000 to $650,000 per year, although the Seattle Times reported it could be as high as $675,000, far exceeding retiring interim CEO Goran Sparrmans $500,000 annual rate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, the agency boards executive committee recommended one candidate for the job from a group of three finalists, according to Fircrest Councilman Hunter George, who joined the board last month but isnt on the executive committee. In an interview Wednesday, George declined to say whether the preferred candidate was King County Executive Dow Constantine, who also serves on the agency board and has recused himself from all matters related to the search. Each one has different strengths so that led to a really thoughtful deliberation process, George said in reference to the finalists, who board members were able to interview last week. Constantines name was publicly revealed last month and George confirmed he made it to the final trio of considered candidates. No other finalist is known. Even the lowest listed compensation for the CEO position would represent a significant increase for Constantine, whose King County salary stood at $259,426 in 2022, according to the Association of Washington Cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sound Transit wouldnt have received as many qualified applicants if they werent assured confidentiality, according to George, recalling an explanation he heard from the recruiter who has managed the effort on behalf of the agency. George said the process, which predated his arrival on the board and started with 60 applicants, had been very fair. He called each of the finalists outstanding and well-qualified. A proposed contract with the recommended candidate is expected to come before the agencys board for approval at its meeting on March 27, according to George. Dow Constantine, center, and Sound Transit board member Dave Upthegrove, right, board a Link train to Angle Lake Station in SeaTac in September 2016. Constantine is now a finalist for the CEO job at Sound Transit. Lui Kit Wong/lwong@thenewstribune.com The Seattle Times reported last month that board Chairman Dave Somers confirmed Constantine was among a group of then-five finalists, offering the lone public insight into a candidate field that has otherwise been kept private. Other finalists included high-ranking officials at transit agencies in North America, according to the Times. The agencys consideration of Constantine, a Democratic former lawmaker in King County and Washington state who previously served as Sound Transits board chair, has drawn criticism over a perceived conflict of interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a February letter to the agencys board, reported by The Urbanist, the Transit Riders Union noted that Constantine was directly or indirectly responsible for appointing 10 of 18 board members and he would be charged as CEO with evaluating a project related to the King County government complex put forward under his leadership as county executive. Seattle Subway, a grassroots transit advocacy organization, also described their conflict-of-interest concerns in a news release last month while calling for transparency in the selection process. Sound Transit must release the full list of finalists and invite public dialogue before any final decision, Seattle Subway political campaign liaison David Scott said in the release. Riders deserve to know who will shape our regions transit future, especially given ongoing issues like disruptive maintenance closures, weak real-time bus data, and significant schedule delays. At the onset of a March 3 executive committee meeting, Somers addressed Constantines candidacy, assuring that the King County executive had been excluded from the hiring process and complied with the agencys ethics code. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The board is considering the application as it would any other application, Somers said. In response to a request for an interview on his candidacy, Constantine replied with a statement Tuesday. Ive applied, and Im honored to be considered, Constantine said in an email, referring The News Tribune to Sound Transit for questions about the search. What Pierce County wants If Pierce County stakeholders shared any concerns about Constantines potential hiring, they didnt publicly divulge so. Its clear, however, that the estimated $4 billion-plus Tacoma Dome Link Extension a key local project to be advanced under the next agency leaders watch remains firmly on their minds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After a three-year delay, the project to extend light-rail trains between Tacoma and Federal Way and therefore link the service from Tacoma to Seattle is expected to open in 2035. We need reliable regional transit, and we must deliver on the promise to get light rail to the South Sound by 2035 or sooner, Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello said Monday through a county spokesperson. That requires someone with exceptional strategic acumen, project management and community engagement skills. Mello, a recent addition to Sound Transits board as vice chair and who sits on the executive committee, was optimistic about the strong slate of candidates in the CEO search but didnt have much to say about it since the hiring process was confidential, according to county spokesperson Libby Catalinich. Mello eyed several attributes in the next Sound Transit leader, she said, including experience managing very complex organizations, a holistic thinker and someone who would promote credibility and trust that the agency can deliver on projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an email on March 7, Tacoma City Council member Kristina Walker told The News Tribune that she really looked forward to bringing forward a vote for the preferred alignment of the TDLE. Finishing the light rail spine remains a priority for all of us Pierce board members, Walker said. Walker, a Sound Transit board and executive committee member, declined to comment on the CEO search but vowed to discuss the matter when a single candidate is brought before the board later this month. In an interview Monday, Laura Svancarek also declined to speak about any specific candidate. The fact that only Constantines candidacy has been publicized, however, created an imbalance in the hiring process, said Svancarek, whos the interim director of Tacoma-based transportation advocacy group Downtown On the Go. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Svancarek said she provided stakeholder input into the CEO search. She also expressed confidence in Pierce Countys four-member delegation on the agencys board, which includes Fife Mayor Kim Roscoe. Roscoe didnt return a message seeking an interview for this story. While people were most familiar with large capital projects such as the Tacoma Dome or Hilltop link extensions, Sound Transit funds support local transit and access projects too, Svancarek said, including enhanced bus service on Pacific Avenue and investments in street crossings and bike lanes. The Tacoma Dome Link Extension represented a big lift for the agencys incoming CEO, according to Svancarek, noting the importance of getting the station alignment right and authentically engaging with Tacomans about its potential impacts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The next CEO, she added, must limit further project delays, ensure fairness between regions and attempt to build relationships with people in Pierce County while being a capable administrator who understands that mega-projects are ultimately important. We need to see someone at the helm of Sound Transit that is able to navigate those challenges at the administrative level and get us through that, she said. George said that he believed the three CEO finalists and King County, which maintains 10 of 18 members on Sound Transits board, all realized that completing the light-rail extension was critical. Im satisfied that everyone understands the goal, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There stands to be much for the new CEO to contend with, including rising construction costs, the uncertainty of tariffs and expectations of not receiving much federal government aid, according to George. He said that substantially more Sound Transit service has opened within the past year and more is coming on line. It meant that the agency and its next leader must be equally committed to operations as much as construction. Were at a key moment in Sound Transits journey, George said. Theyve been building and building and building for years. And the focus has been on construction for the most part. Weve reached this inflection point where were not just a construction agency anymore, were an operating agency. PEARL RIVER COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) Pearl River County deputies arrested a Contract Kitchen employee for allegedly bringing contraband in the jail and distributing it to inmates, who were trustee kitchen workers. Investigators identified the Contract Kitchen worker as Stacey Sistrunk, 56, of Slidell, Louisiana. Four teens arrested for vandalism at Laurel sportsplex Arrests warrants were obtained for Sistrunk and inmate Talafarrow Keyes, Sr., 45, of Gulfport. They were taken into custody on March 8 while investigators searched the kitchen of the Pearl River County Jail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to deputies, investigators located contraband items that two other inmates were in possession of. They were identified as Kewane Latiker, 31, of Jackson, and Jeremy King, 33, of Biloxi. Stacey Sistrunk (Courtesy: Pearl River County Sheriffs Office) Talafarrow Keyes, Sr. (Courtesy: Pearl River County Sheriffs Office) Kewane Latiker (Courtesy: Pearl River County Sheriffs Office) Jeremy King (Courtesy: Pearl River County Sheriffs Office) Sistrunk was booked into the Pearl River County Criminal Justice Facility as an inmate. Deputies said the three trustees were removed from trustee status and placed into the Pearl River County Criminal Justice Facility. The trustees were subsequently transported back to the State Prison System. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, bashed President Donald Trumps tariffs as devastating for U.S. farmers and producers. Klobuchar, speaking at POLITICO Playbooks First 100 Days breakfast series, said Trump should be working through trade issues in the context of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, not by just declaring yourself a king. The way to negotiate this is in the USMCA, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump expanded steel and aluminum tariffs earlier this week, though he eventually delayed widespread 25 percent tariffs on a significant portion of Canadian and Mexican goods. He also lowered tariffs on potash, a key fertilizer ingredient that's largely imported from Canada, to 10 percent, which some Republicans have pushed to be exempted altogether. The tariffs are prompting panic among U.S. farmers and producers and have generated pushback from ag groups like the Farm Bureau who are concerned that prices for inputs like seeds and fertilizers could rise. Republicans on Capitol Hill, while nervous for their constituents, have been mostly willing to let Trump work through his trade negotiations. Klobuchar said she does support targeted tariffs and backs the USMCA a crown jewel of the first Trump term, she said but called Trumps current plan much different. Shortly after, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) also piled on, saying the on-again, off-again tariffs are driving Minnesota producers nuts. People are literally coming into my office and saying, 'I don't think I can do this anymore. Like I'm just, I'm gonna, I'm giving up. And that's a really worrisome thing, Smith said at the Thursday breakfast series. After almost a week, authorities continue the search for Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who went missing on a spring break trip in the Dominican Republic last week. The FBI announced on Monday that they would be joining the investigation and Konankis local sheriffs department has sent detectives to the Dominican Republic, according to ABC. Who is Sudiksha Konanki? Konanki is a 20-year-old junior at the University of Pittsburgh, studying biology. She is an Indian citizen and a permanent U.S. resident from Chantilly, Virginia, according to ABC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She and five female friends traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on March 3 for spring break. Civil defense boats search for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student from the U.S. who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Monday, March 10, 2025. | Francesco Spotorno When did Sudiksha Konanki go missing? Konanki disappeared from the beach of the Riu Republica Hotel, early in the morning on Thursday, March 6, per CNN. After going to a night club on Wednesday night, Konanki and a group of people, including her friends she had traveled with, went to the beach around 4 a.m. local time on Thursday. Shortly after they went to the beach, Konankis group of friends she was traveling with returned to the hotel. The women were seen on security camera footage returning to their room, per ABC. Konanki did not return with them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A man, who Konanki had met on the trip, stayed behind with her on the beach; police have not released the mans name. He told police that he went for a swim with Konanki and they got caught by a big wave. According to ABC, the man told authorities that when he returned to the beach he threw up and fell asleep on a beach bed. When he woke, Konanki was nowhere to be found. The man was captured by security cameras returning to his hotel room at 8:55 a.m. Konanki was last seen around 4:50 a.m. and the hotel reported that a power outage, which sent several guests out to the beach, happened at the same time, per The Hill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her clothes were found near the beach where she went missing on a portable beach bed. The police have not found any evidence of violence, according to NBC. When she was last seen, Konanki was wearing big round earrings, yellow and steel bracelets on her right hand, a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left hand, a brown bikini and a metal designer anklet on her right leg, according to The Hill. The investigation into Sudiksha Konankis disappearance The investigation into Konankis disappearance has been led by authorities in the Dominican Republic, but earlier this week the F.B.I. joined the investigation and U.S. detectives have been sent to Punta Cana, per NBC. A drone pilot searches for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student from the U.S. who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Monday, March 10, 2025. | Francesco Spotorno Loudoun County Sheriffs office, where Konanki is from, has sent detectives to the Dominican Republic to participate in the investigation. The sheriffs office has also filed for Interpol to issue a yellow notice, which is a worldwide police alert for a missing person. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators have been conducting interviews of hotel staff and Konankis friends. FBI forensic technicians are also working on an analysis of video surveillance footage, from Konankis arrival in the Dominican Republic until after her disappearance, according to The Hill. Police in the Dominican Republic have also been expanding the search perimeter. Thomas Cooper, 5, went inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber on Jan. 31 for his 36th treatment out of 40 at the Oxford Center in Troy, and moments later, the chamber exploded, burning him alive. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel brought charges against four people from the center and described the business as unscrupulous, saying that, for years, employees disregarded safety measures that would have kept Thomas alive. Here's what we know so far about the tragedy and the allegations: What happened? The explosion happened shortly before 8 a.m. on Jan. 31 at The Oxford Center at 165 Kirts Blvd. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The center, which has a second location in Brighton, offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy for a variety of conditions that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including autism, cerebral palsy, cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Cooper family's attorney told the Free Press the boy was being treated at the center for ADHD and sleep apnea, which also are not conditions approved for treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Troy Police Detective Danielle Trigger testified during a March 7 hearing that video shows the boy lying on a black mattress that had been covered by a white sheet. There was a pillow with a patterned pillowcase on it beneath his head. A gray blanket that had just been taken out of the dryer by Moffitt covered him. Trigger noted that the pillows used inside the chambers at the facility were 100% polyester, which is prohibited for use in hyperbaric chambers, "partially due to the fire risk." He rolls onto his side and pulls his knee up towards his chest, which results in a visible ignition, Trigger said. The chamber immediately begins to burn internally and in what could only be described as a fireball, ultimately killing Thomas Cooper. At the time of the initial ignition to the time the inside of the chamber is fully engulfed in flames, killing Cooper, is approximately three seconds. Who is charged? Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in Thomas death, as are the Oxford Centers operations director, Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, and its safety and training director, Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A fourth person, Aleta Harward Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, was the operator of the chamber on the morning of Thomas death and is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record. Second-degree murder carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Intentionally placing false information on a medical record is four-year felony. Why are hyperbaric chambers dangerous? Hyperbaric chambers contain 100% oxygen that is pressurized. Those conditions make the environment inside them highly combustible. And while adults at the Oxford Center were required to wear medical scrubs when using the center's chambers, children were allowed to wear their own pajamas inside, so long as they were made of 100% cotton, police said. The type of material matters, according to a 1997 study that determined synthetic materials and wool fibers can build up static charges (and) should not be permitted inside the chamber because of the risk that they could ignite a fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A video obtained by Troy police showed that the tags on Thomas' pajamas were never checked to ensure they were made of cotton before he went inside the chamber, Trigger said. And she said the facility hadn't used grounding straps for years on patients, including on Thomas the day he was killed. The straps typically are worn around the wrist during hyperbaric oxygen therapy to discharge static electricity that could spark a fire. They were found by detectives in the center's "junk drawer," according to Trigger. Who is investigating? Troy police investigated Thomas' death along with Nessel's office, which had previously investigated the center and its former director for fraud. Nessel announced the charges against the four suspects on March 11. The Oxford Center called the timing of the charges "surprising as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident has not yet been completed." "After cooperating with multiple investigations starting immediately after the tragic accident in January, we are disappointed to see charges filed," the statement said. "There are still outstanding questions about how this occurred. Yet, the Attorney Generals office proceeded to pursue charges without those answers." What is the evidence against those who are charged? Peterson, Marken and Mosteller allegedly advised employees that grounding strips, a safety measure, were not necessary, despite industry experts, safety manuals, and the Oxford Center's own training materials suggesting otherwise. Police say Mosteller conducted his own experiments in an attempt to prove grounding straps are not necessary, even though he could not recall to police one facility that does not use them in his 41 years of experience with hyperbaric chambers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Troy police and Nessel laid out evidence that Peterson, Marken and Mosteller disregarded safety measures for years. Further allegations include: The chamber Thomas was in hadn't been inspected since 2022, had a manufacture date of 2013, and its grounding wires were visibly in worse condition than the other chambers. Authorities said Marken, likely at the direction of Peterson, dialed back that chamber's life cycle indicator. After the fire, the number of cycles was less than it was in 2022. After Thomas' death, police said Peterson ran away from detectives when they asked for her cellphone and had her son scrub her laptop. Still, police found electronic messages on Peterson's devices, including an exchange in which Peterson sent photos of the boys burning body and wrote something to the effect of: If my leg was on fire, I would at least try to hit it and put it out. He just laid there and did nothing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peterson's messages also show that when she was asked whether the company was promoting hyperbaric chambers to treat erectile dysfunction, she responded: "Whatever gets bodies in those chambers, lol." And police said Peterson tried to hide video footage from detectives, first telling them recordings from the Troy facility were accessible only at the centers Brighton location, and then later stating she did not remember the password to access the video system. What are defense attorneys saying? Peterson's attorney, Gerald Gleeson II, said he wanted to obtain the investigation documents from the Attorney General's Office before commenting on allegations against his client. Marken's attorney, Raymond Cassar, has said the tragedy was an accident rather than intentional. He said Marken wasn't tasked with overseeing the hyperbaric chamber, and the charges against him were shocking to Marken and his family. His client has cooperated with the investigation, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're going to fight," he pledged. Ellen Michaels, a lawyer representing Moffitt, said Moffitt was a "dedicated" and "hardworking" hourly worker at the Oxford Center who adhered to corporate policies created by its leaders. "Everything that has been presented to the court to this point are allegations, not facts, not evidence," Michaels said. "We look forward to reviewing the actual evidence. We believe in letting this process unfold." An attorney for Mosteller was not listed in court records as of March 13. More: 5-year-old killed in hyperbaric chamber identified by family: 'He loved life' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Police say CEO ran away, tried to hide evidence after boy's hyperbaric chamber death What has the Cooper family said? Thomas' mother, who was at the center with him, tried to save her son but couldn't get him out of the chamber. She sustained burns on her arms and hands in the process. The Cooper family has retained counsel from the Fieger Law Firm. Thomas' parents were unaware of the danger their son faced, a lawyer representing the family told the Detroit Free Press. Thomas was described by his family as curious, energetic and thoughtful. His mother, Annie Cooper, witnessed a horrifying scene, said James Harrington, managing partner at Fieger Law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's literally the worst thing that any parent could (experience)," Harrington said. "And poor Thomas ... his last moments of life were being engulfed in flames and perishing in front of his mother. He was certainly aware of what was going on." Harrington said the Cooper family has yet to sue the Oxford Center for what happened to their son, but he said legal action was coming. More about the people charged Peterson is the center's founder and CEO. The Oxford Center's website says she founded the center after trying hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help her daughter, who lost the ability to walk or talk following viral encephalitis infection. The website says the treatment "saved her daughter's life." The goal of the center is to make alternative therapies financially accessible to families, she wrote. The center's website suggests Mosteller "has worked in every aspect of hyperbaric medicine," in his decadeslong career. In a recorded podcast episode, he spoke of "all of the amazing possibilities that hyperbarics offers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marken described himself in a recorded podcast interview as a foster parent and grandfather of seven, and said he works to help men overcome mental health struggles as they age. Moffitt's lawyer said she is a beloved mother of four who goes to church and is embedded in her community. During her arraignment on March 11, loved ones of Moffitt submitted 16 letters of support for the magistrate's consideration. How long has the Oxford Center been in business? Its website says the center opened in 2008. Has it been in trouble before? The Oxford Center has generated controversy prior to Thomas' death. In August, the facility's former director Kimberly Coden pleaded guilty to nine charges after officials with the state attorney general's office said she used false credentials to treat children with autism. She falsely presented herself as a board-certified behavioral analyst without being licensed and without the proper education and used an actual analysts certification to get jobs within the health sector, officials said. And she had also used professional business cards, verbal statements, written documents and presented university degrees she allegedly didnt earn. Coden also tried to intimidate a witness through text messages to keep them from testifying against her, officials said. When Coden pleaded guilty, her lawyer said her client was "really, truly remorseful." Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@freepress.com or on X: @andreamsahouri. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What we know about the Oxford Center hyperbaric chamber child death MUSCAT, Oman (AP) Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. Even before the talks, however, there was a dispute over just how the negotiations would go. President Donald Trump insists they'll be direct negotiations. However, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he'd be speaking indirectly through a mediator to U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The difference may seem small, but it matters. Indirect talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign targeting the country. He has again suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own. Here's what to know about the letter, Iran's nuclear program and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Why did Trump write the letter? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: Ive written them a letter saying, I hope youre going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, its going to be a terrible thing. Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites. A previous letter from Trump during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader. But Trumps letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyangs atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How has Iran reacted? Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program. We dont avoid talks; its the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far, Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting. They must prove that they can build trust. Khamenei seemingly reacted to comments by Trump renewing his threat of military action. They threaten to commit acts of mischief, but we are not entirely certain that such actions will take place, the supreme leader said. We do not consider it highly likely that trouble will come from the outside. However, if it does, they will undoubtedly face a strong retaliatory strike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei went further. An open threat of bombing by a Head of State against Iran is a shocking affront to the very essence of International Peace and Security, he wrote on the social platform X. Violence breeds violence, peace begets peace. The US can choose the course...; and concede to CONSEQUENCES. The state-owned Tehran Times newspaper, without citing a source, claimed that Iran had readied missiles with the capability to strike U.S.-related positions. That's as the U.S. has stationed stealth B-2 bombers in Diego Garcia within striking distance of both Iran and Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, which America has been bombing intensely since March 15. Why does Iran's nuclear program worry the West? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so. Ali Larijani, an adviser to Irans supreme leader, has warned in a televised interview that his country has the capability to build nuclear weapons, but it is not pursuing it and has no problem with the International Atomic Energy Agencys inspections. However, he said if the U.S. or Israel were to attack Iran over the issue, the country would have no choice but to move toward nuclear weapon development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you make a mistake regarding Irans nuclear issue, you will force Iran to take that path, because it must defend itself," he said. Why are relations so bad between Iran and the U.S.? Iran was once one of the U.S.'s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shah's rule. But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Iran's theocratic government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah's extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The Tanker War during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner that the American military said it mistook for a warplane. Iran and the U.S. have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today. ___ Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/ KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) Its a situation no one wants to think could happen to them: dying in circumstances when your immediate family and loved ones may not know what happened. One Knoxville case this week shed light on how law enforcement works to give families closure as soon as possible. On Tuesday, Knoxville Police shared a photo of a man on social media, asking the public for help finding his next-of-kin. According to KPD, Brian Forbes, 71, died from natural causes at his home on Kingsmore Drive in February. Brian Forbes (Knoxville Police Department) A spokesperson for the department told 6 News that Forbes body was discovered after a neighbor asked for a welfare check for him on March 3. The neighbor told officers that they had not seen Forbes since February 25 and had knocked on his door but did not get a response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sevier County woman still missing after 2010 house fire Officers and the Knoxville Fire Department entered the home where Forbes body was found. The spokesperson added that Forbes had not been living alone for a long period. He said Forbes wife had died around the end of 2024. In cases when Knoxville Police need to identify a persons next-of-kin, detectives and officers utilize law enforcement databases, open-source information and traditional investigative methods. In this case, when those attempts were unsuccessful, KPD turned to the public in hopes of finding Forbes family. That effort paid off. Roughly 30 hours after KPD asked for the publics help, the department shared that Forbes next-of-kin had been found and notified of his passing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If his next-of-kin had not been located, there is an additional measure that may have helped officials. The Knox County Regional Forensic Center explained that the responsibility of locating and notifying a decedents next-of-kin falls on law enforcement, but in more difficult cases, there is an organization that can sometimes help. Number of unclaimed remains at Knox County forensic center climbs above 425 Unclaimed Persons is an online group of volunteer genealogical researchers who help professionals find the next-of-kin for people whose names are known but whose families are not. The group began as a closed-group Facebook page in June 2008, and as of March 29, 2024, they have helped solve 619 cases. The groups website includes a form that medical examiners, coroners and investigators can fill out to request assistance from the group. Unclaimed Persons says they have a 71% solve rate, however, the forensic center said it can sometimes be weeks or months before they get a response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A forensic center spokesperson said he was surprised to see Knoxville Polices post, but he hopes they will continue doing this for others. Lonely Bones: Stories of the Forgotten Dead Cases similar to Forbes make up a portion of the Knox County Regional Forensic Centers unclaimed persons list, which currently includes 435 names. Sometimes, people die and do not have family to claim them, and for others, their family may decline to or be unable to claim them for various reasons. Click here to learn more about the unclaimed remains list and how many people were added last year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. The weekend will bring more severe weather to East Tennessee. The forecast from the National Weather Service office in Morristown calls for rain and gusty winds in the afternoon and evening on Saturday, March 15. There is a potential for tornadoes, damaging wind, hail and flash flooding across the region. A high wind watch will be in place for Tennessee's easternmost communities from Friday, March 14, through Saturday night. Gusts of wind up to 80 miles per hour are possible, according to the National Weather Service. The winds could blow down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's what to expect from the storm. When could severe weather hit East Tennessee? The threat of severe weather in East Tennessee is greatest on Saturday night from around 8 p.m. to midnight, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Dalton. A severe weather outbreak is likely across the region with the greatest threat in our area being along the Cumberland Plateau into southeast Tennessee. Some details still remain unclear but will be better resolved soon. pic.twitter.com/70Q4jrdn71 NWS Morristown (@NWSMorristown) March 13, 2025 How much could it rain in East Tennessee? Mountain City: 1-1.5 inches Kingsport: 1-1.5 inches Greeneville: 1-1.5 inches Morristown: 1-1.5 inches Knoxville: 1-1.5 inches Gatlinburg: 1.5-2 inches La Follette: 2-3 inches Oneida: 2-3 inches Sunbright: 2-3 inches Kingston: 2-3 inches Where are tornadoes possible on Saturday? Tornadoes are possible on Saturday night, March 15. Tornados will be most possible in Southeast Tennessee in the central Cumberland plateau, according to Dalton. If there is a tornado in northeast Tennessee, near Knoxville, it would likely be a "quick hit" in the line of storms. Does Knoxville have tornado sirens? No, Knox County does not have any type of outdoor tornado sirens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Sirens have some notable limitations and theyre not the most efficient or cost-effective way of warning the community," Colin Ickes, director of the Knoxville-Knox County Emergency Management Agency, told Knox News in 2023. When is tornado season in Tennessee? Tennessee usually sees the highest number of tornadoes during April, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Usually, tornado season runs from March to May in Tennessee. Tennessee Connect reporter Joyce Orlando contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville could see severe thunderstorm outbreak with tornadoes, rain By Alimat Aliyeva The Heads of Government of Belgium and the Netherlands recently visited Luxembourg to strengthen cooperation within the Benelux countries, particularly in the area of defense policy, in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The leaders of the three countries gathered at the Senningen Castle in Luxembourg for a significant meeting, Azernews reports. "We want to work more together, buy together, and produce together," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel after the discussions. He emphasized that simply spending money on defense isn't enough; it is also crucial to invest effectively to maximize resources. This sentiment was echoed by the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands and Belgium, Mark Rutte and Alexander De Croo, respectively. "The Benelux Union was established in 1944, during the context of the Second World War. Today, we face a new war in Europe, and this calls for even closer cooperation between the Benelux countries," stated Prime Minister De Croo. Following the meeting, the defense ministers of the three countries are expected to identify specific areas of cooperation and collaboration. "We need to do more. We need to meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP allocated to defense," said De Wever. He emphasized that this target should not remain static, and expressed hope that the upcoming NATO summit this summer would set even higher targets. De Wever, who made his first trip abroad to Luxembourg after taking office, highlighted the importance of moving beyond the current goal to better prepare for future security challenges. In addition to defense cooperation, the leaders also discussed expanding economic ties and enhancing joint efforts in the fight against transnational crime. This includes strengthening border security, tackling organized crime, and enhancing intelligence sharing. The meeting in Senningen underscored the importance of continued collaboration among the Benelux countries, as they navigate shifting geopolitical landscapes. It also serves as a reminder of the critical role small, yet strategically important, nations can play in shaping European and global security frameworks. The Benelux countries are looking to build on their long-standing history of cooperation and reinforce their commitment to shared security and prosperity. HONOLULU (KHON2) A Kona man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes committed in 2022 and 2023, according to the Big Island Prosecutors Office. 7yo girl dies after e-bike crash in Ewa Beach Dyllan Paulo-Leslie was convicted of robbing a restaurant in the Kalolo Industrial Park in November 2022. Authorities said he used a firearm during the robbery before fleeing the scene in a vehicle, which he later crashed. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You When police arrived, Paulo-Leslie fired at an officer, hitting the officers vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In April 2023, Paulo-Leslie escaped from the Hawaii Community Correctional Center (HCCC) by scaling a fence. He was captured the following day in a ravine near Hilo High School. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Paulo-Leslie had previously pleaded guilty to all charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) Hashim Thaci, the former president of Kosovo who is facing war crime charges, was briefly released from a European Union-backed court on Thursday to visit his ill father. Thaci was seen visiting his father for about three hours at the public hospital in Kosovos capital Pristina accompanied by close family members, local media reported. Scores of cheering supporters who were waiting outside the hospital building were kept at bay by police officers of the European Union Rule of Law Mission, known as EULEX. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thaci and other senior leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, which waged Kosovos 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, have been in custody at the court of The Hague, Netherlands, since November 2020 where they face charges including murder, torture and persecution during and after the war. The court in The Hague and a linked prosecutors office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations have not been included in indictments issued by the court. Some 11,400 people who died in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo were ethnic Albanians. A 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian troops ended the fighting, but tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade and its key allies Russia and China refuse to recognize. A European Union-facilitated dialogue on normalization of their ties, which started in 2011, has given scarce results. MYKOLAIV, Ukraine President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia was ready for a ceasefire but suggested Ukraine would need to accept further conditions before an agreement could be reached. We agree with the proposals to stop the hostilities, Putin said at a news conference. While Russia would support a pause in the fighting, there are issues that need to be discussed, he said, adding that he may need to have a phone call with Trump. In an apparent response to his statements, President Donald Trump said Thursday that Putin put out "a promising statement" but that he would like to see Russia agree to a ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump said he hoped Russia would "do the right thing," adding that "serious discussions" with Putin and others are underway. Asked whether he was willing to meet with Putin, Trump said, Id love to meet with him and talk to him. Russian President Vladimir Putin on a visit to the Kursk region Wednesday. Trumps envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Thursday and is expected to meet with Putin. Putin had expressed concern that the temporary ceasefire suggested by the United States and Ukraine would give Kyiv's forces an opportunity to regroup and questioned the mechanisms for preventing that during a potential ceasefire. Details like who would monitor and enforce the truce would also need to be considered, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin has long held maximalist demands for ending a war in which Russia believes it has the upper hand. He has previously said he wants Ukraine to withdraw from its regions partly occupied by Russia essentially giving even more land to the Kremlin promise never to join NATO and protect Russian culture and language inside the country. Earlier Thursday, he urged his soldiers to secure a quick and decisive victory on a visit to the front lines. Putin's statement was Moscow's first public reaction to the temporary 30-day ceasefire plan Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Ukrainian counterparts sketched out in Saudi Arabia this week. Trump has suggested he could hit Russia with sanctions if it rejected the proposal. Earlier Thursday, Putin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the outlined plan "nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told Russian state media that the "goal is still a long-term peaceful settlement ... [that] takes into account the legitimate interests of our country." "Steps that imitate peaceful actions, it seems to me, are of no use to anyone," he added, saying that he conveyed that position to U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz in a phone call Wednesday. During a recent visit to Russia's embattled Kursk region, NBC News images show a statue of Lenin outside a municipal building in Rylsk, along with the shattered remains of a bombed-out concert hall and elementary school. Putin, a former KGB agent, was dressed in military fatigues as he visited Kursk, the only region of Russia partly occupied by Ukrainian troops. Soon afterward, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had recaptured the town of Sudzha, the largest settlement previously occupied by Ukrainian forces. Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible time frame, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region, Putin said. He also suggested creating a security zone on the border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday at a media briefing that there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated soon enough. Rubio may discuss the war when he meets Thursday with the top diplomats at the Group of Seven, or G7, summit in Quebec City, a potentially awkward appointment, given that Trump has repeatedly said he wants to take over Canada. U.S. and Russian officials have been talking behind the scenes this week. Trump had dispatched Witkoff to Russia while threatening sanctions against the Kremlin. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia, Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office. I dont want to do that, because I want to get peace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the threat, Trump has asked the Kremlin for few concessions while openly suggesting that Ukraine will have to agree to many of Putins demands. Steve Witkoff speaks to the media outside the White House last week. European leaders have welcomed the suggestion from talks in Saudi Arabia of an interim 30-day ceasefire. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his nightly address Wednesday about Russia's history of breaking truces. The key is our partners ability to ensure that Russia is ready not to deceive but to truly end the war, he said. Ukrainian officials and residents say they want peace, but only alongside security guarantees that ensure the Kremlin does not attack again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think 99% of Ukrainians wants the war to end in a fair way, Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv oblast, told NBC News on Wednesday. We want some guarantees that it will not come back in a couple of years. Here, in the southern city of Mykolaiv, some residents are deeply unimpressed by what they see as Trumps attempts to force Ukraine into an unfavorable and risky settlement. Its like a young childs tricks, said Yuriy, 46, a construction worker pushing a baby in a stroller near the citys memorial for dead soldiers. My daughter is acting in her 1-month life better than Trump in his 70-plus years. She at least s---- in her diapers, and that guy s---- on the whole world. One country taking no chances is Poland, the former Eastern Bloc nation that raised defense spending to 4.7% this year and is among Russias most vocal critics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Andrzej Duda told The Financial Times newspaper Thursday that he wanted the United States to redeploy U.S. nuclear weapons from Western Europe to inside his country. There should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east, he said. For me, this is obvious. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the United States-brokered proposal for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war on Thursday, setting forth tough conditions and demanding concessions from Kyiv despite saying he supported a truce in theory. We agree with the proposal to cease hostilities but we have to bear in mind that this ceasefire must be aimed at a long-lasting peace and it must look at the root causes of the crisis, Putin said at a news conference repeating the Kremlins previous claims that the current Ukrainian government is part of the underlying problem. Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. At the time, Putin demanded that Ukraine never be allowed into NATO, and that the bloc roll back its military footprint in Eastern and Central Europe which the US and its allies dismissed as non-starters, condemning the invasion as a blatant land grab. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin also suggested that Ukraine halt mobilization and any training of its troops, and that other nations stop supplying weapons to Kyiv during the ceasefire at a time when Russian troops are advancing on almost all areas of combat contact. Though the US idea is great and correct, many things still need to be discussed, he said, adding that maybe he would call US President Donald Trump. The news conference came as American special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to brief Kremlin officials on the peace plan. Ukrainian officials had accepted the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire covering the entire front line after holding talks with US counterparts in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow late Thursday night, two Trump administration officials told CNN. The meeting lasted several hours and stretched into early Friday morning, the officials said. Witkoff left Russia shortly after the meeting wrapped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The officials provided no detail on the substance of the meeting. However, Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News Sean Hannity that We do have some cautious optimism. The interview took place after the meeting between Witkoff and Putin ended. Putin sent additional signals to Trump through Witkoff, the Kremlin said on Friday. Additional information was provided to the Russian side. Putin also passed information and additional signals to President Trump through Witkoff, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call. Meanwhile, Putins Thursday comments quickly drew condemnation from Kyiv, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing the Russian leader of dragging out the negotiations rather than rejecting the deal completely. Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians, he said, criticizing Putins response as very manipulative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later on Thursday, Trump called Putins response promising but not complete. Id love to meet with them or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast. You know, every day, people are being killed, he said in the Oval Office, adding that it will be a very disappointing moment for the world if Russia does not agree to the ceasefire. He also said the US has been discussing with Ukraine what land would be kept and lost in any final deal. So, a lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed, he said. Russian officials take harder line Putin raised a host of questions echoed by other Russian officials, some of whom took a stronger stance against the proposed ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The concerns Putin raised included what would happen in Russias western Kursk region, where Ukraine occupies some territory; how the ceasefire would be verified; and how Kyiv would use the 30-day truce. What will we do with this area in the Kursk region if we stop military actions for 30 days, does this mean that everyone who is there will leave without a fight? Should we release them from there after they have committed a lot of crimes against civilians? Putin said, though hed also said earlier that Kursk was back under Russian control and Ukrainian troops were completely isolated. Earlier on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuriy Ushakov said Moscow doesnt want a temporary ceasefire, claiming it would give a break to the Ukrainian army. Ushakov said he explained Russias stance to US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in a Wednesday phone call. (I) outlined our position that this is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military and nothing more, Ushakov said in an interview with Russian state media, pouring cold water on the proposal before Thursdays talks began. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quick to clarify that Ushakovs remarks should not be seen as a Russian rejection of the US proposal, and that Moscow was awaiting further information before making a decision. Ushakov also claimed that the Americans and we think that there can be no talk about NATO in the context of the Ukrainian settlement and in the context of Ukraines future. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova went further, saying on Thursday there must not be any foreign military presence in Ukraine. For us, it is absolutely unacceptable to deploy units of the armed forces of other states in Ukraine under any flag, whether it be a foreign contingent, military bases, or some peacekeeping operations, Zakharova said, adding that Russia would respond with with all available means. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked Wednesday about the possibility of European troops acting as peacekeepers, the top US diplomat responded: Theres different ways to construct a deterrent on the ground. Meanwhile, the Russian military said Thursday it had recaptured Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine once occupied in Kursk, threatening Kyivs sole territorial bargaining chip amid pressure to negotiate an end to the war, in what would represent a symbolic victory for the Kremlin. This story has been updated. CNNs Matthew Chance, Jennifer Hansler and Alayna Treene contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The Kremlin has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may address a possible ceasefire with Ukraine on Thursday if reporters ask him about it, state agency TASS reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was set to take questions from reporters with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, while the latter is on an official visit to Russia. "Everything will depend on what reporters will ask," Peskov told TASS when asked whether Putin would comment on issues beyond Minsk-Moscow relations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During talks between the United States and Ukraine in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Tuesday, a Ukrainian delegation expressed willingness to agree to an immediate 30-day comprehensive ceasefire if Russia does the same. The US administration then lifted the temporary halt on arms deliveries to Kiev in return to Ukraine's gesture of goodwill. On Wednesday, Peskov had said that Moscow would not publicly comment on the proposal discussed by the US and Ukraine until it knows all the details. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have promised to provide Moscow with all the information about the Jeddah negotiations. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a US delegation was on its way to Moscow. Later, the White House announced that special envoy Steve Witkoff would visit Russia in a few days. Trump had also said that he wanted to speak to Putin by phone soon perhaps this week. President Donald Trumps special envoy for Ukraine and Russia was excluded from high-level talks on ending the war after the Kremlin said it didn't want him there, a U.S. administration official and a Russian official told NBC News. Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg was conspicuously absent from two recent summits in Saudi Arabia one with Russian officials and the other with Ukrainians even though the talks come under his remit. Together, Trump said in announcing Kelloggs nomination in November, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Kellogg did not attend U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on Feb. 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he was too pro-Ukraine, a senior Russian official with direct knowledge of the Kremlins thinking told NBC News. Kellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. Not our kind of person, not of the caliber we are looking for, according to the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. A U.S. official in the Trump administration, who is also not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that Russia did not want Kellogg involved. The official did not know when that was communicated to the White House. Where this leaves Kellogg is unclear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellogg's office did not respond to requests for comment on why he has not been involved in the negotiations and whether Russia had requested that he not attend. National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt said Trump had utilized the talents of multiple senior administration officials to assist in the bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution. He added that Kellogg remained a valued part of the team, especially as it relates to talks with our European allies. Ending the war Kellogg, 80, is a staunch Trump loyalist who served in various roles in Trumps first term, including a stint as Vice President Mike Pences national security adviser. Before he was confirmed as Trumps envoy for Russia-Ukraine peace in January, he wrote about what he called the Biden administrations incompetent foreign policies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Keith Kellogg in Kyiv last month. In a paper for the America First Policy Institute, which was founded to promote Trumps policies, he suggested that to end the war the United States should arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses, thus ensuring that Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia, Kellogg and his co-author, Fred Fleit, wrote. During his presidential campaign, Trump said that it was a top priority to end the war, which started in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor, and that he would halt hostilities 24 hours after taking office. The war has raged on after Trump became president for a second time, with Russia making slow progress on the battlefield in Ukraine and pressing Ukrainian forces that had taken a sliver of Russian territory across the border in Kursk. Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery toward Russian positions in the Donetsk region last year. On Feb. 11, Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, went to Moscow and spent 3 hours with Putin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no official account of their meeting. Witkoff had traveled to Russia to help secure the release of Marc Fogel, an American teacher held for 3 years for a minor medical cannabis infraction. In a CBS News interview, Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and a friend of Trumps, called his hourslong meeting with Putin a trust building assignment from Trump. He said that he was the only U.S. official present at the meeting and that he carried a message for Putin from Trump. Witkoff also said Putin had something for me to transmit back to the president but did not say what it was. The following day, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had spoken with Putin and that they had agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately. We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each others Nations, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said that during the 90-minute call, Putin expressed readiness to receive American officials in Russia regarding areas of mutual interest, including, of course, the topic of Ukrainian settlement. On Feb. 13, Trump announced a list of diplomats who would attend the talks with Russia. Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and national security adviser Michael Waltz were on the team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio Kellogg was not on the list. A second U.S. official told NBC News at the time that the decision stung him. U.S. and Russian officials meet at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace on Feb. 18. A representative for Witkoff would not comment when NBC News asked whether his boss discussed Kelloggs exclusion with Putin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked last week whether Russian officials had requested that Kellogg not be included in the high-level talks, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that it was up to American leaders to fix their delegation and that Russias diplomats had great experience of dealing with different envoys. Andrei Fedorov, a former deputy foreign minister who maintains close ties with the Kremlin, went further, telling NBC News that Kellogg was not the person with whom Russia will negotiate with because his position on the talks was to freeze the front line in Ukraine. Russia wants Kyivs forces to withdraw from Ukrainian regions where there is still fighting, including the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia administrative regions, known as oblasts, Fedorov, said. Russia illegally annexed the regions, along with Donetsk and Luhansk, in September 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Little was said about the war in Ukraine after Rubio and his team met with Russian officials in Riyadh on Feb. 18, although Rubio did announce that the countries had agreed to restore embassy staffing. Trump has since played hardball with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with relations reaching a low point after their extraordinary Oval Office spat on Feb. 28. The United States subsequently paused intelligence sharing and providing security assistance to Ukraine. National security adviser Michael Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, met with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The pause was lifted Tuesday after a Ukrainian delegation agreed to a proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire at a meeting in Saudi Arabia with Rubio and his team Kellogg was not present. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Thursday, Trump dispatched Witkoff to Russia again. Shortly after he arrived, Putin said at a news conference that he agreed with the proposals to stop the hostilities but that there were issues that needed to be discussed. He added that he may need to have a phone call with Trump. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Thursdays Top Stories Thursdays Five Facts [1] UNM purchases former problem Motel 6 near Lobo Village The University of New Mexico has purchased a Motel 6 that has been the scene of several incidents near student housing. Records show over the last five years there have been more than 3,000 calls for police and EMS to the Motel 6 off Avenida Cesar Chavez. Since the hotel sits near the UNM student housing at Lobo Village, the constant problems sparked UNM to buy the property in February. The property cost the university $5 million [2] Deputy placed on leave in connection to DWI scandal The Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office has placed Deputy Jeffry Bartram on paid administrative leave in connection to the DWI dismissal scandal. According to Deanna Aragon, a BCSO spokesperson, this comes as part of the internal investigation launched by Sheriff John Allen, which was prompted by the FBIs criminal investigation. Bartram is the third BCSO employee to be linked to the scandal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [3] Stronger storm system arrives in New Mexico More-persistent winds are set to return before two potent systems arrive late this week into the early weekend. More-unstable atmospheric conditions in the form of the stronger low pressure system late tonight will provide a drop in temperatures tomorrow morning with even stronger winds more likely being damaging. [4] Lawmakers receive feedback on bill that would cap medical malpractice lawyers fees A bill some lawmakers say could bring more doctors to New Mexico is sparking a debate in the Roundhouse. The bill would cap attorneys fees in medical malpractice lawsuits, as well as end lump sum payouts from the patient compensation fund. Instead, the bill would send 75% of any punitive damages awarded to victims to a new public fund designed to improve patient safety. Lawmakers are set to make a decision on if the bill will move out of committee on Friday. [5] New Mexico launches Alzheimers awareness campaign New Mexico is rolling out a first-of-its-kind campaign promoting early Alzheimers detection. The Take Action. Talk. initiative will use billboards, digital ads, and online outreach to raise awareness. Officials stress that early diagnoses expand treatment options and can ease care costs. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Terrible though it is, Ukraines forced withdrawal from Kursk makes peace negotiations with Russia more likely. Indeed had Putin not been able to drive the Ukrainian army out, he is unlikely to have even contemplated peace talks. He would have demanded that Kyiv pull out of his territory first. That would have been a huge political challenge for Zelensky, on top of all the others he faces: the idea of voluntarily withdrawing from conquered Russian land while at the same time ceding large areas of his own country to the enemy. Putin has the whip hand, and one of the strategic objectives of the Kursk offensive gaining a bargaining chip for future peace negotiations could never realistically have paid off. General Oleksandr Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian army, now knows that, which is why in recent days he has been talking about preserving as many of his soldiers lives as possible rather than fighting to hold his ground. Kyiv had also hoped that driving its troops into Russian territory would force Putin to deploy substantial forces to recover it, thus easing pressure on the front lines in Donbas. It didnt work out that way either. Instead Russia contained and assaulted the Kursk salient with limited forces and called up North Korean troops to make up the numbers. Meanwhile, of course, Ukraine had to find the forces to attack into Kursk and, with overall manpower shortages, they had to come from the battlefront. We cant calculate the net military effect of that. Since the initial offensive in Kursk began last August Russia has continued to advance in the Donbas, albeit slowly, but it is possible that Ukraine might have lost even more of its territory there if it werent for Kursk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although battles and wars are sometimes won by high stakes gambles, the strategic wisdom of the Kursk offensive was always questionable. It may be that in Kyivs high command, political rather than military considerations dominated the decision making. When the operation began, the US election was looming very close and there was the need to strengthen support in both the Republican and Democratic camps as well as in Europe. Since the failed counter offensive in 2023, Western hopes that Ukraine might prevail had sharply fallen away, and after that, much political bandwidth was diverted to the Middle East. At Kursk, Kyiv hoped to galvanise international support through replicating the optimism created by successful counter attacks around Kharkiv and Kherson in 2022. With this bold new offensive Zelensky wanted to again show the world that Ukraine was still in the fight and could win, if only provided the tools to do so. But by then it was too late. Governments in the US and Europe had given up on Ukraine being able to push the Russians out and were focused only on some kind of negotiated settlement. That sorry state of affairs had come to pass due to their own timorousness since the war began. Following Putins invasion in February 2022, fearing Putins wrath, Joe Biden and his European counterparts had supplied Ukraine with barely sufficient military resources to defend itself but nowhere near enough to win. Even Kursk, the first invasion of Russian territory since the Second World War, could not change that. Self-evidently, it is vital to show strength ahead of negotiations and the Wests failure over three years to adequately bolster Ukraines fighting capability has led us to the opposite position. The defeat at Kursk is a tragic allegory for the dire situation that the country now faces. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Kutztown University is offering new scholarships for displaced federal employees and those unemployed due to federal cuts who are looking to add new skills and training. The scholarships are available at the undergraduate, graduate and non-credit workforce development levels. Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for a one-time scholarship of $1,000 for full-time students. Prorated discounts are available for part-time students. All application fees are waived. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Undergraduate degree-seeking students can contact Steve Lem, academic advising and student development, at 610-683-4471 or lem@kutztown.edu. Graduate degree-seeking students can contact Kittie Pain, graduate enrollment, at 610-683-4200 or graduate@kutztown.edu. In addition, KUs non-credit workforce development program, KU Advance, is offering six months of free non-credit training to the first 1,000 displaced federal employees through Courseras Career Academy. The academy includes more than 300 courses and more than 40 non-credit certificates ranging from data analysis to social media management. Non-credit students can learn more at the KU Advance website or by contacting Lori Lentz, extended learning, at extendedlearning@kutztown.edu. Kuwait has released a group of American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on drug-related charges, in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill between two allies, a representative for the detainees told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the Trump administrations top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued US government push to bring home American citizens jailed in foreign countries. Six of the newly freed prisoners were accompanied on a flight from Kuwait to New York by Jonathan Franks, a private consultant who works on cases involving American hostages and detainees and who had been in the country to help secure their release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My clients and their families are grateful to the Kuwaiti government for this kind humanitarian gesture, Franks said in a statement. He said that his clients maintain their innocence and that additional Americans he represents also are expected to be released by Kuwait later. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The names of the released prisoners were not immediately made public. This image provided by Jonathan Franks shows Franks with six American prisoners detained by Kuwait as they pose for a photo at Kuwait International Airport Wednesday, March 12, 2025, before flying home to the United States. Franks is a private consultant who helped work for their release. - Jonathan Franks via AP Kuwait, a small, oil-rich nation that borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and is near Iran, is considered a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid tribute to that relationship as recently as last month, when he said the US remains steadfast in its support for Kuwaits sovereignty and the well-being of its people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The countries have had a close military partnership since the US launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the country, with some 13,500 American troops stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base. But Kuwait has also detained many American military contractors on drug charges, in some cases, for years. Their families have alleged that their loved ones faced abuse while imprisoned in a country that bans alcohol and has strict laws regarding drugs. Others have criticized Kuwaiti police for bringing trumped-up charges and manufacturing evidence used against them allegations never acknowledged by the autocratic nation ruled by a hereditary emir. The State Department warns travelers that drug charges in Kuwait can carry long prison sentences and the death penalty. Defense cooperation agreements between the US and Kuwait likely include provisions that ensure US troops are subject only to American laws, though that likely doesnt include contractors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, his Republican administration has secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel in a prisoner swap with Russia and has announced the release by Belarus of an imprisoned US citizen. The Americans released Wednesday had not been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained. The status is applied to a subsection of Americans jailed abroad and historically ensures the case is handled by the administrations special presidential envoy for hostage affairs the office that handles negotiations for a release. But advocates of those held in foreign countries are hopeful the Trump administration takes a more flexible approach and secures the release of those not deemed wrongfully detained. The sad reality is that these Americans were left in prison for years due to a misguided policy that had, before President Trump took office, effectively abandoned Americans abroad who hadnt been designated wrongfully detained, Franks said in a statement. These releases, he added, demonstrate what is achievable when the U.S. government prioritizes bringing Americans home. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced further dismissals of top city officials on March 13 amid a widening corruption probe into land dealings in the capital. The dismissals follow revelations from Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), which released recordings of Kyiv officials allegedly involved in fraudulent land schemes. "Regarding the latest high-profile news concerning the capital's land sector, the city provides law enforcement officers with all requested documents and facilitates the investigation," Klitschko wrote on Facebook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The following officials are set to be dismissed: Ihor Dolinsky, director of the Kyiv Institute of Land Relations; Volodymyr Sharyi, director of the special housing fund; Viktor Pohrebnoi, director of the Financial Company Zhytloinvest; and Valentina Sviatina, deputy director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture, Klitschko said. Klitschko previously announced on Feb. 28 that Yurii Leonov, deputy director of the city's special housing fund, Oleksii Mushta, deputy head of an urban infrastructure management agency, and Petro Olenych, deputy head of the Kyiv City Administration, are also being fired. Kyiv city council member and chairman of the land commission Mykhailo Terentiev has written a letter of resignation from the Engineering Center communal enterprise director post. "Also, the Udar political party faction recalls him from the Kyiv council deputies," Klitschko added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators claim the suspects registered ownership of non-existent buildings to obtain land plots without a fair tender. Olenych was previously detained in February, with the High Anti-Corruption Court setting bail at Hr 15 million (nearly $360,000). He was released on Feb. 21 and claimed that his family had borrowed money for bail while he planned to seek suspension from office during the investigation. Authorities have charged 10 individuals in the case, seven of whom have been detained. The alleged mastermind, former Kyiv City Council member Denys Komarnytskyi, remains on Ukraine's wanted list. Read also: French National Assembly backs resolution on seizing Russian assets Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. LONDON (Reuters) - A Ukrainian government official said on Thursday that Kyiv understood it could not recapture all its occupied territory through military force from Russian troops right now and that its recovery would have to happen diplomatically over time. The official, who asked not to be named, told reporters at a briefing two days after talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials on ending the war with Russia that Kyiv would not recognise Moscow's rights over Ukrainian territory. The official said that no Ukrainian territorial concessions were discussed at the talks in Jeddah, which saw Kyiv indicate its willingness to accept an interim, 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States, if Russia agrees to the idea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Ukraine made it clear it will not recognise Russia's rights over our territory," the official said of the talks with U.S. officials that came as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a rapid end to the fighting. Russian forces control nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory more than three years since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour. "If you're talking about the reality that Ukraine cannot recover all of its territory right now by military force, yes we understand this. We understand that some of our land will need to be returned diplomatically, which can of course take time," the official added. The official said that Ukraine regarded its acceptance of the ceasefire proposal as a "constructive compromise" to make progress towards Trump's objective of establishing a quick end to the war. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Heavens and Aidan Lewis) Russia is signaling its intention to reject a U.S. ceasefire proposal already accepted by Ukraine in Jeddah this week, setting the stage for a likely diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow. After nearly 48 hours of silence on the issue, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov on March 13 dismissed the idea of a ceasefire, describing it as a "respite for the Ukrainian military" and adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin would comment on the matter later in the day. Following weeks of tumultuous talks and meetings, including the now infamous Oval Office showdown, Ukrainian and U.S. officials on March 11 emerged from talks in Saudi Arabia in agreement over a ceasefire proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Russia opposes temporary ceasefire, top Putin aide says Kyiv said it was ready to accept a 30-day-long ceasefire if Russia did as well. In the words of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Kyivs readiness meant the "ball is in (Russia's) court," adding that if the Kremlin rejected the proposal, "then we'll, unfortunately, know what the impediment is to peace here." In response to Ushakovs statement, a source in the President's Office told the Kyiv Independent that it is awaiting what Putin will say. The source added that it would be "a question for the Americans" if Putin rejects the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The potential rejection came as no surprise in Kyiv. "Putin is absolutely not interested in peace or a true ceasefire," lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, told the Kyiv Independent. "On the other hand, he is afraid of (U.S. President Donald) Trump. So, he will try to formulate his response to Trump's proposal as a sort of agreement but with unacceptable demands." The expectation in Kyiv as well as in other Western capitals is that Putin will not back down from the maximalist demands he set out at the beginning of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Putin has not backed off one iota from his maximalist demands, which we all know, (includes) the four (oblasts) of eastern Ukraine, and the neutralization of Ukraine," General Sir Richard Shirreff, former deputy supreme allied NATO commander Europe, told the Kyiv Independent. "In other words, no NATO, the demilitarization of Ukraine, the 'denazification' of Ukraine, by which he means installing a puppet government." Russia is set to demand Ukraine withdraw from areas of the four oblasts Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk it illegally annexed in 2022 despite not fully controlling them. The future of any peace process now hinges on Trump's response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. has a lot less leverage than it did just a few weeks ago. The Trump administration has ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine and said Kyiv must be prepared to concede territory. These moves were described by Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and professor of international studies at Stanford University, as "giving away all your strongest cards before the negotiation has started." "It's an incredibly bad negotiating strategy on behalf of the Trump team," he told the Kyiv Independent earlier this week. Ukraine has largely accepted that it won't be joining NATO in time to make a difference to the ongoing peace talks, but the issue of territorial concessions is still in play. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Kyiv may be forced to agree to some sort of territorial concessions, it has previously rejected a full withdrawal from all four oblasts. Putin, however, said such a move would be a prerequisite for peace talks. These mutually incompatible viewpoints mean Trump will be forced to step in and mediate, though what exactly he will do and which side he'll come down on hardest remains to be seen. "Trump's got to do something; otherwise, he'll look very weak," Shirreff said. Now, the U.S.'s strongest hand remains economic pressure in the form of sanctions, something Trump has already threatened Russia with if they don't agree to the ceasefire proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent that this puts immense pressure on Trump to follow through. "If he suddenly makes a new demand on Ukraine because Russia is asking for it, he looks like Putin's poodle," he said. But there's always the possibility Trump could impose Putin's maximalist demands on Ukraine, something Shirref said would have enormous consequences for the entire world. "If the international community signed up to that, it would mean the absolute final nail in the coffin of the international rules-based order," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Because it means that might is right, and that Putin has got what he wants by appalling force." Read also: Losing foothold in Kursk Oblast would be politically significant, experts say Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A Suffolk County jury found a Long Island man guilty of robbing and stabbing the owner of a funeral home in broad daylight. Jason Funderburke, 38, of Hempstead, was convicted of first-degree robbery and related charges for his role in the August 2023 incident in Amityville, on the South Shore of Long Island. Funderburke and an accomplice approached the unnamed male victim at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 29, showed him a picture of his family and demanded money from him at knifepoint, prosecutors said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the business owner refused, Funderburke and his accomplice attacked the victim, stabbing him twice and stealing his wallet and phones, in a crime that rocked our community, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a news release. The victim was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital where he was treated for stab wounds and internal bleeding. On Wednesday, a jury convicted Funderburke of first- and second-degree robbery and assault. Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei ordered that he be remanded pending sentencing, which is scheduled for April 26. Funderburke faces up to 25 years in prison, according to prosecutors. A struggling film producer fleeced a longtime pal of his fathers in an audacious con that netted the 41-year-old more than $7 million over a seven-year period, authorities allege. The victim, who is identified in court records by the initials R.P., has known the scammer, Justin Berns, since he was four, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Wednesday and reviewed by The Independent. Bernss brazen scam revolved around an ongoing financial hard-luck tale featuring phony bank documents, bogus collection agency letters, and a California attorney who never actually existed, the affidavit states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The West Hollywood resident co-produced the popular web series My Gay Roommate, which ran for three seasons and spawned a made-for-TV movie, which Berns co-executive produced. He produced three or so other projects, in 2016 and 2017, while working in digital marketing at 20th Century Studios, Bernss LinkedIn profile shows. Federal agents arrested him in Michigan on March 11, but Berns, whose Facebook profile includes photos that show him hobnobbing with various political figures, does not yet have a lawyer listed on the docket and was not able to be reached for comment. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Bernss father, who lives in South Florida, told The Independent that he cant talk now, before quickly hanging up. Bernss alleged ruse kicked off in April 2017, when Bernss dad told R.P., a friend of his since 1987, that his son was in the midst of substantial financial hardship, the FBI affidavit states. He said he had been helping Berns pay off a mountain of debt, but that he himself had since run out of money in the process, the affidavit explains. (Bernss father is not accused of any wrongdoing.) Berns then connected with R.P., telling the Palm Beach County, Florida, resident that due to his extensive debts, history of overdrafts, and writing bounced checks, the money his dad had given him was tied up and frozen by [his] banks, the affidavit goes on. He said he needed R.P.s funds to pay off a certain amount of his existing debt, which would subsequently unfreeze the funds his father had fronted him, according to the affidavit. Once the money was unfrozen, Berns assured R.P. he would pay back both him and his dad, the affidavit continues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement R.P. agreed to lend Berns what he needed, believing he was helping his old friends son get back on his feet, the affidavit states. Justin Berns's alleged ruse drew the attention of the feds, who say he extracted more than $7 million from a close family friend (AFP via Getty Images) So, R.P. soon began wiring money according to Bernss instructions, the affidavit says. However, each time R.P. sent the amount Berns had requested, he would ask for more, floating an array of excuses as to why his accounts were still frozen. On some occasions, [Berns] would tell R.P. that his money was received but reversed by the bank weeks later due to his blacklisted status with various banks and credit unions, the affidavit contends. [Berns] told R.P. that the banks collaborate with one another, and therefore several banks know of his poor financial history. [Berns] explained that banks use Early Warning Services and Chexsystems as a weapon against consumers attempting to utilize the banks services. To bolster his claims, Berns regularly sent R.P. screenshots of his accounts, purportedly showing large amounts of money, sitting there frozen, the affidavit alleges. It says he backed these up with correspondence from various collection agencies he claimed were working on behalf of the banks, insisting to R.P. that, for these reasons, he was unable to send and receive money through traditional banking methods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Berns told R.P. that he hired a lawyer named Stephen Hernandez to help him fight back against the banks and collection agencies, according to the affidavit. R.P. subsequently began receiving regular emails from Hernandez, who kept him updated on the details of Bernss financial circumstances, forwarding emails and other documentation from banks and collections firms from his own Gmail account, the affidavit states. One included a promissory note from Berns to R.P., drafted by Hernandez, for $3.9 million, it says. According to R.P., Hernandezs emails to R.P. legitimized [Bernss] situation, the affidavit states. Yet, it maintains, each time R.P. called Hernandez at the number Berns gave him, no one ever picked up the phone. When R.P. tried to confirm Hernandezs identity for himself, he was unable to do so, as was a California-based attorney he hired to track him down, according to the affidavit. It says FBI investigators analyzed subscriber and IP login records for the Gmail address Hernandez used to communicate with R.P., and found it had been created around the same time Berns claimed to have retained him. IP connection logs for the Hernandez Gmail account also overlapped with connection logs for Bernss personal email address, the affidavit states, noting that the contents of Hernandezs Gmail only pertain to communications with R.P. and not to any other clients. (US District Court for the Southern District of Florida) As it turned out, Berns created Stephen Hernandez out of whole cloth, according to the affidavit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout the investigation the FBI has attempted to verify Hernandezs existence and status as a California attorney, the affidavit maintains. The California State Bar confirmed that there is no record of a person named Stephen Hernandez ever being licensed to practice law in California since the Bar's establishment in 1927. Last March, a letter on TD Bank letterhead that Berns sent to R.P. showed a balance of roughly $6.4 million, and told his benefactor it would release the funds within three to five business days, according to the affidavit. But, the FBI says it contacted TD Bank, which said Bernss accounts had already been closed at that point, there was no money in them, and confirmed that the letter was counterfeit, the affidavit states. It says the FBI also got in touch with Transworld Systems, the collection agency Berns claimed was hounding him, having sent R.P. at least 21 letters purportedly from a pair of employees at the firms office in Horsham, Pennsylvania, named R. Saguaro and A.L. Maxwell. Again, TSI executives told the FBI that the company not only had no record of any accounts related to Berns, and didnt send the letters, it didnt have an office at that address, and did not have any employees by those names, according to the affidavit. Therefore, it appears that these letters were also fraudulently created by [Berns] and sent to R.P. in an effort to further his fraud scheme and extract additional money from R.P., the affidavit alleges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In all, the affidavit says R.P. wired Berns over $7 million between May 2018 and May 2024. Berns does not appear to have any other course of income, it contends, adding that, to date, R.P. has not been repaid. Furthermore, the affidavit concludes, an analysis of bank records received revealed that [Berns] used the funds received from R.P. on international travel, luxury hotels, nightclubs, gambling, and personal living expenses. Berns is facing one count of wire fraud, a charge that could put him behind bars for up to 20 years. He remains detained pending an initial appearance on April 2 in West Palm Beach federal court. Ann Lee has made it her mission to do whatever she can to save the world. The co-founder and CEO of CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), launched by Sean Penn and Lee in 2019 and initially established as J/P HRO, has transformed the Los Angeles-based philanthropic organization into an international NGO powerhouse. Lee, who holds a Masters in Urban Planning from NYU and a Masters in Economics and Conflict Management from Johns Hopkins University, is currently at the helm of a staff comprising nearly 400 globally-based humanitarians. Collectively, Lee and CORE have leapt to the aid of individuals trapped in the crosshairs of global crises ranging from the Ukraine War, COVID-19, the 2023 earthquake in Turkey, the Pakistan floods and now, the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires. While CORE is offering its support and services to anyone impacted, the org is having a much more focused approach in the Altadena area and neighborhoods, notes Lee. Altadena, an historically Black unincorporated area of L.A. County, boasts an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population. Many individuals whose homes were engulfed in the flames fear they will not have the funds to rebuild. Related: L.A. Woman: How Jennifer Love Hewitt Channeled Her Pain Into Proactivity There are a lot of communities with residents whose homes have been passed down through generations and the destruction, coupled with the housing crisis that L.A. has been experiencing plus the spike in rents, with places charging $7,000 a month were out here giving these individuals our support, says Lee. A lot of people are afraid theyre going to get pushed out of staying in the neighborhood. Working in tandem with local entities such as churches, nonprofit organizations and community leaders, CORE has assisted nearly 15,000 people across Los Angeles impacted by the deadly Eaton and Palisades Fires. Provided services include cash assistance, support with navigating access to insurance benefits and distributing supplies in the way of cases of water, N95 masks, hygiene kits and toiletries. Thus far, CORE has distributed roughly $500,000 in cash assistance and plans on continuing to reach out to L.A.s most vulnerable families with at least $10 million in support. Amounts per family vary, with households receiving upwards of $1,000. Per Lee, depending on funding and eligibility, this amount could be increased. In early February, CORE teamed up with Congresswoman Judy Chu, the Altadena Town Council and the Altadena Seventh-Day Adventist Church to host a drive-thru relief event for members of the Altadena community. We always work through existing systems in any disaster. We want to plug into the authorities as well as the community groups, organizations and trusted groups, says Lee. In this case, Judy Chu has been such a phenomenal communicator. She has a lot of trust within the community because shes very direct. She suffers no fools. So we are doing a lot of outreach through her, and then things can grow organically. Having that representation is super important. Rebuilding efforts across greater Los Angeles namely in Altadena, Pasadena, the Palisades and parts of Malibu will take years, if not longer. Lee assures that CORE is in it for the long haul. We have been working on several fronts, because we are committed to this recovery process until the very Im not going to say the end but until the new beginnings. CORE is going to stay on and provide our services until the new beginnings. LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) Federal authorities said an excessive number of pilots have violated flight restrictions around President Donald Trumps Florida home since his inauguration. One of the most recent incidents involved a pilot flying out of Lakeland. If that happens, you just need to accept that youve made that mistake and comply in any way, said Alex Reed, a flight instructor at Kingsky Flight Academy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a flight instructor, Reed teaches his students not only how to fly, but about how to check their aircraft pre-flight and put together a flight plan. We have electronic flight bags, so, like, ForeFlight for example. When we build these flight plans, it will look at the route that youre going and show if TFRs are going to be existing during the time that youre passing based on the route that youre flying, he said. A TFR is a temporary flight restriction, which is put in place for large events and for certain public figures, including Trump when he is at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home. Pilots are not allowed to fly within the designated areas when a TFR is in place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, a pilot who flew out of Lakeland violated that restriction. When I hear about a pilot flying into a TFR, it just shows that that pilot probably didnt plan their route properly and didnt do their due diligence to plan where they were going, said Reed. A flight path, shown on FlightAware, shows the Cessna Skyhawk leave from Lakeland at 10:53 Sunday morning, heading north and then south along the eastern side of Florida. Source: FlightAware The plane took a turn near Mar-a-Lago, likely when it was intercepted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. According to NORAD, it utilized F-16 aircraft and flares to get the pilot to leave the airspace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plane returned to Lakeland at 2:56 Sunday afternoon without incident. Even though were humans, pilots are humans, we make mistakes. We can always learn when we make these accidents for future pilots as well, said Reed. NORADs commander, Gen. Gregory Guillot, said adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensuring flight safety, national security and the security of the president. The excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates many civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA, wrote Gen. Guillot in a statement. NORAD reports more than 20 flights have been intercepted entering the Palm Beach restricted area since Trumps inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Two people are dead and one is injured after a shooting and crash in Darke County Thursday afternoon. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] As previously reported on News Center 7 at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., it all started at a house in the 2500 block of SR-571. A man called 911 and told dispatchers that he went to his friends home and his friend came out and started shooting at him, according to Darke County Sheriff Mark Whittaker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement >> PHOTOS: 2 dead, 1 injured following shooting, crash in Darke Co. The man, who was suffering from gunshot wounds, got in his car and told 911 he was being chased by his friend, Whittaker said. The man told dispatchers that the suspect was continuing to shoot at him and ram his vehicle while he was chasing him. The two men eventually crashed and the suspect was thrown from his car and pronounced dead on the scene. The man shot was flown to Miami Valley Hospital. Deputies did a welfare check at the suspects home and found a woman dead in the home, who Whittaker said was related to the suspect. Her death is being investigated as a homicide. Whittaker said there is no threat to the public at this time. We will continue to follow this story. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] DENVER (KDVR) A Larimer County Sheriffs Office deputy is recovering in the hospital after he underwent surgery on his arm after he was seriously injured by gunfire on March 10. On Monday around 2 p.m., two Larimer County deputies tried to stop an off-road motorcycle for traffic violations in Fort Collins. Both deputies were on agency-issued motorcycles and when the suspect drove onto the Edora Park bike path and they followed. 2 more suspects arrested in deadly shooting at Greenwood Village RTD station Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suspect stopped in the park, got off his motorcycle and exchanged gunfire with the pair of deputies, striking one. On Wednesday, the Larimer County Sheriffs Office reported the deputy had a serious arm injury, but had successfully underwent surgery and is recovering in the hospital. The deputy who was struck has been with the agency for 27 years, the sheriffs office said, and the second deputy involved has been with the Larimer County Sheriffs Office for 15 years. The deputies names are not being released at this point but will be included in the Critical Incident Response Team investigation report. A routine traffic stop on a sunny Monday afternoon quickly turned into a life-threatening encounter. This is a chilling example of the unknown risks that law enforcement faces daily, said Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen in a release. Im extremely grateful for the courage and composure our deputies showed in this situation. I also appreciate the outpouring of support for our injured deputy as he continues to heal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Larimer County Sheriffs Office said that the suspect fell to the ground and did not comply with deputy commands after exchanging gunfire with the deputies. A K-9 was deployed to drag the suspect away from his gun, and authorities said Monday that the suspect was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. Ex-Broncos coach Michael Wilhoite could avoid prosecuation after alleged police assault The Larimer County Sheriffs Office did not provide an update on the suspects condition. It said that the Loveland Police Department is leading the CIRT investigation and will provide updates regarding the criminal case. The sheriffs office said it is responsible for releasing updates about involved personnel. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who witnessed the incident and has not yet spoken to law enforcement is asked to contact Detective Hooper at 970-962-2032. Anyone who wants to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at 970-221-6868 or stopcriminals.org. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Police arrested a man more than six months after a man was killed and a woman was shot inside a vehicle near the Las Vegas Strip. On Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, at around 1:40 a.m., officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the 500 block of East Sahara Avenue after a report of a shooting. Arriving officers found a man and a woman suffering from gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. Medical personnel pronounced the man, later identified as 26-year-old Richard Bason, dead at the scene. Personnel took the woman to a local hospital, where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to police, the victims were sitting in the vehicle when the suspect approached the passenger-side window and shot several times into the vehicle, hitting both victims. Through the investigation, police identified Quentin Ledet, 28, as a suspect in the case. On March 12, police located Ledet and took him into custody. Police booked him into the Clark County Detention Center for open murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder with a deadly weapon, and violating conditions of parole. He was held without bail and records show his next court appearance was scheduled for March 14. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Stewart Avenue has sidewalks that end in the bushes, intersection crossings without buttons, and bus stops with no shadeits a story the City of Las Vegas is looking to curb. The second neighborhood meeting on the Stewart Avenue Complete Streets Project opened the door for more feedback from residents before the traffic cones arrive. This is such an important project to the city and to the community in general, Nicole Melton, the city engineering project manager, said. And when we do these public works projects that revitalize areas, we can spur economic development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Melton said the why was important to consider too, pointing to a number of traffic collisions. Between 2018 and 2022 theres been 530 crashes along the corridor, she said. And I cant say that all of those are attributed to speeding, but 3% of those have actually included pedestrian or bicyclist impact. Two months ago, a bicyclist was killed after being struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver along Stewart Avenue, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The Stewart Avenue Complete Streets Project includes: Wider sidewalks and removal of sidewalk obstructions Buffer-separated bike lanes Community banners and lighting Street trees Bus stop enhancements Intersection technology improvements Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The project has been awarded around $25 million in federal funding through a raise grant and earmarked congressional funds, according to the city presentation. The specific price tag is not yet known according to Melton. Right now the cost is a little hard to pin down, she said. The presentation showcased a variety of ways for residents to see the concept for the project: a VR headset, a lego-esque assembly set, and several poster boards. I like what I see, Maria Prentice, a Las Vegas resident, said. I like the fact that its going to service the community and the people with special needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prentice asked the city to do more for the intersection crossing times for residents who have special needs, which sometimes take more time to cross the street. I just stop with them, and I just walk along with them, she said. Others were asked to meet with city staff and review the project. Residents with more input and questions are asked to email the city at stewartavenue@lasvegasnevada.gov. The project is due to start construction in 2027 and be completed in 2030. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. With the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service poised to shoot more than 450,000 invasive barred owls in West Coast forests as part of a controversial Biden-era strategy to protect the threatened northern spotted owl, a bipartisan group of 19 lawmakers sent a plea to the Trump administration Monday to stand down. In a letter addressed to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the legislators called the agencys effort expensive, morally questionable, and potentially ineffective. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat, initiated the move, and 17 additional Congress members added their signatures to the rebuke, including nine Democrats and eight Republicans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By extrapolating costs for prior kills of owls, conducted on a small scale, this plan would require $1.35 billion over the course of thirty years to hunt and kill one owl species to the benefit of another, the letter stated. The USFWS lethal culling program would authorize trained shooters from government agencies, private companies, local landowners, and Native American Tribes to enter obscure forest areas to kill nearly half a million barred owls. In essence, each bird would cost U.S. taxpayers $3,000. The letter also pointed out that there is little precedent for success in a culling program this extensive. Programs that did have positive outcomes occurred in island ecosystems or other areas with natural barriers, not the 24-acre patchwork of lands proposed in the USFWS plan to protect spotted owls. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another flaw in the plan is that barred owls are a native North American species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for more than 100 years. Although they are not native to West Coast forests, they have expanded their range naturally. The animals are native to eastern North America and didnt first appear in the Pacific Northwest until the 1970s. To claim that animals are invasive because they expand their range denies dynamism in ecological systems, the letter stated. One theory for the barred owls Westward expansion is that environmental changes caused by European settlement altered the natural landscape, removing natural barriers and providing a corridor for them to reach the spotted owls natural habitat. Today, barred owls outnumber their spotted cousins in portions of the latters historic range. Research suggests that declines in spotted owl populations are more pronounced in areas where barred owls have taken up residence. The USFWS finalized its non-native barred owl management strategy in August 2024 and included the lethal removal of barred owls with non-lead ammunition after attracting the birds with recorded calls in California, Oregon, and Washington. The agency has not announced a specific launch date for barred owl removal under the new strategy. However, a final proposal is expected to be announced sometime in the spring or summer of 2025. Northern spotted owls (pictured) are forced to compete with barred owls for habitat, food, and other resources. Photo by Kyle Sullivan / Bureau of Land Management Killing barred owls for conservation is nothing new. Approximately 4,500 of them have been removed through lethal methods since 2009, according to Robin Brown, the USFWS barred owl strategy leader. However, the culling project would expand significantly under the USFWSs final Barred Owl Management Strategy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The USFWS has listed the northern spotted owl as a threatened species in accordance with the Endangered Species Act since 1990. Early efforts to save the bird and its rapidly disappearing old-growth forest habitat rocked the timber industry in the early 1990s. The chocolate-brown spotted owl became a cultural symbol of environmental conflict. Conservationists argued that protecting old-growth forests was crucial to the spotted owls survival as a species, while the timber industry contended that restrictions threatened jobs and local economies. The drama surrounding the birds struggle for survival pitted against the timber industry resulted in protestors forming human blockades and chaining themselves to logging equipment. Read Next: Why Do Turkeys Gobble at Owls? The press coverage the protestors garnered for the little spotted owl helped usher in Bill Clintons Northwest Forest Plan. Initiated in 1993, the plan aimed to balance economic needs with environmental protection, significantly reducing timber sales on federal lands in the Pacific Northwest. Although Clintons plan protected most of the spotted owls older forest habitat and saw a net increase of over 1 million acres of additional habitat in the first decade, spotted owl populations continued to plummet at even greater rates than expected in its northern range. Representatives from utility companies providing services in Maryland. From left: John Dodge (Washington Gas), Tim Troxell (FirstEnergy), Tim Dennison, (Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative), Charles Washington (Baltimore Gas and Electric), and Valencia McClure (Pepco). (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Amid soaring energy costs for Marylanders, lawmakers interrogated representatives of the states utility companies Wednesday to get to the bottom of why so many of their constituents have seen their energy bills skyrocket over the past couple months. At a joint briefing of the House Economic Matters Committee and the Senate Environment, Education and Energy Committee, company representatives claimed that energy usage went up recently due to the frigid winter temperatures, resulting in more costly bills but lawmakers believe there is more to the story. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What we need is some frankness and information so that we can all collectively stop the pain that is occurring in our communities, where they are not able to pay the bill, said Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City and Baltimore County). The four-hour briefing comes as House and Senate committees work out the details of an energy package pushed by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), in an effort to bring down rising energy costs while ensuring the energy grid continues to function efficiently. Their package includes measures to build a new gas-fired power plant and create a new office within the Maryland Public Service Commission to help with forecasting and modeling energy needs, among other measures. Representatives from Pepco, BGE, the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO), and Washington Gas were called before the committees to discuss rising energy costs. Nearly every company attributed the rising bill costs to the winter weather in Maryland this year, which had been notably colder than in recent years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The main driver behind this has been extremely cold temperature, Charles Washington, vice president of of Baltimore Gas and Electric, told the committees. It was one of the coldest winters weve had in 10 years. Our average customer usage has been up almost 20% above our previous figures, Washington said. Basically customers have been using more product. Lawmakers did not appear to be accepting that: At one point, more than a dozen lawmakers microphones were flashing to indicate that they had questions for the energy companies on the costs of energy. Economic Matters Chair C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) wasnt satisfied with the weather answer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The problems I had when we were explaining the winter months and how we had a very cold winter I dont know if you thought maybe this was some kind of relief My concern is the summers coming, and whats to stop us from being brought back where we were? he asked. Washington clarified that he didnt mean to imply that theres relief happening in the summertime, because he thinks usage will be up again. Winter, for us, is usually when people experience the highest bills, because they rely on heat pumps for heating their homes, Washington said. What we try to stress to our customer members is to try to conserve electricity by turning down their air conditioner. Its somewhat a little bit more palatable to do that in the summertime versus whatever youre trying to keep in the winter. Del. Brian M. Crosby (D-St. Marys) also doubted the weather justification. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I appreciate you telling me the winter was cold about two-and-a-half hours ago, but that really doesnt deal with why energy costs are going through the roof, Crosby said. Many of the Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns with how the energy rate increases were determined by the Maryland Public Service Commission, and worried that the energy companies were increasing profits at the expense of the consumers. Del. Christopher T. Adams (R-Middle Shore) said he believed that the increased costs primarily came from the weather, though acknowledged other factors likely contributed. Would we be here today if January was balmy and maybe an average year?, Adams said. Im doubting we would be here. So, I think a lot of this is volumetric, in relationship to the problems that our constituents are having. Scapegoat for energy costs In a conversation with reporters Tuesday, President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore County) said that the briefing by utility officials was not intended to create scapegoats and bogeymen of the energy companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are here to get information and to understand what we can do to help Marylanders who are feeling a lot of pressure and pain from utility bills, Ferguson said Tuesday. We are looking for short-term options to increase relief for ratepayers and for people who are paying bills that are too high. But Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey (R-Upper Shore), believes the states environmental policies were to blame for ratepayers costly electric bills, and Democrats were looking for someone else to blame. It was very apparent from the tone of the questioning that the Democrat leaders are desperate to blame someone else and deflect the conversation away from their policy decisions that are driving up energy costs, Hershey said in a prepared statement. In fact, customer rates are up because Democrats could not say no to the environmental advocates forced closures of reliable fossil fuel generation plants, essentially re-regulated the supply market that removed competition and customer choice, and pushed an overall movement towards electrification through the Climate Solutions Now Act, Hersheys statememt said. Each one of these actions contributes to increased rates that Marylanders pay for electricity. Maryland Matters reporter Bryan P. Sears contributed to this report. Mar. 12Lawmakers are advancing legislation to the House floor that strengthens background checks for people seeking to become caregivers. House Bill 131, Caregiver Background Checks, hopes to reduce the rate of abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly, which has risen significantly in the last four years, according to the state Health Care Authority. "This bill, basically, puts some more (crimes) that can be disqualifying in terms of caregivers," Rep. Liz Thomson, the legislation's sponsor, told the House Judiciary Committee on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If passed, people convicted of aggravated battery of a household member, human trafficking, assault of a peace officer, identity theft, and animal cruelty would fail background checks and be unable to become caregivers. It adds to a list of other criminal convictions that disqualify applicants. According to the HCA, there has been a 117% increase in abuse, neglect and exploitation cases among people receiving Developmental Disabilities Waiver services and a 76% increase at hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities from 2020 to 2024. The HCA said New Mexico also has a less extensive list of disqualifying crimes compared to other U.S. states. This bill would bring the state more in line with other states, including Mississippi and Nevada, the HCA said. The House Judiciary Committee moved Thomson's bill forward with a 9-0 vote late Monday. There was little opposition to the bill. One person expressed concern about a lack of oversight in transferring responsibility from the state Department of Health to the HCA. Others raised concerns that the bill would reduce the number of applicants amid a health care provider shortage, something the HCA argues is unlikely. Thomson, an Albuquerque Democrat, told the Journal she was unsure when the bill would get a hearing but said it was a critical piece of legislation. The session is set to wrap up on March 22. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Two Tennessee lawmakers would like to see new products added to the states annual sales tax holiday. HB 813/SB 188 would add feminine hygiene products to the list of qualified products that have sales tax suspended during the states annual sales tax holiday in the summertime. Currently the annual sales tax holiday only applies to school supplies, certain technological products like laptops or tablets, and clothes. The idea behind the sales tax holiday is to give Tennesseans the opportunity to purchase school-related items ahead of each school year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the bills, brought by Memphis Sen. London Lamar and Rep. Larry Miller, would add menstrual products to the list of tax-free items. Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom The bill includes tampons, pads, liners, menstrual cups and douches. Miller, who carries the bill in the House, said he was proud to carry the companion legislation for Lamar, as it was something he was interested in learning more about. The more I read, the more impressed I am with what were trying to do here, he told News 2. Specifically, Miller said a study revealed 44% of female students reported feeling stressed or embarrassed because they could not afford menstrual products. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If thats such an issue and this tax exemption could relieve some of that stress, Im all for it, he said. Suspension of federal grants affecting finances at TSU According to the fiscal note on the bill, the measure would result in a net loss of about $255,000 each year for the state, which Miller said was easily affordable for a government with a budget in excess of $50 billion. The state can afford that, and I think citizens of this state could support that as well, Miller said. Further, when a significant portion of the female population view access to menstrual products as a critical issue, lawmakers should take notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you have that many females saying that it is a critical issue to them, then we should listen. We should pay attention to them, he told News 2. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Both Senate and House versions of the bills have been placed behind the budget, according to Miller, meaning no further discussion will take place until lawmakers hash out those details. Additionally, the Senate version of the bill received a negative recommendation from the Senate Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee. But Miller also said placing a bill behind the budget or having a negative recommendation does not mean it has no chance of passage. He told News 2 he has been able to get several bills that received negative recommendations through to passage throughout his time in the legislature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Lawrence ODonnell did not hold back on Wednesdays edition of The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell. The MSNBC anchor lambasted the President of the United States again this time declaring Donald Trumps brain broken and shattered and calling him out for his recent vile, antisemitic remarks about Democratic New York senator and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Donald Trumps brain is broken, badly damaged, ODonnell began. Once again today, Donald Trump said something that would have gotten any other president rushed to the hospital for a neurological examination and an evaluation for dementia. ODonnell then played a clip from Trumps recent press conference with the Prime Minister of Ireland, Micheal Martin, in which Trump questioned Schumers Jewish identity. It was a vile antisemitic outburst, ODonnell said about Trumps response to a question about lowering corporate taxes, which ended with the president, out of nowhere, commenting, Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as Im concerned. You know, hes become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. Hes not Jewish anymore. Hes a Palestinian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not a single Republican anywhere in America who claims to be a staunch supporter of Israel and the Jewish people rose up to object to Donald Trump declaring Chuck Schumer to not be Jewish anymore, ODonnell somberly observed following the clip. So Donald Trump, who has no idea what it is to be Jewish or Palestinian, now decides who is Jewish in this country. Turning his ire on the entire Republican Party, ODonnell added, The disgrace of every elected Republican in Washington is that not one of them dares to complain about that kind of poison coming out of the foul mouth of Donald Trump. Trumps mind is gone. It is shattered, he continued. Not a single person who ever tries to interpret Donald Trump for you and defensively tries to tell you what Donald Trump meant when he says something insane ever uses the actual words of Donald Trump to explain Donald Trump, because Donald Trump, who once said, I have the best words, says things all the time, every day, that make absolutely no sense and frequently are filled with hatred. ODonnell then took a moment to draw a chilling historical parallel between Trumps comments and the actions of a certain 20th-century national leader. The United States of America now has a head of state who decides who is Jewish and who is not. Who else had a head of state who did that? Ever heard of a head of state doing anything like that? the MSNBC host rhetorically asked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You have to be in your 90s to remember the last time the world had a head of state who decided who was Jewish and who was not, he concluded. That was one of Adolf Hitlers first ideas about how to govern Germany. You can watch the full 19-minute segment yourself in the video above. The post Lawrence ODonnell Declares Trumps Brain Broken, Blasts Vile, Antisemitic Attack on Chuck Schumer | Video appeared first on TheWrap. The popular Slice 420 pizzeria in Old Colorado City is moving, but fans of the New York-style pizza joint can take heart: Its moving less than a half-block away. In December, owner Christian Patriarca purchased the building formerly occupied by Jorges Mexican Restaurant at 2427 Colorado Ave., a stones throw from Slice 420s current location at 2501 Colorado Ave. He has also taken over the adjoining space formerly occupied by the Honey Cottage, which will relocate to a new shop on Austin Bluffs Parkway. This place is too small for what we need, said the Bronx-born Patriarca, who opened the Old Colorado City location in 2017. Its too hot in the summers, because the ventilation is bad. I cant get the electricity I need. Longevity, stability and growth were limited here. The kitchen at the new location is bigger than this whole restaurant. Patriarca is engaged in a full-scale remodel of the new space, and he has ambitious plans for it, including a glass-encased dough room in the center of the restaurant, where customers will be able to sit around and watch people in chef clothes, rolling dough, he said. He also plans to turn the former Honey Cottage space into an outdoor eating area and add a walk-up window. If youre walking down the street late at night, youll be able to walk up to the window and say, Hey let me get a couple of slices! Patriarca said. Patriarca and his wife, Stefany, closed their Florida pizzeria, called A Bronx Tale, and moved their family to Colorado after their daughter Sofia was diagnosed with a rare and severe form of cerebral palsy at age 2. The ailment caused the youngster to suffer as many as 100 seizures a day, so the family moved to Colorado to treat her with medical marijuana. A chance meeting with French chef Oliver LeReux led to the opening of Slice 420 Pizza and Crepes, but Patriarca bought LeReux out after deciding crepes werent really working out with what we do. A second Slice 420 location, at 3725 Oro Blanco Drive, opened in 2022. Sofia, whom Patriarca calls his inspiration, has a significant presence at the eatery, from the dedication (We dedicate our business to our youngest daughter, Sofia, who uses cannabis to treat her seizures and cerebral palsy.) to the menu, which features a gourmet pie dubbed the Sofia. Even the restaurants slogan, Pizza with a Mission, has Sofias handprints on it. Our mission is to bring awareness to (the benefits of) medical marijuana and to connect with families who are going down the same road that we went down, said Patriarca, who also shares daughter Aliana and son Giovanni with Stefany. The current Slice 420 location will house a new business venture, Patriarca said. Sign up for free: Gazette Business Receive a weekly roundup of business news around El Paso County. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Featured Local Savings Were taking this business down the street, but were keeping this location, he said. The plan is to turn it into a deli that sells New York-style sandwiches, gyros, fresh bread, desserts and wholesale items including imported flour, olive oil and truffle salt. Eventually, Patriarca would also like to sell bagels. This neighborhood needs a good bagel place, he said. We do have a couple of good bagel places in Colorado Springs, but there arent enough. In addition to a major renovation that will include tearing down walls, Patriarca plans to open three apartments on the upper level of the new building. Theyre going to be nice apartments, but not so nice that theyre not affordable, he said. Patriarca acknowledges that he has taken on several big tasks, all at once. But he doesnt seem worried or overwhelmed. He credits this to his Christian faith. Jesus was always on a journey, Patriarca said in his rapid-fire, East Coast accent. He was busy. He was talking to the multitudes. He was feeding 20,000 (people). He was performing miracles. So I dont feel like Im biting off more than I can chew. The project is still in its early stages, largely because it took nearly two months to clear out the former Jorges Restaurant. It took us seven days just to power wash the place, Patriarca said. The new Slice 420 location should open in about six months, he said. We hope to have a bigger presence in the community, create more jobs and make a better atmosphere for the staff, Patriarca said. And we want it to feel like a taste of New York. In the Oval Office today, Donald Trump used Palestinian as a slur and said the highest-ranking Jewish elected official, Chuck Schumer, is not Jewish. Those comments went unchallenged by the reporters in the room. MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell explains the problem with reporters learning not to be outraged by anything Trump says. DIAMOND, Mo. A lawsuit filed in Newton County accuses the Diamond School District of violating a students human rights by subjecting her to a sexual assault while she was at school. The petition was filed on behalf of a girl who was 11 years old at the time. It alleges that in October 2022, a student with a reported history of sexual misconduct assaulted the 11-year-old and the district failed to protect her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Diamond-School-Human-rights-violation-lawsuitDownload The parents of the suspect are also named in the suit. When a claimant files a violation of human rights lawsuit such as this one, the claim must first go through the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. In this case, the MCHR conducted its own investigation and issued the 11-year-olds mother a notice of right to sue. That notice sets out a timeline for filing litigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. A group led by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trumps deputy chief of staff, is claiming victory after it got a commitment from Texas Techs medical school not to consider race in admission decisions, which the school continues to deny ever doing. George Stewart sued Texas Tech University Health Science Center and five other medical schools in the state as well as their presidents, medical school deans and admission officers in 2023. Stewart, who had a 3.96 grade point average as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin and scored a 511 on his MCAT, claimed the schools rejected him in favor of lesser qualified students of color. He said he obtained data from Tech that revealed it accepted Black and Hispanic students with much lower MCAT scores than white and Asian students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a settlement agreement reached this month, Stewart agreed not to reapply to or to apply to work for Texas Tech and withdraw all his claims against the school. In exchange Texas Tech, which has denied any wrongdoing, promised not to consider race in admissions. Nick Barry, senior counsel at America First Legal, the group that represented Stewart, said in a statement that Texas Tech had been violating students Fourteenth Amendment Constitutional right to equal protection. Divvying up Americans based on race only creates problems and solves none, Barry said. All universities should take note of TTUHSCs decision and do likewise. Both parties agreed to pay their own attorneys fees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "TTUHSCs School of Medicine did not consider race in admissions decisions when the lawsuit was filed, nor was there any intention of doing so in the future," university spokesperson Holly Russel said. Stewarts initial lawsuit included five medical schools within the University of Texas System, but he was required to separate it into two cases. He withdrew the case against UT schools last year. It is unclear why, but he can bring a case again. The Attorney Generals office, which represented Texas Tech, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It declined to represent the UT schools, so they had to hire outside counsel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This was one of at least two cases America First Legal and Jonathan Mitchell, a former solicitor general for Texas, filed against higher education institutions in the state to chip away at affirmative action before the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional in 2023. Its other case involved Texas A&M University and alleged a faculty fellowship program discriminated against white and Asian applicants. That case was ultimately dismissed. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also used America First Legal in four lawsuits, targeting issues including protection for women in education and Title 42, immigration, and asylum programs. In some of these cases, America First Legal has agreed to work pro bono. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. We cant wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. A lawyer in Argentina has requested an international arrest order for Hayden Davis, the founder of memecoin LIBRA, Buenos Aires newspaper Pagina 12 reported on Thursday. Attorney Gregorio Dalbon raised the procedural risk of U.S. citizen Davis remaining at large and of his financial resources allowing him to stay in hiding, according to the report. The lawyer therefore requested that "the international arrest of Davis be ordered and that an Interpol red notice be issued in order to locate and arrest him, with a view to his extradition," in a presentation to Argentine courts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The LIBRA memecoin rose to a $4.4 billion market cap before plunging more than 95% last month. It had been promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei in a now-deleted tweet. The president subsequently backtracked on his promotion of LIBRA saying he had been unaware of the details of the project and that he "decided not to continue spreading the word" once he did become aware. LIBRA's crash is estimated to have caused losses of $251 million for its investors, according to research by Nansen. Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, responds to a question on Feb. 6, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) A third property tax plan introduced on Wednesday would further protect local units of government from cuts to property tax bills, a change that would provide little tangible relief to the average homeowner. Rep. Jeff Thompson, the leading Republican lawmaker on property taxes and the state budget, pitched a long-term vision for the states property tax system that would overhaul how the taxes are calculated. In particular, certain deductions for homesteads would be phased out and then replaced; business personal property tax floors would fall and the authorization of local income taxes would shift. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we keep what weve got weve got to expect the same result, said Thompson, R-Lizton. A rally for property tax cuts will be held Monday at 1 p.m. at the Indiana Statehouse. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and other officials will speak. Wear green to let lawmakers know they cant use our homes as an endless money printing machine, Beckwith posted on social media. But while Thompsons plan tackled many of the factors and simplified the overall process, direct relief for taxpayers would be small and instead focused on decreasing projected increases. Thompsons proposal joins competing visions from Gov. Mike Braun, who made property tax relief part of his campaign platform, and Senate Republicans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each version of the property tax plan has grown in complexity and length. Brauns version was 46 pages compared to the Senates 91 pages. Thompsons plan is longer than both alternatives combined, clocking in at 228 pages. But Thompson seemed confident that Wednesdays version wouldnt be the final property tax plan, saying the bill sets the stage for future action. Were working on language to deal with both property tax rate and (local income tax) distribution right now, Thompson said. I suspect youre going to see some language to deal with that, because Im quite aware of whats going on and thats not the way to operate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thompson, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, indicated that his committee would introduce another property tax plan in the coming weeks. Comparing the three property tax proposals Critics slammed Brauns campaign proposal last year for its heavy toll on local units of government, especially counties, cities, towns and schools. Large portions of local budgets go to public services, such as fire protection, law enforcement and infrastructure. Story continues below visualization. Under Brauns plan, counties could expect to lose $211 million in the 2026 calendar year, while cities and towns would get $263 million less, followed by larger losses in 2027 and 2028. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Combined, those entities would see smaller reductions than schools, which account for 46%, or $536 million, of the total $1.15 billion local units of government would lose under Brauns plan. In contrast, the Senate property tax plan would only cut $239 million from local units of government, with one-quarter of that, or $61 million, coming from school corporations. Budgets for counties would be smaller by $60 million while cities and towns would lose $50 million. Thompsons version has the smallest loss for schools at just $4 million. Initially, local units of government would see some small growth, with $79 million more available mostly due to growth in Other Real property taxes. Cities and towns would see an additional $15 million in 2026 while counties would lose nearly $6 million under the House proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Brauns plan is also the only one that would meaningfully impact the average homeowners property tax bill. Story continues below visualization. Homesteaders would collectively see their bills drop by nearly $1.3 billion in 2026, compared to $91 million under the Senate plan and $147 million in the possible House proposal. Braun would also keep property taxes low through an annual cap on how much bills can grow. Under the Senate version, property tax bills for homeowners would also fall further in 2027 and 2028. The House property tax plan, on the other hand, would increase homestead property taxes slightly in 2027 and 2028, but fall thereafter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That increase, Thompson said in committee, comes because his version of the bill would repeal property tax credits. Committee discussion and feedback Some of the committees concern stemmed from concerns about the shifting tax burden, or when a cut on one property class like homeowners places a heavier burden on another group such as businesses. You can only push it onto other taxing groups in so much as the (constitutional cap) allows you to do that. Then youre going to try and backfill it with (local income taxes), said Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn. And I think I need to see some sort of fiscal, a very specific fiscal for different units, so you can tell whats going to happen to them and how theyre going to fix that. This shift toward taxing homeowners was also a concern for members of the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are concerned that the property tax portions of this bill amounts to a narrowing of the tax base, which will keep rates high, said Ryan Hoff, representing the Association of Indiana Counties. We do not believe that local income tax should be relied upon as a replacement to fund revenue losses stemming from business tax cuts. The Ways and Means Committee also heard a bill that would allow for further state income tax reductions if certain economic conditions are met. So long as state revenue collections are 3% higher than the previous year, the rate could fall to 2.8% by 2033 down from the current 3.05%. The bill was held for further consideration and possible amendments. A proposed phase-out on business personal property tax will have a disproportionate impact on small communities that rely largely on one large employer. If that companys taxes fall, it could reduce the budget of that local government unit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hoff continued to say that such areas might have small or low-income resident populations, diminishing its ability to recoup revenue through income or homeowner property taxes. David Ober, the Indiana Chambers vice president of taxation and public finance, acknowledged that changes to the business personal property tax rate were a bit of a double edged sword. Reducing the net assessed value is going to increase the rate, which then is paid by all other taxpayers. And so real property will feel an increase, said Ober. but if you eliminate that 30% floor, its not like it goes down to zero. A lot of that will still sit in assessed value. Its just going to be at a lower floor. At least one Democrat pointed to the legislature as the impetus behind rising property taxes, saying the General Assembly had failed to properly fund schools. Schools then used referendums or bonds to pay for rising utility, infrastructure and transportation costs, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think its incumbent on us as a legislature to look at the fact that we have money and a surplus, but were forcing communities to take these referendums out and to rely on the referendums, and they will wonder why the property tax bills are so high for individuals, said Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis. Pryor went on to say that schools are going to be in dire straits if we dont do something. Another committee member pushed for the state to get out of the property tax game entirely by 2030, saying alternative revenue sources could be used instead. I dont think anybody in our right minds would look at the taxing structure that we have today (and) hit the reset button to rewrite it the exact same way, said Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City. Its such a complicated mess. It would be great to simplify the system come up with a more fair and balanced tax structure. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX PHOENIX (AP) U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and a slew of members of Congress were among those paying tribute to Arizona Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva on Thursday after the announcement of his death at age 77. Congressman Grijalva was not just my colleague, but my friend. As another Latino working in public service, I can say from experience that he served as a role model to many young people across the Grand Canyon State. He spent his life as a voice for equality. In Congress, I was proud to see firsthand his leadership as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee as he stood up for Arizonas water rights, natural beauty, and Tribes." U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, posted on X. There are truly no words that can capture the deep gratitude I feel for his tireless efforts on behalf of the tribal communities across Arizona. He was a champion who answered the call of those who had often been overlooked and unheard. In a world where such calls can be easy to ignore, Rep. Grijalva was always there to lift those voices. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AZ lost a giant today. Congressman Raul Grijalva dedicated his life to fighting for the people of Arizona. From standing up for working families, Indigenous communities, and clean air and water Raul leaves a legacy that is unmatched. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, on X. Representative Grijalva was a dedicated public servant who served his community and country for decades. He fought hard for fair immigration policies and to tackle the climate crisis our generation is facing. His passing leaves a huge void in Southern Arizona and beyond. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, in a statement. The Congressman was always very kind to me he had a great sense of humor. As a fellow animal lover, we often found ourselves working together on animal protection issues. To his daughters Adelita, Raquel, and Marisa, and his wife, Ramona, I send my deepest condolences. U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican from Arizona, on X. I am heartbroken by the news of Congressman Raul Grijalvas passing. For climate justice, economic justice, health justice Raul fought fearlessly for change. We served a decade together on the Natural Resources Committee, and I will forever be grateful for his leadership and partnership. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I had the privilege of working alongside him on matters impacting Puerto Rico, and while we often approached issues from different perspectives, his passion for service and his respect for dialogue were undeniable. Jenniffer Gonzalez, governor of Puerto Rico, on X. Deeply saddened by the passing of my friend Raul Grijalva. A true champion for Arizona, our environment, and working people. His leadership, kindness, and fight for justice will be deeply missed by many. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, on X. Im devastated to hear of the passing of my colleague Raul Grijalva. He was a fighter for Arizonans and a champion for Indigenous communities and our planet. We will all miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family, friends, loved ones, and constituents. U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat from Arizona, in a statement. "Whether he was speaking at a neighborhood event, marching for civil rights, speaking against the erosion of our democratic values or joking with us in the backyard, he led with his principles and courage." Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat, in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I am devastated by the loss of Representative Raul Grijalva and my heart is with his family and loved ones. To his last day, he remained a servant leader who put everyday people first while in office. I join every Arizonan in mourning his passing." Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, on X. "Congressman Grijalva was a kind man and a leader who listened. He received social justice advocates in his offices with open arms and treated us with the familiarity of a grandpacommending us for our efforts, giving us advice and encouraging our advocacy. This is a sad day. We have lost an elder but gained an ancestor. May he rest in power." Chispa Arizona Executive Director Vianey Olivarria in a statement. House members are saddened to hear of the passing of Congressman Raul Grijalva, who served his constituents faithfully in Congress for more than two decades. Our prayers are with Rauls wife, Ramona, his three children, and the people of Arizonas 7th district. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, on X. His leadership was singular. He mentored generously and was an incredible friend. I will always be grateful for his lifelong courage and commitment. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "One of Raul's favorite songs was El Rey, and in particular the line that says no hay que llegar primero, pero hay que saber llegar "it's not only about getting there first, but about how you get there." I think this phrase perfectly describes his tenacity in everything he did." U.S. Rep. Jesus G. Chuy Garcia, a Democrat from Illinois, on X. Grijalvas legacy includes his critical work with the late Representative Donald McEachin to draft the groundbreaking Environmental Justice for All Act, an instrumental bill confronting the legacy of environmental racism that disproportionately impacts communities of color and low wealth. We are forever grateful for Representative Grijalvas historic leadership. League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski in a statement. In a sneaky legislative maneuver tied into the effort to pass a funding bill and avert a government shutdown, House Republicans earlier this week successfully blocked Democrats from forcing votes and debate on President Donald Trump's controversial tariffs. It was a somewhat complicated move. But it worked -- and demonstrated that Republicans are attempting to give cover to Trump and his implementation of sweeping tariffs on top U.S. trading partners that have roiled the stock market and stoked diplomatic tensions. Had Democrats forced a vote and debate on the tariffs, it could have forced Republicans to go on the record on Trump's tariff agenda -- perhaps splitting with the president's actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Trump threatens 200% tariff on EU champagne, other alcohol products PHOTO:House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters outside of the House Chambers following a series of votes at the Capitol, on March 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) To tee up Speaker Mike Johnson's temporary government funding bill, which the House passed Tuesday evening, the House first needed to pass what's known as "a rule." Buried inside the text of that rule was legislative language that prevents Democrats from forcing a potentially politically painful vote to end Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. How could Democrats compel a vote to end the tariffs? Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China by declaring illegal migration and fentanyl constituted a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, here's the catch: under the NEA, Congress has the authority to move quickly to terminate that emergency declaration. Top House Democrats tried to do that last week. MORE: Schumer says Democrats will block GOP funding bill, heightening shutdown alert But inside that rule, which passed along party lines and cleared the way for a vote on the House GOP's stopgap funding bill, was a provision prohibiting lawmakers from forcing a vote to terminate the president's border emergency and the resulting tariffs until at least January 2026. The section reads, "Each day for the remainder of the first session of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act with respect to a joint resolution terminating a national emergency declared by the President on February 1, 2025." PHOTO: A view of the U.S. Capitol dome, Mar. 12, 2025 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Democrats are blasting the move. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Guess what they tucked into this rule, hoping nobody would notice? They slipped in a little clause letting them escape ever having to debate or vote on Trump's tariffs. Isn't that clever?" Rep. Jim McGovern, the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, said during floor debate Tuesday. Congress could still approve a joint resolution to terminate the president's national emergency. That would require the support of both rank-and-file GOP lawmakers and House Republican leadership, which is unlikely. MORE: After House votes to avert government shutdown, Senate Democrats face 'stark' choice Democratic Rep. Don Beyer blasted the maneuver on "ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis" Tuesday. PHOTO: Rep. Don Beyer speaks at a press conference at the Capitol, Feb. 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Rod Lamkey/AP) Asked about the Republicans' move and if Democrats have any way around it, Beyer said "not really," calling it "tragic." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Once again, Trump has ignored existing law and the Constitution with all the tariffs he's been announcing in recent weeks," Beyer said. "He inherited on Jan. 20 the strongest economy this country has ever had. And we are rapidly heading towards recession right now just because of the extraordinary uncertainty in business decisions and capital investment and hiring decisions." Republicans use legislative sneak play to tie Democrats' hands on tariffs originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Solar Roast Coffee in downtown Colorado Springs is hoping to reopen its doors by month's end, but a timeline for its next-door neighbor Bingo Burger's reopening has not been set as both businesses recover from fire and smoke damage that forced their extended closures in the fall. Solar Roast Coffee and the Bingo Burger restaurant, near the corner of North Tejon and East Bijou streets, have been closed since Oct. 5. The businesses, as well as others who shared space in the Saks building downtown, sustained smoke and fire damage after an early morning blaze broke out inside the Bingo Burger. Bingo Burger owner Richard Warner said Wednesday that investigators determined the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion. The phenomenon is when a fire breaks out without an external heat source; chemical, biological or physical processes can cause combustible materials to self-heat to a temperature hot enough for a fire to occur, according to the National Park Service. After being closed for half a year, and amid uncertainty about whether Solar Roast, known for using solar energy to roast its beans, would be able to reopen in its current location as insurance matters were processed, "the finish line is in sight," owner Mike Hartkop said Wednesday. He runs the shop with his wife, Jessica Hartkop. The couple also operates three Solar Roast locations in Pueblo, where Mike Hartkop opened the first location in 2007 with his brother, David Hartkop, according to the company's website. The pair invented a way to roast coffee beans using solar equipment instead of the traditional way of using propane or natural gas exhaust. "We're so excited to be back to our customers," Mike Hartkop said of the downtown Colorado Springs location, which originally opened at 134 N. Tejon St. in the summer of 2019. "The Colorado Springs customers are just fantastic. They've been calling us every day and sending emails and texts asking when we're going to reopen. We were so floored by their support and we're really excited to bring (Solar Roast Coffee) back." Plumbing work inside the shop was in progress on Wednesday, Hartkop said. That afternoon, Solar Roast's front doors were open and workers could be heard speaking to each other inside. White poster paper was taped to the inside windows to block view of the renovations from the street. Sign up for free: Gazette Business Receive a weekly roundup of business news around El Paso County. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Featured Local Savings The cleaned-up, renovated space includes updated equipment, new flooring and some other upgrades Hartkop said they had in mind even before the fire broke out. For example, when the business reopens, it will now also offer thousands of records and hundreds of new and used books for purchase. The Hartkops run a similar books and records shop in Pueblo called Analogue Books, Records & Bar. "So it will be a space where you can come and get some coffee, shop for some records, read a book," Hartkop said. "We're bringing new items and expanding on what we're doing. ... Now we're going to bring more of what customers wanted and shift with the times." Solar Roast Coffee offers cafe favorites like hot, iced or blended coffees and espresso, specialty mochas and non-coffee offerings like chai, hot chocolate, Italian sodas, iced tea and lemonade. Its food menu includes offerings like bagels and breakfast burritos. Meanwhile, the timeline of reopening for Bingo Burger at 132 N. Tejon St. is unclear, Warner said. The restaurant remained closed on Wednesday and a notice from engineering, environmental and fire consulting company EFI Global warning passersby not to enter or disturb the property was still pasted to the restaurant's front door. Warner said the fire caused a total loss for the restaurant and it will undergo significant renovations. Demolition work has only recently begun, he said. When the renovations are complete, though, Warner expects the restaurant will be like new. "We've been (in downtown Colorado Springs) going on 11 years and it will look like it did when we first opened," Warner said. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. A special language filing for a bill funding the construction of a new prison in Arkansas has a steep price tag. The filing mandates that the prison construction will have a Restricted Reserve Fund of $1 billion. Group outlines opposition to Franklin County prison plans for Arkansas A special language filing is used to add what are usually temporary provisions to a bill, in this case requiring the $1 billion fund for a bill requesting $750 million for a planned 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County. The filing states that construction of the prison can not begin until the legislature has established the fund. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opponents of the governor-supported prison plan have pointed to its costamong other factorsat the root of their opposition. The initial estimate for the prison was $1.2 billion, later revised down to $470 million by reducing square footage, ultimately arriving at a $825 million estimate in its current form. Arkansas Sheriffs Association head explains support for proposed prison The $750 million funding request adds to the $75 million already allocated to the project. The special language filing adds that the $1 billion fund should not be drawn from the catastrophic reserve fund or the Arkansas reserve fund set aside in the reserve fund. Language in the filing mandates approval of the prison fund, which requires approval by three-fifths of a quorum or a majority of the membership of the Legislative Council or if the legislature is in session by the Joint Budget Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arkansas senator introduces legislation to counter governors prison plans The special language subcommittee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. To the editor: In discussing President Trump's conflicts with the press, it may be more relevant to compare his actions, not with previous presidents', but with the tactics of those he admires such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ("60 Minutes, the Associated Press, an Iowa newspaper: Trumps attacks on the media reach new heights," March 4). There is no free press in Russia or Turkey because those leaders have followed the dictator playbook of Josef Stalin and others. Where are we headed? Judy Donais Hulme, Hermosa Beach .. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To the editor: It is laughable that this article would state: "The news media, which prides itself on being Americans' watchdog..." Americans have not relied on the news media for years. We were lied to about Joe Biden's cognitive decline, about Russian collusion and so many other subjects. The news media was complicit in withholding the truth, and the public is sick of it. Trump is not attacking the media; he is holding it accountable, and the media doesn't like it. Steve Tye, Diamond Bar .. To the editor: President Trumps accusations against CNN and his denigration of journalists as enemies of the people reminded me of what Yuval Noah Harari wrote in his 2024 book, "Nexus": Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The most common method strong men use to undermine democracy is to attack self-correcting mechanisms, one by one, often beginning with the courts and the media. The typical strong man either deprives courts of their powers or packs them with his loyalists and seeks to close all independent media outlets while building his own omnipresent propaganda machine. Trump not only denounces various media outlets for what he calls fake news, he also constantly criticizes judges and challenges judicial oversight of the executive branch. It is indeed frightening how fragile democracy is and how easily it can be threatened. Vivien Irving, Huntington Beach .. To the editor: There's nothing new with Trump's attack strategy on legacy (legitimate) media. This is an age-old tactic of autocrats to kneecap any potential opposition to their power and control. This was a favorite ploy of fascist leaders a century ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bob Teigan, Santa Susana .. To the editor: I am begging news outlets to fight against the short-term ease of paying off the president rather than standing up for the important duty of reporting the news and saving our democracy from being cowed into submitting to threats from this administration. Take it to court. Freedom of the press is to be defended by the Constitution! Please find the duty and spine to fight back! Rita Skinner, Riverside This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. What began as a viral video of a student athlete smacking a fellow runner upside the head with a baton on the track field has now developed into a pending criminal case. The alleged attacker in question is facing some serious trouble. I.C. Norcom High School senior Alaila Everett was seen in a viral video running a relay and coming up hot on another runner who appeared to get hit on the head multiple times by her baton during the 4x200 meter event in Lynchburg, Va. The runner then dove off the track field and fell to the ground. The alleged victim was identified as Brookville High School junior Kaelen Tucker, per The New York Post. A lip reading expert, Nicola Hickling, claims Everett shouted Get off and Hey, oh as she came up on Tucker, per The Daily Mail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result of the incident, the commonwealth attorney for Lynchburg says Tucker suffered a concussion and possibly a fractured skull, per WTKR. Now, it is stipulated whether the incident was an honest accident of the two runners bumping into one another or an alleged assault. Track star facing backlash after baton controversy speaks out! Claims video may look intentional, but it was not her intent, the other athlete was left with a concussion & a fractured skull. Thoughts? Could it be an accident? pic.twitter.com/rEcjF1IppC Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) March 10, 2025 Everett insists the incident was an accident, explaining that the baton struck Tucker as she ran closer and closer to Everetts lane. After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance when I pumped my arms again. She got hit, Everett said in a teary-eyed interview with WAVY. I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose. Also defending Everett is the Portsmouth NAACP who argued she was not an attacker but highlighted her academic achievements and said she carried herself with integrity both on and off the field, per a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the defense, WAVYs report says the entire I.C. Norcom High School team was disqualified and the Everett family was served a protective order from the Tuckers. According to WTKR, Everett was also criminally charged with one count of assault and battery. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A woman shops for baby products in a supermarket. (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.) Last year, the Oklahoma Legislature eliminated the states portion of sales tax on grocery items. This 4.5% cut was estimated to save the median Oklahoma household approximately $235 a year, but citizens in our state can be forgiven if they still feel a financial pinch when they go grocery shopping. Recent reports have listed Oklahoma in the Top 10 states with the highest cost of groceries, highest share of monthly household income spent on groceries, and the highest proportion of incomes used to purchase groceries. All these reports were published after the state eliminated its portion of the sales tax on grocery items, so what is keeping the price of groceries so much higher in our state? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Look no further than the Unfair Sales Act of 1949. This little-known law requires all retailers in the state to presume a proportionate part of the cost of doing business of 6% added to their costs. Essentially, this means that every business in Oklahoma is allowed to mark up the cost of their goods by 6%, meaning you are paying an artificially mandated mark up on groceries that is higher than the state sales tax was. And this law doesnt only apply to groceries. The law covers the sale of gasoline, certain medications, pet food, baby supplies, and many other items as well. The justification for this legislation is that it claims to protect small business owners against large retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Homeland. While this may be partially true, the economic science on protectionism is clear: the gains accrue to a small number of producers at the expense of the rest of the community. And this expense is not shared equally. While we all suffer from these higher prices, those who suffer the most from such laws are low-income households who already struggle to pay for necessary items but must pay a disproportionate share of their earnings toward this markup. The failure of protectionism is clear here. The costs are passed on to all of us while the benefits are shared by the few owners who get to reap inflated profits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fortunately, the Oklahoma Legislature may be prepared to provide relief to its citizens. Senator Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville), has filed SB 638 which would eliminate the price markup requirement currently in state law. This simple change would bring a larger relief to Oklahoma households than the reduction in the states portion of the sales tax on groceries, and it would cost the state nothing, as these funds flow directly into the hands of the companies that benefit from the markup. The bill was approved by the Senate Business and Insurance Committee. Daniels bill will help decrease prices on groceries, gasoline, and other important items Oklahoma families purchase every day. While the House recently passed similar legislation (HB 1024), this bill would not impact the 6% markup currently required on gasoline essentially forcing Oklahoma families to continue paying inflated prices at the gas pump. If local communities are concerned that large retailers will undermine the ability of locally owned businesses to operate, they have a variety of policy tools they could implement to help protect their small business owners including subsidies, tax credits, campaigns to shop local, and many other forms of support. However, those local communities, and the special interest groups whose members benefit from the price mark-up requirement, should not be allowed to impose an extra cost on Oklahoma families trying to buy gas for their cars or put food on their table simply to protect business owners who want to avoid additional competition and grow their own pocketbooks. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE With less than two days until the government shuts down, the ball is in the Senates court to pass a short-term funding bill. Faced with a choice of backing the House-passed six-month continuing resolution (CR) or opposing it and triggering a shutdown, Democrats are privately signaling theyll help the GOP reach the needed 60 votes. A floor vote is not expected until Friday. President Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday. One point of conversation: Greenland. Trump argued NATO could play a key role in helping the U.S. acquire the island. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bilateral chat came as the U.S. is in the thick of trying to find a ceasefire deal in Russias war in Ukraine. White House chief negotiator Steve Witkoff met Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he is open to a 30-day ceasefire, as proposed by the U.S. Trump started the day by threatening Europe with more tariffs, this time on its wine and Champagne. At midday, a federal judge handed the administration a loss, as he ruled many probationary government employees were fired unlawfully and must be reinstated. Follow along for news on these stories and more. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. As spring rapidly approaches, construction companies are gearing up for their busy season. But uncertainty about tariffs on lumber and steel has them watching and waiting for potential price surges. High tariffs on lumber and steel prices could hit the construction industry hard, especially companies that dont have a large amount of building materials already in stock. Erie brewery preparing for tariffs on aluminum Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump has proposed a 250% tariff on Canadian lumber. The policy is aimed at leveling the playing field for U.S. manufacturing but the fear is it will dramatically increase prices. As of now the prices havent gone up yet but everybody is anticipating them going to go up, said Andy Vinca, owner of Angelos Roofing. Each and every piece of lumber in Angelos Roofings warehouse was sourced from Canada. When you hear 250% what goes through your mind? I dont know dealing five years ago with COVID I cant imagine it being more than that, Vinca said. Official, participants speak on final Barber Beast on the Bay Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vinca said he has enough lumber in stock to last his business three or four months. He can take a wait-and-see approach and implement a new price structure should prices surge. Not every business is in the same position. But if you dont have enough in stock and youre kind of going day to day then yeah that would really hurt a business, he explained. In many ways, the pandemic prepared companies for just this sort of supply chain uncertainty. Construction to start this year on bayfront market house due to rising cost When the prices were really skyrocketing and they were very unstable and we went to several different out-of-town places for steel and lumber, Vinca said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump this week imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on all imported steel. Vinca asked his supplier where his steel comes from. The response was one piece of good news. The manufacturer we get the decking from is out of Wisconsin and they buy only American-made so theyre not seeing any rise in costs at all, Vinca went on to say. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Canada retaliated Wednesday with $21 billion in new tariffs on imported U.S. goods. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. A Montgomery County Sheriffs Deputy is on leave after being accused of stalking. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] A spokesperson for the sheriffs office confirmed that Deputy Tyler Murphy has been placed on unpaid leave. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Murphy was charged in Miamisburg Municipal Court on Thursday with one count of telecommunications harassment and one count of stalking, according to court records. News Center 7 obtained his personnel file which showed that Murphy was placed on unpaid leave on March 10, one day after the alleged crimes. A criminal complaint filed in Murphys case alleges that he continued to call and text a female victim in Miami Township after being told to stop all contact with her. Hes also accused of continuing to show up at the victims home after being told not to. Murphy continued to ask (the victim) about everyday activities to monitor what she is doing, court documents state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court records show that a not guilty plea was filed by Murphys attorney on Thursday. Hes scheduled to have another court hearing in April. Murphy was hired by the sheriffs office in August 2023, according to records. Before that, he worked for the City of Trotwood. News Center 7 is working to learn more about the accusations. Well provide updates as we learn more. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Cuts at the USDA are impacting local farmers and food pantries across the Miami Valley. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] As previously reported by News Center 7 at 6 p.m., a farmer in New Lebanon says the cuts to the Local Food Purchase Assistance program will impact their business and low income families. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do note that a lot of the people making these decisions do not know what its like to be hungry, Amy Cox with Guided by Mushrooms said. The USDA announced the [Local Food Purchase Assistance] will now be sunsetted at the end of the performance period, making a return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks says local producers, like Guided by Mushrooms, will feel the brunt of these cuts. We dont want to, obviously, fire anybody. So, were already looking at new markets. I feel confident that we will be able to recover, itll just take us a little bit, Cox said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guided by Mushrooms is an indoor farm with nine employees. According to Audra Sparks, they produce a thousand pounds of mushrooms per week, and 130 pounds for food pantries. Its Sparks hope that the USDA will create another program that connects local producers to food pantries, to help families. We want to grow, we want to hire more people, we want to be able to feed more people, Sparks said. So hopefully we can get another program set up in not too long. Guided by Mushrooms is making sure their 130 pounds of extra mushrooms will not go to waste, they plan to turn it into spice blends or be able to sell to a new market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not only will people in urban areas suffer because they wont have as much access to food, people in rural areas suffer from [loss of] employment opportunities, Cox said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) Concerns are growing about healthcare in the Valley in the wake of some changes that are creating issues for Insight, the entity that took over Trumbull Memorial. Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull is still open. Its doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are still providing vital healthcare and the emergency room is still open, but it might have some challenges. Im not scared about my healthcare in the Mahoning Valley because of this announcement, said Guy Coviello, CEO and president of the Warren/Youngstown Regional Chamber of Commerce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The announcement being that Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull is stopping patient admission, except for behavioral health. The pause on admissions is a result of a court order allowing the hospitals previous owner Steward Health Care to sell the contract for its management functions to a third-party with higher fees. In a statement, a spokesperson for Insight said Steward has already imposed millions in overhead costs and prevented millions more in revenues from reaching local hospitals through its control of softwares, systems, and accounts. I dont think the situation is by any means dire. Theyll continue to have emergency room services and outpatient services, and some of the core things that they do well will continue to be offered to the community, Coviello said. Rick Lucas represents the nurses who work at Hillside Rehabilitation, also an Insight facility. That hospital is staying open, too, and will continue providing services. Lucas is concerned new systems that have to be installed will require restructuring the hospitals operations and services. And so losing these systems that are vital to the provision of care undermines all the safety protocols and measures that have been put in place, Lucas said. Bankruptcy talk joining bedside manner has been tough for patients, and people are worried about local health care. Lucas would like to see state lawmakers help with more oversight into situations like this. Trumbull County Commissioners are also addressing Insights challenges and trying to ease the publics fears. Commissioner Denny Malloy said they are working through it the best they can. He is urging people not to panic. They dont want to scare the community. They are just reorganizing due to something unforeseen that anybody who took the hospital would have had to deal with this with Steward. Steward was a bad guy a bad manager, Malloy said. Insight was operating on the old record, the old billing and stuff that Steward had while they made the transition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Malloy said Insight doesnt want to pay exorbitant fees, so they are making adjustments. They are going to scale down production for a little bit while they install their system, their billing, their computer records and then rebuild the hospital back up, Malloy said. Insights facilities remain open for all outpatient services, including its rehabilitation hospital which is also providing inpatient care. The emergency room is functioning around the clock to stabilize, treat, and transfer patients if needed. Our hospitals are of the utmost importance. We cannot lose hospitals. Its vital to our residents health and its also vital to economic development, said Trumbull County Commissioner Rick Hernandez. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. The Colorado Supreme Court appeared hesitant on Tuesday to endorse the idea that the state's utility regulator could use a rate-setting document to broadly immunize a company from liability against electrocutions. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The metro organization countering sexual assault, also known as MOCSA, is still waiting for an answer about the potential for federal grant money. We just submitted the renewal for that grant application in January and we have heard nothing in terms of whether or not those are going to be reviewed and whether or not awards will be made, said MOCSA President and CEO Julie Donelon. KC Pet Project responds to recent lawsuit over deadly dog mauling incident Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If no money is awarded, Donelon says one of the resources that could be in jeopardy is MOCSAs legal advocacy department which provides free legal services to survivors. It costs about $300,000 a year to provide that program with paralegal and attorney fees so we will have to fundraise for all of that or close the program, Donelon said. Thats because, at this time, the Office on Violence Against Women has removed information about funding opportunities with no updates posted since February. Just last year, OVW awarded $11.6 million to different state and local programs in Missouri. It also awarded $5.6 million to programs in Kansas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kansas City would be losing five million dollars and that is just as you can imagine hundreds of thousands of survivors that wont have access to services, Donelon explained. She also says that last year, their attorney worked with 174 people, helping them with needs like filing an order of protection, divorce and custody cases that involve abuse. To have someone they can go to who can represent them in all these matters is critical to them feeling safe secure and whole again, Donelon said about the service. New Kansas bill introduced after sex offender attends school dance The need for support isnt slowing down either; in the past six years, Donelon says theyve seen a 30% increase in the number of victims reaching out for help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MOCSA is also dealing with the impacts of a 40% cut to the Victims of Crime Act from last year. However, Donelon hopes an answer on the status of the application comes soon so they can plan for whats next. If you or someone you know needs help, call MOCSAs 24-hour crisis line at 816-531-0233 in Missouri, or 913-642-0233 in Kansas. You can also learn more about their resources here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. United Way of Lee County announced earlier this week that The City of Sanford and FirstHealth of the Carolinas have each been awarded a Spirit of North Carolina Award in the Sustainability Through Engagement category. These organizations have modeled a dedication to community service through their fundraising, volunteer and advocacy efforts in the year 2024, according to a release. United Way of North Carolinas annual Spirit of North Carolina Award celebrates individuals and organizations for their exemplary partnership demonstrated through fundraising and volunteer efforts, outstanding leadership and creative team building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, individuals who are champions of United Way are also celebrated. On March 11, United Way of North Carolina recognized 14 winners representing five local United Ways at the Central Region event. The Spirit of North Carolina Award shines a light on our incredible partners, who are supporting United Ways work and helping us achieve our goals, Kendra Martin, executive director of United Way of Lee County, said. We extend our congratulations to all Spirit of North Carolina winners across the state, and especially to the City of Sanford and FirstHealth, who are making a huge impact in the lives of our neighbors here at home. The City of Sanford was recognized for steady growth of its United Way campaign which encourages employees to make an annual contribution. The citys support of community initiatives addressing homelessness and food insecurity was also commended. FirstHealth of the Carolinas was recognized for leaderships support of robust campaign planning and implementation, which led to a significant year-over-year increase in FirstHealths campaign in Lee County. We are honored to have these outstanding organizations as key partners in our work, Martin said. We appreciate their commitment to United Way of Lee County as we work toward a shared future where everyone in our community can thrive and reach their full potential. Editors note: This story corrects the name of the person WKBN interviewed. We regret the error. BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) Two Boardman High School seniors are sporting new haircuts now, all part of a fundraiser for a local charity. With Superintendent Chris Neifer manning the clippers, students Grayson Eicher and Sullivan Smith had their thick hair cut off Thursday. They are both with the local Saint Baldricks Foundation team, which is trying to raise money for research into childhood cancers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Organizers hope the event will encourage other students to support the cause. When kids or anyone really goes through chemo or radiation, they lose their hair. Us shaving our heads shows solidarity with them, that were here to support you in any way we can, really, said Jason Cottrill, with the Saint Baldricks Foundation. Sullivan and Grayson are actually just two of more than 70 teenagers and adults who have already signed up to be part of a shave-a-thon this Saturday at Penguin City Brewing. Organizers are hoping to raise at least $50,000 for cancer research. Walk-ins are welcome. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) The war between Russia and Ukraine could be closer to seeing the end. Ukraine has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in return for the United States financial support again. It is now up to Russia to accept a truce in putting an end to the war. On Wednesday, 28/22 News spoke with a local Ukrainian who is remaining positive on the latest news out of his home county. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alex Groysman, founder of Scranton 4 Ukraine, is wary about whats to come in Ukraines war with Russia. He feels the ceasefire deal is a step in the right direction, but doesnt trust Russia after its long history with these kind of deals. Standing outside Saint Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Scranton on Wednesday, Groysman is staying positive about his home countrys latest deal with the United States. Im hopeful, but cautiously hopeful, Groysman said. Groysman was born in Kyiv and is now a founder of the non-profit association Scranton 4 Ukraine. It holds race events throughout the year to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Wanted FBI Fugitive in Pa. arrested He says the ceasefire deal is a good start and puts pressure on Russia, but there needs to be more certainty. Theres got to be taken accountability for all the war crimes that have been committed. There has to be security guarantees, so this cant be started within 30 days, Groysman added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants the same. President Donald Trump says he is ready to speak personally with Russias President Putin to secure his support for a ceasefire. The ball is in their court, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated. Rubio says the United States is contacting Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine agreed to negotiate an end to the three-year war on Tuesday during talks in Saudi Arabia. If their response is no, then it will be highly unfortunate, and it will make their intentions clear, Rubio continued. Teachers still see the impact five years after COVID-19 In exchange, the United States would resume military aid and sharing military intelligence after it was suspended a week ago. How many lives were lost because of those couple days that were paused? We shouldnt be playing with peoples lives like that; we need to see this through, Groysman explained. Rubio also says Europe would have to be involved in any security guarantee for Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Europe really needs to play a bigger role in all of this, Groysman continued. Groysman isnt sure whats ahead for his hometown, but he believes Russias long history of breaking ceasefire agreements will make a permanent end to the war a tough task. They can stop the war at any day by just leaving Ukraine. It is about democracy, and Ukraine is on the front lines of that, and we cant just abandon them. I think its going to be a long process, said Groysman. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the proposed 30-day ceasefire would allow both sides to prepare a plan for ending the war. Groysman says Scranton 4 Ukraine has raised nearly $30,000 in funds donated to Ukraine refugees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A local victim was reimbursed by the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection after his attorney was convicted of a felony. Over $229,000 was paid out to victims statewide from the fund at its last disbursement, including $1,500 to a local victim of suspended attorney Robert Rohrbaugh, II. The funds directors said that the victim did not receive the services requested. Rohrbaugh was sentenced in June 2023 to 52 months in jail after he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, aiding and abetting theft of government property, aiding and abetting false claims against the United States, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The conviction came after a six-day federal trial. Rohrbaugh was accused of helping two other men, Brandon Mace and Terris Chanley Baker, with obtaining a tax refund check for a fictitious business in the amount of $1,352,779. As part of his sentence, Rohrbaugh also must pay back any of the money he was found guilty of taking from the IRS that hasnt already been returned. His license to practice law was also permanently suspended. Other payouts from the fund include: $2,000 to a victim in Ashtabula County $3,000 to a victim in Franklin County $100,000 to a victim in Franklin County $100,000 to a victim in Hamilton County $5,000 to a victim in Hamilton County $8,000 to a victim in Lake County $7,500 to a victim in Montgomery County $2,200 to a victim in Ottawa County $750 to a victim in Summit County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Lawyers Fund for Client Protection was created in 1985 by the Ohio Supreme Court to reimburse victims of attorney theft, embezzlement or misappropriation. The fund is supported by registration fees paid by every Ohio attorney. No taxpayer money is used for the fund. Joe Gorman and Gerry Ricciutti contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. A Union County woman says a dispute with her Homeowners Association (HOA) over a few hundred dollars in unpaid dues cost her family their home. Taylor Sanders was living in Weddington Hills in 2020. She admits she owed dues to her HOA. According to HOA records, she owned $400. They said it hadnt been paid for a year, she explained. MORE ACTION 9: Builder turns over HOA to homeowners, some neighbors clash Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The HOA sent her multiple letters, but she told Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke she never received them. Then things snowballed. In February 2021, the board got a lien on her property. Then in April, it sent her a letter, saying she owed about $1,200 and that it was going to start foreclosure proceedings. I thought it was a joke, she said. It wasnt. According to county records, her 3,300-square-foot home sold for $49,000. She says just like that, it was gone. Oh my God. Its devastating for my children, she said. I dont wish this on anyone. Records show the person who bought the house turned around and sold it five months later for $850,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stoogenke reached out to the HOAs attorney to see if he wanted to add perspective but didnt hear back in time for this report. MORE ACTION 9: Condo owner sues HOA over Ring camera, loses, has to pay $73K Sanders wants to warn other homeowners so they take any legal threat from their HOA seriously. This is just the beginning. I want to make sure I educate other people. I want to make sure they know about it. I want them to know their rights, she said. North Carolina legislators are considering a bill to give homeowners more recourse. For example, if a homeowner owes money, the board could still get a lien on the property and start foreclosure proceedings, but it would have to meet certain criteria first. But there hasnt been any movement on the bill since last May. VIDEO: Family says HOA had no authority to give easement for trail, sues Village of Marvin to give it back BOROUGH PARK, Brooklyn (PIX11) Locals are hosting a rally on Thursday to protest a homeless shelter expected to open in Borough Park this year. The shelter, which would be the first of its kind in this community, will house 82 families with children, according to a DHS spokesperson. More Local News As part of our equitable shelter siting approach, we continue working to bring new, high-quality shelter sites to communities with no, or limited, shelter capacity, said a DHS spokesperson. This new facility will be the first DHS shelter of any kind in this Council District. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some community members have opposed the shelter for months, including Assembly Member Lester Chang. Critics say the shelter will compromise safety in the neighborhood. In a Community Board meeting last month, Chang said he believes the city has not considered alternatives to the Brooklyn location. Boro Park is not a dumping ground, organizers of Thursdays rally said. The shelter, introduced to the community in January, is expected to open in mid-2025 and will be run by non-profit provider Midway Living. The shelter will have on-site security 24/7 and security cameras, according to DHS. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This site will serve up to 82 families, providing them the opportunity to stabilize their lives, connect with services, and ultimately transition to permanent housing, the DHS spokesperson said. As always, we are committed to maintaining open lines of communication with the community, addressing concerns as they arise, and working collaboratively to support the vulnerable families as they work to get back on their feet. Similar rallies broke out in Bensonhurst last year over a proposed homeless shelter. During one rally, police clashed with protesters and multiple people were arrested. At that rally, City Council Member Susan Zhuang was accused of biting an NYPD officer, but she said she was protecting an older community member. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. A Long Island drug dealer was charged Wednesday after authorities found heaps of pills containing enough fentanyl to kill more than 65,000 people and several abused pooches used for dog fighting at his home, according to prosecutors. Kevin Brown, 39, was hit with drugs, weapons and dog fighting charges in a 34-count indictment Wednesday when authorities discovered more than 1,000 pills, 771 of which contained fentanyl, at his Hempstead home in December, Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said. Police also uncovered a handgun loaded with eight rounds, seven pit bulls living in filthy conditions, additional ammunition, a bag of ketamine and dozens of other fentanyl pills. Seven abused pit bulls were found at Kevin Browns Hempstead home. ABC7 The street value of the pills alone goes for about $34,000, according to prosecutors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Selling dangerous drugs is often associated with the cruelty of dogfighting, and this defendant allegedly possessed and sold pills containing enough fentanyl to kill more than 65,000 people while also housing, breeding, and training seven pit bulls to fight, Donnelly said in a press release. Authorities found heaps of pills containing enough fentanyl to kill more than 65,000 people. ABC7 Police and the DEA Task Force opened an investigation into Brown after an overdose occurred inside his Willow Avenue home in September 2024. After two months of surveillance, they raided his property. The malnourished dogs were spotted inside dirty wooden crates and six of them were tied up with heavy chains, prosecutors alleged. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A pit bull roaming in the backyard had cropped ears a common practice used for dog fighting where the owner intentionally cuts the animals ears and various dog fighting items were recovered. The seven dogs five males and two females were marked with horrific dog fighting scars and the two females were used for breeding, according to prosecutors. The pit bulls were found living in filthy conditions. NCDA Months later, the dogs recovered and two have been adopted, prosecutors said. The five others are up for adoption at the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter. Meanwhile, Brown was seen smiling inside Nassau County Court, ABC 7 reported. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and Judge Caryn Fink set bail at $100,000 cash while ordering him not to own any pets. Kevin Brown smiled at reporters inside court Wednesday. ABC7 Brown was released after posting bail, according to ABC 7. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His lawyer denied Browns involvement outside the courthouse. Hes a family man, hes married. Hes got kids, defense attorney Marck Gann said, according to the TV outlet. I dont believe he was the owner of these dogs, and I think the DAs made assumptions about dog fighting that I dont think is accurate. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Brown will pay for the alleged animal abuse. We are going to give him a nice comfortable cell, he raged. He should live in the same squalor that he put these poor dogs in and let him learn that little life lesson. DENVER (KDVR) Longmont Public Safety is trying to stop people from taking backflow preventers but with incidents of the thefts on the rise, officials need help. The valves are found at commercial properties and prevent contaminants from entering potable water via backflow, but theyre also large, made of valuable materials (such as copper and brass) and attractive to thieves if there arent theft prevention measures in place. Thieves caught on camera stealing copper wire from Denver live music restaurant Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Longmont said that in 2024, a new state law required the city install the valves in certain water systems, including irrigation in places like parks. The city said that it has seen a sharp rise in backflow preventer thefts, and said 24 of the valves have been taken from city parks. The public safety agency said that at least five local businesses have also reported thefts of their backflow preventers. Longmont Public Safety posted this photo of a backflow preventer valve so citizens can recognize possible thefts when they happen. (Courtesy Longmont Public Safety) Longmont Public Safety said its not alone in the thefts, reporting that municipalities across the state have been hit by thieves taking the expensive, hefty valves. Columbine Water and Sanitation District is among those impacted, posting in June 2024 about a rise in thefts and showing water shooting out of pipes in a park after one of the valves had been stolen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Longmont Public Safety is asking the public to help by being alert and calling 911 if there is suspicious activity around backflow preventers, especially after dark, the agency said, and on public property without marked city vehicles nearby, or in private areas where the activity seems out of place. The agency is also asking the public to submit any information about these thefts to Longmont Police Services at 303-651-8555 and reference case No. 25-1436. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Speaking to a supportive crowd of over 11,000 people packed into an arena in Greeley on Friday, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she wanted to deliver a message to the city's Republican congressman, freshman Rep. Gabe Evans. DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) Ed Pritchard, a well-known radio guest and former Dothan Police Officer died last week. He was 86. Born in 1938 in Patterson, New Jersey, Pritchard served in the Navy for four years and retired from the Army after 30 years. During his military service, Pritchard earned a Purple Heart and served as a medic for two years in Vietnam. Following his military service, Pritchard served in the Dothan Police Department, spending several years in the traffic division, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lt. Pritchard served with distinction and dedication to his community. We are forever grateful for his service. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this time, said Lt. Scott Owens, who did not work with Pritchard at the DPD, but knew him personally. During his service with the DPD, Pritchard became a well-known voice in the Wiregrass, coming by WOOF to serve as a guest during the morning newscast. Near the end of the morning show, Pritchard would give public service announcements and give reports of crashes and speed checks around the city. A celebration of life will be held at Sunset Funeral Home on Friday, March 14, followed by a burial with military honors. Friends are able to visit with family from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com. LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) HATCO in Longview laid off 68 employees in late February after discovering issues at the facility were far more extensive than anticipated. Nacogdoches company announces dozens of layoffs HATCO said due to the discovered issues, they were unable to safely continue operations and closed the Longview facility located at 302 Huntsman Way on Feb. 27, laying off 68 employees. While the company initially budgeted to repair the issues, the cost of the repairs was far more than what they were able to afford. According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, HAVCO was required to provide employees 60 days notice of facility closure unless an exception applies. Due to the unexpected and unforeseen nature of the facility issues, an exception applies and we are unable to provide such notice, HAVCO said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DOGE terminates 38 federal agency offices including several in East Texas The company explained that a few employees continued their job following the closure to ensure operations were shut down safely while all laid off employees will be paid 60 days notice pay. HATCO said if anyone has any questions about the facility closure, they can contact HATCO President Deven Marcum at 972-494-7169 or dmarcum@hat-co.com Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) A Longview veteran received the keys to a newly refurbished car as thanks for his service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Caliber Collision and GEICO collaborated to give Emonnie Johnson keys to a 2023 Toyota Camry. Without a car of his own, its been a challenge for Johnson to juggle transportation to his two jobs, a representative said. He often has to pay people for rides to work, the grocery store, medical visits or any other errands, which further depletes his limited income. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tyler officially recognized as Veteran-Friendly Community With the new transportation, Johnson hopes to find a full-time position and to regain his independence. Airpower Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting military families, nominated Johnson. It was a big surprise when I found out that I won. I still didnt believe it, I still dont, its unreal, Johnson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson served as an electrical engineer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2016 to 2020. He has always served others and with a new vehicle, he can use his new gift to give back to the people who have helped him when he needed it the most. I can start by helping my family out, doing some goodwill and stuff like that, helping other people because I usually help other people, Johnson said. The vehicle was donated by GEICO and refurbished by technicians at Caliber Collision. These technicians volunteer their time to refurbish vehicles as part of the NABC Recycled Rides program. The NABC Recycled Rides program has given more than 3,500 vehicles to veterans, military families, single mothers and others in need of reliable transportation. Caliber Collison has donated over 600 vehicles to veterans and military families for over 12 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. KILLEEN, Texas (FOX 44) After Mondays fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Serenity Baker at Roy J. Smith Middle School, the Killeen community is looking for answers from the Killeen Independent School District. Following the stabbing, FOX 44s Vince Erickson attended the emergency board meeting held by Killeen ISD on Tuesday morning, where parents voiced their concerns about the traumatizing incident. However, many parents left unsatisfied. They wont graduate together now. Prom, high school, all that, its over. Thats sad. Our kids shouldnt have to deal with that, said Shaurisha Steele, a concerned parent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other parents asked the school board for more communication, saying it has been lacking for a long time, and some say they have lost trust in the school district. On Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m., FOX 44s Zoria Goodley attended a press conference held by Killeen ISD Police Chief Erik Hydorn and Superintendent Dr. Jo Ann Fey. Goodley hoped to get answers the Killeen community has yet to receive. Unfortunately, neither the police chief nor superintendent were able to answer any questions reporters had, although they were told Dr. Fey would answer questions. I miscommunicated earlier, shes not going to take questions today, so I apologize for that, said Killeen ISD Communications & Marketing Director Karen Rudolph. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following the press conference, Rudolph advised the group of reporters to submit any questions for the superintendent via email. Heres what FOX 44 has submitted so far: What was the relationship between the two students involved? What is the behavioral history of the two students involved? Was the stabbing a result of an ongoing bullying situation? Are the suspects parents subject to legal action since the student is a minor? What was the weapon exactly? Are there working metal detectors at Roy J Smith Middle School and if so, were they being used during the time of the incident and who was working them? Many parents want to know will staff or officers be put in the halls or restrooms to ensure student safety? Many parents are wondering if cellphone policies will change so parents can have more communication with their child during school for emergencies. Will counseling services do more to support students mental health? Were there any other previous investigations involving the suspect and the victim? Where did the incident happen? Is there any video surveillance of the students involved leading up to the altercation? Answers to these questions will be given to the public as they are received by FOX 44 News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. After Speaker of the House Mike Johnson succeeded in pushing a stopgap spending measure through his chamber Tuesday, Senate Democrats are in a bind. Their dual goalsavoiding a government shutdown and slowing Elon Musks slashing path through federal agenciesseem to be in opposition. Congress must pass a continuing resolution (CR) by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, or else the governments approved funding will run out, forcing most federal agency functions to shut down. On Tuesday, the House passed its bill to fund the federal government through September basically along party lines, but 60 votes are necessary to pass the bill through the Senate. Sen. Rand Paul already has vowed to break with his party and vote down the CR, meaning that Republicans will need at least eight Democrats to join them to overcome the filibuster and send the spending bill to President Donald Trumps desk. Republicans have already made it clear they are ready to blame Democrats if a government shutdown occurs. I think the American people are going to be interested to see whether Democrats are going to filibuster, and by filibustering, shut down the federal government, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a press conference Tuesday. It is on them when this happens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Wednesday evening, no vote had yet been scheduled in the Senate. That day, the Senates Democratic leadership floated the idea of forcing Congress to take up a short-term CR they have proposed to fund the government through April 11 while negotiators finish up a comprehensive appropriations agreement. But such a short-term CR is not the bill the House passed, and its members declared recess and left town after passing their measure. Negotiations between the two parties in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees broke down weeks ago, leading to the need for a stop-gap funding measure to keep the government open, something neither side wanted. Democrats main ask was for language in the measure to ensure that Trump spends money in the way Congress appropriated it, but Republicans argued it was an infringement on the separation of powers. They were demanding that we put a provisionnot just in an appropriations bill, but in the CRhandcuffing the ability of the executive branch to reduce spending, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, told The Dispatch. Now they proposed that because President Trump is the president, and they dont like President Trump. If they thought there was any reasonable possibility that we would do that, they must have been day drinking. We wouldnt do that even when a Democratic president, President Biden, was president. Essentially, the choice facing Senate Democrats is to either vote for a Republican CR they strongly oppose or bear the blame for shutting down the government. As they weigh their options, they need to consider several factors. The first is the political ramifications of a shutdown. Democrats would be gambling that the American people will blame Republicans rather than them in the event that Congress cannot meet the Friday deadline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans are in charge of the House, the Senate, and the White House, guys. I dont know what else to tell you, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico told reporters. Any blame assessed by voters will be reflected in the results of the 2026 midterm elections, but there are also shorter-term considerations for Democrats. The Houses CR does not have the key guarantee they sought: to curtail Trumps discretion over the spending that Congress appropriates. The CR actually gives him the ability to spend funds without any congressional oversight, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, told The Dispatch. If they fold now and vote for such a CR, Democrats could lose their leverage on the issue. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia acknowledged that concern among Democrats. I do know that that is something that Sen. Murray, as the lead Dem, is very mindful of, and exactly what mechanisms you put in place that are guardrails against that I dont exactly know, but it is an issue that weve talked about at some length, and I know Patty is very focused on it, he said. But the other optionshutting down non-essential government functions for the first time since 2018does not guarantee that they will be able to rein in the executive branch. As billionaire Elon Musk attempts to remake federal agencies as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, some Democrats foresee a shutdown as only helping his efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CR may enable more firing, but closing the government may be even more welcome to Elon Musk because it gives him an excuse to fire more people, and he can blame it on the Democrats, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon made similar comments. I think it would be immensely damaging, he said of a shutdown. When I came out, people asked me what I thought, and, as of right now, I think the Musk brigade is doing an enormous amount of damage to essential services like veterans and kids and the like, and I am not going to be part of helping them in it. However, he would not say which outcome helps Musks team more, nor how he would vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With just two days to decide on a course of action, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is saying his caucus will continue to push for the short-term CR, and other Democrats have said they will try to muscle Republicans into agreeing to a vote on an amendment that would shorten the term of the current bill. Otherwise, Democrats have generally been coy about what they would do if the GOP puts the House CR up for a vote. There are a few nos, but most are not saying definitively how they would vote. One Democrat has been vocally opposed to a shutdown at all costs. Before House Republicans even unveiled their CR, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania tweeted last week that he would never vote to shut our government down. Asked about the ramifications of that decision, Fetterman stuck to that promise. You dont have to take me out for dinner here. Cut to the chase. Are you saying Im going to vote to shut the government down? he told The Dispatch. Ive been very clear I will not vote or withhold my vote to shut the government down. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. Donald Trumps political choices since winning the 2024 presidential election have been met with both controversy and confusion. Last November, he seemed determined to have Matt Gaetz serve as his attorney general, overseeing the Justice Department. However, Gaetz ultimately withdrew himself from the process in the face of bipartisan pressure and allegations that he had sex with a minor in 2017. Trump quickly replaced Gaetz with Pam Bondibut now it seems the President has flip flopped once again with his latest nomination. According to CNN, the White House canceled Dr. Dave Weldons nomination hearing for director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just hours before it was scheduled to happen on Thursday. Shortly after, they withdrew Weldons nomination altogether. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A source familiar on the matter told Reuters anonymously that Weldon, who is a physician, lacked the votes needed for Senate confirmation. In the past, the position has been appointed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Weldons nomination has garnered quite the bit of controversy since it was announced last year though he has served in Congress for over a decade, representing a Florida district close to Tampa from 1995 to 2009. Weldon had previously introduced legislation that would have shifted vaccine safety oversight away from the CDC. He has been a vocal critic about the safety of vaccines that had already been studied, insisting that they are harmful and linked to autism. After being a member of Congress, Weldon returned to practice as an internal medicine doctor in Florida. He also held leadership positions at Privia Quality Network Central Florida, a company that works to uphold physician practices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to forms submitted by Weldon to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, he also served as board chairman for the pro-Israel advocacy group Israel Allies Foundation. Weldon would have reported to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who shares his skepticism over vaccines and leads the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overseeing the CDC. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As a Louisiana woman faces pending fraud charges connected to the death of Kansas City sports reporter Adan Manzano, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said this week that the woman should have been in custody on previous charges at the time of Manzanos death. At the time of his death, Manzano, 27, was on assignment in New Orleans, Louisiana, covering Super Bowl LIX for Telemundo and Tico Sports, a multimedia production company that broadcasts Kansas City Chiefs games in Spanish. Manzano was found unresponsive in his Comfort Suites hotel room in Kenner, Louisiana, on Feb. 5. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Danette Colbert, 48, was arrested Feb. 7 by Kenner, Louisiana, police, who found Manzanos cell phone and credit card in Colberts Slidell, Louisiana, home. Surveillance footage captured at Manzanos hotel shows Colbert entering with Manzano between 4:30 and 5 a.m. on the morning of his death, then leaving alone shortly thereafter. Colbert allegedly used Manzanos credit card at several New Orleans stores starting at 7 a.m. Feb. 5, according to Kenner police. During a February bond hearing in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court, a Kenner police detective testified that Manzano had the antidepressant alprazolam in his system when he died, and that the same drug was found in Colberts apartment. Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, is often used in robberies because it can cause amnesia. Colbert has a history of drugging men and stealing from them, Kenner police said on the day of her arrest. When detained in connection with Manzanos death, Colbert was on probation after having been convicted of multiple felonies in November 2024, according to Murrills office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement shared with The Star Wednesday, Murrill said Colbert should not have been eligible for probation under the prior charges, and therefore should not have been free on the night Manzano died. Our position is that the original sentence was not eligible for probation, Murrill said in the statement. Louisiana district attorney Jason Williams, of Orleans Parish, has filed a motion to revoke Colberts probation, which would lead to a new prison sentence for the November felonies. This motion could see Colbert sentenced to 20 years in prison, when she was originally sentenced to 10 years plus five years probation, WWL-TV Channel 4 in Louisiana reported Tuesday. A motion to correct an illegal sentence can be filed at any time, Murrill said in the statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Murrills office took over all pending charges against Colbert this week after district courts from multiple parishes in Louisiana became involved in her case. If Colberts parole was retroactively revoked in her felony convictions, she would be re-sentenced as a habitual offender, Murrill said. Criminal defendants can be tagged as habitual offenders after a fourth felony charge, according to Louisiana law, and could face longer prison sentences. Were just trying to keep her in jail, a spokesperson for Murrills office told The Star on Wednesday. It sounds like she should be in jail were trying to make sure she stays behind bars. Colbert is currently being held without bail and is facing charges of purse snatching, illegal transfer of monetary funds, computer fraud, bank fraud and simple robbery in association with Manzanos death, along with her previous felony convictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Colbert has not been charged with Manzanos death, though an investigation is ongoing. A Mexico City native who later moved to Topeka, Kansas, Manzano had been with Telemundo since 2021. He covered the Chiefs as a sideline reporter and was the play-by-play caller for KC Current games for Tico Sports. He had covered two previous Super Bowls while reporting on the Chiefs. Manzanos death comes less than a year after the death of his wife, Ashleigh Boyd, a teacher for the Topeka Public School District. Manzano and Boyd are survived by their toddler daughter. Previous reporting by PJ Green contributed to this article. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) A court hearing was held at the 21st District Courthouse as the state of Louisiana pushes its legal battle against TikTok. Attorney General Liz Murrill argued that the lawsuit should proceed, accusing the popular app of exploiting young users by promoting addictive, harmful content. At the heart of the states case is the claim that TikTok has made its app available to children ages 12 and older while failing to properly warn about its dangers. Murrill emphasized that the app targets youth for profit, regardless of the contents appropriateness for minors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are focusing on the representations TikTok has made in offering its app to the public and suggesting its suitable for users as young as 12 years old, Murrill told the court. Today, the focus is on whether the lawsuit can move forward. The core issue before the court is whether Louisiana can sue TikTok in Livingston Parish and win the case. Murrill pointed out that there are other venues, noting the companys ties to Delaware and California. However, she emphasized that TikTok has extensive contacts with Louisiana, including user data collection and targeted content. While TikToks legal team declined to comment in court, their defense focused on jurisdiction, arguing the state has not shown enough evidence to prove its case in Louisiana. TikTok representatives countered that and stated the app operates nationwide and that the company only learns a users location after they agree to its terms. The judge has given both parties 10 days to review the arguments before deciding on the next steps in the case. Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)Four constitutional amendments are on the ballot for Louisiana voters. Amendment Three concerns juvenile justice. The amendment reads, Do you support an amendment to provide the legislature the authority to determine which felony crimes, when committed by a person under seventeen, may be transferred for criminal prosecution as an adult? If passed, it would give the Louisiana legislature the authority to determine which crimes a juvenile can be convicted of and sent to adult prison. Advocates have said it is part of Governor Jeff Landrys tough-on-crime approach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Louisiana AG vows to fight judges order preventing state from executing man using nitrogen hypoxia Opponents say 16 crimes are already listed as juvenile offenses under the discretion of District Attorneys. We were not told what crimes you want to add. So we dont know what that would look like. If youre trying to take something away or add it. What could it be? said Sate Rep. Tammy Phelps, (D) District 3. The Louisiana Center for Childrens Rights executive director is also speaking out about the amendment. Election day is March 29. Early voting is March 15 through the 22. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has announced that it will be updating its Freedom Framework in social studies to reflect President Trump's executive order on renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. On March 12, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved this change following the recommendation of Dr. Cade Brumley, Louisiana State Superintendent. Brumley said, "updating our academic standards ensures alignment with the leadership of President Trump and Governor Landry while reinforcing the Gulfs significance to our states future." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He continued by stating that the Gulf is a sustaining engine for Louisiana and helps fuel the energy sector and seafood industry which sustains generations of families. Background on this update In January, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order that effectively renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf America. Following this order major corporations such as Chevron, Murphy Oil, Shell, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have adjusted their materials and references accordingly. Other organizations such as the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, National Weather Service (NWS), National Hurricane Center (NHC) and U.S. Geographic Names Information System have implemented this change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Check this out: It's now Gulf of America. US officially makes Trump change to Gulf of Mexico Impact in Louisiana Schools According to LDOE, the Freedom Framework for social studies standards references the Gulf in two areas -- fourth and fifth grade. These changes will be enacted in the 2025-2026 school year and schools will not be required to purchase new instructional materials. LDOE said that they will issue guidance for school systems and are currently working with publishers of social studies materials to incorporate this update. What is Freedom Framework? In 2022, Brumley led in the adoption of the K-12 student standards for social studies -- Freedom Framework. These standards tell the story of America exceptionalism and nation's continuous effort in becoming a perfect union. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This framework highlights the struggles, sacrifices and successes of the American people. Since its adoption this standard has been recognized as the strongest in the nation and has been used to create similar standards in other states. More: Many Louisiana students rely on free school meals. How budget cuts may do away with them Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana schools update Gulf of America in 4th and 5th grade curriculum Citing fiscal worries, legislative leaders on Tuesday approved a proposal to put 10 interim and year-round committees on hold that would otherwise meet once the legislature concludes its 2025 session on May 7. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) Two Louisiana families have filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, alleging the airline negligently flew into severe turbulence, resulting in injuries. According to federal court documents, plaintiffs Deborah and John Grymes, along with Amy and Joseph Berret, were traveling from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to Orlando, Florida, on April 3, 2024, when their Southwest flight encountered violent turbulence. The lawsuit claims the airline ignored a weather advisory issued by the National Weather Service, which had warned of a major cold front moving through the region. Rather than adjusting its flight path to avoid the storm, the suit alleges that Southwest attempted to fly ahead of the system, placing passengers at risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the turbulence, Deborah Grymes, who was using the aircrafts restroom at the time, was reportedly thrown violently, sustaining injuries. Amy Berret also suffered injuries, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs accuse Southwest Airlines of negligence, arguing that the airlines flight crew and dispatchers failed to prioritize passenger safety. The lawsuit seeks damages for negligence, loss of consortium, and exemplary damages. Following the incident, the flight was diverted to Tampa International Airport, where Grymes and Berret were transported to a hospital for medical treatment. A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said they do not comment on pending litigation. This event is part of an open investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A full copy of the lawsuit can be found here. Southwest Airlines frequent flyers react to end of bags fly free Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signs an executive order March 13, 2025, to change all references to the Gulf of Mexico in state laws and documents to the "Gulf of America." State lawmakers joined Landry for the ceremony before his luncheon speech to business organizations at the Cypress Columns event venue in Gray. (Greg LaRose/LAI) GRAY Following the lead of President Donald Trump, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order Thursday that directs state agencies to change all references to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana laws and other documents to the Gulf of America. Landry, who signed the order before he spoke at a business luncheon in Terrebonne Parish, invited state lawmakers in attendance to join in for the ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The same order also urges Congress to make the same name change to the body of water and establish what the governor called a uniform state territorial jurisdiction of water limits. That means were going to all get the same amount of miles off the coast as everyone else, Landry told the audience. Florida and Texas claim fishing and energy exploration rights to waters 9 nautical miles off their respective Gulf coasts, but the limit in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is 3 miles. The difference goes back to when Florida and Texas gained their statehood in 1845. Both were allowed to maintain the offshore boundaries established when they were Spanish territories, while the other three states stayed at the 3-mile mark then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson established in 1793. Members of Louisianas congressional delegation have tried unsuccessfully for decades to extend its offshore water to 9 miles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Landrys new executive order had not been posted to the Secretary of States online register or the governors website as of late Thursday night. The governors office did not respond to a request for a copy of the order. Trump led the way in late January with his own executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. It also removed the indigenous name Denali from the tallest mountain peak in the United States and restored it to Mount McKinley, which had been its federal designation from 1917 until 2015. On his way to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Trump declared Feb. 9 as Gulf of America Day. He said his actions were taken to restore American pride. Google Maps adopted the new moniker, and then shut off online comments after user reviews were overwhelmingly negative. Efforts in other Gulf Coast states to make the change are in their nascent stages, with some officials questioning the cost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bill in the Florida Legislature would follow Trumps branding for the Gulf of America. It advanced narrowly from a state senate committee Monday, although a majority of Floridians said they dont support the change in a recent poll. In Alabama, legislation was introduced last month to require the use Gulf of America at the state and local level. The proposal has yet to receive a committee hearing, but it has already caused a stir at the newly renamed Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile. The author of the bill, Republican Rep. David Stanbridge of Blount County, said it would not apply in instances that would impose an undue burden, citing language in the measure. After Trump first floated the name change after his inauguration in January, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on social media the gulf should be named after his state. Three bills in the ongoing session of the Texas Legislature would make the Gulf of America change, though they have yet to receive a committee hearing. There are no proposals in the Mississippi Legislature to rename the water body. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) Attorney General Liz Murrill wants to delay a lawsuit aimed at preventing an amendment on tax and budget reform from making the March 29 ballot. A 19th Judicial District judge granted Murrills dilatory exception against the lawsuit. The Court said the plaintiffs request was questionable since absentee ballots had been printed and shipped. The request would also require a mandatory order, which isnt permissible. The judge agreed with us that Amendment 2 will be on the ballot for the March 29 election for all Louisiana voters to decide upon. The Plaintiffs continue to try to create confusion where there is none. The law indisputably prohibits lawsuits like this. We believe the judge got this wrong. Because early voting begins Saturday, we will seek emergency relief from the Louisiana Supreme Court. Its not the ballot language that is creating confusion its this frivolous litigation, Murrill said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit, filed by a pastor and two educators from East Baton Rouge and Orleans parishes, challenges House Bill 7, arguing that the measure is too broad and the ballot language is misleading. HB7 was passed during the Third Extraordinary Legislative Session in 2024. The proposal would revise part of the Louisiana Constitution, consolidating state funds, restructuring tax exemption, and addressing state spending limits. Louisiana voters to decide on major tax code changes in March election The plaintiffs argue the measure violates the Louisiana Constitutions one object rule, which requires constitutional amendments to focus on a single subject unless they revise an entire article. Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. A Lowell firefighter is facing criminal charges after he allegedly paid a juvenile for explicit images. David R. Silva was arraigned Tuesday in Wrentham District Court on charges of possession of child pornography, posing or exhibiting a child in the nude, and trafficking a person under 18 for sexual servitude, according to the Norfolk District Attorneys Office. A plea of not guilty was entered on Silvas behalf. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Silva, a 35-year-old resident of Chelmsford, is also a member of the Lowell Fire Department, the Lowell Sun reported. In late December 2024, the victims parents told police that they were worried about their daughters inappropriate conversations with a man on Snapchat, according to the newspaper. Its alleged that the man sent thousands of dollars to the victim through Venmo and Apple Pay in exchange for explicit images and videos. An IP address associated with the Venmo account was traced to the Lowell Fire Station, while another IP address was linked to Silvas home, the Suns report stated. Silva is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on April 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He has since been released on $25,000 cash bail. An investigation is ongoing. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW WAUKEE, Iowa St. Patricks Day is less than a week away, but Waukee North West band students are the real lucky Iowans as the band leaves Friday for Ireland to play in the Dublin St. Patricks Day Parade. The band applied years in advance to be accepted in the St. Patricks Day Parade, where the band will be playing, Dont stop believing by Journey. Students will also get the opportunity to perform inside the Kilkenny Castle. Band members leave Friday, embarking on a four-hour bus ride to Chicago, followed by a seven-hour flight to Ireland. Jet lag aside, band members are excited about the trip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lot of people come to Dublin for this parade. Its nationally televised and there are judges there so its kind of a competition, but were not so much concerned about that as just playing well, marching well, and having a good time, said band member Braden Steenhard. Iowa cattle farmer hopes tariffs wont be a negative for local farmers It was kind of a surprise because a lot of people go to Disneyland or Disneyworld so we kind of expected that thats what it was going to be, but here we are, said band member Chloe Gilbert. Aside from performing, the band will be sightseeing around Ireland, visiting the countryside and Belfast, and even trying Irish dancing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a director, its always fun for me to watch the kids have these experiences because most of them have never been to Ireland. So, to see them experience a new culture, a new place that does things differently than we do, and the wonder that comes from that I enjoy watching them have those experiences, said Chad Friesleben, the Band Director. Just spending time with friends over an extended period of time and getting to travel with friends is a really unique opportunity that we get to have here in the band program, said Steenhard. For me and I bet a lot of our seniors, its really rewarding to have this, its my last year, lets go have some fun out of the country, said Gilbert. Metro News: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. An attorney for Luigi Mangione is asking a judge to dismiss charges against Mangione in Blair County and to suppress warrants obtained to search him in connection with a health insurance CEO's murder. The filing is part of an expanded pretrial motion filed by Altoona defense attorney Thomas Dickey. It doubles down on the argument that Mangione, 26, was unlawfully detained, interrogated and searched on the day of his arrest in Altoona. Dickey wrote this week that "probable cause" was lacking for both the Dec. 9 warrant and the Blair County charges against Mangione. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Any purported identification of the defendant as the person wanted in New York was speculative and based on a hunch," Dickey wrote, referring to the morning Mangione was questioned by Altoona police at a McDonald's restaurant. Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona after a manhunt for the suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's Dec. 4 murder in New York City. Law enforcement officials allege that Mangione targeted and killed Thompson, fled the scene, and criss-crossed Pennsylvania until someone recognized him in Altoona from surveillance images that were televised nationwide. Mangione faces forgery, false identification, records tampering and firearms charges in Blair County. He is accused of possessing evidence of the New York City crime, including a 9mm handgun and what police have described as a "manifesto" of writings about his issues with the health care system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dickey argues that all of that evidence was obtained unlawfully, and that Mangione was frisked, searched and questioned without being read his Miranda rights or a proper search warrant. In a previous Feb. 21 filing, Dickey wrote that Mangione was surrounded by officers who gave him no indication he was free to leave the restaurant until after he was under unlawful detention and custodial interrogation for 17 minutes. At no time did the two officers indicate (Mangione) was free to go, nor did they explain the reasons as to why (he) was being detained; other than that he looked suspicious and/or overstayed his welcome as a customer at McDonalds, Dickey wrote, contending that violated Mangiones Fourth Amendment and 14th Amendment rights to due process and protection against unlawful searches and seizures. "The defendant previously invoked his 5th Amendment right to remain silent," Dickey added in a 30-plus-page pretrial supplemental motion filed Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Blair County investigators have said Mangione was questioned after initially giving authorities a fake ID. He "began to shake" after police asked if he had been to New York recently, according to an affidavit. One Altoona police officer told reporters that they recognized Mangione was the man police were looking for after he removed his medical-style face mask. Medical masks were also among dozens of items seized as evidence Dec. 9, according to an inventory list from a warrant secured for a 6:27 p.m. search of Mangione, documents show. Dickey argued in his motion Monday that the warrant was issued unlawfully, indicating that it was missing the "probable cause" needed to obtain a judge's approval. He is asking Blair County Judge Jackie Bernard to suppress the warrant and the evidence collected, as well as another warrant related to clothing, which all could be crucial in both Mangione's Blair County case and his homicide case in Manhattan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks' office has received an extension of time to respond to Dickey's motions. But Pennsylvania law enforcement officials have previously offered a different account of Mangione's questioning and arrest. State police Cpl. George Bivens told reporters that Mangione was "initially cooperative" with law enforcement Dec. 9 before changing his approach later that day. Police did not specify whether Mangione gave consent to a search prior to 6 p.m. Altoona police also described his notebook as a "manifesto" describing his reasons for targeting a health insurance CEO allegations that match online grievances Mangione appears to have made about his issues with the health insurance industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The target is insurance because it checks every box, one entry in the notebook read, according to a federal criminal complaint. Dickey argued in his motion this week that the notebook that police searched Dec. 9 contained a "plethora" of what authorities have alleged are Mangione's personal experiences. They labeled it a manifesto "to put the defendant in a negative light before the public," Dickey wrote. Dickey is also asking Bernard to preclude prosecutors from using the term "manifesto" related to any of Mangione's purported writings in court. He's also seeking to have any statements made during Mangione's initial Blair County arraignment suppressed. Bernard has not yet addressed Dickey's motions, and there was no indication if or when a hearing could be set to listen to arguments on the requests. Mangione is being held in a New York detention center awaiting a hearing on his federal charges. His next proceeding in the homicide case is scheduled for March 19, his New York attorneys told The Associated Press last month. Lyn holds up the newspaper and points to the headline that proves she isnt dreaming. There in black and white, strewn across the front page of the Philippines Star, is the news shes long been praying for: Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines and the architect of a bloody war on drugs that killed her 32-year-old son, has been arrested. Its only when I saw this and watched the news last night that I could really believe it, said Lyn, whose name has been changed due to ongoing legal proceedings. When I saw it I was crying a lot ... but I am very, very happy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For years, it had seemed like the strongman was untouchable. But in a remarkable turn of events, he was arrested at Manila airport by Interpol on Tuesday, becoming the first former leader of an Asian country to be served with a warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC). A plane carrying former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague takes off in Manila - Aaron Favila/AP Now Mr Duterte a populist dubbed the Punisher at home for his stance on crime is inside a detention centre in The Hague, where he faces charges of murder as a crime against humanity for overseeing death squads in his notorious anti-drugs crackdowns. Those who are affected by the drug war, they are pretty ecstatic about this, said Carlos Conde, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW) covering the Philippines. They cant expect any accountability and justice in the Philippines, [so] theyre pinning their hopes on the ICC. The so-called war on drugs was first launched when Mr Duterte was mayor of the southern Filipino city of Davao in 2011, and extended when he rose to the presidency in 2016. On the campaign trail, he had made blustering promises to eradicate drugs and crime, even pledging to kill thousands of users and feed their bodies to the fish in Manila Bay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officially, 6,000 people died in connection to Mr Dutertes policies. But data cited by the ICC suggests between 12,000 and 30,000 small-time drug dealers, users and other civilians were killed without trial between July 2016 and March 2019. The vast majority were young men, often from the deprived neighbourhoods. A cyclist passes by the Scheveningen Prison, where Philippine former president Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody in The Hague - RAMON VAN FLYMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Celestes 16-year-old son was among those who died, killed by a vigilante group operating in a Manila slum. The last time she saw him was on New Years Day in January 2017 it would not be until January 9 that a body found floating in the sea would be confirmed as him. At first I didnt believe it, I was still hoping he was alive, said Celeste, whose name has been changed due to fears of retribution, as the assailants remain at large. They said they took him because Charlie was allegedly involved in illegal drugs. But then they killed him. Im happy that Duterte was arrested, somehow it will give justice to my son, she told the Telegraph on Thursday. I believe what happened to my son is because Duterte ordered those killings, of anyone even allegedly involved in drugs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For years, Mr Duterte has been defiant about his anti-drugs crackdown, telling a Senate hearing in 2024 that he would provide no apologies, no excuses. But in a video published late on Wednesday, which appeared to have been filmed on board the aircraft that took him to The Hague, Mr Duterte said he would take full responsibility for his administrations policies. Credit: Facebook/Rodrigo Duterte Whatever happened in the past, I will be the front of our law enforcement and the military, he said, wearing a plain white t-shirt in the two minute clip. I said this already, that I will protect you, and I will be responsible for everything This will be a long legal proceeding. But I say to you, I will continue to serve the country. So be it. If that is my destiny. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It seems likely that Mr Duterte will fight the charges hard, and many in the Philippines are not celebrating his downfall. He remains a popular figure, especially in the archipelagos southern regions, and his family and supporters have reacted angrily to the arrest. On Wednesday, his youngest daughter Veronica filed a petition accusing the government of kidnapping the former president and demanding his return. Critics have also claimed that the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, has exploited the moment for political gain. It is certainly unlikely that Mr Duterte would have been arrested, if not for a bitter feud between the two political dynasties. In 2019, Mr Duterte withdrew his country from the ICC, and he has since claimed that the court does not have jurisdiction in the Philippines. The ICC has countered that its investigation covers the period before the withdrawal, and is therefore valid. Manila police inspect the body of John Estrella, 18, who was killed in 2017 during Dutertes war on drugs - Jes Aznar/Getty Images Still it seemed like the former president had impunity at home, following a marriage of convenience between Mr Marcos Jr and Sara Duterte the vice president, and Mr Dutertes daughter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That relationship has since imploded in spectacular fashion. Ms Duterte, who currently faces impeachment charges, even threatened to dig up the remains of his late father and throw them into the sea. As relations deteriorated, Mr Marcos changed course, indicating last November that his government was willing to hand his predecessor over to Interpol, which the Philippines remains a signatory to. On Tuesday, his government did just that the president has insisted all procedures were followed correctly. We were expecting this to happen at some point but not this soon, said HRWs Mr Conde. I think if not for the political climate at the moment this would not have happened. But the families of victims and the local human rights groups have laid the groundwork for the ICC investigation, and they are prepared to see this through even if it takes a while. He added: The camp of Mr Duterte will try to exploit this as much as possible. Now theyre saying that this is another interventionist action by the West but we will try not to get distracted by that, to focus [on the] struggle for accountability and justice. Protesters hold a candle light vigil demanding justice for drug war victims shortly after Dutertes arrest - EARVIN PERIAS/AFP via Getty Images Speaking to the Telegraph from Manila, Lyn agreed. Her son was shot in the heart by three plain clothes policemen at home in February 2018 her 12-year-old grandson was bundled out by one of the officers just before the incident, but heard two gunshots from the street outside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [My son] was a sunny person, also a kind person, he had many friends and liked to help other people, she said, speaking through tears. He had a previous record but not for drugs, for theft What Duterte did to my child should not have been done. Lyns case has been documented by a local NGO, and is one of thousands submitted to the ICC in the case against Mr Duterte. But she still fears speaking out publicly, and worries that the former president will still find a way to avoid justice. I was really keen to participate, because it is a way to get justice. I hope that no one helps Duterte to get out, and that he will get a conviction. Yet she added: Watching the news last night, I saw people were rejoicing. But I am afraid for the families of victims [speaking on television], because they are exposing themselves and may be at risk of retribution from the camp of Duterte. I do not think this is over yet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A month after losing her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Corinne Bazarnyj is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits. The disabled veteran who started at the agency as a training specialist in November was caught up in the Trump administrations mass culling of probationary workers, who typically have less than one or two years in their positions. Like many other probationary employees, Bazarnyj got a termination letter saying shed been let go because of performance even though she hadnt been on the job long enough to have an evaluation potentially making it harder for her to qualify for unemployment benefits. I was terminated based on performance, that is not true. So, I honestly dont know if Im going to get unemployment or not, said Bazarnyj, who recently bought a house in Frederick, Maryland, to be closer to her job. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marylands unemployment agency has started requesting documents about her employment, but her case remains in pending status, Bazarnyj said. Before she was laid off, she downloaded a key document, known as SF-50, that showed her wage and separation information. Securing unemployment benefits may try the patience of many former federal workers struggling to stabilize their lives after being unexpectedly tossed out of public service. The payments can be a lifeline for those who suddenly find themselves jobless although some probationary employees, including at Veterans Affairs, were ordered to be reinstated by a federal judge on Thursday. In addition to having to deal with performance being cited as the cause for their termination, some workers are still waiting for the employment documents they need from their agencies, which are in turmoil as the Trump administration seeks to rapidly downsize the federal workforce. Whats more, many state unemployment offices say they are strapped for staff and resources to handle the influx in claims, which will slow down the processing of applications. Meanwhile, the number of applications being filed is expected to soar in coming weeks and months as federal agencies conduct widespread layoffs as part of a reduction in force, or RIF. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bipartisan coalition of 20 states are suing the federal government to halt further terminations and to reinstate those laid off while litigation plays out in court. Roughly 80% of federal workers live outside of the Washington, DC, metro area. The Merit Systems Protection Board last month temporarily reinstated six probationary workers who were laid off, finding that their terminations were likely unlawful in part because the employees did not have problems with their performance. People have to be very patient While the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program is similar to traditional state jobless benefits, it differs in significant ways that could delay getting money into the hands of laid-off staffers, said Andrew Stettner, director of economy and jobs at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. State jobless offices have the wage records of private-sector employers, but they dont have that information for the federal government. So, the states must contact the federal agencies to verify the employment, salary and separation reason for each claimant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At a time when federal agencies are shedding workers, this could prove challenging, said Stettner, who also served as a US Department of Labor official in the Biden administration. Chris Wicker, who was recently laid off as the deputy director of the Small Business Administration office in Minnesota, has reached out to his agency multiple times for the documents. Hes still waiting. Chris Wicker, the former deputy director of the Small Business Administration office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. - Courtesy Chris Wicker I wasnt offboarded, said Wicker, a veteran who received strong performance reviews in the job. I was fired and thrown out the door like a criminal and so I didnt get anything. Though employees may not yet have their documents, they should file for benefits as soon as they stop receiving a paycheck, Stettner said. In addition to the SF-50, theyll need the SF-8 form that shows their potential eligibility for unemployment benefits and lists the name and address of the federal agency where their wage information can be obtained. They can send these forms to the state later. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also, workers should not be concerned if their states say they initially qualify for $0 in benefits the amount will be updated once the states verify their wages, he noted. People have to be very patient, said Stettner, noting the process can take 21 days or more. Nathan Barrera-Bunch, who worked for the VA for less than three months before being let go, filed for unemployment benefits on Valentines Day. He was told it will be a long wait and still has not heard anything from the Office of Unemployment Compensation in Washington. I dont expect that Ill be getting the unemployment benefits anytime soon, Barrera-Bunch told CNN. Im in limbo right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The poor performance citations in the termination notices of many workers, including Barrera-Bunch, could prove to be another obstacle. State agencies might consider these employees fired for misconduct and deem them ineligible for benefits, Stettner said. While the workers could fight that designation, it would still prompt delays in getting benefits if they ultimately win. Nathan Barrera-Bunch, left, a former Veterans Affairs employee. - Courtesy Nathan Barrera-Bunch For those who successfully navigate the system, the compensation can vary widely depending on the state. Former federal workers must file in the state where their duty station was based, not where they live. For instance, in Maryland, the maximum weekly benefit is $430 and in Washington, DC, its $444, according to Stettner. However, in Virginia, former staffers will only get up to $378. But those who worked in Washington state will receive a maximum weekly payment of $1,079, while those employed in Mississippi will get only $235. Unemployment claims rise State unemployment agencies are already seeing the filings for federal jobless benefits multiply. In their lawsuit, the states say that many have had to scramble and expend additional resources to identify even which agencies have conducted layoffs and which affected employees require support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal agencies named in the lawsuit failed to provide any advance notice to California, causing significant expense and burden on the state as it scrambles to respond to the sudden mass layoffs of its residents, Rob Bonta, the states attorney general, said in a statement. Washington, DC, where a sizable share of federal employees work, saw its initial unemployment claims for federal employees climb to more than 550 one week in mid-February from double digits prior to Trumps inauguration in January, according to the districts Office of Unemployment Compensation. In Maryland, more than 1,000 claims for federal unemployment benefits have been filed with the states Division of Unemployment Insurance since January 21, Dinah Winnick, spokesperson for the state Department of Labor, said in an email to CNN. That compares to less than 100 claims during the same period last year. The state has had to divert personnel from other projects to respond to the mass firing of federal workers, according to the lawsuit, which noted that the division has received an average of 30 to 60 new claims every day. The flood of claims is also expected to impede the handling of the unemployment benefits applications of non-federal workers, resulting in significant backlogs and delays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Virginia has received 258 initial claims for jobless benefits for federal employees between late January and March 8, Kerri OBrien, spokeswoman for the Virginia Employment Commission, told CNN via email. Some 90 applications were filed in the first week of March alone. Also, 146 continued claims were filed in Virginia by federal workers who remained unemployed. Thats an uptick from the past, and the commission expects the numbers to grow. The Virginia agency expects to be able to handle the influx since it has modernized its technology, which has enhanced processing speed and accuracy, and has implemented the ID.me identity verification tool to make it easier for people to apply online, OBrien said. Its goal is to start payments within 21 days, though that could slip if federal agencies dont send an employees wage data promptly. Across the country, in Washington, more than 950 federal employees have filed for jobless benefits in 2025, through March 5, more than double the number during the same period last year, according to the states Employment Security Department. More than half have submitted applications since February 13 an average of 25 a day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some states, including Maryland, Virginia, Michigan and Maine, have posted information on their websites to help federal workers apply. Virginia, for instance, created in mid-February a video tutorial explaining eligibility requirements and the application process. Maryland posted an online FAQ site in late January to aid former federal workers applying for benefits. It notes that it typically takes at least three to four weeks for the agency to determine if a person qualifies for unemployment insurance. (The office is also holding weekly workshops specifically for federal employees and contractors interested in exploring jobs in the private sector or the state, which more than 400 people have already attended.) When it comes to determining whether former employees qualify for unemployment benefits in Maryland, each claimants eligibility is determined based on specific facts about the persons situation, Winnick said. Performance-based separation information is just one factor in this determination, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if an employer states that the workers were discharged because their performance was not adequate, the state must conduct an intensive investigation, according to the lawsuit. Federal agencies that have provided separation reports to Maryland have cited a variety of reasons for the terminations, including unsatisfactory work performance, a permanent lack of work due to a change in Presidential Administration and laid off due to a reduction in force, according to the lawsuit. In some cases, agencies said workers were not actually unemployed or had voluntarily resigned. The Virginia commissions website states that assistance is available to those who become unemployed through no fault of their own. Both the former worker and employer will receive questionnaires asking for information about the persons employment and separation, and the worker may receive a phone call from a commission staffer to get more information. Reasons for disqualification include quitting a job without good cause and being fired for misconduct, according to the website. Performance on the job is not mentioned. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com MACON COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) A group of local fire departments battled a large blaze that spread across five buildings in Macon County on Wednesday. The Harristown Fire Protection District was dispatched to the report of a grass fire on S Lincoln Memorial Parkway, just north of Interstate 72. While responding units were enroute, the Central Illinois Regional Dispatch Center received additional calls reporting that a structure was also on fire. Bed bugs identified at Decatur school Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Due to this report, the alarm was initially upgraded to a First Alarm, bringing additional fire departments to the scene for more support. Prior to the Incident Commander arriving on scene, the alarm was further upgraded to a Second Alarm and then to a Third Alarm, requiring even more resources. Special requests were then made for Water Tenders from Sangamon County fire departments to help with the extinguishing efforts. When the Incident Commander arrived, it was reported that the fire involved an abandoned house and four outbuildings. The fire then spread to the north side ditch of I-72 but was quickly contained and put out. As we were coming up the road, the black smoke was up above the trees and the flame was right behind it, up above the trees, said Harristown resident Rose Ross who saw the fire. It was really black, almost like tires burning or something. While the firefighting efforts were happening, an injury accident was reported on I-72 near milepost 131, just east of the fire location. Subsequently, some emergency responders from the fire and rescue units were sent to the scene and the injuries were reported as minor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fire itself took several hours to put out, and the cause of the fire is still unknown and under investigation. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal has been called to investigate this situation to determine the cause of the blaze. Aside from Harristown Fire, assistance was provided by multiple Sangamon County Fire Departments and other neighboring fire agencies. Additionally, WCIA reached out to the Decatur Fire Department who said that the Warrensburg Fire Protection District was on scene at the fire as well. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. As the March 14 government shutdown deadline approached, Republican leaders recognized a few key factual details. They knew theyd have to pursue a plan that met with Donald Trumps approval; they knew theyd need a bill that could pass the GOP-led House, despite the partys tiny majority; and they knew that whatever they passed would need at least some Democratic support in the Senate. Threading such a needle posed obvious challenges. What kind of federal spending legislation would satisfy the president and the House Freedom Caucus on one side, and several Democratic senators on the other? Republican leaders settled on a straightforward plan: Theyd pass a partisan stopgap bill called a continuing resolution, or CR that made their own party happy. Democrats would be entirely and deliberately excluded from the negotiations, and the measure was practically designed to insult members of the Democratic minority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats wanted new safeguards to address abuses from the White House and Elon Musk? The Republican plan would ignore those concerns. Democrats wanted a clean CR? The Republican plan would ignore those pleas, too, increasing defense spending, while reducing non-defense discretionary spending. For good measure, GOP leaders added provisions that would make it impossible for Congress to undo Trumps trade tariffs, and threw in more than $1.5 billion to start building a warship that the Navy didnt ask for. At this point, many readers are probably asking a good question: If Republicans have long realized that the bill to prevent a shutdown would need Democratic support in the Senate, why push legislation that Senate Democrats would obviously hate? The answer is simple: GOP leaders simply assumed that Democrats in the Senate wouldnt have the stomach for a real fight. Republicans could craft a partisan bill on their own and jam it down Democrats throats in part because Democrats wouldnt want a government shutdown, and in part because Democrats feared being blamed for a government shutdown, despite GOP control of Congress and the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Wednesday got underway on Capitol Hill, the scuttlebutt was that Democrats were, in fact, prepared to cave. By midday, however, the winds appeared to shift direction. NBC News reported: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that Democrats would reject a government funding bill that Republicans wrote and passed through the House, leaving it uncertain whether Congress can avert a shutdown before Friday nights deadline. ... He spoke after a lunch meeting between Democratic senators on Wednesday. They went in torn over whether to vote for the Houses six-month measure, with some worried that a shutdown would be worse, even as they widely disapprove of the House bill. For Democrats, this is not a binary choice between the partisan House bill and a shutdown. Instead, they offered a constructive alternative: A stopgap measure that would keep the governments lights on through April 11, giving lawmakers roughly a month to settle on a bipartisan solution. This led some news outlets to run headlines about Democrats playing hardball with the Republican majorities, and its easy to understand why. Indeed, on the surface, it seemed as if Schumer and his colleagues had drawn a line in the sand: With time running out, they simply werent prepared to accept the partisan GOP bill. But just below the surface, there was a problem. How long, exactly, were Democrats prepared to play hardball? Or more to the point, how firm was the partys commitment to opposing the offensive Republican legislation? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Congress wrapped up for the day, the chatter on Capitol Hill was that Democrats were exploring a strategy in which Republicans would allow a vote on their April 11 stopgap plan, and in exchange, the Democratic minority would agree to allow a vote on the partisan House GOP plan. Axios published a report quoting Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia saying, Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. So thats what we are insisting on to vote for cloture. Everyone knows full well, of course, what the outcome of those votes would be Republicans have 53 votes in the upper chamber, offering them a buffer if Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky balks at the House plan which is why it looks like a Democratic retreat by another name. That said, a lot can happen in a day and a half, and theres likely to be plenty of lobbying and arm-twisting ahead of the Friday night deadline. Watch this space. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com As Donald Trump prepared to leave the White House after his 2020 election defeat, the Republican threw caution to the wind when it came to pardons. Seemingly indifferent to norms, perceptions, propriety and the rule of law, the outgoing president handed out get-out-of-jail free cards like party favors to many of his most controversial friends, including Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and seven GOP members of Congress convicted of corruption, among others. These were some of the most scandalous pardons in American history. Trump apparently didnt care. Indeed, the thinking at the time was that he could act with relative impunity, unconcerned about a possible backlash. Its not as if hed ever face voters again, right? More than four years later, the president isnt just back in the White House, hes also picking up where he left off, abusing his pardon power with reckless abandon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the first day of his second term, Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 Jan. 6 criminals, including violent felons who were in prison for assaulting police officers. A few days later, he kept going, pardoning 23 anti-abortion-rights activists, seemingly unconcerned with their guilt. That was soon followed by a pardon for former Gov. Rob Blagojevich, a man synonymous with corruption in Illinois politics, whom Trump saw as any ally. The hits just keep on coming. The New York Times reported: President Trump has pardoned an imprisoned former Tennessee state senator who was two weeks into a 21-month sentence for his role in a campaign finance fraud scheme. Inmate records show that the former lawmaker, Brian Kelsey, a Republican, was released from a minimum-security satellite camp at FCI Ashland in Kentucky on Tuesday, the same day, his lawyer said, that he received a clemency letter from the president. Federal prosecutors uncovered evidence suggesting that Kelsey illegally funneled money to his failed 2016 congressional campaign, and the year after his indictment, the Tennessee Republican pleaded guilty as part of an agreement with the Justice Department. He later tried to change his plea he made baseless but familiar claims about weaponization but a court rejected the effort and sentenced him to nearly two years behind bars. Thanks to Trump, however, that sentence was reduced to two weeks, and the Tennessee Republican is a free man, his slate wiped clean. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of course, the larger story isnt just about Kelsey. On the contrary, it has become apparent to others that the president has created an entirely new legal/political dynamic, without precedent in the American tradition, in which pardons are available to perceived political allies with whom Trump sympathizes. Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly angling for a pardon. So is former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. The New York Times reported last week that theres a White House team in place focusing on clemency grants that underscore the presidents own grievances, and well-connected lawyers and lobbyists have scrambled to take advantage. They have collected large fees from clemency seekers who would not be eligible for second chances under apolitical criteria that are intended to guide a Justice Department system for recommending mercy for those who have served their time or demonstrated remorse and a lower likelihood of recidivism. Instead, clemency petitioners are mostly circumventing that system, tailoring their pitches to the president by emphasizing their loyalty to him and echoing his claims of political persecution. The Times report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that among the many eager to take advantage of the new pardon landscape are a rapper convicted in connection with a Malaysian embezzlement scheme, a reality-television-star couple found guilty of defrauding banks and evading taxes, and two Washington, D.C., police officers convicted after a chase that killed a young man. The Times quoted Rachel Barkow, a professor at the New York University School of Law who has studied the use of presidential clemency. She said that while Trumps first-term pardons were all about cronyism and partisanship, the potential for corruption is higher now because theyre starting early, they have figured out how they want to set it up so that people have a pipeline to get to them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barkow added, Like any sequel, its going to be worse. Did I mention that Team Trump just ousted the Justice Departments pardon attorney, as part of a broader political purge of federal law enforcement? Because that happened, too. The next time you hear presidential chest-thumping about law and order and tough on crime, keep this in mind. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Todays edition of quick hits. * A big ruling: A federal judge in California on Thursday ordered that the departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Treasury reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were fired last month. The departments must offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees terminated on or about February 13, U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote, referring to the date when the Office of Personnel Management held a call with department and agency heads and directed them to fire probationary employees. * SCOTUS news: President Donald Trumps attempt to restrict birthright citizenship is now at the Supreme Court. The overall legality of his policy isnt at issue in this new appeal rather, his administration is asking the justices to narrow the nationwide scope of lower court rulings blocking the policy from taking effect while litigation about its legality moves forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * Another day to avoid looking at your retirement account: The economic chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump has pushed the S&P 500 into a correction. The broad index of U.S. stocks fell 1.4% Thursday, making its decline since its February all-time high greater than 10%. It has now fully erased all its post-November election gains and is back to levels last seen in September. * Ceasefire process: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he didnt support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, calling for more discussion on a permanent end to the war as Moscows army made rapid gains toward expelling Kyivs forces from its Kursk region. Putin said any pause in fighting at this point would be in Ukraines interest because Russia is gaining on the battlefield, and a host of issues would need to be resolved before a cease-fire could be reached. * Yet another legal setback: A federal judge in Washington reinstated Susan Tsui Grundmann, a Biden appointee, to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the agency that adjudicates labor disputes between federal employees and management, after President Trump moved to fire her last month. * The latest megachurch scandal: The founder of a Texas megachurch who resigned as senior pastor last year after he admitted inappropriate sexual behavior in the 1980s has been indicted on five criminal counts involving a child, the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office said Wednesday. Robert Morris, 63, who founded Gateway Church in Southlake, is charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the attorney generals office said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * Why did Ruth Marcus resign from The Washington Post? She has a provocative piece in The New Yorker filled with striking details. * Its hard not to wonder whether anyone even tries to prep Trump ahead of White House events: President Trump was asked who his favorite Irish person was as he met with Micheal Martin, the prime minister of Ireland. Trump responded, I do happen to like your fighter, referring to Conor McGregor, the former U.F.C. fighter from Ireland. McGregor is not a popular figure in Ireland, where he has been held liable for sexual assault and has regularly supported far-right fringe figures. See you tomorrow. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones told a three-person panel deciding whether to disbar him that he made a stupid mistake when he wiped his phone clean of text messages related to a lawsuit over a proposed real estate development. I would ask for your mercy, Jones said Tuesday evening, in the second day of a three-day disciplinary hearing which will determine the future of Jones law license. If Im being honest, your mercy. I made a stupid mistake. And its haunted me for years now. And I hope youll see it that way. That it was a mistake and not an intentional act to deceive. But in two separate complaints, the state bar counsel accuses Jones of purposely deleting text messages in April 2019 to hide them and also to hide his efforts to bribe then-commissioner and eventual Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak in an effort to block a real estate development project near Red Rock Canyon. Ultimately the county settled a lawsuit related to that project for $80 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is a criminal act to bribe an elected official, state bar counsel Dan Hooge said Monday in his opening statements. Wednesday, in the third day of testimony, Jones called several witnesses in his own defense to try to poke holes in the state bars case and to discuss his character. One of those witnesses, a well-known Las Vegas criminal defense attorney, testified that Jones did not bribe Sisolak. It would be legally impossible, Gentile said, calling Jones dealings with Sisolak purely political speech. The state bar counsel called a witness to rebut Gentiles testimony. UNLV Law Professor Benjamin Edwards, who teaches classes on legal ethics, testified and submitted a written brief to the hearing panel outlining his argument that Jones bribed Sisolak. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr. Jones is a member of the bar. Hes an officer of the court. Hes got serious obligations as an attorney to abide by the ethics rules. Edwards continued: When look at the conduct alleged in the complaint, Im concerned because it is offering a public official a [benefit] in exchange for their official action. On the whole, I find the conduct troubling, Edwards said. Jones, the commissioner for Clark County District F since 2018, is not criminally charged for any of what the bar alleges in its complaints. Even so, Edwards said the bar hearing panel could still discipline Jones if it found Jones bribed Sisolak. The mere fact of a criminal act is not enough, Edwards said. Youre really focused on what it means. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attorneys will give their closing arguments late Wednesday, and the hearing panel may issue its decision on to what extent it disciplines Jones by Wednesday night. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Several people are going viral for admitting they regret voting for Donald Trump, so we asked people in the BuzzFeed Community who voted for him to share what he could do to lose their support. In reaction to that post, several more people were inspired to share how the president could also lose their support. The responses were eye-opening. Here are a few of them: Donald Trump winks while seated at a formal event, surrounded by floral arrangements 1."He couldnt. I spent 20 years in the military and another 25 as a deputy sheriff. I have been working since I was 9 years old. I have known since the late '70s that our government has been running amuck, note the $500 toilet seat! Government is too big for its britches." "Congressmen and senators are all making millions on the taxpayer dime. I read some excuses above, and they are pathetic. I am 66, and if I have to suck it up for all of you 'Patriots' out there, so be it! Advertisement Advertisement Fixing the mess that 'WE' have all created over the past decades is all our fault. Trump had been improperly, illegally, or whatever you want to call it, persecuted for 'US,' not himself. Hes been shot, yet hes still in the fight. Like me, he has children and grandchildren that HE fights for every second of every day. Lock 'em all up! If they were looking the other way to the theft of our country, get rid of them. Go Trump, go DOGE. I will pay $10 a dozen for eggs until you fix this mess." Anonymous Fact check: Congressmen and women earn about $174K, and Congressional leaders earn about $220K. Advertisement Advertisement 2."I voted for Trump in 2016. Once he began ranting that the election was rigged, I was done and knew I made a huge mistake." January 6th rioters are holding flags and raising their hands; some are wearing hats and jackets. A chandelier hangs above "In fact, I believe I enabled him with my vote to carry on these relentless attacks on minorities who are NOT criminals. The clincher, though, was Jan. 6. I witnessed the attack on our Capitol, and it brought me to tears. For that, Ill never forgive him. And I dont think I can forgive myself. I pray that his damage to our once incredible country can be undone. The biggest lie hes ever told was that America stopped being great. This country has always been great, and thats why my grandparents risked everything to come here from Italy. I am deeply sorry to my friends and family, and I hope that one day, you will forgive me." Anonymous Advertisement Advertisement 3."He cant!! He IS the chosen one. Nobody can do the things he does. Rip up the Constitution and create a new one similar to Project 2025. The chaos and hurt will be WORTH it. Hes the ultimate spin master who can convince the population that the founding fathers wanted this." Donald Trump in a suit and tie looks off to the side Anonymous 4."He has lost my support in his first two weeks in office. Im frightened for my future that he made seem so bright during his campaign. Hes attacking all of us in the lower and middle class!" Anonymous 5."Trump would lose my support if he in any way acquiesced to a Democrat." Democratic congressmen holding signs that say "Save Medicaid" and "Musk Steals" at what appears to be a formal event surprisedlight466 6."He lost my support on day one. Destroying the lives of workers to enrich his billionaire friends is outrageous. He wants to replace the government with wealthy people to create an oligarchy that shits on the rest of us. Welcome to Russia, my dear comrades." Advertisement Advertisement Anonymous 7."He wont." Anonymous 8."Allowing unelected persons anywhere near government offices or data." Donald Trump and Elon Musk sitting in a Tesla at the White House Anonymous 9."War. I wasn't old enough to vote for Trump, but in some ways, I do support him. Hes the kind of person you either hate or adore, and generally, from my point of view, hes the type of person that doesnt give a fuck what the government or anyone else thinks. Thats really admirable considering all the shit people say about him." Anonymous 10."Start listening to the staff at BuzzFeed." Anonymous 11."I regret voting for Trump. He has the power to unite us to move forward, yet he chose to divide us. He decides who he wants to help (billionaire friends and himself) and who he doesnt care about (working families)." Advertisement Advertisement "The price of food skyrocketing doesnt affect him or his wealthy friends. I couldve gotten a higher salary working in the private sector, but I chose public service as my career for 28 years. Purging 80K federal workers who took an oath to protect the public? The job market doesnt have 80K openings. Well be unemployed. If not already, the best candidates will leave federal agencies, and the best candidates do not want to apply to work in public service." Anonymous 12."If he became a liberal." Anonymous 13."If he cuts any benefits at all: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, or anything that helps those who depend on it." Advertisement Advertisement Anonymous 14."He already lost it when he pardoned criminals from Jan. 6 that harmed police officers." Person holding a sign that says, "Pardon All J6 Hostages Day One," wearing a Trump cap and American flag scarf outside a large building furrycloud8955 15."If he continues to disrespect Canada and other countries. His imperialistic rhetoric shows how shallow he is." Anonymous 16."By not doing what he campaigned on. If he doesnt get rid of the graft and corruption in the government, and if he doesnt balance the budget and prosecute those in the government who have enriched themselves at the expense of the security and sovereignty of this country, be it senators or representatives or any other government officials, and if he doesnt secure the border and deport all illegal aliens from this country." Advertisement Advertisement Anonymous 17."He needs to go to church every Sunday or stop saying hes religious." Donald Trump in a suit standing outside, holding a Bible with a serious expression, in a public setting Anonymous 18."If state and local taxes rise because of Trump's spending cuts." Anonymous 19."He lost my support when he dropped DEI initiatives. I believe many things, but not that the color of someones skin or their sex, or who they sleep with should affect their jobs." Donald Trump in a suit shows a signed document in an official setting Anonymous 20."By not reducing food prices, as promised." Anonymous 21."Hes already lost it. Hes a showman with no substance. Just lies and propaganda." Donald Tru,p gestures confidently while two JD Vances applauds in the background during an official event in a government setting with a flag visible Anonymous 22."Giving large tax breaks to people that don't need them." Anonymous 23."By firing federal employees. Nearly 50% of the Department of Defense's civilian employees are military veterans, and about 30% of federal employees are military veterans. These men and women have fought for our freedom and were willing to sacrifice their lives for America, yet Trump and the Republicans are turning their backs on them. Its unfathomable." Advertisement Advertisement "I also fear Elon Musk and the DOGE team will compromise Americans data. 'America first' means putting our veterans first and prioritizing Americans privacy." Anonymous 24."Trump lost my support when he eliminated security for retired General Mark Milley, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo." Donald Trump and John Bolton in formal attire are seated, looking in various directions. One man in focus has a mustache and wears a suit with a red patterned tie "These men served our nation. Trumps hate and revenge will get these patriots killed." deliciousalligator886 25."Cutting veteran healthcare employees. Veterans' healthcare has gotten significantly better in recent years. Cutting federal employees and creating a hostile work environment for great doctors, schedulers, and other front-line providers will hurt veterans." Advertisement Advertisement "The way this administration has treated federal employees has been deeply disrespectful, demeaning, and illuminating." Anonymous 26."He already did. Only the worst of the Jan. 6 rally-goers deserved jail time, and they got it, and he let them off. Im supposed to trust him to keep the worst of the worst from invading our borders. Can I?" Anonymous 27.And finally, "He has already lost it with his lack of accountability and failed promises. His arrogance is intolerable, as is his alliance and faith in Elon Musk. Too many conflicts of interest." Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy sit on couches in a formal setting. One wears a dark top, and the other wears a suit with a red tie, gesturing with hands Anonymous If you voted for Trump in the 2024 election but there is something he could do to lose your support, we want to hear about it. Share your response below, or fill out this Google form to remain anonymous. Your response could be featured in an upcoming post. Responses have been edited for length/clarity. The New York Times Maggie Haberman shone a light on billionaire Elon Musks reported desire to pump $100 million into what Haberman described as entities that are controlled by President Donald Trumps political team. It would be something very different from what special government employee Musk, the worlds richest person, has done in the past, Haberman told CNNs Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. She noted that Musk gave almost $300 million to boost Trump and GOP causes during the 2024 elections but that was via his own political action committee. And Haberman, a political analyst for CNN, suggested Trump would not be happy if Democrats did this same thing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be a different kind of approach, Haberman said of Musks move, which she and Times colleague Theodore Schleifer reported on first. The backdrop, Haberman explained to Cooper, was the reportedly very contentious Cabinet meeting when Trump officials clashed with Musk over what they fear is his unchecked power in his Trump-enabled role of gutting government. That was followed by Musks presence at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort and on Air Force One, and then their Tesla-promoting stunt at the White House when Trump essentially acted as a salesperson on behalf of Musks electric vehicle company. Cooper asked, How might somebody look at this? Is this Elon Musk worrying about his position vis-a-vis Trump after that contentious meeting which you and your colleagues reported on and broke that story? And this is a way to influence that or ensure that? Haberman said it absolutely helped solidify Musks standing with Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk appears to have some sense of how to work with this president and what exactly he wants, Haberman continued. But in terms of the broader question, theres just never been a situation where you have a part-time employee to the government working inside the White House complex and also making this kind of a donation to a presidents political apparatus. Its unprecedented, she added. It is also the kind of thing that, you know, I suspect that Donald Trump would have gotten very upset about had a Democrat done it. Related... March 13 (UPI) -- Police arrested nearly 100 protesters demanding the release of Syrian national Mahmoud Khalil during a sit-in protest at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday. The protesters are members of Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as "Jewish leftists" opposed to Zionism. The group streamed the protest live. The protesters uniformly wore red T-shirts bearing slogans reading, "Stop arming Israel" and "Not in our name," NBC News reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The protesters began arriving at Trump Tower at 11:30 a.m. EDT and entered through its front and side doors before removing their outer clothing to reveal their uniform red shirts and slogans underneath. About 300 protesters participated in the sit-in protest, JVP communications director Sonya Meyerson-Knox said. New York Police arrest protesters at Trump Tower in Midtown in New York City after hundreds of activists packed into the lobby to protest the arrest and detainment of student activist Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday. Photo by Derek French/UPI Local police said they arrested 98 protesters on charges accusing them of trespassing, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest. The Trump administration is "misusing claims of anti-Semitism in order to try to divide and prevent people from coming together to stop his authoritarian takeover of our country and his destruction of civil liberties," Meyerson-Knox told WABC-TV. New York Police arrest protesters at Trump Tower in Midtown in New York City after hundreds of activists packed into the lobby to protest the arrest and detainment of student activist Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday. Photo by Derek French/UPI Khalil is a Columbia University student and has been instrumental in protests there and at Barnard College that have included temporary takeovers of buildings, assaults on staff and students, and threats against Jewish students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil and other protesters have demanded the university divest itself of all investments that support Israel's military. New York Police arrest protesters at Trump Tower in Midtown in New York City after hundreds of activists packed into the lobby to protest the arrest and detainment of student activist Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday. Photo by Derek French/UPI Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday confirmed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Khalil and said he is to be deported for activities supporting Hamas, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization since 1998. Rubio said Khalil, who has a green card and says he is married to a U.S. citizen, has circulated flyers supporting Hamas and has been an instrumental figure in the ongoing protests and Columbia University and Barnard College. New York Police arrest protesters at Trump Tower in Midtown in New York City after hundreds of activists packed into the lobby to protest the arrest and detainment of student activist Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday. Photo by Derek French/UPI Khalil will remain in detention at an ICE facility in Jena, La., while he contests his pending deportation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ICE arrested Khalil while he was at his campus apartment on Saturday. New York Police arrest protesters at Trump Tower in Midtown in New York City after hundreds of activists packed into the lobby to protest the arrest and detainment of student activist Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday. Photo by Derek French/UPI Nearly 1,300 Jewish students at Columbia University and Barnard College this week signed an open letter to university officials and regarding their concerns about personal safety and university inaction regarding the ongoing protests. MAHMOUD KHALIL COULD HAVE BEEN cooked up in a lab to offendno, worseto disgust me. And yet, despite temptation, I cannot endorse what the Trump administration is doing to him. Based upon the postings of his group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Khalil, who was born in Syria, seems to hold grotesque opinions. CUAD, which helped lead the anti-Israel protests on Columbias campus, has cheered the October 7th pogrom that saw almost 1,200 Israelis killed and thousands more maimed and wounded, writing, The act of Palestinian resistance on October 7, known as the Al-Aqsa Flood, breached Israeli security and made significant military advances, adding that it was a day that will go down in history. CUAD crowed that the October 7th attacks would be remembered as the crowning achievement of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, because the Al-Aqsa Flood was the very essence of what it is to resist with what we have. Not a word of condemnation for the deaths of innocents, the rapes, the immolation of whole families, nor the kidnappings. CUAD has lavished praise on other terrorists and enemies of the United States and Israel, like Ismail Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah, leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah respectively, which gives you a flavor of the movement. And while some members of the organization at first distanced themselves from a student, Khymani James, who posted an Instagram video telling university officials that Zionists dont deserve to live, and Be grateful that Im not just going out and murdering Zionists, CUADs leadership later thought better of it and issued an apology to James and to all individuals involved in the movement for Palestinian liberation it alienated by compromising our values and tailoring our actions and narrative to the mainstream media. In case there was any doubt, the letter also clarified that the group supports liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Join the best pro-democracy community on the internet by becoming a Bulwark+ member. In addition to celebrating the suffering and deaths of Israelis, CUAD has supported acts of domestic terrorism in the United States, praising Casey Goonan, an arsonist who carried out attacks on a federal building and the University of California in 2024. CUAD stands in full support of Casey Goonan and all of our comrades who have bravely undertaken the call to escalate for Palestine, the group announced in a statement. The fires on UC campuses have been in direct response to the universitys violent police repression of their own students. The spark ignited on US campuses during the intifada of the last few months cannot be quelled, and further repression will only continue to transform these sparks into flames. If I were vested with plenary authority to decide who could come to the United States, I would turn away someone like Mahmoud Khalil, who not only participates in but leads an organization that cheers terroristic violence. But no one in America has that plenary authoritywe have laws and procedures, and under those laws, Khalil became a legal permanent resident. As such he enjoys most of the rights of a citizen. As law professor Steve Vladeck has outlined, there are certain rare instances in which a green cardholder can be subject to deportation, as when An alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. But the law goes on to specify that aliens should not be deported for opinions or actions that would be lawful within the United States unless the Secretary of State personally determines that the aliens [continued presence] would compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps our Gumby secretary of state would so certify, but that is an abuse of authority and a step toward tyranny. Khalils views are execrable, but he has committed no crime and the government has made no showing that his continued presence in the country compromises a compelling foreign policy interest. He is being targeted because hes obnoxious and on the left. As Jonathan Chait notes, claims of fighting antisemitism ring a bit hollow from an administration that just intervened to free the Tate brothers, hired a deputy press secretary at DOD with a history of antisemitic posts, and is led by a man who dined with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes. No, this is a salvo in a corrupt plan to punish speech Trump dislikes. Taking a law-abiding legal permanent resident into custody for speech crimes is un-American. Nor is it the only attack on fundamental liberties perpetrated in the past couple of weeks. Trumps executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie is another frontal assault. The risible EO attempts to punish the firm for representing failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and hiring the political consultancy Fusion GPS, among other supposed offenses. The order instructs federal agencies to terminate contracts with firm clients and to forbid all employees of Perkins Coie to enter federal buildings. Or consider the exiling of the Associated Press for declining to abide by Trumps embarrassingly juvenile ukase about the Gulf of America. Trump has also targeted another law firm, Covington & Burling, for representing Jack Smith. These flagrant assaults on American liberties are coming thick and fast and deserve our attention and alarm. I wont defend Mahmoud Khalils despicable views, but I will defend his rights. Though he supports movements and individuals who deny rights to those they oppose, we are not like him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We live in a country governed by lawor at least, we are supposed to. If Khalil is to be deprived of his liberty, it can only be through due process of law. We defend his rights because if his are not secure, neither are ours. Share Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil and seven of his fellow students sued the school and Congress on Thursday for handing over thousands of disciplinary records to the federal government as President Trump threatens to crack down on student protesters. Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce subpoenaed Columbia for students records, then directed the university again in February to cough up more information. Through the lawsuit, Khalil and anonymous students at Columbia and its affiliated womens school, Barnard College, will ask a Manhattan federal judge to stop the House committee from compelling Columbia to provide records and the university from complying plus seek monetary compensation for the documents that have already been forked over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their legal team suggested the records have set the stage for the Trump administration to move to deport Khalil and could threaten other Columbia students. Theres a groundwork thats been laid over the past year, Gadeir Abbas, senior litigation attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said at a press conference in Midtown Manhattan. Theyve been gathering disciplinary records from all across the country, and so the ingredients are in place for a real, unprecedented campaign. Or, if there is a precedent, youd have the McCarthy hearings in the 50s. Kendall Easley, a Columbia spokeswoman, said the university would not comment on pending litigation. The House committee did not immediately return a request for comment. Khalil, 30, a green card holder, was arrested Saturday night by federal immigration agents as he returned home to his Columbia-owned apartment with his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant. Khalil was an international affairs graduate student and a lead negotiator during campus protests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal government has accused Khalil of leading activities aligned with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Currently being detained in Louisiana, Khalil neither has been charged with a crime, but was present at antiwar protests. His detention has sparked widespread criticism and protests over its implications for free speech even from Democratic lawmakers who have condemned Khalils political views. In a post Monday on Truth Social, Trump warned that Khalils detention was the first arrest of many to come. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country never to return again, he wrote. The attorneys said Trumps threats have already had a chilling effect, with international students unsure about what their immigration status could mean for their ability to engage in activism and feeling too afraid to leave their house. Columbia has confirmed reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the streets around campus. [Students] feel like theyve been betrayed by their institution, that they chose to go to because of its activist history, said Amy Greer, an attorney at Dratel & Lewis, who is representing Khalil in a separate legal matter to demand his release. For many of them, it is their own people who are being harmed. It is people who look like them who are being harmed, people who practice the same religion that they do who are being harmed. Detained activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit Thursday against Columbia University and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to stop the school from giving student disciplinary records to lawmakers. Khalil, a former Columbia student who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after playing a leading role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, is suing alongside other students after the House committee sent a letter on Feb. 13 demanding student disciplinary records from certain incidents on campus, saying the school would risk loss of federal funding if it failed to comply. The suit is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the transfer of any more records until a decision is reached by the court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Committees Letter is clearly intended to chill the protected speech of Universitys students, the lawsuit reads. The lawsuit alleges compliance with the letter would violate the students First Amendment rights, privacy laws, contractual obligations by the universitys own rules and in effect coerces the University to ignore the law. The records demanded by the Committee are not substantially related to antisemitism. Rather, the Committee has instrumentalized accusations of antisemitism to attack ideas it ideologically opposes. It traffics in anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic dog whistles to justify unjustifiable intrusions on First Amendment rights, another part of the suit states. The federal government has already withheld millions of dollars in funding to Columbia for alleged inaction on antisemitism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This lawsuit changes nothing, said Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Education Committee. The information the Committee is requesting is critical to its consideration of legislation on this issue. Our Committee will continue its work to protect Jewish students and hold schools accountable for their failures to address rampant antisemitism on our college campuses. Republicans are steadfast in their commitment to protecting American values and students ability to learn, Walberg added. Columbia told The Hill it will not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit comes after Khalil, a green card holder, was arrested by ICE last week and is currently held in Louisiana. The Trump administration has made clear that the arrest is in response to his political activities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us, when you apply for your visa, and by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities. If you told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in response to First Amendment concerns. I hope we would. If you actually end up doing that, once youre in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it, he added. Only an immigration judge has the authority to revoke a green card. Updated at 3:55 p.m. EDT Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. While it has been over nine months since Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill exempting the General Assembly from much of the state's open meetings law, the angst over the lack of transparency resulting from the law is far from having cooled. Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate threatened with deportation for taking a leadership role in peaceful anti-war protests on campus, filed a lawsuit Thursday alongside seven other unnamed individuals to stop the university from providing a list of student activists names to lawmakers in Washington. A House committee demanded to see the disciplinary records of pro-Palestinian students who participated in any of 11 specific demonstrations last year, such as the occupation of Columbias Hamilton Hall in April. Protesters renamed the building Hinds Hall, after a Gazan child who was killed by Israeli strikes. Khalil, a lawful permanent U.S. resident with a green card, is currently being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana after his arrest over the weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is not charged with any crime. Rather, President Donald Trumps administration has claimed that Khalil threatens the nations international policy interests and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio therefore has the right to revoke his green card. A federal judge has temporarily barred the government from deporting him. The new lawsuit responds to a Feb. 13 letter from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who claims Columbia is failing to protect Jewish students. Attorneys for Khalil and the others argued in a court filing that to fully comply with the request, Columbia would need to turn over entire private files of hundreds of its students, faculty and staff. That would include sensitive, personally identifiable bits of information that could be and have been used to harass, make threats against, and dox the individuals whose records are turned over to the Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Failing to comply carries the implicit threat of cutting off federal funding; the Trump administration has already announced it would withhold $400 million in grants to the institution. [T]he Committee has instrumentalized accusations of antisemitism to attack ideas it ideologically opposes, attorneys for Khalil and the others said in a filing. It traffics in anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic dog whistles to justify unjustifiable intrusions on First Amendment rights. Khalils attorneys have said he began receiving threats in the days prior to his arrest. During the height of the student protest movement, Khalil served as a liason between the protesters and the university administration, volunteering to speak to the media. In addition to Columbia University, the suit names Walberg, the entire House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Columbias board of trustees, the affiliated institution Barnard College and others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of students turned out to protest Israels war on the Gaza Strip, taking over common campus areas until their encampment was ultimately cleared by the New York Police Department. The House committee also told the institution to hand over disciplinary records connected to a September protest of a class taught by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, several specific demonstrations, the disruption of a class on the history of Israel, and alleged vandalism. Related... The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist who was detained by ICE agents over his role in student protests at Columbia Universitys campus against Israels war in Gaza last year, on Wednesday said she was wrong to dismiss his earlier concerns about becoming a target for immigration agents. Noor Abdalla and Khalil were returning to their university-owned apartment on Saturday night when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained him without a warrant, threatening to revoke his green card. ICE agents threatened to arrest Abdalla, a U.S. citizen, if she didnt cooperate by leaving Khalil behind and heading up to their apartment. In an interview with Reuters, Abdalla, who is eight months pregnant, said she had dismissed Khalils concerns about ICE agents potentially confronting him two days before they showed up at the couples apartment building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I didnt take him seriously, she told the news agency. Clearly I was naive. Abdalla, who is due to give birth in late April, said she hopes Khalil will be released ahead of their childs birth. I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen, she told Reuters. Khalil has been transported to a Louisiana ICE detention facility. He is not currently facing criminal charges. During a Wednesday court hearing for their emergency petition to return Khalil to New York City, where the case over his arrests validity is pending, Ramzi Kassem, one of his attorneys, described what happened to his client as unacceptable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalils lawyers also asked Judge Jesse Furman to enable them to communicate with him. We literally have not been able to confer with our client once since he was taken off the streets of New York City, Kassem said. Furman allowed one privileged call on Wednesday between Khalil and his attorneys, and another one on Thursday. Earlier this week, the judge blocked the Trump administrations efforts to deport Khalil until his habeas corpus petition is reviewed. Abdalla, who attended Wednesdays proceeding, said she has been able to speak to him a few times since his detention. In a separate statement read by attorney Shezza Abboushi Dallal outside the court, she decried the Trump administrations treatment of her husband. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My husband was kidnapped from our home, and its shameful that the United States government continues to hold him because he stood for the rights and lives of his people, she said. Trump on Monday falsely labeled Khalil a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student, calling his detention the first arrest of many to come. Related... Local Maine law enforcement said they have arrested a man in connection with an incident where a car drove onto the slopes behind Sunday Rivers South Ridge Lodge during the early morning of Sunday, March 9, tearing up the snow, crashing into ski lift scan gates, and causing estimated damage over $45,000. The Oxford County Sheriff's Office said the car's driver fled the scene. Working alongside Sunday River Security, deputies quickly identified the suspect as 33-year-old Jesse Bates. The involved vehicle, a Subaru Impreza, left deep ruts in Sunday River's ski slopes and was found with significant body damage at Bates' residence in the nearby Town of Mexico, according to the Sheriff's Office. Before Bates' capture, law enforcement made several unsuccessful arrest attempts, the Sheriff's Office said. After the multi-day search, Bates was arrested around 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at his home without incident and transported to Oxford County Jail, the Sheriff's Office said. He faces charges of aggravated criminal mischief and violation of conditions of release. An investigation of the incident is ongoing, and the Sheriff's Office asked that those with additional information contact them. This is a developing story and may be updated. Related: Popular Seattle Area Ski Resort To Close Early This Season Mar. 13Maine is among more than a dozen states that have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the U.S. Department of Education over the mass layoff of federal education employees, including all of the staff at a regional office in Boston. DOE officials announced plans Tuesday to lay off almost 2,000 employees more than half of the agency's entire workforce. The decision follows months of promises from Trump to dismantle the department, which oversees funding to K-12 and higher education. "Today's reduction in force reflects the Department of Education's commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers," McMahon said in a news release. She said the department will "continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency's purview." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Twenty states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Thursday morning in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts seeking to reverse the order. View this document on Scribd "This massive (reduction in workforce) is not supported by any actual reasoning or specific determinations about how to eliminate purported waste in the Department rather, (it) is part and parcel of President Trump's and Secretary McMahon's opposition to the Department of Education's entire existence," the complaint reads. The states argue that Trump does not have the authority to "incapacitate" a congressionally created agency, and write that his actions with the department violate legislative authority and his obligations to faithfully execute the law. They outline what they see as vast impacts of the workforce reductions, including to K-12 education, federal student aid, vocational rehabilitation for disabled students and the timely distribution of funds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Regardless of what alternative resources are put in the place of the Department of Education, the process of the Department's dismantling will create and has created chaos, disruption, uncertainty, delays and confusion for Plaintiff States and their residents," the complaint said. Maine received more than $250 million through the U.S. Department of Education this year for K-12 education, funding that supports some of the state's most vulnerable students, like multilingual learners and those with disabilities. Maine's public university system also receives money through the agency for Pell Grants for low-income college students, student loans, work study, grants and research, to the tune of more than $220 million annually. Other Trump administration cuts, like to funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, have been blocked by judges in recent weeks. This story will be updated. Copy the Story Link Mar. 13Maine is among more than a dozen states that have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the U.S. Department of Education over the mass layoff of federal education employees, including all of the staff at a regional office in Boston. DOE officials announced plans Tuesday to cut almost 2,000 employees more than half of the agency's entire workforce. The decision follows months of promises from Trump to dismantle the department, which oversees funding to K-12 and higher education. "Today's reduction in force reflects the Department of Education's commitment to efficiency, accountability and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents and teachers," McMahon said in a news release. The department will "continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency's purview," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The layoffs include at least 25 employees at a regional office in Boston, and eight other employees from around New England, according to AFGE 252, the union that represents Department of Education employees. Other regional offices in San Francisco, Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia have also been eliminated. According to the union, two of those laid off at the Boston office are from Maine. They could not be reached Thursday to discuss the decision. Twenty states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Thursday morning in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts seeking to reverse the order. View this document on Scribd "This massive (reduction in workforce) is not supported by any actual reasoning or specific determinations about how to eliminate purported waste in the department rather, (it) is part and parcel of President Trump's and Secretary McMahon's opposition to the Department of Education's entire existence," the complaint reads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The states argue that Trump does not have the authority to "incapacitate" a congressionally created agency, and write that his actions with the department violate legislative authority and his obligations to faithfully execute the law. They outline what they see as vast impacts of the workforce reductions, including to K-12 education, federal student aid, vocational rehabilitation for disabled students and the timely distribution of funds. "Regardless of what alternative resources are put in the place of the Department of Education, the process of the department's dismantling will create and has created chaos, disruption, uncertainty, delays and confusion for plaintiff states and their residents," the complaint said. Maine received more than $250 million through the U.S. Department of Education this year for K-12 education, funding that supports some of the state's most vulnerable students, like multilingual learners and those with disabilities. Maine's public university system also receives money through the agency for Pell Grants for low-income students, student loans, work study, grants and research, to the tune of more than $220 million annually. The departmental layoffs haven't yet impacted that money, according to the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs argue that cutting half of the workforce will make it impossible for the agency to fulfill its statutory functions like delivering funding and investigating civil rights complaints. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement Thursday afternoon, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said he joined the suit because the department is responsible for important programs for Maine students. "The gutting of the DOE effectively dismantles that department without congressional approval," he said. "Congress has committed these important services to Maine families and I join this litigation to ensure citizens will continue to benefit from these programs." Other Trump administration cuts, like those to funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, have been blocked by judges in recent weeks. Copy the Story Link Despite climate concerns, private jet use surged as world leaders flocked to Davos 2025. What happened? According to Euronews, airports that surrounded the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, recorded high-polluting flights before and after the event. This sparked discussions about the impact of elite travel on the environment. It also reignited conversations on corporate responsibility, which prompted climate groups to demand stronger actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Euronews reported that at Zurich airport, 54 private jets landed in a single day. This was a 170% increase from what is typically recorded in a week. A representative noted that before and during the event, "around 1,000 additional flight movements" were recorded. These included activities from business jets, state aircraft, and helicopters. Flightradar24, a flight tracking website, also noted a significant increase in private jets at nearby airports before WEF started. Some of the flights were under 500 kilometers (about 311 miles) in distance. The shortest flight was from Milan, which was only 204 kilometers (about 127 miles) away. Why is a surge in private jet use concerning? Private jet travel is a major contributor to air pollution and global overheating. Private jets produce five to 14 times more carbon per passenger than commercial flights and 50 times more than trains, according to data shared by the European Federation for Transport and Environment in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moreover, elite travel contradicts the sustainability initiatives that WEF promotes. Before the event, the organizers handed out free train passes for low-impact travel and encouraged walking, rather than driving, during the conference. Out of the 100 companies, only Saint-Gobain and KPMG traveled using commercial flights and trains. This blatantly showed that while the majority of the delegates talked about sustainable travel, they were unwilling to adjust for their own travels. "The spike in private jet travel to Davos again this year despite the WEF stepping up its efforts to get participants to choose more energy-efficient ways to arrive means the WEF needs to visibly seize the initiative while leaders are in the room," Denise Auclair, head of NGO Transport and Environment's Travel Smart Campaign, told Euronews. What's being done about elite travel? Climate activists are continuously urging policymakers and industry leaders to regulate private jet travel and opt for other sustainable travel options. Everyone can be of help by holding companies accountable and exploring public transit options. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. The News South Africas revised budget was rejected by major political parties, leaving the government facing an unclear path ahead. The budget had been delayed by several weeks, an unprecedented move driven by disputes between the coalition governments two biggest parties, and continued disagreement even after a controversial VAT hike was reduced has led to suggestions the government might collapse. South Africa has entered unchartered waters, the BBC wrote. The domestic turmoil comes as South Africa faces external pressures including an aid freeze by Washington, while a vital free trade deal with the US is also under threat. In a sign of the fraying ties, Pretorias ambassador to the US is struggling to secure crucial meetings in Washington, Semafor Africa reported. Early mammals had dark inconspicuous fur and only came out at night until dinosaurs became extinct, scientists believe. A study of colouration of mammals that lived in the Mesozoic era around 150 million years ago shows that none had developed the array of patterns and colours seen today and were a dark and dusky greyish-brown shade. The colours are similar to the hue of nocturnal animals, such as moles, mice, rats and bats. Experts say the findings support the hypotheses that early mammals were largely nocturnal and coloured to camouflage them from meat-eating dinosaurs and other predators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After dinosaurs became extinct approximately 66 million years ago, mammals were able to come out during the day and evolve the spots, stripes and brighter colours exhibited by many creatures today, experts believe. A study of the colouration of mammals from the Mesozoic era suggests they were a dark and dusky greyish-brown shade - Chuang Zhao and Ruoshuang Li Dr Matthew Shawkey, associate professor of biology at the University of Ghent, said: Evidence suggests that most mammals were nocturnal in the Jurassic/Cretaceous, perhaps to avoid being eaten by dinosaurs. It is likely that the extinction of the dinosaurs enabled mammals to take on new habits, including daytime activity, as they were no longer threatened by dinosaurs. Mammals rapidly diversified and spread into new niches previously occupied by dinosaurs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The findings were only possible because scientists have recently discovered that melanosomes the cell machinery responsible for pigmentation can be preserved in fossils. Scientists looked at the melanosomes from 116 living mammals and compared them to the fossilised versions from six types of Mesozoic mammals from around 158 million years ago to see which fur had the closest match. Nocturnal lifestyle key The results stand in stark contrast to the varied melanosome structures found in feathered dinosaurs, early birds, and pterosaurs. There also appeared to be no difference in coat colour between male and female mammals. Writing in the journal Science, the authors said: Samples taken from different integumentary locations of each fossil resulted in uniformly dark brown colour, with no evidence of colour patterns such as striping, spots, or counter-shading as seen in extant mammals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A nocturnal lifestyle may have enabled these species to avoid predation by diurnal carnivores and, furthermore, may have helped them to survive mass extinction. Darker hairs could help small mammaliaforms to reduce heat loss through insulation Our results suggest that the melanosome variation and colour expansion seen in extant mammals may have occurred during their rapid radiation and diversification after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. Researchers believe that the high melanin content in their fur could have been beneficial for thermoregulation and providing mechanical strength for protection. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. KINLOCH, Mo. Prosecutors have issued a criminal summons against a man accused of illegally dumping car parts in a field in Kinloch. John White, 26, of St. Louis County, faces a criminal summons for dumping in an unlicensed area, according to a news release from the St. Louis County Police Department. Six possible tornadoes hit St. Louis area, causing damage White allegedly dumped car parts in the City of Kinloch on June 13, 2024, in a field near Booker Avenue and Dr. Rev. Earl Miller Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a probable cause statement obtained by FOX 2, surveillance footage showed a suspect, later identified as White, and a vehicle that included a logo that read What Chefs Want. Sometime later, an officer responded to What Chefs Want and met with a manager in the company. The officer showed the manager photos of the truck and suspect, and the manager later noted that it was a company truck and that White was believed to be using. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News After that, an officer met with the manager and White in a conference room. White admitted to using the company truck to dump car parts in Kinloch and admitted he wanted the items out of his yard, per the probable cause statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While a criminal summons was formally issued against White on Feb. 6, according to Missouri court records, police say he is currently not in custody. The St. Louis County Police Departments Central County Precinct are handling the investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Kyiv endorses US-proposed interim truce 08:35, March 13, 2025 By Cui Haipei, Jan Yumul, Mo Jingxi ( Chinadaily.com.cn US and Ukrainian delegations meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua) Ukraine's support for a US-proposed temporary ceasefire with Russia marks a significant shift by Kyiv from its stance just one week ago with regard to an eventual diplomatic solution to the three-year-long crisis. But analysts said that, despite the turning point that emerged on Tuesday at the talks hosted by Saudi Arabia, much more needs to be done to ensure that there is a peaceful solution to the longest conflict in Europe since World War II. Wang Chenxing, an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' School of International Politics and Economics, said that a final solution to the crisis can only be achieved after the core interests of Russia, the United States and Europe are guaranteed. "Since Russia now has the upper hand on the battlefield, time is on its side in terms of peace negotiations. But the US is eager to withdraw from the crisis, ignoring the feelings of Europeans to some degree," Wang said. A joint statement after the talks in Jeddah, which were held without European participation, said that Ukraine is ready to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by the mutual agreement of the parties. Moreover, Ukraine would receive renewed US security aid and intelligence sharing, and the US would get preliminary approval for access to Ukraine's mineral resources. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday that it is hoped that all parties involved can find a sustainable and lasting solution for peace that addresses each party's concerns through dialogue and negotiation. "China has been calling for political settlement through dialogue and negotiation since the first day of the Ukraine crisis, and has been actively working for peace and pushing for talks," Mao said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly thanked US President Donald Trump for the "positive" proposal. "Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal we see it as a positive step and are ready to take it," Zelensky said. In Washington, Trump said he was ready to welcome Zelensky back to the White House. Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it did not rule out contacts with US representatives. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview published on Wednesday that Moscow will avoid compromises that would jeopardize people's lives, reiterating Russia's stance that under no conditions will it accept the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine, should there be a permanent peace settlement. Nagapushpa Devendra, a West Asia analyst and research scholar at the University of Erfurt in Germany, said that despite the positive diplomatic effort, it may still be unlikely to achieve an immediate ceasefire given the complexities. Without security assurances, Kyiv may hesitate to agree to any political settlement, Devendra said, adding that another crucial aspect is that Russia has agreed to engage with the US but its core demands, like Ukraine's neutrality and territorial concessions, remain unchanged. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Saudi side expressed its hope that the "efforts to achieve comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine" will succeed in ending the conflict in line with international law and the United Nations Charter. Jasim Husain, a Gulf analyst and former member of the Bahraini parliament, highlighted the importance of the Middle East as a mediator in resolving the Ukraine crisis. However, the US-Ukraine statement did not include any mention of the explicit security guarantees that Kyiv had been seeking, as Ukraine and the US said they agreed to conclude a deal "as soon as possible" securing US access to Ukraine's mineral wealth, which Trump demanded as compensation for the billions of dollars in US military aid given to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Press Release March 13, 2025 CHIZ COMMENDS PHL MISSION IN THE HAGUE FOR CONSULAR ASSISTANCE TO FPRRD Senate President Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero on Thursday (March 13) commended the Philippine Embassy based in The Hague for the exemplary consular assistance it has extended to former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during his arrival in the Netherlands. The Senate chief praised the Embassy's proactive measures, including the provision of winter clothing, care packages, and logistical support for the former President and his delegation, as a testament to the Department of Foreign Affairs' (DFA) unwavering dedication and professionalism. He underscored that these efforts embody Filipino values of compassion, solidarity, and service. "The Philippine Embassy in The Hague has exemplified the highest standards of service and compassion in ensuring the welfare of our kababayan abroad, regardless of their circumstances," Senate President Escudero said. "Their swift and thoughtful actions reflect the values we hold dear as a nationcare, respect, and solidarity." The veteran legislator also expressed his gratitude to Ambassador Jose Eduardo Malaya III and to the entire hardworking Embassy staff, whose collective efforts ensured the well-being of the former President and his delegation. "The Embassy's commitment to safeguarding the dignity and well-being of every Filipino is truly commendable. From attending to logistical details to liaising with Dutch authorities, their unwavering service exemplifies the Filipino spirit of bayanihan. I extend my gratitude to Ambassador Malaya and the entire Philippine mission for their unwavering dedication," he added. According to Senate President Escudero, he is confident that the Embassy will extend the same courtesy and level of service to Vice President Sara Duterte, who arrived in The Hague this morning, as well as to other family members who may visit the former leader. The Senate chief highlighted the Embassy's role in securing visas for the accompanying delegation and addressing the medical needs of the former President upon his transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Detention Center. "Their proactive and thoughtful actions, from providing essential items to coordinating with Dutch authorities, demonstrate the highest standards of public service," he said. The Bicolano lawmaker also underscored the importance of continued support for the DFA and its missions abroad, recognizing their vital role in upholding the rights and welfare of Filipinos worldwide. "Our embassies are vital in protecting the rights and welfare of Filipinos abroad, and their unwavering dedication, as exemplified by the Philippine Embassy in The Netherlands, deserves our full gratitude and support," he concluded. The Colorado Supreme Court announced recently that it will hear appeals in multiple cases, including whether Weld County must follow state law when drawing new legislative districts and when utilities may be held liable for injuries caused by their power lines. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A Texas man facing federal charges has admitted to taking photos of passengers tickets and hiding in the planes bathroom in an attempt to stow away on a plane in Salt Lake City, according to federal officials. Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, was indicted on a felony charge in 2024 after allegedly attempting to catch a free flight to Austin, Texas from Salt Lake City International Airport, according to the United States Attorneys Office, District of Utah. PREVIOUS STORY: Texas man allegedly photographed others boarding passes to get on Salt Lake flight Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, March 12, authorities announced that Fleurizard pleaded guilty during a change of plea hearing. He will be sentenced on May 20 in the U.S. District Court in downtown Salt Lake City. Fleurizard was on a snowboarding trip in Utah and was attempting to return to his home state using his friends Southwest buddy pass. When the flight he was hoping to catch was full, he took photos of multiple peoples tickets and used one to board Delta flight #1683, hiding in the bathroom. Authorities say security footage captured him taking the photos on his phone and using his phone as a boarding pass to enter the aircraft. The aircraft moved away from the gate before returning, where law enforcement was waiting to take him into custody. The case was investigated by an FBI Task Force officer and the Salt Lake City Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) A 27-year-old man was arrested on Thursday, March 13, for aggravated sexual assault of a child, the El Paso County Constable Office for Precinct 3 said in a news release. The Constables Office said Fernando Ocon, 27, had an active personal recognizance bond revocation warrant for aggravated sexual assault of a child with a $401,000 bond. Ocon was taken into custody at the 2100 block of Lake Volta Place and was booked into the El Paso County Jail without further incident, the Constables Office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Constables Office said Ocon had originally been arrested by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in 2023, stemming from an El Paso Police case. In addition, the arrest was a joint operation between the Constables Office and the El Paso County Sheriffs Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit, according to the news release. Following the arrest, Constable Bernal stressed the importance of working joint operations with other law enforcement agencies, read the news release. Constable Bernal would like to remind the El Paso County community to be vigilant and report criminal activity to law enforcement. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. An Orange County man was arrested for alleged identity theft and credit card fraud targeting victims in Southern California. The suspect was identified as Daniel Cordova of Anaheim, according to the Tustin Police Department. On Sept. 27, 2024, and Jan. 2, 2025, Cordova and an unidentified woman allegedly used stolen credit cards to purchase numerous items at a Costco store in Tustin. Surveillance video captured the pair casually browsing at the store and filling a shopping cart with merchandise. Surveillance video from a Costco shows Daniel Cordova and an unidentified woman allegedly using stolen credit cards to make purchases. (Tustin Police Department) From left: Daniel Cordova of Anaheim, is seen in surveillance footage at a Costco store. / Cordova was arrested on March 10, 2025 for identity theft. (Tustin Police Department) On March 10, a witness reportedly spotted Cordova inside a Costco store once again and reported the sighting to police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers arrived at the business and detained Cordova as he was exiting. During his arrest, police found 14 additional stolen credit cards. He was arrested for identity theft. Thats approximately 14 more victims of fraud who were saved from a world of headaches with their banks today! Tustin police said. No further details, including whether the unidentified woman was found, were released. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Gideon Castro, a 66-year-old man who was arrested at a Utah nursing home in connection to the 1977 death of a teenager in Hawaii, may not be extradited and may instead be released from custody, according to a proposed court motion. Castro was arrested in Utah on Jan. 21, 2025, on suspicion of second-degree murder. After his arrest, he was awaiting extradition, but Hawaii authorities are reportedly deciding to not extradite Castro from Utah, according to a spokesperson for the Salt Lake County District Attorneys Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A proposed motion in Utah that has not yet been signed by a judge would order Castro to be released from physical and legal custody. He is currently being held in the Health Services Unit of the Salt Lake County Jail. Man arrested at Utah nursing home decades after Hawaii murder Clayton Simms, a Utah attorney, told ABC4.com that extradition consists of governor-to-governor communication, and said that if there is no hold on the suspect in Utah, Castro would be released. The extradition can be requested at some future date, Simms said. Forty-eight years later, its difficult to get those witnesses and evidence together and, maybe, Hawaii is just looking at producing a stronger case, and then will come back at some future point and ask for extradition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Simms said theres no statute of limitations for murder, and said that dismissing a case and re-filing in the future is not going to be a problem. It appears that he was interviewed a week after the murder as a potential suspect, but was released, Simms said. But now, with that information and the DNA, they certainly have enough to charge him, they certainly have enough to extradite him Whether they will do that will be determined. The Honolulu Prosecutors Office provided the following statement to ABC4s sister station in Honolulu, KHON2: At this time we have no comment as we are still continuing our investigation into the matter. When asked about the decision made regarding Castros extradition, a spokesperson with the Honolulu Police Department told ABC4.com that the investigation is ongoing, and said no updates were being released at this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February 2025, Castro waived the right to challenge his extradition at a hearing in Salt Lake City, during which Castro appeared by video from a hospital bed, the Associated Press reports. Should a judge sign the proposed order to release Castro, he would no longer be held at the Salt Lake County Jail, and he would not be sent to Hawaii. Background On the evening of March 21, 1977, officials with the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) were dispatched to a high school in Honolulu, where they discovered the body of 16-year-old Dawn Momohara, according to Lt. Deena Thoemmes with HPD. Momohara was partially clothed and was pronounced dead at the scene, with an orange cloth tightly wrapped around her neck, Thoemmes said at a January press conference in Hawaii. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Castro was interviewed by detectives about a week after the incident, but was not taken into custody at the time. He told officials he had met Momohara at a school dance in 1976 and graduated from the same high school where she was a student. In 2019, evidence was sent to the HPD forensics lab in a renewed bid to solve the case. A partial DNA profile was identified after being obtained from Momoharas shorts. In May 2020, Thoemmes said officials obtained the partial major DNA profile of an unidentified male from DNA found on the victims shorts. In September 2023, Castro and his brother were identified as possible suspects in the case. However, his brother was excluded as a suspect after a DNA sample from the brothers adult child was compared to the evidence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials later obtained a surreptitious biological sample from Castro in Utah, and it was determined that his DNA matched evidence from the Hawaii crime scene. In the weeks leading up to Castros arrest, officials developed probable cause. According to the Associated Press, records show Castro is still a resident of Hawaii, and it is unclear how long he had been living in Utah. Nicole Napuunoa, MJ Jewkes, and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) A Wichita man is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing and killing 51-year-old Brian Edwards Monday evening. William Ball (Courtesy: Sedgwick County Sheriffs Office) Edwards was found stabbed in the street in the 4100 block of E. Whitney Lane. He died at the hospital. Police arrested 24-year-old William Ball. Great Bend police seize drugs, guns after suspicious package found at UPS warehouse Thursday afternoon, Ball made his first appearance before a judge. The judge read the charge against him murder in the second degree, unintentional but reckless and assigned his case to the public defenders office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Balls bond is set at $250,000. His next time in court is scheduled for March 24. For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. EAU CLAIRE An Eau Claire man faces serious charges after authorities say he committed a sexual assault. Joseph Pope, 21, is charged with second degree sexual assault, strangulation and suffocation, physical abuse of a child intentionally causing bodily harm and false imprisonment. The sexual assault charge is a Class C felony which, under Wisconsin law, carries the potential for as much as 40 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000. According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to Popes residence. They found the victim on the sidewalk, crying. She was taken to the hospital and police spoke with her there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told investigators she had asked Pope if she could sleep at his apartment. She asked if she could sleep in his bed instead of the couch since he has roommates. He agreed. When she went to bed, Pope began biting her neck. She told him to stop and he replied stop being a baby. When he quit, she fell asleep for approximately 15 minutes. When she awoke, Pope again began biting her neck. This time he also pulled at her hair and choked her. She told police everything went black for 10 seconds. Pope then began aggressively forcing his fingers inside her vagina. That caused her to begin bleeding. Afterward, when Pope left the room for a moment, she gathered her things and tried to leave. Pope blocked the door and refused to let her. When she said she would call the police, he told her no one would believe her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the interview, police saw multiple bite marks on the womans neck and one behind her ear. Pope posted bond after the charges were filed. One of the conditions of his release is that he have no contact with the victim or any other minor female under 18. A Wednesday hearing set Popes arraignment for June. That is the hearing at which he will enter a plea. URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) A man from the suburbs of Chicago was convicted in Champaign County court on Wednesday of shooting a man in his driveway last year. After a two-day trial, a jury convicted Allen Williams on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery. They determined that the Calumet City native was the person who on Feb. 19, 2024 shot a man on West Vine Street as he was sitting in his car parked in his driveway. Man wanted in 2022 Gilman manhunt sentenced for sexual assault Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victim was shot multiple times but survived. Williams was arrested in Champaign two months after the shooting and has been in custody since then. Court records show that while he was represented by the Public Defender during the pretrial phase of his case, he represented himself during his trial. The jury returned two guilty verdicts against Williams, finding that he personally discharged a firearm that proximately caused great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement to another person. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced April 29. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. Originally appeared on E! Online Desperate times call for desperate measures. A 32-year-old man set fire to his home Feb. 17 after allegedly being held captive by his stepmother for over 20 years, according to authorities in Waterbury, Conn. The man, whose name has not been made public, started the fire with printer paper and hand sanitizer, using a lighter found in his late fathers jacket to ignite the blaze, he told police according to CNN. While receiving medical care for smoke inhalation and fire exposure, he told first responders, per a news release from the Waterbury Police Department, that he started the blaze intentionally, explaining, I wanted my freedom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following an investigation, the mans stepmother Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was taken into custody over allegations that she forced her stepson to endure over two decades of prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment, according to the news release. Prosecutors also said during a March 12 court hearing that the manwho told police Sullivan kept him captive since he was roughly 11 years old, per NBC Connecticutknew his escape plan came with significant risk but that he was desperate to flee his hellish reality. He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, one prosecutor told a judge during the court date, per WFSB, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years hed been trying to get out of that room. Meanwhile, Sullivans lawyer Ioannis Kaloidis fiercely denied the allegations brought against his client, including the accusation that she kept her stepson captive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is absolutely not true, Kaloidis told NBC Connecticut. He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food, she provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations. The attorney added that more information will help exonerate Sullivan. We think as the evidence comes out, you'll see that she's not the villain she's being made out to be, Kaloidis continued. Absolutely not. Sullivan was charged with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree and cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Her bond was set at $300,000 and her next court date is scheduled for March 26. More from E! Online Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities discovered that the manwho is 5-foot-9had not received medical or dental care throughout his alleged captivity and had only received minimal food and water, the WPD news release continued. When he was found, prosecutors said he weighed only 68 pounds and experienced daily hunger, NBC Connecticut reported. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images Prosecutors also said during a March 12 court hearing that the manwho told police Sullivan kept him captive since he was roughly 11 years old, per NBC Connecticutknew his escape plan came with significant risk but that he was desperate to flee his hellish reality. He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, one prosecutor told a judge during the court date, per WFSB, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years hed been trying to get out of that room. Meanwhile, Sullivans lawyer Ioannis Kaloidis fiercely denied the allegations brought against his client, including the accusation that she kept her stepson captive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is absolutely not true, Kaloidis told NBC Connecticut. He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food, she provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations. The attorney added that more information will help exonerate Sullivan. We think as the evidence comes out, you'll see that she's not the villain she's being made out to be, Kaloidis continued. Absolutely not. Sullivan was charged with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree and cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Her bond was set at $300,000 and her next court date is scheduled for March 26. For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A man accused of fleeing to Paris, France, after being involved in a crash that killed two adults and a 12-year-old boy is back in the U.S. According to Cabarrus County jail records, Solomon Sincler Gheorghe, 20, was booked into the detention center on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. He has been charged with three counts of felony death by vehicle and one count of felony serious injury by vehicle. The deadly multi-vehicle accident happened just before 8:00 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2023, along N.C. 24/27 near Bethel School Road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cabarrus County deputies said the accident involved three vehicles, a 2009 Toyota Sienna van, a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado truck, and a 2019 Toyota RAV 4. Witnesses at the scene told the sheriffs office that the van was traveling eastbound when the van made an abrupt swerve into the path of the two westbound vehicles. Three people were pronounced deceased at the scene. They were identified as Nicolae Gheorghe, 49, Adela Gheorghe, 47, and a 12-year-old, Leonidas Gheorghe. The driver of the van, identified as Solomon Gheorghe, who was a teenager at the time, was impaired during the crash, investigators determined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities said Gheorghe was related to the three people killed in the crash. Warrants were obtained for his arrest in 2023. He was located in Paris, France, by the United States Marshals Service nearly one month following the deadly accident. Gheorghes bond has been set at $2 million. His next court date is scheduled for March 14, 2025. MORE FROM QCNEWS.COM Crime & Public Safety Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) An Illinois man has been federally sentenced for illegally possessing a firearm while in Humboldt, Iowa. Marcus Fair, 28, of Dolton, Illinois, appeared in federal court in Sioux City on Wednesday. There, he was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office. Fair pleaded guilty to the charge on Oct. 30, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sept. 21, 2022, authorities received a report of a domestic disturbance and animal cruelty involving Fair and others at a Humboldt residence. Woodbury County correctional officer arrested for alleged assault of inmate Law enforcement learned from interviews that there was a discarded backpack in a nearby wooded area. After finding the backpack, authorities found items belonging to Fair, including marijuana, a loaded Taurus G3C 9mm pistol with an obliterated serial number, and an extended magazine. Fair was prohibited from possession a gun as a user of marijuana, the release said. Fair was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Fair will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals until he can be taken to a federal prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. A man who was taken into custody in Paris almost two years ago, after being accused in a Midland crash that killed three of his family members, is back in the U.S. Deputies said on Wednesday, Solomon Gheorghe arrived at the Cabarrus County Sheriffs Office Detention Center. Hes currently being held on a $2 million secured bond. Three people died and four others were hurt in the multi-vehicle crash on Sept. 20, 2023, according to the Cabarrus County Sheriffs Office. It happened on Highway 24/27 near Bethel School Road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PAST COVERAGE: Deputies: Man allegedly impaired in Midland crash that killed 3 family members Deputies identified the three victims as Nicolae Gheorghe, 49, Adela Gheorghe, 47, and a 12-year-old boy. At the time, after gathering evidence and speaking to witnesses, investigators said they believed a van driving east swerved into the path of a truck and an SUV heading west, causing the crash. Deputies said Gheorghe, the vans driver, was impaired at the time of the crash. An arrest warrant was taken out against him for three counts of felony death by vehicle and one count of felony serious injury by vehicle. Solomon Gheorghe The sheriffs office said Gheorghe fled the country but they ultimately tracked him down and arrested him in Paris, France, with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheriff Van Shaw thanked U.S. Marshals, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and the Cabarrus County District Attorneys Office for their help in extraditing Gheorghe. In December 2023, the sheriffs office reduced speeds on Highway 24/27 from 55 mph to 45 mph between Sam Black Road and McManus Road. Deputies said the move was part of an effort to further prevent deadly and serious injury crashes along Highway 24/27. Check wsoctv.com for the latest developments. WATCH BELOW: 2 shot, killed outside Cabarrus County DSS building CHICAGO An investigation is underway on Wednesday night after a man was found dead at a storage facility on the citys Northwest Side. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner, a 73-year-old man was found dead inside the CubeSmart storage facility in the 3400 block of North Kedzie Avenue just before 1 p.m. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines Authorities said the victim, who was identified as a 73-year-old man, was pronounced dead on the scene, though the cause of death is unclear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities have not provided any updates on an investigation into the incident. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Mar. 12LIMA Detectives from the Lima Police Department are investigating a shooting in the 500 block of Albert Street on Tuesday night. Police found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the head when they were dispatched to the 500 block of Albert Street around 11:36 p.m. Tuesday, according to a news release from Lima Police. The male subject, who was found sitting inside a vehicle, went to a Lima hospital where he is in critical condition, according to the release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information should call Detective Matt Woodworth at 419-221-5293 or Detective Sgt. Steve Stechschulte at 419-221-5291. They may also call the police department at 419-227-4444 or the Lima/Allen-Putnam County Crime Stoppers hotline at 419-229-7867. Featured Local Savings For most of us, getting revenge on a company that screwed us over will only ever be a bitter daydream. But when one company messed with the wrong man, he decided to make good on that fantasy, turning it into costly reality. Last week, a Texas-based software developer by the name of Davis Lu was found guilty by a federal jury for maliciously disrupting servers at Eaton Corp, a huge power management firm headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. An employee since 2007, Lu's efforts at digital sabotage started in 2018 when he became frustrated with Eaton's management, which had begun "corporate realignment" a vague PR term that usually means layoffs are imminent. In this case, Lu's work duties shifted, and he found that his system access had been reduced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fearing the worst, the software dev hatched a plan straight out of "Tron": he began researching ways to boost his admin privileges, rapidly delete system files en masse, and hide the code that does it. By August 4, 2019, Lu began programming "infinite loops" to intercept logins and delete employee files, codes which he named "Hakai," Japanese for "destruction," and "HunShui," part of the Mandarin idiom "hun shui mo yu," meaning to use the computer to be lazy at work. Cyberslacking, in a word. But his magnum opus was a "kill switch," a string of code called "IsDLEnabledinAD," an abbreviation of "Is Davis Lu enabled in Active Directory?" The code was dormant so long as the system's response was "yes." But on September 9 of 2019, when Lu was laid off, that answer became "no," causing the code to lock out all other users, throwing the company's operations into chaos. FBI investigators uncovered his handywork by tracing the code back to a server Lu had access to, which was executing the attack via a computer using Lu's login info. He could face up to 10 years in federal prison for his handywork, which the company claimed caused "hundreds of thousands in losses," though Lu's attorneys peg that number closer to $5,000, according to Cleveland.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lu may not know it, but he joins a tradition of like-minded neo-Luddites, a term harkening back to militant worker groups in Britain who smashed shiny new textile machines to protect their jobs from automation. Such groups tend to be disorganized and clustered within Western countries, like the American computer smashers of the late 60s, or the French anarchist cell Action Directe of the late 70s and early 80s. Though typically smeared as Neanderthals scared of progress, Luddites of all stripes have historically been highly-skilled workers whose resistance to tech had more to do with wresting control of it from the grip of capitalists, rather than the equipment itself. One noteworthy group was the Comite Liquidant Ou Detournant Les Ordinateurs (CLODO), a coalition of disgruntled software engineers and tech workers who sabotaged computer centers and nuclear sites throughout southern France in the early 80s. Like Lu, they also made light of their work "Clodo" is French slang for "bum" submitting a quippy self-interview with the French magazine Terminal 19/84. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are essentially attacking what these tools lead to," CLODO says of their sabotage: "files, surveillance by means of badges and cards, instrument of profit maximization for the bosses and of accelerated pauperization for those who are rejected." Though their most public stunts were firebombs and vandalism, CLODO also claimed to engage in more silent forms of destruction on the job: "These actions are only the visible tip of the iceberg! We ourselves and others fight daily in a less ostensible way... we take advantage of [software errors], which undoubtedly costs our employers more than the material damage we cause. Well only say that the art consists of creating bugs that will only appear later on, little time-bombs." Far from simple technophobes, CLODO and Lu share a much more complicated cause as workers for whom technology represents layoffs, hardship, and dehumanization. As those controlling tech increasingly choose profit over people, it's no wonder workers like Lu are fighting back. More on sabotage: Arsonists Set Fire to a Dozen Teslas, Charging Stations Amid "Anti-Capitalist Coordination to Target Tesla" WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A defendant entered a plea Wednesday in a Warren arson case. Lonnie Culver, 59, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony arson, according to a news release from the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office. Culver will be sentenced after a background investigation and faces up to 18 months in prison. The case involved a fire at a four-plex at the corner of McMyler Street and Ohio Avenue on Sept. 30. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Firefighters rescued Culver from the apartment, and Fire Chief Ken Nussle said previously that Culver admitted to setting a bedroom pillow on fire. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Mar. 12Five baby moccasins and a beaded leather glove are still missing, even after a Yakima man pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing them from Northern Quest Resort & Casino over four years ago. Kevin William Wissman, 61, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty, without a plea deal in federal court in Spokane. He was charged with a misdemeanor theft from an Indian tribal organization and faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. "I did take them; I took them from the casino," Wissman said when Judge Thomas Rice asked him to say in his own words what happened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The family heirlooms made in the 1940s were on display in a shadow box in the Airway Heights casino's Heritage Hall. Wissman was recorded on security cameras removing the shadow box from a display case in the early hours of Oct. 30, 2020. A yearslong investigation led to his indictment in October 2023. He was finally arrested during a traffic stop near Yakima in January, but the items were not located. Wissman's public defender Adrien Fox and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on whether Wissman had cooperated with investigators or shared information about what happened to the artifacts. The Kalispel Tribe of Indians continues to offer a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the safe return of the stolen items. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're grateful to the Kalispel Tribal Police Department and the FBI for tracking down the person responsible for the theft of these cherished family heirlooms," Nick Pierre, a Kalispel Tribal Council Member and general manager of Northern Quest Resort & Casino, said in a statement. "While we hope justice will be served, it doesn't make up for the fact that the items have still not been recovered. ... We encourage anyone with information to please come forward." To report information about the stolen items, contact the Kalispel Tribal Police Department at (509) 481-4444. "This theft was devastating to the Kalispel Tribe of Indians and the individuals who lost their invaluable family heirlooms," Acting U.S. Attorney Richard Barker said in a news release. Wissman's sentencing is scheduled for June 12. James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor. Movie rundown for the weekend of March 13-16: A look at what's playing on the big screen COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A man guilty of killing two people at a Columbus homeless shelter in 2022 was sentenced to a lengthy prison term Wednesday. Christopher O. Smith, 37, was sentenced to 59 years to life in prison for the July 14, 2022, shooting of 40-year-old Rodney Reavish and 36-year-old Amanda K. Perkins. Christopher OBrien Smith In February, Smith was found guilty of murder, aggravated murder, and felonious assault charges, all carrying a gun specification. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The shooting happened at the Van Buren Emergency Shelter in the 500 block of Van Buren Drive. At the scene, officers found Reavish and Perkins suffering from gunshot wounds both were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said a confrontation between the victims and Smith led to the shooting. According to court records, Smith has 972 days of jail time credit. Should Smith be released from prison, he would be subject to 1 1/2 to 3 years of probation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A Greenville man pleaded guilty Thursday in connection to a crash in July 2024 that injured three people in Vernon Township. Joshua Butler, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular assault, one count of failure to stop after an accident, OVI, assault and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, according to the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office. Sentencing is scheduled for March 25. Both the prosecutor and defense attorney have agreed on a recommended sentence of five to seven years in prison as part of a plea agreement. Also, the judge wanted the prosecutor to calculate the exact of amount of restitution Butler is to pay, according to prosecutors. The plea averts a March 17 trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Butler was indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury following the accident on Route 7 where Butler was driving a pickup truck that went left of center, causing the driver of an SUV to swerve off the road and cash, hurting the driver and two passengers, including a 10-year-old child. After the crash, the report states that Butler left the scene. It was suspected that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash, according to the report. According to the indictment, Butler reportedly assaulted an officer, resisted arrest and was found with drugs. Chelsea Simeon and Kristen Hephner contributed to this report Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. A man trapped in the rushing waters of a storm wash in San Bernardino County had to be rescued, authorities announced. In a news release posted to social media Wednesday, officials with the San Bernardino Police Department said officers, along with San Bernardino firefighters, received an urgent report of a man trapped in the fast-moving and rapidly rising water of the wash, brought on by heavy rain over the last day and a half. In footage of the rescue released by the department, crews could be seen using industrial wire cutters and a saw to cut the barbed wire topping the chain link fence around the wash. San Bernardino police and firefighters seen working to rescue a man trapped in rising waters of a storm drain on March 12, 2025. (SBPD) San Bernardino police and firefighters seen working to rescue a man trapped in rising waters of a storm drain on March 12, 2025. (SBPD) It is unknown if the man in need of rescue was homeless and had been down in the wash to protect himself from the weather or what the particular circumstances entailed, but footage showed first responders draping an extension ladder over the side of the concrete wall of the wash and taking the victim up the ladder in what appears to be minor rain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Routine knee surgery ends in disaster as Southern California man loses part of leg The unidentified man was successfully pulled from the dangerous waters and was treated at the scene. It is unclear if he was taken to the hospital. This is your warning to practice caution and find high ground during inclement weather, officials said in the release. The wash is especially prone to rapidly rising flood levels, making it crucial to stay safe and alert. KTLA has reached out to SBPD to find out the exact time and location that the rescue occurred and is awaiting a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCBD) Authorities say a Long Beach, New York man will spend nearly four years in federal prison for traveling to South Carolina to engage in sex with a minor. Jerome S. Goldstein, 78, was talking online with an undercover officer when officials said Goldstein requested that the 13-year-old engage in sexual acts and send him child sexual abuse materials. During the communication, which occurred between Nov. 28, 2022, and Feb. 15, 2023, he planned to travel from New York to South Carolina to engage in sex with her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What he didnt know is that an officer created an undercover persona of the 13-year-old girl on a social media app through an undercover investigation that targeted online sexual offenders. Officials with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of South Carolina said Goldstein drove from Long Beach, NY to Goose Creek, SC to meet the teen and engage in illicit sexual conduct with her. He encountered law enforcement instead and was placed under arrest. Authorities said he admitted to the act and had possessed condoms and three sets of lingerie that were intended for the teen, who he planned to take to a hotel room that he had reserved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks sentenced Goldstein to 46 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime term of court-ordered supervision. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. WATSEKA, Ill. (WCIA) More than two years ago, Gilman was at the center of a large manhunt for a man accused of sexually assaulting a girl on an Amtrak train. That man recently pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to prison. Iroquois County court records show that Joel Smith, 36, was in court on Feb. 26 for the final pretrial hearing of his case. His trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday, but it was called off when Smith reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. Vermilion Co. man sentenced 10 years in prison for burglaries Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smith was charged with criminal sexual assault, which is normally a Class 1 felony, but the charge was upgraded to Class X because Smith had been previously convicted of the same offense or exploitation of a child. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge to Class 1 in exchange for his guilty plea. After making that plea, Smith was sentenced to nine years in prison with credit given for the time hes already spent in custody, which has been since he was captured the night of Sept. 16, 2022. Investigators learned that two days earlier on Sept. 14, Smith was released from a federal prison in Southern Illinois and he boarded an Amtrak train heading north. While the train was stopped in Gilman, Smith sexually assaulted a girl onboard and fled into the cornfields. For 36 hours, law enforcement from across Central Illinois descended upon Gilman to track Smith down. They brought in K9s, drones and a helicopter, but they went beyond the traditional methods to find Smith. Officers rode on farming vehicles and used electricians bucket trucks to look for him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smith never left the area and at one point, he walked into a truck stop near the train station to buy an energy drink. He was finally arrested when an Illinois State Trooper found him at the intersection of Route 24 and 45, not far from the train station, the truck stop and the cornfield law enforcement had been searching that entire day. Criminal records indicate that Smith has a history of violence in Michigan dating back to 2007, when he was just 19 years old. This history includes assaulting his girlfriend and sexually abusing a teenager. U of I police arrest 18-year-old for sexually abusing woman The crime that brought Smith to Illinois was for failing to register as a sex offender and other probation violations. Because it was a federal crime, he spent his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Marion. He was released from that facility the day he committed sexual assault in Gilman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Having pleaded guilty in the latest case against him, Smith was remanded back to the custody of the Iroquois County Sheriffs Office until he can be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) The power started to come back on Thursday at the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock several hours after an explosion inside a maintenance hole set off fires and power outages, leading school officials to issue evacuation orders for several buildings and cancel classes for the rest of the week, university police said. The explosion happened Wednesday evening at the Engineering Key section of campus, which was evacuated. Students were advised Thursday to avoid the area until further notice. I heard an explosion and then saw a smoke ring, almost like a cartoon or something, doctoral degree student Robert Gauthreaux III told KCBD-TV. It traveled about 200 feet in the air. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gauthreaux said he went inside the architecture building, which lost power. He said he and others tried to help someone who was trapped inside an elevator. Power was shut down to the entire campus while repairs were underway, said Caitlynn Jeffries, a spokesperson for the universitys police department. She asked that all public and unofficial personnel avoid campus. You can go ahead and go home for spring break. We are closing school down for the next couple days, Jeffries said at a news media briefing. Firefighters responded to campus about 7 p.m. for a possible gas leak, Lubbock Fire Rescue Capt. Jon Tunnell said at the briefing. They found multiple manhole covers with active fire and smoke issuing from them, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No injuries were reported, Tunnell said. An alert from the university sent to the campus community before the news conference had described the explosion as occurring at a substation. Videos circulating on social media and TV stations showed a heavy presence of firefighters on campus and fire and smoke coming out of at least one maintenance hole cover. It was not clear what might have caused the explosion. Different colors of smoke that were seen coming out of the manhole were likely from copper and other metals burning, deputy chief of Lubbock Fire Rescue Nick Wilson said at a news conference Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's going to be some time before we have answers, Wilson said. A few hundred off-campus rooms were secured for students who could not stay in their dorms, according to Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec. There are more than 40,000 students at Texas Tech, and the school sits on 1,800 acres (728 hectares) in West Texas. As Americans make summer 2025 vacation plans, one consideration may be the U.S. State Department's international travel warnings. The federal agency issues a travel advisory, with levels ranging from "Exercise Normal Precautions" to "Do Not Travel," for every country. The level of the advisory indicates how much caution the department recommends travelers have if they choose to visit another nation. Level 1 advises travelers to exercise normal precautions, as there is some risk in all international travel. Level 2 recommends increased caution over some "heightened risks to safety and security." Level 3 suggests Americans reconsider traveling to that country due to "serious risks to safety and security," and Level 4 advises everyone against traveling to that location. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The State Department weighs several factors when issuing advisories, including crime levels, terrorism threats, civil unrest, health concerns and the possibility of a natural disaster. Countries can also have multiple level advisories if some areas pose more of a risk than others. The warnings are reviewed and updated regularly by the State Department. The map below shows the advisories by country. Hover over a country to see what level advisory it has and search for a specific nation in the table. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kristi Noem says she's "very confident" undocumented migrants stole her purse Ashlie Crosson named 2025 National Teacher of the Year Kristi Noem says if Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to U.S. we'd "immediately deport him again" (NewsNation) The number of current marine animals that are likely affected by toxic algae bloom has gone up noticeably, one California care center said last week. Over the last week, the number of current MMCC patients likely impacted by the toxic algal bloom has more than tripled, the Marine Mammal Care Center said last Wednesday on Instagram. Marine Mammal Care Center said it does not know how long the domoic acid outbreak will last, but if it continues to bring in 3 to 5 animals per day, these numbers will add up quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The organization, based in San Pedro, California, warned that because it is also the time of year when starving young elephant seal pups start to strand along the Los Angeles County Coastline, the MMCCs hospital could see capacity issues. Brains immune system could treat Alzheimers: Study In 2023, the Marine Mammal Care Center had 70 sea lions in its care by July, KNBC reported. Now, the center is already half full. John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center, said in an interview with KNBC that they have room for about 120 animals and are now at more than 50. While we are concerned about the long-term health of marine mammals and the ocean environment due to the toxic chemical runoff from the recent fires, we believe the current situation on our coast is due solely to domoic acid toxicosis (DA) and the confirmed prevalence of Pseudo-nitzschia australis (the type of algae that produces DA) along the Southern California Coast, the Marine Mammal Care Center said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Domoic acid, according to the center, is a neurotoxin that accumulates in small fish, which are eaten by marine mammals. Eating the toxin attacks the brain and heart, which can cause seizures, heart failure and, if left untreated, permanent brain damage. Clarissa Anderson, a biological oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told The Guardian that scientists have seen a steep change in how intense toxic algae blooms are and how long they last. In the last four years, the impacts have been really heavy on the marine mammal side, both sea lions, some fur seals, and quite a few long-beaked common dolphins, Anderson said. However, heavy rains and nitrate-rich organic runoff do feed these algae blooms and can contribute to their size and severity. These acidic blooms used to occur every 4 to 7 years. The frequency of these blooms has increased in recent years, exacerbated by climate change, warming ocean temperatures and other human activities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If people see a stranded animal, they can report it to the Marine Mammal Care Center by calling 1-800-39-WHALE. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Tech billionaire Elon Musks electric car company, Tesla, has faced a recent wave of protests, vandalism, and stock price drama related to anger over his DOGE efforts to reshape government agencies. But MAGA is coming to the companys aid. President Trump on Tuesday delivered a sales pitch from the White House lawn. And, now, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), the chairwoman of the House DOGE subcommittee, has rushed to help by demanding a federal investigation from top Justice Department officials. Greenes letter, which was addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, was also signed by the other seven Republican members of the subcommittee. It was, however, written in the first person, as though it came from an individual. I am writing in regard to the recent wave of organized attacks targeting Elon Musk and Tesla car dealerships, charging stations, and vehicles across the country. These attacks, which seem to involve coordinated acts of vandalism, arson, and other acts of violence, seriously threaten public safety, the letter said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Along with the letter, the eight DOGE Republicans also issued a statement calling for an investigation into the matter. We are urging the Department of Justice and the FBI to prioritize a thorough investigation of these attacks, the members said. In the less than two months since Trump took office earlier this year, Musk has become one of the most visible and controversial parts of his administration, thanks both to his Inauguration-Day seig heil salute and the massive cuts, purges, and questionably legal access to Americans data undertaken by DOGE. Musk is apparently overseeing the DOGE effort, despite not officially filling the role of administrator. The initiative, which took over the U.S. Digital Service, is nominally focused on efficiency, but it has fallen far short of advertised savings while targeting diversity programs that represent a fraction of the federal budget. The House DOGE subcommittee launched last month. Greene began the first hearing by declaring, This committee will be laser-focused on bringing full transparency to the waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government and presenting the plans to fix the tremendous problems we expose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TPM reached out to Greenes office to ask how pressing for an investigation into attacks on Tesla, which is a private company, fits with that mission. The attacks are directly in response to DOGE, so of course it falls under the committee, Nick Dyer, who is Greenes deputy chief of staff, wrote in an email. This is political violence meant to deter us from that mission. A spokesperson for Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Musk also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPM. Acts of vandalism have hit Tesla vehicles and facilities across the United States and overseas. Tesla has also been the focus of peaceful protests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The letter from the DOGE subcommittee attempted to tie liberal and left-wing organizations to the anti-Tesla wave. It also cited Antifa, a frequent right wing bogeyman. While individuals who identify as Antifa, which is short for antifascist, have been a consistent presence at protests in recent years, there is no single, clear organization behind the phenomenon. Reports suggest that groups like Antifa, known for their history of domestic terrorism, including throughout the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd, may be involved in the recent Tesla attacks, Greenes letter said. I urge the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to prioritize a thorough investigation into these matters. Dyer, Greenes deputy chief of staff, did not respond to questions asking which reports were cited in the letter. Greene, who has previously peddled blatant conspiracy theories related to antifa, also pointed to Musk, who has an extensive history of amplifying questionable information, as a source for the idea that liberal and left-wing organizations might be linked to the violence. There have been several attacks of this kind in recent days, with reports, including from Elon Musk himself, linking various Democrat-affiliated non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to them, the letter said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Greenes letter concluded by asking the DOJ to identify the individuals and groups responsible and to answer whether there is a link between NGOs and the organizers of these attacks. Trump himself has launched threats at anyone who might be linked to the anti-Tesla activity. The president, whose administration has already detained at least one political activist without evidence of criminality, has vowed harsh retribution against anyone who crosses his allys car company. As he touted the car company from the White House on Tuesday, Trump issued a stark warning. You do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, were going to catch you and youre going to go through hell, Trump said. Mar. 13Attorneys for former Decatur police officer Mac Marquette have filed a motion with the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals requesting the recusal of District Judge Charles Elliott from Marquette's upcoming murder trial. In the motion filed Friday, Marquette's attorneys allege that Elliott prematurely decided to deny their client's stand your ground immunity request ahead of a hearing scheduled for March 25. According to the filing, Elliott allegedly informed Decatur police Lt. Mike Burleson of his intention to deny the request. "Burleson recounted this conversation, which was either witnessed or overheard by another individual, who then informed Marquette," the motion states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The filing accuses Elliott of violating the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics by engaging in a series of private, or ex parte, conversations about the recusal motion that it describes as "improper." It also claims Elliott is denying Marquette his due process right to present his case in court, including the ability to subpoena witnesses to support his allegations. As a result, Marquette's attorneys filed a request for a stay to pause proceedings in circuit court until the appellate court rules on whether Elliott should be removed from the case. According to Decatur police, on Sep. 29, 2023, Marquette and three other Decatur police officers responded to a home on Ryan Drive Southwest for a vehicle repossession. The homeowner, Steve Perkins, had confronted a tow truck driver from Allstar Recovery around 1:30 a.m. and was accused of brandishing a firearm during the dispute. Based on doorbell camera footage and partial bodycam footage that was leaked, the officers accompanied the tow truck driver to repossess Perkins' truck again and as the driver attempted to repossess the truck, Perkins walked back outside and said "Hey, put the truck down." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two seconds later, Marquette appeared from behind Perkins' truck and said "Hey, hey! Police! Get on the ground!" before firing multiple rounds at Perkins, according to the released footage. Marquette continued firing even after Perkins collapsed, emptying his magazine. Decatur police later said Perkins aimed a firearm equipped with a flashlight at Marquette when the shots were fired. Perkins was placed in handcuffs and transported by ambulance to Huntsville Hospital, where he later died, according to police. On Jan. 5, Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson announced a grand jury had unanimously returned a murder indictment against Marquette. Marquette is also appealing his termination by Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judge Elliott issued a gag order on May 24, barring police, witnesses and attorneys involved in the case from speaking publicly until after Marquette's trial concludes. The trial is scheduled to begin April 7. wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. America's national parks reported record visitation in 2024 as government cuts loom over federal lands in Colorado and beyond approaching the MARYVILLE, Mo. (News-Press NOW) The Maryville R-II School District announced its superintendent, Logan Lightfoot, has been placed on administrative leave. Maryville R-II School District Board of Education President Josh McKim said Lightfoot has been on administrative leave since Monday, Feb. 24. A hearing is scheduled for Lightfoot on Thursday, March 20, at the district's administrative offices. The district is not disclosing why Lightfoot has been placed on leave. News-Press NOW will provide more updates on this story, as they become available. Access is important. Slate is offering six months of Slate Plus to current and recently laid-off federal government employees. If you or someone you know has been affected, click here to get six months of Slate Plus free. When I was growing up in Seattle in the 1990s, the city was shifting from the home of Nirvana and grunge music into a shinier, techier metropolis. A decade before Silicon Valley entered the general parlance, Seattle natives Bill Gates and Paul Allen were founding Microsoft and ushering in a new era of American innovationand of the American ultrarich. For most of the period between 1997 and 2017, Gates was the richest man in the world, and Allen also amassed a large fortune. And with this new technological era came a new kind of billionaire: The nerd made good, who generally came along with a kind of bland good-guy libertarianism. Many of these early tech billionaires, Gates most prominent among them, were avid philanthropists too, giving away enormous sums and starting their own nonprofit entities. But by the time Amazon founder Jeff Bezos surpassed Gates as the worlds richest man in the 2010s, the tech billionaire vibes had shifted. Yes, the billionaire philanthropists carried on. But another groupcall them the hostile libertarianswere growing in power. And its those men who now dominate the industryand who are taking over American government and American media in a spectacular revenge of the nerds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These men have largely rejected any obligation to public service, choosing to hoard their wealth or spend it on vanity projects rather than use it to aid the far less fortunate. They tend to adhere to a libertarianism that claims to stand for broad personal liberties and expansive rights to free speech. The problem, though, is that they are ultimately thin-skinned and morally immature. When they get into positions of power, their libertarianism morphs from Freedom for All to Freedom for Meincluding freedom from criticism or complication. And with Donald Trump in charge, a man for whom Freedom for Me but Not for Thee is practically a lifelong mantra, were seeing these self-identified libertarians behave unapologetically illiberally. Take Bezos. His politics have long seemed to be liberal-libertarian: He has donated to support same-sex marriage and lower taxes for the rich, and has given to Democratic politicians as well as Republican ones, along with the libertarian Reason Foundation. When he bought the Washington Post, he pledged to maintain its independence even under pressure. And by most accounts, he diduntil Trumps reelection loomed. In a now-infamous move, he ordered the Posts editorial board to scrap its endorsement of Kamala Harris, declaring that the paper would no longer back any political candidate. Its an order that would be controversial at any point, but coming as it did, 11 days before an election, was a shocking overreach and resulted in a mass exodus of subscribers from the paper. Then, after Trump was elected, Bezos again used his position at the outlet to exert wildly inappropriate editorial control, sending a note to staff that read: We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. Well cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others. Those others? They can be found, he said, on the internet. One wonders which definition of personal liberties includes refusing to publish views at odds with the papers tech billionaire founder. Thanks to Bezos meddling, the Post is hemorrhaging subscribers. Many of its opinion writers have left. One has to imagine that, even though Bezos has not yet exerted control over the Posts reporting, its journalistswho are among the best in the businessare anxious about what is to come and are looking elsewhere. The country may now lose one of its last great national newspapers: an outlet that broke the Watergate story, that provides unparalleled coverage of the nations capital, and that remains one of the last remaining publications to post correspondents overseas, bringing the rest of the world to American readers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Bezos had any decency left, he would sell off the paperor, better yet, create a trust that would fund it into perpetuity, then make his exit. But he seems more interested in pleasing Trump than in maintaining a newspaper that is foundational to the free press, a pillar of American democracy. This is an entirely self-serving decision. Bezos is transparently attempting to curry favor with Trump because of, one suspects, his interest in securing government contracts and possibly in being spared some pain in the trade war Trump wants to wage. (As Paul Krugman suggested back in November, one purpose of the Trump tariffs may be to allow the president, who can grant tariff exemptions to particular companies, to financially reward loyalists and punish dissenters.) To see his encroachments on the free press spoken of in the language of liberty and freedom is especially cynical. This through-the-looking-glass definition of liberty is in line with how several other Trump-adjacent tech titans define freedom, which seems to be: Criticism of me trespasses on it; censoring views I disagree with does not. Elon Musk, for example, is a self-styled free speech absolutist. When he bought Twitter and rebranded it as X, he criticized its content moderation policies and pledged that the site would no longer censor controversial views. Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated, Musk said when the acquisition was announced. He was right on both counts: Free speech is essential, and social media platforms, including Twitter, are modern town squares. His free speech absolutism, though, doesnt seem to have been anywhere near absolute. X complies with most government requests to remove content, and it complies more often than the company did when it was still Twitter. Several journalists who cover Musk saw their accounts suspended after he took over. (Musk claimed, falsely, that those journalists shared basically assassination coordinates of where he was.) He permanently banned the account @ElonJet, which tracked the location of Musks private planeinformation that is publicly available. But blatant white supremacists, Nazis, misogynists, and disinformation purveyors remain, because free speech. If X is a town square, its a pretty unpleasant one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk has also said that he hopes individuals and organizations that publish media safety standardsand that tell companies which social media platforms are responsible and worthy of advertising on, and which are notare criminally prosecuted (because, of course, these groups sometimes suggest that a platform home to members of various hate groups is maybe a bad bet for ads). He has asserted that journalists who publish stories he doesnt like or thinks are incorrect should be fired or imprisoned. In this, he mirrors fellow tech billionaire and former PayPal collaborator Peter Thiel, who at once claimed to strongly believe in the First Amendment while secretly bankrolling the case that put Gawker out of business, because he didnt like what it published. This is, to be fair, a broader right-wing problem. Trump himself was elected by a modern right galvanized by an opposition to cancel culture and embracing the language of free speech, but in truth it seems eager to use claims of censorship primarily to gain power. With Trump in office, speech has been constrained in ways that are best characterized by various ignominious -ists: McCarthyist; fascist; and, with the attacks on education, language purges as a means of eliminating the ideologies behind them, and the elevating of true lie-parroting believers over competent and honest actors, approaching Maoist. The administration has a list of banned words, making verboten everything from diversity to gender. Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. green-card holder and graduate student at Columbia University, was recently arrested by immigration officials and shuttled off in secret, seemingly for speech this administration has deemed antisemitic and a threat to national security (a designation not made of the various far-right figures in Trumps orbit, including self-identified Christian nationalists, antisemitic conspiracy theorists, and men who throw up the Nazi salute). The arrest seems transparently politically motivated and intended to send a message: Protest, and you pay. Hypocrisy from the MAGA movement and the Christian right is nothing new. Tech leaders, though, seemed to promise something different. Their money, the implicit argument went, shielded them from the concerns of mere mortals, and certainly of politicians. They could be advocates of ultimate freedom, and they could (literally) afford to be ideologically consistent. But as were now seeing, commitment to a particular philosophy was never the real driver of these tech leaders views; selfishness apparently was. Mass. AG Campbell sues Trump administration over efforts to dismantle Education Department Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is co-leading a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Trump over their unlawful attempt to dismantle the Department of Education. Trump is dismantling the Education Department. Here's what it does The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, seeks a court order to stop the Trump Administrations push to eliminate the Education Department by cutting its workforce and programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this week, the Education Department announced plans to lay off over 1,300 of its more than 4,000 employees as part of a reorganization. The layoffs are part of a dramatic downsizing directed by Trump as he moves to reduce the footprint of the federal government. McMahon had told employees to brace for profound cuts in a memo issued March 3. In Massachusetts, K-12 schools receive nearly $2 billion annually from the federal government to support needs like special education programs, teacher salaries and benefits, social workers, professional development programs, after school programs, transportation, and reading and language specialists, according to Campbell. By attempting to dismantle the Department of Education which, among many things, funds educational programs that benefit low-income children and students with disabilities and enforces laws that prohibit discrimination in education, the Trump Administration is making it crystal clear that it does not prioritize our students, teachers or families, Campbell said in a statement. Neither President Trump nor his Secretary have the power to demolish a congressionally-created department, and as Attorney General but most importantly as a mom, I will continue to hold this Administration accountable for illegal actions that harm our residents and economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In its lawsuit, the coalition argues that the Trump Administration does not have the power to dismantle the Education Department or override the statutory responsibilities required of it. The coalition also argues that by drastically reducing its workforce, the Education Department will be unable to perform functions mandated by statute, including the various ways it supports elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education programs. Attorneys general from New York, Hawaii, California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin joined Campbell in filing the lawsuit. 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 The Massachusetts state seal is shown on a wall in the governor's office. (Photo by Gintautas Dumcius) A renewed effort to come up with proposals for a new Massachusetts state seal by July is already running months behind schedule. The advisory commission, focused on replacing the controversial emblem, must offer up three options for the state seal, as well as the flag and the states motto. It must also seek public comment through at least three public hearings across the state, and submit its final recommendations to Gov. Maura Healey by July 29. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But it plans to hold its first meeting on March 20, roughly eight months after it was created. The 10-member commission, which is getting $100,000 for the effort, is still missing some appointees. Northampton state Sen. Jo Comerford, a top advocate of the commission to change the seal and a lawmaker who represents part of western Massachusetts, expects the commission to miss the July deadline. We are starting late, we wont reach that, but that wont be a failure of this commission, she said. It just means well continue to endeavor. Comerford and others have criticized the seal, calling it racist or an outdated symbol of violence against Native people. The image is also on the state flag. The seal which dates back hundreds of years and harkens to a time when early English explorers enslaved and killed Natives features an arm holding a sword above a Native American man holding a bow. The motto, a phrase roughly translated from Latin, states By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the commonwealths second attempt in five years to redesign the seal. A 20-member panel convened in 2021 couldnt agree on a new seal despite several deadline extensions, prompting Secretary of State William Galvin to label it a complete failure. Healey, after signing the new commission into law last summer, didnt appoint the two chairs until December: Patrick Tutwiler, her education chief, and Kate Fox, the executive director of the states Office of Travel and Tourism. Rhonda Anderson, the western Massachusetts commissioner on Indian affairs, a Inupiaq Athabascan from Alaska, and a member of the current panel tasked with changing the seal, pushed back on what she called Galvins unfairly harsh characterization of the previous commission. Unfortunately, there is a lack of understanding of the need to recognize colonial historical harms and take responsibility for reparations, which includes deep listening to grievances and understanding how oppression and marginalization continue today, Anderson said in an email. Such essential conversations are difficult, as not everyone agrees or has the same experiences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first commission, which submitted its report in November 2023, suggested some concepts, such as an elm tree or cranberries, birds like chickadees and turkeys, or geography like a coastline or hills. But the commission, which was also allotted $100,000, didnt settle on a specific recommendation. Galvin has yet to make his two appointments to the new commission, which led to Comerford questioning him about it during a Ways and Means Committee budget hearing. We have plenty of time, Galvin responded, noting the upcoming March 20 meeting and adding that the idea has been kicking around for several years now, and cost the state $200,000. A deeply disturbing past After the exchange with Comerford, Galvin reiterated to CommonWealth Beacon his view that the previous commission became a competition amongst various groups who wanted to either be represented or felt aggrieved or whatever. The seal can obviously be updated because its been a very long time, and there are people who are offended by it, Galvin said. We shouldnt have anything that we think is even unintentionally offending people if we can avoid it. Or inaccurate. And there has been a long suggestion the depiction of the Indian character, or Native American character, is inaccurate. Those are all legitimate criticisms. No ones advocating no, dont change anything. No ones saying that. Thats not the issue. The issue is if youre going to replace it, what are you going to replace it with, and what is the mission of the seal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Galvin compared changing the seal to a business swapping in a new logo. Times change, circumstances change, he said. In an interview, Comerford called Galvins comments disrespectful and dismissive of the work of the previous commission. She pointed to the previous commission issuing a report, arguing the new commission isnt starting from scratch. She rejected Galvins comparison of the state changing its seal and a company changing its logo. This isnt just a color scheme, she said. This is going for something that sees all of us as equals, that endeavors to chart a new path forward on what is a deeply disturbing past. Earlier this week, a Galvin spokeswoman said the secretary still plans to make his two first appointments before the first meeting is held. She noted that Galvin also appointed two staffers to the previous version of the commission. One of the previous appointees is now involved in celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and cannot participate in the new commission, the spokesperson said, but added the seal commission should have started meeting six months ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Comerford and Anderson, the commissioner, remain optimistic that the commission will come up with a new seal and motto. We have work to do, marking the footsteps of over forty years of pushing for the passing of the legislation to make necessary changes; it is time for a flag, seal, and motto that the residents of Massachusetts can be proud of and represent the great land on which we live, Anderson said. This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Last week, two alternating 100-foot-high by 40-foot-wide images appeared projected onto Corona Arch on BLM land outside Moab, Utah. Keep Public Lands in Public Hands read one, and the other was a red-white-and-blue graphic of a home for sale sign, stating that Your Public Lands were under contract. A group of activists calling themselves the same name projected onto the arch, Keep Public Lands in Public Hands, took credit for the protest. The group released a YouTube video and an Instagram account detailing the reasoning for the projections while simultaneously establishing its social media presence. Americas public lands our national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges are under attack, said the modulated voice of the video narrator. Donald Trump wants to sell them off, open them to drilling, and strip away protections that have preserved them for generations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to concerns over the Trump administrations perspective on extraction and public lands a drill, baby, drill clip is included in the video the group is also responding to Utah lawmaker desires to transfer the control of federal lands to states. Im really concerned about the ongoing push for state ownership of federal lands, said Zeppelin Zeerip, a Salt Lake City-based documentary filmmaker and the groups founder. Weve seen throughout history that when states own public lands, they are more apt to sell them off and privatize them. In the video, Zeerip and his advocacy group refer specifically to Utahs recent failed Supreme Court lawsuit associated with the Stand for Our Land campaign that sought to transfer control of 18 million acres of federal land over to the state. Fourteen other states signed amicus briefs in support of the suit, and while it has not yet been refiled at a lower court, decision makers have suggested they may do so in the future. There are no laws explicitly prohibiting this protest on BLM lands, which is where Corona Arch is, but any damage or defacement could result in prosecution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to last weeks protest, a BLM spokesperson wrote that, We support the publics First Amendment rights. We encourage those exercising free speech to consider other users and their enjoyment of our amazing natural spaces. Has the state sold off its public land? While Utah has sold off more than 4 million acres of federal land given to it when it gained statehood in 1896, most of that was done under the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, to help fund education and other public goods. That financial value was the reason the federal government gave states land at statehood in the first place, with the intention to help provide for states short on tax dollars while early in their existence. There have been other efforts to sell other forms of public lands more recently. There were two iterations of the HOUSES Act introduced by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, which sought to approve the sale of federal land within municipalities for private development. And within the Utah statehouse, a number of bills and amendments have appeared over the past few years seeking to transfer land in order for it to be sold. A projected art installation at Corona Arch in Moab. | Keep Public Lands in Public Hands Where did the idea for a massive projection come from? Zeerip explained that the group was inspired by the work of Led By Donkeys, a U.K.-based political activist group that uses large projections as statement pieces. While theyve used projections to protest during COVID-19 and the war in Gaza, theyre most famous for their work displayed on the British House of Commons in London in 2018 protesting Brexit and the policies of the then prime minister, Boris Johnson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Zeerip and his group plans on continuing to put up similar installations to the Corona Arch protest throughout this year, and for as long as they think such protests are necessary. Had their generator not run out last week, they would have brought the installation to Castleton Tower, too. There will be an onslaught of public land issues over the next four years, said Zeerip. Whether its the Arctic Refuge, or its Bears Ears being rescinded again, or this new call to log more U.S. timber, whatever it is, its going to be nearly constant threat, and he intends to respond to each accordingly. Those resolutions being proposed in state legislatures urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn marriage equality arent happening organically. Instead, theyre the result of an orchestrated campaign by MassResistance, one of the most virulently anti-LGBTQ+ groups in existence. It has often equated homosexuality and bisexuality with pedophilia and bestiality, and it has long demonized transgender people. The group hasnt been in the news much in the past few years, but its presence has resurged with the anti-marriage equality resolutions. MassResistance has drafted text for state legislature resolutions that call on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its infamous and illegitimate Obergefell ruling, says a post on the groups website. That 2015 decision forced the idea that the U.S. Constitution requires states to allow same-sex marriage. Yes, MassResistance is still putting marriage in quotes when it comes to queer couples. The resolutions have so far been introduced in five states Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Idaho is the only state to pass one to date; the resolutions failed in Montana and South Dakota and remain pending in the other states. MassResistance expects one to be introduced in Iowa as well. They are nonbinding it would take a case getting to the high court for it to reconsider the marriage equality decision but MassResistance sees the measures as an important public message that can create positive momentum across the country, according to its website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But just who is MassResistance? Here we take a look at the groups history. The beginnings of MassResistance The organization now known as MassResistance was founded in 1995 as the Parents Rights Coalition. Its based in Waltham, Mass. yes, in one of the most liberal and LGBTQ-friendly states in the nation. It has chapters in numerous other states and has worked with anti-LGBTQ+ activists around the world. Brian Camenker has been its director since its founding. In 1996, as president of another group, the Interfaith Coalition of Massachusetts, he led efforts to draft a bill requiring that parents in the state be notified if their childrens schools are offering sex education. But MassResistance was just getting started. Things really ramped up in 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. The Parents Rights Coalition changed its name to Article 8 Alliance, a reference to Article 8 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, a part of the state constitution establishing the peoples right to recall elected officials. But the course opponents of marriage equality took was to try to amend the Massachusetts constitution to nullify the ruling, an effort backed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. MassResistance refers to this period as the gay marriage crisis. At any rate, the state did not amend its constitution, and same-sex couples began marrying when the ruling went into effect May 17, 2004. We adopted the name MassResistance in 2006 when our role as the true resistance to tyrannical government became clear, the organizations website says. Since we were in the first state to see homosexual activism in the schools and gay marriage, we thoroughly understood the threat of sexual radicalism, curtailed freedom of speech, uneven application of the law, judicial activism, and post-constitutional government. MassResistance often targets schools During 2006 and 2007, MassResistance sought to have the 1996 law on sex education amended so that parents would be notified of any discussion of gay and lesbian issues in schools. The group proposed language that lumped sexual orientation (which includes heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality) in with criminal behaviors like bestiality and polygamy, notes the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled MassResistance a hate group. During legislative testimony supporting the amendment, Camenker falsely claimed that no homosexuals died in the Holocaust and that the pink triangle the Nazis forced imprisoned gays to wear actually signified Catholic priests. The amendment did not pass. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MassResistance has often attacked GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network), including with a claim that it was distributing a booklet with instructions on gay sexual activities to students in fifth through ninth grades. This allegation was featured in a 2011 documentary from another anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, the Family Research Council, with FRC leader Tony Perkins calling it the most vile assault on teenagers ever concocted by homosexual activists. However, the booklet, on how to have safer sex, was produced by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and was intended for gay men 18 and older. Fenway Community Health took a few to a 2005 GLSEN conference held at a high school, then acknowledged it was a mistake (the conference banned sexually explicit material) and said apparently no students picked up the booklet. MassResistance has a history of opposing antibullying and safe schools programs by claiming theyre promoting homosexuality. It has also condemned the Governors Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, started under Massachusetts Gov. William Weld in 1992, and now an independent agency called the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth. When the T was added in the early 2000s, MassResistance denounced the commission as pushing transgenderism. MassResistance conspiracies: Gays control the FBI and CIA, provoke bashings, and more Camenker went on a conservative radio show in 2012 to claim that LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts at the FBI and CIA meant that queer people had taken control of those agencies and would use them against Christians well, right-wing Christians. One weapon, he said, would be the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a federal law passed under President Barack Obama in 2009. When an individual describes himself as being gay or lesbian, transgender or something, invariably that person is hostile to the pro-family position and is vigorous about pushing the entire agenda, Camenker said on the Crosstalk show. Weve seen that in the schools, weve seen that all over the place. Were really scared about the FBI being this out homosexual organization. But anti-LGBTQ+ churches and organizations remain in operation the U.S. still has freedom of speech and religion and Camenkers probably very pleased with Donald Trumps anti-diversity efforts. During the first Trump administration, however, even far-right Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wasnt anti-LGBTQ+ enough to satisfy MassResistance. In 2018, the group denounced Pompeo for declaring Pride Month at the State Department and issuing a statement in support of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. He gave credence to the radical ideology deeming all forms of sexual and gender expression human rights and that any disagreement is irrational or hateful, said a post by Amy Contrada on the MassResistance website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among MassResistances other greatest hits was Camenkers discussion with fellow anti-LGBTQ+ activist Linda Harvey on her Mission: America radio show in 2013. He claimed that antigay crimes are often caused by revulsion at, for instance, the sight of two men kissing, and he asserted that there are few elite gay athletes because of the psychological issues that are going through you in the homosexual lifestyle. He said elite athletes need a high level of stability and alertness, and apparently LGBTQ+ people dont have that. Oh, maybe they just need a better environment in which to come out? MassResistance has also promoted so-called conversion therapy and objected to state laws preventing its use on minors, and it has denounced the 1973 decision by the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. The group was a big supporter of Roy Moore, the homophobic and now-disgraced Alabama politician who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and lost his post on the state's Supreme Court. MassResistance members have recently taken on such popular far-right causes as protesting drag queen story hours, trying to get LGBTQ-themed books out of public libraries, and generally demonizing trans people as delusional and dangerous. Back to marriage equality As noted previously, those resolutions are nonbinding. For the Supreme Court to reconsider marriage equality, a case would have to come to it. But the infamous Kim Davis is trying to set one up. In 2015, Davis, as clerk of Rowan County, Ky., refused to comply with the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which she said went against her religious beliefs. Her office was responsible for issuing marriage licenses, but she shut down all marriage license operations to avoid serving same-sex couples. She even went to jail briefly for defying a judges order to resume issuing licenses without discrimination. Eventually, she decided to allow her deputies to serve same-sex couples, and then Kentucky changed its marriage license form so that it does not include the county clerks name. This satisfied the religious exemption that Davis said she wanted. She was voted out of office in 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the drama wasnt over. One of the couples to whom Davis denied a license, David Ermold and David Moore, sued her and won. They have been trying to collect the damages a jury awarded them, and last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that yes, Davis has to pay. She and her lawyers at Liberty Counsel hope to get the case to the Supreme Court and overturn Obergefell, a possibility with the courts 6-3 conservative majority, and given that far-right Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have expressed a desire to overturn it. But maybe a couple of the courts four other conservatives would side with the liberals. If Obergefell does fall, states could still offer and recognize same-sex marriages. The Respect for Marriage Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022, writes the rights to same-sex marriage and interracial marriage into federal law, assuring that the U.S. government will recognize these marriages and that all states will recognize those performed in other states. It forbids anyone acting under a state law to discriminate based on the gender or race of a married couple. However, it does not require any state to allow same-sex marriages to be performed, so there would probably be a patchwork of laws among states. And who knows, the Republicans in control of Congress could try to repeal the Respect for Marriage Act, but a few Republicans voted for it, and marriage equality is popular. Even Trump has said he considers it settled law, although who can trust him? At any rate, Rutgers Law School professor Kimberly Mutcherson has said it would be hard to get a case to the Supremes. There would have to be a constitutional case that got litigated, she recently told The Washington Post. There would have to be conflict among circuits that allow the case to wind up to the Supreme Court. That is the kind of thing that takes years. In the meantime, though, it pays to keep an eye on MassResistance and its ilk. DES MOINES, Iowa Police are still seeking a man wanted for questioning in connection with a deadly October hit-and-run crash on Des Moines south side and now a material witness warrant has been issued. Renato Virves The Des Moines Police Department is looking for 32-year-old Renato Virves, according to department spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek. High winds turn controlled burn into grass fire in Indianola, fire department says Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said Virves was the owner of a van involved in a hit-and-run crash in the 800 block of Army Post Road on October 9, 2024. The eastbound van hit three pedestrians who were crossing the street to the south. Forty-two-year-old Justin Romaine died from injuries received in the crash. Police located the van shortly after the crash but no driver was found. DMPD previously asked the public for help locating Virves and investigators have continued to follow leads. If you have any information about Virves location, youre asked to contact DMPD at 515-323-8389 or you can submit a tip anonymously to https://www.crimestoppersofcentraliowa.com/. Metro news Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. Radio and television personality Matt Pinfield is out of a coma and on his way to a full recovery. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to the former MTV VJ and ex-SiriusXM host, who suffered a stroke in January, and can report that he has been released from the ICU and is recovering currently in a rehabilitation center in Los Angeles. Guys, Im alive, says Pinfield, 63. Im recovering and am going to come back swinging. I was unresponsive for two months. Friends were thinking they were coming to see me for the last time. The doctors never expected me to speak or to walk again. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his hospitalization, Pinfields eldest daughter Jessica assumed temporary guardianship of his medical and financial decisions. Shes the one who saved my life, says Pinfield of his daughter. She protected me. Also rallying support from the greater music community was podcast host Allison Hagendorf, formerly of Spotify. The SoCal Sound radio host shared that he was close to not making it, battling through pneumonia and being put on a ventilator. When he emerged on the other side, he astounded friends talking music and quoting lyrics by Procol Harum. My friends said I went on about A Whiter Shade of Pale and how they couldnt keep up with what I was saying, he says. They were, like, Yeah, hes still got that brain. After emerging from the ICU in late February, Pinfield has been off social media, he shares, but he is aware of how friends and musicians rallied on his behalf. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shirley Manson of the band Garbage took to Facebook in January shortly after Pinfields stroke to offer support, praising his encyclopedic knowledge of music and dizzying enthusiasm. She described him as deeply respected within the musical community and beyond. He has championed so many artists over the decades who would have otherwise been ignored by mainstream media and the American music scene would be very different indeed without his taste and influence, Manson wrote. If it wasnt for Matt, our band wouldnt even exist. He was our fairy godmother. If it hadnt been for Matt playing the video for Suffocate Me by my band Angelfish on 120 Minutes all those years ago now, Steve [Marker] would never have known I existed and the role of lead vocals for Garbage would have landed on somebody elses lap entirely. We are sending out so much love and comforts to you Matt. Were pulling for you champ. Musician and producer Butch Walker also urged his social media followers to keep Pinfield in their thoughts, writing, He LOVES music like no other. Its in his veins. Its in his body language when he talks about it. The smile on his face and fire in his eyes when talking about any record you can rattle off to him is so magnetic and beautiful. Adds Pinfield: I want to say how grateful I am for all the people that were wishing me well. The love of the community helped me get through this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for the future, Pinfield is eyeing a discharge from the hospital possibly by the end of the month, with his recovery continuing with outpatient care. Im definitely going to take some time to recover, he says. Then Ill do my radio shows again and get back to work doing what I love, which is to entertain people playing music. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) In Lafayette, Mayor-President Monique Boulet delivered the State of the Parish Address to update the progress throughout the parish. At the business luncheon, Lafayette Parish residents, businesses and stakeholders got to learn about the progress Lafayette Parish is experiencing from renovations to investments. Mayor-President Boulet shared the importance of investing in and growing Lafayette Parish to create a lasting and thriving community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am honored to represent our great city and will continue to build these important relationships centered around our language, our culture, and our economy, she said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KLFY Daily Digest Recognizing different agencies and updating the improvements within departments throughout the parish, Boulet shared efforts in modernizing infrastructure, strengthening public safety and improving the quality of life. Carencros massive waterline replacement program, Scotts new sewer plant, Broussards Downtown and Main Street revitalization project, Youngsville continue safety investment in converting intersections to roundabouts, and Dusons fight to preserve its elementary school, she listed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the past 14 months since shes taken office, have proved with hard work, Lafayette will be a great place to live. We have only just begun the hard work of giving our citizens a government as good as the people who call Lafayette home, she said. Boulets administration is dedicated to structuring a lasting parish for future generations by ensuing financial and structural elements. Latest news Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com. Mar. 12Editor's note: Spokesman-Review reporter Nick Gibson is in Florida this week to report on Anne McClain's and NASA's SpaceX launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Follow along in print and online at spokesman.com/sections/return-to-space. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Spokane astronaut Anne McClain isn't headed to space just yet. NASA officials delayed the launch scheduled for Wednesday at 4:48 p.m. (Pacific Time) due to an issue with the hydraulics system on the launchpad discovered about four hours before the Falcon 9 rocket and "Endurance" Dragon capsule were set to take off. NASA officials said the issue affected one of the arms that keeps the rocket erect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McClain and crew had already been loaded into the capsule by the time the launch was canceled around 4 p.m. SpaceX and NASA teams will further explore the issue, work to address it and shoot for another launch window. Another opportunity is available Friday no earlier than 4:03 p.m. The launch could be pushed further, NASA officials said. Thursday's window was canceled over high winds and precipitation forecast in the Dragon's projected flight path, according to a release from the agency. "We're not going to launch before we're ready," said Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for the space operations mission directorate, in a news conference last week. "We're always analyzing the data and making sure that the rocket is ready to go before we let the SpaceX team hit the button with our crew on board." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the ground crew opened the door to the "Endurance" to escort Crew-10 back to the astronaut quarantine quarters at the Kennedy Space Center, McClain thanked them and their counterparts back at mission control for NASA and SpaceX for all of their hard work. "Great working with you today, kudos to the whole team," McClain said. "I know it was a lot of work to try to get it to a go, but like I said earlier, we'll be ready when the equipment is." Friday's launch attempt can be watched online on the space agency's free streaming service NASA+ beginning at noon. Crew-10 is the 10th crew to launch to the ISS from a SpaceX rocket. Colorado Springs police are investigating a Wednesday afternoon shooting that drew a large law enforcement presence near a local high school despite the incident occurring elsewhere. According to police, the department received several reports of shots fired near Astrozon Boulevard and South Academy Boulevard. Officers allege that at least one suspect shot at a car full of people. The vehicle was struck but all occupants were uninjured. Several Sierra High School students were off campus for their lunch hour and witnessed the shooting. Due to this, the campus saw a large police presence during the the investigation. Police confirmed the shooting had nothing to do with the high school as the incident did not occur on school grounds. The department is still working to gather suspect information and are asking for the community's assistance. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at 719-444-7000, or the Pikes Peak Area Crimestoppers Tip Line at 719-634-7867. McDonald's Ukraine announced the return of its breakfast menu in six Ukrainian cities after the menus disappearance following the start of Russias full-scale Russian in February 2022, the company said in a press release on March 13. The comeback of McDonald's breakfast in Ukraine follows months of customer requests, with social media users repeatedly calling for its comeback and turning it into a viral trend. The announcement comes as more Western companies expand offerings to Ukrainian customers amid the full-scale war, with some companies choosing to reopen storefronts across the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Around 60% of goods and products for McDonald's in Ukraine come from local suppliers. The company provides stable and large-scale orders, helping create new jobs and increasing tax revenues," said Oleksandr Bohorodov, CFO of McDonald's Ukraine. Breakfast is now available in six western Ukrainian cities Lviv, Lutsk, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Yaremche, and Kovel until 10:30 AM in restaurants and 10:15 AM for delivery. Before relaunching its breakfast menu, McDonald's has been testing it in Vinnytsia since December. After Russia's full-scale invasion, McDonald's temporarily suspended operations and reopened its first three restaurants in Kyiv in September 2022. McDonald's said breakfast will return to more cities in the coming weeks. However, in eastern regions closer to the front line, including Poltava, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih, Kropyvnytskyi, and Oleksandriia, the breakfast menu will remain unavailable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The obstacles are primarily air raids and related operational difficulties, McDonald's wrote. For safety reasons, McDonald's restaurants close during air raid alerts, and all employees must take shelter. Once the alert ends, it takes about an hour to restart equipment and prepare for reopening, the company said. According to air raid statistics, on March 12, Sumy Oblast was under alert for 20 hours, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast for 17.5 hours, and Kharkiv Oblast for over 14 hours per day. Currently, 109 McDonald's restaurants are operating in 36 cities across Ukraine, the same number as before the invasion, employing around 10,000 people. Fifteen McDonald's locations in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Sumy remain closed, while restaurants in Dnipro, the main city of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, reopened in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In January 2025, a Russian missile strike on Kyiv damaged Ukraines oldest McDonald's, which first opened in 1997 as the country's first-ever location. Other retailers like H&M reopened in November 2023, while Inditex, a Spanish-owned multinational company that owns Zara and other brands, reopened some of their stores in Kyiv in 2024. Swedish furniture giant Ikea also reopened their stores in Ukraine last summer. In 2022, following Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, McDonald's closed its 847 restaurants in Russia, taking a financial hit of $55 million per month before fully exiting the Russian market. Read also: Ukrainians find solace, identity in books amid Russias war Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Dr. Michael Reuter testifies before the Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Gov. Dan McKee has nominated him to serve on the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. A full Senate vote is expected March 20. (Screenshot/Capitol TV) As lawmakers consider a flood of policies aimed at shoring up or washing out the controversial Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, they are also moving to fill its ranks. The Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture on Wednesday unanimously backed Gov. Dan McKees appointment of Dr. Michael Reuter to serve on the 10-member council. The full Senate is expected to take up Reuters appointment on March 20, according to Greg Pare, a Senate spokesperson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Reuters passion to improve the health of Rhode Islanders and the environment around them makes him a perfect addition to the council, McKee said in a statement Thursday. I look forward to working with him to find creative and sustainable ways we can manage Rhode Islands future. Reuters appointment, if approved, would fill one of four open spots on the council, which oversees public access and development along the states 400 miles of coastline and beaches. He would fill the vacancy left by former council member Catherine Robinson Hall, who resigned in May 2024, two-thirds of the way through her three-year term. Hall, a former Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) staff attorney who now works as a coastal policy professor at Williams College, cited work and family obligations as reasons for her resignation. The politically appointed council has been plagued by criticism over its lack of expertise in complex legal and environmental topics and controversial decisions sometimes at odds with recommendations by its renowned, expert staff. Vacancies have also led to a string of canceled meetings, with the council unable to meet the six-member minimum to vote or conduct other official business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, a South Kingstown Democrat and chair of the Senate Environmental committee, acknowledged the attempts to reform the CRMC pending before the Rhode Island General Assembly. However, with four vacancies, Reuters appointment helps to ensure the council and staff can continue their work, at least for the time being, she said during the hearing Wednesday. Coastal advocates, lawmakers and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha have for years sought to eliminate the politically appointed council, reshaping the agency as an administrative one akin to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM). Bills introduced in the Rhode Island House by Rep. Terri Cortvriend, a Portsmouth Democrat, and Rep. Jay Edwards, a Tiverton Democrat, both seek to abolish the council. Edwards bill would funnel the agency into DEM, while Cortvriends would keep it as a standalone, coastal administrative agency. No Senate companion bill has been introduced as of Thursday. Reuter, a board-certified podiatric surgeon at Medical Associates of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Hospitals Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine and The Miriam Hospital, told lawmakers Wednesday he applied for the council position based on his experience on the Barrington Harbor Commission. Many of the dock and rights-of-way applications the harbor commission considered eventually landed with the CRMC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I would love the chance to be able to see those things through, Reuter said. Reuter also spoke to his experience dealing with the agency as a homeowner, frustrated by delays in having basic permitting applications approved that were needed to allow his family to finish renovations and return to their home. State senators peppered him with questions about his stance on the states 2023 law enshrining shoreline access, how he would balance property owners rights with protections for coastal resources and whether he would heed the recommendations of the councils expert staff. I am a man of science, Reuter said. I am a doctor. I live in data all day long. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reuter proclaimed a love for Narragansett Bay and the states natural resources, curated through living in Rhode Island for most of his life. He graduated with a bachelors degree from Roger Williams University in 2003, before receiving a doctorate in podiatric medicine from New York College of Podiatric Medicine in 2008, according to his resume. Reuter also serves as an active member on Sail Newports advisory council and on the board of directors for the Providence Community Boating Center, according to McKees office. He is also vice commodore on the Barrington Yacht Club Board of Governors, according to the yacht club website. Jed Thorp, advocacy director for Save the Bay, questioned Reuters experience and expertise in coastal matters, noting that there had not been sufficient time for the organization to vet Reuters credentials ahead of the hearing. The nomination process is, in that way, flawed, Thorp said, stressing the importance of the ability for public review on a consequential panel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Save the Bay has not taken a position on Reuters appointment, though Thorp reiterated the groups push for more sweeping reform to the agency. Michael Woods, chairman of New England Chapter Board of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, agreed. I am not sure even having a full 10-member council would solve some of the problems that are plaguing the council and have plagued the council for years, Woods told lawmakers during the hearing Wednesday. Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKees office, said the administration is actively recruiting candidates to fill the other three open seats on the council. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thorp noted that four of the five politically appointed members the sixth council member is a representative from DEM have expired terms. State law lets appointed panel members serve beyond their three-year terms until a replacement is named or they are appointed for a new term. Updated to include Dr. Michael Reuters resume and a response from the governors office regarding additional appointments. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WPRI) Gov. Dan McKee is pushing to continue funding for the Real Jobs Rhode Island program, which helps connect job seekers with career opportunities. Real Jobs RI is a business-led initiative designed to help train and prepare individuals for quality-paying careers in key sectors of the states economy, according to the governors office. The program is part of McKees Rhode Island 2030 Plan, which seeks to raise incomes for all Rhode Islanders and guarantee access to quality education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This strategic approach to workforce development will help create the next wave of economic momentum and give our residents the competitive edge they need to get good-paying jobs, McKee said. Investments like this are a top priority to help raise Rhode Island incomes. RELATED: Lawmakers renew push to end RIs tipped minimum wage McKee joined representatives from local businesses on Wednesday at McLaughlin Research Corporations (MRC) facility in Middletown, a company that has partnered with Real Jobs RI to train workers in cybersecurity compliance, artificial intelligence, and robotics. McKees FY26 budget proposal includes a $2.3 million investment in Real Jobs RI to help train an additional 500 Rhode Islanders. In total, the budget would allocate $14 million for the program, aiming to train around 3,000 workers statewide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An investment in these programs is an investment in Rhode Islands workforce and an investment in Rhode Islands future, McKee said. As a partner in the Rhode Island Defense Industry Partnership, Real Jobs RI plays a key role in preparing workers for the states $7.6 billion defense sector. The program collaborates with both large and small businesses that support the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as local colleges and universities. State data shows that Real Jobs RI has already placed hundreds of interns into careers, with 90% securing employment. MRC has hosted more than 60 interns through the program, with at least 30 securing jobs at the company. Among those who have benefited from the program is Triet Nguyen, one of the first interns and now-Network Engineer at MRC. He said it was critical in guiding and developing his career as an IT professional. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since I started, weve seen a lot of interns pass by, so I try to pay it backmentor them a little bit and share my experience, Nguyen said. Hopefully that kickstarts their career a little bit. 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. (NewsNation) More than 200 measles cases have been reported in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A rare, fatal complication of the disease targeting the central nervous system can appear years after apparent recovery. This condition is known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, which occurs when the measles virus remains in the brain long after the initial infection. Deadly brain disorder related to measles Although measles itself doesnt directly cause brain damage, an abnormal immune response to the virus, or certain viral variants, can lead to severe illness and death. This response causes brain swelling and irritation, which may last for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deadly brain disorder typically develops seven to 11 years after the primary measles infection, with the highest risk seen in children infected before the age of 2, according to the University of Chicago Medicine. Do you need a measles booster amid rising cases? Acute encephalitis can cause permanent brain damage in one in 1,000 cases. In the U.S., neurological or respiratory complications from measles cause death in one to three out of every 1,000 cases. Measles outbreak has hit multiple states Measles is an airborne and extremely infectious illness known for causing a potentially severe rash. While not seasonal, cases have spread when there is increased travel or unvaccinated people in close quarters, like summer camps, according to the CDC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of March 7, CDC officials reported 222 cases in the United States, with 38 hospitalizations. Most of this years cases have been reported in Texas. Deaths have occurred in Texas, where a school-aged child died last month, and New Mexico, which reported its first adult death last week. Measles Party? Health officials say no Measles cases have also been reported in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. There is no specific treatment for measles. Doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nexstar Media Wire and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe is a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor. He earned his award for courageous action during the Iraq War. Sergeant First Class Cashe Background SFC Alwyn Cashe was a highly decorated Army veteran. He served America with distinction in various military campaigns. Born in Sanford, Florida, in 1970, he joined the Army after completing high school and served in the Gulf War and the Kosovo Defense Campaign. However, his final deployment to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom would earn him the Medal of Honor. Cashes bravery and selflessness in the face of danger during a mission in Samarra, Iraq, in 2005 have made him a revered figure in the military community and beyond. Medal of Honor Citation Sergeant First Class Alwyn C. Cashe distinguished himself by acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Platoon Sergeant with Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq, on October 17th, 2005. While on a nighttime mounted patrol near an enemy-laden village, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle which Sergeant First Class Cashe was commanding was attacked by enemy small-arms fire and an improvised explosive device, which disabled the vehicle and engulfed it in flames. After extracting himself from the vehicle, Sergeant First Class Cashe set about extracting the driver, who was trapped in the vehicle. After opening the drivers hatch, Sergeant First Class Cashe and a fellow soldier extracted the driver, who was engulfed in the flames. During the course of extinguishing the flames on the driver and extracting him from the vehicle, Sergeant First Class Cashes fuel soaked uniform, ignited and caused severe burns to his body. Ignoring his painful wounds, Sergeant First Class Cashe then moved to the rear of the vehicle to continue in aiding his fellow soldiers who were trapped in the troop compartment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At this time, the enemy noted his movements and began to direct their fire on his position. When another element of the company engaged the enemy, Sergeant First Class Cashe seized the opportunity and moved into the open troop door and aided four of his soldiers in escaping the burning vehicle. Having extracted the four soldiers, Sergeant First Class Cashe noticed two other soldiers had not been accounted for and again he entered the vehicle to retrieve them. At this time, reinforcements arrived to further suppress the enemy and establish a Casualty Collection Point. Despite the severe second-and third-degree burns covering the majority of his body, Sergeant First Class Cashe persevered through the pain to encourage his fellow soldiers and ensure they received needed medical care. When medical evacuation helicopters began to arrive, Sergeant First Class Cashe selflessly refused evacuation until all of the other wounded soldiers were evacuated first. Sergeant First Class Cashes extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty were keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. Congressional Medal of Honor Society His peers said that Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, a former drill sergeant, dedicated his career to helping fellow Soldiers. It was his concern for his teammates that drove him to make the ultimate sacrifice on Oct. 20, 2005 in Iraq. The Soldier pulled out six Soldiers and an Iraqi translator from a burning Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Upgraded Valor Medal SFC Cashes heroic actions and sacrifices did not go unnoticed, and his recognition continued to grow even after his death. Many people, including military officials and lawmakers, believed that Alwyn Cashe deserved the Medal of Honor for his actions. Some felt his Silver Star not reflective of his heroism and sacrifice. Military officials and lawmakers were among those who pushed for a review of his case for an upgrade. In 2020, the DoD announced that it would conduct a thorough review of Cashes case. The review considered new evidence, including witness statements. It was led by a panel of experts, which ultimately recommended the upgrade. In November 2020, Congress voted to approve the upgrade of SFC Cashes award. He is the first Black service member from the Iraq War to receive the Medal of Honor. On December 16, 2021, President Joe Biden presented Cashes widow Tamara with the Medal of Honor during a special ceremony at the White House. The president praised Cashes heroic actions and selflessness, describing him as a true American hero. The presentation of the Medal of Honor to SFCashe was a significant moment in recognizing his bravery and the sacrifices he made for his country. How to support the Medal of Honor mission Learn more about the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at cmohs.org or find them on Instagram |Facebook Participate in Medal of Honor Day on March 25 by sharing a recipients story Support veteran hiring and transition programs in your workplace Teach younger generations about the values of courage, sacrifice, and service Medal of Honor Month isnt just about recognizing history. Its about keeping the mission alive for the future. Observe Medal of Honor March on We Are The Mighty here. Senate President Mattie Daughtry presents her amendment for the supplemental budget on the floor on March 11, 2025. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star) The bill to address the funding shortfall for the states Medicaid program, MaineCare, died on Thursday after the Senate again fell two votes short of securing enough support from Republicans to pass it as an emergency. The legislation aimed to fill the $118 million MaineCare budget shortfall the state is facing in the current fiscal year. Republicans refused to back the change package unless it included structural reform to the program, too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state started to withhold payments to health care providers on Wednesday, after the Legislatures now weeks-long impasse, and the inability to reach agreement Thursday leaves the timeline to resume full payments unclear, and farther away. The total $121 million supplemental budget bill would have also provided funding to treat a growing outbreak of spruce budworm, a destructive insect that threatens Maines northern forests. Technically, a vote with two-thirds of support could revive the bill out of the dead file, but Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) said in a press conference Thursday afternoon that she does not see that as a viable option given the upper chamber consistently falling two votes short of that threshold. Lawmakers are now looking at drafting a new bill to balance the states budget for the remainder of the current fiscal year. Floor speeches on Thursday indicated separate bills may be used to address the other initiatives the package had attempted to include. Im not going to rule anything off the table, Daughtry said of what the next iteration of a change package could look like. But I will commit to continuing to have those conversations, not only with Republicans but also with the governor and with Maine people as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement that Senate Republicans opposition has harmed Mainers. Providers have said loudly, and clearly, that this stalemate is endangering their finances and will impact care for vulnerable people all around our state, Mills said. Yet instead of paying hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers what they are owed, Senate Republicans have put them at even greater risk. In a statement shared Thursday night, Senate Minority leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) said he was unable to attend the Thursday session and described it as serving no purpose except to kill the supplemental budget bill. Stewart emphasized that he did not provide assurances that his caucus would support enactment and blamed the budget failing on Democrats for their unwillingness to entertain structural reform of the program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regrettably, Senate Democrats preferred killing this budget over recognizing that it is not feasible for the healthcare needs of one-third of the state to be paid by the other two-thirds, Stewart said. Heading into the Senate session on Thursday, the only option for a final outcome on the supplemental budget was for Senate Republicans to get on board with the amended version already passed by two-thirds of the House of Representatives. The 35-seat chamber needed 24 votes to pass the measure as an emergency and it only received 22. If the Senate had attempted to amend the plan further, the bill would have had to be sent back to the House, which is not scheduled to meet again until Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This past Tuesday, Daughtry introduced an amendment workshopped behind-the-scenes that incorporated enough Republican demands to gain the initial support of the minority party, including limits to General Assistance that Mills had initially proposed, cost-of-living adjustments for certain essential support workers withheld by the Mills administration, and a review of MaineCare for fraud, waste and abuse. While House Republicans maintained their support for the amendment in floor votes, all but two Senate Republicans refused to back the measure in the final enactment vote. In floor speeches on Thursday, Maine senators tried to highlight whats at stake for their constituents in this budget battle. Democrats talked of the immediate needs the emergency legislation seeks to address payments to health care providers that have already started to be withheld, resulting in limited services for the largely low-income and older Mainers who rely on the program, and an impending outbreak of an infectious insect threatening Maines forests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hear legislators saying this budget does nothing for their district but if you have either spruce trees or people on MaineCare in your district, this budget absolutely helps them, said Sen. Cameron Reny (D-Lincoln). Emphasizing that the measure is one primarily aimed to fill gaps, not make policy, Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot) said there are no new taxes and it will use money from a surplus the state already has. It is to pay bills that we have incurred, Baldacci said. The supplemental budget should have been a no-brainer for all of us There was no need to manufacture a crisis. Sen. James Libby (R-Cumberland) focused his objections to the items tacked onto the plan as a compromise, arguing that the additions dont change anything for his rural district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For example, he noted that the limits to General Assistance wont change the overall funding model of the program, which provides most allocations to the states largest city, Portland. While Libby said that the sustainability of MaineCare is a complex issue requiring more work than can be accomplished with this one package, he argued that the study proposed in the amendment is not a sufficient start. All I ask for would be any minor change in that expansion line, any minor change, Libby said, referring to the Medicaid expansion approved by Maine voters in 2017. I swear if it was 1%, less, youll have my vote because Im not leaving here with some kind of study. Assistant Senate Minority Leader Matt Harrington (R-York) reiterated his caucus stance: We are not going to bail out a welfare program that is failing. On Wednesday, the Senate GOP issued a statement explaining that the majority of their caucus wont back the emergency measure unless it reforms the MaineCare system, specifically by adding work requirements for childless, able-bodied adults. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There's an element in the Republican Party and the Republican caucuses that is sort of feeding off the chaos and disruptive energies of Donald Trump and it's really not a good thing to see. Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) Sen. Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland) rose to object to the Legislature making major policy changes without input from the public, arguing lawmakers should instead honor the committee process and allow for a public hearing on these Medicaid reforms.. Many Republicans made clear their opposition remained unchanged. People called me the last few days telling me we need these things paid, we need this money, and I agreed with them, Sen. Scott Cryway (R-Kennebec) said. But were not going to answer this problem because we were not included in trying to make a budget work, referring to the past several sessions where the Democratic majority has passed budgets without Republican support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of the upper chamber heading back into session, Daughtry, who assumed the role of Senate President this term, told Maine Morning Star she felt Senate Republicans were negotiating against the past. I was a member of prior legislatures but we have a chance when every new one is sworn in to say, Nope, were not going to do this the way it was done before. Were going to start with a new tone, a new tenor, Daughtry said. Daughtry described Senate Republican actions as negotiating against ghosts from the past, which she critiqued for not allowing space for the possibility of setting their own dynamic. Though she noted the support of House Republicans gives her hope for change. That hope was also for Maine lawmakers to rise above the partisan gridlock of Washington D.C., an ability to put ideology aside to get the work done that Daughtry said has been demonstrated in Maine history before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least one Republican senator is concerned about the growing demand for fidelity in politics entering Maine. Theres an element in the Republican Party and the Republican caucuses that is sort of feeding off the chaos and disruptive energies of Donald Trump and its really not a good thing to see, Rick Bennett of Oxford, one of two Senate Republicans who voted for the budget, told Maine Morning Star. He said the president has given full license for everybody to treat each other rudely and disrespectfully and just to throw explosive devices in the midst of public deliberations with much more abandon than they used to. Editors Note: This story was updated to include comments from Senate Minority leader Trey Stewart shared after publication. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SACRAMENTO, California California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the states Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO. That's the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal the state's Medicaid program through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer separately told POLITICO. The budget pressure will bring fresh scrutiny to the states coverage of undocumented immigrants, which is costing more than first budgeted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Originally, the state estimated it would cost around $3 billion per year to insure that population. But one year after the program has been fully implemented, its turning out to be more expensive than anticipated. Gov. Gavin Newsoms current budget proposal estimates the state will shell out $8.4 billion to cover undocumented immigrants in Medi-Cal in 2024-2025, and $7.4 billion in 2025-2026. The budget pressure could force hard choices, like capping enrollment or limiting benefits. But Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said he's proud of the state's efforts to expand Medi-Cal to all regardless of immigration status. There are tough choices ahead, and Assembly Democrats will closely examine any proposal from the Governor, Rivas said in a statement. But lets be clear: We will not roll over and leave our immigrants behind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a joint statement, Senate Leader Mike McGuire, Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez and Budget Chair Scott Wiener said they would be working with the Assembly and with Newsom's office on "responsible and long-term solutions. Here in the Golden State, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring millions of Californians have the healthcare coverage they need to thrive," the statement said. That access to healthcare is being threatened by skyrocketing healthcare costs across the nation, and even more by the dangerous cuts threatened by President Trump and Congressional Republicans that will impact the lives of tens of millions across this country. California has been covering undocumented children on Medi-Cal since 2016. Under Newsom, the program has slowly expanded, to young adults in 2020, older adults in 2022 and then all ages in 2024. The program has never been a favorite in conservative circles, and now Congress is eyeing potentially dramatic cuts to Medicaid. State Republicans like Assemblymember Carl DeMaio and Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones have been hammering the $8.4 billion price tag for being far higher than the original estimate, critiques that made it all the way to Elon Musks posts on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a post on X, Jones demanded a full hearing. Typical of the secretive Newsom Administration, they just quietly dropped a damning notification that they are taking a $3.44 BILLION loan to fund free healthcare for illegal immigrants, he wrote. The loan is being taken from tax dollars meant for healthcare providers. Though Republicans are seizing on the shortfall, insuring undocumented people isn't the only reason for the increasing Medi-Cal budget. Rising Medicaid costs are a national challenge, affecting both red and blue states alike, said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom. This is not unique to California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A variety of factors have pushed up Medi-Cal costs over the past few years. The state anticipates spending around $42 billion on the program in 2025-26, a $4.5 billion increase over the last budget. Pharmacy costs have been rising across the board, and theyre starting to weigh down the Medi-Cal budget for citizens and immigrants alike. In January, Newsoms budget included an extra $1.3 billion in state funds for pharmacy costs in 2024-25 and an extra $1.2 billion for 2025-26 to account for the extra Medi-Cal pharmacy expenses. High-cost drugs like those for obesity and diabetes have especially hit the budget. There are also more seniors in the program than there were previously. According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, there are 225,000 more seniors in Medi-Cal than there were before the pandemic, a roughly 40 percent increase. Some of that is because of eligibility expansions like for undocumented seniors and some is because fewer people were kicked off Medi-Cal during the pandemic. Seniors make up a small percentage of the program, about 10 percent, but come with some of the highest costs. The LAO estimates seniors each cost the Medi-Cal around $15,000 per year, on average, where the rest of the population costs around $8,000. Eric He contributed to this report. MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) New this school year, several Medina County school districts have added security cameras that connect directly to dispatchers at the county sheriffs office. At Buckeye, Highland and Cloverleaf schools, as well as the Medina County Career Center, hundreds of cameras provide live feeds that are just a click away if there is ever a call for service at those locations. Jonelle Meredith is the director of emergency communications for the Medina County Sheriffs Office. She showed off the crown jewel of this new system: a gigantic, wall-to-wall screen in their dispatch center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ohio company recalls 15,000 cases of oyster crackers Covering 128 square feet of wall space, its made up of 12 by 12 LED monitors. The thought process behind it was its easier for us to know the situation thats going on when they call for help if we can see it live. So, in essence, it puts our dispatchers and the officers on scene before theyre actually on scene, Meredith said. The technology was paid for through grants from the attorney generals office. Buckey Local Schools superintendent Jeff Stanton told FOX 8 that it all came from great collaboration between the school districts. The leaders regularly meet and a topic that often comes up is school safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our entire focus needs to be on keeping kids safe before we can even instruct them, before we can feed them, before we can get them in and out of the school day every day, he said. Stanton explained how this system will help during a routine emergency or an active threat, which he said you must be prepared for in todays world. Now, dispatchers have eyes everywhere and can help direct first responders to the emergency, and direct students and staff away from a potential threat. We now are much more comfortable that the timeframe of them getting here and being in touch with us will be even better than it already has been, Stanton said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meredith explained how this technology provides a tactical advantage like theyve never had before. She realizes they cant prevent bad things from happening, but they can now respond faster and smarter than ever before. Im a parent also. So, I understand the importance of sending your kids to school and the expectation is they return home and no incident, Meredith said. Unfortunately, we cant make that guarantee 100%, but at least we can offer [parents] the peace of mind that if something does happen, were able to effectively mitigate the situation as quickly as possible. AERIAL FOOTAGE: Semi overturns on I-71 ramp Meredith told FOX 8 that they also can access cameras at the Medina County Courthouse and the Medina County Job and Family Services building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre hoping to eventually increase the screens size and the technological capabilities through lanyards with emergency alert buttons staff in school buildings wear to be even more efficient with their responses to any emergencies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) A new face will be sitting at the anchor desk on KNWA Today and FOX24 News at 7 starting next week. Ashlyn Brothers is returning home to Northwest Arkansas after spending time at a station in New Orleans. She is a proud graduate of Springdale Har-Ber High School and the University of Arkansas. Ashlyn is actually not new to KNWA/FOX24. She interned with Pig Trail Nation about a decade ago and is excited to be back home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perry Elyaderani interviewed Ashlyn on FOX24 News at 7 on Thursday. Watch the video in the player above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Federal Bureau of Investigation out of Denver arrested a "foreign national" on Thursday in Colorado Springs believed to be a member of a cartel that was recently named a foreign terrorist organization. According to the FBI, the man later identified as Mexican national Omar Valdez-Lerma had a federal warrant out for illegal reentry after deportation. In addition to the warrant, FBI believes he may have cartel involvement and alleges he has a violent criminal history dating back to 2006. He was also charged with illegal re-entry after deportation back in 2018 and 2021. Local agencies assisted in the arrest including the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Colorado Springs police and Pueblo police. Featured Local Savings Colorado Springs Police Department policy states nothing prohibits the department from sharing information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at any time or assisting federal immigration authorities with warrant executions issued by a federal judge or magistrate. In a March. 7 news release, El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal confirmed he is working with federal partners. Within that same news release, the sheriffs office announced that local ICE officials arrested several Tren de Aragua gang members in El Paso County. The Sheriff's Office referred all requests for additional details such as names, charges and the location of the arrests to U.S. immigration officials. Immigration officials did not immediately respond to a media inquiry. Shortly after the March 7 news release, the immigration officials announced they had arrested one alleged Tren de Aragua gang member in Colorado Springs on March 5, according to a post on X. Inquiries seeking to confirm additional arrests went unanswered. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly launched an attack against the first-ever transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride on Wednesday ,in which she applauded a congressman for intentionally misgendering her. In a spate of Wednesday tweets, Kelly thanked Texas Rep. Keith Self for standing up for WOMEN and BIOLOGICAL REALITY after he repeatedly referred to McBride as Mr. during a recorded House Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday. Self followed up that meeting with a tweet stating that it is the the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female, and he included a clip of his exchange with McBride with his tweet. Texas Republican Keithself storms out of the meeting he's supposed to be running because a Democrat asked him to treat his colleague Sarah McBride with respect. These people would not last one day as a trans person. pic.twitter.com/qtgg879u2A Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) March 11, 2025 Selfs behavior brought objections from Massachusetts Rep. Bill Keating, who asked Have you no decency? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelly, however, cosigned Selfs stunt, adding, We do not need to participate in this man McBrides delusion. God bless you @RepKeithSelf - we applaud you for standing up for WOMEN and BIOLOGICAL REALITY. We do not need to participate in this man McBrides delusion. https://t.co/tJPjOkG8RY Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 12, 2025 McBride appeared to respond to Self in a Tuesday tweet, writing, No matter how Im treated by some colleagues, nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress. You havent been treated poorly. Youve been called Mister, which is accurate, and told to use the mens room bc you are a man. We need not participate in your delusion. Standing up for truth is honorable & thats what your GOP colleagues are doing. https://t.co/ox7djBaDSL Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 12, 2025 Doubling down on her attack, Kelly retweeted the tweet and added, You havent been treated poorly. Youve been called Mister, which is accurate, and told to use the mens room bc you are a man. We need not participate in your delusion. Standing up for truth is honorable & thats what your GOP colleagues are doing. The Daily Beast has reached out to Megyn Kelly for comment. FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) A group of Kentucky doctors, medical students, and healthcare professionals spoke out against the states abortion bans on Wednesday afternoon, calling them cruel and dangerous in Frankfort. Theyre part of a much bigger group of more than 430 members of the medical community who signed a letter calling for the states abortion bans to be repealed. The letter from the Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fund (KYRFF) states that Kentucky has the 6th highest maternal mortality rate in the US. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former UK student convicted of 4 drunken assaults denied shock probation In Wednesdays news conference at the Capitol building, Ona Marshal, co-founder of the KYRFF, said the laws make Kentucky an undesirable place to live. Dr. Janey Wygal, a board-certified OBGYN, also took to the podium, saying, Kentuckys current abortion ban has absolutely no exceptions. Even in the case of incest and rape, I am so deeply distressed that women and children must flee the state of Kentucky for routine, lifesaving, comprehensive, compassionate health care. While the majority of Kentuckians voted against an abortion ban in 2022, Wednesdays speakers said current lawmakers are ignoring not only the voice of the people but also the religious convictions behind reproductive rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because Kentucky ranks high among maternal deaths, we can say that limited access to and bans on health care, allow, women to die. Hows that for love your neighbor? said Reverend Diane Snowa, a minister from the United Church of Christ. The group also said bans are driving away doctors. Third-year medical student at the University of Louisville, Shriya Dodwani, said, The restrictions on evidence-based medicine and basic freedoms in Kentucky arent just policies. These are barriers that are preventing us from becoming the doctors that our communities need. Speakers also addressed complications that can arise during pregnancy and the lack of care that would be available. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is unconscionable that Kentuckys reproductive laws force people to risk their lives, whether they want children or not, said Claire Reardon, a PhD candidate at UK in the Department of Sociology. She went on to say that because of the current state of reproductive rights in Kentucky, she and her husband had to make a difficult decision. Given these risks, my husband, my doctor, and I have made the heartbreaking decision to delay having children until I can return to Chicago, said Reardon. Speakers said they will continue urging lawmakers to restore evidence-based healthcare policies and protect doctors from prosecution for providing lifesaving care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Memphis community leaders are honoring and remembering Pastor Ricky Floyd, who was shot and killed outside of a South Memphis bar. According to police, Samantha Marion, 42, called officers after the shooting and admitted to firing the fatal shot. She is now held in jail on a $100,000 bond and facing a voluntary manslaughter charge. The Ed Rice Community Center gathers with the community every week to share visions for the city, and Pastor Ricky Floyd would have been in attendance Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pastor Ricky Floyd dead, woman charged after shooting at Memphis bar For years, the pastor dedicated himself to helping and healing the city of Memphis in any and every way he could. He was a servant at heart who was always trying to find a way to make Memphis better by making people better, and thats something that we cannot miss, said Pastor DeAndre Brown, Lifeline to a Dying World Ministries. Its very important that we value people and give people what they need. Pastor Brown worked alongside Pastor Floyd for years, helping community members in need, lifting people in prayer during difficult times, and working endlessly to stop the violence in Memphis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mother of woman charged in pastors death believes fear led to shooting The nation has lost a giant, and it is our duty to stand strong to make sure that legacy doesnt wane. To not only support the community, but to support his family, to support his congregation, but most importantly to support one another, said Brown. Loved ones of Pastor Floyd told WREG that he never passed judgment and always gave people second chances at life, regardless of their stories. When you talk about Pastor Floyd, you talk about someone that was able to take a person like me, get them in church, someone who had been broken, said Vontyna Durham, Member of Pursuit of God Church. He helped me navigate from the prison system to be able to become a community leader, to build a business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Durham said that she will uphold his legacy by providing people with opportunities that can help them plant seeds for a better life, just like Pastor Floyd once did for her. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A Memphis man was arrested Wednesday in Henderson County for allegedly being in possession of multiple drugs. Kenneth Sherrill, 49, was arrested and charged with one count of each charge: Possession of Schedule II with Intent to distribute Methamphetamine, Possession of Schedule VI Marijuana, Possession of Schedule IV Xanax, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Sherrill was booked into the Henderson County Jail. His bond had been set. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ex-county tax collector in MS pleads guilty to stealing $300K On Mar. 12, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations said investigators executed a search warrant at a motel in the 700 block of West Church Street in Lexington for a suspect wanted for aggravated burglary and felony theft in Huntingdon. TBI said the investigation was assigned to the Drug Investigation Division, and the Huntingdon Police Department has led to multiple drug-related charges for a Memphis man. During the search warrant, authorities seized methamphetamine, marijuana, prescription pills, and drug paraphernalia. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Employees inside a truck stop on Highway 138 in Denmark, Tennessee, said they felt threatened when at least four people came into the gas station with two pythons. In surveillance pictures provided by the Madison County Sheriffs Office, you can see the men holding the snakes and placing them on the counter. They said the men with pythons stole about $400 worth of CBD oil. Citgo in Denmark, TN (Madison Co Sheriffs Office) Mayur Raval said he and his brother were working at the store at the time, and he was afraid of the snakes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were just waving them around and putting them on the counter, said Raval. One person brought in one snake first, and then after that, he brought in another snake. One is white, and one is brown or a mix. Raval said the men with snakes were able to grab the CBD oil from the counter. He thinks they wanted to take more than that, but too many customers were around. Citgo in Denmark, TN (Madison Co Sheriffs Office) They pulled their car up to the front of the door, said Raval. I think they planned to successfully come here and rob the store. The snake is a weapon, you know, Last year, a man was arrested after he allegedly tried to rob a Memphis gas station with a snake. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said Reginald Cook, 26, had a five-foot snake wrapped around his neck when he demanded cash from a clerk at a Shell station on Elvis Presley, He was charged with two counts of Attempted Aggravated Robbery. The men with pythons were with two females and driving a small four-door sedan with a drive-out tag and bungee cords on the trunk. Citgo in Denmark, TN (Madison Co Sheriffs Office) If you recognize them, call Crime Stoppers at (731)-424-8477. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. YOUNG COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) Hunters and veterans from across the country will gather in Young County starting March 13 for an adrenaline-pumping experience that supports a necessary cause: the annual Helicopter Hog Hunt. The hog hunt, which will be held from March 13 to 16, will raise funds for Young County Warrior Ranch, a non-profit dedicated to assisting veterans through outdoor activities, mental health support and community engagement. Participants will undergo helicopter safety and marksmanship training before taking to the skies in helicopters covering 50,000 acres in north Texas. The event will also feature trap shooting and other competitions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout the weekend, participants will be treated to free meals and group activities. Attendees will include United States combat veterans, wounded combat veterans, Gold Star children, and active-duty special operations personnel. The organization was created to assist veterans of all eras, specifically supporting physically and mentally wounded veterans. They also provide yearly scholarships to children of veterans, and this fundraiser is how they fund all of these great things. Board member James Pippin said its not about the hog hunt. Its about the fellowship. It does my heart good being around veterans who have shared the same kind of sacrifices that I have. And they all say the same thing, you know, they come here with a little bit of anxiety, but by the time they leave, it just recharges their soul for a while, Pippin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Besides veteran suicide prevention retreats, scholarships, and more, the Warrior Ranch also allows veterans with an honorable discharge to use the facilities at their leisure for free. As they get ready to take the skies, they will leave having helped change the lives of our hometown heroes. For more information on this organization, visit the Young County Warrior Ranch on Facebook. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed accusations of a cover-up regarding her handling of intelligence reports on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, her spokeswoman said on Thursday. The comment came after three newspapers reported that Germany's BND spy agency had concluded in 2020 that there was a strong likelihood the coronavirus accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab, but the finding was never released to the public. "Former chancellor Merkel categorically rejects the accusation implied in your question," a spokeswoman told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper when asked whether Merkel, who left office in 2021, had concealed relevant information from the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Merkel's successor, Olaf Scholz, has refused to discuss the reports. "As far as intelligence findings are concerned, this is not the place to discuss them," he said at a press conference on Wednesday. The reports published in the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Suddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit said that the BND and Germany's Chancellery had asked scientists to examine the evidence in regards to the lab leak theory. Investigators concluded that there was an 80% to 95% likelihood that a lab leak was to blame, based on information in the public domain, the papers said. This hotly contested theory posits that the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease, originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which conducted research on coronaviruses, and began spreading through some sort of accident or failure at the lab. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The findings by the German intelligence community have not been made public. The Neue Zurcher Zeitung reported that while the BND believed it had plausible evidence to support the theory, not all the researchers on the panel were convinced. The other major theory for the pandemic's origin is that the virus had a purely natural origin, just like the SARS outbreak in 2002-03. Beijung's response Earlier in Beijing, China had urged caution and political restraint in the wake of reports that Germany's BND intelligence agency gathered plausible evidence that the coronavirus pandemic originated with a laboratory leak in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "On the issue of the coronavirus, China firmly rejects any form of political posturing," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing. She said any discussion of the scientific issues surrounding Covid-19 should be left to scientists. Mao also noted that an international team led by the World Health Organization had visited the Wuhan lab as part of their investigation into the origins of the pandemic. The team largely dismissed the so-called "lab leak" theory in 2021. Still, the WHO has emphasized that all hypotheses regarding the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus remain on the table. As recently as December the UN agency called on Beijing to provide more pandemic-related data. (Bloomberg) -- Friedrich Merz faced attacks over his credibility as the prospective German chancellor seeks to fast-track hundreds of billions of euros in spending. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawmakers from across the political spectrum took the opportunity to lambaste Merz for seeking to push through a debt-fueled financing package before the new parliament is seated. The conservative leader defended his plans as a necessary response to the weakening transatlantic alliance under US President Donald Trump. Germany must return to the international stage as an effective partner in NATO, in Europe and in the world, Merz said on Thursday during a testy parliamentary debate in Berlin. The word deterrence must now quickly be given a military definition; any delay would be irresponsible. In a high-risk maneuver, German lawmakers from an outgoing parliament have been recalled after an election for the first time this century. Merz wants the old Bundestag to pass constitutional changes that would ease borrowing restrictions for defense spending and establish a 500 billion ($543 billion) debt-financed infrastructure fund. The conservative leader reconvened the lower house of parliament because getting the two-thirds majority needed for major decisions will be more difficult after the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, and the anti-capitalist Left gained support in the Feb. 23 election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The final vote on the spending plan is set for Tuesday exactly one week before the new parliament starts and its still unclear whether Merz will be able to muster the super majority he needs by then. After Thursdays debate came to a close, the legislation was sent to committees as talks to secure support continue on the sidelines. With time tight, Merzs Christian Democrat-led bloc and the Social Democrats his potential governing coalition partner are in negotiations with the Greens to secure their support, which is needed to pass the legislation. The party rejected the initial proposal as a way to finance election favors. It is demanding changes such as tighter restrictions for defense spending and at the same time a wider definition of what counts as defense. The Greens and the would-be ruling alliance are still far from reaching agreement on the infrastructure fund, even if they have gotten closer on defense spending, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. During his speech, Merz may have complicated issues by asking the Greens: What more do you want than what we have proposed to you? eliciting loud and long protests from the plenary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Katharina Droge, the co-leader of Greens caucus in parliament, followed up Merzs speech by charging the CDU leader with duping voters over his plans for the sake of attaining power. If you now wonder why the talks between us and you are going the way they are, then we can tell you: Because we dont trust in your word, she said, but still left the door open. We are ready to talk. Merz and other leaders in his prospective coalition have held several meetings this week with the Greens and are working intensely on a solution, a person familiar with the talks said. The CDU has moved toward the Greens by broadening the defense package to include intelligence services and civil protection, according to an official close to the talks. On the infrastructure fund, the conservatives have rejected the Greens request to lift debt restrictions, instead offering to extend the time frame to 12 from 10 years and transfer funds from a separate climate fund, the person said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even if the legislation is approved next week just before the new parliament is seated, Merzs plans will face legal challenges. Cases have been filed by AfD lawmakers and the Left at Germanys top court. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel called on Merz to do the country a great service and abandon his efforts to become chancellor. If the spending initiative fails, it would seriously complicate coalition discussions and raise questions over Merzs ability to lead a recovery. Europes largest economy has contracted for two consecutive years and faces pressure to rearm to deter Russia as a trade war brews with the US. Lars Klingbeil, co-leader for the Social Democrats and a likely senior cabinet member if the parties manage to reach a coalition agreement, cited the incalculability of the Trump administration for the urgency of the spending plan. The postwar order has been shaken, he said. The old order hasnt yet faded and the new order hasnt yet emerged. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Arne Delfs, Christoph Rauwald and Patrick Donahue. (Adds end of Thursday, sending bill to committees, in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) Mesa County Public Health held a special meeting Thursday morning to vote on their participation in the 340B drug pricing program. The 340B program makes it more affordable for places like Mesa County Public Health to get the prescription drugs that keep people healthy, and when they can keep prices low, they pass that along to the patients. Frankly, without the program, Mesa County Public Health wouldnt be here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It allows entities to have a discount on outpatient like prescription drugs, said Alli Howe, the chief health strategist at Mesa County Public Health. And whats really important for the public to know about this bill is for rural areas like Mesa County, it just helps us keep our doors open. Mesa County Public Healths Clinical Director Allison Sanchez broke down how it works. A medication under a 340B price could cost us less than a dollar, where at a regular private price it could cost us $4000. So theres a significant difference in that it allows us not just to serve the patients, but we also have staff here that can provide the services to those patients as well our main purpose is to help people who need help. And without discounts like this, we cant do that. The meeting lasted just about 5 minutes, and ended with a unanimous 4-0 vote in favor of staying on the plan. Nobody on Mesa County Public Healths board opposed it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Xavier Crockett, who serves as the executive director of Mesa County Public Health advocated for the bill, and will talk in front of the Colorado Senate on Thursday afternoon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. An abitrator has temporarily granted an emergency petition by Meta to stop the promotion of a former employees memoir, in which she alleges that she was fired after reporting she was sexually harassed by her boss. Sarah Wynn-Williams Careless People, which details her time at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, accuses Joel Kaplan, the companys current policy chief, of making number of inappropriate comments. Meta sought arbitration, arguing that the book is prohibited under a non-disparagment clause in Wynn-Williams severance agreement. An emergency arbitrator ruled against Wynn-Williams on Wednesday, prohibiting her from promoting the book, published Tuesday by Flatiron Books, an imprint of publisher Macmillan Books. The two parties will now move into private arbitration and the ruling will remain in place unless said arbitration reverses it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the ruling, the arbitrator said that Meta has established a likelihood of success on the merits of its contractual non-disparagement claim against Respondent Wynn-Williams, and that immediate and irreparable loss will result in the absence of emergency relief. Read the decision here. Additionally, the arbitrator ruled that Wynn-Williams is prohibited from further publishing or distributing the book and from further disparaging Meta and its officers or repeating previous disparaging remarks. The arbitrator also ruled that Wynn-Williams is to retract her previous disparaging remarks, specifically noting her podcast appearance on Honestly with Bari Weiss. The decision does not restrict the publishers actions. In 2023 the National Labor Review Board ruled that it is illegal for companies to require non-disparagement clauses in exchange for severance. The NLRB is now under the Trump administration, which is likely to back Meta, particularly given CEO Mark Zuckerbergs now full throated support for Trump. Wynn-Williams also chronicled in her book the companys various attempts to enter the Chinese market, including building tools that would censor content to appease the Chinese government. Wynn-Williams addressed some of these China-specific claims in a whistleblower complaint that she filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a post to threads that the legal motion affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams false and defamatory book should never have been published. The post Meta Moves to Block Whistleblower From Promoting Memoir Alleging Sexual Harassment appeared first on TheWrap. U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd wants the federal government to lift recently imposed restrictions on oil and gas production and the utilization of other resources across millions of acres of public lands in Colorado and other Western states. The Grand Junction Republican, elected in November to represent most of the Western Slope and Southern Colorado, said that the bill he introduced this week will reverse multiple plans issued by the Bureau of Land Management under the Biden administration in a bid to "put us on a path to energy dominance," a goal in line with President Donald Trump's vow to "unleash" domestic energy production. Environmental and public lands advocacy groups said the move would undo years of public input and work to reach compromises that balance conservation and development. The Productive Public Lands Act would require BLM to revoke nine Resource Management Plans issued in 2024 and 2025, covering much of the agency's land in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Oregon. The Productive Public Lands Act would reactivate the resource potential of our public lands, Hurd said in a statement. "This bill would force the Bureau of Land Management to reissue nine Biden-era Resource Management Plans which locked up access to viable lands throughout Colorado and the West. A reissuance of these RMPs will put us on a path to energy dominance allowing for a more secure and prosperous United States. A bill co-sponsor, U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, said the bill takes aim at decisions made by the Biden administration, which the Republican said in a statement "was hell-bent on locking up public lands, threatening the prosperity of rural economies across the country. Fortunately, a new era has dawned, and we have the opportunity to reverse these lockups and reinstate the multiple-use mandate on Americas public lands," said LaMalfa, who chairs the GOP's Western Caucus. "The Productive Public Lands Act will open up the publics land to be used for recreation, grazing, timber harvesting, drilling, mining and other appropriate uses." Aaron Weiss, the Center for Western Priorities' deputy director, told Colorado Politics that Hurd is disregarding his district. "For a brand-new member of Congress, you'd hope Jeff Hurd would spend more time listening to his constituents. This bill would undermine the years of work that communities across Colorado have spent building an outdoor recreation economy. This bill ignores Colorado voters, who overwhelmingly want their member of Congress to protect clean water, clean air and wildlife habitat instead of maximizing oil and gas drilling," Weiss said in an email. "Congress shouldn't be in the business of micromanaging public lands. Voters across the West agree that decisions about public lands are best made by the expert ecologists, biologists and land managers who spend years crafting these resource management plans," Weiss said. "Congressman Hurd's bill would undermine all of that." Featured Local Savings In the annual Conservation in the West Poll, conducted by a bipartisan team of pollsters and released last month by Colorado College's State of the Rockies Project, voters in eight Western states, including Colorado, said they want their members of Congress to emphasize preservation and recreation on public lands rather than encouraging energy production by a three-to-one margin. The preference was also held by a majority of self-identified MAGA voters, though by a narrower margin, with 51% opting for preservation and recreation, and 44% saying the want officials to maximize energy production on public lands. Jocelyn Torres, chief conservation officer for the Conservation Lands Foundation, a group focused on advocating for lands managed by BLM, said the legislation introduced by Hurd seeks to circumvent the lengthy process that produced the plans the legislation would scrap. Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on delays and creating unnecessary uncertainty, Congress ought to respect the peoples will and stick to the community-informed and well-balanced plans that protect our public lands, support local economies and provide outdoor recreational opportunities," Torres told Colorado Politics in an emailed statement. Hurd's bill, she added, "undermines extensive public input and thorough and transparent environmental assessments all in the name of a quick and cheap industry giveaway. Its a complete slap in the face to the majority of voters of all political affiliations in the west who love and enjoy the natural beauty of their state, who are very concerned about efforts to reduce natural areas, and who dont support selling public lands." In a tele-town hall Tuesday night, Hurd said he prioritizes protecting public lands but also wants to encourage using the land "responsibly." "Certainly, protecting our public lands and making sure that they're available for future generations is something that I take seriously and something I will definitely fight for," Hurd said during the call. Noting that he has sponsored legislation to move BLM's headquarters back to Grand Junction from Washington, D.C. reversing a Biden administration decision that reversed the first Trump administration's move Hurd said he's devoting attention to his district's natural resources. "I'm also doing some other federal land issues, as well, trying to make sure that we protect our beautiful outdoor spaces, but we also make sure that we use them responsibly as well, including making sure that we create economic opportunities so that families can grow and thrive in southern and western Colorado," Hurd said. Meta has won an effort to temporarily stop one of its former employees from promoting a tell-all book about the company, which The New York Times described as an ugly, detailed portrait of one of the most powerful companies in the world filled with salacious details about its top leaders. The continued promotion of Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, Metas former director of global public policy, would cause the company to suffer immediate and irreparable loss, according to the emergency arbitration ruling handed down by the American Arbitration Associations Nicholas Gowen. The ruling also orders Wynn-Williams to do what she can to stop further publication of the book, although the ruling did not impose any demands on the books publisher, Macmillan. It concludes that Meta, which was known as Facebook when Wynn-Williams worked there, would be likely to win its case claiming she violated a non-disparagement clause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, Meta spokesman Andy Stone interpreted the ruling as affirming the companys claim that the false and defamatory book should never have been published. This urgent legal action was made necessary by [Wynn-Williams], who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industrys standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years, Stone added. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attends the UFC 313 event in Las Vegas on March 8. Chris Unger via Getty Images The book has already been reviewed in the Times and featured in other major publications this week. Metas aggressive efforts to suppress the book, some have pointed out, are likely to amount to better publicity than Wynn-Williams could ever dream of buying. The allegations about Meta in the book, ranging from sexual harassment to human rights failures, are highly damning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In one portion of the book, Wynn-Williams says Meta retaliated against her after she reported sexual harassment by her boss, Joel Kaplan, who was vice president for global public policy at the time. Hes now the chief global affairs officer and appears as the public face of Meta around the world. Kaplan, she writes, asked her after she gave birth, Where are you bleeding from? and told her she looked sultry at a company event. Sheryl Sandberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2015. Bloomberg via Getty Images She also writes that Sheryl Sandberg, then Facebooks chief operating officer, insisted to her once that they share a bed on a private jet in 2016. She also alleges that Sandberg once instructed her assistant to buy lingerie for Wynn-Williams and herself. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, one of several tech tycoons who have cozied up to President Donald Trump in recent months, appears as an embarrassing figure in the book, according to reviews. Wynn-Williams writes that he refused to admit that his employees were letting him win at the board game Settlers of Catan, expressed admiration for notorious slavery advocate President Andrew Jackson, and vocalized his desire to have a tribe of children. She also alleges that Chinese President Xi Jinping turned down Zuckerbergs request that he name his unborn child. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wynn-Williams also alleges that Facebook knowingly allowed hateful lies to spread on its platforms in Myanmar, inciting a genocide against the minority Rohingya ethnic group. She told NBC News this week that she filed a whistleblower complaint last year with the Securities and Exchange Commission arguing that Meta misled its investors. Neither Macmillan nor Wynn-Williams responded to requests for comment. Related... Sarah Wynn-Williams's memoir contains details about her experiences working at Facebook, now Meta. The "Careless People" author spoke with BI about how and why she wrote the book. Meta has since won a ruling barring Wynn-Williams from promoting the book. Hours before an arbitrator ruled in Meta's favor, barring Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting her explosive new tell-all about the company, she sat down for an interview with Business Insider. "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism," released Tuesday, is a scathing memoir detailing Wynn-Williams' time at Facebook, now Meta, where she worked in global public policy from 2011 to 2017. The book seemed to materialize out of nowhere, announced less than a week before its release. And yet, it had all the makings of a bombshell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wynn-Williams describes an internal culture built on power, deference, and secrecy, where Mark Zuckerberg's employees allegedly let him win at board games, where executives reportedly bent over backward to court the Chinese government, and where she claims Meta's top policy executive, Joel Kaplan, sexually harassed her. (Meta has denied the allegations about Kaplan, saying an internal investigation found them "misleading" and "unfounded." The company cleared Kaplan in 2017. Meta also published a document saying that some of Wynn-Williams' claims in the book about Meta's China and Myanmar operations were "old news.") Earlier this month, Wynn-Williams also filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission over Meta's dealings in China, alleging the company misled investors and went to great lengths to please the Chinese government in a failed attempt to launch Facebook in the country. "This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today," a Meta Spokesperson said. "It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world. This was widely reported beginning a decade ago. We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After leaving Meta, Wynn-Williams shifted her focus to AI policy, including participating in a dialogue between US and Chinese experts on AI and military risks. Since its release, "Careless People" has made headlines and drawn a swift, aggressive response from Meta. Current and former employees, including some featured in the book, have publicly disputed Wynn-Williams' claims, calling them exaggerated or false. The company has gone after her in an unprecedented way, arguing that she violated a nondisparagement agreement and securing an emergency arbitration ruling that restricts her ability to speak publicly about the book. "This book is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. "Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment. Since then, she has been paid by anti-Facebook activists, and this is simply a continuation of that work," the statement continued. "Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When reached for comment about the arbitration ruling, a legal representative for Wynn-Williams said: "Because of an order dated 12 March sought by Meta, Ms Wynn-Williams has been prevented from providing comment." Flatiron Books, Wynn-William's publisher, provided BI with the following statement: "The arbitration order has no impact on Macmillan. However, we are appalled by Meta's tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement." "To be clear", Marlena Bittner, the publisher's director of publicity told BI, "the arbitrator's order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People. The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this. We will absolutely continue to support and promote it." Wynn-Williams avoided directly answering some of BI's questions about the company's accusations against her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Partly driven by the buzz generated by Meta's own attempts to suppress it, "Careless People" ranked among the top 10 bestsellers on Amazon in the US when this article was published. Below are excerpts from BI's interview with Wynn-Williams, edited for clarity. Business Insider: A lot of people were surprised when this book was announced. Why did you keep it under wraps? Sarah Wynn-Williams: Well, if you see the reaction that's happened since, I think that explains the decision. When I decided to tell my story and speak out about all these true experiences that are in the book, I wanted to make sure that the story would be out there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It seems crazy when we live in a world where Meta is doubling down on freedom of expression and purports to be about supporting free speech. I thought, "I want this out in the world," and so that's part of the reason for doing it that way. You left Facebook in 2017. Why did you decide to release it now, after all these years? Because I think we're on the cusp of this new era of technology. We're stepping into this AI era, and at a high level, I don't want the mistakes that were made during the social media era to be applied to the AI era. One of the things that I've worked on since leaving [Meta] is the US-China AI dialogue on AI in weapons. So, I really understand the existential nature of AI. I also understand these people and how decisions are made. That's why, as we go into this new era, we have to do it better. China is such a big part of the story of AI. It's this growing strategic rivalry and how technology is so central to that rivalry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And yet, this company has been doing things in the shadows for so long with the Chinese Communist Party, and their line is, "Oh, you know, we tried to get our services [into China] and we told you in 2019 that didn't happen." Have a look at how much of [Meta's] revenue comes from China it's $18 billion. (Editor's note: According to Meta's 2024 annual report, the company made $18.35 billion from China, primarily through resellers serving Chinese advertisers targeting global users.) So it seems that everyone is operating under the false notion that Meta is not operating in China when actually, it is fundamental to its current valuation, it's fundamental to its future growth. And we don't talk openly about it at the very time that we're about to enter this new AI era. What was your process for writing this book? How long did it take you? The process was off and on. It was something that I felt there was a growing need and importance [for]. It's a memoir; it's my story, and it's a true story that is also underpinned by evidence, and, further to that, underpinned [by my] filing with the SEC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [My writing process] wasn't a linear thing. There were moments when something would happen, there would be a headline about China, and I'd think, "It would be so different if people knew the truth." Or there'd be a headline about something bad happening with teens using Instagram, and I'd think, "Oh God." The story they were telling was departing more and more from the truth and it seemed more and more imperative that the truth was out there. A Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, has said that your book wasn't fact-checked and that nobody reached out to Meta for comment. Did you get the book fact-checked? I think Meta's problem is using this to not answer the questions themselves. What I would love is for us not to fall into the distraction. There's a real risk that we talk about things that don't matter. We've got these huge issues like China and I notice they're not providing any detail on that. There are so many smart people who've worked at this company and who are covering this company. Like, we have to do better. A lot of current and former Meta employees have contested the claims in your book and said that they're fabricated or exaggerated. How do you respond to those statements? Again, this is another distraction from talking about the things that Meta has done and the hypocrisy around that. It's making the conversation about them and their response, not about the true stories in this book that people need to know. Have you personally heard from any current or former Meta employees since the book came out? So many, and it's been so nice. I realize there are some very decent people who have worked at Meta and it's been amazing. The support has been incredible. I am very touched. I am very grateful. There are people who were in the trenches who had lived these stories with me, who were the ones raising eyebrows when stuff was feeling like, "Oh, is this really happening?" It means a lot that they recognize the truth of the story and they also see themselves in it and as part of it. Has Meta changed its ways since you've left? Do you see any difference in the way the company operates or in how senior management thinks about some of the issues that you bring up in the book? I sit where I sit, but I see exactly the same behavior. I see a company that says it has changed all its accounts for teens, has a big push on that, and yet, hasn't grappled with [questions] like: Are you still gathering information about when teenagers are feeling worthless? What data are you giving to advertisers about 13- to 17-year-olds? Where are you surveilling teens on and off the platform? Go and ask them those specific questions and then see if it's the same company or a different company. See if you get answers that satisfy you. I think broadly the tech press does continue to ask these questions of Meta. Do you feel like you get straight answers? You sometimes do. That's part of why I wrote this. Use it to ask the questions, and you'll have the truth in your hands. You can go back on each of these things and say, like, "You know, show us the documents, show us the truth." You worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg. I'm curious what you think about his transformation over the past year where he's trying to look cool and more accessible, wearing chains and doing mixed martial arts. Mark Zuckerberg has worn many different costumes, and he continues to wear many different costumes. In my time at Facebook, he was cozying up with the Chinese Communist Party. Now he's cozying up with President Trump. It's one of the many costumes, and it's all in service of more power to Mark Zuckerberg whether it's promoting President Xi and asking him to name your first-born child and learn Mandarin or now this moment [where] it's wrestling and wearing chains. Let's see it for what it is. What do you make of Meta moving away from fact-checking on its platforms and getting rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives? Don't you think it's ironic that they're pivoting away from fact-checking and yet one of your questions to me was all about fact-checking at the behest of the Meta spokesperson? The hypocrisy is so outrageous. People need to read the book, understand the truth, and then say, "No, we know who you are stop it." Meta has released a statement saying you were fired for poor performance and toxic behavior. They've called your allegations "misleading" and "unfounded." They've said you're being paid by anti-Facebook activists. They're trying to smear me and convince people not to read the book. People should read the book. The truth is in the book. They can make up their own minds. I stand by everything in the book. It's true, and that's what the focus should be on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The focus should be on China. It should be on what they're doing with teens. It should be on genocide and Myanmar. These are really serious issues. That's where the discussion needs to be. I can't overstate how much more important each of those things is. So, just for the record: You're not being paid by anti-Facebook activists, right? I'm not being paid by anyone! They're also gearing up to take legal action against Macmillan, your publisher. It's a surprising choice, to the extent that they're a "freedom of expression" company. People should be asking questions about their commitment to freedom of expression. People should be asking questions about their principles and their values and their actions, as always, are so different from their words. People need to focus on their actions. Don't get distracted. Look at what they do, not at what they say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pranavdixit@protonmail.com or Signal at +1-408-905-9124 . Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely . Correction: March 13, 2025 An earlier version of this story misstated the year Wynn-Williams' employment with Facebook ended. Wynn-Williams told BI that she was on payroll until 2018. A Meta spokesperson said that although she received her severance in 2018, her employment ended in 2017. Read the original article on Business Insider Multiple metro Atlanta law enforcement agencies and the Georgia State Patrol chased suspects accused of crimes in multiple counties Thursday. Officers were able to capture three of the suspects but are still looking for the fourth. According to GSP, troopers found a Chevrolet Malibu on Johnson Ferry Road in DeKalb County that had been used to commit several felony thefts in Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When troopers tried to stop the vehicle on Thursday afternoon, the car drove off, kicking off a vehicle chase. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] A Sandy Springs police officer who was nearby searching for the vehicle joined the pursuit as it headed north on Peachtree Road. Troopers were able to successfully pull off a PIT maneuver, making the Malibu turn around facing south. When the driver kept trying to leave, the Sandy Springs officer made contact with the front of the Chevy, keeping it from leaving. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four suspects left the car and ran while the vehicle was still in gear, causing it to hit a stop sign. As the suspects fled, GSP said two of them threw guns away and troopers gave chase. Officials have not released the identities of the four suspects at this time. According to GSP, DeKalb County investigators are handling charges related to the thefts in the county. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) An Evansville bus route is now back open due to construction progress at the intersection of Vann Avenue and the Lloyd Expressway. A release obtained by Eyewitness News details the route. Below is the bus route: The new inbound route exits Eastland Mall from E Virginia Street, left on N Congress Avenue, right on East Indiana Street, left on Stockwell Road, crosses the Lloyd Expressway into Stepping Stone then exits right on Lloyd Expressway, right on South Green River Road, right on Lincoln Avenue, right on Vann Avenue, left on East Walnut Street, right on Fifth Street, right on Vine Street, then right into the Downtown Terminal. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Even in Mexico, where stories of massacres, kidnappings and clandestine graves provide daily news fodder, the recent revelations in western Jalisco state have caused a commotion. Gruesome online images from a ranch apparently once used as a drug cartel training camp show hundreds of discarded shoes, backpacks, pants, shirts and other items, along with pictures of charred bones, bullet casings and clips from high-powered rifles. Among the handwritten entries found in a notebook were numbered columns of nicknames purportedly a coded ledger of ex-captives and a farewell letter from someone that read: My Love if Some day I dont Return I only ask you to remember how much I Love you. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inside one cinder-block building at the ranch was a candle-bedecked shrine to Santa Muerte (Holy Death), a female folk saint whose cult is often associated with Mexican organized crime. Disseminating the disturbing images on social media this month were members of a search group that entered the ranch seeking missing loved ones of Mexicos more than 120,000 disappeared. Even the veteran searchers accustomed to violence, threats and secret graves were aghast. It was a tremendous shock, recalled Raul Servin Garcia of Warrior Searchers of Jalisco, one of many volunteer collectives nationwide dedicated to finding vanished loved ones, mostly victims of organized crime. The first thought that occurs to you is to hope that no relative a son, a husband had ever been in this place, had ever been tortured or murdered there. Warrior Searchers of Jalisco located three human crematoria while searching for missing relatives at Rancho Izaguirre. (Ulises Ruiz / Getty Images) Headlines called the ranch an extermination camp, home to underground crematoria" and, even, the Mexican Auschwitz. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The abandoned shoes have emerged on social media as a symbol of outrage about the discovery. Memorials for the victims and protests against forced recruitment by cartels were planned this weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico City and elsewhere. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that federal and state authorities were investigating. "We have isolated photos, but we don't know exactly what was found, how it was found," Sheinbaum told reporters Thursday at her daily news conference. "We have to determine responsibilities based on the information and the investigation." Mexican Atty. Gen. Alejandro Gertz Manero hinted at collusion between organized crime and officials in Jalisco state. It was not credible, Gertz told reporters, that a situation of this nature wasnt known by local authorities." The troubling images were captured at Rancho Izaguirre an arid, two-acre rectangular patch with sheds and other structures situated amid irrigated farmland just 37 miles from downtown Guadalajara, Mexicos second-largest city. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fate of those whose clothing was found at the ranch and how many are dead or alive remains publicly unknown. Media accounts have alternately labeled the ranch a training facility, a torture center, a killing field and a body-disposal site for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexicos major, and most violent, organized crime syndicates. Mexican officials have not confirmed any of those characterizations. The clothing belonged to young men and women lured to the camp by cartel operatives via bogus job offerings, according to the searchers, who say they have spoken to several survivors and their relatives. Many captives were recruited at a bus station in Tlaquepaque, a Guadalajara suburb, said Servin of the Warrior Searchers of Jalisco. "They met these young people at the bus terminal with phony promises of work," he said. "Many had no idea what they were getting into." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Captives who tried to escape, or who didn't measure up to the physical training, faced death, according to Indira Navarro, head of the searchers' collective. In a radio interview, Navarro quoted one anonymous survivor as saying that prisoners were forced to kill fellow captives. Cartel operatives have been known to recruit young people with supposedly legitimate opportunities advertised in social media and via word of mouth. On occasion, officials throughout Mexico have busted clandestine cartel training facilities. In January, Jalisco's governor touted the liberation of 36 captives at an organized crime camp in Teuchitlan the same township where Rancho Izaguirre is situated. Read more: Bitter feud among Sinaloa cartel families brings grim new tactic: Grave desecration Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the searchers' detailed accounts, officials have provided little insight about what went on at Rancho Izaguirre. Prosecutors say the site included a tactical training area and a physical conditioning zone, along with burial lots. Photos of one area show a kind of obstacle course, crafted of wires lashed onto logs, and another site with tires spaced along the ground both presumably used for training exercises. According to the Jalisco state prosecutors office, investigators now combing over the ranch have discovered six groups of charred human bones, some hidden beneath earth and bricks. But officials have provided no estimate on how many people were buried there. Nor have forensic teams identified any of the dead a task likely to take a long time. In a bid to match items found at the ranch with missing people, prosecutors released photos of almost 500 personal effects, including jeans, T-shirts, blouses, skirts, backpacks and bags. Even before the mass photo dump, relatives of the missing throughout Mexico had been poring through the images posted online. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve received various calls from families saying: I think that T-shirt was my sons, Servin said. But we have to tell them: 'Remain calm. Don't jump to conclusions.' Because its very hard to think your loved one was murdered in this way, or passed through such profound pain. A major question in the case is why state authorities didnt follow up aggressively when the National Guard entered Rancho Izaguirre in September. On that occasion, according to Jalisco prosecutors, authorities arrested 10 suspects, who remain in custody though authorities have not clarified what charges they face. Investigators also found a body, wrapped in plastic, and liberated two captives. Among those apparently freed was the author of the love letter and last testament found in the notebook at the ranch. Prosecutors say the individual who was not identified is back home. Read more: Trump administration labels 8 Latin American crime cartels as terrorist organizations Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In September, forensic teams immediately began to search for bodies at the ranch, Jalisco prosecutors said in a news release this week. But state authorities now under extreme pressure from the federal government conceded that that earlier efforts were insufficient and suffered from possible omissions," which are now under investigation. There has been no criminal activity at Rancho Izaguirre since September, prosecutors said. According to unconfirmed media reports, the cartel ranch had been in operation since at least 2018. It was an anonymous tip that led the searchers to Rancho Izaguirre on March 5. The sensation that runs through your body when you see hundreds and hundreds of shoes piled up like that is indescribable, said Servin. And of course you imagine the worst. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A restaurant waiter by profession, Servin still seeks the remains of his son, who disappeared in 2018 at the age of 20. You see the clothing, the shoes, and you cant control yourself, he said. The tears come running down your eyes just thinking of the suffering that those poor people endured. One can only pray to God that your loved one was not in that place. McDonnell is a Times staff writer and Sanchez Vidal is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Liliana Nieto del Rio contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. TEUCHITLAN, Mexico (AP) When a group of citizens searching for missing relatives in the western state of Jalisco arrived at a remote ranch outside Mexico's second-largest city last week on an anonymous tip, all they had to do was push open the unlocked gate. Inside they went to work with simple tools picks, shovels and metal bars doing the work that state investigators supposedly had done six months earlier. What they found embarrassed state authorities and shook Mexico: dozens of shoes, heaps of clothing and what appeared to be human bone fragments. Distraught families from across the country have already started reaching out about clothing items they say they recognize. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a shocking reminder of Mexicos more than 120,000 disappeared and enough to push the federal government to take over the troubled investigation. A training base for cartel recruits The ranch in Teuchitlan, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Guadalajara was allegedly being used as a training base for cartel recruits when National Guard troops found it last September. Authorities then said 10 people were arrested, two hostages were freed and a body was found wrapped in plastic. The state prosecutors office went in with a backhoe, dogs and devices to find inconsistencies in the ground. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But then the investigation went quiet until members of the Jalisco Search Warriors, one of dozens of search collectives that dot Mexico, visited the site last week on a tip. They found the shoes, as well as heaps of other clothing and what appeared to be burned bone fragments. Members of the search collective were back at the site Thursday, invited to observe authorities as they worked to register evidence and search the property. A lot of families have stepped forward to identify items of clothing, said Maribel, a member of the search collective, who spoke to the press outside the ranch and asked to only be identified by her first name for safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What we want is to stop all of this, the disappearances, she said. We hope that this time they'll do the work as they should. An irresponsible omission There are more than 120,000 disappeared people in Mexico, according to the governments tally. Search collectives like the Jalisco Search Warriors have had to organize to do the work that authorities often will not do. They search for sites like the one in Teuchitlan, sometimes with government protection, but more often without, then make their discoveries known to pressure authorities into doing their jobs. This time it worked. Jalisco State Prosecutor Salvador Gonzalez de los Santos visited the ranch personally Tuesday. He said that investigators had found six groups of bones, but it was unclear how many victims they could belong to. He did not provide details on why investigators had previously failed to find what the untrained private citizens did, but said the previous efforts were insufficient. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His office posted photos of all of the evidence located hoping that relatives might identify an item of clothing. Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus announced Wednesday that the federal Attorney Generals Office would take over the investigation as requested by Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum. The Jalisco New Generation cartel is the dominant criminal organization in the state. On Thursday, white government vehicles ringed the isolated ranch of squat buildings enclosed by a tall wall and fields. This ranch served as a training site and even though it sounds awful, really harsh, for extermination, said collective leader Indira Navarro, earlier this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She blamed the states previous Gov. Enrique Alfaro for trying to hide this kind of situation or discovery. And she asked aloud how state investigators with technology and training could have failed to find what her group did with pick, shovel and metal bar. On Wednesday, the Mexican Episcopal Conference said in a statement that it was troubled by the discovery of the site, which points to an irresponsible omission on the part of authorities at all three levels of government and another sign of the larger problem of Mexicos disappeared. ____ Sanchez reported from Mexico City. ____ Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america Mar. 12First, they faced mass layoffs. Now, the small army of federal workers in New Mexico may face the threat of a government shutdown as Democrats and Republicans duel over the country's budget in Washington. The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a measure a continuing resolution, or CR, that would extend funding for six months Wednesday to avert a shutdown on Friday, even as New Mexico's three democratic congresspeople voted against it. Shortly after, Senate Democrats said they would not provide the votes to pass it through the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said. "Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR." Cloture requires 60 votes for any bill to overcome a filibuster; Republicans have 53 Senate seats, and thus need seven Democratic votes. Schumer also called for Congress to pass a competing measure to keep the government funded until April 11 and said his caucus was unified behind that bill. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, lambasted his Republican colleagues for excluding Democrats from the process. "House Republicans right now have demonstrated that they don't care about working with anyone for the good of the American people," he said. "They're going to continue marching along those lines." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Federal employees make up anywhere from 3% to 5% of the New Mexican workforce, depending on which government agency you ask. According to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, as of December 2024, there were 29,600 federal employees in the state of the 898,600 non-farmworkers, but a cross-analysis of the American Community Survey and current employment statistics by the Economic Policy Institute found that there are closer to 44,000 federal government employees living in New Mexico as of Feb. 18. With much of the federal government allowed to remote work until recent months, the true number of federal employees living in any state has been harder to gage. The new administration required all federal workers back in the office within days of taking over. Plus, seasonal workers are also hard to count and many in New Mexico working in the forests and parks are typically seasonal workers. One in three federal employees live paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a 2024 survey by Bankrate. If a shutdown occurs, federal government funding will stop at midnight Friday, though functionally more agencies won't feel any changes until Monday morning when the vast majorities of their employees are furloughed until Congress and the White House can come to an agreement on how to fund the government. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the U.S. deemed "nonessential" will be left in the cold, while thousands of programs and agencies that rely on annual funding appropriations will stop. That includes funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, which among other things hands out food stamps, and the Agriculture Department's Women, Infants and Children's program, which also provides food assistance. Combined, some 42 million Americans depend on these programs, according to a congressional report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The shutdown would not halt the work of employees deemed essential, such as those in the defense, energy and agriculture jobs. But those workers will have to work without pay until the government reopens and they receive back pay. A December 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service showed that the highest concentration of federal workers live in New Mexico's Congressional District 3. It's unclear how much the mass layoffs of the last two months reduced that figure. One of the reasons for the concentration of federal workers up north is Los Alamos National Laboratory. A LANL spokesperson told the Journal on Wednesday, "In the event of a government shutdown, Los Alamos National Laboratory has funds in place to continue operations. We will continue to focus on maintaining the safety and security of our employees and facilities." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. district and federal magistrate courts in New Mexico aren't expected to experience an immediate impact of a government shutdown, said Heather A. Small, chief deputy of the U.S. District Court in New Mexico. Typically, the federal judiciary continues to operate for two to three weeks using court fee balances and other funds. "At this time, the Administrative Office of the Courts has not provided us with an exact date of when these funds would run out, but we have historically maintained a minimum of two weeks of funding to allow us to continue full operation." Small said in an email on Wednesday. If such funding is eventually depleted, and the shutdown isn't resolved, the courts would reduce activities and certain staff would be furloughed. But criminal cases typically would proceed uninterrupted, she added. Small said Chief U.S. District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales may choose a different approach to continuing operations. Mar. 13First, they faced mass layoffs. Now, the small army of federal workers in New Mexico may face the threat of a government shutdown as Democrats and Republicans duel over the country's budget in Washington. The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a measure a continuing resolution, or CR, that would extend funding for six months Wednesday to avert a shutdown on Friday, even as New Mexico's three democratic congresspeople voted against it. Shortly after, Senate Democrats said they would not provide the votes to pass it through the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said. "Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR." Cloture requires 60 votes for any bill to overcome a filibuster; Republicans have 53 Senate seats, and thus need seven Democratic votes. Schumer also called for Congress to pass a competing measure to keep the government funded until April 11 and said his caucus was unified behind that bill. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, lambasted his Republican colleagues for excluding Democrats from the process. "House Republicans right now have demonstrated that they don't care about working with anyone for the good of the American people," he said. "They're going to continue marching along those lines." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Federal employees make up anywhere from 3% to 5% of the New Mexican workforce, depending on which government agency you ask. According to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, as of December 2024, there were 29,600 federal employees in the state of the 898,600 non-farmworkers, but a cross-analysis of the American Community Survey and current employment statistics by the Economic Policy Institute found that there are closer to 44,000 federal government employees living in New Mexico as of Feb. 18. With much of the federal government allowed to remote work until recent months, the true number of federal employees living in any state has been harder to gage. The new administration required all federal workers back in the office within days of taking over. Plus, seasonal workers are also hard to count and many in New Mexico working in the forests and parks are typically seasonal workers. One in three federal employees live paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a 2024 survey by Bankrate. If a shutdown occurs, federal government funding will stop at midnight Friday, though functionally more agencies won't feel any changes until Monday morning when the vast majorities of their employees are furloughed until Congress and the White House can come to an agreement on how to fund the government. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the U.S. deemed "nonessential" will be left in the cold, while thousands of programs and agencies that rely on annual funding appropriations will stop. That includes funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, which among other things hands out food stamps, and the Agriculture Department's Women, Infants and Children's program, which also provides food assistance. Combined, some 42 million Americans depend on these programs, according to a congressional report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The shutdown would not halt the work of employees deemed essential, such as those in the defense, energy and agriculture jobs. But those workers will have to work without pay until the government reopens and they receive back pay. A December 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service showed that the highest concentration of federal workers live in New Mexico's Congressional District 3. It's unclear how much the mass layoffs of the last two months reduced that figure. One of the reasons for the concentration of federal workers up north is Los Alamos National Laboratory. A LANL spokesperson told the Journal on Wednesday, "In the event of a government shutdown, Los Alamos National Laboratory has funds in place to continue operations. We will continue to focus on maintaining the safety and security of our employees and facilities." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. district and federal magistrate courts in New Mexico aren't expected to experience an immediate impact of a government shutdown, said Heather A. Small, chief deputy of the U.S. District Court in New Mexico. Typically, the federal judiciary continues to operate for two to three weeks using court fee balances and other funds. "At this time, the Administrative Office of the Courts has not provided us with an exact date of when these funds would run out, but we have historically maintained a minimum of two weeks of funding to allow us to continue full operation." Small said in an email on Wednesday. If such funding is eventually depleted, and the shutdown isn't resolved, the courts would reduce activities and certain staff would be furloughed. But criminal cases typically would proceed uninterrupted, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Small said Chief U.S. District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales may choose a different approach to continuing operations. Justin Garcia covers technology, the national labs and health care for the Albuquerque Journal. You can reach him at jgarcia@abqjournal.com. The driver of a Bustang passenger bus was hospitalized Wednesday after a crash in San Miguel County, on the Western Slope, according to a news release from the Colorado State Patrol. The bus tipped on its side around 4:30 p.m. while navigating a right curve on Colorado 62 near mile marker 2, east of Placerville. State Patrol said the westbound bus drift off the right side of the road, then began to go up an embankment off the right side of the road and rolled onto its side. The extent of the injuries to the 54-year-old driver were not released. No passengers were injured. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call State Patrol at 970-249-9575. SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) Safe haven boxes give parents who cant care for their newborns a place to surrender them and now lawmakers are hoping to pass legislation to clarify procedures and protect the parents anonymity. Story continues below Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are at least seven Safe Haven Baby Boxes in New Mexico and more are in the works. Two bipartisan bills want to create clearer guidelines on what information is collected when a baby is surrendered. Its all about safety, its all about making sure that we know exactly whats going on and to make sure that child is protected from the moment theyre dropped off, said Sen. Michael Padilla, (D-Albuquerque) Majority Whip. Safe Haven Baby Boxes are an option for parents of newborns who are unable to care for the child, while also promising confidentiality, but confusion surfaced over the years after the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department said theyre required to investigate these cases and get information on the parents. Now, lawmakers are proposing bipartisan legislation to clarify these procedures. Sen. Padilla is the lead sponsor for a SB 360 aimed at making changes to the Safe Haven for Infants Act. It sets guidelines for CYFD to protect parent confidentiality while also gathering the necessary infant medical history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We need to know whatever information we can find out about the child because they may be in need of some serious healthcare and we just dont know that unless we can interact with that individual, if thats even possible, said Sen. Padilla. It also includes rules for determining if a child belongs to an Indian tribe. Meanwhile, Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice) has his own bipartisan bill, SB 499, which includes similar language but says it provides more protections for the parent. What we want to do is change the statute to give CYFD the indicator that they dont have to search and find the mother. Right now, the way they read the statute, theyre obligated. we dont want that, said Sen. Gallegos. Both lawmakers and CYFD are collaborating to get these bills passed, calling it urgent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve always worked across the aisle trying to get this done, we have not succeeded. And this needs to be fast-tracked, were running out of time and the mothers in New Mexico, theyre having to make decisions, deserve the very best from this state, said Senator Gallegos. Both bipartisan bills were considered in their first committee hearing on Wednesday. SB 360 was withdrawn by Senator Padilla after debate, saying he would work on it and bring it back next year. Meanwhile SB 499 was tabled 6-4. On Monday, the City of Belen had its own success story after an infant surrendered to its Safe Haven Baby Box became the first to be adopted through the program in the states history. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday his government was having intensive talks with the United States over Washington's threats to impose tariffs on goods from its No. 1 trade partner by April 2. The United States has repeatedly threatened, implemented and paused, tariffs on Mexico, which are expected to have a big impact on both economies, which have become tightly integrated through free trade pacts over the last three decades. Economists have warned of an increased risk of recession for the United States, Mexico and Canada, as U.S. President Donald Trump's frequent shifts on tariff policy for the free trade partners deepen uncertainty on their future trade relations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking at a regular morning press conference, Ebrard said he hoped Mexico would reach April 2 in "better conditions" compared to other countries targeted by U.S. tariffs. On March 6, Trump offered a reprieve to Mexico and Canada on the blanket 25% tariffs imposed a couple of days earlier, stating that all goods complying with the USMCA trade pact between the three countries would be exempt from any tariffs until April 2. Ebrard said the United States' recent implementation of a global tariff on steel and aluminum imports was "a bad idea", adding the Mexican government will be having meetings with the sector to seek to protect its economy from the trade barriers. "Many measures can be taken but we will not be taking them carelessly," Ebrard said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has taken a calm approach in face of the on-and-off again U.S. tariffs, has said her government will wait until the United States' decision on April 2 before announcing any potential retaliatory measures. "We will make the necessary consultations and we will prepare to use all the instruments we have in accordance with what is right for Mexico," Ebrard said. He emphasized the need to keep a cool head, saying it was a strategy that had so far borne fruit for Mexico. (Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Sarah Morland; Editing by Susan Fenton) The mayor of Miami Beach is asking the city to end a lease agreement and withdraw financial support from an independent theater that is screening the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Mayor Steven Meiner characterized the film as a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents and has introduced legislation to terminate the O Theaters lease for the citys old City Hall building. More from Variety Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite winning the Oscar and numerous other awards, No Other Land has faced controversy for its depiction of Palestinian homes and villages in the West Bank destroyed by the Israeli military. U.S. distributors declined to pick it up and it is being booked by distribution consultant Cinetic directly into venues such as the Miami Beach non-profit cinema. City commissioners will vote on the proposal next week, according to the Miami Herald. The resolution put forth by the mayor reads Whereas, the Mayor and City Commission desire to identify a new tenant/grantee to operate the movie theater located on the Premises that more accurately reflects the Citys values and/or interests in promoting a safe and inclusive environment for residents and visitors. O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell originally decided to cancel the screenings, writing to the mayor on March 6, Due to the concerns of antisemitic rhetoric, we have decided to withdraw the film from our programming. This film has exposed a rift which makes us unable to do the thing weve always sought out to do which is to foster thoughtful conversations about cinematic works. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the cinema ultimately had a change of heart and screened the film last week, with additional screenings set for March 19 and 20. In response to Meiners proposal, one city commissioner told the Miami Herald that although she agrees with the mayors assessment of the documentary, she doesnt think the lease should be terminated, given the theaters longstanding commitment to the Jewish community and the prospect of a legal battle. Another commissioner proposed that instead of canceling No Other Land, the theater could also screen a film representing differing viewpoints such as Screams Before Silence, about women attacked by Hamas. Meiner and Marthell did not respond to requests for comment. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) The mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, wants to terminate a lease and cut financial support for an independent film theater that screened an Oscar-winning documentary about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Mayor Steven Meiner introduced a resolution describing the film No Other Land as antisemitic. City commissioners will discuss the resolution Wednesday during their next meeting. No Other Land opened last Friday at O Cinema, located at the Miami Beach Historic City Hall. Meiner had reached out several days before the premiere to discourage O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell from showing the film. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The City of Miami Beach has one of the highest concentrations of Jewish residents in the United States, Meiner said in his letter to Marthell. The No Other Land film is a one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents. Marthell initially agreed not to screen the movie in a response to Meiner, but the showing went on as scheduled. My initial reaction to Mayor Meiners threats was made under duress, Marthell said in a email Thursday. After reflecting on the broader implications for free speech and O Cinemas mission, I (along with the O Cinema board and staff members) agreed it was critical to screen this acclaimed film. O Cinema has always been committed to sharing films that not only entertain, but also challenge, educate and inspire meaningful dialogue, Marthell said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We understand the power of cinema to tell stories that matter, and we recognize that some stories especially those rooted in real-world conflicts can evoke strong feelings and passionate reactions. As they should, Marthell said. Our decision to screen No Other Land is not a declaration of political alignment. It is a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard. In December and January, the city of Miami Beach executed two grants worth about $80,000 for O Cinema, according to the mayor's proposed resolution. About half the money has already been paid, but the resolution would stop the rest. The city began leasing space to O Cinema in 2019 with the ability to terminate the contract with 180 days of notice, which is what Meiner is seeking to do. No Other Land, which was shot between 2019 and 2023 and released last year, was directed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. When the mayor uses the word antisemitism to silence Palestinians and Israelis who proudly oppose occupation and apartheid together, fighting for justice and equality, he is emptying it out of meaning, Abraham said in an email. I find that to be very dangerous. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The film documents the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank by the Israeli military. It won the Academy Award for best documentary feature as well as earlier awards. While the film has earned wide praise from film critics, it has also drawn controversy. Freedom of expression is an important value, but defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art, Israeli culture minister Miki Zohar said in a social media post. March 12 (UPI) -- Miami Beach's mayor wants to terminate a lease agreement and discontinue financial support for an independent film theater because it showed a controversial Oscar-winning documentary about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank. Mayor Steven Meiner called the film, No Other Land, "a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people." The documentary has been shown at O Cinema, an art house film cinema in a government building in South Beach, and is planning more screenings this weekend, beginning on Friday. The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and a constitutional lawyer in Miami Beach told Axios that a city can't withhold funds because it disagrees with a point of view. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meiner had urged the theater to cancel the screenings. In a newsletter to residents on Tuesday night, the mayor called the film, which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature on March 2, "a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our city and residents." Meiner is planning a regularly scheduled virtual Town Hall on Tuesday night. And he will introduce a resolution next Wednesday to terminate the lease agreement with the cinema, which rents space from the city at the old City Hall and to immediately cut all city funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city originally agreed to fulfill two grant agreements with O Cinema -- $25,831 and $54,071 -- and has already paid half of those amounts, according to the proposal obtained by the Miami Herald. Meiner wrote a letter to O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell, urging the theater to cancel scheduled screenings of the film, noting its critiques from Israeli and German government officials. Some Palestinians say that the film "uplifts our spirits," according to a report by NPR and it may even help prevent future displacement. Marthell initially said the theater would not show the film. "Due to the concerns of antisemitic rhetoric, we have decided to withdraw the film from our programming," Marthell wrote in a letter to Meiner on March 6. "This film has exposed a rift which makes us unable to do the thing we've always sought out to do which is to foster thoughtful conversations about cinematic works." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Meiner, who is Jewish, the next day changed his mind. "But let me be clear: our decision to screen NO OTHER LAND is not a declaration of political alignment," the mayor said in an email to the Herald late last week. "It is, however, a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard, even, and perhaps especially, when it challenges us." Meiner said the film conflicts with the city's values. "I am a staunch believer in free speech," he wrote in the newsletter. But normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism in a facility owned by the taxpayers of Miami Beach, after O Cinema conceded the 'concerns of antisemitic rhetoric,' is unjust to the values of our city and residents and should not be tolerated." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city commission includes seven members, including the mayor. Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez is a supporter of Israel. "A religious Jew was voted as Mayor, along with a Zionist city council. Unlike other cities, we have zero tolerance for pro Hamas/terrorist propaganda," Suarez wrote in a message to the Herald. "The City of Miami Beach will continue to stand up for our Jewish population, home to holocaust survivors, and while most people use 'Never Again' as a platitude, we mean it." Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez is critical of the mayor's decision, calling it "knee-jerk reactions." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Mayor cannot send a letter condemning a film and then cancel O Cinema's contract days later," she wrote in the newsletter. "Doing so would result in an expensive lawsuit we will lose." Rosen Gonzalez proposed showing another film, Screams Before Silence, a documentary on Israeli women attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. No Other Land, which was made from 2019 up until days after that attack, documents the destruction of Masafer Yatta, a group of Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank, at the hands of the Israeli military. Also, the film highlights the alliance and growing friendship between two unlikely parties: Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, who are two of the film's directors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We call on the world to take serious action to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people," Adra said during his Oscar acceptance speech. "About two months ago, I became a father, and I hope for my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I'm living now." Abraham said: "We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger," Abraham said from the stage. "We see each other in the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, in the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of Oct. 7, which must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal." Daniel Tilley, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, told Axios the mayor's retaliation is unconstitutional. "The government does not get to pick and choose which viewpoints the public is allowed to hear, however controversial some might find them," Tilley said in a statement. And Alan Levine, a constitutional lawyer in Miami Beach and a South Florida Jewish Voice for Peace member, said Miami Beach "has a history of not only tolerating but welcoming dissenting points of views or differing lifestyle choices. Now the mayor is sending a message that, at least with respect to Israel and Palestine, the city will do what it can to suppress opposing ideas." ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) A Miami woman was sentenced last week for killing a man and injuring three others in a 2023 crash, according to First Judicial Circuit of Florida State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden. According to a news release from Maddens office, 23-year-old Jasmine Tashawri West was sentenced to over 20 years in state prison for the following charges: DUI manslaughter, two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury, one count of DUI with property damage and one count of driving while license suspended. Mobile police respond to crash at Halls Mill and McVay Jasmin West. (Escambia County Sheriffs Office Jail View) The release said West will serve four years of the sentence day-for-day, and her drivers license will be suspended for the rest of her life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The crash occurred on Dec. 30, 2023, on North Davis Highway. West drove across two lanes into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with an SUV, which killed the SUV driver and left three passengers with significant injuries. Florida Highway Patrol investigators said they learned Wests vehicle was traveling 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. Her blood alcohol level was analyzed and was almost twice the legal limit. WEATHER ALERT: Severe storms likely Saturday into Saturday night Ms. West had no business driving that day, Assistant State Attorney Christopher Patterson, who prosecuted the case, said. Her callous actions ended one life and forever harmed three others. A lengthy prison sentence is absolutely appropriate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FHPs Traffic Homicide Unit arrested West and conducted the investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. Michigan is among the states suing the Trump administration over moves made by the White House to wind down the U.S. Department of Education, including cutting more than 1,300 Education Department jobs Tuesday. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has signed onto a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, the Department of Education (DOE) and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon. Since returning to the White House in January, the Trump administration has aggressively sought to reduce the number of federal government employees. The DOE has been a longstanding target for some conservatives, and Trump is reportedly considering eliminating it altogether. McMahon said in a Tuesday statement the job cuts were a shift toward "restoring the greatness of the United States education system. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to issue an injunction against the layoffs. Nessel and 20 other Democratic attorneys general argue the Trump administration does not have legal authority to wind down the DOE, since the department was formed by Congress and would need congressional approval to be dissolved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A 53-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts also states the DOE remains vital to providing educational resources throughout the country, and students would be harmed if the DOE were allowed to be effectively shuttered. "Because neither the President nor his agencies can undo the many acts of Congress that authorize the Department, dictate its responsibilities, and appropriate funds for it to administer, the Presidents directive to eliminate the Department of Education ... is an unlawful violation of the separation of powers, and the Executives obligation to take care that the law be faithfully executed," the complaint states. More: Trump's layoffs at US Department of Education: What it means for Michigan's public schools While the Trump administration has moved to drastically shift how the federal government functions since taking office, Democratic attorneys general, including Nessel, have tried to act as a bulwark filing numerous lawsuits to block White House actions. Nessel has signed onto lawsuits and briefs to block the Trump administration from conducting mass layoffs of federal employees, withholding certain federal funding, halting work done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McMahon and advocates for lessening the DOE's reach argue educational oversight should return to the states. In Michigan, local school districts have oversight over curriculum, local budgets and other decisions, the Free Press reported this week, while the DOE oversees discrimination investigations in educational institutions, federal funding for vulnerable students and students with disabilities, national testing and more. According to the DOE, when Trump was inaugurated in January, the department had 4,133 workers. After job cuts and voluntary layoffs, the department's workforce totaled "roughly 2,183 workers," department officials said. McMahon said the job cuts won't stop the DOE from carrying out certain obligations, including administering federal student loans, Pell Grants and funding for students with disabilities. But educational advocates and the attorneys general who signed onto the lawsuit are concerned the job cuts will negatively affect students around the country. Nessel, in a statement, said, "(The) illegal action by the Trump Administration dismantles the Department of Education and leaves the nation rudderless to provide the necessary funding, support, and enforcement that all 1.4 million Michigan students rely upon. Its dangerous, reckless, and unacceptable. Along with asking a federal judge to block the layoffs, it also seeks an order to bar the DOE from implementing any Trump administration order that would "dismantle" the department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Free Press staff reporter Lily Altavena contributed with prior reporting. Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan joins lawsuit against White House over Ed. Dept. cuts LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Michigans Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a lawsuit filed Thursday by 21 states and the District of Columbia to stop the Trump Administration from dismantling the Department of Education. The federal lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts and says layoffs at the Department of Education are so severe that the department can no longer function, and cannot comply with its statutory requirements. It alleges the cuts will result in a loss or delay of federal money for public schools, and will leave the agency unable to administer college financial aid or enforce civil rights laws at schools, among other disruptions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the first piece of legislation that opened the doors for children with disabilities nationwide, said Nessel. Since then, students of all backgrounds have been guaranteed free appropriate public education. Yesterdays illegal action by the Trump Administration dismantles the Department of Education and leaves the nation rudderless to provide the necessary funding, support, and enforcement that all 1.4 million Michigan students rely upon. Its dangerous, reckless, and unacceptable. Dem AGs sue over Trump administrations Education Department layoffs A Department of Education spokesperson did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment. The department has insisted previously it will continue to deliver on its statutory obligations, despite the cuts. Some Education Department employees have left through buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees. After a layoff of 1,300 people announced Tuesday, the department will sit at roughly half the 4,100 it had when President Donald Trump took office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michigan State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice and State Board of Education President Dr. Pamela Pugh said this lawsuit is an important step in protecting students from the effects of massive job cuts I applaud Attorney General Nessel and her attorney general counterparts for challenging actions that will harm children in Michigan and nationwidein particular students with disabilities, poor children, children experiencing homelessness, and English learners, among others, who attend our schools in every corner of our great state and who depend on funding and support from the U.S. Department of Education to a far greater extent than other children, said Dr. Rice. The other states that have signed onto this lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News. Michigan House Republicans on Wednesday signaled the chamber won't be presenting nine bills passed in the previous Legislature to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, despite a recent court ruling partially siding with Senate Democrats' assertion the pending legislation should have made its way to the governor at the start of the year. Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, also said the House will appeal Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel's ruling to the Michigan Court of Appeals. While Patel sided with the merits of Senate Democrats' argument, she wrote in her Feb. 27 opinion it wasn't the court's role to enforce legislative rules and denied the Senate's request for mandamus relief. Legal experts previously told the Detroit Free Press that without mandamus relief, the ruling lacked any measure to force the House to present the bills to Whitmer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Senate Democrats and House Republicans have called the ruling a win for their respective causes. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, previously said the ruling required the House to present the nine bills to Whitmer by March 19, but Hall and the House signaled Wednesday they won't be doing so. Our legal review did identify some uncertainties that have created confusion and ambiguities after the recent court ruling," Hall said in a statement. "We obviously won the court case, but the House has taken the position that there is value in clarifying those questions for the sake of future precedent and to give the public a unified position. Thats why we will be going to the Court of Appeals to get everyone on the same page. House Resolution 41, adopted Wednesday in the Republican-controlled chamber, directs the House clerk to only present bills to the governor passed by both chambers of the current 103rd Legislature. Democrats had called on Hall to send nine bills passed late last year to Whitmer, arguing the process of presentation was a formality since the bills passed both the House and Senate. Hall and Republicans have said it was the responsibility of previous House leadership to ensure the bills were presented. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The stalled bills include measures to increase public employer contributions to employees' health care costs, allow corrections officers and other law enforcement personnel to opt in to the Michigan State Police retirement programs, exempt certain public assistance benefits from debt collection and allow Wayne County to ask voters to levy a millage to fund history museums in Detroit. House Democrats, who lost control of the chamber to Republicans in the November election, opposed the resolution adopted Wednesday. "At a time when our communities are looking for leadership and solutions for inactions, House Resolution 41 would do the exact opposite," said Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, during a floor speech Wednesday. "I urge this chamber to strongly consider the impact of what this would do for the people of Michigan." Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan House won't present bills passed last term to Whitmer The Michigan Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Heres a look at March 12, 2025, results for each game: Winning Daily 3 numbers from March 12 drawing Midday: 7-6-0 Evening: 8-6-5 Check Daily 3 payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Daily 4 numbers from March 12 drawing Midday: 6-7-7-9 Evening: 7-3-7-1 Check Daily 4 payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Lucky For Life numbers from March 12 drawing 05-08-10-20-44, Lucky Ball: 01 Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Poker Lotto numbers from March 12 drawing AS-3D-10D-6H-5S Check Poker Lotto payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Fantasy 5 numbers from March 12 drawing 11-14-24-28-32 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 03-04-16-23-38 Check Fantasy 5 payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Daily Keno numbers from March 12 drawing 05-08-12-15-17-18-19-21-25-27-32-35-44-46-50-51-54-64-66-67-73-77 Check Daily Keno payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Classic Lotto 47 numbers from March 12 drawing 13-18-21-23-33-39 Check Classic Lotto 47 payouts and previous drawings here. Winning Lotto Double Play numbers from March 12 drawing 18-19-24-27-39-44 Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results Are you a winner? Heres how to claim your lottery prize All Michigan Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes up to $99,999.99, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Michigan Lotterys Regional Offices. To claim by mail, complete a ticket receipt form, sign your winning ticket, and send it along with original copies of your government-issued photo ID and Social Security card to the address below. Ensure the names on your ID and Social Security card match exactly. Claims should be mailed to: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michigan Lottery Attn: Claim Center 101 E. Hillsdale P.O. Box 30023 Lansing, MI 48909 For prizes over $100,000, winners must claim their prize in person at the Michigan Lottery Headquarters in Lansing located at 101 E. Hillsdale in downtown Lansing. Each winner must present original versions of a valid government-issued photo ID (typically a drivers license or state ID) and a Social Security card, ensuring that the names on both documents match exactly. To schedule an appointment, please call the Lottery Player Relations office at 844-887-6836, option 2. If you prefer to claim in person at one of the Michigan Lottery Regional Offices for prizes under $100,000, appointments are required. Until further notice, please call 1-844-917-6325 to schedule an appointment. Regional office locations are as follows: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lansing: 101 E. Hillsdale St. Lansing; Phone: 844-917-6325 Livonia: 33231 Plymouth Road, Livonia; Phone: 844-917-6325 Sterling Heights: 34700 Dequindre Road, Sterling Heights; Phone: 844-917-6325 Detroit: Cadillac Place, 3060 W. Grand Blvd., Suite L-600, Detroit; Phone: 844-917-6325 Grand Rapids: 3391-B Plainfield Ave. NE, Grand Rapids; Phone: 844-917-6325 Saginaw: Jerome T. Hart State Office Building, 411 E. Genesee Ave., Saginaw; Phone: 844-917-6325 For additional information, downloadable forms, and instructions, visit the Michigan Lottery's prize claim page. When are Michigan Lottery drawings held? Daily 3 & Daily 4: Midday at 12:59 p.m., Evening at 7:29 p.m. Fantasy 5: 7:29 p.m. daily Poker Lotto: 7:29 p.m. daily Lotto 47: 7:29 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily Daily Keno: 7:29 p.m. daily This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Michigan editor. You can send feedback using this form. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Lottery Daily 3, Daily 4 results for March 12, 2025 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Businesses that depend on snow wanted the winter of 2023-2024 to become a distant memory. Michigan experienced its warmest winter in decades, leading to meager snowfall that helped cripple Michigans snow industry. It was so bad that a federal state of emergency was declared for 42 Northern Michigan counties. It was deemed a snow drought, which allowed local businesses access to no-interest to-low interest loans from the federal government. A drought is a drought: Lack of snow sparks federal loans for MI counties Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This winter, however, was different. Many locations doubled, if not tripled, last seasons snowfall totals. This led to a resurgence of Michigans winter economy and put a big smile on the faces of snow enthusiasts. In the video player above, Storm Team 8s Matt Kirkwood takes a closer look at the past two winters and checks in with some Michigan businesses. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TOPEKA (KSNT) A possible bomb cyclone storm system is set to spread severe weather across the Midwest. How will it impact northeast Kansas? According to 27 News Meteorologist Ely Millard, a storm system is expected to come off of the Rocky Mountains and rapidly intensify over the next 24 hours. Millard said most of the severe weather will happen east of our area but will likely elevate fire risk in northeast Kansas. Millard said northeast Kansas could see wind gusts up to 60 mph and maybe a few thunderstorms. He said dry air in place will be the main threat causing extreme fire conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dry 60 mph winds, the grass is dead and dormant, theres a lot of fuel, Millard said. Satanists plan Black Mass at Kansas statehouse, defying Governor A bomb cyclone occurs during the rapid intensification of a cyclone located between the tropics and the polar regions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, which is something that can occur over ocean waters, the agency says. The NOAA issued a fire weather watch for Topeka that will go into effect Friday morning and last until the evening. NOAA said humidity will be as low as 18% and that fires will catch and spread quickly. NOAA recommends against burning outside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For our latest weather forecast, click here. For more weather, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. With a key hearing before a federal judge looming that could stop or slow the Trump administrations transfer of more migrants to Guantanamo Bay, migrants the administration has already sent to Cuba have now been quietly returned to the United States, according to The Washington Post. Forty men were reportedly the last group of immigrants being held at the Guantanamo Bay naval station, the paper said Wednesday. The transfer reportedly occurred over the last two days, when the men were sent back to the U.S. and detained at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facilities in Alexandria, Louisiana. This is the second time that a group of immigrants has been sent to Guantanamo Bay and then abruptly relocated since President Donald Trump first issued his executive order in January directing an expansion of migrant operations at Guantanamo for high-priority criminal aliens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first time was in February, and according to The New York Times, that group consisted of 177 Venezuelans. They were not returned to the U.S. but instead were sent back to Venezuela. According to the Post, flight trackers indicated the latest transfers were carried out on ICE Air, an agency charter airline that typically flies people flagged for deportation out of the U.S. The airport in Alexandria has reportedly seen a whirlwind of ICE activity in recent weeks. The Times reported that ICE has processed at least 100 migrants from Guantanamo Bay through the Alexandria airport since March 2. Why the migrants were moved back to the U.S. is unclear. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment, and the White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost. But the shuffling comes as U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., prepares to hold a hearing Friday afternoon to weigh two civil lawsuits brought against the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One lawsuit was brought by the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem in February on behalf of the family members of people who were sent to Guantanamo. They alleged that detainees were being held incommunicado inside what was essentially a black box where they were unable to contact lawyers or family members. Nicholas will also weigh matters in Espinoza Escalona v. Noem. That case involves 10 migrants who are fighting their transfer to Guantanamo Bay while they are being held in facilities around the U.S., including in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and Arizona. They do not contest that they can be removed from the United States, but they do contest being deported to a country other than their country of origin. Venezuelan migrants deported from U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on Feb. 20, 2025. The United States deported 177 migrants from its military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, back to Venezuela. PEDRO MATTEY via Getty Images The Justice Department has claimed the deportations and attempted deportations to Guantanamo are constitutional and fall in line with the Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA. The Secretary of Homeland Security has the power to detain people overseas in U.S. facilities, according to prosecutors. Although the Justice Department has said the risk of removal for the 10 migrants in the Escalona case isnt imminent, the deadline for their removal is March 17, according to their lawyers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Immigrant advocacy and legal groups argue the removals could come at any time and are unconstitutional because they violate Fifth Amendment rights to due process. Further, the groups argue, the facilities where migrants are being held are under the indisputable legal sovereignty of Cuba, not the U.S. The Trump administration is indiscriminately and arbitrarily sending people to Guantanamo or trying to the advocates say. During the first wave of deportations, most of the more than 100 Venezuelans detained and labeled as the worst of the worst by the Trump administration did not have a criminal record beyond an immigration violation. Reports of abuse at Guantanamo have been circulating since February, and declarations filed in court have alleged that guards have violently beaten immigrant detainees. One detainee was allegedly beaten up so badly that he tried to harm himself twice in two weeks, court records show. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detainees have alleged that they are being taunted by guards, strip searched every time they use the restroom, and when some immigrants have resisted these searches, including orders to spread their buttocks, they have allegedly been assaulted in response. Others have claimed they have been restrained in a punishment chair. The Times reports that guards tasked with overseeing migrants at Guantanamo are both U.S. soldiers and ICE agents. Meanwhile, on Thursday, CBS reported that Trump plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 by Friday. The centuries-old wartime law allows the president to arrest, detain and deport anyone 14 years or older who comes from a country that the United States says is invading. It was famously used during World War II to incarcerate Japanese, German and Italian immigrants and confiscate their property. Only Congress is empowered to declare war, but the president does not need congressional permission to invoke the Alien Enemies Act under its invasion or incursion declarations. Trump said he plans to use the law to specifically target members of the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. The administration declared the gang a foreign terrorist organization in January. Related... Military pilots go so long without flying they are forgetting how to do it, whistleblowers claim. Pilots have warned more people will die unless the US armed forces fix chronic equipment shortages and reverse dangerous cuts to the amount of required flying hours. Some recruits can spend up to a year without a single flight because of aircraft and instructor shortages, current and former US military pilots told The Telegraph. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In some cases, ageing jets are flown until they are falling out the sky, they warned. The warnings came after an army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into American Airlines flight 5342 over Washington DC on Jan 29, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft. Elizabeth McCormick, former army Black Hawk helicopter pilot said reduced training time is the number one contributing factor to accidents. People are scared, she said. Things have to be instinctual and muscle memory, it doesnt take long for the skill to degrade. The rate of army aircraft crashes has surged four-fold over the past two years, making 2024 the most lethal year for aviation fatalities in a decade, according to army statistics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In total, there were 17 of the most serious incidents in the last 12 months to September leading to 12 deaths and multiple injuries. A 2024 army safety report said the average flight time has gone down by an estimated 300 hours per pilot over the last 10 years. The report said this may have contributed to a rise in accidents. Meanwhile, the government accountability office (GAO) found that in 2023 army pilots were failing to meet their goal of nine hours of flight time a month to remain proficient in specific aircraft in almost all cases. Last year, the navy also experienced its most class A mishaps, the most serious kind, while at sea in a decade, according to naval safety data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There were a total of 10 afloat mishaps, nearly double the average of 5.3 incidents a year over the past decade. Flight hours cut to the bare minimum A serving navy pilot said training is so intermittent, with breaks as long as a month between flights, that the time it takes for some pilots to amass enough flying hours to join the fleet has doubled. Some have still not qualified to fly F-18 fighter jets after four years of training. Its hard for a student to have proficiency when theyre flying zero hours some months, the pilot said. If youre not flying with proficiency, you are dangerous. Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a retired navy submariner, said the dramatic decrease was alarming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve cut our flight hours generally to the bare minimum, he said, which is increasing the likelihood of ending up with these kinds of accidents. One major factor driving down flying hours is a shortage of aircraft. A congressional report from 2024 found the armys number of manned aircraft most of which were helicopters has fallen by nearly a quarter since 2000, down from around 5,000 to 3,900. The navy has also suffered a shortfall of jets and helicopters. Fleet size strains equipment shortages An active duty Sikorsky Seahawk helicopter pilot said the reduced size of the fleet puts further strain on existing equipment shortages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When something breaks, they said, the first port of call is to take a spare part from another helicopter rather than waiting forever for a replacement. As a result, of the six aircraft available for their squadron of 30 pilots, only three are fully flyable. The rest are used as hangar queens and gutted for parts. Another former navy helicopter electrician said a maintenance worker in their unit once hot-wired a Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk that was needed for a mission, but was missing an igniter. According to Mr Clark, part of the reason for parts shortages is the phasing out of helicopters which are considered a legacy capability. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helicopters still have a role in logistics and transportation, but are unlikely to play a role in the future of warfare because they are vulnerable to portable ammunition and guns. This long-term ambition sees pilots squeezed in the short-term, and leaves the military ill-prepared, he said. A navy pilot who trains recruits in T-45 Goshawk jets told The Telegraph the aircraft is a deathtrap and claimed they are flown until they are falling out of the sky and people are getting hurt. The instructor linked a number of problems to the aircrafts really old Rolls-Royce-manufactured engine. As a result of delays, pilots are forced to come up with a quick fix, according to the instructor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can only quick fix it so many times before somebodys going to die, they said. Safety concerns contribute to retention crisis All military T-45 flights have been grounded on several occasions in recent years following a spate of engine malfunctions. Yet each time, the pause was lifted within a few weeks. The instructor said few colleagues trust inspections are carried out on training aircraft. They added that safety concerns have contributed to a retention crisis among senior pilots who are so fed up they leave after their mandated eight years of active service. We dont have enough instructors because theyre told to get into an aircraft that could potentially kill them and their student, they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: The F405 engine has achieved approximately two million flight hours worldwide, and our robust and active supply chain will keep the T-45 and other F405-powered platforms operational throughout their lifecycles. Shrinking teams of instructors are exhausted by flying for more than 60 hours a month four times the 15-hour minimum to remain proficient in the aircraft in order to try to give recruits enough training time. People do their one eight-year contract, they hate it, and they get out, they said. The retention issue leads to a lack of pilots who are trained enough to train other pilots. So then its a trickle down of not having enough instructors, not having enough students trained in time, and its a never ending cycle. Overspending Despite shortages of essential equipment, the pilots detailed staggering overspending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In one instance, the jet pilot claimed their previous command had been paying $50 a roll for military grade duct tape, which they said was no different from what is sold at the hardware shop for as little as $5. An army spokesman admitted the service is facing challenges in maintaining pilot proficiency and training because of personnel shortages of instructor pilots. The decrease in pilot proficiency is largely due to the retirement and departure of our senior aviators who were able to accumulate more flight hours because of numerous years of combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the spokesman said. They added it was a natural trend in the Army that does not alone present concern but does indicate a new baseline for total average flight hours. A former army command sergeant major said after US troops withdrew from Kabul in August 2021, they had been told that the aviation budget was cut so severely that aviators who were normally flying 1,000+ hours a year went down to less than 200 hours a year. Some were even struggling on making the minimum flight time requirements to stay current in the aircraft, they said. Funding cuts Recent aviation funding cuts remind Mr Clark of the 1990s hollow force which saw the US military suffer from deficiencies of personnel, equipment, maintenance and training as a result of budget restrictions following the Cold War. Last month, Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, urged the Pentagon to find $50 billion dollars in cuts as part of the Trump administrations drive to shrink federal spending. Pete Hegseth has urged the Pentagon to find $50 billion dollars in cuts - Kent Nishimura/REUTERS Mark Cancian, a retired marine colonel and senior adviser at CSIS, warned the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) may view military aviation as an easy target for spending cuts. If the administration pulls a lot of money out very quickly, then theres a risk that things could get worse, he said. The problem with Doge is they have a philosophy of move fast and break things, and sort it out later. If you move fast and break readiness, then youre going to have accidents and a lot of bad things happen. A spokesman for commander, naval air forces, said: The safety of our aviators and the readiness of our aircraft are top priorities for naval aviation. We are committed to addressing maintenance challenges, modernising training pipelines, and enhancing supply chain resilience to ensure mission success. Naval aviation is focused on delivering a combat-credible force by prioritising safety, maintaining fleet readiness, and sustaining a force that is trained, equipped, and ready to deter and win in any contested environment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. NORTH JACKSON, Ohio (WKBN) A good time was had Thursday in a Jackson-Milton kindergarten class. It had a pizza party. Pizza sauce was covering many mouths in the Jackson Milton kindergarten class of Mrs. Prozy, and the kids were loving it. Half of the pizza was pepperoni but the other half, plain cheese, was the favorite. The pizza was a reward. The kids collected donations of simple snacks and personal items for active duty military. Three large boxes were sent overseas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ask a veteran like reading teacher Bob Zanni how important that can be. Just to get anything, you know, while you were gone from anybody, just feels great, Zanni said. A thank you card was returned to the school. It came from Navy Special Boat Team 22, which is serving at an undisclosed location. Their card had short messages and first names only. Plus, the team included some pictures. It was nice to have pictures so the kids could see them, said teacher Sue Prozy. And, you know, the kids passed them around and looked at them. It makes you feel good that they got it and that they really appreciated it, Zanni said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The boat team paid it forward, also sending money for a pizza party to thank the children. The students wanted Jabs Pizza, a North Jackson favorite. The collection has been going on for 20 years. Military members have responded before, sending two American flags flown on missions overseas. This was the first time the students have gotten a prize like pizza. Prozys father served in the Army. I think its important to, you know, teach the kids to know that people sacrifice for us to keep us safe and and its nice to send something out to them and like, kind of pay it forward to people that you know protect us every day, Prozy said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think it just renews how important it is, yeah, to do that and to do it for the young kids, to show them how important it is. I think it just energized it just that much more, Zanni said. The teacher and class will send a thank you note back to the boat team and probably a link to this story saying thanks for the pizza party. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) A Milton man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. According to a news release from First Judicial Circuit of Florida State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden, Antonio Tankersley was found guilty at a jury trial on Dec. 12, 2024. Crestview man accused of touching girls genitals, tickling her: OCSO Antonio Tankersley. (Santa Rosa County Jail View) The Milton Police Department investigated the case, and Assistant State Attorney Julie Wells prosecuted the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. Defying projections and previous data, Milwaukee County's population is growing, according to recently released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2024, the county's population reached 924,740 people, as of July 1 the date which the federal agency uses for its annual release of estimates. This is an increase of 2,880 people or 0.31% from the 2023 data, which reported a population of 921,860. This population growth marks the first time that the county has seen a year-over-year population increase since 2014. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The City of Milwaukee's Mayor Cavalier Johnson previously said he wanted to grow the city population to a million. Census data from July 1, 2023, showed that the city had an estimated population of 561,385. City-specific population data for 2024 will be released in May. Changes in population are calculated by using current data on births, deaths, and migration and comparing those findings to the most recent decennial census. Despite the achievement, Milwaukee County has lost 15,000 residents since April 2020 and trails behind the state's overall population growth of 0.52%. The county also lags compared to other largely populated Wisconsin counties that saw a more substantial growth over the last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dane County saw an increase of 1.48%, with its population now reaching 588,347. Waukesha County's population jumped from 414,013 to 417,029 roughly a 0.73% increase while Racine County saw an population increase of 0.63% from 197,407 to 198,651. Growth in the Milwaukee metro area which includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties was also outpaced by a handful of other larger Midwest metro areas, such as Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Minneapolis-St. Paul. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County population grows for first time since 2014 Davion Steed, 22, was charged Thursday with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of 23-year-old Amyri Dior, a transgender woman living in Milwaukee, on Feb. 21. Prosecutors say the two had been in contact until the day before the shooting and it involved the suspect being blackmailed. Dior identified Steed to first responders by first name before she died, and authorities used messages between the two and phone data to determine Steed was the shooter, according to the criminal complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Steed is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 21 in the case. He is held on $500,000 cash bond, according to online court records. According to the criminal complaint: Prosecutors say the shooting occurred following Dior blackmailing Steed for money. The two had been in contact since early January and until the day before the shooting, according to phone data. Conversations on Facebook between the two show Dior and Steed were planning to meet on or around Valentines Day, but Dior told him she was transgender. Steed told officers he declined to meet with her at that point and said Dior then threatened him to send her money, or she would post about how he "did something to (her.)" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police compared Marquette University Police Department arrest photos of Steed to confirm the Facebook profile was his. Police reviewed phone records from the day before the shooting which showed that (Dior) is demanding $200 and that Steed said he was trying to get the money. Following the shooting, detectives interviewed two of Diors roommates, who were home during the shooting, which occurred near midnight. One said they heard someone, who authorities believe is Dior, enter the home and a subsequent gunshot. Authorities interviewed Steed on two occasions. He initially denied having a cell phone, knowing Dior, or ever meeting her. In a second interview, he confirmed with police he had a phone and had communicated with Dior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police later reviewed other phone records of Steeds from the day before the shooting and from about 20 minutes before the last conversation between he and Dior. They showed him asking someone if they still had bullets because he needed them badly. Dior's death is the latest homicide of a transgender woman in Milwaukee Diors death follows four murders of transgender women in Milwaukee between 2022 and 2023. Those murders led to the community advocates to call for stronger enforcement of hate crimes. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 335 transgender and gender non-conforming individuals nationwide have been the victims of homicide since 2013. The majority of those victims were Black and Latina transgender women. At least 32 transgender or gender-expansive people in the United States were killed in 2024 alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Diors killing is one of at least 17 reported homicides to Milwaukee police so far this year, according to police data. Thats down 23% from last year at this time and 35% from the year prior at this date. David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man faces murder charge in killing of transgender woman A Milwaukee man is facing multiple felony charges of fraud and money laundering after allegedly stealing mail from mailboxes and forging checks in Milwaukee, West Allis, and Wauwatosa. Its alleged Braxton Clarke, 27, attempted about $315,000 in fraudulent transactions, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Of that amount, police say Clarke was successful in depositing around $287,000. An arrest warrant for Clarke was issued Wednesday, according to online court records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clarke is facing eight felony counts, per the complaint. Those charges include: Conspiracy to commit forgery Conspiracy to commit theft of movable property (greater than $100,000) Conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of personal identifying information or documents Unauthorized use of personal identifying information or documents Conspiracy to commit money laundering Conspiracy to commit fraud against financial institution (over $100,000) Conspiracy to commit wire fraud against a financial institution Bail jumping If convicted on all counts, Clarke could face up to $150,000 in fines and/or up to 70 years in prison. Several offenses are being charged a single time as conspiracies, according to the complaint. The state reserved the right to issue each fraudulent transaction that occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the criminal complaint: Police say Clarke was involved in a check washing scheme from May 2024 through October 2024 where he stole mail from United States Postal Service blue drop boxes. From the mail he obtained checks and altered the "pay to" and "amount" fields to benefit himself and others. The investigation indicated the checks were frequently deposited into multiple different accounts which often were newly created and had little to no transaction history. Soon after the deposit, the fraudulent funds were withdrawn, police said. Clarke engaged in a broad scheme to defraud individuals and financial institutions by stealing and altering checks, the complaint said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Multiple financial institutions were impacted, including PNC Bank, Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan Chase Bank, One United Bank, and US Bank. Multiple reports of forged checks kick off an investigation West Allis police began receiving complaints about mail theft and forgery in July 2024. Reports indicated multiple people mailed checks between May and October that were forged and made payable to a different name. Clarke was suspected because many of the fraudulent checks were altered to be payable to him. Other names were used for some of the deposits. Law enforcement reviewed surveillance footage of USPS drop boxes and later identified Clarke as the one who accessed multiple mailboxes on different dates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities listed the following USPS drop boxes as where checks were removed, washed, and deposited to accounts linked to Clarke: 1655 North Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa 7440 West Greenfield Avenue in West Allis North 64th Street and West Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa South 75th Street and West Greenfield Avenue in West Allis 345 West St. Paul Avenue in Milwaukee In one instance at 11 p.m. on July 14, 2024, around 7440 W. Greenfield Ave., a male can be observed squatting near a mailbox in a manner consistent with someone opening the mail door to remove items, per the complaint. He then stands up and walks away. That same day, an individual had placed a check in the drop box for $411.82. That check was later deposited to an account under the name Braxton Clarke and was altered to the amount of $4,800.12. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another incident, at 10:56 p.m. Sept. 1, occurred at a Milwaukee County Transit System bus stop at South 74th Street and West Greenfield Avenue. A male got off the bus and was seen crouched by a nearby mailbox minutes later. Surveillance cameras followed the man until he boarded another MCTS bus. Video from inside the bus confirmed the same man was sitting on board pulling envelopes out of his backpack, opening them, and placing the contents in his pockets. The male had scanned his MCTS app for both rides and MCTS security identified the account with an email that belonged to Clarke. Authorities gather more evidence through search of apartment Police were also able to identify Clarke through other means, including evidence recovered during a search of his residence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police executed a search warrant on Clarkes apartment on Oct. 2. He was taken into custody and he was found to be in possession of two checks later confirmed to be written to other parties. He also had two phones which included photographs of himself as well as photos of post offices across Milwaukee County, checks, and bank account login information. Detectives found three more checks in the apartment which they determined to be washed. They also found a backpack consistent with the one worn by the male in the surveillance videos. Inside were Wisconsin payment vouchers and estimated income tax vouchers for multiple people. Clarke worked with others, police say Officials say Clarke combined with others in a wide-scale mail theft and check washing scheme. The complaint lists six others for whom Clarke had financial information. Police said Clarke had the financial account login information on his phone for multiple parties. Law enforcement believes Clarke was coordinating with others to distribute the checks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police also obtained a transcript of a text conversation between Clarke and an individual in Georgia in which the two discuss several investment banks and committing fraud. Similar alleged activity in the past, complaint states During all of these incidents, Clarke was out on bail after being charged with felony forgery, the complaint states. He was released on June 6, 2023, under the condition he commit no new criminal offenses. Additionally, in November 2023, Cudahy police conducted a traffic stop on Clarke and two others. Clarke was found to be in possession of marijuana along with numerous pieces of mail that were not his," according to the complaint. A black duffle bag was found in the Jeep with multiple pieces of mail from various addresses. Numerous checks issued by various people were found in the passenger side door storage compartment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on X @Redheadliner. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man facing 8 felonies in alleged months-long 'check washing' operation Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with child care providers at CLUES in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 1, 2023. (Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate, is going to host a town hall in Des Moines Friday as the first stop on a national tour heading through Republican-represented areas. The Des Moines town hall, set to begin at 3 p.m. Friday, is the first stop for the Minnesota Democrat as he plans to head to areas currently represented by Republicans in the U.S. House. The tour began after Walz made a post on the social media platform X responding to news that the House GOPs campaign leadership told members to stop holding town halls because of backlash over cuts taken by the Trump administration and Elon Musks temporary organization, the Department of Government Efficiency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats a shame. If your Republican representative wont meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will, Walz wrote on X earlier in March. Hell, maybe I will. If your congressman refuses to meet, Ill come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat em. Walz told CNN Wednesday that he and his staff were overwhelmed by the response to the post, with hundreds of local party leaders and candidates reaching out to hold events in their area. As the running mate to former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee who lost to President Donald Trump in the 2024 general election, Walz said he believed he could serve as a catalyst for Americans who feel unheard in the current political climate. I have a little more of a national voice, so I should bring it to them, and Im going to basically be handing the megaphone to them, Walz said to CNN. The event in Iowas 3rd Congressional District, currently represented Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, is already sold out, with a waitlist available. Walz also has a Saturday stop planned in Omaha, Nebraska, which is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. Both Nunn and Bacon won tight reelection races in 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other town halls are planned for Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio in coming weeks, with additional events expected to be announced. The Friday town hall will be the first time Walz has returned to Iowa since he joined Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart at the Iowa State Fair in 2023. Though many high-profile Democrats or potential 2028 presidential candidates have not yet returned to the campaign trail, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, has also visited Iowa as part of a national tour in 2025. In February, he spoke in Iowa City as part of his Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here campaign focused on criticisms of Trump and Musk. There's a long list of reasons to visit Minnesota. Just ask Anthony Edwards (and not the men of Love Is Blind.) Or you could ask Time. The magazine has included a Minneapolis restaurant and new sculptures around Detroit Lakes among its list of "The World's Greatest Places 2025." The list, which has sections for "places to stay" and "places to visit," includes Vinai, the long-awaited Hmong cuisine restaurant from Chef Yia Vang that opened in 2024. VinaiPhoto courtesy of Lauren Cutshall. It hasn't taken long for Vang's restaurant to become a must-do item in the Twin Cities. In the short time since opening, it has been included in the New York Times Restaurant List, Esquire's Best New Restaurants, Eater's Best New Restaurants, and Mpls St. Paul Magazine's best restaurants list, among other accolades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oh, and Vang was named Esquire's Chef of the Year. Vinai has been praised for its distinctive dishes, but also for its ability to tell stories through the menu. The restaurant is named after a refugee camp in Thailand where Vang was born, and the food tells the story of his family's journey from Laos to Minnesota. We are here to illuminate Hmong food, Vang told Time. If you want to know our people, get to know our food because our cultural DNA is intimately woven into the foods that we eat and how we eat it. Thomas Dambo's trollsCourtesy of Thomas Dambo The other Minnesota inclusion was Danish artist Thomas Dambo's "Alexa's Elixir," a series of massive trolls and other mythical objects scattered around the Detroit Lakes area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dambo has built his zero-waste trolls across the world, but the installation in Detroit Lakes, which opened last year, is his biggest to date, brought to life by the artist's team and hundreds of local volunteers. The locations of the trolls, giant rabbit, and other objects are kept under wraps, turning the experience into something of a treasure hunt. Visitors uncover the work through clues or a map. Vinai and "Alexa's Elixir" join a list of far-flung, enviable locales like the Stockholm Archipelago Trail, the Nintendo Museum in Uji, Japan, and the Eagle Hunter Cultural Center in Mongolia. Related: Southwest's new plan: End free checked bags, new basic economy fares, fewer points Community members are calling for the resignation of a superintendent after video surfaced of two educators appearing to assault a special needs student. The video, shared by Carissa Kozak Monday night, shows an interaction between her son Alex and two teachers inside the special education classroom at Millsap ISD. Alex, 10, is nonverbal and autistic, and has the mental development of a 3-year-old, his mother said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two teachers are captured yelling at, and swatting, the student after he reportedly was chewing on a plastic ice cream scoop. His mother said she didn't find out her son was involved in an incident until March. MISD Superintendent Edie Martin contacted her around Feb. 28 to let her know there had been an incident at the school, but would not say what had happened or if her son was involved, Kozak said. The video was reportedly captured Feb. 18. "My daughter had been reaching out to teachers, parents, trying to figure out what was going on," Mark Allen, Alex's grandfather, told the Weatherford Democrat. "She found [the person] who'd made the video, and my wife and daughter met and looked at the video." In a statement provided to the newspaper Tuesday, Millsap ISD said both educators were immediately placed on administrative leave, never returned to the classroom and are no longer with the district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Thursday, the educator certification status for both teachers was "under review by the TEA Educator Investigations Division," according to the Texas Education Agency's website. The district also said an investigator, conducting an outside investigation, recommended expanding a review or educator conduct to include campus administration, and that both the principal and assistant principal are now on administrative leave. The incident has been reported to local law enforcement, Child Protective Services and the State Board for Educator Certification. Sheriff Russ Authier confirmed Tuesday morning his department is formally looking into the complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We told [the sheriff's office] everything, that we wanted everything looked into the failure to report, the abuse, the verbal and physical abuse..." Kozak said. "Before we got this information, I had multiple calls with the superintendent. There's no way she didn't know my child was abused." Millsap ISD's next board meeting is set for Monday, March 24. A 'Rally for Alex' has been scheduled prior to the meeting, at 5:30 p.m., at the Millsap ISD Administration Building. "...We will gather ... to raise awareness of the horrific abuse suffered by Alex, a nonverbal child with autism, at the hands of his teachers - and the district's failure to act," reads the event description. "Millsap ISD must answer for their inaction, lack of transparency, and the unacceptable treatment of vulnerable students. We Demand the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Edie Martin for failing to protect students." State Board of Education District 11 representative Brandon Hall, in a statement Wednesday night, also called for Martin to step down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "When Superintendent Martin failed to notify Carissa Kozak that her child was the subject of an abuse investigation, she violated the rights of the parent," Hall said. "This obvious failure in leadership has inspired a complete lack of confidence from myself and the Millsap community that students are protected and parents are respected under her leadership. I am calling on Edie Martin to resign expeditiously so the Millsap ISD Board of Trustees can appoint an interim superintendent who will ensure student safety." Editors note: The Weatherford Democrat has omitted teacher names, as they have not yet been formally charged with any crime. (KRON) The Oakland Police Department is asking for the communitys assistance in locating a 16-year-old girl who was last seen on Monday. Leilani Bishop is described by police as 5 feet 6 inches tall and 140 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. Missing person Leilani Bishop (Photo: Oakland Police Department) The missing teen was last seen at 5 a.m. in the 3400 block of 66th Avenue carrying a gray backpack, OPD said. Anyone with information is asked to contact OPDs Missing Persons Unit at 510-238-3641 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. CHICAGO Authorities in Chicago are searching for a teen boy who went missing on Monday, and officers are asking for help from the public in the search. According to Chicago police, 13-year-old Ikeem Myles, went missing on Monday, March 10th, and has not been contacted since. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Officers said the teen was last seen near the 2800 block of South Throop Street in Bridgeport on the citys South Side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Myles, who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs around 119 pounds, has brown eyes and black hair. Photo provided by Chicago police shows 13-year-old Ikeem Myles who officials said went missing on Monday, March 10th, 2025. Officers said the teen was last spotted wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, blue sweatpants as well as black and white Jordan shoes. Authorities provided details on the teens disappearance in a news release sent out on Tuesday night. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines Anyone with information on the whereabouts of 13-year-old Ikeem Myles is asked to contact the CPD Area One Detective Division at 312-747-8380 or dial 911. Those with information that could help authorities in their investigation can also leave a tip at CPDtip.com. Tips can be filed anonymously. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) One of the Mississippi House lawmakers behind a bill that would require rape kits at all hospitals said the measure will live another day. On Wednesday, Rep. Dana McLean (R-District 39) presented the language of House Bill 928 and convinced colleagues in the Senate to put it in a similar bill (Senate Bill 2211). USDA halts $1B funding, affecting Mississippi food banks and schools Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It requires that all hospitals have an adequate supply of rape kits in their emergency rooms. And also, it requires that they have a staff member there who is available and capable of performing a rape kit examination on a victim, McLean stated. She said it takes courage to come to a hospital for help, but not having certain guidelines in place for victims could traumatize them again. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. Michelle Gralnick, one of the leaders of Missouri Alliance for Long-Term Care Reform, holds up a photo of her parents, who were hospitalized for sepsis a combined eight times during their nine years in Missouri nursing homes due to poor care (Clara Bates/Missouri Independent). Staffing at Missouri nursing homes ranks among the worst in the nation, with the latest federal data showing the state falls second-to-last for time spent caring for residents. Each nursing home resident in Missouri receives just 3.37 hours of nursing care per day, on average, according to quarterly data released by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services late last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Only Texas ranked lower. The staffing shortages imperil residents and create near-impossible working conditions, said nursing home staff and advocates who gathered at the Missouri Capitol Wednesday afternoon to urge legislative action. Katherine Stewart, who works at Highland Rehabilitation and Health Care and is a union steward, speaks to reporters Wednesday (Clara Bates/Missouri Independent). Katherine Stewart, who works at Highland Rehabilitation Center in Kansas City, told reporters she is sometimes one of only two staff members supervising a floor of around 40 nursing home residents. We are struggling, trying to get all of these people taken care of, Stewart said. How are we supposed to get our job done if we dont have enough staffing? At one point Stewart was attacked by a resident a 30-year-old placed in a nursing facility due to mental illness and two residents needed to intervene before a co-worker arrived. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michelle Gralnick, one of the leaders of a coalition of advocates called Missouri Alliance for Long-Term Care Reform, said understaffing results in residents failing to receive help when they press their call buttons. For instance, a resident pressing a call button may need help moving from their bed to the bathroom, and when they dont get the help, could soil themselves, Gralnick said. And delays in helping them clean up can cause skin irritation and pressure sores, she said, which untreated can lead to sepsis. So while, while somebody may simply say, Oh, well, whats the difference between 10 minutes and 20 minutes, or they can go in their pants, it really is a huge consequence, Gralnick said. And it has tremendous health implications, as well as issues of self-esteem and the person feeling helpless, powerless and demeaned. Gralnick said her parents were in nursing homes in Missouri for nearly a decade and were hospitalized a combined eight times for sepsis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group published a report Wednesday based on their analysis of federal data that highlights what they refer to as the states chronic understaffing of nursing homes, lack of proper oversight, financial misconduct and regulatory failures. In 2023, the St. Louis based nursing home Northview Village abruptly closed and residents were forced to move, bringing the issue of lack of financial transparency among nursing home owners into the spotlight. Understaffing can cause mistakes administering medication and issues honoring residents do-not-resuscitate orders, according to the report. Unsafe staffing to maximize profitability is often the culprit of facility quality issues, the report states. Almost 80% of Missouri nursing homes are for-profit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Missouri has long fallen toward the bottom of nursing home quality rankings. In a 2023 report from AARP, Missouri ranked 47th in terms of safety and quality. The report outlines legislative and funding changes to strengthen oversight and improve staffing levels. One bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Stephen Webber of Columbia, would increase oversight and create minimum staffing requirements statewide. This is an issue that every single Missourian should care about, because every single Missourian themselves could end up in a facility like this, Webber said. We can have a loved one ending up in a facility like this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Webbers bill would require heightened scrutiny of transfers in ownership of nursing homes, which advocates say now operate in a loophole that evades state regulatory review. It would also impose heightened ownership scrutiny in the licensing process and establish minimum staffing requirements, with penalties. It hasnt yet received a committee hearing. Its really, really important that if youre going to put a loved one in a healthcare facility, that you know who owns the facility, that youre entrusting the life of some of the most important people in your life to, Webber said, and that you know who is profiting and whos making financial decisions that impact a very vulnerable member of your family. Mandated staffing levels would not only help ensure resident safety, Webber said, but also worker safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked about obstacles, he said: This is a powerful industry. Theres people who make a lot of money on this, and obviously theyre not trying to give up those profits. Hell continue trying to spread awareness, he said, asking for hearings on the bill and pushing forward on it year after year. Things take time in this building, Webber said. We understand that and its a fight worth having. State Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins, a St. Louis Democrat, filed similar legislation. It has not been scheduled for a hearing, either. A few other bills filed this session seem to go in the opposite direction, in terms of regulating long-term care facilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dean Van Schoiack of Savannah, which has been voted out of committee, would reduce public disclosure of noncompliant long-term care facilities. If the noncompliance is corrected within 24 hours, and no resident experienced physical harm, then the state would not need to make public the noncompliance. Van Schoiack said right now, when theres a critical violation, facilities need to inform residents and families, whether they got it resolved or not. This gives them 24 hours to resolve this situation before they have to post it, he said during the committee hearing, and give notice only if nobody was injured. His bill also prohibits rules requiring facilities prospective employees to be assessed by physicians in order to be hired, which Van Schoaick said at the committee hearing was designed to reduce delays people face waiting for the physical and paying for it before they can get hired. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Missouri Assisted Living Association testified in support of the bill, along with a nursing home administrator that operates over 60 residential care facilities. Nicole Lynch, a coalition leader and policy director of VOYCE St. Louis, an advocacy group for long-term care resident, opposed the bill for what she called prioritiz[ing] facility interest over resident safety. It passed out of committee this week by a vote of 9 for and 4 opposed. (Two Democrats and two Republicans were opposed.) A bill filed by state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman for the third year in a row would make it so long-term care facilities in good standing dont need annual onsite inspections from the state. Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, said in last years committee hearing it was designed to reduce redundancy and paperwork for assisted living while maintaining high levels of care. The bill hasnt progressed this year, but last year was opposed by VOYCE as well as the union representing nursing home workers, and AARP, who said there should be more industry oversight, not less. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE As spring breakers continue to make their way to Florida, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has a stern message for parents. Chitwood says the county will not babysit youths who are misbehaving. He said a Georgia mother recently had to drive around 226 miles to pick up her 16-year-old daughter in Daytona Beach. Police said the teen was arrested after an alcohol violation on the beach. The sheriff says that if parents children do not respect local laws, they will have to come and get them. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Mar. 12MORGANTOWN For nearly 30 years it was the nerve center of Monongalia County's emergency response system. Now, the.82-acre property at 74 Mon General Drive is going back to its original owner. The Monongalia County Commission finalized a three-way agreement Wednesday that will return the former home of MECCA 911 to the Monongalia Health System. In return, Mon Health will convey four units in the condominiumized Heritage Professional Building, at 1197 Van Voorhis Rd., to the Monongalia County Building Commission. The building commission will sell the units and pass the proceeds on to the county commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "So, we're getting something out of a building that we're no longer using. The best use of it would be the Mon Health complex, so it's kind of a win-win situation, " Commissioner Sean Sikora said. The Mon General Drive property was deeded to the Monongalia County Building Commission by Mon General Hospital in 1996 for the specific purpose of building a new 911 call center. Over the following year, the building commission bonded approximately $700, 000 to construct the roughly 5, 360 square-foot, disaster proof 911 facility, which it then leased to the county commission to satisfy payment of the bonds. One of the stipulations of the 1996 deed transfer is that Mon General would retain the right of first refusal on the property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Monongalia County opened its new state-of-the-art MECCA 911 facility in the Morgantown Industrial Park last year, Mon Health System President and CEO David Goldberg inquired about bringing the property back into the hospital system. "I think it served its purpose well over the years, but it was outgrown. Certainly with their departure, we find that we could use that building as well. We're growing and it would serve a great purpose, " Mon Health Chief Legal Officer Ed Phillips told the commission. The commissioners noted the county was only interested in recouping tax dollars spent on the old 911 building, not the value of the land. "We agreed that you had given us the property, so we were just looking for something for that building that we put on it, " Sikora said. "It was just trying to get to that amount so we're doing our due diligence for our citizens, but also acknowledging the generous gift of the land years ago." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to information available through the county's GIS parcel viewer, the land was most recently appraised at $218, 300 and the building at $480, 900. It was one of several properties to benefit from significant infrastructure improvements when the $4.1 million Mon General Drive access road was completed in 2013. The road was the first project in the Monongalia County Development District (TIF) No. 3, also known as the Maple Drive TIF. Monongalia County Administrator Rennetta McClure said the four Van Voorhis Road units to be conveyed to the Monongalia County Building Commission come with an interest share in the surrounding parcel to include parking. In other news from Wednesday's meeting, the commission moved two properties 3376 Stewartstown Road and 5172 Earl L. Core Road to the county's complaint stage at the request of the Monongalia County Abandoned & Dilapidated Property Enforcement Agency. A screenshot from the now-deleted video that may cause a Montana influencer to lose her visa. A Wyoming and Montana social media influence is under fire and threat of visa removal in Australia after a viral video showed her separating a wombat baby from its mother. In the now deleted video, Samatha Strable, who said she grew up in Great Falls in a 2023 interview, picks up a baby wombat and runs with it down a road. Strable then released the wombat on the side of the road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wombats are a protected species in Australia and the incident quickly drew condemnation from government officials in the country. Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Sky News Australia that Strable, who goes by Sam Jones on Instagram and Threads, could be at risk of losing her visa. The department is now working through the conditions on her current visa and determining whether immigration law has been breached, Burke told Sky News, adding, I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual. Strable appears to have been in Australia for more than a year, according to her Facebook page. A recent post also shows her with a bear cub and its mother, dressed in a National Park Service uniform. Strables Instagram and Threads profiles include wildlife biologist in her biography, though its unclear if she held such a position with the Park Service. Strable, who was homeschooled in Great Falls and wrote pieces for the Tribune, is an avid hunter, posting as recently as February about hunting Axis deer. She was also at one time part of the Montana Game Wardens Charitable Trust Youth Hunter Program. Strable did not immediately respond to a request for comment. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) A prescription fraud scheme spanning D.C., Maryland and Virginia is under investigation by Montgomery County detectives, officials announced Thursday. The Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) said that a woman has been fraudulently picking up prescribed medications under other peoples names since March of last year. She has gone to Safeway and CVS pharmacies in D.C., Arlington, Alexandria and Kensington, MCPD noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you cut us off, youre cutting off our future: Students rally against federal spending plan that would slash DC budget Courtesy of the Montgomery County Department of Police. Courtesy of the Montgomery County Department of Police. Courtesy of the Montgomery County Department of Police. Courtesy of the Montgomery County Department of Police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Surveillance photos show the woman at the prescription counter at several Safeway and CVS pharmacy locations. Her vehicle was pictured as a white car, as seen below. Courtesy of the Montgomery County Department of Police. Anyone who can identify the suspect is asked to contact MCPD at 1-866-411-8477. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) More than 2,000 job seekers were at Mechanics Bank Convention Center on Wednesday looking for their next opportunity, and one of the largest employers is the Army National Guard. We get to meet a lot of people, and we actually become a family, said Staff Sgt. Jorge Saldana, with the Army National Guard. Saldana says the California National Guard is looking to fill 150 positions needed for state missions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Examples would be hurricanes, fires, floods, and any type of humanitarian aid, said Saldana. The Department of Human Services has been hosting the job fest for more than a decade. In 2025, there are nearly 100 companies desperately hiring. Juan Rocha with the Department of Human Services said, We always have a wide variety of employers from the military, from corrections to local employers. Librada Garcia wants to work for the California Department of Corrections. You get urine thrown at you, and stuff like that, but its likeI still want to do it, said Garcia. Missing woman survives 6 days trapped in wrecked car as drivers pass unaware Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Garcia wants to be a prison guard at Kern Valley State Prison, with the goal to become a warden. The pay? I dont know, said Garcia. I dont really care about the pay. Its just something I wanted to do. The CDCR is also one of the largest employers on site, looking for much more than guards. Ashley Perez with the CDCR said, We need people to work in our institution for our support. So, that would be plumbing, electrician, materials, store supervisors. So, these positions need help. Kern Medical, Urgent Care, Dirt Dog, and the DEA need to fill positions ASAP. Harris BBQ is offering more than a trip for your tastebuds with their own job fair. They need to fill 30 spots for the new location off Buena Vista Road, which is expected to open soon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dan Kenwood is the Harris BBQ general manager. Were shooting for March 31, but its probably going to be more like middle April, said Kenwood. Unemployment was at 8.3% in December for Kern County, according to the California Employment Development Department. That percentage is higher than both the national, and state averages. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News. A sprawling rental community may soon be coming to east Fort Worth. City zoning commissioners on Wednesday advanced plans for a 308-unit cottage style development spread across 31.3 acres of bramble and grass along Beach Street, just beside Gateway Park. The project, the brainchild of Arizona-based residential developer NexMetro, promises dog parks, a common lawn space and a pool. The requested cottage style multi-family homes will be well situated to add to the population base in this area that may spur future commercial development, the firm wrote in its filing. The addition of cottage homes further adds a level of diversity to the Citys economic base and more options for housing. City officials agreed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think this is a good project, said zoning commission chair Rafael McDonnell shortly before the body unanimously recommended that the city council approve the undertaking. Im one of those folks that remembers some of the tortured history that this particular plot of land has taken in the twists and turns over the years, so its good to see this. Past efforts to completely rezone the plot largely designated for duplexes for industrial use ran aground in 2022. City zoning staff found the latest proposal compatible with the surrounding area single-family homes and auto repair shops to the west and north, a truck lot to the east, and green space to the south. Some east Fort Worth residents expressed their support at Wednesdays hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were pleased that this development has come along, said Daniel Haase, a homeowner and community leader in the Central Meadowbrook neighborhood. We believe that its a good product for this location. The case now heads to city council, which will make a final decision on the project. More than 60 Texas-based U.S. Education Department employees were laid off Tuesday as part of the Trump administration's efforts to slash the federal workforce, according to a document sent to union officials by the education agency. The Education Department a 45-year-old agency that President Donald Trump and its newly appointed head Linda McMahon have pushed to dismantle terminated at least 25 attorneys in Texas specializing in civil rights. It also shuttered its Dallas office, laying off 27 employees; and terminated equal opportunity specialists in Fort Worth, Dallas and Justin, a city north of Fort Worth; compliance review specialists in Midlothian and Cedar Hill; a statistician in Tomball; and an information technology specialist in Conroe. One Austin-based employee, an attorney, was terminated. A student excitedly examines a page as kindergarten teacher Imelda Cruz reads to her class last year at Washington Irving Dual Language Academy. The University of Texas at San Antonio will use a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help develop bilingual educators. The federal document outlining the terminations, obtained by the American-Statesman, showed that at least 64 of the 969 workers represented by American Federation of Government Employees Local 252 who were laid off were based in Texas. This count does not include non-union employees affected by the layoffs or anyone who might have taken a voluntary buyout. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a news release Tuesday night, the federal department said the total terminations account for almost 50% of the agency's workforce, or nearly 2,000 workers. About 1,300 employees were laid off Tuesday, and nearly 600 took buyouts in recent weeks. Some employees will be placed on administrative leave as soon as March 21, though workers will be paid until June 9. McMahon, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed as education secretary March 3, said the workforce reduction is part of a commitment to efficiency, accountability and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most. Education advocates, however, say the cuts will affect critical services, including civil rights accountability, protection for students with disabilities and distribution of federal aid and grants. 'Eliminated protection' This is not right, Sheria Smith, president of the local AFGE 252 union, said at a news conference Wednesday. What this administration has done is eliminated oversight, eliminated protection of American students, of Texas students, from K all the way to higher education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal department operates key funding programs for K-12 students who are in special education, low-income, bilingual, migrant and at-risk. Smith was terminated from her position at the Education Department civil rights office in Dallas, which folded with the layoffs. The Dallas office, which Smith described as an accountability barometer for schools, served as a place where parents and students could access help with civil rights issues. The office received and reviewed thousands of civil rights complaints a year from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, including claims dealing with sexual assault; gender, race or religious discrimination; and accommodations for students with disabilities, medical needs or learning challenges, Smith said. If the schools were not following the law, the office would mediate a solution between all parties. The Dallas office was one of six that closed across the nation, union officials said. The concern is that if you get rid of that entire office, where does all of that work go? said Brittany Coleman, a chief shop steward at the union and an attorney who was terminated from the Dallas office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coleman is unable to contact students and parents in ongoing cases or share information about next steps, she said. She is not aware of any Education Department plan to replace the services the offices offered, and she said she fears students will face the brunt of the impact. Project 2025, a nearly 900-word presidential transition plan published by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, calls for the federal administration to dismantle the Education Department and redirect more resources to the states. Coleman expressed dismay about the Trump administration painting the Education Department as wasteful and ideological, which she called a gross mischaracterization. We are here to make sure that children have equal opportunity to educational outcomes and that they can be the best that they can be. We are not here to tell school districts what to teach in their classrooms, what not to teach, Coleman said. It's very frustrating and disappointing to hear that from people who are supposed to be leading our agency and leading our country who don't have a full understanding or any understanding of what we actually do. 'It takes people to run these programs' Reducing the number of experienced people who administer education funding such as money provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Title I, which largely serves low-income students is bound to affect services, Texas State Teachers Association spokesman Clay Robison said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robison also worried that staff reductions could reduce the federal government's response to civil rights complaints and legally mandated oversight of civil rights laws. "It takes people to run these programs," Robison said. "They don't operate by themselves. Texas schools are already underfunded. This is a major source of critical funding for these programs." Texas received $14.7 billion in public education funding from the federal government in the 2022-23 school year, the most recent year with complete data, according to a February analysis by the Statesman. The Hays school district, which gets about 10%-12% of its funding from the federal government, hadn't heard about any changes as of Wednesday, spokesman Tim Savoy said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The district's more pressing concern was with state funding, he said. "Without relief and adequate state funding this year, districts will have to make very difficult budgeting decisions for next school year because most fund balances, including that of Hays CISD, are significantly strained," Savoy said. Robison also worries that a federal restructuring of public education funding that puts more control in state hands could mean a shift in Texas on priorities away from the most in-need students. "We fear for the future of these programs if they're put in the hands of the leadership of the state of Texas," Robison said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, a Texas Education Agency spokesman said the agency isn't aware of any changes to the federal Education Department's funding distributions, but it would inform schools of any adjustments if or when those are handed down. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: More than 60 laid off in Texas as part of education department layoffs GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) Larger and more powerful fireworks might soon be legal in North Carolina. A new bill proposed would allow the purchase, sale and use of fireworks similar to the ones that are legal in South Carolina right now. Senator Amy Galey from Alamance County introduced this bill. She wants to get in place by next year to mark the 250th birthday of America, so everyone can celebrate in a big way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asheboro woman finds man sleeping in vehicle; Homelessness is getting worse every day Firefighters Concerned But fire departments have some big concerns that this could lead to more injuries and fires. Personally, I wouldnt. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, said Emma Davis from Greensboro. I think it would be wonderful for us fireworks lovers, said Charley Mock from Greensboro. We love fireworks, said Larue Moore from Greensboro. If approved, there would be a five percent tax on the purchase. I dont know if I would be first in line, but I would be in line, Mock said. Its more revenue for the state, but at what cost? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That would put a lot of product in the hands of people that may have not been able to use fireworks of that size, and that is where fire departments have concern, Greensboro Fire Marshal Timothy Henshaw said. Henshaw said there are a small number of burns and brush fires that happen on the big holidays. It has a limited use here now, and so by expanding it, we can be for certain the risk would increase, Henshaw said. Fire marshals across the state work together to make their voices heard by lawmakers. It is our duty to provide information and advocate and educate for what we are sworn to do as fire officials across the state, Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Chris Wells said. Going to be Controversial Wells is also chair for the Legislative Committee of the Fire Marshals Association and wants to meet with Galey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have been working on this bill for five years, Galey said. She said this bill is about fun, but she does expect some challenges ahead. They are inflammable. They explode It is going to be controversial, but I dont think that is anything we cant work through, Galey said. If you have strong feelings about this one way or the other, you can contact your state representatives and your local leaders. Even if the bill passes, there could be separate rules or ordinances in your community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) More layoffs are coming in the weather world. Associated Press sources said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, is set to lose another 1,000 employees amid the Trump administrations purge of the federal workforce. The cuts equal out to about 10 percent of their total 10,029 employees. LOCAL NEWS: Congressman Tom Cole weighs in on NWS, NOAA firings The cuts come after nearly 900 probationary workers were laid off in late Feb. to an agency that had been already considered understaffed. The situation has sparked protests in Norman as recent as a week ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres just a lot of uncertainty in both buildings right now, a protestor named Liam said at the March 7 protest. The work that we do is saving so many lives, saving so much property damage from happening, protestor Ameli Urquhart said at the March 7 protest. Along with weather forecasting and storm warnings, NOAAs works is crucial to safety for air travel, sea navigation, and fisheries. Their work also tracks things like solar flares that can damage the electrical grid. This is all including work they do here in Oklahoma. We do aviation forecasting for nine airports across the area. Climate information, any type of weather information for this area were responsible for. And we also produce a seven day forecast for the entire area, too, Rick Smith said back in February. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LOCAL NEWS: Norman residents concerned about safety of OU duck pond Former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad told the AP that the cuts are being ordered without guidance on what weather services the White House believes the U.S. can do without. Meanwhile at the Oklahoma State Capitol theres some concerns of fallout down the road. I dont know the end game, I really dont, except if its privatization you can make a little bit of money off this for somebody who wants to go into that business, Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman said. It shouldnt be a business, this is a government service. We reached out to both U.S. Rep. Tom Cole and Sen. James Lankfords office for comment. We are waiting to hear back. Cole recently released a statement on the first round of cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. TIGARD, Ore. (AP) Gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon on Thursday for the second time in a week in ongoing vandalism and protests around the country since CEO Elon Musk became a key figure in the Trump administration. Around 4:15 a.m., more than a dozen shots were fired around the electric vehicle dealership in the Portland suburb of Tigard, according to the Tigard Police Department. The shooting caused extensive damage to cars and showroom windows, police said. No one was hurt. A similar shooting happened on March 6 at the same location. Police said they continue to work with federal partners at the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives to thoroughly investigate. An ATF explosive detection dog has been used after both shootings to help search for shell casings, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tesla has been a target for demonstrations and vandalism in the U.S. and elsewhere this year. People have protested Musks Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has been moving to slash the size of the federal government. Police said over the weekend that six Tesla Cybertrucks at a dealership in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood were spray painted with swastikas and profanity directed at Musk, KING-TV reported. On Sunday, four Cybertrucks were destroyed in a blaze in Seattle, but investigators have not said if the fire, or fires, were intentionally set. On Tuesday, the Seattle Police Department said it was working with federal partners to investigate the incident. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was buying a new Tesla to show his support for Musk as the billionaire's company struggles with sagging sales and declining stock prices. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) 23 local university students will soon experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing in New York City. On Friday, March 14, Morningside University choral music students and staff will fly out to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall. Once there, they will practice classical and multicultural pieces, among others, over the course of three days. The students will eventually perform in front of an audience. Remarkable Women: Renae Hansen helps McCook Lake in a time of need Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In total, 170 people will be on stage, and one Morningside student says shes excited to perform. I think its gonna be wonderful, Im so excited, junior soprano Zariah Strong said. Music is just such a beautiful language, you can connect with so many other people. We went to South Africa in May, and singing with people from that country was amazing, and being able to connect through music. Its such a wonderful thing, and it makes my heart swell. So to be able to do that with other people from even in our country is going to be great. The students and the director of choral activities will perform on March 17 and return home the next day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Russian forces have retaken the small town of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk border region from Ukrainian troops, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday. There has not yet been confirmation from the Ukrainian side. Sudzha was the most significant population centre in the Kursk region to come under the control of Ukrainian forces during their surprise advance into Russian territory last August. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine was able to capture more than 1,000 square kilometres in Kursk. For months, Russia has been waging fierce battles including with the support of North Korean soldiers to reclaim the territory. Russia's efforts have paid off, with Ukraine recently withdrawing from several villages. (iStock / Getty Images Plus) Working-age adults who live in small towns and rural areas are more likely to be covered by Medicaid than their counterparts in cities, creating a dilemma for Republicans looking to make deep cuts to the health care program. About 72 million people nearly 1 in 5 people in the United States are enrolled in Medicaid, which provides health care coverage to low-income and disabled people and is jointly funded by the federal government and the states. Black, Hispanic and Native people are disproportionately represented on the rolls, and more than half of Medicaid recipients are people of color. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nationwide, 18.3% of adults who are between the ages of 19 and 64 and live in small towns and rural areas are enrolled, compared with 16.3% in metro areas, according to a recent analysis by the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. In 15 states, at least a fifth of working-age adults in small towns and rural areas are covered by Medicaid, and in two of those states Arizona and New York more than a third are. Eight of the 15 states voted for President Donald Trump. Twenty-six Republicans in the U.S. House represent districts where Medicaid covers more than 30% of the population, according to a recent analysis by The New York Times. Many of those districts have significant rural populations, including House Speaker Mike Johnsons 4th Congressional District in Louisiana. Republican U.S. Rep. David Valadao of California, whose Central Valley district is more than two-thirds Hispanic and where 68% of the residents are enrolled in Medicaid, has spoken out against potential cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive heard from countless constituents who tell me the only way they can afford health care is through programs like Medicaid, and I will not support a final reconciliation bill that risks leaving them behind, Valadao said to House members in a recent floor speech. U.S. House Republicans are trying to reduce the federal budget by $2 trillion as they seek $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. GOP leaders have directed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to find $880 billion in savings. Trump has ruled out cuts to Medicare, which covers older adults. That leaves Medicaid as the only other program big enough to provide the needed savings and the Medicaid recipients most likely to be in the crosshairs are working-age adults. But targeting that population would have a disproportionate impact on small towns and rural areas, which are reliably Republican. Furthermore, hospitals and other health care providers in rural communities are heavily reliant on Medicaid. Many rural hospitals are struggling, and nearly 200 have closed or significantly scaled back their services in the past two decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, there were far fewer working-age adults on the Medicaid rolls: The program mostly covered children and their caregivers, people with disabilities and pregnant women. But under the ACA, states are allowed to expand Medicaid to cover adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level about $21,000 a year for a single person. As an inducement to expand, the federal government covers 90% of the costs a greater share than what the feds pay for the traditional Medicaid population. Last year, there were about 21.3 million people who received coverage through Medicaid expansion. One GOP cost-saving idea is to reduce the federal match for that population to what the feds give states for the traditional Medicaid population, which ranges from 50% for the wealthiest states to 77% for the poorest ones. That would reduce federal spending by $626 billion over a 10-year period, according to a recent analysis by KFF, a health research group. Nine states Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia have so-called trigger laws that would automatically end Medicaid expansion if the feds reduce their share. Three other states Idaho, Iowa and New Mexico would require other cost-saving steps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement States will not be able to cover those shortfalls, said Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights at the State Innovation Exchange, a left-leaning nonprofit that advocates on state legislative issues. Its not cutting costs. It is putting people in real danger. Studies have shown that Medicaid expansion has improved health care for a range of issues, including family planning, HIV care and prevention, and postpartum health care. Another idea is to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work. That would affect an average of 15 million enrollees each year, and 1.5 million would lose eligibility for federal funding, resulting in federal savings of about $109 billion over 10 years. In heavily rural North Carolina, which has a trigger law, there are about 3 million people on Medicaid, and 640,000 of them are eligible under the states expansion program. About 231,000 of the expansion enrollees live in rural counties. Black residents make up about 36% of new enrollees under the states eligibility expansion, but only about 22% of the states population. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brandy Harrell, chief of staff at the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation, an advocacy group based in Cary, North Carolina, that focuses on rural issues, said the proposed Medicaid cuts would deepen the existing disparities between white people and Black people and urban and rural residents. It would have a profound effect on working families by reducing access to essential health care, increasing financial strain and jeopardizing childrens health, Harrell said. Cuts could lead to more medical debt, and also poorer health outcomes for our state. Two of the North Carolina lawmakers with about 30% of their constituents on Medicaid, U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx and Greg Murphy, represent heavily rural districts in western and coastal North Carolina, respectively. Foxx has supported GOP budget priorities in social media posts. Murphy, a physician and co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus in the House, has focused his statements on taking care of what he says is abuse and fraud in the Medicaid system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein last week sent a letter to U.S. House and Senate leaders of both parties, saying the states rural communities disproportionately rely on Medicaid and that cuts would upend an already fragile landscape for rural hospitals in the state. The damage to North Carolinas health care system, particularly rural hospitals and providers, would be devastating, not to mention to people who can no longer afford to access health care, Stein wrote. In Nebraska, 27% of residents live in rural areas, and state lawmakers are already scrambling to make up for reduced federal Medicaid funding. Dr. Alex Dworak, a family medicine physician who works at an Omaha health clinic that serves low-income and uninsured people, said a dearth of health care options in rural Nebraska already hurts residents. He has one patient who drives up to three hours from his rural community to the clinic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It wouldnt be just bad for marginalized communities, but it would be worse for marginalized communities because things were already worse for them, Dworak said of proposed Medicaid cuts. It will be an utter disaster. Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein and Statelines Barbara Barrett contributed to this report. Scott S. Greenberger can be reached at sgreenberger@stateline.org. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE A mother is furious after a cellphone video showed her 5-year-old son with autism allegedly being abused by his teacher, while a paraprofessional also screamed at him. The Clayton County School District told Channel 2 Action News that the educators are no longer on its payroll. But Kelsey Bloodsaw, the mother of the child, isnt happy with how the school district handled this incident. Bloodsaw told Channel 2s Tom Jones that anyone who watches the video should immediately realize that educators should never be in a classroom again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You gonna shut your mouth. Get over here. Get over here, the video shows a woman alleged to be a teacher at Riverdale Elementary screaming at the boy as she puts her hands on him, yanking him around. Close your mouth, she said, as the boy constantly screams because of whats going on. The screams literally tore my heart up, Bloodsaw said. She said it was painful to watch and hurtful to see a paraprofessional scream at her son during the incident back in January. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] I feel like my son was being tortured. He was humiliated. He was in pain. He couldnt defend himself, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bloodsaw said when the principal first told her about the alleged abuse, she didnt believe it. Thats because she had an excellent relationship with the teacher. She said she would visit the classroom and even talked on the phone with the educator. So when she heard what happened, she was concerned about her and called her. She was like Oh, theyre lying on me. Just basically denying everything, Bloodsaw said. Then she said she learned someone recorded the incident. Bloodsaw said she filed an Open Records Request and got the video. She was stunned at what she saw. I was really upset. I was really hurt. I cried. I told my mom, Bloodsaw said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The school district sent a statement that said after a thorough investigation, the teacher and the paraprofessional no longer work for the district. Bloodsaw said someone with the district told her the pair was given the option to resign or be fired. That didnt sit well with her. It shouldnt be no choice. Youre fired. Thats it. Revoke your license, Bloodsaw said. She also thinks the pair should be arrested. Jones talked to her son. What do you want to be when you grow up? he asked. Spiderman, the boy replied. While his mother wants the educators arrested, the child has sympathy for his now former teacher. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was like Mommy, dont send her to jail, the mother said. Still, Bloodsaw said she is working to get charges filed against the educators. The school system said it wants to assure the community it has standards for professionalism and student safety. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] The mother of a murdered 15-year-old from Peachtree City said she can finally breathe a couple weeks after the second anniversary of her daughters death and the culmination of the third trial in her daughters case. Madison Gesswein died after being shot on Feb. 21, 2023, at her apartment complex in Peachtree City. Her mother, Nancy Finch, discovered her daughters body the next morning around 6 when she was getting up to start her day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finch told Channel 2s Eryn Rogers that it was the first day of winter break for Fayette County. Her daughter was a freshman at Whitewater High School. She expected her daughter to be sleeping in; however, she said she noticed the light from her daughters bedroom looked odd, so she went to check on her. Her bedroom door was locked, and her bedroom door has never been locked, Finch said. I kept knocking and getting no answer. She said she got a screwdriver and opened the door. When she walked in, she said her daughter looked like she was sleeping, but she noticed her bedroom window was open. The blinds looked like they had almost been ripped from the ceiling, Finch said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said thats when she went to her daughter. I went to shake her, and her skin was so cold, Finch said. When I was finally able to move her, it was very obvious that she was no longer alive. Finch said she knew immediately who was responsible. Investigators later arrested Jacobean Brown and two other Whitewater students, Justus Smith and Yeshua Mathis, on murder charges. In August, a jury found Brown guilty in Gessweins death after a week-long trial, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison. Prosecutors said they showed the jurors text messages between the victim and the defendants, who were 18 at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said the three teens went to Gessweins apartment, where Brown snuck in through her bedroom window. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Brown shot the 15-year-old in the head while she was lying on her bed, according to the DAs office. Finch said Smith helped Investigators find the 9 mm pistol with an extended magazine that was hidden in a tree hole on a residential street in Fayette County. She also said Mathis brought cleaning supplies. Im very happy that Jacobean will spend the rest of his life in jail not because I wish that upon anybody but because it makes sure other women are safe, Finch said. These boys are predators of women. Jacobean specifically had a history of being violent towards women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finch said she had even opened her home to Brown. She said he stayed with her and Madison off and on since November of 2022. When a child comes to you and says I cant go home. Its not safe. I dont have anywhere else to go, you extend them a place to stay, Finch said. But, she said she witnessed his temper during that time, especially after Browns father was murdered just days before he shot Gesswein. Finch said Brown took a light from the world. It was like she was a ray of sunshine, Finch said. When she walked in a room, you knew where she was, and people were attracted to it Shes really one of the best things youd hope to see in people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since the shooting, Finch has had to relive her pain through three separate trials. After Brown learned his fate in August of 2024, a jury found Mathis not guilty in November, and Smith is currently serving eight years of probation. His trial ended two weeks ago, and Finch even testified on his behalf. I really dont believe Justus had any idea of how things were going to happen, and as soon as things went south, he tried to do the right thing He was the only one of the three who ever cooperated with police and gave them any type of credible information, Finch said. However, the weight of everything started taking its toll on Finch who is also the caregiver for her adult son with autism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can feel the massive hole in your heart from the loss, and youre still expected to work, and pay bills, and talk to people, Finch said. Finch said after finding her daughters body, she started battling depression and anxiety. Then, she had to meet with police, district attorneys, and attend the trials. Once I started losing money from days off work, there wasnt any catching up, Finch said. Finch was served an eviction notice for February 24. The date was three days after the second anniversary of her daughters death, and the same day as the last day of Smiths trial. A lot of asking God for help and saying I cant carry this I really pushed the possibility of eviction almost out of my head because comparatively, it just didnt matter, Finch said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats where her former pastor and church family at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fayetteville stepped in to help. They started a GoFundMe campaign to help Finch and her son keep a roof over their head. We want to keep that going so this can be a rental assistance program for Nancy, Pastor Justin Kollmeyer said. She doesnt want someone to just pay her rent month after month, but if she comes short, then that fund will be there to make up the difference for a year or so. Finch said it was an answered prayer. Thats probably the most joy Ive felt other than the day I walked out of the courthouse for the last time, Finch said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, she said she and her son can figure out what life looks like as a family of two, but she said she has peace knowing Gesswein impacted many lives in her short time. It was time for her to go back, Finch said. That doesnt make our pain any less. If youd like to help, you can donate here. RELATED STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A mother will not spend time behind bars after pleading guilty to a child-endangering charge. Brianna McNeese, 29, was sentenced by Judge Cynthia Rice to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Rice stated McNeese received probation because she had no previous criminal record, showed real remorse and had a low risk of reoffending. McNeese pleaded guilty Dec. 18, 2024, to one count of third-degree felony child endangering. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An investigation by Niles police found that McNeese and her husband, Dillon Gallagher, fell asleep on a couch with their then 7-week-old son, who had then been mauled by a German Shepherd in the home. The infant spent an extended time recovering at Akron Childrens Hospital with numerous life-threatening injuries, including a lacerated liver and other internal wounds. Court officials quoted medical personnel at the hospital who believe the child, now almost 1 year old, will make a full recovery. Gallagher also pleaded guilty to the charge of child endangering in the case. Court records show he is set to be sentenced April 9. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. A mother-of-two deceived her partner out of 25k by faking terminal cancer for five years. Laura McPherson, 35, told company director Jon Leonard that she had cervical, ovarian, colon, bowel and breast cancer and even convinced her 12-year-old daughter she was dying, Derby Crown Court heard. However, she used almost 25,000 in funds that Mr Leonard, 44, believed were being put towards her treatment to have breast enhancement surgery and spa days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McPherson, from Derby, was spared jail on Wednesday despite being found to have embarked on an elaborate tale of deceit. Judge Jonathan Straw handed her a community order for her deception, which he said was motivated by a desire for attention and money. You told those closest to you that you had been diagnosed with and were suffering from terminal forms of cancer, he said. It is difficult to imagine how an individual could be so calculating and cruel to those that loved and cared for her. Daughter worried mum would die McPherson met Mr Leonard, who ran a company that raised 39 million for charitable causes, in 2011 and six years later announced she had cervical cancer, the court heard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told her friends and family, including her daughter, then 12 and now 16, about the so-called diagnosis. Mr Leonard told the court: The school would regularly call me to say she [her daughter] had been crying and upset because she was worried her mum would die. Siward James-Moore, prosecuting, said McPherson always insisted on attending appointments alone and that between 2018 and 2022, she claimed to have ovarian, colon, bowel and breast cancer. In 2018, she persuaded Mr Leonard to buy her a 30,000 Rolex watch to celebrate after she claimed to have had the all-clear. In 2020, she claimed to have had a hysterectomy and then booked into a private clinic for a mastectomy, only to instead have breast augmentation surgery at Mr Leonards expense. I dont think Ill ever trust people Her deceit was uncovered after Mr Leonard dropped her off at the Royal Derby hospital in December 2021 for treatment on her cervix only to later discover she was never admitted and had instead ordered a taxi to Coventry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Leonard then called the private clinic where she had claimed to have had the mastectomy to pay the 7,000 bill. But he was instead told the treatment she received was breast augmentation surgery. The emotional toll this had taken on me is difficult to express in words, Mr Leonard told the court. I was left with deep emotional scars and dont think Ill ever trust people. The couple separated in 2022 and McPherson, who now runs a coffee shop in Derby, was later arrested and charged with fraud. The court heard she never had cancer and, despite her claims of a hysterectomy, had another child in March last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In mitigation, barrister Laura Pitman said McPherson, who now has a new partner, suffered from symptoms of trauma and feels awful about the way she behaved. She pleaded guilty at a previous hearing. Judge Straw spared her jail but handed her a community order, a curfew and 30 days with a probation officer. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Shanette Williams, who is the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, speaks outside the state Capitol on Thursday. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder Shanette Williams is again calling on state lawmakers to repeal Georgias six-week abortion ban that she says led to her 28-year-old daughters death shortly after the law took effect in 2022. Williams, who is the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, found a national platform for her message last year when she joined the campaign trail with then Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But as Williams voice emanated from Liberty Plaza Thursday, it marked her first time since her daughters death was first reported by ProPublica last fall that Williams has brought her familys story of loss to the doorstep of the state Capitol. When the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal right to terminate a pregnancy in 2022, the ruling left it to legislatures to regulate access. Today I am here, and I will continue to speak her name, I will continue to be wherever I need to be, so that this will not happen to another woman, Williams said at an event organized by advocates for reproductive rights. Williams told reporters Thursday that she is pressing lawmakers to repeal the six-week ban. Is it going to bring my daughter back? Nothing will bring her back. Is it going to ease the pain? Absolutely not, she said. We have suffered. So, to hear them say, we retract that decision. It wont bring her back, but itll save other lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thurman died after attempting to terminate her pregnancy using abortion medication from a clinic in North Carolina. But when she experienced a rare complication and went to an Atlanta-area hospital for treatment, the doctors waited 20 hours to perform a dilation and curettage, or D&C, to treat sepsis that resulted from an incomplete abortion. Thurmans death was one of two in late 2022 that were deemed preventable by the states Maternal Mortality Review Committee. The state dismissed all members from the committee in November when the Georgia Department of Public Health was unable to identify who provided the information to ProPublica, saying confidential information provided to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee was inappropriately shared with outside individuals. Williams blasted that decision Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the person that said, Im going to let the journalist know that my daughters death was preventable, I will never know your name, but I say thank you, Williams said. And what does it say about the state of Georgia to actually fire a board because somebody leaked that information, to get an entirely new board? It makes no sense. Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Marietta Republican who chairs the House Public and Community Health Committee, earlier this month defended that decision during a debate on a bill related to the committee that investigates maternal deaths in Georgia. Is it not true that the reason we had to have a new committee is that when you are dealing with this type of death, it is imperative that information about the death is not shared with anyone except members of that committee, Cooper said from the House floor. Cooper said the new review committee had recently started meeting again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Revelations about the deaths of two Georgia women became national news and reignited the debate over the states abortion restrictions that took effect in 2022. Their deaths also put a new focus on an exception in the law that purports to protect mothers when their own health is imperiled. Rep. Robert Flournoy, a Hampton Democrat, holds the program from Amber Nicole Thurmans funeral service, which he presided over. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder Rep. Robert Flournoy, a Hampton Democrat and a pastor who presided over Thurmans funeral service, said he believes state lawmakers should at a minimum explore whether Georgias law needs to be clarified to prevent a similar tragedy. The struggle wont stop. Were going to continue to make sure that we fight, continue to make sure that we speak with others to try to see what we get done for womens rights, the freshman lawmaker said. There has been little appetite for revisiting Georgias law while it is tied up in court. The case had been set for oral arguments this month before the state Supreme Court before it was sent back to the trial court in Fulton County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans have, however, been eager to support a proposal to protect access to in-vitro fertilization after the Alabama Supreme Court last year ruled that frozen embryos were children and parents could claim civil damages for their destruction. That bill easily cleared the House last month and is now awaiting action in the Senate. House lawmakers also passed two other fertility-related bills Thursday. One of them would require insurers to cover fertility preservation services for patients with cancer, sickle cell disease or lupus, and another would authorize certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform artificial dissemination. But advocates for reproductive rights are pressing state lawmakers to do more. There have been some bills introduced in the Legislature that seek to enshrine the right to IVF and to have insurance coverage for certain conditions for fertility preservation. These bills do not do enough, said Agbo Ikor, policy and advocacy director at SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Gig Harbor Brewing is now Evergreen State Brewing, following a February sale that has ushered in a Pacific Northwest-themed rebrand and new beer recipes to two Tacoma-area taprooms. We are thrilled to have this incredible opportunity to join the NW brewing community, and we look forward to serving the passionate craft beer drinkers throughout the region, new brewery owner Matthew Burnett said in a news release. Burnett bought both of the brewerys taprooms in Tacoma and Gig Harbor from founder John Fosberg. The sale closed Feb. 1, Burnett told The News Tribune in a phone call. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gig Harbor Brewing opened its craft brewery and taproom at 3120 S. Tacoma Way in 2015 after the business struggled to find production space in its namesake town, The News Tribune reported at the time. They secured a second taproom on the waterfront in downtown Gig Harbor by 2018. In 2021, Fosberg and his son, Max Fosberg, added a spinoff, Home Turf Taproom, in Parkland, but it closed two years later. (Its now La Ca Cafe.) They listed the brewery for sale last June. I always wanted to own a brewery, Burnett said. I used to do a lot of homebrewing ... the price was good, so I went ahead and moved on it. A self-described lover of good craft beer, he said he was raised in Tacoma and considers the city his home. Matt Burnett (left), John Fosberg (right) and a friend pictured Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 celebrate Evergreen State Brewings purchase of Gig Harbor Brewing. Courtesy of Evergreen State Brewing Evergreen State Brewing will introduce a full rebrand, including new beer recipes though Burnett said Gig Harbor Brewings menu wont disappear entirely. He will keep Dead Mans Island IPA on the menu and plans to recreate some of his predecessors recipes as specials a few times a year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burnett is excited about the grain, yeast and hops that theyll use in their new recipes. Asked what makes a good beer, he answered immediately: A brew master and quality ingredients. You can tell by the price of your ingredients, he said. Theres cheaper ones out there, and we tend to pay for the higher end. Evergreen State Brewing names their beers after Washington state icons and themes, according to Burnett. He highlighted the 29 Tribes Red Ale and Harry Henderson Brown Ale as taste-tester favorites. The High Point Blonde Ale, a bold, crisp new blond ale that is sure to be a crowd fave per the brewerys social media, is inspired by Mount Rainier. The brewery will host a grand opening at the Tacoma taproom March 21-22 and at their Gig Harbor taproom March 28-29. The Tacoma outpost is family-friendly, while the Gig Harbor taproom is 21-and-up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burnett has eyes on opening other taprooms in Washington state. His next destination is Chelan, where he said he aims to introduce the brand next January. The entrance to Evergreen State Brewings taproom in Gig Harbor, Wash. Courtesy of Evergreen State Brewing EVERGREEN STATE BREWING CO. 3120 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253-319, 8181, es-brewing.com 3155 Harborview Dr., Gig Harbor Details: new owners for Gig Harbor-Tacoma brewery, follow instagram.com/esbrewing for updates Grand opening party and beer tasting in Tacoma, March 21-22, 2-11 p.m., and in Gig Harbor, March 28-29, 2-11 p.m. The News Tribunes Kristine Sherred contributed to this report. HENDERSON, Ky (WEHT) Police arrested an Elizabethtown man after he allegedly drove at 100 MPH before crashing into a light pole, flipping and running from officers. The Madisonville Police Department state on Thursday at about 7:47 a.m., officers saw a blue Ford Escape traveling north on I-69, quickly changing lanes and forcing other vehicles to get out of the way while going upwards of 100 MPH. Officials state the vehicle exited before colliding with a light pole and catching on fire after flipping over and landing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two people taken to hospital after serious crash on 41, Waterworks Road The driver was later identified as Ronald Mckenzie, and he allegedly jumped a barbed wire fence and fleeing on foot. Officials say a K9 unit arriving and was deployed, and Mckenzie stopped and started to comply after being warned of a pending K9 release. Mckenzie was able to be taken into custody after a brief struggle. He was taken to the Hopkins County Jail after being medically cleared for possible injuries, facing several charges including speeding, resisting arrest, fleeing or evading police and wanton endangerment. A booking photo for Mckenzie was not available at the time of this writing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). MEMPHIS, Tenn. A natural gas incident occurring on Wednesday at a gas line in Lee County resulted in injuries to three contractors and loss of service for thousands of customers. On Mar. 13, Mississippi Public Service Commission Chairman Chris Brown of the Northern District released the following statement about the natural gas incident on an Atmos Energy line in Lee County that occurred during routine maintenance on Wednesday morning, resulting in several injuries and loss of service for 17,460 customers. Our prayers are with the injured workers, their families, and all of those affected by this incident. The safety of our communities is our top priority, and we appreciate the prompt response of emergency services and Atmos Energy in containing the situation and responding. We also want to recognize the Mississippi Public Service Commission Pipeline Safety Division for being on the scene and working to ensure the safety of workers and the public. The Pipeline Safety Division has completed their investigation and released the site back to Atmos. Our office continues to work closely with Atmos Energy, emergency responders, cities, towns, and ratepayers to ensure that affected areas receive support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Atmos Energy said the temporary system outage affected residents in Lee County, Mississippi, in the towns of Belden, Guntown, Plantersville, Pontotoc, Saltillo, Shannon, Tupelo, and Verona. Woman accused of fatally shooting pastor due in court In a Facebook Live City of Tupelo press conference, Mayor Todd Jordan said that as of now, they will not be giving information about the injured contractors conditions. Atmos Energys Vice President of Public Affairs, Bobby Morgan, said that Atmos Energy is praying for the contractors recovery. Yesterday morning, contractors were performing scheduled work on the Atmos Energys pipeline. These were contractors that were specialized in the type of work they engaged in, said Morgan. While the work was being performed, there was an accidental release of high-pressure gas. The gas did not ignite. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 3 injured after shots fired at Westwood nightclub The gas company said they have been going to houses to turn off the gas at each customers meter. They begin work early in the morning and will continue until around midnight each day. They said that it is an extensive process and cannot provide an estimate of when service will be restored. Your natural gas piping and appliances must pass the safety check thats critical first and foremost. A resident or an authorized of the business who is 18 years of age or older needs to be present, said Morgan. That needs to be the case because we have to have our technicians enter the home to safely relight the appliances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Motorcyclist killed in Southaven crash Morgan said that if no one is present, workers will leave a door tag with instructions on what to do. Atmos Energy said on its website that more than 200 Atmos Energy employees from across their eight-state footprint arrived at their command center in Tupelo to assist with restoration efforts, and more employees and Atmos Energy contractors are on their way. Atmos Energy made the following statement: The area is safe, and no evacuations have been issued. However, you will not have natural gas service until repairs and safety checks are completed, and then a highly trained safety technician can safely begin the restoration process and relight appliances. The safety of our communities, employees, and contractors remains our highest priority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For any questions about natural gas service, their customer service line is available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (888) 286-6700. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. States and the federal government share a vital economic nexus, despite some criticism, according to a new report. A data summary, the fourth in a series on state and federal economic linkages from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, presents the Utah-federal government connection for public lands and was released Thursday. It notes that Utah is second, with Nevada in first place, in percentage of land owned by the federal government. Lands under federal management include national forests, national parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, wilderness areas, and unappropriated Bureau of Land Management land, said Eric Albers, senior natural resources analyst at the Gardner Institute. The federal government also owns military installations in Utah, which are not considered public land. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where is this federal land? The ownership ranges from a low of 4% in Morgan County to a high of 90% in Garfield County. Counties in northern Utah and along the Wasatch Front have some of the lowest rates of federal land in the state. Federal land comprises more than 50% of the total acreage in 18 Utah counties, according to the analysis. The report also points out the nexus pays off on federal receipts returned to Utah in some cases. In 2024, the federal government collected $186.3 million in natural resources revenue from rents, bonuses and royalties and disbursed $93.7 million back to Utah. The federal governments revenue from natural resource extraction varies year to year and peaked in 2008 at $552.4 million. Federal lands are pictured in Skull Valley on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News A snapshot at the ownership and how it breaks down Two federal land management agencies administer 88.5% of all federally controlled land, with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managing 65.1% and the Forest Service managing 23.4%. The National Park Service manages 6% of federal land, and the Department of Defense administers 5.2%. The Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Energy also administer federal land within the state, but collectively account for less than 1% of federal land management. A sticking point for some GOP lawmakers in Utah is the land under federal control that remains unappropriated. Unappropriated federal land refers to land that carries no federal designation and only applies to certain BLM land. This includes land not designated as a national monument, wilderness or some other designation, according to the institute. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A total of 18.6 million acres of BLM land in Utah remain unappropriated. On Aug. 20, 2024, Utah filed a lawsuit against the federal government challenging the legality of BLM ownership of unappropriated land, the report said. In January of this year, the Supreme Court declined to hear the suit. Utah plans to refile the suit in federal district court. The enormity of land control in Utah by the federal government has set the stage for countless legal fights lodged by the GOP, from the size of two controversial monuments, protections for imperiled species, access to ATV trails and more. There have been counter lawsuits filed by conservation groups, from litigation over the control and care of water and air quality to new transportation corridors all issues on a pendulum depending on which presidential administration is in control. CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) Fire departments across Central Illinois are issuing burn bans as dry conditions are about to be exacerbated by high winds this weekend. All 21 fire departments located in Iroquois County, along with the countys board and board chairman, issued a ban that began Friday. Under this ban, people are ordered to refrain from open burning of landscape, agricultural and household waste. Consumer fireworks are also prohibited from being shot off. WEATHER NOW: Calm, Spring-like start to today, but severe storms arrive by late Friday Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fire departments can issue fines of $100 for anyone caught violating the burn ban. Fines will double for second violations. At the present time, conditions are expected to be very favorable for the outbreak of wildfires and other uncontrolled events. The dead and dry areas, common after the winter, are exposed and vulnerable, said Iroquois County Board Chairman Paul Ducat. The Fire Chiefs in the county, with the authority granted by Illinois Statute, have recommended and approved this burn ban to prohibit any type of burning or the use of consumer-grade fireworks. This burn ban will remain in effect until the predicted high wind event has subsided, or significant rainfall over the area takes place. An official notice when the burn ban is lifted will be issued. Neighboring Ford County also issued a burn ban that began at the same time, and a ban in Rantoul began at noon on Friday. Those bans will also remain in effect until further notice. A ban in Danville began an hour later at 1 p.m. and will last until Monday. Danville Fire officials said the ban does not apply to charcoal or gas grills used for cooking, but advised that people take extra safety precautions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weather conditions raise field fire concerns in Central IL Several fire departments have issued burn bans that went into effect for Thursday, and they are already fighting fires that have gotten out of control. The Tolono Fire Protection District issued a burn ban Wednesday night and on Thursday, its firefighters responded to a house fire. The Mid-Piatt Fire Protection District said its crews saw several burns get out of hand and asked that burning be avoided until 5 p.m. on Saturday. A grass fire in Macon County spread to five buildings on Thursday and the same day, what was once a controlled spread to 10 acres of land in Champaign. The Clinton Fire Department issued a burn ban starting at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday and said their ban will be in effect until Saturday at 9 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The extremely dry conditions and expected wind speeds through Friday night will make any type of fire unsafe and spread easily, Clinton officials said. Also please be sure to dispose of smoking materials responsibly to help eliminate possible road side fires. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. TOPEKA (KSNT) The Shawnee County District Attorney has announced a murder charge against a man in connection to a recent deadly shooting in Topeka. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced in a press release that a Robert Reyes, 45, is charged with one count of murder in the second degree. His charge stems from a deadly shooting that occurred last week. The Topeka Police Department (TPD) was called around 3 a.m. on March 8 to a shooting in the 2900 block of Southeast Fremont Road. Law enforcement said one person, 22-year-old Yancy Whitehead, was killed in the shooting. Two others were injured. Justice was finally served: Shawnee County District Attorney speaks on Dana Chandler trial Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more crime news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) and Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) expressed their concerns over Dave Weldons nomination to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prior to senior Trump administration officials deciding to withdraw it. Murkowski relayed her concerns about Weldon directly to the White House, while Collins made an offhand remark about the nominee to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., though she had not reached a final decision on how she would vote. Murkowski told reporters Thursday that she expressed her concerns about Weldon to the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked if she had concerns about Weldon heading a leading public health agency, Murkowski replied, Yes, I did, and I shared those. She said she wasnt surprised by the decision to withdraw his nomination. Collins also raised concerns about Trumps choice of Weldon, an outspoken critic of vaccine safety, to head the nations science-based service organization in charge of protecting the publics health. There are some areas of disagreement, and I look forward to the public hearing when I will be able to question him in public and in more depth on issues like vaccine recommendations, Collins told Bloomberg earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon, in a statement reacting to the withdrawal of his nomination, said that Kennedy alerted him Wednesday that Collins had expressed concern over his record. Bobby told me that earlier that morning he had breakfast with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who said she now had reservations about my nomination and was considering voting no, Weldon said. I had a very pleasant meeting with her two weeks prior where she expressed no reservations about my nomination, but at my meeting with her staff on March 11 they were suddenly very hostile a bad sign, he recalled. Collins happened to sit next to Kennedy at an early St. Patricks Day breakfast hosted by Vice President Vance on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Collins, however, told reporters Thursday she was surprised Weldons nomination had been withdrawn shortly before his scheduled confirmation hearing. The news came as a surprise to me. I was on my way to the markup, which was going to be followed by the hearing on his nomination. It was not something I anticipated, she said. She said she did not express her concerns to the White House. I certainly had not reached a final judgment. I followed my normal practice of waiting until the hearing was scheduled, so he can respond in a public forum, she said. Weldon was scheduled to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday morning, before his nomination was suddenly pulled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Murkowski and Collins both sit on that panel, on which Republicans control a 12-11 majority. If either of them had voted no, it would have been enough to bottle the nominee up in committee. Some Republican lawmakers, however, thought Weldons nomination would become a political liability given the negative publicity surrounding a measles outbreak across multiple states. A school-aged child who was not vaccinated died in Texas last month, sending a wave of alarming headlines through the media. Other Republicans said they werent surprised to hear the White House decided to pull Weldons nomination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think it makes sense, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters. Some of us who had some concerns with [Secretary] Kennedys previous statements got past that because we believed that scientists running some of these three-letter health agencies are going to be driven by data, are going to be driven by science. Tillis said Weldons past comments have raised enough questions to sow doubts whether policies at the CDC would be driven by science. Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Florida, has a long history of supporting anti-vaccine theories. He has argued in the past that vaccinating children against the flu could poise a poisoning risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents should not be forced to choose between the risk of the mercury containing preservative thimerosal whether real or perceived and the risk of contracting influenza, he wrote in a letter to the House Appropriations chair in 2007, according to Statnews.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Stewart Huntington ICT The Trump administrations moves to dramatically cut government spending have left much of Indian Country on edge, with tribal communities dependent on billions of dollars in federal funding and the Republican majorities in Congress largely standing by the president. Effective voices for tribes in the nations capital can seem elusive. But dont tell that to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Weve got to figure out a way to work with the folks in the administration, she told ICT. We're not going to let our tribal programs and our tribal citizens suffer. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY. Last year, $32.6 billion was approved by Congress to benefit tribal communities for programs including education, health care, law enforcement and more, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. Murkowski emerged at the dawn of President Donald Trumps second term in office as a vocal advocate for Native nations when Trump began announcing cuts and executive orders impacting tribal communities. On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump signed an executive order eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion DEI programs in federal agencies. I worked very, very quickly to make sure that the administration knew that the DEI executive order should have nothing to do with tribes or tribal programs [because] the relationship that the government has with tribes is based on political status, not on racial status, Murkowski said. Another Day One executive order also riled Murkowski, who has been elected to the Senate four times. Trump ordered that the name of the countrys tallest mountain, Alaskas Mount Denali, be renamed Mount McKinley after the countrys 25th president. Mount Denali, North Americas tallest peak, is the most famous feature in the 6 million-acre Denali National Park and Preserve. (Photo provided by the National Park Service via Alaska Beacon) We feel very strongly in Alaska about the Koyukon-Athabascan name that was given to Denali, generations, centuries ago, Murkowski said. Denali means, the Great One. And if you've ever seen this extraordinary mountain, you would agree that it should be named the Great One. It should be recognized as Denali. Murkowski has introduced a bill in the Senate co-sponsored by Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan that would officially name the peak Denali. Last month, both chambers of the Alaska State Legislature passed a resolution urging the president, secretary of the interior, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to maintain the name Denali. Pondering the current kerfuffle, Murkowski said she found it interesting that the president's order renaming the mountain is titled, Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness. Let's think about American greatness, she said. Why would we not want to honor and recognize the greatness of the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this area, this region, this land for centuries? It is important not only to maintain the traditional name that the Athabascan people have given this mountain but also, respect the Native people and the stewardship that they have had in this region. Last week, Murkowskis committee unanimously approved and sent to the full Senate 25 bills that are very keen priorities in all or parts of Indian Country, including land and water rights in tribal communities and a bill that would establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian boarding school policies. The bill creating the Truth and Healing Commission would establish a panel to formally investigate, document, and report on the histories of Indian Boarding Schools and the systematic and long-term effects of those schools and policies on Native American peoples. The bill passed the Senate last year but stalled in the House of Representatives. The push for the commission is now on the agenda for the current 119th Congress. As much as anything, were trying to rebuild some of the trust that has been lost between our federal government and Native communities, Murkowski said. Its a fragile trust that is under pressure in the current environment of fast-paced budget cuts, Murkowski said. I'm worried that when it comes to our tribal programs and our ability to see them implemented that the cuts [and] staffing in these programs, will jeopardize our ability to do so and cause damage to that very important trust relationship, she said. It's still too early to determine whether or not these cuts are going to stay in place, she said, adding, I'm not backing down on this. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICTs free newsletter. ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, is a nonprofit news organization that covers the Indigenous world with a daily digital platform and news broadcast with international viewership. This article has been updated to reflect accurate information. MEROM, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) With warmer weather approaching, one local community will have a new kind of experience to enjoy. Merom Camp and Retreat Center is hosting its first annual Merom Camp Summer Music concert. It will take place March 28th from 7 p.m. until dark. There will be music from local talents with different acts every hour. The money raised will be used to restore some areas at the camp including College Hall. Its listed on Indianas top ten most endangered buildings list. The money will also cover operating costs to help the camp continue to serve the community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Little bit for everyone here but what wraps it all together is this Merom spirit. Ive had the pleasure of speaking with so many local folks here, Im kind of the new kid at camp, but everyone has their own Merom story and we dont want to lose that. We want to build and rebuild upon this great heritage that we have right here. said David Grim, Executive Director of Merom Camp and Retreat Center. They will be having another music festival later on in the summer on August 9th as well. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com. Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) backed off a plan to scrap telephone services for millions of Americans filing claims with the Social Security Administration, just hours after The Washington Post revealed the sweeping changes. In a tense Tuesday meeting, DOGE staff grilled SSA officials about phone fraud and proposed shifting all claims processing to online channels and in-person offices, according to The Post. SSA employees floated possible solutions, but DOGE wasnt interested in anything else but defending the decision that they had already made, a source familiar told the paper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The news was met with outrage on Musks social media platform X. Going after 90-year-old grandmas who cant drive and dont have a computer? Thats just low, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. Going after 90-year-old grandmas who cant drive and don't have a computer? That's just low. https://t.co/3SqsSmk775 Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) March 12, 2025 Gramma and Grampa are already waiting too long for answers about their Social Security, Sen. Ed Markey wrote. Now, Elon Musk and DOGE want to close field offices and take away their option to use the phone. This is outrageous. The Post reported on DOGEs proposal to slash SSAs telephone services on Wednesday afternoon . Hours later, the agency said in a statement that media reports were inaccurate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DOGE confirm ed on X, however, that the administration would still push forward with one part of its proposal: Customers will no longer be allowed to change their direct deposit routing number and other bank information by phone. Approximately 40 percent of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with fraudsters calling SSA on the phone and changing the direct deposit bank account from the correct one to a fraudulent one, the DOGE team wrote. Beginning March 29, SSA customers can only change their direct deposit bank account information through online platforms and an in-person visit to a Service Center. This is inaccurate and misleading.@SocialSecurity is protecting our seniors by ensuring bank accounts arent changed with little to no authentication. Approx. 40% of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with fraudsters calling SSA on the phone and changing the https://t.co/ciQnPrK1ET Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 12, 2025 This is identical to the fraud protections at almost all major banks, where deposit changes are made either online or in person, DOGE said. All other SSA phone services remain unchanged. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although experts and career employees at SSA agreed that online and phone-based identity fraud does occur, it only amounts to a tiny fraction of the benefit programs cost and is not a big enough issue to merit drastic change, according to The Post. Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, also highlighted that a huge number of Americans do not have access to computers. They have a smartphone or they have low levels of education or English proficiency. Youre talking about people with disabilities. The whole idea of serving the people is to give people a choice. Altman told The Post. Acting SSA commissioner Leland Dudek reportedly said in a meeting last week with senior staff, attorneys, and advocates for the disabled and elderly that DOGE staff will make mistakes, but we have to let them in to see what is going on at SSA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a recording from that meeting obtained by ProPublica , Dudek said he had received extensive input on changes to SSA not just from the DOGE kids but also from the White House itself. I work for the president. I need to do what the president tells me to do, Dudek said. Ive had to make some tough choices, choices I didnt agree with, but the president wanted it and I did it. SSA earlier announced that it was planning to slash its bloated workforce from about 57,000 staff to 50,000. Elon Musk suffered another embarrassing space setback after NASA and SpaceX scrubbed a pre-planned rescue mission of two stranded astronauts just before launch. The Dragon spacecraft was expected to lift off at 7:48 pm EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The team consisted of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers as the commander and pilot respectively. Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi also joined the team as mission specialists. The crew, who were strapped in to their capsule and ready to launch, had hoped to reach Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck at the International Space Station since June last year when their Boeing Starliner capsule encountered massive technical problems and they were forced to move into the ISS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Donald Trump and first buddy Musk have repeatedly blamed the Biden administration for leaving the astronauts in spacethough NASA engineers and the astronauts themselves have refuted that claim, citing safety and cost concerns as the key drivers of the delay. Biden was embarrassed by what happened, and he said Leave them up there, Trump said during a March 6 appearance at the Oval Office. Elon is right now preparing a ship to go up and get them. In January, Musk posted to X that Trump had tasked the SpaceX founder with a mission to bring Williams and Wilmore home. We will do so, Musk wrote. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long. They echoed those talking points in an interview with Sean Hannity in February. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They got left in space, Trump told Hannity. Yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good, Musk added. While weather conditions were favorable and seemed to point toward a liftoff Wednesday evening, the launch was ultimately scrubbed shortly after 7 p.m., less than an hour before launch, due to an apparent hydraulic issue. Standing down from tonights launch opportunity of @NASAs Crew-10 mission to the @Space_Station, Space X confirmed on X. During a live broadcast and in a subsequent statement published to their site , NASA explained that there was a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp. Clamp arms help keep the second stage booster in place to make sure that the entire rocket remains vertical while on the launch pad. As the mission nears lift off, the clamp arms open and pull away from the rocket, NASAs broadcasters added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It appeared that one of the clamp arms for Wednesdays mission was not able to open fully, ultimately forcing the delay of the launch. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A on NASA's Kennedy Space Center to board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-10 mission launch, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. / Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images The crew were safely escorted out of the rocket following the missions stand down. NASA additionally noted that the next available launch opportunity is no earlier than 7:26 pm EDT on Thursday (March 13). While the goal of the Crew-10 launch is to have its team take over the research work at the ISS from Crew-9 members aboard the station, it also will see the return of Williams and Wilmoretwo of the members of the Crew-9 mission who have been stranded in the ISS since June last year. NASAs Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore (L) and Pilot Suni Williams walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building on June 01, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. / Joe Raedle/Getty Images The other half of Crew-9, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, arrived at the space station in September . In their statement, NASA indicated that with a March 13 Crew-10 launch, Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov will be able to depart the space station no earlier than 9:05 am Monday, March 17, depending on the weather in Florida. Elon Musk visited the National Security Agency on Wednesday, according to an agency spokesperson. The initially undisclosed meeting comes roughly a week after the Trump ally said the U.S. intelligence agency needed to be overhauled. Musks visit was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. A NSA spokesperson confirmed that Musk met with NSA chief Gen. Timothy Haugh in what was Musks first visit to the agency. While it remains unclear what Musk and Haugh discussed, NSAs statement said the meeting helped facilitate coordination between the agency and the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NSA and CYBERCOM are focused on the president, SECDEF and DNIs priorities; meetings with key advisors ensure we are aligned, the spokesperson wrote. The meeting further highlights Musks prominent role in the White House as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Musk who helms the Department of Government Efficiency has been at the forefront of the Trump administrations turbulent campaign to slash the federal government, having called for the termination of hundreds of government agencies, departments or programs. Musk has signaled that the NSA was on his radar before. In a post to X last week, Musk said The NSA needs an overhaul. The NSA oversees national cybersecurity and monitors foreign threats. Musks interest in the agency is likely linked to his efforts to modernize federal technology a core mission that fueled DOGEs creation. BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WBTW) A Myrtle Beach man arrested in North Carolina had nearly 4.5 pounds of cocaine and $25,000, authorities said. James Kelvin Watson, 48, is being held on a $1.3 million bond after his arrest in Brunswick County. Horry County police and U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents assisted Brunswick County deputies in the investigation. Agents seized 4.32 pounds of cocaine, plastic bags used for packaging drugs and the cash. The circumstances of Watsons arrest were not immediately available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is charged with two counts of trafficking cocaine; maintaining a vehicle/dwelling/place for controlled substances; possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver marijuana; and possession of drug paraphernalia. * * * Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify the budget amount proposed by city leaders. PINOPOLIS, S.C. (WBTW) Myrtle Beachs top administrator is proposing a nearly $361 million budget for 2026 that includes no tax or business license increases. This is a good budget. The city is in a very strong position financially, City Manager Jonathan Fox Simons said to open up a three-day retreat at the Wampee Conference Center in Pinopolis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If approved by the city council this spring, the spending plan would mark a $31 million increase over current levels. State law requires all local governments to approve a balanced budget by June 30 one day before the new fiscal year starts. Despite keeping taxes flat, Simons proposed budget does include increases to solid waste, water and sewer and stormwater fees bumping them up on average between $1.04 and $5.76 a month for residential rates. Simons said the upcoming budget does include some challenges, including meeting the needs of a growing population both within the city and Horry County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials saw moderate to no growth in local tourism dollars last year and began this one with lower-than-expected movement. The decline that weve seen was in the first three or four months of the fiscal year, Simons said. They have turned a corner, and they are now rising again. An aging demographic is also a factor. Chris Finney of the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office said the citys goal should be to increase its population of people between the ages of 18 and 64. Were going to struggle to find workers. Local areas are going to struggle to find people to take care of the elderly population, he said. There are a lot of people on the sidelines. We need to get them back to work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement City officials have used the Pinopolis venue, located about 100 miles from Myrtle Beach, for budget retreats several times before. Last year, it cost about $14,500 for the 50 people who attended. Mayor Brenda Bethune defended the citys decision to host its budget session two hours away from home. We have tried doing it back home, but theres something about this place that when you get here you just decompress, you relax, and we can focus. And this is the type of work that we need to focus on, she said. We want everyone to have a great time when its time to have a great time but when were in here, were in here to work. News13 will have updates on-air and online about the citys budget retreat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * * * Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here. * * * Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Columbus clergy and civil rights leaders condemned the quick appointment of John Anker to the Columbus Council and demanded a recall of the vote during a news conference Wednesday at the City Services Center.. The coalition, which includes representatives from the Columbus branch of the NAACP and the Columbus Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, argued that the move to appoint Anker was premeditated and part of a larger strategy to remove city manager Isaiah Hugley, who is Black, from his position. In a split vote, the council appointed Anker the same day former Councilor Judy Thomas of citywide District 9 sent her resignation letter. During the public agenda portion of the council meeting, Anker and three other residents criticized Hugleys job performance as city manager and called for the mayor to terminate him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbus Courier Eco Latino publisher and former NAACP Columbus branch president Wane Hailes and the Rev. Johnny Flakes III of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church spoke in support of Hugley during the meetings public agenda. Councilor Byron Hickey of District 1 motioned to appoint Anker to the seat, and Charmaine Crabb of District 5 seconded it. The council voted 6-3 to appoint Anker despite Mayor Skip Hendersons cautioning that it was too early to make this decision. Councilors Hickey, Crabb, Glenn Davis of District 2, Toyia Tucker of District 4, Joanne Cogle of District 7 and Walker Garrett of District 8 voted yes. Councilors Travis Chambers of citywide District 10, Bruce Huff of District 3 and Gary Allen of District 6 voted no. The councils action of appointing someone from the audience to fill Thomas seat without giving the community a chance to make recommendations was disrespectful, former District 7 Councilor Mimi Woodson said at the news conference before insisting the council recall the vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last nights appointment can be reversed with only six votes, Woodson said. Former Columbus Councilor Evelyn Mimi Woodson speaks during a Wednesday afternoon news conference at the City Services Center in Columbus. During the council meeting, Crabb asserted that Anker was an obvious choice for the seat because he had run two citywide races (mayor in 2022 and citywide District 10 seat in 2024). Anker had an opportunity to be a city council member in a runoff and lost to Travis Chambers, said Ed DuBose, national NAACP board member and the Georgia state administrator. Councilors subverted the will of the voters with this action, he said. Those city council members who participated in this should answer to the people, DuBose said. Edward DuBose, a national NAACP board member and Georgia state administrator for the organization, speaks during a Wednesday afternoon news conference at the City Services Center in Columbus. Flakes explained the coalitions problem isnt specifically that Anker was appointed so much as the process it took to do it. If Anker had been offered as a candidate with an opportunity for others to be considered as well, Flakes said, then there wouldnt be so much anger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a matter of fact, the mayor said that, Flakes said. The Rev. J. H. Flakes III, center, senior pastor at Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, speaks during a Wednesday afternoon news conference at the City Services Center in Columbus. DuBose said councilors would answer at the ballot box. In fact, he urged Columbus voters to consider recalling the councilors who made this appointment so quickly. The Rev. Marcus Gibson of the Greater Shady Grove Baptist Church alleged that this move was part of a larger plan to terminate Hugley as city manager. Hugley confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer last December that he plans to retire at the end of 2025. There are certain persons on this council who are not out for the benefit or the good of the whole community, but there are some who are in the pockets of others, Gibson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This coalition warned councilors, especially those who want to remove the city manager, that they will be held accountable, he said. Verbal attacks like those against Hugley have happened to Black people in leadership across the country, Flakes said. Theyve used the playbook that is always about trying to make them seem ineffective, incompetent and inefficient, Flakes said. This is a nationwide problem, he said, that has trickled down to Columbus. Flakes was disappointed to see two Black councilors, Hickey and Tucker, vote to support this move, he said.. Theyre in-house Negroes, Flakes said. They carry the buckets of the water, and they have sold their souls. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was hurtful and painful that an African American made the motion, Flakes said, calling the verbal attacks on Hugley a public lynching. The coalition will work on fighting back against false narratives, Flakes said. Leaders of the group urged people to stay active and attend the next council meeting March 25. They also promised there will be more organizing from them. Were not outnumbered, said Marquese Averett, managing director of organizing at the Partnership for Southern Equity. We are simply out-organized. MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) A naked man was seen dangling from a Manhattan building on Thursday as police conducted a warrant operation, sources told PIX11 News. It happened at 60 Amsterdam Ave. around 7 a.m., according to sources. The man, who was avoiding police, jumped out a window when officers entered the building, sources said. More Local News He dangled from the Manhattan building until he was recovered by police, according to sources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear why the man was avoiding police, sources said. Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Residents of Naples and its surrounding areas abandoned their homes and camped out in parks and cars after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck near the Italian city early Thursday morning, rattling nerves after weeks of intense seismic activity. There were several reports of homes damaged and cars hit by falling debris when the quake hit the densely populated area of Campi Flegrei, to the west of Naples, just before 1.30 a.m. local time. Fifteen people were treated in local hospitals, according to local authorities. More than 1,813 earthquakes and tremors ranging between 0.3 and 3.9 magnitude were recorded in the area in February alone, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Debris on a car following an earthquake on Thursday. - Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse/AP Over the last week, nearly 300 quakes, some between 2 and 3 magnitude, have been detected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The seismic activity is occurring across a vast caldera, formed by an eruption of the Campi Flegrei super volcano more than two million years ago. The caldera stretches 125 miles under the Bay of Naples to the citys western limits, and out to the islands of Capri and Ischia. The most intensely affected area is the Campi Flegrei red zone, which is home to some 500,000 people. Damage to a house in the Naples area is seen after Thursday's earthquake. - Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse/AP The Italian Fire Brigade and Red Cross (INGV) said they assisted many people who had camped out overnight and were fearful of aftershocks. On Thursday morning, schools had been closed by local authorities. The INGV said Thursday morning that there was no imminent risk of eruption of Mt. Vesuvius or the Campi Flegrei super volcano, which is dormant. Mt. Vesuvius, famous for burying the city of Pompeii in 79 A.D., is not connected to the current seismic activity, the INGV said. It sits on the opposite side of Naples to Campi Flegrei. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Campi Flegrei area is currently in a state of positive bradyseism meaning the ground is slowly rising, which causes cracks in buildings and infrastructure, according to Giuseppe De Natale, a research director at the INGV in Naples. The fire brigade pictured attending a damaged building. - Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse/Shutterstock De Natale told CNN that the pressure building under the earths surface could either be the intrusion of magma or the degassing of the magma chamber located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) below the rocky surface. The shallow rocks cannot hold high levels of pressure, so if the pressure increases too much, there could happen complete fracturing of the rocks, which is generally the cause of the eruption of a volcano, he said. The last time the area experienced positive bradyseism, in 1984, the ground rose 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) before descending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recent increase in seismic activity has prompted some local restaurants to offer seismic discounts based on the magnitude of the quake (17 percent off for a 1.7 magnitude trembler). Peppe Minieri, who owns A Scalinatell restaurant, told the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera that if his customers stay at their tables through the tremors, rather than running outside, they will get a free lunch or dinner. Obviously its a provocation to make light of the situation were experiencing, Minieri said. Meanwhile, there is concern for the safety of the local population, with vulcanologists warning that the red zone should be permanently evacuated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The super volcanos last eruption was in 1538, which resulted in a new bay on the coast. While experts do not believe an eruption is imminent, the seismic swarms are worrying to locals, especially since the region has not been able to design an effective evacuation plan that would ensure the rapid escape of 500,000 people. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The Department of Defense has proudly announced that two active-duty US military officers will be launching on board SpaceX's upcoming Crew-10 mission to return NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Air Force major Nichole Ayers and US Army colonel Anne McClain both NASA astronauts will be joining Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov on the mission. "The Department of Defense is proud to have multiple branches, and two active-duty U.S. military officers represented in this mission," enthused defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The high level attention to the military space travelers highlights a renewed interest in the militarization of space under President Donald Trump's second term. The US Space Force was signed into law by Trump in late 2019, sparking a lively discussion about a "space arms race." While it's not enormously unusual to have active-duty military stationed on board the ISS according to NASA, 212 of the 360 astronauts it has selected since its inception 66 years ago are from the military the Pentagon's announcement has a different ring to it now that Trump is back in the White House. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year calling for the development of new space-based defenses. But details remain sparse about the viability or possible schedule of such a system. Further complicating the mission is the subject of Wilmore and Williams, who were stranded on board the ISS since June due to major technical issues plaguing Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their return was already scheduled months before Trump was even elected last year, but has been turned into a political rallying cry by the president and his number one henchman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk, in particular, appeared to be incensed when confronted with the fact that the Trump administration wasn't suddenly swooping in to rescue Wilmore and Williams. Last month, Musk got caught up in a heated exchange on his social media platform with several former astronauts over the topic, ending with him calling them names like a bully in a schoolyard. At the time, a fuming Musk blamed the Biden administration for getting the pair stuck claims that were immediately refuted by former NASA administrator Bill Nelson. Trump appears to have little knowledge of the topic. During a baffling Oval Office press conference, he appeared to make a pass at Williams, arguing she had "wild hair, good, solid hair," and suggested she and Wilmore might have fallen in love. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The upcoming mission to return Wilmore and Williams has since been delayed due to ground issues affecting the hydraulics system used to control the clamps supporting the upper portion of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The flight is now scheduled for no earlier than Friday evening. Meanwhile, the future of Trump's Space Force remains as uncertain as ever. Officials have been calling for a bigger budget for the youngest military arm. On the contrary, many of the administration's brutal cuts to the government may end up undermining his priorities to militarize outer space, including slashing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, as the Washington Post reports. The military is already reportedly struggling to keep up with America's adversaries due to a budget crunch, according to a recent report by the think tank Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The cost of the effort to reverse the Air Forces decline and adequately fund the Space Force will require an increase of at least $45 billion annually, combined," the report reads. "The fixes must start now, or the United States risks losing the next major war." More on the ISS: Trump Suggests That the Stranded Astronauts May Have Fallen in Love Severe thunderstorms are expected throughout all of Middle Tennessee late Friday night through midnight Saturday. According to the National Weather Service, areas west of Interstate 65 are at an enhanced risk for severe storms, while areas east are at a slight risk. However, people living east of I-65 shouldn't dismiss their chances for severe weather. "Even though activity will likely weaken as it pushed(s) across the state, all of Middle TN has at least some risk of all modes of severe weather," wrote the weather service. We've got quite the active weekend in store for Middle Tennessee weatherwise. There is a possibility of severe storms Friday night, and again Saturday and Saturday night. And rainfall totals this weekend are expected to top 2" across nearly the entire mid state. pic.twitter.com/Z1hLZJdsCU NWS Nashville (@NWSNashville) March 13, 2025 Storms will pose a threat for damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes. Here's what else to know. What time will storm system reach Middle Tennessee? When to expect severe weather in Nashville This weekend's storms will be a nighttime event, as they are expected to move across the region during the overnight hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first round of storms will move into the region by midnight Friday, at the earliest. Storms are most likely to arrive between 2 - 4 a.m. Saturday said the weather service. With the right conditions, storms could produce significant severe weather including large hail, tornadoes and damaging winds. Nashville, and surrounding eastern areas, are at a slight risk for severe weather Friday. The first round of thunderstorms will impact Middle TN late Friday night through early Saturday morning with the main timing window between 12 AM and 6 AM. Greatest risk for severe weather is along and west of I-65, and all hazards are possible with any severe storm. pic.twitter.com/GWFvn32HvU NWS Nashville (@NWSNashville) March 13, 2025 "The severe threat is not as high for areas east of I-65, but the threat is certainly not zero," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Paige Baggett. Severe weather is expected on Saturday from noon until midnight. After that, the entire region should be clear of storm activity, said the weather service. How much rain will Middle Tennessee receive as a result of weekend storm system? Heavy rainfall is expected with this weather system, said the weather service. There is a low risk of flooding across the region; still, rises of rivers and small streams are expected as well as the ponding of water on roadways. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The chance of Middle Tennessee receiving three or more inches of rain is 10-40%. Nashville-area radar Nashville 7-day forecast Thursday: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 78 and a 30% chance of showers before 1 p.m. Thunderstorms are likely to develop after 4 p.m. Then mostly clear, with a low around 56 at night and a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7 p.m. Friday: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 81 and a 10% chance of showers after 5 p.m. Then a low of around 62 at night with a 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1 a.m. Storms are expected to continue through 4 a.m. Saturday: A high near 72 and a 90% chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 10 a.m. Some storms could produce heavy rainfall. A low of around 52 at night and a 90% chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 61 and a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10 a.m. Showers are expected to continue until 1 p.m. Then, mostly clear with a low of around 38 at night. Monday: Sunny, with a high near 66 and a low of around 46 at night. Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 75 and a low of around 55 at night. Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 73 an a 30% chance of showers. Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville area faces severe weather outbreak this weekend. Here's when Nassaus top elected official celebrated the countys anti-sanctuary status at his State of the County Wednesday doubling down on his promise to work with federal immigration officials. Republican Bruce Blakeman said Nassau is the first county in the US to have a federal cooperation agreement with ICE, while he touted the countys bans on public mask wearing and transgender athletes in womens sports. One of my first executive orders as county executive was to declare that Nassau County is not a sanctuary county, said Blakeman, after pledging to propose a budget that would keep taxes flat for the fourth year in a row. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman confirmed that Nassau is not a sanctuary county for migrants during his State of the County address. Dennis A. Clark To that end, we are working with ICE and our other federal law enforcement partners to remove or incarcerate those who commit criminal acts and live in the US illegally, he added in the speech, at the chambers of the county legislature in Mineola. We will work with the Trump Administration to stop the flow of fentanyl coming from Mexico and China into our neighborhoods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Blakeman said he signed a law to make it illegal for criminals and antisemites to wear masks in public. These criminals and cowards are not welcome in Nassau County, he said, according to the remarks. He recounted his move to become the first county to ban biological males from womens sports, a move that has sparked legal challenges. We will not allow our girls to be bullied into unsafe and unfair competition and have their privacy violated, he said. In Nassau, boys play with boys, and girls play with girls. Blakemen with ICE Special Agent Brian Flanagan (left) and Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder (right) at a press conference announcing partnership between local and federal law enforcement in Mineola on Feb. 4, 2025. James Messerschmidt Blakeman also announced a plan to hire more police officers and over $500,000 in investments this year so far for local fire districts saying his administrations policies are responsible for making Nassau the safest in America and the most desirable to live in New York State. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have hired over 300 new police officers and corrections officers in the last three years, and this year we will be hiring more, Blakeman said, declaring the State of the County as strong and adding our future has never been brighter. Aside from strengthening law enforcement, Blakeman says his administration has encouraged economic development and job creation that has led Nassau to be one of the most prosperous economies in the country and hopefully home to a new casino and state of the art hospital the county is hoping will lead to an economic boom. Blakeman shaking hands with Caitlyn Jenner at a press conference announcing the countys ban on transgender athletes competing in girls sports on March 18, 2024. Stephen Yang But county Legislator Seth Koslow who is running against Blakeman for his seat come November blasted Blakeman in a Democratic rebuttal to the speech. Koslow attacked Blakemans administration as full of mismanagement, political games, and broken promises. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He came after a slew of Blakemans policies, including his program to deputize gun-licensed property owners for county emergencies calling it a reckless militia. Democratic Nassau County Legislator Seth Koslow is running against Blakeman. Ann Parry/ZUMA Press Wire / SplashNews.com Nassau County doesnt want, and doesnt need, armed civilians patrolling our streets. We already have the best trained and most professional police officers in America, Koslow, a former prosecutor, said. The Democrat said that despite Blakemans public claims of not raising taxes for residents and supporting first responders, his actions betray them behind closed doors. He points to held up dollars for first responders in Democratic districts, excessive spending on private lawyers, and says Blakeman has actually raised taxes. Its shameful, its dangerous, and its un-American, Koslow said about Blakemans actions as county executive. I believe that our government can, and must, do better, for everyday people. We deserve better. (Getty Images) The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is asking chemical company Chemours to expand testing for PFAS contamination in wells, the agency announced this week. As a result, approximately 150,000 additional residences are now eligible for private well testing in the expanded area, which covers portions of Harnett and Hoke counties around the Fayetteville Works plant. Residents interested in having their wells sampled should call Chemours at (910) 678-1101 or complete Chemours online form: https://edataroom.uspioneer.com/ChemoursNC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals found in many consumer products and industrial processes. They are called forever chemicals due to their difficulty in breaking down in the environment. The extension follows a lengthy review of existing residential well data around the facility conducted by staff at NC DEQ and Chemours, making predictions for more contamination beyond the known areas. As NC Newsline has previously reported, PFAS have been linked to multiple health problems, including thyroid and liver disorders, reproductive and fetal development problems, immune system deficiencies and kidney and testicular cancers. The increased well testing areas will speed up the sampling process for sites that receive primary drinking water from private wells and provide access to clean water to impacted homeowners surrounding the facility, DEQ shared in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon analyzing compounds at different testing sites around the state, the agency found PFAS like PMPA, GenX, and PFo2HxA, DEQ chemist Amy Delinsky shared on Thursday during a presentation at the Air and Waste Management Associations PFAS conference in Raleigh. Staff examined samples of both dry and wet deposition. The latter refers to pollutants transported to the planets surface through precipitation like rain or fog, while dry deposition is when pollutants settle directly on the ground without precipitation meaning they are deposited as gases or particles carried by air currents. For GenX, we have slightly more oxygen in dry samples compared to the wet, Delinsky said. The state agency also plans to announce updates on the Lower Cape Fear region in the future. DEQs waste management division will hold a virtual public meeting to provide more information and answer questions about expanded well testing on April 1 at 6 p.m. RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) A Republican-led bill banning the teaching of certain divisive topics in North Carolina public schools has passed one chamber of the General Assembly, drawing criticism from the state Senate Democrats newly appointed leader. Senate Bill 227, titled Eliminating DEI from Public Education, passed the state Senate 28-18, along party lines, on Tuesday. The bill forbids educators from teaching divisive topics in public schools and the existence of any offices called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The bill defines divisive topics as: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex. An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive. An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex. An individuals moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex. An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. Any individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress. A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist. The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex. Particular character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges, or beliefs should be ascribed to a race or sex or to an individual because of the individuals race or sex. The rule of law does not exist but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups. All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Governments should deny to any person within the governments jurisdiction the equal protection of the law According to the bill, an impartial instruction on these topics must be in accordance with the standard course of study in contexts that make clear the public school unit does not sponsor, approve, or endorse any divisive concepts. Bill to raise North Carolina minimum wage filed by House Democrats Upon the bills passage, North Carolina Senate Republican leadership responded, stating that the bill would not prevent schools from teaching history, so long as the instruction is impartial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our schools should not be in the business of teaching inaccurate history or creating a learning environment that doesnt allow for free thought or expression, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said in a statement. So-called DEI initiatives were pitched as a tool to help our children better understand our history, when in reality theyre merely a facade used by Democrats to alter curriculum to fit their agenda. The state Senate Democrats newly appointed leader, Sen. Sydney Batch (D-Wake), fired back at the bill, providing the following statement: Right now, North Carolinas classrooms are dealing with crumbling buildings, lead pipes, permanent substitutes instead of qualified teachers, and chronic underfunding that shortchanges our kids. But instead of fixing any of that, Republicans are focused on banning diversity, equity, and inclusion because they dont like how it makes them feel. Their bill wont repair a single school, wont put a single qualified teacher in a classroom, and wont make life better for a single North Carolinian. Its a distractionanother cheap stunt to score political points instead of solving real problems. The bill must pass the House before it heads to the governors desk. It is unlikely to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and would return to the General Assembly for a potential override. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A new bill that passed in the North Carolina Senate banning cellphones in public schools has bipartisan approval. Gov. Josh Stein said he supports the ban. PAST COVERAGE: NC legislators introduce bill to ban phones and laptops in classrooms, but there are exceptions Channel 9s Evan Donovan spoke to teachers and families to find out what they think. North Carolina lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support a similar ban in schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, students and some teachers said theres more to this than you may think. Carter Hutchinson is a sophomore at South Mecklenburg High School. Now that I have one, I use it a ton, Hutchinson said. Hes had his cellphone for about three years. Donovan asked, Do you find it to be a distraction in school? It can be, Hutchinson said. But I think its more of a tool than a distraction, the way I use it. Because I can still be attentive in class. Hutchinson said phones can be positive tools. His mother said some kids use it to help with English. I dont think it should be a full ban, because people still use it, he said. Like my mom said translating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stein made his first State of the State address Wednesday night. Classrooms should be cellphone-free zones, the governor said during his speech. Stein said he supports Senate Bill 55, which would require school districts to establish a policy by this fall. It would prohibit students from using or having a wireless communication device during instructional time. There are exceptions, including when teachers allow it for instruction, during an emergency, or as part of a students education plan, or for medical reasons. Too many young people are struggling, Stein said. Too many kids are bullied. They need and they deserve a seven-hour break from the unrelenting pressures of phones and social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parent Joyce Davis supports the bill. The goal of being in school is to be educated and not distracted, Davis said. Hutchinson disagrees. I dont feel the need to pull it out of my pocket and constantly be using it, he said. The bill passed the state Senate last week and is now in the House. It will now be heard in several committees. Response from the North Carolina GOP on the student cell phone ban: We will let the General Assembly work its will on this issue. The NCGOP is supportive of common-sense policies to improve education and student outcomes in North Carolinas schools. Voters across our state returned strong Republican majorities to the legislature to act on the important issues facing our state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donovan is waiting for a response from Democratic leadership. South Carolina schools adopted a policy in January requiring phones to be off and away during the school day. VIDEO: Cellphones banned from use in school in Rock Hill this year Nearly 100 protesters were arrested Thursday after a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist detained over the weekend by federal immigration agents. The organization Jewish Voice for Peace livestreamed the sit-in, showing hundreds of demonstrators packed into the building's lobby. Some held signs that read "Fight Nazis not students," "Free Mahmoud free Palestine" and "You can't deport a movement." Many people could be heard chanting "Free Mahmoud." Jewish Voice for Peace demonstrators protest Thursday in Trump Tower in New York in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil. Protesters arrived in two groups around 11:30 a.m. Police said some entered through a side door and others through the front, dressed in regular clothing before they revealed their "protest gear underneath." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The protesters were wearing red T-shirts that said "Stop arming Israel" and "Not in our name," the group's spokesperson, Sonya Meyerson-Knox, told NBC News. About 300 protesters were present, she said. "My grandmother lost her cousins in the Holocaust. I grew up on these stories. We know what happens when authoritarian regimes begin targeting people, begin abducting them at night, separating their families and scapegoating," she said. "And we know that its one step from here to losing all right to protest and then further horrors happening, as we have seen too well in our history. "Were calling on everyone to speak up today because otherwise we wont be able to tomorrow," she added. The protesters hung two banners along the golden escalator Donald Trump rode down when he launched his first presidential campaign in 2015 before police arrived and started removing protesters from the building, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said 98 people were arrested on charges of trespassing, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest. There were no injuries or damage to property, police said. The protesters being detained could be seen, handcuffed in white zip ties, being escorted into police vehicles and empty city buses. They shouted "Free Palestine" and "Free Mahmoud" as they were forced out of the gold-adorned building that sits alongside Tiffany & Co., Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and other luxury retailers on Fifth Avenue. Some onlookers cheered for the arrestees and joined in their chants, while others seemed annoyed by the disruption to foot traffic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Standing across the street, Nina Levene, 60, a lifelong New Yorker whose mother is a Holocaust survivor, sneered in disgust. She called the protests "anti-American." "When we take people into this country, they have to promise that theyre not anti our government and anti our democracy," she said, adding that Khalil was "breaking every rule, so Im all for it." Police drove off with the protesters at about 1:40 p.m., heading downtown. Demonstrators protest in Trump Tower on Thursday. Jewish Voice for Peace said it "demands the Trump administration release Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The detention of Mahmoud is further proof that we are on the brink of a full takeover by a repressive, authoritarian regime," the group said in a statement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Khalil, 30, a Columbia University graduate and a green card holder, on Saturday. His attorney, Amy Greer, said he was told that his student visa was being revoked. Khalil's wife, who has not been named, said they had returned home when ICE agents confronted them. She said that they were not shown a warrant and that agents told her to go to their apartment or face arrest. Khalils wife, who is eight months pregnant, said the ordeal has been "traumatizing." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "US immigration ripped my soul from me," she said in a statement Tuesday released through a spokesperson working on the case. "Instead of putting together our nursery and washing baby clothes in anticipation of our first child, I am left sitting in our apartment, wondering when Mahmoud will get a chance to call me from a detention center." Khalil is being held at an immigration detention facility in Louisiana. In addition to the sit-in at Trump Tower, there have been several other protests over the past few days condemning his arrest. A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation as the court weighs a filing challenging his arrest and planned deportation. Mahmoud Khalil stands by the gates of Columbia University in April. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Khalil was detained in coordination with ICE and the State Department in support of Trump's "executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism." The spokesperson said Khalil "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and his administration have not provided evidence of the allegations. On Thursday, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced a lawsuit against Columbia over its "apparent willingness to comply with the Congressional request to disclose private student records." "Our lawsuit seeks to protect the constitutional rights of students who should not be subjected to political intimidation or invasive government overreach. We will continue to fight for the privacy and dignity of all students," CAIR-NY said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com TOPEKA (KSNT) The Kansas Department of Commerce (KDC) is holding a job fair later this month for people who are looking to land a job with the state. Patrick Lowry with the KDC said in a press release that a virtual state agency job fair will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19. Jobseekers are encouraged to sign up and participate to find a position with the State of Kansas. Our state agencies have provided thousands of Kansans with fulfilling careers in public service, Kansas Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. For those who are beginning the search for a professional career or those looking for a change of scenery I encourage you to consider a purpose-driven role at one of our many departments and see what the State of Kansas has to offer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Exhaustion has set in: 1886 Cafe in Mayetta to shut down Lowry said there are almost 500 open positions located across the state which range from entry-level to senior experience positions. People who participate are encouraged to dress professionally and check out the Virtual State Agency Job Fair online portal for helpful tips ahead of the fair. You can sign up for the fair by clicking here. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. The Nebraska Democratic Party opened a new office in south-central Omaha on Tuesday, March 19. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN The Nebraska Democratic Party this week announced a town hall Saturday with former Democratic vice presidential nominee and current Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The Democratic town hall in Omaha follows Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacons announcement earlier this week that he would hold a tele-town hall later this month. Congressional Republicans are being told by party leadership not to hold in-person town halls after some were confronted by angry crowds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When announcing the visit from Walz, a Nebraska native, state Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb on X said, If [Bacon] is too scared to show up in-person, we will! His visit follows one by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who launched his Fighting Oligarchy tour in the state last month. A Bacon spokesman said the format changed from his typical in-person town hall because there is such a large interest. The congressman told reporters Wednesday that the change happened because the tele-town halls are more conversational. Ive been at some of the in-person town halls, Bacon said Wednesday. When you got moms and dads saying we cant bring our kids to a town hall, theres a problem. Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz speaks at a rally in La Vista, Nebraska, on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (Naomi Delkamiller/Nebraska News Service) Nebraska Democratic Party officials said the town hall would focus on President Donald Trump and Elon Musks cuts to social programs, naming Medicaid and SNAP. The press release said Bacon is doing nothing as Musk and Trump dismantle the Department of Education, Veterans Affairs, and other critical infrastructure all of our families rely on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kleeb was recently elected to serve on the Democratic National Committees leadership team, essentially serving as chair of state party chairs. Bacon response Bacon name-dropped Indivisible and MoveOn and said the two grassroots liberal organizations are behind organizing the protests at Republican town halls. Trump and other GOP members have, without offering evidence, blamed paid troublemakers for the controversial GOP town halls. U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., criticizes Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas, his opponent in the 2nd District U.S. House race in Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District. State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (right) listens as he speaks. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) Some Democratic leaders have expressed frustration with those liberal organizations as they ask Democrats to do more to oppose the Trump Administration. Democrats are still struggling with how to navigate the second Trump presidency, as he increased his margins with working-class voters and minorities, though Trumps approval rating has dropped recently due to his handling of the economy. The congressman responded to the Walz town hall on Thursday on X by criticizing Nebraska Democrats for bringing the most liberal Senator, Sanders, to the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, and Now theyre bringing in the most liberal Governor in America. Walzs third time in Omaha Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, wise-cracked that Walz should finally clarify what Army rank he actually retired at and when the supposed combat deployment he used to talk about occurred. If he wants to call into our town hall, he can answer these questions, Bacon told the Examiner on Thursday when asked for further comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the 2024 presidential campaign, Walz faced criticism over his military service in the Minnesota and Nebraska National Guard. He said he misspoke about his service during the vice-presidential debate. Walz has said he would host town halls in House Republican-led districts that dont hold in-person ones. He said he and former Vice President Kamala Harris played it too safe during her bid for president. Saturdays event will be his third appearance in the Omaha in less than a year. Nebraska Democrats are hosting the town hall with Walz at Metropolitan Community Colleges Swanson Conference Center, at 5730 N 30th St., from 10 a.m. to noon. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX "I welcome a peace... I hate war," Rep. Don Bacon said. "I just want to make sure it's a just peace." U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., talks with reporters after an event on June 19, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN As a potential federal government shutdown approaches at the end of the week, all three of Nebraskas U.S. House representatives voted to advance a House spending bill to keep the government open. The House passed legislation Tuesday to keep the federal government funded through September. The proposal would reduce spending overall compared to last years totals, increasing military funding by approximately $6 billion and decreasing non-defense spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now it goes to the Senate, where the states senior senator is keeping her stance on the House GOP spending bill close to her chest. Senate path unclear Nebraska U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts will be key votes since Senate Republicans will need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Unlike in the House, the Senate vote on the spending proposal requires support from seven Democrats or Independents in the chamber if there are no GOP holdouts. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has hinted that he is a likely no vote, so Republicans might need eight. Nebraskas congressional delegation, from left, U.S. Pete Ricketts, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and U.S. Rep. Mike Flood on June 19, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) A Fischer spokesperson declined Wednesday to comment on whether she would vote for the House spending bill. Ricketts signaled a yes vote during his press call on Wednesday. He said it would be Senate Democrats who decide whether to shut down the government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hope that my Democrat colleagues will see the wisdom in keeping government open and voting for the CR, Ricketts told the media Wednesday. Democrats have expressed worries about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York signaled Wednesday that Democrats would reject the House spending bill unless it changes. Washington lawmakers must meet a midnight Friday deadline to avoid partially shutting down the federal government. A shutdown would pause some government services and close national parks and monuments. Essential federal services, like air traffic control and law enforcement, would continue, but many workers would not be paid until the shutdown is resolved. How Nebraskas House members voted On the House side, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., had said two weeks ago that he did not support a clear spending bill because it would have cut military spending by 3%. He said he voted for the House bill because it was a continuing resolution with modifications, where it made sense, including on defense spending. In a statement after his vote, Bacon said, While I do not like CRs [continuing resolutions], we cannot let the government shut down and not be there to serve the people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I tried to optimize what I could on the [continuing resolution] to take care of our national security, Bacon told reporters on Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, a Republican who represents Nebraskas largely rural 3rd Congressional District, told the Examiner he was disappointed that the spending bill didnt secure more bipartisan support. Its disappointing nearly every Democrat in the House voted against preventing a harmful government shutdown, Smith said. To properly address appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year, Congress needs to get back to regular order. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Democrats voted against the GOP proposal because it would cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. House Appropriations Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma said thats false. Bacon also said the CR does not gut any programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not every Democrat voted against the House bill. A Democratic representative from Maine voted for it, while a Republican representative from Kentucky voted against the House GOP plan. The bill narrowly passed the House with a 217-213 vote. U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., who represents eastern Nebraskas 1st District, voted yes on the spending bill, as did Bacon and Smith. Flood is vice chair of the Main Street Caucus, a House Republicans policymaking group. He released a joint statement with Chair South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson on the vote. This vote puts Congress on the path to deliver President Trumps tax cuts and control federal spending through reconciliation, the statement reads. We urge our colleagues in the Senate to act quickly to pass the CR to keep the government working for the people. If the Senate passes the proposal, it will go to President Donald Trump to sign and extend federal spending for six months. Typically, Washington lawmakers are able to pass resolutions to keep the government funded, but party politics sometimes get in the way. The last time the federal government shut down was during Trumps first term. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX LAS VEGAS(KLAS) Democratic Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford joined a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to put a halt to the dismantling of the Department of Education (DOE). The Trump administration announced it would fire approximately 50 percent of the workforce as part of its total shutdown of DOE. According to a news release from Fords office, the dismantling of the federal agency would have devastating effects on Nevada. The lawsuit seeks a court order to stop the administrations actions to dismantle the programs. Mass layoffs begin at the Department of Education Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gutting the Department of Education isnt just unlawful; its an attack on Nevadas students, especially those who rely on special education services or come from low-income families. You cant take a hatchet to half the workforce and expect the department to function. You cant rip away resources and expect kids to succeed. And you certainly cant do those things without following the law. This plan is unconstitutional. Its illegal. Its dangerously reckless. And I will do everything in my power to stop it, Ford said. The lawsuit, which was filed in Massachusetts Federal Court, includes the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes speaks to the press in the Cannon Rotunda on January 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rhodes, was among the roughly 1,500 criminal defendants who were charged in the January 6 attacks on the Capitol and pardoned by President Donald Trump. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images) Nevada state lawmakers are considering legislation designed to crack down on paramilitary organizing and activities. Assembly Bill 119 is sponsored by Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager but was presented on Wednesday to the chambers judiciary committee by Assemblymember Erica Roth. The bill authorizes the state attorney general to investigate paramilitary activities and seek from a court injunctive relief against them. It also establishes the right to seek civil penalties if harmed by such activities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The idea is to give the state the power to intervene before any disruptive and illegal activities occur, said Mary McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, which has worked on anti-paramilitary legislation across the country. Criminal penalties for paramilitary activity already exist in state law but are a blunt tool that can only hold people accountable after the fact, she told lawmakers. This seeks more useful mechanisms for public safety. McCord and Roth emphasized the bill is ideologically neutral and focuses on actions rather than the beliefs held by such groups. Actions, according to the bill language, include public patrolling while armed with a deadly weapon, substantial interference with government operations while armed with a deadly weapon, assuming functions of local or federal law enforcement agents, and preventing or attempting to interfere with the legal rights of others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In recent years we have witnessed a troubling rise in extremist ideologies and anti-government sentiments across the country, said Roth. The spread of violent rhetoric and increasing visibility of armed groups have created a climate of fear and intimidation in some communities. McCord, a professor at Georgetown Law, said courts have long interpreted well regulated militia in the Second Amendment as meaning regulated by the government, meaning it is already illegal to organize into a paramilitary group. Forty-eight states have prohibitions against paramilitaries written into their constitutions, and more than half have laws criminalizing paramilitary activities. Nevada has both. Beyond Bundys Republicans on the committee questioned whether the bill would apply to groups of ranchers or church members who might train together to protect their properties or congregations. McCord pointed out that Nevada already regulates security services, which would likely apply in those hypotheticals, and that their activities would not fall under the new state law unless the intent was paramilitary in nature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be very difficult to accidentally fall within this, she added. Roth said Nevada has real-life examples highlighting the difference between protection of personal property and anti-government activity. Lets say theres an unnamed rancher in the state of Nevada who is just patrolling their property and making sure its safe. Thats fine. That does not fall under this chapter, she said. If that same rancher, who may or may not have actually existed, starts to form a militia for the purpose of anti-government work, then that falls under this category. In 2014, a longstanding dispute over illegal cattle grazing in Bunkerville came to a head when rancher Cliven Bundy led an armed standoff between Bureau of Land Management agents. Bundy was aided by members of far-right militia groups, most prominently from the Oath Keepers, which was founded in Las Vegas in 2009. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2016, Bundys son Ammon also tapped into paramilitary groups when he carried out an armed takeover of a wildlife refuge in Oregon. (Oregon passed an anti-paramilitary bill similar to whats now being considered in Nevada. That law went into effect last year.) More recently, in Nevada, unfounded conspiracy theories about election fraud have led to an increase in armed paramilitary activities. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his involvement with the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, though his 18-year sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump the day he took office. Roth also noted that links between militia groups and officials in Nevada has also been documented. Across the country reports of armed vigilantes appearing at public demonstrations, school board meetings and drag queen story times have increased and come with the threat of violence. Mar. 12Newport, Washington, resident who killed a 33-year-old Reardan woman in an apparent road rage crash in 2023 was sentenced to nine years in prison. Paul G. Ainsworth, 44, faced second-degree murder and vehicular homicide charges in the death of Rebecca Powelson, but he pleaded guilty March 5 to first-degree manslaughter as part of a plea agreement, according to court documents. Ainsworth intentionally struck the back of the pickup Powelson was driving the morning of Aug. 2, 2023, near Chattaroy, causing it to roll several times and killing Powelson, court records show. The drivers, Ainsworth in a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan and Powelson in a 1990 Ford Ranger, were headed south on U.S. Highway 2 north of Riverside High School. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Washington State Patrol determined Powelson's Ford "rotated violently counterclockwise" and rolled, according to documents. The Ford rolled through a drainage ditch off the northbound shoulder until it collided with a large boulder, coming to rest on its side in a driveway, law enforcement said in court records. Powelson died at the scene. One witness compared Ainsworth's driving to a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver used by law enforcement, telling authorities Ainsworth suddenly drove hard to the right, hitting the rear side of the truck on the left side. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michelle Szambelan imposed an "exceptional sentence" above the 6 1/2 -to-8 1/2 -year standard range. Ainsworth will serve three years of probation when he's released from prison. As the New Hampshire Legislature takes up the work of crafting the states next budget, we must differentiate between state spending and state investment as it relates to public transit. While spending infers a net drain, investment carries an expectation of a return. In this budget cycle, the state has an opportunity to make an investment that will amplify the positive economic and social returns already being generated by public transit. In a fiscal environment where difficult choices must be made, investing in public transit can help sustain and grow our state economy while supporting Granite Staters that need us the most. It is the proverbial, yet so often illusive, win-win proposition. Rad Nichols Public transit represents an important segment of New Hampshires economy and plays a significant role in our ongoing economic and social health. Provided regionally by eight different organizations, public transit operates in 42 communities, serving more than half of New Hampshires resident population. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New Hampshire Transit providers directly employ more than 300 individuals statewide and we help to drive the states economy by contributing an estimated $110 million each year. A recent economic impact analysis shows that for every $1 invested in public transit, there is a more than $4 economic impact to the state economy. In addition, that $1 investment leverages an equal amount of federal funds already allocated and ready to be put to use in NH. How does public transit have such a significant and positive economic impact? By harnessing the power of connecting people with the opportunities they need to succeed personally and contribute economically. Public transit affordably connects New Hampshires workforce to jobs people like the restaurant worker who lives in Lebanon, works in Hanover and uses Advance Transit to get to and from work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Public transit connects students (who are tomorrows workforce) to educational opportunities people like the student using the Nashua Transit System to attend Nashua Community College and studying to become an air traffic controller. Making sure seniors can get where they need to go has significant economic implications. We live in a graying state and the State Plan on Aging has identified transportation was the number one reason seniors in NH were not able to access the services they needed. The AARP Longevity Outlook from 2018 identified that while the 50-plus population accounted for 41% of New Hampshires population it contributed nearly 47% or $42 billion of the states total GDP. Public transit also supports New Hampshires most vulnerable residents by providing ADA-mandated services for individuals living with disabilities. Public transit allows them to access support services, healthcare and employment opportunities. These are people like the young woman who lives in Dover and uses COASTs paratransit services to get to her job at the YMCA in a neighboring community. On average, 20%-30% of riders would not be able to make their trip without public transportation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In state fiscal year (SFY) 2023, more than 2.1 million trips were taken on public transit. In SFY24, that number grew by 18.2% to over 2.5 million trips. The state invested in public transit operations in SFY24 with $600,000 in funding and increased that to $1.68 million in SFY25. The return on these increased investments is already measurable the investment helped public transit operators expand services, growing ridership by over 385,000 rides in SFY24. And ridership continues to experience strong growth in SFY25. The math is simple more riders translates into more economic activity and a greater return on the states investment. There is room for even greater yields in the coming budget years. A state investment of $6.8 million in the SFY2026-2027 budget would positively impact New Hampshires economy by spurring an additional $27.2 million in economic activity and by opening access to a minimum of another $6.8 million of already allocated FTA funding for NH, doubling the total economic impact figure to an estimated $54.4 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As we look down the road ahead, there is a direct correlation between being able to affordably connect people with housing, jobs, and workforce training opportunities and New Hampshires ability to support economic development. We should always be looking for ways to do more with resources we have in order to support our economy and New Hampshire residents. Public transit touches every segment of New Hampshires economy, directly and positively impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters. Investment in public transit makes good financial sense and good social sense. Local communities around New Hampshire recognize this and are already investing in the power of public transit to drive their economies and support their residents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The New Hampshire Transit Association invites the state to join us as near equal partners in the future of our economy and of our state. Rad Nichols is chair of the New Hampshire Transit Association. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Nichols: Public transit is a solid investment for New Hampshire WAUKESHA - The 17-year-old boy sought by authorities after his mother and stepfather were found dead in their home made his first court appearance this week as officials expect to make additional charges. Nikita Casap, who also lived at the Cider Hills Drive home in the village of Waukesha, was charged in absentee March 3 with car theft and gun theft. He was in Kansas when he was taken into custody Feb. 28, forcing his extradition back to Wisconsin to face charges in Waukesha County Circuit Court. During his initial appearance Wednesday, Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese indicated in court that additional charges were expected to be filed, including possible first-degree intentional homicide, according to WISN. And the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday also said its investigation isn't over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court officials set a $250,000 cash bond, rejecting a motion by public defender attorney Nicole Ostrowski asking for the dismissal of both counts. As of Thursday, Casap remained in custody while he awaits a March 24 preliminary hearing on the existing charges. "It is important to note that additional felony charges are forthcoming," WCSO Lt. Nicholas Wenzel said in a news release. "Nikita Casap remains a person of interest in the ongoing investigation into the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, and stepfather, Donald Mayer. Our detectives are actively pursuing all leads and working diligently to gather evidence related to this case." Deputies discovered both bodies Feb. 28 in different parts of the house, prompting the death investigation. According to the criminal complaint, Mayer was found with a wound on the back of his head in a first-floor office, while Casap was found in the hallway with an exit bullet wound in her back. Both bodies were found covered in sheets or clothes. It was unknown how long the bodies, which showed signs of decomposition, had been lying there before authorities found them. The complaint included examples of texts purportedly sent by Mayer to his workplace and to his mother, Judith Mayer, as late as Feb. 23. But authorities, as well as Judith Mayer, expressed doubts about the veracity of the author of those texts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sheriff's office said information is still being sought in the case. Anyone with information can call Detective Sam Yanke at 262-896-8117 or 262-548-7128. Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nikita Casap in Waukesha County Jail as death investigation continues WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A Niles man received his sentence after pleading guilty to charges in a hacking case that involved intimate and sensitive photos. Andrew Russo, 39, pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him with six counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and single counts of receiving stolen property, unauthorized use of property involved in computer hacking and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented performance or material. Russo received a two- to three-year prison sentence and will also be labeled a Tier 2 sex offender, meaning he will have to register with the sheriffs office twice a year for 25 years, according to a news release from the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The release states that one of the victims in the case addressed the court, saying she was emotionally affected by Russos actions. Prosecutors stated that Niles police had received a tip from a cyber abuse task force and Russos electronic devices were searched. Thousands of the womans photos, including many from her childhood, were hacked from her iCloud, including some intimate photos and one that the defendant had altered, she said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Despite a court ruling that they are legally required to do so, the Michigan House of Representatives will not be sending nine limbo bills from last years legislative session to the governor. House Resolution 41 was passed Wednesday, directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to Whitmer bills that pass both chambers of the state legislature from this current session. The resolution cites Article IV, Section 13 of the Michigan Constitution, which reads: The legislature shall meet at the seat of government on the second Wednesday in January of each year at twelve oclock noon. Each regular session shall adjourn without day, on a day determined by concurrent resolution, at twelve oclock noon. Any business, bill or joint resolution pending at the final adjournment of a regular session held in an odd numbered year shall carry over with the same status to the next regular session. Article IV 13, State Constitution In the resolution, lawmakers write that this section of the Constitution implies that bills held over from an even-numbered year do not carry over to the next legislative session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This follows a Court of Claims ruling in Michigan Senate v. Michigan House of Representatives last month. The judge ruled that the House was legally required to present the nine bills to the governorbut declined to issue an injunction or writ of mandamus, instead saying the Court would not intervene in legislative functions. DETAILS: Judge rules Michigan House is legally required to send limbo bills to Whitmer House Speaker Matt Hall, who was named as a defendant in the initial lawsuit, spoke out after the resolution passed, saying, Everyone knows I directed our attorneys to conduct a thorough legal review of the situation and this court ruling. It was a very unprecedented situation, and there has been a lot of confusion. He continued, saying, The House gave us clear direction on how to proceed. We are going to follow that direction. However, House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri condemned the passing of the resolution, saying it flies in the face of the recent court ruling and calling it an unconstitutional move. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The resolution that was adopted is yet another move to withhold presenting nine bills to Gov. Whitmer this newest move clarifies something beyond a shadow of a doubt: House Republicans dont care about the people of Michigan and they dont care about democracy, says Puri. Puri says the bills would improve healthcare affordability, and increase retirement security for corrections officers and support workers. House Bills 4177, 5817, and 5818 would create a History Museum Authority Act and authorize funding for it. House Bills 4665, 4666, and 4667 would expand the Michigan State Police retirement plan. House Bills 4900 and 4901 would provide additional protection to debtors, and House Bill 6058 would mandate a minimum contribution for public employee health plans. Hall signaled that he will be taking the case to the Court of Appeals in the future, citing a need to clarify the legal uncertainties that surrounded the nine bills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our legal review did identify some uncertainties that have created confusion and ambiguities after the recent court ruling, says Hall. We obviously won the court case, but the House has taken the position that there is value in clarifying those questions for the sake of future precedent and to give the public a unified position. Thats why we will be going to the Court of Appeals to get everyone on the same page. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News. TRENTON, N.J. New Jersey is using more and more energy from EV chargers to data centers. Increased demand is one big reason why the State is bracing for another increase in energy bills. The State Board of Public Utilities announced the increases last month, following the States annual electricity supply auction. Starting June 1st, rates for PSE&G customers are set to go up more than 17 percent. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JCP&L customers, more than 20 percent. Customers of Atlantic City Electric and Rockland Electric will see similar increases too. All told, the average customer could be seeing an increase of around $22 to $28 on their bill. AARP New Jerseys State Director Chris Widelo says increases like this hurt those who are on fixed incomes. They can reach out to their legislators and let them know that this is a concern of theirs, said Widelo. I think its important that they hear that this is becoming a burden that they cant tolerate any longer. Assemblyman Chris Tully is sponsoring a bill to streamline the process for people who qualify to get utility bill assistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Really what this does is makes sure that those individuals that qualify for assistance get that assistance and they get it at a simplified process, said Tully (D-NJ 38th District). So for our seniors, for those that qualify for any programs, we try to make it easier through one application. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Meanwhile, Assemblyman Paul Kanitra says mismanagement by the State has led to this, and long-term fixes are needed. We need to start building out our natural gas infrastructure immediately, said Kanitra (R-NJ 10th District). We need to stop the offshore wind debacle and planning and spending taxpayer money on wind plants and cabling and power plants that are never going to be built, and we need to also look at some of these huge corporations that are coming in with their data centers and big energy draws, how are they going to contribute and how are they going to bring their own power sources? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eatontown-based home budgeting expert Paul Oster says you can call your utility company and ask to be put on an estimated monthly payment plan, so they dont get hit with those huge increases over the summer when everybodys running their air conditioners, he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Criminal charges will not be pursued against the two officers and two deputies who shot and killed a Pennsylvania resident in Canandaigua in early 2023. READ MORE: https://www.rochesterfirst.com/canandaigua/no-criminal-charges-against-officers-who-killed-man-in-2023-canandaigua-shooting/ President Joe Biden refused to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to establish daylight between his policies and hers when she succeeded him as the Democratic presidential nominee last summer, an insistence that hamstrung her campaign and ultimately contributed to her defeat to Donald Trump at the polls, a new book alleges. An excerpt from the forthcoming Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, published by The Hill, emphasizes that both Harris and Trump understood the importance of being seen as the bigger change agent due to the unpopularity of the Biden administration. The authors assert that the Republican needed only to present himself as the antidote to the Biden-Harris era, but the VP potentially had a much greater degree of freedom in choosing how she presented herself to the electorate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They argue that Harris had three options: she could make clean breaks with Biden by rejecting policy positions she had endorsed as his deputy (risking accusations of hypocrisy), she could seek out entirely new issues with which to define herself and run on or, alternatively, she could rely on voters to see her gender, her genes, and her lived experience... as symbols of change. Vice President Kamala Harris listens to President Joe Biden speak in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 9 2025 in the final weeks of their administration (AFP/Getty) However, the first of those approaches was reportedly taken off the table by the president and his loyalists, with Biden saying publicly that Harris must do whatever was necessary to beat Trump but telling her in private that there should be no daylight between them, a message stressed to Harris almost everywhere she went by his aides, who were seeking to safeguard his legacy. Allen and Parnes offer as an example Harris preparing for her first joint television interview alongside running mate Tim Walz and being presented with a list of achievements she could say she was proud to have shared with Biden by veteran Democratic communications strategist Stephanie Cutter. Sean Clegg, the VPs long-term adviser, objected to the approach, saying, Lets not do this. Lets not go down memory lane. He was allegedly excluded from all subsequent media prep sessions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the interview with CNNs Dana Bash took place in late August, Harris found herself reciting a laundry list of Biden policies sitting on a chair that was lower than Walzs. The authors suggest this meant she did not look like a candidate seeking the highest office in the land and only reinforced a perception that she was either incapable, or afraid, of answering tough questions on her own. On the day of this debate on September 10, former President Joe Biden reportedly told Harris: No daylight, kid (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) With Harris continuing to struggle to make the case for why she should be the next president of the United States and outline her vision for the country's future, her September 10 debate against Trump was seen as a key opportunity to definitively establish her narrative in front of a national audience. But, on the day of the clash, Biden called Harris and reportedly made clear that he expected her to protect his record, even at the expense of forging her own path, reminding her once again: No daylight, kid. Allen and Parness reporting perhaps cast new light on a pivotal moment in the campaign, when Harris told the panellists on ABCs The View on October 8 that there is not a thing that comes to mind that she would have done differently to Biden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the former California attorney general and senator has been seldom seen since losing the election last November, Walz has gradually re-emerged to give interviews reflecting on their defeat. I own this, the Minnesota governor told MSNBCs Chris Hayes on Wednesday night, referring to Trumps chaotic tariff war causing economic shockwaves and Elon Musks attempt to streamline the federal government resulting in mass redundancies. We wouldnt be in this mess if wed have won the election and we didnt. We have to make sure that Americans know its not just that Donald Trump is bad, but were offering them something better. Walz also revealed to The New Yorkers editor David Remnick earlier this month during a podcast appearance that he could be tempted to run for the White House himself in 2028 and that he has barely spoken to Harris since their loss, insisting the pair were not estranged but merely busy with their own lives. Measles is highly contagious but preventable. (Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / Tatiana Lanzieri, MD, MPH) Measles, a highly contagious disease considered to have been eradicated since the turn of the century, is making a comeback. Nevada has no reported cases as of Thursday morning, but public health officials worry the state may be vulnerable as vaccination rates have slipped in recent years. The New York Times and other media outlets have tracked more than 270 cases of measles in 12 states. That includes 223 cases confirmed by the Texas Department of State Health Services as of March 11 and 33 cases confirmed by the New Mexico Department of Health as of Wednesday. Two cases were confirmed among travelers at Los Angeles International Airport last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which previously updated case counts daily on its website, last month announced it will only update weekly. As of March 7, it was reporting 222 cases nationally. In 2024, the CDC reported 285 cases in 32 states and the District of Columbia. None of them were fatal. Nevada did not report any cases. So far this year, an unvaccinated child in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died from measles, according to health officials. Measles, a highly contagious virus, usually begins with a fever, cough, runny nose and pink eye. Two to four days later a distinctive rash generally appears. Infected individuals are contagious for four days before and after the appearance of a rash. Complications include pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The virus is transmitted by direct contact or by inhaling infectious droplets. Measles virus can remain on surfaces and in the air for up to 2 hours. Signs of illness usually occur a week to 10 days following exposure. Herd immunity at risk? The measles vaccine became available in 1963. Anyone born before 1958 is assumed to have had measles, says Dr. Brian Labus of UNLVs Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. For this group, getting vaccinated was unnecessary because their natural infection provided lifelong protection, Labus said via email. Thanks to widespread vaccination, measles was no longer a common childhood illness by the late 1960s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lately, amid debunked rumors of connections between vaccinations and autism, as well as opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine, the ranks of the vaccinated are slipping. The CDC estimates that in the 2018/19 school year, 95% of kindergarten students in Nevada were vaccinated against measles. By 2023/24, the vaccination rate had fallen to 91.8%. Nationally, the vaccination rate during that time period dropped from 94.7% to 92.7%. Those drops in vaccination rates correspond with an increase in the number of parents filing religious exemptions. In 2018/19, an estimated 3.2% of Nevada kindergarteners had a religious exemption. By the 2023/24 school year, 5.6% did. Nationally, 3.1% of kindergarten students had a religious exemption. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The percentage of children with medical exemptions has remained steady at .2% in Nevada and nationally. The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates in Nevada vary by county, from 83% in White Pine County to 95.8% in Storey County. In Clark County, the largest county in the state, 91.5% of students were vaccinated, while 94.8% in Washoe County were. In Gaines County, Texas, which has the majority of cases in the West Texas outbreak, the MMR vaccination rate is 82%, well below the 95% threshold to prevent outbreaks, the Associated Press reports. Measles elimination hinges on vaccination coverage remaining above 95% to retain sufficient community protection, the National Institutes of Health wrote in 2022, noting recent declines in routine measles vaccinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic are a cause for concern. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We encourage all parents to follow established vaccination guidelines to help protect their children and the community, says SNHD, adding it will reach out to unvaccinated individuals to encourage post exposure vaccination if they have been potentially exposed. The wildcard in the current outbreak is the role, influence, and administrative skills of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr., who has asserted a link between autism and childhood vaccinations, and has been criticized for a lack of leadership during the recent measles outbreaks. In a message on the HHS website, Kennedy said the decision to vaccinate is a personal one. It is not a scientific article, said Labus of Kennedys statement. It is an opinion piece. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The New York Times reports Kennedy, in an interview posted on Fox News last week, blamed the measles vaccination for harming children in West Texas, the site of several outbreaks, asserted it is difficult for measles to kill a healthy person, and blamed the West Texas cases on malnutrition. The measles vaccination is administered in two doses the first between 12 and 15 months of age, and the second between 4 and 6 years old, and is 97% effective, according to experts. Higher vaccination rates provide greater protection for everyone- children and adults alike, the Southern Nevada Health District said via email, adding it takes proactive steps to protect public health during a measles outbreak. That response includes public education focused on vaccinations, enhanced surveillance, pre-established outbreak response plans, and close collaboration with community, state, and federal partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Health District recommends anyone with symptoms contact a health care provider before visiting a health care facility to guard against spreading the illness. State law requires that kindergarten students in Nevada are vaccinated for: Diphtheria Tetanus Pertussis (whooping cough) Poliomyelitis (Polio) Rubella Rubeola (Measles); Additionally, the State Board of Health requires the following vaccines: Mumps Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Varicella (chicken pox) Bordatella pertussis (whooping cough) Meningitis (required in 7th grade) Exemptions from vaccination are available if a child cant be immunized because of a medical condition or vaccination is contrary to parents or guardians religious beliefs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Conditional enrollment of unvaccinated children is allowed under some circumstances, according to the state. If the State Board of Health determines a dangerous or contagious disease is present at a school and there is at least one student who is not vaccinated, the unvaccinated child must be immunized or be excluded from school, according to a state website, for a period of time determined by the State Board of Health. When we do exclude a child, it serves multiple purposes, says Labus. First and foremost, it protects the child. We dont want them attending a school during an outbreak because they are at high risk of disease and they would likely be exposed and get sick. Excluding an unvaccinated child also helps prevent ongoing transmission within the school and helps to stop the outbreak. If the outbreak spreads to the teachers and staff, it may be difficult to continue to operate until the outbreak is over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Measles vaccination doesnt just protect childrenit safeguards our entire community, Nancy Diao, ScD, Division Director of Epidemiology and Public Health Preparedness at Northern Nevada Public Health said in a news release. Pregnant individuals, immunocompromised people, and other high-risk groups may face severe complications from measles, and vaccination is the most effective way to prevent outbreaks and protect those who cannot be vaccinated themselves. State health officials declined to provide specifics about any preparations in light of measles cases in other states. The Division of Public and Behavioral Health creates response plans for a wide range of public health threats. That includes diseases like measles, the division said in an email. HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) No one was injured as a three-story, multi-family home caught fire in Hartford on Wednesday evening. The Hartford Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at 205 Cornwall Street in the Blue Hills neighborhood. Upon arriving on the scene the fire was active and heavy on the front porches of all three stories. The fire had extended to the interior of each floor, but was quickly knocked down and extinguished. Hartford woman arrested after driving wrong way on Route 2, police say Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Hartford FD, all everyone inside the structure made it out safely, but it was deemed uninhabitable. There were three families living in the residence, which included seven adults and four children. The Hartford FD Special Services Unit will work with the American Red Cross to assist the displaced families. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. The mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, is trying to terminate the lease of a movie theater for screening No Other Land, an Oscar-winning documentary about the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Miami Herald reported that Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner introduced a resolution to terminate the lease of O Cinema, an independent film theater that rents space from the city, and discontinue more than $60,000 in promised grant funding. The legislation comes after Meiner tried to pressure the theater to cancel the screening. Florida civil rights groups and First Amendment experts say such government retaliation against the theater for the content of the films it chooses to screen would be unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Simply put, the First Amendment does not allow the government to discriminate based on viewpoint or to retaliate against anyone for their speech," says Daniel Tilley, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida. "Pulling funding from an independent, community-based cinema under these circumstances is patently unconstitutional. The government does not get to pick and choose which viewpoints the public is allowed to hear, however controversial some might find them." The Miami Beach mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in a newsletter to Miami Beach residents earlier this week, Meiner wrote: "I am a staunch believer in free speech. But normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism in a facility owned by the taxpayers of Miami Beach, after O Cinema conceded the 'concerns of antisemitic rhetoric,' is unjust to the values of our city and residents and should not be tolerated." On March 5, Meiner sent O Cinema a letter on official city letterhead expressing outrage at the cinema's decision to screen the film, which documents the destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Here in Miami Beach, our City has adopted a strong policy of support for the State of Israel in its struggle to defend itself and its residents against attacks by the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah," the letter read. "Airing performances of the one-sided, inaccurate film 'No Other Land' at a movie theater facility owned by the City and operated by O Cinema is disappointing." This is flagrant government jawboningan attempt to use the mayor's bully pulpit and the implicit threat of government action to cow the theater into self-censorship. O Cinema initially complied. "Due to the concerns of antisemitic rhetoric, we have decided to withdraw the film from our programming," Vivian Marthell, CEO of O Cinema, wrote to Meiner the following day. "This film has exposed a rift which makes us unable to do the thing we've always sought out to do which is to foster thoughtful conversations about cinematic works." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the theater then reversed course and told the Miami Herald it would continue the screenings after all. "Our decision to screen NO OTHER LAND is not a declaration of political alignment," Marthell emailed the Miami Herald last week. "It is, however, a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard, even, and perhaps especially, when it challenges us." It's unclear how the Miami Beach commissioners will vote on the resolution, but at least some of them see the obvious legal peril that Meiner is courting. In a statement, Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez said: "The O Cinema has screened over 50 Jewish films, hosts a monthly Holocaust screening with the [Miami] Jewish Film Festival, and has been the host of the festival since 2014. It has a long-standing commitment to the Jewish community, and knee-jerk reactions that threaten its future will lead to costly legal battles that waste taxpayer dollars." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No legal action in response to the letter has been taken yet, but Tilley says the Florida ACLU "is closely monitoring this issue and remains committed to ensuring that a variety of voices on issues important to Miami Beach residents can continue to be heard." There was one entirely predictable outcome of all this. The Miami Herald reported that, "after receiving media attention for the film controversy, the theater sold out screenings and added two more dates later in March." The post No Other Land Won an Oscar. Miami Beach's Mayor Is Trying To Evict a Movie Theater for Screening It appeared first on Reason.com. Back in 2022, a teen was nearly caught up in a shooting that couldve claimed his life. However, police say the shooter stalked him down to make sure he wouldnt snitch and the end result was terrifying. Defendant Martez Jefferson was convicted Thursday of charges stemming from the killing of 18-year-old Rayshod Goldthwaite. Police say their beef went wayyy back in 2019 when Jeffersons friend shot at Goldthwaite when the two met for a Facebook Marketplace sale over a pair of shoes. Though Goldthwaite escaped death once, he still had a bounty on his head. Months later, Jefferson was reported to have approached Goldthwaite at a pool party and threatened to shoot him and his family if they appeared in court to testify about his friends shooting offense, per AL.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, even after Jeffersons friend pleaded guilty his charges in related to the incident in 2022, police say Jefferson held his grudge. On June 5, 2022, Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Tiffany Ould says Jeffersons car was spotted lurking around a Shell gas station where they say he was stalking Goldthwaite and his friends. Within minutes, nine shots were fired toward Goldthwaites vehicle, majority of which went through his driver side door. Police said Goldthwaites friends jumped the vehicle before it crashed into a nearby building where he was found by authorities. Goldthwaite was fatally struck in the heart and pronounced dead at the scene, according to medical personnel. Jefferson was charged with capital murder, first-degree assault for a minor passenger and discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle in connection to Goldthwaites death. After two days of deliberation and two years of waiting for trial, the report says he was found guilty on all counts Thursday by a Jefferson County jury. Hes to be sentenced in April and faces life in prison without parole, the report says. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6th) was one of several members of Congress who addressed a crowd of hundreds outside NOAA's Silver Spring headquarters March 3, just days after the Trump administration cut hundreds of jobs from the agency. NOAA cut another 1,000 this week. (Photo by Jack Bowman/Maryland Matters) Tom Di Liberto always knew he wanted to be a meteorologist. Theres an old family story about how, when he was just 2 years old, he tried to wander out into a thunderstorm. I just always loved the weather, even from when I was little, Di Liberto said Wednesday. I was not afraid of thunderstorms I just wanted to be in them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Di Liberto got to live out his dream, passing on higher-paying career paths and leveraging his aptitude in math to become a climate scientist, and public relations specialist, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Until around 3:45 p.m. on Feb. 27, when Di Liberto received an email informing him that, as a probationary employee, his services and skills no longer matched NOAAs needs. The firing took effect at 5 p.m. that day, just over an hour after the notification. Di Liberto, along with many others, fell victim to mass layoffs that have been rolling through the federal government as part of President Donald Trumps mission to reduce the federal workforce. NOAA reportedly laid off more than 1,000 more workers Wednesday. Combined with the original round of cuts, the total number of NOAA employees out of work totals about 20% of its original workforce of 12,000. The Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the latest round of firings. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) reiterated, as he has at several rallies, that he believes the layoffs are illegal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump Administrations illegal actions to severely gut NOAAs workforce indiscriminately and without cause will only hurt vital services that Americans depend on, Van Hollen said in an emailed statement. A spokesperson for Van Hollen said that the layoffs are not expected to take effect immediately, and are likely a reaction to the Trump administration deadline of March 13 for reduction in force plans. The latest NOAA layoffs come a day after the Department of Education said it would fire about 1,300 workers. With previous reductions, that brings cuts at Education to just under 2,000, about half the departments previous staffing. Todays reduction in force reflects the Department of Educations commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.. I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system, she said. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6th) took aim Wednesday at the cuts made to both NOAA and the Education Department. I have no idea the rhyme or reason by which they are going after some of these programs and the workforce, she said. McClain Delaney, who previously served as deputy assistant secretary of communications at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said the cuts are not the result of a good-faith effort to determine the efficacy of programs and workers. She said that sort of evaluation requires time and careful consideration the administration is not taking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To really know an organization and whether an employee is doing a great job it takes time, McClain Delaney said. You cant do that in a week, or two, or three, particularly [within] a massive agency. Di Liberto expressed a similar sentiment, saying the layoffs seemed like they werent thought out. It was not like they did a lot of thought, or actually looked at anything, for the most part, before they sent things out, Di Liberto said of the decision of which employees to let go. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th), whose district is home to NOAAs Silver Spring headquarters, said Wednesday that, beyond the impact on workers, the cuts to the agency represent a safety issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [Maryland], like the rest of America depends on the weather information and forecasts that are coming from NOAA, Raskin said. He also said that Maryland is uniquely affected, both as a coastal state at risk of severe weather and as the home of many of NOAAs workers. We are profoundly affected, both as beneficiaries of NOAAs work and also as people who help deliver it, Raskin said. As cuts and layoffs continue on a near-daily basis, Raskin said that the easiest way to undo this nightmare going forward is through the courts. We also could clearly undo it in Congress if we had support from our Republican colleagues, Raskin said. But so far they are acting sheepishly and in a servile way towards Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not because GOP districts have been untouched by the cuts overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, who is directing the Trump administrations Department of Government Efficiency. The Republicans were making the same complaints we were about effective programs being dismantled and about civil service workers they did not want to see fired, Raskin said. Elon Musk gave the Republican members his phone number and the phone number of his assistant. We would like that phone number, too, Raskin said. Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly had one stark warning to share Wednesday: If the U.S. can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe. During a press conference addressing President Donald Trumps recent tariff retaliation against the country, Joly reiterated that Canada is holding strong and described the presidents actions as a day-to-day fight. We have done nothing to justify Trumps attacks on our country, on our economy and our identity, Joly said. Canada is your best friend, best neighbor, and best ally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trumps talks of annexing our country through economic coercion, she continued. He called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric. Well, Canadians have made it very clear that we will not back down, and we will not give in to this coercion. The foreign affairs minister went on to reflect on the long-established history and relationship between America and Canada, which she described as the envy of the world, and called for the American public to contact their elected representatives to send a message to the White House and put an end to the tariff sparring match. Joly is slated to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week at a G7 meeting in Quebec. When asked by reporters Wednesday if U.S.-Canada relations would be on the meetings agenda, Rubio replied , Were going to be focused in G7 on all of those things. Thats what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how were going to take over Canada, he continued. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on March 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. / Alex Wong/Getty Images The president imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Canada this week, and so far seems to be going full speed ahead toward his reciprocal tariff deadline on April 2 which will see a 25 percent tariff on another handful of goods from the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also has regularly touted his aspirations toward making Canada the 51st state. In a Truth Social post Tuesday, Trump wrote: The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World, the president continued. Your brilliant anthem, O Canada, will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen! NORFOLK A Norfolk man has been charged in connection with a deadly shooting on Old Dominion Universitys campus a couple weeks ago that is being investigated as a double homicide. Dequan J. Tyler, 27, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. He was taken into custody by Chesapeake police on Tuesday and is being held without bond in Chesapeake City Jail. He is facing additional, unrelated charges from Chesapeake police, according to a Norfolk police statement. Norfolk officers responded on Feb. 26 to a report of a shooting near a dining hall and student dormitory on ODUs campus. The two victims of the shooting, Delanio M. Vick Jr., 18, and Timothy G. Williams Jr., 20, were both Norfolk residents but not affiliated with the university, according to a police statement. Both were taken to a hospital and died. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement University students were told to shelter-in-place as police responded. No additional information was immediately available. Those with information are encouraged to contact the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or submit a tip through the P3Tips mobile app. HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) A North Carolina man pleaded guilty to 2022 drug and gun charges and faces 10 years in prison, a news release from Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said. Travis Donnell Jackson, 31, of Tabor City, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a stolen firearm. According to the release, the charges are from an August 2022 incident where the Horry County Police Department attempted to arrest Jackson for outstanding warrants, the release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During a short car chase, officers saw Jackson toss several items from his vehicle that were later recovered. The release said the items included a bag of pills that tested positive for methamphetamine, a bag of powder and a cup of brown chunky material that both tested positive for fentanyl, and a handgun that was reported stolen out of Columbus County, North Carolina. Jackson is sentenced to 10 years on each of his drug offenses and five years in prison on the firearm charge. These sentences will run concurrently, the news release said. * * * Jordan White is a Digital Producer at News13. She joined the News13 team in August 2024. Jordan, a Myrtle Beach native, graduated from St. James High School in Murrells Inlet and is a graduate of Coker University. Follow Jordan on Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Bradley King of Bismarck holds up a photo of his daughter and her wife during a committee hearing on a resolution opposing same-sex marriage on March 12, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) A North Dakota Senate committee voted 6-1 Wednesday to not issue a recommendation on a House resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage. Sen. Ryan Braunberger, D-Fargo, the only vote against the recommendation, said he wants voters to know exactly where he stands on the issue. He also pointed out the organization supporting the resolution, MassResistance, has been labeled an anti-LGBTQ hate group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want my constituents to know that I disagree with this wholeheartedly, Braunberger said. This bill is coming from a place of hate. Supporters and opponents of House Concurrent Resolution 3013, sponsored by Rep. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen, delivered pointed, and at times emotional, testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The resolution asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which has protected same-sex marriage. The resolution passed the House on a 52-40 vote in February. Its past time for North Dakota citizens to speak their displeasure with this Supreme Court decision and call for restoration of the definition of marriage as only of the legal union between a man and a woman, Tveit said. Arthur Schaper, a field director for MassResistance, testified remotely during the hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is a crime against nature to teach anyone that they are born homosexual or transgender, Schaper told lawmakers. These patterns of behavior are inherently harmful to individuals and they should not be granted a privileged status in marriage. MassResistance was labeled an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the GLAAD Accountability Project, an organization that catalogs anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and discriminatory actions taken by lawmakers, religious leaders and organizations. More than 330 people submitted testimony on the measure ahead of the public hearing, most opposing the resolution. Rep. Matt Ruby, R-Minot, speaks during a committee hearing on a resolution opposing same-sex marriage on March 12, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The first person to testify in opposition to the resolution Wednesday was Rep. Matt Ruby, R- Minot, who voted in support of the measure when it passed the House a decision he told the committee he now regrets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I knew before we were done with that floor session that I had made a mistake, Ruby said. Ive regretted a lot of votes over my four sessions. This is the first time Ive been disappointed with myself over a vote. He added he hopes the Senate can defeat Tveits resolution. Bradley King of Bismarck testified in opposition to the measure and said he raised his family here because he thought it was a great place to have children. King held up a picture of his daughter, a middle school teacher, and her wife. He told the committee members how proud he was to walk her down the aisle and that her marriage isnt hurting anybody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now, you are looking at one angry father, King said. I personally feel that this is an attack on my daughter. After 45 minutes of testimony from each side, the hearing was closed and members decided to send the resolution to a vote of the full Senate without a committee recommendation. Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, said she and many other lawmakers had been getting hateful emails and messages leading up to the hearing. I just think its disgusting on either side, doesnt matter what side it is, Myrdal said. Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, chair of the committee, reiterated that the Legislature needs to take up all bills for final votes in each chamber, regardless of their content. Rep. Austin Foss, D-Fargo. (Photo provided by the North Dakota Legislative Assembly) Rep. Austin Foss, D-Fargo, who strongly advocated against the resolution before it passed in the House, was among those who attended the committee hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im emotionally beat. You saw some real hatred, real hatred from the true bill sponsor, which is MassResistance, Foss said after the hearing. Its very, very outdated ideas that I thought we had put to bed, but I guess not, so that was really hard to hear. Foss said hes been hearing unacceptance and hatred for his whole life and had little sympathy for lawmakers receiving angry phone calls for the last week. Ive also gotten hate when I was door knocking, when I was campaigning. I got hate from people for just being who I am, he said. That hatred coming from those individuals, we deal with that every day. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Joe Morrissette, director of the Office of Management and Budget, gives a presentation on the March budget forecast to members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on March 13, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota lawmakers building the state budget will work with a more conservative revenue forecast, driven by a projected drop in oil prices and uncertainty about tariffs. A revised forecast presented Thursday projects general fund revenues of about $5.07 billion for 2025-27, a drop of $105.2 million from a January forecast. But even with slower growth thats predicted, North Dakota is still expected to see revenues about 1.4% higher than the current budget cycle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Economic consultants who presented to the Senate and House appropriations committees also cautioned about uncertainty with President Donald Trumps tariffs. Emily Mandel, senior economist for Moodys Analytics, gives an economic forecast to a joint meeting of both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on March 13, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) Weve got a trade war going. I dont think you can call it anything else at this point, Emily Mandel, senior economist for Moodys Analytics, told lawmakers. The one thing that we can be certain of at the moment is that there is a huge amount of uncertainty and thats because of the speed with which these policies have changed. North Dakota lawmakers use the March budget forecast to inform their budget decisions. Gov. Kelly Armstrong said the forecast still supports state investments in property tax reductions and other priorities. This is a conservative forecast, and it needs to be, as North Dakota is a commodity-based economy and we must budget responsibly for the next two years, Armstrong said in a statement. But this is not gloom and doom. Sales tax and individual income tax collections are forecast to increase, and oil production is expected to remain strong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joe Morrissette, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the budget forecast reflects a significant decrease in oil prices. The budget assumes a North Dakota oil price of $59 per barrel in fiscal year 2026 and $57 per barrel in 2027. The forecast also projects a slight decline in oil production, from about 1.2 million barrels per day down to 1.1 million barrels per day in part due to workforce issues and pricing concerns, Morrissette said. The March forecast also reflects lower oil tax revenue because of a greater number of wells that now qualify for a tax exemption due to low production, Morrissette said. Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, center, R-Williston, speaks to Joe Morrissette, director of the Office of Management and Budget, next to Rep. Don Vigesaa, right, R-Cooperstown, during a presentation of the offices March budget forecast on March 13, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The appropriations committees are expected to consider adopting the revenue forecast during meetings on Monday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said tariffs could adversely affect the state because of its agricultural commodities. I think that gives us a little bit of a concern going into the next biennium that maybe we need to be a little more conservative than we were before, Bekkedahl said. What we will do with this forecast I think is just downscale from where we were in the January forecast, but we will still probably look for more revenues in 2025-27 than we had in 2023-25, absent a crashing to the oil market. Rep. Don Vigesaa, R-Cooperstown, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said he still expects major property tax reform for North Dakotans this session even with the slower revenue projections. But he added that the debates around Education Savings Accounts and other school choice bills will be interesting because those are investments the state has never made before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well have to make some further reductions in spending to balance our budget based on our numbers that we heard today, Vigesaa said. You have a handful of those bills that have really big price tags and we can balance our budget pretty quickly if we dont do some of those. The Democratic-NPL Party urged lawmakers to support families by investing in health care, affordable housing, free school meals and property tax reductions. Retirement accounts are down, egg prices are up, and middle class families are bearing the brunt, Sen. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, said in a statement. The last thing we should do right now is give public tax dollars to private schools instead of investing in our public schools. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, speaks on the Senate floor on March 13, 2025, during debate on a resolution that urges the overturning of same-sex marriage. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The North Dakota Senate rejected a resolution Thursday that would have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its same-sex marriage ruling from 2015. Members voted down House Resolution 3013 on a 31-16 vote. It was not a roll call vote, which means it did not identify how individual lawmakers voted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, introduced the resolution and told lawmakers to vote how they saw fit. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Larson chairs, voted 6-1 on Wednesday to advance the resolution to the floor without a recommendation. Sen. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, told his fellow lawmakers that even though the resolution would just send a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court that justices would probably never read, it would send a loud message to residents of North Dakota. We all know based on the emails, and the phone calls, and the text messages weve received that many North Dakotans are paying attention to this, Boschee said. He then requested a roll call vote, which required eight senators to support in order to proceed. Boschee and five other senators stood, falling short. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, expressed disappointment that there would be no record of how lawmakers voted. I think we owe that to our constituents when we come into this chamber on issues that are of public importance, Cleary said. Cleary said opponents of the resolution were not asking for any special treatment, only equal treatment under the law. Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, speaks on the Senate floor on March 13, 2025, during debate on a resolution that urges the overturning of same-sex marriage. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) In an interview after the floor vote, Larson said resolutions are usually passed by a voice vote, but she requested a verification vote to give a more accurate reflection of the entire body. Im hopeful that people will recognize that the result is the more important thing, Larson said. I just think that its a good thing for people, on a bill that is so difficult I think that offered each legislator the opportunity to thoughtfully cast their vote without fear of whatever their vote was on either side being used as a weapon against them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boschee said he was happy the resolution was defeated by his Senate colleagues. Moving forward, he said state lawmakers need to get serious about the bills they introduce and recognize that everything they do has an impact on someone. Legislators need to stop trying to legislate morality, Boschee said. Leave people alone. Let them live their lives. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, said handling the resolution this week has been horrific because people felt threatened, which led to an outpouring of messages and phone calls from constituents. Im excited to move past it, but I also want to tell people that were so angry about being hurt that Im sorry, Hogan said after the vote. I am sorry that anyone had to go through this and I really regret it, and its painful to have citizens in my district hurt so badly. The ACLU of North Dakota said the Senate made the right decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This resolution was a bigoted and unpopular view on same-sex marriage and an affront to queer people in our state, Cody Schuler, ACLU of North Dakota advocacy manager, said in a statement. Were disappointed, however, that because of the blind vote, North Dakotans will not be able to see how their senators voted. The sponsor of House Resolution 3013, Rep. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen, said he brought the resolution because it was a part of his faith and the original founding principles of the state and country. The resolution was also supported by MassResistance, which the GLAAD Accountability Project describes as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. The resolution passed the House on a 52-40 vote in February. This story was updated with additional comments. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A motorcyclist from North Las Vegas was killed in a single-vehicle crash over the weekend, Nevada State Police said. On Sunday, March 9, at around 12:45 p.m., officers with the Nevada State Police Highway Patrol responded to a crash on Northshore Road near mile marker 31 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Police said investigation shows a motorcyclist, later identified as Sutton Leebron Sterling, 26 of North Las Vegas, was driving north on Northshore Road at a speed too fast for conditions while negotiating a curve. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sterling traveled off the road, hitting a highway sign, and continued into the desert area down an embankment. Sterling was ejected off the motorcycle, police said. Medical personnel pronounced Sterling dead at the scene. The Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Southern Command has investigated 12 fatal crashes resulting in 12 fatalities in 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) Three Northern New York municipalities will be getting millions in funding to help with local water infrastructure projects. The villages of Canton and Theresa and the town of Clifton will all get state aide to help with their respective projects. This is a part of Governor Kathy Hochuls announcement for projects totaling $340 million for the entire state. EPA signals it could narrow Clean Water Act protections Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Environmental Facilities Corporation Boards approval authorizes municipal access to low-cost financing and previously announced grants to get shovels in the ground for critical water and sewer infrastructure projects. The investments will help make critical environmental infrastructure projects more affordable, sustainable, and manageable, reducing the need for higher rate increases to fund improvements. From upgrading wastewater treatment plants to improving drinking water quality, these projects are crucial for safeguarding public health, protecting our environment, and boosting local economies. Heres a breakdown of the projects for the three north country towns: Village of Canton $10.1 million in interest-free financing and a $3.375 million state grant for the planning, design, and construction of wastewater treatment plant improvements. Town of Clifton $585,000 in low-cost financing and $148,500 in state and federal grants for the planning, design, and construction of improvements to the Newton Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant. Village of Theresa $4.6 million in low-cost financing and two state grants totaling $3.5 million for the planning, design, and construction of collection system and wastewater treatment plant improvements. Thanks to Governor Hochuls commitment to sustainable infrastructure, critical environmental and public health improvements are being undertaken and benefiting communities from the Town of Chautauqua to New York City. By providing affordable funding, EFC empowers communities large and small to move forward with necessary environmental projects without overburdening their ratepayers or taking on crippling debt. Environmental Facilities Corporation President & CEO Maureen Coleman EFC approved grants to local governments from the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds a mix of federal and state dollars dedicated to financing community water infrastructure projects. Todays funding also includes over $22 million in grants already announced pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Improvement Program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EFCs Board approval is a crucial step in the funding process and will allow communities to access these funds for project implementation. Leveraging federal funding in conjunction with state investments maximizes the impact of each dollar spent, empowering local communities to make the critical system improvements they need to keep their residents safe. Short-term financing provides capital for the design and construction of projects. Once project construction is completed, short-term financing is typically refinanced to long-term financing for up to 30 years, saving municipalities significant interest expenses. Based on current market conditions, these long-term financings are projected to save local ratepayers an estimated $46 million in interest payments over the life of the financings. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com. ROSEMONT, Ill. Governor JB Pritzker spoke to dozens of Illinois educators Thursday morning in Rosemont for the kick-off of a three-day conference. The Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly (IEA RA) comes just days after President Donald Trump cut half of the Department of Educations workforce. This years conference comes with great importance as Illinois educators are concerned about the future of their students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Federal funding helps pay for students school breakfast and lunch. Teachers say its not just about feeding their brains, but their bellies too. On the weekends, we send boxes of food home for some of our students. With funding cuts, they may not get that to support them until Monday, said Jill Scarcelli, Troy School District. Judge orders Trump to rehire probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies With the dismantling of the US Department of Education, our educators throughout this state are saying no. We will not let you harm our children. We will not let you take financial aid away from our students, said Becky Pringle, National Education Association. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Pritzker addressed educators at the Hyatt Regency in Rosement at the height of Trumps cuts. Yourre talking about billions of dollars that they are trying to take away. In the case of Illinois that will be about three and a half billion dollars that they would take away. That is not something the state of Illinois can replace, Pritzker said. The Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly meets every year to discuss the budget, resolutions, and other policies of the association. While there is the idea of pressing forward, there is worry amongst the crowd. Just about 10% of public school funding in Illinois comes from the federal government. The Department of Education is terminating leases on buildings in major cities, including Chicago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Educators argue that students in low-income communities and those with disabilites in Chicago, will feel the hardest kick. Chicago has 230,000 low-income students, with 60,000 students having disabilities. I dont think a lot of people understand exactly what that funding covers. So when a student maybe has verbal difficulties and they need a specific device to communicate, the funding we get at school districts for those specific devices comes from the federal government, said Allison Rohrbach, Barrington School Teacher. Our attorney general literally has joined the suit this morning with 20 other states to fight what they are attempting to do at the Department of Education. So we are winning in the courts, Pritzer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While 1,300 jobs have been cut from the Deparment of Education, officials say the agency will continue to deliver on key duties which includes handing out federal aid to schools, student loan management and oversight of pell grants. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, leads a news conference highlighting 2025 priorities for teachers statewide. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN Nebraskas teachers union will no longer oppose a governor-backed bill to tweak the states school retirement plan, partly due to an amendment that could also benefit teachers. The Nebraska State Education Association formally shifted its stance this week, two months after urging caution and encouraging teachers statewide to speak out against Legislative Bill 645, which was introduced by State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln at Gov. Jim Pillens request. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill would create stepped-down contribution levels from the state to the school retirement plan, depending on its actuarial funding level. As of July 1, the plan was 99.9% funded. If passed, LB 645 would drop the states annual contributions toward the retirement plan based on statewide school employee payroll. Once the plan reaches 100% funding, the state would no longer automatically contribute year over year. State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, center, speaks with State Sen. Robert Dover of Norfolk. Dec. 7, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) A Feb. 13 amendment from Ballard proposes similar changes to teacher and other employee contributions depending on actuarial funding, which could save teachers money each month, helping lead to the changed NSEA position. I think this is a win-win, Ballard said of the amendment. In my opinion, this is the teachers money. Its a real-world take-home pay increase for teachers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The amendment would also limit the modified state contribution levels to three tiers, instead of six as in the original LB 645. The teachers union had originally said the bill would raid teacher pensions, which director Kenny Zoeller of the governors Policy Research Office said was a flat-out lie because LB 645 wouldnt touch hard-working dollars. NSEA President Tim Royers, in a Feb. 20 emailed video to NSEA members addressing the Ballard amendment, credited his members for the change. We would not be here delivering this good news without you using your voice the way that you did, to help those lawmakers see that we need to build a better version of this bill that puts the educators of the state at the forefront of what it intends to do, Royers said at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He described the amendment as version 2.0 of the bill. Version 2.0 amendment specifics The state currently contributes 2% of school employee payroll statewide to the pension plan, while employees contribute 9.77% of their salaries and school districts contribute 9.88% of their employees salaries. This means that for the current fiscal year, with an estimated $2.5 billion payroll for school employees statewide, the required contributions would be: State of Nebraska (2%): $50.1 million. School employees (9.77%): $244.8 million. School districts (9.88%): $247.6 million. Zoeller said that the changes for the state would free up funds for education investments and are not designed to help plug a projected budget shortfall of $457 million prior to any legislative action. Gov. Jim Pillen, center, greets State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams before his annual State of the State Address. Jan. 15, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) Royers has said it was OK for the state to reduce its contributions but that school employees and the teachers he represents should also be part of the conversation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under Ballards amendment, the plan would require different contributions at three levels of funding: less than 96% actuarially funded, between 96% and once the plan is 100% actuarially funded. When the plan is 96% or more funded, but not 100%, school employee contributions would fall to 7.28% of their salaries, and the state would contribute 0.7% of school employees payroll. Once the plan reaches 100% funded, the state would pull out of funding. Lawmakers would continue to need to add funding in volatile years in which legally set contribution levels arent enough to keep the plan afloat. Contribution levels would revert to current levels if the plan drops below 96% funded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Laura Strimple, a spokesperson for Pillen, repeated Pillens firm stance that efficiencies can be found in all aspects of state government, which she said includes the school retirement plan. With a nearly fully funded plan, the Legislature should decide how we can save taxpayer money and directly increase teacher pay, Strimple said. Actuaries: LB 645 adds volatility and risk Such changes to state retirement plans require an actuarial study on possible impacts. The study for LB 645 and its amendment was completed late last week, with actuaries writing that the changes would create more volatility and risk. The study does not specify a yes or no to whether the state could afford the changes. The full LB 645 actuarial study The full actuarial study on Legislative Bill 645 and its amendment is available here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Actuaries predicted the school retirement plan, if Ballards amended bill became law, would be fully funded about 68% of the time, and at least 96% funded nearly three-fourths of the time. However, the actuaries also gave a 43% chance that the retirement plan could drop below 96% funding before 2035, and a 52% chance before 2045. This would return the 2.5% payroll fee to teachers in a given year, which the actuaries wrote could catch some employees off guard. Given the probability of such an event, it might be prudent to ensure members are fully aware of the likelihood of such an adjustment occurring to avoid a surprise on the members behalf, the study states. Royers said the study didnt provide all the information his union wanted about the proposals viability and that a new review methodology left him and his team not quite sure, candidly, how to parse the data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats honestly one of the main reasons why were coming in neutral, Royers said Wednesday. We want to make sure that what were doing is going to keep the plan sound for the next 10, 20 years, and we just dont feel that what that study said tells us one way or another. Royers described the study as asking how much oil is in the car, yet the response was about how the brakes are doing. Not quite there yet Ballards bill and amendment would not decrease contribution levels for school districts, but Royers said there is some wiggle room to bring districts to the table while benefiting the state and teachers. Doing so could lead to property tax relief, repurposing those payroll obligations toward teacher salaries or both, Royers said, and could be a win for communities on tax relief or educators on pay increases. State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, center, shakes hands with State Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus on the first day of the 2025 legislative session. Jan. 8, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) Asked whether the bill could pair with a separate NSEA priority, LB 440, to cover 6 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all teachers during or after significant life events, Royers said its possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LB 440, the 2025 priority bill of State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, would impose a 0.35% payroll fee on teachers, which school districts would also match, to cover the group benefit. The current estimated payroll this fiscal year for all school employees (not just teachers as under LB 440) would mean the states 245 school districts, mostly funded through property taxes or state dollars, would need to cover about $8.8 million. This would be less if limited to teachers. Synergy is great when you have multiple bills, but we also recognize a bill could fail, Royers said of the Spivey and Ballard bills. We dont want to build our plan around both bills passing. Royers said hes confident that the NSEA, Ballard and Pillen can find a path forward on school retirement. We think ultimately well land on a good bill, Royers said. Were just not quite there yet. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Hundreds of demonstrators occupied Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday to protest President Donald Trumps detention and attempted deportation of former Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil. Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace donned matching shirts reading not in our name and flooded the buildings lobby to stage a sit-in. JVP spokesperson Sonya Meyerson-Knox claimed that roughly 300 Jewish and non-Jewish demonstrators attended the protest in solidarity with Khalil. Protesters charged Trump and his administration with unlawfully detaining Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, over his activism on Columbia's campus. The Trump administration has alleged without evidence that the green card holder is a supporter of Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil was a lead negotiator for students participating in encampments at Columbia in support of Gaza last spring. In a hearing on Wednesday, a judge ruled he could stay in federal custody for the time being, though he cant yet be deported. The sit-in led to mass arrests of protesters. New York Police Department declined to provide arrest figures to Salon, though Meyerson-Knox told NBC News that police removed 100 or so individuals. In a statement earlier this week, JVP demanded Khalil be released and denounced the crackdown on free speech using the guise of fighting antisemitism. The Trump administrations outrageous detention of Mahmoud Khalil is designed to sow terror among students and immigrant communities in order to silence people calling for Palestinian freedom and to feed the mass deportation machine, the group said, adding that Khalils detention was blatantly unconstitutional. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right-wing commentators and elected officials denounced the protest on X, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said President Trump should press charges against the peaceful protestors. I know the owner of that building and he will definitely be pressing charges, Greene, who has a storied history of amplifying antisemitic conspiracy theories, wrote. FAFO. Months of tariff-fueled tensions with the U.S. have left Canada feeling defiant. We're not like some small country that you can push around, Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canadas minister of innovation, science and industry, said on todays POLITICO Tech podcast. You're picking up on the wrong guy. Champagne and other senior Canadian officials are in Washington on Thursday trying to halt a full-blown economic war. Trump leveled 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum this week, and Ottawa fired back with tariffs of its own on metals, sporting equipment, computers and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The latest tit-for-tat is part of a broader trade war between the Trump administration and Americas largest trading partner, one that Champagne argues will hurt workers and companies on both sides of the border and force Canada to do business elsewhere. Canada is the only G7 country which has a free trade agreement with all the other G7 nations, Champagne said. So, it's very easy for us to pivot to other markets. But Champagne hopes a reset under Canadas soon-to-be prime minister, Mark Carney, will make such threats unnecessary. Carney, a former central banker who was picked to lead the Liberal Party on Sunday , kicked off his new job with a message for Trump: Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form. A Littleton utilities company was informed that a notorious group of Chinese hackers had compromised them. In 2023, the FBI alerted Littleton Electric, Light, and Water Departments (LELWD) that their company was one of many to be attacked by Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored hacking group from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). LEWLD went to work immediately, acting with federal partners Evolab Technology Solutions and Dragos to locate the individuals who compromised the system and lock down their network. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to the attack, LEWLD had already taken steps to bolster their cybersecurity before enacting help from Dragos and Evolab. Dragos released a case study with more information on how the company assisted LEWLD in attacking their threat. No customer data had been compromised, and LEWLDs operations went unimpacted. Nick Lawler, General Manger of LEWLD, stated, We currently still work with our Federal partners and IT/OT experts to ensure the integrity of our network, and that we continue to provide safe, reliable electricity to the communities that we serve. Boston 25 News reached out to the FBI for comment, in which they declined to give one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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 TORONTO (Reuters) - The number of migrants apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol after entering the United States from Canada dropped to the lowest point since 2022 last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics published on Thursday. The number of those apprehended after crossing into Canada, however, appears to be ticking up. The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 481 people near the Canada-U.S. border in February, down from 616 in January and 3,601 in June, which was a multi-year high. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An official had previously told Reuters the agency changed the way it enforced a bilateral agreement under which both Canada and the U.S. turn back would-be asylum-seekers crossing in either direction, leading to a decline in crossings. Canadian law enforcement agencies have little authority over people crossing southbound into the United States, but Canada has tried to crack down on visa issuances. It is under pressure to beef up its border since U.S. President Donald Trump cited migrants and illicit fentanyl as justification for sweeping tariffs. Canada announced a C$1.3-billion border plan and installed a fentanyl czar. Trump has persisted with tariffs and repeatedly threatened to forcibly annex Canada. The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico in February was on pace to be at or near a record monthly low. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the number of people Canadian authorities apprehended crossing north from the United States and turned back rose in February to 126 - the highest single month in one year, according to Canada Border Services Agency data obtained by Reuters. Canadian authorities had been bracing for a "worst-case scenario" of an influx of northbound migrants fleeing Trump, who has threatened mass deportations from the U.S. (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Rod Nickel) Multiple protesters have been arrested after staging a sit-in demonstration inside Trump Tower calling for the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. More people moved to Michigan from abroad this year, driving growth in the state's two largest counties. Oakland County posted the fastest annual population increase and largest gain in residents since the 1990s, while Wayne County reversed a five-year population decline, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday. Wayne County added 8,692 residents between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024 a 0.5% increase to 1.77 million residents the first increase since 2018, according to census data. Oakland County posted the fastest annual growth (1.2%) since 1995 and added 15,052 residents, growing to nearly 1.3 million its largest annual increase since 1992. All Michigan counties except one added residents from international migration last year. Arenac County, directly north of Bay County, saw zero net international migration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nationwide, 2.8 million people migrated to the U.S., higher than previous estimates, largely due to a change in the way international migration is estimated. Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration, said Kristie Wilder, a Census Bureau demographer, in a news release. While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas. Two of three Michigan counties added residents between 2023 and 2024 all of the state's most populous counties (over 69,000 residents) except one experienced population growth. According to census data, Bay County, located alongside Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay in the Lower Peninsula, dipped by 0.1%, a loss of 123 people, to 102,651 residents in 2024. Births, deaths and migration patterns (people moving to or from a place) are key factors used to estimate population change. Eleven Michigan counties saw more births than deaths annually and 67 Michigan counties gained residents from domestic migration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Population growth in the U.S., Michigan and its major urban counties is highly dependent on international migration, Kurt Metzger, demographer and founder of Data Driven Detroit told the Detroit Free Press. As natural increases decline and domestic outmigration continues, he said, international migration "is even more important now." Kent County, which includes Grand Rapids, grew with seven other counties at twice the state's population growth rate at 1.2% or higher. Ingham, Ottawa and Washtenaw County saw population gains of 0.9%. And in metro Detroit, Macomb County grew at 0.8% annually. Statewide, international migration, the number of people moving in and out of the country, added more than 67,000 residents between 2023 and 2024, offsetting losses from domestic migration and increasing the population by 0.6%. Metro areas gained nearly 3.2 million residents from 2023 to 2024 about 96% of the U.S. total population growth. Nine of the fastest-growing metro areas were in the South and one was in the West. Contact Kristi Tanner: ktanner@freepress.com This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: International migration adds residents in 82 of 83 Michigan counties Mar. 12COLUMBUS The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has launched new online tools for water and land-use planning, groundwater management and resource development. Key tools include: Water Withdrawal Facility Locator, online at bit.ly/3DA1eiq: Shows locations and high-capacity water use data for water withdrawal facilities in Ohio, helping stakeholders address sustainability and plan for future development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aquifer Yield Map, online at bit.ly/4kJJpOq: Displays groundwater production rates across Ohio, assisting well drillers, homeowners, municipalities and industries in estimating aquifer yields. Hydraulic Conductivity Map, online at bit.ly/4kJJpOq: The first statewide map showing how groundwater moves through Ohio's primary aquifers, aiding in groundwater flow modeling, contamination prediction and irrigation planning. "The goal with these maps is to deliver a statewide, data-driven assessment of Ohio's aquifer resources in a way that can inform responsible development and guide site-specific investigations," said Craig Nelson, lead hydrogeologist on the mapping project, in a press release. The Aquifer Yield and Hydraulic Conductivity maps were funded in part by an Ohio Water Development Authority Research & Development Grant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement High-resolution printed maps can be ordered at geo.survey@dnr.ohio.gov for $15 each. For more information, visit the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website at tinyurl.com/mrvuzb2v. Featured Local Savings After the brutal February killings of 16 donkeys in Cyprus shocked people around the world, four men including a local councilor were arrested in connection with the crime. They were detained and held for five days last week and face fines of 173,876 Turkish lira ($4,773), the Cyprus Mail reported. The wild donkeys are a symbol of the area and have roamed free on the Karpas Peninsula for 51 years. The horrific massacre was discovered by members of the Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute who were doing fieldwork at Taskent Doga Park, In-Cyprus reported. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. They were all shot at close range with a hunting rifle, and one of the donkeys was in the midst of giving birth, according to the nature park. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taskent Doga Park said the slaughter "tore our hearts out," the Mail reported. On Saturday, a pair of athletes will embark on a 24-hour swim to "show that we stand against the b******* who committed the donkey massacre." On Sunday, there was a motorcycle rally to raise awareness for the animals. Donations have poured in as well, with a management plan for the creatures hoping to raise 2.28 million ($62,579), per the Mail. Taskent Doga Park director Kemal Basat said that would support 300 donkeys. The money will help improve their living conditions as well as fund a program to count, catch, check the health of, and register the donkeys. The Famagusta Gazette reported that the donkeys have been "a subject of conservation efforts" because of their declining numbers and threats to the population via human activity. With a helping hand, however, the animals could bounce back just like a seal colony on the English coast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two species in Cyprus have been protected since 2008, according to Heartland of Legends. They were long used in olive farming before being replaced by machinery. In 1974, during the Turkish invasion of the island, residents abandoned them as they fled. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Its shaping up to be a tough year for farmers who rely on New Mexicos water supply for irrigation. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District said the water available from spring runoff this year is about half of what they see in an average year. Story continues below Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think were pretty disappointed with the amount of snowpack we see in the basin, because I think that were going to see that spring runoff sooner than we have in previous years, which means farmers are probably going to experience shortages earlier than they have in previous years as well. So, no, we havent gotten to where we were hoping to get this year, said Anne Marken, MRGCD water operations manager. The agency said they have some water storage from the San Juan Chama, but its not enough to get them through the summertime. Because of the states water compacts with Texas, New Mexico cannot store water from the Rio Grande. That means once the spring runoff is used up, farmers who use that water to irrigate their crops will depend on monsoon season. As winter comes to a close, they dont expect to see much more moisture to build up that snowpack. I think the community as a whole can expect to see the river much leaner and drier than weve seen in the past couple of years as well, said Marken. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think I just encourage farmers to pray for rain, she said. The MRGCD said El Vado Dam has been an important resource for storing water from the Rio Chama, but the dam has been undergoing renovations, and the Bureau of Reclamation recently halted work because the infrastructure was in worse shape than expected. Its unclear how many years it will take for the dam to be up and ready again. The state has a fallowing program that pays farmers not to irrigate their fields, but the window to enroll for this season has already closed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. PIERRE, S.D. (KCAU) Officials have revealed the name of the person who was found dead in Scotland, South Dakota on Tuesday. According to South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, George Verzani, 85, of Scotland, was found Tuesday afternoon. An autopsy showed that the cause of death may have been exposure to sub-freezing temperatures, officials say. Officials investigating deaths of two northwest Iowans Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The preliminary investigation shows no signs of foul play, and the public is not in danger, Jackley said in a statement in part. Videos from downtown Scotland reportedly show Verzani walking through the area early Tuesday morning. He was last seen on video in the Main Street area at 3:30 a.m. Temperatures at the time were between 25 and 30 degrees. The body was found at around 1:30 p.m. later that day in an empty lot downtown. The South Dakota Highway Patrol, the Scotland Police Department, and the Bon Homme County Sheriffs Office assisted in the investigation. Officials say a final autopsy report will be released in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. A pizza delivery in Bradenton took a wild turn thanks to an unexpected customer. Officers responded to a call about an eight-foot alligator roaming a 55-plus community just as a pizza delivery driver pulled up. The driver wasnt taking any chances, so an officer stepped in to ensure the pizza made it to the customer. Trappers later removed the gator from the community. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Senate President Rob McColley, left, and Speaker of the House Matt Huffman speak to the media after the State of the State address at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (Pool photo by Samantha Madar, The Columbus Dispatch) While Ohio Democrats and Republicans praised parts of Gov. Mike DeWines state of the state speech, the two parties have differing views of the governors child tax credit proposal. Ohio Democrats applauded in the House chamber when DeWine talked about his budget proposal to create up to $1,000 in child tax credits for parents with children younger than seven during his State of the State address on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We know that getting those funds into our local communities makes all the difference in the world for the families as well as our communities, said Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood. Antonio also said she hopes to see the eligibility threshold for publicly funded child care increase to at least 300%. DeWines proposal cuts off eligibility at 200% of the federal poverty line. Despite their praise, Ohio Democrats criticized DeWine for not talking more about the child care crisis, the housing crisis and the cost of living crisis. Every day, our offices are receiving calls from parents struggling with the high cost of quality child care, which means parents are buying fewer groceries, delaying paying utility bills sometimes and medical bills, and struggling to keep a roof over their head, Antonio said. Rising property values are forcing seniors out of their homes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The child tax credit the governor has proposed would be funded by increasing cigarette taxes from $1.60 per pack to $3.10, but Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, is hesitant about an increase in that area. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX You have to be careful about basing any spending, historically or long-term spending, on a cigarette tax because its going to be a declining source of revenue, he said. I would suggest that if the cigarette tax were increased even more than what it is, its probably going to be an even more rapidly declining source of revenue. McColley, however, was quick to point out he supports family policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But at the same time, we also, generally speaking across the board, have to be aware that every tax credit that we introduce, or every tax deduction that we introduce makes it harder for us to get to our ultimate goal, that being eliminating the income tax or having a flat income tax in the state of Ohio, he said. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said he doesnt think income tax credits for many Ohioans is really the way to go. I think some of the other things the governor has proposed, especially regarding child care, we have been careful about what were doing here, he said. I guess Id like to see some modeling on whether this particular tax credit would really promote the ability of people to have children. Ohio Democrats took the opportunity after the state of the state address to discuss school funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we truly want to invest in our children, we should fully fund the fair school funding (plan), Antonio said. The governors version of the state budget for the next two years would decrease funding for traditional public schools by 0.9%, according to a Fair School Funding Plan workgroup analysis. Voucher programs including the EdChoice private school program would see a 15.8% increase. The Ohio House is currently working on making changes to the budget and will send it over to the Ohio Senate. It must be signed into law by DeWine by July 1. Democrats also took the opportunity to criticize Senate Bill 1 a massive higher education bill that would, among other things, ban diversity and inclusion efforts, prohibit faculty from striking, limit scholarships and restrict classroom discussion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of taking any meaningful action to invest in our kids or lower property taxes, the legislature, through Senate Bill 1, has prioritized an egregious attack and plan to dismantle our world renowned institutions of higher learning, Antonio said. Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said she wants more Ohio students to stay in the state for college and wants college to be more affordable. Let me be super clear: what the Republicans have put forward and what were debating right now in S.B. 1 does none of that, she said. It is a distraction from what the real issues in higher education are right now in the state of Ohio. Even though DeWine didnt talk much about the federal government during his speech, Russo said the federal government is not living up to basic principles in the U.S. Constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The domino effect of that failure is being felt right here in Ohio, she said. Federal programs that provide critical services that many Ohioans rely on are under attack. They are real, tangible cuts to working families, to our veterans, to our seniors and children across our state. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE A police chief in Ohio has been placed on paid leave after an officer brought forward allegations of sexual harassment, according to our media partners WBNS-10 TV. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Groveport Police Chief Casey Adams was placed on leave on March 4. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On March 4, their human resources officer notified the FOP that one of our FOP members made an allegation of sexual harassment against the chief. We were told that the chief was going to be immediately put on administrative leave, Fraternal Order of Police President Brian Steel told WBNS-10. Adams has been chief of the Groveport Police Department since April 2021. Kevin Shannon, the citys law director, said the complaint was filed on March 3, but would not provide further details, according to WBNS-10. I truly hope for law enforcement this is not true. I hope this is some misunderstanding. If these allegations are true, they are extremely disturbing, Steel said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An employment attorney with Frost, Brown and Todd was hired to investigate the allegations, according to Shannon. Shannon told WBNS-10 that he is not aware of any similar complaints filed against Adams. I commend the officer for coming forward. If the officer was carrying this around for a long time, Im so sorry that he had that burden by himself. I commend him and anyone who comes forward. Nobody, nobody at all in the workplace or anywhere in society deserves to be sexually harassed, if it in fact happened, Steel said. Groveport Police Department Captain Kurt Blevins will be interim chief. Weve seen sometimes where mayors have brushed this stuff under the rug. You have a mayor who is transparent and wants everyone to be held accountable. Our stance is every officer should be held accountable, whether you are the police chief or you are the brand new officer on the street, Steel said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) A multi-county Grand Jury has indicted the founder of a Texas megachurch on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The case dates back to the 1980s. Robert Preston Morris stepped down as senior pastor of Gateway Church, one of the largest megachurches in the country, in the summer of 2024. Back in 1982, Morris traveled to Hominy with the family of the alleged 12-year-old victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court documents say Morris sexual misconduct began that Christmas and continued over the next four years. Alleged DHS kidnapper blames alternate personality There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, said Attorney General Gentner Drummond. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done. The Attorney General says the statute of limitations doesnt apply in this case because Morris was not a resident of Oklahoma. Cindy Clemishire publicized her accusations last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Morris later responded admitting to inappropriate sexual behavior, saying he confessed and repented long ago. Part of the timing of right now is the discussion around these topics has been a lot more open over the last decade, and people are tired of seeing children hurt, Cindy Clemishire said in an interview last year. This is what Clemishire came out and said last year, resulting in Morris stepping down as senior pastor of Gateway Church. Gateway Church leaders initially said they were aware of the moral failure Morris committed, but later said they didnt know Clemishire was a child at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For two decades, Clemishire says she believed it was her fault. In 2007, she hired an attorney by the name of Gentner Drummond and threatened to sue. According to correspondence obtained by NBC News, Morris lawyer blamed a 12-year-old Clemishire, writing to Drummond, it was your client who initiated inappropriate behavior by coming into my clients bedroom and getting in bed with him. His lawyer even cited a biblical passage arguing it was immoral to sue other Christians, but nothing came of that legal fight. I think its very painful for people in the church to know that such a large name, big, you know, leader was responsible for it, Clemishire said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, almost two decades later, Clemishire feels she is getting some closure. After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail. Cindy Clemishire We did reach out to Morris attorney and Gateway Church, but have not heard back. The AGs office says it is unlikely Morris will be extradited to Oklahoma anytime soon because no court dates have been set. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A student raises her hand at Mayo Demonstration School in Tulsa on April 8. The state House on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow adjunct teachers to work in early childhood classrooms. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY Cari Elledge still remembers how perfectly the third grader in her classroom could read aloud. But, the boy froze if you asked him what he had just read, the former elementary teacher said. Although his reading ability seemed to be strong, he still lacked foundational comprehension skills, an issue known as word calling that Elledge herself struggled with from childhood through college. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its an issue that takes expertise to recognize and correct, she said. Thats why Elledge, now the president of Oklahomas largest teacher union, warned against a bill that would allow adjunct teachers with no form of certification to teach early childhood classes, which set the foundation for students schooling. Cari Elledge is the president of the Oklahoma Education Association. (Photo by AJ Stegall/Provided to Oklahoma Voice) I think there might be a misperception that in the early stages people come in and we do a whole lot of playing and it might be a glorified babysitting job, Elledge said. And it cant be further from the truth. House Bill 2125 is on its way to the state Senate after passing the full House on Wednesday. Lawmakers approved the bill by a vote of 68-22, mostly along party lines. The bill would permit adjunct teachers to work at all grade levels, including early childhood classes from pre-K through third grade. Adjunct teachers would still be excluded from teaching special education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State law mandates that adjunct teachers have distinguished qualifications in their field, but they arent required to have a college degree nor any type of teaching certificate. The bills House author, Rep. Clay Staires, R-Skiatook, said he intends to help school leaders who are struggling to fill teaching positions. Rep. Clay Staires, R-Skiatook, wrote House Bill 2125 to allow adjunct teachers in early childhood programs. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice) A superintendent is looking for the best possible fit for their classroom, Staires said while defending the bill on the House floor. Just like you and I, they want the most for the kids in their class. Just because this bill allows for adjunct (teachers) doesnt mean that superintendents are going to start hiring adjuncts unless thats the only choice that they have or if that is the best fit for that position. Oklahoma schools employ about 1,300 adjunct teachers, Staires said during an Education Oversight Committee meeting last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That means the number of adjunct teachers in Oklahoma public schools has skyrocketed from 370 a few years ago amid a decade-long shortage of qualified educators. Emergency certified teachers, who must have at least a bachelors degree, also have become common. In 2022, the state Legislature eliminated the 270-hour cap on adjunct teaching per semester, enabling schools to hire adjunct teachers full time. But the state maintained stricter requirements to teach its youngest students. Oklahoma law requires early childhood education programs to have a certified teacher. Any early childhood educators teaching with an emergency certificate must complete training that the Oklahoma State Department of Education administers or approves. Vici Public Schools Superintendent Coby Nelson said he avoids hiring adjunct teachers, but hes all too familiar with how quickly the pool of qualified candidates is drying up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nelson said he might have a single applicant for a job opening at his small, rural district in northwest Oklahoma. He said HB 2125 shows the state is at a sad point in its teacher shortage, but he still supported the legislation. I dont like the thought that we put untrained people in those positions, but I think what you have to do is you have to give schools every tool possible at this point, Nelson said. I am for it because we need the flexibility that it will allow. I dont like it personally, but its unfortunately where were at. The House Democratic Caucus unanimously voted against the bill. Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, said lowering the qualifications for early childhood educators is an insufficient fix for the states teacher shortage. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, said the measure is no solution to the teacher shortage, calling it a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. The former public school teacher said lawmakers should pursue other ideas to retain and recruit fully certified educators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some retention and recruitment efforts have gained traction in the Legislature this year. The House passed a bill that would give the Oklahomas Promise college scholarship to children of full-time certified teachers who have worked in the states public schools for 10 years or more. If its signed into law, that bill is one the Oklahoma Education Association might celebrate at the end of this session the most, said Elledge, who leads the organization. She endorsed another bill the full House approved Thursday from Common Education Committee leader, Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber. HB 1087 would extend the teacher salary schedule by 10 years, making sure educators can earn annual step raises for up to 35 years. Bills offering other incentives failed to advance past the committee stage this session, including a proposed increase to minimum teacher salaries and a measure to give $35,000 signing bonuses to certified educators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lowering qualifications to work in public schools is an ineffective fix, McCane said. We know that early childhood education is important and requires special training, McCane said in a statement. It is imperative we make sure we have certified teachers in these classrooms. Furthermore, I can say having just come from working at a public school after the pandemic, we have serious issues with behavior that require training for classroom management. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla The Oklahoma House has passed the Lauria and Ashley Law. PREVIOUS: Oklahoma House to vote on Lauria and Ashleys Law Today, Oklahoma House Bill 1001 passed through the House with 76 yes votes and 11 no votes. It now moves on to the Oklahoma Senate. The bill was authored by State Representative Steve Bashore from Miami in honor of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman. PREVIOUS: Lauria and Ashley remembered Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two 16-year-olds were kidnapped from Freemans Welch home in December 1999, after her parents were shot to death and the home set on fire. Investigators believed the girls were kidnapped, tortured, and killed,but their bodies have never been found. Ronnie Busick, the only man convicted in this case, was convicted of felony accessory to murder and was released from prison after serving less than three years of his ten-year sentence. Lauria and Ashleys Law would make felony accessory to murder an 85-percent crime with no option of early release due to good behavior. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. TULSA, Okla. A Quapaw man who pleaded guilty to the death of a 10-week-old infant girl was woefully unprepared to care for the child and her twin sister, according to court documents filed by his attorney. Michael David Gregory, 31, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury both in Indian Country in the death of 10-week-old Amaya Mae Robison. In his plea agreement, Gregory stipulated to a 15-year sentence on the first charge and a five-year sentence for the second charge. According to the plea agreement, both sentences are to run together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The infant died on Dec. 3, 2022, at St. Francis Childrens Hospital in Tulsa from blunt force trauma of the head and neck. Gregory was initially charged with first-degree murder, two counts of child abuse, and two counts of child neglect in Indian Country. In his plea agreement, Gregory said he was responsible for the twin infants while his girlfriend went to work. Gregory confessed, I was often forceful when I picked up or laid down the twin girls which is not proper care for newborn infants. On Dec. 1, 2022, he called his girlfriend, saying one of the infants had stopped breathing. Michael David Gregory, U.S. District Court, 23-CR142-SEH The other twin sister also had a small brain bleed; however, she has made a full recovery, court documents show. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gregorys attorneys file a motion requesting he not be taken into custody pending sentencing. In the motion, it states that the twins biological mother gave birth to the girls prematurely. The biological mother of four children had abandoned her oldest daughter with a neighbor, and Child Protective Services took her other daughter, the motion states. The twins were subsequently placed in the custody of her aunt and Gregorys girlfriend, Shanna Kimbro, 10 days after their birth, court records show. Online court records show the biological mother has not been charged, and Gregory and Kimbro applied for a marriage license in Ottawa County in Feb. 2024. Gregory had never cared for a baby before, and he was woefully unprepared. DEFENDANTS MOTION TO CONTINUE RELEASE PENDING SENTENCING, Case No. 23-cr-142-SEH The FBI interviewed Mr. Gregory and he candidly explained how he cared for the twins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is painfully obvious to any parent watching his statement that Mr. Gregory had no idea how to care for a babymuch less two of them, the motion states. The motion states that all the witnesses in this case, including the twins biological mother, agreed that Gregory loved the twins. Judge Sara E. Hill granted Gregorys motion to continue his release and set a sentencing date for June 10. FOUR STATES CRIME Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. OLATHE, Kan. The Olathe Police Department, with the assistance of the Kansas Department of Revenue, conducted warrant services at four gas stations and vape stores on March 7. The warrant services were due to alleged sales of illegal THC. District Attorney Steve Howe said the four stores were targeted because information came in accusing them of selling to teenagers. The Olathe Police Department seized products that could have THC. The seized items have been sent to the Johnson County Crime Lab for testing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Missing father Jordan Yust reportedly seen as early as Friday: deputies I think its important for people in Kansas and Johnson County to realize that minors cant possess these (THC products), even in the state of Missouri, where its legal to have THC, Howe explained. Any time we have those situations where minors are possessing or buying those products from a certain store, were going to take a very proactive approach. Snaps Food Mart on Ridgeview and Kansas City Rd. was one location raided on March 7. On Monday, the owner of the Ridgeview store claimed he didnt know anything he sold might have been illegal. He also claimed that education about legal versus illegal products is lacking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, District Attorney Steve Howe says that in 2022, businesses in the county selling vape products received a letter explaining what could and could not be sold. Back in 2022, we notified a lot of the stores that were selling these vapes about the current status of the law and explained to them what they could or could not sell based on Kansas statutes. So we had placed everybody on notice about those types of things, Howe said. Since that notice, officials have been monitoring the situation. So they could advise or at least check their products and their legal counsel to make sure they were complying with state law. So this idea that no one knew that this was coming or that they were not aware of what the state statutes were. Thats why we issued those letters to all the businesses in the county that were selling those types of items, Howe said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Olathe Police Department, criminal charges could be filed pending the test results of the seized products. KC Pet Project responds to recent lawsuit over deadly dog mauling incident All the science says that teenagers ingesting levels of THC is harmful to their brain and, Im not going to allow that when all the science says that its harmful. Plus, the law doesnt allow it, Howe explained. Were going to take a proactive approach. I appreciate all the police departments work on this. The Olathe Police Department continues to investigate this case. Anyone with information about this investigation should call OPD at (913)-971-6363 or the TIPS Hotline at (816)-474-8477. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) Pennsylvania artists who are 60 or older are encouraged to submit their artwork for a showcase in the State Capitol East Wing. May is observed nationally as Older Americans Month, and the first-ever Older Artists of PA Showcase will take place that month. The exhibition will feature winning pieces of art made by Pennsylvania residents. Both professional and non-professional artists are encouraged to apply. Heres what you need to know: Artists must be a Pennsylvania resident 60 years of age or older to participate. Artists may enter up to two (2) pieces in up to two of the categories Categories include: Professional, non-professional and photography Accepted works include watercolors, oils, acrylic, photography, ink, pencil, graphic media, mixed media Pieces must have been produced within the past 18 months Artists must send a clear photo of each of their submitted pieces Submission deadline is Friday, April 4, 2025. There is no cost to enter All pieces must have wire hangers-no tab or cleat hangers No work greater than 48 inches in any direction and weighing more than 10 lbs. will be accepted due to space and venue restrictions Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Proposed bill would protect Pennsylvania pollinators, plants Older Pennsylvanians have made endless contributions in the arts throughout their communities and across the Commonwealth. We have seen them through the handmade ornaments submitted every year by our Senior Community Centers to decorate the Christmas tree in the State Capitol Main Rotunda. Older adults have shown their creativity through various art programming offered at the SCCs, and older artists have participated in the annual Art of the State exhibition presented by the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich said. You can submit pieces of artwork through this online form. The work will then be evaluated by a three-person jury. Artists will be contacted by the department by Friday, April 18, if chosen. Theyll be able to help you to coordinate transport for your piece to the Pennsylvania Capitol Building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chosen works will be displayed for the month of May. You can learn more about the showcase and how to enter on the Pennsylvania Department of Aging website. Get the latest news, weather forecasts and sports stories delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for our newsletters. We look forward to seeing all of the artwork submitted by older adults as a celebration of their creative talents while raising awareness of the important contributions they make every day, Kavulich said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. One person is dead and three others are being treated for injuries after a fire destroyed their home on the 300 block of North Fletcher Street in Danville in the early morning hours Wednesday. At 3:17 a.m. the Danville Fire Department was called to the house, which was engulfed in heavy fire and smoke, according to a Wednesday press release from the Danville Fire Department. Three victims two adults and a minor had escaped the home before fire crews arrived. They alerted firefighters that a fourth victim, an elderly female, was still trapped inside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though fire crews from three different stations attempted to get into the home to rescue the person, extreme heat made entry impossible. Multiple handlines were used to bring the fire under control. Once the conditions became tenable for firefighters, they re-entered the home and located the victim, Danville Fire Chief Aaron Marcott said. Once the fire was under control, firefighters entered the home and brought the fourth victim, who was deceased, outside. The Vermilion County Coroners office was notified. The three other victims were transported to OSF for treatment. It is also believed that a family pet was lost in the fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The names of the victims and cause of death are not being released until an autopsy can be performed and family is given time to be notified. The American Red Cross was notified to assist the family. After all victims were taken off the scene of the fire, an excavator was brought to tear down the house, which was determined to be unsafe after collapsing floor sections were discovered during the search for the fourth victim. There were no working smoke detectors in the home. Although no firefighters were injured in the fire, Marcott said it can be rough for them when a life is lost. Its really tough. You practice and train to do your job hoping everything goes right and sometimes you cant do anything about it, he said, adding that firefighters are trained on coping with witnessing loss of life on the job. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well review it in the next couple of days let everybody get everything off their chest, talk about what they did, how they are feeling, what happened, and do a deep dive into it, Marcott said. Aside from offering firefighters support through the city, the department also has a minister who will reach out to see how firefighters are doing. Marcott said DFD firefighters also depend on a whole network of other firefighters to reach out to if they need to talk things through. The North Fletcher fire was the second in just a few hours for the department. Just a few hours earlier, the department was dispatched to the 500 block of Porter Street for a report of heavy smoke coming from a residence. Upon arrival firefighters reported a working structure fire. The Illinois State Fire Marshals Office was brought in to assist the DFD with an investigation into the incident. Anyone with information about this fire should contact Capt. Ryan Allison at the Danville Fire Department at 217-431-2350. RUSSELLS POINT, Ohio (WDTN) Its been almost one year since a tornado ripped through neighborhoods surrounding Indian Lake, destroying homes and property. But one thing not broken by that tornado was Indian Lakes spirit, as residents continue efforts to rebuild and restore the area to what it once was. PHOTOS: March 14 storm damage You know a year ago, you think were never going to get to where were at now, said Michael Thompson, Washington Township police chief. Its like, how are we ever going to recover from this? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thompson says it feels like just yesterday that the tornado hit his home. A year later, the damage lingers as recovery efforts continue. I think were doing well. Its going to be more than just a year, its going to take years to fully recover, but were getting there, said Thomspon. For many, the memory of that tragic day is still fresh. Sgt. Morgan Styles with the Russells Point Police Department remembers the moments he got confirmation of the tornado. My initial thought was to go around the village and announce over the P.A. to shelter in place to everybody and make them aware of whats going to happen, said Styles. I never thought I would have to make that type of announcement, and I hope I never have to make it again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the community continues rebuilding, they are also reflecting this week on what they lost. But one thing they found out, is how the community came together during a crucial time. Were blessed that our Indian Lake community came together. I cannot give enough accolades to our fire, our police, our EMS, said Amber Fagan, Indian Lake Chamber of Commerce president. Everybody was just here immediately, boots on the ground in areas that werent even safe to be in. One business owner says shes proud to see how strong the area has come together in the face of adversity. I would say this past year, it the the community coming together in the way that everyone has supported each other is something Ive never seen before, said Carrie Weigand, owner of ACW Homes and Real Estate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Residents say the tornado may have damaged a lot, but it did not damage the most important thing the strong foundation of unity Indian Lake carries as they all work to move forward. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UTICA, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) The Oneida County government is considering legal action against Governor Kathy Hochul for her executive order banning local governments from hiring the 2,000 correction officers who were fired as a result of the prison strike. The Oneida County Sheriffs Office has already interviewed 51 people who want to transition from state prisons to county jails. Were in the background process with all of them, said Sheriff Robert Maciol. But the ones that I met seemed like really good, hardworking, sincere people who just want to make a difference in their community. Latest local news Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the people interviewed are fair game if theyre still working or resigned from the state prison system, but any of the 2,000 who were fired Monday after the deadline to return to work and call off the strike are not. There are consequences when people break the law, Governor Kathy Hochul said Tuesday. And that means youre not working in our state workforce ever. The governors executive order bans the fired officers from any state job, removes their names from the state registry that verifies an officers training and temporarily bans local governments from hiring them for any job. Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente called it completely hypocritical, completely ridiculous, a complete overreach, and complete violation of home rule. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, Picente asked the Oneida County Board of Legislators to give him and the county attorney permission to reach legal options to challenge the governors executive order which includes a possible lawsuit. The board approved the request unanimously, including Republicans and Democrats. Its not a Republican or Democrat issue, said County Executive Picente. Its a local government issue. Im elected by the people of Oneida County to do my job, and to hire people who are appropriate to do the job that we have to. Its very frustrating to get an executive order telling me who I can and cant hire, the Sheriff said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheriff Maciol says when hes allowed to hire any state officers who have applied for his department, he can cut the 80 vacant positions at the Oneida County Jail in half. The governors office feels the officers who undermined the publics trust arent suitable for public service anywhere. A spokesperson for the governor says the office wont comment on hypothetical litigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. LEBANON, Mo. A civilian group that catches child predators online is coming under fire by police departments, and attorneys are voicing their concerns. Operation Soap spoke with Ozarks First after they felt they were being called out by the Lebanon Police Department for being a vigilante group. They say they dont consider themselves vigilantes because they dont want to harm the people they catch; they instead want to have conversations with them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We dont try people in the media: Attorneys voice concerns with online civilian groups A local prosecutor and defense attorney both agree to help these types of cases, citizens should let law enforcement handle it. Operation Soap says they have spoken to hundreds of potential predators, made over a dozen of what they call catches, and now have attributed to five arrests. Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson says he has not been given any cases from the Springfield Police Department that have originally come from a civilian group. He tells Ozarks First he encourages people to make reports to SPD or online. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can report online child abuse on the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. This Tuesday, Colorado Springs voters will select a majority of decision-makers on the City Council who will shape the city's future. OpenAI shared its game plan on Thursday on ways the Trump Administration can strengthen Americas lead on artificial intelligence, as well as unlock economic growth and protect national security. As part of its proposal, OpenAI said a copyright strategy that promotes the freedom to learn will be a key component in retaining Americas AI lead over Chinas communist government. We propose a copyright strategy that would extend the systems role into the Intelligence Age by protecting the rights and interests of content creators while also protecting Americas AI leadership and national security, the tech company said in its unsigned proposal. The federal government can both secure Americans freedom to learn from AI, and avoid forfeiting our AI lead to the [Peoples Republic of China] by preserving American AI models ability to learn from copyrighted material. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OpenAIs push for AI models to leverage copyrighted materials comes at a time when the debate over how models use humans work is hotly contested. The New York Times and New York Daily News are currently suing OpenAI for using their articles without permission to train ChatGPT. Media companies like News Corp. and Vox Media, meanwhile, have reached content-sharing deals with OpenAI. The AI company, led by CEO Sam Altman, outlined a handful of other ideas on how the U.S. can keep its AI edge on China in its proposal. Those include: a regulatory environment that is not burdensome and advocates voluntary partnerships between the federal government and the private sector; promoting American AI companies at home and abroad; and investing in the infrastructure needed to scale Americas AI industry something that will allow the U.S. government to create and support hundreds of thousands of jobs, OpenAI argued. OpenAIs proposal comes two months after President Trump said the company, along with Oracle and SoftBank, would invest up to $500 billion in the U.S. governments AI infrastructure program, dubbed Stargate. President Trump has previously said it is important for the U.S. to stay ahead of other countries and in particular, China when it comes to AI innovation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AI is the new oil; its the oil of the future, Trump said during a 2023 speech. We have to make sure we dominate it. The president has also expressed some concerns over AI being a superpower, which he told Logan Paul during a podcast interview last year. Trump added he found AIs potential a bit alarming. You can read OpenAIs full proposal by clicking here. The post OpenAI Argues US Will Forfeit AI Lead to China if It Cant Learn From Copyrighted Material appeared first on TheWrap. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has begged for AI regulation many times over the years, but times have changed. Now, the company wants the Trump administration to protect it from state-level AI bills in the U.S. This was one of several suggestions OpenAI made Thursday in proposals directed at Trump administration advisors tasked with developing the U.S.s AI Action Plan. President Donald Trump ordered officials to formulate such a plan earlier this year, and the consultation period closes Saturday. OpenAIs proposals come with frequent invocations of China and the supposed threat posed by its AI industry, in particular the headline-grabbing DeepSeek. If OpenAI doesnt get its way, the company suggested, China will take the lead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We propose a holistic approach that enables voluntary partnership between the federal government and the private sector, and neutralizes potential [Chinese] benefit from American AI companies having to comply with overly burdensome state laws, OpenAI global affairs chief Chris Lehane wrote. OpenAIs concerns about state AI bills are not misplaced. The country has so far failed to come up with any federal AI legislation so, in its absence, states have stepped in with numerous efforts of their own. As of last week there were a whopping 741 state AI bills pending, according to monitoring by the R Street Institute, a D.C. think tank. Many overlap (Texas and California both have outstanding bills on the topic of AI-powered discrimination, for example) and the industry rightly fears an overly complex patchwork of laws that will make compliance difficult. OpenAIs idea is for the government to preempt these state laws. Its proposed voluntary framework would not set rules, but rather open a single, efficient front door to the federal government that would coordinate expertise across the entire national security and economic competitiveness communities. OpenAI said the effort could be overseen by a reimagined AI Safety Institutean organization the Biden Administration established but that the Trump administration has gutted through mass firings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Displaying no small degree of chutzpah, OpenAI proposed that it and its peers could be incentivized to sign up by creating glide paths for them to contract with the government, including on national security projects. Again, OpenAI invoked the specter of China, saying that U.S. government adoption of AI would set an example of governments using AI to keep their people safe, prosperous, and free that would present a ready counterpoint to Beijings use of AI to maintain state control and enforce Communist party doctrine. Altmans outfit cited China yet again when calling for the federal government to create a clear copyright exemption for AI training. Currently, training AI models on copyrighted data is a hotly-contested legal conundrum that is the subject of numerous lawsuits by authors, music labels, and other rightsholders. These cases remain mostly unresolved, although Thomson Reuters scored a possibly precedent-setting win against legal AI startup Ross Intelligence last month. OpenAI argued that China was unlikely to respect the intellectual property regimes in the U.S. or the EUwhere the new AI Act allows rightsholders to opt out of their property being used for AI training but already likely has access to all the same data, putting American AI labs at a comparative disadvantage while gaining little in the way of protections for the original IP creators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company also called for tweaking of the so-called AI diffusion rules that the Biden Administration introduced in its dying days, limiting the numbers of advanced U.S. AI chips that most countries can import. As it stands, only 18 close U.S. allies can import the chips freely, with traditional allies such as Poland and Israel being subject to export caps. OpenAI, which is reportedly finalizing its own AI chips so it doesnt have to depend on Nvidia so much, said it would be a good idea to admit more countries to the uncapped top tier of the U.S. framework, as long as they commit to democratic AI principles by deploying AI systems in ways that promote more freedoms for their citizens. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com UPDATE (March 14, 2025 5:52 p.m. E.T.): Friday afternoon, a bill to avoid a government shutdown cleared a key procedural hurdle on a 62-38 vote, with 10 members of the Senates Democratic caucus joining all but one Republican in voting in favor. Sixty votes were needed to overcome a filibuster. On Tuesday, House Republicans voted to hand a blank check over to a White House that is already stealing from our families and communities to fund the largest possible tax cut for billionaires and the biggest corporations. The continuing resolution passed by the House gives Elon Musk and President Donald Trump even more flexibility to steal from the middle class, from seniors, from veterans, from working people, from small businesses and from farmers, all to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The administrations slash-and-burn approach has already left a trail of destruction in our communities. From our national parks to Social Security offices, VA medical centers to food banks, Americans are seeing the direct results of the administrations illegitimate, ill-informed and illegal campaign to tear apart our institutions. Article I of the Constitution clearly spells out Congresss authority to determine spending. It reads, No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. To carry out this authority, the House and Senate Appropriations committees engage in tough negotiations that result in bipartisan legislation to fund the government and all of the agencies, programs and services that are provided to the American people. As recently as early March, we were on the cusp of such an agreement. The four corners of the Appropriations committees Tom Cole and me in the House and Susan Collins and Patty Murray in the Senate were inches away from securing a deal on the funding topline, which would have allowed us to begin the roughly monthlong process of writing full-year bills. This process is critically important: It ensures that final funding bills are the results of broad compromise among the peoples elected representatives. Nobody ever gets everything they want, but instead, the interests of Americans from coast to coast are considered and accounted for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But House Speaker Mike Johnson, at the behest of Musk and President Trump, pulled the rug out from under us and set the House on a track to hand Congress authorities over government funding to Musk and Trump. Several of my House colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who by their own admission never vote in favor of government funding bills, enthusiastically voted for this CR, completely ending the appropriations process. Why? Because this CR takes away any remaining restraints and guardrails from the Trump administrations efforts to dismantle our government and destroy the services that help Americans get by, and because they believe the president will continue to unilaterally freeze and deny funding for programs and services that do not serve his interests. House Republicans would rather let an unchecked billionaire and President Trump seize taxpayer funds intended for families and businesses. But as Republicans are finding out when they go home to their districts, the American people are wise to their abandonment of duty and of responsibility. Their constituents are so furious that the partys political consultants are telling lawmakers to stop holding town halls altogether and just hide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump was elected because the American people wanted help with the cost of living. But the cost of living is nowhere to be found among the presidents concerns since he took office. Rather, he has set off on an agenda of vengeance and destruction, threatening the stability of our economy and the legitimacy of our government. He declared a trade war on our neighbors and closest allies, raising costs on American households, businesses and farmers and weakening our international relationships. And the Trump administration continues to steal from the American people to fund tax breaks for billionaires. Elon Musk, an unelected, unaccountable billionaire with immense conflicts of interest, and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have been allowed to illegally freeze payments, tear down our institutions, fire career civil servants who are loyal to the Constitution rather than to President Trump and rip apart hard-fought labor agreements that protect working-class Americans. They even have Social Security in their sights. My phone has been ringing off the hook with constituents telling me how Musks and President Trumps cuts have affected them, and I know the same is happening in my Republican colleagues offices. Kris, a student at Common Ground High School in my district and an intern at Havens Harvest, a volunteer organization that reduces food waste, contacted me after 71 student workers across New Haven were laid off because of the funding freeze. Kris internship was part of the Green Jobs Corps, funded by a grant since canceled by the Environmental Protection Agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive also heard from CitySeed, which connects dozens of farmers across Connecticut with residents who need access to fresh, local food, through farmers markets, culinary programs and entrepreneurship opportunities. The organization has had funding that helps cover its administrative costs frozen, as well. And Monica, a senior citizen in my district with a low income who relies on Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP benefits, told me she is not just worried about paying her bills or filling the freezer she is worried that she will not be able to survive if the Trump administrations cuts go through. I was at Bradley Airport in Connecticut this week when two Transportation Security Administration officers found out they had been let go. One of them told me they began working for the TSA immediately after its creation in the wake of Sept. 11. I must have missed when the American people asked for fewer TSA agents and longer wait times at checkpoints. This is wrong, cruel and completely unnecessary. The funding freeze must end, and these draconian cuts must be stopped. But instead of standing up for their constituents and for Congresss constitutional powers, the CR that passed the House lets Musk and President Trump freeze, cancel and repurpose taxpayer dollars as they see fit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If this CR becomes law, Musk and President Trump will be able to fire thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration. That will result in office closures, longer wait times and unacceptable backlogs for Americans who are trying to access their earned benefits. Under this bill, Army Corps of Engineers construction projects to manage our waterways and mitigate flood risks will be cut by $1.4 billion, or 44%. And President Trump, not Congress, would determine all project funding levels and who gets the funding. Instead of helping our communities address sky-high housing costs, the CR cuts rent subsidies by more than $700 million, leaving landlords to foot the bill or evict more than 32,000 households. And there is not enough funding for disaster relief, abandoning American families who have had their lives turned upside down by extreme weather. I voted against this CR, and several of my Republican colleagues voted in favor of a CR for the first time, for the same reason: We do not expect the president to actually follow the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Decisions about the investments we make cannot be entrusted in one single officeholder. This Congress must decide: Do we have the authority to control spending, as is laid out in Article I of the Constitution? So long as House Republicans are unwilling to defend the powers of the offices they were elected to hold, all of our constituents will continue to pay the price. Regrettably, the House has already offered to forfeit its authority to the White House. I implore our colleagues in the Senate to stand up for the American people and our Constitution, reject this CR and put a freeze on this blank check. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com The pandemic gave the country a chance to rethink how states and school districts deliver quality education. When schools shut down, there was an opportunity to create more flexible, innovative learning models tailored to students varied needs. America had a chance to build stronger connections between schools, families, and communities. In March 2020, resilience, innovation and adaptability became urgent priorities, backed by billions in federal funding. It was a Sputnik moment for American education. We blew it. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter We failed to take advantage of the moment. Instead of embracing lasting change, most school systems rushed back to normal as if normal had ever been good enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The results are horrifying. Student achievement is in free fall. Fewer than one-third of students scored proficient in reading and math, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress. These declines predated the pandemic but were exacerbated by prolonged school closures. Given these realities, can policymakers still pretend the traditional education model works? A system designed over a century ago to train students for farm and factory labor is woefully inadequate for todays needs. It cannot deliver the personalized learning students require in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Related New NAEP Scores Dash Hope of Post-COVID Learning Recovery This outdated system relies on one-size-fits-all solutions while assuming teachers can somehow provide differentiated support for every student. It rests on an increasingly fragile social contract: that students will attend school daily, that marginalized families will trust and wait for better service,and that schools are the sole places for learning. The pandemic shattered these assumptions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. must rethink education. On this, the fifth anniversary of the start of the pandemic, the Center on Reinventing Public Education has launched Phoenix Rising, a forum for exploring bold, new ideas. Phoenix Rising looks back on the root causes of the disastrous pandemic response and articulates a vision for a more nimble, personalized, joyful and evidence-based public education system. Five years after the pandemic began, we reflect on the failures and propose a path forward. Our research identifies key failures in the pandemic response and recovery: Schools lacked incentives, autonomy and capacity to deliver the personalized instruction needed to accelerate learning. States and the federal government provided little leadership, leaving districts to fend for themselves. Politics, not science, dictated too many decisions. Federal aid was distributed without clear expectations or accountability, offering only temporary relief. The consequences are clear: declining test scores, wildly varied student needs within classrooms, disruptive behavior, chronic absenteeism and increasing mental health challenges for both students and teachers. Parents remain unaware of the full extent of learning loss, and public trust in education is eroding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related America Risks Losing a Whole Generation of Kids. Todays Schools Cant Help Them Rather than blame educators or school districts, we at CRPE diagnose a deeper problem: The education delivery system is fundamentally overmatched by its challenges. It cannot deliver the outcomes todays students need. We propose a future-ready system that prioritizes: Providing flexible, personalized learning pathways: Schools should act as portfolio managers, offering students personalized learning options rather than delivering all the instruction and support themselves. Core academics would remain in assigned schools, but students could use public dollars for apprenticeships, enrichment programs, tutoring and mental health support. Breaking down barriers in schools: Schools must dismantle rigid structures that limit student potential. Advanced coursework should be more accessible. Universal design for learning and individualized pathways to college and careers should be the norm, not the exception. Preparing students for the future: Success after high school requires more than career pathways, internships or college applications. Schools must emphasize durable skills like critical thinking, communication and leadership. By high school, students should be immersed in career exploration and have universal access to early college. Rethinking teacher roles and instruction: New schooling models should encourage team-based teaching. Evidence-based instructional practices must become standard. Research-based methods for reading, writing, math and behavior regulation should be integrated into teacher preparation and school support structures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Forty years ago, CRPE advocated for a portfolio system of governance, where school boards diversified their offerings traditional public schools, magnets and charters while focusing on core services like funding and accountability. Managing personalized pathways requires going further. It demands not just new governance structures, but also transformed instruction and student support. States and localities must unlock funding, teacher assignments and student intervention strategies to enable innovative approaches. They should empower new governing bodies, whether independent boards, mayors or state-appointed leaders, to integrate ideas from outside the traditional district framework. Related Interview: Robin Lake on Preparing for a Decade of Work Ahead Post-Pandemic This transformation required bold action. Simply calling for more patience, more money and less regulation is not enough. Schools need sustained state leadership. With the federal government pulling back from education oversight, states must step up. Empty declarations of emergency wont suffice. Top-down mandates wont work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Students can and will learn if given the chance but only if educators rethink how they learn. That means transforming classroom instruction, teacher roles, technology use and more. States must reallocate federal funding flexibly, revamp laws to incentivize innovation and create new opportunities for experimentation beyond the traditional system. Above all, the next wave of education reform must look forward, not backward. American schools cannot afford to cling to outdated structures out of a misguided allegiance to the past. Policymakers must empower schools to embrace new ideas, act on evidence and be bolder in pursuing better outcomes. Students futures and the countrys economic and social prosperity depend on it. Last week, the Supreme Court denied President Trumps request to block payment of $2 billion that Congress had already designated, or appropriated, for foreign aid. Courts are correct to be skeptical of President Trumps unprecedented, across-the-board federal spending freezes. President Trump certainly has the right to pursue his policy objectives, but the means he uses to accomplish those objectives matter. And his current approach a far-reaching effort to cut off federal funds violates the Constitutions separation of powers and the Impoundment Control Act, which explicitly limits the presidents ability to adjust Congressional appropriations. The Constitution grants Congress the power to appropriate funds, meaning Congress decides how federal money should be spent. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, known as the Spending Clause, gives Congress the power to spend for the general Welfare of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president plays a role in spending decisions too. But his role is limited to choosing whether to sign or veto spending bills that Congress passes. Once a spending bill becomes law, the presidents job is to implement those appropriations. Indeed, the Constitution directs that the president shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed. This power and duty to implement spending appropriations is the authority to faithfully carry out those laws, not to alter or thwart them. Throughout U.S. history, presidents have sometimes claimed a power to impound or decline to spend funds Congress has already appropriated. For example, President Thomas Jefferson declined to spend $50,000 that Congress had appropriated for gunboats. President Nixon likewise impounded funds that Congress had appropriated for a variety of domestic programs that he disagreed with. Whether such impoundments are permissible depends, in part, on whether the relevant appropriations statute gives the president discretion to decide whether or not to spend the funds. Members of the Supreme Court have acknowledged that Congress may confer discretion upon the Executive to withhold appropriated funds, even funds appropriated for a specific purpose. Such was true in Jeffersons situation, because the relevant statute appropriated funds up to a certain amount to be spent on the ships. By contrast, the Court has held that when a statutory appropriation mandates spending, the president lacks authority to impound. In Train v. City of New York, the Court invalidated Nixons attempt to withhold environmental funding Congress appropriated to upgrade sewer systems. Nixons aggressive, illegal impoundments led Congress to pass the 1974 Impoundment Control Act (ICA). The ICA places both procedural and substantive limits on the presidents ability to impound funds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first set of limits in the ICA applies when the president wants to rescind (i.e., cancel or not spend) funding appropriated by Congress. Here, the ICA specifies that the president must send Congress a special message detailing exactly which funds would be rescinded, the reasons for rescission and the proposals economic impacts. Congress then has 45 days to decide whether to approve the presidents proposal in an expedited rescission bill. If the president has followed these ICA procedures, he can pause spending while Congress decides whether to approve his proposal. If, in those 45 days, Congress does not pass a bill to rescind the funding, the president must spend the funds as originally appropriated. The president cannot again propose rescission of the same funds. The ICAs second set of limits specifies rules and procedures for presidents who want to delay rather than completely rescind funding. To postpone spending congressionally appropriated funds, the president must send a special message to Congress outlining the funding to be delayed, the reasons and other information the ICA requires. Additionally, the delay cannot be based on policy disagreements or arguments that the spending doesnt align with the presidents political priorities. Instead, a deferral request must only be for one of the reasons the ICA explicitly lays out: to provide for contingencies, to achieve savings made possible by or through changes in requirements or greater efficiency of operations or as specifically provided by law. President Trump has not followed any of these statutory requirements. He has ignored the ICAs procedural requirements for rescinding spending, and Congress has not approved any rescissions. He has not followed the ICAs procedures for deferrals. Further, his stated reasons for deferrals are exactly the sort of policy reasons that the ICA prohibits. What the spending freezes target as waste are programs that conflict with the presidents policy priorities. President Trump argues that the ICA itself is unconstitutional because he has an inherent impoundment power that supersedes Congresss attempts to constrain him. That argument is weak. Supreme Court precedent makes clear that, when the president takes action incompatible with Congresss will, his authority is at its lowest ebb, for then he can rely only upon his own constitutional powers minus any constitutional powers of Congress over the matter. This is certainly the case when the president refuses to spend congressionally appropriated funds and ignores the procedures of a congressional statute that specifically governs impoundment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ultimately, the issue is who gets the last word on spending decisions: Congress or the president. President Trump urges that an ill-defined presidential power found nowhere in the constitutional text should somehow override the Constitutions clear grant of spending power to Congress. That argument is inconsistent with the language and structure of the Constitution and contradicts Supreme Court precedent. In short, President Trumps funding freezes violate the Constitutions separation of powers a delicate balance that the Framers crafted to ensure that no person or branch of government could dominate the others. The freezes also violate the ICA a carefully crafted statute that requires the president to thoroughly identify and explain any proposed spending cancellations or delays. The ICAs provisions ensure that cuts to congressionally appropriated funds are made with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer. And they bind all presidents, even those who impound funds to further worthy objectives like reduction of federal waste. If President Trump takes seriously his duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, he should pursue his desired spending cuts in ways that the Constitution, Supreme Court precedent and the laws of the land require. Kif Augustine-Adams Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement John Fee Frederick Mark Gedicks Lisa Grow Carolina Nunez Michalyn Steele Lucy Williams We are law professors who teach, research and write in constitutional law and related subjects. We provide our affiliation with BYU Law School for identification purposes only. We speak for ourselves and not for the law school, BYU or its sponsoring institution. I have asked the question before: How comfortable are you flying in an air taxi over crowded cities, with no pilot at the wheel? It may be an unfair question because it appears that, when such things are buzzing through the air, they will, at least in the initial phase, have human pilots. So let me pose a different question. How comfortable, in light of the accident in January involving a passenger jet and a military helicopter, are you in riding an electric air taxi with a pilot? Keep in mind that the National Transportation Safety Board this week called for banning helicopters at that airport under nearly all circumstances because current helicopter routes pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OK, Ill admit that a pollster would call that a leading question. But its hard for me to believe many of you arent already making that connection. A demonstration in Salt Lake City Aerospace company BETA Technologies conducts a flight demonstration of its electric aircraft, ALIA, to showcase the future of air mobility in Utah, at Atlantic Aviation in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 10, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News On Monday came the good news that Beta Technologies had flown its Alia model electric taxi to Salt Lake City in the first of several demonstration flights across the state. Beta has a memorandum of understanding with 47G, a Utah aerospace and defense group, to create new options for transporting cargo and people around the state. This has support from the governors office and from both the Governors Office of Economic Opportunity and the Utah Department of Transportation. Then on Tuesday, the NTSB issued its recommendations in the wake of the crash that killed 67 people on Jan. 29. First, its important to know that Beta Technologies and state leaders are on the right track. Air taxis are about to change the way people get around in urban areas, particularly ones that tend to be choked with automobile traffic. Too much money is being invested in this for it not to happen, and local leaders are using the 2034 Olympics as a goal for having a system in place to carry significant numbers of people around through the air. Thats smart. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, at the moment, the question is how air traffic control would handle all these new buzzing aircraft, both at and around airports and between non-airport sites throughout the metro area. Would every airport encounter a Reagan-like problem? Aerospace company BETA Technologies conducts a flight demonstration of its electric aircraft, ALIA, to showcase the future of air mobility in Utah, at Atlantic Aviation in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 10, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News Is DOGE after traffic controllers? Perhaps more importantly, is the current administration trying to fire already understaffed air traffic controllers? A recent New York Times piece said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency of trying to fire controllers, which led to a heated exchange in the Oval Office. President Donald Trump reportedly clarified that cabinet secretaries, not Musk, had final say over staffing decisions in their agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The details reportedly came from people with knowledge of the meeting. Its unclear whether further pressure might be brought to cut the traffic control agency. New FAA rule Last fall, The Associated Press reported that federal regulators issued a final rule for operating air taxis, outlining how pilots will be trained. Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker said air taxis are the first new category of aircraft to be recognized in 80 years, since the introduction of helicopters. Thats good news. The new rule allows for their widespread use. But companies like Beta Technologies are not alone in trying to introduce these vehicles, which will fly at low altitudes through urban areas. Many new things in the sky A Wall Street Journal video said if all the companies currently proposing to enter this new market take to the skies, the systems and protocols used to safely manage our skies might not cope. Experts say new technology and procedures will be needed, including establishing new fixed route corridors at lower altitudes. But the taxis also would compete for airspace with drones making deliveries and other new types of craft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, would you climb aboard one of these taxis? A recent survey by Honeywell Aerospace found the answer is yes, with 65% of millennials being highly enthusiastic, compared to 58% of overall respondents. But almost two-thirds of respondents said safety is a big concern. Safety will become obvious Thats understandable. It also will become obvious, quickly, whether its a problem once the skies start to fill. Public confidence can be hard-won, but easily lost. The rollout to this new world of taxis is bound to be gradual. We wont go from zero to thousands of air taxis at once. We can hope the collision over Reagan Airport will have faded far into the background by then. But it seems the right course at the moment would be to expand, not contract, the FAA and air traffic controllers. If things are done right, the biggest complaint in the future should be about how hard it is to see the sky for all the new flying objects, not how many of them are dropping on our heads. If so, Im guessing you wont worry about climbing aboard. Democracy and peace are not guaranteed when a dictator falls sometimes, a countrys fate turns uglier and messier. Look no further than Iraq. The aftermath of Saddams fall demonstrates that even most well-intentioned policies under the guise of a new democracy can backfire abysmally. Today, Iraq still reels from the consequences of de-Baathification, transitional justice failures and a vague constitution that have contributed to decades of needless sectarian violence and terror. This does not have to be true of Syria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a recent address to the nation, Syrias new self-appointed president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, pledged a reformed government that protects the rights of all minorities and expressed aspirations of a modern Syria, comparable to Saudi Arabia and its latest reforms. The outlook is far from promising. Recent reports of intense clashes, allegedly between al-Sharaas security forces and members of the Alawite religious minority, have resulted in more than 1,000 deaths just two days, casting serious doubt on the countrys stability. Yes, Syria faces its own distinct set of challenges. But at a minimum, it must move quickly avoid the sectarian fractures that devastated post-Saddam Iraq. Iraqs policy of de-Baathification stands as one of its most disastrous decisions. The government dismissed approximately 100,000 Baathist professionals party members under Saddams regime from their jobs, disbanded the military, and restructured the government under predominantly Shia leadership, disproportionately affecting Sunnis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To make matters worse, despite ambitious plans to address Saddams legacy of human rights abuses, transitional justice measures focused on purging and persecuting former Baathists. Plans for truth commissions by the best Iraqi lawyers and judges failed to materialise, and working-class educators, doctors and civil servants were treated the same as Saddams murderous accomplices. Consequently, thousands of young Sunni men joined violent insurgent groups seeking retribution, including The Islamic State. Among them were Saddams most skilled commanders, who became key lieutenants to Caliph al-Baghdadi, head of ISIS. Syria must avoid a similar policy of de-Alawitization. For decades, more than 80 percent of Alawites Bashar Assads own ethnic group worked under his government, despite comprising around 10 percent of the countrys population. In reality, however, most soldiers earned as little as $35 a month after the Syrian pound had lost 99 percent of its value since the 2011 civil war. Al-Sharaa has assured Alawites there will be no mass purges and has granted amnesty to most of Assads former soldiers. However, thousands of Alawites remain uncertain about their fate following the dissolution of Syrias army, security forces and Baathist government. Reports indicate that the new administration has illegitimately replaced thousands of senior administrators across key institutions with unqualified individuals. Meanwhile, the state is planning a major economic overhaul including cutting one-third of public-sector jobs to reduce waste and corruption and transitioning to a competitive free-market economy. Alawites also look to al-Sharaas government for protection against active radicals in the country seeking to settle scores with their former tormentors. A major challenge will be balancing sufficient security in Alawite communities despite the severe strain on existing resources and the overwhelming demands of the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although officials have held meetings with the local Alawite leaders emphasizing security and accountability to sectarian agitators, Alawites remain justifiably nervous about their future. Fresh reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights state over 162 Alawite civilians have been executed in field executions in Syrias coastal Latakia province. Additionally, heavy fighting erupted in Alawite-concentrated cities early this weekend, resulting in an estimated 830 Alawite civilian deaths, allegedly by Al-Sharaas security forces. Analysts are calling this by far the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled Assad in December. The situation echoes a warning from a Syrian source quoted in The New York Times: If the new government cannot guarantee their safety, they will take matters into their own hands to protect themselves. These sectarian tensions could be a strategic asset for a country like Iran, which lost a major national ally and access to its critical land routes through Syria used for smuggling weapons to its Lebanese proxies. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the presence of 70,000 Syrian fighters loyal to Iran and Hezbollah since 2014, organized by Tehran. Ominously, senior Iranian military figure Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati hinted at their potential utility early this year: We can activate the social layers that our guys lived among for years; we can be active on social media, and we can form resistance cells. Alarmingly, Syria expert Aaron Y. Zelin of the Washington Institute confirmed that Iran-linked Assad remnants were indeed responsible for triggering the crisis, and have been involved in 46 attacks across multiple provinces since January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How Syrias new constitution addresses these fundamental issues will prove extremely consequential. Under immense pressure to stabilize the country and meet tight U.S. deadlines, Iraq hastily drafted a constitution that left key issues of power sharing and the governance of oil-rich regions ambiguous, contributing to a shift toward greater authoritarianism. In an Al Arabiya News interview, al-Sharaa seemed to acknowledge these complexities, outlining a generous three- to four-year timeline for drafting and elections. However, his administration must reconcile the differing perspectives of Syrias diverse ethno-sectarian population including Kurds, Druze and Christians each with distinct moral and cultural attitudes. More difficult will be striking a balance between state and religion and upholding democratic values, which has historically been a challenge in the Middle East. A former leader of the al Qaeda-affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Sharaa today is positioning himself more as a pragmatist. But his interim government still includes many members of conservative Salafi-jihadist factions that have already removed Darwin and the Big Bang from the public schools curriculum. Syrias future depends on precisely these nuanced policies and tactics evolving behind closed doors. Al-Sharaas government should de-escalate sectarian tensions now and develop policies that, unlike those of Bashar Assad, uphold the individual rights and freedoms of all Syrians rights that were denied for more than five decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Syrians must hold their new leaders accountable. Their future and lives depend on it. Sally Michael is pursuing a masters degree in conflict and terrorism at The University of Auckland in New Zealand. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Last week, the Trump administration took unprecedented action against one of this nations premier educational institutions, canceling $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University. Columbia is being penalized in the aftermath of its handling of responses to the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel and complaints about antisemitism on campus. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon explained, Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination. Columbias apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very serious questions about the institutions fitness to continue doing business with the United States government. But Columbia is not the only college or university attracting scrutiny from the administration. Last month, the administration opened investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities, including Columbia, Cal-Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern and Portland State. It has now added more names to the list, including George Washington University, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, New York University, the UCLA, USC and Wellesley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although it has doubled down on its scrutiny of higher education, the White House is trumpeting its plans to scale back the governments role in American life. On March 6, it criticized former President Biden for adding nearly $2 trillion in new regulations over his four years in office and highlighted that Trump immediately blocked these proposed rules and has initiated an aggressive deregulatory agenda that requires substantial cuts in existing regulations for each new agency rule. But apparently, in his view, universities need more regulation, not less. On Feb. 14, for example, the Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague letter explaining its interpretation of the Supreme Courts July 2023 decision ending affirmative action in college admissions decisions. The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent. That letter entirely redefined the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance from the United States Department of Education well beyond affirmative action, and is an example of the kind of social engineering that conservatives and MAGA loyalists have long criticized. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Feb.19, the office issued an FAQ to clarify its letter, doubling down on some of its most expansive readings of the affirmative action decision. While acknowledging that the facts of the case before the Supreme Court were specifically about racial preferences in university admissions, it insisted that the court applied broad reasoning to its decision, which has broad implications for race-based policies in education generally. In another less-noticed action designed to roll back anything associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, U.S. Attorney Edwin Martin wrote to the dean of the Georgetown University Law School last month noting that his institution continues to teach and promote DEI. This is unacceptable. He then informed the dean that no student from the law school would be considered for a position in his office as long as Georgetown continues to teach and utilize DEI. The Washington Post reported, It was not immediately clear why Martin, a devout Catholic and lawyer, apparently singled out Georgetown, the nations oldest Catholic and Jesuit university with a prestigious law school. But in previous public comments, Martin has cast the school as anti-Trump. The Georgetown dean responded with an aggressive First Amendment defense of the schools right to teach its subjects without government interference. He told Martin, Your letter challenges Georgetowns ability to define our mission as an educational institution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Without adding more regulations to the Federal Register, the Trump administration is acting in unprecedented ways. The president has said that overregulation discourages innovation and infringes on the liberties of American citizens. This also should also apply to colleges and universities. Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly said of President Donald Trump, What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy because thatll make it easier to annex us. Trudeaus accusation was extraordinary and unprecedented. Here was the leader of Canada, one of Americas closest and longest-standing allies, accusing the U.S. president of engaging in economic warfare. More and more, however, it seems Trudeau wasnt making this argument up. The evidence is piling up that Trump has declared economic war on Canada for the express purpose of making our Northern neighbor the 51st state. Trump first referred to Canada as the 51st state in a December 2024 meeting with Trudeau. At the time, the Canadian Prime Minister assumed Trump was joking. But then, in January, he said it again publicly, this time threatening the use of economic force to pursue annexation. In addition, he began referring to Trudeau as Governor rather than Prime Minister. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By this point, one could easily chalk this up to Trumpian bluster. He couldnt possibly be serious about annexing Canada? Could he? But, two weeks after Trumps inauguration, a private call between him and Trudeau, which was supposed to be about tariffs, took an odd turn. According to The New York Times, Trump told Trudeau that he did not believe that the treaty that demarcates the border between the two countries was valid and that he wants to revise the boundary. He also mentioned revisiting long-standing treaties between the U.S. and Canada regarding the sharing of lakes and rivers. Even the Canadians were taken aback by Trumps statement and it slowly began to dawn on them that perhaps the president was serious (or as serious as one can be about an insane notion like the U.S. annexing Canada). Publicly, Trump wouldnt let the matter die. In an interview broadcast before the Super Bowl, on February 9, Trump told Fox News Bret Baier his plans to annex Canada were a real thing. And to magnify Canadas economic vulnerability, Trump told reporters that Canada was not viable as a country without U.S. trade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The problem for Canada is that Trump isnt wrong on this front. Canada is so dependent on cross-border trade that if the U.S. were to turn the screws on The Great White North it could crater Canadas economy. In the current context of the emerging trade war between the U.S. and Canada, it seems more than reasonable to believe that this is precisely Trumps intention. Consider for a moment how this trade war has unfolded. When Trump first declared his intention to slap tariffs on Canada, he used the smuggling of fentanyl across the Canadian border as a justification (never mind that 19 kilograms of fentanyl came across the Canadian border last year, compared to 9,600 kilograms that crossed the U.S.-Mexico border). After Trudeau reminded Trump of Canadas plan for slowing the smuggling of fentanyl, which was introduced late last year, he backed down. But then last week, Trump returned to the trade spat with Canada, but this time blamed Canada because of its protectionist trade policies on dairy, lumber and banking. After Ontarios premier, Doug Ford, announced a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York, in response, Trump upped the ante announcing a new 25% tariff on Canadas exports of steel and aluminum (which is in addition to already planned tariffs on steel and aluminum). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In announcing the new tariffs, Trump didnt mention fentanyl as a justification, but instead wrote on TruthSocial that the only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. In a follow-up post, he wondered why the U.S. allow(s) another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Trumps zigzagging has left markets and the business community flummoxed. For Canadians, the confusion is even worse. How can they end these trade tensions if the reason Trump is slapping tariffs on their country keeps changing? But perhaps the obvious answer is staring us in the face, and were all too dumbfounded to acknowledge it. Trump has been remarkably consistent in stating that Canada should become Americas 51st state he has said this repeatedly for months now. Moreover, he has openly espoused using U.S. economic power to achieve that goal and is doing precisely that. Just so were clear, this is not a Trump-only phenomenon. Yesterday, when asked if the U.S. still considers Canada a close ally, White House press secretary Katherine Leavitt said that Canada would benefit greatly from joining the United States and pointed to its high cost of living as a reason for surrendering sovereignty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sounded a similar theme, noting that Canada is gonna have to work with us to really integrate their economy, and as the president said, they should consider the amazing advantages of being the 51st state. In recent days, the Trump administration has further imposed its will on Canada by requiring Canadians who visit the country for more than 30 days to register with the U.S. government. The first 51 days of Trumps presidency have been, for lack of a better word, an odyssey. Crazy has been dropped on top of more crazy. But in the year 2025, an American president, with no pushback from his Cabinet or Congress, has declared economic war on our closest neighbor to annex its land (which is larger than Americas) and wants to make its 40 million citizens part of the United States. This is the craziest notion of all. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com President Donald Trump has promised to both end scores of federal environmental regulations and ensure America has the cleanest air and water on the planet. The person he tapped to resolve this contradiction, Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin, is now hard at work to make good on half of that promise. Its impossible to see though how granting businesses a new license to pollute and harm vulnerable Americans does anything but ignore the second promise. Instead, it will speed up the clock on the planet let alone the country, becoming unlivable. On Tuesday, Zeldin announced in an internal memo that the agency would be shuttering its offices devoted to environmental justice. On Wednesday, the EPA began the process to terminate more than 30 regulations meant to reduce the speed of climate change and keep communities free from pollution. That same day, the agency said it is formally reconsidering whats known as the Endangerment Finding, the underpinning of many of the strongest regulations meant to reduce carbon emissions. These deeply misguided actions could only come from an agency that abhors its own very existence. If carried out, they would accelerate the crisis of climate change and the immiseration of millions of people. And Zeldins justifications for these actions border on horrific in their deceptive misdirection and grim optimism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Endangerment Finding, released in 2009, stems from a landmark Supreme Court ruling that held greenhouse gases fit the Clean Air Acts definition of air pollutants, and ordered the EPA to determine whether those gases, in the words of the CAA, endanger public health or welfare. The Endangerment Finding, unsurprisingly, determined exactly that. Ever since, the EPA has been legally required under the CAA to act to limit greenhouse gases. The finding has long been a target of climate deniers, but neither of Trumps EPA chiefs in his first term attempted to rescind it. It shows how much more extreme this administration is that Zeldin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought seemed gleeful in their statement announcing the formal reconsideration of the finding. In the same breath as he railing against the finding, Zeldin promised to follow the science, the law, and common sense wherever it leads. But the suggestion that a review of the science which has only grown more certain in the last 16 years would lead to any alternate finding shows that there is little doubt about how this reconsideration ends. Zeldin similarly deployed his dystopian doublespeak to explain the shuttering of the environmental justice offices, which he framed as a blow against reverse racism. President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people, he said in a statement to The New York Times. Part of this mandate includes the elimination of forced discrimination programs. In a video announcing the deregulatory actions his agency is taking, Zeldin likewise said the Trump administration is driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion in order to unleash American energy. Contrary to what Zeldin claims, environmental justice programs are in no way about forced discrimination. The programs hes ending targeted pollution that has affected marginalized people disproportionately, like those who live near the busy highways that were often built right through minority communities. Efforts to ensure that the people who cant afford to move away from their home next to a power plant have fewer harmful chemicals raining down onto them are only discriminating if were defining discrimination as when money is spent on brown people instead of white people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Zeldins rationales are the same twisted logic being propounded across the Trump administration, such as when the Education Department claims that the Civil Rights Act prevents schools providing scholarships to address racial disparities. When applied to the environmental regulations that are now under attack, it means that the EPA is now trying to make it easier for coal-fired power plants to again pump more waste into water sources and mercury into the air. In a pre-emptive rebuttal to critics, Zeldin wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday that the EPA remains committed safeguarding health and the environment. The difference from past administrations, he argued, is that it will do so through partnership rather than prescriptive bureaucracy, through collaboration rather than regulation. In other words, the plan is to rely on businesses to decide when theyre doing too much damage to the environment and agree with whatever decision they reach. The level of cooperation that Zeldins strategy calls for relies on unprecedented altruism on the part of business and either extreme naivete or gross negligence on the part of government. It implies that major corporations can be inherently trusted to act in the interest of the greater good rather than their profits. But such an argument totally ignores decades of environmental history, impact studies and case law. If Zeldin is not ignorant, he must then simply be neglectful, opening the floodgates to poison Americas communities with little care for what happens next. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Wil Armstrong is an entrepreneur and investor in Denver. He is the chairman of the Board of Trustees at Colorado Christian University and was Co-Chairman of Protect Colorados Vote in 2020. (Nathan LaineBloomberg/Getty Images) Credit - Sam Altman speaks during the AI Action Summit in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. This year, hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent to scale AI systems in pursuit of superhuman capabilities. CEOs of leading AI companies, such as OpenAIs Sam Altman and xAIs Elon Musk, expect that within the next four years, their systems will be smart enough to do most cognitive workthink any job that can be done with just a laptopas effectively as or better than humans. Such an advance, leaders agree, would fundamentally transform society. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has repeatedly described AI as the most profound technology humanity is working on. Demis Hassabis, who leads Googles AI research lab Google DeepMind, argues AIs social impact will be more like that of fire or electricity than the introduction of mobile phones or the Internet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February, in the wake of an international AI Summit in Paris, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei restated his belief that by 2030 AI systems will be best thought of as akin to an entirely new state populated by highly intelligent people. In the same month, Musk, speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, said I think we're trending toward having something that's smarter than the smartest human in the next few years. He continued: There's a level beyond that which is smarter than all humans combined, which frankly is around 2029 or 2030. If these predictions are even partly correct, the world could soon radically change. But there is no consensus on how this transformation will or should be handled. With exceedingly advanced AI models released on a monthly basis, and the Trump administration seemingly uninterested in regulating the technology, the decisions of private-sector leaders matter more than ever. But they differ in their assessments of which risks are most salient, and whats at stake if things go wrong. Heres how: Existential risk or unmissable opportunity? I always thought AI was going to be way smarter than humans and an existential risk, and that's turning out to be true, Musk said in February, noting he thinks there is a 20% chance of human annihilation by AI. While estimates vary, the idea that advanced AI systems could destroy humanity traces back to the origin of many of the labs developing the technology today. In 2015, Altman called the development of superhuman machine intelligence probably the greatest threat to the continued existence of humanity. Alongside Hassabis and Amodei, he signed a statement in May 2023 declaring that mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It strikes me as odd that some leaders think that AI can be so brilliant that it will solve the worlds problems, using solutions we didn't think of, but not so brilliant that it cant escape whatever control constraints we think of, says Margaret Mitchell, Chief Ethics Scientist at Hugging Face. She notes that discourse sometimes conflates AI that supplements people with AI that supplants them. You cant have the benefits of both and the drawbacks of neither, she says. For Mitchell, risk increases as humans cede control to increasingly autonomous agents. Because we cant fully control or predict the behaviour of AI agents, we run a massive risk of AI agents that act without consent to, for example, drain bank accounts, impersonate us saying and doing horrific things, or bomb specific populations, she explains. Most people think of this as just another technology and, and not as a new species, which is the way you should think about it, says Professor Max Tegmark, co-founder and president of the Future of Life Institute. He explains that the default outcome when building machines at this level is losing control over them, which could lead to unpredictable and potentially catastrophic outcomes. But despite the apprehensions, other leaders avoid the language of superintelligence and existential risk, focusing instead on the positive upside. I think when history looks back it will see this as the beginning of a golden age of innovation, Pichai said at the Paris Summit in February. The biggest risk could be missing out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, asked in mid-2023 whether he thinks were on a path to creating superintelligence, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he was much more focused on the benefits to all of us. I am haunted by the fact that the industrial revolution didn't touch the parts of the world where I grew up until much later. So I am looking for the thing that may be even bigger than the industrial revolution, and really doing what the industrial revolution did for the West, for everyone in the world. So I'm not at all worried about AGI [artificial general intelligence] showing up, or showing up fast, he said. Read More: How OpenAIs Sam Altman Is Thinking About AGI and Superintelligence in 2025 A race between countries and companies Even among those that do believe AI poses an existential risk, there is a widespread belief that any slowdown in Americas AI development will allow foreign adversariesparticularly Chinato pull ahead in the race to create transformative AI. Future AI systems could be capable of creating novel weapons of mass destruction, or covertly hacking a countrys nuclear arsenaleffectively flipping the global balance of power overnight. My feeling is that almost every decision I make is balanced on the edge of a knife, Amodei said earlier this month, explaining that building too fast risks humanity losing control, whereas if we dont build fast enough, then the authoritarian countries could win. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These dynamics play out not just between countries, but between companies. As Helen Toner, a director at Georgetowns Center for Security and Emerging Technology explains, there's often a disconnect between the idealism in public statements and the hard-nosed business logic that drives their decisions. Toner points to competition over release dates as a clear example of this. There have been multiple instances of AI teams being forced to cut corners and skip steps in order to beat a competitor to launch day, she says. Read More: How China Is Advancing in AI Despite U.S. Chip Restrictions For Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, ensuring advanced AI systems are not controlled by a single entity is key to safety. I kind of liked the theory that its only God if only one company or government controls it, he said in January. The best way to make sure it doesnt get out of control is to make it so that its pretty equally distributed, he claimed, pointing to the importance of open-source models. Parameters for control While almost every company developing advanced AI models has their own internal policies and procedures around safetyand most have made voluntary commitments to the U.S. government regarding issues of trust, safety, and allowing third parties to evaluate their modelsnone of this is backed by the force of law. Tegmark is optimistic that if the U.S. national security establishment accepts the seriousness of the threat, safety standards will follow. Safety standard number one, he says, will be requiring companies to demonstrate how they plan to keep their models under control. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some CEOs are feeling the weight of their power. There's a huge amount of responsibilityprobably too muchon the people leading this technology, Hassabis said in February. The Google DeepMind leader has previously advocated for the creation of new institutions, akin to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) or the International Energy Agency, to bring together governments to monitor AI developments. Society needs to think about what kind of governing bodies are needed, he said. This is easier said than done. While creating binding international agreements has always been challenging, its more unrealistic than ever, says Toner. On the domestic front, Tegmark points out that right now, there are more safety standards for sandwich shops than for AI companies in America. Nadella, discussing AGI and superintelligence on a podcast in February, emphasized his view that legal infrastructure will be the biggest rate limiter to the power of future systems, potentially preventing their deployment. Before it is a real problem, the real problem will be in the courts, he said. An 'Oppenheimer moment' Mitchell says that AIs corporate leaders bring different levels of their own human concerns and thoughts to these discussions. Tegmark fears, however, that some of these leaders are falling prey to wishful thinking by believing theyre going to be able to control superintelligence, and that many are now facing their own Oppenheimer moment." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He points to a poignant scene in that film where scientists watch their creation being taken away by military authorities. That's the moment where the builders of the technology realize they're losing control over their creation, he says. Some of the CEOs are beginning to feel that right now. Contact us at letters@time.com. A first-grade teacher at Andover Elementary School in Orlando was arrested by the Orange County Sheriffs Office this week on a warrant from Delaware accusing him of a sex crime, but details of the allegation against him are unclear. An affidavit released by the Sheriffs Office said Christopher Crisona, 57, was arrested at the school Monday morning and was booked in the Orange County Jail without bond. The affidavit accuses him of second-degree unlawful sexual contact. It offered no other information as to what agency issued the warrant or the circumstances behind it. A spokesperson for Delaware State Police pointed to the states Department of Justice, which declined to comment on the matter. We will have more to say publicly upon the investigations conclusion, said Mat Marshall, the departments communications director. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michael Ollendorff, spokesperson for Orange County Public Schools, said Crisona has worked for the district since August 2008 and described his arrest as being due to a personal matter unrelated to the campus. The individual will not be returning to school while there is an open investigation, he added. Prior to working at Andover Elementary, Crisona taught first graders at Wedgefield School in east Orlando, according to a 2021 blog post on a website for St. Josephs University in New York, where he was an alumnus. He graduated in 1990 and began teaching middle schoolers in New York City. From there, he taught students in Delaware and Pennsylvania before settling in Orlando. At the time the blog was published, Crisona said he was readying to teach summer school at Wedgefield while also working at the University of Central Florida. Chad Binette, an assistant vice president at UCF, said Crisona was an adjunct professor at the College of Community Innovation and Education in the Fall 2022 semester. He has not worked there since. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel took to her podium, smiling, mid-Wednesday afternoon. Im thrilled to announce today a huge victory for taxpayers, she said. Castor Dentel explained that as of noon that day, Valencia College had deposited $2.1 million into her offices bank account. The cash infusion was a lifeline to the struggling office and a return of taxpayer funds that should never have gone out the door to begin with. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Valencia money had been a gift from Castor Dentels predecessor, Glen Gilzean, who funneled cash that was meant to secure and prepare for the November 2024 election into scholarships named after himself. It was in addition to $1.9 million sent to CareerSource and $1 million given to local nonprofits for voter outreach grants. None of the spending had been authorized by county commissioners, who cut off the offices funding until Gilzean departed in January. Castor Dentel said she had recovered all but $140,000 that was sent to a dozen local nonprofits, which will be used to pay for staff and run the office through the end of the fiscal year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just like a family sits around the dining room table when theyre living paycheck to paycheck, and they have to figure out which one did they pay first, thats what its been like every week, she said, reminding the audience that Gilzean spent half the offices annual budget in just three months. However, Castor Dentel said her office was still facing a $1 million shortfall. She said her team identified additional misspending on self-promotion and advertising that she would be unable to recover. Were being very fiscally conservative, she said. Weve put in some more controls. All the financial decisions come through me and the CFO, and were just really trying to slow everything down. Neither Gilzean nor Valencia responded to requests for comment Wednesday. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Orange County Elections Supervisor Karen Castor Dentel said Wednesday more than $3 million in questionable gifts handed out by her predecessor has been returned in a victory for taxpayers that will help shore up her offices budget. Glen Gilzean appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to temporarily run the elections office gave away the money to Valencia College and to several nonprofits for scholarships and voter-engagement efforts. Those moves angered county officials who said Gilzean distributed funds without proper approval that were needed for core election functions. Gilzean, who left the post in January, at one point wanted the scholarship program Valencia was to create with elections office money to be named after himself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Castor Dentel, a Democrat who won the election in November, said on Wednesday that Valencia had returned $2.1 million provided for the scholarship fund and that the Central Florida Foundation, which had been engaged to oversee voter-engagement initiatives, had sent back $864,500. Moving forward, Castor Dentel said she will focus on a new partnership with Valencia College that could lead to an early-voting location on campus. The Central Florida Foundation, which received about $1.1 million, had already granted 12 organizations some of their funds, and those contracts for voter registration and other efforts will be fulfilled, she said. Previously, CareerSource Central Florida returned $1.9 million to the county that it had received from Gilzean, and it recently gave back another $275,000 to the elections office, Castor Dentel said. That money was provided to retrain temporary elections workers. These are dollars that we need to make sure we have the ability to run elections, she said of the payments to nonprofits. We didnt have excess funds to do this. We are still going to be behind even with this money returned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement County officials said Gilzeans overspending was so severe that it left the office in jeopardy of not meeting payroll, and late last year they voted to freeze spending for his office. Castor Dentels team said they discovered 118 outstanding checks totaling more than $2 million and 100 unaccounted-for invoices totaling $700,000 on their first day, including debts to deputies, election workers and vendors essential to election security and operations. The office, Castor Dentel said, has worked tirelessly to pay down these debts. Embattled Gilzean ends tenure as Orange elections chief Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gilzeans administration spent 51% of the offices budget in a roughly two-month span, according to a report released by Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond. Though that spending coincided with the 2024 presidential election, Gilzean did not get the necessary approval from the county commissioners to exceed his allowed amounts, Diamond wrote. Mayor Jerry Demings has criticized the offices unauthorized payments as improper, arguing the county doesnt fund the elections office so it can fund nonprofits, but instead to run elections. Gilzean called the actions of Castor Dentel and Demings shameful and purely political in a statement Wednesday. My commitment to my community is unwavering, he said. Everything we did was rooted in increasing voter education and turnout. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He accused the two Democrats of choosing to keep kids from better opportunities, hindering our communitys progress, and suppressing voter engagement. DeSantis appointed Gilzean, a close ally, to the office in March 2024 following longtime Democratic elections chief Bill Cowles retirement. Gilzean opted not to run for reelection this fall, and Castor Dentel prevailed with solidly blue Orange County voters. Gilzeans dispute with county officials grew so heated that he filed suit, which he dismissed when he left office. Castor Dentel said her office is continuing to probe her predecessors spending, including expenditures on self promotion and advertising after the election that she said are hard to justify. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She declined to release more details on those expenses, adding that the review is ongoing. Were about ready to close the book on this chapter and move forward, she said. Im excited about that. BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Hungary in the coming weeks, a Hungarian minister said Thursday, despite an international arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over the war in the Gaza Strip. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a news conference in Budapest that Netanyahu would likely visit Hungary before Easter, which falls this year on April 20. Orban, a right-wing populist and close Netanyahu ally, had earlier vowed to disregard the International Criminal Court warrant against the Israeli leader, accusing the worlds top war crimes court based in The Hague of interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that. Several European countries that are members of the court have declared they would enforce the warrant if Netanyahu were to enter their territory. The ICC issued the arrest warrant in November for Netanyahu as well as for his former defense minister and Hamas military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza. The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israels campaign against Hamas in Gaza charges Israeli officials deny. On Thursday, Gulyas said he would very much support Hungary withdrawing from the ICC, claiming it had lost its meaning by conducting political instead of legal activities. Hungarys government, however, has not made any decision on the matter, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither Israel nor its close ally the United States is a a member of or recognizes the ICC, the worlds only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide. Last month President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the court over investigations of Israel. The order accused the ICC of engaging in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel and of abusing its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is weighing in on a Supreme Court case urging the justices to defend Medicaid recipients freedom to choose their healthcare providers. Rayfield joined 12 other attorneys general on Wednesday filing an amicus brief for Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, asking the Supreme Court to affirm a lower courts decision recognizing Medicaid allows recipients to choose their providers. Everyone deserves access to the healthcare they need, including the freedom to choose their providers, Rayfield said. By joining this friend of the court filing, we are standing up for the rights of Medicaid recipients in Oregon to receive care from providers they trust. This ensures that Oregonians can make the best decisions for their health, and it is our responsibility to defend that right. DONT MISS: House passes bill to save Oregon Health Plan if Congress kills Medicaid funding The case stems from a 2018 decision in South Carolina, where Governor Henry McMaster issued an order removing organizations that provide abortion services including Planned Parenthood from the states Medicaid provider list. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order was challenged by a Medicaid recipient in the state and a federal district court ruled that the states exclusion of Planned Parenthood was unlawful. In March of 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed that the Medicaid Act gives patients the freedom to choose their healthcare providers. Cannon Beachs long-standing poop problem cited in complaint from environmental nonprofit South Carolina later appealed to the Supreme Court, which is set to hear the case on April 2. Now, the group of attorneys general filing the amicus brief, argue that in order for the Medicaid program to offer safe, affordable and quality health care to vulnerable populations, recipients must have access to a variety of medical providers, which includes reproductive health care providers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rayfield notes that in addition to abortion services, Planned Parenthood also provides birth control, screenings for sexually transmitted infections and educational services. Attorneys general joining Rayfield in the brief include attorneys general representing California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. This story was originally published by InvestigateWest. Melanie Henshaw InvestigateWest A new bill progressing in the Oregon Legislature would allocate staff and resources within the Oregon Health Authority to address the states ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, would provide victim outreach and prevention services related to missing and murdered Indigenous people. In addition, it would instruct the health authority to create and maintain datasets on missing and murdered Indigenous people and to create several partnerships with tribal governments, Native American-led organizations, community leaders, and local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation, House Bill 3198, comes six years after another law that produced a report on the issue yielded limited results. An InvestigateWest investigation into the states response to the 2019 bill found there was limited progress on the reports recommendations for improving relationships between Indigenous communities and law enforcement and for improving data collection and that Gov. Tina Kotek then had no awareness of progress on the law. Sanchez told InvestigateWest last May that she was formulating new legislation to spur further action. Advocates were unsatisfied with the results of the 2019 bill, saying it didnt improve conditions for Native American families searching for loved ones. As originally written, the 2025 bill wouldve ordered another study in collaboration with the U.S Department of Justice but amendments proposed by Sanchez, the Legislatures second Indigenous lawmaker, moved it toward an action plan that would provide long-sought resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to ordering the collection of data on cases, the bill would dedicate staff within the Oregon Health Authority to establish interagency agreements with tribal governments, Native American-led organizations, law enforcement, and community leaders. These staffers would focus on victim services, outreach, education, and violence prevention for Indigenous communities. The bills estimated cost is $500,000. Community wanted something to happen, Sanchez told the House Committee on Judiciary in a public hearing Feb. 3. And they wanted it to happen sooner than taking a lot of time to continue to do more studies. The Oregon Health Authority, the states health agency, would be tasked with the response, with Sanchez saying that it already has an existing prevention-model system used in public health crises and a good working relationship with the nine tribes. As it stands, practical support for families, such as legal advocacy, emergency financial assistance, emotional support and assistance navigating the criminal justice system, has primarily come from individuals communities or Native American-led community organizations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many family members, including in written testimony on the bill, cite the confusing and overwhelming process of juggling the search for a loved one, the associated emotional trauma and financial concerns. Jurisdictional complexities complicate which law enforcement agencies are responsible for managing a case involving a Native person, and families often find themselves without support. No family should be searching in the dark, without hope and without the help that they need, testified Amanda Freeman, citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, on Feb. 3. This bill is a step toward making sure our people are seen, heard and protected. Multiple tribal organizations, as well as Multnomah County and Portlands Office of Government Relations, support the bill, which advanced from the House Committee on Judiciary and is now before the House Ways and Means Committee. One component of the bill addresses a priority for advocates across Indian Country improved data collection on missing and murdered Native Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Improved data collection was one of the major recommendations from the 2019 law that made little progress. Advocates for Indigenous people say that poor data collection due in part to racial misclassification has made it impossible to determine the true number of missing and murdered Native American individuals. Although there have been stated efforts to improve data collection at the federal level, theres been little improvement on the ground, with many Native Americans turning to other community members for support and community-based data organizations left to try to keep track of the missing. Our state cannot wait for federal efforts to catch up, testified Luhui Whitebear, an assistant professor at Oregon State University and member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation. The bill would direct the health authority to work with tribal governments and Native American-led organizations to collect and maintain data on the missing and murdered, then use it to identify patterns and areas for targeted health interventions and violence prevention programs. It also calls on the health authority to work with representatives of the nine tribes within the geographic bounds of Oregon and representatives from Native American-led organizations to implement community education programs and support youth engagement initiatives to reduce vulnerabilities that disproportionately impact Indigenous people. Supporters of the bill say its an important step that moves beyond studying the problem and allocates staff from within the health authority to address the issue and begin to understand the root causes, though it doesnt touch on broader issues like criminal jurisdiction for tribes, which is limited. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There have been task forces and studies and acknowledgments, but we still have a disproportionate impact to tribal people, state Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend, a former chief judge for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs tribal court, said in his testimony supporting the bill. Broadman is sponsoring the companion bill to HB 3192 in the state Senate. Advocates and tribal officials say criminal jurisdictional complexities on tribal lands complicate investigations and leave Native Americans vulnerable to violence. Tribes do not have full authority to prosecute all crimes that occur on tribal lands. Instead, they are governed by a jurisdictional patchwork that can involve tribal, state or federal law enforcement, depending on a crimes location and whether or not the victim or offender is a citizen of a federally recognized tribe. In Oregon, tribes are still recovering from the termination era of the 1950s, when almost all federally recognized tribes sharing geography with Oregon were terminated, losing their federal recognition, land base, funding and services from the federal government. Tribes had their status restored in the 1970s and 1980s, but it caused lasting damage to tribal communities, which Broadman highlighted as contributing to the ongoing crisis. Consider the systems that have brought us here today in what we all acknowledge is an epidemic of violence in the missing (and) murdered and Indigenous persons epidemic, Broadman said. As a state we are still in the phase of restoration restoration of safe communities, restoration of systems that protect all Oregonians adequately. Reporter Melanie Henshaw covers Indigenous affairs and communities in the region. Reach her directly at melanie@investigatewest.org. SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) A contentious battle is unfolding in Oregon over House Bill 2548, which opponents argue could jeopardize family farms. The bill, aimed at strengthening labor protections for agricultural workers, includes provisions like overtime pay, new labor standards, and protections against retaliation. Ivy over graffiti to make Portland beautiful again It also proposes the creation of a governor-appointed board to enforce new regulations on training, wages, and worker rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Republicans, many of whom are farmers, warn that the bill could flood them with crippling regulations and legal chaos, potentially driving them out of business. Farms are family businesses, said Rep. Anna Scharf, adding that the bill shifts the burden onto farm owners. Critics also argue that the proposed board would have unchecked power over the industry, creating rules with no accountability. Supporters of the bill argue its necessary to protect workers amid Oregons ongoing loss of dairy and family farms. Jail deputy sentenced for repeatedly punching inmate During public testimony Wednesday, Rep. Andrea Valderrama pointed to declining farm revenues and farm consolidation, stressing the need for action to save the industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Republicans agree on the need for health and safety standards, they push for a more balanced approach, suggesting subsidies, tax breaks, and flexible regulations to protect both workers and small farms. When is enough? asked Rep. Mark Owens at a separate Republican event Wednesday in response to the public testimony. When are you going to support both farmworkers and farmers? The bill will now move through legislative debates and votes, with an emergency clause for immediate implementation if passed. House Republicans say 97% of Oregons farms are family-owned, and they plan to continue pushing for a balanced solution that protects both workers and small farmers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement KOIN 6 will monitor this developing issue. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A controversial gun control measure approved by voters more than two years ago is now back in play, as the Oregon State Court of Appeals rules it is constitutional. But even as opponents are planning their next appeal, advocates for gun reform arent slowing down either. The courts ruling means a hold on gun safety requirements could soon be lifted throughout the state. Body found at pond prompts homicide investigation Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Voters passed Measure 114 in November 2022. It requires people to undergo a background check and safety courses to receive a gun permit. It also limits the legal magazine capacity to less than 10 rounds with exceptions for police and military. Supporters of Measure 114 are ecstatic and they said its a move in the right direction. Its a day to give rejoicing in a country thats living with a lot of fear right now, said Rev. Dr. W.J. Mark Knutson, the chair of Lift Every Voice Oregon, the advocacy group that helped push for Measure 114. Lift Every Voice Oregon holds a press conference at Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland. March 12, 2025 (KOIN). Rev. Dr. W.J. Mark Knutson, the chair of Lift Every Voice Oregon speaks during a press conference at Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland. March 12, 2025 (KOIN). Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes speaks during a press conference as part of Lift Every Voice Oregon at the Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland. March 12, 2025 (KOIN). Rev. Dr. W.J. Mark Knutson, the chair of Lift Every Voice Oregon speaks during a press conference at Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland. March 12, 2025 (KOIN). Knutson held a press conference on Wednesday at his Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland. He said efforts are continuing to push for gun reform issues in Salem, including House Bill 3076, which would require federally licensed firearms dealers to also be licensed in Oregon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres some important bills in the state legislature, well be coming alongside others to help move through. There are social programs that are [for] young people that well be working on with other organizations that are not here today but would like to have been. So how do we weave that community? And thats never going to be complete. So, well continue on, said Knutson said. Wyden decries pause on student loan repayment programs Advocates argue that laws like Measure 114, the proposed HB 3076 and others could have prevented tragic incidents like the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College back in 2015 and the several deadly shootings at Dawson Park in Portland. If you eliminate that, you eliminate a great portion of people that are killed even by stray bullets, said Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though Measure 114 has been ruled constitutional, that doesnt necessarily mean its going into effect, at least not yet. Those opposing the measure in this case have the next 35 days to appeal this ruling. Tony Aiello, Jr., a senior associate with Tyler Smith & Associates, has already indicated he plans to appeal the ruling by bringing it to a higher court. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Students graduate from Oregon State University. (Courtesy of Oregon State University) More than 12 million Americans who took out loans from the U.S. Department of Education to attend college are now stuck in limbo about whether or not theyll get to participate in income-driven repayment plans that have served millions of Americans before them. On March 7, Oregons U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, joined 23 other U.S. Senate Democrats from across the country demanding to know why, on Feb. 24, applications for repayment plans that help student borrowers manage payments were abruptly taken off the U.S. Department of Educations website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a letter authored by Wyden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and cosigned by the other senators to Linda McMahon, the agencys secretary, they wrote that this was done without warning, without Congressional notification, and without clear guidance for borrowers on what they should do next or expect in the future. In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Missouri upheld and expanded a temporary injunction pausing the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE plan, that has been on hold since a legal battle brought by Republican states attorneys general in 2024. But the senators asked McMahon why applications for three other income-driven repayment programs not involved in litigation have also been removed from the education agencys site. Borrowers have relied on many of these plans for decades and this sudden and reckless action means millions of borrowers have fewer repayment options available and are unsure of what to do in order to manage their debt, they wrote. Aissa Canchola Banez, policy director at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Student Borrower Protection Center said the ruling is being misinterpreted and called it cruel in a news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To be clear, this is not what the Eighth Circuit ordered and the Trump administration is using this ruling to inflict massive economic pain on millions of working families with student debt, she said. The federal education department is reviewing repayment applications to conform with the court ruling, according to an email attributed to an unnamed education department spokesperson. In the meantime, borrowers can still submit a paper loan consolidation application, according to the spokesperson. Find details about submitting a paper application for loan consolidation to the U.S. Department of Education here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three income-driven repayment plans offered by the U.S. Education Department are affected by the most recent decision to pull applications, as are applications for loan consolidation. Loan consolidation has to happen before borrowers can access any of the federal loan forgiveness plans. Effected plans include the Pay As You Earn, or PAYE, program and the Income-Contingent and Income-Based repayment plans. Each of these plans limits monthly repayments to a specific percentage of a borrowers discretionary income, and each sets out a term of repayment that ends with loan forgiveness after 20 to 25 years. More than 12 million student loan borrowers rely on the plans, according to U.S. Department of Education data, and more than 1 million borrowers applied for income-driven repayment plans that were still processing as of the Feb. 24 application take down, according to Wyden spokesperson Hank Stern. The department has not yet provided guidance about that, Stern said. Also because the department has closed all online forms, borrowers trying to manage their IDR plans are now unable to do so through the FSA (Federal Student Aid) website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The changes so far have not impacted the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, available to borrowers who work for government or nonprofit organizations and do public service work, and which forgives loans remaining after the borrower has made 120 qualifying payments. President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order attempting to limit who qualifies for such forgiveness. The SAVE plan, at issue in litigation brought by Republican attorneys general and frozen since June 2024, made it easier for low-income borrowers to meet monthly repayment terms, requiring they pay nothing if their annual income is $30,000 or less. It also limited the amount of interest that could be collected on loans and forgave loans after 10 to 20 years based on their size. The Republican attorneys general ordered this was beyond the authority of the education agency. The first income-driven repayment programs were passed by Congress in 2007 and signed by former U.S. President George W. Bush, a Republican. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) A New Orleans man was killed in an overnight crash in Prairieville. Troopers responded to a two-vehicle crash on I-10 westbound near the LA 928 overpass in Ascension Parish around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. The crash victim was identified as Dwayne Jackson, 41. A preliminary investigation showed that a truck driven by Jackson was traveling westbound on I-10 when a freightliner tractor-trailer tried to enter the roadway from the right shoulder before the truck hit the back of the freightliner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jackson died after he was taken to a local hospital with severe injuries. Investigators said he wasnt wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Louisiana State Police said standard toxicology samples will be taken for analysis. The crash remains under investigation. At least 2 dead after police chase ends in Baton Rouge, officials say Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. How activists sold voters on an excess compensation payroll tax on corporations. In our current political climatedefined by deregulation and privatizationSeattle voters took to the polls and surprised the nation with a massive win for public goods. In a landslide victory last month, residents voted to create new green social housing developments, funded by corporate taxation. Seattle is one of several cities across the nation that have turned to the social housing modelwhich creates permanently-affordable homes owned by a public entity, nonprofit organization, or the tenants themselvesin order to meet growing housing needs. Traditionally, building affordable housing isnt easy; it has been frequently made possible through federal programs like vouchers, or Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)a program that incentivizes corporate entities to invest in temporarily-affordable housing developments by providing them with federal tax credits. The program is known to be effective, but critics consider it competitive, complicated, and costlier than units developed with vouchers. Under the Trump administration, proposed staffing cuts and stalled funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development have sparked uncertainty about the future of many federal affordable housing programs, as well. Under these conditions, Seattles pro-housing activists seem to have pulled off a miracle: Battling corporate interests and fears from existing affordable housing developers, campaign leaders have effectively made Seattle the first city in the country to commit itself to this novel housing model. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fight to bring social housing to Seattle began in 2021 as a progressive, pro-housing coalition that came together to fight Seattles Charter Amendment 29, which would have codified "sweeps" of homeless encampments into the citys constitution. According to Tiffani McCoy, co-executive director of House Our Neighbors (HON), an organization that formed after successfully defeating the amendment, the group decided they wanted to propose a "positive" idea for fixing the citys homelessness crisis. They settled on bringing social housing to the city, built on models theyd seen in places like Vienna, Austria, or Singapore: mixed-income housing that is free from market speculation or volatility, built to passive house standards (hence "green" social housing). I-135, an initiative that went on the ballot in 2023, was born of this pro-housing solution. It proposed the creation of a government developer that would explicitly develop, own, and maintain social housing projects. They received pushback. "I thought that the biggest opposition would be private landlords and private developers. But surprisingly, it was affordable housing developers," McCoy says. The Housing Development Consortium, an allied group of nonprofit housing developers, financiers, and others, led the opposition. On the ballot, they state: "We do not need another government entity to build housing when there are already insufficient resources to fund existing entities." "A lot of [opposition] has to do with the scarcity mindset," explains McCoy. "The true scarcity that is set up by the federal government, and this idea that only those who are the lowest income should have access to public goods." Seattle, however, would benefit from many types of housing, targeted at a wide array of income levels. The region, which is expected to suffer from housing shortages for another 20 years, has already passed a number of measuresincluding legalizing multiplexes in single-family areas and co-living arrangementsin their local legislature. Yet it hasnt been enough to squash the areas deep housing needs, characterized as 640,000 units required to meet demand over the next two decades. Hitting the pavement, talking to voters about the issue, McCoy says, was incredibly easy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Renters are burdened. People dont know how much longer they can afford to live in the city. They dont know what the next rent increase will be. Theres massive market volatility, and there are really no high prospects for home ownership. And even if there was, people are economically vulnerable and wages are not keeping up with the cost of living." HON won their campaign and created Seattle Social Housing (SSH), a government developer tasked with creating these mixed-income housing units. How this new agency would fund the endeavor was a whole other issue that had to be resolved after I-135 passed. Funding these projects without using LIHTC models requires smart solutions: In Chicago, the city council passed a massive $25 billion bond in 2023 that includes a $135 million revolving loan fund to construct social housing projects; in the DC suburb of Montgomery County, Maryland, which has had a social housing developer at work since the 1970s, the agency acts, according to the New York Times, as a public developer and a housing finance agency. "The dual role allows the organization to sell bonds to finance its own projects. In essence, it can lend itself money to build buildings, while paying itself the interest," reads the story. In Seattle, however, HON proposed a different model: creating an excess compensation payroll tax that would apply a five percent tax on the total amount of compensation to employees who make more than one million dollars per year. That became known as Initiative 137; according to Grist, it would raise "more than $50 million annually to create 2,000 new units over 10 years." McCoy says that their city council was not particularly supportive of the idea. "Because we have a really strong business lobby in the city, and because recently, our city council and our mayor was elected in a very centrist, conservative slate, we knew that a lot of our council are beholden to the Chamber of Commerce and big business," she says. City council proposed an alternative to 137 that, she says, was to take what she calls "an insignificant" amount of money allocated for affordable housing developers and give it to the social housing developer with a five-year limit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rather than asking a simple yes or no questionyes or no on 137it became a two-part question, renamed Proposition 1A and 1B. "It was purposely there to confuse voters and to make us have to argue against big money interests, and educate voters on two totally separate questions," says McCoy. Every material that went out to the publicflyers, billboards, even ads they placed on Huluincluded a sample ballot. Voters approved funding for their social housing developer, and selected Prop 1Athe excess payroll compensation taxto pay for it by a 14-point margin. Residents they spoke with, she says, want to tax the wealthy to support housing solutions. "We overwhelmingly rely on property taxes and on sales taxes, which we know lower and moderate-income people pay more disproportionate to their income than the wealthiest. We have billionaires and millionaires who come into Washington because we dont have an income tax," she explains. "We made it very, very clear to people that these businesses are trying to stop the ability for low and moderate-income people to have housing that is affordable to them. They want you to have to duke it out on a private market." Since their win, McCoy notes that theyve been receiving calls from residents in other cities like Denver and St. Paul to learn how they might replicate the victory in their jurisdictions, pointing toward social housing as a possible modeleven in places not as progressive as Seattle. In reality, regardless of a citys majority red-or-blue leanings, the housing crisis across the country is untenable. Rather than fighting for what scant pieces of the proverbial federal pie that might be leftover, social housing, says McCoy, can be a paradigm shift for what it means to invest in public goods. "We can do all of these big and bold things, but it does require us to not rely on only the federal government or on public-private partnerships to solve all of our public needs. We have to go against the grain for the last 40 years when weve had to rely on the private market," she says. "Weve tried to show that it's creating a new pie, it's creating a separate cake." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Top photo of Seattle by Simonkr via Getty Images. Related reading: Are Private Partnerships the Best Way to Rebuild Public Housing? A New Generation of Politicians Is Showing That When It Comes to Housing, the Personal Is Political (Bloomberg) -- More than half of Prime Minister Keir Starmers cabinet have urged his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to rethink her plans to scale back welfare and spending, in an extraordinary sign of growing concern within the governing Labour Party over the scale of looming cuts. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ministers voiced their concerns at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that Starmer allowed to run long because of the strength of feeling, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity disclosing confidential discussions. Unusually, almost every minister 27 attend cabinet spoke, with many expressing disquiet about controversial welfare cuts due to be announced next week, spending reductions expected later in the year and the fiscal straitjacket posed by Reeves self-imposed budgetary rules. The Treasury and Starmers office declined to comment on the record. Speaking for the government on Fridays morning broadcast round, Health Minister Karin Smyth sidestepped questions saying that she doesnt attend cabinet and that such discussions are obviously private to that room. Against a backdrop of stagnant growth, the chancellor is trying to balance the books to meet her rule that current spending must be paid for from tax receipts. She left herself a historically slim 9.8 billion ($12.8 billion) of headroom against that in her budget in October, a margin which has since been wiped out by higher borrowing costs and weaker growth. With the Office for Budget Responsibility set to reveal its latest forecast on March 26, shes looking for ways to stay in the black. Government plans to cut more than 6 billion ($7.8 billion) from the UKs welfare bill were revealed over the weekend by ITV News. It follows a succession of unpopular measures that many in Labour view as not in keeping with the partys tradition of looking after societys most vulnerable. One of Reeves first moves in power was to strip most pensioners of winter fuel payments, and last month, the government slashed the international aid budget to pay for an increase in defense spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After just eight months in power, the government is scrambling to avert a large-scale rebellion on the welfare reforms, delaying its announcement to next week to provide time to engage with alarmed Members of Parliament and try to find mitigating measures, according to one of the people. Ministers are now trying to find a way of topping up payments to long-term disabled people who will never be able to work, the main focus of Labour concerns, the person said. ITV said the bulk of the proposed savings would come from making it harder for people to qualify for personal independence payments a benefit designed to help those with disabilities cope with resulting additional costs of living, which isnt tied to work. Department for Work and Pensions figures show theyve more than doubled over the past five years to an annual 21.7 billion, and are projected to almost double again in the next six years. During the cabinet meeting, ministers voiced their frustration that such difficult welfare cuts are coming so soon after the raid on the aid budget, according to the people. They said how difficult the cuts would be to sell to the Labour parliamentary party. One person said some ministers are on resignation watch, depending on the shape of the final package. A Labour lawmaker said Anneliese Dodds who quit as development minister after the aid cut wont be the last to leave government as politicians are asked to stomach difficult cuts. A third person noted that Labour was planning a benefit cut that even George Osborne, the architect of the most recent phase of Conservative austerity, didnt make. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The unease was borne out on the airwaves this week. One Labour Member of Parliament, Nadia Whittome, told BBC radio that the party is getting it badly wrong on this. Another, Brian Leishman, told Times Radio that reducing disability benefits would show a basic lack of humanity. Their grumblings are unlikely to make a difference in the short term. Reeves has already sent off her plans to the OBR and ended the cabinet meeting by declaring she had heard broad support for her fiscal rules. During difficult discussions about the spending review, it is not surprising that ministers expressed views about implications for their departments, a senior government official said. Ministers sought a wider conversation about the governments approach to spending, with many concerned that cuts to public services will make it harder to improve public services and win reelection in 2029, according to the people. Cabinet ministers are currently deep in the weeds of a three-year spending review, in which unprotected departments outside of health, education and defense such as justice and environment have been asked to model deep cuts of as much as 11%. Many are alarmed by the scale of cuts they will need to implement and frustrated by the fiscal rules necessitating the depth of spending restraint, one person said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Germanys recent decision to fund rearmament through extra borrowing outside of its fiscal brake has prompted a fresh public discussion about the UKs own fiscal arrangements and some encouraged flexibility to allow for defense or aid spending outside of the current fiscal rules, they said. But a senior official said the UK is in a very difficult fiscal position to Germany, which still saw some adverse market reaction when it announced its plans. The cabinet understands that further changes to the fiscal rules would not be possible and no one challenged Reeves overall fiscal approach, they said. Reeves is live to the danger of roiling the markets in the way former Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss did in 2022 with a huge package of unfunded tax cuts. Tax increases were also floated as an idea in the meeting, the people said, though thats tricky for the chancellor and Starmer, who promised in the election campaign not to raise income tax, value added tax or national insurance the Treasurys three biggest revenue raisers and who hit businesses with large tax rises in October. The venting by both cabinet members and backbenchers mean Starmers office has grasped the scale of the potential backlash, which is bigger than it had expected, the people said. No. 10 is now leading efforts to persuade MPs to vote with the government, with groups of Labour lawmakers being invited to Downing Street to be briefed on how the cuts will operate and persuaded of their necessity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall is due to deliver a statement to Parliament next week, as well as publishing a policy document known as a green paper, but it wasnt yet clear when any vote on the measures and therefore any rebellion might take place. Rebels or opposition parties could seek to force a vote, though in any case, some of the proposals would require one before they become law. --With assistance from Alex Wickham. (Adds comment from minister in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. RIDGEWOOD, Queens (PIX11) A bus in Queens was towed after neighbors complained about how it sat idle for months. The owner of the bus is now speaking out about why it was there in the first place. Robin Russell-French is the owner. He bought it eight years ago and says it is a historical piece. For years, he lived on the bottom floor and used the top as a cultural space in various spots around New York City. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a 1967 Leyland Atlantean double-decker bus from London, Russell-French said. A place where people could come after hours from 4 a.m. on if they wanted to wind down after the club and also a place that later on in the day would be creatively active, artistically productive. This past summer, Russell-French said he moved the vehicle to Starr Street off Metropolitan Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. Due to an illness, he moved into a friends home in Brooklyn and left the bus in Queens, but he was unable to keep moving it. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Its not street legal to drive the thing. It has parking insurance on it, so I had to tow it from location to location, Russell-French said. Ive been so sick CRPS has been impacting my life to the point where I cant do active projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fast forward these past few months, and neighbors started complaining. New York City Council member Bob Holdens district is near where the bus was parked. His office started receiving complaints. It was an awful eyesore. It has flat tires. People started to take things from it. Trash was accumulating underneath, Holden said. City rules say oversized and recreational vehicles, as well as motor homes, have to be moved every 24 hours. Last week, PIX11 News reported on the complaints. On Tuesday, the NYPD, others and the City Council members team stepped in to haul it away. If youre going to dump something on the side of the street and leave it there for months, youre not a good neighbor, Holden said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The owner said he now plans to sue the NYPD and the city because he says the vehicle was damaged while it was being towed. He went to see it at the tow yard. The whole second floor is destroyed, Russell-French said. I got my family heirlooms that are very dear to me, but theres so much more I have to get that I wasnt prepared to do, Russell-French said. Russell-French added that he is sorry for the nuisance the bus caused. The trash wasnt me. I had every intention of moving it. I have CRPS. I prioritized my health, Russell-French said. I messed up and I was paying the tickets as such. If anything, they had the right to tow it but not destroy it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russell-French agrees parking the bus for months was irresponsible, but he said he meant no harm. An NYPD spokesperson released the following statement. After numerous community complaints and violations observed by the 104th Precinct, the NYPD towed the vehicle from the location. The vehicle came into contact with a low bridge. The vehicle subsequently passed under the bridge and was towed to a storage facility. An inspection of the bridge concluded there was no structural damage, the NYPD spokesperson said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. The owners of South Fulton vape shop are happy their store is back open and theyre making sales several months after police raided it and arrested them. The store on Campbellton Road was closed for about five months before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation returned the products seized during the raid after testing them. Channel 2s Tyisha Fernandes first reported on the raid and arrests when they happened in May 2024. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The owners told her they are still traumatized by the raid, but are glad to be back behind the counter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They had almost six, seven guns on me, owner Shaizan Rhoja said. And I was really scared. We just thought they were coming here to check on the stuff, Kim Jivani said. The sibling store owners say police wrongfully raided their store and took thousands of dollars of hemp products. Theyve spent the last five months fighting to get their license back. It feels good but the thing is: the customers we were saying back then, were not able to see the same customers again, Rhoja said. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say store employees sold illegal hemp products to an undercover officer, which led to the raid. The owners say they were selling legal hemp, according to Georgia laws. They believe South Fulton police dont know all the hemp laws. Police say they followed the law and are holding onto what they say is illegal marijuana, which they say an undercover detective bought from the store. The store owners say they are still fighting those charges and are hoping to have their customer base back soon. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Former television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trumps nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, may have significantly underpaid his Medicare and Social Security taxes from 2021 to 2023, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO. The memo created by Democratic staff on the Senate Finance Committee comes as Oz is expected to face the panel on Friday for a confirmation hearing. The sprawling agency is tasked with overseeing coverage of more than 160 million Americans through Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Acts insurance exchanges. The memo details an examination by the Finance Committee of Ozs tax returns from 2021, 2022 and 2023. The document from Democratic staff argued that Oz, a former cardiac surgeon, may have significantly underpaid his Social Security and Medicare taxes for those years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Democrats say a review of Ozs tax returns shows he paid a negligible amount in Social Security andor Medicare taxes in 2022 and paid no Social Security or Medicare taxes in 2023. The White House did not return a request for comment. A spokesperson for Oz said that the Office of Government Ethics conducted an extensive review of Oz's finances as part of the vetting process. The office told the Senate that "any potential conflicts have been resolved and he is in compliance with the law," the spokesperson said. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who chairs the committee, also said that Oz had followed the law and "provided significant amounts of documentation to substantiate his tax return positions as part of the Committees rigorous vetting process," according to a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The staff memo said from 2021 to 2023 Oz held an interest in Oz Property Holdings LLC, which includes the media production company that ran his successful television show. Oz believed he was not liable for income or Medicare and Social Security taxes on certain income from that LLC, the memo said, adding that: He avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes in the years reviewed. Ozs accountant confirmed to the committee staff that Oz was relying on a limited partner exception exempting him from the taxes, but the Democrats dispute that assessment. Oz and his advisers said that he would not amend his returns, the memo said. Oz has earned plaudits from Republicans and could win Senate confirmation without any Democratic support. California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff say they will vote with most Democrats against a temporary measure to fund the government, paving the way for a possible government shutdown by the end of the week. The measure "gives Donald Trump six months to continue wrecking the government," Schiff said in a video posted on X. "That's not going to fly. What we should do is something short-term, that will allow members of Congress to agree on setting regular funding levels for every part of the government and to insist that they be observed by the president." The Senate must vote on a continuing resolution, known as a CR, that the House of Representatives narrowly passed this week on a mostly partisan basis only one Democrat supported the measure and one Republican voted against it to fund the government past its Friday deadline. With an extraordinarily small majority, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) relied on President Trump to persuade Republicans to pass the legislation, which would fund the government through September while Congress negotiates its broader budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The measure then moved to the Senate, where Republicans need Democrats' help to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary for it to pass without a filibuster. Padilla and Schiff indicated they would not lend Republicans a hand. The California senators and other Democrats maintain that supporting the resolution would allow Trump and his advisor Elon Musk, who heads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, to continue slashing the federal government. This week, the Trump administration laid off about half of the Department of Education's roughly 4,000 staff members. Read more: As Trump steamrolls ahead, Democrats see a growing 'heartbeat' of resistance "We cannot cede more power to Trump and Elon Musk," Padilla said in a statement on X on Wednesday. "The House Republican spending bill is a non-starter it completely shortchanges California on disaster relief in the wake of the devastating LA County fires." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The spending bill includes $22.5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund, which the agency draws from in its response to the L.A. County wildfires. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Wednesday that Senate Democrats were "unified on a clean 30-day CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass." But a short-term funding deal, which the California senators support, would fail to pass the Republican-controlled chamber. The ramifications of a government shutdown are politically perilous for Democrats, as the party struggles to determine a unified response to Republican control of Congress and the White House. Republican leaders have indicated they will attempt to pin a shutdown on Democrats, whom they accuse of hypocrisy in pushing toward a government shutdown while advocating against Musk's cuts to the government. If they shut down, it's not the Republicans' fault, Trump said to reporters Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Democrats point the finger back at Republican leadership. "Remember, Republicans are in control of the White House, the House and the Senate," said Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.). "If the government shuts down, it's because they want it to not us." Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. By Saleem Ahmed QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Hostages freed after a day-long ordeal following an attack by militants on a train in Pakistan's Balochistan province described crouching on the floor for hours before their release, as the bodies of 25 people killed arrived in Quetta. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack on the Jaffar Express, during which they blew up train tracks and held passengers hostage in a day-long standoff with security services in a remote mountain pass. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pakistan's military said it had killed 33 attackers and that the siege had ended, but the claim was refuted by the BLA, which said in a Thursday statement that it still had hostages and the battle with security services was ongoing. Reuters was unable to independently verify the BLA claims. Men armed with rocket launchers, guns, and other weapons stormed the train and began shooting people, said Arslan Yousaf, one of several rescued hostages who arrived in regional capital Quetta on Thursday, escorted by security forces. The militants grouped the passengers on the basis of their region of origin, Yousaf added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Sometimes, they took soldiers ... and executed them," he said, referring to passengers from the Pakistan Army and other security forces who were travelling on leave. "Other times, they targeted specific individuals. If they had a grudge against someone, they shot him on the spot." HOSTAGES ONLY GIVEN WATER The hostages survived only on water during the time they were held, said Muhammad Tanveer, another passenger. The BLA are fighting a decades-long insurgency to win independence for the mineral-rich province, home to major China-led projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A total of 21 hostages and four security troops were killed in the standoff, according to the military, but the BLA - the largest of Balochistan's armed ethnic groups battling the government - said 50 hostages were executed. "The terrorists breached the train by smashing windows, but they mistakenly believed we were dead," said train driver Amjad, who dived to the engine floor for cover when the militants opened fire and crouched there for about 27 hours to survive. Mehboob Ahmed, 31, who was shot several times, said the hostages made two attempts to escape from the train and while some succeeded, many were killed as the armed men opened fire. "We had nearly lost hope for survival," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Quetta on Thursday for a briefing on the security situation. "No such incident has ever happened in the history of Pakistan," Sharif told a meeting of parliamentarians and military officers in the city. BLA said that the people Pakistan "claimed" to have rescued were actually released by the group itself. "Now that the state has abandoned its hostages to die it will also bear responsibility for their deaths," the group's spokesperson, Jeeyand Baloch, said in a statement on Thursday. (Reporting by Saleem Ahmed and Charlotte Greenfield; Writing by Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi and Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Mumbai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sharon Singleton) An open house will be held Saturday at the Owen-Larson HOPE Home at this house on Charity Drive, which is a new care model for seniors. The goal is to open this year with an assisted-living center in a residential home. When Khrysten Sears Spencer graduated from Glades Central High School in 2006, she listed her two favorite accomplishments: having a baby and becoming valedictorian. The Belle Glade resident had graduated top of her class while spending much of her senior year pregnant and then raising a newborn. So when she was admitted to the University of Florida, there was never any doubt about one thing: Her daughter, Allannah, was coming to Gainesville with her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With help from a new UF program to support students who are first in their families to attend college, Sears Spencer was able to afford a dormitory on campus for students who are married or have families. Khrysten Sears Spencer and her daughter Allannah, both of Belle Glade, at the University of Florida's campus in Gainesville. Allannah is following in her mother's footsteps as a UF student. She stayed there with little Allannah for her entire college career. A day care would pick up Allannah in the mornings and Sears Spencer would walk to class, as she pursued a degree in speech and language pathology. It wasnt easy balancing studies and the responsibilities of a single mother. And her college experience was unlike those of most undergraduates. Instead of late-night parties on weekends, Sears Spencer was usually caring for her young daughter. Taking Allannah with her wasnt easy. And her parents had offered to care for their granddaughter while Sears Spencer went off to college. Raising a baby on a college campus? 'I never really had any doubts' Her response? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think it was more of I got this, she recalled. I never really had doubts. For the most part, I just knew I wanted her to come with me. I didnt want to leave her. After she graduated, they moved back to Belle Glade and she got a job as a speech and language pathologist for Palm Beach Countys public school system. Today, she works primarily with students at Rosenwald Elementary in South Bay. And in Belle Glade, Allannah followed in her mothers footsteps as a high-achieving Glades Central High student. Last year she graduated fourth in her class. Like her mother, she was accepted at UF and enrolled there this fall to study engineering. The mother-daughter duo were recently the focus of a feature article on UFs website highlighting the benefits of the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars program, the one that paid for Sears Spencers college costs. Khrysten Sears Spencer and her daughter Allannah, both of Belle Glade, at the University of Florida's campus in Gainesville. Allannah is following in her mother's footsteps as a UF student. Sears Spencer says she hopes her experience helps other young mothers realize its possible to balance motherhood and professional ambitions even at young ages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Never think your world has ended or your plans are ruined, because there will certainly be people to tell you that, she said. You just now have to pursue your dreams, with a precious, innocent kid to motivate you along the way. Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Glades Central valedictorian balanced studies, motherhood at UF An amendment by Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, recast the legislation. He is shown speaking in committee on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muniz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Indiana House Republicans on Wednesday ditched the Senates take on partisan school board legislation, instead reviving their own dead language. It advanced from committee on an 8-5 vote. The committee also heard testimony on a measure striking college student I.D. cards from use in voting. Senate Bill 10 is expected to get edits and a committee vote next week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Bill 287 wouldve required school board candidates to run in primary elections. It stood in contrast to House Bill 1230, which wouldve required a partisan designation only in the general election but the House killed it last month ahead of a legislative deadline. Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, brought a detailed amendment resurrecting his legislation. It gets rid of the primary process and moves it to just a general election designation where a school board candidate could choose either a (label of) Republican, Democrat, independent, or they would have the option of being nonpartisan, Prescott said. The amendment also specifies straight-ticket voting wouldnt apply to school board races because each party could have multiple candidates in the running. It keeps a school board pay raise provision, however. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked why hed insert language that didnt get past the House, Prescott told the committee, The Senate (had) already moved Senate Bill 287 so we just made a decision just to consolidate to one bill. This language has been in negotiations with the (Indiana) School Boards Association and others, and this is the best route as of right now. His amendment was adopted in an 8-4 vote. Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City, offered her own unsuccessful amendment stripping much of the proposal in favor of witness-suggested changes. During a hearing last week, some Hoosiers complained that school board races are already partisan, external forces are using money to interfere in races, and candidate information is hard to find. That prompted another witness to propose putting candidate details on school websites and banning partisan indicators on campaign materials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boys amendment wouldve let candidates on the general election ballot submit profiles to their intended school corporations for online viewing. Candidates wouldve had to explain their qualifications besides just age and length of residency without using partisan identifiers. It also wouldve limited political contributions, required disclaimers on paid-for campaign materials and banned partisan references on materials. It failed on a 4-9 vote after committee Republicans expressed concerns about free speech. Several years worth of attempts to make school boards partisan have failed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX PROVIDENCE Rhode Island lawmakers are once again embroiled in what Westerly librarian Bill Lancellotta described as a "culture war that pits First Amendment advocates against book banning zealots." But others contend the battle is over "parental rights," and, more specifically, the kinds of books that school libraries make available to children. Those warring and passionately-held views about the merits of this year's "Freedom to Read" legislation played out in a legislative hearing room on Wednesday night, with some opponents of the bill insisting Rhode Island's teachers and librarians are "pedophiles" and "groomers" intent on peddling pornography to school children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I have seen the literature ("Lawn Boy," "Gender Queer") that is put in our schools and libraries for children and teens to read. These books teach children and teens about sexual acts and ... immoral behavior," James Richardson wrote the Senate Education Committee. Campaign for "Freedom to Read" legislation launches in response to book banning efforts in Rhode Island and beyond with press conference at the RI State House Library on March 6, 2025. "As someone who has a daughter, I find it abhorrent that [state legislators] would lobby to have pornographic content continue to be in schools and be able to be read in libraries," he wrote. But the many parents, teachers, librarians and clergy who spoke in favor of the legislation on Wednesday night said it protects a vital freedom from "anti-Democratic" and "authoritarian" actions by people and groups intent on "controlling the narratives and perspectives to which young people are exposed." One speaker after another cited the "troubling rise in efforts to ban books from schools and public libraries," particularly in states like Florida, Texas, and Idaho, with the efforts focused on books "that explore issues of race, gender, and identity." What does the bill do? The legislation requires school libraries, in particular, to have a clear policy for evaluating "right-to-remove requests," while shielding librarians from getting personally sued by a person or group unhappy with a decision, as famously happened in Westerly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sponsored in the Rhode Island House of Representatives by Rep. David Morales and in the Senate by Sen. Mark McKenney, the legislation [ S238] says, in part: "The freedom to read is a human right, constitutionally protected by the First Amendment to the United States [and Rhode Island] Constitution ... Authors, creators, and publishers have a right to communicate their ideas to anyonewho is interested in receiving them. Students and library patrons of all ages have a correspondingright to encounter them without government interference." The bill calls on the state's chief of library services to create a "model policy" that, among other things, recognizes that public libraries are "centers for voluntary inquiry ... [that] promote the free expression of and free access to ideas." It would limit requests-to-remove books from school libraries to parents or guardians of children within that school, in the wake of a Washington Post analysis that found the majority of 1,000-plus book challenges analyzed by The Post were filed by just 11 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Significantly, the legislation would also create a right-to-sue for librarians, students, authors, booksellers and publishers whose are, in one way or another, damaged by censorship. "It essentially upholds the notion that we've all long held that free libraries are critical to the enlightenment of the citizenry and to the advancement of Democracy," said the lead Senate sponsor, Sen. Mark McKenney. But it also anticipates the state's chief librarian will work with the commissioner for elementary and secondary education to make sure "appropriate" policies are in place for school libraries, "with things such as age appropriateness considered," McKenney said. The objections? Amy Rodrigues, the Washington County, Rhode Island chapter chair of Moms for Liberty, said the bill, as she reads it, protects "bad actors," usurps parental rights and allows for legal action by authors, booksellers, and publishers "against elected officials, who we the parents vote for, if they remove ... inappropriate materials." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I took my three children to local libraries with the assumption that they were safe places for children to learn without the risk of having their developing brains harmed from seeing pervasively vulgar graphic content that they can't unsee," she said. Westerly activist Robert Chiaradio went farther. He called the bill "trash" that does "nothing more than adopting into law ... the agendas [that] many on the left, including those on this committee, seek which is [the] absolute legal right to racialize, radicalize, and sexualize Rhode Island's kids via age inappropriate books ... [and] shield librarians and school districts from any responsibility for the harm they do to these kids by making age inappropriate books available to them." While singling out the only Republican on the committee for "probably for being the lone voice of reason on this," he said, "the rest of you are the usual cast of characters that we've dealt with before." This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bill to stop book banning in RI has both sides slinging insults DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) Some DCS parents find it mind-boggling that the school board voted 4-3 to pass new requirements that exceed state standards as they search for their next superintendent. Your local city is only as good as your school system, and for the past thirty years, the school system has been dwindling, Spencer Sanders said. To me, it seems like they are messing with the format to steer it towards a certain candidate rather than having an open format. The four members who voted for the next superintendent to have a doctoral degree along with previous years thought it was a necessary change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the last 15-20 years all of our superintendents have had a doctorate except one so I see no problem with that, Board Member Brenda Guilford said Tuesday after the meeting. But some do, as they have taken their thoughts to social media. Heres a couple of comments from WDHNs Facebook page. So very sad. Only system in the state with this requirement. The superintendent having a particular degree isnt going to help a single student improve or suddenly make dcs test scores better. said Jamie, who commented on the post. I suppose 4 board members know who they are going to hire, said Tom, who commented on the post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hire the best candidate you can afford based on merit and drive, dont limit the applicant pool beyond the state requirements, said Micah, who commented on the post. I dont think a doctorate degree is the beacon of knowledge or saying you are the right answer, Sanders said. With the new requirements, DCS is the only public school system in the state with these requirements. According to a recent study from the School of Superintendents Association, 45% of superintendents in the country have the highest level of education. Locally, in Superintendent District 3, there are 18 superintendents in our southeast Alabama area four of them have a doctoral degree and prior superintendent experience that would qualify them for the job description but would also have to relocate within 30 minutes of Dothan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Keith Stewart Barbour County, Dr. Zel Thomas Enterprise City, Dr. Daniel Shakespeare Andalusia City Dr. Mark Bazzell Pike County Sanders said he called the state Department of Education to request an investigation of the school board. He claims the board has been through issues over the years, and this recent decision was the breaking point. If we get someone with a doctorate, thats fine, Sanders said. There are a bunch of people with bachelors and masters who know how to be a leader, and I dont think we should discount those people. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com. ST. LOUIS COUNTY The Parkway School Districts Board of Education is considering a near-total ban on mobile devices for students in its schools. Wednesday night, parents, teachers and administrators weighed in on the proposal ahead of the boards meeting. Most parents and teachers told FOX 2 they support the idea. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News If passed, all elementary and middle school students would be barred from using cell phones and other mobile deviceslike apple watches and personal iPadsduring school hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement High school students would be allowed to use their phones between classes and at lunch but would be banned from using phones during class. The district said currently, it is up to individual teachers to come up with classroom cell phone policies. The St. Louis mayoral debate moments everyone is talking about District leaders told FOX 2 they feel the different policies create confusion, and they want a more cohesive plan that puts student learning and growth first. The board is set to vote on the measure at their April school board meeting. If passed, it would go into effect at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Russian forces have managed to move part of their troops across the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast, as reported by Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group. Source: Radio Liberty, citing Trehubov's comment Quote: "The Russians took advantage of the opportunity to move some of their equipment over the ice, and now it is the Ukrainians' task to push them out. They are also trying to bring in [troops and equipment ed.] over the river again using small vessels, but, of course, it's not quite the same luck they had before this [when there was ice ed.]." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Trehubov said that after crossing the Oskil River to the opposite bank in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian troops are attempting to secure a foothold there. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively engaged in combat, attempting to push the Russians back to the opposite bank. Why this matters: The Oskil River serves as a natural fortification with a challenging shoreline. Crossing it could facilitate the Russian forces' advancement deeper into Ukrainian territory. From DeepState maps, it is evident that the Russian crossing of the river and the creation of a foothold on the opposite bank in Kharkiv Oblast threatens to place the Russians behind Ukrainian positions in the town of Kupiansk from the north. Background: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On 23 October 2024, Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, reported on the national joint 24/7 newscast that Russian forces are relentlessly bombarding crossings over the Oskil River, hampering the repair of critical infrastructure and disrupting evacuation efforts on the left (eastern) bank in Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast. On 3 December 2024, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group reported that the Russian army made an attempt to gain and maintain a foothold on the right (western) bank of the Oskil River, near the village of Novomlynsk in Kharkiv Oblast, but the Ukrainian defence forces pushed them out. On 6 February, the analytical project DeepState reported that Russian forces continued their attempts to cross the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! (Reuters) - Armenia and Azerbaijan will not deploy third-country forces along their border after the two sides sign a peace agreement, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday. Officials in Yerevan and Baku said earlier they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end more than three decades of conflict between their countries, a sudden breakthrough in a fitful and often bitter peace process. Russian peacekeepers completed a withdrawal last May from Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly Armenian population and which Azeri forces recaptured in a lightning offensive in September 2023. But Moscow still has personnel in Armenia along its long border with Azerbaijan. The European Union also has a monitoring mission in Armenia, whose mandate it has extended until February 2027. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday that his office is investigating the city of Dallas, whose police department he accused of refusing to comply with state and federal immigration laws. Paxton pointed to widely reported comments in February by Dallas Interim Police Chief Michael T. Igo that the police department is not assisting any federal agency on detaining people that are either documented or undocumented in the City of Dallas. The law is not optional, Paxton said in a statement. The people of Texas expect law enforcement agencies to uphold public safety, not to implement sanctuary policies that put our communities at risk. My office will take all necessary legal actions to ensure compliance with state law and hold accountable any local entity that defies its legal obligations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dallas officials said they are reviewing the letter received from the Texas Attorney Generals Office and will respond at the appropriate time. In a press release, Paxtons office said it had requested from Dallas all policies, training materials and communications related to enforcement or non-enforcement of immigration laws in Texas third-largest city. Texas cities accused of protecting undocumented immigrants through so-called sanctuary policies such as directing local police not to cooperate with federal immigration officials were the targets of a 2017 state law that prohibited local policies that prevent a peace officer from asking about a person's immigration status. During this years legislative session, numerous lawmakers have filed bills that would require local police to enter into agreements with federal immigration authorities to be able to perform limited immigration enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed the idea and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick designated it as one of his legislative priorities. Paxtons office signed such an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but it is not clear how his employees mostly lawyers who handle civil litigation are partnering with immigration authorities. Earlier this month, ICE said in a press release that Paxtons office had assisted in arresting nine undocumented alleged criminals in the Houston area but deferred questions seeking details to Paxtons office. Spokespersons for Paxtons office did not respond to requests for information. We cant wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. Editors Note: The full list of messages, which was sent out by the district to families, can be viewed at the bottom of this article. Please note some of the material may be offensive or disturbing to read. The district has redacted vulgar language. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The Penfield Central School District addressed messages sent to the district, which officials described as threatening and vulgar in nature, this week after a contentious board meeting last month. The district sent a letter to families on Friday and provided censored examples of the messages that they received, which they said included racist language and violent content. Penfield Superintendent Dr. Tasha Potter said they cannot share more details as investigations continue, but they emphasized that safety is their priority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last month, the school district canceled some meetings due to the threats. They said those threats were sent via email and voicemail. The threats came following a school board meeting where parents had concerns over a book called The Rainbow Parade, which, according to the description, follows a child free to express their gender identity during a pride parade. Hannah Pascucci has two kids in the district. She told News 8 Wednesday that having concerns is valid, but she said she believes this was not the way parents should have approached it. I couldnt talk to my teenager about the messages the district received because they were so upsetting, she said. They {the school} had to pull the high schooler who was on the board because it wasnt safe for that student anymore. Thats so distressing. Pascucci also made note that shes worried about the future of the board, and hopes this doesnt stop people from running and keeping a healthy school board with different perspectives and opinions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We also spoke to a Penfield resident, Erica Cortese, who said she was at that board meeting that night in February. What I saw is a room filled with parents ready to talk to the board and air their concerns, and the board from the get-go acted like they didnt want to hear what they had to say to begin with. This all was started with them leaving the room, she said. Other parents who reached out to News 8 said they were worried about the safety of the students as well as the administrators. Earlier this month, the Monroe County Sheriffs Office told News 8 that none of the threats rose to the level of criminality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can read the full statement from Dr. Potter below: Dear Penfield Families, We have received multiple FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) requests regarding the vulgar and threatening emails and communications recently directed toward the District. While we are unable to share specific details about each communication due to the ongoing criminal investigations, we want to be transparent with our community. Therefore, we are providing redacted examples of the types of messages that we have received and continue to receive (see below). Although we have received many negative messages, I also want to recognize the overwhelming number of positive messages of love, care, and kindness we have received. I believe it is these messages that truly reflect the values of our community, and the values that we want to instill in our children. Please know that we deeply appreciate these messages of support. As we navigate these challenging times, we encourage families to have conversations at home about the importance of civil discourse, especially when addressing hate. We will continue to work with local and state law enforcement, as well as community partners, to ensure the safety and well-being of our District. You can read the messages sent below in full, please note, some of the content may be disturbing to viewers. redacted_sampling_of_hate_messages_2025Download Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. (WHTM) Another day, another lawsuit against the Trump Administration. This one challenged his ability to lay off half of the U.S. Department of Education. Attorneys General from across the country signed on. Pennsylvania did not. Why not? And what does Governor Josh Shapiro think of the cuts? Dem AGs sue over Trump administrations Education Department layoffs I dont think the gutting of the Department of Education should be a Democratic or Republican issue, Deborah Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, a 53-page lawsuit is from Democratic Attorneys General from 20 states and the District of Columbia saying layoffs are so severe and extreme that it incapacitates components of the Department responsible for performing functions mandated by statute, effectively nullifying those mandates. I can say that no president can unilaterally eliminate the Department of Education, Klehr said. She says the Civil Rights Division was hardest hit. I think as an attempt to eliminate the ability to enforce civil rights laws, then that department is charged with upholding, Klehr said. The Trump team calls the cuts strategic and says that they will not directly impact students and families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im extremely concerned. You know, public education is the great equalizer in American society, Dan Ackelsberg with the Public Interest Law Center said. The center successfully argued for more equitable funding in Pennsylvania schools. Get the latest Pennsylvania politics and election news with abc27 newsletters! He worries about civil rights protections for minority kids or students with disabilities. What it means is that the biggest cop is no longer on the beat effectively, Ackelsberg said. Pennsylvanias Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday said he wasnt invited to join the suit, which was prepared by Democrats, and didnt know of it until media reports. But, he likely wouldnt have anyway, adding, We will not micromanage the federal government, and I will not have news-making commentary in response to happenings in D.C. This decision, and all decisions in D.C., will be enacted, or not, through a legislative and legal process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shapiro wouldnt comment on whether Sunday should sue or whether he will sue as he did with frozen funds, but he made two noteworthy comments. First off, if you are a federal worker and youve been laid off, were hiring, Shapiro said. Were going to do everything we can to try and make sure that our school districts arent hurt. Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here Public education is not a partisan issue, Ackelsberg said. It is supported by people of all stripes in all corners of the Commonwealth, rural, urban and suburban. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. One of the three people accused of allegedly staging a cross burning in front of a Yemi Mobolade campaign sign defaced with a racial slur during the 2023 mayoral runoff election pleaded guilty on Tuesday. MAXATAWNY TWP., Pa. (WHTM) A Pennsylvania university is pitching in to help employees displaced by federal cuts. Kutztown University in Berks County is offering scholarships for undergraduate and graduate courses as well as non-credit workforce development. Displaced federal workers are eligible for a one-time scholarship of $1,000 for full-time students and application fees are waived. Scholarships are pro-rated for part-time students. Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here The university is also offering six months of free non-credit training to the first 1,000 displaced federal employees through Courseras Career Academy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member who caused an international uproar when he leaked highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, used his court-martial Thursday to describe himself as a proud patriot who was only exposing and correcting the lies perpetuated by the Biden administration. After pleading guilty to military charges of obstructing justice, the 23-year-old acknowledged he knew his actions were illegal but felt he needed to share the truth about how the Biden administration was misleading the American public about the war in Ukraine. If I saved even one American, Russian or Ukrainian life against this senseless money-grab war, my punishment was worth it, he said, his politicized comments a stark contrast to the contrite apology he issued at his federal sentencing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teixeira suggested that he, like President Donald Trump, was a victim of a weaponized Department of Justice. Teixeira, who said he acted alone when he shared the documents in a geopolitical chat room on Discord, a social media platform popular with online gamers. He then called on Trump and members of his administration to review my double prosecution and punishments with an eye towards reversing deep-state actions and showing truth no matter how embarrassing to the Biden administration. I am comfortable in how history will remember my actions, he added. Military wanted to send a message Judge Vicki Marcus agreed to the plea deal and sentenced Teixeira to a dishonorable discharge and no jail time. She rejected a prosecution request for a written reprimand and a demotion in rank for him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, was already sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, following his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years. Military prosecutors said before the court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts that charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice were appropriate given that obeying orders is the absolute core of the military. In pressing for a harsher sentence, prosecutors Thursday said Teixiera was intent on obstructing the FBI from finding the truth and was scared because he knew he had done something wrong. Defense attorneys argued for leniency, saying a toxic culture at his base, poor training and a lack of supervision contributed to his actions. But after the sentence, prosecutors said they felt the dishonorable discharge still sent a powerful message. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The dishonorable discharge was the important issue for us because I think it accurately reflects what his actions were, what his crimes were, Lt. Col. Peter Havern said after the court-martial. Havern talked about how they worked closely with the Department of Justice on the case. There was a piece of it where we said we need a military punishment as well, and that is why the dishonorable discharge was important to us as an institution to tell our airmen, to tell our the civilians and Americans we take this very seriously," he said. We are going to make sure your military record reflects it for these actions. We are not just going to rely on a civil conviction." A plea agreement was accepted by both sides that drops the disobeying orders charge. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, admitting that he used a hammer to destroy a cellphone, a computer hard drive and an iPad after seeing news reports of the leaked documents. He also admitted to telling his friend to destroy messages exchanged on a communication app. I was scared about a potential law enforcement investigation into me and my friends," he said in court Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents still support their son As the sentencing phase began, Teixeira's father Jack Teixeira, who goes by the same name but with a different middle initial, described his son as a good kid, energetic, intelligent and quirky. When his son decided to join the military, I was excited about it," the elder Teixeira said. It was a good option for Jack." Asked about whether the conviction changed his feelings for Teixeira, his father said: I love my son. I would do anything for him. His mother, Dawn Dufault, described how they were a military family and how her son was passionate about all things military from an early age. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She admitted basic training for Teixeira was a disappointment since it happened during the pandemic and how an ever-changing schedule for Teixeira, who as part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, left him discombobulated. But she also said the conviction hadn't changed her feelings fo her son. He made a mistake, she said. Everyone makes mistakes. He's my son, I love him. He deserves a second chance. Leaks revealed secret assessments of Ukraine war The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russias war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversarys plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teixeira worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the U.S. The security breach forced the Biden administration to scramble to try to contain diplomatic and military fallout. The leaks also embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to have intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeiras suspicious behavior. Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member who caused an international uproar when he leaked highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, pleaded guilty to military charges of obstructing justice at his court-martial Thursday and called himself a proud patriot. In a 10-minute address, Teixeira said he was exposing and correcting the lies that were perpetrated by President Biden and force-fed to the American people about the war in Ukraine. I believe the Department of Justice was politicized against President Trump and myself, added Teixeira, who said he acted alone when he shared the documents in a geopolitical chatroom on Discord, a social media platform popular with online gamers. He called on Trump and members of his administration to reverse his convictions. Jack Teixeira (via Facebook) If I saved one American, Russian or Ukrainian life in this money-grabbing war, my punishment was worth it, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge agreed to the plea deal, which calls for dishonorable discharge and no jail time. Teixeira was already sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, following his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years. Military prosecutors said before the court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts that charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice were appropriate given that obeying orders is the absolute core of the military. Teixeiras lawyer, Lt. Col. Bradley Poronsky, argued Monday that the obstructing justice charge should either be dismissed or go unpunished, saying it amounts to double jeopardy because it already factored into Teixeiras November sentencing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A plea agreement was accepted by both sides that drops the disobeying orders charge. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, admitting that he used a hammer to destroy a cellphone, a computer hard drive and an iPad after seeing some news reports of the leaked documents. He also admitted to telling his friend to destroy messages exchanged on a communication app. I was scared about a potential law enforcement investigation into me and my friends, he said in court Thursday. As the sentencing phase began, Teixeiras parents said he took an early interest in the military as a child. His father, also named Jack Teixeira, described him as a good kid, energetic, intelligent, and quirky. When his son decided to join the military, I was excited about it, the elder Teixeira said. It was a good option for Jack. He said it gave him direction and the chance to see the world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He made a mistake, his mother, Dawn Dufault, said. Everyone makes mistakes. Hes my son, I love him. He deserves a second chance. The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russias war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The leaked documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversarys plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas. Teixeira worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the U.S. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman convicted of federal offenses for leaking sensitive information online, pleaded guilty Thursday to a military charge of obstructing justice, a spokesperson for his family confirmed to ABC News. A military court-martial convened this week at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts on charges alleging Teixeira violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge at the court-martial on Thursday, his family spokesperson confirmed. A second charge of disobeying orders was dropped as part of a plea agreement, which calls for dishonorable discharge and no confinement, according to the spokesperson. PHOTO: An undated picture shows Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard, who was arrested by the FBI, over his alleged involvement in leaks online of classified documents, posing for a selfie at an unidentified location. (Social Media Website via Reuters) Teixeira said he shared classified information with the public in a "brief moment of regret," though he largely defended his actions and called himself a "proud American and a patriot" in remarks to the court ahead of his sentencing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It was my intent to expose and correct the lies manufactured and perpetuated by the Biden administration and force-fed to the American people by the mainstream media," he said, according to a statement obtained by ABC News. He said a "fraud was being perpetuated upon the American people" regarding the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and he "obstructed justice only to protect the people who now know the truth about a fraudulent Biden presidency." "If I saved even one American, Russian or Ukrainian life against a senseless money-grab war, it was worth the punishment," he said. Teixeira further claimed the Department of Justice "was politicized and used as a weapon" against him and President Donald Trump, and he asked the administration to review his convictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I knowingly made choices to inform the American public and open their eyes," he said. "I did so fully willing to accept the repercussions. I am comfortable with how history will remember me and my actions." MORE: Air Force preps new military charges against convicted Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira Teixeira, who was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison on the federal charges, faced potentially another 10 years in custody for the obstruction charge. He was sentenced Thursday under the terms of the plea agreement, avoiding any further confinement time and getting a dishonorable discharge, according to Lt. Col. Peter Havern, the prosecutor in the military case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Havern said they are pleased with the sentence. "The important thing for us was the dishonorable discharge," he told reporters following the proceedings. "We wanted to reflect to our airmen and guardians, as well as to the public, that when you commit the crimes that he committed, that we need to accurately depict your service as a dishonorable service." "I think it's an accurate, appropriate sentence," he added, calling a dishonorable discharge "the most serious punitive discharge that the military can command." Teixeria currently remains an airman pending the outcome of an automatic appeals process in the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, Havern said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the obstruction charge, the airman was accused of "disposing of an iPad, computer hard drive, and cell phone, with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself" sometime between March 1, 2023, and April 13, 2023, as well as directing another person to delete Discord messages he sent "with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself" on or about April 7, 2023. Teixeira, who worked as an information technology specialist, was convicted last year on federal charges, pleading guilty to six counts of willfully retaining and transmitting national defense information. He was sentenced in November 2024 to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The U.S. military reserves the right to separately prosecute a service member who has already been convicted in a federal court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Air Force evidentiary hearing was held in May 2024 to determine whether his case should move forward to an Air Force court-martial. MORE: Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years on federal charges Federal prosecutors said Teixeira "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history." According to the signed plea agreement filed with the federal court, Teixeira agreed to plead guilty to all six counts charging him with willful retention and transmission of national defense information. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with additional counts under the Espionage Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teixeira "accessed and printed hundreds of classified documents" and posted images of them on Discord prior to his arrest in April 2023, a prosecutor said during the federal plea hearing last year. He has admitted in court to knowing the documents were marked classified. Teixeira enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, according to his service record. He had top-secret security clearance beginning in 2021 and began posting classified documents online in January 2022, according to the Department of Justice. Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to obstructing justice at court-martial originally appeared on abcnews.go.com BEDFORD, Mass. Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member who caused an international uproar when he leaked highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, pleaded guilty to military charges of obstructing justice at his court-martial Thursday and called himself a proud patriot. In a 10-minute address, Teixeira said he was exposing and correcting the lies that were perpetrated by President Biden and force-fed to the American people about the war in Ukraine. I believe the Department of Justice was politicized against President Trump and myself, added Teixeira, who said he acted alone. He called on Trump and members of his administration to reverse his convictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If I saved one American, Russian or Ukrainian life in this money-grabbing war, my punishment was worth it, he said. The judge agreed to the plea deal, which calls for dishonorable discharge and no jail time. Teixeira was already sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, following his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years. Military prosecutors said before the court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts that charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice were appropriate given that obeying orders is the absolute core of the military. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teixeiras lawyer, Lt. Col. Bradley Poronsky, argued Monday that the obstructing justice charge should either be dismissed or go unpunished, saying it amounts to double jeopardy because it already factored into Teixeiras November sentencing. A plea agreement was accepted by both sides that drops the disobeying orders charge. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, admitting that he used a hammer to destroy a cellphone, a computer hard drive and an iPad after seeing some news reports of the leaked documents. He also admitted to telling his friend to destroy messages exchanged on a communication app. I was scared about a potential law enforcement investigation into me and my friends, he said in court Thursday. As the sentencing phase began, Teixeiras parents said he took an early interest in the military as a child. His father, also named Jack Teixeira, described him as a good kid, energetic, intelligent, and quirky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When his son decided to join the military, I was excited about it, the elder Teixeira said. It was a good option for Jack. He said it gave him direction and the chance to see the world. He made a mistake, his mother, Dawn Dufault, said. Everyone makes mistakes. Hes my son, I love him. He deserves a second chance. The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russias war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The leaked documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversarys plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas. Teixeira worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the United States. Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member who caused an international uproar when he leaked highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, pleaded guilty to military charges of obstructing justice at his court-martial Thursday and called himself a proud patriot. In a 10-minute address, Teixeira said he was exposing and correcting the lies that were perpetrated by President Biden and force-fed to the American people about the war in Ukraine. I believe the Department of Justice was politicized against President Trump and myself, added Teixeira, who said he acted alone. He called on Trump and members of his administration to reverse his convictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If I saved one American, Russian or Ukrainian life in this money-grabbing war, my punishment was worth it, he said. The plea agreement calls for dishonorable discharge and no jail time. The judge approved the plea agreement, but had not addressed his sentencing yet, which was expected to occur later Thursday afternoon. Teixeira was already sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, following his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years. This artist depiction shows Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appearing in US District Court in Boston, April 14, 2023. - Margaret Small/AP Military prosecutors said before the court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts that charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice were appropriate given that obeying orders is the absolute core of the military. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teixeiras lawyer, Lt. Col. Bradley Poronsky, argued Monday that the obstructing justice charge should either be dismissed or go unpunished, saying it amounts to double jeopardy because it already factored into Teixeiras November sentencing. A plea agreement was accepted by both sides that drops the disobeying orders charge. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, admitting that he used a hammer to destroy a cellphone, a computer hard drive and an iPad after seeing some news reports of the leaked documents. He also admitted to telling his friend to destroy messages exchanged on a communication app. I was scared about a potential law enforcement investigation into me and my friends, he said in court Thursday. As the sentencing phase began, Teixeiras parents said he took an early interest in the military as a child. His father, also named Jack Teixeira, described him as a good kid, energetic, intelligent, and quirky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When his son decided to join the military, I was excited about it, the elder Teixeira said. It was a good option for Jack. He said it gave him direction and the chance to see the world. He made a mistake, his mother, Dawn Dufault, said. Everyone makes mistakes. Hes my son, I love him. He deserves a second chance. The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russias war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The leaked documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a US adversarys plans to harm US forces serving overseas. Teixeira worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the United States. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Sometimes, political takes don't always have to be hot takes they can be...lukewarm. Recently, we asked BuzzFeed Community members to share their "lukewarm" political takes, and they didn't hold back: 1."If you don't vote, you don't get to criticize the government." Person voting at a ballot booth in a polling place, partially hidden behind the booth with "VOTE" and an American flag visible certified_drapetomaniac 2."I couldn't care less about what the Gulf of Mexico is called." cassiebear83 3."A tax credit should be implemented for adopted pets. It could potentially end the cat overpopulation crisis and the overcrowding in shelters. Implementing it is as easy as scanning the pet's microchip when they see the vet every year. It proves the animal is still alive and being cared for. And if you don't bring the pet to the vet that year, you don't get the credit." A child reaching toward a dog behind a kennel fence, both looking at each other itsamoobunny Advertisement Advertisement 4."I don't understand why people care so much about immigration, and at this point, I'm afraid to ask." grapesamazing 5."Democrats should've had someone else run instead of Kamala. The country wasn't ready for a Black woman president, and that's why so many on-the-fencers voted for Trump this time. I voted for Kamala and thought she would've been great, but I still think many older Democrats are stuck in the past." Person speaking at a podium, wearing a formal suit, with raised hands. Two U.S. flags are visible in the background laurenm63637282 6."I think we should have a holiday where we switch our political leader for one from another country for a day." totallyspies 7."Presidents can't be convicted felons." A man in a suit poses for a mugshot with a serious expression. A sheriff's badge is visible in the upper left corner sparklesthecupcake Advertisement Advertisement 8."If there is a minimum age requirement for President, Senator, and Representatives, there should be a maximum age as well. As someone who worked in geriatrics, older does not mean wiser. Often, it means being stuck in your ways and beliefs." sparklycupcake64 9."Women's and men's nipples should be seen equally. Either make it acceptable for women to go topless in public or make it indecent for men to go topless. Why? Because women's nipples have a purpose, and men's nipples are solely for aesthetics." Elderly man smiling, standing shirtless in a mountainous landscape with rocky peaks in the background notjessicasmile 10."Political agendas shouldn't be shoved down your throat every time you turn around. Some people don't care about politics and don't want political views in their face all the time (including in the movies)." Advertisement Advertisement finnianbezanson 11."Both sides are crooked and evil, and there's no one we can trust in Washington." The U.S. Capitol building under a partly cloudy sky, framed by greenery, commonly linked with American politics and government events jgcromwell 12."I have no strong stance about the conflicts in the Middle East. I don't know enough about it, and as someone who doesn't live there, I don't think I could ever have a clear perspective on it. Because of that, I stay out of all that talk." pennylane086 13."MAGA supporters know that their movement is destructive and cruel. They know they are supporting neo-Nazism, and they know this is bad. The proof is in how defensive they get when anyone points out the truth. If they only rolled their eyes, it would show they weren't conflicted. Instead, they loudly double-down to convince themselves as much as everyone else around them." Person wearing oversized MAGA hat and matching hoodie at an event, looking at their phone. Crowd in the background freshwizard801 Advertisement Advertisement 14."I think voting should be blind. We should not know what color or gender people running are, but be very clearly presented with what their policies are and how they've voted in the past." jennifermadi 15."Perfect attendance awards in schools should go away. That's the real reason we're all sick." Child with long hair sits in bed under a blanket, blowing their nose with a tissue, looking cozy yet unwell. Bed is adorned with patterned sheets pennylane086 16."Nothing about our history should be changed, augmented, or erased. We need all of the bad along with the good. We cannot evolve and better ourselves without both. There is too much black and white these days." tendtomebollocks 17.Lastly: "I cannot believe that some people's sole focus is LGBTQ+ stuff and abortion rights. It seems limited in light of the fact that every freedom we've ever had and things we take for granted every single day are at stake. I know some people will be offended, but there it is." Sign reading "Abortion is Healthcare" held up in a city setting anneking Advertisement Advertisement Yeah...every time I think about it, I'm genuinely confused about how a convicted felon was able to weasel his way into the White House again. What's your "lukewarm" political take? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously share it with us using this form. Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) The intersection of University Street and Northmoor Road will soon be reconstructed, with improvements to the curb and gutter, pavement, and more. Residents learned more about the project at a public meeting Wednesday in the library of Richwoods High School. The total project cost is just over $7.1 million, with $4.4 million coming from federal funds. Andrea Klopfenstein, the deputy director and city engineer for the Peoria Public Works Department, spoke about why the project is necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pavement needs repaired. We are going to make safety improvements for the left turn lanes, new traffic signals, pedestrian improvements and bicycle improvements, she said. Klopfenstein said this is the final piece of the Northmoor corridor project, which began in 2005. The road has been revamped from Sheridan Road to Allen Road besides this intersection over the course of the past 20 years. When asked why its taken two decades to complete, she said its all about funding which can be difficult to come by, especially with road projects not getting any cheaper. Wednesdays meeting was a chance for residents to ask questions and give their own input about the project, with Klopfenstein giving a brief presentation on its design. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the plan right now is to close Northmoor west of University for construction while school is out for next summer, but the other three stages of the project will most likely be built with traffic flowing. The hope is for it to be completed within one construction season. Once a contractor is found, Klopfenstein said there will be another public meeting discussing the staging of the project, and what people can expect in terms of traffic delays or redirection. A point of note is that the intersection touches four city council districts. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th districts converge together there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. Officials in Fernandina Beach are investigating after a person was shot Thursday night. The victim was flown by helicopter to the hospital after the incident that occurred just before 11 p.m. on Clinch Drive. Melanie Grimley said her normally quiet neighborhood was filled with the sound of sirens Wednesday night. A slew of cop cars came down the street with all their lights blaring and everything and it was crazy, said Grimley. Just crazy to see all that activity that late at night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Nassau County Sheriffs Office said one person was detained. Read: Lake City man arrested in drug bust, accused of possessing over 4 pounds of meth Action News Jax asked the Nassau County Sheriffs Office what the relationship is between the victim and the detainee. We were told it is not releasing that information to protect the victims privacy. The sheriffs office confirmed this was an isolated incident that occurred at a home that has a history of law enforcement calls. At this point, its still unclear what led up to the shooting. No arrests have been made, and this is still an active investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read: This is not a game: Jacksonville Sheriffs Office announces arrests in murder of 7-year-old Breon Allen [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. On Jan. 14, Rene Camacho and Jalen Ortiz, cousins and co-owners of vintage and designer retailer Endzone Studios in downtown Corvallis, received a letter from property owner Charlie Ringo. In it, Ringo informed the young entrepreneurs that he was in negotiations to sell the entire building known as the 4th Street Professional Center home to Endzone and several other businesses to the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center, a support service for homeless individuals. The sale would allow the drop-in center to expand its offerings for impoverished community members in Corvallis with a move that's just across from its current location. The building sale is far from certain, the letter read, but it is possible that you may be required to depart the premises by the middle of April. That timeline has since been made murky, with Ringo telling Mid-Valley Media that finances continue to be a hurdle for the drop-in center. But according to its executive director Allison Hobgood, who has described Ringo as an ally to the CDDCs current efforts, the deal is still on track. As far as Im concerned, were moving towards closing any second, she said. The building is selling for $1.81 million, and the drop-in center has been running a capital campaign to support the purchase. The potential sale has thrown business owners like Camacho and Ortiz, who havent yet worked in the building for a year, into a tailspin as they struggle to clarify the status of their livelihoods. Some businesses have already left the building preemptively. Ten months in, we have so much more to do, Camacho said about Endzone. If this happens, it's almost like theyre shutting the door on us. 'Those who need it most' According to Hobgood, the CDDCs current landlord sent its own lease termination letter last year setting the must-leave date for March 31 of this year. (That date has since been extended to accommodate the nonprofits anticipated move). The building, also located on Fourth Street, has been bought by former three-time All-American Oregon State University wrestler Les Gutches. Hobgood said the drop-in center had been looking for an expanded space even before it became an absolute necessity. We just are in a tiny shoebox, she said. Its not doable for what were trying to support people with. The CDDC, according to its website, currently provides information, referrals and direct services to homeless and impoverished individuals in Benton County and beyond. The center provides opportunities to build community and social networks and supports the welfare and rehabilitation of individuals across emergency, transitional and ongoing life circumstances. This support includes replacing documents, finding affordable housing, assisting with paying for prescriptions and emergency transportation and receiving mail. The center also provides clothes, hygiene supplies and a place to charge phones. The 4th Street Professional Center, thanks to its setup, has great potential for low-barrier nonprofit collaboration, Hobgood said. Other service-providing agencies, such as Corvallis Housing First, will be joining the endeavor, which will serve as a kind of resiliency hub. Shes optimistic about the change, she said, and CDDC guests are stoked. The drop-in center already rents two offices in the 4th Street Professional Center that are part of its healing arts collective, which is an art gallery. Thats how they found out Ringo intended to sell the building, and he proposed a deal to the CDDC, according to Hobgood. My goal is to never have anybody lose the space that is home to them; thats the fundamental problem were dealing with every day at the drop-in center, she said. A confluence of circumstances allowed her nonprofit to purchase from an owner looking to sell his building; it wasnt some evil plan, she said in fact, the CDDC loves its neighbors. A lot of businesses in the complex, Ringo said, were on month-to-month leases, and in those cases, knew that there was no commitment for the long-term. On Wednesday, March 11, Benton County approved a letter of support for the drop-in centers efforts to expand on a new, larger property, commending Oregon's U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkleys office for earmarking $2 million to go toward the effort. The new location will foster greater community safety for all people and will allow for more wrap-around care for those who need it most, the letter reads. InterCommunity Health Network CCO, which supports Oregon's Medicaid program in Benton County, also donated $400,000, according to Hobgood, and has been the CDDC's largest community donor related to the expanded drop-in center. During the 2024 point-in-time count a one-day tally that can determine how many federal dollars come to an area 416 homeless people were identified living in Corvallis. 'If worst comes to worst' Camacho and Ortiz, along with other business owners on the lot, plan to come before Corvallis City Council this month to advocate for themselves and share concerns about the drop-in center's plan. Gabriel Fitzpatrick, owner of the used-car dealer Rave Auto Sales which is also in the 4th Street Professional Center, said his experience with the nearby Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center has been incredibly negative. In the last year, he said, hes called the police to his business at least 10 times due to the activity of the homeless community members who frequent the center activity he calls belligerent and rambunctious. Even if the businesses in the 4th Street Professional Center are displaced, Fitzpatrick said, other businesses in the surrounding area experience the same problems. Fitzpatrick started his business about eight years ago while he was still in college. Hes been a part of the 4th Street Professional Center for about six years, where he employs around 15 people. He found a location in the Toyota budget lot, where Rave Auto Sales can move if worst comes to worst. Even if the complex doesnt sell, though, he said the Toyota lot will still serve as his businesss second location. Endzone Studios sells vintage streetwear and designer sneakers. It's cultivated a safe space for local youth, its owners say, with kids being able to kick it in the store rather than getting into trouble. Following the January letter, Camacho and Ortiz have been looking at other spots for the business, but everything is expensive, they said. Theyve even expanded their search up into Portland. Like Fitzpatrick, Camacho is concerned about the impacts of the drop-in center taking over the building, worrying that the nonprofit is enabling Corvallis homeless population. For his part, Ringo told Mid-Valley Media that facilities like the CDDC can be controversial: They provide good services, but there are some negative impacts, he said. People have to weigh those out. Ringo is no stranger to controversy himself. A former state senator, he was linked in the Bend Bulletin to black market marijuana activities in 2018. In 2016, Ringo filed a lawsuit against the organization now known as Corvallis Housing First, seeking an injunction and $500,000 in damages. He told the Corvallis Gazette-Times at the time that he wanted the nonprofit to "permanently shut down" the men's cold weather shelter that was then located on Fourth Street. In the present day, Ringo said theres still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the sale of his building to the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center. I predict its going to fall through, he said, citing funding issues. If it doesnt, then it doesnt. He declined to specify further. Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct information about Corvallis Housing First and to clarify the purpose of Charlie Ringo's lawsuit against it. Related stories: BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Perus Congress has approved a controversial reform to the countrys international cooperation law which imposes sweeping restrictions on civil society organizations in a move human rights groups warn could cripple efforts to defend vulnerable communities and fight corruption. The decision modifies legislation passed in 2002 which established the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI) and regulates the oversight of international aid, but now expands the agencys powers in ways critics say threaten the independence and work of non-profit organizations. Supporters of the decision say it boosts transparency, but critics see it as a way to pressure human rights groups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beyond the false argument of transparency, the law doesnt seek to make anything more transparent, Carlos Rivera, director of the Legal Defense Institute, a Peruvian human rights advocacy NGO, told The Associated Press. What it really aims to do is create a climate of repression and persecution. Rivera says he is particularly concerned about a provision that makes it a serious offense for non-profits to provide legal action, advice, assistance, or funding for any administrative or judicial cases against the government, both nationally and internationally. "Its obviously one of the most unconstitutional things perhaps the most unconstitutional passed in Peru since the 1995 amnesty laws, Rivera said. The 1995 amnesty laws in Peru shielded military and police personnel from prosecution for human rights abuses committed during the countrys internal conflict, including massacres, torture, and forced disappearances. They were later declared unconstitutional for violating the right to justice and breaching international human rights standards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rivera said the law could severely restrict Indigenous communities access to justice, as they rely heavily on legal support from non-profits. From one day to the next, they wont be able to manage their defenses nearly 100% of cases are handled by non-governmental organizations, he said. Peru's government did not respond to a requests for comment. Ahead of the vote, right-wing congressman Alejandro Munante delivered a sharp critique of non-profits, claiming they are not accountable to anyone, do not pay taxes, and set the countrys political agenda. It is not true that NGOs have been operating in Peru without any accountability, Julia Urrunaga, director of Peru Programs at the Environmental Investigation Agency, told the AP. The APCI agency has existed for the last over 20 years and the NGOs operating in the country and receiving tax benefits have been reporting to them with plenty of detail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Urrunaga is seriously concerned because the law will eliminate the independence of the NGOs and Indigenous organizations. Under the bill, the Peruvian government will have the capacity to censor any activities that they won't like from NGOs, given that under this new law NGOs will have to present their plans in advance to be pre approved by the government, she said. Operating without such approval, or taking actions that have not been approved will be considered illegal. Tom Younger, Peru Programme Coordinator of the U.K.-based Forest Peoples Programme, said the reactionary law strikes a harsh blow against all of those struggling to defend human rights, territories of life and the climate across Peru, but that it "has much broader ramifications, given the strengthening of authoritarian forces internationally." - The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. LIMA, Peru (AP) Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was taken from prison to a hospital on Thursday, three days after he began a hunger strike in protest of his ongoing rebellion trial. The court hearing his trial reported that Castillo, 55, was transferred because of a health problem and to rule out a fluid-electrolyte disorder and mild dehydration. The prosecution is seeking 34 years in prison for the former president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Castillo has been detained since Dec. 7, 2022, when he gave a televised speech in which he declared the dissolution of Congress and his intent to rule by decree. Congress removed him from office that same day. He has described his trial as politicized and a pantomime and has refused legal counsel provided by the judicial system. During the opening of the trial last week, he denied committing rebellion, saying that all he did was convey the peoples desire through a political speech. After Castillo was removed from office, then Vice President Dina Boluarte assumed office. Three months of protests followed the presidential crisis in the South American country. Dozens of people died in the demonstrations. Castillo was a rural school teacher with no political experience when he won Perus 2021 election. In addition to the current trial, he faces a criminal investigation over alleged corruption during his time in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peru's corrections agency has determined that Castillos hunger strike breaks prison rules, and as a result, suspended his visitation rights and placed him in isolation. Walter Ayala, a minister under Castillo's presidency and one of his former attorneys, said that the ex-president on Wednesday requested a precautionary measure from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to order Peru's government to end the corrections agency's sanctions against him. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg revealed Thursday that he will not run for governor or the open Senate seat in Michigan, clearing the way for a potential White House bid in 2028. I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race, Buttigieg wrote on X Thursday morning. I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not only opposing todays cruel chaos, but also presenting a vision of a better alternative. A number of allies have noted that the move would put the former 2020 presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, mayor in a stronger position to run for president in the next Democratic primary, as running campaigns in 2026 and 2028 would be challenging. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Buttigieg said recently that he had been looking at a Senate campaign, and that he had a meeting with Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the party is working to hold on to the swing state seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Republicans hope to flip the seat after nearly winning the states other Senate seat in the last election. Buttigieg moved to Traverse City, Michigan, along with his husband and children after four years in the Biden cabinet. Those in his inner circle told Politico that the workload of being in the Cabinet, the travel that accompanies such a job, and the idea of starting a campaign soon after, affected the decision not to run for the Senate. In the months ahead I will be spending more time engaging both legacy and digital media in the service of a politics of everyday life, rooted in the values of freedom, security, and democracy, Buttigieg wrote in a post on Substack. I will be engaging partners, allies, friends and strangers in the service of a more convincing and widespread account of American prosperity than either side has so far offered. And Ill also be taking advantage of my exit from office to spend much more time offline, in dialogue with people like my neighbors in Michigan and communities like South Bend, Indiana, where I grew up and served as mayor. David Axelrod, who helped shepherd former President Barack Obamas two campaigns for the highest office, said he spoke to Buttigieg on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport November 21, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Hes reportedly set to announce that hes not running for the open senate seat in Michigan (Getty Images) The hardest decision in politics is to pass on a race you have a very good chance to win, Axelrod told Politico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pete was an A-list recruit and would have been a formidable candidate for the Senate had he chosen to run, he added. But had he won in 26, it would almost certainly have taken him out of the conversation for 28. This certainly keeps that option open. Beyond that, I have a sense that he wanted to spend more time with his family, and with people in communities like his, where the conversations and concerns are so different than the ones you hear in the echo chamber of Washington, said Axelrod. The former mayors decision not to run for the open seat in a state won by President Donald Trump in November reshapes the upcoming race, with State Sen. Mallory McMorrow having told other Democrats in the state that she will run for the office. Rep. Haley Stevens has also made moves towards running for the seat, such as hiring staff. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii spoke to Buttigieg on several occasions as he made his decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He wanted to decide quickly enough to give other folks a chance to mobilize if they wanted to run, Schatz told Politico. He handled it responsibly. Hes a rising star in the Democratic Party. In a hypothetical 2028 Democratic primary, Buttigieg is only polling behind former vice president and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, whos considering whether she will run for governor of California in 2026. Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday he will not run for Michigans governorship or the states open US Senate seat in 2026, setting up a potential presidential bid in 2028. I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race. I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values - and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not only opposing todays cruel chaos, but also presenting a vision of a better alternative, Buttigieg said in an X post. Buttigieg called fellow Michigan Democrats on Thursday morning to tell them of his decision, which was first reported by Politico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A source familiar with Buttigiegs thinking said his decision sets him up in the strongest possible position to run for president in 2028. The source said running for governor or Senate in 2026 would have taken that option off the table. Following the retirement announcement by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in late January, an adviser to Buttigieg told CNN he was taking a serious look at a Senate campaign. Buttigieg said he thought seriously about running for the governorship Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is also seen as a potential 2028 contender, is term-limited as well as the Senate seat after being encouraged by leaders in Michigan and having conversations with family, friends and officials. I considered what I could bring to the race compared to other likely candidates, and what running and serving would mean compared to other ways I could make a difference in the years ahead, he wrote in a Substack post on his decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former Biden transportation secretary described America as less free, less secure, less democratic and less prosperous under President Donald Trumps administration and that he will spend time in the coming months engaging both legacy and digital media in the service of a politics of everyday life, rooted in the values of freedom, security, and democracy. I will be engaging partners, allies, friends and strangers in the service of a more convincing and widespread account of American prosperity than either side has so far offered, Buttigieg wrote. The decision has rattled some Michigan Democrats, who are increasingly anxious about holding onto a Senate seat in a state President Donald Trump won last November. Senate Democratic leaders and officials involved with their campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, have been privately lobbying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to run for the seat, according to two people with direct knowledge of the conversations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Whitmer runs, top Democrats believe, she would be their strongest contender to hold the seat for the party. But Whitmer who is considering a 2028 run for president is uninterested, according to one of those people. Other Michigan Democrats, including former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, are now encouraging freshman Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet to run behind the scenes, according to two people familiar with those discussions. McDonald Rivet is actively considering a run, according to a person familiar with her thinking. The first-term Democrat won a tough battleground seat Trump also carried. And they believe her mid-Michigan district, which is home to the birthplace of General Motors, represents the kinds of working-class voters that their Senate candidate would need to win in 2026. She would not be the only House Democrat to consider a run. Behind the scenes, Rep. Haley Stevens is also preparing a possible bid if the party doesnt rally behind another candidate, according to the two people familiar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, mounted a presidential campaign in 2019 positioning himself as a moderate. He entered race as a relative unknown among nearly two-dozen Democrats running for the chance to take on Trump at the time. Buttigieg broke barriers as the first openly gay man to launch a competitive campaign for president and raised more than $80 million during his 2020 run. While he had initial success in Iowa and New Hampshire, his campaign struggled to win over voters of color, a key base of the Democratic Party, which hurt his performance in Nevada and South Carolina, leading him to end his campaign shortly before Super Tuesday. Following his failed bid, Buttigieg vaulted into Cabinet work as transportation secretary under former President Joe Biden in a move that many Democrats saw as needed experience for another presidential run. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his tenure as mayor, Buttigieg deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 as an intelligence officer. This headline and story have been updated with additional developments. CNNs Edward-Isaac Dovere and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Pete Buttigieg seems to be playing the long game. The former transportation secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate has decided not to run for Michigans open U.S. Senate seat, which may signal he has his eyes set on something bigger : the White House in 2028. Buttigieg, the first gay person confirmed to a cabinet position by the U.S. Senate, lives in Traverse City with his husband, Chasten , and their two children. But make no mistakehes probably not stepping away from politics . If anything, he may be setting the stage for his biggest campaign yet. The New York Times reports that three people briefed on his deliberations revealed Buttigiegs decision. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana , was widely viewed as a top contender to replace retiring Democrat Sen. Gary Peters, with strong name recognition and a robust fundraising network. But his recent move to Michigan in 2022 opened him up to carpetbagger attacks, and jumping into a Senate race in 2026 would have made a presidential bid two years later far more difficult. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Politico, Buttigieg met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss the possibility of a run, but ultimately, he opted out. Allies say the decision was strategic, keeping his options open for 2028. The hardest decision in politics is to pass on a race you have a very good chance to win, veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod, a mentor to Buttigieg, told Politico. Pete was an A-list recruit and would have been a formidable candidate. But had he won in 26, it would almost certainly have taken him out of the conversation for 28. His choice reshapes the Michigan Senate race, a must-win for Democrats looking to defend their slim majority. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens are expected to enter a high-profile battle. Meanwhile, Republicans see the seat as a prime opportunity to flip after President Donald Trump won Michigan, a key battleground state, in November. Buttigieg was also rumored to be eyeing the Michigan governor's mansion since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited, but he passed on that opportunity as well. Even without a Senate run, Buttigieg remains one of the Democratic Partys most potent voices against Trump. In January, he condemned the president for blaming a deadly plane crash over the Potomac River on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies at the Federal Aviation Administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump used the tragedywhich killed 64 passengers and three Army service membersto push his anti-DEI rhetoric and attack Buttigieg, calling him a disaster. Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying, Buttigieg fired back on X, pointing out that air safety had improved under his watch. That sharp messaging was also on display during his recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he dissected Trumps rhetoric with humor and clarity. Colbert brought up Trumps bizarre claim that Democrats are turning mice transgender, referencing right-wing misinformation about scientific research. Buttigieg brushed off the absurdity before pivoting to real issues impacting Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He called out Trumps foreign policy contradictions, criticizing his attacks on Canada while aligning with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Canada is our friend. Russia is our adversary. And hes got us fighting Canada and helping Russia, Buttigieg said. Buttigieg warned that Trumps new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China would hit working-class Americans the hardest. By the end of this week, youre going to go to the store and find some things are more expensive because you are paying this tax, he explained. Lets be clear what a tariff isits a tax. Buttigieg is keeping his next moves under wraps for now, but signs point to a 2028 run. According to Politico, hes polling just behind former Vice President Kamala Harris among potential Democratic contenders. His fundraising network remains active, and last year, he helped raise more than $15 million for the Harris-Walz campaign. Former South Bend Mayor and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has ruled out a U.S. Senate run in 2026, fueling speculation he's setting his sights on a 2028 presidential run. Buttigieg, who moved to Michigan a few years ago, had reportedly been mulling running for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, who will not seek another term. The former Indiana politician posted on X Thursday morning that he has ruled out the U.S. Senate and Michigan governor's races. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "While my own plans dont include running for office in 2026, I remain intensely focused on consolidating, communicating, and supporting a vision for this alternative," Buttigieg posted. "The decisions made by elected leaders matter entirely because of how they shape our everyday lives - and the choices made in these years will decide the American peoples access to freedom, security, democracy, and prosperity for the rest of our lifetimes." I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race. I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values - and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) March 13, 2025 Buttigieg, 43, and his husband Chasten have twins. He served as mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020 before he ran for president. He later dropped out of the 2020 race and supported Joe Biden's candidacy. He eventually joined Biden's cabinet as transportation secretary. Buttigieg has emerged as a future Democratic Party presidential candidate. He's sharply criticized President Donald Trump recently over issues including tariffs and high consumer prices. "Today, our country is demonstrably less free, less secure, less democratic - and less prosperous - than it was just ten weeks ago," he said in a blog post Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said in the blog posted that he would be spending more time engaging with media in the months ahead to communicate his message, along with "engaging partners, allies, friends and strangers in the service of a more convincing and widespread account of American prosperity than either side has so far offered." "I believe this work is more urgent than ever as America wrestles with itself in new and sometimes frightening ways, though much of what we see around us today is more 'precedented' than we might admit," Buttigieg said. Buttigieg's decision immediately fueled presidential speculation on social media. Contact senior government accountability reporter Hayleigh Colombo at hcolombo@indystar.com. Sign up for our free weekly politics newsletter, Checks & Balances, curated by IndyStar political and government reporters. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pete Buttigieg rules out Senate run in Michiagn SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH said Sunday that the DoD does not do climate change crap, implying the department should focus solely on training and war-fighting, and anything else is a distraction. While it may be a pithy soundbite, it reflects a dangerous blind spotand contradicts a fundamental strategic principle. Many people in the military, possibly even Hegseth himself, are familiar with Sun Tzus famous statement: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt. Many fewer remember the following lines: if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete. Perhaps Sun Tzu was speaking metaphorically, but the rest of The Art of War is supremely practical, and any good soldier knows that terrain and weatherand, yes, climatecan be key allies or stern enemies. As a combat commander in Iraq during the 2007 surge, I experienced firsthand how climatic conditions can disrupt operations. I had planned a ten-day operation involving a U.S. task force, and special operations forces, and five Iraqi Army divisions in northern Iraq. As we were about to kick off, we were hit by severe dust and sandstormsshamals and haboobsintensified by prolonged drought. (It was just about the same time that the National Intelligence Council was working on its first ever report on climate change, which found a likelihood of increase of heat waves and droughts (both in frequency and intensity). These storms canceled air operations, grounded reconnaissance platforms, blinded intelligence collectors, delayed maneuvers, and severely degraded communications. It became clear to everyone in our command: climate change wasnt background noiseit was an operational variable. The weather forced us to delay a major tactical operation against our enemy for weeks; the climate made it more likely that more such operations would be delayed or canceled in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To get the best coverage of Trump 2.0without partisan loyalty or tedious both-sidesismbecome a Bulwark+ member. Thats just one examplethere are plenty of others from every service, domain, and combatant command to illustrate why climate change is a strategic issue that demands the attention of the secretary of defense. Sea level rise, storm surges, and extreme weather events increasingly threaten mission-critical infrastructure. Naval Station Norfolkthe worlds largest naval basenow experiences frequent tidal flooding that disrupts operations and damages infrastructure. Other key installations like Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and Key West face similar vulnerabilities. In 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base suffered $4 billion in hurricane-related damage. Melting Arctic Sea ice is opening new transit routes and fueling geopolitical competition. Russia has militarized its Arctic coastline, and China has declared itself a near-Arctic powera term it invented, since it doesnt actually border the Arctic. During my time as Commander of U.S. Army Europe, our NATO alliesespecially Canada, Norway, as well as Sweden and Finland, which have since joined the alliance had expanded cold-weather training, exercises, and operations in their armies and navies. The Arctic has warmed nearly four times as fast as the rest of the planet in recent decades, and as it gets warmer, it becomes a more viable theater of military competition. Not surprisingly, our allies have modernized their Arctic fleets and the ability of their armies to thrive in cold-weather environments. Mirroring their efforts, our Marines and Army incorporated similar exercises.The president himself, at least momentarily, seemed to recognize the effects of climate change when he made the surpriseand apparently misleadingannouncement of the purchase of about 40 big icebreakers. At the same time, the Defense Department canceled a training exercise in Sweden. Its challenging to determine the logic. Climate change is driving instability across the globe. When crops fail or water runs dry, populations move, and crises follow. Climate-driven migration is already destabilizing regions across Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Commanders at Southern Command and Africa Command have repeatedly testified that environmental degradation is a primary driver of insecurity. The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that the accelerating effects of climate change are placing more of the worlds population, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, at greater risk from extreme weather, food and water insecurity, and humanitarian disasters, fueling migration flows and increasing the risks of future pandemics as pathogens exploit the changing environment. The secretary of defense normally listens to combatant commanders for input into the National Defense Strategy, but Hegseth seems to be precluding one of the major threats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Climate shocks also create domestic demands on U.S. forces. The DoD is increasingly deploying National Guard and active-duty units to the southern border in response to political and climate-driven migration. Those missions will continue to compete for manpower and resources with military support to disaster relief operations. National Guard troops are increasingly asked to respond to out-of-control wildfires, severe hurricanes, and repeated once-in-a-century floodsmissions that strain personnel and divert readiness. In 2023 alone, U.S. troops responded to record-breaking floods in Vermont, massive wildfires in California and Hawaii, and major hurricanes in the east and southeast. The disaster-related demands increased in 2024 and are expected to grow even larger in the future. Facts matter. Running the Department of Defense requires strategic foresight based on critical analysis and force requirement assessments, not uninformed ideology or political soundbites for the base. Sun Tzus wisdom holds: We must know the enemy, know ourselves, and know the heaven and the earth. Todays terrain includes rising seas, melting ice, extreme weather, shifting populations, and new demands on the force. Climate change is not a distant future threatits shaping tomorrows battlefields, on land, sea and in the air, right now. To ignore itor worse, dismiss it as crapis not conservatism. Its strategic malpractice. Share Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is taking aim at the militarys legal system, specifically the judge advocate generals corps, in order to relax the rules of war. The Guardian reports that Hegseth is nominating new judge advocate generals, or JAGs, to replace the ones he fired last month, which will kick off an overhaul of the system. Hegseth has chosen his personal lawyer, former Navy Officer Tim Parlatore, to oversee the effort. Parlatore defended President Trump in his classified documents trial and former Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher on war crimes charges, and will continue to run his private practice at the same time. The overhaul will consist of retraining military lawyers so that their legal advice to commanders will allow for more aggressive tactics and more leniency on charging soldiers with battlefield crimes. Parlatore has reportedly said that JAG officers get too involved in decision-making and dont exercise discretion in their prosecutions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parlatore and Hegseth view JAGs as too restrictive on rules of engagement, and dont like the interpretation of law that soldiers need to identify a target having a weapon before opening fire. Hegseth has also stressed the need to bring back a warrior ethos because he thinks the military has gone soft. Hegseth referred to military lawyers as jagoffs in his book The War on Warriors, saying that restrictions on the laws of armed conflict were too high for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, which aided the enemy. While a Fox News host in Trumps first term, Hegseth successfully appealed to Trump to pardon U.S. soldiers accused of committing war crimes, including Gallagher. Hegseths actions are ominous and disturbing, especially considering that he thinks very little of the Geneva Conventions on human rights. The fact that he faces his own sexual assault allegations also casts a shadow on his planned legal overhaul, as prosecuting sexual abuse in the military has long been a major problem. It seems that he thinks that there is no problem with U.S. soldiers committing war crimes, as long as America is tough. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly planning an overhaul for the militarys lawyers to relax the rules of combat engagement and change how charges are brought against service members. Hegseth wants sweeping changes among the judge advocate generals corps, pushing for more aggressive battlefield actions and more leniency against soldiers accused of offenses, which could include war crimes, sources told The Guardian. The Defense Secretary has enlisted attorney and former naval officer Tim Parlatore to oversee the effort, the sources said. Parlatore has previously served as an attorney for Hegseth, Trump, and Eddie Gallagher, a former Navy SEAL accused of war crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Independent has contacted the Pentagon for comment. The reported shift in strategy comes after the administration last month fired the top lawyers for the Army and Air Force without explanation. The Pentagon is also reportedly moving to halt all civilian harm mitigation work inside the military, leadership at a center focused on advising commanders told The Washington Post. Trump administration has moved to stop civilian harm-reduction efforts at military and fired top lawyers (Getty Images) Hegseth has long derided what he sees as a culture of excessive caution within the military, mocking the judge advocate general core, known by their initials as JAGs, instead calling as jagoffs. In his book The War on Warriors, Hegseth wrote that Americans should not fight by rules written by dignified men in mahogany rooms eighty years ago, and claimed that, In some cases, our units were so boxed in by rules and regulations and political correctness, we even second-guess ourselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hegseth told a podcast in November that during his time as a soldier, he ignored a commanders order in Iraq not to fire on someone unless they raised a weapon to shoot at American soldiers first. Clear as day, I remember walking out of that briefing and pulling my platoon together and being like, Guys, were not doing that, Hegseth said. If you see an enemy, engage before hes able to point his weapon at you and shoot. During his time at Fox News, Hegseth successfully urged Trump to pardon U.S. servicemembers accused, and in one case convicted, of war crimes. As The Independent has reported, the U.S. military has long obscured and undercounted the number of civilians it kills during operations, only disclosing civilian death tolls beginning in 2018 and often failing to conduct full due diligence on the aftermath of attacks gone wrong PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (WJTV) People in Philadelphia, Mississippi, are mourning the loss of Dustin Pope. He is one of the three crew members who died in Mondays medical helicopter crash in Madison County. Drew Robertson said he knew Pope for years. He described Pope as a man who was energetic and outgoing. Three killed in Mississippi medical helicopter crash identified Pope, 35, died alongside Jakob Kindt, 37, of Tupelo; and Cal Wesolowski, 62, of Starkville. Pope was the base supervisor for AirCare in Columbus and a flight nurse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robertson said he worked with Pope for several years in the emergency room at Neshoba General. During that time, Robertson said Pope talked about becoming a flight nurse. He always talked about it a lot before he got into it. And, you know, you could always see it on him whenever he would come to pick up a patient or anything. He was always very you could tell that he was doing what he wanted to be doing, Robertson said. Dustin Pope (Courtesy: UMMC) Jakob Kindt (Courtesy: UMMC) Cal Wesolowski (Courtesy: UMMC) Dr. LouAnn Woodward, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), said AirCare 3, based in Columbus, had flown to the Medical Center to transport a patient and was returning to Columbus when the accident occurred around 12:30 p.m. on Monday. No patient was on board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash. According to Robertson, Pope is survived by his wife, three children, two brothers and his parents. Its kind of been a restless, a little sleepless. My wife and I both was close to their families. They, its just been hard to really figure out whats going on. Just still cant come to a realization of it, how to go forward without Dustin here in the community, said Matthew Burks, a friend of Pope. Popes funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 16 at Macedonia Revival Center in Philadelphia. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. An explosion at Texas Tech University led to a campus-wide evacuation and class cancellations on Wednesday, March 12, after multiple fires and power outages swept through the Lubbock campus. Photos circulating online showed eerie green flames bursting from a manhole cover at Texas Tech University, adding to the mystery of the event. Explosion At Texas Tech University Sparks Evacuations And Campus Shutdown Texas Tech is on fire. Well underneath it. pic.twitter.com/NiPWdVyuJZ Frijole (@frijole123) March 13, 2025 Texas Tech University officials later confirmed that the explosion originated from a manhole, prompting safety concerns and an emergency response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "TechAlert! There is a power outage on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock affecting multiple areas, the university announced at 7:30 p.m. local time. Additionally, we are evacuating the Engineering Key due to a gas odor. Please follow evacuation instructions if you are in the area, and stay tuned for updates. By 9:34 p.m., the campus and Texas Tech Police Department released a follow-up statement confirming the explosions impact. An explosion at a manhole has affected multiple locations on the Texas Tech campus, causing widespread power outages to both Texas Tech University and Health Sciences Center, the update read. The Engineering Key has been evacuated. We ask that the public avoid campus. More information will be provided as it becomes available. Lubbock Fire Rescue Addresses The Incident VIDEO: Chemical-colored flames seen rising up from manholes on Texas Tech campus as evacuation continues. Full story here: https://t.co/he4h3OjKph pic.twitter.com/3641Zdw2rH KCBD NewsChannel11 (@KCBD11) March 13, 2025 Lubbock Fire Rescue also addressed the incident in a press release, stating that they responded to a potential gas leak around 7:00 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Engine 4 arrived first on scene and found multiple manhole covers with active fire and smoke issuing from them, the statement detailed. Engine 4 quickly requested additional units to help mitigate the rapidly escalating scene, and a second alarm was called by Battalion 1 for manpower. At this time, evacuations are isolated to certain areas on campus, the statement concluded. There is no need to evacuate the area if you are not on the campus. As the situation continued to unfold, Texas Tech University confirmed in an update at 10:12 p.m. that the campus would remain closed on Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14. Texas Tech University Closes Campus Early For Spring Break Fires happening under ground near Texas Tech pic.twitter.com/dQTT3o0Ejw Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) March 13, 2025 The university also announced that Spring Break, which was originally scheduled to begin Monday, would begin immediately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Students residing in on-campus residence halls are encouraged to delay departure until daylight Thursday morning, the statement read. With power still out across campus, university officials urged students and employees to avoid the Engineering Key area. Employees were also advised not to return to campus to collect their belongings until further notice. Fortunately, authorities confirmed that no injuries were reported. Fire crews remained on-site to assist the university in handling the situation, while officials continued to investigate the cause of the explosion. Social Media Reacts To The Mysterious Green Explosion COMPLETELY DARK: Hard to tell but this is a look down on campus and you can see its dark, no power is on and you can only see the flashing blue and red lights from authorities #TexasTech | @KAMCNews pic.twitter.com/sfRXpTkKXR Lauren Matter (@LaurenMatter) March 13, 2025 While authorities have yet to determine exactly what caused this situation, many users on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, took to the comments section of the viral video to share their opinions on the matter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David M., an early retired OTR long-haul driver, suggested: "Green flame a likely culprit is copper from electrical infrastructure or plumbing being heated and vaporized into the flame, especially if theres an electrical fault igniting flammable gases like methane from sewage. Without more context, copper is the most common and straightforward explanation for a green flame in such settings." Donald Mitchell, who has ties to Princeton University, said something similar, "I saw something about an electrical transformer fire. Might be green from vaporized copper." Is Copper To Blame? Tech will look at this and say "10am delay" pic.twitter.com/KZxJ5VlWYr TexasTechIraqFans (@IraqTexasTech) March 13, 2025 Another social media user, who goes by Justin Case, echoed the copper theory: "Green fire comes from metals like copper, barium, and boron burning and releasing energy at specific wavelengths in the visible spectrum. Copper, in particular, is responsible for most green fire. As chemical compounds containing copper heat up, they emit photons in the green part of the spectrum that our eyes perceive as emerald flames." The cause of the explosion remains under investigation as emergency crews continue to monitor the area. JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) A Pinson woman killed in a house fire earlier this week was identified Thursday morning. Bill introduced to protect Civil Rights landmarks According to Chris Horn of the Center Point Fire District, a call came just before 3 p.m. regarding a house fire in the 400 block of Heritage Place. Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters spent 15 minutes searching the smoldering structure fire before discovering the victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as 51-year-old Kelli Whisonant Roper. The Alabama Fire Marshals Office is investigating the cause and origin of the fire. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. A version of this story appeared in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. At the White House this week, there are events to pump up Tesla and cryptocurrency, as President Donald Trump pushes products and investments close to the hearts of his backers. Outside the White House there is backlash, particularly against Tesla, and Americans are showing an interest in boycotts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Left-leaning Tesla owners are turning against their electric cars as a protest against Elon Musk, who has evolved from backing Tesla to address climate change to helping elect a president promising to refocus on hydrocarbons and drill, baby drill. This week at the White House: Teslas and crypto Musk needed the free advertising of a Tesla-only White House driveway show to halt the tanking of the companys stock price. It was the least Trump could do after Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to get him elected, according to FEC reports, and plans to pour $100 million more into Trumps political operation, according to the New York Times. Musk and Trumps mutual endorsements now taint Tesla in the eyes of many Americans as does the fact that Trump has let Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency cronies run wild with cuts across the federal government and little transparency about what theyre doing. Another White House event has the potential to turn into a commercial on Friday, when cryptocurrency executives who backed Trumps campaign take place in a crypto summit. The president recently promised to build up a strategic reserve of bitcoin and other currencies, which some have referred to as a bitcoin bailout for assets that have fallen in value after a post-election surge. Meanwhile, at the Washington Post Washington Post subscribers, who signed up to support a paper that changed its motto to Democracy dies in Darkness during the first Trump administration, are canceling subscriptions in droves, fearing that darkness has descended on the Post. First, Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos scrapped a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris; now, he has said the papers opinion section will focus on personal liberties and free markets. Maybe that ends up being an ACLU-style opinion page, but maybe it means a shift to placate Trump at a time when he is attempting to stifle dissent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amazon also paid homage to Trump by acquiring streaming rights to the first seven seasons of The Apprentice, it announced Monday. In January, it paid a premium $40 million, according to the Wall Street Journal to license a Melania Trump-produced documentary about Melania Trump. That cozying up to Trump did not drive the weeklong anti-corporate and relatively unorganized economic blackout movement targeting Amazon and other major corporations this month, but frustration at corporate America is clearly festering. Giving up Target for 40 days Theres a campaign to give up Target for Lent, part of a coordinated effort to punish the retailer for retreating from its programs to promote diversity in its hiring practices. From CNNs report: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Target is one of dozens of Fortune 500 companies that have backtracked on DEI in response to conservative court decisions, pressure from activists and right-wing legal groups, and, more recently, the Trump administrations threats to investigate what it characterizes as illegal DEI, including potential criminal cases against companies. Companies are caught between pursuing efforts to increase diversity and avoiding a conservative legal crackdown. But no company has faced as fierce a blowback from DEI supporters as Target. Customers online have protested the decision and Anne and Lucy Dayton, the daughters of one of Targets co-founders, called the companys actions a betrayal. The fact that Target is facing backlash for responding to backlash to its DEI efforts demonstrates how complicated it is to appeal to all Americans. Investing in MAGA Donald Trump Jr., is part of an investment firm made up of like-minded MAGA conservatives looking to monetize their politics in a sort of parallel economy. The firm, 1789 Capital, got the opportunity to invest in Musk-owned companies, according to a Bloomberg profile. Trump Jr. said he has turned his back on opportunities where he doesnt like the politics. Ive turned down major deals where the ethoses dont alignThere are people who have become MAGA more recently and I dont know they actually believe, Trump Jr., told Bloomberg, which reported that since Inauguration Day, the firm has raised $500 million. Bloomberg reported that 1789 Capital will market itself to public pension plans in red states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 1789 Capital describes itself as advocating an EIG investment strategy, short for entrepreneurship, investment and growth. Its a play on ESG investing, which aims to prioritize investing in companies that care about the environment, social justice and open corporate governance. A conservative judge in Texas recently ruled against 26 red states and in favor of a Biden-era rule that allowed public pension plans to choose such a socially conscious investing strategy. Musks evolution from California-based liberal concerned about climate change to Texas-based libertarian coughing up serious coin for Trump and quietly slashing federal regulations tracks with a change in Teslas brand. A Columbia Business School study compares the politics and brand affinity of people according to their social media habits. In February of 2017, before Musks transformation, the study found Tesla to be more associated with people who followed Democrats on social media. By 2022, after he had moved Tesla and SpaceX to Texas as a form of protest against California, but before he had gone all in for Trump, the situation was reversed and Tesla was more associated with people who followed Republicans. It stands to reason that the transformation of Musks X to an echo chamber for conservatives has further impacted the Tesla brand. Meeting of the minds, but not in the middle There is some indication that Americans on both sides of the aisle are frustrated by the access and power of people like Musk and the perception that their politics plays into their business interests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk is less popular than Trump in a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. From CNNs report by Ariel Edwards-Levy: Just 35% of Americans express a positive view of Musk, with 53% rating him negatively and 11% offering no opinion. Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say that Musk has neither the right experience nor the right judgment to make changes to the way the government works. There is uneasiness about Musk even among some of the presidents supporters: 28% of those who see Trumps changes to the government as necessary doubt the tech billionaire has the judgment to carry them out. Meanwhile, Californias Gov. Gavin Newsom talked to right-wing provocateur Steve Bannon on a podcast Wednesday. Bannon argued to Newsom that California created Musk, something Newsom agreed with, pointing to Teslas use of carbon credits, among other things, to help its bottom line. It was our regulatory process and our subsidies to create this market, youre 100% right, Newsom said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com GRIFTON, N.C. (WNCT) Law enforcement officers with the Raleigh Police Department requested help from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation in regards to the sexual exploitation of minor involving a Grifton woman. After investigating for two weeks 28 year old Inzinga Catherine Jones was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Jones was also charged with two drug violations by the Pitt County Sheriffs Office. The investigation stemmed from an ongoing case where 39 year old Claude Richard Craver of Knightdale was arrested and charged with multiple felony sexual offenses of a minor. Jones was taken to the Pitt County Detention Center and given a $150,000 bond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. Some Pittsburgh residents have been impacted by a data breach at the Rivers Casino in Philadelphia. A spokesperson for Rivers Casino told Channel 11 that there was recently unauthorized access to certain computer systems at Rivers Casino Philadelphia. Letters sent to impacted customers said that someone got into files that contained names, social security numbers and birthdates. While the incident occurred on Rivers Casino Philadelphias systems, the files involved in the incident included certain files held by Rivers Casino Philadelphia, which included patron information from the Rivers Casino Philadelphia and Pittsburgh locations, the spokesperson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rivers Casino did not say who might have accessed the files or how many customers were impacted. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW A few Western lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives are leaning on the Trump administration to investigate, and possibly roll back, a plan to manage invasive species in the Colorado River. They worry that recent efforts to control the spread of smallmouth bass in the Grand Canyon by increasing pulse flows from Glen Canyon Dam are taking too big a bite out of hydropower production and making electricity more expensive. To that end, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) introduced companion bills in both chambers that would review the Bureau of Reclamations 2024 decision to use Glen Canyon Dam to mitigate the spread of smallies. The two bills would also address any impacts the decision has had on the Upper Colorado Basin Fund, which gets most of its funding from hydroelectric power revenues. People in Utah and across the West depend on the Glen Canyon Dam for stable, low-cost electricity, Lee said in a statement introducing the bill last week. Last year, the Biden administration recklessly limited hydropower generation at this site and increased energy costs for millions of people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its difficult to find exact figures for the increased costs that Lee refers to. But according to the Colorado Sun, Glen Canyon Dam did produce less electricity in 2024 around 17 percent less than the previous 23-year average. The ongoing megadrought was also a major factor in that decrease. Lee noted in his statement that any changes to the current smallmouth mitigation plan would balance hydropower interests with conservation efforts. Local river advocates are doubtful, however, that Congressional attempts to realign the plan would prioritize the health of the Colorado and its fish over a healthy revenue stream. Read Next: Breach or Die: Its Time to Free the Lower Snake River and Save Idahos Wild Salmon I have a hard time believing this bill actually aims to protect the rivers ecosystems, Glen Canyon Institute executive director Eric Balken told Politico Wednesday. Balken added that the legislation would make it difficult, if not impossible, to address the smallmouth invasion in the future by increasing flows from Glen Canyon Dam a strategy that, so far, seems to be working in favor of native fish. Keeping Smallies Out of the Grand Canyon The plan that the Bureau of Reclamation adopted last July is pretty straightforward from a fisheries management perspective. But since it revolves around the most important and disputed river system in the West, nothing is quite as simple as it seems. A warmwater slough near Lees Ferry downstream of Glen Canyon dam. Photo by NPS For background, Glen Canyon Dam impounds the Colorado River to form Lake Powell, which stores water and functions as a savings bank during drought years. Lees Ferry, the put-in for boaters on the Grand Canyon, lies just downstream of the dam, which releases cold water from the bottom of Lake Powell and provides hydroelectric power in the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In recent decades, however, as protracted droughts and battles over water rights have sapped the mighty river, the water level of Lake Powell has dropped dangerously close to dead pool the point at which the lake would be too low to send any water downstream. To put it lightly, this would seriously disrupt a system that provides water for more than 40 million Americans. Dropping water levels have also allowed some of the lakes smallmouth bass to slip through the dams turbines and into the Grand Canyon below. Colorado River managers started seeing this around 2021. And as much as we love smallmouth bass as a sportfish, they are one of the most dangerous species in the country from a conservation perspective. In the case of the Grand Canyon, bronzebacks are eating into populations of native fish, including razorback suckers and the federally-protected humpback chub. Smallmouths are also impacting rainbow and brown trout, two other non-natives that are managed closely in the canyon. After trying other ideas, like poisoning certain stretches, the Bureau of Rec. came up with a different strategy that was approved by the Biden administration and enacted in 2024. The plan involved increasing flows from Glen Canyon Dam during the smallmouth spawning season. These pulses of cold water would theoretically disrupt their ability to spawn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read Next: $100,000 Fine for Releasing a Smallmouth Bass in Canadian River: Do Mandatory Catch-and-Kill Orders Actually Help Population Control? And the plan worked. Quite well, actually, according to the National Park Service. After implementation in 2024, NPS fisheries managers surveying the Grand Canyon were unable to find any smallmouth bass spawning in the 76-mile stretch between Glen Canyon Dam and the confluence with the Little Colorado. Theyd also taken additional actions to keep smallies out of the canyon, including electroshocking, and the placement of block nets and fish traps. But to have any lasting effect on bass populations, those efforts will have to continue. Ongoing actions to monitor and control this species will continue to be needed, the NPS explained in a detailed report. If reproduction can be suppressed by keeping river temperatures below critical thresholds, the population should decline to a point where much less removal effort is needed to keep the population from becoming established. EAU CLAIRE The man who displayed a gun in a bar late last year will have the chance to clear his record if he stays out of trouble for the next two years. Berant Sandvig, 36, Eau Claire, had faced charges of second degree recklessly endangering safety, pointing a firearm at another, carrying a handgun where alcohol is sold and consumed, OWI-3, operating with a prohibited alcohol content (third offense), possession of cocaine and possession of a firearm while intoxicated. All but the first charge were misdemeanors. The charge of endangering safety is a Class G felony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of the agreement, Sandvig pleaded guilty to pointing the gun at another patron, having the gun in the bar, the OWI and possessing a firearm while intoxicated. The court did not immediately accept the pleas, allowing Sandvig to enter into a deferred acceptance of guilty plea agreement. If he successfully completes the two-year period for the agreement the counts will be dismissed, with the exception of the OWI. For the OWI, the court sentenced him to 80 days in jail with three days credit and fined him $2,602 plus the cost of the blood draw. According to the criminal complaint, police went to the Alibi Lounge after a report of a man pointing a gun at another patron. The man told police Sandvig had said If I gotta use it, Ill use it, but was not aggressive or confrontational. Sandvig had left the bar before police arrived, but was stopped on Saxonwood Road in Altoona shortly afterwards. A breath test returned a .183 result and the gun was found, unloaded, in the car. Tamela Peterson, the CEO of the Oxford Center in Troy, ran away from detectives when they asked for her cellphone and had her son scrub her laptop days after 5-year-old Thomas Cooper was burned alive inside one of the centers hyperbaric oxygen chambers on Jan. 31, Troy Police say. Still, police found electronic messages on Peterson's devices, said Detective Danielle Trigger, including an exchange in which Peterson sent photos of the boys burning body and wrote something to the effect of: If my leg was on fire, I would at least try to hit it and put it out. He just laid there and did nothing. Peterson's messages also show that when she was asked whether the company was promoting hyperbaric chambers to treat erectile dysfunction, she responded: "Whatever gets bodies in those chambers, lol," according to a transcript of Trigger's March 7 testimony before 52-4 District Court Magistrate Elizabeth Chiappelli, which was obtained by the Detroit Free Press. The Oxford Centers CEO and founder Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, listens to attorneys speak as she is arraigned in front of Judge Elizabeth Chiappelli at the Oakland County 52-4 District Court in Troy on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in 5-year-old childs hyperbaric chamber death. Peterson, 58, of Brighton, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in Thomas death, as are the Oxford Centers operations director, Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, and its safety and training director, Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A fourth person, Aleta Harward Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, was the operator of the chamber on the morning of Thomas death and is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record. Trigger said her testimony, only begins to paint the picture of the blatant neglect for safety protocols on behalf of the Oxford Center that ultimately resulted in the loss of Coopers life," according to the transcript. Trigger's testimony occurred during a hearing called a "swear-to," which is part of the legal process of having the four criminally charged. "The investigation has shown a clear history of dishonesty, interference with investigations, predatory behavior towards vulnerable individuals desperately trying to get treatment, and a culture of negligence and unsafe practices that's gone on for years. The Oxford Center, which has a second location in Brighton, offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy for a variety of conditions that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including autism, cerebral palsy, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Officials respond to an incident at the Oxford Center in Troy on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Thomas was undergoing his 36th of 40 treatments, Trigger said, when he died. The Cooper family's attorney told the Free Press he was being treated at the center for ADHD and sleep apnea, which also are not conditions approved for treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel described the business as unscrupulous, saying that, for years, Peterson, Marken and Mosteller disregarded safety measures. They used the highly pressurized oxygen chambers on childrens bodies over and over again to provide unaccredited and debunked so-called treatments, chiefly because it brought cash into the door. But the testimony Trigger presented about the four accused in the death of the boy from Royal Oak paints a clearer picture of the state attorney general's case against them. Trigger testified that for years, Oxford Center staff "blatantly ignored" safety measures that could have kept Thomas alive, including a failure to use grounding straps, which typically are worn around the wrist during hyperbaric oxygen therapy to discharge static electricity that could spark a fire. Former employees told police they'd been advised by Peterson, Marken and Mosteller that the straps weren't necessary even though industry experts, safety manuals, and the Oxford Center's own training materials suggest otherwise, Trigger said. One former employee described as a certified hyperbaric technologist told the three she refused to run the hyperbaric chambers due to the lack of safety practices. She was fired, Trigger said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mosteller performed his own safety experiment in an attempt to prove grounding straps were not necessary, former employees said. Mosteller, in an interview, couldn't tell police the name of a single medical facility in his 41 years of hyperbaric chamber experience that did not use them, Trigger said Hyperbaric chambers contain 100% oxygen that is pressurized. Those conditions make the environment inside them highly combustible. Trigger said waivers signed by patients and the parents of children who were treated at the center didn't include warnings of a fire hazard. And while adults were required to wear medical scrubs when using the center's chambers, children were allowed to wear their own pajamas inside, so long as they were made of 100% cotton, she said. The type of material matters, according to a 1997 study that analyzed 73 years of data on hyperbaric chamber fires globally and their causes. It found synthetic materials and wool fibers can build up static charges (and) should not be permitted inside the chamber because of the risk that they could ignite a fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A video obtained by Troy police showed that the tags on Thomas' pajamas were never checked to ensure they were made of cotton before he went inside the chamber, Trigger said. Nessel said it was a single spark that led to the explosion that killed Thomas. Trigger testified that the video shows the boy lying on a black mattress that had been covered by a white sheet. There was a pillow with a patterned pillowcase on it beneath his head. A gray blanket that had just been taken out of the dryer by Moffitt covered him. Trigger noted that the pillows used inside the chambers at the facility were 100 percent polyester, which is prohibited for use in hyperbaric chambers, "partially due to the fire risk." He rolls onto his side and pulls his knee up towards his chest, which results in a visible ignition, Trigger said. The chamber immediately begins to burn internally and in what could only be described as a fireball, ultimately killing Thomas Cooper. At the time of the initial ignition to the time the inside of the chamber is fully engulfed in flames, killing Cooper, is approximately three seconds. Thomas Cooper, age 5, died at The Oxford Center in Troy after a hyperbaric chamber he was in exploded. Trigger said the video did not show Thomas wearing a grounding strap. Detectives later found grounding straps in what she described as a "junk drawer." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More, I observed what appeared to be a grounding wire for the chamber involved in the incident wrapped in electrical tape and was clearly in worse condition or inconsistent with the other chambers in the room, Trigger said. Investigators also learned that the other two chambers within the facility were only a few years old, while the chamber involved in the incident had a manufacturer date of 2013. Authorities also allege that Marken tampered with the life cycle indicator on the hyperbaric chamber that killed Thomas, dialing back the number of times it had been used. Trigger testified that witnesses saw Marken use a screwdriver "to remove the panel from the side of the chamber, remove the cycle counter, and roll back the number in order to make the cycle count look lower and to extend the life of the chamber. ... They were confident that this was likely done at the direction of Peterson," Trigger said. Employees described Marken as Peterson's "right hand" and the "muscle" of the operation, suggesting he and Peterson were "one and the same," Trigger said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The chamber that Thomas used on the day he died hadn't undergone routine maintenance or inspection by the manufacturer, California-based Sechrist Industries, since 2022, Trigger said. And when the company last inspected the machine in 2022, it documented that the chamber had been used more than 20,000 times, she testified. But when the device was checked after the fire, the life cycle count had been dialed back to 19,894. Police recovered a November 2024 email exchange between Peterson and the chamber's manufacturer that showed she had requested an inspection of all the hyperbaric chambers on-site, Trigger said. The company declined to inspect the hyperbaric oxygen chamber that killed Thomas because of its high life cycle, and "Peterson then responds stating that they had sold that chamber and it was no longer in use," Trigger testified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moffitt and two other hyperbaric chamber technicians were not certified to administer the treatments, Trigger said. Peterson and Marken had certifications that lapsed prior to 2020. Additionally, she said a physician hasn't been present at the Oxford Center to oversee hyperbaric treatments for years. On the morning of Thomas' death, Peterson arrived at the Oxford Center with Mosteller and began yelling that the manufacturer needed to get there quickly "because they do everything by the book" at the center, Trigger said. But Trigger alleged Peterson tried to hide video footage from detectives, first telling them recordings from the Troy facility were accessible only at the centers Brighton location, and then later stating she did not remember the password to access the video system. While the investigation remains ongoing, the Oxford Center's Brighton location was still administering hyperbaric treatments, Trigger said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All four defendants have pleaded not guilty and were being held in the Oakland County Jail with bonds set at $2 million for Peterson, $250,000 each for Marken and Mosteller, and $100,000 for Moffitt. Probable cause conferences are set for Wednesday, with preliminary hearings set for March 26. Peterson's attorney, Gerald Gleeson II, said he wanted to obtain the investigation documents from the Attorney General before commenting on Trigger's testimony. When reached by email, Marken's attorney, Raymond Cassar, did not immediately comment on the allegations. An attorney for Mosteller was not listed in court records as of Wednesday afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cassar previously said the tragedy was an accident rather than intentional. He said Marken wasn't tasked with overseeing the hyperbaric chamber, and the charges against him were shocking to Marken and his family. "We're going to fight," Cassar pledged. Ellen Michaels, a lawyer representing Moffitt, said Moffitt was an hourly worker at the Oxford Center who adhered to corporate policies created by its leaders. "Everything that has been presented to the court to this point are allegations, not facts, not evidence," Michaels said. "We look forward to reviewing the actual evidence. We believe in letting this process unfold." (This story has been updated with new information.) Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@freepress.com or on X: @andreamsahouri. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After boy died in hyperbaric chamber, police say CEO scrubbed evidence CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) Its been five days since Daniel Callahan was last seen in Chicopee as law enforcement continues its search along the Connecticut River. The East Windsor Police Department stated on Monday that family and friends reported seeing 26-year-old Daniel Callahan of East Windsor, Connecticut leaving a party on Saturday night in Chicopee. His father reported him missing at around 9:51 a.m. on Sunday in East Windsor. At approximately 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, officers and detectives discovered what appeared to be signs of a possible car crash at the end of Walter Street. They found evidence that led detectives to believe a person may have driven their vehicle into the Connecticut River. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chicopee fire leaves one dead, seven without home The Massachusetts State Police Dive Team located an unoccupied black Toyota Camry submerged in the river. At around 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, the vehicle was removed and was later revealed to be registered to Callahans father. Authorities cant confirm if Daniel was the operator of the vehicle at the time it entered the river. Daniel Callahan (East Windsor Police Department) Search resumes along the Connecticut River On Thursday afternoon, the Hampden County Sheriffs Office Marine Patrol Unit has three boats operating on the Connecticut River with the assistance of Chicopee Police. Joining the search is a Massachusetts State Police K-9 unit. Hampden County Sheriffs Office Hampden County Sheriffs Office Hampden County Sheriffs Office Hampden County Sheriffs Office Hampden County Sheriffs Office Hampden County Sheriffs Office Medina St boat ramp Medina St boat ramp This investigation will continue to be conducted by the Chicopee Police Crash Reconstruction Team, Hampden County District Attorneys Office, Massachusetts State Police, and the East Windsor Police Department. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. VIDEO: Family of Belva Day reacts after authorities find her car. JACKSONVILLE, Ark. Police have identified the body of a 95-year-old woman who was reported missing from Mountain Home in February. Authorities said the body of Belva Day was positively identified on Wednesday after her body was found in her car on the Little Rock Air Force Base on March 5. Car of 95-year-old Mountain Home woman found at Little Rock Air Force Base Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jacksonville police said the car was found in an embankment in a wooded area of the base. Arkansas State Police issued a Silver Alert for Day on Feb. 9. According to ASP officials, Day was last seen paying her electric bill at 1:58 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6 at North Arkansas Electric in Mountain Home. A 95-year-old Mountain Home woman is still missing after 2 weeks Jacksonville Police Department officials said this is still an ongoing investigation Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. Parents of students at Tracy Elementary School in Millcreek Township were looking for answers Thursday night. It comes after hearing that a student brought in a substance Wednesday, March 12 that led to other students being taken to the hospital. The school sent a message to parents Thursday that reads in part: A student brought a honey supplement with energy-boosting ingredients to school and shared it with a small number of other students. Once Tracy Elementary staff became aware, the packets were confiscated and any student who had ingested the honey was identified, evaluated by the nurse, and their parents were contacted. Tracy Elementary School Erie police investigating armed robbery at local store Millcreek Township police were at the school Thursday morning. They released a statement this afternoon that read in part: We are aware of a concerning incident that involved grade school students at tracy school who ingested a honey based stimulant product. The affected students were taken to local hospitals to be medically assessed due to the affects of ingesting the products. All affected students returned to school today. Millcreek Township Police Department Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. A death investigation is underway after a Massachusetts man was found fatally shot inside a home in Maine, authorities announced Thursday. Somerset County Sheriffs Office deputies responding to a report of a shooting at a home at 531 Madawaska Road in Palmyra just after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday discovered a 28-year-old man dead inside, according to a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Palmyra is located about 50 miles north of Augusta, Maines capital city. The victim, identified as Jaquan Humphries, of Bostons Mattapan neighborhood, had been living at the home, Maine State Police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta has since determined that Humphries cause of death was a gunshot wound. His manner of death was ruled a homicide Authorities noted that there is no known danger to the public at this time. An investigation is ongoing. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW PROVO, Utah (ABC4) After receiving reports of two separate incidents involving gunshots in the same neighborhood, the Provo Police Department is seeking additional surveillance footage from the area. According to Provo PD, the first incident happened between 5 and 6 a.m. on Sunday, March 9. The second incident happened around 9 p.m. on Monday, March 10. The specific residence where the incidents took place is not being released, but officials said the area being investigated is 600 South, between 1600 and 700 West in Provo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are appealing to neighbors or businesses in the immediate area to check their door camera or surveillance footage around the time of both incidents, Provo PD said in a press release. Details about the suspect vehicle are unknown at this time, but police shared an image of the car. Police have asked that any footage that may help with identifying the suspect(s) or the vehicle involved be sent to detectives using this link. Any witnesses of the incidents or anyone with information about them has been asked to call Detective Lemley at 801-852-6326. There is no further information at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. ANTICOH, Ill. (WFRV) A woman in northern Illinois is reportedly missing, and police say they are pursuing leads in Illinois as well as parts of southern Wisconsin. According to the Antioch Police Department, 37-year-old Megan Bos is missing. Bos was reportedly last heard from by family members on February 17. Authorities say she was reported missing to police this week. Multiple leads are being pursued according to the lease, and police say they are coordinating with several law enforcement agencies across Illinois and Wisconsin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oshkosh Police investigating two separate gunshot-related incidents, officials unsure if they were linked Her whereabouts are unknown, but her family reportedly said she is known to frequent the Waukegan, Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee areas. Bos is described at 54 tall, weighing around 200 pounds, with dark brown hair and eyes. She also has tattoos on her right bicep, chest and right thigh as well as a birthmark below her left eye. We are asking anyone with information to come forward to help Megan reunite with her family. We ask anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is urged to call the CenCom Dispatch Center at 847-270-9111. Antioch Police Chief Geoffrey Guttschow Suspect arrested months after shooting inside a popular Wisconsin mall No additional information was provided. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. SALEM A 20-year-old Lawrence, Mass., man was lured to the area of a suspected overdose death in Salem where he was arrested for drug possession on March 4. Police responded to a home on Millville Road around 4 a.m. on March 1 for reports that a woman was unconscious and not breathing. The woman was pronounced dead on the scene, according to police logs. Posing as the deceased, police coaxed Cesar Kelvin Carvajal Lara to Salem to sell her drugs when he was arrested near the womans residence. Ten grams of fentanyl were seized from him, police said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though impersonating a deceased victim is an uncommon tactic, Captain Jason Smith said the details of the case allowed for it to happen. Carvajal Lara was charged with selling more than 5 grams of fentanyl, a special felony, and is being held without bail. He is also being held on an ICE detainer. At his arraignment on March 5, the defense asked for Carvajal Lara to be released on a $5,000 cash bail, which was denied by a judge. The Salem Police Department requested he be held on preventative detention as he is a danger to the community and a flight risk. Smith said the fact that the federal government has an ICE detainer on him is an indication that his immigration status might make him a flight risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carvajal Lara does not have a criminal history, Smith said. The incident remains under investigation and further charges are possible. A recent Supreme Court case in New Hampshire ruled that death resulting cases can only be prosecuted where the drugs were sold. At this time, police are still investigating the origin of the sale. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Michael Bernard at 603-893-1911. A pizza delivery worker stopped in her tracks Sunday after a Florida police officer warned the worker there was an alligator in front of the house she was bringing food to. The officer had contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the gator, but the pizza delivery worker arrived at the Bradenton home located about an hour's drive south of Tampa before the trappers arrived on Sunday. "Stop! Stop, stop - there's an alligator underneath that car right there," the officer can be heard saying on body cam video released by the department on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The officer suggested that the delivery worker go around the back of the house to drop off the food, but the 8-foot-long gator spooked her. "Would you want to do it, officer?" the worker asked. A neighbor, watching what was going on with the alligator, called the customer inside the home to warn her. "Do not come out your front door," the neighbor can be hard saying on the call. "There's an alligator there." But the hungry customer seemingly didn't get the message and came out the front door to pick up her food anyway. The resident called out in shock as the police officer directed her to get back in her house. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Oh my heaven, there's a big alligator under my car," she said. "Oh, my lordy." A Florida police officer dropped off a woman's pizza order after an alligator spooked the delivery driver. / Credit: Bradenton Police Department As the officer continued calling out to the woman to get inside, she eventually asked about her food, and the officer said he'd bring it around back. "How much was it?" the woman asked. "I have no idea; I'm not the pizza man," the officer replied. After realizing the man at the door with her food was a police officer and not the delivery worker, the customer told him she'd like a picture of the alligator. The officer later used the woman's phone to take some shots of the alligator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "FWC trappers relocated the gator away from the neighborhood (and Italian restaurants,)" the police department wrote on Facebook. Trappers captured and relocated the 8-foot alligator. / Credit: Bradenton Police Department Trump reacts to European Union slapping tariffs on U.S. goods Kentucky bourbon maker says Trump tariffs immediately impacted his business Latest on missing American college student in the Dominican Republic Two months after a fatal shooting in Long Pond, homicide charges have been filed. At a press conference Wednesday, March 12, Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department (PMRPD) Chief Chris Wagner and Monroe County District Attorney Michael Mancuso recapped the Jan. 12 incident that took the life of Lionardo Zarata, 22, of Venezuela. Zarata was found deceased in a short-term rental on Clover Road in Long Pond on Jan. 12. In a press release issued the morning of the press conference, PMRPD said that the shooting was the result of a payment dispute between Jesus Sosa, who DJed Zaratas birthday party, and Zarata. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Police: Victim in Long Pond shooting homicide was 22-year-old from Venezuela Wagner revealed during the conference at PMRPD headquarters that Jesus Sosa's brother, 37-year-old Oswaldo Solorzano Sosa of Venezuela, and 24-year-old Josthin Landaeta Perez, also of Venezuela, were kicked out of the party earlier for being disrespectful to other guests. Later in the night, the Sosas and a third brother, Oscar Quilarque Sosa, 31, of Venezuela, returned to the residence along with Perez and essentially bullied their way back into the party, leading to a confrontation with, and the shooting death of, Zarata. Oswaldo and Oscar Sosa and Perez are charged with criminal homicide. From left to right: Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department Detective Cpl. Kyle VanNote, PMRPD Chief Chris Wagner and Monroe County DA Michael Mancuso at a press conference at PMRPD headquarters on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Mancuso said that it was a real pleasure working, once again, with PMRPD. He also recounted getting a call from the Federal Bureau of Investigation about a narcotics and firearms investigation into Oscar Quilarque Sosa and a car he may have driven. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were talking about a scene that contained upwards of 30 or more people at it, said Mancuso. So, there were a lot of names, theres a lot of evidence left behind. There was even a suitcase, if I remember correctly, in the driveway. That was how hasty the exit was. As of the noon press conference on March 12, Oscar Sosa was in federal custody and Perez was in state custody in New York City, while Jesus was in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Orange County, New York, and Oswaldo Sosa was at large. Jesus Sosa faces multiple charges, including conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver/manufacture. Max Augugliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: 3 men from Venezuela charged in fatal shooting in the Poconos COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A 17-year-old boy is under arrest after Columbus police said he was behind the wheel when a pedestrian was hit and killed Wednesday afternoon. A Columbus police dispatcher said officers were called to the 1300 block of Marion Road on the south side just after 4:45 p.m. on reports of a pedestrian being struck by a car. Police identified the victim as Julio Garcia, 58. Whitehall mother sentenced in death of 9-month old daughter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbus Police Sgt. Joseph Albert said the suspect was doing donuts in the middle of the road when the pedestrian was hit. He said the teen exhibited signs of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Officers arrived on scene, located this silver sedan thats behind me off the roadway, and located an adult male who appeared to have been struck by that sedan, Albert said. Garcia was taken to Grant Medical Center in life-threatening condition, but was pronounced dead at 5:17 p.m. Albert said the teenager stayed at the scene. We believe from reports that weve received from witnesses in the area that he was driving reckless down Marion Road, potentially doing some donuts in the middle of the road when he left the roadway and struck the pedestrian who was on the sidewalk, Albert said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former NFL, Groveport football star LeVeon Bell accused of sexual assault, victim awarded $25M in civil suit Albert said police tend to see an uptick in these types of incidents as the weather gets nicer and more people are outside. We caution people, especially kids, we see kids out playing this time of year, just remind them not to run out in the street, he said. Even if the ball goes out in the street or throwing the football around, something in the yard, dont run out after it. Get an adult to go out there for you. Thats where we see a lot of more pedestrian accidents this time of year. Somebody crossing the street in a vehicle, just driving down the road and not being able to stop. The driver could likely be charged with operating a vehicle while impaired, Albert said. Columbus police have yet to confirm if the teen will face additional charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. MIAMISBURG, Ohio (WDTN) A person is in custody hours after law enforcement was called to a reported shooting Wednesday evening in a Miamisburg neighborhood. The Miamisburg Police Department said during a March 13 press conference that a person the department was looking for and allegedly wanted in connection to the death of Leslie Ross, 52, of Dayton, has been taken into custody. Police said Ross suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Miamisburg Police Chief Mike Brem confirmed the person the department was looking for was found and apprehended at 12:16 p.m. in the area of Blossom Hill Road and Elm Street in West Carrollton. Brem said a couple walking down the sidewalk noticed the person and contacted police. Montgomery County Regional Dispatch sent officials March 12 around 9:30 p.m. to the 700 block of Golden Arrow Court. Although the relationship between the person taken into custody and Ross is currently unknown, Brem said the department believes they knew each other only a short time. Another individual was taken into custody Wednesday, but on unrelated charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. A 17-year-old Milwaukee boy is critically missing. Jalen Harris was last seen Wednesday on the 4400 block of North 64th Street, according to a Milwaukee Police Department media release. The boy is about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs about 120 pounds and has medium-length hair. Haris was last seen wearing a black-gray-white camouflage mask, a black-and-white Nike jacket, gray jogger pants with a white stripe and black-and-white Nike shoes. He should be on foot, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information on Harris' whereabouts is asked to call police at 414-935-7272. "Critically missing" is a label police apply to people who may be especially vulnerable due to a variety of factors. David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Police searching for critically missing Milwaukee 17-year-old Update: An update from the Abingdon Police Department said Jackson may be wearing blue pants or jeans with a black t-shirt that says Count Your Blessings. ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL) The Abingdon Virginia Police Department is searching for a woman who was last seen in the area of Bradley Street. Melisa Jackson was last seen wearing a blue shirt and polka-dot pants. She is 51 years old, weighs 222 pounds and is 56 tall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those with information about Jacksons whereabouts are asked to call the Washington County dispatch number at 276-676-6277 or the Abingdon Virginia Police Department. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. This week a wholesale company in Port Angeles was busted for having an undeclared shipment of green urchins. Officers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife were inspecting commercial shellfish tickets when an officer spotted a load of urchins. This prompted the officer to check the receiving logs and discovered that no ticket had been issued for the urchin. Officers then inspected the warehouse and found 1,400 pounds of green urchin without the appropriate paperwork completed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result, officers confiscated the urchin and transferred it to another wholesaler. Police said the company was not legally operating the business because it had not purchased its 2025 commercial license. This comes after the company previously pled guilty to another charge and was on probation. Police submitted charges of first-degree unlawful fish and shellfish accounting, not having a valid wholesale dealers license and additional charges. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The Clark County School District Police arrested three people last week for bringing guns to campus. One of those arrests happened at Legacy High School in the far north valley near Deer Springs Way and 5th Street. According to Clark County School Districts data, Legacy High School leads all campuses with the most gun seizures since the start of the school year. 8 News Now obtained police reports through a public records request that show students at Legacy told officers they brought a gun for safety. Some of the students are also gang-affiliated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A CCSDPD report detailed an incident on Dec. 3, 2024. Officers reportedly saw a group of Legacy High School students walking to a fight. According to an arrest report, officers arrested one kid who initially denied being a gang member, but then provided with the facts and circumstances, admitted that he was a member of the North Las Vegas gang the report redacted the gangs name. The teen told CCSDPD he was blessed into the gang. Photos 8 News Now obtained from CCSDPD showed officers confiscated a fully loaded handgun from the gang-affiliated student. Three days later on Dec. 6, another student was arrested with a fully loaded gun. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the police report, CCSDPD and the Las Vegas Metro Police Departments joint juvenile gang task force identified a teen after he uploaded photos on social media of the gun. That post reportedly prompted a family member to call the Department of Children and Family Services. Police said they found in the teens backpack a ski mask on top of gloves and witnessed the butt and magazine of a firearm. A background check on the gun revealed it was stolen. Eight guns have been confiscated at Legacy High School since August of last year when the school year began and this has prompted parents to speak out. I just would like parents to be aware of their surroundings, and like lets be a community and help each others kid out. If you see something, maybe you can intervene, a parent told 8 News Now. A mother and father requested anonymity due to the threat of gang violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Someone pulled a gun on their child last week Monday while going to school. The gentleman started to scream out of the window. Ill pop you. Ill shoot you, and some other vulgar language, one of the parents said. 8 News Now asked Jhone Ebert, who is the state superintendent of schools and a candidate for CCSD superintendent, about the gun arrests. No child. No student. Actually, no parent. Anybody on campus should not have a gun. Health and safety is number one in everything that we do at all times, and there shouldnt be any weapons on campus ever, Ebert said. According to CCSD, an adult was arrested Wednesday, Mar. 5, at Legacy High School with a gun. It is illegal for anyone to have a gun on school property. Students caught with one are automatically expelled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since August of last year, school police have confiscated 28 guns at CCSD schools Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TEXARKANA, Texas (KTAL/KMSS)The Texarkana, Texas Police Department is asking for help finding a runaway teen who has not been seen for weeks. Aniyah Liggans (Source: Texarkana Texas Police Department) They say 14-year-old Aniyah Liggans snuck out of her house in the middle of the night in January and has been missing ever since. In the meantime, she has been writing letters to her family but has not shown any signs of returning home on her own. Investigators believe she is staying with a friend in the College Hill area of Texarkana, AR. Anyone who has seen Aniyah or may know where she is please call (903) 798-3116. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, right, speaks alongside Canadian Consul General Sylvain Fabi, left, at the Capitol on March 13, 2025. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline) Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke out on Thursday against tariffs imposed on Canada by the United States as a 25% levy on all steel and aluminum imports took effect this week. Any additional tariffs with Canada would make us all worse off. Canada will lose, the United States will lose and Colorado will lose. Itll decrease export markets for growing Colorado and major Colorado products, and it will increase prices for American consumers, he said in his office at the Capitol, alongside Sylvain Fabi, Canadian consul general in Denver. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Polis, a Democrat in his second term, then announced that March 15 will be Colorado Canada Friendship Day to mark the relationship between the state and the country. Our close partnership with Canada strengthens our economy, protects our national security and enriches our culture, at a time when in Washington, our national government seems to be confusing friends with enemies, he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump on steel and aluminum imports went into effect Wednesday, part of a trade fight that has worried watchers of the global economy. There is already a 25% tariff on Canadian goods that are not under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Canada is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States. That country announced retaliatory tariffs totaling about $20 billion on American goods. Trump briefly threatened to double the tariffs on Canada when Ontario moved to impose a 25% surcharge on electricity sold to Minnesota, Michigan and New York state, but he scrapped the plan when Canada agreed to suspend the planned charges. The economic skirmish is part of a broader fraying of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Trump administration, which has also repeatedly threatened to annex the country as the 51st state. Let us get back to the effective and constructive relationship that has defined so much of our shared history as friends, partners and allies, Fabi said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Colorado has no power to set or reduce tariffs, Polis wanted to voice support for Canada. Now is the time to go out of our way to show our appreciation to a partnership that has made Canadians and Americans better off, he said. Its important that Canadians know that not all Americans in fact, most Americans dont feel the way our current administration has treated them is appropriate. There are about 272 Canadian-owned companies in Colorado that employ about 21,000 people, according to the governors office. In 2023, 18% of Colorados exports went to Canada. Status of ICE detainees Polis also weighed in on recent operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Colorado. ICE and the Drug Enforcement Agency targeted several locations, including going door-to-door at an apartment building, in Denver and Aurora last month and have confirmed a handful of arrests on social media. The agency claims it is targeting immigrants without proper documentation who have a criminal history but has not divulged the total number of arrests, the associated charges and the fate of detainees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the start of this years legislative session, Polis told reporters that he welcomes more federal help to detain and deport criminals. To the best of my knowledge, the operations have targeted criminals. But I dont have sufficient transparency or knowledge to say that conclusively, he said Thursday, adding later that he doesnt have full trust. We have a great partnership with all of our federal enforcement partners. We have under many different presidents, and thats something we pride ourselves on in our state, whether its President Biden or President Trump. In response to a question about the number of Coloradans who have recently lost their jobs as the Trump administration pushes agencies to make deep spending cuts, Polis said he is worried about how it could impact wildfire readiness in the state. Agencies and workers who manage trails, roads and forests have all been affected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It could directly lead to increased forest fire risk here in our state, so Im extremely concerned about that, he said. We do not have the ability to backfill the federal governments withdrawal from basic items like road maintenance and forest management, so Im really hopeful that those cuts can be restored. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Polish President Andrzej Duda called on the U.S. to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland as a deterrent against future Russian aggression, he said in an interview with the Financial Times published on March 13. "The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later, there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east. For me, this is obvious," Duda said. Duda suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump could relocate nuclear warheads stationed in Western Europe or the U.S. to Poland, arguing that Russia had already taken similar steps by deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus," Duda said. "They didn't ask anyone's permission." Duda said he recently discussed the idea with Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, and hopes to revive a nuclear-sharing proposal that he unsuccessfully presented to former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration in 2022. The proposal comes amid mounting warnings from Western leaders and intelligence agencies about the possibility of a large-scale war in Europe within the next five years. Then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, signed an agreement in May 2023 to transfer tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Poland's neighbor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia's tactical nuclear weapons are designed for use on the battlefield in Europe and Asia and have a more limited range compared to strategic nuclear weapons, which could reach the U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly issued nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. While those threats have not materialized, concerns persist over Russia's military ambitions beyond Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron has also signaled a shift in nuclear policy, saying on March 5 that France is open to extending its nuclear umbrella to protect European allies. Read also: Russia presents US with demands for possible Ukraine war deal, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Danville Planning Commission has recommended approval of a companys plans to bring a therapeutic support center for children to the former Telvista building at Airside Industrial Park. Commissioners voted 6-0 Monday afternoon to recommend the Danville City Council approve a special-use permit for Kare Partners LLC to open and operate Compleat KiDZ, a therapeutic day support program children age 2 to 10. Commission member Pierre Jones was absent. Kare Partners LCC, filed the request for the permit and plans to bring about 200 jobs within five years at the former Telvista location at 119 Cane Creek Blvd., which most recently housed PRA Group, a debt collection company that operated there from 2020 to 2023. Telvista closed in 2018. Kare Partners, which owns and operates 19 Compleat KiDZ locations in North Carolina and southern Virginia, would start out serving 25 children and expand to 150 children within the first year. Compleat KiDZ offers occupational, speech and physical therapy to children with special needs, including those with autism, Tasha Gallahar, board certified behavior analyst with the company, told commissioners. This [Cane Creek Boulevard] building is kind of perfect for us, she told the commission. It has everything were looking for. Kare Partners had to apply for a special-use permit to allow it to operate in the HR-C highway retail commercial zoning district. Pay for the positions at Compleat KiDZ would range from about $37,000 per year for entry-level behavior technicians to more than $150,000 for employees with accelerated degrees, said Compleat KiDZ Regional Manager Alexandria Jones. Its an exciting venture for us, said Jennifer Lahn, the companys real estate and facilities manager. Jones said the company plans to fill all its positions with local workers. Average salaries would be $22.50 per hour (about $46,000 to $47,000 annually) for behavior technicians, $120,000 per year for board certified behavior analysts, $150,000 per year for licensed psychologists and $75,000 annually for administrative personnel, according to the application for the special-use permit. The company plans to have small upgrades done inside the facility and hopes to work with local contractors to install signs, Lahn told commissioners. During an interview after the meeting, Jones told the Register & Bee they hope to open the Compleat KiDZ location April 16. The provider also teaches pre-academic life skills, or those needed to perform well in school, Gallahar said. Compleat KiDZ started in 1989 and has been committed to serving children with special needs since 2004. Kare Partners is based in Gastonia, North Carolina. From the very beginning, our primary focus has been pediatric therapy, ensuring sustainable, high-quality care for children with autism and developmental delays, the special-use permit application states. Services would include two to three therapy sessions per child per day, with each session lasting about 90 minutes. Parents would drop off and pick up their kids at 8 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Parents would not be required to stay on site. Kare Partners wanted to open in Danville because they were looking for underserved areas outside of large cities, Lahn told the Register & Bee. Commissioner Sylvester Townes pointed out that there were a few facilities in Danville that already provide similar services. He asked whether Compleat KiDZ have collaborated with any of them. As of yet, we havent had the opportunity to collaborate, Gallahar said, adding that they plan on doing so. Commission Chairman Steve Petrick told the applicants that there are local families that look forward to Compleat KiDZ opening up. He said they have to travel out of town for the same services the company proposes here. The next day, Kristen Barker, co-owner at the Center for Pediatric Therapies, pointed out that the same services are already available in Danville in addition to those that would be offered by Compleat KiDZ. There are several providers in our area, she said during conversation at a meeting of the Danville Industrial Development Authority on Tuesday morning. The topic was not on the IDA agenda. The Center for Pediatric Therapies serves more than 400 children in outpatient and in-home/early intervention settings. Established in 2001, the Center for Pediatric Therapies is a full-service rehabilitation clinic serving children up to age 21 in Southside Virginia. In 2004, it expanded its services to establish Building Blocks Center for Children with Autism, a licensed and accredited private special education day school. The center has locations in Danville, Martinsville, South Boston and Lynchburg. The Danville City Council will consider the special-use permit application for Compleat KiDZ at its April 1 meeting. In another matter, commissioners rejected a request by Grevail LLC to rezone a parcel at 1985 Blair Loop Road off Westover Drive to add units and buildings to an existing three-unit attached residential dwelling. Commissioners voted 3-3 to recommend approval of the request a tie vote that meant the motion failed. Grevail, which recently bought the property, is seeking to rezone the property from S-R suburban residential to M-R multifamily residential. The change would bring the legal nonconforming property into compliance and allow future expansion of the use. But numerous residents along Blair Loop Road said the area at the property already poses parking and safety issues at the intersection with Westover Drive. Also, the house seems to be full all the time with people coming and going, resident Hilda Mills said during a public hearing on the matter. The yard is full of cars. Theyre parking on the side of the road. Residents also complained of noise from a loud vehicle cranked up on the property at 5 a.m. every weekday, interrupting neighbors sleep. Petrick and commissioners Ann Evans and Tommy Dodson voted against recommending the rezoning, with commissioners Townes, Kalil Khan and John Ranson voting in favor. Danville City Council, which ultimately decides such matters, will consider the item at its April 1 meeting. After serving almost 20 years as one of New Hampshires two U.S. senators, 78-year-old Democrat Jeanne Shaheen announced Wednesday she will not be running for a fourth term in 2026. From the bottom of my heart, thank you New Hampshire, Sen. Shaheen said in a video posted to social media. Although Shaheen always said her goal was to make a difference for people rather than make history for herself, she ended up doing both. After serving as New Hampshires first female governor from 1997-2003 and then being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008, Shaheen became the first woman in United States history to serve as both a state governor and U.S. senator, winning three terms to each role. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some political experts say Shaheen didnt just break down barriers for women by doing that, but also made America a better place for women by championing federal bills like the Sexual Assault Survivors Rights Act, and expanding the Violence Against Women Act. I think she will leave a legacy of making America, making our communities safer for women and protecting women, said Dr. Nathan Shrader, Associate Professor of Politics at New England College in Henniker. In a blow to Democrats, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen will not seek reelection in New Hampshire Dr. Shrader says Shaheen also leaves a rare legacy of being a centrist, as the Common Ground Committee ranked her one of the ten most bipartisan senators in the country multiple times. Some of the more recent memories of Shaheen voting across the aisle include her joining Republicans in voting for the Laken Riley Act this year, and voting against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders proposed $15 dollar minimum wage amendment in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shes leaving us, leaving office rather, at a time when we need people who are out of her mold, Dr. Shrader said. Some of these people that took the governing component of this extremely seriously and did it very well for a long time are being theyve been replaced, in many respects, by people who are far more partisan and less institutional than they were. As far as who might replace Shaheen, Dr. Shrader says many people could get in the running, but some of the early names being tossed around are current Democratic New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas, former Republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, and even former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, although hes said previously that hes uninterested in becoming a U.S. senator. If Rep. Pappas were to run for Shaheens spot, Dr. Shrader says that would also create a race for his U.S. House seat, and that could in turn create more races in the New Hampshire State House if current state representatives and senators were to leave their positions to try replacing Pappas. This is where it would get very interesting, very quickly, Dr. Shrader said. There are pockets of Democratic elected officials all through the first district who might say, again, Hey, this is an open seat, these dont come up very often, what the heck, Im going to shoot my shot and this might be my only opportunity.' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People around New Hampshire reacted to Shaheens announcement throughout the day Wednesday, including her Senate colleague Maggie Hassan, who wrote in part: Jeanne Shaheen is a trailblazer who has defined and personified New Hampshire politics and progress for decades. Furthermore, although he hasnt officially announced his candidacy yet, former senator Scott Brown also shared a statement thanking Shaheen for her service, but adding: Its time for New Hampshire to have someone in the delegation who stands with, not against, the Trump agenda. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Germanys plans to unleash hundreds of billions of euros more for defence risk being torpedoed by the Green party which is demanding more cash for net zero. Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has vowed to revive Europes biggest economy with a 500bn (419bn) bazooka that will pledge more spending on more infrastructure and rebuilding Germanys military. His conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party wants to relax Germanys strict debt brake that limits borrowing, in order to invest more in defence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Mr Merz is relying on votes from the Greens because he needs a two-thirds majority to push through the special fund. Mr Merz urged sceptical lawmakers on Thursday to back his proposals for a massive increase in state borrowing. He said: The whole world is watching Germany these days and weeks. We must live up to this responsibility. However, despite announcing a package of concessions, Mr Merz struggled to win over the Greens party. They accused him of using threats to Europes security as an excuse for a borrowing binge. Greens parliamentary co-leader Katharina Droege said: You have never been able to put the interests of this country first and not your own. Deutsche Bank has warned that Germany was facing permanent stagnation as it declared the golden years of globalisation had come to an end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donald Trump is demanding Europe spends more on defence as the US president threatens to hit the European Union with a fresh wave of tariffs. Deutsche Bank said Germans were likely to become even poorer over the next decade relative to their American peers. David Folkerts-Landau, its chief economist, said: The economic starting point for the next federal government is extremely challenging. If the status quo were to persist, German economic growth would likely remain well below 1pc per year until the end of the decade. By comparison, we expect the US economy to grow by an average of up to 3pc per year over this period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement German per capita income already a third below that of the US in current US dollars would thus fall further behind. Over 10 years, current growth rates would leave German per-capita income at about half the US level. A potential deal with the Greens, who are demanding more spending on dealing with climate change, risks descending into acrimony following a series of aggressive personal attacks made by Mr Merzs party against the Greens during the election campaign. We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed, nor will we allow Friedrich Merz and Lars Klingbeil to abuse a difficult European security situation, said Franziska Brantner, the Greens party co-leader. This is something that serves neither the country nor our interests in Europe. Franziska Brantner, the Greens co-leader, says the party will not allow itself to be blackmailed into supporting Friedrich Merzs plan - Annegret Hilse/Reuters However, Mr Folkerts-Landau said he believed that higher defence spending was inevitable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The next federal government will have little choice but to make massive public investments in defence capabilities, he said. In addition to increasing traditional defence spending, this also requires investments in the countrys critical infrastructure. This effort cannot be financed within the confines of the debt brake without impacting other core government tasks. Mr Merz is racing to push through his plans before the new parliament begins on March 25, with hard Left and Right opposition parties vowing to block any proposals brought forward in the updated Bundestag. Alternative for Germany (AfD) has already launched a legal challenge at the constitutional court to block lawmakers from debating Mr Merzs proposals, which it has described as creating an orgy of debt. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. NEW YORK Political bigwigs and common community folks filled a Harlem church on Wednesday to bid a rousing farewell to civil rights icon Hazel Dukes, 92, the longtime NAACP leader who died earlier this month without ever taking a break from the struggle. Right up until the end, speaker after speaker said, Dukes was on the front line, enthusiastically fighting for everything from affordable housing to political inclusion to the rights of migrant workers. Were living in times of uncertainty, discord, difficulty, tough times ahead and it seems especially cruel that we would lose a trusted friend and a leader and a voice, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a standing-room-only crowd at Mother A.M.E. Zion Church on W. 137th St. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have made and lived history together, and I will always be grateful for her wisdom, her humor and her grace. Clinton, who said she first met Dukes in 1992 when her husband, Bill, was running for president, said Dukes was the one who encouraged her to run for Senate in New York. When I ran for president in 2016 against he-who-shall-not-be-named, there she was again as fierce, as focused, as smart as ever, Clinton said. Clinton recalled presenting Dukes with the NAACPs highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, in 2023, after which the freedom-fighting trailblazer vowed to keep pressing on. With every breath in my body, I will continue to advocate and do the work necessary to stop those trying to turn back the hands of time, Dukes said then. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dukes, who died March 1, was the national president of the NAACP from 1989 to 1992. She was also president of the organizations New York State conference from 1977 until her death. One by one, speakers paid tribute, recalling stories of courage and leadership. She and I have gone to jail together, and to the White House together, the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, said before entering the service. We are here to salute someone who is the glue to civil rights in New York. Later, Sharpton joked about her political activism, and her influence on devotees who are now running against each other in New York Citys race for mayor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said Dukes considered Mayor Adams, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo her children. Well, since everybody is her child, Sharpton said. I guess were gonna have a family feud. Mourners at the historic house of worship, the oldest Black church in New York State, included Gov. Hochul, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, former Gov. David Paterson and Attorney General Letitia James. Mourners began lining up outside the church before the sun came up. Those who couldnt fit in the cavernous sanctuary watched the service remotely in the churchs basement. There they heard Mayor Adams thank Dukes for her unwavering support, even in the face of scandal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said, Baby, Im going to stand by you,' Adams said. She was the type of woman that walked in the room when everybody walked out. She held my hand, and she prayed with me and she said, You never surrender. I am so proud to have been one of her children. She meant so much to me, and I know she meant so much to all of you. Cuomo said Dukes was there for him, too. She used to say she was my second mother, Cuomo recalled. On a personal level, theres a hole in my heart. Whenever there was trouble, she was the first one to be there. Whenever there was a setback, she was the first one to be there to give me a hug and a kiss. Dukes administered the oath of office when Hochul was sworn in as the first woman elected governor of New York in 2023. Hochul said she saw Dukes just two days before she died. She says, You be strong and you dont give up the fight. You cannot, Hochul said. I will carry on that fight. I will be your voice. ________ Pope Francis is spending his 28th consecutive day in the hospital on the 12th anniversary of when he was elected pope following five ballots in a papal conclave. Pope Francis' medical staff celebrated the pope's 12th anniversary with a cake and candles. The pope continued his respiratory therapy Thursday afternoon and followed the evenings Lenten spiritual exercises. MORE: Pope's condition remains 'stationary' on 27th day in hospital, Vatican says Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While no events are planned to mark the pontiffs 12 years as head of the Catholic Church, it is a public holiday at the Vatican, as it is each year. Pope Francis' condition remained "stationary" on Wednesday, with tests confirming his improvement, according to the Vatican. PHOTO: ITALY-VATICAN-POPE-HEALTH (Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images) A chest X-ray performed on Tuesday confirmed improvements recorded over the past few days, the Holy See, the Vatican's press office, said in its Wednesday evening update. The pope continues to undergo high-flow oxygen therapy during the day and "noninvasive mechanical ventilation during his night rest," the Vatican said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Pope Francis thanks public for prayers in first public comments since hospitalization Pope Francis' prognosis was "lifted" on Monday, meaning he is no longer in imminent danger, but the clinical picture remains complex. The 88-year-old pontiff will continue "for additional days, the pharmacological medical therapy in a hospital environment" due to the "complexity of the clinical picture and the significant infectious picture presented at hospitalization," the Vatican said. Francis' doctors said there are positive signs of the pontiff's recovery, but caution remains, according to Vatican sources, after he was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. Pope spends 12th anniversary as head of Catholic Church in hospital as recovery continues originally appeared on abcnews.go.com DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) An event that draws a significant number of U.S. Air Force leaders to the Dayton area has been canceled for 2025. A spokesperson for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center confirmed to WDTN.com that the 2025 Life Cycle Industry Days has been canceled. Dayton Defense, a group of area defense organizations, released a statement saying the Air Force has received guidance to focus on mission-critical categories of exempted travel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Based on Air Force guidance on mission-critical categories of exempted travel consistent with Executive Order 14222, Implementing the Presidents Department of Government Efficiency Cost Efficiency Initiative, and in consultation with the Dayton Development Coalition and representatives of the State of Ohio, we have canceled the 9th annual Life Cycle Industry Days and Wright Dialogue with Industry this year, said AFLCMC. In 2024, the event reported having a record-setting attendance. The 2025 event was planned for July 28-29. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LISBON, Portugal (AP) Portugal will hold an early general election on May 18, the countrys president announced Thursday, two days after a minority government lost a confidence vote in parliament and stood down. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has no executive power but can dissolve parliament and call elections, described the government's collapse as a shock that was neither "expected nor wanted. In a televised address to the nation, he urged voters to participate actively in the European Union countrys third general election in three years, saying the continent faces stiff challenges to its security and economy that require political stability. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The center-right governments fall on Tuesday amid questions about the prime minister's conduct brought the worst bout of political instability since Portugal adopted a democratic system more than 50 years ago in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, which ended a four-decade dictatorship. Portugal, which has a population of around 10.6 million people, has had a series of minority governments in recent years as the traditional rivals for power, the center-right Social Democratic Party and the center-left Socialists, lost votes to growing smaller parties. The minority governments have been unable to build compromises that might ensure an administration completes its constitutional four-year term without opposition parties teaming up to block its policy proposals and bring it down. The ballot deepens political uncertainty just as Portugal is in the process of investing more than 22 billion euros ($24 billion) in EU development funds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Voter discontent with a return to the polls could bring dividends for the right-wing populist party Chega (Enough), which has fed off frustration with the two mainstream parties. Portugal has been caught up in the rising European tide of populism, with Chega surging into third place in last years election. The government, led by the Social Democrats in an alliance with a smaller party, fell amid a controversy that has revolved around potential conflicts of interest in the business dealings of outgoing Prime Minister Luis Montenegros family law firm. Montenegro, who says hell stand for reelection, has denied any wrongdoing. He said he placed control of the firm in the hands of his wife and children when he became Social Democratic leader in 2022 and has not been involved in its running. It recently emerged that the firm is receiving monthly payments from a company that has a major gambling concession granted by the government, among other sources of revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Socialists demanded a parliamentary inquiry into Montenegros conduct. The Social Democrats are hoping that economic growth estimated at 1.9% last year, compared with the EUs 0.8% average, and a jobless rate of 6.4%, roughly the EU average, will hold their support steady. (Bloomberg) -- Portugal will face an early election on May 18, its third in just three years, after parliament toppled Prime Minister Luis Montenegros center-right minority government in a confidence vote. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The collapse may delay some key decisions, including a plan to privatize state-owned airline TAP SA this year and investments in infrastructure. Montenegros administration, which took office less than a year ago, also aimed to increase defense spending like other European nations. Montenegro, 52, has led the PSD party since 2022 and plans to seek reelection. It will likely be a close race against Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos, 47, whose party is currently the biggest opposition group. Santos, a former infrastructure minister, is often linked to the leftmost wing of the party and hes been a defender of the states role in controlling certain businesses, including the countrys carrier. A poll published by TVI on Sunday showed the ruling AD coalition leading with 34% support, followed by the Socialists on 29% and far-right party Chega on 14%. Another opinion poll published by Jornal de Negocios on Tuesday showed the Socialists ahead by 1.5 percentage point. The date of the election was announced late Thursday by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who said nobody wanted this new snap vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Santos and Montenegro say theyre in favor of political stability, and have tried to avoid being blamed for causing another early election. The premier requested the confidence vote last week, saying he wanted to clarify whether his government had the support to carry out its program after struggling to put an end to speculation about potential conflicts of interest related to a company owned by his family. He will likely continue to face questions on the issue during the campaign. The Socialists and far-right party Chega both voted against the government on Tuesday. Minority governments in Portugal have tended to be short-lived: In 50 years of democracy, only two have survived a full four-year term. The Socialists and Montenegros center-right PSD party, the senior partner in the AD coalition, have dominated politics over those five decades. Still, new parties have been formed and are challenging the two main centrist groups. Chega has emerged as a new force, quadrupling its number of seats in parliament in the last election in March 2024. While Prime Minister Montenegro could have secured majority support in parliament by forging a deal with the far-right party, he ruled out an agreement to get its backing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Andre Ventura, a former tax inspector who leads Chega, has appealed to a growing number of disgruntled voters by blaming successive center-left and center-right governments for what he says is systemic corruption in Portugal. (Adds comment from president in fifth paragraph, detail on new parties in eighth.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. By Andrei Khalip and Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal will hold an early parliamentary election - its third in just over three years - on May 18, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Thursday, two days after the centre-right minority government lost a parliamentary confidence vote. The president made the widely-expected decision to disband parliament and call the national ballot after consulting the main political parties and his advisory Council of State, which includes representatives of the main political parties and which he said unanimously opted for the need of a snap election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The government has assumed a caretaker role until a new parliament is formed. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro presented the confidence motion last week after the opposition threatened to establish a parliamentary inquiry into his family's data protection consultancy, arguing that its contracts with private companies have benefited Montenegro as premier. Montenegro has denied any conflict of interest or ethical shortfalls. Prosecutors are studying some allegations, but there is no active investigation underway. Rebelo de Sousa said the election was something "most likely no one expected or wanted", lamenting that the crisis around Montenegro's company and how it unfolded will inevitably feature in the electoral campaign and calling for a "clear, direct, but calm, dignified electoral debate". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Montenegro's Social Democratic Party has rallied around him and said he will lead them in the election, pinning the blame for the crisis on the opposition, although many political analysts say another early election is Montenegro's fault, and some opinion polls indicate he may have lost most voters' trust. Surveys in the past week show the main opposition Socialists taking a slight lead over the alliance led by Montenegro, but most show them neck-and-neck at around 30%, which would mean little change from last year's election. This has raised concerns that a national ballot would only perpetuate political instability. The far-right Chega is steadily polling third, but somewhat below last year's result of 18%, which analysts attribute to scandals involving several senior party members. Despite the political upheaval of the past four years, Portugal has shown stronger economic growth than most EU states, posting budget surpluses and reducing its debt under the centre-right and centre-left governments, and economists see few immediate risks to its performance from another election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With voters frustrated at politicians who force them into successive elections but fail to ensure government stability, analysts expect abstention to increase this time. Last March, a record 6.47 million people went to the polls, an increase of around 900,000 voters from 2022 which benefitted the anti-establishment Chega, according to analysts. (Writing by Andrei KhalipEditing by Alexandra Hudson and Alistair Bell) MOUNT VERNON, Ind. (WEHT) Indianas Severe Weather Preparedness Week is taking on a different tone this year in Mount Vernon, coming on the heels of last years July 9th tornado. Posey County Emergency Management Director Carrie Thompson says those lessons are being applied to this weeks threat for severe weather. Never assume that its not going to happen to you, says Thompson. She says that is one of the major lessons learned from last years tornado. Thompson is also taking that lesson to heart. Ive worked for emergency management for over 12 years now, explains Thompson, and for the first 11 years that I was in my position, we were very lucky. We had severe storms, there was some tornadoes, but they didnt really do any major damage, and then we kind of got the double whammy last year with a total of 7. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This year, severe weather risks look to wrap up the preparedness week and Thompson says this is the perfect opportunity to make a plan and make sure you have multiple ways to be alerted of severe weather. The latest forecast from Your Weather Authority Plenty of time in advance, you want to know where your safe place is, says Thompson. Make sure you have blankets, maybe extra water, snacks. Make sure your devices are charged. Thats more of a day-of type of thing. Just make sure everythings ready to go and in your safe place. In response to the July 9th tornado, Thompson is already making calls with severe weather looming, just in case. We had people that needed somewhere to go. And, while we had possible shelter locations in mind, says Thompson, Were starting to make those contacts now where, if this happens, can we send people to you? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mount Vernon Mayor Steve Loehr says the city and he, personally, have taken severe weather more seriously since last years tornado. His statement to Eyewitness News can be read below. After last years tornado we now realize that we are just as vulnerable as any other community. I also believe that people will take warnings a little more seriously now, including myself. Mount Vernon Mayor Steve Loehr One weather notification option Thompson recommends for Posey County residents is Code Red. Residents can sign up for that service here. More from Cody Bailey Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) The federal government is on the brink of a shutdown if a stopgap funding bill isnt passed on Thursday. Virginia lawmakers divided on House GOP plan to avoid a government shutdown When lawmakers fail to agree on the spending package, the government temporarily closes. In a government shutdown, essential employees are still ordered to be at their positions, such as law enforcement, air traffic controllers, TSA and the like, said Dr. Eric Claville. However, without paying any attention to that, nonessential employees are pretty much, theyre at home. Theyre not performing their jobs. This impacts federal services, everything from national parks being open all the way to making a phone call to an agency, a department, other federal government, and not getting an answer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Usually, congress passes a stop gap bill that extends the deadline by 6 months. Currently, President Donald Trump and congress want to pass a stopgap spending bill. This would keep the government running until September to work on longer term budget decisions. House passes spending bill However, democrats oppose the short term bill because they say it would give Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency more power following the agency already cutting programming and staffing across several federal agencies. As a matter of fact, theres one republican that is not going to vote for it, Claville said. So instead of needing seven votes to equal 60, they now need eight. However, that means that they need eight democrats in order to help support this particular funding measure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For issues like student loans, this could mean less staffing in the Department of Education, making it harder to resolve issues about your loans. In order to prepare for an impending government shutdown, I believe that citizens should look at their personal needs and if there is anything that they need to address through federal agencies, do it now, Claville said. Dont wait. Start today. Make sure you close it out tomorrow because we dont know whats going to happen after 5 p.m. tomorrow as it relates to those agencies being open. Lawmakers have until March 14 to agree on a package. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 powerful spring storm will bring very high winds, rain, and snow to parts of New Mexico Thursday through Friday. Blowing dust and snow along with wind damage and an extreme fire danger are all possible. Windier weather has moved into New Mexico Wednesday afternoon with northwest winds gusting over 30 mph again. A few places have measured gusts up to around 40 mph. Temperatures are slightly cooler too after a weak storm system crossed the state last night. A strong storm will start moving into New Mexico Thursday. Even stronger winds will develop Thursday afternoon with many areas seeing gusts over 35 mph. Some blowing dust may be possible in southern New Mexico. Temperatures will also be warmer across the state. A high fire danger will also develop, especially across southern and eastern parts of New Mexico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Winds will actually continue to pick up in speed overnight Thursday into Friday with wind gusts as high as 60 mph in southern New Mexico. A cold front will sweep across the state late Thursday night into Friday bringing a line of rain and snow along it. A snow squall may be possible in western New Mexico Thursday night as it moves through, reducing visibility and creating icy roads. Rain will likely fall in the Rio Grande Valley around midnight as the front pushes through. Moderate to heavy snowfall with lower elevation rain will also fall in northern New Mexico. A lot of this moisture fizzles out through Friday morning. Westerly winds could gust as high as 80 mph in eastern New Mexico late Friday morning. This will easily cause areas of blowing dust and potential wind damage along with a very high fire danger. High winds could also cause areas of blowing snow and near blizzard conditions in western and northern New Mexico where a few inches of snow fall. Winds will slowly die down through Friday night. Scattered rain and snow showers are possible again through the day Saturday, with accumulations generally staying light. Winds will get strong again Saturday afternoon, but not as strong as Friday. Quieter and drier weather will return Sunday. Winds start picking up again early next week as another storm will move into the state on Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Disclaimer: The views and interpretations expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or positions of WiProud. This article is intended for informational and discussion purposes only. Readers are encouraged to explore multiple perspectives and conduct their own research when forming conclusions about religious texts and beliefs. There have been many debates within Christian circles whether or not saved believers will be taken up to Heaven, raptured, before or after the Great Tribulation. This is known in scripture as the time of Gods wrath that will take place during the last 7 years of Earths history when the wicked are judged. This time period speaks of the sky turning dark, the stars will not shine, and the moon becoming the color of blood. A time with famines, wars, earthquakes, mass deaths, and supernatural creatures torturing people around the globe. At one point, many people will pray for death, but will be unable to die. It will be the worse time in all the history of our world. But will Christian believers go through this alongside the non-believers? There are many scholars who believe we will, but will be preserved much like Noah was preserved in the Ark with his family. Scripture states God will preserve His people in the mountains/wilderness (possibly Petra), a small area in Jordan (Rev 12:6, Mat 24:16). I would ask what happens to everyone around the globe that can not reach this area, would they endure Gods wrath even though they are believers? Post-tribulation scholars would suggest that God will protect all His people wherever they are, but pre-tribulation scholars would say that this thought is not written, only implied. How can we be certain? I have taken a wonderful deep dive on this and found many things I didnt expect to find that have cemented my beliefs on this topic. For those who believe that Christians will go through the tribulation are reading this out of Matthew chapter 24, lumping all of Israel with Christ believers. However, the nation of Israel rejects Jesus as their prophesied savior. Scripture states Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Act 4:12 KJV I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jhn 14:6 KJV So the obvious conclusion to me would be that the end times events for Israel and the events for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ would be very different. Knowing this I read most of Matthew 24 as a question answered by Jesus directly to the nation of Israel. After all, Jews were who asked the question what it would be like in the end times. Once you notice this, you very clearly can separate what will happen to Jews, who reject Jesus Christ, and what will happen to Christians (or otherwise know as The Bride of Christ). So what do I make of this ultimately? I believe scripture is telling us that Israel will go though the tribulation, being preserved in the mountains/wilderness, and the Bride of Christ, or Christians, will be removed from the situation completely. It is stated that Israel will ultimately be saved in the end, but I believe its not until after the tribulation where the vail is lifted from their eyes when Jesus and His Bride, Christians, return and Israel realizes who Jesus Christ really is. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, Rom 11:26 KJV Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it [Israel] shall turn to the Lord [Jesus Christ], the vail shall be taken away. 2Co 3:14-16 KJV Please note that any Jew that has put their faith in Christ are counted as Christians, no longer counted with the rest of Israel who are still blinded. They are still Jews, of course, but with their faith now properly placed in Christ instead of the law of Moses. Many post-tribulation believers will often say, Well, you are just trying to escape the tribulation, so you are interpreting the bible that way. YES EXACTLY! Jesus Himself taught that we should try and escape these things and take comfort in knowing we will. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Rev 3:10 KJV; In the Greek: From = ek out of, Hour = hora certain time, Temptation = peirasmos trial or tribulation Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Behold, I will cast her [the church] into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. Rev 2:22 KJV For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luk 21:35-36 KJV There are several examples of God removing His people from wrath. One of the best examples is when Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was removed from the city of Sodom before God judged it by raining sulfur. Before this takes place even, we have Abraham having a dialogue with God, some argue it was even Jesus, asking Him if He would judge the righteous with the wicked. God/Jesus said He would not, and promised to save the entire city if He was able to find even 10 righteous people there. The story goes on that there was not 10 people, and before God judged Sodom He sent 2 angels to get Lot and his wife and family out of the city. And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations [peirasmos trial or tribulation], and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 2 Peter 2:6-7, 9 KJV Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another example would be Noah and the flood. Many scholars say that Noah represents the Christians, but wait a minute. Remember Enoch right before the flood? He was raptured straight up to Heaven. He never had to endure the flood. Rather Enoch is a picture of the Christians, and Noah is a picture of the Israel going through tribulation but preserved. And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:24 KJV My final example, although there are many, is in the book of Daniel with Nebuchadnezzar and the 3 Jews, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. In the book of Daniel, these 3 Hebrews, who did not bow down to Nebuchadnezzars idol, were thrown into a fiery furnace, but Christ was with them in the fire and they were saved. An interesting note here is that the furnace was 7 times hotter than normal, which depicts the 7 years of the tribulation! But I would ask, where was Daniel when this was taking place? Scripture is silent in Daniels presence during this event, and its his book! If Daniel were there, he also would not have bowed to the idol and would have been thrown into the furnace. But God removed him for the situation altogether. Jesus teaches that we must ALWAYS be expecting His coming and that He will come at a time when we do not expect. If you right now are able say, Jesus is not coming today and are instead waiting for the anti-christ to reveal himself, then you are calling Jesus a liar by saying, He delays His coming (Mat 24:42-51). Meaning, if you are a post-trib believer, you are waiting for the desolation of the 3rd temple by the anti-christ before Jesus is allowed to return. The problem there is you can then count exactly 3.5 years, or 42 months, or 1,260 days until the return of Christ. But I thought Jesus said no man, not even Him, knows the day or hour? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another point to consider is the 70 weeks of Daniel prophecy placed upon the nation of Israel. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people [Israel] and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Dan 9:24 KJV During the time this prophecy was proclaimed the Christian church was not in existence yet, and the 69 weeks that have already came to pass were always concerning Israel. Why then would God put the Christian church in the 70th week of Daniel, which is the 7 years of tribulation? Something you have to realize is that the rapture and the return of Christ are two different events. When Jesus Christ raptures His church, He will appear in the clouds and call up His Bride, the Christians, where will meet Him. At that point He will take us to the marriage supper of the lamb, tucked away for 7 years, while there is tribulation on the earth. Then after the seven years, He will return, with all of us, to come down from the heavens and establish His kingdom for 1000 years. But if you believe that the rapture happens at the same time Jesus comes down to earth, you would have to say we meet Him in the clouds, but then immediately come right back down again. This really doesnt make any sense, and is what I call bungie eschatology. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also, people in the last days before the rapture will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage (Mat 24:37-41). If the church was to go through the tribulation period, there would be no people marrying and giving in marriage before the return of Christ. Everyone instead would be experiencing the wrath of God being poured out on the world. But instead these verses express while we are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage that the church will be taken, surprising everyone who did not expect these events to happen. It will be a great surprise to them that remain living normal celebratory lives. But the BEST piece of information Ive ever found on this matter was in my study of the old Jewish wedding customs. Its a perfect depiction of what will happen when Jesus Christ comes for His Bride (the Christian church). Check this out! Jewish wedding 1. The bridegroom goes to build a room for the bride onto the house of his father. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2. On the day of the wedding, which the bride would have no idea what day it would be, the father would inspect the addition of the house and tell the bridegroom hes ready to get his bride. 3. The bridegroom would then go out to the streets with the sounds of a trumpet to get his bride. 4. The bride and her party, who would have been expectantly waiting, would hear the sound of the trumpet and run out to meet the bridegroom halfway. 5. The bridegroom would then bring his bride to the fathers house and keep the bride tucked away for 7 days in the new addition of the fathers house for a honeymoon period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 6. The bride would not be seen even once while partiers in the front of the house would come and go. 7. After the 7 days, the bridegroom would bring out his bride and introduce her to the community. Events that will take place for those who put their faith in Jesus as the Bride of Christ. 1. Jesus prepares a place for us in His fathers house. In my Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 KJV 2. We have no idea when Jesus will come for us. Jesus admitted He doesnt even know when. But only when the Father says its time. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Mat 24:36 KJV Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 3. When Jesus calls for us, we will hear the trump of God calling us to the sky, meeting us halfway to heaven. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: 1Th 4:16 KJV 4. Jesus will bring us to Heaven to have a honeymoon for 7 years as we are tucked away from the rest of the world. 5. After the 7 years, Jesus will come back in the clouds with us to show the world His bride; the Christian church. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints Jude 1:14-15 KJV Disclaimer: The views and interpretations expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or positions of WiProud. This article is intended for informational and discussion purposes only. Readers are encouraged to explore multiple perspectives and conduct their own research when forming conclusions about religious texts and beliefs. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX2548 & WIProud. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Allergies are already starting to make a return a little more than a week before the start of spring. Spring allergies are making a return this month and certain common practices may not be helping as much as you think. The return of scattered flurries and snow showers this evening in Massachusetts These allergies are making a return in the form of mold and pollen. While many people wait to treat their symptoms, getting a head start can keep you breathing clearer for longer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 22News spoke with Dr. David Robertson, an immunologist at Western Mass Allergy. He explained why outdoor mold is making an early return this year. We actually had a fair amount of snow this season, Robertson said. So right now the ground is wet and spongy, and when the temperature is consistently above freezing and the ground is wet, there is active outdoor mold. Warmer than average weather in the next two weeks could mean other allergens like tree pollen could make an early appearance. Theres many different types of allergies during the spring season and theres also many different types of medication. They all do different things, but there are a couple rules youll need to follow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most allergy relief medications at your local pharmacy or drug store have their associated symptom relief listed. Using other medications that arent associated with allergy relief may not provide much relief. I would generally recommend trying to avoid medicines that are sedating like Benadryl, Robertson said. The second generation antihistamines like the ones I mentioned before, Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra are intended not to make you sleepy, but everyones body is a little bit different. If over-the-counter medication isnt treating your symptoms, you should a board-certified allergist or immunologist. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. WARSAW, Poland (AP) Poland's President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow. Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022. Duda's adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Duda's appeal with an interview on Poland's RMF FM radio Thursday morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliance's eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda's, said last week that Poland was in talks with France concerning Presidents Emmanuel Macrons proposal to use Frances nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats. Moscow called that idea extremely confrontational. Tusk made his comment to parliament after Macron said he has decided to open a strategic debate on using Frances nuclear deterrent to protect European allies amid concerns over potential U.S. disengagement. The French president described Moscow as a threat to France and Europe in a televised address to the nation. France is the only nuclear power in the European Union. Polish President Andrzej Duda has called on the United States to station nuclear weapons in his country to deter potential Russian aggression. It is evident that US President Donald Trump could relocate nuclear warheads from Western European countries or the United States to Poland, he told the British daily the Financial Times in an article published on Thursday. He also mentioned having recently discussed this with the US special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, during his visit to Warsaw. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east. To me, this is obvious," Duda said. "I think it's not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons would be already here," he said. EU and NATO member Poland is one of the closest military allies of Ukraine, which is battling a Russian ivasion. Poland also borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus. In Poland, the president is the commander-in-chief of the army. As early as April 2024, Duda said that his country was ready for the stationing of US nuclear weapons. However, he has now articulated it much more urgently and named Russia as a potential aggressor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United States has stationed nuclear weapons in several European countries for decades. There are no official details on this, but besides Germany, the nuclear weapons are also said to be stored in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Turkey. So far, the US government has not indicated that it is considering stationing nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe, which Moscow would likely understand as a direct provocation. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A new president has been named for the College of Southern Nevada, officials announced Thursday. Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) officials said Dr. Stacy S. Klippenstein has been chosen to lead the College of Southern Nevada (CSN). The pick comes after a national search headed by the Board of Regents committee dedicated to finding the new president. Dr. Klippenstein is an experienced leader with a strong background in expanding access to higher education and strengthening workforce and community partnerships, said Amy Carvalho, board of regents chair. His success in enrollment growth, workforce education, and student success initiatives makes him well-suited to lead CSN into the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A news release highlighted Klippensteins qualifications and achievements. Dr. Stacy S. Klippenstein has more than 30 years of experience in higher education leadership and currently serves as President of Mohave Community College (MCC) in Arizona, said a news release from NSHE. Under his leadership, MCC has expanded enrollment, workforce partnerships, and academic offerings, including the transition to bachelors degrees in high-demand fields. Klippenstein will take over for William Kibler, who has led the school since July. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. With the House narrowly passing a budget blueprint that calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, fears are being fueled about potential cuts to popular programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The Trump administration, for its part, has asserted it has no such plans. In late February, House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNNs Kaitlan Collins that the White House made a commitment not to touch social programs. What we are going to do is go into those programs and carve out the fraud, waste and abuse, and find efficiencies, he said. Don't miss Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And on March 11, the White House issued a press release, declaring President Trump will always protect Social Security [and] Medicare and reaffirming he has no plans to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. However, analysts worry there wont be enough fat to trim from these programs to meet budget cut expectations heres what you need to know. The math doesnt add up Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides acute, primary and long-term health care services to low-income Americans, including children, seniors and people with disabilities. The program supports more than 70 million people (thats one in five Americans) at a cost of $871.7 billion annually (as of 2023). Coverage varies by state, both in terms of eligibility and benefits. The budget blueprint doesnt specifically mention cuts to Medicaid. However, the House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C), which has jurisdiction over the program, has been instructed to cut at least $880 billion from its budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee also has jurisdiction over Medicare, though Republicans have ruled out cuts to that program. By taking Medicare off the table, Medicaid then accounts for 93% of funding under E&C, according to analysis sent to lawmakers by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Recent analysis done by health policy organization KFF backs the CBOs findings, adding that Medicaid accounts for $8.2 trillion out of the total $8.9 non-Medicare spending in the E&C jurisdiction. While fraud is an issue both Medicare and Medicaid are susceptible to improper payments and potential mismanagement, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) cutting out fraud wont cover such deep budget cuts. In fiscal year 2023, Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs) reportedly recovered $1.2 billion in Medicaid provider fraud and patient abuse or neglect, with 1,143 convictions. Thats far from the $880 billion E&C has been instructed to cut. The math is conclusive: Major cuts to Medicaid are the only way to meet the Houses budget resolution requirements. There are a myriad of options available for cutting Medicaid, but all of them would leave the states facing difficult choices to raise revenues or cut spending, according to the KFF analysis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: An alarming 97% of older Americans are carrying debt into retirement heres why and 4 simple things you can do if youre stuck in the same situation Previous proposals have included imposing a per capita cap on federal funding for Medicaid or turning federal subsidies into block grants, which would shift costs to state governments. That, in turn, could increase costs at the state level and result in cuts to eligibility and benefits, according to research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). Many of those losing Medicaid coverage would be left unable to afford life-saving medications, treatment to manage chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and liver disease, and care for acute illnesses, according to CBPP. Johnson told CNN that per capita caps on federal funding are off the table. What would Medicaid cuts mean for Americans? Medicaid reductions would impact low-income and minority populations, which could lead to increased financial hardship and health inequities. Data shows that Americans with the highest reliance on Medicaid tend to live in Republican-leaning states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The latest KFF health tracking poll finds that most Americans think funding for Medicaid should either increase (42%) or stay the same (40%), while fewer than 17% want to see Medicaid funding decrease. While about half (53%) say they or a family member has received help from Medicaid at some point, nearly all (97%) say Medicaid is at least somewhat important for those in their local community. But cuts would likely be felt even by those who have never accessed Medicaid supports. The impact of national cuts to Medicaid funding would be felt in our economy, our states budgets, and our communities. Medicaid is the largest source of federal funding to states and is critical for keeping hospitals and clinics afloat, according to Partners in Health (PIH). The impact of cuts to Medicaid on low-income Americans particularly those in Republic-leaning states could potentially affect the political landscape in the lead-up to the next election. And that might help explain why politicians like Johnson are treading carefully around how they frame Medicaid reform. What to read next This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. The filmmaker who chronicled Prince Frederik of Luxembourgs battle with the rare genetic disorder PolG has shared her experience working with the royal, who passed away on Mar. 1 at 22. Commissioned by Frederiks mother, Princess Julia of Nassau, to helm an educational short film about the disease with Frederik at its center, director Mei Fa Tan said she was left inspired by the prince but also found it painful to watch him struggle with his health. Frederiks death was revealed by his father, Prince Robert, the first cousin of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, in a statement on the website of the POLG Foundation, an organization Frederik founded to promote research and find a cure for the disease. Prince Frederik of Luxembourg Royal Family of Luxembourg/Instagram Affecting approximately 1 in 5,000 people, the genetic disorder robs the bodys cells of energy, causing progressive multiple organ dysfunction and failure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Six months prior to the royals untimely passing, his foundation released the short film directed by Tan on Sep. 4, 2024 for Mitochondrial Awareness Week. [He was] so interested in so many topics, Tan told Us Weekly on Wednesday. He would love to talk about basically anything. Mostly film and music But his body would not allow him to do as much. So that was really painful to watch because he was trying his best. Frederiks death was revealed by his father, Prince Robert, the first cousin of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, in a statement on the website of the POLG Foundation, an organization Frederik founded to promote research and find a cure for the disease. POLG Foundation [H]is body would not allow him to do as much. So that was really painful to watch because he was trying his best, director Mei Fa Tan said of Prince Frederik. POLG Foundation Frederiks disease was so advanced that, at times, he couldnt even get up by himself, Tan said. I mean, the situation is very grave, but he would always keep his dignity in all situations and keep his sense of humor, she shared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I thought it was very, very sad, and I was very touched by this because this is not how life is supposed to go, Tan added. For Frederick, he just started to experience lots of things, and everything was taken away from him, bit by bit in an inevitable way. I found this very hurtful. Prince Frederik of Luxembourg (L). Royal Family of Luxembourg/Instagram Prince Frederik of Luxembourg (L). POLG Foundation Tan worked directly with Frederik on the project, meeting with him several times before she wrote the films script. Of the films opening, which shows the prince watching a selection of home movies from his childhood, Tan explained that she wanted to show all the things he used to do that he cant be doing anymore. When youre a kid, youve got all these dreams, all these aspirations, these things you want to do. The possibilities are endless, Frederik said in a voice-over narration at the start of the film. Im not sure I understood all the consequences of PolG when I first got diagnosed. Its more subtle, where slowly, the world is getting smaller and smaller. Prince Frederik of Luxembourg (Bottom row, center) Royal Family of Luxembourg/Instagram Though born with the disease, Frederik wasnt diagnosed with PolG until he was 14. POLG Foundation Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though born with the disease, Frederik wasnt diagnosed with PolG until he was 14. Tan also revealed that the energy on set was very positive and light, even with the films weighty topic. I think it was very brave of all the kids who participated in the film because they really took it seriously, she said of the shorts other subjects. But they also let their inner joy and spirit still be there. Educating herself about PolG was a learning curve, Tan added. Prince Frederik POLG Foundation In a sense, it was good because I could really put myself in the position of someone who didnt know anything about that disease, which would be the case for most people watching the film, she explained. I think its kind of a lesson, you know. Sometimes, you reconsider your life when you see people that they have it so bad, their days are counted, and they still find a way to be inspiring, to be positive and to do their best. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his message announcing Frederiks death, Prince Robert praised his sons tireless efforts to raise awareness about the disease and fund research to find a cure for PolG, calling him, my Superhero. In his message announcing Frederiks death, Prince Robert praised his sons tireless efforts to raise awareness about the disease and fund research to find a cure for PolG, calling him, my Superhero. POLG Foundation The POLG Foundation, in only three short years, has accomplished so very much, including funding four major research projects, totaling over $3.6 million, Robert said of Frederiks work to help others diagnosed with PolG. The young royal also partnered with designer Donna Karan to develop the MITO clothing line, selling items through his POLG Foundation to further the organizations efforts. In addition, Frederik participated in medical trials which helped to develop cell lines for research across Switzerland, the US and Europe. His work laid the foundation for The POLG Toolbox, a crucial resource for scientists, his proud father said. Guilford County Schools unveiled its proposed budget for the 2025-26 school year, and it calls for a $43.9 million increase in funding from the county, largely to fund pay increases for staff. "We talk a lot about how we keep great teachers in our schools and how we compensate our frontline workers," Guilford County Superintendent Whitney Oakley said while presenting the budget during a school board meeting on Tuesday. "So, we know we can't do our work if we don't invest in people." Guilford County is not able to get money from the $100 million Teacher Supplement Assistance Allotment created by the General Assembly in 2021 to aid the states smallest, poorest counties, making it harder to retain teachers and staff, Oakley said. Smaller districts are now more competitive. Neighboring districts, including Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Rockingham County Schools, and Randolph County Schools, all receive additional allotments for teachers from the $100 million fund. "That's another thing that's making this competition for keeping great teachers here even more difficult," Oakley said. Guilford County schools received a little over $270 million from the county's operating budget this year and the request for an additional $43.9 million would bring the county's allotment to the district to $314 million. That would be a 16.2% increase from last year if it is approved by the Guilford County Commissioners. Of the additional $43.9 million, $29.7 million would to compensating staff, $10.5 million is requested for legally required and sustaining operation cost of the schools, and $3.6 million would go toward safety and security technology. Of the $29.7 million for staff pay, about $15.3 million would go toward raising pay for classified staff. Classified staff are non-teachers and non-administrators who work for the school district, like cafeteria workers, teachers aides, bus drivers, and HVAC technicians. The district also expects to lose $4.4 million due to the loss of students to charter schools and is asking the county for that money as part of their $29.7 million request. Tyler Beck, the chief financial officer for the district, said the growth in charter school enrollment cuts substantially into the money available for public schools. "Guilford County Schools has approximately 14.9 cents on every dollar that will be passed through to charter schools," Beck said. The $10.5 million requested for operating costs is based on projections that the North Carolina biennium budget will call for increases in the legislated salary increases, retirement rates, and health insurance rates among other expenses for school staff. Beck said the estimate is based on 24-25 allotments provided for staff by the state. Additionally, the district has $3 million in local funding available from fines and forfeitures in the 2025-26 school year, and $1.2 million from earned interest on investments bringing the total local funds to $318 million. In the 2024-25 school year district received $485 million in funding from the state, a figure school officials expect to increase in the 2025-2026 school year. "The state legislature is continuing their biennium budget process. We used 2024-25 allotment projections," Beck said. "Our total projection is $495 million coming from state funds." Aside from state and local funding, the district also has $10.8 million available in capital outlay funding which comes from the 2020 and 2022 bond referendums passed by Guilford County voters. The money will be used to make necessary building, and equipment repairs at schools throughout the district. About $7.9 million of the $10.8 million is budgeted for emergency HVAC replacement. "We've spent $9 million to date on HVAC repairs as of February, that were not full system or major component replacements but were critical to continuing school operations," Beck said. The district expects to get much less funding from federal allotments. In 2024-25 the school district received $82 million in federal funds. It is projecting to receive roughly $54.5 million in federal funds this year. Federal allotments from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction have not been released yet. The decrease is the result of the school district exhausting one time Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds given to aid schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ESSER funds previously paid for the renewal of subscriptions for safety technology such as EVOLV weapons scanners at middle and high schools and emergency radios among other safety and security expenditures. That's is why the school district is requesting the $3.6 million from the county for the continuance of subscriptions related to safety and security technology. ESSER funds also helped partially fund the school districts high dosage tutoring program in the 2024-25 school year. The district didn't request money from the county for the program in the 2025-26 school year. Oakley said the district was seeking other means to fund the tutoring program next year by working with state legislators and using Title 1 funds to keep the program going. "We have put that in our legislative agenda. We're continuing to work with philanthropic partners, we will also use some of our federal funds to continue tutoring to the fullest extent possible," Oakley said. In total the budget proposal estimates a total of $868 million dollars coming from the state the county and the federal government. Of that, 81.7% of the money would go toward salaries and benefits for staff. Lastly, other sources of funding for the school district include a projected $6.1 million available in after school enrichment services (ACES) funds, $9.8 million in special revenue funds, and $52.5 million for child nutrition funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In all, the district's total budget recommendation is $947 million for the 2025-26 school year. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Getty Images Prince William's 2025 has been off to a busy start, with appearances ranging from school visits to a trip to Wales (and a family vacation to Mustique thrown into the mix). While he's been sticking closer to home in recent months, Kensington Palace announced on Wednesday, March 12 that the Prince of Wales will be making his first overseas trip of the yearbut sadly for Princess Kate fans, she won't be traveling abroad with her husband this time. The Prince of Wales will make a two-day visit to Estonia on March 20 to visit the Mercian Regimentan infantry regiment of the British Armyin his role as Colonel-in-Chief. During his time with the Mercian Regiment, Prince William will "learn about how they are bolstering NATOs eastern flank as part of Operation Cabrit," per Kensington Palace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the British Army, the operation "deploys its fighting power to secure NATOs flank in Estonia and provide a reconnaissance capability in Poland" and operates alongside multiple NATO allies in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. This will mark Prince William's first time visiting Estonia, and His Royal Highness will visit the country's historic capital, Tallinn, "to learn more about how country has responded to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine." The Prince of Waleswho founded the Earthshot Prize and holds a keen interest in the environmentwill also take on engagements related to "how Estonia is innovating in renewable energy and technology." The Princess of Wales joined the Royal Family for Commonwealth Day 2025 on March 10. | Credit: Getty Images Earlier this year, GB News reporter Cameron Walker noted that international travel would be "off the table" for Kate in 2025. "They are saying that it's going to be a gradual return to public duties for the Princess of Wales. And of course, she said she still has good days and bad days with her health," the royal journalist said. Although the Princess of Wales won't be heading to Estonia, she made her return to the annual Commonwealth Day ceremony on Monday, March 10 after skipping last year's event due to her cancer diagnosis. The princesswho repeated a bow-trimmed red Catherine Walker coat dress honored both Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana with her outfit, choosing to wear the late Queen's pearl choker and Diana's pearl drop earrings for the celebration. MIDTOWN, Manhattan (PIX11) Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Trump Tower in Midtown, Manhattan on Thursday, according to a video from Jewish Voice for Peace. Over 200 protesters are calling for the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University activist detained for his participation in the rallies at the college last year, organizers with Jewish Voice for Peace said. More Local News Some 98 demonstrators were arrested, according to NYPD Chief John Chell. The protest was ended by police within two hours, Chell said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a broadcast to the groups X page, protesters were seen holding signs that read, Fight Nazis, not students, Free Mahmoud, Free Palestine and Jews for Palestinian freedom. The crowd was heard in the video chanting, Free Mahmoud. Protesters wore red shirts that read, Not in Our Name for the rally organized as a sit-in in the lobby of Trump Tower, organizers said. We are saying when you come for one of us, face us all, said a Jewish Voice for Peace organizer in the X livestream. We are Jewish New Yorkers, elders, descendants of Holocaust survivors, students and parents and rabbis. Police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave. Videos posted to X show police walking protesters out of the protest area with their hands behind their backs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By around 1:15 p.m., all the protesters had seemingly been cleared out of the lobby, the livestream shows. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasnt been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalils arrest was the first of many to come and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. This story comprises reporting from the Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Republican lawmakers in at least five states are seeking to block undocumented children from attending public school for free or to inquire about students' immigration status in ways that courts have held violate children's educational rights, Chalkbeat reports. The rationale often centers around cost: Proponents say states and local school districts are spending too much to educate undocumented immigrants and that their parents should bear the financial responsibility for their education. Having data about how many undocumented children attend public school, and where, is necessary to tally up costs and take stock of needs, they add. If any of these proposals become law, they would likely violate the 1982 landmark Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, which held that children are entitled to a free public education regardless of their immigration status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To some lawmakers, that's the point. They've said they want to enact a policy that would likely draw a legal challenge so it could potentially make its way up to the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority may be open to overturning the Plyler ruling. When Plyler was decided, the justices in the majority said that educating children without legal immigration status wasn't a significant burden for the state. But circumstances have changed over the last 40 years, said Ira Mehlman, a spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for dramatic reductions in immigration. "You could probably make a case in just about every school district in the country these days that it is a significant burden, and a particularly onerous one in certain parts of the country," Mehlman said. "It's a lot of money, and it comes at the expense not just of taxpayers but of the quality of education for other kids in those school systems." Schools have had to hire additional bilingual staff and social workers to support newcomer students, and some school boards have expressed similar financial concerns as the sponsors of these bills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But schools also report that immigrant students have brought welcome diversity and bolstered enrollment and funding. None of the many challenges to Plyler have gotten far before. But some say in this legal and political climatewhere President Donald Trump is seeking to end birthright citizenship and increase deportations of immigrants without legal status in the U.S.that one or more of these proposals could become law, forcing schools to decide whether to comply or resist. "These legislatures are trying to provide the case" that reaches the Supreme Court, said Brett Geier, a professor of educational leadership at Western Michigan University, who wrote a book about the Supreme Court's effects on public schools since 2005. "You also have a Supreme Court that is probably ready to look at that." "We know that the court is in no way fearful of overturning precedent," Geier added. Bills Would Block Undocumented Students, Collect Immigration Info The Republican-backed state bills seeking to affect the education of undocumented children come as many schools are grappling with how to support their students and families in a moment of heightened anti-immigrant sentiment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On his first day in office, Trump cleared the way for immigrant agents to make arrests at schools, child care centers, playgrounds, and other places where kids gather. In the past, those were treated as "sensitive" locations that were highly restricted when it came to immigration enforcement. Now lawmakers in at least four states are seeking to give schools the power to turn undocumented students away, or to charge their families tuition for public schoola move that led to the Plyler ruling over 40 years ago. In Texas, where the Plyler challenge originated, a Republican lawmaker filed a bill one week after Trump was reelected that would allow public schools to charge undocumented children tuition to attend, unless the federal government stepped in to cover the costs. The idea mirrors one put forward by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank with close ties to the Trump administration. In Indiana, two Republican lawmakers introduced legislation last month that would allow school districts to prevent immigrant children from enrolling if school officials determined by "a preponderance of the evidence" that the child was not legally present in the U.S. That proposal comes with backup: The state attorney general would defend a school district if it were sued due to the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In New Jersey, where Trump made surprising inroads, a Republican lawmaker introduced legislation that would allow school districts to charge children tuition if a student couldn't prove their citizenship or legal immigration statusthough that has virtually no chance of passing in a state where Democrats control both chambers of the legislature and the governor's seat. And in Tennessee, where Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers, lawmakers are going after the issue on multiple fronts. One pair of Republican-sponsored bills would require students to prove they are U.S. citizens by producing a birth certificate or other approved document. Without that, families could only enroll their child if they paid the district what it would usually spend per student. Another set of bills introduced this week by the Tennessee House majority leader and the chair of the powerful Senate finance committee would allow school districts and charter schools to refuse to enroll any child who is "unlawfully present" in the U.S. That would likely sweep up a larger category of children, such as those with temporary protected status that expired or whose families overstayed their visas. GOP Gov. Bill Lee hasn't weighed in directly on the proposal. But the universal private school voucher legislation he championed that recently passed the legislature carries a similar provision that says students who cannot establish their "lawful presence" in the U.S. are not eligible for the voucher. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judith Clerjeune, the advocacy director for the Tennessee Immigration & Refugee Rights Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for immigrant rights across the state, worries the bills could have wider support among Republicans in the statehouse. "In months or years before, the idea of attacking innocent children and taking away their public education would have been unheard of," Clerjeune said. "Unfortunately, the narrative has become so extreme that this is legislation that we're seeing coming from Republican leadership." In the Supreme Court's majority opinion for Plyler, Justice William Brennan wrote that "legislation directing the onus of a parent's misconduct against his children does not comport with fundamental conceptions of justice." But in his dissent, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote that "there can, of course, be no presumption that a state has a constitutional duty to include illegal aliens among the recipients of its governmental benefits." Yet he also wrote that it would be "senseless" to "deprive any childrenincluding illegal aliensof an elementary education." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mehlman, of FAIR, agrees that it's not good policy to have children who aren't in school. But he says parents who broke immigration law when they came to the U.S. are responsible for the consequences of their decisions, including any effects on their children. "You would expect, or hope, that parents who put their kids in this situation might do the right thing and decide: If my kids can't be educated here, then we're going to leave," he said. To Clerjeune, it's "short-sighted" to argue that immigrant children are a burden on public schools. Often, she noted, their parents contribute to public education funds through property, sales, and income taxes. "They're trying to distract people and redirect attention to immigrant students by blaming them for the challenges that public schools are facing," Clerjeune said. "We're not thinking of the longer-term impacts on the economy, on our society at large." Proposals Would Make Parents Prove Children's Citizenship Republican lawmakers in at least four states are also seeking to collect information about children's immigration status or to verify children's citizenship status during the enrollment process. When Alabama passed a similar law in 2011, it faced numerous legal challenges, and the provision was ultimately blocked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Indiana, a bill written by four Republican lawmakers would task school districts and charter schools with reporting a litany of statistics to the state's education department each year. That includes the number of "unlawfully present students" enrolled in their schools, whether those children are English learners, how many staff are employed to provide bilingual instruction, and the attendance and truancy rates for "unlawfully present" students. It would also require schools to report the number of enrolled students who are not U.S. citizens and the immigration status of every non-citizen student. Texas has a similar proposal, though it goes even further: It would require school districts to count children they know or "reasonably believe" are not U.S. citizens. In Oklahoma, a Republican lawmaker is advancing a proposal first crafted by state Superintendent Ryan Walters that would require parents to prove their child is a U.S. citizen or has "legal immigration status" when they enroll them in school. (Walters has risen to national prominence for his confrontational stance on several culture war issues.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents would have to produce a document such as a birth certificate, a U.S. passport, a Social Security card, or a teen's Oklahoma drivers license. The bill says children wouldn't be prevented from enrolling if they are undocumented, and Walters and other proponents say this information is necessary to figure out what students need and where staff and resources should be directed. Walters has also said this policy could end "sanctuary schools" in Oklahoma. But courts have held that checking immigration status like this infringes on children's educational rights because it can instill fear and lead parents to keep their kids out of school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I can tell you that their citizenship makes no difference to their needs," said Angela Baumann, who teaches English learners in Oklahoma's Lawton Public Schools, in testimony to the Oklahoma state school board, which unanimously backed the proposal. "They don't need to feel ostracized by a community because they may not be from here." Some school districts would likely resist complying. Last year, NBC News reported that a dozen Oklahoma school districts said they would not check students' immigration status if they were asked to by the state education department. "I will have to go with the U.S. Supreme Court over a state elected official," Rob Miller, the superintendent of Bixby Public Schools, told NBC News at the time. "Part of my job as superintendent, and for other superintendents around our state, is to follow the laws of the land." Cari Elledge, the president of the Oklahoma Education Association, which represents teachers, school administrators, and other school staff, said the union will urge its some 30,000 members to keep calling state lawmakers to express their concerns about the bill. Already, some schools have seen immigrant families withdrawing their children, Elledge said, which could reduce funding for those school districts in the long run. "These are the reasons why we tell our legislators: You're trying to do something that's just going to cost us more money in the end, because ultimately it's not constitutional," she said. "We hope that people will start paying attention." This story was produced by Chalkbeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Joaquin Oliver's sister Andrea Ghersi hugs Assistant State Attorney Nicole Chiappone after the jury rejected a death sentence for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse October 13, 2022. Joaquin Oliver was killed in the 2018 shootings. Cruz previously pleaded guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings. (Photo by Mike Stocker-Pool/Getty Images) A bill that would add another crime category for a jury to consider when administering the death penalty has passed its second committee in the Florida House and will soon go before the entire chamber for a floor vote. The Judiciary Committee on Thursday passed the proposal (HB 693), filed by Miami Republican Rep. Mike Redondo, that would provide an additional aggravating factor for sentencing for capital felonies that the victim was gathered with one or more persons for a school activity, religious activity, or public government meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is just one of several bills filed for the 2025 legislative session that would expand who could be eligible for execution if found guilty. Others include capital felonies committed against a president, foreign head of state, or governor of Florida or any other state (HB 653/SB 776), and persons convicted of human trafficking of children & mentally incapacitated persons for sex (HB 1283/SB 1804). The Legislature voted during a special session earlier this year to mandate the death penalty for unauthorized aliens if found guilty of a capital offense, such as murder or rape of a minor. During Thursdays committee meeting, Orlando Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis asked Redondo to define what he means by religious activity. Redondo said his bill does not define the term but that capitol offenses that occur in a church, synagogue, or mosque would be very clear examples. What about a bible-study or a prayer meeting at someones home, Bracy Davis inquired. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A jury could likely think that was the case, Redondo said. Joe Harman of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said that his organization agrees that the crimes the legislation would target are gravely evil, but opposes expansion of the death penalty, saying there is good reason to doubt the measure would have any deterrent effect. We urge that death is not a good tool of justice in our society, Harman said. Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is already a severe punishment, which also protects the public. Anger at Parkland sentence Sitting on the Judiciary Committee, Broward County Democratic Rep. Dan Daley referenced the fact that he was a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland who rushed to the campus in the immediate aftermath of the February 2018 mass shooting that killed 17 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Daley mentioned the anger he and others in the community felt when a jury voted that Nikolas Cruz, the gunman, should be sentenced to life in prison without parole and not face the death penalty. The fact that hell get to his live out his life in a jail cell when 17 lives were taken viciously in that case blows my mind, and hurts, he said, adding that he thought the bill was a step in the right direction. The committee voted unanimously to move the measure forward. Bracy Davis said that while she personally opposes the death penalty, the state of Florida provides for it, and thats why she was voting yes. Redondo said he understood that some lawmakers fundamentally oppose capital punishment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However: If we are going to have it, we should make sure that juries should have all of the tools necessary to make the right decision in capital cases, he said. Thats really the intent of the bill. The Senate version (SB 984), sponsored by Sarasota Republican Joe Gruters, has yet to be heard in any committee. Meanwhile, Edward James, 63, convicted of murdering a woman and raping and killing her 8-year-old-granddaughter in Seminole County in 1993, is set to be executed next week at Florida State Prison. If that execution takes place, it will be the second in Florida this year. Last month, James Dennis Ford was put to death for the murder of a couple in 1997 in Charlotte County. Another execution is scheduled on April 8 after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant earlier this week for Michael Tanzi, 48, convicted of kidnapping a woman in Miami and strangling her to death. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) A proposed law in the upcoming Louisiana legislative session would up the penalties for selling consumable hemp products to people under the age of 21. The age limit is already in law, but a state representative wants to put teeth behind enforcement and allow there to be avenues for civil action if a minor gets injured by a product. When it comes to THC, its so detrimental to the developing brain where if adolescents do consume THC, you can not only have short term, but you can have long term consequences, said state Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie. House Bill 36 expands the definition of illegal controlled substance to include consumable hemp products that contain THC. Schlegel wanted to have a way for people to sue the dealers or sellers of these products for damages after incidents of minors taking these products and becoming extremely ill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think he was 17 years old, from Baton Rouge, and ended up in the ICU unconscious for hours, so it just made me look at what are the safeguards around this product, especially when it comes to minors, Schlegel said. What is delta-8? What to know about the alternative THC products and their use by teens Her companion bill, House Bill 12, adds penalties to sell, distribute, or deliver consumable hemp, such as gummies, drinks, and tinctures, to people under 21. The only exception is if an underage person lawfully works for an establishment that sells the products, then they can handle the products. The thing that we really, truly dont know is, what was the product. Whenever you have the particular gummy, what was it tested for? What does it say on the product label? Joey Jones, system director of North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory, said. And weve done testing at our laboratory here in Shreveport. I have colleagues out on the East Coast that do testing on hemp-derived products, and this is published, peer-reviewed, evidence-based testing where the labels do not match. Theres more cannabinoids in some of the products. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The punishment for the sellers of the product would be a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 or jail time for at least 30 days or up to six months. If someone underage is caught with these products, they can face a fine of $100. Those fines would not be included in a persons criminal history, however. Schlegel said she is modeling this off of how the state manages alcohol sales and minor possession. This is just in line with the criminal penalties. Like if a bar would sell alcohol to a minor that you could be held criminally liable, Schlegel said. The proposed law also creates the crime of producing, manufacturing, distributing, dispensing consumable hemp products without the proper licenses already laid out in law. The punishment would be a fine of no more than $50,000 and 1-10 years of prison time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Consumable hemp has taken the spotlight multiple times at the legislature in recent years. After the sale of consumable hemp was opened up, some felt too much THC was being allowed in individual products. Last year, the age was raised from 18 to 21, the serving size was lowered, and the products were moved out of reach. Flower hemp products remain banned in the state. The bills will not be heard until after the legislative session begins on April 14. Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News. State Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks during a Feb. 27 meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education in Oklahoma City. The board approved new academic standards for social studies education that, without public knowledge, included a suggestion that there were "discrepancies" in 2020 elections. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY A quiet addition by the Oklahoma State Department of Education to add discrepancies in the 2020 elections to proposed academic standards for social studies has raised questions at the state Capitol as lawmakers weigh whether to approve them. If enacted, the social studies standards would mandate the topics Oklahoma public schools must teach to students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Education Department presented the new social studies standards to the Oklahoma State Board of Education on Feb. 27 without acknowledging anything had changed from the original proposed draft. The agency didnt share the new version on its website for public view as it has with past standards updates, and state Superintendent Ryan Walters declined to speak with reporters afterward. The new proposal, which Oklahoma Voice obtained, would require that high school students identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results including sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters and the unprecedented contradiction of bellwether county trends. Walters said Thursday the standards are not set up to either support or negate a specific outcome in the 2020 Presidential Election. Our standards are designed to teach students how to investigate and calculate the specific details surrounding that (or any) election, he said in a statement. In order to oppose or support the outcome, a well rounded student should be able to make their own conclusions using publicly available data and details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state Board of Education approved the new standards, sending them to the state Legislature for consideration. The House and Senate have 30 legislative days after the standards are submitted to the Legislature to adopt a joint resolution on them. Lawmakers could approve, reject or amend the proposed language. If they do nothing, the proposal would take effect as written, according to state law. Gov. Kevin Stitt would have veto power if a legislative resolution lands on his desk. The current social studies standards remain in effect until new standards are approved. One newly appointed Board of Education member, Ryan Deatherage, had asked for extra days to read the hundreds of pages of standards, but the rest of the board overruled him and opted to approve the proposal during its Feb. 27 meeting. Republican leaders of the House and Senate said they hadnt yet reviewed the standards. Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, speaks to reporters in the Senate Lounge at the state Capitol on Feb. 13. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) Neither House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, nor Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, objected to schools discussing the 2020 elections with students. Both expressed confidence in the security of Oklahoma elections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As far as whats in that curriculum, I have not looked at it yet, and so well circle back and look at it and see exactly what it says, Paxton said while speaking with reporters on Thursday. But that is history. We can always talk about what happened in 2020 and why people felt like they were disenfranchised and also talk about what was good about it, what was bad about it but its all part of the discussion. President Donald Trump long refused to admit defeat in the 2020 election, even after multiple courts threw out his allegations of election fraud and President Joe Biden took office. It wasnt until 2024 that Trump said he lost the 2020 race by a whisker, but he later said he intended his remarks to be sarcastic. Hilbert said its an indisputable fact that voter turnout was historically high in 2020. He would not say whether high turnout amounts to a discrepancy in election results nor did he take a stance on the wording of the proposed standards. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, votes in favor of a bill during a House Education Oversight Committee meeting March 5 at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) Before I would commit one way or another on the standards, I would want to read them first, Hilbert said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democratic leaders, though, called the last-minute change deeply alarming. Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said the Legislature should reject the proposed language. There were no discrepancies in the 2020 presidential election, and to insinuate that there were is misinformation, House Minority Leader Cindy Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said. Its appalling that they keep talking about this when theres been proof and facts over and over again that there were no discrepancies, she said. Joe Biden was the president of the United States, and in terms of the (standards) being in our hands, we will have to apply pressure to House leadership. The new standards were controversial even before details emerged about the unacknowledged changes, which the media site NonDoc first reported. The new standards would require students in elementary school to learn about biblical stories and the teachings of Jesus that influenced the American colonists, founders and culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The individuals involved in developing the standards also created controversy. Walters announced far-right-wing media personalities and policy advocates like Dennis Prager and the president of the Heritage Foundation would take part in the drafting process. Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said the state Department of Education undermined transparency by changing its proposed social studies standards without acknowledging it publicly. (Photo Kirt said she already had concerns about the new standards because of who Walters chose to include. This takes it to a new level and clearly undermines transparency around that process, she said in response to the last-minute rewriting. Its not the first time Walters administration quietly made changes that had a significant impact on the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His agency oversaw the process of readjusting the scoring of state tests, a process that resulted in the state lowering its standard of student proficiency in reading and math. Without announcing to the public that a major statistical change had taken place, the Education Department released test scores to parents and schools, giving a false impression of dramatic improvements in academic performance. Months later, Walters blamed Gov. Kevin Stitt and another state agency for undermining the integrity of the test scores. The governors office disputed the allegation. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Fraser Needham APTN The federal government announced a proposed settlement worth more than a billion dollars for former patients of what were once called Indian hospitals on Thursday but a lawyer involved in the process says it is about much more than money. Its the apology that is the most important part of any of these settlements, Steven Cooper, a lawyer with Alberta-based Cooper Regal which is one of the firms representing former patients, told Nation to Nation. Ive sat in with survivors, residential school survivors and other survivors with nobody in the room knowing whether they were eligible for anything. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And yet the sense of relief, outflow of emotion, the crying, the hugging thats really what its all about. People believe us, we can tell our story now. Indigenous patients at these institutions were forced to undergo sexual abuse, forced confinement and substandard healthcare. If certified by a federal court, claimants will be eligible for compensation anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000 depending on level of abuse suffered. There is also $150 million for a healing fund, $235.5 million for a research and commemoration fund and Indigenous Services Canada is also putting forward $150 million for mental health supports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hospitals operated from 1936 to 1981. Cooper said because compensation is not capped it should be able to flow more quickly once claimants are approved. Indigenous issues being ignored by Liberals Toronto Metropolitan University professor Pam Palmater says many important Indigenous issues are being ignored in the Liberal leadership campaign as U.S. President Donald Trumps threats to Canada are taking up most of the oxygen. All of them (leadership candidates) are so distracted by this tariff war and its huge, its an issue and we need to deal with it, she said. Its going to affect jobs and lives. However, it cant be at the expense of our ongoing reconciliation efforts. They (Liberal government) still have so much to do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Palmater said the federal government still has a number of outstanding Indigenous issues to deal with including long-term reform in First Nations child welfare, ensuring all Indigenous communities have access to safe drinking water and fulfilling commitments on land and treaty rights. A northern Ontario NDP MP says the federal government is missing a golden opportunity by failing to include Indigenous people in its fight against U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs. I have been speaking to many Indigenous leaders that I know who understand the threat, Charlie Angus said. Because its a threat not just to the nation but the nation of course is on Indigenous land and Indigenous rights have to be first and foremost protected. Angus is part of an organization called Pledge for Canada which is calling for a boycott of American goods as part of a response to U.S. President Donald Trumps tariff and annexation threats. A jury convicted Toforest Johnson in 1998 of the murder of off-duty Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy William Hardy in 1995. Several groups filed briefs Wednesday supporting a request from Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr's call for a new trial for Johnson over concerns about the credibility of a witness. (Alabama Department of Corrections) Former prosecutors and criminal justice reform advocates have filed a new round of briefs urging a court to give Alabama death row inmate Toforest Johnson a new trial. The series of briefs, filed Wednesday and signed by several people including former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones and former Alabama Lt. Gov. Bill Baxley, urges Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Kandice Pickett to grant Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr request for a new trial for Johnson, convicted in 1998 for the murder of off-duty Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputy William Hardy in 1995. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When a prosecutor takes the extraordinary step of re-examining a previous conviction to assess its validity, if the prosecutor concludes the conviction cannot stand, the conclusion should be given substantial deference, the brief states. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Hardy was shot and killed on July 19, 1995 in the parking lot of a Birmingham hotel, where he was working as a private security guard. Johnson and four other individuals were arrested several hours later. No physical evidence on the scene linked back to Johnson, and several witnesses stated they saw Johnson at a location across town at the time of Hardys murder. A jury deadlocked on Johnsons conviction at a first trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At his second trial in 1998, the state put a witness named Violet Ellison on the stand to testify that she overheard him admit to shooting and killing Hardy while she was eavesdropping on a three-way phone conversation with people incarcerated in prison. Johnsons attorneys learned after the trial that Ellison offered to testify after learning of a reward, and was later paid $5,000 by the state, a fact that could have been used to challenge Ellisons credibility at trial. Carr in 2020 called for a new trial, saying he had doubts about the witnesses testimony, as did the original prosecutor of the case. Baxley and former Alabama Chief Justice Drayton Nabers have also called for a new trial. Johnson remains on death row. Johnsons attorneys filed an appeal on his behalf in November asking that the Jefferson County Circuit Court grant him another trial after Carr investigated and expressed concerns about Johnsons situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Johnsons appeals process has been anything but straightforward. State appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme Court have remanded the case to the lower courts multiple times. The circuit court has consistently ruled against Johnson. Carrs findings are critical for Johnson further appeals, as he is otherwise barred from making a second or subsequent post-conviction plea to the court after he filed his initial appeal more than two decades ago. The Innocence Project, a national legal advocacy organization, and Alabama Appleseed, a nonprofit based in Birmingham, also filed separate briefs in support of Johnson on Wednesday. The Innocence Project writes that the case bears all the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When viewed together, they expose a conviction built on a foundation that has crumbled, the brief states. Johnsons attorneys are sparring with the Alabama Attorney Generals Office in a series of court filings to argue for their respective sides. Johnsons team argues Carrs findings amount to additional evidence that supports Johnsons cause for a new trial. They went on to say that Johnson has never included the current district attorneys findings as evidence in any of his prior claims. Good cause therefore exists to establish why he did not raise it earlierthe predicate facts supporting it did not exist until the District Attorneys Office first publicly reported its findings in June 2020, the court filing states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Alabama Attorney Generals Office argues Johnsons most recent request is a subsequent appeal, and that he is procedurally barred from making such a request. Johnson previously litigated the same or similar grounds as those presented in the amended successive petition, the Attorney Generals Office said in its filing. The AGs Office did not directly challenge any of the issues that Johnson made in his appeal, but instead went through a litany of reasons that Johnson has not met his burden. Johnsons prior post-conviction petition challenged Ellisons credibility based on her receipt of a reward, which is one of the concerns noted by Carr, the filing states. But the (Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals) noted that Johnson did not prove that Ellison was ever motivated by a reward and that no such evidence existed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for the physical evidence, The circuit court rejected this claim during Johnsons first postconviction proceeding, and the ACCA (Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals) affirmed, the filing states. Johnson failed to show that circuit court erred in its conclusion that Ellison was a credible witness. Gov. Kay Ivey late last month commuted the death sentence of Robin Rocky Myers to life without the possibility of parole after he was sentenced to die after a capital murder conviction. Ivey had concerns about the lack of evidence in the case and decided to halt his pending execution. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The Maricopa County Attorneys Office has refused to explain why it is no longer seeking the death penalty against a former Phoenix police detective and his Australian wife accused of murdering the formers 7-year-old daughter more than six years after the agency initially sought capital punishment against the couple. Germayne Cunningham was a 12-year veteran of the department and resigned amid a Goodyear police investigation in 2017. Lisa Cunningham, Germaynes wife, was the girls stepmother. The couple have been held in a Maricopa County jail since 2018 after prosecutors filed a notice that they would seek the death penalty against them if they were convicted of first-degree murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Feb. 10, prosecutors filed a motion withdrawing their intent to seek the death penalty against the couple. The filing did not offer a reason behind the decision. When asked why prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty against the parents after over six years of intending to and months before trial, MCAO declined to comment citing its policy to not discuss the details of open cases. Prosecutors cite disturbing living conditions behind girls death Court documents outline disturbing allegations about the couples treatment of the girl, Sanaa Cunningham, over a period of several months in 2016 and 2017. Prosecutors alleged Sanaa was subjected to forcible work in the backyard during the summer that included raking rocks and picking up feces with her bare hands, was tied with a RIPP restraint, a device that restricts movement, and at various times confined to the garage, laundry room or patio with trash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neighbors would report that they saw Sanaa wearing only a diaper. Documents say Sanaas decline in mental and behavioral health began in April 2016 after the couple removed her from school and began homeschooling her instead. Prosecutors said Sanaas parents claimed she would injure herself, have uncontrollable tantrums, gorge, purge and defecate in the house but said these details couldnt be verified because they isolated Sanaa from others. Court documents say the Cunninghams took Sanaa to a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with schizophrenia based on their statements about her before taking her to another psychiatrist who prescribed her the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. Documents say Sanaas parents started her on the drug but abruptly stopped against the doctors instructions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Child abuse case: Tucson father charged with child abuse after toddler suffers gunshot wound Girls temperature under 90 degrees when taken to hospital Prosecutors said Sanaas parents noticed she was in a catatonic state, drooling and unable to eat or drink normally on Feb. 7, 2017, but opted to hold off on taking her to a hospital until the injuries on her arms and legs healed. On the morning of Feb. 12, 2017, the Cunninghams took her to an urgent care facility after Lisa noticed Sanaa was cold to the touch. Sanaa was then flown to Phoenix Children's Hospital where she would later be pronounced dead. An autopsy said Sanaa arrived at Arizona General Hospital with an internal temperature of 89.6 degrees and died at Phoenix Childrens due to complications of sepsis in the setting of acute bronchitis with bronchiolitis and early bronchopneumonia, right foot abscess, multiple skin ulcerations, and unspecified schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The autopsy noted that three child protective services cases were reported to the Arizona Department of Child Safety, and two were dismissed while one remained open before her death. Prosecutors said a doctor explained that Sanaas immune system was likely compromised due in part to her living conditions. Defense argues prosecutors lack evidence Defense attorneys have argued that physical evidence does not back up claims from former neighbors that Sanaa was forced to work in the backyard or sleep outside. Documents show the attorneys argued that using a RIPP restraint on Sanaa was a tough love teaching moment and that there was no evidence to suggest Germayne restrained her with one repeatedly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It added that Sanaa slept on a cot in the laundry room after she began urinating and defecating in a room she shared with one of her sisters as the laundry room floor was made of tile. Documents say the parents swaddled Sanaa in one of Germaynes long sleeve shirts to prevent her from harming herself and they installed cameras inside to monitor her. Attorneys noted that a Goodyear police officer at one point showed up to the house unannounced and saw Sanaa while she was in the laundry room and determined it wasnt child abuse. Attorneys also said that the hospital the Cunninghams initially brought Sanaa to wasnt equipped to deal with a child in such serious condition despite advertising itself as an emergency room and began assessing her despite knowing she would likely need to be taken to a more advanced facility due to state law. Timely administration of antibiotics is crucial to fighting sepsis, yet no one gave Sanaa antibiotics at the first hospital for about an hour and a half, documents say. Roughly two hours lapsed before she was medevacked to (Phoenix Childrens Hospital), where she died of sepsis hours later. Parents deemed bondable after death penalty withdrawn After prosecutors withdrew their notice to seek the death penalty against the Cunninghams, attorneys representing the two filed motions to modify the conditions of their release while questioning why prosecutors withdrew the death penalty notice and why they sought capital punishment in the first place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Understanding the States position throughout these proceedings is nothing short of speculation, one motion for modifying Lisa Cunninghams release condition stated. Unfortunately, the States Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty accomplished one goal; namely, it stole six and one-half years of life from each Defendant. A judge ultimately ruled that the Cunninghams each be held on a $500,000 secured-appearance bond. The Maricopa County Sheriffs Office told The Arizona Republic that both remained in jail as of Tuesday afternoon. The current trial date is scheduled for July 7 in Maricopa County Superior Court. Reach reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@gannett.com or 602-444-2474. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Prosecutors won't say why they're not seeking death penalty for couple Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, who is charged with murder in the deaths of four University of Idaho students, are set to acknowledge there is good support that their clients DNA was discovered on a key piece of evidence police said they found at the crime scene, but are expected to argue at trial that it might have been planted. Furthermore, Kohbergers defense will attempt to establish that the DNA match to the only suspect in the case doesnt itself confirm that he ever visited the Moscow house where the four students were found stabbed to death, prosecutors wrote in a public court filing this week. Two experts, one in DNA and another in forensic biology, will testify on behalf of the defense that they believe it is, in fact, Kohbergers DNA, the prosecution said. The lack in sealed defense filings of any expert witness who will assert the state is wrong that Kohbergers DNA was on a knife sheath located next to one of the four victims indicates that they accept the scientific finding, prosecutors said. Kohbergers defense team also hasnt provided any evidence to challenge the direct DNA match between a swab of his cheek and that from the knife sheath, the prosecution wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of challenging the conclusion that the DNA on the knife sheath belonged to (the) defendant, the defenses expert disclosures reveal that the defense plans to argue the DNA on the knife sheath does not prove (Kohberger) was ever at the crime scene and the knife sheath itself could have been planted by the real perpetrator, read the filing signed by Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson and Special Assistant Attorney General Jeff Nye, also assigned to the case. Bryan Kohberger, center, is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. Led by attorney Anne Taylor, left, his defense is prepared to argue DNA evidence was planted, according to a recent court filing from the prosecution. At a hearing in January, Anne Taylor, Kohbergers lead attorney, alluded to the DNA on the knife sheath as the most significant issue to be resolved at trial. Thats the ultimate question that will be before a jury, she told the court. What does a knife sheath at a scene mean? Kohberger, 30, is a former graduate student of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, just on the other side of the Idaho state line from Moscow. After a seven-week investigation, he was arrested at his parents home in Pennsylvania and brought to Idaho to face four counts of first-degree murder and a count of felony burglary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victims were U of I students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur dAlene; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived in the Moscow home with two other young women who went physically unharmed in the early morning attack; Chapin was Kernodles boyfriend and stayed over for the night. From left, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed in a November 2022 attack at an off-campus house near the University of Idaho. Prosecutors seek to limit defenses alternative suspects theory Prosecutors also have moved in a so-called motion in limine to have Ada County Judge Steven Hipper restrict the defenses ability to point to alternate perpetrators without meeting certain evidence requirements. Any attempt by the defendant to offer or argue an alternative perpetrator theory without evidence specifically connecting person(s) other than the defendant to the homicides would do nothing more than mislead and confuse the jury, Thompson wrote in a filing last month. Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based criminal defense attorney who has argued capital cases, told the Idaho Statesman that it would take considerable evidence from Kohbergers defense team to explain away the knife sheath DNA to a jury. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If its just, It wasnt him, his DNA is there, but hes not the one who put it there, then thats pretty flimsy, she said in a phone interview. Then how did it get there? How did his DNA get on a knife sheath where these kids are dead. But if they have real, tangible evidence to support an alternate perpetrator theory, other than just saying its someone else, then that could be significant. Or, it could be really insignificant and not believable. It just depends on the content of what that is. Investigators found two sources of unknown male blood DNA at the crime scene, which the defense has already questioned in court. A blood spot was discovered on a handrail inside between the first and second floors of the three-story Moscow home, while the other was found on a glove located outside of it, according to testimony from the lead police detective at a closed hearing in January. Those DNA samples were not uploaded to try to identify them through the national DNA database, known as CODIS, because they were not eligible based on FBI criteria, Thompson said at an August 2023 court hearing. The knife sheath DNA was, however, but did not come back with a match. The FBI used an advanced DNA technique known as investigative genetic genealogy, or IGG, to initially land on Kohberger as the suspect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, prosecutors requested in yet another motion that Kohberger be required to testify to his alibi if he wishes to state at trial he was elsewhere at the time of the homicides. Through his attorneys, Kohberger previously said in legal briefs that he was out driving alone, as he often did late at night, but in and around an area 30 miles southwest of Moscow in southeastern Washington. From what we know right now, theres some massive dots that need to be connected, Elcox said of Kohbergers alleged alibi. Theyre like boulder-sized holes if thats the way that theyre going. The defense has yet to file responses to the prosecutions most recent filings. Those are due by March 24. Kohbergers capital murder trial is set for this summer in Boise, starting with jury selection July 30. He is next scheduled to appear in court for oral arguments over the motions in limine on April 9. By Jasper Ward (Reuters) -Scores of people poured into the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday to protest the arrest and detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, whom the Trump administration aims to deport over his pro-Palestinian activism. The arrest of Khalil, who is in immigration custody in Louisiana after his arrest in New York on Saturday, has sparked an outcry by Democratic lawmakers, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian territories, and civil liberty advocates, among others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as a progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization, carried out Thursday's demonstration. The group said it was "taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal." "We will not stand by as this fascist regime attempts to criminalize Palestinians and all those calling for an end to the Israeli governments US-funded genocide of the Palestinian people," the group said in a post on X. Trump Tower, located on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, is home to the Trump Organization and where President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump own a penthouse apartment. Their son, Barron, has been living there since beginning his freshman year at New York University in the fall. At least 150 protesters gathered at Trump Tower, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the New York Police Department estimated. Images on social media showed demonstrators carrying signs saying: "FIGHT NAZIS NOT STUDENTS" and "FREE MAHMOUD FREE PALESTINE." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Video showed police arresting some of the protesters. The NYPD said 98 arrests were made. Kaz Daughtry, the deputy mayor for public safety, said on Fox News that there were no injuries and all the protesters had been removed from the building. The Trump Organization did not immediately provide comment. By arresting Khalil on Saturday, the Trump administration began fulfilling its campaign promise to deport foreign-born activists who participated in the wave of protests on U.S. college campuses last year. The protests followed Israel's military assault on Gaza, which came after the October 2023 attack by the militant group Hamas, which controlled the Palestinian enclave. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States, has been a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian student movement at Columbia, perhaps the most prominent of the dozens of U.S. universities where demonstrations erupted last year. Trump branded Khalil a "Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student" on social media and has said his arrest is the first "of many to come." (Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Frank McGurty and Leslie Adler) Dozens of protesters stormed Trump Tower in Midtown Thursday, demanding the release of Palestinian Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. Sporting bright red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel, protesters chanted Free Mahmoud! Free them all! by the golden escalators inside the lobby of Trump Tower, President Trumps home base on Fifth Ave. in Midtown. The group then conducted a sit-in, refusing to leave. Cops had begun placing protesters under arrest by 12:30 pm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group unfurled a banner reading Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine and Fight Nazis Not Students. Organizers from Jewish Voice for Peace said more than 300 people were taking part in the protest. The abduction of Mahmoud Khalil by the Trump regime is further proof that we are on the brink of a full takeover by an authoritarian regime, Jane Hirschmann, a Jewish New Yorker who attended the protest said. Hirschmanns grandfather and uncle were abducted by Nazis in Hitlers rise to power. As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control. Other protesters included actors Debra Winger, Arliss Howard and Morgan Spector and City Councilwoman Alexa Aviles (D-Manhattan). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Activists are demanding the release of Khalil, who remains detained at a processing center in Jena, La., five days after his arrest by plainclothes cops for the Department of Homeland Security at his Columbia-owned apartment in Morningside Heights. The Palestinian activist is a green card holder. His wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, was threatened with arrest if she didnt leave the scene, according to Khalils lawyers. The White House doubled down Tuesday on its decision to detain Khalil, accusing him of organizing protests where Hamas propaganda was distributed. On Wednesday, a federal judge halted Khalils removal from the country. While Manhattan Federal Judge Jesse Furman ordered he remain in Louisiana, Khalil will be able to speak to his lawyers as the judge mulls over a flurry of motions by both the U.S. government and his attorneys demanding his release. NEW YORK Dozens of protesters stormed Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday, demanding the release of Palestinian Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil. The protesters chanted Free Mahmoud! Free them all! by the golden escalators inside the lobby of Trump Tower, President Donald Trumps home base in Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Cops had begun placing protesters under arrest by 12:30 pm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group unfurled a banner reading Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine and Fight Nazis Not Students. Organizers said more than 300 people were taking part in the protest. Activists are demanding the release of Khalil, who remains detained at a processing center in Jena, La., five days after his arrest by plainclothes cops for the Department of Homeland Security at his Columbia-owned apartment in Morningside Heights. _____ SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Dozens of protesters gathered outside of Rep. Buddy Carters office in Savannah Wednesday. They told WSAV they dont support his voting record in Washington. This has hit me hard, President of Retirees Unite for the Future, Rick Ellison, said. Im a retired government worker. Im a veteran of the Airforce, and Im also a senior. This is just ridiculous. We cant sustain. Weve all been affected by it, and that is why you see so many of us out here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Demonstrators said they havent been given a chance to speak their minds in person, either. Come explain to us, put our minds at ease by having a real town hall, not a tele-townhall where we cant really get our questions answered, Joyce Peralta, with Coastal Georgia Indivisible, said. We want you to answer our questions as to why we should not be afraid because right now theres a lot of anxiety. Some of the issues protestors were most concerned about were healthcare, social security, and benefits for veterans. I came here last week asking about my social security check because I dont know from month to month with all the disruptions whether its going to come, Peralta said. I plan my retirement around the social security being a piece of it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Organizers said theyre looking for clarity on where Carter, a longtime ally of President Trump, stands. He votes against us all the time. Its frustrating, Ellison said. In response to the protest outside his office, Rep. Carters staff said in a statement Rep. Carter regularly engages with constituents in a variety of settings and formats. He welcomes anyone with concerns or questions to reach out to our office and schedule a meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. A wave of protests against Elon Musks Tesla have spread to Britain amid a growing backlash over the billionaires support for Donald Trump. Two protests at dealerships in London and Manchester are planned this weekend, as part of a series of Tesla Takedown demonstrations that have become frequent sights in the US. Activists have held regular protests outside the companys facilities, brandishing placards urging people to boycott the company. The movement is also urging owners to sell their Teslas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tesla has also suffered from several criminal attacks, including several charging stations being set alight in Boston, a suspected arson attack on a dealership in France, and shots being fired at a dealership in Oregon. Anti-Musk demonstrations such as this one in Boston have become frequent sights in the US - Rodrique Ngowi/AP Mr Trump has claimed he will have people who have vandalised Tesla cars and stores designated as domestic terrorists. While many of the protests have been non-violent, in some cases there has been a heavy police presence and arrests after demonstrators entered property. Signs and graffiti have frequently used Nazi imagery, after a gesture by Mr Musk that critics likened to a Nazi salute following Mr Trumps inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Musk has claimed without evidence that the protests are being funded by ActBlue, a Democratic Party fundraising group. Tesla Takedown says it has not been funded by the group. Tesla Takedowns website now lists two protests in London and Manchester scheduled for this Saturday, alongside demonstrations in Iceland, the Netherlands and Finland. Two previous protests in London were sparsely attended. The website says it is tanking Teslas stock price to stop Musk and claims the billionaire is destroying democracy. On Wednesday, two Just Stop Oil supporters separately poured liquid latex over a Tesla Optimus robot at a Tesla store in Westfield, White City, west London. Just Stop Oil supporters poured liquid latex over a Tesla Optimus robot at a Tesla store in Westfield, White City, west London - Just Stop Oil/PA The protests were partly organised by Alex Winter, an actor and film-maker best known for appearing alongside Keanu Reeves as Bill Preston in Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teslas share price fell below its pre-election price for the first time this week amid widespread market chaos and growing concerns about how sales will be affected by Mr Musks politics. The companys customers have traditionally been Left-leaning environmentalists willing to pay a premium for electric cars. Mr Trump promoted the company at the White House this week, getting in a Tesla with Mr Musk and promising to buy one. Tesla sales have fallen in many key markets. They rose in the UK in February, although at a slower rate than the wider electric car market, which surged ahead of new taxes on expensive EVs. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Mayor Brett Smiley wants the Providence City Councils support in his pursuit of going over the 4% tax levy this summer, a measure that needs approval at the state level. On Thursday, the City Councils Committee on Finance will meet to discuss a resolution supporting legislation that would give the city a one-year exemption to exceed the levy cap in the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1. The city in fiscal year 2026 will face a significant budget shortfall that will require the city to make difficult financial decisions and increase revenue, and collecting beyond the 4% statutory cap may be required, the resolution states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Providence is facing a budget gap primarily as a result of a $15 million settlement the city reached last fall with the R.I. Department of Education, which still controls Providence Public Schools. The city has already paid $4 million to the schools and owes the remaining $11 million in the next fiscal year. RELATED: Smiley sees no good options as he prepares taxpayers for rate hike In all, Smiley has said there are about $21 million in fixed expenses in the upcoming budget, including increases to pensions, health care, and other contractual raises. The mayor said his April proposal will include a tax increase, department cuts, and new revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, Smiley told Target 12 hes attended a few community meetings to explain the ins and outs of the budget and why he wants to raise property taxes. Ive heard some tough feedback from folks who are on a fixed income, who are older, who struggle to make ends meet, and that this will add an extra burden. I take that very seriously, Smiley said. But I also appreciate and respect that the residents that Ive been speaking with understand the dilemma that were in. The city also just underwent property revaluations, a process that happens every three years. Smiley said property values increased significantly this year. Just because your assessment went up doesnt mean your tax bill is going to go up by the same amount, Smiley noted. TARGET 12: Could RI create 15,000 new housing units by 2030? Councilors are gearing up to discuss the proposal, plus options that would maintain city services without increasing taxes significantly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement City Council President Rachel Miller said there needs to be guardrails on the citys exemption request, since the resolution does not put an upper limit on how much the city could increase rates. Just last November, Providence had the highest year-to-year median rent price growth in the country. Working families are being priced out, Miller said in a statement last week. To create a climate that fosters growth for all and keeps both renters and homeowners in their homes, Providence urgently needs new pathways for revenue that do not rely exclusively on residential property tax. The Committee on Finance meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Committee B room at Providence City Hall. Alexandra Leslie (aleslie@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook. 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A public lands bill reintroduced by Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on Wednesday would authorize the sale of up to 25,000 acres in Clark County, possibly opening new areas for housing and business development. The Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act (SNEDCA) also includes a 56,000-acre expansion of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and 9,290 acres to expand Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. The move comes after Republican Gov. Joe Lombardos call for more federal land to be turned over for housing last year as President Joe Biden proposed federal support for affordable housing. That produced a cooperative effort between county, state and federal officials to identify federally-owned land that could be sold cheaply to encourage affordable housing development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But critics warned against a Wild West approach to development. Cortez Mastos legislation could open up the door to explosive growth at exactly the time Nevada needs to be careful about using its resources appropriately. 45 sites identified for affordable housing concentrated in southwest Las Vegas valley This is not a bill for working people who can barely afford to get by, according to Vinny Spotleson, chair of the Sierra Clubs Toiyabe Chapter. This legislation exists to enrich developers with cheaper land in currently undeveloped areas. Others pointed to the current water shortage as a megadrought continues in the desert Southwest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This dangerous piece of legislation takes money out of the pockets of existing residents, Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, said in a news release. But it also takes Colorado River water to places where its never been before. With Lake Mead hovering at one-third of its capacity, this thirsty bill is not necessary or sustainable. Who will get left holding the bag: Those who can least afford it. Roerink estimated the land that would be sold at closer to 30,000 acres, and pointed to a recent report that more than 78,000 acres is already available if developers would just fill in the valleys gaps. The bipartisan legislation will protect over 2 million acres of public land for conservation and recreation, including the designation of nearly 1.3 million acres of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, which was established to protect the habitat of desert bighorn sheep. Last year, the bill passed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with bipartisan support. U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) is introducing companion legislation, cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), in the House of Representatives. For years, I have worked with community leaders across Clark County to create this legislation, Cortez Masto said in the announcement. As more and more people call Las Vegas home, we need to find a solution that promotes responsible economic development, builds more homes families can afford, and protects our environment and outdoor recreation. This much-needed bill is that commonsense solution and Im going to continue working get it done. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Business representatives applauded the bill. Southern Nevadas continued economic diversification depends on the release of additional public lands, Betsy Fretwell of Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance said. This bill is an important step forward in ensuring the sustainable growth of our region while preserving the natural resources that make Clark County a unique and vibrant place to live and work. Maurice Page, executive director of the Nevada Housing Coalition, said, The Nevada Housing Coalition supports Senator Cortez Mastos efforts to balance conservation and economic development in Southern Nevada through the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act. This legislation represents an important step toward unlocking additional land for much-needed housing development while ensuring that sustainability and environmental stewardship remain priorities. Expanding access to land for residential development, particularly with provisions that prioritize affordable housing, is critical to addressing Nevadas housing crisis. We look forward to collaborating with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure that this bill translates into real housing opportunities for Nevadans. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Book publisher Macmillan said on Thursday it would continue promoting a book written by a former Facebook employee who is now critical of the tech company, despite a statement by Meta that the book should not have been published and an order by an arbitrator for the author to retract claims she had made that were disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental. The book, Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, was published Tuesday, and it covers the six-plus years when Wynn-Williams worked at the social media giant. She oversaw Facebooks government relations for entire continents and had direct contact with executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg. On Wednesday, Meta won an interim decision from an arbitrator finding that Wynn-Williams violated a non-disparagement clause in her severance agreement, according to a copy of the decision shared by Meta. The arbitrator ordered Wynn-Williams to retract any comments critical of the company, cease promoting her book and, to the extent possible, end her role in distributing the book. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the arbitrators decision did not apply to Macmillan, and the publisher said it would absolutely continue to support and promote the book. "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams. The arbitration order has no impact on Macmillan. However, we are appalled by Metas tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement, Macmillan said in a statement Thursday through one of its imprints, Flatiron Books. To be clear, the arbitrators order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People, the publisher said. The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this. Meta says it has not directly asked the publisher to halt distribution of the book, although in a letter to the publisher on Friday, four days before the books release, a lawyer for Meta asked for a chance to request revisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meta spokesperson Andy Stone hailed the arbitration decision on Wednesday and disagreed with the publishers decision to publish the book in the first place. This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams false and defamatory book should never have been published, he wrote on Threads. This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industrys standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years, he said. It was not immediately clear what further recourse Meta might have to try to halt Careless People. Sarah Wynn-Williams in New York on March 6, 2025. The book lays out Wynn-Williams allegations of misconduct at the company, including claims of sexual harassment and what she says were incomplete statements to Congress about Facebooks relationship with China. She and Meta agree that the company fired her in 2017, though they give different accounts of the circumstances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Macmillan, founded in the United Kingdom, is one of the Big Five publishing houses, and it has a history of publishing lightning-rod books, including a memoir by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden and journalist Michael Wolffs account of the first Trump White House. Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged has been a vocal critic of book bans passed by state governments. Meta has said that the book contains false accusations about our executives and a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company. Several current and former Meta employees have criticized the book on social media. A spokesperson for Wynn-Williams declined to comment on the arbitration decision, which was only an interim finding and not a finding on the merits. Previously, a lawyer for Wynn-Williams said Meta was making false statements about her. The events that led to her departure from Meta are described in detail in the memoir, and while Metas statements are trying to mislead the public, the book speaks for itself, Wynn-Williams' lawyer said in a statement Tuesday. Former President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Sarah Wynn-Williams, and Elliot Schrage. The allegations by Wynn-Williams have drawn notice in Washington, including on the subject of China. According to the book and documents seen by NBC News, Facebook employees spoke with Chinese regulators about how a jointly run censorship system could work and about what Facebook needed to do to win approval to release its apps there. She alleges that the company gave incomplete responses to questions on the subject, including from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he wants to hear an explanation from Meta in response to Wynn-Williams' book. Weve seen over and over again that U.S. companies are willing to make alarming concessions in order to enter the Chinese market but these new allegations of Meta directly engaging PRC consulates on content and offering to change policies on data even for users outside mainland China are concerning, Warner said in a statement. He said the allegations were unexpected to hear about a U.S.-owned platform. Im disappointed to hear this, particularly in light of Metas assurances to Congress to the contrary and I look forward to hearing their explanation, he said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Russia is trying to undermine peace talks and should be slammed with tough new sanctions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday ahead of negotiations between the U.S. and Moscow. Ukraine agreed to a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day pause in fighting earlier this week after high-level talks with a U.S. delegation in Saudi Arabia on the condition that Moscow also commits to the plan. President Donald Trump threatened the Kremlin with swift reprisals in the form of devastating financial penalties if it spurned the ceasefire proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin did not reject the plan outright Thursday at a press conference in Moscow, saying he supported ending this conflict in a peaceful way. But he offered up a list of questions and conditions that he said would need to be addressed before any agreement could be reached, including whether Ukraine would be allowed to resupply its forces during the temporary halt in fighting. Its all part of Putins manipulative playbook to kill or delay a ceasefire, Zelenskyy said in his nightly videotaped address. Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians, the Ukrainian leader said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible. Putin does this often he doesnt say no outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible. Zelenskyy added that it is time to increase pressure on Putin with stronger sanctions, as Trump had threatened. Sanctions must be applied ones that will work, Zelenskyy said. We will continue working with our American and European partners and with everyone in the world who wants peace to force Russia to end this war. Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump called Putins statement on the ceasefire promising, but said it wasnt complete and called on Russia to commit to a pause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world, he said. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow on Thursday to meet with Putin in a closed-door meeting to discuss an agreement. The Kremlin has cast its full-scale invasion, launched in the winter of 2022, as a bid to rid Ukraine of Nazis it falsely claims are in power and to protect ethnic Russians in the country's east. Most Western nations believe Putins true aim is to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence by crushing its democracy, annexing much of its territory and preventing the country from joining NATO and the European Union. Business leaders in the North Country are sounding the alarm over a plan from the Trump administration to cap administrative costs for grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health, money used to research medical advancements and fund operations at facilities across New York. In a letter sent to New Yorks congressional delegation, the Business Council of New York, the Long Island Association, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and various regional chambers of commerce said the proposed cap of 15% on administrative costs that can be paid for with NIH grants would decimate New Yorks research facilities. In the North Country, NIH grants fund tuberculosis and infectious disease research at the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake and cancer research at Clarkson University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They really rely on NIH funding for them to be able to do that research, which is leading to vaccines and treatments for these diseases, said Joel Wood, vice president of strategic initiatives for the North Country Chamber of Commerce. Statewide, more than 250 research organizations receive more than $3.5 billion in NIH grant funding each year. New York is the second-largest recipient of NIH grant funding, second only to California. Data on how research groups use their NIH grants isnt immediately available, and tends to vary between grant years, but on average historically, research institutions have agreed to use between 25% to 30% of their grant funding for indirect costs, like facility maintenance, administrative operations and other tertiary costs incurred by running a research program. If capped at 15%, researchers have argued they would be unable to effectively operate their programs and would have to pare down their operations or close entirely. The Greater New York Hospital Association estimates that up to $850 million in state research funding could be pulled if the cap is kept in place, and the State University of New York would lose $7 million in funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Besides the economic impact of the lost funding, which would mean fewer high-paying research positions in upstate communities, state business leaders are worried about the long-term effects of stalled health research on the economy. When people are healthy, they can work, and when people are sick they cant, Wood said. Thats a major economic driver, keeping people healthy is going to result in a healthy workforce that can generate economic activity. If we dont remain at the cutting edge of this research, were going to see health issues become more widespread. In their letter to New Yorks Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the state business community asked that the lawmakers stand with the business community and oppose the 15% cap on administrative costs for NIH grants, and maintain the status quo. We are hopeful that you will be a steadfast advocate for protecting these critical programs that support both our economy and the health of our workforce, the letter closes. Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has criticized the US-backed proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, arguing that it only reflects Kiev's interests and does not account for Russia's position. Ushakov described the proposal as hasty and reiterated that any peace settlement must consider Russia's "legitimate interests," the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday. Separately, in an interview with the TV channel Russia 1, Ushakov dismissed the proposed ceasefire as merely a "respite for the Ukrainian military" and stated that Moscow is focused on achieving a long-term peace agreement on its own terms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he conveyed this position to Mike Waltz, US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, in a recent phone call. The US and Ukraine raised the ceasefire proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow for discussions with the Russian side. Putin has yet to comment publicly on the proposal but is expected to make a statement after meeting Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko later on Thursday. An adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin said a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire gave nothing to Russia and only benefited Ukraine, in one of Moscows first public signs of opposition to a deal Kyiv agreed to on Tuesday. Yuri Ushakov, a former Russian ambassador to the U.S. and senior aide to Putin, described President Trumps moves toward a ceasefire as hasty actions that dont benefit Russia in the long term, in an interview with Russian media. A 30-day temporary ceasefire. Well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing. Ushakov said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It only gives the Ukrainians the opportunity to regroup, gather strength and continue the same thing in the future. Trump dispatched his senior envoy for Russia, Steve Witkoff, to speak with Russian officials about a ceasefire this week. Trump warned he can do very bad things to Russia financially if they rejected talks to end the war with Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not confirm Putin would meet Witkoff on Thursday but said Russian leadership plans to hold contacts with the Americans, Russian state media reported. Witkoffs trip comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ball is Russias court on ceasefire talks, after Ukraine backed a ceasefire and the U.S. restored military and intelligence support, briefly frozen by Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. pressure on Russia marks a notable shift from weeks of mounting attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which crescendoed during an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28. Ushakov, Putins adviser for foreign policy issues, detailed Russias demands to the U.S. during meetings in Saudi Arabia, saying that Moscow seeks a long-term peaceful settlement and that a temporary truce is a respite for the Ukrainian military. Ushakov also held a call Wednesday with national security adviser Mike Waltz, who also joined the talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. And the Russian and U.S. spy chiefs also held a call this week. Russias demands are reportedly similar to proposals it made shortly before it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022: calling for Ukraine to abandon its push for NATO membership and accept a nuclear-free status. The demands also reportedly include blocking foreign troops from being deployed in Ukraine and for international recognition of Russian claims to four Ukrainian territories, only some of which it occupies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Almost all of these demands are strongly opposed by Ukraine, Europe and, historically, the United States. Putin has only ramped up military operations amid Trumps push for talks, launching a campaign to retake the Russian territory of Kursk from Ukrainian forces a key pocket of land that Zelensky offered as potential territorial concessions in any peace talks. Russia controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory in the east and annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014. The Trump administration has said Ukraine should not expect to get all of its land back in the talks, while also suggesting NATO membership is off the table for Kyiv. Putin for the first time visited Kursk on Wednesday, as Russia claims it had retaken Sudzha, the biggest town held by Ukraine in the Kursk region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our immediate goal is as soon as possible to conclusively destroy the enemy entrenched on the territory of Kursk region, Putin said, dressed in military fatigues as he addressed top generals. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks about a 30-day ceasefire indicate that he is preparing a rejection of the U.S. proposal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his evening address on March 13. "Putin is afraid to say directly to (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians. That's why they in Moscow demand such preconditions for a ceasefire that will make it impossible or will (postpone it) as long as possible," Zelensky said. Kyiv agreed to a temporary truce proposed by Washington during the talks in Jeddah on March 11, provided that Russia did as well. Days after, on March 13, Putin said he was ready to agree to the proposal but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Zelensky described Putin's response as "Russian manipulations." "Now we have all heard very predictable, very manipulative words from Putin in response to the idea of silence at the front he is in fact preparing to reject it as of now," Zelensky said. In his response during a press conference on March 13, Putin mentioned the situation on the battlefield, claiming that a ceasefire would be beneficial to Ukraine now as Russia is advancing along the front line. He also raised the question of who would control the temporary truce along the more than 2,000-kilometer front line. The American side is ready to organize the oversight and verification of the temporary ceasefire, according to Zelensky. He also argued that a truce would make it possible to address all security issues and "put a plan to end the war on the table." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We do not set conditions that complicate anything. Russia does that," Zelensky said. "They need a war." Zelensky called for pressure on Putin by imposing sanctions on Russia. Previously, Trump warned that Moscow could face "devastating" financial consequences if it chooses to continue its all-out war against Ukraine. Trump said on March 13 that Putin's statement regarding the 30-day ceasefire was "very promising" but "wasnt complete," adding he is willing to meet with the Russian president. Read also: John Bolton on how Putin plays Trump and why separating Russia from China is almost impossible Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev claimed on March 13 that NATO is deliberately "escalating" tensions in the Baltic region, portraying the alliance as a threat to Russia's security. His comments come amid NATO's warnings that Russia may be ramping up hybrid operations in the region. Several undersea cables were damaged in recent months, leading the alliance to increase its presence in the Baltic Sea. Speaking to National Defense, a Russian military and political magazine, Patrushev alleged that NATO's naval forces are working to "block" Russia in the Baltic while ignoring diplomatic engagement with Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patrushev further accused the alliance, particularly the U.K., of provoking instability in the region. "The forecast of the situation in the Baltic allows us to draw attention to the deliberate fomentation of regional tensions by the naval forces of European countries of the alliance," he said. Patrushev also claimed, without evidence, that NATO is conducting cyberattacks on Russian ships' navigation systems to create maritime emergencies, including accidents and infrastructure failures. While Russian-linked vessels have been detained in connection to damaged Baltic Sea cables, Western intelligence agencies remain divided on whether they were acts of sabotage or accidental damage. Tensions between NATO and Russia have risen following Moscow's all-out attack against Ukraine. Western leaders and intelligence agencies have warned of a potential large-scale war in Europe within the next five years, citing Russia's increasingly aggressive posture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Russia presents US with demands for possible Ukraine peace deal, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Vladimir Putin had three options: accept Ukraines ceasefire offer, but surrender momentum on the battlefield; reject it and risk antagonising Donald Trump; or try to drag things out so he can continue fighting as long as possible. He has chosen option three. By praising the US president and the idea of stopping the war, he hopes to stay in Mr Trumps good books. But his immediate raising of nuances to discuss should be a red flag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a classic Russian negotiating tactic as any diplomat who has been in a room with Sergei Lavrov will tell you. By breaking every proposal down into an infinite number of constituent parts, he will attempt to appear co-operative while playing for time, bogging down the talks, and trying to use facts on the ground to squeeze out the maximum possible concessions. So Mr Trump and his cabinet now face a test of nerve and credibility. They could ignore Mr Putins excuses about nuances and demand he order a ceasefire immediately it is, after all, entirely in his power to do so. That would mean showing the kind of impatience and coercion they applied to Volodymyr Zelenksy. Ukrainian serviceman of the Khartia brigade fire towards Russian positions in Kharkiv - Alex Babenko This could include unleashing the bone-breaking sanctions package Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened if Russia does not comply in other words, smacking the Kremlins donkey face with a two-by-four, as Gen Keith Kellogg, Donald Trumps special envoy, boasted to have done to Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Putin is far from invincible. He has been losing upwards of 1,000 soldiers a day, his economy is overheating, and hell face serious domestic headaches by 2026 on the current trajectory. If the Americans get tough, he will probably fold. However, they could get drawn into Putins painstaking discussion of the details. That would be to repeat mistakes made by successive US presidents going back to Barack Obama. Putin already gave a sense of the cards he will seek to play on in those talks. He claimed to have Ukrainian troops surrounded in Kursk and said they had no way out but death or surrender and urged the Ukrainian government to consider their fate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The strong implication was that they should be forced to surrender rather than be allowed to leave Russian territory. He clearly has no intention of ceasing fire as long as the Ukrainians have the bargaining chip of a foothold there. He claimed Russia had the upper hand all along the line elsewhere effectively asking why on earth Russia should stop fighting now. Translation: if you want me to stop the violence, youd better have a damned big carrot to offer me in exchange. Then he raised the question of who will police the ceasefire, who will monitor violations, and who will be blamed? That debate could drag on for days or weeks. A peacekeeping force? Unarmed patrols? Under which international organisation? From which contributing countries? And with what mandate? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also demanded that Ukraine be prevented from mobilising troops during the proposed 30-day truce or redeploying weapons to the front. That would effectively deny Ukraine the opportunity to defend itself from renewed Russian attack. This will give Ukrainians deja vu. In 2014 and 2015, Mr Putin twice used encirclement of Ukrainian troops to force punishing ceasefire deals on his own terms. Last time, it was the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe that provided unarmed observers to diligently count explosions and measure the size of fresh craters. They were unable to stop the war, because they were constantly deceived. In 2014, for example, Russia made a great show of agreeing to host OSCE observer missions at its border checkpoints to make sure no troops or weapons were crossing into Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, Russia confined the observers to the official customs post in accordance with their mandate, while driving tanks and troops including the missile launcher that shot down MH17 into Ukraine across a field just a few miles away. I know, because I saw them do it. Maybe, in defiance of all expectations, the fighting will cease this weekend. Otherwise, Putin will try to lure the Americans into open-ended diplomacy while using force to wring maximalist concessions and lay the groundwork to blame Ukraine if when the talks (or the ceasefire, if things get that far) collapses. The ball is now in Mr Trumps court. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. As the story goes, perhaps apocryphally, a boy approached Evel Knievel just before the motorcycle daredevil from Butte revved up for a dangerous jump. "Mr. Knievel, are you scared?" "Hell no, I'm not scared. I'm Evel Knievel and I don't get scared. But I am damn concerned." Former state legislator Fritz Daily of Butte shared this anecdote about Knievel when discussing news in late February that the Trump administration would cut the EPAs budget by 65%. Daily, a Democrat, said he is damn concerned. And hes not alone. Environmental watchdogs scrutinizing the massive federal Superfund site stretching from Butte to Missoula along the Clark Fork River worry the cleanup might rival Methuselah for longevity dragging on with insufficient oversight. Anyone who is not concerned at this point about Butte Superfund is definitely not paying attention, Daily said. My hope has always been, no matter who is in charge, that things would get better. That prospect seems dimmer now, he said. The only thing I do know is that the entire environmental, economic and social future of this great town depends on a proper Superfund cleanup, which we have not received to this date, he said. The federal Superfund designations came more than 40 years ago in recognition of heavy metals, arsenic and other pollution tied to the regions legacy of copper mining and smelting. Streams and floodplains were already polluted before a catastrophic flood in 1908 washed tailings and other wastes downstream along the Clark Fork River. But the flood created a ghastly landscape. Atlantic Richfield, now Atlantic Richfield/BP, purchased the Anaconda Co., the original polluter, in 1977, and thus inherited the liability for its environmental sins. The Clark Fork Coalition is based in Missoula. But its staff has long been active in the upper Clark Fork River, where remediation of polluted floodplains has been moving slowly downstream from the rivers headwaters at Warm Springs and recently resumed near Racetrack Pond. Brian Chaffin, executive director of the Clark Fork Coalition, or CFC, said the nonprofit is concerned about how drastic budgets cuts at EPA could affect the river cleanup. Given our mission and work at CFC to protect and restore the Clark Fork River watershed, we are particularly concerned about the impact of a large reduction in workforce at EPA on the Superfund processes currently underway across the watershed, including along the upper Clark Fork River, Chaffin said. Economically, logistically and legally, EPA is in the most efficient position to coordinate and enforce an effective cleanup and to protect the public from the financial burden and the human and environmental health consequences of lingering contamination in the Clark Fork River watershed, he said. We need a fully staffed EPA to get this done. Chaffin said a gutted EPA will only benefit polluters and hurt taxpayers. The EPA budget is a drop in the bucket compared to what they can compel polluters to pay for Superfund cleanup under the law, he said. Upstream, Amanda Cooley is the planning director for Powell County and has been a consistent advocate for a thorough cleanup of the Clark Fork River and Arrowstone Park, a popular riverside park built atop contaminated soils. Cooley said reductions in budget and staff for EPA will very likely impact local oversight of federal Superfund sites, including the Clark Fork River, an operable unit of the largest Superfund mega-site in the U.S. Adequate EPA staff is critical for keeping Clark Fork River remediation moving forward, and accountable to EPA standards, she said. Over the last couple years, weve re-established a good working relationship between local-state-federal partners and it is imperative that we maintain the strength of this partnership so we can ensure the best outcomes for the river and our communities. Cooley also cited the importance to Powell County and the city of Deer Lodge of groups like the Clark Fork River Technical Assistance Committee, or CFRTAC. Our region relies heavily on the partnerships we maintain with community-based organizations like CFRTAC, she said. Groups like this receive funding from EPA to support community outreach and review cleanup plans and standards. This is critical to rural communities like Deer Lodge to ensure our communities have a voice and an understanding of how these massive cleanup projects affect quality of life and health. The EPA office of public affairs was asked to address specific concerns about how drastic budget cuts might affect Montanas Superfund sites. Instead, the agency emailed a generalized response attributed to EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou. President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin are in lock step in creating a more efficient and effective federal government, she said. Compared to 2024, the total amount spent year over year at EPA will deliver significant efficiencies to American taxpayers by cutting wasteful grants, reassessing the agencys real estate footprint and delivering organizational improvements to the personnel structure. Daily and others also expressed concerns that a resource challenged EPA might not follow through on a key proposal announced last year to lower the lead action level in soils and household dust from 1,200 parts per million to 175 ppm and to expand the area for possible cleanup. There is no question that the British Petroleum Company, for whatever reason, has always driven the decisions and directions of Butte Superfund, Daily said. I believe with the major cuts to the EPA that are being proposed they [BP] will now have more influence on Butte Superfund decisions and that will not be good for the future of our great community. In recent weeks, Lee Zeldin, EPAs new administrator, has announced cancelling hundreds of grants with the assistance of the Department of Government Efficiency. In a news release, Zeldin reported that EPA has saved more than $2 billion in taxpayer money. In January, EPA announced Butte-Silver Bow County would receive a $20 million grant to build a recreation and wellness center in Butte. The money came from EPAs Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program. J.P. Gallagher, chief executive of Butte-Silver Bow County, said theres been no news to suggest the grant is at risk. Nothing new and we are proceeding with the award, Gallagher said. On Tuesday, the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation announced a grant of $15 million toward construction of the so-called Butte CommUNITY Hub. Gallagher celebrated the foundations award in a news release. This funding represents a monumental step forward in creating a vibrant gathering space for our community, he said. KC Becker was the former administrator for EPAs Region 8, based in Denver. Her term ended Jan. 20. Mark Smith is acting regional administrator. Gallagher said last week that communication with Region 8 has been limited. The recent federal job cuts and budget cuts in multiple agencies of the federal government leave everyone wondering what the status of the EPA will be in the coming years, he said. We look forward to the announcement of the new EPA Region 8 administrator so that we can open communication with the new administration. Evan Barrett is a member of Butte Watchdogs for Social and Environmental Justice. A 65% cut in the EPA budget by Trump/Musk is designed to make life easier on polluters like British Petroleum here in Butte, with little or no concern for the people who must suffer from the effects of pollution and environmental degradation, Barrett said. That kind of cut likely means less oversight over BP. And we know that as a corporation, BP is more interested in profits than protecting Butte and Butte folks. Barrett said EPA only recently started to push Atlantic Richfield/BP harder. And now that's likely to go away, he said. Sad day for Butte, great day for the billionaires and the corporations. Atlantic Richfield/BP issued a statement related to its intention to continue to meet its obligations under Superfund law. Atlantic Richfield remains committed to Montana and our work to implement an efficient, effective and protective cleanup for local communities, the company said. A statement from the Montana Environmental Information Center cited examples of pollution past and present when expressing concerns about EPA budget cuts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the last line of defense in the management and enforcement of life-saving air and water quality standards standards that prevent death and disease, the nonprofit said. A rollback of the EPA's budget which is already underfunded will literally kill people, MEIC said. Montanans know well what happens when industry is allowed to run rampant Butte and Anaconda residents still battle the pollutive legacy of mining that impacts water quality, soil health, and air quality. Billings residents live side-by-side with arsenic-spewing refineries, and the people of Montana face a future without regulations to tamp down on the toxins that pour out of the Colstrip-coal fired power plant, MEIC said. In addition, the organization said, Lake Koocanusa is filled with toxic amounts of selenium from Canadian coal mines. MEIC added, Without a federal backstop with the Environmental Protection Agency, Montana is in danger of sliding fully back into the days of the Copper Kings, where industry openly makes law and destroys our air and water in the process. Meanwhile, Cooley said groups like CFRTAC play a key watchdog role. We want people to remain safe and make informed decisions about living and recreating in and around impacted places like the Clark Fork River, she said. Groups like CFRTAC ensure this, and its likely that these types of programs will likely not be funded going forward. We will need to fight for this. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command center in Kursk on Wednesday, ordering troops there to "destroy" all Ukrainian formations remaining in the contested border region. "Your task is to completely destroy the enemy, which has entrenched itself in the Kursk region and is still conducting warfare here, and fully liberate the Kursk region's territory within the shortest possible time," Putin said while clad in military fatigues. "The previous status along the borderline must be restored," the president said. "I do expect that all combat objectives facing your combat units will be attained unconditionally and the Kursk region's territory will be fully cleared of the enemy in the near future." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukrainian forces pushed into Kursk in August in a surprise offensive, seizing the town of Sudzha and surrounding villages. Kyiv's troops have repelled months of Russian counteroffensives, but recent weeks have seen their salient crumble and Russian forces retake significant ground. PHOTO: A drone view shows troops waving flags on a water tower in the centre of Sudzha in Russia's western Kursk region on March 12, 2025. (Social Media/via Reuters) MORE: Ceasefire 'in Moscow's hands,' Ukraine says after US meeting in Saudi Arabia On Wednesday, Russian troops raised their flags over central Sudzha as Ukrainian forces hurriedly retreated back toward the shared border. Russia's battlefield successes in Kursk come as the U.S. pushes both Moscow and Kyiv to return to peace negotiations. This week, Ukraine and the U.S. agreed to a potential 30-day ceasefire, with American representatives also putting the proposal to a non-committal Kremlin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian officials have indicated that they will not engage in peace negotiations while any of Kursk remains under Ukrainian control. Kyiv had hoped to use its occupation of the territory as leverage in talks, though its footprint there is now rapidly shrinking. On Wednesday, Putin said he will give "special thought in the future to creating a security zone along the state border" to prevent repeat Ukrainian incursions. Prisoners taken on Russian territory would be treated "as terrorists," Putin said, adding that "foreign mercenaries" are not protected under the Geneva Conventions. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Moscow this week as the administration pushes for a ceasefire and broader peace deal. The ball is now "truly in their court," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Russia following the U.S.-Ukrainian agreement to a 30-day ceasefire proposal. PHOTO: In this image taken from handout footage released by the Kremlin on March 12, 2025, Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits a command point for the Kursk group of troops involved in the counteroffensive in the Kursk region. (Handout/KREMLIN.RU/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: US and Ukraine call for 30-day ceasefire following Saudi talks Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Kremlin was non-committal. Officials were "scrutinizing" the publicly released statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. Russia, he added, "doesn't want to get ahead of itself" on the potential ceasefire. On Thursday, Peskov confirmed that American negotiators are traveling to Moscow. "Contacts are planned," Peskov told a press briefing, adding of the potential outcomes, "We will not prejudge, we will tell you later." Peskov did not say whether Witkoff would meet with Putin. Trump's push for peace -- which has been twinned with fierce public criticism of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy -- has been welcomed by America's allies, though leaders have been perturbed by the president's apparent alignment with Russia's false narratives about the conflict. Rubio will meet with G7 foreign ministers in Quebec, Canada, on Thursday. His presence at the meeting will also be overshadowed by Trump's spiralling trade war with America's northern neighbor, plus the president's repeated suggestion that Canada be absorbed by the U.S. and become its 51st state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The G7 event "is not a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada," Rubio said Wednesday, as quoted by the Associated Press. PHOTO: Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport for a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Quebec, Canada, on March 12, 2025. (Saul Loeb/via Reuters) MORE: Ukraine under severe pressure in Russias Kursk region Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, though, said that "in every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans." "The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump's talk of annexing our country through economic coercion," Joly said. "Yesterday, he called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ABC News' Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell and Will Gretsky contributed to this report. Putin demands Kursk total victory ahead of Moscow talks with Trump envoy originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Russias occupied Kursk region on Wednesday, as the Kremlin considers a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with his troops closing in on Ukraines only territorial bargaining chip. Wearing military uniform in video broadcast by Russian state television, Putin told frontline troops that Moscows goal is to completely liberate Kursk as soon as possible, during his first trip to the western region since Ukraines unexpected incursion there last year. Putins carefully choreographed visit appeared designed to boost morale as Russian forces advance on the final remnants of Ukraines holdouts inside Russia, a day after peace talks between US and Ukrainian officials resulted in Kyiv accepting a 30-day US-backed ceasefire covering the entire frontline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russias lightning advance in Kursk threatens Kyivs sole territorial bargaining counter at a crucial time in the war when a potential ceasefire hangs in the balance. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ball is now in Putins court as US representatives headed to Russia right now as we speak, to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Were going to have to see. Its up to Russia now, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as he declined to comment on whether he has a meeting scheduled with the Russian leader. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Putin was carefully studying the proposal, as Moscow waits to be briefed by US officials in the coming days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours later, Russian state media footage showed Putin meeting with his top general Valery Gerasimov in Kursk before delivering a speech to soldiers, in which he urged them to oust the remaining Ukrainian forces in the region and raised the possibility of creating a buffer zone along Russias border with Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk should be treated as terrorists, Putin added. Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. As well as capturing land that could potentially be swapped for Russian-occupied territory, the campaign aimed to divert Moscows resources from the front lines in the east. But Ukraine has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Gerasimov claimed that Russian forces had recaptured more than 86% of the area taken by Ukraine, that 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner and the remaining Ukrainians were surrounded. Kyivs hopes of using Kursk as a bargaining tool in negotiations had totally collapsed, Gerasimov claimed. Peskov on Thursday said the operation to oust the remaining Ukrainian forces has entered its final stage, state news agency TASS said. Ukraines army has admitted to being driven out of several settlements in Kursk by Russian forces in recent days. On Wednesday, Ukraines top general Oleksandr Syrskyi hinted at further tactical retreats to more favorable positions, saying his priority was to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia had carried out airstrikes on its own land, including the town of Sudzha, which was almost completely destroyed, Syrskyi added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday: Our troops in the Kursk region are fulfilling their task. The Russians are clearly trying to put maximum pressure on our troops. The military command is doing what it has to do, saving as many lives as possible. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor, said in its update on Thursday that geolocated footage indicated Russian forces had seized Sudzha and were already advancing past the town. Trumps Special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia later this week, though it is unclear whether he plans to meet with Putin, with whom he met last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vice President JD Vance, speaking in the Oval Office, noted that conversations are happening on the phone and in person with some of our representatives over the next couple of days. CNNs Daria Tarasova-Markina, Catherine Nicholls, Mariya Knight, Sophie Tanno and Betsy Klein contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Credit: X/@RapidResponse47 Donald Trump said it would be a very disappointing moment for the world if Russia rejected the US-backed ceasefire proposal in Ukraine. Speaking alongside Mark Rutte, the secretary general of Nato, in the Oval Office, he said that Vladimir Putin had made a very promising statement on a possible truce agreement, but it wasnt complete. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin on Thursday said he backed the idea of a 30-day ceasefire, but had serious questions about Washingtons plan, which he was willing to discuss with Mr Trump. Responding to his statements, the US president said: A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world. Id love to meet with him or talk to him. But we have to get it [a ceasefire deal] over with fast, he said, adding that Moscow would do the right thing. Donald Trumps comments came during a talk with Mark Rutte, left, in the Oval office - Andrew Harnik/Getty Images In Putins first comments on the plan, which Ukraine agreed to on Tuesday during talks with the US, he said he was broadly for the proposed ceasefire, but there are nuances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We agree with the proposals for the ceasefire, but our position is based on the assumption the ceasefire will lead to a long-term peace, he said. He added that peace must address the root causes of the conflict. Putin, who is due to meet Steve Witkoff, the US envoy, in a closed-door meeting in Moscow on Thursday night, has repeatedly ruled out a temporary ceasefire without guarantees that Ukraine would not join Nato. He also emphasised Russia will not return land seized from Ukraine. In a move that suggested serious delays to the signing of a truce deal, he questioned how the ceasefire would be implemented and who would control it, while claiming that Russian forces were advancing across practically the entire front line. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Putins ambivalent response to a proposed ceasefire as very manipulative. We now have all heard from Russia Putins very predictable, very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire, the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address. He accused Putin of setting conditions on a ceasefire in order to delay it or reject it, but being too frightened of Mr Trump to say it directly. The US president gave a glimpse of the negotiations for a longer-term peace after any ceasefire, including what territory Ukraine would have to give up to Russia. We have not been working in the dark. Weve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Highlighting the complexity of the negotiations, he said the talks were effectively creating the edge of a country. Ukrainian forces have lost ground in the region of Kursk in recent days - Alex Babenko/AP Photo It comes as Russia makes rapid advances in its western Kursk region, with its forces claiming to have regained complete control over the town of Suzha. Ukraine retains barely 77 square miles in the border region, down from 500 square miles at the peak of the incursion last summer, according to the Russian military. Putin said the next steps of the war would be decided on Kursk, saying that the fast-changing developments on the ground would change a possible ceasefire agreement. 08:02 PM GMT Thats all for now Thank you for following our live coverage on the war in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We will be back soon with more updates and analysis. 07:41 PM GMT Zelensky condemns Putins manipulative ceasefire response Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Putins ambivalent response to a proposed ceasefire as very manipulative. We now have all heard from Russia Putins very predictable, very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire, the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address. He accused Putin of setting conditions on a ceasefire in order to delay it and later reject it, saying that the Russian president is too frightened to say this directly to Mr Trump. 07:27 PM GMT Pictured: Zelensky attends award ceremony in Kyiv Volodymyr Zelensky attends an awarding ceremony before an Iftar dinner at the Muslim Center during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Kyiv - AP 07:13 PM GMT Kremlin told US it did not want Trumps Ukraine-Russia envoy at talks The Kremlin told the US that it did not want Donald Trumps special envoy for Ukraine and Russia at the talks on ending the war in Ukraine, according to officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg had been sidelined from two meetings in Saudi Arabia and Mr Trumps Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has now been sent to Moscow instead. Vladimir Putin thought the Mr Kellogg was too aligned with Ukraine, a senior Russian official famaliar with the Russian presidents thinking told NBC News. Kellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. Not our kind of person, not of the calibre we are looking for, the official said. A US official confirmed that Russia did not want Lt. Gen. Kellogg involved. 06:43 PM GMT The Kursk offensive may prove to have been Ukraines most costly mistake Terrible though it is, Ukraines forced withdrawal from Kursk makes peace negotiations with Russia more likely. Indeed had Putin not been able to drive the Ukrainian army out, he is unlikely to have even contemplated peace talks. He would have demanded that Kyiv pull out of his territory first. That would have been a huge political challenge for Zelensky, on top of all the others he faces: the idea of voluntarily withdrawing from conquered Russian land while at the same time ceding large areas of his own country to the enemy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin has the whip hand, and one of the strategic objectives of the Kursk offensive gaining a bargaining chip for future peace negotiations could never realistically have paid off. General Oleksandr Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian army, now knows that, which is why in recent days he has been talking about preserving as many of his soldiers lives as possible rather than fighting to hold his ground. Although battles and wars are sometimes won by high stakes gambles, the strategic wisdom of the Kursk offensive was always questionable. Read the full comment piece here. The funeral of a Ukrainian soldier killed in Kursk - Getty Images Europe 06:23 PM GMT Ukraine will never agree to a frozen conflict Volodymyr Zelenskys chief of staff said that Ukraine will never agree to a frozen conflict after after Kyiv and Washington jointly proposed a 30-day ceasefire in the war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Andriy Yermak added that it had been agreed with the Trump administration that European representatives will take part in the peace process. 06:14 PM GMT Trump: Russia will not attack US allies Donald Trump said he did not think that Russia would attack any allies of the US. Referring to what Moscow might do if the fighting ends in Ukraine, the US president said: When this gets done, its done I think they will all wanna go home and rest. Asked about European fears that Vladimir Putin could attack US allies, he added: Its not going to happen. Well make sure it doesnt happen. 05:53 PM GMT Ukraine orders evacuation of eight villages bordering Kursk Ukraine said that it had ordered the mandatory evacuation of eight villages near the border with Russias Kursk region, where Moscows troops are rapidly taking land back from Kyivs forces. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Sumy regions military administration said that a decision was made to conduct a mandatory evacuation of the population from eight settlements due to the exacerbation of the operational situation in the region and constant shelling by Russia. 05:44 PM GMT Ukraine knows it cant recapture all occupied territory by force, says official Kyiv understands it cannot recapture all its occupied territory through military force from Russian troops right now and that its recovery would have to happen diplomatically over time, a Ukrainian government official said. Two days after US and Ukrainian talks, the official told reporters that Kyiv would not recognise Moscows rights over Ukrainian territory. The official added that no Ukrainian territorial concessions were discussed at the talks in Jeddah, which saw Kyiv indicate its willingness to accept a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the US. Russian forces control nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory more than three years since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion. If youre talking about the reality that Ukraine cannot recover all of its territory right now by military force, yes we understand this. We understand that some of our land will need to be returned diplomatically, which can of course take time, the official said. 05:30 PM GMT What Telegraph readers are saying... 05:20 PM GMT Pictured: Trump meets Rutte in Oval Office Donald Trump laughs alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House - Shutterstock The US president told Mr Rutte he believed he had made Nato stronger and that the military alliance had stepped up - Shutterstock 05:17 PM GMT Trump: Very disappointing if Russia rejects Ukraine peace plan Donald Trump said it would be a very disappointing moment for the world if Russia rejected the US-backed proposal on a ceasefire in Ukraine. Speaking from the Oval Office, he said: A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world. Mr Putin said he backed the idea of a truce, but he had serious questions about how it would be implemented that he wanted to discuss with Mr Trump. Credit: X/@RapidResponse47 05:05 PM GMT Trump would love to meet Putin Donald Trump said that he would love to meet with Vladimir Putin in order to bring a fast end to the war. During his Oval Office meeting with Nato chief Mark Rutte he said: Id love to meet with [Putin] and talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast. A Kremlin aide earlier today said that no phone call had currently been scheduled between the US and Russian leaders. 04:58 PM GMT Trump: Putin made promising, but incomplete statement on truce plan Donald Trump said that his Russian counterparts statement about the US-backed ceasefire proposal was very promising but it wasnt complete. Earlier, Vladimir Putin said he agreed with the concept a 30-day short-term truce but that there were nuances and that it must lead to a long-term peace settlement. Hopefully theyll do the right thing, Mr Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte. 04:54 PM GMT Trump claims he made Nato stronger Donald Trump told Nato chief Mark Rutte that his actions since becoming US president have made the military alliance stronger. Nato became much stronger with my actions, he told Mr Rutte during his visit to the White House. Nato is stepping up, he said. 04:52 PM GMT Pictured: Putin frowns as he questions Ukraine ceasefire proposal Vladimir Putin reacts during a press conference following a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow 04:43 PM GMT Russia will decide its next steps based on Kursk Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would decide its next steps based on his forces success in kicking Ukrainian troops out of the Russian border region of Kursk. In a press conference in Moscow, Putin hailed troops who have made rapid gains there in recent days, before saying: Based on how the situation on the ground develops, we will agree on the next steps in ending the conflict and reaching agreements acceptable to all. 04:34 PM GMT Putins full statements on Ukraine ceasefire proposal: Vladimir Putin said: We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities. But our position is based on the assumption the ceasefire will lead to a long-term peace and would eliminate the root causes of this crisis. He added: The [American] idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it. But there are issues that we need to discuss. And I think we need to talk to our American colleagues as well. Maybe I should call President Trump and have a discussion with him. But we support the idea of ending this conflict by peaceful means. 04:25 PM GMT Analysis: Putin is choosing to drag out the war Vladimir Putin had three options: accept the ceasefire proposal, but surrender momentum on the battlefield; reject it, but risk antagonising Donald Trump; or try to drag things out so he can continue fighting as long as possible. He has chosen option three. By praising the US president and the idea of stopping the war, he hopes to stay in Mr Trumps good books. But his immediate raising of nuances to discuss should be a red flag. This is a classic Russian negotiating tactic - as any diplomat who has been in a room with Sergei Lavrov will tell you. By breaking every proposal down into an infinite number of constituent parts, he will attempt to appear cooperative while playing for time, bogging down the talks, and trying to use facts on the ground to squeeze out the maximum possible concessions. Donald Trump and his cabinet now face a test of nerve and credibility. They could ignore Mr Putins excuses about nuances and demand he order a ceasefire immediately - it is, after all, entirely in his power to do so. That would mean showing the kind of impatience and coercions they used with Volodymyr Zelenksy: wield bone breaking sanctions Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened if he fails to comply; smack the Kremlins donkey face with a two by four, as Gen Kellogg boasted to have done with Ukraine. Or they can get drawn into Mr Putins painstaking discussion of the details. Mr Putin already gave a sense of the cards he will seek to play on in those talks. He claimed to have Ukrainian troops surrounded in Kursk and said they had no way out but death or surrender - and urged the Ukrainian government to consider their fate. The strong implication was that they should be forced to surrender rather than allowed to leave Russian territory. It also made clear that he will not allow the ceasefire to apply in Kursk - he has no intention of leaving the Ukrainians with that bargaining chip. He also appeared to demand that Ukraine be prevented from mobilising troops during the proposed 30 day truce. Ukraine is constantly recruiting and mobilising, so this appears to be a demand that Kyiv be denied the chance to repair for a renewal of conflict after the 30 days. And he claimed that Russia had the upper hand all along the line - effectively asking why on earth Russia should stop fighting now. Translation: if you want me to stop the violence, youd better have a damned big carrot to offer me in exchange. 04:13 PM GMT Putin: Russia is advancing across practically entire frontline Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia is advancing across practically the entire frontline. He added that the next steps on the conflict must take into account the developments on the front which are fast-changing. Earlier today, Russian forces claimed they had retaken a key town in Kursk, a western border region that Ukraine invaded in August last year. 04:00 PM GMT Putin in favour of 30-day truce but there are nuances Vladimir Putin said he was broadly in favour of the US plan for a 30-day truce in Ukraine but there are nuances. The Russian president said plenty of questions remain over how the ceasefire will be implemented and who will control it. 03:50 PM GMT Putin: I will agree to ceasefire on my terms Vladimir Putin has said he would agree to a short-term ceasefire in Ukraine, but suggested he would only do so on his terms. The Russian president said: We agree with the proposals for the ceasefire, but our position is based on the assumption the ceasefire will lead to a long-term peace. That peace must address the root causes of the conflict, he said at a press conference alongside Alexander Lukashenko, his Belarusian counterpart. The Russian leader has repeatedly ruled out a temporary ceasefire without guarantees that Ukraine would not join Nato. He also stressed that Russia will not return land seized from Ukraine. Putin said he was broadly in favour of the US plan for a 30-day truce but there are nuances. He said serious questions remain over how the ceasefire will be implemented and who will control it, adding that Russian forces are advancing across practically the entire front line. His words come before he is due to meet Steve Witkoff, the US envoy, in a closed-door meeting tonight in Moscow. Putin suggested he could discuss the potential ceasefire with president Donald Trump. Responding to his statements, Mr Trump said that it would be very disappointing if Russia rejected the US-backed truce proposal, adding that he hoped Putin would do the right thing. 03:32 PM GMT Pictured: Putin-Lukashenko press conference Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko shake hands after their meeting at the Kremlin - AP 03:30 PM GMT No plans for Putin-Trump phone call today Russia and the United States have yet to agree on a possible phone call between Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, a Kremlin aide said. Yuri Ushakov said that no phone call would take place today between the two leaders. However, he said a closed-door meeting between Putin and Steve Witkoff, Mr Trumps envoy, will take place today in Moscow. 03:21 PM GMT Putin welcomes great friend Lukashenko Vladimir Putin is now holding a press conference alongside Alexander Lukashenko. The Russian pressed stressed the special relationship between their two countries as they signed a selection of documents which include bilateral security guarantees. We are not just allies and partners but great friends, he said in his opening remarks. 03:16 PM GMT Kremlin dismisses US plan for short-term ceasefire with Ukraine The Kremlin has dismissed the US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine and is pushing for a long-term peace settlement instead. Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putins top foreign policy adviser, said that a 30-day truce to pause the war was a hasty step that is not in favour of a long-term settlement. I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more, he told Russian state media, adding that Russia is not interested in any steps that imitate peaceful actions. After his statements, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, said that Russias failure to provide a meaningful response to the ceasefire proposal demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war. Steve Witkoff, a key negotiator in the Trump administration, landed in Moscow earlier this morning for talks with the Russian president, who will speak on the issue later today. Moscow has reportedly presented the US with a list of demands for a deal to end the war, which the Kremlin did not deny when asked this morning. They are thought to include no Nato membership for Kyiv, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and international recognition of Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces as Russian territory, Reuters reported. 03:09 PM GMT What Putin wants in exchange for ceasefire and will Trump accept? In all peace negotiations, there are thrusts, parries and counter-moves long before the opposing parties take to the table. Even as a plane carrying US negotiator Steve Witkoff to Moscow was in the air, it was reported that a list of demands had been issued by the Kremlin. Ukraine must not be allowed to join Nato. The international community must recognise Russias capture of Crimea and the Ukrainian provinces of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. There must be no foreign peacekeeping troops inside Ukraine once a deal is struck. While the first demand has already been broadly accepted by the international community though not by Ukraine, the latter two clearly push beyond the Wests defensive positions. Read the full analysis here. US negotiators want a quick deal but Moscow is demanding Ukraine must not join Nato and occupied territories are recognised internationally 02:52 PM GMT Pictured: Rubio at G7 meeting Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, listens to Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolys opening speech at the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting - Getty Images North America 02:33 PM GMT US tone on Russia splits G7 Canada has called on its fellow G7 members to back Ukraine against Russian aggression as the US tries to adopt a more conciliatory tone toward Moscow. As the current G7 president, Canada is gathering its foreign ministers for three days of talks inside a rustic hotel in snow-dusted Charlevoix, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has said that he wants the G7 to avoid antagonistic language toward Russia, saying it would hinder diplomacy that could end the war with Ukraine. David Lammy is in Charlevoix, Canada, for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers - FCDO 02:21 PM GMT Nato chief to meet Trump at White House Mark Rutte, the secretary general of Nato, will meet Donald Trump at the White House later today. I expect key messages will be around how much Europe is stepping up on spending, how we all need to do more on defence production, and welcoming progress in pursuit of peace for Ukraine, his spokeswoman said. 02:11 PM GMT Starmer not surprised by Kremlin rejecting 30-day truce Sir Keir Starmer has said he is not surprised that the Kremlin has dismissed a US-backed proposal for a short-term ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Asked what he thought should happen next, the Prime Minister told the News Agents podcast: Well, firstly, keep our focus on a lasting and secure peace in Ukraine, which is what we all want. It doesnt entirely surprise me that Russia is taking this stance. Theyve made it pretty clear. Theyve put it in lights a number of times over. When pressed on whether he believed that Donald Trump had put too much faith in Putin, Sir Keir said: I think progress was made on Tuesday, and I always felt that and hoped that out of Tuesday that would put the ball in the Russian court, if you like, where the pressure would come on Russia. That has now happened. That is a good thing, because Russia is the aggressor. He added that Putin was being put to the test and said that his resistance to security guarantees reinforces my strong belief that if the deal is not defended with security guarantees, then he will breach it in due course. Sir Keir Starmer speaks at a health centre in Kingston upon Hull on Thursday - PA 02:00 PM GMT Finland rules out sending troops to Ukraine Finland has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine. Antti Hakkanen, the countrys defence minister, confirmed Helsinkis position after officials announced a $217 million military aid package for Ukraine. There is broad political support and national unanimity on the issue of assistance to Ukraine, Mr Hakkanen said. The decision not to join the so-called coalition of the willing proposal established by Britain and France. Some 37 countries could join, according to Bloomberg, though several have expressed scepticism, including Italy. 01:37 PM GMT Kremlin says Witkoff could meet Putin Donald Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff could meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow on Thursday, a Kremlin aide said. He will be meeting with Russian representatives of a very high rank, said aide Yuri Ushakov, adding that a meeting with the Russian president could not be ruled out. 01:08 PM GMT Kremlin: Ceasefire gives us nothing Yuri Ushakov, who earlier dismissed the idea of a short-term truce with Ukraine, has followed up with his comments by saying that a US-backed 30-day ceasefire offered Russia nothing. A 30-day temporary ceasefire, well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing, he told Russia media. It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, gain strength and to continue the same thing. His comments come ahead of a meeting with Steve Witkoff, a top negotiator from the Trump administration. 12:46 PM GMT In pictures: Putin hosts Lukashenko Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin - REUTERS Vladimir Putin is expected to address a ceasefire in Ukraine after his meeting with the Belarusian leader - Pool Reuters 12:26 PM GMT Zelensky: Russia wants to fight on Volodymyr Zelensky said the fact there was no meaningful response from Moscow to the 30-day ceasefire proposal from the US meant the Kremlin wants to keep fighting in Ukraine. Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made. This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war. 12:07 PM GMT Putin to address ceasefire, Kremlin suggests Vladimir Putin will address the US-backed proposal for a ceasefire with Ukraine later today, the Kremlin has suggested. Asked whether he would address Ukraine after a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, a Kremlin spokesman said everything will depend on the journalists questions. The reality is that the Kremlin carefully chooses which journalists are given accreditation for press conferences, as well as the questions. Andrei Kolesnikov, a correspondent for Kommersant, said an unprecedented number of journalists had been accredited for the meeting between Putin and Lukashenko. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko arrives for a meeting with Russias President Vladimir Putin - REUTERS 11:55 AM GMT How tough guy Steve Witkoff became Trumps top negotiator Keith Kellogg was presented by Donald Trump as the man that would bring an end to Russias invasion of Ukraine. But rather than Mr Kellogg, it was Steve Witkoff, the presidents Middle East envoy who ferried an American prisoner from Russia to the US last month a private jet. And it was Mr Witkoff, not Mr Kellogg, who was assigned a place on Mr Trumps top Ukraine negotiating team. He has now been sent to Moscow for talks with the Russians. Such was his success in delivering a ceasefire in Gaza that Mr Trump now wants Mr Witkoff at the helm of all major global negotiations. Witkoff is an animal. Hes a tough New York real estate guy. Trump loves the fact he beat up Bibi, so now Witkoff will probably be the lead negotiator, a source close to the president told The Telegraph. 11:40 AM GMT Poland offers to hosts US nukes Polands president has called on the US to transfer nuclear weapons to its territory as a deterrent against future Russian aggression, the Financial Times has reported. Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, also told the newspaper he had discussed the proposal recently with Donald Trumps special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg. Poland has previously said it would be ready to host US weapons under a nuclear arms sharing programme. The borders of Nato moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the Nato infrastructure east. For me this is obvious, Mr Duda said in the interview. 11:04 AM GMT Kremlin: Ukraine must not join Nato Ukraine joining Nato must not be on the table during peace negotiations, the Kremlin has said. Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin aide, told reporters he hoped the US would consider Moscows demands when discussing an end to the war later today. 10:27 AM GMT In pictures: Russian troops in Kursk Russias defence ministry has shared pictures of soldiers walking along a street in Malaya Loknya, Kursk. A Russian army soldier walks along a ruined street of Malaya Loknya settlement - REUTERS Russias foreign ministry shared pictures of troops in Kursk, where forces have made rapid gains - REUTERS 10:18 AM GMT Russia rejects foreign troops in Ukraine Russias foreign ministry said Moscow would not accept the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine. Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministrys spokeswoman, said such a move would mean countries were in direct armed conflict with Russia. It is absolutely unacceptable to us that army units of other states are stationed in Ukraine under any flag, she said. All this would mean the involvement of these countries in a direct armed conflict with our country. Britain and France have led plans to build a peacekeeping force to enforce any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. As many as 37 countries from Europe, Asia, and the Commonwealth could join the coalitiof the willing, Bloomberg reported. 10:00 AM GMT Russia presents peace demands to US Russia is understood to have presented the US with a list of demands for a deal to end the war in Ukraine. The demands are thought to include no Nato membership for Kyiv, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and international recognition of Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces as Russian territory, Reuters reported. The Kremlin has reiterated its claim over the eastern Ukraine regions of Sevastopol, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, insisting they are Russian regions. Theyre in the Russian constitution, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putins spokesman, said this morning. 09:44 AM GMT Trumps envoy arrives in Moscow Steve Witkoff has now landed in Moscow, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Steve Witkoff's plane has landed in Moscow, Russian media report. https://t.co/QlV72vgaIw pic.twitter.com/B4r178hs2I Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 13, 2025 09:24 AM GMT Russia claims capture of Sudzha Russian forces have retaken control of Sudzha, a major town in Kursk, Moscow has said. Moscows troops had also recaptured two other villages, Melovoi and Podol, the ministry added. The recapture of Sudzha, home to a now-idle metering station for Russian gas to Europe, is a significant gain for Russia as it battles to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk, which was invaded by Kyiv last August. Ukraine has not commented. Russian residents are evacuated from Sudzha, which Moscow says has been taken back from Ukraine - AFP 09:04 AM GMT US negotiators flying to Russia for Ukraine talks American negotiators are on their way to Moscow for negotiations over Ukraine, the Kremlin has said. The Kremlin also said Vladimir Putin may have an international phone call later today, hinting it will be with Donald Trump. 09:01 AM GMT Witkoffs plane crosses Russian border Earlier we reported that Steve Witkoff, a top Trump negotiator, was heading to Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin (see 7.46am post). His plane has now crossed the Russian border, according to TASS, the countrys state news agency. 08:44 AM GMT Pictured: Ukrainian troops fire towards Russian forces in Kharkiv Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign Krystal fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv - AP 08:38 AM GMT Ukraine accuses Russia of executing POWs in Kursk Ukraine has accused Russia of executing prisoners of war in Kursk. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraines ombudsmen, has written to the United Nations pointing to a video which shows the bodies of five Ukrainian soldiers who had allegedly been executed by Russian forces. 08:24 AM GMT Ukraine runs out of Atacms Ukraine has ran out of US-made Atacms, long-range missiles provided by the Biden administration that were used to strike targets inside Russia. Kyivs supply ran out in January, a US official and Ukrainian politician told AP. The missiles, which can fly up to 300km, were used by Ukraine to attack Russian airfields, military facilities, and weapons factories. 08:03 AM GMT Zelensky: We must move towards peace Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine must move towards peace but urged its allies to continue putting pressure on Russia to end the war. The key factor is our partners ability to ensure Russias readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war. Because right now, Russian strikes have not stopped, the Ukrainian president said in last nights evening address. Mr Zelensky said Russia was attacking Ukraine with one hundred Iranian-made Shahed drones every night and striking civilian infrastructure. We must move toward peace, toward security guarantees, and we need to free our people. We are determined to work as quickly as possible with our partners. The key factor is our partners' ability to ensure Russia's readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war. Because pic.twitter.com/VUkrTS1VyF Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) March 12, 2025 07:46 AM GMT Top Trump negotiator expected in Moscow Steve Witkoff, a senior negotiator in the Donald Trump administration, is expected in Moscow shortly. Mr Witkoff is officially Mr Trumps envoy for the Middle East but has taken a central role in negotiations around ending the war in Ukraine. The billionaire real estate mogul previously travelled to Moscow to secure the release of Marc Fogel, an American teacher who had been jailed on drug charges. 07:37 AM GMT Watch: Putin visits Kursk 07:30 AM GMT Zelenskys approval ratings continue to rise Volodymyr Zelenskys approval ratings are continuing to rise in Ukraine following his public spat with Donald Trump in the White House. The Ukrainian presidents ratings now sit at 72%, up ten percentage points, according to the latest Ipsos/Economist poll. Some 62% reject elections while the war is ongoing. The rise comes after Mr Trump pressured Ukraine to hold elections and claimed Mr Zelenskys approval ratings stood at four per cent - a key Russian line. 07:18 AM GMT What will Trump do if Russia says no to a ceasefire? In the negotiations thus far, Donald Trumps team has taken what might kindly be called a pliable approach to Russian demands, giving in to several demands before the hard yards of securing a peace deal even began. But now, the calculus has changed. In Jeddah, the United States succeeded in encouraging Ukraine to accept its proposal for a 30-day ceasefire a more far-reaching pause in the fighting than Britain and Frances plan for a halt in attacks by sea and air. The ball, as Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said, was now in Russias court. Vladimir Putin has so far shown little sign that he is willing to agree to a ceasefire, with his troops on the front foot in Ukraine and shrinking Kyivs salient by the day in the western region of Kursk. At his annual press conference in December, he said that a pause in the fighting would merely give Ukraine a chance to re-arm and restock its military. But the Russian president now faces a dilemma: as Mr Rubio said, if Russia does not agree to a deal, we will know who is the impediment to peace. The Trump administration, unlikely as it now appears, could then display some of the vengeful pirouetting for which its leader is known and turn whole-heartedly towards Kyiv. 07:07 AM GMT Ukraine army chief vows to hold on to Kursk The commander of Ukraines forces has vowed to hold onto the territory it holds in Russias Kursk region as long as it is necessary. Ukrainian troops are reportedly close to being encircled by Russia, who launched a lightning offensive in the border region last week in the wake of the US suspending military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. My priority remains to protect the lives of our soldiers, Oleksandr Syrsky said. If needed, our units will reposition to more strategic locations. Despite the increased pressure from the Russian-North Korean alliance, we will defend the Kursk region as long as it is necessary. Ukraine has not confirmed whether it has ordered its troops to retreat from the region, while Russia claims to have taken back more than a dozen settlements in just a few days. 07:02 AM GMT Pictured: Putin visits Kursk as operation enters final stage Vladimir Putin visited Russias Kursk region for the first time since it was invaded by Ukraine last August. The Russian president spoke to troops at a command post in Kursk on Wednesday as his forces were on the bring of ending Ukraines partial occupation of the region. I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will be fulfilled, and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy, Putin said in televised remarks. Earlier this morning, the Kremlin said the military operation has entered its final stage, state news agency TASS reported. Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of general staff, in Kursk - Russian Presidential Press Service 06:53 AM GMT What does Russia want from Ukraine? Russias demands over the US, Ukraine, and Nato are nothing new. In fact, some of them date back to 1945, according to Kori Schake, a former Pentagon official. They include a ban on military exercises by US and other Nato forces on the territories of new alliance members, which would include Finland and Sweden. Specifically on Ukraine, Putin wants Kyiv to drop its bid to join Nato and recognition that four territories annexed by Moscow at the start of the war are Russian. It also wants Ukraine to remain a nuclear-free state. 06:44 AM GMT Welcome to our live coverage Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. Well bring you the latest news and analysis throughout the day. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agreed in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but insisted that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace and solve what he called the root causes of the conflict. The Russian strongman surprised some observers by speaking positively about the monthlong ceasefire plan that Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators inked earlier this week in Saudi Arabia, although he gave himself plenty of wiggle room to back out. The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin suggested the truce should not give embattled Ukrainian troops a chance to regroup and must help resolve the issues that led to the war, which likely refers to the Kremlins assertions that big chunks of Ukrainian territory rightfully belong to Russia. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin said. He noted the need to develop a mechanism to monitor and control possible breaches. Another issue, Putin said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament. In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin questioned whether Ukrainian troops that have invaded the Russian border district of Kursk would be allowed to leave peacefully. Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Putin asked. Putin praised President Donald Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce in Ukraine as European leaders have proposed. A ceasefire would mark a major diplomatic victory for Trump, who has scrambled the conflict by blaming the war on Ukraine and sparring with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a remarkable White House shouting match. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump ordered a suspension of U.S. aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv but later reversed that decision after Ukraine agreed to the U.S.-proposed ceasefire. Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago and has gobbled up big chunks of the Donbas region that had been controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014. It says four provinces of Ukraine have been annexed by Russia. Ukraine has repeatedly said it will not give up any of its territory but recently has signaled a willingness to be more flexible. _____ Russian President Vladimir Putin has come out ostensibly in favor of a U.S.-brokered proposal for a total 30-day pause in his countrys war on Ukraine. However, Putin also laid out significant nuances, including questions about whether Ukraine will be allowed to mobilize and train forces, as well as continue to receive Western military aid, during any ceasefire. This, in turn, hints at demands that authorities in Kyiv could find impossible to accept. Putin gave his first public response to the ceasefire proposal today during a press conference in Moscow alongside Belarus dictatorial President Alexander Lukashenko, a longtime Kremlin ally. Ukrainian authorities had agreed in principle to the U.S.-backed deal on Tuesday following negotiations with their American counterparts in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We agree with the proposal to stop the fighting. But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis, Putin said, according to a translation of his remarks from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. We are for [a cease-fire], but there are nuances. WATCH Putin declared support for a ceasefirebut only on Russias terms. pic.twitter.com/u3quFPDwww Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) March 13, 2025 Putins list of nuances are not insignificant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What do we do about the incursion into the Kursk region? If we halt hostilities for 30 days, what does that mean? That everyone who remains there will be allowed to leave without a fight? Should we just let them go after they committed numerous crimes against civilians? How will this work? Its unclear, Putin said, according to Ukraines UNITED24 Media. Ukraine could use a temporary ceasefire to mobilize and receive weapons; the question of how to control this must be resolved. Earlier today, Yuri Ushakov, an advisor to Putin, had pushed back on the viability of the U.S. ceasefire proposal in an interview with Russias state-run Channel 1 television channel. Ushakov said such a deal would be nothing other than a temporary breather for Ukrainian troops if it came without major preconditions. Russia has rejected the 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by the US. Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy advisor, says this would be nothing other than a temporary breather for Ukrainian troops. pic.twitter.com/fbrwJf82bE max seddon (@maxseddon) March 13, 2025 Putins initial reference to the root causes of Russias all-out invasion of Ukraine has also been widely seen as a nod to the Kremlins long-standing maximalist positions regarding the conflict and Ukraines future territorial integrity and sovereignty, or lack thereof. The Russian president today also claimed that his forces were on the offensive on all fronts in the conflict, including in Kursk, which Ukrainian forces have occupied a part of since August of last year. He added that any ceasefire agreement would have to be dependent on conditions on the ground. Putin says he "supports the idea" of the ceasefire but wants it to lead to a long-term settlement of the "root causes" of his invasion of Ukraine. That means he hasn't dropped his maximalist demands. He also has issues about implementation because Russia is currently winning. pic.twitter.com/n2B1Lff4Re max seddon (@maxseddon) March 13, 2025 At the press conference today, Putin also notably thanked Trump for the attention given to the conflict in Ukraine and indicated a call with the American president could be on the horizon. Trump administration officials, especially Vice President J.D. Vance, had previously accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of not being sufficiently grateful for U.S. support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A U.S. delegation led by Steve Witkoff is in Moscow and is expected to meet with Russian officials about the ceasefire proposal. This is despite earlier indications that the Kremlin did not see Witkoff as a suitable negotiator. How Ukrainian officials respond to any conditions on a ceasefire deal from the Kremlin remains to be seen. However, the potential demands that Putin seems to have hinted at so far could be hard for Kyiv to accept, especially without any kind of reciprocal assurances from Russia. Just on Tuesday, the U.S. government agreed to restore the flow of military aid to Ukraine, as well as restart intelligence sharing with that country, following Zelenskys agreement on the basic terms of the proposed ceasefire deal. The cutoff had come following an unprecedentedly heated public exchange between Zelensky and President Donald Trump at the White House in February. Well take this [ceasefire] offer now to the Russians and we hope theyll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Tuesday. If they say no, then well unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's remarks after the agreement was announced. "We'll take this offer now to the Russians. And we hope that they'll say yes. That they'll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court". pic.twitter.com/jHKMuUvIh0 Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) March 11, 2025 With Putins position as it has been laid out now, there are clearly issues that need to be resolved before any ceasefire deal with Ukraine can come into effect. More so, a temporary ceasefire is just that. Either side can use it as a tactical opportunity just as much as one that aims at achieving a longstanding peace. With both sides resource-stretched and war-weary, it remains anyones guess how all this will actually play out. But the fact that Putin did not reject the proposition outright is at least a sign that achieving such cessation of fighting may be possible. Contact the author: joe@twz.com Vladimir Putin has told Donald Trump he backs the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but he would only agree to one on his own terms. The Russian president knocked back the US proposal for an immediate 30-day pause in the fighting on Thursday, saying he had serious questions about how it would be implemented that he needed to discuss with Mr Trump. Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Putin said he wanted any deal to lead to long-term peace and eliminate the original causes of this crisis, suggesting he was unwilling to relent on his evisceration of the Ukrainian state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The idea [of a ceasefire] itself is correct, and we certainly support it, the Russian leader said, but there are nuances that we need to discuss. Moscow wants guarantees that Ukraine will neither receive weapons shipments nor mobilise or train soldiers during any 30-day pause, he said. There were also technical questions to clarify on who would monitor the front line for violations. Casting doubt on whether it was even in Russias interest to agree to a ceasefire, Putin said his troops are advancing in almost all areas of the front.... so how will these 30 days be used? For forced mobilisation to continue in Ukraine. In a press conference at the Oval Office, Mr Trump described Putins response to his proposal as very promising but said it wasnt complete. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be a very disappointing moment for the world if he refused to sign up, the president said, speaking alongside Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general. Credit: X/@RapidResponse47 Putins overarching desires in Ukraine include international recognition of territory he has captured, crippling limits on the size of Ukraines army, a ban on Nato membership and, according to Reuters, no foreign peacekeepers in the country. Such demands would be impossible for Kyiv to accept, and would receive little support among its European allies. In response to Putins speech, Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian presidents predictable, manipulative rhetoric was already laying the groundwork to reject the ceasefire proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Naturally, he wont admit to President Trump that he intends to keep this war going, to keep killing Ukrainians, the Ukrainian president said. Mr Trump is expected to hold a phone call with the Russian president as early as Friday. Id love to meet with [Putin] and talk to him, he said, but we have to get it over with fast. Steve Witkoff, Mr Trumps Middle East envoy and go-to negotiator, was due to meet with the Russian leader on Thursday evening. Putins answer seems carefully crafted to sound like a yes to Trump but be a no in practice, unless Ukraine is forced to submit to Russias demands, said Brian Taylor, a professor at Syracuse University. Ukrainian troops surrounded Meanwhile on Thursday, Russian troops recaptured the town of Sudzha in the western Kursk region, depriving Ukraine of a key foothold inside Russian territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The remaining Ukrainian troops in Kursk were surrounded, Putin said, adding: If a physical blockade occurs in the coming days, then no one will be able to leave at all, there will be only two ways [out] to surrender or die. Kyiv ordered eight villages on the border to be evacuated. The rapid advances made by the Russian army in Kursk coincided with Mr Trumps decision to cut off intelligence-sharing with the Ukrainian army. In Moscow, Putin said that any pause in fighting would not apply in the area, which he visited on Wednesday night dressed in battle fatigues. It came amid reports that Keith Kellogg, a retired general and Mr Trumps Ukraine envoy, has been excluded from talks on ending the war at Russias request. Putin believes that Lt Gen Kellogg is too closely aligned with Ukraine, NBC reported, citing a senior Russian official. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to Mr Zelensky, laid out Ukraines red lines on Thursday. We all understand that part of our country is currently under temporary Russian occupation that is a matter of fact, a reality, he said. But if we are talking about legally recognising any part of Ukraine as belonging to Russia, that will not happen. Ukraine would not sign up for a frozen conflict, he said, while demanding that Europe be included in negotiations over a peace settlement. Speaking alongside Alexander Lukashenko, Belaruss president, Putin promised that Europe would once again be able to avail itself of Russian energy supplies if he could reach a deal with Mr Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A pipeline can be secured, he said. And this will benefit Europe, because it will receive cheap Russian gas. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised the relationship between Russia and Belarus, two neighbours whose ties have grown ever closer since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Putin made the comments at a press conference in Moscow with the longtime ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, an authoritarian leader who has cracked down on all political opposition, allowed Belarusian territory to be used as a base from which Russian troops attacked Ukraine over three years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "A joint regional troop group, modern Russian defence systems, and tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed on Belarusian territory," Putin said, according to state news agency TASS. A treaty on joint security had come into force, Putin said on Thursday, adding that both countries were jointly monitoring the western border in view of the turbulent situation in Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday thanked US President Donald Trump for his initiative to end the war in Ukraine. Putin spoke positively at a press conference in Moscow about a cessation of hostilities, but said it was a lasting peace that was needed. "We agree with the proposals to stop hostilities, but we believe that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace," he was cited by state news agency TASS as saying. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regarding the US proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, he said that the issue of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region would have to be clarified. Russia was also interested in ending the conflict by peaceful means, however questions remained about how to monitor a ceasefire, he said. Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Putin's adviser on foreign policy, Yuri Ushakov, earlier announced a meeting between the Russian president and US special envoy Steve Witkoff for later Thursday. There will be a meeting behind closed doors, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported, citing Ushakov. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday thanked US President Donald Trump for his initiative to end the war in Ukraine, ahead of a planned meeting with a US special envoy in Moscow. Putin spoke positively at a press conference in the Russian capital about a cessation of hostilities, but said it was a lasting peace that was needed. "We agree with the proposals to stop hostilities, but we believe that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace," he was cited as saying by state news agency TASS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regarding the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which was accepted by Kiev, he said that the issue of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region would have to be clarified. Russia was also interested in ending the conflict by peaceful means, however questions remained about how to monitor a ceasefire, he said. Questions such as how to monitor the long physical border between the two countries would need "careful examination," Putin said. Later Thursday, Putin is due to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to his foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov. The meeting would be behind closed doors, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported, citing Ushakov. Ceasefire proposal Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, and has since taken control of and illegally annexed four areas of eastern Ukraine. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Moscow has refused to give up any of these territories. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine has however demanded that all territory occupied by Russia be returned to Ukraine. During negotiations with a US delegation in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, Kiev agreed to the 30-day temporary ceasefire. Zelensky earlier on Thursday accused Russia of dragging its feet when it came to the proposals. Also speaking prior to Putin's comments, Ushakov said he was sceptical of the ceasefire plans, arguing that they only reflected Kiev's interests. Ushakov said that any peace settlement must consider Russia's "legitimate interests," the Interfax news agency reported. Separately, in an interview with the TV channel Russia 1, Ushakov dismissed the proposed ceasefire as merely a "respite for the Ukrainian military." He said he conveyed this position to Mike Waltz, US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, in a recent phone call. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) President Donald Trump hosted the head of NATO at the White House Thursday as his special envoy traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin on the ceasefire agreement Ukraine already supports. Were gonna see whether or not Russia is there and if theyre not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world, President Trump said. Putin said he agrees in principle with the 30-day ceasefire proposal but stressed the terms still need working out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He put out a very promising statement, but it was incomplete, President Trump said. And yeah, Id love to meet with him or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast. President Trump said it should already be clear to both Russia and Ukraine on what will end the war. Whos gonna get the power plant, and whos going to get this and that, the president said. President Trump would not say what leverage he potentially has over Putin, but Congress is also trying its hand at the art of the deal here. Im very skeptical of Putin wanting peace or accepting a ceasefire, said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) Time will tell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To try to up the pressure, Graham is pushing legislation to impose sanctions against Russia and tariffs on any country that buys Russian oil, gas, uranium or other products. When asked whether the White House supports that, Graham said, I dont know yet. I know that it would be an overwhelming vote in the Senate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but the terms need to be worked out, and he emphasized that it should pave the way to lasting peace. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin said. Putin noted that while it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire, Ukraine is interested in that because of the battlefield situation, noting that Ukrainian troops that launched an incursion into Russias Kursk region would be fully blocked in the coming days. In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he said: Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Putin thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their noble mission to end the fighting to casualties, a statement that signaled those countries potential involvement in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. An envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump arrived Thursday in Moscow for talks on an American-proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has accepted, but a senior Russian official said the truce would only help Kyiv by giving its weary and shorthanded military a break. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. A U.S. official confirmed the arrival of Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter. The Russian Defense Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, came hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. The renewed Russian military push and Putins high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, which began more than three years ago with Russias full-scale invasion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials reported making progress on how to stop the fighting during talks in Saudi Arabia. Trump said Wednesday that its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The U.S. president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not comment on Moscows view of the ceasefire proposal. Before the talks start, and they havent started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public, he told reporters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that Trump is willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides, including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. Senior U.S. officials have said they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days. Russia complains about ceasefire proposal Yuri Ushakov, Putins foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks Thursday that a ceasefire would grant a temporary break for the Ukrainian military. Speaking later to reporters in the Kremlin, Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, reaffirmed that the proposed ceasefire would give us nothing, adding that it would only give the Ukrainians a chance to regroup, consolidate their forces and keep doing the same in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ushakov would not comment on Witkoffs talks in Moscow, saying that the parties agreed to keep them confidential. He said Russia wants a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscows interests and concerns. His comments echoed statements from Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its Western allies. Ukraine has leveled accusations similar to Ushakovs, claiming Russia would use a truce to regroup and rearm. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided Russia on the Telegram messaging app Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal. He said that Ukraine is determined to move quickly toward peace and hoped U.S. pressure would compel Russia to stop fighting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signaling its openness to a ceasefire at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma - whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from the renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Putin visits Russian military commanders Speaking to commanders Wednesday, Putin said that he expected the military to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wearing military fatigues, Putin added that its necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border, in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraines neighboring Sumy region. That idea could complicate a ceasefire deal. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly grim news from the front line, as well as to draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and to gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that previously was home to about 5,000 people. Ukraines top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian aircraft had carried out an unprecedented number of strikes on Kursk and that as a result Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said his country was maneuvering (troops) to more advantageous lines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Dmytro Krasylnykov, commander of Ukraines Northern Operational Command, which includes the Kursk region, was dismissed from his post, he told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne on Wednesday. He told the outlet that he was not given a reason for his dismissal, saying Im guessing, but I dont want to talk about it yet. ___ Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine ___ This story has been corrected to show that Suzha is a key Ukrainian military hub, not Kursks biggest town. Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is open to a 30-day ceasefire, as proposed by the U.S., but suggested vague terms for his support, including wanting to eliminate the root causes of this crisis. Ukraine agreed to support the framework in talks with the U.S. earlier this week, and the Trump administration has called for Russia to sign on, with special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff visiting Moscow on Thursday. The idea itself is the right one, and we definitely support it, Putin said of the ceasefire during a Thursday news conference. But there are questions that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk them through with our American colleagues and partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin, in his first public comments about the 30-day ceasefire, said some of the issues to work on are whether Ukraine would utilize the ceasefire to reload, what happens with Ukraines troops in Russias Kursk region, and how the truce would be overseen. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Russias president said. Putin also thanked President Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine, according to The Associated Press. Putin is reportedly set to meet Witkoff on Thursday. Witkoffs plane appeared to land at Moscows Vnukovo International Airport earlier in the day, according to FlightRadars data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday, sitting alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, that he was cautiously optimistic about Putins response. Based on statements he made today, they were pretty positive, Trump said. I hope Russia is going to make the deal too. Putins Thursday remarks appeared to contradict his advisers comment from earlier in the day. Yuri Ushakov, Russias ex-ambassador to the U.S. and senior aide to Putin, said the proposed ceasefire would only be beneficial to Ukraine while Russia would not get anything in return. A 30-day temporary ceasefire. Well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing. Ushakov said in an interview with Russian media. It only gives the Ukrainians the opportunity to regroup, gather strength and continue the same thing in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ushakov said Kremlin is looking for a long-term peaceful settlement. He spoke with national security adviser Mike Waltz on Wednesday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated earlier this week, after Ukraine expressed willingness to greenlight the ceasefire, that the ball was in Russias court. Our hope is that the Russians will say yes, that they will also agree, so the shooting will stop, the killing will stop, the dying will stop, and the talks can begin about how to end this war permanently, in a way thats acceptable and enduring for both sides, Rubio said. Rubio and Waltz met with senior Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, a huddle that was seen as a way to help repair relations between Kyiv and Washington, after the heated Feb. 28 meeting between Trump, Vice President Vance and Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. announced it would restore military and intelligence assistance following the talks in Jeddah. Zelensky reiterated once again Thursday that Ukraine is prepared to strike a ceasefire. Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire, but the US proposed extending it to land. Ukraine welcomes this proposal. The control of such a ceasefire remains an important issue, and we appreciate the United States willingness to organize the technical aspects of such control, Zelensky wrote Thursday morning on X. Zelensky also dinged Russia for not providing a meaningful response to the proposal. This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that U.S. pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Instead of approaching the war in Ukraine from a geopolitical or moral perspective, U.S. President Donald Trump is framing his policy on Russia through the lens of his personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. Trump thinks Putin is his friend. He trusts Putin, Bolton told the Kyiv Independent. Putin thinks Trump is an easy mark. And as a former KGB agent, Putin knows exactly how to manipulate him, and I think that's what he's been doing since the inauguration, if not before, he explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bolton served as the national security advisor to Trump from 2018-2019 during his first administration. Bolton's 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, offers a candid account of the tumultuous turn his working relationship with Trump took, highlighting his concerns about Trump's ability to effectively lead, including his impulsive decision-making on complex policy issues and lack of understanding of the importance of a strong U.S. foreign policy. In an interview with the Kyiv Independent, Bolton provided his insight on why Trump appears so eager to appease the Kremlin, why any U.S. attempt to align with Russia to deter China would be a "fantasy," and the opportunities the U.S. has missed for more than a decade to deter Russian aggression not only in Ukraine but beyond. This interview was conducted several hours before Putin signaled he was ready for a ceasefire on the condition that Ukraine doesnt receive more military aid or build its military. It has been edited for length and clarity. The Kyiv Independent: Trump has repeatedly claimed that negotiating with Russia is easier than with Ukraine. Despite Russias nightly attacks on Ukraine, he continues to insist that Putin wants peace. Why do you think Trump is so eager to cater to the Kremlin's interests, especially when they have such maximalist demands? John Bolton: Trump has said many times publicly that he believes if he has good relations with a foreign head of state, then the U.S. has good relations with that country. And the opposite is also true. If he has bad relations with a foreign head of state, U.S. relations with that country are bad. Trump thinks Putin is his friend. He trusts Putin. He has said in just the past few weeks, Putin says he wants peace, and I trust him. I think if he didn't want peace, he would tell me. So that gives you a pretty good idea of how he sees Putin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, I don't think Putin thinks he's Trump's friend at all. I think Putin thinks Trump is an easy mark. And as a former KGB agent, Putin knows exactly how to manipulate him, and I think that's what he's been doing since the inauguration, if not before. The notion that Russia is easy to deal with dates back to 2018, when Trump left Washington for the NATO summit where he nearly withdrew from the alliance before heading to Helsinki for a bilateral meeting with Putin. As he was leaving the White House to get on helicopter Marine One, he said to the assembled press, You know, I've got this NATO meeting, then I'm going to meet Prime Minister Theresa May in London, then I'm going to meet Putin in Helsinki. You know, the meeting with Putin could be the easiest of them all. Who would think it? Well, there's only one person who would think it, and it's Trump. That was almost six years ago, and nothing has changed. The facts about Russias conduct in the war being the aggressor from the start simply dont matter to Trump. After all, he believes in helping his friends. President Volodymyr Zelensky has had a strained relationship with Trump through no fault of his own or Ukraines ever since the infamous "perfect phone call" in the summer of 2019, which ultimately led to Trumps first impeachment. And Zelensky has tried very hard, I think, in the past six months to build a relationship with Trump, but as we saw in the catastrophe in the Oval Office a few weeks ago, it hasn't worked. And there are people like U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who I think have also decided they don't like Zelensky and don't like Ukraine Vance once said in his 2022 Senate campaign, I don't care what happens to Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its an uphill struggle. The Kyiv Independent: The Republican Party historically championed strong defense policies and deterrence against U.S. adversaries like Russia. What do you think accounts for the partys shift in attitude toward Ukraine? John Bolton: I believe a majority of Republicans actually still support Ukraine, certainly out in the country among Republican voters. And I think quietly behind the scenes, a majority in Congress do, too, but they're intimidated by Trump. They're very worried that he will support candidates against them in a primary election to decide who the Republican nominee will be. And in districts that are very safely Republican, it doesn't matter who the Democratic nominee is in November. It matters whether the incumbent House member, let's say, can win against a primary opponent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But I think the situation is beginning to change. More people are beginning to speak out. Trump's tariff policies are causing a lot of concern, and that adds to concern about his 180-degree shift toward Russia in the Ukraine situation. If our European allies continue their efforts to clarify whos at fault in Ukraine and whats at stake, well just have to keep fighting this battle day by day. The Kyiv Independent: The Kremlin has recently said that Trump's apparent foreign policy shift aligns with their interests. What damage does a U.S.-Russia alliance cause on the global stage? John Bolton: It could come close to destroying NATO. Having watched Trump come very close to withdrawing from NATO at the Brussels summit in 2018, I saw more than I needed to see about how much he doesn't like the institution he hasn't changed his view on that. But even before a formal withdrawal, he could do a lot that would debilitate NATO and really undermine the capabilities of the institution to defend its own members or its interests in other conflicts. Its a very dangerous course that he's pursuing. They're certainly watching it very carefully in Beijing, where they believe that if the U.S. and NATO won't stand up for a country in the middle of Europe that's been invaded, we won't stand up for Taiwan, we won't stand up for the Southeast Asian countries near the South China Sea. So it really does have global implications for U.S. security and that of our friends and allies, too. The Kyiv Independent: Some argue that Trump sees a potential rapprochement with Russia as a way to deter China in the future. I'm curious about your thoughts on that, especially given the uncharacteristically supportive statements China has made for Ukraine recently. What is the dynamic that's forming here? John Bolton: It's a fantasy to believe the U.S. can somehow use the conflict in Ukraine to separate Russia from China. In the abstract, separating Russia is a very good goal to have. But for reasons not having anything to do with Ukraine or the U.S., Russia and China have grown closer, and it's really almost impossible to separate Russia from them today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The China-Russia axis is far from perfect, but in the case of the Ukraine war, China has been a considerable assistance to Russia. They have laundered sanctioned Russian financial assets through their own opaque financial system out into global markets. They've significantly increased purchases of Russian oil and gas. They've talked about building new pipeline capacity, which from China's point of view would be a plus so they don't have to lift oil in the Persian Gulf and risk taking it across the Indian Ocean. And they've provided a lot of political cover for Russia during this war, which they would expect reciprocity for if they went against Taiwan or did something in the South China Sea. There are still differences of interest between Russia and China. This is not the Cold War Sino-Soviet alliance that had an ideological bond. And obviously China is the partner in charge now, not Russia. So it's not exactly the same, but I think the idea that somehow Russia could be pulled away from China as part of a settlement in Ukraine is totally unrealistic. I don't think China has any good intentions in mind for Ukraine, either they see it as something obviously Russia wants to have. The Kyiv Independent: Given your hawkish stance on Russia, was there a decisive moment in the past decade of the war in Ukraine when the U.S. had a real chance to deter Russian aggression but failed? John Bolton: When former U.S. President George W. Bush said at the Bucharest NATO Summit in April of 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia should have been brought into NATO on a fast track, that was the time to do it. Four months later, we saw the Russians move into Georgia, occupying Abkhazia and South Ossetia and theyre still there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The only effective deterrence (against Russian aggression) is NATO membership, which is something that obviously Finland and Sweden concluded after 75 years of neutrality. They watched what happened in Ukraine and concluded the only real security was behind a NATO border. We had a chance in 2008 to do that (for Ukraine), and France and Germany objected. After Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and takeover of part of the Donbas, the West did little to impose meaningful sanctions. Former U.S. President Barack Obama showed no interest in taking strong action. I believe this all but guaranteed that when the Kremlin felt ready for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they expected little resistance. That expectation was reinforced by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan negotiated by Trump but carried out by Biden which sealed the deal. There were several missed opportunities (to combat Russian aggression), and unfortunately, were seeing the consequences today. The Kyiv Independent: The Trump administration has said the ball is in Russias court regarding a Ukraine ceasefire. But given Russias track record of violating agreements and shifting blame, can we argue that responsibility now lies with the U.S.? If Russia inevitably breaks another ceasefire, and tries to blame Ukraine, how do you think Trumps administration will respond? John Bolton: Well have to see what happens with the ceasefire first. The ceasefire is not in Ukraine's interest anything that freezes the conflict along the existing battle lines is laying a foundation for annexation of all the territory on the Russian side by the Russians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That's been their pattern before. I think Putin has not had any incentive to come to the negotiating table because Trump's been giving him everything that he wanted. But I think now, with this ceasefire idea out there, Putin also has to be careful he doesn't lose credibility with Trump. I don't think he will outright reject the ceasefire. He may accept it, or I think most likely he'll say something like, I think a ceasefire idea is absolutely worthwhile and I'm ready to proceed. In principle, I agree with it. But there would be technical details to work out there, which wouldnt get worked out anytime soon. Putin, judging by Russian propaganda from yesterday, seems convinced that they are on the verge of pushing the remaining Ukrainian troops out of Kursk. I dont think he will entertain negotiations until that operation is complete. In the meantime, hell stall for time, mindful of preserving the goodwill he has built with Trump. Although Trump has given away so much at this point, it's hard to see what he could take back. Note from the author: Hi there, its Kate Tsurkan, thank you for reading my latest interview. Given Boltons experience of working alongside Trump I felt like he was one of the best people to talk to about the ongoing problems surrounding the U.S.s increasingly uncertain role in achieving peace in Ukraine. As an American who has lived for many years in Ukraine, its important that my fellow countrymen and women, regardless of their political affiliation, understand how important it is to support Ukraine. Im just trying to do my own small part to help put the right information out there. If you like reading this sort of thing, please consider becoming a member of the Kyiv Independent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Putin has likely rejected Trumps ceasefire proposal what now? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. In all peace negotiations, there are thrusts, parries and counter-moves long before the opposing parties take to the table. Even as a plane carrying US negotiator Steve Witkoff to Moscow was in the air, it was reported that a list of demands had been issued by the Kremlin. Ukraine must not be allowed to join Nato. The international community must recognise Russias capture of Crimea and the Ukrainian provinces of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There must be no foreign peacekeeping troops inside Ukraine once a deal is struck. While the first demand has already been broadly accepted by the international community though not by Ukraine, the latter two clearly push beyond the Wests defensive positions. It is no accident that Vladimir Putin appeared on the front lines on Wednesday for only the second time since the war began and, for the first time, in combat fatigues. The negotiations, he is signalling, will not only be held in the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin visits a command point for Russian troops involved in the counter-offensive in the Kursk region - Getty Images If indeed a letter has been passed to Washington laying out the maximal demands above, the second track of the negotiations will play out on the battlefield: the longer Russia stalls on a 30-day ceasefire, the more chance it has of totally recapturing the western region of Kursk, thus depriving Ukraine of one of its trade-able cards, not to mention morale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, the presidents key negotiators, want a deal fast. They keep saying so. It is transparently in Russias interest to slow the process down, even for this 30-day confidence-building truce. Perhaps, then, the hurried negotiators whipped by Donald Trump in the White House might consider concessions. Perhaps they might once again cancel the newly reopened supplies of intelligence and weaponry to Kyiv, something which is sure to be high on the Kremlins wish list. Ukraine joining Nato Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to step down if that means Ukraine is granted access to Nato. But Russia has repeatedly stated that Ukraine joining Nato is a red line, blaming the alliances expansion in eastern Europe for its invasion nearly three years ago. Putin alluded to this on Thursday, saying Russia would only agree to the US-proposed ceasefire if long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis. In terms of the Russian demands gradually taking shape, Nato membership is the milksop. As soon as Pete Hegseth ruled out Ukraine joining the alliance last month, any hope that Kyiv could be snapped into Nato upon the signing of a deal thus availing itself of Article 5 protections vanished. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some analysts argue it should be put back on the table, including Stephen Hadley, George W Bushs former national security advisor, in a recent article in Foreign Affairs. But European Nato leaders are now more concerned with whether the Trump administration would fulfil its Article 5 obligations if they are attacked themselves. This could be a straightforward concession to Russia. Russias occupied territories International recognition of Russias occupied territories raises the stakes considerably. Ukraine will object, and hard. Europe, likewise, has no interest in rubber-stamping a Russian invasion (a poor example to set for Transnistria or, worse, the Suwalki Gap). But it is US negotiators at the table, and, with the change-over in the White House, their intentions on the matter are not so clear. Mr Trumps predominant interest in Ukraine appears, at times, to be its mineral wealth. The bulk of such resources lies in the Donbas region, part occupied by Russian forces. Putin last month said he was ready to work with Mr Trump on joint mining projects in what he called Novorossiya the Russian term for the territories seized from Ukraine. America could hardly be seen to collaborate on mining projects with Putin in illegally seized lands, but recognising Moscows claim to the territory might change the picture. Peacekeeping force One of the more curious elements of the pitch-rolling ahead of negotiations is Mr Trumps assertion that Putin agreed to the deployment of European peacekeepers when they spoke on the phone. Every sign coming out of the Kremlin, in public, suggests otherwise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, regularly slams the idea. A leaked Feb 25 document from a think tank close to the FSB (Federal Security Service) similarly casts it aside. Instead, Russia should demand a buffer zone on the border, and a totally demilitarised zone around Crimea and in southern Ukraine near Odesa. Putin could make any support for peace conditional on him being able to choose the international make-up of a peacekeeping force. On Thursday, he said of the 30-day ceasefire proposal: Russian troops are advancing in almost all areas of the front... So how will these 30 days be used? For forced mobilisation to continue in Ukraine, for weapons to be delivered there, for the newly-mobilised units to be trained? How can we and how will we be guaranteed that nothing like that will happen? How will control be organised? These are all serious questions. Who will give orders to stop hostilities? Who will determine where and who has violated a possible ceasefire agreement for 2,000 kilometres? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a Bloomberg report last week, Putin could make any support for peace conditional on him being able to choose the international make-up of forces. There might be room for negotiation here. The Quincy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, recently suggested staffing the buffer zone on the border with soldiers from the Global South. Putin has made great efforts to win support from such nations as he faces diplomatic isolation elsewhere: their presence on Russias borders could discourage too much lethal mischief-making. Ukraine, clearly, will demand the vastly greater security that would be provided by a European force, including British and French troops. Early indications suggest that Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are working on a reassurance force that would be based in cities away from the front line, near key energy and infrastructure sites. On Thursday, the Russian president raised the question of who would make up a peacekeeping force while pointing out that his armies were making gains in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putins objection to foreign peacekeepers could be that familiar negotiating tactic: a maximalist demand, thrown out in order to be later ceded as a concession to the other side. The real goal and the hard line will be cementing the status of Novorossiya, the fruit of a war that has cost Russia so many tens of thousands of lives. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Yuri Ushakov, Russian leader Vladimir Putins foreign policy advisor, has said that Moscow does not want a temporary truce with Ukraine but is instead interested in a long-term settlement. Source: Interfax, a Russian news agency Quote: "I don't think anyone needs any steps that imitate peaceful actions in this situation." Details: He added that Russia's goal is a "long-term peaceful settlement" that should take into account Russia's "legitimate interests". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ushakov noted that during a conversation with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, he outlined Russia's position on this. "I outlined our position that this [ceasefire ed.] is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more," Ushakov said. Ushakov also said that Putin might discuss Russia's position in more detail later on Thursday 13 March during a conversation with the media. Background: Following the talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine said it is willing to implement a 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia also adheres to it. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States would submit a ceasefire proposal to Russia and hoped for its acceptance. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! HAMILTON, Ohio "This woman was stabbed." Butler County Prosecutor Michael "Mike" Gmoser reads matter-of-factly from a crime novel he wrote. In his office here about 30 miles north of Cincinnati, Gmoser narrates the scene after criminals posing as paramedics recover a pregnant woman from a car crash, abduct her, force her into an ambulance and cut her baby out of her. A doctor later arrives to find that the woman was stabbed with a scalpel. Butler County Prosecutor Michael "Mike" Gmoser at his desk in January 2025. Gmoser writes crime novels in his free time. Gmoser, a Republican, has been Butler County's prosecutor for 14 years. He and his staff of assistants present criminal cases against defendants and advocate for victims, among other duties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They've seen some brutal cases in Butler County. Gmoser prosecuted Daniel French, who was found guilty of aggravated murder in the 2012 killing of an 87-year-old woman living in a Monroe retirement community. French slit Barbara Howe's throat, stripped off her clothes, cut her hair, poured chemicals on her body and left her crumpled in the trunk of her car in Middletown. Gmoser also prosecuted a Lebanon man who was convicted this year after he ordered the execution-style killing of Asiah Slone, whose body was found in a trash can in Middletown. After Gmoser's workday prosecuting real-life criminals, the 79-year-old goes home to write about fictional cases of murder and kidnapping. A copy of Spencers Law by Michael Gmoser. He isn't some creep obsessed with murder or the stereotypical aloof writer. Gmoser is outgoing and chatty. He jokes that the only thing silent about him is the letter "G" in his name. His blue eyes light up when he recounts stories from his countless interests (flying airplanes, paragliding, to name a couple). And a conversation with him is often punctuated by his friendly laughter. He's long been interested in writing books, especially given his experience as a trial lawyer who seeks to accurately tell the story of a crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gmoser has completed two books so far. The section Gmoser is reading aloud in his office is from his second book, "Spencer's Law," published in 2021. He wrote his first, "The Farrier's Son," a few years earlier. Both books follow Spencer Tallbridge, a man who becomes the fictional Rutledge County prosecutor, as he uncovers the truth in criminal cases. Spencer, in part, is inspired by Gmoser's own life. Starting to write The bookshelves in Gmoser's office are lined with framed pictures. There's a photo of him in a 1958 Corvette he fixed up. Another photo shows him and a Beechcraft Bonanza, the high-performance, single-engine aircraft he flies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One is of Gmoser and his late wife, Olga Gmoser, both with large smiles. "She could never find anything bad about anybody," he says. A framed photo of Gmoser sits on a shelf in his office. "If we ever had much of an argument which I can't say that we really did it was over somebody that I thought was a miserable S.O.B., and she could find something good to say about them," he adds with a laugh. Olga died from cancer in 2014. When Gmoser was recovering from losing her, he turned to creative pursuits. He started playing drums to fill the quiet in his house. He also began weaving the threads of a book plot in his head. Two years later, with the entire book outlined in his mind, he began writing "The Farrier's Son." On Gmoser's laptop (which he calls his "typewriter"), he created the story of Spencer Tallbridge, then an assistant prosecutor who wanted to prove that a convicted man facing the death penalty was indeed guilty of murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of Gmoser's friends had connections with a publisher, Winged Hussar Publishing, which expressed interest in Gmoser's book. It was published in 2017. A framed photo of Gmoser, left, and his wife Olga Gmoser, right, sits on a shelf in his office. The plot was based on evidence from cases and personalities in his life, he says. Gmoser hasn't worked on cases that are the same as those in his books. But, aspects of the overall fictional narratives are based in reality. For example, Gmoser got the idea to have criminals cut a baby out of a pregnant woman from a news report in Chicago. The plot in "The Farrier's Son" was inspired by an interview novelist John Grisham gave on TV. A theme in both books the strong influence of a father is also drawn from Gmoser's life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gmoser says his father, Al Gmoser, exemplified confident decision-making. Gmoser proudly shared a story of when his father was a United Airlines captain. He was a "brilliant aviator," his son says. Fiction meets real life In the early 1950s, Gmoser's father was flying from New York to Chicago and saw bad weather coming in. He called dispatch and said he was going to deviate from the path and land in Michigan. Dispatch pushed back and told Gmoser's father that other planes were still flying into Chicago. Gmoser says his father replied: "I'm not. I'm not going to chance it. There's a tornado coming. And I'm not going to kill these people." Dispatch said, "Well, you're going to have to answer for that." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said, "I'll answer for that." According to Gmoser, his father and passengers landed, but the other guy didn't. He was torn apart by a tornado. Everybody was killed. Gmoser, as a kid, sits in the cockpit of a plane. Gmoser's father was a captain for United Airlines. "Having that type of authoritative demeanor was something I learned from my father," he says. For Spencer to have the same experience felt right to Gmoser. Spencer's father is a farrier, or someone who shoes horses. He taught Spencer the "country wisdom" the assistant prosecutor uses to navigate cases. In "Spencer's Law," Spencer is now the county prosecutor and struggles to navigate a moral dilemma, so he calls his father. Spencer has to decide whether to assault an FBI agent he believes is crooked to potentially save the kidnapped baby. If he's wrong, and the FBI agent isn't a crook, Spencer would be in big legal trouble. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His father encourages Spencer to make his own decision but reminds him, "The real measure of a man is not what he acquires or the comfort of his life. The measure is how well he can live with himself with the decisions he makes." Ultimately, Spencer's decision pays off for him. Some of Gmoser's hobbies include scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, paragliding and beekeeping. Do you want to start writing? Gmoser tells anyone interested in writing books to write what you know. "Live the roles of the people in your universe," he says. Given that Gmoser has been a defense attorney, assistant prosecutor and county prosecutor like Spencer Tallbridge one could say he has. He also recommends being involved in as many disciplines as you can, saying it's "fertile ground" for ideas. Gmoser reads an excerpt from his book Spencers Law." Gmoser lives this truth. He does scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, paragliding and beekeeping. He was previously a medical malpractice lawyer. And of course, he flies planes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much of this feeds into his writing. He draws on his extensive medical knowledge during the ambulance scene. His aviation knowledge is key in a riveting scene in "Spencer's Law." And he understands how the legal system works. With all these hobbies (and his legal career), one might ask: What does he plan to do when he retires? Well, Gmoser says with a smile, he doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon. But he does plan to keep writing. He pulls a thumb drive out from his desk drawer, and a wide grin spreads across his face. He says, "This is the third book." This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser moonlights as a crime novelist U.S. Rep Glenn "GT" Thompson, and state and local officials, cut the blue ribbon, officially opening the 2025 PA Farm Show in Harrisburg Jan. 5, 2025 (Commonwealth Media Services photo) As a note of correction, the name of the panel that U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson chairs has been updated. When U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson (R-15th District) was elected as the chair of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee last session, he became the first Pennsylvanian in nearly 170 years at the helm of the panel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Agriculture) really is Pennsylvanias number one industry, Thompson told the Capital-Star in an interview on Wednesday. Its Americas number one industry, and it comes with incredible responsibility. In addition to providing food for the nation, Thompson said farmers and other workers in the industry are tasked with delivering fiber, building materials, and energy resources. My responsibility as chairman really encompasses making sure that we have food security as a nation, we have an agriculture industry that is stableis robust, Thompson, the dean of Pennsylvanias congressional delegation, said to the Capital-Star. And thats a challenge right now, because weve had four very difficult years weve come out of and the state of the farm economy is not strong right now. Thompson detailed the current trade deficit in agriculture, but said his committee is working hard to deliver economic support to farmers, ranchers and foresters across the nation, while also passing a Farm Bill as soon as possible. The ally of President Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone of working with the administration to improve agriculture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He spoke with the Capital-Star about the plethora of challenges facing the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania and beyond, including expanding SNAP benefits in the next Farm Bill, the impact of tariffs from Trumps administration, and reforming the H-2A visa program. This interview was edited for length and clarity. Capital-Star: When I spoke with you early in January at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, you told me that you thought Brooke Rollins, who has since been confirmed to serve as the US Secretary of Agriculture would be, the Cabinet member thats closest to President Trump. So what are your priorities that you, along with Secretary Rollins and President Trump, have for this upcoming Farm Bill? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thompson: It really is to restore a robust rural economy and, quite frankly, to create an environment where we begin to rebuild the population of rural America, because rural America is essential America. As you know, all the things that are largely essential in peoples lives that they need, come from those parts of Pennsylvania and those parts of our country. Im really excited about the partnership that I have with Secretary Rollins. I just hosted her here in the capital yesterday, last evening. Theres some immediate things, John, as well, that are really important to Pennsylvania, and that is dealing with this high pathogenic avian influenza. That really has driven the cost of food and frankly, the cost of eggs, up to exorbitant prices because of this virus that is carried by migratory birds. So its ducks and geese and, you know, Pennsylvania is on the flight path. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE But it has resulted in tens of millions of ducks and chickens and turkeys that are being raised just in Pennsylvania, although other states throughout the country to have tobasically had to be called or put down, resulting in fewer, lower supply when the demand remains high, and which drove up the cost. That is probably one of the most immediate issues that were working with President Trump and Secretary Rollins on. Capital-Star: What would you say is the most pressing issue facing agriculture in rural communities in Pennsylvania and across the country right now? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thompson: It will be the balance sheet because of the high input costs and low commodity prices, those are the prices they get for what they produce and everything else has been so challenging. Four years under President Biden, where really agriculture trade was ignored, it has created some real financial hardship. Weve had some bankruptcies, we would have had a lot more here, this first three months of 2025, if it wouldnt have been for the $10 billion in economic assistance that I was able to work with my colleagues and, quite frankly, with the agriculture industry, to obtain back in December. Secretary Rollins is currently in the process of getting that money distributed among farmers and ranchers throughout the United States. So, thats been the biggest challenge. But there are a lot of opportunities for improvements that weve worked into the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2024. Back in that Congress, we did pass that bill out of committee with bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the Senate didnt really have a bill (in the) last 30 days to the year, so it was unrealistic to get anything across the finish line, but were working right now to and preparing to introduce the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2025 and with all the right people in place. Ive got a great ranking member, Democrat from Minnesota, Angie Craig. On the Senate side, John Boozman, Republican senator and a friend of mine. He was a mentor of mine when I first moved to the House, we did Bible study together, he chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota senator, a ranking member in the Senate, an individual who, shes passionate about agriculture. Shes a great partner to work with. And, of course, as youve mentioned, we have Brooke Rollins as the secretary of agriculture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have all the right people in place to get this Farm Bill across the finish line, which would address so many, a long list of issues that are out there in our country. Capital-Star: When do you expect the Farm Bill to be passed, and will reductions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, be on the table in the negotiations of the upcoming Farm Bill? Thompson: Absolutely no reductions in the nutritional benefits. I think thats a rumor that was started by folks who are anti-farming, and anti-Farm Bill, and in fact, within my version of the Farm Bill, we actually expand access to nutrition, whereas two vulnerable populations who have never been eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. That includes folks who were previously incarcerated for felony drug charges. I happen to believe that its the right thing to do and a righteous thing to do. If we can help those individuals change their life around by giving them just a little bit of nutritional support when they get out of prison, maybe we can help them change their life around. They can become productive citizens, versus the recidivism that we currently see thats so expensive to all levels of government, when people are incarcerated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other one is adult children of families that are living in financially challenging circumstances. Theyre still in high school. Those kids 18 to 21, not all of them, but many of them tend to be children with disabilities. A lot of parents are, where theyre able to, they engage the children in work situations, work settings, whether its weekends or summers, because theyre trying to help them develop soft skills and hard skills, to help them be self-sustaining as possible going forward in life. Weve always counted the income that those children earn against the eligibility for SNAP benefits for those families, and thats just absolutely wrong. So, the Farm Bill that I wrote doesnt penalize these families, these kids, these adult children. They need to be saving that money, to meet their own needs going forward. And so we actually expand benefits. There has never been a situation where were reducing or cutting benefits. That is just misinformation that some people have heard and others are purposely expressing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In terms of timingit will happen in 2025 and the sooner, the better. My goal is to get this done in the first six months and as early as possible. U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson (R-15th District) Capital-Star: President Trump has been a vocal supporter of implementing tariffs, which you know, can impact a number of industries. Are you concerned about the impact tariffs might have on the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania and beyond? Thompson: Well, Im always concerned with tariffs, obviously, especially those that foreign countries will place on our agricultural commodities and theres a lot of countries that do that. I like free (trade), but I like free and fair trade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And so although President Trump in his first four years, did a lot on tariffs, he used it as a tool. He expanded trade dramatically, the China (Phase) One deal, the redo of USMCA from NAFTA. Now, we did wind up with retaliatory tariffs. And as an agriculture committee, we had to help our farmers and ranchers endure that to a tune of about $28 billion. We stand prepared to do that this time, if necessary. I just dont think its going to be necessary. I think President Trump and his team, those first four years, learned a lot about what to do, what not to do, how to be more effective. There are very few tools that you have in terms of getting things done and honestly, soft diplomacy takes forever. We know that because our country has been taken advantage of when it comes to trade for many decades, and I think the presidents trade policy is not defined by tariffs, but its using tariffs as a tool, and its been very effective so far. Were seeing a reduction in the amount of fentanyl that is coming into the United States because of the threat of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, not for a trade war, but because of the drug war. (Note: Here is an article that provides context to the claim) You know, putting those 25% tariffs out to Canada and Mexico, and theyve really stepped up. Mexico has put 10,000 troops on our southern border, and the use of technology, and working with our individuals, and Canada, the same thing, and deploying more people using technology, all committed to stopping the flow of this fentanyl into our country. And so thats just one example of President Trump using tariffs as a tool and using it very effectively. Now, as of April 2nd, the President is going to be implementing, at least at this point, reciprocal tariffs. I think reciprocal tariffs are a better way to go. If youre a foreign country and and you put 10% tariffs on United States of America on a particular commodity, were going to be to put 10% on yours, sort of an eye-for-an-eye approach, and I think that could help to create the situation where the countries were working with will want to lower their tariffs because they dont want to endure tariffs to the United States. The United States is a place where the rest of the world still wants to do business. They want to do trade here because of our economy. The president most recently exempted tariffs for a period of time on all agriculture products, zero tariffs if they were under the included within the United States, Mexico and Canada trade agreement, USMCA. So I think the trade discussion, trade policy, I would call it evolving. I was successful getting some fundamental things, ingredients for fertilizer at zero tariffs at this point. If it does go back into effect with Canada, where we get a lot of potash from and nitrogen, peat moss, it would go to 10%, but I will say that the administration has been very open to working together. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Capital-Star: Another thing that I know is an important issue for the agriculture community in Pennsylvania and beyond is the H-2A visa program. The USDA describes it as a program that helps American farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries. We know they play an important role in agriculture in Pennsylvania. Do you think changes to immigration laws may impact farmers in Pennsylvania and across the country? Thompson: We need to reform the H2-A program. The H2-A program does not help our year round agriculture needs. The way its designed nowits got a lot of problems, but its primarily for folks to have to get the assistance that need to, perhaps, to plant or to harvest. So its only certain times of the year. Our number one agriculture commodity in Pennsylvania is dairy, and dairy is year round. The same thing for landscaping and the mushroom industry. Theres a lot of livestock. In the 118th Congress, I led a work task force and appointed 16 members, eight Republicans and eight Democrats. They interviewed a lot of producers and processors. We had people from Pennsylvania come in, but we had farmers and ranchers and processes from all over the country just to identify the workforce needs, because in agriculture, when you dont have adequate concerns with the workforce, that leads to food insecurity, and food insecurity leads to national insecurity. That task force, came up with a great list of reforms to the H2-A program, including making it work for year round, but there are a lot of other really good recommendations and a lot of unity. Weve already developed some legislative language, and Ill be, in the not too distant future, opening up, not to introduce the bill but, quite frankly, to do a discussion, and I think it was some type of bill that passed through the Senate. And so things have really lined up well, in order to be able to advance some great improvements and changes to help increase the certainty for the agriculture workforce. Theres a lot going on right now with folks who are here illegally, but we need to make sure, for the folks that are here legally, that we have a very efficient, very effective ability of visa program to be able to come here. And its not like they dont want to hire Americans, theyre not displacing any Americans. Let me make that quite clear, right now. Theyre even required to advertise, spend extensive money, and they dont get anybody that applies, and if somebody, an American citizen does come, they tend not to last more than a day or a week. And so if we dont have this workforce, we will have food insecurity, and that will very quickly lead to national insecurity. Capital-Star: Next year, there is a race for governor. A few Republicans, such as state senator Doug Mastriano and Congressman Dan Meuser have already said on the record theyre considering a run for this office. Are you thinking about weighing in on this race for governor in Pennsylvania next year, and would you consider running for the office? Thompson: I would be honored to serve the state of Pennsylvania as governor, but I do think at this point in time with where Im at in Congress that my best leadership and service for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is right here in Washington, DC. Im sure I will be involved at some point in the gubernatorial race, but I suspect theres going to be more than two people on the Republican side that have indicated interest. I suspect well see folks start, more people start to emerge here in 2025 preparing for 2026. The Quad Cities Chamber, along with community leaders, recently traveled to Springfield Illinois to talk with legislators and departments about their Legislative Agenda 2025. Talking points included incentives to drive investments to Illinois, a passenger rail, changing the Illinois tipped wage credit, adjusting the Illinois Paid Leave for All Act, and the future of Western Illinois Universitys Quad Cities campus, according to a news release. (Illinois Quad Cities Chamber) The Chamber claims there is a lack of incentives for people to invest in Illinois in comparison to Iowa. It suggests a comprehensive set of incentives. One of these would be a developer-focused housing incentive, encouraging more housing in the state. According to the QC Chambers website, one third of employers say staff have difficulty finding housing in Illinois. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other areas they say need incentives are brownfield sites and vacant commercial spaces. A brownfield site is an area that was once developed and no longer in use because of some form of pollution. To learn more about brownfields, visit here. This would allow businesses to take advantage of unused space and revitalize the area. Lastly, they asked for backing of the governors call for $500 million site-readiness funding. Site readiness is evaluation to determine the outcome of a project. This funding would allow for environmental and engineering studies before starting developments. It would also allow for more concrete site concept plans and better preparation when acquiring land. This could help the improvement of infrastructure such as roads, sewers, and other utilities. Passenger rail Another main talking point was the passenger rail connection between Chicago and Moline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal funding for the proposed connection is set to expire next summer. According to the QC Chambers website, 75% of employers believe that the rail is important for the Quad Cities. The Chamber also says that Chicagos transit operations are facing a fiscal cliff, making this an opportunity to invest across the state. Regulation was also brought to the table. The Chamber is asking to stop changes to the Illinois Tipped Wage Credit. Because of changes in the credit, they say many restaurants are cutting jobs as they now need to pay servers $15 an hour in addition to the tips they receive. They claim that eliminating the tip credit is harming small businesses and consumers by raising costs. They also say that employees are now competing for fewer jobs. Industries that are impacted include barbershops/salons, breweries/wineries, restaurants/bars, casinos, coffee shops, hotels and motels, and pet care. Beyond this, the Chamber asks for changes to the Illinois Paid Leave for All Act. This act allows workers to earn up to 40 hours of paid leave per year. These hours can be used for any reason and employers are not allowed to ask for a reason. To learn more about the act, click here. When meeting with the legislators, business owners shared some of the reasons they are requesting change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, they discussed the workforce. The chamber is asking for additional support for the future of the Western Illinois Universitys Quad Cities campus in Moline. The campus is a contributor to the workforce in the area and is facing struggles that legislature can address. The QC Chamber met with: Andy Manar, Deputy Governor for Economy and Budget Don Harmon, Senate President; Senator Mike Halpin Chris Welch, Speaker of the House; Rep. Gregg Johnson Jeremy LaMarche, Deputy Secretary for Legislative Affairs Aly Grady, Deputy Director for Regional Economic Development Senator Villavalam, Chair Senate Transportation Toni McCombie, House Minority Leader; Ryan Spain, House Assistant Minority Leader, Rep. Dan Swanson Andrew Cunningham, Illinois Chamber of Commerce John Curran, Senate Minority Leader; Sen. Neil Anderson, Caucus Chair Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Sen. Mark McKenney, a Warwick Democrat, introduced proposed rules for the Rhode Island Senate on Thursday, March 13, 2025. The rule changes, which were unanimously approved, include requiring the chamber to post written testimony online. (Screenshot) By the time state senators return to the Rhode Island State House on March 18, written testimony on the proposals they are vetting will be available on the Rhode Island General Assembly website. The online postings were incorporated into procedural rules the upper chamber approved in an unanimous vote Thursday. The 31-page list, adopted biannually at the start of each legislative session after an election year, covers everything from responsibilities of Senate staff and legislative committees, to where senators sit in the chamber (determined by the Senate president) and how many bills each senator can introduce (25 bills maximum per session). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the paragraphs of procedural minutiae, a new, one sentence addition requires the Senate to publish online any written testimony related to bills. The move mirrors a similar practice adopted by the House four years earlier, in the wake of the pandemic. Good government groups and media members have pushed for the Senate to follow suit, but without success. The Senate leadership has cited lack of staff as the reason why it cant post bill testimony online. Unlike the House, which has full-time clerks, the Senates clerks work part-time. But continued pressure, including from Sen. Mark McKenney, a Warwick Democrat and chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight, persuaded naysayers to come around. The Senate is planning to hire a new, full-time staffer specifically dedicated to sorting public commentary and posting it online with the appropriate committee to meet the rule change, using funds already allocated as part of its fiscal 2025 budget. The Senate has not hired anyone as of Thursday, with plans to use existing staff to fulfill the new posting requirement temporarily, said Greg Pare, a Senate spokesperson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other changes included in the new set of rules include a new clause encouraging use of reusable beverage containers in the chamber, and reducing the mandated number of ethics and Human Rights Commission training senators are required to complete from one per year to once every two years. These were the revisions that had fairly broad support, McKenney said prior to the vote. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio was among vocal proponents for publishing testimony online. Responsibly balancing our available resources with the many demands on staff is always a challenge, but it is time to take this important step forward, Ruggerio said in a statement Thursday. Improving access to public testimony will strengthen the committee process, improve public transparency, and foster trust in government, all of which is essential to the work we do at the State House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ruggerio did not attend Thursdays session having just been released from Our Lady of Fatima Hospitals rehabilitation center earlier that day, Pare said. Ruggerio was admitted to the hospital in his North Providence district more than two weeks ago with pneumonia. He is expected to return to the Senate rostrum next week and is doing wonderfully, Pare said in an email Thursday. Since lawmakers began meeting on Jan. 7, Ruggerio has missed seven out of 11 legislative sessions, prompting friction among Senate Democrats over how to respond to the absences and health challenges of their longtime leader. Ruggerio, 76, was forced to miss large chunks of the 2024 legislative session due to illness. He staved off a challenge for the president role from his former Majority Leader, Sen. Ryan Pearson, in November, though nearly one-third of Senate Democrats sided with Pearson in the caucus. Pearson, a Cumberland Democrat, along with Sens. Ana Quezada, a Providence Democrat, and Bridget Valverde, a North Kingstown Democrat, were absent from the vote Thursday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Forget bricks, glass, steel or even concrete. The Labour Governments latest big idea is that more homes should be built from wood. It will supposedly be better for the environment, and good for the economy as well as creating green jobs. But hold on. Those of us with the energy to keep up with all the Governments policies may start to wonder if we havent heard that line somewhere before. Apparently Net Zero was going to be good for the economy, and so was working from home, some on the Left have even claimed putting up taxes will benefit the economy. There is just one catch. Despite all the things that are meant to be good for it, the economy just keeps on getting worse and worse. It seems that we are not just going back to the Middle Ages in terms of living standards. We will be using the same building materials as well. Under plans unveiled by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs this week the Government plans to increase the number of new homes that are built out of timber. According to Mary Creagh, Minister for Nature, wooden homes have immense potential to reduce emissions, create jobs, and build the homes we need... while simultaneously growing our economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Seriously? Even leaving aside the potential fire risk, it is hard to believe that the route to rebooting the economy is through building more homes with wood instead of bricks. The liberal-Left policy establishment keeps lecturing us on all the things that will boost GDP only to discover a few years down the line that the promises were largely illusionary. Apparently our Net Zero targets, some of the most ambitious in the world, were going to make the UK the global leader not just in fighting climate change but in a green industrial revolution that would generate a wave of prosperity. Instead it has landed us with the most expensive industrial energy prices in the world, leading to a collapse in our manufacturing base on a scale unprecedented in recent history. We were endlessly told that working from home would drive huge increases in productivity, such that Labours Employment Rights Bill taking us further down the road towards work when, when, however you want is now making its way through Parliament. A better work-life balance would apparently mean calmer, more committed employees, and all the time saved on commuting would be spent creating new products and marketing campaigns instead. Instead, it has coincided with declining output, and many private employers are now ordering staff back to the office. Meanwhile, the public sector has practically ceased to function. And of course the increase in taxes in the Budget would help drive growth, because the stability it promised would encourage long-term investment. Yet employment is collapsing, and so has business confidence. Companies have been knocked sideways by all the extra money they are having to hand over to the Government for each person on the payroll every month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The list goes on and on. After each reform, the economy stagnates even further, and the UKs competitiveness in the global market just gets worse and worse. It is reaching the point where it would probably be better if Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayer, along with the rest of the cabinet, were told to damage the economy as much as possible. There is no great mystery about what is good for the economy. A lower tax burden, fewer rules and regulations, and a drive to reduce the crushing cost of a dysfunctional state that now consumes around 45 per cent of GDP. Timber homes can be lovely, and people are perfectly free to build them if they want. But lets not kid ourselves that they will turn around the dismal performance of the British economy because it will prove as miserable a failure as virtually every other initiative this Government has tried. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Rachel Saurer is returning to Colorado Springs, Colorado Fox affiliate Fox21 (KXRM) as co-anchor with Scott Kilbury. Saurer is a former multimedia journalist and weekend anchor at the station, who spent around a year at sister station Fox31 in Denver, She joined the station as a multimedia journalist in March of 2024. The station said she is expected to return to the anchor desk sometime in April. She replaces Taylor Bishop, who signed off after ten years at Fox21 to spend more time with her family. Thursday afternoon update: Cold front brings rain, strong winds to the Valley Grab an umbrella and coat on your way to work Thursday morning. The day was expected to begin with sunny skies, but showers were forecast to reach metro Phoenix after 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix. A strong weather system that drenched parts of California was expected to move through the region on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The chance of precipitation in metro Phoenix for Thursday was 100%, meteorologist Ted Whittlock said. Thursday was anticipated to start with mostly sunny skies and southwest winds blowing between 10 to 15 mph. The high temperature on Thursday was forecast around 69 degrees. Blowing dust was forecast to begin between 2 and 3 p.m., the weather service said. In the afternoon, the weather service expected the wind to move south between 15 and 20 mph with gusts reaching as high as 35 mph. A wind advisory for the Phoenix metro was forecast to go into effect Thursday afternoon. Phoenix residents should be aware of strong gusts leading to difficult driving conditions, objects becoming airborne, and reduced visibility due to blowing dust and sand, the weather service said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By Thursday evening, showers were predicted to slow with a 50% chance before 11 p.m. The weather service added that skies were expected to be mostly cloudy and gradually become mostly clear before midnight. Thursday night was anticipated to be breezy with west-southwest winds between 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight. The low temperature for Thursday was forecast to be around 43 degrees. Is it snowing in Flagstaff? A winter storm warning goes into effect Thursday in Flagstaff, and it was anticipated to remain in effect through the rest of the night, according to the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. The high for Thursday was forecast to be near 39 degrees. Weather service meteorologists said, in a release, widespread rain and snow were expected to begin late Thursday morning and continue through Thursday night. Winds are forecast to gust between 40 and 45 mph before decreasing on Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Snow showers were expected to begin after 11 a.m. in Flagstaff. The chance of precipitation in Flagstaff on Thursday is 90%, with 1 and 3 inches of daytime snow accumulation possible, the weather service added. Thursday may be breezy with a south wind blowing between 20 and 25 mph. Snow showers were expected Thursday evening in Flagstaff. The low was forecast around 21 degrees with a 100% chance of precipitation. Thursday night should be breezy with southwest winds between 17 and 22 mph, with possible new snow accumulation between 4 and 8 inches. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Showers forecast for Phoenix and Flagstaff Thursday A storm system is expected to bring heavy rainfall and mountain snow to Southern California late Wednesday night into Thursday. Heavy downpours paired with thunderstorms and gusty winds will bring a high risk of flooding to roadways and threats of mud and debris flows, according to the National Weather Service. The main event will be overnight tonight with a strong and fast-moving cold front traversing the area from northwest to southeast, said NWS. This storm will pack quite a wallop despite its short duration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rain totals are expected to peak between 1 and 2 inches for the Los Angeles County coastal and valley regions, with up to 4 inches possible in the mountains and foothills. A Flood Watch was issued across the Southland and will be in effect until Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. Neighborhoods that had a high risk of mudslides and debris flow dangers were placed under evacuation warnings and orders. A significant rainstorm is expected to peak fron late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, bringing slick road conditions and snowfall to higher elevations. (KTLA) A significant rainstorm is expected to peak fron late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, bringing slick road conditions and snowfall to higher elevations. (KTLA) A significant rainstorm is expected to peak fron late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, bringing slick road conditions and snowfall to higher elevations. (KTLA) (National Weather Service) A significant rainstorm is expected to peak fron late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, bringing slick road conditions and snowfall to higher elevations. (KTLA) A significant rainstorm is expected to peak fron late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, bringing slick road conditions and snowfall to higher elevations. (KTLA) We have a lot of cold air coming and thats what will cause all the instability and the threat of thunderstorms, said KTLA meteorologist Vera Jimenez. Anytime we talk about rainfall rates that are at least half an inch per hour, we see the threat of flood. With this particular front moving in, were seeing not just half an inch of rain per hour, but as much as three-quarters up to an inch of rain per hour and that is what has everybody on guard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Snowfall is expected at elevations above 3,000 feet with winds between 45-65 mph. A Winter Storm warning remains in effect through Saturday, March 15 at 6 p.m. Icy, dangerous road conditions could affect drivers traveling on the 5 Freeway near the Grapevine, the 14 Freeway from Acton to Palmdale, and Highway 33 north of Ojai. Drivers are advised to take extreme caution as strong winds and heavy snow potential will bring reduced visibility. Especially as heavy rain approaches, I urge all Angelenos to heed all weather warnings, said L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. This storm has the potential to cause impacts in burn areas but also neighborhoods citywide. Residents are advised to avoid traveling during the storm if possible. If traveling must be done, drivers should be cautious of any downed trees or power lines and flooded roads. Packing an emergency kit in the car is advised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That flood watch doesnt just include the mountains and the foothill or burn scars, but its actually widespread, so anywhere in our five-county region, you will be under the threat of flooding, Jimenez explained. Anyone who sees a blocked or flooded roadway can request service through MyLA311 or by calling 311. Power outages or water main breaks can be reported to the L.A. Department of Water and Power at 1-800-DIAL-DWP or online here. Thursday will be a mixed bag of weather with showers and thunderstorms and periods of heavy rain and lower elevation snow, but some sunny breaks as well, said NWS. Light showers are expected Friday then dry and warmer over the weekend. Another weaker storm is expected between Friday and Saturday bringing light rainfall chances but skies should clear up by Sunday, weather officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck blasted the Trump administration at the Joburg Film Festival on Wednesday, insisting that the world is at the mercy of crazy people who have put the lives of millions at stake. We are in the hands of a bunch of crazy people who have an agenda that was totally written out in Project 2025, the same way that Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, Peck said. All of it was there to read, and everybody thought he was making a joke. No. They are applying what they said they were going to do. More from Variety Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The question iswhat are we going to do [in response]? he added. We cant tweet our way out of this one. The Haitian filmmaker also lashed out at the administrations dismantling of USAID and its disruption of the trans-Atlantic alliance, saying Trump is breaking up what it took decades to build after such institutions were created in part to protect post-war U.S. interests. We are in a changed world, he said. What hes doing, and sometimes with incredible ignorance, is going to change the life of many people on this planet. Peck was speaking to Variety in Johannesburgs Theatre on the Square minutes after delivering a masterclass at the festival, which opened March 11 with his latest film, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, a portrait of the groundbreaking photographer who chronicled South African life under apartheid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the course of a rousing, free-wheeling hour, the Haitian filmmaker, Oscar-nominated for I Am Not Your Negro, charted the course of his life and career, beginning with a childhood in Haiti that set the tone for his later work as a filmmaker. Coming from Haiti, I always felt a responsibility to tell my stories from our point of view as a little island that changed the history of the world, he said, pointing to Haitis contribution to independence efforts across the Americas and its pivotal role in opening up the Western expansion of the U.S. In 1961, his family moved to the newly independent Democratic Republic of Congo, where his parents were among the ranks of educated, French-speaking, middle-class Haitians recruited to rebuild after the sudden departure of the Belgian colonial rulers decimated the countrys professional classes. His father, an agronomist, was among the first group of scholars and doctors to arrive in a country whose first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, inspired Pecks 2000 political thriller Lumumba, about the charismatic independence leaders rise to power and eventual assassination. Unable to return to Haiti because of the murderous dictatorship of Francois Papa Doc Duvalier, Peck was educated in Kinshasa, New York and France, before studying film at the German Film and Television Academy in West Berlin. It was there, among exiled Iranian communists, Chilean revolutionaries and members of South Africas African National Congress (ANC), that Peck said his real political training started. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I came to filmmaking through politics, he said. It was a means for me to be active, to educate, to make people aware whats going on, to try to understand in what world we live, in what country we live, in what village we live. Its a permanent call for action, for reflection, for how do we get allies. Thats where I learned that everything we do is political, he added. Theres not such a thing as doing something neutral. Your neutrality is a political act. Ernest Cole: Lost and Found opened the Joburg Film Festival. Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, which shared the prize for best documentary at last years Cannes Film Festival, traces the career and life of Cole, who in the late 1950s began chronicling everyday life under apartheid. After fleeing South Africa, he arrived in New York City in 1966, where he published his groundbreaking book House of Bondage, an astonishing account of life under the racist apartheid regime. While that book made Cole a celebrated figure in the world of photography, he struggled to adapt to life as an exile in New York, grappling with isolation and depression. In a glowing review of Lost and Found, Varietys Owen Gleiberman noted that the film could be considered a companion piece to I Am Not Your Negro, Pecks probing character study of James Baldwin, whose meditations on what it meant to be Black in America as he wrestled with his own self-doubt and melancholy was similarly a penetrating portrait of a Black artist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking in Johannesburg, Peck offered his own reflections on working as a Black filmmaker, likening it to a battle you have to be able to wage without being afraid to lose everything. Im part of the generation people like Spike Lee who came from film school and decided that they were not going to accept no as a response from the industry, he said. You fight to make each movie without compromising on your main belief, or whatever youre fighting for. There is a price to pay, and you have to know your limits, and how to survive in the industry an industry where, as a Black person, there was no room that was reserved for you. In fact, the industry can function perfectly without you, [although] we might have the illusion that things have changed over the years, he added. Peck noted that while Black filmmakers and actors have more opportunities across the industry today partly due to the rapid growth of streaming platforms it doesnt say anything about any transfer of power [because] we still have to go to someone else to get a green light. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fight is even worse today than it was 20 years ago, he said. The #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, did advance the cause, but of the many Black executives who were elevated in part on the strength of those movements, most are out of their posts. Meanwhile, the filmmaker predicted that the second Trump presidency will bring further disruption in the industry. I am very pessimistic about where we are going, unless we decide to use the disruption that is occurring right now to build something else, he said. Because they are so busy separating the loot that theyre not looking [at] what were doing. There is a small window where a lot of things are possible. The Joburg Film Festival runs March 11-16. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A hunter searching for deer instead made a discovery of what he thought was a fossil, located in a drainage area of a creek on O2 Ranch in West Texas. I was skeptical when a deer hunter showed me a picture of what he thought was a fossil, O2 Ranch manager Will Juett said. I figured it was likely just an old stump, but imagined how great it would be if he was right. Well, as it turns out, the hunter was right. It was a fossila rare woolly mammoth tusk, to be precise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In reporting the find, Sul Ross State University stated in a press release: Juett said his great working relationship with the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) at Sul Ross State University in Alpine spurred him to immediately reach out to Dr. Bryon Schroeder, director, and Archaeologist Erika Blecha. The researchers contacted graduate student Haley Bjorklund from the University of Kansas, a CBBS collaborator specializing in environmental archaeology, who is interested in studying ancient animals like the mammoth. The trio, along with Dr. Justin Garnett and Dr. Devin Pettigrew, both anthropology professors, met up at the ranch as soon as possible to explore the discovery further. `It paid off big time, Juett said of their visit. `When they confirmed what they had uncovered, I couldnt believe it. Researchers cover the tusk in strips of plaster-covered burlap for protection and build a frame to transfer it to SRSUs Alpine campus for further study. Schroeder verified the authenticity of the mammoth tusk, a very rare find in West Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tusk was located in the drainage area of a creek bed, Schroeder said. We realized pretty quickly there was not more to the skeleton, just an isolated tusk that had been separated from the rest of the remains. Also on FTW: Banned item found in Great Smoky Mountains, prompts advisory Researchers spent two days covering the tusk in strips of plaster-covered burlap for protection and building a frame to transfer it to SRSUs Alpine campus for further study. Results of carbon dating will be available in the next few months. Seeing that mammoth tusk just brings the ancient world to life, Juett said. Now, I cant help but imagine that huge animal wandering around the hills on the O2 Ranch. My next thought is always about the people that faced those huge tusks with only a stone tool in their hand! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Photo of a woolly mammoth model at the Royal Victoria Museum in Victoria, B.C., courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Rare woolly mammoth tusk discovered by hunter Lenox Hill Hospital is here for all New Yorkers Manhattan: Re Two hospitals with two different paths (op-ed, March 10): The picture painted in this commentary about Lenox Hill Hospital and its role in the future of hospital care in Manhattan is unfortunately misleading and built on flawed assumptions. With a history spanning more than 160 years in the community, we are proud to serve our longtime neighbors. Still, more than one-third of our patients come from the outer boroughs, and a majority 55% are people of color. More than 60% rely on Medicare or Medicaid. The pieces inference that Northwell Health is an outside force is equally inaccurate and uninformed. Our doctors, nurses and staff live across the five boroughs, and our patients are New Yorkers from all walks of life. To dismiss our incredible team members and the essential care they provide as part of some deregulated marketplace failure is a disservice to the 144,000 New Yorkers who depend on them for life-saving treatment every year. Hospitals must adapt to meet an evolving health care landscape. When they dont, they face the unfortunate reality of closures an experience too many communities face today. The investments we seek at Lenox Hill are about renewing a facility that has served New Yorkers for more than a century, ensuring that we can continue delivering high-quality care safely and sustainably. Northwell continues growing and investing across the city, and it is neither responsible nor helpful to pit one hospitals future against anothers. The challenges facing health care in New York are real. We should work together to ensure all New Yorkers can access the care they deserve for decades to come. Daniel Baker, president, Lenox Hill Hospital On the right track Bethlehem, Pa.: Re When crime goes down (editorial, March 7): Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has it. She and the great cops in the NYPD that we all support and rely on have it. Finally. Thank you so very much indeed. We love New York and we love the NYPD for that! Christoph Broubalow Target sex crimes Middle Village: I am pleased to see the big drop in shootings and homicides this year compared to the same period last year, and I congratulate the mayor, our terrific police commissioner and the entire NYPD for helping to make this happen. Now lets focus on the awful increase in rapes: 298 this year to date versus 229 last year, up 30%. We need to encourage women who are in abusive situations to report, and to add more street vigilance to remove from the streets those lurking to attack unsuspecting females of all ages. Mary Jane McCartney Friends first Rockaway Park: If what you reported in your newspaper concerning the possibility that Commissioner of Probation Juanita Holmes has had nepotism involved in her hiring practices, she is only following the lead of the person who appointed her to that position, Mayor Adams. What are her qualifications that made her the right person for that job? All probation officers are college graduates. Anthony Johnson Cop cronyism Forest Hills: So, Juanita Holmes is under investigation, correct? No surprise there. When Holmes was a chief in the NYPD, she constantly did an end run around the police commissioner at the time (one of the best ever, Keechant Sewell) and went straight to Adams and got whatever she wanted from him. Holmes is the same person who thought an appearance by Cardi B (WAP, anyone?) was an excellent choice to motivate females to join the NYPD. Really? And again, despite the commissioner demanding that Cardi Bs appearance be canceled, Holmes ran right to Adams, and he allowed that repugnant performer to perform. So Holmes is taking on her mentor Adams act: pad the city payroll with corrupt, unqualified cronies with sky-high salaries. Please kick her to the curb and charge her with extreme corruption. J.M. Culley Less lethal New Rochelle, N.Y.: Voicer Marc Lavietes says, as a physician, that measles is a real killer, saying there were 500 deaths a year before the 1963 vaccine. Meanwhile, accidental ladder falls last year killed more Americans than the last 50 years of measles. This is because of MAGA, he says? Hey, Marc, your Trump Derangement Syndrome is showing! Tripp Hoffmann No safety net Holbrook, L.I.: I read your editorial (Untaxed tips is not so easy, March 8) with interest and noticed, in my humble opinion, that you missed the point entirely. Trump doesnt care about those who work primarily on tips. It was all about trying to generate votes. But now its a nod to the business community. Why? Because those who are paid mostly or significantly in tips will no longer cost their employers their required 6% contribution to Social Security taxes. Those who spend their working lives in places like New York or Las Vegas, where a worker can live well on tip jobs, will get hurt badly in the end. When the time for collecting Social Security comes, their check will be based on their lifetime total taxable income. Should the economy have a downturn and they lose their jobs, their unemployment insurance benefit will also be based on taxable income. Michael L. Wilson Turning against freedom Brooklyn: Are Trump and Vladimir Putin working in tandem to make Ukraine capitulate to agreeing to a peace agreement detrimental to Ukraine? It sure seems like it. Trump has absurdly blamed Ukraine for this war, claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not grateful and demanded repayment for U.S. aid. Now Putin has stepped up the bombing of Ukraine while Trump has pulled technological aid crucial to Ukraines defense. Both leaders would love to see Zelenskyy gone and will pressure Ukraine to have elections to get a puppet president favorable to Russia. People who cherish freedom in Europe and America should be more alarmed at what is unfolding. Irwin Cantos Be a bulwark Little Egg Harbor, N.J.: What has happened to our elected officials, doing absolutely nothing while our government agencies are gutted by someone not elected by the people? From day one, a man who has had multiple bankruptcies has been able to choose another clown to destroy our government. Why are our elected officials allowing this disaster to continue? This incompetent loser must be impeached! I am certain that even Republicans elected by us to represent our needs must realize they were chosen to protect our government and our way of life not protect somebody who disrespects our allies and is in love with our enemies all over the world. How long will this go on before someone wakes up and stops this disgrace to our values? Rose S. Wilson Enemy sympathies Brooklyn: People supporting Mahmoud Khalil ( New Yorkers will have to take to the street, says a demonstrator, March 11) need a history lesson. Khalil wholeheartedly supports Hamas and Hezbollah, a group that murdered 241 sleeping American service members in 1983 and kidnapped, tortured and murdered Col. William Higgins. If supporting and advocating for enemies of this country are not a reason for deportation, what is? Rob Weissbard Misled from the start Jamaica: To Voicer Michele P. Brown: The problem for the Arabs of Palestine was not the League of Nations, the British, the Zionists or the UN. It was their leader, the grand mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini. He orchestrated massacres against peaceful Jewish communities in 1920, 1929 and 1936 and was responsible for the assassinations of prominent Arabs who favored coexistence with Jews. He rejected plans for an Arab state in 1937 and 1947 because each plan offered a state for Jews. He was an ally of Adolf Hitler and an active supporter of the Holocaust. Al-Husseini was influential in the Arab decisions to start the wars of 1947 and 1948, the cause of the Palestinian refugee problem. Ebere Osu Stay in touch Bronx: In light of Gene Hackman and his wife dying so tragically and alone (They died of illnesses, March 8), with no loved ones or friends being aware for at least two weeks: People, call your elderly loved ones often, especially if one has Alzheimers. It is heartbreaking to know that these people had family and no one got in touch with them. And if they called and got no response for several days, they could either go and check or ask the local police to do a wellness check. So sad. May they RIP. Pauline Graham Binder LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Three months before the scheduled trial of a man charged with torturing an English bulldog named Reba, a proposed overhaul of the states animal cruelty law was introduced on Monday. Isaac Laushaul Jr., 32, and Markeisha Foster, 30, were arrested in December 2024, about six months after Reba was found taped inside a plastic tub left next to a dumpster near a grocery store on E. Twain Avenue near Maryland Parkway and Flamingo Road. It was 110 degrees outside and Reba died two days later from the effects of heat stroke. The trial for Laushaul and Foster is scheduled to start on June 16. Rebas ordeal was widely publicized, and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson commented that the punishment didnt fit the crime, calling for tougher laws. A felony charge of willful/malicious torture/maiming/killing of a dog, cat, or animal carries a maximum of four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Assembly Bill 381 (AB381), known as Rebas Law, was introduced Monday at the Nevada Legislature. It is sponsored by Assembly Republicans Melissa Hardy and Brian Hibbetts, along with Democratic Sen. Melanie Scheible. The bill redefines torture or cruelty to animals, broadening it to people who commit the act and people who allow it by doing nothing to stop it from happening. A willful and malicious violation becomes a category B felony if the animal dies. Also, the bill makes it a Category C felony to hurt a police dog, becoming a Category B felony if the dog is totally disabled or killed. A Category B felony is punishable by a prison sentence of 1-20 years, with a fine of up to $15,000 and possible restitution requirements. Category C felonies carry a prison term of 1-5 years, with fines up to $10,000 and possible restitution. Other sections of the bill would eliminate practices of a court ordering an animal to be sold at auction, which can happen now if police take possession of an abused animal. It would allow for the animal to be humanely destroyed or kept in the officers care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the person arrested in the case doesnt request a hearing or the animals owner hasnt been identified within five days, the animal must be forfeited to the county, city or other local government that took possession of the animal. It would then transfer ownership to a shelter. The bill eliminates an exception that allows cruelty to animals on land used for agriculture. AB381 has not been scheduled for a hearing yet. Laushaul and Foster have been in custody at the Clark County Detention Center since their arrests. The Las Vegas City Council adopted tougher penalties for animal hoarding and animal abandonment in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. The Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent) Bayer within a week will lift the veil of secrecy on some documents detailing its campaign to influence public opinion regarding the safety of its herbicide Roundup, attorneys said Wednesday. In a hearing in Jefferson City before Clifford Cornell, a special master assigned to deal with pre-trial disputes, Bayer attorney Anthony Martinez said records delivered to a plaintiffs attorney under seal are being reviewed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hearing focused on 46 of those records, which attorney Matt Clement contends should be unsealed as an emergency measure to show how the German chemical giant is trying to influence lawmakers and potential jurors. Clement represents Ronald Jackelen of Somerset, Wisconsin, who claims Roundup gave him non-Hodgkins lymphoma. His lawsuit was filed in 2022. In response to Martinez saying the work to review the documents would be done in a week, Cornell said he would wait for that action before deciding which of the others, if any, should be made public. He must weigh whether the disclosure helps move the case forward or if it would mainly help one side in a legislative debate. That is the disharmony I am finding in my own mind, Cornell said. As special master, Cornell makes recommendations to Circuit Judge Daniel Green, who decides whether to accept or reject his reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bayer acquired Roundup and the liability that may accrue in lawsuits over its health effects when it took over St. Louis-based Monsanto in 2018. There are approximately 25,000 lawsuits pending in Cole County alleging that Roundup causes cancer and the label failed to warn consumers of the risk. During the hearing, Clement accused Bayer of spending heavily on advertising to influence both potential jurors in upcoming cases and lawmakers considering a bill to limit Bayers liability. The danger of their propaganda is obvious, Clement said. Monsanto pulled all these cases to a relatively small county. It then flooded the county with propaganda, advertising in the hopes that the jury will be biased against the claims before they even get to the courthouse. Theyve tried to influence legislators and the public needs to know whats really going on behind the scenes. Bayer is not trying to tamper with potential jurors, Martinez said. The advertising, he said, balances the efforts by trial attorneys to attract clients with advertising. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trial attorneys have been advertising for years seeking clients for Roundup litigation To the extent that equals influencing a jury, Im not sure well ever be able to have a jury in Missouri, because of those advertisements, Martinez said. While Jackelens case isnt scheduled for a trial, several other cases are, with three to four trials a year scheduled into mid-2028. Bayer has already been through a 2023 trial where a Cole County jury awarded three plaintiffs $1.56 billion, including $1.5 billion in punitive damages. The verdict was reduced to $622 million and is under appeal, with arguments scheduled for April 10 in Kirksville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bayer has set aside about $16 billion to deal with Roundup lawsuits, including more than $10 billion it has already paid out in settlements and judgments. In the General Assembly, a bill that passed the Missouri House last month to protect Bayer would make the label mandated by the EPA for all chemicals classified as pesticides weed killers, bug killers and fertilizers sufficient to satisfy any requirement for a warning label regarding cancer. The bill is awaiting assignment to a Senate committee. Since late November, more than $350,000 has been spent on television and radio ads in central Missouri supporting Bayers position in the litigation and the legislation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One group, called the Modern Ag Alliance, has spent about $180,000 on ads promoting the benefits of herbicides with glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Another, the Protecting America Initiative, has used emotional political messages painting opponents of the legislation as dupes helping China gain control of American agriculture. Both groups have also spent unknown sums for online ads and direct mail. Bayer makes no secret it is supporting the Modern Ag Alliance effort but denies having any role in the Protecting America ads. The Protecting America ads have angered a group of nine Republican state senators who have said their opposition is now stronger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE During the hearing, Martinez and attorney Chuck Hatfield, also representing Bayer, said Clement doesnt need to unseal the records to prepare his case. The documents arent closed to him, they noted and making them public now is only necessary if he is seeking to influence the legislation. He wants to take them over to the Senate and tell the senators about documents that were exchanged in discovery, Hatfield said. Thats not a litigation purpose. It is improper to use discovery documents for the purpose of lobbying. Cornell asked Clement to state his main reason for filing the motion to open the records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clement said the documents would be relayed to lawmakers if Green orders them to be open. Theres no doubt that that should be done, and that thats going to be done if you order these things unsealed, Clement said. But that doesnt mean that theres not a litigation need, because there may also be another purpose. Bayers effort to persuade the public that Roundup is safe, while failing to do research on the question, is important because it could be grounds for punitive damages, he said. Citing records disclosed in another case, he said Bayer told that court we dont want to do any more studies, because were afraid of what they might show. Yet, theyre spending millions and millions and millions of dollars to influence the public and to influence the legislature. I cant think of any evidence that would be more relevant to punitive damages or more important for the public to know than that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The timing of legislation does not make the question of which documents should be open an emergency, Martinez said. Clement wants to fight the case in the press, not the courtroom, Martinez said. Thats not, he said, how discovery is meant to be used. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) With the possibility of severe weather in Mississippi this weekend, the American Red Cross is urging neighbors to prepare now. Red Cross disaster workers will be on standby to help neighbors in need affected by the storms. Thunderstorm Safety Postpone outdoor activities if thunderstorms are likely to occur. Many people struck by lightning are not in the area where rain is occurring. Avoid electrical equipment and telephones. Use battery-powered TVs and radios instead. Shutter windows and close outside doors securely. Keep away from windows. Do not take a bath, shower or use plumbing. If you are driving, try to safely exit the roadway and park. Stay in the vehicle and turn on the emergency flashers until the heavy rain ends. Avoid touching metal or other surfaces that conduct electricity in and outside the vehicle. If you are outside and cannot reach a safe building, avoid high ground; water; tall, isolated trees; and metal objects such as fences or bleachers. Picnic shelters, dugouts and sheds are NOT safe. Never drive through a flooded roadway. You cannot predict how deep the water may be. Stay away from storm-damaged areas to keep from putting yourself at risk from the effects of severe thunderstorms. Continue to listen to a NOAA Weather Radio or to local radio and television stations for updated information or instructions, as access to roads or some parts of the community may be blocked. Help people who may need special assistance, such as infants, children and the elderly or disabled. Stay away from downed power lines and report them immediately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Storm damages Jones County homes; crash causes injuries Tornado Safety Know the difference between a Tornado Watch and a Tornado Warning. A tornado WATCH means a tornado is possible. A tornado WARNING means a tornado is already occurring or will occur soon. GO TO YOUR SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY. Identify a safe place in your home where household members and pets will gather during a tornado: a basement, storm cellar or an interior room on the lowest floor with no windows. In a high-rise building, pick a hallway in the center of the building. You may not have enough time to go to the lowest floor. In a mobile home, choose a safe place in a nearby sturdy building. If your mobile home park has a designated shelter, make it your safe place. No mobile home, however, it is configured, is safe in a tornado. Close Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Weather Forecast Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. Groups of mourners gather for a prayer vigil after a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis in 2021. Indiana is one of 21 states that have a red flag law, which allow police and family members to petition a civil court to remove a firearm from someone who may be a danger to themselves or others. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) Adriana Pentzs brother could be alive today. If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2017, Luc-John Pentz was 30 years old and starting to struggle, burdened by lifes stressors and trying to cope by leaning heavily on alcohol. Adriana soon found out he had purchased a gun months earlier. Of her three siblings, she had the most in common with Luc growing up they were both academically driven and competitive swimmers. They remained close into adulthood, with Luc supporting her when she became a mother. So, when she noticed his behavior starting to shift, she was immediately troubled. I was scared when I found out that he had a gun, she said. I know that it offered him a sense of security, a sense of protection, which he felt like he needed at that particular point. But my siblings and my mom didnt feel comfortable that he was not in a good place, and we knew he had something at home that was dangerous. Her brother died by suicide May 23, 2017, in the woods near his home in Wallingford, Connecticut. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What Adriana Pentz didnt know at the time was that Connecticut had a law that would have allowed her, her family or police officers to petition a civil court to seize his gun when it was clear he was a potential harm to himself or others. In 1999, Connecticut became the first state in the country to pass what is commonly known as a red flag law, which allows family members, law enforcement and sometimes health care workers, friends and co-workers to file what is often called an extreme risk protection order. After considering evidence and hearing from both the petitioner and the gun owner, a judge may temporarily take a persons weapon if they deem the gun owner to be a potential danger to themselves or the community. Orders usually last one year. Now, 21 states and the District of Columbia have such laws. Voters in Maine will decide in November whether to join that list. The use of extreme risk protection orders has surged in recent years, with petitions filed across states that have such laws jumping by 59% in 2023 over the previous year, according to data collected by Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control research and advocacy group. Luc-John Pentz, seen here with his sister Adriana on her wedding day, died by suicide in 2017. (Courtesy of Adriana Pentz) But the laws effectiveness relies on their implementation, supporters say: Law enforcement and judges must be trained properly and the public needs to be aware that the law exists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The challenge in this is that too many people, too many law enforcement people, too many families, are not aware that there is an extreme risk law in their state, Sarah Burd-Sharps, the senior director of research at Everytown, told Stateline. A Stateline analysis shows the usage rates rose from six petitions filed per 100,000 residents in 2022, to 10 per 100,000 in 2023. The analysis used Everytowns petition data and U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for the District of Columbia and the 19 states with active red flag laws in 2023. In 2023, there were 46,728 gun-related deaths in the United States, including suicides, murders and accidents, with a national rate of 14 gun deaths per 100,000 people, according to the latest data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicides accounted for nearly 6 in 10 of the gun deaths. Recent research on the protection orders impact estimates that one suicide is prevented for every 17 to 23 petitions filed. Based on this estimate, nearly 990 lives could have been saved in 2023 for every 17 petitions filed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pentz feels her brothers death every day. It was a horrible, horrible, horrible moment in our lives to have lost him, she said. I know for sure that if it was something that I was aware of in 2017, I would have petitioned to have my brothers gun taken from him in that moment of crisis. I do believe it could have saved his life. Training the police As retired detective Christopher Carita travels around the country to meet with law enforcement agencies on how to better use their states red flag laws, he consistently hears one concern: Is this a gun grab? Law enforcement, were gun folks, said Carita, who worked for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in Florida. Theres always this hesitancy when it comes to risk protection orders and removing firearms that needs to be overcome. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, when he designed his training, he emphasized due process protections embedded in these laws: Gun owners get ample notice about the petition, and they have the right to defend themselves in court through multiple hearings. The laws are based off long-held domestic violence and other civil orders and are backed by the U.S. Supreme Court. More often than not, the respondent understands, said Carita, who works with 97Percent, a gun safety organization focused on including gun owners and non-gun owners in the conversation around policy solutions for gun violence. Even if theyre hesitant at first, he said, ultimately theyre appreciative that their family member cared enough to intervene, and that that intervention is something that is temporary and affords them some time and space away from the most lethal means to get the help they need. Carita encourages officers to build better relationships with their local Department of Veterans Affairs agency and area nonprofits, so they have someone they can refer the gunowner to when theyre removing a firearm for suicide risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even before New Mexico imposed a red flag law in 2020, some law enforcement officials opposed it, citing concerns over Second Amendment rights and potential government overreach. In its first two years, police in the state filed only 23 petitions. Then in 2022, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham established a task force to raise awareness and improve enforcement of the law. The number of petitions has increased significantly, rising from 47 in 2023 to 96 in 2024, according to court data. More than half of last years petitions were in Bernalillo County, the states most populous jurisdiction and home to Albuquerque, the capital. In February, the New Mexico House passed a bill to streamline the process. The bill would clarify more clearly that police officers can directly file petitions and would remove the 48-hour waiting period for firearm relinquishment, addressing concerns that the delay could pose unnecessary risks. The legislation is now in the Senate. Gun violence experts say the goal of red flag laws isnt necessarily to increase their use for the sake of numbers, but to ensure they are applied in the most dangerous situations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to be realistic about expectations that [extreme risk protection orders] arent going to prevent all forms of firearm violence and lead to huge decreases in gun violence, said Stephen Oliphant, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan. After Maryland adopted its red flag law in 2018, Darrin Popkin, the executive director of both the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association and the Maryland Sheriffs Association, traveled the state to educate 17,000 law enforcement officers from 160 agencies on what he calls another tool in the belt for officers to save lives. In the first six months of having the law, Popkin said, law enforcement prevented several potential school shootings. Hes received phone calls from people who said that if they didnt have the gun-removal order, their family member would no longer be alive. In recent years, the state police academies took over that training, teaching officers how to apply for a petition, testify in court and carry out the gun-removal order. The state also is investing in media and advertising outreach for the public, along with training health care workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to data from Everytown, Maryland is a national leader in issuing extreme risk protection orders. In 2023, there were approximately 11 petitions filed per 100,000 Maryland residents. Popkin, who until 2022 served as Montgomery County sheriff across the border from Washington, D.C., attributes the high numbers to how the legislation was crafted, a process that included perspectives from law enforcement officers, health care workers and gun rights advocates. He also points to how the people granting the orders, Maryland District Court commissioners, are available 24 hours a day. There will always be people in crisis, Popkin said. There will always be a need for people to get help. The next step, he said, is to increase the laws usage among health care providers. The treatment and care approach Whenever The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore treats someone who might be a danger to themselves or others and may own or be about to buy a weapon, the hospital contacts Quinita Garrett. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Garrett, the director of call center and system coordination for Baltimore Crisis Response Inc., a nonprofit crisis center known as BCRI, is leading a pilot program to test a partnership between a local hospital and social workers. Shell go to the hospital and visit the patient at their bed, asking about their mental health, whether they have access to a gun at home or through others, their intent on purchasing a weapon, and their history of aggression, violence, homicidal thoughts, suicidal thoughts or any attempts. Shell also ask questions about their impulse control, if they want to hurt anyone and if they have a support system. Sometimes, a person is just having a bad day, and they have support in their life and dont own a weapon or plan on buying one. But other times, a person might have a history of aggressive or abusive behavior and may own a weapon, and shell quickly petition the Eastside District Court. Shell see the process through until the end, testifying before a judge shortly after filing the petition. It doesnt happen often; over the past year and a half, shes gone to the hospital around 15 times. But the number has been increasing recently to one or two requests a week, which she attributes to the hospital educating its staff. Garrett also might be referred to cases through calls coming into BCRIs local suicide prevention hotline. She recalled talking with one mother in 2023 who was scared to live in her own house, worried that her son was going to kill himself or someone else. Garrett walked her through the process, and the mother eventually petitioned the court. Although her son was mad at her, at least she knew he and those around him were safe, Garrett remembers her saying. It can really save lives, Garrett said. I definitely think that is good as a temporary option, so people can actually be linked to treatment and care. Combining a law enforcement response with one centered on behavioral specialists, social service workers and medical professionals has led to a paradigm shift in Maryland and New York, the only two states that allow health care workers to file extreme risk protection orders, said Shannon Frattaroli, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. Shes led the nationwide effort for better implementation of red flag laws, training law enforcement or other government agencies that seek to further use extreme risk protection orders. When we think about how to make this accessible and less threatening, more therapeutic, starting the process with clinicians just makes a whole lot of sense, she said. In surveys that reached thousands of physicians, psychologists and clinicians, Frattaroli found that there is broad support for the idea of extreme risk protection orders. However, many think it is challenging to complete the paperwork and to get to court to see the process through on top of their full-time work. Thats where partnerships with people like Garrett come in, she said. Court data that Frattaroli has collected shows that less than 1% of petitions are filed by clinicians; theres vast room for improvement, she said. Tightening judicial procedures Indianas red flag law passed in 2005 came under scrutiny in 2021 following the mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, where a gunman killed eight people and wounded several others. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears declined to file a red flag case against the shooter, even after Indianapolis police had seized a shotgun from him a year earlier. Police criticized that choice, but at the time, Mears said loopholes in the law could have led to the shotgun being returned to the shooter. Without a court ruling barring the shooter from future gun purchases, he legally bought the Ruger AR-556 and the HM Defense HM15F rifles used in the attack. Marion County Superior Judge Amy Jones then issued new guidance requiring all red flag cases filed by law enforcement agencies in the county to go directly to the court rather than the prosecutors office. Under the revised process, police must file a case within 48 hours of seizing a firearm, and a judge then determines within 14 days whether a hearing should be held. Cases are now being filed and resolved much more quickly, Jones told Stateline, and respondents are ensured due process. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow some red flag records to be sealed and expunged, while still ensuring that people later found to pose a danger can still have their firearms seized. Maybe itll be seized or taken away for a period of time, but following these proceedings, it may not be all that long in the grand scheme of things, Jones said. You do have that protection to the public and the people that this individual is around. I know for sure that if it was something that I was aware of in 2017, I would have petitioned to have my brothers gun taken from him in that moment of crisis. I do believe it could have saved his life. Adriana Pentz Adriana Pentz, who lost her brother, knows family members often see troubling signs before anyone else. But whether they know extreme risk protection orders are available is another story. Average people need to know how to create a petition, she said, and states and communities must do a better job of promoting red flag laws. Love and support just isnt enough, she said. You absolutely need something that can help keep an individual and their surrounding community safe in a moment of crisis. Stateline reporter Matt Vasilogambros can be reached at mvasilogambros@stateline.org. Stateline reporter Amanda Hernandez can be reached at ahernandez@stateline.org. Stateline and the Oregon Capital Chronicle are both part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Early in Red Scare, Clay Risens thorough, impassioned but even-handed study of Cold War hysteria in the U.S., the author makes a point of explaining what his subject is and isnt. There is a lineage to the American hard right of today, he writes, and to understand it, we need to understand its roots in the Red Scare. It did not originate then, nor is Trumpism and the MAGA movement the same as McCarthyism and the John Birch Society. But there is a line linking them. For 480 detailed, tension-packed pages, Risen lays out that line without stepping over it, allowing the past to become prologue. He trusts the reader to make the connections between then and now, and he doesnt stray from the task at hand, or the specifics of time, place, conflict and culture that led to a protracted period of national shame. Red Scare burrows deep not just into the well-known major players, including Sen. Joseph McCarthy, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Alger Hiss and the Hollywood Ten, but also the myriad committees, opportunistic enablers and the long, long line of scapegoats who paid for the mid-20th-century anti-communist witch hunt. Told by a friend that he had endured a dry crucifixion, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb who was dragged through the mud (and had his security clearance revoked) largely for publicly wondering what he had wrought, replied: You know, it wasnt so very dry. I can still feel the warm blood on my hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Red Scare has the integrity to operate on a yes, and ... basis, rather than indulging in the easy either or. Risen takes pains to point out that yes, a great many Americans did join the Communist Party, especially in the 1930s, when American capitalism teetered on the verge of collapse. Some of these people even posed grave security risks. And at the same time, there was no shortage of ideologues and charlatans who took advantage of this fact to stomp out that most American trait of dissent. One reality does not preclude the other. The New York Times journalist, who also has written books about the Rough Riders, the Civil Rights Act and whiskey, chronicles how national hysteria can take on a life of its own, like a deadly fever dream that overtakes the public consciousness. But this is a work of history, not a polemic. It encompasses two world wars and a police action in Korea that quickly turned into something much bigger. Its the story of how backlash against the New Deal fueled reactionary fervor deep into the 1950s and beyond, and how communist became a catch-all pejorative to smear civil rights, feminism and, especially, homosexuality, the fear of which red baiters leveraged into a Lavender Scare that purged gay people (and those suspected of being gay) from public life under the pretense that they could easily be blackmailed. After World War II, as Risen writes, Anti-communist fervor was both a catalyst and a symptom of the return to rigid gender roles, and with it a hard turn against homosexuality as a threat to the older ways. Read more: Hiltzik: Yes, Elia Kazan named names, then made On the Waterfront to justify his treachery Red Scare is a tapestry of individual dramas and miniature paranoid thrillers, each defined by the zeal of the age, a few resulting in the actual apprehension of Soviet spies. The Alger Hiss/Whittaker Chambers affair, in which the disheveled former Communist Party member Chambers revealed the slick, erudite diplomat Hiss to be a Soviet agent (with a lot of help from an ambitious California congressman named Richard M. Nixon), gets detailed narrative treatment. Many other names here are less well-known: Julius Hlavaty was a popular 46-year-old high school math teacher born in what is now western Slovakia. He made the mistake of appearing on a Voice of America radio segment to speak about his immigrant experience in a piece that was broadcast across Central America. By the time McCarthy and his Senate committee had picked through Hlavatys past left-wing affiliations, his career was over, as was that of his wife, also a teacher. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Risen points out, purging suspected subversives from the American education system carried a bitter irony: It was an enormous loss for the profession and a self-inflicted wound by a country that, in other respects, was eager to get out ahead of the Soviets in educational achievement and technological prowess. The Red Scare used mass fear to put a long, deep freeze on freedom of thought and creativity in America; this may be the closest parallel to what we are seeing today. These pages are filled with people commanded to fall in line or else, to cease dissent or risk losing it all. The witch hunt quickly became more about punishing anyone who defied the bully pulpit than about tracking down actual Communist Party members. As Risen writes, It is a great irony of the Red Scare that by the time it began, the era of Soviet espionage was almost entirely in the past. None of which made it a less effective cudgel. Read more: Commentary: McCarthyism makes us agents in our own destruction. 'Fellow Travelers' shows how Risen likens the dormant durability of such national hysteria to the illness described by Albert Camus in his 1947 novel The Plague. Camus wrote that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen closets; that it bides its time in bedroom cellars, trunks and bookshelves . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is, as Risen writes, ready to spring to life again. Something similar happened in the 1950s, which is to say also the 1960s and 70s, and I believe, on up through today. Vognar is a freelance culture writer. Get the latest book news, events and more in your inbox every Saturday. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Refugees haven't been welcome in the United States since the first day of President Donald Trump's second term, when he signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 90 days. Despite a February 2025 federal court order to resume refugee resettlement, the administration has said that won't be happening any time soon because the country's refugee system has been so thoroughly dismantled. Trump's Jan. 20 executive order discontinued regular refugee processing and halted all federal funding for refugee resettlement. It ended the State Department's 2023 Welcome Corps program, which allowed U.S. citizens to privately sponsor refugees, as well as a program that resettled children from Central America and certain family members. Trump also suspended the follow-to-join visas that reunited refugee families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Together, these programs make up the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Created in 1980, the program resettles refugees nationwide through partnerships between the government and U.S.-based resettlement agencies. It had made the United States the global leader in refugee resettlement. As a scholar of refugees and displacement, I expect refugee admissions to remain close to zero for the rest of Trump's term. Thousands of refugees, both at home and abroad, will suffer as a result. So will the many Americans who work within the country's sprawling refugee resettlement network. Brief history of U.S. refugee policies Under U.S. and international law, refugees are people fleeing "persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution" due to race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion or national origin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While refugees have come to the United States since its founding, the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 was the country's first official "refugee" law. The act, which expired in 1952, allowed more than 350,000 European refugees displaced by World War II to enter the United States within the constraints of an existing quota system that defined how many refugees the country would admit each year, and from which countries. Between 1952 and 1980, numerous international refugee crises spurred Congress to pass a series of laws welcoming certain groups into the country. Political calculations played a major role in these decisions. For instance, as part of America's Cold War, anti-Communist strategy, Congress passed laws in 1962 and 1966 giving tens of thousands of Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro's regime sanctuary in the United States. In the 1970s and 1980s, following its loss to communist North Vietnam in the Vietnam War, the United States welcomed approximately 1.4 million refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1980, Congress passed the Refugee Act, which amended existing law to raise the annual ceiling for refugees and created a formal process for refugee resettlement. Every year, through presidential determination, the president, in consultation with Congress, establishes refugee admissions levels. This decision takes into account U.S. national interests and international humanitarian crises. The caps are announced in the fall. On average, since 1980, the annual presidential determination number has exceeded 95,000 people. Since 2000, Presidential determinations have ranged from a low of 27,131 -- after the 9/11 attacks -- to last year's ceiling of 125,000 refugees per year. How to get refugee status To vet potential refugees and assist qualifying refugees in the resettlement process, several U.S. government agencies coordinate closely: the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To qualify for consideration, refugees must be living overseas. The resettlement process begins with registration with the U.N. Refugee Agency. U.N. officials collect documentation and perform an initial screening, and then refer qualifying individuals to one of seven U.S. State Department resettlement support centers worldwide. State Department officials interview applicants and submit them to a rigorous screening that includes an FBI background check. Highly trained immigration officers posted overseas then try to confirm whether applicants meet the legal standards of a refugee. They conduct face-to-face interviews to verify who they are and what forced them to flee. Testimonies are evaluated for consistency with country conditions. The process takes 18 to 36 months or longer. Once refugees are accepted into the United States, 10 national refugee resettlement agencies in coordination with local nonprofit partners support them during their first 90 days in the country. Previous suspensions Critics of resettlement, including Trump, have argued that refugees threaten U.S. national security, are unvetted and do not assimilate into the U.S. economy and society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, research show that refugees contribute both economically and socially through taxes and entrepreneurship. They also revitalize towns with declining populations. Between 2005 and 2019, refugees yielded a net positive fiscal impact of $123.8 billion, at both federal and state levels, and generated an estimated $581 billion for governments at all levels. A 2023 American Immigration Council report found that the spending power of refugees in just one state, California, totaled more than $20.7 billion. There is no link between refugees and crime, nor is there any notable link to terrorism. Although the 9/11 attacks were not committed by refugees, President George W. Bush in 2001 suspended refugee admissions for several months, leaving 23,000 refugees already approved for resettlement in limbo, mainly in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Many had sold their belongings and homes in anticipation of moving to the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2017, in his first term in office, Trump issued executive order 13769. The directive suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and barred entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- for 90 days. It also indefinitely banned Syrian refugees. Trump also lowered the annual refugee admissions cap, from 110,000 in 2017 to 45,000 in 2018, and continued dropping it each year. By 2021, his administration had set the lowest refugee cap in U.S. history, at 15,000. What happens when refugee resettlement pauses The second suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program drastically affected refugees waiting abroad for resettlement and those already in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arabic-speaking refugees in particular struggled with discrimination and psychosocial challenges such as stress and other medical issues, leading to poorer social integration. The U.S. economy suffered, too. One researcher estimated that Trump's 2017 suspension of refugee resettlement deprived the country of $9.1 billion in economic activity per year and sapped public coffers at all levels of government of over $2 billion a year. More than 300 Americans who worked in refugee resettlement were laid off in 2017 alone. Trump's Muslim ban created an enormous backlog of immigration cases. In 2021, for instance, the incoming Biden administration inherited petitions for 25,994 unprocessed refugee family reunification cases. Many other vetted refugees were not allowed entry, including U.S.-affiliated Iraqis and Afghans who remained trapped in violent contexts. Immediate impact of Trump's order Similar repercussions are already seen today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Jan. 22, the Trump administration had canceled the flights of 10,000 vetted refugees into the United States. Most of them were coming from the 10 countries from which the United States had accepted refugees in recent years, including Venezuela, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Sudan and Iraq. These refugees are now at acute risk of persecution and violence. Recently arrived refugees, who would normally receive assistance for their first 90 days, are likewise losing support for basic essentials, such as warm clothing, food and housing assistance. Resettlement agencies nationwide are also feeling the pain of Trump cutting federal funding for refugee resettlement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several nonprofits have lost millions in government contracts allocated to assist new arrivals. They were forced to fire dozens or in some cases hundreds of staffers. Three refugee resettlement agencies have sued the federal government for withholding congressionally appropriated funding for refugee processing and services. On Feb. 25, a federal judge in Seattle agreed with the plaintiffs in Pacito vs. Trump that Trump likely exceeded his authority and temporarily blocked the refugee program's suspension. The legal battle over America's refugee system has just begun. History suggests everyone involved with the program and the U.S. economy will suffer for years to come. ">Tazreena Sajjad is a senior professorial lecturer of global governance, politics and security at the American University School of International Service. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely the views of the author. DENVER (KDVR) Colorados Attorney General Phil Weiser said that consumer complaints involving extra fees paid by renters are on the rise. Weiser told FOX31 that in 2024, consumer complaints were up 20% over the year before, many involving landlord-tenant disputes over unexpected fees not identified in a lease. Deceptive unfair practices are on the rise, consumers are being mistreated; too often businesses will try things to see what they can get away with, Weiser said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Colorado has more than 400,000 apartment homes run by affiliates of the Colorado Apartment Association. Many renters told FOX31 that they are struggling to pay what they call unaffordable rent. Weiser joins group in favor of blocking executive order seeking punishment of Perkins Coie law firm It just doesnt make any sense, said one Denver renter. I think last year they tried to up my rent $200. The addition of fees for special services is expected when outlined in the lease, but Weiser says some landlords are requiring tenants to pay surprise move-out fees. This moving out fee might appear to you like, Oh I guess I should pay it, but do your homework, ask, have I been told there was a moving out fee in the lease? he said. Weiser cited one case in which his office won a million-dollar judgment for affected consumers and provided restitution. The Colorado Apartment Association provides resources for renters, including a legal handbook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weiser told FOX31 the other top complaints of 2024 included false advertising in retail, unfair return policies and fraudulent professional services. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Valerie Mack addresses neighbors, supporters and media after she and her neighbors delivered a list of demands to their property manager, Investment Property Group, on March 13, 2025. Photo by Madison McVan/Minnesota Reformer. Tenants in a pair of apartment buildings in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis are facing eviction over what they say are money handling errors and unjustified charges by the landlord, Investment Property Group. The tenants gathered in front of 2119 Pillsbury Ave. in Minneapolis to hand over a list of demands to management. They said Investment Property Group has failed to secure its buildings, complete repairs, clean common areas and respond to noise complaints. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two buildings have a combined 66 city code violations in the past three years. Resident Michael Hru said the city of Minneapolis has failed to meaningfully enforce the housing code, and that the building managers have ignored maintenance requests and security concerns. The exterior doors were broken for months, and people who didnt live in the building would sleep in the halls, Hru said. Weve been getting no help, Hru said. So here we are. We have to take matters into our own hands. Julie Rodriguez, the director of property management for Investment Property Group, said the company received the list of demands and will meet with tenants next week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are committed to taking care of our residents, but the relationship goes both ways and communication is key, Rodriguez said. The constant crime and homeless issues in the surrounding area causes continued security issues. Valerie Mack is a longtime resident who said she serves as a de facto security guard. She is 69 years old. I shouldnt have to play security, but I do, Mack said. Adrianna Mixon, a 20-year-old mother of an infant daughter, said she lived in an apartment with severe mold issues for months while she was pregnant. After the apartment flooded, she moved into an apartment across the street with the same management. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now shes dealing with a broken sink and other maintenance issues, and property management isnt responding to requests for help. Mixon got a cat to help control rodents because the property manager refused to hire an exterminator. I should not have to be living like this with my daughter, Mixon said. Rodriguez said Investment Property Group provides monthly extermination services and weekly cleaning. Mixon, Mack and Hru joined a few dozen neighbors and supporters to deliver a list of demands to the on-site property manager. Theres been high turnover at that position, residents said, and the lack of continuity adds another layer of difficulty to getting complaints addressed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As with any business these days it is very difficult to find qualified employees, Rodriguez said. The tenants say they want timely responses to maintenance requests; a 24/7 maintenance line for emergencies; a stop to the in-process evictions; updates to the buildings security features; and a meeting with Investment Property Group higher-ups to discuss all of the issues. The property manager unlocked the door and accepted the letter with demands. Some residents didnt recognize her; she started the job just a few days ago. U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva in 2019 at a town hall with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Tempe. Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva has died at the age of 77, his office announced Thursday. The Democrat, who represented Arizonas 7th District, died March 13 from complications of cancer treatment. Grijalva announced his lung cancer diagnosis last April, and said he planned to pursue a vigorous course of treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grijalva, of Tucson, spent more than 50 years in public service representing the people of southern Arizona, including more than 20 years as a U.S. Congressman. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In a statement on Thursday, Grijalvas office wrote that his colleagues were heartbroken to announce the death of a man who was a fierce advocate for environmental protection, including Arizonas water rights, as well as for Indigenous communities and immigrants. In a statement, the Pima County Democratic Party praised Grijalvas dedication to education, the environment and civil rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Providence demands us bid farewell to our friend, but Arizonas appreciation for Raul Grijalva is undying his work endures, the Pima County Democratic Party wrote. His spirit is on our landscapes, our communities, and in the hearts of all who believe in a more just and compassionate world. With a passion for his community as well as for the planet, Grijalva was the former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Chair Emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a long-time member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said in a statement that the organization was mourning Grijalvas death while also celebrating his legacy with the hope that it will serve as an inspiration for future conservation leaders. He combined passion, advocacy, and leadership that resulted in preserving some of this countrys most treasured landscapes for generations to come, Jealous said. His work with Tribal Nations incorporated the voice of those who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial into public lands management policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the congressmans major accomplishments was his part in the drafting of the Environmental Justice for All Act, which aimed to empower people to stand up for their communities. His strong belief was that no matter where youre from, one truth unites us all: everyone deserves the freedom to live a healthy life, and every child deserves a safe and fair chance at their future, his office wrote. Grijalvas other successes in Congress included his work to protect the Grand Canyon for future generations, to fight climate change and to fund conservation programs. Grijalva advocated for student loan forgiveness, protections for farm workers and other laborers exposed to heat and expansion of early childhood education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of these victories seemed out of reach when he first came to Congress, but with support from community, colleagues, allies, and staff, he helped make them real, his office wrote. Grijalva began his political career in 1974 when he was elected to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board, where he served until 1986. He was elected to the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 1988 and held a seat on the board until he was elected to Congress in 2002. Grijalva leaves behind his wife Ramona; daughters Adelita, Marisa and Raquel; and five grandchildren. Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton said in a statement that Grijalva will be rightly remembered as one of the most consequential leaders in Arizona political history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Raul never lost sight of the values he learned as a young community organizer, tirelessly advocating for immigrant families, education, and social justice, Stanton said. But perhaps his biggest accomplishment is his mentorship of a generation of young people in Southern Arizona. While Grijalvas colleagues said in the statement that they were heartbroken by the news of his death, they said they are determined to carry on his legacy. From Tucson to Nogales and beyond, he worked tirelessly for transformational improvements, Grijalvas office wrote in the statement. Rep. Grijalva pushed for new public parks, childcare centers, health care clinics, local businesses, and affordable housing have breathed new life into neighborhoods across Southern Arizona. In a statement, U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego described Grijalva as not only a colleague but a friend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As another Latino working in public service, I can say from experience that he served as a role model to many young people across the Grand Canyon State, Gallego wrote. He spent his life as a voice for equalityI am praying for his family during this time of grief, and I hope that they find comfort knowing his legacy is one that will stand tall for generations. Grijalvas seat in Congress, in an overwhelmingly blue district, will be filled via a special election. Gov. Katie Hobbs is tasked with setting a special primary election for a date within the next 90 days and a special general election within the following 60 days. In its statement Grijalvas office said it will continue to offer constituent services in the meantime. To his last day, he remained a servant leader who put everyday people first while in office, Hobbs said in a statement. I join every Arizonan in mourning his passing. May he rest in peace. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Last summer, the longtime McDonalds at Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco permanently closed after more than 30 years. It was a popular spot for students at nearby San Francisco State University or Lowell High School to dine or hang out. There is now a known replacement for the McDonalds that has been at the San Francisco mall for decades before closing in June 2024. Another fast-food favorite is taking over the space at 255 Winston Drive. Raising Canes is set to open at Stonestown next year, a company representative told KRON4. The restaurant is planning to open in late summer of 2026. The space is located next to the Chase Bank, Trader Joes and Target at the mall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three new restaurants opening at Stonestown Galleria in SF The fast food chain known for its chicken fingers opens its first San Francisco location and would be the seventh in the Bay Area. Raising Canes currently has five open in the region: Oakland, Hayward, Colma, Vacaville and Fairfield. The Colma location, which is about five miles away from Stonestown, opened just last fall. The sixth Raising Canes in the Bay Area is set to open in San Jose on April 1. Raising Canes joins a list of popular fast food chains at Stonestown such as Shake Shack, Panda Express, Blaze Pizza and Chipotle. The upcoming San Francisco opening is part of Raising Canes plan to expand in the Bay Area. Last month, the fast food chain purchased a building in Berkeley for $12.7 million with future plans to open there, a Raising Canes representative told KRON4. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sell your swasticar: Bay Area Tesla owners being targeted, urged to sell vehicle Raising Canes was founded in Louisiana in 1996. There are more than 800 Raising Canes across more than 40 states in the United States. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency found that formaldehyde presents an "unreasonable risk" to human health, ProPublica reported. The report was released a few weeks after ProPublica released their own findings that the chemical causes more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant. What's happening? Formaldehyde, a chemical most commonly used in building materials and as a preservative for mortuaries and medical laboratories, was found to present unreasonable risk to those with exposure to high concentrations, as the EPA report concluded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EPA evaluated 63 situations where workers or consumers were exposed to formaldehyde and found that 58 of those contributed to health risks. The report noted the risk as "sensory irritation," namely skin sensitization, eye irritation, and allergic reactions. Some of the products that led to formaldehyde exposure included wood bleach, car wax, printing ink, soap, paint additives, upholstery, asphalt, clothing fabric, and laundry and dishwashing products. Due to these findings, the EPA is required to mitigate the risk of formaldehyde. The next step is for regulation through drafting restrictions to exposure. According to ProPublica, a chemical industry group attacked the report, saying the EPA is "pursuing unaccountable lame-duck actions that threaten the U.S. economy and key sectors that support health, safety, and national security." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, ProPublica's findings on formaldehyde exposure show that the EPA report may downplay the threat of formaldehyde, especially for those working in or living near industrial plants. Why is formaldehyde exposure concerning? ProPublica's report found that formaldehyde causes more cancer than any other chemical in the air. In addition, the chemical can trigger asthma, miscarriages, and fertility problems. It found that the EPA's goal of limiting the air pollutant is not enough to prevent the risk of getting cancer from lifetime exposure to formaldehyde, both in outdoor spaces and indoor spaces, from our home products such as soap, upholstery, and other fabrics. According to ProPublica, about 320 million Americans live in the U.S. "where the lifetime cancer risk from outdoor exposure to formaldehyde is 10 times higher than the agency's ideal." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other studies have found similar warning signs on exposure to formaldehyde. A study based on neonatal intensive care unit admission data found that the top reason for admission to intensive care for newborn children is air pollutants, such as formaldehyde. The Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban on formaldehyde that could have helped mitigate the risk, but it looks to have stalled. "Even though it would have really important public health impacts across the country, I'm not confident that this is something that is going to become an FDA priority or something that we're going to see the FDA push through," Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told CNN. With the FDA's ban stalled for the moment and the EPA's downplaying of formaldehyde risk, people with the most risk of formaldehyde exposure namely in fence-line areas near industrial plants are left waiting for answers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Despite calculating very high cancer risks for people in their homes and also fence-line community residents, EPA has completely written off those risks, and set the stage for no regulation to address those risks," said Katherine O'Brien, a senior attorney at the nonprofit Earthjustice. "That's deeply disappointing and very hard to comprehend." What's being done about formaldehyde? While the new EPA report will lead to new regulations, complete bans of formaldehyde remain unlikely, especially with the FDA's proposed regulations paused. However, there are a few ways you can limit your risk to formaldehyde exposure. Since the risk of formaldehyde mainly comes from breathing, things such as air conditioners and dehumidifiers can reduce risk, as the EPA suggests. ProPublica also has listed out several tips for limiting exposure, including washing new clothes before wearing them, choosing furniture carefully, and checking ingredients in skincare products. The Environmental Working Group also has a database of 74,000 products and their risk assessments to help you choose safe products for your health. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) As heavy rains sweep through the region, more potholes appear in the roads, which pose dangerous risks to drivers and costly damage to their vehicles. Potholes form when water enters cracks in the road and freezes overnight during cold conditions. When water freezes, it expands and causes the asphalt to weaken. As vehicles continue to drive over the weakened road surface, roadways break down until a pothole is formed. PHOTOS: San Diego commuters hit with heavy morning rain, flooding Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are different ways to report potholes in San Diego County, depending on the city where they are located. San Diego People can report a pothole in San Diego by using the Get It Done app or service on the citys website. According to the city, the estimated time of repair could take about 10 or at least 20 days, depending on weather conditions. North County Carlsbad The city of Carlsbad recommends submitting road repair requests through its Carlsbad Connects app. People can create a free account and track progress or see what other residents have reported. Del Mar Residents of Del Mar can submit a public works request on the citys website by giving the location and description of a pothole and their contact info. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They can also call the citys Public Works Department at (858) 755-3294. Encinitas People in Encinitas can call the citys Street Maintenance Division at (760) 633-2850 to report potholes or other road-related issues. Additionally, people can report issues on the MYENCINITAS app or submit a request online. Oceanside To report a pothole in Oceanside, submit a request online. People can also use the citys My Oceanside app to get updates as the issue is fixed or when it is completed. San Marcos In San Marcos, report concerns about the road through its city app or submit a request online. Vista People can submit road issues and request pothole repairs on the city of Vistas website or on the Access Vista mobile app. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They can also call the Public Works Department at (760) 639-6177. South Bay Chula Vista Residents can use the citys ACT Chula Vista service to submit requests for pothole repairs online or on its mobile app. Alternatively, people can call Public Works Dispatch at (619) 397-6000. National City In National City, people can contact the Public Works Department at (619) 336-4580 or email them at publicworks@nationalcityca.gov. People can also use the National City Connect app which is available on Android and iPhone. East County El Cajon Residents in El Cajon can report potholes online on the citys website. They must pick the category Streets listed in the given options and select Pothole/Street Repair as the sub-type. La Mesa The city of La Mesa recommends reporting potholes on its See Click Fix app. After submitting a request, people can track its progress up to its completion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People can also contact the citys Public Works Department at (619) 667-1450. Lemon Grove Residents of Lemon Grove can report a pothole by contacting the citys Public Works Department at (619) 825-3810 or using an online form. Santee The city of Santees Service Request Access website allows people to report potholes online. Users must sign up for the service to track the progress of their request. Additionally, people can contact the city by phone by calling (619) 258-4100. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. UPDATE @ 4:45 P.M. Police tell News 4 the incident was not a shooting. An intoxicated man at a nearby restaurant reportedly cut his elbow, and an employee mistakenly made the assumption he had been shot. ORIGINAL STORY OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Oklahoma City Police are investigating after a possible shooting near NW 63rd Street and NW Expressway on Thursday afternoon. Police investigating possible shooting near NW 63rd Street and NW Expressway. Photo courtesy KFOR. Video from McIntyre Law Chopper 4 shows at least one person being loaded into an ambulance at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police are reportedly searching for a suspect in connection to the incident, but no suspect or vehicle description is available at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. Photo via Getty Images A Republicans plan to give a break to housing developers who they say were treated unfairly by updated groundwater supply modeling is dead in the lack of water. The plan to exempt specific proposed housing developments in areas of Queen Creek and Buckeye from a moratorium on building failed to pass through the Arizona House of Representatives for the second time by a vote of 29-26 on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One Republican, Rep. Alexander Kolodin, of Scottsdale, voted against the bill, alongside House Democrats. The second rejection means the bill cannot be revived. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Supporters of House Bill 2299, sponsored by Rep. Gail Griffin, the chairwoman of the House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee, claimed that it was the right thing to do for developers who were blindsided by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs moratorium on new housing construction in some parts of the Valley. Implemented in June 2023, the moratorium caused an uproar among developers with projects already in the works in those areas, and Republicans have been looking for a way to restart building since then. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The moratorium was implemented on parts of the Phoenix Active Management Area that rely solely on groundwater after updated modeling from the Arizona Department of Water Resources determined that it was running 4% short of its 100-year assured water supply requirement. Arizona has several AMAs, created via the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, and the Phoenix AMA covers most of the metro area. Developers looking to subdivide land to build houses within an AMA must obtain a certificate of 100-year assured water supply, or a commitment from a water provider that already has a certificate of assured water supply, to provide water to their subdivision before they can build. Griffins bill would have allowed developers within the Phoenix AMA who submitted an application for a certificate of assured water supply between early 2021 and May 31, 2023, to request reevaluation of their application by the Department of Water Resources. ADWR would be required to reevaluate within 15 days, and base its determinations on groundwater modeling that dates back to 2006-2009, not current models. Barry Aarons, a lobbyist for the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, told members of the House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee on Feb. 14 that relying on those outdated models that dont reflect current conditions could result in excessive groundwater pumping. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aarons said he believes that its an incontrovertible fact that the updated 2024 groundwater model provides a more accurate basis for planning and development. Republican Rep. Khyl Powell pointed out on the House floor Wednesday that Griffins bill would have helped to address the states housing supply shortage that has contributed to rising housing costs over the past several years. Were constantly hearing that we dont have enough housing, he said. But Kolodin, a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, said that now is not the time to make cities in the Valley compete with new housing developments for water especially with a 2026 deadline coming up for renegotiation of Colorado River water usage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arizona, which gets around 35% of its water from the Colorado River, shares the water source with several other states and Mexico and could lose a significant amount of that water in renegotiation. Most cities in the Phoenix metro area primarily use Colorado River water. Home developments and the municipal water providers who serve them are required to replenish the groundwater they pump from the aquifer. Rep. Neal Carter, R-San Tan Valley, said that those replenishment requirements mean concerns about water availability are invalid. But Kolodin pointed out that the water used for replenishment within the Phoenix AMA comes almost exclusively from the Colorado River, which is likely to face steep cuts in the near future. Most of the communities within the Phoenix AMA, which rely on Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District to replenish their water, officially opposed Griffins bill. They include: Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Avondale, Glendale, Chandler, Goodyear, Surprise and Gilbert. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Arizonas allotment of Colorado River water is significantly cut, and can no longer be used to replenish the aquifer, the state would have to find other replenishment resources or draw down the aquifer, which would put the regions water supply at risk. Kolodin said that he thinks Arizonas groundwater regulations have artificially constricted the system and should be overhauled to create a free market for water. On Feb. 26, the first time House Bill 2299 failed to pass, Kolodin said it was time to work on comprehensive changes to groundwater law instead of creating carve-outs for specific groups. If theres to be reform, lets legislate a completely new model, he said. Lets actually solve some of the structural problems. Lets not just hand a few businesses, a few people, a few landowners the right to build that is not given to anybody else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While he didnt advocate for a completely new model, Aarons on Feb. 14 also advised lawmakers that it was time to have a serious discussion about treating all water users the same when it comes to assured water supply and replenishment requirements. Currently, the requirements dont apply to commercial or industrial developments, unless they are served by a water provider that has an assured water supply designation. Legal action Republican leaders in the Arizona Legislature, along with the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, have filed a lawsuit challenging some of ADWRs assured water supply rules that they say were implemented without proper authority or using proper rulemaking procedures. The lawsuit, filed March 10 in Maricopa County Superior Court, challenges the departments new Alternative Path to Designation of Assured Water Supply. The alternative path would allow new building within the areas of moratorium, but only if housing developers procure renewable sources of water to offset 25% of their groundwater use. House Speaker Steve Montenegro, along with other Republicans, have described the rule as a 33% tax on water, while ADWR has said it isnt a tax. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and her colleagues appear to be stepping up the pressure on the FBI and the Attorney General to investigate instances of Tesla vandalism as acts of domestic terrorism, which Donald Trump has championed. Tesla vehicles and dealerships have been increasingly targeted by vandalism and arson, and Tesla showrooms have become the focal point in growing protests against Elon Musk and his work dismantling the federal government in the Department of Government Efficiency. The right-wing Georgia lawmaker and other Republicans have written to FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi calling for an investigation into the wave of organized attacks targeting Elon Musk, Tesla and DOGE. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Who is behind it? Who is funding it? Is there a link with Democrat-leaning NGOs [non-governmental organizations]? Greene wrote Wednesday on X, hinting at some kind of nefarious conspiracy. The letter to officials states that reports, including from Elon Musk himself, indicate that various Democrat-affiliated NGOs are linked to acts of vandalism against Tesla cars but the authors provide no other evidence for the claim. A scorched Tesla pictured in Seattle, Washington (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Greene may have violated House ethics rules by signing the letter because she owns stock in Tesla, Forbes reports. The letter could raise a serious ethics issue for Representative Greene, campaign finance attorney Brett Kappel told Forbes. House ethics rules prohibit a member from taking any official action that would benefit her own financial interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response, Greenes spokesperson Nick Dyer told Forbes that her query is about domestic terrorist attacks and accused their reporter of being a Democrat troll. Trump on Tuesday vowed to label people who vandalize Teslas as domestic terrorists while promoting Musks vehicles on the White Houses south lawn and promising to buy one of them. I'll do it, Trump warned when asked if he would label the vandals as terrorists. I'm going to stop them because they're harming a great American company. I've stuck up for a lot of American companies. He added: I do favors for all when you heard an American company, especially a company like this, applies so many jobs that others are unable to do, when you do that, those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them. At the same event, Musk claimed that Tesla would be doubling its vehicle output in the U.S. over the next two years, as a function of the great policies of President Trump and his administration, and as an act of faith in America. When we are requiring businesses to do certain things, we need to be very careful. This statement, made by state Rep. David Livingston, used to be axiomatic among elected Republicans in Arizona. Its why Arizona Republicans celebrated the Arizona Supreme Courts Brush & Nib ruling in 2019, so that businesses wouldnt be forced to violate their religious convictions. Its why Arizona Republicans filed suit to stop the Biden administration from mandating vaccination protocols for private businesses. And its why Arizona Republicans passed a bill to prevent cities and towns from dictating the type of bags used by private businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But many of todays Arizona Republicans are no longer dogmatic limited-government conservatives. Their political philosophy is less Barry Goldwater and more own the libs. Republicans now love cash mandate? Insane Its perhaps why only two other House Republicans joined Livingston in opposing bill HB 2683, which forces retail businesses to accept cash as payment. Republican Rep. Pam Carter decided the cash mandate was worth it because "it is so much fun to take a little bit of your cash and put it in a little envelope" to be spent later. Republican Rep. Teresa Martinez sees government coercion as appropriate in this case because she wants "to be able to hand somebody a $20 bill and get some change back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Free market conservatives would politely remind representatives Carter and Martinez that if their desires are broadly shared, there surely will be a market to satisfy them. But that doesnt require forcing all retail businesses to comply or be penalized. Its part of the reason why the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, the Buckeye Chamber of Commerce, the East Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance, and the West Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance all oppose the cash mandate. But even aside from a limited government philosophy, there are practical reasons to oppose the cash mandate of HB 2683. Cash on-hand is risky for businesses First, as anyone who has owned or operated a retail business (as I have) can tell you, having cash on-hand increases your risk of theft. According to both the FBI and the National Retail Federation, even a small amount of cash on premises $100 increases the likelihood of external theft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Potential problems from external theft dont end with the amount of money stolen. If somebody robs your retail store, theres a chance it turns violent. Or theres a chance your stores employees try to stop the thief, which then leads to potential legal exposure from both the employee and, bizarrely, the thief (e.g. if your employee uses excessive force in stopping the criminal). Happily, in Maricopa County, we have a prosecutor in Rachel Mitchell who cares about the rule of law and has made prosecuting retail crime a priority. But that doesnt unring the bell. Then theres internal theft. If youre a cash-heavy business with short term employees, youre going to lose some cash to employees skimming from your sales. Its just that way it is. Internal theft is hard to measure, but a 2024 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that small businesses (fewer than 100 employees) were disproportionately affected by such theft. And theres counterfeit concerns. Most retail businesses now have access to counterfeit detection mechanisms, but those devices are another business cost, and using them slows down the pace of business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Time and administrative hassle is another downside to handling cash. If you have cash, you have to train employees in cash management practices. Every time a new employee takes over the cash register, you have to count the cash, and at the end of each business day, you have to reconcile cash with transactions something thats a non-issue for digital payments. You also have to pay costs for secure cash storage and secure cash transfer to the bank. Again, all things that dont exist with digital payments. HB 2683 is a mandate on private businesses. Plain and simple. We Arizona Republicans all used to be programmed as Livingston still is: instinctually opposed to mandates. But even if that no longer matters, there are plenty of practical reasons to oppose the mandate, and let retail businesses avoid cash, should they choose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stephen Richer is a former Maricopa County recorder. He is now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and CEO of Republic Affairs. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @stephen_richer. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Where are the pro-business Arizona Republicans? | Opinion (Bloomberg) -- US Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee has introduced a bill that he says is designed to protect American companies from ESG regulations in Europe. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hagerty, a Republican member of the Senates banking committee, proposed legislation on Wednesday in an effort to target what he described as harmful extra-terratorial regulations. American companies should be governed by US laws, not unaccountable lawmakers in foreign capitals, Hagerty said in the proposal. The European Unions ideologically motivated regulatory overreach is an affront to US sovereignty. Confrontations between the EU and US have become routine since the November reelection of Donald Trump, with ESG emerging as a particular flashpoint. Even before Trumps return to the White House, the GOP has regularly attacked ESG (environmental, social and governance), characterizing it as anti-American and woke. The focus of Hagertys proposed bill is the EUs Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which seeks to hold large companies accountable for ESG violations, and requires them to produce climate transition plans. Widespread opposition to CSDDD both from within and outside the EU led the European Commission to propose significant changes to the directive last month. Among provisions abandoned was a planned civil liability clause that would have applied to all large companies doing business in the EU. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kim Watts, senior policy manager for the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union whose members include Ford Motor Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. said in a recent interview that the EU is going too far on extraterritoriality. Hagerty said he would use every tool available to block CSDDD. His proposed bill dubbed the Prevent Regulatory Overreach from Turning Essential Companies into Targets (PROTECT USA) Act of 2025 follows earlier warnings from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said in January that he would be willing to consider trade tools to retaliate against EU ESG rules. The European Commission has said it has considered the views of all stakeholders including non-EU companies. The proposed changes are intended to ease administrative burdens on all companies, whether theyre based in the EU or elsewhere, the commission has said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2025 Bloomberg L.P. A decade ago, something strange was happening along the Alaskan coast: Thousands of dead seabirds were washing up on beaches, and no one knew why. What started as a mystery quickly turned into a chilling example of how rapidly climate change can devastate marine life, Audubon reported. What happened? In 2015, thousands of dead Common Murres (detailed here by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) began washing up along the Alaskan coast. Initially, scientists weren't concerned since die-offs happen about once a decade for Pacific seabirds. But as the bodies continued to show up on beaches from Alaska to California, and breeding colonies failed to produce chicks, it became clear that this was something worth ringing alarm bells over. By 2016, an estimated 62,000 murres had washed ashore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, 10 years later, scientists have published research on the phenomenon, revealing that the real number was closer to 4 million, Audubon reported. That's almost half of Alaska's murre population gone, all because they couldn't find enough fish to eat. "We were looking at those numbers, and we're thinking, 'Wait a minute, this can't be right,'" says study co-author Julia Parrish, a University of Washington seabird expert. The cause was a massive two-year marine heat wave called "the blob," which heated ocean waters by up to 7 degrees Fahrenheit and wiped out fish populations. This is now seen as the largest wildlife die-off ever recorded. "It was a gut punch to realize how much worse it was than what we had expected," said Heather Renner, a supervisory wildlife biologist for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and co-author of the study. Why is this concerning? The unprecedented die-off of Common Murres is a major warning sign about the accelerating impacts of climate change. Marine heat waves are happening more often and getting worse, threatening entire species and disrupting marine ecosystems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the oceans heat up like this, it not only kills off food sources, but it also makes it harder for wildlife to bounce back. Ten years later, Alaska's murre population is still struggling, which signals deeper, potentially irreversible shifts in ocean health affecting everything from fish stocks to the coastal communities that depend on them. The fact that the murres haven't recovered, even after all this time, Parrish called a "double shocker," What can be done to help seabirds? Addressing the root cause climate change is crucial to preventing further mass die-offs. Supporting policies that cut carbon pollution and boost clean energy can help slow down ocean warming. Conservation efforts like seabird monitoring and restoration projects are vital to tracking these changes and finding solutions. On a local level, protecting marine habitats and establishing no-fishing zones can give seabird populations a better chance to recover. Everyday actions like reducing plastic use and supporting sustainable seafood choices can also make a difference. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. The sighting of a striped hyena in Tuman Leghari, Pakistan, highlights the importance of protecting endangered species and enforcing hunting laws. The animal was spotted in the Koh-i-Sulaiman mountains, Dawn reported. Striped hyenas have zebra-like markings and bushy manes that resemble body-length mohawks. They are rarely seen because they are nocturnal and live in treacherous and inconspicuous habitats such as rocky outcroppings and dense shrublands, according to National Geographic. Advertisement Advertisement The magazine noted that myths about the creatures have made them a target of human persecution, including via poisoning and poaching. In Egypt, for instance, a spotted hyena was killed by locals after it was seen in an area where the animals had not ventured in 5,000 years. Where this hyena was observed, hunting has decimated biodiversity, with one person alone killing three striped hyenas, six wolves, and 130 foxes, Dawn detailed. Birds namely gray and black francolins, the chukar partridge, and the see-see partridge have been nearly wiped out, too. "The striped hyena is a species on the brink of extinction," Leghari tribe chief and environmental activist Jamal Khan Leghari said. "It's a rare treat to sore eyes." The regional threats to wildlife are exacerbated by a lack of enforcement of laws, and there is also little awareness about wildlife protection, according to Dawn. Jamal Leghari said officials, conservation groups, and community members must educate hunters about endangered species and that anti-poaching statutes must be enforced. Advertisement Advertisement The striped hyena is endangered in Pakistan and near threatened globally; National Geographic labeled it "vulnerable to local extinction." "The sighting of the striped hyena is a reminder of the rich biodiversity we stand to lose if immediate action is not taken," Jamal Leghari said. "The hunting culture, and a lack of education and enforcement, is pushing our wildlife to the brink of extinction." Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. As he noted, wildlife conservation can have a massive impact on populations. In Uganda, for example, spotted hyenas are out-surviving lions in protected areas. "Conservationists consider the striped hyena a keystone species crucial for maintaining ecological balance," Dawn stated. Advertisement Advertisement The scavengers much like other fauna, including Indian vultures are critical to ecosystem cleanup efforts, crushing bones, horns, and hooves with their powerful jaws and killing carrion bacteria with incredible digestive systems, National Geographic highlighted. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Plans to build a 151-unit rental community in far south Fort Worth squeezed past the citys zoning commission Wednesday afternoon. NexMetro, an Arizona-based developer, hopes to build a cottage style complex at the northwest intersection of Altamesa Boulevard and Village Parkway, about a mile west from Interstate 35W. The firm and its consultants pitched the project to city planners and zoning staff as a boon for the area and the city. The 150-plus residences, they argue, will help lure highly sought retailers to the neighborhood; the complex will also provide much-needed capacity to an increasingly expensive rental market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We feel that this is an appropriate land use at this location, said Travis Clegg, a director at Westwood Professional Services, a civil engineering consultancy hired by NexMetro. City zoning staff had deemed the complex an inappropriate use of the site. Officials reasoned that the propertys existing zoning, neighborhood commercial allowing restaurants, banks, bookstores and similar businesses better served the community. The area includes at least five neighborhoods, zoning staff remarked in its report. And maintaining neighborhood commercial zoning would provide convenient services to existing residents. Clegg challenged the citys analysis, and noted that the developer planned to retain some of the plots commercial frontage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive never seen a use like this listed as not compatible with the surrounding uses that we have around it, Clegg said. Zoning commissioners, without much debate, ultimately waved the proposal through to city council, recommending approval in a 7-4 vote. No opponents shared remarks. More than $700,000 in grants have been awarded through the program so far. (Courtesy of Keith Robinson) In late May, a Charlestown farm was preparing to plant a crop of carrots and potatoes. Then, 4.5 inches of rain and hail fell in a little more than an hour. It caused tremendous damage and erosion of valuable soil, which is, you know, a limited resource that we need to protect, said farmer Donna Bascom, of Bascom Farm. We could not get those crops in, and it severely undermined my growing season. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This year is different, she said, thanks to the help of the Climate Resilience Grant Program, run through the states 10 county conservation districts. Bascom will have a 100-by-16-foot caterpillar tunnel a domed tunnel that protects the crops that will allow her to plant even if we have drought or if we have another flooding season, she said. It will give me more resiliency, and more resiliency to produce a crop for our consumers, she said. She is one of dozens of farmers who have benefited from the grant program, which was first launched in 2022. Since then, the program has provided grants totaling more than $700,000 to 95 farms across the state, with hopes to provide another $336,000 in grants this year. The program acknowledges two realities: First, that farmers feel the impacts of a changing climate up close and in ways that can make an often difficult business even harder, and second, that the agricultural sector contributes to planet-warming emissions. The grants provide funds to address both these aspects mitigation and adaptation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think that the past few years, weve had periods of drought. 2023, we had periods of really intense flooding, said Benee Hershon, the community engagement director with the Cheshire County Conservation District, in an interview. I think farmers are already starting to see and feel the impacts of climate change in our state. And I think that is also trickling down to community members who, you know, we rely on these farms for our local food system. The program funds projects in four main categories: soil health, water management, on-farm energy, and crop and livestock protection, said Amanda Littleton, the district manager of the Chester County Conservation District. The grants range up to $10,000 each, and farmers typically fund between a quarter and half of the project costs themselves, she said. And the demand is high, with about 30% of applicants turned away each year, Littleton said. Private donors have funded the bulk of the program, but supporters say that state backing is needed. Bascom was one of the farmers making the pitch to lawmakers on the House Finance Committee for House Bill 246, which would provide $100,000 in state general funds to the program over fiscal years 2026 and 2027. So far, though, the fate of that legislation is uncertain in a tight budget year, with the committee voting last month to retain the bill. Our private funders are at the point where you know theyre saying, Yeah, were into it, we want to do this, but does the state care? said Lionel Chute, the director of natural resources for Sullivan County and the district manager of the countys conservation district, to the committee. Others echoed the point that state funding was essential for keeping donations flowing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Agriculture in the state contributes significantly to the economy, supporting thousands of jobs, generating tens of millions in tax revenue, and contributing a total economic output of more than $500 million in 2019, according to a state report. At the same time, farmers face difficult economic realities. Chute pointed to the 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture census of agriculture, which found that 80% of commercial farms in the state grossed less than $25,000 a year, and 92% of farms grossed less than $100,000. In a good year, Chute said, farms are making net profits of about 10%, meaning most farmers in the state are left with only a few thousand dollars a year in profit, if that. Were talking about an agricultural system that is really hanging on by a thread, Chute said. Many of the farmers who have received grants from the program said the projects would not have been possible without the support of the grant program. Robinson Family Farm in Pittsburg is one of 95 in the state that have benefited from the Climate Resilience Grant Program that launched in 2022. (Courtesy of Keith Robinson) Thats true for a 250-acre Pittsburg beef farm, where grants helped to upgrade its manure pit, purchase a hay feeder that helped reduce waste significantly, and rehabilitate its fields, said Rebecca and Keith Robinson, of Robinson Family Farm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we hadnt received the funds, the projects would not have been able to get done, Rebecca Robinson told lawmakers. Keith Robinson said in an interview that the farm has tried to keep spending from the grants as local as possible, looking first to his community and within the state, and that they try to work primarily with small businesses. Other projects in his county have included storm water collection systems, enhancing hay field quality, and retrofitting equipment for no-till use practices, and installing energy efficient solar panels, he said. Jack Rixey, the owner and operator of Dog Days Farm in Fitzwilliam, which sells produce, said the program helped him purchase an agricultural flame weeder in 2023, and that he was applying for a grant this year to help enhance some of the farms greenhouses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These pieces of equipment allow us to farm efficiently and profitably and support our business, which is a fledgling business for me, he said. He said his purchase of the farm about three years ago came with debt and high start-up costs. Agricultural equipment is notoriously high-cost, Rixey said. Without this grant, we would not be able to purchase some of the vital pieces of equipment that we use to farm profitably, to pay our employees a fair wage, and to protect our soil, which is the most important part of our farm. Lawmakers leading the bill urged their colleagues to see the funds as a money-saving investment one that would pay dividends for farmers and the state. Rep. Judy Aron, a South Acworth Republican sponsoring the bill, said state support would yield continued backing from private donors; ultimately increase farm production, and therefore state tax revenues; and make farmers better equipped to handle floods, droughts, and pests, which will make them less likely to need disaster help in the future. $50,000 that will help a whole lot of farms is a lot cheaper than the recovery money that we could possibly be asked for if we dont do that, said Rep. Peter Bixby, a Dover Democrat and co-sponsor. STAR CITY, W.Va. (WBOY) Since February 2023, Mama Ks Kitchen has been serving up made-from-scratch Italian food in the Morgantown area. Its homey, its comforting, its spaghetti and meatballs, and theres nothing better. The restaurant was founded with a focus on how food can help build community. Its named after the owners great, great grandmotherthe original Mama K. An Italian immigrant born in 1906, Mama K and her husband Papa Joe raised a family with five children in their small West Virginia mining town. When the family got thrown out of company housing due to Papa Joes labor-organizing efforts, they opened a family grocery store. (WBOY Image) (WBOY Image) Mama K fed her family but also opened up their home to feed everyone else too. The restaurant hopes to keep Mama Ks spirit alive and bring people together with good food. Customers can dine in, and use the homey atmosphere as an excuse to take a break from their smartphones while they enjoy Mama Ks family recipes like chicken alfredo, cheesecake, and, of course, meatballs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We make everything from scratch, influenced by family recipes, General Manager Athena Freedlander told 12 News. Some of them are more modern twists on Italian classics. We are known for our meatballs. We were trained very thoroughly by the family members on how to make them. Its a secret recipe, well never tell. Restaurant Road Trip: The Sunrise Coffee Co. The restaurant also has an event space available for gatherings, weddings, and get-togethers. Mama Ks hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. The address is 3427 University Ave Ste 3, Star City, WV 26505. You can follow Mama Ks Kitchen on Facebook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. Roundtable Addition: Catherine Rampell is joining MSNBC as co-host of The Weekend's 6 p.m. ET show. Formerly a Washington Post opinion columnist, Rampell joins Ayman Mohyeldin and a soon-to-be-announced third co-host on the roundtable show franchise, which will have two airings on Saturdays and Sundays when it launches in April. Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany will co-host the morning version of the show. New to NewsNation: Marcus Espinoz is joining NewsNation as a national correspondent based in New York starting March 17. Espinoza was previously a reporter for Fox 29 in Philadelphia. ABC Location Swap: Averi Harper has been promoted to ABC News political director leading political coverage and editorial content across all programs, platforms, special events, and breaking news coverage. Previously ABC News' deputy political director, Harper will relocate from New York to Washington, D.C., and report to D.C. bureau chief Rick Klien. Honored to step into my new role as Political Director at @ABC. https://t.co/9AwuRg5hrT Averi Harper (@AveriHarper) March 11, 2025 Meanwhile, Audrey Taylor relocates from D.C. to NYC as vice president of talent strategy and development, reporting to ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic. Taylor was previously the director of bureau planning and strategy in the nations capital. REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (WCMH) The annual Reynoldsburg City Schools state of the schools address Wednesday came after voters rejected a levy in November, leaving the district needing to cut $8.5 million from its operating budget. Before the speech, Reynoldsburg Superintendent Dr. Tracy Reed said the speech would highlight the districts achievements while also acknowledging the levy failure. Lawmakers critique DeWines State of the State speech Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I remind my team every day our main thing is the main thing and our main thing is making sure that our kids get the best education possible and making sure we support teachers with the things that they need to be effective, she said. Dozens attended the meeting and also participated in the design lab, where parents were able to share ideas that they believed would help shape the future of the district. That is really important for me, to be able to develop a shared vision for the district as we move forward, Reed said. As for some of the highs, Reed said the district had nearly 600 students graduate last year, with more than 70 of them being valedictorians. Theres also going to be an audit of the districts high school pathways so it can best prepare students for college or a career pathway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its very important for all of our parents, our senior citizens, our business partners to be involved in the direction of the schools, Reed said. It cant just be the superintendent and the teachers. It takes the whole community to make sure we have a solid educational system. How Department of Education layoffs will impact Ohio After a levy failure in November, the district needed to find a way to cut $8.5 million from its operating budget. So far, the district has cut $8.3 million, which means more work needs to be done. Reed knows people arent happy with the cuts that have been made so far, but her main goal is to minimize the negative impact on children. We are trying to be as, again, as transparent as possible, she said. You can only do so much with the limited funds, and so whether the community can support it or not chooses to. Were going to have to keep trying to do the very best we can and that may be challenging. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Becky Taylor has two children who attend French Run Elementary School. She said it was nice to hear positive things about the district, and she actively participated in the digital lab portion of the meeting. I think its really important to get that community involvement in order to get everybody to buy in to what the vision is for the district and what they want to see come out of the school district, she said. Taylor isnt thrilled with the cuts so far but knows that it could have been worse. She said shes nervous about additional cuts yet to come but plans to stick it out with Reynoldsburg City Schools. Lawsuit filed in fatal Pickaway County dog attack Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We love the diversity here, Taylor said. We think there are fantastic teachers. The programs are fantastic, and my kids are learning a ton. So yeah, we really enjoy our time. Reed said she wants to make sure the administration is making an informed decision regarding the next round of budget cuts. She added that the governors budget will be a big piece of that puzzle as well and depending on how much the district receives from the state, it could have a significant impact. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. German defense company Rheinmetall is prepared to supply weapons for a potential international peacekeeping mission in Ukraine following the end of Russias war, the company's CEO, Armin Papperger, said on March 12, Deutsche Welle reported. Papperger said that Rheinmetall could provide "more than 2,000 items" for such a mission, including tanks, armored vehicles, electronic warfare systems, reconnaissance drones, and satellite technology for monitoring a demarcation line. Several European countries, including the U.K., France, Denmark, and Sweden, have previously expressed willingness to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine. The Washington Post reported on Feb. 17 that up to 30,000 European troops could be involved in the ceasefire monitoring mission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Papperger noted that the talks remain theoretical for now, with no concrete negotiations underway with the company. While U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on Feb. 24 that Russian President Vladimir Putin would allow European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a peace deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected the idea. Rheinmetall is one of Europes largest arms manufacturers and a key supplier to Ukraine. Under German government contracts, it delivers 155 mm artillery rounds, Leopard 1 tanks, mortar shells, and surveillance drones. The company also opened a military vehicle repair facility in Ukraine in June 2024 and plans to build three additional plants in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: UK, France lead talks among 37 countries on coalition of the willing in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) Gov. Larry Rhoden isnt saying yet what he has in mind. But he told Capitol news reporters on Thursday that he plans to suggest a new source of revenue that local governments could choose to offset rising property taxes. The Republican governor said hell suggest it in the coming days for consideration later this year by a special task force the Legislature has established to study property taxes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rhoden said the concept of a new revenue source came together late in the 2025 legislative session. He decided it was too late to try to jam something new through in the sessions closing days. It wont be a county sales tax, however, Rhoden said. He described it as an alternative funding source, something thats viable, something that goes to the heart of the need in areas, understanding that the majority, the vast majority of our counties have not had issues or huge issues with owner-occupied taxes. So its a fairly targeted group, Rhoden continued. And again, you know I talk about a rifle shot solution rather than a shotgun solution, and that was the problem with a lot of the legislation that failed and that I couldnt have supported, because it was affecting the entire state. I dont think people realize just how bad some of the legislation was. One proposal that went back to 2020, that would have been a huge, huge tax shift, and we would have been shifting taxes from the few counties that have issues onto every county in the state. So property taxes for the majority, the vast majority of the land mass in South Dakota, the taxes would have gone up as a result of that legislation, Rhoden said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So theres a lot of things to be considered when youre dealing with property taxes, so many moving parts within the formula that you dont even consider its pretty easy to get lost in the weeds and one of the reasons were kind of holding off until we got a lot of that better in focus for ourselves, before we release it to that committee, he said. The legislative task force includes a slot for the governor or his designee. Rhoden said that Kirk Chaffee will be representing him. Fire danger, severe weather and snow all possible the next 48 hours Chaffee was the longtime director of equalization in Meade County and later served as a state legislator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rhoden said Chaffee was invaluable as an advisor when the Legislature including Rhoden worked with the Rounds administration and changed South Dakotas system of valuing agricultural property to the current production-based approach. And he was a huge asset to me getting that. That was some heavy lifting, moving to a new system of taxes, and he was such a valuable asset to me, Rhoden said. And he knows the property tax system better than anyone. In fact, I solicited his help when I was working on the concept contained in (Senate Bill) 216. Chaffee later served on and chaired a special oversight committee that the Legislature assigned to continue to fine tune the new approach. Rhoden joked that Chaffee would find out via news conference that Rhoden wants Chaffees help again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I probably should have talked to Kirk before I announce it at a press conference hes my guy, Rhoden said, as reporters laughed. But Im going to see if I can twist his arm and talk him into doing it give me a call, Kirk! Earlier Thursday, Rhoden signed into law Senate Bill 216. Its intended to reduce the growth in the assessed value of owner-occupied property, limit increases in property tax revenues, revise provisions regarding school district excess tax levies, and revise eligibility requirements for a property tax assessment freeze. The House of Representatives gave its approval 53-16 on Monday after the governor compromised on a sticking point. The Senate agreed with the House version the next day 29-6. Joining Rhoden in the Capitol rotunda for the bill-signing ceremony were some of the senators and representatives who had worked with him in developing the legislation, including Republican Rep. Trish Ladner. She has tried for years to address the challenge of rising owner-occupied property values in some growing areas of South Dakota. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to the media during a press conference on March 13, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) As South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed his property tax relief bill into law Thursday, he was already planning another proposal to ease the burden across the state. The new law, which will take effect July 1, limits the increase in owner-occupied residential assessments to 3% countywide for five years; sets a five-year, 3% cap on the amount taxing districts and school capital outlay budgets can increase as a result of new construction; exempts some home improvements worth less than 40% of a homes value from affecting assessments; and expands eligibility among disabled and elderly people for property tax assessment freeze programs, including an increase in the multi-person household income limit from $45,000 to $65,000, and an increase in the maximum value of an eligible home from $300,000 to $500,000 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation was the only major property tax reform bill approved during the annual legislative session, among three such bills that survived until the sessions last week. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signs his property tax bill into law on March 13, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Courtesy of the Governors Office) The possibility of citizen-initiated property tax relief ballot measures was mentioned several times during the legislative session, and a potential ballot question is listed on the Secretary of States website that would roll back nonagricultural property tax assessments and cap annual valuation increases. Rhoden is hopeful his plan will assuage South Dakotans concerns. But theres more work to do, he said during a press conference at the Capitol in Pierre. The Legislature passed a resolution to create a summer task force to identify impactful, substantive measures to provide significant and lasting property tax relief for homeowners. The task force will include 16 lawmakers, a representative from the Bureau of Finance and Management, and a representative from the Governors Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Legislative leaders say the task force will primarily analyze local government spending and funding. The state does not receive property tax revenue, relying instead on the sales tax. Cities receive revenue from sales taxes and property taxes, while counties and schools are reliant on property taxes. Proposals to cut local government funding historically have not fared well in the Capitol, Rhoden noted. We need to deliver meaningful property tax relief and actual property tax cuts for South Dakotans, he said. We need to find a way to do it without making the state or counties or school districts go broke. Rhoden is keeping his new plan under wraps until his administration nails down details. He plans to reveal the plan in the coming days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told members of the press itll provide an alternative funding source for local governments, targeted to the areas struggling the most with residential property taxes which could indicate areas such as the Black Hills and the Sioux Falls metro area rather than taking a statewide approach to the issue. Additional funding should be the last resource, Rhoden said, not the first. Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, said the governor hasnt shared details of his proposal with the Legislature yet. He said the governors proposal sounds tangential to the task forces purpose. The task force is meant to set everything on the table: whether thats a new source of revenue or lifting property tax or sales tax exemptions, Karr told South Dakota Searchlight. Everything needs to be on the table to look at how were funding schools and counties, and hopefully provide relief. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden addresses the media on March 13, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Courtesy of SDPB) CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) The Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is warning residents of a text scam that targets E-ZPass customers. The fraudulent text messages appear to alert the recipient of unpaid tolls on their account. The scammers also urge the recipient to make a payment in order to avoid RI DMV restrictions on their license. RELATED: RITBA warns E-ZPass customers of text scam The DMV explained that the so-called smishing messages are designed to deceive recipients into clicking on a fraudulent link. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These messages are not legitimate and should be ignored, the DMV continued. Clicking any links may expose individuals to identity theft, malware or financial fraud. The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA) issued a similar warning earlier this year. Scammers are using fear tactics to trick people into providing personal and financial information, DMV Administrator Walter Craddock said, adding that the agency doesnt send E-ZPass customers text messages regarding unpaid tolls or the status of their driving privileges. Customers who want to safely check their accounts for unpaid tolls can do so by visiting the official RITBA E-ZPass website. Those who are not E-ZPass users typically receive invoices through the mail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone who receives such a text is encouraged to report it to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center or forward the message to 7726 (SPAM). 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Major weather events are costing Americans and insurance companies millions of dollars. Ian Ridlon, the executive director and president of the Rhode Island Interlocal Risk Management Trust, spoke to the R.I. Houses Climate Change Impacts Commission about those rising costs on Wednesday. The commission is studying the impacts of climate change in hopes of finding solutions to minimize those effects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ALSO READ: RI Beach Erosion Commission considering solutions as state loses 2 feet of land each year The trust is a risk-sharing organization created in 1986 that has responded to many public-sector disaster claims. Ridlon told state lawmakers about the different types of assistance the trust offers for businesses, towns and cities though a self-insurance pool. Rhode Islands geographical risk has increased, as Ridlon noted that there have been several million-dollar responses locally over the last 15 years. For example, the catastrophic floods of 2010 that devastated parts of Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick caused more than $20 million being paid out for flood losses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PHOTOS: Looking back at the 2010 floods Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy collectively led to more than $3 million in covered losses. More recently, the Noreaster in January 2024 led to $1.3 million in losses. The burden of being in the trust is much less than it would be otherwise, but is it going to continue to be an expense to taxpayers ultimately to pay higher and higher and higher premiums, Ridlon said. Ridlon said promoting infrastructure evaluations is one way to mitigate future risk when it comes to impactful weather as many of the states municipal buildings, including schools, are in need of renovations, causing premiums to go up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NEXT: DEM says climate change pushing some marine species out of Narragansett Bay If we could say ideally, lets make everything nice and new and neat, and buttoned up, I think the costs of the insurance would come down precipitously, Ridlon noted. But we just dont have that. The trust is currently working on multiple infrastructure improvement projects including flood-proofing the Scarborough Wastewater Treatment facility. 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) A movie that an Academy Award-winning actor spent the better part of a summer making two years ago has now made its big-screen debut at a major film festival. The Rivals of Amziah King, which was filmed in Birmingham and the surrounding area in 2023, premiered at the South by Southwest film festival Monday, where it reportedly received a standing ovation, according to Deadline. The movie, starring Matthew McConaughey as the titular character, was written and directed by Andrew Patterson. Charismatic local beekeeper Amziah King oversees a beloved honey operation in the American southwest, according to a description of the film posted by SXSW. When his foster daughter unexpectedly returns, Amziah sets out to bring her into the family business despite facing ruthless competitors with other plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the film taking place in Oklahoma, central Alabama played a large role in setting the look of the film. Locals reported seeing McConaughey and the cast filming scenes at places like J&J Grocery and Deli in Bessemer and Pell City Steak House. McConaughey, who won an Academy Award for his performance as a bigoted cowboy battling AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club, reportedly stayed in Mountain Brook during production. Were of course delighted to have him here, Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch said at the time. I think Mountain Brook is a very welcoming city. Its a very unusual city. Its got the three villages, all very unique, and its got great homes. Hes staying in one great home. Were just delighted to have him and his family here. As filming continued, many people posted their own stories of seeing McConaughey and the crew filming in different places, some even managing to get their photo taken with the actor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im so excited that he is here in our town. Like, thats crazy, Pell City resident Lexie Womble told CBS 42. I love Matthew McConaughey. I want him to see me. I want him to stand out, so he can say, hey.' Since its premiere, many critics have praised McConaugheys performance in The Rivals of Amziah King but have been more measured about the film as a whole. Theres a nagging dissonance to the Rivals of Amziah King, which espouses a particular idealized vision of the US racial harmony, community, unassuming dignity, rooted values ramshackle bolted to a undercooked and bizarrely paced crime plot of dubious rationalization, critic Adrian Horton wrote in her review for The Guardian. No spoilers, but for a film that so earnestly eulogizes a communal and humane way of life, it boasts a strangely murky sense of ethics, treating life and death with the same off-kilter jauntiness. The longer the film meanders toward its predestined conclusion of triumph of the underdog, the more jarring the tone and the less coherent the picture. And the more it misses McConaughey, who still possesses the mesmeric gravity of a movie star but disappears for over half the movie. Hollywood Reporter critic Lovia Gyarkye, however, was more optimistic about the film, despite what she considered its perceived shortcomings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres an admirable audacity to the film, which premiered at SXSW; you can feel Patterson, who garnered critical acclaim for his slender and accomplished debut The Vast of Night, exploring new ways to tell a familiar story, Gyarkye wrote. But a blinkered narrative coupled with misty-eyed aesthetic choices yield a strange and scattershot result. On IMDB.com, the film has an 8.8/10 ranking based on 42 ratings, as of Wednesday. No date has been set for a wide release of the film. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Responsible for between two to 10 percent of global emissions, the fashion industry has what the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) believes to be an immense opportunity to decarbonize. With a crossroads on the horizonelectrification against immediate actionthe industry advocate has published its following roadmap outlining steps industry players can take in the near-, mid-and long-term to implement electrification effectively in pursuit of net zero. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While our roadmap outlines a scenario to net zero, its success is not guaranteedthis is a signal of what is possible and what needs to happen. The textile sector is at a critical juncture, Aiis corresponding whitepaper reads. With the roadmap for low-carbon thermal energy transition outlining a phased path to 2040, Apparel Impact Institute calls upon brands and suppliers to rise to this challenge and seize the opportunity for transformative change. The California nonprofits second, 108-page report in a two-part series outlined scenarios for the sectors transition and identified immediate opportunities and pinch points in need of attention to realize these scenarios. The latest roadmap, also authored by decarbonization consulting firm Global Efficiency Intelligence (GEI), provided brands and manufacturersas well as policymakers and financial institutionswith recommended actions aligned with achieving net zero. While the first report assessed low-carbon technologies, Low-Carbon Thermal Energy Roadmap for the Textile Industry conducted quantitative assessments to develop actionable strategies to shift textile manufacturing in five key countriesChina, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesiatoward alternative fossil fuels and electrification technologies. In summary? Its complicated. The roadmap found there is ample opportunity to decarbonize: shifting heat production to lower-carbon alternative fuels (aka sustainable biomass, which, in this case, means agricultural discards like certified wood waste and palm kernel shells) in the near term and, in the longer term, to electrified processes (aka using electric boilers and heat pumps). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, there are caveats. The five countries in focus bring different strengths and weaknesses to the table. For example, scaling sustainable biomass industry-wide is constrained by availability, cost and environmental concerns. Furthermore, per the roadmap, the ability of an individual plant to switch to natural gas boilers is highly dependent on the local natural gas infrastructureand the feasibility of connecting to that natural gas distribution system. With that in mind, Bangladesh has limited infrastructure for large-scale biomass adaption as well as grid reliability issues; the countrys best solution would be electrification with steam-generating heat pumps. China, however, is best suited for electrification through both heat pumps and electric boilers. Indias most promising option is utilizing both biomass and heat pumps. Vietnam benefits from electrification, sustainable biomass and corporate renewable energy procurement. Indonesias transition requires careful consideration of factors such as coal dependence, biomass sustainability and the development of renewable energy infrastructure. To drive the point further: sustainable biomass makes the most sense for Vietnam, India and China, as these countries either have preexisting operations already in place, government support, and/or sufficient feedstock. It also makes sensetheoreticallyfor Indonesia, as the worlds largest producer of palm oil. But in practice, palm kernel husks pose a high deforestation risk. To that end, it makes the least sense for Bangladesh, as using its (unsustainable) biomass would yield more emissions relative to other countries due to the lower emission factor of natural gas, the currently used fuel, the roadmap explained. Decision tree for textile facilities in the studied countries seeking to adopt low-carbon thermal energy technologies. In short? When coupled with clean energy sources, electrification offers significant carbon emissions reduction potential compared to incumbent fossil fuel-based boilers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Achieving these ambitious goals requires immediate and sustained action, with brands creating the market signal and suppliers leading implementationsupported by brands to ensure an inclusive and just transition, per the whitepaper, with the Clean by Design promoters calls to action for each stakeholder group ensuing. For apparel brands, Aii recommended serving as the catalyst for change. This could be done by committing to long-term targets on electrification and renewable energy in the supply chain, supporting suppliers in that transition, ensuring sustainable biomass sourcing, and advocating for policy and infrastructure development. For textile manufacturers, Aii recommended taking the lead. That would look like collaborating with brands on technical and fiscal support to transition and implement thermal load reduction projects in service of future electrification, as well as electrifying when the emissions and financial case align. Working togetherwith collective efforts from brands, suppliers, policymakers, financiers and utilitiesper Aii, is how the industry will achieve a just transition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The transition to low-carbon thermal energy must be inclusive and equitable, Aii said before calling on brands to prioritize supplier engagement and collaboration. Through transparency and commitment, brands can develop the necessary business cases for suppliers to implement transition activities. The time to act is now. The Cascale partner outlined its own role in the sectoral transformation, too. The trident of topicsindustry collaboration, climate solutions focus, and ecosystem leadershipexplored efforts such as enhanced benchmarking, thermal load reductions, the Climate Solutions Portfolio (CSP) Grant Funding and the establishment of a Supplier Advisory Council, among others. ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) The Roanoke Treasurers Office has confirmed reports of fraud messages regarding unpaid balances to members of the community. According to the Treasurers Office, the texts are saying The City of Roanoke will deduct funds due to an unpaid balance. The office is advising residents this is a scam. Residents should monitor their bank accounts and report any concerns to the Treasurers Office directly by calling (540) 853-2561. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The BBB says the following tips will help you avoid falling victim to text scams: AARP warns of cruise scams with warmer weather Dont trust unsolicited messages Watch out for suspicious link Know that a personalized message doesnt make the sender trustworthy. Look for spelling and grammar errors If a website looks real, check again If you spot a scam text, dont reply Keep your antivirus software up to date Learn more ways to stay alert to scams by visiting BBB.org/ScamTips. (Photo Credit: Better Business Bureau) If youve spotted a text message scam, whether or not you fell victim, report it to BBB.org/ScamTracker to help others stay alert to the danger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv. A Texas megachurch founder and former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump has been indicted by an Oklahoma grand jury, which brought five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts against him this week. Robert Morris, 63, resigned as senior pastor of Gateway Church in June after admitting to "inappropriate sexual behavior" in the 1980s. His accuser has said she was 12 when Morris first sexually abused her on Christmas in 1982 during a visit to her home in Hominy, Oklahoma. He was then 21. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Gateway megachurch founder, former Trump spiritual adviser, indicted on charges of lewd acts with Oklahoma girl Who is Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church? Morris was on Trumps spiritual advisory board during the 2016 campaign and during the first term of his presidency. He did not have a role in the 2024 reelection effort, Trump's campaign said last year. Morris had a television program that aired in over 190 countries and his radio program aired in more than 6,800 cities, according to his biography on the Gateway Church website. His YouTube page, which is no longer online, had 80,000 subscribers and included videos with titles like "Freedom Through Forgiveness" and "Did You Know You're Made Perfect By God's Grace?" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before founding Gateway Church in the Dallas suburbs in 2000, Morris was a traveling evangelist. The alleged crimes took place over a span of several years. It allegedly began on Christmas 1982 after Morris was invited to lead a youth revival in Hominy, which is in Osage County. He would regularly preach at the church on Sundays and often stayed at the victim's home. What is Robert Morris charged with? The state's multicounty grand jury returned the indictment Wednesday after hearing two days of testimony in secret sessions. Grand jurors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child. Grand jurors alleged the offenses started when the girl was 12 and continued while she was 13 and 14. The former pastor's Oklahoma attorney, Mack Martin, declined comment. The attorney general's office said time restrictions on prosecuting sex crimes against children do not apply because Morris did not live in Oklahoma at any time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Gateway Church removes elders, aiding criminal investigation: 'We denounce sexual abuse' Morris admitted to wrongdoing after his accuser spoke out by name to The Wartburg Watch, a blog about sexual abuse within the church. In statements to the media last year, Morris said he was involved in his early 20s in "inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying." Grand jurors alleged in the indictment that he touched her "in a lewd or lascivious manner" while she was 12, the first time on Christmas 1982. Grand jurors also alleged he lewdly touched her further while she was 13 and 14.+ He faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted of all five counts. The indictment will be filed for prosecution in Osage County District Court. Morris is expected to turn himself in there next week. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Robert Morris indicted: What to know about ex-megachurch pastor's case Robert Morris, the Dallas-area megachurch pastor who resigned last year amid sexual abuse allegations, has been indicted in Oklahoma for child sex crimes that date back to the 1980s. Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway one of the nations largest megachurches has been particularly active in politics. In 2020, Trump held a Roundtable on Transition to Greatness there that was attended by then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other prominent Republicans. Morris faces five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office said in a Wednesday evening press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The indictment comes less than a year after Morris resigned from Gateway Church in Southlake after an adult woman, Cindy Clemishire, said Morris repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she was a child in Oklahoma in the 1980s. Morris was at the time working as a traveling preacher. In a Wednesday text message, Clemishire said through an attorney that she was grateful for the indictments. After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child, she said. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail. Clemishires disclosure came as the Dallas religious community was still reeling from a handful of recent sex abuse scandals. Since then, at least a dozen Dallas-area churches or pastors have been accused of committing or concealing sexual misconduct allegations that have ensnared some of the areas most prominent leaders and institutions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Few, if any, were more high-profile than Morris, who steadily involved himself in state and national politics after founding Gateway in 2000. In 2017, Morris was tapped by Gov. Greg Abbott to help support the so-called Bathroom Bill that sought to ban transgender people from using their preferred bathroom in part by arguing that it would allow children to be sexually abused. During Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, Morris was among at least three other Dallas-area religious leaders who served on Trumps evangelical advisory board. And in 2021, Morris was part of an effort to mobilize conservatives and evangelicals ahead of Trumps 2024 presidential bid. As Morris national political spotlight grew, so did his churchs local footprint. For years, Morris and Gateway would show slates of local school board candidates on the churchs massive screens in the lead up to elections potentially in violation of federal rules that prohibit overt political activity by churches. Many of you see what Satan has been trying to do even in our school systems, Morris told some of the churchs roughly 25,000 members in 2023, before showing a list of Republican candidates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those tactics have since been replicated at nearby congregations such as Mercy Culture Church. The Fort Worth church was founded with financial support from Gateway, and has become a staple of local Republican circles, often hosting local elected Republicans and the chair of the Texas GOP. Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, is also a pastor at Mercy Culture. Schatzline was among numerous Republican lawmakers who called on Morris to resign after Clemishire came forward last summer. Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Dallas, joined those calls, and vowed to use this legislative session to pursue bills that would give more rights to victims of childhood sexual abuse including extending the time period that victims have to file lawsuits against their attackers or those who enabled them. This session, multiple bills have been filed that would broaden civil statutes of limitation, allowing those like Clemishire to sue those responsible for their attacks and be compensated for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime costs associated with childhood abuse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a Wednesday text message, Clemishires attorney Boz Tchividjian said she has been working behind-the-scenes with advocates for such reforms. I dont know if they have gotten to the point of testifying committees, he said. But I have no doubt she will do so when that time comes. We cant wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. ASHDOWN, Ar. (KTAL/KMSS) The Ashdown School Board voted to make Robert Poole the Ashdown Public Schools next superintendent starting July 1, 2025. Centenarys Magale Fest: free, art, music, book swap and more We are excited to welcome Mr. Poole to Ashdown Public Schools, said Board President Chuck Davis. His leadership experience, passion for education, and dedication to student success make him an excellent choice to guide our district into the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Poole has spent 25 years in education with 15 serving as a superintendent. He has served as Prescott School Districts superintendent since 2010 and previously served as an elementary assistant principal, federal programs director, and teacher of physical education, health, and drivers education. Mr. Pooles extensive background in education and commitment to community involvement will be invaluable as he leads Ashdown Public Schools, said Superintendent Debbie Greathouse. I look forward to working with him during this transition. According to a press release, Poole earned his Bachelor of Science degree before obtaining a Masters in Educational Leadership from Harding University. His professional and civic accomplishments include being named Prescott Nevada County Citizen of the Year and serving on numerous boards, including the Arkansas Leadership Academy, Prescott Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, and the Arkansas Association of School Administrators. Poole has also been actively involved in the Prescott Kiwanis Club, the Arkansas Rural Education Association, and the Legislative Finance Committee. Source: Ashdown School District The Ashdown School Board is inviting the community to a meet and greet with Poole on Friday, March 21 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ashdown Public Schools Administration Building, 751 Rankin St in Ashdown, Ar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Immigration advocates in the city of Rochester took over Austin Steward Plaza to urge the approval of the New York for All Act. Those in support said this bill will stop New Yorks resources from being used to carry out what they called unlawful federal immigration enforcement. Organizers said Wednesdays vigil was set to be a more heartwarming event, but in the past 48 hours, they said attacks from the state and national government prompted a more urgent and deeper message. (Gio Battaglia / News 8 WROC) Were going to continue to uplift our immigrant communities. Were going to continue to uplift our neighbors, our families, our friends, and ensure that people feel safe, Cassandra Bocanegra with the New York Immigration Coalition said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bocanegra told News 8 the fear she has seen in the immigrant community in Rochester is polarizing. Weve seen children not going to school, being kept home for fear of what could happen in with the repeal of the sensitive locations memo, Bocanegra said. In January, according to the Department of Homeland Security, guidelines for ICE preventing law enforcement from entering what were deemed as sensitive areas, such as schools and churches, were rescinded. Bocanegra and several advocates said the New York for All Act will protect immigrants, but it is being argued at the state level. We have federal folks like Tom Homan who comes and instills fear in Albany and New York State, and really like criminalizes and vilifies a community that does nothing more than support and contribute to the areas that they live in, Bocanegra said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wednesday, New York Assembly Republicans spoke alongside Border Czar Tom Homan in Albany who called on New York to end sanctuary city laws. Its time for New York to follow suit and to do its part and assist in the apprehension of these individuals and what that means is putting an end to the sanctuary state policies that have funneled illegal immigrants to our state and have fueled the migrant crisis we are dealing with that has eroded public safety and has cost our state billions of dollars over the last couple of years, Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo said. While the conversations from both sides continue, Bocanegra said she and those who held Wednesdays vigil hope to spread this message: Immigrants are part of the Rochester community, and we have solutions that can be pushed forward. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. ROCHESTER, NY (WROC) This week, March 9 through 15, was proclaimed AmeriCorps Week in the city by Rochester Mayor Malik Evans. Wednesday, Evans and others recognized 63 AmeriCorps members for serving at schools, homeless shelters, youth centers and more. (WROC/Melanie Sosa) AmeriCorps is a federal agency for nationwide service and volunteerism. The group has provided on-the-ground support to more than 30 nonprofit and faith-based organizations in the community. Wednesday at City Hall, Evans shared a story about his childhood. He said he used to receive tutoring help from an AmeriCorp volunteer when he was younger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rochester students take a stand on issues with soapbox speeches Flower City members will continue to be a light and a beacon of hope in our community. Not as the help, but by helping the Flower City bloom. Thank you all for putting civic service first and foremost in our community, said Walida Monroe Simms, director of public services for the Department of Recreation and Human Services. AmeriCorps week is recognized nationally every March. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. An upstate New York woman convicted in a brutal kidnapping and carjacking over a 10-cent dispute last year was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison. Ceyaira Barker, 26, was arrested by the Rochester City Police Department for viciously attacking Allison Smith on Sept. 13, 2024. Investigators said the victim was held hostage at gunpoint after she was picked up by Barker and another woman, 20-year-old Shawntae Hall, at a Four Guys restaurant on North Clinton Avenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smith, 29, said the two women threatened her with weapons, forced her to drive them around the city and horrifically assaulted her all after she asked the strangers for 10 cents in spare change. It was like a ride from hell, Smith, who was found by police after collapsing in a nearby store, told local television station WHAM. Barker pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery earlier this year. On Thursday, she was sentenced to five years behind bars followed by five years of supervised release. Her sentencing brought back difficult memories to Smith. It was exactly six months ago today that she came into my life, she told WHAM. Everything that I gained from this is far more than what I lost. Hall, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including kidnapping and several counts of robbery. Shes expected back in court on April 3. NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Rock Region METRO will be hosting three public information and input meetings regarding the Dock at the Rock transit-oriented development slated for downtown Little Rock this April. The meeting will be held on the following dates and times: Tuesday, April 1, 5:30-7 p.m., Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. 9th St., Little Rock, Served by Route 14 Rosedale Wednesday, April 2, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Central Arkansas Library System Dee Brown Library, 6325 Baseline Rd., Little Rock, Served by Routes 22 University Ave./Mabelvale and 23 Baseline/Southwest Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wednesday, April 2, 5:30-7 p.m., Central Arkansas Library System Ron Robinson Theater, 100 Rock St., Within Three Blocks of the River Cities Travel Center (served by multiple METRO bus routes) Rock Region Metro awarded $5.4 million in RAISE grant METRO was awarded $5.4 million in U.S. Department of Transportation grant funds to plan a transit-oriented development at the River Cities Travel Center, 310 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock. This is the first RAISE grant Arkansas largest public transit agency has received. The next steps will involve more planning work, including ongoing public outreach to inform and shape preliminary concepts into more concrete plans, as well as the development of a request for information for various developers to build upon the established market feasibility of various proposals for the project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close coordination with the City of Little Rock, including incorporating a complete street plan for campus border streets, will continue. Rock Region Metro set for federal $3 million-plus grant for low-emission busses For more information on Rock Region Metro, please visit RRMetro.org. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) A roundabout is planned for an intersection in Pickens County. The South Carolina Department of Transportation proposed adding the roundabout at the intersection of Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway and South Saluda Road. Transportation officials plan to host a public information meeting on Thursday, March 27. The meeting is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Ambler Elementary School. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to SCDOT, representatives will discuss the roundabout with the community. No formal presentation is planned. Officials said public comments regarding the roundabout are open until April 12. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A driver was arrested after police said they found a ghost gun during a traffic stop on Park Avenue and Homer Street. Around 2 a.m. Thursday morning, Rochester police stopped a vehicle and saw the firearm in the car. Investigators determined the weapon was a privately manufactured ghost gun and was loaded. The 42-year-old driver was arrested. Their name has not been revealed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Rochester Police Department said they may release more information about this arrest at a later date. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. LA MALBAIE, Canada (AP) Top diplomats from the Group of 7 industrialized democracies held a first day of talks in Canada on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trumps trade and foreign policies have thrown the blocs once solid unity into disarray. Trump then made new comments antagonizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio's Canadian hosts. The two-day meeting opened just after Trump threatened to impose 200% tariffs on European wine and other alcohol if the European Union doesnt back down from retaliating against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs with a levy on American whiskey. The escalating trade war added to uncertainty over relations between the U.S. and its closest allies, which have already been strained by Trumps position on Russias war in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also meant that Rubio, on his first official trip to Canada and his first to a G7 event, was likely to hear a litany of complaints as he met with the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. All of them have been angered by the new American presidents policies, and they smiled stiffly in frigid temperatures as they posed for a group photo at a snowy resort in La Malbaie, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. Peace and stability is at the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russias illegal aggression, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said as she gaveled the meetings into session. Rubio had met earlier with Joly, arriving in Quebec late Wednesday just hours after Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs kicked in prompting irate responses from the European Union and Canada. Neither Rubio nor Joly spoke, and neither the State Department nor the Canadian foreign ministry issued normally customary readouts of the discussion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, there was little, if any, information to emerge about the closed-door discussions on Thursday that were punctuated by uncertainty over Joly's planned depature for Ottawa on Friday before the G7 meeting had been scheduled to close to attend soon-to-be new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's first Cabinet meeting. But, en route to Canada from Saudi Arabia, where he had won agreement from Ukraine for a 30-day ceasefire in the war, Rubio had dismissed suggestions that he would face an uncomfortable reception from this counterparts. Canada signals it wont back down Joly, however, had made it clear that Canada, at least, would not back down. Trump has arguably been most antagonistic toward Canada with persistent talk of it becoming the 51st U.S. state, additional tariffs and persistent insults against its leadership, much of which he repeated on Thursday in comments at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of the talks, Joly had said she would use every meeting at the G7 to raise Trump's tariffs and coordinate a response. She also noted that Trump had continued to press "his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric. For his part, Trump doubled down on the anti-Canada rhetoric during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with NATO chief Mark Rutte. To be honest with you, Canada only works as a state, Trump said before going on to say that hes not going to change his mind on the tariffs hes imposing on Canada. Weve been ripped off for years, he said. Were not going to bend." Rubio had downplayed Trump's earlier comments, saying the president was only expressing what he thought would be a good idea. The G7 "is not a meeting about how were going to take over Canada, he said. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said G7 nations should avoid panic and posted a message of support for Canada on X, featuring a photo of her and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Weve got your back, @melaniejoly, she wrote. #Canada #Solidarity Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have learned altogether in these shaky geopolitical times ... especially in moments when your heart is really beating, its important to keep calm, Baerbock told reporters. She noted that the G7 has been a powerhouse for freedom, for our common understanding of peace. Rubio faces allies as tariffs take hold On tariffs, Rubio said G7 partners should understand that these are a policy decision by Trump to protect American competitiveness. I think it is quite possible that we could do these things and at the same time deal in a constructive way with our allies and friends and partners on all the other issues that we work together on, Rubio had told reporters on Wednesday. And thats what I expect out of the G7 and Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked if he expected a difficult reception from his counterparts, Rubio brushed the question aside: I dont know, should I be? I mean, theyve invited us to come. We intend to go. The alternative is to not go. I think that would actually make things worse, not better. The agenda for the G7 meeting included discussions on China and the Indo-Pacific; Ukraine and Europe; stability in the Americas; the Middle East; maritime security; Africa; and China, North Korea, Iran and Russia. Discussing peace in Ukraine Rubio and Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, had been in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier in the week securing a potentially huge win for the administration a possible 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, an issue that galvanized the G7 since even before the conflict began. Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived Thursday in Russia for talks with officials on the proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with the U.S. proposal but that the terms need to be worked out, emphasizing it should pave the way to lasting peace. So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin said at a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. There was no immediate comment from G7 officials to Putin's comments, although participants were expected to be cautiously optimistic. Still, Trumps apparent desire to draw Putin back into the fold including saying he would like to see Russia rejoin the group to restore it to the G8 continues to alarm G7 members. Russia was thrown out of the G8 after it seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among international groupings, the G7 whose members, with the exception of Japan, are all NATO allies had been the toughest on Russia. ___ Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto, Jill Lawless in London, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report. VINTON, La. In House Speaker Mike Johnsons backyard, many residents rely on anti-poverty programs to help make ends meet and are pleading with Johnson, R-La., to protect those benefits as Congress weighs steep federal spending cuts. Pastor Leroy McClelland, who lives in Johnsons southwestern Louisiana district and volunteers at a local food bank, said he is dependent on Medicaid and food stamps after having suffered several medical issues and would be in a serious bind without government assistance. He added that hes far from alone in those struggles. People cant do without it, McClelland told NBC News outside the food bank. So I would tell them [Congress] to help us out. Help us. People are hurting out here. And you may be from Louisiana, but youre the House speaker. Cross the aisle. Work together to do whatever you got to do. Thats my message. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Summer Stinson, a mother of four who was picking up food for her family as well as an elderly woman who cant drive, said the prospect of cuts to social safety net programs has been weighing heavily on her mind. My children are on Medicaid. So yes, I do. I do fear that very much, and they make it to where insurance isnt really affordable with our companies, said Stinson, a native of Vinton. I dont know what we would do without it. In Johnsons rural Louisiana district, nearly 25% of adults under age 65 rely on Medicaid, according to an NBC News analysis, while nearly 20% of households receive food stamps. Politically, its a deep-red district that Johnson won with 85% of the vote in November. Louisiana was one of the states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and the program now covers 72 million people across the country. Summer Stinson, a Vinton native, said she wouldnt be able to make ends meet without Medicaid. Both anti-poverty programs could be on the chopping block as Republicans hunt for deep spending cuts that were outlined in a recent budget resolution the GOP-controlled House passed designed to unlock President Donald Trumps sweeping domestic policy agenda. While the budget blueprint itself doesnt spell out any policy changes, it does call for steep spending cuts from the committees that oversee Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson and Trump have insisted that Medicaid benefits wont be cut. The speakers office pointed NBC News to recent comments Johnson has made when he has been asked for comment. He has repeatedly said Republicans are only looking to root out waste, fraud and abuse, as well as making reforms to strengthen the programs. Medicaid is hugely problematic because it has a lot of fraud, waste and abuse, Johnson told reporters at a recent weekly news conference. Everybody is committed to preserving Medicaid benefits for those who desperately need it and deserve it and qualify for it. What were talking about is rooting out the fraud, waste and abuse. But theres skepticism in Congress and from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that they can achieve those levels of savings without cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. A major Medicaid change Republicans are seriously considering is instituting work requirements for able-bodied adults. Yet here in Vinton a small rural town with many low-income residents who are struggling with the cost of goods and groceries people say there simply arent many job opportunities. Those who do have jobs say their hours have been cut. And theres no reliable transportation to travel to jobs in neighboring towns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One block in the downtown area is lined with several shuttered businesses. Its a great community. Its just, its low-income for the most part. And so what we do is we just try to help out by helping them with the extras that their food aint stretching all the way. ... They really need it, said Pastor Don Snider of Christian Life Church, who started the food bank 10 years ago. Theres no transportation. And the problem with it is, in this community ... theres no industry here. Pastor Don Snider runs a food bank at Christian Life Church Vinton, which he said feeds around 7,000 people a month. Snider has expanded the operation over the years, and he said he now feeds roughly 350 families a week, or 7,000 people a month. He relies on a mix of donations and help from the U.S. Agriculture Department. But the volume of food can vary from month to month, meaning sometimes fewer people get fed or they are given less food. As grocery prices have soared, the community has struggled, and more residents have come to rely on the food bank. Making matters worse, the area is also still recovering from natural disasters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They lost their jobs, lost their homes, lost their cars, lost everything, basically, and then this is what they depend on to eat. So Im here every week, said Angel Lejune, who picked up food for six other families and loaded her sedan to the brim. Some people couldnt survive or make it without these resources. ... And medicine, lets not talk about that. Cars were lined up around the block to collect baskets of produce, bread, meat and other donated goods. Some people traveled in cars and picked up food for multiple families who dont have cars, while others traveled by bicycle or foot and piled food into wagons. One of the residents who drove to the food bank Tuesday morning was Dwayne Dousay of Lake Charles. He is a retired environmental microbiologist and the primary caregiver for his adult-age disabled grandson, who receives Medicaid and other forms of government assistance from the state. Dousay voted for Johnson and is widely supportive of the Trump administrations push to rein in federal spending under the Department of Government Efficiency but he also warned that taking a hatchet to social safety net programs would be devastating for his family and the community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont know what we would do without them. I really dont. Its been tough, Dousay said. I appreciate what DOGE is doing, but I feel its Congress decision. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com When a 19-year-old college freshman at the University of Nebraska Lincoln got an email last month asking her to meet in a classroom on campus with her fellow teachers-in-training for an announcement, she had a sinking feeling the news wouldnt be good. She and 15 other students had started at the college that fall in the hopes of studying to become highly effective educators. Many of them planned to return to their rural communities after graduation to help fill a gaping teacher shortage. They were all recipients of full-tuition scholarships through the RAICES program, a three-year, federally funded project meant to diversify and increase the number of teachers in Nebraska and Kansas. What they learned that February afternoon has left many of them reeling and questioning what comes next: Abrupt federal cuts from the Trump administration meant to root out DEI practices resulted in every one of them losing their scholarships, effective immediately. Theyd be able to finish out the spring term, but as of May, the money would be gone. Of the 16 students, 14 are first-time freshmen, just beginning their higher education journeys. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter I knew we were going to get told something terrible, but I couldnt put a stop to it, said Vianey, who asked to be identified by her first name only because of concerns that speaking out in the media could have negative ramifications. To me, this scholarship was my way out. It was my way to be something. To contradict all the odds that were placed on me, she added as her voice broke and she began to cry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive wanted to be a teacher my whole life. Now, with all of this happening, I dont know if I can recover. Vianey is a freshman at the University of Nebraska Lincoln studying to become a teacher. (Vianey) Amanda Morales, associate professor at UNL and principal investigator on the RAICES project, said telling her group of undergraduate students about the funding cuts was by far, one of the hardest things Ive ever had to do. When you see young peoples dreams just shattered in an instant because of something you said or this message you had to give, how do you bounce back from that? she asked. What is happening to these projects and these programs is unprecedented, and it is really inhumane. Theres no other word for it. RAICES, whose name is derived from a Spanish word meaning roots, was one of many teacher preparation programs that suddenly lost their funding when the Education Department canceled more than $600 million in grants. The programs, meant to increase the number of teachers in high-need and hard-to-staff schools, were accused by the department of discriminating against certain populations and embracing divisive ideologies which aligned with diversity, equity and inclusion and social justice activism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related Education Dept. Cancels Over $600M in Grants for Teacher Pipeline Programs Eight attorneys general have since filed a lawsuit, alleging the cancellation of the congressionally approved grants was unlawful. On Monday, a federal judge ordered the administration to temporarily restore them in those eight states, which dont include Kansas or Nebraska. Three teacher prep programs have also filed a similar suit. The scholarship, whose name stands for Re-envisioning Action and Innovation through Community Collaborations for Equity across Systems, had been promised $3.9 million through a Supporting Effective Educator Development grant, which sought to train more highly effective educators. It was housed at UNL and Kansas State University, which were required to match at least 25% of the federal funding. RAICES was designed to be a comprehensive program that addressed the intractable teacher shortage in rural areas from recruiting novices to retaining veterans. It began with a high school-based program called Youth Participatory Action Research, providing students with the opportunity to explore careers in the classroom and investigate problems affecting their own education and communities. A number of students who ultimately received the full undergraduate scholarships, including Vianey, were recruited from this program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also included funding for graduate-level scholarships, mentoring for teachers and ongoing professional development meant to help educators stay in the profession long term. On Feb. 10, at 8:55 p.m., Socorro Herrera, professor and executive director of Kansas States Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy and the projects lead principal investigator, received an email with an attached letter from the Education Department, telling her the grant would be terminated because it is inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, Department priorities. She was shocked. My thought is, she said, its not department priorities, but it is community priorities. It is state priorities. It is the priority of human beings who want to go back into those public schools in which they grew up to give back [and] to be the most highly qualified teacher they can be for all students but also for students who are like them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Morales said the letter and blanket termination of all SEED grants left all of us just reeling with no clarity, no support, no one to call. Even our program officers are inaccessible. We were just left in the lurch left to just flounder and try to pick up the pieces of this shattered project. [The] teacher that I wish I had Vianey was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. as a toddler with her parents and three siblings. The family spent their first decade or so in Washington state, where Vianey attended school as an English language learner. Even as a kid, Vianey was aware of the shortfalls of her schools program and the negative impact it had on her and her English learner classmates. I just want to be that teacher that I wish I had when I was growing up to others, she said. She noted it was particularly challenging to not have any teachers who looked like her or shared her life experiences. At the time, this made her feel like her dream of becoming an educator might not be attainable, a narrative she hopes to combat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It gives you a sense of belonging when you see somebody that looks like you in the classroom, she added. When Vianey was in high school she moved to Nebraska with her mom, where she attended Lincoln High School and participated in the youth action program, which allowed her to do research on English language programs in her state. Eventually this led her to the RAICES scholarship at UNL, where shes studying secondary education for Spanish, in the hopes of eventually returning to her own high school. As of December 2024, Nebraska schools had about 670 unfilled teaching positions, meaning they were staffed by someone other than a fully qualified teacher or were left totally vacant. About half of districts that responded to the states request for data reported complete vacancies. At roughly the same time, Kansas had almost 2,000 open teaching positions an 8% increase from the previous spring, according to the teacher licensure director for the Kansas State Department of Education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nationally there were almost 42,000 teaching vacancies, according to the Learning Policy Institutes most recent analysis, likely a significant undercount because only 30 states and Washington, D.C. publish such data. Research has shown that rural schools face distinct difficulties filling their teaching positions, and that teacher turnover is especially common in high-poverty rural schools. And hiring foreign language and bilingual education teachers is especially hard. The money, explicitly and intentionally, was about increasing the number of teachers in rural schools, said Herrera. Related For A Small Rural Texas Town, the Solution to a Teacher Shortage Is a Motel Vianey had acute ELL teacher shortages in her own district in mind when she decided to apply to RAICES. Getting accepted into the full scholarship program meant everything to her and to her parents, whose formal education ended after third grade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [My mom] felt like she succeeded and she was finally being able to achieve what she came here to do, and that is to give us a better life, said Vianey. Were not rolling over here Vianey is among the at least 70 high school students, 26 undergraduates and 40 masters students across the two universities who have been impacted by the cuts, along with the almost 1,000 teachers in partnering districts who were receiving ongoing education and professional development. The ripple effects are far-reaching, potentially impacting thousands of students whose chances of getting a highly qualified, fully certified teacher have now been diminished. When the funding runs out this spring, Tiffaney Locke a 42-year-old career changer who has spent the past 12 years working in community mental health will be just two courses shy of her masters degree. Tiffaney Locke is a career changer in the masters program at Kansas State University. (Tiffaney Locke) She said as a Black student in Kansas City schools, she was able to find success because of educators who believed in her. Her plan was to return to a similar school to be that teacher for kids who look like her. She quit her full-time job to complete what she thought would be a fully funded program and is now scared about what comes next but hopeful that her teaching career is still within reach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the population of the scholarship recipients is diverse, the only requirement for application was that students come from one of the six partner districts in Nebraska and Kansas, all identified as difficult to staff and, in most cases, rural. One of the districts they partnered with had almost 120 vacancies. Of the 16 undergraduates at UNL who were supposed to receive full scholarships including housing, meal plans and a laptop one quarter identified as white and half identified as Hispanic or Latino, according to Morales. Three-quarters were first-generation college students and over half came from rural communities. They were all high-achieving high school students and 15 of the 16 had GPAs just over 3.5 in their first semester, well above the programs 2.0 requirement. The fact that the government doesnt think youre worthy to be here is tragic, Morales said. Related After Outcry, Education Department Walks Back Diversity Guidance Morales and Herrera are now scrambling to find external funding, making any attempt they can to keep the program alive, but this may be the end of the road for many of [the students] because just loans and Pell grants wouldnt be enough to see them through, Herrera said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These across-the-board cuts have also had a chilling effect, she said, making those at the university level scared to speak out for fear of retribution from the federal government. Their concern is not baseless: the Trump administration recently pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia University and halted payment on some $56 million in grants to the University of Maine system. Everybodys in this silent mode, like Dont call attention to yourself, go under the radar, keep doing the work, she added. But the leaders of RAICES arent done. Were not rolling over here, said Morales. Were not tucking our tail and just saying, OK, I guess this is just the way it is. Were fighting on every front we possibly can and [are] continuing to fight up until the very last moment. Im not giving up. And Vianey isnt quitting either. She wants to send a clear message to the people who took away her scholarship: Its not going to stop us from achieving our dreams. We will find a way out my purpose is to become a teacher and Im not going to stop until Im able to. RUSHVILLE Several errors on Rush Countys zoning map will be corrected following a vote on Monday by the Rush County Commissioners to amend the map in keeping with a recommendation from the Rush County Area Plan Commission. RCAPC Executive Director Mike Holzback said several residential lots at various locations throughout the county are incorrectly zoned commercial on the current map, which dates back several years. Were just trying to correct the zoning map based on what the owners want, Holzback said. They have a choice to remain commercial or go back to residential, as they should be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When asked how widespread this zoning anomaly appears to be Holzback replied, Last year we did 27 properties in Milroy. Later last year we did nine properties in Falmouth, and this time it was Glenwood that had issues. The commissioners endorsement of changing the maps to more accurately reflect how the properties involved are used is the final step in the process of addressing the matter. The official zoning map will be changed, Holzback said. That goes through the auditors office. The DIS person changes that zoning map to reflect the changes. The inaccurate zoning classification could have a negative impact on the property owner in a number of ways, according to Holzback, who provided the following examples. If someone owns a home and they want to sell it and somebody gets a loan to buy that home and then finds out its zoned commercial, what has happened in the past is that loan is not approved because its zoned commercial, he said. If the house would happen to be destroyed, then they (the property owner) would have to go through a process just to be able to rebuild that house in a commercial zone. Or, if they would want to get a loan to add on to the house or make improvements the commercial zoning can stop the loan process. Russian forces have retaken Sudzha, a key stronghold of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on March 13. The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the claim. As of late March 12, the Ukrainian military confirmed battles in the Sudzha area. Ukrainian troops captured Sudzha, a town with a pre-war population of 6,000 some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Ukraine's border, at the start of the Kursk incursion in August 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Military analysts from the DeepState monitoring group and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank have also reported that Russia has partially or fully seized Sudzha, as Ukraine is allegedly withdrawing from the town. Russia's Defense Ministry published a video of the ruined Sudzha after its reported recapture. The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the footage's veracity. "The Russian military almost entirely destroyed Sudzha with airstrikes," said Andrii Kovalenko, an official at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. "The town and its surroundings were destroyed, and few civilian buildings survived." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 0:00 / 1 The news comes at the heels of a rapid Russian advance in the border region that seemed to have greatly diminished the Ukrainian salient. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said on March 12 that Russia has retaken more than 86% of the territory in Kursk Oblast captured by Kyiv in mid-2024. The Russian Defense Ministry also reported capturing the settlements of Melovoi and Podol as of March 13. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the "difficult situation" in the region but said that Ukraine will hold the defenses "as long as reasonable and necessary." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The development comes as the U.S. seeks to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Kyiv has sought to leverage its positions in Kursk Oblast in potential negotiations but began to rapidly lose its ground in the region at the same time that the U.S. temporarily paused military and intelligence support for Ukraine. The battlefield situation near Sudzha, Kursk Oblast, Russia, as of March 12, 2025, according to DeepState. Ukrainian positions marked in blue. (DeepState/OpenStreetMaps) Read also: Losing foothold in Kursk Oblast would be politically significant, experts say Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. By Erin Banco and Jonathan Landay NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia has presented the U.S. with a list of demands for a deal to end its war against Ukraine and reset relations with Washington, according to two people familiar with the matter. It is not clear what exactly Moscow included on its list or whether it is willing to engage in peace talks with Kyiv prior to their acceptance. Russian and American officials discussed the terms during in-person and virtual conversations over the last three weeks, the people said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They described the Kremlin's terms as broad and similar to demands it previously has presented to Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO. Those earlier terms included no NATO membership for Kyiv, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and international recognition of President Vladimir Putin's claim that Crimea and four provinces belong to Russia. Russia, in recent years, also has demanded the U.S. and NATO address what it has called the "root causes" of the war, including NATO's eastward expansion. U.S. President Donald Trump is awaiting word from Putin on whether he will agree to a 30-day truce that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he would accept as a first step toward peace talks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin's commitment to a potential ceasefire agreement is still uncertain, with details yet to be finalized. Some U.S. officials, lawmakers and experts fear that Putin, a former KGB officer, would use a truce to intensify what they say is an effort to divide the U.S., Ukraine and Europe and undermine any talks. The Russian embassy in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed this week's meeting in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Ukrainian officials as constructive, and said a potential 30-day ceasefire with Russia could be used to draft a broader peace deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moscow has raised many of these same demands over the last two decades, some making their way into formal negotiations with the U.S. and Europe. Most recently, Moscow discussed them with the Biden administration in a series of meetings in late 2021 and early 2022 as tens of thousands of Russian troops sat on Ukraines border, awaiting the order to invade. They included demands that would constrain U.S. and NATO military operations from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. While rejecting some of the terms, the Biden administration sought to forestall the invasion by engaging with Russia on several of them, according to U.S. government documents reviewed by Reuters and multiple former U.S. officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The effort failed and Russia attacked on February 24, 2022. U.S. and Russian officials in recent weeks have said that a draft agreement discussed by Washington, Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul in 2022 could be a starting point for peace talks. The agreement never went through. In those talks, Russia demanded that Ukraine give up its NATO ambitions and accept a permanent nuclear-free status. It also demanded a veto over actions by countries that wanted to assist Ukraine in the event of war. The Trump administration has not explained how it is approaching its negotiations with Moscow. The two sides are engaged in two separate conversations: one on resetting U.S.-Russia relations and the other on a Ukraine peace agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The administration appears to be divided on how to proceed. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who is helping lead the discussion with Moscow, last month on CNN described the Istanbul talks as cogent and substantive negotiations and said that they could be a guidepost to get a peace deal done. But Trump's top Ukraine and Russia envoy, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, told a Council on Foreign Relations audience last week that he did not see the Istanbul agreement as a starting point. I think we have to develop something entirely new, he said. OLD DEMANDS Experts say Russia's demands likely are not only intended to shape an eventual agreement with Ukraine, but also to be the basis of accords with its Western supporters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia has made similar demands of the U.S. over the last two decades demands that would limit the Wests ability to build a stronger military presence in Europe and potentially allow Putin to expand his influence in the continent. Theres no sign that the Russians are willing to make any concessions, said Angela Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who was the top U.S. intelligence analyst for Russia and Eurasia. The demands havent changed at all. I think they are not really interested in peace or a meaningful ceasefire. In their effort to forestall what U.S. intelligence officials concluded was an imminent Russian invasion, senior Biden administration officials engaged with Russian counterparts on three of the Kremlin's demands, according to the U.S. government documents reviewed by Reuters. They were a ban on military exercises by U.S. and other NATO forces on the territories of new alliance members and a ban on U.S. intermediate-range missile deployments in Europe or elsewhere within range of Russian territory, according to the documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Russians also sought to bar military exercises by the U.S. or NATO from Eastern Europe to the Caucasus and Central Asia, the documents showed. "These are the same Russian demands that have been made since 1945," said Kori Schake, a former Pentagon official who directs foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. "With the behavior of the Trump administration in recent weeks, Europeans arent just scared were abandoning them, theyre afraid weve joined the enemy." (Reporting by Erin Banco in New York and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Don Durfee and Diane Craft) STORY: Russia has given the U.S. a list of demands for a deal to end its war against Ukraine and reset relations with Washington. That's according to two people familiar with the matter Wednesday, though specifics were unclear. It comes after Washington had proposed a deal for a 30-day truce, to break up the conflict between Kyiv and Moscow that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The sources said Russian and American officials discussed the terms in detail for the past three weeks... Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ..they described the Kremlin's terms as 'broad', and similar to demands Russia previously presented to Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO. Those earlier terms include no NATO membership for Kyiv, no deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine, and international recognition that Crimea and four provinces belong to Russia. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would agree to a 30-day truce as a first step toward peace talks. While Russian President Vladimir Putin's commitment to such a potential deal is still uncertain. The Trump administration has not explained how it is approaching its negotiations with Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two sides are engaged in two separate conversations: one on resetting U.S.-Russia relations and the other on a Ukraine peace agreement. The administration appears to be divided on how to proceed. This all comes as Russia's defense ministry claims to have retaken territory held by Ukraine troops in Kursk, in western Russia. Ukraine says its soldiers will keep operating in Kursk as long as needed, and says its troops are fighting in and around the major town of Sudzha. After analysing the data collected, experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have indicated that Russia may "formally" agree to the terms of a ceasefire and push the United States to revise its agreement with Ukraine on the temporary halt in fighting. Source: ISW Details: Russian leader Vladimir Putin may use the ceasefire proposal to which Ukraine has agreed as leverage to secure concessions in advance of any formal peace talks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reuters wrote on 12 March that senior Russian officials had stated that any agreement on a temporary ceasefire must "take into account" Russias territorial gains and "address [Russia's] concerns". Meanwhile, Bloomberg cited sources familiar with the Kremlins position, stating that Putin intends to prolong the process of agreeing to a ceasefire to ensure his demands "are taken into account". A Kremlin-linked source suggested that Russia might insist on halting arms supplies to Ukraine as a prerequisite for a ceasefire agreement. However, it remains unclear whether this would apply to all international military assistance or only that from specific nations. Quote from ISW: "Suspending US or other military assistance to Ukraine during a ceasefire would be extremely advantageous to Russia, which continues to receive critical supplies and assistance from Iran, North Korea, and the People's Republic of China. Such an enormous concession would also destroy US leverage in future negotiations, in addition to violating the conditions under which Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire in the first place." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: A Russian media outlet reported that the Kremlin would issue a formal positive response to the temporary ceasefire proposal while simultaneously setting "impossible conditions" that Ukraine would be unable to accept. According to the outlets source, Putin aims to exclude Ukraine from the talks, seeking direct talks with the United States instead and also "correcting the situation on the front" to bolster Russias position in future discussions. The source further stated that any ceasefire terms "must suit Russia", arguing that agreeing to a temporary truce while Ukraine continues to receive military aid and financial support from its allies would be "stupid". Quote from ISW: "These leaks may be intentional and part of a Russian negotiating strategy that aims to push the United States to renegotiate its deal with Ukraine on the temporary ceasefire." To quote the ISW's Key Takeaways on 12 March: Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov offered a vague response on 12 March to the US-Ukrainian 30-day ceasefire proposal. Russian leader Vladimir Putin may hold hostage the ceasefire proposal to which Ukraine has agreed in order to extract preemptive concessions before formal negotiations to end the war have started. Senior US and Ukrainian officials have said that the purpose of the temporary ceasefire is for Russia and Ukraine to demonstrate their willingness for peace and that the temporary ceasefire and negotiations to end the war are separate matters, whereas the Kremlin may intend to conjoin them. Russian insider reports about the demands that the Kremlin may make before agreeing to the temporary ceasefire are in line with Russian officials' public statements in the past months. US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe and Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Head Sergei Naryshkin had a phone call on 11 March amid talks about the war in Ukraine. Russian forces recently seized Sudzha amid continued Russian assaults in Kursk Oblast on 12 March. Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited a Russian military command post in Kursk Oblast for the first time since Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024 demonstrating Putin's desire to use Russia's seizure of Sudzha to project military success and strength against the backdrop of the US-Ukrainian temporary ceasefire proposal. Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk and Pokrovsk, and Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Borova, Toretsk, and Velyka Novosilka. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! BREAKING: Putin ready for ceasefire but demands 'guarantees' depriving Ukraine of aid Russia has presented the U.S. with a list of demands for a potential deal to end the war against Ukraine and reset relations with Washington, Reuters reported on March 13, citing two undisclosed sources. According to the sources, Russian and U.S. officials discussed these demands during face-to-face and virtual conversations over the past three weeks. These broad conditions are said to largely mirror those Russia has previously made to Ukraine, the U.S., and NATO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The exact content of the list remains unclear, however, as does the issue of whether Russia is willing to engage in peace talks with Kyiv before these conditions are met. Russia's previously voiced conditions have included Ukraine permanently abandoning NATO aspirations, prohibiting foreign troop deployments on Ukrainian soil, and recognizing Crimea and four partially occupied regions the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as Russian territory. In June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that Ukraine must withdraw from those four regions as a precondition for negotiations. President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated on March 12 that Ukraine would not recognize any occupied territories as part of Russia in any future peace agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's claim on Feb. 24 that Putin would allow European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected the idea. Read also: Investigation: We tried to buy American chips as a Russian defense manufacturer and it worked Russia has also continued to push its long-standing demand that the U.S. and NATO address what it calls the "root causes" of the war, including the alliance's eastward expansion. Ukraine officially submitted its application to NATO in September 2022. Though NATO members pledged that Ukraine's path toward membership is "irreversible" at the allied summit in Washington in 2024, the Trump administration has ruled out the accession in the foreseeable future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is waiting to hear from Putin on whether Russia will agree to a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has already accepted on the condition that Moscow does as well. Ukraine agreed to the proposal for the temporary truce during talks in Jeddah on March 11, after which Washington resumed military and intelligence support. Putin's response to the ceasefire proposal remains uncertain. Some U.S. officials and analysts fear that Moscow will use the temporary pause to deepen divisions between Washington, Kyiv, and their European allies while preparing for further offensives, Reuters writes. The Washington Post reported on a proposal drafted for the Kremlin by a Moscow think tank close to the Federal Security Service (FSB) that lays out Russia's potential maximalist demands for ending the war. These include a buffer zone in northeastern Ukraine along the borders of Bryansk and Belgorod oblasts and a demilitarized zone in southern Ukraine. The document, drafted in February, further calls for "the complete dismantling" of Ukraine's current government and says that peace is unlikely before 2026. It is unclear what if any role this document plays in the Kremlin's decision-making. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Western security officials told Bloomberg on March 10 that Putin has deliberately set "maximalist" demands on territorial concessions, peacekeepers, and Ukraine's neutrality, knowing they are likely unacceptable to Kyiv and European nations. Read also: Ukrainian drones set ablaze Russian factory, infrastructure site overnight, authorities claim Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian authorities have claimed that 77 drones attacked six Russian oblasts, with a fire breaking out at a factory in Kaluga Oblast. Source: Russian Defence Ministry; Kaluga Oblast Governor Vladislav Shapsha Details: According to the Russian Defence Ministry, their air defence had intercepted and destroyed "77 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles" between 20:00 (Moscow time) on 12 March and 06:36 on 13 March. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Russian ministry claimed that air defence had destroyed drones in the following oblasts: 30 UAVs over Bryansk Oblast, six over Kursk Oblast, six over Voronezh Oblast, five over Rostov Oblast and five over Belgorod Oblast. In addition, 25 UAVs were allegedly destroyed over Kaluga Oblast, where, according to Shapsha, a fire broke out at business premises. Quote from Shapsha: "A fire broke out in a plant building of a business in the Dzerzhinsky district as a result of the UAV crash." Details: Furthermore, Shapsha noted that the fall of a UAV allegedly damaged a communication tower and a power line in another district in Kaluga Oblast. According to Russian Telegram channels, the drones attacked the Kaluzhskiy Gazobeton concrete plant. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Russian forces have retaken the small town of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk border region from Ukrainian troops, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday. The ministry said the settlements of Melovoi and Podol had also been liberated. There has not yet been confirmation from the Ukrainian side. Both Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and President Volodymyr Zelensky have said soldiers would retreat in the case they become heavily outnumbered by the Russians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sudzha was the most significant population centre in the Kursk region to come under the control of Ukrainian forces during their surprise advance into Russian territory last August. Russian state media and war bloggers said on Wednesday that the Russian flag was flown over the Sudzha town hall. Russian President Vladimir Putin, wearing a military uniform, visited Kursk on Wednesday evening and called for the swift liberation of the region from Ukrainian forces. Ukraine was able to capture more than 1,000 square kilometres in Kursk. For months, Russia has been waging fierce battles including with the support of North Korean soldiers to reclaim the territory. Russia's efforts have paid off, with Ukraine recently withdrawing from several villages. Zelensky has called the Kursk offensive an important bargaining chip in potential negotiations with Moscow. Russian forces have recaptured Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine once occupied in the Kursk region, according to Moscow, threatening Kyivs sole territorial bargaining chip amid pressure to negotiate an end to the war. In the course of the offensive operations, units of the North military group liberated the settlements of Melovoy, Podol and Sudzha, the Russian defense ministry said Thursday. The US-based conflict monitor the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also said footage from the ground indicated that Russian forces had seized Sudzha and advanced to southern Zaoleshenka, a settlement just northwest of the town. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its recapture would represent a major symbolic victory for Russia. Although Sudzha is a small place, with a population of about 5,000 people before Ukraines incursion, it was one of the only populated towns still held by Ukraine. It comes as US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow Thursday, Russian state news agency Tass reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the day before that Russia expected to be briefed by American officials on a 30-day US-backed ceasefire covering the entire frontline, which Ukraine has already accepted. Speaking on the regular call with reporters Thursday, Peskov expressed confidence that all parts of the Kursk region held by Ukraine will soon be liberated. President (Vladimir Putin) said that this needs to be done as quickly as possible. (It will take) as much time as is necessary to save the maximum number of lives of our military and civilians. But there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated fairly soon, Peskov said asked how long it might take to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin made a surprise visit to the Kursk region on Wednesday. Wearing military uniform in video broadcast by Russian state television, the Russian president told frontline troops that Moscows goal is to completely liberate Kursk as soon as possible, during his first trip to the western region since Ukraines unexpected incursion there last year. The carefully choreographed visit appeared designed to boost morale as Russian forces advance on the final remnants of Ukraines holdouts inside Russia. Putin delivered a speech to soldiers, in which he urged them to oust the remaining Ukrainian forces in the region and raised the possibility of creating a buffer zone along Russias border with Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk should be treated as terrorists, Putin added. In video broadcast by Russian state television, President Vladimir Putin told frontline troops that Moscows goal is to completely liberate Kursk as soon as possible. - Russian Presidential Press Service/AP Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. As well as capturing land that could potentially be swapped for Russian-occupied territory, the campaign aimed to divert Moscows resources from the frontlines in Ukraines east. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Kyiv has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days. On Wednesday, Ukraines top general Oleksandr Syrskyi hinted at further tactical retreats to more favorable positions, saying his priority was to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Russia had carried out airstrikes on its own land, including the town of Sudzha, which was almost completely destroyed, Syrskyi added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also told reporters on Wednesday: The Russians are clearly trying to put maximum pressure on our troops. The military command is doing what it has to do, saving as many lives as possible. Russias top general Valery Gerasimov claimed Wednesday that Russian forces had recaptured more than 86% of the area taken by Ukraine, that 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner and the remaining Ukrainians were surrounded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ball is now in Putins court as US representatives headed to Russia to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Were going to have to see. Its up to Russia now, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as he declined to comment on whether he has a meeting scheduled with the Russian leader. This is a developing story and will be updated. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasized that the terms are yet to be worked out and added that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace. The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it," Putin told a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk about it with our American colleagues and partners and, perhaps, have a call with President Trump and discuss it with him." President Donald Trump said there have been good signals coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putins statement. He reiterated that he's ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin "put out a very promising statement, but it wasnt complete, Trump said Thursday at a start of a meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Now were going to see whether or not Russias there. And if theyre not, itll be a very disappointing moment for the world. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin is essentially preparing to reject the ceasefire. Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation. That is why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the idea of a ceasefire with such preconditions that nothing will come of it or at least, it will be delayed as long as possible. The Russian president, he added, often acts this way. He doesnt say no outright but ensures that everything drags on and that normal solutions become impossible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, noted the need to control possible breaches of the truce and signaled that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use the break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilization. We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis, Putin said. The Russian leader made the remarks just hours after the arrival of Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for talks on the ceasefire, which Ukraine has accepted. A Kremlin adviser said Putin planned to meet with Witkoff later Thursday. The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russias Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia questions details of truce offer Putin said it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk. Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he questioned what will happen to them if the ceasefire takes hold: Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender?" Putin thanked Trump for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their noble mission to end the fighting, a statement that suggested those countries could be involved in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin's seemingly friendly tone toward the White House reflected the astonishing shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January. Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the United States was Ukraine's staunchest and most powerful ally and a force for isolating the Kremlin. But Trump's election threw that policy into reverse. Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks to end the war, and Zelenskyy had a testy meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war. The Trump administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russias army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Russian Defense Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operations hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in the Kursk region. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Administration repeats threat of new sanctions As Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, he has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that Trump is willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides, including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signaling its openness to a ceasefire at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from the renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine's daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin. Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly grim news from the front line, as well as to draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and to gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that previously was home to about 5,000 people. Ukraines top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian aircraft conducted so many strikes on Kursk that Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said his country was maneuvering (troops) to more advantageous lines. ___ Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Russia is trying to delay peace for as long as possible, given the lack of its clear position on a proposed 30-day ceasefire, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 13. Kyiv agreed to a temporary ceasefire proposed by Washington during the talks in Jeddah on March 11, provided that Russia did as well. The talks in Saudi Arabia also led to the U.S. restarting key military and intelligence support for Ukraine. Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential aide, said earlier on March 13 that the Kremlin was prioritizing a long-term settlement over a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine but the final position is up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Zelensky, Kyiv is committed to moving quickly toward peace and is prepared to do its part in creating "all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace." "Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made," he said. "This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible." The U.S. is ready to organize the technical aspects of control over the temporary truce, Zelensky said. He voiced hope that Washington's pressure would be "sufficient" to compel Russia to end its all-out war. Zelensky's remarks come as U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow for talks on the proposed 30-day ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Witkoff is expected to meet Putin later in the day, who is unlikely to agree to a temporary truce in Ukraine, according to Reuters. The news agency reported on March 12, citing undisclosed Russian sources, that Moscow feels it has the upper hand on the battlefield and viewing the ceasefire as a trap. The ceasefire proposal coincided with Russia's breakthrough in Kursk Oblast. Moscow claimed on March 12 to have retaken over 86% of seized territories in the region, including a key town of Sudzha, captured by Ukrainian troops at the start of the Kursk incursion in August 2024. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the "difficult situation" in the region but said that Ukraine will hold the defenses "as long as reasonable and necessary." Read also: Kyiv sees no surprises as Russia signals its rejection of US-backed ceasefire proposal Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian forces allegedly executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on March 13. Lubinets referred to a video circulating on social media that purportedly shows unarmed Ukrainian soldiers killed after being captured by Russian troops. According to Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko, a video of the suspected execution was recorded in Kursk Oblast, near the village of Kozacha Loknya. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. "We once again see a cynical disregard for international humanitarian law on the part of the Russian army," Lubinets said, adding that he had sent letters to the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross to document the suspected war crime. The news comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to Kursk Oblast on March 12 since Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into the region in August 2024. During the visit, which took place amid a rapid Russian advance, Putin declared that Ukrainian military personnel captured in the region "will be treated as terrorists." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine has previously documented widespread violations of the Geneva Conventions by Russian forces, including the execution of 177 captured Ukrainian soldiers as of mid-December 2024. The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported a sharp rise in executions of Ukrainian POWs, documenting 79 extrajudicial killings across 24 separate incidents since August 2024. Visual evidence of such atrocities continues to emerge, reinforcing concerns over Moscow's systematic violations of international law. Read also: 5 killed, 28 injured in Russian strikes against Ukraine over past day Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia has sharply reduced diesel exports to Africa following repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on its oil refineries, Russian pro-state media outlet RBC reported on March 13. Russian diesel exports to African countries nearly halved in February, dropping from 1.27 million tons in January to 684,000 tons, according to a report by the Price Index Center research project reviewed by RBC. Exports to Brazil fell by 41%, while deliveries to Turkey, Russia's largest diesel export market, declined by 12% to 1.13 million tons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The decline in exports is due to an increase in the number of incidents at refineries," the analysts said, referencing Ukrainian drone strikes. On March 10, Ukrainian military intelligence confirmed it had struck the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Russia's Samara Oblast. A day earlier, a Ukrainian drone reportedly hit an oil depot in Cheboksary, Chuvashia Republic marking the first attack on the region. Ukraine considers Russian oil infrastructure a legitimate military target, arguing that fossil fuel revenues fund Moscow's war effort. Kyiv has systematically targeted Russian refineries, military sites, and logistics hubs to weaken Moscow's capacity to continue its full-scale invasion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Europe-bound Chinese rail shipments through Russia plummet due to transit restrictions Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian forces have attacked Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with drones, damaging infrastructure facilities in the city of Dnipro and the Samar district and injuring four people. Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Ukrainian railway company Ukrzaliznytsia, State Emergency Service of Ukraine Quote: "An infrastructure facility was damaged in Dnipro. A fire broke out. A 52-year-old woman sustained shrapnel wounds. She is in hospital in a moderate condition." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Later, Lysak added that three people had been injured in Dnipro as a result of the Russian attack. "These are women aged 52, 56 and 82. All of them are hospitalised. Doctors have assessed their condition as moderate. They are providing all the necessary medical care," said Lysak. A rescue worker at the site of the attack. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine Infrastructure was also damaged in the Samar district, where a fire broke out. A high-rise building, an office building, outbuildings and several cars were damaged and one vehicle was completely destroyed in the attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The enemy also struck the Nikopol district. Kamikaze drones and heavy artillery were used. The Marhanets, Pokrovske and Myrove hromadas suffered. A 64-year-old woman was injured and hospitalised. An outbuilding was damaged," Lysak summarised. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories ed.] Rescue workers at the site of the attack. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) confirmed that the Russians had attacked the railways power facilities in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which led to changes in the schedules of several trains. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In particular, train No. 86 Lviv Zaporizhzhia departed from Dnipro with a delay; train No. 72 Lviv Pavlohrad will follow an altered route via Synelnykove-2 instead of Samar-Dniprovskyi. "Backup diesel locomotives in the region are already being prepared to pick up trains if necessary. All delays can be monitored in real-time on the website," Ukrzaliznytsia reported. Updated: Later, Lysak added that high-rise buildings in Dnipro had also been damaged, with at least 100 windows shattered. Garages also caught fire. Damaged high-rise building. Photo: Lysak on Telegram Loud explosions were also recorded in the Synelnykove district in the morning. Infrastructure facilities were damaged and dozens of windows in a high-rise building shattered. However, there were no casualties. Damaged car. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Photo: Lysak on Telegram "Air defence forces downed 11 UAVs over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast," Lysak concluded. Background: Explosions were heard in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts at dawn on 13 March as the Russians attacked critical infrastructure facilities. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! A Russian drone attack has caused damage in several Ukrainian regions. A Shahed loitering munition has hit the premises of a company in Kharkiv Oblast, garages in Sumy Oblast have caught fire, and houses in Kyiv Oblast have been damaged. Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration; Ukraine's State Emergency Service; Kyiv Oblast Military Administration on Telegram Quote from Syniehubov: "The city of Chuhuiv, the Chuhuiv district. A Shahed UAV hit the ground on the territory of a company, while a bombardment damaged a local authority building, a garage and five lorries." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Kyiv Oblast Military Administration reported that two houses had been damaged in a Russian strike on the Boryspil district. Windows were smashed in the buildings. The aftermath of the Russian drone attack. Photo: Ukraine's State Emergency Service Russian drones also attacked the Okhtyrka hromada in Sumy Oblast. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories ed.] The aftermath of the Russian drone attack. Photo: Ukraine's State Emergency Service "A fire broke out on the territory of a garage community. As the firefighters from the State Emergency Service were heading to the scene of the attack, the invaders launched yet another attack. The fire spread over a large area. Two main seats of fire were found: about 20 garages were burning at the same time," the State Emergency Service said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The service added that the fire had been extinguished. Early reports indicate that there were no casualties. Background: At dawn on 13 March, explosions rocked Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts as Russian forces targeted critical infrastructure facilities. Later, it was reported that the Russians had damaged infrastructure facilities in the city of Dnipro and the Samara district and injured four people in an attack on the night of 12-13 March. Russian forces also attacked power facilities operated by Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, causing changes in the schedules of several trains. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that since the evening of 12 March, Russian forces have attacked Ukraine with an Iskander-M ballistic missile, 117 Shahed-type loitering munitions and various types of decoy drones. Ukrainian air defence units destroyed 78 of the drones, and 38 decoy drones disappeared from radar. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Washington has discussed with Ukraine the control of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as part of a potential peace deal, U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 13. Trump's remarks come days after Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington during the talks in Jeddah on March 11, provided that Russia did as well. The talks also concerned potential territorial concessions, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said that Ukraine and the U.S. had discussed a lot of details of the final deal, including "concepts of land." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost and all of the other elements of a final agreement," Trump said. "There's a power plant involved, a very big power plant involved. Who is going to get the power plant, and who is going to get this and that, and so you know it's not an easy process. But phase one is the ceasefire," he added. The largest nuclear plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar, has been under Russian occupation since 2022. While the facility remains under Russian control, it is not currently generating electricity. Ukraine and its allies have repeatedly urged Russia to withdraw its troops from the plant. Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian forces currently occupy roughly 20% of Ukraine, from where reports of systematic repression, torture, and forced deportations emerge. Read also: Kyiv sees no surprises as Russia signals its rejection of US-backed ceasefire proposal Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. During a news conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to the idea of a ceasefire but that he has conditions that must be met before he will agree to a deal. These comments from Putin come after U.S. and Ukrainian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and came up with a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. On Thursday, U.S. officials, including President Donald Trumps Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow to meet with Russian leaders, according to The New York Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this week, Trump made threats of sanctions against Russia. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia, Trump said on Wednesday, according to NBC. I dont want to do that because I want to get peace. Even with these threats, the president has publicly asked for few concessions from Russia, but has suggested that Ukraine will have to concede to many of the Kremlins demands. What did Putin say about the ceasefire proposal? The idea itself is the right one, and we definitely support it, Putin said, according to The New York Times. But there are questions that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk them through with our American colleagues and partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to NBC, Putin also said that he may need to have a phone call with Trump. Thursdays news conference was the first time the Kremlin had publicly addressed the ceasefire proposal drafted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukrainian leaders earlier this week. One of Putins concerns with the ceasefire proposal is that it would give Ukrainian forces a chance to regroup. He added that certain details need to be considered, such as who would monitor and guarantee the truce. According to NBC, Putins foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, also spoke to press and called the proposed plan nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more. Ushakov added that Russias goal is still a long-term peaceful settlement ... that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country, per NBC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin has always had big demands in order for the war to end. His demands include Ukraine withdrawing from regions partially occupied by Russia and also promising to never join NATO and to preserve Russian language and culture in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin walks past an honor guard prior to a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 13, 2025. | Maxim Shemetov Russias push to recover Kursk Russian troops are working to drive Ukraine from the territory in the Kursk region of Russia that it seized last year, according to The New York Times. If Russia is able to take the territory back it would rid Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of a key bargaining chip for negotiations. After Trump froze military and intelligence aid to Ukraine on March 3, Russias push in Kursk seemed to accelerate. Early on Thursday Putin visited soldiers in the Kursk region, and urged them to recover the territory quickly and decisively. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible time frame, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region, Putin said, according to NBC. The Russian president also suggested that they create a security zone on the border. Russian infantry groups are continuing to storm the border area of Ukraine's Sumy Oblast. Source: DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts; Ukrainska Pravda sources in a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit deployed to this area Details: DeepState reported that Russian troops are still attempting to infiltrate the village of Basivka, situated between the settlements of Zhuravka and Novenke in Sumy Oblast. Initially, they used infantry to enter forested positions on foot, but now they are attempting to infiltrate on quad bikes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A video shows Russian forces attempting to storm the village in infantry groups, moving at a fast pace to establish a foothold. However, their efforts are chaotic and disorganised, with the troops struggling to orient themselves on the ground, leaving them wandering through the village or fields. In the meantime, Ukrainian forces swiftly target and crush these groups, analysts note. Quote: "The situation is complicated by the fact that the enemy has amassed a considerable number of infantry, continuously deploying them into battle and gradually advancing deeper. In response, Ukrainian troops are doing everything they can to thwart these efforts and hold back the enemy's progress." Details: Ukrainska Pravda has reported that Russian units attempting to raid the outskirts of Basivka on ATVs have been pushed back. The village remains under the control of Ukrainian defence forces. Background: On 12 March, Andrii Demchenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, reported that Russian troops, in an attempt to push Ukrainian forces out of Russia's Kursk Oblast, were carrying out assault operations in Sumy Oblast, but these efforts proved unsuccessful. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, stated that Ukrainian soldiers would continue to defend Kursk Oblast "for as long as it is appropriate and necessary". He added that the Ukrainian military would reposition to more favourable positions if there were a threat to their safety. He added that the Russians are deploying assault units of airborne troops and special operations forces to breach Ukrainian defences, force the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Kursk Oblast and shift the fighting to Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Russian forces attacked the village of Kindrashivka in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on 13 March. Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Office Details: The investigators reported that the attack occurred at approximately 19:30. A man, 65, sustained a blast injury and contusion. Several houses in the village were damaged. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! A Ryanair flight travelling back to the UK from the Canary Islands made an unexpected stop in France after a passenger was thought to be having a heart attack. The Boeing 737-800 was travelling from Gran Canaria to Bournemouth on Monday (10 March) when it started to suddenly descend around 200 miles away from its intended destination, landing in the French port city of Brest. Around halfway into the flight, cabin crew asked if anyone on board was medically trained, to which a retired cardiologist came forward and treated a woman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One passenger who was returning from his holiday, Chris Howard, told BBC News that he first noticed crew members crowding around a passenger at the front of the plane. Suddenly the bongs came up over the PA system and they said 'if there is a medically trained passenger on board, can you make yourself known immediately, please', he said. One of the passengers put their light on and they went and spoke to him. The doctor ended up speaking to the pilot and we began a very rapid descent. Turned out the guy was a retired cardiologist and the lady was having a heart attack." After landing in Brest, the woman was further treated by emergency services before being transported to the hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ryanair flight continued on its journey about an hour later. "Approximately an hour later we were taking off and were on our way home, which was amazing really," Mr Howard added. "We all felt like they've done a smashing job." A Ryanair spokesperson said: This flight from Gran Canaria to Bournemouth diverted to Brest after a passenger became ill onboard. The crew called ahead for medical assistance to meet the aircraft upon landing at Brest Airport. The passenger was disembarked and transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment. This flight continued to Bournemouth that same day." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The incident comes days after another Ryanair plane travelling from Malaga to Manchester had to make a diversion to Bilbao due to a medical emergency. Passengers ended up spending the night in the Spanish city as air traffic controllers packed up and went home before the plane could take off again. After the passenger was taken off the plane, the aircraft was refuelled and prepared to continue to Manchester, however, due to the flight plan exceeding operational hours, the plane could not depart from the airport. Passengers had to board a flight the following day to complete the journey For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast Dreams of a better life in America coaxed Francisco Quintanilla to flee war-torn El Salvador. He left behind his family to work as a driver and in agriculture. After decades in the U.S., Quintanilla, 76, became sick and died in November. Grieving, his wife and their three children awaited his bodys return from a Sacramento funeral home to honor him with a proper Salvadoran funeral. It often includes an open-casket ceremony that could last multiple days. On the day of the December funeral, his family propped open his casket to a shocking discovery: La Paz Funeral Home sent a strangers body to their home, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Quintanillas family in Sacramento Superior Court against the funeral home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And when Quintanilla finally arrived home in El Salvador shipped by La Paz two weeks after the scheduled funeral another gruesome discovery struck. A horrible smell drifted out of the casket. His purple skin shriveled. Fluid soaked through his clothing, the lawsuit said. Our final memory of Francisco is one we wish we could forget, Quintanillas wife, Maria Mercedes Medjia de Quintanilla, said in a statement. Quintanillas family alleged La Paz Funeral Services, Inc. failed to properly embalm their loved one and employed unlicensed staff. As a result, the family scuttled proper burial rituals, forgoing their cultural and religious practices, according to the lawsuit filed by Marcereau Law Group, a firm based in Orange County. A call to La Paz Funeral Home was not immediately returned Wednesday. The Little Pocket business specializes in preparing bodies for Latino communities who will be buried outside U.S., the lawsuit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David Macpherson, the attorney for La Paz Funeral Services, Inc., said Wednesday he has not been served with the lawsuit. The funeral home charged Quintanillas family thousands of dollars for its services and did not offer a refund, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit lists four causes of action: a breach of contract, negligence, negligent hiring and inflicting emotional distress on the family. An attorney representing Quintanillas family is seeking an unspecified amount of damages for his clients, according to the complaint. La Paz Funeral Services license was set to last until December. Its last inspection was in June 2023, according to the states Department of Consumer Affairs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A court hearing in the case was set for next year, according to the online court system. Franciscos life was one of resilience and devotion, attorney Rob Marcereau said in a statement. He deserved a dignified farewell, yet La Paz completely failed in their promise to treat him and his family with care and respect. This grieving family deserved better. A Sacramento man who sparked a manhunt after the body of his baby daughter was found next to a Southern California dumpster was convicted of murder and assault on Wednesday, prosecutors said. A Sacramento Superior Court jury found Alexander Echeverria, 27, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 8-month-old daughter, Alexia. They also convicted him of assault on a child resulting in death, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Hos office said in a news release. Echeverria took Alexia to Southern California from Sacramento on May 26, 2019, refusing pleas from family members to bring her back, Hos office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The infants body was found in a car seat behind a trash bin in the city of Bellflower, according to previous Bee reporting. As the hunt for him grew, Echeverria fled to Mexico but surrendered at the U.S. border in early June 2019. He was extradited to face trial in Sacramento County, and has been held in the countys Main Jail since, records show. Echeverria faces a maximum punishment of 25 years to life in prison, the D.A.s Office said. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 30. COURTESY KAUAI POLICE DEPARTMENT Kauai police are looking for 29-year-old David Borges. COURTESY KAUAI POLICE DEPARTMENT Kauai police are looking for 29-year-old David Borges. The wife of a member was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison Wednesday for her role in an effort to get her husbands carjacking and kidnapping victims to make false statements. Mahina Bactad, 29, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Feb. 15, 2024, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She obtained false written statements and delivered them to (her husband ) Albert Bactads unwitting attorney for the purpose of committing a fraud upon the court through use at trial of the statements, which have been designated by Albert Bactads counsel as defense trial exhibits. Mahina Bactad must self-surrender to federal prison before 2 p.m., April 23, according to federal court records. In a Sept. 7, 2023, seven-count superseding indictment, David Borges, 42, aka Rush ; Albert Bactad, 49 ; Wayne Ino uye, 49 ; Robin Takiguchi, 54, aka Kaleo ; and Mahina Bactad were charged. Albert Bactad and Borges were charged with collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means, carjacking, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and kidnapping. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Inouye, Takiguchi, and Mahina Bactad were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of obstruction of justice in the superseding indictment. On Dec. 26, 2021, in Lihue, Kauai, Albert Bactad and David Borges lured Person 1 into a parking lot to collect a debt for a third party, according to federal court documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Borges pulled a gun and threatened to shoot Person 1 and the woman he was with if he did not give up his Chrysler 300 to repay the debt. While threatening the couple with a gun, Borges and Bactad drove them around against their will. The next day, Borges and Bactad visited Person 2 to collect money owed a third party that they were working for. The person in debt refuted the total and told the pair he owed them 10 % of that total. Borges and Bactad held Person 2 against his will in his garage and repeatedly hit him in the face and head, fracturing it in several places, until Person 2 agreed to call someone to bring the pair $2, 500. After the money was delivered, Person 2 was set free. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a Sept. 8, 2023, motion to detain Inouye without bail until trial, federal prosecutors identified Inouye, Albert Bactad, Borges and Takiguchi as USO Gang members with criminal histories. USO stands for United Samoan Organization, but the prison gang welcomes all ethnicities into its membership inside and outside of Hawaiis prisons and jails. In 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice declared the USO Gang, allegedly founded in 1998, the dominant prison gang in Hawaii and a major player in mainland prison gang activity. or citations on his record and 25 prior criminal convictions at the state level, including for robbery, fraudulent use of a credit card, car theft and felony assault and drug promotion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Albert Bactad has 18 prior state convictions, including for witness tampering and 10 separate assault cases. Inouye has 15 prior state convictions, including for assaulting a police officer and robbery. Takiguchi has 17 prior state convictions, including for felony drug promotion and forgery. Mahina Bactad had no prior criminal history. Inouye was charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and two counts of obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release on Sept.9. According to the terms of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors filed Feb. 29, 2024, Inouye pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice. Takiguchi entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release on Sept. 5. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bactad, Inouye, Takiguchi and Mahina Bactad allegedly worked together to intimidate and procure false written affidavits from the carjacking victim identified as Person 1 and the kidnapping victim identified as Person 2. Albert and Mahina Bactad allegedly directed the actions of Inouye and Takiguchi, who confronted the two victims in early August and procured false written statements from the two victims, according to the motion to detain. Both victims believed that they would be assaulted if they refused to sign the statements. Borges sentencing in two separate federal criminal cases is scheduled for June 2. Borges entered into a plea agreement Oct. 24 to and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, using a gun to market drugs, selling fentanyl and cocaine, and collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means. TOPEKA (KSNT) A satanic ritual is set to take place at the Kansas capitol. Michael Stewart, founder and President of the Satanic Grotto, will be leading a Black Mass. In an exclusive interview with Nexstars Kansas Capitol Bureau, he called it an act of defiance. Im hoping that our Legislature remembers that Kansas is a diverse group of people with a diverse needs and wants, and stops placating to the largest demographic of religious people, Stewart said. A Black Mass is a centuries-old ceremony held by various Satanic groups. Its designed to be a sacrilegious and blasphemous parody of a Catholic Mass. However, Stewart said its an unfair examination of their ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are going to observe certain rules than what we would do in private, Stewart said. Ours tend to be a little more body, a little more ruckus, smoke and mirrors and fun. We cant make any messes here. We cant do a lot of things, so what were going to do is heavily lean into the four blasphemies, kind of representing an alternate to the stations of the cross. Stewart spoke with Capitol Bureau Chief Rebekah Chung about the upcoming event. He said theyre protesting oppression and those who have imposed their religion on them and failed them. The group is adamant about hosting the event inside, despite the Governors wishes. Stewart said Wednesday that theyll hold the Black Mass inside the building, even if it means getting arrested by capitol police. The ceremony is also igniting a heated debate over freedom of speech and expression, with Catholics arguing that it goes too far. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think also just the fact that they want to bring it front and center here at the Kansas Capitol is also deeply disturbing, said Chuck Weber, Executive Director of the Kansas Catholic Conference. Again, more shock value, this is the peoples house. We wouldnt allow this kind of behavior in our homes, why should we allow it here at the state capitol? Weber is calling it anti-Catholic bigotry. The Black Mass is set to take place on March 28th, the last day for lawmakers to wrap up regular session. Weber said hes concerned that it could disrupt lawmakers work, citing past protests from Satanists that have included signs with inciteful language, laden with expletives. We dont know exactly what this satanic worship event is going to look like, but from what weve read, it crosses a line of just expressing ones opinion and it crosses a line into inciting conflict, Weber said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stewart said its an opportunity for members of his group to express themselves and share the pain that theyve experienced. The Satanic group leader believes that religion has taken center stage in some debates at the statehouse, like abortion. He agreed that the ceremony will be their way of combating some of the religious ties theyre seeing seep into legislation at the statehouse. In 2022, Kansas voters decided to uphold abortion rights in the states constitution. Meanwhile, Catholic groups have advocated for more restrictions on abortion in the state. I think to say whatever Judeo-Christian influence has here in the state capitol on our laws is a good thing, Weber said. I think Satan worship and Satanic thinking is a bad thing, so Im ready to have that fight any day of the week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. A proposed bill would create an alert system for missing Indigenous people, something lawmakers believe will bring awareness to an ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. The bill, created by Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and sponsored by state Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, aims to coordinate tribal, local and federal efforts to alert the public of a missing Indigenous or endangered person. The alert system would be modeled after the Amber and Silver alerts, which notify the public of a missing child, senior or person with disabilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These alerts are fantastic, but we leave off a segment of population who go missing, and the state of Arizona doesn't even know to look for them," Martinez said. House Bill 2281 was introduced in January 2025, but lawmakers and advocates have felt a renewed push to pass the legislation after the devastating discovery of 14-year-old Emily Pike, who was a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. "I testified in early February that this legislation is critical, and it will save lives," Lewis said. "Little did I know at that time, Emily Pike, a 14-year-old member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, had been missing for weeks. She was found brutally murdered nine days after that testimony." 'The system failed Emily': Indigenous community rallies around slain San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill requires the Arizona Department of Public Safety to establish an alert system for missing Indigenous or endangered people between 18 and 55, the range between Amber and Silver alerts. The alert would be used if the investigating agency has exhausted all resources; determined the person went missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances; and believed that the person is in danger, in the company of a potentially dangerous person or other factors indicating their life may be in danger. In a Senate Public Safety Committee meeting on Wednesday, Lewis emphasized that the aim of the bill wasn't to favor Native Americans over others but noted that Indigenous people are victims of violent crimes at a higher rate than others. The bill has garnered much public support, including from the Office of the Navajo Nation President and Vice President, DPS, Tohono O'odham Nation and the Gila River Indian Community. The bill passed the House unanimously on Feb. 24, three days before the Gila County Sheriff's Office announced that Emily's body had been found. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate Public Safety Committee on Wednesday and will be voted on by the full Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I can't help but think, what if this law was in place early, would Emily be alive today?" Lewis said. The sponsors of the bill don't anticipate any monetary impact. What happened to Emily Pike? According to Mesa police, Pike had run away from her group home near Mesa Drive and McKellips Road in late January. Her body was found brutalized and in trash bags in Gila County, northeast of Globe, 17 days later, said Jim Lahti of the Gila County Sheriff's Office. What happened between when she was last seen and when her body was found is under investigation by the Gila County Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, FBI and other local agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Amber Alert was not issued for Pike because her case didn't meet the requirements of an alert, the Mesa Police Department said. The department said it had no indication she was abducted. "The reality is that this little girl was missing ... and they found her dismembered," Martinez said. The Gila County Sheriff's Office said there were no updates as of March 7. The investigators were "vigorously" working on the case, Lahti said. According to data analyzed by the Urban Indian Health Institute in 2018, Arizona ranked third in states with the highest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In a survey of cities that provided data, Tucson ranked in the top 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Everybody is going to know (Emily's name), and we are not going to stop, we are going to be loud for everybody, not just Emily," said Alyssa Dosela, Emily's aunt, at a vigil for Pike on March 6. During the Senate committee meeting, legislators floated the idea of amending the bill to name the alert after Pike. The Amber Alert, while standing for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, also refers to the brutal kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Texas in 1996. Additional help: Federal agencies join Arizona investigation into disappearance of 14-year-old Emily Pike This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Indigenous Amber Alert bill for AZ advances after Emily Pike's death SAVOY, Ill. (WCIA) Its not every day you get to celebrate someone turning 100 years old and much less, two the same day. But one senior care facility got to host a birthday party for two of its residents celebrating the century mark. Remarkable Women: Donna saving lives at Hope 4 Horses The 50s themed diner was packed with friends from around the facility and some well-known guests. Gladys Taylor and Rollin Wright got a visit from some of Central Illinois elected officials. State Senators Paul Faraci, Chapin Rose and Rep. Brandun Schweizer came to the Villas of Holly Brook in Savoy to honor them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawmakers came with official proclamations from the state senate and house to give out in celebration to their contributions to the community. WCIA asked Taylor and Wright if they had any life advice to share after a combined 200 years of life experience. Lead a clean life and go by the bible, scripture, Taylor said. If you do that and you have your family, your relatives and all of them come around you just to visit you and see you, thats the most precious thing you can have. Live a good life, take care of your family, Wright added. Both Taylor and Wright said they feel younger than 100 and have been looking back on memories theyve had throughout their life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. Activists with South Carolina chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, stood on the Statehouse steps Thursday, March 13, 2025, calling on legislators to close the "Charleston loophole" for gun background checks nearly a decade after the Mother Emanuel shooting. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA Nearly a decade ago, a loophole in the federal gun law made it possible for an avowed white supremacist with a history of drug use to buy a pistol, despite a drug arrest that should have blocked the purchase. Two months later, he used that pistol to kill nine members of the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston gathered for a Bible study the evening of June 17, 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tragedy still haunts the family of Rep. Hamilton Grant, D-Columbia, whose wifes grandfather, the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., was among the victims. Grant joined the roughly 50 activists from the South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action and the Beaufort High School chapter of Students Demand Action on the south steps of the Statehouse on Thursday to call for passage of state legislation to close the so-called Charleston loophole. Rep. Hamilton Grant, D-Columbia, raises the Bible of his wifes grandfather, who was one of nine parishioners slain by a gunman at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston in 2015. Grant stood with activists on the Statehouse steps Thursday, March 13, 2025, calling on legislators to close the Charleston loophole for gun background checks nearly a decade after the Mother Emanuel shooting. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) He held high the Bible that Simmons had with him that night. For 10 years, weve heard from past and present elected officials from this state on how much they are praying for us, how much they admire our strength and courage to forgive someone who wasnt sorry, Grant said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And while I have no doubt that all those kind words and prayers were sincere, I am often conflicted when they are not backed with action. The loophole Under federal law, the FBI has three business days to complete a background check for a person seeking to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer. If the background check takes longer, for whatever reason, the dealer has the right to continue with the sale. It was reporting errors and jurisdictional confusion that kept an FBI investigator from getting the necessary information on the Mother Emanuel shooter that would have prevented him from buying the gun, according to a 2015 statement by then FBI Director James Comey. Columbia police had arrested the then-21-year-old shooter on felony drug charges a month before he entered a West Columbia gun shop to purchase the .45-caliber pistol. Had reports directed the investigator to the correct police department, she would have learned the shooter admitted to having drugs on him when he was arrested, disqualifying him for the gun purchase. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2017, a federal jury in Charleston sentenced Dylann Roof to death for the slaying after convicting him on 33 counts for federal hate crimes and firearms charges. He is among just three inmates left on federal death row after President Joe Biden pardoned 37 other prisoners in December. Unfinished checks According to FBI data, there were 271,359 background checks in 2015 that went uncompleted within the allotted three-day window, allowing sales to go forward without a finished check. Thats 3% of all federal checks run that year. The Mother Emanuel shooter was one of them. Since then, the FBI has recorded a total of 2.9 million uncompleted background checks through 2023, the latest available data. Historically, 70-80% of those uncompleted checks lingered for 90 days and were purged from the federal system, meaning federal law enforcement never learned if a gun was sold to someone prohibited from owning it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For 2023 in South Carolina, there were 9,072 uncompleted checks. In at least 71 of those instances, the FBI later learned a gun was sold to an unauthorized buyer. A history of not acting Legislators talked of changing state laws in the immediate aftermath of the Mother Emanuel tragedy. But the idea never gained traction in the gun-friendly Statehouse. A month after the massacre, then-Gov. Nikki Haley said learning from the FBI what happened made her literally sick to my stomach. But in response, she questioned why investigators were still relying on paperwork, saying the solution is technology, not more time. Her stance angered relatives of the victims, who hoped shed support gun safety legislation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, pledged to block any pro-gun bill until the Senate held a hearing on legislation extending the time period for completing background checks. In 2016, he succeeded, blocking a bill on concealed weapon permits until the Senates former judiciary chairman pledged to hold a hearing. Kimpsons bill reached the Senate floor in 2018 but never got a vote. He reintroduced the bill in 2019 and got a hearing, but the legislation never made it out of committee. In Congress, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn has repeatedly sponsored legislation that would give the FBI up to 20 days to complete a background check. The U.S. House passed the bill in 2019 and in 2021, but neither received a vote on the U.S. Senate floor. Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, D-Columbia, left, Rep. Hamilton Grant, D-Columbia, right, and Sen. Deon Tedder, D-Charleston, top, stood with activists on the Statehouse steps Thursday, March 13, 2025, calling on legislators to close the Charleston loophole for gun background checks nearly a decade after the Mother Emanuel shooting. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) Now, Democratic state Sen. Deon Tedder, who sits in Kimpsons former seat, has taken up the mantle and filed legislation. As has Rep. J.A. Moore, D-North Charleston, whose sister was killed in the Mother Emanuel shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want to remind everyone here that there is a real, genuine impact behind making sure a background check is complete before proceeding with the gun sale. Its not just a tagline, said Beaufort High School junior Piper Kennedy. It could have saved the nine lives that were taken at Mother Emanuel church, she continued. But instead of focusing on solutions that we know prevent gun violence, this Legislature is (doing) just the opposite. Kennedy said she has grown up practicing active shooter drills at school and knowing that a normal day could end in bloodshed. In 2022, those drills became more real after a spate of hoax calls to schools around the state had students in lock down afraid there was a school shooter roaming the halls. Piper Kennedy, a volunteer with Beaufort High School Students Demand Action chapter, stood on the Statehouse steps Thursday, March 13, 2025, calling on legislators to close the Charleston loophole for gun background checks nearly a decade after the Mother Emanuel shooting. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) In addition to the loophole bill, the activists called for funding of community violence intervention programs and laws to criminally charge gun owners who do not securely store firearms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want to be able to go outside and walk our dog. We want to be able to sit on our porch. We want to even be able to go to sleep at night without hearing gunshots, said Trevon Fordham, who runs the city of Columbias violent crime prevention office. And while that may sound like something from a movie for some folks, it is the reality for a lot of folks we talk to because of gun violence. Grant commended House budget writers for allocating money in their budget plan to pay for police officers in every public school in the state. But the activists were not under any illusion that legislators were likely to take up other measures. Instead, legislators have expanded gun access, passing a law last March that made it legal to carry handguns without a permit, said Patty Tuttle, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action in South Carolina. They have a history of not acting on this and its inexcusable, she said. COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) The South Carolina Board of Education unanimously voted to recommend the removal of 10 books from school classrooms and libraries. The boards Instructional Materials Review Committee held a meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss books that have received complaints. The committee has heard challenges to 27 books after a regulation was implemented by the South Carolina Department of Education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The regulation allows removing books or instructional material that contains sexual conduct. The department said the regulation is not book banning, but dictates what books the government should buy. The IMRC recommended removing the following 10 books: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Identical by Ellen Hopkins Collateral by Ellen Hopkins Lucky by Alice Sebold Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo Hopeless by Colleen Hoover Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas All of the books were requested for review by one complainant, Elizabeth Szalai. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committees book removal recommendations will be evaluated at the full board of education meeting on April 1. So far, the board has removed 11 of the 17 books that have been challenged. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. Legislation in the Senate seeks to broadly overhaul rules for personal injury lawsuits in South Carolina that owners of bars and other businesses say drive up insurance rates. (Stock photo by Kevin Trimmer/Getty Images) I am a proud South Carolina native, born and raised in the Upstate, and I love this state with my whole heart. South Carolina isnt just where I live its part of who I am. Its where I learned the value of hard work, where I built lifelong friendships, and where Ive seen communities rally together in times of celebration and hardship alike. From small-town diners to family-owned bars and iconic live music venues, these businesses dont just make up our economy they make up our memories, our traditions, and the fabric of our lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They are the places we go to unwind after a long day, where we celebrate milestones, and where we find a sense of belonging. Thats why its devastating to watch them struggle not because of bad business decisions, but because of a legal system that sets them up to fail. An unfair legal system hurting small businesses South Carolinas current joint and several liability laws can leave bars, restaurants, and venues vulnerable to massive financial burdens. While a business must be found negligent to be held liable, the reality is that once fault is assigned even at a minimal level the business can be forced to pay the entire verdict if the primarily at-fault party lacks the funds or insurance coverage to cover the damages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This system creates a serious financial risk for small businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, where liability is often difficult to define. Proving that a bartender knowingly over-served an individual beyond the legal limit is already challenging. But under current law, bars and restaurants can still be targeted for a disproportionate share of damages simply because they have the means to pay. This drives up insurance premiums, forces settlements to avoid devastating verdicts, and ultimately puts businesses at risk of closing their doors for good. The impact on SC businesses I have witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking impact of this legal system. Over the years, I have watched longtime favorite bars, restaurants, and venues close not because they failed their customers, but because they were trapped in an unfair legal climate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These werent just businesses; they were landmarks, gathering places, and sources of identity for entire communities. Its gut-wrenching to see the lights go out in a bar where generations have gathered. Its painful to walk past an empty storefront where a family once poured their heart and soul into a business. Every time another small business shuts down, it feels like we are losing a part of our states identity. These are the places where we celebrate birthdays, first dates, reunions, and even the ordinary moments that make life beautiful. Their loss is more than just an economic blow its a cultural one. I refuse to stand by and watch more of these places disappear. Senate bill 244 is not just for business owners, but for the future of South Carolinas economy and culture. Bring fairness back to the courts The bill being debated on the Senate floor introduces a fair share rule, ensuring that businesses are only responsible for damages that match their actual level of fault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This commonsense reform protects small businesses from being unfairly burdened by lawsuits they should never have to pay for while keeping the legal system fair for everyone. The opposition claims this bill is bad for consumers. That couldnt be further from the truth. When businesses face fewer predatory lawsuits, they can keep costs lower, invest in their employees, and continue serving their communities. Reforming our legal system benefits everyone except the lawsuit industry profiting from the status quo. Why this matters now This issue isnt abstract its happening to business owners across South Carolina every day. Many bars and restaurants are just one lawsuit away from shutting down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve heard their stories. Weve seen the financial and emotional toll. And we refuse to stand by while more businesses fall victim to this broken system. With bipartisan support and backing from Gov. Henry McMaster and Senate leadership, S.244 is a crucial step toward making South Carolina a business-friendly state that values fairness, economic growth, and community sustainability. Action is needed The business community is watching. South Carolina voters are watching. South Carolinas small businesses need an end to the lawsuit abuse that has plagued them for too long. This isnt just about one industry. Its about protecting the future of our economy and ensuring businesses can thrive without the constant threat of legal exploitation. South Carolina has the opportunity to lead the way in legal fairness. Now is the time to stand with small businesses. Let us know what you think... KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) As a scandal continues to unfold involving Chattanooga Preparatory School, concerns are arising that a similar issue could unfold at Knoxville Preparatory School, which shares a central office with the Chattanooga location. On Thursday, it was reported that nearly half of Chattanooga Preps teachers were unlicensed, leading Hamilton County Schools to begin the process to revoke the schools charter, ABC affiliate WTVC in Chattanooga reported. Knoxville case sheds light on how family is found when someone dies alone Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The discovery came in the wake of the arrest and indictment of a former Chattanooga Prep teacher on charges including solicitation of a child and kidnapping. After the arrest, it was uncovered that he was unlicensed, the outlet reported. Following the news of the situation at Chattanooga Prep, 6 News reached out to Kathern Bike, Knox County Schools Board of Educations representative for the 4th District to find out if its possible the issue could also be present at Knox Prep. She said that because the schools share the same central office, there is a real chance that the issues at Chattanooga Prep could be present as Knox Prep as well. The only difference is that Knox Prep has only been operating for less than a year and only has 88 students. Knox County students are important to me and this is a very serious issue. As a Board of Education member of the authorizing LEA, I have been asking our central office staff to look into Knox Prep for compliance issues. I have also asked for a full investigation. Im in communication with many legislators about this issue, Bike wrote. Knox Prep, a tuition free, all-boys charter school, opened in the fall of 2024. Chatt Prep CEO Brad Scott announced in 2022 that they were looking to expand the Chatt Prep learning model to Knoxville. In 2023, it was announced that the charter school would be moving into the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valleys North Knoxville building, however, the school also faced pushback from the Knoxville NAACP over its charter school application to the Knox County Board of Education that was ultimately approved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheriffs office investigating Loudon County mans disappearance In Tennessee, teachers at charter schools are required to have the same licensure and preparation standards as educators in other public schools. The main difference between charter schools and standard public schools is that charter schools are operated by independent, non-profit governing bodies, which allows them to use different and innovative teaching methods and have more decision-making authority in exchange for greater responsibility for student performance, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that demilitarisation of Ukraine is one of Russia's goals, and this must not happen. Source: European Pravda with reference to Tagesschau, a German TV news service Quote from Scholz: "The demilitarisation of Ukraine was one of Russias war aims and this must not succeed." Details: Scholz emphasised that a strong army is "the most important guarantee of security for the country". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He called for continued long-term support for Ukraine "until peace is achieved and beyond". Scholz said the ceasefire discussions currently taking place provide an opportunity to explore ways to achieve lasting peace. He believes this could include further steps, such as the exchange of prisoners or the return of abducted people. Background: Recently, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu stated that Europe must reject calls for the demilitarisation of Ukraine. He also pointed out that France would "reject any demilitarisation of the Ukrainian army". Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the conditions for ending the Russo-Ukrainian war could not be such that they would mean Ukraine's de facto surrender and that a lasting peace is necessary for the security of the entire European continent. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! SANTA YSABEL, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) The San Diego County Office of Education on Thursday announced early school closures for a district in the countys backcountry. Due to inclement weather and hazardous road conditions, schools in the Spencer Valley School District will close at noon on March 13. PHOTOS: San Diego commuters hit with heavy morning rain, flooding This comes amid a Winter Weather Advisory that went into effect at 6 a.m. Thursday for mountain areas, including places like Julian and Pine Valley. The National Weather Service says wet snow is expected, with total accumulations up to 5 inches and wind gusts as high as 55 mph. This could create slippery road conditions and extensive tree damage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The safety of students and school staff is of the utmost importance to San Diego County school districts, officials with the Office of Education noted in a press release announcing the closure. For more real-time updates on school closures, follow @SanDiegoCOE on X. The Winter Weather Advisory is set to expire at 11 p.m. Thursday. In the meantime, officials with the National Weather Service are encouraging motorists in the mountain areas to slow down and use caution while traveling during their morning commute. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. It's been nearly three years since controversial Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui was released from prison for gene-hacking human babies and now, he appears to be hitting back at the rules that led to his punishment. In a cryptic post on X that featured a photo of the scientist blankly staring directly into the camera, He wrote that "ethics is holding back scientific innovation and progress." Though he doesn't mention it directly, that post seems like a clear reference to the ethical standards that made his 2018 gene-hacking experiments which saw him using CRISPR to edit the DNA of twin girls pseudonymously known as "Lulu" and "Nana" in an attempt to make them immune to HIV the source of global public outcry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After He announced that he'd created the world's first so-called "CRISPR babies" and that they'd been born seemingly without defect, the experiments were widely denounced as unethical to the point of abomination. In 2019, the scientist was arrested in China and sentenced to three years in prison and just 18 months after his release in April 2022, He was back in the lab working on how to use genetic editing to fight Alzheimer's. Despite his return to the lab, however, it appears per a string of English-language missives posted on X that the notorious Chinese scientist has a chip on his shoulder about the stigma he accrued for his gene-hacking experiments. "Gene editing technology has the power to reshape the world," He wrote in a November post, "like [the] nuclear bomb." "Great revolution begins with controversy," the scientist declared in another. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alongside his vague proclamations of grandeur, He also came down hard on the use of biological weapons, paid lip service to the potential for universal access to genetic editing regardless of income, and even claimed in one post from December that "gene editing should not be conducted in countries with lax regulation in ethics." Taken together, these statements paint the portrait of a self-righteous scientist who, like so many of his Western counterparts, seems to believe despite all evidence to the contrary that he has been "canceled" for going against the grain. The reality, of course, is that He clearly feels hemmed in by the ethical rules that he was punished for ignoring the first time around and wants to be able to do his problematic work in peace. More on strange science: Weird New Computer Runs AI on Captive Human Brain Cells SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Here are this mornings top stories with KELOLAND On the Go. The South Dakota attorney generals office has released the name of the man found dead in Scotland, South Dakota. Jackley releases name of person found dead in Scotland Wednesday Evening, Governor Larry Rhoden posted that the wildfire is near Takini School is under control. He says there are still some hot spots, but theyre surrounded by areas that have already burned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UPDATE: Cheyenne River Sioux wildfire under control Tomorrow, the weather forecast turns more active. Severe weather will be possible in parts of southeastern KELOLAND after 3pm. The risk level is marginal for our area, but more substantial risk levels are noted on the map below into Iowa. Fire danger, severe weather, and snow all possible the next 48 hours Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. Convicted wife killer Scott Peterson was attacked in a California prison while playing pickleball. That's according to TMZ, which reported that Peterson was "beat up" on Sunday, March 9, 2025. Peterson got into a "heated confrontation" with another inmate at Mule Creek State Prison, TMZ reported. According to TMZ, the other inmate became enraged when Peterson "hit the ball directly" at him. Advertisement Advertisement Peterson's crime is notorious. He was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child. At first, she was a missing person. However, her body was later found submerged in San Francisco Bay, and her husband was charged with the crime. Prosecutors proved that Peterson was having an affair at the time of the murder. He has maintained his innocence. According to People, Peterson suffered only minor injuries in the prison beating. "Scott Peterson was involved in an incident with another person at Mule Creek State Prison and suffered minor injuries, CDCR spokesperson Todd Javernick told The Sacramento Bee Scott Peterson (L) and attorney Mark Geragos talk in Stanislaus Superior Court June 26, 2003 in Modesto, California. Getty Images/Getty Images According to ABC News, the Los Angeles Innocence Project is helping Peterson in the case. Peterson appeared in a Peacock documentary in 2024, in which he argued that he was innocent. "It was a case that captivated the country. At 8 months pregnant, Laci Peterson went missing on Christmas Eve, 2002. As the investigation unfolded, her husband Scott was revealed to be a liar, a cheater, and ultimately a murderer," the documentary caption reads. "For the first time since before his arrest in 2003, Scott speaks on camera in a series of intimate conversations revealing his side of the story with Director and Executive Producer Shareen Anderson, who has been investigating this case for over a decade." it continued. Sea levels rose even higher than anticipated last year, according to an analysis by NASA. Last year was the hottest on record for the planet largely due to human-caused climate change leading to a sea-level rise of nearly 0.23 inches, significantly more than the 0.17 inches of rise expected, NASA said. The rise we saw in 2024 was higher than we expected, said Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in the NASA release. Every year is a little bit different, but whats clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These areas of California could be underwater by 2050 While a quarter inch may not sound like a lot on its own, the effects are cumulative, with sea levels now 4 inches higher than they were in 1993, when satellites were first used to record ocean height. Since that first record, sea levels are rising more than twice as fast as they were. By the end of the century, global mean sea level is likely to rise at least one foot (0.3 meters) above 2000 levels, even if greenhouse gas emissions follow a relatively low pathway in coming decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens officially launched his reelection bid on Tuesday, but even hes not sure whos running against him. Without any opponents yet, is this all for show? Dickens told hundreds of supporters early Tuesday evening at a campaign kickoff party inside the Monday Night Brewing location in the West End. The 50-year-old former Atlanta lawmaker recalled running as a long-shot candidate against 13 other contenders four years ago during his first mayoral campaign, when he said some initial polls had him receiving just 4% support from voters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dickens said his real political rivals have always been systemic issues in the city, including racism, violence, poverty, joblessness, homelessness, and hopelessness. Those have been our opponents, and thats the reason for this campaign, he said. Its the reason we need to build momentum for another four more years. Blandtown resident Marcus D. Lamar and 2021 mayoral candidate Walter Reeves have filed required paperwork to begin raising money for mayoral runs in the fall, according to Atlanta Municipal Clerk Corrine Lindo. But so far, no one with name recognition and a clear groundswell of grassroots support has dared to challenge Dickens, whose incumbency, resume of accomplishments, and long list of prominent political allies will make him difficult to beat in November. Supporters of the Stop Cop City movement acknowledged as much during a demonstration that took place outside the mayors rally on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At this time we dont have anybody that is willing to do it, Stop Cop City campaign manager Chris Bufford told Capital B Atlanta during a follow-up phone call on Thursday. Its a sad thing. Former Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore and Black Futurists Group founder Devin Barrington-Ward have been mentioned as potential Dickens challengers, but neither have filed paperwork declaring their intentions yet. Barrington-Ward has been a vocal critic of Dickens policy at City Council meetings, especially the mayors support for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known as Cop City. The 35-year-old social justice activist recently ran a failed campaign to fill a post 3 at-large vacancy on Atlanta City Council. He told Capital B Atlanta on Thursday that hes giving serious consideration to a mayoral run, but right now he and his pregnant wife, Penelope, are focused on welcoming their new son, who is due to be born any day now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I cant make any decisions until I meet my son, Barrington-Ward told Capital B Atlanta on Thursday. He also said its important for someone to run against Dickens even if they lose, and noted the added challenges he says progressive candidates tend to face. When youre fighting for the working class, that sometimes makes you ineligible for the financial support that other candidates who are running for office oftentimes enjoy, Barrington-Ward said. Moore lost the last mayoral runoff race against Dickens four years ago. Recently, shes been critical of the mayors political battle with former Office of Inspector General Shannon Manigault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moore hasnt responded to calls and text messages requesting comment on whether she intends to challenge Dickens for mayor. The power of incumbency Former Atlanta Mayors Andrew Young and Bill Campbell were among the attendees at Tuesdays rally in support of Andre Dickens reelection campaign. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B) Its been more than half a century since an incumbent Atlanta mayor lost a reelection bid while still serving in office. Former Mayor Sam Massell was the last one to do it, in 1973, when he lost reelection to Maynard Jackson, the citys first Black mayor. Former Mayors Andrew Young and Bill Campbell joined Dickens at his Tuesday evening campaign launch party. Another former mayor, Shirley Franklin, wasnt there, but Dickens made it clear that she, too, is a supporter. Shes not here right now because shes out there knocking on doors, Dickens said, drawing laughter from the crowd. She aint got time to be at no rally. Local media personality Lori Hanford poses for a photo with Atlanta School Board member Alfred Shivy Brooks during Tuesdays rally. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B) Dickens supporters include Lori Hanford, also known as Rich Auntie Lori, a local media personality and self-described friend who attended the mayors reelection rally on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hanford praised the mayors 2023 Year of the Youth campaign and the efforts of his Affordable Housing Strike Force, which Dickens recently said has already delivered on 11,000 units that have either been started or completed. Hes doing a great job, Hanford said of Dickens. He has a vibe for the city. What Dickens critics say Mary Hooks (right), tactical lead for the Cop City Vote campaign, speaks alongside fellow Stop Cop City supporter Kamau Franklin during a protest Tuesday against Dickens outside a Monday Night Brewing location in Atlanta. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B) The race for mayor doesnt officially begin until late August. Lindo said challengers must file paperwork between Aug. 19 and Aug. 22 showing theyre qualified to run. But political observers say anyone looking to unseat Dickens would need all the time they could get between now and then to build support and raise money. Those observers include Fallon McClure, deputy southeast regional director of the Working Families Party, a progressive political organization that hosted an event in support of the citys office of inspector general late last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Manigault recently resigned from her position after a monthslong political battle with Dickens and his allies over whether her office had exceeded its authority during some investigations. The citys inspector general office was created in 2020 to root out waste, fraud, and corruption after several former city officials were convicted in major criminal scandals under former Mayor Kasim Reeds administration. Manigault accused Dickens and other city leaders of making it impossible to do her job. In February, she admitted to unwittingly issuing subpoenas that allegedly violated state law before resigning. Dickens appointed LaDawn Blackett, a local judge, at the end of February to serve as Atlantas interim OIG. McClure continued voicing support for the OIGs transparency and accountability efforts, but said her organization isnt backing any challengers against Dickens right now. We dont necessarily have any plans to run anyone against him, she said. Were not actively looking for anyone, but I think its possible at some point to build a bridge, especially if Mayor Dickens were elected to another term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McClure acknowledged Dickens long list of accomplishments and apparent popularity with Atlanta voters despite having high-profile clashes with progressive activists. Those activists include Mary Hooks, tactical lead for the Cop City Vote campaign, which backed a push to put Cop City on the ballot last year. That push was derailed by an appeals case, the outcome of which has yet to be decided. Hooks was among the Stop Cop City protesters who demonstrated against Dickens outside his campaign rally on Tuesday. Protesters there said the training center could lead to more anti-Black police brutality, adding that the mayors efforts to prevent Cop City from being placed on the ballot were antidemocratic, contradicting Atlantas pro-voting civil rights legacy. Hooks said Dickens may be popular with middle and upper class Atlanta residents, but in her view he hasnt done enough to help the citys largely Black, poor, and working class in one of Americas most unequal cities, in which Black residents have a median income of roughly $28,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite all that, she said shes not aware of anyone looking to run against Dickens in November. Theres still time and there are still folks, Hooks told Capital B Atlanta during a followup phone interview on Wednesday. Were only in March right now. I believe much can happen between [now and the election]. Candidates for mayor must be city residents who have lived in Atlanta for at least a year prior to filing to run for office, and are required to pay a qualifying fee of $6,081. They also have to be at least 18 or older, and be qualified electors of the city, meaning they have to be eligible to vote and must have voted in at least one prior election, according to the clerk. The post Is a Second Andre Dickens Term Inevitable? appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta. A former Hyatt Regency employee who was charged with felony murder in the death last summer of D'Vontaye Mitchell has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Herbert Williamson, 53, of Milwaukee, is one of four men who after Mitchell's June 30 death initially faced charges of felony murder, which in Wisconsin carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery, which is punishable by up to nine months in jail, plus a $10,000 fine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The development, from Circuit Court Judge David Swanson's courtroom, brings to two the number of men who have pleaded guilty to a crime stemming from the case. Nayisha Mitchell, the sister of D'Vontaye Mitchell, speaks to local reporters at a demonstration on Monday, August 5. "It's frustrating," Mitchells sister Nayisha Mitchell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel outside the courtroom. "They (prosecutors) had all this evidence for a murder case at the beginning. Now, they're (defendants) getting probation and fines. They're getting off too easy." Sentencing will be Sept. 3. Williamson, 52, worked at the Hyatt as a bell driver door attendant until Aimbridge Hospitality, the third-party operator that manages the Hyatt, fired him and three other men after charges were handed down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, Brandon LaDaniel Turner, 35, pleaded guilty to felony murder as a party to a crime, after reaching a deal to cooperate with prosecutors. Prosecutors agreed to recommend probation for Turner, a security guard, in exchange for his testimony against any remaining defendants at trial. Last month, another guard, Todd Erickson, requested a trial date. Jury selection in his case is scheduled for Aug. 11, with a final pre-trial hearing slated for June 27. Devin W. Johnson-Carson, 24, who worked as a front desk agent at the hotel, has a plea hearing scheduled for March 20. Mitchells death occurred at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee at about 4 p.m. on June 30, after what Milwaukee police described as a disturbance and subsequent fight as he was escorted out. The cause of the disturbance, according to what witnesses overheard, was Mitchell allegedly walking into the women's bathroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mitchell died after being restrained for roughly nine minutes by hotel staff, sparking protests and comparisons to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020. Family members of D'Vontaye Mitchell and Samuel Sharpe Jr. speak at a protest outside the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. One demonstration took place in downtown Milwaukee outside the Hyatt during the Republican National Convention, which the city hosted. Ambridge, based in Plano, Texas, announced a settlement with Mitchell's family roughly two months after Mitchell's death. Terms of the agreement weren't made public. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man pleads guilty in D'Vontaye Mitchell's death Self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has admitted in Moscow that the Russian Oreshnik missile system is still not in Belarus, despite January claims that it would arrive "very soon". Source: BelTA, Belarusian media outlet Quote: "There is still no Oreshnik. We are working on it. But when I looked into this issue Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] got me to look into it it turned out that apart from the missile, everything else needs to be manufactured. And we are doing that in Belarus. This is why we are working on it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Lukashenko asserted that Belarus is nearly finished producing several launchers for the system, adding: "We will need the missile from the elder brother [Russia]". Background: In December 2024, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin stated that Oreshnik systems could be deployed in Belarus in 2025 as part of Moscows threats to the West after Ukraine was granted permission to strike Russian targets with long-range weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Vladimir Putins sabre-rattling with the Oreshnik missile is aimed solely at disrupting the efforts of President Trump to end the war. Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Ukraine is developing its own air defence and missile system to deter potential Russian Oreshnik strikes. In January, Lukashenko claimed that Belarus would receive the Oreshnik missile system from Russia "very soon". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said U.S. farmers and ranchers are the easy target for retaliatory tariffs, but that her constituents are willing to give President Donald Trump time to negotiate new trade deals. When you talk about tariffs, people in ag get a little nervous, because we know we are the easy target for other countries if they are going to retaliate, Fischer said at POLITICO Playbooks First 100 Days breakfast series Thursday. Trump himself has acknowledged that there will be a little bit of an adjustment period as he carries out his sweeping tariff agenda. Republicans on Capitol Hill, while nervous for their constituents, have been mostly willing to let the president work through his trade negotiations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There's a feeling out there that we're going to give the president time, so that he can negotiate good deals, Fischer said at the event. During his first administration, Trump tapped a USDA fund to bail out farmers from the trade war he initiated at the time to the tune of $28 billion. But now that fund has dwindled to about $4 billion, and Congress will need to replenish the fund. When asked about a possible resolution and injecting more money into the fund, Fischer responded: We'll have wait and see. Well have to see how the negotiations in the House and the Senate work on that, she said. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) slammed the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to slash spending and cut staff at the Agriculture Department on Thursday. "I think what they're doing is completely wrong, Smith said at POLITICO Playbooks First 100 Days breakfast series. I think it runs counter to the intentions of Congress and what we have passed, Smith added. Honestly, I don't really believe that Elon Musk or the DOGE guys that are in there really have any idea, what they're doing, or what the impact is of the decisions that they're making. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smith said that shes talking with colleagues about how to emphasize the need for USDA to fully fund and staff regional and local offices, which farmers rely on for getting information on federal resources. The Trump administration fired thousands of probationary workers at USDA some of whom were working on the bird flu response, farm loans and wildfire response efforts. Though the department has reinstated roughly 5,000 employees following an order from a federal civil service board, the administration is planning a government-wide reduction in force that could lead to even greater cuts soon. This is a moment where I think we need to really be speaking out, Smith said. Moments earlier during the breakfast series, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) criticized the Trumps administration's layoffs of federal workers at the USDA and other agencies, saying the decision to fire probationary employees or those who recently received promotions is the last thing you want to do. We are still trying to get answers, she said. Klobuchar noted she and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, led a letter in February requesting the USDA reinstate some terminated employees. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Several lawmakers are pushing back on the Trump administrations abrupt decision to pause income-based student loan repayment programs. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders joined 23 other Democrats who criticized the move in a letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon. In the letter, the senators said the move would increase costs for working families already struggling to make ends meet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At a time when Americans across the country are struggling to meet the costs of healthcare, food, housing, child care and other basic needs, it is unacceptable for the Trump Administration to take any action that will increase costs or make life harder for everyday Americans, the letter said. The senators also said that, without clear guidance on next steps, working-class borrowers including teachers, nurses, veterans and other public servants who rely on these plans will be left in limbo. This most recent attack against student loan borrowers comes as President Trump and Republicans in Congress are pursuing an extremist right-wing agenda to gut affordable loan repayment options in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, according to the letter. Late last year, a group of Republican-led states filed lawsuits against the Biden administrations SAVE (Saving on Valuable Education) plan, calling it an illegal overreach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. CHARLESTON Volunteer fire departments in West Virginia are under the microscope in the current session of the West Virginia Legislature. The West Virginia Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed Senate Bill 500, giving the West Virginia Legislative Auditor "the authority and duty to make a regular review of the finances of each volunteer fire company" in the state. Under existing West Virginia law, both the Legislative Auditor and the State Auditor conduct rolling audits of each of the states more than 400 volunteer fire departments. Customarily, the Legislative Auditor reviews only state funds a volunteer fire department received during a fiscal year, while the State Auditor reviews each departments entire finances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Senate Bill 500 will eliminate this unnecessary overlap making the process more efficient and removing the burden of duplicative financial examinations by multiple state agencies," State Auditor Mark Hunt said. Although SB 500 consolidates the audits of volunteer fire departments with the Legislative Auditor, existing state Code will remain unchanged as to the requirement that audits or financial examinations "shall be scheduled as to complete a review of each volunteer fire company at least once every five years." Hunt credited State Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio County, for sponsoring the bill and bringing the issue before the Legislature. "Under current law, which will remain unchanged, the scope of the audits will include all income of the volunteer fire departments, regardless of the source of funds, the assets, liabilities, and all expenditures of the departments," Chapman said. "Likewise, current law also provides that our volunteer fire departments may be audited more than once in a five-year period if there is reason to think that loss, mismanagement, misuse, or waste of funds is occurring." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In those instances, SB 500 would require the Legislative Auditor "upon discovering any concerning or suspicious financial transactions" to report the matter to the State Auditors Office "to investigate and pursue correction or prosecution of any misconduct, mismanagement, misuse, or waste." Senate Bill 500 now goes to the West Virginia House of Delegates for consideration and passage. The Legislatures 60-day regular session concludes on April 12. Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics teams latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In todays edition, we explore the next steps in the shutdown battle after Senate Democrats said they would block the GOPs government funding bill. Plus, Andrea Mitchell examines how the U.S. might convince Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Adam Wollner Senate Democrats make their move in the shutdown fight As we wrote yesterday, the Houses passage of a Republican stopgap funding bill has put Senate Democrats in a bind: Either back a measure they disapprove of and give up some of the only leverage they will have on major legislation this year, or reject it and allow a government shutdown to occur. That bind was on full display today as they debated their next moves with the government set to run out of money in just over 48 hours. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer finally staked out his position, saying Democrats wouldnt provide the votes to pass the GOPs six-month continuing resolution. The measure requires 60 votes to advance in the Senate, and Republicans only control 53 seats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR, Schumer said. Instead, he called for a one-month funding bill to provide more time to both sides to negotiate a deal. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass, he said. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday. Schumers remarks on the Senate floor came after a lunch meeting among Democratic senators. Outside the room, reporters could hear senators loudly making their point to their colleagues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said they want to have the ability to propose changes to the bill. There are not the votes right now to pass it, Kaine said. Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. And so thats what we are insisting on. Still, some Democrats fear that a shutdown would be worse than accepting the bill. Quite frankly, both outcomes are bad, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said. Elections have consequences, but this is an extreme bill. If it passes, it will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground. If the government shuts down, that will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground, and so that is the dilemma in which we found ourselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im weighing the badness of each option, added Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders urged their Senate counterparts to vote down the GOP funding bill as they kicked off a three-day policy retreat. Read more from Sahil Kapur, Ryan Nobles, Julie Tsirkin and Frank Thorp V What to know from the Trump presidency today Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Follow live updates What comes next in the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks By Andrea Mitchell President Donald Trump said it is up to Russia now to agree to the monthlong ceasefire proposed by the U.S. and accepted by Ukraine. National security adviser Mike Waltz has now spoken to his Russian counterpart. White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to be flying from Qatar to Moscow to close the deal. Theres talk of a Trump call to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the offing. During the past week, the administration pummeled Ukrainian President Zelenskyy into submission by withholding weapons and intelligence from Ukraine. What leverage does the U.S. have with Putin? Trump said today he could do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. He has mentioned the possibility of sanctions, but with China, North Korea and Iran helping keep Russia afloat, existing sanctions on Russia have been largely ineffective. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And in almost all of Trumps statements and actions since returning to the White House, he is again demonstrating an affinity for the Russian president. When Russia was, by Trumps own admission, bombing the hell out of Ukraine after the U.S. halted military aid, Trump said he still thought Putin wanted peace, saying hes doing what anybody else would do. Despite U.S. assessments that Russian-based hackers are responsible for Salt Typhoon, a massive hacking of U.S. targets, the administration is firing top counterintelligence experts at the CIA and FBI, and welcoming back Russian diplomatic missions previously expelled from the U.S. for espionage activities. The U.S. also sided with Russia, China and Belarus at the United Nations against a resolution supporting Ukraine. And all of this comes amid Trumps continual searing criticism of NATO and the European Union, stunning Americas traditional Western allies and closest Five Eyes intelligence partners. With Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the ball is in Russias court, it is likely in Russias interest to accept the ceasefire and instead try to defeat Zelenskyy at the negotiating table. Clearly, tortuous negotiations lie ahead over territory, security guarantees, reparations, NATO membership and more in a war that has been a meat grinder, to use Walzs term. So despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, We are at the 10th-yard line and the president is expecting the Russians to help us run this into the end zone, it would be wise to avoid declaring mission accomplished. The Trump effect goes overseas A party that has sharply criticized President Donald Trumps threat to take over Greenland secured a surprise election victory Tuesday in the Danish territory, but it may have to govern with a partner with a far warmer view of the U.S. president, Astha Rajvanshi reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The center-right, pro-business Demokraatit party, which favors a gradual move toward independence from Denmark, won 30% of the total vote share, not enough to single-handedly rule the Arctic territory. The party will instead need to partner with opponents to form a coalition. Foremost among those other parties is the second-placed opposition party Naleraq, which won a quarter of the vote share, favors rapid independence and has reserved warm words for the Trump administration. The victory of two parties who favor independence seceding from Denmark is broadly popular in Greenland may be taken as a positive in Washington, where interest in the worlds largest island has sharply jumped since Trump began his second term. Read more Todays other top stories Heading toward the exits: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., announced that she will not seek re-election next year, opening up another Democratic-held seat in a competitive state. Read more From troublemakers to team players: The House Freedom Caucus was once a consistent thorn in the side of GOP leadership. But in recent weeks, they have signed on to two spending-related measures that would have once been unimaginable for the band of far-right rebels. Read more Down on the bayou: Melanie Zanona and Susan Kroll report from House Speaker Mike Johnsons rural Louisiana district, where many of his constituents rely on the anti-poverty programs that could face cuts in the GOPs budget process. Read more Oh, Canada: Gabe Gutierrez and Tara Prindiville report on the growing anxiety over Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs in a working-class Canadian city where thousands of jobs are tied to the U.S. Read more Where are they now: Faith Wardwell outlines where some prominent authors and contributors involved in Project 2025 have landed in the Trump administration. Read more Thats all From the Politics Desk for now. Todays newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Bridget Bowman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you have feedback likes or dislikes email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com And if youre a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quelled a push from Democratic senators to oppose a stopgap spending bill when he announced he would support the bill passed by Republicans and avert a government shutdown. Schumer explained his decision to reporters on Thursday evening, saying he believed that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, would use a shutdown to slash government spending even further. I told my caucus this, there's no off-ramp, the total off ramp of a shutdown, he told The Independent during a press conference. How you stop the shutdown is totally determined by the Republican House and Senate, and that is totally determined because they've shown complete blind obeisance by Trump, DOGE, et cetera. they could keep us in a shutdown for months and months and months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The move by Schumer killed the momentum to kill the bill that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed on Tuesday on an almost party-line vote. That signaled a change from Wednesday, when Democrats seemed willing to go along and vote for the bill to avert a shutdown. Earlier in the day, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona admitted he did not like the bill passed by Republicans. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia was one of many Democrats who said that constituents understood the reasons they would oppose a stopgap bill passed by House Republicans. (Getty Images) It was just handed to us, just by House Republicans, no input from Democrats, he told The Independent, but said he had not yet made a decision about it. By the afternoon, Kelly came out in opposition. Republicans need to work with us on a real CR, a bipartisan agreement like this is always done, Kelly told The Independent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellys fellow Arizonan, freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego, said he would have a simple message for voters. Donald Trump and the Republicans shut down the government, he told The Independent. Freshman Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona said Democrats had a simple message if there was a shutdown: Donald Trump and the Republicans shut down the government. (AFP via Getty Images) Virginias Mark Warner, who represents a state with plenty of federal workers who have been hit by the cuts from Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, said voters understood the need to oppose the bill. These are federal workers whove got a lot of stake; they want me to be a no, he told The Independent. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado dodged questions, but later in the day came out against the continuing resolution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historically, the party that opposes spending bills is blamed for shutting down the government. But Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said the blame would fall squarely on the Republicans and Trump. I think the message is that the republicans gave us two extremely unpopular choices, spurned a bipartisan return to regular order all to give more power to President Trump and continue the madness that they could have ended, he told The Independent. A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed that if a shutdown happened, 32 percent of voters said they would blame congressional Democrats, but 31 percent said they would blame congressional Republicans, and 22 percent said they would blame Trump the most. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Until Schumers announcement, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania had been the main supporter of the continuing resolution. When asked if he had read the text of the 99-page continuing resolution, Fetterman dodged. I'm never gonna vote to shut the government down, he told The Independent. There's no news notes on that. They invented this thing called Google or the internet, and you could confirm that. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday night that he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday. In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer conceded a government shutdown is the worse outcome. "While the Republican bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much much worse. For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option," he said. "It is not a clean CR" or continuing resolution, he said. "It is deeply partisan. It doesn't address far too many of this country's needs, but I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schumer's announcement amounted to a major break from House Democrats who voted nearly unanimously against the GOP funding bill earlier this week. Following Schumer's remarks, top House Democrats released a joint statement reiterating that they remain "strongly opposed" to the GOP funding bill and say instead they support a four-week spending bill that would allow lawmakers to continue negotiating. In his remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer argued Republicans are to blame for a "Hobson's choice" that "brought us to the brink of disaster." "Unless Congress acts, the federal government will shut down tomorrow at midnight. I have said many times there are no winners in a government shutdown. But there are certainly victims: the most vulnerable Americans who rely on federal programs to feed their families to access medical care and to stay financially afloat," Schumer said. PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer leaves the Democratic caucus lunch at the U.S. Capitol, Mar. 13, 2025 in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images) MORE: Schumer says Democrats will block GOP funding bill, heightening shutdown alert Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A decision to shut down the government would give President Donald Donald Trump and his senior adviser Elon Musk too much power to continue their federal worker cuts without discretion, he asserted. "A shutdown would give Donald Trump and Elon musk carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now. Under as shutdown the Trump administration would have full authority to deem whole agencies programs an personnel nonessential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired," Schumer said. "In short: a shut down would give Donald Trump Elon musk and DOGE the keys to the city state and country." Earlier Thursday, Schumer told his Democratic colleagues during a closed-door lunch that he would vote to clear a path for final passage of a House-GOP funding bill, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. That move would clear the way for Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Democrats remained tight-lipped after huddling behind closed doors ahead of the fast-approaching government funding deadline. "What happens in caucus, stays in caucus," Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said as she left the weekly lunch. "Ask somebody else," Democratic Sen. Cory Booker grumbled. "I don't have any comment," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Several Democrats have privately admitted they likely don't have the votes to block a Republican proposal to keep the government funded through September, multiple sources told ABC News. Tensions were on full display at the private meeting. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was yelling so loudly about the impact of a shutdown that reporters could hear her through the walls. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity told ABC News, "We lost this two weeks ago ... we should've been beating this drum for a month." At that point, only Democratic Sen. John Fetterman had publicly signaled he would vote to keep the government open. PHOTO: Sen. John Fetterman talks to reporters outside the chamber during a vote at the Capitol in Washington, Mar. 13, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Fetterman insisted that he won't succumb to the posturing he sees from party leaders after he urged Republicans to keep government open in the past when Democrats controlled the upper chamber. "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever shut the government down," Fetterman told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. "Democrat, Republican, independents, anyone. Never shut the government down. That's one of our core responsibilities." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fetterman called the political pressure "spicy" -- telling reporters that he's remaining "consistent" in his principled belief not to vote for a shutdown. Fetterman acknowledged that Republicans "are daring" Democrats to shut down the government, but the freshman Democrat worried that furloughed workers and people depending on federal services are the ones who are "really going to hurt." Now that Republicans cleared their bill through the House, Fetterman said he believes the battle is over. MORE: Republicans use legislative sneak play to tie Democrats' hands on tariffs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fetterman said the only time Democrats have leverage is if the Republicans need the votes in the House. "The GOP delivered, and that effectively iced this out. And that forces us to say, 'Are you going to shut the government down, or you are going to vote for a flawed CR?' And now for me, I refuse to shut the government down." Schumer on Wednesday said Senate Democrats would not provide the votes needed for Republicans to advance the House-approved deal to fund the government through September. Instead, Schumer proposed a one-month stopgap measure to allow more time for appropriators to negotiate and complete full-year funding bills. Republicans and the White House, meanwhile, are preemptively pointing the finger at Democrats if a shutdown ensues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If it closes, it's purely on the Democrats," President Donald Trump said as he took reporter questions while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Thursday. Trump was asked whether he's step in to negotiate with Democrats and he said he would if Republicans requested it: "If they need me, I'm there 100%." Schumer announces he'll vote to keep government open, likely avoiding shutdown originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Sen. Gayle Harrell (L) and Senate President Ben Alblritton (Photo by Christine Sexton/Florida Phoenix.) Sweeping autism legislation a top priority for Senate President Ben Albritton passed the Florida Senate Wednesday on the heels of Developmental Disabilities Day at the Florida Capitol. SB 112 is the first bill to clear the Senate and passed unanimously. In an unusual move, Albritton spoke ahead of closing remarks by bill sponsor Sen. Gayle Harrell, describing how over the years he has met parents with autistic children who described a common refrain: They feel alone and dont know where to go for help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What we are doing today is, we are sending a message to those parents. And if you can hear me, we hear you and we are running to your fight, Albritton said. The bill directs the Florida Department of Health to request federal approval under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide Florida families with early intervention therapies and services through the Early Steps program until the child turns four. That program provides intervention services to eligible infants and toddlers. Under existing law, children age out of the program when they turn three. The bill creates two education-related grant programs: one for specialized summer programs for children with autism and the other to support charter schools exclusively serving them. UF center Moreover, SB 112 designates the University of Florida Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment as a statewide hub for autism research, services, and best practices. The center will administer money for the summer educational programs that provide behavioral and social skill development; speech, occupational, or behavioral therapies; and family support and training workshops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The center will be in charge of a grant program to establish the charter schools. Grants will prioritize schools serving rural and underserved areas; those with demonstrable success in establishing and operating a charter school exclusively for students with autism and related disorders; and programs that use existing facilities. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), defines autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a condition characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction and repetitive behaviors. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2020 one in 36 children aged 8 were estimated to have autism. Despite the unanimous support, some senators raised concerns about a provision providing a no-cost new autism credential for instructional and childcare personnel. Sen. Tracie Davis, a teacher works with students with disabilities, said shes concerned about the costs of the new credential as well as a lack of providers available to offer the services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If were providing all these great services, which we are this is a great bill, it is but I just think the beginning stages of what sometimes were missing is the providers for the services, she said. For instance, she cited a shortage of support coordinators, people who help those with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Floridas iBudget program, resulting in long wait lists. iBudget is an optional Medicaid program that provides people with developmental disabilities access to home- and community-based services to help with daily living. So, we are putting money into the programs but were not putting enough money or enough incentives in the area where we are recruiting providers. The attention to autism comes as the state for the first time relies on Medicaid managed care plans to cover applied behavioral analysis (ABA) to Medicaid-eligible children. ABA is a therapy for children with autism and other developmental disabilities that uses scientific principles to help change their behaviors. Before the new contracts, ABA was delivered outside of managed care plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Albrittons proposal, or one similar to it, will likely find support in the Florida House of Representatives, where House Speaker Daniel Perez has also championed these issues (his brother has autism). Before becoming speaker, Perez helped secure passage of a Medicaid managed care pilot project for people with developmental disabilities. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, presents her legislative priorities for the Senate Education Committee during a Jan. 27, 2025, news conference at the Oklahoma State Capitol. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday passed a measure that would require school districts to ban cellphones and personal electronic devices next school year. But districts could choose to continue or discontinue the policy in following years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Bill 139, by Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, moves to the House for consideration after a 30-15 vote on the amended measure in the upper chamber. The measure was amended to restrict the ban to just next school year rather than all subsequent years. I am confident that once districts go phone-free for one year, students, parents and educators will see the undeniable benefit of a cellphone-free learning environment, Seifried said. A similar but more restrictive House measure already awaits Senate action. It would require school districts bar all cellphone and personal devices on campus in perpetuity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said while the measure is well-intended, any policy should be dictated by the local board in consultation with parents, teachers and the superintendent. Mann is a former school board member. But Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said the addiction to cellphones and digital technology is the crisis of this generation that is ruining young peoples academic and educational experiences. The addiction contributes to mental health issues, he said. What used to stop now in the classroom goes all the way to the bedroom because kids cannot escape when they are digitally connected, Pugh said. Any problem thats happened in school follows them home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement School leaders asked that the Legislature take up the issue so policies are consistent, Pugh said. Removing the devices will increase student performance and behavior issues go down, Pugh said. Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, said senators will remember their vote on the bill. We need to take this opportunity because this changes things, Rader said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The Scoop Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday plans to reintroduce a bipartisan proposal to scrutinize US investments in China this time, with a long list of new backers, the Texas Republican tells Semafor. Cornyn had previously partnered with former Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, on related efforts. Now Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will serve as his Democratic lead. Cornyns dozen other allies in the effort include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and both parties leaders on the Banking Committee: Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., and ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The text of the bill, viewed by Semafor, parallels China hawks push at the end of last year to require Americans to notify the Treasury Department when they make certain investments in key Chinese tech industries like artificial intelligence essentially codifying a Biden administration executive order, after President Donald Trump signed a related edict last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new Senate proposal would also empower the Treasury secretary to block a longer list of related investments and to sanction some Chinese firms that partner with Beijing. That provision would effectively leave further curbs up to the White House, a shift that comes after the private sector quietly raised concerns with Congress initially more binding language. The need to address capital flowing from the U.S. to bad actor nations was first realized during the first Trump administration, and I look forward to finishing what we started then by getting this vital priority over the finish line, Cornyn said in a statement. What happens next will effectively set the table for how this Congress tackles China policy during Trumps second term. The president has already doubled tariffs on Chinese imports, sparking retaliatory restrictions in a no-holds-barred trade war that has banks, farmers, retailers, and even GOP policymakers squirming. In a sign of fault lines to come, the House has yet to publicly coalesce around its preferred path forward on so-called outbound investment. Know More Lawmakers came very close to passing limits on US investment in China as part of a year-end deal in December. A working group of House Republicans worked for months on a compromise between then-House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and China hawks like then-House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas; the first version of their legislation kicked off weeks of text-trading with the Senate, as congressional leaders looked to build bipartisan momentum for an agreement that could pass before 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over McHenrys sustained opposition, the outbound investment curbs were added to annual defense legislation and, after they got axed in an unrelated Democratic hardball attempt, a short-term spending bill. But that deal also disintegrated as Republicans faced pressure to narrow the spending patch dramatically. Also signing onto Cornyns new outbound investment bill: Sens. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and John Fetterman, D-Pa. The View From The House House Speaker Mike Johnson privately discussed US-China investment on Monday with new Financial Services Chair French Hill, R-Ark., and new Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., as well as House China committee leader Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., according to a person familiar with the meeting. Also in attendance was a key architect of last years proposal, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., plus Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio. Both chair relevant subpanels on the Financial Services Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are making progress, Davidson told Semafor later in the week. Were optimistic well get an outbound regulatory framework, and were working on details. But those details remained elusive this week, even as the Senate pushed ahead with Cornyns plan and they dont seem likely to materialize until Trump weighs in. Moolenaar told Semafor as he left Mondays meeting that the White House is conducting a review of the legislation that should be done in April. Were just working to understand how we can get this done House, Senate, White House in a bipartisan way, Moolenaar said. I wouldnt put a timeframe on it. I would just say that were having the discussions, and theres a lot on the agenda right now. Eleanors view The Senates decision to not wait on the House before advancing its US-China investment proposal underscores how far Congress is from reaching a consensus and in turn, how pivotal it will be for the Trump administration to weigh in on what it wants from a bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Without that guidance, a repeat of last years wobbling over the bill seems inevitable. At least one hurdle seems to have been cleared: private-sector resistance. Cornyns new legislation is a much less stringent version than the one the House working group first drafted last year so its highly unlikely that multinational firms put up the same fight against it. Notable PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A newly introduced act is vying for a federally-owned California sites expansion to Oregon. On Tuesday, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Sen. Ron Wyden re-introduced a law that would add another 58,000 acres to what is known as the Smith River National Recreation Area extending the Northern California site beyond the Beaver States southern border. Wyden releases findings on financiers ties to Jeffrey Epstein, asks Trump admin for docs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Smith River Alliance reports that the recreation area currently spans more than 950,000 acres of the Six Rivers National Forest, and more than 130,000 acres of land owned by other entities. According to Merkley and Wyden, Congress established Smith River as a national recreation area to conserve its watershed in 1990 but the protected area stopped at the North Fork Smith River at Oregons border. Plants and animals like Coho salmon, Chinook salmon and coastal cutthroat trout all reside in this portion. The senators are arguing that adding another 74 miles to the national area would help protect wildlife in more places like Baldface Creek and Chrome Creek, as well as benefit the local fishing and recreation industries. The U.S. Forest Service would also be required to develop a new recreation plan for the additional space. Black Hawk helicopter rescues stranded skiers on South Sister volcano Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Expanding the Smith River National Recreation Area would protect one of our states most iconic treasures and generate both recreation jobs and economic benefits for Southern Oregon from visitors eager to fish, hunt, camp and hike in the area, Sen. Wyden said in a release. The fact that this legislation has secured such broad-based support in Oregon reflects its many benefits, and Im all in to get this bill across the finish line. This isnt Wydens first attempt at advancing the expansion. In 2022, both he and Merkley celebrated a Senate Committees approval of the act. Californias Sen. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff have additionally backed the proposal this year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. MOSCOW (AP) A senior Kremlin official says that a U.S.-proposed ceasefire would help Ukraine's military. Utah Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis were joined by Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy in sponsoring the Natural Asset Company Prohibition Act, Tuesday. If passed, the act would prohibit any Natural Asset Company or similar organization from making agreements affecting land, water or natural resources in Utah. NACs, structured as corporate entities, assign financial value to ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, water purification, biodiversity preservation, and soil health, a press release from the lawmakers said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bill sponsor Curtis said, Wall Street shouldnt be allowed to dictate what happens on Utah lands just to satisfy ESG mandates. Public land, he continued, supports ranchers, energy production, conservation, families and more, and the bill ensures that investors from New York or foreign capitals dont get to lock up Utah lands and cut off access to the people who depend on them. What exactly are NACs? The Intrinsic Exchange Group and the New York Stock Exchange jointly proposed NACs in September, 2021, to act as an investment vehicle by tapping into the Green industry. Companies could buy the rights to natural assets, including on public lands, and then try to attract private investment that would keep the land as-is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Land Trust Alliance, an environmental group, describes these sort of natural assets as carbon credits, biodiversity credits, water or soil conservation, forest preservation and associated sustainable economic activities such as eco-tourism. Excluded from natural assets are mining, unsustainable agriculture and timber harvest that erodes important environmental qualities. However, after being met by significant opposition, the New York Stock Exchange withdrew its application to the Securities Exchange Commission in January 2024 to establish NACs as a viable trading asset. Hundreds turn out for a public lands rally at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Why a federal ban on NACs? NACs can pose a threat to economies that heavily rely on agriculture, energy and timber, since they can restrict the productive uses of the land for the sake of eco-preservation, the sponsors of the bill said. Lee, as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said NACs pose a direct threat to Utahs energy, agriculture and recreation industries by enabling private and foreign investors to seize control of the very land that our communities depend on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, Kennedy said NACs threaten Utahs rural economy by allowing private interests to lock away farmland and natural resources. Kennedy currently serves on the House Natural Resources Committee. He said the legislation will help to protect Utahs land, economy, and rural communities from such overreach. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A police sergeant killed when a drunk driver collided with him and another state trooper on the side of a Las Vegas freeway stopped the same driver months earlier, issuing him a ticket for expired license plates. The 8 News Now Investigators discovered the coincidence as part of an investigation into the deaths of Sgt. Michael Abbate and Trooper Alberto Felix. In November 2023, Jemarcus Williams, 47, hit and killed the two state policemen as they investigated a second intoxicated driver on an Interstate 15 offramp. The 8 News Now Investigators found Williams repeatedly purchased bottles of alcohol and other drinks in the hours before the crash and that no investigation into those sales nor a change in law had occurred in the 15 months since. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The double-fatal crash happened on Nov. 30, 2023. On May 11, 2023, Abbate stopped Williams for driving with expired license plates. Police investigating the troopers deaths initially reviewed video of the May 2023 traffic stop to see if Williams may have had any animosity toward police. They determined he did not. Sgt. Michael Abbate ticketed Jemarcus Williams on May 11, 2023. (KLAS) During the traffic stop on Sahara Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, Williams was driving the same car that would become a deadly weapon months later. The vehicle was registered to his mother, documents said. Hows it going? Abbate asks Williams as he approaches Williams driver-side window. Reason for the stop is your plates. They expired in December. Are you aware of that? The registration on Williams car expired the previous December. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevadas a zero grace period state so Im supposed to tow any unregistered car, Abbate tells Williams during the stop. Im not going to do that, but thats what youre looking at if you run into someone not as nice as me. Theyre going to tow your car. Abbate cited Williams for the infraction, telling him to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The entire encounter lasted about 10 minutes. You have a safe day, OK? Abbate said to Williams before ending the stop. Williams later paid the fines connected with the citation, court records said. Williams was one year into his minimum 16-year sentence for killing the two policemen. Records show he was serving the sentence at a minimum-security camp where offenders learn to become firefighters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevada leaders renamed part of Interstate 15 in honor of Abbate and Felix. The Injured Police Officers Fund continues to help their families. Donations can be made through this link. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 seven suspects charged with the month-long captivity, torture, and murder of Sam Nordquist were arraigned in a New York courtroom on Tuesday, local ABC affiliate WHAM reports. All seven were led separately before cameras and into the courtroom, where they all pleaded not guilty to the charges. Nordquist, 24, traveled from Minnesota to upstate New York on January 2, but prosecutors allege the defendants prevented him from leaving. Instead, authorities say they kept him captive in room 22 of Pattys Lodge, a small motel in Canandaigua, where they tortured him for the next month before killing him on or around February 2. Two children were reportedly forced to take part in the Nordquists torture. Nordquit's body was dumped in a field and discovered on February 13. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Precious Arzuaga, 38; Jennifer Quijano, 30; Kyle Sage, 33; Patrick Goodwin, 30; Emily Motyka, 19; Kimberly L. Sochia, 29; and Thomas Eaves, 19, were charged with murder in the first degree, which requires both torturing the victim before the murder and deriving enjoyment from their actions, as well as other charges relating to the crime. Arzuaga, wearing handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit, started crying as the judge read the charges. Arzuaga also faces additional charges related to forcing two children, aged 7 and 12, to participate in the torture of Nordquist. The other defendants also pleaded not guilty. None of the seven suspects requested bail and all were remanded to jail. Eaves, Arzuagas son, threw a kiss to someone amongst the spectators as he was escorted from the courtroom. His attorney, Larry Kasperek, later spoke with the media from the courthouse steps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As I indicated, the grand jury only heard one side of the story. They didn't hear everything, Kasperek said. The district attorneys office has cast a pretty wide net regarding these matters and accused the individuals of very serious circumstances. Prosecutors have yet to provide a motive, but they did say Nordquist and his accused killers knew each other. In addition to the familial ties between Azuaga and Eaves, Nordquist reportedly was in a relationship with Azuaga. There are relationships among all of these people, Orange County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford said at the press conference last week. They were all known to each other. There are some romantic relationships. There are some familiar relationships. And there are some people that just knew each other from being around the area. Wolford went into disturbing detail in describing what Nordquist endured during the last month of his life, allegedly at the hands of the defendants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Sam was confined, Wolford said. He was forced to kneel and stand against a wall. He was physically assaulted. He was sexually assaulted. He was prevented from using his phone...They forced him to obey their commands, treating him like a dog. Prosecutors declined to add hate-crime enhancements to the charges, saying the case is bigger than a hate crime and that adding hate-crime charges would make this charge about Sams gender or about Sams race, and its so much bigger. Wolford said prosecutors were particularly disturbed that children were allegedly forced to participate in the torture of Nordquist. We have a 7- and 12-year-old who are also victims. They may have been forced to participate, but their lives are forever changed by what they saw and endured. The defendants face life in prison if convicted on all charges. SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) It was another dry day in Sevier County that led to a 67-acre fire just East of Sevierville and Pigeon Forge breaking out causing concern from the neighbors nearby. Those neighbors expressed gratitude for the quick actions of the fire departments and Tennessee Division of Forestry. The fire department, I mean they were here just fast, said Martha Madigan. They just hopped to it. I cant praise them enough. They were wonderful. Townsend residents voice opposition to state bill as clash over event center control continues Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neighbors were shocked to see the fire growing and moving toward their homes. Madigan said she was worried about potentially having to leave the area if the fire continued to grow. I hoped I didnt have to leave here. My husband is disabled with dementia and I would need help to get him out, Madigan said. Ive got a bird and two puppies and stuff that weve collected for 55 years. Stuff is stuff but I was hoping they would get it under control, which they did. There are more dry days in the future ahead of a storm system that will come through the area on Saturday. The Tennessee Division of Forestry highly recommends making sure the area around your home is safe during wildfire season. End of USDA funding for fresh local produce hits Grainger County Schools Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keeping anything combustible away from the base of the house from zero to five feet is very important in maintaining your house during wildfire events, said Brook Smith of the Tennessee Division of Forestry said. Having an evacuation plan in place, Ready Set Go is a national program that has a lot of very good products and checklists that you can look at and kind of go through. The possible cause of the fire may have been an ATV or UTV driving through a field and the heat from the muffler catching some of the grass on fire, according to the Tennessee Division of Forestry. The winds, helping spread that blaze as well up to about 150-200 yards from the back of some of these houses in this neighborhood East of Sevierville. See more top stories on WATE.com The fire near Red Bank Road is now 100% contained. Officials said if you see smoke and are concerned, dont hesitate to call 911. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. (KRON) The operator of a San Francisco towing company plotted to burn competitors tow trucks across the Bay Area to drive more customers to his and his co-conspirators businesses, according to a federal indictment. The plan was intended to hurt the competition and get retaliation for perceived wrongs, according to the Northern District of California Department of Justice. It appears the 29-year-old San Francisco defendant also has a history of devising elaborate insurance schemes. Two arrested in brazen armed robbery of Milpitas massage parlor Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The DOJ said Jose Vicente Badillo was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit arson. Authorities said Badillo was associated with both Auto Towing and Specialty Towing, two Bay Area-based towing companies, when the fires took place. According to the DOJ, the four incidents occurred between April 2023 and October 2023, in which Badillo and his alleged accomplices set at least six tow trucks ablaze. The timeline of damage and destruction is detailed as follows: Two tow trucks in San Francisco on April 4, 2023 One tow truck in San Francisco on April 29, 2023 One tow truck in East Palo Alto on July 25, 2023 Two tow trucks in San Francisco on Oct. 3, 2023 The DOJ said the prosecution is part of an investigation led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. Badillo faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He is due back in court on March 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The DOJ said Badillo is also facing federal charges of money laundering and insurance fraud in a few other unrelated and pending cases. According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 9, 2024, Badillo and another defendant, Jessica Elizabeth Najarro, 30, of San Francisco, conspired to defraud an insurance company. Authorities said Badillo bought a damaged car in June 2019 and Navarro lied to an insurance company in another state that the vehicle had been involved in a single-car accident. Badillo would deposit a reimbursement check of $34,037.48 into his Wells Fargo account days after it was received, said authorities. Another indictment by a federal grand jury on August 20, 2024, said Badillo has a pattern of using the car scheme. The DOJ said Badillo, and two other defendants submitted a fake insurance claim after buying a car in May 2019 that was already undrivable with significant front-end damage then lied that it had been involved in a single-car accident. Badillo also allegedly staged an accident in which he loaded a vehicle carrier with four vehicles (several of which were inoperable or had pre-existing damage) and purposefully drove them off the road on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway in San Mateo County in August 2019. Badillo reported the crash as an accident to his insurance company, said authorities. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump's administration to reinstate probationary federal workers axed last month, the biggest blow yet to Trump and billionaire Elon Musks scheme to massively shrink the federal government. Northern District of California Judge William Alsup ruled on Thursday that the firings were unlawful and said claims that the mass layoffs were based on performance amounted to a "sham to try to avoid statutory requirements." "Our government would fire some good employee, and say it was based on performance. When they know good and well that's a lie," he shared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alsup said that the Office of Personnel Management, a favorite of DOGE in its crusade against career bureaucrats, had no authority whatsoever to remove workers at the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. Alsup repeatedly accused representatives of the Trump administration of talking out of both sides of their mouths when trying to justify the layoffs. He said that the OPM was crafting smokescreens between itself and the layoffs to make them legal and refused to buy the line that the agency had no say in the widespread reduction in force. "The court rejects the government's attempt to use these press releases and to read between the lines to say the agency heads made their own decision with no direction from OPM," Alsup said, adding that he doubted government attorneys were "telling [him] the truth." Alsup ordered Cabinet departments to offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees terminated on or about February 13. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt promised to immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order in a statement. "A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The president has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the Presidents agenda," she said. "If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for president themselves." Union leaders celebrated the reinstatement of early-career public service workers, who they say were illegally fired. We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back, American Federation of Government Employees president Everett Kelley said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Top House Oversight Democrat Gerry Connolly, whose Virginia district is home to thousands of federal civil servants, celebrated the ruling in a statement. This is a win for our democracy, the rule of law, and for the American people who are better served by having these federal workers on the job, Connolly said. The Trump-Musk Administration must immediately respect the courts decision and reinstate these dedicated civil servants. If you grocery shop at Shaw's, you may need to find a new location soon. Shaw's is closing two locations in New England, including one in New Hampshire. The closures come months after federal and state courts blocked a merger between Albertson's, the parent company of Shaw's, and Kroger. According to a statement from the grocery store, they plan to relocate all associates of the affected stores to nearby locations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's what to know about where Shaw's will close in New Hampshire, as well as where else to shop at the store in the state. Which Shaw's locations are closing? Shaw's is closing two locations in New England. On Wednesday, the New England grocery chain announced the closure of one store in New Hampshire and one in Massachusetts. The New Hampshire location set to close is in Concord, located at 20 Fort Eddy Rd. An exact closing date for the store has not yet been announced. NH store closures: Joann, fabric and craft chain, closing 500 stores, including 7 NH locations. Here's where How many Shaw's stores are in NH? According to Shaw's website, there are 25 other grocery store locations in New Hampshire, including another Concord store at 20 D'amante Dr. A full list of locations in the state can be found online. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Shaw's store closing: Grocery chain closing one store in NH. See where UPDATE: The shelter-in-place has been lifted and the scene cleared, according to Saltville police. SALTVILLE, Va. (WJHL) Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff Blake Andis confirmed an active manhunt in the Town of Saltville on Wednesday night. The Town of Saltville posted on its social media Wednesday that an active manhunt is happening in the area of West Main Street. The town is asking residents to shelter in place until further notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheriff Andis said his department is searching for a man with warrants out of Bristol. The man allegedly came to Saltville. The sheriffs office confirmed that a called-in medical flight near 8:30 p.m. was unrelated to the manhunt. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. The SHINES project, or Showcasing Hydrokinetic energy Innovations for Northwest European Energy Sovereignty, is underway, bringing together 14 partners from France, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. Co-financed by Interreg North-West Europe under the fourth call for projects, SHINES is set to unlock the potential of tidal and river energy systems, an opportunity still largely untapped in the region. With a total budget of 10M ($10.9 million), including 60% ERDF funding, this ambitious project led by OPEN-C Foundation will span from January 2025 to December 2028. The northwestern part of Europe is a prime location for tidal and river energy development, thanks to its unique natural features. Specific locationsgulfs, straits, islands, inlets, and spots along large riversoffer promising conditions. Despite its potential, tidal and river energy in the region requires further investment to overcome political, economic, and regulatory hurdles. [caption id="attachment_230815" align="alignnone" width="640"] The HydraWing tidal energy device. Source: Inyanga Marine Energy Group[/caption] SHINES will address these challenges by replicating and scaling up three innovative solutions (HydroWing, RivGen and TidalKite) through grid connections and real sea deployments in France and the Netherlands. Some of the most promising sites across the region will be developed, engaging 100 organizations in the adoption of tidal and river energy systems. Inyanga is delighted to be a partner in the SHINES project, using its patented HydroWing technology. Inyanga will design, construct and install a grid-connected 600kW tidal energy turbine on the Paimpol-Brehat test site in France, then operate and monitor the device throughout the test period. In addition, Inyanga will install and maintain the SeaQurrent TidalKite device at Paimpol-Brehat, managing all offshore operations. Interreg North-West Europe's wealth of expertise in water management, hydrodynamics, flow measurements, and innovative technologies such as HydroWing, RivGen and TidalKite provide a solid foundation for progress. SHINES will catalyze transnational collaboration, enabling the region to consolidate efforts, quantify its energy potential, and drive investments to achieve generation capacity targets. The project is aligned with Europe's Net-Zero Strategy and the Critical Raw Materials Act, contributing to the goals of 1 GW of ocean energy capacity by 2030, and 40 GW by 2050. Ocean energy holds the promise of creating 400,000 high-value jobs by 2050, revitalizing coastal communities with histories rooted in shipbuilding, fishing, and oil and gas industries. POWER edited this content, which was supplied by the communications team for Inyanga Marine Energy Group. A shooting investigation in west Charlotte earlier this month led to the discovery of an illegal gambling operation, police said. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the shooting happened in the 2500 block of West Boulevard on March 4 after a failed robbery attempt. Investigators ultimately determined the victim in the shooting, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was the manager of an illegal arcade located at that address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PAST COVERAGE: Police respond to shooting in west Charlotte At the time of the shooting, CMPD said the owner was arriving to open for business. Detectives contacted the Alcoholic Beverage Control unit and executed a search warrant for the business. Once inside, agents said they found 106 illegal gambling machines, three payment redemption kiosks, and more than $12,000 in cash. The investigation into the business, its owners, and employees is ongoing. Check wsoctv.com for updates. WATCH BELOW: Police investigating homicide in west Charlotte involving armed security guard SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)Mayor Tom Arceneaux of Shreveport is set to present at a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) conference for the Louisiana City Attorneys Association. During his presentation at the conference, he will discuss the citys blight issues and his personal experience since 1981. The mayor also discussed Jarvis Morgans appointment as the new Director of Public Works, highlighting his strong relationship with employees and his youth as beneficial for the administration. Morgan will focus on streets, drainage, and solid waste, with plans to improve bulk pickup. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lastly, the mayor addressed the implementation of speed cameras in specific areas driven by constituent complaints, emphasizing their role in addressing speeding, a major cause of traffic accidents. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. Senate Democrats have decided not to advance a partisan House-passed funding bill, venturing that Republicans will be to blame if the government shuts down Friday. Democrats had nothing to do with this bill, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said in the Capitol Wednesday. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. Democratic leaders say the GOP bill crafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson and backed by President Donald Trump lacks enough support to move forward in the upper chamber because it gives Trump and Elon Musk too much leverage over spending decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any inputany inputfrom congressional Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to move forward with the House GOP bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is playing hardball with the White House and his GOP colleagues. / Win McNamee / Getty Images Republicans would need at least eight Democrats to buck their party and overcome procedural hurdles to win Senate approval and send the bill, known as a continuing resolution, to the presidents desk. Schumer is pushing for a 30-day funding measure in lieu of the House bill, which would extend funding for six months and help fund Trumps mass deportations. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass, Schumer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear whether the Schumers ultimatum will trigger the government to shut down at midnight Friday, when current federal funding runs out. As Kaine indicated, some Democrats are open to negotiating with Republicans on making changes to the bill. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, so far, is the only Republican in the chamber to publicly oppose the House-passed measure. House Republicans sent their members home for a week-long recess after passing the funding resolution on Tuesday in a bid to force Senate Democrats to cave and approve the bill as is. But it appears Senate Democrats have enough votes to block the six-month continuing resolution. Still, at least one Democrat fears that not backing the bill and triggering a government shutdown could backfire politically. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), indicating hell support the GOP bill, says a shutdown would hurt millions and millions of people and run the risk of slipping [the economy] into a recession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One senior House Democratic source told the Daily Beast that most Democrats, who are eager to win back the House in 2026, agree that Schumer is doing the right thing. Theyre convinced that Republicanswho control the White House and both chambers of Congresswill be blamed by voters for both a costly shutdown and the Trump administrations massive cuts to federal programs and the workforce. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated there is no Plan B if Democrats opt to filibuster the six-month bill, saying, It shouldnt fail. House Republicans are already casting blame on Senate Democrats for the increasing chances of a shutdown up against the clock. Chuck Schumer has to decide all that strategy and that math, Speaker Johnson told Fox News. But I think they need to put partisan politics aside. This is not a win for the Trump administration. This is a win for the American people, he said. Chuck Schumer has to weigh that today, and I hope he does the right thing. Shynes political career in Belize has hit a major roadblock, as the former rapper-turned-politician has officially lost his bid for re-election. The defeat came on Wednesday (March 12) during a press conference, marking the end of his tenure in the House of Representatives. According to Channel 5 Belize, Shyne, ne Moses Barrow, was unseated by fellow United Democratic Party (UDP) member and businessman Lee Mark Chang in a decisive vote. The loss ends Shynes time as the representative for the Mesopotamia constituency in Belize City, a position he first secured in 2020 before eventually rising to Leader of the Opposition and head of the Belize UDP. Shyne secured 318 votes while Chang pulled in nearly double that at 601. Accepting the results with a composed yet sobering tone, Shyne acknowledged the democracy. The people have spoken. Congratulations to Lee Mark Chang hes now the new area representative of Mesopotamia, and I wish him well, he stated. I was confident; that was the interaction I was having with the people, but they made a decision to go in another direction, and I respect that. With his defeat, Shyne is now planning to step down as leader of the UDP once a new party official is elected. I certainly will resign effective once we have a national convention to elect a new leader, he confirmed. Obviously, you cant be a leader of the United Democratic Party once youre not a member of the House, and I would not want to be appointed as a senator or anything to hold on to the leadership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reportedly, Chang had been openly critical of the 46-year-old throughout the election cycle, even going as far as to call him a cancer in government. The people are realizing they have been bamboozled, Chang reportedly declared on national television in Belize. Shyne first rose to prominence in the late 90s as a rapper under Diddys Bad Boy Records. His ascent was cut short in 2001 when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault, gun possession, and reckless endangerment following a 1999 nightclub shooting in New York City that left two people injured. The incident, which also involved Diddy and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, became one of the most high-profile legal battles in Hip-Hop history. After serving eight years behind bars, Shyne was released in 2009, but was immediately deported to Belize, where he pivoted from music to politics. His evolution from rapper to politician was chronicled in The Honorable: Shyne, a documentary that explores his journey from a troubled past to becoming Belizes Leader of the Opposition. The film offered a rare glimpse into reinventing himself as it highlighted his efforts to shape the political landscape of his home country. More from VIBE.com Sign up for Vibe's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) A bill to increase taxes on the purchases of firearms and firearm components in Illinois will be discussed by the Revenue and Finance Committee and Sales Tax Subcommittee on March 13th. The bill would amend the Use Tax Act, Service Tax Act, Service Occupation Tax Act and the Retailers Occupation Tax Act. House Representative Rita Mayfields proposition would impose a 3.75% surcharge on firearms and firearm components purchased in the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Illinois State Rifle Association Member feels the bill is unconstitutional. firearms are a constitutional right, not a sin, said Richard Pearson. Secondly, this bill violates the brewer decision that says you cant take firearms and have a special tax on them. The proposal would go along with the Protecting Illinois Communities Act, which bans the sale of assault-style weapons and certain attachments in Illinois. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. By Nate Raymond (Reuters) -A sister of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was the target of a bomb threat at her home in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier this month, local police said on Wednesday. Charleston police responded on Monday morning to an emailed bomb threat concerning Amanda Coney Williams, a lawyer whose sister is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, according to a police report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I've constructed a pipe bomb which I recently placed in Amy Coney Barrett's sister's mailbox at her home," the email said, according to the police report. "The device's detonation will be triggered as soon as the mailbox is next opened. Free Palestine!" Local authorities determined it was a false alarm after inspecting the mailbox, police said. Williams' husband told investigators that over the weekend someone had also attempted to have pizzas delivered to some households related to Barrett, the police report said. Police said the investigation remains active. The U.S. Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2020 during the first term of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump and has since joined several major rulings curtailing access to abortion and expanding gun rights. But she has recently faced criticism from some of Trump's supporters, particularly after she joined a 5-4 decision on March 5 that declined to let Trump's administration withhold payment to foreign aid organizations for work they already performed for the government. Reuters last week reported that U.S. marshals had warned judges of unusually high threat levels, according to several judges. Security has been bolstered for some judges assigned cases over Trump administration initiatives, Reuters reported. Several federal judges in the Washington, D.C., area received pizzas sent anonymously to their homes, which was interpreted by law enforcement as a form of intimidation meant to convey that a target's address is known, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the judicial security environment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Federal Judges Association in a statement on Wednesday cited the bomb threat targeting Barrett as it said it "remains deeply concerned about the rising threats and intimidation the judiciary faces." (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Kate Mayberry) A new scam has hit Cherokee County, with people receiving phone calls that they've missed jury duty and they have to pay up. Cherokee County Sheriff Jason Chennault said this is the latest and most prevalent scam in the county. "Unknown persons [are] making calls to residents claiming the resident has missed jury duty and asking for immediate fine payment by credit card in lieu of arrest," Chennault said. "The callers represent themselves as Cherokee County sheriff's deputies." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the sheriff's department will never call and ask for payment. Sgt. Jesse Mitchell is an investigator with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. He served 20 years in the Army, with two tours in Afghanistan and returned from a tour in Kenya, Africa, in 2023. Cases he works involves fraud, forgery, theft and violent crime. He said how people treat one another is important; people need to treat one another with respect. A scripture, Colossians 3:8, is written out on a whiteboard in his office: "But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement District Attorney Jack Thorp, District 27, said his office has not received any recent reports of scammed individuals. "[This is] indicative of our significant decrease in crime in District 27," Thorp said. March 6 was National Slam the Scam Day, and the Social Security Administration and Office of the Inspector General joined forces to raise public awareness about imposter scams. "[F]raudsters mislead victims into sharing personal information, or making cash, wire transfer, or gift care payments to fix alleged Social Security number problems [and] are an ongoing government imposter fraud scheme." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This information is from a press release from SSA, titled "Social Security and OIG partner for National Slam the Scam Day," published March 6. This scam is the most reported to the Federal Trade Commission, states the release. "I strongly urge our citizens to be vigilant and protect themselves from criminal threats," said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of SSA. Rebecca Rose, senior public affairs specialist in SSA's OIG Division of Communications, said four basic signs are harbingers of a scam. Scammers pretend to be from an agency or an organization a person knows to gain a person's trust, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some signs of a scam are: they claim there is a problem or that the victim has won a prize; they pressure the person to act immediately; and they tell you how to pay in a specific way, like gift cards. The message from SSA is an old one: "Social Security will never tell you that your Social Security number is suspended," or demand immediate payment, threaten with arrest, ask for credit card or debit card numbers over the phone. Neither will the agency request gift cards, wire transfers, gold, cash, cryptocurrency, or promise a SS benefit approval or increase in exchange for information or money, states the release. Typically scammers going after SS beneficiaries, use what the agency has labeled, the "Ps." "Pretend," "prize or problem," "pressure" and "payment" are what SSA calls "red flags." Scammers use phone calls, texts, emails, websites or direct messages on social media, and claim a problem exists with the person's SS number. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The scammer's caller ID may be spoofed to look like a legitimate government number," states the release. Learn more To hear the episode on SSA Talks, go to blog.ssa.gov/what-you-can-do-to-protect-your-personal-information. MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) South Carolinas top law enforcement agency announced Thursday charges against a former Mount Pleasant officer. Andrew Rowell, 40, was fired from the Mount Pleasant Police Department earlier this year after it was discovered that a suspicious package with his name on it was accidentally delivered to the wrong address. Officers responded to a residence on Show Basket Way during the afternoon of Jan. 31 where an individual said he received a parcel in his locked mailbox that contained a plastic bag containing a white powdery substance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Responding officers recovered the item and noticed it was addressed to Rowell, who the officer knew was an employee of the Mount Pleasant Police Department and lived a few doors down. The substance was initially field tested which came back as presumptive for cocaine. It was later field tested at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Divisions laboratory which confirmed the substance as cocaine and weighed approximately 6.31 grams. During a search of Rowells department-issued police vehicle, two green plastic bags and a clear plastic bag containing a white powder residue. These bags were unique and consistent with the size and design of the black plastic bags located in the parcel addressed to the defendant, SLED noted in an affidavit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A test of the bags came back presumptive for cocaine and was later confirmed at SLEDs lab. Affidavits say a second package was intercepted that contained a vacuum-sealed plastic bag with a white powdery substance, which also field-tested presumptive for cocaine. It was also confirmed in SLEDs lab as cocaine with a weight of 3.50 grams. Rowell was arrested Wednesday and charged with intent to distribute cocaine. He was booked into the Charleston County Detention Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. The Village of Butte is seeking to save the local nursing home from closing, but a regulation requiring a certificate of need to change ownership is standing in the way. (Courtesy of Shanna Brooks) LINCOLN Regulations and a state law are blocking a small Nebraska village from saving its nursing home from closing. Thats what a state legislative committee was told Wednesday concerning the Butte Senior Living Facility, a 40-bed nursing facility scheduled to close at the end of the month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scott Brewster, chairman of the Butte Village Board, told the Examiner that for the good of his rural town and surrounding communities, and to retain the 50 jobs at the facility, a state law requiring a certificate of need to transfer ownership of the nursing home should be repealed. This is vital to the communities in our county so that it can remain viable for generations to come, Brewster said of Boyd County, a ranching and farming area of about 1,700 residents along the South Dakota border. Affecting families The chairman of the Village Board in Butte, a community of 274 located near the South Dakota border in north-central Nebraska, says saving the nursing home is a key to the survival of the town and Boyd County. (Courtesy of Shanna Brooks) The impending closing of the Butte nursing facility has already had an impact on Brewsters family. His father in law died only a week after being moved out. Brewsters daughter, Britanie, tearfully told the Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee that her grandfather had to be relocated 2 1/2 hours away from Butte due to the impending closing of the local nursing home. A second nursing home resident also died after being forced to move. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Currently, 21 rural counties in Nebraska lack a nursing home, Britanie Brewster said, with two more scheduled to close this spring. Advocates for the current certificate of need law, however, say repealing the law is the wrong solution. They said that to save rural nursing homes from closing 50 have closed since 2015 the state needs to increase its reimbursement for caring for residents on Medicaid, something Nebraska has resisted doing. Jalene Carpenter of the Nebraska Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, called it disingenuous that Gov. Jim Pillen supports repealing certificate of need requirements but would not include more money to keep nursing homes open. Were trying to solve a problem by addressing the wrong solution, Carpenter said during Wednesdays hearing. Bill aimed at helping Legislative Bill 437 would repeal the Nebraska Health Care Certificate of Need Act. That law, for decades, required health care organizations to prove a need for building a new facility or expanding one, and to obtain approval, in the form of a certificate of need, from the State Department of Health and Human Services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Essentially, this functions as a moratorium on adding new nursing home beds unless a nursing home provider buys the capacity from an existing facility. In the case of the Butte nursing facility, its current owner has rejected attempts by the community to purchase it. Because of the moratorium, lawmakers were told, Butte would need to buy excess beds from elsewhere in the state, which could make buying the local nursing home cost prohibitive. The certificate of need law, passed 50 years ago, was intended to prevent overbuilding and duplication of medical facilities and equipment and keep health care costs down. Over the years, concerns have grown that requiring a certificate of need has become a barrier to improving and expanding health care. Due partly to that concern, some health care facilities have been exempted from the Nebraska law, such as hospitals. Last year, rehabilitation facilities were also exempted. Competition needed State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, a former hospital administrator, introduced LB 437. He told the Health and Human Services Committee that the current law was anti-marketplace and allowed those already in the health care business to prevent new competition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The concept was good, but it didnt work out, Riepe said. Twelve states in recent years have repealed their laws, he said. States without certificates of need have seen increased competition, lower prices and increased services, especially in rural areas, Riepe said. LB 437 was introduced on behalf of the Americans for Prosperity, a conservative, anti-regulation group whose representatives said the law amounted to protectionism. One study, the group said, indicated that repealing the law had reduced health care costs in that state by $235 per capita. But representatives from Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and Bryan Medical Center predicted that repealing the certificate of need law would increase costs for them by exacerbating the current shortages of nurses, forcing them to spend millions on contract nurses to fill openings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state, they said, is already short an estimated 5,400 nurses, and if the situation worsened, the quality of health care would suffer. Pender State Sen. Glen Meyer whose town lost its nursing home recently asked opponents of the bill what theyd say to the people of Butte. Tough? he asked. Risks to nursing shortage Korby Gilbertson, the lobbyist for the Health Care Association, said no one wants to see a facility close, but the nursing home in Butte wouldnt be shuttering but for shortages of staffing and funding. I think its naive to think that someone else can open that business and be successful, she said, given the inadequate level of current reimbursement rates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carpenter, the president and CEO of the Health Care Association, added that Butte has the option, under the current law, to seek an exemption from having to buy beds from other facilities. The Brewsters, meanwhile, said that Butte just wants a chance to keep an important employer and health care service open. Britanie Brewster said that the facility provides $2.5 million a year in payroll, and if it closes, the next closest nursing home is 25 miles away, forcing long drives to see loved ones. Were not looking for the state to fund our nursing home. Were just looking for the state to give us an option so we can compete, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee took no immediate action on the bill Wednesday. Riepe said the committee would discuss the bill Thursday. Correction: Britanie Brewster is Scott Brewsters daughter. A previous version of the story described their relationship incorrectly. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE One recent day in a warehouse south of downtown Houston, I got a peek at something that just might revolutionize the clean energy transition: a molten orange puddle of instantly liquefied rock. Moments before, an attendant loaded a slug of basalt under a metal-frame structure that looked like something a supervillain might point at a tied-up James Bond, and I was ushered behind a protective barrier. An order went out, the contraption began to whir, and we turned our focus to a TV screen, where the solid rock erupted in a blast of white light that overwhelmed the livestream camera. One mustnt believe everything that appears on a screen, but then Carlos Araque, CEO and co-founder of advanced geothermal startup Quaise Energy, led us back to the rig, and there was the freshly blasted rock. A minute ago, it hit as much as 2,000 degrees Celsius, but the molten goop had already solidified into a crown of shiny obsidian. Heat radiated from it, warming my hand as I hovered it a few inches away. The air smelled like toasted marshmallows, if the marshmallows were made of stone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The flashy demonstration was just one example of how startups are looking to revolutionize geothermal energy production. The U.S. built its biggest geothermal power-plant complex in 1960, but construction has stagnated for decades. Geothermal serves a mere 0.4% of U.S. electricity generation; its nearly 4 gigawatts of capacity amounts to roughly the solar and battery capacity Texas installs in four months these days. The way out of this decades-long malaise may simply be down. The more subterranean heat a geothermal plant can access, the more energy it can generate, and the Earth gets hotter closer to the core. But the intense conditions below a few miles deep rapidly wreck conventional drill bits. Araque figured that if he could build a strong enough drill bit, it could harness this super-deep heat and deliver cheap, clean, and abundant geothermal power, pretty much anywhere. So he left a career in oilfield drilling and formed Quaise in 2018 to do exactly that. Or, more precisely, the company adapted the gyrotron, a tool honed by the nuclear fusion industry that emits millimeter waves, which fall on the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and infrared waves. Fusion researchers use them to heat plasma to unfathomably high temperatures. But these waves exert a dramatic effect on rock, so Quaise leadership repurposed them to bore through depths that would demolish conventional drill bits, and perhaps unlock a new golden age of geothermal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Araque likened the technology to the familiar microwave oven, which heats food by zapping it with a particular band of electromagnetic waves that excites water molecules. Translate that into rock, he said. Well, rocks love millimeter waves. You put millimeter waves into rock, they soak it up, they light up instantly. He first pitched me on his super-powered drill bit six years ago. At the time, it all sounded like science fiction, something that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers might study and venture capitalists might take a flyer on but that wouldnt materialize as real technology. In fact, Quaise did spin out of an MIT lab, and it did raise venture capital for the idea more than $100 million to date from Prelude Ventures, Mitsubishi, and others. Seven years into the project, however, here I was, smelling the deep, toasty scent of freshly bruleed rock. Deep geothermal energy suddenly seemed a little less like sci-fi and a little more plausible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, Quaise has plenty more work to do before it can deliver its transformative promise and that starts with getting out of the lab and into the field. Field tests of rock-melting beam to begin in Houston and Austin, Texas By the time I visited in late January, Quaise had been melting rock outside of the lab but on its own property for weeks. I personally witnessed rock-melting in two places: in the hangar, with a drill rig pointing the millimeter-wave beam at a target rock, and in the yard, where a contraption mounted on tank treads blasted into a rock sample placed in a concrete receptacle on the ground. This is the first demonstration of capability, outside, at full scale, Araque said of the installation. These tests are necessary to calibrate the novel combination of millimeter-wave emitter and conventional oil-drilling rig. (The Quaise founders know their way around that world, having come from drilling powerhouse Schlumberger.) Quaise proved it can transmit the waves while moving the device, something that the nuclear fusion folks never needed to test. The companys articulated wave guide also showed it can achieve a consistent round shape for its borehole, at least over short distances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tests so far amount to the karate demonstration where someone chops through a stack of two-by-fours: Most impressive but not a commercially viable way to chop wood. The next step is obvious Quaise needs to get out and drill into the earth. Thats coming soon. Quaise obtained a test site in north Houston where it can drill up to 100 feet underground. The 100-kilowatt gyrotron system I saw firing up in the warehouse has already been moved to this field site, where Quaise is connecting it to a full-scale drilling rig owned by partner Nabors Industries; its mast will soar over 182 feet tall. Drilling should begin in April, cutting into an existing well stuffed with rock samples outdoors but still a controlled environment. Soon after, Quaise will swap that out for a new 1-megawatt system, delivering 10 times the power to speed up subsurface boring and maintain an 8-inch-diameter hole, bigger than the initial test holes. That device will use a comparable amount of power as is used by conventional drilling rigs, Araque noted. Drilling 100 feet down is a start but far from sufficient. The company also secured a quarry site near Austin that provides the opportunity to drill nearly 500 feet through pure granite. Once the technology graduates to drilling thousands of feet, Quaise plans to piggyback on the existing drilling industry with its BYOG approach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bring a gyrotron, bring the waveguide, bring the power supply, plug it into the drilling rig, Araque said. There's thousands of drilling rigs in the world. You just go and plug and play into them. New geothermal power plants coming soon If and when the time comes to drill for actual power plants, Quaise aims to ride conventional drilling technologies as far as theyll go. The plan is to hire traditional rigs to burrow through the first 2 to 3 kilometers of subsurface (up to nearly 2 miles) until the drill hits whats known as basement rock. After hitting basement rock, Quaise will swap drill bits for its millimeter-wave drill and blast to about 5 miles deep in favorable locations even that far down, some places have easier access to heat than others. Operators will pump nitrogen gas into the hole to flush out the dust from vaporized rock as the drill moves ever deeper. Quaise leaders did not disclose a timeline for the companys first commercial deep drilling. At that point, Quaise will need to build an actual power plant and navigate the myriad permitting and transmission-connection hurdles that face renewables developers broadly. The company is running this development process in-house and already has multiple geothermal leases secured, a spokesperson noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the meantime, a handful of other startups are making headway on commercial-scale geothermal plants, albeit with different approaches. Fervo Energy has applied fracking technologies to geothermal drilling to make the process more efficient; after a successful 3.5-megawatt trial project in Nevada, the company began drilling the 400-megawatt Cape Station plant in Utah. Closer in principle to Quaise, a Canadian startup called Eavor is developing ways to drill deeper than was economically practical before. Instead of reinventing the drill itself, Eavor defends it with insulation and shock cooling to avoid crumbling in deep, high-temperature rock. Most oil and gas directional drilling tools are rated for 180C temperatures, [but Eavors] insulated drilling pipe has a cooling effect on the tools making them work at even higher temperatures just by insulating the pipe, a company spokesperson said in an email. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eavor notched a big win in 2023, when it drilled a test well in New Mexico to depths of 3.4 miles and through rock as hot as 250 degrees Celsius. Now its drilling a closed-loop project in Germany to generate 8.2 megawatts of electricity and 64 megawatts of heating. Taken together, geothermal innovators like Quaise, along with the somewhat less science-fictiony enhanced geothermal startups like Fervo and Eavor, could produce the clean firm power that energy modelers say is necessary to balance out cheap wind and solar in the quest to decarbonize the electrical grid. Advanced geothermal technologies could unlock a terawatt-scale resource that can deliver clean energy on demand, said Jesse Jenkins, an authority on net-zero modeling and assistant professor at Princeton University. That would be an enormously valuable tool to have in our toolbox. Quaise could in theory supply those other geothermal innovators with a better type of drill to extend their range. But Araque insisted Quaise wants to be in the power generation business, not the widget business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company also has to manage an evident chokepoint in its development: those highly specialized gyrotrons. Quaise owns four, Araque said; the global gyrotron supply chain currently cant handle an order for 10 more. Thats not an issue while Quaise works its way up to deep subsurface drilling, but the growth trajectory of the gyrotron suppliers could limit how much power-plant drilling the company can perform simultaneously in the future. The work to extend from boring a few inches of rock to miles of it should not be underestimated, but Quaise has already crossed the more daunting chasm from never melting rock with an energy beam to doing so daily. Among his other accomplishments as dean, Matthew Myers oversaw the Cox Schools MBA becoming a STEM program in 2021. File photo Its no exaggeration to call the nearly eight years of Matthew Myerss tenure as dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University transformative. Myers has overseen a massive expansion of the schools footprint not only physically, but by reputation as well. Since he joined Cox as dean in August of 2017 from Miami Universitys Farmer School of Business, where he was dean for three years, Myers has led a modernization of campus, a rise in the rankings, and successful building-up of the schools endowment. His all-around success in making Cox a key player in business education was such that last June he announced he would step down this summer having achieved his 10-year goals with three years to spare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On March 13, the Cox School announced Myerss replacement: Todd Milbourn, corporate finance expert and Hubert C. and Dorothy R. Moog Professor of Finance at Washington Universitys Olin Business School. Milbourn will become the Cox Schools 10th dean and will hold the Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership effective June 1. SMOOTH HANDOFF EXPECTED Todd Milbourn will become SMU Coxs 10th dean in June In 2017, the year Myers took over as dean, the Cox School was 52nd in the U.S. News & World Report business school ranking. By 2024 it had risen to 34th. Meanwhile Cox is 45th in Poets&Quants most recent MBA ranking and 21st in our 2025 ranking of top online MBA programs. The Cox School also ranks 40th in U.S. News undergrad ranking and 26th in our most recent ranking of undergraduate business programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even as it rose in the rankings, the Cox School was growing in its Dallas-Fort Worth home. Breaking ground during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to an initial $50 million gift from David and Carolyn Miller, the school opened the Miller Quad, a $140 million, 260,000-square-foot facility, in August 2023. Featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, advanced technology, and collaborative spaces designed to reflect the modern workplace, the Quad is more than just a building; it represents a shift in how we educate business students, Myers told P&Q last year. It may well be his crowning achievement. For the first time, we have everyone students, faculty, and staff under one roof, which strengthens our family-like culture and fosters greater collaboration. Among the big curricular developments for the school under Myerss leadership, the schools MBA program went STEM in 2021. Cox has also partnered with SMUs Lyle School of Engineering to integrate engineering and computer science into its business programs, a cross-disciplinary approach that equips our students with the skills they need to excel in areas like AI, data analytics, and entrepreneurship. The school recently revamped the curriculum to be more hands-on and aligned with real-world business practices, Myers told Poets&Quants Editor-in-Chief John Byrne in 2024. Myers tells P&Q that after talking with Milbourn, he expects the handoff to the new dean to go smoothly. In speaking with Todd, I know he has tremendous respect for the accomplishments of the faculty, staff, and students at the Cox School, and will build on that legacy to continue Coxs ascent to global prominence, Myers says. Todds commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship, administrative leadership, and to community are readily apparent in both his record and his message. LED THE ROLLOUT OF NEW SPECIALIZED MASTERS PROGRAMS Over a 25-year tenure at WashU Olin, Milbourn has held multiple leadership appointments. He was senior associate dean of faculty and research from 2013 to 2017, vice dean of faculty and research from 2017 to 2022, and deputy dean from 2022 to 2023. Among his achievements in those roles: He increased the number of faculty members from 80 to 150 and improved research impact, expanded the Ph.D. program, led the rollout of several specialized masters programs, and facilitated the establishment of four new research centers. As deputy dean, he helped lead the schools strategic efforts to align with the broader universitys strategic plan and increase engagement with the St. Louis business community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Milbourn is an expert on valuation, corporate finance, credit ratings and corporate governance, including executive compensation and its impact on long-term shareholder value, corporate decision-making and firm performance. He has been retained as an expert by private firms and the U.S. Department of Justice. He is a coauthor of The Value Sphere: Secrets of Creating and Retaining Shareholder Wealth, and has published articles in leading scholarly journals, including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Management Science, Journal of Accounting Research, and RAND Journal of Economics. He has received multiple awards from Washington University, including the Olin Award for Compensation Goals and Firm Performance, the St. Louis Founders Day Distinguished Faculty Award, the Olin Award for Faculty Research That Impacts Business. He won the Reid Teaching Award at Olin 15 times during his time there. Milbourn previously taught finance at the London Business School and the University of Chicago before coming to Washington University. He earned a Ph.D. in finance in 1995 at Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business. He received his bachelors degree in economics, finance and mathematics from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 1991, where he was also a four-year varsity letterman as a high jumper for the track and field team. DONT MISS THE P&Q INTERVIEW: MATTHEW MYERS, DEAN OF SMUS COX SCHOOL and ANOTHER TOP-50 B-SCHOOL MAKES ITS MBA PROGRAM STEM The post SMU Cox Announces New Dean: WashU Olin Prof Todd Milbourn appeared first on Poets&Quants. Do you believe you have stayed in an illegal Airbnb? Get in touch: money@telegraph.co.uk. Social housing tenants illegally renting out their council properties on websites such as Airbnb are costing taxpayers 1bn a year, a report has warned. Local authorities failure to crack down on illegal subletting means there are now believed to be 50,000 social homes in London being used for some form of tenancy fraud, the Tenancy Fraud Forum (TFF) campaign group found. The study found detection rates among London boroughs had fallen by more than 40pc in the past decade, in part because of funding cuts from central government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report estimates taxpayers are spending almost 1bn a year on additional temporary housing accommodation for people who could be living in these social homes instead of the fraudsters. Alan Bryce, who authored the report, said: Tackling this type of fraud is quicker and more cost effective than building the new homes needed to accommodate the approximately 70,000 London families in temporary accommodation or the over 300,000 families on the London housing waiting list. We call on the Regulator of Social Housing to provide leadership in this fight against tenancy fraud. There are different types of tenancy fraud, but it often takes the form of a tenant illegally subletting their property either on a long-term basis or in the form of short-term holiday lets on popular sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While authorities are often able to claim back any profits made by the fraudsters if they are prosecuted, this dwarfs how much they are forced to spend in additional temporary accommodation for people on social housing waiting lists who could live in these properties instead. On average, it takes slightly more than three years for tenancy fraud to be detected, in which time it has cost the taxpayer 66,000 in temporary accommodation costs in London for someone who could have lived there instead. In November, The Telegraph reported how one fraudster conned the taxpayer out of 24,000 by illegally renting out their social house for years. The fraud was uncovered after the local authority informed the social housing provider that another person had registered for council tax at the property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It triggered an investigation that found the claimant was in fact a homeowner who had relocated for work, but was still renting out their old social home. The tenant was ordered to pay 24,843 in unlawful profit and rent arrears, as well as 2,500 towards legal costs. While social housing providers and local authorities are increasingly working together to try and uncover fraudsters, the report called for much greater cooperation between online holiday letting platforms and authorities. It identified 1,000 tenancy frauds in London that could be easily prevented if these sites adopted better fraud prevention practices before listing properties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers Alliance campaign group, said: Londoners struggling to find housing will be outraged to learn that social homes are being exploited. While fraudsters rake in cash from illegally subletting, detection rates are down, and taxpayers are footing the bill for the growing costs of temporary accommodation. The Government must get a grip, this fraud is not only costly but fundamentally wrong. Its time to crack down and ensure social housing goes to those who truly need it. It comes after the TFF revealed last year almost 6,000 social homes nationally are being marketed on online platforms as short-term lets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite tenancy fraud being the second-largest cause of local government fraud losses, the study found the majority of London boroughs have cut back on the number of investigators being employed to clampdown on the practice. Last year, of the 29 London boroughs that took part in the study, they detected 1,028 tenancy frauds between them a fall of 43pc from 10 years ago. This was in large part due to funding cuts, according to the report. The study found on average they detect 12 tenancy frauds per year. Given the average tenancy fraud in London costs taxpayers 66,000, each investigator saved the taxpayer more than 790,000. At the three boroughs that were most successful at detecting tenancy fraud, investigators averaged 22 detections each. That equates to a saving of 1.4m per investigator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesman for Airbnb said: Hosting in social housing is often illegal and has no place on Airbnb. We have created a clear, expedited process for local authorities to alert us to social housing fraud, and we swiftly remove these listings from our platform. We are committed to partnering with local authorities to tackle social housing fraud and have also worked with the Public Sector Fraud Authority to pilot an initiative to further help local councils identify and remove illegally let social housing properties. A spokesman for Booking.com said accommodation providers must confirm that they are legally permitted to rent out their property at the point of listing. The statement added: We take the process of verifying accommodation listings very seriously, including checks performed by our security, local partner services and customer service teams. If we are ever made aware that a property on our site may not be operating in compliance with local regulations, we investigate immediately and will remove the property if that is indeed the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: The unauthorised sub-letting of a social home is a criminal offence, depriving those in genuine need of a home. We expect all councils and housing providers to take action to prevent the deplorable practice to ensure social housing is allocated fairly. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sofia Gubaidulina, who has died aged 93, believed that it was Soviet repression which made her so powerful and distinctive a composer, though it was only after the fall of Communism that she became well known in the West; her music came as a revelation and established her, alongside Alfred Schnittke, among the most substantial and significant of the generation of Russian composers to have succeeded Shostakovich. She went on to win large-scale commissions from orchestras in Europe, America and Japan, becoming, in her 70s, one of the most sought-after composers in the world. Her works include symphonic and choral works, two cello concertos, a viola concerto, four string quartets, a string trio, works for percussion ensemble, and many works for unconventional instruments and combinations of instruments. In an interview broadcast on BBC Two in the early 1990s, Sofia Gubaidulina explained that the repression of the Stalin and Brezhnev years had been an advantage for Soviet artists of her generation: If you cannot lay your hands on information this book is forbidden for some reason, that piece of music restricted when by some miracle you do manage to get hold of something, you throw yourselves upon it with an intensity probably not even dreamt of by the person who has everything, she said. Perhaps even more surprising than the fact that Sofia Gubaidulina was able to compose at all was the fact that the contemplative, often overtly religious tone of her compositions offered such a challenge to the official atheism of the Communist state. One of her greatest achievements, The Seven Words (1982), a chamber concerto for cello, accordion and string orchestra, was inspired by the seven last words of Christ and embodied the New Testament drama with disarming literalness, the different instruments representing Christs body and soul. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Such works did not endear her to the Soviet musical establishment. During her studies at the Moscow Conservatoire, her music was labelled irresponsible by the authorities for its exploration of unorthodox tunings, and in 1979 she was blacklisted by the Union of Soviet Composers for her unapproved participation in some festivals of Soviet music in the West. One reviewer felt that she seemed to be going overboard in pulling every trick in the book as a two-fingered salute to authority. But Sofia Gubaidulina, a diminutive, self-effacing woman, hardly fitted the dissident stereotype and never saw herself as political. It may have been a kind of protest for some, she told an interviewer, but for me religion is the basis of all art. With her fellow composer Alexander Voestin at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 1989 - Frans Schellekens/Redferns Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina was born on October 24 1931 in the Tatar republic of the Soviet Union. Her mother was of Russian-Polish-Jewish extraction. Her father, a land surveyor, was a Tatar, an atheist whose father had been a mullah. It would be tempting to ascribe her development as a composer to youthful rebellion. Her father never approved of his daughters interest in music, or her habit of going out into the fields to pray. Yet the ethereal mysticism of Sofia Gubaidulinas music clearly stemmed in part from her roots. She once described herself as the place where East meets West, and was proud of her Tatar ancestry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She studied composition and piano at the Kazan Conservatoire, and then at the Moscow Conservatoire with Nikolai Peiko and, after graduation, with Vissarion Shebalin. By the time she arrived at the Conservatoire, Shostakovich had already been dismissed from his professorship, yet he still dominated the musical environment. At the Auditorium RAI in Turin in 1991 - Lebrecht Music & Arts/Alamy Peiko had been Shostakovichs assistant and took her to meet him, with a symphony on which she had been working. His advice Be yourself. Continue writing in your own, incorrect way inspired her for the rest of her life. Though she cited Bach and Webern as her main influences, she admitted her debt to Shostakovich with an early piano quintet (1957), whose driving rhythms and deft counterpoint showed the masters influence. After graduating, she scratched a living writing film music, which gave her opportunities for experimentation that she would not have had with more conventional musical structures. In the mid-1970s she founded Astreja, a folk-instrument improvisation group which enabled her to develop her interest in rare Russian, Caucasian, and Asian folk and ritual instruments. She had a special fondness for the bayan, a Russian folk accordion for which she wrote a concerto, Under the Sign of Scorpio. Her works also include a quartet for percussion and saxophone and a piece for Japanese koto and Western orchestra. Though her more serious music was ignored by the Soviet establishment, she was championed in Russia by a number of performers, including the cellist Vladimir Tonkha, the bayanist and accordionist Friedrich Lips, the percussionist Mark Pekarsky and the bassoonist Valery Popov. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her fortunes began to change with the first major performance of her music in the west, when in 1981 Gidon Kremer played Offertorium, her astonishing violin concerto based on the Royal Theme from Bachs A Musical Offering, in Vienna. Success in the 1990s enabled Sofia Gubaidulina to move from her tiny Moscow flat and buy a modest house near Hamburg. The summit of her lifes work was a massive two-part millennium commission, The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ According to St John, heard at the Albert Hall in the 2002 Proms. Scored for gigantic vocal and orchestral forces, the piece interweaves lines from the gospel narrative with passages from the Book of Revelation and Ezekiel. Sofia Gubaidulina accepts the Polar Music Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf in 2002 in Stockholm - Jan Collsioo/AFP/Getty Images Other important pieces include Nadeyka, a triptych written in memory of her daughter, who died of cancer in 2004, and The Light of the End, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was thrilled when the work preceded Beethovens Symphony No 9 at the 2005 proms. Sofia Gubaidulina received numerous prizes including the Living Composer Prize at the Cannes Classical Awards in 2003, and her works are well represented on disc. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sofia Gubaidulina was married three times. Sofia Gubaidulina, born October 24 1931, died March 13 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Dozens of Nevada residents experienced a nightmare scenario when they tried to transform their homes with solar panels. Don't blame the technology known to provide incredible savings, though blame the careless actions of the solar installation company, as reported by FOX5 Las Vegas. Fortunately, there's a way to prevent the same thing from happening to you. Titan Solar Power was once among the biggest residential solar installation companies in the country. In June 2024, it ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy. The closing of its doors was abrupt and shocking to some, but a number of customers knew exactly what had happened: The company had damaged their homes and had its license revoked. According to FOX5 Las Vegas, Estie Kanelos-Azar and her military veteran husband hired the company to provide their home with solar panels a few years ago. The couple was able to finance the work with a loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which included a roof inspection. Not long after installation, cracks began appearing on the ceiling throughout their home. If you were going to buy an EV, which of these factors would be most important to you? Good driving range Low sticker price High-tech features Cheap maintenance Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Kanelos-Azar's husband later died from stomach cancer, leaving her on her own to find a way to stop the ceiling from constantly leaking. Meanwhile, several other Titan Solar customers experienced the same installation problems. Advertisement Advertisement Upon learning of the devastating damage the company had caused to so many homes, the Nevada State Contractors Board revoked Titan Solar's license and fined it $400,000, per 8 News Now. While this at least managed to prevent nightmares for future customers, others are still fighting for recompense in the courtroom. Meanwhile, the entire saga has served as poor PR for solar power. But you shouldn't let the unscrupulous actions of one company dissuade you from switching to solar energy. Solar can not only drastically reduce both your utility bills and your environmental impact, it can also raise the value of your home. And there are trusted ways to vet your solar installation company to ensure that the only thing you get from them is incredible savings and greater sustainability. Companies like EnergySage offer quick estimates and free quote comparisons so you're not feeling around in the dark as you look to light up your home. They've also got advisors who can guide you through the entire process. These services can act as a safeguard from any careless and irresponsible solar installation companies that may be out there. Advertisement Advertisement In short, if you think solar is right for you, the resources are there to ensure safe installation and maximum benefits. Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Arizona lawmakers are pushing for more solar development in the state, particularly in rural La Paz County, even as the Trump administration advocates moving away from intermittent renewable energy. Republicans and Democrats have introduced at least two bills promoting solar and wind energy in Arizona since the new Congress started work in January. Lawmakers say the bills promote economic development in rural parts of the state while boosting the countrys power supply. Solar developments create jobs and power Arizona homes with affordable, sustainable energy, said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the bills would transfer federal land in western Arizona to local control, while both could bring more money to local governments from renewable energy projects. Solar projects are controversial in western Arizona communities, offering economic opportunity while transforming local landscapes. The La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act would sell 3,400 acres of federal land to La Paz County to allow the expansion of a large existing solar park there. The transferred acres cannot include any significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources. Solar projects: Federal funding will help tribes expand electric service, irrigation Revenue could help local governments The bill has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The House version is sponsored entirely by Republicans, including Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who represents La Paz County. The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by both of Arizonas Democratic senators, Gallego and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second bill, sponsored by Gosar, is designed to encourage solar projects on federal lands across the country, including the vast areas of public land in Gosars district. The bill would also use revenues from those solar projects fees and rents collected by the federal government to fund local governments and conservation efforts. This is Gosars eighth time introducing the legislation, which he has put forward in various forms since he was elected in 2010. The previous bills have never reached a House floor vote, though they had strong support from Republicans and Democrats. Gosars office says components of the bills have passed through other legislation. Congressman Gosar has led this overwhelmingly bipartisan bill for years and while much of the bill was passed in previous years, this legislation will finish the job Congressman Gosar started, a spokesperson from Gosars office said in an email. Federal officials are considering eight solar projects that would be located in Gosars district or just outside of it, making up the vast majority of solar projects proposed on federal land in Arizona. If they are all approved, these projects would produce a combined 4.7 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power almost 800,000 homes when operating at full capacity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Looking ahead, renewable energy sources like wind and solar should be an integral part of the United States all-of-the-above energy strategy. Our nations public lands can play a critical role in lowering energy prices and can help meet our nations growing energy demand, Gosars office wrote in a press release. Mohave County proposal: A solar ban, a gas power plant and the rural retirees firing back at dirty energy Solar is 'key' to the county's strategic plan Solar was the fastest-growing energy source in the U.S. in 2024, though natural gas was the largest source. Gosars district in western Arizona, with its flat, sunny expanses and high concentration of federal land, is seen as an ideal location for solar projects. The district, and Arizona broadly, has almost no oil or gas reserves. Western Arizona communities are divided on solar, but local officials in conservative counties seem supportive of the bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This vital legislation is key to our strategic plan for La Paz County to be home to the largest solar project in the nation," La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin said in a press release. The Mohave Solar Energy Array, Feb. 13, 2024, in Fort Mohave. In an email to The Republic, Mohave County Supervisor Travis Lingenfelter echoed support for energy development in western Arizona, so long as the projects are far from towns and cities. If we can work together to get the siting of these projects right and far enough removed from our rural population centers, I think there could be some big wins for everyone, Lingenfelter said. Mohave County citizens support responsible and diversified energy solutions but strongly believe that federally-managed lands close to our rural population centers should not be prioritized for industrial-scale renewable energy development. The bills seem to align with the Trump administrations push to boost the national energy supply at a time when growing data centers and electric cars are straining power grids in some areas of the country. At the same time, the bills are pushing for a form of intermittent power that Trump officials seem hesitant to support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his confirmation hearing before the Senate in January, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said, We need baseload in order to allow renewables to be part of the system weve stacked the deck, where we are creating roadblocks for people who want to do baseload and weve got massive tax incentives for people who want to do intermittent. Solar vs. gas: In sunny Arizona, a relocated gas plant ignites questions over who profits and who pays 'Baseload' power vs. 'intermittent' sources Trump essentially paused any renewable power projects on federal lands during the administrations first days in office. Trump also excluded renewables from the projects he would support through his energy emergency, which he declared in January to strengthen the national power grid, reduce energy prices and boost fossil fuel production. So-called baseload power usually means fossil fuels, some hydropower, and nuclear power that can provide energy at all times of the day. Intermittent power, in this case, means solar and wind, which produce power according to the movements of the sun and air. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During Burgums confirmation, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., argued that solar and wind can become baseload power sources when their electricity is stored in batteries for later release, a technology her state is advancing through research, manufacturing and mining. Isnt the combination of renewables plus battery storage baseload? Cortez Masto asked Burgum. Thats certainly the future, Burgum responded, but until we get to that time, we have to sort of have two systems. Austin Corona covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to austin.corona@arizonarepublic.com Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona lawmakers want more solar for the state COMPANY NEWS: Thryv , provider of the leading small business marketing and sales software platform, has been named the global winner of the Microsoft Advertising Partners Marketing with Purpose award. The award was presented at Microsoft Advertising Accelerate 2025. Having already secured the title for the APAC region, this latest recognition cements Thryvs position as a global industry leader dedicated to driving efficient growth for small businesses. Empowering small businesses with impact-driven marketing The Marketing with Purpose award recognises organisations that champion inclusive, ethical and purpose-driven marketing values that sit at the core of Thryvs approach. Through its cutting-edge innovations featured in Thryv Marketing Center , Thryv Business Center, and Thryv Command Center, and the company equips small businesses with the tools to attract, convert and retain customers across digital channels. From building standout websites and managing social media to optimising SEO and automating lead conversion, Thryv empowers businesses to compete on a level playing field and drive measurable growth. Thryvs data-backed approach to marketing has delivered significant results for small businesses leveraging Microsoft Advertising. With an average Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +55 across its products, Thryv ensures customer satisfaction and business growth go hand-in-hand. Seventy-one percent of Thryv customers report saving more than 72 hours per month by using the platform [1], allowing them to focus on scaling their operations rather than managing complexity. Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia and New Zealand, said the global award underscores the companys commitment to simplifying digital complexity and amplifying small business success. "This significant award is a testament to our mission of empowering small businesses to achieve big outcomes. We break down barriers in marketing, equipping our customers with tools that create measurable success. Being recognised not just at the APAC level but now also globally, is an extraordinary honour." "Beyond recognition, this award underscores our commitment to marketing with integrity and innovation. At Thryv, we develop solutions that give small enterprises a true competitive edge, ensuring they can continue to grow and succeed. It also reinforces our responsibility to set new standards for impactful, ethical and results-driven marketing," said Elise. Microsoft Advertising is honoured to present Thryv Australia with the Marketing with Purpose award. We were delighted by the high quality of nominations from our partners this year, and thrilled to announce their win during Microsoft Advertising Accelerate 2025. Were proud to be celebrating with our partners and are inspired by their dedication, commitment to partnership and driving success for their clients, said Katherine Ellis, Global Partner Marketing Director and Awards Lead, Microsoft Advertising. A culture of purpose, inside and out Beyond client impact, Thryvs people-first mindset is deeply ingrained in its internal culture. The company fosters an inclusive workplace with a focus on wellbeing. Employees benefit from initiatives such as the Women of Thryv program, partnerships with ComPsych, and active support for mental health organisations including R U OK? and Breast Cancer Trials. "Our vision is to make a difference. Whether its empowering small businesses to grow or ensuring our employees feel valued and supported, we are here to create lasting and positive change," Elise added. WALWORTH, N.Y. (WROC) In the town of Walworth, Rochester-based solar farm company Norbut has proposed the installation of a new solar farm. As town leaders continue their consideration of this project, many neighbors of the prospective site are against the idea. The solar farm would be situated in a currently vacant plot of farmland between Kuttruff Road and Atlantic Avenue, between Canandaigua and West Walworth Roads. Currently, the open field has electrical towers placed through it. Walworth Town Supervisor Mike Donalty explained that because their town is considered rural, he and many other town officials were anticipating a proposal like this one for a while now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres a lot of vacant farmland, so it just makes sense that if a company wants to develop solar, theyre going to come here, Donalty said. Theyre not going to build it in more urban areas like the city of Rochester because theres no place for them to build it. However, some folks who live nearby believe there are better places to install the solar farm. They value what they described as a vast ecosystem with an abundance of wildlife, which neighbors wetlands recognized and monitored by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). A solar farm in this community would change the landscape, 32-year Walworth resident Ginger said. The people of this community live here for the open fields, the farmlands and the space. Tom Ninestine lives right up the road from the proposed site and has these same concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im just worried about the impact of the wildlife, the wetlands and the aesthetic view, Ninestine said. It would be a real eyesore. Donalty explained how, if approved, the solar farm could generate substantially more tax revenue for the town, as opposed to if the farmland remained vacant. Farmland is taxed at a much lower rate than developed land, so we made sure that when we revised our local solar law last year that we made provisions for these farms to be taxed at the full assessed evaluation of the land and the installation upon it, Donalty said. For residents with a similar perspective as Ginger and Tom, the additional tax revenue isnt worth losing the open space. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I probably wont be able to walk my dog past this area if construction is going on and if theres a lot of trucks. Ill probably have to go someplace else, Ginger said. This prospective solar farm is currently only a proposal. Norbut presented the concept to Walworths Planning Board and, if approved, would need to be approved again by the Walworth Town Board. News 8 reached out to Norbut Solar Farms for comment on their plans for the Walworth solar farm and are waiting to hear back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. (FOX40.COM) Emergency crews responded to a solo vehicle crash in East Sacramento on Wednesday night. Video above: What happens when you call 9-1-1? California Highway Patrol East Sacramento said that the incident happened at 7:35 p.m., on Sunset Avenue west of Main Street in Fair Oaks. CHP East Sacramento has described the driver as a 25-year-old man who was driving in a Honda Civic and was traveling eastbound on Sunset Avenue and approaching Main Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was actively raining and the roadway was wet, said CHP East Sacramento. The driver was traveling at an unsafe speed, causing the vehicle to veer off the roadway and collide with a tree. Sacramento Zoo welcomes newborn giraffe to the herd Sacramento Metro Fire said that one person was evaluated and was pronounced dead on the scene. Officials said that at this time it is unknown if alcohol and drug impairment was the reason for the crash. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. Mar. 12SANTA FE As a hotly debated New Mexico paid leave proposal nears the finish line at the Roundhouse, questions are swirling about the plan's financial viability. A House-approved bill creating a state-run paid leave program and authorizing $9,000 baby rebates for working parents spread out over three months after birth is awaiting a key vote in the Senate Finance Committee with just over one week left in the 60-day session. Several committee members expressed misgivings Wednesday during a legislative analysis of the proposal, pointing out the bill does not specify where an estimated $193 million per year to pay for baby rebates would come from. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I don't think I've ever seen where we didn't say how we were going to pay for something when we put it on the books," said Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque. He also expressed concern the funding could end up being funneled out of an early childhood trust fund created in 2020 that will have an estimated $9.6 billion balance by the end of this year. Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, one of the bill's sponsors, told reporters later Wednesday that lawmakers could appropriate money from the Early Childhood Education and Care Department's budget not the trust fund down the line. "Is it funded? Not really. But does it need to be funded? That's the question," she said. "Well, just recall that (baby rebates) do not start until Jan. 1, 2028, so frankly, I would think it would be inappropriate to have the cost of the program in this year's budget when, in fact, it is at least one or two budget cycles out." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But even some advocates of creating a New Mexico paid family leave program have expressed solvency concerns. Tracy McDaniel, policy director of the Southwest Women's Law Center, said members of a coalition of more than 50 groups are still trying to understand the implications of changes made to the bill before it was approved by the House on a 38-31 vote. "We just want to make sure this is a fiscally sustainable program from year to year," McDaniel told the Journal. She also said backers are trying to convince senators to expand the bill by extending the amount of paid time off workers could take off annually to care for family members or recover from medical procedures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paid leave bill's evolution Supporters of a New Mexico paid leave program have tried for years to win approval at the Roundhouse. This year's bill, House Bill 11, marks the furthest such legislation has advanced in the House, but the proposal has also changed significantly since it was first introduced. During Wednesday's hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, lawmakers also questioned the solvency of the wellness fund, a part of the bill that would require employees and employers to make contributions into a state-run medical leave fund. Employees would pay 0.2% of their wages into the fund and employers with five or more workers would pay 0.15% of wages, allowing workers to take up to six weeks of paid leave for medical, bereavement, fostering, military exigency or sexual abuse safety purposes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But New Mexico would be the lowest-income state to adopt the paid leave program, resulting in a lower amount of dollars making it to the fund but possibly a higher uptake rate, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. The only situation in which the fund would remain solvent at the currently proposed premium rates is if only 4.5% of workers utilize the paid leave, per scenarios provided by the analysts. The other hypotheticals with 6-8% of eligible New Mexicans using the leave would put the fund in a $227-870 million deficit, according to the report. The average of utilization in other states with similar programs is 6%, though analysts note that uptake rates are extremely difficult to predict. Other states since policy adoption have increased employee- and employer-paid premiums to ensure solvency. Senate Finance Committee analyst John Kreienkamp said New Mexico legislators could also later inject a one-time cash infusion to build the fund balance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the funding uncertainty for both portions of the bill prompted criticism from Democrats and Republicans. "I'm concerned because we certainly do not have room currently in the budget," said Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque. "I don't know where this magic pot of money is sitting." But Chandler said she feels confident the bill is on solid financial ground. She pointed out the bill requires an actuarial study for its wellness fund before premiums are enforced. For her part, Tobiassen also questioned whether remote out-of-state workers could get the baby rebates and whether estranged parents could split the $9,000 when only one parent is the main caregiver. Analysts could not fully answer those questions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vote on bill could come down to the wire Despite hearing an analysis of the bill, the Senate Finance Committee did not vote on it Wednesday. Such a vote will likely not happen until this weekend as analysts work to research senators' questions, a top committee staffer said. Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, the committee's chairman, said this week the paid leave bill is part of what he described as $3 billion in "unfunded mandates" approved by the House. But House Speaker Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, called the legislation overdue. "No one should have to choose between taking care of a sick child or a sick parent or showing up to work and putting food on the table," Martinez said this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the bill's sponsors were not present at Wednesday's committee hearing, something some lawmakers objected to. "We're almost wasting our time here today," said Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces. Chandler later said she found out about the bill presentation Monday evening through the committee's posted agenda. She said the committee chair not inviting bill sponsors for a presentation on a bill was an unusual process, but said it doesn't raise any red flags in terms of the bill's chance for winning final approval. "If we're in a search for knowledge, I'm looking forward to when the (committee) chairman ... actually schedules our bill so that we can speak to him about where we're going with it and what we've learned through the process of, actually, several years of working on this bill," she said. CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) European Union leaders announced 4.7 billion euros ($5.1 billion) in investments in South Africa on Thursday to support green energy and vaccine production, and agreed to start talks on new trade deals with Africa's most advanced economy. The announcement came at the first bilateral summit between the bloc and the African country in seven years. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke of the need to boost international cooperation during the meeting, held at the South African leaders Cape Town office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their message stood in contrast to the Trump administrations confrontational foreign policy and trade tariffs. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he would impose a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits in an escalation of a trade war with the EU. We will defend our interests, von der Leyen said in response to Trump's latest threat. "Weve said it and weve shown it, but at the same time I also want to emphasize that we are open for negotiations. Von der Leyen also said that Europe was looking to deepen its trade relationship with South Africa, already the EUs largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want to strengthen and diversify our supply chains but we want to do it in cooperation with you, she said, sitting next to Ramaphosa. She described it as a new chapter in their relations and referred to South Africa as a reliable partner. On both sides theres high respect for stability, predictability and reliability," she said. Ramaphosa said the summit came at a time of increasing global uncertainty. Both the EU and South Africa have felt the impact of Trump's first months of his second term. South Africa has been singled out for sanctions by the Trump administration over domestic and foreign policies that the U.S. leader has cast as anti-American a reference to South Africa launching a case at the top U.N. court accusing U.S. ally Israel of genocide in the war in Gaza, as well as to South Africa's ties with China and Iran. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump issued an executive order last month cutting all U.S. funding to South Africa, accusing it of a human rights violation against a white minority group in the country, and of supporting some bad actors in the world, such as the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran. Von der Leyen's visit also reemphasized the EU's support for South Africa's presidency of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations this year, another area where the United States has criticized South Africa while boycotting some early G20 meetings. South Africa hopes to use its leadership of the group to make progress on help for poor countries, especially on debt relief and more financing to mitigate the impact of climate change. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed some of those priorities for the G20 and skipped a foreign ministers meeting of the group in South Africa last month. He also said that he wouldn't attend the main G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, indicating that the U.S. would give little attention to attempts at international cooperation through the bloc, which includes 19 of the world's major economies, the EU and the African Union. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EU said that the vast majority of the new investment in South Africa $4.7 billion out of the $5.1 billion would be to help South Africa transition from its coal-based economy to greener energy supplies. That new pledge came a week after the U.S. withdrew from an agreement to give funding to South Africa and two other developing nations to help them transition to clean energy sources that was seen as a possible blueprint for more deals to reduce carbon emissions across the world. The EU has also pledged money to that Just Energy Transition Partnership and said that it's still committed to the program. We know that others are withdrawing so we want to be very clear with our support," von der Leyen said. "We are doubling down and we are here to stay. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) The MBTA and Keolis will hold a job fair on Friday as the long-awaited opening of the South Coast Rail route approaches. The event begins at 10 a.m. at the MassHire New Bedford Career Center located at 22 Elm St. Registration is closed, however, MassHire said to stay tuned for information regarding another upcoming session. RELATED: MBTA releases schedule for new South Coast Rail service Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Sen. Mark Montigny will be on hand to kick off the job fair, which he said will also include a rail industry briefing. More than 100 job seekers have registered to meet with MBTA representatives to discuss career opportunities, according to Montigny. Given the many false promises over decades, many residents reasonably remained skeptical of South Coast Rail, but we can finally say that the trains are rolling into New Bedford, he said in a press release. The commuter rail line will connect Southeastern Massachusetts communities to Boston, with service scheduled to begin March 24. There will be several local stops, including New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton. The rail project has faced a number of setbacks over the years. Service was supposed to start last summer, but it was delayed by months due to a shortage of building materials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: How much will it cost to ride the South Coast Rail? 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 new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to the media on March 6, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. An American Sign Language interpreter works nearby. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has signed a bill that will loosen his states felony ingestion statutes, which are among the nations strictest laws on drug use. Senate Bill 83 reduces first- and second-offense ingestion of controlled substances from class five felonies to class one misdemeanors. Maximum penalties for the charges, which typically stem from urine test results, will fall from five years in prison and a $10,000 fine to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rhoden penned a letter to lawmakers explaining his decision to sign the bill and affixed it to a press release announcing hed signed it and 18 other bills into law on Wednesday. The letter noted law enforcements stiff opposition to the bill, but also that third and subsequent offenses will remain felonies, and that South Dakota needs to focus more squarely on rehabilitation. His difficult decision to sign the bill, he said, cannot be the end of the discussion. We need all three branches of government the legislature, the executive branch, and the judiciary to continue working toward solutions, he wrote. We must expand treatment opportunities and make sure that the punishment fits the crime. Next steps for courts, prisons He also wrote that the Unified Judicial System (UJS) will assemble a task force to look into the states treatment resources and its treatment courts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One mismatch between the bills verbiage and the states treatment setup within UJS rules is apparent already. SB 83 suggests the use of the Honest Opportunity for Probation Enforcement (HOPE) program as a probation option for those convicted of first- and second-offense ingestion. That program requires participants to call a phone number every day to find out if theyre required to take a drug test. Those who fail see jail time. According to current UJS rules, however, HOPE is only available for people charged with felonies. Data from the UJS, requested by South Dakota Searchlight, shows 14,968 felony ingestion charges have been filed in the state in the past 10 years. Thousands of those cases resulted in prison sentences; thousands more in jail and probation terms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Feb. 28, there were 133 men and 71 women imprisoned by the state Department of Corrections with ingestion as their highest-level offense, according to DOC spokesman Michael Winder. Those inmates are not receiving adequate treatment, Rhoden said in his letter. The governor had hoped to secure funding for a new mens prison this legislative session, but was rebuffed by lawmakers. The governor subsequently signed an executive order creating a task force to reevaluate the states correctional needs. With the limited availability for rehabilitation at the current State Penitentiary, all we can really do is lock em up, he wrote. No inmates released, no records cleared The law will take effect July 1, but will not retroactively remove previous felonies from a persons criminal record or cause state prison inmates to be immediately released. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Dakota is the only state in the U.S. with a specific law that allows prosecutors to charge people with felonies for failed drug tests if the drugs in question are controlled substances like methamphetamine or cocaine. Ingestion of marijuana can draw misdemeanor charges. SB 83 was the latest in a yearslong effort to overturn or adjust the felony ingestion law. Bills seeking to do so had appeared in every legislative session but one since 2020. The 2025 iteration came from freshman Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule. It passed her chamber by a single vote and the House of Representatives by five. In a Wednesday press release, Grove said felony convictions follow people around their whole lives, making it difficult to find work or housing and contributing to the stressors that drive continued addiction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Dakotas use of heavy penalties and prison time has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, shattered communities and our families, she wrote. Sadly, the children who are connected suffer the most. Eighteen other new laws Rhoden also signed a bill into law Wednesday that would outlaw competitive street racing. That bill was inspired by a series of incidents in Sioux Falls, one of which killed a 35-year-old man from Valley Springs. He also affixed his signature to a bill creating a trust fund for the states unclaimed property dollars. That money comes into the states possession when left abandoned for three years. Every cent of unclaimed property remains a perpetual liability for the state. Claims from the moneys rightful owners, when made, are paid out of the general fund, but the vast majority of the money is never collected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Bill 155 reduces the amount of unclaimed property deposited into the general fund, instead redirecting it into an interest-bearing account. In a separate action, lawmakers passed a resolution that will ask voters in 2026 to allow the State Investment Council to manage that fund. Senate Bill 193, also signed into law Wednesday, allows an applicant to have an interpreter present during the driving portion of a drivers license exam. A full list of the bills signed Wednesday is available online. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE South Dakota House Minority Leader Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, speaks to members of the press on March 6, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. Healy sponsored a child care assistance bill that was vetoed by the governor. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) The South Dakota House of Representatives failed to override the first veto of Gov. Larry Rhodens administration on Thursday morning at the Capitol in Pierre. Lawmakers in the House spent around half an hour debating the possibility of reviving House Bill 1132s attempt to expand child care subsidies for child care workers and overruling the governors Wednesday veto. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the end, the vote to overturn the veto failed 27-43. Because of its failure in the House, there was no need for the Senate to consider it. Thursday was the final day of the annual legislative session, except for a day on March 31 to consider any further vetoes from Rhoden, who is still considering bills. HB 1132s backers took issue with Rhodens characterization of the bill as an unfair expansion of a social safety net program to people in a specific field. Parents in South Dakota with incomes at 209% or less of the federal poverty level are eligible for child care tuition assistance. The bill vetoed on Wednesday would have bumped that eligibility figure up to 300% for full-time child care workers. Child care workers who cant afford their own child care bills, the reasoning goes, cannot stay on the job and watch the kids of parents who cant work without child care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hope would be for South Dakota to keep more child care workers on the job. When child care workers leave the workforce, the crisis deepens, said the bills sponsor, Rep. Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls. Opponents said they agreed with the governor. They didnt see the subsidy as fair to other families, worried about a permanent subsidy the state couldnt afford, and suggested that the bill would tip the scales in favor of one approach to child care. Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, argued that lawmakers cant simultaneously be conservative and supportive of subsidies for a specific type of worker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats why I respect the governor. I think hes well-stated the answer, Hughes said. Dont buy into this. Dont buy into this idea that were going to start subsidizing a group of, God bless them, child care workers. Its just a bad precedent. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Unified cybersecurity company WatchGuard has announced the launch of FireCloud Internet Access, the first in a new family of hybrid secure access service edge (SASE) products. WatchGuard says FireCloud uniquely meets the needs of hybrid organisations and WatchGuard partners by delivering consistency across Fireboxes and FireCloud with nearly identical configurations and no learning curve. Managing real-world cybersecurity means managing hybrid networks that combine traditional on-premises and Cloud/firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS) environments, notes WatchGuard. Many vendors providing SASE solutions overlook the importance of integrated on-premises environments, which diminishes the value of deploying a SASE solution. When a SASE solution does not take these environments into account, they end up creating isolated systems that are managed separately, leading to unnecessary complexity and overhead. FireCloud Internet Access is the right answer for hybrid environments because it integrates with WatchGuard Cloud and shares unified policy management with Firebox, combining firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS) and secure web gateway (SWG) to deliver robust protection without complexity. WatchGuard enables managed service providers (MSPs) to deliver a valuable SASE solution to their clients with an adoption model that fits their hybrid environments. This solution is part of the WatchGuard Unified Security Platform architecture, which includes Identity, Network, and Endpoint security components, unified management in the WatchGuard Cloud, and a common installation framework for WatchGuard endpoints. FireCloud Internet Access provides real security for real-world challenges that today's businesses face. As remote and distributed work environments evolve and companies transition to the Cloud, the range of threat surfaces and location of endpoints that need protection has expanded, said Andrew Young, Chief Product Officer at WatchGuard. Existing solutions dont allow security teams to seamlessly manage their network security in concert with their SASE deployments, creating security gaps and management complexities. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a new hybrid SASE approach which begins with FireCloud Internet Access. WatchGuard also notes: The FireCloud Internet Access Difference: In addition to being uniquely designed for hybrid Cloud/on-premises environments, FireCloud Internet Access also promises ease of deployment, flexible and scalable licensing and pricing, and integration into WatchGuards threat detection and response platform. Designed for Hybrid WatchGuards SASE architecture is one of the few solutions that is designed to deliver value and benefits to a hybrid environment. For lean IT teams or MSPs, this approach means easier management, consistent security controls, and lower costs over other SASE offerings. WatchGuards SASE architecture is one of the few solutions that is designed to deliver value and benefits to a hybrid environment. For lean IT teams or MSPs, this approach means easier management, consistent security controls, and lower costs over other SASE offerings. Ease of Deployment Administrators can configure and enforce security policies from a single interface, which simplifies management by using consistent policy structures and terminology. Security settings are automatically deployed to all WatchGuard-hosted points of presence (PoPs) worldwide, ensuring consistent policy enforcement no matter where the user is located. FireCloud clients are delivered from theWatchGuard Cloud, making them easy to deploy and manage. Administrators can configure and enforce security policies from a single interface, which simplifies management by using consistent policy structures and terminology. Security settings are automatically deployed to all WatchGuard-hosted points of presence (PoPs) worldwide, ensuring consistent policy enforcement no matter where the user is located. FireCloud clients are delivered from theWatchGuard Cloud, making them easy to deploy and manage. Flexible and Scalable The flexible pricing available with WatchGuards FlexPay helps build and grow managed security services provider (MSSP) business. As a firewall-as-a-service, the number of users doesnt impact performance, and more licenses can be easily added with customer growth. WatchGuard says it is committed to delivering a complete SASE solution to meet partners and their clients needs. Over time, WatchGuards FireCloud family of solutions covering private access, SD-WAN, ZTNA, and CASB will be built out and deployed, and along the way, FireCloud customers will also benefit from soon-to-be-released integrations with ThreatSync+ software as a service (SaaS) delivering overwatch threat detection and response, and the client will be integrated with the soon-to-be-released WatchGuard Universal Agent that simplifies device management. As always, WatchGuard will work closely with our partners to determine the specific SASE needs of their clients, notes WatchGuard. SASE is the future of secure connectivity, merging network and security functions into a Cloud-native service. With FireCloud Internet Access and its overall approach to hybrid SASE architecture, WatchGuards focus on delivering powerful cybersecurity solutions specially designed for MSPs is on full display, said Kevin Willette, president of Verus. This is an affordable and effective solution to protect our clients networks and users while still using the same enterprise security found in our Firebox, which makes my business more efficient and improves our bottom line. WatchGuard concludes: State Sen. Ernie Otten, R-Tea, speaks in the South Dakota Senate chamber on Feb. 3, 2025. Otten was the lead co-chair of the Legislature's main budget committee during the 2025 legislative session. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) PIERRE South Dakota lawmakers approved a $7.3 billion state budget on Thursday at the Capitol, down about $5 million from the budget they adopted last year. Rep. Mike Derby, R-Rapid City, is the co-chair of the Legislatures main budget panel, the Joint Appropriations Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We had one job, one bill to take care of, the general appropriations bill, he said of his committees work. We delivered it on time. And were going to have a balanced budget for the 136th year in a row. The budget includes $3.1 billion in federal funding and the equivalent of 14,095 full-time employees, an increase of 24 from last winters budget bill. Thursday was the final day of the annual legislative session, except for a day on March 31 to consider vetoes from the governor. Rep. Mike Derby, R-Rapid City, speaks on the South Dakota House floor on Jan. 21, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) The final spending plan closes an approximately $50 million shortfall between ongoing revenue and expenses through a mix of cuts and fee increases to maintain a balanced budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The so-called big three education, state employee pay, and health care providers who treat Medicaid patients received 1.25% increases, consistent with the original budget proposal. The state continues to receive an influx of funds from unclaimed property, which consists of an array of private assets that have been abandoned for more than three years, including money from bank accounts, stocks, life insurance payouts, uncashed checks, and even the contents of safe deposit boxes. The latest estimate shows $237 million in revenue for the budget after payouts to the few people who come forward to claim their property. Lawmakers passed a bill this year to gradually transition unclaimed property money into a trust fund, including $22.8 million this year, and eventually take only the interest earned from the fund as revenue. Voters will see a ballot question in 2026 asking permission for the state Investment Council to manage that fund. Falling sales tax revenue put pressure on the budget this year, as did a $34 million rise in the states share of Medicaid costs. Medicaid is government health insurance for people with low incomes, and for adults and children with disabilities, funded by a formula that determines the state and federal shares. The states portion of the costs increased due to a rise in the states per capita income. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawmakers expressed pride in delivering a balanced budget, as required by the state constitution, and acknowledged some of the difficult decisions that were made along the way. We all have our golden cow we dont want to be slaughtered, said Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls. Former Gov. Kristi Noem proposed numerous cuts, but also some new spending, before she departed to accept a position in the Trump administration. Noems proposed $52,000 cut for veterans burial assistance was revoked. So was her proposed $3.6 million funding cut to South Dakota Public Broadcasting. She also sought to cut $1 million from the State Library, but lawmakers reduced that to an $825,000 cut and reinstated the Department of Educations ability to seek $1.4 million in federal funding for the library. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Noems $10 million proposal for school safety grants and $4 million proposal for education savings accounts failed as well. The ESAs would have provided public funds for students attending private schools, homeschools or other forms of alternative instruction. Funding for the Board of Regents, which oversees the six state universities, was cut by $2 million, as proposed. Lawmakers also approved Noems proposed cost-sharing shift for the dual enrollment program, which allows high school students to earn college credits. The state will now cover 50% of costs, down from two-thirds, saving the state (and costing students and their families) about $1.2 million annually. Lawmakers additionally approved phasing out a five-year, $1,000 annual stipend for teachers to attain national certification. Noem proposed allocating $182 million to complete funding for a proposed $825 million prison. Lawmakers rejected that plan, causing new Gov. Larry Rhoden to appoint a task force to study the issue. The budget directs that money into reserves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawmakers avoided a cut to the maintenance and repair of state buildings in the current fiscal years revised budget by using one-time funding sources. They werent able to avoid a $17 million cut in the 2026 fiscal year budget. Legislators typically try to use one-time funding sources such as unclaimed property or federal stimulus funds on one-time needs. Ongoing revenue, such as sales tax collections, is used to fund the everyday operations of state government. A Noem proposal to appropriate $13 million to replace the state-owned Richmond Lake dam near Aberdeen was approved. Current budget revisions The budget adopted by lawmakers Thursday is for the 2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The Legislature also approved a bill Thursday that revises the states current-year budget down by $74.6 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This bill allows us to continue operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our citizens, said Rep. Chris Kassin, R-Vermilion, who serves on the budget committee. Rep. Chris Kassin, R-Vermillion, speaks to fellow House lawmakers at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre on Mar. 13, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) The adjustments reflect declining sales tax revenue following years of strong collections, and the depletion of federal pandemic aid and stimulus funding. A significant portion of the reductions come from lower-than-projected Medicaid utilization. The Departments of Social Services and Human Services will see a combined $34.1 million decrease to align funding with anticipated needs. The state also captured $25.1 million in savings from Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program enrollment changes. An additional $31.6 million in general funds, set aside in prior years to prepare for the full cost of Medicaid expansion, was also cut due to lower-than-project enrollments. In 2022, South Dakota voters expanded Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level, to capitalize on a 90% federal funding match included in the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the reductions, the revision to the current budget include new spending in key areas: An increase of $704,938 for medical care at the State Veterans Home. $427,046 to upgrade a Spearfish radio tower for improved state radio coverage. $130,000 to assist counties with post-election audit costs from the 2024 election. $123,200 for legislative broadcasting equipment to enhance public access. $110,000 to fund a tribal-focused law enforcement training program. $5 million for the state information technology modernization fund. Some lawmakers acknowledge the states 2026 fiscal year budget may need significant revising with President Trump cutting federal funding for programs utilized in South Dakota, sales tax revenue down 0.9% compared to this time last year, and Trumps tariff and trade wars fueling fears of a recession. We are going to face a lot of lean cuts in the next few years, said Rep. Erik Muckey, D-Sioux Falls, who serves as the lone Democrat on the budget committee. We face a lot of economic uncertainty as we head into the next few years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Legislature lowered the state sales tax rate in 2023 to 4.2%, but made the reduction temporary and scheduled a return to 4.5% in 2027. The state would have $107 million more in annual revenue for the budget if the sales tax rate was restored to 4.5% this year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A crowd gathers for a Feb. 12, 2025, hearing at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre on a bill to fund a new prison in Lincoln County. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) Im concerned that some of our elected South Dakota public servants have disappeared. The nonpartisan South Dakota League of Women Voters in Sioux Falls once again volunteered to host three legislative coffees during the 2025 legislative session. Two were canceled as our elected public servants failed to commit to meeting with the public. Another was canceled to accommodate the previously unscheduled inauguration of Gov. Larry Rhoden. One was later added, and one was rescheduled, giving us a total of two this legislative season. At the first of those two legislative coffees, three of our Sioux Falls area Democratic legislators showed up to answer constituents questions, while zero Republican legislators appeared. The second coffee had similar results, with one Republican legislator and two Democratic legislators answering questions. Meeting with a broad swath of constituents and hearing their opinions (not just guessing about them or listening to friends, relatives and personal echo chambers) is part of the elected officials job. Im grateful to the six area legislators who understand their job and prioritized the public. However, I feel a showing of six out of 21 Sioux Falls-area legislators meeting their constituents in public meetings is not brag-worthy. That bar is incredibly low. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This trend is happening on the national level also, where South Dakota has only three elected public servants. I cant remember the last time Sen. Mike Rounds, Sen. John Thune or Rep. Dusty Johnson had an open town hall meeting where a broad swath of their constituents was welcome to attend and see and hear their elected public servants, and ask them questions. I knew the House was in recess recently and Rep. Johnson was home in South Dakota. I called his office to find out when hed scheduled a town hall meeting. No one in the office knew, but I was informed that the representative only does telephone town hall meetings. They couldnt tell me when the next phone meeting was scheduled, but if I got on a list, Id get a two-hour notification before the meeting began. Questions for that phone meeting could be submitted ahead of time but not all questions would be answered. This type of meeting isnt transparent or easily accessible to some voters. It also isnt well advertised, and I get Rep. Johnsons weekly updates. When I contact our three national public servants by email, the general canned responses I get back often do not even address the concerns I originally shared. If given the option, I now ask for no response necessary because the responses are an embarrassingly poor showing for the legislators staff. Every South Dakotan should be concerned. Who are these elected public servants serving? The voters hire them, and we can fire them. Those of us who pay taxes provide their salaries; and for our national officials, we provide incredible benefits packages, too. As the hirers and firers, our responsibility is to be aware of their job performances (voting records) and determine if they are worthy of being rehired. Their responsibility, as elected public servants, is to listen and be responsive to the publics needs, questions and concerns to inform us and be transparent. Public meetings are one good way of doing that and provide elected officials with a wide cross-section of constituents views. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whats up with our state and federally elected public servants, and why are so many of them MIA? After teaching middle school science in South Dakota public schools for 25 years, Ruth Grinager is now retired and living in Sioux Falls. MIAMI Donald Trumps repeated promises to aggressively crack down on immigration have ensnared Republicans in his home state, who say the administration has made a dire mistake that could harm South Florida communities. Trumps administration axed temporary protections for Venezuelan immigrants in the early days of his second term. In less than a month, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans nationally stand to lose temporary protected status, opening them up to deportation leaving South Florida Republican Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez scrambling to try to convince Trump to change his mind. That's our plan right now working with the administration and changing some of their policies so that we can help the Venezuelan people, Gimenez told POLITICO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fight over the protections for these Venezuelans sets up a collision course between the presidents America First worldview which is predicated on cracking down on immigration and his deep level of support in South Florida, particularly among Miami Latinos. And how it ends up will be a big test for how much sway the Miami delegation will hold in Trump 2.0. All three members have repeatedly stated there is no greater ally to Venezuelas freedom than Trump. Trump has embraced the Venezuelan opposition and denounced President Nicolas Maduro, as the Hill trio called on him to do. Just last month, Trump announced hed be revoking the licenses of oil companies like Chevron to export from Venezuela a maximum-pressure strategy that Salazar, Diaz-Balart and Gimenez had been pushing for since the Biden administration. The three members also have a powerful ally in Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also a South Florida Cuban American. Rubio, all three said, is firmly on the same page as them when it comes to protecting Venezuelans on TPS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The State Department declined to comment. TPS which provides temporary legal status to immigrants from a country that is unsafe to return to is one of the only levers the executive branch has to unilaterally give, or take away, legal status to a wide swath of people. To revoke it, the Department of Homeland Security argued that conditions have improved enough in Venezuela for immigrants to go back. I am, respectfully but in a very serious way, completely not in agreement with that, with them saying thats the reason, Diaz-Balart told POLITICO. Its the same dictatorship. The decision to rescind TPS is a marked shift in policy concerning Venezuelan immigrants compared to the first Trump administration. On the last day of his first term, Trump granted Venezuelans protection from deportation through the Deferred Enforced Departure program. It was a long-awaited move that Miami Republicans had pushed for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trump also pledged to get rid of TPS during his 2024 campaign, repeatedly stating the executive action has been abused and overused. (Former President Joe Biden extended the protection to Venezuelans in 2023.) So the move by DHS is no surprise for Diaz-Balart, Salazar and Gimenez. Trump is sticking to his promises, they said. I understand that he ran on, and he won, saying he was going to reverse all of the disasters Biden caused on the southern border, Diaz-Balart said. But he said the cases of Venezuelans need to be revised case-by-case in the most expedited way. Despite South Florida Republicans resistance, the Trump administration has been targeting Venezuelans since Trump took office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has made headlines and become a focus of Trumps mass deportation campaign, with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calling the gang dirtbags on Fox News. Noem justified her decision to not extend TPS to Venezelans by saying they would stay here and violate our laws for another 18 months. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to request for comment. But the lawmakers stress that most of the Venezuelans that they represent are not the criminals making headlines. Deport criminals, deport those that have deportation orders. But that's not the majority of Venezuelans that I know, Gimenez said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Venezuelan voters in Florida have become critical to Trumps Latino base, who turned out for his town halls and campaign stops in Miami last year. Venezuelans are thefastest growing Latino group in the U.S., and they number in the hundreds of thousands in South Florida. In the majority Venezuelan enclave of Doral, known to locals as Doralzuela, Trump won upwards of 60 percent of the vote. And many of these Venezuelans have family members or friends who have TPS. That is the message that we're delivering to the administration: that no, this is too broad a stroke, Gimenez said. Venezuelan Republicans in South Florida arent happy with the president, either. Gustavo Garagorry, head of the Venezuelan American Republican Club of Miami-Dade and an ardent supporter of Trump since 2015, said a lot of people are extremely worried, including him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im really embarrassed by whats happening to Venezuelans, thats my community thats being affected, he said. More than one is on the verge of a heart attack over this. Jorge Galicia, a TPS recipient who identifies as a Republican, said that Trumps decision is disappointing, but he has faith in the Miami Republicans. I understand that there is a crime problem here in the United States as a result of the Tren de Aragua gang, he said. Donald Trumps government has to understand that even though this gang is a problem, not all Venezuelans are part of the gang, its a tiny minority that are involved. Venezuelan Republican politicians in Miami have pushed Trump to reconsider TPS, including the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners and the Doral City Council. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Councilman Rafael Pineyro, the only Venezuelan American who sits in Dorals city council, introduced a resolution on TPS not as a means to confront Trump, but to show what the real Venezuelan community is. Salazar has introduced several pieces of legislation to get some Venezuelans currently on TPS permanent legal status, including preparing to reintroduce the Dignity Act, her 2023 legislation that pairs enhanced border security with permanent residency, her office told POLITICO. But time is running short: Unless thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders can successfully apply for another visa by April, they will lose work authorizations and risk deportation. Although the Miami Republicans dont agree with the reasoning to shut down TPS, theyre confident that Trump will get the message and pull through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everything is on track, Salazar said, adding that shes working to sway Noem as well. Hes done more in 36 days than the other guy in three years. And for the Venezuelan Republicans on the line, Salazar offered an optimistic note for those whose status expires in April. Do not be scared yet, because chances are were going to be able to find a solution, Salazar said. Ali Bianco reported from Miami and Washington. Isa Dominguez reported from Tallahassee, Florida. (Bloomberg) -- South Korea is ramping up security to deal with potentially violent protests as it prepares for a ruling by the Constitutional Court on whether to permanently dismiss impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities will clear an area around the court and impose a no-fly zone above it as they seek to avoid trouble breaking out on the day of the decision. Schools nearby will be closed and employees at nearby companies encouraged to work from home. Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in demonstrations both for and against Yoons ouster in the runup to the decision in an indication of the strong division in public opinion. While the protests have largely been peaceful, around 40 people were arrested in January after storming a courthouse in January in scenes reminiscent of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot in 2021. When former President Park Geun-hyes impeachment was confirmed on March 10, 2017, a protest by her supporters resulted in at least three deaths. The no-fly zone near the court was imposed Thursday, according to the transport ministry website. Authorities have decided to close 11 schools near the court on the day of the ruling, and are considering shutting others near Yoons residence in Hannam-dong in Seoul. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police have decided to completely surround the court with barricades and aim to create a vacuum state within a 100-meter radius to prevent any possible accidents, KBS TV reported earlier this week. They are also considering tracking down the location of gun owners in real-time via cellphone GPS on the day of the ruling, Yonhap News reported. Police are also considering asking companies near the court to recommend that staff work from home to prevent accidents, Yonhap News reported. The area around the Constitutional Court houses headquarters of several prominent companies, including that of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., according to Yonhap. The court wrapped up Yoons final hearings on Feb. 25 but it is unclear when it will issue a final ruling. South Korea has seen a surge in street protests since Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, which he was forced to rescind after parliament voted it down. Yoon was impeached shortly thereafter and in January he was arrested on insurrection charges, making him the first sitting South Korean president to be detained. He was released from custody last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. STORY: South Korean military investigators on Thursday charged two Air Force pilots with criminal negligence causing bodily harm for accidentally bombing a village during a training exercise. The incident injured at least 29 people and caused extensive property damage. The defence ministrys Criminal Investigation Command said the pilots errors in entering coordinates were 'direct factors' behind the accidental bombing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eight unguided bombs from two fighter jets hit a village in Pocheon during live-fire exercises. The area features training grounds used by the South Korean and U.S. militaries. A ministry official said the two pilots have been removed from flight duties, and a review of their certification is scheduled. The Air Force chief of staff apologized last week and pledged to review procedures to prevent future incidents. North Korea, which often criticizes South Korean and U.S. military drills, said the accident highlighted the risk of conflict, noting the bombs could have dropped north of the border. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. SEOUL, March 13 (UPI) -- South Korea's military on Thursday charged two air force pilots with criminal negligence over the accidental bombing of a village near the DMZ last week that injured 43 and damaged dozens of buildings, citing pilot error as the cause. "The Defense Ministry's investigation headquarters has confirmed that the pilot's incorrect input of target coordinates was a direct cause of the accident," the ministry said in a text message to reporters. "Accordingly, as of March 13, two pilots were criminally booked on charges of occupational negligence resulting in injury," the message said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were also charged for damaging military facilities, including a church, a ministry spokesman said during a press briefing Thursday. The pilots have been suspended from performing flight missions and will be undergoing an air service qualification review, a Defense Ministry official later told reporters. A pair of South Korean KF-16 fighter jets accidentally dropped eight MK-82 bombs on a residential area of Pocheon, located around 16 miles from the border with North Korea, during a live-fire exercise last Thursday. The casualty count has increased from 15 on the day of the accident to 43 as of Wednesday, including 29 civilians and 14 soldiers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The incident came ahead of the annual U.S.-South Korea Freedom Shield joint military exercise, which kicked off this week and runs through Mar. 20. The Defense Ministry has suspended all live-fire drills until the exact cause of the bombing accident is determined. In its own interim probe released Monday, Seoul's air force said that the pilot in the first jet mistyped the bombing coordinates and skipped an initial verification procedure. The second pilot had entered the correct coordinates but followed the first jet's lead, as the training was designed as a simultaneous strike drill. Investigators said the pilots had at least three opportunities to catch the mistake before taking off. The air force dismissed two senior officers, a colonel and a lieutenant colonel, for failing to properly oversee safety protocols. On Monday, air force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Young-su made a public apology, calling it an accident "that should never have happened and should never happen again." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The air force, which should protect the lives and property of the people, inflicted harm on the people," Lee said at a press briefing. North Korea -- which frequently condemns U.S.-South Korea joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion -- commented on the accidental bombing Wednesday, saying another such incident could spark a war. "There is no need to explain how the situation would have developed if a bomb had been dropped towards the north a little further to cross the border of the DPRK," state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea. "It is not unreasonable to imagine that an accidental spark might plunge the Korean peninsula and the region and the rest of the world into a new armed conflict," KCNA said. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) The South Sioux City School Board unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday night to hold a special election on a proposed $127M school bond. The special election is set for May 13, 2025. The bond will need to receive a simple majority of support to pass. Sioux City schools names 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year If the measure passes, the funding will go toward building a new intermediate center for fifth and sixth graders, a new K-4 building, and a new pre-K building, along with making safety, security and accessibility improvements at the districts other schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Superintendent for South Sioux City Community Schools Dr. Rony Ortega told KCAU 9 that this investment in district infrastructure is long overdue. It feels like sometimes were days away from something happening at our 100-year-old building, Ortega said. We have a cast-iron pipe that is crumbling as we speak, and so there is a sense of urgency. Its been 25 years since we had any large capital improvement projects done here, and so its timely. Theres a sense of urgency and we think the time to act is now. Fifth graders receive pieces of history from Sertoma Club The special election comes following a year-long effort from school officials to educate the community about the infrastructure issues the district is facing, including through the series of five Cardinal Vision workshops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. For over 55 years, Healthcare Australia (HCA) has been a trusted pillar of the Australian healthcare industry. As one of the countrys largest providers of workforce solutions, HCA is dedicated to delivering exceptional services across the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), aged care, and Allied health sectors. With more than 25 locations nationwide, HCA employs over 500 corporate staff and manages a workforce of around 7,000 healthcare professionals across the country. Recognizing the critical role that education plays in their success, HCA turned to LearnUpon as its LMS to streamline and scale its training initiatives. This powerful tool has enabled HCA to better support both internal staff and external clients, ensuring the company remains at the forefront of the healthcare industry. Weve been extremely impressed with LearnUpon. The solution is incredibly easy to use, helping us to deliver impactful, engaging learning programs across the organisation. Not to mention, the customer support we have received from the team has been outstanding since day one. Shane Thomas, Head of Education at Healthcare Australia The Challenge: HCA truly understands the transformative power of learning and how it drives success. With thousands of healthcare workers and a dedicated internal team to support, Shane Thomas, Head of Education, highlighted, "Education is vital in raising standards and attracting people into the workforce, especially in an industry facing skill shortages and strict qualification requirements." Although HCA brought deep expertise in training and education, the organization faced real challenges. Outdated processes and not-fit-for-purpose technology made it difficult to deliver effective training, and managing learning across different divisionscorporate teams and external clientsadded layers of complexity. To keep up with a growing audience and increasing regulatory demands, HCA needed a flexible, scalable solution. A modern LMS became essential to provide consistent, high-quality training to diverse audiences while ensuring compliance with ever-evolving industry standards. The Solution: Seamless, Easy Integration and Exceptional Support HCA selected LearnUpon as its LMS, and the decision was an easy one for Shane, as LearnUpon offered the ideal solution to meet HCAs unique needs. Using LearnUpon, the team built a sophisticated, nationwide training program that was distinct for each of their audiences, accessible on mobile and desktop, and, most importantly, made HCAs learning processes more efficient and intuitive for both its admins and learners. "LearnUpon is a very user-friendly solution, and everything is just 2 or 3 clicks away. Its not overcomplicated, and that makes it much easier for us to manage." Shane Thomas, Head of Education, Healthcare Australia Exceptional Support The smooth implementation and outstanding support from LearnUpon further solidified its position as HCAs LMS of choice. The transition was remarkably smooth, with LearnUpons data hosting in Australia ensuring compliance with local regulations and making what would typically take months a reality in just weeks as Shane noted, The transition was seamless, and the LearnUpon team was incredibly supportive. What truly set LearnUpon apart, however, was the exceptional support HCA received from its dedicated Australian customer success and support teams. LearnUpons commitment to personalized service has been key to HCAs success. LearnUpon is not just a great productits the people and the partnership that make it an exceptional solution. Their dedication has been instrumental in our success. Shane Thomas, Head of Education, Healthcare Australia One LMS, Multiple Audiences Importantly, to Shane, LearnUpon provides unmatched flexibility. With its multi-portals, his team can effortlessly manage training across multiple divisions. Whether its corporate education, Primary Health Services, or external B2B clients, they can create a dedicated portal for each area with just the click of a buttonall within one seamless platform. Additionally, each portal is fully customizable, from branding and content to administrators, making it simple for the team to streamline operations and deliver personalized training to diverse audiences on a large scale. The power of this scalability is clearLearnUpon now supports over 15,000 users across a range of training programs, with the flexibility to rapidly curate and deploy new content. Today, with HCA operating more than 80 portals to serve over 70 clients, this adaptability has been essential in helping HCA stay ahead of industry changes and effectively meet the growing needs of their workforce. Up next: Expanding HCAs Learning Programs Looking ahead, HCA is excited to deepen its partnership with LearnUpon, integrating the platform across all divisions to make it the central solution for all training needs. The team is eager to expand its educational programs even further, tackling skill shortages in the healthcare sector and supporting both current employees and the next generation of healthcare professionals. With LearnUpon by its side, HCA is more than ready to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry and continue leading the way in healthcare education. After days of light rain, a major storm walloped parts of Southern California on Thursday, bringing fears of mudslides in burn areas, heavy mountain snow, strong winds and a tornado that snapped trees and damaged homes. Bands of heavy precipitation moved through Los Angeles County, prompting reports of some shallow debris flows in burn areas and scattered hail. Intense bursts of rain caused minor street flooding and several closures from southern Santa Barbara County down into Orange County. The Los Angeles Fire Department worked early Thursday to rescue someone stuck on a concrete alcove along the rising Los Angeles River in Boyle Heights. Residents in a Pico Rivera neighborhood were jolted awake when a tornado with wind speeds reaching 85 mph formed around 3:15 a.m. and traveled roughly a mile, uprooting trees and tossing around outdoor furniture. No injuries were reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I heard like a big old bomb. It's my first tornado," Edgar Reynoso said as he assessed a collapsed wall in his backyard. "It's my first time living through it and ... it was pretty scary." A downed tree sits on a car along Glencannon Drive in Pico Rivera. (Ringo Chiu / For The Times) In the mountains around Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, several inches of snow had piled up by Thursday morning, triggering school closures in the area. The San Bernardino Fire Department said it had reports of several power outages. A winter storm warning of heavy snow and winds gusting as high as 50 mph remains in effect through early Saturday, as another less potent storm takes aim at the region on Friday. An additional 6 inches of snow is expected across the Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara county mountains, according to the weather service. The major ski resorts reported up to 10 inches of fresh powder and snowflakes still falling on Thursday morning. Mountain High received between 10 and 13 inches of snow, while Mt. Wilson received 4 inches. Gorman, a town in the Grapevine, received an inch of snow, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Back-to-back L.A. storms force evacuation warnings, raise threat of brief tornados and mudslides Big Bear Mountain Resort reported more than a foot of snow at its three ski resorts, topping out at 18 inches at Snow Valley. "It's safe to say this storm was the biggest snowmaker," Kittell said of the systems to hit Southern California this winter. Rain was still falling around midmorning in Pico Rivera as residents milled around outside in disbelief after the twister charged through. Debris was scattered along Glencannon Drive and crews were working to remove several large trees that had fallen onto cars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tornado, which didn't last long, measured as the lowest level on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, a rating used by meteorologists based on estimated wind speeds and related damage. The twister was on the upper end of the lowest rating, said Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. "While brief, it was still damaging," Cohen said. Work crews remove downed trees and debris along Glencannon Drive in Pico Rivera. (Ringo Chiu / For The Times) Resident Cuba Garcia thought somebody was hitting the side of his home overnight, but when he looked at his security camera he realized that the strong gusts had flipped a metal canopy from his front yard onto his roof. As the sun came up he was trying to figure out how he would get the structure down. After the rain stopped, he planned to climb onto the roof with some friends and try to break apart the structure, which sat on his home like an upside-down turtle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Earthquakes we can go through in our daily lives and be fine, but a tornado? Tornadoes are just something totally different," Garcia said. Though tornadoes aren't common in Southern California, the weather phenomenon also isn't unheard of in the region. During a similarly sized storm last month, a tornado tore through a mobile home park in Oxnard, ripping roofs off homes and tearing down power lines. The last significant tornado in the area was in March 2023 in Montebello, damaging 17 structures and injuring one person. Overnight, the wind was howling so loudly outside Carlos Aguilar's Pico Rivera home that his dog woke him up. He heard a thump and when he looked out his window he saw that a 75-foot pine tree had fallen into his front yard, narrowly missing his front door. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His 2018 Hyundai Elantra wasn't as lucky. The car remained under the tree several hours later. "I've never seen anything like this," Aguilar said. The deluge of rain expected from the storm prompted concerns this week from officials and residents about the burn scars in Los Angeles County. Communities near the Eaton, Palisades and Sunset fire burn zones in Los Angeles and neighborhoods in the Airport fire zone in Orange County were placed under evacuation orders and warnings ahead of the rain. Several schools in the Malibu area canceled classes Thursday due to road closures and safety concerns from the storm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mud and debris flowed onto a closed section of Pacific Coast Highway in West Los Angeles during the heaviest bands of rain, but crews were able to clear the material quickly, according to Caltrans. Rain rates over the Eaton fire burn scar reached up to an inch an hour during the peak of the storm early Thursday. Experts say the risk of mud and debris sliding off burned hillsides increases when rain starts falling at a rate of half an inch per hour. Read more: How to prepare and pack if you might need to evacuate Despite the heavy bursts of rain, the area appeared to have avoided serious damage from debris flows, said Kittell, the meteorologist. Cameras in the region showed a torrent of water, mud and tree branches flowing from hillsides in the area into basins designed to catch such materials during heavy rain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the Santa Ana foothills near Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County, officials closed Trabuco Canyon Road after rain swept rocks, tree limbs and several inches of mud across the roadway. In San Juan Capistrano, a man had to be rescued by helicopter Thursday morning after his SUV got stuck in fast-moving water and mud in a creek along Trabuco Creek and Rosenbaum roads. The man, who was not injured, was hanging on to a tree when crews arrived, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. It is not clear how the vehicle ended up in the creek. Fire officials warned the public to stay clear of moving water during wet weather. "It does not take a lot of water to move a person or a vehicle downriver," the fire department wrote on X. After a brief reprieve Thursday night, more light showers are expected to hit the region on Friday. But this week's back-to-back storms have already delivered a significant dose of moisture to Southern California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beverly Hills has received 1.29 inches of rain so far this week. Downtown Los Angeles received 1.21 inches, Woodland Hills 2.27 inches and the Eagle Rock Reservoir 1.88 inches, according to the weather service. Rain totals were even higher in the Los Angeles County mountains, with the Cogswell Dam receiving 3.74 inches and Crystal Lake seeing 3.07 inches over the three-day period. In Orange County, Lower Silverado Canyon received 0.91 of an inch of rain in a six-hour period that ended at 5 a.m. Thursday. Coto De Caza received 0.75 of an inch and Corona del Mar 0.71 of an inch, according to the weather service. The region is still playing catch-up after a drier-than-normal start to winter. Downtown L.A. has received 6.55 inches of rain since the water year began Oct. 1. That is below the average for this point in the water season, 11.88 inches. The annual average is 14.25 inches. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Our deficits are huge," said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. "We're still behind 5 or 6 inches of rain all along the coast. We're still under 50% of normal." Evacuations In the Palisades burn scar, the Getty Villa area, the Highlands, the Bienveneda area near Temescal Canyon Park, Rivas Canyon/Will Rogers State Park, Mandeville Canyon above Tanners Road, Old Ranch Road and Rustic Creek are under evacuation warnings starting Wednesday morning. Areas east and south of Runyon Canyon in the Sunset fire zone are also under an evacuation warning. In the Hurst fire area, an evacuation warning has been issued for Olive Lane in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The evacuations are expected to last until 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Malibu also issued evacuation warnings. The areas include Carbon Canyon, Carbon Beach East, La Costa Beach/La Costa (hillside), Las Flores Creek, Las Flores Mesa, eastern Malibu, Big Rock, Las Tunas Beach, Topanga Beach Road, Carbon Beach Terrace, Carbon Beach, Rambla Pacifico, Carbon Beach West/Malibu Beach, Sweetwater Canyon, Sweetwater Mesa, Serra Retreat, Malibu Creek, Cross Creek, Malibu Colony, Civic Center, Malibu Knolls, Malibu Road, Malibu Country Estates, Puerco Canyon and Piuma Road. In the Eaton fire burn scar, officials warned residents to prepare to leave their homes ahead of the storm. The city of Sierra Madre issued mandatory evacuation orders for homes directly below the Sierra Madre and Lannan debris basins. Evacuation warnings have been issued for other hillside-adjacent neighborhoods in the community. Those evacuations will remain in effect through 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the city. Evacuation warnings were also issued for homes near the San Gabriel foothills in Altadena. Authorities visited properties in areas that are at especially high risk to issue specific evacuation orders ahead of the storm, according to the city of Los Angeles. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) A southern Utah man who pleaded guilty to attempting to coerce a 13-year-old into sexual acts will now be under a lifetime of supervised release after he serves 15 years in prison. Dane Bowler, 43, of Veyo, Utah, pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor in federal court in November 2023. According to the Department of Justice, Bowler spoke with an undercover officer that he believed was a 13-year-old child and attempted to engage in sexual activity with the minor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tremonton fire chief and Box Elder judge linked in child abuse case, documents say Authorities say Bowler was previously convicted of a similar crime in 2007 where he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Due to the second conviction, a federal judge imposed a harsher sentence of 15 imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release. Acting United States Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah said this case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat a growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. According to the FBI, thousands of children nationwide fall victim to criminal activity including kidnapping, violent attacks, sexual abuse, or online predators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. For the past year, the Space Force has been working closely with the Air Force and Navy to learn from their experience developing an advanced, realistic training and testing environment for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with an eye on one day creating a similar capability for the space domain. Col. Corey Klopstein, program executive officer for Operational Test and Training Infrastructure at Space Systems Command, said his team started discussions last year with the Air Forces Advanced Training Capabilities Division about how the Space Force could be involved with the effort, known as the Joint Simulation Environment. The Space Force has since joined the JSE user group and is working with the program office to find ways to bring space capabilities into the simulation environment and eventually develop an advanced test and training capability of its own. The Space Force needs to provide space effects to the joint warfighter to ensure the joint warfighter can validate in their training events and their exercises, whether or not theyre going to be effective, Klopstein said March 5 at the Air Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado. The Space Force also needs a high-fidelity environment to be able to validate not just our system performance in the threat environment that we anticipate, but also our tactics, and validate our tactics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The JSE is typically associated with the F-35 because the Navy and Air Force developed it as a high-end test capability for the advanced fighter jet. Though theres currently just one JSE system located at Patuxent Naval Air Station in Maryland, the program is weeks away from flipping the switch at a second site at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and plans to eventually host the capability at all of its F-35 bases. As the services expand their JSE footprint, the goal is for the system to become the premier combat training environment for U.S. and coalition partners. As part of that process, theyre working with the Space Force to integrate simulated space capabilities and scenarios into the environment to help make training more representative. That could include things like space-enabled electronic warfare, navigation or communications. Klopstein described that work as ongoing, noting that the Space Force is funding an effort to develop standards and specifications to bring those capabilities to the JSE. Longer term, the Space Force is crafting a plan for an advanced simulation capability of its own. The service has training devices, but for the most part theyre not interconnected, meaning that guardians assigned to different missions cant train together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Klopstein said the Space Force is in the process of creating distributed or cross-mission and high-end training systems. On the distributed side, it has been using a system called Swarm for large, tactical training exercises like Space Flag. Space Force to seek industry help to test tech, train guardians Realistic simulation is also key for the Space Forces testing enterprise, which relies heavily on virtual systems to validate that satellites and other space capabilities work as envisioned. Unlike the other services that can test their ships on the water or their aircraft in flight, the Space Force cant validate most of its systems in the space environment, which makes the quality of its ground-based testing infrastructure even more important. Klopstein stressed that as space becomes more congested and adversaries increase their threats against U.S. systems, the service needs an advanced simulation capability that factors in a changing space environment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve got to make sure that our systems can survive in a threat environment that we havent had to consider in the past, he said. Gathering quantitative data that is representative of our systems that gives us the confidence level that the systems can perform in this threat environment is something that weve got to do going forward. The service hasnt decided what a JSE for space could look like and hasnt announced any specific timeline in that regard, but Klopstein said the service wants to learn from the Air Forces work on the program and carry those learnings into a future system. The partnership that weve started ... is only going to continue to broaden going forward, he said. We are looking to be able to prototype and partner with [the Air Force] to leverage that work thats been done and potentially build out the Space Force synthetic and high-fidelity training environment that we need. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Future/Josh Dinner SpaceX won't launch its next astronaut mission for NASA today (March 12) after all. The company had planned to send the four-person Crew-10 mission toward the International Space Station (ISS) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida this evening at 7:48 p.m. EDT (2348 GMT). About 45 minutes before liftoff, however, SpaceX called the attempt off due to a hydraulics issue with the transporter-erector, the structure that hauls the Falcon 9 to the pad and supports it once it's there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Great working with you today," Crew-10 commander Anne McClain of NASA told launch controllers after the scrub. "Kudos from the whole team, I know it was a lot of work to try to go, but like I said earlier, we'll be ready when the equipment is." SpaceX's Crew-10 Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Endurance stand atop the pad during its first launch attempt to send four astronauts to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on March 12, 2025. | Credit: Future/Josh Dinner The problem involved a clamp arm on the transporter-erector, NASA officials said during the agency's launch webcast today. There were no issues with Crew-10's Falcon 9 or its Crew Dragon capsule, named Endurance. "This is a concern of basically just how the vehicle is held in place during release at liftoff," said Mike Ravenscroft, launch vehicle office manager with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. It wasn't immediately clear when SpaceX would try again to launch Crew-10. There are opportunities on both Thursday (March 13) and Friday (March 14), but SpaceX is still assessing the hydraulics issue and its possible fixes, NASA officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Meet the astronauts of the SpaceX Crew-10 mission SpaceX Crew-10 astronauts depart the checkout facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of their planned launch on March 12, 2025. They are, from right, Takuya Onishi of Japan, Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers of NASA and Kirill Peskev of Russia. | Credit: Future/Josh Dinner Related Stories: NASA reveals astronauts flying on SpaceX's Crew-10 mission to the ISS NASA moves up return date for Boeing Starliner astronauts after swapping SpaceX Dragon spacecraft For NASA astronauts on a 10-day space mission that lasted 9 months, a landing date at last The Crew-10 astronauts are McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers (both of NASA), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov of Russia's space agency Roscosmos. The quartet will head to the International Space Station for a roughly six-month stay. They'll relieve four other astronauts NASA's Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who will come back to Earth a few days after Crew-10 docks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS in early June on the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule. Their mission was supposed to last just 10 days or so, but problems with Starliner's thruster system extended their stay repeatedly. NASA ultimately decided to bring Starliner home uncrewed and put Williams and Wilmore on SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule for the ride home. That capsule, named Freedom, reached the ISS in late September with Hague and Gorbunov aboard. NASA took two other astronauts off the Crew-9 launch to open up seats for Williams and Wilmore on the journey back to Earth. Elon Musk and Donald Trump have made plenty of hay around Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two astronauts that have been stuck on the International Space Station since last June. Just a month into the Trump administration, Musk has found that successfully swapping ISS crews on time is easier said than done. A joint launch between Musk-led SpaceX and NASA was set to send a crew to the orbiting station and begin the process of sending the waiting Wilmore and Williams back to Earth. However, that Wednesday launch was scrubbed when Cape Canaveral crews detected a problem with a clamp that helps to hold the Falcon 9 rocket upright on the launchpad. The postponed launch could be rescheduled as soon as Thursday, provided the issue is addressed. Musk and Trump have disingenuously used Wilmore and Williams to portray former President Joe Biden as negligent. In an interview with Sean Hannity in February, Musk said the astronauts were "left up there for political reasons." Musk failed to mention that the initial SpaceX flight to swap the ISS crews was scheduled for December but was delayed while NASA and SpaceX processed a new Dragon spacecraft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rhetoric around the two astronauts became superheated when Dutch astronaut Andreas Mogensen accused Musk of lying about the mission. Musk called Mogensen a slur and maintained that the astronauts' extended stay was politically motivated. Earlier this week, Trump said the delay was caused by the "most incompetent president in history." The astronauts, for their part, maintain that they were never stranded. "Thats been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck and I get it, we both get it," Wilmore said in an interview with CNN in February. "Help us change the narrative; lets change it to prepared and committed despite what youve been hearing. Thats what we prefer." CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The astronauts left behind on the International Space Station when NASA sent the Boeing Starliner home are expected to return to Earth in the coming days, but will have to wait at least one more day. SpaceX scrubbed a Wednesday night launch attempt from KSCs Launch Pad 39-A because of a hydraulic issue on a clamp arm of the transporter erector apparatus that holds the Falcon 9 rocket up adjacent the launch tower. Unfortunately, we had an issue with the clamp arm. It wouldnt have been potentially able to open up fully, said SpaceX commentator Jessie Anderson. So the teams are working through whatever that issue, that root cause of that issue is to make sure that when we do go for launch, those clamp arms will fully open and will clear the way for the (transporter erector) to be able to recline appropriately for liftoff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Crew-10 astronauts were sitting in Crew Dragon Endurance atop the rocket with just over 40 minutes to go before the planned launch. If SpaceX can solve the problem at the pad, the crew could come back for another launch attempt Thursday potentially at 7:26 p.m. Eastern time or Friday at 7:03 p.m. But its not decided yet if NASA and SpaceX can take advantage of those opportunities. Sorry, we couldnt get you off today. Well speak to you soon, and look forward to try it again, said space mission control as the crew prepared to depart the spacecraft and head back to crew quarters. Great working with you today, said Crew-10 commander Anne McClain. Kudos to the whole team, I know it was a lot of work to try to get it to go, but like I said earlier, well be ready when the equipment is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When it does launch, the mission marks the final portion of a long odyssey for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who docked at the space station last June for a planned eight-day stay, and have been there ever since. They could be home as early as Sunday, but NASA wont announce target times until Crew-10 arrives to the station. The pair were stranded by safety concerns with the Starliner, which returned to Earth without crew. Then their extended stay became a focus for President Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, leading to accelerated timing for the Crew-10 mission. Heading to the space station are NASA astronauts McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. The quartet got suited up and made the drive over from KSCs Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building to the pad in a set of black Teslas after 4 p.m. making their way up the launch tower and climbing into their seats by 5 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SpaceX had reported the clamp issue early on, and McClain had reported the crew is go for launch. Theyre set to arrive less than a day later to the space station, where they will have a two-day handoff with the people theyre replacing. That includes the duo that flew up last summer on Boeing Starliners Crew Flight Test, Wilmore and Williams. The pair arrived June 6, 2024, one day after launching from Cape Canaveral on the first human spaceflight of Boeings spacecraft. Honestly, Im kind of most looking forward to breaking bread with those guys, talking to them, giving them big hugs, McClain said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starliner suffered thruster failures and helium leaks on the way that ultimately led to NASAs decision to send it home without Williams and Wilmore. Instead, they joined the space station crew and were reassigned to fly home with the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. That crew flew up in the Crew Dragon Freedom with two, instead of the normal four astronauts, in September to make room on the ride home for Wilmore and Williams. Now they will join Crew-9 commander and NASA astronaut Nick Hague along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov with a departure as early as Sunday headed for a splashdown off the Florida coast. During a predeparture press conference last week, Williams said the most difficult part of their stay has probably been how their families have had to deal with it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us, you know? Were here. We have a mission. Were just doing what we do every day, she said. Every day is interesting because were up in space and its a lot of fun. So I think the hardest part is, you know, having the folks on the ground have to not know exactly when were coming back. The decision to switch capsules and move up the pairs return came shortly after SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced President Trump had tasked him with bringing them home as soon as possible. NASA officials said discussion about the switch, though, was already in play at least a month before the Musk and Trump statements. But the presidents interests sure added energy to the conversation, said NASAs Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Its great to have a president whos interested in what were doing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk later claimed SpaceX offered to fly up a specific rescue mission, but that was turned down by the Biden administration for political reasons. Bowersox, though, said NASA managers made their recommendation based on the mission needs and capability of Williams and Wilmore. We thought the plan that we came up with made a lot of sense, and that, especially for Butch and Suni, we know theyre experienced astronauts, Bowersox said. Theyre great in space. We knew theyd be great additions to the crew and we knew that for most astronauts, spending extra time on orbit is really a gift, and we thought theyd probably enjoy their time there, so we thought it was a good way to go and for a lot of reasons. Steve Stich, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager, added that a lot of technical requirements were in play such as having the correct size spacesuits and seats for the pair. The best option was really the one that were embarking upon now, Stich said. It really was driven by that in conjunction with Butch and Suni being very experienced crew members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wilmore and Williams will have spent 9 1/2 months in space along with the unique experience of having flown on four spacecraft: Starliner and Crew Dragon as well as Russian Soyuz and space shuttle missions. We helped put it together. Weve been up here seeing it change throughout all these years, do a lot of science up here, Williams said. I think just the fact that were living up here in this very unique place gives you an amazing perspective, not only, you know, out the window, obviously, but also just on how to solve problems. I dont want to lose that spark of inspiration and that perspective when I leave, so Im going to have to bottle it somehow. For the Crew-10 quartet, the mission marks the beginning of what is normally about a six-month stay on board, with the Crew-11 mission slated to fly in late summer. They will join Expedition 73 on the station, which has had continued human presence since November 2000. Its McClain and Onishis second spaceflight while Ayers and Peskov are rookies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ayers becomes the first of NASAs most-recent class of astronauts, which includes Central Florida native Luke Delaney, to be assigned a spaceflight. Its an honor to represent my class and be the first one, but I think that all of us were ready at the same time, and so it could have been any one of us that got picked, Ayers said. There was nothing but love for me when I got announced for this mission, and there has been nothing but love and support from my crewmates and my classmates this entire time training. McClain said she has been talking more often with Williams and Wilmore. Were about to be housemates here in a few days. Their spirits are high, she said. Of course, theyre ready to come home, and of course were ready to launch. But the most important thing is that we do both of those things safely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She insisted they have the same mentality as she does when it comes to the importance of NASAs mission at the station, calling it significant to scientific development and a proving ground for deep-space exploration. All of us take very serious our responsibility to be stewards of the International Space Station, she said. We simply cannot leave it uncrewed or undercrewed for any period of time. That is first and foremost on all of our minds when we go is that level of responsibility. And its certainly foremost on their minds. Stumping for the stations importance comes adjacent comments from Musk who recently called for it to be deorbited as early as 2027, stating that it was no longer useful. SpaceX and Boeing were both originally contracted to provide taxi service for NASA to the space station as part of the Commercial Crew Program, designed to end reliance on Russia and bring launches back to Florida. Delays have plagued Starliner, though, which is now at least five years behind SpaceX. The launch of Crew-10 marks SpaceXs 16th human spaceflight for its spacecraft since the Demo-2 mission in May 2020. That flight marked the first time U.S. astronauts launched from the U.S. since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. With the space station slated to end service after 2030, time is running out for NASA to certify Starliner so it can have a chance to fly alongside SpaceX for rotational crew missions. Well continue to work for certification toward the end of this year, Stich said. Whatever we do, the Starliner vehicle will be crew capable. _____ (NewsNation) SpaceX and NASA are aiming for a launch no earlier than Friday for a mission to relieve Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been in orbit for nine months. The Crew-10 is now targeting a liftoff no earlier than Friday at 7:03 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Saturday at 6:41 p.m. ET, SpaceX said. Originally set to blast off from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday night, the launch was canceled because of a hydraulic ground issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket, NASA said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao told Morning in America its rare for SpaceX and the Falcon 9 Dragon rocket to experience delays. How to photograph the total lunar eclipse This is unusual for SpaceX and Falcon 9 Dragon because they usually go on time, he said. They dont often have to scrub a launch for a technical problem, but things do happen. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would have carried two American astronauts, one Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut on the Dragon Endurance spacecraft. NASA astronaut Anne McClain is leading the mission, accompanied by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mission was originally scheduled for a Crew Dragon spacecraft, but due to delays, NASA instead opted for the Dragon Endurance. Astronauts have been on ISS for 9 months Once on board the International Space Station, there will be a handover period, which has been shortened due to concerns about commodities on the ISS after an upcoming supply mission experienced an issue. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told NewsNation handovers are routine. A crew of four is going up. It has to dock. It has to meet up with the space station dock. The crew gets out, they hug each other, and then the other crew gets in, he said. Anonymous donor pays to spay, neuter 120 pit bulls Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crew-9 will then return along with Wilmore and Williams. Their original departure from the ISS was set for Monday, NASA said, though its unclear if the launch delay will affect that timeline. Wilmore and Williams blasted off on Boeings Starliner last summer for a mission initially meant to last two weeks. However, after multiple issues, including helium leaks in the service module and docking issues, NASA deemed it unsafe for them to return. Boeing astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Stations Harmony module and Boeings Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) The two have pushed back against claims that they are stranded in space and have said they are thrilled to get to spend more time in orbit. The Starliner returned to Earth safely in an autonomous flight, but its unclear if NASA will move forward with plans to use the spacecraft for future crewed missions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Spain will struggle to match Nato defence spending targets because of political divisions and the weak position of the countrys Left-wing government. But there is another factor that is making it difficult for the country to spend 2 per cent of its GDP on its military: its booming economy. Pedro Sanchez, Spains prime minister, is meeting the heads of other parties on Thursday to seek support for his objective of accelerating the 2 per cent target in response to the call from Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, for an 800 billion spending rise across the EU to face the threat of Vladimir Putins Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spains buoyant economy, with GDP growing by 3.2 per cent in 2024, only makes the target harder to reach. Countries such as Germany and France are barely registering economic growth, meaning such GDP-based spending objectives are static and not such a moving target. But as Spains economy grows, so too does the amount it needs to spend to match the Nato target which, under pressure from the US administration of Donald Trump, is under pressure to rise even further, maybe even as high as 5 per cent. The countrys socialist leader knows, however, that he will not get the backing he needs to pass state budgets, including massive defence spending rises, with virtually all of the hard-Left, Catalan and Basque parties his minority government relies on for its majority having come out against the plan. Government sources have said that the way around a parliamentary blockade is to raise spending plans piecemeal through cabinet approval of using contingency funds and credits for procurement of arms and other military costs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But even within Mr Sanchezs cabinet, there is division on raising defence spending beyond its current level of 1.28 per cent of GDP, a figure that positions Spain as the laggard of all Nato members. We fix nothing by raising the defence budget, Yolanda Diaz, deputy prime minister and leader of the hard-Left Sumar party, said this week before a meeting with Mr Sanchez. Ms Diaz extracted a promise from Mr Sanchez that increased defence spending would not make a dent in the coalitions social policies, which have included rises in welfare, energy and housing subsidies as well as a huge outlay on protecting workers and families during the pandemic. Mr Sanchez said before Thursdays meetings with party leaders that Spain would reach the 2 per cent target and he would soon explain to Spaniards how and when. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to calculations by the newspaper El Pais, hitting the target would mean more than doubling the 17.5 billion spent on defence in 2024 to 36.6 billion. A source from Spains administration told The Telegraph that the target was impossible without political consensus on a reformed national budget, with Mr Sanchez not having been able to pass a new state budget since narrowly remaining in power after calling a snap election in 2023. Coalition partners not up for it Pedro Sanchez has a problem in explaining to his government the need to raise defence spending, said Felix Arteaga, security and defence senior analyst at Spains Real Instituto Elcano think-tank. He is committed to the target and showing solidarity with his partners in the EU, but his coalition partners are not up for it. The difficulty lies in creating a narrative to justify a raise in defence spending while not deviating from the governments social mission, Dr Arteaga told The Telegraph. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The defence expert said that government plans to broaden the scope of what counts as defence spending wont wash if the strict Nato criteria is used by Spains European partners, and noted that Ms von der Leyen had spoken of raising defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP for EU member states, with the majority to come from national budgets. Government sources have briefed on the possibility of including spending on areas such as cybersecurity, research and development funding and even elements from the Guardia Civil military police force budget to help Spain meet its commitments. The government can raise some money through credits and decrees passed by the cabinet and in this way the political decision to increase spending will not have to be debated fully in parliament, Dr Arteaga said, noting that Mr Sanchez had managed to push through a 1.2billion military aid package for Ukraine despite reticence from his hard-Left government partners. Spains main opposition Peoples Party (PP) is a member of Ms von der Leyens political family and is fully paid up in support of raising defence budgets with the objective of rearming Europe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Mr Sanchez can expect little in the way of support from PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, with relations between Spains two main parties at rock bottom amid a crossfire of accusations of corruption involving politicians from both sides and their family members. Ahead of Thursdays meeting between the two, a PP spokeswoman said that Mr Feijoo had had no advance notice of what was to be discussed, meaning the chances of an effective negotiation on a cross-the-house deal on defence spending remain distant. Mr Feijoo has shown no sign that he will let the significance of the current security moment for Europe induce him to soften his frontal opposition to Mr Sanchez. Spain is not a reliable country for Nato nor for the European Union, Mr Feijoo said in an interview with the newspaper El Mundo last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under Mr Sanchez, Spain has no credibility in foreign or defence policy, Mr Feijoo asserted. Santiago Abascal, the far-Right Vox leader, has been pointedly excluded from Thursdays talks as the government claims the party supports Putin. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (Bloomberg) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sought to reassure other political parties that higher spending on defense will not affect social expenditure, and that it could represent an opportunity for the country. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Spanish governments commitment is undeniable, firm, and decisive, Sanchez said Thursday after talks with the leaders of nine parties to muster support for boosting defense spending and meeting NATO targets. We will not cut a single cent from social policy and social cohesion to meet this commitment we have with Europe and our own country in the areas of security and defense. As Europe urgently rushes to rearm, Sanchez said last week that Spain will reach NATOs target of spending the equivalent of at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense by 2029. This would mark a major shift for the country, which has fallen short of the goal for years and spends less than all other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He reiterated that the country will reach the 2% goal on Thursday, without giving more details. He said it could be an opportunity for Spain because the commitment to a larger budget for security and defense will be a commitment to the countrys technology and industry. Its unclear how the Socialist leader plans to get backing, given that he doesnt have a majority in parliament and requires support from a coterie of parties to pass legislation, including at least four that are vocally opposed to spending more on defense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spain has for years had an ambivalent position about military spending. Its decision to join NATO in the mid-1980s marked a watershed political moment under a different Socialist government, requiring the party to make a big ideological shift. Many voters on the far left are still opposed to being part of NATO. The country also severely cut spending on weapons, bullets and even military training during the 2008-2012 economic crisis, and has under-invested since then. The first major hurdle is winning over the governments junior coalition partner, Sumar. Sanchez met for about two hours on Tuesday with Sumar leader and Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz, whos also a deputy prime minister, to try to make the case for supporting increased spending. Sumar has previously said it doesnt favor more investments in weapons and military. An alternative would be to strike a deal with the conservative Peoples Party, the largest group in parliament and the Socialists main rival, but its not clear that this is doable given the acrimonious relationship between Sanchez and PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo. While Sanchez is supportive of Ukraine in the war against Russia, and has repeatedly said that Europe must stand by Kyiv, hes stopped short of committing to sending troops and until last week of increasing defense spending. Instead, hes chosen to underline his commitment to peace and Spains extensive track record in United Nations-backed peace missions across the globe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Sumar party does back higher spending through European funds, a position thats also supported by the Socialists. (Updates with Sanchez speech from first paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) A pair of motions were filed on Wednesday, which may throw a wrench in a Kentucky murder trial. A motion for a speedy trial and a motion for a change of venue were filed around 2 p.m. on Wednesday in Floyd County Circuit Court on behalf of Michael McKinney III. McKinney III was charged with murder in July 2024, accused of stabbing Amber Spradlin to death. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a change of venue motion, McKinney IIIs counsel said due to continuous and widespread gossip, innuendo, and social media campaigns, he would not receive a fair and impartial trial in Floyd County. According to a motion for a speedy trial, McKinney IIIs attorney said waiting for the Kentucky State Police to test evidence isnt his fault and keeping him in jail during the entire process is a violation of state law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. Spotify has taken down a string of Andrew Tate podcasts after a backlash from its own staff. The streaming platform has pulled episodes from the misogynist influencers so-called guide to pimping women after workers criticised the vile content. Pretty vile that were hosting Andrew Tates content, one Spotify employee said in a company Slack channel called #ethics-club, according to 404 Media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Happy Womens History Month, everybody! another employee responded sarcastically. Spotify has since removed a number of Mr Tates pimping hoes podcasts from its platform, with a spokesman claiming that the content was removed because it violated our policies, not because of employee discussion. However, some of his other controversial content is still available on Spotify, such as a two-hour episode entitled How to get girls FAST AND EASY by Andrew Tate (PHD Course). The streaming platform has said it treats each episode on a case-by-case basis and refuses to remove content for off-platform behaviour. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Change.org petition titled Demand Spotify Remove Andrew Tates Harmful Courses on How to Traffic Women had attracted more than 86,50 signatures by Thursday. The petition was launched by Renee Chopping, an Australian trauma counsellor who works with survivors of sex trafficking. She has accused Spotify of cashing in on the exploitation of women. Ms Chopping said the courses actively teach men how to manipulate, control and profit from the exploitation of women. She added: His courses, some requiring a paid subscription to access, show men how to recruit and exploit women for pornography, under the guise of business advice. Spotify directly profits from these lessons in predation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spotifys decision to partially remove some of Mr Tates content comes amid claims that he and his brother Tristan raped and trafficked women. The pair deny all allegations of wrongdoing. Mr Tate, who grew up in Luton, is under criminal investigation in three countries, which has led to MPs calling on Sir Keir Starmer to request the extradition of the influencer. Andrew Tate, right, and his brother Tristan are alleged to have raped and trafficked women - Vadim Ghirda/AP It also recently emerged that Kyle Clifford had sought out Mr Tates content before murdering and raping his ex-partner and also killing her sister and mother. Mr Tate, 38, is a British-American former kick-boxer who has amassed a loyal following in the online manosphere. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Romanian government recently lifted travel restrictions on the influencer last month, allowing him to relocate to the US with his brother. First day of Freedom in Miami, Mr Tate posted after landing in Florida, not long before the states attorney general opened a criminal probe into claims against the pair. Thank you Florida, you were very welcoming. See you in a few years <3, Mr Tate later posted after fleeing Florida for Los Angeles. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Irish culture and pride were fully displayed in the City of Springfield for Irish Nationality Night! The Gray House to host 34th annual Spaghetti Supper in Springfield People gathered at the Springfield Lodge of Elks #61 for the celebration. There, the elk members recognized the 2025 Irish Elk Of The Year. That honor was bestowed upon member, Christine Sweeney-Liquori of East Longmeadow. She has proudly been a part of the Elks Lodge in Springfield since 2009 and traces her Irish heritage back to County Cork, Limerick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What it means is just being honored by the people that do good work at the Elks, she says. And its really important to me to ensure that the elks are first and foremost because we try to do our best for the community. Sweeney-Liquori has been an active member of the Irish and float committees and currently holds the position of secretary on the Irish committee. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Springfield Public Schools is set to sell Robberson Elementary School for $500,000 to Elevate Lives a non-profit that will use the facility for its revitalization project. Robberson Elementary has been closed since January 2024. This property affords us the opportunity for a multi-pronged approach to helping people. We call it the one in 100 thats serious about changing their lives, says Russell Gosselin, founder and CEO of Elevate Lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Robberson Elementary for sale after being designated surplus property Gosselin says that not only will the school be used as a mixed hub for the community, but also teach them skills used in everyday life. All the basics on how to end up doing life well and so that can end up being a conversation, Gosselin said. How to have healthy interactions with other people, parenting skills, on-the-job type skills, all of those things play into a persons life to be able to succeed in life, and thats what we want. Deputy Superintendent of Operations Travis Shaw says that Elevates vision for the building was one reason Springfield Public Schools decided to sell to them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They provide information around the use of that property they provide, Shaw said. What are they planning to [do]? How are they planning to renovate it? What is that overall scope of work look like? And how will it benefit the community of Springfield? Attorney Generals office dismisses suit against Springfield Public Schools Shaw also states that despite the deal, SPS currently has no plans to sell more properties. We dont currently have any surplus properties at all, says Shaw. All of our buildings are still currently being used as we continue and progress through bond projects. There will be some properties that do become available again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. GAINSVILLE, Ga. (WSAV) A Saint Simons Island dentist has been arrested and charged with murder in Northeast Georgia after a fatal shooting, according to jail records. Suzanne Mericle, 61, was charged with murder, tampering with evidence, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime, early Saturday morning March 8, jail records said. She is being held in the Hall County Jail. Hall County Sheriffs Office (HCSO) deputies responded to a home in the 4200 block of Bayridge Drive off C. Rogers Road at approximately 1:15 a.m., a sheriff spokesperson said. Deputies found an unresponsive man who was shot in his torso. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Hall County investigators identified him as James David Barron, 68, of Gainesville. Mericle allegedly shot Barron with a handgun, law enforcement reported. Barron was in a relationship with Mericle, and they lived together law enforcement said. Mericle was in the home when deputies arrived. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. Mar. 13NORTH DAKOTA A St. Michael man accused of murdering his sister and niece, and attempting to murder his mother, waived his detention hearing originally scheduled for Thursday, March 13, agreeing to remain in custody until the conclusion of his federal case. Johnnie Jay Gaking IV, 27, is accused of shooting his family members with a firearm on March 4 at a residence near Tokio, North Dakota, then fleeing the area. He is believed to have stabbed himself multiple times with a knife while stopped at a nearby residence before fleeing again, according to a criminal complaint filed in his case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gaking was later apprehended and charged with two counts of second-degree murder as well as one count of attempted murder. He allegedly told law enforcement that men in ski masks had been stalking him, and they made him kill his family. He also said he didn't stab himself, the people in ski masks did, the complaint said. A witness alleged that Gaking had spoken earlier about being chased by men in ski masks, he hadn't been sleeping, was "tripping" and had an outburst earlier that day. The witness said they saw Gaking waving a gun around and then heard shots; he said when Gaking told him he was "next," he ran, the complaint said. Gaking's mother was reported as sustaining a gunshot wound to the head and being in critical condition, while his adult sister and her 3-year-old daughter were pronounced dead, according to the complaint. There have been no public updates about the mother's condition in the days since the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gaking's waiver was filed Thursday, March 13, along with a waiver of his preliminary hearing. His next court date has not been set. Other various documents were filed Thursday, including an invocation of his right to counsel and right to remain silent. He was determined to be eligible for court-appointed counsel due to his financial status, and will be represented by Charles Justin Sheeley of the Federal Public Defender's Office in Fargo. St. Paul police detained three suspects on Wednesday afternoon following an assault involving a number of suspects attacking a student at the High School for Recording Arts at 1166 W. University Ave. Squads were called to the public charter school around 4 p.m. on a report of a group fighting, according to Sgt. Toy Vixayvong, a police spokesman. When officers arrived, they reported seeing at least 10 suspects assaulting a single victim directly in front of the school. Upon police arrival, the group dispersed, but officers were able to apprehend two juveniles and an 18-year-old man, Vixayvong added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the juveniles had a gun in his backpack. Investigators will examine security footage to determine whether the group entered the school or brandished weapons. The victim was transported to Regions Hospital for evaluation for injuries that were not considered life threatening. Related Articles The City of St. Paul is reacting after tenants of the Alliance Bank Center in downtown were told to vacate their premises within 48 hours. A city spokesperson tells Bring Me The News that the mayor visited the tenants on Tuesday and listened to their frustrations after Alliance Center, LLC, a subsidiary of property owner Madison Equities, gave them short notice to exit the building. Carter sent a letter to each of the remaining businesses, addressing their concerns and providing a solution for the "wholly unreasonable" short notice they were given. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I am aware of the stress and disruption youve faced as a result of the notice from Madison Equities, directing you to immediately vacate your business at the Alliance Bank Center. I share your frustration, and your belief that this directive is wholly unreasonable. You deserve better," Carter said. "I have spoken directly with representatives from both District Energy Saint Paul and Xcel Energy today, and am grateful that, at my request, both utilities have agreed to pause any utility shutoffs until the end of this month, giving you time to transition your business on your own terms." The 16-story building has 14 commercial businesses that are affected, including a Pino's Pizza location, B's Barbershop, and a jewelry store. The mayor said the city is supporting the businesses who already have plans to relocate downtown and is committed to helping the remaining tenants find a new space. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Like all of you, weve tried for months to contact and work with Madison Equities and have been unsuccessful," the mayor's office claimed. The real estate company's website is no longer loading as of Wednesday. Bring Me The News has reached out to Madison Equities for comment but has not heard back. The company told the Pioneer Press it blames the city for not stepping in to pay its utility bills, saying it is "facing significant hardships due to the deteriorating condition of downtown St. Paul and the flight of tenants away from the Central Train Station [light rail stop] that is located across the street from the Alliance Bank Building." At one point St. Paul's largest landlord, Madison Equities has been trying to shed its downtown portfolio since the death of its founder, Jim Crockarell, last year. It made headlines when one of its buildings, the Lowry Apartments, went into foreclosure, drawing criticism from Mayor Carter over its poor upkeep. Related: St. Paul mayor blasts Lowry Apartments owner for 'disgusting' living conditions The St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP is demanding that the Tampa Bay Rays, St. Petersburg and Pinellas County work together to move a stadium deal forward and avoid again breaking promises to a historically displaced community. NAACP branch president Esther Matthews addressed her Wednesday letter to everyone involved: Rays presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman, Mayor Ken Welch and Pinellas County Commission chairperson Brian Scott. She listed five immediate demands, including granting the Rays a seven-week extension beyond a looming March 31 deadline, but also making the team provide a finite dollar amount required to complete the deal and asking the city to engage in open, solutions-driven dialogue. Failure to meet these obligations will not go unanswered, Matthews punctuated her letter. This is not a request it is an expectation for fairness, integrity and immediate action. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Matthews played key roles in the three-year process of concocting the deal, which is now in jeopardy. She announced the NAACPs endorsement of the plan to redevelop 65 acres around a $1.3 billion stadium into the Historic Gas Plant District, named after the Black community that was promised better housing and jobs but instead became the home of Tropicana Field. She also led a community group that vetted and ultimately endorsed the project for providing enough community benefits. The plan includes $50 million toward creating jobs and opportunities for minority-owned businesses, affordable housing initiatives and a new home for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida benefits that drove the NAACPs endorsement. But those wont come to fruition if the Rays dont move forward with their end of the deal by March 31. The Rays have until then to meet a list of conditions in order to go forward with a deal struck between the team, the city and the county last summer. Relations between those parties have worsened since votes to publicly finance the project were delayed after Hurricane Milton. The Rays, who say those delays led to increases in costs it cant afford alone but havent specified or explained how much more money is needed, blame the county and the city for breaking the deal. Welch, who has pointed out that the Rays agreed to all cost overruns, is openly speaking about the future of the Gas Plant site without the Rays as a partner. In her letter, Matthews encouraged the parties to view the human element of the Gas Plant project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For too long, communities like the Gas Plant District have been promised prosperity, only to be met with delays and broken commitments, Matthews wrote. We refuse to allow history to repeat itself. Matthews also called for a public update on any plan adjustments to ensure all commitments remain intact, a reaffirmation from all stakeholders that the signed agreements will be fully honored and a definitive schedule for jobs and opportunities for women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses to be included in that work. She wrote that the seven-week extension the Rays should be granted is equivalent to the seven-week delay on the county and citys ends. On Monday, Welch said in a statement that the city is prepared to follow the agreed-upon timeline in the contracts. Matthews said that, most importantly, her group expects shovels in the ground and community businesses engaged by the end of this summer. The NAACP and the community, she said, are prepared to take all necessary steps including public advocacy and mobilization to hold all parties accountable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Matthews ended her letter by saying the NAACP expects a response outlining next steps and is open to a meeting to ensure this project moves forward without further delay. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Republican Sens. Jimmy Hickey and Missy Irvin listen at their colleagues cast their vote for Senate Bill 307 on March 12, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday approved an amended bill to streamline the process for building electricity-generating plants in the state, one week after rejecting the original proposal. Lead sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said Senate Bill 307 aims to mitigate the spike in rates expected as a result of purchasing or generating new energy that will be needed for the states growing population and the closure of at least two coal-fired plants in the next five years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the Arkansas Senate rejected SB 307 last Wednesday, senators on Thursday approved a motion by Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, to request recommendations on the bill from the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Hickey told the Advocate the utility commissions analysis mostly definitely helped and resulted in 12 pages of amendments for the 63-page bill. Its a very complicated subject, as we keep saying, he said. I know that I put the PSC probably in an untenable position because youve got legislators wanting certain things and the other ones the other way, but again, theyre our regulatory agency whos been doing it. So I just felt that they had to weigh in. Hickey helped craft one important amendment that states if at any time during the construction process the commission finds any costs were not prudently incurred, the PSC shall order those costs to be refunded to customers through bill credits. Just thought that was going to be an extra good guardrail or another good tool for them to keep everybody on the up and up, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The process outlined in SB 307 is already being implemented in surrounding states, though Dismang said hes not sure they have this extensive amount of parameters in place. Dismang explained last week that under the current model, interest is accrued during construction and then capitalized, creating a significant jump in rates once the power plant is operational. SB 307 recommends another option that would allow utilities to begin recovering costs incrementally during construction by enabling a strategic investment that he said would result in a lower, long-term recovery rate for consumers. Arkansas could pretend like we dont have to do something, but inaction would leave the state at the mercy of neighboring states that have decided to create new power, Dismang said. I want Arkansas to be a leader in every possible way, and this sets us up to be a leader, he said. Rates are going to go up because we have to create new power or were going to have to buy new power from someone else. I want to be in control of that. (From left) Republican Sens. Ben Gilmore and Jonathan Dismang watch as votes for SB 307 are tallied on a screen in the Arkansas Senate on March 12, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, who noted he supports developing new sources of generation, said Dismangs amended bill was better, but it still aint good because it doesnt adequately protect ratepayers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson also said hes not opposed to economic development and its insulting to imply otherwise about people who question the bills proposed financing method. I believe the economic development aspect of this legislation is effectively a Trojan horse, a vehicle to disguise the weakening of the Public Service Commissions ability to protect consumers and to determine a fair rate of concern, he said. Proponents of the bill have said it will create jobs by making Arkansas more competitive in attracting industry to the state, such as data centers that may require a lot of energy to operate. Speaking in favor of SB 307, Sen. Dave Wallace, R-Leachville, said the state will soon lose power from coal-powered plants that helped Arkansas weather an ice storm a few years ago, while residents in neighboring states struggled with long-term outages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were here to protect the people of Arkansas. Sometimes we have to make hard choices, Wallace said. If we dont have those power plants, if we dont do something now, two years from now is going to be too late. SB 307 passed by a vote of 23-9. Republican Sens. Hickey of Texarkana and Ricky Hill of Cabot voted for the bill Wednesday after voting against it last week. Sens. Steve Crowell of Magnolia, Jim Dotson of Bentonville and Reginald Murdock of Marianna also supported SB 307 after not voting last week. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, switched his present vote to one of support. The bills emergency clause, which would allow the law to go into effect immediately, failed to garner enough support on the first try before reaching the 24-vote threshold on a second vote. SB 307 will next be debated by a House committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX (Bloomberg) -- South Africas ruling coalition is unlikely to splinter despite differences between the partners over its first budget, Standard Bank Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Sim Tshabalala said. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although the members of the so-called government of national unity are divided over budget policy, the coalition will likely ride out the storm intact. The base case is that the GNU in South Africa remains and continues to operate, Tshabalala said in an interview with Bloomberg TVs Jennifer Zabasajja. The evidence in South Africa is that the coalition will subsist. Last years national election failed to produce an outright winner, forcing the African National Congress which had held a parliamentary majority for three decades after apartheid ended in 1994 to seek partners to get it past the 50% threshold needed to form a government. Lawmakers called off last months presentation of the budget after the partners refused to back Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana of the ANC over plans to increase value-added tax by two percentage points this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A new proposal presented on March 12 trimmed the increase to 1 percentage point spread over two years. Still, the second-biggest party in the coalition, the Democratic Alliance, maintains it wont support any permanent tax hikes or back the budget in its current form, but remains open to further negotiations. Read: South African Minister Seeks Budget Support as Coalition Frays Standard Banks Tshabalala said that such disagreements are normal within governments. He cited Germany where a failure to agree on a budget resulted in the collapse of the coalition government and the US, where Republicans and Democrats are wrangling over a spending bill to avert a government shutdown on Saturday. Its normal in a country that is democratic for these conflicts to happen, Tshabalala said, adding that the parties will likely seek a consensus on the budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the VAT proposal was creative and careful because it sought to ensure the government was able to generate much-needed revenue, without subjecting businesses and workers to higher income taxes. The governments commitment to reducing its debt to 76.2% of gross domestic product over the next year surpassed estimates from ratings companies, showing authorities focus on revenue and cost management, he said. The big question of course is will the budget pass? Will it be supported by the GNU, Tshabalala said. I dont know. We will see. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sir Keir Starmer has, until now, struggled to cut through as a leader. His vow, upon entering office, to oversee a return of politics to public service was soon derailed by a catastrophic Budget, broken public services, overflowing prisons and his inability to grip immigration. His war on private schools and his tax rises infuriated Middle England. His attacks on farmers and his inflexibility on net zero sent his poll ratings tanking and those of Reform surging. His staunchly human rights-based view of the world and the Chagos fiasco threatened to define what appeared to be an increasingly failed premiership. Relaunch after relaunch achieved little. But all of this appears to be changing. Fate is moulding Starmer into the kind of leader he never really wanted to be: a conservative who in reality if not in spirit is now to the Right of the Tories on a whole range of issues. This is an astonishing development. Worse still, for those who hoped the Starmer who served under Corbyn would one day return, it is Donald Trump who is driving his metamorphosis. Having upended assumptions about US foreign policy, Trump has compelled Starmer who marched against the Iraq War to rise to the occasion. He performed well with Trump and his plan for a coalition of the willing on Ukraine shifted the narrative. Expectations were low, but he defied them when making his debut on the world stage. For the first time since the election, he has been on the front foot in recent weeks, thanks to foreign policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But that was just the start of Trumps impact. In a remarkable upending of political orthodoxy, he is slashing the foreign aid target, one of David Camerons flagship policies, and increasing defence spending, partly undoing the Tories shameful depletion of the countrys military and industrial capacity. Behind the scenes, Whitehall is shocked. Insiders working on the defence review admit that, after plodding along with their report, suddenly theyre being pushed over a cliff edge. Starmers blueprint for reforming the state, which includes a bonfire of the quangos and the slashing of Civil Service jobs, while ramping up the use of efficiency-driving tech, is clearly influenced by Musks Doge. At home, he is steeling himself for battle with his own party, as he draws up plans to cut the deficit by slashing welfare (even castigating the broken welfare system) and promising to finally contain the annual increase in NHS spending. It is quite something to watch Keir Starmer undo so many Lefty Tory policies. But perhaps the one move by Starmer that is the most humiliating for the Tories is his abolition of their most egregious creation, NHS England. Accurately described by Wes Streeting as the worlds biggest quango, it repeatedly missed targets, only to then pressure the government of the day for higher funding. Even medics who worry about distracting top-down Labour reforms concede that NHSE lost its grip some time ago. Would Labour really be abolishing it had the climate of opinion not been drastically shifted by Trump and Musks war on bureaucrats? More importantly, Starmer is reversing one of the Tories most naive errors in government, which was to try and reform the NHS whilst at the very same time decentralising it. Labour knows that it must shift resources from hospitals to preventative healthcare programmes that will tackle the root causes of illness and encourage people to take more responsibility for their health. Achieving this sort of shift is impossible as long as the levers of power remain beyond the grasp of No 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of course, the Tory party is keen to impress that Labour hardly has an encouraging track record on managing healthcare systems, having run NHS Wales to the ground. Time will tell, but right now the Oppositions protestations are falling on deaf ears. If Trump is the storm that has driven Labour to veer-rightwards, then Starmers closest aides, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden and Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney are the captains steering the ship. According to a No 10 insider, the duos brains have effectively merged into a single McWorldview. Their politics is inflected with galvanising terror, stemming from McFaddens brush with death when he almost lost his rock solid Labour seat in the 2019 election and has been heightened by the normalised chaos of the Trump era. Their approach boils down to the political will to live, and to retain power at all costs. All of Labours major policies from ramping up defence, slashing aid, overhauling the NHS and benefits and ignoring environmentalists and Nimbys as it presses on with a third runway are, Im told, part of a coherent strategy. The Starmer-McSweeney-McFadden triumvirate has two aims: shore up the Red Wall, and convince the Office for Budget Responsibility (and the markets) that the Government is serious about growth and fiscal prudence. They also agree with the Blairite tenet that idealists must modernise or die; that Left-liberals must adapt to the reality of circumstance or fade away. Blairism is often mistaken as a dogma that favoured the embrace of globalisation. In fact, what Blair did was force his party to reconcile itself with the nature of the times. This masterplan is not without risk. Progressive voters may get fed up and drift to the Lib Dems, Greens, SNP or independents campaigning on a Gaza platform. Starmer, McFadden and McSweeney are now believed to be united in their detestation of the hard-Left. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, the centrists in Labour are worried that an authentically Left-wing rival party could emerge. Some also fear that having been instrumental in helping Starmer win back much of the Red Wall in the last election, the Blue Labour faction under Maurice Glasman is taking things too far in its bid to neutralise Reform. And thats before you get to the dangers to British prosperity of Labours Employment Rights Bill, educational vandalism and the many other nefarious policies still being implemented or proposed by the Government. Yet it is a fact that Starmer is moving Labour to the Right. That has seismic implications for the country and it wont be good news for Reform or the beleaguered Tory party. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Chris Chinn visited St. Joseph on Wednesday to attend the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce's agri-business meeting. Chinn discussed her experience in the agriculture business, as well as updating attendees on the Missouri Department of Agriculture and its recent trade show in Taiwan. Chinn has been the director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture since 2017, serving under three different governors. She said that she enjoys visiting St. Joseph and appreciates what the city offers in terms of agriculture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "St. Joe really is one of the state's best hidden gems," Chinn said. "A lot of people don't realize how many agriculture companies are based right here in St. Joe and they help us when it comes to export markets, when it comes to feeding Missourians. And so this is a great opportunity to come up and highlight these businesses and just thank them for being a part of the Missouri agriculture community." The meeting, which was not open to the public, took place at BioZyme. The company's president and CEO, Lisa Norton, said she was happy to have Chinn speak on Wednesday morning. "We're really excited to have someone in that position that finds St. Joseph of importance and to come meet all of us and carry our message forward," Norton said. CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) The West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance is moving forward with plans to privatize the Clarksburg Veterans Nursing Facility. The state has operated the facility, which is adjacent to the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center, for the past 17 years. On Monday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Ryan Kennedy testified before the state House Appropriations subcommittee in Charleston. Kennedy testified that costs have become prohibitive for the state to continue operating the facility and that contracting out its management would take that cost off the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They would also absorb the liability for the facility, which any lawyer in the room will tell you is a great thing to be able to hand your liability over to somebody else. And also, it would hopefully be able to eliminate or at least minimize the use of contract nursing; but either way, it would be on their dime, not ours. How dependent is West Virginia on the federal government? Kennedy testified that state law prohibits the nursing home from hiring nurses directly, instead relying on contract nurses at a much higher rate of pay. The department spent $3.1 million on contract nurses in 2021, and that number grew to $7 million in 2024. 12 News was sent a copy of a notice about two staff meetings scheduled for this Friday. Were told state veterans assistance officials will be in Clarksburg to meet with staff and answer questions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. State of Kansas helps dozens of communities with development efforts TOPEKA (KSNT) The State of Kansas is awarding more than $15 million dollars to revitalize dozens of local communities. City officials from Emporia, Clay Center and Salina gathered to celebrate Wednesday in downtown Topeka. These grants allow cities to invest in their respective areas. This can go towards things like fixing water infrastructure. The Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) lighten the financial load for these projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its hard work to do these projects at the local level, Kansas Lieutenant Governor David Toland said. Youve got to build a coalition, spend some money up front to understand what it is you need. Then youve got to go for the grant itself, and that takes time and effort, and so when these communities are successful, we want to celebrate that. 120-year-old Kansas school to reopen with fresh new look These local communities also raised funds to match the grant. You can learn more about CDBGs by clicking here. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Mar. 12SANTA FE New Mexico's commissioner of public lands banned mining on state land in the Upper Pecos Watershed, a move meant to pressure the federal government to follow through on similar protections for federal land. Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard signed an executive order Wednesday morning to withdraw 2,552 acres of state land from mineral leases through 2045. There are no active mining leases on the state land, but a mining company, Comexico LLC, acquired 20 mining leases on federal land in the Upper Pecos Watershed in 2019. The area was once home to the Tererro Mine, which left significant mine waste behind, killing off 90,000 fish in 1991. The subsequent cleanup effort cost New Mexico $28 million. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland started the process to withdraw 165,000 acres of federal land from mining in December, but the Trump administration's interest in mining rare earth and precious metals may derail the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Pecos River is worth more than gold, and we will continue to fight to keep it clean and healthy and thriving," said Pecos farmer Ralph Vigil, who is also a northern advocate for nonprofit New Mexico Wild. The Pecos River plays a key role in the Village of Pecos' local economy, according to Vigil and Pecos Mayor Telesfor Benavidez, because it is a popular camping and fishing area. The area is also culturally significant as the ancestral home of the Pueblo of Pecos. River water is used by local farmers in the acequia system, a tradition passed down for generations. "We still do it, because it's part of who we are," Vigil said. "It's part of that connection to the land, because without it, especially for me, I feel empty. I don't feel alive." The Bureau of Land Management indefinitely postponed a February public meeting, required as one of the first steps in the two-year process, to consider the proposed federal mining ban on 164,000 acres of National Forest land and 1,330 acres of BLM-managed land. BLM is still accepting public comments on the proposal until March 17, and New Mexico Wild has collected an estimated 400 comments to submit, said NM Wild staff attorney Sally Paez. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Donald Trump wants to increase domestic mining. He referenced increasing U.S. production of rare earth and critical minerals during last week's joint address of Congress. One of his day-one executive orders instructed federal agency heads to identify "agency actions that impose undue burdens on the domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals and undertake steps to revise or rescind such actions." Trump specifically directed the Interior and Agriculture secretaries to reassess any public land withdrawals for potential revision. The state Land Office order is an attempt to "push the powers that be to listen to the voices of the community," Garcia Richard said. The state Legislature is also throwing its support behind protections for the watershed. A state House joint memorial to support federal protections for the watershed passed 52-9 Tuesday. New Mexico's all-Democratic congressional delegation has vocally supported protections for the Pecos River. Sens. Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich introduced the Pecos Watershed Protection Act in 2024 to protect portions of the watershed from mining. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez and Melanie Stansbury introduced a companion bill in the House. The state Land Office order will help, said Benavidez, who has been pushing for protections for the last six years. "The more we push, I think the better it is for our community," he said. SPRINGFIELD The Illinois State Police (ISP) is hosting its first ever all-women recruitment event to encourage women to explore the many career paths available both as sworn police officers and as civilian employees. The ISP Academy will be open to the public for the free event March 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ISP will share employment information and provide opportunities to meet professionals in various law enforcement specialties, including forensic science, investigations, telecommunications, crime scene services, patrol, and more. ISP is committed to increasing the number of women at ISP and is participating in the 30X30 Initiative, a coalition of police leaders, researchers, and professional organizations who have joined together to support and advance the representation, experiences, and well-being of women in policing agencies. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, about 14% of full-time sworn officers and 11% of first-line supervisors across local police departments were women. ISP invites women to learn about careers within the different divisions of ISP Academy and Training, Patrol, Criminal Investigation, Internal Investigation, Forensic Services, Justice Services, and Statewide 9-1-1. Civilian opportunities are available in various areas including forensic science, computer crimes, criminal intelligence, information technology, human resources, accounting, logistics, evidence technician, firearms eligibility analyst, and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To learn more about sworn job opportunities and becoming an ISP trooper, visit https://www.illinoistrooper.com/. For civilian employment opportunities within ISP and other State agencies, visit https://work4.illinois.gov/. [i] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Local Police Departments Personnel, 2022 https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/lpdp20.pdf. The New Jersey State Police's headquarters is in West Trenton. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) New Jersey State Police must process expungement orders within four months under an agreement the agency signed to settle a 2023 class-action civil rights lawsuit over its sometimes yearslong delays in removing expunged criminal offenses from background checks. Settlement terms, announced Thursday, require new transparency and accountability measures that require the agency to create a website where people petitioning for expungements can track their requests. State police will also be required to submit monthly reports for 18 months to the state public defenders office and a mediator on expungement processing statistics, as well as publicly post the data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The settlement comes 17 months after the public defenders office sued over the agencys mounting backlog of unprocessed expungement orders. Expungement requests rose after New Jersey lawmakers in 2016 and 2019 expanded eligibility for people to clear minor drug infractions and other low-level, non-violent offenses from their records. State police subsequently fell up to two years behind lagging even four years in a few cases in processing expungement orders, with 46,000 unprocessed expungement orders by the time the public defenders office sued. That failure meant that police have illegally disclosed criminal histories that judges have ordered sealed to potential employers, landlords and others who run background checks, costing people jobs, housing, professional licenses and other opportunities, the lawsuit said. Under the terms of the agreement, state police have until June 1 to get both the backlog and new expungement orders processed within 90 to 120 days. In cases where processing stalls because state police determine theyre missing information, the agreement requires the agency to notify petitioners and their attorneys and prioritize processing once the additional information is provided rather than forgo processing the order at all, as had been their practice, said Fletcher Duddy, assistant public defender. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When we filed this lawsuit, we were inundated with people contacting us saying, I got an expungement six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, I still cant get a job. I still can get an apartment. Im homeless, Im unemployed, Im about to become homeless. Please help me, said Deputy Public Defender Michael Noveck, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. He added: Today, we finally have an agreement that is going to ensure the prompt processing of expungement orders within three or four months after the state police received them, so that people who get an expungement can, within a reasonable period of time, move on with their lives free from the criminal past that has been expunged in accordance with New Jersey law. The settlement comes after months of mediation before former state Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia. The lawsuit is expected to be dismissed by September 2026, as long as the agency complies with agreed-upon terms. More than 260,000 people have applied for expungements in New Jersey since April 2020, as of Feb. 1, according to court data. Most petitions were granted, with about 9,500 pending, 7,300 withdrawn, and 3,200 denied, the data shows. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A majority of expungements are people looking to clear their criminal records of dismissed charges, while the rest involve convictions, Noveck said. This agreement reaffirms our steadfast dedication to helping individuals move past their mistakes and build brighter futures for themselves and their families, ensuring that they no longer face the obstacles of a past record that has long been expunged, Public Defender Jennifer Sellitti said in a statement. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The ceiling of the main rotunda inside Pennsylvanias Capitol Building. May 24, 2022. The ceiling of the main Rotunda inside Pennsylvanias Capitol building. (Photo by Amanda Berg for the Capital-Star) State legislatures craft most of the laws passed in the United States and serve as the main pipeline for higher office. But sexual harassment in state politics remains a systemic and ongoing issue affecting both parties according to a new report from the nonpartisan National Womens Defense League (NWDL), first shared with The 19th. Our latest research reinforces what we already knew: the problem of sexual harassment in statehouses is pervasive, damaging and covered up, said Emma Davidson Tribbs, the NWDLs co-founder and director. These abuses of power that not only inflict trauma, but impede policy making, waste taxpayer resources, and disproportionately impact the leadership of women and minorities in government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NWDL published its inaugural report, Abuse of Power: Uncovering a Decade of Sexual Harassment in State Government, which tracked allegations over a 10-year period beginning in 2013, in November 2023. The updated report, released Tuesday, identified 400 allegations of sexual harassment against 145 sitting state lawmakers between 2013 and 2024. The report tracked 11 new public allegations against lawmakers in 10 states in 2024 and included four allegations inadvertently omitted from the 2023 report. The number of actual incidents is likely three times higher due to underreporting, the report said. The Illuminator is a founding member of The 19th News Network. Public allegations of sexual misconduct against state lawmakers peaked at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017 and 2018, leading to new protections and policy changes in some states. NWDL was founded in 2022 to track, research and develop solutions to the pervasive problem of sexual misconduct in the halls of power. There are over 7,300 state lawmakers serving in 99 state legislative chambers throughout the United States. State legislatures are largely self-governing bodies, and even after a spate of post-#MeToo reforms, many lawmakers surveyed said the mechanisms for reporting misconduct in their states are lacking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the NWDL report did not track allegations against staff, sexual misconduct allegations against high-ranking staff members in the Pennsylvania governors office, Los Angeles mayors and Indianapolis mayors office also shed light on the issue in 2024. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX As part of the updated 2024 report, NWDL commissioned a survey of state legislators, designed with perspective and input from other advocacy groups and conducted by Understory, a research and policy consulting firm. Out of the 207 lawmakers who responded, 57% were women, 40.6% were men and 2.4% identified another way. Roughly a third of all state lawmakers are women. One in three state lawmakers surveyed said they experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in their state capitol, with 62% saying they personally experienced harassment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The most common kinds of harassment they reported were verbal (88%), physical (42%) and unwanted sexual advances (40%). A little over a third, 35%, said they did not report the harassment. Of those who did report, 53% said the incident was investigated, a quarter said it was not and 22% said they didnt know the outcome. Of the incidents that were investigated, 42% led to consequences for the accused perpetrator, 36% said the accused perpetrator faced no consequences and 21% said they didnt know the outcome. About two-thirds of respondents, 64%, said their state had an official process for reporting sexual misconduct and 40% said they didnt receive sexual harassment training and didnt know if it was required in their state. State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Nebraska said in a statement that she experienced various forms of harassment almost from my first day in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One particularly notable incident occurred during a live stream of a floor debate when a colleague mentioned my name while reading a scene that described a rape, demanding a sex act, the Democrat said. The response from leadership in the Legislature highlighted how inadequately we have addressed the issue of harassment, failing to protect staff, lobbyists, citizens, and elected officials within our government. State Rep. Abby Major of Pennsylvania said shed experienced harassment in the very halls where our laws are made. In Harrisburg, its all too common the governors top adviser, sitting lawmakers, lobbyists and its all unacceptable, the Republican said. Thats why Ive continued to sponsor legislation that would help prevent harassment, support survivors, and ensure that we hold everyone in the Commonwealths statehouse accountable. Across 88 bills relating to sexual harassment passed in 24 states in 2024, NWDL identified six bills in five states that focused on tackling sexual misconduct, which included state legislatures and other political workspaces. This progress, while important, barely makes a dent in the work needed to address the problem of sexual harassment in legislatures, the report said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most legislatures have failed to enact laws, policies, and oversight mechanisms that establish safe workplace standards, protections for employees, and safeguards to prevent political and partisan self-interest from undermining the process, the report found. In some cases, political party organizations like the Nebraska Senate Republicans, Kentucky House Democrats and Indiana Senate Democrats took action to address reports of sexual misconduct in their ranks, and implemented internal rules and procedures to address sexual misconduct. In Indiana, several Democratic officials faced public sexual misconduct allegations in 2024, prompting 40 women in Indiana politics to send a letter to the state Democratic Party demanding accountability. The accusations and surrounding outcry led to state Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylors ouster from leadership, the state Democratic Party instituting new ethics reforms and state Democratic Party chair Mike Schmuhl announcing he wouldnt seek another term. Elise Shrock, an Indiana political strategist, said in a statement she was appalled by the ongoing pattern of sexual harassment and the lack of appetite to make the substantive, common sense changes necessary to fix it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lack of basic professionalism and respect will continue to drain our political bench, she added. We must fix this now. Sexual harassment in state capitols has a damaging effect of further marginalizing women, and especially women of color, out of political spaces, influencing whose voices are heard and what policies get passed, NWDL said. State legislatures also cultivate the bench of talent for higher offices. The reports release comes amid a cultural and political backlash to the #MeToo movement with some men who have been accused of sexual misconduct returning to political power. President Donald Trump was elected to a second term in November after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. He subsequently appointed several people accused of sexual misconduct to his Cabinet including former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who began his career in the Florida state legislature. Gaetz withdrew his nomination ahead of the release of a House Ethics Committee report finding substantial evidence he had sex with a minor and paid women for sex. Gaetz was never criminally charged and denied all of the allegations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who resigned as governor of New York in 2021 after a damning investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women while in office, is attempting a political comeback with a campaign for mayor of New York City. Cuomo, a onetime Democratic power player, resigned as governor of New York in 2021 after a five-month investigation commissioned by the New York attorney generals office produced a damning 165-page report outlining evidence he had sexually harassed 11 women while in office. A separate investigation from the Department of Justice found Cuomo harassed 13 women who worked for the state over the course of eight years. Cuomo has denied the allegations of sexual harassment, but he has publicly apologized for overfamiliar contact and off-color jokes that made women uncomfortable. Addressing sexual harassment in state government could prevent serial sexual harassers and research shows that most are repeat offenders from causing more harm from greater positions of influence, the report said. In short, action at the state legislative level is an opportunity to clean up higher levels of government as well. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE This story was originally reported by Grace Panetta of The 19th. Meet Grace and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy. Mar. 12SANTA FE New Mexico could become the second state to enact a state-run psilocybin program for medical purposes, under a bill approved Wednesday by the state Senate. The bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 219, passed on a 33-4 vote after a lengthy debate that featured emotional testimony about the benefit of psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, for military veterans. Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said some veterans have found psilocybin to be effective at treating post-traumatic stress disorder after getting little relief from traditional counseling and other treatments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is kind of the next-step therapy," Brandt said. Another Republican senator, Jay Block of Rio Rancho, said he was previously staunchly opposed to a state-sanctioned psilocybin program. But he said he changed his mind after visiting with veterans who've struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after military deployments abroad. "I look at this as a right to try," said Block, who grew emotional while talking about his own struggles with mental health issues and alcohol abuse after a combat tour in Afghanistan. One U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Chris Peskuski of Albuquerque, sat with Block on the Senate floor during Wednesday's debate and said in a subsequent interview that psilocybin use overseas helped turn his life around. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It completely changed my life," Peskuski told the Journal. "I was able to let go of a lot of guilt and pain." The bill advancing at the Roundhouse would create an advisory board under the New Mexico Department of Health to oversee supervised use of psilocybin for patients whose physicians believe they could benefit from its use. The program would have to be in place by the end of 2027. It would also decriminalize the production, prescription and possession of medical psilocybin. Oregon became the first state to decriminalize possession and legalize use of psilocybin in 2022, though such use must be supervised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Colorado voters passed a ballot measure that same year allowing adults 21 and older to possess psilocybin and give it to other adults, but it remains illegal to sell the substance or use it in public. Several other states have stopped short of decriminalizing psilocybin but have enacted legislation allowing research to be conducted for clinical trials. Psilocybin, which can be made synthetically in addition to being found naturally in certain mushrooms, can cause hallucinations after being consumed. It works for medical purposes by enhancing neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to change its structure. "It really is one of the true wonder drugs, just like penicillin," said Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque, the only physician in the Legislature and one of the bill's sponsors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among other studies, research done at the University of New Mexico has shown psilocybin combined with psychotherapy can sharply reduce alcohol use. But health officials have also said it should be used only infrequently and under supervision, unlike cannabis, which can be used daily for medical purposes by individuals in their own homes. "This is not medical marijuana 2.0," Brandt said Wednesday. "This is done in a controlled setting in a clinic." After being approved in the Senate, the bill now advances to the House of Representatives with just over a week left in this year's 60-day legislative session. State Superintendent Jill Underly said she would participate in candidate debates after last month's primary election. But she is skipping at least three events this month and appears to have nothing scheduled alongside her opponent, education consultant Brittany Kinser, ahead of the April 1 election. When Underly campaigned in 2021, she participated in at least two forums ahead of a crowded primary and at at least five events in the lead-up to the general election. Underly chalked up her unavailability to hectic work and campaign schedules. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm a busy person," Underly told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday in what she said was her sixth interview of the day. "I can't always (participate). Some of these things we find out just days before. It's like, what do they expect? I'm running an agency. I'm a statewide elected official. I have a lot of obligations." Underly pointed to two events she has participated in or is scheduled to that Kinser is not. For one of the events, which was hosted by high school students, Kinser's campaign said they never got an invitation. "I think it goes, honestly, both ways," Underly said about campaign event attendance. Kinser, a moderate backed by conservatives, blasted Underly for skipping and for depriving the public of a side-by-side opportunity to compare the candidates. Her campaign said she has made herself available to any organization, group or voter seeking to learn more about her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "While we understand that Underly is hiding from her record of failure, Wisconsinites deserve to hear from the candidates who will be responsible for our children's future," the campaign said in a statement. WISN-TV (Channel 12) asked both campaigns to participate in a debate that would have aired statewide. News director Matt Sinn said the station couldn't get the campaigns to agree. Kinser's campaign said she accepted the station's invitation. Marquette Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education extended invitations to the candidates before the primary election. While all candidates agreed in concept, the center was unable to confirm a time with Underly's campaign, university spokesperson Kevin Conway said. The center is hosting Kinser on March 20. Ahead of the primary election on Feb. 18, the Lubar Center extended invitations for a general-election debate event to all candidates for superintendent of public instruction. While all candidates agreed in concept, the Lubar Center was subsequently unable to confirm a program time with the Underly campaign. The center shifted to a format featuring one candidate, Kinser. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Rotary Club of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Press Club and WisPolitics also aimed to host a similar, jointly sponsored event. The organizations offered both campaigns two potential dates this month. The Underly campaign said she was unavailable both days, according to Rotary communications coordinator Aaron Hovind. Kinser will speak March 25. Underly participated in a panel hosted by the Madison West High School Civics Club on Wednesday. About 125 students attended the event. Kinser's campaign said they never received an invite from the club. Underly is also scheduled to participate in a March 19 forum held over Zoom that will be hosted by the Wisconsin Public Education Network. Kinser is not participating. Wisconsin Public Education Network executive director Heather DuBois Bourenane said the organization sent several scheduling messages to the Kinser campaign and received a response this week declining the invite without an explanation. She also said the campaign did not respond to a candidate survey the network sent ahead of the primary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kinser's campaign said two different groups reached out about a virtual forum for March 19, and the sponsors and moderator for the event appeared to change over time. The campaign ultimately declined to participate. Underly skipped a candidate forum held less than a week before the primary election. She told WDJT-TV (Channel 58) the forum overlapped with a UW Board of Regents meeting but she would "absolutely" participate in debates after the primary. Underly did miss part of the regents meeting that day, slipping away to attend a press conference blasting President Donald Trump's freezing funding for Head Start, a program housed in a different state agency. But the Regents had an hourlong lunch break at noon, and she did not exit for the candidate forum scheduled at that same time. WisPolitics organized the forum. President Jeff Mayers said WisPolitics asked for alternative dates, but Underly's campaign did not provide them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin superintendent Jill Underly skips debates in 2025 election The N.C. Department of Public Safety has launched a a site that seeks to bring together reports of missing children in hopes it helps find and identify them. The Missing Child Repository includes all juveniles reported missing in North Carolina, regardless of the circumstances, according to a release from the NC Highway Patrol. Family members can submit a photo of a missing child to be included in the repository by emailing the childs name and case number to missing@ncshp.gov. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our hope is that this public repository will aid in the location of missing juveniles across the state, said Morrissa Ahl-Moyer, director of the NC Center for Missing Persons. In 2024, there were 8,758 reports of missing children in North Carolina, according to the release. For more information about the NC Center for Missing Persons and to access the Missing Child Repository, visit nccmp.ncdps.gov. It just got easier to have clean energy and see more job growth in Ohio as Electrek reported that Fox Squirrel Solar the largest solar farm in Ohio is fully online and sending electricity to the grid. EDF Renewables North America built Fox Squirrel Solar, their largest onshore clean energy project, with 1.4 million solar panels and 159 inverters. It can generate enough power for 118,000 households. With solar energy, Ohio residents can experience reduced air pollution and cuts in their energy bills. According to EnergySage, homeowners may save $31,000 and $100,000 over the lifetime of their solar panel system. Solar also produces reliable electricity without releasing planet-warming air pollutants, unlike coal. Cleaner air also means better health and life expectancy as polluting gases from burning dirty fuels have been linked to illnesses including asthma, cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, and more, according to the Union for International Cancer Control. Advertisement Advertisement Other cities are taking on similar solar initiatives. In California, the Camino Solar project from Avangrid will produce enough energy to power 14,000 homes and create about 100 jobs, according to energynews. Madison Gas and Electric and We Energies came together for the largest solar project in Wisconsin history the Badger Hollow Solar Farm, which features 830,000 double-sided solar panels, per a press release. In addition to reducing reliance on dirty energy, Fox Squirrel Solar in Ohio will breathe life into the local economy. Electrek reported that senior vice president of EDF Renewables North America, Kate O'Hair, stated, "Fox Squirrel has brought hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to Madison County throughout the development and construction phase." A commenter remarked, "There are so many jobs waiting to be filled in renewable energy projects! When we stop listening to politicians bought out by oil and gas companies, and demand a better future for our children, these projects will take off." Despite the environmental and economic impact, some commenters were leery about the amount of land used for the project. Advertisement Advertisement Someone wrote, "Disgraceful use of landPlease follow up with actual performance reports [in] the next 5 years." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump was sued by a group of mostly Democratic-led states over his alleged plan to effectively dismantle the US Education Department by slashing its workforce in half. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plan to fire about 1,378 employees, on top of buyouts taken earlier by 600 workers, will undermine the Education Departments ability to perform work mandated by federal law, states including New York and California said in a suit filed Thursday in federal court in Boston. The suit against Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon adds to a growing list of cases challenging the administrations effort to slash spending and reshape the federal government through Elon Musks controversial Department of Government Efficiency. The massive reduction in force, or RIF, is not supported by any actual reasoning or specific determinations about how to eliminate purported waste in the department rather, the RIF is part and parcel of President Trumps and Secretary McMahons opposition to the Department of Educations entire existence, the states say in the complaint. Earlier suits are challenging alleged plans to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the US Agency for International Development, or USAID. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Education said in a statement that the reductions were internal facing and wouldnt directly affect students and families. The White House said that the cuts were designed to deliver on Trumps campaign promises. Partisan elected officials and judicial activists who seek to legally obstruct President Trumps agenda are defying the will of 77 million Americans who overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement. Their efforts will fail. The Education Department said in a March 11 statement announcing the cuts that the agency will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agencys purview. But the states say that claim is easily belied by the extent of the workforce reduction, as well as McMahons assertion on the same day that terminations were the first step toward a total shutdown. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The states allege the administration is likely to fire more workers and wind down the entire department, citing public comments by McMahon and others. Far from being just a first step, the layoffs are an effective dismantling of the department, according to the states, which allege the reduction violates the US Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act. According to the complaint, the Education Department performs vital services that are mandated by federal law, including providing funds for low-income children and students with disabilities. The department also enforces laws that prohibit discrimination in education and administers federal student aid programs. The Education Department was created through an act of Congress and can only be dismantled the same way, according to the suit. The president cant unilaterally order the closure of the department, and even the Education Secretary is only permitted by law to modestly restructure the agency, the states say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The department serves more than 50 million students at nearly 100,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools, and more than 12 million higher education students, according to the complaint. Before Trumps election, the department carried out its tasks with a lean staff of only 4,133 people, the states said. Do not play politics with our kids education, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. Donald Trump, his unelected billionaire wrecking ball Elon Musk, and their enabler Linda McMahon want to destroy the Department of Education, and they do not care what harm this inflicts on our kids and teachers. The case is State of New York v. McMahon; 1:25-cv-10601; District of Massachusetts (Boston). (Updates with comment from Department of Education in sixth paragraph.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. PLATTSBURGH State Republicans led a major push to make changes that they say will help protect the northern border and aid law enforcement. Whether its been in Washington D.C. or in Albany, Democrats have made it clear they have no interest in securing our border, State Sen. Dan Stec (R-Queensbury) said at an event in Albany Wednesday with President Donald Trumps Border Czar Tom Homan at the state capitol. Their dangerous and failing illegal immigration policies like the Green Light Law has handcuffed local law enforcement and prevented it from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Because of it, communities along the Northern Border have become safe havens for violent, criminal behavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stec is pushing for the state to pass legislation to repeal the Green Light Law. Under that 2019 law passed and enacted by Democrat majorities and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state and local law enforcement authorities are prohibited from sharing information on the status of immigrants with federal immigration officials. Stec is the prime sponsor of Senate bill S.1427, which would repeal the Green Light Law for Northern Border counties. With more than 19,000 illegal immigrants arrested by border patrol along the North Countrys Swanton Sector last year alone, a repeal of the Green Light Law is a crucial resource in cracking down on violent crime, drug trafficking and border security, Stec said. Upon being named border czar, Homan specifically cited the Green Light Law as a national security threat, Stec said. After years of Democrats refusing to address the border crisis, Stec said he is eager to partner with Homan and the Trump Administration to finally secure the Northern Border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last years election was a referendum on border security and a majority of Americans believe aggressive action must be taken, Stec said. Im glad President Trumps border czar Tom Homan made it clear that the Green Light Law is a national security threat and Im proud to partner with him in calling for Governor (Kathy) Hochul and Democrat leaders to pass my common sense repeal of the Green Light Law. The time for talk is over. Lets repeal the Green Light Law and secure our border, now. SIMPSON SUPPORTS Assemblyman Matt Simpson (R,C-Lake George) who joined Stec and Homan at the event, said disastrous policies pushed by Albany Democrats are tying the hands of federal agents, endangering communities and fueling a crisis that is overwhelming the state. He mentioned two bills at the center of attention, the states Green Light Law and the Laken Riley Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New Yorks Green Light Law actively obstructs federal immigration enforcement by tipping off illegal migrants when ICE is looking for them, Simpson said. Instead of prioritizing public safety, Democrats are protecting criminals and making it easier for traffickers, drug smugglers and violent offenders to stay in our state. Assemblyman Scott Gray (R-Watertown) introduced legislation (A.1528) that would exclude counties along the Canadian border from Green Light Law restrictions to allow coordination between federal, state and local agencies. Simpson is currently a co-sponsor. LAKENS LAW Lakens Law (A.2262) would restore critical cooperation between law enforcement and ICE, ensuring that when someone is arrested and is not a U.S. citizen, federal immigration officials are notified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New York is facing a crisis. A record number of migrants are flooding into our state, overwhelming resources and bringing a serious public safety risk, Simpson said. Children are being trafficked across the border, fentanyl is pouring into our neighborhoods and Democrats are doing everything possible to block enforcement. Thats why Im co-sponsoring Lakens Law, a common-sense bill that ensures law enforcement notifies ICE when a non-citizen is arrested. If New York is willing to put criminals behind bars, then ICE should have access to remove them. Simpson said there is an all-out attack on immigration enforcement in New York. Instead of protecting our communities, Albany Democrats are making it easier for traffickers, smugglers and violent offenders to stay. It is our duty to protect the people we serve, not shield criminals from justice. We must secure the border and save lives before this crisis claims even more innocent victims, he said. The steel industry produces roughly 11 percent of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions, so cleaning up the industry is a top priority. Now Boston Metal has successfully demonstrated that its Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MQE) industrial cell can be scaled up to produce large amounts of a steel, a big milestone for hopefully one day producing metal without the need for coke, a coal-based fuel. As its name suggests, the MQE process requires electricity to create liquid iron, so much of its green energy accolades require electricity supplied from green sources, such as solar, wind, or even nuclear. The world is hungry for steel. In 2024, the worldwide industry produced nearly 2 billion metric tons of the iron-carbon alloy while burping out about 11 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions for the year. While transportation, energy production, and agriculture all take up bigger slices of that unsavory doomsday pie, steelmaking remains a large contributor to the global climate crisis. The problem is the coal-based fuel called coke (no, not that Coke) that lies at the heart of the conventional steel-making process. Coke provides a dual role by delivering the heat required for steelmaking while also stealing away oxygen in the process, leaving behind molten ironthe key ingredient of steel. When coke combines with oxygen in this way, its eventually released as carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas thats slowly (but surely) imperiling life on Earth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if theres one thing humans are good at, its engineering themselves out of a problem, and the green energy company Boston Steel, originally developed at MIT, believes it finally has a green steel solution thats scalable. The company announced that it has successfully demonstrated its multi-inert anode Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MQE) industrial cell that can produce a ton or two of steel in a month. While thats not enough to replace large-scale steelmaking, adding more anodes and more reactors can increase that capacity and eventually lead to wide-scale green steel adoptionor thats the hope, anyway. We are the only company with a direct and scalable approach to more efficient and clean steelmaking, and I can now say that tonnage steel is flowing from our multi-inert anode MOE cell, Tadeu Carneiro, CEO of Boston Metal, said in a press statement . With this milestone, we are taking a major step forward in making green steel a reality and were doing it right here in the U.S., demonstrating the critical innovation that can enhance domestic manufacturing. And like most green energy technologies, it relies on electrification. Instead of using coke for developing molten iron, MQE uses a metallic anode that sticks into the reactor and provides electricity, heating up the iron ore to 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,900 degrees Fahrenheit) and driving the reactions for creating molten iron. And the byproduct of this interaction? Oxygen. Of course one big piece of this green steel puzzle is that the supplied electricity must come from renewable resources in order to be truly zero emissions, so building out the worlds green energy infrastructure remains a top priority. According to MIT Technology Review, Boston Metals reactor has grown from the size of a coffee cup to this latest model that can produce a ton of metal in just 12 years. To really clean up the industry, Boston Metal will need to scale up even more, but now its proven that the technology is ready to go big or go home. The company anticipates having a demonstration plan up and running in late 2026 and wants to begin licensing the technology to steelmakers around the world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no lack of demand for green steel today, Carneiro said in a video describing the companys technology in 2022. Once we go commercial by 2026the application of our technology and the adoption will be very fast. You Might Also Like North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein delivers his first State of the State address to the General Assembly at the Legislative Building in Raleigh on March 12, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein called on lawmakers to swiftly pass another round of Hurricane Helene aid and approve pay raises for teachers and law enforcement Wednesday, as he delivered his first State of the State address to the Republican-led General Assembly. The speech by Stein, a Democrat, signaled that he would continue to pursue issues with bipartisan support in the opening months of his administration. He called for a ban on cell phones in classrooms, a new law enforcement unit to crack down on fentanyl, free community college for students in high-demand sectors, and new accountability in government spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What weve been talking about tonight, they are not red issues or blue issues, Stein said. They are North Carolina issues. Of course, on some of them, we may differ about how best to get there. Thats fine. Thats the democratic process. But he also didnt shy away from divisive topics calling for Republicans to pump the brakes on income tax cuts and school vouchers, both programs they have led and continue to tout. Stein painted an optimistic picture of North Carolinas future, sketching out a growing state with new jobs in emerging industries. But as he previewed parts of his budget request, he warned of pitfalls both statewide and nationally a potential future budget shortfall, ongoing federal funding cuts and continued cost of living worries. We must continue to grow our economy and ensure it works for everyone, Stein said. North Carolina lawmakers, Cabinet members and members of the state Supreme Court mingle on the House floor ahead of Gov. Josh Steins State of the State address on March 12, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) And he urged lawmakers not to follow in the footsteps of elected officials in the nations capital instead pursuing a broadly popular agenda for North Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If those of us who believe in the possibility of bipartisanship look to Washington, D.C., we will surely become discouraged, Stein said. But we do not need to be pulled into those political games. We can create something better, something forward-looking, right here in North Carolina. House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), also recently elevated to leadership, delivered the Republican response. Hall connected efforts by the state GOP with President Donald Trumps national agenda. He mentioned Trump several times in his address, and painted state GOP priorities as a reflection of Trumps goals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everything President Trump has fought for, tax cuts, deregulation, protecting values and enforcing the law, North Carolina Republicans have delivered on, Hall said. With Helene aid on his doorstep, Stein urges immediate passage A new round of relief spending for Hurricane Helene is just a step away from landing on Steins desk. That spending package would send more than half a billion dollars to western North Carolina for agriculture, homebuilding and road and bridge repairs. Disagreements between the House and Senate have delayed its final passage. Though the bill comes well short of what the governor requested earlier this year, he urged lawmakers Wednesday to pass it swiftly, and begin working on further aid. We need that money now, Stein said. Heck, we needed it yesterday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans in the House said Tuesday that they anticipated final agreement on the bill in the coming days. During the opening months of his tenure, Stein has sought to build bipartisan bridges on the issue of Helene aid. During his January inaugural address, he called on lawmakers to set aside partisan divides to prioritize aid. And he echoed that sentiment Wednesday. The people who have been aiding folks out west dont care a whit about the politics of the people they are helping, he said. GOP lawmakers have remained open to those overtures repeatedly saying theyre encouraged by the governors approach to relief in the mountains. When Stein declared that the state cannot let closed businesses become our story, he received a standing ovation from the entire chamber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his response, Hall said he looked forward to working with Stein on Helene recovery, while criticizing former Gov. Roy Cooper and former President Joe Biden for their response in the emergency. Were going to continue to support western North Carolina as long as it takes to rebuild, and together, we will rebuild stronger than before, he said. I look forward to partnering with Gov. Stein, who I know shares my desire to get people back in their homes as quickly as possible. He and I both recognize the long road ahead and the need for us all to rise to the moment, setting aside petty partisanship for the sake of our neighbors, Hall said. North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), left, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) speak ahead of Gov. Josh Steins State of the State address on March 12, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) Still, there are signals of that goodwill running thin. Top Republicans expressed impatience at the current timeline for building homes in western North Carolina during a hearing last week. The House Majority Leader said it feels like Groundhog Day a reference to struggles under former Gov. Roy Coopers hurricane recovery program for eastern North Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stein has established a new team to distance his administration from those struggles, but Coopers program ReBuild NC remains in need of a final bundle of money. Proposals to send that money are moving through the legislature. Stein urged them to send one to his desk. No matter where you live, you need to know that if disaster strikes, we will be there. Education: Cell phone ban, teacher raises and free community college Stein threw his support Wednesday behind proposals to limit cell phones in K-12 classrooms. And he repeated a call to significantly raise wages for teachers to the highest in the southeast. Anna [the First Lady] and I know some parents of recent college graduates, Stein said. Those graduates wanted to live and teach in their home state, but they chose other states because our salaries simply arent competitive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its an embarrassment, he added. We can and must do better. Members in both parties have backed proposals to increase teacher pay this session. A Republican-led bill would boost educators salaries depending on experience, up to a $12,000 annual increase. Stein also continued to tout the importance of apprenticeship and workforce programs. And he called on lawmakers to further incentivize students pursuing fields like manufacturing, health care and IT, by providing them with free community college. (Republicans did not join Democrats in standing and applauding after the proposal.) Our goal is to set the national pace in growing the number of skilled workers, Stein said. Public safety: Police pay raises and a fentanyl unit Stein said he was proposing that lawmakers increase the salaries of state law enforcement and corrections officers, as well as signing bonuses for new officers. He said he regularly hears about staffing challenges across departments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And he urged the General Assembly to fund a fentanyl control unit made up of law enforcement and prosecutors dedicated to getting it off the streets. It represents the next step of one of his priorities during his previous stint as attorney general. Gov. Josh Stein (right) hugs a member of his Cabinet ahead of his State of the State address on March 12, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) Budget: A trio of working family tax cuts and an Impact Center Stein renewed his request for a trio of tax cuts that he championed during his campaign for governor: one for families with young children, one for child care costs, and one for working families. We can afford them and still meet our critical education, health care and public safety needs, he said. Those proposals will be part of Steins budget request, which he will unveil in the coming weeks. And though Republicans are unlikely to follow it by the letter, it provides a blueprint for Democratic, and potentially bipartisan, priorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among those priorities: a $4 billion public school bond, to make repairs to school facilities across the state. (The Department of Public Instruction has said $13 billion is needed to meet all school repair needs.) He also called for lawmakers to work to lower housing costs and make child care affordable and accessible. Parents should always have the option to stay home with their children, Stein said. But it should be a choice. Parents shouldnt be pushed out of the workforce. When they are, they suffer, and our economy suffers. And he said he was instructing his budget office to set up an Impact Center to track spending, as he warned of a potential budget shortfall in the coming years. But he said the state should exercise caution with state spending lets use a scalpel, not a chainsaw, he said. Part of his proposal to stave off that shortfall pausing income tax cuts and school voucher programs (suggestions that likely will not be acted upon by Republican leaders who helped pass them). Were at a fork in the road when it comes to our budget, Stein said. Other reactions offer bipartisan optimism Rep. Howard Penny (R-Harnett), a member of the Houses Helene Recovery committee, called the speech a very excellent presentation and expressed optimism for bipartisan efforts to bring assistance to the western part of the state. We are very impressed by the people hes put in place to make sure the same thing that happened in Matthew and Florence does not happen in Western North Carolina, Penny said. Were looking forward to working with our new governor. Asked about the $500 million aid bill Stein pushed for in his address, Penny said he believes the House figure and the Governors figure for relief are not far apart. Were close enough that I think were going to get there. Chip Hawley, the director of the State Bureau of Investigation, said Stein hit the nail on the head in his pitch to improve pay for teachers and members of law enforcement. He praised the Governor for his very passionate words of support for recovery efforts in western North Carolina. Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Orange) said Stein did a magnificent job in delivering a nonpartisan, optimistic speech for North Carolina. She singled out his focus on education and childcare as a highlight of the speech, crediting him for calling lawmakers to prioritize funding for public schools. Thats the critical need for the future of North Carolina with only 1 in 5 kids having a slot for childcare, the data is there, we need to improve it, Morey said. And our teachers we cant be 48th in the country anymore. Rep. Abe Jones (D-Wake) said he was pleased that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle cheered many of Steins proposals, adding that it was now time to act on that bipartisan support. As my mom used to say people clapped, so the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Well just have to see how it turns out, Jones said. What are we going to spend on and how much money are we going to spend? He agreed with Steins call to balance the budget adding that the price of large tax cuts is a lack of funding to schools and investment in the future. If youre gonna look after the children, look after the future, you have to raise taxes in a reasonable way. Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Orange) also said Steins comments on an impending fiscal cliff were a highlight of the speech, crediting him for using the bully pulpit to inform the people of North Carolina of the costs of the General Assemblys current tax plan. Meyer added that he didnt know why Republicans had not yet reached an agreement on the next package of Helene aid and said Stein was a little more kind to them in his address than he would be. I probably would have given them a deadline so lets get it done by the end of next week or something. But hes trying to work with them, Meyer said. Last updated at 9:30 p.m., March 12, 2025. Stephen Colbert touched on a multiple hot button issues in his monologue on Wednesdays The Late Show, first running down how Donald Trump is running the economy into the ground, and then touching on Trumps unconstitutional attacks on free speech and free assembly. We assume youre familiar with how the economy is going, and about that that, Colbert said, this toboggan ride to Skid Row is all courtesy of Trumps on again, off, again, tariffs. But today, Trump implemented a plan to quell fear of tariffs with more tariffs Now, remember, you got to fight fire with setting our money on fire. Colbert noted the tarriffs that went into effect on foreign steel and aluminum, and the costs this will impose on Americans, joking foiled again! you know, because aluminum foil. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later in the monologue, Colbert touched on the disturbing case of Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident married to an American who, as a Columbia University student protested against Israel. This is of course, constitutionally protected behavior, and to be clear he has not committed nor has he been accused of committing a crime. Nevertheless, in the middle of the night on Saturday, ICE agents broke into his residence, arrested him and very quickly transported him from New York to Louisiana without notifying his family or attorneys. And just to remind you, he has not been accused of any crime. Another cool thing that is totally normal is arresting folks without any charges, Colbert said about it. This weekend here in New York, ICE agents arrested a Palestinian activist who had helped lead the Columbia University protests, detaining him without presenting a warrant or any filed charges, and whisking him to a detention facility in Louisiana without telling his wife, who is eight months pregnant. Yes, yes. If you dont like that, you have a constitutional right to protest it. Just by doing so you could win a free trip to Louisiana, Colbert joked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether or not you agree with this protester and what he did, or if you disagree with this protester and what he did, if you think this kind of thing will end with students, Ive got a wall in Berlin to sell you, Colbert said shortly after. Watch the whole monologue below: The post Stephen Colbert Explains the Toboggan Ride to Skid Row of Trumps Policies: Fight Fire With Setting Our Money on Fire | Video appeared first on TheWrap. Stephen Colbert has made clear where he stands on the federal detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestine protester who is now facing deportation despite his green card status. Another cool thing that is totally normal is arresting folks without any charges, Colbert said sarcastically in his monologue Wednesday. This weekend, here in New York, ICE agents arrested a Palestinian activist who had helped lead the Columbia University protests, Colbert explained, quoting from an Associated Press article. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Colbert continued, quoting reports from NBC News and Columbia Spectator, explaining how the government has been detaining Khalil without presenting a warrant or any filed charges, and whisking him to a detention facility in Louisiana without telling his wife, who is eight months pregnant. As the crowd booed the news, Colbert said, If you dont like that, you have a constitutional right to protest it. Colbert further broke down the situation: Trumps goons arent just jackbooted thugs. Theyre also slow-witted doofs. He explained, According to the detained mans lawyer, the ICE agents who took him into custody initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa, but his lawyer told them he was actually a permanent resident with a green card, so they said they would revoke that documentation instead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They didnt even know what they were arresting him for! Colbert said. Colbert continued, Trump made sure to let us know that this was no mistake, posting, This is the first arrest of many to come. So hes going to arrest anyone who disagrees with him? Colbert asked. Even me, John Oliver? Blimey. Colbert warned viewers about the slippery slope Khalils arrest could portend. Whether or not you agree with this protester and what he did, Colbert said, If you think this kind of thing will end with students, Ive got a wall in Berlin to sell you. WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Ill. (WTVO) A Stephenson County music teacher has been indicted on federal child pornography charges stemming from a 2024 investigation. Collin Zier, 39, of Lena, was employed as a K-12 music and choir teacher for Orangeville Elementary School at the time of his arrest on September 5th, 2024. Zier was also a high school band director, according to the Illinois High School Association. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The school district then placed him on administrative leave. He is accused of sexual exploitation of a minor and was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Rockford on charges of producing child pornography, transporting child pornography, receiving child pornography, and possession of child pornography. According to the Stephenson County Sheriffs Office, a report was filed in June 2024 by an official with the Orangeville School District claiming that Zier was making contact with a student outside of the school. He faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of $1 million if convicted. If you are a survivor of domestic or sexual violence, visit our Stateline Strong page for resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. A woman has been charged over holding her stepson captive and starving him for 20 years. The incident came to light after the man, 32, who has not been named, set fire to his room in a last-ditch attempt to escape. After being rescued from the burning property in Waterbury, Connecticut, last month, the man told crews he had started the blaze because he wanted his freedom. Kimberly Sullivan, 56, who was also rescued from the fire, was identified as the mans stepmother and charged with a slew of offences including assault, kidnapping and unlawful restraint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While receiving medical care, the male victim disclosed to first responders that he had intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room, stating, I wanted my freedom, police said on Wednesday. He was found in a severely emaciated condition and had not received medical or dental care during this time [in captivity], the police added. The man was reported to have weighed just over 30kgs at the time of his discovery, with his makeshift cell being just 8ft by 9ft with no heating or air conditioning. He told authorities that he was given two cups of water a day, and occasionally resorted to drinking out of the toilet. The house where Kimberly Sullivan is alleged to have held her stepson captive for two decades Prosecutors at a court hearing on Wednesday said the man lit that fire very well knowing he could die, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor of Auschwitzs death camp, prosecutors added. The court heard he started the fire with some hand sanitiser, some paper from a printer. The alleged victims living conditions are understood to have deteriorated after his father died last year. The interior of the house after the fire was extinguished His former elementary school principal told US media that teachers had alerted the police when the boy stopped attending school two decades ago, but that not a damn thing was done. Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was five years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong, Tom Pannone said, adding that school staff would bring lunches for the boy after seeing him steal food or eat out of rubbish bins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Pannone said he had not seen the victim since the early 2000s when he was in fourth grade. He said he was told the boy was initially transferred to another school before later learning he was being homeschooled. Ms Sullivan was arrested on March 11 and denies all charges - Waterbury Police Department via AP Fernando Spagnolo, the Waterbury police chief, said: The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable. This case required relentless investigative effort, and I commend the dedication of our officers and the Waterbury States Attorneys Office. Their unwavering commitment ensured that justice is served, and the perpetrator is held fully accountable for these horrific crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ms Sullivan was arrested on March 11, taken into police custody, and charged a day later with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty, and reckless endangerment. She denies all the charges and is being held on a $300,000 bail bond. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Gov. Kevin Stitt said Wednesday the state already has saved more than $1 million through the efforts of the Division of Government Efficiency in Oklahoma. Via executive order, Stitt created the entity known as DOGE-OK last month, on the first day of the current legislative session, with a goal to build upon previous efficiency initiatives hes championed. Its modeled after the new federal Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk. Stitt chose Norman lawyer Marc Nuttle to lead DOGE-OK. Stitt said DOGE-OK held its first meeting with state agencies on Wednesday. During his weekly press conference, Stitt rattled off a list of savings he said have been reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said a new software system that prevents rogue purchases has saved about $350,000 at the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, allowing the agency to cut six full-time positions. The state has eliminated 500 cellphones over just two anonymous agencies, which Stitt said would save about $500,000 annually. Elsewhere, energy efficiency projects including a lighting retrofit has earned the state a $42,000 rebate from a power company, he said. The use of automatic mowers on Capitol grounds has saved $200,000 and the Department of Agriculture has reduced 41 vehicles, saving about $350,000, he said. Stitt long has been a proponent of reducing the state vehicle fleet. Theres more to come on that, Stitt said. Theyre digging in. Stitt noted DOGE-OK has an outward-facing portal, so members of the public can offer suggestions, and he believes state employees will be a source of good ideas on how to more efficiently provide services to Oklahomans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DOGE-OK has a March 31 deadline to submit its first report on ideas concerning efficiencies, recommendations for reform of the federal-state fiscal relationship, and specific agency budget findings. The subject of DOGE both at the state and federal levels proved to be a prime topic for Stitt. Headlines this week have included those discussing the layoff of about half of the employees at the federal Department of Education, as well as rumblings of mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has a strong presence in Oklahoma, particularly at the National Weather Center on the University of Oklahoma campus. Stitt downplayed any issues, saying there were tons of rumors floating around. Asked specifically about the potential NOAA layoffs, Stitt sidestepped the question. I think if they do cut those things, theyre going to allow you to step into it, over time. Well be able to step in and retrain our workforce, Stitt said. Again, a lot of this is just rumors at this point. Of course, we dont want an Oklahoman to be cut, but every state the deal in government spending, is like, Oh, theres a problem here, but cut everybody but mine, right? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So I encourage the president and them to be looking at all of it. What makes sense for the American people? Theres been so much mission creep over time. We cant spent $2 trillion over our income and I think thats the big picture. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Stitt says DOGE-OK has saved taxpayers more than $1 million already BARNWELL COUNTY, S.C. (WJBF) -The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) charged 31-year-old Brodrick Jaquain Walters of Augusta, with four counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor 1st Degree on Monday, March 10th. The SLED investigation was requested by Blackville Police Department. According to warrants provided by SLED, Walters began sexually abusing the then 4-year-old girl in 2020 in Blackville, South Carolina. They also state that while the victim was crying, Walters said, Stop crying! That doesnt hurt! Authorities say the alleged acts continued until 2023 when the victim was 7-years-old. The victim said that Walters would sexually assault her when they were alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walters was booked into the Barnwell County Detention Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) It is going to be a busy weekend here in KELOLAND with a variety of weather. Well above average temperatures and dry skies returned today, along with breezy winds. This brings elevated fire weather conditions for portions of South Dakota and the Red Flag Warnings will continue into the evening. The mild temperatures will continue into the overnight hours, with eastern KELOLAND staying in the upper 40s. Western South Dakota will have thicker cloud cover as a low pressure system moves into the area. Winds will begin to increase by tomorrow morning in far western KELOLAND. A High Wind Warning is in effect through Saturday for western and southern South Dakota. Wind gusts greater than 60 mph are likely in the warning area. The gusty winds will continue to spread eastward during the day. It will stay cooler to the west tomorrow with strong northwest winds. Warm temperatures are in store for East River again tomorrow as southerly winds hang around. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A low pressure system will move in by tomorrow afternoon, bringing rain and thunderstorms to Eastern KELOLAND and mixed precipitation the further west you go. Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible in southeast South Dakota, southwest Minnesota, and northwest Iowa. Sioux Falls is included in the marginal risk, with the main hazards being quarter size hail and strong wind gusts. The rain will eventually transition to snow by Saturday morning, with the heaviest band looking to set up along and near I-29. Blowing snow could lead to travel hazards on Saturday and the system will slowly move off to the east by Saturday evening. After highs stay cool for the weekend, we will start to warm back to above average for the start of the week. Another low pressure system looks to move in for Wednesday and bring snow chances across KELOLAND before moving out by Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. Parts of New Mexico are holding on to calmer weather this afternoon. This will change later tonight as our next storm system moves in. A strong spring storm is on its way to New Mexico this afternoon. The first impact will be the winds. Strong gusts upwards of 75 mph are forecasted across southern, central, and eastern New Mexico. These strong gusts will move in this afternoon and last through Friday. The National Weather Service has issued several alerts regarding the winds. These alerts will be in place through Friday March 14th. The strong winds across southern and eastern New Mexico is leading to high fire risks. Southern and eastern New Mexico are under critical fire weather today and tomorrow. Red Flag warnings for these areas have been issued by the National Weather Service. The first round is in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday March 13th. The second round will go into effect Friday March 14th. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the strong spring storm moves in tonight, it will be bringing snow and rainfall across most of the state. Most of the precipitation during this storm will be falling overnight and clearing during the daylight hours. Upwards of 17 of snow is possible in the mountains. The National Weather Service has issued several winter weather alerts. These alerts will be in effect through Friday March 14th. This storm system could also impact travel tonight through Friday. Northwestern New Mexico could see road closures due to blowing snow and snow squalls. Additionally, Blowing Dusts Storms in the southwest could bring additional road closures. The mountains roads and passes are also at risk for impacts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. SAN DIEGO (FOX5/KUSI) This winters late-season storms are a reminder of the life-changing floods that happened last year after several major storms. Peter Roser from Sonoma County has been volunteering to help rebuild homes damaged during last years rain and flooding. Were almost finished with the flooringwe should be getting a delivery of doors today, Roser said. The homeowner here was able to show us a video of this space with the door with water up to this door knob, said Roser. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Flooding possible in the San Diego area this week: Where to get sandbags Watching the rainfall as he worked, he wondered how soon the area would flood again. I know people whove escaped fires and they cant even look at a candle. So seeing rain today and the amount that came down a couple of nights ago, I was wondering if we were going to get here and find the front yard flooded, he said. The City of San Diego said the concerns are understandable but explained that prep work has been ongoing for the past year. Money has been set apart in the city budget to do continued maintenance not just here on this channel but on channels all up and down the Chollas Creek watershed and to conduct maintenance in other parts of the city, said Ramon Galindo, who works for the City of San Diego. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Galindo said crews are patrolling and performing storm drain checks and street sweeps. Crews are also prepared to clear the mud likely to build in the Chollas Creek. Volunteers plan to continue work on Thursday. Well probably be putting doors in tomorrow. I think we will finish the flooring today. well be doing doors and then trim molding, then, theyve got to do the electrical, said Roser. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Reverse osmosis membranes at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant as seen Sept. 26, 2022 in El Paso. The plant can treat up to 27 million gallons per day of brackish water for much of Eastern El Paso and Fort Bliss residents. (Danielle Prokop / Source New Mexico) A formerly controversial bill aimed at addressing a future in which New Mexicos limited water supplies become even more strained will soon have its first Senate committee hearing following House passage last week. That passage came with no debate, following a significant overhaul in the face of considerable environmental opposition to the so-called Strategic Water Supply. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a nutshell, the bill proposes a a $40 million program for removing the salt from less drinkable aquifers and $19 million to map how much water is available beneath the ground. Rep. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo), who sponsored House Bill 137, said on the House Floor Friday that the bill is crucial for New Mexico as climate change shrinks the rivers and puts pressure on freshwater aquifers. New Mexico, she said, needs to develop additional sources of water to preserve fresh supplies for drinking and agriculture. There is no snow on the mountains, Herrera said. I continue to remind members of the House this is one of the greatest dangers confronting our state. In a 57-4 vote, the House passed HB137, which now moves to the Senate Conservation and Finance committees before heading to the Senate floor. Senate Conservation scheduled the first hearing for Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawmakers have overhauled the legislation since it was first introduced in the sessions opening days. The Strategic Water Supply previously described a program to develop projects to treat not only brackish water, the salty water in deep aquifers belowground, but also oil and gas wastewater, often called produced water. A similar $500 million measure introduced in the 2024 session failed. A coalition of indigenous, water and environmental nonprofit groups opposed to the project said the bill failed to address logistics of treating oil and gas wastewater and ignored the potential health and environmental risks. Advocates shrunk down this sessions proposal, initially seeking $75 million for developing treatment projects and technologies for oil and gas wastewater and a five-cent-tax per-barrel to generate revenue for the program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Legislators stripped all references to oil and gas wastewater in committees, along with a proposed per barrel fee for oil and gas companies to pay to generate program revenue. The bill now limits development to brackish water, including $40 million for a fund for grants to local communities or contracts to develop brackish water treatment facilities. The fast vote reflects the efforts to change the bill, according to Rebecca Roose, the infrastructure advisor for Gov. Michlle Lujan Grishams office, who has championed the project. We are running a bill that people really want to get behind, and we feel really encouraged by that, Roose told Source NM. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lingering objections to the bill remain. Mariel Nanasi, the executive director of Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy, said the bill should require plants to use 100% renewable energy, given desalination plants high-energy use. Desalination plants funded by the state should not exacerbate climate change, they should help us address water scarcity without exacerbating that scarcity with polluting energy sources, Nanasi said in a written statement. Nanasi said additional concerns with the current bill include the prospect for disposing of the concentrated brine from removing salt from the water. HB137 pulls resources away from other initiatives to address water issues, said Norm Gaume, a former water engineer and member of Water Advocates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My major objection is the House Budget shortchanged the Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission, Gaume said in a statement. For example, HB2 includes $40 million for these brackish water initiatives and nothing to prevent the pending compact violation due to Middle Rio Grande water overuse. The bill also includes $4 million appropriation for New Mexico State University to develop additional treatment technology, and boosts the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources budget by $19 million to study and monitor aquifers, which have never been fully characterized by the state, meaning New Mexicos exact water supplies are unknown. In the past, [the Bureaus] recurring funding was $600,000 per year, Herrera said on the floor Friday. This sets a new stage for understanding water resources in our state, which I think is imperative to our future. All three appropriations made it into the states budget in House Bill 2. On the floor, Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero) introduced an amendment, which the House unanimously approved, to increase public input options during the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roose said with 12 days left in the session, this bill stands front and center for the administration. We hope that based on the amount of changes that we made to the bill in the House that we will not see a lot more changes or maybe not any changes in the Senate, but its one step at a time, Roose said. Were just needing to let the process play out and were definitely keeping a sense of urgency to make sure that we use the time left effectively. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX NEW MEXICO (KRQE) Several weather alerts are almost covering the entire state of New Mexico for the next three days as more-persistent winds are set to return before two potent systems arrive late this week into the early weekend; as while more northwestern areas are at or below the freezing mark with colder air accompanied by mostly calmer winds for now, its still somewhat mild for many areas southeast of the Rio Grande Valley with westerly winds sinking down the east slopes of the Central Mountains, creating an even warmer start in the East Highlands through parts of the Pecos River Valley compared to some of the counterpart valley-floor locations once again. Forecast Continues Below Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Along with clouds eventually on the increase late today with chilly rain showers in the valleys with more-substantial mountain snow starting to already develop in the San Juan Mountains with more-widespread snow eventually, temperatures partly to mostly sunny skies as afternoon temperatures will be noticeably warmer in the 60s and 70s for most before the system arrives, a bit chilly in some of the mountain communities in the upper 40s for the most part, but milder in the 70s to near 80 degrees in eastern to southern communities more of the southwesterly winds locally picking up dust, dropping the humidity even more, as well as elevating the fire threat to more of a dangerous level. More-unstable atmospheric conditions in the form of the stronger low pressure system late tonight will provide a drop in temperatures tomorrow morning with even stronger winds more likely being damaging as while areas to the south and east will remain mostly dry with the higher fire threat being accompanied by widespread blowing dust, while westerns areas through central to northern areas will have more precipitation with some blowing snow in the higher elevations. Another chance for chilly rain showers and mountain snow will occur in the northwest half of the region on Saturday with breezy conditions leftover, but then clearer skies will return late this weekend into early next week with temperatures back on the rise with calmer winds temporarily. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Refugees havent been welcome in the United States since the first day of President Donald Trumps second term, when he signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 90 days. Despite a February 2025 federal court order to resume refugee resettlement, the administration has said that wont be happening any time soon because the countrys refugee system has been so thoroughly dismantled. Trumps Jan. 20, 2025, executive order discontinued regular refugee processing and halted all federal funding for refugee resettlement. It ended the State Departments 2023 Welcome Corps program, which allowed U.S. citizens to privately sponsor refugees, as well as a program that resettled children from Central America and certain family members. Trump also suspended the follow-to-join visas that reunited refugee families. Together, these programs make up the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Created in 1980, the program resettles refugees nationwide through partnerships between the government and U.S.-based resettlement agencies. It had made the U.S. the global leader in refugee resettlement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a scholar of refugees and displacement, I expect refugee admissions to remain close to zero for the rest of Trumps term. Thousands of refugees, both at home and abroad, will suffer as a result. So will the many Americans who work within the countrys sprawling refugee resettlement network. Brief history of US refugee policies Under U.S. and international law, refugees are people fleeing persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion or national origin. While refugees have come to the U.S. since its founding, the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 was the countrys first official refugee law. The act, which expired in 1952, allowed more than 350,000 European refugees displaced by World War II to enter the U.S. within the constraints of an existing quota system that defined how many refugees the country would admit each year, and from which countries. Between 1952 and 1980, numerous international refugee crises spurred Congress to pass a series of laws welcoming certain groups into the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Political calculations played a major role in these decisions. For instance, as part of Americas Cold War anti-Communist strategy, Congress passed laws in 1962 and 1966 giving tens of thousands of Cubans fleeing Fidel Castros regime sanctuary in the U.S. In the 1970s and 1980s, following its loss to communist North Vietnam in the Vietnam War, the U.S. welcomed approximately 1.4 million refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In 1980, Congress passed the Refugee Act, which amended existing law to raise the annual ceiling for refugees and created a formal process for refugee resettlement. Every year, through presidential determination, the president in consultation with Congress establishes refugee admissions levels. This decision takes into account U.S. national interests and international humanitarian crises. The caps are announced in the fall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On average, since 1980, the annual presidential determination number has exceeded 95,000 people. Since 2000, Presidential determinations have ranged from a low of 27,131 after the 9/11 attacks to last years ceiling of 125,000 refugees per year. How to get refugee status To vet potential refugees and assist qualifying refugees in the resettlement process, several U.S. government agencies coordinate closely: The State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. To qualify for consideration, refugees must be living overseas. The resettlement process begins with registration with the U.N. Refugee Agency. U.N. officials collect documentation and perform an initial screening, then refer qualifying individuals to one of seven U.S. State Department resettlement support centers worldwide. State Department officials interview applicants and submit them to a rigorous screening that includes an FBI background check. Highly trained immigration officers posted overseas then try to confirm whether applicants meet the legal standards of a refugee. They conduct face-to-face interviews to verify who they are and what forced them to flee. Testimonies are evaluated for consistency with country conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The process takes 18 to 36 months or longer. Once refugees are accepted into the U.S., 10 national refugee resettlement agencies in coordination with local nonprofit partners support them during their first 90 days in the country. Previous suspensions Critics of resettlement, including Trump, have argued that refugees threaten U.S. national security, are unvetted and do not assimilate into the U.S. economy and society. However, research show that refugees contribute both economically and socially through taxes and entrepreneurship. They also revitalize towns with declining populations. Between 2005 and 2019, refugees yielded a net positive fiscal impact of US$123.8 billion, at both federal and state levels, and generated an estimated $581 billion for governments at all levels. A 2023 American Immigration Council report found that the spending power of refugees in just one state, California, totaled more than $20.7 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no link between refugees and crime, nor is there any notable link to terrorism. Although the 9/11 attacks were not committed by refugees, President George W. Bush in 2001 suspended refugee admissions for several months, leaving 23,000 refugees already approved for resettlement in limbo, mainly in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Many had sold their belongings and homes in anticipation of moving to the U.S. In 2017, Trump in his first term in office issued executive order 13769. The directive suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and barred entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. It also indefinitely banned Syrian refugees. Trump also lowered the annual refugee admissions cap, from 110,000 in 2017 to 45,000 in 2018, and continued dropping it each year. By 2021, his administration had set the lowest refugee cap in U.S. history, at 15,000. What happens when refugee resettlement pauses The second suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program drastically affected refugees waiting abroad for resettlement and those already in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arabic-speaking refugees in particular struggled with discrimination and psychosocial challenges such as stress and other medical issues, leading to poorer social integration. During Trumps first term, a ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries created chaos at U.S. airports. David McNew/Getty Images The U.S. economy suffered, too. One researcher estimated that Trumps 2017 suspension of refugee resettlement deprived the country of $9.1 billion in economic activity per year and sapped public coffers at all levels of government of over $2 billion a year. More than 300 Americans who worked in refugee resettlement were laid off in 2017 alone. Trumps Muslim ban created an enormous backlog of immigration cases. In 2021, for instance, the incoming Biden administration inherited petitions for 25,994 unprocessed refugee family reunification cases. Many other vetted refugees were not allowed entry, including U.S.-affiliated Iraqis and Afghans who remained trapped in violent contexts. Immediate impact of Trumps order on refugee resettlement Similar repercussions are already seen today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Jan. 22, 2025, the Trump administration had canceled the flights of 10,000 vetted refugees into the U.S. Most of them were coming from the 10 countries that the U.S. had accepted refugees from in recent years, including Venezuela, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Sudan and Iraq. These refugees are now at acute risk of persecution and violence. Recently arrived refugees, who would normally receive assistance for their first 90 days, are likewise losing support for basic essentials such as warm clothing, food and housing assistance. Resettlement agencies nationwide are also feeling the pain of Trump cutting federal funding for refugee resettlement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several nonprofits have lost millions in government contracts allocated to assist new arrivals. They were forced to fire dozens or in some cases hundreds of staffers. Three refugee resettlement agencies have sued the federal government for withholding congressionally appropriated funding for refugee processing and services. On Feb. 25, 2025, a federal judge in Seattle agreed with the plaintiffs in Pacito v. Trump that Trump likely exceeded his authority and temporarily blocked the refugee programs suspension. The legal battle over Americas refugee system has just begun. History suggests everyone involved with the program and the U.S. economy will suffer for years to come. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Tazreena Sajjad, American University School of International Service Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Tazreena Sajjad does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) A genetic study of Asian elephants in northern Cambodia published Thursday reveals a larger and more robust population than previously thought, raising hopes the endangered species could slowly recover. Researchers from the Fauna & Flora conservation group collected samples from elephant dung in Cambodia's northern plains and extracted DNA. From the DNA they were able to identify individual elephants, estimate population size, and determine the sex of the animals and the overall genetic diversity of the population. From their work they estimated that there are 51 elephants in the Prey Lang, Preah Roka, and Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuaries, with greater genetic diversity a critical factor for long-term viability, the researchers said than in two other areas of the country in which they live. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With sufficient suitable habitat remaining in the region, the population has the potential to grow if properly protected, the report concludes. Overall, some 400 to 600 Asian elephants are believed to remain living in the wild in Cambodia. Researchers said the study's findings underscore the potential of the northern area studied to become a national stronghold for them, contributing to Cambodia's biodiversity conservation goals. Habitat degradation, especially when it leads to fragmentation, continues to be a serious concern, Pablo Sinovas, director of Fauna & Flora in Cambodia, told The Associated Press. This study provides a robust basis on which to base conservation efforts and landscape management. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The study, supported by USAID funds and Britain's People's Postcode Lottery, was conducted in collaboration with the Cambodian Environment Ministry. The genetic testing was done at the Royal University of Phnom Penh with technical support from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The research was carried out in the 2020-21 dry season, but Sinovas said since elephants reproduce slowly it is not thought that the population size would have changed significantly since then. Researchers want to replicate the study elsewhere in Cambodia and in other countries, such as neighboring Vietnam where the Asian elephants live in fragmented populations. We were very pleasantly surprised by the results of the project, said Alex Ball, conservation manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We now hope to expand this methodology across Cambodia and beyond, helping to build a clearer picture of Asian elephant numbers, which will inform how best we can work to help reverse the decline of these spectacular animals. ____ Rising reported from Bangkok Teacher working conditions not only worsened when the pandemic began, but have continued to decline, a new study finds. The University of Missouri research discovered ongoing issues including increased classroom disruptions and declining trust between teachers and parents, principal and colleagues. The researchers analyzed data from the 5Essentials Survey which collected responses about school wellness from roughly 123,000 to 130,000 teachers in more than 3,300 Illinois schools annually from 2019 to 2023. I would have thought the 2020-21 school year was the big disrupted year, said Cory Koedel, a University of Missouri professor who worked on the study. Its quite reasonable to think that was the worst. But this data is telling us thats clearly not true. And our findings give no indication that working conditions will rebound naturally now that the pandemic is behind us. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The 5Essentials survey identifies five main indicators of school success: effective leaders, collaborative teachers, involved families, supportive environments and ambitious instruction. Each year, teachers and students are asked to rate their experiences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The most dramatic change after the pandemic began was in classroom disruptions. A 2023 EdWeek survey found that 70% of educators said students in their schools misbehaved more than before the pandemic. In 2024, the percentage increased to 72%. Koedels research found the quality of student discussions and professional development also declined from 2019 to 2023. The trust teachers felt toward parents, principals and other educators didnt worsen from 2019 to 2021 but deteriorated from 2021 to 2023. Teacher safety significantly improved in 2021, when most schools shifted to online learning, only to drop again in 2022 and 2023, once students returned to classrooms. A few working conditions initially declined but improved from 2021 to 2023, including collaborative practices and student engagement in learning The study also analyzed Illinois survey data by school demographics. Teachers from schools in wealthier communities had better working conditions, but experienced the same decline as educators in lower-income schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schools where instruction was delivered online during the 2020-21 school year also had larger declines in working conditions compared with schools where learning was in-person. Koedel said that while the study focuses on Illinois, educators nationwide have experienced similar working conditions. Related New Hampshire Teachers Report Quitting Over School Climate, Low Pay Theres really no reason to think Illinois is some weird place thats so different from every other [state] Koedel said. In my opinion, we should expect Illinois to be like other places, because a lot of whats happening in schools there is happening everywhere. For example, other national studies have highlighted the link between teacher job satisfaction and educators well-being and retention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A 2022 study from the RAND Corp. found that teachers who had administrator support and felt they belonged in their schools were less likely to report burnout and job-related stress. Those who had strong positive relationships with their colleagues and felt their students were engaged in learning were also much less likely to report poor well-being. Theres a deeper question of, like, What exactly is it thats driving this? Koedel said of the University of Missouri results. I believe this is telling us we have made some sort of bad decisions about how were running schools, but this doesnt tell us what decisions we made that were bad, right? So Im trying to understand that better. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The conflict in Sudan has created the "largest and the most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world" as the warring parties lay siege to towns and block aid deliveries, top aid officials told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. The United Nations says that nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population - more than 30 million people - will need aid this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and other parties to the conflict are not only failing to protect civilians they are actively compounding their suffering," said Christopher Lockyear, head of MSF (Doctors Without Borders). The RSF denies blocking aid or harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors. The RSF has said it would investigate allegations and bring perpetrators to justice. The SAF also denies blocking aid or harming civilians. Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed told the Security Council that the Sudanese government has a national plan for the protection of civilians and added Lockyear did not raise any issues with him when they met privately. FAMINE, CHILD RAPE Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Famine has taken hold in at least five locations in Sudan, where an estimated 1.3 million children under five live, the head of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, Catherine Russell, told the Security Council. "Over 3 million children under five are at imminent risk of deadly disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria, and dengue, due to a failing health system," she said. Sudan's U.N. ambassador said the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry confirmed this week the stability of the food situation. Hundreds of boys and girls were also raped in 2024, Russell said, noting that in 16 recorded cases the children were under the age of five. She paused before adding: "Four were babies under the age of one." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The data only gives us a glimpse into what we know is a far larger, more devastating crisis," Russell said, citing a database the UN said was compiled by Sudan-based groups helping survivors of sexual violence. Lockyear said MSF teams had provided support for 385 survivors of sexual violence in 2024. "The vast majority including some younger than 5 had been raped, often by armed men. Nearly half were assaulted while working in the fields. Women and girls are not merely unprotected; they are being brutally targeted," he said. A U.N. fact-finding mission reported in October that the RSF and allies have committed "staggering" levels of sexual abuse. The RSF has previously said it would investigate allegations and bring perpetrators to justice. The U.S. determined in January that members of the RSF and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Aurora Ellis) Supreme Court candidates Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel debate at Marquette Law School Wednesday evening, March 12. (Photo by Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner) Judges Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel accused one another of partisanship while clashing over issues including abortion, crime and Act 10 at the Marquette University Law School Wednesday evening. It was the only debate between the two candidates in the race for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Throughout the campaign that will determine the ideological sway of the Court, each candidate has taken aim at the others history of political activity and the support both have received from billionaire allies of the Democratic and Republican parties. At the debate, both candidates continued those accusations in exchanges that Crawford said in a post-debate news conference amounted to the fireworks that are inevitable when you put two lawyers in a room and ask them tough questions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crawford, a Dane County judge who was endorsed by the state Democratic party, has been criticized for criminal sentences shes given that Schimel and Republicans have claimed were too lenient on sex offenders. They have also singled out money her campaign has received from figures including George Soros and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and highlighted her work as a private attorney representing Planned Parenthood and in cases challenging the states voter ID law and Act 10 the controversial law that ended collective bargaining rights for most public employees. Schimel, a Waukesha County judge running with the support of the state Republican party, has been attacked over the millions of dollars in outside support his campaign has received from Elon Musk as well as statements hes made in support of President Donald Trump. He has also been criticized for his record as a Republican attorney general particularly regarding his offices effort to resolve a backlog of untested sexual assault kits and statements hes made repeatedly on the campaign trail in support for the states 1849 law that has been interpreted as banning abortion access. At one point, in a remark that Crawford said was a slip of the tongue, she referred to Musk as Elon Schimel. During the debate, one of the moderators, WISNs Gerron Jordan, asked why should voters trust or believe either one of you when they claim to be impartial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schimel said he doesnt control the money outside groups have pumped into the race. Crawford said shes never promised anything to donors a statement Schimel responded to by saying thats garbage. Several times, Crawford accused Schimel of saying different things to broader audiences than to audiences made up of his political allies. She called attention to reporting by the Washington Post that Schimel said Trump was screwed over by the Supreme Court in its decisions regarding the 2020 election, and reporting by the Wisconsin Examiner that he had told a group of canvassers hed be a support network for Trump. He is not impartial, and he says different things in front of a broad audience like this, where he knows its going to be televised, than hell say when hes talking to his political allies, she said. He is not trustworthy. On the campaign trail, access to abortion has been one of the most prominent issues. The Court is currently considering a lawsuit that would have the states 1849 law declared invalid, while another lawsuit is pending in the lower courts asking if the states Constitution grants a right to abortion access. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schimel has said he personally opposes abortion, that both of his daughters are adopted and he believes the 1849 statute is a valid law. In the debate he repeated what hes said during the campaign on the issue that it should be up to the states voters. Wisconsin doesnt allow voters to influence state law through a referendum process. As a judge, no judge or justice should be deciding this issue for the voters of Wisconsin, he said. This issue belongs in their hands. Should it be decided by the voters, or should it be decided by four justices on the majority on the Court? And if four justices in the majority on the court can make that decision for the voters, that decision can flip back and forth every time the majority flips. We have to let the voters make this decision. Ive been clear on that. Crawford accused Schimel of pre-judging the issue of abortion. She said she wouldnt weigh in on a potential case but that she trusts women to make their own health care decisions. My 23-year-old daughter doesnt have the same rights that I did, she said. And what I want for her and what I want for Judge Schimels daughters is the same: If they are pregnant and something goes terribly wrong in their pregnancy, I dont want them to lie bleeding on a hospital bed while their doctors are huddled in another room trying to decide if theyre close enough to death before they can deliver health care services to them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the most heated portions of the debate came during a section on crime. Both candidates campaigns have aired ads accusing the other of being too soft on crime when sentencing people in their circuit courts. While the Supreme Court hears appeals of criminal cases, it has little to do with handling crime at the street level. Schimel accused Crawford of lying about being a prosecutor because she worked as a prosecutor at the state level for the Department of Justice while he worked as a front-line prosecutor in Waukesha County. I was the guy that got called at 3 a.m. to go to the crime scene, I was the guy who worked with law enforcement to build that case from the crime scene all the way to conviction, I was the shoulder that the crime victims cried on time and time again, he said. My opponent never did that. Crawford responded by saying the work she did for the DOJ is most relevant to prepare someone for a job on the Supreme Court. Taking appeals all the way to the Court, she said, gave her experience with cases that involve the development of the law and the kinds of legal arguments that you have to consider when youre making decisions that are going to involve statewide precedent that every prosecutor in the state will be bound by. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the debate, conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley and former Republican Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch held a news conference stating that the two candidates live in separate realities. Bradley and Kleefisch accused Crawford of vying to be a part of an activist liberal majority. We went from a court that objectively and impartially evaluated every case that was before it to a court that now, as Judge Schimel mentioned, is pursuing a political agenda, said Bradley, who has frequently accused the Courts liberal majority of acting politically in her published opinions. While the two conservatives held their news conference, the Courts four liberal justices and Crawford watched from the perimeter, occasionally shaking their heads about the accusations against them. In a news conference of her own, with the four Justices standing behind her, Crawford said Schimel has worked during his career to take rights away from Wisconsinites. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to share with voters information about my experience, my values and what kind of justice Ill be on the state Supreme Court, she said. And also to point out the contrast with my opponent, who has a long career as an extreme partisan politician working to take rights away from people, I think its important for voters to know that. Early voting in the election begins March 18. Election Day is April 1. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Supreme Courts preferred method of interpreting the Constitution is originalism, which requires judges to abide by the original public meaning of the constitutional text. This is often more complicated in practice than in theory. Few areas of the law demonstrate the pitfalls better than the Second Amendment. Since the Supreme Court adopted whats come to be known as the history and tradition test in Second Amendment cases three years ago, the lower courts have wrestled with countless questions about how to apply it. Ive noted before how judges have taken a wide range of approaches to finding historical counterparts for modern gun laws. Perhaps the most consequential question is the most obvious one: What exactly counts as history and tradition, and when does it begin? Some lower courts have focused on gun restrictions that existed when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791. Others extend that analysis to the laws in effect when the Fourteenth Amendments due process clause was ratified in 1868. This debate, though somewhat arcane, could have immense practical consequences for gun rights and gun control in 2025 and beyond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One petition for review pending before the court, Antonyuk v. James, asks the court to resolve the question by revisiting New Yorks gun laws. After the Supreme Court struck down its previous concealed-carry law in 2022, New York lawmakers quickly passed the Concealed Carry Improvement Act to address the courts ruling. Among other provisions, it required license applicants to demonstrate their good moral character and forbade them from bringing a gun to certain sensitive locations. A group of prospective applicants quickly sued to challenge the new law on Second Amendment grounds. They claimed that the sensitive locations requirement made it all but impossible to carry a gun in New York City and elsewhere. The good moral character clause also drew their ire. To implement this ahistorical morality test, they fumed in their petition for review, the CCIA demands character references, information about cohabitants and adult children, a personal interview with a licensing official, more than two full days of firearms training, a list of social media accounts, and such other information as might be demanded. From there, this conflict has followed a circuitous path through the judicial system. A federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction to block the law from going into effect, but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed it. The applicants asked the Supreme Court to intervene, but the justices ruled last year that the Second Circuit should review its ruling to account for a major Second Amendment ruling that the high court had just issued. The Second Circuit upheld its original ruling last December, thereby bringing everyone back to the Supreme Court. In both decisions, the Second Circuit took a broad view of what historical eras could be studied. While we recognize that evidence nearest to 1791 can differ from that nearest to 1868, such discrepancy does not mean that the right to keep and bear arms was calcified in either 1791 or 1868, the panel explained. Rather, 1791 and 1868 are both fertile ground, and the adjacent and intervening periods are likewise places in the historical record to seek evidence of our national tradition of firearms regulation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plaintiffs challenging the New York law rejected that approach. They contend that courts should primarily focus on 1791 and the gun restrictions in effect in that era to find any relevant historical analogues. Focusing on the 1790s over the 1860s would likely be decisive for their case: The Second Circuit found no eighteenth-century analogues, the plaintiffs told the justices, and instead relied on nineteenth-century ones to uphold the New York law. Why those two eras in particular? When Congress and the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, they effectively carried out a second American Revolution. The new amendment defined and expanded American citizenship, guaranteed the equal protection of the laws, and gave Congress new tools to protect the nascent multiracial democracy that had emerged from emancipation. Among the amendments provisions was the due process clause, which declared that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Before then, the Bill of Rights and its manifold protections only protected Americans from the actions of the federal government. State constitutions typically had their own bills of rights, which could vary greatly in strength and scope from their federal counterpart. By the early twentieth century, federal courts began to use the Fourteenth Amendments due process clause to apply the federal Bill of Rights and its broad protections to the states themselves. This process is known as incorporation. In the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, for example, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. But the courts decision in that case did not immediately apply to state governments because D.C. is a federal enclave. The justices incorporated the Second Amendment against the states two years later in McDonald v. Chicago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After McDonald, the justices took a decade-long break from Second Amendment cases until New York State Pistol and Rifle Association v. Bruen, where they laid down the test for lower courts to use when weighing the constitutionality of a gun restriction. Many lower courts had relied on balancing tests that often favored state legislatures. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the court, instead adopted a purely originalist test that required courts to look solely at history and tradition. When the Second Amendments plain text covers an individuals conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct, he explained. The government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only then may a court conclude that the individuals conduct falls outside the Second Amendments unqualified command. Left unanswered by Bruen was the temporal question: Which time frame should courts use when determining what counts as the historical tradition? Originalism generally holds that the Constitution should be interpreted based on the original public meaning of the text. But incorporation effectively created two original public meanings: the one held by Americans in 1791 when they ratified the Second Amendment, and the one held in 1868 when they ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. Thomass opinion, by default, took an expansive view. He cited historical evidence that spanned from medieval England to late-nineteenth-century America to argue that New Yorks concealed-carry law fell outside the nations historical tradition of firearm tradition. But he disclaimed that this approach was the definitive one, pointing to an ongoing scholarly debate about whether courts should defer to the founding era or to Reconstruction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also helped matters that he and his colleagues thought the answer in Bruen would be the same one either way. We need not address this issue today because, as we explain below, the public understanding of the right to keep and bear arms in both 1791 and 1868 was, for all relevant purposes, the same with respect to public carry, Thomas wrote. In a concurring opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett echoed Thomass cautionwhile also putting her thumb on the scale for focusing on 1791. Todays decision should not be understood to endorse freewheeling reliance on historical practice from the mid-to-late 19th century to establish the original meaning of the Bill of Rights, she wrote, quoting from Thomass opinion. On the contrary, the Court is careful to caution against giving postenactment history more weight than it can rightly bear. Adopting the history-and-tradition test raised a host of methodological issues that the lower courts are still wrestling with. The Supreme Court itself pared back Bruens test last year in United States v. Rahimi, where the court upheld a federal ban on gun ownership for domestic abusers. Instead of excavating multiple centuries of the Anglo-American legal tradition, the majority held that surety and going armed laws in the founding era were a sufficient historical analogue to meet Bruens standard. Rahimis practical effect was to make it easier for lower courts to uphold gun restrictions by allowing states to cite a historical analogue to a challenged restriction instead of a historical twin. On the temporal question, Barrett also appeared to gain the upper hand. Writing separately again, she argued that evidence of tradition unmoored from original meaning is not binding law and warned that scattered cases or regulations pulled from history may have little bearing on the meaning of the text. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For an originalist, the history that matters most is the history surrounding the ratification of the text; that backdrop illuminates the meaning of the enacted law, Barrett wrote. History (or tradition) that long postdates ratification does not serve that function. Though she was not explicit about when the clock starts, her concurring opinion is written from the presumption that the 1791 date is the controlling one. When discussing historical analogues, for example, she wrote that being too strict about potential analogues forces 21st-century regulations to follow late-18th-century policy choices. If the court follows Barretts lead, the Second Amendment will be interpreted against a much less restrictive backdrop. Americans in the early eighteenth century often relied on guns for sustenance by hunting for wild game, making it far less likely that state legislatures would restrict their access to them. The early American state was too rudimentary to conduct background checks or track purchases. Self-defense was also a far more immediate concern in 1791 than it is today. There would be no municipal police departments for another three decades, and skirmishes with Native American tribes were still common on the frontier. At the same time, the Supreme Court itself has often relied on 1868-adjacent laws to define the contours of the Second Amendment. Justice Antonin Scalias opinion in Heller devotes two sections to analyzing how nineteenth-century Americans viewed an individual right to bear arms during Reconstruction. It goes without saying that Justice Samuel Alitos opinion in McDonald, which focused on the Fourteenth Amendment, discussed that history at length as well. Strictly speaking, New York is bound to respect the right to keep and bear arms because of the Fourteenth Amendment, not the Second, Thomas observed in Bruen. But Thomas also noted that the courts prior incorporation decisions have generally assumed that the scope of the protection applicable to the federal government and states is pegged to the public understanding of the right when the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791. That has not stopped the lower courts from following the Supreme Courts lead and looking to Reconstruction-era gun laws for guidance. When the Second Circuit issued its decision in December, for example, it explicitly parted ways with the neighboring Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which looks only to 1791. The Supreme Court may ultimately decline to hear the Antonyuk case on other grounds. The justices may be reluctant to weigh in through a preliminary injunction and instead wait for a fully decided case to reach them. But it is almost certain that as long as Bruens history-and-tradition test remains the law of the land, the court will eventually have to decide exactly what history and what tradition can be examined when scrutinizing gun regulations in twenty-first-century America. The sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was recently targeted with a bomb threat, the Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department said on Wednesday. Over the weekend, an executive assistant at the Charleston County Sheriff's Department received an email just before midnight on March 8 with "a threat of a potential explosive device in a mailbox" at the home of Amanda Coney Williams, the sheriff's department said in a statement to ABC News. The employee only works during the week, so she did not see the email until Monday morning, the sheriff's department said. After discovering the email, she notified Sheriff Carl Ritchie "within five minutes of arriving to work," to which Ritchie forwarded the email to the Charleston Police Department. PHOTO: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett poses during a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) "Using a 1x8-inch threaded galvanized pipe, end caps, a kitchen timer, some wires, metal clips and homemade black powder, I've constructed a pipe bomb which I recently placed in Amy Coney Barrett's sister's mailbox at her home," according to the email obtained by the Charleston Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The email also said the "device's detonation will be triggered as soon as the mailbox is next opened," with the suspect signing off the email with "Free Palestine," police said. Officers arrived at the residence at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Monday and inspected the mailbox, police said. PHOTO: A robot checks the mailbox of Amanda Coney Williams, sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, after she was targeted in an email sent to an employee of the Charleston County Sheriff's Office saying a pipe bomb had been put in her mailbox. (WCIV) CPD's Explosive Device Team along with local fire and emergency medical services crews were also on the scene, according to police. The incident was determined to be a false alarm, police said. MORE: Supreme Court rules Trump administration must unfreeze foreign aid payments Investigators spoke to David Williams, the husband of Amanda Coney Williams, who said he was not sure who would target their residence, but stated "an unknown person possibly related to the sender of the email had attempted pizza deliveries to some households related to Amy Coney Barrett, sometime over the weekend," police said on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigation is still active, police said. Justice Barrett was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 during President Donald Trump's first term. She is a devout Catholic, mother of seven children and was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's sister receives bomb threat: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A suspect is in custody after a shooting sent a 15-year-old boy to the hospital. The Dayton Police Department has released more information into a shooting that took place in east Dayton Tuesday afternoon. Person hospitalized after shooting in Washington Park Police were first dispatched on reports of a person shot around the 3600 block of East Second Street. Upon arriving in the area, they foun a 15-year-old male at Washington Park, suffering from several gunshot wounds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was transported to the hospital, where doctors say his condition is non-life-threatening. Investigation revealed the victim was actually shot near a residence on North Garland Avenue. Police believe he ran to the park to escape the assailant. Police say the actions of good Samaritans close by helped save the victims life. Anytime we have something like that, its so good to see citizens coming together to help out, said Maj. Brian Johns, DPD. Dayton PD now has a suspect in custody. Johns says they were able to track the suspects vehicle leaving the scene using Flock cameras. We were able to identify the vehicle within a matter of minutes, said Johns. Without the Flock cameras, we would have had very little to go on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kettering officers pulled the suspect over just hours later, locating the handgun reportedly involved in the shooting. Dayton PD says they are not looking for any other suspects at this time. Charges are pending for the suspect in custody. Investigators also say the type of handgun is very rare and dangerous the same type of weapon used in the murder of Det. Del Rio in 2019. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DENVER (KDVR) A suspect is dead after he allegedly barricaded himself inside a trailer and ignored law enforcement officers commands in Elbert County. According to the Elbert County Sheriffs Office, at 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday, law enforcement was alerted to a call of domestic violence off of County Road 77, southeast of Denver near Fondis. Coroner report: Columbine survivors death best classified as homicide Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When deputies arrived on scene minutes later, the suspect was in a fifth-wheeler trailer. The sheriffs office said he was armed with a handgun and deputies attempted to talk him out of the trailer. The Elbert County Sheriffs Office said the suspect refused to obey requests to put the gun down, so deputies struck him with less lethal rounds. The man retreated into the trailer. When negotiators spoke to the suspect, he told them his back hurt from the less lethal rounds. The suspect continued to refuse negotiators and deputies commands to exit the trailer. At that point, the Elbert County SWAT team was called. According to the sheriffs office, a decision was made to put some pepper rounds inside the trailer. The pepper balls were shot through the window of the door and successfully went inside the trailer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, once the pepper rounds went inside, the sheriffs office said the suspect allegedly fired at least two rounds toward deputies. Three deputies returned fire. Deputies then attempted to make contact with the suspect for another hour with no results. The sheriffs office said two drones were sent into the trailer through the window where operators could see the suspect lying motionless. The SWAT team entered the trailer where the suspect was pronounced dead. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox It is currently unclear how the suspect died. The sheriffs office said they would not be identifying him at this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No deputies were injured. The 23rd Judicial Districts Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the case, and the deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on leave per administrative policy. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A man is in custody after trying to flee police by driving a stolen Toyota Tacoma with a utility trailer into a patrol car on Tuesday, according to Milwaukie police. After receiving a report of a stolen vehicle, officers said they had arrived at the Milwaukie Marketplace on SE Oak Street around 8:40 p.m. and found the truck parked at a loading dock. Oregon gun control law is constitutional, according to state appeals court Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers attempted a tactic called pinning where a patrol car or multiple patrol cars are positioned in contact or close proximity with the suspects vehicle, police said. This tactic reduces the suspects ability to become mobile and to try and limit a potential vehicle pursuit. However, authorities said the truck was able to back up far enough to attempt to drive away. Another officer parked their patrol car in front of the truck and was standing between their car and a wall when the truck drove forward and rammed the patrol car in an attempt to flee. The officer was able to avoid getting injured. Meanwhile, another officer pushed the truck against a curb and stopped it, police said. (Milwaukie Police Department) (Milwaukie Police Department) While searching the suspect and the stolen truck, officers found a spring-activated folding knife as well as a realistic looking replica Glock brand pistol, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suspect was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, attempting to elude a police officer, possessing meth, and possessing a restricted weapon as a felon. He is currently held at Clackamas County Jail. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) The two suspects charged in the February road rage shooting that left one dead and another critically injured pled not guilty on Thursday. 23-year-old Jubal Simmons and 21-year-old Ivybella Encino are each facing several charges after authorities say they shot at another vehicle at the intersection of Highway 231 and Harrison Avenue on February 22. Authorities said 48-year-old Georgeann Garner died from her injuries, and her 19-year-old daughter Marileigh Lewis was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UPDATE: PCPD releases more information on deadly road-rage shooting According to the Panama City Police Department, after the shooting, the suspects attempted to flee but were eventually stopped by police and taken into custody. Simmons is facing 9 charges, including first-degree murder, shooting into a vehicle, destroying physical evidence, and resisting an officer without violence. Encino faces 4 charges, including accessory after the fact, fleeing and eluding police, and aggravated battery on a first responder. Both will be back before Judge Timothy Register for pre-trial on May 12, 2025, at 9 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Rapid-fire changes with federal funding have impacted Tennessee State University, which has already undergone financial hardship. In a finance committee meeting Wednesday, acting Chief Financial Officer Jim Grady provided an update to the Board of Trustees and revealed that 70 federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture were suspended and that TSU was unable to draw funds from those grants. The suspension meant nearly $45 million was pulled; as of March 3, only about half the federal funding had been restored. FEBRUARY: Tennessee State University leaders outline 5-year plan to alleviate financial struggle Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of publication, TSU has an available balance of more than $115 million in federal grants that could be subject to future suspensions or freezes. To mitigate the risk associated with the freeze, Grady said spending on all federal grants had been paused. Additionally, leadership is meeting daily to evaluate the volatility of the current landscape and potential impacts to employees, students, and university operations, according to a presentation shared with the committee. The ability to now communicate and get the big elephant out the room, about are we going to be around, TSUs interim president, Dwayne Tucker, said. Last December, 62 university employees salaries were fully funded by those grants and another 112 employees received more than half their salaries from federal grants. Its unclear how many people stand to lose their jobs due to the funding cuts, but the Board of Trustees said they would start notifying affected employees within the next several weeks. Refugees no longer coming to Nashville for foreseeable future; federal funding terminated Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last year, the university let go of 114 university employees as part of its realignment efforts to address the institutions long-standing financial challenges. In 2023, Governor Bill Lee appropriated $250 million for capital projects. We will continue to evaluate the volatility as we move forward in this landscape, Grady said. While the grants will not impact scholarships this semester, one committee member said he believed students would be impacted this coming fall. Thirty-three undergraduate students will not be eligible for scholarships, though TSU is working to identify other opportunities for those students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) At a meeting last Monday, anglers received an update on the walleye population in the Green Bay system, followed by a discussion on the status of the musky fishery. Wisconsin DNR senior fisheries biologist Jason Breeggemann explained that musky were removed from the Bay of Green Bay many years ago. To revitalize the population, years of stocking efforts have taken place, serving as the primary method to restore the musky fishery. Sustainably Speaking: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources updates public on fisheries management Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the late 1980s, the Wisconsin DNR partnered with various musky clubs to launch a program aimed at stocking spotted musky, a collaboration that continues today. Over the past decade, the Wisconsin DNR has stocked a mixture of fingerling and yearling musky. Last year, nearly 16,000 fingerlings were stocked in the Fox River, though no yearlings were added. Since 1989, a total of 205,986 large fingerling musky and 41,533 yearlings have been introduced into the system. While stocking has helped rebuild the musky population, Breeggemann noted concerns in the data. Sustainably Speaking: Greener Bay Compost expands to Appleton Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stocking has been really good at creating a high-quality trophy musky fishery, but today all the evidence that we have looked at shows that natural reproduction is really, really limitedcertainly not enough natural reproduction to sustain a musky fishery, Breeggemann explained. The Wisconsin DNR is currently working on 12 habitat restoration projects in the Bay of Green Bay and the Fox River. Of those, six are specifically focused on aiding the musky population. Project biologists and technicians plan to conduct surveys to gain a better understanding of the adult musky population and assess the success of stocking efforts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Joshua Ferguson (Courtesy: Jasper County Sheriffs Office) JOPLIN, Mo. A man wanted for attempted murder in Cherokee County is back in custody after a SWAT situation this morning in Joplin. RELATED: Riverton shooting suspect found in Webb City Shortly after 11 Thursday morning, Joplin police responded to Home 2 Suites at 3000 South Range Line after receiving a report that Joshua Ferguson, 39, was inside one of the rooms. Officers say they tried to contact Ferguson several times, but he refused to leave the room. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats when the SWAT team arrived and took Ferguson into custody. He was taken to the Jasper County Jail. RELATED: Authorities search for suspect in assault case, surround home in Jasper County Ferguson was wanted for an incident on May 16, 2023 north of Riverton. Cherokee County deputies say Ferguson had shot at a family member multiple times, but didnt injure anyone. Hes been charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal threat. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. Sweden will provide Ukraine with more than 1.4 billion Swedish kronor ($137.7 million) in humanitarian aid, the country's International Development Minister Benjamin Dousa announced on March 13. The support package, its largest civilian support package to date, will go toward humanitarian assistance as well as Ukraine's reconstruction and development. According to Dousa, the funds will address urgent needs such as energy supply, housing, medical care, mine clearance, safe schooling, vocational training, and veteran support. "We must strengthen Ukraines resilience in every way possible. The Ukrainians are defending both their own freedom and security ours," Dousa said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The support package will be allocated to a number of projects and initiatives, including more than $10 million toward the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for mine clearance and energy infrastructure support. In 2025, Sweden's total support to Ukraine will account for 14 percent of its overall development assistance budget. In recent months, Sweden, a staunch NATO ally, has continued to provide Ukraine with various aid packages. On March 8 the Swedish Embassy in Ukraine announced the country will provide 22.5 million Swedish kronor ($2.2 million) to support Ukrainian women. And on Jan. 30, the country announced a military aid package to Ukraine worth over $1.2 billion Sweden's largest tranche of military assistance since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier in the day on March 13, neighboring Finland announced that the country will provide its own military aid package valued at approximately 200 million euros ($217.4 million). Read also: Finland announces $217 million military aid package for Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Sweden will give more than 1.4 billion Swedish crowns ($137.7 million) to Ukraine to help with reconstruction and development, as well as urgent humanitarian needs, Sweden's Minister for International Development Benjamin Dousa said on Thursday. The package, Sweden's largest ever civilian aid programme according to Dousa, includes support for the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure, as well as mine clearance and health worker training. "Support for Ukraine is a matter of solidarity, but also of Sweden's security," Dousa told a press conference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The last few weeks have not been easy. It has never been clearer that we can no longer take the world's support for Ukraine for granted," he added. ($1 = 10.1684 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Stine Jacobsen and Alex Richardson) Sweden will purchase Archer self-propelled artillery systems and Arthur counter-battery radars for Ukraine as part of its 18th military aid package worth US$295 million. Source: European Pravda, citing the Swedish government in a statement Details: As part of its military assistance to Ukraine, Sweden will purchase 18 Archer self-propelled artillery systems and five Arthur radars while also investing in Ukraine's defence production, particularly the production of Bohdana self-propelled artillery systems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, Stockholm intends to join the artillery coalition within the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein Group). The total value of this part of Sweden's military package is about SEK 3 billion (US$295 million). "Ukraine is in urgent need of artillery and artillery ammunition. This has been a priority for Ukraine since the start of Russias full-scale invasion. Ukraines Minister of Defence Rustem Umierov highlighted this point when I met him at the weekend," Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson commented. The Swedish government noted that Ukraine had previously received eight Archer artillery systems and one Arthur radar system in cooperation with the UK. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deliveries of the new Arthur systems are set to begin in 2025, with Archer system deliveries scheduled for 2026. The eighteenth military assistance package to Ukraine, which the Swedish government announced in late January, totals SEK 13.5 billion (approximately US$1.25 billion) and is the largest since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Background: Earlier, it was reported that Sweden plans to allocate SEK 75 billion [approx. US$7 billion] in military aid to Ukraine in 2024-2026. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Sweden will allocate assistance to Ukraine to help the country recover, develop and meet urgent humanitarian needs. Source: Reuters, citing Sweden's Minister for International Development, Benjamin Dousa, in a statement on Thursday 13 March, as reported by European Pravda Details: Dousa stated that Sweden will allocate over SEK 1.4 billion (approximately US$137.7 million) to Ukraine to support recovery and development efforts and address urgent humanitarian needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He noted that this aid package, Sweden's largest civilian aid programme in history, provides support for rebuilding destroyed infrastructure, mine clearance and training for healthcare workers in Ukraine. "Support for Ukraine is a matter of solidarity, but also of Sweden's security. The last few weeks have not been easy. It has never been clearer that we can no longer take the world's support for Ukraine for granted," Dousa concluded. Background: On 8 March, Sweden announced the allocation of around 2 million to develop opportunities for women in Ukraine. On 12 March, it was reported that Norway would provide 16 million for infrastructure and energy efficiency projects across several Ukrainian regions, contributing to the recovery process. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Syria's interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule while promising to protect the rights of all Syrians for five years during a transitional phase. The nation's interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of Syria since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning insurgency that overthrew longtime President Bashar Assad in December. Former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now the country's interim president a decision that was announced after a meeting of the armed groups that took part in the offensive against Assad. At the same meeting, the groups agreed to repeal the country's old constitution and said a new one would be drafted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While many were happy to see an end to the Assad familys dictatorial rule of more than 50 years in the war-torn country, religious and ethnic minorities have been skeptical of the new Islamist leaders and reluctant to allow Damascus under its new authorities to assert control of their areas. Abdulhamid Al-Awak, one of the seven members of the committee al-Sharaa tasked to draft the temporary constitution, told a news conference Thursday that it would maintain some previsions from the previous one, including the stipulation that the head of state has to be a Muslim, and Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence. But Al-Awak, a constitutional law expert who teaches at Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey, also said that the temporary constitution includes provisions that enshrine freedom of expression and the media. The constitution will balance between social security and freedom during Syria's shaky political situation, he said, and will set up an absolute and rigid separation between legislative, executive and judicial authorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The text of the temporary constitution, published late Thursday, sets up a People's Committee which will serve as an interim parliament until a permanent constitution is adopted and elections held. Two thirds of its members will be appointed by a committee selected by the interim president and one third by al-Sharaa himself. The documents says the state is committed to combatting all forms of violent extremism while respecting rights and freedoms and that citizens are equal before the law in rights and duties, without discrimination based on race, religion, gender or lineage." It stipulates that the army is a professional national institution and arms outside of its control are prohibited and designates glorifying the former Assad regime as a crime. A new committee to draft a permanent constitution will be formed, but it's unclear if it will be more inclusive of Syria's political, religious and ethnic groups. Al-Sharaa on Monday reached a landmark pact with the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria, including a ceasefire and a merging of their armed forces with the central government's security agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deal came after government forces and allied groups crushed an insurgency launched last week by gunmen loyal to Assad. Rights groups say that hundreds of civilians mostly from the Alawite minority sect to which Assad belongs were killed in retaliatory attacks by factions in the counteroffensive. A key goal of the interim constitution was to give a timeline for the countrys political transition out of its interim phase. In December, Al-Sharaa said that it could take up to three years to rewrite Syrias constitution and up to five years to organize and hold elections. Al-Sharaa appointed a committee to draft the new constitution after Syria held a national dialogue conference last month, which called for announcing a temporary constitution and holding an interim parliamentary election. Critics said that the hastily-organized conference wasn't inclusive of Syria's different ethnic and sectarian groups or civil society. The United States and Europe have been hesitant to lift harsh sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad's rule until they are convinced that the new leaders will create an inclusive political system and protect minorities. Al-Sharaa and regional governments have been urging them to reconsider, fearing that the country's crumbling economy could bring further instability. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also Thursday, an Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in a suburb of the capital, wounding three people, one of them critically, Syria's state media and a paramedic group said. Israels military said that the airstrike on the Damascus suburb of Dummar targeted what it called a command center of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The military alleged that the command center has been used to direct attacks against Israel and vowed to respond forcefully to the presence of Palestinian militant groups inside Syria. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that whenever terrorist activity is organized against Israel, al-Sharaa will find air force planes circling above him and attacking terrorist targets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Palestinian Islamic Jihad member at the scene of the airstrike in Syria told The Associated Press that the apartment that was targeted was the home of the groups leader, Ziad Nakhaleh. Ismail Sindak said the apartment had been empty for years, adding that Nakhaleh isn't in Syria. Asked whether anyone was killed in the strike, Sindak said that the house was empty. Also Thursday, a delegation including Turkeys top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus, days after a deal was reached between the Kurdish-led armed group controlling most of northeastern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces, and Syrias interim government and after last week's eruption of violence on the Syrian coast. Meanwhile, thousands of Syrians who fled the sectarian violence are still sheltering in a Russian airbase in the coastal Latakia province. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing Thursday that our military sheltered more than 8,000, according to yesterdays data, probably closer to 9,000 Syrians, mostly women and children. ___ Kareem Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Abdelrahman Shaheen contributed to this report from Damascus. Glorious Thursday. The numbers shouldnt really surprise anyone. Nor for that matter should the racial gap thats contained deep within them. Not after the Legislature, in all its infinite wisdom and much forethought, lifted a cap on income to determine eligibility for who can use public money to pay tuition at private schools through a voucher program expanding like kudzu. Yet here we are. Public Schools First, an organization that advocates for public schools (duh), tracks the vast amounts of money the Legislature spends - "diverts" is probably a better verb - on the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Vouchers, in other words. And over the past few weeks, the organization has been publishing the numbers a handful at a time. (The guess here is that by circulating them county by county rather than all at once, Public Schools First is trying to keep attention on the issue and target its message to individual communities. Social media allows for that sort of precise targeting.) Since the inception of the voucher program in 2014, Forsyth County families have used $43.3 million to help pay tuition at some two dozen private and religious schools both large and small. In Guilford County, families have used $66.9 million in nearly three dozen such schools. Those numbers we knew. Its a lot, sure, but the rate of expansion over the past few years is eye-opening. One reason is that the Legislature added $480 million to the program in 2024 and lifted the cap on income which allowed even the wealthiest families to put their hands out, too. In fact, not too long after the honorables indicated that the cap would be blown up, some 13,000 applications flooded in from families of four that earn more than $260,000 a year. Basically thats a discount for the rich and a stick in the eye to the poor who in many cases have to pay the difference in private or religious schools tuition not covered by a voucher. With that in mind, here are a few more numbers to consider: In 2022, $5.6 million in voucher money came to Forsyth County. In Guilford County, it came to $9.3 million. In 2024 - after the infusion of $480 million and the income cap lifted- $18 million in voucher money came to Forsyth and $24 million to Guilford. The more money allocated for private and religious schools, the more money gets spent. Thats obvious. But whats not obvious is a breakdown on the racial composition of the families who use vouchers. Per Public Schools First, in 2014-15, some 27 percent of voucher money was spent for white students and 51 percent by Black students. In 2020-21, 57 percent went to white students and 22 percent to Black students. And this year, the divide is even more stark: 74 percent for white students, 11 percent for Black students. (The percentages for Hispanic students remained flat - 9 percent in 2014-15, 10 percent in 2020-21 and 9 percent in 2024-25.) To put the shift in perspective, consider that the U.S. Census estimates that 60.7 percent of North Carolinians are white/non-Hispanic, 22.1 Black and 11.4 percent Hispanic. So the numbers gathered and broken down by Public Schools First look to support the suspicion that the Opportunity Scholarship program is a not-so-thinly veiled plan to resegregate schools along racial and economic lines. Remember, too, that private and religious schools in North Carolina are not subjected to the same standards as public schools and their records often are not subject to the same public-records laws, which makes scrutinizing the effectiveness of how public money is spent far more difficult and opaque. Per Public Ed Works, another advocacy group, private schools that receive tax money can discriminate on whom they accept and are not required to comply with such laws as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that supports kids with special needs. Perhaps worse, private schools that accept vouchers are not required to have state-licensed teachers. Yet over the next seven years, its no reach to expect the Legislature to allocate another $1.8 billion to the voucher program. And the money has to come from somewhere. Lawmakers are very unlikely to raise taxes, and theyll look to the public schools budget for a chunk. The biggest missed opportunity ironically co-opts the word opportunity, then Gov. Roy Cooper said while touring a Greensboro elementary school before leaving office. Opportunity Scholarships otherwise known as taxpayer-funded private school vouchers for the wealthy. The right-wing public-school rip-off. Budget season opens with a bang GREENSBORO - As long as were on the subject, Guilford County Schools jumped out early in what amounts to an annual budgetary game of musical chairs. School officials rolled out this week its proposed 2025-26 budget, asking Guilford County commissioners for $314 million for its operating budget. That would be a 16.2 percent increase from last year - $43.9 million on top of the $270 million commissioners approved for 2024-25. As these things tend to go, theres not much chance commissioners will go for an increase of that size. Law enforcement, social services and the health department need money, too. Budget season amounts to an extended negotiation. Schools - or the sheriffs office for that matter - toss out a number and commissioners who control the purse counter. Officials make their case through public hearings and news conferences. Its a delicate dance. And the music just started. It happens every year as sure as spring follows winter. And the opening gambit for Guilford County Schools focuses on teacher pay - a pretty good place to start. "We talk a lot about how we keep great teachers in our schools and how we compensate our frontline workers," Superintendent Whitney Oakley said while presenting the budget during Tuesdays school board meeting. "So, we know we can't do our work if we don't invest in people." Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a constitutional declaration on Thursday that establishes a political transition period of five years. Al-Sharaa said he hoped it would mark "a new history" for the war-scarred country. Not long after an Islamist-led rebel offensive deposed long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria's transitional authorities abolished a 2012 constitution and dissolved parliament. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, al-Sharaa formed a committee to draft the constitutional declaration that will be enforced during the transitional period. Al-Sharaa said he hoped "this will be a new history for Syria, in which we replace injustice with justice, destruction with construction, ignorance with knowledge, and suffering with mercy." A parliament will have full legislative powers for a transitional five-year period. The president will oversee the executive, and have the right to declare a state of emergency. Two-thirds of the parliament will be elected, while the rest are to be appointed by the president, a member of the committee said as he summarized the declaration live on television. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Syria will retain Islamic jurisprudence as the main basis of law in the country and the president must be a Muslim, the committee added. The declaration stipulates freedom of expression and press, and protects women's political rights. It also includes issuing a new law regulating political participation, after al-Assad's regime only allowed certain parties to take part in the political life. Late in January, al-Sharaa was appointed as interim president during a meeting of commanders of armed groups that had fought alongside his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia to oust al-Assad. Once affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, the group has since broken away from both organizations, and al-Sharaa has sought to portray himself as a moderate. The News Taiwans President Lai Ching-te on Thursday announced plans to restore the islands military courts in order to counter what he described as Chinas influence campaigns and manipulation. Lai accused Beijing of trying to absorb Taiwan China has long viewed the island as a breakaway province that it will eventually subsume. Taiwans intelligence agency has said three times as many people were charged with spying for China in 2024 than in 2021; immigration authorities said Wednesday a Chinese resident would be expelled from Taiwan after advocating for unification with Beijing on TikTok. It is time for us to take preventative measures, strengthen our democratic resilience and national security, and protect freedom, democracy and [the] way of life we cherish, Lai said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The courts are part of a package of measures designed to counter Beijing, including stricter rules on residency applications by Chinese citizens. Its unlikely that they will pass, however: Lais Democratic Party lost its parliamentary majority last year, and the idea of peacetime military courts is controversial in Taiwan: The island was ruled by martial law for nearly four decades a period known as the White Terror until 1987. SIGNALS China influence campaigns are growing, global threat: Analysts Sources: International Institute for Strategic Studies, Swedish National China Centre, The New York Times Beijing in recent years has deployed targeted disinformation campaigns to reinforce [its] sovereignty claims in the Asia-Pacific and to favourably shape opinions online in its favour, a 2024 International Institute for Strategic Studies report found. Analysts consider Taiwan as the most important target of Chinese election interference, although Canada, the US, and other world nations have also seen such targeting, according to the Swedish National China Centre. Interference varied from providing support for pro-China candidates to running sabotage campaigns, their analysts said. Beijing was also found to have used social media networks to disseminate AI-generated content ahead of last years US election that was seeking to create a sense of a sclerotic superpower in disarray, one analyst told The New York Times. International support for Taiwan is waning Sources: The Economist, Global Taiwan Institute Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the battle for global backing over [Taiwans] fate, China is rapidly gaining ground, The Economist wrote: 70 countries have officially endorsed Chinas claim of sovereignty over the island and that China is entitled to pursue all efforts to achieve re-unification. The vast majority of those nations are located in the Global South, and have adopted the Beijing-backed stance only relatively recently, according to the outlet. Part of the reason may be Beijings economic outreach: Chinas willingness to provide financial aid, back infrastructure projects, make investments, and agree trade deals likely explains why countries withdraw diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, a Global Taiwan Institute report found. US drawback from Ukraine support weighs on Taiwan Sources: South China Morning Post, Reuters US President Donald Trumps wavered support for Ukraine and overtures to Russia has amplified concerns over the reliability of American security guarantees for Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. But the Taiwan response to the Ukraine ceasefire talks has nonetheless been largely indifferent, the South China Morning Post noted. Some analysts believe that Trumps withdrawal from Europe will lead to greater intervention in the Asia-Pacific region, and Taipei is apparently in talks with the US over a possible arms deal worth as much as $10 billion, Reuters reported. Taiwan also produces much of the worlds semiconductor chips, control over which the Trump administration has positioned as critical to American technological dominance. (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan President Lai Ching-te labeled China a foreign hostile force for the first time as he unveiled wide-ranging measures to counter infiltration efforts, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China is already a foreign hostile force as defined in our Anti-Infiltration Act, Lai said in a briefing in Taipei on Thursday, referring to a Taiwan law passed in 2019 detailing the punishment for people working with hostile entities. He spoke hours before the 20th anniversary of a Chinese anti-secession law authorizing an attack on Taiwan if it declares independence. Lais use of the term may help justify measures he laid out to counter Chinese influence and espionage efforts, which include the potential resumption of military trials for soldiers accused of treason or spying. While the formal designation wont necessarily lead to an immediate escalation of cross-strait tensions, Lai is taking a tougher stance on Beijing than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, who was also from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. The comments only prove that Lai is a saboteur of cross-strait peace, and the creator of the Taiwan crisis, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement late Thursday. If the separatist forces dare to cross the red line, resolute actions will be taken in response. China claims the self-governing democracy is its territory and has vowed to unify with Taiwan, using force if necessary, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on March 7 again declared the island an inalienable part of Chinas territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the history and the reality, Wang said on the sidelines of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing. Taiwan is never a country, not in the past, and never in the future, he said. To connive at Taiwan independence is to undermine the stability of the Taiwan Strait. Chinas air force and navy have stepped up their presence near the island, and Lai on Thursday noted a jump in espionage cases involving the armed forces. So he said the government will work to let military tribunals operate in peacetime if soldiers are accused of offenses such as treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty, and insubordination. That would be an extraordinary change in Taiwan, a young democracy that was ruled by martial law for decades until the late 1980s and which currently bans peacetime military tribunals. And Taiwans shock at South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeols brief declaration of martial law in December led to legislative efforts to make it harder to take such action on the island. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, its unclear if Lais DPP can legislate to allow military tribunals because it lacks a majority in parliament. Soldiers and civilians accused of espionage already face criminal courts, and the Supreme Court last month upheld the conviction of eight people, including several active-duty officers, for spying for China, the state-backed Central News Agency reported. In the briefing, Lai also said that Taiwan will move to manage risks posed by Chinese tourists, and establish a transparent mechanism for Taiwanese civil servants to travel to China for exchanges. That comes after the government repeatedly expressed concern at reports of Taiwanese holding mainland residency permits, which is illegal in Taiwan. The government is also reviewing tightening a path to residency for Macau and Hong Kong people, and this month revoked a residence permit for a Chinese social-media influencer who reportedly advocated the islands annexation. Indeed, Lai said he has asked government agencies to strengthen the guidance and management of Taiwanese actors and artists who work in China, to clearly define potential punishment for words and deeds viewed as endangering national dignity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The past week has seen online debate in Taiwan over local artists who reposted Weibo social media posts from Chinese state television referring to Taiwan, Province of China, during Chinas National Peoples Congress. Lai has repeatedly said hes committed to peace and is open to working with China on a range of issues, but insists neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to each other. China has cut most official contacts with his administration, but continues to hold meetings with lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang, which favors unification. --With assistance from Jing Li. (Adds details on Lais remarks and comments from Beijings Taiwan Affairs Office.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te said Thursday tougher measures are needed to counter stepped-up Chinese infiltration, spying and other efforts to weaken the island's defenses and speed Beijing's goal of taking control of the self-governing island republic, a close U.S. partner. Lai cited a range of recent incidents involving China that fall into a gray area including psychological warfare short of open armed conflict. Beijing's efforts to subvert, obtain secrets, lure members of the armed forces and influence public opinion to lose confidence in our national defense require that we step up our legal safeguards to prevent and detect such incidents, Lai said at a news conference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lai said proposed measures to counter China's moves included bringing back military trials for crimes such as spying and making it more difficult for residents from China and the Chinese territories of Hong Kong, and Macau to obtain Taiwanese identification, a task made more difficult by widespread intermarriage between Taiwanese and Chinese. Taiwan will also further limit contact with the island by individuals affiliated with the ruling Chinese Communist Party's United Front department aimed at using cultural products and personnel exchanges to push Beijing's line on unification. That followed a case last year when a student on such a delegation sponsored by a pro-unification Taiwanese group used deprecating language toward Taiwan, sparking public anger but with no legal ramifications. Lai's Democratic Progressive Party favors the islands continued de-facto independence from Beijing. China has refused almost all official contact with the DPP since Lai's predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, was elected eight years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China regularly sends ships and planes into airspace and waters near the island in an effort to intimidate its 23 million people and wear down its armed forces and morale. Taiwan's government recently expelled the Chinese wife of a Taiwanese citizen after the woman repeatedly posted short clips on Chinese social media saying China would conquer Taiwan in half an hour and praising the Chinese leadership. Such acts are illegal under Taiwan's laws on aiding and abetting the enemy. The woman, who also held official Chinese titles as a consultant, can apply for residency again in five years. Other recent incidents have included Taiwanese artists and influencers living in China reposting statements from Chinese state media asserting Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Retired Taiwanese service members have also passed information about the islands weapons systems to Chinese agents and sought to recruit serving military personnel as spies. The Defense Ministry on Wednesday confirmed a case where a retired air force major claiming to be working for a U.S. think tank persuaded an air force air intercept controller to hand over classified files in exchange for payment. The retired major, surnamed Shih, delivered the documents to his handlers in China for about $45,000, of which he shared about $6,000 with the serving officer, surnamed Hsu. The leaked information related to Taiwan's domestically developed air-launched Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles and Taiwan's response to Chinese incursions into its air defense identification zone. The two sides separated by the 180-kilometer (110 mile) Taiwan Strait split amid civil war in 1949, and China continues to regard Taiwan as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary. Lai's comments came on the 20th anniversary of China's passage of its Anti-Succession Act, which laid out conditions under which China would invade, including if the island declared formal independence or refused unification indefinitely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taiwan's government says it is already independent for all intents and purposes, and therefore there is no need to make such a declaration, a view embraced by the vast majority of the electorate. Taiwan has been bulking up its defenses with new missiles and U.S. tanks and planes, along with self-made submarines. It also recently extended the period for mandatory national military service for all men from four months to one year. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) There is a difficult new twist in the case of a 16-year-old girl who was tortured, murdered and dismembered. St. Petersburg police said they will not be able to find her remains. Couple chased down by enraged DUI driver in deadly St. Pete crash, police say Steven Gress and Michelle Vega are both in jail, accused of kidnapping, killing, and dismembering 16-year-old Miranda Corsette. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said the teens remains were put in a dumpster in Ruskin and, for days, detectives have been working to find them. The dumpster was taken to a transfer station, and from the transfer station, those items were in fact taken to the incinerator, St. Pete Police Maj. Shannon Halstead said. Bryant Camareno, an attorney unaffiliated with this case, said the absence of Corsettes remains could have an impact in the courtroom. From a prosecutors standpoint, its always going to be a challenge because most jurors want to see a body, Camareno said. St. Pete police said Corsette was a frequent runaway, something Camareno says paired with the missing remains could pose another challenge for the prosecution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 16-year-old Pinellas Park girl accused of molesting child, sharing porn for money If I was a prosecutor, I would have to convince that jury that this is not your typical runaway scenario, Camareno said. Theres more to it. For example, the same way the defense may argue, No, shes doing this all of the time, she leaves all of the time. Yes, but she comes back, he continued. Now that there are two people behind bars accused of murdering the teen, Camareno said it wouldnt be abnormal for one of them to get a deal. Thats typically what [prosecutors] do, he said. The deal may not necessarily be immunity, but hey, lets say instead of the death penalty, well give you life in prison or maybe 30 years for your testimony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is a tactic most prosecutors use, Camareno continued. Camareno said that then presents the challenge: How does the prosecutor know if theyre giving the deal to the right person? How do we know that the one cooperating is telling the truth? he explained. How do we know he or she isnt lying to implicate the other one to get a better deal? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) The Trump Administrations tariffs on products imported from Mexico, Canada and China have Mississippi consumers wondering how it will affect their pockets. Many United States grocery products are sourced from all three countries, but a significant share comes from Mexico and Canada. In 2023, the U.S. received more than $40 billion in agriculture products from Mexico, including more than $9 billion in fresh fruit and more than $8 billion in fresh vegetables. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), meat and other animal products are among the top imports from Canada. USDA halts $1B funding, affecting Mississippi food banks and schools The ones that are a lot less fortunate, those are the ones that are catching a harder time. The average people, they can make it. But the rich people, these tariffs not even affecting them at all, said Willie Bell, a Mississippi consumer. Shoppers are expected to see an increase in cooking oil, nuts, tea and snacks made by the three countries. Its not fun for anyone. Its unfortunate, but I think its also just the growing pains that we have to go through for hopefully a better tomorrow. Beyond that, I mean, yeah, theres not a whole lot we can do. I just hope that it straightens out soon, so we can get over the hump and move on, said Sam Bishop, a Mississippi consumer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Forbes, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said there could be some short-term impacts for consumers. However, he insisted prices should level out over time. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) A grand jury has indicted an Ovalo man accused of having intercourse with a horse and delivering meth. Man in Taylor County accused of bestiality and delivering controlled substance to a minor Court documents state that in December 2024, a person who met him through an online platform told the Taylor County Sheriffs Office that Hayden Hollingsworth had intercourse with a horse. Hayden Hollingsworth, courtesy of the Taylor County Jail That person shared that he told them he had urges and that the FBI raided his house because he had no-nos. Detectives reviewed multiple videos depicting bestiality with a horse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On November 20, during a traffic stop, an officer made contact with a teenager who was under 18. Before this traffic stop, the officer had been informed that the teenagers mother had found drugs in his room. After consenting to a search of the vehicle, the teenager admitted that he had methamphetamine in the console. DOCUMENTS: Ovalo man accused of bestiality & giving meth to minor He told police he had been buying it from Hollingsworth for two months and showed social media messages between them. Hollingsworth is charged with Bestiality and Delivering Methamphetamine. He was booked into the Taylor County Jail on December 27, 2024, on bonds totaling $75,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. Xavier University's Montessori Lab School placed a teacher on administrative leave last week while school officials investigate an allegation of a "boundary violation." Xavier Provost Rachel Chrastil notified parents of the investigation in a March 6 email that did not name the teacher or reveal details about the allegation. A follow-up email the next day said school officials believe no current students at the school are involved in the investigation. "I regret to inform you that, out of an abundance of caution, a member of our instructional staff has been placed on paid administrative leave until further notice," Chrastil wrote in the March 6 email. "This is a very challenging time for all involved in the situation, which is evolving." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chrastil is out of town and could not be reached for comment. Xavier University spokesman Doug Ruschman said the university had no additional comment at this time. In her emails to parents, Chrastil told parents she could not say how long the investigation might take because it has "external aspects that we cannot control." She also expressed concern about the possibility of rumors spreading among students, staff and parents. "Out of respect for our teacher and for our students and for our school community, I ask that you refrain from speculating about the circumstances in this case," Chrastil wrote. "If you come across students or adults doing so, please help to stop the gossip." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigation comes at a challenging time for the Montessori Lab School. Xavier announced in November that the school would no longer follow the Montessori model, and instead will transition to a traditional laboratory model starting this fall. That announcement prompted many parents with students in the school to search for a new educational home for their children. Some appear to have found that home at a new Cincinnati Public Schools Montessori program at the Bramble Nature campus on Homer Avenue, which is expected to take in students who previously attended the Xavier school. Xavier's Montessori Lab School opened as a demonstration project in 1966 and grew over the years into a program that served more than 100 elementary and middle school students every year. The school has served as a training ground for undergraduate and graduate students at Xavier who are studying to become Montessori teachers. Chrastil said in her emails that the investigation will not impact instruction at the school. She also said counseling is available for both students and staff, if necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I want to emphasize my shared concern for our students and teachers during this difficult time," Chrastil wrote. "I will continue to share updates as soon as possible." This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Montessori teacher on leave after 'boundary violation' claim President Donald Trumps administration is spending $200 million on an ad campaign to encourage migrants to deport themselves - even as the federal budget is being hacked to shreds. The Department of Homeland Security launched a new app earlier this week where migrants can declare they have deported themselves so that one day they can return to the U.S. legally. This self-deportation functionality is part of a larger $200 million domestic and international ad campaign encouraging illegal aliens to Stay Out and Leave Now, the department said in a news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Homeland Securitys big-budget ad campaign seeks to rebrand the CBP One app that was used by migrants under the Biden administration and will run on radio, broadcast and digital, in multiple countries and regions in various dialects, the department said. Ads will be hyper-targeted, including through social media, text message and digital to reach illegal immigrants in the interior of the United States, as well as internationally. It features Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cut with shots of the president. If you leave now, you may have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American Dream, Noem says in the ad. The $200 million ad campaign to promote a new app where migrants can deport themselves features Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. It comes as DOGE continues to slash the federal budget (Department of Homeland Security) The costly ads release comes as the department fired more than 400 federal staffers in the last month under the Trump administrations efforts to drastically reduce the workforce. Hundreds of employees who worked in non-mission critical personnel in probationary status at the departments agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, were let go in February. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, the Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency's current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the Agency, a letter sent to an employee said, according to CBS News. Elsewhere, thousands of federal employees have lost their jobs since Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency began its cost-cutting frenzy. The costly ads release comes as the department fired more than 400 federal staffers in the last month under the Trump administrations efforts to drastically reduce the workforce (AFP via Getty Images) The CBP One app allowed migrants to make appointments at a port of entry to seek asylum under the Biden administration. The function was swiftly revoked after Trump took office and the administration began its sweeping immigration crackdown, intending to remove anyone living in the U.S. without legal permission. Some migrants reported waiting over a year for their appointments on the app, which were canceled the day Trump was sworn in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Noem said that the Biden administration had long exploited the app because it allowed migrants to legally enter the country by booking an appointment. With the launching of the CBP Home app, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system, Noem said in a statement. The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream. If they dont, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return. Tekashi 6ix9ine's home was raided in the early hours of Wednesday as cops conducted a "probation" check on him. The controversial rapper said some firearms and drugs were confiscated, although he maintained that he didn't do anything wrong. He was also arrested late last year for violating the terms of his release on a 2019 felony conviction. However, Tekashi 6ix9ine made a deal with federal prosecutors that saw him serve one month in jail, followed by three months of home detention with a curfew and electric monitoring. Cops Raid Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine's Home MEGA Law enforcement officials raided Tekashi's Florida mansion in the early hours of Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to TMZ, the "GOOBA" rapper claims that firearms and drugs were seized during the raid but maintained that he didn't do anything wrong. Tekashi said that federal police and local cops came to his house on Wednesday morning and kept him in handcuffs from 9 am to 3 pm while they searched the place. The rapper also claimed that DNA samples were taken and that the cops seemingly wrecked his home while searching for something. He explained that they had confiscated some guns and drugs during the raid and wanted to see if his DNA was on the items. However, Tekashi, born Daniel Hernandez, insisted that he's not been engaging in any criminal activity and is just relaxing at home while on house arrest. Cops Executed A Search Warrant On The Rapper's Home MEGA Meanwhile, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has provided an explanation as to why the "Tattletales" rapper's home was ransacked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the news outlet, the office explained that the federal U.S. Probation officers, assisted by Palm Beach Sheriff's Office Narcotics Investigators, executed a search warrant Wednesday on the rapper's home in Florida. The sheriffs labeled it a "probation" check as they confirmed that several items were confiscated and taken away for further analysis because they could not immediately be connected to the repper. The sheriff's office did not, however, confirm Tekashi's claim that guns and drugs were recovered during the raid. Also, the news outlet notes that the rapper was not arrested because there was no probable cause, and he was handcuffed during the raid for officer safety. Tekashi 6ix9ine Violated His Court-Supervised Release MEGA In 2019, the rapper pleaded guilty to charges accusing him of joining and directing violence by the gang known as Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods and was sentenced to two years in prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was later freed in April the following year as he complained that he was particularly prone to COVID-19, which was spreading through jails and prisons at the time. In October of last year, Tekashi was arrested in New York for violating the terms of his release on the 2019 felony conviction, per CBS News. At the time, his probation officer complained that he had failed drug tests and was not following the rules about getting permission to travel. The Rapper Is Still Under House Arrest MEGA The Brooklyn rapper made a deal with federal prosecutors that required him to serve one month in jail, followed by three months of home detention with a curfew and electric monitoring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He has had several brushoffs with the law, including a child sexual performance charge that he was hit with in 2015 after footage surfaced of him filming a friend in a sex act with an underage girl. Tekashi has also been accused of choking a teenage girl at a mall, being investigated over the shooting of Chief Keef, and being arrested in the Dominican Republic for multiple alleged incidents. Tekashi 6ix9ine Sued L.A. Fitness for $1 Million Instagram | Tekashi 6ix9ine Amid his run-ins with the law, the rapper sued the popular gym L.A. Fitness for $1 million, alleging that he suffered a vicious attack that led him straight to the hospital back in 2023. Court documents showed that he's asking for more than $1 million in damages, claiming the gym failed to provide adequate security to prevent the brutal attack by three men at one of their outlets in South Florida. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He alleged that the gym staff was not "properly educated or informed regarding security protocols at LA Fitness," adding that they failed to request police presence once they saw the attack, per TMZ. He claims that due to L.A. Fitness' negligence, he was brutally beaten, assaulted, and robbed, leading to bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, humiliation, medical expenses, loss of income, and diminished quality of life. He suffered injuries to his jaw, ribs, and back, and three individuals were subsequently arrested in connection with the assault. ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Ten people are now facing charges in connection with the weekend shooting death of a Rogers man. According to Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Sexton, out of the 10 people arrested in connection with the death of Andres Fonseca, 41, nine are facing capital murder charges, five juveniles and four adults. Sexton listed the three most recent arrests as Junior Rodriguez, Noel Gates and Tevan Ortiz. The previous arrests are listed below. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Manuel Rodriguez was charged on March 12 with capital murder and engaging in violent criminal group activity. Rodriguez is a juvenile charged as an adult. Jesus Rodriguez has been charged with capital murder. Cristofer Nicasio has been charged with capital murder and engaging in violent criminal group activity. Jordan Mandujano is also charged with capital murder, engaging in violent criminal group activity and hindering apprehension or prosecution. Mandujano is a juvenile charged as an adult. Eileen Rocah is charged with capital murder, engaging in violent criminal group activity, hindering apprehension or prosecution and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. Rocha is being held at the Benton County jail without bond. Jared Stiles is charged with capital murder, engaging in violent criminal group activity and hindering apprehension or prosecution. Stiles is being held at the Benton County jail without bond. Amy Mandujano is charged with capital murder and engaging in violent criminal group activity. She is being held at the Benton County jail without bond. Sexton says there is discretion when choosing whether or not to try minors as adults, and they will do so due to the seriousness of the crimes. Capital murder in the state of Arkansas is the only crime that is subject to punishment by the death penalty under the current laws of the state, Sexton said. Weve had a disturbing pattern of having younger and younger defendants who are involved with gunplay in the county and that goes beyond just this case. Heavily redacted affidavits say officers responded to a shooting around 12:09 p.m. that had just occurred at the intersection of South B Street and East Southern Trace Drive in Rogers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When they arrived, officers found a Hispanic man, later identified as Fonseca, lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to his body. Fonseca was taken to Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police found camera footage that showed three people in a group standing across from Fonseca shooting three separate guns in his direction. The affidavits say Fonseca can be seen in the video footage falling to the ground and then rolling several times. The footage showed four people fleeing in a Dodge Charger and a black passenger car. The three that shot the guns fled on foot. The affidavits say the people who fled on foot, in the Charger and the passenger car appear to be associated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UNICOI Co., Tenn. (WJHL) Those hoping to drive school buses in Tennessee can begin the process at age 25. However, some Tennessee lawmakers want to lower the age requirement by four years. House Bill 0084 and Senate Bill 1042 would bring the minimum age for school bus drivers down to 21. In Unicoi County, the school system continues to look for staff to drive buses. Downtown Johnson City last call bill sails through first committee vote Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres just such a demand for it, Transportation Supervisor Drew Rice said. And the demand for it succeeds the supply for it, and I dont think thats a problem thats unique to us. Rice said a lower age requirement would help grow the list of potential drivers, something current drivers have commented on. Weve had a couple of our younger drivers go out there and get their [commercial drivers license] at 25, Rice said. And they would have gotten it two or three years earlier if they could. So it just widens the pool of applicants and maybe people potentially interested in it. James Tilson drives a bus for the school system and has been a driver for 43 years, having been certified when he was only 22 years old. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I had to go through my certifications, testing, Tilson said. I rode with a certified driver, then he rode with me on it. Tilson said he supports the bill as long as the new drivers receive the proper training. You get them trained and turn them loose, Tilson said. Ride with them, see how theyre going to do before we turn them loose. Rice said thats exactly what the school system plans to do. We would probably let them go with some training wheels, per se, Rice said. To kind of get them used to it and ease them into it and maybe start with driving a ball team somewhere. If the bill is passed, the law would go into effect on July 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A bill that would create a registry for repeat domestic violence offenders unanimously passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday after emotional testimony from the mother of the Robertson County Sheriffs deputy the proposal is named for. Under Savannas Law, habitual domestic violence offenders would be placed on a domestic violence registry after their second conviction. The registry, which would be public, would include the offenders name, date of birth, photo, and the date and county of their conviction(s). An offender could remain on the registry anywhere between two to 20 years, depending on their number of convictions. The proposed legislation is named after Savanna Puckett, a Robertson County Sheriffs Deputy who, on Jan. 23, 2022, at 22 years old, was brutally murdered at her Springfield home. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts The man responsible, James Jackson Conn, had a history of domestic assault and trespassing. However, when Puckett searched his criminal record after he started exhibiting some concerning behaviors, all she could find was a marijuana charge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Savannas mother, Kim Dodson, told lawmakers during the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday, Conn showed up to her daughters Springfield home and shot her nine times before suffocating her dog and setting her home on fire. What if this was your sister, brother, niece, mother, or even daughter? How would you feel? Dodson said. My beautiful daughter would have been 26 years old on March 10, 2025, just two days ago. Instead [of celebrating], I was visiting her grave. Republican Rep. Sabi Doc Kumar (R-Springfield) sponsored the bill last year, but it fizzled out because funding never materialized. He plans to work harder this year to obtain the money needed to create and maintain the registry because it could save lives. [Savannas] mothers feeling was if there was a violent domestic offenders registry, considering Savanna worked in law enforcement and would have been very aware of it, and this fellow had previous three convictions, if there was a registry the tragedy could have been avoided, Rep. Kumar said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom The bill unanimously passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday, and received bipartisan support. It will move on to the full House Judiciary Committee. The bill is also going through the committee process on the Senate side. In Aug. 2023, Conn pleaded guilty to three charges connected to Pucketts murder. He is serving a life sentence. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A proposal to regulate hemp products like gummies and flower in Tennessee just took another step forward, but its changing. In this bill, as amended, these products will not be sold in a convenience store or grocery store, Representative William Lamberth (R/Portland) said. I personally do not want to see in my community, weed being sold next to the eggs and the milk. Since its first reading in February, this bill has quickly moved through the Senate and House. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts The bill also includes a couple of other new rules for the hemp industry, including the banning of synthetic hemp and a ban on advertising hemp products as cures or treatments for any human illness. It would also make it illegal to ship directly to the consumer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) would take over state enforcement for retailers and wholesale. Those are the folks who already regulate intoxicating liquors, intoxicating substances, Lamberth explained. Supporters of the bill say new labeling requirements will help law enforcement recognize legal versus illegal hemp products. This comes one year after a one-million-dollar lawsuit was filed in Spring Hill after officers seized legal hemp products. Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom It seemed like they thought they happened upon a ton of marijuana, said SAK Wholesale and Old School Vapor CEO Sam Oechslin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Franklin hemp business owner told News 2 this would hurt Tennessees economy. Targeting that only impacts us with our family business and shops, but consumers are the ones losing in this and the farmers, the agricultural industry has been decimated in this state for hemp, Owner and Operator of Green Daisy in Franklin, Rodney Croteau, said. Even over the last four or five years, they have made it very, very difficult for farmers in Tennessee to grow this flower legally. The ultimate decision could also hurt his business. Everything you see behind me is primarily THCA flower, Croteau explained. Flower is primarily the source of THCA and is a significant portion of our revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We know we are doing the right thing for the right reasons, and we think it will work out, Croteau continued. But yeah, we lose sleep every night. Our entire lives are invested in this business, and we are watching it slowly get eroded and washed away. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com If it passes, this act will take effect on the first of January next year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Tennessee State University expects to lose at least $14.4 million in federal grant funding as massive cuts continue under the administration of President Donald Trump. The news comes as the historically Black, public university faces a financial shortfall this spring. Last month, interim TSU President Dwayne Tucker proposed repurposing state funds and instituting further staff and budget cuts to sustain the school. Tucker took over leadership of the troubled school in December after a year of major upheaval, layoffs and budget cuts. He recently told lawmakers the university would run out of money by May if nothing changes. The $14.4 million in federal money now in limbo is the remainder of an $18 million grant to TSU from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. While the school has not yet received an official letter of termination for the grant, TSU acting CFO Jim Grady said they are working to prepare for it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is going to impact our people," Grady said during a regularly scheduled TSU finance committee meeting on Wednesday evening. More: Tennessee State University leaders propose more layoffs, repurposing state funds Acting CFO Jim Grady join Tennessee State University interim President Dwayne Tucker to give a major financial update during a s State Building Commission meeting at the Cordell Hull State Office Building in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. It's not clear how many faculty or staff positions will be affected by the cut, or if it will affect student scholarships and assistantships. At the very least, Grady said, nothing will change until at least 90 days after receiving the official letter. It was not clear when grant-funded staff would be notified if their positions are affected. Grady said he and other university leaders have been meeting nightly to compare notes on the flurry of changes under Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We'll continue to evaluate the volatility ... and the potential impact to employees, students and university operations," Grady said. TSU federal grant funding in limbo Grady told the committee that 70 federal grants totaling $45 million to the university were abruptly suspended in February. All those grants are under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which includes the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. In response, TSU paused spending those grants while leaders assessed the situation and worked closely with federal officials to determine when it was safe to resume spending. By early March, $23 million of those funds had been restored. Outside the USDA funds, Grady said, TSU has $115 million in other federal grants that may be subject to future suspensions or freezes. Federal grants fully fund 62 employees at TSU and partially fund another 112. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2023, under the Biden administration, the USDA and U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee calculating the state had underfunded TSU by $2.1 billion over the course of several decades. Advocates have pressed for that underfunding to be restored. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State to lose $14M grant as Trump cuts continue A federal judge on Thursday ordered federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who were fired amid President Donald Trumps turbulent effort to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. U.S. District Judge William Alsup described the mass firings as a sham strategy by the governments central human resources office to sidestep legal requirements for reducing the federal workforce. Alsup, a San Francisco-based appointee of President Bill Clinton, ordered the Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments to immediately offer all fired probationary employees their jobs back. The Office of Personnel Management, the judge said, had made an unlawful decision to terminate them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And even if it is upheld on appeal, it does not guarantee that all the workers will be able to get their jobs back permanently: Alsup made clear that agencies still have the authority to implement reductions in force, as long as they follow the proper procedures for doing so. Federal agencies are currently finalizing reduction in force plans. Alsup issued his ruling in a lawsuit brought by federal employee unions. He lashed out at the Justice Department over its handling of the case, saying he believes that Trump administration lawyers were hiding the facts about who directed the mass firings. You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. Youre afraid to do so because you know cross examination would reveal the truth, the judge said to a DOJ attorney during a hearing Thursday. I tend to doubt that youre telling me the truth. Im tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth. Alsup also said the administration attempted to circumvent federal laws on reducing the workforce by attributing the firings to performance when that was not in fact the case. The judge called the move a gimmick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie, Alsup said. More than 5,000 probationary workers for USDA had already won a reprieve last week when the chair of a federal civil service board ordered them reinstated for 45 days. But Alsup is the first federal judge to order the administration to broadly unwind the firing spree that has roiled the federal workforce during Trumps first two months in office. Alsup emphasized that he was not ruling that the government is unable to lay off personnel at federal agencies, but that the Trump administration was in such a hurry to do so that it shunted aside federal laws that dictate the procedures for a so-called RIF. The words that I give you today should not be taken that some wild-and-crazy judge in San Francisco said that an administration cannot engage in a reduction in force, Alsup said. It can be done, if its done in accordance with the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alsup is also seeking answers about the administrations position that fired federal workers should have to seek relief from two executive branch agencies tasked with supervising federal workplace issues: the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The judge expressed concern that Trumps effort to remove members of those boards might render them ineffective. Alsup had ordered the acting head of OPM, Charles Ezell, to appear at the hearing Thursday so he could be cross-examined about his claims that the personnel office did not direct any firings but simply provided guidance to other agencies about how to carry out the dismissals. However, Justice Department lawyers told Alsup earlier this week that Ezell would not appear, and the government withdrew a sworn declaration Ezell submitted earlier in the case. At one point Thursday, the judge reprimanded Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Helland for the governments decision not to make witnesses available. Youre not helping me get at the truth. Youre giving me press releases, sham documents, the frustrated judge said, adding, Im getting mad at you and I shouldnt. Youre trying to do your best, and I apologize. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helland, who sat alone at the table for government counsel, argued that the agencies made the firing decisions, and he said the timing was driven by the urgency of Trumps agenda, not any moves by OPM. Everybody knew the new administration was prioritizing this and the political appointments wanted to comply with that administration priority, the DOJ attorney said. This was not an order by OPM. But the judge noted that some agencies told employees they were instructed by OPM to fire every probationary employee deemed non-essential. Probationary status is extremely common in the federal workforce. Many newly hired employees are required to begin their tenure as probationary employees, and employees are also often required to spend time on probationary status after being promoted. Probationary employees do not enjoy many of the civil service protections as non-probationary workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the attorneys challenging the dismissals emphasized Thursday that some newly-promoted employees with lengthy tenure at agencies were caught up in the mass firings. The suit the judge acted on Thursday was brought by federal employee labor unions along with non-profit groups that said their work would be negatively impacted by the firings in places like national parks and veterans hospitals. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) The Oklahoma City Police Department says it seized over three pounds of fentanyl last week after a man reported a strange package was delivered to his home that he wasnt expecting. A Facebook post shared of the package by police Wednesday shows what appears to be a box with an X symbol on the left, a carving of a skull with a knife in its mouth in the middle of the package and a third symbol on the right resembling the numeral one. Like, where would it, where did it come from? Edwin Rios, who lives in the neighborhood the package was found, asked Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oklahoma City Police seize 3 pounds of fentanyl According to police, the incident happened in a neighborhood near Southwest 25th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue on March 5. The report says the man told police he opened the box inside his house and found a plastic-wrapped item inside of it. The item was wrapped in several layers of plastic, brown paper, and a final layer of electrical tape covered in axle grease. The report said the man realized something wasnt right, took the package outside and called 911. Fentanyl. Image courtesy OKCPD. I would be scared, said Rios. I would be terrified. The report went on to say that authorities verified the contents of the box as testing positive for fentanyl and confirmed it weighed 3.1 pounds. For context, the U.S. drug enforcement agency said two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal to one person depending on their size, tolerance, and past usage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The amount of fentanyl found, according to that information, is enough to kill at least 680,388 people. Thats more than what the U.S. Census Bureau reported as the City of Tulsas entire population of more than 411,000 people in a 2023 census, and nearly all of Oklahoma Citys population in a census conducted the same year at a little over 702,000 Oklahomans. They got to get it off of the streets, said Rios. Oklahoma City police declined an interview to answer News 4s questions about the case. The heavily redacted police report doesnt mention where the package came from or who delivered it. It only says the man who received the package noted he did not recognize the return address. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) says methods like these, to bring fentanyl into the states, are becoming far too common. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres just countless ways in which people tied to these criminal groups are trying to move fentanyl into the United States, said OBN spokesperson Mark Woodward. They may try to send multiple packages, thinking if at least a few of them get across thats profit for the criminal organizations. Woodward says situations like Oklahoma Citys latest seizure should serve as a warning to never open a package you are not expecting. Anytime somebody receives a package that is not addressed to them, they should notify the shipping company and have them come get it, said Woodward. News 4 tried stopping by the victims home Wednesday but no one came to the door. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oklahoma City police havent shared any suspect information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. Its been a bad month for the stock market. But its been a terrible monthin fact, a terrible yearfor Tesla. Even after rebounding since Monday, perhaps with some help from Donald Trumps South Lawn salesmanship, Teslas stock price is down almost 40 percent since January 1. Some of that drop is down to concrete issues with Teslas core car business: Sales last year fell for the first time in more than a decade, and Wall Street analysts are now estimating that they will have fallen again in the most recent quarter. Tesla is facing fierce price competition in China, where its year-over-year sales fell by 49 percent in February, and steeply declining sales in Western Europe. Although the company has promised that it will be rolling out new, more affordable models later this year, details have been sparse at best. The most important driver of Teslas share slump, however, can be summed up in two words: Elon Musk. Tesla has always been a story stock, which is to say the sort of investment whose price depends less on a companys economic fundamentals and more on a story of what its future will be. Teslas problem right now is that the hero, and narrator, of its story has gone AWOL. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investor expectations of what Tesla is going to achieve have certainly changed over time. In the past, investors were focused on Teslas potential to corner the global electric-vehicle market. Today, that ambition has receded, as competitionparticularly from Chinahas intensified. Instead, investors now envision the company dominating the future market for self-driving cars and AI robotics. But the throughline of the Tesla story has always remained the same: the idea of Musks genius and ability to guide the company into the future. It is almost impossible to separate Tesla, the company, from Musk, the finance professor Aswath Damodaran has written previously. What you believe about one will drive what you believe about the other. And its because investors have bought into Musks over-the-top visions of Teslas future that, even now, the companys shares trade at an outrageous price-to-earnings ratio, and its market cap is greater than that of the next nine biggest car companies combined. The problem for Tesla at the moment is that investors faith in Musk has been shaken. His political activitiesnot only his work for the Trump administration but also his public support of the far-right AfD party in Germanyhave led to a backlash against Tesla that certainly seems to have depressed sales in the United States and Europe. His mercurial social-media habits and goofy displays such as waving around a chain saw onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference are not reassuring to major investors. The reverse: A new Morgan Stanley investor survey found that 85 percent of respondents think that Musks political involvement is having a negative or extremely negative impact on Teslas business fundamentals. Aside from all the noise, the simple reality is that Tesla now seems to be far down on the list of Musks priorities, behind DOGE, SpaceX, his new AI venture, and X. Musk is running a government agency, serving as the CEO of three companies, funding political campaigns, threatening politicians with potential primaries, and posting nonstop on social media. In the most literal sense, he just isnt showing that much interest in building cars anymore. Since the beginning of the year, he has offered no real vision of how Tesla will deal with challenges such as the global rise of highly competitive EV manufacturers such as Chinas BYD. In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, he conceded that he was having great difficulty running all of his enterprises; about the best he could offer investors was a quote from a Monty Python movie: Always look on the bright side of life. Musks seeming indifference to the car business has become so noticeable that in a note to investors this week, the Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ivesarguably the biggest Tesla bull on Wall Streetcriticized him for showing no attention to Tesla during this turbulent time. The appearance at the White House with Trump on Tuesday for what was effectively a car commercial seemed like an implicit recognition by Musk that he needs to change his ways (or at least pretend to do so). As Trump posed in a Tesla Model S that he said he was buying, Musk promised that the company would double its U.S. production over the next two years. Neither man has a great record of keeping promises, but the event was a sign that Musk was doing something to stop the bleeding. Some investors, at least, liked the story: By market close yesterday, Teslas stock was up more than 10 percent from its Monday low. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether that will be enough to make up for the losses of the past four months is another question. Tesla investors are used to volatility; since 2018, the companys stock price has fallen 40 percent or more on eight different occasions. And story stocks can bounce back quickly if they can recapture investors attention and belief. But that will require Musk to demonstrate more conviction and interest in the way he talks about, and runs, Tesla. Right now, he looks like a storyteller whos lost the plot. Article originally published at The Atlantic Tesla electric-vehicle charging stations, home batteries and inverters no longer qualify for CleanBC or BC Hydro rebates, as the B.C. government pushes back against tariffs imposed on Canada by the United States. BC Hydro offers rebates of up to $5,000 (CND) on eligible battery storage systems and up to $350 on the purchase and installation of EV chargers. Read more: Live updates on tariff news and impacts Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But as of March 12, Tesla products are no longer eligible, the Crown-owned utility said in a notice posted on its website. The Government of B.C. and BC Hydro are taking action to preference Canadian goods in our rebate programs going forward and to exclude, where practicable, U.S.-produced goods, the website says. Interactive map: Auto manufacturing sites in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico Customers preapproved for Tesla products before March 12 will still get their rebates. The move follows U.S. President Donald Trumps imposition of 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10-per-cent tariffs on Canadian energy March 4. The surtax was put on hold March 6 for goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement but is expected to return April 2. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also enacted 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports into the United States on March 12. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a close adviser to Trump and sits at the head of the administrations Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has been aggressively cutting government jobs. The brand is facing consumer backlash within the United States given Musks close association with Trump, as well as consumer and government pushback abroad. While CleanBC continues to offer EV rebates of up to $4,000, Tesla vehicles no longer qualify following price hikes last fall that priced the U.S. EV makers vehicles out of the government program. Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, listens to proceedings during the House State Affairs Committee on March 10, 2025, at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) After debate on a legislative travel transparency bill broke down in the Idaho House on Wednesday, the chamber on Thursday quickly passed the bill. House Bill 378, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, would require all Idaho legislative officials to report out-of-state travel, paid by another individual or entity, that is reasonably related to a legislative or governmental purpose or to an issue of state, national, or international public policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Legislative travel paid through personal funds or campaign funds would not be subject to the bill. The Idaho House passed the bill in a 47-22 vote Thursday. No lawmakers debated the bill Thursday, but Mickelsen offered remarks on the House floor. The only currency you have in this building is your integrity, she said. And I would submit to you that the integrity we have also goes out to the voters and the citizens of this state. But in an about 16-minute debate Wednesday before lawmakers shouted amid a procedural breakdown, as the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported several lawmakers spoke in support of the bill. But several lawmakers also felt like the bill was unfair by only requiring reporting for travel that lawmakers dont pay for themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To me, this creates kind of a transparency caste system, right? Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls said on Wednesday. If you can afford it, you dont have to be transparent. But if you cant afford it, or someone else pays all of a sudden, youre liable for transparency. The bill heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration. To become law, Idaho bills must pass the House and Senate, and avoid the governors veto. (Courtesy of Idaho in Session) SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford crossed swords repeatedly during a testy Wednesday debate, arguing with one another about abortion, union rights and Elon Musk. "That's a lie," Schimel, a conservative Waukesha County judge, said at one point. At another, Crawford, a liberal Dane County judge, accused Schimel of having a "very active imagination." During the hourlong debate, Crawford accused Schimel of backing away from his support of an 1849 law banning abortion except when the mother would die without one. Schimel, meanwhile, suggested that Crawford was retreating from her opposition to voter ID and the Act 10 public union law, two measures that she went to court to try to overturn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both tried to distance themselves from their biggest financial supporters Musk in Schimel's case and Democratic megadonor George Soros for Crawford. "Elon Schimel is trying to buy this race, and people are very upset about that," Crawford said, mixing the names of Schimel and his biggest patron. The debate is the first and only time the two candidates face off before the April 1 election. The event was hosted and moderated by Matt Smith and Gerron Jordan, co-hosts of the station's public affairs show "UPFRONT" on WISN-TV (Channel 12). Schimel and Crawford are vying for the seat being vacated in the upcoming departure of liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who is not seeking re-election. All seven members of the Supreme Court attended the debate at Marquette University. (Left) Dane County Judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Susan Crawford and (right) Supreme Court candidate and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel are seen before the WISN 12 Commitment 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Debate at the Lubar Center at Marquette University Law Schools Eckstein Hall on Wednesday March 12, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. Partisan spending and advocacy in the only nominally nonpartisan race have highlighted the stakes of the election, in which voters will decide whether liberals or conservatives control the state's highest court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are takeaways from the debate: Debate comes as poll shows candidates are not well known to voters The debate comes just a week after the release of a Marquette University Law School poll that found a large percentage of Wisconsin voters still don't have an opinion about the two candidates. Schimel was viewed favorably by 29% of the registered voters and unfavorably by 32%. About two out of five said they had no opinion of him. Crawford was given favorable ratings by 19% of the voters, compared to 23% who viewed her unfavorably. Nearly three out of five said they don't know enough about her. Crawford accuses Schimel of backpedaling on 1849 abortion ban Crawford attacked her opponent early in the debate for weighing in on Supreme Court cases before the election, pointing at his past comments on the 1849 abortion ban. She noted that he once said the measure was "valid." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Schimel said he simply meant the bill had been passed by both houses of the Legislature and signed by the governor. The question, he said, is whether the law reflects the will of the voters today. He has said he would support a referendum on abortion, though the state doesn't have a system that allows voters to pass legislation on their own. "My opponent has said he believes the 1849 law in Wisconsin is valid law." Crawford said. "He's trying to backpedal from that position now." Overall, Crawford and Schimel are deeply divided on the issue of abortion. Schimel opposes abortion but recently said he would respect voters' "will" on the issue. (Left) Dane County Judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Susan Crawford and (right) Supreme Court candidate and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel are seen before the WISN 12 Commitment 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Debate at the Lubar Center at Marquette University Law Schools Eckstein Hall on Wednesday March 12, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. Crawford has called the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade that struck down the constitutional right to abortion "wrong." She says she's proud of her record "fighting for our fundamental rights and freedoms." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Supreme Court will decide soon whether it believes an 1849 abortion ban is the law of the state. The court will also hear a separate case on whether the Wisconsin Constitution protects the right to an abortion. Schimel has come under criticism for saying that the liberal majority, made up of four women, were "driven by their emotions" during oral arguments. He has said he did not point to the justices' gender while leveling the criticism. Both candidates have said they will not let their personal beliefs affect their rulings if elected to the high court. Billionaires come under attack for their support of two candidates Schimel emphasized that he doesn't control how outside groups and individuals, including Musk, express their support for him. He declined to disavow his backing from Musk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm looking for the endorsement of the Wisconsin voters," Schimel said. He said he would treat Musk like anyone else if he were to appear in his courtroom. Schimel then attacked Crawford for her support from Soros, saying the billionaire had favored defunding police and allowing felons on the streets. "He's a dangerous person," Schimel said. Crawford turned the conversation back to Musk. She said he has made cuts to the federal government that could impact people, including trimming the number of air traffic controllers and those studying avian flu. "Talk about somebody who's been dangerous," Crawford said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She also noted that Musk's spending comes as one of Musk's companies, Tesla, is suing the state in Outagamie County Circuit Court to overturn a decision that blocks the company from opening dealerships in the state. Schimel said he did not know if he would recuse himself if that case were to come before the Supreme Court. He said he had not seen the lawsuit. Two Musk-funded groups America PAC and Building America's Future have spent more than $10 million helping Schimel in the race by airing TV and digital ads, canvassing and texting. America PAC, Musk's super PAC, has tried to turn the race into a forum on President Donald Trump by saying Schimel will support the Republican president's agenda on the court. Musk has become a highly controversial figure nationally for slashing the federal government in his role as head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, spent some $288 million helping Trump's election victory in November, including paying for voter outreach in Wisconsin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For her part, Crawford has come under fire for receiving money from prominent billionaires, including $1 million from Soros, $500,000 from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and $250,000 from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, donations to the state Democratic Party that were funneled to Crawford's campaign. Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices are seen before the WISN 12 Commitment 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Debate between Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford at the Lubar Center at Marquette University Law Schools Eckstein Hall on Wednesday March 12, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. Crawford defends her record on sexual assault cases Schimel criticized Crawford for the sentence she handed down in the case of Curtis O'Brien, who was convicted of repeatedly raped a 5-year-old. He said the victim had to testify at trial, and a jury convicted O'Brien. But under the sentence handed down by Crawford, the felon spent only two years behind bars. "This is a dangerous flaw in my opponent's judgment," Schimel said. Crawford pushed back, saying her opponent and other conservative groups are hitting her over her sentences in just two cases. She said the men convicted in the two cases are still on extended supervision and will be on the sex offender registry for the rest of their lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither individual, she said, has re-offended. She said the same could not be said in some of Schimel's cases. "They have focused on two cases out of thousands that I have handled, where I have sentenced people to prison and then followed that with several years of extended supervision," she said. In fact, both sides have criticized the other as being soft on crime. At the debate, the two even got into whether Crawford was officially a prosecutor when she worked at the Justice Department. She said she was, while he said she was not. Schimel responds to criticism over untested rape kits As she has throughout the campaign, Crawford accused Schimel of failing to test more than 6,000 rape kits during his first two years as attorney general. These kits contain forensic evidence collected from a sexual assault victim at a hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this year, Supreme Court Justice Jill Karofsky, who used to work for Schimel, said he did not ask his fellow Republicans who controlled the state Legislature and the Governor's Office for funds to more rapidly move testing forward. Karofsky is backing Crawford in the race. Crawford said Schimel spent too much time focusing on pursuing "right-wing lawsuits" as attorney general instead of clearing the backlog of rape kits. Schimel countered that the problem had accumulated over years. He said he needed time to inventory the kits and to find private labs to test them. His agency eventually secured a $4 million federal grant, and Schimel said his office tested more than 4,100 kits for which victims gave permission during his tenure. "About 3 1/2 years later, every kit that needed to be tested was done," he said. Crawford is hesitant to say whether she'd hear Act 10 case Crawford acknowledged that she had gone to court to try to block Act 10, the 2011 law that ended collective bargaining for most Wisconsin public employee unions. She even told The Capital Times in 2018: "I fought against Act 10." A Dane County judge last year ruled that much of the law was unconstitutional, and the decision has been appealed. The case is expected to come to the state Supreme Court eventually. At the debate, she said the current lawsuit differs from the litigation she brought. She wouldn't commit to recusing herself if the matter came before her on the Supreme Court. "It would depend on the specific facts in the case," she said. Schimel said it was clear what positions Crawford held on issues like Act 10, voter ID and abortion. "Now she backs off from things she was once proud of, campaigning as a judge," Schimel said. He noted that he plans to vote April 1 for a proposal to put voter ID in the state's Constitution. Crawford declined to say how she plans to vote. As the Republican attorney general, Schimel said he would defend Act 10 and stated that its restrictions shouldnt apply to police and firefighter unions. While in private practice, Crawford filed a lawsuit on behalf of the League of Women Voters to block the state law requiring voters to show photo identification. On one occasion, she likened the measure to a poll tax the now-banned laws that imposed fees to prevent poor people, many of them racial minorities, from voting. On another occasion, she labeled it "draconian." But she has declined to state her opinion on the measure because she said she doesn't "take positions on issues that could end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court." She has said her lawsuit helped make the voter ID law better, including by making the IDs free of charge. Schimel has been a strong supporter of the law, which the recent Marquette Law School poll found had the support of 77% of those surveyed and was opposed by 22%. Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com. Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice. (This story has been updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Supreme Court debate between Susan Crawfprd, Brad Schimel A Texas child and U.S. citizen being treated for brain cancer has been deported to Mexico along with her undocumented parents. The parents of the 10-year-old girl are now desperate to return to the U.S. to continue her treatment, after immigration enforcement removed the child and four of her U.S.-born siblings from Texas on February 4, according to NBC News. The family was traveling from their home in Rio Grande to Houston for an emergency medical check last month when they were stopped at an immigration checkpoint. Theyd visited the specialists five other times without problems, lawyer Danny Woodward, who is representing the family with the Texas Civil Rights Project, told NBC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Previously, the parents had shown letters from physicians and attorneys to get past the checkpoint. However, last month, the letters werent enough to get them through, and they were detained when the parents couldnt show legal immigration documentation. The mother told NBC that she attempted to explain her daughters situation to the officers, but they werent interested in hearing that. Woodward told the network that the parents dont have a criminal history apart from not having valid immigration status. U.S. Customs and Border Protection deported the family, their attorney said. For privacy reasons, we do not comment on individual cases, the agency told NBC. In an aerial view, a floating barrier ordered by Texas Governor Greg Abbott lies atop the Rio Grande on January 10, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas. A family was deported from the state after being apprehended by authorities on their way to a doctors appointment for their daughter (Getty Images) While the little girl has already undergone surgery to remove the cancerous brain tumor, she is still suffering from swelling on the brain, leaving her with speech and mobility challenges, her mother said. As a result, doctors were still checking her condition on a regular basis before the familys deportation. She was also taking medication to stop convulsions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four of the familys five children were born in the U.S. The parents came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2013 and settled in Texas with the hope for a better future. The couple has a son, aged 17, who remains in Texas. The mother told NBC that they were taken to a detention center after their apprehension, where the mother and daughters were separated from the father and sons. The fear is horrible. I almost cant explain it, but its something frustrating, very tough, something you wouldnt wish on anyone, she told the network. After several hours, the family was put in a van and let off on the Mexican side of a Texas bridge, after which they spent a week in a shelter in the area. They have been able to move into a house, and the mother said they have safety concerns, which makes it difficult to sleep. The children havent been able to attend school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, Rochelle Garza, told NBC that the case is a tragedy but that its not isolated to just them. She charged that it was part of a pattern in practice for the Trump administration. Trump border czar Tom Homan has said that families can be deported together regardless of their immigration status. He added that it would be their parents choice to leave their children in the U.S. or bring them along as they depart the U.S. Parents without proper immigration documentation may lose custody of their children born in the U.S. if theyre apprehended by authorities. If they dont have a power-of-attorney document or guardianship showing who will take care of the children, they will enter the U.S. foster care system, which makes it more difficult for the parents to get custody of their children in the future. So far, the cancer-stricken 10-year-old and her 15-year-old brother, who has a heart condition, havent been receiving the care they need in Mexico, their mother said. The authorities have my childrens lives in their hands, she tearfully told NBC. A Texas woman named Amber Paige Laudermilk has been charged with abusing a corpse. Authorities claim she used a scalpel to castrate the body of registered sex offender, Charles Roy Rodriguez, in February. The 34-year-old woman was employed as an embalmer at Memorial Mortuary & Crematory in Houston when she allegedly mutilated Rodriguezs body, according to a statement from Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen shared on Monday (March 10) via NBC News. Rodriguez was charged with sexual assault in 2001 and died of natural causes at a Houston hospital back in January. According to documents from local authorities, two Memorial Mortuary & Crematory employees witnessed the incident. One witness reportedly saw Laudermilk stab Rodriguez twice in the groin while in the cremation room before slicing off his penis and placing it in his mouth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Laudermilk allegedly told the first witness whos an embalming student You didnt see anything, in a way that the witness deemed as threatening. The other witness showed up not long after and noticed that Rodriguezs groin was disfigured. When asking Laudermilk what happened, she reportedly replied that Rodriguez had a lot going on with him. A complaint was filed with local authorities on Feb. 19. This case is about two troubled people: the victim who was a registered sex offender and the defendant, who is accused of viciously attacking his dead body, Rosen explained. No matter what one thinks of his life, the law requires that he be treated with dignity in death. A Harris County Precinct One spokesperson told NBC News that Laudermilk turned herself in on Tuesday (March 11) and is currently in custody at the Harris County Jail. Shes required to pay a $5,000 bond before being released. More from VIBE.com Sign up for Vibe's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. AUSTIN (Nexstar) Make America Healthy Again just got a Texas twist. On Wednesday, the Senate passed two bills with the aim to Make Texas Healthy Again, improving health-focused initiatives within the Lone Star State. The first of these bills, Senate Bill 25 filed by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R Brenham requires daily physical activity in public schools, a nutrition curriculum and food labels to warn Texas consumers which ingredients are banned in other countries. The bill passed unanimously 31-0. Make Texas Healthy Again push begins in Senate Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sixty percent of Americans have chronic diseases, and were spending $4.3 million a yearthat is five times our military budget, Kolkhorst told senators. These are some of the statistics that should make us sit up in our chairs, stand up and say, What is wrong? SB 25 also establishes the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee to create nutritional guidelines for Texans and examine links between food additives and chronic health. The bills bipartisan support was apparent as senators on both sides shared personal testimony. I can tell you that in San Antonio, you mentioned diabetes in your bill layout, we have some of the highest numbers of diabetes, hypertension, and because of that, we also have some of the highest numbers of per capita chronic renal failure, said Sen. Jose Menendez, D San Antonio. He added, It is the most ridiculous thing that is preventable, thats the worst part about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When I grew up, it was eggs were bad for you and steak was bad for you, right? So were told. So we were taught all these things that were wrong, said Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston. He added, So I think thats one of the most critical components of your bill, is that nutrition education. In a statement, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also praised the bills passing, naming SB 25 as one of his legislative priorities earlier in the session. I named SB 25 as a priority of mine because making Texas healthy again is the perfect way to ensure Texans can capitalize on our bright future, said Patrick in a statement. The commonsense reforms included in SB 25 highlight how important nutrition and exercise are in maintaining overall health. School choice, border, affordability among priorities in upcoming legislative session Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SB 314, filed by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R Mineola, also passed in relation to Make Texas Healthy Again. The bill bans seven chemicals in food commonly found in reduced-price or free lunch programs at public schools. It passed 30-1 in the Senate. Both bills will now move to their respective House committees for further voting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. AUSTIN (Nexstar) With more than 20 hours of discussion, the Texas House Committee on Public Education adjourned around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. After hearing more than 300 testimonies on House Bill 3 (HB 3) establishing an education savings account to subsidize private education for eligible Texans they left the bill pending in committee. While most of the people who spoke in public testimony were opposed to the bill, a release from the Texas Freedom Network (TFN) said 734 Texans officially registered their stance on the bill, with 502 registering against the bill, 213 registering in support of the bill, and 19 registering as neutral. The total number of registered stances certainly grew since TFN released its numbers, since comments closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Heres some highlights from the committees long night. A vote for layoffs and economic decline State Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, who chairs the Public Education Committee, announced 335 people signed up to testify as of 7 p.m., when public testimony started. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Your district schools are more than places where kids learn, theyre major employers, Danielle Bryant, a former teacher who opposes the ESA program said, while addressing the rural school choice supporters on the committee. A vote for HB 3 is a vote for layoffs and economic decline in your own communities. Its not conservative Tarrant County GOP Precinct Chair Hollie Plemons testified her opposition to the bill, saying it doesnt conform with Republican values. Im against this bill is because its not conservative. It grows government [and] creates a subsidy, Plemons said. I am very well aware of the paid messaging that all [Republicans] want HB 3. But I beg to differ. I bet money that Republican voters would not be for HB 3 if they knew illegals were eligible and closer to the front of the line than they are. That an LGBTQ school that is private just like they have in Arizona can be created and be a voucher school. That Muslim schools we have 25 of them in the state of Texas, 16 of them are already accredited can immediately become a voucher vendor school. Im positive that Republicans do not want to fund that. Plemons then got emotional talking about the sacrifices she had to make to put her children through private school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I sold my car. I drive an almost 20-year-old car. I have the newest car in my family. We dont go on vacations, we dont go out to eat, we dont even go to the movies, because I think its more important to have a government-free education for my child, she said. Ive been waiting for the last two years. I just got to get through two years, and then. My baby is going to be able to go to that private school, and now this, this isnt fair, Chairman Buckley, this isnt fair what youre doing at all. This is not responsible. My quality education didnt make the budget Testimony in favor of HB 3 also got emotional, as Angelina Tamez discussed how she was priced out of private education. In my opinion this could be a gamechanger for Hispanic families like my own, Tamez said. When I was a sophomore in high school, I walked into my class thinking it was going to be a regular agenda take notes, listen to the lecture. However this time, my teacher decided to do this assignment where she posted statistics on the walls. It was for us to be forced to encounter the truth of our education system. Two of these statistics said 7% of Rio Grande Valley (RGV) students are considered college-ready based on their ACT and SAT scores. 7%. And a third of your regions working-age residents never completed high school. While Tamez said the teacher was trying to motivate her class, she said it scared her into looking for alternative schooling options, but it was too expensive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With two toddlers in the home, groceries and gasoline were priority, and like so many south Texas residents, my quality education didnt make the budget, she said. In the RGV, 90% of us are Hispanic and so many of us are first-generation college and high school graduates like myself. Our abuelos, our parents, make so many sacrifices to give us the American dream and so often the public school system fails to meet us there. Therefore, in a community where poverty is high and test scores are low, school choice, HB 3, would allow us the opportunity of the American dream, a fighting chance and where our zip code no longer dictates our destiny. I think Rep. Schoolcraft should recuse himself The hearing started to get testy when Lynn Davenport asked Rep. Alan Schoolcraft, R-Guadalupe, to recuse himself from the vote due to campaign funding he received from Gov. Greg Abbott. Schoolcraft, who originally served in the Texas House from 1981-1993, won a primary against former Rep. John Kuempel. After Kuempel voted to kill similar legislation in 2023, Abbotts campaign donated $965,617.68 to Schoolcrafts campaign one of many donations the campaign made to Republicans challenging incumbent Republicans who voted against school choice. I think Rep. Schoolcraft should recuse himself because of the money that the governor gave him to buy that seat, Davenport said. Im serious, I think this is a really serious issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hold up a second, Buckley said. Dont make a personal attack against a member of the committee. Was that personal, Davenport replied. That was pretty public, its all public. Go to Transparency Texas website. Moments later, Schoolcraft weighed in. School choice is not a new issue to me. Has nothing to do with the governor, he said. In 1989-91, I was here advocating for school choice. I filed to run [this session] because of school choice, and it was over a month after I filed that I first heard from the governor. Its about your testimony and the credibility of your testimony Tensions between commenters and Schoolcraft picked up again at around 3 a.m. After hearing testimony from President of Republicans for Public Education Amy Fennell, Schoolcraft brought up a post on X she made eight hours earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im looking at something that really kind of stuns me, Schoolcraft said. Its a tweetits a picture of you in this room. It says Lord help me. Representative Terri Leo-Wilson wont shut up. The more she talks, the more the average IQ in this room drops.' And that has to do with the bill how, Fennell responded. It has to do with the credibility of your testimony, that would be it, Schoolcraft replied. A couple minutes later, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, weighed in. Ive also seen tweets of that nature from our governor, so I guess thats the new standard, he said. As Talarico continued to address Fennell, Schoolcraft interjected The governors not on this panel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You have to be recognized by the chairman. Youre a new freshman thats how this works, Talarico responded. The exchange overshadowed Fennells concerns about language in the bill making it cost-prohibitive for parents to sue if they have disagreements over the dispersment of funds. If a parent disagrees with with a decision made by the comptroller or an EOA (Educational Opportunity Organization) selected by the comptroller, they have to appeal that decision to the comptroller, Fennell said. Any decision made by the comptroller is considered final, so theres no path for recourse through the comptroller. So lets say that the parent decides okay, Im going to contest this, I should not have been denied this its a violation of my Constitutional rights. So they decide to file suit against the state. Section 29.374 grants the vendor the right to defend the program, which means the parent has to go up against the state and the vendor. How exactly does that protect parents? Then it gets worse. Lets say the parent somehow manages to fight off the state and the vendor, wins their lawsuit. The last section of section 8 on page 50 of the bill explicitly states that the bill does not permit the recovery of attorneys fees against the state, regardless of the outcome of this case. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. March 12 (UPI) -- The founder and former pastor of a Texas mega church was indicted Wednesday by a multi-county grand jury on charges of sexually abusing a 12-year-old during the 1980s. Robert Preston Morris, 63, is the founder of Southlake-based Gateway Church, one of the United States largest, and had resigned last summer as senior pastor amid sexual abuse allegations. The indictment announced Wednesday by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond accuses Morri of committing sexual misconduct against a 12-year-old daughter of a family he was staying with in Hominy when working as a traveling evangelist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court document states the alleged misconduct began Christmas 1982 and persisted until at least Jan. 24, 1985, when the victim was about 15 years old. Few specifics of the alleged misconduct are detailed in the document, which refers to the victim by the initials C.C. Two of the counts accuse Morris of having "intentionally and designedly touch or feel with his hand the body and private parts, including the breast and vaginal area, of C.C." One states he allegedly "intentionally and designedly" looked upon his victim's breasts and vaginal area "after removing her clothing and exposing those areas of her body to his view." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One count accuses him of molesting his victim, who was then 13 or 14 years old, "while parked in a vehicle" on Red Eagle Road in Osage County. The fifth count accuses him of touching or feeling the private parts of C.C., then about 13 or 14, "by removing her clothing and rubbing his body, including his penis, covered by his clothing, against her body, including her leg." The alleged incident again occurred while parked on Red Eagle Road. UPI has contacted Gateway Church for comment. "There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children," Drummond said in a statement Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done." Morris resigned from his church in June after confessing to committing a "moral failure" by engaging in sexual behavior with a "young lady" over several years in the 1980s. His resignation confession was prompted by Cindy Clemishire telling The Wartbug Watch church watchdog that Morris had sexually abused her between the ages of 12 and 15. Following Morris' resignation, Clemishire told The Christian Post that she was "appalled" by his description of her as having been a young girl when the alleged crimes occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I was a little girl," she told the evangelical news site in June. "A very innocent little girl. And he was brought into our home. He and his wife, Debbie, and their little boy, Josh, and trusted and preached at the church that my dad helped start and then began grooming all of us to do this, which took me decades to wrap my brain around as an adult." According to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, the statute of limitations is not applicable in this situation because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time. Editors Note: This story contains discussions of child abuse that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you suspect a child is being abused, find out how to report it in your state here. To connect with a counselor, you can call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4253. (NewsNation) An Oklahoma grand jury has indicted former televangelist and megachurch founder Robert Morris on child sexual abuse charges dating back to the 1980s. Morris, who previously served as a spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the attorney generals office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 63-year-old resigned from his role as senior pastor of Gateway Church in 2024 after Cindy Clemishire accused him of sexually abusing her starting in 1982. Clemishire said Morris was staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family at the time of the abuse. Execution by nitrogen gas ugly way to die: Medical ethicist There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children, said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gateway Church, based in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, was founded by Morris in 2000. The church said in a statement Wednesday that its members are praying for Clemishire and all of those impacted by this terrible situation. Delphi murders: Full Bridge Guy video releases on Richard Allen innocence website During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump named Morris as a member of his evangelical advisory board. Trump visited Gateway Churchs Dallas campus in 2020, the Dallas Morning News reported, during a trip that included a fundraising dinner. The Associated Press and NewsNations Cassie Buchman contributed to this report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. This article is part of Running Out, an occasional series about Texas water crisis. Read more stories about the threats facing Texas water supply here. Texas officials fear the state is gravely close to running out of water. Towns and cities could be on a path toward a severe shortage of water by 2030, data compiled in the state's 2022 water plan by the Texas Water Development Board indicates. This would happen if there is recurring, record-breaking drought conditions across the state, and if water entities and state leaders fail to put in place key strategies to secure water supplies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At risk is the water Texans use every day for cooking, cleaning and drinking. State lawmakers are debating several solutions, including finding ways to bring new water supply to Texas, and dedicating more money to fix dilapidated infrastructure. For most other Texans, however, the extent of their knowledge of where water comes from is the kitchen faucet and backyard hose. But behind every drop is a complicated system of sources, laws and management challenges. So, where does Texas get its water? Who owns it? And why are we running out? Lets break it down. [Want to understand Texas water crisis? Start with the guide to water terms.] Where does Texas get its water? Texas water supply comes from two main sources: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Groundwater makes up 54%. It is water that is stored underground in aquifers. Surface water makes up 43%. It is water from lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Texas has nine major aquifers and 22 minor ones. They are large formations underground made of sand, gravel, limestone and other porous rocks. The formations act as giant tubs that hold and filter the water. The largest is the Ogallala Aquifer underneath the Panhandle and West Texas. It is also the biggest aquifer in the U.S., and Texas shares it with seven other states. Its a lifeline for farms and ranches in the Texas High Plains. However, overuse is rapidly depleting it. Another major source is the Edwards Aquifer, which provides drinking water to San Antonio and the surrounding Hill Country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state also gets water from 15 major river basins and eight coastal basins, lakes, and more than 180 reservoirs. Reservoirs are man-made lakes created by damming rivers to store water for drinking, agriculture and industry. Like aquifers, they are not endless supplies water levels can depend on rainfall. And climate change, which alters precipitation patterns, leads to more droughts and fluctuating water levels. Major surface water sources include the Rio Grande, Colorado River, and reservoirs like Lake Travis in Austin and Toledo Bend in East Texas. Does water supply vary region by region? Yes, and where you get your water from depends on where you live. Groundwater is not equally available across the state. As water expert Carlos Rubinstein puts it: "People dont all live next to rivers, and the aquifer isnt a bathtub with the same amount of water everywhere. Rocks and sand get in the way." For example, people living in Lubbock get their water from several sources two water well fields, Lake Meredith and Lake Alan Henry. Texans living in Fort Worth get their water from mostly surface water sources lakes, reservoirs and the Trinity River. Is my city going to run out of water? How can I check? Since water supply varies by region, the Texas Tribune created an address-search tool. This tool shows where your local water supply comes from and what supply and demand projections look like for the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tool also explains how you can get more involved in water planning. This can be by attending meetings with regional groups who plan for water needs and use, providing public comments to the water development board as they draft new water plans, or by reaching out to lawmakers. Who owns Texas water and who governs it? Water in Texas is a legally complex, highly managed resource. If you own land above an aquifer in Texas, you own the groundwater beneath it just like owning oil or gas. You dont have to pump it to claim it; its yours by default. However, that doesnt mean you should use as much as you want. There are consequences. Groundwater is your long-term bank account, says John Dupnik, a deputy executive administrator at the Texas Water Development Board. The more you withdraw, the faster it declines because it doesnt replenish quickly. To manage this, some areas have groundwater conservation districts that regulate how much water can be pumped. Since groundwater is owned by the landowner, general managers at the districts say they constantly have to strike a balance between protecting water supplies and respecting private property rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to let landowners use their water, says Ty Edwards, general manager of the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District. But we also have to protect everyone elses wells. Its a juggling act. Unlike groundwater, surface water belongs to the state. To use it whether its for cities, farms, or businesses you need a permit from the states environmental agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Texas follows a first in time, first in right system, meaning older water rights take priority. In a drought, those with senior rights get water first, and newer users might be cut off entirely. Think of it like a sold-out concert, said Rubinstein, a former chair of the Texas Water Development Board. There are no more tickets. The only way to get more water is to build new storage, but thats easier said than done. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas two separate legal systems for water one for groundwater and one for surface water makes management tricky. Dupnik, the water board administrator, said Texas is unique in having the system divided this way. Just nine states, including Texas, have this two-tiered system. Most states are usually one or the other, Dupnik said. The two water resources are also deeply connected. About 30% of the water in Texas rivers comes from groundwater, according to a water board study. When wells pump too much, rivers and springs can dry up. Sharlene Leurig, a managing member with environmental consulting firm Fluid Advisors, said its important for people to understand the relationship between the two. Depletions of one drives depletions of the other, Leurig said. Why are people concerned about water now? Texas is growing, and its water supply isnt keeping up. With droughts, overuse and changing rainfall patterns, water is becoming a scarce resource. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 2022 Texas Water Plan estimates the states population will increase to 51.5 million people by 2070 an increase of 73%. At the same time, water supply is projected to decrease approximately 18%. The biggest reduction is in groundwater, which is projected to decline 32% by 2070. This shortfall will be felt most in two major aquifers: The Ogallala Aquifer, as a result of its managed depletion over time, and the Gulf Coast Aquifer, which faces mandatory pumping reductions to prevent land sinking from over-extraction. Texas is not only losing water to overuse. The states aging water pipes are deteriorating, contributing to massive losses from leaks and breaks. A 2022 report by Texas Living Waters Project, a coalition of environmental groups, estimated that Texas water systems lose at least 572,000 acre-feet per year about 51 gallons of water per home or business connection every day enough water to meet the total annual municipal needs of Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, Laredo and Lubbock combined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These old pipes also raise concerns about water quality and supply. Breaks trigger boil-water notices, while repairs and replacements strain budgets. This issue is amplified by the lack of funding for maintenance in some areas and the increasing demand for water due to population growth. Whos using the most water and how is that changing? Irrigation holds the top spot for water use in Texas, according to the water board. In fact, agriculture has been the dominant water consumer for decades. In 2020, over a third of irrigation and livestock water in Texas came from the Ogallala and Edwards-Trinity aquifers. At the same time, more than one-fifth of non-agricultural water came from the Trinity River Basin. But the way water is used is shifting. By 2060, municipal water demand is projected to overtake irrigation as the biggest user, according to the water board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Agriculture producers will struggle to meet water prices, said Alan Day, general manager of the Brazos Groundwater Conservation District. As climate change intensifies, he said, water supply may decrease in certain parts of the state and compound challenges for farmers and ranchers. With water getting more expensive, were seeing a shift from agricultural use to municipal demand, he said. Day added that water use isnt just about whos taking the most its about where its coming from, whos willing to pay for it, and how we decide to share it in the future. What do we want our shared water resources to look like 50 years from now? Day said. Thats a moving target. And its a political hot potato. The states water plan says Texas does not have enough water supply to meet the growing need of 6.9 million acre-feet of additional water supplies by 2070 enough to support 41.4 million Texans for one year. If water strategies are not implemented, the plan says approximately 25% of Texas population in 2070 would have less than half the municipal water supplies they will require during a significant drought. There's going to be a fight over at what level does harm occur to any of these particular aquifers, Day said. How are we planning for water shortages? The water board is responsible for planning for water shortages. The agency uses the 1950s drought or drought of record as a benchmark for statewide water planning. Temple McKinnon, the director of water supply planning at the state agency, said using the worst-case scenario allows water planners to come up with strategies for how to meet future water needs. That planning has manifested in state legislation and infrastructure investment. In 2023, voters approved a one-time use of $1 billion to fund infrastructure projects. This year, two Republican lawmakers, state Sen. Charles Perry from Lubbock and state Rep. Cody Harris of Palestine, filed constitutional amendments to dedicate $1 billion annually for up to 10 years for water projects. Harris also filed House Bill 16 a sweeping priority bill that touches on water funds, flood plans, and the development of infrastructure to transport water into a water supply system. Senate Bill 7, which Perry is expected to author, was named a priority by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and would increase investments in water supply efforts. Texas budget writers have already signaled a willingness to invest at least $2.5 billion in water plans. Perry previously told the Tribune he wants as much as $5 billion. A key part of this effort is the creation of a statewide water grid a network of pipelines and supply connections to better distribute water across Texas. Currently, water systems across the state operate independently. A new water grid would allow Texas to shift water from wetter regions to drier ones when supply shortages hit. However, a framework is still being developed to determine who will oversee and manage this interconnected system. Lawmakers, including Perry, are also eyeing new water resources to meet future water supply needs. Some Texas cities, like Corpus Christi along the coast, are turning to desalination to treat seawater and make it drinkable. El Paso has been a leader in this effort, but focusing on cleaning brackish groundwater slightly salty water found deep underground enough to drink. Experts say that the state has untapped water resources potentially enough to meet the states long-term needs. Disclosure: Texas Living Waters Project 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 Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. We cant wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. Texas Southern University is asking lawmakers for $120 million to replace its law school building after the organization that sets standards for law schools deemed it unsafe and ill-suited to serve students with disabilities. If the university doesnt address the litany of problems with the building, the school stands to lose its ability to offer federal financial aid to its students. University officials say storms from Hurricane Rita in 2005 to Hurricane Harvey in 2017 have battered the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in the nearly 50 years since it was built in the Third Ward of Houston. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They say they addressed leaks, mold and foundation issues as they arose, but the fixes werent enough for the American Bar Association, which evaluates and sets standards for law schools across the country. In 2021, the organization told TSU the building did not comply with its standards for facilities, equipment and technology. The school was told the building poses health and safety concerns and needs more elevators for people with disabilities as well as more space for students and faculty overall. The ABA told the university it would need to build a new facility to remain accredited. Accreditation ensures a higher education institution meets basic quality standards. Only students attending accredited institutions qualify for federal student grants and loans. The ABA does not appear to have given TSU a deadline to meet its facilities standards. The organization declined to comment on this story. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I cannot speculate on what failing to replace the aging facility would mean. What I would say is we owe our students the best learning and preparatory experience possible, University President James W. Crawford III said in a statement. It is very difficult to do so in the current facility. This is the second time TSU has requested money for a new law school building. During the previous legislative session two years ago, the university asked for $415 million for capital projects, but lawmakers denied that request. In this legislative session, funding to build a new law school is part of TSUs latest $202 million request for capital projects, which also includes $50 million to upgrade classrooms and address health and safety issues with electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems at other campus buildings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TSUs law school was created in the 1940s after a Black student was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austins law school. It was renamed after the U.S. Supreme Courts first Black justice, Thurgood Marshall, in 1978. Despite only representing 3% of all four-year institutions in the nation, historically Black colleges and universities like TSU graduate 17% of all Black students who obtain a bachelors degree and enroll twice as many Pell Grant-eligible students as non-HBCUs, according to a nonprofit that supports HBCUs. The Thurgood Marshall School of Law is Texas No. 1 school in graduating Black attorneys and No. 3 in graduating Latino attorneys. Many alumni serve in all levels of government. They include Senofria Thompson, the longest-serving woman and Black Texan in the Texas House of Representatives, and U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, who pushed to reform military investigations of sexual assault and harassment after the 2020 murder of 20-year-old Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen. U.S. Rep. Al Green, who was recently censured by the U.S. House for his protest during President Donald Trumps speech before Congress last week, graduated from TSU in 1973. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many HBCUs like TSU have been underfunded for decades. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Education notified 16 states, including Texas, that they had collectively underfunded HBCUs by $12 billion in the past 30 years. In 2018, the federal government studied how underfunding has led to HBCUs struggling to maintain and improve their infrastructure. Seventy of 79 HBCUs surveyed at that time reported that many if not most of their buildings needed to be repaired or replaced. Its unclear whether lawmakers will grant TSUs request this time. The money isnt included in their initial spending plan. Lawmakers must pass a budget by June 2. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This month, TSU students joined Crawford, a decorated Navy veteran who was appointed university president less than a year ago, when he testified before the Texas Houses higher education committee to request funds to replace the law school building. The students seemed to make an impression. State Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat who serves as vice chair of the committee, noted a Thurgood Marshall Law School student currently works for her. Another committee member, state Rep. Stan Lambert, a Republican from Abilene, remarked that seeing the students don the schools maroon-and-grey colors and fill most of the committee rooms seats sent a strong statement. Ive been asked many times why did I go from the Armed Forces, from being privileged to serve the colors of our nation to Texas Southern and youre looking at it right now, right behind me, Crawford said of the students. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Disclosure: Texas Southern University - Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. We cant wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. Australia's most endangered marsupial is showing signs of recovery after a 30-year conservation effort, offering hope for wildlife protection everywhere, according to University of Western Australia researchers. Gilbert's potoroo, once thought to be gone forever, was rediscovered in 1994 at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve near Albany. When scientists first counted the animals, they found just 40 individuals living in a small patch of heathland on Mount Gardner. This tiny creature had been missing from scientific records for over a century. Thoughtful planning by conservation teams created two backup populations between 2005 and 2014. These "insurance populations" proved their worth when disaster struck in November 2015. A bushfire swept through the original habitat, wiping out the leading group of potoroos. The species survived thanks to the backup populations on Bald Island and in a protected mainland area at Waychinicup National Park. This rare marsupial's comeback story shows how protecting individual species helps maintain healthy ecosystems for both locals and tourists. When unique animals like Gilbert's potoroo thrive, they support the underground fungi networks they feed on, which in turn help forest health. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Preserving ecological connections benefits community water supplies and helps keep our air clean. Saving the potoroo isn't the only conservation effort occurring in Australia a massive campaign is underway to try to preserve the Great Barrier Reef off the coast. "Understanding the genetic makeup of the remaining Gilbert's potoroo populations is crucial for maintaining their long-term viability," said Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair, who initially rediscovered the species and now serves as an adjunct senior research fellow from The University of Western Australia. Lead researcher Dr. Tony Friend from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions added: "The regenerating habitat at Two Peoples Bay remains a valuable resource for future recovery efforts." Scientists are now working to restore the original population using animals from the insurance colonies, combining fire management, predator control, and community support to ensure this special marsupial continues its journey back from the brink. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. HENRY COUNTY/BENTON COUNTY Tenn. (WKRN) A trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) was flown to an area hospital after being rear-ended and suffering serious injuries while on a THP motorcycle Wednesday afternoon. Commissioner of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Jeff Long, told News 2 the trooper later identified as Douglas Williams was struck on Highway 641 at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 12. First responders with the Benton County Emergency Management Service arrived on scene and began treatment. Williams was then airlifted to Skyline Medical Center via helicopter for treatment of serious, though not life-threatening, injuries. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Jason Pack with THP said Williams was on a 2024 Harley-Davidson police motorcycle and was rear-ended by another driver, who was not injured during the crash. Henry County officials added traffic was stopped at the Big Sandy River near Reynoldsburg Road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the crash and will provide a preliminary report at a later date. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee. This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. LIVINGSTON, La. (WGNO) Attorneys representing TikTok in a Louisiana lawsuit appeared in the 21st Judicial District Court on Wednesday to argue that the case doesnt belong in Louisiana. State Attorney General Liz Murrill and her team of attorneys, also in court, argued otherwise, claiming that the app exploits the Louisiana market. Murrill is suing the app for violating the states consumer protection laws; however, Tiktoks counsel said the state failed to prove a substantial connection between their clients and the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Louisiana attorney general files motion to resume Jessie Hoffman execution I think that some of the arguments here today were confusing, whether we can sue them here with whether we will win on the merits, explained Murrill. So, we still have some time to get to that part of the case. Our argument today is that its proper for us to be here right now. According to social media expert Robert Brownstone, in 2025, the defenses argument will be difficult to prove. With the internet, and especially with a high-tech company that uses the internet and reaches millions of people, if not millions, hundreds of thousands of people in a given state, that clearly meets the constitutional requirement of connection to the presence in a given state, said Brownstone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikToks attorneys also argued that the defendants dont learn if a user is located in Louisiana until after the user agreement form is signed and that state law doesnt prohibit a company from allowing users in Louisiana to download the app. Murrills team indicated that TikTok selects the age range for downloading capabilities, starting at 12-years-old. This is a lot of adult content that is extremely offensive, that is basically delivered through the algorithm in the app to children, said Murrill. NOPD releases crime statistics for 2025 Mardi Gras season This case is one of nearly two dozen lawsuits filed against TikTok in state courts across the country, but according to the defense, none are actively proceeding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unless the attorney generals themselves want to consolidate, and there may be everything from politics to turf issues to Hey, our statute is a little different than the other, I think these are going to go forward on their own, said Brownstone. Judge Brenda Bedsole Ricks has left the record open for ten days pending additional briefs before she makes her ruling. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO. Kansas City's TikTok influencer Alysha Burney's brother, Charles Burney, has responded to the false narratives about her death. Alysha died on March 2 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a day before her 25th birthday. After news of her death made headlines, there were speculations that she died due to drugs and partying too hard. However, Charles and the Burney family firmly denied those reports, stressing that Alysha was a hard-working and responsible woman. Alysha Burney's Brother Responds To Speculations About Her Death Instagram | Alysha Burney Alysha's brother isn't pleased with the speculations about her death. In a statement to the Daily Mail, he emphasized that his sister's death was due to health issues and not from partying too hard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the grieving brother, Alysha died after experiencing an asthma attack while sleeping. He also said his sister never did drugs but was a "hard-working woman" who loved her life and success. Charles also said that there was "misinformation online based on speculation." He added, "These sources lack credibility and should not be believed. My sister did not engage in environments that would lead to such situations." Alysha Burney's Brother Threatens Legal Action On March 10, Charles announced his sister's death on Instagram and decried the "fake narratives" about the circumstances of her passing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He wrote, "Good Morning Burney Bunch!! I come with great sadness that my little sister Alysha Burney has passed. PLEASE allow our family time to grieve during this time." Charles continued, "It is extremely difficult seeing all of the false narratives trying to defame her legacy and we are ready to take legal action for those continuing to spread false information regarding her passing." He concluded, "We know so many people care about her and will share more information soon but just give us some time and please stop harassing the family. Her legacy will still live on FOREVER!!" Charles Burney Extols His Sister's Virtues On March 10, Kansas City's Fox4 broke the news of Alysha Burney's passing and spoke to Charles, who was with her when she died. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the interview, Charles highlighted his late sister's qualities. He said, "She was not selfish with her knowledge and was a very open book about her journey. She will always be dearly loved, and her legacy will live on forever." He added, "Alysha was very goal-oriented, creative, and passionate about giving back. She graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Digital Media Production and was working towards her graduate degree." Responding to the rumors about Alysha's death, Charles said, "She does not do drugs. She was a self-loving and happy individual who cherished her life and was looking forward to the upcoming year's plans. She was in Mexico to celebrate her birthday. She was a very classy young woman." He added, "Her lifelong goal was to be a writer and a director. Another goal she had was to return to Kansas City, open a production studio, and help other young creatives from Kansas City get to where she was." Alysha Burney's Family And Friends Honor Her Life Instagram | Charles Burney Alysha's friends and family honored her memory after her passing by recounting some of their treasured memories of her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking to Fox4, they said she was always destined for greatness. Charles recalled when Alysha was late for her graduation at the University of Central Missouri because she was at her house helping movers. He said, "My girl, I am so proud of you, like you did it, you did it, you did the thing." Charles added, "She was driven, so dedicated, she had plans, she had goals, ambitions, and she ran for them." Alysha's brother also described how it felt watching his sister die. He said, "It is extremely devastating. Experiencing that and being there, I feel like I lost my heart." Meanwhile, Alysha's mother, Anitra Scott, added, "Bold, outgoing, outspoken. She never let anything hold her back, goal-driven." Friends Describe How Alysha Made Others Feel Instagram | Charles Burney Alysha Burney's best friend, Hiba Lukadi said, "It's really hard. Usually, when something happens, she's the first person I call, and now, not having her to talk to." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lukadi also said knowing Alysha was to love her, adding that God took his time with her. Another of her friends, Nikolai Adams, who moved to Los Angeles in October to be closer to her, said, "The way that she could make anyone comfortable, the ways she could make anyone be themselves is definitely magic." Meanwhile, the deceased's mom, Scott, recalled joining her and her friends in their hilarious videos. She said, "I joined them in their foolishness. I was like, 'People would never believe I was y'alls mother." Alysha was incredibly active on social media. She had over 2.5 million followers on TikTok, 1.27 million followers on YouTube, and 589k followers on Instagram. Mar. 13Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller has formally launched his reelection campaign, seeking to become the first mayor elected to three consecutive terms. His announcement comes at a time when tensions are flaring with the City Council; voters have favored charter amendments that chip away at the strong mayor system, and crime and homelessness are top of mind for residents. "I see what you see: the challenges with homelessness, with crime, with empty buildings, but I also see that we're finally getting traction on some of these big challenges," Keller said in a campaign ad released Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Homelessness in line with the national trend has increased since Keller was elected. In 2017, the year before Keller took office, the annual Point in Time Count recorded 1,318 people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque. In 2024, the same study counted 2,740 people sleeping on the streets in the city. Since his election, Keller's administration has focused on and spent millions on the Gateway network of shelters, which has a capacity of just over 800 beds and offers resources for medical and housing services. Keller also touts that crime numbers are down in the advertisement. Albuquerque Police Department crime stats indicate that property crime has steadily declined since Keller assumed office in 2018, whereas violent crime has experienced fluctuations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In August, Keller confirmed his intention to run for a third term and told KOAT-TV that he was doing so to "finish key projects." He was not made available for comment Thursday. The mayor filed with the city clerk on Thursday afternoon and will run a publicly financed campaign. His formal announcement to pursue a third term comes after a year when the City Council made multiple attempts to change the city charter, including a change that would have no longer required a 50% majority for a candidate to win the mayoral election Keller vetoed it. But voters approved a pair of charter changes in November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The changes boost the council's power to fire police and fire chiefs and requires the council and mayor's office to quickly fill seats on a committee that aims to address separation of powers issues. Keller's announcement also comes on the heels of a meeting when councilors overwhelmingly overturned a veto from him and sided on a 7-2 vote with the local firefighter's union to override staffing changes from the fire chief appointed by Keller. The incumbent mayor will face former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, conservative radio show host Eddy Aragon, former Sandoval County Deputy County Manager Mayling Armijo, retired firefighter Eddie Varela and Patrick Sais, who garnered approximately 30 votes during the last mayoral election. Additionally, Councilor Louie Sanchez one of the most vocal critics of Keller and Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina told news outlet City Desk that he is eyeing a run. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keller was first elected in a runoff election in 2017 and easily held onto his seat in 2021. The only mayor in the city's history to serve three terms was Martin J. Chavez from 1993 to 1997 and 2001 to 2009. The Regular Local Election, which also includes the seats in City Council Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, is slated for Nov. 4. Ex-veep nominee Tim Walz slammed President Donald Trump for creating economic chaos on Wednesday but he also blamed himself and presidential nominee Kamala Harris in an MSNBC interview. (Watch the video below.) Walz told host Chris Hayes that Trump was the worst possible business executive that I have ever witnessed. He also thanked the Wall Street Journal for its scathing editorial on Trumps tariff war. He said it could help spur the Democratic Minnesota governors GOP constituents to rethink their support of Trump. I think Americans have had it, Walz explained. ... Look, I own this. We wouldnt be in this mess if wed have won the election and we didnt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the presidents turbulent second term could generate a Democratic comeback, Walz said Wednesday. We have to make sure that Americans know its not just that Donald Trump is bad but were offering them something better, he continued. And I think thats what we need to work on. Tim Walz says Democrats 'wouldnt be in this mess' if he and Kamala Harris had won 'I own this' "[Trump] is the worst possible business executive that I have ever witnessed" "The richness of a sitting senator like Tommy Tuberville or Elon Musk telling us were going to have to pic.twitter.com/lCNNmOXDXR Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) March 13, 2025 Walz has been revisiting his and ex-Vice President Harris defeat to Trump and JD Vance. Last week he noted a void of leadership in the Democratic Party after the setback, saying, Were not going to have a charismatic leader ride in here and save us from this. He also suggested he spent too much time combatting Trumps racist lie about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Walz said he got played by Trump, who had correctly gauged his bases support on the matter. Related... ST. LOUIS Tishaura Jones is the active mayor for the City of St. Louis. She is running for a second term in the April 2025 municipal election. Jones and challenger Cara Spencer, the two remaining candidates for the seat, are set for a live, televised debate Thursday evening at the FOX 2 news studio. Jones is the 47th mayor for the City of St. Louis and the first Black female mayor in the citys history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since taking office, Jones has prioritized progressive reforms, criminal justice initiatives, and economic equity. Her administration has pushed for the citys first comprehensive transportation plan in decades, launched the Save Lives Now initiative aimed at combating violent crime, and signed legislation to regulate open carry in the City of St. Louis. Cara Spencer: What to know about the challenger running for St. Louis mayor Jones has also backed economic policies such as a guaranteed basic income program, a senior tax freeze, eviction protections, and significant investments in affordable housing. Her administration also introduced the Strong STL website to address the citys ARPA funds. Beyond economic and safety initiatives, Jones has also been a strong advocate for social justice, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant communities, reproductive freedom and marijuana decriminalization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In recent months, Jones administration has firmly opposed efforts to shift control of the St. Louis Police Department from the mayors office to a state-controlled board. According to her campaign website, Jones is running on a platform centered around public safety reform, government modernization and community investment. Jones will run against Spencer for the second consecutive mayoral election cycle. In April 2021, Jones emerged victorious with 51.7% of the vote compared to Spencers 47.75% in an election with more than 58,000 ballots cast. However, in the March 4, 2025 primary municipal election, Spencer led all St. Louis mayoral candidates with a 68.11% approval percentage, while Jones finished second with a 33.19% approval percentage, according to St. Louis election results. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During a Feb. 25 mayoral candidates forum, Jones said, We are committed to reducing homicides and gun violence by 20% for the next three years, and were also committed to eradicating homelessness. When speaking to supporters after the March 4 primary, she added, Weve been working to improve all of the things that [opponent Cara Spencer] talks about, and we can talk and walk and talk and chew gum at the same time. How to watch the St. Louis mayoral debate on FOX 2 Before she became mayor, Jones served as a Democratic Committeewoman for St. Louis 8th Ward (2002-2009), a Missouri House Representative for District 63 (2009-2013), and St. Louis treasurer (2013-2021). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During her tenure in the Missouri General Assembly, Jones became the first woman to serve as the House minority floor leader, working in committees for education, finance, health insurance and election oversight. As treasurer, she launched the Office of Financial Empowerment to promote financial literacy initiatives and directed parking meter revenue to fund college savings accounts for children in need. Jones was born and raised in the city of St. Louis. She has a Bachelors of Science degree in finance from Hampton University and a Master of Health Administration degree from St. Louis University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) The Tennessee legislature is debating a bill that would require all schools in the state to provide free breakfast and lunch for students of eligible families. It would also require the state to reimburse school systems if they should have to pay more than what federal funds provide. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Bobby Harshbarger (R-Kingsport). Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville), a co-sponsor of the bill, believes this will help benefit students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our children are our greatest asset and because kids are ready to learn when they have a full belly hunger affects concentration, memory, cognitive development, Campbell said, And you know, when kids have access to nutritious meals, they focus better and achieve better. The bill comes as Congress considers a proposal that would cut the number of schools eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision program, or CEP. The CEP program allows schools to provide free meals to all students. Washington County Schools participate in the CEP. The school systems nutrition director, Caitlin Shew, says the bill would help counter the CEP cuts. If Congress passes the budget cuts that are being proposed, then this bill would be a supplement to kind of mitigate the loss of revenue that the (school system) will see, Shew explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shew said the meals help students do better in the classroom. We know that kids that participate in the school lunch program, in the school breakfast program have higher scores, Shew said. You know, they have lower attendance issues and lower disciplinary issues. Both Shew and Campbell said there is a moral obligation to provide school meals since schools provide other equipment for students. We provide them everything that they need, computers and everything, Shew said. But school nutrition and a meal seems to be something that is still very problematic to ensure that kids have access to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If passed, the bill would take effect July 1 and apply to the 2025-26 school year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A Tennessee man was taken into custody and charged for allegedly uploading child sex material to the internet. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations announced the arrest of Brandon Fairchild of Medina, Tenn., who is accused of uploading child sex abuse material to an electronic service provider account during the course of a TBI investigation. See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South. Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox. The investigation was opened in December 2024 following a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Fairchild was identified as the owner of the account containing the sensitive material. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On March 9, a search warrant was executed for the electronic service provider account, and Fairchild was taken into custody. He was charged with one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, and two counts of Unlawful Photography. Fairchild is currently being held at the Gibson County Jail. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Mar. 13With bill debates lasting into late in the evening, it's clear legislators feel a ticking clock with the 60-day session nearing adjournment. Here are a few debates and bills to watch out for on Thursday, March 13, and a recap of Wednesday. Net-zero emissions: A proposed innovation in state government fund, Senate Bill 83, wants to send money to state agencies to help them achieve net-zero emissions and implement sustainable economic policies. It goes before the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee in the morning, though it currently lacks a budgetary appropriation. CARA: Senate Bill 42 would move the primary oversight of the state's Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, program away from the Children, Youth and Families Department and to the Department of Health. It's No. 5 on the Senate floor calendar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wednesday recap Game commission reform: Senate Bill 5, an attempt to overhaul the state Department of Game and Fish, passed the House on a 42-26 vote after hitting the three-hour debate limit. It goes back to the Senate for concurrence, since a House committee amended the bill with cleanup language and different licensing fees. House Republicans failed to amend the bill twice on the floor. Veterans property taxes: A bill implementing property tax changes approved by New Mexico voters last fall is headed to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk. The measure, House Bill 47, passed the Senate on a 39-0 vote Wednesday. It would expand an existing property tax exemption for veterans, starting in the 2025 tax year. Get your camera out: It's Film and Media Day, courtesy of Santa Fe labor union IATSE Local 480. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where the bills stand SB83: Passed Senate. Must pass House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources and House Appropriations and Finance Committees, then the full House, then the governor's desk. HB5: Passed Senate and House. Goes back to Senate for concurrence, then to governor's desk. HB47: Passed Senate and House. Headed to Lujan Grisham's desk for final approval. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is joining a chorus of Republican lawmakers in condemning Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and recent Columbia University graduate who organized peaceful protests on campus last year amid Israels ongoing war on Gaza. The Syria-born legal U.S. resident was abducted from his university-owned apartment Saturday by federal immigration agents who didnt have a warrant or a crime to charge him with. Khalil is currently being held in a detention facility in Louisiana. While most conservatives who support this apparent First Amendment breach appear content with calls to deport Khalil, Tuberville told Fox Business on Wednesday that he belongs in jail along with all the other protesters supposedly disrupting education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Democrats, basically, they dont like our country anymore, said Tuberville. They just want to tear it down Every Democrat that we work with up here, theyre gonna take this guys side and theyre gonna try to drive this narrative that hes doing the right thing. You know, we have two levels of education, Tuberville added. We have K-12 and we have higher ed. Weve gotta treat both of them different, but when it comes to protesters, we gotta make sure we treat all of em the same: Send em to jail. Immigration agents claimed after detaining Khalil that his green card will be revoked, but his attorney Amy Greer filed a habeas corpus petition on his behalf Monday prompting a district judge to rule against his deportation pending further legal action in his case. Tommy Tuberville: "When it comes to protesters, we gotta make sure we treat all of them the same: send them to jail." pic.twitter.com/Na55pK3QsM Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 12, 2025 President Donald Trump, who appears to call anyone belonging to his political opposition Palestinian these days, labeled Khalil a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on his Truth Social platform Monday, despite there being zero evidence to support that claim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than a dozen progressive lawmakers published an open letter Tuesday demanding Khalils release, arguing that the Trump administrations illegal actions set a dangerous precedent of stifling constitutional rights to free speech and due process in America. Free speech is great, but hateful, hate, free speech is not what we need in these universities, Tuberville said Wednesday about anti-Israel protests across schools. And they dont need to be doing things that theyre preaching from Hamas, about antisemitism. The First Amendment protects free speech whether people feel a need to hear ideas they disagree with or not. Numerous journalists have further questioned if theres actual evidence that Khalil is antisemitic. On Monday, his wife, who is eight months pregnant, made a plea for his release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby, she said. I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world. Related... The first total lunar eclipse since 2022 will turn the moon a haunting crimson for over an hour. The eclipse will be visible in the Western Hemisphere in every state in the U.S. The eclipse will start around 1 a.m. EDT on Friday, and the totality will happen between about 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. EDT. A celestial spectacle is in store tonight that will make the moon appear an eerie shade of red. On the night of March 13 and early into March 14, stargazers in North America and South America will have a front row seat to a total lunar eclipse. The event, the first of its kind in nearly three years, will gradually unfold between 11:57 p.m. and 6 a.m. EDT. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Totality, the point at which the moon enters the Earths inner shadow (umbra) and begins a visual transformation, will occur between 2:26 a.m. and 3:31 a.m. EDT. During this stage, which is expected to last 65 minutes, the lunar surface will transition from its traditional pearly white to a deep, ruddy red, giving way to the prolonged spectacle of the "blood moon." Why will the moon turn red? A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun, casting its shadow fully over the lunar surface. During totality, the moon enters Earth's umbrathe darkest, central part of its shadowand gradually dims. While Earth blocks direct sunlight from reaching the moon, some of the suns light still filters through the planets atmosphere. This phenomenon, known as Rayleigh scattering, creates the same effect that makes sunrises and sunsets so vivid, and paints the moon in an eerie, red glow. The red is the projection of all the sunrises and sunsets onto the lunar surface, Noah Petro, Project Scientist for NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, told Forbes. We see it turn red not because of some mythical fire-breathing dragon, but because of the properties of the Earths atmosphere scattering light. How to Watch the Eclipse Unlike solar eclipses, which require special glasses for viewing every phase except totality, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to view with the naked eye. If anything, all youll need is a blanket, lawn chair, and a hot cup of coffee. Theyre also quite forgiving with uneven weather conditions thanks to their long duration, so if a cloud briefly obscures the moon during totality, waiting several minutes for it to pass wont spoil the fun. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Should the March weather, however, decide to present something more dull and grey, dont despair. Eclipse gurus Anne Buckle and Graham Jones of TimeandDate.com will be hosting a live stream of the event starting at 1 a.m. EDT on March 14. If the haunting glow of the blood moon sparks your passion for total lunar eclipses, you wont have long to wait to catch it again. On Sept. 7, another striking show will captivate stargazers across Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. For those in the Americas, the next total lunar eclipse arrives in March 2026. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure For the first time since 2022, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across the U.S., giving Tennessee a chance to see the rare "blood moon." Starting late Thursday night and continuing through dawn Friday, the Volunteer State will get to see the full moon turn a dazzling red color after falling fully in Earth's shadow, which is why it's known as the "blood moon." "During a lunar eclipse, the moon appears red or orange because any sunlight that's not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick slice of Earths atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface," said NASA. "Its as if all the worlds sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you're looking to take advantage of Tennessee's near-perfect vantage point, here's when you should be watching for the eclipse When will the lunar eclipse be visible? You'll have to stay up late to see the total eclipse in Tennessee. The phenomenon will begin around 11 p.m. CDT or midnight Eastern and continue until 5 a.m. CDT or 6 a.m. Eastern Here's a breakdown. 11:57 p.m. EDT, 10:57 p.m. CDT: Penumbral eclipse begins. Moon enters the outer part of Earth's shadow. 1:09 a.m. EDT, 12:09 a.m. CDT: Partial eclipse begins . Moon enters Earth's umbra, the innermost and darkest part of the Earth's shadow, causing a partial eclipse. 2:26 a.m. EDT, 1:26 a.m. CDT: Totality begins . The entire moon sits in the Earth's umbra. The moon should appear red. 3:31 a.m. EDT, 2:31 a.m. CDT: Totality ends . The moon will recede back to partial eclipses. 4:47 a.m. EDT, 3:47 a.m. CDT : Partial eclipse ends . The eclipse will dim as the moon is back in the outer part of Earth's shadow. 6 a.m. EDT, 5 a.m. CDT: Penumbral eclipse ends. The eclipse is over. When is the best time to see the lunar eclipse? The best time to see the total lunar eclipse is between 2:26 and 3:31 a.m. EDT, 1:26 and 2:31 a.m. CDT. At that time, the moon will appear coppery red to the naked eye. You'll also be able to snap a picture of the "blood moon" with a regular camera. Will skies be clear to see the eclipse? Will it be cloudy? Tennessee will have slightly unsettled weather Thursday ahead of a potential outbreak of severe weather expected to affect conditions Friday and Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While scattered showers and partly cloudy skies are expected through the day Thursday, there's a chance for clear skies at night across parts of Tennessee just in time to see the eclipse before storms return later Friday. There's good news though. Even if scattered clouds are on the horizon, the lunar eclipse's totality will last long enough to catch a glimpse of it. With March being a pretty typical month for spring showers, theres roughly a 50/50 chance itll be cloudy, so keep a close eye on the weather forecast leading up to the eclipse, said Dr. Renee Weber, the chief scientist at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. That totality will last for close to an hour, so even if its cloudy you may still be able to glimpse it if the clouds are scattered. Do I need special glasses or equipment to see a lunar eclipse? No. Unlike the solar eclipse of 2024, you don't need special eyewear to protect your eyes. However, NASA recommends binoculars or a telescope for a better view! What is a lunar eclipse? A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align so that the moon passes into Earths shadow, according to NASA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are three types of lunar eclipses: A total lunar eclipse, a partial lunar eclipse and a penumbral eclipse. In a total lunar eclipse, the event which will happen this week, the moon will move into the inner part of Earths shadow. some of the sunlight passing through Earths atmosphere reaches the moons surface, lighting it dimly in hues of red and orange. In a partial lunar eclipse, the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth will be imperfect, which will result in only a shadow covering a portion of the moon, according to NASA. A penumbral eclipse is the most subtle; only a faint shadow will be seen. What is a 'blood moon'? During the total eclipse, when the moon is fully tucked into the Earth's shadow, it can glow a coppery red because the light waves are stretched out. This is called a blood moon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How red the moon appears depends on factors like pollution rates, cloud coverage and debris, according to Space.com. When is the next lunar eclipse? The next total lunar eclipse will be on Sept. 7. However, viewers in America will not be able to see that eclipse, according to NASA. The September eclipse will be for Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What time is the lunar eclipse tonight? When to see blood moon Ambitious Illinois Democrats are dreaming about Sen. Dick Durbins exit in 2026. The latest contender: the states lieutenant governor. Juliana Stratton, who first took office in 2019, is quietly positioning herself for a Senate bid if Durbin bows out, calling key Democratic figures to ask for support, according to three people with knowledge of her plans, one of whom spoke with her directly and the other two who spoke with members of her team. And she and her staff have said that shes already secured the support of Gov. JB Pritzker, the three people said. They were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations and avoid political retribution. She and her team have made clear she expects Pritzker to be heavily involved financially, those people said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Juliana continues to keep an open mind about future opportunities, and if she does decide to pursue higher office, shed be proud to earn the governors support while working to build a broad grassroots coalition, said a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. Pritzker, a high-profile governor and potential 2028 hopeful, is already a prolific Democratic donor and party operator, and his vast personal wealth would be a significant boost to any candidate. His money and endorsement could transform the brewing shadow primary that includes several members of the states congressional delegation. His team declined to discuss an endorsement or financial backing in any potential primary. Were not going to engage with hypotheticals for a seat thats not even open, said a person close to the governors political operation granted anonymity to speak candidly. The governor hand-picked Stratton, then a state representative, to be his running mate in 2017 and he was a guest of honor last month at a fundraising event for her newly formed federal PAC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire, could support that PAC as well as donate millions to any other super PACs supporting her campaign. That kind of financial support could make Stratton the front-runner in a primary that would essentially guarantee a spot in the Senate in the heavily blue state. And if a Pritzker-backed candidate wins the race, it could help position him even more firmly as a major Democratic powerbroker, one whose influence could extend beyond Illinois political circles as 2028 approaches. Durbin has served in the Senate since 1997 and while many Democrats expect the 80-year-old will retire, those close to him say he hasnt yet decided. In a brief interview Wednesday, Durbin acknowledged the lieutenant governor was among the Democrats who are preparing for his possible retirement: "She said if I run she's not going to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has been padding his campaign account for years for a possible Senate run. He had amassed $17.1 million by the end of 2024. His fellow Democratic Reps. Lauren Underwood, who flipped a GOP-held district in 2018, and Robin Kelly, the former chair of the Illinois Democratic Party, are also eyeing the seat. The Kremlin is prioritizing a long-term settlement over a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on March 13, calling the U.S. truce proposal a "respite for the Ukrainian military." His remarks come as U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, reportedly arrived in Moscow for talks on a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin will determine Moscow's stance on the idea of a temporary ceasefire later on March 13, Ushakov added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement, and we are striving for that, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our known concerns," Ushakov said on state television. Ushakov added that he outlined Russia's position on the ceasefire to U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. "I outlined our position that this (ceasefire) is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more," Ushakov said. Waltz and Ushakov also agreed that Ukraine's potential NATO accession cannot be part of the peace settlement debate, Putin's aide claimed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration has previously called Kyiv's prospects of joining the alliance unrealistic, while Russia has named a ban on Ukraine's entry as one of the key conditions in any negotiations. Asked about Witkoffs possible arrival in Moscow, Ushakov declined to comment, saying, "We agreed that this kind of contact would be of a closed nature." Kyiv agreed to the U.S. proposal during negotiations in Jeddah on March 11, after which Washington resumed military and intelligence support for Ukraine. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham called for sanctions against Russia if Moscow refuses a proposed ceasefire. He promised to introduce new congressional measures targeting Russia and nations that continue to buy Russian goods, including oil, gas, and uranium. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the past, Moscow ruled out a temporary ceasefire that would freeze the conflict along the current front lines. Russian nationalist voices and pro-war bloggers have already spoken out against the U.S.-backed proposal. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that U.S. officials are in Moscow but did not disclose Russia's position on the ceasefire proposal. Read also: Russia presents US with demands for possible Ukraine peace deal, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Trump administration has undertaken a radical attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and Palestinian activist. Immigration agents took him into custody on Saturday at Columbia University, where he had helped organize and negotiate on behalf of the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest. But the administration has offered little concrete justification for why it thinks it has the right to deport Khalil in the first place. The administration has admitted Khalil did not break any laws and instead, theyve offered vague allegations and promised more arrests of activists in the near future, potentially using software to sift through social media posts. The Trump administrations muddy rhetoric justifying Khalils deportation continued Thursday, when a top Homeland Security official hemmed and hawed for five minutes as an NPR reporter tried to get a straight answer out of him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked by NPRs Michel Martin what specific conduct Khalil allegedly engaged in that would merit his removal from the United States, DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar simply wouldnt say directly. Describing Khalil as a student who entered the country on a visa Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card Edgar said Khalil came in as a student that is not going to be supporting terrorism but later had allegedly been promoting this antisemitism activity at the university. The State Department, Edgar said, revoked his visa for supporting that terrorist-type organization. (Martin repeatedly corrected Edgar, noting Khalil had a green card.) What specifically constituted terrorist activity that he was supporting? Martin pressed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Agitating and supporting Hamas, Edgar eventually said. How did he support Hamas? Exactly what did he do? Martin asked. I think you can see it on TV, right? Edgar replied. This is somebody that weve invited, and allowed this student to come into the country, and hes put himself right in the middle of the process of basically, pro-Palestinian activity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio can review his visa process at any point, Edgar added. Is any criticism of the Israeli government a deportable offense? Martin asked. Edgar didnt answer directly, instead saying, at any point, we can go through and evaluate what his status is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is any criticism of the United States government a deportable offense? Martin asked. Edgar didnt answer directly. Martin asked the same question. Edgar responded with a hypothetical, in which Khalil had told immigration authorities initially that Im going to go and protest and join antisemitic activities. We would never let him into the country. Is protesting a deportable offense? Martin pressed. Again, Edgar wouldnt answer. If he would have declared hes a terrorist, we never would have let him in, the DHS official said. And what did he engage in that constitutes terrorist activity? Martin asked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I mean, Michel, have you watched it on TV? Its pretty clear, Edgar said. No it isnt, Martin said, asking Edgar to explain. I think its clear, or we wouldnt be talking about it. The reality is, if you watch and see what hes done on the university Martin interrupted: Are you telling us that youre not aware? I find it interesting that youre not aware, Edgar shot back. Without any concrete response from the administration, Martin ended the interview. The conflation of protest and terrorism stopped me cold, Will Creeley, legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech group, commented on X, formerly Twitter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The interview followed a pattern for Donald Trumps administration, which has refused or been unable to give any specific examples of Khalil engaging in violent behavior or otherwise doing anything that might justify the revocation of his permanent residency. Instead, theyve alleged that he led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization or that he distributed pro-Hamas propaganda all impossibly vague allegations that could serve to suppress the free speech of countless others. In the end, the Trump administration says Khalil is eligible to be deported because they assert his presence in the United States could have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States obscurelegal language thats only been cited once in recent memory, against a former deputy attorney general of Mexico living in the United States, Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck told The New York Times. The government certainly appears to be retaliating for constitutionally protected, even if offensive, speech, Vladeck told the Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While green card holders can be deported for committing immigration violations or crimes such as violent crime or fraud everyone in the United States, including permanent residents and visa holders, is covered by the U.S. Constitution and its First Amendment protections. The effort to deport Khalil will be a major legal test of Trumps efforts to crack down on what he calls anti-American activity. Now, with Khalils wife eight months pregnant, the former Columbia grad student is behind bars at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana, cut off from communication with his attorneys, they said at a hearing Wednesday. CORRECTION: This story has been amended to correct the name of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Related... ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister, defence minister and the head of the MIT intelligence agency are in Damascus on a working visit, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, without providing details. The visit follows the outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria this week, pitting the security forces from Syria's new Islamist-led government - backed by Turkey - against fighters from toppled President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority. It also follows an agreement between the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian government to integrate the group into Syria's institutions. In exchange, the agreement provides for the transfer of state SDF-controlled civilian and military institutions in northeast Syria, as well as border crossings, an airport and oil and gas fields there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkey regards the SDF, which controls much of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist group linked with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state for over 40 years. The PKK is deemed a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. Since the ousting of Assad last year by rebels, some of whom have been backed by Turkey for years, Ankara has repeatedly said the YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, must disarm, disband, and send its foreign fighters out of Syria. Turkey has mounted several cross-border operations against the YPG in recent years, and a Defence Ministry official said on Wednesday that attacks on Kurdish militants in Syria were still continuing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkey has welcomed the SDF-Damascus deal, but said it would need to see its implementation to ensure the YPG does not end up joining Syrian state institutions or security forces as a bloc, while maintaining its demands from the group. Last month, the jailed leader of the PKK called on the group to disarm, after which the militants announced they would cease all hostilities, while calling for more freedoms for its leader. Ankara has become one of the main foreign allies of the new Syrian government since rebels ended Assad's rule, vowing to help rebuild the country and help train its armed forces. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, Editing by Ece Toksabay and Timothy Heritage) As spring approaches, state officials are planning a statewide tornado drill as part of severe weather awareness week as a way to encourage people to prepare. "We're two weeks away from the statewide tornado drill!," the Michigan State Police said in a Facebook post. "While tornadoes can occur during any time of the year, they are especially common during the late spring and early summer months." Severe Weather Awareness Week is March 16-22. State and local officials are encouraging residents to participate in the voluntary statewide tornado drill at 1 p.m. March 19. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Unfortunately, a lot of individuals do not think about these things until it is too late. Prepare your family, engage your community, and help build a prepared and resilient Michigan!" the Michigan MIREADY website notes. Michigan has on average 15 tornadoes per year, according to MIREADY, the program through MSP that provides resources and education to prepare Michigan residents for emergencies. The average lead time for a tornado warning is just 10 to 15 minutes. We're two weeks away from the statewide tornado drill! While tornadoes can occur during any time of the year, they are... Posted by Michigan State Police on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 Here's what you should know before severe weather strikes. What to do before a disaster Identify safe rooms built to FEMA criteria or ICC500 storm shelters or other potential protective locations in sturdy buildings near your home, work, and other locations you frequent. Build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan. Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or to commercial radio or television newscasts for the latest information. What to do during a tornado If you are under a tornado warning, seek shelter immediately. Do not open windows. In a high-rise building, go to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible. What to do after a tornado If you are trapped, do not move about or kick up dust. If possible, cover your mouth with a cloth or mask to avoid breathing dust. Save your phone calls for emergencies. Phone systems are often down or busy after a disaster. Use text messaging or social media to communicate with family and friends. Watch out for debris and downed power lines. Stay out of damaged buildings and homes until local authorities indicate it is safe. What is a tornado warning, watch? State officials say residents should know what different levels of alerts mean when severe weather threatens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tornado Watch: Tornadoes are possible. When there is a Watch, move near enough to a shelter or sturdy building to be able to get inside quickly if there is a Warning or if you see signs of a tornado approaching. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio or television for information. Tornado Warning: A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately. Supercell: A system producing severe thunderstorms, featuring rotating winds sustained by a prolonged updraft that may result in hail or tornadoes. Can I see where tornadoes have struck? The University of Michigan Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering department maintains a website showing tornadoes reported with the past 48 hours. Does Michigan have a history of tornadoes? The National Weather Service maintains a list of tornadoes that have been recorded in Michigan. The Tornado Project breaks down Michigan tornadoes by county and date. You can find an interactive map and list here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's statewide tornado drill is coming up. What to know NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) Demolition has begun for the new Trader Joes grocery store that is set to open on the corner of Freret Street and Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. For the past few weeks, demolition crews have been demolishing the Old Lady of Lourdes School, which was nearly 70 years old. WGNOs Jordan Lippincott reported back in July that The Historic District Landmarks Commission initially prohibited the grocery store developers from demolishing the old Our Lady of Lourdes School, which sits at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Freret Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To talk about food deserts, we need to continue to push our city to invest in stores, like Trader Joes, and other stores that have prices that our people can actually afford, said New Orleans City Councilwoman Lesli Harris. Plans for New Orleans Trader Joes moving forward despite some pushback Advocates for historic preservation, like Susan Johnson, much preferred previous plans for the former school that was built in 1957, and according to her, honored the history of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, which precedes the school. Its very problematic because, again, a building is either historic, or its not, said Johnson, who works with Historic New Orleans Neighborhoods LLC. The federal government granted that it was in 2022 for this affordable housing project. Developers for an older adult facility, to be called the Our Lady of Lourdes Apartments, failed to get the project off the ground. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some who live Uptown support the opening of Trader Joes, saying the property has been an eyesore for quite some time. Trader Joes is opening a dozen new locations in 2025: Heres where Its just really unsightly and really unusable, said neighbor Gregory Moore. We are pretty happy to have a Trader Joes moving in. Something thats going to take up a really beautiful piece of real estate, and, I think, really be helpful for the people in the community. Johnson says for historic preservationists like herself, its always onto the next issue. I think a lot of our work consists in putting facts on the record, as were doing now, I hope, and not letting the past be forgotten, Johnson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There was also conversation about adaptive reuse, which means using a portion of the old school for the Trader Joes, but those plans didnt gain steam either. No word yet on when the new Trader Joes will begin construction and eventually will open. This will be the first Trader Joes in New Orleans. Currently, there is one location in Metairie on Veterans Boulevard. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO. Update: The crash has been cleared and traffic is returning to normal, according to TDOT. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) A crash is causing traffic to back up on Interstate 26 in downtown Johnson City. A multi-vehicle crash was reported around 5 p.m. on I-26 East at mile marker 22.8, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. TBI: Johnson City man charged with attempted murder after shooting officer Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One eastbound lane is closed, according to TDOT. The crash has caused eastbound traffic to back up to Exit 20, the North Roan Street exit. Westbound traffic is also experiencing delays. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. The European Court of Human Rights has made a significant ruling on several lawsuits regarding Ukraine's inaction during the clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Odesa on 2 May 2014, which led to the deaths of 47 people. Source: European Pravda, citing the court ruling Details: The court acknowledged that these events were largely provoked by Russian propaganda, but also pointed out violations committed by Ukraine, which is now required to pay compensation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ruling concerns the events of 2 May 2014, which began with an attack by pro-Russian anti-Maidan activists on participants of a pro-Ukrainian demonstration. The clashes and killings of pro-Ukrainian demonstrators later led to a storming of the anti-Maidan tent camp at Kulykove Pole Square and a fire in the Trade Union House, where dozens of anti-Maidan supporters died. Relatives of 25 of the people who were killed, as well as 3 survivors of the fire, filed lawsuits to Strasbourg. Among the plaintiffs were relatives of two pro-Ukrainian activists who were shot and killed. Three others, often identified in the media as "passers-by", also died from gunshot wounds. The rest were members of the anti-Maidan group and their relatives who were caught in the burning Trade Union House. However, the court emphasised that it did not identify the victims by their ideological affiliations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the differences in the views of the participants in these events, all the plaintiffs held Ukraine responsible for its inaction, claiming that the state could have prevented the tragic consequences. However, the court repeatedly stated in the body of the ruling and its conclusions that the primary culprit for the events was Russia and its actions to destabilise Ukraine. "The Court considers that such disinformation and propaganda might have had an impact on the tragic events in the present cases too The pro-Russian Kulykove Pole movement in Odesa relied heavily on aggressive and emotional disinformation and propaganda messages about the new Ukrainian government and Maidan supporters voiced by Russian authorities and mass media," the ruling states. Another point that the court decided to emphasise was that many of the Odesa officials responsible for Ukraine's violations soon "fled Ukraine to the Russian Federation, became Russian citizens, and built a career there against the background of the Russian large-scale military invasion of Ukraine". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, the ECHR said that this does not relieve Ukraine of its responsibility as a state. The court also stressed that even later, Ukraine did not try to prosecute the officials whose actions led to numerous casualties. Thus, the court stressed that the Odesa police "failed to take any adequate action" to prevent the attack on the protesters, which was carried out with the use of firearms. In particular, it ignored numerous operational data on the preparation of riots, the ECHR said, citing available evidence. "The duty incumbent on the authorities was, at its most general level, to do what could reasonably be expected of them to avert the risk of violence," the court said, stressing that the fact that the Ukrainian authorities were weak amid Russian aggression in Crimea and Donbas did not deprive the state of the opportunity to act. Volodymyr Fuchedzhy, Deputy Head of the Odesa Oblast Police at the time, subsequently fled to Russia. The court also considered it proven that the arrival of fire vehicles to the scene of the fire was deliberately delayed by 40 minutes, and the police did not intervene to help evacuate people from the Trade Union Building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Volodymyr Bodelan, then-Head of the State Emergency Service in Odesa Oblast, who personally gave the order not to send fire vehicles to extinguish the fire, fled to Russia two years later, but during his stay in Odesa, no criminal case was opened against him. The ECHR also recognised that local authorities deliberately destroyed evidence at the scene of the tragedy under the guise of "cleaning". In view of this, the court found Ukraine guilty of violating the article of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to life. The Ukrainian state must pay 15,000 in compensation to the relatives of each of the victims, and 12,000 to the three plaintiffs who survived but suffered serious burns. The highest compensation, 17,000, will be paid to the daughter of Mykhailo Viacheslavov, who burned to death in the Trade Union Building, as she also complained about the authorities' unreasonable and prolonged refusal to give her her father's body for burial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia was not a party to the plaintiffs' complaints. Background: The ECHR also considers cases against Russia; for example, last year, Russia lost a case on human rights violations in Crimea in the ECHR. Earlier, the Council of Europe said it demanded that Russia stop repressions in occupied Crimea. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! By now, even the most naive progressive should have grasped the following uncomfortable truth: granting rights to trans women all too often entails removing rights from biological women. The latest proof arrived this week, with a hideously unpleasant row over a womens gym. Natalee Barnett, the owner of The Girls Spot in London, announced that the gym was to be a single-sex space for biological women. Therefore, no one who is biologically male will be permitted to use it and yes, that includes males who identify as women. This, she explained, was to ensure her members safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The response was inevitable. Vast numbers of trans activists bombarded Ms Barnett with the most virulent personal abuse. Not one of them appears to realise that their messages effectively prove Ms Barnetts point about the importance of female safety. Or, as JK Rowling put it on X (formerly Twitter): Let us in your gym or well kill you, say men who pose no risk to women whatsoever. Shes right. Its time to face facts: trans fanatics are growing dangerous. After all, if this is how screamingly enraged they become when a young woman attempts to create just one small all-female space, we cant afford to ignore it. In any case, their objections are not even remotely rational. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trans women have not suddenly been banned from exercising. Across London, and indeed the rest of the country, there are countless gyms open to people of both sexes and every imaginable gender identity. Yet these raging ideologues wont allow biological women to have even one little gym of their own, just for them? Evidently not. Hence the point I made at the start. If, as the activists mantra insists, trans women are women, then biological women must surely lose the right to female-only gyms. Because all women must be allowed entry including women who are male. Of course, rather than bellowing at Ms Barnett for opening a female-only gym, the fanatics could have responded by simply opening a trans-only gym. I wonder how many biological women would have angrily protested against that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If I had to guess a number, I think Id probably go for zero. But then, I doubt Ill ever find out whether Im right, because the fanatics wont open one. I suspect theyre much happier just screaming at innocent women, instead. Still, amid the ugliness of the abuse directed at Ms Barnett, there was the odd moment of light relief. This came in the form of trans activists hotly demanding to know how on earth she could possibly enforce her female-only policy. Would she be carrying out genital checks? The people asking this question, it would appear, are labouring under the impression that its impossible to tell whether a person is male or female unless that person happens to be naked. All I can say is: their love lives must be fraught with confusion. Because, every time they set off on a first date with someone, they presumably have no idea whether that person is male or female. All through dinner, they must sit there, frantically asking themselves: Is my delightfully charming and attractive companion a man or a woman? I suppose Ill just have to sleep with him or her to find out. Until he or she takes his or her clothes off, I simply have no way of knowing! Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Two years ago, on a drizzly day in March, almost 100 Metropolitan Police officers and staff from across the capital gathered at New Scotland Yard. The event for which so many personnel were taking time out of their normal duties was not, however, linked to Londons knife crime epidemic or the anti-social behaviour blighting the city. Instead, officers and fellow staff members, came together to listen to a programme of presentations as part of Scotland Yards marking of the annual Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV). Billed as a celebration of the transgender community, the Met had arranged a roster of trans activist speakers to discuss the transgender experience and how to be an ally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, the event is at the centre of allegations that the Met Police has been championing trans rights at the expense of biological women and that its approach to the issue suggests that it has been captured by trans activists. One of the Mets own female officers, Detective Constable Melanie Newman, is taking the force to court over claims that in hosting the event on March 31 2023, it discriminated against staff like her who are critical of transgender ideology. At the start of a five-day hearing, which began on Monday, Newman told an employment tribunal that the Met Police created a hostile environment for those who hold gender critical views the belief that there are only two biological sexes and they are immutable. Detective Constable Melanie Newman alleges that the Met Police created a hostile environment for people with gender-critical views She claimed the decision to host trans activists, who were extremely hostile to people with these views, was a symptom of this problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Newman alleged that one of the speakers, Eva Echo, told the seminar that trans people needed to be saved from gender-critical people, whom she depicted as having warped, twisted views. The impression I had was of someone who deeply loathed [gender-critical] women, she added. The hearing also heard from Newman how at one point the audience at the Transgender Day of Visibility hissed when the name of a prominent gender-critical campaigner, Posie Parker, was mentioned. Another trans-woman speaker, Shea Coffey, had previously reposted a video of Parker being assaulted at an event in New Zealand the day before, with a caption saying it was hilarious, Newman claimed during the hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Newman said she did not challenge the transgender event at the time because senior officers had effectively endorsed it. Explaining her decision to bring a legal claim against the Met, she added: I feel only a public ruling that TDOV was discriminatory and an act of harassment in the context of all these facts will persuade the [Met Police Service] that its reaction to my complaint to this date has been inadequate and that more decisive management action in support of [gender-critical] staff is needed. Newman later acknowledged that only a small proportion of Met officers had attended the event and that those who gave presentations were not speaking on behalf of the force. The Met has previously marked the Trans Day of Visibility with posts on its intranet and an online seminar hosted by trans officers, according to minutes published by Scotland Yard. Far from being alone with her concerns, The Telegraph has discovered that Newman was among a series of figures who made similar claims about the event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An account of what happened on the day, based on information from individuals who attended, has been shared with The Telegraph by the feminist group Womens Rights Network (WRN). According to a dossier compiled by WRN, one activist said that only Pink News an LGBT publication and the youth trans charity Mermaids could be trusted for news about transgender issues. The promotion of Mermaids as a reliable source to a room full of police officers and staff concerned some of those present, given the charity has a history of controversy over its dealings with children. In 2022, a Telegraph investigation found that the charity was agreeing to send potentially dangerous chest-binding devices to 14-year-olds against their parents wishes. In October 2023, the Charity Commission told Mermaids to change their guidance on puberty blockers to reflect the Cass reports findings - PA Then, in October last year, the Charity Commission concluded that Mermaids guidance on the safety of puberty blockers was inaccurate and should be rewritten to reflect the findings of the Cass review of NHS child gender services. The Commission also told the charity that it should not resume a service providing chest binders to teenagers without parental involvement. The trans charity has insisted that binders can help alleviate distress in people with gender dysphoria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is also alleged that attendees at the Mets trans visibility event were encouraged to get out on the streets, protest, lobby and donate. This is clearly entirely beyond the scope of the operations of an impartial police force, says the WRN. In addition, according to the WRN report, a number of misogynistic comments were made by audience members that went largely unchallenged. In one case, attendees voiced angry objections at a suggestion by one of those present that female officers should be asked before being forced to share workplace changing rooms with trans colleagues. Meanwhile, a transgender officer is reported to have complained about the Mets current policy which may be set to change under proposed new national guidance that biological males who identify as female cannot strip search women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of the speakers named on the agenda for the event in March 2023 had previously expressed controversial views. One of the activists singled out by Newman was Eva Echo, who was born male but identifies as female and sits on the Crown Prosecution Services hate crime panel. Echo has accused JK Rowling of inciting hate over her views about womens rights. Saba Ali, another of the activists invited to speak, used a 2023 post on LinkedIn to criticise the backlash over the appointment of a trans woman to lead a Scottish rape crisis centre. She said: Every day the hate against transgender women is ignited further by bigoted feminists thinking they are speaking up for women they are NOT speaking up for me, I am a woman a straight woman When will these banshees stop?! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coffey, the second speaker mentioned by Newman, has argued that schools should refrain from alerting parents if their children identify as the opposite sex and said there is much fear mongering over admitting trans women into female safe spaces. Heather Binning, founder of the WRN, warns: The police really do need to wake up to the fact that they are inviting people who hold ideological views in to radicalise and misinform their staff. The Metropolitan police service leadership seem to care more now about upsetting trans activists in their midst than they do about being sued by women, she adds. They have been captured by gender ideology. Extreme trans activism has infiltrated the organisation under the guise of inclusion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a letter to the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, as a result of the testimony gathered by the WRN, Binning said that the Transgender Day of Visibility event had failed to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and appeared to be politically biased against women. This event does not appear to have been in line with Policings Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Behaviour, she added. Accounts some of which could be viewed as whistleblowing give rise to serious concerns about impartiality and legal compliance. Some of the speakers claims were inaccurate and are highly damaging to the Met Police Services ambitious vision for More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the Met defended the event. Responding to Binning in December 2023, Colin Wingrove, a Scotland Yard commander, said it had been a means for our LGBT+ staff network to discuss trans and non-binary issues, thereby exercising their right to freedom of expression. Gender-critics claim the Met polices involvement in LGBT activism is making the organisation harder to trust - Future Publishing/Wiktor Szymanowicz At the same time, he insisted, The MPS recognises that people with gender-critical views are entitled to hold and express those views. Wingrove rejected the claim that there had been a breach of the police Code of Ethics, saying that a review by the force had already concluded that independent members of the public who spoke at the trans event were not subject to this code. The Mets clash over trans activism at Scotland Yard comes after its reputation with the female population was severely compromised by the 2021 murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens and reports of institutional misogyny. A YouGov poll in February 2023 found that 44 per cent of women said they distrusted individual officers. The force has also been accused of acting on spurious complaints about women who have spoken out on trans issues. Leading feminist writer Julie Bindel has told of how she was visited at her home by two officers following a complaint from a transgender man in Holland about a Tweet she had posted. She received a call the next day to say the inquiry had been dropped. More recently, Maya Forstater, chief executive of the charity Sex Matters, said she was investigated for more than a year by the Met over a social media post she wrote criticising a transgender doctor, Kamilla Kamaruddin, in June 2023. After transitioning, Kamaruddin had written of being allowed by patients to perform more intimate examinations that they did not let me do when I was a male GP. Forstater said she was finally informed by the CPS just before Christmas that there was no case to answer. Now she says the latest disclosures will heighten concerns that women with gender critical views like me cant trust the Met police to treat us fairly. I was told that the police had questioned me because I had targeted a member of the trans community, she says. Its comments like this which leave you to think the Met believes some communities deserve more protection than others and that they are not treating people without fear or favour. The Met has also drawn criticism for its past involvement with schemes run by Stonewall, which campaigners say have led to employers censoring staff and removing words such as mother from workplace policies. It was revealed in 2020 that the Met had spent 12,500 since 2017 to fund subscriptions to Stonewall inclusion schemes. A further 3,500 in fees was paid to the LGBT charity in 2021/22 to be part of its Workplace Equality Index. The significant number of Met officers who attend Londons annual Pride March and instances of police wearing rainbow badges both of which have come to be viewed as symbols of trans activism has also undermined the forces credibility in the eyes of some campaigners. Harry Miller, a former police officer who works with the free speech campaign group Fair Cop, said: The Met cannot serve the public fairly when they are constantly associated with political campaigning groups, such as Pride and Stonewall. There is no place for any type of politics or campaigning within the police as it destroys the principle of impartiality and undermines public confidence. A Met Police spokesman says: As an organisation we must balance a range of different views, including those from all sides of this debate which are protected in law. This case demonstrates how deeply polarising these issues are and highlights the difficulty organisations face in balancing all sides of this societal debate. We await the conclusion of proceedings and are therefore not able to comment more fully at this time. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. As a Texas public school student in the 1960s, Brent Hagenbuch was the only second grader in his class who couldnt read. He had fallen behind and was at risk of sliding further. But then his father, a firefighter with a high school education, worked with Hagenbuch's teacher to find an expert doing early research on dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects reading and writing. The diagnosis was life-altering. After learning skills to adapt, Hagenbuch went on to graduate as his high school's valedictorian, attend the Naval Academy and Stanford University, and run a successful business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, a Republican state senator from Denton, Hagenbuch recounted his story Tuesday to his colleagues on the Senate Committee on Education K-16 in support of a proposal that proponents have called transformational for special education funding in Texas. Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R-Denton. shared his childhood experience with dyslexia during Tuesday's Senate Committee on Education K-16 hearing on special education funding. Senate Bill 568, by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, would overhaul the formulas Texas uses to budget for its 775,000 students with disabilities, increasing overall funding, offsetting schools costs for initial evaluations and adding new grants and teacher incentives. The proposal is great, Hagenbuch said, "because this provides help to so many more kids who need it. I think they have to catch them early, or they lose their confidence." Hagenbuch told the American-Statesman about a neighbor his age growing up who he believed had dyslexia but whose parents refused to seek a diagnosis for him. The boy didn't graduate from high school. "I think that would have been me" without treatment, he said, choking up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the Tuesday education committee hearing, Bettencourt said his 57-page proposal would help boost the state's underfunded special education programs. This is a groundbreaking special education bill ... that I think will lead to stunningly better outcomes for a number of our 775,000 school children with disabilities," Bettencourt said. Based on positive outcomes in other states that fund special education this way, SB 568 would require Texas to classify student need based on an eight-tiered model, rather than on the time they spend in certain educational settings. This is effectively a complete overhaul, and (SB 568 has) what I think would be the best intensity model in the country, Bettencourt told the Statesman. "We were having to face the reality that we needed to do something, because early intervention means so much with these kids." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the bill is passed, the state would send local school districts money to offset each initial disability evaluation they administer to students, an initiative Bettencourt described as crucial for early identification of disabilities. It would also double the college, career or military readiness outcomes bonus for special education programs. Committee members expressed unanimous support for the bill, a version of which sailed through the Senate in 2023 but died in the House. It is nearly certain to clear the upper chamber again this year before it heads to the House for consideration. SB 568 is the culmination of a year of work by the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding, created by the Legislature in 2021 to help the state adapt to a significant increase in new disability diagnoses like dyslexia and autism. The task force identified best practices and crafted legislative recommendations. Sen. Paul Bettencourt's Senate Bill 568 would overhaul the formulas Texas uses to budget for students with disabilities. Public education consultant and former state Rep. Dan Huberty, one of the special education funding commissions leaders, called the bill a legacy builder for Bettencourt. He noted that the number of students diagnosed with disabilities has increased by 67% since the 2015-16 school year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is going to be transformational for millions of children, said Huberty, who left the House with his own legacy for leading the 2019 overhaul of state public school finance. The bill builds on momentum from 2023, when the Legislature passed House Bill 3928 to move students with dyslexia into full special education plans. Senate Bill 568 largely praised; some see room for improvement During about two hours of testimony Tuesday, students, disability rights groups and teacher associations praised the legislation while requesting the committee to consider some tweaks. Several speakers asked that the bills timeline be pushed back a year, so that it can take effect in the 2026-27 school year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its important that we do this right, not rushed, said Stephen Aleman of Disability Rights Texas. We put so much into this; I would hate for it to fall apart because people are scrambling under too much pressure. Another request was that the bill allocate more money for initial evaluations, which Cy-Fair school district Superintendent Doug Killian said can reach close to $3,000 per student. The bill also aims to increase the information parents receive about residential treatment for their children. Parents and guardians are often told they must exhaust outpatient and group home options before they can apply for spots at state supported living centers, which senators said caused unnecessary waiting and difficulty in some cases. SB 568 would require schools to inform parents they can seek spots in living centers. It's the parents who are the best decision-makers for their child, not the local authority where they have been told that they must exhaust HCS (Home and Community-based Services) group homes first, said Stacey Combest, who chaired the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While some witnesses expressed enthusiasm about the change to residential treatment pathways, others expressed concern that it could lead parents to move too quickly to put children in those facilities. Most state supported living centers are not just another educational setting; they are the most restrictive, segregated and costly residential option for children with disabilities, said Sabrina Gonzalez Saucedo of the ARC of Texas, a group that advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Prioritizing them in placement discussions without sharing information about community-based supports and services could lead to increased institutionalization and family separations, rather than supporting children in family-based settings," she added. Bettencourt appeared open to suggestions from witnesses, particularly on pushing back the timeline, but he expressed some frustration that his funding bill didnt make it into law in the 2023 legislative session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were looking at some alternatives, but I'm just glad everybody's on board with general direction, because we've been underfunded and we haven't had an intensity model for a long time, he said. "I wish this bill would have passed in 2023. Committee poised to pass other special education bills The Senate education panel also appeared interested Tuesday in advancing several other special education proposals. SB 1447 by Sens. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would allow students with disabilities to use assistive technology electronic devices or software applications that are otherwise prohibited under the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, or SCOPE Act. Another proposal, SB 57 by Zaffirini, would require public schools to make plans to ensure the safety of disabled students during drills and emergencies. Sen. Donna Campbell looks on during Tuesday's education committee hearing. Eduardo Castillo, a student with dyslexia who will attend St. Marys School of Law, expressed the hope that SB 568 will remedy what he says was a damaging lack of funding during his own education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While my family was blessed enough financially to be able to afford outside special education, what happens to those who werent afforded the luxury? They simply fall through the cracks, he said. Castillo added that nearly 48% of Texas prison inmates are estimated to have dyslexia, a statistic based on a study conducted in 2000 that examined inmates' ability to decode single words. You, sir, are exactly what were trying to find in those 775,000 kids," Bettencourt told Castillo. "Just keep doing what youre doing. Make all of us proud." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate bill seeks to improve special education funding Photo by Adam Gault/Getty Images The latest manufactured outrage from the far right? Transgender mice. Its the perfect viral talking point designed to sound absurd, evoke outrage and make people believe that the government is wasting their money on nonsense. But its a lie. The real story? The National Institutes of Health allocated funding to study biological sex differences in the brain research that helps us understand mental health conditions, neurological disorders, and yes, gender identity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of the $8 million in research funding they are mocking, only $1.4 million went specifically toward transgender research. The rest? It was spent on studies of Alzheimers, PTSD, and depression research that could save lives. But thats not what they want you to focus on. This isnt just about defunding a study. This is about erasing science that doesnt fit a political agenda. Why this research matters If youve heard people say that being trans is just a trend, ask yourself: Why do so many trans people say they have always felt this way? Why does gender dysphoria show up in childhood, long before social influences? Because gender identity isnt a fad its neurological. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres what we do know: Autistic people are between six- and seven times more likely to be transgender or nonbinary. Nearly 25% of gender-diverse youth are autistic. Neurological and genetic factors play a role in gender identity this isnt just psychology, its biology. Why does this matter? Because if we can understand how gender identity develops in the brain, we can better support trans youth, improve mental health care, and help autistic individuals who experience gender dysphoria. This funding wasnt about making mice trans. It was about understanding how the brain processes gender. And that knowledge could help millions of people. If youre worried about government waste, look at the real problem If conservatives were really concerned about wasteful spending, theyd look at something far more harmful: the White Houses own anti-trans propaganda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donald Trumps administration isnt just cutting funding for trans research its publishing misleading, politically motivated attacks on transgender people using taxpayer dollars. A recent article posted on WhiteHouse.gov dangerously misrepresented science, promoting debunked claims about gender identity and paving the way for rolling back health care protections for trans people, banning gender-affirming care nationwide and erasing legal rights for trans students. This isnt about science. Its about a larger, dangerous narrative that transgender people arent real, that research on gender identity should be defunded and that trans people dont deserve health care or legal protections. If you want to talk about wasteful spending, then look at this administrations efforts to push misinformation while ignoring the real issues affecting Americans. Defend the science. Defend the truth. The next time someone brings up transgender mice, ask them: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do you believe in funding neuroscience research on gender identity?Do you support medical studies that could help autistic and trans youth? Why are you mad about this funding, but not billions wasted on government propaganda? If you believe in truth, science and protecting vulnerable communities, you should care about this. It isnt about mice. Its about erasing science that doesnt fit a political agenda. Dont fall for it. Science matters. People matter. The truth matters. Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In the latest escalation of the global trade fight initiated by President Donald Trump, the European Union announced plans Wednesday to impose retaliatory tariffs on $19.6 billion worth of U.S. products, including proposed tariffs on some of Nebraska's top exports. Responding to Trump's 25% tariffs on all global steel and aluminum imports, the bloc of European countries said they would reinstitute tariffs initially imposed in 2018 but suspended during former President Joe Biden's tenure on products that include boats, bourbon and motorcycles beginning April 1. The EU also said it would impose additional countermeasures in mid-April targeting a list of industrial and agricultural products. EU leaders will finalize which U.S. exports they plan to impose tariffs on later this month, but a list of proposed targeted products unveiled Wednesday includes some of Nebraska's top exports to the bloc, including beef. It's unclear whether Nebraska's top exports to EU countries soybeans and beef products will be affected by the tariffs, or whether the taxes will be imposed at all. The president has already postponed some tariffs he had made on-again, off-again threats to impose against imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada, suggesting Trump's global steel and aluminum tariffs could be suspended before the EU's countermeasures come to pass. But the uncertainty alone is the source of growing angst for Nebraska's agricultural producers who have been on edge since Trump's initial weeks in office, said Mark McHargue, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau. "I think every day that goes by, quite frankly, it feels closer and closer to a trade war versus just potentially disruption," he said Wednesday. "It just feels like everyday there's something going on. And it's hard to know what to do. "I've talked to producers over the last couple of weeks, and they're just frustrated. Because how do we make business decisions when, really, both our inputs are wildly going up and down and price, and what we have to sell is going up and down in price? And so I think there's just a growing frustration." Agriculture is the state's largest single industry and Nebraska ranks fifth in the nation in ag exports, shipping $10 billion worth of ag products abroad in 2022, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures. In 2023, the state exported $1.75 billion worth of soybeans, $1.59 billion worth of beef products and another $1.46 billion worth of corn, according to USDA data. Nebraska's top markets abroad include Mexico, Canada and South Korea. But the state exports to EU countries totaled $816 million last year, according to the USDA. And the bloc purchased $246.38 million worth of Nebraska soybeans and $41.46 million worth of beef and veal in 2023, according to EU data. McHargue, a fourth generation row crop farmer from Central City, said Nebraska producers "have spent significant time" fostering relationships with trading partners with European countries that are poised to be strained by the escalating trade fight. He also noted that farmers and ranchers will face the effects of tariffs not only on agricultural exports, but on steel and aluminum imports imposed by Trump and used in ag inputs, such as machinery and center pivots. Though U.S. tariffs on such imports are only now taking effect and the EU's tariffs are still weeks away from implementation, McHargue said "it appears that we're going the wrong direction." In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, hours after the EU signaled its plans to target the U.S. agriculture industry with new tariffs, Sen. Pete Ricketts continued to defend the president's attempt to "level the playing field for everybody in the United States." "And I would just point to the success that President Trump had when he was dealing with China in his first term," Ricketts said. "We had to go through some short-term pain there, but ultimately, President Trump got China to agree to buy more of our agricultural products." "He was successful in his first term," he added. "We're going to have to give him the opportunity to again be successful in his second term and make sure that countries are treating us fairly." McHargue said members of the Farm Bureau are broadly supportive of the Trump administration's attempts to increase border security and "rectify some unfair trade agreements or trade imbalances" through his trade policies. "We appreciate that, but we struggle to know the end, right?" McHargue said. "I mean, what's the purpose, and how do we know when we're going to get there and what's going to happen when we get there?" This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week celebrated nationally to promote the importance of open government at the federal, state and local levels. The idea was born more than 20 years ago when Florida newspaper editors started Sunshine Sunday to highlight the need for government transparency. By 2005, it grew to a full week of open government advocacy nationwide. The annual collaboration now is coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Floridas College of Journalism and Communications. This year's celebration is March 16-22. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 100 organizations representing news media, public interest groups, and open government advocates have endorsed Sunshine Week. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) and the Tennessee Press Association (TPA) are among those organizations. Investigative reporters Perrusquia, Williams affirm the importance of transparency TPA, which was founded more than 150 years ago to support the newspaper industry, played a key role in launching TCOG in 2003 because its leaders and open government advocates realized the public needed a unified voice to protect and strengthen open government laws. As Jack McElroy, former editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel and a TCOG board member, wrote in his history of the organization, TCOG is recognized statewide, by citizens and public officials alike, as Tennessees pre-eminent source of expertise and advocacy for the publics right to know. Sunshine Week celebrates its 20th anniversary at a time when efforts to weaken or circumvent open government laws are growing and public trust in the news media and traditional institutions has eroded. Two of Tennessees top investigative journalists say more transparency, not less, is needed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marc Perrusquia heads The Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis, which was created in 2018. He worked the previous 29 years as a reporter with The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, uncovering corruption in the states taxpayer-funded child care system, excessive use of force by police, and consumer gouging by car title lenders, to name just a few. "Transparency and freedom of information are under assault at every level of government, from Washington, where executive overreach is usurping legislative authority with little or no scrutiny by elected lawmakers, to Nashville, where the governor and state legislators have created a new immigration enforcement office that is exempt from the state public records law, to Memphis, where reporters often wait weeks, months and sometimes years to gain access to public records, he said. Now, more than ever, we need a vigorous press to challenge these encroachments on democratic principles and their accompanying currents of disinformation. We need an engaged electorate, enlightened by readily flowing, reliable information that only a free and independent news media can provide.'' Phil Williams, an investigative reporter for WTVF-TV in Nashville, has spent much of his 40-year career uncovering corruption at the state and local level and confronting many of societys critical issues, including hate groups and conspiracy theory movements like QAnon. NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. In an age when there is such intense distrust in government, transparency is the antidote that is desperately needed I am increasingly finding that citizens are willing to embrace conspiracy theories about government that are completely divorced from reality, Williams said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brad Schmitt: Bob Mueller, Lelan Statom, Holly Thompson and other news vets on stories that most moved them The best hope for combating disinformation and misinformation is for government to be completely open about what it's doing and why. Here's how TCOG has worked to make government more open to citizens Tennessee is one of the few states where an open-government group has paid staff to educate the public and policymakers about the ir right to know, and research shows an active coalition is correlated with better government, said David Cuillier, director of the Brechner project, which coordinates Sunshine Week. These organizations across the country struggle financially, Cuillier said. Its critical for community foundations and philanthropy to keep TCOG strong, because if Tennessee loses TCOG, it could very well lose government accountability, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In recent years, TCOG has worked with lawmakers to: Require city and county legislative bodies to produce accurate and complete public agendas at least 48 hours before any meeting. Allow citizens to recover attorney costs in certain cases when they win an open meetings lawsuit. Assure that future exceptions to the Public Records Act are fully scrutinized by requiring review by the House Government Operations Committee. TCOG, like similar state public advocacy groups, is a nonprofit that receives no government funding and relies entirely on contributions from news organizations, citizen groups and individuals. TCOGs budget pays for one part-time employee. With the General Assembly currently in full swing, that lone employee, TCOG executive director Deborah Fisher, is at the Capitol every week keeping tabs on legislation that could weaken open government laws and working to strengthen public transparency. During the year, Fisher fields scores of inquiries from journalists and citizens needing guidance and conducts training sessions for journalists and government officials alike about public record and open meeting laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its important work that the public should support, said Frank Gibson, a former Tennessean editor who led the effort to create TCOG in 2003 and served as its executive director until 2011. Changes in the news media and political landscapes make it necessary for citizens to be better informed and aware of attempts to close information about their government, Gibson said. Supporting groups like the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government is a good way keep the public informed and to protect freedom. Adam Yeomans is vice president of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the former South regional director for The Associated Press based in Nashville. He can be reached at adamyeomans@yahoo.com. EDITORS NOTE: You can donate to TCOG and/or sign up for its free newsletter at https://tcog.info/ to receive updates about open government issues in Tennessee. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Government works best for citizens when it is transparent | Opinion WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. WGHP) Second Harvest Food Bank staff are tasked with feeding families in need in the northwestern portions of North Carolina. This is an effort CEO Eric Aft says is made possible through a partnership with local farmers, specifically, the federally-funded Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. $900,000 of lottery revenue helps High Point school Farmers Deal With Cuts We aggregate the produce as well as the meat and get that together and distribute that to our network partner programs. That includes over 300 food pantries in over 18 counties, Aft said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Department of Agriculture cut more than $1 billion in federal funds for two programs. Aft says the cut makes the fight to end food insecurity in N.C. more complicated. Aft says eventually theyll no longer federally fund some of the farms in the Piedmont Triad. Glow House Agriculture works with many farmers in the area Another farmer that works with a lot of cattle. We get a lot of beef from them There will be no more funding going forward. Thats going to harm their ability and their work to provide food across the area, Aft said. Farmers arent the only ones impacted by federal cuts to nutrition programs. Schools Deal With Cuts The School Nutrition Association, which represents cafeteria workers, said the USDA cut $660 million to the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a cut Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley is keeping a close eye on. We know that there were cuts to the federal department as recently as yesterday evening. Programs that come federally include most of our special education funding school meals, Oakley said. FOX8 reached out to GCS to see which specific nutrition programs may be impacted. A spokesperson says theyre waiting on direction from the North Carolina State Board of Education. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GIBSON COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) Two parents have been arrested in Gibson County after officers allegedly found marijuana and a gun inside the vehicle, with their kids present. According to Indiana State Police (ISP), on Wednesday, March 12, ISP Trooper Hurley conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling on I-69, near the State Road 198 exit, for not having a front bumper nor working taillights. As Trooper Hurley approached the vehicle, he allegedly detected the smell of burnt cannabis, saw a glass smoking device containing suspected marijuana and a loaded pistol with a 30-round magazine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Infant thrown from car during speedy Ohio pursuit; driver arrested During the traffic stop, the driver, Trinity Duncan, 21, allegedly displayed signs of impairment, and further investigation concluded that she was intoxicated according to ISP. Her boyfriend, Christopher Conlee, 23, and their two children were also inside the vehicle. Duncan and Conlee were both transported to the Gibson County Jail, where they were both charged with neglect of a dependent (level 6 felony), possession of marijuana (class B misdemeanor) and possession of paraphernalia (class C misdemeanor). Duncan was also charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a passenger less than 18 years of age, a level 6 felony. The Indiana Department of Child Services took the two children into their custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement THPD K-9s assist in two drug arrests, 1lb cocaine seized Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case, will face a third day of disciplinary hearings on Thursday to determine his future with the law enforcement agency. Proctor will appear before a Massachusetts State Police Trial Board in Framingham, a month after his second hearing ended without a conclusion. His first hearing was held in January. He was assigned to investigate the death of Reads Boston police officer boyfriend John OKeefe. He was relieved of his duty without pay this past summer after a mistrial was declared in Reads murder case and his last day with the Norfolk District Attorneys Office followed soon thereafter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Proctor came under fire for a series of disparaging texts he sent about Read, which he read aloud in court during witness testimony at her first trial. Proctor admitted on the stand that the texts were unprofessional. He called Read things like a whack job and other derogatory words, he talked about her medical issues and wrote, No nudes so far, while going through her phone. Read is accused of hitting OKeefe with her Lexus SUV on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die after a night of drinking. The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying OKeefe was actually killed inside the Albert family home and then dragged outside and left for dead. The Trial Board is weighing whether or not Proctor is guilty of allegations of misconduct in the performances of his duties as a uniformed trooper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Proctor is found guilty, the panel will recommend a punishment to Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble. Proctor also served as the lead investigator in the case against Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife Ana Walshe. Reads second trial is scheduled to get underway with jury selection on April 1. RELATED: Trooper Proctor texted prosecutor shortly after Karen Read trial ended with hung jury, filing shows Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Want to stay current with Arthurs writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. As a behavioral scientist with a long interest and background in the arts, Ive always been fascinated by the 20th-century Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dali. Many regard him as a genius, but he is at least as famed for his eccentricity as his art. He claimed, for example, to be a reincarnation of the Spanish mystic Saint John of the Cross, in whose guise he could remember vividly, he said, undergoing the dark night of the soul. Where disagreement over Dali does occur, it centers on whether his madness was real or feigned. Those who believe the latter argue that he was a compulsive liar who manipulated people with his outlandish impostures to gain success. Why might Dali practice deception in such a bizarre and audacious way? Perhaps a compulsion to deceive was not in spite of his extraordinary creative powers, but actually because of them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Imagination, wrote the French philosopher Blaise Pascal in the 17th century, is that deceitful part in man, that mistress of error and falsity. To which he added, I do not speak of fools, I speak of the wisest men. It sounds as if Pascal had a bone to pick with artists; in fact, he was ahead of his time in divining what, centuries later, researchers found evidence for: an organic link between creativity and corrupt behavior. What Pascal missed was that creativity does not inherently lead to unethical conduct. Creativity is a particular form of power: the power to see new possibilities more clearly than others do. And, like any other power, creativity is commonly misused when not deployed in the service of others. Fortunately, there are ways you can use your creativity that truly enhance your life and others. [Arthur C. Brooks: Mindfulness hurts. Thats why it works.] Researchers have looked carefully at whether highly creative people tend to be more or less ethical than the population average. At first glance, the evidence is mixed: Some studies show a positive relationship, while others show no association. But closer examination of that apparently conflicting finding tells a different story. Studies showing no connection between creativity and unethical conduct are based on self-reporting surveys, whereas the positive correlation comes from objective measures, such as observation of unethical behavior by other people or in experiments. In other words, creatives say theyre not unethicalsurprise!but are observed to be so by others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One example of this pattern is a 2013 psychological experiment in which college students were offered class credit for participation. They were given a test of their creativity in which they had to come up with one word that would associatively link three random other ones. (For instance, if the prompt words were falling, actor, and dust, a person might connect them with the word star.) They were then asked to rate their own integrity. These exercises were followed by a tedious survey that they had to complete to get the credit. But the survey was designed in such a way that participants could see how to skip part of it undetected (so they assumed), but claim they had fully done it. The cheaters on the survey registered as much more creative in the word test than the non-cheaters, yet the cheaters scored their own integrity at roughly the same level as the non-cheaters rated theirs. Creativity and unethical behavior tend to be most strongly correlated when, as one 2017 study showed, rules are vague and hard to enforce, rather than clear and unambiguous. This can occur in romantic relationships where expectations about exclusivity and fidelity are assumed but not spelled out; differing assumptions can lead to, well, creative ambiguity. If an artist or a musician has been unfaithful to you, this might explain why. (Indeed, poets and artists tend to have more sexual partners than the population average.) Lack of clarity in the mind-numbing million words of the Internal Revenue Code may also explain the problem of creative accounting in some businesses tax declarations. [Read: Mapping creativity in the brain] If, as I argued above, creativity is not just a gift but also a form of power, thenjust as power tends to corrupt, as Lord Acton saidhumans can be tempted to misuse their creativity. I could argue with Lord Acton, in fact, over whether power is inherently corrupting, but I know, from the extensive research on the topic, that holding power over others can certainly be correlated with unethical behavior such as cheating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One personality trait that links creative power and dishonesty is narcissism. In Dalis 1942 autobiographywhich a disgusted George Orwell later called a strip-tease act conducted in pink limelightthe surrealist showman proudly diagnosed himself a narcissist, a judgment that anyone with even a passing familiarity with his life will find hard to refute. Indeed, narcissism is strongly correlated with many measures of creativity, as well as with unethical behavior. People who are self-absorbed find that this quality helps them tap into their creative potential. But this very self-absorption also tends to make them selfish and willing to cut ethical corners to benefit themselves. That is certainly a risk for people with creative power. But for those who can resist their narcissistic impulses and use their creativity for the good of others, the result is almost bound to be ethical. One way to ensure that youre using your creative power ethically borrows an entrepreneurs standard technique by subjecting every decision to a checklist of conditions. For example, a small start-up might stay focused on its mission by making sure that any new opportunity is: 1) sustainable; 2) scalable; and 3) potentially profitable. In an analogous way, I use an ordered algorithm for my own creative work (including this column) to ensure that it meets my ethical standards. It must: 1) glorify the divine; 2) uplift others; and 3) be interesting to me. If a given piece of work meets only criterion 1, or 1 and 2, I might still go ahead with it; but if it does not achieve 1 and 2, I wont proceed under any circumstances. The idea of setting those ordered criteria is to prevent me from ever engaging in creative work that is snarky, hurtful, or indecent. I recommend it: Even if you dont see yourself as a creative, you can use the approach to apply your own algorithm of ethical service and love for others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [Read: Gaudis Basilica: Almost finished after 132 years] Dali used his prodigious creativity to amplify his own prestige, fame, and wealth. His life and work were marked by egotism, manipulative behavior, and ruined relationships. By all accounts, that did not end well: By the time of his death, he was mired in depression and alienated from others. Despite his evident genius, Dali is not someone to emulate in your own creative endeavors, artistic or otherwise. A model I prefer is Dalis Catalan forebear, the modernist architect Antoni Gaudi, who designed Barcelonas stunningly beautiful Sagrada Familia basilica. A deeply religious Catholic, he dedicated this and his other works to glorifying God and lifting up the people who saw and used them; the Vatican is considering the case for Gaudis canonization. Even Dali admired and praised Gaudis extraordinary creationsbut, being Dali, he couldnt resist injecting a nasty little jab inside his praise: Those who have not tasted his superbly creative bad taste are traitors. In your creative endeavors, be a Gaudi, not a Dali. Article originally published at The Atlantic A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, on Jan. 8. NOAA studies the climate change factors that helped feed the flames Credit - Josh EdelsonAFP/Getty Images If youve ever avoided a hurricane, ducked a tornado, evacuated ahead of a wildfire, or merely relied on a weather forecast to take an umbrella to work, you likely have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to thank. As Americasand indeed the worldsleading weather and climate watchdog and the parent organization of the National Weather Service (NWS), NOAA runs a standing army of personnel and hardware on and off the planet to keep an eye on the Earths often stormy temperament. The agency owns or operates 13 weather satellites; manages more than 200 deep-water buoys; and gathers weather and climate information from a storm of data provided by no fewer than 10,600 state, local, and federal governments, as well as universities and private companies nationwide. But NOAA is now threatened. As the Associated Press and others have reported, the agencys already stretched workforce of 13,000 people is facing a deep cut of more than 1,000 of those employees mandated by the Trump Administrationa move that follows an earlier purge of about 1,300 in late February. The personnel reductions not only imperil NOAAs ability to carry out its core chore of tracking and warning about upcoming severe weather events, they also hamper its ability to conduct basic research into climate changecarried out to help humanity better prepare for the sweeping environmental upheaval already evident in a steadily warming world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NOAA does a lot of work with climate, says Keith Seitter, former executive director of the American Meteorological Society and currently a professor of environmental studies at the College of the Holy Cross. That's critically important in terms of planning for our future, knowing how to adapt to the changing climate, and understanding what we need to get ready for. In all of those things, NOAA is a really key player. The current cuts to NOAA were equal parts ill-timed and foreseeable. Project 2025, the conservative manifesto whose policies are increasingly being adopted by the Trump Administration, includes a section on page 674 of the 900-plus page document headed Break Up NOAA. On the next page the agency is described as one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry. But NOAA and others are right to be alarmed. Recent months have seen climate-linked wildfires in Los Angeles and elsewhere; an increase in so-called atmospheric riverslong, narrow bands of airborne water vapor that lead to local flooding and are growing worse in a warming world; and, in other spots in the U.S. and elsewhere, increasing droughts. Last year was also the first in which the world crossed the threshold of 1.5C of warming over pre-industrial levels that the Paris Climate Accord declared a benchmark to be avoided, lest the planet tip into irreversible climate catastrophe. Environmentalists warn that the Earth is running a fever and, with the latest NOAA firings, weve begun sacking the doctors. These layoffs put us at significant risk, says Alice Hill, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. They actually increase the risk to Americans if we consider how best to prepare for the worst extremes that climate change brings about. The first step in resilience or adaptation is early warning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: L.A. Fires Show the Reality of Living in a World with 1.5C of Warming When it comes to weather and climate, its not just NOAA thats been slashed; NASA is bleeding too. In a March 10 email to reporters, the space agency announced that in response to federal instructions to reduce its workforce, it was shuttering the office of technology, policy, and strategy, and the office of the chief scientista move that affects climate studies. NASA does cutting edge research and science, says Hill. It observes sea level rise from space. It's got the best global surface temperature analysis. All of that contributes to our understanding of how climate change is unfolding, and with that understanding, decision-makers can make choices that leave people safer. Some of the NASA cuts could also hit American corporations in the pocketbook. According to Hill, studies show that 74% of Fortune 100 companies routinely use NASA Earth Science data to support business operations, logistics, and risk management. Some of those decisions involve grounding airplanes and bringing cargo vessels into safe harbor well ahead of dangerous storms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its the cuts to NOAA, however, with the agencys exclusively earthy portfolioas opposed to NASAs literally other-worldly onethat are likely to do the most damage. Seitter cites not just the firehose of climate and weather data that NOAA collects, but the way its computed and modeled as one more vital service that could be at risk. All of that data needs to be quality controlled, verified, and then assimilated into these massive weather prediction models, he says. NOAA is responsible for all of that work, and that's not insignificant. It's a huge part of the investments that are made in NOAA every year. Jeopardize those prediction models and you jeopardize both lives and treasure. Hill points to Chamber of Commerce estimates showing that every $1 spent on climate resilience and preparedness saves $13 in damages and cleanup costs. Cuts to NOAA will lead to a domino effect across the agencys entire org chart. Its not just the NWS thats nested within NOAA. The agency oversees five other smaller departments, including the Office of Marine and Aviation operations, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Ocean Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is the ocean side of NOAA, says Seitter, and those are the folks that monitor fisheries and work with communities to make sure that we have adequate fish reserves for feeding our country. That may be less dramatic compared to severe weather, but those are also really important functions. NOAA also works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), another institutional function that could be hurt by staffing cuts. [FEMA] coordinates with people in the National Weather Service and other folks in NOAA to make sure that they're using their facilities in the best possible way, that they're pre-positioning their assets so that they can take advantage of having the right stuff in the right places before [a] storm hits, says Hill. Read more: Mass Layoffs at NOAA Spark Concerns Over Weather, Climate Research Cutting the workforce that makes any of this possible hurts the world beyond the U.S. Most countries dont have the sweeping satellite and buoy technology that America takes for granted. Which means they must rely on U.S. data and forecasting to brace and prepare for extreme weather events. And, Hill points out, the more sophisticated AI becomes, the more meteorology will rely on it to predict and track stormsone more development that will require American innovation and initiative. NOAA would be in a great position to be leading the charge for better AI in terms of a public good for weather forecasting, she says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of the losses that come with slashing NOAAs staffing and budget will do precious little to achieve the ostensible goal of the White House and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse. Eliminate NOAAs entire 13,000-person staff and you have cut just 0.43% of the federal governments three million-strong workforce. As for pocketbook savings, NOAAs $6.6 billion annual budget represents just 0.097% of the $6.75 trillion Washington spent in fiscal year 2024. Compare that to the cost of climate change: In 2024 alone the U.S. experienced 27 weather or climate disaster events, each with losses exceeding $1 billion. Predicting extreme weather events, preventing catastrophic losses of life and property, and better understanding the climate trends that pose such a danger to humanity are a whole lot cheaper than cleaning up the messand tending to the deadafter a disaster strikes. Write to Jeffrey Kluger at jeffrey.kluger@time.com. A Texas family on their way to an emergency medical check-up for their 10-year-old daughter, who is recovering from brain cancer, was detained by immigration authorities and hastily deported to Mexico last month. In early February, Customs and Border Protection stopped the family at an immigration checkpoint while they were traveling from Rio Grande, Texas, where they lived, to Houston, where their daughters specialists are located a trip the family had made at least five other times before without incident, according to an attorney representing the family. During their previous trips, the undocumented parents of the 10-year-old, who is a U.S. citizen, were allowed through the checkpoint after presenting authorities with letters from lawyers and their daughters doctors. This time, however, authorities deemed those letters insufficient and arrested the parents for not providing proper documentation. The familys attorney said the parents have no criminal history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to the 10-year-old girl, four other children, all but one born in the U.S., were in the car with the parents when they were detained. The parents were then forced to make a difficult decision: Return to Mexico as a family, or leave their children behind in the U.S. As NBC News reports, thats hardly a choice: [U]ndocumented parents of U.S.-born children, if picked up by immigration authorities, face the risk of losing custody of their children. Without a power-of-attorney document or a guardianship outlining who will take care of the children left behind, the children go into the U.S. foster care system, making it harder for the parents to regain custody of their children in the future. The family ultimately decided to remain together. The 10-year-old girl was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and recently underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Doctors in Houston have been closely monitoring her recovery. After the family was detained, the mother, who spoke exclusively to NBC News, said authorities took the family to a detention center, where they separated her and her daughters from her husband and sons. Within hours, CBP agents loaded the family into a van and dropped them in Mexico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After spending time in a shelter, the family has moved into a house. However, according to the mother, her children are unable to sleep due to concerns about their safety, having been left in an area of Mexico where U.S. citizens are often kidnapped. The 10-year-old isnt the only member of the family who is being treated for a medical condition. The couples 15-year-old son has a heart disorder known as Long QT syndrome, which causes irregular heartbeats and can be life-threatening if not properly treated. The mother told NBC News both children are unable to receive the health care they need in Mexico. In a post on X, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called the familys deportation a new low and said the Trump administration has lost all humanity. This is a new low. Trumps terror squads deported a family -including 4 US citizen children- who were seeking emergency medical care for a 10-year-old with brain cancer. They have lost all humanity. We will keep tabs and we will not forget.https://t.co/DCI8TFDyWs Congressional Hispanic Caucus (@HispanicCaucus) March 12, 2025 Before Donald Trump took office, immigrant advocacy groups raised the alarm over how his mass deportation policies could affect mixed-status families (that is, families in which some members are undocumented while others are U.S. citizens). According to estimates from the American Immigration Council, as many as 4 million mixed-status families are at risk of being separated under Trumps policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Trumps border czar, Tom Homan, was asked in December how he would approach deporting mixed-status families, he told The Washington Post that the risk of separation was ultimately the fault of the parents. Heres the issue, Homan said. You knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) A subpoena was sent to Hotel Chandler, which has been operating as a homeless shelter, demanding the personal information of people staying at the shelter, according to multiple news reports. Its part of a federal investigation into an illegal immigrant/migrant shelter program, the New York Times reported. The Hotel Chandler operates as a homeless shelter, not a migrant shelter. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The subpoena comes as border czar Tom Homan was met with protesters in Albany. Watch the video player for the full story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow restrictions on birthright citizenship to partly take effect while legal fights play out. In emergency applications filed at the high court on Thursday, the administration asked the justices to narrow court orders entered by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that blocked the order President Donald Trump signed shortly after beginning his second term. The order currently is blocked nationwide. Three federal appeals courts have rejected the administration's pleas, including one in Massachusetts on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order would deny citizenship to those born after Feb. 19 whose parents are in the country illegally. It also forbids U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state document recognizing citizenship for such children. Roughly two dozen states, as well as several individuals and groups, have sued over the executive order, which they say violates the Constitutions 14th Amendment promise of citizenship to anyone born inside the United States. The Justice Department argues that individual judges lack the power to give nationwide effect to their rulings. The administration instead wants the justices to allow the Trumps plan to go into effect for everyone except the handful of people and group that sued, arguing that the states lack the legal right, or standing, to challenge the executive order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a fallback, the administration asked at a minimum to be allowed to make public announcements about how they plan to carry out the policy if it eventually is allowed to take effect. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris contends in her filing that Trump's order is constitutional because the 14th amendment's citizenship clause, properly read, does not extend citizenship universally to everyone born in the United States. But the emergency appeal is not directly focused on the validity of the order. Instead, it raises an issue that has previously drawn criticism from some members of the court, the broad reach of orders issued by individual federal judges. In all, five conservative justices, a majority of the court, have raised concerns in the past about nationwide, or universal, injunctions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the court has never ruled on the matter. The administration made a similar argument in Trump's first term, including in the Supreme Court fight over his ban on travel to the U.S. from several Muslim majority countries. The court eventually upheld Trump's policy, but did not take up the issue of nationwide injunctions. The problem has only gotten worse, Harris told the court on Thursday. Courts issued 15 orders blocking administration actions nationwide in February alone, compared to 14 such orders in the first three years of President Joe Biden's term, she wrote. The heightened pace of activity also reflects how quickly Trump has moved, less than two months in office, to fire thousands of federal workers, upend tens of billions of dollars in foreign and domestic aid, roll back the rights of transgender people and restrict birthright citizenship. ALBANY Fighting junk fees, tackling medical debt and aiding banking deserts are just some of the protections the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) provided for rural communities. In February, the Trump administration halted the CFPBs work, which had long been subject to scrutiny by conservatives who claimed the agency, funded by the Federal Reserve System, lacked sufficient supervision and regularly exceeded its regulatory authority. A report from the Health, Environment Agriculture, Labor (HEAL) Food Alliance, which is a coalition representing about 2 million rural and urban farmers, ranchers, fishers and more, said this freeze puts rural communities at risk of losing critical financial protections. Diane Standaert was one of about 170 employees, who were, she said, illegally fired from the CFPB in February. Her work addressed unfair, abusive and deceptive practices in the financial marketplace with a focus in ensuring the CFPB was responding to the needs of rural consumers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The important work of the CFPB has been stymied and not allowed to continue in a way that prevents people from being scammed and cheated by financial institutions, banks, predatory lenders and debt collectors, Standaert said. Since its beginnings, the CFPB reports fielding more than 7.7 million complaints and providing more than $21 billion in relief to people who have been harmed by financial practices. The CFPB was created following the 2008 recession to monitor credit card companies, mortgage providers, debt collectors and other segments of the consumer finance industry. Standaert said rural communities took longer to recover from that recession in terms of job losses. The recession was fueled by predatory lending practices, and the CFPB was created to prevent something like that from happening again, she said. Attempts to shutter and stop and hamstring the CFPB are essentially opening the doors for a financial crisis to happen again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Standaert said the impact will be higher bank fees, less protections against predatory lenders and fraud in things like digital payment app transactions that people use every day. Theres no longer a watchdog on the beat to ensure that people are not being scammed out of their money, Standaert said. During the Biden administration, the CFPB passed rules capping bank overdraft fees and removing medical debt from credit reports. Now, these rules are on hold. CFPB research shows that rural consumers are more likely to have medical debt on their credit reports. In January, the CFPB finalized a rule to remove medical debt from credit reports for lending decisions. Under the Trump Administration, work on this rule has stopped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SOWEGA Rising, a southwest Georgia nonpartisan nonprofit that works to uplift marginalized southwest Georgians, helped advocate for the removal of medical debt on credit reports. SOWEGA Risings Executive Director Sherrell Byrd said medical debt has a disproportionate impact on rural, black and brown communities. When it hits the credit reports or our citizens, it impacts their economic upward mobility, so theyre no longer able to purchase homes, cars in some instances, it may even affect them being able to get a job, she said. Byrd said some $49 billion of medical debt was to be removed from credit reports, impacting about 6 billion Americans. Byrd said the CFPB gave SOWEGA Rising and southwest Georgia community members a chance to share their stories about the impact of medical debt on their lives in D.C. during 2023. She said the agency also ensured advocacy groups like SOWEGA Rising had a seat at the table when it came to discussing housing struggles from a rural standpoint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the disbanding of the CFPB completely rolls back this work. The HEAL Report also emphasizes the CFPBs work in fighting banking deserts. It reads that in the wake of mega-bank mergers, rural communities are losing bank branches within their communities. The CFPB had just issued a new rule to ensure federal oversight over the largest payment apps to reduce fraud and protect personal data critical for rural areas increasingly dependent on digital payments as physical banks disappear. These protections were lifted. However, Neil Lowe, president of the Bank of Edison, said the CFPBs regulations actually harmed his small community bank. Lowe has held his position since 1991, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and great grandfather. He called the Bank of Edison a progressive and true community bank that protects its customers. If you are a true community bank, everyone in your community has access to banks, Lowe said. We still do small loans under $1,000. If youre worth your salt in Edison, Georgia, you can open an account here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the regulations placed on the bank by the CFPB added burden and cost. It probably cost this little bank about $50,000 a year in regulatory costs, Lowe said. Our biggest cost, other than interest expense and payroll, was regulatory cost. Lowe said the goal of the CFPB sounds great but doesnt necessarily apply to small, community banks or understand the operations of rural communities. He said he agrees big banks needed to correct abusive practices on the little guy like strict overdraft fees. At the Bank of Edison, Lowe said they dont even charge for a $50 overdraft. We have a loan on every road in Calhoun County, he said. Were serving our community it doesnt apply to us. Weve got a great state office, great FDIC people in Georgia. We dont need somebody from Washington coming down here and telling us how to operate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lowe said the Bank of Edison has never been predatory, but with the CFPB he feels that he has to prove that theyre not. Its not innocent until proven guilty, its guilty until proven innocent, he said. Lowe said big changes like the installation of the CFPB can have ripple effects that these institutions arent always aware of. He said he sees this on both sides of the aisle, including in some of the other decisions made by the Trump administration. The administration of US President Donald Trump has not extended an exemption from the sanctions regime that previously allowed transactions with Russian banks related to energy payments. Source: European Pravda Details: The so-called General License 8L from the US Treasury Department, which expired on 12 March, had permitted transactions "related to energy" with 12 sanctioned Russian banks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The license specified that the exemption applied to payments for natural gas, oil and petroleum products, coal, uranium and related technologies. Essentially, it enabled Russian banks to process payments for Russian energy exports, particularly oil. As of midday on 13 March, the license originally issued by the Biden administration in February 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion had not been renewed by Washington. White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt stated the previous day that Trump had not confirmed the license renewal. No official comments on the matter have followed. Fox News journalist Jackie Heinrich reported that Trump's administration had not responded for two days regarding the license renewal, suggesting the lapse might have been an oversight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, her colleague Edward Lawrence, citing an anonymous source, claimed that the non-renewal was "a negotiation tactic to end the invasion". A Fox News source stated that the United States will "continue to implement sanctions which remain one of the key levers" for ending the war in Ukraine. Background: Last week, US President Donald Trump stated that he was considering imposing broad sanctions and tariffs on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He also recently reiterated that no one had been as tough on Russia as he had. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The Trump administration is pushing for the the U.S. Supreme Court to allow some restrictions on birthright citizenship even as legal battles continue over President Donald Trump's orders to end what has long been seen as a constitutional promise. On Thursday, the administration filed emergency applications with the high court that would allow citizenship to be denied to people born in the U.S. after Feb. 19 if their parents are in the country illegally. District judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington have blocked the order, which Trump signed shortly after taking office in January. It is currently blocked nationwide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. Trump and his supporters have argued that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen, which he called a priceless and profound gift in his executive order. Legal scholars, though, have said its the 14th Amendment's constitutional protections would make it it extremely difficult to overturn. Here is a look at birthright citizenship, what Trump has said about it and the prospects for ending it: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What Trump has said about birthright citizenship Trump has said for years that he wants to end birthright citizenship. Its ridiculous. We are the only country in the world that does this with the birthright, as you know, and its just absolutely ridiculous, he said in January. Dozens of countries, mostly in the Americas, have birthright citizenship. Opponents say the practice encourages people to come to the U.S. illegally so their children can have citizenship. Others argue that ending birthright citizenship would profoundly damage the country. Its elimination could eventually place every single person in America in the precarious position of having to prove American citizenship, Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies at the pro-immigration Cato Institute, wrote after Trump's order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2019, the Migration Policy Institute estimated that 5.5 million children under age 18 lived with at least one parent in the country illegally in 2019, representing 7% of the U.S. child population. The vast majority of those children were U.S. citizens. What does the law say? Congress ratified the 14th Amendment in July 1868, soon after the Civil War. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, the amendment says. But it didn't always apply to everyone. It wasn't until 1924, for example, that Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Supporters of immigration restrictions, including Trump, have argued the words subject to the jurisdiction thereof allow the U.S. to deny citizenship to babies born to women in the country illegally. What is the basis of this legal appeal? The emergency appeal does not focus directly on whether the presidential order is legally valid. Instead, it is aimed at the broad reach of orders issued by federal judges. The Justice Department argues individual judges lack the power to make their rulings go into affect nationwide. Five of the Supreme Court's conservative justices have raised concerns in the past about these nationwide injunctions. The high court, though, has never ruled on the matter. By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Detained pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil asked a federal court on Thursday to block Columbia University from sharing student disciplinary records from campus protests with a Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives committee. Separately, Khalil's lawyers have asked a federal judge to release him from immigration detention in Louisiana, arguing that Republican President Donald Trump's administration targeted him for arrest and deportation because of his advocacy in violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for freedom of speech. Khalil, who has lawful permanent resident status in the United States, was arrested last Saturday in New York City. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil's case has become a flashpoint for Trump's pledge to deport some activists who participated in the wave of protests on U.S. college campuses against Israel's military assault on Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the militant group Hamas. Trump's administration has said pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including at Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. The administration last week said it canceled grants and contracts worth about $400 million to Columbia because of what it describes as antisemitic harassment on and near the school's campus. Student protest organizers have said criticism of Israel and its actions is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, Khalil and seven Columbia students sought to prevent the university from complying with a request from the House education and workforce committee for student disciplinary records stemming from protest-related incidents. The other seven students remained anonymous in the lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plaintiffs said the committee's request violated the First Amendment and their privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a U.S. law that governs how universities handle student information. "Entities like the university feel pressure to cooperate with the government in its efforts to chill and punish protected speech," the lawsuit stated. Columbia declined to comment. A spokesperson for the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Syrian native of Palestinian descent, Khalil, 30, entered the United States on a student visa in 2022 to pursue a public administration degree at Columbia. He became a prominent member of Columbia's protest movement, married his American citizen wife in 2023, and last year secured lawful permanent residency, making him a "green card" holder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Demonstrators on the streets of New York City, rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have called Khalil's arrest political repression by the Trump administration. At least 150 protesters poured into the lobby of Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan on Thursday, carrying signs saying: "FREE MAHMOUD FREE PALESTINE." 'FOREIGN POLICY CONSEQUENCES' Khalil is separately challenging the legality of his arrest by federal immigration agents outside his university residence in Upper Manhattan. Khalil has not been charged with a crime. Trump's administration has urged a judge to dismiss Khalil's challenge to his immigration arrest, or alternatively move the case out of New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a court filing shortly before midnight on Wednesday, Justice Department lawyers told U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan that the U.S. government is seeking Khalil's removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have "serious adverse foreign policy consequences." Under a provision of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, a law passed in 1952, any immigrants may be deported if the secretary of state deems their presence in the country potentially adverse to American foreign policy. Legal experts have said that provision is rarely invoked, and Khalil's lawyers have said it was not intended to silence dissent. The Justice Department did not elaborate in its filing on how Khalil could harm U.S. foreign policy objectives. Trump and officials in his administration have, without presenting evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas. The Justice Department lawyers also said Furman should not have jurisdiction over the case because Khalil was transferred to an immigration detention facility in New Jersey before his lawyers filed their bid for his release, known as a habeas corpus petition, early on Sunday morning. He was later moved to Louisiana. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil's lawyers are due to respond to the Justice Department's motion on Friday, and also are expected to file an updated habeas corpus petition by midnight on Thursday. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's attacks have killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The assault internally displaced nearly Gaza's entire population and caused a hunger crisis. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) Along the Nez Perce National Historic Trail, Bitterroot Valley Trapper Peak, near Sula, Montana. (Photo by Roger Peterson/ U.S. Forest Service) The Trump administration has backed off a logging project in the Bitterroot National Forest after four different groups challenged the plan, which they said could have harmful effects on bull trout, wolverines and grizzly bears, all of which are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The decision to halt the Eastside project came after the groups sent a letter of notice of intent to sue because they claimed the U.S. Forest Service did not properly consider the effects of the project on those sensitive species. In a March 7 letter sent to the Center for Biological Diversity, leaders from the U.S. Forest Service, including Matthew Anderson, the forest supervisor for the Bitterroot National Forest and Amity Bass of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said theyre revisiting the research and consultation process. Until thats complete, the logging project has been stopped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Eastside project called for tree cutting, prescribed burns and roadwork across more than 470,000 acres almost the entire eastern side of the Bitterroot National Forest and a crucial wildlife corridor. The groups which challenged the decision includes the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Bitterroot, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, and WildEarth Guardians. The U.S. Forest Service approved the project in January 2021, but the groups filed a letter of notice of intent to sue, something thats required by the Endangered Species Act. That gives a federal agency the time to correct or re-evaluate the plans before possible litigation. The letter from the Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife said that since August 2024, the two agencies had begun re-evaluating the projects impact on the different species, including grizzly bears. On Feb. 2, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service submitted a new biological assessments for the grizzly bear, wolverines and bull trout. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since reinitiating has begun and consultation is ongoing on the effects of the updated proposed action, all previous consultation processes that have occurred related to the Eastside Forest and Habitat Improvement Project will be superseded, the letter said. While the plan will be to suspend the project, that could be a temporary reprieve because it said the U.S. Forest Service does not intent to implement the project until the reinitiated consultation is complete. This decision is much-needed good news for some of Montanas most iconic and imperiled wildlife, said Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Grizzly bears are slowly returning to the Bitterroot, wolverines are struggling to survive in the face of climate change and bull trout are teetering on the edge of extirpation from the area. Instead of protecting these species, the Forest Service has been pushing this massive habitat-destroying project under the guise of forest health. (NewsNation) The Trump administrations threats of a global trade war have left small businesses facing uncertainty. Businesses like Begyle Brewing in Chicago say tariffs significantly impact their profit margins. On Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne and spirits. The proposed tariff is a response to the European Unions planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. It is expected to go into effect April 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Does Canada really have tariffs above 200% on US dairy products? There is currently a 25% tariff on most goods coming from Mexico and Canada that officially went into effect on March 4 after a 30-day pause. Kevin Cary, owner of Begyle Brewing, said his mid-sized brewery imports about 200,000 pounds of barley from Canada each year and that the tariffs would hurt the brewerys margins. On Wednesday, Trump announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, another expense for Carys business as they need enough to produce about 1 million cans each year. He says the back-and-forth is leaving him confused. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There could be a tipping point where that grain just costs too much, and aluminum also might just cost too much, said Cary. If you cant produce something for a fair price and sell it for a fair price, whats the point? While the brewery could raise prices to offset increased costs, Cary is reluctant to burden his regular customers. This is sort of what people are willing to pay, and if you go past the point of what people are willing to pay, youre going to stop seeing people spending money, he said. More than anything, Cary wants stability in the policy environment. Since February, the president has made multiple tariff-related announcements, creating uncertainty for businesses. Its hard when youre managing any business to not really know what youre going to be able to do in a month, three months, 12 months, Cary said. It impacts hiring. It impacts purchasing contracts and relationships that you have with suppliers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While many business owners express concerns over the impact of tariffs on production costs and their livelihoods, some California farmers actually support the measures, with one calling it a painful reset, but a short-term issue. I have concerns, but Im not panicking, said Tom Barcellos of Barcellos Farms. This is a correction that needs to be done. When they talk about a 10% tariff on certain things, sometimes I have to chuckle because Canada already has an over 200% tariff on dairy products going into Canada. So whats another 10%? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. The Trump administration is putting scores of American universities on notice with a direct warning: Protect Jewish students on your campuses or face consequences. This week, the Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent letters to 60 colleges and universities ranging from Ivy League schools and large public universities such as Harvard and Ohio State, to small private liberal arts institutions such as Whitman College and Swarthmore College. Each letter warned of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities, according to an Education Department (DOE) news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No Utah schools received letters from the DOEs Office of Civil Rights. The letters, the release noted, are addressed to all U.S. universities that are presently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination. The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better, said newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The list of schools receiving letters is broad, and includes several of the countrys most storied and powerful higher education institutions including Johns Hopkins University, Stanford, Brown, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin (Madison), and Yale. The OCR, according to the release, sent the letters to the 60 schools under its authority to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin. National origin includes shared (Jewish) ancestry. In February, the DOEs Office for Civil Rights said five colleges Columbia, Northwestern, Portland State, the University of California (Berkeley) and the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) were under direct investigation following reports of widespread antisemitic harassment. And earlier this month, $400 million in federal grants and contracts to New Yorks Columbia University were canceled due to the schools continued inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination. Protesters demonstrate in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at Washington Square Park, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in New York. | Yuki Iwamura Arrest of Columbia University protestor News of the DOEs formal warning to the 60 colleges follows last Saturdays arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil by federal immigration officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Born and raised in Syria, Khalil was a highly-visible activist in protests last spring at Columbia. He served as a student negotiator and frequently interacted with the press and university officials. Khalil is married to a U.S. citizen and was granted a green card last year, making him a legal permanent resident. President Donald Trump heralded Khalils arrest as the first of many to come, vowing on social media to deport students he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, according to the Associated Press. Khalil hasnt been charged with a crime, but the Department of Homeland Security said he was arrested for leading activities aligned to Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the administration moved to deport Khalil under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives the secretary of state the power to deport a noncitizen on foreign policy grounds, the AP reported. Khalils lawyer has stated his client was identified, targeted and detained because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights and his protected speech. Secretary of State Marco Rubio countered that claim, saying Khalils case is not about free speech. This is about people that dont have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, Rubio said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following his arrest, Khalil was taken to an immigration center in Louisiana, where he remained on Thursday. Protesters march on campus against the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil at UC Berkeley on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif. | Santiago Mejia A New York judge has ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considers legal challenges brought by his lawyers, who want Khalil returned to New York and released under supervision, the AP reported. At a hearing Wednesday in lower Manhattan, hundreds of Khalils supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse beating drums, waving Palestinian flags and chanting for Khalils release. Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered that Khalils lawyers be allowed to speak with him. The lawyers told the judge that they had yet had an attorney-client-protected call with Khalil, the AP reported. Upheaval in the Education Department News of this weeks forceful letter from the DOE to dozens of the countrys most storied colleges was just one of several recent headlines originating from the embattled agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Secretary McMahon was confirmed and immediately wrote that she was embarking on a momentous final mission to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and send education back to the states. She wasnt bluffing. On Tuesday, the Education Department announced plans to lay off over 1,300 of its employees. Almost half of the people who were working at the agency a couple of months ago when Trump took office are now, or soon will be, former DOE employees. And McMahon herself may soon be out of a job if the president who has called the DOE a big con job can make good on his intent to shutter the 46-year-old department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eliminating the Education Department would require approval from Congress. Trump hopes to shift education functions to the states, but has not offered details on how the agencys core functions of sending federal money to local districts, schools and students would be handled. The DOE does not establish classroom curriculum. Thats up to local school boards and districts. Instead, the agencys role is primarily financial including allocating federal Title I funds to public schools in disadvantaged communities. McMahon has said she would preserve core initiatives including Title I money, Pell Grants for college students and Public Loan Forgiveness. But she has also questioned whether some DOE programs should be moved to other federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Service and the Justice Department. US President Donald Trump admitted possible annexation of Greenland on Thursday 13 March. Source: Trump speaking during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as reported by European Pravda Details: When asked by journalists about his "vision for the potential annexation of Greenland," Trump responded that it would happen. "I think that will happen," he said. Trump believes this is necessary "for international security". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He then turned to Rutte and added, "Well be talking to you," before stating that "its really an appropriate question". Rutte quickly replied: "When it comes to Greenland, yes or no joining the US, I would leave that outside, for me, this discussion, because I dont want to direct NATO in that." However, he noted that the Arctic region is often used by China for trade routes and that the Russians are rearming. Quote from Rutte: "So the fact that the seven Arctic countries, outside Russia, are working together on this under US leadership is very important to make sure that this region and this part of the world stay safe. We know things are changing there, and we have to be there." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: As is known, Trump has expressed confidence that the United States "will get Greenland one way or another". He promised to make the Greenlanders wealthy and to elevate the island "to heights you never thought possible before". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! President Donald Trumps administration asked the Supreme Court in a series of emergency appeals Thursday to allow him to move forward with plans to end birthright citizenship, elevating a fringe legal theory that several lower courts have resoundingly rejected. In a series of emergency appeals, the Trump administration argued that lower courts had gone too far in handing down nationwide injunctions blocking the controversial policy, and it asked the justices to limit the impact of those orders. A federal judge in January described his executive order as blatantly unconstitutional and blocked its implementation. Days later, a judge in Maryland said that Trumps plan runs counter to our nations 250-year history of citizenship by birth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Appeals courts have brushed aside the Trump administrations request to pause lower court rulings that imposed nationwide injunctions on an executive order he signed on the first day of his second term. For more than 150 years, courts have understood the 14th Amendments text to guarantee citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the United States, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. A landmark Supreme Court precedent from 1898 affirmed that reading of the law, and the modern court hasnt signaled any desire to revisit that holding. But some conservatives have argued that those long-held views are wrong because the 14th Amendment includes a phrase that the benefit applies only to people who are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Immigrants in the country illegally, the theory goes, are subject to the jurisdiction of their native homeland. Courts in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington have all issued injunctions blocking implementation at the request of more than 20 states, two immigrant rights groups and seven individual plaintiffs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The presidents executive order is outrageously illegal and cruel, and it should not be applied to a single baby in this country, Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project and the lead attorney in one of the cases challenging the Trump administration, told CNN. We are going to continue fighting to ensure that no child is denied their citizenship by this executive order. Trumps appeals to the Supreme Court do not deal directly with the constitutionality of the policy but rather seek what the administration described as a modest request to limit the scope of the injunctions. That is nevertheless a significant request because, if the Supreme Court agreed, it would allow the administration to enforce its executive order against people not covered by the pending litigation. Universal injunctions have reached epidemic proportions since the start of the current administration, the Justice Department told the Supreme Court in its emergency appeals. Those universal injunctions prohibit a Day 1 Executive Order from being enforced anywhere in the country, as to hundreds of thousands of unspecified individuals who are not before the court nor identified by the court. As a backstop, the administration said the court should at least allow it to issue guidance explaining how it would implement the policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though it is focused on the orders from lower courts blocking the executive order, the Justice Department spelled out a series of merits arguments in its appeals explaining why it views the long-held conventional wisdom on birthright citizenship to be incorrect. During the 20th century, the administration told the court, the executive branch adopted the incorrect position that the citizenship clause extended birthright citizenship to almost everyone born in the United States even children of illegal aliens or temporarily present aliens, the administration wrote. That policy of near-universal birthright citizenship has created strong incentives for illegal immigration. The Supreme Court is likely to set a briefing schedule that will require those who challenged the Trump administration to respond quickly, potentially within several days. This story has been updated with additional details. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to eliminate a key tool that lower courts have used to block various aspects of his agenda. In an emergency appeal Thursday, Trump asked the justices to rein in or shelve three nationwide injunctions lower-court judges have issued against his bid to end birthright citizenship. But his request could have repercussions far beyond the debate over the controversial citizenship plan. Judges have used nationwide injunctions to hobble many of Trumps early moves, from his bid to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs to his cuts to federal medical research. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trumps acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, argued to the Supreme Court that federal district judges have no authority to issue sweeping orders that block policies nationwide. Instead, Harris suggested, an injunction should apply only in the geographic district where the judge is located or only to the specific individuals or groups that sued. Years of experience have shown that the Executive Branch cannot properly perform its functions if any judge anywhere can enjoin every presidential action everywhere, Harris wrote, contending that while administrations of both parties have lamented the practice, it has reached epidemic proportions during Trumps current term. Lower-court judges issued 15 nationwide blocks of Trump administration actions in February, Harris asserted, although in some instances the same policy was blocked by multiple judges. That one-month total outstrips the 14 nationwide injunctions issued against the federal government in the first three years of President Joe Bidens term, she wrote, citing a law review study. Lawsuits over birthright citizenship The injunctions that triggered Trumps emergency appeal were issued against his Day 1 executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. That order seeks to deny U.S. citizenship to children born on American soil to parents who are undocumented immigrants or in the country on short-term visas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state separately blocked the order from taking effect nationwide. They said it blatantly violates the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. Trump is not yet asking the Supreme Court to assess the executive orders constitutionality. Rather, he wants the high court to narrow two of the injunctions and to lift the third entirely a request Harris called modest. This Court should declare that enough is enough before district courts burgeoning reliance on universal injunctions becomes further entrenched, Harris wrote. The practice of individual federal judges issuing injunctions that completely halt a federal policy has drawn extensive and increasing criticism in recent years. Some legal academics have questioned them, and both Democratic and Republican administrations have fought them. Two Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have openly doubted their constitutionality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Critics say nationwide injunctions give district judges too much power and encourage administration opponents to file lawsuits in specific districts or even direct them to specific judges they think will be sympathetic. But liberal and conservative groups who challenge federal policies say such injunctions are often the only efficient and fair way to address unlawful or unconstitutional government actions. One difficulty with the vehicle Trump has chosen for his fight against nationwide injunctions is that courts have sometimes found them particularly appropriate in immigration-related cases, so that people traveling arent treated differently depending on where they encounter federal officials. And a decision from the Supreme Court curtailing the lower-court nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship lawsuits could spur even more litigation. A huge number of individuals potentially affected by the birthright citizenship policy might decide they need to file their own lawsuits, or join existing lawsuits, in order to protect their children from the policy. The Trump administrations submission to the high court says those individuals could have their rights protected through class-action lawsuits. However, the process used for such suits is cumbersome and time-consuming, making it unlikely they could win the swift relief that the judges ordered in the three existing cases. Opposing state-led lawsuits In addition to taking aim at nationwide injunctions, the Trump administrations appeal to the Supreme Court seeks to weaken the ability of states to file lawsuits against federal policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement States with Democratic attorneys general have brought a flurry of such lawsuits in the past two months, challenging Trump actions on issues ranging from transgender rights to safeguards on sensitive federal government data to reimbursement rates for federal grants. One of the injunctions blocking the birthright citizenship order came in a case brought by 18 blue states. Trumps Supreme Court filing argues that states dont have the right to bring suits on behalf of their residents. States and their political subdivisions have inundated federal courts with politically charged suits challenging federal policies, Harris complained, noting both that Californias Democratic attorney general had boasted of filing more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration during Trumps first term and that Texas Republican attorney general had bragged of filing more than 100 suits against the Biden administration. President Donald Trump's administration has asked the Supreme Court to significantly narrow nationwide injunctions issued by three different federal judges blocking his executive order redefining birthright citizenship in the U.S. The emergency applications ask the justices to take a "modest" step and roll back the judges' restrictions on Trump's Day 1 order, allowing federal agencies to move forward with developing guidance and preparing for implementation if, at the end of litigation, the president prevails. MORE: Judge temporarily blocks Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship, calling it 'blatantly unconstitutional' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "At a minimum, the Court should stay the injunctions to the extent they prohibit agencies from developing and issuing public guidance regarding the implementation of the Order. Only this Court's intervention can prevent universal injunctions from becoming universally acceptable," Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the application. Trump's executive order would deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to unlawful immigrants or those on a temporary immigrant status. The administration's claimed in court proceedings birthright citizenship creates a strong incentive for illegal immigration. PHOTO: A view of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, June 29, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters, FILES) Federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state, in their rulings, have said such a move would appear plainly contrary to the text of the 14th Amendment and legal precedent. The 14th Amendment states that all "persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: What to make of Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship The Trump administration, in its appeals to the Supreme Court, railed against the use of nationwide injunctions and said they should be limited to the plaintiffs involved in the legal challenges. "This Court should declare that enough is enough before district courts burgeoning reliance on universal injunctions becomes further entrenched," the acting solicitor general wrote. "The Court should stay the district courts preliminary injunctions except as to the individual plaintiffs and the identified members of the organizational plaintiffs (and, if the Court concludes that States are proper litigants, as to individuals who are born or reside in those States)." "At a minimum, the Court should stay the injunctions to the extent they prohibit agencies from developing and issuing public guidance regarding the implementation of the Order. Only this Courts intervention can prevent universal injunctions from becoming universally acceptable." Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene on blocks to his birthright citizenship order originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Donald Trumps administration is taking the legal fight over birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court with a demand that justices limit the scope of multiple court rulings that have rejected his executive order that seeks to block children of certain immigrants from being citizens at birth. Petitions to the nations high court on Thursday calls on the justices to limit three nationwide injunctions issued in courts across the country to apply only to the states that sued and won. That move would allow the administration to begin implementing his executive order in other states, despite rulings from federal judges and appeals courts and arguments from legal scholars across the ideological spectrum that his attempt to unilaterally redefine the 14th Amendment is plainly unconstitutional. On his first day in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order that attempts to deny citizenship to children whose parents are unlawfully in the United States or have lawful but temporary status (AP) Trumps executive order would deny citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents are unlawfully present or have lawful but temporary status in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A request to the Supreme Court from acting solicitor general Sarah Harris does not necessarily argue the merits of the challenges against the order but about the authority of courts to issue nationwide injunctions. Federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington have issued overlapping nationwide injunctions following challenges from 22 states and immigrant advocacy groups, among others. Universal injunctions have reached epidemic proportions since the start of the current administration, the filing says. Those universal injunctions prohibit a Day 1 Executive Order from being enforced anywhere in the country, as to hundreds of thousands of unspecified individuals who are not before the court nor identified by the court. The administration calls on the Supreme Court to limit those injunctions to states that are actually within the courts power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps order, among the first signed by the president within his first hours in office, attempts to conditionally grant citizenship for children born in the United States. The 14th Amendments citizenship clause states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. The Naturalization Act of 1790 applied citizenship only to free white persons, and the Supreme Courts reviled decision in Dred Scott v Sandford in 1857 affirmed that citizenship could not be granted to Black people of African descent. That decision was later rectified with the ratification of the 14th Amendment that ended slavery in America and established citizenship for freed Black Americans, as well as all people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. The Supreme Court upheld that principle in 1898, when it determined that Wong Kim Ark who was born in San Francisco but denied entry into the United States because he was of Chinese descent was a U.S. citizen. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is among several state officials across the country joining legal battles against Donald Trumps executive order to that seeks to block children of certain immigrants from being citizens at birth (AFP via Getty Images) In recent years, right-wing legal groups have elevated a once-fringe argument against the concept, which was featured in Project 2025s guide for Trumps immigration policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Groups like the Heritage Foundation and Claremont Institute have sought to argue that the word jurisdiction in the 14th Amendment means only a persons political allegiance to the United States, and that the allegiance of children born to immigrant parents is to their parents home countries. Following a lawsuit from group of 16 pregnant immigrant women whose children would be stateless under Trumps order, Maryland District Judge Deborah L. Boardman said the order runs counter to our nations 250-year history of citizenship by birth and likely violates Supreme Court precedent, which has resoundingly rejected the presidents characterization of the 14th Amendment, Boardman said. In fact, no court in the country has ever endorsed the presidents interpretation, she said last month. This court will not be the first. NEW YORK (AP) Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into a trade war abroad all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty. Trump is no stranger to tariffs. He also launched a trade war during his first term in office, but has more sweeping plans now. Economists stress there could greater consequences on businesses and economies worldwide this time and that higher prices will likely leave consumers footing the bill. There's also been a sense of whiplash from Trump's back-and-forth tariff threats and responding retaliation, including recently-postponed levies for some goods from Canada and Mexico that followed a 30-day pause for the auto industry. The uncertainty has roiled financial markets, lowered consumer confidence, and enveloped many businesses with questions that could delay hiring and investment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's a timeline of how we got here: Trump's first term Trump launches a trade war during his first term in office taking particular aim at China. The two countries exchange a series of tit-for-tat levies, with Trump putting tariffs on most Chinese goods and Beijing responding with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products ranging from fruit, soybeans and wine to aircraft, automotive and chemical imports. Separately, Trump slaps tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. And in 2018, he escalates tensions with other trading partners by imposing taxes of 25% on imported steel and 10% on aluminum imports. He also uses the threat of more tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to renegotiate a North American trade pact, called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tariffs under Biden President Joe Biden largely preserves most of the tariffs Trump previously enacted against China, but his administration claims to take a more targeted approach. In October 2022, he issues sweeping new restrictions on selling semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China. These curbs will be expanded in October 2023 and December 2024 when China responds with a ban of U.S. exports for various high-tech materials like gallium and germanium. Biden also hikes tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment in May 2024. And in July, he imposes tariffs on steel and aluminum shipped from Mexico but made elsewhere in an attempt to stop China from circumventing import taxes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement November 2024 Trump wins the U.S. presidential election. He continues to promise steep tariff hikes in the coming weeks and months leading up to his first day back in office. January 20 Trump is sworn in. In his inaugural address, he again promises to tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens." And he reiterates plans to create an agency called the External Revenue Service, which has yet to be established. On his first day in office, Trump also says he expects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1, while declining to immediately flesh out plans for taxing Chinese imports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement January 26 Trump threatens 25% tariffs on all Colombia imports and other retaliatory measures after President Gustavo Petros rejects two U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants to the country, accusing Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation. In response, Petro also announces a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods. But Colombia later reversed its decision and accepted the flights carrying migrants. The two countries soon signaled a halt in the trade dispute. February 1 Trump signs an executive order to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada starting Feb. 4. Trump invoked this power by declaring a national emergency ostensibly over undocumented immigration and drug trafficking. The levies on Canada and Mexico threaten to blow up Trumps own USMCA trade deal, which allowed many products to cross North American borders duty free. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The action prompts swift outrage from all three countries, with promises of retaliatory measures. February 3 Trump agrees to a 30-day pause on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, with both trading partners taking steps to appease Trump's concerns about border security and drug trafficking. February 4 Trump's new 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S. still go into effect. China retaliates the same day by announcing a flurry of countermeasures, including sweeping new duties on a variety of American goods and an anti-monopoly investigation into Google. China's 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas products, and a 10% levy on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S., take effect Feb. 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement February 10 Trump announces plans to hike steel and aluminum tariffs. He removes the exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports will be taxed at a minimum of 25%, and also raises his 2018 aluminum tariffs to 25% from 10% set to go into effect March 12. February 13 Trump announces a plan for reciprocal tariffs promising to increase U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports for purposes of fairness. Economists warn that the reciprocal tariffs, set to overturn decades of trade policy, could create chaos for global businesses. Beyond China, Canada and Mexico, he indicates that additional countries, such as India, wont be spared from higher tariffs. And in the following weeks, Trump suggests that European countries could face a 25% levy as part of these efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement February 25 Trump signed an executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether a tariff on imported copper is needed to protect national security. He cites the material's use in U.S. defense, infrastructure and emerging technologies. March 1 Trump signs an additional executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether tariffs on lumber and timber are also needed to protect national security, arguing that the construction industry and military depend on a strong supply of wooden products in the U.S. March 4 Trumps 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico go into effect, though he limits the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. He also doubles the tariff on all Chinese imports to 20%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All three countries promise retaliatory measures. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country would respond with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods without specifying the targeted products immediately, signaling hopes to de-escalate. China, meanwhile, imposes tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of key U.S. farm exports. It also expands the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen. March 5 Trump grants a one-month exemption on his new tariffs impacting goods from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers. The pause arrives after the president spoke with leaders of the Big 3 automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement March 6 In a wider extension, Trump postpones 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month. But he still plans to impose reciprocal tariffs starting on April 2. Trump credited Sheinbaum with making progress on border security and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs and the Mexican president said in a post on X that she and Trump had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results. Trumps actions also thawed relations with Canada somewhat, although outrage and uncertainty over the trade war remains. Still, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) on U.S. goods, the government said it had suspended its second wave of retaliatory tariffs worth $125 billion Canadian (US$87 billion). March 10 China retaliates against Trumps tariffs by imposing additional 15% taxes on key American farm products, including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef. The escalating trade tensions push stocks lower on Monday as investors worry about the pain Trumps trade wars risk inflicting on the American economy. The Chinese tariffs were a response to Trumps decision to double the levy on Chinese imports to 20% on March 4. Chinas Commerce Ministry had earlier said that goods already in transit would be exempt from the retaliatory tariffs until April 12. March 12 Trump increases tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, removing exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. The European Union takes retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products. The measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will be hit, as they were during Trumps first term. March 13 Trump threatens a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, is expected to go into effect April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU.. Congressional Republicans notched a major victory by muscling a funding bill through the House, but GOP lawmakers are still struggling to make headway on President Donald Trumps biggest legislative priorities. House and Senate Republicans have yet to reach a deal on a budget plan that would set the framework for Trumps legislative agenda a source of tension ahead of a meeting Thursday between GOP senators and Trump at the White House. Republicans need to agree on how much spending to cut to offset the cost of their massive bill to fund tax cuts, border security, defense and energy policy. And they also dont agree on when or how theyll try to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a global economic catastrophe. But theres one sentiment House and Senate Republicans do share right now: They have yet to deliver any major legislative policy wins for their new president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am worried about it, Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said in an interview. Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged this week he has little time to celebrate Republicans major spending win after the House passed his stopgap funding bill Tuesday. Everybody says congratulations. And they high-five me. And then I go right back to work, Johnson said during a fireside chat at Georgetown University Tuesday. This is going to be the heavy lift. The rising concerns about the path forward reflect the reality that Republicans are about to launch some of the toughest Capitol Hill negotiations in years, with competing GOP factions at odds over fiscal policy and the future of the federal safety net. Republicans are only just beginning to hash out the details, and Trump himself is providing little direction and occasionally creating confusion about the specifics. At stake are major campaign promises that both Trump and Republicans made to win back control of Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We've confirmed his Cabinet, said Hawley. That's great. But if you look at the legislation Hawley trailed off before finishing his thought. Senate Finance Committee Republicans are hoping to break the impasse at their meeting with Trump at the White House Thursday. Johnson is also looking to ramp up cross-chamber meetings with party leaders and key committee chairs when lawmakers return later this month from a scheduled recess. The coordination is key. Both the House and Senate need to agree on, and then approve, the same budget resolution before they can advance the actual tax, energy, defense and border policy legislation through the party-line, filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. But behind the scenes, House GOP leaders are stewing over what they see as the Senates failure to act expeditiously, despite House Republicans approving their budget plan two weeks ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an effort to spur them along, Majority Leader Steve Scalise this week quietly encouraged GOP committee chairs to increase their public criticism of what he described as the Senates unacceptable timeline. Those House GOP leaders were also deeply alarmed when Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Finance Committee member, emerged from a meeting of panel Republicans Monday night and said the reconciliation bill might not be completed until August. The suggestion also turned heads at the White House, where a group of senior officials have worried the Houses strategy for passing one massive bill would slow down the quick delivery of funding for border security and mass deportations. Johnson, who is already facing the threat of a hard-right revolt along those same lines, quickly shot down the late-summer timeline. August is far too late. Were going to move that ball a lot faster than that, Johnson told reporters Tuesday. Instead, Johnson at the Georgetown event on Tuesday night floated a highly ambitious timeline: Putting the massive bill on the House floor before Easter. The House is scheduled to leave for another two-week break on April 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senior Republicans ultimately expect a sort of mini-conference meeting to resolve the differences between the two chambers competing reconciliation visions. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are also meeting regularly, including on Tuesday night this week, to try to chart a path forward. "This is just a long, arduous process, but we'll get there, Thune said later. Thune and Senate Republicans, however, are also still working through complex tax policy plans, and are expected to make changes to the House budget blueprints guidelines for that issue. GOP senators are also raising quiet warnings about a brewing fight over whether they can attach a debt ceiling hike to the massive reconciliation bill, as House Republican leaders and Trump are pushing. And while senators have been hesitant to publicly give a timeline, they havent strictly batted down the August suggestion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im for as soon as possible. I visited with the speaker last night. We want to get this done quickly, said Sen. John Barrasso, the chambers majority whip. But Im not going to give you a deadline date. If the bills timeline does slip into late summer, as Hill Republicans have generally feared since early this year, Johnson will face a host of new problems. That includes a fresh wave of threats from members of his right flank, who are already upset about delays in delivering more border funding. It would also mean Republicans would have to tackle the debt limit outside their reconciliation plans, as the debt cliff could hit as soon as early this summer. Thats a hugely toxic political fight that Johnson has no desire to mediate. Itll be part of reconciliation, Johnson said in a brief interview this week, referring to the debt limit. So, we pretty well have that covered. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker in the history of the U.S. Congress. Its long been a point of pride for the New York Democrat, whose new book on antisemitism in America will soon hit shelves. Its too late for the senator to add a few pages about Donald Trumps latest comments, though I suspect Schumer might be tempted. Across much of 2024, Trump repeatedly referred to the longtime senator as a Palestinian using the label as a slur even going so far as to claim publicly, and falsely, that Schumer is aligned with Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was ugly and offensive rhetoric, even by Trump standards, and it was apparently motivated by the fact that the senator does not agree entirely with the Republican on U.S. policy toward Israel. But in 2025, the president has taken this in an even more repulsive direction. The Washington Post reported: Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Trump attacked the Democrats over their response during his address to Congress on March 6 and targeted Schumer when he was asked about corporate taxes. Schumer is a Palestinian as far as Im concerned. Hes become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. Hes not Jewish anymore. Hes a Palestinian, Trump said. Right off the bat, its worth noting that its takes a special kind of political talent to offend Jews and Palestinians at the same time, over the course of a few seconds, but the president apparently managed to pull it off. But the closer one looks, the more abhorrent the comment becomes. Trump has apparently convinced himself that he a Christian is qualified to serve as an arbiter of who is and is not Jewish. The American presidency is powerful, but it does not include the power to issue public declarations on the scope of another persons Jewishness. Whether the Republican realizes this or not, theres an inherent antisemitism in rhetoric like this. It is simply not up to Trump to decide who the real Jews are based on his personal whims or officials willingness to go along with his agenda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whats more, incidents like this are part of a larger pattern. It was just last fall, for example, when Trump publicly suggested that he intended to blame Jews, at least in part, if he lost the 2024 race. A month earlier, after seeing Gov. Josh Shapiros remarks at the Democratic National Convention, the former president decided to take a rhetorical shot at his critic. The Pennsylvania Democrat, the former president wrote online, is a highly overrated Jewish Governor. In context, there was no reason for the Republican to reference Shapiros faith. Trump did it anyway. As regular readers might recall, it was earlier in the year when Trump also invoked the familiar dual loyalty trope by claiming that Jewish voters who support Democrats hate Israel. Indeed, hes been at this for a while. During his 2016 campaign, the future president spoke to the Republican Jewish Coalition and said, Youre not gonna support me because I dont want your money. You want to control your politicians. He added, Im a negotiator like you folks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several months later, in the run-up to Election Day 2016, the Republican promoted antisemitic imagery on social media. In the closing days of the campaign, Trump again faced accusations of antisemitism, claiming Hillary Clinton met in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers. While in office, he also used some highly provocative rhetoric about Jews and what he expected of their loyalties. Trump spoke at the Israeli American Councils national summit, where he suggested Jewish people are primarily focused on wealth, which is why he expected them to support his re-election campaign. There was also his ugly reaction to a racist event in Charlottesville in 2017, in response to torch-wielding bigots chanting, Jews will not replace us. After his 2020 defeat, Trump kept this going, whining that Jewish voters dont love Israel enough, dining with prominent antisemites at Mar-a-Lago, and arguing that Jews need to get their act together and appreciate Israel before it is too late. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In late 2022, he went so far as to declare that Jewish leaders should be ashamed of themselves over their lack of loyalty. Trump occasionally expresses bewilderment over his lack of support among Jewish voters. Why he finds this so confusing is a mystery. This post updates our related earlier coverage. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com (Bloomberg) -- At the surging number of companies rolling back DEI programs in the US following President Donald Trumps attack on the initiatives, the biggest casualty has been hiring goals tied to diversity, new research found. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20, theres been a near doubling of US companies changing their diversity, equity and inclusion programs compared to the seven months prior, according to an analysis of company statements over the last eight months by Gravity Research, a risk management research firm. Among the 37 firms that announced a combined 118 changes, 47% revised or eliminated diversity hiring goals, the report found. The next-largest impacts were to DEI teams and to participation in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, the report said. Trumps flurry of executive orders on DEI, which raised the prospect of criminal prosecution for violations, have amped up pressure on companies since he took office. Prior to the election, most of the companies skinning back DEI were responding to consumer boycott threats from anti-DEI activists such as Robby Starbuck. Now the focus has shifted as companies cite the changing legal and regulatory environment, said Kendall Seketa, Gravitys vice president of new products, who worked on the research. We will see companies who have federal contracts in particular adjust some of their public-facing DEI programs that could lead to scrutiny, Seketa said. So thats things like aspirational goals or representation targets in leadership or in hiring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even though the data show that companies are removing public-facing diversity goals and actions, conversations with DEI executives over the last several weeks suggest companies will continue to retain a focus on internal programs that enhance hiring and retention, Seketa said. About two-thirds of the companies that cut DEI also mentioned a continued focus on inclusion, belonging, and accessibility, the study found. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. President Donald Trump doubled down on his desire to annex Canada for the U.S. on Thursday by insisting the the sovereign nation only works as a state. During a meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump told reporters that our neighbor to the north has ripped off the U.S. for years, and that the United States cant subsidize a country for $200 billion a year. He added that the U.S. doesnt need anything that Canada provides, and said that the country would be better off being annexed. Canada, which exports things like natural gas, electricity and oil south, actually had closer to a $64 billion trade deficit with the U.S. last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump then cited reasons that he thought might convince 40 million Canadians to give up their sovereignty and become Americans. It would be one of the great states anywhere, Trump said. This would be the most incredible country visually. If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it between Canada and the U.S. just a straight artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many, many decades ago. And it makes no sense. Trump had kind words about the Canadian National Anthem, O Canada, and said it wouldnt go away. Keeping, Oh, Canada, the national anthem, I love it. I think its great. Keep it. But itll be for the state, he said. Some people have suggested that Trumps desire to add Canada as a state is a joke, and part of his recession-risking tariff war the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month over a hot mic that Trump is serious. Although the NATO secretary general avoided commenting on the issue during his meeting went Trump, folks on social media werent as quiet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contemptible. BENEATH contempt. Canada "Only Works as a State: Trump Vows Not To Bend On Tariffs Until Canada Is Absorbed Into The U.S." This -- Trump -- is a violation of our founding. He's also a shitty economist.https://t.co/6AVrrZB7ry Chris O'Leary | Baseball + Critical Thinking (@thepainguy) March 13, 2025 He's been repeating this every day for 2 months. He's not even trying to be funny with it. There's no jokes. It's a sincere plea. He's just directly saying he wants to annex Canada. We know Trump exaggerates for negotiation and leverage but this doesn't sound like a negotiation https://t.co/9QWbGxaxNh LindyMan (@PaulSkallas) March 13, 2025 Related... By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday that U.S. control of Greenland is necessary to enhance international security, escalating his campaign to annex the strategic Arctic island. "You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security - international - we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful," Trump told Rutte as they sat side-by-side in the White House Oval Office for talks. "We'll be talking to you." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked directly about the prospect of annexation, Trump said: "I think that will happen." Trump has made U.S. annexation of Greenland a major talking point since he took office on January 20. His comments on Thursday suggested he might want NATO involved in his attempt to take over the island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. The comments drew a swift rejection from the outgoing prime minister of Greenland. "The U.S. president has once again aired the thought of annexing us," Mute Egede said in a Facebook post. "Enough is enough." Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the leader of the island's pro-business Demokraatit party, which won Greenland's parliamentary election on Tuesday, also rejected the comments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Trump's statement from the US is inappropriate and just shows once again that we must stand together in such situations," Nielsen wrote on Facebook. NATO and Denmark's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Opinion polls suggest that most Greenlanders oppose joining the U.S., although a majority favor eventual independence from Denmark. Even before starting his second term as president, Trump said he hoped to make Greenland a part of the United States, even though NATO ally Denmark says it is not for sale. Greenland's strategic location and rich mineral resources could benefit the U.S. It lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, vital for the U.S. ballistic missile warning system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has managed to annoy Canadians with his proposal the country become the 51st U.S. state. He also demands the U.S. exert more influence over the Panama canal. Rutte told Trump that he would leave the question of Greenland's future to others and that, "I don't want to drag NATO" into the debate. He said it should be a topic for countries in the "high north" because the Chinese and Russia are using water routes in the area. Trump persisted, saying Denmark was refusing to discuss the topic and that he might send more U.S. troops to bolster the American bases on Greenland. "We've been dealing with Denmark, we've been dealing with Greenland, and we have to do it. We really need it for national security. I think that's why NATO might have to get involved in a way, because we really need Greenland for national security. It's very important," Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also sought to undermine Denmark's claim to the island. "You know, Denmark's very far away, and really has nothing to do. What happens, a boat landed there 200 years ago or something? And they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's true. I don't think it is," he said. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Nora Buli in Oslo; Editing by Trevor Hunnicutt, Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman) The Trump administration has asked the U.S. military to draw up options for retaking the Panama Canal. President Trump has been pushing for retaking the canal since December, and repeated his desire in a joint address to Congress last week, without any elaboration. The rest of the Trump administration hasnt attempted to explain what he means, either. The military is drawing up options, according to NBC News, that range from a closer partnership with the Panamanian military to soldiers seizing the Panama Canal by force, according to unnamed officials. The use of force depends on how much Panamas military is willing to work with the United States, the officials told NBC News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The commander of U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Alvin Holsey, presented the different strategies to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this week. The plan to use military force against Panama will only be considered if posting additional U.S. military personnel does not accomplish Trumps goal of reclaiming the canal, the officials said. Right now, the U.S. has more than 200 troops in the country, including Special Forces units working with Panamanian units to combat internal unrest. Trump claims China has troops in the canal, which Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino denies, as does China. In February, Panama decided not to renew an infrastructure agreement with China, drawing criticism from the country toward the U.S. China firmly opposes the U.S. smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, referring to the countrys Belt and Road development initiative. Later this month, Hegseth is expected to visit Panama, where discussions on increasing U.S. troop presence in the canal zone will take place. The Cabinet secretary is fully on board with Trumps desire to retake the canal, saying in January that the U.S. has the rightwe retain the rightto do what is necessary to make sure there is free navigation in the Panama Canal. The canal is one of the busiest waterways in the world, with most of the cargo passing through heading to or from the U.S. Any disruption or blocking of the canal would have devastating effects on the U.S. as well as the world economy. But Trump has proven during his presidency that his personal wishes outweigh any economic concerns, no matter how absurd. (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he would meet with New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday at the White House to discuss plans for a natural gas pipeline, among other topics. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shes coming in tomorrow morning at nine oclock to meet me, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump said he would discuss with Hochul his ambitions for the construction of a natural gas pipeline he boasted could save New York and New England families as much as $5,000 on energy costs. Trump didnt explicitly name the project on Thursday but has previously made clear he is pushing to revive the Constitution Pipeline, which developer Williams Cos. scrapped in 2020 after New York blocked the project over state water quality concerns. The companys chief executive officer, Alan Armstrong, told Barrons this week he was not interested in moving forward on the project unless governors of Northeastern states signed off on the plan. Armstrong separately made clear he supports the administrations bid to get the pipeline completed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pipeline industry is once-bitten, twice-shy, Armstrong told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. The company lost $400 million pursuing Constitution, after New Yorks opposition, he said. Earlier: Trump Vows Completion of Constitution Pipeline For New Yorkers For US oil and gas advocates, the Constitution Pipeline has taken on symbolic status, an example of how opponents have been able to wield environmental regulations and permitting requirements to quash energy projects. Although many parts of the Northeast US sit next to some of the countrys most bountiful natural gas reserves, limited pipeline capacity has prevented much of that supply from making it to them. Constitution promised to help change that equation by transporting Appalachian gas roughly 120 miles from Pennsylvania to New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New York has held it up for years, Trump said Thursday. Families in New York and Connecticut and New England are going to save $5,000 a family think of that because right now they have the highest energy prices maybe in the world. Its just a simple pipeline going to an area that wants it, Trump added. I hope we dont have to use the extraordinary powers of the federal government to get it done, but if we have to, we will. The president has vowed to meet with Northeast governors on the project previously, part of his broader bid to expand domestic energy infrastructure amid a surge in electricity demand. Trump said he and Hochul were also expected to speak about other topics. That could include his administrations push to cancel New York Citys controversial congestion pricing initiative. Hochul has said she will mount a legal challenge to the Transportation Departments effort to revoke the toll on cars entering central Manhattan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hochul told reporters Thursday that she had reached out to the president to carry on the conversation that we had in the Oval Office a couple weeks ago when the two had met to discuss congestion pricing. I have a lot on my agenda. We talked about infrastructure, Penn Station, we talked about he knows I want to talk about congestion pricing again. I want to talk about our concerns about energy in light of the tariffs, Hochul said. We will have quite an agenda. I look forward to the meeting tomorrow morning. --With assistance from Emma Sanchez, Lakenya Finley and Zach Williams. (Updates with further details from third paragraph) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Donald Trump is preparing to invoke a wartime authority which would allow him to deport foreigners without cause by labelling them alien enemies. According to CNN, the president is poised to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping wartime law that would allow him to detain and deport members of a perceived enemy nation. The power would likely pave the way for quicker removals of certain immigrants and speed up Mr Trumps mass deportation pledge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The announcement, which could be made as soon as tomorrow, will reportedly come in the form of a presidential proclamation. During his campaign for re-election, Mr Trump pledged to launch Operation Aurora, named after the Colorado town said to be taken over by Venezuelan gangs, to target undocumented migrant members. I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil, Mr Trump said during a rally in California last year. A Donald Trump rally in Aurora, Colorado, during the US election campaign - Michael Ciaglo The act has been used just three times in American history, all in connection with major military conflicts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It allows the president to detain or deport non-citizens from a country considered an enemy at war with the US. Woodrow Wilson, the former president, invoked the act during the First World War to place over 6,000 enemy aliens, many of them Germans, in internment camps. Most recently, it was used by former president Franklin Roosevelt in wake of Pearl Harbor to designate Japanese, German and Italian nationals as alien enemies during the Second World War. While it would be legally challenging to enact given the United States has not declared a war with another country, a broad interpretation of the act could allow a president to target immigrants from nations deemed hostile to US interests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February, Mr Trump said steep tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China were necessary to address a national emergency gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of all kinds arriving into the US. The US also designated Latin American criminal and drug-trafficking groups as global terrorist organisations. It followed Donald Trumps executive order which declared a national emergency on the southern border to stop dangerous gangs like the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua to take over and terrorise entire American cities. Labeling Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organisation was the first step, a senior White House official told CNN last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his inaugural address, the president reiterated his plan to invoke the 18th century law as part of his crackdown on immigration. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. The Justice Department issued a notice Thursday to Mayor Brandon Johnson over alleged antisemitism on Chicago campuses, the latest escalation of President Donald Trumps crackdown on liberal cities and educational institutions. A Justice Department-led task force requested Johnson and the mayors of New York City, Los Angeles and Boston discuss with federal officials their responses to antisemitism at their cities schools and colleges over the past two years, according to a news release. The statement says the mayors may have failed to protect Jewish students from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law. Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of October 7, 2023, said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Actions have consequences inaction does, too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The letter does not outline any specific steps the Justice Department might take against Chicago or the other cities. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, created via a Trump executive order, informed the Democratic leaders who testified together in a congressional hearing on sanctuary policies for immigrants this month that the task force is gathering information about unspecified incidents of antisemitism to determine whether federal intervention is warranted, according to the release. To that end, task force leader Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, told the four mayors that the body is requesting a meeting to quickly and effectively identify ways (to) return safety, civility, and sanity to our nations schools. In a statement Thursday, Johnson spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said the mayors office has not received any formal request to meet with the task force. Mayor Johnson is committed to fighting all forms of hate and antisemitism in Chicago, Mendoza wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, the mayor condemned the arrest and possible deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia Universitys pro-Gaza encampments in New York. The fact that people are being detained for their political views, that is beyond dangerous and reprehensible, Johnson, the first big-city U.S. mayor to endorse a Gaza ceasefire, told reporters at a City Hall news conference. People should not be held for their political views, right? That is not the hallmark of our democracy. The Israel-Hamas war that began after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 sparked a rift between the left and moderate flanks of the Democratic Party, an undercurrent that ran through Chicago politics as well. The progressive mayor cast a tie-breaker vote for a Gaza ceasefire resolution in the City Council in early 2024 and described the conflict as genocidal ahead of the Democratic National Convention that summer. He also endorsed activist-backed calls for a Palestinian to speak at the blockbuster event, but those demands never materialized. Last springs nationwide movement across college campuses over the Gaza war swept through Chicago and put Johnson to the test over how to balance outrage from pro-Israel groups who said encampments at the University of Chicago, DePaul University and the School of the Art Institute were unsafe and antisemitic with complaints from his leftist grassroots base that their cries for peace were being stifled. The Justice Department issued a notice Thursday to the mayors of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston over alleged antisemitism on campuses, the latest escalation of President Donald Trumps crackdown on liberal cities and educational institutions. A Justice Department-led task force requested the mayors discuss with federal officials their responses to antisemitism at their cities schools and colleges over the past two years, according to a news release. The statement says the mayors may have failed to protect Jewish students from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law. Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of October 7, 2023, said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Actions have consequences inaction does, too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The letter does not outline any specific steps the Justice Department might take against the other cities. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, created via a Trump executive order, informed the Democratic leaders who testified together in a congressional hearing on sanctuary policies for immigrants this month that the task force is gathering information about unspecified incidents of antisemitism to determine whether federal intervention is warranted, according to the release. To that end, task force leader Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, told the four mayors that the body is requesting a meeting to quickly and effectively identify ways (to) return safety, civility, and sanity to our nations schools. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsons press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Wednesday, the mayor condemned the arrest and possible deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia Universitys pro-Gaza encampments in New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fact that people are being detained for their political views, that is beyond dangerous and reprehensible, Johnson, the first big-city U.S. mayor to endorse a Gaza ceasefire, told reporters at a City Hall news conference. People should not be held for their political views, right? That is not the hallmark of our democracy. The Israel-Gaza war that began after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 sparked a rift between the left and moderate flanks of the Democratic Party, an undercurrent that ran through Chicago politics as well. The progressive mayor cast a tie-breaker vote for a Gaza ceasefire resolution in City Council in early 2024 and described the conflict as genocidal ahead of the Democratic National Convention that summer. He also endorsed activist-backed calls for a Palestinian to speak at the blockbuster event, but those demands never materialized. Last springs nationwide movement across college campuses over the Gaza war swept through Chicago and put Johnson to the test over how to balance outrage from pro-Israel groups who said encampments at the University of Chicago, DePaul University and the School of the Art Institute were unsafe and antisemitic with complaints from his leftist grassroots base that their cries for peace were being stifled. _____ (The Hill) President Donald Trump again floated the idea of running for a third term during a St. Patricks Day event Wednesday, saying he looked forward to celebrating with the Irish prime minister at least three more times. The remark came during the annual Friends of Ireland gathering during which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hosted Trump, Irish leader Micheal Martin known as the taoiseach and other lawmakers for a luncheon at the Capitol. Taoiseach, I want to just thank you once again for being here, its an honor, and hopefully were gonna be doing this at least three more times, OK? Were gonna be doing this three more times, at least, Trump said. Martin will be taoiseach until 2028. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When I say at least, they go absolutely crazy, Trump added, referring to the press, which elicited laughs in the room. So thank you very much for being here. Trump has spoken about running for a third term on a number of occasions, including last month when he asked a crowd at the White House, Should I run again? You tell me. And after his election victory in November, he floated the idea during a gathering with House Republicans. The idea has gained steam in some circles, despite it being unconstitutional. The 22nd Amendment limits individuals to two presidential terms. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) in January proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would allow Trump to vie for another term in the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, the amendment reads. In a statement at the time, Ogles said Trump has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nations decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal. Aside from Ogles, several Trump supporters who attended last months Conservative Political Action Conference were keen on the idea, wearing Trump 2028 stickers. Additionally, a banner for Third Term Project was set up at the event site. Democrats, meanwhile, are diametrically opposed to the notion of a third Trump term. Last month, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) introduced a resolution reaffirming the House supports the 22nd Amendment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Resolved, That the House of Representatives (1) reaffirms that the Twenty-second Amendment applies to two terms in the aggregate as President of the United States; and (2) reaffirms that the Twenty-second Amendment prohibits President Trump from running for President for another term, the resolution reads. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. President Donald Trumps latest bid to tackle the European Unions hostile and abusive trading practices is to tack new duties on alcohol imports. Not only would that make European wine more expensive for consumers, but it could devastate the restaurant business. In response to Trumps tariffs on steel and aluminum, the E.U. hiked its duties on imports of American whiskey to 50%, in a move that the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States called deeply disappointing. That set off Trumps new threat. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all wines, champagnes, & alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries, Trump wrote on his Truth Social, saying that U.S. businesses will benefit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A tariff is a tax on an imported good and paid for by the importing business, not the foreign seller. Theyre designed as a protective measure that encourages domestic companies to shift manufacturing back to the U.S. and consumers to buy Made in America products. Read More:The Trump tariffs are coming for wine. American restaurants could die But wine and other alcohol products arent able to be mixed and matched as easily as other goods, such as steel. Ninety-five percent of the worlds bourbon is made in Kentucky. Champagne can only be called champagne if it is made in France, uses a certain method, and is from the region of Champagne. Chardonnay grown in the soil of Chablis produces a wine that cannot be recreated anywhere on earth. The same can be said for Nebbiolo in Piedmont, Pinot Noir in Burgundy or Tempranillo in Rioja, Harmon Skurnik, a member of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, told Wine Spectator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After Trump imposed tariffs on wine during his first term, many companies absorbed some of the cost to avoid raising prices and potentially losing customers. But fewer people are drinking alcohol these days, resulting in last year becoming one of the most challenging years in collective memory for the beverage alcohol industry, according to the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Americas (WSWA). Wine consumption peaked in 2021 at 3.16 gallons per person, with per capita consumption dropping 15% to 2.68 gallons by 2023, according to data from the U.S. Wine Institute. By volume, wines and spirit sales dropped 7.2% and 3.7%, respectively, in 2024 according to WSWAs SipSource report. Revenue sank 4.8% overall for wine and spirits sellers last year. If enacted, Trumps new tariffs could result in price hikes for consumers at liquor and grocery stores and put pressure on the restaurant business. Most restaurateurs make 50% to 60% of their profit on wine and drinks. Restaurants are run at ridiculously low margins, like 3% on average, and when one of our better profit-making products is taken off the table, I dont know where well make it up, DeWayne Schaaf, chef and owner of Celebrations, a fine dining restaurant in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, told Quartz in November. A lot of people are going to have to pivot: lose wine, lose staff or close days, he said. Peter Green contributed to this article. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. President Trump said he will meet with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) at the White House on Friday to discuss plans for an energy pipeline that would run through the Empire State. The governor of New York Kathy Hochul, whos a very nice woman, shes coming in tomorrow morning at 9 oclock to meet on that and other things, Trump told reporters Thursday. The president and the governor are expected to discuss his plans to approve the Constitution natural gas pipeline, which New York blocked in 2020 over related water permits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also said the pipeline would save families $5,000 in energy costs in New York and New England. I hope we dont have to use the extraordinary power of the federal government to get it done, but if we have to, we will, but I dont think well have to, Trump said. I can tell you Connecticut wants and all of New England wants it. And who wouldnt want it? A source with knowledge of the discussion said Hochul and Trump also will discuss congestion prices and other issues of importance to New York. Hochul and Trump have clashed over Hochuls congestion traffic pricing program in New York City. The program, which began in January, is aimed at reducing traffic in the city while raising money to pay for transit infrastructure. The program charges a $9 for most vehicles entering certain parts of Manhattan during rush hour. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last month, Trump raised eyebrows when he said New York was saved after the administration announced it would walk back the pricing plan. CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. LONG LIVE THE KING! Hochul fired back, stating, we are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. The governor has vowed to oppose Trump in court, arguing that the plan is working as congestion has dropped, commuters are getting to work faster and more people are choosing to travel to local businesses by foot. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. March 13 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met Thursday to discuss current events affecting the United States and NATO, including the war in Ukraine. The meeting occurred during a closed-door strategic luncheon that began at 12:35 p.m. EDT at the White House as Rutte seeks to keep the United States as an active member of NATO. Rutte is scrambling to keep NATO intact as officials in France and the United Kingdom have approached Trump directly to make respective defense agreements, Politico reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The real challenge for [Rutte] now is to become the Trump whisperer and make sure that President Trump and America stay involved in NATO," said Geidrimas Jeglinskas, former NATO official and current chairman of the Lithuania National Security and Defense Committee. Trump has demanded European nations contribute more financially to NATO instead of requiring the United States to continue paying nearly twice as much as all other member states combined. President Donald Trump has demanded other NATO members contribute amounts equal to 5% of their respective GDPs to fund NATO ahead of Thursday's meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI Trump wants all NATO member states to contribute up to 5% of their gross domestic product instead of relying on the United States to continue supplying a large majority of NATO funding. The meeting between Rutte and Trump also comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle to a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine, NewsNation reported. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (L) in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday as Rutte seeks to keep NATO intact to effectively deter Russian expansion in Europe. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI Officials in Italy, Germany and Poland also are working with France and the United Kingdom to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia and end the three-year war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NATO military leaders and diplomats of the alliance's member states outside of the United States are meeting in Paris to discuss matters in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI Defense experts for the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Poland also are meeting separately in what former Italina NATO ambassador Stefano Stefanini told Politico could be a "harbinger of this new NATO" alliance. NATO has existed for eight decades and has changed its mission focus as the geopolitical situation has evolved from the Cold War to securing airspace over Bosnia and Libya. U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI The new focus is to protect European nations amid Russian aggression in Ukraine that might target other nations, including Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as Putin seeks to restore the former Soviet Union territories. The United States has about 84,000 troops in Europe, but leaders of the European states recognize the need to provide their own defense against Russia and other potential aggressors instead of relying on the United States, Politico reported. A man reads at a booth displaying China-themed books at London Book Fair in London, Britain, March 12, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, Chinese and British publishers hosted a series of events to pay tribute to the victory at the ongoing London Book Fair. On Wednesday, a launch event was held for the Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who gave his life to support China's war against Japanese aggression decades ago. The book, which includes Hogg's letters and journalistic works, offers a fuller picture of his early life and his journey as a reporter in China, documenting both the war and social life. It also highlights his efforts to support the Chinese people during the war, particularly his role in founding a school for war orphans in Shaanxi. Mark Aylwin Thomas, author of the book and nephew of the late Hogg, said at the launch that the translated edition gives Chinese readers the opportunity to learn more about the "extraordinary person" who "loved and respected his fellow human beings regardless of race, belief or cultural differences, striving selflessly with compassion for a common positive goal." Chen Guangyao from People's Publishing House, the book's publisher, said that Hogg's story serves as a historical testament to the friendship between China and Britain. He expressed hope that the Chinese edition will further strengthen this friendship and contribute to promoting world peace and development. Along with the book, five other publications themed around the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression were also unveiled on Wednesday during the three-day book fair. Speaking with Xinhua after a seminar where Chinese and British writers and scholars shared stories and insights on the bonds forged between the two countries during the war, Hugo de Burgh, director of China UK Creative Industries at Goldsmiths, University of London, emphasized the importance of helping younger generations "understand the dangers and the terrible suffering caused by conflict and war." He added that "responsible publishers" play a crucial role in reminding people of the "positive aspects of our relationships" that emerged from the shared experiences of war and hardship. In addition, a special screening of "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru" was held during the book fair. The documentary is about the heroic rescue of British prisoners of war by Chinese fishermen during World War II. (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trumps choice for ambassador to Canada affirmed that countrys status as a sovereign nation and hinted the presidents complex relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might have played a role in his calls to annex it into the US. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Canada is a sovereign state, yes, Pete Hoekstra said with a wry look when asked by Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, during his confirmation hearing Thursday. How the president and the relationship between the former prime minister in Canada, the characteristics and nature of that relationship I dont know, was it one where there was humor, Hoekstra went on to say, before Coons interrupted him. I view as a positive, sir, that we have a new prime minister in Canada and a chance for a reset, Coons said. Mark Carney, the new leader of Canadas Liberal Party, is set to succeed Trudeau as prime minister on Friday. Hoekstra, a former congressman from Michigan and an ambassador to the Netherlands during the first Trump term, appeared to play down the presidents frequent insistence that Canada become the 51st US state. In a social media post earlier this week, Trump said making Canada a state was the only thing that makes sense, and then in the Oval Office on Thursday, he said it only works as a state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a state it would be one of the great states, this would be the most incredible country visually, Trump said, going on to assert that the US-Canada border is just a line arbitrarily drawn on a map. Canada is Americas second-largest trading partner and its ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But Trump has escalated pressure on Americas northern neighbor, provoking a trade war with a levy of fresh 25% tariffs on a wide variety of Canadian products despite their free-trade agreement. Earlier: New York Shopping Trips by Canadians Wane Over Trump Taunts Trump has made Canadas sovereignty a conversation topic ever since a dinner with Trudeau in November after which he called his counterpart the governor of the Great State of Canada. Canadian officials said after the dinner that Trumps comments appeared to be a joke. But theyve provoked increasing anger north of the border the longer that he repeats them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The back and forth comes at an awkward time for the two countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Charlevoix, Quebec, on Thursday for a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers, meeting alongside Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly. Im hopeful that casual threats will stop, Coons told Hoekstra. I will continue to press for a reduction in some of the rhetoric that I think has destabilized our relationship, Coons said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. By Patricia Zengerle and Emily Green WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Mexico on Thursday did not rule out unilateral U.S. military action in Mexico if U.S. citizens were in danger, bringing to the fore simmering tensions between the two countries over how to fight drug cartels. Our first desire would be that it be done in partnership with our Mexican partners, Ronald Johnson told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his confirmation hearing, but that "should there be a case where the lives of U.S. citizens are at risk, I think all cards are on the table." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnsons comments underscore a growing consensus within the Trump administration that U.S. military strikes in Mexico are a possible course of action, a significant departure from previous U.S. foreign policy towards its southern neighbor. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said any unilateral U.S. military operations in Mexico would violate the countrys sovereignty. "The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation... (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air," she said in February. While the U.S. and Mexico have long carried out joint operations against Mexican cartels, Trump has called for U.S. military strikes to dismantle the criminal organizations, saying he wants to wage war on powerful Mexican cartels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson, who served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trumps first term, had a career at the Central Intelligence Agency spanning more than 20 years. On Thursday, he praised Sheinbaum and said he sought to work closely with Mexican authorities to defeat cartels. In February, Trump's administration designated some Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, which experts said could pave the political way for U.S. military strikes in Mexico. Mexico has long opposed the terrorist designation, arguing the cartels are not motivated by political ends like others on the terrorism list, but by profit. We have seen a tightening of security against the cartels that has been done by the Mexican authorities, Johnson said. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Emily Green in Mexico City; Writing by Emily Green; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Howard Goller) A former Tennessee lawmaker who was once represented by White House Counsel David Warrington said he received a pardon from President Donald Trump after pleading guilty to an illegal campaign finance scheme in 2022. The White House has not said anything publicly about former Sen. Brian Kelsey's pardon, but sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that Trump signed the pardon paperwork on Tuesday. The White House counsel's office normally reviews presidential pardons, and it was not immediately clear if Warrington recused himself from his former client's pardon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Trump administration live updates: Senate Democrats won't back GOP bill to avoid shutdown Warrington was recused from the Kelsey matter and was not involved in any way, a White House official told ABC News. PHOTO: In this Nov. 22, 2022, file photo, former Tennessee Sen. Brian Kelsey, left, arrives at federal court, in Nashville, Tenn. (Mark Humphrey/AP, FILE) Kelsey was two weeks into his 21-month prison sentence when he received the pardon. Bureau of Prisons records reflected that Kelsey was no longer in custody at FCI Ashland as of Tuesday. According to federal prosecutors, Kelsey illegally funneled tens of thousands of dollars from his state campaign committee to a federal committee to fund his failed 2016 congressional campaign. He originally pleaded guilty to one felony before later withdrawing his plea while he was represented by Warrington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Defendant Brian Kelsey entered his plea agreement hastily with an unsure heart and confused mind," Warrington wrote in a court filing, arguing Kelsey was confused when he decided to plead guilty after his father died and his wife gave birth to twins. MORE: DOJ pardon attorney says she was removed after dispute over Mel Gibson's gun rights "The fog and sleep deprivation of taking care of his newborns while dealing with everything else in his life led to his confused mind. Once his mind began clearing, Mr. Kelsey acted quickly to seek to withdraw his plea," he wrote. But U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw denied the request, finding that Kelsey who attended law school and practiced law understood his actions when he initially pleaded guilty. The Supreme Court denied his request to hear his case on in the summer of 2024. He was eventually sentenced to 21 months in prison, though he was allowed to delay serving his sentence while his appeal played out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelsey reported to his minimum-security prison on Feb. 24, spending about two weeks behind bars before Trump issued his pardon. "Praise the Lord most high! May God bless America, despite the prosecutorial sins it committed against me, President Trump, and others the past four years. And God bless Donald J. Trump for Making America Great Again!" Kelsey wrote on social media. Trump pardons convicted Tennessee lawmaker once represented by the White House counsel originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Donald Trump has pardoned Brian Kelsey, a former Tennessee lawmaker who pleaded guilty to a campaign finance scheme in 2022, after the Republican served just two weeks of his 21-month prison sentence. Kelsey said on social media after his release Tuesday that he believed God used Donald Trump to save me from the weaponized Biden DOJ. May God bless America, despite the prosecutorial sins it committed against me, President Trump, and others the past four years, he added. And God bless Donald J. Trump for Making America Great Again! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelsey pleaded guilty in November 2022 to illegally transferring money from his state Senate campaign committee to a national organization that supported his failed 2016 bid for U.S. Congress, including filing false campaign finance reports to conceal the transfer. In March 2023, the Georgetown University-educated attorney attempted to reverse his plea, telling the judge he was in a confused state mentally when he pleaded guilty and unable to fully consider the ramifications. The motion was denied. Kelsey initially dismissed the indictment as a political witch hunt and indicated hed take the case to trial. But after a co-defendant pleaded guilty and began cooperating with federal authorities, he changed his tune. Former Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey, left, arrives at federal court, on Nov. 22, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) via Associated Press In a related development, earlier this week the Trump administration gutted the Justice Departments Public Integrity Section, according to NBC News. The unit prosecutes politicians accused of corruption. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Justice Department spokesperson told The Associated Press its taking a broad look at the unit but wouldnt confirm any final decisions have been made. The president is no stranger to controversial pardons. Trump kicked off his second term with a mass pardon of thousands of Jan. 6 defendants, many of whom were convicted of violent offenses. One such man, Andrew Taake, was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting police on Jan. 6, then released even though he also faces charges for allegedly soliciting a minor online. Another, a 42-year-old Indiana man named Matthew Huttle, was shot and killed days after the pardon during what police say was an altercation during a traffic stop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A third man pardoned by Trump, Daniel Ball, was immediately rearrested on an outstanding warrant for a federal gun charge. Related... Every person that President Trump dramatically deported to Guantanamo Bay for violating U.S. immigration laws is on their way back to the United States. Trump initially announced that he planned to send 30,000 undocumented immigrants to Guantanamo Bay, turning the infamous torture facility into an immigration detainment camp. There were 40 people there as of Tuesday, when they were all flown to an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana. The men were flown back on a flight under the banner ICE Air, according to The Washington Post, which was less expensive than the showy military aircraft the administration previously used to transport immigrants to Guantanamo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people, some of them are so bad we dont even trust the countries to hold them because we dont want them coming back, Trump initially said in January. So were gonna send them out to Guantanamo. This will double our capacity immediately, and tough, thats a tough place to get out of. Todays signing brings us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in our communities once and for all. While the Department of Homeland Security has yet to comment on why their plans changed, this situation underscores the fact that Trumps grand immigration crackdown may be easier said than done. President Trump on Thursday expressed confidence the United States would annex Greenland, even suggesting the head of the NATO alliance could be a key player in facilitating the acquisition. I think it will happen, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. And Im just thinking, I didnt give it much thought before but Im sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, Trump said, gesturing to Rutte. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rutte agreed that Greenland and the Arctic Circle are critical for security reasons, noting that China and Russia have a growing presence in the region. But he said any discussion about Trumps attempts to acquire Greenland were outside of his purview. I dont want to drag NATO in that, Rutte said. The comments came two days after the center-right Demokraatit party won Greenlands parliamentary elections. The party favors a slow path toward independence from Denmark. Trump has for months pushed the idea of the United States acquiring Greenland, which is a territory of fellow NATO member Denmark. The United States has a military base on the island. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to taking office, he declined to rule out potential military action to annex the Arctic island. His son, Donald Trump Jr., and a handful of allies visited the island in January. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. US President Donald Trump has sought support from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte regarding plans to potentially incorporate Greenland into the United States during a meeting at the White House on Thursday. Trump reiterated the strategic importance of the island, noting that it is far from Denmark, to which Greenland officially belongs. Asked by a reporter about plans for a possible annexation, Trump said, "Well, I think it will happen." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Referring to Rutte, Trump mentioned that he hadn't given it much thought before but now was sitting with a man who could be very instrumental. Rutte said he wanted to stay out of the debate on whether the island should become part of the US and also did not want to "drag NATO into that," although he agreed Greenland holds great significance for international security due to its location. Trump justified his interest in Greenland with its wealth of natural resources and strategic location. Denmark has said it will not cede control of Greenland, the world's largest island. Greenland officially belongs to the kingdom of Denmark but decides on most of its political matters independently. However, the island remains financially heavily dependent on Copenhagen, and foreign affairs and defence are run by the government in Copenhagen. US President Donald Trump has commented on Russian leader Vladimir Putins statement regarding a "30-day ceasefire" in the war. Source: Sky News, citing Trumps remarks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as reported by European Pravda Details: Trump said Putins statement was very "promising but not complete". He also stated that he is ready to speak with the Kremlin leader to ensure a ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump noted that his envoy, Steve Witkoff, is engaged in serious negotiations in Russia and is expected to meet with Putin soon. "Hopefully Russia will do the right thing," the US president said. Putin had earlier claimed that he "agreed" with the US proposal to halt hostilities but insisted it must "lead to a long-term peace". "We agree with the proposal to end the hostilities. However, we believe that this ceasefire should lead to long-term peace and the elimination of the root causes of the conflict," Putin said. Background: Following the meeting in Jeddah on 11 March, Ukraine agreed to immediately implement a 30-day ceasefire if Russia also takes the same step. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the US would present Russia with a ceasefire proposal and hopes for its agreement. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Washingtons readiness to significantly tighten sanctions against Russia if necessary to resolve the war in Ukraine. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Most physicians have been defendants in lawsuits. Plaintiff experts almost always have a feeding frenzy. In truth, expert witnesses are held to codes of conduct about remaining objective and avoiding partisanship or advocacy. Yet, should the verdict favor defendants, these experts, except for deserving the term hired guns, are rarely, if ever, held accountable for their feeding frenzy, which conflicts with their ethical obligations. I want to share my experience. I independently researched a landmark medical malpractice case, not as a defendant nor an expert, but just as an interested party. Byrom vs. Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center alleges that the failure to perform a Cesarean section for preeclampsia in a 16-year-old mother, who is 25-weeks pregnant, causes fetal brain damage. The plaintiffs attorney produces a medical expert, who is of the opinion doctors falsely inform the mother that damage to her unborn infant has already occurred and coerce her into rejecting a Cesarean section. His version of informed consent is that, even if a poor fetal prognosis is suspected, to prevent harm during delivery, doctors must advocate nothing other than a Cesarean section, even to the point of coercing the mother into agreeing. The medical records document that defendants do advocate for Cesarean section, but not to the exclusion of extenuating risk factors and, certainly, not to the point of coercion. Looking closer are eleven words in medical records, Ms. Byron had recently arrived in the United States from Liberia. The extenuating risk factor is the first 17 weeks of pregnancy when fetal development occurs in Liberia. Pregnancy complications are more common in Liberia; hence, there is ample reason to believe that the alleged injuries have another cause. The medical expert would have seen these words but, because they are inconvenient facts to his version of informed consent, he treats them as if they do not exist. To make matters worse, according to a Johns Hopkins spokesperson in a press conference after trial, for whatever reason, these facts are suppressed during trial. The traditional version of informed consent excludes coercion under any circumstance. His distorted version for informed consent does immeasurable damage to the correct version. One measure is $229-million, the largest verdict ever recorded in the United States that the jury returns on July 1, 2019. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals understands that something is amiss. On February 1, 2021, it overturns the verdict, singling out this medical experts version of informed consent as incompatible with the doctrine of informed consent in which coercion has no role. It rules that his version of informed consent is so error-prone that the presiding judge should have excluded it. There is a long tradition of self-policing unethical conduct by medical societies and boards of physicians. They have oversight over medical experts. Also, there is a tradition to report unethical conduct. Because the Court of Special Appeals is so adamant, which gives credence to misconduct by this expert, I consider reporting him to the Maryland Board of Physicians. However, he is from Ohio and it limits jurisdiction to doctors licensed in Maryland. I reject this idea because it would likely decline jurisdiction. On the other hand, Marylands Medical Society is an affiliate of the AMA and has standing with the medical society and the board of physicians in Ohio. In April, I file a grievance with it in the expectation that MedChi would forward this complaint to the Board of Physicians of Ohio. To my dismay, MedChi forwards my complaint to the Maryland Board of Physicians, the very idea that I reject. MedChi knows and should know that the Board would decline jurisdiction. As predicted, the Board declines. When I make MedChis dismissive handling of my complaint a separate issue with the Board of Physicians, it responds that the Board has no regulatory oversight or jurisdiction over entities or private medical organizations such as MedChi. This is not entirely true. The Board takes action against such entities 20 times since 2018. Apparently, the Board decides which physicians and which organizations are off limits. To make matters worse, the Boards response concludes with a gratuitous comment cautioning me to consult legal counsel before proceeding further. In June, I take the matter of this medical expert to the Ohio Board of Physicians. The action taken by it is confidential; however, suffice it to say, that by comparison to my experience in Maryland, it understands petitioning for redress of grievance as fundamental, and the grievance is investigated. Instead of a subtle threat, its response concludes with, The participation of citizens is critical to ensuring the quality of medical care in Ohio. I bring this to your attention because, in 1971, I took an oath to impart precept, oral instruction, and all other instruction to all indentured pupils who have taken the Healers Oath. Having done so, if it strikes you that, during the aforementioned trial, an opportunity was missed, only to be rectified by the Court of Special Appeals, then I leave you with this admonition. When you are a defendant in a malpractice suit, and you believe you are in the right, be relentless and use everything at your disposal to expose the opposing expert as a miscreant. Had defendants in this suit been so disposed, likely, the outcome would have been different. Howard Smith is an obstetrics-gynecology physician. ADVERTISEMENT Image credit: Shutterstock.com In Houston this week, the leading lights of the global oil and gas industry have gathered to congratulate themselves. Buoyed by the Trump administration and the prospect of surging energy demand from AI, executives at CERAWeek by S&P Global hailed themselves as sober-minded pragmatists whove finally prevailed in the alleged war on their business model. Were seeing some reality come back in the conversation, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told the crowd. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser similarly described the inherent flaws in the current energy transition plan whereby unnamed parties sought to almost entirely replace hydrocarbons virtually overnight. The future of energy, he added, is not only about sustainability. Security and affordability must share the stage. Fracking executive turned Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who calls himself a climate realist, echoed the sentiment and took it one step further in his remarks to the conference, describing climate change as simply the side effect of building the modern world. The cures for that, he arguedthe Biden administrations irrational quasi-religious policieshave been far more destructive than the disease. There are no winners in that world except for politicians and rapidly growing interest groups. The supposed realism being projected in Houston isnt exactly novel. Fossil fuel executives and the politicians they donate to routinely describe themselves as the victims of some fantastical green plot. Despite the fact that U.S. executives enjoyed record profits and production during the Biden administration, they love to whine whenever Democrats are in charge and take a victory lap when Republicans kick them out. Whats novel about this round of self-serving oil and gas industry grandstanding is how much it aligns with the realism expressed by ostensibly more climate-conscious leaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So-called investor-led alliances to align the financial sector behind climate goals have largely collapsed as bankers and asset managers follow the example of fossil fuel companies, which have walked back and reversed climate pledges. The Net-Zero Asset Managers Alliance suspended operations after its largest memberBlackrockleft earlier this year. The six largest U.S. banks (Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo) all opted to ditch the Net-Zero Banking Alliance in the lead-up to Inauguration Day. Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gateswho championed their climate philanthropy over the last several yearshave warmed to Trump and stayed silent about his attacks on climate statutes. Breakthrough Energy, the climate group Gates funds, dramatically cut giving to climate groups and slashed dozens of staff in the U.S. and Europe. Europes push to boost defense spending in response to Trump neednt necessarily come at the expense of climate priorities, but some politicians are certainly framing green priorities as indulgent luxury items that should take a backseat to rearmament. And governments that have preached fiscal restraint with regard to green spending are broadcasting a new willingness to open their pocketbooks for weapons. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusks pitch for ramping up military spending included a rant against the blocs climate and environmental plans, blaming them for prohibitively high energy costs and limiting European competitiveness. Urging a full and very critical review of all European Green Deal laws, Tusk warned in Brussels that Europe cannot become a continent of naive people and ideas. If we go bankrupt, no one will care about the natural environment in the world anymore. After successive German governments warned that deficit spending on climate priorities would lead to financial ruin, the two parties likely to form its new coalition government, the CDU and SPD, announced their intention to loosen the countrys supposedly ironclad debt limit in order to accommodate new defense spending. Bloomberg reports that the Netherlands and Germany will redirect $2.5 billion and $1 billion in climate spending for poorer countries, respectively, toward defense priorities; Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland are considering similar plans. French President Emanuel Macron hopes to raise military spending from 2 percent to 3.5 percent of gross domestic productabout $32 billion more annually. The French government also just released its long-awaited plan to adapt to a world thats four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than preindustrial levels by 2100, well above the Paris Climate Agreements goal of limiting temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius. Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher announced the country will spend just under $1.75 billion to prepare for a realistic level of warming that the government predicts will devastate its most important economic sectors, especially agriculture and tourism, and slash GDP by 13 percent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These European leaders and finance executives believe that climate change is a real and pressing threat. None would venture so far as to brag they dont do climate change crap, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted this week. But the paranoid, reactionary realism preached by oil and gas execs in Houston this week has plenty in common with the more genteel versions being peddled in Brussels and on Wall Street, where climate goals arent denounced so much as deprioritized in budgets and dropped from talking points. Oil and gas companies have long recognized the very prospect of an energy transition as an existential threat to their business model. They spent decades and fortunes on lobbying and disinformation efforts to deny the climate was changing at all and block any efforts that might impact their bottom lines. In the financial and, now, tech sectorwhere companies are angling to build out huge fleets of energy-intensive data centers for AItheres still plenty of money to be made from fossil fuels. These executives dont have much reason to worry about the taps getting turned off, or even slowed. Thats because the governments that broadcast their flashy net-zero commitments when those things were fashionable have reached a more mundane conclusion, cemented by Trumps election: Decarbonizing is too hard. The problem with this line of thinking ought to be immediately apparent to anyone with even a cursory familiarity with climate projections. The catastrophic effects of climate change outweigh the costs of addressing it in just about every model. No amount of shoulder shrugging is going to keep that bill from coming due. It isnt realistic for governments, especially, to pretend that rising temperatures wont wreck economies and displace millions in order to focus on other priorities, or to half-heartedly prepare for a world warmed by four degrees Celsius. Its delusional. Donald Trump is once again rewriting history to make it seem like Russian President Vladimir Putin never invaded Ukraine. During an appearance Thursday in the Oval Office with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump seemed unsure whether Russia would forfeit its seized territory. I dont know if they would have to give anything back. I guess Crimea? Trump said, sounding confused. Thats probably because its clear that Trump does not intend to force Russia to relinquish any of its seized territory nowand Russia has previously refused to do so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You know, uh, I said it last time: Crimea was given by Obama. Biden gave em the whole thing. And Bush gave em Georgia. And Trump didnt give em them anything. Trump once again managed to rewrite the story of Russias illegal seizure of other territories, but in his version, Putin wasnt responsible for any of it. Putin seized Crimea in 2014, and as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy noted when he visited the White House last month, nobody stopped him. After Trumps first term, the situation was the same, Zelenskiy saidbut pointing this out got him scolded and tossed from the premises. Cut to 2025, and Russia now controls roughly 20 percent of Ukraines territory. But the U.S. president is still content to play dumb about the role that his administration has played in Russias illegal occupation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps support for Putin during his first term in the White House, and his lack of support for Zelenskiy, emboldened Moscow and weakened Kyiv, making way for Russia to launch its deadly multiyear ground offensive in Ukraine in 2022. Trumps continued rhetoric now serves to normalize Russian aggression and put the onus on anyone else for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. When the U.S. temporarily paused military and intelligence aid to Ukraine last month, Russia moved forward with its efforts to push Ukrainian forces out of Kurskan area that Ukraine had hoped to use as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. The flow of aid restarted this week after Zelenskiy said that he agreed to Trumps 30-day ceasefire agreement. But Zelenskiy added that his country would not recognize any occupied Ukrainian territory as Russia. Putin said, We definitely support the deal but that several questions still remained. He warned that Ukrainian forces in Kursk would need to surrender or die. He added that Moscow would wish to retain at a minimum 18 percent of the Ukrainian territory it had stolen. President Trump discussed the ongoing talks for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, and said it would be "very disappointing" if Russian President Putin did would not accept it. US President Donald Trump has said that if Russia refuses to agree to a 30-day ceasefire, it would be "a disappointing moment for the world". Source: Trump speaking during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as reported by European Pravda Details: Trump emphasised that a ceasefire is the "first stage" of negotiations. He also revealed that many details of the final agreement between Ukraine and the US have already been discussed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "Weve been discussing with Ukraine land. And pieces of land will be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement. Theres a power plant [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant ed.] involved, a very big power plant. Whos gonna get the power plant and whos gonna get this and that and so, you know, its not an easy process." More details: The US president also stated that NATO and Russias presence in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine were also topics of discussion between US and Ukrainian representatives. Trump also addressed Ukraines NATO membership, stating that "everybody knows whats the answer to that question". "They discussed NATO and being in NATO, and everybody knows whats the answer to that. Theyve known this answer for 40 years," he said. Background: Meanwhile, Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that he "agrees" with the US proposal to halt hostilities but insists it must "lead to long-term peace". "We agree with the proposal to end the hostilities. However, we believe that this ceasefire should lead to long-term peace and the elimination of the root causes of the conflict," Putin said. Trump, in turn, described Putins statement as "promising, but not complete". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Its rare for threats of annexation to be delivered with a smile. But in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump repeated his intention to eliminate Canada from the map and occupy Greenland with the same casualness that one might order lunch. I love Canada. I love the people of Canada. I have many friends in Canada the great one, Wayne Gretzky, the Great. How good is Wayne Gretzky? He's the great one. I know many people from Canada that are good friends of mine, Trump said with a smirk, before explaining why the country shouldnt exist anymore. Canada only works as a state, he went on. If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S., just a straight artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago many, many, decades ago, and makes no sense. It's so perfect as a great and cherished state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was not all bad news for Canadians, however. In this terrible vision of the future imagined for them, presumably after a brutal insurgency by the Royal Mounties has been crushed in the Canadian Rockies, and after millions have fled to become refugees in other parts of the Commonwealth, Trump promised that those left behind could keep their national anthem but as a state anthem. O Canada, the national anthem. I love it. I think it's great. Keep it, but it will be for the state, one of our greatest states, maybe our greatest state, Trump continued. President Donald Trump meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office (REUTERS) Trumps comments come as a trade war between the two former close allies has spiraled out of control in recent days. Just as concerning as the casualness of the threat was the justification behind it. It is perhaps the first time in modern history that a leader has threatened to annex a country for aesthetic reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This would be the most incredible country visually, Trump said of the new land he would create from the ashes. Trumps threats were made all the more jarring because they were interspersed with repeated calls for peace between Ukraine and Russia. Thousands of young people are being killed a week, and we want to see that stop, Trump said. They're not Americans, and they're not from the Netherlands for the most part. They're from Russia and they're from Ukraine, but they're people. There was a grim irony here in that his rhetoric on Canada bears a striking resemblance to Vladimir Putins own words on Ukraine. For years before he launched his invasion of Ukraine, Putin engaged in a similar campaign of attacks on the validity of Ukraines existence, repeating the falsehood that it was not even a real country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sitting alongside Trump as he laid out his plans for world domination was the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, who would in theory lead the fighting force that would be forced to respond militarily if Trump followed through on his threats. A customer holds a bottle as a sign that reads ''Buy Canadian Instead'' is displayed after the top five U.S. liquor brands were removed from sale at B.C. Liquor Stores, as part of a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, February 2, 2025. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo) Moving on to Greenland, with an appetite that would make Napoleon blush, Trump suggested that the NATO chief might be able to help him take over the Danish-owned territory. Well, I think it'll happen, Trump said in response to a reporters question. And I'm just thinking, I didn't give it much thought before, but I'm sitting with a man who could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, Trump said, addressing Rutte. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rutte had obviously watched the horror shows of Volodymyr Zelensky and Keir Starmers visits and trained for weeks in the art of deflection and flattery. He masterfully batted away each of Trumps invitations to sanction his sweep across the northern hemisphere. So when it comes to Greenland, yes or not, joining the US, I would leave that outside for me this discussion, because I don't want to drag NATO in that, he said. But when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right. The Chinese are using these routes. We know that the Russians are re-arming. We know we have a lack of ice breakers, he continued, dodging an international incident. With Greenland, too, Trump offered up a lackluster justification for invading the territory of a fellow NATO member. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Denmark's very far away, he said. A boat landed there 200 years ago or something, and they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's true. I don't think it is, actually, he added, as Christopher Columbus turned in his grave. But he was insistent that the annexation of Greenland would happen, and for the first time raised the prospect of military action to achieve it. Again, with a wink. You know, we have a couple of bases on Greenland already, and we have quite a few soldiers, and maybe you'll see more and more soldiers go there, he said. I don't know, what do you think about that, Pete? he asked U.S. defense secretary Pete Hesgeth, the former Fox News host who now runs the most powerful military force the world has ever seen, and who was standing nearby. Don't answer that, Pete. Don't answer that, Trump said, with a laugh. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he still has a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he held several summits during his first term, and referred to North Korea once again as a "nuclear power." Asked by reporters during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte whether he had plans to reestablish relations with Kim, Trump said: "I would ... I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un, and we'll see what happens, but certainly he's a nuclear power." On January 20, when he was inaugurated for his second term, Trump said North Korea was a "nuclear power," raising questions about whether he would pursue arms reduction talks rather than denuclearization efforts that failed in his first term in any re-engagement with Pyongyang. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After referring to Russia and China's nuclear arsenals, Trump said: "It would be a great achievement if we could bring down the number. We have so many weapons, and the power is so great. "And number one, you don't need them to that extent. And then we'd have to get others, 'cause, as you know, in a smaller way - Kim Jong Un has a lot of nuclear weapons, by the way, a lot, and others do also. You have India, you have Pakistan, you have others that have them, and we get them involved." Asked if Trump remarks represented any shift in policy towards North Korea's nuclear weapons, a White House official said: "President Trump will pursue the complete denuclearization of North Korea, just as he did in his first term." On February 15, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts reaffirmed their "resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization" of North Korea in accordance with U.S. Security Council Resolutions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Kim Jong Un's powerful sister Kim Yo Jong criticized the Trump administration for stepping up "provocations" and said it justified North Korea increasing its nuclear deterrent. This week North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles, its first since Trump took office. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell) (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump and key Senate Republicans are still grasping for a solution to the US government closing in on breaching its legal borrowing limit following a White House meeting Thursday. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The senators, including Majority Leader John Thune and Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, discussed whether to increase the debt ceiling in the tax-and-spending package that Republicans intend to pass this year. Most analysts believe the US will default on a payment obligation sometime this summer without a debt ceiling increase. There wasnt a decision made, Thune said after the meeting. The talks Thursday played out against the backdrop of a looming Saturday government shutdown amid a stalemate in the Senate. Trump has been eager for Congress to approve funding through the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year so he can pivot to his broader legislative agenda. By late Thursday, however, shutdown chances had ebbed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The House has moved to increase the debt ceiling as part of its tax proposal, using a vehicle that will require only Republican votes. But Thune has said he wants to handle the debt ceiling separately, to put Democrats on the record supporting the increase. During the meeting, Trump reiterated that he favored making tax cuts permanent, Thune said. Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said a cap on the corporate state and local tax deduction was discussed during the meeting as a way to help pay for the package. No decisions were made on that, however. The gathering unfolded as the Senate has stalled on Trumps top legislative priority, a giant package of tax cuts. The House last month passed a budget outline for the bill, which also included cuts to entitlement programs paired with a boost to border security and military spending, but the Senate has yet to act on it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senator Chuck Grassley expressed frustration after the White House meeting. It was all talk talk talk, the Iowa Republican said. Just like the last 10 weeks. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the president told the senators that he wanted the debt ceiling paired with the tax package, which would bypass the Democratic minority. I think we need to tackle it and I think the president agrees with that, Tillis said. He added that there were 11 Senate Republicans who have never voted for a debt ceiling increase, and spending cuts must be addressed. Specific proposals were discussed with Trump, he said. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he wants Congress to wrap up work on the package by the end of May, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday he envisions it being completed by the summer. The Senate would have to move quickly in order to meet those goals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the key holdups is the price tag of the tax cuts. The House bill allows $4.5 trillion in tax reductions over a decade, in exchange for $2 trillion in spending cuts and a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. Senate Republicans have said permanently locking in the lower individual rates and expiring business provisions from Trumps 2017 law set to expire at the end of this year is their top legislative priority. The tax cut outline passed by the House last month would only cover an eight or nine-year extension, unless lawmakers can identify more than $2 trillion in spending cuts over a decade. One way around that would be for the Senate to use a budget gimmick to assume about $4 trillion of the Trump tax cut extension actually costs zero dollars because those tax cuts are already part of the tax code. Its unclear if this current policy workaround would be permissible under Senate rules. Crapo said the laundry list of tax cuts that his Republican colleagues want in the bill is ballooning. In addition to renewing the 2017 overhaul, the GOP is mulling ending taxes on tipped wages, overtime pay and estates. He said there are proposals to expand Opportunity Zones capital gains tax breaks and to increase the $2,000 child credit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Permanence is our highest priority in the Republican Finance Committee. Its a battle, but we are making that our No. 1 priority, Crapo said Wednesday at a US Chamber of Commerce event. He said there are more than 200 tax requests before the committee for consideration. And that has to be reconciled with House GOP demands for offsetting spending cuts. Thats a tall order, Crapo said. Republicans are using a two-step budget reconciliation process that will allow them to pass the bill on GOP votes alone, bypassing Democrats. Once the House and Senate agree to a budget outline, they can begin the process of negotiating the details of the legislation. Such a bill can pass the Senate with just 50 votes instead of the usual 60 votes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Erin Schilling and Laura Davison. (Updates with shutdown talks in fourth and fifth paragraphs) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. (NewsNation) The head of NATO on Thursday commended President Donald Trumps efforts to bring about a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met at the White House on Thursday as initial reports came in of Russian President Vladimir Putin agreeing in principle with a 30-day ceasefire. Hopefully theyll do the right thing, Trump said, referring to Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, was scheduled to meet with Putin in Russia on Thursday night, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NewsNation. Trump makes third term remark during event with Irish prime minister Thursdays discussion with Rutte comes days after Trump called on European allies to contribute more to the alliances defense fund. Trump has publicly called for other countries to give up to 5% of their GDP. Trump has made it clear that he wants NATO countries to pay much more than the 2% commitment that was decided upon more than a decade ago. In 2024, an estimated 23 of 32 countries were projected to meet that goal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rutte, who served as prime minister of the Netherlands during Trumps first term, has also supported increasing NATO members funding expectations. Our mindset has to be that we are willing to protect every inch of NATO territory If we would stick to the 2%, we cannot defend ourselves in four or five years. We have to spend more, Rutte said during a Feb. 12 news conference. Last week, Trump suggested that the U.S. should not have to defend NATO allies, which he believes has not contributed enough to defense spending. Elon Musk, one of Trumps top advisers, said in a social media post that the U.S. should withdraw from NATO altogether and refuse to fund Europes defense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United States typically spends around 3% of its GDP on defense, meaning a major increase in Pentagon funding would be needed for the nation to meet Trumps own standards. Canadians, stung by Trumps tariffs and rhetoric, balk at US travel Russia agrees in principle to 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine Thursdays conversation comes on the heels of a tentative ceasefire deal in the Russia-Ukraine war. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with the U.S.-proposed plan, the Associated Press reported. So, the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it, Putin said at a news conference in Moscow. But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, Ukraine agreed to accept the same deal in exchange for the U.S. resuming intelligence sharing and security assistance. No specifics have been made public, but the White House has said everyone Russia and Ukraine included will have to make some kind of concession to reach a deal. Does Canada really have tariffs above 200% on US dairy products? Thursday marks Witkoffs second trip to Russia this year; the first secured the release of Marc Fogel. Ukraine has repeatedly sought NATO membership, though Russia has vehemently opposed the move. The Alliance fully supports Ukraines inherent right to self-defence, and its right to choose its own security arrangements. Ukraines future is in NATO, the organizations Ukraine relations website reads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Family physician Tony Gerk discusses the article, Even medical practices arent immune from the high cost of employer-provided health insurance. In this episode, Tony explains the challenges small medical practices face due to skyrocketing employer-provided health insurance costs. He details the constraints imposed by reimbursement rates, the impact of facility fees on patient care, and the difficult choices small business owners must make between profits, patient access, and employee benefits. Tony also explores potential policy solutions such as capping facility fees and increasing price transparency, offering actionable strategies for small business owners and policymakers alike. Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot. Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can. Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, its backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and its part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcareand its built on a foundation of trust. Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow. VISIT SPONSOR https://aka.ms/kevinmd SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended GET CME FOR THIS EPISODE https://www.kevinmd.com/cme Im partnering with Learner+ to offer clinicians access to an AI-powered reflective portfolio that rewards CME/CE credits from meaningful reflections. Find out more: https://www.kevinmd.com/learnerplus Transcript ADVERTISEMENT Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. Today, we welcome Tony Gerk. He is a family physician. Todays KevinMD article is Even medical practices arent immune from the high cost of employer-provided health insurance. Tony, welcome to the show. Tony Gerk: Thanks, Kevin. Id like to thank you for inviting me on the podcast. Ive been a longtime follower. Your original blog articles were probably some of the first things I read in the medical commentary arena when I was at the University of Colorado in the early 2000s. Its a great honor to have my article published on KevinMD, and Im thrilled to be here. Kevin Pho: All right. Well, thank you so much for writing and for joining me today. So, before talking about the article itself, what led you to write it in the first place? Tony Gerk: Yeah, so Im a family physician in rural northeastern Colorado, primary owner of a five-provider primary care practice. Were actually the only traditional private practice in the entire northeast corner of this state. I bought into the practice that was started by the family physician who delivered me, so I feel a great deal of responsibility to carry on the legacy he left, and we do full-scope practice. Were taking care of everybody. We do obstetrics, C-sections, work in the hospital and the nursing homes, and so I really feel that weve established ourselves as a cornerstone of this community. Its been very important for us to make sure that we have a viable business model thats going to keep this practice in place to care for the community. Thats the background, and then rising costs and a lot of the challenges weve been facing in medicine over the last four or five years really brought some of the things I talked about in the article to the forefront. Kevin Pho: All right, so as listeners knowand Im sure you knowprivate practice is really becoming more of a minority. I was talking to someone yesterday on the podcast saying that the numbers of nonprivate practice physicians are in the low 20 percent and that its only going down. Today, Im sure were going to talk about some of the challenges of not only practicing medicine as a family physician, but also the challenges of running a private practice. For those who didnt get a chance to read your article, tell us what its about. Tony Gerk: Yeah, so the background is an interesting story as well. This past summer, summer of 2024, we were looking at another round of premium increases for our employer health insurance, and it was just shocking. Unfortunately, for increasing premiums, we were getting a 7,500 individual deductible for our employees and a 15,000 max out of pocket for their familiesreally almost unsustainable numbers for a lot of folks. I reached out to our state academy and asked if they had any resources or if there were other practices they had heard from. They connected me with a small business majority here in Colorado, who said we really had a story that needed to be told in small primary care practices. They said, You should write an op-ed. So, we started working on it, I finished it, and we were lucky enough to have it picked up by KevinMD. In primary care, just like you alluded toparticularly in private primary careweve got a tough road to hoe. We dont have all the tricks available to large organizations. We dont have access to a lot of the funding streams that they do. But, as my mentor always said, the reason weve survived is because we can juke and jive. We can make decisions on the fly, we can transform our entire practice really quickly once we have our team members on board and aligned, and then were ready to rock. We can make changes quickly and improve care. We know that small primary care practices provide higher quality care at lower cost, but unfortunately, that business model and those successes havent translated into the financial success that wed hoped for. Kevin Pho: Yeah, its almost like the insurance companies are hitting you on both ends, because Im sure youre getting pressure on the reimbursement side, but you also have to use them for premiums for your employees, and the premiums are going up while reimbursements are going down. So, as a small business primary care practice, youre getting hit on both sides. Tony Gerk: Absolutely. We really try to be as innovative as we can. We participate in every value-based care contract we can find and really have tried to make ourselves an innovative practice. That often just means parity in terms of payment. It doesnt mean were seeing more reimbursement than we had before. So, yeah, its difficult. Kevin Pho: Give us a sense of how many employees you have in your practice. Tony Gerk: We have 16 employees, with two part-time employees. We have five MAs and LPNs, four front-desk staff, we employ a full-time ultrasonographer, and then we have a couple of nurses who work on the side for us doing chronic care management and that sort of thing. Kevin Pho: So, for the clinicians who own the practice, tell us about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff in terms of managing the practice financially. You mentioned earlier participating in a lot of innovative products, and you talked about how nimble a private practice is. Take us into some of those discussions about managing the financial pressures. Tony Gerk: Right. When we see opportunities for improved reimbursement, were always going to take those, but ultimately, it comes down to how many patients we can see. We have our foot in both puddles, so to speak. We want to be innovative, drive transformation, do value-based care, which hopefully means chronic care management and not having to see patients as often. But ultimately, it comes down to a fee-for-service model in so many ways, where if I see 30 patients in a day, Im probably going to come out ahead compared to seeing 15. So, thats where weve seen so many improvements in value-based caremetrics and those sorts of thingsbut it hasnt quite caught up with fee-for-service in terms of potential reimbursement. Those are the things we try to balance. We dont want to sacrifice our patients care for the sake of numbers, so were never going to stack our providers schedules with 30 patients. We just have to make a decision about how many patients we can see and take care of well. When do we open our practice to new patients? Which payers do we feel like we need to attract more of? And it changes. We know we need to have a certain number of Medicaid patients so that we can maximize those value-based care contracts. We need to have a certain number of Medicare patients so we can maximize those contracts. There are a lot of discussions. We meet as an ownership group once a month and then every three months for a bigger meeting, and once a year for a strategy-type meeting. We decide whether we take more patients or not, whether we pursue a new program, if its something we think we can do and that will benefit our business and improve the patient experience. Its a lot of on-the-fly decision-making, and we do some financial modeling to make sure that if we add a new service, its ultimately going to improve the experience for our patients and help our business. We have three owners, and those arent always easy discussions. I love change; I love to try new things. But I have partners who are sometimes more realistic and hold me back, saying maybe now isnt the perfect time. Its good to have balance; as much as sometimes you can struggle with divided decision-making, ultimately I think we end up in a pretty good spot. Kevin Pho: You mentioned that when choosing a health plan for your employees, there was one where the out-of-pocket maximum for families was 15,000. So, what kind of choices do you have? Is that the only choice you have as you decide what kind of health plan best fits your financial model and whats best for your employees? Tony Gerk: Its a really interesting and unique part of the state where we live. Were so isolated from the big cities along the Front Range of ColoradoFort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springsand its expensive to get care here. If someone walks into the emergency room across the street having a STEMI, theyre going to be on a helicopter in 10 minutes, getting to a cath lab. Care is expensive, and because of that, we have one option for private health insurance here. Weve had a few folksbusiness owners out there might be familiarwho approach us saying they can take over our benefits, offer more choices, and decrease costs. Weve met with a few of them, but when they actually start running numbers, their jaws drop. They say, Wow, you have one insurance company available out there, and we say yes, and thats really the issue. I dont know the exact answertheres a lot that goes into it with state laws, federal laws, and why we see so few options herebut that is the biggest problem we have. We try to pay our employees really well and offer them jobs that give them security, so our employees dont qualify for subsidies. When weve tried to send them to our state or federal insurance plan, unfortunately, they dont qualify for subsidies that would bring down rates in a meaningful way. Thats been the struggle. Weve even discussed whether we should offer health insurance at all anymoreshould we just stipend our employees? But it feels wrong to me. It feels wrong to say were providing health care to our community, often through private insurance, yet were not going to offer that to our employees. So, its always been an option, but I feel wed be leaving our employees worse off than they are now. I wish we could unwind health insurance from employers. It was a crazy decision so many years ago to tie those two things together because it has insulated folks from the true cost of medicinethey just dont see how much money goes into their health insurance. But thats not going to happen anytime soon. Ultimately, my goal is to talk about what were doing in primary care, particularly in private practiceyes, the struggles were having, but also how successful we can be moving forward. Kevin Pho: Practicing primary care in a rural area is hard enough, but it also sounds like you have to manage the financial aspects and keep this small business afloatmaking sure the lights are on and the doors stay open. As a busy rural family physician, how do you juggle both challenges? Tony Gerk: Sometimes its just that the biggest fire gets put out on some days, but Ive tried to adjust my schedule so that I have time dedicated to administrative work and time dedicated to clinical work. It doesnt always workmedicine is messy, and questions about patients intrude on my administrative time. But Im lucky to work with a really great team. We hired a physician who also grew up in our community a year and a half ago. Shes fantastic, and that allowed me to pull back just a little bit on the clinical side. I see patients full time three days a week, expanding my hours on those days to keep seeing the same number of patients. Then, luckily, I have Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to work on administrative things and figure out which decisions I can make alone and which need the bigger group. Kevin Pho: As I mentioned earlier, the number of physicians going into private practice is slowly going down. For those doctors listening to us on this podcast, what kind of questions should they ask themselves to see whether a private practice life is right for them versus going into a more employed model? Tony Gerk: I just value physician autonomy so much. For me, thats ultimately what drives me: my ability to make decisions not just for myself, but for my patients. Thats what has kept me away from the temptations of employment, being bought out, or working for a large group. When we have a med student herehes on a longitudinal rotation, came in October, and will leave in JulyI talk to him about his practice decision-making and which specialty he might go into. The main thing I really want people to think about is whether theyre happy having someone make decisions for them, or if theyre the kind of person who wants to be making those decisions themselves. Theres no right answer; its absolutely personality-driven. We had a physician who worked for us for a couple of yearsfantastic doctor, still a great friendbut he didnt like the business side of it. He didnt like thinking about hiring and firing or making decisions about how to allocate money. Ultimately, he went back to an employed position, which is great for him. The hard part is the financial side. Im flabbergasted by the size of loans physicians have now when they come out of medical school and residency. When I had 185,000 in loans in the mid-2000s, I was worried, but now physicians have two or three times that amount. How do they pay that off if they have to take a pay cut to work in private practice? But you have to find happiness and fulfillment as well. When I talked to the physician who joined us a year and a half ago, I was concerned because I knew she had a lot of loans. I knew that was a concern for her, and I didnt know if shed come to work for us. Ultimately, when she saw how we practiceshe saw how happy we were (not that were skipping down the hallway every moment of every day), but we have a great work environment, a fantastic team, and were hopefully changing things for the betterthat drove her to come and work for us. I hope shell be an owner here soon. So it really is a matter of soul-searching for medical students and residentswhere do they find fulfillment and happiness, and what drives them? Hopefully that drives more folks into the private practice world. Kevin Pho: How about a medium-term or longer-term view in terms of the viability of a private practice primary care model in rural America? How financially viable do you think this is going forward? Tony Gerk: Im very bullish. Weve got our struggles from time to timemonth to month, year to yearand I always fall back on the fact that were taking such good care of our patients. They love us; theyre our greatest advocates. So often in this new value-based care world, were tasked with bringing down the cost of medicine, which seems unfair, but ultimately, were the ones who can do it because were good at it. We can handle complex problems, solve them, and figure out when patients need interventions and when they dont. My hope is that at some point, when we come to a crossroads in medicinewhen things are worse than they are nowthat well recognize the only true transformation were going to have is by elevating primary care. I also recognize that its difficult because were almost dealing with the counterfactual. Its easy to quantify the patient who gets a stent: They come into the ER, get a helicopter ride, a cath lab, an overnight stay, into the cardiology worldthat quality is easy to measure all the way down the line. If I had prevented that stent in the first place through 20 years of lifestyle interventions, blood pressure control, prevention of diabetes, how do you quantify that? I think we need to not just blindly reward all primary care doctors. Finding the really high-performing practices, talking about best practices, how to engage patients, and how to help them make real changesthose are the things we need to show payers, to show that long-term investment in primary care is ultimately whats going to save us. Kevin Pho: Were talking to Tony Gerk. Hes a family physician. Todays KevinMD article is Even medical practices arent immune from the high cost of employer-provided health insurance. Tony, lets end with some take-home messages you want to leave with the KevinMD audience. Tony Gerk: I love to learn about other practices. I love to learn what theyre doing. Im just fascinated by how good small private practices are at adapting and changing. Thats really what drives me day to day. I hope there are other physicians out there who feel the same, and if theyre motivated, they can contact me so we can talk about things going forward. As we said, it often seems impossible to solve the problems in medicine. We talked about private practice and how its struggling, but ultimately, when that crossroad comes, physicians need to be ready to rise up and fight for what we know is rightbecause we can drive better and healthier lives, not just for ourselves and our employees, but for our communities. When we elevate communities, were solving a lot of problems. I hope folks realize they need to tell their story to everyone, not just complain, but say the truth and talk about how problems can be solved, so people realize the fight were in and hopefully take our side. Kevin Pho: Tony, thank you so much for sharing your perspective and insight, and thanks again for coming on the show. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose a massive tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Unions retaliation against his steel and aluminum tariffs a tit-for-tat escalation of a trade war that could easily get out of hand. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said his administration would impose a 200% tariff on alcoholic beverages from the EU unless it rescinds the 50% tariff the European government imposed Wednesday on US spirits. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump said. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Americas response to Europes response to Americas tariffs in the span of 36 hours shows how trade wars can quickly spiral out of control. After Trumps 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel went into effect at midnight Wednesday morning, the EU immediately retaliated against what it called an unjustified trade action from the Trump administration. The EUs countermeasures included tariffs on 26 billion ($28 billion) worth of American goods, including tariffs on boats, bourbon and motorbikes. The measures, which are set to go into effect in April, are swift and proportionate, the EU said in a statement. Stocks fell even deeper into the red Thursday on the trade war escalation. The S&P 500 fell into correction territory, down 10% from its all-time high that it hit just three weeks ago. Americas spirits industry said Wednesday it was bracing for pain from the retaliatory tariffs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, if the trade spat continues to escalate, US booze makers may need to contend with even more retaliation. France promises to fight back France is the top wine exporter to the US, shipping $2.5 billion worth of it last year, according to US Commerce Department data. Italy was a close second, sending $2.3 billion worth of wine to the US last year. For both countries, wine is among the top goods they export to the US. French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on Thursday that Trump is escalating the trade war he has chosen to start and that his country would fight back. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries, he wrote in a post on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Olof Gill, trade spokesperson for the EU Commission, called on the US to immediately revoke the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed yesterday in a Thursday briefing. We want to negotiate, to avoid tariffs in the future, he said. They bring nothing but lose-lose outcomes, and we want to focus on win-win outcomes. Gill told CNN on Thursday that calls are being prepared between EU trade officials and their US counterparts. Alcoholic beverages are one of the EUs top exports to the US, according to data from the bloc. France shipped almost 27 million bottles of Champagne to the US in 2023, according to industry trade association Comite Champagne. That makes America the top destination for exports of the premium beverage ahead of the United Kingdom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Comite Champagne, which represents more than 300 Champagne houses, declined to comment, saying they defer to our leaders in the European Union and the United States. The Irish Whiskey Association also said in a statement Thursday that tariffs put jobs, investments and businesses at risk and (have) the potential to be devastating for its industry. There is no winner in a trade war, the association said, noting that the US is its biggest trading partner. If the 200% tariffs go into effect, it means your liquor store probably wont stock it, Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, told CNN. My guess is it would drive imports of French wine to zero. Of course I will respond Trump foreshadowed Americas retaliation in an Oval Office meeting Wednesday with Irelands Taoiseach, Micheal Martin. The president said he would respond to the EUs retaliatory tariffs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of course I will respond, Trump said. On Thursday, Trump called the EU one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States. He called the retaliatory tariff it imposed on US bourbon nasty. But the problem with retaliation is it invites more retaliation, with no easy way out and no end in sight. Trump has signaled hes not ending his tariff plan anytime soon. Despite growing pushback from Wall Street, Trump has threatened a wide range of additional tariffs, including reciprocal tariffs scheduled for April 2. Those looming tariffs, if they move forward, could trigger a response from the EU. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. doesnt have Free Trade. We have Stupid Trade, Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday. The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!! US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the administration is currently targeting strategic industries such as steel, aluminum and likely autos for tariffs. But everything else is up for grabs, he said in a CNBC interview. The decision to peel off any tariffs will boil down to actions US trading partners take, he added. Meanwhile, Canada has requested consultation with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over US tariffs on steel and aluminum, the WTO said in a statement on Thursday. Canada claims the tariffs violate trade rules. American spirits in a slump The US spirits industry called for calm Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want toasts not tariffs, Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a statement on Thursday. Swonger argued the US-EU spirits industry is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997. American booze has become a frequent target of retaliatory tariffs in each of Trumps terms. Much of US bourbon and whiskey production is located in states that voted for Trump, including Kentucky and Tennessee. Canada, for example, recently targeted Kentucky bourbon with tariffs in retaliation for Trumps trade actions and threats against Americas northern neighbor. A number of Canadian retailers opted to pull American-made spirits off store shelves in response to Trumps tariffs on Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Lawson Whiting, the CEO of Jack Daniels whiskey maker Brown-Forman, blasted the tariffs, but said the decision to pull its spirits off stores shelves hurt even more. The EUs 50% tariffs on American spirits are deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild US spirits exports in EU countries, Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), said in a statement released Wednesday. Whiting, speaking to Wine and Spirits Daily, said that describing the tariff situation as fluid would be a massive understatement. Although Brown-Forman has been planning for retaliation, Whiting said the escalation was unsurprising but nevertheless puts the company in a tough spot. Meanwhile, the Unione Italiana Vini, which represents Italian winemakers, predicted Trumps tariffs could cost the industry 1 billion ($1.1 billion). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a developing story and will be updated. CNNs Anna Cooban, Elisabeth Buchwald, Jordan Valinsky, Matt Egan, James Frater and Saskya Vandoorne contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) President Donald Trump is escalating the trade war with Europe, threatening steep tariffs on imported alcohol. Its the latest move in the tense back and forth between the U.S. and the European union. President Trump is now warning he may hit European wine and spirits with a 200% tariff if the EU doesnt back down from their tariff threats. Weve been ripped off for years, and were not going to be ripped off anymore. Im not going to bend at all, said Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It all started when he announced 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. European Union leaders responded with a plan to place a 50% tariff on American whiskey starting in April. President Trump says if they do the U.S. will hit back with a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne and spirits. The Trump administration says any pain will be temporary and insists the taxes on imported goods will boost American manufacturing and benefit the economy. Weve got strategic industries weve got to have. We want to protect the American worker. A lot of these trade deals havent been fair, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement E.U. officials call this a lose lose situation. We call on the US to immediately revoke the tariffs imposed yesterday, and we want to negotiate to avoid tariffs in the future, said EU Commission Spokesperson Olof Gill. Congressman Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) says hes especially worried the tariffs will hit his states bourbon industry. They raise our costs at home, and they hurt people in terms of their jobs, he said. He argues the Trump administrations constant back and forth on tariffs is harmful, too. We know these tariffs are devastating and I think the biggest question were asking right now is, for what? what is the long-term strategy here? McGarvey asked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration is also imposing separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China and is planning a new round of reciprocal tariffs on April 2nd. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. The News US President Donald Trump threatened to put a 200% tariff on European wines and other alcohol products, the latest escalation in a growing tit-for-tat trade war with the bloc. The EU has just put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday. On Wednesday, the European Commission said it would hike levies on $28 billion worth of American goods, including whiskey, in response to US duties on steel and aluminum imports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc will always remain open to negotiation, adding that tariffs are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. Shares of European beverage makers fell immediately on the news: LVHM, which owns champagne houses including Moet & Chandon, shed as much as 2.2%, with Remy Cointreau falling 4.5%. Know More The Trump administration is set to impose a major round of new tariffs in just three weeks, applying across-the-board duties to every country based on the levies they put on US goods. The EU is also discussing additional countermeasures, such as additional tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods, Bloomberg reported. President Trump on Thursday threatened to put a hefty 200 percent tariff on wine, Champagne and other alcohol coming in from Europe if the European Union (EU) does not remove a tariff on whiskey. The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky, Trump said on Truth Social. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A trade war with Europe was escalated Wednesday when Trumps 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum took effect, leading the EU to swiftly retaliate with a two-step approach. The European trading bloc, which is made up of 27 nations, said it will allow the suspension of existing 2018 and 2020 countermeasures against the U.S. to expire April 1. That would allow for 50 percent tariffs on American whiskey, which were suspended, to automatically go into effect. Second, the commission is proposing a new package of countermeasures on goods coming from the U.S. that will go into effect in mid-April, covering some $28 billion in imports in total. Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, urged Trump to make a deal with the EU before further escalation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S.-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997, he said in a statement to The Hill. We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector. We want toasts not tariffs. Swonger on Wednesday warned that a European whiskey tariff would be very, very devastating. Weve just gotten the news early, early this morning, that the [EU] is poised to put a 50 percent tariff on American whiskey. That will be very, very devastating, Swonger told NewsNations Nichole Berlie. Trump has also imposed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, but has since announced exemptions for auto parts and goods that fell under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement he signed in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The stock market has experienced a downturn as a result of Trumps widespread tariffs, which has helped fuel anxiety the nation could slide into a recession. Updated at 10:06 a.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." President Donald Trumps trade war is escalatingand this time, champagne is in the crosshairs. First, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports, which could impact $28 billion of European Union exports, according to the New York Times. We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and worse for consumers. They are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. Nobody needs that on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said. The European Union must act to protect consumers and business. The countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate. As the United States are applying tariffs worth USD 28 billion, we are responding with countermeasures worth EUR 26 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maros Sefcovic, the European Commissions Trade Commissioner, said the tariffs, which include a 50% duty on U.S. bourbon, were avoidable if the U.S. administration accepts our extended hand. He also said he was ready to negotiate. However, instead of negotiating, Trump is escalating the trade war. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump wrote on his Truth Social profile today in response to the EUs proposed tariffs. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said France would fight back on the trade war [Trump] has chosen to start. He added, We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries. According to CNN, alcoholic beverages are one of the EUs top exports to the States. You Might Also Like Donald Trump changed his tune on Vladimir Putin Wednesday and threatened the Russian president with very bad things if he does not agree to a U.S.-proposed peace deal with Ukraine. Trump, answering questions during an Oval Office sit-down with Irelands prime minister, said the U.S. is ready to impose additional financial sanctions on Russia that would be devastating. The president stopped short of saying what exact sanctions he had in mind, as the U.S. already placed significant penalties against its adversary after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Donald Trump and JD Vance's meeting with Irelands prime minister, Micheal Martin, was starkly different that the U.S. leaders testy sit-down with Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky last month. / Evelyn Hockstein / REUTERS There are things you could do that that wouldnt be pleasant, in a financial sense, Trump said. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I dont want to do that because I want to get peace. I want to see peace, and well see, but in a financial sense, we could do things very bad for Russiait would be devastating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The warning comes on the heels of Trumps highly critical meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who he and Vice President JD Vance chastised in the Oval Office and in subsequent social posts for supposedly not being grateful enough for wartime support from the U.S. That jeering from the Trump Administration was celebrated in Russia and angered supporters of Ukraine in the U.S., including some Republican lawmakers. Trump softened on Zelensky this weekend when the Ukrainian president committed to a minerals deal that will see Ukraine give the U.S. some of its valuable natural resources like lithium, graphite, magnesium, and titanium. Zelensky has also agreed to a ceasefire deal that was put forward by the Trump Administration and has since been invited back to the same White House he was just kicked out of last month. Trumps warning to Putin, although vague, is among the most pointed comments he has ever directed at Moscow. The White House had initially discussed peace deals exclusively with Russia, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio jetting off to Saudi Arabia last month to discuss a potential deal without Zelensky or his advisers there. Vladimir Putin has made his first visit to the Kursk region since the Ukrainian army advanced into Russian territory. Putin is wearing military fatiguessomething he hasnt done in a while as a show of force and a display of presence as Russian forces advance pic.twitter.com/b8kpmLrqCa Mediazona (@mediazona_en) March 12, 2025 Trumps threat comes a day after Putin, dressed in camouflage, traveled to the Kursk region to visit troops on the frontline near the Ukraine border. Putin reportedly said Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk, which was recently attacked and partially occupied by Ukrainian forces, will be treated as terrorists, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation. He added that Russia will continue fighting there until Ukrainian troops are fully pushed out the region. The corner of New York Citys 5th Avenue and 56th Street is typically dotted with shoppers, designer goods and more than one reaction to the famous building casting its shadow over the block. Images of Donald Trump's "Fight Fight Fight" are held in the air, others choose to put a choice finger in the air, merchants hawk T-shirts with the president's mugshot. A few buskers hope to sell MAGA hats to anyone who breaks stride. On Thursday, that typical NYC chaos turned into actual - but short-lived - chaos. MAGA-red was replaced by protest red and cop blue as protestors were dragged outside the famous tower after occupying it. Free Mahmoud! Free them all! protestors shouted from the street as they watched about 100 detainees marched onto NYPD buses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around noon, about 150 pro-Palestine protesters flooded Trump Tower. Some waved banners demanding: Fight Nazis, not students. They wanted a free Palestine and the release of a former Columbia student for his alleged role in protests on campus last year in the wake of Israels response to the October 7 Hamas attacks. We see that the president is taking action in the name of combating anti-semitism, Jay Saper, with Jewish Voices for Peace, told The Independent. And so we're here to say, get our name out of your mouth. This is not about Jewish safety. This is about an attack on students. Saper estimated 300 demonstrators occupied Trump Tower. Trump Tower was filled with protesters on Thursday as they demanded a Free Palestine and the release of a student being held for deportation (AP) Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate, was arrested Saturday and had his green card revoked. He was processed for deportation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights, as his lawyer put it. The Trump administration, however, painted him as pro-Hamas for his role in the campus protests. Protests erupted on the Ivy League campus last year, demanding the university divest from Israel in the wake of its attack on Gaza. The protests lasted for weeks and ended with police breaking them up. They became fodder for the right to say education was pushing leftist ideals. Khalil mediated between university officials and the activists and students who demonstrated, his supporters claim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association called him a ringleader of the chaos on campus. The university has investigated several allegations against him, most recently whether he violated university policy by calling a dean genocidal. This is the first arrest of many to come, Trump warned in a post on Truth Social Monday. We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Khalil is now being held in a Louisiana jail as his lawyers fight his deportation. The protesters, angered by the presidents move and the continued holding of Khalil, decided to make 5th Avenue their town square. About an hour after the demonstration began, NYPD cops lined the streets. Barricades prevented entry to Trump Tower. A helicopter and drones buzzed overhead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We will not comply, Mahmoud we are on your side! some people shouted from behind the steel barricades. New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday (AP) After being dragged out by police officers, protesters were arrested and lined up to board a bus. Nearly 100 people were arrested by police as part of the protest (The Independent) By 1.30 p.m., about 100 red-shirted protesters were hauled out of the building. They stood in a single-file line, their hands cuffed behind their backs, before being boarded onto a city bus. They were arrested on charges of trespassing, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest, police told NBC News, noting there were no injuries or damage to property. As the protestors stood in a line waiting to board the bus, a few passersby shouted for them to take off their masks and called them offensive terms. When asked about whether Saper and other organizers were afraid to act, given this divisive political climate and apparent harassment on sidewalks, Saper said they find "strength in community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What we're seeing is that the president is emboldening people to attack our movements and attack people who are taking action for justice, and I know that I find strength in community, they said. The organization is striving to build a world that doesn't support fascism, to build a world where everybody gets to live in their homes without fear that bombs will be dropped upon them, to be able to graduate from college without fear of being deported, deported, Saper said. It's OK to be afraid and to do something brave at the same time. By 1.50 p.m., the inside of Trump Tower looked untouched. A massive American flag hung down from the ceiling. A handful of probable tourists strolled each floor. The golden escalator, the same one that Trump rode down 10 years ago to announce his candidacy, glistened. A white-gloved doorman outside of Trump Tower said he didnt see anything; the entire event transpired while he was on his lunch break. The protestors were gone. The corner had returned to normal. The newest chaos had subsided. (Bloomberg) -- The message is blunt, flashing on TV screens, streaming platforms and social media feeds across the country: Leave now, or we will find you. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Faced with the logistical and financial limits of mass deportations, the Trump administration has turned to a $200 million media campaign aimed at persuading undocumented immigrants to leave the US voluntarily. Branded Stay Out and Leave Now, the effort combines the ad blitz with a self-reporting departure app launched this week, and warnings from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that those who dont leave will be caught and permanently barred from returning. Leave now. If you dont, we will find you and we will deport you. You will never return, Noem warns in a domestic ad. In an international version, she tells would-be migrants not to even think about it. Let me be clear, if you come to our country and break our laws, we will hunt you down. The Trump administrations promised mass arrest and deportation effort got off to a swift and costly start after his inauguration in January, with high-profile raids across the country and multiple deportation flights some on military aircraft to Central and South America and India. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has recorded roughly 33,000 arrests since then. But the pace has slowed, leading to multiple leadership shakeups at the agency. Trump is now urging Congress to approve more funding to carry out the crackdown. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The push comes as unauthorized crossings at the southern border continue to decline, with thousands more troops deployed as part of a military buildup. In February, Border Patrol agents recorded just 8,300 illegal crossings, the lowest monthly total in decades. That trend began last summer when then-President Joe Biden imposed tighter restrictions on asylum eligibility, and Mexico ramped up efforts to interdict migrants. Trump celebrated the decline in border encounters in a Thursday post entitled Making America Safe Again on Truth Social. So far, DHS has spent nearly $2.4 million running the ads in various US markets, including metro areas such as New York, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, as well as more rural places like the Texas border region, according to data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact. The spots, running in multiple languages, feature dramatic montages of immigration arrests, mugshots of migrants accused of crimes, and footage of President Donald Trump standing at the border. This week, the Trump administration also announced the launch of the CBP Home app, an overhaul of the CBP One app, which had been used by the Biden administration to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants to make appointments to request entry at a legal border crossing. Trump shut down CBP One app hours after being sworn in, canceling all pending appointments and closing a key pathway for asylum seekers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CPB Home strengthens our mission to secure the border and provides illegal aliens with a straightforward way to leave now before facing much harsher consequences later, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on Wednesday. The administration already announced mandatory registration for most foreigners aged 14 and older who are in the county for more than 30 days. Visa holders and legal residents are largely exempt, but undocumented immigrants and even some Canadians are subject to the rule. The idea of self-deportation has been around for a very long time, said Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. But the problem with that strategy has always been that in order to drive people back to really horrible places things have to be really horrible here. Unlike formal deportations, self-removals are difficult to track. While ICE documents those transported on deportation flights, no reliable system exists for counting those who leave through land borders of their own accord. Johnson said immigrants should be wary of the registration effort and the CBP Home app. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the registration initiative, of course you would get apprehended, even if you said my intention is to self-deport, Johnson said. They are going to want you to be in their deportation numbers. DHS said in a statement that telling the government about plans to leave will be safer, but it also saves US taxpayer dollars and valuable Customs and Border Protection and ICE resources. The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream, Noem said in a statement this week. If they dont, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return. --With assistance from Christopher Palmeri and Romy Varghese. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Updates with Trump post on Truth Social in seventh paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. The east entrance of the James M. Fitzgerald United States Courthouse and Federal Building is seen on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) For decades, Alaskas economy has been described as a three-legged stool. As explained by economist Scott Goldsmith, one leg is the oil and gas sector, another leg is the federal government which includes federal spending and the third leg is all other basic sectors like commercial fishing and tourism. This analogy of the three-legged stool is commonly used by the oil and gas sector to secure their importance to Alaska. The guiding rule is that Alaskas overall economy, represented by the stool, collapses if any one of these three legs falters. According to newspaper accounts, the Trump administration has frozen $750 million in resource development projects. Also, up to 1,400 Alaskan jobs are now threatened or terminated by Elon Musks indiscriminate layoffs. And now slashing Medicaid is being proposed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This combined economic affront to Alaska was recently highlighted by Senator President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, in a letter to Alaskas congressional delegation. According to these legislative leaders, Alaska could experience a loss of $2 billion in federal funds if Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program are threatened as proposed in the budget resolution just passed by the House of Representatives under President Trumps direction. Stevens and Edgmon write, absorbing a $2 billion plus reduction in the return of federal funds to our state is not an option. It is a direct threat to Alaskas future, plain and simple. After touching upon Alaskas fiscal situation and how federal resources play a critical role in Alaska, leaders Stevens and Edgmon closed their letter with this statement It is our duty to inform you that the legislature cannot fix the financial havoc that is being wreaked on Alaskans by the federal government. These are words that all Alaskans need to take to heart. If all these layoffs, cuts and freezes are left unchecked, Donald Trump and Elon Musk will essentially be taking a chainsaw to the federal leg of our stool; risking a collapse of our economy. And lets not forget this leg of the stool was once made exceptionally strong by former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. To the majority of Alaskans who voted for Donald Trump, I say dont let the distant lure of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil or the liquefied natural gas pipeline project blindside you from seeing how Alaskas economy is being seriously threatened by the Trump administration. These projects are at least a decade away and highly speculative. For instance, Japan has only agreed to look into the Alaska LNG project, not invest it in. And lets not forget no major oil company stepped up to bid on ANWR under the first Trump administration. These types of megaprojects in the distant future will not offset the economic harm now being unleashed, nor does reinstating old-growth logging in the Tongass or permitting the Ambler Road. None of the provisions under Trumps Alaska executive order will offset the potential harm of collapsing our federal leg. This is an economic reality that I hope Trump voters will come to realize. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Reciprocal tariffs from other countries seem to have taken the president by surprise. Donald Trump announced yet another round of tariffs against the European Union early Thursday, claiming that the hostile coalition of countrieswho have been allies with the U.S. for decadeswould face severe consequences for placing levies on U.S. whiskey imports. The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50 percent Tariff on Whisky, Trump posted to Truth Social. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200 percent Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EU swiftly hit back Wednesday after Trump raised tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, announcing its own tolls on some of its biggest U.S. imports. Those include American beef, poultry, peanut butter, jeans, motorcycles, and alcohol, the last of which has become collateral damage in Trumps international trade war. The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports surging 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended, reported the Associated Press. The presidents new tariffs are expected to cost companies billions of dollars. Corporations will either have to eat the losses oras is more likelypass the higher costs off to their customers. We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement Wednesday, noting that the levies will cost jobs and only serve to increase the cost of goods both in the U.S. and abroad. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trumps influence in hiking the cost of alcohol likely wont bode well for the U.S., if history serves as any lesson. While Trumps efforts arent exactly stripping alcohol from the shelves, they will make the price of liquor, wine, and beer skyrocket. That could make bottles less accessible for the average American and ultimately shrink consumption. The passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, which criminalized alcohol and sparked Prohibition, was not just wildly unpopular with the American public but had dire consequences for the U.S. economy. Government tax revenues, which up until that point relied heavily on liquor sales to substantiate budgets, plummeted. The lack of alcohol sales between 1920 and 1933 cost the federal government $11 billion in lost tax revenue. In 2023, alcohol excise tax collections for the federal government totaled $11.1 billion, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a US delegation is on its way to Moscow, following the successful talks with Ukraine about a possible ceasefire with Russia. "We have people going to Russia right now," Trump said at a reception for Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House. During talks between the United States and Ukraine in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Tuesday, a Ukrainian delegation expressed willingness to agree to an immediate 30-day comprehensive ceasefire, if Russia does the same. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia has not yet agreed to the proposal and said it would not comment publicly on the plan until it knows all the details. "First, we need to receive this information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have promised to provide Moscow with all the information about the negotiations between the US and Ukraine. Trump said the talks with Kiev had been a "great success" and that "it is up to Russia now." The US president previously said that he wants to have a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly, perhaps even this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peskov said such a conversation is not out of the question and could be organized at short notice. However, there is still no clarity on the location and time for a planned personal meeting between the two heads of state. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Kiev accepting the ceasefire proposal shows that it is willing to work towards peace. "I think that today we had to demonstrate to the whole world our readiness," he said at a press conference in Kiev. Later on Wednesday, in his nightly video address, Zelensky called on Ukraine's allies to increase pressure on Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We must move toward peace. We must move toward security guarantees. We need to free our people," Zelensky said. "The key factor is our partners' ability to ensure Russia's readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war," the Ukrainian president added. Putin appears in Kursk, orders troops to expel Ukrainians Meanwhile, Putin unexpectedly visited a command post the Kursk region of western Russia in view of the successful counteroffensive by his troops in the border region. Putin ordered Russian troops to expel the remaining Ukrainian units from Kursk, Russian state news agency TASS reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pictures of the meeting with Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov showed Putin in a camouflage uniform. The exact location was not disclosed. TASS said it was the first visit to this part of the front line for the Russian president. In August 2024, Ukrainian units unexpectedly invaded Russia, thus shifting the war to the enemy's territory for the first time. After the Ukrainians were able to hold this bridgehead for a long time, they have had to retreat ever more quickly in recent days under Russian pressure. On Wednesday, according to Moscow, Russian troops occupied the district capital Sudzha, which had been the backbone of the Ukrainian advance for seven months. However, the area has not yet been completely cleared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ukrainian leadership had occupied the area as a bargaining chip for possible negotiations with Russia, Gerasimov explained. In addition, the seven-month advance was intended to tie down Russian forces. "But these intentions of the enemy have failed completely," the chief of staff claimed. Gerasimov said that 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been captured near Kursk. In his press conference on Wednesday, Zelensky was vague about the situation in the region, saying: "Our troops are fulfilling their mission in the Kursk area. The Russians are trying to exert maximum pressure." He added that the Ukrainian military leadership is taking measures to protect its troops. Poland confirms restart of US aid deliveries to Kiev Following the talks with Ukraine, the US administration lifted the temporary halt on arms deliveries to Kiev as a gesture of goodwill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Poland confirmed on Wednesday that deliveries via its Jasionka hub had resumed. "I confirm that arms deliveries via Jasionka have returned to their previous level," Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski told journalists in Warsaw, standing next to his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, who had travelled to Poland directly from Jeddah. Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in south-eastern Poland and the railway line leading from there to nearby Ukraine are regarded as a key transport route for European and US military goods for Ukraine. (Bloomberg) -- Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks global trade. Sign up here. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from France and elsewhere in the European Union, the latest escalation in a growing transatlantic trade war. The president in a social media post on Thursday said that he would move forward with the import duties if Brussels follows through with a tax on American whiskey exports, a measure aimed at retaliating against Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs that went into effect on Wednesday. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump said about the pending levies on bourbon. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Trump later Thursday said he would not repeal tariffs on steel and aluminum that took effect this week, nor back off plans for sweeping reciprocal tariffs on global trading parters set to start as soon as April 2. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No, the US president told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would pull back from tariffs. Weve been ripped off for years, and were not going to be ripped off anymore. A three-week selloff in US stocks resumed in force on Thursday, sending the S&P 500 Index to the brink of a 10% correction, as investors took stock of Trumps latest tariff threats amid another benign inflation report. Shares in European makers of alcoholic beverages fell earlier, with LVMH, which owns champagne houses Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, down as much as 2.2%. Cognac producer Remy Cointreau SA dropped 4.5% and spirits maker Pernod Ricard declined 3.6%. Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash, Laurent Saint-Martin, Frances trade minister, wrote in a post on X. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The US president on Thursday once again aired his grievances against the EU, this time citing its treatment of American tech companies. Theyre suing Google, theyre suing Facebook, theyre suing all of these companies, and theyre taking billions of dollars out of American companies, many more than the ones I just mentioned. And I guess theyre using it to run Europe or something. I dont know what theyre using it for, but they treat us very badly, Trump said. In response to Trumps metals tariffs, the EU is planning countermeasures with duties on as much as 26 billion ($28.3 billion) worth of American products. The EU will also immediately begin consultations with member states, with the aim of adopting the additional lists of agricultural and industrial goods subject to tariffs as high as 25% by mid-April. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president was totally annoyed that the Europeans did this, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg Television on Thursday. He cares about America, and he wants to take care of Americans. And why are Europeans picking on Kentucky bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles? Lutnick was referring to iconic American products that were tariff targets during Trumps first-term trade dispute with the EU. Those duties were suspended under a Biden administration ceasefire thats scheduled to end on March 31, and without a new deal or an extension, theyll snap back into force at an even higher rate. Talks Today Lutnick, who said he plans to speak to EU officials later Thursday said that hopefully, theyll realize that they should take these things down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesman for the EU confirmed that calls are planned. Trump has also pledged yet another round of tariffs in just three weeks, saying hell begin rolling out so-called reciprocal duties. The White House plans to apply an across-the-board rate to each country, based on a calculation of their own tariffs and other trade barriers, such as digital taxes or value-added levies. That threatens to further ignite the trade war, forcing countries to retaliate in ways that could spur Trump to add more levies of his own under the mantle of reciprocity. The president is also pledging separate sectoral tariffs on industries including autos, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and copper. The president has enacted his sweeping tariff agenda in a piecemeal fashion, a strategy that has been punctuated by uncertainty, including delays, reversals and changes in direction. Trump on Tuesday threatened to double a forthcoming tariff on Canada and backed down hours later when Ontario paused an export surcharge on electricity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The use of tariffs as leverage in economic and geopolitical disputes is weighing on markets. The S&P 500 Index has dropped nearly 10% from a February high, raising fears of a recession. Trump who during his first term repeatedly touted stock surges as validation of his policies has shrugged off the fallout, saying this week the selloff was a buying opportunity and necessary to remake American industry and supply chains. Support for his tariff barrage is tepid at best, with many industry groups urging exemptions and economists warning of cascading fallout across the economy. Trump during his first term pledged to enact sweeping tariffs on French wine over Paris tax posture toward US technology companies, but later retreated from that threat after he reached a truce with French President Emmanuel Macron. --With assistance from Josh Wingrove, Kit Rees, Alberto Nardelli, Richard Bravo, Lisa Abramowicz, Annmarie Hordern, Jonathan Ferro, Laura Davison, Meghashyam Mali, Magan Crane and Samy Adghirni. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Adds Trump comments starting in fourth paragrapgh, markets in sixth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. President Donald Trump said he believes the U.S. will annex Greenland as he sat next to the head of NATO in the Oval Office Thursday though the Dutch politician took a more diplomatic approach to the issue. I think itll happen, Trump told reporters, sitting next to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. We need that for international security, not just national security, the president said of the island. Trump noted that he was sitting with Rutte, who he referred to as a man that could be very instrumental in such a transaction even though neither Denmark nor the Greenlandic population are interested in ceding the territory to the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rutte, appearing slightly chagrined by the presidents remarks, replied: When it comes to Greenland, joining or not joining the U.S., I would leave that outside ... this discussion because I do not want to drag NATO into that. But the former Dutch prime minister quickly pivoted to praising Trump by stating that he was totally right about the need to maintain a security posture in the high north and the Arctic. Trump replied that Denmark is very far away from Greenland and noted that theres already an American military presence there before suggesting that the U.S. could send more and more soldiers there, implying that they could be used to take control of the island, and asked: What do you think about that? Turning to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump quickly added: Pete, Dont answer that. President Donald Trump meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office. There, Trump talked about his desires to annex Greenland (REUTERS) Trump and Rutte spoke to the press on Thursday as the president met with the military alliance leader.The two spoke on several topics including the Ukraine-Russia war and funding NATO. But Trump was asked about his continued desire to add Greenland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The worlds largest island, Greenland is currently the subject of a longstanding defense agreement between the United States and Denmark that allows the U.S. to operate military facilities there, including Ptiuffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base. The United States once offered to purchase the island in the wake of the Second World War but the Danish government declined the offer. Since winning the 2024 presidential election, Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Greenland in public remarks on a number of occasions. The Danish government and the Greenlandic government have both said that the territory is not up for sale. President Donald Trump vowed Thursday to slap 200% tariffs on wine and other alcoholic beverages imported from European Union countries as he escalates his trade war aimed at geopolitical friends and foes alike. Trump said he would up the ante after the E.U. imposed its own 50% tax on American whiskey, a move that itself was a response to the White House tariff on European steel and aluminum. The U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump wrote on his social media site. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Europe signaled it wouldnt back down. Trump is escalating the trade war he has chosen, Laurent Saint-Martin, the French delegate minister for foreign trade, said on X. France, together with the European Commission and our partners, is determined to fight back. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries. Its the second day this week that Trump trade war headlines have roiled global markets. Trump threatened to double his planned tariffs against Canada on Tuesday after Ontario provincial Premier Doug Ford said he would add a big surcharge on electricity headed across the border to the U.S. Both sides backed down later in the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new presidents first weeks in office have been marked by near-daily drama on tariffs, which Trump believes can be used as leverage to achieve other economic and geopolitical aims. He says that taxing imports might cause some economic pain but would eventually lead to more domestic manufacturing and greater respect for America. Many economists say they are counterproductive and hurt workers and consumers. European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said Thursday shortly before Trumps announcement that the E.U. was prepared for whatever might come, and we have been preparing for over a year. But he called for talks to calm the trade waters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want to negotiate to avoid tariffs in the future, Gill added. They bring nothing but lose-lose outcomes, and we want to focus on win-win outcomes. U.S. whiskey makers, meanwhile, urged Trump to broker a deal and called for toasts not tariffs. We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the E.U. to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector, said Chris Swonger of the Distilled Spirits Council. In 2018, Europe responded to another round of Trump with a 25% tax on U.S. whiskey, sending exports to the E.U. plunging by 20% through 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Trumps separate planned 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico could also put another 31,000 jobs at risk in the booze sector, the trade group said. _____ Oval Office for the week. Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. President Donald Trump isnt keen to jet-set in his second term. Trump has taken far fewer domestic trips in the early weeks of his second administration than in his first waving off multiple domestic travel plans proposed to him by senior staffers, according to two officials familiar with the logistics granted anonymity to speak freely about the conversations. The first of those was a visit to the southern U.S. border shortly after he was sworn in a trip that would have showcased the mass deportation plans that were central to his election, one of the officials said. Vice President JD Vance ultimately made the first border visit of the second term earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Trumps frequent flyer status might be in jeopardy, White House officials say theres an up-side to him hunkering down in the Oval. They argue that Trump who enhanced his reputation in a reality show boardroom is most effective and productive from behind the Resolute desk, wielding a fat-tipped black marker for executive order signings that have already reshaped the federal government alongside Elon Musk. The Oval Office is the mecca of where everything can get done, said one of the White House officials granted anonymity to speak about strategy. He spent time with the American people. They know exactly what he promised them, and now the Oval Office is where hes going to get the job done. In the first eight weeks of Trumps first administration, he made eight trips outside of the greater D.C. area excluding weekend trips to his Mar-a-Lago residence. This included visits to Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Delaware and Tennessee. By comparison, Trumps second term so far has consisted of a single trip that touched on three states hit by disaster, a long Florida weekend featuring a limo lap around the Daytona 500 and a speech at an investors conference, and a day trip to New Orleans for the Super Bowl from which he left early. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By comparison, former President Joe Bidens first eight weeks consisted of six trips not counting those to his Delaware home with travel stifled by COVID-19. Former President Barack Obama clocked eight trips in the first eight weeks of his second term, according to a POLITICO analysis. Trump, however, hosted more foreign leaders at the White House in the first eight weeks. He hosted eight visits, compared to Bidens two bilateral meetings, both of which were virtual due to COVID-19, and two hosted by Obama. A presidents travel is often used to sell their agenda, tout political wins and build on-the-ground support from the community to which theyre traveling. A routine spotlight travel moment for most presidents falls after their first joint address to Congress. In 2017, Trump traveled to Virginia and Florida two days after his address, greeting Navy personnel at a shipyard and the next day visiting a Catholic school to show his commitment to school choice. This go-round, Trump stayed in Washington and met with House Freedom Caucus members at the White House. In 53 days, President Trump has already achieved more than most presidents in an entire term, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps distaste for overnighting away from his own properties is not new, and was a frequent logistical consideration during the campaign, when Trump almost always flew back to his Florida, New Jersey or New York homes. Trump, age 78, is also the oldest person to take the oath of office. Unlike in his first term, the pressure of reelection is no longer there, acknowledged a person familiar with Trumps thinking and granted anonymity to speak about the president. He still reads polls and watches news insistently, but he and the team are less concerned with traditional optics this time around, the person said. The plan so far has been to leverage Vance and some of Trumps Cabinet to participate in trips more historically reserved for a commander-in-chief, said a White House official. An outside political adviser to Trump granted anonymity to speak about logistics said less travel in the first few months had always been the plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think this was probably in the back of everyones mind going in. We are just going to crush this first 100 days from the house and then go from there, they said. Even before taking office, Trumps desire to travel less following a jam-packed campaign trail was evident. In November, there were initial plans for a handful of Trump victory rallies across battleground states leading up to inauguration day. Those plans were ultimately scrapped. In contrast, after winning the 2016 election, Trump hosted 10 victory rallies from December to inauguration day. The rest of the world is adapting. A handful of world leaders traveled to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence during the transition and most recently the House GOP held their January retreat at Trumps Miami property, creating questions about conflicts of interest. As of now, there are no confirmed trips on Trumps calendar other than routine weekends at Mar-a-Lago, per a White House official. He will likely visit the southern U.S. border in his first 100 days, the person said. WASHINGTON The White House has directed the U.S. military to draw up options to increase the American troop presence in Panama to achieve President Donald Trumps goal of reclaiming the Panama Canal, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the planning. In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump said that "to further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal. Since then, administration officials have not said what "reclaiming" means. U.S. Southern Command is developing potential plans from partnering more closely with Panamanian security forces to the less likely option of U.S. troops seizing the Panama Canal by force, the officials said. Whether military force is used, the officials added, depends on how much Panamanian security forces agree to partner with the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administrations goal is to increase the U.S. military presence in Panama to diminish Chinas influence there, particularly access to the canal, the officials said. Panama and China deny there is any foreign interference in the 50-mile canal, whose neutrality is enshrined in Panamas Constitution. Chinese officials have accused the United States of using "coercion" to pressure Panamanian officials to block Chinese aid projects. The Chinese container ship Cosco Shipping Rose transits the Panama Canal in 2018. The U.S. officials told NBC News that the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Adm. Alvin Holsey, presented draft strategies to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week. Hegseth is expected to visit Panama next month. The officials cautioned that a U.S. invasion of Panama is unlikely and would come under serious consideration only if a larger American military presence in Panama does not achieve Trumps goal of reclaiming the waterway, the officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neither the Pentagon nor the Panamanian Embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment. Too large a Chinese presence? Trump has said he intends to return ownership of the canal to the United States after Panama gained control of the area more than a quarter-century ago under a treaty signed by the Carter administration. Privately, Trump has told his advisers that he sees a U.S. military presence in Panama and on the canal itself as critical to that effort, the U.S. officials said. Trump has also made it clear that he wants U.S. service members to be visible in the canal zone as a show of force. Trump administration officials have argued that China has too large a presence near the canal. In the event of a conflict, they say, Beijing could shut down the canal to American shipping, including military ships. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During a visit to Panama last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that the status quo is unacceptable regarding Chinas presence in Panama. Mulino said the Panamanian government alone administers the canal and denied ceding operation of the canal to China in any way. After Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with China, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the projects were part of Beijing's Belt and Road development initiative and that China firmly opposes the U.S. smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion. Last year, Army Gen. Laura Richardson, now retired, then the commander of Southern Command, testified to the House Armed Services Committee that China is "playing the long game." Richardson warned that Chinese government-backed economic development projects are "dual-use sites and facilities" that can be quickly flipped and used for military purposes. "The PRC messages its investments as peaceful, but in fact, many serve as points of future multi-domain access for the PLA and strategic naval choke points," she said, referring to the People's Republic of China and the People's Liberation Army. "In Panama, PRC-controlled state-owned enterprises, SOEs, continue to bid on projects related to the Panama Canal a global strategic choke point. Possible U.S. strategies The U.S. military has more than 200 troops in Panama, but the number fluctuates as troops rotate in and out, according to a defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Some of them include Special Forces units working with Panamanian forces to protect the country from internal threats, insurgencies or unrest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Potential administration strategies include simply ensuring that U.S. ships have safe passage through the canal to restoring total U.S. ownership and operation of it, officials said. Other options under consideration include using the U.S. military to secure existing ports in Panama, build new ports in Panama or use the Army Corps of Engineers to operate the canals locks, officials said. There are also discussions about opening Army Jungle Schools, or training camps, in Panama, like the ones where U.S. troops were trained in jungle warfare until the canal was formally handed over to Panama in 1999. Another focus of the ongoing planning is potentially positioning U.S. military forces near Panama in the event of a regional war or a threat to the United States. In that scenario, the U.S. military would aim to secure the canal and eliminate Chinas access to it. American officials cautioned that the United States would block Chinese transit through the canal only in the event of war. U.S. soldiers search suspects in front of the home of a business associate of Manuel Noriega in Panama City on Dec. 26, 1989. The Panama Canal is one of the worlds busiest waterways, with the majority of the cargo that passes through it originating in the United States or heading to it. If the canal were blocked, ships would have to transit around South America, sharply increasing the cost and time of each voyage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United States constructed the canal from 1904 to 1914 after a failed French effort. In 1977, after long-running protests by Panamanians, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty that turned control of the canal over to Panama. In 1989, during the George H.W. Bush administration, U.S. forces invaded Panama and ousted its leader, Manuel Noriega, who was later convicted of drug trafficking. In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump said the United States was already moving to limit Chinese presence in the canal. Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals, he said. The U.S. investment company BlackRock is part of a group buying a 90% stake in the Panama Ports Company, which operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal. The stake is being purchased from a Hong Kong-based firm, CK Hutchinson, for $22.8 billion. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com WASHINGTON In what he called the "most consequential day of deregulation in American history," the head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of actions Wednesday to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles. "We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America's Golden Age,'' EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in an essay in The Wall Street Journal. If approved after a lengthy process that includes public comment, the Trump administration's actions will eliminate trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and "hidden taxes," Zeldin said, lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices for such essentials such as buying a car, heating your home and operating a business. "Our actions will also reignite American manufacturing, spreading economic benefits to communities," he wrote. "Energy dominance stands at the center of America's resurgence." In all, Zeldin said he is rolling back 31 environmental rules, including a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action against climate change. Zeldin said he and President Donald Trump support rewriting the agency's 2009 finding that planet-warming greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The Obama-era determination under the Clean Air Act is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources. Environmentalists and climate scientists call the endangerment finding a bedrock of U.S. law and say any attempt to undo it will have little chance of success. "In the face of overwhelming science, it's impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court," said David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. In a related action, Zeldin said EPA will rewrite a rule restricting air pollution from fossil-fuel fired power plants and a separate measure restricting emissions from cars and trucks. Zeldin and the Republican president incorrectly label the car rule as an electric vehicle "mandate.'' President Joe Biden's Democratic administration had said the power plant rules would reduce pollution and improve public health while supporting the reliable, long-term supply of electricity that America needs. Biden, who made fighting climate change a hallmark of his presidency, cited the car rule as a key factor in what he called "historic progress" on his pledge that half of all new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. will be zero-emission by 2030. The EPA also will take aim at rules restricting industrial pollution of mercury and other air toxins, soot pollution and a "good neighbor" rule intended to restrict smokestack emissions that burden downwind areas with smog. The EPA also targeted a clean water law that provides federal protections for rivers, streams and wetlands. None of the changes take effect immediately, and nearly all will require a long rulemaking process. Environmental groups vowed to oppose the actions, which one said would result in "the greatest increase in pollution in decades'' in the U.S. Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, made the claim as she denounced Zeldin's "unlawful attack on the public health of the American people.'' The EPA has also terminated its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and will shutter parts of the agency focused on environmental justice, Zeldin said. The effort strived to improve conditions in areas heavily burdened by industrial pollution, mostly in low-income and majority-Black or Hispanic communities. "This isn't about abandoning environmental protection it's about achieving it through innovation and not strangulation," Zeldin wrote. "By reconsidering rules that throttled oil and gas production and unfairly targeted coal-fired power plants, we are ensuring that American energy remains clean, affordable and reliable." University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann called the EPA's action "just the latest form of Republican climate denial. They can no longer deny climate change is happening, so instead they're pretending it's not a threat, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that it is, perhaps, the greatest threat that we face today." The directive to reconsider the endangerment finding and other EPA rules was a recommendation of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump's second term. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and co-author of Project 2025, called the actions long overdue. "EPA's regulation of the climate affects the entire national economy jobs, wages and family budgets," Vought said Wednesday. "The Trump administration's ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet," countered Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. "Come hell and high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of people's lives." Reconsidering the endangerment finding and other actions "won't stand up in court,'' Rylander said. "We're going to fight it every step of the way." The United States is the second largest carbon polluter in the world, after China, and the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases. The moves to terminate environmental justice staff follows an action last week to drop a case against a Louisiana petrochemical plant accused of increasing cancer risk in a majority-Black community. Zeldin called environmental justice a term that "has been used primarily as an excuse to fund left-wing activists instead of actually spending those dollars to directly remediate environmental issues for those communities." Matthew Tejada, who once led EPA's environmental justice office, said Trump and Zeldin were "taking us back to a time of unfettered pollution across the nation, leaving every American exposed to toxic chemicals, dirty air and contaminated water." Tejada now works at the NRDC. Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council, an oil industry group, hailed Zeldin's actions and said the U.S. is "stronger and more secure when we are energy dominant." Her group has long called for changes to EPA rules so they are "workable, effective and build on the significant emissions reductions" made by oil and gas producers, Bradbury said. "We support updating these rules so the American people can continue to benefit from affordable, reliable and clean American energy." New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called Zeldin's actions "a despicable betrayal of the American people." Every day, more Americans lose their jobs, homes and even their lives to worsening climate disasters, Pallone said. Trump and Zeldin "are making a mockery of those people's pain," Pallone said, adding that "will have swift and catastrophic ramifications for the environment and health of all Americans.'' ___ Associated Press writer Michael Phillis in St. Louis contributed to this report. By Ahmed Aboulenein, Julie Steenhuysen and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House withdrew President Donald Trump's nomination of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon to serve as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a surprise move that came shortly before his scheduled Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. Weldon, a physician who has long criticized vaccines, said in a four-page statement posted by the New York Times that he had been informed 12 hours before the hearing by the White House that there were not enough votes for confirmation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. faces measles cases in several states and a widening outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico that has killed two people, as well as the threat of bird flu. Weldon is the first Trump nominee withdrawn from consideration. The Republican-majority Senate confirmed unconventional picks including anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who had been critical of U.S. intelligence efforts. Separately, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives also narrowly voted to take a step forward toward passing Trump's proposed sweeping tax cut plan, despite concern among some Republicans that it could add substantially to the federal government's $36 trillion debt pile. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmed that Weldon's nomination hearing had been canceled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon's letter denied that he was anti-vaccine and said he believed U.S. senators including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy of Louisiana planned to vote against him. Cassidy said he was not behind the withdrawal. I was looking forward to the hearing. I was surprised when Dr. Weldons nomination was withdrawn," he said. "His poor response to this situation shows that the pressures of being CDC director would have been too much. The HELP committee moved forward with scheduled votes on two of Trump's other public health nominees, sending them to the Senate floor for confirmation. The committee advanced the nominations of Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya to be Director of the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Martin Makary to be Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon would have reported to Kennedy, who since his confirmation has made misleading comments on the role of measles vaccines and treatments. In an interview with Fox News that aired on Tuesday, Kennedy downplayed the safety of the measles vaccine and suggested that natural immunity from a measles infection would provide better and longer-lasting protection. Vaccination is the best way to prevent and stop the spread of the highly contagious disease that can be most serious for young children, according to public health experts. 'CRITICAL MOMENT' Cassidy, a doctor who had expressed wariness about Kennedy's anti-vaccine views but ultimately cleared the path for his confirmation, on Thursday said the nation is at a "critical moment in public health." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "While the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, the loss of trust in public health and science agencies remains. This comes as the nation faces serious health threats like a measles outbreak, which has already claimed at least one life and hospitalized many more," Cassidy said. Weldon's withdrawal was first reported by the Axios news outlet. The Atlanta-based CDC, with an annual budget of $17.3 billion, tracks and responds to domestic and foreign threats to public health. Roughly two-thirds of its budget provides funds to the public health and prevention activities of state and local health agencies. "The health appointments by the Trump administration have been uniformly unqualified and destructive. Weldon was among the worst," said Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While in Congress, Weldon challenged studies demonstrating the safety of childhood vaccines, asserting they were harmful and linked with autism, a theory espoused by longtime vaccine skeptic Kennedy but debunked by scientists. Reuters has reported that the CDC does plan to study autism and vaccines. In addition to measles, the new CDC director would be charged with helping lead the U.S. response to the growing H5N1 bird flu outbreak, which has decimated poultry flocks and driven up egg prices, infiltrated dairy herds and infected 70 people in the United States, resulting in one death. Although the risk to the general public remains low, the risk to people in contact with infected animals or surfaces is moderate to high, according to CDC's latest risk assessment. Shares of vaccine makers initially rose after the withdrawal became public, but gave back most of those gains. Moderna shares, which had been up more than 5%, were about flat, as were Novavax shares. Pfizer was up less than 1% on another down day for the broader market. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; additional reporting by Michael Erman in New York and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot and David Gregorio) Local researchers say Trump administration cuts to federal education data and research may threaten accountability for Ohio public schools and the ability to see how well students are doing. On Monday, the Trump administration cut nearly $1 billion in contracts in the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), which contracts out much of its work in compiling data statistics for the National Center of Education Statistics, according to Inside Higher Ed. The Trump administration also fired nearly all the Education Department staffers who work in the NCES on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), often called "the nation's report card," according to ABC News. The most recent NAEP, published in January, shows many students continue to struggle with post-pandemic recovery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cuts leave the ability for researchers to accurately assess the quality of education in Ohio and nationally in question. Vlad Kogan, an Ohio political science professor who studies education, said threats to the NAEP will undermine accountability for public schools. "It's almost like sticking your head in the sand," Kogan said. "Unless we don't care that student achievement hasn't recovered. Not having the NAEP really means they're not going to have any way to know whether we're making progress or not." Vlad Kogan, an Ohio State University professor and education researcher, speaking during a Columbus City Schools board meeting in May 2024. Aaron Churchill, an Ohio-based researcher with the education think tank The Fordham Institute, however, said that states will continue to collect data, regardless of the fate of the NCES. He said that the NCES often relies on data submitted by the states. "I don't think it would be critical from my vantage point, so long as Ohio continues to have a robust information system about education as well," Churchill said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce said in a statement that as a state agency the ODEW is "an entirely different organization than the federal U.S. Department of Education" and does not expect staffing cuts. The statement did not address Dispatch questions about data collection and submission. With national report card in jeopardy, education research at risk Kogan said that even a temporary interruption in data collection can lead to a year of lost data. "Even if that funding is ultimately restored ... there's really no way you can come back and do it right if there's any interruptions," Kogan said. Churchill said the NAEP serves as a "yardstick" for seeing how Ohio stacks up against other states, and said he would be "disappointed" to see it changed from its current form. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I think it's really important as something of an external audit too," Churchill said. "If our state tests are showing you large majorities of kids are doing well, and then NAEP is saying something else, that should cause us to ask questions about our state assessments. Are they rigorous enough? Are they identifying students properly?" Aaron Churchill is the Ohio Research Director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education policy think tank. Cuts to the IES also threaten the Common Core of Data, which tracks demographic and funding data, according to The New York Times. Kogan said the risk of losing the Common Core of Data would risk one of the most important elements of data used in education research. "Without that data set, it's very hard to look at anything else," Kogan said. Kogan said that if there is not a centralized data collection service that uses standardized metrics for assessing educational statistics, it will lead to "duplicated efforts" from researchers collecting the same information and possibly analyzing that data in different ways. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There's a lot of of stakeholders, and a lot of researchers and a lot of advocates and a lot of policy folks who care even if they have completely different perspectives about, what they want to see done having data is useful for everybody, regardless of kind of their views about optical education policy," Kogan said. Churchill said that what is happening in Washington D.C. "speaks to the need for state leadership and education." "This is just another important reminder of just how important state leadership is in education," Churchill said. "If the Department of Education goes away, doesn't want to have anything to do with education, that just means the ball is in the court for for our leaders in Columbus and in our local school districts to take the lead." Cbehrens@dispatch.com @Colebehr_report This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio researchers: Trump's DOE data cuts could threaten accountability A plane carrying Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, has landed in Moscow, Russian pro-government media Interfax reported on March 13, citing aviation services. Witkoffs visit comes as the U.S. seeks Russian agreement on a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Kyiv accepted during talks in Jeddah on March 11. Washington subsequently resumed military and intelligence support for Ukraine after suspending it the previous week. The White House has not confirmed whether Trump plans to call Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that U.S. negotiators are traveling to Russia but declined to reveal Moscow's position on the ceasefire proposal. U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz reportedly held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart on March 12, and Witkoff is expected to meet with Russian officials, possibly including Putin, in Moscow. Witkoff previously traveled to Moscow in February for the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison. Witkoff claimed he spoke directly with Putin for over three hours during his visit. According to Reuters, some U.S. officials and analysts fear Moscow could exploit the truce to deepen divisions between Washington, Kyiv, and their European allies while regrouping for further offensives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Russia presents US with demands for possible Ukraine peace deal, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The plane carrying Steve Witkoff, special envoy of US President Donald Trump, has landed in Moscow on Thursday 13 March. Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti, as reported by European Pravda Details: The plane with Witkoff on board reportedly landed at Vnukovo Airport. Earlier on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to journalists that "participants of the negotiations" with the US were heading to Russia, where they were scheduled to have contact with Russian counterparts, according to Russian news agency Interfax. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peskov also declined to announce Russia's official stance on the peaceful resolution of the Russo-Ukrainian war. It is expected that Trump's envoy will present the results of the negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation held in Jeddah on 11 March. Background: Following the talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine said it is willing to implement a 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia also adheres to it. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! President Donald Trump's trade war is spilling across the Atlantic, and his latest tariff threats might be the least defensible yet. In a Thursday morning post on Truth Social, Trump threatened to slap "a 200 percent tariff on all wines, Champagnes, & alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries." That's in retaliation to the European Union's decision earlier this week to place new 50 percent tariffs on American whiskey, bourbon, and a variety of other items including motorcycles and agricultural goods. Those new E.U. tariffs will take effect on April 1one day before the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" that Trump has threatened to impose on all imports from everywhere around the globe. "Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash," wrote Laurent Saint-Martin, France's minister for foreign trade, in a Thursday post on X. "We will not give in to threats and will always protect our sectors." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In short: If you enjoy French wine, German beer, champagne, port, or any other uniquely European alcohol products, now might be the time to stock up. A 200 percent tariff on those imports would be debilitating for the American businesses that sell those products to consumersa supply chain that includes importers, wholesalers, restaurants, and many other small and mid-sized businesses. And that comes on top of the impact from other tariffs, which are already expected to hit American restaurants with $12 billion in higher costs. Unsurprisingly, alcohol stocks on both sides of the Atlantic fell sharply on Thursday morning in response to Trump's announcement. Even compared to other parts of Trump's self-destructive trade war, tariffs on alcohol seem to make little sense. Unlike with tariffs on manufacturing inputs and raw materials, where the Trump administration can at least claim to be protecting or promoting American production by making imports more expensive, that same tradeoff does not exist when it comes to many alcohol products. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no American "champagne business," despite what Trump claimed in his Truth Social post, and it is unlikely that American consumers who want to drink French champagne will be satisfied to swill domestic sparkling wine instead. French or Italian wines are valuable because they are distinct from the types of wine that can be produced in the United States. The same is true for German and Belgian beers. They can be duplicated by American producers, but the experience of sipping some Veuve Clicquot or a Chimay cannot be replicated. If those products become too expensive to compete in the American market, American consumers will have fewer choices and will be poorer for it. The businesses that currently make a buck by shuttling those products across the ocean will lose too. America will not be stronger or better or greater in any way. Meanwhile, the escalating trade war means that American alcohol producers stand to lose some of their export market to Europe as well. Trade makes everyone better off, and so cutting off trade ensures that everyone loses. "The U.S. spirits sector supports more than $200 billion in economic activity, 1.7 million jobs across production, distribution, hospitality and retail, and the purchase of 2.8 billion pounds of grains from American farmers," Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which represents alcohol producers, said in a statement. "We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which benefits the hospitality industry and U.S. craft distillers who export their products. We want toasts not tariffs." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's willingness to threaten tariffs has, so far, been greater than his willingness to actually impose those higher costs on the American economy. It seems like Europe's leaders are now calling the president's bluffand people on both sides of the Atlantic should be hoping he once again backs down. The post Trump's Threatened 200 Percent Tariffs on European Booze Are His Least Sensible Trade Move Yet appeared first on Reason.com. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) A Trussville man was sentenced to four years in prison for drug trafficking, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona announced. Antonio Ellis, 50, was sentenced to 48 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine in Oct. 2024. Birmingham Police arrest carjacking suspect on same day as incident According to the plea agreement, on May 9, 2023, a Trussville police officer observed a Ford F-450 traveling on I-59 and cross the outside fog line several times. The officer initiated a traffic stop, and during the stop, the officer could smell alcohol coming from inside the vehicle. Ellis was then asked to exit the vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ellis initially complied with the officers requests, but he then attempted to walk away from the scene and refused to follow the officers orders. Additional officers arrived and arrested him. After being place into the back of a patrol car, officers searched his vehicle and found cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Utah sets a uniquely high bar for candidates to meet ballot requirements in primary elections. Federal and state candidates spend thousands of dollars and months getting signatures to get on the ballot. Filing requirements for 2024 candidates: Statewide offices (ex. governor or U.S. Senate) 28,000 signatures U.S. representative 7,000 signatures Utah state Senate 2,000 signatures Utah state representative 1,000 signatures Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite making a career in collecting candidates signatures, Tanner Leatham, owner of Gathering Inc., a Utah-based signature-gathering company that provides services in more than 25 states, said state leaders need to make it easier to get on the ballot. There are so many seats already right now that run uncontested year after year after year because its already really hard to get on the ballot, Leatham told the Deseret News. You know, we catch a handful of people doing fraudulent things ... (but) the system is good. Its good at catching those people, but if we try and make it any harder, then were going to have less people running for office. Its going to cost more money. Despite the difficulty, The states current laws and system, is very thorough. They look at every single signature. Hundreds of 1000s of signatures were turned in this last cycle amongst the whole state, he added. Leatham said that last March, his company had an inclination that a handful of the 300 to 400 independent contracted workers were not following the legal process. One way this occurred was by allowing people to sign for family members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its difficult, Leatham said. We require a lot of signatures for big and small offices, and its in the middle of the winter, its dark outside, and so finding people who are willing to help us with that kind of work is difficult. ... (and) no one wants you to knock on their door. But that doesnt excuse breaking the law. He said it wasnt until a few months later that Utahs attorney generals office reached out and said individuals employed by Gathering Inc. were identified and under investigation for alleged forgery. On Monday, the Utah Attorney Generals office filed charges against 11 defendants several of which served as independent contractors for Gathering Inc. across multiple state counties with forgery-related charges concerning candidate petitions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These independent contract workers were given strict guidelines and informed that all signatures gathered would be sent to the state for audit where every single signature gets looked at and compared against five to 10 other signatures the state has on file, Leatham said. A person signs a petition for a candidate, who is gathering signatures to qualify for the primary election, at a meet-and-greet in Midway on Monday, March 11, 2024. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Once the county clerk administers the audit, it is sent to the lieutenant governors office for additional processing. The role of the Office of Utah State Auditor is to identify and investigate statutory compliance and refer related findings to the Attorney Generals office for examination when criminal activity is involved, Utah State Auditor Tina M. Cannon said in a statement on Tuesday. In a combined effort with the lieutenant governors office reviewing signatures gathered during the 2024 election cycle and following the proper referral process, on December 19, 2024, the findings of this joint effort were turned over to the Attorney Generals Office for their review. How is voter trust ensured? In January, the state auditors office sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson voicing concerns with Utahs signature petition verification process. The main concerns highlighted were the rigid protection over voter names and signatures for observing petition information and signature verification versus the rather broad disclosure of information allowed by statute for voter registration data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two bills (HB374 and SB164) regarding election law processes were introduced during the 2025 legislative session, but only SB164, Modifications to Election Law, was passed. The bill, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Wayne A. Harper, R-Taylorsville, passed unanimously in both the Senate and House. During the House Government Operations Committee, Harper said the bill was a direct response to the recommendations made by legislative auditors last year. In October, the audit found mistakes in a small percentage of signature verifications submitted by Gov. Spencer Cox, Rep. John Curtis and then-Attorney General candidate Derek Brown. The Deseret News previously shared the recommended safeguards the legislative audit recommended. They include clarifying the standards that are in place to validate signatures, making common error-based training required and notifying voters when their signatures have apparently been used in a petition nomination packet and giving them the chance to remove it if it wasnt them who signed. Harpers bill does the following: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ensure that ballots are stamped in a timely manner by having constant communication with county clerks and local post offices. Creates a process to allow voters to observe the process of candidate petition verifications. A process that is already used for counting ballots. Allow the candidate to view nomination packets without redactions. Require routine audits of the signatures and ensure that at least 1% of all signatures turned in are audited. The bill also allows candidates to submit up to 10% more votes to make sure that theres no question that sufficient signatures have been turned in, Harper said. What Im trying to do here is just make this process cleaner and more open. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said in an interview Wednesday that all protesters pushing hateful speech on college campuses should be sent to jail. We have two levels of education: We have K through 12, and we have a higher ed. Weve got to treat both of them different, Tuberville said in an interview on Fox Business Networks The Bottom Line. But when it comes to protesters, we got to make sure we treat all of them the same: Send them to jail, he continued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Free speech is great, but hateful, hate, free speech is not what we need in these universities, and they dont need to be doing things that theyre preaching from Hamas about antisemitism, Tuberville added. The interview came during a conversation about former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent legal U.S. resident, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at his university residence Saturday. The Trump administration is seeking to revoke his green card over claims that Khalil is Pro-Hamas and engaged in pro-terrorist, antisemitic activity. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman blocked efforts to deport the Palestinian activist for the time being, but prosecutors requested, in a letter sent Tuesday, that the case be moved from New York to New Jersey or Louisiana, where Khalil is being held. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many Democrats have raised First Amendment concerns following Khalils detainment, but the Trump administration is leaning on a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives Secretary of State Marco Rubio sweeping power to expel foreigners. We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported, Rubio said Monday on the social platform X, sharing a news report about Khalils detainment. Tuberville said the push by some Senate Democrats to free Khalil is a shame. The Democrats basically, you know, they dont like our country anymore, Tuberville continued. They just want to, you know, tear it down. Theyre going to take this guys side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every Democrat that we work with up here, theyre going to take this guys side, and theyre going to try to drive this narrative that hes doing the right thing, hes the people we should be backing, he added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has emerged as a key potential partner in restructuring European security, diplomats and analysts say, as Europe scrambles to bolster its defence and find guarantees for Ukraine under any forthcoming ceasefire deal urged by the United States. European countries have been unsettled by U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the Ukraine war, which has upended Washington's policy, halted Russia's isolation with possibility of rapprochement, piled pressure on Kyiv after disastrous talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and endangered transatlantic ties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Analysts say Europeans' push to maintain Ukraine's military capabilities and agree security guarantees, while boosting its own defence without Washington, has created a rare opportunity for Turkey to deepen ties with Europe despite lingering disputes over the rule of law, maritime issues with Greece and Cyprus, and Ankara's long stalled European Union membership bid. "European countries that thought they had the luxury of excluding Turkey until today are now seeing that they cannot exclude Turkey anymore" said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and director of the Centre for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM). Speaking after talks with Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he brought a "clear proposal for Turkey to take on the greatest possible co-responsibility" for peace in Ukraine and regional stability. A senior European diplomat said Turkey had "very important views" on what is needed for peace in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had managed to balance his relationship between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the war, the diplomat said, "so it makes sense to have him on board." NATO member Turkey has the alliance's second largest army. It has begun producing its own jets, tanks, and naval carriers in recent years, and sells armed drones globally, including to Ukraine. Its defence industry exports totalled $7.1 billion in 2024. In a blizzard of talks and decisions since Trump's return in January, several European nations discussed forming a "coalition of the willing" to help Ukraine. France has offered to consider extending its nuclear umbrella to allies. Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan have said Europe must include Turkey in the restructure of its security architecture in a "sustainable and deterrent" way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Turkish official, who requested anonymity, said there were no clear plans yet on a new European security architecture or Turkey's possible contributions to it, but certain steps could advance cooperation. "Instead of including Turkey in projects in an 'a la carte' way, it would be more logical (for Europe) to seek partnerships in a more holistic way. For example, they can start by including Turkey in the European Peace Facility programme," the official told Reuters, referring to an EU initiative supporting Ukraine. COMMON INTERESTS A Turkish Defence Ministry official said Ankara and Europe had common interests, from counter-terrorism to migration, and Turkey's full participation in EU defence efforts was criticial for Europe to be a global actor, adding Turkey was ready to do what it can to help form the new security framework. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the window of opportunity, analysts say Turkey's stance towards Russia remains a test, as Ankara refused to impose sanctions after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and still shares strong ties in energy, tourism, and trade. "The fundamental question that will come before Turkey is the issue of ties with Russia because the essence of Europe's security framework starts by viewing Russia as a threat," Ulgen said, adding Ankara must choose a side and position on Russia to take a greater security role. Turkey has backed Ukraine militarily and voiced support for its territorial integrity and sovereignty. It hosted peace talks in the first weeks of the war and offered to host future talks, while seeking to revive a deal on Black Sea navigational safety. Last week, a Turkish Defence Ministry source said Turkey could consider contributing to a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, if a ceasefire is declared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkey's armed forces chief of staff Metin Gurak attended a meeting of European army chiefs in Paris this week, and met counterparts from Britain and France, who have also discussed deploying troops. Another European diplomat said it was vital for Turkey to take part in security guarantees for Ukraine. "Erdogan's interests lie with us right now, especially as he no longer has that Russia dynamic in Syria," the person said, in a reference to Russia's backing of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey backing opposition rebels for years. "So, in a way, the stars are aligned for them to play a role within the future European guarantees for Ukraine." (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria over the past week, the defence ministry said on Thursday, continuing attacks in the region after a disarmament call from the PKK leader and a separate accord between U.S.-backed Kurds and Damascus. Speaking at a briefing in Ankara, a defence ministry source said the deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus did not change Turkey's commitment to counter-terrorism in Syria, and that it still demands that the YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, disband and disarm. Turkey views the SDF, which controls much of northeast Syria, as a terrorist group linked with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. It has carried out several cross-border offensives against the group. The PKK's leader, jailed in Turkey, called for the group to disarm last month. The group is based in northern Iraq. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer) ISTANBUL (AP) Turkeys top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus on Thursday, days after Syrias interim government reached a deal to integrate a U.S backed Kurdish-led armed group into the countrys army. The agreement to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, into the Syrian government followed fierce clashes that erupted last week between government security forces and gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad. Monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed in the violence in Syrias coastal communities, primarily targeting members of the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syrias interim president and a former rebel, met with Hakan Fidan, Turkeys foreign minister; Yasar Guler, defense minister, and Ibrahim Kalin, head of national intelligence. They were accompanied by Turkeys ambassador to Syria, Burhan Koroglu. According to local news agency DHA, an official from the Turkish Defense Ministry, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity, said earlier Thursday that Ankara intends to examine how the agreement reached will be implemented and its reflections on the field. The official added that Turkeys expectations on Syria have not changed. There is no change in our expectations for the termination of terrorist activities in Syria, the disarmament of terrorists and the expulsion of foreign terrorists from Syria, the official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkey designates the SDF and its military arm, Peoples Protection Units, as terrorist organizations because of their links to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party. As the Turkish delegation was flying unannounced to Damascus, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented awards for benevolence and kindness to a former Syrian fighter pilot imprisoned for 43 years. The ceremony, hosted by a foundation linked to Turkeys religious authority, honored Ragheed al-Tatari. Erdogan praised al-Tatari for his perseverance and gave him an award for his benevolence." Al-Tatari was imprisoned under the rule of Syrian presidents Hafez al-Assad and later Bashar al-Assad. He had been detained since 1981. There are conflicting accounts for his imprisonment including refusing to bomb the city of Hama and failing to report a pilot desertion attempt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over four decades, al-Tatari was moved among prisons notorious for housing political inmates, including Palmyra prison and Sednaya. His imprisonment, described by human rights groups as one of the longest in Syria for a political prisoner, ended in December when opposition forces freed him. In a speech on stage, Erdogan lauded al-Tatari, calling him the brave Syrian pilot who listened to his conscience." OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Police say two people have been taken into custody after a deadly shooting in southeast Oklahoma City on March 9. According to the Oklahoma City Police Department, officers responded to a shooting at an apartment complex near SE 44th Street and Sunnylane Road. around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 9. ORIGINAL STORY: 16-year-old killed in SE Oklahoma City shooting Upon arrival, they found the victim, 16-year-old Jashaun Cheatom. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials say two people have been arrested on complaints of First Degree Murder in connection to the shooting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Two people were arrested Wednesday in San Diegos Tecolote Canyon Park after a reported robbery at a U.S. Postal Service office in Coronado escalated to a high-speed pursuit over the Coronado Bridge, police said. Workers at the post office first reported the suspected robbery just before 2 p.m., according to Coronado Police Lt. Ryan Brennan. One officer responded roughly a minute later, having been right around the corner from the post office. Per Brennan, once at the scene, the officer observed a woman reaching into a blue mailbox outside the post office with some tools to pull items out from inside. She then got into a vehicle described as a black BMW and fled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coronado police then attempted to pull the vehicle over, but Brennan said it did not yield. Officers pursued it onto the Coronado Bridge, where the San Diego Police Department followed the vehicle with its helicopter. Chula Vista Police seek suspect after 14 vehicle break-ins on one street As police pursued the vehicle over the bridge, Brennan said speeds reached upwards of 90 miles per hour. They were driving recklessly and so our officers did lose visual and began to back off, Brennan said. Luckily, San Diegos helicopter was just arriving on scene and was able to pick up the vehicle. SDPDs helicopter tracked the vehicle as it drove up Interstate 5 to Tecolote Canyon Natural Park. According to Brennan, the two suspects had abandoned the car in the park and ran off into a wooded area in the park on foot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once at the park, Coronado police officers, in tandem with SDPD and its K9 unit, set up a perimeter where the suspects were believed to be. They were taken safely into custody after a brief standoff. An investigation into the incident remains ongoing. The identities of the two suspects in the chase have yet to be identified. As the original incident involved a post office, Brennan said police are also in contact with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to determine potential charges. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) A February argument at a convenience store in Summit Township led to two arrests and a man being extradited back to Michigan from Las Vegas, according to the Jackson County Sheriffs Office. Police say on Feb. 10, Jackson County deputies were dispatched to the area of Francis St. and Hollis St. for a shots fired call. In the area, they found multiuple shell casings and an unoccupied vehicle that had been shot several time. No victims were located. Deputies investigated, reviewing business and residential surveillance cameras, finding what appearted to be an argument between four men in a convenience store. Two of the men left the store in a black SUV, after which the other two atetmped to get inside a small sedan parked in a nearby alley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say video shows the black SUV go out onto the roadway. The front passenger then leaned out of the window of the SUV and began shooting toward the two men in the sedan. Both vehicles then left the area. Deputies used FLOCK cameras, which reads license plates, to identify the SUV, which was located at a residence in Jackson within a few hours. Deputies executed a search warrant on the house and identified the suspects involved in the shooting29-year-old Kevin Jamall Johnson and 25-year-old Martez Anthony Haywood Jr. Johnson was arrested the same day of the incident for violating parole. Deputies attempted to search for Haywood, but did not find him that day or in the following days. Feb. 19, the Jackson County Prosecutors Office charged Haywood with five felonies: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Discharging a firearm from a vehicle Carrying a concealed weapon Possessing ammunition as a prohibited person Possessing a firearm as a prohibited person Felony firearm Johnson was charged with being an accessory after the fact to a felony, and was arraigned Feb. 24 on a $5,000 bond. He remains in custody, and his next court date is scheduled for March 19. Haywood was arrested by police in Las Vegas on Feb. 26. He was extradited back to Michigan and arrived in Jackson on Monday. His bond been set at $100,000, and his next court hearing is scheduled for March 26. Anyone with information about this incident are asked to call Detective Mark Easter at 517-768 7934. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News. Navarro County, Tx (FOX 44) Two Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were injured Thursday when they were hit by a pickup while assisting a disabled vehicle on the side of the highway in Navarro County. It happened about 6:40 a.m. near the 235 mile marker on I-45 when a pickup truck struck their patrol unit, then struck the troopers. They were transported to a nearby hospital with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the pickup was not injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The interstate was closed during the investigation, with traffic being detoured. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. Two employees of the Braintree Police Department are currently on paid administrative leave pending separate investigations. The mayors office confirms to Boston 25 News two separate investigations into the employees but declined to comment further due to it pertaining to personnel issues. Braintree police provided the following the following statement to Boston 25 News: The Braintree Police Department is aware of an incident involving a civilian employee being charged with a misdemeanor in another jurisdiction. An internal investigation was opened into the incident. Where this is an active investigation, we will decline comment at this time. Separately, a BPD detective is currently on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation is underway into the allegations of harassment-type offenses and policy violations. While the investigation is active, we will decline comment at this time. The Norfolk County District Attorneys Office did not confirm or deny an active investigation into the employees. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW The cities of Island and Sacramento will be required to redo their wet-dry vote to allow alcohol sales, which were listed on last Novembers general election ballot, according to the Kentucky Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC). Procedures for posing the question of allowing alcohol sales in a particular city located within a dry county are discussed in the Kentucky Revised Statute KRS 242. KRS 242.020 further defines the process for petitioning to pose the question of allowing an area within McLean County to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages. According to the statute defined in KRS 242.050, the question that should appear on the petition, and subsequent ballot during either a May primary election or November general election, should be written as, Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages in (name of city or county)? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement County Clerk Carol Eaton stated that when the petitioners came to her for guidance on the process of getting a wet-dry vote placed on the November 2024 general election ballot, she took a look at KRS 242 for the procedure. KRS 242 suggests that the question posed on the petition would need to include the territory where the petitioner will be gathering signatures for the petition, Eaton explained. I interpreted territory as an area with defined borders, like a precinct, and advised the petitioners that they could proceed to compile signatures from the entire precinct. The petitioners, Mayor Joe Hamilton from Island and Renee Howell, a business owner from the Sacramento area, then proceeded, according to Eaton, to obtain the proper number of signatures on their petitions in order to have the wet-dry placed on the November ballot. The petitioner gets all of the signatures needed together and we file the paperwork and then we have a process with the judge-executive that we follow to make sure that all of the signatures are valid so that we can continue the process of placing the question on the ballot, Eaton said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those procedures were followed and the questions allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages in the precincts containing the cities of Island and Sacramento were added to the November 2024 general election ballot designated for those precincts. Based on the results from Novembers election, voters from the Island and Sacramento precincts chose to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in those areas. Island results counted 299 Yes votes and 172 No votes, while Sacramento results showed 438 Yes votes and 267 No votes. The election results were then certified by McLean County Judge-Executive Curtis Dame and forwarded to the proper department in Frankfort. Since the vote passed, I sent the election certification to the Kentucky Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control, Eaton said. I was later notified by them that there was a problem with the wording of the question posed to the voters in the precincts of Island and Sacramento. After many emails back and forth with the ABC and their general counsel, it was determined that state liquor licenses would not be able to be sold to vendors in Island or Sacramento. Eaton explains that she was told by the ABC, based on details recorded in KRS 241.010, that a territory couldnt be designated as a precinct, but only as a city or county. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was unaware that the defined territory to be considered for the vote couldnt be the entire precinct, but that votes could only be considered based on a city-wide or county-wide focused petition and subsequent vote, she said. So, what does that mean for the petitioners in Island and Sacramento? Unfortunately, they have to repeat the process in its entirety all over again, Eaton said. Eaton explained that the petitioners have a couple of options to consider when they decide to restart the process. First, the petitioners can decide to either create the petition to include only the city of Island or the city of Sacramento or they could petition to allow all of McLean County to be able to sell alcoholic beverages, Eaton said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to that decision, the petitioners will also have to decide if they would like to proceed with the process this year or wait until 2026. The problem with trying to petition this year is that there is no election for 2025, Eaton said. So the petitioners would have to host whats called a local option election which costs additional money. Island Mayor Joe Hamilton said that he made the decision to postpone the petitioning process until 2026 in order to keep from having to do the local option election. Obviously, were not thrilled to have to restart the entire process, but we understand that sometimes hiccups can happen, Hamilton said. It is what it is and we just have to do what the state requires in order for us to continue the process and do what we think is best for the city of Island. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hamilton also said that, as it currently stands, he is only planning to focus the petition on the city of Island and not McLean County as a whole. Eaton said that shes been told by the Sacramento petitioner that they would also be holding off on repeating the petition process until 2026. Eaton also said that an additional complication stemming from the denial by the ABC is that the number of required signatures on the petitions will be different for 2026 than it was in 2024. KRS 242.020 part one states that a petition for an election shall be signed by a number of constitutionally qualified voters of the territory to be affected, equal to 25%of the votes cast in the territory at the last preceding general election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So the percentage of signatures needed on the petitions will be based on the voter turnouts for the 2024 general election, Eaton explained. The 2024 general election included a presidential election which always receives a higher voter turnout, but that number increased even more in 2024 because the presidential race was such a highly contested battle. Eaton said that she takes full accountability for misinterpreting the KRS statute. The petitioners, along with the cities and their officials, have no fault in this decision made by the ABC, she said. And I am also the only county official involved in making the mistake and I take full accountability for the situation. Eaton said that she is available via phone at the County Clerks office, 270-273-3082, or by email, carol.eaton@ky.gov, to explain the mixup and process to any county resident who might have questions or need further clarification on the matter. At the end of the day, Im an elected official and its important for me to take ownership for mistakes made by the office, she said. But I am dedicated to continuing to serve the residents of McLean County to the best of my ability. I never intended to mislead the petitioners and truly believed a precinct-wide vote was allowable. CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) Two Central Illinois men were arrested for a break-in and burglary that happened in Cowden last year. Macon Co. grass fire spreads across five buildings On Wednesday, the Shelby County Sheriffs Office announced in a Facebook post that they have identified two suspects in the Aug. 8, 2024, break-in and burglary of the Lumberyard Bar and Grill in Cowden. Brandon DeClerk, 49 of Taylorville, and Mitchell Chapman, 39 of Decatur, were both identified as being involved in similar crimes across Central Illinois. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The identification and arrests were a multi-agency effort with technical investigation assistance provided by the Sangamon County Sheriffs Office. According to Shelby County Sheriff Brian McReynolds, DeClerk was arrested on March 11 on a Shelby County warrant and is now out on pre-trial release with a GPS ankle monitor. Additionally, Chapman is currently being held in the Christian County Jail on unrelated charges and has an arrest warrant hold for Shelby County. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. VICKSBURG, Miss. (WJTV) Two men have been arrested after a fatal shooting in Vicksburg. Vicksburg Police Chief Penny Jones identified the suspects as Javien Shannon, 20, of Jackson, and Tyler Terry, 21, of Canton. Brandon man gets 14 years for store robberies Shannon was charged with capital murder, two counts of aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a stolen firearm. His bond was set at $1,175,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Terry was charged with capital murder, two counts of aggravated assault and armed robbery. His bond was set at $1,200,000. The shooting occurred in the area of Locust Street and Jefferson Street on March 11. Javien Shannon (Courtesy: Vicksburg Police Dept.) Tyler Terry (Courtesy: Vicksburg Police Dept.) When officers arrived at the location, investigators said they discovered a 19-year-old male suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital and later died due to his injuries. The victim has not been identified. Shortly afterwards, officers received a call that two additional gunshot victims had arrived at the hospital. Theres no word on their conditions. Police determined that the incident originated inside an apartment where officers recovered a significant quantity of drugs. The investigation is ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. Two men were successfully rescued after they fell through the ice while fishing on a southern Minnesota lake Tuesday. According to the Blue Earth County Sheriffs Office, deputies and fire and rescue crews were called to Madison Lake just after 1 p.m. The men were reportedly 1,600 feet from the lakes shore when they fell through the ice. Once there, responders found a 71-year-old man in the water holding onto the edge of the ice. Another man, age 75, was on the ice. The men were loaded onto inflatable rafts and brought to shore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No first responders were injured in the incident, but Chief Deputy Jeremy Brennan told ABC 6 News that rescue crews did fall through the thin ice multiple times on their way to the scene. Each of the responders fell through multiple times on the way out there, and had to get themselves out, to continue on to get them, Brennan told the station. Two Ocala police officers were suspended after killing some aggressive dogs. The incident has the department making changes to policy. The shooting was all caught on bodycam. Startling moments, as Ocala police respond to a call involving 3 aggressive dogs outside someones Bellechase lanai trying to get inside. On bodycam you can hear the homeowner say, That one right there tried to dig in the screen. The officer responds, This is crazy! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The homeowner told them, that he ran into his house after they tried biting him in the yard. Investigators say, they called Animal Services and waited 45 minutes. As they warned a passing jogger about the dogs, the pit bulls then turned their attention to the officers. According to investigators, the officers shot two dogs in the driveway and then shot another multiple times as it ran away. Police Chief Mike Balken says, 31 shots were fired. The dogs ran towards the officers, coming within just a few feet, and it was at that time that our officers fired multiple rounds striking all three dogs. But it was the shooting involving the third dog that the Chief says, violated procedure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once the third dog ran off it posed no reasonable danger, and therefore the remaining shots were unnecessary, potentially reckless in nature. The Chief says the officer who fired the shots was being trained at the time, he was suspended for 20 hours. The officer training him received 100 hours of suspension. Unfortunately, this was a tragic event, which I believe we simply got wrong. Our actions were unreasonable. Weve had to take measures internally to ensure that it doesnt happen again. The officer in training was identified as Officer Jordan Woods and the person training him was Officer John McCurdy. The incident has the agency making changes to procedure, Balken says, That policy now requires officers to utilize non-lethal force options whenever possibly possible, and highly encourages pepper spray aids the preferred method for dealing with aggressive animals. The Chief also wants to work with Animal Services to prevent this from happening in the future. As for the dogs owner Bryan Strawn, hes contacting an attorney, I literally cant close my eyes without thinking about my baby runner trying to run home and that cop gunning him down. And Strawn says his dogs got out by jumping over a broken fence. The Chief wants to remind everyone to keep their pets secured. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Brooke Rollins, who is the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, talks to reporters Wednesday. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said federal disaster relief will soon be on the way for farmers left struggling to move forward in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Rollins, who was confirmed last month, told reporters Wednesday during a visit to the state Capitol that her agency would beat the March 21 deadline set by Congress to distribute aid packed into a $100 billion disaster relief package passed late last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helene ripped a path through the Southeast, devastating communities and farms along the eastern side of Georgia. The storm killed 34 people in Georgia and left a lasting mark on the states top industry, causing an estimated $5.5 billion in damage to agricultural producers and timber growers. That money will begin to move in the next few weeks, Rollins told reporters. We were given a deadline by Congress, which isnt often met, but for me, it was very important we meet it, of March 21. We will actually beat that deadline, so youll be hearing more about that in the coming days. House Speaker Jon Burns, who was part of a group of state leaders who met with Rollins Wednesday, said the assurance that the funds will soon start flowing is important to both farmers and their lenders as a new planting season gets under way. Dispatching additional relief has also been a top priority for lawmakers this session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The problems from Hurricane Helene have slowed down the marketing process. The low prices have impacted the ability to repay loans and get ready to go again another year, Burns told reporters Wednesday. So, the certainty coming from the state and from the federal government on some of those disaster dollars is critically important right now. The timing of it is to make sure it gets out so we can get this crop in the ground, he added. Defending funding cuts, tariffs Rollins also defended President Donald Trumps tariff strategy and the administrations recent cuts to a food aid program during a press conference Wednesday. Under Rollins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently cancelled the rest of a $1 billion program that schools and food banks were using to buy food from nearby farms. An agency spokesperson said Monday that the programs no longer effectuate the goals of the agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a cut that Georgia U.S. Jon Ossoff, who is a Democrat, has called on the Trump administration to undo. This will hurt Georgia kids and Georgia farmers, Ossoff said in a statement Tuesday. We should support our schools providing kids with fresh, nutritious food grown locally by Georgia farmers. Its a win-win for childhood nutrition and Georgia agriculture. Rollins told reporters Wednesday that the funding was cut because it was for a COVID-era program that she said was specific to the pandemic. As we are re-imagining and reconfiguring and restructuring the federal government that includes looking very hard at programs that on their face may sound really, really good, but are they actually reaching the intended recipients? Collins said. Are they actually doing what the taxpayers have asked us to do, which is to use their tax dollars as smartly and efficiently as possible? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rollins also acknowledged the worries of the agricultural community over tariffs and suggested that assistance would likely be offered to farmers who are caught in the middle. This community has been very patient, but theyre hurting, and we understand that, she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A family that was deported to Mexico hopes they can find a way to return to the U.S. and ensure their 10-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, can continue her brain cancer treatment. Immigration authorities removed the girl and four of her American siblings from Texas on Feb. 4, when they deported their undocumented parents. The familys ordeal began last month, when they were rushing from Rio Grande City, where they lived, to Houston, where their daughters specialist doctors are based, for an emergency medical checkup. A 10-year-old girl recovering from brain cancer was removed with her undocumented parents last month. The Texas Civil Rights Project blurred the photograph for safety purposes. The parents had done the trip at least five other times in the past, passing through an immigration checkpoint every time without any issues, according to attorney Danny Woodward from the Texas Civil Rights Project, a legal advocacy and litigation organization representing the family. In previous occasions, the parents showed letters from their doctors and lawyers to the officers at the checkpoint to get through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in early February, the letters werent enough. When they stopped at the checkpoint, they were arrested after the parents were unable to show legal immigration documentation. The mother, who spoke exclusively to NBC News, said she tried explaining her daughters circumstances to the officers, but they werent interested in hearing that. Other than lacking valid immigration status in the U.S., the parents have no criminal history, Woodward said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which detained and deported the family, according to their lawyer, said in an email Wednesday: "For privacy reasons, we do not comment on individual cases." On Thursday, a CBP spokesperson said via email that the reports of the family's situation are "inaccurate" because "when someone is given expedited removal orders and chooses to disregard them, they will face the consequences" of the process. They reiterated they couldn't speak about the specifics of the case for privacy reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 10-year-old girl was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Doctors practically gave me no hope of life for her, but thank God shes a miracle, the mother said. The swelling on the girls brain is still not fully gone, the mother said, causing difficulties with speech and mobility of the right side of her body. Before the family was removed from the U.S., the girl was routinely checking in with doctors monitoring her recovery, attending rehabilitation therapies and taking medication to prevent convulsions. Its a very difficult thing, the mother said. I dont wish anyone to go through this situation. What is happening to this family is an absolute tragedy and it is something that is not isolated to just them, said Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is part of a pattern in practice that weve seen in the Trump administration, Garza said, adding that she has heard of multiple other cases concerning mixed-status families. But for now, this is the only case of this nature the organization has taken on. The Trump administrations border czar, Tom Homan, has said families can be deported together regardless of status. Homan said it would be up to the parents to decide whether to depart the U.S. together or leave their children behind. But undocumented parents of U.S.-born children, if picked up by immigration authorities, face the risk of losing custody of their children. Without a power-of-attorney document or a guardianship outlining who will take care of the children left behind, the children go into the U.S. foster care system, making it harder for the parents to regain custody of their children in the future. Immigration authorities removed four American children from Texas. The Texas Civil Rights Project blurred the photograph for safety purposes. According to the girl's mother, she recalled feeling like she could not do anything, she said in Spanish. Youre between a rock and a hard place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NBC News is withholding the name of the mother and the rest of the family members, since they were deported to an area in Mexico that is known for kidnapping U.S. citizens. In addition to the parents and their 10-year-old sick daughter, four of their other children, ages 15, 13, 8, and 6, were also in the car when they were detained. Four of the five children were born in the U.S. According to the mother, the family was taken to a detention center following the arrest, where the mom and daughters were separated from her husband and sons and she realized she wouldn't be taking her daughter to her doctors. The fear is horrible. I almost cant explain it, but its something frustrating, very tough, something you wouldnt wish on anyone, she said, adding that her sick daughter was laying on a cold floor beneath incandescent lights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours later, the family was placed in a van and dropped on the Mexico side of a Texas bridge, the mother said. From there, they sought refuge in a nearby shelter for a week. The family has since moved into a house, but the mom said that safety concerns keep them up at night and the children haven't been able to go to school. The 10-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son, who lives with a heart disorder known as Long QT syndrome, which causes irregular heartbeats and can be life-threatening if not treated well, have not received the health care they need in Mexico, their mother said. The teen wears a monitor that tracks his heart rate. The authorities have my childrens lives in their hands, she said in tears. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both parents arrived to the U.S. from Mexico in 2013 and settled in Texas hoping for a better life for the family, the mother said. She and her husband both worked a string of different jobs to support their six children. The couple also has a 17-year-old son they left behind in Texas following their deportation. Just two weeks ago, another undocumented mother in California caring for her 21-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen undergoing treatment for bone cancer, was detained by immigration authorities and later released under humanitarian parole. "We are calling on the government," Garza said, "to parole the family in, to correct the harm that they've made and to not do this to anyone else." CLARIFICATION (March 13, 2025, 4:45 P.M. ET): This story has been updated to better reflect the legal process of removal. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com (FOX40.COM) A 40-year-old and a 64-year-old were arrested for stealing a flatbed out of a garage with a U-Haul in Clarksburg, according to the Yolo County Sheriffs Office. The sheriffs office said suspicious activity was reported at a home Wednesday night, where a burglary had been reported earlier that day. Video Above: Property crime statistics Deputies found that the suspects entered the homes garage with a U-Haul truck, stole a flatbed trailer and left. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Witnesses were able to direct deputies in the direction the suspects were headed. Plumas County Sheriffs Office warns against tax season scams The suspects were stopped as they reached the Freeport Bridge at the Sacramento River and were arrested, the sheriffs office said. A 40-year-old and a 64-year-old, both from Sacramento, were arrested and booked into Yolo County jail. Authorities are working to identify a possible third suspect. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. Tel Aviv A United Nations report published Thursday accuses Israeli military forces of engaging in "sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians" in the war-torn Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since Hamas' terror attacks against Israel on October 7th, 2023. The U.N. Human Rights Council's report also claims Israel's troops have committed "genocidal acts" in the war against Hamas, which was sparked by the U.S. and Israeli designated terrorist group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. In making the latter claim, the council cited what it called the "systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities" including maternity wards and Gaza's primary in-vitro fertility clinic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement shared by his office, quickly and angrily refuted the report and attacked the council as an "anti-Semitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting and irrelevant body." Israeli soldiers are seen in the city of Tulkarem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, during a raid, Feb. 6, 2025. / Credit: WAHAJ BANI MOUFLEH/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty "The U.N. is once again choosing to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including unfounded accusations of sexual violence," the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It is one of the worst cases of blood libel the world has ever seen (and the world has seen many)," said Israel's Foreign Minister Oren Marmorstein in a post on social media. "It accuses the victims of the crimes committed against them." The explosive report was published just over a year after a U.N. expert on sexual violence published a paper accusing Hamas of similar actions, saying there were "reasonable grounds to believe" sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, had occurred at several locations during the Hamas-orchestrated Oct. 7 terrorist attack. That previous report, by the U.N. special envoy on sexual violence Pramila Patten, said there was also reason to believe sexual abuse of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza was "ongoing." U.N. experts interviewed dozens of witnesses and reviewed thousands of photos and 50 hours of video shot during the terrorist attack, but Patten said the team had been unable to meet with any survivors of sexual violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hamas rejected the allegations. Navi Pillay, who chairs the U.N. inquiry commission behind the report published Thursday, said it had gathered evidence that "reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence" by Israeli forces. "There is no escape from the conclusion that Israel has employed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorize them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination," Pillay said. The report documents a broad range of accusations against Israel's security forces, alleging crimes against Palestinian women and girls, but also men and boys in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.N. commission cites incidents of alleged forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment, rape and threats of rape and violence to the genitals, which it claims have become "standard operating procedures toward Palestinians" and are "committed either under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel's top civilian and military leadership." The commission's findings were published after two days of public hearings in Geneva that included testimony from purported victims, witnesses, medical staff, academics and lawyers. Trump reacts to European Union slapping tariffs on U.S. goods Kentucky bourbon maker says Trump tariffs immediately impacted his business Latest on missing American college student in the Dominican Republic SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) The United States Navy Concert Band will perform at Georgia Southern Universitys (GSU) Armstrong campus as part of a national tour. The show will be held on Saturday, March 29, and is part of a celebratory tour marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy and the centennial of the Navy Band. The Sea Chanters chorus and Cruisers music group will join them for this celebration. The Savannah State Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) will provide the color guard for the opening ceremonies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The show will feature a variety of musical selections including traditional wind band repertoire, Broadway showtunes, pop and patriotic favorites. The concert will take place in the Fine Arts Auditorium and will last from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Click here for tickets. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. March 13 (UPI) -- Iran is operating a ghost fleet to sell oil to China in violation of existing sanctions, which U.S. officials seek to stop with the help of new sanctions. The Department of State and Department of Treasury on Thursday announced sanctions against China, India and an Iranian minister and identified three vessels that now are blocked to stop the illegal flow of oil from Iran to Asia. "The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation's vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilizing activities and further its dangerous agenda," Bessent said. Bessent announced sanctions against China, India and Iran's Minister of Petroleum Mohsen Paknejad, who Bessent says oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil and allocated billions of dollars worth of oil to Iran's military forces for eventual export. A petroleum refinery operates off the coast of Iran in Persian Gulf waters (2011). The Department of State and Department of Treasury on Thursday announced sanctions against China, India and an Iranian minister and identified three vessels that now are blocked to stop the illegal flow of oil from Iran to Asia. File Photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI China and India also are sanctioned due to their ownership and operations of vessels that deliver the illicit Iranian oil to Chinese ports or lifted oil from storage facilities in Dalian, China. The sanctions are intended to halt the flow of oil from Iran to China and reduce funding for the Iranian military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian Law Enforcement Forces that oppress the Iranian people, Bessent said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iran allocates 200,000 barrels of crude oil to its armed forces every day to supplement their budget, according to the Treasury Department. The funds from the illicit trade of Iranian oil also support the activities of the designated foreign terrorists organizations of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. "The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East, advance its nuclear program and support its terrorists proxies," the U.S. Department of State says in a fact sheet published Thursday. "Iran's illicit oil trade fuels these destabilizing activities," the fact sheet says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iran uses a network of shipping providers in several global jurisdictions that use ghost ships, deception and obfuscation to load and transport Iranian oil for eventual sale in China and other Asian nations, according to the State Department. Iranian entities involved include the nation's Ministry of Petroleum, National Iranian Oil Company and National Iranian Tanker Company, which rely on ship-to-ship transfers of oil to third-country service providers to transport Iranian oil to Asian markets, State Department officials say. "These [ship-to-ship] transfers, frequently conducted while one or more vessels have disabled or manipulated their automatic identification system, also serve to disguise the Iranian origin of the cargo," the State Department fact sheet states. The ship-to-ship transfers occur outside of ports in Southeast Asia, which enables Iran to hide its illicit oil trade, according to the State Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials for the State and Treasury departments sanctioned Iran's Minister of Petroleum Mohsen Paknejad and several shipping entities that are enabling Iran's illicit oil trade. The three sanctioned shipping entities are Bintang Samudra Utama, which is headquartered in Central Jakarta, Indonesia; Shipload Maritime Pte Limited, which is based in Singapore; and Gianira Adhinusa Senatama, which is based in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia. The three vessels identified as blocked are the Celebes, Malili and Marina Vision, which enable the crude oil tankers Star Forest, which is registered in Hong Kong, and the Iranian-flagged Sobar to transfer Iranian oil for delivery to China. Thursday's actions by the Treasury and State departments are in line with other sanctions announced on Feb. 24 to curtail the illicit sale of Iranian oil to China and to cut off funding for Iran's terror proxies. URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) The University of Illinois Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) is officially shutting down after more than a decade. Its part of a larger federal push to dismantle the U.S Agency for International Development which has been funding the lab. The process leading to the labs upcoming closing started back in January. On Jan. 27, they got an Executive Order to cease normal operations, minimize costs, engage in no new programming and conduct no further business with clients and partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U of I student faces additional charge for pro-Palestine protest involvement Three days later, the university lost all access to SILs research accounts in Washington meaning there were no funds to pay expenses including salaries. That was when a closure plan was put in place. April 15 was chosen to be the labs last day. On Feb. 27, the lab got a termination notice that officially ended SIL. The letter said the USAID had done a review and found SIL was not aligned with the priorities of the U.S. government. SIL officials said they were never to provide materials for the USAID to review. Now, as the closure looms, 30 people face the reality of losing their job. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U of I professor reacts to Southwest Airlines ending Bags Fly Free policy [There were] a lot of tears, SIL Director and Principal Investigator Peter Goldsmith said. It was completely unexpected. I mean, we can all think personally what it would be like one day youre growing, the business, organization is growing things, are going great and literally the next day its over and youre on the street. SIL has been working to establish soybean production and use in Africa not only for their benefit, but for U.S. economic gain and potential trade opportunities. Goldsmith said that without the lab, that wont happen in Africa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) A University of Illinois student is now facing a lesser misdemeanor charge for her involvement in pro-Palestine protests on campus last April. 18-year-old Yafa Issa was initially charged with felony mob action. Back in January, her lawyer, Evan Bruno, filed a motion to dismiss, arguing it was unconstitutional. U of I professor reacts to Southwest Airlines ending Bags Fly Free policy Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A judge denied Brunos motion on Wednesday and found the states charge does not violate the constitution. Now, Issa is also charged with resisting a peace officer. Other student protestors are being threatened nationally, including a former student at Columbia University who was arrested this weekend. What the current administration is trying to do, is actually revoke legally protected status on the basis of support for an ideology that they dont agree with, Bruno said. The message that that sends is: conform your beliefs to what the administration believes in, keep your mouth shut, otherwise, at a minimum, youre going to be faced with a major, major hassle. In January, Champaign County States Attorney Julia Rietz said nine people were charged with felony mob action for their role in the on-campus protests. Two pleaded guilty to resisting a peace officer and one was dismissed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bruno said he could not discuss his strategy of fighting the charges Issa faces. While Wednesdays courtroom decision was not what he hoped for, Bruno did thank the judge for taking his motion to dismiss seriously. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) The University of California, San Diego is included in the U.S. Department of Educations list of 60 universities nationwide threatened with federal funding cuts. In a statement by the agency Monday, federal officials said the DOEs Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education, threatening them with potential actions if they fail to protect Jewish students on their campuses. The full list can be found on the DOEs website. San Diego FC will take more action against discriminatory fan chants Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year, said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. She added, University leaders must do better. UCSD joins ten other California schools on the list: California State University, Sacramento Chapman University Pomona College Santa Monica College Stanford University Union College University of California, Davis University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Berkeley University of Southern California Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This threat follows on the heels of mass layoffs gutting the Department of Education under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump and his administration have also vowed to cut federal funding from colleges that allow protests he deems illegal. All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came, the president wrote in a Truth Social post, though he did not specify an enforcement mechanism. Last spring, a group of protesters marched through the campus of UCSD and also set up what was referred to as the Gaza Solidarity encampment in support of Palestine. (Above: Demonstrations at UCSDs campus on May 2, 2024) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was just one of several other college campuses across the country staging similar actions in response to the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, many Jewish students and alumni expressed concerns that the anti-war demonstrations have turned into displays of antisemitism. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Reuters) - A Ugandan and United Nations judge was convicted in Britain on Thursday of forcing a young woman to work as a slave while she studied for a PhD at Oxford University. Lydia Mugambe was appointed in 2023 to be a judge of the U.N. International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, which performs functions of previous tribunals relating to war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Prosecutors said Mugambe, 49, used her status in the "most egregious way" by tricking a young Ugandan woman to come to Britain in 2022 to work as a maid without payment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Ms Mugambe used her knowledge and power to deceive (the woman) into coming to the UK, taking advantage of her naivety to deceive and induce her into working for her for nothing," prosecutor Caroline Haughey told jurors at Oxford Crown Court. Mugambe was charged under the UK's modern slavery act with conspiring with John Leonard Mugerwa, who was then Uganda's deputy high commissioner, to facilitate the commission of a breach of immigration law. Prosecutors said Mugambe and Mugerwa, who was not on trial, provided false information that the woman would work at the High Commission in order to bring her into the country. Mugambe was also charged with facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work and conspiracy to intimidate a witness, to which she pleaded not guilty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mugambe, who told the court she had never exploited the woman, was convicted of all four counts on Thursday. She will be sentenced at a later date. Uganda's High Commission in London and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Sam Tobin in London; editing by Michael Holden) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) University of Illinois Police have their hands on new technology, and they say it played a critical role in identifying and arresting a suspect they believe could be connected to a crime. There have been three separate sexual assaults both on and near campus over the last few weeks. One of them happened on March 1st. READ MORE: UIPD reminds students of resources after 3 sexual assaults within a month Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials are optimizing the way they look at data through a new software system. It helped them come up with a vehicle description. Then, last Thursday, campus police officers spotted the car and arrested Pedro Nolasco-Martin. U of I police arrest 18-year-old for sexually abusing woman New methods of data collection are helping U of I police with investigations. Its the Division of Public Safetys Real-Time Information Center. We used to take a bunch of separate technologies and bring them all into a single pane of glass, said UIPD Lieutenant Robert Benoit. Benoit said it streamlines the process of gathering information provided by multiple campus resources like license plate readers and campus surveillance, which is funneled through one unified system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If youre looking at numerous different areas where you have to go to, its very time-consuming and sometimes its tedious to get to, Benoit said. So this brings a lot of them onto the same screen where you dont have to go to all those separate sources to draw the same technology. Student sexually assaulted at fraternity over the weekend: U of I Public Safety Its already helped authorities arrest Pedro Nolasco-Martin in connection to the March 1st sexual assault off campus by providing information about his vehicle. He is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at an off-campus apartment after following her into the building. In this case, it was a lot of follow-up that was done by those folks that helped produce that information, Benoit said. But where were moving towards in the future is to be able to do a lot of this in real time based on information thats coming out associated with calls for service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Real-Time Information Center is just getting off the ground, and Benoit said its something theyll use to make campus and the community safer. We want to build this out, and we want to make it something that we can use to assist the community and be a resource for other departments as well, Benoit said. Police say the case is still under investigation. The Champaign County States Attorney has charged Nolasco-Martin with one count of criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault, and burglary. A U of I spokesperson also confirmed to WCIA that he is not a student at the university. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. London and Paris are leading discussions among 37 countries from Europe, Asia, and the Commonwealth on shielding Ukraine against any future Russian aggression in case of a peace settlement, Bloomberg reported on March 13, citing official sources. The "coalition of the willing," which would provide security guarantees to Kyiv by sending peacekeeping troops, aircraft, or other support, was first presented by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the London summit on March 2, which hosted leaders of European nations and Canada. Officials from Australia, Japan, and New Zealand joined a follow-up meeting in Paris on March 11, expanding the potential coalition beyond the confines of NATO and Europe, undisclosed sources told Bloomberg. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S., which seeks to scale back its involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war and ruled out deployment of its own peacekeepers in the country, was not part of the discussions. The Trump administration has adopted a more confrontational stance toward Kyiv and Europe while seeking a reset of relations with Moscow. Kyiv's partners nevertheless hope to form a unified strategy to present to U.S. President Donald Trump and persuade him to commit some form of security guarantees, such as airpower or intelligence support, Bloomberg wrote. The coalition aims to form a "reassurance force" as a key security guarantee for Ukraine. Members who are reluctant to send their own troops to Ukraine can instead deploy soldiers to neighboring countries or provide ships, aircraft, intelligence, tanks, or other support, according to the outlet. Further details are to be discussed during a follow-up meeting this weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia has repeatedly rejected any presence of NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal. Moscow has also been evasive on the issue of a 30-day ceasefire agreed upon between the U.S. and Ukraine. European countries have welcomed the proposed truce but stressed that security guarantees must be part of any stable peace deal. France, the U.K., and Germany also oppose Russia's efforts to demilitarize Ukraine, seeing the Ukrainian Armed Forces as the best possible security guarantee. Read also: There will still be war Ukraines soldiers on ceasefire proposal, Russia, and Putin Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- British officials have held private talks with their US counterparts in an attempt to resolve concerns that the UK is trying to force Apple Inc. to build a backdoor into Americans encrypted data, according to people familiar with the matter. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The high-level discussions took place after Apple removed its most advanced encrypted security feature for cloud data in the UK. That was a response to an order by British authorities in January asking the company to circumvent encryption to help them pursue certain national security and criminal investigations. US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard last month called for an inquiry into the matter, raising concerns about what she called a clear and egregious violation of Americans privacy and civil liberties. The suggestion of a backdoor into Apple users data would also open up a serious vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors, she warned. On Friday, Apples appeal against the UK order will be heard at a secret hearing at Londons High Court, the BBC reported. The hearing will be held in private because it relates to Britains security services. Apple didnt respond to a request for comment, and Gabbards office had no immediate comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Behind the scenes, conversations have taken place between senior UK and US officials, initiated by the British side in an attempt to resolve the dispute, according to people familiar with the matter. Part of the discussions aimed to correct what the British side said was a misinformed narrative alleging they were seeking wide-ranging powers to access peoples communications. The British officials stressed that they werent asking for blanket access to users personal data, and that they would only ever request data relating to the investigations of the most serious crimes, in particular terrorism and child sexual abuse. Separate warrants would have to be approved for each individual request, the people familiar with the matter said. They would be focused on criminals in the UK, not US residents, they added. The rights of American citizens were safeguarded in the UK-US Data Access Agreement signed in 2019, the people said. A UK Home Office representative said the agency doesnt comment on operational matters. The spokesperson added: More broadly, the UK has a longstanding position of protecting our citizens from the very worst crimes, such as child sex abuse and terrorism, at the same time as protecting peoples privacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joint cooperation between the UK and US on intelligence sharing was essential and would continue under the new US administration, a British official said. Apple has previously accused the UK government of unprecedented overreach and alleged that the UK could attempt to secretly veto new user protections globally preventing us from ever offering them to customers. The move to pull its encryption feature rather than complying and building a backdoor was seen as a clear rebuke of the governments order. As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will, Apple said last month. Human rights groups Liberty and Privacy International announced Thursday that they are seeking to join Apple in challenging the order at the hearing. Caroline Wilson Palow, legal director at Privacy International, said that the UKs action would undermine security for Apple users and the legal challenge aimed to shed a light on this deeply troubling power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People the world over rely on end-to-end encryption to protect themselves from harassment and oppression, she said. No country should have the power to undermine that protection for everyone. Separately on Thursday, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers called on the UK court that is overseeing the case to remove what they called a gag order. The order was violating the free speech rights of US companies and impairing Congress power and duty to conduct oversight on matters of national security, the lawmakers said. Given the significant technical complexity of this issue, as well as the important national security harms that will result from weakening cybersecurity defenses, it is imperative that the UKs technical demands of Apple and of any other US companies be subjected to robust, public analysis and debate by cybersecurity experts, wrote the lawmakers, including Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, and Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona. The UKs order asks Apple to provide access to user data under the Investigatory Powers Act, a law that granted officials the authority to compel companies to remove encryption under whats known as a technical capability notice. The power also makes it illegal for companies to reveal when the government has made such an order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Apple has long defended using encryption in its products, saying that its critical to shielding everyday citizens from unlawful surveillance, identity theft, fraud and data breaches. The technology also serves as an invaluable protection for journalists, human rights activists and diplomats who may be targeted by malicious actors, the Cupertino, California-based company has said. --With assistance from Natalia Drozdiak, Mark Gurman and Ryan Gallagher. (Updates with opposition groups starting in 13th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should not redefine terrorism in the wake of last summer's murders at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event but the government should consider a new law to tackle those bent on mass killings, the UK's terrorism watchdog said. Axel Radukabana, 18, stabbed to death three young girls and wounded 10 others last July in the northern English town of Southport, an act of violence Prime Minister Keir Starmer called one of the most harrowing moments in Britain's history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, his crime was not classed as terrorism as there was no evidence that he was inspired by any particular political or religious ideology, a necessary requirement, something which drew criticism from government opponents as he was also convicted of possessing the deadly poison ricin and an al Qaeda training manual. After Radukabana's jailing, Starmer himself said terrorism had changed, with some individuals fixated on extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake, and police and security services have warned of a growth in the number of would-be terrorists whose motivation was hard to determine. Classing an action as terrorism allows the authorities to use extra powers and gives judges the ability to impose harsher sentences. In a report into the Southport murders published on Thursday, Jonathan Hall, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, rejected changing the existing definition, saying "treating every violent eccentric as a potential terrorist would skew the threat level and divert resources". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said it would risk the prosecution of those who were "by no stretch of the imagination" terrorists and lead to unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression. "The risk of unintended consequences through rushed reform is extremely high," his report said. However Hall said there should be a new offence to address loners who planned to kill two or more people, with a penalty of life in prison, allowing the authorities to target those intent on mass killings, like Radukabana. Days of nationwide rioting followed the Southport attacks, fuelled by disinformation on social media, and later there were accusations from government critics of a cover-up because police had released few details about the suspect to prevent prejudicing a later trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hall said "near silence" was no longer an option and if the police did not take the lead with accurate information, others would fill the gap. "The disinformation generated on social media, combined with widespread allegations of a 'cover-up', risked far more prejudice to any trial than the placement of undisputed facts about the attacker in the public domain," he said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alison Williams) Ukraine has no more long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) in its arsenal, the Associated Press (AP) reported on May 12, citing unnamed U.S. and Ukrainian officials. The news comes as the U.S. resumes the flow of military aid to Kyiv after talks with Ukrainian delegates in Saudi Arabia on March 11. Washington suspended weapons shipments in early March. A U.S. official and Ukrainian lawmaker confirmed to the AP that Ukraine currently has no remaining ATACMS missiles. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to provide details on the status of the weapons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ATACMS are U.S.-supplied ballistic missiles can fly up to 300 kilometers (about 186 miles). Former U.S. President Joe Biden eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of ATACMS in November 2024, allowing Kyiv to launch them against military targets in Russia. The U.S. sent Ukraine less than 40 long-range ATACMS in total, the U.S. official told the AP. According to the official, Kyiv ran out of the missiles in January. The New York Times (NYT) reported in December 2024 that Kyiv was near the end of its supply of ATACMS and was limiting their use. Kyiv first began receiving older, shorter-range versions of ATACMS in fall of 2023. In the spring of 2024, the U.S. began shipping updated models with a range of up to 300 kilometers. At the time, Ukraine was only permitted to deploy these missiles against targets in occupied Ukrainian territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following Biden's change in policy which was accompanied by permission from the U.K. to attack Russia with British long-range Storm Shadows Ukraine launched a series of missile strikes against Russian airfields, military facilities, and weapons factories. U.S. President Donald Trump has previously said he disagreed "very vehemently" with the decision to permit Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russia with American weapons. Deliveries of U.S. weapons resumed this week after senior Ukrainian officials met with White House representatives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 11. Washington imposed a freeze on military aid following a heated exchange between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. At the conclusion of the Jeddah talks, Ukraine announced that military aid had resumed and agreed to accept Washington's proposal for an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, provided that Moscow abides by the terms of the ceasefire simultaneously. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: There will still be war Ukraines soldiers on ceasefire proposal, Russia, and Putin Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Associated Press has stated that Ukraine has likely run out of all long-range ATACMS ballistic missiles. Source: Associated Press, citing an American official and a Ukrainian MP who spoke on condition of anonymity Quote: "Officials acknowledged Wednesday that Kyiv no longer has any of the longer-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, missiles. According to a US official and a Ukrainian lawmaker on the countrys defence committee, Ukraine has run out of the ATACMs." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: The American official stated that the United States had provided Ukraine with fewer than 40 of these missiles in total and that they had run out in Ukraine by the end of January. "Senior US defence leaders, including the previous Pentagon chief, Lloyd Austin, had made it clear that only a limited number of the ATACMs would be delivered and that the US and NATO allies considered other weapons to be more valuable in the fight," AP reported. For ference: Depending on the modification, ATACMS can have a range of 140 to 300 kilometres. Background: On 17 November 2024, The New York Times reported that at that time US President Joe Biden had, for the first time, allowed the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On 19 November 2024, Forbes Ukraine reported that Ukraines defence forces had, for the first time, conducted a strike on Russian territory using US long-range ATACMS missiles. A few days later, on 25 November 2024, OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) analysts found that Ukraine had, for the first time, struck a military airfield in Russias Kursk Oblast with cluster warheads attached to US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles. The Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged that three ATACMS long-range missiles launched by Ukraine's Armed Forces on 23 and 25 November had reached their targets in Kursk Oblast. In December 2024, The New York Times, citing American officials, reported that Ukraine's stockpile of ATACMS missiles from the US might be running out, which is why Kyiv is limiting the use of these missiles. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! KYIV, Ukraine (AP) As momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia, Ukraine has all but lost a valuable bargaining chip. The Ukrainian army stunned Russia in August by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of land. It was a much-needed morale boost for Ukraine but more importantly, the country's leaders believed the capture of Russian territory might help in any future peace negotiations with its enemy. Now, after months of intense pressure from Russian forces supported by troops from North Korea, Ukraine only holds about 30% of the Russian land it had seized and its forces are in retreat after a rapid near-defeat in the city of Sudzha. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ukrainian army on Thursday was trying to quickly build up defensive lines near the border to prevent Russia from turning its assault on Sudzha into a launchpad for advancing into northeastern Ukraine. Politically speaking, the retreat from large parts of Russias Kursk region could be a moment of reckoning for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military advisers. The invasion of Kursk was intended to redirect Russian forces from inside Ukraine and the land gained was supposed to help Ukraine get back at least some of the 20% of its country taken by Russia since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 But many soldiers and commanders have long questioned whether it was worth diluting their forces available to defend Ukraine and those doubts only grew as the retreat from Kursk accelerated. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but that the details still need to be worked out. Putin made the remarks just hours after the arrival of President Donald Trumps envoy in Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The defeat in Sudzha caps months of struggle in Kursk Combat is ongoing in the periphery of Sudzha as some Ukrainian soldiers try to fight their way out of Russia's Kursk region back into the neighboring Sumy region of Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers and commanders fear that Russia's air superiority will enable them to wipe out the logistics routes vital to sustaining the soldiers who are still in Kursk. Russia has retaken control of about 70% of the territory Ukraine captured in the first weeks of its August incursion into Kursk, according to the Institute for the Study of War in Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To flee the Kursk region, Ukrainian soldiers must walk dozens of kilometers to get back into Ukraine, while avoiding Russian forces. Some soldiers are angry that commanders did not order them to withdraw weeks ago, when it would have been safer to do so. Ukrainian soldiers ask: Was the invasion of Kursk worth it? Some of Ukraine's military leaders believe the daring push into Russian territory was essential to preventing further Russian advances along the country's northeast. And, by degrading and redirecting Russian forces, it enabled Ukraine to push back the enemy in the east for the first time since a successful counteroffensive in 2022. Other military leaders say the Kursk offensive whose political aim appears to have ultimately failed cost Ukraine some of its best units and most precious weapons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the fall of Sudzha the largest settlement in Kursk they controlled, with a pre-war population of 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers are pessimistic about their ability to hold what land they have left in the Russian region. And they recognize the political stakes of the defeat. I understand that the (Russian) side is delaying (ceasefire negotiations) until they reclaim Kursk, and only then they will talk, said one Ukrainian commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But we already, to put it mildly, will not have any levers of influence to return any of our territory. The Associated Press interviewed five soldiers and commanders, all of whom spoke anonymously, citing legal repercussions for talking about sensitive military matters. Russia's use of North Korean soldiers changed the battlefield Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soldiers said their ability to hold Kursk began to deteriorate the moment soldiers from North Korea entered the battle late last year. As time went on, Pyongyangs troops only became more effective, Ukrainian soldiers said. When one Ukrainian drone operator spotted some 40 North Korean soldiers near a tree line a few weeks ago, he said he was amazed by the physical fitness of North Korean troops. Some were capable of quickly running long distances carrying heavy ammunition, he said. Ive never seen anything like that before, he said. Shortages of manpower, weaponry and ammunition also hampered Ukrainian soldiers, who said that they were outnumbered five to one, on average and ten to one in some areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last days in the battle for Sudzha Over the past three months, the Russians gradually wore down the Ukrainians. Under heavy air assault from the Russians, Ukrainian troops often had to carry on their backs for 20 or 30 kilometers (12 to 18 miles) reinforcements of ammunition, food and medical supplies. By the time they reach the positions, they are completely exhausted, a Ukrainian sergeant said. It is unclear how the recent U.S. pause in intelligence sharing influenced the battle for Kursk. Russian forces seized an estimated 166 square kilometers (64 square miles) in Kursk between March 7 and March 10, a period that the pause was in effect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also last week, several hundred Russian special forces launched a surprise attack from behind Ukraine's defensive lines after crawling 15 kilometers through a natural gas pipeline. And in another instance, Ukrainian soldiers that had been positioned to the northwest of Sudzha, in Lebedivka, simply abandoned their positions, according to a Ukrainian drone operator. Everyone was leaving randomly, he said, so he eventually left, too. A withdrawal that came too late Top army chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday he had ordered soldiers to withdraw to more advantageous positions in Kursk, saying preserving the lives of soldiers was his priority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But some soldiers said it should have happened sooner. One Ukrainian soldier said he and his comrades defied their company commander's orders, and made their own decision to retreat. Were sick and tired of sitting under fire all the time, said the soldier. Because all the main roads are being monitored by Russian drones, he said soldiers are withdrawing in small groups along tree lines to avoid detection. All the units that are left there, I dont know how they (the command) are going to get them out, because all supply chains have been disrupted, he said, referring to Sudzha and surrounding areas. The guys who came out said there were a lot of our dead bodies and a lot of burnt equipment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian forces are closing in on Ukrainian soldiers' escape routes from the north and south of Sudzha. Ukraine still controls a sliver of territory in Kursk along the border with Sumy. Soldiers said attention has shifted to building up defenses along the border to prevent a Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory. Trenches are quickly being dug, but it is not clear if they will be enough. It depends on the power we have, one commander said. ___ Associated Press journalist Hanna Arhirova contributed. Russian forces have recaptured Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine once occupied in the Kursk region, according to Moscow, threatening Kyivs sole territorial bargaining chip amid pressure to negotiate an end to the war. In the course of the offensive operations, units of the North military group liberated the settlements of Melovoy, Podol and Sudzha, the Russian defense ministry said Thursday. The US-based conflict monitor the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also said footage from the ground indicated that Russian forces had seized Sudzha and advanced to southern Zaoleshenka, a settlement just northwest of the town. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its recapture would represent a major symbolic victory for Russia. Although Sudzha is a small place, with a population of about 5,000 people before Ukraines incursion, it was one of the only key towns still held by Ukraine. It comes as US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow Thursday, a source familiar with the situation told CNN. Witkoff is expected to brief Russian officials on the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire covering the entire frontline, which Ukraine has already accepted. Speaking on the regular call with reporters Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed confidence that all parts of the Kursk region held by Ukraine will soon be liberated. President (Vladimir Putin) said that this needs to be done as quickly as possible. (It will take) as much time as is necessary to save the maximum number of lives of our military and civilians. But there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated fairly soon, Peskov said asked how long it might take to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin made a surprise visit to the Kursk region on Wednesday. Wearing military uniform in video broadcast by Russian state television, the Russian president told frontline troops that Moscows goal is to completely liberate Kursk as soon as possible, during his first trip to the western region since Ukraines unexpected incursion there last year. The carefully choreographed visit appeared designed to boost morale as Russian forces advance on the final remnants of Ukraines holdouts inside Russia. Putin delivered a speech to soldiers, in which he urged them to oust the remaining Ukrainian forces in the region and raised the possibility of creating a buffer zone along Russias border with Ukraine. In video broadcast by Russian state television, President Vladimir Putin told frontline troops that Moscows goal is to completely liberate Kursk as soon as possible. - Russian Presidential Press Service/AP Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk should be treated as terrorists, Putin added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. As well as capturing land that could potentially be swapped for Russian-occupied territory, the campaign aimed to divert Moscows resources from the frontlines in Ukraines east. But Kyiv has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days. On Wednesday, Ukraines top general Oleksandr Syrskyi hinted at further tactical retreats to more favorable positions, saying his priority was to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Russia had carried out airstrikes on its own land, including the town of Sudzha, which was almost completely destroyed, Syrskyi added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also told reporters on Wednesday: The Russians are clearly trying to put maximum pressure on our troops. The military command is doing what it has to do, saving as many lives as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russias top general Valery Gerasimov claimed Wednesday that Russian forces had recaptured more than 86% of the area taken by Ukraine, that 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner and the remaining Ukrainians were surrounded. CNNs Ivana Kottasova and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report. This story has been updated with additional developments. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Ukraine, among other things, assured the US during the meeting in Jeddah that it would not agree to abandon NATO membership as part of a potential "peace agreement". Source: European Pravda, citing a source involved in the negotiations Details: A source familiar with the negotiations told European Pravda that while the meeting did not aim to finalise a broad agreement, the Ukrainian side informed American partners about its "red lines". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We also discussed the NATO issue and made it clear that for Ukraine, it cannot be removed from the agenda," the source explained. The source stated that other key Ukrainian positions for future negotiations were also discussed. Quote: "For Ukraine, there are red lines including that there can be no restrictions on the size of the defence forces and no prohibitions on Ukraines participation in international organisations, including the EU and NATO. The issue of NATO also came up in remarks by [Head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office Andrii] Yermak, stressing that Russia must not have a veto right." Background: President Zelenskyy earlier explained why Ukraine agreed to the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in negotiations. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Ukraine has received the first tranche of 2.5 billion Canadian dollars (about $1.7 billion) from Ottawa under the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) initiative, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry announced on March 13. The ERA mechanism, totaling $50 billion, provides loans to Ukraine that will be repaid using future profits from frozen Russian assets. According to the ministry, Canada's contribution to the initiative is $3.5 billion, and the loan will be granted for 30 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Canada is a reliable and steadfast partner of Ukraine. I am grateful for the support of the ERA mechanism. It is a fair and necessary tool to hold Russia financially accountable for its crimes in Ukraine," Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, G7 countries have frozen approximately $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets. The ERA initiative, backed primarily by the U.S. and the EU, aims to use profits from these frozen assets to finance Ukraine's defense and reconstruction. In addition to the Canadian contribution, Kyiv received 752 million pounds ($970 million) as the first installment of the U.K.'s contribution to the G7 loan, as Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on March 7. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Finland announces $217 million military aid package for Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine has shipped another batch of humanitarian aid comprising 3,850 tonnes of flour as part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Grain from Ukraine programme. Source: Vitalii Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Quote from Vitalii Koval: "Another batch of humanitarian aid has arrived in Syria. Together with the UN World Food Programme, the flour will be distributed to local bakeries. In total, the Ukrainian flour will be enough to feed almost 60,000 people for six months." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: The minister recalled that Ukraine has previously delivered 500 tonnes of wheat flour to 33,250 families in Syria. Background: In January, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Agriculture Minister Vitalii Koval agreed to coordinate efforts to scale up the Grain from Ukraine programme and transform it into Food from Ukraine. Austria contributed 2 million to the Grain from Ukraine food programme. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The agreement between Ukraine and the United States does not provide for the transfer of subsoil use rights or any property rights. Source: Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice, in an interview with pravo.ua Quote from Stefanishyna: "If the discussion were about the use of Ukraine's subsoil or the right to Ukrainian subsoil, then, of course, this issue would not only involve ratification but, indeed, a referendum. We all know the constitutional truth that the subsoil belongs to the people of Ukraine." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Stefanishyna said that the agreement concerns the distribution of revenues to the state budget, part of which is generated in the Fund. After the signing of this agreement, no legal consequences will follow. Quote from Stefanishyna: "In other words, Ukraine does not incur obligations regarding the actual transfer of funds or their handover. Such obligations will only arise after the agreement on the creation of the Fund is concluded and all necessary procedures are completed so that the institution can begin operations once the agreement takes effect." Details: She noted that the agreement intends to outline in the future agreement a specific procedure for distributing revenues to the state budget. "The only thing related to Ukraine's subsoil is that the revenues to the state budget from subsoil use will be directed to the Fund and reinvested in the same sectors from which the funds are generated," Stefanishyna emphasised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: The previous subsoil agreement involved the creation of a commercial fund, in which the USA would have 100% control and Ukraine would allocate funds to it. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he does not intend to recognise an agreement under which Ukraine would owe the United States US$500 billion. He also stated that the mere presence of American businesses in Ukraine would not guarantee security. On 28 February, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump failed to sign a minerals deal. However, Ukraine expects to sign an agreement with the United States to create a joint investment fund, the signing of which was disrupted on 28 February. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Ukraine will never agree to a frozen conflict and any agreements such as the Minsk-3 format this position fully aligns with the United States. Source: Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, as reported by European Pravda Details: Yermak commented on the negotiations between the American and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia on Thursday 13 March, stating that Ukraine "will never agree to a frozen conflict". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "We are firmly against it, and our position fully aligns with that of our American partners they, too, oppose a frozen conflict. They also reject any so-called Minsk-3 agreements or similar deals like the Budapest Memorandum." More details: Yermak noted that these agreements had failed and "everyone understands this". He described the meeting in Saudi Arabia as "very successful" but stressed that this was only the beginning, with significant work ahead for Ukraine. Additionally, Yermak highlighted that a separate provision had been established during the meeting, ensuring that European representatives would participate in the peace process. Background: Following the meeting in Jeddah on 11 March, Ukraine agreed to immediately implement a 30-day ceasefire if Russia also takes the same step. On 13 March, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin claimed that he "agrees" with the US proposal to halt hostilities but insists it must "lead to long-term peace". "We agree with the proposal to end the hostilities. However, we believe that this ceasefire should lead to long-term peace and the elimination of the root causes of the conflict," Putin said. Trump, in turn, described Putins statement as "promising, but not complete". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Key developments on March 13: 'Russia needs war,' Zelensky says in response to Putin's preconditions for ceasefire Russia claims to retake Sudzha; Ukraine hasn't confirmed Ukrainian drones strike covert UAV plant in western Russia, sources claim Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant part of peace talks, Trump says Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks about a 30-day ceasefire indicate that he is preparing a rejection of the U.S. proposal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his evening address on March 13. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Putin is afraid to say directly to (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians. That's why they in Moscow demand such preconditions for a ceasefire that will make it impossible or will (postpone it) as long as possible," Zelensky said. Kyiv agreed to a temporary truce proposed by Washington during the talks in Jeddah on March 11, provided that Russia did as well. Days after, on March 13, Putin said he was ready to agree to the proposal but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it. Zelensky described Putin's response as "Russian manipulations." "Now we have all heard very predictable, very manipulative words from Putin in response to the idea of silence at the front he is in fact preparing to reject it as of now," Zelensky said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his response during a press conference on March 13, Putin mentioned the situation on the battlefield, claiming that a ceasefire would be beneficial to Ukraine now as Russia is advancing along the front line. He also raised the question of who would control the temporary truce along the more than 2,000-kilometer front line. The American side is ready to organize the oversight and verification of the temporary ceasefire, according to Zelensky. He also argued that a truce would make it possible to address all security issues and "put a plan to end the war on the table." "We do not set conditions that complicate anything. Russia does that," Zelensky said. "They need a war." Zelensky called for pressure on Putin by imposing sanctions on Russia. Previously, Trump warned that Moscow could face "devastating" financial consequences if it chooses to continue its all-out war against Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump said on March 13 that Putin's statement regarding the 30-day ceasefire was "very promising" but "wasnt complete," adding he is willing to meet with the Russian president. Read also: John Bolton on how Putin plays Trump and why separating Russia from China is almost impossible Russia claims to retake Sudzha; Ukraine hasn't confirmed Russian forces have retaken Sudzha, a key stronghold of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on March 13. The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the claim. As of late March 12, the Ukrainian military confirmed battles in the Sudzha area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukrainian troops captured Sudzha, a town with a pre-war population of 6,000 some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Ukraine's border, at the start of the Kursk incursion in August 2024. Military analysts from the DeepState monitoring group and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank have also reported that Russia has partially or fully seized Sudzha, as Ukraine is allegedly withdrawing from the town. Russia's Defense Ministry published a video of the ruined Sudzha after its reported recapture. The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the footage's veracity. "The Russian military almost entirely destroyed Sudzha with airstrikes," said Andrii Kovalenko, an official at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The town and its surroundings were destroyed, and few civilian buildings survived." The news comes at the heels of a rapid Russian advance in the border region that seemed to have greatly diminished the Ukrainian salient. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said on March 12 that Russia has retaken more than 86% of the territory in Kursk Oblast captured by Kyiv in mid-2024. The Russian Defense Ministry also reported capturing the settlements of Melovoi and Podol as of March 13. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the "difficult situation" in the region but said that Ukraine will hold the defenses "as long as reasonable and necessary." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Kyiv sees no surprises as Russia signals its rejection of US-backed ceasefire proposal Ukrainian drones strike covert UAV plant in western Russia, sources claim Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) drones attacked a camouflaged drone production facility in Russia's Kaluga Oblast late on March 12, HUR sources confirmed to the Kyiv Independent. Drone production lines were located on the grounds of an aerated concrete plant in the village of Obukhovo in Kaluga Oblast's Dzerzhinsky district, one of the sources claimed. The statement comes after Kaluga Oblast Governor Vladislav Shapsha said that 25 drones were downed over the region overnight, with drone wreckage setting fire to an unspecified industrial facility in Dzerzhinsky district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One employee suffered minor injuries, and the fire has been extinguished, according to Shapsha. Locals reported powerful explosions and a fire at the plant on social media. Drone debris also damaged a cell tower and a power line in the Khvastovichsky district, the southernmost part of Kaluga Oblast, Shapsha said. Russian air defenses downed 77 drones overnight, including 30 over Bryansk Oblast, six over Kursk and Voronezh oblasts each, and five over Rostov and Belgorod oblasts each, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed. An unspecified infrastructure facility was also damaged on the evening of March 12 in Voronezh Oblast, a region bordering Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, Governor Alexander Gusev said on his Telegram channel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The targeted facility was part of the region's gas infrastructure, the Baza Telegram channel reported, citing residents. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Airports in Penza, Saratov, and Volgograd imposed temporary flight restrictions overnight, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency announced. Read also: China is more likely than the EU to replace Starlink on the Ukrainian battlefield Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant part of peace talks, Trump says Washington has discussed with Ukraine the control of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as part of a potential peace deal, U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 13. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said that Ukraine and the U.S. had discussed a lot of details of the final deal, including "concepts of land." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost and all of the other elements of a final agreement," Trump said. "There's a power plant involved, a very big power plant involved. Who is going to get the power plant, and who is going to get this and that, and so you know it's not an easy process. But phase one is the ceasefire," he added. The largest nuclear plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar, has been under Russian occupation since 2022. While the facility remains under Russian control, it is not currently generating electricity. Note from the author: Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community. Read also: Putin has likely rejected Trumps ceasefire proposal what now? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian positions 84 times on 10 fronts since the beginning of the day on 13 March. The Pokrovsk front is seeing the fiercest fighting. Hostilities are also raging in Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian troops have repelled five Russian attacks, and four are still ongoing. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 16:00 on 13 March Details: On the Kharkiv front, Russian troops attacked Ukrainian positions three times near the settlements of Vovchansk and Doroshivka. One combat clash continues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the Kupiansk front, Russian forces mounted two attacks on Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Holubivka and Bohuslavka, with one combat clash still in progress. On the Lyman front, Ukrainian troops repelled five Russian attacks near the settlement of Yampolivka and two more assaults near the settlements of Zelena Dolyna, Nove and Novomykhailivka. On the Siversk front, three combat clashes were recorded and two clashes are still ongoing near the settlement of Verkhnokamianske. On the Kramatorsk front, one Russian attack is currently taking place. Russian troops are attacking Ukrainian positions near the town of Chasiv Yar. Ukrainian defenders are resisting fiercely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the Toretsk front, Russian troops conducted 11 assaults on Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Toretsk and Druzhba. Three combat clashes are still ongoing. The Pokrovsk front is witnessing the fiercest fighting today. Since the start of the day, Russian forces have launched 32 attacks on Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Yelyzavetivka, Promin, Lysivka, Kotlyne, Udachne, Uspenivka, Novooleksandrivka, Novoserhiivka, Kotliarivka, Oleksiivka and Andriivka. Ukrainian troops have repelled 25 of these attacks, with seven combat clashes still ongoing. Russian warplanes also targeted the city of Pokrovsk with guided aerial bombs. On the Novopavlivka front, Russian troops attacked Ukrainian positions near the town of Kostiantynopil three times. Ukrainian defenders have repelled two Russian attacks and one combat clash is ongoing. On the Huliaipole front, Ukrainian defenders repelled four Russian attacks near the settlements of Novopil and Novosilka and another combat clash is ongoing. The Russians targeted the settlements of Novopil, Zaliznychne and Huliaipole with rockets. The Russians also dropped guided aerial bombs near the settlements of Shevchenko and Vilne Pole. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the Orikhiv front, the Russians, supported by attack aircraft, are storming Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Stepove, Pyatikhatky, Kamianske and Novoandriivka. At present, one Russian attack has been repelled and seven more are ongoing. On the Prydniprovske front, Russian soldiers conducted no active offensive operations today. On the Kursk front, based on the information available at the moment, Ukrainian defenders repelled five Russian attacks and four more clashes are ongoing. In addition, the Russians carried out 18 airstrikes, dropping 27 guided aerial bombs, and mounted 106 artillery bombardments, including one from multiple-launch rocket systems. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Ukrainian marines from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynsky have destroyed Russian and North Korean assault groups on quad bikes in the border area of Sumy Oblast. Source: video from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade; Ukrainska Pravda source in the brigade Details: The source said the video released by the brigade shows a Russian assault in the section from Sverdlikovo (Kursk Oblast, Russia) to Novenke (Sumy Oblast, Ukraine) being repelled. - 36 pic.twitter.com/tI9otGlMzp (@ukrpravda_news) March 13, 2025 During that day, Russian troops suffered personnel losses: 8 killed and 26 wounded. The marines also destroyed seven Russian ATVs. Background: On 12 March, Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraines State Border Guard Service, reported that Russian troops continued their assault operations in Sumy Oblast in an attempt to push Ukrainian forces out of Russias Kursk Oblast, but they failed to achieve success. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that Ukraines defence forces will maintain their positions in Russias Kursk Oblast "for as long as it remains reasonable and necessary". He noted that Ukrainian troops manoeuvre to more advantageous positions if their lives are at risk. Syrskyi added that the Russians were deploying airborne assault and special operations forces in an attempt to breach Ukrainian defences, push the Armed Forces of Ukraine out of Kursk Oblast, and push the fighting to Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The prominent companies within Belgium's defence industry are forging closer ties with Ukrainian counterparts and advancing efforts to establish joint production. Source: Luc Jacobs, Belgium's Ambassador to Ukraine, in an interview with the Ukrinform news agency Quote from Jacobs: "Belgium has an important defence industry, and representatives and leading companies the flagships of a Belgian defence industry are coming to Ukraine and making contracts with their counterparts, and already in some instances, they are already at a well-advanced stage of preparing co-production agreements." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: He pointed out that, in some cases, the focus is on establishing joint ventures "with a longer time horizon than the war". Jacobs added that the Ukrainian defence industry has proven its resilience and ability to develop advanced technologies and be a valuable partner for Belgium. Background: It has been revealed that Belgium has taken patronage over the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, as well as the city of Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, and plans to allocate 150 million for the recovery of social and energy infrastructure. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! SHELBURNE, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) Vermont Stands with Ukraine will hold a benefit concert March 22 to raise funds to support a family of Ukrainian musicians that performs on frontlines of the countrys war with Russia. The concert at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne will feature Jurji Fedynskyj, a Kobzar performer who has performed more than 600 concerts in Ukraine and the West. His group, Kobzar Armada, which includes Fedynskyjs wife and children, play traditional instruments and songs from the country. Fedynskyj will also narrate stories and share updates on the war. All proceeds will go towards expenses for the Fedynskyj family and to send the Kobzar Armada to the frontlines in Ukraine. The tour also supports the Kobzar Guild, an organization of kobzars that has become a force in contemporary Ukrainian culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The goal of this tour is to unite Ukraine and America as defenders of the free world, Fedynskyj. The war in Ukraine has recently entered a new phase, full of uncertainties for both Ukraine and the United States alike. Enemies of the free world are working hard to divide us. In a release, Vermont Stands with Ukraine Co-founder Jeanette Bacevius said that she invites the entire community to join us for an unforgettable evening of Ukrainian music, song, and history, and to demonstrate Ukrainian and American unity and solidarity. All Souls Interfaith Gathering is at 291 Bostwick Farm Road. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the concert begins at 6:00 p.m. This performance is free to attend. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Ukraine attacked six Russian regions with close to 80 drones overnight on March 13, with fires reported at an infrastructure site in Voronezh Oblast and an industrial plant in Kaluga Oblast, according to Russian authorities. Kyiv has carried out regular long-range drone strikes against military and industrial facilities in Russia's rear, seeking to undermine its ability to wage its all-out war. Russian air defenses downed 77 drones overnight, including 30 over Bryansk Oblast, 25 over Kaluga Oblast, six over Kursk and Voronezh oblasts each, and five over Rostov and Belgorod oblasts each, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Drone wreckage set fire to a building of an industrial enterprise in Dzerzhinsky district in the northern part of Kaluga Oblast, Governor Vladislav Shapsha said. The fire has been extinguished, but one employee received a minor injury, the governor claimed. Drone debris also reportedly damaged a cell tower and a power line in the Khvastovichsky district, the southernmost part of Kaluga Oblast. Kaluga Oblast lies in the western part of Russia, bordering Moscow Oblast from the west. An unspecified infrastructure facility was damaged in the evening of March 12 in Voronezh Oblast, a region bordering Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, Governor Alexander Gusev said on his Telegram channel. No casualties were reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The targeted facility was part of the region's gas infrastructure, the Baza Telegram channel reported, citing residents. A fallen drone also started a fire in the village of Kalininsky in Rostov Oblast, but the nearby industrial facility was not damaged, according to Governor Yuri Slyusar. Airports in Penza, Saratov, and Volgograd imposed temporary flight restrictions overnight, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency announced. The full extent of possible damage is being determined. The Ukrainian military has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified. The strikes come only two days after Ukraine launched what appears to be its largest drone strike against Russia, deploying over 330 drones across 10 different regions to attack oil facilities and other strategic sites. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Ukraine struggles to hold on in Kursk Oblast as Russia strikes back before peace talks Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian military intelligence drones (HUR) attacked a camouflaged drone production facility in Kaluga Oblast late on March 12, HUR sources confirmed for the Kyiv Independent. Drone production lines were located on the grounds of an aerated concrete plant in the village of Obukhovo in Kaluga Oblast's Dzerzhinsky district, one of the sources claimed. Kyiv has carried out regular long-range drone strikes against military and industrial facilities in Russia's rear, seeking to undermine its ability to wage its all-out war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The statement comes after Kaluga Oblast Governor Vladislav Shapsha said that 25 drones were downed over the region overnight, with drone wreckage setting fire to an unspecified industrial facility in Dzerzhinsky district. One employee suffered minor injuries, and the fire has been extinguished, according to Shapsha. Locals reported powerful explosions and a fire at the plant on social media. Drone debris also damaged a cell tower and a power line in the Khvastovichsky district, the southernmost part of Kaluga Oblast, Shapsha said. Russian air defenses downed 77 drones overnight, including 30 over Bryansk Oblast, six over Kursk and Voronezh oblasts each, and five over Rostov and Belgorod oblasts each, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An unspecified infrastructure facility was also damaged on the evening of March 12 in Voronezh Oblast, a region bordering Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, Governor Alexander Gusev said on his Telegram channel. The targeted facility was part of the region's gas infrastructure, the Baza Telegram channel reported, citing residents. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Airports in Penza, Saratov, and Volgograd imposed temporary flight restrictions overnight, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency announced. 0:00 / 1 Read also: Russia claims to retake Sudzha; Ukraine hasnt confirmed Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Mar. 13Amid the ongoing horrors of the Russia-Ukraine war and the response by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Ukrainian folk vocal group YAGODY have emerged as powerful voices of resilience and hope. Zoryana Dybovska, who founded YAGODY in 2016, said through a translator, "Our music is more than just a sound. It is the voice of Ukrainian culture that resonates against all odds." "Music is a powerful cultural tool," she said. "It is an opportunity to reveal pain, exposing a raw nerve. It is a way of saying, 'I am not your enemy; this is who I am.' It has the power to unite, open hearts and change worldviews." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of its first-ever North American tour, YAGODY is making five stops in New Mexico this month, so there are multiple opportunities to experience the group's beautiful, hypnotic and soul-stirring music in person. They are performing at Western New Mexico University in Silver City on Thursday, March 27, New Mexico Tech in Socorro on Friday, March 28, Unit B in Santa Fe on Saturday, March 29, Daleee at The Solar Center in Taos on Sunday, March 30 and Fusion in Albuquerque on Monday, March 31. Dybovska believes Ukraine has more folk songs than any other nation over 200,000 and they are part of the fabric of everyday life. "Most of our repertoire is songs that our mothers and grandmothers used to sing to us," she said. "We don't look for them on folklore expeditions but bring the living heritage of our culture to the stage." "At the same time, thanks to the national selection for Eurovision (in 2024), our repertoire has added original compositions. (This was one of the conditions of the competition). It's an interesting experience, because when you are deeply immersed in a folk song, it's sometimes difficult to distinguish between authentic folklore and a modern author's lyrics. For example, our songwriter Victoria Solovyuk, while working on the song 'Tsunamia,' researched ancient rituals and pagan Ukrainian sayings used by our ancestors and Hutsul molfars (magicians) to cast spells for healing water and revenge on the enemy," Dybovska said. "So, given that the Christianization of Kyivan Rus was in 988, you can imagine how far back in history and tradition we are!" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Ukrainian song is our genetic code, which wars, colonization and censorship tried to destroy, but it is thanks to music that we have preserved what is the foundation of our nation," she said. Even while plumbing the depths of their ancestral traditions, Dybovska said YAGODY also "likes to experiment." "Rap, rock and electronica coexist quite organically in our repertoire. And now we are preparing ethno-drum and bass," she said. "So if you think that folk music is something static, get ready to change your mind." Before heading out on tour, YAGODY is debuting a new song, "BramaYa," which they call "a defiant anthem of perseverance, freedom and unbreakable spirit." They are submitting it to the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest to help spread their message to a global audience. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Ukrainian music today is the voice of resistance, the voice of a nation fighting for its freedom," Dybovska said. "The songs born in this terrible time become not only the soundtrack of grief and struggle, but also a way to preserve our history and convey our truth to the world." In the past, YAGODY has performed across Europe, and in 2024 the group joined the Ukrainian Institute on a diplomatic visit to South Africa, performing at the Free the Children concert. "We spoke about the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children during the Free the Children concert ...," Dybovska said. Over 19,000 children are thought to have been taken away by Russia, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Their fates are unknown, and only a little over 750 children have been returned." While their South African concert had a serious focus, the members of YAGODY also enjoyed meeting their Zulu musical counterparts and learning about South African instruments like the kalimba. Likewise, Dybovska said she is looking forward to touring the United States, despite the anti-Ukrainian comments being made by some U.S. political leaders. "We are immensely grateful to the American people, who have stood by our side in the fight for truth since the first day of the great war, Feb. 24, 2022. We feel your support and appreciate it," Dybovska said. "But it is important to remember that this is not just another geopolitical conflict. The stakes are much higher the future of global democracy and justice is at stake." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For those who want to do more, Dybovska said, "Please support Ukraine with your words and actions: fly blue and yellow flags, come to rallies, help Ukrainian families and look for truthful news. Donate to medical aid, humanitarian demining and reconstruction through the United24 fundraising platform." "And if you have the opportunity and the courage, come to ancient Lviv, modern Kyiv or colorful Odesa. Ukraine is still standing, our cities continue to live. Yes, we all have the Air Alert app on our phones. Yes, each of us has someone close to us serving in the army. Yes, after nightly shelling, you can see traces of a heavy sleepless night on your face. But every day our bakeries bake fresh bread, we renovate our apartments, we donate every day and make plans for the summer because we know we have no right to give up." A new video has appeared on social media showing Russians allegedly executing five unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war. Source: Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets Quote from Lubinets: "The released video shows at least five prisoners of war that had been allegedly executed. Once again, we see a cynical disregard for international humanitarian law on the part of the Russian army." Details: The Commissioner wrote that he has already sent a letter to the UN and the International Red Cross to ensure that this latest war crime by the Russians is recorded. Background: On 14 October, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) pointed to an increase in executions of Ukrainian POWs, which are condoned and encouraged by Russian commanders. On 15 October, Ukraines Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said that the number of executions of Ukrainian POWs by the Russian army increased in 2024. Torture and summary executions are used as a weapon of war, intimidation and destruction. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The Ukrainian military provided medical assistance to a Russian boy who was injured in a Russian attack on Kursk Oblast. Source: press service of 95th Separate Polesian Air Assault Brigade Details: The child's limb was amputated, and he suffered an open head injury, noted Maksym Morozko, a medical service captain. A projectile fragment had been lodged in his head. Quote from Maksym Morozko: "Our guys, who provided assistance and extracted this injured family out of the destroyed house, put a tourniquet and a bandage on the child and did everything they were trained to do. I called up my team and warned the surgeons, we got ready and waited for the injured child to arrive. After about 40 minutes, two evacuation vehicles brought him to the first-aid post." The child's limb was amputated, and a projectile fragment had been lodged in his head. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Photo: Screenshot/YouTube 95th Separate Polesian Air Assault Brigade Adriana, a paramedic at the medical service, said the boy was scared and did not want to answer the doctors' questions. "I tried to calm him down. But since I spoke to him in Ukrainian, it scared him even more. So, he did not want to answer questions. His mother also did not want to talk to us. Later, when we needed minimal information, she said he was 11 years old," the servicewoman said. After first aid was provided, the boy and his mother, who was also injured in the attack, were taken to hospitals. Doctors report that she did not ask where her son was sent and was more concerned about her condition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, the distrust and reluctance to talk did not affect the decision of the military medics to provide the victims with the necessary assistance. Quote from Maksym Morozko: "I didn't even think that it was a Russian child. A child is a child. If they are injured, we need to help no matter what: neither skin colour nor the attitude towards us that their parents or the authorities have created." Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! A U.S.-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire proposal has put the notion of a negotiated end to the three-year war on the agenda, and in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But even before Moscow responds, its pretty clear where the parties stand. Breaking a prior taboo against negotiations involving territorial concessions, the U.S. has suggested Ukraine must cede land in any permanent deal, whereas President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated repeatedly that he will never yield sovereignty over Ukraines territory. Meanwhile, Russia has demanded that Ukraine renounce its aspiration to join NATO and accept restrictions on its military. But at present, Kyiv looks unlikely to gain the security guarantees it seeks from the U.S. before contemplating such terms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What is talked about less is what the Ukrainian people are willing to accept for peace. And while any armistice will likely be dictated by guns, territorial gains and great power geopolitics, it will be in large part down to ordinary Ukrainians to shape what happens afterward. An ugly peace may be accepted by a war-weary population. But if it has little local legitimacy and support, peace is likely to be unsustainable in the long run. We have tracked public opinion in Ukraine from before the war and during the course of the conflict. It is an imperfect exercise; most polling in wartime Ukraine is by mobile phone and depends upon those with service who are willing to participate. Many people, especially in the countrys south and east, do not want to answer sensitive questions out of concern for themselves and relatives, some in occupied territories and Russia. Those who do respond may give guarded responses. Some are mindful of wartime censorship, while others are patriotic or wish to present themselves as such to the stranger calling them. Meanwhile, many other Ukrainians are overseas and excluded. Similarly, those in Russian-occupied territories are left out of surveys. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nonetheless, the responses still give insights into how opinions in Ukraine have evolved since the Russian invasion of February 2022. Here are five important findings from relatively recent public opinion polls that are relevant to any forthcoming peace negotiations. 1. Nearly all Ukrainians are stressed and tired of war Unsurprisingly, three years of a brutal war of aggression has created tremendous stress among a population increasingly weary of war. A December 2024 poll from the respected Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, or KIIS found that nearly 9 in 10 Ukrainians experienced at least one stressful situation in the previous year. Large shares reported stressful experiences related to bombing and shelling (39%), separation from family members (30%), surviving the death of loves ones (26%) and the illness of loved ones (23%). Only 10% said theyd experienced no stressful situations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a related vein, surveys we have conducted showed that by summer 2024, 84% of the population had experienced violence in some form be that physical injury at the hands of Russian forces, displacement, loss of family member and friends, or witnessing attacks. And consistent with a growing number of news reports, we found that Ukrainians were deeply worried about war weariness among their fellow Ukrainians just 10% reported that they did not worry about war fatigue at all. 2. More Ukrainians want negotiations, but there are red lines As the war has gone on, several polls show that Ukrainians increasingly support negotiations. The share of the population in favor of negotiations varies depending on how the question is posed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When given the choice between two options, a Gallup Poll from late 2024 showed that 52% preferred that Ukraine should seek to negotiate an ending to the war as soon as possible, whereas 38% preferred that Ukraine should continue fighting until it wins the war. Our earlier surveys from 2022 and 2024 similarly show a growing preference for negotiations, though at a lower level from 11% in 2022 to 31% in 2024. In contrast to the binary Gallup question, our surveys presented respondents with different territorial compromises for a ceasefire. While about one-third wanted an immediate ceasefire, half wanted to continue fighting until all territories, including the predominately Russian-speaking Donbas region and Crimea, are brought back under Kyivs control. But survey responses make clear that the countrys political independence is a red line for the public even if defending it comes at a very high cost. 3. Ukrainians are more open to territorial concessions In tandem with growing support for negotiations, our surveys in line with KIISs own polls show growing willingness to cede territory. And among those most worried about war fatigue and more pessimistic about continued Western support, the willingness to cede territory is higher. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That said, most Ukrainians still want Ukraine to continue fighting until the countrys territorial integrity is restored and under Kyivs control, including Crimea. But that majority has diminished since the beginning of the war from 71% in 2022 to 51% in 2024. When we asked in July 2024 whether people agreed with the statement: Russia should be allowed to control the territory it has occupied since 2022, 90% disagreed. As such, there is very little evidence that Russias territorial annexations or an agreement recognizing these, which is what Russia wants will have any legitimacy among Ukraines population. The very latest polling data, gathered after Trumps tilt toward Russias view of the war, reveals only a 1% shift in sentiment: 50% still say that under no circumstances should Ukraine give up any of its territories, even if it means a longer war. 4. Ukrainians see Russias war goals in existential terms Neither Zelenskyy nor most Ukrainians trust Putin hence theres a strong preference for any agreement being accompanied by security guarantees from NATO states. Many Ukrainians share their leaders distrust of Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Novikov/AFP via Getty Images Poll findings in the past month from KIIS reveal that 66% of Ukrainians interpret Russias war aims as an existential threat, comprising genocide against Ukrainians and destruction of its independent statehood. And 87% believe Russia will not stop at the territories it already occupies. Negotiating with an enemy bent on Ukraines destruction appears delusional to many Ukrainians. 5. Zelenskyy remains popular; his endorsement matters As a defiant wartime leader, President Zelenskyys popularity was very high in the immediate months after the invasion. Indeed, KIIS polls from May 2022 show that 90% of the population expressed trust in him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This has declined as the war has endured, but it has always remained above 50%. Recent polling measuring his approval puts it at 63%, an increase from 2024. Indeed, the very latest KIIS polls, from February through March of this year, show a 10-point jump in his trust rating to 67%, a finding widely viewed as rallying in the face of U.S. criticism. Thus Zelenskyys endorsement of any ceasefire and settlement will matter, though ceding territory is likely to be hazardous for him politically. National security adviser Mike Waltz, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and U.S. and Ukrainian delegates meet in Saudi Arabia on March 11, 2025. Salah Malkawi/Getty Images Conditions for a lasting peace While the U.S.-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire has put the ball in Russias court, it is unclear whether it will be enough to bring Putin to the table. And even if it does, given past precedent it is difficult to see him arriving as a compromiser rather than a conqueror. What does appear clear is that whatever peace emerges looks set to hang more on Ukraine making concessions and accepting losses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Such a peace can be negotiated behind closed doors. But without public acceptance in Ukraine, whether it endures on the ground is another matter. This article was updated on March 14, 2025 to include new polling data. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech; John OLoughlin, University of Colorado Boulder, and Kristin M Bakke, UCL Read more: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gerard Toal received funding from the US National Science Foundation to support research on public opinion in Ukraine. John OLoughlin receives current funding from the US National Science Foundation. Kristin M. Bakke has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) and the Research Council of Norway. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Dhaka on Thursday for a four-day visit aimed at discussing solutions to the Rohingya crisis with Bangladeshi officials. Guterres was welcomed at Dhaka airport in the evening by the Bangladeshi government's foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain. During his stay, Guterres is scheduled to meet Bangladesh's interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, as well as senior diplomats and civil society representatives, an official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of his visit, the UN chief is expected to travel on Friday to Cox's Bazar, a south-eastern district that currently hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees, who live in overcrowded camps after escaping violence in neighbouring Myanmar. Guterres, along with Yunus, is set to meet some of the refugees and participate in an iftar, the evening meal that breaks Muslims' fast during the month of Ramadan, along with approximately 100,000 Rohingya Muslims, according to Shafiqul Alam, an official from the chief adviser's press wing. The visit underscores the urgency of addressing the plight of Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar, Alam told reporters on Wednesday. "We firmly believe it will help bring international attention to the Rohingya crisis and strengthen efforts for a resolution," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guterres' visit comes at a time when humanitarian aid for the Rohingya population has declined significantly. Bangladesh hosts around 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, including more than 750,000 who crossed the border following a military crackdown in Myanmar in August 2017. Students at Paola Primary School in southeastern Malta were captivated by an array of Chinese cultural activities during the school's multicultural event on Wednesday. The festivities included lion dances, Tai Chi performances, folk dances, and traditional Chinese food tastings. Enthusiastic students joined in the performances, while teachers and parents recorded the lively moments on their mobile phones. The Chinese cultural booth, organized collaboratively by the Chinese Embassy in Malta, the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta, and the 20th Chinese medical team from the Mediterranean Regional Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine (MRCTCM), showcased porcelain tea sets, Peking Opera masks, Chinese brushes, and an assortment of traditional Chinese foods. Nine-year-old students Adelyn Fenech and Miryanna Cassar expressed their excitement after the performances, sharing their aspirations to learn Chinese and visit China in the future. Alexandra Vella, head of Paola Primary School, emphasized the importance of cultural education, saying, "It is very important that our students, as part of their education, learn about different cultures. Chinese culture is very rich." She hopes for more opportunities for students to experience Chinese culture on campus in the future. Teacher Isabelle Marmara Gafa noted that such cultural activities help students gain a basic understanding of China and Chinese traditions, broadening their horizons. On the same day, Junior College-University of Malta hosted an event dedicated to making tangyuan, or glutinous rice dumplings. Wang Weili, a teacher from the Confucius Institute, introduced the Chinese Lantern Festival and the traditional food tangyuan. Subsequently, Wan Daguo, a member of the 20th Chinese medical team for Malta, guided students in making the dumplings. Martina Salerno, a student at Junior College, appreciated the hands-on experience, saying, "It's a very good opportunity because we don't just get to eat food, we also learn how it's made and the culture behind it." Salerno, who began studying Chinese in October last year, plans to pursue Chinese as her major at the University of Malta. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Dhaka on Thursday for a four-day visit aimed at discussing solutions to the Rohingya crisis with Bangladeshi officials. Guterres was welcomed at Dhaka airport in the evening by the Bangladeshi government's foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain. During his stay, Guterres is scheduled to meet Bangladesh's interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, as well as senior diplomats and civil society representatives, an official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of his visit, the UN chief is expected to travel on Friday to Cox's Bazar, a south-eastern district that currently hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees, who live in overcrowded camps after escaping violence in neighbouring Myanmar. Guterres, along with Yunus, is set to meet some of the refugees and participate in an iftar, the evening meal that breaks Muslims' fast during the month of Ramadan, along with approximately 100,000 Rohingya Muslims, according to Shafiqul Alam, an official from the chief adviser's press wing. The visit underscores the urgency of addressing the plight of Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar, Alam told reporters on Wednesday. "We firmly believe it will help bring international attention to the Rohingya crisis and strengthen efforts for a resolution," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guterres' visit comes at a time when humanitarian aid for the Rohingya population has declined significantly. The World Food Programme (WFP), the UN's food assistance wing, recently issued a warning about severe funding shortages, which are putting food aid for the refugees at risk. Without immediate financial support, monthly rations will be cut in half from $12.50 to just $6 per person, as the refugees prepare to observe the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, the agency said in a statement earlier this month. The WFP said it urgently needs $15 million to maintain full rations for April and $81 million to sustain operations through the end of 2025. Bangladesh hosts around 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, including more than 750,000 who crossed the border following a military crackdown in Myanmar in August 2017. A United Nations commission of experts has accused Israel of committing serious human rights violations, including the use of sexual violence as a means of oppressing and controlling the Palestinian population. Israel firmly rejects the allegations, calling the commission biased and accusing it of applying different standards for Israel than to other parties. The report issued on Thursday said sexual and gender-based violence "has risen in frequency and severity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It documents cases of sexual assault and rape, as well as instances where individuals were forced to undress in public. These acts were said to have been carried out either on direct orders or with the tacit approval of military and civilian leadership. In the Gaza Strip, health centres were systematically destroyed by Israeli forces, and the import of medicines and essential supplies for pregnant women and newborns was blocked: As a result, women and children died from preventable complications, the expert report said. The commission argues that these actions constitute crimes against humanity and that the prevention of births meets the criteria for genocide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the allegations Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The anti-Israeli circus called the UN 'Human Rights Council' has long been exposed as an anti-Semitic, corrupt, terror-supporting, and irrelevant body," he said in a statement. "Instead of focusing on the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organization in the most severe massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the UN once again chooses to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including unfounded allegations of sexual violence." Commission: Violence used to terrorize Palestinians "The evidence collected by the commission reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence," said Navi Pillay, chair of Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no escape from the conclusion that Israel has employed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorize them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination." The commission conducted interviews with victims and witnesses and analysed photographic and video evidence. Its findings cover events in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched a large-scale attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and abducting around 250 to Gaza. The commission previously released a report in June 2024 detailing acts of violence and torture committed during the attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the commission, Israel did not respond to requests for information. Independent experts The UN Human Rights Council established this independent panel of experts in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The commission says that its work aims to hold Israel accountable before international courts. A United Nations commission of experts has accused Israel of committing serious human rights violations, including the use of sexual violence as a means of oppressing and controlling the Palestinian population. Israel firmly rejects the allegations, calling the commission biased and accusing it of applying different standards for Israel than to other parties. The report issued on Thursday said sexual and gender-based violence "has risen in frequency and severity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It documents cases of sexual assault and rape, as well as instances where individuals were forced to undress in public. These acts were said to have been carried out either on direct orders or with the tacit approval of military and civilian leadership. In the Gaza Strip, health centres were systematically destroyed by Israeli forces, and the import of medicines and essential supplies for pregnant women and newborns was blocked: As a result, women and children died from preventable complications, the expert report said. The commission argues that these actions constitute crimes against humanity and that the prevention of births meets the criteria for genocide. Commission: Violence used to terrorize Palestinians "The evidence collected by the commission reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence," said Navi Pillay, chair of Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There is no escape from the conclusion that Israel has employed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorize them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination." A United Nations commission of experts has accused Israel of committing serious human rights violations, including the use of sexual violence as a means of oppressing and controlling the Palestinian population. Israel firmly rejects the allegations, calling the commission biased and accusing it of applying different standards for Israel than to other parties. The report issued on Thursday said sexual and gender-based violence "has risen in frequency and severity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It documents cases of sexual assault and rape, as well as instances where individuals were forced to undress in public. These acts were said to have been carried out either on direct orders or with the tacit approval of military and civilian leadership. In the Gaza Strip, health centres were systematically destroyed by Israeli forces, and the import of medicines and essential supplies for pregnant women and newborns was blocked: As a result, women and children died from preventable complications, the expert report said. The commission argues that these actions constitute crimes against humanity and that the prevention of births meets the criteria for genocide. Commission: Violence used to terrorize Palestinians "The evidence collected by the commission reveals a deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence," said Navi Pillay, chair of Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no escape from the conclusion that Israel has employed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorize them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination." The commission conducted interviews with victims and witnesses and analysed photographic and video evidence. Its findings cover events in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched a large-scale attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and abducting around 250 to Gaza. The commission previously released a report in June 2024 detailing acts of violence and torture committed during the attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the commission, Israel did not respond to requests for information. Independent experts The UN Human Rights Council established this independent panel of experts in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The commission says that its work aims to hold Israel accountable before international courts. A United Nations judge studying at the University of Oxford exploited and abused a young Ugandan woman she kept as a slave in Britain. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe, 49, took advantage of her status over her victim by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid. Oxford Crown Court had heard that Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, worked with John Leonard Mugerwa, the Ugandan deputy high commissioner, to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mugambe was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness. Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors: On her arrival, she was made to work for Ms Mugambe from the very start, unremunerated and acting as maid and for child care to give Ms Mugambe back her life. Deprived of her freedom to choose her own work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Ms Mugambe. Lonely and stuck Jurors accepted the prosecutions case that Mugambe who was studying for a law PhD had engaged in illegal folly with Mr Mugerwa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said the pair took part in a very dishonest trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the womans entrance into the UK in exchange for Mugambe attempting to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in. Mugambes trial heard she had the intention of obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself. Mugambe denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she always treated her with love, care and patience. The young woman Mugambe tricked into coming to the UK, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt lonely and stuck after her working hours were limited. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the bodys judicial roster in May 2023 three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire. She will be sentenced at a later date. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LONDON (AP) A British jury on Thursday convicted a United Nations judge of forcing a young woman to work as a slave after tricking her into coming to the U.K. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe made the Ugandan woman work as her maid and provide childcare for free. Mugambe, who is also a high court judge in Uganda, was studying for a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford when the offenses occurred. According to her United Nations profile page, she was appointed to one of the global bodys international courts in May 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecution lawyer Caroline Haughey told jurors during the trial that Mugambe exploited and abused the victim, deceiving her into coming to the U.K. and taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights. Prosecutors said Mugambe arranged for a contact in the Ugandan High Commission in London to get the woman a visa, under the guise that she would be working in the household and office of the diplomat. Once she arrived in Britain, she was taken to Mugambe's home and made to work as an unpaid nanny. Her passport and visa document were taken away from her. The victim eventually sought help from a friend, which led to police becoming involved. Mugambe, 49, denied the charges. Jurors at Oxford Crown Court convicted her on all four charges she faced, including an immigration offense, forcing someone to work and conspiracy to intimidate a witness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There were gasps from the public gallery as the verdicts were read out, and the court was cleared after Mugambe appeared unwell. She is due to be sentenced on May 2. Lydia Mugambe used her position to exploit a vulnerable young woman, controlling her freedom and making her work without payment," said Eran Cutliffe of the Crown Prosecution Services Special Crime Division. Thanks to the victims courage in coming forward it has been possible to bring Ms. Mugambe to justice and be held accountable for her actions. GENEVA (AP) United Nations-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Israel of the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The allegations came in one of the most extensive reports of its kind on the issue since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel ignited the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights Council, a U.N.-backed body that commissioned the team of independent experts, as an anti-Israel circus that has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body. His statement did not address the findings themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The findings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which seeks to document in minute detail the allegations and evidence of crimes to bolster accountability for perpetrators, could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other jurisdictions to try to bring justice to victims and their relatives. In its report released Thursday, the commission examined the widespread destruction of Gaza, the use of heavy explosives in civilian areas and Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities. It said all three led to disproportionate violence against women and children. The commission documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. Israel denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when there are violations. Our report finds that Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination," Chris Sidoti, a member of the commission, told reporters in Geneva. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israels mission in Geneva rejected the allegations and accused the commission of relying on second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources. Since the commission was set up in 2021 long before the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel Israel has refused to cooperate with it, accusing the investigative team and the council of bias. Commission member Sidoti said the report "also concludes that Israel has carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities. The commission stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, as some advocacy groups and other rights experts have. Israel, which was established in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust and is home to many survivors and their families, has vigorously denied such allegations. Israel says it took extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians in the 15-month war, which has been paused by a fragile ceasefire. It blames civilian deaths and destruction on Hamas because the militants operate in residential areas. Israeli forces carried out a number of raids on hospitals, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pointing to the report, a Hamas statement urged international courts to prosecute Israels leaders. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, accusing them of war crimes, which they deny. The court also issued a warrant in November for Hamas military leader, but the militants have since confirmed that he was killed. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Israeli authorities, citing eyewitness accounts and other evidence, have accused Hamas-led militants of widespread rape and sexual violence. Israeli experts who have treated former hostages say some were subjected to physical and sexual abuse in captivity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A U.N. envoy last year reported reasonable grounds to believe such allegations. Israels retaliatory offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the commission held public hearings with victims, lawyers, advocacy groups and others whose accounts were included in the report. The commission was not considering allegations of sexual, gender-based and other violence committed against Israelis during the Oct. 7 attack or against hostages in Gaza, but reported on the issue last year. ___ Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Having recently found widespread recognition in the United States, one of Latin Americas greatest living authors has decided to challenge her newfound readers with a brilliant and bewildering novel about murder, castration, and the illegibility of poetry. Death Takes Me, by Cristina Rivera Garza, underscores the Mexican novelists intellectual depth as well as her formal playfulness, and confronts the way an environment rife with violence can shock citizens into numbness. Rivera Garza teaches creative writing at the University of Houston and has lived for decades in the United States, but until recently, only a handful of her more than 20 books had appeared in English. That began to change in 2023, when she published her own translation of the work that would earn her a Pulitzer Prize, Lilianas Invincible Summer, a fiercely political memoir about the life and death of her younger sister, who was murdered at age 20 by an on-and-off boyfriend. The critical consensus in the Spanish-speaking world is that Death Takes Me, which was originally published in 2008, is among Rivera Garzas best booksa sophisticated answer to Roberto Bolanos 2666 that elaborates on the Chilean novelists blend of gruesome violence and literary puzzles from a feminist perspective. Whereas Lilianas Invincible Summer is emotional, sincere, and relatively easy to follow, Death Takes Me is cerebral, fragmentary, and disorienting. Translated by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker, the novel is ostensibly about a series of murders of young men in an unnamed Mexican city, but it often seems more concerned with the study of poetry and psychoanalytic theory than with detective work. At one point, Rivera Garza interrupts the narrative to reproduce a scholarly article that she may or may not have submitted to a real academic journal; at another, she inserts a number of experimental poems that she published under a pseudonym a year before releasing Death Takes Me. The books unabashed intellectualism is the product of Mexican literary culture, which tends to abide by the Cuban writer Jose Lezama Limas famous motto, Difficulty is the only stimulant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But readers willing to play by Rivera Garzas rules can expect a reward commensurate with their efforts, the sort of anti-noir novel that a ghostwriting team comprising Jorge Luis Borges, Jacques Lacan, and Clarice Lispector might deliver in response to a publishers request for a true-crime number. Like the murders it recounts, Death Takes Me resists interpretation, inducing in the reader a disconcerting mixture of numbness and anxiety. Those familiar with Rivera Garzas more recent work will soon realize that the book has another, more political dimension. Although it approaches the issue obliquely by reversing the gender of the victims, Death Takes Me is the authors first sustained meditation on femicideand perhaps a preliminary study for the memoir she would publish more than a decade later. [Read: A novel that probes the line between justice and revenge] In the novels opening scene, a literature professor by the name of Cristina Rivera Garza goes out for a jog and stumbles upon the castrated body of a young man. Yet in the weeks that follow, as she sits down for tense interviews with the female detective in charge of the case and dodges the obsessive pursuit of a suspicious woman who claims to be a tabloid journalist, the aspect of the crime scene that most preoccupies her isnt the dead man but what she noticed on the wall of the alley where she found him. Using nail polish as ink, someone had scribbled a few lines by Alejandra Pizarnik, an Argentine writer who wrote cryptic poems and anxious diaries about language, sex, and death before dying by suicide in 1972 at the age of 36and who is also the subject of the academic paper published within the novel. (The fictional Rivera Garza, we later learn, is affiliated with the same university where the author taught while she was writing the novel.) The reader soon notices uncanny parallels between the professors work and the detectives. Its not a coincidence that the adjective nonsensical can apply to a gruesome murder just as well as to a work of avant-garde literature. Cops and critics are, in some ways, in the same business: that of interpretation. They pay close attention, notice details, find clues; they gather evidence and formulate theories; they make a case for their hypotheses. Their work is a search for meaningan attempt to make sense of mysterious signs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the terrified residents of the city continue to stumble upon castrated bodies, theres no question that the perpetrator of these murders is a serial killer: Poems by Pizarnik are found at each crime scene. That detail alone, the detective insinuates to the professor, is enough to mark her as the prime suspect. The theory is soon put to rest, though, when Rivera Garza starts receiving strange messages from the killer, signed with the names of different female artists. The letters are full of clues that produce nothing: no leads, no real suspectsand no hope. The truth is that, in this city, catching the murderer wont change much. Its been a long time since a man died, the detectives assistant observes about halfway through the novel. So what? the detective responds, in a tone that the narrator describes as listless and bitter. Women and children die, too. Women and children and men are still dying, too. Although the novel keeps the details of its setting ambiguous, it seems to take place in Toluca, an hour away from Mexico Cityand the capital of one of the most violent states in the country. Hence, I think, the detectives hopelessness: In a nation where the murder rate is five times higher than the United States, her work is condemned to fail. The trope of numb despair as a response to unending horror is one of the hallmarks of 21st-century Mexican literature. Recent entries in this canon include Fernanda Melchors Hurricane Season and Clyo Mendoza's Fury, but the seminal exampleif we understand that a writers nationality does not dictate what literary tradition they belong tois undoubtedly 2666. That novels long list of forensic descriptions of murdered women in Mexico, which stretches for dozens of pages, seems meant to induce in the reader a feeling not unlike the listless bitterness of Rivera Garzas detective. The discussions of literary theory that fill the pages of Death Takes Mebesides Rivera Garzas academic paper on Pizarnik, the novel features lengthy sections about the work of French psychoanalystsserve a similar function to Bolanos appropriation of coroners dehumanizing language: They evoke detachment in the face of violence. But if this tactic is aesthetically effective and politically powerful, its because of the anxiety that courses beneath, in this city where even the detective knows that her work is pointless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [Read: A novel that boldly rethinks the border] The real Rivera Garza, however, seems unsatisfied with the hopelessness that haunts the pages of her own novel. Death Takes Me appears to have been a stepping stone to a more explicitly political confrontation with violenceone that refuses resignation and demands justice. Shortly after the Spanish edition of Lilianas Invincible Summer was published in 2021, Rivera Garza declared in an interview with El Pais that all of [her] previous books had been preparations to finally be able to write this one about [her] sisters femicide. That last word is important. Since 2012, Mexican law has considered that murders of women who are killed for reasons related to their gender constitute a different crime from other homicides. This much-belated change in language was meant to reflect the reality that, according to the United Nations, an average of 10 women are killed each day in Mexico. The legal recognition of the specificity of gender violence was a hard-won victory for the Mexican feminist movementa struggle that Rivera Garza documents in her memoir. But the subject was already on her mind in Death Takes Me. The difference here, of course, is that its men who must learn to live in a country where they can never feel safe: It was no longer a personal fear by then, but paranoia. A cloud of dragonflies. A pod of lobsters. Frenetic destruction. Young men would seek, and eventually find, new ways to protect their genitals Old men would speak of other, always better times, now gone. Before all of this was happening. Before, when a man was safe The world, in the aftermath of Four Castrated Men, would be different as a result of being so very much, or exaggeratedly, the same world where the Detective would fail once again. The passage makes a political point, of course, but the implausibility of its gender reversal is also very funny; readers recognize just how common the inverse scenario is. Here lies the greatest success of Death Takes Me: For all the numbness and the horror and the cerebral discussions of poetics, its also full of humor. It may well be that the novels most important contribution to our moment is that it consciously rejects the language of witnessing, elegy, and moral certainty on display in many contemporary stories about trauma. Death Takes Me, instead, suggests that personal grief and political anger can find expression, too, through ambiguity and ironyand even laughter. Article originally published at The Atlantic A year ago, a new head of Social Security set out to stop the agency from financially devastating many of the people it was meant to help. The agency had long made it a practice to reduce or halt benefit checks to recoup billions of dollars in payments it sent recipients but later said they never should have received. Martin OMalley, then the Social Security Administration commissioner, announced in March 2024 the agency would no longer cut off peoples monthly old-age, survivors, and disability checks to recoup money they had allegedly been overpaid a pattern he called clawback cruelty. Instead, it would default to withholding 10% of monthly benefits. The new policy allowed people who already live on little to pay their rent and keep food on the table. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last Friday, the Trump administration reversed that policy. Beginning March 27, to recover new overpayments, the Social Security Administration will automatically withhold 100% of recipients monthly benefits, the agency announced. The agency said it was acting in the interest of fiscal responsibility and that the reversal would save the government about $7 billion over a decade. It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds, acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said in a news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advocates for Social Security beneficiaries described the action as cruel and harmful. The results are predictable: more unnecessary suffering, said Kathleen Romig, who worked at the Social Security Administration under OMalley and is now director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Kate Lang of the advocacy group Justice in Aging said she was heartbroken. Those who are most vulnerable, with the fewest resources, are the ones who will feel the harsh impacts of this change, she said. Many are going to be unable to buy food or keep the roof over their head, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2023, after an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group cast a spotlight on overpayments and clawbacks, lawmakers from both parties called on the Social Security Administration to change its approach. The policy change a year ago was inspired in part by the plight of people such as Denise Woods, who was sleeping in her Chevy in Savannah, Georgia, in December 2023 while contending with lupus and congestive heart failure after the government cut off her disability benefits. The government was demanding she repay almost $58,000. Many overpayments are the result of government error. It can take the government years to figure out it has been paying someone too much, and by then, the amount the government says it is owed can grow far beyond a beneficiarys ability to repay. And it has often demanded that recipients repay the full amount within 30 days. As of October, the SSA was withholding at least a portion of monthly benefit payments from hundreds of thousands of people, according to data the SSA provided last fall to KFF Health News and Cox Media Group. The agency said it was withholding up to 10% from 669,903 people to recoup an overpayment. Asked whether those numbers covered all types of benefits administered by the SSA, the agencys press office didnt say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under Trumps leadership, Social Security has reinstated a cruel policy of clawing back Social Security overpayments with no regard for an Americans ability to pay or whether the overpayment was an error by the agency, said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. The new plan to completely withhold monthly benefits from recipients who were allegedly overpaid does not extend to the Supplemental Security Income program, one of two Social Security programs for people with disabilities. SSI, as the agency explains, covers people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources. The governments estimate that cutting people off completely will save $7 billion over a decade implies it expects many more overpayments in the years ahead. The SSAs March 7 announcement was part of a broader dismantling of Biden-era policies under President Donald Trump. It was also part of a broader upheaval at the Social Security Administration, which announced in February that it would cut its staff from about 57,000 to 50,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an interview Monday, OMalley predicted that the public will experience much longer wait times trying to get through to the agency by phone and longer waits for disability determinations. Social Security runs on a very old computer system, he said, and driving people out of the agency who understand it can only result in system collapse. The risk of totally shutting down the agency is greatly increased by people mucking around that dont know what theyre doing, OMalley said. On the PBS NewsHour last week, he advised recipients to save money to prepare for an interruption of benefits. Trump deputy Elon Musk has boasted of taking a chainsaw to the federal government and has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme. In a signed declaration filed in federal court last week, a recently retired SSA official, Tiffany Flick, said she witnessed a disregard for critical processes as members of DOGE the Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump established by executive order demanded access to sensitive Social Security systems, including files that contain beneficiaries banking information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New management at the SSA called its workforce bloated. But, under the previous administration, the agency was telling a starkly different story. A year ago, OMalley told lawmakers that, as the number of people receiving benefits increased, historic underfunding and understaffing at the agency had created a service delivery crisis. Late last year, the agency provided data to KFF Health News showing that in September its workforce was near a 50-year low. As of last month, applicants for disability benefits were waiting an average of more than seven months for a decision, according to the SSA website. The staffing cuts will lead to more overpayments than ever and will make it harder for the people affected to clear up mistakes, said Jen Burdick, an attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As KFF Health News and Cox Media Group revealed in 2023, about 2 million people a year were receiving notices from the SSA that they were overpaid and owed money back. People can appeal overpayment notices, request a lower withholding rate, or ask the SSA to waive collection altogether, the agency said. The SSA does not pursue recoveries while an initial appeal or waiver request is pending, it said. Shortly before OMalley left the SSA in November, the agency implemented changes that made it easier for beneficiaries to get overpayments waived. The agency spelled out grounds for determining the beneficiary was not at fault for instance, if the agency continued to issue overpayments after the beneficiary reported a change in their financial circumstances that should have led to a reduction in benefits. Those policy changes remain intact. Several Republicans who expressed concern about clawbacks in the aftermath of 2023 news coverage did not respond to inquiries for this article or declined to comment. One of them was Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who is now chair of the Senates Special Committee on Aging. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hardworking American taxpayers pay into Social Security all of their lives so that they can depend on it in the time they need it most, Scott said in a 2023 letter to the agency. The fact that the SSAs actions are leaving some of them worse off, through no fault of their own, is absolutely unacceptable. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. The post Under Trump, Social Security Resumes Clawback Cruelty appeared first on Katie Couric Media. Alternating cold and mild temperatures combined with a lack of snow this winter have caused significant ice ridges along the shore of Lakeside Park in Forest Lake. The severe ice ridges, which are caused when lake ice pushes material from lakebeds up onto shorelines, have caused light poles to tip, boulders to move and the citys paved walking path to shift several feet to the west. City officials say it will cost $175,000 to repair the damage. The heaving along the shoreline shifted and pushed up approximately 350 feet of the paved walking path that runs along the shoreline, and, in some areas, heaved on the west side of the path, said Dave Adams, the citys director of public works. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the first time weve seen it happen on both sides of the path, Adams said. The ground has probably moved 2 to 3 feet. Thats what has pushed those poles over. If you can imagine how far thats pushed that pole over, thats how far the path has shifted. On Monday, the Forest Lake City Council voted to approve a plan to repair the park and replace the paved walking path with a bituminous path. The engraved pavers will be stored in a safe location until they are re-installed elsewhere in the park, Adams said. Long-term plans for Lakeside Park include a downtown shoreline restoration project and a new Veterans Memorial. Those plans call for the current walking path to be removed, so not spending too much money to replace the path, knowing that theres another project in the works to rehab that park, makes the most sense, Adams said. The repairs must be done this spring so that the popular downtown park will be open and functioning for residents and boaters this summer, Adams said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement City officials have filed an insurance claim with the League of Minnesota Cities to cover the damage done to the city-owned light poles and the infrastructure of Your Boat Clubs dock, which totaled $23,100, Adams said. The force of nature is incredible, said Forest Lake City Councilmember Jeff Larson, who lives on the lake north of Lakeside Park. My neighbor has lived here for 22 years, and hes never seen anything like this. Larson, whose own shoreline was damaged, said the ice ridges formed almost overnight. I was gone for a couple of hours, and I came home in the afternoon, and it was already starting to, like, roll, he said. It kind of rolls the soil and the sod up. At first, it wasnt too bad. It was only maybe about six, eight inches at the time. But then over time, it just continued with the pressure and stuff, so I actually have two rolls of that heaving. Theres two separate sections of it. Underground tsunami Ice ridges, also called ice heaves or ice jacks, occur in years where there is little snow cover on lake ice to insulate the ice, said Dan Scollan, east metro area hydrologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Cracks form in ice with water rising to fill in the gaps, expanding the ice sheet as it freezes, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During subsequent warm spells, the ice was able to expand, Scollan said. The additional expansion exerts a tremendous thrust against the shore, according to the DNR. The expanding ice sheet moves soil to create ice ridges as high as 5 feet or more. Alternate warming and cooling of an ice sheet causes additional pushing action that possesses enough power to nudge masonry bridge piers out of plumb and push houses off their foundations. Related Articles Someone described it to me as an underground tsunami, which I thought was a really good description, Scollan said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A resident who has lived on White Bear Lake for decades said this winters ice heaves were by far the worst shes ever seen, Scollan said. City officials in White Bear Lake said there was no damage done by ice ridges to city-owned property. Residents of Forest Lake who have had damage done to their shoreline should contact officials with the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District, the Washington Conservation District and the city before doing any work, Scollan said. Anyone who owns more than 200 feet of shoreline would also need to contact the DNR for a permit, Scollan said. Damage prevention What can be done to prevent ice ridges in the future? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The more natural vegetation you have both in the lake and on your shore can help buffer your shoreline from ice action, Scollan said. Forest Lakes long-term plan for Lakeside Park includes additional natural shoreline work, including the planting of more trees and shrubs, said Aidan Read, land management specialist for the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed. Those are the kinds of things that we like to see to try to prevent this type of damage, he said. What we see most effective long-term are really well-constructed, healthy, natural shoreline buffers with perennial, deep rooted vegetation, especially woody vegetation and a shallow grade. Roots arent necessarily going to hold all the soil in place, but they can help to limit some of the damage, Read said. Its hard to say that any of that would have prevented something like this, but its possible, he said as he surveyed the damage earlier this week. You can look at this cross-section (of soil) here, and theres nothing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The light posts, which had probably 2- or 3-foot footings underneath, moved, but a nearby tree, with probably 20 feet of roots, didnt move an inch over there, Read said. Adam Hjelm, the watershed districts education outreach coordinator, said enough people contacted the watershed about ice-ridge damage that watershed district officials decided to hold an informational workshop later this month. Its the first time the watershed has held such a workshop, he said. Watershed district officials can offer technical assistance in the form of actual design work, and the district has some limited financial assistance that it can offer shoreline landowners, as well for installing natural shorelines, Hjelm said. Mother Nature Zerita LaFave, 80, and her son, Dwight Emerson, both of Ham Lake, surveyed the damage at Lakeside Park earlier this week and marveled that ice could wreak so much havoc. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats Mother Nature for you, LaFave said. LaFave and Emerson come to the park a couple of times a month to eat lunch and walk, she said. Related Articles Wed like to see them save the pavers because thereve been a lot of Forest Lake people who donated the bricks, she said. You can walk around and look at everybodys name that lived here before. I hope they get it fixed soon. Ice ridge information meeting The Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District will hold a free Shoreline Ice Ridge Informational Workshop from 6-8 p.m. March 26 at the Forest Lake American Legion in downtown Forest Lake. Speakers include DNR staff, watershed staff and local lakeshore landscapers. Anyone interested in attending is asked to register by March 21. For more information, go to clflwd.org. By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) - Government worker unions on Thursday dropped their motion to block the U.S. Agency for International Development from shredding documents in the agency's now-shuttered offices after being assured by Trump administration lawyers that no personnel records had been destroyed. They also received assurances that they would be notified and have a chance to object before any further documents are destroyed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The unions, which are suing President Donald Trump's administration over its rapid dismantling of USAID, had asked a judge for an order blocking the destruction of documents after agency staff were instructed by email to come into the office for "clearing classified safes and personnel documents" and be prepared to shred or burn the documents. The unions said that could violate federal record-keeping law, destroy evidence relevant to their lawsuit or destroy personnel records that would be needed if the foreign aid agency were eventually ordered to reopen. But in a court filing on Thursday, they said they were dropping their motion after Justice Department lawyers told them that the documents were largely from other agencies and were no longer needed. No personnel files have been destroyed, and any documents that must legally be preserved still exist on computer systems, according to the administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under Trump, the USAID agency has scrapped more than 80% of its programs and fired much of its staff. The federal judge presiding over the unions' lawsuit last month allowed the administration to go forward with its plan to put more than 2,000 USAID employees on leave. In a separate lawsuit brought by USAID contractors and grant recipients, a federal judge on Monday ruled that the Trump administration cannot refuse to spend foreign aid money appropriated by Congress, although the judge stopped short of restoring canceled contracts. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Amy Stevens and Deepa Babington) BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A University at Buffalo program that trains future teachers is in jeopardy if it loses key federal funding. The potential cuts have sparked concern over the impact it can have on local classrooms. UBs Urban Teacher Residency Program is a yearlong, hands-on experience that prepares aspiring teachers to work in Buffalo Public Schools. Amanda Winkelsas, the programs director, said their model has shown impressive outcomes. This is really devastating news both to the program and our people, Winkelsas said. Students in the classrooms of our graduates have better average course grades, they have better attendance, they have fewer disciplinary referrals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A few weeks ago, Winkelsas was informed by the Department of Education that the program will no longer be receiving over $7 million in funding it relies on. President Donald Trumps administration revoked two major grants: a Teacher Quality Partnership grant and a Supporting Effective Educator Development grant. One of the grants allows the university to give a stipend to residents so they do not have to maintain a full-time job while studying and co-teaching. It also allows them not to worry about paying rent, funding transportation, childcare and more. There was a real concern that these stipends would immediately cut off, Winkelsas said. Therefore, they wouldnt be able to continue in residency in a full-time capacity. With funding now in limbo, current graduate students might not be able to finish their masters degrees and receive certification to become a teacher. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are also seven employees who could lose their positions as the university would no longer be able to pay their salaries. This puts the enrollment of future members of the program at a standstill. We had people interview already and were ready to make offers that weve held back because we dont know about future funding, Winkelsas said. New York Attorney General Letitia James and seven other attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education for unlawfully cancelling these grants that were authorized by Congress. A judge has set a temporary restraining order on the cuts to take effect. We have 14 days to continue our work, Winkelsas said. But what happens after those 14 days is once again up in the air. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Winkelsas is encouraging everyone to call their local representatives as Congress has a say where grants and funds are distributed. Donations to support the residency program can be made here. Latest Local News Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. The University of Iowa announced Thursday it will close its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity March 27. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The University of Iowa will soon close its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity at the direction of the Iowa Board of Regents, with any division functions not required by law or accrediting bodies set for review and elimination. The university announced Thursday in a news release the division will close on March 27, which will result in three employees being moved to other areas of the university and one position elimination, with that employee being placed on furlough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the past year of restructuring and eliminating positions and programs relating to diversity, equity and inclusion at the behest of the board of regents and state law, the release stated the UI has eliminated 12 job positions, all full-time. This action will ensure the university is in compliance with state and federal laws as well as recent changes to accreditation requirements across numerous disciplines, the release stated. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Essential programs like TRIO Student Support Services and the Office of Civil Rights Compliance will be reassigned to different departments, according to the release, but the Office of Access and Support training program will close. Other student support programs will be reviewed to ensure compliance with state law before they move to University College, which also houses the universitys orientation services, honors program, Army and Air Force ROTC and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TRIO services will also move to University College, the release stated, and the Office of Civil Rights Compliance will move to the Office of the President under the purview of the associate vice president for administrative affairs. A link to Board of Regents President Sherry Batess comments at a Feb. 27 board meeting was included in a notice of the closure posted on the divisions website, where she stated more work needs to be done to comply with the spirit of the law, rather than just the letter. She also directed state universities to scrub all mention of DEI from its current and archived webpages and said the UI had closed three Living Learning Communities in order to follow the law. As of October 2024, state universities had already reallocated more than $2 million away from DEI programs through closures, cancellations and position eliminations. While we have made significant progress, we need to complete the work, Bates said in her statement during the meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The UI launched the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity last spring as part of a restructuring of its central DEI office after being directed to do so by the board of regents. Five open positions with salaries adding up to $360,000 were eliminated in the transition. The division, split into the Office of Civil Rights Compliance and Office of Access and Support, helped campus members ensure theyre meeting accreditation standards and complying with state and federal law, provided student support and opportunities for growth and more. Programs listed in the division include professional development, high-school-to-college transition aid and the University of Iowa Anti-Violence Coalition. The task force in charge of reviewing DEI policies, programming and positions is also listed as a part of the division, where it lists all 10 directives made by the board of regents in fall 2023 as completed. The Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity works to maintain a productive and welcoming campus culture where everyone can contribute, find community, and work toward finding common ground, the division states on its website. We do this by ensuring compliance with federal and state laws, supporting both accreditation and research efforts across the institution, and sustaining effective pipeline recruitment programs for students. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE For Jeremy Springman, a research professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the Trump administrations rollback of federal research grants has taken a personal toll. On March 2, he learned that the Department of Defense had terminated a three-year, $1.6 million grant he was awarded in 2024 to study how climate change was fueling political stability and conflict in developing countries. The research, Springman told Yahoo News, would look into ways to reduce the extent to which climate change is driving instability and threatening our national security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the DOD did not specify why Springmans grant had been terminated other than to say it did not align with its priorities, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth offered clues over the weekend, writing Sunday in a message posted to X that his department does not do climate change crap. We do training and warfighting. But the climate adaptation grant isnt the only funding Springman has had pulled by the Trump administration. Between the beginning of February and the beginning of March, we lost five grants that were funding my salary and my teams salaries, Springman said, including four research projects awarded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The cancellation of the Defense Department grant, however, proved to be the final straw, leading Springman to decide to leave his dream job in academia for work in the private sector. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administrations sweeping cancellation of federally funded grants to universities is part of its larger effort to shrink federal expenditures and to restrict what areas of study are worthy of receiving government money. That effort, several university professors told Yahoo News, could lead the United States to relinquish its global competitive advantage when it comes to higher education and scientific research. 'A really challenging moment' A student performs tests in the lab of Duke University pharmacology and cancer biology professor Donald McDonnell on March 4 in Durham, N.C. (Chris Carlson/AP) Tara McKay, an associate professor of medicine, health and society at Vanderbilt University, learned in a Feb. 28 email that the National Institutes of Health had terminated her multiyear grant to study the effects of aging in the LGBTQ community because her project included transgender people. "Your project does not satisfy these criteria, the email, which McKay shared with Yahoo News, stated. Transgender issues: Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans. Many such studies ignore, rather than seriously examine, biological realities. It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize these research programs. The NIH had funded the $1.9 million study, one of the largest health studies of its kind, in which 40 researchers tracked 1,256 people for five years. But under Trump, the changing criteria for what will be funded made it a target. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There wasnt a ton left on the budget. I think it was $200,000, McKay said. The big impact is that you cant renew these awards for another five years. They go through a scientific review by well-established peers, and ours scored really well last October and met the funding criteria, she said. This was about to go through its next steps to be funded when the administration change happened. A tenured professor in a field now deemed essentially worthless by the Trump administration, McKay says she and many of her colleagues are trying to navigate uncharted waters. I think its a really challenging moment, she said. There is a lot of legal activism happening thats trying to reverse or cut off these terminations. We have a lot of other projects that havent been terminated among the folks I work with and other LGBTQ health researchers. Theres a lot of concern that those projects are basically next. 'U.S. will become irrelevant' University of Illinois researcher Dr. Timothy Koh works in his Chicago lab studying healing in diabetics. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Over the last week, the Trump administration has also targeted individual colleges, withholding $400 million in grants to Columbia University over its alleged inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students and terminating $800 million in grant funding for Johns Hopkins University because of its foreign aid work with USAID. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I received one of the 232 NIH grant terminations sent to scientists at Columbia last night. My research focuses on improving maternal and child health in the US, Jamie Daw, assistant professor of health and policy at Columbia University, wrote in a message posted Wednesday to Bluesky, a site where hundreds of researchers have been sharing their stories of losing funding. The damage caused by the administrations actions extends far beyond the professors whose studies have been halted, said Shana Gadarian, a political science professor at Syracuse University. This is potentially a direct harm to people who are, for example, waiting for a cure for cancer or a genetic disease. But also, you cant do a half-study and expect that we will understand long-term implications of a drug, she said. Last week, in a lawsuit brought by 22 state attorneys general, medical associations and universities, a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the NIH from cutting roughly $4 billion in annual funds that goes to universities to support research. In an internal memo, the NIH justified the plan as a cost-saving measure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The United States should have the best medical research in the world. It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead," the memo stated. Johns Hopkins, a university that relies heavily on federal funding, announced Wednesday that its planning staff layoffs in response to the Trump administrations termination of research grants. On Thursday, the school said it would lay off 2,000 workers in the U.S. and abroad due to the funding cuts. Dr. Theodore Iwashyna, a critical-care physician at the university who is overseeing an NIH grant to study how to treat pneumonia patients, told the Wall Street Journal that the impacts of terminated federal funding would be profound. If the federal government decides it doesnt want to know things anymore, that would be bad for Johns Hopkins and devastating for Maryland, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another consequence is that universities will simply stop accepting graduate students. On Wednesday, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School sent an email to students who had been accepted to its Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Due to ongoing uncertainties related to federal funding of biomedical research, UMass Chan, along with many of our peer universities, is facing significant challenges in ensuring stable dissertation research opportunities for incoming students, the email stated. Unfortunately, as a result, we must rescind all offers of admission for the Fall 2025 term. Ultimately, even with fewer students, graduate programs that want to continue performing research in the absence of federal funding may need to pass on costs to students. Where does that money come from to continue the educational mission of the university? Much of that is going to come from students and tuition, Gadarian said. You could imagine philanthropy and private donors coming in to make up some of that, but its unclear whether we have enough to make up for all of those huge cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the short term, however, all of the professors who spoke to Yahoo News said that much of the robust research conducted at American universities would simply cease to exist. Over the next couple of years, at least, it just doesnt seem like there will be much appetite for policymakers in this administration to be engaging with researchers, Springman said. That, in turn, could open up huge opportunities for places like Europe and China to take the lead. Theres a very strong concern that this work will leave and that the U.S. will become irrelevant in the research space more broadly. McKay said. 'Attack the universities' Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Congressional Cities Conference of the National League of Cities on March 10 in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) While this upheaval has not come as a total surprise for many professors who have had their research criticized by Republican politicians, the scale of the grant terminations is still difficult to comprehend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The American university system is a jewel, Gadarian said, adding, People come here from all over the world to study, and the federal government does not pick winners and losers in terms of what people should study. They leave it up to scientists and people with expertise, which leads to a great deal of innovation. But this is exactly the system that Republicans have spent years railing against. Delivering the keynote address at the 2021 National Conservatism Conference, Vice President J.D. Vance laid out the blueprint for the coming ideological war. American universities, he said, control the knowledge in our society, which control what we call truth and what we call falsity, that provides research that gives credibility to some of the most ridiculous ideas that exist in our country, adding, We have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country. View NBC4s previous coverage of the Brian Shaffer March for the Missing featuring Mandy Conner above. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) More than two decades after a young woman vanished from a Columbus bar on New Years Eve, her family continues to fight for closure in a case they feel has been forgotten. The family of Carla Losey has not seen or heard from her since 2002, when she disappeared at 20 years old. Her brother Justin Conner described her as a firecracker, and her mother Pam Conner said she loved children and always dreamed of becoming a mom. (Photo courtesy/NamUs) We all have kids now that she should be able to meet, Justin Conner said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Dec. 31, 2002, around 5 p.m., Losey left her mothers house to go to the now-closed El Grotto bar where she worked as a dancer, according to a Columbus police report. That evening, the establishment, located at 2324 W. Broad St., closed early around midnight after a fight broke out, previous news reports claim. Losey then left the bar, and she was not alone an unidentified man accompanied her. The pair was last seen by Loseys coworkers headed across the street toward Junebug, another bar that has since shuttered. Junebug was directly across the street from El Grotto and was no more than a one-minute walk. Losey had plans to go to her mothers house on New Years Day but did not show up, Loseys older sister Mandy Conner said. About five days later, one of Loseys close friends and coworkers called Pam Conner, telling her she had not seen Losey since New Years Eve. There might be a couple days that nobody would hear from her, so it wasnt unusual, but five days was definitely unusual, Mandy Conner said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Jan. 12, 2003, Pam Conner reported her daughter missing, according to a police report. Twenty-three years have passed since, and the case remains cold. However, Loseys family has reason to believe she may be deceased. Shortly after Loseys disappearance, a friend of Jessica Conner, Loseys younger sister, told her he heard his coworker say someone Losey was romantically involved with shot her in the head and disposed of her remains in a landfill. Columbus police have not confirmed this story or publicly named the individual as a suspect. [My friends coworker] didnt even know at the time he was sharing that information that [my friend] knew who my family was, Jessica Conner said. He was just saying my roommate said he shot his girlfriend and put her in a landfill. Additionally, Losey had gotten into an argument with the man she was dating at Forty Motel on West Broad Street where she frequently stayed as she got ready for work the day she went missing, according to one of her coworkers. Her family claims the man had previously physically harmed her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Loseys family said based off physical appearances, they believe her partner at the time and the man she was last seen with are two separate individuals. They feel it is more likely her disappearance is connected to her relationship, rather than the man she was last seen with. A Columbus police report states foul play is suspected. Its no closure because you just dont know, Jessica Conner said. Its the worst feeling, I wouldnt wish it on anyone. A missing person poster for Losey, created by her family. (Photo courtesy/Mandy Conner) Justin (top left), Jessica (top right), Mandy (bottom left) and Pam (bottom right) ask anyone with information about Loseys disapperance to contact police. (Photo courtesy/Mandy Conner) Pam with photos of her daughter. (Photo courtesy/Mandy Conner) Over the years, Loseys family has passed out flyers, appeared in multiple news interviews and started a Facebook page dedicated to finding her. Pam Conner said she feels like no one cares about her daughters case, and the family believes her lifestyle may be related to why her disappearance has gone unsolved for so long. Along with her job as an exotic dancer, Losey was known to be involved in prostitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just because she lived a different life, doesnt mean that its still okay for her to go missing, Mandy Conner said. People shouldnt judge the lifestyle she was living in order to not look for her, because shes still human. So with her being human, we should all be looking for her, not just sweep it under the rug. An age-progressed photo of Carla Losey at 37 years old. Shes still somebodys daughter, somebodys sister, somebodys cousin, somebodys niece, Pam Conner added through tears. A spokesperson for the Columbus Division of Police said the department does not have any updates about the case to share. At the time Losey went missing, she was 5 feet 6, 135 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing all black clothing including a leather jacket. She had a mole above the right side of her lip and below her right eye, as well as a scar across her forehead, according to the Ohio Attorney Generals Office. Today, she would be 42 years old. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information on her disappearance may contact the Columbus Division of Police at 614-645-4545 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at 614-461-8477. If youre a family member of an individual with an unsolved missing persons or homicide case in Ohio, reach out to aboldizar@wcmh.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) An Upshur County man was charged after troopers found hundreds of images of child pornography on his phone. John Monfort On March 12, troopers with the Upshur County detachment of the West Virginia State Police performed a search of a residence on Randolph Street in Buckhannon relating to an investigation into child pornography, according to a criminal complaint. During the investigation, troopers spoke with John Monfort, who did admit that CSAM (child abuse sexual material) may be in the files folder of his phone, troopers said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 7 arrested in Harrison County drug bust; Police seeking 3 more Upon searching Monforts phone, troopers located an equivalent of 226 images of child abuse sexual material; also, in the residence, troopers found cocaine and tramadol hydrocodone, according to the complaint. Monfort has been charged with possession of CSAM. He is being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) A financial expert in the Upstate wants to empower women to take control of their money matters. The effort coincides with Womens History Month. Jennifer Lahaie is the co-owner of JEHM Wealth and Retirement in Simpsonville. She said more than 90 percent of the women she has advised stress about handling money and she wants that to change. I am a big believer in knowledge is power, and understanding provides confidence. So, go out, educate yourself, and take control of your financial situation. It doesnt mean that you cant let your husband handle the finances, but monthly, sit down and say where are we at?, said Lahaie. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lahaie explained gaps in work history as a result of raising children and other obligations have historically led to smaller retirement savings and social security payouts for female clients compared with male clients. Lahaie is urging women to dedicate time to assess their financial future, budget and use credit cards responsibly. The best thing women can do is really spend some time educating themselves. Find a mentor, a financial professional who can help them understand more about finances, and not allow it to be something thats intimidating or overwhelming, Lahaie also said. Lahaie said its wise to know all the usernames and passwords to access online accounts. She also encourages couples to regularly check in with each other about their spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Women typically tend to live longer, and in most relationships, the woman tends to be younger than the man. That means, at some point, the woman is probably going to find herself in the drivers seat of the financial situation, Lahaie went on to say. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. By Nathan Layne, Alexandra Alper and Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) -The potential scale of President Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the U.S. federal government could become clearer on Thursday, the deadline for government agencies to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and to slash their budgets. Trump's efforts to fire government workers, however, hit a legal snag on Thursday, with a California federal judge ordering six agencies to reinstate thousands of probationary employees who had been dismissed in recent weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that probationary workers, typically those with less than two years on the job, should be reinstated at the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and the Treasury Department. His ruling does not affect the career federal employees set to be fired by agencies in plans to be submitted to the White House and the Office of Personnel Management on Thursday, the government's human resources department. That process could eliminate tens of thousands of federal jobs. The new round of layoffs marks the latest step in Trump's sweeping effort to remake the federal bureaucracy - a task he has largely put in the hands of tech billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. So far, DOGE has overseen cuts of more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian workforce, the freezing of foreign aid, and the canceling of thousands of programs and contracts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many probationary workers were told they were being let go for poor performance despite performance appraisals showing otherwise. "It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well thats a lie," Alsup said in what amounted to the most significant legal setback for Trump and Musk to date. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed by labor unions and others challenging the legality of the DOGE-led firings, with mixed success. AMERICANS CONCERNED ABOUT DOGE CUTS The prospect for more job losses comes with financial markets already rattled about the economic risks posed by Trump's global trade war. Over the weekend, Trump declined to predict whether his tariff policies might cause a recession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration is taking some steps to mitigate potential risks. On Wednesday, a White House official urged federal agencies to refrain from laying off their cybersecurity teams, citing national security concerns. Americans are broadly supportive of the idea of cutting the size of the federal government, with 59% of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday saying they supported that goal. But they expressed concern about the way Trump was going about doing so, with a similar 59% of respondents saying they opposed the moves to fire tens of thousands of federal workers. Trump appears to be rushing to enact deep, painful reforms to use his political capital before whatever is left of the post-election honeymoon period comes to an end, said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Trump administration knows that it has a limited time horizon," Jones said. "The risk is they cut too much, or they don't cut strategically, and it has negative blowbacks in terms of the ability of the federal government to function." With Musk at his side, Trump signed an executive order on February 11 directing all agencies to "promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force," using a legal term commonly referred to as RIF to denote mass layoffs. An OPM memo said plans should include "a significant reduction" of full-time staff, cuts to real estate, a smaller budget, and the elimination of functions not mandated by law. The agencies are unlikely to publicly disclose their plans in full, though some may provide statements outlining cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A handful of agencies have already telegraphed details of the second phase of layoffs. The Department of Veterans Affairs was aiming to cut more than 80,000 workers, and the U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its 4,000-strong staff. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which provides weather forecasts, planned to layoff more than 1,000 workers. Several agencies have offered employees lump-sum payments to voluntarily retire early, which could help the agencies avoid legal complications inherent in the RIF process, which unions have vowed to fight in court. Trump and Musk have said the government is bloated and prone to wasting taxpayers' money. DOGE says it has saved $105 billion by eliminating waste, but has publicly documented just a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors and revisions. (Reporting by Nathan Layne and Daniel Wiessner in New York and Alexandra Alper in Washington, editing by Ross Colvin, Alistair Bell and David Gregorio) The return mission for two astronauts stuck in space has been hit with another delay, US space agency NASA said on Wednesday. The two crew members of the Starliner, US astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, have now been on the International Space Station (ISS) since June, although they were only supposed be on board for one week. NASA and SpaceX called off Wednesday's launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the ISS due to a last-minute technical issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The US space agency said the new launch window would be Friday at 7:03 pm (2303 GMT) at the earliest, as Thursday was waved off "due to high winds and precipitation forecasted in the flight path of Dragon." Crew-10, including NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, are set to replace the Crew-9 mission once they arrive at the ISS. NASA said Crew-9, with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Williams and Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, were now set tp depart the space station no earlier than March 19, pending weather off the coast of Florida. Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS at the beginning of June on the first manned test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. They were only meant to stay on the ISS for a week, but numerous technical problems with the craft left them stranded there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Boeing-produced Starliner is a partially reusable spacecraft that consists of a capsule around 3 metres high for the crew and a service module. Unlike the Crew Dragon vehicle built by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, the Starliner does not land on water but on dry land. The News A US Air Force colonel with roots on the continent is expected to be appointed President Donald Trumps senior Africa director, two people familiar with the matter told Semafor. Col. Jean-Philippe Peltier, a career intelligence officer, was born in Chad and raised across Francophone Africa, wrote a PhD on sub-Saharan African politics, and served as director of the sub-Saharan African Orientation Course at the US Air Force Special Operations School. He would lead the White Houses Africa team at the White Houses National Security Council, which includes two Africa directors who have military experience, Brendan McNamara and Dan Dunham. It comes as reports suggest that Trump is considering folding US-Africa Command (Africom) into its European counterpart. Some US-Africa policy watchers have said that Trump might have held off on its controversial offer of asylum to Afrikaners in South Africa and responded quicker to M23 rebel attacks in DR Congo if Africa experts had been in place sooner. The Africa Report first reported he was tipped for the job. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. House of Representatives oversight subcommittee said on Thursday it is investigating the collision in January between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The House Oversight subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs said they are probing the crash and the military's use of airspace in the U.S. capital region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to detail the steps the military "is taking to ensure that this type of accident does not happen again." Many lawmakers want to know why the Army helicopter was not using a key safety system at the time of the Jan. 29 collision. Republican U.S. Representative William Timmons, who chairs the subcommittee, and the panel's top Democrat, Suhas Subramanyam, also want to know why the pilot was wearing night vision goggles for a routine training flight and a list of steps the Defense Department "is taking to ensure military operations do not interfere with the safety of American air travel and steps to prevent this incident from reoccurring." The Pentagon said it would respond directly to the lawmakers. On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board made an urgent safety recommendation that was quickly adopted by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to make permanent restrictions to prevent helicopters from flying near Washington Reagan when two lesser-used runways are operational. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two senators this week asked the U.S. Army to explain why it routinely failed to use a key safety system during helicopter training flights. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz and Senator Jerry Moran, who heads an aviation subcommittee, on Tuesday also urged the head of Army Aviation to answer questions about the collision and to testify at a March 27 hearing on the crash. The Black Hawk did not have a key safety system known as ADS-B operating at the time of the collision, investigators say. ADS-B, or automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, is an advanced surveillance technology that transmits an aircraft's location. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. airline group Airlines for America last week called for military aircraft to be required to use ADS-B near large airports to broadcast their position to avoid collisions. The senators also wanted to know how often the Army transports flag officers by helicopter and how often it turns off ADS-B, an action permitted for military aircraft. Civilian airplanes must use ADS-B to broadcast their location, but the Federal Aviation Administration in 2019 gave the military an exemption in rare circumstances. It appears the military is routinely failing to use the safety system in training flights, lawmakers say. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis) An American social media influencer is facing massive backlash in Australia and may be barred from visiting the country after she bragged about taking a screaming baby wombat away from its mother in a stunt. Sam Jones a self-described outdoor enthusiast and wildlife biologist with 92,000 followers on her now-private Instagram page shared a clip showing her grabbing the baby wombat, or joey, and running away with it as the mama marsupial initially dashed away. Jones proceeded to scurry down a road as she held the animal under its front legs and a voice off camera laughed and remarked on the mother turning around to chase after her baby as it hissed and shrieked in Jones hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jones, who could be seen smiling with the frightened joey in her hands, later brought the baby back to the side of the road after noticing its pissed mother. My dream of holding a wombat has been realized! Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush, Jones reportedly captioned the clip. Jones visa is currently under review by Australian immigration officials as they determine whether she violated the law, Australias Sky News reported. Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, Ill be surprised if she even bothers, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement to the network. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I cant wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I dont expect she will return, he added. Its unclear whether Jones is still in the country. Australias Department of Home Affairs did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment. American hunting influencer Sam Jones is facing fierce backlash after taking a baby wombat from it's mother while visiting Australia. pic.twitter.com/bGUvuxWGX7 The Project (@theprojecttv) March 12, 2025 The clip was met with anger from Australian social media users, who called for Jones to be banned from the country. Its not just the entitlement its the disrespect, wrote one Reddit user on a subreddit dedicated to the country. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in an interview with the Sunrise show on Australias 7 News, weighed in on the dreadful footage before booting questions on whether Jones should be deported to other officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, really, leave the wombat alone, she added. Tania Bishop a wildlife veterinarian with WIRES, which describes itself as Australias largest wildlife rescue organization told Australias ABC that the joey in the clip was completely dependent on its mother and the way Jones held the baby could have very easily led to injuries. Related... By Daniel Wiessner and Nate Raymond (Reuters) - Federal judges in California and Maryland on Thursday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to reinstate thousands of probationary federal workers who lost their jobs as part of mass firings carried out at 19 agencies. The back-to-back rulings were the most significant blow yet to the effort by Trump and top adviser Elon Musk to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. Government agencies face a Thursday deadline to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and to slash their budgets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore agreed with 20 Democratic-led states that 18 of the agencies which had fired probationary employees en masse in recent weeks violated regulations governing the laying off of federal workers. Bredar's restraining order applies to, among other agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, all three of which have been in the deregulatory and cost-cutting cross-hairs of the Trump administration. Other agencies covered by the judge's order include the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. While the administration argued it dismissed each of the employees for performance or other individualized reasons, the judge said that was not true, which would make the job cuts a form of mass layoff necessitating advance notice to the states, who have obligations to assist their newly unemployed citizens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The sheer number of employees that were terminated in a matter of days belies any argument that these terminations were due to the employees' individual unsatisfactory performance or conduct," wrote Bredar, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama. His decision came hours after U.S. District Judge William Alsup during a hearing in San Francisco ordered the reinstatement of probationary employees terminated at six agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, which was not covered by the Maryland decision. Alsup said the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the human resources department for federal agencies, had improperly ordered those agencies to fire workers en masse even though it lacked the power to do so. "It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie," said Alsup, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement issued following Alsup's decision said the administration would "immediately fight back." "The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch - singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President's agenda," Leavitt said. 24,000 PROBATIONARY WORKERS Trump and Musk, architect of the administration's Department of Government Efficiency, are pursuing an aggressive campaign to shrink the federal workforce, made up of about 2.3 million workers when Trump took office in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first round of mass firings focused on probationary workers, who have limited grounds to challenge their terminations. At least 24,000 have been terminated since Trump returned to office, according to the Democratic-led states, who filed their lawsuit challenging the firings last week. Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, though some are longtime federal employees. They have fewer job protections than other government workers but in general can only be fired for performance issues. The states in their lawsuit say that by firing workers en masse, federal agencies engaged in mass layoffs that are supposed to be guided by a series of regulations. The agencies did not follow those procedures, though, such as giving state and local governments 60 days' notice in advance of mass layoffs, the states say. The states say the terminations have left them with an abrupt influx in unemployment claims and higher demand for social services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration says that federal agencies can terminate probationary workers for virtually any reason. OPM said in February the probationary period "is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment." The lawsuit before Alsup was filed by unions, nonprofit groups and the state of Washington. They claim the mass firings were unlawful because they were ordered by OPM rather than left to the discretion of individual agencies. The plaintiffs include the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers. The union's president, Everett Kelley, said in a statement Alsup's decision was an important victory against "an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public." Alsup last month had temporarily blocked OPM from ordering agencies to fire probationary employees, but declined at the time to require that fired workers get their jobs back. The plaintiffs subsequently amended their lawsuit to include the agencies that fired probationary workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Merit Systems Protection Board, which reviews federal employees' appeals when they are fired, earlier this month ordered the Agriculture Department to reinstate nearly 6,000 probationary workers at least temporarily. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Nate Raymond in Boston and Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alistair Bell, David Bario, David Gregorio and Tom Hogue) By Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. is poised to resume shipments to Ukraine of long-range bombs known as Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), after they were upgraded to better counter Russian jamming, two people familiar with the weapon told Reuters. The munitions will arrive amid reports that Ukraine's supply of similarly-ranged Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) has been depleted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The glide-bombs were purchased under the U.S. administration of former President Joe Biden using the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The U.S. has bought nearly $33.2 billion worth of new arms and military equipment for Kyiv directly from U.S. and allied defense contractors. President Donald Trump's administration agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia. In recent weeks, 19 GLSDBs were test-fired to assess the effectiveness of the upgrades. Part of the modifications involved reinforcing connections within the weapon to enhance its resilience, the people said. The reintroduction of the GLSDB onto the battlefield could occur in the coming days, as a stockpile is already present in Europe. The last time Ukrainians used the weapons was months ago, one of the people said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian jamming had kept many of Ukraine's relatively new long-range GLSDBs from hitting their intended targets, three people familiar with the challenges told Reuters last May. Ukraine over the last year sought weapons with longer ranges than the 43 miles (69 km) of U.S.-provided GMLRS rockets so Kyiv could attack and disrupt Russian supply lines and muster points. To answer that call, Boeing offered a new weapon to the Pentagon with a 100-mile (161-km) range, the GLSDB. The glide-bomb has small wings that extend its reach, and it comprises the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) and the M26 rocket motor, both of which are common in U.S. inventories and relatively inexpensive. Boeing declined to comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the GLSDB's navigation system, which enables it to be steered around obstacles such as mountains and known anti-air defenses, had been successfully targeted by Russian jamming, the three people briefed on the matter said in May. The bomb is made jointly by SAAB AB and Boeing, and was in development well before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Jamming happens when huge amounts of energy are broadcast into an area, overwhelming a device's signal. Russia has used the tactic on Ukrainian radios, drones and even GPS-guidable Excalibur 155-millimeter artillery munitions. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Rod Nickel) (Bloomberg) -- The Group of Seven faces the prospect of failing to agree to a joint statement again, even after the draft of the communique was significantly watered down, said people familiar with the matter. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement G-7 foreign ministers are gathered in Charlevoix, Quebec, until Friday. The people, who were granted anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, warned consensus may not be reached, leaving the group of nations unable to issue a joint statement. The same circumstances unfolded on the third anniversary of Russias invasion of Ukraine last month, when the US objected to strong language on Russia. Though Canada is working hard to find common ground, the efforts look set to fail, some of the people said, with US views too divergent from the rest of the compact. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seen as one of the more traditional members of Donald Trumps cabinet, is under pressure to disrupt proceedings, two of them said. The latest draft communique seen by Bloomberg News shows the ministers are considering welcoming the agreement between Ukraine and the US from Tuesday, calling on Russia to reciprocate unconditionally. They are also considering calling for confidence-building measures, such as the release of prisoners of war, civilian and military detainees, as well as the return of Ukrainian children. References to Russian aggression have disappeared. Similarly, language around the Middle East has also been softened, calling for a pathway that will lead to a two-state solution in Israel and occupied Palestinian territories. The reference to a two-state solution may not be approved by the US, as it successfully resisted such language in a G-7 statement issued during the Munich Security Conference, a person familiar said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Phrasing around the Indo-Pacific has meanwhile been strengthened, the draft shows, with ministers considering calling on China to engage substantively in nuclear arms control as well as name-checking tensions in the East and South China Seas. Ministers are also considering referencing human rights abuses suffered by the Uyghurs in China. In these stormy times, we of course also need to talk about differences and make clear how we support peace coming from different perspectives. In which form we will conclude this process we will see in the end, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement. One possible outcome is a so-called chairs statement, some of the people said, in order to keep the G-7 alive. Such statements are issued by the summit chair and provide an overview of decisions made during the meetings but express views that may not have been agreed to by all participants. Canada is also currently embroiled in a tariff war with the US. This G-7 meeting held in the same rural Quebec town as the ill-fated 2018 summit that ultimately saw Trump rip up the communique is largely about Canada trying to assess how to work with the new US administration. The northern nation is trying preserve some minimal common ground ahead of the leaders summit in June, the people said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The US has made significant changes to its foreign policy stances since the Trump administration took power, with effects reverberating across traditionally allied capitals. It has already vetoed a Canadian proposal to create a G-7 task force aimed at monitoring shadow fleets, a key source of revenue for Russia, Bloomberg reported last week. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rubio and Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly embraced and shook hands ahead of a bilateral meeting on Thursday morning, and stood next to each other during the family photo of ministers. In brief comments at the start of the first session, Joly told her counterparts that that maritime security was on the agenda, including the use of growing shadow fleets, as well as issues in the Red Sea, South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait. So, looking forward to making sure that this is a success, working with all my friends and colleagues around this table, she said. Still, in a sign of Canadas polite pushback against the US, the pens on the meeting tables were made with Quebec aluminum a message against the Trump administrations 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Alberto Nardelli and Iain Marlow. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. The U.S. opposes settling Russias full-scale war against Ukraine as a frozen conflict, Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak said on March 13. "We have been very clear that we will never agree to a frozen conflict. We are very much against it, and our positions align with our American partners," Yermak said. Speaking on national television, Yermak said that the Ukraine-U.S. meeting in Saudi Arabia on March 11 which he had led and a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire are just the beginning, with more work ahead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kyiv agreed to a temporary truce, provided that Russia did as well. Days after, on March 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is ready to agree to the proposal but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it. Washington opposed an agreement that would be similar to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum or the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, which failed to prevent or stop Russia's aggression, Yermak said. According to Yermak, the Ukrainian and American delegations also agreed that European representatives would participate in the peace process. Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, said earlier that Europe will not be directly involved in negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine, but its interests will be considered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Putin thinks Trump is an easy mark, John Bolton says in interview Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indian authorities arrested at Washington's request a cryptocurrency exchange administrator accused of money laundering conspiracy and violating sanctions, India's top crime fighting bureau said on Wednesday. The United States, Germany and Finland took down the online infrastructure used by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, the U.S. Justice Department said last week, adding that two administrators of the exchange were charged. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of those administrators was Aleksej Besciokov, a Russian resident and Lithuanian national who was charged with money laundering and also faced accusations of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, the Justice Department said on Friday. Besciokov was arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India's Central Bureau of Investigation said, adding he was wanted by U.S. authorities. The CBI said that at Washington's request, India's foreign ministry had a provisional arrest warrant issued. It added Besciokov was planning to flee India. It was not immediately clear why he was in India. Washington is expected to pursue Besciokov's extradition. His representative could not immediately be reached. "I can confirm Aleksej Besciokov, one of the administrators of Garantex, was arrested in India at the request of the United States," a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson told CNN. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The exchange has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019, the U.S. Justice Department said last week. Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2022. Blockchain research company TRM Labs said in a blog post last week that the takedown of Garantex "marks a major milestone in the fight against illicit finance" but cautioned that sanctioned exchanges often attempt to evade restrictions by creating new entities. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates) The United States is preparing to resume shipping long-range Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) to Ukraine, Reuters reported on March 13, citing sources familiar with the weapon. According to Reuters, the GLSDBs, which have been upgraded to more effectively counter Russian jamming, may be used by Ukrainian military forces in the coming days, as a stockpile is already present in Europe. The weapons will arrive at a critical time, as U.S. and Ukrainian officials have confirmed that Kyiv's supply of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, has been depleted. In total, the U.S. sent Ukraine less than 40 long-range ATACMS since the start of the full-scale invasion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this week, President Trump's administration agreed to resume security assistance to Ukraine, including military aid and intelligence sharing, following high-level talks in Saudi Arabia. Kyiv also confirmed its commitment to the interim 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington, on the condition that Russia agrees to the terms and implements them simultaneously. U.S. security assistance to Ukraine had been previously frozen following the heated meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on February 28. The GLSDB can reportedly strike at a range of 160 kilometers, expanding Ukraines long-range capabilities, alongside Storm Shadow/SCALP and ATACMS missiles. The delivery of the GLSDB was first announced by the Biden administration in February 2023, with initial estimates putting their arrival in Ukraine in late 2023. Ultimately, the weapons were first delivered in February 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As talks on a 30-day ceasefire continue, the Trump administration toughened sanction on March 13 on Russia's oil and gas industry. The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 7 that he is considering imposing sweeping banking sanctions and tariffs on Russia until there is a ceasefire and peace agreement. Read also: US toughens sanctions on Russian energy payments Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Trump administration toughened sanctions on Russia's oil and gas industry on March 13 by not renewing an exemption that allows Russian banks to access U.S. payment systems to conduct energy transactions. The exemption, initially issued by the Biden administration, was not re-signed by Trump and will make it more difficult for countries to buy primarily Russian oil, likely leading to higher oil prices. The exemption initially applied to transactions involving natural gas, oil and petroleum products, coal, uranium, and similar products. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 7 that he is considering imposing sweeping banking sanctions and tariffs on Russia until there is a ceasefire and peace agreement. Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington during the talks in Jeddah on March 11, provided that Russia did as well. The talks in Saudi Arabia also led to the U.S. restarting key military and intelligence support for Ukraine, which had been halted last week. Trump previously ruled out lifting sanctions on Moscow before a deal is reached. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 13 that Russia is ready to agree to the U.S.-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reuters reported on March 12, citing Russian sources, that Russia is unlikely to agree to a temporary truce in Ukraine proposed by the U.S., feeling it has the upper hand on the battlefield and viewing the ceasefire as a trap. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions on Russia to force their hand in negotiations, saying "we can do it the easy way or the hard way." In the following weeks, Trump instead lashed out at Ukraine, claiming President Volodymyr Zelensky was "not ready for peace" and halting military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Read also: Hungary seeks removal of Russian oligarch Fridman from EU sanctions list, FT reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday 13 March that he was ready to significantly strengthen sanctions against Russia if necessary to resolve the war in Ukraine. Source: Bessent in an interview with CNBC, as reported by European Pravda Details: Bessent was asked what the strengthening of sanctions against Russia, which Trump announced, would look like if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The US treasury secretary began his answer by criticising the level of sanctions imposed by former President Joe Biden's administration. "If we just take kind of a scale [from] zero to ten, I think the Biden administration's sanctions on Russia were probably a three, and on the way out the door, they took them to a six. I can tell you we wouldnt hesitate to take them up to ten," he said. Bessent stressed that Trump has warned that he is ready to put pressure on both Kyiv and Moscow if necessary. "This is all part of President Trump setting the table for successful negotiations. He is willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides," the US treasury secretary said. Background: Following the meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 11 March, Ukraine agreed to immediately implement a 30-day ceasefire if Russia reciprocates. On 13 March, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said that he "agrees" with the US proposal to end hostilities but that this should "lead to long-term peace". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The United States is suddenly looking less bubbly for European wines. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. Wine sellers and importers said a tariff of that size would essentially shut down the European wine business in the U.S. I dont think customers are prepared to pay two to three times more for their favorite wine or Champagne, Ronnie Sanders, the CEO of Vine Street Imports in Mt. Laurel Township, New Jersey, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jeff Zacharia, president of fine wine retailer Zachys in Port Chester, New York, said 80% of the wine he sells is from Europe. Importers depend on European wines for a big part of their distribution system, he said, and theres not enough U.S. wine to make up for that. This is just going to have a major negative impact on the whole U.S. wine industry in all aspects of it, including U.S. wineries, he said. Zacharia said there are so many unknowns right now he's stopped buying European wine until the picture becomes clearer. Its very hard to make preparations when as a business you dont have a clear path forward, he said. Our preparations would be very different if its 200% compared to 100% compared to 10%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wine and spirits from the 27-nation European Union made up 17% of the total consumed in the U.S. in 2023, according to IWSR, a global data and insight provider specializing in alcohol. Of that 17%, Italy accounted for 7% -- mostly from wine and French wine, cognac and vodka accounted for 5%. Overall, the U.S. imports much more alcohol than it exports. The $26.6 billion worth of foreign-produced alcoholic beverages that entered the country in 2022 accounted for 14% percent of all U.S. agricultural imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. exported $3.9 billion worth of beer, wine and distilled spirits that year. Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR U.S., said a 200% tariff would not be unprecedented but import duties of that size tend to be more targeted. In 2020, China imposed tariffs as high as 218% on Australian wine, which caused exports to plunge by 90%, Lodewijks said. China lifted the tariffs last year, but by then Australia's wine industry had taken a big hit. Australia's wine trade to China was worth 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($710 million) annually before the tariffs were put in place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Europe's tax on American whiskey, which was unveiled in response to the Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs, is expected to go into effect on April 1. Trump responded Thursday in a social media post. "If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump wrote. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. Trump was incorrect about the Champagne business. Champagne is a legally protected wine that can only come from Frances Champagne region. But U.S. winemakers including Trump Winery, a Virginia winery owned by the president's son Eric Trump do make sparkling wine. Reaction from across the Atlantic was swift Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We must stop a dangerous escalation that is leading to a global trade war where the first victims will be U.S. citizens who will pay more for products, and with them, farmers, Ettore Prandini, president of Italy's Coldiretti agriculture lobby, said. Italian wine exports to the U.S. led by prosecco -- have tripled in value over the last 20 years and reached 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) last year. In France, the U.S. market for wines and spirits is worth 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) annually. Gabriel Picard, who heads the French Federation of Exporters of Wines and Spirits, said 200% tariffs would be a hammer blow for Frances alcohol export industry, impacting hundreds of thousands of people. Not a single bottle will continue to be expedited if 200% tariffs are applied to our products. All exports to the United States will come to a total, total, halt, Picard said in an interview with The Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement French transporter Grain de Sail, which uses sail power to ship wines and other goods across the Atlantic, said Thursday that some winemakers had already cancelled planned shipments of wine to the U.S. because they were anticipating tariffs even before Trump's announcement. It has more or less frozen exports. There's no point even hoping to send wine to the United States under these conditions, said Jacques Barreau, the firms co-founder. Some U.S. wine stores saw an opportunity Thursday. In Washington, the wine bar Cork announced a tariff sale, encouraging regulars to come stock up on their favorite wines while theyre still affordable. Others wondered aloud whether Trump would really go through with a 200% tariff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It changes by the hour now, right?" Mark OCallaghan, the founder of Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York, said. European wines make up around 35% of sales at his store, he said. Others seemed to want to stay out of the fray. Total Wine, which operates 279 stores in 29 U.S. states, didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday. Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, one of the country's largest alcohol distributors, also didn't respond to a message seeking comment. ___ Anderson reported from New York. Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Writers Colleen Barry in Rome, John Leicester in Paris and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Local food banks and schools are facing ongoing uncertainty as federal cuts take shape across the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has nixed more than $1 billion in funding for local food banks and schools by ending buy-local programs that help buy and distribute goods produced within the state or within 400 miles of the location, The Hill reported Tuesday. The funding cuts are impacting places in West Michigan. Feeding America West Michigans President and CEO Ken Estelle told News 8 on Wednesday about 27 trucks of food ordered from USDA are now in limbo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Expert: Aluminum, steel tariffs will likely impact auto industry We are looking at potentially a million dollars of food that has been paused, Estelle said. There would be probably over two million meals of food that would not, that we were planning on getting even in the next three to four months so its a lot of impact. Estelle said FAWMs current inventory will last them about a month but past that will be another story. One of the nonprofits services is mobile food banks. On Wednesday, one was held at Godwin Heights High School, with dozens in line ready to pick up their food. One of those people was Ruth Bever, who told News 8 she has relied on these services for months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement USDA ends program that helped schools serve food from local farmers Its not like I am super desperate but it really helps get over the hump because we dont get food stamps and it just really helps so you dont feel super desperate, Bever said. Now Estelle said the nonprofit is playing the waiting game and trying to plan ahead as much as it can, as the fate of this funding remains uncertain. We are still waiting to hear on what is actually going to happen. We are hopeful that things will maybe get reviewed, and these programs get restarted or turned back on but until we know we are looking at what options we have to fill in that gap, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) Two federal programs that pay Alabama farmers to grow fresh produce for school cafeterias and food banks are coming to an abrupt end. The now-canceled federal contracts poured millions of dollars into Alabama farms and put fresh foods into the hands of people who needed it. Huntsville Police say one injured in Rime Village shooting Fresh produce is a necessity for the people who visit food banks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It can really have a huge impact on you if you have the right nutritious food, Food Bank of North Alabama CEO Shirley Schofield said. Over the past three years, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program has brought more than a million pounds of produce from Alabama fields to the Food Bank of North Alabama. It definitely will have an impact on us in trying to decide how were going to be able to replenish or replace the produce that we were getting from our local farmers, Schofield said. Jackson County EMA says wildfire contained near Scottsboro The programs federal money has paid farmers more than $11 million to grow produce, and the 2025 contracts were expected to pay $5.6 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats going to be a big hit for our local farmers here in the state of Alabama, you know, that theyre going to be feeling, especially since theyve already purchased some of their seeds and other supplies that they need to grow the food that they were planning on using for this program, Food Bank of North Alabama COO Joshua Matthews said. You know, further on in the summer months, in the height of the growing season. Another canceled program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, brought farm-fresh produce into schools. The federal money expanded a partnership the state had already established with Alabama farmers. We were actually having to go out to our growers, we have about 80 farmers in the thing, and ask them to grow, and say we guarantee were going to grow this much and give it to the school system, said Rick Pate, the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. Pate said the farm-grown food was then sent to schools that needed it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox. We could actually target underserved schools that had over 50% of the children on reduced lunches, so that was great, Pate said. Now, we could come back and backfill the school systems that werent taking advantage of the state program. Pate said his department is always looking for ways to support local farmers. While this years program will not happen, those working at the Food Bank of North Alabama, said they hope to see similar programs created in the future. Its been a really great collaborative process, and we really believe that we need collaborative solutions to end hunger in North Alabama and across the entire state, Matthews said. This program was a great example of how we can work together to accomplish that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has halted more than $1 billion in funding, and Mississippi food banks will feel the impact. The cuts target programs that help food banks and schools buy fresh foods from local farmers. USDA halts more than $1B in funding for local food banks, schools The USDAs Local Food Purchase Assistance Program connects underserved communities to locally grown produce, seafood and meat. Mississippi has received $6.8 million from this program since it since it was created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are already in discussions with them about the different programs that they have on their mind for the future and expanding access to produce. And so, were excited about that. Our farmers growing season really kicks off, you know, really April, May, June, and its pretty much played out through July. So, I think well be good for this year. Thatll give us some, some time to work on some new ideas after July, said Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson (R-Miss.). The program will continue funding through July 2025. Afterwards, food banks may have to find new ways to fill the gap. Close Thanks for signing up! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) The United States Postal Services (USPS) will be hosting job fairs across Indiana later this month, including one in Terre Haute. The USPS said its looking to fill immediate openings for rural carrier assistants. The job fair will take place on March 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be one at the Terre Haute Main Office at 150 West Margaret Drive and in Sullivan at 103 East Washington Street. USPS personnel will be on site to assist potential applicants, provide information about the position and answer any questions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement USPS wants to raise stamp prices 5 times over the next 3 years Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com. NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) In an ongoing effort to deliver a better service at a lower cost, the United States Postal Service continues to make not only operational changes in how mail moves, but also investments in new technology. For more than 40 years, most mail from Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina made its way through the sprawling 187,000-square-foot Norfolk processing and distribution facility off Church Street in Norfolk. But beginning in 2023, operations changed as the 1980-built building became home to a sortation and delivery center and a local processing center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The change is all a part of the services Delivering for America plan, but it hasnt been without is rough points. USPS long-awaited new mail truck makes its debut to rave reviews from carriers Packages to and from Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina now all head up Interstate 64 to the regional processing and distribution center in Richmond. An inspector general found that the process initially led to a decrease in service performance. However a follow up report found service times are improving. Lost in the mail: Richmond postal service plant fails to deliver I believe that the anytime that theres change, theres always a little bit of a learning curve, said Philip Bogenberger, a spokesperson for USPS. And with that learning curve yields long-term benefits, decades-long benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Collin Stefanowicz, manager of sorting and delivery center strategy and optimization at the U.S. Postal Service, said new technology not only saves time but also ensures that mail gets to exactly where it needs to go. So [the] sorting and delivery center is on the delivery side, Stefanowicz said, so our emphasis is on sorting mail down to the carrier level or to the office level in some cases, and our transfer hubs and getting that mail moved in a local area. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. JUST IN: A man accused of murdering a teenage girl nearly 50 years ago will not be extradited there from Utah. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he will discuss changes with lawmakers to decrease the number of bills jammed into the states short legislative session. The Beehive State has one of the shortest lawmaking periods in the entire country, coming in at a constitutionally mandated 45 days. In 2025, only one other state has a 45-day session, Virginia, most other states range from four months to yearlong. Despite its abbreviated session, Utah has seen a steady increase in the number of bills introduced and passed by the House and Senates 104 members over the last decade, and especially in the last three years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2025, the Legislature introduced 959 bills and resolutions a new record. And it sent 582 bills to the governors desk second only to 2024, which saw elected representatives write, debate and approve 591 pieces of legislation. I think we passed way too many bills, Cox told reporters on the final night of the legislative session. Cox touted the work of his administration collaborating with the legislative branch to fit so much into such a short time and complimented legislators' messy sausage-making as having produced mostly good policy. But there is room to improve, he said. Cox committed to talk with legislative leadership during the interim between sessions about ways to ratchet down the number of bills so that we can have more process, so that we can get better outcomes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The process really matters, Cox said. How we do things is almost as important as what we do. While legislators got to say goodbye to the Capitol late on March 7, the end of the session marked the beginning of an intensive 20-day window where Coxs office will review each of the bills. Cox refused to comment on whether he planned to veto any specific bills. In 2024, Cox used his veto power on seven bills to instruct the Legislature on which bills were unnecessary because they could have been solved with a phone call. There is a cost associated with each new piece of legislation, and Im increasingly concerned that were not giving government administration adequate time to implement policy changes both at the state and local levels, Cox told the Deseret News in a statement on Wednesday. With this recent trend of record-setting numbers of bills, its time to rethink our approach. Will lawmakers limit bills? Over the last 15 years, the number of bills introduced each session has increased from the low 700s to the high 900s, according to data compiled by Adam Brown, an associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of bills passed has similarly increased from around 480 to 580. As the number of bills has gone up, the time spent on the floor debating bills in both chambers has decreased from a median of around 14 minutes to 11 minutes, Browns analysis found. Lawmakers have a built-in incentive to introduce legislation, since passing more bills in their own name gives them something to highlight to voters, Brown said. But with only 45 days in the legislative session, more bills inevitably mean less time for thoughtful debate. Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, said during the last week of the session that the number of bills being passed at the state level might actually reflect positive differences between Utah and Washington, D.C. Unlike Congress, where updates to code, small amendments and new provisions can all be added into federal statute in one giant omnibus bill, the Utah Legislature must consider each separate issue in state code in separate bills. A large portion of these bills are passed rapidly with a unanimous consent vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have the one subject rule, Cullimore said. Some of them are just tweaking things that weve done in years past, and its a line or two. At the federal level, youd see that just merged into other bills. Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, pushed back against policy changes to bring down the total number of bills. While he would prefer there to be fewer bills, Adams said there is already a vigorous vetting process in place that winnows the initial number of around 1,500 bills that start being drafted, to less than 1,000 that are introduced, to less than 600 that are ultimately passed on the floor after committee consideration. Were not going to limit the number of bills, Adams said. Were not going to set a quota on it. How does Utah compare to other states? Utah legislators actually introduce far fewer bills than legislators in other states though this may have something to do with the truncated legislative session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the 2023-24 legislative session, New York lawmakers introduced 24,284 bills, Massachusetts had 16,670 and Texas had 13,092, with many states hovering between 2,000 and 5,000. Utah sat at the back of the pack, with Alaska introducing the fewest bills, at 812, and Wyoming, Idaho and the Dakotas joining Utah at around 1,000 introduced pieces of legislation. Some states have placed a limit on the number of bills each lawmaker may introduce. California limits its lawmakers to 35 bills that they can introduce during each two-year session. Utah could follow Californias lead in setting a cap on the number of bills each lawmaker can introduce, Brown said, or the state could also consider extending the length of the session, letting lawmakers hire professional staff to help evaluate bills or setting earlier deadlines for lawmakers to draft, introduce and pass bills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, at Utahs levels, an increasing number of new bill files might actually be a good thing, according to James Curry, a professor of political science at the University of Utah. One of the measures of a healthy legislature is members actively introducing policy ideas (rather than doing very little and letting unelected bureaucrats make policy), Curry said. We should want them trying to do more, not less. The more interesting question is why Utah legislators introduce so few bills, Curry said. The reasons could include the inertia of doing things as they have been done in the past or a desire from leadership to maintain more control over the process, Curry said. Which lawmakers introduced the most bills? The number of bills introduced by individual lawmakers vary dramatically. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the past four legislative sessions, a handful of lawmakers have consistently introduced two to four times the number of bills as the median lawmaker. These lawmakers include: Sens. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville; Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan; and Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross; and House Rules Chair Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan. In 2025, Weiler, Harper and Fillmore again topped the list, with Weiler requesting 33 bill files and Harper and Fillmore each requesting 26. Teuscher requested more than any other representative, with 19 bill requests. Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been reeling since President Donald Trump won the election his threats of mass deportation looming over their already uncertain futures. Now, the administration's decision to rescind the extension of their temporary legal status has put them on an expedited timeline to lose their protections and everything they've built in their new home. First shoved into the spotlight during Trump's September 2024 presidential debate, residents, since the late February announcement on TPS, have been flocking to the Haitian Support Center in this rust-belt city of some 60,000 people, according to Viles Dorsainvil, the center's executive director. Many have called or stopped by in search of guidance on what to do next or what their options are, he said, but his advice is limited. "I continue to encourage them to know their rights," Dorsainvil told Salon. He's advised, for those who can, applying for a different form of legal immigration status. "That would be the best course of action [and] continue to do what they're doing. That's it. I can't normally tell them anything different." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the city's Haitian residents are planning to relocate to Canada or elsewhere, while others are waiting to see how Trump's crackdown on immigration plays out. Dorsainvil doesn't know anyone planning to go back to Haiti, he added, but as unlikely as it is, it's still an option. With just under five months before they lose legal status, everyone is on edge. One Haitian TPS recipient who previously spoke to Salon declined to talk, pointing to widespread concerns in the community over their future in the country.. In late February, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had revoked the extensions of TPS for Venezuelan and Haitian immigrants in the United States. TPS, granted to applicants regardless of their legal status from designated countries with immense political, violent or environmental upheaval, allows those who receive it to live and work legally in the U.S. for a renewable period of up to 18 months. More than 500,000 Haitian citizens were eligible for TPS as of June 2024, according to DHS data, including around 15,000 recipients living in Springfield. Unless re-extended or protected in federal court, that status will now expire on Aug. 3. "People just can't figure out why the administration is taking that move. They believe it's some kind of wickedness. Even the U.S. embassy in Haiti cannot operate properly because of the gangs and violence," Dorsainvil said, describing the shock that he and other Haitian Springfielders felt upon learning the news. "It's just some kind of injustice." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He hadn't expected the revocation, he added, because he didn't think the president would want to further upend the Haitian community after spreading the false claims that beget a bevy of violent threats to Springfield. Plus, he said his administration knows the circumstances in Haiti are intolerable. Haitian citizens have been eligible for TPS since 2010, when the Caribbean nation was hit with a devastating earthquake that displaced millions and decimated its infrastructure. A steep uptick in political violence, set off by the 2021 assassination of the country's president, has also resulted in thousands killed as gangs seized control of the government. Since then, Haitian citizens have sought refuge in other countries out of fear for their lives and a need for better opportunities. Before he left office, President Joe Biden extended TPS for Haitian immigrants for an additional 18 months until Feb. 3, 2026. The Secretary of Homeland Security evaluates at least 60 days prior to the expiration of each TPS designation whether to extend or end the status based on the conditions in the country. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's decision partially vacated that extension, shortening it to just 12 months from the Aug. 4, 2024 effective date. In a statement accompanying the announcement last month, a DHS spokeswoman argued that the Biden administration had extended Haiti's TPS for "far longer than justified or necessary." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades," the statement read. "President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary. But Julie Nemecek, an immigration lawyer working with Haitian clients in Springfield, argued that the administration has made the decisions arbitrarily, failing to account for the conditions in Haiti and Venezuela and acting out of racism. "They're just making these anti-immigrant decisions to scare people, to shock people, to implement white supremacy, Project 2025, whatever you want to call it," she told Salon in a phone interview. "These decisions are just wrong, and there's no justification supporting these decisions on TPS. It makes absolutely no sense." Nemecek said she's received an "enormous" boon in calls from clients since Trump took office, her schedule packed largely with clients from Haiti, Venezuela and more recently Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The impacts of the Trump administration rescinding TPS extensions will be devastating, she predicted. With immigrants already struggling to get by, the community will likely see an increase in homelessness, mass layoffs as work authorizations expire and a mass exodus of people out of states like Ohio into places where they can work without documentation. Amid Trump's crackdown, losing status leaves a lot more migrants susceptible to detention and removal, she added. "It leaves people in pretty much an utter state of fear without a sense of security, sense of safety," Nemecek said. In many ways, Haitian immigrants' hands are now tied, she explained. While many would likely have a viable case for asylum, the timeline for approval isn't conducive to reobtaining status quickly. They'd spend a few weeks preparing an application, then wait 150 days followed by a 30-day adjudication period, leaving six months until they can receive work authorization. Even if they rushed to apply now, the soonest they could receive asylum would be in October and by then it'd be too late, she said. Complicating matters more, she added, is that a number of her clients are resistant to apply for asylum because they believe it's a comparatively "degrading" legal status to have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The situation is more volatile for migrants with removal cases, she added. Before Noem rescinded the extensions, courts generally terminated their removal cases if their TPS application had been approved, opening them up to apply for asylum. Now, however, judges are denying TPS applications because the statuses are set to expire and appearing before a judge places migrants in the "hot seat." Legal challenges to the DHS recissions could offer a more viable pathway, Nemecek said. "Those things take time, though. They don't provide an overnight solution." Three immigrant rights organizations Haitian Americans United, Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts and UndocuBlack Network and four individual recipients filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court earlier this month challenging Noem's decision. In addition to arguing that the move is unlawful and racially biased, they asked the court to halt the revocations, which would also terminate TPS for Venezuelan immigrants on April 7. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. "The TPS statute does not authorize the Secretary to pull the rug out from under vulnerable TPS recipients and rescind an extension that has already been granted; she simply has no statutory authority to do so," the complaint said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A hearing on the motion to stay Noem's revocations was postponed Tuesday in deference to a hearing in a similar case currently before a California federal court. As members of his community scramble for options and prepare to uproot their lives, Dorsainvil said he wants Americans to understand how little, if at all, the administration acknowledges immigrants' contributions to the nation's stability and progress. "They should know that the administration is not doing justice to the immigrants who have been contributing to this country for over 20 years or 15 years, 10 years, five years," he said, arguing that the Trump administration is attempting to strip TPS recipients of their legal status so it "can remove them as soon as possible." But immigrants, he added, will find a way forward as they have before. "A human being has that kind of survival instinct," he said. "They will do things that is not right just to survive, and who will be responsible for that?" Vermont is now one of 15 states dealing with cases of the measles. Doctors are reminding people that communities with high vaccination rates should not have to worry about outbreaks. The Vermont Health Department reported the states first case this year, in a school-aged child in Lamoille County who was believed to be traveling internationally. Measles is highly contagious but is preventable with vaccines and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since the year 2000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a very serious illness that is completely vaccine preventable and so whenever we see cases, I just view it as a tragedy, said Dr. Benjamin Lee, a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist at UVM Childrens Hospital. Symptoms of measles include cough, runny nose, watery eyes, high fever and a rash that breaks out on the head and face before spreading to other parts of the body. New York and Rhode Island have also been reporting cases, but only three clusters, in West Texas and Mexico, have been considered outbreaks. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A stack of books rest on top of a podium at the Virginia State Capitol building. (Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury) The General Assembly has given the green light for state researchers to launch studies on removing books in public school libraries, the funding methodology used to determine judicial allocations and the total cost of coastal storm risk management. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which conducts analysis and provides oversight of state agencies on behalf of the legislature, is responsible for the studies. Research completed by JLARC often prompts new legislative proposals and changes to governance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the studies on judicial allocations and coastal storm risk management are not expected to start for least a year, state researchers must submit their findings and recommendations for the book removal study by October 1. Book removal study Following the passage of a 2022 state law that created a process for notifying parents of sexually explicit instructional materials in school libraries, schools began to interpret the materials in a variety of ways. Some schools viewed the law as a way to remove books due to their content and concerns by parents. Public school libraries are curated by professionally trained school librarians and media specialists who select materials based on their school divisions collection policies, said Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, who carried Senate Joint Resolution 251 during the last session. While most school systems are respecting the freedom to read and the right of parents to have the final word on their childrens access to school library materials, it is clear some school systems have not. The Senate resolution and a similar House resolution, carried by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, directs JLARC to look back at how books were removed from public school libraries since July 1, 2020. Researchers will include details about the books removed, the rationale behind the removals, the removal process, and whether school divisions utilized the commonwealths model policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The study will also identify what state resources are available to school administrators related to decisions about removing books. Connie Piper, executive director for the Virginia Association of School Librarians, said she and her colleagues support the study, and are particularly interested in data collected that could better inform the association on resources they can provide to and request from the state. Piper said the Virginia Department of Education does not have any specific person overseeing library operations in the commonwealth, which she believes could lead to inconsistencies in how things are interpreted. We dont know exactly what the resolution will find, but we hope that it will give us some clarity about areas where students may not have as much access to the resources they need as we would like, said Piper, adding that the groups big goal is to make sure that kids continue to have access to the resources that that they need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between the 2023-2024 school year, Jodi Picoults Nineteen Minutes and John Greens Looking for Alaska received the most bans at schools nationwide, according to a recent report by Pen America. The organization reported that, since 2003, 75 books have been banned in the commonwealth. Judicial allocations Lawmakers agreed to pass a resolution directing JLARC to study the methodology used to determine judicial allocations within Virginia, after legislators pointed to flaws in the current determination system. Workload assessments collect information to determine the number of judges needed to cover courts in Virginia based on the number and types of cases filed. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, who carried Senate Joint Resolution 259, said one of the concerns is that court systems have found ways to manipulate the data to make it appear that more judges are needed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Surovell also said the current methodology doesnt consider how local governments spend money supporting their respective court system, uses vague categories regarding the complexity of cases and doesnt weigh domestic relations cases appropriately. We need to get clear, good data on how to do this, Surovell said during the session, adding that its crucial the states decisions be based on accurate information about the court systems needs. Lawmakers directed researchers to share their findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2027 regular session of the General Assembly. Coastal storm risk management With severe weather events and rising tidal waters negatively impacting the commonwealth, lawmakers directed JLARC to study how localities and other non-federal partners contribute to the cost of coastal storm risk management studies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management study is estimated to cost the city $2.6 billion, according to the House Joint Resolution 434, sponsored by Del. Michael Feggans, D-Virginia Beach. The resolution also states that the Metropolitan Washington, District of Columbia Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study, which covers Northern Virginia, is estimated to cost localities $15.2 million. The cost of three studies for Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia and the Virginia Peninsula are ongoing, but are expected to result in significant and comparable cost-implementation estimates, the resolution states. The study will also assess the need for a dedicated fund to streamline cost sharing, enhancing local participation in flood mitigation and strengthening Virginias climate resiliency, the lawmaker said during a House Rules Committee hearing during the recent General Assembly session. As coastal flooding intensifies, we must establish a fair, sustainable funding methodology to protect communities to ensure equitable access to resources, Feggans said. Researchers shall submit their second and final-year findings by Nov. 30, 2028. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. But the move has been delayed in part because of concerns it could jeopardize chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. That's part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices. Chicken meat producers remain the most resistant to vaccines because of concerns they could harm meat exports, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year. Egg and turkey producers sell most of their products in the U.S. and have been hit hardest by the virus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Why is a vaccine needed? Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022. Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens, and the death of so many hens is the main reason egg prices keep rising. The average price per dozen has hit $5.90, and in some parts of the country, it is far higher. Poultry veterinarian Simon Shane, who runs www.Egg-News.com, said the government is hesitant to use vaccines and change its policy of killing birds largely because of the meat chicken industry's opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Basically this is a political issue, and this only came to a head because eggs are at $8 to $9 a dozen, and its embarrassing the government embarrassing the present administration, Shane said. Why doesn't the US use a bird flu vaccine? Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to devise an effective system and monitor for outbreaks within vaccinated flocks that might not show any symptoms, said John Clifford, the USDA's former longtime chief veterinary officer, who now works with a poultry industry export group. Once that is figured out, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trade problems. What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share that with the trading partners and then find out what kind of impact that that will have on trade, Clifford said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are fears that vaccinating could allow the virus to linger undetected in flocks and mutate in ways that could make it more of a threat to humans and allow sick birds to get into the food supply. Like with other diseases, properly cooking chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken buyers don't want it there at all. For meat chicken, known as broilers, the virus isn't as significant because those birds are slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks old and thus have less chance of being infected compared with egg-laying hens, which live to 2 years or older. Also most broilers are raised in the Southeast, which hasn't had as many outbreaks as the Midwest and West. Another delay to vaccinating concerns distribution. Egg farmers want to administer it through chicken feed or water, saying it's not practical to give shots to millions of birds in a single barn. It can also be difficult to tell the difference between a vaccinated bird and one that has been sick with the virus. That would make other countries nervous about importing meat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People have talked about how expensive it would be to monitor vaccinated populations. And it would be. But where do we want to spend our money? said Dr. Carol Cardona, a bird flu expert at the University of Minnesota. Were spending our money hand over fist right now in depopulation and to buy eggs for breakfast. What does the experience in other countries show? China and Mexico have been vaccinating their poultry for years, but they take different approaches. In Mexico, chicken are vaccinated, but Clifford said the country doesn't slaughter flocks when infections are found. That basically ensures the virus is present in poultry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China still slaughters vaccinated flocks when infections are found, which has proved more effective at limiting the spread of the virus and reining in outbreaks. Clifford said the U.S. would need to continue culling flocks with outbreaks even after vaccinating, and it might make sense to give shots only to egg layers and turkeys, not broilers. Will it help egg prices? Don't expect big relief anytime soon. The USDA, which did not respond to a request for comment sent last week, clearly isn't moving to vaccinate immediately. And, regardless, it will take time to raise new hens. Were going to have to wait to replace those with new hatched chicks, and it takes 20 weeks before they even start laying, Shane said. So I dont know where theyre going to get the eggs from. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prices may ease somewhat later this year after peak demand, which happens around Easter, if massive egg farms in California, Iowa, Ohio and elsewhere can avoid more outbreaks. The USDA has predicted that average egg prices will be 41% higher than the 2024 average of $3.17 per dozen. That would mean $4.47 per dozen, slightly below the current average. (Reuters) - Venezuela and the United States have agreed to resume flights of migrants deported from the U.S., senior officials from each country said on Thursday, after an apparent pause in the repatriation flights which kicked off last month. U.S. diplomat Richard Grenell, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, said in a post on X on Thursday morning the flights would resume on Friday. The deal will safeguard the rights of migrants, Venezuelan lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez, who leads the government negotiating team which has met with the U.S. on migration, sanctions and other issues, said in a statement later in the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In late January, Grenell visited Venezuelan capital Caracas to meet with President Nicolas Maduro and discuss the deportation of migrants, among other issues. Shortly afterwards, a group of Americans held in Venezuela were released and the repatriation flights began. Venezuelans make up a large portion of migrants who have sought entry into the United States in recent years, with many fleeing their home country due to an extended economic and political crisis. Last weekend, Maduro indicated that scheduled flights to transport deportees had been "affected" by the Trump administration's decision to cancel a key oil license which had allowed U.S.-based oil major Chevron to operate in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. government cited a lack of progress on electoral reforms in addition to the stalled migrant returns to justify the license cancellation, which the Maduro government had relied on to generate much-needed revenue. Maduro and his government have always rejected sanctions by the United States and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an "economic war". Venezuela's electoral authority and top court declared Maduro the winner of a disputed presidential election last year, though authorities never released ballot box-level vote tallies. The opposition did publish vote tallies showing its candidate won in a landslide, prompting many governments including in Washington to dismiss the official result as flawed. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by David Alire Garcia, Philippa Fletcher and Deepa Babington) The Nicolas Maduro regime has agreed to resume flights transporting Venezuelans deported from the United States back to their home country, U.S. diplomat Richard Grenell said. Maduro had recently admitted that the flights had been impacted by the Trump administrations decision to revoke a special license allowing Chevron to produce and sell oil out of Venezuela despite the sanctions imposed on the regime. Serving as Trumps envoy for special missions, Grenell had met with Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 31, securing the release of six Americans who Washington believes had been imprisoned unjustly by Maduro and also Caracas acceptance of the flights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered the U.S. illegally, Grenell, who has since been appointed interim executive director of the Kennedy Center, said on his X account. The flights will resume Friday. The Trump administration has not yet provided further details. Little more than 600 Venezuelan migrants had been taken back to Venezuela on the flights before Trumps decision to revoke the Chevron license soured the fragile improvement of the thorny relations between both countries. While portrayed by the Trump administration as hardened criminals, the Venezuelans deported from the United States were welcomed back with open arms as prodigal sons and daughters ironically, by the man in charge of the repressive apparatus that initially forced many of them to flee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello welcomed the hundreds of migrants arriving from the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and on deportation flights from Texas, reiterating on state television that the Venezuelans have been falsely labeled as dangerous criminals and members of the Tren de Aragua gang. After officials confirmed that the migrants are not wanted criminals, most have been allowed to reunite with their families. They were taken to Guantanamo without having committed any type of legal infraction, Cabello told reporters at the airport while receiving a group of 177 Venezuelans the U.S. had originally sent to the Navy base in Cuba. All of them will have a second chance to rebuild their lives here. McClatchy reporter David Catanese contributed to this story from Washington. The Vermont Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Zoie Saunders as Vermont Secretary of Education, nearly a year after they soundly rejected Gov. Phil Scotts nominee for the position. Saunders was approved by a 22-8 vote, a near-total reversal of the 19-9 Senate vote that appeared to doom her nomination last April. But Scott then appointed Saunders interim secretary, triggering a lawsuit challenging his authority to appoint a nominee that had been rejected by the legislature. In November, Scott appointed Saunders to the position permanently. And last month, the Vermont Supreme Court dismissed the lawmakers lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scott defends interim post for failed education nominee In a statement, Scott said, Since the beginning, Ive believed Zoie Saunders is the leader we need at the Agency of Education and I want to thank the Senators who voted to confirm her today. We have a lot of work ahead to transform our education system and Secretary Saunders remains committed to working together to create a reform plan that improves student outcomes and supports teachers at a cost taxpayers can afford. This story will be updated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. VERNON, Conn. (WTNH) Vernon Public Schools has been awarded the Department of Educations Chefs to Schools Grant on to improve school lunches district-wide, according a statement written by the district. With the funding from the grant, the district plans to hire a professional chef to enhance school meal quality, support kitchen staff training, and strengthen local food integration in Vernons cafeterias, according to the statement. Norwich public schools to open NPS Loft to help families with essentials Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vernon Public Schools has an existing partnership with Cloverleigh Farm and other local farms to provide local produce. The district is actively searching for a chef to coordinate with local farms, develop fresh meals and recipes and provide education for the nutrition staff. By investing in culinary expertise, we are not only bettering the school meal experience but also supporting local farmers, boosting our regional economy, and promoting public health, said Vernon Public Schools Farm-to-School Coordinator Kaylee Carlisle. Interested candidates can find more information on the districts website Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. Veteran organization offered services, resources at annual Las Vegas event LAS VEGAS (KLAS) U.S. Vets is giving back to those who served. The veterans services organization hosted its 18th annual Las Vegas Stand Down event, offering free services and resources to those in need. One of the leading (preventative measures for) veteran suicide, veteran homelessness, (and) veteran joblessness is their ability to access their benefits, Alexander Aldrich said. Aldrich is the Strategic Partnerships Manager for Veterans Benefit Guide, an organization that helps veterans obtain their benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 200 community-based organizations offered free access to housing assistance, legal services, clinical mental health services, meals, clothing, vaccinations, job counseling, and more. These are all local organizations who know they can either employ a veteran, or provide resources, or connect them to benefits, Shalimar Cabrera, Executive Director for U.S. Vets Las Vegas, said. From basic needs services like food and hygiene, all the way up to same day housing if theyre experiencing homelessness (and) employment on the spot. We have the legal courts here taking care of open legal issues. The event is everything veterans need, all in one place. A lot of our resources are spread throughout the city, veteran Kristina Borrayo said. People who need these resources may not have the transportation to get from the north side of town to the south side of town to the east side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Borrayo is a veteran who is now taking care of her veteran father, who was previously homeless and living out of state. Letting the veterans come to one location and get every single service that they could possibly need at that time is a big weight off their own shoulder, Borrayo said. That is especially true for veterans who are at risk or are experiencing homelessness. Las Vegas has a big community of homeless people and a lot of them are veterans, veteran Michael Bradley, who enlisted in the Army in 1976, explained. Veterans, especially women veterans, face greater risks of homelessness, as many face challenges transitioning from military to civilian life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A veteran is 1.5 times more likely to become homeless than their non-veteran counterpart. And then for a female veteran, its estimated almost 4 times, Cabrera said. With the threat of federal cuts to the VA, veterans and service providers alike say access is more important than ever. [Its] very, very, very bad, veteran Curtis Davis said. Very bad because right now. Veterans, we dont have a lot of the resources that we really need right now. The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to cut 83,000 jobs, slashing employment by over 17 percent. The federal agency provides health care for millions of veterans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taking out important programs that are funded by the VA disrupts that service to veterans, Cabrera said. Anything thats cut means that somebody is not doing an important service Lets not touch veterans services. Theyre already not getting access to their benefits as they should be. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. By Catarina Demony and Marissa Davison LONDON (Reuters) - With tears in their eyes, mothers of children who died in Brazil's worst environmental disaster - the 2015 Mariana dam collapse - demanded justice for their loved ones on Thursday as submissions in their London lawsuit came to an end. Nineteen people were killed when the Mariana dam in southeastern Brazil collapsed and unleashed a wave of toxic sludge, leaving thousands homeless, flooding forests and polluting the Doce River. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The dam was owned by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and Anglo-Australian BHP, the world's biggest miner by market value. "It was the day that destroyed my life... the day that took away my son," Gelvana Silva, 37, said outside London's High Court. She lost her seven-year-old son Thiago in the flood. More than 600,000 Brazilians, 46 local governments and around 2,000 businesses are suing BHP over the disaster in a lawsuit worth up to 36 billion pounds ($46.63 billion). The lawsuit, one of the largest in English legal history, began in October and ends on Thursday with closing submissions. Tom Goodhead, CEO of Pogust Goodhead, representing the claimants, expects a decision this summer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pamela Fernandes, 31, lost her five-year-old daughter, Manu. "The memories of Manu are always with me... it's very difficult." Fernandes, who like Silva wore a T-shirt bearing her late child's picture, said: "I want justice so that I can be at peace, so that my daughter can be at peace." 'ACCOUNTABILITY' BHP says the London lawsuit duplicates legal proceedings and reparation and repair programmes in Brazil and should be thrown out. It also says nearly $8 billion has been paid to those affected through the Renova Foundation, with around $1.7 billion going to claimants involved in the English case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement BHP argues it did not own or operate the dam, which held mining waste known as tailings. It said a Brazilian subsidiary of its Australian holding company was a 50% shareholder in Samarco, which operated independently. The miner also said it had no knowledge the dam's stability was compromised before it collapsed. The Brazilian government signed in October a compensation deal with BHP, Vale and Samarco but Goodhead has said victims of the disaster were not involved. Goodhead said on Thursday the trial was about accountability. "If the company is convicted, it will be the biggest victory for us... it would have been worth waiting ten years," Silva added. ($1 = 0.7721 pounds) (Reporting by Catarina Demony and Marissa Davison; Editing by Alexandra Hudosn) A Vietnamese national living in Braintree has pleaded guilty to stealing the identity of a dead 13-year-old for several years, eventually using the stolen name to become a Melrose firefighter. John Doe, also known as Truong Nguyen, 40, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement on Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper scheduled sentencing for June 12. Prosecutors identified the man as John Doe because his true identity was unknown at indictment. At the plea hearing, John Doe stated under oath that his true identity is Truong Nguyen, Foley said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doe was arrested and charged in May 2024 and released on conditions including an unsecured bond of $50,000. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. Prosecutors said that Doe stole the identity of his young cousin, Henry Huang, who died in 2002, to obtain a drivers license and passport, gain entry into the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, apply for work and ultimately get hired by the Melrose Fire Department in January 2024. Doe entered the United States from Vietnam legally in December 1979. In 1995, his status was revoked and he was ordered deported after being convicted of second-degree burglary in 1991. Although ordered deported, an investigation revealed that Doe was not physically deported to Vietnam. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doe is also accused of using the name Truong Nguyen. While using the Nguyen alias, Doe was arrested in 2010 for stealing more than $46,000 from the Norwell Firefighters Union while working as an officer of the union, according to prosecutors. Before being hired by the Melrose Fire Department, Doe obtained a Massachusetts EMT-Basic Certification under Huangs name, the criminal complaint showed. In March 2023, Nguyen submitted a passport application in person at the U.S. post office in Weymouth, presenting himself to be the dead victim, Foley said. For the application, Doe provided the victims date of birth and Social Security number, a copy of the victims U.S. birth certificate, as well a Massachusetts drivers license with the victims information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In June 2023, the Boston Passport Agency forwarded Does passport application and supporting documents to federal law enforcement, after verifying a death record for Huang, the dead victim, when reviewing the application. The Social Security number, date of birth and parental information provided by Doe in his passport application matched the records for the dead victim, prosecutors said. It was ultimately confirmed that Huang died in Boston in 2002 at the age of 13. The passport was not issued to Doe, Foley said. A subsequent investigation found that he used the victims identity to obtain and use multiple government-issued identification documents in the victims name, including Massachusetts drivers licenses in June 2018, January 2019 and April 2023, as well as a Social Security card in the victims name in 2018. Doe also used the dead victims identity to obtain an EMT-Basic Certification in 2021 and an EMT-Paramedic Certification in 2023, before going on to apply for employment as a paramedic, again using the stolen identity, prosecutors said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From November 2023 to January 2024, Doe used the dead victims identity to attend the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, prosecutors said. After graduating, Doe started working with the Melrose Fire Department in the name of the victim, where he worked until his arrest last May. Doe, while using the victims identity, was the subject of an RMV fraud hearing in August 2018, prosecutors said. A facial recognition hit determined that Doe had been issued Massachusetts drivers licenses under two separate identities that of an individual identified as Truong Nguyen issued in February 2018 and that of the dead victim issued in June 2018. At the fraud hearing, Doe claimed the victims identity was his true identity and presented a birth certificate and Social Security card issued under the dead victims identity. As a result of that hearing, the RMV closed the case, concluding that the victim was Does true identity and suspending his license for six months. However, the investigation found that Doe matched the identity of Nguyen and the individuals corresponding records which span from 1997 to 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the charge of false statement in a passport application, Doe faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. For the charge of aggravated identity theft, Doe faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison to be added to the felony committed while using the means of identification of another without lawful authority. Doe will be subject to deportation proceedings after serving his sentence. 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 SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) A total lunar eclipse will be visible the evening of March 13 into the early morning hours of March 14. A total lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes into Earths shadow. Angelo State Universitys planetarium director, Dr. Kenneth Carrell, says the eclipse will peak after midnight on March 14. That totality is from about 1:30 to about 2:30 a.m., Carrell said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To see the full effect of the eclipse, Carrell suggested going outside just after sunset and then going out again later during its peak. Youll see how bright the moon is normally and then in the middle of the night when its in the shadow of the earth, youll have that comparison to see how much darker it really is, Carrell said. Viewers will also be able to see more stars alongside the moon due to the darkness caused by Earths shadow. The eclipse will be visible across the Concho Valley, but for optimal viewing of the stars, its best to view from an area with minimal light pollution. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com. With warmer weather arriving, the most vulnerable among us have one less major obstacle to contend with. But homeless people living in Madison County will continue to face a host of challenges across every season. Finding enough to eat, adequate shelter, physical and mental health care and positive human interaction are among the everyday complications for most. Madison County residents have big hearts. Most of us want to help, but sometimes were not sure how to go about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats why the annual Point-in-Time survey is so important. Thats the one day each year a concerted effort is made to count the number of homeless people in communities across the country. This year in Madison County, during the Jan. 29 Point-in-Time survey, a different tactic was used to try to get a more accurate count. Instead of primarily sending volunteers out into the community to connect with homeless people, community events intended for them were organized at Restoration Church in Anderson and at other locations. This approach not only provided services for homeless people but also brought them out to be counted and their needs surveyed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the annual count, and government funding for communities to help homeless people is partially dependent on the count. Local officials expect the final number for the 2025 Point-in-Time survey to be similar to last year, when 164 people were found to be unsheltered in Madison County on PIT day. The final number for the 2025 count is expected to be announced in April or May. Amber Gordon, the Point-in-Time coordinator with Aspire of Indiana, said the survey asked homeless people where they slept the night before: outdoors, in a vehicle, in transitional housing with a friend or family member, or in a shelter. We had volunteers at multiple locations, Gordon noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The community has come a long way from a decade ago in better understanding the genesis of homelessness and in providing resources for homeless people. But we all see, anecdotally, that the problem continues to grow. The Point-in-Time survey helps add real data to the perceived prevalence of homelessness in the community. Its a stubborn problem thats not going away and one that has a profound impact across the community. The City of Andersons new Homeless Task Force has been formed to launch a concerted effort to tap more resources and seek new and innovative ways to give people experiencing homelessness a hand up. The task force could partner with the Anderson Christian Center and other organizations that provide services for homeless people. Pam Shoot, chairperson for the Christian Centers board, put it succinctly at a recent task force meeting. This will take our entire community, she said. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore, sang Dean Martin in the iconic song Thats Amore. And on March 13 or very early on March 14 (depending on your time zone), there will be plenty of amore in the sky with a total lunar eclipse. The moon will pass into the earths darkest shadow creating the appearance of a reddish hue. A total lunar eclipse is one of the solar systems best magic tricks, caused by orbital mechanics of the earth, sun and moon, along with the interaction of sunlight with the earths atmosphere. says Cindy Young, a research physical scientist at NASA Langley Research Center. No magic hats or white rabbits required. Young goes on to explain that this illusion occurs when the earth moves in between the sun and moon, placing its shadow upon the moon. The shadow cast upon the moon has a ruddy color, making the moon appear as though it has turned red, she says. Most people have the opportunity to see a total lunar eclipse in their lifetime. According to Kunio Sayanagi, planetary science team lead at NASA Langley Research Center, nine lunar eclipses are expected between 2025 and 2035. After this months lunar eclipse, the next one will occur March 3, 2026 for the western part of the United States. And the eastern region will experience it on June 26, 2029. However, this particular upcoming lunar eclipse is special because it can be viewed throughout North America. "The March 14 eclipse is the only total lunar eclipse in the next ten years that is visible from the beginning to the end from the entire continental United States," says Sayanagi. The last time a total lunar eclipse was visible from the beginning to the end from the entire continental United States was in January 2019. What is the best way to see and photograph the total lunar eclipse and when you can see it? NASA's Young and Sayanagi offer details on everything connected with the full lunar eclipse. Related: When Is the Next Eclipse? Plus, Astronomers and Astrologists Answer Your Burning Eclipse Questions What Is a Total Lunar Eclipse? A total lunar eclipse occurs when the earth moves in between the sun and moon and casts its darkest inner shadow upon the moon. At this point, the only light illuminating the moon has traveled through the earths atmosphere to reach it, says Young. She also shares that the particles in the earths atmosphere interact with the sunlight, effectively scattering light at shorter blue wavelengths, a process called Rayleigh Scattering. This phenomenon is also responsible for the blue sky and red sunsets, she adds. The longer red wavelengths are left to be refracted through earths atmosphere, causing the shadow cast upon the moon to have a ruddy color. So this effect makes the moon look red. What Is the Difference Between a Lunar Eclipse and a Solar Eclipse? A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in between the earth and the sun. From the earths perspective, the sun and the moon are a similar size in the sky, so it is possible for the moon to completely cover the disk of the sun, which happens during a total solar eclipse, says Young. The shadow cast on the earth by the moon in this case is very narrow and one must be within a couple hundred kilometers to view totality. A partial solar eclipse can be observed outside of this very narrow band, but still within the moons shadow. Meanwhile, a total lunar eclipse isnt the multi-sensory experience of a total solar eclipse but it is still captivating and can be seen by more people. During a total lunar eclipse, the shadow of the earth is large enough to cover the entire moon such that anyone who can view the moon at night will see the lunar eclipse, so it is visible to a larger set of the population, she explains. Related: 4 Zodiacs Encounter Destined Shifts During March's Eclipse Season What Type of Moon Will Occur During This Total Lunar Eclipse? A total lunar eclipse only occurs during a full moon. When Will the Total Lunar Eclipse Begin? The eclipse begins on March 13 at 11:57 p.m. EDT (March 13 at 8:57 p.m. PDT). But it will be very gradual and not very noticeable at first. The moon will slowly enter earths shadow and darken toward totality, explains Sayanagi. After totality, the moon will gradually emerge from the earths shadow and will look like a regular full moon by the end. When Was the Last Total Lunar Eclipse? The last total lunar eclipse was November 8, 2022. How To View the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse According to Sayanagi, the total lunar eclipse can be viewed from anywhere within the United States. "You can see the eclipse from anywhere in North and South America," he explains. "Just look up from where you have an open view of the sky, and look for the moon. Related: 3, 2, 1, Blast Off! How Long Does It Actually Take To Get to the Moon? What Time Does Totality Begin During the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse? The best part of the eclipse is called 'totality' which lasts for about an hour starting on March 14 at 2:26 a.m. EDT (March 13 at 11:26 p.m. PDT), when the moon will shine in a deep red hue, says Sayanagi. Is It Safe To View the Lunar Eclipse Without Any Protective Covering? Unlike the solar eclipse where people need protection to view it, people can safely view the lunar eclipse with the naked eyes without protection. What Is the Best Way To Photograph a Total Lunar Eclipse? A cell phone is ideal. We live in an amazing time20 years ago, we needed a high-end film camera with an expensive zoom lens and a beefy tripod to photograph a lunar eclipse, says Sayanagi. Now, many modern cell phone cameras are good enough to take nice photos. How you photograph it is up to your artistic sense. Zoom in to capture details of the moon, or zoom out to include the foreground, etc. There are many ways to have lots of fun. He also suggests adding effects by using a flashlight to illuminate the foreground. A lunar eclipse progresses very slowly, so you have a lot of time to experiment, he explains. A lunar eclipse is different from a solar eclipse in this aspect because the totality lasts for only several minutes in a solar eclipse. Also, a digital camera with an optical zoom of x30 or better will offer an almost-professional looking photograph. And if your camera is equipped with image stabilization, no tripod is needed. I recommend experimenting with the exposure settings to see how best to bring out more details, Sayanagi says. Generally, digital cameras tend to overexpose the moon so underexposing with a shorter shutter speed, will help bring out more details. How Many Eclipses Will There Be In 2025? Usually, total lunar eclipses happen twice a year. And they are visible from half of earth, whichever side happens to be facing the moon. The lunar eclipse in March 2025 happens just when the moon is over the Americas. Sayanagi predicts that the next total lunar eclipse of 2025 will be this September. But it will be visible only from longitudes between Australia and Africa, and not visible from the Americas, he explains. The next total lunar eclipse that will be visible from the United States is March 3, 2026 for the western United States, or June 26, 2029 for the eastern United States. Up Next: Related: This Month's Lunar Eclipse Reveals What's Destined for You Expert Sources: Charles Rudolph Walgreen Sr., son of Swedish immigrants, moved here from Dixon, Illinois, just as people from around the globe arrived for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition. Walgreen struggled, however, to keep a job that excited him. It took a near-death experience in Cuba while fighting with the Illinois National Guard for Walgreen to pursue a slower pace of life. What Walgreen found at 4134 Cottage Grove Ave., on the first floor of The Barrett Hotel, was a shabby, dimly lit apothecary owned by Isaac W. Blood. Though poorly stocked and short of customers, Walgreen realized the South Side stores potential. Through hard work and innovation, the 20-something saved up enough money to buy a partnership in the business. For a while it was known as Blood-Walgreen before Walgreen bought it outright and had the name C.R. Walgreen, R.Ph. placed in gold letters above the stores entrance. The year was 1901 and the establishment became the very first Walgreens location. Today, Deerfield-based Walgreens has more than 12,500 locations across the United States, Europe and Latin America. Last week, the company announced it is being acquired by a private-equity firm for $10 billion, which will take it private. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Tribune photo editor Marianne Mather looked through the Tribunes photo archive she realized that much of the citys history has been intertwined with the Walgreens chain. Heres a look back at some of what she discovered. Summer 1919: Race riots By then incorporated as Walgreen Co., the drugstore became popular in the early 1910s for its speedy drug delivery known as the two-minute drill in which the items were at a nearby customers door before they ended a phone call to the pharmacist and its elegant soda fountains that not only served fizzy, nonalcoholic drinks but also hot meals during colder weather. But it was a long, hot summer in 1919 that would give Walgreens and other local businesses a front seat to the citys most violent racial conflict that became known as Red Summer. Seventeen-year-old Black boy Eugene Williams was stoned to death on July 27, 1919, at 29th Street Beach at Lake Michigan after he floated into a swimming area designated for whites. Vintage Chicago Tribune : After race riots of 1919, a special report outlined many problems Chicago still faces today Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Williams death played a pivotal role in inflaming existing racial tensions that led to a weeklong race riot that left 23 Black and 15 white people dead. More than 500 people were injured and hundreds homeless due to arson. The 1919 riots didnt seem to make it into the timeline alongside titanic stories about Fort Dearborn, Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable, the Worlds Columbian Exposition, the 1968 riot, Richard J. Daley, or Harold Washington, wrote Eve Ewing in her book of poetry 1919. In fact, only a small marker on the beach near the spot Williams was killed commemorates the days of rioting that followed. April 7, 1933: Beer boom Walgreens introduced in April 1933 a perfume bar for women, which was believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S. The amenity joined chocolate-dipped candies and employee Ivar Coulsons chocolate malted milk shake which was invented in 1922 at the Loop store, 17 E. Washington St., before becoming available at all 33 outlets in 1923 as early Walgreens mainstays. But that same month, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act into law and the Prohibition era neared conclusion. For the first time in 13 years, thirsty Chicagoans could legally buy a beer and enjoy it in public even at Walgreens. 1945: World War IIs end Walgreens survived the Great Depression while opening four stores at the 1933 Century of Progress on Northerly Island and saw its first change in leadership with the death of Walgreen Sr. on Dec. 11, 1939. Charles R. Walgreen Jr., who had earned a pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan, was tapped to take over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Writing kits, comic sheets, playing cards and smoking tobacco were inexpensive options at Walgreens stores to mail to service members stationed overseas during World War II. But when Victory in Europe Day arrived, the drugstores closed for business on May 8, 1945, to celebrate with the rest of the city. Walgreen Jr. led the companys change to a new concept that was sweeping the nation post-World War II, called self-service retailing, where customers could choose products from shelves by themselves. Previously, most retail goods were kept behind the counters and store employees would gather products for customers. Stores were becoming larger and carried a wider variety of merchandise. Aug. 20, 1964: Largest store opens at Harlem-Irving Plaza By the early 1960s, Walgreens had established its own line of vitamins and supplements, packaged prescription medication in childproof containers and hosted a call-in show with a doctor on WBBM radio. Three generations of the Walgreen family were at the opening of the more than 20,000-square-foot outlet at Harlem-Irving Plaza the chains largest at the time on Aug. 20, 1964. September 1966: Fills 150 millionth prescription The fiscal outlook for 1966, according to Walgreen Jr., would be a very good year, he told the Tribune. With the debut of Medicare, Walgreens expected to benefit from a greater number of prescriptions filled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the companys 65th year, it expected to open 48 outlets and was recognized for filling its 150 millionth prescription. Oct. 29, 1979: State Street Mall opens and Walgreens location looks to benefit from foot traffic Mayor Jane Byrne was at State Street Mall (stretching from Wacker Drive to Congress Parkway, which is now known as Ida B. Wells Drive) on Oct. 29, 1979, to lay a ceremonial paving stone. A week of celebrations featured a polka band, dancing dalmatians, trick unicyclists and members of the Honey Bears, the cheerleading squad for the Chicago Bears, passing out chrysanthemums, the Tribune reported. Flashback: The State Street Mall, billed as a car-free shopping mecca, started with high hopes but ended in failure and bus fumes The city hoped that the $17 million project would revitalize the downtown shopping district and increase property values. Sept. 6, 1984: 1,000th store opens The opening of Walgreens 1,000th store at Dearborn and Divisions street on the citys North Side on Sept. 6, 1984, was attended by Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and husband-wife actors Cary Grant and Barbara Harris. The Tribunes Inc. column took note of Harris enormous sapphire and diamond ring and called it inappropriate for the 9 a.m. event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grant, then 80 years old, attended the event on behalf of Faberge, which was a major supplier of goods for the chain. The decade started energetically for the company, which filled its 500 millionth prescription in October 1980 and became the first drugstore chain to top $2 billion in sales, according to Pharmacist to the Nation: A History of Walgreen Co., written in 1989 by Tribune reporters and father-son duo Herman Kogan and Rick Kogan. March 2020: Coronavirus pandemic As Americans navigated shutdowns and the disappearance of goods like toilet paper and Clorox wipes from store shelves, Walgreens became a frequent destination for quick trips to buy face masks, household supplies and medication. Others booked appointments for their first COVID-19 screening or vaccination at the chain. Walgreens emerged from the pandemic, buoyed in part by its key role in providing COVID vaccinations for Americans yearning to emerge from lockdown isolation. The role of the pharmacist and local pharmacy is now more vital than ever, then-CEO Roz Brewer said in October 2021. Want more vintage Chicago? Become a Tribune subscriber: Its just $12 for a 1-year digital subscription Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks for reading! Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicagos past. Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com WOLCOTT, Conn. (WTNH) West Hartford police say a volunteer was arrested for stealing funds from the Wolcott School Parent-Teacher Organization. On Nov. 21, 2024, members of the PTO reported finding financial irregularities and potential misuse of finances. Police investigated the complaint and identified a suspect who was a volunteer and had criminal violations, authorities said. 7 more sexual assault complaints filed against U.S. Coast Guard Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jennifer McAdam, 43, of West Hartford, was arrested on March 12 and charged with larceny in the second degree and illegal use of a payment card. McAdam posted a $25,000 Surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court on March 30. Police ask anyone with information to contact the West Hartford PD tip line at (860) 570-8969 or whpdtips@westhartfordct.gov. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) The public is invited to begin voting on Friday, March 14- National Pi Day- on which pizzerias they think should be included in the Pizza Capital Trail, Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) announced. The trail is a collection of the top 100 most celebrated independent pizza restaurants in Connecticut, aiming to guide visitors and pizza enthusiasts to where they can get some of the best pizza in the country. Modern Apizza selling canned New Haven tap water Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Connecticut is known as the Pizza Capital of the United States for good reason, and our small state has many pizzerias that take the top spots in national rankings and food critics lists year after year, Lamont said. The Pizza Capital Trail is a chance for our state to celebrate the independent pizza and apizza restaurants that make Connecticut a destination for anyone who loves a great slice and an opportunity to let visitors know where they can get some of the best pizza theyve ever had. How to vote To cast a ballot, voters should visit PizzaCapitalTrail.com and select up to ten pizzerias from a list of more than 900 restaurants or submit a write-in vote for a spot that may have been missed. Voting ends May 1, 2025, and the Pizza Capital Trail will be unveiled in late September, just in time for National Pizza Month. Eligibilty To be eligible, restaurants must have a permanent brick-and-mortar location that can be featured on the Pizza Capital Trail map. Every independent pizzeria counts as one restaurant, regardless of how many locations that business may have. So, whether a pizzeria has one location or four, it will be represented as one entity in the voting and rankings. Final rankings State officials said the final rankings will be determined through a combination of public voting and an expert panel of 10 food critics and influencers, ensuring that both passionate pizza lovers and industry experts have a voice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more information about the Pizza Capital Trail, visit PizzaCapitalTrail.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. A participant in a Wabanaki Alliance rally on Indigenous Peoples Day at the Maine State House in Augusta. Oct. 9, 2023. (Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star) As the Wabanaki Nations continue to push for the sovereignty afforded to other federally recognized tribes, some of their leaders are concerned that a separate, longstanding effort to establish a state recognition process could undermine that work. But those who support creating this new path to recognition, including Republican legislators and some individual tribal members, argue the Wabanaki Nations ongoing fight for self-determination shouldnt factor into their efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wabanaki Nations the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mikmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation have federal recognition, which, in theory, gives them the right to self-govern and makes them entitled to certain benefits and federal protections. However, the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act has left the Wabanaki Nations with footing more akin to municipalities than independent nations. Overhauling that act is the fight for sovereignty Wabanki leaders and a growing number of bipartisan lawmakers have been pushing for years, though so far have only seen success with piecemeal change. The Wabanaki Nations do not have state recognition, though thats not as abnormal. Some states have adopted state recognition processes, affording non-federally recognized tribes a path to official acknowledgement but in a way that doesnt afford the same sovereignty or access to resources. Thats the type of process state Rep. Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan), along with several Republican co-sponsors, are trying to adopt in Maine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LD 813 would establish a commission appointed by the governor to review applications for state recognition. Tribes who are granted recognition would remain subject to state laws but it wouldnt afford them the right to claim land or conduct gambling activities otherwise prohibited by law. Though, Poirier said she hopes LD 813 becomes unnecessary because of her other bill, LD 812, which seeks to provide state recognition for a group called the Kineo St. John Tribe. That measure would afford such recognition without the processes detailed by the former bill. This group, formerly under the name the Kineo Band of Malecite, another spelling for Maliseet, has pushed for this recognition for more than a decade but legislative attempts have so far failed. This feels like a step backwards, Wabanaki Alliance Executive Director Maulian Bryant told Maine Morning Star about the state recognition attempt. We feel strongly about the validity of the federal process, and going through that. We dont want to complicate an already complicated situation thats been going on for over 40 years now while were trying to make progress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When faced with these objections during the bills public hearing in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Poirier asked, When will the timing ever be right? Two years, 10 years, 50 years? This isnt a valid reason to deny recognition. Poirier and the co-sponsors of these bills Reps. Joshua Morris of Turner, Shelley Rudnicki of Fairfield, David Boyer of Poland, and Chad Perkins of Dover-Foxcroft (who is only co-sponsoring LD 813) have for the most part voted against proposals to amend the Settlement Act, though Boyer has supported certain changes. They all opposed the most substantive change made so far last session through a law that now permits the Wabanaki Nations to prosecute more serious offenses committed on tribal territory by tribal members. These lawmakers varied in their support of another bill last session that would have allowed the Wabanaki Nations to benefit from more federal laws. Poirier, Morris and Perkins voted against the measure, while Boyer voted for it and Rudnicki was absent. Poirier, Morris and Rudnicki voted against the last omnibus sovereignty bill considered on the floor in the 130th Legislature, LD 1626, while Perkins was absent. Boyer was not yet a representative. Rep. Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan) presents two bills before the Judiciary Committee on March 12, 2025, about state recognition of tribes. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star) Federal v. state recognition The U.S. government historically granted federal recognition through treaties, acts of Congress or executive branch decisions. The regulatory process developed in 1978 created another path for recognition. . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Federally recognized tribes are not recognized on our race as Indigenous people, Bryant said. Its because of our political classifications. The regulatory process requires petitioning tribes to submit evidence that essentially shows that they have continuously existed as a tribe since historic times. The process often takes decades and requires considerable resources, both financial and through rigorous documentation. The Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation gained federal recognition as a result of a 1975 court case, Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, which established a trust relationship between the tribes and the federal government. It was the first step of the land settlement agreement of 1980, which then provided federal recognition to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. The Mikmaq Nation didnt receive federal recognition until 1991 after a long process of petitioning the U.S. government. Federal recognition remains the primary way tribes are recognized but some states have adopted their own processes largely as a way to acknowledge a tribes historic and cultural contributions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, some of these state processes have been criticized by federally recognized tribes for their comparative lack of rigor. They have fallen under particular scrutiny after a Canadian tribe asserted groups afforded state recognition by Vermont are not Indigenous and are instead appropriating their identity and culture. Vermont is now considering a task force to reconsider past tribal recognition decisions by the state. Bryant shared apprehension about such an outcome during the public hearing. The concerns within the Wabanaki Alliance are appropriating tribal identity and validity, maybe not the group in question right now [the Kineo tribe], but it could lead to groups down the road basically meeting a much lower threshold set by state government, Bryant said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Tribal Representative for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians David Slagger has been a vocal proponent of the state recognition effort since the first iteration of these bills in 2012 and has said he is a descendant of the Kineo Malecites. On Wednesday, Slagger called the current process convoluted with politics and greed. Instead, he said he wants to see a process that airs on the side of inclusion. The proposed process In her interview with Maine Morning Star, Bryant emphasized, We dont want to make this about the people involved. We really want to focus on the process. The state recognition process LD 813 seeks to establish would require tribes to submit documentation to a governor-appointed commission to prove several ways that the group is connected to the land that is now Maine and that its members are connected to one another, a model similar to that used in Vermont. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For example, this would include proving a majority of the applicants members currently live in a specific geographic location in Maine and that a substantial number of the applicants members are related by kinship, specifically by tracing ancestry to a kinship group through genealogy or other methods. The composition of the commission that would review documentation of these requirements was a key point of disagreement during the public hearing. It would be made up of five members appointed by the governor based on the recommendations of the Chancellor of the University of Maine System. The bill states that these members must be residents of Maine for at least five years and, as a whole, should have different areas of expertise and live in different geographic regions. Poirier told the committee this proposed composition is somewhat based on the process of other states as well as because the university has some experts on tribal history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bryant raised concern about the commission not including or collaborating with the Wabanaki Nations in making its determinations, which she argued could set a dangerous precedent of the state being the decider of who is Indigenous. While Poirier said she isnt opposed to members of the Wabanki Nations being on the commission, she purposefully did not write the bill to require such representation, because thats what weve been running into for the past more than a decade now, that its tribe against tribe, referring to historic pushback from the Wabanaki Nations of state recognition of a separate Kineo tribe. That tension is what Lisa Montgomery, a citizen of the Penobscot Nation who grew up on Indian Island, focused on in her testimony neither for nor against the bills. There have been intertribal tensions prior to European contact, and because of the European contact, which continues today, Montgomery said. I ask that you consider these comments and give at least the opportunity for healthy dialogue around the recognition of all tribal people who can establish their presence in what is now called Maine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While testimony often focused on the idea of acknowledgement for legitimacy, funding would also be in play. The Kineo Tribe is not requesting state funding, land claims or jurisdictional authority or the right to conduct gaming, Poirier said. They seek only state recognition, which would allow them to access grants for cultural preservation and economic development. The bill states that in addition to reviewing applications, the commission can accept funds from the state and federal government to be used for improving tribal social services, education, employment opportunities, health care, housing and cultural events. Vermonts law has allowed its state-recognized tribes to receive federal grants, school scholarships, sell arts and crafts labeled as Indian produced, and access free state hunting and fishing licenses and certain property tax exemptions. If the state wants to create tribes, will the state be on the hook for financial support for those tribes, or some sort of fiduciary relationship? Bryant said. We know being involved in legislative politics that theres always this tension over the budget and always this push and pull over resources. So is the state willing to step up and fund these groups should they ask for that down the road? SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Have you ever looked at the Lake Michigan horizon and noticed city lights that seemed to appear out of thin air? No, the lake didn't suddenly shrink, nor did the city beyond the horizon teleport closer. The illusion is called a "superior mirage" a phenomenon where shifting temperatures over the water bends light waves so people can see objects that are much further away. Earlier this week, TMJ4 meteorologist Brian Niznansky logged a superior mirage in a photo by a Sheboygan resident. Taken from banks of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan on Monday night, the picture shows twinkling city lights across the lake that would normally be too far away to see. This photo last night from Jayne Zabrowski of Sheboygan is probably a wild example of a "superior mirage." A temperature inversion over the lake caused light to bend causing you to see objects below the horizon. In this case are we seeing across Lk. Michigan to Ludington? pic.twitter.com/RunaWbyqqK Brian Niznansky (@BrianNizTMJ4) March 12, 2025 Here's what causes a superior mirage and when you can expect the next one over Lake Michigan: What is a superior mirage? Superior mirages happen when the warm spring air starts moving over the cold or even frozen lake, according to Milwaukee-Sullivan National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Sheppard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This creates a situation where warm and less dense air hovers above the colder and denser air on the surface of the lake, Sheppard said. The difference in density refracts, or bends, the light waves that travel through the cold air. For example, Sheppard said, imagine a lighthouse shooting a beam of light across Lake Michigan. Since the Earth is curved, the beam of light would normally appear higher and higher above the surface of Earth as you travel farther from it. "But under these rare atmospheric conditions, where the lake is extremely cold and the air is warmer, that beam would bend downward, allowing an observer on the other side of the lake to see that light," Sheppard said. "The same thing can happen not just with a lighthouse, but with the entire skyline of a city." When can you see a superior mirage in Wisconsin? If you missed the mirage this week, you're in luck: superior mirages are most common this time of year, when temperatures begin to rise ahead of spring, Sheppard said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When a mirage does occur, it should be visible from anywhere on Lake Michigan especially the shorter side of the lake, looking west to east from Milwaukee. As for when exactly they will occur, Sheppard said that's more difficult to pinpoint. "It is really tough phenomena to predict," he said. "Any day where the lake is extremely cold and you have that warmer air moving over it, that would be what you're looking for." Superior mirages also aren't confined to Lake Michigan. According to the American Meteorological Society, they are especially common on "enclosed bodies of water on warm afternoons when the warmer air from the surrounding land flows over the colder water." See more pictures of superior mirages Here are some more pictures of superior mirages in recent years, as logged by social media users in Wisconsin and other states: Did you see it? A strong temperature inversion over #Wisconsin this week produced an incredible mirage making the distant Blue Mound hill look like a massive mesa towering near the Capitol in #MadisonWI. More on the #science behind this unique #WIwx at https://t.co/yUmjOtMEiV pic.twitter.com/CNANgALjhs UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) December 4, 2020 This picture shows the Chicago skyline from the Indiana Dunes beach, across Lake Michigan. You can see it from 50 mi of distance due to a form of superior mirage, because the skyline is seen above where it's actually located [ u/wesskywalker] pic.twitter.com/N1EPA6jBlW Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 5, 2024 Superior mirage inverts Chicago over Lake Michigan https://t.co/N9epRxOoE7 pic.twitter.com/bkOngUWPxm Tony Rice (@rtphokie) March 23, 2019 More: Ghost ship found on Lake Superior's coast is latest in historic Great Lakes discoveries This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Superior mirage on Lake Michigan: Why cities look closer across lake BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) A Walker County Sheriffs Office deputy indicted in connection with the death of Anthony Tony Mitchell entered a plea of not guilty Thursday morning in Birmingham. On Jan. 22, a grand jury handed down indictments on Carl Lofton Carpenter and James Matthew Handley. Each are charged with deprivation of rights and witness tampering. These indictments are two of several former employees of the department and jail charged following the death of Anthony Tony Mitchell, who was arrested on January 12, 2023 and died two weeks later at a hospital following what his family claims was cruel and inhumane treatment at the jail. Walker County deputy connected to Anthony Tony Mitchell case suffers mental breakdown Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the indictment, Carpenter allegedly stomped on Mitchells genitals while he was handcuffed on the ground following his arrest. Additionally, the grand jury claimed that both Carpenter and Handley reportedly rammed Mitchells legs into the exterior of their patrol car and kicked him. On Thursday, Handley appeared at the Hugo Black United States Courthouse alongside his attorney William Dawson where he entered his plea. We entered a plea of not guilty and are looking forward to a jury trial, said Dawson. Hes not charged with anything that has to do with that jail. All he did, he didnt arrest the man, he just drove him to the jail. Didnt even get him out of the car. Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith confirmed that Carpenter and Handley were place on paid administrative leave pending a due process hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mitchell, 33, was arrested on Jan. 12 following a welfare check, where he reportedly fired a gun at deputies. According to a lawsuit filed by his family, Mitchell was subjected to harsh treatment by jail staff, allegedly being deprived of food and water for long periods of time, as well as being held in a frigid cold environment. In an autopsy report, the Walker County Coroners Office concluded that Mitchell died from hypothermia, sepsis and medical neglect. Since Mitchells death on January 26, 2023, eight former employees of the jai and a psychiatric nurse have pleaded guilty to crimes ranging from negligence to abuse. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) A state law adopted in 2018 has limited public access to most Walton County beaches west of Rosemary Beach. State law defines public beaches as any sand below the high tide water mark. The dry sand above that line can be privately owned. Walton is the only county in the entire state affected by the 2018 law. Chipola Area Habitat for Humanity starts new affordable housing project Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We could do a documentary on the customary use issue. Its been an ongoing, you know, a 10 or 12-year problem for Walton County. And its cost the county millions of dollars in legal fees and others, and its a drag on the tourist industry, Commissioner Danny Glidewell said. State Senator Jay Trumbull is trying to repeal the controversial law, allowing the public to walk, sunbathe, or picnic on beaches that were not declared private until after 2016. We have seen some bad actors since that law has passed where, you see unfortunate things like people putting security guards up on the beaches or, you know, walking down and having sheriffs deputies come and removing people from the beaches or telling people that you cant walk on this section of beach, Florida State Senator Jay Trumbull said. Walton County commissioners issued a letter of support for the Trumbull bill during their meeting Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All we did today was basically say thank you. You know, we want our representatives, as, you know, people on our county commissioners, to be responsive, and they were responsive, Glidewell said. Trumbull says people should have the right to access beautiful Florida beaches. Community celebrates Washington Countys bicentennial milestone We always talk about the free state of Florida. And, you know, I think having access for Floridians or visitors who come down and want to see the beauty that we have on the Emerald Coast and can be able to appreciate that and spend time with them and their families on the beach. Seems like a reasonable request, Trumbull said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill is currently in committee. The full Senate and House would have to pass the bill, then the Governor would have to sign it into law. If all goes as planned, Trumbull says that could happen by May. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president, sharply criticized President Trumps governance style and economic policies but said he takes some responsibility for this mess after losing the election in November. Look, I own this. We wouldnt be in this mess if we had won the election, and we didnt, Walz said in an interview Wednesday on MSNBCs All In with Chris Hayes. Walz called Trump the worst possible business executive that I have ever witnessed and praised the Wall Street Journal editorial board for calling Trumps tariffs the dumbest trade war in history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Minnesota governor said he thinks that sentiment is widespread and that Americans have had it with wealthy officials telling them they will have to endure some pain amid the presidents tariff war. He encouraged fellow Democrats to capitalize on Trumps unpopular policies and make clear that Democrats offer a better solution. We have to make sure that Americans know its not just that Donald Trump is bad, but were offering them something better, and I think thats what we need to work on, Walz added. Walz pointed to the Department of Education, which the administration has sought to dismantle, as a prime opportunity for Democrats to fill a knowledge gap with voters, and agreed with Hayess suggestion that the party, compared to Republicans, is too risk-averse in their political messaging and goals. Look, Im conservative. I believe that systems work for a long time, that you dont have to break them, Walz said. Are there improvements that need to be done? Yes, and I think were guilty of sometimes of not acting. Could the Department of Education be more efficient? Absolutely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Walz added that it makes no sense to eliminate the entire department. If you go ask the average American, what does the Department of Education do, they might not have a clear vision of it, he continued. So when Trump says, Its a bunch of bureaucrats interfering with your local schools. Give local [schools] control, well give you the money, it sounds pretty good, and we have not provided what that alternative looks like. Walz, a former educator, also zeroed in on the Education Secretary Linda McMahon saying, I bet shes never been in a public school. What is she going to do to improve our students outcomes and lives? Walz said. And theres a vacuum for us to fill. We should get out there and fill it. Talk about what were going to do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. HONG KONG Several Chinese trade unions have issued notices to companies to stop asking female job seekers about their marital and childbearing status, as women concerned about discrimination at work resist government entreaties to boost the national birth rate. Requiring job applicants to declare their marital and childbearing status has long been seen as a way for Chinese employers to avoid hiring women who plan to get married or have children in the near future. Employers shall not further inquire or investigate the marriage and childbearing status of female job applicants, read a notice from the state-backed trade union of Hunan province in central China that was posted last week around International Womens Day on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The notice also said employers should not limit recruitment to men, stipulate a preference for male job applicants or require pregnancy tests as a condition of employment. Similar notices were posted by unions in the southern industrial hub of Shenzhen and the northwestern province of Qinghai. The notices have been widely shared in recent days on Chinese social media, where users discussed the challenges that women face when applying for jobs. Female employees are expected to lie when employers ask about personal privacy during the job search process and give the employer a satisfactory answer if they really like the job, said a user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As much as some employers would prefer their female workers to remain single, women are getting the opposite instructions from the Chinese government, which has been pressuring them to get married and have children to help address the declining and fast-aging population. Women are being encouraged to embrace more traditional roles in society as wives and mothers, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has personally called on women to promote a childbearing culture. Some have rushed to adopt Beijings line. Last month, a company in China rolled back a policy that threatened never-married and divorced employees with termination if they were still single by the end of September following public uproar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The companys notice had criticized single employees for not responding to the national call. Despite women making strides in the workplace, achieving gender equality has been an uphill battle in China. It was only in 2012 that the State Council, Chinas Cabinet, prohibited employers from reducing female employees wages or terminating their contracts because of pregnancy and childbirth. In an effort to encourage childbearing, Chinese officials have rolled out a series of measures including subsidies, improved child care and longer maternity leave. Those measures have had limited impact on Chinese women, who cite fear of falling behind in their careers among the reasons they hesitate to have children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A third of women in the country still take less than the 98 days of maternity leave they are entitled to, according to a survey last year by the Womens Studies Institute of China. Though the trade unions notices were praised by some as a step forward for women, others questioned whether companies would take them seriously. Will there be any punishment for violating the rules? Most likely not, read one comment on Xiaohongshu. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Hamilton County animal control impounded the dogs involved in a Colerain Township attack Wednesday and cited their owner because they have a history of escaping from their yard. Two of the dogs remain in quarantine with Cincinnati Animal CARE after the pack of three attacked a man and killed some chickens while roaming near Northbrook in the afternoon. A Colerain Township police officer fatally shot one of the dogs and injured another after they became aggressive and charged toward him, according to a police department news release. Dog wardens made the decision to impound the two dogs because they have a history of escaping from their yard. The owner was cited with three tickets for failure to confine and three tickets for dangerous dog designation, Colina said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The injured dog is receiving treatment at an off-site veterinary hospital, while the uninjured dog is in a mandatory 10-day bite quarantine at a county shelter, Cincinnati Animal CARE spokeswoman Lisa Colina told The Enquirer. The three dogs, suspected to be lab and shepherd mixes, were licensed and up-to-date on rabies vaccinations and owned by a single owner, Colina said. Hamilton County Dog Warden Beth Ward was criticized by township officials after her deputies decided not to impound two dogs involved in an attack Friday because they were "too vicious" to take in. In that attack, two dogs severely mauled a woman and injured a man near Applevalley Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ward did not respond to a call from The Enquirer Wednesday asking for more information. More: Dog warden says there were no legal grounds to impound dogs in Colerain Twp. mauling Dogs bite about 17,000 people a year in Ohio severely enough to require medical attention or to prompt calls to law enforcement. Experts estimate the actual total is double that because so many bites go unreported. A joint investigation by The Enquirer, the Columbus Dispatch and the Akron Beacon Journal found that gruesome dog attacks happen despite warnings, complaints and previous attacks that went unheeded by dog owners and unpunished by the legal system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under Ohio law, the owner of a dog that disfigures or even kills someone is likely to pay a fine thats little more than a traffic ticket. The law also does not require that a vicious dog be euthanized after such an attack, even if it results in a fatality. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Dog owner in Colerain Twp. attack cited after history of dogs escaping WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) Warren Police are investigating a felonious assault involving what they believe was a beating with a brick. Not many details are being revealed at this time according to a police report, but officers were called about 9:15 p.m. Monday for a welfare check on a man the caller said was beaten with a brick in the area of Scott Street NE. The report said that further investigation led to the identity of a subject who was taken to the Trumbull County Jail on a charge of felonious assault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police did not name the victim or the suspect at this time, nor did they mention the condition of the victim. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) A Washington County man who made threats and racial slurs against a letter carrier and then six months later escalated his threats when he hit the letter carriers vehicle with his tractor was found guilty of Aggravated Assault and other charges. William Charles Franklin, 36, of Tennille, Georgia, was found guilty on all counts charged against him in the indictment: Obstruction of the Mails (Count 1), Assault upon a Federal Officer (Count 2) Aggravated Assault upon a Federal Officer (Count 3) Retaliating against a Witness (Count 4) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All this happened on March 11, following a two-day trial. In addition, on March 12, Franklin was found guilty of a Hate Crime Enhancement for Counts 2-4, an increased penalty. Franklin faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $100,000 fine for Count 1 and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for Counts 2-4. According to court documents, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) received a complaint on June 11, 2024, and began an investigation into threats and obstruction made by Franklin to a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier serving the Washington County area. Under the advice of the supervisor, the letter carrier recorded the end of a confrontation between him and Franklin, arguing about moving the letter carriers vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Franklin was recorded using racial slurs against the letter carrier and stated that his free speech was protected. The letter carrier was recorded stating that if he was off duty, such statements and threats would lead to a fight. Franklin responded that they could square up right then. The letter carrier said no because he would lose his job. Franklin can be heard getting agitated and aggressive with the letter carrier and issuing more salacious racist slurs about him and the community where he lives. The letter carrier told investigators that Franklin threatened to punch his face, run him over with Franklins tractor and call someone else to come to the location to bring a rope so that Franklin could drag him away. A family member corroborated that Franklin called to request a rope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Dec. 3, 2024, the letter carriers vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run with a green tractor in Washington County. The letter carrier observed the tractor come towards the USPS vehicle, and he pulled over to allow the tractor to pass. The tractor hit the letter carriers vehicle, destroyed a stop sign and fled the scene. Soon afterward, the Washington County Sheriffs Office and the USPIS discovered a tractor matching the description in a nearby field, its engine still warm with fresh damage. The tractor was registered to Franklin. In addition, two witnesses reported seeing a vehicle registered to Franklins wife come to the area immediately following the incident at a high rate of speed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Warrants for Franklins arrest and the seizure of his and his wifes cell phones were issued on Dec. 5. After reviewing Franklins phone, agents found where Franklin had saved the letter carriers picture following the incident on June 11. They found additional evidence that supported the finding that Franklins crimes were motivated, at least in part, by the race and color of the letter carrier. Franklin was taken into custody on Dec. 6. At his arrest, agents found two AR-15 styled rifles inside his truck and Franklin was carrying a loaded pistol. As Washington County Sheriff, I am proud that the diverse citizenry of Washington County works together for the good of our community. I am disappointed when I learn of criminal behavior motivated by racial animus, said Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran. I hope this conviction and sentence sends a clear message that those who commit such crimes will be held accountable and such behavior will not be tolerated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Westfield State University will host a discussion on the future of journalism featuring two of the nations most respected political reporters, Paul Kane of The Washington Post and Carl Hulse of The New York Times. White ribbons displayed along Park Square in Westfield to represent these women The event, titled The Future of the Fourth Estate: A Report from Washington D.C., will take place on Monday, March 24, at 5:30 p.m. in Scanlon Banquet Hall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The event is open to the public and will be moderated by Dr. Christopher Gullen, associate professor and chair of the Communication Department, Dr. Charles DiStefano, associate professor of Political Science and the director of the Master of Public Administration, Policy, and Civic Engagement program, will provide the introduction. Paul Kane (Courtesy of Westfield State University) Carl Hulse (Courtesy of Westfield State University) Kane, The Washington Posts senior congressional correspondent, has covered Capitol Hill since 2000. He began his career at Roll Call, focusing on the U.S. Senate, before joining The Washington Post in 2007. Since 2017, he has written for the @PKCapitol column, which provides analysis of Congress and its interactions with the White House. His work has covered major events including the COVID-19 pandemic response, the January 6th attack on the Capitol, two presidential impeachments, and President Bidens legislative agenda. Hulse, the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, has been a journalist since graduating from Illinois State University in 1976. He began his career at the News-Tribune in LaSalle, Illinois, and joined The New York Times in 1986. Over the years, he has covered Congress and the White House, served in multiple editorial roles, and currently writes the column On Washington. He is also the author of Confirmation Bias, a deep dive into the political battles over the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary. The discussion will explore the evolving role of journalism in a rapidly changing media landscape, the impact of misinformation, and the increasing polarization of political reporting. Attendees can expect insights into how major news organizations navigate these challenges while covering national and global events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Visit their website for more information about the event. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) The Robinson Film center is hosting a screening of the Academy Awards 2025 Best Picture winner Anora with a discussion led by RFC Education Director Rich Hansil. WATCH: Local filmmaker Chris Alan Evans inspiring story After scoring 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director, Sean Bakers Anora is coming back to RFC! the event stated. Join RFCs Education Director Rich Hansil for a special screening followed by a discussion about about the films recent awards journey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The screening will be held on Wednesday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Robinson Film Center, 617 Texas St in downtown Shreveport. Tickets can be purchased here, and more information can be found by visiting their website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. A police chase that began on a highway ended in a neighbors backyard, according to Georgia deputies. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Just before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jones County Lt. Kasey Carr spotted a car failing to maintain its lane on Joycliff Road. Thats when Carr activated his blue lights and tried to conduct a traffic stop. Deputies said the driver, later identified as Christopher Sergeant, began speeding down Joycliff Road to try to get away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dashcam video shows Sergeant making a right turn on Gray Highway, reaching speeds over 100 miles per hour. The sheriffs office said at one point, Carr saw a bag being thrown from the car. TRENDING STORIES: Sergeant continued traveling onto Graham Road and Huckabee Road. The JCSO said the driver traveled onto Highway 18 West, then continued driving towards the Gray Bypass. Deputies set up spike strips in front of Oakview Drive. The driver turned onto Oakview Drive and ended up at the dead-end of Crestview Trace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With nowhere to go, Sergeant drove behind a house before getting stuck. Video shows Sergeant hopping out of the car and running toward the woods. After a short foot chase, deputies were able to arrest Sergeant and the passenger, Kayla Zarecky. Authorities later learned Sergeant was wanted for parole violation out of Ohio. Deputies said the pair was found with marijuana, THC oil and suboxone. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Sergeant is facing several charges related to fleeting, while both will face multiple drug charges related to the incident. The pair is behind bars at the Jones County Jail. This is the moment Israel destroyed the home of a dead Palestinian accused of murdering a father of five. Aerial footage shows two large explosions in the lower storeys of the building in Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces said it was formerly the home of Ali Khalil who, along with other members of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell, shot at an Israeli car in the city in June last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amnon Muchtar, a 67-year-old who owned and operated a vegetable stall in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, near the border with the West Bank, was killed in the shooting. He leaves a wife and five children, and his son Nil called him a righteous man murdered by terrorists. Khalil was killed in a drone strike alongside seven other alleged gunmen, including Jamal Abu Haniyeh, in the West Bank town of Tulkarem in August. Israel has a policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of terror attacks. Footage showed soldiers drilling holes in the building before rigging it with explosive charges - IDF The military released footage of the raid, which took place early on Wednesday morning, showing soldiers using sledgehammers and drilling holes in the building before rigging it with explosive charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The IDF said on Thursday: IDF and Israel Border Police forces operated in Qalqilya and demolished the residence of the terrorist Ali Khalil. Ali Khalil and other terrorists carried out a terror attack in Qalqilya, in which the civilian Amnon Mukhtar was murdered on June 22 2024. Israeli security forces will continue to operate to thwart terrorism and hold accountable any terrorist who attacks civilians and security forces. The demolition comes amid a time of rising tension in the West Bank, with an increased Israeli military presence in the areas of Jenin and Tulkarem, among other places. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A Left-wing protest group has occupied Trump Tower in New York following the attempted deportation of a pro-Palestinian activist. Mahmoud Khalil was apprehended by immigration authorities last week after spearheading anti-Israel protests as a graduate student at Columbia University in 2024. Members of Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organisation in the world, on Thursday protested inside Trump Tower, which is owned by the president. Demonstrators inside Trump Tower - Yuki Iwamura Footage shows dozens of activists wearing red shirts outside the Trump Grill on the buildings ground floor, chanting: Free Mahmoud, free them all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Others shouted bring Mahmoud home now and fight Nazis, not students, according to clips circulated on social media. Many displayed anti-Israel signs and shirts, including the slogans: stop arming Israel, Jews say no to arming Israel, and free Mahmoud, free Palestine. Jewish Voice for Peace describes itself describes itself as the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organisation in the world - Yuki Iwamura Although most appeared to have gathered in the foyer of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, a handful had made their way up the golden escalators to the first floor. New York Police Department officers are on the scene. A police spokesman said on Thursday afternoon that as many as 200 activists had taken over Trump Tower but had since been cleared out by the NYPD. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers made arrests when demonstrators refused to leave, he added. Mr Khalil, who was born in Syria, is thought to be the first person the Trump administration is attempting to deport over un-American activity in anti-Israel protests on college campuses. Mahmoud Khalil is the first person known to be detained for deportation under Donald Trumps crackdown on student protests - Jeenah Moon The arrest prompted outrage from civil rights groups, who accuse Mr Trump of using the governments immigration powers to clamp down on free speech. However, his deportation was blocked on Monday by a judge as the court considers a legal challenge brought by his lawyers. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, claimed Mr Khalil had distributed leaflets on campus bearing the Hamas logo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have a zero-tolerance policy for siding with terrorists, period, she told reporters on Monday. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. President Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte around noon EDT Thursday. The meeting comes as Trump demands that European countries spend more on their own security, including the ongoing costs of supporting Ukraines defensive war against Russia. Rutte has sought to keep the worlds most powerful military alliance united as European leaders forge their own strategies for dealing with Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and Rutte are not scheduled to hold a press conference but are expected to speak with reporters in the Oval Office at the start of their meeting. Watch the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Dubbed the Trump whisperer, Mark Rutte is known for his tactful handling of the US president. Speaking to Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, Mr Rutte, the Nato secretary-general told him: The successful talks in Saudi Arabia with the Ukrainians, I really want to commend you for that. He went on to invite him to his hometown of The Hague in the summer. We will make sure that it will be a splash, he said. A real display of American power on the world stage. In the pairs first meeting since Mr Trump was inaugurated, they discussed Nato, defence spending, Ukraine and even Greenland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Trump insisted the acquisition of Greenland by the US will happen in the interest of international security, although Mr Rutte refused to be drawn into the argument. Mr Rutte said that he would not be involved in any question of Greenland becoming part of the United States, saying: I dont want to drag Nato in that. However, when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right, Mr Rutte said. The US president reiterated his pledge to take over the territory just days after a surprise election result saw Greenlands centre-Right Democrat party more than triple its seats. Credit: X/@RapidResponse47 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think it will happen, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House alongside Mr Rutte, when asked about his vision for the annexation. He pointed at Mr Rutte and added the Nato chief could be very instrumental in the move. You know Mark, we need that for international security... we have a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful, he said, referring to rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region. Mr Trumps threats to take over the resource-rich Arctic island have seen a global spotlight shone on the territory. He has previously refused to rule out the use of force to get Greenland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Greenland straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic and has rich deposits of the rare earth minerals needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology. The US presidents comments come days after Greenlands elections, with all the political parties, and the majority of the islands 57,000 inhabitants, backing independence although they disagree on how quickly the process should go. The Chinese are now using these routes. We know that the Russians are rearming. We know we have a lack of icebreakers. So the fact that the seven outside Russia seven Arctic countries working together on this under US leadership is very important to make sure that that region, that part of the world stays safe, Mr Rutte added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Nato countries for not meeting the current goal of spending two per cent of GDP on defence, arguing that the disparity puts an unfair burden on the United States. Last week, he warned that the US may not defend Nato allies who do not meet the spending target as part of a major shake-up of the alliance. It has also been reported that the Trump administration is redrawing Nato engagement in a way that favours member countries with higher defence spending. He is also said to be considering prioritising military exercises with member countries that are spending the set percentage of GDP on their defence. Mr Rutte and Mr Trump talk in the Oval Office Mr Trump told Mr Rutte that his actions since becoming US president have made the military alliance stronger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nato became much stronger with my actions, he said. Nato is stepping up. Mr Ruttes visit to Washington came as Vladimir Putin said he would agree to a short-term ceasefire in Ukraine, but suggested he would only do so on his terms. It would be a very disappointing moment for the world if Russia rejected the US-backed proposal on a ceasefire in Ukraine, Mr Trump said. Speaking from his seat in the Oval Office, he said: A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now were going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world. Asked about his relationship with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, and if he would meet him again, the president said: I have a great relationship with Kim Jong-un and well see what happens. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts The ongoing stalemate over extending a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas has 2 million people still trapped in the rubble-strewn Gaza Strip with dwindling medical, food, and water supplies. Last week the Israeli government cut off all aid into Gaza in an attempt to force Hamas to agree to its terms. This week, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen ordered all electric power cut off to Gaza, a move that affects a very crucial piece of remaining infrastructure: a desalination plant. In the throes of war, it can be hard to keep track of any one element of harm or destruction. There are so many places to look. But for people like Marwan Bardawil, his focus on just one thinghis jobis also his salvation, All the time, Im run away to the issues, to the professional life, to the work just to not keep thinking on the personal issues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For nearly 30 years, Bardawil has worked to grow and stabilize the water sector in Gaza. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, we learn more about the dire water situation in Gaza through the experience of one man who until now has managed to keep finding ways to get clean water into Gaza. The following is a transcript of the episode: Hanna Rosin: With every day that goes by, the cease-fire in Gazaif we can even still call it thatseems increasingly fragile. Arab countries have offered a plan. American diplomats met with Hamas. But so far, no agreement, and no consensus, and for the people in Gaza, survival is getting harder by the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About a week ago, Israel has once again cut off power, which is important because there are still 2 million people living in Gaza, and power helps bring them clean water, and clean water helps keep them alive. [Music] Rosin: Im Hanna Rosin, and this is Radio Atlantic. Over a year ago, we did an episode about a man named Marwan Bardawil. He is a water engineer in Gaza, someone who was regularly calculating inflows, outflows; reviewing plans; and engineering new ideas to keep Gazans with some access to clean water, regardless of peace, warwhatever is going on politically. And something about this bureaucrat, trying day after day to keep the water on, really captured the growing desperation of the war. Like, he was just an ordinary guy trying to do a job that was hard before October 7 and continued to get more impossible by the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When we finished that episode, Marwan was still in Gaza. Like thousands of Gazans, when the war began, he and his family were displaced from the north to the south. And then recently, Marwan made the difficult decision to move his family entirely out of Gaza and over to Egypt, where our executive producer, Claudine Ebeid, caught up with him to try to learn more about what leaving meant for him and for the future of water for the Palestinian people. Claudine, welcome to the show. Claudine Ebeid: Thanks for having me. Rosin: Claudine, theres so much happening politically at this moment, but I want to step back and talk about the Palestinians themselvesthe thousands who have had their lives upended during the war. I know many have left the country. What did Marwan tell you about why he decided to leave? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ebeid: Well, just to remind listeners, Marwan is 61 years old, hes a father and grandfather, and he and his family were living in the north of Gaza, which was where Israel first launched its retaliatory attack to the October 7 attacks. So five days into the war, under Israeli air strikes, Marwan, his adult children, and two of his granddaughtersthey flee the north on foot to the south of Gaza. Then, last summer, like almost a hundred thousand other Palestinians, he decides to flee once more, but this time from Gaza to Egypt. Marwan Bardawil: Im one of them: no house. And when you lostwhen your house has become a rubble, you dont just lose your house. You lost your house, your memories. So its justits like you moved having nothing; you lost everything. Just, you are here; its like you saved your body from physical death. Ebeid: Many people fled to Egypt in this little sliver of a window where the border was open, and people planned to get out through basically this companythis Egyptian companycharging US$5,000 for an adult and $2,500 for a child to get people out. So, you know, its not an altruistic endeavor. Rosin: Yeah. Ebeid: Ultimately, there were two reasons that really pushed Marwan to leave. From the professional side, he was starting to get pressurecounsel, I think, is the right wordfrom his boss that if he could get out, he should, because his work was really valuable to them, and they needed him alive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rosin: Oof. Ebeid: The second reason was this moment that he described to me, where he was driving in his car, and the car in front of him exploded. You know, shrapnel from the car busted through his windshield and injured his shoulder. And I think it was just too close of call. You know, when he described that moment to me, he said three weeks later, he and his familythey were gone. [Music] Rosin: How did water work in Gaza before the war? Because I recall from talking to him that it wasnt easy, even in the best of non-war circumstances, to keep water flowing. Ebeid: Its true. Water was never a sure thing in Gaza. Its a total patchwork of a system there. Basically, they have a combination of water sources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One is coming from Israel. Thats about 10 percent of their water, and that comes from three main connection points. The rest is coming from groundwater that gets treated. So the Palestinian Water Authority says that before the war, there were 306 groundwater wells as primary sources of water. They also have three desalination plants. Theyre situated along the coast, and theyre basically treating seawater. The output is not huge. And then they also have a lot of small-scale desalination plants and water tankers that are, you know, just kind of filling in the gaps. So its not an ideal system. You have a lot of moving parts. And the source water that youre starting with is already not a great starting point. Rosin: How much water did make it to Palestinians with that arrangement? Ebeid: The average person in Gaza was getting around 80 liters of water a day. And most Americanswe use about 300 liters of water a day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rosin: Oh. Ebeid: So thats what was going on before October 7. Rosin: Right, so that was the baseline before the war. Then comes October 7, and youve described the intense bombing campaigns that destroyed a lot of the north. How did that situation look in the eyes of a water engineer? Ebeid: So pipes are getting blown up, and teams are rushing out to try to repair what they can, what damage is happening in various locations, and they dont know what theyre walking into. We do know that there were two separate occasions in which workers who were either doing a water repair or heading to a repair were killed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So the conditions were really dangerous. And Im sure you and many people have seen images of the destruction in Gaza. And when I was in Egypt, Marwan shared some of his photos with me. Ebeid: (Gasps.) Oh my God. Its rubble. Bardawil: Yeah. Ebeid: This is the Palestinian Water Authority office in Gaza? Bardawil: In Gaza, yes. Ebeid: So the office itself got destroyed? Bardawil: Yeah, its destroyed. Ebeid: By the summer of 2024, almost every connection point, every desalination plant, every sewage station had either been totally destroyed or had sustained some amount of damage. Rosin: So what did that mean for the people who were trapped in Gaza? Because there were still about 2 million people there. How did that change their lives? Ebeid: This kind of massive destruction of water infrastructureit does not just affect the water supply; it also leads to diseases. So by the summer of last year, we know that about 600,000 cases of acute diarrhea were reported and 40,000 cases of hepatitis A. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And those are diseases that come from contamination of water and from having an open sewage system. And then around that same time, humanitarian aid workers become extremely concerned because they find that a 10-month-old baby has tested positive for polio. And polio is something that can spread through contaminated water. And this was the first confirmed case in Gaza of polio in a quarter of a century. So they go on a massive campaign to vaccinate kids for polio, and that campaign is still ongoing today. [Music] Rosin: Now were a few weeks into the cease-fire. Maybe its a precarious cease-fire. Its not really clear. Whats the current water situation? Ebeid: For most of the war, people were getting somewhere near 3 liters of water a day, which is so little, and that was for cooking, for hygiene, for drinking. After the cease-fire, in January, some people in Gaza were starting to get around 7 to 10 liters a day. Rosin: So a little bit better. Ebeid: A little bit better. You know, not a crazy jump, but it was an improvement. Last month, when I checked in with the Palestinian Water Authority, at least one connection point with Israel was flowing again, and one main desalination plant was reconnected to Israels power grid. And so that was helping. Rosin: Okay. Ebeid: But this week, as you mentioned, Israel cut off the electricity to that desalination plant. So its very possible the water situation could turn dire again very quickly. Rosin: Mm-hmm. Ebeid: I will say that Marwan and his colleagues at the PWA do have a six-month plan that they have started implementing during this cease-fire. Whether they can continue to implement that plan is really up in the air at this moment. Rosin: Even the fact that they have a six-month plan seems really important to note, because what that symbolizes is Gazans rebuilding for themselves, as opposed to the other visions, which are the U.S. or somebody else doing it for them, right? Ebeid: Right. Trumps vision is a Middle Eastern Riviera, as he called it. And in that plan, he talks about displacing all of the Palestinians that live in Gaza, and having them get absorbed by Arab countries, and then the U.S. taking ownership of Gaza. And, you know, presumably then whoever Trump wants to contract with will come in and rebuild Gaza. However, last week, Arab countries came together in Egypt, and they agreed on a plan that could potentially include the water authority. They say their plan will cost $53 billion. It would be one that calls for rebuilding Gaza in a way that doesnt displace Gazans, and it calls for a Palestinian government to manage the rebuilding. So that vision: very different from Trumps vision. That vision is a vision of Gazans rebuilding Gaza. Rosin: Okay, so theres all this destroyed infrastructure, and there are competing visions for how to rebuild it. How does Marwan fit into all of this? Ebeid: You know, Marwan has been building and rebuilding the water infrastructure for decades. You know, one of the reasons that I was interested in following him was that his personal life and his career really kind of let you see the track of what happened in Gaza since 1993. President Bill Clinton: On behalf of the United States and Russia, co-sponsors of the Middle East peace process, welcome to this great occasion of history and hope. Ebeid: The Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. And this was a really important moment. Clinton: We know a difficult road lies ahead. Every peace has its enemies, those who still prefer the easy habits of hatred to the hard labors of reconciliation. But Prime Minister Rabin has reminded us that you do not have to make peace with your friends. And the Quran teaches that if the enemy inclines toward peace, do thou also incline toward peace. Ebeid: At that time, there was hope. There was hope that this would be an area that would be able to govern itself; it would be able to build for itself; it would be able to think about its infrastructure for itself. And Marwans life and his career sort of map out what happened. [Music] Rosin: After the break: Marwan was right to be hopeful once, even though he wasnt working with all that much. What does it look like to push through this time around, with even less? [Break] Rosin: Claudine, Marwan has been working on water in Gaza for, like, 30 years. So he knows how to operate with very few resources, very little autonomy. But still, I bet in the early days, like during the Oslo Accords, in the 90s, the spirit of his work was probably really different. Ebeid: Right. Rosin: Did you talk to Marwan about this? Was there a younger Marwan who had a lot of energy and optimism, and was very excited about Gazans building Gaza? Ebeid: Yeah, you know, he was born and raised in Gaza, studied water engineering in Gaza, and left for a small time to go be a water engineer abroad. After the Oslo Accords are signed, he sees this as his opportunity to come home and to put his engineering abilities to work in Gaza. Hes there raising a family, and he describes, you know, the beginning as a very heady time. There was an idea that the Palestinian Authority was in charge, and that they were going to be able to build a water system. Ebeid: Can you remember that time? Bardawil: Of course I remember. And I remember we put a five-year plan, short term and long term, for the water sector in Palestine. And I remember that I was in a team that consists of 11 persons. We had seven male and four female. And we are sitting in a hotel, and the hotel is like an office, because there was no offices at the time. We used to work til midnight on a daily basis. We believed in the peace process. We believed that this process will continue and will end with something good. Ebeid: That was the part that just hit me in my heart. When he is describing to me, like, they are young; they are full of hope. And he talks about getting plans from other small nations so that they can, you know, get an example of: What are the lessons learned? What are the things that we should be thinking about? Could you imagine? Like, Weve studied to be water engineers, and now we get to, like, build our homes water system. Rosin: Thats an exciting thing. You get to do the thing that you care about most: bringing water to people, for your own people, in your own country. Thats a very powerful experience. Ebeid: Yes, but more than a decade later, in 2006, Hamas wins an election, and with that comes a period of violence between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Eventually, Hamas controls Gaza. But the Palestinian Water Authority was allowed, I should say, by Hamas to continue doing its work. I think this is because they knew that the PWA knew what to do. They had the engineers, and people need water. And Marwanhe essentially keeps his head down during this time. Rosin: What is it about him that justdid you get any insight into that? Like, what is it about him that just is able to keep focused on the task in these impossible situations? Ebeid: I think Marwan is someone who feels a great responsibilitya great responsibility to the people of Gaza and also to his own family. Bardawil: I am talking about myself. All the time, Im run away to the issues, to the professional life, to the work just to not keep thinking on the personal issues, because its like, you will be burned by just thinking Ebeid: This is, like, your safe place, is to think about the water issues? Bardawil: Yes, this is the safest. Ebeid: I think it is a safe place to be to think about the thing that you have control over and you know what to do. And its based on plans, and its based on equations, and yes, sometimes its based on diplomatic effort and trying to get other countries to help you. But its all in service of something that is a clear human necessity, which is water. And that is not something, to him, that is political. And yet, we are at this moment where politics will be the determining factor of whether people in Gaza will have access to water. [Music] Ebeid: Marwan is still working in what capacity he can for the water sector in Gaza from Cairo, but how long that will last is unknown. When and if Palestinians like him will be able to go back to Gaza is unknown. And the precariousness of this political moment for Gaza its really hard to overstate. Rosin: Claudine, thank you so much for coming on. Ebeid: Yeah. Thanks for having me to talk about this. [Music] Rosin: This episode of Radio Atlantic was produced by Jocelyn Frank. It was edited by Andrea Valdez, engineered by Erica Huang, and fact-checked by Sam Fentress. Claudine Ebeid is the executive producer of Atlantic audio, and Andrea Valdez is our managing editor. Im Hanna Rosin. Thank you for listening. *Lead image credit: Illustration by Mel Haasch. Sources: Mahmud Hams / AFP / Getty; Mohammed Abed / AFP / Getty; Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. Article originally published at The Atlantic When President Trump called for the federal government to maximize water deliveries in California, commanders of the Army Corps of Engineers quickly found two dams where they could carry out that order. And even though the officials knew the water couldnt be moved out of the Central Vally as Trump wished, they released billions of gallons anyway, according to a newly released government document. The Feb. 3 memo by Col. Chad Caldwell, the corps regional commander, provides the most detailed account to date of how the agency responded to Trumps order directing federal agencies to increase water deliveries in California. The document recounts how corps officials suddenly decided to dump water from the dams in January, and how they encountered questions and opposition from local water managers and lawmakers, who were concerned that letting out water didnt make sense and that the high flows posed risks of flooding. It was cavalier and an extremely high-risk decision, and wasteful, said Ann Willis, California regional director of American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Willis, who worked for the corps in 2007 and 2008, said there was no reason to dump water that farmers and cities were depending on, and that releasing water unexpectedly like this could have unleashed flooding and put people at risk. To intentionally create a situation where that could have been the outcome, it's depraved and mind-blowing, Willis said. Indeed, many California water officials and experts agreed that the plan had the potential to be ruinous. Local water managers pushed back when they learned of the plan by corps officials to release water from the dams, telling the agency that the water wasnt needed this time of year and that the abrupt surge of water could do damage. In response to the concerns, the memo says, federal officials scaled back their initial plan and released significantly less water than they had originally intended. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plan took shape five days after Trump issued his order. The corps on Jan. 29 was tasked to review existing authorities and water levels within our area of responsibility, wrote Caldwell, who leads the agencys Sacramento District The goal: Trump had said he intended to increase the flow of water to the Los Angeles area after the devastating wildfires. But that idea clashed with inconvenient realities. L.A. water managers said they already had ample water on hand for firefighting. And federal officials charged with carrying out the presidents order knew that the state not the federal government controls the aqueducts and pump stations that deliver water to Southern Californias cities. In his memo, Caldwell said the staff at the corps' regional office noted that the water held in two San Joaquin Valley reservoirs, Success Lake and Lake Kaweah, was available but could not be delivered to Southern California directly. Moving water to Southern Californias cities, he wrote, would require coordination with the state Department of Water Resources to pump water through a rarely used connection to the aqueducts of the State Water Project, and otherwise the water would remain in the Tulare Lake Basin where farmers typically rely on water stored in the reservoirs to supply crops during the summer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Caldwell said in the memo that he has authority to release water based on flood control procedures. And on Jan. 30, in conversation with Lt. Gen. William Butch Graham, Jr., the corps' commanding general, and Col. James Handura, commander of the South Pacific Division, Caldwell said he was tasked to release water from the two dams. The memo was obtained by The Times in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act. It was first reported by the Washington Post . Army Corps officials have not publicly responded to those criticisms, and declined to comment on the details in the memo. The document is titled Memorandum for Record, which under Army regulations is to show the authority or basis for an action taken. According to the memo, after the plan was decided, Caldwell began to inform managers of other agencies about the plans to release water. About 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 30, he called two other key water managers, California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth and Karl Stock, the Federal Bureau of Reclamation's regional director, both of whom indicated that it would take more time for them to activate their systems and they likely could not utilize the additional water with such short notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The corps team also contacted local water masters, including managers of agricultural irrigation districts that use water from the dams. Based on concerns raised by one of those officials, the memo says, the corps significantly reduced the initial estimated outflows. The area's water managers, who were caught off-guard by the decision, have said they convinced federal officials to let out less water than originally planned. Members of Congress and state lawmakers who represent farming areas near the dams also got involved. According to the memo, several lawmakers contacted the corps to ask why the water was being released as it was typical to reserve as much water as possible for the summer growing season. They included Reps. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield), David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Jim Costa (D-Fresno), as well as state Assemblymember Alexandra M. Macedo (R-Tulare). Caldwell noted in the memo that the legislators also expressed concerns from their constituents about potential flooding of downstream lands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The colonel said he affirmed that the water was being released per [President Trumps] Executive Order and that after consultation with local water officials, flows would be limited to safe levels that would not result in downstream impacts. After reading the memo, Willis, of American Rivers, called it troubling that officials of the Army Corps of Engineers did not feel that they could exercise their discretion to delay releases until the water could actually be used. On the evening of Jan. 30, Army officials began opening gates and releasing flows from Schafer Dam and Terminus Dam, sending water coursing through river channels near Porterville and Visalia. The flows increased during the night. By that time, local officials in Tulare County had scrambled to prepare. Denise England, a county official who manages the local flood control district, said she had learned of the plan to release water in an email earlier in the day of Jan. 30, and the sudden notification was alarming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was very unusual, and it was very concerning, England said in an interview. It seemed very unnecessary. England said people were on edge at the sudden prospect of floodwaters surging because nearly two years earlier, intense storms triggered major flooding in the same area, inundating thousands of acres of farmland and reforming the long-dry Tulare Lake . It triggered a little bit of anxiety because of the March 2023 storm events, England said. During those storms, floodwaters surged into the Tulare Lake Basin, submerging roads, breaking through levees and inundating farmlands, where workers rushed to move equipment to high ground. The banks of Tulare Lake on May 2, 2023. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) She said she was puzzled by a decision that made no sense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We were just scratching our heads. What is happening here? England said. Because everyone knew the water wouldnt be transported to L.A., she said, it was just creating a problem locally. Fortunately, she said, those who run water agencies reacted quickly. They managed to capture water from the swollen Kaweah and Tule rivers, routing flows to basins where the water percolated underground. Managers of agricultural water districts said they used the water to replenish the areas groundwater. It wasnt wasted. Water was put to groundwater recharge, said Aaron Fukuda, general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District. But if leaders of local agencies hadnt acted swiftly, England said, the result might well have been flooded farmlands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were able to put that water to use, which is great news, she said. A lot of people scrambled to react, and it didn't need to happen that way. On Jan. 31, Trump posted a photo of water streaming from one of the dams, declaring it beautiful water flow that I just opened in California. He called it a long fought Victory! He didnt mention where the water went. That same day, the corps decreased the flows from both dams after further coordination with local water managers to minimize risk of downstream impacts, Caldwell wrote in the memo. Later, on Feb. 2, a superior directed Caldwell and his team to reduce the flows from the dams to normal low levels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump had said on social media that within three days, 5.2 billion gallons of water would be released from the dams. But Caldwell said in the memo that by the time the operation ended, the total amount released was about 2.5 billion gallons. Democratic members of Congress have strongly criticized the corps over its handling of the water releases. Graham, the commanding general, was grilled about what happened by Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano) during an oversight hearing last month, and struggled to answer questions about the decision, saying: I don't know what happened to the water." Levin and fellow Democratic Reps. Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Laura Friedman of Glendale demanded answers this week in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, saying they are very concerned about the politically motivated, uncoordinated, unscheduled, and opaque water releases. They said the water flowed into the dry lake basin, sacrificing vital resources in a drought-prone state, and that the water should have been saved in reservoirs for use when its needed in the summer. It is vital that decisions related to water management be transparent and properly coordinated, the lawmakers wrote. Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla also criticized the unplanned water releases, saying there must be close coordination with local officials, safety personnel and agricultural water users to reduce flood risks, and that gravely insufficient notification was given, recklessly endangering residents downstream. The Trump administration has also come under criticism for ordering firings and buyouts at the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates other dams and water infrastructure in California. Employees said recently that the bureau, which employs about 1,000 people in the state, was set to lose about 100 employees through terminations and buyouts. But after managers of Central Valley water agencies warned that making such major reductions would jeopardize the agencys ability to safely and reliably deliver water, 12 of those employees some who already had been fired and others who had been slated for termination have been reinstated or retained, respectively, according to an employee who wasnt authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Were grateful that there has been movement to restore some of the reported staff cuts at the Bureau of Reclamation in California, Nemeth, the states top water official, said in an email. Those staff are necessary to operate Californias water supply system safely and effectively. Nemeths department confirmed she had received a courtesy call from the Army Corps of Engineers on Jan. 30, the day the releases from the dams began. But, Nemeth said, since then, the agency has not yet seen any details from the federal government about how they plan to implement the Presidents executive orders on California water management. The Trump administration's ongoing changes at agencies that manage water are occurring at a time when California's water supplies are in relatively good shape. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada remains smaller than average. But water levels in the state's major reservoirs stand at 112% of the historical average, and statewide precipitation is about average for this time of year. Times staff writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) As Texas and New Mexico are in their respective states legislative sessions, Oil and Gas regulations continue to be a hot topic especially for areas like the Permian Basin. CLICK HERE to watch the on-air version of Powering the Permian. Mike Dyson, CEO of Austin-based, Infinity Water Solutions told ABC Big 2s Chris Talley, the challenges in operating the U.S-based sustainability and water management company while regulations continue to differ in states like New Mexico, compared to Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Changes take effect July 1, 2025. To read more on Texas Oil and Gas regulation changes visit The Railroad Commission of Texas. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. DENVER (KDVR) The weather has been sunny and near the 70s this week, but winter weather is returning to Colorado, and you might need an extra layer of green if youre planning on attending the St. Patricks Day Parade in Denver on Saturday. The weather hit the 70s at the start of March, but a system is heading into the state and a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day has been issued for Friday as snow falls over the Palmer Divide and the Eastern Plains. Denver wont see any snow, but rain and strong winds will stay through Friday. Timing, totals, impacts of Fridays winter storm in Denver Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Luckily, the weather should clear up in time for the parade, which starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, although winds and a possible flurry could still join those heading through downtown Denver. Forecast for St. Patricks Day parade (KDVR) The Pinpoint Weather team said Denver highs will be in the upper 40s with partly cloudy skies, but by the time the parade starts, the weather should be just above freezing, so be sure you have warm clothes. After the parade kicks off, it should warm up and hit just over 40 degrees by 11 a.m. However, that warmth also comes with winds, as the Pinpoint Weather team is tracking winds to pick up after noon. While it will be windy, it wont be nearly as windy as Friday, which is expecting gusts between 30-40 mph. FOX31 Weather: View the latest Denver forecasts, maps and radar Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pinpoint Weather team is also tracking a possible light flurry around noon, which is when many people will be celebrating with St. Patricks Day festivities. While you might need more than a green tee shirt on Saturday, it will get warmer heading into St. Patricks Day on Monday. Sunday brings back sunshine to the forecast with highs near 60 degrees. Then Monday starts the workweek with mainly sunny skies and highs near the 70-degree mark. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. After weeks of cryptic teases, Sleep Token has revealed what fans suspected. The melodic British metal group will release its fourth album, Even in Arcadia, in May and will head out on a 17-date North American tour in support of the release. The new music arrives on May 9, months before the fall tour brings them to the Target Center in Minneapolis. Sleep TokenPhoto by Andy Ford Even in Arcadia is the follow-up to 2023's breakout, Take Me Back to Eden, which saw the band transform from a unique act with a loyal following to a festival headliner. (They're headlining the Louder Than Life fest alongside bands like Slayer, Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones, and Rob Zombie.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sleep Token's tour will get going on Sept. 16 in Duluth... Georgia. But it'll make its way to Minnesota on Oct. 1 when the theatrical metal outfit lands at the Target Center. Along with the tour dates, Sleep Token shared "Emergence," the first taste of Even in Arcadia. Tickets are on sale to the public Friday, March 21 at 10 a.m. Related: Deftones will bring expansive tour to Target Center DENVER (KDVR) On Wednesday, hours after Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general supporting Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based law firm that has been involved in lawsuits against President Donald Trump, a federal judge blocked Trumps administration from enforcing portions of an executive order designed to punish the firm. Perkins Coie is a prominent law firm and has 71 employees at its Denver location, with another 19 locations around the globe. The firm was linked to Democratic-funded opposition research during the 2016 presidential campaign into ties between Trump, then-Republican candidate, and Russia. The coalition of states argued the March 6 order from Trump is an effort to exclude certain lawyers and certain viewpoints from reaching a court of law at all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weiser noted Wednesday in a release that a fact sheet that accompanied the executive order said the White House will not tolerate that Perkins Coie has filed lawsuits against the Trump Administration.' Colorado AG joins suit to stop Trump Administration medical research funding cuts Weiser argued that Trump is attempting to silence lawyers by targeting a law firm for doing its job. The executive order targeting the Perkins Coie law firm based on who it represents is a fundamental threat to our free society and the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, said Weiser in a release. This case represents a test of our nations commitment to the rule of law, to maintain a legal system that treats everyone fairly, and our ability to continue as a democratic republic. Thats why we are weighing in so strongly to make a stand nowbefore it is too late. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted the temporary restraining order sought by the firm, Perkins Coie, one day after it filed a federal lawsuit alleging its being illegally targeted because of its legal work. The judge said the presidents action sends a chilling message that lawyers can be punished for representing clients or advancing views unfavorable to the administration. Such a circumstance threatens the very foundation of our legal system, said Howell, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama. Our justice system is based on the fundamental belief that justice works best when all parties have zealous advocates. Perkins Coie called the judges ruling an important first step in ensuring this unconstitutional Executive Order is never enforced. We will follow the courts direction regarding next steps and will continue to challenge the Executive Order, which threatens our firm, our clients, and core constitutional protections important to all Americans, a firm spokesperson told The Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds show up to Rep. Pettersen, AG Weiser Lakewood town hall Perkins Coie says all 15 of its top clients have government contracts, and several clients have already ended their legal arrangements with the firm or threatened to do so. Dane Butswinkas, an attorney representing Perkins Coie, said keeping the order in place will spell the end of the law firm. This executive order takes a wrecking ball to the rule of law, to the principles that promote democracy, Butswinkas said. Its unclear if any of the 71 employees of the Denver office have had their security clearances revoked or other backlash from the President. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perkins Coie represented the 2016 presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trumps opponent, and also represented Democrats in a variety of voting rights challenges during the 2020 election. The firm made headlines in 2017 when it was revealed to have hired a private investigative research firm during the 2016 campaign to conduct opposition research on Trump. That firm, Fusion GPS, subsequently retained a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who researched whether Trump and Russia had suspicious ties. Trump had sued the law firm in 2022, along with Clinton, FBI officials and other defendants, as a part of a sprawling complaint alleging a massive conspiracy to concoct the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his administration. The suit was dismissed. The states joining the amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie included Washington, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. A key Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee shared concerns about CDC director nominee Dave Weldons vaccine views with the White House before his nomination was pulled Thursday morning. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was so troubled about Weldons vaccines stance that she shared her concerns with the White House, and she was not surprised that his nomination had been pulled. Weldon, a Florida representative from 1995 until 2009, has been critical of the federal governments oversight of vaccine safety. While in the House, he sponsored a bill that would have taken vaccine safety oversight from the CDC and created a separate Agency for Vaccine Safety Evaluation under HHS, and as recently as 2019 repeated the disproved claim that some children can get an autism spectrum disorder from a vaccine in an interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Murkowskis vote could have been the deciding factor in whether Weldons nomination would have made it out of committee with a favorable recommendation if Democrats opposed him in unison. The committee is split 12-11, so losing only one Republican vote could have killed his chances. Her comments to reporters came just hours after the White House pulled Weldons nomination, which Senate HELP was to consider on Thursday morning. Immediately after a committee vote on two Trump administration health nominees to head the FDA and NIH, HELP Chair Bill Cassidy told reporters there were not the votes to advance Weldons nomination. Axios first reported that Weldons nomination was being withdrawn. Cassidy declined to say whether he agreed with the White Houses decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spokespeople for HHS and the White House didnt immediately comment. Weldon did not respond to a request for comment, but in a lengthy statement to The New York Times, he said he received a phone call 12 hours before the hearing was scheduled at 10 a.m., informing him that his nomination was being pulled because there were not enough votes to get me confirmed. Weldon also wrote that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. then called him, and that the HHS secretary was very upset. He was told the same thing and that he had been looking forward to working with me at CDC. He said I was the perfect person for the job, Weldon wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldons statement also said that Kennedy said he had breakfast with HELP member Susan Collins (R-Maine), who told Kennedy that she was considering voting no. Weldon also said he believed Cassidy would oppose him. Weldon went on to suggest that the pharmaceutical industry could have been involved in killing his nomination. A spokesperson for industry group PhRMA didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Cassidy, Collins and Murkowski previously voted to confirm Kennedy, the longtime leader of Childrens Health Defense, a group that has argued the rise in autism rates is caused by vaccines. Like Weldon, Kennedy has linked vaccines with rising autism cases, though he said during his confirmation process that he was not anti-vaccine. Some Republicans, including Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who is a member of a newly formed working group to reform the CDC, had been enthusiastic about the Weldon pick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I thought what Congressman Weldon brought to the table was what you actually want in science, which is skepticism, he told POLITICO. And I would like to find somebody else whos skeptical of the process and the agency. The decision to pull Weldons nomination appears to have been closely held until Thursday morning. It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to him, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Mary Holland, president and general counsel for Childrens Health Defense, told POLITICO outside the hearing room Thursday she was very disappointed in the withdrawal. Kennedy founded the anti-vaccine group and led it until stepping down last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was a critical part of the team, she said of Weldon. Democrats, however, largely celebrated the news. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who had been critical of Weldon after the two met on Feb. 20, told reporters that his views on vaccines had been dangerous. She told Bloomberg earlier this week that she was deeply disturbed to hear Weldon repeat the scientifically rejected link between vaccines and autism a statement her office reissued Thursday. Dave Weldon is anti-vaccine, anti-woman and anti-science. He was not qualified to serve as CDC director, said Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee in the House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine said he had a productive meeting with Weldon in which the then-nominee disavowed his previous belief in a link between vaccines and autism. Kaines office confirmed the HELP Committee member met with Weldon on Feb. 26, nearly a week after Weldons meeting with Murray. He said thats not the case, Kaine said. He said there was original research on that that caused questions in his mind, but he basically said that has definitively been debunked, and he believes the science that it is not linked. Apparently he was saying things that the White House didnt like, and thats my understanding for why that got pulled back, he said of Weldons nomination. Beloved talk show host Wendy Williams has been having health issues since 2023. Following a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, Wendy was placed under legal guardianship. A judge ordered her moved to a locked facility for dementia patients. Recently, the star of The Wendy Williams Show filmed a documentary with TMZ about her situation. I happened to watch it just the other day. She seemed rational and coherent, although understandably frustrated with her situation. But the judge in her guardianship case seems to have taken Wendys documentary personally. Judge Lisa Sokoloff says shes tired of Wendys behavior and wants her moved to another, likely more secure, facility. Wendy Williams facing scrutiny from Judge Lisa Sokoloff despite mental competency test results Admittedly, Lifetimes Where Is Wendy Williams? documentary didnt show her in the best light. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TMZs Saving Wendy documentary shows Wendy confined to her apartment in an assisted living community, the Coterie. She did all of her interviews for the documentary by phone from behind the window of her fifth-floor apartment, which she calls a luxury prison. In her current facility, Wendy is not allowed to have a cell phone and cannot receive calls. There is no internet, and shes rarely allowed visitors. Most of the residents on her floor are much older and sicker than she is, so she has little human interaction. She gets no fresh air and eats all her meals in her room alone. It is cruel to keep anyone confined under such harsh conditions. My mother had dementia the last years of her life. She lived in a locked dementia unit, but she was kept active and engaged. I was able to visit and take her to lunch often, which she really enjoyed. After viewing the documentary, Judge Sokoloff sent an email to Wendys legal team. She wants the talk show host moved to a new facility. I have always contended that [Wendy] will be given the independence she can handle, she wrote. I question how well she has handled the independence she has been given. Wendy Williams passed a mental competency test with flying colors at Lenox Hill Hospital Wendys lawyer quickly responded that it wouldnt be right to move her to an even more restrictive facility. The isolation surely has an impact on her mental and physical health. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Multiple insiders believe the judge is angry about Wendy speaking to the media. The judge has repeatedly warned Wendy not to talk to the media. Why not? Has Wendy suddenly been stripped of her First Amendment rights? The judges reasoning was revealed in another recent email to Wendys attorney: Tell your client that if she wants a jury she should refrain from trying to poison the jury pool. On March 10, Wendy was taken to the Lenox Hill Hospital, when police were called after Wendys niece took her to dinner. Wendy reportedly passed a mental competency test with flying colors. Still undergoing testing, Judge Sokoloff wants Wendy returned to the Coterie. The hospital wants to discharge her, she wrote. [Wendys guardian] has facilities who, despite her behavior, are willing to assess her. She needs to go back to the Coterie until a new facility can be found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sources close to Wendy say shes terrified of losing even more of her limited independence. Theyre calling the judges reaction to her talking about her situation pure retaliation. TMZ Presents: Saving Wendy is now streaming on the free service Tubi. TELL US DO YOU THINK WENDY SHOULD BE RELEASED TO A LESS RESTRICTIVE FACILITY? The post Wendy Williams Health Update: Judge Lisa Sokoloff Threatens Restrictions appeared first on Reality Tea. WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (FOX 56) A West Liberty man is facing numerous charges following a sexual abuse investigation beginning in February. According to an arrest citation, on Feb. 19, Kentucky State Police was called to a West Liberty home and interviewed two minor girls and 56-year-old Timmy Keeton. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the interviews, one of the minors, age 16, claimed she had been raped more than once and had been sexually abused multiple times by Keeton. The other female, age 13, told KSP that she had been sexually abused by Keeton as well. After further interviews and investigation, KSP interviewed Keeton on Feb. 22, where he admitted to the allegations, including sexual intercourse and sexual abuse. Read more of the latest Kentucky news Arrest records show that he was booked into the Rowan County Detention Center and charged with: Incest Incest with a person less than 18 by a person three or more years older Third-degree rape First-degree sexual abuse (two counts) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes being held on a $50,000 cash bond, per court records. His next court date has not been confirmed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. WEST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) The West Peoria Liquor Commission has laid out new fines and punishments for underage alcohol sales. Mayor James Dillon said the changes were made at the commissions Tuesday night meeting to align closer with the Illinois state statutes concerning alcohol sales. The moves also come in the wake of a liquor store selling to underage patrons even after the store was bought by new owners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The citys new punishments are: Class A First offense: $1000 fine plus undefined lower suspension Second offense: $1500 fine plus suspension up to seven days Third offense: $2500 fine plus revocation of alcohol license Class B First offense: $500 fine Second offense: $1000 fine Third offense: $1500 fine Fourth offense: $2500 fine Fifth offense: License revoked Class A punishments are given for violations such as a sale or to a minor or employment of a minor. Class B punishments are given for things like health department violations or being open too late. In order to trigger the third offense threshold, a business would have to be found in violation of city code three times within a 1-year period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is a 12-month period in which the three offenses would have to be committed, otherwise they reset. Prior to this week, the mayor said, West Peoria had not changed its fines or regulations in at least 15 to 20 years. The store in question, West Peoria Liquors, is the newest incarnation of a business that has been there for decades and one that has long been known as the place to go within the Tri-County area to buy liquor or beer if you are under 21. The old name, Express Liquors, made the news last year after a lawsuit was filed by the family of a 15-year-old girl killed in a drunk-driving crash. The beer involved was allegedly bought at that store, and resulting court records listed dozens of prior infractions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was sold to new owners in January. Within a month, rumors began about underage sales again. The Peoria County Sheriffs Office did an undercover sting operation in early March where the clerk allegedly didnt ask the minor for identification. Dillon said the commission is upset that its happened again at that location. Were not happy, he said. Theyre saying that it was an accident, but, you know, all we can do is enforce what the laws are. The bottom line is they broke the law. Dillon said a hearing for the ownership of West Peoria Liquors is scheduled for March 20. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) has proposed treating more than 17,000 acres of forest land in the state, a move that it says is the only way to slow the negative impacts of the invasive spongy moth. FILE A Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar, perched on a dead tree. (Getty Images/sandra standbridge) The proposed treatment areas include a total of 17,328 acres in Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Morgan counties. The treatment would consist of the insecticides Foray 48B (BTK) and Mimic 2LV (Tebufenozide) and would be dispersed in May to kill caterpillars of the spongy moth (also known as Lymantria dispar or gypsy moths). The species is native to Europe and is invasive and dangerous to North America. Without the treatment, the WVDA says there could be significant defoliation in 2025. The loss of trees could impact West Virginias water quality, recreational experiences, wildlife habitat, and timber production in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cicadas returning to West Virginia in 2025: What counties will see them? According to the WVDA, the treatment has minimum effects on other insects and animals and is not likely to adversely affect any rare, threatened, or endangered species in those areas of West Virginia. Landowners whose property is in the proposed treatment area have already been notified and selected the treatment to be used on their land. Proposed spongy moth treatment area for 2025 (West Virginia Department of Agriculture) Similar treatments have been proposed in previous years, with more than 25,000 acres being treated in 2024. The agency is also taking comments from the pubic at ghoffman@wvda.us or jjohnson@wvda.us until April 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To prevent the spread of spongy moths and other invasive insects in West Virginia, like the hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash borer and spotted lanternfly, officials caution against the transport of firewood into or out of the state. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. WESTMINSTER, Colo. (KDVR) Westminster police are searching for a suspect who was caught on camera burglarizing an apartment. Investigators said the man broke into an apartment just after 1 a.m. on March 11 near 120th Avenue and Federal Boulevard. The area is in north Westminster near Ranch Creek. Police said the apartment was occupied at the time. Suspect dies after standoff with law enforcement in Elbert County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to investigators, the suspect moved around the apartment quietly while he cased the place. At one point, he helped himself to a snack, eating some food that was in the apartment. Then, police said he took a quick rest on the couch. The suspect eventually grabbed some electronics and a blanket and got away. Westminster police are looking for a suspect who allegedly broke into an apartment, took a nap and stole some items. (Westminster Police Department) Westminster police are looking for a suspect who allegedly broke into an apartment, took a nap and stole some items. (Westminster Police Department) Police described the suspect as a Hispanic man with dark hair and about 20 to 30 years old. He was wearing a white hoodie, pants and white shoes. He also had a white trucker hat with the word Boat Accessory on the front. If you have any information, please contact Westminster Police or the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers. Tipsters can remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Rhiannon Bowman and Jeremy Pasparage, both juniors at the Mount Pleasant Area Junior and Senior High School, are among nearly 100 students in Westmoreland County whove spent the last few months working to design and build a model vertiport. A vertiport is like an airport or helipad and would allow things like drones and other vertical take-off and landing aircraft to operate. This landing pad right here is where mail will be prioritized, and this landing pad over here will be for people, Bowman said while showing their model vertiport. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These aircraft can be used for public transit, delivering life-saving medication, or helping someone in an emergency. Going into cardiac arrest, if youre in a car crash, if youve overdosed on something and need to get to a hospital soon, thats what this is for, added Liam McCabe, an eighth grader at Penn Middle School. This competition had three top winners from the junior and senior high school level, and the middle school level. First place winners in each got a $500 scholarship for any sort of aviation class, as well as some other prizes. They want to look forward to the future, said Maureen Grace, Gifted Support Teacher at Mt. Pleasant Area Junior/Senior High School. They know they cant have the job their grandparents and parents had and they want to see whats out there and theyre very enthusiastic about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres also the potential that some of the ideas these middle and high school students came up with could be built right in Latrobe. We think its a great opportunity for us to be the prototype for what this is going to have to offer, and well incorporate their ideas as part of the concept ideas as we move forward, said Gabe Monzo, Executive Director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) Wichita Falls Police have charged another person involved in an alleged gold and silver theft, which stemmed from an investigation that began in 2024. Johnathon Roderick is charged with burglary of a habitation. In early October 2024, Texas DPS investigators contacted Wichita Falls Police about many silver coins being sold at various locations around Wichita Falls. New details released on ex-Wichita County DA staffer arrested for child sex crimes Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the investigation, a stolen vehicle was found in Cotton County, Okla. Law enforcement arrested the occupants and said they had a large sum of money and silver coins, but where they came from was unknown. Investigators set up undercover surveillance at a local gold and jewelry store, where they said Roderick and other suspects sold a large quantity of jewelry and silver coins. Detectives seized the items. During the investigation, investigators discovered that the jewelry and silver were stolen from a home on 8th Street in Wichita Falls. The alleged victim reported he inherited the house on 8th St from a family member. He said he discovered it had been burglarized, and numerous items, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, gold, jewelry, silver coins, and collectible coins, were missing. One of the suspects seen at the gold and jewelry store was questioned after he was found during a traffic stop. He identified Roderick as the person who sold the coins and told police Roderick was currently jailed in Dallas County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police interviewed Roderick, and he admitted to knowing the other suspects and confessed that he had broken into the home. He said he used some of the coins to buy drugs and sold the rest at the gold exchange for approximately $12,000. He also admitted to returning to the home the next day, this time with another suspect, where more items were taken. He said another suspect picked them up and drove them to the gold exchange to sell the stolen property. His bond is set at $150,000. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. If you're planning to head outside overnight to see the total lunar eclipse, you'll likely have to wait for some breaks in the clouds to catch a glimpse of it. The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies after midnight in southcentral Pennsylvania, said Rob Radzanowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College. "Unfortunately, it's not going to be a clear night," he said. However, viewers might be able to catch glimpses of reddish moon during breaks in the clouds, Radzanowski said. He plans to go outside and take a look to see if he can spot it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They're pretty neat to see," he said. The next total lunar eclipse for Pennsylvania will be on June 26, 2029, Radzanowski said. Cycle of the March 13, 2025 total lunar eclipse. What is a total lunar eclipse? A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into Earth's shadow while aligning with our planet and the sun. When the moon is imperfectly covered by Earth's shadow as our planet passes between our natural satellite and the sun, it produces a partial lunar eclipse like the one that took place in September. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon moves into the innermost and darkest part of Earths shadow, called the umbra, completely blocking it from the sun, according to NASA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The moon, which does not produce its own light, shines because its surface reflects the sun's rays. Though the Earth blocks any direct sunlight from reaching the moon during a total solar eclipse, the sun still casts the Earth's shadow on the lunar surface. How to watch: The lunar eclipse is coming. Will York County be able to see it? When is the total lunar eclipse? The total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout the U.S. on the night of March 13 into 14. The website Time and Date predicts the moon will complete all of the eclipse phases in 6 hours, 3 minutes. If you live in the U.S., here's a schedule of the eclipse from start to beginning, according to NASA: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 11:57 p.m. EST: you can see the eclipse starting when the penumbral phase begins as the moon enter the outer part of the shadow and begins to subtly dim. 1:09 a.m. : A partial eclipse begins as the moon enters Earth's umbra and starts to darken. To the naked eye, the moon should look like a bite is being taken out of the lunar disk. 2:26 a.m. : Totality occurs when the entire moon is under the umbra. This is when the reddish hues of the "blood moon" will be on display. 3:31 a.m. : As the moon exits the umbra, the red color will fade and another bite-like display, this time on the other side of the moon, will appear. 6 a.m.: The entire process should end by this time as the moon slowly exits the Earth's penumbra. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Cloudy skies to hinder seeing total lunar eclipse in southcentral Pa. A House committee hearing turned explosive when Connecticut Congressman John Larson blasted genius Elon Musk for not showing up to a hearing concerning the cuts he was overseeing through the Department of Government Efficiency. The Connecticut Democrat criticized the committees GOP leadership, accusing it of following whatever President Donald Trump and Musk tell them to do, rather than acting independently. The hearing considered two resolutions put forth by Democrats, including one by Larson, asking for information into DOGEs plans. Chair Jason Smith responded by accusing the Democrats of attempting to undermine the critical work being done under Trump to root out waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My Democrat colleagues claim their concerns are about process and careful vetting, but the truth is that they have never found an ounce of government fat that they are willing to trim, Smith said. When it was his turn to speak, Larson lit up. Were an equal branch of government and you start off with a blather, and yet look at the empty seats here, the Democratic Congressman said, raising his voice at the Wednesday hearing. Rep. John Larson angrily calls out Elon Musk's absence during a House committee regarding DOGE (Rep. John Larson) Wheres Elon Musk? he said, pointing to empty chairs. Im sure hes a genius and a very credible person for the wealth hes accumulated but that doesnt put him above the law or the responsibility to come before this committee in this Congress. If hes so great, if these plans and all the fraud and abuse that hes found are so imminent, why isnt he here explaining it? You know why! Because hes out to privatize Social Security, said Larson, the ranking member of the subcommittee on social security. Hes been on television the last couple of days talking exactly about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and what he intends to do: privatize it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The American people some of them may have been born at night but not last night, he concluded. Elon Musk, DOGE boss, said last week that he sees entitlements as a big one to eliminate as he considers where to make cuts in the federal government (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) One day after Trump insisted he was not going to touch Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Musk told Fox Business Network that he was eyeing the Social Security Administration as his next target to make cuts. Most of the federal spending is entitlements, he said. Thats the big one to eliminate. Entitlement programs provide benefits that those eligible are legally entitled to. Workers, employers and the self-employed pay for the benefits with their Social Security taxes. The taxes that are collected are put into special trust funds. You qualify for these benefits based on your work history (or your spouse or parent). The amount of the benefit is based on these earnings, according to the Social Security Administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk has previously labeled the Social Security Administration as the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time. Roughly 69 million Americans retired workers and people with disabilities receive Social Security benefits each month. DOGEs mass layoffs, slashed contracts, and attempts to reduce the federal governments real estate footprint have caused chaos and prompted a string of lawsuits. The cost-cutting arm claims to have saved an estimated $115 billion, as of Thursday. Various reports have contested the agencys total savings. Larsons resolution would have requested the president, within 14 days, to provide documents, records, and audio recordings to the House related to Social Security Administrations systems used by Musk, Musk and his teams visits to the government agency, planned closures of agency offices and reductions of staff. The hearing and resolution come after a March 3 letter, signed by more than 150 Democrats, over their grave concern regarding massive changes to the agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans voted against both resolutions Wednesday. Shuttering field offices and gutting SSA staffing has nothing to do with governmental efficiency, the Democrats wrote. Staffing is at a 50-year low, despite serving a record number of beneficiaries. Years of understaffing and lack of resources have led to a customer service crisis at SSA. Closing the very field and hearing offices that beneficiaries rely on and gutting staff would only deepen the crisis, chaos, and confusion. China's centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have intensified their investment efforts in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to bolster regional development. According to a conference hosted by the Xinjiang regional government on Wednesday in Beijing, more than 40 central SOEs carried out 336 projects in the region last year, with an actual investment of over 280 billion yuan (about 39.1 billion U.S. dollars), a 63.7 percent annual surge. The investments span multiple sectors such as petroleum, natural gas, coal, new energy and transportation. Notable projects include a shale oil base that exceeded an annual production output of 1 million tonnes in 2024, marking a breakthrough in China's shale oil exploitation. Furthermore, the 22.13-km Tianshan Shengli Tunnel -- the world's longest expressway tunnel -- completed tunneling last year. Once operational, it will reduce travel time across the middle section of the Tianshan Mountains from several hours to just about 20 minutes. In 2025, over 40 central SOEs will invest more than 380 billion yuan in Xinjiang, said Chen Weijun, vice chairman of the regional government. Project cooperation will cover energy storage, intelligent computing centers, equipment manufacturing and medicine, among other fields. Central SOEs have played a pivotal role in promoting employment, improving livelihoods, and fostering industrial development and economic growth in Xinjiang, said Chen. Xinjiang's GDP grew by 6.1 percent last year, surpassing the 2 trillion yuan mark. As the region celebrates its 70th anniversary of establishment this year, it aims for strong social and economic development in 2025. With a feast day full of the color green, Irish dancing, parades, and beer, Saint Patrick is arguably among the most famous saints in the world. You dont have to be Irish or even Catholic to celebrate Irelands patron saint. Yet, for a faith steeped in the veneration of the remainsor relicsof saints, St. Patricks relics have been debated by historians, archeologists, and the clergy for centuries. Despite the large granite stone that marks the spot where his bones are laid outside Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, its not entirely clear if that is Patricks true final resting place. Essentially, this is tied into the cult of relics, Niamh Wycherley, a medieval historian at Maynooth University in Kildare, Ireland and host of The Medieval Irish History Podcast, tells Popular Science. Ireland was in the jurisdiction of what we would have referred to then as Western Christendom. The veneration of the saints, and then by extension the veneration of their bodily remains or of items associated with them, is just a fundamental part of Catholicism. Who was the real Patrick? While he didnt really use a drum to get all of the snakes out of Ireland, Patrick was a real person. He was a fifth century missionary credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. He was born in Britain and was captured and enslaved by Irish raiders when he was only 16-years-old. Patricks six years as a slave would reinvigorate his Christian faith and fundamentally change him. While he initially doubted his abilities as a missionary, Patrick returned to Ireland in 433 CE where he baptized and confirmed the masses. Most historical sources say that he died on or around March 17 in the year 461 CE. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The majority of what historians know about him come from two short written works. In the Confessio, he details his spiritual autobiography and his Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus denounces British mistreatment of Irish Christians. For me as a historian, the most important thing about Patrick is that we have surviving documents by him, says Wycherley. And despite that, most of our understanding of Patrick today completely ignores these two texts. I kind of find it funny and I think theres something really deep going on there. You can give someone a firsthand testimony of something, and it doesnt matter, people will believe what they want to believe. Fake news is not a new invention. Fake news has been around forever. The bone(s) of contention For historians and archeologists, this debate and the importance of relics and remains is not fully surprising. Humans as a species have a tangible pull to the remains of their dead, items of clothing, books, or other possessions of lost loved ones or icons. This kind of a veneration of the bodies of revered ancestors and respected individuals and communities, is something that cuts across a lot of organized religions, says Wycherley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Catholicism, churches all around the world hold relics of saints and even Jesus Christ himself that serve as places of pilgrimage and for a connection to the greater Roman Church. It was important for a church to have this tangible connection with their own patron saint, says Wycherley. Patricks church was in Armagh and in texts, it mentions that the Armagh church has relics from Rome. But what Armagh doesnt have in the seventh century is a tomb or the body of St. Patrick. The Mourne granite slab marking the traditional burial place of St. Patrick at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity also known as Down Cathedral in Downpatrick. CREDIT: Hugh Rooney/Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. In addition to being important places of pilgrimage, relics can bring in fame and quite a bit of profit and prestige to a church. According to Wycherley, churches have fought one another over the remains of saints and some relics were stolen. Armagh ultimately became the most powerful church in Ireland for many centuries, but it seems that maybe that wasnt necessarily a given, says Wycherley. There was a time period where maybe Kildare might have been the most powerful church. In the surviving texts from the 600s, Armagh seems to be trying to explain their way out of why they dont have the grave or the tomb of St. Patrick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historians believe that if the church really had access to Patricks remains there likely would have been a ceremony, where the bones might have been dug up from a humble grave and then placed into a fancy tomb or inside the church. [ Related: Ireland was once home to deer with massive 12-foot antlers. ] Propaganda, 1185 style The story that Patrick was buried at Downpatrick is also based on some propaganda during the late 12th century CEabout 700 years after Patricks death. In 1185, Anglo-Norman knight John de Courcy reportedly staged the discovery of the relics belonging to three saints including Patrick. He claimed to have dug up Patricks body and brought the relics into a new tomb at Downpatrick. While there is no way of really knowing if these were the actual bones of Patrick, the strongest evidence still supports that he was buried somewhere in Downpatrick. People have gotten permission to subject these bones to scientific analysis, which still wont tell you who the person exactly is, says Wycherley. But they can tell you if they are the remains of someone from that time period, what geographical area they are from. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The best account we have is the Life of St. Patrick by a scholar named Muirchu. This hagiographyor biography of a saintwas written in the late 600s. The hagiography is more of a religious work and not an account of Patricks actual life, its valuable for understanding the greater Irish church in the seventh century and Patricks impact. While we may not know the precise location of Patricks remains, his voice is preserved in his accessible writingswhether we want to listen to it or not. KANSAS CITY, Mo. Hickman Mills School District is being audited after a Whistleblower report suggested the school district misused school funding. Missing father Jordan Yust reportedly seen as early as Friday: deputies Hickman Mills School District president, Irene Kendrick, received a letter from the Missouri State Auditors Office requesting a number of documents for review including credit card statements and copies of invoices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a press release sent out Wednesday, complaints of a contract cancellation that resulted in a $1.4 million termination fee, was among the list of concerns. New Kansas bill introduced after sex offender attends school dance Each and every dollar we allocate to the education of our young people is vital. We want to make sure these funds are spent appropriately and not wasted on items that dont improve educational outcomes for students, said Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. An expense report from the school district, shows a purchase for Kansas City Royals tickets being made in March 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Olathe PD seizes illegal vape products at multiple Kansas stores In an audit report from 2014, the school districts overall performance was rated as Fair. Auditor Fitzpatrick is encouraging anyone with additional information into the investigation to reach out to the Whistleblower Hotline at (800) 347-8597 or by emailing moauditor@auditor.mo.gov. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. The U.S. military is reportedly drawing up plans to increase American troop presence in Panama at the direction of the White House part of President Donald Trumps goal to take back the Panama Canal. Since taking office in January, the president has vowed to reclaim the Panama Canal, which is currently operated by Panama, as part of his effort to improve foreign relations in what he believes is the nations favor. Part of that includes directing the U.S. South Command to develop plans that vary in proposals from the U.S. military partnering with the Panamanian military to a less likely scenario of America seizing the canal by force, officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Independent has asked the White House and Pentagon for comment. President Donald Trump has vowed to take back the Panama Canal, believing it is in the U.S.s favor. Now, come reports the military is looking at plans to increase troops in Panama (REUTERS) New efforts to increase military presence in Panama are reportedly part of the Trump administrations attempts to diminish Chinese influence at the canal, officials told the outlet. Although the canal is considered neutral and both nations have denied one country exerts more power over it, Trump has asserted that Chinese soldiers are controlling the canal and believes the Panamanian government is overcharging the U.S. for its use. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has consistently brushed off Trumps claims, calling them nonsense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trump has remained firm in his desire to exert more control over the canal echoing it during his joint address earlier this month. Already, the U.S. has begun inching more control in the Panama Canal area since Trump took office. Earlier in March, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate agreed to sell its stake in a subsidiary that operates ports near the Panama Canal to a group of companies, including BlackRock. The deal must be approved by the Panama government first. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also visited the canal in February and later falsely asserted that Panama was going to let American ships use the canal free of charge. However, after Mulino pushed back on that claim, Rubio clarified those were the U.S.s expectations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Panama Canal in February looking for ways to follow up on Trump's threat to take back the canal (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) More than 200 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Panama, though the number fluctuates, an unnamed defense official told NBC News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials told NBC News a potential option includes opening a military training camp in Panama to prepare U.S. troops in the event of a regional war or situation that would require the military to secure the canal. An invasion of Panama is highly unlikely and would only occur under serious consideration, officials told NBC News. The White House has withdrawn its nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nomination was pulled, according to what sources told The Associated Press, because it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation. Axios, which first reported the nomination would be dropped, said that his views on vaccinations were a sticking point. The former Florida congressman was supposed to have a confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday, but it was canceled. Axios reported that (Health and Human Services) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy himself said Weldon wasnt ready, quoting one of its sources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hearings are still scheduled to consider the nominations of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for National Institutes of Health director and Dr. Marty Makary for commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. AP reported that Weldon was not only an anti-vaccine activist, but was a prominent critic of the agency he had been nominated to lead. CDC promotes vaccines and monitors their safety. The Atlanta-based CDC, with an annual budget of $17.3 billion, tracks and responds to domestic and foreign threats to public health. Roughly two-thirds of its budget provides funds to the public health and prevention activities of state and local health agencies, according to Reuters. The White House has not said why the nomination was withdrawn. Republican Representatives Dave Weldon, R-Fl., left, and Donald Manzullo, R-Ill. speak to the media about the Schiavo bill they are trying to get through Congress, Sunday, March 20, 2005, in Washington. | LAWRENCE JACKSON The debate over public health is heated right now as the U.S. grapples with rising cases of measles and also of avian influenza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the first time that a CDC director must be confirmed. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., cosponsored the PREVENT Pandemics Act, which passed with bipartisan support and made the CDC director role one that must be confirmed by the Senate, starting this year. Murray has been an outspoken critic of the nomination of a vaccine skeptic to head the agency and issued a statement on the withdrawal of Weldons nomination, quoting what she told Bloomberg : In our meeting last month, I was deeply disturbed to hear Dr. Weldon repeat debunked claims about vaccines its dangerous to put someone in charge at CDC who believes the lie that our rigorously tested childhood vaccine schedule is somehow exposing kids to toxic levels of mercury or causing autism. Weldon is the third nominee who lost or left the bid to serve before a confirmation hearing. Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, opted out of his nomination for attorney general. Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff and politician who had been tapped to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, is the third who failed to make it to a confirmation hearing. (Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration withdrew the nomination of Dave Weldon for the top job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it grew clear there were not enough Senate votes to confirm him. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon, a physician and vaccine critic, was set to go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday morning. The HELP committee canceled the hearing less than an hour before it was set to begin. Afterward, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who leads the committee, said there were not the votes to confirm Weldon. Weldons interviews with Republican staff ahead of the hearing didnt go well, according to a person familiar with the process. Weldon seemed to lack vision or direction for the agency, the person said. Earlier, Bloomberg had reported that Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine had expressed concerns about his views on vaccines. He has previously spread debunked theories linking childhood vaccination to autism. As head of the CDC, Weldon would have been in charge of the vaccine schedule doctors typically follow to administer shots to kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon, 71, has promoted the idea that a once-common vaccine preservative has links to childhood autism. Weldon recently told Senator Patty Murray in a prehearing meeting that children may be exposed to toxic levels of mercury through the governments recommended immunization schedule. But the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, was removed from childhood vaccines in the US in 2001. After Weldons nomination was withdrawn, Murray said the Trump administration should choose a new nominee who at bare minimum believes in basic science and will help lead CDCs important work to monitor and prevent deadly outbreaks. Last-Minute Cancellation The nomination hearings cancellation came so late that a line of people waiting outside the hearing room had already formed. Committee staff told them the hearing would be canceled around 9:20 a.m., less than an hour before it was supposed to begin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One Republican senator on the committee, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, said he only found out that the nomination was pulled minutes before arriving for the hearing. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whos been a swing Republican vote on some of President Donald Trumps more controversial nominations, said he had not privately met with Weldon and was undecided on whether he would have supported him. I wasnt a hard yes, I was subject to his response to what I think would have been some pretty tough questions, Tillis said in the Capitol on Thursday. I dont like people to say vaccines are scary and risky, because the people that get hurt the most are people that grew up like me, where they dont have a lot of information. A spokesperson for Senator Cassidy said the White House decision to pull the nomination did not come at Cassidys request. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a conversation with Bloomberg earlier this month, Cassidy said he was not concerned about Weldons views on vaccines. Were both doctors. He understands the importance of immunization, Cassidy said of Weldon. In a statement to the New York Times, Weldon said he was informed that his nomination was being withdrawn Wednesday night. He also said he intended to investigate the CDCs conclusion that a preservative called thimerosal did not cause harm, and defended debunked claims questioning the safety of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. The president is a busy man doing good work for our nation and the last thing he needs is controversy about the CDC, the statement reads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Measles Backdrop The US is currently suffering from a measles epidemic thats already been linked to two deaths. Less than three full months into the year, the nations confirmed cases are approaching the 285 cases reported in all of 2024. The withdrawal of Weldons nomination didnt ease some health experts concerns, as he could have joined Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a powerful voice sowing doubt about the safety of vaccines. One possibility is that the Senate is becoming very sensitive to the negative press thats surrounding all of RFK Jr.s antivax activity and they didnt want more of it, said Paul Offit, a vaccine expert and professor of pediatrics at the Childrens Hospital Philadelphia. The second possibility is theyre just going to pick another anti-vaccine, science-denying conspiracy theorist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nonetheless Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University Law Center, called the decision to withdraw Weldons nomination a triumph of public health. Hes fomented distrust in vaccines and propagated a conspiracy theory of the link between vaccines and autism that is utterly unacceptable, Gostin said, calling him utterly unqualified for the role. Earlier Thursday, the Food and Drug Administrations top lawyer resigned two days after her appointment was announced, the agency posted on the social media site X. Hilary Perkins, who joined the Department of Justice during Trumps first administration, had come under fire from Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who posted on X that Marty Makary, Trumps nominee for FDA commissioner, was attempting to sneak a Biden abortion lawyer into top leadership at FDA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The nomination withdrawal was first reported by Axios. --With assistance from Damian Garde and Gerry Smith. (Updates with details from the hearing room, senators comments from the eighth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. The White House has declined to say whether US President Donald Trumps administration has any enforcement mechanism in place should Russia violate the US-proposed ceasefire with Ukraine. Source: CNN with reference to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Quote from Leavitt: "Well, that's obviously a grand hypothetical question that I won't comment on, because were not there yet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The current state of play is that the Ukrainians have agreed to a ceasefire, the Ukrainians have agreed to the peace plan that was put on the table yesterday [11 March] in Saudi Arabia by the secretary of state and our national security adviser, whom I just spoke with before coming out here." Details: Leavitt stated that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had spoken with his Russian counterpart earlier that day and that Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East, would be travelling to Moscow this week to urge Russia to sign the agreement. She added that it was now "up to the Russians to agree to this plan". However, Leavitt refused to say whether Trump planned to call Russian leader Vladimir Putin directly to pressure him into complying with the ceasefire. Quote from Leavitt: "I dont have a readout on the president's calls, but as the president always does, if that call happens, he will let you guys know." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Previously: US President Donald Trump said he had received "some positive messages" regarding a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Background: Following the talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine said it is willing to implement a 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia also adheres to it. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington will submit a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine to Russia and said he hopes Russia will accept it. He also said the US "will have contact with the Russians" on Wednesday 12 March. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Dave Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Florida, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A source familiar with the matter told The Hill it became clear to the White House that Weldon did not have the votes in the full Senate to be confirmed. The source said Weldon was informed Wednesday night that his nomination was being withdrawn. Weldon was to be the first CDC director subject to the confirmation process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The White House decision to abandon Weldons nomination represents a rare setback for the Trump administration, which has been able to wrangle Congress to confirm all of the presidents Cabinet picks, with the exception of his first choice for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who withdrew from consideration in November amid bipartisan criticism. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee announced it had canceled Weldons nomination hearing, originally set for 10 a.m. EDT Thursday, following the withdrawal. In a four-page statement, Weldon confirmed he received a phone call from a White House assistant on Wednesday night informing him his nomination was being withdrawn because he would not get enough votes. Weldon said he spoke with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was very upset about plans to withdraw Weldons nomination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon specifically mentioned Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and HELP Committee chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) as the two senators most responsible for ending his bid to run the agency. Weldon said he had a very pleasant meeting with Collins but then had a very hostile meeting with her staff two weeks later where he said they accused him of being anti-vax. More than Twenty years ago, while in congress I raised some concerns about childhood vaccine safety, and for some reason Collins staff suddenly couldnt get over that no matter what I said back, Weldon said in his statement. A person familiar with the meeting said Weldons depiction of what happened is incorrect. Collinss staff did not accuse him of being anti-vaccine, and instead asked how he would push back against an obvious Democratic line of attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, the person said any concerns about Weldon stemmed from his level of preparation, not his views on vaccines. He did not know the authorities of the CDC director and was not able to articulate his vision or priorities for the agency, they said. His plan was to go into CDC, meet with the heads of the departments, learn about their priorities and then make a plan, the person said. When pressed on his apparent lack of preparation, Weldon indicated he had been too busy with his medical practice to learn about it, they added. Weldon in his statement also said Cassidy had asked the White House to withdraw the nomination. A Cassidy staffer said Weldons accusation was not true. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement to The Hill, Cassidy said he had been looking forward to the hearing Thursday morning. I was surprised when Dr. Weldons nomination was withdrawn. His poor response to this situation shows that the pressures of being CDC director would have been too much, Cassidy said in a statement to The Hill. Weldon has come under scrutiny for his longtime promotion of anti-vaccine views. During his time in Congress and in the years since he left office in 2009, Weldon has raised questions about the safety of vaccines and their potential links to autism, a claim that has been debunked by numerous studies. He introduced legislation to remove the vaccine safety office from the CDC and led the charge to ban the preservative thimerosal from vaccines over autism concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldon has for decades maintained a friendship with Kennedy, another longtime vaccine skeptic, and is closely aligned with his views. Public health experts feared the damage Weldon could do were he to be put in charge of making vaccine policy at the CDC. Weldons hearing was set to take place amid a worsening measles outbreak in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, which has killed two people and infected more than 250. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) described a private meeting she had with Weldon ahead of his scheduled hearing, where she said he made it clear he thinks vaccines are linked to autism, and that the CDCs childhood vaccine schedule is exposing kids to dangerous levels of mercury. A vaccine skeptic who spent years spreading lies about safe and proven vaccines should never have even been under consideration to lead the foremost agency charged with protecting public health, Murray said in a statement following the withdrawal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While I have little to no confidence in the Trump administration to do so, they should immediately nominate someone for this position who at bare minimum believes in basic science and will help lead CDCs important work to monitor and prevent deadly outbreaks. Updated at 1:31 a.m. EDT. Brett Samuels contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The News The White House on Thursday withdrew the nomination of Dave Weldon, a former Florida congressman and long-time vaccine skeptic, to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The withdrawal, which was first reported by Axios, came just hours before Weldons Senate confirmation hearing; Weldon told The New York Times, they didnt have the votes to confirm his nomination. The former physician had faced scrutiny for suggesting vaccines are linked to autism, a widely-debunked theory. He has also repeatedly questioned the safety of the measles vaccine, drawing criticism amid the countrys ongoing measles outbreak that has led to more than 200 cases and two deaths. I actually give hundreds of vaccines every year in my medical practice, Weldon said in a lengthy statement responding to the withdrawal. He added that the concern of many people is that big Pharma was behind this which is probably true, arguing that pharmaceutical companies wanted to stop him due to his past history of investigating the industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weldons skepticism toward some vaccines led several Trump officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to privately voice concerns about the nomination, CNN reported, although Weldon has had close ties to RFK Jr. Know More The withdrawal marks a rare setback for US President Donald Trump in his effort to staff the new administration: Every other nominee that has been brought to a vote in the Senate has been confirmed so far. The only other nominee to have been withdrawn from consideration was former congressman Matt Gaetz, who himself withdrew his candidacy to be attorney general amid allegations of sex trafficking and drug use. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say whether or not the U.S. has enforcement mechanisms in the event Russia violates a potential ceasefire when speaking to reporters on March 12. Ukrainian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia for talks on March 11. At the conclusion of negotiations, Ukraine agreed to a U.S. proposal for a temporary 30-day ceasefire, so long as Russia complies with the terms. When asked whether the U.S. has enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure Russia abides by the ceasefire, Leavitt declined to comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Well, that's obviously a grand hypothetical question that I won't comment on, because we're not there yet," Leavitt told reporters on March 12. Leavitt confirmed U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart earlier in the day and that Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Moscow in the coming days to discuss the ceasefire. "The current state of play is that the Ukrainians have agreed to a ceasefire, the Ukrainians have agreed to the peace plan that was put on the table yesterday in Saudi Arabia," Leavitt said. Negotiations are now "on the tenth yard line of peace," Leavitt said, and it is "up to the Russians to agree to this plan." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leavitt did not confirm if U.S. President Donald Trump plans to call Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the ceasefire proposal. "(I)f that call happens, he will let you guys know," she said. Trump said on March 12 that American officials are already on their way to Russia to negotiate a ceasefire. It was also previously reported that Witkoff is expected to meet with Putin during an upcoming visit to Moscow. Read also: There will still be war Ukraines soldiers on ceasefire proposal, Russia, and Putin Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has expressed a desire to find common ground with President Donald Trump, but on Wednesday, she shared some of her harshest words yet his administration's policies. Asked about the Trump administration's move to cut about half of the staff at the U.S. Department of Education, Whitmer said that's not the only development out of Washington, D.C. that concerns her. She also expressed fresh fears about the impact tariffs will have on Michigan's economy. "You know we have built, I think, something to be proud of here in Michigan," Whitmer told reporters at a news conference in Livonia Wednesday. "But I worry that these things will set us back. And you know they're capricious, unfortunately. There doesn't seem to be a rationale that is a long-term goal. If it is improving educational outcomes, there are lot of ways to do that as opposed to crippling the department that does education. If the goal is to onshore and strengthen American manufacturing, that's a goal we can all get behind. But indiscriminate tariffs on our allies? They're going to put Michiganders out of work, it's going to hit the Michigan economy harder than any other state and drive up costs for consumers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Whitmer has previously said she doesn't oppose tariffs outright, she has repeatedly expressed concern about how they could impact Michigan's auto industry. Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports took effect Wednesday after he backed off a previous plan to impose a 50% duty on Canadian steel and aluminum exports. More: Trump EPA moves to undo Biden car and truck emission standards More: 8 Democrats join GOP in voting to urge MHSAA to ban transgender kids from girls' sports Whitmer told reporters Wednesday that she will go to Washington, D.C. to lobby for Michigan's interests. "And I'm hopeful people continue to raise their voices because they've got to hear us loud and clear," she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The comment comes after Whitmer told the Detroit Free Press Feb. 23 that Trump invited her to the White House and she said she hoped she could have the opportunity to talk about shared priorities such as a major economic development project in Genesee County's Mundy Township where Michigan officials have approved funding to prepare an advanced manufacturing megasite. While some Democratic governors positioned themselves as early leaders of the resistance to Trump's second term, Whitmer took a different tone after Trump's election. In a speech at the Detroit Auto Show Jan. 15, Whitmer said she looked forward to working with legislative leaders from both parties in Michigan and Trump. "Michiganders elected both me and Donald Trump twice, just two years apart. Every one of us swore an oath to the people we serve. And the people expect us to find common ground," she said. "Now, I don't want to pretend we're always going to agree, but I will always seek collaboration first. I won't go looking for fights. I won't back down from them either, because I'm not here to play games. Ive got a job to do." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. This story was updated to add a gallery. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer blasts Trump's tariffs, education department cuts Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democrats in the Michigan Senate spent Wednesday highlighting policies targeting Michigan's littlest residents, with the governor celebrating uptake in her free pre-k program while state lawmakers called for a massive expansion of Michigan's social safety net for families with young children. At the Livonia Early Childcare Center, Whitmer said over the last two years, enrollment in Michigan's free pre-K program has increased by 24%. She said 56% of Michigan four-year-olds are enrolled, calling it the highest share in over a decade. The data on the number of four-year-olds enrolled in free pre-K programs this school year comes from school districts' preliminary reports, according to a press release from Whitmer's office. But there remains a huge gap between the number of families with four-year-olds eligible for free pre-K and those with children enrolled in the program. In Michigan, those with a household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty guidelines ($124,800 or less for a family of four in 2024) can access free pre-k under the state's current budget. That covers about 77% of four-year-olds, according to a Michigan League of Public Policy (MLPP) analysis of census data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That leaves about a 21-percentage-point gap between the number of four-year-olds enrolled in free pre-K and the number who are eligible for the program under the current income threshold, according to the data provided by Whitmer and MLPP. Those with higher household incomes may access a free pre-k slot for their four-year-olds depending on availability, but the program gives priority to those below 400% of federal poverty guidelines. Whitmer said she wants to see more families take advantage of free pre-K. "Some parents choose not to send their kids or they home school and that's fine. But for everyone who is not doing that we want them to take advantage of this opportunity," Whitmer told reporters after a press conference in Livonia Wednesday. In addition to helping children, free pre-K also saves families money, she said. U.P. GOP lawmaker: Cash aid program is not 'just a flat out government handout' Democratic state lawmakers rolled out other policy proposals aimed at cutting costs for families. They unveiled proposals Wednesday to create a $5,500 tax credit for eligible working families with children under three years old. Those eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit would qualify for the proposed tax credit, which Senate Democrats have called the "Working Parents Tax Credit. Proponents characterize it as a way to provide support for parents and boost labor force participation, particularly of women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Democrats also proposed expanding a cash program for pregnant women and babies. Under the program, pregnant women, regardless of income, would receive $1,500 initially and then $500 every month during the first year of their baby's life. The program called Rx Kids started in Flint and recently expanded to Kalamazoo and parts of the Upper Peninsula. "When babies are born into and grow up in poverty, it is a pathogen. It makes kids sick," said Flint pediatrician and Rx Kids Director Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha at a press conference Wednesday where she joined Senate Democrats. "Rx Kids is a prescription for health, hope and opportunity." Republicans have eyed an income tax cut as a way to provide relief for families, introducing House legislation to reduce the state income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.05%. "So many families are struggling right now just to keep up with rising costs whether it's groceries, gas, housing, or child care," said bill sponsor Kathy Schmaltz, R-Jackson, in a March 5 statement. She suggested state government doesn't need all of the tax revenue collected from the current income tax and should put that money in the pockets of Michigan workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Republicans continue to support providing real tax relief to Michiganders and shrinking the size of state government," said Senate Minority Leader and GOP gubernatorial candidate Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, in a statement Wednesday responding to the proposals of Senate Democrats. Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Democrats eye tax credit, cash program for young families Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, lays out concerns the minority of House Democrats have about bills being changed and then fast-tracked through the legislature. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) FRANKFORT With few days left for Kentucky Republicans to veto proof their bills, Democrats say the supermajority is railroading through changes to legislation without giving lawmakers or the public time to consider the issues or consequences. Its unfortunately become a common theme, but its become much worse this session, said Rep. Lindsey, Burke, D-Lexington. We want Kentuckians to know that we reject this approach to governance, and were fighting for your right to simply know what your government is doing and to be able to voice your support or your concern. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burke spoke at a press conference called by House Democrats before the chambers convened Wednesday afternoon. She pointed to HB 775 a shell bill that in a days time ballooned from four to 107 pages proposing sweeping changes to state tax laws as an example of an appalling lack of transparency. Republicans rebuked the Democratic criticisms. We are in session for 30 days. This is day 26. The time is ticking, said House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, speaking on the House floor. I hear people complain about the process. Oh, its being rushed, Rudy said. Thats usually though when they just dont like the results of what it is were doing. Time and time again, Ive seen this body suspend the rules because, the process, we have to. House Republican Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, dismisses Democratic criticisms about the process of moving bills in the final days of this legislative session. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) On both ends of the Capitol Tuesday and Wednesday, Democrats sought to table bills, saying a pause would provide more time for study and consideration of what the bills would do. System flawed In the Senate, Democratic Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas, of Lexington, attempted to get support for motions to table two Republican bills updated in Senate Committees hours earlier House Bill 2, which would allow Kentuckians to sue the governor over taxes paid on gold and silver bullion, and House Bill 606, which deals with reporting requirements for some revenue bonds. But his motions failed in the GOP-controlled chamber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thomas argued the House bills could be heard on the floor Thursday, allowing time for stakeholders to review the new legislation. Thomas renewed his partys criticism of the Republicans rules packages adopted at the start of the session in January. At the time, Democrats in both chambers argued the rules would stifle debate and limit their constituents voices. I have said from the beginning of the session that I think your system is flawed, Thomas said. Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, right, throws up her hands as Democratic Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas, of Lexington, raises concerns about the legislative process. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley) Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, also chided Republicans for pushing the bills through quickly. She said before voting on HB 606, she did not get a chance to review the changes before coming to the floor. The Senate committee substitute for HB 606 added various appropriations, including for development projects across the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, staunchly defended the Senate addition to House Bill 2, which was made in his Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Wednesday morning to add a delay in state income tax filings for Kentuckians and businesses affected by recent statewide floods. Now Im not sure today why we are so obsessed with money that those who are most disadvantaged currently in our commonwealth enjoy the scorn of the minority party in this chamber, McDaniel said. But here we are. No way to fix a bill Meanwhile, in the House Democrats tried to get Republicans to table HB 775, what initially began as a shell bill and was replaced with a 107-page committee substitute that includes changes to the states tax laws to make it easier for lawmakers to incrementally lower the states income tax rate in the future. Several times as hastily approved committee substitutes to bills were being debated on the House floor, Democrats brought up complaints about the process which they said failed to provide enough time to understand the bills and the lack of public notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the debate on a bill to regulate hemp-derived beverages which was changed Wednesday morning for the second time within the last 10 days via a committee substitute Rep. Anne Donworth, D-Lexington, questioned the timeframe for unveiling a committee substitute Tuesday evening and then voting on it in committee Wednesday morning. We had a nine oclock committee meeting. That bill sub still was not available online at the time of the vote in the House Licensing and Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee, Donworth said. So people were still not able to see what it is that we were considering. Laura Leigh Goins, a spokesperson for the House GOP caucus, in a statement said the body has made great strides to ensure transparency and operates within the rules of the chamber and the legislative process. Claims to the contrary are nothing short of political grandstanding and always seem to accompany votes on issues the minority opposes, Goins said. House Republican Whip Jason Nemes (LRC Pubic Information) House Majority Whip Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, during a panel discussion Tuesday evening in Frankfort hosted by the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said the legislature is operating transparently. But he voiced support for publicly posting committee substitutes for bills at the time theyre provided to lawmakers, usually the day before being heard in committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Minority Floor Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson during the Wednesday press conference that she and Rudy had agreed to meet after the end of this years session to discuss how to make a more transparent process for moving bills. Minority Caucus Chair Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, said Democrats are raising concerns to try to ensure that stakeholders and the public understand how fast-moving bills are changing. That way, he said, the need to clean up bills passed in succeeding sessions could be averted. Without input from Kentuckians who stand to be harmed by legislation, Gentry said, theres no way to fix a bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Anyone following the on-again, off-again saga of President Trump's tariff threats against seemingly everyone in the world probably knows by now that tariffs won't be good for grocery prices. He is making a particularly wrongheaded move with his new threat to put tariffs on European spirits and protect American "Champagne." The announcement came through the president's personal social media network, Truth Social, in which he responded to a new European Union tariff on American whiskey by saying "If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER EU REPRESENTED COUNTRIES. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S." The whiskey tariff Trump is mad about is coming into force as retaliation for the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that the President put into effect against the EU this week. But putting aside everything else about this statement, it's worth pointing out that American Champagne won't benefit from these tariffs because there is no American Champagne business. As lots of people already know, Champagne can only be made in it's original home of the Champagne region in France, and anything resembling it produced in the United States and other countries cannot legally use the name. If it comes from anywhere else, it is sparkling wine along with some other protected names, like Italian Prosecco. And what makes Champagne isn't just about the label either. Read more: 13 Popular Kirkland Liquors At Costco, Ranked By Online Reviews President Trump Is Talking About Protecting An American Champagne Industry That Doesn't Exist Champagne barrels in cellar in France - barmalini/Shutterstock Champagne is only legally allowed to come from France due to a 2006 wine-trade agreement where the U.S agreed to honor labeling standards used in the European Union. In Europe, many products, including Champagne, are protected by D.O.P. labels, or Protected Designation of Origin. These laws ensure that certain products are only made with ingredients from their home regions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These labels are based on the idea of terroir, which means that the specific climate, soil, and weather of where wine or other products are produced affects the final flavor. Champagne must also be produced through a specific naturally carbonated method, and only with seven specific grapes grown in Champagne, France. But even if American producers were to copy these methods as precisely as possible, they still couldn't make any type of Champagne because they can't replicate the growing conditions of Southwest France. There is one exception for the labeling: American brands that were using the term Champagne before the 2006 agreement were grandfathered in to allow the label, so you may see "American Champagne" on bottles from Korbel or Andre, but for the reasons above it's not actually Champagne. So if you love Champagne or any type of sparkling wine from Europe, be prepared for much, much higher prices if this tariff goes through, with no American business set to benefit. Read the original article on Tasting Table. HONOLULU (KHON2) In the ahupuaa of Waikiki, which lies in the moku of Kona here on Oahu, stands a busy roadway named in honor of the only royal US congressman. We are speaking of Kuhio Ave. Lewers St, who is it named after? In Hawaiian, the word kuhio can be look upon as ku, meaning to stand and hio, meaning to lean or to slant. To some, the meaning of the name Kuhiois the one who leaned forward while standing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 10 Facts about U.S. placement on this watchlist: Impacts for Hawaii The street is in honor of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole who became Hawaiis second delegate to the US Congress. As the only US Congressman of royal decent till this day, Prince Kuhio worked to elevate the rights of his people. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You In 1921, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was signed leading to what we know today as the Hawaiian Homelands. Is the American Dream dead in Hawaii? New report reveals 8 issues As did many of the Hawaiian royal members, Prince Kuhio once lived in Waikiki. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At what is now known as Kuhio Beach once stood his seaside residence named Pualeilani. Prior to the prince, this land belonged to Queen Liliuokalani with what she called my pretty seaside cottage. What included a pier, the Queens shoreline property was named Kealohilani and once stood near the intersection of Kalakaua and Liliuokalani Avenues. Hooponopono with Kumu Earl Kawaa | Aloha Authentic Episode 505 In 1918, one year following Queen Liliuokalanis passing, Prince Kuhio obtained her property. Built adjacent to the Queens former pier, Pualeilani was the last space in Waikiki that remained to the royal family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1935, following a succession of tea rooms, the property was purchased at auction by the City & County of Honolulu. In the name of beach improvements, the city, the house and the Queens pier. Check out more news from around Hawaii Today, the area is known as Kuhio Beach. Did you know? Now you do! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. Aerial view of a flock of sheep grazing in a solar farm with solar panels.(Getty Images.) At a time when the future of our children demands a phase out of the fossil fuels that a firmly united global scientific community says are guaranteed to escalate in impact until massive droughts imperil the worlds food supply bringing levels of hunger not seen in centuries, the sad defeat of another Ohio solar farm is nothing to celebrate. Instead, the forced withdrawal of the Grange Solar Grazing Center is a true tragedy that must be investigated and brought into the light of day. The public deserves to know the extent to which Ohio solar projects are being manipulated by vested interests in favor of fossil fuel. The place to start is the appearance of Ohio Senate Bill 52. This was a bill that purported to allow more local democratic control over solar and wind siting decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In reality, this shift was a giveaway to a fossil fuel industry looking for a way to serve its profit motive by knocking out a competing energy source. Those interests saw it as an opportunity to pick highly vulnerable targets small towns in rural areas and then overwhelm them with sophisticated and well-funded disinformation campaigns aimed at manipulating public opinion. The classic example of this dynamic at work is Knox County, where the heavy involvement by the fossil fuel corporation called Ariel has been exposed by both a documentary and an investigation at the national level by the Pulitzer Prize-winning anti-corruption watchdog ProPublica reported in this news story. The strategy has been to identify a local concern and then twist that issue into one that serves the fossil fuel interest. The primary issue chosen has been the concern about preserving prime farmland. On the surface, this seems a very legitimate concern. What renders it illegitimate is the totally dishonest way it has been manipulated. The solar project just cancelled serves as the supreme case in point. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right from the start, the developer Open Road Renewables made a deep commitment to integrate the concept of agrivoltaics whereby solar panels and agriculture are integrated so they continue to coexist on the same land into its proposal, even naming it the Grange Solar Grazing Center in order to make this intent explicit. Sheep grazing was going to take place across the entire project. This full adoption of agrivoltaics then in turn fostered a truly dramatic shift in the public comments being submitted to the Ohio Power Siting Board for its public hearing process. Those comments were now coming in at a stunning 80% in FAVOR of the project. This translated to a remarkable 4-to-1 ratio. One would certainly assume from these numbers that this project was well on its way to approval. What actually happened however was that it alarmed the fossil fuel forces into overdrive. There are indications that a pressure campaign was enacted to find a mechanism by which to squash this project. As if on cue, one appears what is called the unanimous stance of local officials rule. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What it does is confer a weighted advantage on those local officials so that their stance can actually be used to run right over the expressed interests of the citizenry at large and turn the outcome upside down. It is a so-called rule that can be used to blatantly circumvent and defeat the democratic process. With local officials already in their pocket, it becomes a tool for fossil fuel interests to stop a project that with a 4-to-1 majority in public support seemed destined to succeed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The next step becomes the response by the Ohio Power Siting Board. The process is that its staff members recommend a yes or no vote to the full board before an official decision is rendered. These recommendations are almost always followed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is revealed that largely because of a major deference given to this so-called unanimous local officials rule the staff startlingly recommends a denial of permit. The solar developer is stunned. Solar advocates in central Ohio and statewide are stunned. The investors in the Grange project who already spent a large amount to develop and promote its highly eco-friendly design and fully expected success are stunned. The project was reluctantly forced toward a withdrawal. I close with an Open Letter appeal directed specifically to the members of the Ohio Power Siting Board: Members of the Ohio Power Siting Board, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is extremely instructive to look at how your board handled the approval of Oak Run, a larger agrivoltaics solar project in Madison County. In your favorable ruling, it was said, the dual-land use potential that agrivoltaics unlocks addresses a primary concern of project skeptics: the conversion of land to a use other than agriculture. It went on: Oak Runs strong commitment to agrivoltaics is additional evidence of Oak Runs responsiveness to feedback from the local community. The project presents unique opportunities that would provide significant benefits to the state the opportunity to put Madison County and the state of Ohio at the forefront of an innovative practice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The question begs to be asked: How is it that the Grange Solar Grazing Center does not qualify for all the positive attributes that were praised about Oak Run? How does it not further the very same principles listed in your own mission statement to protect the environment and land use? It was designed from day one to be dual use. My second question to you: In recent decisions, your board has moved toward placing more importance on the *numbers* in regard to public comments. There is a strong case that what should carry the day should be the overwhelmingly documentable truth presented by the global scientific community about the threat to the entire planet from fossil fuels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if you are going to prioritize numbers over scientific urgency, then here with Grange there is a 4-to-1 majority of public comments in favor. WHY would you startlingly switch your criterion and now say that the voices of a small number of local officials are suddenly much more important than a large majority of the public? How does this square with your sense of democracy and fair play? My final question: How does one avoid the question that asks what this has to do with the fact this project location happened to be in the home district of not only the president of the Ohio Senate Senator Rob McColley but someone who was one of the two prime sponsors of the earlier described SB 52 bill trying to shut down solar farms ? One cannot prove there was a connection, but the situation looks awfully suspicious. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) The city of Portage has explained its process for public proclamations at City Council meetings after one received more attention than usual. The proclamation signed Tuesday recognized the 75th anniversary of the publishing of L. Ron Hubbards book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology and Dianetics is one of the principles included in the belief system. I really want to say my appreciation to Portage and the council members for their diversity and willingness to recognize different groups, the presenter of the proclamation said during public comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This book describes Dianetics as new science. They go on to say there is a single source of problems and suffering. These are clear signs of pseudoscience, one local mental health care clinician said. There is no single cause of mental health concerns nor depression. The psych science is clear it is a multi-faceted problem. This is an insult to everybody who has a friend or family member that has mental illness, another public commenter added. Ive known many, and they deserve better than this. Speaking with News 8 Wednesday, Portage City Manager Pat McGinnis acknowledged the city may have missed the mark on this one. We dont subscribe to Dianetics or Scientology or any of that doctrine, whatever it is, whatever you want to call it, McGinnis said. We do understand the concern of the people that have spoken up and we take that seriously. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added that over the course of the day Wednesday, he spoke in person with two of the people who had critical comments during Tuesday nights meeting. McGinnis also defended the citys process for proclamations. Typically, a group that wants to be recognized sends in a request via email. It is sent to the city manager and city clerk for an initial check. They ask if the group can supply someone local that has ties to the proclamation to read it at the council meeting. If they do, it is typically added to the agenda and then reviewed for content. What happened in the current case is we received the request to present a very specific proclamation, McGinnis explained. We placed it on the agenda, which is a common placeholder, just to get it on there. After reading it, we decided it was a little overly committed to this particular philosophy or school of thought, so we backed off. Comparing the text of the original draft to the published proclamation, the first version is more effusive in its praise of Hubbard. The original proclamation to Portage City Council recognizing Dianetics, a book written by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, which has since been amended. A proclamation headed to Portage City Council recognizing Dianetics, a book written by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology. McGinnis also clarified that the recital portions that are read by the local stakeholder are not technically part of the mayors proclamation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There was a similar proclamation read and decried in Deltona, Florida, in February and in New Jersey last year. News 8 contacted the City of Kalamazoo and City of Battle Creek to see if their city councils received a similar proclamation request. Both responded that they had not. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The News As Michael Bennet weighs whether to run for governor, his fellow Colorado Democratic senator is offering some advice. He could win, John Hickenlooper told Semafor, and could be a great chief executive of their state. Hickenlooper has also warned Bennet that being a governor is more granular than being a senator, and that I think he might be bored. Hickenlooper speaks from experience, having served two terms in the job Bennet is now considering a bid for. And if Bennet decides to leave Congress to seek his home states governorship, he might not be alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two Republican senators, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, are also eyeing gubernatorial campaigns in 2026 Blackburn appears ready to launch her campaign any day now. After former Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., gave up a safe seat last year to run for governor, the long-running governor-to-Senate pipeline may be starting to reverse. Its a reasonable time for senators to reassess their power, with Trump strong-arming Congress in his second term as the ideological middle of both parties shrinks. Governors, by contrast, deal with constituents daily lives in a way that can feel more gratifying than the Senates arcane fights over legislative processes. In evaluating whether to leave the Senate, Braun reasoned it would take too long to accomplish the big things he wanted to do. Asked this week which job is superior, an aide to the governor said Braun certainly likes this one better. As for his future plans, the third-term Bennet would only say hes thinking about where I can be the most help to Colorado and make the biggest difference for Colorado. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congress is also objectively harder to navigate from the party out of power, a condition Bennet is now looking at for at least two years (and maybe more; both Tuberville and Blackburn exited minority-party status just weeks ago). Tuberville was candid about his experience in the Senate so far. I was sick of the first four years, Tuberville told Semafor. He said being in the majority is a lot better and said wherever I can help people in Alabama the most is what Im going to do. I could go either way. While none of the three have made official decisions yet, Blackburn sounds the closest to jumping in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im finalizing my plans to run for governor and will be the strongest conservative candidate in the race, Blackburn told Semafor. This is our time to prove what conservative leadership can do as power for education, regulation, health care and benefits return to the states. This is the time for Tennessee to be Americas conservative leader. Even if the trio leaves the Senate for governorships, the trend will still cut against them. A dozen former governors are serving in the Senate, with just three former senators serving as governor. Two of them lost Senate seats before winning governorships. Know More Senators often consider gubernatorial runs. They rarely follow through. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, both kicked the tires on the idea. So did former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va, who had already served as governor. Just recently, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., looked at a gubernatorial race before concluding his seniority and influence was more impactful in D.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I realize what a privileged place I have here, to be able to do good things for the state of New Mexico. And its not a state where your senator doesnt matter. Its a state where it really matters, Heinrich said after deciding he wanted to stay in the Senate. Still, the Senate can be a tough place for people with ambition but no room to move up. Bennet still isnt in line to chair a top committee and is not in party leadership. He already ran for president and chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. So Hickenlooper gets where Bennets coming from. He understands what this building deals with at a deeper level than almost any other senator. So hed have to be pretty frustrated and unhappy, and he clearly is, Hickenlooper said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the two Republican senators, it could also boil down to what Trump wants. Tuberville said he plans to talk to the president before making his decision which is slightly more weighty than Blackburns and Bennets, because his Senate term is also up next year. Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth may also run for governor, even if Tuberville does too. A Trump endorsement for Tuberville would probably be decisive in any primary, though his fellow Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said a departure from Congress would be completely his choice. Unlike Tuberville, both Bennet and Blackburn could run with no immediate risk to their Senate seats, which are up in 2028 and 2030, respectively. Blackburn seems to be on a collision course with Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., whos made no secret of his gubernatorial aspirations and a Trump endorsement could also change those dynamics. Shell decide whats best for her and whats best for the state, said Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., of Blackburn. Shes an extremely strong political force in Tennessee. Burgesss view Its hard to imagine all three senators running for governor next year but not impossible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bennet will get the most pressure to stay given his convincing win in 2022 and his potential to eventually chair the Finance or Agriculture Committee. Blackburn seems ready to make a move: Her statement to Semafor about finalizing a campaign is as close as you can get without officially launching. And Tuberville sounds legitimately undecided. No matter what they choose, I am not surprised that people are itching to get out of the Senate its not exactly a bastion of dealmaking at the moment. For people like Blackburn and Bennet, who have been commuting to Washington for years, returning home must be appealing. Room for Disagreement Manchin famously said being governor was the best job he ever had. Yet another governor-turned-senator politely disagreed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When people say Hey, what do you like more, senator or governor? I say, You forgot one. I kind of cling to mayor, said Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a former mayor of Richmond, governor of Virginia, Democratic Party chair and vice presidential nominee. If I hadnt been mayor, I wouldnt be governor, Kaine added. And if Im good at anything in politics, its because I was a mayor. Kaine, who has embraced a role in shaping global policy as a senator, said legislating brings significant benefits. A lot of times governors become senators, and then theyre not happy they like governor better, Kaine said. You trade off not being an executive, but you get handed the super important national security portfolio. Notable As Beijing and Washington lock horns in a bitter trade war, a close aide to US President Donald Trump has gained surprising popularity among internet users in China. Karoline Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary in history, has emerged as an online celebrity in China over the past month after video clips of the 27-year-old confronting US journalists spread on social media. Some said they found her ability to combine motherhood and career appealing, while others said her calm yet assertive tone when defending Trump's controversial policies set an example for how to be both young and strong in the workplace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "She's really blonde, beautiful and eloquent," wrote Zhang Jieyi, a social media user in Shandong province. "Look at the eloquence and temperament of this beautiful spokesperson, there is no frustration but only calmness, being assertive without being rude and pushy," Zhang said in a post accompanying a 43-second video. The clip showed Leavitt taking a question last month about whether Trump would attend this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner after it was announced comedian Amber Ruffin would be the featured entertainer. Ruffin has called the US leader a "toddler with his pants pulled down". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Steven Tian, a 47-year-old white-collar worker in Shanghai, said Leavitt set an example for Chinese employees, who are often hard-working but quiet when defending themselves in the workplace. "She's smart, tough, concise, and refreshing," Tian wrote on social media last month after watching videos of Leavitt's first two press briefings at the White House. "Looking at ourselves in the workplace, how should we negotiate with foreign team leaders who are too pushy, or how could we better express our thoughts when facing some hostile colleagues?" he said. According to Jingsi Wu, an associate professor of media studies at Hofstra University in New York, Leavitt's popularity reflects a growing trend in China of celebrating strong and independent women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chinese women have traditionally been expected to be supportive of their husbands and focus on raising children, but as more women are educated and earn more than ever, many are looking for roles beyond marriage and family. This makes Leavitt an aspirational figure for many in China, especially those who struggle to navigate the daily realities of having a full-time job while serving as the primary caretaker at home. "You see the 'not-so-hidden' parts that reflect a more traditional concept of women being family-oriented, attractive, and supportive of their husbands' equally, if not more, successful careers," Wu said. "Leavitt is the latest example of a traditionally attractive woman who married into [wealth], had a child before returning to work just a few days later, and who can hold her own," Wu said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Born in a small town of around 7,000 people in the state of New Hampshire, Leavitt was the first in her family to graduate from college. She was an assistant press secretary and presidential writer during Trump's first administration, and in 2021 she worked briefly for Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York, who has been nominated by Trump to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations. In 2022, Leavitt ran for US Congress, winning the Republican Party nomination to represent her New Hampshire congressional district but ultimately losing in the general election. She is married to Nicholas Riccio, a real estate developer 32 years her senior. Karoline Leavitt (right) has vowed to hold media outlets accountable for their "lies" about US President Donald Trump's administration. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS alt=Karoline Leavitt (right) has vowed to hold media outlets accountable for their "lies" about US President Donald Trump's administration. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS> Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leavitt is not the only US public figure in Trump's orbit to become an unexpected hit on Chinese social media. Ivanka Trump, the US president's eldest daughter, has gained a devoted following for her role as a caring wife and mother as well as an attractive career woman with a fashion business. Leavitt's speaking style - including her harsh words for reporters from what she has called "mainstream fake news" - is familiar to White House observers. Most of Trump's press secretaries from his first term, including Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, spoke in a similar way. White House press secretaries Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre, who served under former US president Joe Biden, were also known for their strong words and assertiveness. Keyu Alexander Glanz, a PhD candidate and research assistant at Georgia State University's department of communication, said Leavitt's age, race and appearance had captured the attention of social media users in China who were able to look past politics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "She is only 27 years old and the youngest White House press secretary; she is also white and blonde," Glanz said. "Her assertive and combative rhetoric, her young age, and nice-looking appearance formed a kind of eye-grabbing contrast, which appealed to the Chinese social media." "In an era where mainstream media are stigmatised as elite-representing fake news, social media users, from China or other countries and regions, may really see her talking points as convincing and compelling," said Glanz, who studies China-US diplomatic communication and foreign policy narratives. Echoing Trump's animosity towards the traditional media, Leavitt has vowed to hold media outlets accountable for what she called "lies" about the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rose Luqiu, an associate professor at Baptist University's School of Communication in Hong Kong, said there was growing rhetoric within China about the Western media's anti-Chinese bias, and this could also win Leavitt support among Chinese. "Leavitt's aggressive demeanour as the White House press secretary is seen by these individuals as 'venting their frustrations' by putting journalists in their place." This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. At We Energies, we have one job above all else to safely and reliably provide our customers with the energy they need. How we do that often depends on Mother Nature. For instance, a sunny and 65-degree day in May means our primary, or baseload, power plants can keep the energy flowing. However, as we all know too well, Wisconsins weather is rarely sunny and mild. Take January for instance, when the temperatures plunged to zero and below for nearly a week, or last August, when the heat index soared over 100 degrees for two days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On these extreme weather days and weeks, we need to be able to quickly ramp up extra power to meet our customers critical energy needs. It goes beyond keeping the lights on it means keeping factories, offices, schools, churches and hospitals running and safe during any and all weather conditions. Failure is not an option. Opinion: Building new natural gas plants in Wisconsin will strap customers with big bills That is why we have proposed building new quick-start natural gas plants along with new renewable energy. There are some activists who have criticized our commonsense reliability plan as something that it is not. Id like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. We Energies investing in balanced mix of providing energy We are in the midst of an energy transformation focused on reliability, affordability and economic growth. As we work to reduce emissions and close older, less efficient power plants, we are investing in a balanced mix of wind, solar, energy storage and natural gas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As we build new renewable energy, our proposed natural gas generating facilities will help us keep the lights on when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing. And they will also help us meet the robust economic growth and demand taking place across southeastern Wisconsin. Opinion: We Energies Kenosha County power plant threatens public health and environment Our plans to build new natural gas plants, along with new renewable energy, are part of a nationwide trend focusing on reliability and affordability. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is the countrys independent electric grid watchdog. It is highlighting the importance of power generation facilities, such as natural gas plants, that do not rely solely on the sun and wind. Natural gas plants provide critical backup for solar and wind energy In a report issued late last year, the group noted, Natural-gas-fired generators are and will remain a critical resource for bulk power system reliability in many areas over the 10-year assessment period, especially during winter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NERCs report shows that as coal plants are replaced with solar and wind generation, clean natural gas plants provide a critical and affordable backup. The report also noted, Severe winter weather events in 2021 and 2022 provided stark evidence of the critical nature of natural gas as a generator fuel and the importance of secure supplies during times of extreme electricity demand. Like all of our power plants, our proposed natural gas plants will adhere to strict local, state and federal environmental and health regulations. In fact, the proposed Oak Creek natural gas plant would see a decrease of 3.5 million tons per year of carbon dioxide compared to the current Oak Creek coal plant that we are retiring. The project would also mean significantly less nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, landfill, water usage and other emissions every year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opinion: I'm the father of son with Down syndrome. Using the 'R' word is never acceptable. Our proposed natural gas plants also support our shift away from coal, which will result in further emissions reductions in future years. Wisconsin is seeing an economic resurgence with global powerhouses to small businesses building and expanding jobs here. We will continue to support these new jobs and growth by making sure our customers have what they need: safe and reliable energy, no matter how extreme or unpredictable the weather will be. Mike Hooper is president of We Energies. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin weather makes renewable energy backup essential | Opinion CLEARWATER, Kan. (KSNW) Two weeks ago, KSN introduced viewers to Whitewater veteran Mark Annen and his story of service. Now, the spotlight shifts to his wife, Christina Annen, who also served in the U.S. Air Force. A Calling to Serve Christina Annen is a Wichita native who graduated from East High School in 1985, feeling a strong pull toward military service. It was natural for me to go into the military, Annen shared. I have lots of family that was in the military, and it is a good way to see the world. I love uniforms. I love being part of a group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With that decision made, she carefully considered which branch to join. I knew that in basic training, the Air Force only required a mile-and-a-half run, she said with a laugh. At that time, the Navy ran three miles, the Army ran 10, and the Marines ran 20. And I like blue so the Air Force was the pick for me. Breaking Barriers in Avionics After completing basic training, Annen attended technical school to become an avionics guidance and control systems technician. If you see a movie about an airplane and a crash is going to happen, and they show the pilots setup and all the indicators are going crazy, thats what I worked on, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her work took her to Oklahoma, where she maintained AWACS aircraft, and later to the Philippines, where she worked on F-4 fighter jets. While she loved the technical aspects of her job, she struggled with the sexism that was prevalent in the field. You couldnt be average, Annen recalled. Because if you were average, you were a dumb female. We had to put up with a lot of that. A New Path in Alaska Eventually, the hostile work environment prompted Annen to seek a different career path without leaving the Air Force. She transferred to the postal unit and was stationed at a remote outpost in Galena, Alaska. I had no clue about Galena until I got off the plane at 10 oclock at night, and it was still bright daylight outside, she remembered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was in Galena that she met fellow Air Force veteran Mark Annen. Their connection was immediate. We are big believers in Jesus, she said. And when I saw him for the first time, a little voice inside my head said, Thats the guy youre going to marry. They tied the knot on base, solidifying their bond as both service members and life partners. A Life After Service Annen left the Air Force in 1991 as a Buck Sergeant. When her husband completed his service, they returned to the Wichita area to build a life and raise a family. Now, reflecting on her journey, Annen deeply appreciates her home state and its support for veterans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am so proud of Kansas for how they treat their veterans, she said. I just dont know that they could do a much better job, honestly. If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, send an email to connect3news@ksn.com or fill out our online contact form! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist who faces deportation, says she was "naive" to think that her husband wouldn't be detained by immigration agents. In her first public comments since her Syrian-born husband's detention Saturday, Noor Abdalla told Reuters on Thursday that just two days before his arrest, Khalil had asked her if she knew what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers came to the door. "I didnt take him seriously. Clearly I was naive," said Abdalla, who is a U.S. citizen and pregnant with the couple's first child due next month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khalil, a 30-year-old with a green card, played a major role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year. Those protests helped the spread of similar action on campuses across the country. According to a document seen by NBC News, President Donald Trumps administration has said Khalil is "subject to removal from the United States." "The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States," that document said. Noor Abdalla, 28, holding an ultrasound scan in New York City, on Wednesday. Abdalla told Reuters that the couple met in Lebanon in 2016 when she volunteered for a nonprofit providing educational scholarships to Syrian youngsters. The outlet reported that their relationship was long-distance until they married in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She spoke of the heartache of Khalils legal troubles while they expect their first child. "I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen," she said. Khalil was arrested Saturday in the lobby of the university-owned apartment building in Manhattan, before being taken to a facility in New Jersey, and then to Louisiana. An Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria; he arrived in the United States on a student visa in 2022 and gained his green card two years later. Khalil is now a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and his arrest represents the Trump administration's efforts to clamp down on pro-Palestinian protests in universities and deport ringleaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist, attended a New York courtroom Wednesday where Khalil's lawyers argued that his detention and possible deportation was a violation of his constitutional free speech rights, Reuters reported. The detention order was extended while the court considers the legality of the arrest. A federal judge temporarily blocked Khalil from being deported Monday, saying he will remain in the United States as the court weighs the challenge to his arrest and detention. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week that Khalil "organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, fliers with the logo of Hamas." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Abdalla told Reuters: "Mahmoud is Palestinian and he's always been interested in Palestinian politics. He's standing up for his people, he's fighting for his people." Attorney Amy Greer, who is representing Khalil, told NBC's "Top Story with Tom Llamas" on Wednesday night that the arrest was a clear constitutional violation. "This is not what were used to in this country, and it is directly counter to our Constitution that people should just be taken, not heard from again, moved halfway across the country without anybody knowing why or where or how or what the justification is," she said, adding that he he had not communication with Hamas. Education Secretary Linda McMahon this week wrote to 60 colleges, including Columbia, warning them of legal action if they failed to clamp down on antisemitism on campus, which Jewish groups had complained was a feature of some protests last year. Protests this week, including from Jewish student groups, have called for Khalil's immediate release. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com It seems that the Department of Government Efficiency isnt done furnishing the federal offices theyve turned into dorm roomsand their boss Elon Musk himself has joined in on the fun. Musk reportedly asked Chris Young, one of his political advisers, to procure a massive TV for his office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building so he could play video games, a source familiar told Politico . The DOGE chief earlier told friends that he had been sleeping in his DOGE office, in the same way he slept in Tesla factories for years, because he believed it motivated his employees to give it their all. The Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, U.S., August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm / REUTERS A longtime GOP field organizer, Young was reportedly hired by Musk in August last year to oversee the America PAC tasked with boosting Republican voter turnout in the November polls. Young has become Musks right-hand man for personal and professional logistics in Washington D.C., according to Politico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Young belongs to the exclusive club of Musks most trusted advisers, which is said to be composed of executives who followed the billionaire from his companies. They include former Boring Company CEO Steve Davis, his wife and former X real estate chief Nicole Hollander, and SpaceX Vice President for People Operations Brian Bjelde. It isnt just Musk who has turned federal buildings into a personalized office. DOGE goons have also transformed government offices into crash pads complete with furniture, childrens play areas, and their own washer-dryer, two General Services Administration employees told Politico last week. Photos and invoices obtained by Politico showed a childs play area decorated with a stuffed animal and other toys, as well as a $25,000 invoice to install a washer-dryer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DOGE lackeys have also set up IKEA beds, lamps, and dressers in at least four rooms on the sixth floor of the GSA building. The rooms can only be accessed by people with high-level security clearances, making them difficult to inspect. People are definitely sleeping there, a GSA staffer told the news outlet. Former federal employees have speculated that the DOGE team sleeps in their offices to terrorize the civilian workforce. Its exceedingly odd, Jeff Nesbit, an author and former senior official, told Politico. Ive run the public affairs offices of five different Cabinet departments or agencies under four different presidents, two Republicans and two Democrats. I have never heard of any such thing. NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said that diesel got in the duck pond at the University of Oklahoma last week after a power plant pump malfunctioned and spilled over two dozen gallons of diesel. We went there, and we could see visibly some of the ducks were already wet, said Kenna Chamlee, with Wildcare Oklahoma. That was not a good sign for WildCare Oklahoma staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Norman residents concerned about safety of OU duck pond Chamlee and other staff members heard there was a cry for help at OUs duck pond, so, they went to save as many ducks as they could Tuesday afternoon. We got a call a week ago from a concerned rescuer, said Chamlee. The concern came after it was discovered that the water in the pond was contaminated. We found the area where the contaminant was, and they had blocked it off and everything, said Chamlee. We ended up capturing eight total. The ducks are now in quarantine at the WildCare facility, where they are being monitored and treated. Diesel can cause some pretty bad issues internally if they ingest a lot, said Paul Rusinko, with Wildcare Oklahoma. Sudden death is a big, major thing that were looking for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The University of Oklahoma sent News 4 the following statement: We are monitoring the situation and working to confirm the original source. On March 6, we were alerted to what appeared to be diesel fuel in the duck pond. When the presence of diesel was confirmed, SET Environmental was contacted and immediately began the containment and cleanup process, using booms to prevent the diesel from leaving the site and traveling downstream. Once contained, they removed the fuel from the surface of the water. The Oklahoma State Department of Environmental Quality and City of Norman were advised the remediation process was underway. We also appreciate the support of WildCare Oklahoma and their commitment to wildlife conservation and rehabilitation in the state. The University of Oklahoma But, officials with the DEQ said the diesel came from a nearby power plant on campus. It was reported that approximately 25 gallons of diesel fuel was released at the power plant due to a pump out malfunction. OU reported that about 20 gallons were contained and then the other five gallons went from a storm drain into the pond, said Erin Hatfield, with the Department of Environmental Quality. Veterinarians at WildCare said theyre focused on getting the ducks healthy again. Weve got a highest dilution of 5% with our dawn dish soap all the way down to 1%, said Mattie Yates, a Veterinarian at Wildcare Oklahoma. We took a couple of feathers so that today we can figure out what the best approach is going to be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WildCare Oklahoma is also going to test all the ducks to make sure they arent carrying any diseases. They also said its important to note that there is other wildlife, such as turtles and fish, living in the pond, which they are also worried about. The DEQ said the rain over the weekend did help dilute the pond, but they arent sure exactly how long it will take for the water to be clean. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) A local Irish spirited pub was named one of the best in the U.S. after being in business for a little over six months. The Wexford Irish Pub was featured as one of the 44 restaurants in the USA TODAYs 2025 Restaurants of the Year in February. The feature described Wexford as close to an Irish heritage museum with architecture and food conveying the story of Irish immigration to the Hostess City. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think the first thing is that we were just astounded, Co-owner Jennifer Strickland told WSAV. The second thing was grateful and the third was excited and maybe a little nervous. Co-owner Tim said that he and Jennifers father, Stan Strickland, previously worked on the building around 40 years ago. The bones of their restaurant is a testament to the work of their father. Co-owner Chris Swanson said he likes looking at the bigger picture and they are appreciative for all the hard work everyone has put into making Wexford a proper pub. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. The man convicted of firebombing a Winton Hills grocery store in 2023 was sentenced to five and a half years in prison Tuesday. Donald Donatelli pleaded guilty in federal court in Cincinnati to the attack in October of last year. According to court documents, he has never said why he did it. Prosecutors said Donatelli "cased" the Tree Top Grocery on Gwinnett Road on Nov. 26, 2023, entered the store and walked around. Then, about four hours later, he returned, lit a rag hanging out of a bottle filled with gasoline, and smashed in the entryway of the store. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The owners scrambled to put out the fire with water bottles they sell in their store, according to court documents. No was injured, but fire investigators determined the blaze caused $330,000 in damage. The incident was filmed on Snapchat by his co-defendant Angela Schweitzer. Schweitzer pleaded guilty to related charges in January. She has not yet been sentenced. Prosecutors said Donatelli tried to get Schweitzer to delete the video and attempted to create an alibi for himself. It was an anonymous tip that led investigators to Donatelli who was arrested in Clermont County following the fire on charges of theft and receiving stolen property. "While there is no excuse for such acts, the defendant has never offered an explanation for his firebomb attack," prosecutors wrote in court documents. "The victims have repeatedly asked why they were targeted for such brutality." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said Donatelli has shown no remorse for the attack. U.S District Court Judge Matthew W. McFarland ordered that Donatelli's sentence begin the completion his sentence for the offenses in Clermont County. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man convicted in Winton Hills grocery firebombing sentenced to prison MADISON - The Wisconsin State Assembly took up legislation that could have significant impacts for Milwaukee if they're signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers. Though Evers has not yet weighed in on the bills, they still could require school resource officers in schools across the state, and allow cities like Milwaukee to tow cars used in reckless driving incidents after the first offense. The bills will now go on to the Senate for approval, before being sent to the governor's desk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are some of the bills they voted during an hours-long session on Thursday. School resource officers One bill approved would add to the original law requiring 25 school resource officers to return to Milwaukee Public Schools, specifying how the city and district must split the costs of the program. Financing has been the main cause of the months-long delay in placing police in schools. The bill would require the district and city to split the costs of SROs equally. The bill originally required MPS to pay 75% and the city to cover 25%, but lawmakers amended the percentages to align with a judges order to split the costs 50-50. The bill introduces financial penalties if the city and district remain out of compliance. The state would withhold 10% of shared revenue funds to the city and 20% of per-pupil aid to the district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: GOP lawmakers suggest withholding funds to Milwaukee, MPS if police don't return to schools Republicans argue the law change is still needed even if the city and district meet the March 15 deadline, because an agreement could be terminated in the future. Milwaukee Police Department officers received training from the National Association of Resource Officers this week ahead of the Saturday deadline. In a press conference before the session, Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, who helped to author the bill, said the bill was "an insurance policy." Even if a Milwaukee County judge rules in favor of requiring officers in school, the bill would still prevent MPS from withdrawing officers again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Any law that's passed that doesn't have consequences for breaking the law isn't worth the paper it's printed on, and the City of Milwaukee and MPS have proven my point," Donovan said. Many Republicans expressed support for the bill on the floor, saying it's what teachers and parents want, and saying those who pushed back on the bill were on the far-left. "SROs do wonderful things in schools. They develop relationships with students. They can diffuse situations before they get out of control," said Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield. "Our teachers want them back. Our parents want them back, and we talk about keeping our kids safe. This is probably the best way we can do it." Democrats did not vote for the bill in committee, and argued the bill wasn't needed during the Thursday session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, attempted to amend the bill significantly on the floor, to make it more applicable, she said, but that attempt was defeated by the Republican majority. "Assembly Bill 91 really at this point a very useless bill. It's just words on paper," she said. "Because believe it or not, the SROs are trained and ready to go." Rep. Darrin Madison, D-Milwaukee, said schools shouldn't have any use for officers, because it can end in the harm of students. "Forcing SROs back into Milwaukee Public Schools is treating our schools like they're prisons. Our schools shouldn't look like prisons," he said. "They shouldn't work like prisons, and we shouldn't treat students like prisoners in the space of learning, creativity and exploration, this takes Milwaukee schools in the bad direction." Reckless driving Another bill would strengthen an existing law that allows police to tow and impound vehicles used for reckless driving. Strict conditions in the law mean police rarely used it, bill supporters say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donovan said in a press release the bill removed the strings attached, making it easier for police to apprehend vehicles used in reckless driving incidents in places like Milwaukee more quickly. "This is merely an effort to give Milwaukee the tools they're asking for and the tools they need to address this very important and crisis situation that the city has been dealing with for a long time," he said. The current law applies only when the person cited for reckless driving owns the vehicle. Lawmakers want to strengthen the law so any vehicles driven recklessly such as stolen or borrowed cars could be impounded. Police could also impound a car whether or not the driver has a prior record of reckless driving. The bill passed unanimously out of committee on Tuesday, with support from Democrats. The bill is mostly sponsored by Republicans but includes two Democratic sponsors from Milwaukee. The law change came at the request of the Milwaukee Common Council and has the support of Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some Democratic lawmakers were concerned that a parent who lends their car to their child, who then drives recklessly, would have a hard time getting their car back. Under the bill, owners of stolen cars would not have to pay any costs. Rep. Russell Goodwin Sr., D-Milwaukee, said the bill had a large significance to him, after losing his godmother to reckless driving. "Reckless driving is not a Democratic issue. It is not a Republican issue. It is a Wisconsin issue, and more importantly, it is a tragedy that happens in Wisconsin that we have the power to stop together," he said. "It ensures that reckless drivers face real consequences. It empowers communities to keep dangerous drivers off the road, and most importantly, it prioritizes safety over excuses." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A separate bill allowing police to impound vehicles used in certain traffic offenses was not taken up on the floor Thursday. That bill would allow the owner of a vehicle to request it back and pay no fees if it was driven recklessly without their consent. More: Wisconsin lawmakers debate bills on SROs, reckless drivers that could affect Milwaukee Increased penalties for injuring or killing a police dog A bill passed early in the day would increase the penalty for injuring or killing a police or fire dog. If signed by Evers, the bill would increase the fine for injuring a dog to a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to six years. Killing a dog would be punishable of up to $25,000 or imprisonment up to ten years, or both. The bill was introduced by Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, who said in a speech on the floor that she wanted to honor dogs who run into danger to protect the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Law enforcement canines often risk their lives in the line of duty, and (this bill) recognizes the danger that these dogs face on a regular basis, the willingness of police canines, to face danger head-on for us," she said. "It is a pure and sacred example of the forces of good in nature that exist to defeat the forces of evil that work against us every day." She gave the example of Riggs, a police K9 with the Kenosha Sheriff's Department, who was shot in the line of duty in 2021 while attempting to locate a stolen vehicle involved in two homicides in Chicago, according to the American Humane Hero Dog Awards. Riggs was shot point-blank in the head, but survived. "Riggs did not give up. Riggs caught the bad guy. Riggs protected us with his life," Nedweski said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She thanked Republicans and Democrats alike for their support. "While we may not always agree, I believe that the forces of good do have the power to bring us together when it is the best for the people," she said. "Perhaps we should take some cues from the canines than from the letters behind our names." Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, who voted against the bill, said he shouldn't be shamed for "voting to kill Paw Patrol," because he doesn't agree with the language in the bill, or another bill that was passed that allowed the re-incarceration of people who violate parole or probation. "You can take a principled stand once at the beginning of this session and say, 'No, we are not going to take a giant leap towards mass incarceration,'" he said. "The vote on both this piece of legislation and on mass incarceration is and should be no." Nedweski slammed Clancy in a press release Thursday afternoon for the "Paw Patrol" reference. "K9 officers are often the last line of defense between officers and violent suspects. They can mean the difference between life and death," she said. "K9 officers are not a childrens cartoon they are highly trained partners in public safety and heroes to those they serve." More: At Milwaukee's request, GOP state lawmakers aim to close reckless driving law loopholes Notification of sexual misconduct by a school staff member The Assembly also voted to pass a bill that requires school boards to notify the parents or guardians of a student if there is a credible report of sexual misconduct by a school staff member. The bill would require the school board to notify the parents of a potential victim by the end of the day in which the report is received. It also requires that school boards annually provide information about how parents and guardians may access records related to school employee discipline under the state public records law. Sexual misconduct is defined in the bill as communication or intentional touching. Under current state laws, it's a felony to commit an act of sexual misconduct against a pupil. Rep. Benjamin Franklin, R-De Pere, who helped to author the bill, said parents should be notified quickly notified if their child is harmed by someone at school. "If there is an accusation that my child is a victim of sexual misconduct, I have the right to know in an expedited manner, and this bill would ensure that," he said. Rep. Priscilla Prado, D-Milwaukee, said the bill prioritizes safety and well-being of children, and allows parents and schools to work together to protect kids. She highlighted a recent case in Milwaukee, where an employee was caught filming students in February. More: City, MPS attempt to ensure school resource officers will not get involved in school discipline Parents weren't notified until early this month, she said, and some parents learned of the incident from the news. "It was later revealed that the school administrators refrained from alerting the students and their parents at the discretion of law enforcement," she said. "All of this is not to say that they were that there was any malicious intent by the school or law enforcement in their decision to withhold information from parents, but that these institutions have a responsibility to the students and their parents first, not the perpetrator." Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X @SchulteLaura. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Assembly approves bills on reckless driving, school resource officers OAK CREEK, Wis. (WFRV) Authorities in southeast Wisconsin have released additional details regarding the disappearance and safe recovery of 13-year-old Lillian Asala. According to the Oak Creek Police Department, Asala was reported missing on March 1 after she was last believed to be headed to Abendschein Park on East Drexel Avenue. However, phone data suggested she may have been in the area of South Pennsylvania Avenue and East Forest Hill Avenue. Dozens of firefighters battle house fire for more than two hours in Wisconsin Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When her phone stopped providing location updates, officers expanded their search with assistance from law enforcement agencies in the Milwaukee metro area and surrounding counties. On March 2, police issued a public notice requesting help in locating her. That same day, a citizen found her phone in Abendschein Park and turned it over to authorities for analysis. Police used multiple investigative methods, including K-9 searches, drones, neighborhood canvassing, security camera reviews, interviews, and forensic data recovery. Searches also extended to properties belonging to family members, including Asalas noncustodial mother, Luisa Asala. By March 4, after all leads had been exhausted, police issued a Wisconsin Crime Alert for a missing endangered person. Authorities explained that an Amber Alert was not issued because the case did not meet the required criteria. Booking photo of Luisa Asala. (Milwaukee County Jail) On March 7, detectives reviewing phone records linked Luisa Asala to a residence in Watertown. While officers surveilled the location, Oak Creek detectives located Luisa in Racine County. During questioning, she confirmed that Lillian was in the Watertown residence. Officers recovered Lillian safely, and she was found in good health. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wisconsin authorities warn high school students about Nerf Wars dangers Luisa Asala was arrested and has remained in the Milwaukee County Jail since March 7. On March 12, the Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office charged her with interfering with child custody. Authorities said additional charges are being considered for others who may have assisted her. The Oak Creek Police Department thanked the community for its support and assistance during the investigation. The case remains active, and no further details are available at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. MADISON - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul are again suing the Trump administration, this time over massive staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Education. Evers and Kaul joined a multi-state federal lawsuit with 20 plaintiffs arguing the planned cuts of half of the federal agency's workforce effectively eliminate duties the agency is charged by Congress to carry out. "The (layoffs are) so severe and extreme that it incapacitates components of the Department responsible for performing functions mandated by statute, effectively nullifying those mandates," the complaint says. The lawsuit is scheduled to be filed Thursday in a federal Massachusetts court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plaintiffs cited the Trump administration's decision to shutter seven regional offices of the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, which is charged with investigating complaints of discrimination. The agency had offices in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago which typically handled probes related to Wisconsin schools. More: Trump is considering eliminating the U.S. Education Department. What does the department do? Madi Biedermann, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, said Trump "was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states.""The Department of Educations (layoffs were) implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws. They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families," she said. Biedermann said employees working on funding for students with disabilities, FAFSA, student loan services and Title I funding were not subject to the layoffs and said the Office for Civil Rights "will continue to investigate complaints and vigorously enforce federal civil rights laws." The plaintiffs argue that because Trump nor his cabinet secretaries may solely undo acts of Congress, the order from Trump to dismantle the agency "is an unlawful violation of the separation of powers, and (Trump's) obligation to take care that the law be faithfully executed." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will fight every effort by President Trump and his administration to mess with our schools, our kids, and their futures, especially when he doesnt have the power to do what hes trying to do, like trying to unilaterally obliterate an agency Congress created," Evers said in a statement. "I continue to urge Congressional Republicans to stand up to efforts to undermine our constitutional checks and balances and stop these reckless attacks on our kids, our schools, our communities, and our state. More: Wisconsin officials scramble ahead of Trump order shuttering federal education agency Trump in 2024 campaigned on eliminating the federal agency as part of a larger pitch to voters who in recent years have opposed a series of school mandates, including those related to vaccines and efforts to bolster diversity and inclusion within classrooms. But the agency also distributes billions in federal aid to schools, including in Wisconsin, where more than $1 billion has been committed for just K-12 schools in this school year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since only Congress can abolish federal agencies, the decree would set up a new test for the bounds of presidential authority. And it has the potential to create a new wave of anxiety about the billions of congressionally appropriated dollars that regularly flow through the Education Department to schools and students. Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said hes all for dismantling the Department of Education. He said there should be virtually no role for the federal government in education. Thats a state and local issue. Still, he said he thinks Congress will have to play a role outside of the executive branchs unilateral moves to slash agencies. Officials with the state Department of Public Instruction said they expect the agency elimination to reduce funding for K-12 schools, which would affect "essential services for schools." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In Wisconsin, federal funding and programming has been instrumental in improving educational outcomes for all kids, allowing us to reduce class sizes and provide extra support for learners who need it most," the memo said. DPI is led by State Superintendent Jill Underly, who is a Democrat. The federal agency distributes federal financial aid to students through universities and colleges. UW System students, for example, received about $720 million in federal financial aid last school year, the bulk of which was delivered through the department. The department also administers Pell grants to make college more affordable for low-income students. More than 63,000 Wisconsin students received Pell grants totaling $241 million in 2020-21, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau . Managing a $1.6 trillion federal student loan program also falls under the department's oversight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelly Meyerhofer and Lawrence Andrea contributed to this report. Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers and Kaul are suing Trump over his plans to end education agency Wisconsin health officials warn the state is at risk of a measles outbreak similar to a Texas outbreak where more than 200 people mainly children have been infected. Wisconsin kindergartners have one of the nation's lowest vaccination rates against measles, which can cause serious illness in children under 5 years old. That puts the state at risk, health officials said, for the disease taking hold and spreading in an under-vaccinated community. "It definitely makes us vulnerable," said Jasmine Zapata, chief medical officer in the state Department of Health Services Bureau of Community Health Promotion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last school year, less than 85% of Wisconsin kindergartners were up-to-date on the measles vaccine, compared to nearly 93% of kindergartners nationwide, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only Idaho and Alaska reported having lower vaccination rates against measles, though some states were missing data. No measles cases have been reported yet in Wisconsin this year. As of Wednesday, more than 280 measles cases had been reported across 15 states, according to reports from state health officials. Measles outbreak in Texas led to a child's death Most of those cases stem from outbreaks in Texas and neighboring New Mexico. Some public health officials and researchers suspect the outbreak may be larger and that cases are going unreported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least 223 cases have been detected in western Texas since late January, stemming from an outbreak in Gaines County, its health department reported Tuesday. One Texas child, whom The Atlantic reported was a 6-year-old girl, died from the disease, the first measles fatality in the U.S. in a decade. The child wasn't vaccinated and had no known underlying conditions, according to Texas health officials. Another person, who had measles and was unvaccinated, died in New Mexico, though the cause of death remains under investigation, according to the CDC. "When and if any outbreaks occur, were going to be on top of that at the state level and at the local level," Zapata said Wednesday during a call with reporters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Measles, which is caused by a virus, is spread through the air and is highly contagious. It is characterized by a rash that spreads over the face and body. Other symptoms typically occur at least a few days before the rash, such as fever, cough, runny nose and inflamed eyes, according to the Mayo Clinic. In severe cases, the disease can cause life-threatening complications, such as brain inflammation and pneumonia. Wisconsin residents urged to check their vaccine history Zapata urged Wisconsin residents to make sure they are up-to-date on the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine. Some adults may not have received a second dose of the MMR vaccine as children since a second dose was not recommended until 1989. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A vaccine for measles was first developed in the 1960s. Measles cases have plummeted and deaths have almost vanished since it became widely adopted. The MMR vaccine is among many routine immunizations children receive under a schedule adopted by the CDC. It recommends children receive a first dose at 12-15 months and a second dose between the ages of 4 and 6 years. For the past few years, public health officials have been raising the alarm about a nationwide trend of slipping vaccination rates, especially for measles, among school-age children. They worried slipping rates could lead to a resurgence of the disease similar to that seen in 2019. That's when cases spiked and the United States nearly lost its status as having eliminated measles, a designation for countries where the disease is no longer constantly present. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In that year, the U.S. reported nearly 1,300 cases of measles, the most since 1992, according to the CDC. Most cases were among people who were not vaccinated and occurred in close-knit communities with low vaccination rates. Among public and private school students, immunization rates can vary widely from district to district and from school to school. In some school districts, fewer than half of the students are up-to-date on routine vaccines. When it comes to preventing very contagious diseases, seemingly small slips in vaccination rates can make a big difference. That's because it takes a high level of group immunity to keep the diseases from taking hold and spreading. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The drops in vaccination rates coincide with a rise in school children seeking exemptions from vaccine requirements since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Wisconsin, about 8% of kindergartners had an exemption for one or more required vaccines last school year, compared to about 3.3% nationally, according to CDC data. Zapata encouraged people to check their vaccination status by visiting the Wisconsin Immunization Registry online and to get up-to-date on the measles vaccine if they aren't already. The Vaccines for Children program provides vaccines free of charge to children who are uninsured, underinsured or eligible for Medicaid through a network of clinics and other providers. A list of clinics and other providers participating in the program can be found at dhs.wisconsin.gov/immunization/vfc-parent.htm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reuters contributed to this report. Reporter Sarah Volpenhein can be contacted at svolpenhei@gannett.com or at 414-607-2159. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin at risk for measles outbreak with low child vaccine rates In his first public remarks on the proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Russia is "for it" but that he wants his own security guarantees. Putin raised questions regarding a 30-day ceasefire during a press briefing in Moscow on Thursday, as President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff landed in the city to discuss the proposal. "It seems to me, it would be very good for the Ukrainian side to reach a truce for at least 30 days. And we are for it. But there is a nuance," Putin said, highlighting concerns regarding Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces pushed into last year in a surprise offensive but in recent weeks have seen Russian forces retake significant ground. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If we stop the hostilities for 30 days, what does it mean? Does it mean that everyone who is there will leave without a fight?" Putin said. "Or the Ukrainian leadership will give them an order to lay down their arms and just surrender? How will it be? It is not clear." PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint news conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko following their talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, March 13, 2025. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) Putin said he also wants guarantees that during a 30-day ceasefire, Ukraine will not regroup, and he wondered who would determine if there were any violations of a ceasefire. "These are all issues that require careful investigation from both sides," he said. Putin suggested Russia should talk with Trump to discuss his concerns, while adding, "But the idea itself is to end this conflict with peaceful means. We support it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the top of his remarks, the president thanked Trump "for his attention to Ukraine's settlement." "We believe that this ceasefire should lead to a long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis," Putin said. MORE: Putin demands Kursk total victory ahead of Moscow talks with Trump envoy Trump's Middle East envoy landed in Moscow on Thursday morning for discussions on the proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine -- a step leaders in Kyiv and Washington, D.C., hope will facilitate a larger peace deal to end Russia's three-year-old invasion of its neighbor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Witkoff's trip is "part of our continued efforts to press Russia to agree to a ceasefire and stop its brutal war against Ukraine," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a Wednesday briefing. PHOTO: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP) Witkoff will meet with Putin on Thursday night in a closed format, according to Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov. Putin will not speak with Trump on Thursday, according to Ushakov. Trump described Thursday's discussions between the U.S. and Russian officials as "very serious" during remarks from the Oval Office. "Things are going OK in Russia," he said, adding that it "doesn't mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Hopefully they will do the right thing," he said of Russia, saying he would like to see Moscow accept the 30-day ceasefire. Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if he plans to speak with Putin soon on the ceasefire proposal, Trump said, "I'd love to meet with him or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast." Trump also reacted to Putin's remarks earlier Thursday, saying, "He put out a very promising statement, but it was incomplete." The ceasefire proposal is "phase one" of the peace process, Trump said, noting that discussions on a final agreement have touched on who will get certain pieces of land and a "very big power plant." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. and Ukrainian officials agreed to a total 30-day ceasefire during talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier this week. The ball is now "truly in their court," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Russia following the talks in Jeddah. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Putin's comments "very predictable" and "manipulative" in his Thursday evening address. "Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians. And that is why they there, in Moscow, are setting the idea of silence with such preconditions that nothing will work out at all or that it will not work out for as long as possible," Zelenskyy said. "Putin often does this -- he does not say 'no' directly, but does so in a way that practically only delays everything and makes normal decisions impossible. We believe that all this is now -- another Russian manipulation." Yehor Cherniev, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament representing Zelenskyy's party, said Russia is trying to "waste time." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They cannot say yes and they cannot say no. That's why they will try to find some reasons why they cannot say yes," Cherniev told ABC News as Putin delivered his remarks Thursday. "And actually, I think they will even put on the table some conditions for this ceasefire which will be unacceptable for us. And that will be their answer -- to put responsibility for the ceasefire on our side." PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Mar. 12, 2025. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Ahead of Putin's remarks, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready for peace while Russia seeks to "postpone peace." "Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made," he said on X earlier Thursday. "This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that U.S. pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war." The Kremlin had so far been noncommittal on the U.S.-Ukrainian proposal. Officials were "scrutinizing" the publicly released statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. Russia, he added, "doesn't want to get ahead of itself" on the potential ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Ceasefire 'in Moscow's hands,' Ukraine says after US meeting in Saudi Arabia Ushakov -- who took part in last month's meeting with U.S. negotiators in Saudi Arabia -- described the proposed ceasefire as "a hasty document." "It should be worked on, and our position should also be considered and taken into account," he told journalists. "For now, only the Ukrainian approach is outlined there," Ushakov added, suggesting the 30-day pause in fighting would be an opportunity for Ukrainian forces to regroup. "We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement, we are striving for it, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country, our known concerns," Ushakov said. "Some steps that imitate peaceful actions, it seems to me, no one needs in this situation." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ushakov said he outlined Russia's position to national security adviser Mike Waltz. "I myself have recently been in fairly regular telephone contact with Mike Waltz," he said. "Yesterday he called me and informed me about the main results of the talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah." ABC News' Tanya Stukalova, Joe Simonetti and Will Gretsky contributed to this report. Putin responds to US-Ukraine ceasefire proposal, says Russia 'for it' but has concerns originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A witness heard two pilots "yelling at each other" over the radio before their airplanes collided over Marana Regional Airport, a new report on the fatal crash showed. "You cut me off," the witness recalled hearing one of the pilots say before one of the airplanes plunged into a ditch near a runway and caught fire, said a Marana police report on the incident released Wednesday to The Arizona Republic. However, the pilot in the second plane, which landed safely, told police she said nothing on the radio just before the collision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two people died after the impact when one of the airplanes, a Lancair 360 MK II, hit the ground and caught fire. Michael Reinath, 70, the pilot, and 76-year-old Linda Gifford were later identified as the victims. An instructor from a Chandler flight school, Katherine Roos, and a student were in the second plane, a Cessna 172S, which landed safely, according to the report. Pilot said she 'was unable to transmit' before the crash The crash occurred on a morning in calm weather. Police who drove up to the wreckage at about 8:30 a.m. reported seeing a mangled and "fully engulfed" aircraft with several people near it attempting to use fire extinguishers. Roos told police she and her student had been practicing "stop-and-go" maneuvers in which they would land, come to a complete stop, then hit full throttle to immediately take off again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As they prepared to take off on one of the maneuvers, Roos told police, she heard the Lancair pilot on the radio say he would do a "go-route" and then noticed the airplane coming up behind the Cessna. She assumed it would veer off to one side, which would be the normal practice to ensure airplanes weren't in the same traffic pattern. A "go-around" is an evasive maneuver a pilot may take to abort a landing. Two other witnesses heard a male voice on the radio say he would "go around," so it's possible the officer transcribed Roos' comment incorrectly. Roos "attempted to radio the Lancair to see if the pilot had them in sight, but the radio traffic was busy, and she was not able to transmit and communicate with anyone," the report states. Roos declined comment when contacted by The Republic for more details on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the Lancair flew above them, the Cessna's propeller "clipped" the Lancair's tail, causing it to barrel roll into the ground. Roos estimated she was about 200 feet off the ground at the time. Two people are dead following a midair collision involving two smaller planes Wednesday morning at the Marana Regional Airport northwest of Tucson, officials said. Other witnesses who heard radio don't mention 'yelling' Joseph Paris, an employee of Tucson Aero Service, told police he was working near a runway when he saw the airplanes close together, one doing a "low fly-by" and the other preparing for takeoff. "They were chattering at each other, yelling at each other, about 'you cut me off,'" the police narrative states. Paris didn't immediately return a phone message on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two other witnesses who heard the radio traffic reported only that they heard a male voice say he would abort his landing and go around again, then a female voice screaming "Mayday!" One of those two witnesses, Erwin Castillo, a flight instructor who was in the air that morning, told The Republic in February that the Lancair pilot sounded "pretty upset," which he thought was odd. Five seconds later, he heard screaming over the radio followed by reports that a plane went down. Contacted again Wednesday, Castillo said he didn't recall any bickering or yelling: The woman said she would perform the stop-and-go, and then came the comment from the man. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Castillo believes the problem could have been something like "air rage." "He's in a fast plane and he's trying to land," Castillo said. "Maybe he's trying to prove a point." Marana has no control tower The Marana airport has no control tower but plans to finish building one by 2029. At uncontrolled airports, pilots are expected to maintain a safe distance from other aircraft and announce their position regularly over the radio on a common frequency. Castillo told The Republic he believed the Cessna had the right of way. Under the law, the Lancair "had priority, if landing, but you're not supposed to force the person to get off the runway." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Cessna instructor's company, AeroGuard Flight Training Center in Deer Valley, referred The Republic to its public relations firm, which released the following statement: "AeroGuard is working closely with the NTSB, local authorities, and safety officials in the ongoing investigation regarding the tragic accident that occurred last month. We cannot provide any further information." The National Transportation Safety Board plans to release a preliminary report on the collision soon. Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Report: Witness heard pilot say 'you cut me off' in Marana fatal crash Republican Russia hawks lambasted Vladimir Putin for not accepting the terms of a ceasefire deal with Ukraine on Thursday, following the Trump administrations lead as it seeks to pressure the Kremlin into a peace deal. The Russian president on Thursday avoided outright rejecting the proposal that came out of negotiations earlier in the week between U.S. and Ukrainian officials. But he threw major obstacles in the path to peace by demanding inclusion of a series of conditions regarding the root causes of the crisis. Putin doesn't want peace. He wants conquest, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) echoed the Texas senators comments, saying: President Trump graciously offered Putin a way out of this insanity. Problem is Putin does not want peace, he wants Ukraine. The South Carolinian also slammed Putin, writing that woke war criminal Putin doesnt get to play the victim. He invaded a sovereign country of 40 million, his forces delighting in utter sadism. He cares nothing for the people of Russia, sending child soldiers and amputees to die for HIM. Key members of the Trump administration pushed the same ceasefire message Wednesday, demanding that Putin accept the terms of the proposal. When asked about Putins message, Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that the Russian leader put out a very promising statement, but it wasn't complete, adding that he would love to meet with him or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast. Trump also evaded committing to using points of leverage to push the Kremlin to a deal Thursday, citing ongoing conversations between American and Russian negotiators. Putin and special envoy Steve Witkoff are set to meet in Moscow on Thursday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Kremlin has claimed that its mission in launching what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine is to rid the country of Nazis, which Russia falsely says are governing. Ukraine and its supporters say that the Russian incursion aims more broadly to destroy the countrys government and take over vast portions of its land, and allies have long vowed to support Ukrainian defense. Trump has cast doubt on the U.S. commitment to Ukraine in recent weeks, oscillating from publicly belittling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last month and seemingly seeking to align U.S. policy with the Kremlin to negotiating a 30-day ceasefire proposal with Ukrainian officials and threatening devastating economic consequences for Russia if it does not agree. Many Republicans have largely fallen in line behind the presidents changing approaches, but longtime supporters of Ukraine some of whom have obliquely criticized the Trump administration or remained quiet were quick on Thursday to blast the Russian leaders response to the proposed deal, which effectively delays any meaningful movement toward ending the war. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who has been increasingly outspoken in his support for Ukraine in recent weeks, said Putins response to the deal is not a surprise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia slams door on truce with Ukraine. It is not a surprise, Bacon wrote on X, noting that Putin started this invasion a fact that Trump has falsely contradicted. Trump is right to send military aid and intelligence to Ukraine. Its time to confiscate Russian assets and do real and hard sanctions on all Russian exports, the Nebraskan said. (KRON) A woman was arrested after she accidentally left her purse and gun inside a Vallejo hotel room. Police said the incident began March 9 when the woman checked out of her room at a hotel on Admiral Callaghan Lane. Once the woman realized that she had forgotten her firearm, she returned to the hotel demanding her purse back. By that time, the hotels staff had already found the gun inside the purse and called police. When staff informed her that the police had been called, she enlisted her boyfriends help to retrieve it. When staff refused to return the purse, the couple began arguing, yelling that hotel employees had no right to call the police, and refusing to leave without it, the Vallejo Police Department wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers arrived at the hotel and found the couple sitting inside a vehicle. A child was in the backseat, police said. Officers read the woman her Miranda rights and she denied knowing anything about the gun. She claimed that her purse only contained money and paperwork, police said. However, after an officer had a heart-to-heart conversation with her about the importance of being truthful, she admitted the firearm was hers. She stated she had found it in South Vallejo and decided to keep it for protection, VPD wrote. (Photo via Vallejo Police Department) The gun was not registered, and the former hotel guest had no firearms registered in her name, according to VPD. She was arrested and transported to a Solano County Jail. San Jose auto body shop owner busted in sting Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her boyfriend was released at the scene with the child. Police did not release the arrested womans name. The police department wrote, Vallejo PD thanks the hotel staff for promptly reporting this illegal firearm. Their quick action helped ensure the safety of the community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. Editors note: The original headline read that Young was the shooter. This was incorrect as she was only charged with first-degree criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. The original body read that Young was set to serve a split sentence of 21 months in the Alabama Department of Corrections. This is incorrect. Young was sentenced to a split sentence of 21 months, but was released on time served MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) A woman who was charged in the shooting at a Taco Bell in Guntersville was sentenced Thursday. Court documents show Morgan Taylor Young was charged with four counts of first-degree criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. Records show that 646 days will be taken off her sentence for the time she had already spent in jail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was sentenced to 15 years split sentence to serve 21 months. However, she was released on time served. She will be placed on 48 months of probation. If she violates this probation, she will have to serve the rest of her prison sentence. The shooting happened on Sept. 23, 2021, at the Taco Bell on Gunter Avenue. Kevon Yenovi Williams was indicted in October of that year. Court documents filed on Oct. 6, 2021, say he claimed he acted in self-defense. Following a five-day trial, Williams was found guilty of murdering Elias Gaspar Lopez and Enrique F. Rodrigues Alvarado on Aug. 28, 2024. The State chose not to pursue the death penalty, so Judge Christopher Abel sentenced Williams to life in prison without the possibility of parole and the maximum sentence of 20 years for first-degree robbery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. A Connecticut woman has been arrested for allegedly holding her "severely emaciated" stepson in captivity at their home for over 20 years, since he was 11 years old, and forcing him to endure "prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment," police said. "It's truly horrifying and beyond comprehension what occurred here. The young man's unimaginable suffering over the course of two decades is just a reminder of the darkness that does exist in our world," Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said at a press conference Thursday. The now-32-year-old man is 5-foot-9 and weighed just 68 pounds when he was found, according to officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: 4-year-old boy calls 911 after 'bad mom' eats his ice cream The victim was discovered on Feb. 17, when Waterbury Police Department officers, along with personnel from the Waterbury Fire Department, responded to a report of an active fire at a residence at approximately 8:42 p.m. The fire was quickly extinguished by authorities and two occupants were found inside the home at the time. The first person was identified as 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, the owner of the property who called authorities for help, and the second person was identified as a 32-year-old man who was later determined to be Sullivan's stepson. Sullivan was evacuated to safety following the fire but the male occupant, who had suffered smoke inhalation and exposure to the fire, had to be assisted from the home by Waterbury Fire Department personnel and was placed in the care of emergency medical services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators quickly realized there was a room in the house that appeared to have exterior locks on the door and, as they began speaking to the male victim, he disclosed he was being held captive in the house for approximately 20 years. "While receiving medical care, the male victim disclosed to first responders that he had intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room, stating, 'I wanted my freedom,'" officials said in their statement regarding the case. "He further alleged that he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was approximately 11 years old." PHOTO: Kimberly Sullivan has been arrested after allegedly keeping her stepson captive in their Waterbury, Conn., home for more than 20 years. The stepson allegedly started a fire in February 2025 in order to escape. (WTNH) "Following these alarming statements, the Waterbury Police Department Major Crimes Unit, in collaboration with the Waterbury State's Attorney's Office, launched an extensive investigation," authorities continued. "Detectives determined that the victim had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment." The 32-year-old was also found in a "severely emaciated condition and had not received medical or dental care" during his time in captivity inside the home over the past two decades, according to police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Investigators further discovered that he had been provided with only minimal amounts of food and water which led to his extremely malnourished condition," police continued. When asked about the victim's father, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said that the biological father died in January 2024. The father was wheelchair bound from a medical condition. The victim's biological mother has not been involved in his life from since about 2 years old, he said. MORE: Man arrested for murder after 65-year-old roommate's remains found inside suitcase in East River Sullivan's lawyer defended his client and said it was the victim's late father who was responsible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He was not locked in the room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food. She provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations," her lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis, told New Haven ABC affiliate WTNH. Kaloidis said the stepson's late biological father "dictated how the boy would be raised." "We think as the evidence comes out, you will see she's not the villain she's being made out to be," Kaloidis added. During the background investigation, police found that there were two incidents in the Waterbury Police Department had in their system for that address in 2005. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first was a request from the Department of Children and Families to do a welfare check at the location because the victim's friends had not seen him lately and were concerned about him, police said. Officers went to the house and saw that it was clean, and they spoke to the victim but at that point in time, there was no cause for any alarm or any conditions that would have led officers to believe anything abnormal was occurring, police said Thursday. The DCF released a statement on Thursday evening saying that it "has looked extensively at our current and historical databases and, to date, have been unable to locate any records pertaining to this family nor any records connected to the names of others who have indicated they made reports to our Department." It went on to explain that records about unsubstantiated reports of abuse are typically expunged every five years. "We will continue our search and ask anyone with additional information to contact the Waterbury Police Department," the statement continued. "As additional information is learned, the Department will be as transparent as possible while working within the parameters of both federal and state confidentiality laws." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These horrors serve as a reminder that it takes the diligent efforts of all members of the community - family, friends, neighbors, and professionals - to protect children from abuse and neglect," the Connecticut DCF said. PHOTO: A woman was charged for allegedly holding her severely emaciated stepson in captivity for over 20 years, since he was 11 years old, and forcing him to endure prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment, police said. (Facebook / Waterbury Police Department) Waterbury police were called back to the house in April 2005 by the family who wanted to file a harassment claim against members of the school district. The family said members of the school district were continuously reporting them to DCF and felt that they were trying to get them in trouble, police said. There was no proof provided by the family that there was any type of harassment that was occurring. Police are now working with DCF to look at records that they may have had from previous investigations. Throughout the years, it appears the locks used on the exterior of that room increased as time progressed, and the victim got older and a bit stronger, officials said at Thursday's press conference. There are a lot of physical and mental health issues that the victim is now dealing with, Spagnolo said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the investigation, Sullivan was identified as a suspect, and an arrest warrant was issued for her on Tuesday. Sullivan was located by police on Wednesday and taken into police custody by the Waterbury Police Department on charges of assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree, police said. MORE: 26-year-old mother charged in alleged murder of 4-month-old son "The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable," said Spagnolo. "This case required relentless investigative effort, and I commend the dedication of our officers and the Waterbury State's Attorney's Office. Their unwavering commitment ensured that justice is served, and the perpetrator is held fully accountable for these horrific crimes." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Thirty-three years in law enforcement, this is the worst treatment of humanity that I've ever witnessed," Spagnolo said Thursday. Sullivan was subsequently arraigned in court and her bond was set at $300,000. She is now expected to be placed in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections while she awaits trial. Kimberly Sullivan refused to talk to police almost immediately but does not have any prior criminal history, officials said. Connecticut man held captive by stepmom for 20 years weighed only 68 pounds: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com MEMPHIS, Tenn. A federally indicted East Memphis doctor pleaded not guilty to all 23 charges against him, including charges of health care fraud and coercing people into sexual acts. More alleged victims of Dr. Sanjeev Kumar are reaching out to WREG to have their stories heard. We spoke with a woman who says she has spent years in pain. East Memphis doctor indicted, accused of fraud, sexual coercion Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patricia Taylor-Sawyer says that around 2019, her primary doctor referred her to Dr. Kumar because she was not keeping food down. She says Dr. Kumar examined her. So I say, I have a cycle, Im over 60 years old, theres no way. So, he says, Well let me take a look again. So he did again, and he said, You got a mass,' she said. Sawyer told us that Dr. Kumar scheduled and performed surgery on her. Accused Memphis doctor to be released on $100K bond; patients left questioning their care Sawyer was sent home a few days later and received nursing care, but she never had a wound care specialist, which she says eventually resulted in a bigger issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pull this pad off and I called my daughter-in-law downstairs, cause I was like, Oh my God, I know this not what I think. And she came downstairs and she said, Okay, so you know you smelling dead right? And I knew it because I could smell it, said Sawyer. WARNING: The images below may be difficult to look at. Photo Courtesy of Patricia Taylor-Sawyer Photo Courtesy of Patricia Taylor-Sawyer Photo Courtesy of Patricia Taylor-Sawyer She is now starting a long journey toward healing a journey she took without any assistance from Kumar. I see other people had to suffer behind me, not only that, people suffered before I did, so why was he still able to get to the women? Sawyer said. Former patient of indicted East Memphis doctor believes procedure led to miscarriages Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the indictment, federal prosecutors allege, in part, that Dr. Kumar performed unnecessary procedures with unsanitary equipment. The FBI wants the victims to contact them. Gwen Turner, with the YWCA of Greater Memphis, says its important for those victims to speak with a counselor or a loved one. Its a horrific experience, and to experience that from a person in authority, a person that you trust, a person that youre paying, you know, to give you services. You feel so violated, and not just violated in the body, you feel violated. I mean, they violated your intellect, said Turner. Sawyer says she attempted to sue, but attorneys told her she could not file a lawsuit because of the statute of limitations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. MERCER COUNTY, WV (WVNS) A Mercer County woman was found guilty of incest. According to a press release, 36-year-old Virginia Amelia Nester, of Princeton, was found guilty of two felony counts of incest on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 after a two-day jury trial. Nester was previously charged with four felony counts of incest, and the Mercer County Grand Jury found her not guilty of the other two counts. Alleged break-in results in shooting death of woman in Mercer County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The press release stated that law enforcement was not aware about the consensual incestual relationship between Nester and her father Teddy Billings until Nesters family members discovered the relationship and reportedly led to Nester incorrectly telling the West Virginia State Police that she was raped by her father. Evidence showing that the relationship was consensual was found after the West Virginia State Police received the false report, and Nesters story reportedly changed the second time she talked with law enforcement. Drug investigation carried out by law enforcement in West Virginia Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Brian K. Cochran thanked the West Virginia State Police and the assistant prosecuting attorney for their work on the prosecution of both Billings, who previously pleaded guilty to incest, and Nester. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nester and Billings will both need to register as sex offenders, and Nesters sentencing is scheduled for May 15, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A woman who pleaded guilty to causing a crash that killed a woman and injured several others on Youngstowns east side was sentenced Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to 20 to 24 years in prison. Judge Maureen Sweeney handed down the sentence to Kyashia Madison, 29, who pleaded guilty on March 3 to charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, a first-degree felony; three counts of aggravated vehicular assault, a second-degree felony; and first-degree misdemeanor counts of endangering children and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. She is accused of causing an Aug. 16, 2023 crash at Victor and Commonwealth avenues that took the life of Denasia Douglas, 19, and injured three others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Douglas was a passenger in the car that a car driven by Madison collided with. She had been free on $100,000 bond before her sentencing. Yolanda Winlock, the mother of the victim, told Judge Sweeney the day her daughter died was the worst day of my life. I know she didnt intend to hurt anyone but there are consequences to drinking and driving, she said. It hurts. Jasmine Hyde read a statement from John Perdue, the driver of the car Madison collided with. Perdue called the ordeal a nightmare. All the pain was nothing compared to a life lost, the statement said. Hyde burst into tears while reading the statement, as did Madison, who had her face buried in her arms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hopefully she has learned her lesson and there is now one less drunk driver on my street, Hyde said. Defense attorney Mark Lavelle, standing at a podium next to his client, started to speak but he was interrupted by Madison, who needed to sit down because she was overcome with emotion. Lavelle said he knows the case is emotional, but urged the judge to not let emotion guide her decision on the sentence but to base her decision on the law. Madison has no prior criminal history, Lavelle said, and she had been drinking since she was a teen. For what its worth, after this event occurred, she got sober and went through rehabilitation for the first time ever, Lavelle said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His client is also a mother of four with a baby on the way, Lavelle said. He suggested a sentence of between four and six years. Madison said she was sorry for the hurt she caused and how it will also affect her own children, before she sat back down and stopped speaking. In a statement she wrote read by Lavelle, she said, I wish it was meIm so sorry. I hope and I pray one day you have it in your heart to forgive me. Gerry Ricciutti contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. A 54-year-old Rossville woman died and several students suffered minor injuries Monday afternoon in a crash involving a school bus in Wabash County, according to a press release from the Indiana State Police. Officers from the Indiana State Police, Wabash County Sheriffs Office, Miami County Sheriffs Office, Wabash City Police, and Roann Town Marshals Office responded to an injury-involved crash on U.S. 24 near County Road 700 West around 4 p.m. The preliminary crash investigation by Master Trooper Jeremy J. Perez of the ISP revealed that George S. Howard, 69, of Wabash, was driving a yellow 2019 Thomas school bus traveling northbound on County Road 700 East approaching U.S. 24, stopping south of U.S. 24. The School Bus traveled across U.S. 24 into the path of a gray 2011 Dodge Ram driven by Tina J. Tague, 54, of Rossville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tague was transported via medical helicopter to an area hospital, where she was later pronounced dead by medical staff. A front-seat passenger of the Dodge was also transported via medical helicopter with serious injuries and is currently in stable condition. Four children on the bus sustained minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment. One child on the bus suffered serious injuries and was transported via medical helicopter to an area hospital. This is an ongoing investigation. At this time, neither the consumption of alcoholic beverages nor narcotics are suspected of contributing to this crash. Wabash Fire Department, Noble Township Volunteer Fire Department, Wabash County EMA, Wabash Fire EMS, Parkview medical helicopter and Lutheran medical helicopter also assisted at the scene. In a communication sent to parents on Monday evening, Wabash City Schools said all injured students received immediate medical attention describing all injuries as minor and the district is working with authorities as the accident is under investigation. Wabash City Schools would like to thank police, fire and emergency responders for their quick response and assistance, the communication from the district concluded. Our thoughts are with all those involved in the accident. Rescue workers, together with police, have pulled a woman from the rubble of a multi-storey building nearly 20 hours after a Russian airstrike on the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. Source: State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) Details: The woman who was injured in the attack was handed over to National Police paramedics, who swiftly transported her to hospital. Rescue workers also reported clearing two and a half tonnes of rubble from the site. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: On 12 March at around 16:30, Russian forces struck residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with aerial bombs. Early reports indicated that two people were killed and five others were injured. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! An Acworth woman will spend years in prison after she was found guilty of attempted drug distribution. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On Tuesday, a Cherokee County judge sentenced Jacquelyn Elaine Moravetz, 45, of Acworth, to 20 years, with the first seven years to be served in confinement. The seven years will be suspended and changed to a probationary term upon Moravetzs acceptance and successful completion of Drug Accountability Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The conviction stems from Moravetz being found guilty of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The Cherokee County Sheriffs Office began investigating the charges on June 16, 2023, after responding to a 911 call. Authorities said another resident allowed deputies inside the home, they saw illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia in plain view. Agents searched the home and found several bags of methamphetamine weighing almost 28 grams. Agents said they also found meth inside Moravetz personal belonging. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Drug distribution affects every member of our community, leaving a lasting and harmful impact. Too often, these dangerous substances end up in the hands of children, said Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Visockis, who prosecuted this case on behalf of the State. Through the collaborative efforts of Cherokee Sheriffs Office and CMANS, another criminal has been brought to justice. Moravetz was also ordered to complete 120 hours of community service. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A correctional officer with the Woodbury County Jail is accused of assaulting an inmate and causing a concussion. Austin Svendsen, 29, has been charged with serious assault, a serious misdemeanor. Svendsen was working as a correctional officer in the Woodbury County Jail on Feb. 14 when he allegedly assaulted an inmate. Officials investigating deaths of two northwest Iowans Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Documents state that an inmate was told to pack his belongings and move to another jail cell but the inmate started to argue with jailers. Svendsen and other jailers then allegedly grabbed the inmate and took him to the ground. Svendsen then allegedly kneed the victim in the abdomen and hit him repeatedly in the face. The victim suffered cuts, bruising, and a concussion, documents state. An arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 14 and was served on March 10. He then bonded out on the day of his arrest. KCAU 9 reached out to the sheriffs office, but has not heard back at the time of publishing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) People who plan to use the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge Thursday night into Friday morning may find the trip across the Potomac River a little longer. The City of Alexandria posted on its Facebook page that the I-495 bridge was scheduled to have maintenance openings from 10 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday, as long as the weather allowed the work to be done. Church cancels Christmas performance at Kennedy Center following center changes Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alexandria said there would be multiple openings and traffic stops during the time period. The post noted that during that time, there also was a bridge opening that was to take place for a motor yacht. It was scheduled for 12:01 a.m., and the city said it should last for 15 to 20 minutes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. DES MOINES, Iowa The World Food and Music Festival is ranked number five in USA Todays 10 Best Readers Choice Awards for Best Cultural Festival. The festival beat out top contenders from states such as Florida, New York, and Hawaii. The ranking was based on a public voting process. Adventureland Inn permanently shuttering its doors after 50 years USA Today said, The World Food and Music Festival highlights international cuisine with a diverse group of food and drink vendors, as well as interactive culinary programming. Live performances, such as Irish dancing and taiko drumming, add to the fun and ambience, truly making this event a feast for the senses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amelia Klatt the Director of Events for the Greater Des Moines Partnership, said in a statement, Being recognized as one of the nations top cultural festivals is an amazing honor. This recognition reflects the rich heritage, vibrant flavors and unique cultural experiences that make the World Food & Music Festival special. We are grateful for the support from our community and visitors who celebrate with us every year. This years annual event will be held in Des Moines Western Gateway Park from Friday, August 22nd through Sunday, August 24th. For more details about this years World Food and Music Festival check out dsmpartnership.com. Metro news Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. A 32-year-old emaciated man, weighing just 68 pounds at 5 feet, 9 inches tall, was allegedly held captive by his stepmother in a Waterbury residence in conditions described by police as worse than a jail cell since he was pulled out of school 20 years ago after school officials allegedly began raising red flags to the Department of Children and Families. The man was allegedly kept isolated and locked in an 8-foot by 9-foot storage room without any heat or air conditioning and no connection to the outside world aside from a radio he used to keep track of time, according to the arrest warrant affidavit charging 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and first-degree reckless endangerment. The man told investigators that he would be let out anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours nearly every single day of his life once he was yanked from school and endured some days when he would be locked up for 24 hours with only two sandwiches and two small cups or bottles of water, the warrant affidavit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also told investigators that he was discouraged from trying to break free from captivity through fear tactics that included the constant threat of longer lockdowns and less food, according to the warrant affidavit. The horrific conditions the man was allegedly kept in were discovered on Feb. 17, when he spontaneously decided to use a lighter he found in an old coat as well as hand sanitizer and paper to start a fire that brought firefighters, police and medics to the residence, the warrant affidavit said. I wanted my freedom, the man told investigators. In 33 years of law enforcement this is the worst treatment of humanity Ive ever witnessed, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo said at a news conference on Thursday as officials discussed the investigation. It was worse than the conditions of a jail cell, Spagnolo said of the locked room made smaller by angled ceilings where the victim was reportedly kept. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Spagnolo, Waterbury police could only find two documented incidents when police were called to the home, which occurred in April 2005. During the first incident, police conducted a welfare check on the alleged victim. According to the warrant affidavit, DCF had been contacted by staff at the victims school. Spagnolo said officials found the boy in the home and did not notice any issues. During the second incident, a little more than two weeks later, Spagnolo said police received a complaint from the family who alleged that school officials were harassing them and reporting them to DCF. No police action was taken, as the harassment allegations were not substantiated, according to Spagnolo. CT man allegedly held captive for decades. He was found during Waterbury fire investigation Tom Pannone, the former principal of an elementary school in Waterbury that has since closed, told NBC Connecticut that school officials raised several concerns about the boy and contacted DCF numerous times. He alleged that school staff would see him eating out of the trash and stealing food, noticing that he was constantly hungry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done, Pannone said, alleging that they contacted DCF at least 20 times. Pannone said he never saw the victim again after the fourth grade and that he heard from one person that the child was transferred to another school district and from another that the boy was being homeschooled. The alleged victim told investigators he was pulled from school at 11 years old after being told to lie to DCF and say everything was fine, the warrant affidavit said. DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said in a statement Thursday that investigators with the agency have looked extensively at our current and historical databases and, to date, have been unable to locate any records pertaining to this family nor any records connected to the names of others who have indicated they made reports to our department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In accordance with state regulation, it should also be noted that reports of neglect and abuse that have been investigated and not substantiated are expunged five years after completion of the investigation provided there are no other substantiated reports, Hill-Lilly said. We will continue our search and ask anyone with additional information to contact the Waterbury Police Department. Hill-Lilly went on to say the agency was shocked and saddened for the victim and at the unspeakable conditions he endured. The now-adult victim has shown incredible strength and resilience during this time of healing and our hearts go out to him, she said. These horrors serve as a reminder that it takes the diligent efforts of all members of the community family, friends, neighbors, and professionals to protect children from abuse and neglect. Sullivans attorney, Jason Spilka, told the Courant his client maintains her innocence and that her lawyers intend to launch an aggressive defense against the allegations. Spilka said he could not address or answer questions about specific allegations, as he still needs to review much of the evidence and has only reviewed the warrant drafted by police so far. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the warrant affidavit, the alleged victim told authorities that he stomped for help after lighting the fire and told Sullivan that it started when his radio malfunctioned. He told police she allegedly made him get up and go wash his face after he collapsed to the floor, as she did not want firefighters to see his appearance, the warrant affidavit said. He also alleged that he heard her yell out to get a screwdriver to take the locks off the outside of his door, according to the warrant affidavit. The man told authorities he collapsed again and purposely remained put so that fire crews would have to help him out of the home, the warrant affidavit said. He was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to a medical facility where he received treatment for his emaciated condition. Sullivan at the scene allegedly told officials the man has a lot of problems but was not diagnosed with anything, the warrant affidavit said. She denied that he was ever locked in his room and said he had free reign of the house, according to the warrant affidavit. Crews at the scene found a slide lock and latch on the door to the room where the man said he was kept. Spagnolo said Sullivan refused to talk to investigators when they wanted to conduct a follow-up interview to discuss the allegations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police conducted two interviews with the alleged victim at the hospital where he described a life of captivity, abuse and starvation, investigators wrote in the warrant. His earliest memories go back to when his family lived at another residence where he said he would have to sneak out to get food at night. When the wrappers from the food were discovered, he alleged that he began being locked in his bedroom. He also alleged that he had to drink from a toilet because he was only given two cups or bottles of water a day. Once the family moved, the man told police, he remembered being hungry all the time, leading to him eating food from the garbage at school, the warrant affidavit said. He said he was pulled from school in 2005 when DCF visited his home twice after school officials raised concerns, according to the warrant affidavit. After that, he said he essentially had to educate himself with a dictionary and some books and was never taught anything. After initially being kept in a bedroom, the man claimed that at some point in his childhood, he was moved to a storage room where his captivity allegedly became brutally consistent, the warrant affidavit said. He said he would normally wake up between 3-4:30 a.m., as he did not sleep well, and would only allegedly be let out of his room around 8 a.m. to complete his chores, according to the warrant affidavit. He alleged that his tasks would take anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours and that he would be locked back in his room once he was done. The man claimed that the routine occurred nearly every day but that there were times when he would be locked up for 24 hours straight, according to the warrant affidavit. Another person in the home would sometimes allow him to watch TV or do work in the yard, but that was allegedly only when Sullivan was not home, the warrant affidavit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Spagnolo, the mans father died in January 2024 and had been confined to a wheelchair. His biological mother has not been involved in his life since he was about 2 years old, Spagnolo said. Two other people who had been in and out of the home moved out some time ago, he said. When asked why he never confided in anyone, the man told police he was mentally conditioned by Sullivan, who allegedly threatened that he would not see the light of day if he told anyone, according to the warrant affidavit. He said he also was not allowed to have any friends and faced the constant threat of longer periods of being locked up and less food. He also told police he discovered a gun one day while cleaning, which made him even more fearful. Its just unfathomable that someone could treat someone this way, Waterbury Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. said at Thursdays news conference, adding that the alleged victim was reportedly kept a secret through tactics that included instilling fear and intimidation. The man told authorities he was allegedly forced to urinate in bottles and defecate on newspapers, which he would then wrap up and throw away when he was allowed to come out to do his chores, the warrant affidavit said. To drain the bottles, he said he put together a series of straws that he ran out a hole in the storm window of his room, which did not open, the warrant affidavit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The man told police at the hospital that he had not bathed for a year or two, according to the warrant affidavit. He alleged that he would save some of the little water he was given each day until there was enough to try to clean himself. Police noted in the warrant that the mans hair was long, thick and matted. The man said he had not been to a doctor in quite a long time and that he was not allowed to see a dentist, the warrant affidavit said. Police found that he had severe tooth decay, which he said led to his teeth breaking at times when he ate. At the hospital, medical staff diagnosed the man as cachectic which is also referred to as wasting syndrome and was described as someone who had significant weight loss and deteriorated muscle mass, the warrant affidavit said. His body mass index was found to be 11. Medical staff told police any index under 16 is considered starvation and anything under 13 is life-threatening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, according to the warrant affidavit. The victim was also found to be developmentally delayed with an adolescent cognitive level, the warrant affidavit said. He was not able to use something as simple as a microwave and had difficulties problem-solving, multitasking and sequencing, according to the warrant affidavit. Sullivan was taken into police custody on Wednesday, a day after police obtained an arrest warrant for her. During an arraignment in Waterbury Superior Court later in the day, a judge ordered that she could only post her $300,000 bond at the courthouse. Spilka said Sullivan appeared in court again on Thursday where a judge set the conditions of her release before she posted bail. These included intensive pretrial supervision, he said. The case has been continued to March 26. Sullivan has not entered a plea. Spagnolo said Thursday that the investigation remains ongoing, though at this point authorities are not looking to bring charges against anyone else. He said two lead detectives started a collection to get the victim clothing, books and other items but that he still has a long road ahead of physical therapy and likely counseling. GROVE, Okla. Wyandotte aviation students were at the Grove Regional Airport on Wednesday, participating in Discovery Flights. Grove students soaring to new heights with new aviation equipment Dana Morisset, Wyandotte Schools Aviation Administrator, brought 12 students for the all-day event in Grove. A Discovery Flight allows students to ride in an airplane with a certified flight instructor, giving them a better idea of the aviation course they want to pursue after high school. Students who have undergone simulation courses at Wyandotte High School can control the airplane with the control wheel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the students spent several months raising $1,400 to have the Discovery Flights so they could participate in Wednesdays event. Classroom to Cockpit: Local students gain hands-on experience building aircraft Morisset quickly praises the schools anonymous donor, who gave the school a $90,000 flight simulator that got the program off the ground. Morisset said that their anonymous gift enables Wyandotte students to get one step closer to flight readiness. The Redbird MX2 simulator, an FAA-approved advanced aviation training device with full-motion training, allows aviation students to log flight hours that will be applied toward their personal pilots license required hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is such an incredible opportunity for the students, said Lisa Jewett, Grove Airport Manager. You could just see the excitement on their faces when they walked through the airport doors, Jewett said. Grove and Grand Lake are recognized for their many aerospace and aviation-related businesses, she said. At all times, the certified flight instructor has control of the aircraft, said Jaden Durling with FlyHome Aviation. Darling explained that the aircraft is outfitted with two sets of controls, and the 60-year-old planes used for the event are pre-flighted to ensure that they are in top condition before the students board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I would like to be a pilot, said Alanna Bird, a sophomore and the only female in the class. Sophomores Gunner Jackson and Jairus Robertson were thankful for the opportunity to fly in an airplane. This is the full real deal, Robertson said. Who knew this kind of opportunity even existed. Wyandotte students flew around Grove and the Grand Lake area in a Piper Cherokee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is releasing new information on a financiers ties to Jeffrey Epsteins operations, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee announced Wednesday. Since 2022, the committee has been investigating billionaire financier Leon Black who co-founded and previously led asset management firm Apollo Global Management as CEO and has made payments to Epstein. Amid the investigation, Wyden is calling on the Department of Justice, the Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to lift the veil on financial support for Epstein. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oregon gun control law is constitutional, according to state appeals court On Tuesday, Wyden sent a letter to the federal agencies, providing the new findings from the committees investigation, which is looking into payments of at least $158 million from Black to Epstein for purported tax and estate planning advice. Wyden says the investigation led to new evidence through federal government records that show funds from Black to Epstein were used to finance Epsteins sex trafficking operations. The Finance Committee also obtained a 2023 settlement agreement between Black and the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the $62 million settlement, Black gained immunity from criminal prosecution in the USVI for financially supporting Epstein, according to Wyden, noting the settlement acknowledges Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands. Cannon Beachs long-standing poop problem cited in complaint from environmental nonprofit Additionally, Wyden said the investigation found documents showing the true amount Black paid Epstein totaled $170 million, which is $12 million more than what was identified by the Apollo Global Management boards investigation into payments, noting there has been no explanation why the Apollo boards investigation failed to identify these payments. On top of those findings, the committee discovered that a major U.S. bank waited seven years to report Blacks payments to Epstein to the Treasury Department, which is a potential violation of federal money laundering laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These findings come after the Trump administration released files on Epstein in late February, however, Wyden is calling on the DOJ to release more information. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KOIN Morning Digest In light of Attorney General Bondis recent claims that the Department of Justice intends to pursue accountability and transparency for those involved with Jeffrey Epsteins sex trafficking network, I write to request any documents in the possession of DOJ and the U.S. Treasury Department related to individuals, financial institutions, attorneys and agents that may have known about or facilitated the financing of Epsteins illegal activities, Wyden wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am concerned that Attorney General Bondis February 27th release of documents related to the Epstein case failed to provide any meaningful new information, and that many of these documents were already in the public domainsimilar concerns have been raised by Democrats and Republicans alike, Wyden continued. It is crucial that your agencies provide the Committee with the requested documents in order to further its ongoing investigation, and to ensure that the Trump Department of Justice does not sweep any case against high profile individuals associated with Epsteins activities under the rug. KOIN 6 News has reached out to Apollo Global Management and representatives for Leon Black. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) The YMCA of the Wabash Valley received around $6.5 million in a grant from the Wabash Valley Community Foundation. The grant will go towards renovations and upgrades at the YMCA. They are looking to expand the building towards the river, but as a second floor off the ground. The initial plans have glass windows for visitors to view the river and Fairbanks Park, while enjoying their workout. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CEO of the YMCA, Ryan Penrod, said the expansion could fill a number of needs in the Terre Haute community. A need for childcare in our community, Penrod said. The YMCA believes we have the skill and capacity to be able to address that need, so we want to be able to fill that space. We also believe that improving the quality of life and health of our community is of vital importance. We believe that if we have more space, we can serve more people and offer more programs to provide those opportunities for people. Penrod said this is just an initial plan and nothing is final yet. The YMCA is continuing to work with local partners, such as the Terre Haute Parks Department, to finalize plans for the space. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com. A yoga apparel brand is opening a new store at the Mall of America, its second Minnesota location. Alo Yoga, described as being "renowned for luxury activewear rooted in mind-body wellness," will open a 6,000-sq.ft. store on Level 1, West this summer. The Beverly Hills, California-based retailer was founded in 2007 and was initially online only, but has since expanded to more than 100 locations across the U.S. Alo Yoga Its first Minnesota location, at the upmarket Galleria mall in Edina, opened this past summer. The retailer says opening at the MOA "marks a significant expansion of Alo's U.S. presence." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The store will feature the company's "full range of fashion-forward apparel for women, men, and unisex styles," which includes its recently launched footwear range. "The opening of Alo Yoga will be a fantastic addition to our retail mix as we continue expanding our athleisure offerings," said Carrie Charleston, VP of leasing at Mall of America. "Alo Yoga has a strong and engaged community with an incredible mission to inspire mindfulness. We are excited to collaborate with this exceptional brand as we continue evolving the retail experience for our shoppers." (Bloomberg) -- Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks global trade. Sign up here. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For years, Canadians from southern Ontario have made the short drive across the border to Buffalo, New York, to load up on cheap milk and shop at retailers like Target and Trader Joes that they dont have access to at home. But those trips have been happening less often since President Donald Trump took office and began threatening tariffs and disparaging Canada, even saying that the country should become the 51st US state. Vehicle and truck crossings at the US-Canadian border in western New York are down 13% this year as fewer Canadians make the trip, said Mark Poloncarz, who runs Erie County, which includes Buffalo. The countys initial sales tax receipts have slipped 7% through mid-February, a $4.9 million reduction in revenue. Poloncarz blames the decline at least partly on a drop in Canadian visitors. We are now starting to see the negative impact of tariffs in western New York, said Poloncarz, a Democrat who has served as Eries county executive since 2012. No one wins in a trade war between the United States and Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pain in the Buffalo area exemplifies a broader fraying of the deep economic ties that have long united the two countries. In some cases, Canadians are even selling US properties and moving back home. The US is poised to lose about 3 million Canadian visitors this year, a 15% drop that will translate into $3.3 billion of lost spending, according to Tourism Economics. The setback will be large enough to affect profits and seasonal hiring in destinations that count most heavily on Canadian travelers, said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, a unit of Oxford Economics. The travel effect is unfolding against a backdrop of an intensifying trade war thats roiling ties between longtime allies. Canada announced new 25% tariffs on about C$30 billion ($20.8 billion) of US-made products on Wednesday, including steel and aluminum, striking back after Trump went ahead with global duties on imports of those metals. During a press conference on Thursday, Trump ruled out easing the penalties on Canada. Weve been ripped off for years, and were not going to be ripped off anymore. No, Im not going to bend at all aluminum, or steel, or cars. He also reiterated his claim that Canada only works as a state. We dont need anything it has. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the US tourism industry, the latest blow came earlier with the revelation this week that the Trump administration is preparing a tougher new travel rule for Canadians, who typically make up the largest group of international visitors to the US. The regulation would require them to register their information with the US government and submit to fingerprinting if they cross by land and plan to stay longer than 30 days. That would potentially affect many Canadian snowbirds, retirees who spend the winter in warmer US states such as Florida and Arizona. In total, about 20 million Canadians visited the US in 2024, spending $20.5 billion and propping up 140,000 jobs, the US Travel Association estimates. Canceling Disneyland Already this year, Canadian visitors traveling by car fell 23% in February to 1.2 million, the second straight month of year-over-year declines, according to Statistics Canada. Another drag is coming from the Canadian dollar, which has fallen about 6.1% against the US dollar during the past year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some would-be travelers, including British Columbia Premier David Eby, have canceled trips. Eby said he had to break the news to his children that their spring vacation to Californias Disneyland theme park was off, even after spending C$1,000 on tickets. Hes been urging residents to avoid US travel if possible. We are starting to see groups that typically have trips planned saying, You know, we are going to stay in Canada, said Fred Ferguson, chief executive officer of the American Bus Association. At first, many tourists were only avoiding Republican states but now many are skipping all US travel, said Laura Mezzacapo, accounting manager at Vancouver-based The Travel Group, a travel agency. Ahead of a payment deadline at the end of March, a group of more than 20 travelers backed out of a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, saying they were holding off on visiting the US for now, Mezzacapo said. Each client got a C$700 deposit back and avoided paying the trip fee of between C$4,500 and C$6,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Santa Fe is one of Travel Groups most popular destinations due to its arts and wellness scene. But the agency is no longer promoting that city or any other US trips on its social media, marketing or advertising campaigns. We wont promote Santa Fe until everyone feels its OK to travel again, Mezzacapo said. Shifting Opinions Contributing to the decline is a change in attitudes. In a survey released last month, polling firm Leger found that almost half of Canadian travelers said they were less likely to visit the US in 2025 compared with last year, a response that was particularly prevalent among people over 55 and higher-income households. Only 10% of respondents said they were more likely to visit the US, with 43% reporting no change in their intentions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a subsequent poll, Leger found signs of a broader breakdown. According to that survey, most Canadians have reduced their purchases of US goods and 30% said they considered the US an enemy country. By comparison, 31% said they considered the US an ally. Still, after years of largely seamless North American integration, many Canadians are hesitant to turn away from the US even as they grit their teeth at recent White House policies. While Trumps tariffs and his talk of the 51st state offend many Canadian snowbirds, theres little evidence theyre leaving en masse, said Gwendal Gauthier, publisher of Le Courrier des Ameriques, a monthly newspaper that targets French-speaking Canadians in South Florida. He said he has no trouble distributing 50,000 copies of the free publication. The Canadians dont like what is happening, but they are not running away from Florida, said Gauthier, who also administers a 98,000-member Facebook group called Les Snowbirds Quebecois en Floride. There is no panic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But there is anger. Constance Bonneville said she decided to leave the US after Trumps election in November, citing his anti-LGBTQ stances and trade policies with Canada. She put her house up for sale in Scottsdale, Arizona, and left her career as a real estate agent after more than 10 years in the US. The vibe for me is, Im out of here, she said. Now that shes in British Columbia, she said Trumps escalating trade war made me realize how much of a right decision I made about being on this side of the border. Canadians are very united, and were taking measures to protect ourselves against the United States of America. I mean, thats crazy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Michael Smith, Eliyahu Kamisher and Anna J Kaiser. (Updates with comment from Trump in eighth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) It's been almost 40 years since Emilio Estevez first drew his revolver as Billy the Kid in the iconic Western Young Guns. The actor visited the New Mexico State Capitol on Thursday during Film and Media Day to announce that he'll be coming back to where it all started to film the next installment in the franchise. He will direct Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive and will star again as the famous outlaw. The cast also includes original members Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater. Estevez said during a news conference that he's heard jokes about whether the title should be Old Guns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first Young Guns premiered in 1988. Its success resulted in a sequel that followed two years later. Both were filmed in New Mexico. The state has a long history in the movie making business. Its stunning and rugged landscapes were a popular backdrop for Westerns starring John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy and Kirk Douglas. Its now home to production hubs for Netflix and NBCUniversal. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday highlighted Young Guns as one of the films that helped to establish the state as a premier filming destination, saying the next one will add to the legacy. This production represents exactly what our film incentives are designed to attract high-quality projects that create jobs for New Mexicans while showcasing our states extraordinary beauty, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Estevez, 62, said some work already is happening on the film, but officials didn't provide any details on when the cameras could start rolling. The plot also is under wraps, although Estevez and Phillips had hinted in interviews in recent years that it was very possible that the franchise would return to the big screen. Written by Estevez and John Fusco, Young Guns 3 will be produced by Morgan Creek. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has characterized the conditions set by Russian President Vladimir Putin for agreeing to a ceasefire as "manipulation." Putin does not dare to tell US President Donald Trump openly that he wants to continue the war, Zelensky said in his evening video message. "And that is why they in Moscow link the idea of a ceasefire with such conditions that nothing can come of it overall or nothing can be achieved for as long as possible," Zelensky asserted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ukrainian leader said this was a trick by Putin, who, Zelensky claimed, would do anything to either delay or prevent its practical implementation instead of saying a clear "no." At a press conference, Putin had attached conditions to Moscow agreeing to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine and expressed doubts that such a ceasefire could be monitored. Zelensky, on the other hand, reiterated Ukraine's willingness to temporarily halt the fighting. Kiev had accepted the ceasefire proposal because the US had declared its willingness to monitor it. With the United States' capabilities, this was a real possibility, Zelensky asserted. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of dragging its heels on a peace agreement. "Unfortunately, the world hasn't heard a substantial response from Russia to the proposal [for a ceasefire] for a day," Zelensky wrote on social media. He said earlier that he had been briefed "in detail" by the returning Ukrainian negotiating delegation about the discussions with US representatives in Saudi Arabia. "And this confirms once again that it is Russia that seeks to continue the war and tries to delay the arrival of peace to the maximum extent possible," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He expressed hope that pressure from the US would be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war. During negotiations with a US delegation in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, Kiev agreed to a 30-day temporary ceasefire. Representatives from Moscow have so far expressed scepticism towards this proposal. US special envoy Steven Witkoff has travelled to Russia for discussions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the United States would be able to intensify pressure on Russia and force it to end the war. He shared this position after receiving a report from the Ukrainian delegation about their meeting with US representatives in Saudi Arabia. Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details: Zelenskyy highlighted that the conversation between the two delegations was highly constructive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said that the Ukrainian representatives informed the American side of Ukraine's key positions. They also discussed the need to ensure security guarantees, cooperation with European partners and further joint steps. Zelenskyy noted that "for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made". Quote: "This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war." Details: Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine was ready "for an air and sea ceasefire, but the US proposed extending it to land". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Ukraine welcomes this proposal. The control of such a ceasefire remains an important issue, and we appreciate the United States' willingness to organise the technical aspects of such control," he added. Background: Following the talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine said it is willing to implement a 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia also adheres to it. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington will submit a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine to Russia and said he hopes Russia will accept it. Later, Reuters, citing informed sources, reported that Russia presented the US with a list of demands for an agreement to end the war against Ukraine and reset relations with Washington. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reacted to Putin's statements about a 30-day ceasefire. Source: Zelenskyy's evening address Quote: "Today, we all heard very predictable and highly manipulative words from Putin in response to the idea of a frontline ceasefire he is actually preparing to reject it as of now. Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, to keep killing Ukrainians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the idea of a ceasefire with so many preconditions that nothing will come of it, or that it will be delayed as long as possible." Details: Zelenskyy noted that Putin often employs such tactics never saying "no" outright but deliberately delaying and obstructing meaningful decisions. The Ukrainian president described this as another example of Russian manipulation. The US side has expressed readiness to organise oversight and verification of the ceasefire. Zelenskyy believes this is achievable with American and European capabilities. Quote: "We are not setting conditions that complicate things. Russia is doing that. As we have always said, the only party dragging things out and being unconstructive is Russia. They need war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war day after day. Now is the time to pressure him. Sanctions must be imposed that will have an impact. We will continue working with our American and European partners and with everyone in the world who wants peace to force Russia to end this war." Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! We have come together to stay together: Uddhav > < 23:58 Pak security forces foil terror attack on checkpost, kill 10 militants File image Pakistani security forces on Thursday foiled an attack on a checkpoint in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 10 terrorists, including a suicide bomber, military's media wing said on Thursday. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, terrorists tried to attack the... Read more > 23:26 John Abraham calls on EAM Jaishankar ahead 'The Diplomat' release EAM S Jaishankar being presented a jersey by actor John Abraham, in New Delhi/ANI Photo Ahead of the release of his new film The Diplomat, actor John Abraham on Thursday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and discussed diplomacy, football, the northeast and the upcoming movie.Directed by Shivam Nair, The Diplomat will hit the theatres on Friday.An interesting... Read more > 23:06 Yet to get her death certificate: RG Kar doc's father File image The father of the RG Kar hospital rape and murder victim on Thursday claimed that though over seven months have passed after the incident, the parents are yet to get the death certificate of their daughter and have been running from pillar to post for it. The father of the deceased... Read more > 22:52 Kerala mosque, church open doors for 'Attukal Pongala' devotees File image In a show of communal harmony and brotherhood, the Manakkad Juma Masjid in Thiruvananthapuram opened its doors and provided facilities to the thousands of women who arrived in the state capital for the 'Attukal Pongala' on Thursday. A mosque representative said the entire parking area was... Read more > 22:44 17 Maoists, including nine with Rs 24 lakh bounty, surrender in Chhattisgarh Seventeen Maoists, nine of them collectively carrying cash rewards of Rs 24 lakh on their heads, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, a senior police official said.The cadres, including a couple, turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force... Read more > 22:28 Class 12 students missing Hindi exam due to Holi to get another chance File image CBSE Class 12 students unable to appear in Hindi exam scheduled on March 15 on account of Holi will get another opportunity write the paper, the board announced on Thursday.It has been informed to CBSE that, though the festival of Holi would be celebrated on March 14 in most parts of the country,... Read more > 22:25 ED detects Rs 1K cr irregularities in TN liquor trade File image The Enforcement Directorate Thursday said it has found multiple irregularities in the operations of TASMAC that has monopoly over liquor trade in Tamil Nadu, including manipulation in the tender processes and unaccounted cash transactions worth Rs 1,000 crore through distillery... Read more > 21:30 BJP sweeps local body polls in Mizoram's Chakma council The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power in the Chakma Autonomous District Council in south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district, on Thursday swept the village council polls, securing a majority in 64 out of 88 VCs.According to the final results announced by the state election commission, Mizoram's... Read more > 21:00 Aamir on working with SRK and Salman in film: Waiting for right script Superstar Aamir Khan on Thursday said he and the other two Khans of Bollywood -- Shah Rukh and Salman -- want to work in a film together and are waiting for the right script to come their way. The prospect of the Khan troika appearing in a movie is something the audience is also looking... Read more > 20:54 Bihar principal, teacher transferred over Urdu prayer Representational image The Bihar government has transferred the principal and a teacher of a school in Gaya district following a controversy over prayer conducted in Urdu, and ordered an investigation into the matter, an official said on Thursday. The female principal and the male teacher of the school, located in... Read more > 20:26 5 RSS-BJP workers booked for protesting against Tushar Gandhi in Kerala Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi/File image A case was registered against five people, reportedly RSS-BJP workers, on Thursday for raising slogans against Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, demanding that he retract his statement against the saffron outfit. The case was registered under Sections 189(2), 191(2),... Read more > 19:56 Classroom scam: Prez nod for FIR against Sisodia, Jain AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain/File image President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 1,300 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said. In 2022, the Delhi government's... Read more > 19:39 Woman pushes 8-year-old daughter to death from 29th floor flat, then ends life A woman allegedly pushed her eight-year-old daughter to death from their 29th floor flat in a housing complex in Panvel in Maharashtra and then committed suicide, a police official said on Thursday. The incident took place in Palaspe at 8am on Wednesday, the official added. The... Read more > 19:37 Rupee surges 22 paise to settle at 87 against US dollar The rupee surged 27 paise to settle at 87 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday following robust macroeconomic data and easing crude oil prices. Besides, recent weakness in the US dollar index also supported the local currency, forex dealers said. However, losses in domestic... Read more > 18:47 Dalit man thrashed, paraded naked for affair with married woman in Guj File image A Dalit man was thrashed and paraded naked in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district allegedly by the husband and kin of the woman with whom he was having an affair, a police official said on Thursday. A video of the incident, which took place in a village near Idar town on the night of March 11,... Read more > 18:35 Award winning Maha farmer ends life over crop woes A farmer who had received the Maharashtra government's 'Yuva Shetkari' award in 2020 ended his life on Thursday in Buldhana district over crop and irrigation woes, a police official said. Kailash Nagre (42) consumed poison at his farm in Shivni Aarmal village in Deulgaonraja tehsil this... Read more > 17:54 10-year-old boy shot dead while guarding crops in UP; 2 taken into custody A 10-year-old boy was shot dead as he was guarding crops from stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district, the police said on Thursday.The police have taken two accused in the case -- a school manager and his son -- into custody on Thursday, officials said.Superintendent of police... Read more > 17:46 BJP: Will Stalin change his name to a Tamil one? BJP leader Tamilisai Soundarajan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tamilisai Soundarajan sharply criticised Tamil Nadu's DMK government for dropping the Rupee symbol for the Tamil alphabet 'Ru' in the state budget logo. Soundarajan stated that the Indian currency Rupee was a federal setup and the DMK should respect the... Read more > 17:07 Fitch removes Adani Energy from rating watch negative Fitch Ratings has removed Adani Energy Solutions Ltd from a rating watch and assigned it a negative outlook, saying Adani group has demonstrated adequate funding access since the US indictment of its key executives.Fitch Ratings affirmed Adani Energy Solutions Limited's (AESL) long-term foreign-... Read more > 16:56 We Have Begged For Justice' Justice may or may not happen, but who are those people who did this to her?If the hospital authorities had helped us that day, or the police, then the real culprits would have been caught.Getting justice for my daughter is my goal now and I want Mamata Banerjee to remember that.The RG Kar... Read more > 16:52 Sensex falls by 200 pts on sell-off in realty, auto shares Benchmark BSE Sensex reversed its early gains to close lower by 200 points on Thursday, marking its fifth straight session of losses due to selling in realty, IT and auto counters. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 200.85 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 73,828.91 with 22 of its... Read more > 16:26 Don't want to use Devnagri: TN on replacing rupee symbol On State's Economic Survey, Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission Executive Vice-Chairman Dr J. Jeyaranjan says, We don't want to use the Devnagri. That's all. Tamil Nadu's MK Stalin government has replaced the Rupee symbol 'Rs' for the Indian currency with the The Tamil alphabet 'Ru' in... Read more > 16:19 MD jailed on rape charges after honey-trap by woman A woman was arrested for allegedly honey-trapping a 74-year-old businessman and extorting Rs 18.5 lakh from him, a Mumbai police official said on Thursday. The incident came to light after the victim, who is the managing director of a firm dealing in medical disposables, filed a complaint... Read more > 15:32 The idea of India: Vrindavan temple insists Muslims make attires for deity Representational image Priests at the famed Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan have rejected a demand to stop using attires made by Muslim artisans for its deity, emphasising that religious discrimination has no place in temple traditions.The demand was raised by Dinesh Sharma, a leader of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi... Read more > 15:17 Lord Shiva roams village where Holika dahan is never done In a quiet village on the western border of Uttar Pradesh, a centuries-old tradition has stood unshaken -- Holika Dahan has never been performed here. The reason?The villagers believe that Lord Shiva himself resides in the ancient temple at the heart of the village and even roams within its... Read more > 14:59 How did 100 terrorists hijack train, asks Pak opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) leader, Omar Ayub Khan strongly condemned the recent attack on the Jaffar Express in Balochistan. Addressing the National Assembly of Pakistan on Wednesday, Khan questioned Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government and intelligence agencies, asking... Read more > 14:44 Domestic passenger vehicle dispatches show resilience in Feb Domestic passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to company dealers rose 1.9 per cent year-on-year to 3,77,689 units in February amid slowing demand, industry body SIAM said on Thursday. The total passenger vehicle wholesales stood at 3,70,786 units in February 2024. Read more > 14:37 NEP Must Focus On Funds, Quality Politicians have locked horns over the three-language formula in the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP). However, one of the policy's main objectives has been overlooked in this debate -- raising education expenditure by the Centre and states to 6 per cent of the country's GDP. This target... Read more > 14:01 TN replaces rupee symbol in budget amid language row Tamil Nadu has replaced the rupee symbol in promotional material for the 2025 state budget with a Tamil symbol, in what has been seen as a statement move amid the ruling DMK's battle with the BJP-led central government over the 'imposition of Hindi' through the new National Education Policy. Read more > 13:12 ISRO achieves de-docking of SpaDeX satellites The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday said it has accomplished de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites, clearing the way for future missions such as exploring the moon, human spaceflight, and building its own space station.Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced the... Read more > 12:52 Holi celebrated in Sambhal temple after 46 years! Police conduct a flag march in Sambhal Amid tight security, devotees on Thursday celebrated Holi at Kartikeya Mahadev in Khaggu Sarai for the first time in 46 years. The event saw enthusiastic participation from social and Hindu organisations at the temple, which was reopened last December after it was shut following riots in... Read more > 12:26 CBI to take over Ranya Rao smuggling case Days after Kannada actress Ranya Rao was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials at the Bengaluru International Airport for smuggling gold, the agency has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case. The CBI has filed an FIR in the Ranya Rao... Read more > 12:00 This govt scrip has the zoomies Shares of MTNL surged more than 18 per cent on Thursday after the government said in the Parliament that state-owned telecom firm has earned Rs 2,134.61 crore till January 2025 from monetisation of lands and buildings. The scrip of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) rallied 18.36 per cent to... Read more > 11:59 Lok Sabha Panel Weighs Expanding 'Accountant' Definition The highlight of the two meetings of the select committee of the Lok Sabha, tasked with examining the Income Tax Bill, 2025, has been suggestions that the panel could recommend expanding the definition of 'accountant' to include other professionals, especially company secretaries and cost... Read more > 11:41 Molested in hotel lift, raped in room, Brit woman recounts horror Update: A British woman was allegedly raped and molested by two men at a hotel in in Delhi's Mahipalpur area, an official said on Thursday. Police have arrested two people in connection with the incident which occurred on Tuesday, and informed the British High Commission about the incident, he... Read more > 11:38 Family of four found dead in Chennai Representational image Four members of a family including two teenage sons were found dead in their residence in Chennai on Thursday, police said. The bodies of the doctor-advocate couple and their two sons were found in two separate rooms, police said and added that they could have ended their lives by hanging.The... Read more > 11:29 Missing US student last seen with unknown man at beach Sudiksha Konanki The US authorities have identified a 24-year-old man as person of interest in the case of a 20-year-old Indian student who has mysteriously gone missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic. Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States,... Read more > 11:10 MPSC exams to be conducted in Marathi: Fadnavis All competitive examinations conducted through the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) will be held in Marathi, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said.Fadnavis made the announcement in the state legislative council on Wednesday while responding to a question raised by Shiv Sena (UBT)... Read more > 11:00 Binny Bansal Unveils Opptra After co-founding and exiting Flipkart, Binny Bansal has now come out with a new venture Opptra, a franchising business which aims to help consumer brands expand in Asia markets. Backed by a team of former Amazon and Flipkart executives, Opptra is building a portfolio of franchising... Read more > 10:39 British woman gang-raped in Delhi hotel, two arrested A British woman was allegedly gang-raped by two men at a hotel in Delhi's Mahipalpur area. Both men were arrested, an official said on Thursday. The British national was befriended by one of the accused on a social media platform. The woman had travelled from the UK to Delhi to meet him, the... Read more > 10:26 Sensex, Nifty climb ever so slowly up in early trade Equity market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Thursday driven by buying in index heavyweights ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries amid a robust domestic macroeconomic data and firm trend in the global peers. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 192.32 points or 0.26 per cent... Read more > 10:16 Spiritual Tourism Could Add $150 Bn To $200 Bn To GDP... Ritesh Agarwal, founder of hospitality technology firm Oyo, said that half of the company's business now comes from its premium brands, Townhouse and Sunday, both of which are growing at a double-digit rate each month. The reason for adding premium offerings to the company's suite of... Read more > 10:02 The one director Judi Dench hated working with I didn't feel that he wanted me, says Judi Dench. While she undoubtedly made some great memories on the set of A Room With A View, she wasn't so fond of working with James Ivory, who she found difficult.Read the interview here. Also read: When Rediff's Dominic Xavier spent... Read more > 09:57 Holi hai bhai holi bhai! Buy Rs 1L silver pichkaris The silver pichkari A jewellery shop in Lucknow is selling a special silver Pichkari (water gun) and small buckets worth Rs 1 lakh ahead of the Holi festival tomorrow. Speaking to ANI, Jeweller Adesh Kumar Jain said, This is an old tradition in which this 'Pichkari' is gifted among a newly married couple's... Read more > 09:52 Mosques covered with tarpaulin in Aligarh ahead of Holi Ahead of the Holi festival, mosques in Aligarh were covered with tarpaulin sheets as a precautionary measure following a decision by the local administration.The move aims to prevent any untoward incidents and maintain communal harmony during the celebrations.Authorities have taken this step to... Read more > 09:31 EU announces countermeasures in response to US tariffs The European Commission has announced it would launch 'swift and proportionate countermeasures' on US imports into the European Union in response to the tariffs imposed by the US on EU steel and aluminium imports.The European Commission expressed regret over the US decision to impose US tariffs,... Read more > 09:18 No one is expelling anyone from Gaza: Trump Amid row over his 'Gaza Plan', United States President Donald Trump asserted that no one would be 'expelled' from the strip, The Jerusalem Post reported.He made the remarks before his meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House on Wednesday (local time).In his statement... Read more > 08:51 4 dead as speeding car crushes people in Dehradun As many as four people died and two others were injured as a speeding vehicle rammed into the people near Rajpur Road in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, officials said.According to Dehradun Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh, the accident occurred on Wednesday 8 pm.The police is on the lookout for the... Read more > 08:39 Banks' asset quality may deteriorate in 12-18 months: Moody's Abhijit Lele, Business StandardGlobal Rating agency Moody's said the asset quality of Indian banks may deteriorate moderately up to 3.0 per cent in the next 12 to 18 months after substantial improvements. But the rating agency kept the outlook for the banking system 'stable'.The system-wide... Read more > 08:23 Mission to bring back Sunita Williams delayed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX on Wednesday scrubbed the launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station due to a 'hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A' at NASA's... Read more > 00:54 Punjab police nab 118 drug smugglers in statewide raids File image The Punjab police on Wednesday said it arrested 118 drug smugglers in raids at 543 locations as part of its ongoing anti-drug drive. In all, police have nabbed 658 drug smugglers in the past 12 days, it said. The police also recovered 994 grams of heroin, 4,633 intoxicant tablets or... Read more > 00:39 Jadavpur University student held in connection with Mar 1 vandalism File image The police on Wednesday arrested Jadavpur University (JU) student in connection with the March 1 unrest and vandalism on the campus, taking the total number of arrests in the case to two. A leader of the JU SFI unit told PTI that Soumyadip Mahata, a student of philosophy, was called to... Read more > Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that in over a day since the negotiations between the United States and Ukraine in Jeddah, Russia has not provided a meaningful response regarding the proposal for a 30-days ceasefire. Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter) Quote: "Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made. This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war." Details: Zelenskyy reported that he met with the Ukrainian delegation and received a report about their meeting with representatives from the United States in Saudi Arabia. The president added that Ukraine is focused on making swift progress towards peace and is ready to do its part to create all the conditions for a reliable, lasting and just peace. Quote: "Our representatives informed the US side about Ukraines principled positions. Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire, but the US proposed extending it to land. Ukraine welcomes this proposal. The control of such a ceasefire remains an important issue, and we appreciate the United States' willingness to organise the technical aspects of such control." Background: Following the talks in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine said it is willing to implement a 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia also adheres to it. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington will submit a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine to Russia and said he hopes Russia will accept it. Yuri Ushakov, Russian leader Vladimir Putins foreign policy advisor, said that Moscow does not want a temporary truce with Ukraine but is instead interested in a long-term settlement. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Ukraine is ready to ratify a free trade agreement with Turkiye during Recep Tayyip Erdogan's upcoming visit. Source: Zelenskyy on Thursday during a meeting with a large delegation of Turkish business and government representatives in Kyiv Quote: "A meaningful meeting with representatives of the Turkish government and business, which is the result of our agreements with President Erdogan in Ankara. It is important that Turkish business is already represented in Ukraine. Our state appreciates this, as well as the assistance and support, including the supply of Bayraktar drones." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Zelenskyy said that the meeting discussed "efforts to bring about a just and lasting peace, the development of bilateral relations, opportunities for cooperation in the production of various types of drones and the participation of Turkish companies in the reconstruction of Ukraine". "Our state considers Turkiye as one of our strategic partners, as well as one of the partners in terms of security guarantees, and is ready to ratify the Free Trade Agreement with Turkiye during the upcoming visit of President Erdogan," the president stressed. Background: In August 2024, Turkiye ratified a free trade agreement with Ukraine. The document provides, among other things, for Turkiyes cancellation of import duties for almost 93.4% of industrial and 7.6% of agricultural goods. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! Mark Zuckerberg has sought to block the distribution of a former executives memoir that details allegations of sexual harassment and claims the business cosied up to the Chinese government. Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, secured an emergency arbitration ruling on Wednesday in an attempt to block Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting or distributing Careless People, a tell-all book about her six years at the company. Ms Wynn-Williams, who worked for Mr Zuckerbergs business from 2011 to 2017 and became the companys director of global public policy, alleges sexual harassment by Joel Kaplan, who recently replaced Sir Nick Clegg as Metas chief lobbyist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She claimed Mr Kaplan had told her she looked sultry and pressed up against her at a company event, as well as making inappropriate comments while she was discussing surgery she needed after giving birth. She also claims that the company agreed to censor content on behalf of the Chinese government as part of a hand in glove effort to break into the country. Meta has said the book contains false accusations and says Ms Wynn-Williams was sacked in 2017 for poor performance. It said an investigation into her harassment claims had cleared Mr Kaplan and found that Ms Wynn-Williams made misleading and unfounded allegations. She claimed she was sacked in retaliation for blowing the whistle. Non disparagement clause The arbitrator ordered Ms Wynn-Williams not to make any disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental comments to any person or entity concerning [Meta] its officers, directors or employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also said she should stop promoting, publishing or distributing Careless People, and retract previous disparaging comments. The arbitration decision relates to the terms of the contract between Meta and Ms Wynn-Williams, which included a non-disparagement clause. It is unclear what impact the ruling will have. US employment regulators have questioned the validity of non-disparagement clauses, particularly with relation to allegations regarding sexual harassment. Careless People is published by Flatiron Books, a subsidiary of publishing giant Macmillan, rather than Ms Wynn-Williams herself. The book remained available for sale on Amazon in the US and UK on Thursday, and Macmillan did not respond to a request for comment. Meta said: This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn-Williamss false and defamatory book should never have been published. This urgent legal action was made necessary by [Ms] Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industrys standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years. False accusations Andy Stone, a spokesman for the company, also shared a series of social media posts from former Meta staff saying they did not recognise Ms Wynn-Williamss accounts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regarding the contents of the book, the spokesman said: This book is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives. Eight years ago, Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behaviour, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment. Since then, she has been paid by anti-Facebook activists and this is simply a continuation of that work. Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. What is the best internet provider in Bowling Green? CNET recommends Spectrum as the best internet service provider in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Spectrum covers most of the city and offers the cheapest plan, starting at $30 for 100Mbps. For areas not covered by Spectrum, AT&T Fiber and Stupp Fiber are solid alternatives. If you're looking for speed, Stupp Fiber has the fastest option, with its 10,000Mbps plan. However, its coverage is limited and you need to consult the company for pricing details. Our methodology CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in Bowling Green across several categories. Our evaluation includes referencing a proprietary database built over years of reviewing internet services. We validate that against provider information by spot-checking local addresses for service availability. We also closely read providers' terms and conditions and, when needed, call ISPs to verify the details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite our efforts to find the most recent and accurate information, our process has some limitations you should know about. Pricing and speed data are variable: certain addresses may qualify for different service tiers, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your options is to plug your address into a provider's website. Also, the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards display the full range of a provider's pricing and speed across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the text is specific to what's available in Bowling Green. The prices referenced within this article's text come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month -- a standard industry offering. Discounts and promotions might also be available for signing a term contract or bundling multiple services. To learn more about how we review internet providers, visit our full methodology page. Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Other available internet providers in Bowling Green AT&T Internet : AT&T's legacy DSL network reaches some homes not covered by AT&T Fiber. Speeds depend on your address but may be extremely slow. There are no contracts and equipment is included. There's a 1.5TB data cap for most plans. Prioritize other types of internet, including cable, 5G home internet" target="_self or fiber, before settling for pokey DSL speeds. NCTC : Local fiber provider NCTC (North Central Telephone Cooperative) mostly services areas outside the town's central region. Plans start at $65 a month for 100Mbps and go up to $95 for 1,000Mbps, with all speeds symmetrical. There's an option for a $5 monthly router rental. There are no contracts or data caps. Satellite internet : If you live in a rural area outside of Bowling Green and can't get Spectrum, fiber or decent fixed wireless, then check into satellite internet from Starlink, Viasat or Hughesnet. It's on the pricey side for broadband, and speeds may be slow, but it can keep you connected when you live in a remote location. T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Mobile Home Internet is a viable rival to Verizon 5G Home Internet. Consider it if you're looking for an alternative to cable. Plans range from $50 to $70 a month for typical download speeds of 87 to 415Mbps. Bundle with a premium phone plan to knock that down to as low as $35 a month. Equipment is included, and there are no contracts or data caps. Fountain Square in downtown Bowling Green, Kentucky. Cheap internet options in Bowling Green Expect to pay at least $50 a month for home internet unless you bundle a home internet and phone plan through Verizon or T-Mobile. Spectrums entry-level 100Mbps plan starts at $30 a month and then goes up by $20 after the first year. If AT&T Fiber or Stupp Fiber reaches your home, then consider paying a little more for symmetrical speeds. AT&T Fibers 300Mbps plan is $55 a month while Stupp offers 350Mbps for $70 a month. Check into the federal Lifeline program and Spectrums Internet Assist plans if youre a low-income household. Whats the cheapest internet plan in Bowling Green? Source: CNET analysis of provider data. How to find internet deals and promotions in Bowling Green The best internet deals and top promotions in Bowling Green depend on what discounts are available during a given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bowling Green internet providers, like Spectrum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, however, including AT&T Fiber and Stupp Fiber, tend to run the same standard pricing year-round. For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals. How fast is Bowling Green broadband? Bowling Green had a strong showing in a recent Ookla speed test report with a median fixed internet download speed of nearly 266Mbps. Thats faster than the Kentucky" target="_self state average of about 249Mbps. Bowling Greens speed reflects the wide availability of cable and fiber options. Regarding speed-demon home internet plans, look to Stupp Fibers 10,000Mbps and 6,000Mbps options and AT&T Fibers top-end 5,000Mbps plan. Spectrum has a wider reach than either of those fiber providers, so most residents will top out at 1,000Mbps downloads over the cable network. Fastest internet plans in Bowling Green Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Whats a good internet speed? Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you're looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines -- and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need. 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics -- browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video. 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing. 40 to 100Mbps should give one person sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming. 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time. How CNET chose the best internet providers in Bowling Green Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it's impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what's our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary database of pricing, availability and speed information that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov. But it doesnt end there. We go to the FCCs website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP's service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication. Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds? Do customers get decent value for what they're paying? Are customers happy with their service? While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to yes on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, though we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page. Whats the final word on internet providers in Bowling Green? Spectrum is the dominant home internet provider in Bowling Green. It has the widest reach across town, but AT&T Fiber, Stupp Fiber and NCTC are available in some neighborhoods and offer symmetrical fiber speeds with competitive pricing. If you can get fiber, prioritize that. Otherwise, look to Spectrum. Skip AT&T DSL, but consider Verizon or T-Mobile for 5G home internet if youre not happy with Spectrum and cant get fiber. Internet providers in Bowling Green FAQs What is the cheapest internet provider in Bowling Green? Spectrums introductory deal of $30 a month for the 100Mbps plan is the cheapest widely available wired home internet option in Bowling Green. Consider bundling a phone plan with Verizon 5G Home Internet to bring your broadband price down as low as $35 a month. Which internet provider in Bowling Green offers the fastest plan? Stupp Fiber offers a 10,000Mbps plan, but youll have to contact Stupp directly to get pricing for your address if the ISP services your home. Stupp also offers a 6,000Mbps plan for $200 a month. Compare that with AT&T Fibers top-end 5,000Mbps plan for $245 monthly. Is fiber internet available in Bowling Green? AT&T Fiber, NCTC and Stupp Fiber all service parts of Bowling Green. Pricing is competitive with all three, especially compared to how Spectrums cable internet rates rise after the introductory discount period. What internet provider has the best coverage in Bowling Green? Spectrum has the widest coverage of any wired ISP in Bowling Green. It reaches nearly 84% of homes, according to FCC data. Looking for a break? Test your knowledge of this week's news from the Yakima Valley. Gianni Philip Alaimo appears in Yakima County Superior Court Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Alaimo, who is being held on an aggravated first-degree murder charge, was accused of throwing urine and feces on a corrections officer in the jail in February 2025. Three men and two women have gone on trial at the Old Bailey charged with plotting to pass official secrets to the Russians. All five have pleaded not guilty to the charge that between 14 April 1960 and 7 January 1961 they conspired to break the Official Secrets Act. The accused are: Gordon Lonsdale, 37, a company director from north west London, Henry Houghton, 55 a civil servant from Weymouth in Dorset, Peter Kroger, 50 a bookseller and his wife Helen, 47, a housewife of the same address in Ruislip, Middlesex and Ethel Gee, 46, a civil servant of Portland in Dorset. The Attorney General, Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller QC, opening the case for the prosecution, said the five were involved in a plot to sell secrets on Britains first nuclear submarine to the Soviet Union. He said civil servants Miss Gee and Mr Houghton, who met while working at the Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland in Dorset, were passing on secrets to a go-between, Mr Lonsdale, who, in turn, would take the information to the Krogers house for transmission to Moscow. The jury was told Mr Houghton was being followed by police and was seen meeting Miss Gee and travelling with her up to London on several occasions, where they met a third of the accused, Mr Lonsdale. They were arrested after one of these meetings with Mr Lonsdale, in London. A shopping bag carried by one of the accused turned out to contain four Admiralty Test pamphlets and a tin of undeveloped film which included details of HMS Dreadnought, Britains first nuclear submarine. Later the same day, police went to the home of the Krogers in Ruislip. After being told she was under arrest, Mrs Kroger asked if she could go and stoke the boiler. But a suspicious police officer insisted on searching her handbag first and found a white envelope inside which contained a letter written in Russian and a sheet of paper with typed black numbers in code. They were later found to be grid references to a map showing locations for meeting places. [] Courtesy BBC News In context The trial of the group who became known as the Portland Spy Ring lasted about two weeks. At the end of it the Krogers were revealed to be Morris and Lona Cohen, wanted in America on spying charges in connection with the Rosenberg case. They were given 20 year sentences. In 1969 they were exchanged with British spy Gerald Brooke. Lonsdale was identified as an illegal Russian, Konon Molody, and sentenced to 25 years. He served less than four years and was released to the Russians in 1966 in exchange for Greville Wynne an Englishman accused of spying in Russia. Lonsdale was regarded as a hero in the Soviet Union and later wrote his memoirs, with the help of Kim Philby, which were made into a film. Houghton and Gee were each sentenced to 15 years in prison. They both served 10 years, changed their names and got married after their release. In June 1961 an official report blamed lax security at the Admiralty for the Portland spy ring. In only two decades, China has grown to be the dominant player in shipbuilding, claiming more than half of the worlds commercial shipbuilding market, while the U.S. share has fallen to just 0.1%, posing serious economic and national security challenges for the U.S. and its allies, according to a report released yesterday [Macau time] by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2024 alone, one Chinese shipbuilder constructed more commercial vessels by tonnage than the entire U.S. shipbuilding industry has built since the end of World War II. China already has the worlds largest naval fleet, the Washington-based bipartisan think tank said in its 75-page report. The erosion of U.S. and allied shipbuilding capabilities poses an urgent threat to military readiness, reduces economic opportunities, and contributes to Chinas global power-projection ambitions, the report said. Concerns about the poor state of U.S. shipbuilding have been growing in recent years, as the country faces rising challenges from China, which has the worlds second largest economy and has ambitions to reshape the world order. At a congressional hearing in December, senior officials and lawmakers urged action. Last week, President Donald Trump told Congress that his Republican administration would resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, for commercial and military vessels, and he would create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House. We used to make so many ships, Trump said. We dont make them anymore very much, but were going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact. In February, the heads of four major labor unions called on Trump to boost American shipbuilding and enforce tariffs and other strong penalties against China for its increasing dominance in that sector. What we are seeing now is a recognition of the strategic significance of shipbuilding and port security, and the related challenges posed by China, said Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow in the China Power Project at CSIS and a co-author of the report. Funaiole said concerns over shipbuilding are a fairly bipartisan issue. The report said that Chinas shipbuilding sector went through a striking metamorphosis in the past two decades, transforming from a peripheral player to the dominant player on the global market, with efforts centered on one state-owned enterprise: China State Shipbuilding Corporation, or CSSC. At the same time, China has greatly expanded its navy. Last year, a CSIS assessment found that China was operating 234 warships, compared with the U.S. Navys 219, although the U.S. continued to hold an advantage in guided missile cruisers and destroyers. In developing recommendations for the U.S. to compete with China, the researchers zoomed in on the Chinese companys use of Beijings military-civil fusion strategy, which blurs the lines between the countrys defense and commercial sectors. They found that CSSC, which builds both commercial and military ships, sells three-quarters of its commercial production to buyers outside China, including to the U.S.-allied Denmark, France, Greece, Japan and South Korea. These foreign firms are thus funneling billions of dollars to Chinese shipyards that also make warships, advancing Chinas modernization of its navy and providing Chinese defense contractors with key dual-use technology, the report said. The CSIS researchers suggested that, as a long-term fix, the U.S. should invest in rebuilding its shipbuilding industry and work with allies to expand shipbuilding capacities outside China. For the near term, they recommended actions to level the playing field and disrupt Chinas murky dual-use ecosystem, such as by charging docking fees on Chinese-made vessels and cutting U.S. financial and business ties with CSSC and its subsidiaries. The Trump administration has proposed new fees on China-linked vessels calling on U.S. ports. A BlackRock-led consortium last week agreed to acquire stakes in 43 ports across the globe, including the two ports on either side of the Panama Canal, from a Hong Kong-based conglomerate. DIDI TANG, WASHINGTON, MDT/AP The Customs recently intercepted two men suspected of being involved in illegal immigration activities. The detainees, aged 20 and 30, were from mainland China. Authorities also seized the boat the men used to travel to Macau. According to a press release, the arrest operation took place last Saturday night. Customs officials detected the vessel through an intelligent maritime surveillance system, aided by infrared night vision cameras. The boat was sailing near Hac Sa Beach, displaying an unusual trajectory that raised suspicions of illegal immigration activities. In response, Customs deployed speedboats, personnel, and drones to intercept the vessel. The boats driver was apprehended on the spot, and another individual, suspected of attempting illegal entry into Macau, was caught at the Hac Sa barbecue area. This individual is believed to have assisted the other detainee in entering the territory. He is suspected of aiding illegal migration and has been remanded in custody by the courts. The second detainee, who entered Macau despite being subject to an entry ban, was handed over to the Public Security Police. He may face charges of illegal entry. In the statement, Customs pledged to enhance maritime and coastal surveillance and law enforcement efforts. Staff Reporter In the summer of 2021, after her junior year at the Villanova School of Business, Jennifer Overlan 22 VSB secured an internship at Morgan Stanley. Soon after, she accepted a full-time job offer, successfully launching her career as a trader on the firms Investment Grade Credit Desk. Overlan says her participation in the Villanova Wildcat Funda student-managed investment fund with over $2 million in assets under managementplayed a pivotal role in landing the competitive positions. The Wildcat Fund offered us the opportunity to manage real money, she says. That real-world experience and ability to highlight skills that mirror qualifications for internships like this are game-changing. While Villanovas student-run investment club began as the Equity Society in 2015, it evolved into the Wildcat Fund in 2020, according to the funds co-advisers, Stephen Padovano 89 VSB, director of VSBs Applied Quantitative Finance Program, and Jerome Heppelmann, executive in residence in the Finance and Real Estate Department. Now, students across any major who have completed the Villanova Investment Academys training programusually as sophomorescan deliver a stock pitch before the advisers and, if selected, work as analysts in the Wildcat Fund. To move up from there, analysts can apply for a two-semester elective course and become portfolio managers. Each student is then responsible for a sector, along with that sectors group of younger analysts, explains Padovano, whose resume includes 22 years in trading at Merrill Lynch. The sectors are energy, materials, information technology and health care, among others in the stock markets Global Industry Classification Standard. The Wildcat Fund uses a combination of bottom-up fundamental analysis and social responsibility screening to select securities for investment in the fund. Juggling the clubs intensive workload and the demands of other upper-level courses is challenging for students, but the payoff is invaluable. The most advantageous aspect is the ability to experience the responsibilities, camaraderie and work output of an asset management job, says Heppelmann, who managed mutual funds and institutional assets for nearly two decades. Overlan participated in the fund throughout her undergraduate years, serving as an analyst, a member of the executive board, a portfolio manager and, ultimately, president. I developed a wide variety of skills across financial analysis, time management, public speaking and leadership, she says. Overlan especially values the support she received from peers and mentors, including alumni who met with students to run practice interviews. We know when they come out of this experience, students are ready. We are teaching them how to be successful in the business world, Padovano says. The Villanova Wildcat Fund has been wildly successful. Since its inception in 2000, the fund is up 82.54%, and it has outperformed the Russell 1000 Index, which tracks the 1,000 top US companies by market capitalization, by more than 9%, Padovano says. The fund currently boasts more than 120 participants, and last year all 24 portfolio managers landed competitive internships. Of those, 23 received job offers at major banks and investment houses, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. Hungarian-owned dietary supplement maker BioTechUSA has completed HUF 5.5bn of a HUF 9.0bn investment at its manufacturing and logistics base in Szada, on the outskirts of the capital, CEO Balint Levai said during a walk-through on Wednesday. Levai said new production capacity would triple BioTechUSA's protein bar capacity. He added that the company would add a premium bar and a premium family of vitamins to the product palette. Levai said the new capacity was being tested and would start serial production in the second half of 2025. He added that the whole investment project had taken three years. Levai said solar panels installed at the company's bases would meet 30pc of its electricity needs in future. BioTechUSA has a combined 45,000sqm of production and warehouse space at its bases in Szada and nearby Dunakeszi. The company turns out an annual 75 million protein bars, 20,000 tonnes of protein powder and 1 billion tablets and capsules. BioTechUSA had revenue of HUF 93.7bn in 2024, a new record, Levai said. The company launched 25 new products, opened 20 more shops and entered markets in five more countries, bringing the total in which it is present to 103, he added. BioTechUSA also signed a cooperation agreement with FC Barcelona, he said. Source: MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881. ********************************* You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here. Mihaly Varga, the new governor of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH), put his signature on a banknote issued by the central bank for the first time. Varga said Hungarian banknotes combined progress with tradition and stability, while adopting all of the latest cash technologies. He added that NBH banknotes were a sign of the central bank's independent monetary policy as well as its contract with economic actors. Varga said he would follow the principles of stability, independence and transparency in his new position. He added that the central bank would continue a disciplined and consistent monetary policy, supporting the sustainable growth of the Hungarian economy and strengthening the stability of the financial system. Under his leadership, Varga pledged the NBH would closely track every trend and risk, while delivering firm responses if those put the central bank's targets at risk. Varga noted that the law ensured the NBH's independence, but said that didn't imply isolation. He added that the NBH would cooperate with the government and financial institutions, in line with international practices and respecting the scope of responsibilities. Varga said the NBH's main focus would be on "classic" central bank tasks contained in its legal mandate. He added that the NBH would scale back other activities, highlighting the importance of disciplined management and transparent operation. The NBH is "no ivory tower", he said, adding that the central bank's analyses served the implementation of its programmes which supported policies strengthening confidence in the Hungarian financial system. Establishing a predictable investment environment is a key goal, he said, adding that price stability supporting the achievement of economic targets was in reach and could be sustained in the long term. Source: MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881. ********************************* You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here. The fresh newsletter for the International Community in Hungary - described by readers as a "Great read each week" - is now available for your interest and use via the link below. You can see the new edition of the Xpat E-Magazine here: https://xpatloop.com/newsletters/2025/13-march.html 1. First up are a great variety of events to look forward to in the coming days: * Spring Restaurant Week in Hungary, 13 - 30 March Over 200 restaurants nationwide will offer special tasting menus. * St Patricks Day Parade in Budapest, 16 March Popular international community gathering to celebrate St Paddy. * British Film Days in Budapest, 20 - 23 March Showing 8 diverse films, this celebrates the richness of British cinema. * UK Boarding Schools Expo in Budapest, 20 March Free event to meet with some of the best boarding schools in the UK. * Magical Hungary Nature Photography Exhibition at Biodome See the 'most exciting and prestigious nature photos' in Budapest. 2. As always below there's fresh News, Info & Inspiration, plus new Movies & Specials: E.g. Mystery Illness in Hungary, Drugs Flood Budapest, Food Price Caps Back, Huxit Soon? 3. Plus you can see a great variety of Events for Expats - just a few from the Xpat Calendar: E.g. English Comedy Theatre, Musical Journey Around The World, Faust Ballet Performance. New Delhi: Holi, the festival of colours, is just around the corner, and the best way to celebrate it is surely with delicious food and incredible offers. This year, One Bite, a fast-growing fast-food franchise chain, has come up with something extra special for the aspiring entrepreneur and foodie: an exclusive offer this Holi. So, if you dream of being a fast food franchise owner, act now! One Bite: The Fastest Growing Fast-Food Franchise in India With a staggering 300+ outlets across India and 5-6 new outlets opening every month, One Bite has cemented its place as one of the leading names in the fast-food industry. The brand has gained a loyal customer base with its delectable menu, high-quality ingredients, and consistent taste. Whether its a Tier 2 or Tier 5 city, One Bite has achieved an astonishing 92-95% success rate, proving its strong business model and widespread demand. Holi Dhamaka Offer Flat 51,000 OFF + Royalty Free ! To make this festival even more rewarding, One Bite is rolling out a limited-time Holi special offer that aspiring franchise owners cannot afford to miss: Flat 51,000 Off on the franchise fee making it more affordable for aspiring entrepreneurs. Zero Royalty Fees Keep all your hard-earned profits without paying any royalty! Offer Validity This unbeatable deal is available only until 30th April 2025. This exclusive offer is One Bites way of celebrating the festival of colours by spreading joy, opportunities, and delicious food across the country. Why Choose One Bite? With so many food franchises in India, why is One Bite the best choice for entrepreneurs? Heres what sets it apart: 1. High Success Rate (92-95%): Most businesses struggle to achieve even a 50% success rate. However, One Bite has mastered the art of success in the fast-food industry. With a 92-95% success rate across Tier 2 to Tier 5 cities, franchise owners are assured of a stable and profitable business model. 2. Proven Business Model: One Bites well-established and refined business model ensures that franchise owners get the best support, from store setup to marketing strategies, operational guidance, and vendor connections. 3. Rapid Expansion & Strong Brand Presence: One Bite has over 300+ outlets in India, and every month, it opens 5-6 new outlets, which makes it one of the fastest growing fast food franchises in the country. Customers trust the brand for the taste and consistency, making it a top choice for fast food lovers. 4. A Menu That Customers Love: One Bite offers a full range of Indian and overseas flavors, from crispy burgers and cheesy pizzas to loaded fries and refreshing drinks. It ensures high footfalls as well as repeat customers for franchise owners. 5. No Royalty Fee 100% Profits to You! : Unlike many other franchises that charge a monthly royalty, One Bite operates on a zero royalty basis, keeping profits to itself for the franchise holder. Higher profits, quicker ROI! A Festival of Opportunities and Growth Holi is a time for celebration, gathering, and starting anew. Like colours, the Holi Special Offer from One Bite is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to add a splash of colour to their careers. The festival stands for growth, just like One Bite is doing in its expansion across India. Joining the One Bite franchise allows entrepreneurs to invest in a very viable and rewarding business while at the same time forming bonds with a community founded on innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction. This Holi, invest smartly and reap financial rewards as well as happiness. Join Indias Booming Fast-Food Industry with One Bite! India's fast-food industry is levelling up with the changing times and people choosing more quick, appetizing, and inexpensive meals. A One Bite franchise means investing your time in a theoretical model of success. With the Holi Special Offer, One Bite is extending its arms and hearts wide open for everyone wanting to become a part of this blooming franchise network. This holds good for first-time business owners as well as experienced entrepreneurs looking at expansion opportunities; this is now the time to invest in a name that assures high growth. Hurry Up! This Offer Expires Soon! Such occasions will come once in a long time. Flat 51,000 Off + Zero Royalty! Make this dream come true by owning a successful food business with this offer. Hurry, the offer is valid only till April 30th, 2025! This Holi, celebrate flavours, colours, and success with One Bite India's fastest-growing food franchise under 10 lakhs! To get further details, reach out to the One Bite team today to take the first step toward your entrepreneurial journey! (This article is part of IndiaDotCom Pvt Lts consumer connect initiative, a paid publication programme. IDPL claims no editorial involvement and assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of the article.) Vibrant colours, enthusiastic celebrations, loads of thandai and sweet, rain dance, DJ parties or simply get-together with friends and family - Holi is all this and more! However, Holi is also the time to satisfy your travel bug, esepecially if it's a long weekend like this year. Holi 2025 is on March 14, a Friday. Travel search engine Skyscanners Travel Trends 2025 report found that 91% of Indian travellers believe that vacations help them unwind and recharge. Skyscanner data shows that 13 March and 15 March are currently the most popular dates Indians are travelling on. If you are looking for last-minute inspiration, here are the top 5 destinations as per the travel search engine that you can explore. 1. Vrindavan & Mathura, Uttar Pradesh Want to celebrate Holi in the most spectacular way possible? The twin cities of Vrindavan and Mathura are the places to be! Here, Holi is celebrated as a multi-day spectacle, steeped in history, devotion, and an explosion of colour. From Barsanas Lathmar Holi, where women playfully chase men with sticks, to Phoolon wali Holi at the Banke Bihari Temple, where petals replace coloured powder, every ritual carries a story centuries in the making. As per Skyscanner data, there is a 353% surge in searches for flights to the nearest airport, Agra, for March 12, compared to the same day in February. Even more striking, searches for March 11 alone spiked 417% as compared to the previous day. 2. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Holi in Varanasi is a dream come true. So it should not surprise anyone that Varanasi ranks second among the most searched destinations for travel between 12th and 18th March*. If you are planning a trip to the city, heres a pro tip from Skyscanner: Aim for a flight that lands late the night before or early on Holi morning for the ultimate experience. From watching the sunrise over the Ganges, experiencing the main Holi festivities at the Dashashwamedh Ghat and Kashi Vishwanath Temple, witnessing the evening Ganga Aarti - Varanasi is nothing but magic. 3. Goa When it comes to travel, Goa is never out of favour. Ranked No. 4 among the most searched destinations during the Holi weekend, it is clear that Goa is more than a summer escape its a festive hotspot. Dance your way through beachside parties or explore its famous forts and churches in the golden morning light. You can experience Holi at temples in Ponda or Vasco to add a local twist to your celebrations. 4. Kolkata, West Bengal The City Of Joy will welcome you with open arms as you celebrate 'Dol Jatra' with its residents. Ranked among the top Holi getaways, Kolkata brings its own artistic flair to the festival. Splash colours on the streets of College Street, enjoy Park Streets Holi parties that offer the perfect mix of revelry and relaxation, and gorge on some delish desserts - malpua, thandai, and sandesh. If you want to travel out of town, head to Shantiniketan, which is around 190 km from Kolkata. The streets of Shantiniketan come alive with Basanta Utsav, a mesmerising display of Rabindranath Tagores legacy, where people dressed in vibrant yellows sing, dance, and welcome spring in the most poetic way possible. 5. Mumbai, Maharashtra Think Bollywood beats and colour-soaked streets, and Mumbai comes to mind. India's financial capital definitely knows how to celebrate in style, with high-energy parties, foot-thumping music, and a truly infectious festival spirit. While you can savour the classic Mumbai Holi vibes at Juhu Beach and Chowpatty - crowds and colours are aplenty here with the Arabian Sea adding to the magic - if you love to party, then don't miss out on the city's legendary Bollywood-style Holi parties. Indulge in puran poli, thandai, and jalebis from the citys famous street stalls. Holi, the festival of colours, is celebrated in various unique and vibrant ways across India. While most people associate Holi with throwing colours, water balloons, and dancing, theres a special kind of Holi celebrated in Barsana and Nandgaon, two villages in Uttar Pradesh, called Lathmar Holi. This unusual and fascinating tradition attracts tourists from around the world each year. Well take you through the history, significance, and customs of Lathmar Holi, shedding light on why this celebration is so unique and how it stands out from the rest of the Holi festivities:- What is Lathmar Holi? Lathmar Holi is a traditional and unique version of the festival of colours celebrated in Barsana and Nandgaon, two villages in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. The name "Lathmar" comes from the word "lathi" (meaning stick or cane in Hindi), which refers to the playful tradition of women playfully beating men with sticks during the celebrations. This quirky and spirited celebration happens a few days before the main Holi festival and has become famous for its unusual customs. The Story Behind Lathmar Holi The origins of Lathmar Holi are linked to Lord Krishna and his love for Radha. According to legend, Lord Krishna, who lived in Nandgaon, was once teasing his beloved Radha, who lived in Barsana, by applying colours on her face. In retaliation, Radha and her friends (the Gopis) chased him away by hitting him with sticks. Since then, the tradition of Lathmar Holi has been carried on as a playful reenactment of this mythological event. Thus, every year, men from Nandgaon visit Barsana, where the women of the village greet them with sticks. The men, with playful spirit, try to defend themselves with shields as the women chase them, symbolizing the playful teasing between Lord Krishna and Radha. How Lathmar Holi is Celebrated Lathmar Holi typically takes place two days before the main Holi festival. The celebration occurs in two phases: Lathmar Holi in Barsana and Lathmar Holi in Nandgaon. 1. Lathmar Holi in Barsana (Women's Festival) On the first day of Lathmar Holi, men from Nandgaon travel to Barsana to play Holi with the women of the village. The women, armed with sticks (lathis), greet the men by hitting them with these sticks in a light-hearted and friendly manner. The men defend themselves with shields, and the whole event is filled with laughter, joy, and excitement. The aim is not to harm anyone but to keep up the playful spirit of Lord Krishna and Radha. 2. Lathmar Holi in Nandgaon (Mens Festival) The second day of the celebration is held in Nandgaon. Here, the women from Barsana visit the men of Nandgaon and, once again, the men attempt to defend themselves from the playful attacks of the women. The festivities continue with the exchange of colours, singing, and dancing. 3. Color Play and Dance Both in Barsana and Nandgaon, the air is filled with the vibrant colours of Holi as people throw gulal (colored powder) on each other. Traditional songs are sung, and dances are performed in an atmosphere of joy and enthusiasm. The playful beating and the exchange of colours symbolize the eternal love between Lord Krishna and Radha. 4. Cultural Performances Lathmar Holi is not just about the physical activities but also a time for cultural performances. Locals and tourists gather to witness traditional dance performances, and devotional songs dedicated to Radha and Krishna are sung throughout the day. The Significance of Lathmar Holi Lathmar Holi holds deep cultural and religious significance. It represents the playful and loving relationship between Lord Krishna and Radha. The tradition of using sticks (lathis) symbolizes the playful teasing, a key feature of Krishna's relationship with Radha, and is intended to recreate the energy and mood of the mythological love story. It also signifies the coming together of two communities Barsana and Nandgaon which traditionally represent the feminine and masculine energies, respectively. The interaction between the two villages is a way to celebrate unity and love through light-hearted, friendly competition. Moreover, Lathmar Holi is a way of showing reverence to the sacred bond of love that transcends barriers, be it between lovers, friends, or communities. It is an expression of joy, devotion, and the celebration of life itself. When is Lathmar Holi Celebrated? Lathmar Holi generally takes place a few days before the main Holi festival. The exact dates vary according to the Hindu lunar calendar but typically falls in March. The main Holi festival is usually celebrated on the full moon day (Phalguni Purnima) of the month of Phalguna, which is around late February to March. Lathmar Holi, as mentioned earlier, happens just a few days before this date. How to Participate in Lathmar Holi? If you're planning to experience Lathmar Holi, here are a few tips to help you make the most of this unique and colorful celebration: 1. Be prepared for the playful nature of the event: Be ready to be drenched in colours and get involved in the fun. The event is light-hearted and joyful, so its best to go with an open heart and a sense of humor. 2. Dress in old clothes: Since Lathmar Holi involves getting drenched in colours, its advisable to wear clothes that you dont mind getting stained. 3. Respect the local traditions: Remember that the tradition of women hitting men with sticks is part of the playful custom and is all in good fun. Be respectful of the local culture and traditions while participating. 4. Take part in the dancing and singing: The event is filled with folk dances, music, and celebrations. Joining in the dances and singing traditional Holi songs will enhance your experience. 5. Capture the moments: The vibrant colours, energy, and enthusiasm of Lathmar Holi are perfect for photography. However, be mindful of local customs and ask for permission before taking photos of people. Lathmar Holi is one of the most unique and joyous versions of the Holi festival, where playful rivalry, love, and colorful expressions of joy come together. With its origins rooted in mythological tales, this festival brings the villages of Barsana and Nandgaon to life in a vibrant celebration of life, love, and devotion. If youre ever in India during Holi, experiencing Lathmar Holi should be at the top of your list its an unforgettable experience that showcases the true spirit of the festival in the most lively and fun way possible. New Delhi: The procurement of Tur (Arhar) from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the Centre has picked up momentum with a total quantity of 1.31 lakh metric tonnes procured in major producing states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana till March 11, benefiting as many as 89,219 farmers in these states, the Agriculture Ministry announced on Thursday. Under the Price Support Scheme of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), the procurement of the notified pulses, oilseeds and copra conforming to the prescribed Fair Average Quality is undertaken by the Central Nodal Agencies at the MSP directly from the pre-registered farmers through the state-level agencies. The Government of India approved the continuation of the integrated PM-AASHA Scheme during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle up to 2025-26. The integrated PM-AASHA Scheme is administered to bring-in more effectiveness in the implementation of procurement operations that not only helps in providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce but also control the price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers, the official statement said. In order to incentivise the farmers contributing for the enhancement of domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports, the government has approved the procurement of the entire production of Tur, Urad and Masur under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) for the procurement year 2024-25. The government has also made an announcement in Budget 2025-26 that the procurement of Tur (Arhar), Urad and Masur would be undertaken for 100 per cent of the production of the state for another four years up to 2028-29 through Central Nodal Agencies to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses in the country. Accordingly, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) Masur and Urad to the extent of 13.22 LMT, 9.40 LMT and 1.35 LMT respectively. He approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh under Price Support Scheme for the Kharif 2024-25 season for a total quantity of 13.22 LMT. Tur procurement is also done from pre-registered farmers on eSamridhi portal of NAFED and aSamyukti portal of NCCF. The Centre is committed to procure 100 per cent of Tur from the farmers through central nodal agencies NAFED and NCCF. Chinese, British publishers jointly mark 80th anniversary of WWII victory Xinhua) 08:37, March 13, 2025 An exhibitor attends London Book Fair in London, Britain, March 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Ying) The Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who lost his life supporting China's war against Japanese aggression, was launched on Wednesday. LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, Chinese and British publishers hosted a series of events to pay tribute to the victory at the ongoing London Book Fair. On Wednesday, a launch event was held for the Chinese edition of "Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg," a biography of the British journalist who gave his life to support China's war against Japanese aggression decades ago. The book, which includes Hogg's letters and journalistic works, offers a fuller picture of his early life and his journey as a reporter in China, documenting both the war and social life. It also highlights his efforts to support the Chinese people during the war, particularly his role in founding a school for war orphans in Shaanxi. Mark Aylwin Thomas, author of the book and nephew of the late Hogg, said at the launch that the translated edition gives Chinese readers the opportunity to learn more about the "extraordinary person" who "loved and respected his fellow human beings regardless of race, belief or cultural differences, striving selflessly with compassion for a common positive goal." This photo taken on March 11, 2025 shows a view of London Book Fair in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Li Ying) Chen Guangyao from People's Publishing House, the book's publisher, said that Hogg's story serves as a historical testament to the friendship between China and Britain. He expressed hope that the Chinese edition will further strengthen this friendship and contribute to promoting world peace and development. Along with the book, five other publications themed around the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression were also unveiled on Wednesday during the three-day book fair. Speaking with Xinhua after a seminar where Chinese and British writers and scholars shared stories and insights on the bonds forged between the two countries during the war, Hugo de Burgh, director of China Media Centre at the University of Westminster, emphasized the importance of helping younger generations "understand the dangers and the terrible suffering caused by conflict and war." He added that "responsible publishers" play a crucial role in reminding people of the "positive aspects of our relationships" that emerged from the shared experiences of war and hardship. In addition, a special screening of "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru" was held during the book fair. The documentary is about the heroic rescue of British prisoners of war by Chinese fishermen during World War II. A man reads at a booth displaying China-themed books at London Book Fair in London, Britain, March 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Ying) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A Party-wide education campaign has been rolled out to implement the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving work conduct, according to a meeting held by the Central Leading Group for Party Building in Beijing on Wednesday. Approved by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the campaign will run until July this year, the meeting said. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Central Leading Group for Party Building, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech. Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the Central Leading Group for Party Building, attended the meeting and also made a speech. The meeting called for alignment with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee in both thinking and action, for the persistent improvement of the entire Party's conduct, and for work to ensure that these decisions and plans are implemented in full. The meeting also urged efforts to examine issues hampering the sound implementation of the eight-point decision, refine relevant systems and regulations in a targeted manner, and guard against pointless formality and perfunctory attitudes. Pakistani insurgents attacked a passenger train carrying several hundred people as it passed through a tunnel yesterday [Macau time] and claimed to have taken more than 100 hostages, though officials later said at least 104 were rescued. The fate of the other passengers wasnt immediately known. Security officials said the attackers blew up the railroad track in southwestern Balochistan province, and exchanged fire with security guards aboard the train while using women and children as human shields. Officials said some passengers, including women and children, were wounded in the attack. The train was traveling from the provincial capital, Quetta, to the northern city of Peshawar when it came under attack in Bolan district, government spokesman Shahid Rind said, calling it an act of terrorism. Rind said access to the area wasnt easy because of the rugged, mountainous terrain. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army known as the BLA, which has waged a yearslong insurgency, claimed responsibility and said the hostages included members of the security forces who had been on board. Pakistani officials did not confirm that security forces were captured. Trains in Balochistan typically have security personnel on board. In a statement, BLA spokesman Jeeyand Baloch said the group was ready to free passengers if the government agrees to release the groups jailed militants. Government officials werent immediately available to discuss the offer, but authorities have rejected such offers in the past. Pakistan and the United States have designated the BLA as a terrorist organization. Officials at Pakistan Railways said the Jafar Express train was carrying an estimated 500 passengers. Three security officials told The Associated Press that troops rescued at least 104 passengers, including 31 women and 15 children, and 16 attackers had been killed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak to the media. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in separate statements denounced the attack. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack and called for the immediate release of the hostages, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistans largest and least populated province. Its a hub for the countrys ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. Separatists have previously carried out deadly attacks on trains there. In November, a separatist group carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta that killed 26 people. Pakistani authorities and analysts estimate that the BLA has around 3,000 fighters. BLA regularly targets Pakistani security forces, but has also attacked civilians as well as Chinese nationals working on multibillion-dollar projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC. BLA has enhanced its operational capability, and that means that BLA has access to funding and weapons, according to Abdullah Khan, a senior defense analyst and managing director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. MDT/AP New Delhi: Infosys has introduced a new rule requiring employees to work from the office for at least 10 days each month. If anyone needs extra work-from-home (WFH) days beyond this limit they must get approval from their manager. System to Track Compliance Infosys has set up a system to monitor compliance with its new work-from-office, according to The Economic Times. If an employee doesnt complete the required 10 days of office days per month then the system will flag it. In such cases, employees must request approval from their manager to account for the extra WFH days. Changes in the Attendance App Infosys informed employees about the update through its internal attendance app. Earlier, WFH requests were automatically approved but now the app will display the total, used, and remaining WFH days for the month. A senior Infosys executive told ET that WFH requests will no longer be auto-approved. Employees must work from the office for at least 10 days a month and if they exceed the allowed WFH limit they will need their managers approval. Internal Email Reinforces Policy Last week, Infosys functional heads sent an internal email reminding employees to restrict their WFH requests starting March 10. The email stated, "Starting March 10, 2025, system interventions will be implemented to limit the number of work-from-home days that can be applied each month. These measures are designed to ensure compliance with the new hybrid work requirements while maintaining flexibility for employees." Who the Policy Applies To According to ET, Infosys hybrid work model requires employees to work from the office for at least 10 days a month or as per business needs, whichever is higher. This policy applies to employees at Job Level 5 (JL5) and below. This includes software engineers, senior engineers, system engineers, and consultants. Exemptions for Senior Employees Managers at Job Level 6 (JL6) and above, including senior managers, delivery managers, and senior delivery managers, are not affected by this rule. Vice presidents are also exempt. A senior Infosys employee told ET that managers now have the authority to approve or reject WFH requests, meaning an employees chances of getting extra WFH days may depend on their managers discretion. Why IT Firms Are Calling Employees Back After the pandemic, many IT companies adopted WFH as a temporary solution. However, factors like a slowing business environment, concerns over moonlighting and the need for better teamwork have prompted major IT firms to call employees back to the office. Infosys introduced its return-to-office policy on November 20, 2023. It also implemented "in-person collaboration weeks" each quarter. This requires employees to work from the office to enhance teamwork. New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to remove the linkage of its digital Management Information System from employee appraisals. The regulator is now reassessing its performance review methods to bring in a more balanced approach, according to an NDTV Profit report. An internal circular has been issued regarding these changes. While the SEBI is working on modifying its review process, it will not completely discard the older methods but rather re-evaluate them for improvement, the report said. The concept of Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) has been a part of the SEBI's system for over 20 years. However, like any evolving system, the regulator is now considering changes to make performance assessments more effective. Previously, the SEBI employees performance appraisals were significantly influenced by the digital Management Information System (MIS). The system tracked targets achieved and success rates, which played a crucial role in determining career progression. However, this approach led to concerns as some departments felt that their work was not accurately represented through numerical targets, the report added. Now, under the leadership of the new SEBI Chairperson, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, there has been a shift in approach. According to the report, the focus has moved from quantity to quality, with less emphasis on rigid performance measurements. Reports also indicated that Chairperson Pandey has been actively engaging with employees across departments to address their concerns. Meanwhile, the market has reduced the timeline for completing rights issues from 126 days to just 23 days. The new rules will come into effect from April 7, allowing companies to raise capital faster. In a circular on March 12, the SEBI also introduced more flexibility in allotting shares to specific investors in rights issues. Under the revised framework, rights issues must now be completed within 23 working days from the date the companys Board of Directors approves the issue. According to the market regulator, companies must keep the rights issue open for at least seven days and a maximum of 30 days. Holi School Holiday: Holi will be celebrated on March 14 this year in most parts of India. As the festival is significant, schools in many regions will remain closed. While Holi is enjoyed across the country, states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi usually start preparations a week in advance. Most schools will remain closed for the festival of colours. However, many students are uncertain about the exact duration of the holiday. The holiday schedule varies by state, with some having a two-day break, while others may have a longer holiday. Holi 2025: School Holidays in Different States Let's take a look at how many days schools will remain closed for Holi in different states. Delhi Schools in Delhi will be closed on March 13 and 14. Since many schools in Delhi follow a five-day workweek, students might get an extended break until March 16, making it a four-day holiday. Rajasthan Rajasthan celebrates Holi with great enthusiasm. Schools in the state are expected to remain closed for three days. However, students should check with their school for official confirmation. Uttar Pradesh Holi is especially important in cities like Mathura and Vrindavan. Schools across Uttar Pradesh will remain closed on March 13 and 14. Bihar and Jharkhand Both Bihar and Jharkhand celebrate Holi with great joy. Schools in these states will also have a two-day holiday. Madhya Pradesh In Madhya Pradesh, schools in cities like Bhopal and Indore will remain closed on March 13 and 14 for Holi. Punjab and Haryana Both Punjab and Haryana will observe a two-day school holiday for Holi celebrations. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh The Telangana government has officially declared March 14 as a holiday for all schools and colleges. Since March 15 falls on a Saturday, some institutions may offer a half-day or an extra holiday, giving students a three-day break, including Sunday. Karnataka and Other States School holiday schedules depend on state government decisions. While Karnataka and several other states usually declare Holi as a holiday, the exact number of days off may vary. Karnataka SSLC Hall Ticket 2025: The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) has released the Karnataka SSLC 2025 admit cards. Schools can download the hall tickets from sslc.karnataka.gov.in and kseab.karnataka.gov.in using their login details, including the school code and password. After downloading, schools must distribute the admit cards to students. Schools should check the details on the admit cards and correct any mistakes by March 17. The Karnataka SSLC Class 10 exams will take place from March 21 to April 4, 2025, in a single shift from 10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. However, the second and third language exams will end at 1 p.m., and MSFQ exams will finish at 12:15 p.m. The Headmaster should confirm the accuracy of information related to physical condition, language exemptions, and substitute subjects on the admit card. Candidates need to score at least 35% in each subject and overall to pass the KSEAB SSLC (Class 10) exam. Along with marks, students will also receive grades for their performance. Karnataka SSLC Hall Ticket 2025: Steps to download here Visit the official website of KSEAB at kseab.karnataka.gov.in. Click on the link for "Karnataka SSLC Final Admission Ticket 2025" available on the homepage. School authorities or department heads must log in using their school login ID and password. The admit cards for all SSLC students will be displayed on the screen. Review the details, save the file, and download the Karnataka SSLC 2025 admit cards. In the previous year, 83.89% of the eight lakh students who appeared for the SSLC exam passed. The exams took place from March 31 to April 15, 2024, and the answer key was released on April 17, 2024. If any changes are needed in a student's name, parent's name, photo, signature, or other details, a fee of Rs 100 per correction must be paid. For media corrections, the fee is Rs 500. All corrections must be made by March 17, 2025. A British woman was allegedly gang-raped in a hotel in Delhi's Mahipalpur area by two men after she travelled to the national capital to meet one of the accused. Both men were arrested, PTI quoted an official on Thursday. Further, one of the accused was arrested on charges of rape while his accomplice was arrested on charges of molestation. The woman was befriended by one of the accused through a social media platform and had travelled to Delhi to meet him. ANI quoted the Delhi Police and reported, The information about the incident has also been given to the British High Commission. A man was arrested on charges of rape with a British woman in a Mahipalpur hotel in Delhi. His accomplice was arrested on charges of molestation. The woman who was friends with the man through social media had come to Delhi from the UK to meet him. The information about the ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025 Hindustan Times quoted police officials and reported that the rape accused, Kailash, is a resident of Vasundhara, Mayur Vihar, East Delhi and makes Instagram reels. He had connected with the woman from London through social media a few months ago. The British tourist was visiting the states of Goa and Maharashtra when she reached out to Kailash, inviting him to meet her. Kailash, in turn, asked her to come to Delhi. She then travelled to the capital city and checked into the hotel. As per HT, the alleged incident took place after Kailash and his friend, Wasim, visited the woman at the hotel. Further investigation is underway in the case. (with agencies' inputs) Crypto Presale opportunities are not an everyday affair, but when they come knocking, youve got to be proactive. Top gains in the crypto world happen when you get in early, and in the current scenario, Dawgz AI is leading the pack, for it is not just another meme coin - its got staking, AI-powered trading bots, and real earning potential. Investors, who have already secured their bag, acknowledge that seeing those presale coins stack up in their portfolio feels like hitting the jackpot. If youre looking for the top presale crypto to buy now, Dawgz AI certainly steals the spotlight. Crypto Presale: 3 Early-Stage Investments Getting in on a token presale is like grabbing front-row seats before the world knows a concert is happening. Early buyers get lower prices, higher potential returns, and first dibs before the hype kicks in. The trick lies in finding a presale that actually has real value, not just big promises. Pro tip: Always check if the project has staking, utility, and a strong roadmap, not just memes. Fun fact: Some of the biggest crypto success stories started as presale coins, turning early investors into overnight millionaires and Dawgz AI has conspicuous potential. Dawgz AI isnt something that you joke about; its a money-making machine with high-frequency AI-powered trading bots working around the clock. You stake. You sit back. You earn. ETH buyers can stake their tokens for passive income, and the APY details are on the website. Here are some key features AI-powered trading The bots trade 24/7, so that you dont have to. Staking rewards Earn ETH rewards without lifting a paw. Presale momentum Over $2.6M raised, next target $2.63M! Strong tokenomics 8.888B supply, with 30% for presale and 20% for staking. Meme coin with real utility Fun + profits = a winning combo. Dawgz AI isnt playing games. This isnt just a coin; its a full-blown ecosystem built for traders who want profits without stress. If you dont get in now, youll be chasing your tail later. 2. ShibaZilla (SHIBAZILLA) - Meme Hype, But Can It Deliver? ShibaZilla (SHIBAZILLA) entered the crypto scene as a meme coin, aiming to capitalize on the viral success of dog-themed tokens. However, beneath the catchy name and community-driven hype, it's essential to examine its core fundamentals: Market Capitalization: As of the latest data, ShibaZilla's market cap stands at approximately $124 USD, reflecting its nascent stage and limited market penetration. As of the latest data, ShibaZilla's market cap stands at approximately $124 USD, reflecting its nascent stage and limited market penetration. Token Supply: The token sales boast a total supply of 1 quadrillion SHIBAZILLA tokens, a figure that raises concerns about potential dilution and value retention. The token sales boast a total supply of 1 quadrillion SHIBAZILLA tokens, a figure that raises concerns about potential dilution and value retention. Trading Volume: Recent statistics indicate a 24-hour trading volume of $0, suggesting minimal trading activity and liquidity challenges. Recent statistics indicate a 24-hour trading volume of $0, suggesting minimal trading activity and liquidity challenges. Price Performance: The token's current price is $0.00000000006808, with no significant price movement observed recently. The token's current price is $0.00000000006808, with no significant price movement observed recently. Community Engagement: While ShibaZilla positions itself as a community-driven project, the lack of substantial market data and engagement metrics makes it challenging to assess its actual community strength. But what differentiates $DAGZ from the above is that it integrates AI-driven trading mechanisms, offering staking rewards, providing tangible utility beyond the typical meme coin narrative. 3. PikaCrypto (PIKA) - Pokemon Nostalgia, But Whats Next? PikaCrypto (PIKA) taps into the nostalgia of Pokemon enthusiasts, aiming to merge the beloved franchise's charm with the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies. But is that more beyond just the bijoux that the franchise was once? closer examination reveals several critical aspects: Market Capitalization: As of now, specific data on PikaCrypto's market cap is not readily available, making it challenging to assess its market standing. As of now, specific data on PikaCrypto's market cap is not readily available, making it challenging to assess its market standing. Token Supply: The token has a total supply of 50 trillion PIKA tokens, a substantial number that may raise concerns about potential dilution and long-term value retention. The token has a total supply of 50 trillion PIKA tokens, a substantial number that may raise concerns about potential dilution and long-term value retention. Price Performance: PikaCrypto's current price is approximately $0.000000002482, reflecting a significant decline from its all-time high of $0.000000002334. PikaCrypto's current price is approximately $0.000000002482, reflecting a significant decline from its all-time high of $0.000000002334. Trading Volume: The 24-hour trading volume stands at $0, indicating minimal trading activity and potential liquidity challenges. The 24-hour trading volume stands at $0, indicating minimal trading activity and potential liquidity challenges. Community Engagement: While PikaCrypto leverages the Pokemon brand's popularity, there is limited information available about its community size and engagement levels. In contrast, Dawgz AI offers real utility through its diverse community engagement, providing investors with opportunities for passive income and potential returns. Dawgz AI vs. The Rest: Which One Makes You Money? Not all presale coins are created equal. Some are all big-hype, but no utility, and fading fast. Then theres $DAGZ, a presale that actually gives you a reason to invest. Lets break it down: Feature Dawgz AI ShibaZilla PikaCrypto Strong Tokenomics 8.888B supply, 20% for staking Unclear supply data 50T supply, dilution concerns Potential for Gains High-real earning opportunities Low-pure meme play Medium-reliance on hype Next Steps? Buy before presale ends Hope it catches on Enjoy the nostalgia What Is the Next Big Crypto? Every cycle, a few presale tokens explode, turning early buyers into legends. The trick is spotting the best presale crypto to buy now before the hype takes off. With token sales ramping up, one project stands out as the next big thing. Dawgz AI Is Leading the Pack Dawgz AI is the one to watch if you are in crypto. Unlike many top presale coins to buy, this one actually has a lot of token sales. If youre asking, Which presale crypto is best? this is your answer. Other Projects to Watch Besides Dawgz AI, a few other best presale crypto 2025 contenders are making waves: ShibaZilla (SHIBAZILLA) - A meme token with a community-driven approach. A meme token with a community-driven approach. PikaCrypto (PIKA) - Pokemon nostalgia, but with limited utility. With crypto wallet integration and wallet coin accessibility on the rise, choosing the best presale crypto to invest in is more important than ever. If you want real gains, $DAGZ is the one worth your time and money. Conclusion Finding the Best Crypto Presale isnt easy, but when you see a gem like Dawgz AI, you don't just wait and watch, you catch the trend early. Some investors have locked in their bag early, and watching those presale tokens stack up has been sweeter than a belly rub. Heres a tip: Always go for projects that offer more than just hype. Dawgz AI has staking, AI-powered trading, and a real way to earn passive income. If you wait too long, you might end up chasing your tail while others cash in. Dont sit on the porch; get in while the price is still low! Frequently Asked Questions What are the best crypto presales? The best presale crypto to invest in is one that actually gives you something in return, not just hype. Right now, Dawgz AI is leading the pack with AI-powered trading bots and ETH staking rewards. Its already raised over $2.6M, proving serious demand. If youre looking for top presale coins to buy, this is the one that makes sense: real utility, real earnings, real potential. Are presales worth it in crypto? Absolutely, if you pick the right one. Thats why projects like Dawgz AI stand out.. The earlier you get in, the better the returns. Just dont sit on the fence too long! What is the biggest crypto presale in history? Past wallet token and crypto wallet presales have raised insane amounts, but they dont always deliver. Thats why Dawgz AI is different: strong tokenomics, staking rewards, and real AI trading tech. Its not just chasing records; its actually giving early investors a way to earn from day one. What is the best crypto presale in 2025? Dawgz AI is checking every box: Staking rewards for ETH buyers, AI-powered trading bots, strong presale momentum, and an actual plan for long-term growth. (This article is part of IndiaDotCom Pvt Lts consumer connect initiative, a paid publication programme. IDPL claims no editorial involvement and assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of the article. Crypto Trading ( purchase, sale, or holding) can be risky and may not be suitable for all investors. The risk of loss can be substantial. Make financial decisions depending on your level of experience and risk appetite. Information on the platform is for general market commentary and is not intended as investment advice.) The DMK has defended the Tamil Nadu governments decision to replace the Rupee symbol with the Tamil Ru symbol in the state Budget, calling it a protest against the Centres policies. DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said the move was aimed at expressing the states opposition to the Union government. The usage of Ru is to signify the protest of the state against the policies of the government, he told ANI. He further alleged that people across the country were aware of the BJP-led governments agenda. The people of the state are aware of what the BJP is trying to do here. Everybody across the country is aware of the nefarious designs of the BJP government, he added. Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre said the Centre must work with all states, warning that such actions were a response to the governments failures. It is the duty of the Indian Government to take along all the states. So if they fail in discharging their duties properly, all such kinds of things will happen. This is a warning to the Central Government. They should think about all these things, Khandre told ANI. However, the Tamil Nadu BJP slammed the move, with party Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy calling it childish, foolish, and nonsense. Thirupathy also pointed out that the Rupee note was originally designed by a Tamil DMK MLA and had been praised by former CM M Karunanidhi. The Rupee note was designed by a Tamilian who was a DMK MLA, and it was praised and well honoured by late M Karunanidhi. Now, his son suddenly comes and says they will not accept it, he said. Pakistan Train Hijack: The train hostage situation in Pakistan's Balochistan has ended with all passengers freed and several Baloch militants/fighters eliminated by the Pakistani security agencies. As Pakistan struggles to resolve its internal rebellion, a video of India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has gone viral in which the NSA can be heard saying that if Islamabad repeats any invasion like the Mumbai Terror attack, then New Delhi will move from defensive mode to defensive offence mode. In the video, Doval said, "'In defensive mode, if you throw 100 stones at me, I stop 90 and still it can hurt me. And I can never win because either I lose or there is a stalemate. You start war at your time, you throw a stone when you want, you have peace when you want, you have talks when you want. We, if you are in a defensive offence, we will see where the balance of equilibrium is." The NSA, who reportedly served in Pakistan as a spy, further said that if Pakistan knows the tricks, India also knows them. "Pakistan's vulnerability is many many times higher than India. Once they know that India has shifted its gear from the defensive mode to the defensive offence, they will find that it is unaffordable for them. You can do one Mumbai, you may lose Balochistan. There is no nuclear war involved in that. There is no engagement of troops. If you know the tricks, we also know the tricks," said Doval. WE warned you Now enjoy the music According to Pakistan fans in India, Pakistani Army is Powerful pic.twitter.com/3j0PbDUeEu Gaurav Pradhan (@OfficeOfDGP) March 12, 2025 What Is BLA? The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is the most prominent separatist group in Balochistan and has been active since 2011, according to reports. Both Pakistan and the United States have designated it as a terrorist organization. The group alleges that Pakistan forcibly annexed Balochistan and continues to exploit its oil and mineral resources. It claims that in March 1948, Pakistan pressured the then-ruler, the Khan of Kalat, into signing the accession documents, leading to the province's incorporation. The BLA seeks independence from Pakistan and continues its struggle for control over the regions resources on behalf of its people. Days after Airtel and Jio announced their tie-up with Elon Musk's Internet company Starlink, the Congress has alleged that the deal was orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give favours to US President Donald Trump. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his concerns on the partnership of both Airtel and Reliance Jio with Starlink. He alleges that the deals were orchestrated by PM Modi to curry favour with Trump through Elon Musk. Ramesh stated, "Within literally 12 hours both Airtel and Jio have announced partnerships with Starlink, seemingly overcoming all their objections to its entry into India - which they have been voicing for quite some time. It is abundantly clear that these partnerships have been orchestrated by none other than the PM himself to buy goodwill with President Trump through Starlink's owner Elon Musk. But many questions remain...." Both Airtel and Reliance Jio have announced partnerships with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink to India, overcoming earlier objections to its entry. Ramesh further questioned the national security implications of the deal, asking who would control connectivity in critical situations--Starlink or its Indian partners? Additionally, he raised concerns about whether other satellite-based connectivity providers would be allowed entry into the Indian market and on what terms. Ramesh also hinted at a possible link between Starlink's entry and Tesla's manufacturing plans in India, speculating whether any commitments had been made. On the other hand, Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has welcomed the collaboration between telecom and satellite companies, calling it a significant step toward global connectivity. Mittal emphasized that such partnerships will enable seamless connectivity, even in the most remote areas, including over oceans and in the skies. He reiterated his longstanding advocacy for telecom and satellite industry collaboration to ensure universal coverage. Mittal also recalled a similar appeal he made at MWC 2017 in Barcelona, where he urged telecom operators to lower international roaming charges. Back then, high roaming rates forced customers to rely on local SIM cards or Wi-Fi hotspots when travelling abroad. The telecom industry responded, leading to significantly reduced roaming charges and making international mobile usage more affordable. (With ANI inputs) Moreover, Mittal said that the telecom sector will embrace satellite technology just as it has adopted advancements like 4G, 5G, and the upcoming 6G. With this development, he stated that customers would soon be able to use their mobile phones anywhere in the world, even in remote areas, across oceans, and while flying. The National Education Policy row has intensified with Southern states protesting against the three-language policy. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin is leading the opposition protest on the issue and has even termed the NEP a 'saffron policy'. Now, the Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has hit back at the ruling DMK minister while sharing a video of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who hails from Madurai. Stalin's 'Saffron Policy' Charge Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday alleged that it was not the National Education Policy but a 'saffron policy' aimed at developing Hindi and not the nation. "We oppose NEP as it will completely destroy Tamil Nadu's education growth. The NEP does not accept reservation that is social justice. This policy denies the assistance amount to SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes," Stalin alleged. Stalin further said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I have an appeal! Try to develop India rather than Hindi. Sanskrit cannot be developed even if you spend thousands of crores. You will spend crores to develop a language that is not spoken by the people. Will you betray our Tamil language that is recognised in several countries and spoken by the people?" BJP Counters DMK Claim Taking to X, BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai said that the DMK minister's son studied French and English as the two-language policy and not the Tamil and English/French. Hitting back at Tamil Nadu Minister Dr P Thiaga Rajan, Annamalai said, "Learnt about DMK Minister Thiru Thiaga Rajans response to my question yesterday on the hypocrisy of DMK Ministers allowing their children/ grandchildren to learn three languages in school while compelling Govt school students to learn only two languages. Thiru PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan responded that his sons had a two-language formula during their schooling but did not mention which those two languages were. That two-language formula was - First language - English, Second language - French/ Spanish. Is this the two-language formula of the TN Govt?" Learnt about DMK Minister Thiru @ptrmadurai avls response to my question yesterday on the hypocrisy of DMK Ministers allowing their children/ grandchildren to learn three languages in school while compelling Govt school students to learn only two languages. Thiru PTR Palanivel pic.twitter.com/X5BFhGghrw K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 13, 2025 Sharing an old interview video of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the BJP leader said, "We are only asking why the TN govt is stopping our Govt school students from learning an Indian language as their third language, along with Tamil & English and even an international language as a third language at the secondary level, as proposed in NEP 2020. While we wish both his sons the best in scaling greater heights in their respective careers, we also want our govt school students to have a similar opportunity to learn multiple languages. Additionally, Google CEO Thiru Sundar Pichai studied three languages in his school, including Hindi, contrary to Thiaga Rajan's claim." The DMK has sparked a political storm over the NEP's three-language policy alleging that the Narendra Modi government is trying to impose Hindi on southern states, a charge rejected by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The renovation of Rua do Almirante Sergio, a major road in the Barra district, is creating significant inconvenience for local residents and businesses. Earlier this week, authorities have initiated a phased construction project to repair sewers, manhole covers, and resurface roads in the area. The phased construction project is expected to continue until early June, leaving commuters and merchants struggling to navigate the disruptions. The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said it is aligning the road resurfacing efforts with the ongoing Inner Harbor South rainwater pumping station and drainage projects in a bid to reduce inconvenience for residents and businesses. As the construction crews started their work, which includes repairing sewers, manhole covers, and resurfacing roads, the temporary closure of five roadside berths and the suspension of the Rua do Almirante Sergio/Arcade bus stop has added to the chaos. Traffic police were deployed to manage the flow, ensuring that one lane remains open for vehicles in each direction. Despite the construction, initial reports indicated no significant traffic congestion. Kevin Tagura, a club agent at a nearby hotel, expressed his concerns about how the roadwork affects his daily commute. Its kind of tough because I like going in at a certain time, he told the Times. Sometimes I could go earlier, but even then, it depends on which direction Im coming from. Tagura noted that road work can add as much as an hour to his commute, particularly when it coincides with heavy traffic. There was one time when road work made it take 45 minutes just to get through, he recalled. He noted that roadwork near Barra and other key routes has added up to an hour to his commute, a significant increase from the 20 to 30 minutes he experienced when he first started working at the hotel. The renovations are being undertaken to address damage to the road and well covers caused by heavy traffic, especially from freight vehicles. Cheong Lai Chan, president of the General Union of Neighborhood Associations of Macau, expressed hope that the authorities would work together to expedite the project and minimize disruptions. Residents have expressed their dissatisfaction with the ongoing disruptions. One resident voiced frustration to the Times, stating, With all this roadwork, I cant even find my way around here anymore. The sentiment was echoed by others, who feel that the constant construction has become the norm, leading to increased difficulty navigating the area. Another commuter living nearby told the Times that traffic is consistently heavy, even during non-peak hours. The reason I still choose to live nearby this area is because the shuttle to work stops right next to my apartment. But its a disaster during peak hours, she said. A local business owner, surnamed Wong, described the impact of the roadwork on her livelihood. Of course, it affects daily life and hinders business, she said, pointing out that the noise is unbearable and deters customers from entering her establishment. It has blocked the front of my store, and they cant come in. So now I just eat sunflower seeds here. Thats it. She lamented that despite numerous complaints, her concerns have gone unheard. We can complain, but theres no way to complain. No one will pay attention to you, she added, highlighting a growing sense of neglect among local businesses. The noise is loud, but the government has not reduced it and is still working as usual. She expressed hope that the project would be completed as soon as possible, though she remains skeptical about the governments responsiveness to citizens concerns. The frustrations over the construction extend beyond just inconvenience. Tagura pointed out that while the noise from the construction doesnt affect the hotels operations directly, it could deter tourists. I think it doesnt really affect it so much because inside the hotel you dont really hear it, but outside, it is pretty loud, he explained. I just feel like the roadwork is too often. The governments communication regarding the roadwork has also come under scrutiny. Residents, such as the individual who asked for anonymity, cited a lack of information about the timing and extent of the construction. The government is incompetent now, he declared, underscoring a belief that the authorities are not effectively managing the disruptions. Despite the difficulties, some recognize the importance of the repairs. Cheong highlighted the necessity of collaboration to reduce additional inconveniences. She pointed out that after recent work on Rua do Almirante Sergio, the stretch of road from Ponte e Horta to Barra became much smoother. Cheong expressed optimism that the ongoing projects would result in improved road conditions. Many hope that the government will take their concerns into account and work to expedite the process. Victoria Chan Startups in India often face significant hurdles when attempting to participate in government tenders, as restrictive eligibility criteria and financial requirements frequently exclude them from competing on an equal footing with larger, more established firms. To align more closely with the PM Narendra Modis vision of "Startup India," a re-evaluation of procurement policies is essential. This should entail revisiting eligibility criteria, financial requirements, and other restrictions that prohibit the participation of startups in government tenders, said former IAS CK Mishra, who served as Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change before retirement. Facilitating Participation through GeM Mishra said that while Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a promising initiative, a lot more is need to be done. The GeM plans to onboard 1 lakh startups, allowing new business entrants to participate in public procurement bids without the usual norms related to turnover and minimum years of experience. As of June 2023, over 140,000 startups had been recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), showed government data. By offering relaxation to startup entrants on terms related to past performance and financial stability, GeM not only broadens the pool of bidders but also introduces more innovative solutions to public procurement. Since its inception in 2016, GeM has facilitated public procurements worth over Rs 10 lakh crores, making it the worlds second-largest government procurement platform, just behind South Koreas KONEPS. The platform has implemented significant changes to enable easier access for startups, including slashing transaction charges. Now, there are no transaction fees for orders valued up to ?10 lakhs, alleviating financial burdens for many Startups and MSMEs, said the former IAS. The increase in government bids earmarked with 'Make in India' preference highlights the initiative's impact. In the financial year 2020-21, nearly 39% of bids floated by central government entities on the GeM portal were marked with this preference. By FY 2024-25, this percentage rose to 81%, indicating an enhanced commitment to integrating domestic production into government procurement processes. Mishra further shared that steps like improving eligibility criteria, pilot projects and other similar initiatives can help the sector. Revised Eligibility Criteria: Shift focus from historical performance to innovative potential. Allow startups to demonstrate capability through recent projects or prototypes rather than a long past of contracts. Pilot Project Funding: Implement programs to support pilot projects that allow startups to showcase their innovations in a practical context, thus facilitating a more comfortable entry into government contracts. Supportive Financial Policies: Extend financial assistance programs to startups that enable them to meet the necessary financial criteria for bidding, reducing the barriers that often exclude them. Tailored Support Mechanisms: Establish clear guidelines for governmental bodies to provide feedback to startups on their bids, helping them to refine future submissions. Highlighting Successful Innovations: Promote success stories of startups that have won government tenders, showing the tangible benefits of innovation to both public services and economic growth. "For India to truly leverage its startup ecosystem, government procurement must evolve to be more inclusive. Startups bring fresh perspectives and agility, which can significantly enhance public service efficiency and sustainability," he said. Through the reformation of procurement policies and an emphasis on supporting startups, India can create a robust ecosystem that not only enables young companies to thrive but also drives sustainable growth across various sectors. Reducing entry barriers will allow startups to contribute meaningfully to India's economic and technological advancement. Balochistan Train Hijack: Day after Pakistan security forces killed all 33 Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants who on Tuesday hijacked the Jaffar Express, Islamabad accused India of sponsoring terrorism on Thursday without directly implicating it in the Balochistan train attack that killed 21 passengers. The incident occurred when the train, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar and carrying 440 passengers, was ambushed by BLA militants near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel. They opened fire on the train and held the passengers hostage, prompting the security forces to initiate an operation that lasted two days. After the rescue operations ended in Balochistan, Pakistani media was flooded with several theories claiming the involvement of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the train hijack. Several social media handles urged that Pakistani security forces thoroughly identify the root causes of this terrorism and intercept the perpetrators, stating that New Delhi is involved in terror activities. Following this operation, Pakistani security forces must thoroughly identify the root causes of this terrorism, intercept the perpetrators, and ensure their capture. It is widely recognized that India's (RAW) is involved in these activities!#Balochistan#PakistanTrainHijack Umair Ahmad (@umairiahmad) March 13, 2025 Besides this, an online platform, The Balochistan Diaries (TBD), claimed that the latest train hijack has uncovered RAWs involvement in funding anti-Pakistan elements. In a post on X, TBD stated that the recent operation carried out following the Jaffar express hijack is a decisive message that Islamabad will dismantle every hostile network attempting to undermine its sovereignty. The Jaffar Express attack once again exposed RAWs involvement in arming and funding anti-Pakistan elements. However, like countless times before, #Indias investment in these militants resulted in complete failure. Pakistans security forces swiftly neutralized the threat, proving that no proxy war can shake the states resolve. This operation delivered a decisive messagePakistan will dismantle every hostile network attempting to undermine its sovereignty, no matter who backs them, the post read. The Jaffar Express attack once again exposed RAWs involvement in arming and funding anti-Pakistan elements. However, like countless times before, #Indias investment in these militants resulted in complete failure. Pakistans security forces swiftly neutralized the threat, pic.twitter.com/SkwnD0xC8Q The Balochistan Diaries (TBD) (@BalochDiaries) March 13, 2025 During a press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan was asked several questions about the deadly attack on Tuesday, which led to a hostage situation lasting for more than 24 hours. Terrorists were in direct communications with Afghanistan-based planners throughout the incident, he said, adding that Pakistan has repeatedly asked Afghanistan to deny the use of its soil for terrorist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) for their attacks against Pakistan. We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice, he said. When asked about any change of policy because India was blamed in the past for any activity by the BLA, while this time a finger was pointed towards Afghanistan, the spokesman said there was no change in the policy. There is no shift in our policy. And again, the facts have not changed. India is involved in sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan. What I was referring to was, in this particular incident, we have evidence of calls being traced to Afghanistan. This is what I said, he responded. To another question, he said that India has been trying to destabilize its neighbouring countries and running a global assassination campaign. In our region, unfortunately, we have many forces against peace who do not want to see Pakistan reap the dividends of its unprecedented and sincere efforts in counter-terrorism and in building a peaceful region. "The latest terrorist attack against Jaffar Express near Sibi, Balochistan, was also orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from abroad, he said. Netizens Remind Pakistan Of Leave Or Bleed Amid all the blame game from the Pakistani side over the Jaffar Express hijack, Indian social media gave it back to Islamabad by reminding it of the post by one of its top Army officials, Ashfaq Hassan, saying, The only way to stop Balochistan from burning is to make India burn. To stop Pakistan from bleeding is to make India bleed. Several users on social media slammed Pakistan over the Balochistan hijack, saying that BLA gave a clear message to its government. The only way to stop Balochistan from burning is to make India burn. To stop Pakistan bleeding is to make India bleed Ashfaq Hassan (@BrigAshfaqHasan) March 12, 2025 The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has a clear message: "Leave or bleed." And yet, Pakistan keeps blaming India & Afghanistan instead of facing the truthBalochistan wants OUT, a social media user said in a post on X. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has a clear message: "Leave or bleed." And yet, Pakistan keeps blaming India & Afghanistan instead of facing the truthBalochistan wants OUT. Kapil Gupta (@kapgup) March 13, 2025 Pakistan started Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts. But look how it is going now, wrote another user. Pakistan had a dream to bleed India with 1000 cuts. How does it feel now Pakistan? a third user wrote. Pakistan had a dream to bleed India with 1000 cuts . How does it feel now Pakistan?#BalochLiberationArmy#TrainHijack #Balochistan pic.twitter.com/m1RBnDwfJP Dr. Sujin Eswar (@DrSujin_) March 13, 2025 Meanwhile, according to Pakistani media, the US-based organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has also levied allegations against National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the RAW, accusing them of orchestrating the train attack. India, however, has always in the past strictly rejected all the allegations levelled by SFJ, claiming that New Delhi never interferes in Pakistans internal security matters. (With agency Inputs) Kerala Lottery Results Thursday 13-03-2025 LIVE: The Kerala Lottery Department, on behalf of the Keralan government, announces the "Karunya KN-564" Lucky Draw Result today Karunya KN-564, March 13, 2025. The draw will be held at Gorky Bhavan near Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram. The Kerala Lottery Result 2025 for "Karunya KN-563" will feature 12 series, with changes in series possible each week. A total of 108 lakh tickets are available for purchase weekly. The ticket prices may vary. Check the Karunya KN-564 results right here to see if youre the first-place winner of 80 Lakhs. Stay tuned to this website for the live update of Kerala Lottery Karunya KN-564 results today. Kerala Lottery Result 13-03-2025 Mar: FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS FOR KARUNYA PLUS KN-564 Draw LUCKY TICKET NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE OF RS 80 LAKHS IS:PE 824501 LUCKY TICKET NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE OF RS 10 LAKHS IS: PM 509062 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 3RD PRIZE OF RS 1 LAKHS ARE: 1) PA 718491 2) PB 584777 3) PC 948163 4) PD 293406 5) PE 608960 6) PF 370561 7) PG 730827 8) PH 310197 9) PJ 861969 10) PK 281225 11) PL 288815 12) PM 907976 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE OF RS 8,000 ARE: PA 824501 PB 824501 PC 824501 PD 824501 PF 824501 PG 824501 PH 824501 PJ 824501 PK 824501 PL 824501 PM 824501 (For The Tickets Ending with The Following Numbers below) LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE OF RS 5,000 ARE: 1699 1754 1781 2329 2454 2805 2971 3905 4062 5497 6106 7278 7714 7948 8084 9055 9075 9458 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE OF RS 1,000 ARE: 0077 0085 0822 0823 0827 1193 1243 1319 2608 3105 3254 3324 3791 4170 4341 5014 5185 5820 6195 6769 6821 7171 7298 7304 7413 7853 7879 8066 8146 8613 8620 9474 9946 9972 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE OF RS 500 ARE: 0075 0189 0344 0365 0540 0639 0668 0803 1059 1177 1220 1482 1484 1532 1546 1794 1881 2038 2105 2249 2617 2914 3149 3311 3345 3426 3500 3613 3617 3672 3744 3750 3775 3876 4142 4151 4660 4668 4776 4886 4937 4986 5001 5020 5027 5110 5193 5234 5357 5547 5681 5704 5716 5866 5991 6077 6172 6276 6382 6480 6778 6798 6961 7125 7165 7324 7492 7642 7992 8020 8182 8188 8382 8474 8745 9396 9404 9455 9771 9969 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE OF RS 100 ARE: 0005 0007 0103 0314 0535 0544 0820 0880 0929 0941 1077 1208 1363 1366 1730 1825 1841 1847 1998 2153 2211 2231 2265 2298 2455 2469 2748 3046 3104 3122 3124 3304 3326 3414 3467 3476 3570 3731 3896 3937 4021 4029 4057 4139 4178 4293 4392 4444 4508 4537 4546 4638 4664 4817 4929 5081 5343 5406 5447 5570 5636 5689 5727 5852 6021 6091 6102 6228 6229 6309 6397 6519 6637 6668 6745 6753 6853 6866 6951 7055 7148 7153 7193 7223 7317 7348 7491 7541 7674 7730 7736 7769 7774 7901 7905 8063 8076 8080 8131 8194 8264 8334 8492 8508 8539 8575 8740 8801 8963 8970 9078 9084 9200 9290 9442 9493 9507 9637 9661 9696 9800 9894 9910 9929 9949 9981 KERALA LOTTERY RESULT TODAY 13-03-2025 March: KARUNYA PLUS KN-564 LOTTERY PRIZE DETAILS 1st Prize: Rs 80 Lakhs 2nd Prize: Rs. 10 lakhs 3rd Prize: Rs. 1 Lakh 4th Prize: Rs. 5,000 5th Prize: Rs. 1,000 6th Prize: Rs. 500 7th Prize: Rs. 100 Consolation Prize: Rs. 8,000 (NOTE: Lottery can be addictive and should be played responsibly. The data provided on this page is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as advice or encouragement. Zee News does not promote lottery in anyway.) Haryana Civic Poll Results: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has swept the civic polls in Haryana, bagging nine of the ten mayoral seats. While the BJP workers celebrated the victory, the Congress camp remained unfazed by the loss. Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that there is nothing new in the BJP's victory as they have won the civic polls earlier as well. "BJP won before also. What is new in this?... We never said that we contested these elections seriously... Even when I was the Chief Minister, I never participated in the Panchayat elections. Only brotherhood works in these elections... The result would have been a loss for us if we had a seat (in local bodies) and lost it... Mostly independent candidates stand in these elections," he said. In the outgoing municipal corporations, BJP had its mayors in seven civic bodies but it has now won nine of the 10 mayoral polls. The Congress, which was looking to turn around its electoral fortunes after suffering a defeat in the 2024 Assembly polls, failed to open its account. The opposition party lost in Sonipat, where it had its mayor, and Rohtak, considered a stronghold of the Hooda family. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the victory is an expression of people's unwavering faith in the development works of the state government headed by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. "I want to assure people of the state that we will spare no effort in fulfilling their expectations and aspirations," he said on X. Independent candidate Inderjeet Yadav was the only non-BJP nominee to win a mayoral seat. She was elected from Manesar, where municipal elections were held for the first time. Nimrat Kaur's Birthday Special: 'The Lunchbox' actress, one of Indian cinemas most acclaimed performers, has always set herself apart by embracing relatable and intense roles. Her powerful performances and dynamic range have made her the go-to choice for portraying complex and unconventional characters with finesse. As Nimrat Kaur celebrates her special day, lets revisit her top 5 performances each brimming with depth, authenticity, and intrigue that solidify her status as a powerhouse talent. The Lunchbox Nimrat Kaur stepped into a grounded role by playing a middle-class housewife named Ila and spotlighted the lives of often-muted voices of housewives. As she grapples with finding an emotional connection and validation from her husband, an accidental exchange of a lunchbox with a stranger opens doors for her. Airlift In 'Airlift', Nimrat Kaur plays the role of Akshay Kumar's on-screen wife Amrita Katyal, and beyond that, she also becomes the backbone of the story. As an on-screen wife, she supports Akshay Kumar in his quest to carry out the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait. By playing Amrita, Nimrat Kaur showcased a very fierce and powerful shade of a housewife and won immense praise for her impactful outing. Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video Nimrat Kaur put her acting range at full display in 'Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video'. In the gripping murder mystery, Nimrat steps into the shoes of an investigator who probes a case of a missing school teacher named Sajini Shinde (Radhikka Madan). Nimrat steals the spotlight with her natural flair, grit, and intensity, proving to be the perfect fit for the role. Homeland Nimrat Kaur established a global footprint by starring in the American television series 'Homeland'. She plays the authoritative role of Tasneem Qureishi, an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent in Pakistan and also the organization's Director General. This role was Nimrat Kaur's outing as a ruthless agent with understandable motives to serve her country. The Test Case Nimrat Kaur highlighted her versatility in the web-series 'The Test Case'. She played the role of Captain Shikha Sharma, the only woman in a group of Indian Army officers training to join the Special Forces. As Shikha, she undertakes a course making her the 'test case' to induct women into combat-oriented roles in the Indian Army. New Delhi: Kannada actress Ranya Rao was arrested in connection with a gold smuggling case by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) after returning from Dubai on March 3, 2025. It has now been learnt that the actress revealed how she collected 14 kg gold worth Rs 12.56 crore from the Dubai International Airport before attempting to transport it to Bengaluru. According to NDTV report, Ranya during her interrogation revealed that she had received an internet call and was asked to collect the gold from Gate A of Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport. After she was handed over the gold bars in the dining lounge by a tall man dressed in white gown, the actress rushed to the washroom and started the process to conceal the gold. She opened the packets and found 12 gold bars and some cut pieces inside. Reportedly, she opened YouTube tutorials to learn how to conceal gold in one's body, as per the document detailing the authorities' objections to her bail request, reports NDTV. Ranya alleged that she received an internet call and was asked to collect the gold from Gate A of Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport. Ranya, the stepdaughter of DGP K Ramachandra Rao, was produced before a special court judge on the evening of March 4 for financial offences. On March 4, Ranya Rao was produced before a special court for financial offences and was remanded to judicial custody until March 18. Prior to her transfer to custody, she underwent a medical examination at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. During her questioning, Rao claimed that her trip to Dubai was for business purposes. However, authorities suspect that her visit was linked to the illegal importation of gold. Then, she was remanded to the custody of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) until March 10, which was extended till March 24. (With ANI inputs) New Delhi: Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan has made another investment in Ayodhya. This marks his second land purchase since the grand consecration of the Ram Mandir in 2024. According to a TOI report, the new property, bought through his trust is situated about 10 kilometers from the temple. Amitabh Bachchan Expands His Land Holdings in Ayodhya Amitabh Bachchan has once again invested in land in Ayodhya. According to the report, the Harivansh Rai Bachchan Trustestablished in 2013 in honor of his fatherpurchased a 54,454-square-foot plot. This marks his second land purchase in the city. Earlier, on January 16 last year, he had bought a property in Haveli Avadh for Rs 4.54 crore. Pratap Singh, Assistant Inspector General of Ayodhyas Stamp and Registration Department, confirmed to The Times of India that the sale deed for the land has been completed. He stated, "We can only verify that sale deeds have been completed. The purpose of the two investments will become clear once the local development authority approves the building plan." Amitabh Bachchans Notable Roles in Recent Films Amitabh Bachchan has been actively involved in multiple films. Following his role in Uunchai (2022), he made cameo appearances in Ghoomer and Ganapath in 2023. In 2024, he was seen in the sci-fi film Kalki 2898 AD, directed by Nag Ashwin, alongside Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, and Kamal Haasan. Amitabh Bachchan portrayed Ashwatthama in the Telugu film, earning praise for his performance. He also starred alongside Rajinikanth in TJ Gnanavels Vettaiyan, where he played Sathyadev Bramhadutt Pande in the action-packed cop drama featuring Fahadh Faasil. Off-shoulder crop tops are a closet must-have for every fashionista woman. In case you need a day-wear look or a stunning party wear, these fashion tops make you even more attractive. With sophisticated designs, better materials, and fashionable ensembles to match, these tops are the ultimate closet must-haves. And with Amazon's Holi Sale from March 1st to 14th, you can get these at discounted prices. Let us take a look at some of the most fashionable off-shoulder tops trending these days. 1. ASENTERPRISES Women's Off-Shoulder Crop Top, Ruffle Short Sleeves, Tie-Up Back Image Source- Amazon.in Order Now The ASENTERPRISES Off-Shoulder Crop Top is just the perfect blend of sophistication and glamour. Featuring ruffle short sleeves and a trendy tie-up back, the top is created to make you appear classy yet playful. Be it high-waist jeans or skirts, it makes you stand out easily. Key Features: Trendy off-shoulder style for a chic appearance Ruffled short sleeves for feminine appearance Tie-up back to facilitate adjusting fit Lightweight fabric for comfort all day Ideal for everyday and party wear Fabric is easily wrinkled, and frequent ironing might be necessary 2. SIGHTBOMB SKIMS Off Shoulder Long Sleeve Cuddle Tee Softline Top for Women Image Source- Amazon.in Order Now A flawless combination of style and comfort, the SIGHTBOMB SKIMS Off-Shoulder Top is made of ultra-soft microfiber fabric with a body-fitting design. The ruched long sleeves and overfold design in this piece make your figure stunning while providing warmth and comfort. This top functions properly both for everyday casual events and to provide warmth during freezing winter evenings; therefore, it should be a basic piece in your clothing collection. Key Features: Ultra-soft microfiber fabric for ultimate comfort The off-shoulder design adds elegance to the neck Ruched long sleeves give a sophisticated touch The overfold design provides a formal appearance Appropriate for casual and semi-formal dressing Lighter-colored designs can be partially sheer 3. ILLI LONDON Women's Off-Shoulder Top Image Source- Amazon.in Order Now Nurtured laid-back chic, the ILLI LONDON Off-Shoulder Top is ideal for women who adore laid-back fashion. Couples love this piece due to its elegant off-shoulder design and loose fit, which easily transforms it from casual wear to elegant wear. The top pairs well with jeans, skirts, and shorts to create countless fashionable looks. Key Features: Timeless off-the-shoulder style for stylish look Silky and flexible fabric for ease of fit Versatile style choices pair with jeans, shorts, or skirts Versatile color options to suit your sense of style Light and airy polyester fabric to keep you comfortable throughout the day Runs a little smaller than standard, so read the size chart at purchase 4. DRAPE AND DAZZLE Women's 100% Cotton Top with Balloon Sleeves Off Shoulder Neck Image Source- Amazon.in Order Now The ruched sleeves and overfold design on this top create the ideal figure-flattering combination and provide warmth. The design earned its place as a key item in every wardrobe to use during casual times and cold winter evenings. Key Features: Crafted from 100% cotton for comfort with breathability Off-shoulder design with statement balloon sleeves Solid color for a stylish and elegant appearance Loose fit for daily but stylish wear Appropriate for social and party events Needs gentle washing to preserve fabric integrity Off-shoulder crop tops are a fashionista's closet must-have. Whether you have a penchant for ruffle sleeves, ruched tops, or show-stopping balloon sleeves, there's one that'll suit your fancy. With at least 50% off on women's clothes from March 1st until March 14th on Amazon's Holi Sale, now's the time to refresh your inventory. Purchase these style-forward tops today and become the envy of all your fashion friends. 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 Taliban Government on Thursday categorically rejected Pakistans claims that Afghanistan-based militants were behind the hijacking of a Jaffar Express train in Balochistan. The clarification from the Taliban came after reports claiming that Islamabad has accused terrorist leaders based in Afghanistan of orchestrating the attack. To support its claims, Pakistan cited intelligence reports that identified direct communication between those leaders and the attackers. Rejecting Pakistans claims, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for Afghanistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Islamabad should focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks. "We categorically reject baseless allegations by the Pakistani army spokesperson linking the attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan, and urge the Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks," he said. We categorically reject baseless allegations by Pakistani army spokesman linking the attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan, & urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security & internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks. pic.twitter.com/CVxWauCS2b Abdul Qahar Balkhi (@QaharBalkhi) March 13, 2025 The militants attacked the Jaffar Express on Tuesday. The train, carrying 440 passengers, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar. The attackers derailed it with explosives near Gudalar and Piru Kunri, about 160 km from Quetta. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a Pakistani Army spokesperson said that the operation to rescue hostages from a train hijacked by Baloch insurgents, killing all 33 militants involved ended. The spokesperson also stated that 21 passengers and four Pakistani soldiers lost their lives during the operation. The armed forces successfully concluded the operation on (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said. On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Balochistan to review security and express solidarity with locals after the Jaffar Express hijacking. The attack left 21 civilians and four soldiers dead. His visit comes a day after security forces killed all 33 Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants who hijacked the train on Tuesday. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi received a letter from US President Donald Trump on nuclear negotiations, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. The letter, which reportedly calls for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program, was handed over to Araghchi by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the presence of some other Iranian officials, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting Fars. According to a report by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Araghchi said earlier on Wednesday that Iran had always been ready to hold negotiations over its nuclear issue on equal terms. Iran previously held talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal and is continuing dialogue in that regard, Araghchi said, noting that it is the US that withdrew from the deal. Iran is holding talks with France, Britain, and Germany on a number of issues, including nuclear ones, and a new round of talks will start soon, he said, adding that the country is holding negotiations with other international stakeholders concurrently. Araghchi said that Iran's nuclear program operates within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and that it is completely dynamic and making progress. In an interview with Fox Business Network on Friday, Trump said he wanted to negotiate with Iran on the nuclear issue and had sent a letter to the country's leadership. Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the US -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. However, during Trump's first term of office, the US withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the nuclear deal have not achieved substantial progress. Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that the country would not negotiate with the US under pressure and sanctions. The son of prominent Hong Kong former publisher Jimmy Lai, who is facing possible life imprisonment in the Chinese city, called yesterday [Macau time] for his fathers release in a high-profile national security case. Sebastien Lai, in a meeting with reporters in Washington, said the prison conditions where his 77-year-old diabetic father is being held in solitary confinement are inhumane for anybody, any age. There is a real fear that he might pass away at any time, said the son, who is leading an international campaign to free his father. This year will be the fifth year for him to be in prison. The case has drawn widespread international condemnation and is seen as evidence of the erosion of press freedom and judicial independence in Hong Kong. The elder Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper known for its anti-Beijing stance, is standing trial on charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and of conspiring with others to issue seditious publications. The collusion charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Last year, Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges. On March 6, he presented his final testimony and lawyers from both sides are expected to return to court to deliver their closing statements in August. He has been convicted in four separate cases involving fraud and unauthorized assemblies and has been given sentences totaling more than seven years, according to Amnesty International. Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing, was arrested in 2020 in a crackdown following anti-government protests in Hong Kong a year earlier. The Beijing and Hong Kong governments say a strict national security law helped restore stability to Hong Kong after the demonstrations. Lai has spent more than 1,500 days in solitary confinement in a cell without natural light. Hong Kongs government said in a statement last year that the separation of Lai from other inmates has been made at his own request and was approved by prison authorities. This is completely insane, the younger Lai said. It is disgusting. He also asked for release. The U.S. and U.K. governments and independent U.N. human rights experts have called for his release. In the U.S., Lai has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and he could have President Donald Trump on his side. MDT/AP Mark Carney, who was recently elected as the leader of the Liberal Party, will take oath as Canada's 24th Prime Minister along with his cabinet on Friday, CTV News reported. He will be taking the reins from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after securing a win in the Liberal leadership on the first ballot held on Sunday. Canada's Governor General Mary Simon's office has said the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister and members of the Canadian ministry will take place in the Rideau Hall ballroom at 11 am EDT. On his first day as Liberal leader, Carney met Trudeau at the Prime Minister's Office to discuss about how long of a transition period would be needed. By the end of the day, Carney stated the changeover would be "seamless" and "quick," according to the CTV News report. In the days since, Carney has been holding meetings with key officials in Ottawa and beyond and work has been done behind the scenes to execute the transition of power, both from a bureaucratic and a security standpoint. The report stated citing a spokesperson, that the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England has divested all his assets into a blind trust. Trudeau would visit the governor general on Friday and officially tender his resignation. Then, Carney would take oaths of office and allegiance. Canada's new PM would unveil his new ministry, which comprises all his cabinet picks. Many of the main players who hold portfolios central to managing US President Donald Trump's tariffs backed Carney during the leadership race, CTV News reported. Carney will be assuming office at a time when polling shows the Conservatives and Liberals neck-in-neck, amid Canadians' rising concerns over ties between Canada and the US. The same polling indicates Trudeau will be officially ending his tenure as Canada's PM with his favorability at a 12-month high. In his final speech as Liberal leader, Justin Trudeau highlighted the 'achievements' of the Liberal Party over the past decade while looking towards the future, hours ahead of the announcement of his successor as the leader of his party, as reported by CBC News. In his speech at the Liberal Leadership Convention, Trudeau said, "I am damn proud of what we've done over these past 10 years for the middle class and the people working hard to join it." Trudeau told the crowd that "there is a responsibility to ensure that Canada stays the best country on Earth! In one of his last speeches as Liberal leader and Canada's PM, he urged his supporters to keep fighting for Canada as hard as they can. He said, "Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given." He said, "None of those happened by accident. None of them will continue without effort," CBC News reported. After resigning as PM of Canada, Justin Trudeau was captured exiting Parliament in a playful style- carrying a chair and with his tongue sticking out. As per convention, Canadian lawmakers can take their chairs with them when they leave Parliament. Brian Lilley, Political columnist for the Toronto Sun, noted in a post on X. "When any MP leaves the Commons, they are allowed to take their chair, their seat with them. I find it a great tradition, one that I support. That said, this is a weird photo of Trudeau leaving with his. Also, perhaps another sign of a looming election", he wrote on X. Amid row over his 'Gaza Plan', US President Donald Trump asserted that no one would be "expelled" from the strip, The Jerusalem Post reported. He made the remarks before his meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House on Wednesday (local time). In his statement alongside Martin, Trump said, "No one is expelling anyone from Gaza." During his meeting with Martin, he even called the US Senate's minority leader, Chuck Schumer, "a Palestinian." Trump said, "Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I'm concerned. He's become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian." He made a similar statement regarding Schumer in a post shared on his social media platform Truth Social in February. In his remarks, Martin said aid needed to be increased into Gaza and called for a ceasefire as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post report. Earlier in December, Israel announced the closure of its embassy in Ireland, citing the country's "anti-Israel policies." The decision came a week after Ireland expressed support for South Africa's action against Israel in the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide, The Jerusalem Post reported. The US President's remarks on Gaza come after his statement in February, where he said that the US will take over the Gaza Strip, dismantle dangerous weapons, get rid of the destroyed buildings, and work for the economic development of the area. While addressing a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, "The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site and getting rid of the destroyed buildings. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area." Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers agreed on Wednesday to continue talks and coordinate with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff on Gaza reconstruction plan proposed by Egypt during a meeting in Doha, according to a joint statement. The joint statement said that consultations will continue on the plan with Witkoff as a "basis for the reconstruction efforts" in the Gaza Strip. Criticizing the United States-Ukrainian proposal calling for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, saying it would just be a "breather" for the Ukrainian military. "It would be nothing more than a temporary breather for the Ukrainian military," Yuri Ushakov told state media after speaking by phone to US national security advisor Mike Waltz, as quoted by news agency AFP. He stated President Vladimir Putin would "probably make more specific and substantive assessments" on Thursday. Ushakov also said that Russia was aiming for a "long-term peaceful solution" that would secure Russia's "legitimate interests." "That is what we are striving for," he said. "Any steps that imitate peaceful action are, I believe, not needed by anyone in the current situation," he said. On Thursday, US negotiators travelled all the way to Russia to put forward their plan for a 30-day ceasefire in war-torn Ukraine, as Washington pushed Moscow for an "unconditional" pause to the three-year conflict. Meanwhile, a day after the US lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, Russia on Wednesday said a phone call between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump could be arranged "very quickly" if necessary, according to the state-run TASS news agency. The Trump administration on Tuesday resumed military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, as Kyiv endorsed a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, pending Moscow's approval, during pivotal talks in Saudi Arabia. Reacting to the development, the Kremlin said it does not rule out the possibility that the issue of a telephone conversation between Putin and Trump may arise following the US-Ukrainian negotiations and could be organized swiftly. (With agencies Inputs) The United States President, Donald Trump, on Wednesday said that negotiators from Washington were headed to Russia for discussion over a possible ceasefire with Ukraine. This comes days after the ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia between the US and Ukraine. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin that hopefully, they can get a ceasefire from Russia, reported news agency AFP. US Vice President JD Vance added that conversations were being held over the phone and in person with American representatives over the next few days, according to reports. Now, Russia has submitted a list of its demands to the US to secure a deal to conclude the war with Ukraine and improve its relations with Washington, sources familiar with the matter told news agency Reuters. Ukraine has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, and Trump welcomed Kyiv, agreeing to the ceasefire after the peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine is ready to accept this proposalwe see it as a positive step and are ready to take it. Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same. If Russia agrees, the ceasefire will take effect immediately, Zelenskyy said hours after the announcement came from Jeddah on Wednesday. Meanwhile, soon after the announcement, the Trump government lifted the suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, measures that were imposed a week ago in an apparent effort to push Zelenskyy for talks about ending the war. (with PTI inputs) The Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signaled that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, pending Moscows agreement, American and Ukrainian officials said yesterday [Macau time] following talks in Saudi Arabia. The administrations decision marked a sharp shift from only a week ago, when it imposed the measures in an apparent effort to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces. The suspension of U.S. assistance came days after Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the U.S. delegation to the talks in Jeddah, said Washington would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin, which has so far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict without accepting any concessions. Were going to tell them this is whats on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now itll be up to them to say yes or no, Rubio told reporters after the talks. If they say no, then well unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here. Trumps national security adviser, Mike Waltz, added: The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trumps vision for peace. The discussions, which lasted for nearly eight hours, appeared to put to rest for the moment at least the animosity between Trump and Zelenskyy that erupted during the Oval Office meeting last month. Waltz said the negotiators got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end, including long-term security guarantees. And, he said, Trump agreed to immediately lift the pause in the supply of billions of dollars of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing. Trump said he hoped that an agreement could be solidified over the next few days. Ive been saying that Russias been easier to deal with so far than Ukraine, which is not supposed to be the way it is, Trump said yesterday. But it is, and we hope to get Russia. But we have a full ceasefire from Ukraine. Thats good. The Kremlin had no immediate comment on the U.S. and Ukrainian statements. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said only that negotiations with U.S. officials could take place this week. Trump s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change. Officials met in Saudi Arabia only hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones in Ukraines biggest attack since the Kremlins full-scale invasion. Neither U.S. nor Ukrainian officials offered any comment on the barrage. Russia also launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said, as part of Moscows relentless pounding of civilian areas. In an address posted shortly after the talks ended, Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraines commitment to a lasting peace, emphasizing that the country has sought an end to the war since its outset. Our position is absolutely clear: Ukraine has strived for peace from the very first second of this war, and we want to do everything possible to achieve it as soon as possible securely and in a way that ensures war does not return, Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak, who led the Ukrainian delegation, described the negotiations as positive. He said the two countries share the same vision, and that we are moving in the same direction toward the just peace long awaited by all Ukrainians. In Kyiv, Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, accepts that compromises will be necessary to end the war, but she said they must be reasonable. We had massive losses during this war, and we dont know yet how much more well have, she told The Associated Press. We are suffering every day. Our kids are suffering, and we dont know how the future generation will be affected. Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier who could give only his first name because of security restrictions, warned that Ukraine cannot let down its guard. If there is a ceasefire, it would only give Russia time to increase its firepower, manpower, missiles and other arms. Then they would attack Ukraine again, he said. Hawkish Russians push back against a ceasefire In Moscow, hawkish politicians and military bloggers spoke strongly against a prospective ceasefire, arguing that it would play into Kyivs hands and damage Moscows interests at a time when the Russian military has the advantage. A ceasefire isnt what we need, wrote hardline ideologue Alexander Dugin. Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is a member of the Russian parliaments lower house, warned that a 30-day truce would allow Ukraine to beef up arms supplies and regroup its troops before resuming hostilities. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political commentator, suggested that Moscow could demand a halt on Western arms supplies to Ukraine as part of a ceasefire. An embargo on arms supplies to Ukraine could be a condition for a truce, he wrote. MATTHEW LEE, JEDDAH, MDT/AP Want to know everything you need to try from the salad bar and hot bar at Fresh Mart? How much time do you have? Yashar Tairov, 45, and his wife, Saniya Tairova, 35, ambitiously opened their international supermarket last March in the 30,000-square-foot former Whole Foods Market on University Avenue after opening an original Fresh Mart in 2020 in Sun Prairie. Theyve also had Istanbul Supermarket and Cafe at 745 S. Gammon Road, a grocery store that specializes in Turkish and Middle Eastern foods, since 2012. Fresh Mart has all of the trappings of a commercial grocery with lots of fun snack foods that you wont find at most stores. The big draw is its reasonably priced salad bar and hot bar with lots of Middle Eastern and Indian foods at $8.99 per pound. Think of it as a to-go buffet that serves delicious food with little or no waiting, and where you can mix and match any number of appealing and healthy options and come up with a meal for $10 or less. Customers can also eat in the adjoining Fresh Bite Cafe, which has its own menu, something thats not well publicized yet, said Edie Kurbanova, Tairovs niece and the stores front-end manager. Food from the salad bar or hot bar can also be eaten in the roomy cafe. Theres a street corn dip and a cowboy caviar, with corn, black beans, pinto beans, onions and peppers, that come from food services, but have lively personalities. Two fantastic potato salads and two wonderful coleslaws come from Dawns Foods, a 64-year-old food service distributor in Portage. Fresh Mart has a Moroccan chef and a Pakistani chef who make most of the other salad bar and hot bar fare. The baba ghanoush was a pale yellow color, smoky and smooth. I was hooked from the get-go. The tabouli was equally amazing, with lots of green onion. The beet salad, which Tairov said his sister makes, had finely grated beets and a light touch. The Greek salad had tomatoes, feta, cucumber, olives, red and orange peppers. Eat it on its own or add it to greens. All of these, plus two excellent house-made pasta salads, were great choices. The homemade stuffed grape leaves and stuffed mini peppers are worth getting, too. The hummus was just OK, a rarity at Fresh Mart in my experience. Tairovs mother, who has the same name as his wife, Saniya Tairova, makes the colorful and delightful bean salad with red and yellow bell peppers, kidney beans, onions and pickles. An olive salad with potatoes was its equal. Surprisingly, the olives didnt come on too strong. The seafood and chicken salads arent made in house, but the salmon salad is. All were good. Theres a nice selection of single-serve fried items that dont get weighed and need to be packaged separately. The lightly breaded cream cheese poppers (sold by weight) are not homemade, but not to be missed. There are also jalapeno poppers I didnt try. The veggie Punjabi samosa ($1.99) had the perfect spiciness and an exquisite non-greasy pastry shell. The tiny veggie samosas, meanwhile, arent worth the bother. Potato borek ($1), an eggroll-shaped Turkish finger food encased in crispy phyllo, is a must-have. A chicken version ($1) was also worthwhile. Soups, made there, arent sold by weight, but are a reasonable $3.99 for a paper cup/bowl. Both the tomato basil and lentil soup had superb flavor. The Uzbek chicken samsa ($3.99), an Uzbekistani street food, was a made-from-scratch, large, flaky, triangular chicken turnover, and is a decent lunch option. It has the distinction of being baked not fried. As far as entrees go, the qeema aloo, normally known as aloo keema, is a traditional Pakistani ground beef dish, which on one of my visits was made with minced lamb and potato, and had both texture and flavor going for it. The butter chicken was fine, but the rice I put it on was somewhat dried out. On entering the store, customers are greeted in the entryway by bags of basmati rice that are so enormous they seem designed to appeal to restaurant owners. Theyre very popular, said Kurbanova. When people shop for rice, usually, people from overseas, they dont buy a bag of rice thats two pounds. Its usually 10 or more. Inside, theres a well-stocked halal butcher counter, a bountiful produce area, plus a wide selection of hair products, laundry detergent and pet food. You name it. With each receipt, customers get a 10% off coupon for Fresh Bite Cafe, where the bakery cases have been well stocked on my visits. The simit ($2.49), also sold in the store, is a standout. A cross between a pretzel and a sesame seed bagel, its better than either, and needs no butter or condiment. Tairovs mother makes those, too. The tiramisu was light and creamy, while a mini baklava had the right sweetness. A chocolate chip cookie was thick and crisp and full of chunks of chocolate. Only the baklava is made at Fresh Mart. I wondered about the large covered dish of smaller cookies on a stand in front of the counter on my first two visits, so the last time I was there I asked about it. The woman behind the counter seemed confused by my question and told me they were free. Why do you do that? I asked. I dont know. A nice owner, she said with a big smile. Tairov told me later he does it for students and others who might come in for coffee and cant afford much else. He and his wife are of Turkish heritage and moved to the United States from Russia as refugees in 2005, Tairov said. They moved to Madison from Rockford, Illinois, when Tairov got a job at a kiosk at East Towne Mall selling sunglasses, belts and, around holiday time, Christmas ornaments. Fresh Mart has been slow to catch on, Tairova said. Even some customers from their other stores dont know about the 1-year-old grocery and cafe, she said. Thats too bad because when it comes to Fresh Mart, there is so much to know. Diner's scorecard Restaurant: Fresh Mart Location: 3313 University Ave. Phone: 608-621-7428 Website: freshmartmadison.com Hours: 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. daily Prices: Salad bar and hot bar $8.99 per pound, $3.99 soups, appetizers $1 to $3.99 Noise level: Low Credit cards: Yes Accessibility: Yes Outdoor dining: A couple of tables in nicer weather Delivery: Hot food and salad bar items delivered by Uber Eats and DoorDash Online ordering: Yes, through Uber Eats and DoorDash Drinks: Alcohol is sold in the grocery store, but not in the cafe Gluten-free: A few options Vegetarian offerings: Many Kids menu: A number of items that could appeal to children Parking: Big lot Service: Excellent Bottom line: This little-known supermarket offers a way to eat fast, healthy and at a low price. In their only scheduled debate leading up to the April 1 election to determine ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme court, candidates Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel sparred over a host of issues that have been commonplace on the campaign trail like abortion access, impartiality and the millions of dollars being poured into the race. The April 1 matchup between Crawford, a Democratic-backed Dane County Circuit Court judge, and Schimel, a Republican-backed Waukesha County Circuit Court judge, has become the latest high-stakes court election drawing nationwide attention to the battleground state. The candidates are running for the seat held by departing liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Seats on the seven-member court are officially nonpartisan, but partisan groups and state parties are spending millions on the race, which comes just two years after liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated conservative former Justice Dan Kelly flipping the states highest court to its current 4-3 liberal majority. Early voting begins March 18 and runs through March 30. During the one-hour debate Wednesday, hosted by WISN-TV, both candidates underscored what many have been saying for months: The election marks a pivotal crossroads for the states highest court. Conservatives are hoping to reclaim a majority on the court, while liberals want to hold on to the narrow 4-3 majority they secured two years ago. The stakes are huge, said Schimel, who served as attorney general under Republican former Gov. Scott Walker. I dont know if they could be bigger. Crawford said the future of our state and the fundamental rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites are on the line next month. Race awash in outside cash One of the most prominent talking points by both candidates was the millions of dollars being spent on the race by political activists and outside groups. Crawford repeatedly hammered Schimel over the more than $10 million spent so far by Elon Musk to support his campaign. Hes basically taken over Brad Schimels campaign, Crawford said. Schimel said he embraces any endorsement but said any funds spent by Musk will have zero impact on how he would rule on cases involving the billionaire or President Donald Trump. Crawford also said it was no coincidence that Musks spending on the court race comes shortly after his Tesla electric car company sued Wisconsin after the state blocked it from opening dealerships in the state. If Elon Musk is trying to get some result in that lawsuit, he may be failing because I enforce the law and I respect the laws passed by the Legislature, Schimel responded. Schimel, meanwhile, pointed to the millions of dollars in campaign support Crawford has received from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin following big donations from individuals like liberal philanthropist George Soros. Crawford said she has not made any promises to her supporters and said any out-of-state contributions to her campaign are in reaction to major spending by Musk. Ad-tracking firm AdImpact reported on March 6 the race has seen $41.1 million in ad spending and reservations so far, already surpassing the $40.1 million in total spending in the 2023 race. By the end of January, Schimel reported raising $5 million, while Crawford had raised more than $7.3 million. WisPolitics.com reported Wednesday the race has amassed nearly $59 million in spending so far. Abortion takes center stage The topic of abortion has remained near the forefront of multiple elections in the battleground state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, declaring the right to abortion no longer exists under the U.S. Constitution. The decision left Wisconsins pre-Civil War law widely interpreted as a near-complete ban on abortions on the books, though a lawsuit before the state Supreme Court seeks to overturn the law. Schimel said he believes the states 1849 law remains valid because the law was passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor. He added that he believes the voters should decide the issue, rather than have the court make a determination as such an outcome could result in future lawsuits and the issue could flip back and forth. Schimel also accused the courts current liberal majority of playing politics by not ruling sooner on the lawsuit challenging the law, ensuring it would remain a live issue in this election. Crawford said she was proud to represent Planned Parenthood in two cases seeking to defend abortion rights, adding that the matter is a critical issue in this race. She said she believed the decision was wrongly decided. While Schimel has said he opposes abortion rights, and Crawford supports them, both candidates have said they would remain impartial if a case involving the issue comes before the court. Whos toughest on crime? Both candidates have launched ads criticizing their opponents for being soft on crime. Crawford worked in private practice and as a prosecutor with the state Department of Justice. Shes been endorsed by sheriffs in Milwaukee and Dane counties, as well as the courts four liberal justices and dozens of circuit and appellate judges from across Wisconsin. Schimel served as attorney general under Gov. Scott Walker and has been backed by several law enforcement officials, including county sheriffs, the Milwaukee Police Association and Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police. Both candidates also traded barbs over the topic of testing of sexual assault evidence kits. Crawford argued that Schimel did not work quickly enough to address the states roughly 6,000 untested rape kits in the first half of his term as attorney general, while Schimel noted that the bulk of the states backlog of rape kits was cleared by the end of his term. The court has no say over how Wisconsin manages DNA testing. Union rights resurface Another ongoing debate surrounding the election is the issue of union rights, specifically a case challenging Act 10, Walkers 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public employees. A pending lawsuit argues provisions of the law are unconstitutional because they treat some public safety workers differently from other public employees. A Dane County judge last year sided with plaintiffs in the case and the matter is all but certain to eventually reach the state Supreme Court. While attorney general, Schimel said he would defend Act 10. He did not say Wednesday evening if he would recuse himself from a challenge to the law. Crawford, who represented teachers in a failed lawsuit challenging the law, said she would most likely recuse herself from an Act 10 case if that lawsuit focused on the same provisions addressed in the legal challenge she participated in. She noted the pending lawsuit focuses on different parts of the law. Recusal an individual choice The increased partisanship in judiciary elections has created a tricky situation for candidates who are asked to weigh in on high-profile issues like abortion, union rights and voter ID laws, but also need to assure voters they can be impartial on such matters if they come before the court. Both candidates said they would look into the facts of all cases that come before the court and make a determination on whether or not to recuse. Justices can decide for themselves whether to recuse from individual cases. Recusal is generally required if the justice has a financial stake in the case or a close relationship to a party in the case. Lots of room to make an impression Despite the stakes and massive spending in the race, Marquette Law Schools latest poll, released last week, found only 39% of respondents said theyve heard or read a lot about the court race, while 42% have heard a little, and 19% have heard nothing at all. Schimel held the most name recognition, with 61% of respondents saying they have an opinion of him. Of those, 29% said they have a favorable view of Schimel, while 32% had an unfavorable view. Another 38% said they dont know enough about him to form an opinion. Only 42% of respondents held an opinion of Crawford, with 19% having a favorable view and 23% having an unfavorable view. Another 58% of respondents said they hadnt heard enough about her to form an opinion. While making their pitch to voters, Crawford said she is running to be a commonsense justice, while Schimel said his goal is to restore objectivity on the court. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, meets with journalists who covered the third session of the 14th NPC, extending his appreciation for their efforts, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 12, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] China's top legislator Zhao Leji on Wednesday met with journalists who covered the third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), extending his appreciation for their efforts. Zhao, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, commended major news outlets for their well-planned and well-organized coverage. He noted that their reports conveyed confidence and strength while highlighting the country's pragmatic and efficient democratic process. Zhao encouraged the media to continue exploring and utilizing the rich news resources related to the system of people's congresses as well as NPC work and deputies, helping to effectively tell the story of China and its whole-process people's democracy. The NPC session was held from March 5 to 11. TWIN FALLS Perhaps the title of the novel on which the Dilettantes new production is based tells it all. Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions was published in 1998 and is a story of how a traveling salesmans larger-than-life stories capture the imaginations of people around him, and how his soon-to-be-married son is determined to discover the truth behind his fathers epic tales. Big Fish will be performed at the College of Southern Idaho from Thursday through Sunday, and director Lori Henson thinks shes reeled in a winning combination for cast members and the audience alike. It will give the audience a chance to expand their theater experience beyond the well-known productions that make their rounds through southern Idaho. Everybody loves Fiddler on the Roof, Henson explained, but she was ready for something new. As far as people who might be hesitant to come to a production they havent seen on the stage before, How do you know you wont like it if you dont come? she asked. Henson fell in love with the music when she saw the 2003 movie as she checked out the role of one of her favorite actors. The Tim Burton movie was called a fantasy drama. Characters include a misunderstood neighborhood giant, a witch, a mermaid and a circus ringmaster. All play a part in the tales the 60-year-old Edward Bloom, who has fallen ill and is reflecting on his mortality, has told during his lifetime. The stage production, presented by the Dilettante Group of Magic Valley and the College of Southern Idaho Theater Department, explores a strained relationship between his son, Will, who worries his fathers life has been built on falsehoods. Conner Campbell, who plays Will, said he believes his character has pushed himself to be grounded in facts and logic. While the stories may have been cute when his character was young, they arent so much when he reaches adulthood. The question remains whether the father and son will reconcile. Henson says the production, which critics say is full of heart and humor, delves into storytelling, adding that it is becoming a lost art, as the father tells his grand story to his son and others. And when it comes to grand stories, Henson says she can relate. When she was young her parents adopted a baby boy, and she as a 3-year-old was there. I remember the smells and sounds, Henson said, and how she walked up a flight of stairs and saw workers putting babies out, from which her parents could choose one. I remember it 100%, Henson said. But memories have played a trick on her. Thats not how it happened, she said, although when she tells the story about the adoption, she still reaches back into those memories. I tell it in a way thats a little more fun, she said. And, being the director of Big Fish has been enjoyable for Henson. A relatively new play, it gives her the freedom to use her creativity. Its exciting because I can put my own spin on it, she said, knowing that the audience wont have preconceived expectations of what the musical will be. The 38 cast members in the production yield opportunities to the ensemble cast, who get to play several different roles. One might be a cheerleader in one scene and a witch in the next. They get to stretch their acting abilities to play multiple roles, Henson said. Campbell said cast members have gotten along well, perhaps because many play family members. On the same token, he said audience members, all coming from their respective families, will appreciate the shows message. I hope it will open people up emotionally and think about their relationships, he said, and value the time they have with loved ones. Want to go? The Dilettante Group of Magic Valley and the College of Southern Idaho Theater Department will present the musical "Big Fish" Thursday through Saturday, with a matinee on Saturday and Sunday. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Purchase tickets online at https://tickets.csi.edu. The National Maritime Council (NMC) has lauded Slovenia for its firm affirmation of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award and its solidarity with the Philippines in upholding international law in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). In a statement Wednesday evening, the Philippine government expressed gratitude for Slovenias support, emphasizing the importance of the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling as a final and binding decision in favor of the Philippines. - Advertisement - This award, issued under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), invalidated Chinas expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including areas within the Philippines exclusive economic zone. Slovenias affirmation joins a growing chorus of international backing, underscoring global recognition of the Philippines rightful claims and the broader commitment to a rules-based international order. Slovenias statement, along with the many statements of support from other countries for the Arbitral Award and the Philippines position, reaffirms that we are not alone in our effort to uphold international law in the West Philippine Sea, the council said. The statement further called attention to Chinas continued disregard for international law, highlighting its illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions in the region. Such actions, the NMC asserted, demonstrate Chinas refusal to adhere to the principles of UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award, undermining global stability and order. Despite these challenges, the Philippines remains resolute in asserting its sovereignty and jurisdiction over its maritime zones. The council reaffirmed the governments commitment to defending its rights in accordance with the UNCLOS, the 2016 Arbitral Award, and the Philippine Maritime Zones Act. The NMC message serves as a call for continued international vigilance and cooperation in upholding the rule of law in contested waters. The world is watching, and no amount of coercion or disinformation can distort the real issue of Chinas continuing illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions, the council stated, reiterating the global implications of maintaining peace and order in the WPS. Since December, when the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept to power in Damascus, European diplomats and Arab leaders have been meeting the now besuited ex-ISIS, ex-Al Qaeda commander al-Jolani in order to launder the new regimes image, with the help of the press. Now we see the real face of their friends in Damascus. Since Friday, fighters loyal to the al-Jolani regime have swept through coastal villages, towns and cities, carrying out a pogrom that has left over 1,200 Alawite civilians dead so far; men, women and children killed for being Alawites. What weve seen ongoing since Friday is an atrocious pogrom conducted by HTS forces. Those responsible are the western imperialists, and their reactionary friends in Turkey, Israel and the Gulf states. Their interventions, their funding, their arms, raised these cutthroats to power. Thanks to them, Syria is now on the brink of descending into a bestial cycle of sectarian violence, and a new, bloodier civil war. Without waiting for the blood to dry, the criminals in the West are trampling the truth of what has happened in order to cover up their crimes, and to prepare their next steps. An indiscriminate pogrom On Thursday, clashes erupted in north west Syria between armed Alawite militias and fighters loyal to the HTS regime. The regime and its backers are referring to the former as pro-Assad loyalists. This was echoed by an EU statement depicting the HTS killers as the injured party and remnants of the regime as the guilty party! The European Union strongly condemns the recent attacks, reportedly by pro-Assad elements, on interim government forces in the coastal areas of Syria and all violence against civilians. The fact that many Alawites who make up 10 percent of Syrias population, concentrated along the coastline have held onto their weapons since the fall of Assad should surprise precisely no one. Anyone from a minority religious or ethnic group in Syria today who values their life and possesses weapons would be insane to give them up. On Thursday, clashes erupted in north west Syria between armed Alawite militias and fighters loyal to the HTS regime / Image: fair use After the clashes in the coastal areas, al-Jolani announced a combing operation in the urban areas and sent in more HTS fighters. According to Le Monde, this call was joined by other calls, this time from Salafist mosques pressing for a jihad. By Friday, thousands of armed jihadis had descended on the coastal area, including many foreign fighters, identifiable by the fact that they only spoke in classical Arabic. Over the next 72 hours, these gangs slaughtered Alawites indiscriminately. Bloodied bodies were piled up along roadsides. Jihadis went from house to house, stealing gold, cars and anything they could loot, and then executing entire families. Homes were burned down. Families tried to hide in silent terror in basements, or fled to rooftops where they were murdered. Videos emerged of Alawite men being forced to crawl on the ground and bark like dogs before being shot. But throughout this slaughter, the western press has seen fit to reminds us, over and over again, that the Alawites are the sect to which Assad belongs. The BBC baselessly asserts that these are areas loyal to ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad. The implication, from the BBC and others, is that this is no pogrom at all but merely revenge killings (these are the BBCs exact words) of a political nature aimed at supporters of the old regime. This is a despicable lie. The jihadi groups indiscriminately killed anyone from an Alawite background, including Alawites who spent years serving sentences in Assads jails for opposing his regime. In numerous videos circulating on social media over the past few days, HTS fighters have been quite clear who they are killing and why: they are killing Alawites, who in their view are apostates. As interim president al-Jolani himself put it in 2015, when he was the official head of Syrias Al Qaeda affiliate, the Alawites moved outside the religion of God and of Islam, and their only hope of staying alive would be to return to Islam. Interim government forces and violent factions 2015 was a long time ago, of course, and al-Jolani has since (formally) cut links between his group and Al Qaeda. Since HTS captured Damascus back in December, the Europeans have been quick to extend the hand of friendship and open diplomatic relations. There have been a flurry of high-level meetings between al-Jolani and European counterparts. Indeed, just two days before the bloodletting began, European Commission president Costa sat, all smiles, next to al-Jolani himself. Without a hint of irony, he gave him the blocs glowing endorsement: The EU is fully engaged in supporting the democratic, (!) peaceful (!!) and inclusive (!!!) transition in Syria. This followed just a few weeks on from a decision by the EU to relax sanctions on Syria. The Europeans are, of course, looking for something from al-Jolani. What might that be? A number of European countries have stopped processing Syrian asylum applications since the fall of Assad, and Austria has even begun processing Syrian refugees for deportation to jihadist-run Syria. They want a clear out of the one million Syrian refugees who have lived in Europe since the West destroyed their country. The fact is, this is just Al Qaeda in power by another name, with a besuited figurehead who must be a source of bemusement and irritation to a good section of the jihadist ranks / Image: Foreign Ministery of Oman, Wikimedia Commons And with such democratic, peaceful, inclusive jihadists in power back home, why should they not return? We repeat, western imperialism is responsible for the present mayhem. They funded and armed the jihadist groups now swarming Syria. But they always disguised their cynical support for this medieval barbarism with the carefully cultivated fiction that there was a distinction between what they called the moderate rebels and the more fanatical types like Al Qaeda and ISIS; and now, we are told, we must make a distinction between what HTS is now and what it was not so long ago. In the bloodletting since Thursday, much of the western press has been at pains to maintain the lie that there is some distinction between the good Islamists that they smile and issue statements alongside, and the bad ones who conduct pogroms. This wasnt so much the action of government security forces, they say, but the unfortunate independent initiative of violent factions. But all the videos show that those carrying out the slaughter were dressed in government uniforms. There were even cases of tanks being used to fire shells directly at civilian homes. These violent factions are part of the army, of HTS, and of the ecosystem of armed jihadists groups that make up the forces upon which the present regime stands. Al-Jolani has since announced a full investigation into the killings he really has learned all the phrases that a respectable politician must learn! The results of this combing operation have been bad for PR and bad for diplomacy. It is probable that al-Jolani did not intend to unleash a pogrom when he sent jihadi attack dogs into Alawite areas. But he is not in full control. The fact is, this is just Al Qaeda in power by another name, with a besuited figurehead who must be a source of bemusement and irritation to a good section of the jihadist ranks, who do what they want anyway. What next? Beyond what he would call the excesses of the campaign, al-Jolani and the regime are very happy with the results of the operation on the west coast. But what are those results? After roughly 250 fighters were killed on both sides, the Alawite militias have allegedly been cleared from the urban areas along with 100,000 civilians. The majority will have gone into hiding in mountainous terrain and dense forest along the coastline. They will not give up fighting, and many more will have been convinced that, to survive, it is necessary to take up arms. Far from pacifying the region, it is likely to spur the growth of ethnic militias in the coastal areas and beyond. Civil war is looming. Around this bloody mess stand the imperialists with their knives sharpened to carve up Syria, and another conflict threatens to turn Syria into a theater of war, butchery and partition: that between Turkey and Israel. We have seen the rank hypocrisy of the Europeans the lovely liberal, humanitarian Europeans who have ceaselessly flirted with al-Jolani since he took power. But the main power behind Damascus now is Erdogan in Turkey. For years, he has played a careful game. He has balanced between Russia and the United States in order to push his interests. These, above all, involve projecting Turkish power and influence over its border into Syria, using the likes of HTS as proxies. In December, the Biden Administration was almost certainly aware of the offensive, and whether or not it approved of it, it at least did not intervene to stop it. Indeed, immediately before HTS offensive, one Free Syrian Army commander recalls being told by British and American intelligence: Everything is about to change. This is your moment. Either Assad will fall, or you will fall. Around this bloody mess stand the imperialists with their knives sharpened to carve up Syria / Image: fair use With Trump in power, however, the US is striking a very different tone to the Europeans, condemning the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days, adding that they stand with Syrias religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities. For his part, Trump wants nothing more than to get out of Syria. The Israelis too have come out as defenders of the Alawite population. Imagine that, Israel is protesting against ethnic cleansing! This is rank hypocrisy of the first order. Israels genocide in Gaza, backed by the US which distracted and weakened Assads main backers, Iran and Hezbollah was the immediate cause of the downfall of the Assad regime. The war created favourable conditions for HTS, which was then able to kick in the door of the Assad regime, which had become internally rotten. Israeli imperialism, by its actions, is also culpable for the fate now facing the Alawites. In fact, Israel is just using rhetoric about defending ethnic minorities to conduct a land grab in southern Syria, where it has occupied territory beyond the Golan Heights, under the pretext that they are there to protect the Druze. Recent moves by the Israeli regime have also included allowing Syrian Druze to cross the border to work inside Israel, which itself has a Druze population in the north of the country. It would seem that a deal has been struck between Israel and the United States over Syria that would allow the Israelis to remain there indefinitely, possibly as a sop to Netanyahu after Trump forced the Israelis to accept a ceasefire in Gaza. But Israels ambitions in Syria go beyond just grabbing more land. Israels interests are in keeping Syria weak and divided, thus running directly counter to Turkeys ambition to consolidate the rule of the HTS regime over the Alawite and Kurdish areas. According to sources who spoke to Reuters, Israel is calling for the Russians to retain their bases in the coastal areas of Syria, and they are lobbying the Americans likewise to call on them to stay, in order to (and I quote) contain Turkey. In a coming conflict with HTS, and behind them with Turkey, they see the Russians as potential allies. With Trump looking to get out of Syria, he may well support the Russians remaining to try and keep Turkey and HTS at heel. The more pertinent question is perhaps whether the Russians would want to stay at all. They do, however, retain important bases, precisely in the Alawite-majority areas: an air base near Latakia, and perhaps more importantly, a valuable Mediterranean port near Tartus. At any rate, Russia and the United States have issued a joint call for a closed session of the UN Security Council. At the present moment, events seem to be leading towards a further deterioration of relations and possible clash inside Syria between Turkey, Israel and their respective proxies, a fact which is being increasingly commented upon by analysts internationally. Imperialism has inflicted horrific agonies on the people of Syria. Unless this system is overthrown, throughout the Middle East and the world, it threatens horrors that exceed even those. Mass murder, ethnic strife, new imperialist interventions, displacement, hunger and death are all this system offers. The workers and poor must unite along class lines, cutting across ethnic and religious divides, to overthrow all the reactionary regimes that plague the region and to kick out imperialism. A Socialist Federation of the Middle East alone can offer hope of ending the torment to which the people of the region are permanently being subjected. India and Mauritius have upgraded their bilateral relations to an enhanced strategic partnership during a recent visit on Wednesday March 12 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the island nation. The announcement highlights New Delhis growing influence in the Indian Ocean region as it seeks to counter Chinas expanding footprint. During his two-day visit, Modi participated in Mauritiuss National Day celebrations and held talks with Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, with both leaders reaffirming their commitment to ensuring a free, safe, secure and open Indian Ocean. This strengthened cooperation aims to address critical geopolitical challenges in the region. As part of the enhanced partnership, Mauritius conferred its highest civilian honour on Modi, and the two countries signed eight agreements covering various sectors, including maritime security. Modi also announced Indias commitment to investing approximately $11 million in community development projects across Mauritius, including the construction of a new parliament building, described as a gift from the mother of democracy. The visit marks a significant milestone in the countries ties, particularly as India recognizes the growing importance of Mauritius, which serves as a gateway to both the Western Indian Ocean and Africa. The growing Chinese influence in Mauritius has not gone unnoticed. Beijings economic presence has surged since it signed a free trade agreement with Mauritius in 2019, further cementing its strategic partnership with the island. Bilateral trade between China and Mauritius has grown significantly, reaching $1.1 billion. In response, India has stepped up its engagement with Mauritius, including constructing infrastructure on the Agalega Islands to monitor maritime traffic in the region. India has also voiced its support for Mauritiuss sovereignty claims over the Chagos Islands, in line with its long-standing stance on decolonisation and territorial integrity. This evolving partnership reflects Indias commitment to bolstering regional security and maintaining a balanced geopolitical presence in the Indian Ocean. South Africas Finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, presented a revised budget on Wednesday March 12, but it was immediately rejected by several major political parties, despite a reduction in the proposed increase to the value-added tax (VAT). The revised budget was aimed at resolving an impasse between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its largest coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which had previously opposed the original budget plan. However, the continued opposition leaves the budgets approval in limbo, with no clear way forward for the Government. Initially, the Treasury had proposed a 2-percentage-point VAT increase to fund essential spending on health, transport, and education, but this was scaled back to a 0.5% increase for this year, followed by another increase in the next fiscal year. The DA made it clear that it would not support any permanent tax hikes unless they were temporary. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the official opposition, uMkhonto we Sizwe, also rejected the new budget, leaving the ANC with little hope of securing the votes needed for approval. The budget row highlights the challenges facing South Africas coalition government, which has struggled to maintain unity since the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid. Political analysts predict that the impasse will set a precedent for continued deadlocks and prolonged negotiations, complicating governance further. Despite these challenges, Godongwana maintained that the VAT increase was the most viable solution to address the countrys growing fiscal pressures, with the budget set to generate an additional 28 billion rand ($1.53 billion) in the coming fiscal year, far short of the initial target. Haidilao, a popular Chinese hotpot chain, announced it will provide full refunds and substantial compensation to thousands of customers after two boys urinated into a hotpot at one of its Shanghai branches. The company said on Wednesday that 4,109 customers who dined at its location at The Bund between Feb 24 and March 8 will receive a full refund of their meals, plus a cash compensation of 10 times the amount of their bill. The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Feb 24, involved two 17-year-old boys, surnamed Tang and Wu, who were dining in a private room. According to a police bulletin, the intoxicated boys climbed onto the table and urinated into the hotpot. Wu then posted a video of the incident online, sparking widespread outrage. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau's Huangpu branch reported the incident after Haidilao filed a complaint on March 6. Both boys have been placed under administrative detention. Haidilao stated it has filed a lawsuit against the two boys in the Huangpu District People's Court. The company initially responded to the incident by stating it would pursue legal action against those spreading malicious rumors and asked for leniency toward the minors involved. The restaurant also said it had replaced all cookware and thoroughly sanitized the premises. However, the company's initial response drew criticism from online users who expressed concerns about food safety and questioned the restaurant's delayed reaction. In its latest statement, Haidilao explained that it did not become aware of the incident until Feb 28, when the video surfaced online. The company said it struggled to identify the specific location due to its extensive network of over 1,400 restaurants in 15 countries. It was not until March 6 that the company confirmed the incident occurred at The Bund branch. Haidilao also said it will upgrade its private room services and invited consumers to visit and inspect its open back kitchen. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will engage in direct peace talks next week with the M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, in an effort to address the ongoing conflict in the mineral-rich eastern region of the country. Angola, which has been acting as a mediator, announced that negotiations will begin on March 18 in Luanda, the Angolan capital. The talks come after a series of territorial advances by the M23 rebels, including the capture of the key cities of Goma and Bukavu, which have heightened tensions and the humanitarian crisis in the region. Angolas President Joao Lourenco confirmed the announcement in a statement on Wednesday, noting that both parties, the DRC and M23, will enter into direct peace negotiations following mediation efforts. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi visited Angola on Tuesday to discuss the potential for such talks. This marks a significant step in the search for a peaceful resolution, after multiple peace initiatives were previously cancelled, and the focus had shifted towards addressing Rwandas role in the conflict. Despite these setbacks, Tshisekedis spokesperson expressed hope for the success of the Angolan mediation in resolving the crisis. The conflict in eastern Congo, which has caused over 7 million people to be displaced, involves numerous armed groups vying for control of the region, particularly near the Rwandan border. M23, one of the most prominent rebel factions, has been accused of atrocities, and their actions have sparked concern about further regional instability. The United Nations has launched a commission to investigate human rights violations by both sides, which include reports of killings and sexual violence. The peace talks are seen as a crucial step towards alleviating the devastating impact of this long-standing conflict. Somali security forces have successfully neutralized six militants who had launched an attack on a hotel in Beledweyne, a town in central Somalia. The siege, which lasted for 18 hours, ended early on Wednesday March 12 morning, with Somali and African Union forces rescuing civilians, traditional elders, and military officials trapped inside. Beledweyne District Commissioner, Omar Osman Alasow, confirmed the end of the attack, revealing that two militants were killed in combat, while four others detonated explosives as they realised escape was impossible. Tragically, the attack also claimed the lives of seven individuals, including security officials and prominent elders. The hotel assault, claimed by the al-Shabab militant group, marked another violent chapter in the ongoing conflict in Somalia. Beledweyne has been a focal point of Somali efforts to combat al-Shabab since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared a total war against the group in 2022. The town, which lies near the Ethiopian border in Hirshabelle state, has witnessed a series of terrorist attacks over the years, with suicide bombings and targeted assaults on government establishments being frequent occurrences. In the aftermath of the siege, Somali forces, backed by international partners, launched airstrikes that resulted in the deaths of at least 50 al-Shabab militants in the Middle Shabelle region. The airstrikes, which targeted the Damasha and Shabeelow areas, also eliminated Mansoor Tima-Weeyne, a senior al-Shabab leader responsible for coordinating the groups combat vehicles. The Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) hailed the operation as a significant blow to al-Shababs operational capabilities. In a separate counterterrorism effort, NISA also announced the closure of 12 media outlets and websites linked to the group, as part of an ongoing campaign to disrupt al-Shababs influence and propaganda in the region. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Usable FIT return within 3 months, by planning tool and deadline status. Credit: The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02813-7 Researchers have found that adding a deadline to bowel screening invitation letters boosted test returns, with the largest effect for a 2-week return deadline. The study, which was led by Professor Katie Robb from the University of Glasgow's School of Health and Wellbeing, involved 40,000 adults in the nationwide Scottish Bowel Screening Program. The paper, "Behavioral interventions to increase uptake of FIT colorectal screening in Scotland (TEMPO): a nationwide, eight-arm, factorial, randomised controlled trial," is published in The Lancet. Screening by self-sampled fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) reduces colorectal cancer mortality. However, a major challenge for colorectal screening worldwide is achieving high uptake. In Scotland, colorectal screening is offered to people aged 5074, every two years, with participants mailed a single-sample FIT. The study team found that adding a single sentence suggesting a deadline for FIT return in the invitation letter to FIT colorectal screening boosted FIT return. The largest effect (2% absolute increase in FIT return) was seen with a 2-week deadline. It is estimated that a 2% increase in FIT return would mean an additional 39,000 people participating in a two-year Scottish Bowel Screening round, with approximately 23 colorectal cancer deaths being avoided as a result. In addition, by increasing uptake in response to the initial invitation letter, fewer reminder letters will need to be sent to non-responders at six-weeks, and the burden on primary care and public health efforts outside the screening program to increase uptake will also be reduced, further reducing costs. The study also tested whether including a problem-solving planning tool in the colorectal screening invitation envelope increased FIT return. A list of possible concerns about completing the FIT along with tips to help participants overcome these concerns was provided, however, the tool had no positive impact on FIT return. The Scottish Bowel Screening Center sends FITs to approximately 1.95 million individuals every two years. Current uptake is 66%, therefore a third of the eligible population are not participating. Katie Robb, Professor of Behavioral Science and Health in the School of Health and Wellbeing said, "Our findings demonstrate the potential for low- or no-cost behavioral interventions to boost participation in screening and reduce deaths from colorectal cancer. This is a considerable impact for an intervention which involves only adding one sentence to the invitation letter, which can be easily implemented into routine practice." Maxine Lenza, Cancer Research UK, Health Information Manager, said, "It's great to see more research focused on improving the bowel cancer screening program in a cost-effective way. Further research is now needed in larger and more diverse groups to better understand how effective a deadline is and what other simple methods can be introduced to break down barriers to taking part in screening. "It's important to read the information that comes with your invitation to decide if you'd like to take part. Bowel cancer screening aims to find cancer early or to prevent it developing. Cancer Research UK encourages people to take up bowel cancer screening when they're invited." Scottish Government Minister for Public Health, Jenni Minto, said, "I thank the University of Glasgow for this vital research which highlights how a slight change in language has had a positive impact on bowel screening uptake. Although latest figures show screening uptake is exceeding the Healthcare Improvement Scotland standard of 60% in all Scottish Health Boards, more can be done to help detect cancer early. As most cancers that are diagnosed following a positive screening result are at the earliest two stages, when treatment is most likely to be successful, this is such a simple improvement." More information: Kathryn A Robb et al, Behavioural interventions to increase uptake of FIT colorectal screening in Scotland (TEMPO): a nationwide, eight-arm, factorial, randomised controlled trial, The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02813-7 Journal information: The Lancet This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Women have known for decades that aging naturally is unacceptable. Older women are rarely seen on screen compared to younger women, or are praised for their age-defying looks. Now, as a reminder of the increasing impossibility of beauty standards, it's clear that appearing to age unnaturally, or "too soon," is also seen as a failure. In early March, 21-year-old actor Millie Bobby Brown spoke out about "bullying" by journalists, after columns and social media comments accused her of looking too old for her age. Having entered the spotlight as a child star, Brown no longer looks like her younger self, which appears to have caused backlash. The response to Brown having the audacity to grow and age out of her teens reveals how society requires women to not only be young, but to look it, forever. I am researching how women perform femininity (and navigate aging) on social media, and it's clear that the question of "how and when are women allowed to age?" has become even more complex in the digital era. Social media has become the gateway to the anti-aging industry, with influencers acting as living billboards for cosmetic treatment. Many of the women I have spoken to have highlighted how popular procedures like Botox have become on apps like Instagram, particularly for younger women. Some of the women I spoke to were happy to discuss their "tweakments," admitting that they've had Botox and filler, while others expressed surprise at the early age people were seeking these treatments. "I'm amazed at how young people are, and how they're getting Botox at 20. It's quite shocking," said one interviewee. Aging online Even if they aren't getting invasive procedures, the unspoken age requirements of social media have led to meticulous and intense beauty maintenance trends. "BeautyTok" shows how it's done, through "high maintenance to be low maintenance," where women engage in several time-consuming and often expensive activities that shave down their daily beauty maintenance time. Similarly, the "morning shed" shows women removing numerous beauty products that they have slept in, usually including some form of anti-aging products like chin straps or wrinkle prevention tape. Many of the women engaging in these activities are in their 20s, before any visible signs of aging appear. We are now in an era of prevention rather than attempts to reverse aging, though doctors dispute the efficacy of preventative measures. Some women claim that these routines are a form of self-care, providing them with joy and a sense of routine, and maybe even act as a form of camaraderie. I am hesitant to dismiss this, as women's interests are already widely criticized and often depicted as trivial. But it cannot be ignored that the pressures of beauty standards can have detrimental effects on mental health, with over 1 million people in the UK reportedly suffering from body dysmorphia. These pressures do not exist to the same extent for men, who are largely encouraged to age naturally, becoming a "silver fox." However, body dysmorphia is on the rise for young men, though it may manifest differently. The pressures of anti-aging culture may have been exacerbated by the rise in working from home culture and an increase in the use of Zoom, giving people the chance to stare at their own faces for hours at a time. AI and other tech-enabled editing tools are also contributing to these expectations, giving anyone the ability to drastically alter their face or remove signs of aging with the tap of a finger. Many of my interviewees observed how some beauty trends and filters online are changing what is considered beautiful, a phenomenon that has been termed "Instagram face." "Now everybody's having the same thing done," remarked one woman. "Everyone looks exactly the same, like robots." When are young women supposed to age? Social media enables a culture of commentary, where anyone and everyone can comment on your physical appearance, often replicating the harsh critique of tabloid journalism. On TikTok, "how old do I look?" is an especially cruel trend that emerged in 2024, where women ask thousands of strangers on the internet this burning question. This usually ends up with 30-year-olds being told they look 50, or young women asking how to reverse the effects of (completely natural and standard) aging. In recent months, several slightly older celebrities have been looking uncannily similar to their younger selves, such as Lindsay Lohan and Christina Aguilera. The internet has responded with largely positive reinforcement, requests for their surgeons' details and even speculations on the price of treatment. Simultaneously, celebrities have received criticism for their overfilled faces, now referred to as pillow face, revealing the new requirements for work to be "undetectable." This is confirmed by cosmetic surgeons and "experts" who post their own videos weighing in, explaining and criticizing the work they think celebrities have had done. Usually it's only those with cash to spare who have the ability to get "good" (undetectable) cosmetic work. However, I have found that a lack of cash is not stopping the young women I've spoken to from engaging in these practices. Some have even gone into debt, whether through credit cards or payment plans, in an attempt to achieve these ageless looks. These investments appear to increase as women get older. If aging too soon is not allowed, and aging too slowly is also suspicious, what are the young women of today supposed to do? As the digital age plays an ever-increasing role in the production of ideal femininity, the message is very clear to all women, not just women in their 20s: do not visibly age, ever. These pressures are relentless, but how can we challenge this? By embracing natural aging and allowing women to age on their terms. Doing so collectively would be a radical and defiant act of empowerment. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New research shows that people with eating disorders are more harshly judged than those suffering from depression, making it much harder for them to seek treatment. That's the finding from a new University of South Australia study involving 235 people from the general population comparing attitudes towards binge eating, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and depression. The study, published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, demonstrates the social stigma surrounding eating disorders, particularly binge eating, which was perceived as the most trivial. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups and asked to fill out a questionnaire that measured levels of stigma associated with their allocated psychological condition. Despite the fact that 1 million Australians have experienced an eating disorder, and binge eating accounts for almost half of this number, there is a strong social stigma attached to these conditions, according to lead author Carlye Aird, who was a UniSA Honors student at the time of the study. "Our findings show that people with eating disorders face significant social stigma, which can make it even harder for them to seek help," Carlye says. "Misconceptions that these disorders are self-inflicted or not serious enough to warrant medical attention are incredibly harmful." While all three eating disorders were stigmatized more than depression, binge eating was linked to weight-related stereotypes and more harshly perceived. Eating disorders (ED) are growing at an alarming rate among young Australians especially, as demonstrated by a 62% increase in ED presentations among children and adolescents between 2018 and 2020. Anorexia nervosa (AN) has the highest mortality rate of all psychological disorders, affecting about 30,000 Australians, while approximately 120,000 Australians have bulimia nervosa (BM), according to the National Eating Disorders Collaboration. The researchers argue that increasing public education and awareness is crucial to reducing stigma and ensuring that individuals with eating disorders receive the support they need. "We need to shift the conversation around eating disorders and challenge the myths that they are simply a lifestyle choice or a sign of personal weakness," co-author Dr. Stephanie Webb says. "By reducing the stigma, it will encourage people with eating disorders to seek professional help earlier and improve the outcomes, ultimately saving lives in some cases." More information: Carlye S. Aird et al, Comparing social stigma of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder: A quantitative experimental study, Journal of Eating Disorders (2025). DOI: 10.1186/s40337-025-01198-x This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The rapid digitization of essential services in the U.K. is deepening inequalities for minoritzed ethnic communities, a major three-year research project has found. Without careful design, online services risk excluding those already facing digital exclusion, language barriers and systemic discrimination, according to the Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online (PRIME) study, which has published a series of policy briefs, a Code of Practice and videos in multiple languages alongside a suite of free-to-use technological tools. Led by Professor Gina Netto of Heriot-Watt University, the interdisciplinary research team examined the impact of digitalization on health care, housing, and energy services across the U.K. Conducted in four locationsBradford, Manchester, Glasgow and the London Borough of Tower Hamletsthe study highlights the particular issues that minoritised ethnic communities face when essential services move largely online. Researchers found that poorly designed digital platforms, combined with a lack of support and inadequate regulatory oversight, could further marginalize vulnerable groups. "While digital technology has enormous potential, it can also entrench existing inequalities," said Professor Netto, professor in international migration and racial justice, at Heriot-Watt University's School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society. "For those with limited English proficiency, digital literacy or access to adequate digital devices and internet connectivity, the barriers to navigating online systems can be insurmountable. And in areas like health care, where privacy and human interaction are crucial, over-reliance on digital services can actually create harm." Online harms and regulatory failures The study points to major gaps in how digital services are designed and regulated. In all three sectors investigated, there is little regulatory oversight of how minoritized ethnic households engage with digital services. In health care, for example, multiple regulatory bodies oversee digital systems, yet there is no clear framework to ensure fair access for minority ethnic communities. Many struggle to book appointments or access records online and there is little accountability for how digital inequalities affect health outcomes. Colin Lee, chief executive of the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organizations (CEMVO) Scotland, welcomed the research project's findings. He said, "Digital services can reinforce discrimination through exclusionary design, biased algorithms and lack of sensitivity to the formidable challenges that minoritized ethnic communities face. If we don't address these issues, we risk deepening inequalities and losing out on valuable opportunities to help them benefit from these essential services." Credit: Heriot-Watt University New tools for a fairer digital future In response, the PRIME team has developed a Code of Practice for service designers, urging them to embed racial and linguistic inclusivity into their platforms. It has also published a series of policy briefs directed at the health, housing and energy sectors. New, multi-lingual videosaimed at minoritized ethnic communitieswill help to raise awareness of online harms and the actions that they can take to create safer online spaces. The team has also created a suite of free-to-use technology tools, to counter discriminatory processes in digital services. Professor Lynne Baillie, Professor of Computer Science in Heriot-Watt University's School of Mathematical & Computer Sciences, who led the technological aspect of the project, emphasized the importance of proactive solutions. She said, "We need digital tools that don't just work for the most privileged, but for everyone. Our suite of privacy-enhancing tools provides practical solutions for more equitable digitalization." For example, the PersonaCreator app, created by the research team, uses machine learning techniques on survey data to create personas of people from minority ethnic communities. These personas depict how people from these communities feel or experience various online harms, discrimination and bias while using digital services related to health, energy and social housing. Global application The PRIME team trained their machine learning algorithms on the PRIME survey and a survey from the UK Center on the Dynamics of Ethnicity. Any survey anywhere in the world that collects similar, tabular data regarding ethnicity can potentially be used by researchers and organizations to populate the PersonaCreator app, revealing issues around digital services for minoritized communities in their location. Next steps As the U.K. and devolved governments push forward with digital transformation, researchers and community advocates are calling for urgent policy changes. Without robust regulation and inclusive design, the benefits of digital public services will remain out of reach for many. "The shift online must not leave people behind," Professor Netto said. "We need a fundamental change which puts digital inclusion at the heart of service design and actively uses digital services to address existing inequalities." The full findings and policy recommendations from the PRIME project, together with all the free-to-use technological tools developed by the team are available at https://www.primecommunities.online/ This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain University of Liverpool researchers have worked with global partners to identify and successfully implement an intervention package that has significantly improved the diagnosis and management of brain infections in hospitals across Brazil, India, and Malawi. The study, published in The Lancet, was coordinated by researchers at the University of Liverpool in collaboration with international partners and implemented across 13 hospitals in three low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The intervention included: A clinical algorithm which offered a flowchart of guidance for clinicians on how to manage the first crucial hours and days of suspected brain infections, including which tests (blood tests, lumbar puncture, brain scans) and treatments to administer. A lumbar puncture pack, providing clinicians with sample containers, equipment, and guidance to ensure proper cerebrospinal fluid collection and testing, addressing challenges like knowing how much fluid to take and which tests to request. A panel of laboratory tests to enable correct and timely testing for a wide range of pathogens, addressing gaps in availability and sequencing of tests, with the main goal of identifying the cause of infection. Training for clinicians and lab staff to enhance their knowledge and skills in diagnosing and managing brain infections, including proper use of the new intervention tools. These measures led to significant improvements in diagnosing patients with suspected acute brain infections, such as encephalitis and meningitis. Both conditions cause significant mortality and morbidity, especially in LMICs, where diagnosis and management are hindered by delayed lumbar punctures, limited testing, and resource constraints. Improved diagnosis and optimal management are a focus for the World Health Organization (WHO) in tackling meningitis and reducing the burden of encephalitis. As a result of the intervention package, the proportion of patients receiving a syndromic diagnosis (confirming they had a brain infection) increased from 77% to 86%, while the microbiological diagnosis rate (identifying the exact pathogen) rose from 22% to 30%. In addition to improving diagnosis, the intervention enhanced the performance of lumbar punctures, optimized initial treatment, and improved patients' functional recovery after illness. Lead author Dr. Bhagteshwar Singh, Clinical Research Fellow, Clinical Infection, Microbiology & Immunology said, "Following patients and their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples through the hospital system, we tailored our intervention to address key gaps in care. The results speak for themselves: better diagnosis, better management, and ultimately, better outcomes for patients. Unlike most studies, we embedded improvements into routine care, so the impact continues well beyond the study." Corresponding author Professor Tom Solomon, Chair of Neurological Science at the University of Liverpool and Director of The Pandemic Institute, added, "We increased microbiological diagnoses by one-third across very diverse countries, which has profound implications for treatment and public health globally. As we scale this up in more hospitals and feed it into national and international policy, including WHO's work on defeating meningitis and controlling encephalitis, the potential impact is enormous." The intervention was co-designed by clinicians, lab specialists, hospital administrators, researchers, and policymakers in each country, ensuring it was feasible and sustainable. Professor Priscilla Rupali, lead researcher from Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, also commented, "The co-design process ensured that the intervention would work within local health care settings and could be sustained beyond the study. We are already incorporating the findings into India's national Brain Infection Guidelines, ensuring long-term benefits for patient care." More information: Bhagteshwar Singh et al, A multifaceted intervention to improve diagnosis and early management of hospitalised patients with suspected acute brain infections in Brazil, India, and Malawi: an international multicentre intervention study, The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00263-6 The intervention package is freely available as a toolkit for adaptation in different settings: https://braininfectionsglobal.tghn.org/resources/brain-infections-global-tools/. Journal information: The Lancet This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The technology consists of a sensor placed on the patient's head that registers the nanometric expansions of the skull in each cardiac cycle and generates, in real time, a wave that indicates the variations in volume and intracranial pressure. Credit: brain4care A technology developed by the Brazilian company brain4care has been shown to be able to measure absolute values of intracranial pressure (ICP) more accurately than existing non-invasive methods. This is the result of a study published in the journal npj Digital Medicine by researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, Emory University in the United States, and the company itself. "The study included the largest number of patients and showed that the technology we developed had the lowest error in estimating the value of intracranial pressure among all the non-invasive methods already available in the world," Gustavo Frigieri, scientific director of brain4care and one of the authors of the study, told Agencia FAPESP. The technology developed by the Brazilian company consists of a sensor placed on the patient's head that registers the nanometric expansions of the skull in each cardiac cycle and generates, in real time, a wave that indicates the variations in volume and intracranial pressure. The data obtained are processed by an artificial intelligence platform that generates reports to help doctors make decisions. According to Frigieri, the difference in the solution developed by brain4care is the way it analyzes ICP, which has three basic components: the numerical value, the trend (up or down), and the morphology of the pulse. Instead of focusing on the numerical value, as traditional methods do, it evaluates the morphology of the pulse that is, the way it behaves over time. This approach makes it possible to identify changes before they manifest themselves in the numerical values of the pressure. "This understanding has been consolidated worldwide," says Frigieri. "Invasive ICP is reactive, and brain4care is proactive because it allows us to act in advance. Still, physicians are used to the number, which comes in late, meaning that they only act when there are changes in the patient. Our technology already provides the morphology and trend of the ICP and is moving towards showing the absolute number." In developing the system, the company's researchers also translated the ICP pulse into numbers. "We show the physician the patient's situation so he can decide how to proceed. In the articles we've published, we've shown that the pulse is very important and that it does the same thing as an invasive ICP measurement, but in a non-invasive way. It allows the physician to see if the patient is getting worse or better based on the trend." With the system, doctors can detect neurological changes early and intervene more quickly and accurately, which can mean the difference between life and death in critical cases. "The longer a neurocritical patient goes without proper care, the greater the risk of sequelae," he points out. "I provide the sensor and train the professional to make treatment decisions and achieve the best outcome." Proven effectiveness The effectiveness of the brain4care method has been proven in over one hundred published scientific articles. The new study recruited patients from Brazil, the United States and Europe. "We accelerated the process of collecting this information and today we have a very interesting database of patients with invasive and non-invasive ICP. Using a machine learning model, we were able to estimate the value of ICP in these patients," he explains. "We were able to achieve an error of 3 millimeters of mercury [the means by which ICP is usually measured] in more than a hundred patients. Many researchers are looking for non-invasive ways to measure ICP, but the techniques used have a very large error, which makes the system not ideal for clinical use." Having proven in the laboratory that it is possible to make the estimate, Frigieri continues to work on obtaining robust evidence. "I currently have 168 patients in the database and I've already reduced the error to 2.6 mm of mercury." The goal is to consolidate the model later this year to demonstrate in the field that, in addition to morphology and trend, brain4care can provide the number doctors are looking for. "We've already shown that it's possible to derive ICP from morphology in a completely non-invasive way. The next step is to make this a reality for the market." For Frigieri, any neurosurgery patient at risk of bleeding can benefit from the method. This is because when they are in an intensive care unit (ICU), sedated and ventilated, it is not possible to see their symptoms and the doctor often acts almost blindly: for example, he performs a CT scan after the operation and repeats it after 24 hours. "In these cases, you can use brain4care every two hours and, if things get worse, add a CT scan to see what happened in more detail." This versatility is one of the advantages of the device. It can be used in environments other than the ICU, such as medical clinics, outpatient clinics and emergency departments. This greatly expands access to ICP monitoring. Rapid diagnosis and treatment are critical in cases of head trauma, where every minute counts to preserve brain function. According to him, brain4care is easy to use and doesn't require complex training: "It can be adapted to the scenario. For example, if you just need to check whether the patient has intracranial hypertension, 5 to 10 minutes of use may be enough," explains Frigieri. "A more unstable patient, on the other hand, can wear the device for an hour or two for longer monitoring." Portable equipment According to the researcher, with the invasive method of ICP monitoring, it is necessary to take the patient to the operating room to place the device. Brain4care, on the other hand, can be taken anywhere. "I always say that we're not going to replace invasive ICP, but we will be able to determine who really needs it. We want to make sure that the majority of patients are treated before they become critical, but that those who need this type of intervention can receive it safely. At the same time, this will help to optimize the use of resources." Currently, brain4care is present in more than 85 institutions in Brazil, from top hospitals in Sao Paulo to small charity hospitals in rural areas. This wide distribution demonstrates the system's adaptability to different contexts and needs. At the same time, the company is expanding internationally, with operations in the United States since 2018 and formal marketing since last October. "We've gone the other way: we're exporting medical technology around the world. We have a company in the United States that's a subsidiary and distributor, but all the intelligence and production is Brazilian," Frigieri says. The technology has already been approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), the regulatory body for therapies, medical technologies and drugs in Brazil, and by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), its counterpart in the United States. In addition, it has already allowed 128 scientific studies to be conducted (some completed and others still in progress). Because it is non-invasive, the method allows studies that would not be possible with traditional techniques, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in various fields of medicine. This feature has attracted researchers from different specialties, who use the data obtained by brain4care in other scientific investigations. "Previously, this information was not available for scientific use. The arrival of brain4care has opened up opportunities for the development of knowledge." More information: Gustavo Frigieri et al, Machine learning approach for noninvasive intracranial pressure estimation using pulsatile cranial expansion waveforms, npj Digital Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41746-025-01463-y Journal information: npj Digital Medicine This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new neuroimaging study has revealed that viewing nature can help ease how people experience pain, by reducing the brain activity linked to pain perception. Published in the journal Nature Communications and led by a team from the University of Vienna and University of Exeter, the research offers a promising foundation for new types of non-pharmacological pain treatments. The paper is titled "Nature exposure induces analgesic effects by acting on nociception-related neural processing." Using an fMRI scanner, researchers monitored the brain activity of 49 participants in Austria, as they received pain delivered through a series of small electric shocks. When they were watching videos of a natural scene compared to a city or an indoor office, participants not only reported feeling less pain, but scans showed the specific brain responses associated with processing pain changed too. The study used advanced machine-learning to analyze the brain networks related to pain processing. The team discovered that the raw sensory signals the brain receives when something hurts were reduced when watching a carefully designed, high-quality, virtual nature scene. The study confirmed previous findings that suggest nature can reduce subjective reports of pain, and also marks the first clear demonstration of how natural environments influence the brain, helping to buffer against unpleasant experiences. University of Vienna Ph.D. student Max Steininger, lead author of the study, explained, "Numerous studies have shown that people consistently report feeling less pain when exposed to nature. Yet until now, the underlying reasons for this effect were unclear. "Our study is the first to provide evidence from brain scans that this isn't just a 'placebo' effectdriven by people's beliefs and expectations that nature is good for theminstead, the brain is reacting less to information about where the pain is coming from and how intense it feels. "Our findings suggest that the pain-relieving effect of nature is genuine, although the effect we found was around half that of painkillers. People in pain should certainly continue taking any medication they have been prescribed. But we hope in future alternative ways of relieving pain, such as experiencing nature, may be used to help improve pain management." The paper also helps shed light on a longstanding mystery of the healing potential of natural settings. Over 40 years ago, a seminal study by pioneering American researcher, Roger Ulrich, showed how hospital patients used fewer painkillers and recovered faster when their windows overlooked a green space instead of a brick wall. Yet following decades of research, the mechanisms underlying this effect remained unknown. The new findings provide the first robust explanation of why Ulrich's patients might have experienced less pain, and demonstrate how virtual nature encounters could bring these benefits to anyone, anywhereproviding a non-invasive, accessible pathway to pain management. Dr. Alex Smalley, a co-author from the University of Exeter, concluded, "This study highlights how virtual encounters can bring the healing potential of nature to people when they can't get outside. But we hope our results also serve as renewed evidence for the importance of protecting healthy and functioning natural environments, encouraging people to spend time in nature for the benefit of both the planet and people." "The fact that this pain-relieving effect can be achieved through a virtual nature exposure which is easy to administer has important practical implications for non-drug treatments, and opens new avenues for research to better understand how nature impacts our minds." More information: Nature exposure induces analgesic effects by acting on nociception-related neural processing', Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56870-2 Journal information: Nature Communications This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A brain drain is underway in states that banned or severely restricted abortion after the fall of Roe v Wade, a new study suggests. A significant decline in the number of practicing obstetricians/gynecologists has occurred in the 12 most restrictive states, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine. "Health care providers are like any other groupthey can vote with their feetand the fact that they are leaving the states in which clinical autonomy and decision-making is constrained is very worrisome," lead researcher Dr. Jane Zhu, an associate professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, told the health care news service Healio. "These shifts have enormous ramifications for care access and quality," Zhu added. For the study, researchers used a federal practitioner database to track the number of OB/GYNs operating throughout the United States. They compared the number of those specialists to state-level abortion policy data collected using a legislation tracker maintained by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit sexual and reproductive rights advocacy group. Researchers specifically focused on 12 states that restricted abortion, most following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in 2022Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The percentage of OB/GYNs practicing in those states was compared to those in states with abortion restrictions that did not change following DobbsDelaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Results showed a more than 4% decrease in the percentage of OB/GYNs for every 100,000 women of reproductive age, researchers said. Doctors are likely choosing to work elsewhere, because they don't want to face potential legal ramifications for pregnancy care that might require an abortion to protect women's health or lives, experts said. It's "both unfortunate and predictable that OB/GYNs might choose to practice in states where they are allowed to care for women in the way that makes the most medical sense for the woman's health," Dr. Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California-San Diego, told MedPage Today. "If more OB/GYN providers leave these areas, there will be a direct negative effect on women's health," added Gyamfi-Bannerman, who was not involved in the study. Copyright 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Flash Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi received in Tehran on Wednesday a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump on nuclear negotiations, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. The letter, which reportedly calls for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program, was handed over to Araghchi by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the presence of some other Iranian officials, Fars reported. According to a report by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Araghchi said earlier on Wednesday that Iran had always been ready to hold negotiations over its nuclear issue on equal terms. Iran previously held talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, and is continuing dialogue in that regard, Araghchi said, noting that it is the United States that withdrew from the deal. Iran is holding talks with France, Britain and Germany on a number of issues, including the nuclear one, and a new round of talks will start soon, he said, adding that the country is holding negotiations with other international stakeholders concurrently. Araghchi said that Iran's nuclear program operates within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and that it is completely dynamic and making progress. In an interview with Fox Business Network on Friday, Trump said he wanted to negotiate with Iran on the nuclear issue and had sent a letter to the country's leadership. Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. However, during Trump's first term of office, the United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the nuclear deal have not achieved substantial progress. Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that the country would not negotiate with the United States under pressure and sanctions. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The Environmental Protection Agency regulates the monitor map by pollutant. The colors represent the area covered by each monitor. Credit: University of Utah U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality monitors are disproportionally located in predominately white neighborhoods, according to University of Utah research. The EPA's network consistently failed to capture air quality in communities of color across six major pollutants, particularly lead and sulfur dioxide, followed by ozone and carbon monoxide. EPA regulatory monitors are the key data source driving decisions about pollution reduction, urban planning and public health initiatives. Without equal monitor distribution, the data may misrepresent pollution concentrations, leaving marginalized groups at risk. "It's the question behind the question. Researchers, policymakers, we all use air quality data, but whose air is it measuring?" said Brenna Kelly, doctoral student at the U and lead author of the study. "Even though this data is of really high quality, that doesn't mean that it's high quality for everyone." Research has shown that marginalized communities have the highest rates of exposure to air pollution, but the studies assumed that the data represented all neighborhoods equally. This study is the first to assess disparities in the monitors themselves for all U.S. Census groups, on a neighborhood scale. While disparities existed for all non-white groups, the largest were for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, followed by American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Air quality research and analysis often require artificial intelligence (AI) tools to process the massive volumes of data. While bias in AI algorithms is well-known, the study exemplifies another ethical issue for big-data usersthe chance that the datasets themselves are inherently biased. "If there was a disparity for just one type of monitor, it could conceivably be accidental or just poor design," said co-author Simon Brewer, associate professor of geography and executive committee member of the U's ONE-U Responsible AI Initiative. "The fact that it's a consistent pattern across all pollutants suggests that the decision-making process needs to be looked at carefullythese monitors are not being distributed equitably." The study was published in JAMA Network Open. Air quality is hyperlocal and can change dramatically from street to street. The authors mapped monitor locations and neighborhood demographics to the census-block level, one of the U.S. Census Bureau's smallest units for residential patterns. Using the EPA Air Quality System Regulatory Monitoring Repository, they identified monitors for six major air pollutants dangerous to human healthlead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. They used the 2022 American Community Survey Census to estimate the racial and ethnic composition for every census-block in the country. Adjusting for population size, the researchers found systemic monitoring disparities for each of the criteria pollutant. Relative to the white non-Hispanic population, all groups were associated with fewer lead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter monitors. Kelly got curious about the EPA's air quality monitoring network while pursuing her doctoral research in population health sciences, focusing on the risks of air pollution exposure to pregnant people. Epidemiology research identifies the factors that contribute to diseases within a population. Until now, there's been an underlying assumption that the data represents air quality problems everywhere equally, she explained. "It's not just that we're missing one pollutant type for one group, it's that we understand less about everything for all these groups. That's concerning," Kelly said. "If I want to relate air pollution exposure to a disease, I need to measure it well. If I have a better understanding of air quality for one group of people, that's going to produce biased results." Air quality and population health are just two of many fields grappling with the challenges of using big data and AI responsibly. The One-U Responsible AI Initiative is the U's recent effort to bring together experts to develop best practices. "This study is particularly relevant in an increasingly data-driven society. One of the goals of the Responsible AI Initiative is to study the fair application of artificial intelligence methods," Brewer said. "Our results suggest that biases in the data may be as important to consider as any algorithmic bias." More information: Brenna C. Kelly et al, Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Regulatory Air Quality Monitor Locations in the US, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.49005 Journal information: JAMA Network Open This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Cancer Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.02.018 High-grade glioma, an aggressive form of pediatric and adult brain cancer, is challenging to treat given the tumor location, incidence of recurrence and difficulty for drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier. Researchers from the University of Michigan, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Medical University of Vienna established a collaborative team to uncover a potential new avenue to address this disease. The team's study, published in Cancer Cell, shows that high-grade glioma tumor cells harboring DNA alterations in the gene PDGFRA responded to the drug avapritinib, which is already approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors with a PDGFRA exon 18 mutation as well advanced systemic mastocytosis and indolent systemic mastocytosis. "We were excited to see that avapritinib essentially shut off PDGFRA signaling in mouse brain tumors," said Carl Koschmann, M.D., ChadTough Defeat DIPG Research Professor and clinical scientific director of the Chad Carr Pediatric Brain Tumor Center at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Aside from surgery and radiation, there aren't effective drugs to treat high-grade gliomas, especially upon recurrence. Koschmann and his collaborators targeted PDGFRA, which is one of the most commonly mutated genes, as a potential inroad to discover new drug therapies. "We'd been doing screens with a lot of commercially available drugs that inhibit PDGFRA. We found avapritinib to be the strongest and most focused inhibitor that targets PDGFRA alterations," Koschmann said. Along with colleagues from the labs of Mariella Filbin MD, Ph.D. (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and Johannes Gojo (Medical University of Vienna), who were investigating the effectiveness of PDGFRA inhibitors, Koschmann and his team were excited to see that avapritinib crosses the bloodbrain barrier, a normally high hurdle for drugs. "When we gave mice the drug and showed that it reached the brain, we knew we were onto something," explained Kallen Schwark, a U-M M.D./Ph.D. student and one of the study's lead authors. The team was able to treat some patients with high-grade glioma through an expanded access program established by Blueprint, while a clinical trial was not yet available. "Across multiple international institutions, we treated the first eight patients with high-grade glioma with avapritinib," Koschmann explained. "The patients tolerated the drug well and in three of the eight patients, we were able to see their tumors shrink." This early data and preclinical data helped provide the basis to include pediatric high-grade glioma in a phase I pediatric solid tumor trial, which recently completed accrual, and for which analysis is underway. "We have very few examples of drugs entering brain tumors like this and shutting down key oncogenic pathways. These results support a lot of ongoing efforts to build on the success of avapritinib and other brain-penetrant small molecule inhibitors," Koschmann continued. High-grade gliomas are very aggressive, with a prognosis of less than two years and limited treatment options. Though this work is preliminary, Koschmann is hopeful that avapritinib could be an additional tool to help patients. "We know a single drug is not going to be enough for this disease," he said. "The way to make true progress will be combining many different types of modalities, like combining drugs that are target pathways activated by the first drug. We already have a follow-up story on targeting avapritinib with MAP kinase inhibitors that we are just as excited about." More information: Lisa Mayr et al, Effective targeting of PDGFRA-altered high-grade glioma with avapritinib, Cancer Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.02.018 Journal information: Cancer Cell This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The mental health of trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians is worse than the general population and the gulf is getting wider. Our new study, published recently in BMJ Mental Health, shows the gap has grown considerably since 2010, particularly for young people. This is the first time the mental health of trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians has been tracked over time for so long using data that represents the whole population. Here's why we're so concerned, and what we can do to help alleviate the distress. What we did We sourced information from Australia's longest-running population survey of householdsthe Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. This survey includes questions about mental health, which we tracked from 2001 to 2022. Since 2022, the HILDA survey has included questions on gender identity. This allowed us to identify people who were trans (whose gender identity is not typically associated with their assigned sex at birth), nonbinary (who describe their gender outside of the female/male binary), gender-diverse (whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, including people who don't identify as male or female), or cisgender (whose gender identity and expression matches the biological sex they were assigned at birth). So we were able to compare the mental health of Australians who identified as trans, nonbinary or gender-diverse to that of Australians who identified as cisgender. What we found Across the 22-year period, trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians consistently reported worse mental health than cisgender Australians. Between 2001 and 2010, they scored five to seven points lower on mental health, which is a clinically relevant difference. Between 2011 and 2022, the difference was even greater. Trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians scored eight to 13 points lower than cisgender Australians. We found these increasing disparities over time were even greater for young people (under 30 years old). These trends remained even after controlling for other characteristics such as household income, education level and living in rural areas. What's behind this? Several studies and reports indicate what could be behind these differences in mental health. Trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse populations are more likely to face stigma, discrimination, violence and other human rights challenges, such as refusal of health care, compared with the general population. These experiences have profound and lasting impacts on mental health and health behaviors, such as seeking help for physical and mental health issues. Exposure to anti-trans rhetoric and discrimination against trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians has been increasing in recent years. Trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse populations are more likely to experience gender dysphoriathe psychological distress that can arise when a person's gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. Gender-affirming medical care (for instance, with puberty blockers, hormonal therapy or surgery) can help combat gender dysphoria. However many aspects of this care, particularly surgeries, are not currently funded in the public system in Australia. And not everyone has access to gender-affirming care, including young people who wish to start puberty blockers in Queensland's public health system. What can we do? Improving trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse mental health requires urgent action at multiple levels if we are to avoid the devastating consequences for these Australians and their families. 1. Reduce stigma and discrimination We need to reduce stigma and discrimination against trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians. We know discrimination or stigma directed at an individual (including harassment or abuse) and broader structural discrimination (for instance, through laws and policies or broader community attitudes) impacts the mental health of minority groups. Governments must implement policies that protect against discrimination, including banning harmful conversion practices in all states and territories. These practices, which attempt to change or suppress a person's gender identity, have been shown to cause lasting psychological harm. Trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians also need legal protections in education, employment, and health care to help lessen and prevent the negative mental health impacts of discrimination and social exclusion. 2. Make services inclusive Trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse community-controlled organizations should be adequately funded to provide peer support, mental health services and training for other health workers. Ensuring health-care providers are trained in how to deliver safe and welcoming services for trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse people is essential in addressing health-care barriers and improving health outcomes. 3. More gender-affirming care Expanding access to gender-affirming care is also crucial to improve mental health. This includes reducing psychological distress, self-harm and suicide attempts. There must be a concerted effort to depoliticize this area of health care and acknowledge that gender-affirming care is essential, evidence-based medical treatment. We hope the National Health and Medical Research Council review of clinical guidelines for gender-affirming care in young people will help consolidate the evidence and counter misinformation to ensure that trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians receive the care they need. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain At night, Alex Mercado could feel the walls closing in. The 28-year-old living in Dallas, far from his family in Ciudad Juarez, struggled with insomnia. The move to the big city of Dallas for a better job left him feeling isolated and restless, far away from loved ones. Mercado, like many immigrants, experienced what's known as Ulysses syndrome. "I always wanted this, but maybe it wasn't what I was expecting," Mercado said. "But I was already here, and I had to work hard because I wanted to be with my girlfriend, now my wife. I had to adapt." Ulysses syndrome is a condition marked by chronic stress and anxiety due to the challenges of adapting to a new environment, according to Dr. Joseba Achotegui, from the University of Barcelona, who named and discovered the syndrome. Named after the hero in Homer's "Odyssey," this syndrome highlights the journeys that migrants endure, much like Ulysses' long trip back home after the Trojan War, according to Achotegui. Mercado, a U.S. citizen raised on the El Paso border, moved to North Texas for a better life for himself and his wife. He struggled with the change in culture, weather and food. Daily life Ulysses syndrome is a stress response to the grief and challenges that accompany migration, according to Achotegui. The condition is understudied and often undercounted because it can look like other conditions and typically affects a highly migratory population, Achotegui said. The U.S. receives 2.6 million authorized immigrants each year from various countries, according to the Department of Homeland Security. "It's important to clarify that this is not a disease but rather a natural reaction or adaptation to the profound loneliness many migrants experience," he said. Achotegui explained that while anyone might feel sadness or worry during such transitions, Ulysses syndrome represents a more intense stress picture. Key stressors Achotegui said the stressors that might lead someone to experience the syndrome are loneliness, fear of new people and things, and a loss of attachment, affection and security. Attachment and affection are fundamental human needs for connection, which can affect emotional well-being, Achotegui said. "I was away from my girlfriend, now my wife, my parents, and everything I knew," Mercado said. Achotegui said that being in an unfamiliar environment can increase fears and concerns about personal safety, which can affect mental stability. Mercado said being in El Paso allowed him to visit familiar places in Juarez if he couldn't find something in the U.S. But in Dallas, he had to navigate things on his own. Symptoms confused with depression The symptoms of the syndromesadness, worry or nervousness, irritability, difficulty sleeping and headachescan often be confused with depression, Achotegui said. People end up taking medication they don't need if they are misdiagnosed. "Educating health care professionals about Ulysses syndrome is vital to prevent stigmatization and ensure appropriate support," Achotegui said. "If not, it can be confused with depression, and [medication] will affect the patient instead of helping them." Achotegui said that it's essential to differentiate the symptoms from depression, which involves symptoms like apathy and thoughts of death, as those with Ulysses syndrome are proactive and actively look for opportunities and solutions. Diagnosis and treatment A professional diagnosis is essential to avoid mislabeling these individuals as depressed and unnecessarily medicating them, Achotegui said. Mercado found that attending therapy, focusing on his work, and receiving visits from his family and wife were key to overcoming his struggles. "Migrants are resilient and strong but navigate an odyssey of challenges with unfamiliar health care systems, language and culture," Achotegui said. Individuals without access to a health care professional can be helped and have their symptoms reduced, according to Achotegui. "To reduce the forced isolation, individuals can look for community support in activity groups where they can have more social interaction," he said. "Also, knowing what are the legal and social support systems they have as migrants can help to mitigate the mental stress that is one of the common biggest fears." 2025 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. An arrest warrant has been issued for former Missoula mayoral candidate Jacob Elder after he failed to appear on felony charges that he allegedly harassed local attorneys with a months-long deluge of insulting and profanity-laced emails. In charging documents filed by Deputy Missoula County Attorney Ryan Mickelson last month, Elder was charged with two felony counts of violating privacy in communications, two misdemeanor counts of violating privacy in communications and one misdemeanor count of criminal contempt. He missed his initial court appearance Tuesday, according to Mickelson, prompting Missoula District Judge Tara Elliott to order a $25,000 bench warrant for his arrest. Elder, who has recently challenged rulings stemming from an ongoing custody dispute with the mother of his child, is accused of a campaign of harassment against attorneys at a law firm representing her. A female attorney at the law firm reached out to law enforcement on Nov. 4, 2024, to report that Elder had for months been sending emails containing profane language and direct personal attacks towards the employees at the law firm, according to the charging documents. Despite asking him to stop in August 2024, she said the communications continued, prompting the law firm to file an emergency motion in October to limit his ability to communicate with them. The affidavit includes a selection of derogatory names Elder allegedly used in 14 emails provided to Missoula police from between August and Nov. 3, referring to a pair of female attorneys as pigs, witches, retards, losers, rotten bitches, fat, bullies and bigoted. In those communications he also tells them he wishes the worst for them and their families, tells them they are smelly and gross, notes that he hopes they endure all of their traumas a thousand times, and he tells them to go to hell, the affidavit states. Contacted by the Missoulian for comment Thursday, Elder declined to answer questions related to the allegations in the affidavit. Why dont you ask some smart questions? Elder responded, during a brief phone call. You sound pretty stupid asking those questions. I think youre an idiot. Elder used an expletive before hanging up the phone. The law firm was granted the emergency petition on Nov. 8. It restricts Elder to one written correspondence per 24-hour period, restricts his communication to logistics regarding their parenting plan and prohibits him from insulting the attorneys or referencing their families. Eleven minutes after Elder received the order, the attorneys allegedly received two more emails from him, calling them the scum of the earth and calling one of their witnesses a racist witch. The flow of insults continued unabated, according to the affidavit. A flurry of four emails in a 12-minute span on Nov. 26 allegedly called the attorneys idiots, Satan and two bitches. Over a six-hour period on Dec. 2, Elder allegedly sent 16 emails to the two female employees, containing insults that continued in largely the same vein. Subsequent emails from Elder on Dec. 7 reportedly used profanities in addition to calling the attorneys a bunch of man hating weirdos and comparing them to Hitler. Through the rest of the month and into January, the emails continued, according to the affidavit. On Jan. 18 and 19, 2025, Jacob sent them 30 emails in a 24-hour period, the affidavit states. Those messages contained personal insults toward Erin Doe and Beth Doe, referring to them, among many other things, as 'nasty humans,' 'bigoted,' and 'racist,' and said 'the universe will never let one of them be a mother.' Other words and phrases used included obscenities and weight-related jabs. After receiving multiple reports, a Missoula police officer called Elder on Jan. 19 to request that he stop violating the court order by contacting the victims, the affidavit states. Elder allegedly responded by continuing to insult the victims, telling the officer not to communicate with him and said if the court wanted to issue a warrant it could. In the following week, Elder followed up with more communications that contained personal insults and profanities, according to the affidavit. If found guilty on all charges, Elder could face a maximum 10 years in prison, two years in jail and $22,000 in fines. Elder ran for mayor of Missoula in 2021, ultimately losing to incumbent John Engen. After filing as a Democrat, he switched his affiliation to independent before reportedly working to court Republican voters for the nonpartisan office. But he reportedly yelled at local GOP leaders in at least two incidents that summer, including one that prompted a 911 call. His campaign was also marked by frequently combative interactions on social media. The following year, Elder was issued a civil no-contact order in June 2022, following abuse allegations by a woman he shares a child with. Elder was then selected two months later by the Missoula City Councilor Sandra Vasecka as one of six nominees to replace former Mayor John Engen, who died that summer while in office. Council member Jordan Hess was ultimately selected to serve until the next municipal election. In September 2024, Elder was found by then-District Judge Robert Deschamps to have violated the no-contact order, and the court issued a permanent order of protection for the woman that required that the two communicate through a third party. Among the judges findings were that the woman is in danger of harm by Elder after he assaulted and stalked her. Elder is also prohibited from possessing firearms for the duration of the order of protection, which remains effective under September 2027. In subsequent court filings, Elder has disputed those findings as unfounded and argued that judicial bias, misuse of protective orders, non-adherence to custody statutes, racial bias, inadequate due process and the improper handling of mental health issues have unfairly weighed against him. Last month, the Montana Supreme Court denied Elders petition asking the justices to intervene in the case, finding that he didnt demonstrate alleged mistakes of law made by the district court. Elder, who is representing himself in the parenting plan case, sought last month to appeal the no-contact order and the parenting plan to the states high court. The court has not yet issued a response. The Union ministry of law and justice in February forwarded a summons from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to a sessions court in Ahmedabad for it to be served on industrialist Gautam Adani at his address in the city, the Union government confirmed to The Hindu "Under consideration is a request for service of summons received from the central authority US, under the Hague Convention for Service of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters, 1965," the government said in an internal note provided to the newspaper. The letter to the sessions court is dated 25 February 2025, the report says. The Hague Convention allows signatory countries to directly request an agency in each other's countries for assistance in serving legal papers on their residence for cases filed abroad. As reported by Moneylife, last year in November, the SEC summoned Mr Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, alleging their involvement in a US$265mn (million) bribery scheme. The case accuses the Adani executives of using bribes to secure contracts for the 'manufacturing linked projects,' pivotal to their renewable energy ventures, while misleading investors during a 2021 bond offering. According to the SEC, the executives orchestrated bribes amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars to Indian state government officials. These payments secured power supply agreements (PSAs) under unfavourable terms for the states but guaranteed profits for Adani Green Energy Ltd and Azure Power Global Ltd. Specific claims include a US$200mn bribe to Andhra Pradesh officials, which reportedly facilitated a 7,000MW agreement and a bribe worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in Odisha for a 500MW power purchase agreement. According to the SEC complaint Azure Power, another stakeholder in the projects, is accused of collaborating with Adani Green. The SEC alleges that Azure contributed to the bribes by transferring its rights to lucrative portions of the Andhra Pradesh projects to Adani Green. These transactions, the SEC claims, were structured to obscure the financial exchanges tied to the bribes. Read: Gautam Adani and His Nephew Summoned by US SEC Over $265mn Bribery Allegations) In 2021, Adani Green raised US$750mn through bond offerings, with US$175mn sourced from US investors. The SEC claims that offering materials, signed by Gautam and Sagar Adani, misrepresented the company's compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies. The bond documents highlighted Adani Green's adherence to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) principles and anti-corruption standards, which were instrumental in attracting investments from ESG-focused stakeholders. However, the SEC alleges that during this period, the defendants were actively bribing officials, undermining the ethical narrative presented to investors. ( According to the report from The Hindu, while the lawsuit led to considerable uncertainty for the Adani Group, the company is reportedly acting on hope that the new administration in the US under president Donald Trump which has paused all enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977would lead to less movement in the legal matters against Mr Adani in that country. The Financial Times reported recently that the Adani group has resumed scouting for business opportunities in the US. "It is unclear if the Adani matter was brought up in bilateral discussions between India and the United States. When asked by a reporter during his February trip to Washington if it was, prime minister Narendra Modi responded that such 'personal matters' are not discussed when world leaders meet," the newspaper says. In today's digital age, the convenience of online shopping has revolutionised the way we purchase goods and services. However, this convenience has also opened the door to a surge in fraudulent activities, particularly fake or bogus e-shop scams proliferating on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram (Insta) and chat apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. The consequences of falling victim to these scams can be severe. For instance, a recent report from The Sun highlighted the case of a woman who lost US$400,000 over seven years to a Facebook scam, continuing to send money despite her family's efforts to intervene. Her son took to MarketWatch to ask for advice on how to deal with his mother, who has fallen 'victim' to scammers. His post says, "They came through Facebook and had several different names; they took her for over US$400,000 and, to this day, she is still sending Apple gift cards." Such incidents underscore the devastating financial and emotional toll these scams can have on individuals and their families. The Avast 'Gen Q4/2024 Threat Report' shows that Facebook tops the list for social media scams, making up 56% of all detected threats in social media. YouTube comes in second at 26%, while platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and Instagram also pose risks. While WhatsApp has a more extensive user base, Telegram blocked six times more threats, suggesting that its unique features make it a more attractive target for cybercriminals, the report says. Over the past few years, especially after COVID-19, social media platforms have become fertile ground for scammers due to their vast user base and the ease of creating and promoting content. Fraudsters set up counterfeit online stores, often mimicking legitimate brands or offering enticing deals on popular products. These fake e-shops are promoted through targeted advertisements, sponsored posts, or even hijacked accounts, making them appear credible to unsuspecting users. Moreover, public figures have also been exploited in these scams. Martin Lewis, a British personal finance expert, has condemned the fraudulent use of his and Elon Musk's identities in online crypto scams, which have cost UK victims millions each week, according to a report from the Guardian "I have the dubious honour of being used in more scam ads than anyone else in the UK, even though I never do any advertising. If you add in Elon Musk, between us, we are the huge majority of scam ads," says the MoneySavingExpert.com founder, referring to data compiled by Action Fraud, the UK's centre for collating allegations of cybercrime. These scams often involve fake endorsements to lend credibility to fraudulent schemes, further deceiving unsuspecting consumers. According to the Avast threat report, there has been a significant increase in scams exploiting popular platforms. The report highlights that cybercriminals are leveraging the trust users place in these platforms to disseminate fraudulent schemes, including fake e-shop scams. "On YouTube, malvertising is the biggest threat. Scammers use misleading video ads to distribute malware or redirect users to phishing sites. With more than 2.5bn (billion) users, YouTube provides a massive audience for these fraudulent ads. Since X allows users to buy verification badges, scammers can appear more credible. Fraudsters often hijack trending topics to push fake giveaways, especially during crises or major events." Common Tactics Employed by Scammers Scammers employ a variety of tactics to lure victims into their fraudulent schemes using catchy phrases and attractive photos. According to Avast Threat Report, scammers create fake ads that look real but contain harmful links and clicking on them can lead to malware infections or phishing sites. "Fake online stores on platforms like Facebook and Instagram trick people into buying non-existent or counterfeit products. With online shopping booming, especially during the holiday season, e-shop scams are becoming more prevalent, taking advantage of last-minute buyers looking for great deals." Attractive Deals and Discounts: Fraudsters offer products at prices significantly lower than market value to entice bargain hunters. "Facebook is ground zero for e-shop scams. Fraudsters create fake businesses or listings on Facebook Marketplace, tricking buyers into sending payments for products that never arrive. Many victims assume Facebook verifies these sellers, but that is not the case," Avast says. Fraudsters offer products at prices significantly lower than market value to entice bargain hunters. "Facebook is ground zero for e-shop scams. Fraudsters create fake businesses or listings on Facebook Marketplace, tricking buyers into sending payments for products that never arrive. Many victims assume Facebook verifies these sellers, but that is not the case," Avast says. Limited-time Offers: Fraudsters also create a sense of urgency with countdown timers or claims of limited stock to pressure quick decisions. Professional-looking Websites: Fraudsters, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, are designing websites that closely resemble legitimate e-commerce sites, complete with high-quality images and detailed product descriptions. Fake Reviews and Testimonials: Fraudsters also post fabricated customer reviews (read: positive) and higher ratings to build trust and credibility. Social Media Advertisements: These criminals also utilise targeted (paid) ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach a broad audience. How To Protect Yourself from Fake E-shop Scams To safeguard against falling prey to these fraudulent schemes, consider the following measures: Verify the Legitimacy of Online Stores Ensure the website address matches the official domain of the retailer and begins with 'https', indicating a secure connection. Legitimate businesses provide precise contact details, including physical addresses and customer service numbers. Conduct online searches for reviews or reports about the seller, e-shop, or store. A lack of detailed information or negative feedback and reviews can be red flags. However, remember several online sellers offer some money to obtain positive reviews and five-star ratings for their products. So be cautious of similarly worded or 'high praise' reviews. Check reviews, look for real customer feedback and be wary of stores that only accept cryptocurrency or peer-to-peer payment apps like Zelle or Cash App. Be Cautious of Unsolicited Offers Refrain from clicking on links in unsolicited messages or ads offering deals that seem too good to be true. Malicious ads can appear on any platform, including YouTube and Reddit. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Extremely low prices on high-demand products are often indicative of scams, and you need to raise questions about them either with the seller or on the platform (comments). Use Secure Payment Methods Opt for credit cards or reputable payment services that often offer fraud protection and the ability to dispute charges. Be careful when paying through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). Scammers often prefer these as these transactions are more challenging to trace and recover. By the time the UPI operator or the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) trace the money transfer, fraudsters may move the proceeds to several other mule accounts and also withdraw the amount. Maintain Updated Security Software Install a good quality and reputable antivirus. It can detect and block malicious websites or phishing attempts. Also, enable security features in your browser. Features like pop-up blockers and warning alerts for deceptive sites can provide additional protection. Educate Yourself and Stay Informed Stay updated on the latest scam tactics and alerts issued by reliable and trusted media outlets. Report Suspicious Activities You can report fake ads or profiles so that the platforms can take down fraudulent content. Informing authorities like the national cybercrime reporting on its portal http://cybercrime.gov.in or calling 1930, the toll-free national helpline number, can lead to investigations and prevent others from being scammed. Do remember, however, that all social media platforms also have a responsibility to curb and remove fraudulent content from their platforms. These platforms must ensure that advertisers are legitimate businesses, which automatically can reduce the prevalence of scam ads. Further, social media platforms should have a simplified process for users to report suspicious content that ultimately results in quickly removing fraudulent posts. As Avast says, cybercriminals constantly adapt and find new ways to exploit social media platforms and users. "As digital crime continues to evolve, collaboration between users, tech companies, and cybersecurity experts will be crucial in making these platforms safer." Stay Alert, Stay Safe! You are here: World Flash A plane carrying former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrives at Rotterdam The Hague Airport in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on March 12, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] A plane carrying former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived on Wednesday afternoon at Rotterdam The Hague Airport in the Netherlands. Duterte, 79, was detained on Tuesday morning upon his return to Manila from abroad, following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his "war on drugs" campaign, a move he has questioned. He left Manila for The Hague, home to the ICC, on Tuesday night. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the ICC said that Duterte has been surrendered to its custody. Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte departed for the Netherlands on Wednesday morning. She had previously stated that she would accompany her father to The Hague for the ICC proceedings. Rotterdam The Hague Airport, located northwest of Rotterdam, is about 20 km from The Hague. The Kochi office of the directorate of enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs16.52 crore belonging to the directors of Surabhi Steels Pvt Ltd and its group companies. The attached assets, comprising 17 immovable properties, including land and buildings located at prime locations in Kerala, were seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. ED's action is part of an ongoing investigation into a fraud case involving the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)s Coimbatore branch. The ED initiated the probe following a first information report (FIR) filed by the central bureau of investigation (CBI)'s anti-corruption branch (ACB) in Chennai, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The FIR was registered against Surabhi Steels and its group companies, along with the company director KS Kader Pillai and his family members. According to the ED, the investigation revealed that the accounts of three Surabhi group companies were not serviced with payments of principal and interest, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs37.74 crore to IOB. The ED also found that the group had manipulated financial statements to deceive financial creditors, and funds acquired through working capital loans were diverted to other group companies. Additionally, the directors, including Mr Kader Pillai, reportedly withdrew substantial amounts from the company without settling dues to financial creditors, thereby misappropriating bank loans, the agency says. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has widened its investigation into derivative exposures of multiple private and state-run banks following significant accounting discrepancies revealed by IndusInd Bank. This expanded probe comes after IndusInd Bank disclosed lapses in its derivatives accounting that could potentially impact its net worth by about Rs1,530 crore. According to a report from Reuters , the central Bank has requested detailed information from various lenders regarding their overseas borrowings, deposits, and foreign exchange hedge positions. This sector-wide assessment appears to be a direct response to the issues identified at IndusInd Bank, which is India's fifth-largest Bank. The accounting discrepancies at IndusInd Bank were initially detected around September-October 2023 during an internal review of processes related to parts of its derivative portfolio. The Bank has estimated an adverse impact of 2.35% on its net worth. This review was conducted following the RBI's directions on the investment portfolio of lenders, issued in September 2023, specifically relating to 'other asset and other liability' accounts of the portfolio. IndusInd Banks managing director and chief executive officer (MD&CEO) Sumant Kathpalia addressed the situation, stating that the Bank had provided a preliminary update to the RBI last week. He assured stakeholders that the Bank has sufficient reserves and capital to cover the discrepancy. The final assessment is expected by early April when an external agency appointed by the Bank completes its report. This directive came shortly after the RBI granted a one-year extension to Mr Kathpalia's reappointment as CEO. His term, initially set to end on 24 March 2025, has been extended until March 2026. During an analyst call, Mr Kathpalia had acknowledged that the RBI might have concerns regarding his leadership style, noting that the central Bank was "uncomfortable" with his approach. In a related development, the RBI has instructed the board of IndusInd Bank to search for external candidates for both the chief operating officer (COO) and CEO positions. The central bank has reportedly asked the IndusInd Bank board to nominate two candidates who are not currently part of the financial institution. The revelation of accounting discrepancies triggered a significant market reaction, with IndusInd Bank's stock plummeting 27% on 11 March 2025. However, the stock rebounded the following day, settling 4% higher and leading the Nifty 50 gainers. The expanded RBI investigation signals increased regulatory scrutiny of banking practices, particularly in derivatives accounting, and may lead to broader reforms in the sector's risk management and accounting procedures. You may also want to read The Montana Department of Corrections is considering Butte-Silver Bow and three other locations as possible sites for a new womens prison if the Legislature appropriates $220 million for one this session. Brian Gootkin, director of the Montana DOC, told Butte-Silver Bow commissioners Wednesday night that Butte, Yellowstone County, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County and Jefferson County are the four locations being considered. He and another DOC official did not specifically say whether a new facility would replace the current Womens Prison in Billings or be in addition to it, and the agency did not clarify that Thursday when The Montana Standard asked which scenario it was. We are in the preliminary stages of this process so we cant be that specific, the DOC said in a statement. The department constantly evaluates our facilities to ensure their best use to manage our evolving population. Gootkin said Wednesday night there are some advantages to Butte, including 25 acres the DOC already has purchased in south Butte. That land includes the former Acadia building, where Buttes prerelease center Uptown will be moved to this summer. Gootkin said the DOC has also opened discussions about acquiring 23 acres nearby where Highlands College is located if it moves to the Montana Tech campus. That move has been talked about for years but hasnt happened. The Montana Womens Prison is in Yellowstone County and Gootkin said the DOC recently visited with officials in Billings about the possibility of a new facility there. Yellowstone County is challenging, he said, because there are serious crime and jail overcrowding issues and local officials already are seeking public approval for a jail expansion. The DOC also doesnt own any additional land there, he said. He did not discuss any details about locations in Anaconda-Deer Lodge or Jefferson counties but they were listed on a slide as the other two possibilities. Bill Everett, chief executive in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, said Thursday he was aware his county was in the general discussion mix but he didnt have specifics and it was too early to comment. Cory Kirsh, chairman of Jefferson County commissioners, told the Standard he had heard nothing about a possibility there but would share any details he receives. Gootkin and DOC Deputy Director Eric Strauss gave a presentation Wednesday night about the possibilities for Butte but said the DOC just wants to start a conversation. I think the first step is what we are doing tonight and thats just visiting with you, being open and telling you that were interested, Gootkin said. This isnt big brother in the state coming down and saying we are going to do this. This is us trying to work with you. A new womens prison would create about 100 full-time jobs, he said, including nursing and maintenance positions. J.P. Gallagher, Butte-Silver Bows chief executive, said he had spoken with DOC officials before their public presentation. A new prison would create jobs and provide construction work here, he said, but he has concerns. There are negative perceptions about prisons, he said, and a new state facility of any kind doesnt pay local property taxes fund police, fire protection and other services everyone relies on. There are challenges to moving Highlands College to the Tech campus Uptown, too, he said, including past mine pollution. So there are a lot of things I think the community should look at and thats why I asked the director to come and present to you Gallagher said. Im not taking a position one way or the other on this. I think this needs to be brought to the council and the public needs to be made aware of what the possible impacts are, so thats been the conversation, he said. There are several state prison facilities for men, including the Montana State Prison, and the DOC has transferred 600 male inmates to prisons in Arizona and Mississippi, Gootkin said. The 2023 Legislature appropriated $150 million to expand and renovate the mens prison in Deer Lodge, DOC officials said, and lawmakers might steer more money to that project this session. That could create some additional beds for men. But the female inmate population is growing faster now and the only solution identified so far is to build a new prison for them, officials said. Legislation to spend $220 million to $250 million toward a new womens facility has not technically been introduced yet, Gootkin said, but he expects that to happen soon. The Standard asked the DOC on Thursday to provide more details about Anaconda-Deer Lodge and Jefferson counties as possible locations, but it only provided a few vague statements from Gootkin. He said an interim legislative committee had directed the DOC to explore opportunities to work with interested parties to develop a proposal for construction of a new, secure correctional and rehabilitation campus for women. So far, these conversations, which have taken place with Yellowstone and Butte-Silver Bow counties, have been informal and focused on fact finding and taking a temperature for interest in further engagement, he said in the statement to The Standard. We anticipate having similar conversations with other local governments as opportunities arise. Butte-Silver Bow Commissioner John Morgan asked Gootkin about the other locations and how the DOC will rank them. How do we make sure that each community is getting a fair shake in making sure that its the right fit for that community? Morgan asked. Gootkin only mentioned Yellowstone County in his answer. He said the DOC had met with local officials there and he briefly discussed challenges to that location, mentioned previousl. In response to another question, Gootkin acknowledged that prisons carry negative perceptions and evoke not in my neighborhood sentiments among some citizens. He said when he was sheriff in Gallatin County, he expressed not in my backyard opposition to a proposed pre-release center there. But he said a new womens prison would be safe and operated professionally. Clinical officers have officially called off their strike after reaching a return-to-work agreement with the national government. Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa confirmed the resolution on Wednesday, highlighting the extensive discussions that took place in recent weeks between the Ministry of Health, clinical officers, and key stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the dispute. Dr. Barasa acknowledged the vital role clinical officers play in Kenyas healthcare system and reassured them that their grievances had been taken seriously. She announced that the Ministry of Health had agreed to have the Social Health Authority (SHA) empanel clinical officers and fast-track the implementation of their long-awaited Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Today, I am pleased to announce that following productive discussions, the clinical officers strike has been called off after successful negotiations between the Ministry of Health and the leadership of our clinical workers caucus. This marks a significant step in strengthening our healthcare system through dialogue and mutual understanding, Dr. Barasa stated. The CS reaffirmed the governments commitment to addressing the concerns raised by clinical officers while ensuring uninterrupted healthcare services for all Kenyans. Our clinical officers form a crucial part of the healthcare workforce and play a vital role in delivering essential medical services to our citizens, she added. Dr. Barasa said that collaboration is key as Kenya moves toward the full implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) under Taifa Care. She highlighted the importance of involving healthcare workers, including clinical officers, in shaping policies that improve working conditions, enhance service delivery, and strengthen the countrys healthcare infrastructure. Constructive engagement and collaboration are the most effective ways to address the challenges we currently face and achieve sustainable solutions in the health sector. I, therefore, thank all clinical officers who have willingly resolved to resume duty immediately and urge them to continue working towards building a resilient, patient-centered healthcare system that guarantees quality and affordable care for all Kenyans, she stated. On his part, Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) Chairperson Peterson Wachira admitted that the 23-day strike could have been avoided and assured Kenyans that clinicians would return to work without delay. We agree that this strike was unnecessary. Once effected, the procedures that we usually render will be back. We will serve all Kenyans. MOH has agreed to empanel our facilities immediately. Government has committed to fast-track CBA. Internships must be streamlined. There should be a seamless posting of interns Now that we have signed an agreement, we hope to not come back here, Wachira declared. KUCO Secretary-General George Gibore expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Health for its willingness to engage in discussions and work towards comprehensive healthcare reforms under Taifa Care. We appreciate the Govt for establishing several laws under SHA If these laws are implemented, we should never go on strike. We dont celebrate when we obliterate laws or change direction in terms of what we desire. It has taken us six months to be here but we know it is Kenyans who are suffering whenever we are not functioning properly, Gibore noted. Despite President William Rutos assurances, the government has yet to secure the release of five chiefs who were abducted by suspected terrorists in Elwak, Mandera County in February. Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo provided an update on the situation on Wednesday, assuring that significant efforts are underway behind the scenes to bring the chiefs home. However, he declined to disclose specific details about the rescue mission. Omollo observed that the abduction serves as a stark reminder that security is a shared responsibility. He noted that even government administrators are vulnerable to such threats, underscoring the need for collective vigilance. There is a lot of work going on, some of which we may not discuss on air but maybe to understand how security then become everybodys concern. These are chiefs who work for the government and the ministry responsible for securing the country and they have been taken by terrorists, or what we call Al-Shabaab, and this demonstrates that none of us is immune to some of these insecurity incidents, the PS said. Reaffirming President William Rutos commitment, Omollo stated that Kenya is actively engaging officials from the neighboring country where the abducted chiefs were taken. The President made it clear that he will take all necessary steps to bring back the five chiefs. We are in constant discussions, as they were taken across the border. Unfortunately, borders are just temporary distinctions between countries, and the communities remain the same. Ongoing engagements are in place to ensure their safe return so they can continue serving, he said. The abducted chiefs have been identified as Mohammed Adawa, Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Noor, Assistant Chief Ibrahim Gabow, and Senior Chief Abdi Suraw. During his visit to Mandera last month, President Ruto strongly condemned the abduction, calling it an attempt to intimidate him and prevent his tour of the region. However, he dismissed the threat, vowing to take decisive action against those responsible. These fools thought that by doing this, I wouldnt come here. They are very foolish and mad We will go after them, we will deal with them, and we will eliminate them, he declared. Days later, reports emerged that the al-Shabaab militants responsible for the kidnapping had demanded a ransom of Ksh7 million. The government, however, has not publicly responded to the demand, maintaining its focus on securing the chiefs safe return. The Democratic Party of Kenya (DPK), led by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi, has announced its decision to exit the Kenya Kwanza alliance. In a letter dated March 7, 2025, and addressed to the Kenya Kwanza Coalition Secretariat, DPK Chairman Esau Kioni and Secretary General Jacob Haji formally communicated the partys intention to leave. He cited shifting political dynamics that have rendered its continued membership untenable. Kindly take notice that our stay in Kenya Kwanza Coalition is no longer tenable due to the prevailing political developments, the letter read in part. The party invoked the Termination Clause (8) of the coalition agreement, setting its exit in motion within 30 days of issuing the notice. Democratic Party of Kenya, vide this letter, hereby gives a thirty (30) day notice to exit the Coalition as stipulated in the Termination Clause (8) in the Coalition Agreement, the statement added. The letter was also copied to the Registrar of Political Parties and the Secretary Generals of Ford Kenya, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), and Maendeleo Chap Chap Party. Muturis decision to cut ties with Kenya Kwanza comes amid his increasing criticism of the government, particularly after his sons abduction in June 2024. Flash As the return of Afghan refugees continues from Pakistan and Iran, a total of 118 families returned to their homeland Afghanistan from the neighboring countries in a single day on Wednesday, reported the state-run Bakhtar news agency on Thursday. Without hinting at the total number of returnees, the state-owned media outlet added that all the returnees had received necessary assistance at the border crossing points before leaving for their provinces. Since the decision of Pakistan and Iran to deport foreign nationals living illegally on their soil, hundreds of Afghans return to their homeland every day. More than 1.2 million Afghan refugees have reportedly returned to their homeland from Pakistan and Iran over the past year, while some 6 million Afghan refugees with the majority of them living in the neighboring countries are yet to return. Days after authorities uncovered an illegal police patrol base in Uasin Gishu, law enforcement has arrested six people for running a makeshift police cell in Kakamega town, where they unlawfully detained and extorted unsuspecting victims. The gang, which included a woman, had been impersonating police officers, terrorizing residents, and demanding bribes for fake offenses. Authorities revealed that the group carried out false arrests, demanding Ksh300 for a victims release. Those unable to pay were locked in a crude detention facility and subjected to physical abuse. Victims Rescued Assistant Chief Isaac Ayumba, who reported the incident, revealed that many locals had already fallen prey to the gangs ruthless tactics. The administrator was first tipped off about the illegal operation on the morning of Tuesday, March 11, by an elder from a neighboring sub-location. His swift intervention led to an investigation that exposed the shocking scheme. During the police operation, officers rescued nine people who had been locked in the cell, many of them suffering serious injuries. Victims described horrifying conditions inside the makeshift cella cramped, filthy room where men and women were detained together. With no sanitation facilities, they were forced to use buckets as toilets. Despite the inhumane conditions, the gang provided food to those held captive, mimicking the operations of a real police station. Authorities also recovered an assortment of weapons, including clubs, whips, and ropes, which the gang allegedly used to intimidate and assault victims. Gang Exploited Crime-Ridden Area Reports indicate that the gang had been running the illegal detention center for over a week, preying on residents while extorting money through intimidation and violence. Locals believe the criminals took advantage of the high crime rates in the areamarked by drug trafficking, substance abuse, illicit alcohol trade, and child exploitationto operate their extortion racket without raising suspicion. Victims Speak Out Lilian Chemayo, one of the victims, recounted her terrifying experience to Nation, explaining how she was ambushed at her home in the Alkarim Makaburini slums on March 5. As she went about her daily chores, a group of men and women arrived unannounced, demanding to know why her daughter was not in school. Before she could respond, one of the men suddenly attacked her from behind, forcing her to the ground. The gang then dragged her to their makeshift cell within the neighborhood, where they continued to beat her before locking her up. She remained in captivity until the following day when she was finally released after paying Ksh300. Another victim, Mildred Ayuma, recalled how she was abducted from her doorstep on the evening of March 6 and taken to the illegal cell without any explanation. Upon arrival, she witnessed a disturbing sceneother detainees being brutally caned as part of the gangs extortion tactics. Police Chief Issues Warning Following the arrests, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja cautioned the public against setting up unauthorized police stations, stressing that all security operations must follow the proper legal framework. Speaking in Mvita, Mombasa County, during the official commissioning of the Mbaraki Police Station on Wednesday, Kanja reaffirmed the National Police Services commitment to maintaining structured and lawful law enforcement. It is wrong to open a police station without following due process. Residents can engage in public participation through their leadership, after which the matter is forwarded to sub-county police heads before reaching my office. This is the proper procedure, he stated. Authorities have launched further investigations to determine whether more suspects are involved in the criminal network. Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has taken a swipe at Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja over his recent request to President William Ruto for a chapati-making machine capable of producing 1 million chapatis daily. In a statement on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Babu Owino questioned Sakajas priorities, arguing that Nairobians are grappling with far more pressing issues that demand urgent intervention. He accused the governor of overlooking the citys real struggles while focusing on non-essential projects. Of all the things that are disturbing Nairobians, Sakaja asked for a chapati printing machine from the President to print 1 million chapos in a day. He couldnt see that there is no proper drainage and there are poor roads, Babu Owino stated. The outspoken legislator also pointed out Nairobis deep-rooted problems, including a struggling healthcare system, water shortages, and unemployment. Also Read Babu Owino Criticizes Sakaja, Calls Him an Embarrassment to Young People He couldnt see that the Health sector in Nairobi is unhealthy, he couldnt see that theres no sufficient supply of water, he couldnt see that there are no jobs for the youth, men and women in Nairobi. Maajabu ya musa, he added. Babu Owino further warned that mass-producing chapatis through automation could hurt small businesses, particularly women who rely on selling chapatis to earn a living. How will Mama Chapati survive if her job is given to a machine? he questioned. Saboti Constituency Member of Parliament Caleb Amisi also piled on the Sakaja criticism, mocking his Chapati request as a revolutionary idea. A governor of the biggest regional capital city, whose GDP is more or equal to about 15 African countries, boasts of chapatis as his main economic activity and legacy project. He even requests the head of state to forget underground speed train system,over pass roads around the city,water points across residences, but instead to buy him a brand new monstrous gigantic chapati making machine to help him make 1,000,000 chapatis per minute;and the voters and citizens still line up the streets to cheer him for such a revolutionary idea since Vasco da Gama traversed the cape of Good hope . Tell me if these are not signs of the end of time, Amisi wrote on X (formerly Twitter). The National Assembly has dismissed reports claiming that key political figures, particularly from the opposition, have been nominated for cabinet positions in President William Rutos Kenya Kwanza administration. In a statement issued on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge labeled the reports as fake news, warning the public against falling for misinformation. A viral letter suggested that several high-profile individualsincluding Makau Mutua, Mukhisa Kituyi, Ambassador Koki Muli, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi, Muhoho Kenyatta, and former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munyahad been selected for various cabinet positions. However, Njoroge made it clear that the letter did not originate from Parliament. We wish to categorically state that the said letter is fraudulent, misleading, and does not originate from the National Assembly or any of its authorized offices. No such nominations have been made, and the document should be treated with the contempt it deserves, the statement read. The false reports gained traction on social media shortly after President Rutos United Democratic Alliance (UDA) signed a working framework with Raila Odingas Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The agreement sparked speculation that some of Railas close allies might be appointed to key government positions as part of the deal. As the political discussions continue to generate mixed reactions, Parliament has urged Kenyans to verify information about government appointments through official communication channels. The Clerks Office also warned against spreading misleading content that could create unnecessary confusion. The public is advised to rely only on official communication from the National Assembly, which is disseminated through its official channels, including its website and verified social media pages, the statement read. Reaffirming its commitment to transparency, the Clerks Office assured citizens that parliamentary processes remain open and accountable. We further urge citizens to be vigilant and refrain from spreading unverified information that may cause unnecessary confusion. The Office of the Clerk remains committed to transparency and upholding the integrity of parliamentary processes. Any inquiries regarding official parliamentary matters should be directed to the Clerks Office through the official communication channels, the statement added. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has issued a stern warning to drug manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and healthcare facilities to store medications under proper conditions. This follows a surge in public complaints about health risks linked to substandard products. PPB Chief Executive Officer Dr. Fred Siyoi emphasized that poor storage and handling compromise drug quality, potentially endangering patients. He urged healthcare facilities to follow Good Distribution Practices (GDP) to maintain product integrity throughout the supply chain. Manufacturers must design, develop, and test all health products intended for Kenyas market to withstand high temperatures and humidity, the statement read. Dr. Siyoi also stressed the need for stability studies in line with ICH Zone IVb climatic conditions to ensure drugs remain effective throughout their shelf life. To further safeguard product quality, facilities must assess their packaging to protect drugs from moisture, heat, and environmental factors. Proper training for all supply chain stakeholders is also essential for handling temperature-sensitive medications. PPB has announced plans to conduct inspections and compliance audits to enforce these regulations. Facilities that fail to meet the standards risk severe penalties, including license revocation, product recalls, or other legal actions. Senators have called out National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi for skipping a crucial Senate meeting, warning him against treating the House with disregard. Their frustration stems from Mbadis failure to honor an invitation from the Senate Finance and Budget Committee to discuss the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and the governments medium-term debt management strategies. Lawmakers were left waiting on Tuesday, only for the CS to send his responses later instead of appearing in person. The move sparked outrage, with senators accusing him of undermining parliamentary oversight. In a unanimous decision, the committee rejected Mbadis submissions and insisted that he must appear before them. Committee chairperson and Mandera Senator Ali Roba issued a stern warning, stating that the Senate would not tolerate defiant cabinet secretaries who snub critical government proceedings. He pointed out that Mbadis predecessor, Professor Njuguna Ndungu, had built a strong working relationship with the Senate by consistently attending meetings. We enjoyed a cordial working relationship with Prof. Ndungu, who never failed to appear before us. We hope CS Mbadi has not carried the mentality of the National Assembly into his role as a cabinet secretary, Roba stated. We are not a baraza where he just opts not to appear but sends responses, he added. Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale echoed the sentiments, stressing that the committee would not tolerate rogue ministers, regardless of their ties to the broad-based government. I hope Mbadi is not having what Americans call the feel-good effect. We will help you remember that while discharging our mandate, we are blind to broad-based government intrigues, said the Senate Majority Whip. However, when reached for comment, CS Mbadi defended his decision, arguing that his absence would not impact the committees report. I dont think failure to appear before the committee will have any effect on their report. I shared my presentations, which can enrich their final report, he stated. Mbadi also pointed out that he had already presented the same BPS discussions before the National Assembly, suggesting that both houses should collaborate to avoid redundancy. I think the two houses should share the information to save Cabinet Secretaries from appearing in both houses to share the same information, he added. My teen years: The transputer operating system In my previous article I talked about how I managed to create a self-contained operating system for transputer. This included the basic operating system, a text editor, a Small-C compiler, and an assembler. The year was 1995, I was age 16, Lemon Tree and Zombie were being played in the radio, ARPANET closed around 1990, and it started to be known as Internet, and in Mexico only a handful of people used it through Compuserve Mexico. I wasn't so lucky to have this service. I was evolving my operating system, modifying it and improving it, recompiling and rebooting. I was pretty interested in compiling any C language source code I could get my hands on, and I got hold of several CD-ROM discs, but I couldn't compile most things because I had a Small-C compiler, not a full C compiler. This prompted me to extend my C language compiler to support more C features. Because youth is bold, I kept doing comparisons with text pieces from the input just like Small C did. I was working in a platform with only 128 KB. of RAM, and I could manage that feat because the transputer instruction set generated very small executables. But of course, a proper lexer would have made faster compilations. As I progressed in my implementation of the C language features, following the K&R book's appendix A, I discovered that developing most of these was pretty direct, like struct, and union. Typedef was the most complicated to understand. The pointer arithmetic syntax precedence was very difficult, in particular for getting an array of function pointers. I'm still proud of how I made byte-code descriptions of C types, the only difficult thing was getting right the recursive calls to handle precedence. Also getting initializers to work was hard to do as these had very loose syntax in real compilers. The C compiler took me a lot more time than the Pascal compiler, and from my revision notes I used almost a full year to get an almost full K&R C compiler (K&R means Kernighan & Ritchie, or a compiler as described in their original book). My information was outdated, because I had the 1978 book, but the book was updated in 1988, and the ANSI C standard was approved in 1989. Expert C Programming by Peter Van Der Linden (1994). I tuned the preprocessor with each new source code I found for testing. I was amazingly happy when my compiler finally managed to run a chess program by Vern Paxson from an obscure contest ran in USENET, the IOCCC (International Obfuscated C Code Contest). I found this program in the bookby Peter Van Der Linden (1994). 3D Computer Graphics by Alan Watt (1993). Once the C compiler was supporting floating point, I was able to port back the Ray Tracer I made in Pascal , and I developed a 3D poligonal model program following the course and exercises in the bookby Alan Watt (1993). The last additions to the host Z280 computer were a SCSI card, and all the peripherals were basically recycled from tech trash, for example, a SCSI hard disk drive (powerful 40 MB when the common ones were 500 MB), a SCSI DAT tape drive, and a SCSI CD-ROM drive Toshiba XM-4101B (at least this was new!). I added to my transputer operating system a way to read High-Sierra and ISO-9660 format structures to access CD-ROM data, and a program to unzip files from these discs. I was pretty proud of how I managed to compile the source code of a public domain version of Inflate for ZIP files. Another thing is that these CD-ROM drives could play audio CD automatically, you just put a CD (mine was Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?) and hear music while working. The tape drive was DAT format, and I made some backups using my TAR program. I have forgotten completely where are these tape stored, now that's the most secure backup storage! The one no one can find. I reached the high-point of my development for transputer around the summer of 1996, but the processor started to show its age. 128K RAM of memory was barely enough for working. As I bloated my programs with more features, the transputer started to look more and more slow. And unfortunately, another board was never made. I would have been very interested in handling multiprocessing. Restoring the operating system The work for restoring my operating system wasn't so easy as I thought. I had to expand the buildboot.c program to create floppy disk images in the latest file system format, and also hard disk images. Later as I put together the image file, I needed support for growing disk directories. The main difference is the expansion of directory entries to 64 bytes. This was a by-product of discovering that I was free to specify my operating system as I liked, so the first thing for me was "the great escape" from the 8.3 filename format common in MS-DOS at the time (Windows 95 was barely released a few months ago). It wasn't done in a single step, my first expansion of the file system was fifteen letter names using the 32 bytes directory entries (Jan/01/1996), and the next expansion was thirty-one letter names using 64 byte entries (Feb/06/1996). The 64-byte entries of my file system. Notice flags for the C subdirectory. The 64-byte entries of my file system. Notice flags for the C subdirectory. Once the disk image builder was ready, I put the SOM.32.bin file along Interfaz.p inside the floppy image, and tried to boot it up after adding the required services in the transputer emulator (including three drive units: floppy disk, RAM disk, and hard drive). It got stuck after reading the boot sector, and the cause was the byte order for the sector number was big-endian. After doing the change in the emulator, it was able to read the whole file inside the memory and it got stuck. Apparently the timers didn't work as the screen wasn't updated, so I added timer handling for low-priority threads, and the screen become visible. Still, it got stuck. I made a brief modification to the interface code with the host (a semaphor), but it still didn't operate. The only reason for this is that the MAESTRO.CMG file used a different protocol to interface with the operating system. I searched in my files until I found the correct file and source code, I used this file to boot up the operating system and it worked on the first try, and it advanced enough to complain of a missing C:/Interfaz.p I had forgotten how my operating system booted up! Very worn 3.5" floppy disk from 1993 with MAESTRO assembler code for transputer. Notice it is double density (720 kb). Very worn 3.5" floppy disk from 1993 with MAESTRO assembler code for transputer.Notice it is double density (720 kb). The minimum required files It turns out that the floppy disk was used to boot the operating system (the file SOM.32.bin), and in turn it would access a hard disk through drive C: to load the command-line processor. Once this file was loaded, I needed a few more files to be able to compile programs inside the operating system: editor.p, cc.p, ens.p, and ejecutable.p. I started by testing my text editor, and it was pretty pleased watching how it colorized the preprocessor directives and the C language elements. All the source code is written with Spanish comments, and it is just too much code to translate it to English. The visual text editor displaying C source code with syntax coloring. The visual text editor displaying C source code with syntax coloring. I never implemented a current directory feature, so you need to type the full path for each file. A feature of my operating system is that the A: drive is assumed, so you need to write c:cc to execute the C compiler from the hard disk drive. Also this is why all the paths have short names like C (for my source code) and lib (for the libraries). And of course, you need to type the path for each DIR command. However, I was mystified when I tried to run the C compiler. After typing cc, nothing appeared, it kept saying "Archivo inexistente" (file doesn't exist) I was pretty sure it worked the last time. Well, almost 30 years ago. I tried the MEM command, and it said 99240 bytes free. And running the Info.p utility with the C compiler executable gave me the answer: program size = 38112 bytes, stack size = 8192 bytes, global data = 56816 bytes, after adding all this it required 103120 bytes. I was baffled! For sure I compiled some programs without any extra memory. It took me a full hour to remember the transputer processor has 4 kilobytes of internal memory, and if you map the 128K RAM in a classical mirrored way, the processor never uses the bus when accessing the lowest memory area $80000000 - $80000fff, but it uses the bus for any address outside like $80020000 - $80020fff, and this mirrors in the lower 4K of the external RAM. So a simple enhancement to get extra 4K was expanding the workspace to start at $80021000 (it moves toward lower addresses). I modified the boot up code, and the C compiler was up and running! How to assemble your own files Given the different size instructions in the transputer, it was too difficult to write a linker. So instead I resorted to a mixed approach, my assembler allowed to process concatenated transputer assembler files, and in turn generate a preliminary executable. This file should be processed by ejecutable.p and this way the user enters the stack size, and the program adds a header information to indicate how much stack space it would use. Executable header Offset Field +0 OTBE (0x4542544f) Oscar Toledo Binario Ejecutable +4 0x08031996 (Mar/08/1996) +8 Code size +12 Extra data size +16 Stack size +20 Data size +24 Unused ... ... +60 Unused I never implemented proper command-line processing in my operating system, so every program had to start with an entry sequence to provide the options and filenames. This in turn made harder to implement batch command files, because all the programs required user input. I started to compile each program in the source tree I had, and when I executed the raytracing program and the 3D modeler program, I couldn't get any image in the output. I also had forgotten how to link my own programs! Turns out I made a document with a description of how to rebuild each program, sitting nicely as Documentos/Programas.doc and the Mat.len library was meant to be put at the start of the assembler program, so it could load properly its constants. Without the startup code every mathematical function returned zero. By the way, I rediscovered why I made a small 512 KB RAM disk in the B drive. First, it was the memory available in the host Z280 system, second, it helped me to assemble faster the programs as it didn't have to access the SCSI hard drive. So I only had to compile the C language program (read from the hard disk drive) to the RAM disk, and assemble over the RAM disk. Finally, the completed executable could be written back to the hard disk. This was way faster than any assembling I had done before over floppy disk, and it was pretty much required as my programs had grown. Floating-point errors Now I got an image in the 3D modeler but it had obvious mathematical miscalculations. I could revise routine by routine, and try to get an idea of what was wrong, or I could go over the small bunch of floating-point instructions and check for correct emulation. I was lucky to find almost immediately that fpldnldbi only removed items in a strange way from the processor stack, and that fpldnlsni had a doubled index (probably I cut and pasted the code from fpldnldbi). And the Utah teapot got displayed in all its 3D glory for the first time since 1996. Good memories! Utah teapot with rendering bugs in transputer emulation. Utah teapot with rendering bugs in transputer emulation. Utah teapot rendered in 3D after the corrections. Utah teapot rendered in 3D after the corrections. I got the Utah teapot vertex data from the Appendix D of the book "3D Computer Graphics" which included a course on 3D computer graphics, and the project for the reader (student) was writing a 3D modeler based on the calculations presented by the book. It learned a lot with this book, and I was able to code the modeler in a few weeks. Interestingly, I thought the ray tracer worked, but it had a very particular failure while handling cylinders, creating random black pixels on the image. Along the path I corrected the cloudy sky function, it passed col[2] instead of col2 causing a crash because it wrote on random memory addresses. I reminded this was a known bug, I never could make the cylinder code to work at the time. For some reason, I couldn't find the bug. Now with a full emulation, I was able to pinpoint the bug to the quadratic intersection function: Iptr=8000a0d3 A=8000a0ae B=8000a098 C=8000a098 Wptr=8000f4e8 FA=00000000 FB=4132972c687bac40 FC=4132972c687bac40 ldlp 3 Iptr=8000a0d5 A=8000f4f4 B=8000a0ae C=8000a098 Wptr=8000f4e8 FA=00000000 FB=4132972c687bac40 FC=4132972c687bac40 fpldnlmulsn Iptr=8000a0d7 A=8000a0ae B=8000a098 C=8000a098 Wptr=8000f4e8 FA=80000000 FB=4132972c687bac40 FC=4132972c687bac40 ajw -2 Iptr=8000a0d8 A=8000a0ae B=8000a098 C=8000a098 Wptr=8000f4e0 FA=80000000 FB=4132972c687bac40 FC=4132972c687bac40 ldlp 0 Iptr=8000a0da A=8000f4e0 B=8000a0ae C=8000a098 Wptr=8000f4e0 FA=80000000 FB=4132972c687bac40 FC=4132972c687bac40 fpstnldb It did a floating-point load and multiply in single precision, and then immediately saves the value as double precision. So the bug wasn't in the ported code, but in my C compiler. It happens my C compiler tries to optimize code using 32-bit floating point if all values are 32-bit, but if the operation is too complex, it saves the current value in the workspace as a temporary. There is just a small problem: It always saves the temporary as a 64-bit floating point value. The change was "relatively" easy. The original code in my compiler ccexpr.c file reads as: if(haz_compatible(&izq, info, &der, info2)) { crea_nodo(N_MULPF, izq, der, 0); } else { The function haz_compatible() makes compatibles the types for the left and right nodes of the expression tree, and returns a non-zero value for floating-point operations. The transputer assumes we are passing the right values to the instruction, so we can use the fpmul instruction for both float and double. However, we need to add information for the exception of both being float type, for the purposes of saving the temporary value if the expression tree is too complex: if(haz_compatible(&izq, info, &der, info2)) { crea_nodo(N_MULPF, izq, der, *((char *) info[0]) == FLOAT); } else { This way the esp[] array (written by crea_nodo) will contain one if the operands are float instead of double. As the code evolved from a C compiler that didn't support struct, the pointers are saved as integers in arrays (yes, very unportable!) Now we should modify the code for saving temporary values in ccgencod.c. This is the original code in the function gen_nodo(): } else { gen_nodo(nodo_der[nodo]); salva(1); gen_nodo(nodo_izq[nodo]); if(op == N_SUMAPF) { recupera(2); return; } else if(op == N_MULPF) { recupera(3); return; } recupera(1); } /* ** Salva el registro A en la pila. */ salva(flotante) int flotante; { if(flotante) { emite_texto("ajw -2\r ldlp 0\r fpstnldb\r "); pila -= 2; } else { emite_texto("ajw -1\r stl 0\r "); --pila; } } /* ** Recupera el registro A desde la pila. */ recupera(flotante) int flotante; { if(flotante) { emite_linea("ldlp 0"); if(flotante == 1) emite_linea("fpldnldb"); else if(flotante == 2) emite_linea("fpldnladddb"); else if(flotante == 3) emite_linea("fpldnlmuldb"); emite_linea("ajw 2"); pila += 2; } else { emite_texto("ldl 0\r ajw 1\r "); ++pila; } } It saves the temporary value using the function salva(), and restores it using recupera(). We add the information for float values: } else { gen_nodo(nodo_der[nodo]); salva(esp[nodo] ? 2 : 1); gen_nodo(nodo_izq[nodo]); if(op == N_SUMAPF) { recupera(esp[nodo] ? 5 : 2); return; } else if(op == N_MULPF) { recupera(esp[nodo] ? 6 : 3); return; } recupera(esp[nodo] ? 4 : 1); } /* ** Salva el registro A en la pila. */ salva(flotante) int flotante; { if(flotante == 1) { emite_texto("ajw -2\r ldlp 0\r fpstnldb\r "); pila -= 2; } else if(flotante == 2) { emite_texto("ajw -1\r ldlp 0\r fpstnlsn\r "); --pila; } else { emite_texto("ajw -1\r stl 0\r "); --pila; } } /* ** Recupera el registro A desde la pila. */ recupera(flotante) int flotante; { if(flotante) { emite_linea("ldlp 0"); if(flotante == 1) emite_linea("fpldnldb"); else if(flotante == 2) emite_linea("fpldnladddb"); else if(flotante == 3) emite_linea("fpldnlmuldb"); else if(flotante == 4) emite_linea("fpldnlsn"); else if(flotante == 5) emite_linea("fpldnladdsn"); else if(flotante == 6) emite_linea("fpldnlmulsn"); if(flotante < 4) { emite_linea("ajw 2"); pila += 2; } else { emite_linea("ajw 1"); ++pila; } } else { emite_texto("ldl 0\r ajw 1\r "); ++pila; } } It only remained compiling again the C compiler, and the ray tracer program. After the correction it could render the test cylinder correctly, and finally I could see correctly the ray traced robot I made in 1996. It only took me 29 years to correct the bug! Now it looks so simple, but at the time I couldn't find it. Ray traced robot with rendering bugs because a bug of the C compiler for transputer. Ray traced robot with rendering bugs because a bug of the C compiler for transputer. Ray traced robot in the transputer after the C compiler corrections. Ray traced robot in the transputer after the C compiler corrections. Installing it (just like new!) Make sure your Terminal is setup as 80x25 characters, and using ISO Latin 1 (ISO-8859-1) as character set. Did I told you I discovered I could innovate? I used the $80-$9f characters (not used by ISO-8859-1) to put box graphics like in PC as I could define whatever I want in the VGA graphics card, but currently these will appear as blank in the terminal. Maybe I could make a converter to UTF-8. The os_final directory was added to the git, and inside the tree directory contains the backup of my operating system. There is already a prebuilt image of the floppy disk, and the hard disk, so you only need to run the emulator with the proper arguments. However, for the sake of completeness, here is the sequence of steps to rebuild the drive image files. The following command lines are provided into the build_f1.sh, build_f2.sh, and build_hd.sh shell files. With the command line at the os_final directory, the 40 mb. hard disk drive image file is created using the buildboot utility, it includes only the file Interfaz.p (the command-line processor): ../transputer/os/buildboot -hd -v2 harddisk.img . tree/Interfaz.p Now the first floppy disk image is created with the basic files required: ../transputer/os/buildboot -fd -v2 floppy.img . tree/SOM.32.bin tree/Interfaz.p tree/Editor.p tree/CC.p tree/Ens.p tree/Ejecutable.p tree/Info.p tree/Halt.p tree/C/CC.c tree/C/CCanasin.c tree/C/CCexpr.c tree/C/CCgencod.c tree/C/CCinter.c tree/C/CCvarios.c tree/C/CCvars.c tree/C/Checar.c tree/C/Compara.c tree/C/Concat.c tree/C/Conjunto.c tree/C/Copiador.c tree/C/CPC.c tree/C/DARC.c tree/C/Divide.c tree/C/DZIP.c tree/C/Editor.c tree/C/Efem.c tree/C/Ejecutable.c tree/C/Ens.c tree/C/Explode.c tree/C/Filtro.c tree/C/GZIP.C tree/C/Hora.c tree/C/Inflate.c tree/C/Info.c tree/C/Interfaz.c tree/C/Libro.c tree/C/Monitor.c tree/C/Prepara.c tree/C/Semana_santa.c tree/C/Som32.c tree/C/TAR.c tree/C/Unreduce.c tree/C/Unshrink.c tree/C/Vaciado.c tree/C/Halt.c tree/lib/E.len tree/lib/Graf.len tree/lib/MAT.len tree/lib/Mensajes.len tree/lib/Stdio.len Now the operating system should be run using my transputer emulator (a further argument with an ISO image can be added to get a CD-ROM in drive D): ../transputer/tem -os2 maestro.cmg floppy.img harddisk.img Now the files can be copied to the hard disk drive using this command line (CD creates a directory, and COPIA copies files): CD C:/C CD C:/Lib COPIA *.P C: COPIA *.C C:/C COPIA *.LEN C:/C DIR C: HALT The second floppy disk image is now created: ../transputer/os/buildboot -fd -v2 floppy.img . tree/SOM.32.bin tree/Halt.p tree/Desarrollo/Ajedrez.c tree/Desarrollo/Reloj.c tree/Desarrollo/Tetris.c tree/C/Modelado.c tree/C/M3D.c tree/Dibujo_3D/* tree/Documentos/Archivo.doc tree/Documentos/Detalles.doc tree/Documentos/Ens.doc tree/Documentos/Peticiones.doc tree/Documentos/Programas.doc tree/Documentos/Servicios.doc tree/Documentos/Trabajo.doc tree/Documentos/Transputer.doc Now the files can be copied to the hard disk drive using this command line (CD creates a directory, and COPIA copies files): CD C:/Desarrollo COPIA Ajedrez.c C:/Desarrollo COPIA Reloj.c C:/Desarrollo COPIA Tetris.c C:/Desarrollo COPIA Modelado.c C:/C COPIA M3D.c C:/C CD C:/Documentos COPIA *.doc c:/Documentos HALT You can now reset the floppy disk image (just make sure it contains the SOM.32.bin file), or delete manually the files using the BORRA command (delete). The whole operating system (including source code) fits in under 3 megabytes. Using the operating system A side note here, now there is a Javascript port of the transputer emulator , so you can run all this directly into you web browser, albeit slightly slower. You can see a list of the available commands typing AYUDA (if you read my previous article, this is way more complex than the few commands of my early operating system). AYUDA, shows a list of the available commands. DIR [path] -A -P, displays the directory for the path, the -A option shows names in two columns, and the -P option show the directory in pages. COPIA [wildcard] [path], copies files from the source to the target path. REN path new_name, renames a file to the new name. ILUSTRA path, displays the content of a file. BORRA wildcard, deletes a file. It can use wildcards. VER, shows the command-line processor version. MEM, displays the available memory bytes. LINEA text, displays the text in the screen (useful for batch commands) BLP, clears the screen. FIN, exits the command-line processor. BD path, deletes a directory. CD path, creates a directory. To run several commmands in sequence you can use the semicolon, for example: C:EDITOR ; C:CC ; C:ENS Or you can see an small example of multitasking typing this command to get a clock in the upper-right corner of the screen: @C:/DESARROLLO/RELOJ To exit the operating system use C:HALT as this will close correctly the drive image files. Compiling programs To compile programs just type C:CC and press Enter. Type N for the first two questions, then type the path to the source code file, for example, c:/C/Hora.c and then the target assembler file, for example, b:hora.len You should assemble the program, type C:ENS and press Enter. Type b:hora.len and press Enter, type c:/lib/stdio.len and press Enter, now press Enter alone, and type b:hora.e as output file. Now we need to convert it into an executable file, type C:EJECUTABLE and press Enter, type b:hora.e and press Enter, type 8192 and press Enter (stack size), type 0 (zero) and press Enter (extra data size), and type C:hora.p as output file. To run the program type C:Hora and press Enter. Documentation I was starting to get a grasp of how documentation was going to be fully electronic, so I wrote some incomplete descriptions of the operating system, file system, programs, and some further notes. All these files are available at the Documentos directory. It was a very different time. If you read my previous article, you can access the help window of the visual editor using Fn+F1 in macOS, or F1 in Windows and Linux. You can read text files using Fn+F4 in macOS (or F4 in Windows and Linux) and navigate files with the arrow keys. Other programs Other programs in this operating system are: Checar.p, it verifies the integrity of a drive. Compara.p, it compares two text files for differences. Concat.p, it concatenates several files. Conjunto.p, it shows the charset. Copiador.p, it serves to copy a floppy disk (not necessary, as you can copy image files manually) CPC.p, it serves to copy files from disks with PC format. DARC.p, it can decompress ARC files. Divide.p, it divides a file in several parts. DZIP.p, it can decompress ZIP files. Efem.p, a program to show ephemerals. Filtro.p, converter from PC-8 charset to ISO-8859-1. Developed Sep/29/1995, that day all my source code got translated from PC-8 to ISO-8859-1 encoding. GZIP.p, a program to decompress gzip files. Hora.p, shows the current time and date. Info.p, shows info about the executable file. Libro.p, formats a text file as a foldable book for HP LaserJet IIP Monitor.p, debugging monitor for low-level development. Prepara.p, formats a disk (not necessary, buildboot does this) Semana_santa.p, calculates the easter week for any year. TAR.p, creates/test/extracts TAR files (used this for DAT tapes). Vaciado.p, dumps a file to ASCII hexadecimal. Modela.p, 3D polygonal modeler, you can feed it the escena* files from the C:/Dibujo_3D directory. For example, C:/Dibujo_3D/escena_tetera M3D.p, ray tracer, port of the Pascal ray tracer. You can feed it M3D files from the c:/Dibujo_3D directory without the M3D extension. For example, C:/Dibujo_3D/P As you can see I was pretty busy coding all these! There are three animations of the ray traced robot walking (I used these with the Pascal version of the Ray Tracer), however, I don't have tested these, and the process utility to create a FLI animation was written in Z280 machine code. What happened later? I like how this operating system shows original thinking for solving problems, like working with only 128 kb. of RAM, having 31 letter filenames, using full pathnames for referring to files, adapting the free space of the character set for graphical characters, managing a RAM disk to accelerate development, and of course getting to develop a K&R C compiler over it. I could have made more things, however, the host computer was showing its slowness in particular with graphics, and I reached the limit of the RAM memory. This prevented me of expanding the C compiler to ANSI C, I could compile very few programs from external sources, the linker was never finished so I couldn't compile programs in modules (and in turn the C compiler didn't implement extern or static). I was stuck. My experiment with transputer was technically finished, although I did a few more programs thinking in the future (like a program to create CD-ROM file systems expecting a CD recorder I never had). My first visit to an Internet coffee shop was around the summer of 1996, I discovered sadly the Inmos demise, and it was a total disappointment as their promised T9000 with a ten times speed fold never materialized. Also a newer 32-bit processor was coming and my father was building a new computer where I built new software, and later I would make my windowed operating system, and all my tools from transputer would be ported to this bigger machine. A by-product of my C compiler, was porting it back to the Z280 computer to compile an educative integrated Z80 development tool (editor/assembler/uploader) I made already using Mark DeSmet PCC for MS-DOS, I cheered myself when I compiled the same program for my Z280 computer without any changes. That was the last gasp of the Z280 computer. The source code is released at https://github.com/nanochess/transputer Did you like this article? Invite me a coffee on ko-fi! Enjoy it! Related links Last modified: Mar/12/2025 Two Emory College of Arts and Sciences professors have won highly competitive National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowships that provide critical research funding. Both awardees are focused on deepening our knowledge of history, laws and communities across the state and the nation. Christina E. Crawford, associate professor of modern and contemporary architecture and Masse-Martin NEH Professor of Art History, received $60,000. The funds will go toward a book on Americas first two public housing projects fully funded and directly built by the federal government: a pair of racially segregated developments in Atlanta. Sameena Mulla, an associate professor in the Department of Womens, Gender and Sexuality Studies, received $30,000 to help draft a book on racial rhetoric in court sentencing hearings in sexually violent crimes. It is her third book examining how the legal system treats sexual assault crimes, victims and defendants. We are immensely proud of Christina Crawford and Sameena Mulla for earning these prestigious fellowships, which recognize their scholarships profound impact on our understanding of history, law and society, says Emory College Dean Barbara Krauthamer. Their work deepens academic inquiry and fosters meaningful community dialogue and engagement. The fellowships for Crawford and Mulla are part of the NEHs $22.6 million in awards announced in January, supporting 219 projects nationwide. Mulla, who is on leave this spring and has already begun writing her book, aims to have a draft ready by August. Crawford, who has completed the first three chapters of her book, will take up writing again in August, when she begins an academic-year sabbatical. Model Housing Having written her dissertation on early Soviet architecture and planning, Crawford was working on a book about Soviet worker housing when she arrived at Emory in 2016. Prior to moving to Atlanta, Crawford didnt realize the city was on the leading edge of housing experimentation with Techwood Homes (for white families) and University Homes (for Black families), completed in 1936 and 1937, respectively. She has since thrown herself into researching, with the help of Emory students, how the federally funded projects became high-quality examples of government investment. Her book aims to surface, and learn anew, how those models did and did not work. I think these were examples of genuinely good planning and architecture, and there are aspects of how the architects and clients thought about the problem of housing that are worth digging up, Crawford says. Both Techwood and University Homes aimed to show how government support could provide lower-middle-class Americans a chance to save money, qualify for federal mortgages and eventually become homeowners. Those upwardly mobile dreams worked for Techwood residents. University Homes residents, though, lacked mortgage and neighborhood options in a segregated South. Crawford also faced obstacles in finding records on University Homes as detailed as those for Techwood. One resource was Charles Forrest Palmers papers, which were gifted to Emory in 1969. Palmer was influential in shaping Atlanta public housing and then spring-boarding to shape housing policy nationally; his papers describe his work to secure slum clearance and the new construction in the Techwood Flats neighborhood. It became an ethical imperative for me, in my research, to foreground University Homes after so many years of its being dismissed as a secondary project. I believe that its design and construction was even more innovative for the time, Crawford says. For instance, renowned sociologist W.E.B. DuBois canvassed the community with his Atlanta University graduate students, to gather resident input before construction began on University Homes. This resulted in specific design features, such as private ground-floor entryways for second-floor units that mimicked the feel of single-family homes. Archival trips to Washington, D.C., and New York City funded by the Colleges Program to Enhance Research and Scholarship (PERS) helped Crawford learn more about the community-building aspect of both complexes. Each housing project included space for shops, medical offices and playgrounds, for instance. Fewer cross-through streets encouraged walking and safety for neighborhood children, while ornamental flourishes such as awnings and brass mail slots conveyed a sense of architectural quality. Cost cutting eliminated those niceties in new public housing built after 1937, when municipal housing authorities took control of the process. Atlanta demolished all public housing complexes between the 1990s and early 2000s, decades before Crawford began to view their original architecture and design as history worth understanding. We are sitting in an absolutely devastating housing crisis, and I am making a soft pitch that the federal government has a role to play, Crawford says. It is not socialism; its the federal government deciding that housing matters. This project is a chance to look at how it was accomplished in the past and learn how to create architecture that serves multiple generations of Americans. Examining sentencing factors for violent crime An anthropologist by training, Mulla is particularly interested in engaged research that can help make sense of cultural issues, especially in how gender, race and power intersect. Mulla drew on years of participatory research in a Maryland emergency room for her first book, The Violence of Care, which analyzed how nurses collect and preserve evidence while also addressing the medical needs of patients who have been sexually assaulted. Her second book, Bodies of Evidence, was a collaboration with Marquette University sociologist Heather Hlavka, which followed that evidence into the courts. Mullas NEH project builds on her earlier research, scrutinizing 130 sentencing hearings for sexual assault crimes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The book will describe the reasoning and language used to craft sentences following plea deals or trials in which defendants were found guilty of violent sexual crimes. Sentencing hearings are presented as very structured and very technical, with the same tools like algorithms for recidivism and sentencing guidelines used almost every time, Mulla says. In practice, though, they have so many variables that they can become antithetical to the values of our justice system. For instance, Mulla found that common tools for calculating sentencing recommendations use proprietary algorithms, meaning not all factors are public or transparent. Race is among the known considerations but employs indirect factors that serve as racial proxies, such as home ownership. Mulla says the net effect is a race-blind system that specifically tends to over-predict recidivism rates for African American men and under-predict for similarly convicted white defendants. In addition, those findings are not designed to work alongside other instruments used in sentencing. Ultimately, prosecutors and judges decide how much weight to give certain factors, or even whether to consider them. We talk about criminal sentencing in a way that it is rational and reasonable, when the research shows it is the use of science in a very unscientific way, Mulla says. Its not science. Its feelings. Lost in that process are survivors, who are often drained and unsettled by the entire process. Hearings that ignore the reality that many victims come from the same community even the same household as defendants can further wound victims with harsh assumptions. I am deeply invested in violence-free futures for vulnerable people, and this is not getting us there, Mulla says. Once she completes the book draft this year, Mulla is interested in building further on her research. She has taken preliminary steps to conduct participatory research on hearings held by civilian oversight boards for police departments in California, Michigan and Wisconsin. She would like to add a Georgia commission to that review, in part to train undergraduate students on conducting ethnographic research. Its one thing to say this is the data, Mulla says. I am interested in quantifying what is happening in a way you cant measure with numbers. SIU Carbondale hosts Womens Film Festival, March 17-18 by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. Southern Illinois University Carbondales Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center and the Womens Resource Center are hosting the SIU Womens Film Festival, Monday and Tuesday, March 17-18. The free film screenings and discussions in Morris Librarys John C. Guyon Auditorium are open to the public. A discussion panel will follow each of the films. The festival is part of the universitys Womens History Month celebration. The film festival is open to all students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members. The film schedule, along with presenters, is: Monday, March 17 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Desert Hearts (1985). Presenters are Paulette Curkin, Kathleen Gallivan and Deb Endres. After the first film, SIUs commemoration of Holi, a Hindu festival that welcomes spring, will take place in Guyon Auditorium and on the librarys front lawn. The festival will then continue at 3 p.m. 3-5:30 p.m. Almas Rainbow (1994). Presenters are Mackenzie Gaines and Dina Timmons. 6-8 p.m. Chicana/A Crushing Love (1979/2009). The presenter is Michelle Soto. Tuesday, March 18 1-1:30 p.m. Microhabitat (2017). The presenters are Qiyu Chen and Casey Tilley. 3:30-5 p.m. A Collection of Short Films by Heather O'Brien-Takahashi, assistant professor, cinema. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Framing Agnes (2022). The presenters are Angela Nuzum, Juniper Oxford, Jennifer Hines and Heather OMalley. The universitys LGTBQ Resource Center was renamed in fall 2024 to honor Curkin, an SIU professional who helped found the center in 2007 and served as its inaugural coordinator. Curkin retired from SIU in 2008 after 21 years of service. Organizers recommend people check out films on websites that give content warnings, such as DoesTheDogDie.com. As with all exhibitions and theatrical events, the artwork represents the viewpoints of its creators, not SIU. SIU complies with the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act and State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. For more information, contact Juniper Oxford, program coordinator, Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center, at 618-453-5627 or lgbtq@siu.edu. In his first statement following the Jaffar Express hijack, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday strongly condemned the "dastardly act" and said the entire nation is saddened by the loss of innocent lives. The Pak PM said he was briefed on the latest developments by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti. "Spoke with Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti who briefed me on the latest developments in the heinous terrorist attack on Jaffar Express. The entire nation is deeply shocked by this dastardly act and saddened by the loss of innocent lives--such cowardly acts will not shake Pakistan''s resolve for peace," PM Sharif said in a post on X. "I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs. May Allah grant them the highest ranks in Jannah and bless those injured with a swift recovery. Dozens of the terrorists have been sent to hell," he added. The situation in the Jaffar Express hijack has taken a dire turn, with authorities dispatching over 200 coffins to Quetta railway station, indicating expectations of heavy casualties. Human rights activist Amjad Ayub Mirza believes the Pakistani army has decided not to negotiate, putting the lives of military personnel at risk. Mirza said in a statement, "More than 200 wooden coffins have been brought at the Quetta Railway Station. This means that the Pakistani army has decided not to do negotiations, thus has decided to get its military personnel killed." He added that the bodies of 30-40 military personnel had already been brought to Quetta, and an emergency had been declared in nearby hospitals. A tense standoff is unfolding in Pakistan, where the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has hijacked the Jaffar Express train, holding over 200 hostages, mostly Pakistani security personnel. The BLA has given Pakistan a 24-hour ultimatum to exchange prisoners, warning that if no progress is made, the hostages will be tried in the Baloch National Court. (ANI) PRNewswire New Delhi [India], March 13: A dynamic assembly of Nolte dealers nationwide and influential leaders, visionary innovators, and key stakeholders from the Indian kitchen industry recently convened in Goa with a powerful mission: to harness creativity and expertise; to advance the interior design and kitchen solution sectors. This Dealers' Summit, hosted by Nolte Kuchen, Germany's premier global kitchen brand, underscored the critical importance of unleashing innovation to foster meaningful change. Nolte partners and members from 15 cities engaged in stimulating discussions that tackled significant industry challenges head-on, collaborating to forge bold strategies that will shape the future of the kitchen industry. Together, they are not just imagining change but actively driving it forward. Distinguished speakers from diverse industries, including Mr. Andre Eckholt, Managing Director of Hettich India; Deepak Gupta from the India Kitchen Congress; Ajay Sahoo of BigInfo; and Mr. Torben Karasek, Managing Director of Nolte Holding International, along with multiple strategic partners in India, further elevated the event significantly. Their inspiring insights resonated with the partners, encouraging everyone to embrace transformation and seize the numerous opportunities available in the market. This summit was more than just a gathering; it was a powerful call to action for the industry to take charge and lead towards a more vibrant and innovative future. "Recognizing India's vast potential, Nolte has outlined ambitious growth plans and is investing in rapid expansion, aiming to dominate the premium modular kitchen segment in the country. We brought together industry leaders and stakeholders to address market growth strategies and insights. Our shared vision for excellence at Nolte, along with our partners, is to establish new benchmarks in the modular kitchen industry by combining world-class German engineering with in-depth local market expertise. We aim to build a premium, customer-centric, highly profitable kitchen business in India. We are thrilled with the successful outcomes of the Dealers' Summit," said Selvakumar Rajulu, Managing Director of Nolte FZE. Nolte Kuchen is embarking on an exciting journey with its ambitious pan-India expansion plan, fueled by an initial investment of USD 2 million. This strategic move is not just about increasing market presence--it's a bold statement of our commitment to the dynamic Indian market. We're set to make a significant impact in major cities like New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jaipur, Cochin, Pune, Indore, Surat, Guwahati, Raipur, Baroda, Hyderabad, and Goa. But not stopping there; Nolte Kuchen will also reach out to emerging cities such as Chandigarh, Chennai, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Amaravati. This initiative demonstrates Nolte's dedication to innovation and growth, positioning as leaders that are ready to embrace the challenges of tomorrow. About Nolte India With a rich legacy spanning over a century, Nolte Kuchen is a hallmark of kitchen design and innovation excellence. As a premier German brand, Nolte India carries forward this esteemed tradition by crafting customized kitchens and interior spaces that elevate quality and aesthetics in the Indian subcontinent. In today's world, where modern Indian homes and businesses are embracing the modular kitchen revolution, Nolte emerges as a leader, setting the benchmark for exceptional craftsmanship and cutting-edge design. Our diverse range of high-quality solutions includes stunning kitchen furnishings, elegant bathroom fixtures, and adaptable options for home interiors and storage. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640847/Nolte_Dealers_Summit_Goa.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, while lamenting the tariffs imposed by various nations on the United States, referred to the tariffs imposed by India on American alcohol and agricultural products. "I have a handy dandy chart here that shows not just Canada but the rate of tariffs across the board. If you look at Canada, since you brought it up, American cheese and butter have a nearly 300 per cent tariff. You look at India, 150 per cent tariff on American alcohol. Do you think that's helping Kentucky bourbon be exported into India? I don't think so. 100 per cent tariff on agricultural products from India," Leavitt said. https://x.com/ANI/status/1899519902933028924 While addressing a press briefing on Tuesday (local time), she said that US President Donald Trump believes in reciprocity and wants to have fair and balanced trade practices. The Press Secretary also accused Canada of "ripping off" the US and Americans "for decades" with its "egregious" rate of tariffs. Being asked about the timeline for Trump speaking to Canada's Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney, Leavitt responded, "The president is again responding to the fact that Canada has been ripping off the United States of America and hardworking Americans for decades. If you look at the rates of tariffs across the board that Canadians have been imposing on the American people and our workers here, it is egregious." Leavitt further mentioned the tariffs imposed by India and Japan on different US products. She added that today the US has a President who "actually looks out" for the interests of American businesses and workers. "Look at Japan, tariffing rice, 700 per cent. President Trump believes in reciprocity and it is about...time that we have a president who actually looks out for the interests of American businesses and workers. And all he's asking for at the end of the day are fair and balanced trade practices and unfortunately, Canada has not been treating us very fairly at all over the past several decades," she added. Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that tariffs against neighbouring countries Mexico and Canada could go higher in the future, Fox News reported. He added that the global community has been ripping off the US for ages. "I think [the business community could see clarity on tariffs]," he said, addressing CEOs' desire to see predictability for Capital Expenditure spending and shareholder purposes. "But the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up..." he added, as per Fox News."For years, globalists have been ripping off the United States. They've been taking money away from the United States, and all we're doing is getting some of it back, and we're going to treat our country fairly," Fox News quoted Trump as saying. Trump said that the US would get back at the other countries for the same, as per Fox News. "This country has been ripped off from every nation in the world, every company in the world. We've been ripped off at levels never seen before, and what we're going to do is get it back," he said. Trump has imposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, citing the countries' alleged border control issues leading to fentanyl pouring into the US and killing American citizens, Fox News reported. Earlier on March 7, Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a short-term period for certain products before the "big one" from April 2. He said he agreed after having "fruitful conversations" with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum while he slammed Canada for being a "high tariff nation". Last week, Trump attacked India's tariffs, saying it is "next to impossible to sell anything to India" because of the "high tariffs." In a nationally televised address, Trump focused on the tariffs his administration will be putting in effect soon. However, he also revealed that India has agreed to slash its tariffs significantly, allegedly because "somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done." In his remarks at the White House, Trump stated, "India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can't even sell anything in India...They have agreed, by the way; they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done." (ANI) VMPL New Delhi [India], March 13: With the advancement of the digital realm, people worldwide can have access to anything and everything at the tip of their fingers. With just a few clicks, people can gain the information they seek on the internet. However, concerns arise when they search for medical information. This often lands them on unreliable blogs, articles or content that may not be research-backed or authentic. Hence, experts in the medical field think there is a growing need for honest content writing agencies and experienced medical writers who can be trusted with medical content, ensuring accuracy. This is an era where digital information is consumed at an unprecedented rate. Hence, the need for accurate, research-based, original medical content has never been greater. The medical and pharmaceutical industries rely heavily on well-researched and fact-checked information to educate patients, healthcare professionals and the general public. However, with the rise of AI-generated content and unverified sources, misinformation can quickly spread, leading to confusion and potential health risks. Therefore, Saraswat Brahmin Jigar Joshi, aka Jigar Saraswat, founder of Rajasi Media, which is considered one of the best content writing companies in India, emphasises the need for expert and qualified medical writers. Medical content isn't just another form of digital information; it directly impacts lives. Poorly written or inaccurate content can mislead readers, influence medical decisions and even contribute to the spread of health-related myths. Unlike general content writing, medical and pharmaceutical writing demands expertise from qualified professionals who understand complex medical concepts, clinical research and regulatory guidelines. Unfortunately, many content writers prioritise speed and cost over accuracy, often relying only on AI-generated material and non-expert writers lacking the necessary medical and healthcare background. The medical industry requires content that is clear, precise, and backed by scientific evidence. Companies like Rajasi Media, one of the best content writing agencies in Gujarat and India, recognise this need and stand out by employing medical experts and experienced writers who ensure that all content is factual, original, well-researched and SEO-based. The company's approach guarantees that the information provided is not only engaging but also medically sound, helping the brand establish credibility and trust among medical professionals and patients alike. As the demand for online medical content continues to grow, the industry needs more writing firms that uphold integrity, expertise, and thorough research. Trustworthy content writing companies bridge the gap between complex medical knowledge and reliable and accessible information, ensuring that patients, healthcare professionals, and the general public receive the facts they need. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) India PR Distribution Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 13: GNC, a global leader in nutritional supplements, through Guardian Healthcare Pvt. Limited ("GNC India"), GNC's master franchisee in India has launched GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey + Nitro Surge, a groundbreaking protein supplement designed to enhance performance and support cardiovascular health. This innovative product, developed indigenously, features a unique cardio-protective formulation, combining performance-boosting ingredients with heart health benefits. Ashutosh Taparia, Managing Director & Board Member of Guardian Healthcare Pvt. Limited, master franchisee of GNC in India stated, "As health and fitness awareness grows in India, so does the need for innovative supplements. With the rising incidence of lifestyle conditions, products that lie at the intersection of fitness and wellness are the need of the hour. GNC India, in collaboration with leading physicians, has developed this unique formulation to address needs at the intersection." The Nitro Surge formula incorporates bonded L-arginine silicate and L-citrulline, clinically proven ingredients that support vasodilation and sustained blood circulation. These ingredients help reduce cardiovascular stress, allowing athletes and active individuals to push their limits while promoting heart health during intense physical activity. Balaji Uppala, CEO of GNC India, emphasized, "We are committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation in health and fitness. With GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey + Nitro Surge, India's first whey protein with cardio-protective properties, we are empowering fitness enthusiasts to reach their goals while prioritizing heart health. This product reflects our commitment to providing high-quality, science-backed solutions for every fitness journey." Designed for all fitness levels, from beginners to elite athletes, 100% Whey + Nitro Surge enhances muscle performance and overall well-being. It addresses the increasing demand for supplements that support long-term fitness goals while also enhancing heart health. GNC India developed this product in collaboration with Dr. Jaspreet Singh Randhawa, MBBS, MS, MCh (Neurosurgery, Gold Medalist) and Chief Neurosurgeon at Livasa Hospital, Mohali. As Principal Medical Advisor to GNC India, Dr. Randhawa provided expert guidance in the product's formulation and research. Speaking on the new product, Dr Randhawa commented, "There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the ingredients (L-arginine & L-citrulline) used in this formulation, when used as part of a healthy lifestyle, demonstrate vasodilatory properties & cardio-protective benefits for people engaging in regular physical activity, including high-intensity workouts." The product is available in 1-pound, 2-pound & 4-pound size variants & is available for sale on GNC India's website, Amazon, Flipkart, Healthkart, Myntra, Hyugalife & select offline stores. Try India's First Cardio Protect Whey - GNC 100% Whey+ Nitro Surge available in super tasty chocolate flavor. Checkout now to get an exclusive discount & freebie. About GNC: GNC is a leading global health and wellness brand that provides customers with a wide variety of science-based products and solution services to live well. The brand touches consumers worldwide by providing its products and services through company-owned retail locations, domestic and international franchise locations, digital commerce, and strong wholesale and retail partnerships across the globe. GNC's diversified, multi-channel business model has worldwide reach and a well-recognized, trusted brand. By combining exceptional innovation, product development capabilities, and an extensive global distribution network, GNC manages a best-in-class product portfolio. About Guardian Healthcare Private Limited: Guardian Healthcare Private Limited, is the master franchisee holder of GNC for India. Guardian Healthcare, with 60+ premium pharmacies across India, serves over 10 million customers. Offering 100% reliable health, wellness, and pharmaceutical products, Guardian Pharmacy prioritizes reliability, customer satisfaction, and trust. For media inquiries, please contact: Tanya Sharma, tanya.s@oneguardian.in, +91 99991 47699 (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by India PR Distribution. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Zurich [Switzerland], March 13: Dr. Mohamed Kutty Nechikatte, Chairman of Ajfan Group, has been honored with the prestigious Best Premium Food Brand of the Year award by Bharatheeya Kalalayam Switzerland. This recognition highlights Ajfan's excellence in providing top-quality nuts, dry fruits, and superfoods, reinforcing its reputation as a trusted global brand. The award ceremony in Switzerland saw the presence of esteemed dignitaries. Swiss MLA Mr. Donato Scognamiglio (Kantonal Rat Zurich) presented Dr. Mohamed Kutty with a memento, while Mr. Jean Philippe Pinto (Kantonal Rat Zurich) handed over the official certificate. The event celebrated Ajfan's commitment to quality, authenticity, and innovation in the premium food sector. Ajfan: A Leader in Premium Superfoods and Health Products Ajfan Dates and Nuts has built a reputation for offering the finest selection of dates, nuts, dried fruits, and health products, ensuring superior taste and nutritional benefits. With over 200 outlets across India, the brand continues to expand globally, bringing handpicked, high-quality superfoods to customers worldwide. This esteemed recognition further strengthens Ajfan's legacy in the premium food industry, underscoring its dedication to delivering freshness, authenticity, and excellence in every product. Website: https://ajfan.store (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) NewsVoir Punjab [India], March 13: Chitkara University, Punjab, successfully hosted the highly anticipated international student convention, ANVESHAN 2024-25, on March 10-11, 2025. The event brought together bright minds from across India, providing a platform for young innovators to showcase their projects and exchange ideas. The convention was inaugurated by Dr. Vinay Kumar Pathak, President of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi, and Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Pro Chancellor of Chitkara University, Punjab. Both leaders highlighted the importance of fostering innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in academia, emphasizing that such initiatives are vital to shaping the future of education and research. With over 250 student innovators and mentors from across India's South, East, West, and North Zones, ANVESHAN 2024-25 featured 72 shortlisted projects from the Zonal Anveshan rounds. These projects were meticulously evaluated by a distinguished panel of 18 judges, including experts from AIIMS Bhatinda, PGIMER Chandigarh, CSIO (Chandigarh), and renowned university professors. The event offered students a platform to present their research, creative solutions, and innovations across various fields. On the second day, Dr. Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General of AIU, New Delhi, joined Dr. Madhu Chitkara in honoring the winners of the convention, presenting them with mementos and cash prizes in recognition of their outstanding achievements. The event also stood out for its global inclusivity, with seven international students from countries such as France, showcasing their innovative projects. A standout project from France clinched the top honor, underscoring the convention's international appeal and significance in fostering global collaboration. In her closing remarks, Dr. Madhu Chitkara expressed pride in the success of ANVESHAN 2024-25, stating, "The event has once again proven to be a melting pot of ideas, bridging geographical and cultural gaps through innovation. We are proud to provide a platform where young minds turn challenges into opportunities, and we look forward to continuing our commitment to nurturing creativity, research, and global partnerships in education." The convention concluded on a high note, reaffirming Chitkara University's dedication to fostering creativity, research, and international collaboration in education. By bringing together a diverse group of students and mentors, ANVESHAN 2024-25 furthered Chitkara University's vision of creating a global academic community driven by innovation. Chitkara University is a premier institution of higher education, known for its focus on innovation, research, and holistic development. With state-of-the-art facilities and a global outlook, the university offers cutting-edge programmes that empower students to become industry leaders and entrepreneurs. For more information visit : www.chitkara.edu.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) BusinessWire India New Delhi [India], March 13: Authenticity and self-expression lie at the heart of identity -- and The Durex Podcast is sparking conversations that celebrate individuality. Building on the remarkable success of its inaugural episode - which garnered over 10 million views, reached 40 million users on meta platforms and trended at #1 on X - The Durex Podcast returns with a compelling second episode. This episode features two pioneering figures: Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, the world's first openly gay royal and a leading voice for LGBTQIA+ rights, and Rani KoHEnur, a multifaceted model and LGBTQIA+ activist. Together, they engage in an unfiltered dialogue on LGBTQIA+ identities, relationships, and the essence of true intimacy. Durex has long been an advocate for love and self-expression, celebrating affection beyond traditional gender identities. The brand's ethos is rooted in the belief that "good sex is for everyone", and it strives to empower individuals to embrace their sexual selves. This episode reaffirms Durex's dedication to fostering open, mature, and responsible conversations that resonate with diverse audiences. Kanika Kalra, Regional Marketing Director, Health, Reckitt - South Asia, said, "At Durex, we are committed to creating platforms that encourage open dialogues around sexual wellbeing. This episode of The Durex podcast is a testament to our belief that intimacy and pleasure are universal experiences, deserving of recognition and respect across all communities. We are thankful to our guests and our host for making this an open and highly informative conversation." Tackling deep-seated stereotypes and debunking common myths surrounding LGBTQIA+, Host Abhay Deol asks, "Do all queer people fit mainstream stereotypes? For example, gay men are feminine, and lesbians are masculine." Prince Manvendra addresses this notion, saying, "It could be the other way around. Straight men could be feminine, and straight women can also be masculine. We cannot just generalize this." It's important to recognize that everyone's identity is unique and cannot be simplified into one-size-fits-all categories. Adding to the conversation, Rani KoHEnur highlights the beauty of individuality, sharing, "People are people in so many colors, with so many personalities and the way they are, and that's what makes it beautiful. Because if everybody was the same blueprint version of you, you are exactly like me, I am exactly like you, it would be so boring." Beyond breaking stereotypes, this episode dives into Kamasutra's perspective on queer relationships, the journey of coming out as transgender in India, navigating LGBTQIA+ identities in conservative families, first-time experiences, and modern dating dynamics. Through bold, thought-provoking conversations, The Durex Podcast continues its mission to create an open, inclusive space where everyone can embrace their true selves -- because intimacy, in all its forms, is for everyone. For the full conversation, watch the episode here: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gMQQnEYhv3OPbStdFqwpn YouTube: https://youtu.be/ewo5NWiJI9Q (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) BusinessWire India Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 13: In a heartfelt gesture of appreciation and adopting unique way of rewarding, Sanjay Shah, Chairman and Managing Director of Prudent Corporate Advisory Services Limited (Prudent), has decided to gift 175,000 equity shares, amounting to approximately INR 34 Cr (at today's price), from his personal holdings to a group of approximately 650 individuals. The beneficiaries include employees of the company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, as well as Shah's personal staff, such as household help and drivers. This gesture commemorates Shah's completion of 25 years in business. The transfer is a gesture of appreciation and gratitude, with no obligations or retention conditions attached. Sanjay Shah informed about this decision to the Company and the Company (i.e. Prudent) has taken necessary regulatory approvals, including from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Speaking on the initiative, Sanjay Shah said, "This is not just a transfer of shares; it is my heartfelt thank you to those who have stood with me - not just as employees, but as companions on this journey. Your quiet contributions, loyalty, and belief in our shared vision have been invaluable, forming the foundation of our success. I am truly excited for the wonderful future we will create together." The company remains committed to fostering an inclusive and appreciative corporate culture. Katalyst Advisors acted as the advisor to the transaction and seeking relevant approvals from SEBI. The Company will make appropriate disclosures to the stock exchanges including disclosing the list of beneficiaries, in compliance with the SEBI approval prior to execution. Shah's gesture is truly a landmark, and should set a precedent for meaningful recognition of contribution, including by sharing wealth by promoters with their employees and staff. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 13: The Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) in partnership with Comite Colbert is set to host the second edition of the Luxury Symposium, scheduled to take place on Friday, 21st March 2025, at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. The one-of-its-kind annual forum is a flagship initiative of the IFCCI Luxury Committee, designed to bring together industry pioneers, thought leaders and key stakeholders from the Indo-French luxury ecosystem to foster meaningful dialogue and collaborations. Following the success of the inaugural India edition in 2023, which focused on craft, design, and artisanal luxury, the Luxury Symposium 2.0 takes a significantly broader approach. This 2nd edition also comes in succession to the Symposium's first International presence in Paris last year with the Matinee Inde. This edition aims to encompass the rapidly growing sectors of travel, hospitality, beauty, art, and design, reflecting the evolving luxury landscape. With the theme 'Building Bridges in Luxury: Widening Horizons Across Categories,' this year's symposium is set to be a convergence of industries that shape luxury in distinct yet interconnected ways. By bringing together top management from leading global luxury brands, visionaries from travel and hospitality, pioneers in beauty and wellness, and insiders from the worlds of art, culture, and media, the symposium will explore how these diverse industries influence and complement each other. H.E. Mr. Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, and Ms. Benedicte Epinay, President & CEO of Comite Colbert will be in attendance, reinforcing the deep-rooted Indo-French luxury alliance. Key Highlights of the Symposium include: * Luxury Across Categories: Engaging discussions exploring how the concept of luxury in India is expanding beyond traditional segments integrating high-booming sectors such as travel, hospitality, beauty, art, and design. Insightful conversations will examine how these sectors intersect, influence consumer expectations, and contribute to the evolving definition of luxury. * A Power-Packed Lineup of Local & Global Leaders: A full-day robust programming featuring top executives and opinion leaders such as Mr Alexis Mourot (CEO, Christian Louboutin), Mr Amit Goyal (India Head, Chanel), Mr Pierre Fayard (CEO, Richemont MEIA), Ms Karishma Swali (Chanakya School of Craft), Mr Gopal Asthana (CEO, Tata Cliq Luxury), Mr Stephane Larher (MD, Bulgari MEAI), Mr. Prashant Mahboobani (GM-India, Louis Vuitton), and many more sharing their insights. * Luxury's Growing Footprint in the Service Industry: Luxury is no longer confined to products--it is increasingly shaping the service industry, from hospitality and travel to wellness and bespoke experiences. The forum will explore how high-end services are redefining luxury, with industry leaders discussing the power of experiential luxury, the rise of personalized hospitality, and the evolving expectations of affluent consumers. Speaking on this edition, Ms. Payal S. Kanwar, Director General, IFCCI said "Building on the success of the inaugural IFCCI Luxury Symposium, we are proud to present its second edition--an essential platform under the IFCCI Luxury Committee, which drives industry advocacy, strategic dialogue, and Indo-French collaborations in the luxury sector. Bringing together top voices from India and the world, the 2025 symposium will explore the evolving codes of luxury, shifting consumer landscapes, immersive experiences, retail expansion, the new wave of PR & brand building, and regulatory dynamics shaping market growth. As India strengthens its position as a key luxury hub, IFCCI remains committed to fostering industry innovation, global partnerships, and meaningful conversations that define the future of luxury." Benedicte Epinay, President & CEO -- Comite Colbert says, "After a successful first edition in 2023, Comite Colbert is pleased to partner with the second IFCCI Luxury Symposium 2.0 in Mumbai on March 21, 2025. Our participation once again highlights the strong interest of our Maisons in this vast, promising, and dynamic market. While there are still challenges to achieving a sustainable presence and long-term profitable growth, addressing these aspects would enable companies to expand their activities and further strengthen the rich cultural and aesthetic ties between our two countries." The IFCCI Luxury Committee aims to promote and foster the growth & development of the luxury industry in India, actively developing business and corporate initiatives to enable French & European luxury Maisons to expand their presence and brand engagement in India. It equally aims to support the cultural exchange and initiatives of Indian luxury brands in France and Europe. Through strategic networking and exchange of knowledge on this specific industry, the Luxury Committee aims to create an environment that builds a fertile territory of understanding and confidence in the Indian market for international luxury brands to drive growth. "As we host the second edition of the IFCCI Luxury Symposium in India and expanded our reach with the Paris edition last year, it is clear that we are moving the needle in meaningful ways. More industry leaders are engaging and some are speaking at a forum like this for the first time, reflecting the growing appetite for dialogue and collaboration. Luxury today demands a broader lens, and this symposium highlights the industry's interconnected nature by bringing together diverse sectors. Platforms like these are crucial, and India has yet to see many that foster collaboration at this scale. We have benchmarked ourselves against the best global practices and found a deep interest in India for solutions that unite businesses, commerce, and industry. Seeing the symposium evolve from one edition to the next is truly heartening, and we hope it remains a catalyst for meaningful conversations and industry progress." said Ms Srimoyi Bhattacharya, Founder, Peepul Advisory and Chairperson, IFCCI Luxury Committee. The IFCCI Luxury Symposium 2025 is poised to be a landmark event in shaping the future of Indo-French luxury collaborations. As India's luxury sector continues to evolve, this symposium will serve as a vital catalyst for innovation, cross-border partnerships, and market expansion. About IFCCI The Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) stands as one of the most vibrant chambers within the global network of French Chambers, known as CCI France International, encompassing 120 chambers spanning across 94 countries. In recognition of its innovative endeavours, IFCCI has been awarded as the Best Performing Chamber 5 times by CCIFI. IFCCI represents a dynamic business platform of over 750 company members and a total network of more than 6,500 individual members. IFCCI has six offices in Mumbai (HQ), New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad. About Comite Colbert Founded in 1954 by Jean-Jacques Guerlain, the Comite Colbert is a leading representative of the French luxury goods industry, embracing a collective, forward-thinking vision of sustainability. The Comite Colbert today brings together 93 French luxury maisons, 17 cultural institutions, and 6 European luxury houses. Through its members, Comite Colbert encompasses more than 14 different sectors: crystal, leather, design and decoration, publishing, porcelain, gastronomy, music, haute couture and fashion, jewellery and watchmaking, and more. Comite Colbert passionately promotes and sustainably develops French savoir-faire and creations, infusing a new sense of wonder as its principle to drive establishments. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.) ATK New Delhi [India], March 13: Minecraft is an open-ended sandbox game that thrives on creativity, exploration, and adventure. However, playing solo can sometimes feel limiting. That's where Minecraft servers come in--offering multiplayer experiences that range from survival and creative modes to minigames and RPG-style quests. With thousands of servers available online, finding the perfect one can be overwhelming. This guide will provide essential tips to help you choose a suitable Minecraft server based on your preferences and playstyle. If you're looking for a comprehensive list of the best servers, check out this ranking that lists Minecraft servers. It features top-rated servers, ensuring you find one that suits your needs. Additionally, for official updates, game versions, and new features, visit the Minecraft website. 1. Determine Your Preferred Game Mode Before choosing a server, decide what type of Minecraft gameplay you enjoy the most. Popular server types include: * Survival (SMP) - A classic mode where players gather resources, build shelters, and fend off mobs while interacting with others. * Creative - Unlimited resources and the ability to fly, perfect for builders who love crafting masterpieces. * Hardcore - A challenging version of Survival where dying means being permanently banned from the server. * Minigames - Includes various short and exciting game modes like BedWars, SkyBlock, and Parkour challenges. * Roleplay (RPG) - Servers with custom worlds, quests, and in-depth storytelling where players can take on specific roles. 2. Check Server Population and Player Count The number of players on a server can greatly impact your experience. A high-population server means more active players, community events, and competition, but it might also lead to lag and difficulty claiming land. Smaller servers offer a tight-knit community, but they may lack frequent updates or moderation. 3. Evaluate Server Performance and Uptime No one enjoys laggy gameplay or frequent server crashes. Before committing to a Minecraft server, check for: * Server uptime (ideally 99% or higher) * Low ping (a strong connection reduces lag) * Regular maintenance and updates Many ranking sites display performance statistics, so checking reviews can help you find well-optimized servers. 4. Verify Rules and Community Guidelines Every Minecraft server has its own set of rules, which may impact your experience. Some servers enforce strict anti-griefing policies, while others allow PvP battles and raiding. Look for a server with guidelines that align with your playstyle and personal preferences. 5. Look for Custom Features and Plugins Some of the best Minecraft servers enhance gameplay by offering custom plugins, mods, and special features. These may include: * Economy systems (buying and selling items) * Custom mobs and bosses * Land-claiming to prevent griefing * Unique events, quests, and competitions If you want a unique and engaging experience, choose a server that regularly updates its content. 6. Join the Server's Community and Test It Out Before fully committing to a Minecraft server, consider joining its Discord, forums, or social media pages. This can help you: * Understand the community's culture and friendliness. * Get answers from admins about server policies. * Participate in events and discussions. Most servers allow free exploration, so joining as a guest and testing the environment can help you decide if it's the right fit. Conclusion Choosing the right Minecraft server can enhance your gaming experience and introduce you to exciting communities. By considering factors like game mode, server performance, rules, and community engagement, you can find the perfect place to enjoy endless adventures. Whether you're into survival, minigames, or roleplay, there's a Minecraft server out there that fits your needs. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 13: Dreamtime Learning, a pioneering force in transformative education, founded by renowned educator Lina Ashar, has secured an undisclosed amount pre-series, a funding from Nikhil Kamath and Abhijeet Pai's Gruhas. This investment marks a significant milestone in Dreamtime Learning's journey, and further solidifies its commitment to revolutionizing education for the future. With this funding, Dreamtime Learning aims to accelerate its mission of redefining education beyond conventional boundaries. It aims to foster a new paradigm of conscious learning, where critical thinking, adaptability, and entrepreneurial problem-solving replace outdated industrial-age methods. Positioned at the forefront of education transformation, Dreamtime Learning is poised to redefine learning through innovation, accessibility, and transformative experiences--ensuring every learner is equipped with the self-leadership, adaptability, and critical thinking skills needed for the future. India K-12 segment growth was valued at US$ 48.9 billion in 2023. It is, currently, estimated to grow at a rate of 10.7%. Projected to reach an impressive US$ 125.8 billion by 2032. This growth is driven by tech integration, hybrid learning models, government initiatives like NEP 2020, increased private investments, and a rising demand for skill-based learning. Additionally, there is a steadfast focus on purpose-driven, conscious education, emphasizing holistic development, emotional intelligence, and values-based learning. Over the past two years, Dreamtime Learning has achieved significant milestones, including launching India's first Micro-School Network in Hyderabad. It has also introduced a futuristic online school, catering to learners in 40+ countries with a personalized, real-world curriculum. Additionally, Dreamtime Learning has partnered with 60+ schools under its 'Powered by Dreamtime Learning' initiative, providing cutting-edge curriculum solutions to institutions worldwide. The capital secured will be strategically deployed to scale Dreamtime Learning's innovative micro-school model across the metro cities and in accordance with the expansion of its global online school serving over 40 countries. They will also use this money toward improving efficiency operations that enhance student-learning experiences. Additionally, Dreamtime Learning aims to deepen its footprint in the B2B education sector with its 'Powered by Dreamtime' initiative. Lina Ashar , Founder of Dreamtime Learning, expressed her excitement, "This investment is not just about financial growth--it is a validation of our mission to revolutionise education. Dreamtime Learning is built on the principles of self-mastery, adaptability, and curiosity--qualities that truly prepare learners for the future. With the backing of Nikhil Kamath and Abhijeet Pai lead Gruhas, we are set to scale our impact and reshape education for a rapidly evolving world. Nikhil is a role model for learners and parents alike, demonstrating that non-traditional learning pathways can lead to groundbreaking success." Nikhil Kamath, investor and entrepreneur, said, "Education needs to evolve with the world--learning today should be dynamic, relevant, and build real-world skills. The traditional system focuses too much on memorization and not enough on adaptability, critical thinking, and problem-solving. The future belongs to those who can learn, unlearn, and relearn at speed. As technology and industries shift, education needs to move beyond rigid structures and encourage curiosity, self-mastery, and independent thinking. The focus should be on preparing kids for what's coming next, not just what worked in the past." Sudipta Saha , Founding Chief Business Officer at Dreamtime Learning, added "This funding reaffirms our belief in the power of innovation and adaptability in education. Both Nikhil and Lina are pioneers in their respective fields--while many focus on fine-tuning existing systems, they are imagining and building what doesn't exist yet. This alignment will enable Dreamtime Learning to set new benchmarks in future-ready education while staying true to our mission of delivering world-class learning solutions." About Dreamtime Learning: Dreamtime Learning, founded by Ms. Lina Ashar, the visionary behind Billabong High and Kangaroo Kids, is a next-generation education ecosystem that seamlessly integrates technology, neuroscience, and innovative pedagogy. From online learning and tech-driven micro-schools to community-based after-school programs and B2B preschool solutions, Dreamtime Learning is committed to shaping the future of education. Dreamtime Learning Hub Dreamtime Learning School Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2640994/Lina_Nikhil_Dreamtime_Learning.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN New Delhi [India], March 13: With the aim of positioning Chile as an attractive and competitive film destination for international audiovisual productions, the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage and ProChile (Chilean export promotion agency), received a Bollywood delegation composed of three professionals, who were touring the Metropolitan, Valparaiso and Atacama regions. The delegation of Indian film producers was by producer and writer Vivek Singhania, who co-produced Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012); Sameer Dharmadhikari, actor in Raincoat (2004) and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015); and Sanjay M. Khanduri, director of Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (2007) and Kismat Love Paisa Dilli (2012). The 'FAM Trip to Chile from India' is the first action of the reactivation of the Film Commission Chile, which will be managed by ProChile and the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage. This aims to consolidate the interest of international producers in filming in Chile, connecting them with the Chilean audiovisual industry and encouraging future co-productions. Sanjay Khanduri stated that "we visited some places in Chile and we have met with people who are developing policies for successful collaboration between the two countries. Our intention is to bring some excellent scripts to Chile and we are also interested in collaborating with scriptwriters to develop stories that can be shot in Chile and at the same time make commercial sense in India". Vivek Singhania added that this is his first time in South America and that he is looking forward to visiting the locations. After visiting the locations, its aim is to shoot a romantic film using the Chilean landscape with the main objective of promoting the country as a tourist destination. Sameer Dharmadhikari added that "we were really excited to meet and collaborate with the Chilean producers". His future plan is to make a film in Spanish and Hindi that could be attractive to both the Indian and Latin American markets, involving big stars from both countries. The producers visit the streets of Valparaiso, the beaches of Vina del Mar and the Sea of Dunes and the San Jose mine, where the 33 trapped miners were trapped in 2010, in Atacama region. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.) The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday signed a crucial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft for skill development among youth in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced technology. Representatives from Microsoft and from the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation entered into the MoU to this effect in the presence of the Minister for IT, Electronics and Education, Nara Lokesh, at the State Secretariat. The major objective of this agreement is to develop basic skills in AI and advanced technologies on vocational education among secondary school children and the youth to produce skilled personnel required for IT-based and other industries in the State, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said. Nara Lokesh said that as per this agreement Microsoft will impart skill development training to over two lakh youth in just one year. This Microsoft training will help the youth grab the opportunities emerging globally in AI and advanced technology and get jobs, Lokesh asserted. Microsoft will impart training in AI and cloud computing to 500 teachers and 10,000 engineering students from 50 rural engineering colleges in the State. Also, 30,000 students from 30 ITIs will be given AI training in digital productivity. This apart, training will be given in AI skills for 40,000 youth to enable the introduction of passport to earning 2.0 in the State while another 20,000 will be given training with the cooperation of the Union Labour and Employment Ministry. Also, 100 hours of AI training will be given to 50,000 persons to improve the public services and for capacity building among Government officials. Following this, the APSSDC will implement the civil services capacity building programme. AI upskilling and reskilling will be provided to 20,000 staff members through self-learning paths, workshops and webinars on cross-departmental collaboration. AP Skill Development Corporation will provide the necessary physical infrastructure for AI training in the respective areas. Microsoft also will closely coordinate with the respective departments for imparting AI training. Microsoft will also provide necessary training and certification to introduce AI curriculum in educational institutions, Lokesh observed. The Secretary (Education), Kona Sasidhar, the Managing Director of the Skill Development Corporation, Ganesh Kumar, its Executive Director, Dinesh Kumar, the South Head of Microsoft for Government Business, Dinesh Kanakamedala, the Microsoft India South-Asia Director, Sandeep Bandwedar, and others are present. (ANI) Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], March 13: Today, one of the co-founders of Infosys, S.D. Shibulal announced that an inter family transaction of Infosys holding was executed between the family members as a block deal to balance their portfolio. The transaction was executed by ICICI Securities Private Limited as the Sole Broker. This press release is for information purposes only and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any of the shares described herein. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) The 'Raazi' actress has officially confirmed that she will be making her debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2025, joining the Indian icons who have graced the red carpet in previous years. During a recent media interaction in Mumbai, Alia shared the exciting news, saying, "I am looking forward to it." The 78th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 13 to May 24, 2025, has long been a celebrated event for Indian stars. Over the years, personalities like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Sonam Kapoor have been regular attendees. Now, Alia is set to add her name to this illustrious list. Alia made a stunning debut at the 2024 Met Gala, where she captivated audiences in a breathtaking Sabyasachi saree. The pastel-hued ensemble, adorned with intricate embellishments and featuring a dramatic 23-foot-long train, paid homage to her Indian heritage while embracing a modern, global aesthetic. The announcement came as Alia celebrated an early birthday with the press ahead of her 32nd birthday on March 15. She was joined by her husband, actor Ranbir Kapoor, as she cut a cake and posed for pictures with the paparazzi. (ANI) Harvey Weinstein appeared in a Manhattan court on Wednesday, as his attorneys and prosecutors laid out a preview of what to expect at his upcoming trial, scheduled to start in April. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the trial is expected to be lengthy and complex. Prosecutors anticipate that testimony will take around a month and feature 25 witnesses. During the hearing, Judge Curtis J. Farber ruled on several motions, including a decision to exclude evidence related to Weinstein's 2020 conviction reversal and acquittal on certain charges. The judge also ruled that Weinstein's health condition will not be allowed to be brought up in court unless he takes the stand to testify, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Prosecutors were granted permission to call an expert witness to testify on the psychological experience of rape and sexual assault, including why victims may wait to report an assault and potentially maintain a relationship with the assailant. However, attorneys for Weinstein are seeking to include testimony from an expert on issues with memory as it relates to the alleged sexual assault and will continue to submit written arguments on the matter. One of Weinstein's attorneys, Jennifer Bonjean, argued that the '#MeToo' movement has led to a greater understanding of power imbalances and why victims may stay silent, and therefore, expert testimony on these issues is no longer necessary. However, prosecutors countered that this testimony is still relevant and necessary to help the jury understand the complexities of the case. Weinstein's attorney, Arthur Aidala, expressed concerns about jury selection and how to ensure that jurors are not already aware of the case or biased against Weinstein. "People are going to know about this case," Aidala said, as per The Hollywood Reporter. Weinstein appeared in court after he requested that the judge move up the April trial date due to his poor health. He was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and appeared pale but alert. The former mogul faces a retrial on charges related to his 2020 rape conviction in New York, which was overturned in April. He has been charged with three sex crimes and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. (ANI) BJP MP and actor Hema Malini on Thursday attended Echoes of an Era event at Sri Sri University in Cuttack. She is also set to perform at the annual function of Pandit Harisprasad Chaurasia Gurukul on the occasion of Holi. Speaking with ANI, Malini said, "I am here on the occasion of Holi, I have a show here tomorrow at the annual function of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Gurukul. It is celebrated on Holi every year. They have invited me this year. So, I have come to perform there. Ratikant ji (Guru Ratikant Mohapatra) has invited me here at Sri Sri University. He is a good friend of mine. We have known each other for years. We have had good relations with Kelucharan Mohapatra. I always feel good whenever I come to Odisha...There is a lot of greenery here. It is a very calm and peaceful place...The day after tomorrow, I will go to Jagannath Puri and have the darshan of Lord Jagannath before heading to Mumbai..." This year, Holi is falling on March 14. (ANI) On the eve of his 60th birthday, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan took some time off his schedule and held a meet-and-greet session with the media in Mumbai. From sharing anecdotes from his life to cutting his birthday cake, Aamir spent quality time with media members. Aamir looked uber cool in a black T-shirt that he paired he with blue denims. Earlier, on Wednesday night, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan were spotted arriving at Aamir's house. Shah Rukh managed to dodge the paparazzi by staying hidden behind his security. In the visuals captured by the shutterbugs, Salman could be seen exiting Aamir's residence with him. Recently, at a media event, Aamir talked about Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan hits that he rejected. At the event, he was asked about the films he regrets giving up. To which, Aamir said, "Darr jo mein kar raha tha, phir meine nahi kiya... That was for other reasons, not for creative reasons. And even now I feel woh sahi hi hua because jo sur Yash ji pakad rahe the, woh Shah Rukh was suiting better. In retrospect, agar woh main karta toh kuch aur hi ho jata because I was looking at it differently. I don't really regret that because woh film achi bani aur kamyab bhi hui...... Main uss sur mein nahi kelne wala that. Aamir accepted K Vijayendra Prasad, who wrote Bajrangi Bhaijaan script, first approached him. "I heard the script and told the writer that it would suit Salman Khan better. That was my reaction. I liked the script of the film, but asked them to take it to Salman. The writer, however, didn't go to Salman, he went to Kabir Khan. And then Kabir went to Salman. But that was my reaction. Even for Munna Bhai, Raju wanted me to play a part. The day he came to me with the script, he said that things have changed and the film is more of a sequel to the first part," he shared. In the coming months, Aamir will be seen headlining Sitaare Zameen Par. (ANI) Actress Amanda Seyfried opened up on why shooting for 'Mamma Mia! 3' has not started yet. Ahead of the premiere of her limited series, Long Bright River, which she also executive produced, she talked about a third Mamma Mia! movie. "Producer Judy Craymer is always working on it, but Universal still has to release Wicked 2. The first Wicked had to stall when Mamma Mia! 2 was getting made," she said, as reported by People. "It's an either/or situation with musicals," shared Seyfried, adding, "And I have this theory that Universal just knows we're going to do it, so they're not in any rush." "And it's just going to cost double," she added. "Show me the money!" the actress joked before explaining the scheduling logistics behind the movie musical's delay, according to People. 'Mamma Mia!' is a 2008 jukebox musical romance comedy film directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Catherine Johnson, based on her book for the 1999 musical of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast, including Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Meryl Streep, and Julie Walters. The film's story revolves around Seyfried's Sophie, a young woman living on a fictional Greek island who invites three men--one of whom she believes may be her father--to her wedding in hopes of connecting with her biological father, according to the outlet. 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' is a 2018 jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is the sequel to the 2008 film 'Mamma Mia!', which in turn is based on the 1999 musical of the same name using the music of ABBA. The film features Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Andy Garcia, Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters, Cher, Meryl Streep, Alexa Davies, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine, and Hugh Skinner. While nothing has been officially confirmed, Baranski shared in August 2024 that Craymer was "already planning" for a third movie, adding, "She gave me the narrative plotline of how it's going to happen. That's all I can say!," reported People. (ANI) After winning Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) for 'Laapataa Ladies' at IIFA 2025, actor and politician Ravi Kishan met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to seek his blessings. Taking to his Instagram handle, he posted a video in which he can be seen meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, "With the blessings of Hon'ble Chief Minister Pujya Shri @myogi_adityanath ji Maharaj, I could continue my journey in the film industry and serving the "devtulya janta" of Gorakhpur. It is my privilege to have your blessings in this glorious moment of prestigious awards like IIFA. This honor is the result of your blessings and immense affection of the people of Gorakhpur," he wrote in the caption. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHJBHoUNgHG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Meanwhile, CM Adityanath along with BJP MP Kishan on Thursday evening attended the Holika Dahan program in Gorakhpur and showered the people with flower petals. Addressing the people, CM Yogi mentioned the results of the UP Police recruitment in which over 60,000 youths, including over 12,000 women, were selected to join the force. "The festival of Holi, full of excitement and joy, is being celebrated across the country. I would like to first extend my heartfelt wishes for the Holi festival to the people of the state. Today is an extremely important day. Just a while ago, the results for 60,244 UP Police recruitment were announced, and so many youths have now got the opportunity to become part of the UP Police force. I heartily congratulate all 60,244 of them. Among this number, more than 12,000 daughters of the state have been selected," CM Yogi Adityanath said. The Uttar Pradesh CM also took to X and extended his wishes to the candidates selected in the State police force. "Hearty congratulations to all the 60,244 brilliant and energetic youth selected for the post of constable civil police in Uttar Pradesh Police. It is a matter of great joy that through this selection process, 12,048 daughters are going to become a part of@Uppolice," he said. "In this selection examination, which was conducted in a fair and transparent manner and ensuring full compliance with the reservation provisions, a total of 12,937 candidates of general category, 32,052 candidates against 16,264 posts of other backward classes, 14,026 candidates against 12,650 posts of Scheduled Castes and 1229 candidates against 1204 posts of Scheduled Tribes have been successful," CM Yogi informed. He further said that this success is the result of candidate's intelligence, talent and skills, the blessings of their teachers and parents. "Infinite best wishes to all of you for becoming a part of Uttar Pradesh Police. Congratulations to all the officers/employees of Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment & Promotion Board who were involved in the successful organisation of the biggest constable recruitment examination in the history of Uttar Pradesh," Adityanath said. (ANI) Ahead of the Holi celebrations in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, the administration has carried out intense security preparations around the city to ensure peace, and police is monitoring social media and constantly surveying through CCTVs and drone cameras. The Inspector General of Ayodhya Range, Praveen Kumar mentioned that 'Peace committees' have also met in all districts in the area to ensure "no tensions" occur between communities. "Peace committees have met in all districts before Holi, we are in contact with everyone. Surveillance is being done through drone cameras and CCTV. QRT has been deployed at different places," Ayodhya IG told ANI. Confident in the celebrations going smoothly, he added, "I am confident that whoever is there, whether it is an officer or anyone else, I am confident that we will maintain full vigilance." With the festival of colours set to happen tomorrow, people from all over the nation flocked to the markets to grab the colours and 'pichkaris'. Markets are abuzz with people shopping for 'gulal' and 'abeer', as well as pichkaris, the traditional water guns used to splash coloured water. Similar visuals have arrived from Ayodhya where preparations for Holi going on in the markets in Ayodhya as people flock to the marketplaces for festival-related shopping. These preparations come amid the Uttar Pradesh Police ensuring that no communal tensions flare up in sensitive areas, such as Sambhal, during festivals, as the Jumma Namaz and Holi are set to happen on the same day. Earlier on Wednesday, in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, Jama Masjid was covered with a tarpaulin sheet following instructions from the local administration. Sambhal ASP Shreesh Chandra said all 10 religious places that fall on the traditional route taken by the Holi procession will be covered so that no sentiments are hurt. "All 10 religious places that fall on the traditional route taken by the Holi procession will be covered so that no sentiments are hurt. There have been talks and agreement between the two sides on this," Chandra told ANI. In view of the festival with intensified security measures, activating district intelligence networks and directing all personnel to remain vigilant, the police has also issued a directive of not allowing any "new traditions" during festivals. The directive said, "No new tradition should be allowed to be started during festivals. All festivals should be celebrated traditionally...Anti-social elements should be identified in advance, and effective preventive action should be taken against them. After reviewing the disputes and cases related to Holi in the past years, effective preventive action should be taken accordingly." Senior officers have been instructed to brief all officials, including those at police stations, outposts, and beat levels. (ANI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal came out heavily against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accusing him of 'misbehaving' with the farmers. She also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party, Aam Aam Aadmi Party and Congress for not fulfilling the promises of farmers. "All the three parties made big promises to the farmers. When Congress' Captain Amrinder Singh was the CM, farmers were sitting outside Delhi for more than 1.5 years and more than 700 farmers lost their lives", Harsimrat Kaur Badal told ANI on Wednesday. "This AAP government also made big promises to the protesting farmers. It has been three years since they formed government in the state, nothing has happened. The CM misbehaves with the farmers... Is he a CM or a gangster?" Badal added. Last week, thousands of farmers gathered at the Golden Gate in Amritsar to protest against the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab. Speaking to ANI, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said that they would burn effigies of the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government in different districts of the state to mark their protest. Pandher also demanded the release of farmers who were allegedly arrested by the Punjab police. "We will have programs in around 18 districts. At 21 locations in Amritsar alone, we will burn effigies of the Bhagwant Mann government. Today's program will be done at hundreds of locations across Punjab. SKM's Punjab Union's leader was detained along with the leadership of Kisan Majdoor Morcha...So, today's program is against the human rights violations of farmers...It will be done peacefully...We demand that all arrested farmers should be released," Pandher said. (ANI) Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board President, Darakhshan Andrabi expressed her support for Union Home Ministry's decision to ban Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM) and Awami Action Committee. She further called for a ban on other groups who might disturb the peace and happiness of the people in the valley. "The ban imposed by the Home Ministry is very good because we do not want that there should be any disturbance in peace," Andrabi told ANI. Saying that the people have been able to "breathe peacefully" due to the decrease in militancy, she called for a ban on any such similar groups. "We have been able to breathe peacefully here for the last 2-5 years. We want that there should be a ban on other such groups who want to disturb the peace of Jammu and Kashmir so that the people here live in peace and are happy," the J-K Waqf Board President added. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Tuesday (March 11) that it has designated the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM) and Jammu and Kashmir-based Awami Action Committee (AAC) as an unlawful organization and imposed an immediate five-year ban on it accusing the organization of engaging in activities that threaten the country's sovereignty, integrity, and security. As per an official notification, the AAC, led by Umar Farooq, has been involved in supporting terrorist activities and spreading anti-India propaganda to fuel separatism in Jammu and Kashmir. The ministry stated that the group has been mobilizing funds to support secessionist, separatist, and terrorist operations in the region. Additionally, it accused the AAC of showing blatant disregard for India's constitutional authority by promoting unrest, encouraging armed insurgency, and spreading hatred against the government. According to a notification, JKIM, under the leadership of Masroor Abbas Ansari, has been involved in supporting terrorist activities and spreading anti-India propaganda to fuel separatism in Jammu and Kashmir. It further stated that the organization and its members have been raising funds to facilitate unlawful activities, including separatist and terrorist operations in the region. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also underlined that any organisation found to be threatening the nation's peace and sovereignty will be "bound to face a crushing blow." Posting on X, Shah said, "Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen' and 'Awami Action Committee' have been declared unlawful associations under UAPA. These organizations were found inciting people to cause law and order situations, posing a threat to the unity and integrity of Bharat. Anyone found involved in activities against the nation's peace, order, and sovereignty is bound to face the crushing blow of the Modi government." (ANI) Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to "Talibanize" the state, saying that the party is using Minister Nitesh Rane to give "provocative statements" in line with their agenda. The party's attack comes amidst repeated statements by Maharashtra minister Nitish Rane's statements being embroiled in controversy and drawing ire from opposition parties. "Maharashtra has a glorious history of great saints and noble leaders. However, individuals with a particular ideology are deliberately spreading false information, distorting history, and polluting the social environment. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj established Swarajya by including warriors from all 18 castes. He never fostered hatred against anyone. However, the BJP is now misusing his name to disrupt Maharashtra's social harmony," said Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshavardhan Sapkal. "As part of this agenda, provocative statements are being made using Nitesh Rane as a front. BJP's sinister plot to Talibanize Maharashtra must be recognized by the people," Sapkal's statement added. Accusing Nitesh Rane, the state's Minister of Fisheries and Port Development, of making inflammatory and divisive statements daily. Sapkal said, "This minister is openly dictating from whom people should or should not buy meat. Who gave him the authority to decide what someone should eat or from whom they should purchase? Whether it is Halal, Jhatka, or anything else, that decision lies with the people, not with the minister." The Congress' statement comes amidst the Maharashtra government introducing Malhar certification for meat, to keep meat eating in line with "Hindu ideology". Rane has called it a "good alternative to Mutton" for Hindus, alleging that before people "were forced to use Halal meat." Sapkal further stated that "Rane lacks knowledge, understanding, and depth," and is merely exploiting his proximity to power by making public statements like "My boss is at Sagar Bungalow, and no one can touch me." Sapkal further alleged that Rane's "sole objective is to spread hatred in society." Continuing his attack, the Congress state president alleged that Rane's goons had assaulted a young man named Sheikh Ashraf in Kankavli, forcing him to chant "Jai Shri Ram." "Despite the court's directive for action, no steps have been taken. Rane continues to make openly communal statements, attempting to incite riots. Yet, there has been no action against him. Are the Chief Minister, Home Minister, and police department asleep?" Sapkal questioned. According to Sapkal, Rane's claim that "Shivaji Maharaj's army did not have a single Muslim soldier" is a blatant display of his "ignorance". "His statements clearly show he lacks any historical knowledge. In reality, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's army included key Muslim figures: Sarnobat Noor Khan Beg, artillery chief Ibrahim Khan, bodyguard Ibrahim Siddhi, and legal advisor Qazi Haider. During Maharaj's meeting with Afzal Khan, one of his ten bodyguards was Ibrahim Siddhi. Additionally, when Maharaj was imprisoned in Agra, the Muslim servant Madari Mehter, along with Hiroji Farjad, played a crucial role in his escape. Numerous other Muslim soldiers were part of Shivaji's army," read the party's statement. Sapkal accused Nitesh Rane of trampling upon the Constitution and the law by consistently making inflammatory and communal remarks. He demanded that the Chief Minister clarify whether he supports Rane's actions and, if not, immediately expel him from the cabinet. After the comments made by Nitesh Rane, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar emphasized the importance of communal harmony in the state, urging both the opposition and ruling parties to avoid making statements that could disrupt peace. Speaking to the media today, Pawar, reflecting on the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, stressed that Shivaji's vision of Hindavi Swarajya was inclusive, bringing together people from all communities. "Some people make statements that Maharashtra cannot tolerate. Be it the opposition or the ruling party, Maharashtra cannot afford this. All the dignitaries who led Maharashtra tried to maintain communal harmony. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did not discriminate between castes or communities while establishing Hindavi Swarajya," the Deputy CM said. Pawar added, "He took everyone along and established Hindavi Swarajya. The new generation should always remember that. Members from both sides should ensure that no statement causes law and order problems." Ajit Pawar also highlighted the patriotism of Maharashtra's Muslim community, noting their historical contributions alongside Hindu leaders in the state's fight for independence and unity. (ANI) The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill 2024, which proposes the decentralisation of governance in Bengaluru City through multiple corporations, was passed in the Legislative Council on Wednesday. Replying to the Council members who raised some concerns on the Bill, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, said, "The Opposition members have given good suggestions. We are trying to lay a foundation for the future Bengaluru City like Kempe Gowda laid the foundation for the old city." "Bengaluru is a global city today due to the contribution of many people in the past. It needs to wear a new look. This Bill has been formulated after a lot of deliberations," he added. "Leader of the Opposition Narayana Swamy raised the issue of planning. We have introduced self declaration scheme for building plan approvals. We have also not made any changes to Article 74. As it is not possible to transfer revenues from a local body to another, it has been decided to provide government support for economically weaker local bodies," Shivakumar said. "CT Ravi raised the issue of BDA and BMRDA. The planning authorities will have jurisdiction over the Greater Bengaluru region. We will take all the members into confidence while formulating more rules for the Greater Bengaluru authority. The CM will also have to preside over the meetings at regular intervals as many projects need financial clearance," he said. "Bengaluru is growing fast, and people don't go back once they settle here. During Kempe Gowda's time, Bengaluru was 24 square kilometres, but it is now over 700 square kilometres. The future of Bengaluru is our responsibility, and this Bill needs approval from all, cutting across party lines," he added. All utility companies and agencies concerning governance in Bengaluru have been brought under the Greater Bengaluru Authority. He replied to MLC Saravana on the number of corporations in Bengaluru: "There is a provision for up to seven corporations, but it won't be seven to start with. (ANI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attended the Dolyatra and Holi Milan Utsav celebrations in Kolkata. Sharing her experience on X, CM Banerjee said that in Bengal, every festival is celebrated with enthusiasm, where the spirit of brotherhood, fraternity, and harmonious coexistence reigns supreme. "In Bengal, every festival is celebrated with the same verve, fervor, and enthusiasm. We observe all rituals with utmost devotion. To borrow from Kobiguru, Bengal is a land "not broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls." Here, the spirit of brotherhood, fraternity, and harmonious coexistence reigns supreme. In keeping with this spirit, I participated in the Dolyatra and Holi Milan Utsav celebrations," CM Mamata Banerjee said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reflecting on the celebrations, said she was captivated by the performances that showcased Bengal's rich cultural heritage. "I was captivated by the artistic brilliance of the performers, who brought the stage alive with music and dance. Deeply moved by their offering, I joined in their dandiya and bhangra dance, embracing the joy and unity that define our celebrations," CM Mamata Banerjee said. Dolo Jatra is a Hindu festival celebrated during the Holi in Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and West Bengal. On Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari for his remarks in the Assembly, accusing the BJP of targeting Muslims during the holy month of Ramzan to divert attention from economic and trade issues. Speaking in the Assembly, CM Banerjee said, "Democracy is permanent, but the chair is not. Respect the chair. How can you think of throwing out Muslim MLAs? They (BJP) are targeting the Muslims because this is the Roza month, and they don't like this. They are trying to distract the attention of the country from economic and trade collapse by making communal statements. I'm a Hindu, and I don't need certification from the BJP." BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday had said, "Firstly, I will defeat Biman Bandhopadhyay (Speaker), then Mamata Banerjee. After that, those Muslim MLAs from TMC--when the BJP government comes--will be thrown out on this road." (ANI) Former Haryana Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday downplayed the BJP's performance in the Haryana Municipal Elections, stating that the party had won previously as well. "BJP won before also. What is new in this?... We never said that we contested these elections seriously... Even when I was the Chief Minister, I never participated in the Panchayat elections. Only brotherhood works in these elections... The result would have been a loss for us if we had a seat (in local bodies) and lost it... Mostly independent candidates stand in these elections," he said. On Wednesday, as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept nine mayoral posts in the municipal elections, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the local body government and the triple-engine government at the state level would play an important role in releasing the vision of Viksit Bharat (developed India). "Our local body government and this triple-engine government will play a crucial role in fulfilling PM Narendra Modi's vision of 'Viksit Bharat, '" Saini told reporters earlier. Expressing gratitude to the people of the state, he said that the results of the local body elections were a "stamp of approval" on the triple-engine government of Haryana. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana has swept the elections to local bodies, with its candidates winning mayoral posts in nine places except Manesar. The voting took place on March 2. Earlier, Parveen Joshi, the Mayor-elect from Faridabad, on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the people and said that she was aware of the difficulties and necessities faced by them. Asserting that people's issues would be resolved, she apprised people of the assurances given by Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar, saying there would be no obstacles in implementing schemes for the people. "I am aware of the difficulties and necessities of the people. There are issues with drinking water, garbage, and sewage. Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar has given assurance that we will work together and that there will be no obstacles to the implementation of schemes. People have placed their trust in me...I express my gratitude to them. I will resolve their issues one by one," Joshi said. As the counting of votes for municipal elections concluded in Faridabad, the Haryana Election Commission website declared Parveen Joshi of the BJP the winner of the mayoral post. She defeated Congress's Lata Rani by a margin of 3,16,852 votes. (ANI) A jewellery shop in Lucknow is selling a special silver Pichkari (water gun) and small buckets worth Rs 1 lakh ahead of the Holi festival tomorrow. Speaking to ANI, Jeweller Adesh Kumar Jain said, "This is an old tradition in which this 'Pichkari' is gifted among a newly married couple's family, where the bride's family gifts it to the groom's family as a pledge... Its price ranges from about Rs 8000 to Rs 1 lakh..." The Jeweller explained that gifting silver Pichkaris is an old tradition. In some families, the bride's family gifts it to the groom's family. The price of these Pichkaris ranges from Rs 8,000 to Rs 1 lakh. "This year was special because, for the first time, intricate carvings, meenakari work, and stone inlays were introduced, which have been highly appreciated," Jain said. Regarding sales, Jain added, 'The response has been great. So far, at least 1,000 Pichkaris have been sold in Lucknow. Since we run a wholesale business, many shopkeepers have purchased from us to sell to their customers. I believe that in the coming years, this wedding Pichkari tradition will become even more popular.'" As Holi approaches, many people are showing interest in these unique and traditional water guns. Meanwhile, a sweet shop in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda has come up with the unique idea of the 'Golden Gujiya'. Amid the skyrocketing sweet prices during this festive season, this shop has created an exclusive sweet, priced at Rs 50,000 per kilogram and Rs 1300 per piece. Speaking to ANI, the shop manager, Shivakant Chaturvedi explained the reasons behind the price. He stated that the Golden Gujiya has a layer of 24-carat-gold and a special dry fruit filling which makes it special. "Our 'Golden Gujiya' has a layering of 24-carat gold. The stuffing has special dry fruits. 24-carat gold and silver are also eaten. This 'guj]iya' costs Rs 50,000 per kg and Rs 1300 per piece," he said. Traditional Gujiyas are sweet dumplings typically filled with khoya, nuts, and dried fruits. What sets this version apart is the generous use of edible gold leaf, which gives it a distinctive golden hue. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after concluding his two-day State visit to Mauritius, on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Dr Navinchandra Ramgool and the people and Government of Mauritius for their warm hospitality. PM Modi also shared highlights from the second day of his visit, which included attending the Mauritius National Day parade in Port Louis and offering prayers at the sacred Ganga Talao. People had lined up the roads for kilometres as PM Modi went to the Ganga Talao in Mauritius, to catch a glimpse of him... Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday returned to the national capital, after concluding his two-day State Visit to Mauritius. On Wednesday, during the second day of his visit, Prime Minister Modi was conferred with Mauritius'' highest civilian award by President Dharam Gokhool. This marked the second time PM Modi was invited as the Chief Guest for Mauritius'' National Day, a role he first held in 2015. PM Modi also offered prayers at the Ganga Talao and mixed holy water brought from Prayagraj Mahakumbh. In addition, PM Modi received the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, the highest national award of Mauritius. Thousands of people gathered at the venue, braving heavy rain, to witness PM Modi accept the award on the National Day. "I express my heartfelt gratitude for being conferred the highest national award of Mauritius. This is not just my honour; it is the honour of 1.4 billion Indians. It is a tribute to the centuries-old cultural and historical bonds of kinship between India and Mauritius. It is an acknowledgment of our shared commitment to regional peace, progress, security, and sustainable development. And it is a symbol of the shared hopes and aspirations of the Global South," PM Modi said while receiving the award. PM Modi, along with Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, also jointly inaugurated the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation. PM Modi emphasized that the institute will serve as a hub for learning and research. (ANI) A large number of tourists have thronged Guldanda meadow in Bhaderwah to experience the snowfall. The scenic destination has witnessed a surge in visitors, boosting local tourism and winter activities following the restoration of the Bhaderwah-Basholi-Pathankot National Highway. Tourists visiting Bhaderwah in Jammu and Kashmir are captivated by its pristine snowfall, with many describing the experience as a dream come true. Families and groups of friends were seen throwing snowballs at each other while children excitedly built snowmen. Some tourists lay on the soft snow, making snow angels, while others capture the breathtaking scenery on their phones and cameras. Many are seen trekking through the snow-covered meadows, enjoying the crisp mountain air and the serene beauty of the landscape. The joy and excitement are evident as visitors laugh, cheer, and soak in the winter wonderland experience. After witnessing its breathtaking snow-clad mountains and untouched beauty, visitors drew comparisons to popular winter destinations like Manali and Kasol. A tourist in Bhaderwah spoke to ANI and said, "I wanted to visit Kashmir, and everybody suggested that I come to Bhaderwah to watch the snow. I had only seen such a scenic place in movies, and today, I got to witness it. I am really ecstatic after watching the snow." Another tourist said, "I had watched such snow-clad moutains and the beauty of the landscape in my dreams and watched it myself here today. Everybody should come and witness this." "We have been to Manali and other areas where there is snowfall, but the snow here in Bhaderwah is much cleaner and beautiful," said another tourist. "We have come here from Katra. Me and my 5 brothers and I were supposed to go to Kashmir, but we witnessed so much snow here that we do not wish to leave this place," said another. The Bhaderwah-Basholi-Pathankot National Highway, also known as NH-44 (formerly NH-204), is a significant road connecting Bhaderwah in Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab, passing through Basholi. The highway starts in Bhaderwah, a town in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, travels through Basholi, and terminates in Pathankot, a town in Punjab. This highway is a crucial link between the Jammu and Kashmir region and the rest of India, facilitating transportation and trade. (ANI) "It is a matter of great pride for every Indian that Mauritius has given the highest honour of its nation to our country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. It is certainly a sign that India's popularity is increasing around the world under the leadership of PM Modi...," he said. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Mauritius's Highest National Award, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Mauritius's Highest National Award, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. Thousands of people gathered at the venue, braving the heavy rain to see their leader accept the award on the National Day. "I express my heartfelt gratitude for being conferred the highest national award of Mauritius. This is not just my honour, it is the honour of 1.4 billion Indians. It is a tribute to the centuries-old cultural and historical bonds of kinship between India and Mauritius. It is an acknowledgement of our said commitment to regional peace, progress, security and sustainable development. And it is a symbol of the shared hopes and aspirations of the global south," PM Modi said while receiving the award. PM Modi also discussed raising the partnership between both nations to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership with Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam. PM Modi also offered prayers at the Ganga Talao in Mauritius and also mixed Ganga water brought from Prayagraj Mahakumbh. PM Modi, along with Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, jointly inaugurated the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation. (ANI) ''Widows'' Holi'' - a distinctive cultural celebration held in Vrindavan has become a symbol of transformative change and stands as a vibrant testament to inclusion and compassion. Vrindavan, known as the place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood, has been a shelter for widowed Hindu women for centuries. Often rejected by society, these widows face hardships and rely on support from the government, NGOs, and the town''s numerous temples and ashrams. This kind of tradition marks a significant change in tradition, promoting inclusion and compassion. It allows widows, who were once expected to avoid festivals, to take part in the colorful festivities with happiness. All over the country, the holi festivities have started. With just one day left for the festival of colours, people from all over the nation have flocked to the markets to grab the colours and pichkaris. Homes are being decked up with vibrant decorations, and sweets like gujiyas are being prepared in kitchens across the country. People are stocking up on their festive essentials. Earlier, on Monday, devotees celebrated with joy during the Rangbhari Ekadashi festival at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple premises. This vibrant event marks the start of the Holi festivities and is observed five days prior to the main celebration of Holi. The atmosphere is filled with color, devotion, and excitement as participants take part in the joyous occasion. Meanwhile, the traditional ''Lathmar'' Holi festivities commenced in Nandagaon on Sunday, marking the beginning of the week-long Holi celebrations in Mathura. Celebrations also kicked off with Laddu Mar Holi at the Shri Ladliji Maharaj temple in Barsana, where devotees threw sweets at each other in a joyous ritual. This year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated Rangotsav 2025 at Shri Radha Bihari Inter College in Barsana, Mathura, and showered flower petals on the gathered crowd. During his visit, Adityanath said that after the development activities carried out in Ayodhya and Prayagraj, it was now the turn of Mathura and Vrindavan to witness the revival, and the state government would spare no effort to develop the region. He offered prayers at Shri Radha Bihari Inter College in Barsana, Mathura, after inaugurating Rangotsav 2025. CM Yogi said, "Those who come to Barsana are getting the facility of the ropeway for the first time. Development works worth 100 crores are ongoing. Under PM Modi''s guidance, Kashi has been revamped. Ayodhya has been revived. Now it is the turn of Mathura, Vrindavan, and Barsana, Govardhan. There won''t be any stone unturned to develop this region. Now there is a BJP government in Delhi, and Yamuna will be cleaned up." (ANI) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Thursday held a protest at ITO and put up a banner over BJP's free LPG cylinder promise. Speaking to ANI, AAP leader Kuldeep Kumar criticized the BJP, calling it a 'jumla' party for failing to deliver on promises of free cylinders and Rs 2500 to Delhi residents. "Modi ji had given a guarantee to the people of Delhi, JP Nadda ji, BJP had given a guarantee that women would receive free cylinders by Holi. Today is Choti Holi, Holi has arrived, but the cylinders have not. The people of Delhi are waiting for the free cylinders. In the end, Modi ji's guarantee has turned out to be a 'jumla.' First, they lied to the women, then they lied about the cylinders. BJP is a 'jumla' party. The people of Delhi neither got free cylinders nor Rs 2500. Our protest will continue until the people of Delhi get free cylinders." Speaking to ANI, AAP leader Praveen Kumar criticized the BJP-led Delhi government for failing to deliver on its promise of free gas cylinders on Holi, calling every BJP promise a "jumla". "It is very sad that the women, who voted for BJP thinking they would get free cylinders, have not received them yet. Holi is tomorrow, but till now people have not received free cylinders, and they still have to pay Rs 1000. Every promise of BJP is turning out to be a 'jumla,' whether it's about giving Rs 2500 to women or providing free cylinders. These two promises have proven to be 'jumlas,'" Kumar said. On Wednesday, AAP workers held a protest against the BJP's promise of giving free LPG cylinders to women during Holi. Delhi Assembly Leader of the Opposition Atishi criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to deliver on their promises to Delhi's women, including the Rs 2,500 aid and free LPG cylinders. Speaking to ANI, Atishi said, " BJP and PM Modi gave several promises to the people of Delhi. The promise of Rs 2500 turned out to be 'Jhumla. ' Women of Delhi were supposed to get free cylinders during Holi. Only 2 days are left for Holi and the women of Delhi are waiting for the free cylinders. In different parts of Delhi, women are protesting with empty cylinders against the BJP and their fake promises." In its party manifesto for the Delhi Assembly election, the BJP had promised to provide monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 for women in Delhi under the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana. The party also promised to support low-income families by providing LPG cylinders at Rs 500 to women from such households. Additionally, the party also promised to give one free cylinder each on the occasions of Holi and Diwali. On March 8, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the BJP-led government in the national capital would fulfil all its promises. Addressing an event on the occasion of International Women's Day, the Delhi CM said that she will work for the welfare and security of women. "We will work for the welfare and security of women. We will deliver everything that we have promised. We will work to enhance the security of women," CM Gupta said. (ANI) The Army posted on X, "The Indian Army is set to deploy the indigenously developed Sherp All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) for peacekeeping operations to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, significantly enhancing mobility in extreme terrain." "The Sherp ATVs are engineered for superior adaptability and unmatched amphibious capabilities, making them ideal for the challenging environments encountered in South Sudan. As a force-multiplying asset, the Sherp ATV will bolster rapid response capabilities, improve high-mobility logistics, and extend the operational reach of UN peacekeepers," said the Army on X. "This deployment showcases India's commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat and demonstrates the nation's growing defence capabilities on a global stage, reinforcing tactical mobility and India's contribution to international peace and security," added the post. Meanwhile, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel posted at the India-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer showered 'Gulal' and participated in celebrations ahead of tomorrow's Holi festival. Visuals showed the personnel exchanging sweet embraces and eating sweets. They also played with colours and danced their hearts out. (ANI) Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on Thursday posted at border outposts celebrated Holi with great enthusiasm. To make the experience memorable, the senior officers and jawans make special arrangements ahead of the festivities. Amid the festive cheers of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai," officers personally applied colors to the soldiers and shared sweets with them. In a show of camaraderie, the soldiers lifted their officers onto their shoulders, chanting slogans of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai." The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel danced joyfully, covered in gulal, creating a lively atmosphere along the Indo-Pak border. The women soldiers not only danced to the rhythm of the DJ but also enjoyed the festivities with their fellow soldiers. Speaking on the occasion, BSF DIG Yogendra Singh Rathore said, "BSF is the first line of defense. We may be away from our families, but these soldiers are our family. We are dancing, singing, and celebrating Holi together. To ensure that our personnel, who guard the borders hundreds of kilometers away from their homes, do not feel alone on this occasion, the headquarters made special arrangements, including colors, sweets, and festive meals." Another BSF jawan expressed his commitment to duty while celebrating the festival, saying, "Holi is a festival of beautiful colors. We are stationed at the borders so that our fellow citizens can celebrate without any worries. This is our small family here, and we celebrate with our brothers in uniform. BSF is a mini India, where soldiers from all religions and backgrounds come together to mark the festival." A woman jawan said, "BSF soldiers from Odisha, West Bengal, and Maharashtra echoed similar sentiments, ...We stand shoulder to shoulder at the borders to protect the nation. This place is our home, where we celebrate Holi with people from different faiths. It fills us with pride that we are standing on Indian soil, safeguarding the nation, and celebrating Holi together." Another woman, Jawan, shared her excitement, saying, "We thoroughly enjoyed the festival, had great fun, and celebrated Holi with our BSF brothers like a family. In fact, we had a better Holi here at the border than at home. We danced, played with colors, and relished sweets sent by the headquarters. Holi symbolizes brotherhood, and here, we are celebrating with friends from all over India while fulfilling our duty of securing the border." BSF Deputy Commandant Pratap Singh highlighted the sacrifice and dedication of the force, stating, "When the entire nation sleeps peacefully, we stay awake to protect the borders. Today, as the country celebrates Holi, we are here celebrating with our personnel. We are their family, their brothers, and their support system." (ANI) Police said that the incident occurred when the victim, identified as Selvi, came in contact with an exposed electrical connection while attempting to collect water. According to initial reports, electrical cables were running along the road and were linked to a nearby pipeline, which may have caused the fatal accident. Outraged by the incident, local residents gathered in protest, demanding immediate action from the authorities to address the hazardous wiring. Chamrajpet police rushed to the spot and have begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Further details are awaited. (ANI) Days after Kannada actress Ranya Rao was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials at the Bengaluru International Airport for smuggling gold, the agency has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case. The CBI has filed an FIR in the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case on the complaint of Abhishek Chandra Gupta, Additional Director of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). The FIR has been registered under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS) on the complaint of Abhishek Chandra Gupta. The complaint discloses the cognizable offences U/s 7 and 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 20148) r/w 61(2) of BNS. According to the complaint, after Ranya Rao's arrest on March 3, two foreign nationals were also arrested on March 6 from Mumbai airport for attempting to smuggle 21.28 Kg of gold into India worth Rs. 18.92 crores, as per the complaint. Abhishek Chandra Gupta, Additional Director of DRI, in his complaint has said that these cases involving passengers making trips from Dubai and attempting to smuggle gold in large quantities points to a "possible nexus" with coordinated smuggling syndicate, possibly operating from Dubai (UAE). In Ranya Rao's case, she travelled to Dubai multiple times while the two arrested foreign nationals have previously arrived Mumbai airport multiple times. Gupta in his complaint has also suspected the possibility of involvement of public servants and others. "The above two cases detected in quick succession involving passengers making trips from Dubai, the attempted smuggling of large quantities of gold into India and the high frequency of these visits involving Indian and foreign nationals, points to a possible nexus with coordinated smuggling syndicate, possibly operating from Dubai (UAE). This may have larger national and international ramifications. The possibility of involvement of unknown public servants of the Govt. of India and unknown others, with such coordinated network, needs to be investigated," the complaint said. Actress Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 from Kempe Gowda International Airport Bengaluru for attempting to smuggle 14.2 Kg gold worth Rs 12.56 crores. According to the complaint, searches at her residence led to recovery of gold jewellery worth Rs. 2.06 Crore and Indian currency amounting to Rs. 2.67 Crore. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, AS Ponnanna, the legal advisor to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the CBI's jurisdiction in Karnataka is virtually "non-existent" unless the government permits however, he stated that the involvement of officials of the Central government is under the Central law and CBI can investigate all aspects. "CBI's jurisdiction in Karnataka is virtually non-existent unless the government permits... Therefore, in order to get jurisdiction to probe an issue, they have shown it as a multi-state and, secondly, the involvement of officials of the Central government under the Central law. Therefore, they have come to investigate; let them investigate. CBI can investigate all aspects..." Ponnanna said. On Wednesday, the Economic Offences Court in Bengaluru adjourned the bail hearing of Kannada actress Ranya Rao, who was arrested at Bengaluru airport for allegedly smuggling gold till March 14 (Friday). The order on bail application has been reserved till March 14. Karnataka government has already appointed state's Additional Chief Secretary, Gaurav Gupta as the investigating officer in this case. The Chief Minister has instructed that the report be submitted within a week. It is alleged that actress Ranya Rao misused her name and the courtesy services offered to her to "evade" airport checks and conduct "illegal" activities. Investigating officer Gaurav Gupta will investigate the facts and circumstances leading to the availment of the courtesy facilities and the role of IPS Rao in this case. Notably, actress Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai. Prior to her transfer to custody, she underwent a medical examination at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. During her questioning, Rao claimed that her trip to Dubai was for business purposes. However, authorities suspect that her visit was linked to the illegal importation of gold. Then, she was remanded to the custody of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) until March 10, which was extended till March 24. (ANI) Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday addressed the state government's decision to withdraw the CID inquiry into the Ranya Rao case, stating that it falls within the government's prerogative. "It is the prerogative of the government. The CBI and DRI are investigating the case. The opposition was going hammer and tong, saying that we were trying to scuttle the investigation. There is no question of succumbing to anyone's pressure. We work independently and transparently. Karnataka govt doesn't work at the behest or criticism of the opposition," he said. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) asked the CBI to probe the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. Legal advisor to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, AS Ponnanna, said, "CBI's jurisdiction in Karnataka is virtually non-existent unless the government permits... Therefore, in order to get jurisdiction to probe an issue, they have shown it as a multi-state and, secondly, the involvement of officials of the Central government under the Central law. Therefore, they have come to investigate; let them investigate. CBI can investigate all aspects..." Notably, actress Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai. Ranya, the stepdaughter of DGP K. Ramachandra Rao, was produced before a special court judge on the evening of March 4 for financial offences. Prior to her transfer to custody, she underwent a medical examination at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. During her questioning, Rao claimed that her trip to Dubai was for business purposes. However, authorities suspect that her visit was linked to the illegal importation of gold. Then, she was remanded to the custody of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) until March 10, which was extended till March 24. (ANI) The Chhattisgarh Waqf Board has decided to reschedule Namaz in mosques across the state this year, as Holi celebrations coincide with Friday prayers. An official directive has been issued to all mosques regarding this change. As per the directive, the Friday prayers, which are usually held between 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM, will now take place between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM on March 14. Speaking on the decision, Chhattisgarh Waqf Board Chairman Dr. Salim Raj said, "The Chhattisgarh State Waqf Board has decided that, considering the festival of Holi, Friday prayers will be held between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM in all mosques. Previously, the prayers were conducted at 12:30 PM or 1:00 PM, but now they will be held later in all mosques across the state. Chhattisgarh has become the first state in the country to implement such a change in mosque prayer timings." Meanwhile, on Tuesday, according to authorities, Friday Namaaz prayers in mosques in the cities of Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh have been postponed to the afternoon to avoid overlapping with Holika Dahan timings on March 14, the day of the Holi festival. Haridwar Superintendent of Police Pankaj Gairola confirmed that a meeting with community representatives resulted in the decision to hold Friday prayers after 2:30 pm. "We called representatives of both sides from the nearby Jwalapur area. A decision has been made that the Friday Namaz will be offered after 2.30 pm. The timings of Holika Dahan were also discussed... This was a successful meeting. If anyone tries to hamper the law and order situation, then strict action will be taken," SP Gairola said. "Zones and sectors have been created in the entire district in which adequate police arrangements are being made," he said. Maulana Arif Qasmi of Jamia Ulama Uttarakhand echoed the importance of peace, emphasizing the unity between Hindus and Muslims in the region. "Because peace in the area is very important, both Hindus and Muslims have gathered here today. In our area, there has never been a situation of conflict. We have all decided that the Friday prayers in the city's mosques will be held at 2:30 pm," Maulana Qasmi said. Similarly, in Gorakhpur, Mufti Munawwar Raza, the Imam of the Mubarak Khan Dargah, affirmed the significance of both religious observances and announced that Friday prayers would be held after 2 pm to avoid any conflict. "Each prayer has its own significance. Now, since both festivals are falling on the same day, a meeting was held here, and it was decided that the prayer time will be set after 2 pm," he said. (ANI) West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday criticized the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government for reportedly banning Holi celebrations at Santiniketan's Sonajhuri Haat, accusing the police of divisive and appeasement politics. West Bengal government has reportedly imposed a ban on Holi celebrations in Santiniketan Sonajhuri Haat to preserve greenery. Visuals from the area show a banner stating that the region is a protected forest area, where playing Holi, parking cars, videography, and flying drones are prohibited. Speaking to media, Adhikari said the ban isn't limited to one area and added that the Birbhum Additional SP ordered that Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should end by 10 am due to it being Friday. "This has not happened in just one area. Police conduct coordination programs at the time of programs of other communities. We saw this happening during CPI(M) and TMC regimes. But in 2025, for the first time, meetings were held at every Police Station for Holi. What was the issue in the meeting, this is a special month for the other community and this time Holi is falling on a Friday. So, it was openly said that colours should not be used and Holi should not be celebrated. There will be arrests if someone does something. Birbhum Additional SP said that by 10 am, the Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should be wrapped up because it is Friday. This is happening in Bengal for the first time. Mamata Banerjee's Police administration is doing politics of divides, it is doing politics of appeasement," Adhikari said. On Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the Dolyatra and Holi Milan Utsav celebrations in Kolkata. Sharing her experience on X, CM Banerjee said that in Bengal, every festival is celebrated with enthusiasm, where the spirit of brotherhood, fraternity, and harmonious coexistence reigns supreme. "In Bengal, every festival is celebrated with the same verve, fervor, and enthusiasm. We observe all rituals with utmost devotion. To borrow from Kobiguru, Bengal is a land "not broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls." Here, the spirit of brotherhood, fraternity, and harmonious coexistence reigns supreme. In keeping with this spirit, I participated in the Dolyatra and Holi Milan Utsav celebrations," CM Mamata Banerjee said. (ANI) Beijing to host talks on Iranian nuclear issue 08:45, March 13, 2025 By Mo Jingxi ( Chinadaily.com.cn As China, Russia and Iran prepare to hold talks on the Iranian nuclear issue in Beijing on Friday, observers said the meeting will once again highlight China's unique role in advocating the political settlement of regional and international hot spot issues. China's Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, which will be attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday. "The three parties will exchange views on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues of mutual interest," Mao told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing. In 2015, Iran reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, which lifted sanctions on Teheran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. In May 2018, the US unilaterally quit the plan and reimposed sanctions on Iran under its policy of "maximum pressure". Consequently, in 2019, Iran began to gradually scale back its obligations under the JCPOA, but its violations are largely reversible. Last week, the US urged fresh talks on Iran's nuclear program and warned of possible military action if it refuses. Iran said it will not be "bullied" into talks with the US on the nuclear issue. Experts noted that the meeting in Beijing is a significant diplomatic effort made by China to uphold multilateralism and regional stability. As the host country of the tripartite talks, China has long been committed to promoting the peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue and has maintained communication with relevant countries through various channels in order to reach a broad consensus, they said. Wu Bingbing, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University, said that choosing Beijing as the venue for the talks shows Iran's endorsement of China as a crucial party to the Iranian nuclear issue. Wu said he expects China to reiterate its support for the full implementation of the JCPOA and call on relevant parties to make joint efforts to achieve the goal. "China could also stress the importance of safeguarding the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and stability in the Middle East," he said. In the face of rising uncertainties, including Washington's reimposition of the "maximum pressure" policy on Iran last month, the upcoming meeting will help reinforce the three parties' consensus on opposing pressure and supporting dialogues, Wu added. Esmail Baqaei, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday that the tripartite talks will mainly address the issues related to nuclear energy and the lifting of sanctions. Discussions will also cover other topics of interest to the three countries including regional and international developments and cooperation within the frameworks of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Baqaei said. As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the JCPOA, Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the Iranian nuclear issue has reached a crossroads, and a window of opportunity for preventing nuclear proliferation in the Middle East has opened. "It is the consensus among China, Russia, and Iran that the lifting of sanctions serves as a crucial step in maintaining stability in the Middle East and avoiding further escalation caused by misjudgment," Sun said. Observers said the meeting is also an important test for current international relations and global governance, as the international community expects talks to achieve new breakthroughs in the Iranian nuclear issue. Wu, from Peking University, said the international community should not abandon the approach of resolving major regional hot spot issues through peaceful negotiations. "If confrontation and coercion tactics are chosen over peaceful negotiations to solve the Iranian nuclear issue, it will bring new instability to the region," he added. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Extending her greetings to the people of Delhi on the occasion of Holi, CM Gupta emphasized the importance of safety and water conservation during the festival. "I extend greetings to the people of Delhi on Holi. I hope it is a safe Holi and there is no wastage of water. I felt very good on my visit to Asha Kiran," said Delhi CM Rekha Gupta. In several states, celebrations will begin with the Holika Dahan, a ritual bonfire that symbolises the victory of devotion and righteousness. In Mathura and Vrindavan, famous for their grand Holi celebrations, devotees began the traditional rituals, including the famous Lathmar Holi. Cities like Varanasi, Jaipur, and Delhi witnessed enthusiastic crowds smearing each other with colors and enjoying festive treats like gujiya and thandai. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, along with Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, chaired the meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to assess the hazard vulnerability and risk assessment of the national capital, among other things. Delhi CM and LG also reviewed the earthquake preparedness plan, urban flooding, and extreme heat events and the related state heat action plan 2025. Notably, the LG is the Chairperson, and the Chief Minister is the Vice-Chairperson of the DDMA. According to the sources, the DDMA was extremely underequipped in terms of infrastructure, manpower, and technology, and Delhi was one of the few States in the country without a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) of its own. The LG directed officials to make land available as soon as possible and requested the CM address the logistics issues that the previous government had neglected. The NDMA was asked, and it agreed to provide all necessary technological support in renovating and restructuring the DDMA and setting up the CCC. (ANI) Satish Bhosale was connected with assault cases in Beed. He was also wanted in an attempt to murder cases and other cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in various police stations of Mumbai. He will be produced before a local court in Prayagraj for transit remand. (ANI) BJP MLA Bharath Shetty on Thursday criticised the Karnataka government's decision to withdraw the CID probe into the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. He questioned the move, calling it suspicious and suggesting that the government might be trying to protect its officials from being named in the inquiry. Speaking to ANI, BJP MLA Dr Bharath Shetty Y said, "Everything looks fishy here... It looks like the CID officials have informed the state government that they won't be able to help the government because a few of the government officials' names might come up in the inquiry. Whereas, when it came to the MUDA case, though an ED inquiry was going on, Siddaramaiah went ahead with the Lokayukta inquiry to free himself from the corruption allegations. They are trying to protect somebody very big here..." Meanwhile, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) asked the CBI to probe the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. Legal advisor to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, AS Ponnanna, said, "CBI's jurisdiction in Karnataka is virtually non-existent unless the government permits... Therefore, in order to get jurisdiction to probe an issue, they have shown it as a multi-state and, secondly, the involvement of officials of the Central government under the Central law. Therefore, they have come to investigate; let them investigate. CBI can investigate all aspects..." Notably, actress Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai. Ranya, the stepdaughter of DGP K. Ramachandra Rao, was produced before a special court judge on the evening of March 4 for financial offences. Prior to her transfer to custody, she underwent a medical examination at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. During her questioning, Rao claimed that her trip to Dubai was for business purposes. However, authorities suspect that her visit was linked to the illegal importation of gold. Then, she was remanded to the custody of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) until March 10, which was extended till March 24. (ANI) Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Thursday slammed the BJP, calling them "shameless" over their alleged attempts to politically target the Congress party, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. Speaking on the Nagamohan Das committee report submitted to CM Siddaramaiah, Reddy accused the BJP of looting the state during their four-year tenure in Karnataka. "The people of BJP Karnataka are shameless... In their four-year regime, they looted the state. Now they want to politically demoralise the Congress party, Siddaramaiah, and DK Shivakumar," Reddy said. The minister further stated that the report, prepared by former Karnataka High Court Judge Justice Nagamohan Das, will be presented to the state Cabinet. "Let the report come to the Cabinet... Then people will know who looted Karnataka," he added. On Wednesday, Retired Karnataka High Court Judge Justice Nagamohan Das submitted his report over the allegation of 40 percent commission taken by the previous BJP government. The report, dated March 12, 2025, contains an investigation report into allegations made by the Karnataka State Contractors Association and an investigation report on the modernization estimate list of sub/Slot canals 01 to 18 constructed across the Narayanpur right main canal. Karnataka State Contractors Association filed a complaint alleging that more than 40 per cent commission was prevailing in government tender works. The Justice Nagamohan Das committee report stated that the government was also demanded to investigate issues such as avoiding the award of works directly to the contractors. Realizing that the public's statements and details are very important as this is an allegation related to public works, the commission has thoroughly investigated the complaints received from the public in this regard and prepared a report with suggestions and opinions, the report added. Along with investigating the allegations of the contractors' association, the government has asked that all the works carried out from July 26, 2019, to March 31, 2023, in the five major departments of the state should be investigated and a report submitted. Keeping this in mind, the Commission has scientifically selected the works completed at random for investigation. All departments in this option, all districts, all types of works and all amounts of works are considered, the report said. Furthermore, the report mentions that the investigation of works includes aspects of inspection of files, site inspection and audit of accounts. (ANI) Maulana Sajid Rashidi, the President of the All India Imam Association has strongly criticised Uttar Pradesh's local administration order to cover mosques during Holi alleging that this is a "conspiracy" to weaken Muslims and encourage hooligans. Condemning the order, Rashidi stated that targeting Muslims and issuing orders in the name of mosques is "unconstitutional". Rashidi said, "Targeting Muslims and issuing orders in the name of mosques is unconstitutional. This is a conspiracy to weaken Muslims and encourage hooligans. I condemn this." He further called the order of the Sambhal administration to cover the mosques a "Tughlaqi farmaan" which was never witnessed in the history of India. Alleging that such orders are always issued only for Muslims, the All India Imam Association asked the administration to ensure no Hindu throws colour on Muslims or "create ruckus" in front of the mosque. He said, "The order of the Sambhal administration to cover the mosques is a Tughlaqi order, such an order has never been heard in the history since independence. Why are all the orders only for Muslims and mosques? Sometimes it is said that Muslims should stay at home, not to come out on Holi and now an order has been issued to cover the mosques. Why is no such order issued for Hindus that Holi colour should not be thrown on any Muslim who is going for Namaaz, why are they not told not to wander around the mosque or else action will be taken... Muslims are not so helpless. Do not take undue advantage of the silence of Muslims. The administration should ensure that no Hindu throws colour on Muslims, or create a ruckus in front of the mosque." His reaction follows the decision by the local administration in Uttar Pradesh after which several mosques were covered with tarpaulin sheets ahead of the Holi festival. The move aims to prevent any untoward incidents and maintain communal harmony during the celebrations. (ANI) Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday criticised the West Bengal government's reported decision to ban Holi celebrations in Shantiniketan, accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of appeasement politics and focusing on securing the Muslim vote bank for electoral gains. Speaking to ANI, Majumdar said, "The West Bengal government has been doing appeasement politics for a long time because Mamata Banerjee knows that the Muslim vote bank helps her win elections." In response to the alleged ban, Majumdar urged people of the West Bengal state to celebrate Holi with full enthusiasm and vowed to fight against any obstruction created by the police. "I would like to tell Hindus of West Bengal to celebrate Holi with full enthusiasm. We will fight together against obstacles created by the police. No matter how hard people like Mamata Banerjee try, they cannot make West Bengal a land of Islam," Majumdar said. Earlier today, West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari criticized the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government for reportedly banning Holi celebrations at Santiniketan's Sonajhuri Haat, accusing the police of divisive and appeasement politics. West Bengal government has reportedly imposed a ban on Holi celebrations in Santiniketan Sonajhuri Haat to preserve greenery. Visuals from the area show a banner stating that the region is a protected forest area, where playing Holi, parking cars, videography, and flying drones are prohibited. Speaking to mediapersons, Adhikari said the ban isn't limited to one area and added that the Birbhum Additional SP ordered that Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should end by 10 am due to it being Friday. "This has not happened in just one area. Police conduct coordination programs at the time of programs of other communities. We saw this happening during CPI(M) and TMC regimes. But in 2025, for the first time, meetings were held at every police station for Holi. What was the issue in the meeting, this is a special month for the other community and this time and this year, Holi (festivities) coincides with Friday (Namaz of Ramzan). So, it was openly said that colours should not be used and Holi should not be celebrated. There will be arrests if someone does something. Birbhum Additional SP said that by 10 am, the Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should be wrapped up because it is Friday. This is happening in Bengal for the first time. Mamata Banerjee's Police administration is doing politics of divides, it is doing politics of appeasement," Adhikari said. (ANI) BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday criticised leader Jairam Ramesh's tweet and said that the Congressman is least qualified to discuss national security. He accused the UPA government of weakening India's security during its tenure and expressed full confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decisions. Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "My recommendation to Jairam Ramesh is that a congressman is the least qualified to talk about national security. They have presided for 10 years under the UPA to destroy national security in the northeast, in the north, everywhere. So, the less they talk about national security, the better." Further he added, "Frankly, we are all confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not do anything or take any policy decision that compromises India's economy or India's security. We trust him more than Jairam Ramesh." Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his concerns on the partnership of both Airtel and Reliance Jio with Starlink, alleging that the deals were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to curry favour with U.S. President Donald Trump through Elon Musk. https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1900058528104276088 He stated, "Within literally 12 hours both Airtel and Jio have announced partnerships with Starlink, seemingly overcoming all their objections to its entry into India - which they have been voicing for quite some time. It is abundantly clear that these partnerships have been orchestrated by none other than the PM himself to buy goodwill with President Trump through Starlink's owner Elon Musk. But many questions remain...." Both Airtel and Reliance Jio have announced partnerships with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink to India, overcoming earlier objections to its entry. Ramesh further questioned the national security implications of the deal, asking who would control connectivity in critical situations--Starlink or its Indian partners? Additionally, Jairam Ramesh raised concerns about whether other satellite-based connectivity providers would be allowed entry into the Indian market and on what terms. Ramesh also hinted at a possible link between Starlink's entry and Tesla's manufacturing plans in India, speculating whether any commitments had been made. (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs on Thursday, the fourth day of the Budget Session, staged another protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises of the State Assembly and demanded a probe into a corruption case related to the former constable of the State Transport Department. The Congress MLAs, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar dressed in black T shirts that had a sketch of a skeleton imprinted on them and carrying symbolic gold coloured bricks in their hands raised slogans demanding fair investigation of the case. LoP Singhar told ANI, "The symbolic getup shows that the State has become a skeleton and is deep in debt. The bricks represents the gold which is being recovered from officials and employees (referring to ex transport constable's corruption case). Be it minister Govind Singh Rajput, former minister and BJP MLA Bhupendra Singh and one Sanjay Shrivastva, I want to say that the State government has proof in connection with the case but why does the government not want to investigate the matter. CM Mohan Yadav, are you afraid of these people? I want to understand, is minister Rajput higher than you?" The Congress leader further said that if the State government was supporting corruption, then it was a matter of sadness for the people of the state. "Gold bricks were recovered (referring to gold recovered from abandoned car in Bhopal), the Chief Minister should tell us whose brick it is. Does it belong to Minister Govind Rajput or Sanjay Srivastava or others," Singhar asked. Another Congress MLA Vivek Vicky Patel said, "Today, the State is deep in debt while the ministers of the state are getting richer. We demand that an inquiry should be conducted to investigate the transport department scam. Where did this gold come from? We want an inquiry into the matter." Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police has registered a case against the former constable of State Transport Department Saurabh Sharma under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and conducted searches at different locations uncovering assets suspected to be disproportionate to Sharma's known sources of income. Later on, the Lokayukta police arrested Sharma, his associates Chetan Singh Gaur and Sharad Jaiswal and produced them before the court from where they were sent to jail. Earlier on December 19 and 20 last year, the Lokayukta recovered assets worth several crores from two residences linked to the accused, located at E-7/78 and E-7/657 in Arera Colony, Bhopal. In a related development, Bhopal police and Income Tax (IT) officials recovered 52 kg of gold worth over Rs 40 crore and Rs 9.86 crore in cash from an abandoned car. The car was registered under the name of Chetan Singh Gaur and was discovered late at night on December 19 last year near Mendori-Kushalpur Road under Ratibad police station limits. Upon receiving information, officials seized the car and its contents. (ANI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in Holi celebrations at the 'Holi Milan Utsav' organised at his residence on Thursday and, while extending his greeting, highlighted the state's commitment to passing traditions to future generations. "We continue to take forward our culture and heritage and hand it over to our next generation. I congratulate and greet everyone on the occasion of Holi," said CM Dhami. Visuals showed CM Dhami and his wife, Geeta Dhami, dancing with the people of the 'Tharu' tribe at the Holi Milan program. The Chief Minister also played the dholak and the manjeera while shaking a leg with the group of dancers at the program. Dhami attended the Holi Milan Samaroh in New Delhi, hosted by MoS Almora-Pithoragarh MP Ajay Tamta. CM Dhami joined in the festive spirit, participating in cultural programs and celebrating Holi with fellow BJP leaders, making the most of the vibrant occasion. BJP National Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam accompanied Dhami. "The great enthusiasm with which Holi is being celebrated - not only Uttarakhand but everyone is celebrating Holi. There is also the joy of winning Delhi. Delhi is filled with new colours...", Dushyant Kumar Gautam said to ANI on Wednesday. Earlier, Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the Holi Milan program organised by the Municipal Corporation Dehradun on Wednesday. According to an official release, the Chief Minister also inaugurated the e-fund website created to maintain transparency in financial operations in the Municipal Corporation Dehradun on this occasion. CM Dhami, while wishing all the people of the state a festival of Holi filled with joy, gaiety, enthusiasm and colors, said that this festival also strengthens the feeling of harmony by strengthening cultural unity in the society. He said that everyone will have to make continuous efforts to pass on this cultural heritage to the next generation. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ramping up its preparations for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections by leveraging Bihar Day celebrations as a platform to connect with voters. As part of this initiative, the party will organise a series of events aimed at fostering Bihari pride and cultural identity. Under the "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat" and "Sneha Milan" programs, multiple activities will be held nationwide from March 22 to March 30 to mark Bihar Day. Throughout the week-long celebrations, the BJP plans to engage with Bihari expatriates both within and beyond the state, hosting programs that honor their contributions, featuring cultural performances, and organizing community feasts. The Sneha Milan initiative will include special gatherings where attendees can enjoy traditional Bihari cuisine. Cultural events will showcase performances by artists from Bihar, highlighting the state's rich heritage. Additionally, these programs will serve as a platform to discuss the NDA government's achievements while seeking support from the Bihari diaspora ahead of the elections. The significance of these communities in Bihar's political landscape will also be a focal point. As part of these celebrations, exhibitions will be set up to highlight key developmental projects undertaken by the NDA government in Bihar and showcase its contributions to the state's progress. To maximise outreach, photos, videos, and messages from Bihar Day events will be extensively shared on social media, reinforcing themes of unity, pride, and development while engaging a broader audience. Earlier on Wednesday, Union Minister and BJP ally Chirag Paswan attended a 'Holi Milan' program in Patna, with his mother Reena Paswan and party workers, ahead of the main celebration on March 14. Addressing the people, Chirag Paswan emphasised that an even bigger Holi will be celebrated in Bihar when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registers a victory and forms a government here in the upcoming State Assembly Polls. "This time, the colours of Holi are going to write a new history in Bihar. This is the beginning of the colours of joy. This time, we will celebrate the real Holi in November, when the NDA will register a massive victory and a government of the idea of PM Modi will be formed in Bihar once again. An even bigger Holi will then be celebrated in Bihar," the Union Minister said. (ANI) BISHKEK, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed an agreement on the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border here Thursday. Japarov said the signing of the agreement would be a historically significant event, welcomed with enthusiasm by peoples of both countries and the international community, according to the press service of the Kyrgyz president. "This step will make a significant contribution to strengthening security, stability, and sustainable development not only of our states but also of the entire Central Asian region," Japarov said. Rahmon also described the event as "historic," saying the agreement "will create a solid foundation for further strengthening interstate relations." "I am confident that the results of today's meetings will elevate our relations to a new level, one that serves the fundamental interests of our peoples," he said. Meanwhile, a ceremony was held on Thursday to resume the work of two checkpoints on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been kept closed following a border conflict in May 2021. A total of 76 terrorists, including 59 foreign militants from Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are currently active in Jammu and Kashmir, government sources said on Thursday. The data shows a sharp decline in the number of active terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, where a total of 91 terrorists were active in the corresponding period in 2024. Among the 76 active terrorists, 17 are local terrorists operating within the Union Territory-- which has been hotspot for militancy and terrorism since the late 1980s, with insurgency fueled by Pakistan-based terror groups, cross-border infiltration, and radicalization efforts. Of the 59 active Foreign Terrorists, the sources said, three belong to Hizbul Mujahideen, 21 from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and 35 from Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, three of 17 Local Terrorists are active in Jammu and 14 in the Valley. Of the 91 active terrorists in 2024, 61 were foreign terrorists and 30 local terrorists. The data mentions that a total of 135 terrorists were active in 2022. Of them, 85 were foreign terrorists, and 50 were local terrorists. Compared with the figure of active terrorists in 2022, there was a nearly 48. 35 per decline in the number of active terrorists in 2023. Officers privy to the development told ANI that the majority of the active terrorists belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a proscribed terrorist organisation. The continuous decline in the number of active terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir is the result of intensifying counter-terrorism operations in the region, focusing on tracking and neutralizing active militants. The government has reiterated its commitment to eliminating terrorism and ensuring peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely as intelligence agencies work to identify and dismantle terrorist networks operating in the region. Pakistan-based groups, primarily JeM and LeT, have been responsible for major attacks, including the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2016 Uri attack, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. These groups operate with logistical support from across the border, using infiltration routes along the Line of Control (LoC). Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) has traditionally focused on recruiting local militants. In recent years, radicalization via social media has contributed to the rise of "homegrown" militants in Kashmir. However, recruitment has significantly declined due to security forces'' targeted operations. As per the data, a total of 72 terrorists were neutralised in 2023. Of them, 22 were local terrorists, and 50 were foreign terrorists. In 2022, a total of 187 terrorists were neutralized, comprising 130 local terrorists and 57 foreign terrorists. While militancy-related violence and local recruitment have gone down significantly in Kashmir Valley, militants seem to have shifted the focus seemingly towards Jammu, which was a militancy-free region before August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was read down. (ANI) Congress MP and General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday expressed concern over the rapid announcement of partnerships between India's leading telecom giants, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, with Elon Musk's Starlink. Speaking on the development, Ramesh alleged that the deals, announced within a 12-hour span, were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Musk to "buy peace" with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Ramesh highlighted that both Jio and Airtel had previously opposed Starlink's entry into India, citing its preference for spectrum allocation over the auction process, which has been the Government of India's policy since 2014. "Both these companies had been opposing Starlink's entry on the grounds that Starlink wanted the allocation of spectrum when they wanted it auctioned. Now, within 12 hours, they've described it as a win-win situation," he said. The Congress leader further claimed that Jio and Airtel's sudden shift in stance was a strategic move by the Prime Minister to strengthen ties with Trump. "This is clearly why Airtel and Jio's move with Starlink has been orchestrated by the Prime Minister to buy peace with Mr. Trump through Mr. Musk," Ramesh asserted. He pointed to Trump's recent statements about India reducing tariffs and import duties, suggesting a lack of transparency on what India has agreed to in its dealings with the U.S. "Every day, Mr. Trump is announcing that India is reducing its tariffs, reducing its import duties. We don't know what the situation is, what India has agreed on, and what has not been agreed on. But clearly, this is a friendship-buying move," said a Congress leader. The Congress leader also raised security concerns questioning the Government on who will have power to switich connectivity on or off. "Many questions remain. Perhaps the most important one relates to national security. Who will have the power to switch connectivity on or off when national security demands it? Will it be Starlink or its Indian partners? Will other satellite-based connectivity providers also be permitted and on what basis? And, of course, the much larger question of Tesla manufacturing in India remains. Is there some commitment to it now that Starlink's entry into India has been facilitated?" he posted on X. The partnerships between Jio, Airtel, and Starlink, announced on March 11 and 12, respectively, aim to bring satellite-based internet services to India, pending regulatory approvals. (ANI) Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday alleged that Kannada actress Ranya Rao was escorted by state police while travelling abroad, enabling her to evade Customs checks. He also claimed that the arrangement was made on the orders of a Congress minister despite her ineligibility for such protocol. Speaking to media, Joshi said, "The state police used to escort that lady whenever she was going abroad, which helped her to avoid customs checking. She was escorted under the instructions of some Congress Minister, even though she was not eligible for such a protocol. The state government should come clean on this." Meanwhile, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) asked the CBI to probe the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. Legal advisor to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, AS Ponnanna, said, "CBI's jurisdiction in Karnataka is virtually non-existent unless the government permits. Therefore, in order to get jurisdiction to probe an issue, they have shown it as a multi-state and, secondly, the involvement of officials of the Central government under the Central law. Therefore, they have come to investigate; let them investigate. CBI can investigate all aspects." Actress Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 by the DRI at Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai. Ranya, the stepdaughter of DGP K. Ramachandra Rao, was produced before a special court judge on the evening of March 4 for financial offences. Prior to her transfer to custody, she underwent a medical examination at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. During her questioning. Rao claimed that her trip to Dubai was for business purpose. However, authorities suspect that her visit was linked to the illegal importation of gold. Then, she was remanded to the custody of the DRI until March 10, which was extended till March 24. (ANI) BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh on Thursday lashed out at the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, accusing them of banning Holi celebrations in Santiniketan. He accused the TMC government of having an "anti-Hindu mindset" and said that all its decisions are aimed at banning Hindu rituals and festivals. "I want to tell Birbaha that you did not say the right thing. With all due respect, she knows about the growing Hindi unity. This government runs with an anti-Hindu mindset. All the government decisions you will see are about banning Hindu rituals and festivals. There is a Hindu awakening against it," Ghosh told ANI. Ghosh accused the government of knowing the difference between a ban and a request, implying that the government's claim of making a request was misleading. "Therefore, this government has to take a U-turn. First, they banned it. They know the difference between ban and request. But this is just the beginning," he added. He further said, " In the 2026 (assembly elections), there would be a u-turn in the mentality with which the people of the West Bengal voted TMC govt to to power." A controversy has erupted in West Bengal over Holi celebrations in Santiniketan, with the BJP accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of banning the festival. However, West Bengal Minister of State Birbaha Hansda clarified that the government did not ban Holi celebrations but rather made a request to protect the environment, as the colors used during Holi contain chemicals that may harm trees West Bengal Minister of State Birbaha Hansda clarified on Thursday that the government did not ban Holi celebrations in Santiniketan but rather made a request. Speaking to ANI, Hansda said, "I don't know (about the notice banning Holi). I got this information through the media. Still, I will look into it. We didn't ban Holi but just made a request. I know nothing about the notice as of now." She added that the government has requested people to protect the environment, as the colors used during Holi contain chemicals that may harm trees. "We have not banned Holi (in Santiniketan); we had requested the people to protect the environment. When people play Holi, it contains chemicals that may harm trees," Hansda added. Earlier on Thursday, West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed that the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government had reportedly banned Holi celebrations at Santiniketan's Sonajhuri Haat. Visuals from the Santiniketan Sonajhuri Haat area show a banner stating that the region is a protected forest area where playing Holi, parking cars, doing videography, and flying drones are prohibited. Adhikari alleged that the government is doing politics of appeasement and that the ban is not limited to one area, adding that the Birbhum Additional SP ordered that Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should end by 10 am due to it being Friday. "This has not happened in just one area. Police conduct coordination programs at the time of programs of other communities. We saw this happening during the CPI(M) and TMC regimes. But in 2025, for the first time, meetings were held at every Police Station for Holi. What was the issue in the meeting? This is a special month for the other community, and this time and this year, Holi (festivities) coincides with Friday (Namaz of Ramzan). So, it was openly said that colours should not be used and Holi should not be celebrated. There will be arrests if someone does something. Birbhum Additional SP said that by 10 am, the Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should be wrapped up because it is Friday. This is happening in Bengal for the first time. Mamata Banerjee's Police administration is doing politics of divides, it is doing politics of appeasement," Adhikari said. (ANI) Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders on Thursday staged a protest in front of the 125-foot Ambedkar Statue at Tankbund, Hyderabad, after Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar suspended BRS MLA Jagadish Reddy for the entire session. BRS Working President KT Rama Rao led the protest. Speaking to ANI, KTR claimed that Reddy's suspension is a "blot on democracy." "It's a blot on democracy, and it's truly a black day for democracy in India. Rahul Gandhi preaches Constitution day in and day out. Unfortunately, today he has forgotten to teach his Congress Government and ministers the same values. In a unilateral move, even though senior leader Jagdishwar Reddy has not uttered a single derogatory word, they have suspended him from the House for the entire session. We are demanding answers from the Government over the non-fulfilment of the promises," KTR said. Meanwhile, BRS leaders who were protesting against the suspension of BRS MLA Jagadishwar Reddy have now been detained by the Police. BRS MLA Jagadish Reddy alleged bias on the part of the Speaker. This created an uproar in the Assembly. After Reddy's suspension, all BRS MLAs staged a walkout from the Assembly. Earlier on Wednesday, KTR sharply criticized the 15-month tenure of the Revanth Reddy-led government in Telangana, calling it a "failure" and accusing it of misleading the public. Speaking to mediapersons, KTR questioned the impact of the government's rule on the State's residents, stating, "Show me a single person in the whole of Telangana who is happy in the 15 months of Revanth Reddy government rule." KTR pointed out that despite the government's claim of improving conditions for government employees, dissatisfaction was widespread. "The government employees whose salaries we increased by 73 per cent are all unhappy," he said, underlining the lack of progress and the growing discontent within the workforce. He also highlighted the State's ongoing agrarian crisis, adding, "More than 480 farmers have committed suicide." KTR emphasized that instead of progress, the State was marked by despair and hopelessness. Addressing allegations of corruption, KTR accused the government of focusing on personal gain rather than the welfare of the people. He said, "Congress members themselves say that no land deal happens without paying 30 per cent commission," further accusing the ruling government of engaging in corrupt practices. "This government has no vision; it only focuses on commission," KTR declared, criticizing the administration's lack of forward-thinking policies and governance. (ANI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the state from March 14 to 16, to inaugurate and attend several programmes. Speaking to the media, CM Himanta said that the Union Home Minister will also chair a review meeting on the implementation of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for the Northeastern states. "Union Home Minister Amit Shah is coming to Assam on March 14. On the morning of March 15, he will inaugurate the new buildings of Lachit Borphukan Police Academy. After that, he will visit Aizawl and attend several programmes. On March 16, the Union Home Minister will visit Kokrajhar to address the 57th Annual Conference of the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) at the Bodofa Cultural Complex in Dotma. He will later return to Guwahati to chair a review meeting on the implementation of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for the Northeastern states. On the 16th of March, he will return to Delhi," he said. Meanwhile, the Assam government will start disbursing Rs 10,000 to each woman in self-help groups from April 1, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters Thursday. This was a promise made by the Chief Minister in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The flagship scheme--Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyan--is one of the biggest schemes of the state government to empower women. This seed capital will help the women start small ventures in various sectors. "We will provide Rs 10,000 individually to women in the first year who are part of self-help groups (SHGs)," the CM said. In the second year, they propose to provide Rs 25,000 (Rs 12,500 as a bank loan and Rs 12,500 from the state government exchequer). In the third year, Rs 50,000 will be provided to SHG members. Women SHG members having three children or fewer would be eligible for the scheme. The woman's girl child, if any, will have to go to school for her to be eligible for the scheme. The woman SHG member should not have a prior bad bank loan. (ANI) A stone masonry wall/bund slid due to excessive rains in Pahalgam and hit a tea stall, three persons got trapped and all of them were rescued safely. Earlier, low-hanging clouds draped Srinagar on Thursday, bringing intermittent light rain in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast cloudy skies with occasional showers in Srinagar until March 16. Visuals from Srinagar showed thick clouds hovering over Dal Lake, with light drizzles causing ripples on the water's surface. The iconic old city markets remained bustling despite the damp weather as commuters navigated the rain-soaked streets under umbrellas. The IMD has advised residents to expect more light rain over the next few days, urging travellers to stay updated on weather conditions. No significant disruption has been reported so far. Earlier last week, the Kashmir valley experienced a drop in temperature after recent rainfall, contributing to the winter chill. The temperature recorded was five degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, a large number of tourists have thronged Guldanda meadow in Bhaderwah to experience snowfall. Following the restoration of the Bhaderwah-Basohli-Pathankot National Highway, the scenic destination witnessed a surge in visitors, boosting local tourism and winter activities. Tourists visiting Bhaderwah in Jammu and Kashmir are captivated by its pristine snowfall, with many describing the experience as a dream come true. Families and groups of friends were seen throwing snowballs at each other while children excitedly built snowmen. Some tourists lay on the soft snow, making snow angels, while others captured the breathtaking scenery on their phones and cameras. Many were seen trekking through the snow-covered meadows, enjoying the crisp mountain air and the serene beauty of the landscape. (ANI) Every year on March 15, World Consumer Rights Day is observed to raise global awareness about consumer rights. Informed consumers play a vital role in shaping transparent and competitive markets. To align with this, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government has prioritised the establishment of a more transparent and accountable system to safeguard consumer interests. In Gujarat, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the state government remains committed to ensuring swift resolution of consumer grievances, the Chief Minister's office said in a press release. In 2024 alone, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions successfully resolved 2,214 and 15,820 cases, respectively. The Gujarat government has taken significant steps to educate consumers about their rights, enhance awareness of available protections, and promote fair trade practices across the state. Along with the national-level online portal E-Jagriti and the 1915 helpline, the state government has launched its dedicated consumer helpline--14437--to address consumer grievances and provide guidance. Since its launch in October 2024, this helpline has successfully assisted over 4,200 consumers, reinforcing the state's commitment to consumer protection and support. During the year 2024, in Gujarat, a total of 2,477 complaints were registered with the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, while 19,723 complaints were filed with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions. Of these, 2,214 and 15,820 cases were resolved, respectively. Additionally, during the financial year 2024-25, Lok Adalats were organised at the state and district levels. In these Lok Adalats, a total of 1,457 cases were resolved through mutual agreement, involving a settlement amount of Rs24,84,69,140. Lok Adalat serves as a platform where pending cases before the panchayat or pre-litigation disputes in courts are settled amicably. World Consumer Rights Day 2025 will be celebrated under the theme "A Just Transition to Sustainable Lifestyles", aimed at encouraging consumers to embrace more sustainable living habits. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed a strong emphasis on sustainable development as a key pillar in achieving the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision. In alignment with this goal, the central government is actively working to make sustainable and healthy choices more accessible, affordable, and widely available to consumers. To enhance consumer awareness among citizens, encourage youth participation in consumer protection activities, and strengthen the consumer movement in Gujarat, the state government has launched the Consumer Clubs initiative. Currently, 2,500 Consumer Clubs have been established across the state, with the recognized Grahak Suraksha Mandal serving as the coordinating agency at the district level. The government provides financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per club, resulting in an annual expenditure of approximately Rs 1.25 crore. (ANI) Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy hit out at the Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin for replacing the Rupee Symbol for the Indian currency with Tamil alphabet 'Ru' for the state budget logo and termed it as a 'childish, foolish and nonsense act'. The BJP Vice President further stated that it was a sad situation when the Rupee note itself was designed by a Tamilian DMK MLA which was well honoured and praised by late M Karunanidhi (MK Stalin's father) and yet has been replaced by his son. Speaking to ANI, Thirupathy said "This is a childish act by MK Stalin, it is foolish and nonsense... the Rupee note was designed by Tamilian who was a DMK MLA and it was praised and well honoured by late M Karunaidhi and now his son suddenly comes and says that they will not accept it...." Targeting DMK, Thirupathy said that the double standards of the party reflected through this act further stating that they had stooped below unnecessarily. "From this we can understand the double standards of DMK... they are trying to draw lot of issues but they will fail anyways, the level they have stooped to is unnecessary... I don't know who gave this idea to Stalin. He will definitely regret this..." he further stated. The BJP Vice President also took to social media X and stated that it was immature of the Tamil Nadu CM to do this and would only make people laugh at his silly attitude. "The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has proved that he would stoop down to any level to hide the failures of his government in the last 4 years, by replacing 'Rs' symbol that has been accepted not only in India but throughout the world by 'Ru' in his recent tweet in lieu of the State's budget," he posted. "It is not only laughable but also childish and immature to do this and people would laugh at this silly attitude. It is time people say Good Bye to DMK. It is interesting to note that the 'Rs' symbol was designed in 2010 by a Thamizhan and that too a son of former DMK worker during the UPA rule," the post read," he added. Notably, the previous budget logo for the Budget of 2024 -25 carried the Indian currency symbol Rs. The budget 2025-26 is set to be presented in the Tamil Nadu assembly on March 14. The Tamil Nadu Chief minister earlier released a video which showcased the logo for the Budget of 2025-26 and in this logo the national currency symbol had been substituted with the Tamil Alphabet 'Ru'. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday attended the Holika Dahan program in Gorakhpur and showered the people with flower petals. BJP MP Ravi Kishan was also present at the event along with the UP Chief Minister. Addressing the people, CM Yogi mentioned the results of the UP Police recruitment, with 60,244 youths selected to join the force, including over 12,000 women. "The festival of Holi, full of excitement and joy, is being celebrated across the country. I would like to first extend my heartfelt wishes for the Holi festival to the people of the state. Today is an extremely important day. Just a while ago, the results for 60,244 UP Police recruitment have been announced, and so many youths have now got the opportunity to become part of the UP Police force. I heartily congratulate all 60,244 of them. Among this number, more than 12,000 daughters of the state have been selected," CM Yogi Adityanath said. The Uttar Pradesh CM also took to X and extended his wishes to the candidates selected in the State police force. "Hearty congratulations to all the 60,244 brilliant and energetic youth selected for the post of constable civil police in Uttar Pradesh Police. It is a matter of great joy that through this selection process, 12,048 daughters are going to become a part of@Uppolice," he said. "In this selection examination, which was conducted in a fair and transparent manner and ensuring full compliance with the reservation provisions, a total of 12,937 candidates of general category, 32,052 candidates against 16,264 posts of other backward classes, 14,026 candidates against 12,650 posts of Scheduled Castes and 1229 candidates against 1204 posts of Scheduled Tribes have been successful," CM Yogi informed. He further said that this success is the result of candidate's intelligence, talent and skills, the blessings of their teachers and parents. "Infinite best wishes to all of you for becoming a part of Uttar Pradesh Police. Congratulations to all the officers/employees of Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment & Promotion Board who were involved in the successful organization of the biggest constable recruitment examination in the history of Uttar Pradesh," CM Yogi Adityanath said. (ANI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday virtually inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple infrastructure projects in his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. The projects include railway overbridges, grade separators, bridges, flyovers, and roads aimed at enhancing connectivity in the region. Taking to X, Shah said that transport and connectivity in Gandhinagar are continuously expanding. He highlighted that the new infrastructure projects would make commuting easier and provide momentum to economic activities. "Along with this, employment, industry and trade will get a new impetus in the area," he added. https://x.com/AmitShah/status/1900116276925915637 "Transport and connectivity are continuously expanding in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Today, various infrastructure-related schemes have been inaugurated and foundation stones have been laid in Gandhinagar through virtual medium. These works related to the construction of railway overbridges, grade separators, bridges, flyovers and roads will make the life of the people of the area more comfortable and connectivity will be easy. Along with this, employment, industry and trade will get a new impetus in the area," Shah wrote on X. He further added, "Transport and connectivity have been continuously expanding in Gandhinagar. Today various issues related to the infrastructure of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency were discussed through virtual medium. Inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of the projects." "These works involve the construction of railway overbridges, grade separators, bridges, flyovers and roads. The life of the people of the area will become easier and connectivity will become easier. Apart from this, employment, industry and trade will also get new momentum in this area," the post added on X. Meanwhile, Shah is set to visit Assam on March 14-16, during which he is scheduled to attend multiple programs, including the Annual Conference of All Bodo Students Union (ABSU). According to the official statement, Shah will arrive in Jorhat on March 14 and will inaugurate the newly upgraded Lachit Barphukan Police Academy, Dergaon on March 15. (ANI) Following Congress MP Jairam Ramesh raising security concerns over the announcement of partnerships between India's leading telecom giants, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, with Elon Musk's Starlink, Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC asked him to stop being part of the mischievous endeavour of a conspiracy. Shaina NC said, "The Congress party and Jairam Ramesh seem to be part of a conspiracy theory. He must understand that Jio and Airtel are independent entities that have chosen to partner with Starlink of their own accord. There is no threat to India's national security, so please stop being part of this mischievous endeavour of a conspiracy." Earlier, Ramesh alleged that the deals, announced within a 12-hour span, were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Musk to "buy peace" with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Ramesh highlighted that both Jio and Airtel had previously opposed Starlink's entry into India, citing its preference for spectrum allocation over the auction process, which has been the Government of India's policy since 2014. "Both these companies had been opposing Starlink's entry on the grounds that Starlink wanted the allocation of spectrum when they wanted it auctioned. Now, within 12 hours, they've described it as a win-win situation," he said. The Congress leader further claimed that Jio and Airtel's sudden shift in stance was a strategic move by the Prime Minister to strengthen ties with Trump. "This is clearly why Airtel and Jio's move with Starlink has been orchestrated by the Prime Minister to buy peace with Mr. Trump through Mr. Musk," Ramesh asserted. He pointed to Trump's recent statements about India reducing tariffs and import duties, suggesting a lack of transparency on what India has agreed to in its dealings with the U.S. "Every day, Mr. Trump is announcing that India is reducing its tariffs, reducing its import duties. We don't know what the situation is, what India has agreed on, and what has not been agreed on. But clearly, this is a friendship-buying move," said a Congress leader. The Congress leader also raised security concerns questioning the Government on who will have power to switch connectivity on or off. "Many questions remain. Perhaps the most important one relates to national security. Who will have the power to switch connectivity on or off when national security demands it? Will it be Starlink or its Indian partners? Will other satellite-based connectivity providers also be permitted and on what basis? And, of course, the much larger question of Tesla manufacturing in India remains. Is there some commitment to it now that Starlink's entry into India has been facilitated?" he posted on X. The partnerships between Jio, Airtel, and Starlink, announced on March 11 and 12, respectively, aim to bring satellite-based internet services to India, pending regulatory approvals. (ANI) Acting on specific intelligence regarding illegal crossings in the region, troops from the 200th Battalion BSF swiftly alerted Baghmara MCP and launched an operation. During the operation, BSF personnel intercepted a Tata Winger vehicle suspected of facilitating the illegal crossing. Upon thorough inspection, four Bangladeshi nationals, including a tout, were apprehended, and the vehicle was seized. The apprehended individuals, along with the seized vehicle and other recovered items, have been handed over at the Baghmara Police Station for further investigation and necessary legal proceedings. This successful operation underscores the unwavering commitment of the BSF and local police in securing the international border and preventing unauthorised entries. The BSF remains vigilant and dedicated to ensuring national security and maintaining law and order in the border areas. (ANI) Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to make Delhi clean and pollution-free. The Environment Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, attended the meeting along with officials from the Environment Department, Delhi Police, CAQM, DDA, PWD, and Municipal Corporation. All concerned departments were instructed to take concrete and effective steps to expedite pollution control. https://x.com/gupta_rekha/status/1900144330725351925 Taking to X, Gupta posted on X, "Today, an important high-level meeting was chaired to make Delhi clean and pollution-free. Environment Minister Mr. @mssirsa ji along with officials from the Environment Department, Delhi Police, CAQM, DDA, PWD and Municipal Corporation were present in the meeting. All the concerned departments were instructed to take concrete and effective steps so that pollution control can be accelerated." The government is committed to working with all stakeholders to improve air quality, expand green areas, and create a clean, green, and healthy capital city with the cooperation of Delhi residents. On Wednesday, she chaired a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority alongside Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to evaluate the national capital's hazard vulnerability, risk assessment, and other related matters. Delhi CM and LG also reviewed the earthquake preparedness plan, urban flooding, and extreme heat events and the related state heat action plan 2025. The LG directed officials to make land available as soon as possible and requested the CM address the logistics issues that the previous government had neglected. The NDMA was asked, and it agreed to provide all necessary technological support in renovating and restructuring the DDMA and setting up the CCC. The issue of heat waves and the resultant hardships faced by the people, as well as flooding during monsoons, being taken up at the level of the DDMA itself, underlined the importance attached to these core infrastructural issues by the new regime at the helm. Held much in advance of the forthcoming Summer and subsequent Monsoon seasons, the meeting deliberated upon preventive, curative, and emergent measures concerning various aspects that included water availability and distribution management, desilting of drains and sewer lines, drainage management, installation of requisite equipment, etc. as far as extreme heat and flooding were concerned. Regarding the Summer Heat Action Plan 2025 and flood management, the LG and the CM asked officers to present a comprehensive plan of action within a month and have it ready for implementation well in advance. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday extended his congratulations to 60,244 candidates selected for the post of constable in the Uttar Pradesh Police, calling it a significant achievement in the state's largest recruitment drive for the position. https://x.com/myogiadityanath/status/1900133692531679491 Taking to X, Adityanath highlighted that the selection process was conducted in a "fair and transparent manner" with full compliance with reservation provisions. He expressed joy over the inclusion of 12,048 women candidates in the final selection list. "Hearty congratulations to all the 60244 brilliant and energetic youth selected for the post of constable civil police in Uttar Pradesh Police. It is a matter of great joy that through this selection process, 12048 daughters are going to become a part of @Uppolice ," Adityanath posted on X. Sharing the category-wise breakdown of selected candidates, he said that 12,937 candidates were selected from the general category, 32,052 from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) against 16,264 posts, 14,026 from Scheduled Castes (SCs) against 12,650 posts, and 1,229 from Scheduled Tribes (STs) against 1,204 posts. Yogi Adityanath praised the selected candidates for their hard work and talent, thanking their mentors and families for their support. He also appreciated the UPPRPB officials for smoothly conducting the exam. "This success is the result of your intelligence, talent and skills, the blessings of your teachers and parents. Infinite best wishes to all of you for becoming a part of the Uttar Pradesh Police," he added. The Chief Minister lauded UPPRPB for ensuring a smooth and fair selection process in what he described as the "largest constable recruitment examination in Uttar Pradesh's history." "Congratulations to all the officers/employees of @upprpb who were involved in the successful organization of the biggest constable recruitment examination in the history of Uttar Pradesh," post added on X. The exams were held last year in August on the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 30th, 31st, as stated in an official press release. The examination was conducted in two shifts each day, with approximately 5 lakh candidates appearing per shift. (ANI) A day after the BJP swept the local body polls in Haryana, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini lashed out at the Congress, saying the people defeated the "opposition" due to their wrong policies. The ruling BJP won nine out of 10 mayoral positions, while an independent candidate won the tenth, Manesar. Speaking to reporters here after Congress MLAs staged a walkout during the Haryana budget session, CM Saini said," The government (of the state) has taken forward the state and has developed it...They (Congress) are having a problem with the work that the government is doing for the development of the people..." He also claimed that the opposition could not get along with the fact that the government was working at double speed. "The Speaker has read the document of Viksit Haryana...The opposition has a problem with the fact that the government has worked at double the speed... The dignity of the post of Governor should be followed...The public defeated the opposition because of their wrong policies, and the public will keep them out of power in the future too," CM Saini added, while referring to the proceedings of the House. On Wednesday, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept nine mayoral posts in the municipal elections, CM Saini said the triple-engine government would now work to fulfill the vision of Viksit Bharat (developed India). "Our local body government and this triple-engine government will play a crucial role in fulfilling PM Narendra Modi's vision of 'Viksit Bharat, '" Saini told reporters. The voting took place on March 2. The Haryana Assembly budget session commenced on March 7 and will conclude on March 28. The state's annual budget will be presented on March 17. (ANI) In a significant step towards restoring peace in Manipur, Imphal West has surrendered the highest number of weapons in response to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla's appeal to turn in looted illegal arms. According to a senior officer, during the two-week deadline for surrender of arms and ammunition, a total of 990 arms were surrendered with 11,526 ammunition. Around 366 hand grenades, 230 bombs, and 10 Improvised Explosive Devices have been recovered between February 16 and March 6 in 11 districts. The state has been plagued by ethnic violence since May 2023, and this development is seen as a positive move towards disarmament. The highest number of arms were surrendered in Imphal West district, with 349 and 5,764 ammunition surrendered in Imphal East. In Imphal West, 115 grenades were surrendered, the highest in number, and one Improvised Explosive Device (IED) has been recovered. The weapons and ammunition were surrendered in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Jiribam, Kakching, Kangpokpi, Pherzwal, Tengnoupal and Tamenglong districts. The officer said that the figure would go up as more and more people were coming to surrender the looted weapons. The weapons surrendered include handguns, machine guns, grenades, and INSAS and AK-56 rifles. "We are in the process of identification of weapons and matching the details of arms that were looted," the officer said. Governor Bhalla on February 20 had initially set a seven-day deadline for the surrender of looted and illegal arms, which was later extended to March 6. The government is now in the process of identifying the surrendered weapons and matching them with the details of arms that were looted He urged warring groups to surrender voluntarily weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held arms and extended the deadline till 4 PM on March 6, following demands by people from both hill and valley areas for additional time. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday assured Parliament that the government will provide all necessary assistance to support Manipur's economic recovery. A supplementary demand for grants worth Rs 1,861 crore has been placed on the table to aid the state's rebuilding efforts. "We are providing all the potential assistance to support a faster recovery of the (Manipur) economy. For Manipur, I (would) like to put for consideration for all members we will continuously support so that the recovery is faster," she told Lok Sabha, responding to the discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2024-25, Demands for Additional Grants for the year 2021-22 and Budget of Manipur for the year 2025-26. (ANI) The Bharat Rashtra Samithi Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Thursday strongly condemned the suspension of BRS MLA Jagadishwar Reddy from the Telangana Legislative Assembly, terming it an outrageous act that undermines democratic values with baseless allegations. KTR accused the Congress government of suspending Jagadishwar Reddy on fabricated grounds, claiming words he never uttered were attributed to him. He alleged that the Congress is attempting to stifle the BRS voice out of fear that the party's presence in the budget sessions would bring to light issues of contracts, commissions, and the transfer of funds to Delhi. Protesting against this suspension, KTR, along with BRS MLAs and MLCs, held a demonstration in front of the Ambedkar statue and announced statewide protest programs across all constituencies on March 14, 2025. KTR stated that Jagadishwar Reddy was deliberately targeted and suspended as part of a conspiracy while he was exposing the falsehoods and half-truths in the Governor's address to both Houses. "Despite interruptions from Congress ministers and MLAs through running commentary, Jagadishwar Reddy maintained composure," KTR noted. He highlighted that Reddy was raising critical issues such as wilting crops, the decline of agriculture, farmers' hardships, stalled loan waivers, delayed Rythu Bandhu payments, unimplemented six guarantees, and the betrayal of 420 promises. "Unable to counter these criticisms, the government resorted to unethical and shameless tactics by suspending him," KTR charged. He clarified that Reddy did not use a single unparliamentary word during his speech. KTR further pointed out that Reddy expressed anguish as a plea to the Speaker to protect the rights of opposition leaders, treating him as a fatherly figure and not disrespecting him in any way. "Yet, the Congress government, following its habitual authoritarian tendencies, adjourned the House for five hours and acted on the orders of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who is currently in Delhi," KTR alleged. The BRS Working President revealed that, on the advice of BRS chief KCR, they had urged the Speaker and the Legislative Affairs Minister to assess the mood of the House by consulting all parties, expressing regret if the Speaker felt hurt. KTR also slammed the Congress government for chaining the 125-foot Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar statue--the world's tallest, installed by the KCR government--describing it as a despicable act. He reiterated that the Congress fears the BRS raising issues of contracts, commissions, and funds being sent to Delhi during the budget sessions, which is why they are trying to suppress the party's voice. Dismissing Congress's illusion that silencing one voice achieves anything significant, KTR called for statewide protests on March 14, 2025, against the party's undemocratic attitude and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's arrogant and dictatorial tendencies. He urged people to join the burning of effigies of the government in all constituency centers across Telangana. (ANI) The Punjab Congress Political Affairs Committee convened a crucial meeting on Thursday to strategize on strengthening the party's organizational structure in the state. The state in-charge, Bhupesh Baghel, stated that six key agendas were discussed, with a focus on micromanagement and grassroots outreach. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Baghel, emphasizing the need to connect with all sections of society, including farmers, women, youth, and Dalits, announced plans for training programs and the formation of booth committees to take state issues to the ground level. "The Punjab Political Affairs Committee meeting was held today. Six agendas were discussed in this meeting and everyone put forward their views. This is the year to strengthen the organization, so everyone put forward their views in that direction. The Congress party is strong in Punjab, but we need to work on micromanagement," he said. "In the next meeting, we will prepare an agenda on the issues of the Punjab government and take it to the booth level. In this series, there will be a training program and booth committees will also be formed. We will fight for the issues related to every section of the society, including farmers, women, youth and Dalits of Punjab," Baghel said. On March 8, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed party workers in Ahmedabad. He emphasized that the Congress Party must first fulfill its responsibilities before asking people for votes. During the Samvaad program, Rahul Gandhi said, "It has been almost 30 years since we have been in power here. Whenever I come here, there are discussions on Assembly elections of 2007, 2012, 2017, 2022, 2027...But the question is not about elections. The people of Gujarat will not make us win the elections until we fulfil our responsibilities...We should not even ask the people of Gujarat to bring us to power until we fulfil our responsibilities. I guarantee you that the day we do this, the people of Gujarat will give their support to the Congress party." Rahul Gandhi criticised the Congress Party himself and said, "Gujarat is stuck, it is unable to see the way, Gujarat wants to move forward. I am a member of the Congress party and I am saying that the Congress party of Gujarat is unable to show it the way, and I am not speaking with shame, I am not speaking with fear, I want to put this before you whether it is our workers, whether it is Rahul Gandhi, whether it is our general secretary, whether it is our PCC president, we are unable to show the way to Gujarat. Till date, the expectations of Gujarat from us, from me, from our PCC president, from our in-charge in the last 30 years, we are unable to fulfil them." (ANI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai extended his greetings to everyone in the state on the occasion of Holi and urged people to celebrate it with peace and brotherhood. Vishnu Deo Sai said, "Greetings to everyone in Chhattisgarh on the occasion of Holi. This is the festival of colours, of brotherhood, of spreading love, forgetting differences and fresh beginnings in life. So, I urge all the people in the state to celebrate holi with peace and brotherhood." In the wake of several naxals surrendering before state police, CM Sai said that the state government has revamped the rehabilitation policy and improved it. He further says, "A rehabilitation policy for naxals was already in place but we are making it even better. State's Home Minister Vijay Sharma visited Assam and other states to examine rehabilitation policy. Following this, the rehabilitation policy has been framed and it is good." As many as 29 naxals of the Kutul area Committee in Chhattisgarh surrendered before Narayanpur SP Prabhat Kumar in January 2025. The festival of Holi has begun across the country, with people coming together to celebrate with colors, music, and traditional festivities. From temples to streets, vibrant hues and joyous gatherings mark the onset of the festival, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. In several states, celebrations will begin with the Holika Dahan, a ritual bonfire that symbolises the victory of devotion and righteousness. In Mathura and Vrindavan, famous for their grand Holi celebrations, devotees began the traditional rituals, including the famous Lathmar Holi. Cities like Varanasi, Jaipur, and Delhi witnessed enthusiastic crowds smearing each other with colors and enjoying festive treats like gujiya and thandai. Authorities have deployed security personnel in major cities to ensure peaceful celebrations. In Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, holi celebrations were held at the Shri Lakshminath Ji temple on the day of Holika Dahan. Prayers were offered, bhajans were sung, and colours were smeared on each other at the temple premises. Speaking to ANI on the Holi festival, a local said, "Holi celebrations in Jaisalmer begin from Shri Lakshminath Ji temple. Chaitanya Raj Singh Bhati also takes part in this celebration. The local people celebrate this 'Phaagotsav' together at the temple." Border Security Force (BSF) personnel posted at border outposts celebrated Holi on Thursday with great enthusiasm. To make the experience memorable, the senior officers and jawans make special arrangements ahead of the festivities. Amid the festive cheers, the personnel applied colors to each other and shared sweets with them. In a show of camaraderie, the soldiers lifted their officers onto their shoulders, chanting slogans of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai." The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel danced joyfully, covered in gulal, creating a lively atmosphere along the Indo-Pak border. The women soldiers not only danced to the rhythm of the DJ but also enjoyed the festivities with their fellow soldiers. (ANI) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel participated in the Vedic Holika Dahan at an open ground in Thaltej, Ahmedabad. He performed the sacred rituals of Vedic Holi and offered prayers, an official statement said. On this auspicious occasion, the Chief Minister prayed for the well-being of the people, emphasizing that India is deeply rooted in its rich cultural heritage. He encouraged everyone to celebrate Holi together while preserving these traditions and to embrace the vibrant spirit of Dhuleti the next day with natural colours. Additionally, he offered prayers for the good health and prosperity of all citizens, the statement added. The Vedic Holi festival was attended by Hitesh Barot, AMC's former Standing Committee chairman, corporators, several dignitaries, and local residents. Earlier, Bhupendra Patel extended his best wishes to all the citizens of Gujarat on the occasion of the festival of colours, Holi-Dhuleti Parve, as per a release. He expressed his best wishes and said that the festival will fill the lives of the people with the colours of happiness, prosperity, and joy. The CM expressed his hope that along with Holika Dahan, demonic powers, evils, social customs and baddies would also be burnt from the society and the colours of happiness and prosperity along with harmony, goodwill and goodwill will spread everywhere. Further, the CM said that the festival of colours would also become a festival that highlights social harmony. The festival of Holi is celebrated across the country, with people coming together to celebrate with colours, music, and traditional festivities. Earlier in the day, Prime minister Narendra Modi also extended his greetings on the occasion and expressed hope that the festival would bring new enthusiasm and energy into people's lives while strengthening national unity. PM Modi took to X to extend his heartfelt wishes to citizens, emphasising the festival's role in bringing people together and strengthening bonds of harmony. "I wish you all a very Happy Holi. This festival filled with joy and happiness will infuse new enthusiasm and energy in everyone's life and will also deepen the colours of unity among the countrymen," he wrote. (ANI) Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, met Bansuri Swaraj, the Member of Parliament from New Delhi, to discuss key issues related to public welfare, development, and governance. The meeting, described as cordial and constructive, reinforced their commitment to strengthen Delhi's progress and prosperity. https://x.com/gupta_rekha/status/1900183481302606061 Taking to X, Gupta shared details of her interaction with Swaraj, highlighting their discussion on making governance more effective for the citizens of the national capital."Today I had a cordial meeting with the popular Member of Parliament of New Delhi, Ms. @BansuriSwaraj ji. In this cordial conversation, discussions were held on making public welfare, development and good governance more effective, which strengthened the resolve to make Delhi more empowered and prosperous," Gupta posted on X.Earlier on Thursday, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta chaired a high-level meeting to make Delhi clean and pollution-free. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa attended the meeting along with officials from the Environment Department, Delhi Police, CAQM, DDA, PWD, and Municipal Corporation. All concerned departments were instructed to take concrete and effective steps to expedite pollution control. Taking to X, Gupta posted, "Today, an important high-level meeting was chaired to make Delhi clean and pollution-free. Environment Minister Mr. @mssirsa ji along with officials from the Environment Department, Delhi Police, CAQM, DDA, PWD and Municipal Corporation were present in the meeting. All the concerned departments were instructed to take concrete and effective steps so that pollution control can be accelerated." The government is committed to working with all stakeholders to improve air quality, expand green areas, and create a clean, green, and healthy capital city with the cooperation of Delhi residents. On Wednesday, she chaired a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority alongside Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to evaluate the national capital's hazard vulnerability, risk assessment, and other related matters. (ANI) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Thursday met with a delegation of fishermen from Tamil Nadu, led by BJP state chief K Annamalai, in Delhi to discuss their concerns and explore sustainable solutions. The delegation sought a permanent resolution to the recurring attacks on Indian fishermen in the high seas bordering Sri Lanka, along with extended sentences and heavy fines imposed on them. Jaishankar informed them that the recent apprehension of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities would be taken up at a meeting of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group to work out a solution. Jaishankar in a post on X said, "Met a fishermen's delegation from Tamil Nadu led by K Annamalai this evening in Delhi. Discussed their concerns, with a view to explore a sustainable solution. Their livelihood issues will guide the Government's approach. Our High Commission will continue to render full support in consular cases." https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1900189819613175808 Annamalai, addressing the media, described the meeting as an opportunity for fishermen from different coastal regions of Tamil Nadu to directly voice their issues. He said, "Jaishankar ji's meeting was all about bringing Tamil Nadu's fishermen brothers from different coastal regions of Tamil Nadu... They came here, there were a lot of grievances with respect to Sri Lankan Govt arresting our fishermen, giving them extended sentences and imposing huge fines." He added that Jaishankar had "patiently listened to all of them and has given them assurance that Indian government is always with them." Annamalai further emphasised, "The Record speaks for itself. Since PM Modi took over, there has been no firing on the high seas. Fishermen's lives are not lost. After the arrest, we are bringing them back as fast as possible...They will find a solution to the problem that has been there for the last 30 years." According to the Rameswaram Fishermen Association, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 14 fishermen from the Pamban area on March 7 for fishing across the border and took them to the Mannar Naval Base for investigation. The Sri Lankan Navy patrolling the area arrested the fishermen belonging to Salalanga and the 14 fishermen on board for fishing across the border. They have been taken to the Mannar Naval Base for investigation. Earlier, on February 27, a group of 25 Indian fishermen who were sent back from Sri Lanka arrived at the Chennai International Airport. Visuals showed the fishermen arriving at the Chennai Airport. The Sri Lankan Navy arrested them on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and released them from prison. A total of 32 fishermen were arrested on February 23, and their boats were seized. On February 23, fishermen in 440 boats went to sea from Rameswaram. While they were fishing in the Palk Bay sea area, Sri Lankan marines came to the area in a patrol boat. They caught 5 boats and apprehended 32 fishermen claiming that they were fishing across the border. On February 23, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed concern over the increase in the capture of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, urging the Centre to convene a Joint Working Group (JWG) to find a permanent solution to the issue. Highlighting the recent arrest of 32 fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities, Stalin had written to the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and said that the JWG would ensure the secure release of all the arrested fishermen and their boats. The Tamil Nadu CM pointed out that arrests of fishermen from the state are on the rise despite repeated requests to the Sri Lankan government to prevent these arrests. He was apprised about the arrests of fishermen in eight separate incidents in 2025, saying that 119 fishermen and 16 boats had been apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy. (ANI) DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai on Thursday, speaking on the Tamil Nadu government replacing the Rupee symbol with the Tamil 'Ru' symbol for the state Budget, said that the aim behind the usage of 'Ru' was to signify the protest of the state against the policies of the Union government. Speaking to ANI, the DMK spokesperson said "The usage of 'Ru' is to signify the protest of the state against the policies of the government." Further, he stated that everyone across the country was aware of the nefarious designs of the BJP government. "The people of the state are aware of what the BJP is trying to do here. Everybody across the country is aware of the nefarious designs of the BJP government," he further stated. Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre said that it was the duty of the Indian government to take along all states further stating that if the government failed in discharging their duties, all such things would happen. Speaking to ANI, Khandre said, "It is the duty of the Indian Government to take along all the states. So if they fail in discharging their duties properly, all such kinds of things will happen. This is a warning to the Central Government. They should think about all these things." Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy hit out at the Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin for the act and called it a "childish, foolish and nonsense act." The BJP Vice President further stated that it was a sad situation when the Rupee note itself was designed by a Tamil DMK MLA which was well honoured and praised by late M Karunanidhi (MK Stalin's father) and yet has been replaced by his son. Speaking to ANI, Thirupathy said, "This is a childish act by MK Stalin, it is foolish and nonsense. The Rupee note was designed by Tamilian who was a DMK MLA and it was praised and well honoured by late M Karunaidhi and now his son suddenly comes and says that they will not accept it." (ANI) He made the commitment on World Kidney Day, celebrated on Thursday. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Singh said, "I have reduced 12 kg weight. We have pledged to improve the health of Delhi within 100 days so that Delhi goes ahead as far as health is concerned. I have set that 100-day target for my own health as well." Delhi's Health Minister also urged people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and sent a message on World Kidney Day. "Good food, exercise, and a good lifestyle are primary things. As secondary, we have specialists and doctors. As per the data available, 1.5 crore people are affected by this. I urge everyone to lead a healthy lifestyle and avoid this disease," he said, referring to kidney ailments. He also spoke on the TB elimination programme in Delhi and said, "We need to start more intense programmes for TB elimination; we are planning several programmes in this direction." According to the latest information on Delhi government signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) with the Central government, he said, " We will be signing an MoU on Implementation of AB- ABHIM on March 18." (ANI) On one side, Jaunsari artists performed the Harul dance, while on the other side, women artists from Lohaghat sang and danced to Holi songs in their own joyful rhythm. The cultural troupe from the Rath region of the Pauri district was a special attraction, while the Tharu tribe's dance and the lively Chholiya dance performed by Almora's artists added to the festive mood. This was the vibrant scene at the Holi Milan program held at Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's residence in Dehradun, where Holi songs, dances, and folk culture from the Garhwal, Kumaon, and Jaunsar regions were showcased. The cultural influence that distinguishes Uttarakhand's heritage was on full display in the open courtyard of the CM residence, highlighting the state's rich cultural unity. At the invitation of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the CM residence turned into a cultural fair with various artistic groups gathering to perform. The air resonated with Holi songs and traditional melodies. Instruments like the dhol and manjira played harmoniously, enhancing the festive vibe. While artists from Almora invited everyone with their song "Aao Dagadiyo, Nacha Gawa, Aa Gayi Rangili Holi", artists from the Rath region sang "Aai Dandyu Basant, Dali Ma Maulyar." The Rath Region Art Committee's artists were particularly delighted to be specially invited. Their folk Holi songs have gained significant recognition in a short span. The committee's head, Prem Singh Negi, expressed pride in their 19-member group performing at the CM residence. Meanwhile, the Shivnidhi Self-Help Group from Lohaghat made a grand appearance with 54 members, delivering an impressive Holi performance. The group's leader, Alka, shared that performing at the CM residence for the first time was a significant and memorable moment for the entire team. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami actively participated in the festivities, fully immersing himself in the colors of Holi alongside the folk artists. He spent quality time with the performers, danced with them, and even tried his hand at traditional instruments like the dhol and thali. Folk artists from various parts of Uttarakhand praised the CM's efforts in promoting their cultural heritage. The 20-member team from Khatima's Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Tharu Upliftment Committee also performed on Thursday. Members Bunty Rana and Rinku Rana acknowledged the CM's commendable efforts in identifying and providing platforms to talented folk artists. (ANI) Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chennai, conducted search operations at various premises across many districts of Tamil Nadu under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for various offences related to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) and its associated entities/persons, said an official statement from the Central agency. In a post on X, ED said, "ED, Chennai has conducted search operations at various premises across many districts of Tamil Nadu on 06.03.2025 under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for various offences related to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) and its associated entities/persons. During the search operations, various incriminating documents were recovered and seized." https://x.com/dir_ed/status/1900178289156866072 Earlier, the ED seized Rs 10 lakh, incriminating records and digital devices during raids conducted at 16 places in Rs 400 crore foreign remittance case, the agency said on Monday. ED's Jaipur zonal seized the cash and incriminating materials during searches conducted on March 7 at sixteen locations in Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Noida and Mumbai under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the money laundering investigation related to a case wherein huge illegal foreign remittances have been made in lieu of the gold, diamond and precious stones smuggling. The ED said it initiated an investigation on the basis of various complaints filed by Customs (Preventive), Commissionerate, Jodhpur u/s 132 and 135 of the Customs Act, 1962, before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences), Jaipur, which revealed that approximately Rs 400 crore were remitted to various overseas entities based in Hong Kong and UAE through various bank accounts of Belstar Techno Solution (OPC) Pvt Ltd and Visual Bird Technology, after routing through a web of multiple shell companies, in the guise of the import of services that were never received. However, the agency said, in actuality, the funds were remitted outside India against the illegal import of gold, diamonds and precious stones. (ANI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday addressed the Spiritual and Value Education Summit in New Delhi, according to the official statement. In his inaugural address, the Lieutenant Governor exhorted the distinguished scholars and educators for transforming the education system into a holistic framework to nurture intellectual growth and moral integrity among students. "Seamless integration of ethics and value in education is crucial to creating an enlightened society and a powerful nation. Without the fine balance of our ancient value system and modern skills, it is impossible to sustain and further economic growth in the long-run," he added. "Value-based education will enable students to explore their true strengths. It will help in character building and inspire them for righteous living. This holistic education system can take the nation on a growth trajectory and bring about the changes necessary for a developed nation," the Lieutenant Governor said. The Lieutenant Governor emphasised imparting ethical, moral, and social values alongside academic knowledge and skills. The Lieutenant Governor said, "Our youth should have Science in one hand and Samskara in the other. Along with the advancement of science and technology, the teachings of traditional values, our cultural heritage and our vision of great personalities should also be included in the main curriculum of education. We need scientists as well as artists and spiritualists. Only the spirits of scientists, artists and spiritualists combined together can save education from being one-sided and succeed in making it a holistic education." Speaking on the need to develop future-ready education systems and skill-driven learning environments, the Lieutenant Governor highlighted the rapid pace at which change is taking place today, which will require constant skilling and reskilling as per the needs of the industry. He urged all teachers to go beyond the subjects and curriculum and provide the students with skills to become successful future professionals. "The real power of education is its ability to transform. We can fulfil the demands of a modern society and build Viksit Bharat, if we can fully utilise the power of education and skilled human resources of the nation" the Lieutenant Governor said. The Lieutenant Governor asked the students to embrace lifelong learning and realise their inner ability through self-exploration and self-awareness. "True Education shows the path to liberation. Liberation enables you to know yourself better so that you can achieve all the goals of your life," he said. Education is not just about rote learning and the exchange of information. Rather, education is a method, a medium. Through education, you can achieve your individuality, awaken your consciousness,and your passion, learn the modern skills to make your place in the world and achieve new heights in your chosen fields. "Nowadays, the real aim of education is misunderstood. It is not about youth achieving the number one position or marks. Instead of numbers, students should focus on lifelong learning skills. Students should follow their passion and aim to reach the pinnacle of their creativity so that they can learn new skills according to the changing demands of the industry and achieve success," the Lieutenant Governor said. He further called upon the educational institutions to aim for Zero Stress Campus and kindle the unique strength and talent of the students. "I would also like to request all the parents to help their children develop a strong personality according to their passion. I am sure that if youth are allowed to choose subjects as per their passion, they will be able to achieve new heights," the Lieutenant Governor further said. The Lieutenant Governor also congratulated and extended his felicitations to Dr Priyaranjan Trivedi, all the members of Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar Vishwa Hindu Vidyapeeth, Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment (IEE), and everyone associated with the summit. (ANI) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday strongly condemned the DMK government's act of substituting the currency symbol of 'Rs' with Tamil alphabet 'Ru.' The Finance Minister questioned DMK over the act and asked them why they did not protest back in 2010 when the symbol was officially adopted by the Indian National Congress. "The DMK government has reportedly removed the official Rupee symbol 'Rs' from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented tomorrow. If the DMK has a problem with 'Rs', why didn't it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the INC-led UPA government, at a time when the DMK was part of the ruling alliance at the Centre?" the post read. Further, she wrote that by erasing the symbol, DMK was not just rejecting a national symbol but also disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth. She also stated that the Tamil 'Rupaai' word had deep roots in the Sanskrit word 'Rupya' which meant 'wrought silver' or 'worked silver coin.' "Ironically, 'Rs' was designed by Th. D Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. By erasing it now, the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth. Moreover, the Tamil word 'Rupaai' (ruupaay) itself has deep roots in the Sanskrit word 'Rupya,' meaning 'wrought silver' or 'a worked silver coin.' This term has resonated across centuries in Tamil trade and literature, and even today, 'Rupaai' remains the currency name in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka," the post further read. The Finance Minister further said that the Rupee was internationally well-recognised and used in several countries other than India. Sitharaman also wrote questioned why was the national currency symbol being undermined when the country should be pushing it for cross-border payments using UPI. "Ironically, 'Rs' was designed by Th. D Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. By erasing it now, the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth. Moreover, the Tamil word 'Rupaai' itself has deep roots in the Sanskrit word 'Rupya,' meaning 'wrought silver' or 'a worked silver coin.' This term has resonated across centuries in Tamil trade and literature, and even today, 'Rupaai' remains the currency name in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka," the post further read. She also said that under the Constitution, all elected representatives and authorities were sworn to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. Removing a national symbol from the state Budget documents went against the oath and weakened the commitment to national unity. "All elected representatives and authorities are sworn under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation. Removing a national symbol like 'Rs' from the State Budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity." This is more than mere symbolism--it signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism," the post read. The Finance Minister also wrote the same post in the Tamil language. Tamil Nadu's BJP President Annamalai also condemned the act and stated that DMK had become a laughing stock across the country and were doing this just to divert attention from other public issues. The President further stated that the symbol which was designed by a Tamilian Udaya Kumar was appreciated by CM MK Stalin's father, Kalaignar Karunanidhi. He also said that the CM wanted to change the symbol because they were against the Devanagari script. Speaking to ANI, he said "It is not only condemnable but also laughable. In 2010, a Tamilian, Udaya Kumar's design, which was a combination of Latin and Devanagari script, was selected in a national-level design contest. He was appreciated by Kalaignar Karunanidhi - the then Tamil Nadu CM. His son, CM MK Stalin has found fault with it. In 2025, they want to change it because they said that they are against the Devanagari script. His father accepted it and this symbol was given by a Tamilian. I am sure that the DMK fellows did not even know that this was given by a Tamilian and Udaya Kumar also happens to be the son of a former DMK MLA...DMK has become a laughing stock across India. They are doing this to divert attention from other pressing public issues." The Tamil Nadu government's introduction of the new rupee logo has sparked controversy. Earlier, Chief Minister MK Stalin released a video that showcased the logo for the Budget of 2025-26. In this logo, the national currency symbol has been substituted with the Tamil Alphabet 'Ru'. The 2025-26 Budget is set to be presented in the Tamil Nadu assembly on March 14. The step from the Tamil Nadu government ignited criticism from the Opposition leaders. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai said that CM Stalin's decision is not only condemnable but also laughable. (ANI) Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Thursday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping and impregnating a minor girl. The case was registered under the POCSO Act at Nihal Vihar Police Station in 2024. The convict, a neighbour of the victim, was someone she trusted and referred to as 'uncle.' The child born from the assault has since been placed for adoption. "The convict did not care that the victim used to call him 'uncle' or that she was his neighbour's daughter. In our Indian culture, when parents go somewhere, they ask their neighbours to take care of their children. The convict has betrayed and breached that trust," the court said in the order. Special Judge (POCSO) Babita Puniya sentenced the convict to life imprisonment (for the remainder of his life) under section 6 of the POCSO Act. The Judge remarked, "In my considered view, the convict's conduct has rendered this offence more serious." "For the offence punishable under section 6 of POCSO, he (Convict) is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000," the court ordered on March 10. The court had convicted the accused on January 30, 2025, for the offence punishable under sections 5 (j) (ii) & (l) read with section 6 of the POCSO Act and section 376 (2) (n)/506 Part II IPC. No separate sentence for section 376 (Rape) has been awarded by the court. The court observed, "The victim was an innocent, helpless 'child', who was sexually assaulted by her neighbour whom she used to call 'Uncle'; he abused his position of trust which he had as a neighbour in the life of the victim." The court has awarded compensation of Rs 19.5 lakh to the victim for her rehabilitation under the victim compensation scheme. The prosecution had prayed for the strictest and severest sentence to be awarded to the convict. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) prayed that argued that the convict repeatedly raped the girl, but throughout the trial he denied his complicity in the crime and at no point of time did he show any remorse for his horrific act. "Thus, according to learned Prosecutor, he should not be allowed back into the society keeping in view the interest of society which demands that wanton criminal acts as displayed by the convict should be punished proportionately," the court noted the submissions of SPP. On the other hand, the counsel for the accused prayed for leniency in awarding the punishment. It was submitted that the convict is a young man aged about 35. He is the sole bread earner of his family, which consists of an old mother, a wife, and two minor children. He is illiterate, belongs to the lower strata of society and is a first-time offender without any criminal history. The court rejected the contention of the defence counsel. (ANI) Amid row over his 'Gaza Plan', US President Donald Trump asserted that no one would be "expelled" from the strip, The Jerusalem Post reported. He made the remarks before his meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House on Wednesday (local time). In his statement alongside Martin, Trump said, "No one is expelling anyone from Gaza." During his meeting with Martin, he even called the US Senate's minority leader Chuck Schumer "a Palestinian." Trump said, "Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I'm concerned. He's become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian." He made a similar statement regarding Schumer in a post shared on his social media platform Truth Social in February. In his remarks, Martin said aid needed to be increased into Gaza and called for a ceasefire as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post report. Earlier in December, Israel announced the closure of its embassy in Ireland, citing the country's "anti-Israel policies." The decision came a week after Ireland expressed support for South Africa's action against Israel in the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide, The Jerusalem Post reported. US President's remarks on Gaza come after his statement in February, where he said that the US will take over the Gaza Strip, dismantle dangerous weapons, get rid of the destroyed buildings and work for the economic development of the area. While addressing a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, "The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site and getting rid of the destroyed buildings. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area." Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday agreed to continue talks and coordinate with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff on Gaza reconstruction plan proposed by Egypt during a meeting in Doha, according to a joint statement. The joint statement said that consultations will continue on the plan with Witkoff, as a "basis for the reconstruction efforts" in the Gaza Strip. (ANI) ISPR Pakistan DG Lt Gen Sharif Chaudhry has said that the Jaffar Express clearance operation, launched after the train's hijacking in Balochistan, was complete. He added that all rebels, 33 in total, at the site of the attack had been killed. "On March 11 in Bolan, terrorists targeted a railroad track around 1pm and blew it up and stopped the Jaffar Express. According to railway officials, the train had 440 passengers," he said while speaking in an interview on Dunya News. Chaudhry said the army, air force, Frontier Corps (FC) and the Special Services Group had taken part and recovered the hostages. He added that no passenger was hurt in the final clearance operation, but before that, "the number of passengers who fell victim to the barbarism of the terrorists is 21." "These terrorists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan during the operation via satellite phone. You saw that around 100 passengers were safely rescued yesterday evening from the terrorists, and today as well, a large number of passengers have been recovered," he said, adding that the process continued intermittently. Earlier in a statement, the Baloch Liberation Army has claimed that it had executed 50 additional captives on board the Jaffar Express. Earlier PTV citing security officials had said that at least 190 passengers had been freed after terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express. The hostage situation began on Tuesday near the Mashkaf Tunnel, about 157 kilometres from Quetta, when BLA rebels attacked the Jaffar Express and took more than 400 passengers hostage, including numerous security personnel. There was no confirmation of the total number of casualties, but officials told Dawn News that at least 30 people -- including the driver of the locomotive and eight security personnel -- had lost their lives as the forces engaged in a gun battle. (ANI) Baloch Human Rights Council Information Secretary Khurshid Ahmed on Thursday said that the Jaffar Express hijacking had shown that the Baloch freedom fighters were getting stronger. "This incident shows that Pakistan is getting weaker. Whereas the Baloch freedom fighters are getting stronger in Balochistan. Even in such harsh conditions, the Baloch freedom fighters followed the human rights standards and let the elderly women and families go back to Quetta. They took many Army personnel hostage and demanded the release of Baloch people who had disappeared. We think that such incidents will not stop in the future. We have been seeing the Baloch freedom fighters, particularly BLA, has been attacking Pakistan-China projects in Balochistan. BLA is defending its motherland. The situation in Balochistan demands that India and Western powers should support Baloch's national struggle," he said. Earlier, ISPR Pakistan DG Lt Gen Sharif Chaudhry has said that the Jaffar Express clearance operation, launched after the train's hijacking in Balochistan, was complete. He added that all rebels, 33 in total, at the site of the attack had been killed. "On March 11 in Bolan, terrorists targeted a railroad track around 1pm and blew it up and stopped the Jaffar Express. According to railway officials, the train had 440 passengers," he said while speaking in an interview on Dunya News. Chaudhry said the army, air force, Frontier Corps (FC) and the Special Services Group had taken part and recovered the hostages. He added that no passenger was hurt in the final clearance operation, but before that, "the number of passengers who fell victim to the barbarism of the terrorists is 21." Earlier PTV citing security officials had said that at least 190 passengers had been freed after terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express. The hostage situation began on Tuesday near the Mashkaf Tunnel, about 157 kilometres from Quetta, when BLA rebels attacked the Jaffar Express and took more than 400 passengers hostage, including numerous security personnel. There was no confirmation of the total number of casualties, but officials told Dawn News that at least 30 people -- including the driver of the locomotive and eight security personnel -- had lost their lives as the forces engaged in a gun battle. Meanwhile, Naseem Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), criticized the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad for what he described as its failure to acknowledge serious human rights violations in Balochistan, reported the Balochistan Post. The BNM chairman's scatching remarks came after a social media statement that the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad posted on their X account condemning the Baloch Liberation Army's (BLA) seizure of the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express train. Expressing deep concern over the U.S. Embassy's stance, Naseem. Baloch accused Washington of endorsing Pakistan's "fabricated narratives" while ignoring the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan. He alleged that despite presenting itself as a democracy, Pakistan is engaged in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and war crimes in the region. (ANI) According to the MND, 11 out of 20 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1899988788895518953 In a post on X, MND wrote, "20 sorties of PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 11 out of 20 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded." Earlier on Wednesday, the MND detected 11 sorties of People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, seven People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels and one official ship. https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1899626401419907225 In a post on X, Taiwan's MND stated, "11 sorties of PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 5 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern, southwestern and eastern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded." Meanwhile, the US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent expressed confidence that China would not take any action against Taiwan during President Donald Trump's tenure, as reported by Taipei Times on Monday. China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has not dismissed the possibility of using military force to assert control over it. Last Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared that "China will achieve reunification with Taiwan, and this is inevitable." Taipei Times reported that during an interview, Bessent was asked if he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping would take action on Taiwan. He responded, "I follow President Trump's lead, and he is confident that President Xi will not make that move during his presidency." (ANI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Quetta to review the law and order situation following the Jaffar Express hijacking incident, as per Geo News. The visit comes after security forces successfully eliminated 33 rebels from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) who hijacked the train, taking over 400 passengers hostage on Tuesday. The two-day operation involved units from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Special Services Group (SSG), Army, and Frontier Corps (FC) taking part in the operation, as reported by Geo News citing the army's spokesperson statement. According to Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the terrorists "remained in contact with their facilitators and mastermind based in Afghanistan via satellite phone." Notably, 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists before the operation began, and four Frontier Corps personnel also lost their lives during the attack. However, all remaining hostages were freed, bringing an end to the crisis, the military's spokesperson confirmed. "Whoever did this will be hunted down and brought to justice," said Lt Gen Chaudhry, adding that the suicide bombers -- present near the hostages using them as human shields -- were taken out by snipers. Following the Jaffar Express incident, emergency services were imposed in Sibi and Civil Hospital Quetta. At least 29 wounded passengers were transported to Quetta for medical treatment. According to hospital officials, 16 passengers were admitted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), while 13 others were taken to the Civil Hospital. According to the hospital administration, the condition of the injured passengers is stable and they are out of danger. ' In addition, 47 passengers were shifted to Quetta from Machh. The bodies of those who lost their lives, along with some injured passengers, were shifted to the Machh Railway Station and will be sent to their hometowns after the necessary administrative prerequisites. (ANI) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday made a surprise visit to the Kursk region, where he told troops that Moscow's goal is to "completely liberate" the area as soon as possible, CNN reported. This comes a day after Ukraine accepted a 30-day ceasefire with Russia after critical peace talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia. Speaking in a video broadcast by Russian state television, wearing a military uniform, Putin told frontline troops that Moscow's goal is to "completely liberate" Kursk as soon as possible, during his first trip to the western region since Ukraine's unexpected incursion there last year. The visit appears to be a morale booster for Russian forces, who are advancing on Ukraine's remaining holdouts in the region, as per CNN. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Putin was "carefully studying" the proposal, as Moscow waits to be briefed by US officials in the coming days. According to CNN, Putin met with General Valery Gerasimov in Kursk, where he addressed soldiers and urged them to oust the remaining Ukrainian forces. Putin also raised the possibility of creating a "buffer zone" along Russia's border with Ukraine. Putin added that Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk should be treated as "terrorists." Ukraine launched a 'shock incursion' into Russia's Kursk region in August catching Russia off guard, and quickly gaining control of a significant amount of territory. The Ukrainian campaign had two main objectives: to capture land that could be used as leverage to negotiate the return of Russian-occupied territory and to divert Russian resources away from the front lines in the east. However, Ukraine has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days. On Wednesday, Gerasimov claimed that Russian forces had recaptured more than 86 per cent of the area taken by Ukraine, that 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner - and the remaining Ukrainians were surrounded. Kyiv's hopes of using Kursk as a bargaining tool in negotiations had "totally collapsed," Gerasimov claimed. On Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump said that the ball is now in Putin's court as US representatives headed to Russia "right now as we speak," to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Addressing the reporters in the Oval Office, Trump affirmed, "We're going to have to see. It's up to Russia now," adding that he declined to comment on whether he has a meeting scheduled with the Russian leader. Trump's Special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia later this week, though it is unclear whether he plans to meet with Putin, with whom he met last month. Vice President JD Vance, speaking in the Oval Office, also confirmed that conversations are happening "on the phone and in person with some of our representatives over the next couple of days." (ANI) According to RFA, Chen, along with other social workers, attempted to mediate between police and protesters. She used a loudspeaker to call on the police to exercise restraint and avoid using non-lethal bullets during a protest on August 31, 2019. During and after the 2019 protests, police made over 10,000 arrests. The protests started as a response to a proposal allowing the extradition of suspected criminals to mainland China but later expanded to include calls for fully democratic elections and greater government accountability, as reported by RFA. Chen was acquitted in 2020, but prosecutors appealed the decision, leading to a retrial--another instance of the tough approach Hong Kong authorities have taken in political cases. Ahead of the verdict at the Hong Kong district court, Chen told Radio Free Asia that she felt "at peace." "As long as my health is good, there's still much I can do," she said. "So why not approach this calmly?" Afterwards, she gathered with supporters outside the court building, wearing a backpack, a sweatshirt with colourful designs, and a bright smile, RFA reported. In her ruling, Judge May Chung stated that Chen had used her role as a social worker to back the protesters and had used a loudspeaker to make baseless allegations against the police. Chen was detained and is set to be sentenced next month, with the possibility of facing up to seven years in prison. Human rights activists often face violations such as arbitrary arrest, torture, harassment, and imprisonment for advocating freedom of expression, assembly, and political rights. Governments may use legal measures to suppress dissent, restrict access to information, and silence activists through intimidation, wrongful detention, or forced exile, undermining fundamental freedoms. (ANI) The Focus Asia Foundation (FAF) has put forward the nominations of Mama Qadeer Baloch, vice chief of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), and Nargis Baloch (Hooran) for the esteemed Nelson Mandela Prize 2025, as reported by Balochistan Post. According to FAF, this United Nations accolade is awarded to individuals who have made remarkable contributions to human rights, social justice, and peace. For the past 15 years, Mama Qadeer and Nargis Baloch have been actively speaking out against enforced disappearances and human rights abuses. Their efforts have not only provided a platform for the families of the disappeared but have also brought global attention to the issue. The VBMP has officially confirmed their nomination for the award, the Balochistan Post reported. On Wednesday, Mama Qadeer Baloch, in his regular statement, drew attention to the worsening situation in Balochistan, accusing the region of enduring oppression. He asserted that incidents of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings rose in February, while the media continues to silence the truth and promote state-sponsored narratives, according to a report by Balochistan Post. While speaking at the VBMP's protest camp for missing persons, which marked its 5,758th day on Wednesday, Mama Qadeer Baloch reiterated the group's demand for the safe return of the disappeared. Political and social activists from Khuzdar, such as Ameer Bakhsh Baloch, Allah Bakhsh Baloch, and Elahi Bakhsh, visited the camp to show their support for the families of the missing. Mama Qadeer and Nargis Baloch's nominations highlight global recognition for their relentless fight for human rights. Recently, Mahrang Baloch, a leading human rights activist and organizer of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), has confirmed her nomination for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Balochistan Post. While expressing her appreciation, Baloch stressed that the recognition is not for her personally, but for the victims of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. (ANI) Addressing the National Assembly of Pakistan on Wednesday, Khan questioned Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government and intelligence agencies, asking why they failed to detect the gathering of terrorists on the railway line. "Who allowed 80, 100, or 50 terrorists to gather on the railway line?" Khan asked. "If even five workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf gather, be it Sindh Police, Balochistan Police or Punjab Police, tear gas, batons and live bullets are immediately fired, intelligence agencies come into action, and they are handcuffed and dragged away like Gog and Magog. Why didn't they see these terrorists?" he added. Earlier in the day, security forces confirmed that they successfully eliminated 33 rebels from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) who hijacked the train, taking over 400 passengers hostage on Tuesday. The two-day operation involved units from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Special Services Group (SSG), Army, and Frontier Corps (FC) taking part in the operation, as reported by Geo News citing the army's spokesperson statement. According to Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the terrorists "remained in contact with their facilitators and mastermind based in Afghanistan via satellite phone." Notably, 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists before the operation began, and four Frontier Corps personnel also lost their lives during the attack. However, all remaining hostages were freed, bringing an end to the crisis, the military's spokesperson confirmed. On March 11 in Bolan, terrorists targeted a railroad track around 1 pm and blew it up and stopped the Jaffar Express. According to railway officials, the train had 440 passengers. (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], March 13 (ANI/TPS): After more than a year of war, post-traumatic stress disorder among Israelis, particularly among young adults, is soaring, according to research released by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev on Thursday. While PTSD has become more widespread among Israelis after over a year of fighting Hamas and Hezbollah, the study said individuals ages 18-30 were particularly affected due to their high rate of military service, personal losses, and displacement from their homes. "This is one of the groups that was most significantly affected," said Dr. Stav Shapira, from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Ben-Gurion University and one of the study's authors. "There is a high proportion of reserve service members, spouses of soldiers, victims of the war, and more. This war has exacerbated the challenges they already face." The study found that before the war, 25 per cent of young people met the criteria for PTSD. After the war, this figure surged to 42 per cent, and among those evacuated from their homes, the rate was even higher at 60 per cent. Similar increases were noted in levels of depression and loneliness. Alarmingly, protective factors such as personal resilience and social support, which typically help individuals cope with distress, have significantly declined. PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. People with PTSD may avoid situations or things that remind them of the traumatic event, and they may have negative changes in beliefs and feelings. The condition is typically managed with therapy and medication. At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Among the casualties, 52 per cent were under 30 years old, with the highest rate among those aged 20-24. According to developmental psychology, this age range is defined as "emerging adulthood," a stage crucial for identity formation and personal development, the researchers said. To examine the war's psychological effects, researchers conducted two surveys among young people aged 18-24. The first, taken before the war, included 1,216 participants, while the second, conducted after the war's outbreak, surveyed 915 individuals. The post-war survey also assessed personal loss, injury, and evacuation experiences. The study identified key risk factors for post-traumatic symptoms, including perceived threats, emotional coping strategies, loss of loved ones, and forced evacuation. In contrast, individuals with strong personal resilience and social support exhibited lower distress levels. However, Prof. Tehila Refaeli, from the Department of Social Work at Ben-Gurion University, warned that these protective factors were diminishing in the current environment. "We examined whether and how resilience resources are protective in the relationship between a subjective sense of threat and psychological distress, but our concerns were confirmed. We found that in the current reality, they are not protective factors, and there is a decrease in personal resilience and social support alongside an increase in psychological distress variables," Refaeli said. Furthermore, the study found that common coping strategies such as avoidance and repression were not only ineffective but may have exacerbated distress. "Despite the tendency to think that young people have resilience and the ability to overcome, and to naturally invest in care primarily for children and adolescents who are perceived as more vulnerable, the study points to the need not to ignore the many needs of this population," the researchers said. To address these concerns, the study calls for policies tailored to young people's specific needs. Recommended initiatives include programs to strengthen resilience, rebuild support networks, and expand mental health services with a focus on trauma treatment. An estimated three million Israelis overall are suffering from PTSD, according to a State Comptroller report released in February. (ANI/TPS) The 27th ASEAN-India Senior Officials' Meeting (AISOM), co-chaired by Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar and Undersecretary Ma Theresa P Lazaro of the Philippines, took place in Manila on Wednesday. The meeting brought together senior officials from all ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste, and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN to review progress on implementing decisions made during the ASEAN-India Summit and Foreign Ministers' Meetings. Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, posted on X that they reviewed progress on key decisions from the ASEAN-India Summit and Foreign Ministers' Meetings. https://x.com/MEAIndia/status/1900108400203358707 The officials discussed various key issues, including tourism cooperation, trade agreements, digital and maritime connectivity, health partnerships, and innovation and development. They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. One of the significant outcomes of the meeting was the appreciation of the progress made in implementing the 10-point proposal announced by the Prime Minister of India at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in 2024. This proposal aims to strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including designating 2025 as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism. "The 27th AISOM reviewed the status of implementation of decisions of ASEAN-India Summit/ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting (PMC+1) across the three pillars of engagement, namely, political-security, economic and socio-cultural. The Senior Officials appreciated progress in the implementation of the 10-Point Proposal of the Prime Minister of India announced at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Lao PDR in 2024 to further strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including to designate the year 2025 as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism," read a press release of MEA. Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East), underlined that ASEAN is a crucial pillar of India's Act East Policy and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific. Key issues of discussion included tourism cooperation, early completion of the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), digital, maritime, connectivity, health, innovation, and development partnerships. Views on regional and global issues of mutual interest were also exchanged. The meeting also discussed preparations for the upcoming ASEAN-India Summit and ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held in Malaysia later this year. The ASEAN side expressed gratitude for India's continued support to ASEAN and the ASEAN-led architecture in the region. "Preparations for the ASEAN-India Summit and ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held later this year in Malaysia were also discussed. The ASEAN side appreciated India's continued support to ASEAN and to the ASEAN-led architecture in the region," read the release. In addition to the meeting, Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar also called on Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo to discuss growing bilateral relations and multifaceted cooperation between India and the Philippines. Secretary Mazumdar also thanked Secretary Manalo for accepting the invitation to participate in the 10th Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. "Secretary (East) called on Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Enrique A Manalo and briefed him on the outcomes of AISOM. He also discussed growing bilateral relations and multifaceted cooperation between India and the Philippines and the ways to further expand and enhance them. He thanked Secretary Manalo for accepting the invitation to participate in the 10th Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi from 17-19 March 2025," added the release. Notably, the Philippines is the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations, and Timor-Leste holds Observer Status in ASEAN. (ANI) The Ministry of Defence of Taiwan confirmed a media report that a retired Air Force major had disclosed classified documents to Chinese intelligence agents, as reported by the Taipei Times. The leaked information concerned the Air Force's use of Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles mounted on aircraft, as well as Taiwan's responses to Chinese incursions into the nation's air defence identification zone, Taipei Times reported. According to Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo, the data allegedly provided by former Air Force pilot Shih Chun-cheng was academic research from a developmental phase. The ministry first received reports from military personnel in January 2023, which prompted a joint-defence response and coordinated investigation with military police, Koo explained. He noted that the fact that military personnel reported the leak demonstrated the effectiveness of improvements in the armed forces education and counterintelligence efforts, Taipei Times reported. To further enhance counterintelligence capabilities, the ministry will continue educating soldiers on the subject, increasing background checks for personnel, and bolstering staffing in the Military Intelligence Bureau. According to the Taipei Times, Koo also mentioned that the ministry would adopt a model similar to the US, where access to confidential information is based on background checks, necessity, and confidentiality rather than rank. In the past, only certain ranks underwent special background checks, but from now on, only individuals who pass the review will be granted access. Cheng Yi-cheng, CEO of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, stated that while it was not convenient to disclose details about Hsiung Feng III's development, the leak had no impact on the ongoing research. The leaked information came from an earlier stage of the project, the Taipei Times reported. In a separate incident involving a retired soldier's lost phone, which allegedly ended up in China and had its contents leaked on Sina Weibo, Koo confirmed that the photographs on the phone had been approved for public release and that the device had been reported as lost. The leaked images reportedly showed group chats from Line, officer names, photos of the 137th Brigade, and the contact information of the 8th Army Corps. Further, Koo highlighted the effectiveness of the armed forces' mobile device management systems, which locked down the device's functions and prevented further sensitive information from being exposed. (ANI) Among them is Levies officer Qais Nisar, who was allegedly taken from his home by plainclothes officers after being physically assaulted. Qais Nisar's mother has appealed for his release, emphasising that her son, a government employee, is not involved in any criminal activities. Another individual, Karim Bakhsh, was also reportedly abducted from his home on the same night under similar circumstances. These disappearances contribute to the rising number of enforced abductions in Balochistan, with recent reports revealing nearly 58 such cases this month alone. The Balochistan Post reported that in a separate incident, Pakistani forces are said to have detained a man named Dawood, son of Abdul Qadir, while he was performing Isha prayers at a mosque in the Sari Koran area of Panjgur on March 6. This has fueled further protests against enforced disappearances in the region. Locals in Panjgur have been holding a sit-in on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) highway for the past three days, demanding the release of those who have gone missing, as reported by the Balochistan Post. Despite the protests, new cases of enforced disappearances continue to surface, intensifying concerns about human rights violations in Balochistan. The situation has sparked widespread calls for accountability and an end to the ongoing abductions. Recently, Pakistani security forces forcibly abducted three Baloch individuals in Barkhan, a district in Balochistan. The victims included a retired teacher, a retired doctor, and a local resident, reported the Balochistan Post. The abduction of Baloch individuals in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan, remains a critical issue. The Baloch community faces intense persecution by state security forces, leading to widespread fear and growing concerns about the safety and human rights of the region's people. (ANI) Hakeem Baloch, member of the Baloch National Movement's Foreign Committee, stated that the Jaffar train hijack incident highlighted the ongoing Baloch struggle against Pakistani oppression and the exploitation of their resources by both the Pakistani state and international powers. Hakeem Baloch said, "The Baloch Liberation Army released a statement saying that the civilians were released, the women, children, elderly and the other civilians, those who were not military personnel, those who were not part of the Pakistani government or military in any shape or form, they have been released." According to Hakeem, the group stressed that only military personnel were taken hostage as part of their ongoing demands for the release of Baloch political prisoners and the thousands of Baloch missing persons, allegedly detained without charge by Pakistan's security forces. Hakeem, speaking on behalf of the Baloch National Movement, accused the Pakistani state of fabricating the details surrounding the attack, especially regarding the alleged death of the Jaffar Express driver. "The Pakistani state has continuously lied about the situation, and the international community must recognize the truth of what is happening in Balochistan," Baloch said. Hakeem emphasised," BLA put forward a demand to the Pakistani state that if they want these hostages to be released, if they want these military personnel to be released, then they should release the Baloch, you know, political prisoners, Baloch prisoners of war and all the Baloch missing persons, those who are in the dungeon of Pakistani army for the last many, many years, in some cases for decades." Hakeem Baloch also criticized international responses, particularly from European Union and United States officials, who condemned the hijacking and called for the release of the hostages. While acknowledging these concerns, he pointed out that international statements have largely ignored the BLA's demands regarding Baloch prisoners. "The world needs to hear the full story and stop blindly following the narrative put forth by Pakistan," Hakeem insisted. The Pakistani military has reported that 33 militants were killed during an operation to reclaim the Jaffar Express, alongside several military casualties. However, survivors of the hijacking, many of whom were later released, have contradicted this narrative. Eyewitnesses claim that the death toll among military personnel is likely much higher, with estimates ranging from 60 to 70 casualties. He emphasized that the BLA's actions were not just about the Jaffar Express hijacking, but part of a larger resistance to what they view as Pakistan's exploitation of Balochistan's natural resources, including its minerals and strategic coastline. "The Baloch people are fighting for their rights, their land, and their freedom," Hakeem stated. As the situation in Balochistan remains tense, with ongoing clashes between the BLA and Pakistani forces, the Baloch National Movement continues to demand justice and autonomy for the Baloch people. The events surrounding the Jaffar Express hijacking are a stark reminder of the deep-rooted issues facing Balochistan, and the global community's role in recognizing and addressing these concerns. In a dramatic turn of events on March 11, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express, a train en route from Quetta to Peshawar, in the strategic Bolan Valley. The train, which was carrying over 450 passengers, including 200 security personnel, became the center of a high-stakes standoff between the BLA and Pakistani security forces. (ANI) China on Wednesday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express in Balochistan and reaffirmed its firm support for Pakistan in its fight against terrorism. The attack, which targeted a train carrying over 450 passengers, led to multiple casualties and a large-scale security operation., Geo News reported. "We noted the reports and strongly condemn this terrorist attack," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said during her regular briefing in response to a question on the incident. She emphasised that China "firmly opposes terrorism in any form" and stated, "We will continue to firmly support Pakistan in combating terrorism, maintaining solidarity and social stability, and protecting the safety of civilians." As reported by Geo News, Mao further underscored China's readiness to enhance counterterrorism and security cooperation with Pakistan to ensure regional stability. The attack took place on March 11 near the Mashkaf Tunnel, about 157 kilometers from Quetta, when Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants targeted a section of the railway track, forcing the Jaffar Express to a stop. According to railway officials, the train had around 440 passengers onboard. The militants then took more than 400 people hostage, including several security personnel. In an escalation of violence in Balochistan, an attack on a passenger train has left 21 people dead, while the Pakistan Army responded by eliminating 33 rebels. Four soldiers were also killed in the operation, adding to the heavy toll in the volatile region. Pakistan's military launched a comprehensive clearance operation involving the army, air force, Frontier Corps (FC), and the Special Services Group (SSG). Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Sharif Chaudhry later confirmed that all 33 rebels at the attack site had been killed. "On March 11 in Bolan, terrorists targeted a railroad track around 1 pm and blew it up and stopped the Jaffar Express," he said in an interview with Dunya News. He further stated, "The number of passengers who fell victim to the barbarism of the terrorists is 21." Chaudhry also revealed that the attackers were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan via satellite phone throughout the operation. Security forces successfully rescued around 100 hostages by Tuesday evening, with additional passengers freed in subsequent phases. Earlier, Pakistan Television (PTV), citing security officials, reported that at least 190 passengers had been freed. Meanwhile, the BLA claimed it had executed 50 more captives, though there was no independent confirmation. Dawn News reported that at least 30 people, including the train's driver and eight security personnel, had lost their lives in the standoff. (ANI) The Gulfstream G650 jet plane had taken off from Doha's Hamad International Airport and around 8:40 GMT, entered Russian airspace from the direction of Latvia, TASS reported citing flightrader tracking data. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the US negotiators on the Ukrainian settlement were flying to Russia, with relevant contacts scheduled for today, according to the Russian state-run news agency report. On March 12, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Witkoff would travel to Moscow to discuss the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. Various media outlets stated that Witkoff will meet with high-level Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The development comes amid Russia's claims of having recaptured key towns in Kursk region from Ukraine. Earlier today,.Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia is paying attention to the incoming signals, noting Washington's positive rhetoric and supporting "a positive, constructive attitude aimed at peace, cooperation, and mutual understanding, both from the current US administration and from any side, wherever that may come from" In a recent interview to US bloggers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said that the US delegation during talks with the Russian side in Riyadh had stated that Washington wants normal relations with Moscow and is ready for serious negotiations. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "it's up to Russia now" as his administration presses Moscow to agree to a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it would support, as per the Al-Jazeera. The news outlet reported that top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov had told state television that he had spoken to US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to outline Russia's position on the ceasefire proposal. TASS reported that Russia will appoint special negotiators to discuss Ukraine-related matters with US delegates, the Russian Presidential aide said. (ANI) Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te on Thursday vowed to bolster the country's national security in response, including reinstatement of the military trials, to what he described as the "unchanged" annexation ambitions of the "hostile foreign force" China, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported. Addressing a press conference in Taipei, Lai stated that China's attempts to "annex Taiwan and eliminate the Republic of China" had not wavered. Instead, he noted, Beijing had intensified efforts to infiltrate Taiwanese society and sow division through influence operations. "Such a China constitutes a hostile foreign force, as defined in our country's Anti-Infiltration Act," Lai said at the Presidential Office. Lai emphasised that in light of these threats, the government had no choice but to take more proactive measures. "We had no choice but to take more active actions [against the threats]," he said, reaffirming the administration's commitment to protecting Taiwan's sovereignty. As per a report in the Taipei Times, Lai, told reporters after convening a national security meeting this morning that Taiwan will reinstate military trials to counter Chinese infiltration and military espionage. Restoring military trials would allow the judiciary and prosecutors to handle cases in which military officers commit crimes such as rebellion, leaking confidential information and aiding the enemy, Lai said as cited by Taipei Times. When asked whether his characterisation of China as a "foreign adversary" could escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Lai responded by pointing to Beijing's ongoing pressure campaign against Taiwan, CNA reported. "The political and military intimidation, United Front tactics, and infiltration operations launched by China against Taiwan" had already met the definition of a foreign adversary, he said. He stressed that Taiwan had never been the one to raise tensions. "Taiwan is never the one that escalates tensions," Lai asserted, adding that the nation remained a responsible regional player committed to security and stability. During the unscheduled press event, Lai outlined his administration's planned initiatives aimed at safeguarding Taiwan's democracy, freedoms, and way of life. Among the proposed measures are the reinstatement of the military trial system, stricter requirements for residents from China, Hong Kong, and Macau seeking Taiwanese identification, and new restrictions on individuals with "United Front backgrounds" from entering Taiwan, reported CNA. Under Taiwan's Anti-Infiltration Act, hostile foreign forces are defined as countries, political entities, or groups that are either engaged in military standoffs with Taiwan or advocating the use of non-peaceful means to undermine the nation's sovereignty. (ANI) Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder and leader Altaf Hussain has described the recent Jaffar Train hijacking as a wake-up call for both Pakistan's ruling establishment and the people of Punjab. In his 221st address on TikTok, Hussain urged authorities to acknowledge the deepening crisis in Balochistan before it becomes irreversible. He argued that the hijacking was not an isolated incident but a direct consequence of the decades of oppression and injustice faced by the Baloch people. Hussain warned that the conflict has escalated beyond just Baloch men, with women now actively joining the resistance. He emphasised that this marks a critical turning point in the struggle, underscoring that military force has never been an effective solution to suppress resistance movements. Citing historical examples like the Vietnam War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, he argued that such tactics only prolong unrest rather than address the root causes of the conflict. Addressing the people of Punjab, Hussain cautioned against remaining silent in the face of escalating tensions. He warned, "Time is running out. If you do not act now, soon you will have nothing left but prayers for the departed." He criticised the Pakistani government for prioritising arrests, enforced disappearances, and election manipulation instead of addressing the legitimate grievances of the Baloch people. Hussain posed a thought-provoking question to the public: "How would you feel if your loved ones were arrested simply because authorities couldn't find the actual suspect? If your family members were tortured for crimes, they didn't commit?" He also linked the current crisis to the misinformation campaign that was spread in West Pakistan during the 1971 conflict, suggesting that a similar narrative is now being used to misrepresent Baloch freedom fighters. According to Hussain, these fighters have not harmed civilians and had released the hostages, contradicting distorted media reports. Reaffirming his long-standing stance, Hussain reiterated that Balochistan's annexation in 1948 was forced and never legitimate. He reminded that before 1947, Balochistan had its own government, assembly, and currency. However, after being annexed, the region was stripped of its resources and autonomy, fuelling today's separatist movement. "When I speak the truth, I am labeled a traitor and a threat to the state," he stated. Hussain also reflected on his past attempts to mediate peace, recalling his meetings with prominent Baloch leaders like Nawab Akbar Bugti, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, and Mahmood Khan Achakzai. However, he lamented that these peace talks were ignored in favour of military operations, which only intensified the turmoil. In his closing remarks, Hussain called on Pakistan's youth to take responsibility for the nation's future. "This is your time to stand up, take responsibility, and fight for justice," he declared. He also encouraged the public to read his book, The Balochistan Issue - In the Mirror of History, to better understand the region's history and ongoing struggle. As tensions in Balochistan continue to escalate, Hussain's speech has further fuelled the growing debate over Pakistan's internal conflicts. With insurgents gaining ground and government crackdowns intensifying, the situation remains highly volatile. (ANI) The streets of Kathmandu transformed into a kaleidoscope of colors as locals and tourists joined forces to celebrate the vibrant festival of Holi at Durbar Square. The ancient palace courtyard of Kathmandu Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was abuzz with revelers smearing colors, dancing to traditional drums, and greeting each other with "Happy Holi", dancing along the beat of traditional drums and other music in the premises of the ancient palace. The Kathmandu or Basantapur Durbar Square a common place for Kathmanduites to gather and celebrate the festival of colors. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, previously the royal palace, has witnessed major turmoil and changes in Nepal, is also referred as the "Holi Junction of Kathmandu". Every year, people observing the festival of colors usually visit the historical courtyard for recreation. Hundreds of foreign tourists, including visitors from Germany and Austria, immersed themselves in the festivities, donning colorful attire and sporting vibrant hues on their faces. "The mood is fantastic. As you go around, people are having fun, everyone are so colorful," Eliaz, a tourist from Germany told ANI. Holi, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the arrival of spring and the harvest season. The celebration is deeply rooted in Hindu mythology, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. The festival begins with Holika Dahan, where a bonfire is lit to mark the death of Holika, a symbol of evil and a special Puja to burn evil spirits is performed. The first day of the festival is called Chhoti Holi or Holika Dahan, and the second day is Dhuleti or Holi. On the next day, people enjoy smearing one another with different colors, including Abir or red vermilion powder. Among various cultural festivals celebrated in Nepal, the Fagu Poornima carries its own specialty and significance. People of all ages enjoy the festival with enthusiasm. One of the widely observed festivals of the country, the festival begins on the eighth day of the new moon and ends with the burning of the 'Chir', which was installed earlier, on the full moon day later today. "We are walking through the streets, we are having lot of fun, we've got quite colorful as well," Chris, a tourist from Austria who had his face smeared with colors told ANI. "I am enjoying the environment. It's very nice, it's calm but it's very (full of) festive atmosphere. I really like it," Chris added. The festival of colors also follows, a Hindu myth. Demon king Hiranyakashyapu, who was unhappy with his son Prahlad for his wholehearted devotion to the God Bishnu, ordered his sister Holika to kill Prahalad. Following her brother's instruction, Holika, who had a boon from the god that fire would not harm her, sat on fire with Prahlad on her lap but was burnt to death while Prahalad remained unhurt due to the blessing of God Bishnu. From then onwards, the festival also known as Holi is celebrated by smearing color with enjoyment. There is also a saying that Lord Vishnu had told Holika that the boon she had received would be meaningless if it was misused. Senior people believe that any premonitions can be avoided if "Tika" made from the ashes of the 'Chir' is put on one's forehead or kept in the house. The formal start of Holi in Nepal starts with the erection of the "Chir" in the premises of the Basantapur Durbar Area, the old residence of Nepali rulers over the time. The pole or the sacred "Chir" tied with multicolored pieces of clothes gives the go ahead signal for the people of Nepal to make preparations for the holi signalizing it is arriving on their doorsteps. In order to mark the death of Holika, who have got the boon to remain unaffected in fire gets burned down. In order to mark the victory of godliness over the devil forces, holi is believed to have started and the burning of Chir is based on it. This traditional culture of playing the Holi is marked on two separate days in Nepal. The hilly and Himalayan districts of Nepal mark the day of holi on Thursday (this year) whereas the Terai districts will be celebrating Holi on Friday, this year. (ANI) India is gearing up for the 11th International Day of Yoga, and the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) recently hosted the grand Yoga Mahotsav 2025 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. This event marked the 100-day countdown to the global celebration on June 21. The Yoga Mahotsav 2025 saw participation from renowned yoga gurus, health professionals, and yoga enthusiasts from across the country. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav, Head of Yoga Vidya Gurukul Vishwas Mandlik, and Padma Vibhushan awardee and Member of Parliament D Veerendra Heggade were among the esteemed dignitaries who attended the event. Vishwas Mandlik emphasized the importance of consistency in yoga practice, stating that daily practice is essential to reaping the benefits of yoga. For optimal results, he recommended a combination of 40 minutes of asanas, 15 minutes of pranayama, and 5 minutes of Om chanting. He stated, "Just learning yoga is not enough; people learn and then forget. Only daily practice will bring benefits. Just like food--if you skip a day, your body won't function properly. The same applies to yoga; it must be practiced daily for at least an hour. As I mentioned in my lecture, do 40 minutes of asanas, 15 minutes of pranayama, and 5 minutes of Om chanting--this is the best combination for results. Yoga enhances physical health, mental well-being, and intellectual growth, but consistency is key. Even Patanjali's scriptures emphasise 'Dirghakal,' meaning yoga should be practiced regularly and with dedication over a long period. Without faith and commitment, its benefits won't be fully realised. Yoga is truly a gift--it helps solve all problems in human life." Padma Vibhushan awardee D Veerendra Heggade highlighted yoga's role in maintaining both mental and physical well-being. He cited research from America that showed practicing yoga in the morning can make people feel more energetic and active. He noted, "Daily yoga keeps the world fit and the mind free. We are always concerned about maintaining a healthy mind and body, and yoga is the perfect blend of both. Research conducted in America has clinically proven that practicing yoga in the morning makes people feel more energetic and active. On the other hand, those who skip it often feel tired and exhausted. Yoga helps maintain energy levels, which is why we emphasise that yoga is important for everyone--it's the key to a healthy and balanced life." The Yoga Mahotsav 2025 aimed to foster awareness and encourage global participation in yoga. Around 100 cities and 100 organizations will participate in the 100-day countdown leading up to International Yoga Day to foster awareness and encourage global participation in the discipline. Yoga Teacher Shiv Shankar Nautiyal reflected on the event's significance, reminding everyone that Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea of International Yoga Day at the United Nations in 2014. The proposal received overwhelming support and has been celebrated annually on June 21 since 2015. He stated, "Yoga is one of the major components which not only helps to prevent the disease, it will even help to manage the ailments. Now, challenges most people are facing when it comes to taking any medication for any ailments because each and every medication, if it is not taken meticulously, may give rise to lots of complications. To combat the complication, again, they need to take another medication. At that time, we need to adopt a drugless tool, which is yoga. So there is no any drug, just naturally you need to do all the yogic activities. It starts from loosening exercise, asanas, doing all physical postures, then pranayama and meditation." Nautiyal reflected on the event's significance, saying, "Today, we have gathered at Vigyan Bhawan to celebrate Yoga Mahotsav. Our Ayush Minister was present here, along with many dignitaries and yoga enthusiasts. Most importantly, today marks the 100-day countdown to International Yoga Day--a significant beginning towards the grand global celebration of yoga. I would like to remind everyone that back in 2014, our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, proposed at the United Nations that yoga should be recognised on a global platform and that an International Yoga Day should be established. To our great fortune, this proposal received overwhelming support from countries worldwide and was passed in record time. Since 2015, we have been celebrating this occasion every year on June 21st, and today, the whole world unites to honour the transformative power of yoga." MDNIY is an autonomous organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and functioning under the Ministry of Ayush, Govt. of India. The Institute aims to promote a deeper understanding of Yoga philosophy and practices based on ancient Yoga Traditions for the holistic health and well-being of all. (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], March 13 (ANI/TPS): Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar met Thursday in Athens with the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus, Giorgos Graffitris and Constantinos Kombos, as part of a trilateral summit of Israel's "Hellenic Alliance" with Greece and Cyprus. The focus of their discussions was on regional developments and the Iranian nuclear threat. Sa'ar stressed to his colleagues that there are elements in Tehran who are more desperate than ever to obtain nuclear weapons, especially after Iranian proxies across the Middle East suffered severe blows at the hands of Israel. He updated his colleagues on the Israeli air force attack in Damascus against a terrorist headquarters of the Islamic Jihad organization. During the summit, the three countries agreed to strengthen dialogue and coordination between the countries. Among other things, it was agreed to hold regular monthly consultations between the three foreign ministers; establish a committee of directors general of the foreign ministries to deal with strengthening economic relations between the countries; and coordinate a meeting of the leaders of the three countries in the near future. (ANI/TPS) The Israeli Air Force on Thursday conducted strikes on a command center of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organisation in Damascus, the Israel Defence Forces said. The IDF said that the command center was used to "plan and direct terrorist activities" by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against Israel. "The IAF conducted an intelligence-based strike on a terrorist command center belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in Damascus. The command center was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against the State of Israel," the IDF said in a post on X. https://x.com/IDF/status/1900199601354973574 The attack, carried out with two missiles, killed at least one person, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as per Al Jazeera. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the attack shows Israel "will not allow Syria to become a threat to the state of Israel. There will be no immunity for Islamic terrorism against Israel - whether in Damascus or anywhere else," Al Jazeera reported. Meanwhile, the UN Commission of Inquiry has said Israel had "intentionally attacked and destroyed" the Palestinian territory's main fertility centre and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid, including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care. The commission found that Israeli authorities "have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare", the UN said in a statement. It said this amounted to "two categories of genocidal acts" during Israel's war in Gaza. Of its five categories, the inquiry said the two implicating Israel were "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction" and "imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group". "These violations have not only caused severe immediate physical and mental harm and suffering to women and girls, but irreversible long-term effects on the mental health and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians as a group," the commission's chair Navi Pillay said in a statement, as per Al Jazeera. Israel "categorically rejects" the allegations, its mission in Geneva said. (ANI) Police arrested nearly 100 people after protesters gathered at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday to demonstrate against the detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained Khalil over his involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, CNN reported. The protest, organised by Jewish Voice for Peace, started shortly after noon. Demonstrators, wearing red shirts with slogans such as "Not in our Name" and "Jews Say Stop Arming Israel" stormed into the Tower's iconic golden lobby. The protesters shouted "Free Mahmoud Khalil" and unfurled banners that read "Never Again for Anyone" and "Jews Say Do Not Comply," as reported by CNN. According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), 98 people were later arrested, and 50 were led from the lobby in zip ties and placed into awaiting police vehicles. It further said that no injuries or property damage were reported. A protest organiser live-streamed the protest from the balcony overlooking the atrium of Trump Tower. In the video, the women said, "As Jews, we're here today, mere hours before the holiday of Purim begins - a holiday where we honour Esther who used her voice to speak out and demand that the king not commit genocide." She said, "Today, we are using her same courage to speak out." As NYPD police moved in to arrest the protesters, they sat together and started shouting slogans like "Free Palestine" and "the whole world is watching," CNN reported. The protest comes days after federal agents detained Khalil after the Trump administration cancelled his green card. US President Donald Trump welcomed the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student who led the pro-Palestinian protests on the campus, and strongly asserted that it is the "first arrest of many to come." Trump stated on Monday (local time) that his administration would apprehend and deport the "terrorist sympathizers" from the US "never to return again." "Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country -- never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here. We expect every one of America's Colleges and Universities to comply. Thank you," he added. Khalil's attorney has said the US government "retaliated" against her client for making statements in support of Palestinians and that he has been detained for exercising his right to Free Speech. (ANI) A ministerial roundtable, co-hosted by India and UN Women, was organised on the sidelines of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters in New York, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said in a release on Thursday. According to the release, the roundtable spotlighted the critical importance of digital and financial inclusion to women's empowerment and leadership. By emphasizing investments in women's education, health, and economic autonomy, the event underscored how bridging gender gaps can drive development, overcome poverty, and nurture leadership across sectors. https://x.com/Annapurna4BJP/status/1900041290227589421 The event provided a global platform for sharing experiences on emerging issues and strategies to implement the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action through two Ministerial Roundtables on the interconnected themes of "Digital Public Infrastructure to accelerate women-led development" and "Financing inclusion--Criticality of Core Resources." The roundtables brought together Ministers and high-level representatives from around the globe, including members of G20 countries across three continents, such as Australia, South Africa and Indonesia, as well as Small Island Developing States, such as Panama. The Ministers shared best practices and discussed strategies for leveraging technology to advance women-led development, as per the statement. https://x.com/Annapurna4BJP/status/1900041290227589421 Prior to the Minister's address, the side event featured two short films showcasing the transformative impact of the Government of India's large-scale digital public infrastructure and financial inclusion initiatives on women across all societal strata. The first session involved sharing experiences on leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure to accelerate women-led development, Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Annpurna Devi highlighted how India has instituted social protection measures leveraging DPIs, such as social assistance, disability support, universal health coverage with specialized focus on women's health needs, maternity benefits to nearly 38 million mothers, real-time tracking of nutritional, health and growth needs of over 100 million women, children and adolescent girls through POSHAN tracker, and much more. "In today's technologically advancing world, there is a need for balanced regulation for the safe and responsible use of technology, especially in leveraging e-governance for social protection systems. Digital Public Infrastructure should be a Bridge, not a Barrier!" says Minister WCD, echoing the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The second session involved sharing experiences on financial inclusion, investment in women, and criticality of core resources - best practices by Governments, the Union Minister for WCD mentioned how we have successfully empowered millions of women entrepreneurs with businesses of all sizes, from street vendors to agri-preneurs to start-ups, through a bouquet of tailored financial policies and schemes, to nurture their growth, from inception to scale. She added that India supports not only the incubation of new business entrants but also the growth of the businesses of women entrepreneurs. The statement said that Parvathaneni Harish, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, and Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director, attended the ministerial roundtable sessions along with the Union WCD minister. In his remarks, Parvathaneni Harish, the Permanent Representative of India, elaborated on the transformative impact of India's foundational ID, Aadhaar, particularly on women's empowerment. The Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, the Deputy Executive Director, Kirsi Madi, and G20 Women Task Force Member Nayana Sahasrabuddhe also spoke on the occasion. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, stated that in India, we have seen the power of Digital Financial Inclusion through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), digital payments have increased women's employment and autonomy. The roundtable witnessed active participation from Ministers from Indonesia, Morocco, Australia, Panama, and Qatar, who shared their respective nations' experiences and perspectives on advancing women's rights. The roundtable served as a crucial platform for fostering dialogue and collaboration among nations, reinforcing the global commitment to advancing women's rights and promoting women-led development, the ministry added. (ANI) Lynchburg City Council voted Tuesday night in favor of a massive housing development along Wiggington Road, near the Desmond T. Doss Memorial Expressway, that will include the construction of up to 750 condominiums, townhouses and patio homes. The vote to approve the rezoning of about 53 acres for the project, called the Village at WestPoint, came after more than two hours of presentations and debate that included comments from nearly 20 members of the public who spoke both in favor and opposition to the project. Former Ward III Councilman Jeff Helgeson, who on multiple occasions lamented the construction of multifamily home projects in his ward while on council, was one of the members of the public who spoke in favor of the project. Council Chambers were packed Tuesday night with an overflow crowd that included state Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, Del. Wendell Walker, R-Lynchburg, and former U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-5th District. Many people were forced to stand in the hallway and watch the proceedings from an overflow room due to fire marshal concerns. In the 5-2 vote in favor of the WestPoint development, council went against the recommendation of city staff who opposed the project over concerns about its impact on traffic and nearly $3 million in taxpayer-funded road improvements requested by the developer. This is big for our city. I look at it as great news for Lynchburg, Vice Mayor and Ward III Councilman Curt Diemer said in support of the development. Citing the development of the Cornerstone and Wyndhurst neighborhoods in previous decades, Diemer said, WestPoint is the next great community. After hearing from about a dozen speakers who said they do not support the project and pointing to a petition signed by more than 250 residents along Wiggington Road opposed to it, Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi asked whether council should support the developers of the project or the people who bought their property in the Wiggington Road area based on its more rural attributes and dont want to see it changed. While city staff opposed the project, the Lynchburg Planning Commission recommended approval of it at a meeting last month where developer Chris Langley and a representative of Elevate Communities, a partner on the project, spoke about how the development would add to the citys inventory of new, reasonably priced homes to buy. Faraldi and At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Reed were the two members who voted against the project at Tuesday nights meeting. A required traffic study for the project showed it would generate about 4,923 additional daily vehicle trips, more than doubling current traffic levels on Wiggington Road. The study projected the already congested Old Forest Road and U.S. 501 intersection would be further degraded. The developer said the project would generate about $2 million in annual real estate taxes and create 300 construction jobs over 10 years. Under the plan, about 75 housing units at the project would be built each year over a 10-year period. Among the supporters of the project who spoke Tuesday night was Carter Leverette, who is in his final year of law school at Liberty University and plans to stay in Lynchburg with his soon-to-be wife. He said the homes that will be built at WestPoint will be around or under $300,000 and will give him and his fiancee the opportunity to own a home near where he grew up in the Boonsboro area. This community will allow me to spend less, have more time on my hands, build equity and future financial security, and ultimately it will allow me to achieve the American dream and call Lynchburg home, Leverette said. Helgeson, in his comments, told councilmembers that WestPoint will be a development they will be able to say years from now, I voted to approve this. I helped to make the city better. I helped to make the city more affordable. Jason Cholewa, a resident of the Wiggington Road area, spoke against the plan to rezone the property from its current designation of 200 single-family homes to allow for 750 higher-density units. Cholewa presented a petition to council signed by about 260 Wiggington Road residents opposed to the project. He said the people are not against the development of the property. But they are opposed to the rezoning that would allow the 750 units. Looking directly at councilmembers, Cholewa then asked them whether they represent the residents of Lynchburg or the companies that finance their campaigns. He then stated how much money the campaigns of certain members of council had received from the project developer. The developers made proffers to win approval of the rezoning, including making improvements to Wiggington Road. However, city staff expressed concerns about the proposed sharing of the improvement costs. Tom Martin, Lynchburgs director of community development, said hes never been involved in a rezoning petition where the developer lays out the necessary road improvements and then tells the city how much it will need to pay for the improvements. Those payments by city taxpayers could reach $2.8 million, Martin said. In response to the approval of the rezoning, Faraldi, in a statement, said, Big-money donors win, taxpayers lose. Hundreds of residents opposed, council still approves a 700-plus development regardless all with the city taxpayer on the hook for $2.8 million in infrastructure costs. In an interview on local radio station WLNI on Wednesday morning, Faraldi said the overwhelming majority of nearby residents opposed the project. As for comparisons to Cornerstone and Wyndhurst, Faraldi said those two communities already had four-lane road infrastructure in place before their development. Wiggington Road, on the other hand, is a winding, two-lane road with no sidewalks, curb or gutter. With approval of the project, the developers are now scheduled to begin construction at the site in either 2026 or 2027. WestPoint is expected to reach the halfway point of its buildout 375 units by 2031 and the full buildout of 750 units sometime between 2034 and 2036. Shiga, Mar 14 (News On Japan) - Nagahama, a city steeped in history and culture, is home to numerous sites connected to the legacy of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. From Nagahama Castle, where visitors can view Hideyoshis handwritten documents and the scenery he once gazed upon, to Kunitomo, a major center of firearm production that supported Japans unification, the area offers a rich tapestry of historical insights. The journey begins at the reconstructed Nagahama Castle, situated on the shores of Lake Biwa. While historical records of the original castles structure are scarce, the current three-tiered, five-story keep was rebuilt 423 years ago in response to local demand for a monument honoring Hideyoshis legacy. From the top floor, visitors can enjoy sweeping views of Mount Ibuki, standing at 1,377 meters, its snow-capped peaks creating a breathtaking backdrop. Inside the castle, exhibitions detail Hideyoshis governance of Nagahama, including his economic policies such as free trade zones and tax exemptions, which spurred local commerce and transformed the town into a bustling economic hub. Among the many artifacts on display are replicas of Hideyoshis personal armor and lacquered war fans used by his military commanders. Next, the investigation leads to Kunitomo, once a thriving center of firearm production. The Kunitomo Firearm Museum showcases an extensive collection of antique guns, revealing the areas role in shaping Japans military history. During the Edo period, Kunitomo was one of Japans two largest gun manufacturing centers, with over 70 forges and 500 skilled craftsmen producing high-quality firearms. Some of these weapons were used by Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi in their military campaigns. Moving on, the Nagahama Hikiyama Museum introduces visitors to the citys renowned Hikiyama Festival, one of Japans three major float festivals alongside Kyotos Gion Festival and Takayamas Festival. The origins of this spectacular event trace back to Hideyoshi, who distributed sake to the townspeople in celebration of his newborn son. This gesture led to the creation of the festivals magnificent Hikiyama floats, elaborately decorated and known as moving museums. The museum permanently exhibits two of these stunning floats, showcasing their intricate craftsmanship and historical significance. A short walk from the museum leads to Kurokabe Square, a preserved historic district along the former Hokkokukaido route, which connected the Hokuriku region with Kyoto and Osaka. Among its highlights is the Kurokabe Glass Museum, housed in a former bank from the Meiji era. This establishment, known as the Black Wall Bank, has been restored to its original charm and now showcases a variety of exquisite glassworks. Near Nagahama Station, visitors can also explore Japans oldest surviving train station building. Built in 1882, the Former Nagahama Station served as a crucial hub on the countrys early railway network. Now operating as the Nagahama Railway Square, the site offers insights into Japans railway history, including exhibits on the nations first rail-connected ferry system, which transported passengers across Lake Biwa before the full railway line to Kyoto was completed. Finally, the journey concludes at the Nagahama Bonbai Exhibition, held at the historic Keiun-kan villa, which once hosted Emperor Meiji during his travels. This seasonal event features meticulously cultivated plum bonsai trees, some over 400 years old, displaying stunning blossoms against the aged trunksa testament to the enduring beauty of nature. Nagahama, a city shaped by Hideyoshis vision, continues to captivate visitors with its rich historical legacy, cultural treasures, and breathtaking landscapes. Whether exploring the castle, admiring antique firearms, or marveling at delicate plum blossoms, a visit to Nagahama offers an unforgettable journey through time. Source: YOMIURI Mar 14 (News On Japan) - With the growing popularity of video content, converting blog posts into engaging videos has become a crucial strategy for content creators, marketers, and businesses alike. Video content not only draws in more audience engagement but also improves SEO rankings and expands social media reach. Thankfully, thanks to advancements in AI technology, you dont need to have advanced editing skills to turn your written content into dynamic videos. By using a free AI video generator, you can easily transform your blogs into visually appealing videos that enhance engagement and keep your audience interested. The Role of Blogs in Video Content Creation Blogs are a valuable source of information, providing well-structured content that can be seamlessly turned into videos. Written articles offer important insights, storytelling elements, and organized arguments that make them perfect for video adaptation. By utilizing CapCut's free AI video generator tool, you can pull out key points from your blogs, incorporate animations, voiceovers, and captions, and create captivating videos. This approach helps you reach a wider audience by appealing to those who prefer watching videos over reading. Moreover, videos improve accessibility, allowing users to engage with content across various platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Converting Blogs into Videos in Three Easy Steps Using Capcuts free video editing software can simplify the process of turning blog posts into videos. Here are three steps to help you transform your written content into engaging video formats using free video editing software like CapCut. Step 1: Writing a Prompt for AI Video Generation The first step in turning your blog into an engaging video is to create a clear and structured prompt. Start by opening your free AI video generator and going to the AI Video Generator tool. Here, youll need to write a detailed prompt that describes the video's theme, main points, and visual style. For example, if your blog focuses on digital marketing strategies, your prompt might be: "A modern, animated explainer video with engaging transitions, background music, and key text highlights that illustrate effective digital marketing strategies." To enhance your video further, you can adjust key parameters before generating it. The AI Model Selection lets you pick a style that suits your content, whether its cinematic, animated, or realistic. The Video Duration should match your audience's preferences, usually between 60-90 seconds for optimal engagement. Lastly, modifying the aspect ratio ensures it fits various platforms, like 16:9 for YouTube, 9:16 for TikTok, or 1:1 for Instagram. By crafting a thoughtful prompt and choosing the right settings, you can ensure the AI produces a video that effectively conveys your blogs message to your intended audience. Step 2: Customizing Your Video After the AI produces the initial video draft, you can refine the content to boost engagement and clarity. A key feature for customization is the AI voiceover, which converts written text into natural-sounding narration. With a variety of accents and tones available, you can adjust the voice to resonate with your target audience. To enhance the visual experience, you can incorporate animated text and graphics, such as text overlays, icons, and motion graphics that emphasize important points and keep viewers engaged. Audio elements are also vital for video customization. You can select from a wide range of background music and sound effects to match the tone and mood of your content, creating a more immersive experience. Furthermore, smooth transitions ensure a professional flow between scenes, facilitating seamless storytelling. To enhance accessibility and engagement, an AI-powered caption generator can automatically produce accurate subtitles, making the content accessible to a broader audience, including those who prefer watching videos with captions. By utilizing these customization tools, you can create polished, high-quality videos that effectively convey your message. Step 3: Exporting and Sharing Your Video After finalizing your edits, its time to export and share your video on various platforms. Choose the resolution you want (1080p for high quality, 720p for quicker loading) and make sure its compatible with your selected platform. AI tools can optimize videos for different formats, simplifying distribution on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or your website. Once exported, share your video strategically: On Social Media share short clips on Instagram Reels, TikTok, and LinkedIn to boost engagement. On Your Website Embed the video in your blog post to improve user experience and SEO rankings. In Email Campaigns include video content in newsletters to enhance click-through rates. Repurposing Video Content for Different Platforms Once your video is ready, make the most of it by adapting it to different platforms: YouTube: Upload full-length explainer videos with optimized descriptions. Instagram & TikTok: Produce shorter snippets that highlight key points. LinkedIn & Facebook: Share informative video posts to engage professional audiences. Email Marketing: Embed videos in newsletters to increase click-through rates. Conclusion Transforming blog posts into videos with a free AI video generator is a smart way to enhance your content's reach and engagement. Using AI tools, you can easily convert written material into eye-catching videos with little effort. Whether you're a content creator, business owner, or marketer, utilizing AI-generated videos can increase audience interaction, enhance accessibility, and elevate engagement on digital platforms. Begin repurposing your blogs today and see your content strategy evolve seamlessly! Mar 14 (News On Japan) - Japan is a country brimming with tradition, technology, and natural beauty. Whether youre soaking in the serene beauty of Kyotos temples, shopping in the buzzing streets of Tokyo, or hiking the majestic Mt. Fuji, staying connected is crucial. Gone are the days of relying on old SIM cards for your mobile data. Here's where the eSIM comes in, offering a smarter, more efficient solution for your next trip to Japan. Heres why you need it. What Is an eSIM? Lets start with the basics. An eSIM is a virtual SIM that enables you to activate a mobile plan without a physical SIM card. Integrated directly into your device, it can be set up with just an internet connection. Benefits of eSIM for Travelers Having an eSIM service offers advantages that make your travel experience more efficient and hassle-free. Easy Setup and Instant Activation Setting up your eSIM is a breeze. You dont need to be tech-savvy to activate it. However, make sure your mobile phone is eSIM compatible prior to your trip. Many newer models, like the iPhone 12 and later, as well as Samsung Galaxy S20 and newer, support eSIM technology. Once you arrive in Japan, you can scan a QR code or manually enter an activation code provided by your eSIM provider. The process is quick and easyno need to wait around at an airport shop or try to decipher complicated instructions. No Need for Multiple SIM Cards If youre a frequent traveler, you know how annoying it can be to juggle multiple SIM cards for different countries. With an eSIM, you can store multiple profiles for various regions. Traveling to Japan and then on to Europe? No problem! Switch between profiles without the need to physically swap cards. It saves space and time while keeping you connected no matter where you are. Cost-Effective Solution for Data Lets face it: roaming charges can get expensive. With a traditional SIM card, you might face hefty international roaming fees for using mobile data in Japan. Thankfully, eSIM cards offer competitive pricing, especially when compared to traditional carriers. Services like Journey Japan eSIM offer affordable 30-day plans, ideal for travelers. If you're staying in Japan for about a month, their plans provide the data you need for the duration of your trip, with no additional charge. Internet Service That Wont Let You Down The internet service in Japan is top-notch, but the challenge often lies in getting connected. Public Wi-Fi can be spotty and unreliable, especially in remote areas. With an eSIM, youll have access to data anytime, anywhere. Whether youre navigating through the neon lights of Tokyo or heading to the tranquil Japan Alps, youll be able to check maps, make reservations, or book tours with ease. Japan also has extensive mobile networks that offer reliable 4G and even 5G coverage in major cities and beyond. With an eSIM, youll tap into these networks with minimal effort, ensuring smooth, uninterrupted browsing. No more worrying about losing service when you need it most. Stay in Touch With Family and Friends When you're abroad, staying in touch with loved ones back home is often a priority. Whether its sending updates, making video calls, or sharing your experiences on social media, eSIMs make it all possible. Your family and friends will appreciate your regular updates, and youll be able to enjoy your travels without worrying about finding a Wi-Fi hotspot. Plus, youll be able to use your favorite messaging apps like WhatsApp, Line, or Facebook Messenger, which work just as they do back home. The Future of eSIM Technology in Travel As eSIM technology evolves, its set to transform how we stay connected while traveling. In the near future, we can expect easier integration with global mobile networks, allowing travelers to activate mobile plans remotely and manage multiple profiles seamlessly. With the growing adoption of eSIMs by carriers and regions, travelers can look forward to more competitive pricing and greater flexibility for both short-term and long-term stays. This innovation promises to make global connectivity simpler and more affordable for travelers everywhere. Final Thoughts Japan offers an unforgettable travel experience, from its rich culture to its cutting-edge technology. But without the right connectivity, you might miss out on some of the best aspects of your trip. With an eSIM, youll enjoy stress-free, reliable mobile data throughout your stay. No more SIM card swapping, no more roaming chargesjust easy access to the internet wherever you go. So, for your next trip to Japan, make sure youve got an eSIM ready to go. Its the smart, seamless choice for any traveler! HOKKAIDO, Mar 14 (News On Japan) - Efforts to tackle overtourism in Otaru, Hokkaido, have taken an unconventional turn, as local youth have adopted a ninja persona to urge tourists to follow proper etiquette. The initiative, led by the Otaru Next 100 Executive Committee, aims to counter viral tourism trends by using eye-catching digital warnings. The issue gained urgency after a rise in misconduct at popular sites, including tourists trespassing on private property and a fatal railway accident involving a Chinese visitor in January 2025. Despite official warnings, many tourists continue to ignore local rules. On March 2, committee members dressed as ninjas and created a social media image featuring a ninja warning tourists to respect private property. The campaign quickly gained traction online, with some calling for messages in multiple languages. The initiative is set to continue, with ten planned installments aimed at promoting responsible tourism while preserving Otarus local life and culture. Source: UHB Never let the guy with the broom decide how many elephants can be in the parade. Even if I was the guy with the broom, Id have 10 elephants. Youve got to love a parade, and if you or your kids or your grandkids havent already done so, this is the year to be part of the walking party cal Somali security forces have successfully ended a 24-hour siege at a hotel in Beledweyne, central Somalia, killing all attackers from the U.S.-designated terrorist group, al-Shabab. The siege, which began with a car bomb and was followed by a gun battle, left at least 10 dead, including military officers and clan elders. The attackers, from the al-Shabab militant group, had targeted the hotel where clan leaders from the Hiran region and security officials were meeting to discuss anti-al-Shabab strategies. During the siege, four militants blew themselves up, while two were shot dead by security forces. Hours after the siege was concluded, Somalias National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) announced a series of airstrikes carried out by Somali forces and supported by international partners, killing at least 50 al-Shabab militants in the Hirshabelle region. Among those killed was Mansoor Tima-Weeyne, a senior al-Shabab leader, who had been in charge of the preparation and use of combat vehicles for the groups terrorist attacks. Somalias military operation against al-Shabab, part of an ongoing total war against the militant group declared by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in 2022, continues to gain momentum. Somali authorities are intensifying efforts to neutralize the militant threat, aiming to push back al-Shababs control over the countrys key regions. The city of Beledweyne has suffered more terrorist attacks than any other in the Horn of Africa country except Mogadishu. Since 2009, hundreds of people across the nation have been killed in suicide attacks and car bombs on hotels, restaurants and government bases. The European Union has unveiled a controversial proposal, including a continent-wide deportation order, aimed at accelerating deportations of rejected asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants. The plan, formally announced by the European Commission on Wednesday (11 March), seeks to standardize deportation processes across all EU member states, enabling cross-border enforcement of deportation orders. A key feature of the proposal is the creation of return hubs, detention centers located in non-EU countries, where migrants awaiting deportation would be held temporarily before being sent back to their home countries. This initiative appears to be inspired by UKs abandoned Rwanda deportation scheme and Italys controversial policy of detaining migrants in an offshore facility in Albania, both of which have faced legal hurdles. The EU migration plan responds to mounting political pressure, particularly from far-right parties, to tighten immigration controls. Only 20% of deportation orders in the EU are currently enforced, prompting calls for reform from officials like Austrian commissioner Magnus Brunner, who emphasized the need for a coordinated system. The proposal also includes a European deportation order, making it easier for one EU country to enforce deportation decisions made by another. However, the proposal has sparked widespread opposition from human rights groups, who argue it undermines the right to asylum. Critics warn that the creation of return hubs could lead to longer detentions, increased human rights violations, and the forced return of migrants to unsafe countries. Legal challenges are expected, as critics argue the plan may violate international refugee protections. With divisions among EU nations and significant pushback from human rights organizations, the future of the proposal remains uncertain as it moves through the legislative process. Direct peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and the M23 rebel group are scheduled to begin in Angolas capital city Luanda on 18 March, as announced by Angolas presidency. This marks a significant development after months of escalating conflict in the volatile eastern DRC, where the M23 rebels, widely believed to be backed by Rwanda, have made significant territorial gains. In early January, the rebels seized the key city of Goma, leading to a surge in violence and displacement. The decision to enter peace talks comes after Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi agreed to discussions with his Angolan counterpart, Joao Lourenco, who has been acting as the African Unions peace mediator for the conflict in the DRC. Tshisekedi had previously resisted engaging with M23, citing Rwandas support for the rebels. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa, however, hailed the move as a civilized option to resolve the ongoing crisis. The DRC government claims the conflict has led to over 7,000 deaths, though this figure has not been independently verified. While Rwanda denies backing the M23, a United Nations report suggests that Rwanda maintains significant support for and, in fact, de facto control over the armed group, with an eye on the regions rich mineral resources, including coltan and gold. This latest peace initiative follows multiple failed attempts at dialogue and comes amid international pressure for a peaceful resolution. As both sides prepare for the talks, the future of the DRCs eastern region remains uncertain. The French authorities have announced lately the arrest of two French-Algerian nationals accused of spying for the Algerian regime, deepening further the diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algiers, reported the Paris-based news outlet Sahel Intelligence. According to the Paris Public Prosecutors Office, a civil servant, aged 56, working for an administration of French finance ministry and a female employee working for French migration office, have provided sensitive information to the Algerian intelligence services about Algerian nationals established in France and especially those seeking asylum. The new scandal comes after a documentary broadcast by a French TV station exposing the covert operations carried out by Algerian intelligence officers on French soil against Algerian opponents. The Algerian agents contact political opponents through social media networks offering them amnesty and return to Algeria without facing legal actions in exchange for information on other activists. French authorities have arrested several Algerian citizens living in France for inciting violence and hatred online, targeting opponents of the Algerian government. The Algerian junta is using its diaspora to blackmail and pressure France for political gains. Some security experts have sounded the alarm against the serious destabilization risk posed by the Algerian community established in France with the deteriorating relations between the two countries. President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera has sent a written message to King Mohammed VI. The message was handed over by CAR foreign minister Sylvie Baipo-Temon to Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita at a meeting held Wednesday in Rabat. In a press statement following the meeting, Baipo-Temon thanked Morocco for its support during her countrys challenging period and voiced Banguis willingness to cooperate further with the Kingdom in the security field. She also hailed the contribution of Moroccan peacekeepers deployed in Central Africa, noting that Morocco has always stood by the Central African Republic in addressing many challenges. In its national development plan, CAF is focusing on economic development and counting on its partners and friendly countries, such as Morocco which is strongly committed to Africas prosperity, said the FM of the Central African Republic. Former first lady Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, speak at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago on October 29, 2019. Photo: Terrence Antonio James/TNS/Getty Images Divorce is the one thing people really want to hear Michelle Obama talk about right now. And on her new podcast, IMO (short for in my opinion), the former First Lady obliges, repeatedly discussing the topic. The bad news for gossip hounds is that Mobama opines only on her brother and co-host Craig Robinsons divorce from his first wife. In fact, IMOs first two episodes are almost totally devoid of any juicy content let alone juicy content about the state of Michelle and Barack Obamas marriage. Granted, there probably isnt much to say about the Obamas marriage, as they are not separating. The rumor that they might be took off in August when In Touch published a cover story suggesting that Michelle Obama had been betrayed, and that Barack Obama and Jennifer Aniston were obsessed with each other. Aniston joked about the idea that shes having an affair with the former president months later on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, calling it absolutely untrue. And the Obamas have tacitly signaled that their marriage is fine via affectionate social media posts. IMO, which is produced by the Obamas media company Higher Ground, never promised inside information on the former First Couples marriage, though listeners may have assumed theyd get some interesting tidbits. According to the show description, a relaxed and honest Mobama will be delving into topics like dating and relationships: Michelle Obama and her big brother Craig Robinson bring their unique experiences and candid perspectives to a range of listeners personal dilemmas, from the everyday to the existential. Each week, theyre joined by special guests to tackle audience questions with practical advice, relatable anecdotes, and plenty of laughs. From dating and relationships to parenting and financial planning, IMO sees the iconic First Lady at her most relaxed and honest. This podcast will leave you laughing, reflecting, and feeling more prepared to tackle lifes challenges. So what does this mean in practice? In episode one, Obama and Robinson talk about their close bond as siblings. In episode two they have a meandering conversation about friendship with Issa Rae. In both episodes they discuss Robinsons divorce, which is old news (he divorced his first wife in 2000 and married his current wife in 2006, and he has discussed the split elsewhere). Each time, all they reveal is that Obama was upset her brother didnt initially confide in her about his marital troubles. Barack Obama is mentioned several times in passing, and his cameos, if anything, provide more evidence that the Obamas marriage is fine. Michelle says she was initially annoyed by Baracks failure to get ready on time. Robinson tells a familiar anecdote about persuading his sister to support Baracks first presidential run. Michelle alludes to Barack being in the house when her friends come to visit contradicting claims that theyre living separate lives and teasingly notes that he never comes home with good gossip after hanging out with his buddies. The same can be said of IMO. These are the most interesting revelations from the first two episodes: Teenage Sasha and Malia didnt like doing the turkey pardon with their dad. It was cute when they were little, but as they got older, you could see on their faces in the shots them thinking, Just poke my eyes out. Just right now. Just get me out of here. Im standing with my father telling these stupid jokes next to a turkey, Michelle says. Michelle Obama really likes the smell of Pine-Sol. It reminds her of her freshly mopped childhood apartment or at least, thats what she claims during an ad read for the cleaning product. Michelle Obama is into astrology. In episode one she makes a fleeting reference to being a Capricorn. In episode two, she suggests she knows herself better than most because of where her birthday falls on the zodiac. Its fair to set boundaries, but I think it starts with knowing, well, who do I want to be? she says. The honesty first has to be within yourself. I think both of us probably as Capricorns, were probably a little more honest about who we are, what we want. Generally, the IMO podcast feels like its coming to us from another time, or an alternate, less-grim reality (and that may literally be the case; presumably it was planned out well before Donald Trumps second inauguration). Marital gossip aside, what people probably need from Michelle Obama at the moment is an anti-Trump pep talk, like the spectacular speech she delivered at the last Democratic National Convention. But despite her natural talent and huge popularity, Obama has repeatedly made it clear that she does not want a career in politics. And it certainly doesnt feel like hope is making a comeback right now. So instead, all were getting from Michelle Obama is bland chatter with her brother and and Pine-Sol ad copy. Schumer is not having a great week. Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images Though most Senate Democrats voted Friday to block the GOPs stopgap funding bill before the midnight deadline to fund the government, it was not enough. Minority leader Chuck Schumer and nine other Democrats all voted to end debate and allow the bill to advance to the floor of the Senate, where it was soon passed by a vote of 54-46. Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill. Below is what happened, along with analysis and commentary. This post has been updated. Strategist Explains Our expert staff answers frequently asked questions in their areas of expertise and defines common terms so you can be a smarter shopper. Read more here. Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Source Images Getty If youre anywhere near the wellness side of social media, youve probably seen people plugging their bed sheets into the wall and talking about the many benefits of grounding sheets, also called earthing sheets. The idea behind grounding sheets is that they keep you connected to the Earths electromagnetic field while you sleep, which lets you practice grounding an alternative therapeutic practice that typically involves walking barefoot outdoors without ever stepping foot outside. Their purported advantages encompass everything from reduced inflammation to lower stress levels to overall better sleep. But is it really possible for electrically charged bedding to provide measurable improvements in your health? Heres what the science says. What actually is grounding, and how do you do it? The practice centers on the belief that making physical contact with the ground connects you to the Earths electromagnetic field, allowing your body to absorb electrons from the Earths surface while releasing static electricity and other environmental electric charges. The alleged effect on your body is an overall state of balance that supports better health. Grounding gets its name from a well-established electrical-wiring practice: Electrical equipment is grounded for safety reasons, to help disperse static buildup and prevent power surges. In the event that an electrical system malfunctions, grounding provides a path for excess current to flow into the ground without hurting anyone. A quick way to tell whether an electrical outlet is grounded is whether it has space for plugs with a third prong: Though only two prongs are needed to create a functioning electrical circuit, the third prong can divert electricity to the ground to prevent electric shock. For the therapeutic form of grounding, the most basic way to make physical contact with the Earth is to go outside and walk around barefoot. By connecting your skin to the surface of the Earth, proponents say youre providing a path for electric charges to flow from your body into the ground, just like that third prong on an electrical plug. Those same proponents often point to various ancient cultures that allegedly practiced grounding. However, the modern understanding is largely attributable to Clint Ober, now the CEO of a company called EarthFx. According to his online biography, Ober, whose background was in cable TV development, was familiar with how grounding could prevent static and interference in TV broadcasts, and after a personal health crisis, began to wonder if grounding the human body could reduce interference and improve health. Ober theorized that wearing shoes with rubber or plastic soles would insulate him from the earths electrical charges. (Many pro-grounding arguments now claim that our ancient ancestors didnt wear shoes or spend their days indoors, so they were always grounded, unlike us modern shoe-wearing, building-occupying humans.) He went on to design the first earthing mat, which he patented in 2004, and ultimately kicked off a movement that created a cottage industry of grounding products and in the social-media era, the influencers who peddle them. How are grounding products supposed to help you, and are they legit? Through the electromagnetic connection they promise to provide, grounding mats, bed sheets, and other devices purport to help you improve just about every facet of your health by improving sleep, reducing inflammation, easing chronic pain, increasing energy, lowering stress, relieving headaches, balancing hormones, and more. But any practice or treatment thats billed as a cure-all for a long list of vague symptoms is worth scrutiny and there isnt much scientific evidence to suggest that grounding is particularly effective. In a post on Science-Based Medicine, Yale professor of neurology Dr. Steven Novella points out that there is no research establishing groundings underlying claim that there is an electrical homeostasis that has any effect on how the body functions in the first place. And when I asked Dr. Greta Raglan, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigans medical school, about existing studies on grounding and grounding products, she mentioned a range of methodological concerns and was generally skeptical: It wasnt like everybody [in the research I reviewed] had insomnia and then was magically recovered because they used these devices, Raglan says. From a face validity perspective, it seems a little bit strange that putting this device between your body and your sleeping surface, for instance, would make a massive change in your closeness to the electrical current of the Earth. Dr. John Saito a pediatric pulmonologist at the Childrens Hospital of Orange County who is also board-certified in sleep medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, didnt dismiss the possibility that grounding products could be effective, but echoed Raglans doubts. In the world of sleep, we talk about things like light and dark exposure, and how it affects our circadian rhythm. So its not too far of a reach to say our electrical exposure plays a role, Saito explained, before acknowledging a lack of evidence to link grounding devices to a concrete measure of improved sleep, like changes in brain-wave patterns, or that would rule out the placebo effect or other potential causes of sleep issues. Its also worth noting that in the studies of earthing available on Google Scholar, there are a few recurring names amongst the researchers including Ober, who still sells a variety of grounding products through his website, and Gaetan Chevalier, director of the Earthing Institute, which sells courses to become certified in earthing. But can it hurt to try? If you really want to try grounding sheets, Saito says, there arent many risks to worry about. However, theres also no simple way to prove they are doing anything, aside from your own subjective experience of whether you feel better. To that end, Saito suggests that anyone whos grounding-curious start with the toes-in-the-dirt variety; if it helps, great, and if it doesnt, at least you didnt spend any money on it. He also emphasizes that if youre having sleep problems, you should go see your doctor. If you are missing the elephant in the room that you have severe sleep apnea and youre not getting enough oxygen, he says, new bedsheets wont be the fix. Saito also recommends focusing on the basics of good sleep: a routine bedtime and sleeping in a dark, cool, and quiet place. My general stance is that devices intended to assist with sleep buy into this idea that our bodies arent inherently capable of sleeping on their own, Raglan cautions. And it can actually make our sleep problems worse if we feel like we need all of these accoutrements to get to bed. Some tried-and-true sleep products weve written about get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. 'Ghost Adventures' Star Aaron Goodwin's Wife Arrested After Allegedly Plotting to Have Him Killed: Report https://t.co/YTrsRTxbTU People (@people) March 11, 2025 ** Aaron Goodwin's wife, Victoria, was arrested on charges of soliciting to commit a murder** investigators found messages from Victoria to an inmate in a prison in the state about murdering her husband. one such text read** she also provided the location and filming times of Aarons show** police became aware of messages after finding and seizing the smuggled phone of the inmate** Aaron says he is blindsided and thought they had a happy marriage. The potential of commercial nuclear fusion to provide nearly limitless clean energy is driving a global race, with China investing heavily and aiming for viability by 2050. China just achieved another milestone breakthrough for nuclear fusion technology, bringing the country closer to achieving its goal of commercial nuclear fusion by 2050. This week scientists announced that the nations Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), achieved a sustained temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, shattering previous records and bringing nuclear fusion closer to reality. This breakthrough is just the latest in a long line of milestones for China, where the government has been investing heavily in nuclear fusion research and development as part of a global high-stakes battle for nuclear fusion supremacy. Beijing has been outspending every other country in the world on fusion research at approximately $1.5 billion per year approximately double Washingtons spending. The potential ramifications of achieving commercial nuclear fusion are difficult to overstate. In the words of a recent Daily Galaxy report, If China or any other nation succeeds in making fusion commercially viable, it could trigger an energy revolution, transforming how the world powers homes, industries, and even space exploration. The EAST experiment, located in Hefei, Anhui province, is often referred to as an artificial sun, as it generates plasma to mimic the process by which our sun powers itself. This is achieved by fusing hydrogen atoms together, rather than traditional nuclear power production, which generates energy by splitting atoms in a process known as nuclear fission. While nuclear fission has proven to be much easier to achieve and control, nuclear fusion is seen as the holy grail of clean energy, as it doesnt require any radioactive fuel and produces more energy than fission. However, achieving nuclear fusion requires the creation of insanely high temperatures, similar to the heat at the center of the sun. For this reason, EASTs recent breakthrough is a major one. At 100 million degrees Celsius several times hotter than the suns core plasma is created and atoms smash into each other, naturally fusing and releasing huge bursts of energy in the process. However, despite these recent breakthroughs, the nuclear fusion sector still faces significant challenges in making the technology commercially viable and scalable. As Bloomberg reports, nuclear fusion is notoriously difficult to carry out in a sustained and usable manner and only a handful of countries like the US, Russia and South Korea have managed to crack the basics. Scientists are still struggling to sustain high enough temperatures to maintain plasma for any meaningful length of time. They are also putting so much energy into creating the right conditions that the energy released from the fusion itself doesnt break even with the energy inputs. There is also still much work to be done toward developing materials able to resist ultra-high temperatures for magnetic confinement. Scientists are also looking into other ways to create fusion. While some of the worlds biggest nuclear fusion experiments are tokamaks, the donut shaped plasma machines used in the EAST experiment, breakthroughs have also been made with machines employing lasers to superheat hydrogen molecules. In 2022, scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California used lasers to finally overcome nuclear fusions most significant barrier: creating net positive energy. Now it appears that China is building its own giant laser facility in Sichuan province to conduct similar experiments with ignition. Achieving commercial nuclear fusion will be a golden ticket for the nation that achieves it, and China seems determined to be that nation. But putting politics aside, creating commercial energy through nuclear fusion would be a huge win for the entire world, with the potential to create nearly limitless clean energy and put concerns about climate change to rest. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The founder of Pioneer Natural Resources has a warning for the U.S. oil producersthe next two years will not be easy, and drill, baby, drill isnt happening at $50 oil price. Scott Sheffield, who founded Pioneer Natural Resources and sold last year the top Permian basin producer to ExxonMobil for $60 billion, expects two or three years in which the U.S. shale patch will have to reinvent itself once again if it wants to remain a relevant force on the market at a lower price of oil, which the Trump Administration wants. Since the first shale revolution, producers and drillers have shown during several boom-and-bust cycles that they can achieve cost reductions and efficiency gains and lower their breakeven prices. This time around, a drill, baby, drill boom is not on the horizon, industry executives warned as early as November when President Donald Trump was elected. Growth in the U.S. shale patch was already slowing even before November. With many new uncertainties about global supply and demand and economic growth in the United States and China, Americas oil producers are in for a rollercoaster ride in the coming months. If oil prices continue to trend lower and fall below $60 and further down toward $50 per barrel which appears to be a preferred price for the White House U.S. oil producers would begin another cycle of consolidation and cost cuts (even including job reductions) to ride out the next price decline. Related: Kremlin Rep Rejects Ceasefire Deal As U.S. Officials Arrive in Moscow The new administrations drive to ease the regulatory, permitting, and fiscal burdens on the U.S. oil and gas industry clashes with President Trumps stated priority of pushing oil prices lower to reduce energy costs for American consumers. The tariff and trade wars arent helping, either. Uncertainty around which tariff is being placed today then delayed or removed tomorrow is complicating the already complex job of the U.S. producers to budget for drilling plans and capital expenditure. Youve really got to hunker down Pioneers founder and industry veteran Sheffield has some advice for the U.S. oil firms. Youve really got to hunker down, Sheffield told a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of CERAWeek by S&P Global conference this week. You may have to lay off some people. Youve got to focus on your best prospects. Well see what happens over the next two or three years, Sheffield told Bloomberg in Houston, which hosts one of the biggest industry conferences. Oil prices are likely to fall into the range of $50 to $60 per barrel, Sheffield says, noting that American producers will struggle at these prices. Its really hard to make money at $50 oil, Sheffield told Bloomberg. That $50 oil is not going to work Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told the Financial Times that shale producers could increase production even if oil prices fell to $50 per barrel as the sector continues to innovate and boost efficiency gains. Sheffield believes that there is a chance companies could make it at $50 oil. Every time you go through a downturn, you got to think out of the box and how to live with a lower price, the now retired shale pioneer told Bloomberg. However, the months ahead will not be easy, especially if oil prices slide further. The cash breakeven price, including dividends, is $50-$55 for U.S. oil companies, and that $50 oil is not going to work, Sheffield told CNBC on the sidelines of CERAWeek. Rising Costs with Tariffs With the tariffs thrown in the equation, Sheffield said that every time the U.S. imposes steel and aluminum tariffs, U.S. steel makers raise their prices, which costs us more to drill a well. Sheffield said that he hopes that President Trumps tariff policies would be successful and the President has two years to prove it. In the U.S., onshore oil and gas appears to be one of the segments in the energy sector most exposed to tariffs, with steel contributing to a high proportion of the total cost through linepipe, plates, coils, and bars for onshore oil and gas facilities, Rystad Energy said last month. US shale and offshore oil and gas projects are most likely to see cost rises in the region of 5% to 10%, the consultancy said. Rising costs and declining oil prices is a combination thats unlikely to lead to a drill, baby, drill in the oil patch soon. The priorities of the U.S. oil industry have drastically changed since President Trumps first term. The U.S. shale patch is drilling, but it is drilling because it wants to distribute more of the profits to shareholders. It has made huge progress in capital discipline and efficiency gains and is getting more bang for its buck. Priorities are now returns to investors and financial frames capable of withstanding oil price volatility. With all the ongoing uncertainties about supply, demand, and costs, U.S. shale faces another round of consolidation and innovation to try to remain profitable at lower oil prices. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to double his planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%. Trump said his latest move comes in response to a threat by the province of Ontario to put a 25-percent surcharge on electricity exports to some U.S. states. Whereas Trump delayed most of the tariffs he had imposed on Canada and Mexico, Canada has responded forcefully, with the Canadian government announcing on Monday it would match American tariffs on roughly $30 billion worth of U.S. goods initially, and another $125 billion 21 days later, for a total of $155 billion. Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced he will move forward with a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to three U.S. states starting Monday, and turn off access completely if the United States adds new tariffs on Canadian goods. However, the tariff war took yet another turn after the provincial government of Ontario suspended its planned surcharges on electricity sold to the United States, prompting Trump to withdraw his threat to double Canadas tariffs. The back and forth tariff wars and the ensuing market confusion about the potential effect of various U.S. energy and foreign policies have been acting as a severe drag on oil prices. Brent crude for May delivery rebounded 2.1% to trade at $70.98 per barrel at 11.50 am ET on Wednesday after Trump withdrew his threats while WTI crude climbed 2.3% to change hands at $67.74 per barrel. Related: U.S. Considers 25 Percent Tariff on Copper Imports Oil prices have cratered over the past month with Brent prices well off its one-month high of $77 per barrel. Front-month Brent settled at a six-month settlement low of $69.28 per barrel on 10 March, and sank to a three-year low of $68.33/bbl intra-day on 5 March. All of the first 15 months on the Brent curve fell w/w by more than $2/bbl; the w/w fall for the front month was $2.34/bbl and the largest move was the $2.45/bbl w/w fall in the August 2025 contract. Further along the curve, Brent for delivery five years out fell by $0.63/bbl to a 20-month low of $66.37/bbl. Of the 35 trading days since President Trumps inauguration, Brent has settled lower on 20 and has recorded a lower intra-high on 25 days, with the cumulative price fall reaching $10.01/bbl at settlement on 10 March. According to commodity analysts at Standard Chartered, the price undershoot has been exacerbated by a further deterioration in speculative positioning. StanChart's combined crude oil money-manager positioning index has fallen by 6.9 w/w to -35.0, while the equivalent indices have fallen w/w for all the main products (heating oil, gasoil, and gasoline blendstock). The experts note that while the balance of speculative positioning has shifted towards the short side, both shorts and longs have been cutting risk. Over the past week, longs across the four main Brent and WTI contracts fell 44.7 million barrels (mb) to a 12-week low of 467.5mb, while shorts fell by 21.8 mb from the previous weeks six-month high to 249.8 mb. Europes Gas Withdrawal Season Ends Meanwhile, the rate of Europes gas draws decelerated sharply over the past week, with the EU gas inventory withdrawal season almost over. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data, Europes gas inventories stood at 43.04 billion cubic metres (bcm) on 9 March, with the w/w draw clocking in at 1.54 bcm, or just 59% of the five-year average and less than half the previous weeks 3.11 bcm draw. The draws over the past weekend were particularly low due to warm weather, with inventories falling by just 28 million cubic metres (mcm) on Saturday and 32 mcm on Sunday; the lowest draws since the start of the withdrawal season in early November. On both days, gas inventories actually increased in France and Germany. European natural gas futures fell toward 42/MWh on Wednesday after Ukraine accepted a U.S-proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia, ending three days of gains. The truce raised hopes for a potential easing of the conflict and the possibility of increased Russian gas supplies. Theres growing speculation that some Russian gas could soon return to Europe, which continues to struggle with high energy costs. Europe has cut Russian gas imports dramatically, with imports of Russian gas declining from about 450 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) at the end of 2021 to about 150 mcm/d currently. There were plenty of discussions on the subject during the latest Londons International Energy (IE) week. The Financial Times has reported about a plan by the former head of Nord Stream 2s parent company to start up Nord Stream 2 with U.S. businesses buying the pipeline so as to act as middlemen between Russia and European consumers in the hope that would make flows seem more reliable. However, StanChart has pointed out that such a plan would need approvals from multiple jurisdictions, with the injection of U.S. interests not necessarily improving the reliability and supply security of Russian flows. The other suggestion is that perhaps some Russian flows could resume into power generation as long as there is sufficient coal-fired capacity to fully cover should gas flows be constricted or cease. Similarly, StanChart has dismissed this plan as unlikely to work saying that such an arrangement would allow Russia to exert influence on Europes gas prices in the same way it did in the year leading up to the invasion of eastern Ukraine. In any case, increasing exposure to a hostile supplier with a track record of using gas supplies as political leverage would be unwise. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Whitecap Resources, (OTCPK: SPGYF), and Veren Inc, (NYSE:VRN) agreed to a no-cash, all-stock merger the other day, finalizing a long-rumored notion making the rounds in chatrooms. Both companies have previously been active in Canadian M&A, with Whitecap acquiring XTO Canada in 2022 for $1.9 bn. Formerly known as Crescent Point, Veren Inc. made a similar move with its $1.7 bn pickup of Spartan Deltas Montney acreage in 2023 and followed that quickly with another multi-billion dollar deal taking out Hammerhead Energy later the same year. With the rumor mill swirling last winter around the two companies, talks between the two began in earnest. Whitecap CEO Grant Fagerheim, who will stay on as CEO of the combined entity, was quoted in an article carried in the Calgary Herald as saying- Whitecap will be more resilient and better able to manage the current macro (economic) environment, including the ongoing threat of tariffs and commodity price volatility. We started these conversations in the fall (about) how we could bring them together. It makes sense operationally, from a land fit, from a production fit. The Industrial Logic is fairly obvious as highlighted in the slide below. The acreage positions of both are advantaged as an outcome of the merger. Substantial cost will be wrung out of the combined business, as increased scale lowers unit costs. This lowers capex to maintain or grow output and drives cash flow to the bottom line, which should drive valuations higher. All music to investors ears. The market viewed the combo as a wash with VRN rallying about 16% and Whitecap dropping a commensurate amount in Monday's trading. Analyst firm Raymond James lauded the deal with their analyst Luke Davis, making the following comment- The merger positions the new company among larger-cap peers, which is the clearest path to valuation upgrades, and the match is a good one that has "seemed like a logical transaction for more than a decade has finally come to fruition. It's really not a lot more complicated than that and as noted, the combined company has a lot more "throw weight," or relevance than either could ever hope to have on their own. The slide below provided by Whitecap shows the position of the combined company relative to peers in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin-WCSB. What's happening in Canadian energy? It wasn't supposed to be like this. The advent of the TMX pipeline provided another ~600K BOPD of demand for export to points East around the world. Then there was the 2-BCF/day requirement to feed the startup of LNG Canada. This was supposed to narrow the WCS discount-which it did, and improve AECO pricing for gas. AECO pricing has remained bogged down by the huge Canadian stockpile, but is forecast to rise by mid-year 2025. All of this was supposed to drive margins and cash flow in the Canadian cohort, which would improve multiples, and result in higher stock prices. A sampling of Canadian producers reveals that the last part of this rationale just hasn't played out. The stock prices have tanked, although there is an intriguing blip higher the last few days. So what's up? It's hard not to see the drown draft in July across the board, where thanks to an assassination attempt, the betting markets started increasing the odds of President Trump winning the election. His stated policies of increasing American production and driving down prices have just crushed the share prices of these companies. There is a pretty good correlation with WTI pricing consistent with this notion, peaking in early July in the low $80's, and largely working their way down to present levels. There are other well-known reasons for the down draft in WTI, inventories, economic worries and the like. None of which have been supportive for the Canadian upstream operators. You could call it a perfect storm. The tariff imbroglio now running its course between the U.S. and Canada isn't helping anything either. The bottom line until sentiment improves there is just no catalyst for these companies to rally substantially. Until then, Canadian companies must, like U.S. companies look for ways to cut costs and maximize scale. The deal between Whitecap and Veren There are all kinds of ways to look at the performance of corporate entities. One that I've been using is Return On Capital Employed-ROCE. This is a metric that describes how well the company is using its resources to produce a profit. In this metric using data from GuruFocus, at 16.9% ROCE, Whitecap Resources has been demolishing the competition and outperforming Veren, coming in at 6.5% ROCE. That's almost a 3:1 comparison and suggests to me that Whitecap is doing something right in this market that perhaps VRN is not. To tie a ribbon on this point, SPGYF reported $0.82 of free cash per share vs. $0.59 for VRN on a TTM basis. By rationalizing the two companies capital outlay and growth plans, resources can be better utilized. The payoff for investors is a less rapid pace of development that grows output more slowly in the term while preserving top-tier inventory for a hopefully more lucrative market into which to sell a few quarters hence. The deal gives VRN shareholders 1.05 shares of WCP for each of VRN-owned. This equates to about a 39% premium to VRN shareholders, factoring in VRN's relatively higher debt as a percentage of its EV and the share price arbitrage as of the deal announcement date. The combined company will have the dominant land positions in the key Montney and Duvernay plays where they have adjacent properties. There are also about $200 mm in synergies that will help the bottom line of the combined company. VRN shareholders will also benefit from the more generous dividend of $0.73 CAD per share paid by WCP. Your takeaway The Industrial Logic and cost savings are persuasive to me as favoring this deal. When you add in their increased clout as a larger company and the contracting advantages that come with size, the deal is a no-brainer. I don't see any real arbitrage between owning one or the other. We are ambivalent as to the way to play this deal as long as the shares roughly track the range noted in the deal. We do think investors interested in well-funded quarterly dividends and the prospect of capital growth once the current volatility subsides, should carefully take a position in one or the other. By David Messler for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The warm temperatures in Europe from earlier this week will abruptly shift to freezing conditions in the weekend and next week, testing Europes renewable power generation and low natural gas stocks. While this week most of Europe has seen so far temperatures as high as 20 C (68F), an Arctic blast will send temperatures and wind speeds plummeting, in a late-winter test for Europes energy systems. The UK, Germany, France, and even Spain are expected to experience freezing temperatures as early as this Friday. Through the rest of the week its going to get even colder, Honor Criswick, a meteorologist at the UKs Met Office, told Bloomberg. Low solar and wind power generation in the wintry conditions will further challenge the systems, all the more so that Europes natural gas storage levels are now at around 36% fullmuch lower than at this time last year. Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europes gas trading, were trading 2%higher as of 1:38 p.m. in Amsterdam on Thursday amid expectations of rising demand in the cold temperatures and an expected lull in renewable power generation. So far this winter heating season, cold winter temperatures and spells of low wind power generation have driven strong gas storage withdrawals, which, combined with the expiration of Russian pipeline gas flows through Ukraine, drove up prices. The IEA warned last month of a tighter LNG market in 2025 as low EU gas inventory levels at the end of this winter will require much bigger inflows of gas than in the previous two years, increasing Europes call on global LNG markets and tightening market fundamentals. The good news for Europe is that so far this year, it has been beating on price in Asia, where sufficient inventories and tepid demand have prevented price spikes in spot LNG prices for delivery into northeast Asia. The bad news for Europe is that due to the need to replenish inventories from much lower levels than in previous years, the summer 2025 forward TTF prices have been trading at a premium to the winter 2026 prices, which typically discourages stocking up on a commodity. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk region, where fighting is ongoing, and urged his troops to retake the territory, as experts suggest Ukraine may have to make land concessions in any cease-fire deal. US President Donald Trump has made ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict a top priority, with Kyiv agreeing to a temporary cease-fire plan after talks in Saudi Arabia, while Russia seeks a long-term settlement. A senior Kremlin aide dismissed a proposed temporary cease-fire with Ukraine, just hours before a US delegation arrived in Moscow to urge Russia to accept a 30-day cease-fire or face sanctions. A senior aide to President Vladimir Putin has rejected any temporary cease-fire with Ukraine just hours before a US delegation arrived in Russia for talks with Moscow where they will urge the Kremlin to agree to a 30-day cease-fire proposal or face sanctions. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said in an interview broadcast on state television on March 13 that U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed cease-fire, which Kyiv has agreed to, would only give Ukraine time to recover from pressure Russia has been exerting on its troops. "I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more," said Ushakov, Ushakov, who has more than half a century of involvement in diplomacy and is considered to be the Kremlin's chief foreign policy adviser. He added that he had laid out Moscow's position in a phone call to US national-security adviser Mike Waltz a day earlier. "It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation," he said, noting that Russia wants a long-term settlement that addresses its interests and concerns into account. During a March 12 White House meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Trump expressed confidence about securing a cease-fire for Ukraine and said that U.S. negotiators were traveling to Russia right now, as we speak. On March 13, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the US team reportedly headed up by Trump's special envoy. The state news agency TASS later reported that the envoy, Steve Witkoff, had arrived in Moscow. Trump had earlier told reporters that Russia "has no way out but cease-fire. If needed, we will sanction it, but I hope we won't need to." The US President has made ending Russia's more than three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, quickly dispatching his top officials to Moscow and Kyiv to prepare the groundwork for peace talks. His latest comments on the war come after Kyiv agreed to the temporary cease-fire plan following nine hours of talks with Trump administration officials in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, it is unclear how interested Russia is in the idea, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to speak on Ukraine on March 13 after talks with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. "Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X on March 13. "This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that U.S. pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war," he added. Putin Visits Kursk As Trump spoke at the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin was donning combat fatigues for a visit to troops in Russia's Kursk region, where fierce fighting is currently taking place and Moscow's forces are advancing. Ukraine seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August, a move seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks. That strategy is now at risk of failing as Russian forces slowly push the Ukrainians out of Kursk, having retaken more than half the territory initially captured by Ukraine. During his visit to Kursk -- his only visit since the incursion began -- Putin urged his troops to retake the region in its entirety "as soon as possible." He also said that captured Ukrainian soldiers would be treated as "terrorists." In an interview with Current Time, the editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta Evropa, Kirill Martynov, said that the US proposal of a cease-fire free of additional conditions had angered pro-war elements in Russian society, including so called Z-Channels on Telegram. Putins appearance in military garb was a response, said Martynov, and a way of showing this more aggressive group of citizens that everything is under control, and he continues to wage war. Absolutely in his style, after the situation has improved [in the Kursk region], he appears and takes credit for what is happening, Martynov said. Unconfirmed reports on March 12 indicated that Ukraine has begun to draw back units as Russian officials claimed their troops had captured more settlements, including Sudzha, the largest settlement that Ukraine had taken in the offensive. Ukraine's top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said that fighting continued in and around Sudzha. "Despite increased pressure from the Russian and North Korean forces, we will maintain the defense of the Kursk region as long as it is appropriate and necessary," Syrskiy wrote on Telegram. In a Facebook post, Syrskiy said that saving soldiers lives is a priority and that Ukrainian troops would "maneuver to more favorable positions, if necessary," wording often used to describe a retreat. Concessions? Trump has so far used Washington's significant leverage over Ukraine -- namely military aid and intelligence sharing -- to get Kyiv to agree to the cease-fire proposal, which, if implemented, would leave almost 20 percent of the country in Russia's hands for the time being at least. The United States announced after the talks in Saudi Arabia that it would immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and restore military aid to Ukraine, which could be a boost to Ukrainian forces, whose battlefield positions have been under heavy pressure, particularly in Kursk. Trump lacks that kind of leverage with Russia, which has navigated sweeping US and European sanctions placed on its economy following the invasion much better than most experts forecasted. Putin may seek to drag out talks with Washington over a cease-fire to improve Russia's position on the battlefield, experts say, and hence at the negotiating table when and if Moscow and Kyiv hammer out a peace deal. Trump has also hinted that Ukraine would have to make concessions on land, something more and more experts say is inevitable given Russia's momentum on the battlefield. "When we talk cease-fire [with Ukraine], we talked land, who's withdrawing -- we discussed a lot of things [with Ukraine]," Trump said. "We don't want to waste time, people are dying. Russia is not in the best situation now. I hope [Putin] gets a cease-fire." Trump has said fresh sanctions could do "very unpleasant, very bad things, devastating for Russia," but has offered few details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the cease-fire proposal and said he hoped it would be used as a draft for a lasting peace deal that included security guarantees for Ukraine. "It's now up to Russia what is next," he said at a March 12 press conference, and whether "it wants to continue its aggression against Ukraine or not." Moscow has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the proposal for the 30-day cease-fire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was "carefully studying" the joint US-Ukraine statement issued following the Jeddah talks and will wait to comment until Russian negotiators receive more detailed information from Washington. Reaction on the streets of Moscow, however, was mixed, with one man saying that "agreeing to a truce now, when the enemy is weakened, is completely inappropriate and wrong." But others welcomed the news. "We just want this to end as soon as possible so that people stop dying," said one woman in the Russian capital. "So many have already perished." "I'm not sure what to say, but it all seems implausible, frankly speaking," said one Kyiv man, while a woman in the capital said the cease-fire talks were "meaningless without Russia taking part." By RFE/RL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com India boosted imports of non-Russian crude supply in February amid concerns and uncertainties over Russian oil following the U.S. sanctions from early January. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the bans on Russian oil in the West, India has become a key buyer of Russian crude, alongside China. Russia, for its part, became the single biggest oil supplier to India, the worlds third-largest oil importer. Indian refiners earlier this year scrambled for alternatives after the U.S. sanctions designated hundreds of tankers, as well as oil traders, in January. The Biden Administrations farewell sanctions on Russian oil have reduced the availability of non-sanctioned tankers to carry out the trades. As a result, Indian refiners scrambled to reshuffle and reconfigure oil traders, insurers, and vessel owners with which they worked. The worlds third-largest crude oil importer wants to continue receiving the cheaper Russian oil without risking violating the U.S. sanctions. India will continue to buy Russian oil if it is sold below the $60 per barrel price cap and delivered on non-sanctioned tankers and without any involvement of sanctioned companies or individuals, Indian officials have said. Amid reduced availability of non-sanctioned vessels to ship Russian oil, Indian refiners raised their supply from Africa and South America last month, according to data from trade sources cited by Reuters. India more than doubled its crude oil imports from Africa in February, to around 330,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 143,000 bpd in January. Indian imports of crude from South America jumped by 60% month-on-month to about to 453,600 bpd in February, per the data. At the same time, Indias imports of Russian crude dropped by 3% from January and averaged about 1.54 million bpd in February. Russias share of total Indian crude oil imports fell slightly to 30.5% in Februarythe lowest share in a year, according to the data. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Crude oil prices dipped today, despite expectations for strong demand following the U.S. Energy Information Administrations latest inventory report that showed a more sizable draw than expected. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $70.87 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $67.55 per barrel, both down from Wednesday. The Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil stock build of 1.4 million barrels for the week to March 7, but that build was accompanied by a much more sizable decline in gasoline inventories, at 5.7 million barrels. Middle distillates also declined, by 1.6 million barrels, in the reporting period. Declining U.S. gasoline inventories raised expectations for a seasonal demand increase in spring, but concerns about the global economic impact of tariff wars weighed on the market, Nissan Securities Investment chief strategist Hiroyuki Kikukawa told Reuters. Meanwhile, OPEC reiterated its bullish stance on oil demand for this year in its latest monthly report. The group expects global oil demand to grow by 1.45 million barrels daily this year, moderating slightly to 1.43 million barrels daily in 2026. The oil cartel also reported higher production, which also affected prices on both Wednesday and early on Thursday. The February average for the group was 26.86 million barrels daily, up by 154,000 barrels daily from January. The biggest contributors to this higher output were Nigeria and Iran. OPEC+ output also rose strongly in February, driven by Kazakhstan, where production increased by an impressive 198,000 barrels daily. This will make the Central Asian producers task harder in making up for overproduction under the OPEC+ quota regime. OPEC+ is expected to add some 138,000 barrels daily to total production beginning in April, as it had planned when it devised its production control policy. However, most observers appear to assume that the ramp-up is set in stone while in fact OPEC+ has repeatedly indicated it will be flexible in its decisions, basing them on market conditions, meaning prices. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Do you know pets can also be treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine? 08:55, March 13, 2025 By Leng Shumei, Liang Rui ( Global Times Chen Wu treats a dog with traditional Chinese medicine treatment in the Chongfuxin international animal medicine center in Changping, Beijing, on March 11, 2025. (Photo/Courtesy of Chen) Zhang Ling (pseudonym) spent nearly half a month searching online for making an appointment with a recommended traditional Chinese veterinary medicine (TCVM) doctor in Beijing after her six-year-old Chinese field dog, Dou Dou, was paralyzed in a car accident. She initially had no idea that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could also be used to treat animals. What surprised her even more was that this form of treatment had become so popular that it was quite difficult to make an appointment with a good TCVM doctor in Beijing. "At first, I tried to register with a famous doctor in the China Agricultural University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (CAUVTH), which is widely known as the best hospital in Beijing for pets. The registration channel for the doctor's service opens eight days in advance at 8 pm. I logged on to the registration platform a few minutes late, only to find that all the available slots were already full," Zhang, 34, told the Global Times. Special treatment Zhang's dog was hit by a car in a small town in East China's Jiangsu Province, where veterinary services weren't equipped to perform surgery on the dog during the "gold 24 hours" after the accident. Having returned to Beijing after the Spring Festival holidays, Zhang took Dou Dou to see a veterinary neurosurgeon at the CAUVTH and another neurosurgeon who came highly recommended online. "The CAUVTH doctor told me Dou Dou had a slipped disc that seriously damaged a nerve, leading to level-five paralysis - the highest level. At this point, even surgery wouldn't be of much help. The other doctor gave me a similar prognosis and said he could attempt stem cell therapy, but the therapy was still in the experimental with few confirmed successes around the world," Zhang said. Shortly after these disappointing appointments, Zhang discovered TCVM and held out hope that this form of treatment might help her canine companion. "Modern medicine often employs surgical decompression to treat a slipped disc. But there is little modern medicine can do for level-five paralysis with loss of deep pain sensation lasting more than 48 hours. For these cases, we have established an acupuncture therapy based on the diagnosis through modern medical neurological function tests, and MRI or CT scans, and, in some occasions, it's even more efficacious than surgery," Chen Wu, a professor at the Beijing University of Agriculture and chief expert in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine of the New Ruipeng Pet Healthcare Group, explained to Zhang when she took Dou Dou for his first consultation for the first time. However, Chen cautioned that "it may be a long process before the dog can finally stand up." This uncertainty weighed a little on Zhang. Nevertheless, given her limited options, she agreed to try acupuncture therapy for Dou Dou for two weeks and observe the results before determining the next steps in treatment. A French Bulldog receives acupuncture treatment in Wang Miao Tai Yi Tang in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Courtesy of Wu) Rising popularity On a Friday afternoon in Chen's treatment room at the Chongfuxin international animal medicine center in Changping, Beijing, the Global Times observed Dou Dou's treatment. The canine was placed on a specialized treatment bed covered with grid cloth. His four legs were placed through the openings in the cloth to prevent him from moving. Chen used alcohol-soaked cotton swabs to disinfect some acupoints below the dog's waist and between the toes of the dog's paralyzed hind legs. Chen then deftly inserted fine acupuncture needles into the pug's acupoints and attached electrodes to the needles to deliver controlled electrical currents. The pug's legs twitched regularly in response to the electrical stimulation. According to Chen, TCVM is a field of medicine in which veterinarians apply the theoretical principles of TCM to the diagnosis and treatment of animals. In ancient times, Chinese people did use TCVM to treat animals, mainly focusing on horses on the battlefield and oxen used for farming. In modern times, TCVM has also been modified and integrated with Western medicine, spreading as far afield as the US and Japan, along with the development and spread of TCM. The locations of dogs' acupoints are similar to those in human bodies compared to other animals, making the acupuncture therapy effective for dogs, according to Chen. After being a TCVM doctor in China for over 30 years, Chen, 59, told the Global Times that he had noticed the increased popularity of TCVM in the country in recent years. Some pet owners turn to TCVM after Western medicine fails to treat their pets' diseases. Others seek TCVM services as they believe in TCM themselves. TCVM's other advantage over Western medicine is its ability to treat age-related diseases. An increasing number of people seeking TCVM services in recent years do so due to the advanced age of their pets, Chen explained. Citing an industry report, an article published by the New Weekly magazine on February 27 stated that, currently, there is an upward trend of pet aging in China, with dogs aged 7 (the age threshold for elderly dog) and above accounting for 23 percent of the total in 2024, an increase of 5 percent compared to 2023. It is estimated that in the next three years, over 30 million pets in China will enter middle and old age. With the rising trend of pet aging, the issues of aged pet care and daily pet healthcare have gradually become focal points of concern for pet owners. This brings about new opportunities for Chinese TCVM practitioners. "Our vision is to establish an authentic TCM institution for pets, integrating traditional medical philosophies into daily pet healthcare," Wu Yingjiu, the 59-year-old funder of the first TCM clinic for pets in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, told the Global Times. According to Wu, the clinic, named Wang Miao Tai Yi Tang, which means medical hall for dogs and cats, handles about 10 in-person consultations and dozens of online assessments daily. Its services range from customized herbal formulas and acupuncture, to post-operative rehabilitation and preventive care. "Most of our patients are senior pets with chronic conditions or mobility issues, and some others are diagnosed with difficult diseases. Poodles, French Bulldogs, and Corgis are among our most common patients," Wu said. "Like human TCM practitioners, we customize treatments, different formulas for different conditions," Deng Xurong, a TCVM doctor at Wu's clinic, told the Global Times. The applicable diseases for TCVM include neurological disorders, musculoskeletal issues and muscle problems, as well as various types of ascites, skin diseases, and miscellaneous diseases, particularly in cases where long-term Western medical treatments have not been effective. Compared with Western medications like antibiotics or steroids, herbal TCM medications also offer gentler interventions with noticeable effects, Deng said. Chen Wu in a public welfare class for the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine (Photo/Courtesy of Chen) Integrated approach After four rounds of acupuncture treatments, Dou Dou's reaction to electrical stimulation improved. But Chen told Zhang that the improvement was far from an indication that the dog would stand up in the near future, saying two months. In the next stage of treatment, more rehabilitation methods would be incorporated to exercise and strengthen the muscles of the dog's paralyzed legs. According to Chen, it has taken up to a year and a half for some level-five paralyzed dogs that he's treated to stand up and walk again. Zhang decided to continue the acupuncture treatment while incorporating rehabilitation exercises. She did not make the decision without hesitation. "I have seen with my own eyes some improvement from the acupuncture therapy, but, in fact, I was still not sure what effect, if any, that acupuncture had. But it seems like it is the only thing I can do for the dog now," she said. For pet owners like Zhang who still remain skeptical about TCVM, Wu told the Global Times that he understands that TCVM is still an unfamiliar concept for the majority of the public. He believes the greatest advantage of TCVM lies in its fundamental regulation and preventive care before disease onset. For acute and critical conditions, he would recommend pet owners seek Western medicine for symptom relief first, followed by TCVM for long-term diagnostic treatment. As a practicing doctor and professor in TCVM with 30 years' experience, Chen said "Traditional Chinese and Western veterinary medicine each have their strengths, but neither is perfect on its own. It is necessary to learn from each other's strengths and develop in a complementary manner. Some diseases are well suited for TCM, while others may require Western medicine first." Additionally, some conditions benefit from a combination of both approaches. Only by integration can we provide the best options for animal health, the doctor said. An integration approach would also help to prove efficacy and win TCVM international recognition, according to Chen. For example, Chen's team had conducted animal experiments to reveal the scientific mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of intervertebral disc disease. Under the same diagnostic criteria with Western medicine, the team uncovered the effects and mechanisms of acupuncture in treating intervertebral disc disease in dogs. This has further enhanced the understanding of the clinical value and scientific basis of acupuncture among international veterinary field, he noted. In fact, as early as in 1974, the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) was founded in the US to promote the use of veterinary acupuncture and to increase education in this modality. At this time, there were 80 members of the society, according to the society's website. The society also provides certification courses in veterinary acupuncture and veterinary Chinese herbal medicine to applicants. Chinese TCVM practitioners have also taken action to promote the industry's development in its birthplace. A public welfare initiative for the inheritance and development of TCVM launched in 2017 by Chen and other practitioners has trained over 8,000 key clinical practitioners in pet TCM across the country. In China, the uptake of TCVM is still low in the curriculum of veterinary universities, and the training of TCVM professionals still needs to be strengthened. Policies, laws, and regulations to regulate and support the development of TCVM industry is also urgently needed, Chen stressed. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Despite the expected rise in OPEC+ production in April, Saudi Arabia is set to ship significantly lower crude oil volumes to China next month to levels not seen in over a year, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting trade and industry sources. Spring maintenance at some large state-controlled refineries in the worlds top crude oil importer is the key reason for the low volumes that Saudi Arabia has allocated for April. These amount to about 34 million barrels, down from 41 million barrels allocated for March, according to Reuters data. State giant China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, is planning to shut down for about two months the crude processing capacities at several refineries. These temporary closures from the middle of March to the end of May would affect about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude processing capacity, per data compiled by Reuters from trade and industry sources. The decline in Saudi shipments to China next month comes despite OPEC+ preparing to raise production by 138,000 bpd from April and Saudi Arabia reducing its official selling prices (OSPs) for crude oil to Asian buyers next month. Chinese maintenance and reshuffled crude flows for Russian oil after the initial shock from the U.S. sanctions suggest that the call on Saudi crude for April may not be as high as in the previous two months, when uncertainties over the cheaper Russian supply were high. A massive reshuffle of tankers allows non-sanctioned vessels to pick up trade with Russian and Iranian oil, which will result in a rebound in Chinas imports of cheaper crude from the two producers in March, from a two-year low in February, analysts and traders told Reuters at the end of last month. The sanctions on Russia, as well as the tightening sanctions on Irans shadow fleet, have prompted a run on non-sanctioned vessels, with daily rates doubling and even tripling over the past month. These rate hikes have attracted operators of non-sanctioned tankers to enter the trade with Russian and Iranian oil amid handsome profits being made. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The Trump administration just turned up the heat on Irans oil operations, slapping fresh sanctions on Irans oil minister Mohsen Paknejad and a handful of shadowy tankers sneaking crude to China. Treasurys reasoning? Paknejad is allegedly funneling billions in oil revenue directly to Irans armed forces, and the shipssome flagged in Hong Kong, Liberia, and Seychellesare playing an elaborate game of maritime hide-and-seek to keep the crude flowing. Washington has been running this playbook for years. Sanctions have been a favorite U.S. tool to curb Irans oil exports, but Tehrans response has been equally predictable: deny, deflect, and keep the tankers moving. The so-called "shadow fleet" has mastered the art of deceptionturning off transponders, faking ship registrations, and engaging in ship-to-ship transfers in the middle of nowhere to dodge Western oversight. China, the primary buyer of Irans heavily discounted crude, has consistently ignored U.S. sanctions, happily importing Iranian oil under the radar. Even India, though publicly less bold, has been indirectly linked to these shipments. Sanctioning a few tankers and companies might slow things down momentarily, but it wont change the fact that demand for Iranian crude still existsand where theres demand, supply will find a way. Geopolitically, this is Washingtons way of keeping pressure on Tehran at a time when Iran is making it abundantly clear that it wont negotiate under pressure and intimidation. And with oil prices hovering around $70, the global market has yet to react dramatically. But if these sanctions actually bite and reduce Iranian exports meaningfully, there could be a ripple effectespecially if OPEC+ doesnt step in to fill the gap. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Members of the Omaha Tribe performing a peace dance at Offutt Air Force Base. An Offutt staff sergeant who gathered supplies for a girls school in Afghanistan. A Rosie the Riveter working at Bellevues Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant during World War II. Those are among the Nebraska images no longer available on Defense Department websites after a Pentagon-ordered purge of content judged to be related to diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a military database obtained by the Associated Press. In a February memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave the military until March 5 to remove content that highlights diversity efforts in its ranks following President Donald Trumps executive order ending those programs across the federal government. We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms, said John Ullyot, a Pentagon spokesman. He noted that Hegseth had declared "DEI is dead" and said that DEI "erodes camaraderie and threatens mission execution" by "put(ting) one group ahead of another." The database includes more than 26,000 images flagged for removal across every military branch and was created to comply with federal archival law, according to AP. Most of the images were posted through the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, an online clearinghouse for photos and videos made by public affairs journalists from all military branches. A search of the database showed 110 images with the word Offutt in their titles or captions had been deleted or flagged for deletion, some dating back to 2008. Eight other images marked StratCom were deleted. Most of the scrubbed images from Offutt show commemorations of heritage months, including Black History Month, Womens History Month, Hispanic American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month. Some of the photos also depicted LGBTQ Pride events, such as a 2016 photo titled Team Offutt celebrates diversity with Rainbow Run. A 2013 photo of Offutt Staff Sgt. Jason Strong attending an LGBTQ+ event while deployed to Afghanistan was scrubbed, though an accompanying story about how he overcame a difficult childhood by joining the Air Force, including gathering supplies for a girls' school in Afghanistan, remains on the page. The story makes no mention of sexual orientation. Also gone are photos of Ashleigh Buch, a Chinese-language analyst formerly with the 55th Wing who is transgender and transitioned during the mid-2010s during a period when the military permitted it. She gained national attention after The World-Herald published a profile of her in 2017. So is a 2020 photo of then-Col. Gavin Marks at the time the 55th Wing's commander and Gen. C.Q. Brown, who was the Air Force chief of staff, which noted in the caption that each was the first African American person to hold that position. One of the StratCom photos depicts an Air Force missile-alert crew in Montana made up entirely of women in 2023. The content of the other deleted StratCom photos is unclear. The database obtained by AP doesnt include items scrubbed by the 55th Wing from social media sites, an effort announced on its X and Facebook pages the same day as Hegseths memo, said Kris Pierce, a 55th Wing spokesman. He said that effort was completed by the March 5 deadline and referred additional questions to the office of acting Air Force Secretary Gary Ashworth. Ann Stefanek, a spokesperson for Ashworth's office, said a total of 180 Offutt-related items were removed. The eventual total of deleted stories and posts across the military may be much higher than what is reflected in the single database, according to AP. One official who spoke to the news service on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public said the purge could delete as many as 100,000 images or posts in total, including social media pages and other websites that are also being culled for DEI content. In some cases, photos seemed to be flagged for removal simply because their file included the word gay including one of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, which was built at Offutt and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. Several photos of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California also were marked for deletion, apparently because a local engineer in the photo had the last name Gay. It was unclear why some other images were removed, such as a Marine Corps photo titled Deadlift contenders raise the bar pound by pound or a National Guard website image called Minnesota brothers reunite in Kuwait. In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly, Ullyot said. Members of the Omaha Tribe expressed dismay at seeing their contributions expunged from the Air Force's online history. "It's with great disappointment that we, as the first Nebraskans, are considered part of the DEI," said Dustin Lovejoy, a member of the tribal governing council, in a statement. "Our partnership, our unique perspective, and our dedication to military service are being erased from Offutt AFB information. " This report includes information from the Associated Press. By Oregon Senate Republican Caucus March 12, 2025 The Oregon Senate Republican Caucus issued the following statement after the Oregon Court of Appeals decision today to uphold Measure 114, an unconstitutional and deeply flawed gun control law that will make Oregonians less safe while burdening law-abiding citizens with unnecessary restrictions. Measure 114 is an alarming attack on the constitutional rights of responsible Oregonians. It was poorly conceived from the start, creating a bureaucratic nightmare for law enforcement and infringing on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. The measure does nothing to address crime, hold criminals accountable, or improve public safety. Instead, it criminalizes responsible citizens while making it harder for them to protect themselves and their families. We have already seen the legal and logistical chaos caused by this law. It was immediately challenged in court, with a Harney County judge rightfully blocking it due to clear constitutional concerns. Yet now, despite years of legal uncertainty and overwhelming opposition from rural communities and law enforcement, the Court of Appeals has decided to ignore the real-world consequences and push forward an extreme, unworkable policy. Requiring a permit to exercise a constitutional right is an outrageous overreach, and restricting magazine capacity will do nothing to stop violent criminals. Our law enforcement agencies are already stretched thin, and Measure 114 will only make their jobs harder by forcing them to dedicate time and resources to a permitting scheme that serves no public safety purpose. Oregonians deserve laws that actually target criminals, not laws that punish law-abiding citizens for exercising their fundamental rights. Senate Republicans will continue fighting for policies that protect both public safety and individual freedoms. We urge the Oregon Supreme Court to take up this case and uphold the constitutional rights of Oregonians. Legislature hearing on Senate Bill 429, Senate Bill 697, Senate Bill 698, House Bill 3075. By Rick Coufal, Colonel US Army (Ret), Oregon Law Enforcement (Ret), NRA-ILA (Institute for Legislative Action) Frontlines Activist Leader (FAL) for Oregon, NRA Firearms Instructor Comments on Proposed Firearm Legislation for the 2025 Oregon Legislatures hearing on Senate Bill 429, Senate Bill 697, Senate Bill 698, House Bill 3075. I am Against or I have concerns and questions concerning those proposed firearm bills listed below. SB 429 Mandatory 72 Hour waiting period. I am against this bill as it is redundant with Federal Background check requirements here in Oregon. #1. This bill infringes on the Second Amendment rights of individuals. The bill requires gun dealers to wait 72 hours from the time of requesting a background check before transferring a firearm or unfinished frame or receiver. Unnecessary delay for law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise their right to bear arms. Additionally, some might contend that the bill could create logistical challenges for gun dealers and buyers, leading to potential economic impacts on small businesses. #2. If a buyer has already successfully completed a background check, an additional 72-hour waiting period is redundant. This is an unnecessary obstacle for individuals who have already been vetted and approved to purchase a firearm, infringing on our 2A rights without adding significant benefits to public safety. SB 697 Prohibits persons under 21 from possessing firearms with exceptions. I am against this bill as it is confusing and does violate current Oregon law. #1. Currently individuals aged 18-21 can legally purchase AR-15 rifles in Oregon. The state law allows those who are at least 18 years old to buy rifles and shotguns, including semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15, and semi-automatic shotguns if they pass a criminal background check. If you are 19 yrs old and own an AR-15, but SB 697 passes and you cannot possess such a firearm, what is the process for exception or is it confiscation of a legally purchased firearm? If so, by who? #2. In Oregon, currently In Oregon, individuals aged 18-21 can legally own handguns, but they cannot purchase them from federally licensed firearms dealers. Federal law prohibits licensed dealers from selling handguns to individuals under 21. However, those aged 18-21 can legally acquire handguns through private sales, gifts, or transfers from family members, as long as they comply with state and federal laws. SB 698 Repeals statewide preemption laws, I am against this legislation. #1. SB 698 is a very complex and confusing bill for the average concealed handgun permit holder in Oregon. governing bodies of certain public entities that own or control public buildings to adopt policies, ordinances, or regulations limiting the affirmative defense for concealed handgun licenses for the crime of possessing a firearm in a public building. Without good clear public notice could entrap a good citizen who carries a firearm with a permit for personal protection who was unaware of the new policy, law or rule. #2. This bill infringes on the Second Amendment rights of individuals who have legally obtained concealed handgun licenses. This bill restricts an individuals right to self-defense and potentially increases the risk of a public shooting in gun-free zones. HB 3075 Modifies provisions of Ballot Measure 114, which is currently prohibited from enactment under constitutional challenge. I am against Ballot Measure 114 and HB 3075. But I realize it is inevitable and therefore recommend the following change to HB 3075 training requirement. #1. HB 3075 proposes changes to the gun permit and transfer process, including modifications to the firearm permit provisions of Ballot Measure 114 (2022). As a long time, firearms instructor for the military, Oregon Law Enforcement and the National Rifle Association. HB 3075 is too vague and confusing as to what is required for the live fire demonstration of proficiency. I agree with the waiver for active and retired Law Enforcement, and all DPSST certified security officers as they have demonstrated their forearm proficiency and safety. I would highly recommend that the bill if passed should include specific language authorizing the NRA Basic Pistol Course (10-hour classroom, live fire training and qualification), or other DPSST approved firearm training (Classroom and live fire with qualification) that is currently approved as another training option, but eliminate the online option (classroom), as it must also have a live fire training and qualification requirement spelled out to eliminate confusion. #2. Currently the NRA Basic Pistol course meets the requirements listed in Ballot Measure 114 and HB 3075. It includes basic firearm identification, safe handling, proper loading, unloading, perhaps more on safe storage and live fire training and 25 round qualification at the end of the course. There are plenty of local NRA instructors in Oregon along with public and private ranges to teach this course without overburdening the local law enforcement agencies in each county that might have a budget, staffing, or training range availability issue. #3. There is no scientific proof of, only opinion, that high-capacity magazines (over 10 rounds) are a public safety threat. Historically most self-defense shootings result in 1-3 rounds being fired and most mass shooting are 8 plus rounds and would have occurred regardless of whether the shooter had magazines of 10 rounds or less, or 10 plus rounds (standard capacity magazines). The requirement that all 10 plus round magazines purchased after 8 Dec 2022 would be illegal and confiscated is unrealistic and places a burden on law enforcement agencies the public makes no sense. It would be better to ban the purchase only after the law passes, not to make criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens that own and use standard capacity magazines for sport shooting. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to come before the joint committee on Judiciary to discuss these bills or at the very least to meet with the committee members before a vote is undertaken. There is an opportunity here to work together to improve these firearm bills by taking into consideration both sides of the issues. HB 2966 would create a state bank By Taxpayers Association of Oregon OregonWatchdog.com The same state government faulted for $2.9 billion in accounting errors by state auditors, $1.1 billion accidental over-spend by ODOT, and a government pension system (PERS) $28 billion debt now wants to create an official Oregon Government State Bank. There is no pressing reason to make this giant leap in government expansion. HB 2966 is a future financial boondoggle in the making. HB 2966 is a slow financial train wreck. House Bill 2966 SMS summary: House Bill 2966 establishes a 14-member State Public Finance Task Force, with four legislators appointed by the presiding officers and 10 Oregonians appointed by the Governor with experience and expertise in a variety of areas related to banking, finance, business and government. The Task Force would be charged with examining methods that public bodies use to invest their funds, look for cost savings by using public financing practices, explore governing and corporate structures for public financing entities, and explore means of capitalizing public financing entities. The State Treasurer is tasked with providing staff support for the Task Force. HB 2966 is sponsored by Representative GAMBA, Senators GOLDEN, FREDERICK, Representatives ANDERSEN, EVANS;Representative WALTERS, Senators CAMPOS, PHAM K Contribute online at OregonWatchdog.com (learn about a Charitable Tax Deduction or Political Tax Credit options to promote liberty). By Lars Larson NW and national radio host, Do you ever wish the freak show of Northwest politics would just stop. Consider the most recent examples from Oregon and Washington. A new Clackamas county commissioner indicted for eight felonies in an alleged fraud against an elderly man. Melissa Fireside has thankfully resigned. In Washington state a politician who, I kid you not, describes himself as (Jessica Ann Roberts) A bisexual trans woman with itty bitty (blanks) and a big girl (boy part). who makes money on the side with an Only Fans account. Now I had to clean that up a LOT for the radio. Jessica Ann now has a spot on the Lynwood city council. And then consider the regions history. A child rapist former Governor. Another Governor forced to resign after his grifter girlfriend peddled influence. One of Portlandias former Mayors chased a teenage boy around the legislature till the boy turned legal age before bedding him. Congressman David Wu, who liked cavorting around in a tiger costume, resigned after being accused of sexually assaulting the daughter of a friend. All of them members of the Democrat Party, of course, which has double standards or it would have none at all. It is any wonder that the serious problems of the region dont get addressed when so many in elected office seem to be thinking with something other than the head between their ears. BLOOMINGTON Wendy Ives said every day is like Christmas when unloading the kiln at her Bloomington business, Artful Designs. She said creations by customers who patronize her paint-your-own pottery studio give her studio lots of ideas. (Customers) come up with things we didnt think about and that could help guide us to another fun event thats centered around what somebody else came up with, Ives said. People surprise me every day. Artful Designs, which has operated in Bloomington-Normal for over two decades, is the first of several women-owned businesses The Pantagraph will feature this month in recognition of Womens History Month. Ives said she has a team of six who have worked with her for a while. Starting in fall 1999, Ives said she ran the studio out of her home for two years before setting up shop at Normandy Village in Normal. It was a really small space, she said of the village studio. Then, in 2004, she moved to her current space at 502 N. Prospect Road in Bloomington. Its grown tremendously from there, Ives said. While COVID was a tough time in business, she said its gotten bigger, better and busier since the pandemic. Were constantly adding things to keep it fresh and new, she said. Customers entering the studio will find several tall shelves stocked with a variety of bisque pottery, which means any pottery that has been fired in a kiln without glaze. Patrons then paint their designs on their chosen pottery piece, before leaving it at the studio for firing and picking it up about a week later. Items include a variety of figurines, dishware and seasonal items like Christmas trees and holiday ornaments. For nature enthusiasts, there are cats, dragons, rabbits and more. People still love to paint gnomes and mushrooms. Believe it or not, mushrooms are very, very popular, Ives said. Reservations are encouraged, Ives said. Theres also a studio fee, which covers painting supplies, glazing and firing. We always try to make space for people, sometimes when were really busy youll have to share a table with somebody else, but its the kind of environment we want, that its welcoming for everyone, Ives said. She said she has a kiln at home and two at work. Sometimes when theres overflow from the studio, she said, shell take pieces home to fire them up. Capturing moments Ives said shes proud of her accomplishments from over 25 years of being in business. Ive made many friends along the way, inspired the creativity and the success of other pottery studio owners around the country and around the world through the online classes Ive offered for stoneware glazing techniques, she said. And at the local level, Ives said shes offered the opportunity to to make priceless keepsakes that last for a lifetime. Ives said one project offered in her studio are clay prints of children's hands or pet paws, helping to capture a brief moment in time that passes so quickly. My customers cherish them, she said. She likes to do kiln reveals on social media, to show off what her customers have created. People say, Oh, Im not creative at all, and then I say, Look what you created, and they just get really happy when you show it off for them, said Ives. Ives, who grew up in Charlevoix, Michigan, completed her bachelors degree in art, with a concentration in ceramics, at Albion College, a small liberal arts school in Albion, Michigan. She moved to Bloomington in 1991. I just wanted to put my degree to good use," she said. Ives had been to another paint-your-own pottery studio before, and said she thought it was a great idea for a business. Ives said her studio is a safe space for people to get lost in the process of making art, and staffers aim to treat their customers like family. Its therapy its a place to feel good and get lost in your own creativity, she said. Enjoy the ride Ives said shes always looking to collaborate with other women in business, adding she attends conferences with other pottery studio owners, and most of them are women. Were constantly working with each other and sharing ideas, which is helpful to figure out what your customer might want, she said. When asked who is the most inspirational woman to her, Ives credited her mother, Nancy Porter. Ives said her mother worked hard to provide for her and Ives sister. Her mom also raised her to be thoughtful and kind, she said. Another huge inspiration for her is Jan Brandt, an artist who has a gallery in downtown Bloomington. When asked to share advice for other women who own businesses, Ives said to follow your passion and make it your paycheck. For additional tips, she said to work hard, try new things and take risks. Try and enjoy that ride, Ives said. For reservations and class schedules, call the studio at 309-664-6655 or go online to artfuldesignsonline.com. " " Penance can take many forms, including reciting certain prayers. Pascal Deloche / Godong / Getty Images Today, were talking about penance, one of the most meaningful practices in Christian faith. Whether in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church or other Christian traditions, penance plays a crucial role in spiritual life. It's not just about saying "I'm sorry"; it's about real transformation and a return to God's grace. Penance is both a sacrament and a distinct virtue, a practice that helps believers make amends for the sins they've committed. In the Roman Catholic Church, it involves acknowledging wrongdoing, seeking forgiveness and making things right before divine justice. Advertisement Just like the Prodigal Son, who returned to his father in humility, all the faithful are called to turn back to God through penance. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It feels like everything is slowly but surely being affected by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). And like every other disruptive technology before it, AI is having both positive and negative outcomes for society. One of these negative outcomes is the very specific, yet very real cultural harm posed to Australia's Indigenous populations. The National Indigenous Times reports Adobe has come under fire for hosting AI-generated stock images that claim to depict "Indigenous Australians," but don't resemble Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Some of the figures in these generated images also have random body markings that are culturally meaningless. Critics who spoke to the outlet, including Indigenous artists and human rights advocates, point out these inaccuracies disregard the significance of traditional body markings to various First Nations cultures. Adobe's stock platform was also found to host AI-generated "Aboriginal artwork," raising concerns over whether genuine Indigenous artworks were used to train the software without artists' consent. The findings paint an alarming picture of how representations of Indigenous cultures can suffer as a result of AI. How AI image generators work While training AI image generators is a complex affair, in a nutshell it involves feeding a neural network millions of images with associated text descriptions. This is much like how you would have been taught to recognize various objects as a small child: you see a car and you're told it's a "car." Then you see a different car, and are told it is also a "car." Over time you begin to discern patterns that help you differentiate between cars and other objects. You gain an idea of what a car "is." Then, when asked to draw a picture of a car, you can synthesize all your knowledge to do so. Many AI image generators produce images through what is called "reverse diffusion." In essence, they take the images they've been trained on and add "noise" to them until they are just a mix of pixels of random color and brightness. They then continually decrease the amount of noise, until the correct image is displayed. The process of creating an AI image begins with a text prompt by the user. The image generator then compares how the words in the prompt associate with its learning, and produces an image that satisfies the prompt. This image will be original, in that it won't exist anywhere else. If you've gone through this process, you'll appreciate how difficult it can be to control the image that is produced. Say you want your subject to be wearing a very specific style of jacket; you can prompt it as precisely as you likebut you may never get it perfect. The result will come down to how the model was trained and the dataset it was trained on. We've seen early versions of the AI image generator Midjourney respond to prompts for "Indigenous Australians" with what appeared to be images of African tribespeople: essentially an amalgam of the "noble savage." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Cultural flattening through AI Now, consider that in the future, millions of people will be generating AI images from various generators. These may be used for teaching, promotional materials, advertisements, travel brochures, news articles and so on. Often, there will be little consequence if the images generated are "generic" in appearance. But what if it was important for the image to accurately reflect what the creator was trying to represent? In Australia, there are more than 250 Indigenous languages, each one specific to a particular place and people. For each of these groups, language is central to their identity, sense of belonging and empowerment. It is a core element of their culturejust as much as their connection to a specific area of land, their kinship systems, spiritual beliefs, traditional stories, art, music, dance, laws, food practices and more. But when an AI model is trained on images of Australian Indigenous peoples' art, clothing, or artifacts, it isn't also necessarily fed detailed information of which language group each image is associated with. The result is "cultural flattening" through technology, wherein culture is made to appear more uniform and less diverse. In one example, we observed an AI image generator produce an image of what was meant to be an elderly First Nations man in a traditional Papuan headdress. This is an example of technological colonialism, wherein tech corporations contribute to the homogenization and/or misrepresentation of diverse Indigenous cultures. We've also seen pictures of "Indigenous art" on stock footage websites that are clearly labeled as being produced by AI. How can these be sold as images of First Nations art if no First Nations person was involved in making them? Any connection to deep cultural knowledge and lived experience is completely absent. Besides the obvious economic consequences for artists, long-term technological misrepresentation could also have adverse impacts on the self-perception of Indigenous individuals. What can be done? While there's currently no simple solution, progress begins with discussion and engagement between AI companies, researchers, governments and Indigenous communities. These collaborations should result in strategies for reclaiming visual narrative sovereignty. They may, for instance, implement ethical guidelines for AI image generation, or reconfigure AI training datasets to add nuance and specificity to Indigenous imagery. At the same time, we'll need to educate AI users about the risk of cultural flattening, and how to avoid it when representing Indigenous people, places, or art. This would require a coordinated approach involving educational institutions from kindergarten upwards, as well as the platforms that support AI image creation. The future goal is, of course, the respectful representation of Indigenous cultures that are already fighting for survival in many other ways. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Natural language processing can help social scientists extract behavioral information from individuals, relationships, groups and society. Credit: Mihalcea et al. 2024 A common interest in language unites social scientists and natural language processing (NLP) researchers. While both fields leverage the strong connection between language and behavior, social scientists seek to understand human behavior while NLP researchers aim to predict it. Leveraging NLP can help social scientists efficiently sift through the abundant digital text data that comes with the Information Age to understand underlying behaviors, according to a comprehensive review published in Nature Human Behavior. "My lab has been working for many years in close collaboration with psychologists. Exploring the interactions between the two has been the perfect opportunity to build on our decade-long collaborations," said Rada Mihalcea, the Janice M. Jenkins Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan and corresponding author of the study. Digital textlike social media posts, text messages or zoom transcriptsprovide a window into people's minds, whether the focus is on an individual, relationship, group or society. NLP peers into that window, extracting surface-level information like age, relationship or education and even deeper topics including thought patterns, linguistic signals, motives, goals and values. "Our methods can detect subtle shifts in people's use of pronouns (such as I, we, and they), articles (a, an, the), and other forgettable words which reveal changes in people's psychological states," said James Pennebaker, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and senior author of the study. With NLP, the scope of language sources has expanded far beyond what can be scored by hand. For scale, a study differentiated the language of loneliness from depression using 3.4 million Facebook posts while another leveraged 300,000 X posts to understand public opinion surrounding nuclear energy. Beyond an increase in volume, NLP methods provide the ability to track relationships on a previously inaccessible timescale. Tracking 6,800 Reddit users who posted about a breakup, Pennebaker's team analyzed over 1 million posts from those participants in the year before and after the breakup to understand changing patterns in analytic thinking, cognitive processes, anxiety and self-focus. "We discovered that people's writing styles changed in the months before the breakup in ways that even the Reddit users didn't see. Even though many claimed that the breakup 'came out of nowhere', their language use suggested that something was going on," said Pennebaker. Along with research advancements, NLP also raises issues in data use ethics. Privacy concerns arise, particularly surrounding social media data, if personally identifying information is leaked. The field of ethical AI is growing, identifying and addressing weak points in the technology. Ultimately, the researchers say, laws must clearly outline how personal data can and cannot be used to protect users. In the meantime, researchers can increase trust in their research by including clear, ethical statements on data permissions and how AI was used. Another concern is that over time, NLP models become more of a "black box"meaning it is difficult for a human to trace the dots from model input to output. The lack of transparency can become a problem for social scientists who want to understand which language cues within the large language model link to certain behaviors. With mindfulness of drawbacks, NLP has a lot to offer social scientists as they distill information from digital text. While the review focused on how NLP can make advances in social sciences, those advances can then feed back into improving NLP, creating a "virtuous cycle" of discovery. "I believe we are at a point where NLP, and more broadly AI, can benefit in the same way if not more from the findings in human behavior. It's an exciting time for the intersection between these two fields," said Mihalcea. Middlebury College, University of Texas at Dallas, Max Planck Institute for Intelligence Systems and Oakland University also contributed to this research. More information: Rada Mihalcea et al, How developments in natural language processing help us in understanding human behaviour, Nature Human Behaviour (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01938-0 Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Artist's illustration of a potential Hycean world, where methyl halide gases would be detectable in the atmosphere. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted/STScI Scientists have identified a promising new way to detect life on faraway planets, hinging on worlds that look nothing like Earth and gases rarely considered in the search for extraterrestrials. In a new Astrophysical Journal Letters paper, researchers from the University of California, Riverside, describe these gases, which could be detected in the atmospheres of exoplanetsplanets outside our solar systemwith the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. Called methyl halides, the gases comprise a methyl group, which bears a carbon and three hydrogen atoms, attached to a halogen atom such as chlorine or bromine. They're primarily produced on Earth by bacteria, marine algae, fungi, and some plants. One key aspect of searching for methyl halides is that exoplanets resembling Earth are too small and dim to be seen with JWST, the largest telescope currently in space. Instead, JWST would have to aim for larger exoplanets orbiting small red stars, with deep global oceans and thick hydrogen atmospheres called Hycean planets. Humans could not breathe or survive on these worlds, but certain microbes might thrive in such environments. "Unlike an Earth-like planet, where atmospheric noise and telescope limitations make it difficult to detect biosignatures, Hycean planets offer a much clearer signal," said Eddie Schwieterman, UCR astrobiologist and paper co-author. The researchers believe that looking for methyl halides on Hycean worlds is an optimal strategy for the present moment in time. "Oxygen is currently difficult or impossible to detect on an Earth-like planet. However, methyl halides on Hycean worlds offer a unique opportunity for detection with existing technology," said Michaela Leung, UCR planetary scientist and first author of the paper. Additionally, finding these gases could be easier than looking for other types of biosignature gases indicative of life. "One of the great benefits of looking for methyl halides is you could potentially find them in as few as 13 hours with James Webb. That is similar or lower, by a lot, to how much telescope time you'd need to find gases like oxygen or methane," Leung said. "Less time with the telescope means it's less expensive." Though life forms do produce methyl halides on Earth, the gas is found in low concentrations in our atmosphere. Because Hycean planets have such a different atmospheric makeup and are orbiting a different kind of star, the gases could accumulate in their atmospheres and be detectable from light-years away. "These microbes, if we found them, would be anaerobic. They'd be adapted to a very different type of environment, and we can't really conceive of what that looks like, except to say that these gases are a plausible output from their metabolism," Schwieterman said. The study builds on previous research investigating different biosignature gases, including dimethyl sulfide, another potential sign of life. However, methyl halides appear particularly promising because of their strong absorption features in infrared light as well as their potential for high accumulation in a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. While James Webb is currently the best tool for this search, future telescopes, like the proposed European LIFE mission, could make detecting these gases even easier. If LIFE launches in the 2040s as proposed, it could confirm the presence of these biosignatures in less than a day. "If we start finding methyl halides on multiple planets, it would suggest that microbial life is common across the universe," Leung said. "That would reshape our understanding of life's distribution and the processes that lead to the origins of life." Moving forward, the researchers plan to expand this work to other planetary types and other gases. For example, they've done measurements of gases emanating from the Salton Sea, which appears to produce halogenated gases, such as chloroform. "We want to get measurements of other things produced in extreme environments on Earth, which could be more common elsewhere," Schwieterman said. Even as researchers push the boundaries of detection, they acknowledge that direct sampling of exoplanet atmospheres remains beyond current capabilities. However, advances in telescope technology and exoplanet research could one day bring us closer to answering one of humanity's biggest questions: Are we alone? "Humans are not going to visit an exoplanet anytime soon," Schwieterman said. "But knowing where to look, and what to look for, could be the first step in finding life beyond Earth." More information: Michaela Leung et al, Examining the Potential for Methyl Halide Accumulation and Detectability in Possible Hycean-type Atmospheres, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2025). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/adb558 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Increasing and Decreasing Scores on the Academic Freedom Index, 20142024. Academic freedom increased in countries above the diagonal line and decreased in countries or territories below it. Countries and territories are labeled if the difference between 2014 and 2024 was statistically significant and substantially meaningful. The size of the dots indicates the population size of the countries/territories in 2022 (data from World Bank's World Development Indicators). Credit: Academic Freedom Index Update 2025 The increasing influence of anti-pluralist parties is often associated with lower academic freedom in the respective country. This is one of the findings of the latest Academic Freedom Index (AFI) which is being released March 13, 2025. Scholars at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg (FAU) publish the index every year in collaboration with colleagues at the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg. It covers 179 countries across the world. This year's Academic Freedom Index reveals that eight countries covered by the index have statistically and substantially higher levels of academic freedom in 2024 compared to ten years ago, while the scores in 34 countries or territories have declined. Among the countries where the decline in academic freedom was statistically and substantially significant, there are several democracies, such as Argentina, Finland, Greece, Israel, Portugal, and the United States, to name a few examples. In Austria and Germany, the decline of academic freedom was also clearly measurable, but in these two cases, the drop remains small and is not yet substantially significant, according to the authors of the report. While academic freedom continues to be much better protected in democracies than in autocracies, these examples illustrate that academic freedom can come under pressure in democracies as well. Therefore, this year's report on the Academic Freedom Index zooms in on countries that hold multiparty elections. Electoral success of anti-pluralist parties as a driver The 2025 AFI Update explores the electoral success of anti-pluralist parties as a plausible factor that can drive the decline of academic freedom. Covering a period of 50 years, the data in the report shows the following correlation: Countries where anti-pluralist parties have little-to-no political influence tend to have high levels of academic freedom, while academic freedom typically withers where anti-pluralists are influential. However, the presence of anti-pluralist parties in the opposition does not appear to be a salient explanation for academic freedom decline; more specifically, academic freedom is at risk when anti-pluralist parties join the government. Spotlight on Argentina, Poland and the United States By delving into three casesArgentina, Poland, and the United Statesthe AFI Update highlights how anti-pluralist parties undermine academic freedom once they are in power. In all three cases, anti-pluralist politicians in government sought control over academia using similar methods, particularly by reducing institutional autonomy, the freedom to teach, and defunding or attacking research that contradicts a national or state-level government's political vision. A particularly noteworthy decline was recorded in Argentina, where the AFI score dropped from the very high value of 0.97 to only 0.69 within just one year after (on the scale 0-1, low to high). The case of Poland, on the other hand, highlights that academic freedom declines can be stopped when anti-pluralist parties lose power. Poland once had an excellent AFI score of 0.98 in 2014, which was prior to the 2015 parliamentary and presidential elections. It then reached a low point in 2022, with an AFI point estimate of 0.73, but after the 2023 parliamentary elections, academic freedom in the country has recovered and was now assessed with 0.87 on the AFI scale. Data This year's Academic Freedom Index Update is based on data from V-Dem's version 15 release, which draws on assessments made by 2,363 country experts from around the world. The data cover the period from 1900 to 2024. All data are publicly available and includes a total of more than one million data points at the coder level. The aggregate index is composed of five indicators, namely the freedom to research and teach; the freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; the institutional autonomy of universities; campus integrity; and the freedom of academic and cultural expression. The data used for the 2025 AFI Update are available open access to facilitate further studies. Please also visit the website academic-freedom-index.net, where you will find an interactive visualization of the data, country profiles, and information on the index project. Easy-to-use graphing tools are also available for anyone interested; they can be consulted by researchers, students, university administrators, research funders, and policy-makers. More information: Academic Freedom Index Update 2025, academic-freedom-index.net/res ndex_Update_2025.pdf This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new analysis reveals that five years on from the first COVID-19 lockdown, access to remote and hybrid work has become essential to many people who are disabled or have long-term health conditions, enabling them to stay in work. The findings are part of an interim report of the largest mixed methods study of disabled workers' experiences of remote and hybrid work in the U.K., which was led by researchers from Lancaster University, the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Universal Inclusion. One in five U.K. workers (6.64 million) mainly work from home, and analysis shows that nearly a fifth are disabled (1.16 million). Survey findings of more than 1,200 disabled workers with experience of remote and hybrid working, reveal that working from home had a positive impact on 80% of those in fully remote roles when it came to managing their health. This proportion reduces to 38% for those who work remotely less than half of the time, suggesting that the benefits decline if people are expected to work onsite very regularly. The study also reveals that 85% of disabled workers surveyed feel that access to remote and hybrid working is very important or essential when looking for a new job. In addition, nearly one in three disabled workers (30%) who are already working in a hybrid way want to spend more of their work time working at home. "Remote work is not an 'optional extra' for many disabled workers but is vital to enabling them to get into and stay in work," Rebecca Florisson, Principal Analyst at the Work Foundation at Lancaster University explains. "A recent government study showed that a quarter of those out of work and claiming health and disability benefits state they might be able to work if they could do so remotely. Yet recent calls by employers to return to the office overlook the critical perspectives and experiences of disabled workers who now account for almost 1 in 4 working-age people in the U.K." Despite the increase in demand from workers, the study reveals that remote and hybrid roles are difficult to come byand arbitrary "return-to-office" mandates could make things worse. Researchers examined the roles available to job seekers through the Department for Work and Pension's Find a Job portal in one month in the U.K. (8 December 20247 January 2025) and found 94,827 new jobs were advertised. However, only 1 in 26 job adverts had the option of hybrid or remote working (3.2% of the roles were hybrid and 0.6% were fully remote). A quarter of these roles (26%) were concentrated in London and the South East, with fewer opportunities available for workers elsewhere in the U.K. "This new evidence clearly tells us that if a job isn't advertised as hybrid or remote, the vast majority of disabled workers who require access to homeworking won't even apply," Florisson continues. "This may be non-negotiable for them so they can better manage their health and stay in work. "If employers are shortsighted and ignore the rising demand for flexibility in roles, they are missing out on a vast pool of talent that could benefit their organizations, while further distancing disabled workers from the U.K. labor market." With Office for National Statistics data revealing almost 1 in 4 working-age people are now classed as disabled, researchers say that if the government concentrated on just halving the disability employment gap, it would reach its 80% employment target and deliver on its promise to get two million more Britons working. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Dr. Paula Holland from Lancaster University, who is the principal investigator of the study, said, "Disabled people have been requesting home-working arrangements, including as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act, for many years, but this only became the norm when the pandemic hit. Five years on, remote work has become essential for many disabled workers, but one size does not fit all. "Many of the disabled workers in our study reported that working remotely or in a hybrid way was positive for their job retention, physical and mental health, well-being, work relationships, and productivity. But autonomy and choice for workers are key. Employers should consider the needs and preferences of disabled workers when planning and implementing remote and hybrid working models, as workers currently face a lottery as to whether they are appropriately consulted before changes are made. To start to close the disability employment gap, policymakers and employers must commit to the design of inclusive, high-quality jobs that remove barriers for disabled workers." Among its recommendations, the sdtudy calls on the government to: Increase the levels and visibility of remote and hybrid working opportunities, including exploring a legal duty to publish flexible working options in job advertisements Strengthen disabled workers' ability to access remote and hybrid work as a reasonable adjustment Reform the Department for Work and Pensions Access to Work service to support remote and hybrid workers by improving awareness of the scheme, increasing funding and ensuring awards are passported between employers Overhaul the Disability Confident Scheme and align with the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, including by providing information on disabled worker employment levels and reasonable adjustment rates. More information: Beyond the office? How remote and hybrid working can help close the disability employment gap. www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-found ns/beyond-the-office This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Australia's Wombat Protection Society accused an influencer of mishandling a baby marsupial for social media likes. An American influencer who outraged Australians by snatching a baby wombat from its apparently distressed mother flew out of the country Friday, the government said. In a now-deleted video posted to Instagram this week, the woman can be seen picking up and running with the hissing wild animal before declaring to the camera: "I caught a baby wombat." The marsupial's mother is seen in the nighttime images chasing her joey. The womanidentified in Australian media as American outdoors influencer Sam Jonesthen places the wombat back on the side of the road. "There's never been a better day to be a wombat in Australia," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said of the influencer's departure. The minister earlier revealed that the woman's tourist visa was under review in light of the video. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the influencer for pestering the rotund, burrowing marsupial. "To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage," he told reporters Thursday. "I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there." 2025 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Long-term population trends for America's birds. Credit: State of the Birds long-term population trends, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The release of the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report was announced today at the 90th annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The report, produced by a coalition of leading science and conservation organizations, reveals continued widespread declines in American bird populations across all mainland and marine habitats, with 229 species requiring urgent conservation action. The report comes five years after the landmark 2019 study that documented the loss of 3 billion birds in North America over 50 years. Key findings from the new report show that more than one-third of U.S. bird species are of high or moderate conservation concern, including 112 Tipping Point species that have lost more than 50% of their populations in the last 50 years. That includes 42 red-alert species facing perilously low populations, such as Allen's Hummingbird, Tricolored Blackbird, and Saltmarsh Sparrowbirds that are at risk without immediate intervention. Proactively working to protect America's birds is not just about the birds. According to the report, supporting bird conservation can boost the U.S. economy. With nearly 100 million Americans engaged in birding activities, their contributions to local and state economies are substantial. The report highlights findings from the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, noting that the total economic output related to bird watching activities is $279 billion, and birding related activities support 1.4 million jobs. "Birds tell us that we have a full-on emergency across all habitats," said Marshall Johnson, chief conservation officer at the National Audubon Society. According to the report, bird populations in almost every habitat are declining. Most notably, duck populations, which have been a bright spot in past State of the Birds reports, have trended downward in recent years. "The rapid declines in birds signal the intensifying stressors that wildlife and people alike are experiencing around the world because of habitat loss, environmental degradation, and extreme weather events," said Dr. Amanda Rodewald, faculty director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Center for Avian Population Studies. "When we see declines like those outlined in the report, we need to remember that if conditions are not healthy for birds, they're unlikely to be healthy for us." "There is no doubt that the 2025 State of the Birds report is cause for alarm," said Jeff Walters, the conservation committee co-chair at the American Ornithological Society, "but it is also cause for hope. Public interest in birds and the economic benefits from birding are at unprecedented levels, as is the information available about the status of each and every one of our bird species." The report highlights the economic significance and well-being benefits of bird watching as additional reasons to support conservation efforts. It notes that birds and nature are vital for Americans' mental health, citing research indicating that encounters with birds have proven beneficial for human well-being, including reducing stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Despite the concerning trends, the report emphasizes that conservation efforts can succeed when adequately supported. "Many bird populations are struggling. But a proven blueprint for success is science-based planning and collaborative investment in habitat conservation," said Dr. Steve Adair, Ducks Unlimited chief scientist. Private lands programs and conservation partnerships such as conservation ranching, coastal restoration, forest renewal, and seabird translocation show how concerted efforts and strategic investments can recover bird populations. "Decades of strategic and aggressive wetland habitat conservation from hunters, landowners, state and federal agencies, and corporations has boosted numerous waterfowl and waterbird species when weather conditions are favorable. We've shown it works. And we must do more," said Adair. "Fortunately, many of the actions that are good for birds are good for us. When we protect the habitats that birds rely upon, we also protect the ecosystem services that sustain us," said Rodewald. "We have clear evidence that conservation works in halting declines," said Michael J. Parr, President of American Bird Conservancy. "What we now need more than ever are programs and funding that match the scale of the greatest challenges birds face today. The science is solid on how to reverse the damage done, but to succeed, these issues need to be taken seriously." "Birds unite us across the hemisphere and across the political spectrumthere should be no hesitation as we move to protect them today and in the future," said Johnson. More information: The State of the Birds Report 2025, www.stateofthebirds.org/2025/download-pdf-report/ This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The last Blood Moon, seen from Guatemala on November 8, 2022. A "blood moon" will bathe a large swath of the world in red light overnight Thursday during a rare total lunar eclipse. Skygazers will be able to witness the celestial spectacle in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth's shadow creeps across the moon, it does not entirely blot out its white glowinstead the moon turns a reddish color. This is because the only sunlight that reaches the moon is "bent and scattered" as it goes through Earth's atmosphere, Daniel Brown, an astronomer at the UK's Nottingham Trent University, told AFP. It is similar to how the light can become pink or red during sunrises or sunsets on Earth, he added. And the more clouds and dust there are in Earth's atmosphere, the redder the moon will appear. The lunar eclipse, which will last around six hours on Friday morning, "is an amazing way to see the solar system in action", Brown said. The period when the moon is completely in Earth's shadowcalled the totalitywill be just over an hour. This particular event has been dubbed the "blood worm moon", after one of the names given to March full moons by some Native Americans. A world map showing the visible zones for the total lunar eclipse. When can you see it? In North America, the moon will start to look like a bite is being taken out of it from 1:09 am Eastern Time (0509 GMT), then the totality will be from 2:26 am to 3:31 am, according to NASA. In France, the totality will be from 7:26 am to 8:31 am local time (0626-0731 GMT), according to the French Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation. However only the most western parts of Europe, such as France's Brittany region, will get any chance to see the totality before the moon sets. People in New Zealand will have the opposite problem, with the eclipse only partially visible as the moon rises. In the United Kingdom, the weather forecast is poor but Brown said he hoped to "snatch a peak at the moon with clouds above the horizon". Brown dislikes the term "blood moon", saying it has a negative connotation and "originates from a misinformed theory of the end of the world". The moon rises over the Qatari capital Doha ahead of the lunar eclipse on Thursday. But not all societies took a negative view of these celestial shows. Some people in Africa traditionally viewed a lunar eclipse as a conflict between the sun and moon that could be resolved by people "demonstrating on Earth how we work together" and laying old feuds aside, Brown said. "An amazing story that should inspire us all at the moment," he said. Solar eclipse soon It will be the first total lunar eclipse since 2022, but there will be another one this September. Thursday's event will be a "Micromoon", meaning the moon is the farthest away it gets from Earth, making it appear about seven percent smaller than normal, according to the website Earthsky. This is the opposite of a "Supermoon", as was seen during 2022's lunar eclipse. Some skygazers will be in for another treat later this montha partial solar eclipse, which is when the moon blocks out the sun's light on Earth. A partially eclipsed Blood Moon over San Francisco on May 15, 2022. This eclipse will be visible on March 29 in eastern Canada, parts of Europe, northern Russia and northwest Africa. Viewing even a partial solar eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous, and people advised to use special eclipse glasses or pinhole projectors. 2025 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Blazar BL Lacertae is an active galaxy, emitting from its core a plasma jet that is directed towards Earth (artistic image). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Blazars are active galaxies that emit narrow jets of ionized matter from their centers, aimed towards Earth. Depending on properties of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the jets, astronomers divide such objects into different, clearly defined classes. However, with the BL Lacertae blazar, located in the background of the Lizard constellation, things turn out to be not quite so simple. Once again, the distant cosmos has surprised researchers. Until now, it seemed that blazarsactive galaxies emitting jets of matter towards uscould be divided into fairly distinct groups according to the electromagnetic radiation they generate. This hitherto clear situation has just become very complicated. In the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, a Polish-German team of scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow and the University of Heidelberg (HU) report recent observations of a blazar which, for unknown reasons, escapes the current classification. The object now known as BL Lacertae was discovered in 1929 in the background of the Lacerta (Lizard) constellation. Initially, astronomers regarded it as one of many variable stars in our galaxy. However, later observations led to a surprising discovery: what looked like a star in fact appeared to lie as far as 900 million light years awayso it certainly could not be a star. Of the hundreds of billions of galaxies visible within the observable universe, some are active galaxies. These are galaxies whose nuclei emit large amounts of electromagnetic radiation, presumably as a result of the complex processes that occur when matter falls into the central supermassive black hole. In some galaxies, narrow jets of ionized matter ejected from near the poles of the black hole over gigantic distances, in extreme cases even exceeding a million light-years, are a spectacular sign of activity. If the jet runs towards Earth, astronomers call the galaxy producing it a blazar. BL Lacertae turned out to be just such an object. Long-term (20052023) X-ray light curve of BL Lacertae in the energy range of 0.310 keV, including all Swift/XRT observations of BL Lacertae. The shaded area indicates 20202023 observations. The colored vertical lines indicate NuSTAR observations of BL Lacertae as discussed in Sect. 6. Credit: Astronomy & Astrophysics (2024). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451349 "Blazars are interesting for many reasons, not least because the orientation of the jets and the enormous velocities of their particles, close to the speed of light, lead to a variety of effects described by the theory of relativity. Emission from blazars is observed at various electromagnetic wavelengths, ranging from radio to very high-energy gamma rays," explains Dr. Alicja Wierzcholska (IFJ PAN). "We focused on the analyses of the energy of electromagnetic radiation emitted by one of the earliest discovered blazars: BL Lacertae. Why did we focus on this particular one? Because of its activity in recent years and some interesting features of the radiation emitted by it, which we had already noticed during earlier observation sessions." The reported observations took place in 2020-2023. They were carried out in orbit around the Earth with instruments from the American Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory satellite; only in the hard X-ray range were they complemented by data from the NuSTAR space telescope. In addition to the X-ray range which was of most interest to the Polish-German researchers, the optical and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum were also recorded. This is because the electromagnetic radiation produced by blazars extends from the radio range through the optical, ultraviolet and X-ray regions to gamma radiation of the highest energies. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Blazars are subdivided into flat spectrum radio quasars and BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs), which are characterized by weaker emission lines and whose name is derived precisely from the BL Lacertae blazar. Within the BL Lacs, a further division is possible. Indeed, diagrams showing the entire energy spectrum of blazars resemble volcanic cones: they have two peaks separated by an arched depression. If the spectral "volcano" is shifted towards the high-energy side, the BL Lacertae object is classified as HBL (High-frequency peaked BL Lac), if towards the low-energy sideas LBL (Low-frequency peaked BL Lac), while objects with an intermediate shift are referred to as IBLs (Intermediate BL Lacs). "BL Lacertae objects lend themselves quite unambiguously to being assigned to a specific type. Blazar BL Lacertae has so far been considered a representative of the intermediate class, the IBL. It was therefore, with no small degree of surprise, that we noticed that in the X-ray range it looked like an HBL at some phases of the observation period, at others like an LBL, and at other times, 'politely' gave the impression of an IBL-type object. As if this were not enough, these sorts of changes occurred very quickly. This is unusual behavior, the physical basis of which we are not yet able to explain," says Dr. Wierzcholska, and emphasizes that there were more surprises: the recorded X-ray activity of the blazar turned out to be a record in the entire history of its observations. It is currently assumed that separate physical phenomena involving different populations of particles in the jet are responsible for the existence of the two peaks in the spectra of blazars. Many astrophysicists agree with the assumption that the low-energy peak is related to electrons and the synchrotron radiation they emit. There is no consensus of opinion for the second peak. Perhaps it is also a consequence of the electrons' behavior. For example, their collisions with low-energy photons, which would result in an increase in the photons' energy (this is known as inverse Compton scattering). However, other hypotheses have also been put forward, for example those involving hadrons (i.e. clusters of quarks such as protons or neutrons). But in order to explain the behavior of the BL Lacertae blazar, it would be necessary to point to something more: not only the physical processes responsible for the formation of the two peaks, but above all, the mechanism responsible for their rapid switching. One could venture to say that before this happens, many an astrophysicist-theorist will spend many a sleepless night. More information: Alicja Wierzcholska et al, Exceptional X-ray activity in BL Lacertae, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2024). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451349 Journal information: Astronomy & Astrophysics This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It is well known that culture influences consumer behavior, but the impact of culture on pricing is less studied. One way culture might be reflected in price tags is through price endings, which can be round (e.g. $10.00), just below (e.g. 9.99), or precise (e.g. 9.87). While all these price endings are common, little is known about why sellers in certain markets prefer one over the others. Now, researchers in Germany have examined whether cultural dimensionsindividualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientationimpact how often consumers see certain types of price endings. "Given that culture significantly influences behavior, cognition, and emotionwhy not price prevalence as well?" said Dr. Meikel Soliman, a researcher at Leuphana University Luneburg and co-author of the Frontiers in Behavioral Economics study. "Our findings reveal an association between price endings and cultural dimensions." Is the price right? There are six cultural dimensions that describe how a society's culture impacts the values of its members and how these values affect behavior. In the current work, the researchers focused on three of them: individualism, which describes the extent to which people feel independent from others; uncertainty avoidance, defined as the extent to which members feel threatened by unknown situations; and long-term orientation, which describes cultures that tend to focus on the future in a way that delays short-term success in favor of long-term success. The researchers included 9,200 prices from 23 different countries in their study. "Contrary to our expectations, higher individualism was positively associated with the prevalence of round prices and negatively associated with just-below prices," said Soliman. "This might be because, in individualistic cultures, retailers might perceive just-below prices as signaling lower quality and avoid them to maintain a high-quality brand image and appeal to consumers seeking individuality." In the study, individualistic cultures were represented by countries like Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. Cultures aiming to decrease uncertainty, on the other hand, might prefer just-below prices. "Just-below prices are linked to lower costs and 'good deals,'" explained Soliman. "This may explain why retailers in high-uncertainty cultures favor signaling lower prices. Similarly, round prices may not strongly signal good quality, reducing their ability to ease uncertainty." These cultures were represented by countries like Greece, Portugal, and Belgium. The authors also found that long-term orientation was linked to a higher prevalence of round prices. "Round prices can convey quality and trust, helping retailers build long-term relationships," Soliman pointed out. Cultures that favor long-term relationships were represented by countries including Estonia, Germany, and Spain. Meeting pricing expectations In a globalized world, where vendors often compete for customers from across countries and cultures, these insights could be used to provide a cultural perspective when setting prices. They also highlight possible cultural differences that impact pricing strategies and can help align prices with the culturally shaped expectations of customers. While the researchers did not directly examine whether familiarity with price formats increased the likelihood of consumers choosing certain products, they said it could result in choosing the familiarly priced product over others. The team also pointed out that their study was limited in some respects. They examined just one e-commerce platform and focused on select countries, which may limit generalizability. In addition, the researchers did not observe a cause-effect relationship between cultural dimensions and price endings and didn't examine underlying mechanisms. Nonetheless, these insights into the culture-price relationship are important for retailers and anyone operating in a globalized market. "Vendors face diverse price expectations," Soliman concluded. "Our research helps clarify these expectations, providing insights into how retailers adapt price endings across cultures." More information: Round, Just-Below, or Precise Prices?Cultural Differences in the Prevalence of Price Endings in E-Commerce, Frontiers in Behavioral Economics (2025). DOI: 10.3389/frbhe.2025.1296207 Provided by Frontiers This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Vladimir Srajber from Pexels Dinosaurs have captured people's imagination ever since their bones and teeth were first scientifically described in 1822 by geologist and paleontologist Gideon Mantell in England. Dinosaur bones have taught us a great deal about these animals from the "age of dinosaurs," the Mesozoic Era, which stretched from approximately 252 million years ago to 65 million years ago. However, there's something especially appealing about a different kind of dinosaur fossil: their tracks, which show researchers what the animals were doing while they were alive. Ichnology is the study of tracks and traces and, since 2008, the Cape South Coast Ichnology Project has documented more than 370 vertebrate tracksites on South Africa's southern coast. These sites are from the Pleistocene Epoch, which stretched from approximately 2.6 million years ago to 11,700 years ago, much more recent than the Mesozoic. We knew that this coastline contained Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, some of which include non-marine sediments that could potentially preserve dinosaur tracks. We are both familiar with dinosaur tracks from our research in Canada, so we decided to investigate the possibility of tracks in South Africa's Western Cape. We found someand, once we knew what to look for, it was evident that the tracks were not rare. In a new paper published in the journal Ichnos, we describe our findings in detail, presenting evidence of tracks of sauropods (enormous plant-eating dinosaurs) and possibly ornithopods (another group of large herbivorous dinosaurs). The tracks were found in a rugged, remote, breathtakingly spectacular coastal setting. They were made by dinosaurs in a variety of estuarine settings. Some were walking on sandy, inter-tidal channel bars. Others walked on the bottom of tidal channels, their feet sinking down into soft mud forming the bed of the channel. Other vague "squishy" structures were formed by dinosaurs wading, or even wallowing in the muddy fill of abandoned channels. These tracks are around 140 million years old, from the very beginning of the Cretaceous period when the African and South American tectonic plates were starting to pull apart. Southern Africa has an extensive record of Mesozoic vertebrate fossils, but that record ends at around 180 million years ago in the Early Jurassic with the eruption of voluminous lava flows. To the best of our knowledge, all the southern African dinosaur tracks known until now are from the Triassic and Jurassic periods, so they pre-date these eruptions. That means these tracks are not only the first from the Western Cape. They also appear to be the youngestthat is, the most recentthus far reported from southern Africa. Knowing where to look After deciding to hunt for potential dinosaur tracks, we visited a few likely sites on the Cape south coast in 2022, choosing areas with non-marine deposits of the appropriate age, mostly in the eastern coastal portion of the Western Cape. We found a few promising spots on that visit and, in 2023, undertook a dedicated examination. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Large horizontal bedding surface exposures in this area are very rare. We knew that, if we were to find dinosaur tracks, they would be evident mostly in profile in vertical cliff exposures. In the public imagination, a dinosaur trackway extends across a level surface and toe impressions are visible. Some may also know that the infill of dinosaur tracks can occur on what are today the ceilings of overhangs or cave roofs. However, there are also distinctive features that allow tracks to be identified in profile. That's because the animals' footfalls deformed underlying layers in a distinctive manner. The problem is that other mechanisms, such as earthquakes, are capable of generating broadly similar deformation structures. The deposits we were examining had probably also been affected by seismic activity. The challenge was for us to differentiate between the two types of deformation. The Early Cretaceous rocks that we examined had been studied and reported on decades ago, and the deformation structures had been attributed to origins such as earthquakes rather than living organisms. Since then, however, scientists have developed a better appreciation of what dinosaur tracks look like in profile. After careful examination, our conclusion was straightforward: both dinosaur-generated and earthquake-generated types of deformation were present in the Cretaceous rocks. Further evidence that we were looking at dinosaur tracks comes from the region's bone fossil record. Cretaceous bone material has been reported from the region, mostly in the Kirkwood area in the Eastern Cape province. Two dinosaur bones have also been reported from the Knysna area in the Western Cape. One of these, a theropod tooth, was foundand correctly identifiedby a 13-year-old boy. Clearly, dinosaurs were present in the Western Cape area. That means our discovery of ichnological evidence of their presence is not entirely surprising, but it is still extremely exciting. Keep exploring Our team plans to keep exploring deposits of suitable age in the region for evidence of more dinosaur tracks. We also hope that our discovery will inspire a new generation of dinosaur trackers to continue the quest and keep exploring. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: In this photo released by the Flora & Fauna conservation group, elephants roam at Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, in 2020. Credit: The Flora & Fauna conservation group via AP A genetic study of Asian elephants in northern Cambodia published Thursday reveals a larger and more robust population than previously thought, raising hopes the endangered species could slowly recover. Researchers from the Fauna & Flora conservation group collected samples from elephant dung in Cambodia's northern plains and extracted DNA. From the DNA they were able to identify individual elephants, estimate population size, and determine the sex of the animals and the overall genetic diversity of the population. From their work they estimated that there are 51 elephants in the Prey Lang, Preah Roka, and Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuaries, with greater genetic diversitya "critical factor for long-term viability," the researchers saidthan in two other areas of the country in which they live. "With sufficient suitable habitat remaining in the region, the population has the potential to grow if properly protected," the report concludes. Overall, some 400 to 600 Asian elephants are believed to remain living in the wild in Cambodia. Researchers said the study's findings underscore the potential of the northern area studied to become a "national stronghold" for them, contributing to Cambodia's biodiversity conservation goals. In this photo released by the Flora & Fauna conservation group, a researcher from the group collects samples from elephant dung at Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, in 2020. Credit: The Flora & Fauna conservation group via AP "Habitat degradation, especially when it leads to fragmentation, continues to be a serious concern," Pablo Sinovas, director of Fauna & Flora in Cambodia, told The Associated Press. "This study provides a robust basis on which to base conservation efforts and landscape management." The study, supported by USAID funds and Britain's People's Postcode Lottery, was conducted in collaboration with the Cambodian Environment Ministry. The genetic testing was done at the Royal University of Phnom Penh with technical support from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The research was carried out in the 2020-21 dry season, but Sinovas said since elephants reproduce slowly it is not thought that the population size would have changed significantly since then. Researchers want to replicate the study elsewhere in Cambodia and in other countries, such as neighboring Vietnam where the Asian elephants live in fragmented populations. In this photo released by the Flora & Fauna conservation group, elephants are seen at Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, in 2020. Credit: The Flora & Fauna conservation group via AP In this photo released by the Flora & Fauna conservation group, a medical expert experiments in a laboratory of Wildlife Sanctuaries in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, in 2020. Credit: The Flora & Fauna conservation group via AP "We were very pleasantly surprised by the results of the project," said Alex Ball, conservation manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. "We now hope to expand this methodology across Cambodia and beyond, helping to build a clearer picture of Asian elephant numbers, which will inform how best we can work to help reverse the decline of these spectacular animals." 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Elements of Inclusive Research Practice with Illustrative Researcher Actions. Credit: Current Developmental Disorders Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s40474-025-00318-1 Research shows that children who have books in their home and who talk about stories or learn letters with their families, are more likely to do well at schoolnot only in literacy but across the board. And these effects are crucial and long-lasting: they can still be seen in secondary school. Unfortunately, not all children have the opportunity to develop a love of books early on in life. In particular, poorer families tend to have fewer resources to buy books and may have less time for reading. Parents may also feel less confident reading to their children, especially if they had a negative experience of school themselves. This means that, on average, children from disadvantaged backgrounds start school with less familiarity with books and less exposure to so-called "book language": more complex vocabulary and grammatical structures is found in books than is common in spoken language. They also tend to have weaker language skills, which then affects their learning. In theory, storytime sessions at local libraries should be part of the solution. They provide opportunities for all children to listen to stories, explore books and engage in activities known to improve language such as singing nursery rhymes. However, it may be that because these sessions tend to be designed and delivered by confident, experienced readers, and attended by families who already engage with books at home, parents who did not have this advantage may feel less welcome or even uncomfortable. These sessions may not be tailored towards their needs. We aimed to carry out a project to make these storytimes as inclusive as possible. Shared reading Our research project shows that families who are not already reading can become engaged with books through activities that focus on encouraging them to use books themselves. These include parent-toddler shared reading sessions and adult book groups within a community in collaboration with community members. In our research project, we spoke to parents, librarians, teachers, nursery staff, local councilors, youth workers and community center leaders about what would work within their communities. We learned that many parents were suspicious of "do-gooders" telling them what is best for their child. We took all of this on board and also employed local young mothers who were qualified teachers as community researchers and session leaders. Using research evidence, community recommendations and the teaching expertise of our community researchers, we designed sessions that were appealing and engaging to local families. In the sessions, children listened to the story twice, and parents had the opportunity to read the story to the children too. We devised activities involving the story's characters and main themes to focus children's attention on the vocabulary and meaning of the stories. At the end of the session, families were able to take a copy of the book home with them. The repeated reading ensured both child and parent were familiar with the story, making it more likely that they would read it together again. We found that providing free books for attending families, as well as offering refreshments and a welcoming, nonjudgemental environment, were a huge draw. We also set up an adult book club, led by a local mother, with creche facilities provided for participants' young children. Crucially, sessions were held in community centers rather than schools, where parents did not always feel comfortable. The sessions are now thriving, and we hope that other boroughs will adopt a similar approach. The feedback from families involved in our sessions was overwhelmingly positive. Parents reported increased confidence in reading to their children and noted improvements in their children's language skills and enthusiasm for books. One mother said, "The children see us read at home when we come back from school, we have half an hour of reading time it's just something that's now etched into what we do I think I'm reading two to three books a month now." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Community approach Our findings resonate with a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies on the long-term educational benefits of Sure Start Centerslocal community hubs offering under-fives and their families a range of support in England. The report revealed that access to these centers at preschool age is linked to substantially better performance at GCSE, particularly for children from low-income families. The success of Sure Start Centers is attributed to three key factors: community engagement, parental outreach and input from qualified teachersall elements integral to our own projects. The key to engaging a broader range of families lies in building trust and collaborating with communities to understand their needs and aspirations. By doing so, we can ensure that all families can access the life-changing benefits of early exposure to booksa true vehicle of social mobility. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The pie chart on the left side depicts the fractional contribution to 8-hour ozone readings in Pasadena, California from human-generated sources of VOCs. Volatile chemical products (purple shading), fossil fuels plus area emissions (yellow shading), and cooking (blue) emissions. The graph on the right side shows the absolute contribution to ozone pollution from background ozone, anthropogenic and biogenic emission sources, averaged along trajectories arriving in Pasadena at 3 pm local time. Credit: Chemical Sciences Laboratory As the adoption of cleaner-burning engines and electric vehicles drives fossil fuel emissions lower, scientists have discovered that a surprising pollution source is playing a significant role in cooking up ozone in the air over Los Angeles. According to new research from NOAA, the potent and often pungent volatile organic compounds (VOCs) given off from cooking food are now responsible for over a quarter of the ozone production from VOCs generated by human activity in the LA basin. This is roughly equal to the amount of ozone produced by VOCs from on-road and off-road motor vehicles. The new study, published in Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics, takes a more complete look at the mix of VOCs in urban air by adding chemical compounds specific to cooking emissions to an air quality model set up to replicate the conditions in and around Los Angeles. "We knew from our research that chemical compounds from cooking can make up an important fraction of VOCs present in urban air, but they were not well represented in inventories or included in air quality models," said lead author Chelsea Stockwell, a research chemist at NOAA's Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL). "Given the known chemical reactivity of these compounds, their omission from air quality models may be a blind spot when it comes to urban ozone production." VOCs are one of the two ingredients necessary for creating ground-level ozone, an EPA-regulated air pollutant that in high concentrations is toxic to humans, animals and plants. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere when VOCs undergo a series of photochemical reactions with nitrogen oxides or NO x , which are primarily generated by vehicle exhaust. Over the past several decades, efforts to reduce ozone pollution by controlling emissions from the transportation sector substantially improved air quality across the country. But in recent years, the trend toward cleaner air has leveled off, and some locations have seen moderate increases in maximum daily ozone. This has motivated scientists to reexamine today's modern mix of air pollutants and their sources to assess where and how further air quality improvements could be realized. In the past 10 years, several major research campaigns have targeted Los Angeles, which has some of the worst air quality in the country. The incorporation of cooking emissions into an air quality model by a research team of NOAA and CIRES scientists was prompted by results from the 2021 SUNVEx research mission by CSL around LA and Las Vegas. Analysis of air sampling revealed that VOCs unique to cooking were enhanced in downtown areas where restaurants were most abundant. Twenty-one percent of human-generated VOCs sampled in Las Vegas were chemical compounds derived from cooking oils and fats. The VOCs attributed to the cooking sector are not reflected in the EPA's National Emissions Inventory. Because the chemical reactions that create ozone are complex, an air quality model is needed to estimate the actual amount of ozone generated by these compounds. Fully accounting for the different types and sources of VOCs in models, including those from cooking, is critical for correctly understanding a particular city's ozone production. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. According to this new research, about half of the ozone produced locally from VOCs in the LA basin (in other words, above the typical background value) arises from natural VOC sources such as trees and foliage and ozone in air flowing into the city. The other half is generated locally by human activity. The largest source of human-produced VOCs leading to ozone pollution in the LA basin are volatile chemical products, or VCPs. These are a class of consumer products that include paints, adhesives, pesticides, and personal care products, another category of under-appreciated pollutants that CSL scientists had previously explored. Chemicals emitted by these products during their normal use contribute roughly 45% of the ozone pollution generated by human activities. Cooking emissions contribute 26%. Fossil fuel sources, primarily made up of on-road and off-road emissions from diesel and gas engines contribute 29%, respectively. Even though cooking emissions are a lesser contributor to LA's total ozone burden, they're still important, said Stockwell. "Investigating these emissions is necessary to understand our changing urban VOC mixture, and for developing strategies that could be used to reduce ozone pollution," Stockwell said. "Ultimately, more research will be needed to get a better grasp on whether cooking odors affect ozone pollution in other cities. " More information: Chelsea E. Stockwell et al, Urban ozone formation and sensitivities to volatile chemical products, cooking emissions, and NOx upwind of and within two Los Angeles Basin cities, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2025). DOI: 10.5194/acp-25-1121-2025 Journal information: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Material grievances are a stronger breeding ground for extremism than political beliefs. Credit: dpa picture alliance Material grievancesespecially high youth unemploymentare a far greater breeding ground for extremism than religious or political beliefs. This is the conclusion of a major international study involving the Research Center Global Dynamics at Leipzig University. Researchers examined local and structural factors that foster extremist radicalization in 17 countries in the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel region. The key findings have just been published in the book "Resisting Radicalization: Exploring the Nonoccurrence of Violent Extremism." In their studies conducted between 2020 and 2023 across 17 countriesAlbania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia; Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt; Mali and Niger; and Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emiratesthe researchers found that trust in local regulatory authorities and strong social cohesion play a crucial role in preventing the spread of extremism. Western military interventions and interference in sovereign regional structures, on the other hand, are often counterproductive and may even contribute to strengthening extremist discourse. Creating economic incentives for the future "The project taught us a lot about the role of socio-economic factors, which can either foster or help contain radicalization. Wherever it is possible to create prospectswhether through state structures, EU funding programs or other international stakeholdersthis gives rise to economic incentives for the future," says Dr. Gilad Ben-Nun from the Global and European Studies Institute at Leipzig University, who is co-editor of the open-access publication. He adds that these could be jobs, infrastructure projects or major investmentsand that this gives people something to feel positive about, as opposed to feeling stuck and having nothing to lose. This in turn could be exacerbated by extremist influences, such as Islamist violence. The researchers also believe that providing training for teachers, social workers and local security forces can help identify risks in time. Together with 14 European partner institutions and the coordinating Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), researchers from the Research Center Global Dynamics at Leipzig University conducted quantitative surveys as well as qualitative interviews and discussions with focus groups in the respective countries. In addition to representatives of local administrations, religious authorities and security agencies, the main respondents were people living in communities perceived to be at risk of radicalization. Local religious leaders such as imams or traditional dignitaries were actively involved in the research, as they enjoy the trust of the community and are quicker to spot "extremist" influences. In this way, it was possible to gain deep insights into local living conditions, prospects and resistance strategies. Field observations also contributed to the findings. In each country, local researchers were also directly involved. The scholars were able to gain a deep insight into regional specificities by working closely with local stakeholders and mixed research teams. University researchers contribute their expertise in area studies "Participating in the PREVEX project was important for Leipzig University because it allowed us to expand our international cooperation network with good partner institutes and pre-eminent colleagues. In addition, we have contributed our own complementary area studies expertise on the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa, and Africa," says Professor Ulf Engel from the Institute of African Studies at Leipzig University and co-editor of the book. In addition to him and Dr. Ben-Nun, the open-access book was edited by Dr. Kari Osland and Morten Bas from NUPI. The authors emphasize that future efforts should focus on tackling structural and economic causes and building trust in local institutions. Particularly when dealing with Muslim-majority societies, cooperation with recognized religious authorities is crucial to developing sustainable solutions. More information: Resisting Radicalization: Exploring the Nonoccurrence of Violent Extremism. www.rienner.com/title/Resistin of_Violent_Extremism This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Sea urchin at South East Bay, Three Kings Islands. Credit: Peter Southwood/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA In our warming oceans, marine species are moving into new areas and "re-engineering" or often destroying those ecosystems, but scientists say the paradox of overfishing sustainably can help. A new study published in Nature Sustainability this week reveals that establishing a commercial fishery to intentionally overfish an unwanted yet marketable species, like the Longspined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) in Tasmania, can be a sustainable option to protect vital marine ecosystems. "This study sets our Tasmanian story of this 'edible pest' in an international context, among places where invasive or range-extending species have been commercially or recreationally fished," said lead author, Dr. Katie Cresswell from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), who conducted this research with CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. "The aim was to see what impact the fishery has had so far in Tasmania, what management measures make sense in different areas, and how we compare to other places in our management of this problem so far. "In Tasmania we're leading the way, with sectors working together towards an aligned goal. We have a unique and quite remarkable scenario here where commercial divers, researchers and government all work together to try to control the densities of this destructive urchinand where government-supported incentives have driven the establishment of a commercial fishery targeting the species," Dr. Cresswell said. "We used modeling to estimate how much worse the urchin problem would be without commercial fishingand the answer is at least twice as bad. "We also investigated different management scenarios to guide informed decision-making including which regions would make more sense to 'overfish' using the limited funding for subsidies, and which to allow to operate as a stand-alone sustainable fishery." Beyond the implications of subsidizing a commercial fishery to counteract the impacts of climate change, the study also explores the conflict between exploitation and conservation, challenging traditional views and presenting practical pathways to sustainability. "Our monitoring showed a consistent and increasing influx of urchins, which has been recently investigated and confirmed in Dr. Cresswell's upcoming larval modeling reportso we knew eradicating the urchins along entire coastlines in their extended range was out of the question," said IMAS fisheries scientist and co-author, Dr. John Keane. "Well before 'eating the problem' became a catch phrase, we were exploring ways to effectively reduce the urchin population here in Tasmanian watersand developing an industry around urchin roe was a clear option. "With limited resources to control problematic species, a sustainable control option is vital and a commercial fishery with subsidies varying across locations currently provides that," he said. Researchers say that without continued support of government, much of the urchin control to date could quickly unwind. "Without urchin subsides, we're likely to see fishing contract to northeast of the state, and barrens expand significantly in valuable abalone fishery habitat in the southeast," Dr. Keane said. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "Meanwhile, more investment in product and market development would make the urchin industry more profitable, and that would make fishing at lower densities feasible, further enhancing ecosystem protection." Dr. Cresswell said using modeling to establish whether the fishery had impacted urchin populations in different areas, then estimating how far the commercial harvest needed to be pushed to protect these areas, was the key to finding the balance. "An example of this is to use a subsidy to encourage urchin overfishing in areas where there were still healthy kelp reefs and abalone stocks, such as in the southeast of Tasmania, while letting the fishery operate sustainably and without subsidies in areas of high urchin density," she said. "The goal is 'functional eradication," which is about setting a target density below one that results in ecosystem destruction like urchin barrensbut not aiming for total eradication, which would be extremely expensive, ultimately unsuccessful, and would likely crash the control mechanism itself. "That is the fishery, and it is our main affordable management tool, meaning that when populations increase again in five to 10 years, the cost of getting the industry back up on its feet would be massive." While the study focuses on Tasmania, the findings have broad implications for managing both range-extending and invasive species around the world. "We recommend a combination of targeted fishing and ongoing research, which are both essential for effectively managing any species that is moving into a new range, is marketable and fishable, and has negative ecosystem impacts," Dr. Keane said. Dr. Cresswell said climate change will continue to push more species beyond their historical ranges. "This will impact ecosystems and communities alike, so it's increasingly important to use modeling to guide flexible management decisions that balance sustainability with economic needs." Fast facts: The larvae of Longspined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) drifted south from NSW on a strengthening East Australian Current and settled in our warming Tasmanian waters. Adults of this species were first reported on mainland Tasmanian reefs at St Helens in 1978. The larvae drift for around 100 days. These voracious feeders have transformed over 15% of our healthy kelp beds into barren rock, called urchin barrens. The effect on Tasmanian reefs is profound, with more than 150 species moving out or lost in areas where barrens form, and the productivity of reef-based fisheries like abalone and rock lobster significantly reduced. Longspined Sea Urchins spawn in late winter, with larvae only able to develop in water temperatures above 12C. Once much colder, ocean temperatures in Tasmania are now well above that threshold. IMAS and CSIRO researchers have been investigating options to control the urchin population, including working with government, industry, researchers and communities to assess and help direct commercial fishing efforts to protect important areas, expand urchin roe processing capability, progress an urchin waste to fertilizer initiative, and more. The commercial fishery has removed an average of 470 metric tons a year for the past six years, the equivalent of around 1.2 million urchins a year removed from Tasmanian reefs. The fishery has been assessed as "sustainable" since the first assessment in 2019. Urchin roe is considered a delicacy in many countries around the world. Most Tasmanian urchin roe is exported internationally, and there is high demand worldwide for this sustainable wild-caught Tasmanian product. Urchins are hand-harvested by scuba divers in Tasmania, down to approximately 26 meters. IMAS researchers have found evidence of kelp regrowth in areas where urchin numbers are lowered through fishing. Harvest incentives are funded by the State Governments Abalone Industry Reinvestment Fund which is budgeted for completion in 2026. A 2023 Federal Senate Inquiry, which recommended the government consider making an immediate national investment into Centrostephanus control, is still under consideration. More information: Katherine A. Cresswell et al, When overfishing is the sustainable option, Nature Sustainability (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-025-01526-8 Journal information: Nature Sustainability Provided by Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A tale of two superconducting regimes in a kagome superconductor. a) Illustration of a kagome lattice. b) Out-of-plane upper critical field as a function of the temperature T. c) In-plane upper critical field as a function of the temperature T. A double-dome type structure, comprising two distinct temperature regions (I and II) is observed. Credit: Credit: Hossain et al Superconductivity, which entails an electrical resistance of zero at very low temperatures, is a highly desirable and thus widely studied quantum phenomenon. Typically, this state is known to arise following the formation of bound electron pairs known as Cooper pairs, yet identifying the factors contributing to its emergence in quantum materials has so far proved more challenging. Researchers at Princeton University, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Beijing Institute of Technology and the University of Zurich recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding the superconductivity observed in CsVSb, a superconductor with a Kagome lattice (i.e., in which atoms form a hexagonal pattern that resembles that of Kagome woven baskets). Their paper, published in Nature Physics, identifies two distinct superconducting regimes in this material, which were found to be linked to different transport and thermodynamic properties. "Back in 2021, our discovery of a chiral charge density wave in the Kagome superconductor AVSb (A = K, Rb, Cs) sparked major excitement in the field of quantum materials," Shafayat Hossain, first author of the paper, told Phys.org. "These Kagome superconductors break multiple symmetries in the charge-ordered state before transitioning into a superconducting ground state. With the interplay of symmetry breaking, the multiband nature of AVSb, and its topological band structure, an unconventional superconducting state seemed likely." When Hossain and his colleagues first started probing the origin of superconductivity in Kagome superconductors, there was no evidence in the literature suggesting that the superconductivity in AVSb was exotic in nature. Nonetheless, these materials presented many competing orders in their normal state, which the researchers expected would affect their superconductivity. "This led us to investigate the superconducting state of CsVSb using transport and thermodynamic techniques to map out its phase diagram," said Hossain. "To our surprise, even our very first transport measurements revealed two distinct superconducting regimessomething we had not anticipated." As part of their study, the researchers measured the upper critical fields of CsVSb as a function of temperature and for two field orientations. This essentially means that they collected measurements along the material's conducting planes and perpendicularly to them. Interestingly, these measurements showed that there were two distinct superconducting regimes in CsVSb. These states appeared to be separated by a step-like increase in upper critical fields. "We also observed two anomalies in the heat capacity as a function of the temperature, indicating the opening of two superconducting gaps," said Luis Balicas, a senior author of the paper. "Finally, thermal conductivity revealed a finite and constant contribution as a function of the temperature prior to the second gap opening. This indicates that the parts of the Fermi surface remain ungapped deep in the superconducting state. Eventually a gap opens on these electronic states upon cooling." The researchers also found that for magnetic fields rotating in the conducting planes, the thermal conductivity of the Kagome superconductor became anisotropic when the material transitioned to a superconducting state. This suggests that the superconducting state observed in CsVSb has a complex gap structure and could thus potentially be unconventional in nature. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "The thermal conductivity should be transported by carriers excited across the gap, implying a mildly anisotropic gap function," explained Balicas. "Remarkably, this anisotropy rotates when the second superconducting gap opens, suggesting a distinct gap anisotropy, although we cannot yet pinpoint the pairing symmetry." Overall, the findings collected by this group of researchers hint at the possibility that the Kagome-lattice material CsVSb exhibits band-selective superconductivity. This is a type of superconductivity in which different electron bands host independent superconducting gaps. "While we cannot expose the symmetry of the gap function, our study clearly indicates the multigap nature of the superconducting state in CsVSb and suggests the possibility of an unconventional pairing symmetry that still remains to be determined," said Balicas. "The charge density wave (CDW) state from which the superconducting state condenses is itself unconventional. For example, it is claimed to display an anomalous Hall response, although this system is not magnetic. Therefore, one might expect an unconventional pairing for a superconducting state that coexists with such a chiral CDW state." The insight gathered by Hossain, Balicas and their collaborators could contribute to the understanding of superconductivity in CsVSb, potentially extending to other superconductors with a Kagome lattice. In their next studies, the researchers plan to continue investigating superconductors with a multiband nature and symmetry-breaking normal states. "Kagome superconductors like CsVSb belong to this broad class, building on decades of research on cuprates and iron pnictide superconductors," added Hossain. "The discovery of new superconductors in this category remains an exciting frontierwho knows what groundbreaking superconductor in this category will be found next? We are always on the lookout because these materials often reveal unexpected quantum states. "Moving forward, we will continue our work on Kagome superconductors, focusing on their potential unconventional gap structures and in-gap states, which may harbor nontrivial topological properties." 2025 Science X Network This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Confocal microscopy images: Taken by Samarpita Sen, The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. Rendered in this form by Rituparno Chowdhury. Credit: Samarpita Sen/Rituparno Chowdhury Researchers have advanced a decades-old challenge in the field of organic semiconductors, opening new possibilities for the future of electronics. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge and the Eindhoven University of Technology, have created an organic semiconductor that forces electrons to move in a spiral pattern, which could improve the efficiency of OLED displays in television and smartphone screens, or power next-generation computing technologies such as spintronics and quantum computing. The semiconductor they developed emits circularly polarized lightmeaning the light carries information about the 'handedness' of electrons. The internal structure of most inorganic semiconductors, like silicon, is symmetrical, meaning electrons move through them without any preferred direction. However, in nature, molecules often have a chiral (left- or right-handed) structure: like human hands, chiral molecules are mirror images of one another. Chirality plays an important role in biological processes like DNA formation, but it is a difficult phenomenon to harness and control in electronics. But by using molecular design tricks inspired by nature, the researchers were able to create a chiral semiconductor by nudging stacks of semiconducting molecules to form ordered right-handed or left-handed spiral columns. Their results are reported in the journal Science. One promising application for chiral semiconductors is in display technology. Current displays often waste a significant amount of energy due to the way screens filter light. The chiral semiconductor developed by the researchers naturally emits light in a way that could reduce these losses, making screens brighter and more energy-efficient. "When I started working with organic semiconductors, many people doubted their potential, but now they dominate display technology," said Professor Sir Richard Friend from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, who co-led the research. "Unlike rigid inorganic semiconductors, molecular materials offer incredible flexibilityallowing us to design entirely new structures, like chiral LEDs. It's like working with a Lego set with every kind of shape you can imagine, rather than just rectangular bricks." The semiconductor is based on a material called triazatruxene (TAT) that self-assembles into a helical stack, allowing electrons to spiral along its structure, like the thread of a screw. "When excited by blue or ultraviolet light, self-assembled TAT emits bright green light with strong circular polarizationan effect that has been difficult to achieve in semiconductors until now," said co-first author Marco Preuss, from the Eindhoven University of Technology. "The structure of TAT allows electrons to move efficiently while affecting how light is emitted." By modifying OLED fabrication techniques, the researchers successfully incorporated TAT into working circularly polarized OLEDs (CP-OLEDs). These devices showed record-breaking efficiency, brightness, and polarization levels, making them the best of their kind. "We've essentially reworked the standard recipe for making OLEDs like we have in our smartphones, allowing us to trap a chiral structure within a stable, non-crystallizing matrix," said co-first author Rituparno Chowdhury, from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory. "This provides a practical way to create circularly polarized LEDs, something that has long eluded the field." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. The work is part of a decades-long collaboration between Friend's research group and the group of Professor Bert Meijer from the Eindhoven University of Technology. "This is a real breakthrough in making a chiral semiconductor," said Meijer. "By carefully designing the molecular structure, we've coupled the chirality of the structure to the motion of the electrons and that's never been done at this level before." The chiral semiconductors represent a step forward in the world of organic semiconductors, which now support an industry worth over $60 billion. Beyond displays, this development also has implications for quantum computing and spintronicsa field of research that uses the spin, or inherent angular momentum, of electrons to store and process information, potentially leading to faster and more secure computing systems. More information: Rituparno Chowdhury et al, Circularly polarized electroluminescence from chiral supramolecular semiconductor thin films, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adt3011. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt3011 Journal information: Science This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Many court rulings from Norwegian courts also contain descriptions that should actually be irrelevant to the assessment of guilt and sentencing. Credit: Hans A. Vedlog Rape myths that include statements such as "scantily clad" and "being promiscuous" can influence sentencing in Norwegian courtrooms. In court cases where victims are described in a prejudiced manner, defendants typically receive prison sentences that are 16 months shorter than in cases without such descriptions. This is one of the findings of a recent study from the Department of Psychology at NTNU. Researchers have analyzed 153 court rulings that include descriptions of the victims' behavior prior to the rape. The descriptions fall under what are known as rape myths. Myths contribute to lighter sentences "In cases where descriptions of the victim's behavior prior to the assault were included, we see that the defendant received a lighter sentence than in cases where such information was omitted. They can be descriptions of the victim wearing revealing clothing or having engaged in sexual activity with others prior to the incident," explained Kirsten Rinde. The study shows that defendants typically received prison sentences that were 16 months shorter than in cases where these types of descriptions were not included. Rinde is the lead author of "She Asked for It? Descriptions of Victims' Behaviors Are Associated with Sentencing in Norwegian Rape Trials," which was recently published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. Rape myths are deeply ingrained The researchers found this correlation even when the cases included medical evidence and violencethe sentence was lighter when descriptions of the victim were included. "Rape myths, or the belief that rape is caused by the victim's own behavior, are quite deeply ingrained," said Rinde. The study was based on 2054 rape case rulings from Norwegian courts of appeal between 2013 and 2023. Of these, 51 included descriptions that align with a questionnaire called the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance (IRMA) Scale. The questionnaire uses statements to measure prejudice and the extent to which people believe in myths that may trivialize or legitimize incidents of rape. The researchers then incorporated a control group consisting of an equal number of comparable court rulings in which IRMA-related descriptions were not included. Irrelevant descriptions "I was surprised that so many court rulings included descriptions that ought actually to be irrelevant in relation to assessing guilt and sentencing. In addition, it was surprising that we found a correlation between these descriptions and the sentencing, and that it was so strong," said Rinde. The IRMA questionnaire includes a subcategory of statements about behavior called "She Asked for It" (SAFI). These myths suggest that certain types of behavior imply an invitation for sexual activity, such as: If the victim went alone with someone into a room at a party If the victim has had casual sex If the victim was involved in kissing If the victim said 'no' in an unclear way If the victim was dressed "provocatively" 'She asked for it' The study started out as Rinde's bachelor's thesis at the Department of Psychology in the spring of 2024. She wanted to investigate the effect that descriptions of the victims' behavior had on sentencing. The findings showed that defendants in cases where the victim is described in accordance with the IRMAS-SAFI questionnaire receive lighter sentences. Subsequently, her supervisors, Professor Stian Solem and Associate Professor Audun Havnen, have been involved in further developing the study and the process of getting it published. "It is a unique study, and as far as I know, no one has done anything like this before," said Solem. The findings are based on information from court rulings that are publicly available on the Lovdata website. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. 153 rape sentences investigated To test validity and ensure that other factors did not influence the sentencing, the researchers conducted several rounds of additional testing and quality assurance of the methods and sample. In total, they have combed through and encoded 153 court rulings, including charges, witness statements and sentencing. Since they were not present in the courtrooms, Rinde, Havnen and Solem state that they cannot rule out the possibility of influences they are not aware of. "At the same time, we can argue that if such important information existed, it ought to have been stated in the rulings. Rape myths have become attitudes and lenses through which we view thingsand we rarely reflect on them," emphasized Solem. Expert clarifications The NTNU researchers believe that the use of statements from expert witnesses could lead to greater awareness and, as a result, rulings that are more just. This has been investigated in several studies; for example, a study from Australia shows that 280 participants who were given neutral information from experts found the rape defendant's explanation less credible. Experts are able to clarify information and fill in gaps where questions remain unanswered. For example, someone who is raped may experience a freeze response and become unable to put up a fight, and some victims wait a long time before they report what has happened. "Descriptions of these kinds of reactions may cause others to doubt whether the victim's account is actually true. Expert witnesses can explain that these are very common reactions," explained Rinde. Preconceived notions The NTNU study is the only quantitative Norwegian study that investigatesand showsa correlation between rape myths and sentencing. It also highlights cases where the victim and the defendant are not aligned with the common perceptions we tend to have of them. One example from Norway shows that a defendant was acquitted of raping a female colleague. The reason was that the victim was an experienced security guard, and because she weighed 80 kilograms, the court believed she ought to have been able to stop the rape. The victim was perceived as unusually masculine and did not align with the judges' preconceived notions of a typical rape victim. According to the NTNU study, rape myths have become attitudes and lenses through which we view thingsand we rarely reflect on them. A major societal problem According to Rinde, this particular study inspired her to explore whether rape myths have greater significance than previously thought. She is now working on her master's degree in psychology at the University of Oslo. She says attention should be shifted away from what the victim could have done to prevent the assault and instead focus on what the defendant actually did. "My hope is that this work can help raise awareness and perhaps lead to a change in attitudes in the future. We also need more research focused on measures that can counteract the influence rape myths may have on court rulings. Not being believed in a rape case can make an already distressing process even harder for victims of sexual assault. It is therefore important that these cases are assessed fairly, based on relevant information," concluded Rinde. More information: Kirsten Rnning Rinde et al, She Asked for It? Descriptions of Victims' Behaviors Are Associated With Sentencing in Norwegian Rape Trials, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/sjop.13088 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Professor SAKURAI Aiko. Credit: Kobe University Professor Sakurai Aiko of the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies has a unique background, pursuing a career in international cooperation before expanding her research to include disaster education. While keeping a focus on teachers and the classroom, she has been exploring the development of disaster education where schools can protect children's lives, and has been involved in implementing and supporting efforts in the field. She was asked about how disaster education has changed after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake, and how she hopes to spread the initiatives to the world. How did you become involved in disaster education? I was in my first year working for Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) at the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and I just remember feeling so sad and powerless, being unable to help. I later went on to work at the World Bank, and then for a development consulting firm and others as a specialist in international development. The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 prompted me to become involved in the recovery and support activities of the international NGO Save the Children Japan. Save the Children organizations all over the world had received huge donations to help the people of Japan, and after contemplating how we could help children in disaster areas in terms of education, we provided support to the schools there, according to their needs. Initially, as schools were being reopened, we provided children with school bags, stationery, and school bus services between the temporary housing units and the schools. This gradually shifted towards supporting learning activities, club activities, and scholarship programs as progress was made in the recovery and reconstruction phases of the schools in the affected areas. A year after the earthquake, we began to receive requests from schools asking us to help them with disaster education. We considered what kind of support we could provide and contemplated using the disaster education package that Save the Children had accumulated. But it was difficult to apply the program to the situation in Japan, and we felt the need for something more suited to the circumstances in areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. How did you go about developing the disaster education program? Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture had asked us to work together on developing a disaster education program for children after the devastation of the major earthquake. It was actually a difficult time for Ishinomaki City as they were struggling to address the tragedy of Okawa Elementary School, where many children had died. But they told us that they wanted to work on disaster education with an eye on the future, and so we decided to help. When developing the new disaster education program, in addition to keeping past initiatives and including lessons learned from the 2011 tsunami, we also considered what would be important during the reconstruction period for children who had experienced devastating loss. With the cooperation of teachers in the classrooms, we formed a team with experts in earthquake engineering, geography and other fields to work on our shared vision of developing the exercise of creating a "recovery map." We began the activity in 2012 at Kazuma Elementary School in Ishinomaki City, and this went on to be continued by fourth-grade students every year. We were inspired by the initiatives of Itayado Elementary School in Kobe City during the recovery after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, where they had organized town walks and created town maps for their school district. Usually, town walks with the objective of disaster management are about looking for potential hazards around us. But with our recovery maps, we held many discussions with school teachers and counselors about how we could design the town walks to help children think positively about their community being rebuilt after surviving a tsunami. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. For example, entire houses were swept away by the tsunami, and vacant lots were left after the debris was removed. We referred to those areas as places that are "ready for reconstruction," talking about them in a positive light as locations ready for new houses. With the recovery maps, the children walked around the town and recorded the progress made as the community was being rebuilt in their school district. Seven years after the disaster, we conducted a questionnaire with the junior high school students who had participated in creating the maps when they had been in elementary school, and found that they thought very highly of the exercise. They said that the initiative had enhanced their desire to help rebuild their community. After starting with Kazuma Elementary School, Ishinomaki City introduced the recovery map initiative to other elementary and junior high schools as a disaster education program. Expanding pilot activities to broader areas is an aspect that is also important in international cooperation efforts. Our experiences with Ishinomaki City showed us that, even with the same tsunami, the extent of damage and recovery stages can vary with each school district because of the differences in the terrain and land use, and that it is necessary to address multiple hazards besides tsunamis, such as flooding and landslides, to really make disaster education an effective initiative. As we hoped for the broader implementation of a disaster education program that incorporated the characteristics of the potential natural disasters of each region, our recovery and disaster management map program evolved into classes using topographical maps, hazard maps, and other material. The children questioned why the tsunami reached different heights even within the same school district, and began to learn how distances from the sea, altitudes, natural levees, and other land features made all the difference. How has disaster education changed since the Great East Japan Earthquake? One of the major challenges posed by the Great East Japan Earthquake was what schools could do to protect children in the event of a heightened risk of a natural disaster during school hours. In the Okawa Elementary School lawsuit filed by families of the children killed in the 2011 tsunami, the court ruling clearly stated that schools have an obligation to protect children. It reaffirmed that schools must be prepared by creating crisis management manuals, conducting evacuation drills, and improving the teaching staff's disaster response skills. Disaster education is not only for children, it is also for school administrators, teachers, guardians, and residents of the local community. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, Miyagi Prefecture was the first in Japan to implement the disaster management officer system, where teachers play a central role in the disaster management at their school. So, each school in Miyagi Prefecture now has one disaster management officer in place. In 2019, training programs began for the disaster management officers at schools in Ishinomaki City to understand the land features and disaster risks of the school district, using maps. This then developed into training programs about how to conduct emergency evacuations when students are at school. We believe that teachers and staff being able to make the decision to evacuate to safety in a timely manner, when there is a heightened risk of a tsunami, flooding, landslide, or other disaster near the school or in the school district, will lead to achieving highly effective disaster management at schools. Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City experienced the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. What do you think of their role in the field of disaster education? Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City's initiatives after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake became the foundation for the international development of disaster education. Their initiatives address issues of how to protect ourselves from earthquakes, how to survive the immediate aftermath, which is the toughest period, how to proceed with recovery efforts based on connections with neighbors and communities, and how to pass on the experience to the next generation. They have developed a disaster education package that includes all of these elements, and this is being spread not only throughout Japan but also all over the world. Teams of teachers and staff have also been sent to disaster areas not only in Japan but also around the world to support local efforts in reopening their schools after natural disasters. Many NGOs and international organizations that address disasters are also based in Hyogo Prefecture. Hyogo and Kobe are global leaders with their experience and know-how accumulated over the past 30 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and I believe that this role should continue in the future. What role would you like to play in the field of disaster education going forward? Disaster management is an interdisciplinary field involving experts in science, engineering, and many other disciplines for each of the hazards of rivers, landslides, earthquakes, or tsunamis. There are also experts in the humanities and social sciences who look at disaster information, evacuations, and other aspects to study the impacts that disasters may have on society as well as human behavior. As such, I believe there is a role that I can play where I can make use of my background. I started my career specializing in education in developing countries, before expanding my work to include the research and practice of disaster education. First of all, I believe it is important to open up access across disciplines specializing in disaster management. It is also crucial to encourage two-way communication between the experts and municipalities who provide information and the people who receive that information by eliminating any barriers between them. In particular, I hope to promote disaster management initiatives that are centered on schools and take a comprehensive view of policies, plans, and actual practice in schools and communities. I also hope to focus efforts on training disaster education specialists at the Kobe University Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, educating not only Japanese students but also international students. I hope international students will be able to study disaster education and disaster preparedness initiatives that enable people to protect the lives of their loved ones, and then take what they have learned back to their countries to enhance the resilience of their communities. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Microscope image of seagrass leaf found in the sediment of the Umluj brine pool at a depth of more than 600 metres. Credit: Marleen Stuhr, ZMT Foraminifera are single-celled marine organisms with a calcareous shell. They not only provide evidence of past habitats, but also play an important role in sediment formation. Along tropical and subtropical coasts, large benthic foraminifera live on the seabed of light-flooded shallow water habitats, in many cases attached to coral rubble or plant substrates. In the ocean, they can travel long distances by attaching to seagrass or algae and drifting across the sea surface. This journey by hitchhikingtechnically known as "rafting"has rarely been scientifically documented. During a Red Sea expedition of the research vessel METEOR, an international team, which included marine scientist Marleen Stuhr from the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), made a discovery that confirms rafting transportation for this region. In a submarine brine pool, more than 600 meters deep at the bottom of the Red Sea, the scientists found well-preserved seagrasses with attached foraminifera of the genera Amphistegina, Sorites and Amphisorus. These species are not normally found any deeper than 100 meters. The foraminifera had been transported to this depth by "hitchhiking" with the seagrass. The discovery was recently described in Scientific Reports. It shows how even the smallest benthic marine species can cover long distances. In autumn 2023, the RV METEOR set out on a four-week expedition (M193) in the Red Sea to gain new insights into the formation and deposition of carbonates in the depths off the Saudi Arabian coast. ZMT scientists Stuhr and Hildegard Westphal traveled on board together with researchers from the University of Hamburg, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the ISMAR-CNR in Bologna, and a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) team from MARUMCenter for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen. During the research cruise, the scientists secured an extensive collection of sediment samples and began analyzing them on board. In samples from depths of 400 to 1,000 meters, they repeatedly discovered remains of large benthic foraminifera, which normally thrive in tropical to subtropical shallow water areas down to a depth of about 30 meters. "We regularly found single calcareous shells of foraminifera in our sediment samples from these deep-water zones, located 25 to 50 kilometers away from the shallow-water habitats where these species of foraminifera actually live," explains Stuhr, senior scientist at ZMT and first author of the publication. "We asked ourselves how these foraminifera could travel such long distances and came up with the idea that they were probably transported attached to seagrass or macroalgae that was set afloat on the sea surface, a mechanism known as 'rafting,'" adds Hildegard Westphal, head of the Geoecology and Carbonate Sedimentology working group at ZMT and co-chief scientist on the expedition. Surprising discovery at the end of the METEOR journey proves hypothesis However, the scientists had no concrete evidence for this hypothesis until they made an astonishing find almost by chance. Shortly before the end of the expedition, the RV METEOR headed for a little-known submarine brine pool in the Red Sea. "On the way to Jeddah harbor, we made our last stop off the coastal town of Umluj to sample the deep-sea brine pool there," recalls expedition leader Thomas Ludmann, a geologist from the University of Hamburg. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. When sediment samples from this location arrived on deck, the strong odor already gave the team decisive clues. Describing the samples, Stuhr says, "The water and sediment from this submarine brine pool smelled extremely strongly of sulfur. Both were very salty and devoid of any oxygen. As a result, biological processes that normally lead to decomposition of organic material were extremely slowed down." The researchers expected to gain new insights into carbonate sedimentation in the Umluj brine pool from this sample, which contained a unique record of the sedimentation history. They were in for a surprise when sieving of the fine sediment revealed very well-preserved seagrass leaves and roots as well as macroalgae remains with large benthic foraminifera (e.g., Sorites spp.) attached to them. What made this discovery so unique and unusual was the fact that these foraminifera, just like the ones in previous samples, are normally only found in shallow waters, usually down to a depth of 30 meters. Stuhr recalls earlier research experiences from the northern Red Sea, when in shallow waters she had often observed foraminifera that had been attached to seagrass. "They were exactly the same species that we had discovered by chance in our sediment samples from the Umluj brine pool. Hence, we were able to confirm our theory that the foraminifera had been transported to the deep by passively drifting and 'hitchhiking' with the seagrass." "Our discovery shows that marine organisms can drift by 'macrophyte rafting,' i.e., attaching to seagrass and algae. This means that they can potentially reach new habitats or, like in our case, drift from shallow zones into the deep sea, where they are deposited in deep-sea sediments as an ecological foreign body," explains Hildegard Westphal. Some of the foraminifera found by the ZMT researchers in the Red Sea (e.g., Amphistegina lobifera) have been spreading through the Mediterranean as invasive species in recent years. Alongside these foraminifera, the invasive tropical seagrass species Halophila stipulacea is also increasingly found there. "The fact that both groups, the seagrass and foraminifera, have traveled from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and are spreading rapidly suggests that 'rafting' mechanisms play a role in the movement of shallow-water organisms and could contribute to the co-dispersal of invasive species," concludes Stuhr. More information: Marleen Stuhr et al, Seagrass-rafted large benthic foraminifera transported into the deep Red Sea, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-90047-7 Journal information: Scientific Reports Provided by Leibniz-Zentrum fur Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT) This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers have been reporting a disturbing rise in sexist, misogynist behavior from students in school classrooms. This includes Australian studies which show how the extreme views of the "manosphere" (online anti-women and anti-women's empowerment communities) have infiltrated schools. Last year, my colleagues and I reported on the abusive behavior of male students towards their teachers. This included students using language such as "slut" or describing women as "rapeable." It also included reports of male students working in groups to physically intimidate female students and staff. What is happening in Australian universities? Our research Following on from our research on schools, we are surveying university teachers about their experiences of antisocial language and behavior. So far, we have received 59 survey responses and done seven interviews. Most respondents so far are women and academics from minority backgrounds. They are a mix of permanent and casual academic tutors and lecturers. They come from all around Australia, and teach mainly in education courses as well as the humanities, business, politics, health, human resource management and journalism. Disrespectful and rude Interviewees have spoken of a noticeable increase in disrespectful behavior from some first- and second-year male students. This includes examples of students watching sport or doing online betting during classes. As one respondent told us: "Young male students eat snacks during class and swing on chairs. They leave crumbs and rubbish behind and leave their chairs out and they leave all of the equipment. It's someone else's job to clean up after them." Women in positions of authority are not respected. One respondent told us how male students question the teacher's expertise in front of class members, saying "this has surged over the past year." Or as another respondent said, "They call their female tutor Miss. Hey Miss. Sorry Miss." Intimidating and scary But the behavior can extend beyond rudeness to intimidation. As one interviewee told us: "During tutorials over the past three years, behavior has grown progressively worse from [a] largely Anglo-Australian cohort of [education students]. They sit exclusively in groups (gangs) and isolate students from other cultural backgrounds." Another respondent described how students will gang up after classes and physically intimidate her. "If one male has a question, they wait until after class. All of the males stay behind. They are tall. They surround me to ask their question. If they don't like the answer they ask, 'who is higher than you? I will take this higher.' The behavior is designed to unsettle. They have the power as a group. They know it." Happy to express extreme, offensive views Respondents also described a growing number of examples in which male students are readily expressing homophobic and sexist views during class discussions. As one interviewee told us: "The anti-LGBTIQA+ backlash from students really shook me []. There have been several examples of transphobia, homophobia and misogyny in my classes especially in recent years; managing these interactions in class is getting increasingly difficult as opinions are becoming more polarized." Another academic described how misogyny and homophobia had become part of their classrooms: "Just last week, a student expressed their opinion that it was 'OK to persecute lesbian and gay people' because 'they do not have children and contribute nothing to society, just like childless, single straight women' and therefore do not 'deserve the protection of the law.'" Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Problems with student evaluations Previous Australian research has shown how anonymous student evaluations can be a platform for abusive comments against university staff. This includes homophobic, violent and sexist commentary. Academics in our study also singled out evaluations an an issue. One noted how she was described as "bossy" or "opinionated" for discussing diversity content with male teaching students. Others described how they were changing the way they were teaching in relation to students' aggression and potential feedback. "I have stopped challenging students for fear of the feedback as I am on probation. I can't do a good job ethically and morally. I don't want to teach any more. I am so sad about it. I grieve for it." Another respondent explained: "Student evaluations are a real problem in this context, they have always been problematic, but with an ever more polarized discourse and the necessity to take firmer stands in class [this] make you inevitably unpopular with some students []." Staff are not supported A key theme from our research so far is that, on the whole, staff do not feel supported by their universities when they experience sexism, abuse or other threatening behavior from students. There may be official policies and guidelines but these are not stopping problematic behavior. Respondents told us staff are "made to feel they don't know how to handle the situation enough" or as though "I am the problem." Another tutor reported: "The culture is that we need to be soft in our approach and keep students happy. They have to work to survive, they are under pressure. As a tutor, there isn't backup or support for behavior issues. " What next? Our research is ongoing and draws on a modestly sized sample. Yet it suggests there are concerning trends not only in our schools but in our universities. Universities should be places that nurture informed social critique and different viewpoints. But not to the point of abuse. This suggests diversity educationaround gender, race, sexuality and acceptance of differencesshould be a core part of the university curriculum for all students. Universities also need to do more to foster cultures that support and respect women and minority groups. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Visible (color) and UV (grayscale) photos of three pitviper species exhibiting a wide range of UV reflectance. From top to bottom, the species are a prairie rattlesnake, a western diamondback rattlesnake and a two-striped forest pitviper (the green one). Even though all of these snakes are closely related species, they exhibit a wide range of UV reflectance. The white circle in each photo is a color standard used to measure UV and visible color reflectance in each photo; in the UV photos, the darker the snake appears, the less UV color it has. Credit: Hayley Crowell, John David Curlis, Hannah Weller, Alison Davis Rabowsky / University of Michigan In the study of why and how animals look the way they do, color is kingat least, the range of color humans can see. A University of Michigan study has examined a color range that humans can't see and often ignore: color in the ultraviolet range. Examining snakes, the researchers categorized how the animals used patterns of UV color and tested for factors that promote the evolution of UV color in snakes. The researchers discovered that UV color is found widely across the snake tree of life, and that it is frequently used for predator avoidance, says study co-author Hayley Crowell, a doctoral student in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The study, published in Nature Communications, also highlights how researchers might be ignoring the way a whole group of organisms might be using color. "A lot of UV color work is done in systems that we consider traditionally bright and colorful, like birds, flowers and butterflies, but a lot of this color research is really biased by the human perception of color," Crowell said. "This work mainly focuses on either mating or reproductive systems, such as UV 'nectar guides' in flowers that help steer insects to the part of the flower necessary for pollination. However, there are a lot of groups, like snakes, that aren't necessarily on people's radar as a broadly colorful study system." The study examined 110 snake species from regions ranging from Colorado to Peru, many of which have visual systems that can perceive UV color in ways humans can't. Crowell and colleagues took photos of the snakes using a camera with a specialized lens and light filters to see what kind of ultraviolet color they were reflecting. They did not investigate visible UV fluorescence with black lightrather, they investigated the true UV color invisible to humans. The researchers then tested many variables to see which correlated to the presence or absence of UV color in different species. These variables included the age and sex of the snakes, what kind of habitat they lived in, the evolutionary history of the species, and how conspicuous a snake's color makes them to predators like birds, mammals and other snakes. The biggest tie between UV color and snakes? The snake's ecology, or the relationship between it and the environment it lives in. For example, arboreal snakessnakes that live in trees and tend to be nocturnalhad the most UV color. Why? Crowell surmises it has to do with camouflage. Birds, which can also see UV color, are one of snakes' biggest predators. Arboreal snakes move around and hunt at night, and sleep during the day. Having a lot of UV color at night isn't a big deal. But having it during the day is potentially protective: Leaves, lichens and epiphytesplants and plant-like organisms that grow on other plants, such as ferns and orchidscan also reflect a lot of UV light. Similarly, having UV color would conceal you during the day when birds are looking for something to eat. Two highly-patterned snake species display very different amounts of UV color. The harmless Catesbys snail eater on the left was much more reflective in the UV spectrum than the venomous South American coral snake on the right. The white circle in each photo is a color standard used to measure UV and visible color reflectance in each photo; in the UV photos, the darker the snake appears, the less UV color it has. Credit: Hayley Crowell, John David Curlis, Hannah Weller, Alison Davis Rabowsky / University of Michigan Among the study's unexpected findings was that there were no UV color differences between the sexes in snakes, underscoring the idea that UV color doesn't relate to reproductive traits like mate choice in snakes, says study co-author Alison Davis Rabosky, U-M associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "Because reproduction drives UV color evolution in so many other species, the lack of sexual differences in snakes was a surprise," Davis Rabosky said. "But I don't think snakes are actually some kind of outlier doing color 'differently' than other animals. I think we scientists have simply overlooked a lot of UV coloration in cryptically colored species, especially in insects. They are the next frontier." The finding that there was no difference in UV color between the sexes was particularly surprising given snakes' close relationship to lizards, says study co-author John David Curlis, U-M postdoctoral fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology. "Sexual dimorphism, where males look different from females, is incredibly common in lizards, with many species characterized by males that display flashy colors and large ornaments and females that are more drab or camouflaged," he said. "The fact that snake colors did not differ between the sexes may suggest that sexual selection may play less of a role in the evolution of color for snakes than it does for lizards." But the findings aren't black and white. Crowell says another set of snakes in the study that looked nearly identical in the "visible" color spectrum were from the same species, are the same sex, and were collected in the same place. One snake reflects UV color very brightly on its back, and one reflects none at all. The team found that even though two species of snakes might be closely related, they may not have similar amounts of UV colorin fact, some of the biggest variations of color were within the same genus of snakes. Some of the most and least UV-reflective snakes were vipers, and the researchers found that juvenile snakes often had more UV color than adult snakes. However, their study helps flesh out what it means for animals to use colornot just the color humans can see, but that which other organisms can see as well. "I think what's so exceptional about this study is that we got to look at patterns of UV color across so many species and individuals," said co-author Hannah Weller, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Helsinki. "This amazing dataset really helped us start to understand just how variable a trait like this is, even in a group where we wouldn't expect it." The researchers hope their study will inspire more scientists to study UV coloration across organisms. More information: Hayley L. Crowell et al, Ecological drivers of ultraviolet colour evolution in snakes, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49506-4 Journal information: Nature Communications This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Research from the University of Queensland has found the sex of feral pigs and seasonal conditions are likely to intensify potential disease outbreaks in pig populations. The work is published in the journal eLife. Dr. Tatiana Proboste from the School of Veterinary Science said understanding how pigs interacted was critical to protecting Australia from diseases that could impact national biosecurity and cost millions of dollars. "Feral pig populations pose a significant health threat to Australian agriculture and people because they can be potential carriers of diseases such as African swine fever and Japanese encephalitis," Dr. Proboste said. "The estimated number of feral pigs varies from 2.4 to 4.4 million in Australia, which creates a risk to domestic pigs if there is a disease incursion. "Disease outbreaks could devastate farmer's livelihoods and export markets." Dr. Proboste analyzed the movements of 146 feral pigs tracked by GPS collars at 9 locations across Queensland and New South Wales. The findings will inform emergency response strategies for disease outbreaks and inform government policy. "Information from Australian populations ensures the response will be tailored to local conditions and be more representative," Dr. Proboste said. "Our research shows male feral pigs have a higher chance of spreading disease than females. "Males interact more with different groups of pigs, whereas females travel less and mostly stay within their own herd. "Our data also showed feral pigs have more contact with each other in summer, which means a disease is expected to spread further and faster between December and February. "This research suggests that during a disease outbreak that involves feral pig transmission, a focus on male pigs could decrease the rate of transmission and help with containment." The study was completed using data provided by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. More information: Tatiana Proboste et al, Quantifying Feral Pig Interactions to Inform Disease Transmission Networks, eLife (2025). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.102643.2 Journal information: eLife This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Winter wheat. Credit: USDA-NRCS A nine-year study comparing a typical two-year corn and soybean rotation with a more intensive three-year rotation involving corn, cereal rye, soybean and winter wheat, found that the three-year system can dramatically reduce nitrogenan important crop nutrientin farm runoff without compromising yield. The new findings are detailed in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science. "Subterranean drainage pipes called tiles transport nitrogen, in the form of nitrate, from fields to streams, impairing downstream surface waters," the scientists wrote. Nitrate runoff from farms pollutes streams and lakes, some of which supply drinking water for nearby communities. Nitrates also are carried down major rivers like the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, contributing to a vast oxygen-starved "dead zone." "For maximum crop production we need artificial drainage, in the form of tiles and ditches, across much of Illinois. Unfortunately, nitrate can be lost from the rooting zone with tile water," said Lowell Gentry, a researcher in natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who led the new study with Eric Miller, a grower and landowner in Piatt County, Illinois, where the research was conducted. "Our study was designed to see if a more diverse crop rotation could reduce tile nitrate loss and still be competitive with the conventional system of corn and soybean." From 2015 to 2023, the researchers determined crop yield and monitored nitrate loss from tile-drained fields on a working farm. Their "control treatment" consisted of two conventionally managed fields under a corn and soybean rotation. The more intensive three-year crop-rotation system was employed on an adjacent field. This field was planted with corn, followed by a full season of soybeans, then winter wheat. A summer harvest of the wheat was followed by a second crop of soybean the same year, or double-crop soybean. Between corn and soybean, a winter cover crop of cereal rye was grown to protect the soil. The cereal rye was terminated with herbicide prior to soybean planting and allowed to decompose on the soil surface, delivering nutrients to the next crop. U. of I. natural resources and environmental sciences researcher Lowell Gentry and his colleagues found that an intensive three-year crop-rotation system reduced nitrate pollution runoff by 50% without compromising crop yields. Credit: Craig Pessman A key difference between the rotational systems was the amount of tillage. The control fields were fully tilled in the fall and spring, but the researchers strip-tilled only a narrow swath of the cornfield in the three-year rotation, minimizing the area tilled to one-third of the total field every third year. "By strip-tilling only about a third of the soil at a time, it takes us nine years to fully till the field," Gentry said. This enhances soil stability. Crops like cereal rye and winter wheat are planted in the fall after corn and soybean crops are harvested. These crops keep the soil intact, helping reduce erosion and nutrient runoff, Gentry said. Tilling the soil and leaving it bare for the fall, winter and spring increases soil erosion and boosts the growth of oxygen-loving microbes that consume soil-organic matter, releasing more nitrate. Growers, policymakers and scientists have spent decades looking for ways to reduce the loss of nitrate from agricultural lands. Some approaches involve using woodchip bioreactors or installing wetlands to capture the runoff. But those approaches mean growers lose the fertilizing power of the nitrate. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "It's very expensive to make fertilizer, and so I think it's much more strategic to try and conserve the nitrogen, meaning keep it in the field, don't let it leave in the first place," Gentry said. "And that's what the cereal rye and the winter wheat can do. They suck up enough nitrogen during the fall, winter and spring to lower the soil nitrate level. That reduces the tile nitrate level." The researchers saw a 50% reduction in tile nitrate losses in the three-year rotation when compared with the normal rotation. This was accomplished without compromising yields, the team found. Young soybean plants thrive in the residue of a wheat crop. Credit: Tim McCabe, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service The long-term experiment allowed the team to learn some important lessons. One year, wet weather prevented early termination of the cereal rye cover crop, allowing it to grow too tall. The added biomass reduced tile nitrate runoff by 90%a positive outcomebut the excess rye also undermined soybean productivity, lowering yields by 10% that year. Another year, an early killing freeze of the double-crop soybean reduced crop yield and increased tile nitrate loss the next spring. Gentry also noticed over time that the conventionally managed fields sometimes held standing water after heavy rains, while the experimental fields did not. "I think that's the result of much less tillage in the experimental field, and the fact that earthworms are now abundant in the diverse crop rotation," he said. "It's interesting to note that both rotations used a conventional herbicide regime, so we know it's not the herbicides that kill the worms; it's the tillage." Early indications are that the economics of the two systems are comparable, Gentry said. "This study is a proof-of-concept that a more diverse rotation can achieve this sustainable intensification, reducing nitrate losses while also improving soil quality. Hopefully, recreating conditions that promote the natural processes of soil generation will improve soil quality and soil health, reversing the decades long trend of declining organic matter across our agricultural soils." More information: Lowell E. Gentry et al, A diverse rotation of corn-soybean-winter wheat/double crop soybean with cereal rye after corn reduces tile nitrate loss, Frontiers in Environmental Science (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1506113 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain After every federal employee received an email asking them to list their recent accomplishments, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X, warning any employee who didn't respond would be terminated. NASA, instead, asserted that replying was optional and that its leadership would handle the matter. Two weeks after the clash, the space agency hitched a ride to orbit on a SpaceX rocket. It's another indicator that, despite an aggressive push by the Trump Administration and Musk to significantly reduce government spending and the federal workforce that has led to some tense public disputes, NASA's space science missionsand its relationship with SpaceX, the dominant launch provider in the U.S.have so far remained relatively unscathed. The space agency narrowly escaped the mass firing of its probationary employees and has stayed out of the political crosshairs of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, which is working to slash funding at agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. It has also survived some strained squabbles with the SpaceX CEO, including Musk's call to deorbit the International Space Station as soon as possible, before its scheduled 2030 decommissioning date. Yet, tangible threats to the space agency's status quo are looming on the horizon, space-policy experts say, including potentially significant budget cuts and staff reductions through the normal processes of government. "There's a lot of this highly disruptive, very symbolic culture war that's taking a lot of attention," said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a Pasadena-based nonprofit advocating for space science and exploration. "But the bigger issue is the more quotidian of, will NASA get the money it needs to do the projects it's told to do." SpaceX launched two NASA spacecraft Tuesdayboth part of the agency's Explorers Program, designed to provide frequent flight and funding opportunities for space science missionson its Falcon 9 rocket. It included a spacecraft from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, California, that will study the rapid expansion that occurred during the first split-second of the universe and a mission from the Southwest Research Institute, a private nonprofit organization based in Texas and Colorado, that will explore the dynamics of solar wind. Despite the public clashes, a NASA spokesperson said the agency's relationship with Musk's company remains strong. "NASA is working with partners like SpaceX to build an economy in low Earth orbit and take our next giant leaps in exploration at the moon and Mars for the benefit of all," the spokesperson said in a statement. "To date, NASA has invested more than $15 billion in SpaceX for its work under numerous agency contracts." The Falcon 9 has become one of the U.S.'s most prolific and reliable rides to space (and, unlike SpaceX's developmental Starship rocket, it does not frequently explode). Much of the rocket's success is thanks to a nearly two-decade partnership with NASA. The space agency funded the development of the rocket in 2006 as part of a push to foster a burgeoning private launch industry ahead of the retirement of the Space Shuttle. Two years later, SpaceX was the first private company to reach space with a liquid-fueled rocket, using a scaled-down precursor to the Falcon 9. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. In the years since, NASA has given SpaceX billions in contracts to shuttle supplies and, later, astronauts to and from the ISS; launch science missions far beyond Earth's orbit; and now, develop a spacecraft to deorbit the ISS in 2030 and the Starship rocket to carry humans back to the moon. As SpaceX excelled in rocket development, other private launch companiesand NASA itselfstruggled to keep up. In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing $4.2 billion and SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop capsules to launch astronauts to the ISS. But while SpaceX has launched 10 missions to the ISS with NASA astronauts to date, Boeing has managed only one botched crewed test flight that left two U.S. astronauts on the ISS without a ride back, until SpaceX agreed to take them home. (Notably, that involved another incident pitting Musk against NASA, in which the former described the astronauts as "stranded," despite the latter's insistence that this was a mischaracterization.) Meanwhile, NASA's Space Shuttle successor, the Space Launch System, has accrued billions in cost overruns and years of delays. The rocket's side boosters and engines were originally projected to cost $7 billion over 14 years of development and flights. That's grown to at least $13.1 billion over 25 years, according to a report from the NASA Office of Inspector General. The result: Over the years, America's space agency has become increasingly dependent on SpaceX and Musk for access to space. Then, the Trump administration created DOGEa temporary organization in the executive office (and not an official government department)and instated Musk as a special government employee to head it. The administration began firing probationary employeesgovernment workers in their first year of a new role, who are not yet considered full employeesacross the federal government, including at the National Park Service, U.S. Agency for International Development, and most recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On Feb. 18, NASA employees braced for a similar cut, but it never came. The agency announced it had worked with the Office of Personnel Management to avoid the firings and that about 5% of the workforce had resigned voluntarily as part of a separate program to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Instead, the agency began undertaking a longer-term by-the-books reduction of staff mandated by an executive order. The agency, in a document outlining the process, stated it intends to proceed in a manner that "minimizes adverse impact on employees and limits disruption to critical Agency missions, programs, operations, and organizations." The agency is partnering with OPM and DOGE to carry out the reduction and does not have a specific percent reduction goal, a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. At a Cabinet meeting, Musk said DOGE's goal is not to be "capricious or unfair" and said the temporary organization has no target numbers. Instead, he wants to keep "everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing that job well." NASA began the layoffs Monday with 23 employees in advisory science and policy offices, as well as a diversity, equity and inclusion branch. Employees at JPL, a government contractor funded by NASA but managed by Caltech, are exempt from the reduction, both NASA and JPL confirmed. However, the laboratory remains at the whims of federal funding for its missions. While, publicly, NASA's science funding has not seen the same level of scrutiny or cuts as other science agencies, Congress has a quickly-approaching March 14 budget deadline, and, in line with the White House, the Republican-controlled chambers are set on decreasing federal spending. The implications for NASA's science programs could be significant. In an example budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget proposed slashing NASA's science budget in halfwhich would far outpace previous budget cuts to the agency's science programs. Typically, NASA's science budget follows the trends of the rest of the discretionary budget, which doesn't include mandatory spending like Medicare and Social Security that is managed outside the typical budget process. "People love NASA, but in general, NASA's budget doesn't buck the trend of overall non-defense discretionary," said Dreier. "If that pie gets bigger, NASA's slice gets a little bigger, but if it gets smaller, NASA's slice doesn't stay big." When Congress has tough choices to make over which programs to fund, it's often the science and technology sideand not the human spaceflight sideof the agency that sees the biggest cuts. Notablywith representatives jockeying to bring funding to their own constituentsconservative-leaning states are home to NASA's biggest human spaceflight centers, like the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Texas. More liberal states are home to many of the science-focused centers, like JPL and Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center, which runs the Explorers Program. And within the science spending, it's the big flagship science missions, like the James Webb Space Telescope, that survive, whereas smaller missions, like those in the Explorers Program, end up on the chopping block. The bigger missions often have many more advocates across the country ready to defend the programs, and stir up backlash if they're canceled. The Senate has yet to hold hearings for Trump's NASA administrator pick, Jared Isaacman, a Musk and SpaceX business partner who rode to space on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2021 as part of the first space mission with an all-civilian crew. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain To a bystander, a terrorist attack may seem an indiscriminate act of violence, timed solely to inflict maximum damage on its victims. But the timing of such attacks is strategic, involving a series of tradeoffs to strike vulnerable targets while preserving the group's reputation, according to research by Binghamton University Professor of Political Science Seden Akcinaroglu and doctoral candidate Yusuf Evirgen. Published in the journal Conflict Management and Peace Science, their article "Ripe moments for terror attacks: Opportunity benefits-reputation tradeoff" explores this dynamic. "Reputation is crucial for terrorist groups because it affects their ability to gain public support, attract recruits, and negotiate with governments," Evirgen and Akcinaroglu explained. "A negative reputation can alienate potential supporters and invite harsher counterterrorism measures." For terrorists, the purpose of violence goes beyond just instilling fear. Terrorist groups engage in violence to achieve strategic goals, such as undermining government legitimacy, achieving policy changes through coercion, and demonstrating the group's resolve, Akcinaroglu and Evirgen said. Violence can also communicate strength to rivals, supporters or potential recruits. "The choice of timing and target often conveys a specific message about the group's objectives," they explained. On the other hand, indiscriminate violence can harm a group's reputation, particularly when it results in civilian casualties that alienate the larger public. Terrorist groups will sometimes avoid claiming responsibility for particularly brutal attacks to avoid this backlash, they said. What differentiates indiscriminate and deliberate violence is targeting; while the former affects random people, the latter focuses on perceived enemies, such as government officials or military targets. Humanitarian, security and financial crises Acts of violence often occur during periods of crisis when state resources are stretched thin. But not all crises are created equal. Akcinaroglu and Evirgen analyze three types of crises in connection with terrorist attacks: security crises, which involve war or the threat of war; financial crises, such as recessions or economic downturns; and humanitarian crises, such as natural disasters. While security or financial crises represent targets of opportunity, terrorists are less likely to strike during humanitarian crises, they found; the shared human suffering during humanitarian crises creates an environment in which violence is particularly condemned. In these situations, terrorist groups will often participate in relief efforts to improve their public image. Examples include the PKK after the 1999 earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, and the Free Aceh Movement in Indonesia following a 2005 tsunami. In humanitarian crises, tensions across ethnic and social divides are subsumed by a larger compassion. Security and financial crises, on the other hand, exacerbate these divides, eroding empathy as groups compete for resources or political power. For terrorist groups, financial crises provide the best opportunity to strike. Threats of war can trigger a "rally around the flag" effect, boosting the perception of government legitimacy and reducing support for terrorist groups, although persistent ethnic or political divisions can still provide them with an opening. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "There is also evidence that some governments may exaggerate or manufacture security threats to unify the population and justify repressive measures," Akcinaroglu and Evirgen said. Economic downturns, on the other hand, can weaken state legitimacy and public trust. Reforms intended to address the crisis often lead to mass layoffs, the collapse of social safety nets and widespread bankruptcies, which deepen divisions in society. Terrorist groups can exploit the fragmented public response at little reputational cost. The researchers point to the Indonesian financial crisis of 1997 to 1998, which not only destabilized that country's economy, but fueled widespread violence against ethnic Chinese. "Understanding these patterns can help policymakers anticipate and mitigate attacks more effectively," the researchers said. "The research also challenges the notion that terrorists act purely opportunisticallyreputation matters, and their decisions reflect careful cost-benefit calculations." More information: Seden Akcinaroglu et al, Ripe moments for terror attacks: Opportunity benefitsreputation tradeoff, Conflict Management and Peace Science (2025). DOI: 10.1177/07388942251317110 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A hen stands next to an egg, Jan. 10, 2023, at a farm in Glenview, Ill. Credit: AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. But the move has been delayed in part because of concerns it could jeopardize chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. That's part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices. Chicken meat producers remain the most resistant to vaccines because of concerns they could harm meat exports, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year. Egg and turkey producers sell most of their products in the U.S. and have been hit hardest by the virus. Why is a vaccine needed? Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022. Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens, and the death of so many hens is the main reason egg prices keep rising. The average price per dozen has hit $5.90, and in some parts of the country, it is far higher. Poultry veterinarian Simon Shane, who runs www.Egg-News.com, said the government is hesitant to use vaccines and change its policy of killing birds largely because of the meat chicken industry's opposition. "Basically this is a political issue, and this only came to a head because eggs are at $8 to $9 a dozen, and it's embarrassing the governmentembarrassing the present administration," Shane said. A Red Star hen, a hybrid breed that lays large brown eggs, stands on eggs inside her coop at Historic Wagner Farm, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Glenview, Ill. Credit: AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File Why doesn't the US use a bird flu vaccine? Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to devise an effective system and monitor for outbreaks within vaccinated flocks that might not show any symptoms, said John Clifford, the USDA's former longtime chief veterinary officer, who now works with a poultry industry export group. Once that is figured out, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trade problems. "What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share that with the trading partners and then find out what kind of impact that that will have on trade," Clifford said. There are fears that vaccinating could allow the virus to linger undetected in flocks and mutate in ways that could make it more of a threat to humans and allow sick birds to get into the food supply. Like with other diseases, properly cooking chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken buyers don't want it there at all. For meat chicken, known as broilers, the virus isn't as significant because those birds are slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks old and thus have less chance of being infected compared with egg-laying hens, which live to 2 years or older. Also most broilers are raised in the Southeast, which hasn't had as many outbreaks as the Midwest and West. Another delay to vaccinating concerns distribution. Egg farmers want to administer it through chicken feed or water, saying it's not practical to give shots to millions of birds in a single barn. It can also be difficult to tell the difference between a vaccinated bird and one that has been sick with the virus. That would make other countries nervous about importing meat. "People have talked about how expensive it would be to monitor vaccinated populations. And it would be. But where do we want to spend our money?" said Dr. Carol Cardona, a bird flu expert at the University of Minnesota. "We're spending our money hand over fist right now in depopulation and to buy eggs for breakfast." Red Star chickens roost in their coop Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Historic Wagner Farm in Glenview, Ill. Credit: AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. What does the experience in other countries show? China and Mexico have been vaccinating their poultry for years, but they take different approaches. In Mexico, chicken are vaccinated, but Clifford said the country doesn't slaughter flocks when infections are found. That basically ensures the virus is present in poultry. China still slaughters vaccinated flocks when infections are found, which has proved more effective at limiting the spread of the virus and reining in outbreaks. Clifford said the U.S. would need to continue culling flocks with outbreaks even after vaccinating, and it might make sense to give shots only to egg layers and turkeys, not broilers. Will it help egg prices? Don't expect big relief anytime soon. The USDA, which did not respond to a request for comment sent last week, clearly isn't moving to vaccinate immediately. And, regardless, it will take time to raise new hens. "We're going to have to wait to replace those with new hatched chicks, and it takes 20 weeks before they even start laying," Shane said. "So I don't know where they're going to get the eggs from." Prices may ease somewhat later this year after peak demand, which happens around Easter, if massive egg farms in California, Iowa, Ohio and elsewhere can avoid more outbreaks. The USDA has predicted that average egg prices will be 41% higher than the 2024 average of $3.17 per dozen. That would mean $4.47 per dozen, slightly below the current average. 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Scientists are sounding alarms about a genetic mutation that was recently identified in four dairy cow herds, nearly one year after H5N1 bird flu was first reported in Texas dairy cattle. The change is one that researchers have dreaded finding because it is associated with increased mammal-to-mammal transmission and disease severity. "That is the mutation found in the first human case, which was extremely pathogenic in ferrets," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an infectious disease expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the University of Tokyo. "Finding the same mutation in cows is significant." The mutation is called PB2 E627K, and it was seen in a Texas dairy worker last March. It was not seen again until these sequences were uploaded late Tuesday. The data were uploaded by the USDA's National Veterinary Laboratory Services to a public access genetic repository known as GISAID. Henry Niman, an evolutionary molecular biologist with Recombinomics Inc., a virus and vaccine research company in Pittsburgh, reviewed the sequence data and reported the results to the Los Angeles Times and on social media Wednesday. Last summer, Kawaoka exposed ferrets in his laboratory to that viral strain. He found the ferrets were able to transmit the virus to one another via respiratory droplets, and it killed 100% of the infected animals. The Texas dairy worker complained only of conjunctivitis; he didn't have a fever or show signs of respiratory dysfunction. The data provided to GISAID don't include location data, so scientists often use other information to identify the herds. In this case, because the sequence data was added Tuesday, it is likely from herds that were only recently reported by the USDA. In the last week, herds from Idaho and California have been added to the USDA's tally. The herds in California have the more common B3.13 strain, which has been associated with dairy cows since last year. The strain circulating in Idaho is D1.1, which spilled over from wild birds earlier this year. Therefore, the new sequence data added Tuesdaywhich were of the B3.13 varietyare likely from infected California herds. Since the outbreak was first reported in dairy cows last March, 70 people have been infected and one person has died. According to the USDA, 985 dairy herds have been infected, with 754 of those located in California. 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Queensbury senior and math enthusiast earns prestigious honors Queensbury High School senior Rider Lee has been named a 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program finalist and a 2025 United States Presidential Scholars Program candidate. The 16-year-old said he was surprised by these recognitions because he doesnt pay close attention to his grades. Despite that, he is graduating second in the Class of 2025 as a full International Baccalaureate Diploma Program student. I like going to school because I like learning new things and getting engaged in different topics, Rider said, according to a press release. I guess that kind of academic thing did come naturally to me. Obviously, I do work hard, but maybe its been easier for me because Ive always been like that. Rider is the president of Math Club, co-editor-in-chief of Seeing Blue, the schools art and literary magazine, and he participates in the Art Club and Robotics Club. He plays flute and piccolo in the QHS Concert Band and Jazz Band, and he will be playing in the orchestra pit during the school musical this weekend. He also performs with the Saratoga Youth Symphony. The National Merit Scholarship Program is a nationwide academic competition. Riders finalist standing places him in a group of more than 15,000 students representing less than 1% of U.S. high school graduating seniors. Only about 6,870 of the finalists will receive a Merit Scholarship award, which could be a $2,500 college scholarship. The National Merit Scholarship is based on Riders PSAT scores, while the Presidential Scholarship is based on his near-perfect SAT scores. Of the nearly 3.8 million high school seniors graduating this year, Rider is one of about 6,000 students to receive an invitation to apply to be a Presidential Scholar. Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nations highest honors for high school students. U.S. Presidential Scholars are awarded the Presidential Scholars Medallion. Rider plans to attend college next year to study math. I like all kinds of math, I guess, and then by extension, physics and chemistry I like, he said. I do want to go to a college where I can get a whole liberal arts education because I also like studying music and English. He has already been accepted to Case Western Reserve University which has given him a scholarship and hes still waiting to hear back from several other schools. He is unsure of his future profession, but said he may want to be a math professor. Thats one of the things I want to discover in college, he said, where Im going to go. Glens Falls Class of 2025 Top Ten The Top Ten students in the GFHS Class of 2025, were announced in a live ROAR Report at the High School: Emma Canale, Ava Rowland, Parker Welch, Ava Larson, Norah Shaffer, Tevyn Owira, Natalie Frasier, Luke Stevens, Caroline Lieberth, and Samantha Solari. Achieving this distinction is no small featit is the result of years of late-night studying, challenging coursework, extracurricular involvement, and a deep commitment to personal and academic growth. These students have set high standards for themselves and met them by pushing beyond challenges. We are proud of you! said a press release from the school. Gears of Glory: Lake George Hosts First-Ever Vex Robotics Tournament The Lake George School District recently hosted its first-ever VEX Robotics Tournament, an event that brought together over 20 teams from local area school districts for a day of competition and collaboration. Hosting a VEX IQ Robotics Tournament at Lake George provides an incredible opportunity for our students to not only showcase their engineering and problem-solving skills, but also to develop valuable life skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and perseverance, said Superintendent John Luthringer, in a press release. We are thrilled to welcome teams from across the region and foster a collaborative and exciting environment for these young innovators. VEX Robotics provides a dynamic learning environment where students gain hands-on experience in coding, engineering, and design. Through these engaging challenges, students develop essential 21st-century skills that will serve them well in their future endeavors. This was an incredible day for Lake George as we hosted our first-ever VEX IQ tournament, said technology teacher Dante Siletti, in the press release. Im so proud of our teams for their hard work, determination, and sportsmanship. Watching the kids excel, collaborate, and represent our school so well in all aspects of the tournament was truly inspiring. The event featured both a Teamwork Challenge, where two teams collaborated to maximize their score, and a Robot Skills Challenge, testing individual robot performance against the clock. Students also presented STEM notebook projects, demonstrating their ability to apply the scientific method to investigate and solve real-world challenges. The tournament served as a valuable learning experience for all participants, with many teams gaining insights and inspiration for future competitions. The event also cultivated a strong sense of community, bringing together students, teachers, and parents from across the region to participate in STEM education and witness the incredible achievements of these students. South Glens Falls Board of Education election petition packets now available The South Glens Falls Central School District has a nine-person Board of Education. All seats are at-large, with three seats up for election each year. Each member serves a three-year term. Those who wish to run for school board must be: Able to read and write; A citizen of the United States; at least 18 years of age; A qualified voter of the district; And a resident of the school district for at least one year prior to the election. No employee of the school district may be a member of the board, except as permitted by law, and no more than one member of a family shall be a member of the same Board of Education. Prospective board members may pick up a nomination packet and petition at the South Glens Falls CSD District Office, 42 Merritt Road, Suite 1, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Completed forms, including a petition with at least 25 valid signatures of qualified district voters, must be returned to the district office no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, April 21, 2025. Please contact Karyn Bates, Secretary to the Superintendent, with any questions at 518-793-9617. Queensbury High School students inducted into French Honor Society during ceremony Nine students became members of the Queensbury High School chapter of the French Honor Society during an induction ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 27. Students inducted include: Alexa Bell, grade 10; Bugg Bosford, grade 10; Paige Dreon, grade 10; Sophia Flewelling, grade 12; Quinn Jones, grade 11; Finn Jordi-Donnelly, grade 10; Carter Koloski, grade 10; Makenna Morehouse, grade 10; and Caroline Olson, grade 10. Battle-Tested Readers at Lake George Elementary Take on Book Competition Lake George Elementary School has been a part of Battle of the Books since it started in 2011. This year, on March 11, 2025, a new generation of young readers from the third to sixth grade stepped onto the battlefield of knowledge at SUNY Adirondack. The journey begins each October, as students start a five-month reading odyssey. to dive into ten selected books five fiction and five nonfiction. Kassidy Pipikis, a seasoned Battle of the Books competitor, is ready to once again dive into a world of words. Now in her second year, the fifth-grader from Lake George Elementary School has already made a name for herself as a dedicated reader. Im kind of a bookworm, so this is just my thing, Kassidy shared, in a press release from the school. My favorite part is the competition. We all go to SUNY Adirondack, and last year, the fourth-grade team even placed third! The competition is a tough test. Students have to understand what they read, think critically about the books, and work well together as a team. They really need to dig into the stories and facts to do well, said Bridget Crossman, Lake George Elementary School Librarian, in the release. My favorite book this year is Ban This Book, said Kassidy. It has so much drama and teamwork going on, just like the competition. On a mild winter Wednesday, a group of activists and residents loitered at the side of a busy highway a momentary pause near a bustling interstate. Some of them had been there since 6:15 a.m., trying to spot an important piece of nature as cars and semi-trucks roared past at the interchange between Interstate 280 and Illinois Route 92. Weve seen five bald eagles so far, said Kelly McKay, whos worked with bald eagles professionally for 46 years. Three of them were out here night-roosting this morning in those dead trees over there. (Early in the morning) two of them were actually night roosting right in the proposed development area beyond the trees then when the TV stations started setting up, they were gone just like that. Thats how sensitive they are. A special habitat Once, human alteration of the landscape around Milan Bottoms seemed to conspire in favor of wildlife. In 1934, Locks and Dam 15 was completed in Rock Island as part of the Army Corps of Engineers project to create a 9-foot transportation channel. It would literally pave the way for the floodplain that Milan Bottoms is now a part of, and McKay and other activists say is a bastion of biological diversity. The plot of land the planned dispensary and truck stop development will occupy is itself an artifact of fill-dumping from earlier projects, McKay said. In the years since the sand was dumped across from Ballys Casino, McKay and Brian Ritter, executive director of the Nahant Marsh education center across the river, believe it has likely become a refuge for wildlife during Milan Bottoms' frequent floods. Now, activists feel as if development is determined to throttle what grew in the aftermath of its progenitors. The sad thing is, when you drive on I-280 or (Illinois) 92 in the late spring or early summer, youll see dead turtles everywhere, Ritter said. Thats because theyre all coming out of this wetland to try and find high ground. (The development area) is probably one of the last safe nesting areas that you have left for turtles in this area." McKay and other activists suspect but have not proven the presence of endangered Blandings turtles, copperbelly watersnakes and several endangered bat species in Milan Bottoms due to their confirmed presence in similar habitat at Nahant Marsh across the Mississippi River. Milan Bottoms is also host to one of the largest breeding bird communities on the Mississippi and to otters. Jon Duyvejonck, chairman of the Sierra Club Eagle View Group and a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee, remembers a time when he was able to canoe through flood-water bounded in living, healthy trees that served as cover and insulation for miles of ideal bald eagle night-roost habitat beyond the border of Milan Bottoms, rather than the skeletal standing woods that remain today. The line between wetlands and noisy interstate has never been thinner. Now this buffer is not really a buffer, McKay said of the stretch between the development and the eagles. As the years and floodings of Milan go on, these trees are going to start coming down its prolonged inundation (that killed them)." Mayor Mike Thoms has told McKay the over-flooding is the result of beaver damming on the various creeks running through Milan Bottoms, something the activists agree contributes. However, McKay also pointed towards development and the replacement of permeable farmland with asphalt, such as parking lots, which increases runoff. Expansion of the tax increment financing district Nina Struss is a river health and resiliency organizer for the Prairie Rivers Network, an independent nonprofit affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. She spoke at Monday nights Rock Island City Council meeting in favor of protections for Milan Bottoms. (The) 3,500-plus acre complex known as Milan Bottoms is one of the Quad-Cities last largely intact and untouched natural habitats, she said. It provides a critical home to bald eagles, herons, mussels and countless other species. Healthy (floodplains and wetlands) are critical to ensuring flood-resilient communities, wildlife and a robust Rock Island economy. The area can soak up and store (billions of gallons of) excess flood water while reducing the need to build costly flood-risk reduction structures and improving the resilience of existing infrastructure and light levies. Struss continued that a 2024 climate-change study done by the Prairie Rivers Network and National Wildlife Foundation highlighted Rock Island as one of the most at-risk cities in the Quad-Cities area due to its downstream position and capture of runoff from upstream communities on the Mississippi and Rock rivers. She said the risk is exacerbated through development of Milan Bottoms. The coalition opposes a proposed tax increment financing district, or TIF, expansion that received unanimous city council approval in its first reading this past Monday. The original TIF was centered around Bally's Casino. The expansion would include parts of Milan Bottoms, as well as areas south from the casino to 78th Avenue/Andalusia Road. The city of Rock Island acquired a nearly 500 acre portion of Milan Bottoms from the RiverStone Group for $1 in 2022. The development today opposed by the Sierra Club and its coalition of almost 20 other groups is on 10 acres of that area, but the proposed TIF would include most of the citys 500 acre-plot. TIFs operate by setting a base taxable value on properties and then allocating any extra taxes due to increases in property value into a special fund designed to eliminate barriers to development. Struss said the area is already experiencing heavy flooding due to its low elevation, and cited an up to 13% increase in flooding in nearby neighborhoods. Instead of expanding development into flood-prone areas, we encourage the city and council members to consider protecting the wetlands with a conservation easement, she said. We at the NWF are ready to serve as resources in (a long-term wetland protection) effort. We can identify funding mechanisms and best practices to maximize both economic and environmental benefits. Thoms and aldermen have never expressed intentions to develop the entire extent of city property, but the mayor argued "the (10 acre) development itself never floods. It's out of the floodplain. The project is going to have a retention pond, like any project, anyways." In conversations with The Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus, Thoms reasserted that the city supports sustainable stormwater practices. "Rock Island is part of an organization called Mississippi Rivers and Towns Initiative," he said. "That's one of the things that they work on with all the cities up and down the Mississippi. They're working on not building flood walls, because that just pushes more water down(stream), but instead letting it spread out and soak into the soil. The city of Rock Island endorses that project, and we're working hard to make sure that doesn't happen in the future." Leaving aside the issue of the cannabis and truck stop development itself, some activists like Duyvejonck have said they would consider their work well done if they defeat the TIF expansion, or at least, secure a permanent conservation easement for the citys remaining property in Milan Bottoms. Doing so may harm the eagle population, but McKay said there is no sign of compromise on the initial development. "If they continue to go with this development, (they) cannot claim ignorance," he said. "Because (they've) been informed over and over and over and over again by myself and other eagle experts in the region, who, between the four of us, have 150-plus years of eagle research experience." Thoms has repeatedly promised activists the TIF will only be used for wildlife conservation purposes, but has not found a trusting audience. McKay, in particular, has argued a promise from one city administration is not binding to the new administration unless in contract form. Other activists have questioned whether a TIF, traditionally an urban blight removal and development tool, could be used for conservation by state statute. In a Wednesday phone call with The Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus, Thoms said preliminary legal examinations from staff show that it would be possible to use TIF funds to assist with financing dredging of Milan Bottoms creeks and elimination of beaver dams to make it a wetland, not a pond. "It's officially the Corp of Engineers' responsibility, but we need to work with the Corp and get some funding to be able to (do that)," he said. "We still have to check with legal staff but on the surface, after a little bit of research, yes, you can. We built Schwiebert Riverfront Park downtown with it, so you can use it to do recreational places." He also said he is committed to putting it in (binding) writing showing the area that we dont ever plan on developing and Ill say that very well could be close to 500 acres We hope in the near future well be able to introduce that resolution. In the meantime, activists plan to continue. Members of the Sierra Group staged Wednesday's "roost-in" to educate nearby residents and media outlets about their cause. Their next "roost-in" will be at March 17's TIF hearing at Rock Island City Hall. A large group of Ravalli County Democrats, retired scientists, Forest Service workers, veterans and Montana politicians gathered at the Ravalli County Administrative Center Tuesday morning, March 11 to voice support for Ravalli County federal workers in the midst of widespread layoffs, and urge county commissioners to do the same. County commissioners listened to public comment and expressed an interest in increased transparency, considering the layoffs, but did not explicitly agree to any course of action. A teary-eyed Linda Schmitt, chair of the Ravalli County Democrats, addressed Tuesdays crowd from the front steps of the administrative center, saying Democracy is based on the consent of the governed, thats how we live. Right now, we have people in the current administration that dont care about the intent of the government. What were here for is to say, We are a democracy, and we want to keep our democracy. So we are here to support the people who support us. Schmitt and others sharply criticized Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Trump administrations mass firing of the federal workforce and expressed concern about how the layoffs would impact Ravalli County, especially at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, which has allegedly laid off around 20 employees, and the Bitterroot National Forest, which has terminated between 30 and 40 people. Protesters waved signs saying, We support federal workers and chanted slogans like Elon Musk Go! Our employees at the labs and the Forest Service cannot defend themselves, Schmitt said, in a speech to her fellow supporters. We have to continue to be public. Our way of remaining public here in Ravalli County is by talking to our commissioners. I know not everybody here is accustomed to going up to a microphone, thats okay. But if I can stand out here and cry, you can go up with a wobbly voice. Schmitt encouraged protestors to talk directly to commissioners because they were the direct line to the government. The protest migrated to the commissioners chamber at around 9 a.m., where over twenty of those in attendance took to the podium to address commissioners; condemning DOGE cuts, relaying personal experiences and asking how the county could act to preserve its federal workforce. One of those in attendance was Montana Democratic candidate Monica Tranel, who urged Ravalli County commissioners to take action to safeguard funding from federal cuts. I wanted to show support for the people who are speaking out and everyone needs to speak out right now... You can do more than write letters, Tranel told commissioners Jeff Burrows and Greg Chilcott. There is litigation happening nationally that benefits the parties who are active in those cases. As one example, the funding that has been allocated from congress is flowing to the states that have asked for that money to flow to them as litigants in those cases. You as a county can intervene and you can ask for the state money to come to your county. Tranel also raised the issue of Forest Service staffing for the upcoming fire season, asking if the county knew who was going to pay for that," and suggested that commissioners request the presence of congressional delegates for future meetings and implored them to consider the ramifications related to the loss of federal workers in the Bitterroot Valley. You can get the congressional delegate here, Tranel said. Make them sit where youre sitting now. Theres no reason for them not to be here. Loss of funding and federal layoffs at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) and the Bitterroot National Forest Service were primary concerns for most in attendance Tuesday. Retired RML scientist Kim Hasenkrug addressed commissioners saying that he would speak on behalf of RML because current employees were under a gag order. RML, whose funding comes from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases suffered a round of enforced layoffs earlier this year. While the exact number of RML employees who were fired is unknown, Hasenkrug said it was most likely around 20 people. We are extremely fortunate in this community to have Rocky Mountain Labs here. Its very unique, Hasenkrug said. Its a huge impact on the economy of this valley and of the state. Can you imagine what happens if this lab shuts down? I dont know whats going to happen to that lab but we need to voice our support for that lab, not just because of the economic impact but because that lab does a lot of things for this community. Hasenkrug also spoke about RMLs operations outside of the laboratory that could be at risk, like the facilitys mentorship programs and focus on providing education in Ravalli County, as well as their research on infectious diseases. They study some of the most dangerous viruses on the Earth, Hasenkrug said. They do research there that could take a decade or more to finish They bring in the best people in the world who dont just come here for the science, but because its Montana and its the valley and they love this place. Hasenkrug told commissioners that the Office of Professional Management recently notified RML management, telling them that there would be an upcoming reduction in force, possibly foreshadowing an additional round of layoffs. I would ask that commissioners formulate a letter to the governor and the congressional delegation. Tell them how important this lab is and ask them if they can directly intervene with the president, Hasenkrug said. Show some backbone. Hasenkrug also showed commissioners a termination letter received by some Forest Service employees in February. The letter, sent to employees from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reads, The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position. Various other federal retirees emphasized the extensive consequences of erasing federal jobs across the country. Retired Forest Service employee, Nancy Spicoli, addressed commissioners and relayed her experience as a seasonal national parks employee in Idaho. I cleaned eight pit toilets a day, Spicoli said. Anybody that goes out to public lands and uses a clean toilet, your federal workers are the ones doing that. It seems like a really miniscule thing, but its not when you get to a toilet that hasnt been cleaned in six months. Spicoli said that continued cuts to the Forest Service are especially harmful because of the budget constraints the service already suffered prior to the Trump administration. All temporary seasonals at the end of last season were informed that they would not be rehired, Spicoli said. It had nothing to do with performance, it had to do with budget. Spicoli also asked that commissioners send a letter to congress, emphasizing the importance of federal workers and opposing their termination. These are the people on the front lines, they do the work, Tranel told the Ravalli Republic. Theres no glamor in cleaning toilets. You heard the woman who cleaned the toilets. These people make $16 an hour and theyre not even getting paychecks right now. We need to understand the absence of those workers in our forests and on our front lines. That causes harm to all of us. Tranel told the Ravalli Republic that right now, understanding the role and the impact of federal workers was of the utmost importance for local elected officials. Every federal agency is being impacted right now, Tranel said. The park services, the federal lands, the DIA, the health service, the veteran's association, all the services are being impacted right now. I think its really imperative that our local elected officials understand that they are the chain of information up to the people who are ignoring us. They own the outcome. Commissioners Burrows and Chilcott responded after over an hour of testimony, saying that they would like to see more transparency in the actions of the federal government, but did not express an interest in litigation or writing a letter to congress. My biggest concern is that theres not transparency with it, Burrows told those in attendance. I think thats important to have a clear picture of whats coming. Theres some real concerns, but at the same time were seven trillion dollars in debt as a nation and as taxpayers, future generations have to deal with that, said Chilcott. Something had to be done, is this it? I dont know. Chilcott was interrupted by those in attendance after stating that he didnt know if firing federal employees in Ravalli County helped curb the national debt of the United States or not, with members of the gallery shouting We know that this is not helping! We have big concerns about the conditions of the Bitterroot National Forest and its ranking as far as potential wildfire, Chilcott said. Those are huge concerns for us, but I have huge concerns about the condition we are in as a country and the debt loan that we have, and I think that we need to do something about that. After the event, Schmitt spoke with the Ravalli Republic, saying that she thought the event went well, but was not convinced county commissioners were committed to the cause. I thought Monica Tranels suggested actions that the commissioners could take were important. Im not sure commissioners took them on board, Schmitt said. Im not sure that any financial savings in this valley would have the slightest effect on the national debt. Attitudinally, we can say Yes, lets be careful with our resources, but I think we do that anyway. We are a conservative county with farmers. Theyre the original conservatives. Mayor Danny Avulas administration on Tuesday released documents that outline how officials improperly used public dollars to fund local nonprofits during fiscal year 2023. The records reveal the names of some of the organizations that received non-departmental grant funding awards despite being ruled ineligible for them. Specifically, they contain the scores given by Department of Human Services staff to dozens of nonprofits that had applied to receive the funding from the city for fiscal year 2023. In order to qualify for the funding, nonprofits must receive a score of 75 or higher based on evaluations from departmental review teams. The scores do not necessarily reflect the quality or functionality of the organizations, but measure whether their efforts align with the citys goals or are redundant with existing city services. A February report published by the Office of the City Auditor found that multiple organizations received grant funding despite scoring lower than a 75 in their initial reviews. The report also determined that city staff had prioritized organizations that had been awarded grant funds in prior years. Because the individual scoresheets were discarded in a warehouse cleanup that may have violated state records retention laws, the auditors had to review spreadsheets of scores that had been aggregated by city employees. Those spreadsheets, obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Tuesday night, list several of the nonprofits that were graded less than 75 by human services staff, but that still appear in the citys fiscal year 2023 budget. For example, human services staff gave the Virginia League for Safer Streets an initial score of 70, but still recommended $25,000 in funding, the spreadsheets show. City budget records indicate that officials awarded the nonprofit twice that amount. VLSS had been funded in fiscal year 2022. Richmond Community of Carings score was 70, but human services staff recommended a $20,000 award. The organization, which had been funded since fiscal year 2020, also received double the recommendation. The Virginia Literacy Foundation, funded in previous years, got a score of 70 but a $64,000 award; the Metropolitan Business League, also funded in previous years, got a score of 66 but a $100,000 award. Meanwhile, some organizations with high scores received much less than they had sought. Former 9th District City Councilwoman Michelle Mosbys housing services program, Help Me Help You, scored a 90, but received $200,000 of the requested $768,000. The YWCA also scored a 90, had requested $600,000 and was recommended for $400,000. It received only $50,000. Auditors additionally found that some nonprofits received funding despite submitting applications after the deadline. Because the application dates are not listed in the spreadsheets, The Times-Dispatch was not able to identify those organizations. And because the names of the officials who conducted the preliminary nonprofit reviews and assigned the grades were redacted, it was not immediately possible to determine whether conflicts of interest occurred. The auditors identified a lack of safeguards against such conflicts in their report. Avula said officials redacted officials names to avoid damaging relationships between them and nonprofits. How the documents became public The disclosure is a partial reversal from the administrations prior decision to invoke the working papers exemption to Virginias Freedom of Information Act. The exemption was initially cited by officials to justify withholding the documents from both The Times-Dispatch and members of Richmonds City Council. The Times-Dispatch submitted a records request on Feb. 18 for the same spreadsheets provided to city auditors. On Feb. 25, Julia Holmes, the citys FOIA officer, invoked a seven-day extension, which is allowed under FOIA if officials cannot produce the requested documents in five days. Officials later indicated that the request would be denied pursuant to the working papers exemption, which shields records and correspondence prepared by or for a public official ... for his personal or deliberative use. The working papers exemption is meant to protect executive decision-making processes. It applies to records prepared by or for state and local executive officials including the mayor or chief executive officer of any political subdivision of the commonwealth. The Times-Dispatch contacted 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell on Monday to request copies of the documents. City Auditor Riad Ali, who reports to the council, had the spreadsheets in his possession. But the chief auditor told the councilwoman that he could not give them to her, Trammell reported. Despite the fact that Ali is generally subject to council members orders, he said he was unable to produce the documents because Avulas administration had given them to him with the understanding that they were confidential. Kenya Gibson, who represents the 3rd District, also reached out to Ali and was told the same thing, she said. Trammell said she was furious Ali had access to information that was forbidden to his superiors who on Monday still had not been told where the improperly spent $1.5 million had gone. These are our papers, the peoples papers, she said at the time. Its the taxpayers money. Trammell questioned whether the City Council could adequately perform its oversight duties if the mayoral administration refused to provide government records especially records that were used as part of the budgeting process, in which the council participates actively. The funding recommendations were used by then-Mayor Levar Stoney to justify nonprofit spending allocations and to persuade the council members to approve them, Trammell said. That entitles them to take a look at the scores whenever they want. This is our job, she said. Gibson on Tuesday afternoon called into question the Avula administrations application of the working papers exemption. It is universally understood that when an organization receives public funding, records about the transaction become public as well, she said. In this era where residents are facing another year of escalating property taxes and inaccurate utility bills, and are demanding more transparency, Id argue we need to overcompensate to win back trust. On Tuesday night, City Hall reversed course, releasing a redacted version of the spreadsheets. Avula said he overruled the advice of his FOIA team when he decided to disclose the records, portions of which are redacted under the working papers exemption. The teams recommendation was, these are all the mayors working papers, you dont need to release them, Avula said. But after he spoke with multiple members of the council, the mayor changed his mind. Those conversations led him to the conclusion that, because the city is different from a private foundation and is stewarding taxpayer dollars, it was important to be transparent. Im working to push our organization to more transparency, he said. More transparency and more collaboration with the media actually serves everybody. The redacted information includes officials commentary on why they had rejected some organizations. Avula said those details could compromise the nonprofits fundraising abilities and harm their reputations. I tried to find the middle of the road, he said. In an email sent to council members on Wednesday morning, Avula maintained that the spreadsheets clearly fall into the category of mayors working papers, but had been released anyway. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, disagreed. Its important to remember what the purpose of the exemption is, Rhyne said. You want to give decision-makers space to make decisions, and to have people tell them the good, the bad and the ugly. But the exemption is not meant to empower officials to hide things that might make them look bad, she said. The working papers exemption is discretionary and, even if it did apply, theyre not prohibited from releasing it, Rhyne said. Theyre making a choice. Protecting nonprofits fundraising abilities, while perhaps a noble goal, is not a valid exemption to Virginias FOIA, she said. Its the governments job to release information and let the chips fall where they may, Rhyne said. City to overhaul award process During a Tuesday afternoon meeting of Richmonds audit committee, Interim Chief Administrative Officer Sabrina Joy-Hogg announced officials would be launching a multiyear overhaul of the process by which funds are awarded. Part of that process will include relabeling the disbursements from grants to gifts. The word grants, Joy-Hogg told the committee, contains legal implications and requirements that convolute the process. The pivot to the word gifts will eliminate some of the red tape. But the change does not mean there will not be oversight, Joy-Hogg said. State law doesnt require us to write contracts for (gifts), she said. But were still going to. Ali, who was also present at the meeting, added that officials will still plan to monitor the funds no matter what theyre called. Joy-Hogg defended the decision to award funds to nonprofits that had submitted late applications, and she said high-ranking officials sometimes make the necessary decision to override funding recommendations. The funds ... represent a combination of Councils priorities and the mayors priorities, she said. If officials deny funding over a technical violation, it could require a gap in critical services. Avula echoed that reasoning on Tuesday night. The administration should have some degree of autonomy to align the things were funding with the priorities of the city, right? he said. And historically and I imagine moving forward City Council has also had that prerogative. Business shut in Tulum plaza after police find drugs Tulum, Q.R. A business in central Tulum has been shut down after police found narcotics being sold from the location. Personnel from the State Attorney Generals Office seized packages of narcotics during the execution of a search warrant earlier this week. The execution of the court order involved members of the Investigative Police attached to the Specialized Prosecutors Office for Combating Drug Dealing Crimes, as well as members of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Navy, and the National Guard. The searched property is located in a shopping plaza on Tulum Avenue where agents seized doses of mushrooms, marijuana and cocaine, as well as e-cigarettes, technological equipment, eyedroppers and other objects. After completing the procedure, police proceeded to place the corresponding security seals on the premises access doors, placing the property under the protection of the FGE. The evidence found was made available to the Public Prosecutors Office for inclusion in the corresponding investigation. Police did not provide details as to how they learned of the drug sales from the plaza. One killed three others rushed to hospital from head on Riviera Maya highway collision Akumal, Q.R. A female passenger from a car involved in a two vehicle crash Wednesday has died. A 32 year old woman identified as Georgina N from Argentina died in hospital. Three others from the accident scene suffered injuries. Emergency services were sent to the federal 307 several kilometers north of the town of Akumal Wednesday afternoon in response to reports of a head-on collision. Two cars were found destroyed in the crash after one crossed the median and into oncoming traffic. The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. when the driver of the blue Nissan March allegedly suffered a mechanical failure, lost control of the vehicle and crossed from the southbound lane to the northbound lane, colliding head-on with a white Nissan Versa. The head on collision sent one car into the air, landing on its roof. Three woman and one man were injured between the two vehicles. All four were rushed to different Playa del Carmen hospitals. One woman died shortly after being admitted. The other three remain hospitalized. National Guard Highways coordinated efforts to deal with backed up highway traffic and remove the vehicles with the help of tow trucks. In less than a month, TikTok could have one or a few new owners, be banned again, or simply get another reprieve to continue operating in the United States. Questions about the fate of the popular video sharing app have lingered since a law requiring its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban took effect Jan. 19. After taking office, President Donald Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute until April 5. As he returned to Washington from his Florida home on Sunday, Trump told reporters that a deal could come soon. He did not offer details on the interested buyers, but said the administration was in talks with four different groups about TikTok. A lot of people want it and its up to me, Trump said aboard Air Force One. A TikTok spokesperson declined to comment. What will happen on April 5? If TikTok is not sold to an approved buyer by April 5, the original law that bans it nationwide would once again take effect. However, the deadline for the executive order doesn't appear to be set in stone and the president has reiterated it could be extended further if needed. Trumps order came a few days after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal law that required TikToks parent company, ByteDance, to divest or be banned in January. The day after the ruling, TikTok went dark for U.S. users and came back online after Trump vowed to stall the ban. During his first term, Trump tried to ban TikTok on national security grounds, which was halted by the courts before his administration negotiated a sale of the platform that eventually failed to materialize. He changed his position on the popular app during last year's presidential election and credited the platform with helping him win more young voters. The decision to keep TikTok alive through an executive order received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court. Who wants to buy TikTok? Although its unclear if ByteDance plans to sell TikTok, several potential bidders have come forward in the past few months. Aides for Vice President JD Vance, who was tapped to oversee a potential deal, have reached out to some parties, such as the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, to get details about their bids, according to a person familiar with the matter. In January, Perplexity AI presented ByteDance with a merger proposal that would combine Perplexitys business with TikToks U.S. operation. Other potential bidders include a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser. Investors in the consortium say they offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikToks U.S. platform. And if successful, they plan to redesign the popular app with blockchain technology they say will provide users with more control over their online data. Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, says he too has organized a consortium, which includes the CEO of the video game platform Roblox, and is offering ByteDance more than $30 billion for TikTok. Trump said in January that Microsoft was also eyeing the popular app. Other interested parties include Trumps former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Rumble, the video site popular with some conservatives and far-right groups. In a post on X last March, Rumble said it was ready to join a consortium of parties interested in buying TikTok and serving as a tech partner for the company. What could happen next? Trump has said he is looking to have the U.S. government broker a deal for 50% control of TikTok. However, the administration hasn't provided details on what exactly that would entail, or what role the U.S. government could play in the future of the short-form video app. Some potential bidders have floated proposals that would allow the U.S. to invest or own a stake in the platform. Last month, Trump himself also said the U.S. could own part of TikTok through a new government-owned investment fund. Chinese officials, who would have to approve the deal, appear to have softened their stance on the issue compared to last year when Beijing called the push for divestment a robbers act. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in January that business operations and acquisitions should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles. If it involves Chinese companies, Chinas laws and regulations should be observed, Mao said. If ByteDance sits down to negotiate, the company would likely need to iron out major details with the U.S. over the proprietary algorithm that populates TikTok feeds as well as the flow of content between the U.S. and the rest of the world. Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2025 Posted on 13 March 2025 by Doug Bostrom, Marc Kodack Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances: The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for a new interval of geologic time lies in the radical shift in the geologic record that marks this Great Acceleration of the human enterprise. The rejection of a proposal to define the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch with a golden spike in varved sediments from Crawford Lake, Canada, means that we officially we still live in the Holocene, when in practical terms we do not. Formal recognition of the Anthropocene will acknowledge the facts supporting global warming and many other planetary changes that are irreversible on geologic time scales, aligning the Earth Sciences with geologic, planetary and societal reality. How to stop being surprised by unprecedented weather, Kelder et al., Nature Communications: We see unprecedented weather causing widespread impacts across the world. In this perspective, we provide an overview of methods that help anticipate unprecedented weather hazards that can contribute to stop being surprised. We then discuss disaster management and climate adaptation practices, their gaps, and how the methods to anticipate unprecedented weather may help build resilience. We stimulate thinking about transformative adaptation as a foundation for long-term resilience to unprecedented weather, supported by incremental adaptation through upgrading existing infrastructure, and reactive adaptation through short-term early action and disaster response. Because in the end, we should take responsibility to build resilience rather than being surprised by unprecedented weather. Storylines of Unprecedented Extremes in the Southeast United States, Masukwedza et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: Disaster planning based on historical events is like driving forward while only looking in the rearview mirror. To expand our field of view, we use a large ensemble of weather simulations to characterize the current risk of extreme weather events in case study locations in the southeastern United States. We find that extreme temperature events have become more frequent between 1981 and 2021, and heavy precipitation events are also more frequent in the wettest months. Combining a historical analysis of peoples recent experience with the rate of change of extreme events, we define four quadrants that apply to groups of case studies: sitting ducks, recent rarity, living memory, and fading memory. A critical storyline is that of the sitting ducks: locations where we find a high rate of increase in extreme events and where the most extreme event in recent memory (19812021) has a low return period in todays climate. We find that these locations have a high potential for surprise. For example, in Montgomery County, Alabama, the most extreme temperature event since 1981 has a return period of 13 years in the climate of 2021. In these places, we offer unprecedented synthetic events from the large ensemble for use in disaster preparedness simulations to help people imagine the unprecedented. Our results not only document substantial changes in the risk of extremes in the southeastern United States but also propose a generalizable framework for using large ensembles in disaster preparedness simulations in a changing climate. Changes to Atmospheric River Related Extremes Over the United States West Coast Under Anthropogenic Warming, Higgins et al., Geophysical Research Letters: Despite advances in our understanding of changes to severe weather events due to climate change, uncertainty regarding rare extreme events persists. Atmospheric rivers (ARs), which are directly responsible for the majority of precipitation extremes on the US West Coast, are projected to intensify in a warming world. In this study, we utilize two unique large-ensemble climate models to examine rare extreme AR events under various warming scenarios. By quantifying changes to rare extremes, we can gain some insight into the potential for these destructive unprecedented events to occur in the future. Additionally, the abundance of data used in this study enables changes to both seasonal extreme AR occurrences and changes to extremes during various synoptic-scale flow patterns to be explored. From this analysis, we find substantial changes to AR extremes under even mild warming scenarios with disproportionately large changes during weather regimes that are conducive to AR activity. One-third of the global soybean production failure in 2012 is attributable to climate change, Hamed et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In 2012, soybean crops failed in the three largest producing regions due to spatially compounded hot and dry weather across North and South America. Here, we present different impact storylines of the 2012 event, calculated by combining a statistical crop model with climate model simulations of 2012 conditions under pre-industrial, present-day (+1 C), and future (+2 C) conditions. These simulations use the ECHAM6 climate model and maintain the same observed seasonally evolving atmospheric circulation. Our results demonstrate that anthropogenic warming strongly amplifies the impacts of such a large-scale circulation pattern on global soybean production. Although the drought intensity is similar under different warming levels, larger crop losses are driven not only by warmer temperatures but also by stronger heat-moisture interactions. We estimate that one-third of the global soybean production deficit in 2012 is attributable to anthropogenic climate change. Future warming (+2 C above pre-industrial) would further exacerbate production deficits by one-half compared to present-day 2012 conditions. This highlights the increasing intensity of global soybean production shocks with warming, requiring urgent adaptation strategies. Climate-Driven Sea Level Rise Exacerbates Alaskan and Cascadian Tsunami Hazards in Southern California: Implications to Design Parameters, Sepulveda & Mosqueda, Earth's Future: Climate-change-driven sea level rise is expected to worsen tsunami hazards in the long term. Tsunami waves will be able to propagate over rising sea levels that will enable them to inundate higher land. In this study, we quantify the increase of tsunami hazards in Southern California due to sea level rise. We consider tsunamis originated in the Alaska and Cascadia subduction zones. Changes of tsunami design parameters, as a result of the sea level rise, are also analyzed. Namely, we analyze the changes of the maximum considered tsunami (MCT) elevation, defined as the elevation exceeded with probability 2% in 50 years. We find that earthquakes of the Alaska Subduction Zone constitute the main tsunamigenic contributor. We also find that sea level rise increases MCT tsunami elevations by 0.3 m. With this increase, MCT levels reach 2 m in San Pedro Bay and San Diego. We compare the impact of sea level rise exacerbating tsunami hazards with the impact of common uncertainty sources of tsunami hazard assessment models. The uncertainty of earthquake models, for example, can produce differences in MCT levels that are comparable to the SLR influence. Greenhouse gases reduce the satellite carrying capacity of low Earth orbit, Parker et al., Nature Sustainability: Anthropogenic contributions of greenhouse gases in Earths atmosphere have been observed to cause cooling and contraction in the thermosphere, which is projected to continue for many decades. This contraction results in a secular reduction in atmospheric mass density where most satellites operate in low Earth orbit. Decreasing density reduces drag on debris objects and extends their lifetime in orbit, posing a persistent collision hazard to other satellites and risking the cascading generation of more debris. This work uses projected CO2 emissions from the shared socio-economic pathways to investigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the satellite carrying capacity of low Earth orbit. The instantaneous Kessler capacity is introduced to compute the maximum number and optimal distribution of characteristic satellites that keep debris populations in stable equilibrium. Modelled CO2 emissions scenarios from years 20002100 indicate a potential 5066% reduction in satellite carrying capacity between the altitudes of 200 and 1,000 km. Considering the recent, rapid expansion in the number of satellites in low Earth orbit, understanding environmental variability and its impact on sustainable operations is necessary to prevent over-exploitation of the region. From this week's government/NGO section: Women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts of heatwaves in South Sudan that have become a constant threat, Kew et al., World Weather Attribution Extreme heat has affected a large region of continental eastern Africa since mid-February. Extreme daytime temperatures have been recorded in South Sudan particularly affecting people in poor housing and outdoor workers, a very large part of the population. Scientists from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, Chile, the United States, and the United Kingdom collaborated to assess to what extent human-induced climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of the extreme heat in the region and to what extent the impacts particularly affected women and girls. When combining the observation-based analysis with climate models, to quantify the role of climate change in this 7-day heat event, the authors find that climate models underestimate the increase in heat found in observations. They can thus only give a conservative estimate of the influence of human-induced climate change. Based on the combined analysis they conclude that climate change made the extreme heat at least 2C hotter and at least 10 times more likely. The Growing Threat of Catastrophic Flooding in Rural America, Rebecca Anderson and Shannon McNeeley, The Pacific Institute The frequency and severity of catastrophic flooding events are rising throughout the U.S. and many rural communities are at high risk. Climate change is driving more intense and frequent extreme precipitation events, increasing the likelihood of catastrophic flooding across the U.S. in the future. Rural communities face unique challenges in preparing for and recovering from catastrophic flooding, shaped by factors like geography, social vulnerabilities, and limited resources. Leveraging the extant strengths and assets of rural communities is essential for building resilience and effectively preparing for catastrophic flooding. 170 articles in 66 journals by 1274 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects A half-century drying in Gobi Oasis, possible role of ENSO and warming/moistening of Northwest China, Li et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.104769 Arctic sea-ice loss drives a strong regional atmospheric response over the North Pacific and North Atlantic on decadal scales, Cvijanovic et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02059-w Climate-Induced Polar Motion: 19002100, Kiani Shahvandi & Soja, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl113405 Distinct Impacts of Increased Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Heat Transport on Arctic Ocean Warming and Sea Ice Decline, Cheng et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2024jc021178 Energy Gain Kernel for Climate Feedbacks. Part II: Spatial Pattern of Surface Amplification Factor and Its Dependency on Climate Mean State, Hu et al., Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 10.1175/jas-d-24-0079.1 Greenhouse gases reduce the satellite carrying capacity of low Earth orbit, Parker et al., Nature Sustainability Open Access 10.1038/s41893-025-01512-0 On the Spreading of Glacial Meltwater in the Western North Atlantic. Part I: Role of Dynamical Instabilities, Marchal & Condron, Journal of Physical Oceanography 10.1175/jpo-d-23-0170.1 Observations of climate change, effects Causality in the Winter Interaction Between Extratropical Storm Tracks, Atmospheric Circulation, and Arctic Sea Ice Loss, Mousavizadeh et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2024jd042128 Climate Change Impact on Extreme Temperatures and Heat Waves in Armenia, Gevorgyan et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.8802 Climatology and Trends of Various Oceanic and Atmospheric Parameters in the Arabian Sea Over the Last 45 Years, Anusree et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8818 Cold-Season Precipitation Trend in Subtropical East Asia Tied to Shifting Westerlies: Role of Tibetan Plateau, He, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0177.1 Differences in Temperature Variation Between Winter and Summer Across China in Recent Decades, Shi & Wu, International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8828 Increased Atmospheric Aridity and Reduced Precipitation Drive the 2023 Extreme Wildfire Season in Canada, Lai & Zhang, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl114492 Increasing soil nitrous acid emissions driven by climate and fertilization change aggravate global ozone pollution, Wang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-57161-6 Observed Warming and Weakening of the Philippine Sea Deep Circulation Over the Past Decade, Xu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 10.1029/2024jc022017 One-third of the global soybean production failure in 2012 is attributable to climate change, Hamed et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02171-x Record sea surface temperature jump in 20232024 unlikely but not unexpected, Terhaar et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-025-08674-z Shifts in organic matter character and microbial assemblages from glacial headwaters to downstream reaches in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Drapeau et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-22-1369-2025 Temperature rising, Philander, Open Access 10.1515/9780691187440 The Changing Nature of Atmospheric Rivers, Henny & Kim Bogatyrev , Journal of Climate Open Access 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0234.1 Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects Comprehensive Evidence That Detecting Urban Signals in Large-Scale Warming Is Highly Uncertain, Shen et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl115032 The Examination of an Improved Analogue Method for Gridded Temperature Variation Reconstruction, Zhang et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8755 The Need for Better Monitoring of Climate Change in the Middle and Upper Atmosphere, Anel et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2024av001465 Unveiling coastal change across the Arctic with full Landsat collections and data fusion, Nylen et al., Remote Sensing of Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.rse.2025.114696 Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects Calibrating the simulated summer precipitation trend over the southern slope of the Tibetan Plateau in CMIP6 models using a sub-selection method, Luo et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.01.005 Future MJO Change and Its Impact on Extreme Precipitation and Temperature Over the Western US in CMIP6, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2024jd042123 Global Greening Major Contributed by Climate Change With More Than Two Times Rate Against the History Period During the 21th Century, Zhang et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70126 Lessened projections of Arctic warming and wetting after correcting for model errors in global warming and sea ice cover, Cai et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adr6413 Projections on Regional Climate and Compound Events in East Asia Based on QDM-Corrected Multiple High-Resolution CORDEX Simulations, Chen et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8824 Sensitivity of European blocking to physical parameters in a large ensemble climate model experiment, Woollings et al., Atmospheric Science Letters Open Access 10.1002/asl.1295 Substantial Contraction of Dense Shelf Water in the Ross Sea Under Future Climate Scenarios, Xie et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl112581 The Projection of Extreme Heat and Precipitation Events in China Response to Global Warming Under the SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5 Scenarios, Wang et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.8807 Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection An improved and extended parameterization of the CO2 15 m cooling in the middle and upper atmosphere (CO2&cool&fort-1.0), Lopez-Puertas et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024 Confronting Earth System Model trends with observations, Simpson et al., Science Advances 10.1126/sciadv.adt8035 Impact of ocean data assimilation on the sub-polar North Atlantic in MPI-ESM, Brune & Koul, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Open Access 10.1002/qj.4922 Toward Dynamical Annual to Decadal Climate Prediction Using the IAP-CAS Model, Tang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2024jd042580 Cryosphere & climate change A comparison of supraglacial meltwater features throughout contrasting melt seasons: southwest Greenland, Glen et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2024-23 Active ice sheet conservation cannot stop the retreat of Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, Greenland, Zhao et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02120-8 Basal Melting and Oceanic Observations Beneath Central Fimbulisen, East Antarctica, Lindback et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2023jc020506 Evolution of supraglacial lakes over the pan-Antarctic ice sheet between 2014 and 2022: Assessment and the control factors, Shen et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.02.005 Hysteresis of the Antarctic Ice Sheet With a Coupled Climate-Ice-Sheet Model, Leloup et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl111492 Mapping subsea permafrost around Tuktoyaktuk Island (Northwest Territories, Canada) using electrical resistivity tomography, Erkens et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-997-2025 Projection of sea ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago based on CMIP6 assessments, Liang et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.02.008 Rare ice-base temperature measurements in Antarctica reveal a cold base in contrast with predictions, Talalay et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02127-1 The freezing?thawing index and permafrost extent in pan-Arctic experienced rapid changes following the global warming hiatus, Guo et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.02.010 The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat, Gourmelen et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-57417-1 Understanding water flowpaths and origins in an Arctic Alaskan basin: Implications for permafrost hydrology under global warming, JUNG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.03.001 Winter subglacial meltwater detected in a Greenland fjord, Hansen et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access 10.1038/s41561-025-01652-0 Sea level & climate change Asymmetric Changes of the Subtropical Gyre Circulation and Associated Sea Level Over 19602018 in the Pacific Ocean, Huang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 10.1029/2024jc021785 Can Restoring Tidal Wetlands Reduce Estuarine Nuisance Flooding of Coasts Under Future Sea-Level Rise?, Brand et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2023ef004149 Climate-Driven Sea Level Rise Exacerbates Alaskan and Cascadian Tsunami Hazards in Southern California: Implications to Design Parameters, Sepulveda & Mosqueda, Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005435 Evaluating Current Statistical and Dynamical Forecasting Techniques for Seasonal Coastal Sea Level Prediction, Long et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0214.1 Evaluation of the Budget of Local Sea Level Trends Along the Coast of Canada and Northern USA During 19582015, Zhai et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2024jc021000 Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry Arctic Warming Suppressed by Remnant Glacial Ice Sheets in Past Interglacials, Hirose et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl111798 Introduction to a Special CollectionIlluminating a Warmer World: Insights From the Paleogene, Westerhold et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 10.1029/2025pa005101 Reconstruction of climatic events from the 16th century in Transylvania: interdisciplinary analysis based on historical sources, Gaceu et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2024.1507143 Biology & climate change, related geochemistry Assessing Assisted Natural Regeneration as a Cost-Efficient Mitigation for Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss in China, Qiu et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005257 Between shells and seas: Effects of ocean acidification on calcification and osmoregulation in yellow clam (Amarilladesma mactroides), Medeiros et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107083 Climate but Not Land Use Influences Body Size of Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), Blackwood et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.71024 Climate change and variability drive increasing exposure of marine heatwaves across US estuaries, Nardi et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-025-91864-6 Climate-growth relationships and paleoclimate potential of Austrocedrus chilensis revisited by extending its tree-ring network in Argentina, Marcotti et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126309 Contrasting Trends in Onset of Spring Green-Up Between Grasslands and Forests in China, Hu et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005379 Current hydroclimatic spaces will be breached in half of the worlds humid high-elevation tropical ecosystems, Rubiano et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02087-6 Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of PlantSoil Feedbacks Explain the Spread Potential of a Plant Invader Under Climate Warming and Biocontrol Herbivory, Sun et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70110 Evolving landscapes: long term land use and climate-induced changes in the Brahmaputra floodplain, Saeed et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1550450 Functional Diversity Explains Ecosystem Carbon Storage in Subtropical Forests, Wu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70120 Impact of Climate Change on the Narrow Endemic Herb Psilopeganum sinense (Rutaceae) in China, Deng et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.71042 Impacts of extreme climate events on vegetation succession at the northern foothills of Yinshan mountain, inner Mongolia, Zhou et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1524400 Long-term tree growth-climate relationships of Fagus orientalis Lipsky at high-elevation forest edges in the Alborz Mountains, northern Iran, Moradi et al., Dendrochronologia Open Access 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126306 Marine ecosystem role in setting up preindustrial and future climate, Tjiputra et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-57371-y Narrow Margins: Aerobic Performance and Temperature Tolerance of Coral Reef Fishes Facing Extreme Thermal Variability, Vaughan et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70100 Network Assemblages of Elevational Niche-Associated Diversity in Fijian Native Bees, Slattery et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.71073 Phosphorus addition mitigates the combined negative effects of high temperature and nitrogen stress on corals, Zhou et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107075 Postglacial Recolonization of the Southern Ocean by Elephant Seals Occurred From Multiple Glacial Refugia, Berg et al., Open Access pdf 10.1101/2024.11.18.622576 Prediction of the change in suitable growth area of Sabina tibetica on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau using MaxEnt model, Li et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1465416 Rapid Evolution in Action: Environmental Filtering Supports Coral Adaptation to a Hot, Acidic, and Deoxygenated Extreme Habitat, Leiva et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70103 Recent declines in radial growth and wood density characterize dieback in European beech and pedunculate oak, Gonzalez de Andres et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126300 Simulated Climate Change Enhances Microbial Drought Resilience in Ethiopian Croplands but Not Forests, Hicks et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70065 Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change, Aguirre-Gutierrez et al., Science 10.1126/science.adl5414 Upslope plant species shifts in Mesoamerican cloud forests driven by climate and land use change, Ramirez-Barahona et al., Science 10.1126/science.adn2559 GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry Assessing the contribution of Tidal Flats to climate change and carbon neutrality through modeling approaches., Yang et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107067 Building Bridges: A Narrative Literature Review of Spanish and Portuguese-Language Climate Change Communication Scholarship from Latin America, Takahashi et al., Environmental Communication Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2025.2458229 Carbon Burial (in)Efficiency: Tracking the Molecular Fingerprint of In Situ Organic Matter Burial Using a 30-Year Freeze-Core Series From a Northern Boreal Lake (Nylandssjon, Sweden), Bindler et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2024jg008397 Determining the key meteorological factors affecting atmospheric CO 2 and CH 4 using machine learning algorithms at a suburban site in China, Liu et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102312 Estimation of carbon stock in the reed wetland of Weishan county in China based on Sentinel satellite series, Lu et al., Carbon Research Open Access 10.1007/s44246-025-00194-9 Global Fossil Methane Emissions Constrained by Multi-Isotopic Atmospheric Methane Histories, Fujita et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2024jd041266 High Methane Production and Emission From Tropical Seagrasses Through Methylotrophic Methanogenesis, Dai et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl113824 Higher temperature sensitivity of forest soil methane oxidation in colder climates, Jiang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-57763-0 Impact of climate-induced water-table drawdown on carbon and nitrogen sequestration in a Kobresia-dominated peatland on the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Yang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02168-6 Inconsistent influence of temperature, precipitation, and CO2 variations on the plateau alpine vegetation carbon flux, Dong & Wang, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access 10.1038/s41612-025-00975-4 Land-Air Exchanges of Various Gaseous Nitrogen Species in an Urban Wetland Based on In Situ Flux Observations, Yu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl113265 Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with nuclear power generation in the United States, Ng et al., Journal of Industrial Ecology Open Access 10.1111/jiec.70008 Methane emissions from thermokarst lakes must emphasize the ice-melting impact on the Tibetan Plateau, Mu et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-57745-2 Preferential Groundwater Discharges Along Stream Corridors Are Disregarded Sources of Greenhouse Gases, Bisson et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2024jg008395 Response mechanism of subtropical forest carbon balance to climate change based on InTEC model, Zhang et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1526743 Simulating ecosystem carbon dioxide fluxes and their associated influencing factors for a restored peatland, He et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-22-1355-2025 Spatial and temporal variations of gross primary production simulated by land surface model BCC&AVIM2.0, Li et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.02.001 Temperature and Water Levels Collectively Regulate Methane Emissions From Subtropical Freshwater Wetlands, He et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2024gb008372 The Importance of Ditches and Canals in Global Inland Water CO2 and N2O Budgets, Silverthorn et al., Open Access 10.22541/au.173998478.86639498/v1 The interactions of carbon emission driving forces: Analysis based on interpretable machine learning, Dong et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102323 The Response of Carbon Uptake to Soil Moisture Stress: Adaptation to Climatic Aridity, Mengoli et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70098 CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering A Study on Effect of Number of Low-Permeability Layers on Geological Carbon Sequestration in an Open Aquifer, Gupta et al., Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology 10.1002/ghg.2334 Resilient tree-planting strategies for carbon dioxide removal under compounding climate and economic uncertainties, Cho et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2320961122 Decarbonization Assessment of Hydrogen's Climate Impact Is Affected by Model OH Biases, Yang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl112445 Controls of Ecohydrological Grassland Dynamics in Agrivoltaic Systems, Paschalis et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005183 Developing Offshore Wind Farms in Aotearoa New Zealand: An Analysis of Life Cycle Carbon Emissions, Materials and Energy Implications, Pincelli et al., Wind Energy Open Access 10.1002/we.70009 One-step CO2 electrolysis and separations via a reversed gas diffusion electrode, Phalkun et al., Nature Chemical Engineering 10.1038/s44286-025-00195-w Optimizing battery energy storage and solar photovoltaic systems for lower-to-middle-income schools amidst load-shedding, Michael-Ahile et al., Energy for Sustainable Development Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101675 Sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations: Reviewing research, market and societal trends, Hasanefendic et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104018 Tungsten Carbide Nanoparticles Embedded in Carbon Nanofoam Composites for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution, Chaitoglou et al., Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research Open Access 10.1002/aesr.202500016 Worldwide rooftop photovoltaic electricity generation may mitigate global warming, Zhang et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-025-02276-3 Geoengineering climate Black carbon Black carbon and mineral dust in snow and ice pose risks on the Asian water tower, Zhang et al., Atmospheric Environment 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2025.121127 Aerosols Climate change communications & cognition The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science Denial, Collyn & Kelen, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2025.2477265 The Role of Neologisms in the Climate Change Debate: Can New Words Help to Speed Up Social Change?, Zella et al., WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70004 Climate Change is Real, but I Don't Wanna Talk About It: Unraveling Spiral of Silence Effects Regarding Climate Change Among Midwestern American Farmers, Vu et al., Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2025.2477260 Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change Climate change mitigation and livelihood components under smallholder coffee farming: a bibliographic and systematic review, Kishaija et al., Agriculture & Food Security Open Access 10.1186/s40066-025-00522-7 Climate Change Perceptions and Adaptive Behavior Among Smallholder Farmers in Northeast Madagascar, Barrett et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000501 Climate Modulation of Crop Yield over the South African Highlands, Jury, Earth Interactions Open Access 10.1175/ei-d-24-0007.1 How do agricultural socialization services drive green transition of farmers grain production under dual-carbon targets: an analysis of moderating effects based on factor allocation, Wang & Long, Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1511548 Insights Into Nature-Based Climate Solutions: Managing Forests for Climate Resilience and Carbon Stability, Murphy et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2024jg008391 Lower carbon uptake rates resulting from converting wooded Cerrado to pasture-dominated agricultural area in the Brazilian savanna, Zhao et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110465 Modeling biochar effects on soil organic carbon on croplands in a microbial decomposition model (MIMICS-BC&v1.0), Han et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4871-2024 One-third of the global soybean production failure in 2012 is attributable to climate change, Hamed et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02171-x Regional climate warming increases occurrence and intensity of winter wheat drought risk, Laurent et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110493 Spatiotemporal Distribution of Wine Grape Under Climate Change in Northwestern China, Liu et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.70826 Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Vegetation and Land Surface Temperature in Saudi Arabia: Impacts of Climate Change on Agricultural Sites From 2010 to 2023, Assiri et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8781 The animal agriculture industrys obstruction of campaigns promoting individual climate action, Loy & Jacquet, Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2025.2460603 Trend analysis of climate change and effect of climate-smart agricultural practices: the case of Humbo Woreda, Wolaita Zone, South Ethiopia, Tessema et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2025.1456328 Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change Changes to Atmospheric River Related Extremes Over the United States West Coast Under Anthropogenic Warming, Higgins et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl112237 Climate Change Impacts on Flood Pulse Characteristics in the Barotse Floodplain, Zambia, Mroz et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005471 Combined effects of future urban development and rainfall patterns on flood characteristics in the Qinhuai River basin, Gao et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2024.102256 Evaluating Climate Change Impacts on Streamflow Changes in the Source Region of Yellow River: A Bayesian Vine Copula Machine Learning (BVC-ML) Approach, Zhuang et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8821 Future Changes in Midwest Extreme Precipitation Depend on Storm Type, Mercurio & Patricola, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl113126 Groundwater recharge in a warming world, Jung, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02286-1 How Flood Hazards in a Warming Climate Could Be Amplified by Changes in Spatiotemporal Patterns and Mechanisms of Water Available for Runoff, Yan et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005619 Prioritization of Research on Drought Assessment in a Changing Climate, Lisonbee et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005276 Transitioning Climate Control on Snow and Streamflow Dynamics Over the Past 70 Years, Liu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl114381 Urban stormwater resilience: Global insights and strategies for climate adaptation, Fereshtehpour & Najafi, Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102290 Climate change economics Avoiding misuses of energy-economic modelling in climate policymaking, Kaufman & Bataille, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02280-7 Banks climate commitments: a silver lining for climate action or just hot air? First evidence from the Swiss mortgage business, Aeschlimann, Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2025.2471342 Climate change, hurricanes, and sovereign debt in the Caribbean basin, Cavallo et al., Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2025.2475148 International trade barriers, export and industrial resilience: An empirical study based on the EU and USA antidumping and countervailing policies on photovoltaic products, Wang & Xie, Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114556 Climate change mitigation public policy research Charging forward: A greenhouse gas emissions analysis of New York State's electric vehicle and clean energy goals, Kear et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114573 Co-benefits of carbon and pollutant emission reduction in urban transport: Sustainable pathways and economic efficiency, Weng et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102348 Gas grid regulation in the context of net zero transitions: A review of seven European countries, Rosenow et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.103987 Global supply chains and domestic climate policy: Addressing the substantial material-related carbon footprint of final consumption in France, Teixeira & Lefevre, Journal of Industrial Ecology Open Access 10.1111/jiec.70001 Industrial concentration in South Korea: implications for the auction design of carbon contracts for difference scheme, Jeong & Chang, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2475039 Jobs, skills and regional implications of the low carbon residential heat transition in the UK, Calvillo et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114579 Less emissions or less freight? Conflicting narratives for sustainable logistics in Norway, Russell et al., SAE Technical Paper Series Open Access 10.4271/2000-01-0942 Policing carbon markets, Calel et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2025.2464699 Repositioning coal power to accelerate net-zero transition of Chinas power system, An et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-57559-2 Spatial Heterogeneity of Plant-Level CCUS Investment Decisions in China's Cement Industry Under Various Policy Incentives, Mao et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef004951 Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research Adaptation gaps in airports, Cheng, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02285-2 Exploring the mitigation of compound events in Barcelona: Urban water scarcity, flood risk and reduction of surface temperatures through water-sensitive urban design, Perez Cambra et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102298 Networked shorelines: A review of vulnerability interactions between human adaptation to sea level rise and wetland migration, Balderas Guzman, Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.102985 Storylines of Unprecedented Extremes in the Southeast United States, Masukwedza et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-23-0297.1 Climate change impacts on human health Climate change reduces the wind chill hazard across Alaska, Kim et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02193-5 Climate-linked heat inequality in the global southern workforce: Cambodian workers economic and health vulnerability to high core temperatures in five occupational sectors, Parsons et al., Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2025.2474026 Climate change & geopolitics The role of non-state actors in shaping UN climate change side event discussions, , Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02255-8 Climate change impacts on human culture Other Contesting eco-modernist hegemony in Denmark? Green reform nexus and transformative climate advocacy in an established environmental state, Blok, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2025.2476276 Five-years altitude statistics of noctilucent clouds based on multi-site wide-field camera survey, Ugolnikov et al., Journal of Atmospheric and Solar Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.jastp.2025.106491 Governing the Climate in the Paris Era: Organized Irresponsibility, Technocratic Climate Futures, and Normalized Disasters, Steig & Oels, WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70001 Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives Editorial: Understanding the relationship between extreme climate events and forest soil hydrology: implications for ecosystem functions, Fan et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1579133 How to stop being surprised by unprecedented weather, Kelder et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-57450-0 Mitigation needed to avoid unprecedented multi-decadal North Atlantic Oscillation magnitude, Smith et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-025-02277-2 Prioritization of Research on Drought Assessment in a Changing Climate, Lisonbee et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005276 The implications of climate gentrification for urban climate action, Connolly, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02265-6 Time to count plastics in climate action, Noman et al., Science 10.1126/science.adu2738 Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2024av001430 Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change 2023 Year in Review: Climate-driven Global Renewable Energy Potential Resources and Energy Demand, World Meteorological Organization; International Renewable Energy Agency; Copernicus Climate Change Service; European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts The authors found that climate-informed and diversified energy solutions are essential if the world is to meet targets to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030. The authors examine 2023 a year that saw a transition from a La Nina to an El Nino phenomenon, affecting key climatic variables for the energy sector such as wind speed, solar radiation, precipitation, and temperature. It was also the warmest year on record until this record was broken again in 2024. Carbon Majors: 2023 Data Update, InfluenceMap The authors trace 33.9 GtCO2e of emissions to the 169 active entities in the Carbon Majors database in 2023, a 0.7% increase from 2022. The CO2 emissions in the database accounted for 78.4% of global fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions in 2023, with just 36 companies linked to over half of these global emissions. Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers Are Paying for Big Techs Power, Eliza Martin and Ari Peskoe, Harvard Law School The authors explore how the public is paying the energy bills of some of the largest companies in the world. The authors reviewed nearly 50 regulatory proceedings about utility rates for data centers. After describing how rate-setting processes can shift utility costs among ratepayers, the authors explain how rate structures, as well as secret contracts between utilities and data centers, could be transferring Big Techs energy costs to the public. It also provides recommendations to limit hidden subsidies in utility rates. Finally, the authors question whether utility regulators should be making policy decisions about whether to subsidize data centers and speculate on the long-term implications of utility systems dominated by trillion-dollar software and social media companies. Implementing Climate-Smart Conservation, Harder et al., Public Policy Institute of California California has demonstrated a commitment to protecting its endangered freshwater species for decades. Yet despite this, most protected species have not recovered, and now a new threat multiplier is pushing many populations to the brink: climate change. The usual conservation tools cannot keep up with the pace of change; instead, the state needs to adopt a broad portfolio of climate-smart tools to conserve at-risk species. But is such change feasible? The authors show that laws such as the Endangered Species Act are not, for the most part, impediments to using the tools identified in a previous report. Rather, the problem lies with how society is applying them. To make real progress, the state must address the key issues that are hampering conservation work: permitting complexity, competition for funding, inadequate staffing, and a culture of risk aversion within agencies, water users, and environmental organizations. Although the federal government will continue to be a partner, the state should lead these efforts. Snapshot of Clean Power in 2024, American Clean Power The authors find Americas clean power industry set records in 2024, deploying 49 gigawatts of new capacity33% more than in 2023. Clean energy provided 93% of all new power capacity, with nationwide installations now exceeding 313 gigawatts. This American success story includes 46 new manufacturing facilities opening across 20 states and remarkable growth in states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky, where capacity increased by over 200%. With enough capacity to power 75 million homes and 175 gigawatts under development, this snapshot shows how clean power is delivering reliable, affordable electricity to families and businesses while strengthening our energy independence and economic security. Rooftop Solar Reduces Costs for All Ratepayers, McCann et al., The California Solar & Storage Association As California policymakers seek to address energy affordability in 2025, new research shows why rooftop solar can and has helped control rate escalation. This research stands in direct contrast to claims that rooftop solar is to blame for rising rates. The authors show that the real reason electricity rates have increased dramatically in recent years is out-of-control utility spending and utility profit-making, enabled by a lack of proper oversight by regulators. CPUC Response to Executive Order N-5-24, California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) appreciates the opportunity to respond to Governor Newsoms Executive Order N-5-24. The Governors Executive Order sets forth an imperative to mitigate the rising costs of electricity service in California. The CPUC shares this sense of urgency and resolve. In general, the customers who are purchasing less electricity are those who own their homes and can afford to buy or lease rooftop solar panels and in-home battery storage. On that basis, we know that advantaged customers are paying less fixed and operational costs while disadvantaged customers are paying more. The Growing Threat of Catastrophic Flooding in Rural America, Rebecca Anderson and Shannon McNeeley, The Pacific Institute The frequency and severity of catastrophic flooding events are rising throughout the U.S. and many rural communities are at high risk. Climate change is driving more intense and frequent extreme precipitation events, increasing the likelihood of catastrophic flooding across the U.S. in the future. Rural communities face unique challenges in preparing for and recovering from catastrophic flooding, shaped by factors like geography, social vulnerabilities, and limited resources. Leveraging the extant strengths and assets of rural communities is essential for building resilience and effectively preparing for catastrophic flooding. Women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts of heatwaves in South Sudan that have become a constant threat, Kew et al., World Weather Attribution Extreme heat has affected a large region of continental eastern Africa since mid-February. Extreme daytime temperatures have been recorded in South Sudan particularly affecting people in poor housing and outdoor workers, a very large part of the population. Scientists from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, Chile, the United States, and the United Kingdom collaborated to assess to what extent human-induced climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of the extreme heat in the region and to what extent the impacts particularly affected women and girls. When combining the observation-based analysis with climate models, to quantify the role of climate change in this 7-day heat event, the authors find that climate models underestimate the increase in heat found in observations. They can thus only give a conservative estimate of the influence of human-induced climate change. Based on the combined analysis they conclude that climate change made the extreme heat at least 2C hotter and at least 10 times more likely. Targeted Electrification in New York State, Smith et al., Switchbox New York State is rebuilding its aging natural gas distribution network. However, utilities are entirely replacing all pipes built from outdated materials, rather than surgically repairing those that are leaking, a far less profitable way to solve the problem. Utilities earn a percentage return on their capital investments. This incentivizes them to prefer capital-intensive solutions over cheaper alternatives such as lining pipes with plastic or using leak monitoring to guide targeted repairs. The authors focus on a promising alternative to leak-prone pipe replacement: targeted building electrification. Instead of replacing a pipe segment, utilities would decommission it and swap the fossil fuel appliances of affected customers with new electric models, including heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and induction stoves. The authors found that targeted electrification is a cheaper alternative to replacing leak-prone pipes across much of the stateand thats before factoring in the health and environmental costs of methane combustion. Electricity Rates That Keep Bills Down after Electrification of Home Heating, Sussman et al., The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy In cold climates, once a home is electrified, its biggest electricity use in the home is space heating. The authors simulate energy bills in four regions of cold-climate U.S. states (using actual utility rates in those regions) under different home heating electrification scenarios and provide recommendations for policies and programs in those states to mitigate potential cost increases. The four states are among the most expensive in the United States for electrification and differ from most of the United States, where electrification is generally cost-effective. The authors examine energy efficiency, electricity rates, fossil fuel rates, and novel financial strategies as potential solutions to mitigate energy bill increases. To encourage adoption, they suggest how to roll out solutions with the help of behavioral science principles. Obtaining articles without journal subscriptions We know it's frustrating that many articles we cite here are not free to read. One-off paid access fees are generally astronomically priced, suitable for such as "On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" but not as a gamble on unknowns. With a median world income of US$ 9,373, for most of us US$ 42 is significant money to wager on an article's relevance and importance. Here's an excellent collection of tips and techniques for obtaining articles, legally. Unpaywall offers a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that automatically indicates when an article is freely accessible and provides immediate access without further trouble. Unpaywall is also unscammy, works well, is itself offered free to use. The organizers (a legitimate nonprofit) report about a 50% success rate The weekly New Research catch is checked against the Unpaywall database with accessible items being flagged. Especially for just-published articles this mechansim may fail. If you're interested in an article title and it is not listed here as "open access," be sure to check the link anyway. How is New Research assembled? Most articles appearing here are found via RSS feeds from journal publishers, filtered by search terms to produce raw output for assessment of relevance. Relevant articles are then queried against the Unpaywall database, to identify open access articles and expose useful metadata for articles appearing in the database. The objective of New Research isn't to cast a tinge on scientific results, to color readers' impressions. Hence candidate articles are assessed via two metrics only: Was an article deemed of sufficient merit by a team of journal editors and peer reviewers? The fact of journal RSS output assigns a "yes" to this automatically. Is an article relevant to the topic of anthropogenic climate change? Due to filter overlap with other publication topics of inquiry, of a typical week's 550 or so input articles about 1/4 of RSS output makes the cut. A few journals offer public access to "preprint" versions of articles for which the review process is not yet complete. For some key journals this all the mention we'll see in RSS feeds, so we include such items in New Research. These are flagged as "preprint." The section "Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives" includes some items that are not scientific research per se but fall instead into the category of "perspectives," observations of implications of research findings, areas needing attention, etc. Suggestions Please let us know if you're aware of an article you think may be of interest for Skeptical Science research news, or if we've missed something that may be important. Send your input to Skeptical Science via our contact form. Journals covered A list of journals we cover may be found here. We welcome pointers to omissions, new journals etc. Previous edition The previous edition of Skeptical Science New Research may be found here. How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Jessica and Rich here. Its anonymous! Dear How to Do It, Im a college student experiencing a roommate issue and all my attempts at resolving it have failed so far. My roommate, Gemma, to put it bluntly, is a sex addict. She brings several different guys back to our place over the course of each day. This wouldnt bother me expect for the fact that I can overhear her entertaining them whenever Im home and trying to study (or do anything for that matter). Ive brought this up with her and suggested she go over to where they live at least some of the time, but Gemmas response has ranged from telling me to invest in some noise-canceling headphones to teasing me about how I must be jealous because Im not getting any action. Attempting to explain how disruptive her activities are when Im trying to study or work on assignments has been met with her accusing me of trying to control her sex life and retorting that because she pays half the rent, shes free to do what she wants. She says she wouldnt care if I did the same thing. We live in a rented condo just off campus in an excellent location and I was lucky to get a spot in it. I cant afford to get a place on my own right now, and the dorms are either full or populated with people like Gemma who are only there to party and/or hook up. Because of Gemma, Ive had to practically move into the school library so I can study and get my work done; Im more or less coming home only to eat, sleep, bathe, and change clothes. The semester ends in 10 weeks. I really love where I live, but dont think I can take another semester or more of dealing with Gemmas behavior. Do I have any recourse? I Live Here Too! Dear I Live Here Too!, I dont know if it counts as recourse, but I can tell you that I think youre in the right here, broadly speaking. Your home should be a sanctuary and anything that is causing disruption should be dealt with by all involved parties. If youre uncomfortable (within reason) or otherwise unable to conduct your duties in your apartment, it is your roommates job to modify her behavior to rectify the situation. You have suggested a reasonable alternativethat she travel some of the time instead of hosting all of the timeand it sounds to me like you have taken a practical approach. Instead of requesting that she not bring over men because you dont like it or because a stream of strangers make you fear for your safety (however valid said fear would be, the danger is at this point hypothetical), you have focused on how it affects your daily life. Youre there to study and your ability to do so is encumbered. Gemmas response is immature and petulant. It doesnt matter that she wouldnt care if you did the same thingyou arent, so her feelings about an imaginary scenario are irrelevant. Some of the language in your letter (sex addict, people like Gemma who are only there to party and/or hook up) makes me wonder if, in your dealings with her, you also come off as judgmental. That may be a source of added tension, though from what you write it sounds like Gemma wouldnt like being told what to do no matter how you presented it. You could send her a Cameo from her favorite celebrity (I hear your roommate wants you to stop boning loudly, multiple times a day with just a thin wall separating you two) and she would still probably tell you where to stick it. You could attempt to double down and keep pushing this issue by confronting her every time she has a guy over or even making your disdain known in front of said guys (comments when he walks into the apartment, banging on the walls, or creating other disruptive noise while theyre doing it), but I fear that will only escalate things and make your situation more miserable. It might be more prudent to look into mediationNew York, for example, has a program specifically devoted to resolving neighbor disputes, which include roommate issues. Its free. You may have something like this locally and should Google it or search for tenants associations. Otherwise, ride it out. I know your situation sucks right now, but 10 weeks is a short amount of time in the scheme of things. Then you can look around for a new roommate (and draft a roommate agreement in advance, or at the very least, discuss the issue of visitors before youre sharing said apartment). At least you have an end in sight. Rich More Advice From Slate My husband wakes me up in the middle of the night wanting sex. I struggle to fall back to sleep afterward and have told him so. I wake up very early for work each day, so the fact that he continues to awaken me troubles me because I am not getting adequate sleep. Good Job is Slates advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small? Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here. Its anonymous! Dear Good Job, I am a teacher. Several very racist teachers work in my school. Last year, two white teachers used the N-word while speaking with students, another teacher had the N-word written on their door during Black History Month (purposefully). We have a history teacher who thinks (and has said to students!) that Black people need to get over slavery. We have Trump supporters who hang signs about the importance of borders in their classrooms. My administration will do nothing about this. They coddle the racists and keep their heads down. Most of our students are Black and Latino. I myself am a Black educator and have fielded so many complaints and feelings of genuine horror or confusion from students who are hearing racist, dehumanizing, and horrible things from their teachers who are supposed to care for them. I am disgusted by these colleagues. However, they are my co-workers and I have a leadership position at my job. Some of the worst offenders drop by often to chat with me about their concerns (it is my job to deal with them); we see each other daily. I dont know how to deal with these people. I dislike them intensely, but I fake collegiality to make it through the day. This makes me feel like a hypocrite and a fraud. Why should I be nice to people who I think are harming children? Am I compromising my own morals to fit in and make my life easier? If this were not at work, Id be banging pots and pans and telling them exactly how I feel. I want to show up for my students and be honest, but I know that the fallout will be intense, and that my racist co-workers would be confused by a seemingly sudden attitude shift. I also understand that in life, my students will meet people who are racist, xenophobic, homophobic, etc. and that I cant prevent that from happening but these are their teachers and they are young and impressionable. How can I stand up for what I believe in, manage my professional relationships at work, and support my kids? Yes, Thats Racist Dear Yes, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im so sorry you and your students are stuck in a school system that tolerates and empowers racists. Thank you for listening to the students who come to you and affirming that they are right to be confused and horrified. Your encouragement now could echo throughout their adulthoodsresearch shows that having just one caring adult in their lives can help a child thrive even in a dysfunctional environment. The fact that your school employs at least three racist teachers and doesnt act decisively when another teacher experiences racist vandalism shows that the problem is at a scale that requires action. That action doesnt necessarily have to come from you, or not just from you alone, but you and other people in your school community do have some options. Regardless of how you decide to proceed, the first step is documentation. Whether you witness discrimination yourself or hear about it from a student or another teacher, write an account of what you know and share it with your human resources department. Depending on how they respond, you may choose to escalate by sharing the information with your principal. You could bring the issue to your union. You could complain to the school board. You could encourage students or their parents to document what theyve experienced and speak out to administrators and school board members as well. At each step, clearly detail the discrimination, even if youre not the victim and its second-hand, and keep copies for yourself. Advertisement Advertisement Employers are required by federal civil rights laws to protect employees from racial harassment. Any teachers who have been subject to harassment could file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (While the EEOC has been in the news lately for being undermined by the Trump administration, you are still protected by federal law.) The EEOC doesnt cover students, but Title VI of the Civil Rights Act protects anyone at institutions that receive federal funding, which most schools do. Schools have an obligation to protect students from harassment, said Jake Knanishu, an attorney with Radford Scott LLP, an employment law firm in Atlanta. Advertisement You would have additional legal protections in some states, such as California and New York. But regardless of what state you live in, federal civil rights laws protect teachers from retaliation for reporting discrimination, which the National Education Association explains in more detail here. She is going to be protected as long as she has a reasonable, good-faith belief that what she is opposing is illegal, Knanishu said, based on a synopsis of your letter. And obviously with such blatant and virulent harassment, she would have a reasonable basis. Advertisement Another option is to share what you know with local journalists or with reporters at national newspapers who cover education. You can ask to speak with them on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Advertisement Advertisement None of this is easy, and it shouldnt be on you to protect your colleagues and your students from racism. You mentioned that you have a leadership role in the school, so you might consider using your position to build alliances with like-minded teachers and pressure the racist ones to suppress their bigotry. Talk to the non-racist teachers about how you collectively could take on the racist-coddling administration. The racism at your school may get more blatant now that bigots feel even more politically empowered. This is a good time to build networks of people you can trust. Advertisement Send Your Questions to Good Job! Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir want to help you navigate your social dynamics at work. Does your colleague constantly bug you after hours? Has an ill-advised work romance gone awry? Ask us your question here! Dear Good Job, To put it plainly: My boss is off-putting. When I share who my boss is at industry events, I get pitying remarks. My husband works at a partner company in the same industry but in a different field, and when someone says my bosss name, they speak poorly of her. Advertisement I cant disagree with their complaints, but I get on with her just fine. I get on with most people just fine, even those who I know talk about me behind my back. (Im a stickler for the rules, and dont really care if these people are my friends. I only care if they are disrespectful to my face. My work speaks for itself and were a highly regulated industry where any paperwork misstep can cost a whole department their bonuses for multiple years.) But I would like to minimize the shit-talkingof everyone! Advertisement Advertisement Its fine to say, This is Jake and Robs project so brace yourself for last-minute changes because thats reality. Its the nature of their accounts. Complaining about the existence of these accounts is blowing off steam and not personal, and my assistants have been very helpful in identifying pain points and compliance issues. But, Deb is really on a tear today, isnt she? just seems gossipy in a way that I dont want to participate ineven when Deb is totally on a tear. Ideas for shutting down negative commentary in a professional way? I dont want to seem like Im disagreeing (Im not) but I also want to be pretty neutral. After all, this person is treating me and my assistants very well and is in charge of our raises and bonuses. But she is angering everyone around me in a way that it might be beneficial to obliquely acknowledge if I want to move up in my career. Help! Advertisement If You Cant Say Anything Nice, Leave Me Out of It Dear Nice, Congratulations on maintaining a successful working relationship with your difficult boss. That cant be easy. I hope when your boss, Deb, goes on a tear, she doesnt direct it at you. But witnessing her tear into other people must be unpleasant, even for the most level-headed and agreeable person. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The colleagues who gossip about her trust you enough to know they can speak to you safely. Thats a compliment, in its own weird and unwanted way. To these colleagues, try a short reply that doesnt prolong the conversation. A shrug or eye-roll would do it, or a quick, She gets stuff done or I wish I could help. Then shift the conversation to something else entirely. Ask about the weather, what theyve been cooking, or if theyve been reading any good books lately. Advertisement The colleagues who speak behind your back are a different problem. They may well be irritated by anyone who goes by the rules. Or they may think of you as Difficult Debs sidekick and assume you agree with her way of doing business. Its fine to ignore them, as youre doing. If you want to improve your relationships with them, you can ask whoever told you what these colleagues said about you (Im assuming you didnt overhear it) to let the gossipers know they can come to you directly. Or you can tell them yourself that you hear they have some concerns. Say you understand that working here can have its challenges (with an optional eye-roll or raised eyebrows to acknowledge the unspoken off-putting-ness), but that you and your assistants have a good record of easing pain points when you learn about them. Tell these colleagues you are open to discussing any problems at work so you can solve them together. Advertisement Slate Plus members get more Good Job every week. Sign up now to read Laura Helmuths additional column this week. Dear Good Job, I cannot stand a lot of the rules of professionalism. They all seem so arbitrary! Why does one expensive t-shirt count as business casual and another, cheaper one doesnt when the only difference is fabric, which isnt even visually obvious? Why do you have to pretend to want a job for anything other than a paycheck? Why does it matter whether or not I have tattoos, piercings, or dyed hair? How do I navigate the work world when every time someone says the word professional I want to scream about how discriminatory against women, POC, queer, poor, and disabled people these arbitrary rules are? Just say level-headed or courteous because nine times out of ten, one or both of those seem to cover what people actually want to say when they say professional! And that last one out of ten is always follows these arbitrary rules that do nothing to actually improve a workplace. Professional Is a Bigots Complaint Dear Dont-Say-Professional, Advertisement Advertisement You are absolutely right. Professional is one of those coded words that reinforces bigotry and discrimination. Professionalism is also central to the notion of cultural fit. A ton of research has been conducted using identical resumes aside from clues to an applicants race, gender, age, or class. Researchers send these resumes out to companies and then analyze which resumes get interview requests. The results overwhelmingly show pervasive biases. Some companies have the gall to excuse their preference for an applicant who was in, say, the sailing club rather than track and field by saying the former is a better cultural fit. Its another example of how bias harms the bigots, because Ms. Relay Team had to work much harder and smarter than Mr. Yacht Rock to achieve the same resume, and that kind of determination would make her a great hire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyway, what can we do about it? There are some legal remedies. Twenty-four states have passed the CROWN Act, which prohibits discrimination based on hair style, because some employers claimed that afros or dreadlocks are unprofessional. But we can also, collectively, challenge cultural expectations. You can support your colleagues who dont look, dress, act, or speak like the dominant group. Theyre more likely to be spoken over or ignored in meetings, so praise and amplify their ideas: Brad, if I could interrupt you for a second, Janelle made a great point and Id like to hear more. You could push the boundaries yourself in how you interpret your workplaces dress code or unspoken rules about appearance. You could ask your human resources department to provide anti-bias training (which isnt enough, but can be a start). If you hear someone using the word professional, ask them if they know the term has historically been used to exclude people. They might not knowpeople are lousy at recognizing biasesand good people appreciate the chance to learn. Laura Advertisement Advertisement Classic Prudie I have a friend, Anne, that Ive known since sixth grade. We were amazing friends for many years, and then I moved away. Our relationship has gone from close to less- close over the years. It got worse after she got married and had a child. I do not consider someone a close friend if they only text me every couple of months and only see me a few times a year. She has no idea whats going on in my life anymore and vice versa. I know she considers me to still be a close friend, though, because shes mentioned being fine with the infrequent contact and has recently talked about being a bridesmaid in a hypothetical wedding I might have had with my ex. Well, my ex and I had a terrible break up. I had saved up a ton of vacation days and so I planned a huge trip Everywhere we go online, we are tempted. We are tempted to click, tempted to watch, and tempted to argue. Maybe most of all, were tempted to support websites and decisions that reflect the internets democratic ideal, and were tempted to reject ones that are inherently antidemocratic. This is, ultimately, why most people seem thrilled that the AP Stylebook now says itll lowercase the internet and the web. I support the decision on webits a nickname and a useful prefixbut for the internet, we should realize this glee for what it is: an emotional response to symbolism that feels right, and a confirmation of what we do naturally. When we write online, most of us rarely bother to use the shift key; capitalizing anything is more work than its worth, and much of the text we search and communicate with online remains uniformly lowercased. Words are words; who cares about the window dressing? Even when we do cap as a rule or in formal writing, many lowercase the internet as a matter of habit and history, as the New Republics Adam Nathaniel Peck recounted last July. The stylebooks reasoning is a usage one: Lots of people dont cap it, so were cool with not capping it. But theres irony in changing a rule simply to follow a trend: By reversing a decade-plus policy of capitalizing internet, the stylebook is damning itself; its ensuring that thousands of old articles that cap internet will look dated. (It also makes me wonder whether the high-profile switch is simply a flashy attempt to sell new, up-to-date AP Stylebooks.) If were to have standards for capping anything, it makes sense to cap the Internet. We capitalize nouns when specific ones are absolutely singular. Kanye West, Oklahoma, Lake Shore Drive, Hamilton, Saturn, Glengarry Glen Ross all of these deserve caps because they are extremely specific, individual entities. With apologies to Mark Joseph Stern, this reasoning also helps explain why the AP Stylebook lowercases the court when referring to the Supreme Court. Unlike the Supreme Court, there are many other courts that wed reasonably refer to as the courtbut wed never refer to other saturns, or Yeezus forbid, other kanyes. There simply is no other Internet. Theres the dark web, and there are lower intranets. But theres only one specific place where Google searches; where Slate lives; where Instagram changes its algorithm; and where we waste Saturday afternoons sating our desires on Tinder, Yik Yak, and Cornhub. Its one place as proper and unique as Saturn. And its utterly reasonable to capitalize this realms name. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Styleguides are important for establishing consistency across a single publication. They clarify language and help give readers a sense of stability. But when standards become malleable based on usage alone, they start to lose their power. The AP Stylebook is venerable in part because its committed to saying that there are standards, and for providing a steady hand for publications looking for an authority on how and why to stay consistent. But the internet hates authority. It hates targeted ads and paywalls and data mining because they are difficult to avoid and erected from on high, without democratic consultation or assent. We want what we seek online to be easily accessible and transparent, and we dont want to have to put in too much work. The Internet is supposed to be the land where its OK to give in to temptation, where our desires are fulfilled: a frictionless, wall-free haven from responsibility. We roam, discover, and acquire what we want nearly by willing it to be so. We want to lowercase the internet; doing so gratifies instantly. But like a Saturday spent staring at a screen, the change doesnt represent our best selves. Deep down we know its wrong.